Zeke buried his face in his hands as he let out a deep breath of resignation while sitting in his office. Of all the things that could've gone wrong - it had to be something like this.

Relations between the humans and lizardmen of Arconia had been strained ever since that incident last year involving a drunken brawl. Still, time healed most wounds, and things seemed to be getting better and people on both sides were gradually moving past what had happened. They had not completely forgotten about it of course; there would likely be people who would hold grudges for years on end, but those were in the minority.

Cooler heads seemed to be prevailing, understanding that this incident was limited to only a few individuals and that there was no need for such animosity between the two groups.

Right when this wound was about to heal, however, it was torn viciously apart once more.

There had been an incident near a roadside stall where there was an altercation between a lizardman and a human. In a fit of rage, the lizardman had thrown the mug he was drinking out of at the human and ended up hitting him in the head far harder than he had intended to, killing the human.

The lizardman had been drunk, and given the circumstances it would be chalked up to a drunken brawl with the lizardman being sentenced for assault and manslaughter which carried a prison sentence of twenty to thirty years.

However, because this incident had occurred so close after to the earlier drunken brawl, the humans were blowing it far out of proportion and demanding the lizardman be hanged, despite the fact that this was not in line with the penal code.

Zeke shook his head.

Emotions were running amok, unfortunately, even if the position the humans took was extreme it was still at the very least partially understandable. They were still a minority within the city, and such an attack was being touted as evidence that the lizardmen thought they had open license to kill any human they came across without repercussion - which was false, but when had reason ever convinced people who were dead set in their ways?

The last thing they needed was a riot right before the Book Fair came to town again - if word got out that the environment in the city was not safe for the merchants, they would be glossed over this year and that would cause irreparable harm to both their economy and reputation.

No Liberomancers were involved in this incident much like with the earlier one, but as was usually the case the ordinary humans complained to the human Liberomancers about their problems who argued about the issue on their behalf. Many of the human Liberomancers were already on edge somewhat because of last year, and it seemed that they also wanted stricter punishment for the culprit.

There was a knock on his door. "Sir Zeke, the governor wishes to meet with you and your brother immediately in his office!"

Zeke got up at once. If his father was calling for them it sounded like something serious.

The worst case scenario that he was imagining was that something had already blown up from this latest incident, like a large riot on the cusp of breaking out. There hadn't been a major incident like that in the city since he had been four years old - he had very hazy memories of that time. All he really recalled was being asked to stay in the palace because there were 'dangerous people' outside. He had been cooped up inside for over a week at the time while he occasionally heard loud noises and shouting outside; noises which he couldn't comprehend at that age.

The palace was so large that it took a good ten minutes to get to his father's office from his own. Zeke didn't notice any worried looks on any of the servants' faces, so whatever this was about, it had either not become that severe yet or news had not gotten out yet.

He met Drake on the way to his father's office. Drake was not born yet back when those riots happened, which Zeke was quite thankful for, but that also meant that Drake might not fully appreciate the gravity of what was going on. Zeke barely did, because although he had experienced a part of it, he had forgotten much of it. The guards nodded upon seeing the two brothers and one of them opened the door to announce their presence.

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"Please go in," the guard said.

The two brothers walked into the study.

"Good evening - how have you been, father?" Zeke asked. Their father, Lance, shared the same azure scales as the two of them, though some of their color had faded from age. He was sitting at his desk in the same position that Zeke was used to seeing him in over all these years.

"I am as fine as always," he said. Their father had a soft voice which had a way of carrying far further than it should have otherwise - it was quite rare to see him ever raise it. The most recent incident in memory that had caused him to yell was when Drake had acted out at the tournament last year. Thankfully, he seemed to have largely forgiven Drake for his actions by now. "Unfortunately, however, we have a big problem on our hands. But please take your seats first."

There was a map showing a section of the continent on his table. There were some wooden blocks arranged on the map near Hitutsa and rather close to Chipker's border, though Zeke wasn't sure what they were supposed to be indicative of. His first thought was that they were Hitutsian soldiers, but the idea that Hitutsa was marshaling its army to invade Chipker was laughable in Zeke's opinion. Such a conflict would ruin both nations, and he was sure that the king of Hitutsa knew that.

"These," Lance said, noticing what Zeke was looking at, "are supposed to symbolize the dryads." He pointed at the blocks for Drake's benefits.

"Dryads?" Drake asked.

Zeke had heard of them when he had been studying abroad in Hitutsa as they were a menace that plagued that country every couple of years, but his younger brother had not had such an experience and was likely completely ignorant about them."Yes, dryads," Lance said. "Most people classify them as magical beasts even though they share many properties with plants. They have threatened Hitutsa many times over the past decades, and occasionally a large wave of them will cause great damage to that country."

"Ah, right," Drake said. He had likely been told the same at some point during his education, it had just taken this to refresh his memory. Hitutsa was an important trading partner and the two countries were on cordial terms, so Drake and Zeke naturally were taught several things about the nation and its political situation growing up. This was another reason why Zeke had dismissed the idea of Hitutsa invading them.

"They expected an especially large wave this year, for which King Hitutsa IX had gathered his army and scores of Liberomancers to meet the threat, right here," Lance continued, pointing to a spot on the map near their capital. "Dryads require large amounts of fresh water, so it is easy enough to predict where they would go - near the branches of the Ragini. And so this is where he intended to meet them, where so many past kings had done the same… only, things went different this time around. The numbers were about the same as they were expecting, a huge wave of around one hundred and forty thousand, large, yes, but still manageable for them and not the largest seen in their kingdom's history. Only, the dryads didn't move as expected. Instead of moving towards their capital, they instead decided to move south. This border fortress spotted them, but they completely ignored the fortress it seems."

"So then…" Zeke said, beginning to arrange the pieces together in his head. "Are they moving here? Towards Chipker?"

"They have already started crossing the border, my son," Lance said grimly. He moved one of the wooden blocks southward. "And seeing where they are right now, what would the most natural path be for them to follow?" He traced a line along the Ragini with his finger, down to where it branched off into the Arconia, and finally, to the city itself.

The Arconia, the great branch of the Ragini that was the lifeblood of their city, looked like it was going to be the cause of their downfall this time instead.

"Are we sure? What makes you think they won't go for the capital first?" Drake asked.

"An invading army would do that," Lance said, nodding. "It would be the correct decision from a militaristic point of view. But these things do not seem to have much intelligence, and the capital, unlike Arconia, is not in close proximity to a branch of the Ragini. The dryads will stay very close to where there is fresh water from what we know of their behavior. Also, the capital is more well fortified than Arconia; and even if they went there, I don't think the capital would have a problem rebuking this invading force. The issue lies with us… I have already sent missives to the capital and some contacts within Hitutsa. Unfortunately, this is not a problem we are used to dealing with, given this is the first time in all of recorded history that such a large group of dryads has come along this way!"

"What caused them to do that?" Zeke wondered.

"Who knows why they behave the way they do?" Lance muttered. "Regardless of the reason, it doesn't change the fact that it looks like they will be at our doorstep soon."

"Is it possible to negotiate with them?" Drake asked. Even barbarians could usually be reasoned with to some extent.

"Reports on how intelligent they are vary," Lance said. "Some say they are little more than animals, but others say that there are those among them whose intelligence approaches that of a somewhat dimwitted human. Regardless, they are only here for one thing - fresh blood. And whether they get that from livestock, from humans, or from lizardmen - it is all the same to them." A chill crept over the room at those words.

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