"And what would ye have us do? Bow like the rest ah ya?"
Not old yet not quite young any longer, the Dwarven King posed this question to the Celestial standing before him. It hadn't been the first time they had spoken, but it was the first time he'd been so blatantly asked by the Celestial to give up on the war.
The King wore no crown on his head. The only thing signifying his position was the red cape draped over his shoulders and the deference his kind showed him.
A long beard, thick arms, three foot six in height, and stocky, broad shoulders. A Dwarves Dwarf. The man personified the word for his people to the world, the Celestial thought.
"I am not saying you must bow before him, but the war wil-"
"Of course ye aren't saying it! Is implied! Just like the Elves, the Minotaurs, the Dogs for the little they be worth... every clan who lives under the cross is under your Emperor's thumb and pays for it! We won't. Hellials be damned, we won't give our lands to a greedy, miserable, cunt of a Human. We'll let the demons raze our homes to the ground before we let that man move in. The news ye bring this time doesn't worry me, Duflos. It excites me. If the damn Hellials truly are back on the lower half it means my war has become easier."
The man was as stubborn as ever. Truly, a Dwarves Dwarf.
Carien looked around the room for any sign of unrest at the King's words but saw only hardened resolve on every face save those he'd brought along. The King's people were there to die for him if ordered. Carien admired that.
"Your forts won't last forever against his armies, Dagon. It is only a matter of time before their mages grow strong enough to take them down and when that happens, it won't be an Empire you serve as a people but as slaves. Already, I know of a Human child who has learned magic at the age of three, possibly younger. What will he be capable of at the age of one hundred? I am here for your citizens, my friend. Please reconsider," Carien implored.
He knew it would fall on deaf ears, but he had to try anyway. The man was stubborn, but he was also a great leader. If it were the wishes of his people he would end his life. If it were the wishes of his people he would bow to the Empire. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The Dwarves face had seemed to fall slightly when he'd mentioned the boy, but resolve was still seen in his eyes when he spoke next.
"We have already decided as a people. Our lands will not be handed over willingly. Our freedom will not be stolen. Your Emperor will never be ours. We will fight to the last and he will get no slaves. All ye have told me is that we will have one hundred more years to enjoy our lives until the end. I thank you for your concern, but we will not back down, old friend. Lead him out," the King responded, consciously toning down the accent he held in Carien's eyes as if to show the thought that went into the statement.
Carien sighed as he was led away.
He had not lied, but he had chosen to allow Dagon to believe the boy to be on the Emperor's side. While it wasn't confirmed one way or another, Carien understood the boy's parents weren't exactly 'loyalists,' so the chances of the boy growing up to serve the Emperor were slim so long as he wasn't caught before he became strong enough to defend himself. His recent positive relationship with the Fae only helped strengthen Carien's theory.
The Fae were an enemy of the Empire and while not exactly kill on sight everywhere in the country, they were treated unfavorably within it. In the capital, if a Fae was discovered, it was to be executed immediately.
He hoped the boy wasn't going to aid the Emperor in his war efforts with the Dwarves in the future. Putting him down would be a waste of talent.
His thoughts carried him to his room where the guards sent to escort him left him to his own devices. No doubt, the King was holding a council to adjust his plans and give them the bad news. Carien walked over to his bed and took a seat.
Carien wasn't the King of the Celestials by any means as they did not have a King, but he was as close as one could get. He had the most support among the strong families and plenty of clout with other global powers, yet influencing the war was just beyond his reach. If he could stop the Emperor from waging his pointless wars to conquer the continent, he would, but the man underestimated the Hellials and the Nivari. Luckily, the two didn't seem to be working together just yet but if that changed...
The Dwarves would have been a good ally to have rather than another enemy.
"My liege."
A voice sounded out into the night behind Carien, startling him slightly and breaking him out of his thoughts. He stood up and turned to see... no one.
"I thought I told you never to announce yourself like that. Why are you here, Smith? Where is my scout?" he demanded. He'd asked that his scouts deliver the reports rather than this... disrespectful specimen.
The shadows in the room began to coalesce into the form of a man. Smith stepped forward from the corner he'd been 'created' in and spoke.
"You would not have believed your scout. I determined it was best to save time by coming myself to deliver this months report," Smith said in a matter of fact tone.
