Five days earlier.
When the Veridian Navy was still spilling its last drop of blood to hold back the advancing armada and buy a few more hours for the command center, the leaders and generals were fighting a very different battle inside Auric Spire. They were desperately trying to figure out a plan to survive the massive wave of pirates rushing toward Veridia like a tsunami, ready to leave nothing behind but ruin.
Lorian was exhausted and frustrated. The brainstorming sessions had gone on for hours, bringing nothing but disappointment. The Veridian military completely lacked any sense of innovation, but to be fair, the whole continent was stuck in the same rut. Centuries of fragile peace, built entirely on mutual distrust, had made everyone's military tactics dull and outdated. The occasional small clashes with bandits, rebels, or minor pirates were usually handled the traditional way- just throwing more numbers and resources at the problem.
Because of that, the military commanders had lost the ability to think outside the box. Neither Commander Lucien Lehance nor Rena Tharford nor any of the others could come up with anything better than the usual routine of pelting attackers with arrows, rocks, and burning oil. Deep down, the entire military leadership had started believing that the pirates were bound to win sooner or later.
Lorian simply couldn't accept that. He needed another way. Desperate for answers, he went to his mother for guidance. He could still sense a bit of lingering disappointment in her tone, but she was his mother, and she knew what he was going through. She listened patiently as he vented, thought for a moment, and then gave him a strange piece of advice- if you can't find people who think outside the box, you just have to change the box.
It was short, but it hit him hard. All of a sudden, he knew what she meant. He jumped to his feet and thanked her and rushed off to find the dwarves. His mother was right. Only the dwarves could help him now, because they were a completely different world altogether.
The guards announced his arrival, and the four dwarves welcomed him properly, following the traditional laws of the land. Lorian went straight to Tholme Shield-Breaker, explaining his exact situation and what he needed. But to Lorian's disappointment, Tholme wasn't of much help. The old dwarf seemed far better at planning attacks than defending against them.
However, the solution came from an entirely unexpected source- Runa Iron-Mantle. Unbeknownst to most outsiders, dwarven culture had a unique structure. While the men were usually out working physical jobs or fighting, the women mostly stayed indoors as the main guardians of wisdom and knowledge. Runa was exceptionally brilliant, with a sharp mind for science- which was how she had originally earned her prestigious job as governess to the prince and princess.
She had been quietly listening to Lorian and Tholme's conversation and decided to step in. Lorian was surprised and welcomed her help, but she had one strict condition- he could never tell the world that the idea came from her. The dwarves were deeply wary of drawing unwanted attention and preferred the safety of obscurity. Lorian never liked the idea of taking credit for someone else's work, but the desperate situation left him no choice, so he agreed.
After hearing him out, Runa suggested using quicklime. It was a common, everyday item in cities, used mostly for construction and sanitation, and the Thorne family already kept large stockpiles of it on hand. By using simple, hand-pumped bellows built quickly by local carpenters, Lorian could blast thick clouds of caustic dust straight into the faces of anyone climbing the walls. It required no heavy manual labour, worked instantly, and served as a massive psychological weapon because the attackers would be blinded and in agonizing pain long before they even reached the top.
She also suggested a crucial extra step- drenching the pirates in water just before hitting them with the lime. By soaking them first, the powder would instantly turn into a thick, caustic paste upon contact. Dry powder might just blow away in the wind, but a paste would stick stubbornly to armor, skin, and eyes, keeping the burning effect going for as long as possible. The pirates would effectively be trapped inside their own gear as it heated up, making a panicked, chaotic fall almost guaranteed. It would turn a simple climb into an experience of being chemically burned alive, ensuring that anyone who survived the fall would still be permanently blinded or scarred, completely removing them as a threat.
Lorian thanked her over and over again. Elated, he turned to leave, but Tholme called him back from the shadows.
"Your Highness, let this humble old dwarf share a bit of wisdom from experience," Tholme muttered, "Most siege battles aren't won because the enemy breaks the wall down. They are won because someone on the inside opens the door for them."
Lorian stopped in his tracks, taking a moment to fully digest the old dwarf's words. Then he thanked him once more and hurried off. He immediately set to work putting Runa's instructions into motion on a war footing. He wasn't a chemist by trade, but he had tested the entire process in the quiet privacy of his chambers and was more than satisfied with the results.
Back in the present moment,
…. when Lorian unleashed the experiment on a massive scale out in the open, the results were far beyond anything he had imagined. It was pure chaos and slaughter. It was the first time the continent had ever witnessed chemical warfare, let alone on such a devastating scale. The pirates were completely paralyzed by shock.
And then the gates swung open.
The shocked pirates were too dazed to even realize that the very door they had been desperately trying to break down was opening on its own. The elite cavalry of the Throne Guards surged out. They crashed into the foot of the wall, which was currently packed with writhing, screaming pirates. The horsemen tore through the area in a brutal massacre, cutting down the soldiers crying out in pain and trampling anyone unlucky enough to get in their path. Before the enemy could recover their senses or organize a defense, the experienced cavalry finished their bloody work with ruthless efficiency and galloped safely back inside.
That single event completely shattered the pirates' morale. They pulled back entirely, retreating all the way to their original camp past the charred ruins of the city.
The next few days were surprisingly quiet. The pirates made no further attempts to attack, aside from a few nighttime raids that the defenders easily and brutally crushed. The mood inside Veridia shifted overnight. Everyone was in awe of the young lord who had stopped the armada with such cold efficiency, and the people buzzed with fresh hope.
Yet, a nagging anxiety still chewed at the back of Lorian's mind. He couldn't fully relax. On top of that quiet unease, mounting pressure came from both the military commanders and the nobility, who were pushing hard to open the gates and launch a direct counter-attack. Their argument was simple- the pirates were at their lowest point mentally while the city's defenders were riding a massive wave of confidence. They believed that momentum could easily make up for the numbers gap- a gap that Lorian's brilliant strategy had already shrunk significantly.
Worse still, the city's food stockpiles wouldn't last another month. If the siege dragged on, riots would break out, which could easily cause more damage to Veridia than the real enemy sitting outside the walls. Lorian hadn't dismissed them outright; he had simply bought himself some time to think.
It was another tense, suffocating night. The heavy air made it impossible for Lorian to find sleep, and he tossed restlessly as a strange, creeping dread settled into his chest. Just as his eyelids finally grew heavy, a sudden commotion shattered the silence outside. A cold wave of fear washed over him- the exact nightmare he had been trying to push away- that the walls had been breached.
He threw open his door, and instantly four Throne Guards flanked him, forming a tight protective shield around him.
Rena hurried toward them, flanked by two Veridian Guards, and dropped into a quick bow, "Milord, I was just coming to find yo- "
"What's happening?" Lorian asked sharply.
"Milord, two Veridian guards were caught trying to open the gate…. " Rena answered quickly, but her tense expression made it obvious there was more.
"And...?" Lorian narrowed his eyes.
"They were caught," she said, her voice was hesitant, "Just as you personally instructed me to do, I had my most trusted men keep a secret watch on the doors."
"So, you caught the traitors?" Lorian asked, leaning in.
"Not quite, milord," Rena replied, hesitating, "It was Lord Rylan who caught them and killed them on the spot."
Lorian stared at her, stunned, "Rylan can fight?"
"I'm just as surprised as you are, milord!" Rena nodded, gesturing for him to follow, "Come, I'll take you to the spot."