***The City of Montserrant…***
While the queen of the Cole Miners' Guild, Paula Cole, pledged her loyalty to the Overseer Saint, problem remained.
"…"
In the 'war council' held in the bowels of Montserrant, Paula invited Seirna Stephanie to come, for they had pressing matters to solve before launching their rebellion.
"…"
There was an atmosphere of dread and confusion the moment the Overseer Saint appeared at the council, that was supposed to include only the trusted leaders of the miners' guild. Everyone stared at the newcomer, for they could never be sure of her intentions…
Still, Seirna knew their thoughts, and she sought to calm their fears by saying, "If you're doubting my goals, dwarves, then let me state that I'm on your side. The Prince Giuseppe Uhrian, Stadtholder of the League of the Valley Cities of Chersea, sent me to help you throw off the yoke of this faithless church your fathers created."
"Our apologies, lady," one of the dwarves answered, subtly showing her his battle axe in a veiled attempt to threaten her. "We don't play 'fighting' here; this council is to discuss the future of our guild and of our people."
"I plead that you watch your words, Lord Alrgrim," Paula defended the Overseer Saint. "The person you are speaking to is one of the Saints of Chersea!"
There was a chorus of disbelief across the hall, though the dwarf lord remained defiant and suspicious. "A saint?" he scoffed, "Please pardon me, my queen, but pray, what dominion is Her Holiness associated with? Human? Beastfolk? Elves? Or those accursed Demons?"
Paula was about to reply when Seirna signaled for her to let her. She curtly said, "No one."
The dwarf lord laughed. "Don't play a joke on us dwarves, Missy, especially not on me! I may have banged my head on the rocks a lot of times, but my memories are still intact. If you claimed you're the Human Saint—or anyone of those holy ladies—you may have fooled some of us, but to outright say that you're a Saint of No One…that's pretty brave of you."
"Well, be grateful that I seek an alliance with you, for I have greater problems to deal with than with your shameful unbelief!" Seirna smirked. "And I'll forgive you for your forefathers' sin of forgetting about me. So, I'll make an exception; I won't annihilate your people, just pledge your loyalty to me."
"Make me then!"
The Overseer Saint could always erase the dwarf lord's existence, though this time, she wanted to impress everyone, as well as to led them to place their faith on Kuro. Still, Seirna had to make an example of those who defy her, so…
"!!!"
The dwarf lord howled in pain as he realized that the battle axe he was holding was now burning. He quickly let go of it, and it caught fire…black flames, just like those shooting out from the Overseer Saint's hands. Everyone in the council watched helplessly, as the fire consumed the weapon and turned it into a metallic goo.
"…" No one dared to speak after that.
Reading their minds, Seirna reassured them, "You see now, unbelieving dwarves? I'm an existence that is greater than any mortal of this accursed land. Your books may have omitted me, but hear that my name is Seirna Stephanie, the Saint of the Apocalypse…the heir to the will of the Lord Gaius himself! Defy me, and you'll suffer the same inglorious end as that battle axe. However, be my friend, and you'll live and prosper. Now, who dares to prove my words?"
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Well, that was enough grandstanding for the day. When the dwarves realized that they were in the presence of a being that was more powerful than all of them combined, the doubts vanished and friendship was accorded. And though Paula was the queen of the guild, she was given the most prominent seat at the war council, where the former used to sit. Maps were brought out, and spread all over the table, with the other dwarves putting small 'figures' of planes in certain parts to depict the disposition of their forces.
"Your Holiness," the queen began, "we beseech your wisdom in dealing with our problems, should we launch our rebellion."
Seirna leaned closer and asked, "What is it?"
"Are you aware of the military airships of the Church?"
"Those giant bags of floating coffins?"
Silence. The dwarves were pleasantly surprised at the words of the Overseer Saint. One of them muttered, "I like that: floating coffin!"
However, Seirna corrected herself, so as not to send the 'wrong signal' to the dwarves. "Well, I know of those airships. Aside from transports, you dwarves use those for military purposes, right? Basically, a 'mother ship' meant to enforce 'authority' in one area."
"Yes, Your Holiness," Paula nodded. "And going back to our problem, our forces are still too few to conduct a 'raid' in Hemelin." She pointed at the map, "And even before we arrived at Hemelin, we'll have to go through the forces of the Bishop of Montserrant, whose purpose was to keep us confined in this place…far from their Golden Hammer's city."
"And the airships?"
"The Bishop was given three of those," the queen admitted. "And if we attacked now, there are simply not enough planes to destroy his forces, as well as to keep up with our estimated casualties. Not to mention, our logistics will not be enough to cover the flight of our squadrons from this place Hemelin."
"What's your plan?" the Overseer Saint put up the question, not that she didn't know what to do next, but to test Paula. Seirna wanted to make sure that the queen was committed to her rebellion, after all.
"Our original plan is to conduct three more air shows and recruit more skilled pilots for our squadrons," she told her. "Then, we also drafted plans to infiltrate the Bishop's air forces, and steal an airship, should we decide to take the fight to Hemelin. See, Your Holiness, we have to remove the immediate threat to us, so before Hemelin, we have to deal with the Bishop first. I'm not sure of the odds of victory for these, but it's the only option we have on the table…until the Prince Uhrian came to help us."
"I understand," the saint took a deep breath, then stood up. "Well then, let's go."
"Y-Your Holiness?"
"You heard me," Seirna's confidence was oozing. "I said, 'let's go'."
"W-Where to?" one of the dwarves in the council asked.
"We're going to destroy that Bishop's air armies, and go to Hemelin as well."
Everyone who heard her exchanged confused and horrified looks. But the Overseer Saint reassured them, "You're under my protection, the Saint of the Apocalypse. And when I say we'll do those, I can make things happen. Dwarf queen, prepare your squadrons; we're going to help the Lord Kuro!"