Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 66: A Message to the Sky

Marcy marched to the throne room where King Andrias was most likely located. She paid no heed to the guards who were stationed all over the castle. After Sasha broke out of the dungeon with her own army, the royal newt guard beefed-up security. Every door in the halls of the castle had at least two guards stationed in front of it.

The guards recognized Marcy and allowed her to enter the throne room. At the foot of the throne stood two newts. General Yunan and Marshal Kerry.

"Ah Marcy! Wonderful to see you!" King Andrias greeted her. "Just in time too. I was about to send someone to get you."

Marcy stopped at the foot of the throne. She looked incredibly serious which was odd for the usually cheerful and excitable girl everyone had known her to be. "I spoke with Drake last night. He said your men tried to execute Sasha. Is that true?"

Kerry shifted a bit but otherwise kept his composure. "Impossible! The dungeon guards are under my command, and they don't act without my orders."

King Andrias raised his hand which silenced the Marshal. Then he stood up from the throne. "I can assure you Mar-Mar, I haven't given any orders like that."

"Don't forget, Drake is the enemy now. He will say anything to undermine the king's authority." General Yunan reminded her.

"He is trying to plant doubt into your mind. Don't fall for it." Kerry added.

"Silence!" King Andrias declared. The two military officers in the room froze, looking up at the giant king. "Marcy, I understand you are worried about your two friends. But you must understand, we are in a state of war. Nothing is guaranteed."

"But what about Sasha or Drake? I don't think I could live with myself if either of them died." Marcy declared.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of them. In the meantime, I have your most important mission yet." King Andrias picked up a giant letter and placed it in front of Marcy. It was almost as big as she was. "This is a royal decree ordering the Southern Toad Army to march to Newtopia and break the siege. I need you to deliver this letter and accompany them back to Newtopia. You're the only one I can trust to pull off this mission."

Marcy looked at the letter in front of her. If she agreed to deliver the letter, she would effectively be committing to one side in the siege with no way of turning back.

On one hand, she had been working with King Andrias since Sasha's initial takeover. What was supposed to be a less than a day conflict had dragged on for half a week. Much longer than either side had anticipated. Now the siege was turning into a prolonged struggle with no end in sight. This may be the key to victory and with it, an end to the conflict.

On the other hand. Being forced to oppose Sasha during her initial rebellion was a difficult thing to do. She had only done it because of a promise of a better future that would have Sasha in it. What if something happened to Drake or Sasha?

Seeing her hesitation, King Andrias spoke up. "Those reinforcements are our best hope right now. We can put an end to the fighting. Remember the plan we agreed on?"

Marcy looked up at the king and nodded. She grabbed the letter and began her preparations to leave Newtopia.

A few hours later, Marcy was at the top of the castle with Anne and the Plantars. There were a few places in Newtopia dedicated to aerial takeoffs and landing.

"Good luck Marcy. We'll hold down the fort." Anne said.

"Don't worry Anne, I'll be back with help as soon as possible." Marcy reassured her.

The two hugged, then Marcy climbed onto Joe Sparrow and took off. She watched Anne and the Plantars waving goodbye as Joe Sparrow took her higher and higher. The Plantar family became smaller and smaller with every passing second. Once they were above the clouds, Joe turned south.

Meanwhile, at the toad siege camp. Sasha stood at a table in a makeshift war room. With her stood the leaders of the Western and Eastern Toad Armies. Captain Beatrix and Captain Bufo. Captain Aldo was the only one absent. Mainly because he couldn't be moved. Not even in a wagon.

"Status report." Grime said.

"Our armies are assembled, and we've finished setting up our camp. The newt raids had slowed us down but now that our defenses are ready, they should be little more than an inconvenience." the samurai toad, Captain Bufo explained.

"We were expecting you to have the gates opened but after the first day, we realized we may have to settle in for a siege. Looks like those newts were tougher than you thought." Captain Beatrix teased.

"They narrowly won because of the efforts of two humans and a bunch of frogs. I can assure you; their victory is temporary." Grime replied.

"You lost to a bunch of frogs? I thought you were tougher than that Grimothy." Captain Beatrix laughed.

"Enough!" Sasha interjected. "Like it or not, our plan failed. We won't be able to take Newtopia the quick way anymore. Now is not the time to start pointing fingers! We need to work together and salvage this operation."

"Ah yes, listen to the hummis. As I recall, there are three hummises working for the newts right now." Captain Beatrix joked.

Grime pulled out his giant warhammer which silenced his sister Beatrix. Barrel's Warhammer was one of the toad's most famous cultural artifacts. With it, Grime was the leader of all toads. "I suggest you pay close attention to rank the next time you address Queen Sasha. Sasha is your superior as well."

Sasha smiled. She had given herself the title of queen back in the throne room when she had her conversation with Drake but now it seemed official.

A soldier suddenly ran into the tent. "Captains! We have a situation. The newts have flown a messenger out."

The toads along with Sasha ran out the tent and looked up in the sky. A giant sparrow flew overhead, one that both Grime and Sasha recognized as Joe Sparrow.

"Do we have a shot?" Captain Beatrix asked.

"Unfortunately, they're flying too high. Our arrows won't be able to reach them." the soldier replied.

"Are they calling for reinforcements? Do they have another army somewhere?" Sasha asked.

"We kept a close eye on this region before marching here. There is nobody else aside from us." Captain Bufo answered.

"They're obviously doing something. Send out patrols and keep an eye out for enemy reinforcements." Grime ordered.

Author's Note

________________________________________________________________________________

Hey everyone. I know I've been gone for a while. Thank you very much for your patience. I did have to reevaluate some things about the Siege of Newtopia. Needed to think about everyone's position and where I wanted them.

Anyway, looks like the war is escalating. More groups are being pulled into the conflict. But I think most importantly, it might be time to start thinking about which names I should cross off on that kill list first.