"I will be the judge of that. Let us hear your report," Carien stated with a hint of annoyance.
"Yes. The Fae have... stopped our observation privileges. We are no longer welcome to have the children under surveillance. Additionally-"
"Privileges?" Carien interrupted but was drowned out by the continued report.
"- the family has decided to take a trip. I believe the two have a connection of some kind. I had determined it the best course of action to pull your men back and have them continue surveillance of the town. However, one of your men was not compliant and tried to follow the family. He was thusly relieved of his life," Smith concluded.
Carien stared for a long while at the Human shaped shadow before responding.
"Tell me again because I believe I have misheard. You killed one of my men because he did not obey your orders?"
Rage barely contained, he had over-enunciated each word while ready to try to end the man's life by his own hands here and now if he had to.
"No, I stated he was relieved of his life. I had no part in it and warned him what his actions would bring," Smith responded.
Carien was taken aback at that and worked through what the man had said again, bringing him to the point where he'd been ignored.
The Fae had stopped their observation 'privileges.'
"What do you mean they have stopped your privilege to observe?"
"We are no longer welcome to observe them. They have warned us that going against their wishes will end in death."
Carien rolled his eyes.
"And this is stopping you from carrying out your duties why? You and my men are undetectable unless you will it. Continue to observe. Now, explain how my soldier di-"
"No."
Carien paused as Smith interrupted him. The man had been grating on Carien's nerves ever since he'd stepped into the room, but Carien kept his outburst in check once again, barely.
They never disobeyed or interrupted without reasoning.
"You are under contract. You're to-"
"We are to do anything you ask of us under the condition that it will not endanger our lives and in payment for that, you will allow us observation rights of your dalliances. That is the contract. I will not continue to observe the children so long as the Fae demand otherwise," Smith interrupted.
"... you are saying the Fae, the fairies that float about and are nothing more than a nuisance, threaten your continued existence if you go against their wishes."
"That is correct. Your scout was killed and his body returned to our camp encased in ice along with this note to confirm as such."
Smith took a step forward and reached out, depositing a note onto a nearby nightstand and a frozen body to the floor before receding back into his spot in the corner of the room.
Carien glanced at the body, then the note. It was unopened and addressed to him.
"What does it say?" he asked.
He had to stay professional. The creature had shown him his dead subordinate to get a reaction, it was best not to give one.
"I did not open it. It is addressed to you and warded," was the response.
Carien scoffed, "And you expect me to believe you did not read past the wards, through the envelope?"
The shades would not lie to him, but sly wording was always something he remained constantly wary of.
"I value my sanity, my liege. I would not try to force my way past a Fae ward. I do not know what is inside."
Carien lifted his eyebrows, surprised. The Shades rarely ever gave information or advice for free. Perhaps informing him that Fae wards were... exceptionally strong had been a slip of the tongue.
It was best to open this later when he was alone, then.
"Do you know where the family went to?"
"They were making plans to go to a lake on the southeastern portion of the mountains to give the boy some time to train in an open environment. They should be back within two months."
"... Very well. And what of the Hellial presence? Have you found their camp?"
"It is located west of Carlon in the mountains within a rather extensive cave. They are about 100 strong and not too impressive. It looks to be just a forward camp for one of their bands. Your scouts have determined that elimination of it is not advised, as that could cause their main camp to become more reckless in their attacks."
Carien nodded.
"You are dismissed. Continue observation of the town and camp while the family is gone."
The shadow nodded before it melded back into the darkness and was gone.
Carien sat back down on his bed and used his mana to eliminate a headache that had begun to form.
The Fae were apparently a lot more deadly than he'd ever given them credit for, one of the more powerful families daughters was currently missing while being protected by that unknown variable, the Dwarves were prepared to fight to their deaths, the Nivari hadn't been heard from or seen in over two months, he had to inform a family that their father was dead, and Hellials were currently establishing a stronghold on the continent while the Emperor ignored them.
'Why can't things ever be easy?' he wondered.
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Damien lifted his head and glanced around. The sun had set and he was currently lying with Alexa near the trees where she'd moved him. He wasn't wrapped in her wings, as usual, only laying on one of them, so he rolled off and stood up to examine his surroundings more thoroughly.
