"What are you really talking about?" asked Lena.
Gideon smiled. He glanced briefly at Luke, giving him a hand signal to return to the tent. Luke understood, nodded, and walked away from the village, leaving Lena alone with Gideon.
"Last night, Luke and I heard an explosion coming from the ruins of the city. I decided to deploy a drone to scout the area."
"What did you find?" asked Lena, curious.
"Lizards. So kind of lizardn race living in the city sewers. There are hundreds of them."
"Lizardn? Do such things really exist?"
"Don’t forget, we’re in a fantasy world. Anything can happen," Gideon replied.
Lena nodded. Seeing Lamia, a half-human half-snake being, had already been enough to shock her. Now Gideon was saying there were lizardn living in the sewers beneath the ruins of the city. That was far beyond her imagination as a human.
But Gideon would not tell her sothing like that without having solid proof of their existence. Lena kept looking straight ahead, clearly seeing the serious look on Gideon’s face.
He only looked like that when he was thinking hard, putting together a plan. Operation Blackwater was no longer just about saving the villagers and the river.
It now had the potential to beco a war between races.
If that happened, there would only be chaos and inevitable destruction. Gideon was already trying to figure out the best way to stop the war.
"Could the lizardn be the ones who polluted the river?" Lena asked.
Gideon nodded, then explained what Lady Siver had told him and Luke earlier. It was about the beginning of the hostility between the Lamia and the Lizardn. Lena listened carefully, her sharp mind able to put the pieces together.
"My guess was right. The Lizardn poisoned the river to drive the Lamia out. That has been their tactic from the start," Lena concluded.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked again, turning her eyes back to Gideon.
Gideon let out a deep breath. With things already like this, as the leader of a tactical military team, he had to pay attention to several things, one of them being how to form the right kind of alliance.
The Lamia and the Lizardn had nothing to do with Gideon personally, but he had to calculate the best way to win this case.
To do that, Gideon had to study the roots of the conflict between the two races. Who started it, who kept fueling it.
To uncover that, he needed to bring together both versions of the story, from the Lamia and from the Lizardn.
"I may have the best plan for this. Tonight, gather in the tent."
"Yes, Captain."
Lena excused herself to return to the common kitchen, where she would tell Lyra about Gideon’s orders. That afternoon, Lyra and one of the kitsune were able to handle the cooking. That gave Lena ti to do her work, providing dical care to the Lamia races.
She was not alone. Two kitsune ca to help her. Following Lena’s instructions, the sick were separated from the healthy. The villagers were also told to start cleaning their hos and surroundings.
They listened, even though before this they had refused the humans’ presence, fearing they would take over the village. In reality, the humans ca with good intentions—giving food, cleaning the area, and healing the sick.
The fear of the Lamia villagers began to fade, replaced by respect.
Their work went on until sunset. Torches were lit to brighten the area, and Lena stepped out of the ergency tent after treating patients. She removed her white gloves and mask, finished with her duties.
Following Gideon’s orders, she went toward his tent and saw Lyra was already there. Lena was the last to arrive, and Gideon welcod her with a smile.
"So, how is it?" asked Lena as she accepted a cup of hot chocolate from Lyra.
"I plan to side with the Lamia, even with the Lizardn out there," Gideon answered.
"What do you an?" asked Lena.
"At first, I thought about siding with them after I learned they had a large population. The Mythic Kingdom needs strength, and the Lizardn have it."
"But then I looked at the condition of the Lamia. They have been wounded and suffering for years, with only a few n left among them. They can hardly fight anymore."
"I realized sothing when I compared the two races. The Lizardn are brutal."
"If they have so many people, why didn’t they just wipe out the Lamia instead of poisoning them?" Gideon asked.
"I don’t know."
"Because they are afraid of the Lamia."
"I don’t know what kind of power the Lamia have that would make the Lizardn afraid."
"Are you making a plan?" said Siver’s voice.
Surprised, Gideon turned and saw Lady Siver coming into their camp alone, without anyone with her. Gideon stood up and invited her to sit down.
Lady Siver admitted she had co to tell them many things, especially about the conflict between the Lamia and the Lizardn.
Siver did not hesitate to share, because she believed Gideon and his team needed that information. Gideon and the others listened.
The beginning of the conflict between the Lamia and the Lizardn started when the Lamia ca to the swamp and decided to settle, while the Lizardn lived elsewhere. Seeing that the Lamia village was more prosperous made the Lizardn jealous.
They launched the first war against the Lamia, but the Lamia won. Out of five wars, the Lizardn only won once. The Lamia won the rest.
The last war was a hundred years ago, at the peak of Lamia’s power. But since the river beca polluted, the Lamia village declined until many of them died.
Gideon glanced at Lena. She nodded, feeling the sa thing Siver felt. With Siver’s explanation, Gideon finally had a foundation to act on. He had already set his target.
"I hope... you can help us."
Lena was moved. She stepped closer to Lady Siver and hugged her tightly, trying to ease her worries. Gideon saw her sadness. What had happened to the Lamia made him even more determined to finish this mission.
"Don’t worry. We will help you," Gideon said.
"If you succeed in helping us, I am willing to follow you."
"Don’t think about that. You should go back and rest tonight," Gideon replied.
Lady Siver nodded. She wiped her tears and took her leave from Gideon’s team. Lena walked her back, then returned and joined the planning.
"So, are we going to kill those lizards?" asked Luke.
"If we kill their leader, a new one will rise. They are solitary creatures," Gideon answered.
"Right, not like ants."
"So what then?" Luke asked.
Gideon fell silent, glancing from ti to ti at the river that flowed past the ancient ruins. An idea crossed his mind, sothing that might work to drive the lizardn away. It was better than killing them all.
"There’s no other way. That’s the only thing I can think of."
"What is it?" Luke asked, even more curious.
"We drive them out by flooding the sewers."
"Just like Noah’s Flood?"
"Yeah, Noah’s Flood."
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