Chris makes his way through the teleportation and out of the forest and soon reaches Amber Village.
"My Lord!", Tom the guard captain exclaims gleefully as he sees Chris.
"Hello Tom, how are things here?", Chris asks casually.
"Everyone is arguing over how to deal with this dragon crisis. Some of us keep saying the you will soon come and sort everything out. Now that you are here, we should head straight to the village hall.", Tom answers with an exhausted look.
"Tom, my friend and fellow warrior, we will make it through this just like everything else. Don't worry and steel yourself for battle. You know, I am known as a dragon slayer these days.", Chris says with a reassuring smile and finishes with a wink.
Chris and Tom get to the village hall. Everyone he would expect are gathered there, but there is one new face and a rather special one at that.
"Hi everyone, I am back to sort out this whole dragon crisis. Before we begin, who is this beautiful woman?", he says as he walks in.
"My Lord, I am Noctera, emissary of the Goddess. I have come to aid you in this time of need and help you defend against the forces of darkness.", Noctera introduces herself.
"We are indeed in a dire situation. Facing such a threat as an ancient dragon, we have no choice but to retreat.", Noctera says solemnly.
Chris looks to Amelia to confirm Noctera's words and she simply nods.
"Welcome emissary Noctera! Now that you are here, I will show you just how wrong you are. We have stood strong against the forces of evil before and we will again. This time however, we will need to be even better prepared.", Chris says confidently.
"Thor and Tom, what defensive strategies have you come up with?", Chris adds.
"Ahem... We haven't really discussed this yet as most would agree with Noctera and have been pushing for us to evacuate. However, if we are to face a dragon I think we would need some sort of major ranged weaponry or a small army of mages.", Thor answers feeling slightly embarrassed that he isn't better prepared.
"I agree with Thor, but we also need cover for our soldiers to be able to avoid the dragon's breath. Our current wooden walls will not suffice. I think that we would have a good chance if we could make our defence at Harborton with their stone walls. Maybe we could lure the dragon there?", Tom adds.
"That won't do. We can't endanger Harborton like that. However, stone walls would definitely be valuable. We will start construction as soon as the dwarves arrive!", Chris answers.
Everyone looks at Chris with shocked expressions.
"Are we going to build stone walls? And dwarves are coming to help?", Tom says still feeling the shock, but also slightly hopeful.
"Won't that take too long?", he quickly adds with a dejected look.
"I have also asked for aid from Harborton and the mages. On top of that I have hired a large number of workers and mercenaries. With all the help that will be coming I think that we can achieve quite a bit. Still, you do have a point. We need to know when the enemy is coming and if we can, we should delay them as long as possible.", Chris explains.
There are further questions and discussions and they continue making plans for the rest of the day. Finally, they agree to fortify the village. They will focus on building small stone watchtowers with ballistas around the village. If there is time, they will build stone walls between them and dig a moat.
Noctera will help design the ballistas and the dwarves should be able to help them build strong stone towers and walls.
Furthermore, Chris will bring a small force including Serena to scout the fortress to the West which is supposed to be the enemy base. Their mission will be to gather information and do their best to delay the enemy for as long as possible.
Amelia and her priests will prepare holy objects to help in the fight.
Thor and the others will help wherever they can and prepare an army of villagers and mercenaries.
Just after the long crisis meeting, Thor tells Chris that there is now a partially finished Lord's Manor where he can stay and says that Serena has been staying there for now. Chris thanks him for his good work.
Chris walks over to Amelia and they embrace each other in a long hug.
"I missed you", Amelia says with a slight pout.
Chris gives her a loving kiss in response.
"I apparently have a Manor now, or a partial one at least. Serena seems to be staying there for now though. Maybe we should just go to your house?", Chris says and strokes Amelia's hair.
Amelia nods and takes Chris' hand in hers.