The trees stopped growing about one hundred feet away from the lakeshore and the grass turned into sand about forty feet away. The moon was out and full, yet it wasn't exactly cold, only cool. It felt like fall more than summer but that's just how it was near the mountain range. Temperatures never went to extremes during either of the opposite seasons unless you moved far away or further into the mountains.
He took off his shoes and moved closer to the water as quietly as he could, feeling as the cool grass changed to chilly sand, relishing in the tiny grains between his toes. Rare were the moments when he had time to himself and he wanted to savor it. He didn't know where the adults were, but he hoped they'd be gone for a while.
Damien kept walking until he was just to the edge of the water as it lapped up gently before him onto the shore. Moonlight lit the area as a breeze flowed into his face. It was one of the few moments of true peace he'd ever had since coming to this world.
Damien stood on the edge of the lake and removed his shirt, throwing it to the side. He took a stance and ran through the forms while humming slightly, using electricity in place of air this time.
It was exhilarating, the amount of raw power he felt when he transferred the lightning around his frame. He let it arc and zap his body but never allowed it to ground, continually keeping it in a state of entering his body and flowing out his palms into the air around him. It looked like he was holding a lightning bolt between his hands that constantly zapped him yet no pain ever followed the strikes.
It was his own mana and electricity, after all.
The performance attracted a few visitors from the forest as the Fae came to watch. They were unusually quiet, electing not to disturb the boy during his practice while rocking back and forth to the music he hummed, which was currently Don't Stop Believing. The familiar tune helped him relax, focusing on the movements and feel of the mana rather than overthinking each motion.
More Fae began to appear, this time coming from the lake. These were exclusively green-skinned with blue hair and a bit taller, yet all the same, they came to listen to the music and watch his dance.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Damien noticed the new arrival and stopped moving, allowing his electricity to ground out and receiving glares from his audience as his song ended as well. Before they could whine, he spoke in a hushed whisper.
"If you complain I won't sing anymore, so don't. Please. I would like to be alone from them," he gestured toward Alexa and where he thought Emily and Vanessa to be, "for a moment."
His tone and demeanor earned him a scowl, yet none of the few fairies that had gathered spoke up. He was being less and less respectful of them as time went on, but they were becoming more and more tolerant of him as well.
They sat and waited as the representative for the new group floated to him with the representative for the forest Fae that had been following them of late.
"This is a member of our sister race. They sometimes inhabit lakes or large ponds. Originally, they were here to claim you and take you away. I spoke with them to stop them. They would like to listen to your music if you would not mind," the red-haired Fae stated.
He seemed to keep his body consistent, perhaps to help Damien determine him from the rest. Same white suit, same red hair.
He glanced at the other fairy and took note of her. She was beautiful, in an exotic way. She had silver freckles adorning her face along with silver eyes, a unique feature among her brethren of the lake. Her hair was long enough to brush past her waist and she appeared to be in her early twenties, which was rather old by Fae standard.
She didn't speak but still nodded to him as he looked her over.
"That is fine. I had actually come here to sing hoping I could speak with her," he said, gesturing at the fairy. "I don't mind allowing them to listen to my music under the condition that they are not hurt or otherwise harm the members of my group. That means no stealing them away, as well. If they will abide by this without twisting the meaning behind my words, I wouldn't mind singing here every so often during our stay."
The fairy smiled slyly at his words while the red-haired Fae looked a tad shocked. He probably hadn't expected Damien to know the Fae favored lakes as a place of dwelling as well as forests, but he didn't know how much Damien had enjoyed stories of the Fae back on Earth.
The green one nodded her head at him and flew to his shoulder to sit, leaving Damien to be shocked. He had expected her to stay far away for now, not calmly stay by him. Even more so, since she had not yet said a word and he'd already tried to demand things from them.
It was smart for him to get that out of the way as soon as possible while they stayed here. Whereas Alexa could probably run far enough away for the land Fae to help in the event they tried to take her away, it was beneficial to take the more sure route than not.
Damien set back into his stance and began humming a new song. He wished he could hear the instruments play again. Music was as big a part of his life as anyone else and having it cut off completely was... unpleasant. People sang in this world too, but he had only heard a Bard performing once and it was extremely lackluster compared to Earth's standard of music.
Perhaps he could solve the problem with magic some day.
The fairy jumped and shot away from his shoulder as he brought his lightning back out, causing him to chuckle. The energy coursed through his body so she must have caught a bit of a shock from it.
