The Phoenix Chronicles: The Curse of Lustria

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Lucia the Impretis

(NARRATED BY CAMERON SETLER)

General Mason was a self-proclaimed coffee addict, so it wasn't surprising that we found her in the hotel lounge with a steaming cup of brew in hand, arguing with Lieutenant Samson over who-knows-what. In fact, they were so busy bickering that they didn't even stop to acknowledge us when we approached them.

"I don't care what you think!" Samson cried passionately, sitting at the edge of his seat. "The Blue Squad is the greatest movie of all time! Romance films are lame!"

"Just because it features a bunch of explosions and is based on a true story... that makes it a better film than A Fond Memory?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"Wow, men are so stupid!"

Samson finally turned to me: "Back me up here, cupcake: Blue Squad or Fond Memory?"

"Blue Squad, hands down."

"Why?" demanded Mason.

"Well, for one, A Fond Memory is severely unrealistic. No chick would ever tolerate a guy with a mood disorder who is that socially inept."

"I try my best," Esther commented flatly.

Mason took a sip of her coffee and sighed, "Anyway, we have an update on the war for you kids."

"What is it?" Levi inquired.

Setting her cup down on the table in front of her, she responded, "The Order of the Divine Servants has decided to pull out to train their new recruits. Meanwhile, a large chunk of the Divinian forces have also backed off. Therefore, Irrencia and Orcana won't really be needing us for the time being."

"What about Narida?" asked Lola.

"No word on an invasion yet, but Queen Cecilia has declared war anyway. She even put out a threat that if anyone attacks Naridan soil, she'll use every weapon in existence to wipe them out."

Samson chuckled, "I don't know if she actually meant that, but you've got to love Queen Cecilia."

"Still, though," Mason spoke, now somber, "something about the way this war is being fought really bugs me."

"What might that be?" I asked.

"Well, for starters, both sides have demonstrated a fair amount of incompetence, unpreparedness, and general unwillingness to engage in mass numbers. When it comes to the Divinians, they've just been buying time waiting for their deadly rituals to speed up an even deadlier ritual. Meanwhile, our side didn't even make the war public until the previous king of Aridia was assassinated and Averon was destroyed. And even since then, all they've committed to so far is a quasi-war. Eventually, it should get to the point where the enemy will run out of opportunities to conduct these rituals and have to rely on conventional warfare to power their ultimate ritual. When that time comes, we had better be more prepared than we are now."

"Agreed," Samson grunted, "Unfortunately, I don't make all the decisions."

"Anyway," Mason sighed, "we've already sent everyone else to Narida."

"How'd you know where the Guardian was?" I questioned.

"I told them," said Esther.

"Really? You know the Guardian of Lustria?"

She nodded slowly. "His name is Umbrius Caligini, an elf descended from Lustria herself."

"Cal-ig-ee-nee?" I repeated. "Is that with a hard 'g' or soft?"