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In the Capital of Wize, Pshen

King Jai Orun the new King was having a meeting with his two most trusted Generals. By now the Civil war progressing well, seven provinces had sworn allegiance to Jai, while four provinces were with Hadia, and only Bintan remained neutral.

He would have loved for things to move forward quickly, but Bale had thrown a wrench in his plans by breaking Farouk out of prison and now he had more problems to deal with..

"What are we going to do now my liege?" one of his Generals named Hamed asked.

"We can't allow this action by Omi to go unpunished," he said

"Hamed is right, we can't just let them do such a thing with any repercussions..." the second general, General Zai replied

"We're not going to make a move on Omi... for now". Jai said.

He understood the reason for Bale's actions and knew Bale would react when he found out Jai took Larry Dew from Omi.

The consequences of his actions had led to their current predicament and there was nothing he could do about it, what was done was done.

"So how are we going to deal with the old dog?" General Zai asked.

"Where was the last place he was spotted? Jai asked

"Just around amnabad, in Jubai, he has been going around breaking his captured men out of prison, but we don't know what his plan is in Jubai since none of his men are there." General Hamed replied

"Do you think he's after the Yaya family, we know their support has been an important factor in our pursuits, if we lose them, it will be a major blow...." General Zai pointed out

"That's not going to happen Jai said. The old dog won't take on the Yaya family, he's not powerful enough to do anything against them."

"He might be the once feared old dog, but he's still just a man. Taking out a whole family as strong as they are is something only a few people can do, and Farouk is not one of them". Jai said.

"What I'm worried about is that he might be looking for something else, or someone," Jai stated.

"What is that?" General Zai asked.

"Sum (read chapter 65, symbols) I think he's trying to get to them". Jai said.

"What? We all know how elusive The Sum is when it comes to being found. Even with all the resources at our disposal, we are yet to find out anything about them" General Hamed said.

"It might have been difficult for us, but Farouki served Ken for thirty years, there's no surprise if he knows where to look," Jai stated

"But why Jubai?" General Zai asked.

"That's what I'd like to find out too". Jai said

"With a battle at Sworis or even Amresh, becoming inevitable since Hadia is getting more desperate, and Bintan still yet to choose a side, We need to make sure we keep the old dog in check while dealing with Hadia and even Bintan." General Zai said

"There's no way we can mobilize a reasonable army against Bintan without opening ourselves up for a counterattack, but if we leave them alone, it will be dangerous if we let Hadia get to Bintan...."

"Bintan is not important", King Jai said...

"Once the war is won, Bintan will fall in line, and If Bintan actually falls to Hadia, then I'll deal with it," King Jai said.

"What do you think the real problem with this war is Generals?"

Everyone looked at each other confused as to why the King asked such a question. It was obvious the intervention of Eru had made the war difficult, and Omi undermining them while pretending to be an ally didn't help either, but if they were to say the real problem of the war for them it was Sum, the most mysterious unit amongst the king's army.

"I need to take down Sum, They are the only thing that has evaded me since I took the throne. I won't be surprised if they are the reason why the war has dragged on. They seem to be pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"If I may ask my liege, why didn't you keep King Ken hostage until he told you about Sum?". General Zai asked

"Even if I tortured him, I'm certain King Ken would budge. I know him better than anyone "Jai said.

"So how do we get information about Sum?". General Zai asked

"We must draw them out. It's the only way". Jai replied

"How do we do that?".

"I've been investigating something for the past four months, about the night of the fallen sun, and it's time to use the information I found. The Sum have always been loyal to the royal line. They would never betray the king and it's obvious they won't support anyone who betrays their king. What I'll do is to give them that King that they long for, and, since Ken is dead, I will give them the hope they've been dying to have" Jai explained.

"What is that?" General Hamed asked

"My spy in Bintan has given me some interesting information. It turns out my nephew is alive" King Jai said with a smirk

"Everyone opened their eyes wide in shock", Jai looked studying their expressions before smiling and continued.

"He'll be my bait for sum. I'll dangle the fool in front of them and I'm sure they'll bite".

"But, don't you think sum already knows about the prince being alive?"

"I don't think they do. They would have approached him. Infact, I'm sure Rashid is not aware that the Prince of Wize is so close to him" Jai said.

"So what's next," General Zai asked

"Well, we push forward. In the coming weeks, Bintan would probably fall, after that, I'm sure Hadia would move against either Sworis or Amresh" Jai replied

"Then we should mobilize our forces to defend..." Hamed tried to speak but Jai cut him off

"There's no need for that, Amresh and Sworis can fend for themselves for a while. For now, I plan on dealing with the biggest problem first."

"And what is that?". General Zai asked

"Farouk. That damned Bale caused a very unpleasant problem by releasing the old dog. That man should be put back in his place." Jai said.

"So, let's take care of him first. After that we help out Sworis to deal with the attack, after which I have one nasty surprise for Hadia". Jai said and left the room.

Immediately he left the room Abaddon spoke.

"The boy from Omi Beel's vessel found. I want him" he said

"I know, I know. I've asked someone to look into him, once I get the needed information I'll find a way to bring him here' Jai replied.

"What about the last Child Thia Leye, have you found anything about her?" Abaddon asked

"Not yet. I only found out her village was destroyed by slavers belonging to the Pestilence faction and she was sold to an occultic noble whose whole cult was wiped out. A mysterious event, like you said. Although Eru tried to hide it, it seems someone survived that ordeal" Jai said.

"The curse of death" Abaddon said

"It seems you are getting closer to finding those three. What do you plan on doing to them?' Jai asked.

"You deal with your business King Jai, I'll deal with mine" Abaddon said.

"Your business is my business demon. But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Jai replied