'Serves her right,' he thought.
He had no doubt she would have tried to kidnap somebody from their group if they'd been appealing enough and everyone in his group was pretty.
The sky was unfortunately clear, so he couldn't test his theory just yet on cloud to ground lightning strikes. For now, he would work with extending his mana from his body and getting more comfortable with controlling larger amounts of electricity all at once.
An hour passed and soon, another followed. He'd stopped singing a while ago and the Fae had all departed save the freckled one. She seemed to be more enchanted by his magic than his singing as she followed the energy with her eyes, never once looking away.
It was embarrassing to have someone watch so closely as he practiced, but she didn't speak once and he soon forgot she was even there.
He had reached the limit of what he could control of the element, natural or not, two hours and thirty minutes into his practice after exhausting himself of mana three times over. It had taken a long time and a constant effort not to lose control of what he'd already produced, but he'd finally reached the point where creating any more would cause what he had already to dissipate.
The only reason he'd been able to keep the energy flowing at all was because he could store it inside his body to a certain extent. The lightning had a high cost when he was trying to maintain it far from his person, but when he hid the lightning inside his arms, legs, and stomach, the cost of maintaining its form went down astronomically.
Perhaps it was similar with light and fire, though he wasn't sure how he'd accomplish storing either inside of his body.
He'd moved quite a ways down the bank of the lake so as not to disturb his sleeping companions since the amount of light he'd been letting off was no small amount.
Lightning surrounded Damien at this point. He was shrouded in it. Covered from head to toe in a constant, pulsating mass of deadly energy. It was easiest to control when it covered him like a suit of armor and harder to control when he pushed it away from himself, which he did now in an effort to train.
The energy coalesced into a single, undulating bolt of pure electricity the length of a bus and the width of a man's arm. An unstoppable force of death, was he to target someone with it. It had taken him two and a half hours of constant manipulation and creation to get to this state but it reaffirmed in his mind how powerful he could make this element.
No one else could do this at his age or without communing, of that he was sure. They wouldn't be able to manipulate it well enough to control nearly the amount he was, not knowing how to prevent it from grounding naturally to conserve manipulation for finer aspects of managing the element, let alone being able to pull static from their surroundings into his control to cut drastically on creation costs. What he was doing now might be achievable by someone who had communed with the element, although that would depend on a lot of different variables. They'd probably need to be around one hundred years of age too. He was lucky his knowledge of the element had made it feasible at four and a half.
Damien danced in the moonlight with his servant of death swirling about at his commands. The energy followed obediently, twisting through the air at his whim. He'd noticed it didn't move nearly as fast as free-flowing electricity but he could still move it about at hundreds of miles per hour. Perhaps if he created an area of charge for it to go to and he let his control slip, it would then regain its freedom and flow at its natural speed before dissipating.
He would have to find out later.
More and more energy was lost over the next ten minutes he spent training. Some when he brought it too close to the ground, some due to its upkeep increasing, and the most when he attempted to split it in half and control two at once.
It had worked, but at the cost of nearly three-quarters of his hard created electricity. He now had two bolts roughly ten feet in length and half the size of a mans arm dancing around him. This was roughly about what he could create in one go without destroying his body anyway, so it was a good amount to practice with.
This had also taught him the key to using multiple instances of mana at once. Whereas with the same element it was much much easier, it would still cost him a ludicrous amount of control from just using one extra instance of mana. Three-quarters of his potential to conjure and manipulate two separate magics at once. Hardly worth it, but hopefully with practice that handicap would slowly disappear.
He was exhausted and dripping sweat from every orifice on his body, but smiling at what was going to come next. It was time to test out a few things to weaponize these harbingers of pain.
Willing the two bolts to a standstill on either side of himself, he grabbed onto the one to his right with his hand and fastened it into what looked like a spear of pure energy. Damien smiled as it took shape and he held it, able to feel the energy respond to his grip. He stared across the lake, choosing a spot with his mind and impressing upon the bolt of electricity that the spot he had chosen was its target. Vanessa had explained this was how you launched things outside your immediate control, so he tried doing it best he could.
