Harmonie was in the middle of delivering the grim news to her leader, carefully gauging the dragon's mood through the quiet, measured rhythm of her breathing across the line.
She heard a deep, heavy sigh from the other end. When the leader spoke, her voice was eerily level. "I'm already aware. This isn't your fault, so let it go for now. Proceed with the primary plan, and ignore the one who was captured."
Despite the ruthless efficiency of the words, Harmonie could pick up on the silent storm raging beneath that calm exterior. The leader was forcing herself to abandon her own sister for the sake of the grander scheme.
"The signal here is breaking up. We'll speak later."
The line went dead before Harmonie could reply. Cutting the channel, the Draco leader turned to the operative standing at her side. "How long until we reach County Hillock?"
"We should arrive within three days," the subordinate answered promptly. "We could push faster, but we'd risk exposing our movements to Victorian scouts."
"Maintain our current speed then," she instructed, leaning back into her seat and closing her eyes. "I'll rest for a while."
Understanding the unspoken command, the operative bowed silently and vanished from the carriage.
Left entirely alone, a faint haze of pale purple dragon fire trickled from the leader's scales, swirling around her like an enraged beast ready to strike. The quiet rage in her heart was suffocating.
She found herself drifting into a memory—from a time when she was very young, back when her parents were still alive. It was a grand holiday, and her parents had returned from Londinium bearing gifts. But just as the celebration began, nightmare struck.
"A band of armed men burst into our home, intent on slaughtering us all," Loughshinny said softly, her fingers clutching her skirt so tightly her knuckles turned white. "My sister and I hid beneath a deep snowdrift, praying those monsters wouldn't find us. What happened after... isn't a story I can bring myself to tell."
She was recounting a dark, forgotten atrocity from a day that should have been filled with joy.
Both Jeanne and Talulah grew remarkably quiet as they listened, their faces heavy with solemn grief. They wanted to offer comfort, but words felt empty against such deep-rooted pain.
Loughshinny lifted her head, her gaze shifting to Talulah. "What about you? Looking at you now... you've lived a much better life than we ever did. How did you and your family survive all these years?"
"My father died in a grand scheme cooked up by Ursus, Yan, and Victoria before I was old enough to even remember his face," Talulah said with an indifferent shrug, as if recounting a tale about a complete stranger.
"As for what came after, you've likely heard the rumors. I was stolen away by an Ursus noble, killed him years later, contracted Oripathy, and fought my way to this very day."
As the two dragons exchanged the bitter truths of their pasts, Jeanne realized with a strange twinge that she had suddenly become the odd one out in the room.
Neither Talulah nor Loughshinny dwelt on the past for long. Tragic memories brought no warmth, and dwelling on them would only sour their resolve.
"What do you plan to do next?" Loughshinny asked after a brief silence, looking back and forth between the two. "Why are you here in County Hillock?"
"Don't tell me your people didn't inform you?" Talulah asked, genuinely surprised. Was this figurehead really kept that far in the dark?
"Her subordinates plan to firebomb the Taran residential district," Jeanne interjected, her tone laced with heavy frustration. "Our goal is simple: stop them from burning the city to the ground."
Jeanne still found the cruelty of the Dublinn officers mind-boggling. They hadn't dropped a single hint about such an extreme plot while she was around.
"I had no idea," Loughshinny admitted, offering a bitter, self-deprecating smile. "As you can see, I hold no real power. In truth, I don't even know if I have a place in their grand vision, or if I'm just a walking prop."
Seeing her posture crumble into quiet shame, Loughshinny almost wanted to laugh at her own helplessness.
"We have no issue with the Taran people seeking their independence," Talulah said firmly, studying the quiet dragon. "What we will not tolerate is your leaders using their own countrymen as disposable fuel for their political ambitions."
Talulah knew lecturing Loughshinny wouldn't change Dublinn's path, but she needed to make sure this fellow Draco wouldn't interfere.
Loughshinny lacked Talulah's raw combat power, but if she chose to rally Dublinn's forces, she could still cause severe complications. Neither did Talulah want Jeanne to keep the girl pinned under an absolute command like a mindless thrall.
"I understand. I won't stand in your way," Loughshinny said softly. She let out a small, quiet laugh. "Besides, I don't exactly have the power to cause trouble anyway. One word from Jeanne and my body stops listening to me."
"If possible, I'd prefer not to see you controlled like that either," Talulah replied with complete sincerity.
Loughshinny blinked, surprised by the sentiment, before nodding gently in agreement.
"Alright, that's enough heavy talk for one night," Talulah declared, standing up and stretching her arms. "It's been a long day, and we're all exhausted. Let's get some rest."
Leaving Loughshinny in the guest room, Talulah grabbed Jeanne by the arm and yanked her into her own bedroom, locking the door behind them.
"Wait, you're letting her stay in the guest room?" Jeanne asked, looking at Talulah's menacing grin with a sudden spike of anxiety. "Shouldn't I keep an eye on her? What if she—"
"We'll worry about her later. Right now, I've been holding back my temper for hours!"
Talulah pounced, pinning Jeanne down onto the bed before she could even react.
"You've grown quite bold lately, haven't you?" Talulah growled playfully, trapping Jeanne's hands. "Learning how to bite my tail when you don't get your way? Let me check and see if your heart's turned entirely black under all those saintly airs!"
Talulah's patience had finally snapped, and she began mercilessly tickling her friend. From the outside, no one would ever guess that the terrifying Leader of Reunion was currently wrestling like a child on a bed.
"Stop! Get off me! Help!" Jeanne cried out in exaggerated distress, wriggling under Talulah's grip.
"Cry all you want! No one's coming to save you tonight!" Talulah laughed, continuing her playful assault until the two were completely out of breath.
Horn stood inside a dusty, abandoned storehouse, looking at Bagpipe with an expression that suggested she was seriously questioning her subordinate's intellect.
"Och, is that right then?" Bagpipe scratched her hair in a daze, looking around the empty rafters. "But I could've sworn this was the meetin' spot! Did I go an' get the directions wrong again, Cap'n?"
"This is the meeting spot," Horn sighed, rubbing her temples. "Which means it's painfully obvious our scouts haven't returned. Either they found a new lead, or..."
Horn began sweeping the dust near the wooden crates, quickly uncovering a set of secret military ciphers carved into the floor. As she read the message, her expression darkened into a scowl. She took a deep, steadying breath.
"What's it say, Cap'n?" Bagpipe leaned over, squinting at the marks. Her eyes widened in shock before Horn could even translate. "They were set upon by the local garrison?! Why on earth would our own soldiers attack us?!"
"Looks like I have no choice. I need to pay that colonel a personal visit," Horn said grimly, reaching for her gear and loading heavy explosive shells into her shield-cannon. If he refused to give her straight answers this time, she was prepared to force them out of him.
"Right behind ye, Cap'n!" Bagpipe grunted, hauling her massive breaching spear over her shoulder. "If that corrupt bastard won't give us a proper explanation, I'll help ye tear his whole office down!"
"No. You're staying behind," Horn commanded, her tone dropping into full military authority.
"Cap'n!"
"Listen to me, Bagpipe," Horn said, her eyes locked onto her squadmate's face with complete seriousness. "If I'm not back by ten tonight, or if you don't hear from me by then, drop this operation immediately. Go find Talulah and Jeanne, fall in with them, and do not try to rescue me on your own. That colonel is a snake, but he wouldn't dare execute a high-ranking officer outright!"