“Now, what about the zombies?”
“I think,” Brokk said, “those who agreed to fight with us might change their minds if we tell them we’re going into this war with zombies at our side.”
“The dwarves won’t like it,” Skog said. “I understand the reasoning behind it, and they will too, but I’m not sure how many will agree with this. We can’t fight the Lord’s men while worrying that those on our side might turn on us too.”
“I think we have our answer then,” Lexi said. “We can’t take the chance of losing what fighters we have to bring in the zombies, even if those zombies could replace the number of fighters who change their minds.”
“There aren’t enough zombies to replace the fighters we have,” Maverick said. “We can do this without them.”
“Yes, we can,” Cole agreed. “I’ll send crows to all those who have agreed to help us. We’ll find a realm for all of us to gather in so we can train together, and next week, we’ll go to war.”
Del rolled up his plans and tucked them away again. “Are you going to tell them the battle plan?”
“Not until the last minute. There’s no doubt, someone, amid all those we gather, will turn against us and go to the Lord with our plan.”
“And then we’ll have to kill them,” Niall said.
“In manyverynot-so-fun ways,” Orin agreed.
“What about the giants?” Lexi asked. “How do we fight them?”
“That’s why we’ll bring a lot of rope,” Del said. “We’ll run around their ankles as fast as possible and tie them together.”
Lexi started to laugh but realized he wasn’t joking; her laughter died away. “Will that work?”
“It’s brought them down before.”
“It’s not exactly easy, and it will never take themalldown,” Cole said. “But it’s an option.”
“Ideally, when we knew we were going up against giants, we’d dig trenches and cover them in the hopes the beasts would fall into them,” Orin said. “Then we’d pounce and stab their eyes and throat until they died. But the rope trick can work.”
“Oh, Hecate,” Kaylia muttered and dropped her head into her hands to rub her temples.
“Since we’re the ones invading Dragonia, the trenches won’t work,” Del said. “We’ll get some nets too and use them to entangle the giants. Hopefully, it will trip a couple of them; we’ll be able to take them down if they fall.”
“If they don’t squish a hundred of us in the process,” Skog huffed.
“That could be an issue,” Del murmured.
“If they do fall, their bodies will probably indent a trench for us and might trip up the other ones,” Orin said.
“That’s looking at the bright side,” Varo said tiredly.
“Did the Lord go after your realm?” Sahira asked Skog.
“We no longer have a realm,” Skog replied. “But we must ensure our children survive to carry on the dwarf way of life. If I don’t think we can survive this war against the Lord, the dwarves will remain in hiding.”
“In other words, you’ll remain cowards,” Orin retorted.
Sparks flew from the tip of the ax when Skog banged it against the ground. “Dwarves are not cowards!”
“That’s enough,” Lexi interjected as she glared at Orin. “They’re trying to ensure their children survive; there’s nothing wrong with that. If they were the ones organizing this war, you wouldn’t put yourself in their hands without knowing more about it.”
“But now he knows the battle plan,” Orin replied.
“And if he chooses not to fight with us, he’ll be locked in a cell and unable to leave until the battle is over,” Cole replied. “When it ends, he’ll be released and allowed to return to the dwarves. Whether he likes it or not, Skog will remain with us until the end of this war.”
He’d explained this to the dwarf before they returned to the prison, and Skog agreed. Cole suspected Skog believed he might find a way to escape, but Cole wouldn’t allow it and planned to have the shadows watch him while he was here. He’d know the second the dwarf tried anything.