Rotating his arm back, he took a step forward and threw with as much force as he could toward the opposite shore of the lake. Like a bullet shot from a gun, the lightning spear rocketed forward in a straight line unaffected by gravity. It looked breathtaking yet deadly as it shot forward, further than his ability to control it effectively, then into the water with a loud cracking sound when the will he had impressed upon it was spent. The lake exploded upwards and outwards with power as the bolt crashed into it, throwing water in every direction for hundreds of feet.
He was glad he'd moved so far away from his family.
On one hand, he was excited about the test. The electricity had flowed much faster than he thought it would, nearly reaching half a mile away within a second. On the other hand, it had only gone what looked like a half mile away from him and was definitely not in line with him and the target he had chosen.
He'd need to work on his aim and distance for sure.
He turned to his left where the other bolt hung, obediently waiting for a command. Damien pulled at the static energy still hovering in the ground and the air from the earlier discharges when he'd split his original lightning bolt. Some was still present, but he'd lost more than ninety percent of it. It was necessary to clear out the trail of ions it left behind as well or his new bolt might just follow its path.
He fed the energy into the bolt that was present before reaching outward with his mind. When he tried to focus in an area around himself, he could barely get his mana to span around twelve feet away in all directions, but when he narrowed the sense down to a line and focused away from himself, he could control things up to nearly one hundred and fifty feet away.
Like usual, controlling anything this far from his body was far from practical. He could manipulate earth or water, sure, but he couldn't create anything new at this location and could barely move a small rock if he threw everything he had into it. Luckily, that wasn't his goal this time.
Damien created a piece of purely positive charge through his body and pushed it forward about a hundred feet, resting it near a rock before he could feel the limits of his control waning on his two constructs. He could feel the energy in the two separate pieces pulling toward each other more than the surrounding area which brought him no small amount of joy. It was exactly what he was hoping would happen.
Damien lifted the bolt of energy closest to him into the sky slightly and felt as the lightning lost much of its pull into the ground yet kept it toward the other charge. Then, he stopped holding it back.
In an instant, all of the energy disappeared from his control. Small amounts shot into his body and flew out his feet into the ground, not harming him because it was still under his influence, but the vast majority of it exploded into the rock with the sound of thunder.
He regretted not moving further away from his family, this time. He also regretted shooting a rock.
Shards of stone shot forth from the impact and threatened to eviscerate him as Damien hit the ground while directing a layer of sand to create a wall in front of him. Still, some got through and embedded themselves into his scalp and shoulders while others sliced into his arms. All did minimal damage thankfully due to the sand dampening the speed at which they flew.
He stood up a few moments later and dusted himself off upon which he noticed the Fae had been clinging to him. She had likely attached herself to his leg in an effort to avoid the shrapnel and it had worked. She wasn't hurt in the slightest.
'Lazy,' he thought.
The woman could have easily created her own barrier that had been impenetrable yet she'd chosen to use him. Typical of a fairy, but he was glad she hadn't been harmed.
He walked over to the rock he'd shot to examine his handiwork and found it was completely obliterated. The energy had been far more dense and potent than that of a natural lightning bolt, heating the rock insanely fast and causing it to explode outward rather than melt. Not a single piece of the rock had remained in its original location.
A small amount of molten earth gave off light as he looked at where the energy entered the ground before dissipating. Even the trees surrounding the rock seemed to be singed.
This test brought him endless joy and a bit of panic. This meant he could, in fact, direct lightning out of the sky and could also instantly injure someone if they weren't expecting it. If he caught anyone off guard, he could very well kill them assuming they didn't have a plan in place for an electrical attack. He doubted many would.
Unfortunately, if he could do this much destruction, he couldn't even fathom what some of the ancient people of this world could accomplish.
Damien smiled down at the Fae who had crawled up his back and sat on his shoulder.
"With this, I won't have to be so afraid anymore. I just need to work on the time it takes to gather the energy you've just witnessed. Once I do that... I think I'll be ok. I think we'll all be ok."
Just a few hours of test runs on his theories and already he felt more able to defend himself and his family than ever before. This month was going to be worth everything he'd put up with to get here. He was becoming something much more powerful than a Human of Earth.
"I'm changing, aren't I mom?"
Damien sat on the shore alone, looking out across the huge lake. He had returned to where his family was resting yet none had woken from the noise he'd made earlier.
It was quiet.
