CHAPTER 47: GIDEON CRAZY PLAN

"What are you really talking about?" asked Lena.

Gideon smiled. He glanced briefly at Luke, giving him a hand signal to return to the tent. Luke understood, nodded, and walked away from the village, leaving Lena alone with Gideon.

"Last night, Luke and I heard an explosion coming from the ruins of the city. I decided to deploy a drone to scout the area."

"What did you find?" asked Lena, curious.

"Lizards. Some kind of lizardmen race living in the city sewers. There are hundreds of them."

"Lizardmen? Do such things really exist?"

"Don’t forget, we’re in a fantasy world. Anything can happen," Gideon replied.

Lena nodded. Seeing Lamia, a half-human half-snake being, had already been enough to shock her. Now Gideon was saying there were lizardmen living in the sewers beneath the ruins of the city. That was far beyond her imagination as a human.

But Gideon would not tell her something like that without having solid proof of their existence. Lena kept looking straight ahead, clearly seeing the serious look on Gideon’s face.

He only looked like that when he was thinking hard, putting together a plan. Operation Blackwater was no longer just about saving the villagers and the river.

It now had the potential to become a war between races.

If that happened, there would only be chaos and inevitable destruction. Gideon was already trying to figure out the best way to stop the war.

"Could the lizardmen be the ones who polluted the river?" Lena asked.

Gideon nodded, then explained what Lady Siver had told him and Luke earlier. It was about the beginning of the hostility between the Lamia and the Lizardmen. Lena listened carefully, her sharp mind able to put the pieces together.

"My guess was right. The Lizardmen poisoned the river to drive the Lamia out. That has been their tactic from the start," Lena concluded.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked again, turning her eyes back to Gideon.

Gideon let out a deep breath. With things already like this, as the leader of a tactical military team, he had to pay attention to several things, one of them being how to form the right kind of alliance.

The Lamia and the Lizardmen had nothing to do with Gideon personally, but he had to calculate the best way to win this case.

To do that, Gideon had to study the roots of the conflict between the two races. Who started it, who kept fueling it.

To uncover that, he needed to bring together both versions of the story, from the Lamia and from the Lizardmen.

"I may have the best plan for this. Tonight, gather in the tent."

"Yes, Captain."

Lena excused herself to return to the common kitchen, where she would tell Lyra about Gideon’s orders. That afternoon, Lyra and one of the kitsune were able to handle the cooking. That gave Lena time to do her work, providing medical care to the Lamia races.

She was not alone. Two kitsune came to help her. Following Lena’s instructions, the sick were separated from the healthy. The villagers were also told to start cleaning their homes and surroundings.

They listened, even though before this they had refused the humans’ presence, fearing they would take over the village. In reality, the humans came with good intentions—giving food, cleaning the area, and healing the sick.

The fear of the Lamia villagers began to fade, replaced by respect.

Their work went on until sunset. Torches were lit to brighten the area, and Lena stepped out of the emergency tent after treating patients. She removed her white gloves and mask, finished with her duties.

Following Gideon’s orders, she went toward his tent and saw Lyra was already there. Lena was the last to arrive, and Gideon welcomed her with a smile.

"So, how is it?" asked Lena as she accepted a cup of hot chocolate from Lyra.

"I plan to side with the Lamia, even with the Lizardmen out there," Gideon answered.

"What do you mean?" asked Lena.

"At first, I thought about siding with them after I learned they had a large population. The Mythic Kingdom needs strength, and the Lizardmen have it."

"But then I looked at the condition of the Lamia. They have been wounded and suffering for years, with only a few men left among them. They can hardly fight anymore."

"I realized something when I compared the two races. The Lizardmen are brutal."

"If they have so many people, why didn’t they just wipe out the Lamia instead of poisoning them?" Gideon asked.

"I don’t know."

"Because they are afraid of the Lamia."

"I don’t know what kind of power the Lamia have that would make the Lizardmen afraid."

"Are you making a plan?" said Siver’s voice.

Surprised, Gideon turned and saw Lady Siver coming into their camp alone, without anyone with her. Gideon stood up and invited her to sit down.

Lady Siver admitted she had come to tell them many things, especially about the conflict between the Lamia and the Lizardmen.

Siver did not hesitate to share, because she believed Gideon and his team needed that information. Gideon and the others listened.

The beginning of the conflict between the Lamia and the Lizardmen started when the Lamia came to the swamp and decided to settle, while the Lizardmen lived elsewhere. Seeing that the Lamia village was more prosperous made the Lizardmen jealous.

They launched the first war against the Lamia, but the Lamia won. Out of five wars, the Lizardmen only won once. The Lamia won the rest.

The last war was a hundred years ago, at the peak of Lamia’s power. But since the river became polluted, the Lamia village declined until many of them died.

Gideon glanced at Lena. She nodded, feeling the same thing Siver felt. With Siver’s explanation, Gideon finally had a foundation to act on. He had already set his target.

"I hope... you can help us."

Lena was moved. She stepped closer to Lady Siver and hugged her tightly, trying to ease her worries. Gideon saw her sadness. What had happened to the Lamia made him even more determined to finish this mission.

"Don’t worry. We will help you," Gideon said.

"If you succeed in helping us, I am willing to follow you."

"Don’t think about that. You should go back and rest tonight," Gideon replied.

Lady Siver nodded. She wiped her tears and took her leave from Gideon’s team. Lena walked her back, then returned and joined the planning.

"So, are we going to kill those lizards?" asked Luke.

"If we kill their leader, a new one will rise. They are solitary creatures," Gideon answered.

"Right, not like ants."

"So what then?" Luke asked.

Gideon fell silent, glancing from time to time at the river that flowed past the ancient ruins. An idea crossed his mind, something that might work to drive the lizardmen away. It was better than killing them all.

"There’s no other way. That’s the only thing I can think of."

"What is it?" Luke asked, even more curious.

"We drive them out by flooding the sewers."

"Just like Noah’s Flood?"

"Yeah, Noah’s Flood."