A delicate (if that's what it could be described as, given the dragon producing it was renowned for being a formidable warrior) cough forced the king away from his thoughts of dark vengeance.
"Captain," said the king.
"Your Majesty," she replied, bowing a little.
"Enough with the formalities, Captain. We have more than enough to think about, without all that nonsense. What's on your mind?"
Amelia Battlehard smiled, well... a little at least. She'd had little contact with the monarch himself, and had only recently been posted here from the consulate in Paris. But often she'd heard other guard members comment on what a no nonsense dragon he was, and how he had an uncanny knack for cutting through all the crap, so to speak. To see it firsthand, despite the desperate situation they found themselves in, was refreshing. She supposed it helped that he used to be a knight and so must have had a good grasp of battleground tactics and close quarters fighting, something which it looked more and more like it might come down to. Taking him at his word, she decided to speak her mind.
"I'm a little concerned about the... eh... the basement of the council building, Sire."
"You mean the mythical beast capture and detain level, Captain?"
"Yes. It had been at the back of my mind all the time we were defending the building... what if the containment shut down, allowing everything down there out? I was glad it didn't, but couldn't understand why not; after all, the strange goings on affected everything else apart from that.
Having already taken a real shine to the young captain, the king knew her to be a quick study, have an even quicker mind, and not be afraid to muck in with her troops, as well as being a gifted communicator. And although he was sure he could trust her (well he was, even at this very moment... with his life,) he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her why the mythical beasts were still contained. No good could come from her knowing that the release to the entire level wasn't controlled by any one dragon, or the computer, or some kind of electrical power supply, but by the magical ring throbbing away on his finger right at this very moment, the one with which they planned to power the shield which right now they were trying to set up at the entrance to this very building. Briefly, he wondered whether in actual fact he should set the mythical creatures free, to be recaptured at a later time. Before, it hadn't really been an issue, not when his force had been inside the council building, but now that they'd retreated back here, he could in fact let the creatures loose, in the hope that if nothing else they would damage the invading force that was heading their way, as well as not allowing said force to get their hands on some of those particularly dangerous creatures. It wasn't a decision he was willing to make at the moment.
"It's okay, Captain. I know why the basement remains locked down. And it's better that you don't know any more... for now at least. If things get desperate... well, more desperate," he smiled, "then I'll consider releasing the creatures. But it should only be as a last resort."
"I understand... Your..."
The king held up his hand and cut her off.
"Enough with all this nonsense. No more Your Majesty or Sire. Not until we've gained our, and everybody else's, freedom. Understood?"
"Understood," she answered reluctantly.
Just then one of the guards at the makeshift command post shouted over.
"Ummm... Captain, Your Majesty... you might want to come and take a look at this."
Amelia Battlehard rolled her eyes at the king, something that greatly amused him, as they both strode purposefully over.
"Report!" ordered Captain Battlehard.
Swivelling around a high tech laptop sitting delicately atop the raised plinth, the guard had frozen its crystal clear screen on a piece of rather poor quality video footage.
"It suddenly occurred to us that some of the buildings in and around the Buckingham area are equipped with video surveillance."
Both the king and the captain alike raised their eyebrows.
"It's a hangover from a period before the council building was erected. Certain streets had a reputation for being a little... uncivilised," continued the guard. "Anyhow, we managed to hack into a couple of the cameras, the only ones that still seem to be online. You'd better take a look."
Hitting the resume button, the grainy footage on the screen started to play. The king vaguely recognised the end of the shadowy alley the camera was located on. But that wasn't what caught his attention. Looking out over the square, adjacent to the one in front of the council building, currently it contained a huge number of nagas, in their human forms by the look of things, and a complement of odd looking dragons, all marching together. They had to be outnumbered two or three hundred to one, just from what they could see, and that might just be the tip of the iceberg. Just when he'd thought it couldn't get any worse, his blood ran cold at the sight of something smack bang in the middle of said force. His face was a picture of hatred and anger, as both the captain and guard stepped back at once.
"What is it?" asked Amelia Battlehard.
Hitting pause on the touch screen, the king answered.
"There!" he said, pointing right into the middle of the throng of bodies.
Both dragons looked hard at the group surrounded by the guards, but it was difficult to make out, particularly with human, dragon and naga shapes all on view.
"That's who's responsible for all of this. That's who we'll be fighting."
"Do you mean the old man?" exclaimed the captain, taking a closer look at the screen.
"He might look like a harmless old man, Captain," replied the king, "but I'd recognise that being anywhere. And so should you, especially if you know your history. He's most definitely a dragon you won't forget in a hurry. I know I haven't. His name is... TROYDENN!"
Both the captain and the guard pulled abruptly back from the screen.
"Are you sure Sire?"
"Oh yes," answered the king. "Very, very, very sure."
"What could he possibly want, to go to all this trouble?"
"My head on a platter," replied the king softly, focusing in on the group in the picture once again. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed, recognising three of the other beings there.
"Sire?" enquired the guard.
Slumping down in the only vacant chair, dragons all around stopped what they were doing to watch.
"What is it Majesty?" asked Captain Battlehard. "We need to know."
Holding his head in his hands, too angry and frightened to look at the screen any more, he answered the dedicated soldier.
"Both human shaped captives are known to me. One is my best friend's grandson. The other is the 'white dragon' from the famed prophecy, newly arrived in our realm. Having both of these dragons prisoners does not bode well. But at least we now know who was responsible for the lovely goings on in the council building."