A Book and a Bell

"What you did was disobey an order, Idalla. I could have you brought before the officers on counts of treason! What were you thinking?"

"Officer Stella I understand, but the mission was successful. Aubron, the King of the Teeth, and son to the elven ruler from Alfri, agreed to our cause. We have an ally."

"Some upstart from within the king's own lands. How long will that last? Until the king in chains has enough freed up troops to squash him like a bug you find in your home. Some ally. We need to worry about mustering troops here in our own lands."

"With all due respect, Baron Jarmaath already speaks of having his people flee to the south lands. We stand thin on allies here as it is. The beastmen to the south remain as arrogant as always. So our only loyal soldiers are the dwarves. That and prayer we don't see Cairo fall. Which, by the way my lady, it will. No one can stand before his army."

"If that is your true and honest thoughts, Idalla, then why even bother with some elves from across the sea?"

"Because they are going to help Jr Officer Solomon. Here." Idalla reached into her diplomat's pouch and handed over a sun-stained yellow piece of paper.

Stella read over the paper for a minute and a half, eyes slowly widening as she went. "Impossible. Is this all true?"

"If there's one thing I trust Solomon about, it's the knowledge he has of the elemental planes and their sultans."

"It's starting to make sense. This is why he wants to sail the seas and start a war. Assassination my ass." She had to stop herself from ripping the brittle paper under her frustration. A wave of calm quickly washed over her features though, and Stella smiled. "I'll tell the others. Idalla, okay Theo and Squawks. They get their Ghost unit. Message Solomon, when he gets that wizard's book, he gets it to us, pronto. This is our key." Stella got up with haste, ready to start getting out orders of her own. An end to this war was in sight. Something the king in chains couldn't help but stop for.

"Um, Officer Stella?" Idalla spoke up. "Are you, uh, not worried about the OTHER portion of that prophecy?"

Stella looked back, not a bit of fear in her fierce expression. "Our world and way of life will come to an end regardless without the codex. If you have so much faith in these outsiders, let us see them stop the toll. By all the stars above and below, I hope they can."