He had already healed his wounds completely. Unfortunately, or fortunately, injuring himself had given him the perfect opportunity to test his theories on healing magic and he was spot on. With the added knowledge of modern medicine and biology, what little he had, it had been simple to direct the mana into repairing the few deep cuts he'd received.
The lake was in a basin in the middle of the mountains, looking to be something like twenty miles across and thirty wide. The water glistened like diamonds in the moonlight as it rippled endlessly in all directions across its surface.
"We used to come to lakes like this," he whispered to the Fae on his shoulder, not sure why he felt ok sharing with her. "My mom and dad loved taking me up the mountains. Sometimes we'd find a camping site, sometimes we'd just camp on a river or random side of the lake. Dad would forget something, usually food, and mom would get mad at him, but they'd always figure it out," he said, laughing. "We never stayed too long, mom was busy, but anything to get us away from the city... It was the happiest I ever saw them. Just the three of us. They've always been my favorite memories."
The Fae continued staring out at her lake, quiet on his shoulder. He was grateful for it.
Remembering moments like those were always what brought on his homesickness.
The memory spurred more on as Damien began to spiral into thoughts of his family and old life. He was probably somewhere in his mid-thirties now that he counted. Aging, but without his family there to see it.
For some reason, he felt younger in body and mind the longer he spent here instead of older. Perhaps it was the hormones and chemicals in a child's brain effecting him; after all, he was essentially just a soul carved with memories input into a child's body. That didn't make him immune to the aging process or tendencies of the young. Perhaps he'd even have mood swings as a teenager that he couldn't control, much like this one. Damien always told himself he was still the same guy he'd always been, but he wondered if that were even true anymore. He questioned if he'd even remember his mom's face after another year or two. It was a thought that made him feel alone on the inside, even if he knew he wasn't.
While wondering, Damien began to hum another tune under his breath. It was never a song that he would call his favorite, but at this moment it felt like Michael Buble had been singing about his life specifically. Another summer day had come and gone away, after all.
Damien sang, staring out over the lake, feeling empty inside. He didn't often worry about his old family, but when he did Alexa was usually there to comfort him, unlike now. Her presence was a deterrent to the depression that would set in because of his memories. He knew he wasn't alone here and had another group of people to love, yet sometimes still he'd sit and find himself wondering what his real parents were up to. If they ever got that outlet fixed or if they kept it the way it was to remember him by. If his dad ever got a job. If they missed him like he missed them. He wondered if his mom would break down in tears if he came home finally or if she begged him to come back when she saw him dead.
He missed her the most.
As he moved through the song and began singing the words, the Fae on his shoulder leaned into his cheek and rested her hand on the back of his head. The gesture brought a stinging sensation to Damien's throat and caused the song to fluctuate in tone.
"... it'll all be alright, I'll be home..."
Damien's voice faded out as he found himself unable to finish the song. He wouldn't be home tonight, and he knew it. He wouldn't be home again for a long while.
Damien sat on the shore, head in his hands, disgusted in the person he was becoming. A person that wasn't their son anymore. Every accomplishment here, every day spent, everything only changed him more.
"I miss you, mom."
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Vanessa held Emily as she hit the ground with her knees, bent over and holding her chest while crying soundlessly. The girl had been raving about how amazing her son had been when they'd watched him singing before and continued while he practiced his lightning magic.
That had stopped when the boy had looked into the air and spoken.
"I'm changing, aren't I mom?"
Emily's smile had vanished in that instant and Vanessa had understood why.
The question had not been directed at her.
From there, they followed him back as he sat staring across the lake with the Fae on his shoulder. Vanessa had tried to let the boy have his privacy but Emily wouldn't be pulled away. Then he'd started crying. No sobbing or wails, just silent tears followed by a beautiful song they'd never heard before, singing of a home the boy wanted to go to. Emily's tears had begun to flow when her son's had and she'd lost her ability to stand when he spoke his last words.
Vanessa watched as the boy curled up into a ball on the shore, shaking. She picked Emily up from the ground and carried the girl in a princess carry across the sand to her son. The stupid Humans needed each other yet neither were going to do anything about it.
She reached down with her wing and scooped the boy up, surprising him while depositing him into his mother's lap. Upon realizing what was happening, he curled back up and continued shaking as Emily grabbed onto him and tried to compose herself while comforting her son.
Vanessa moved over to where Alexa was sleeping soundlessly on the ground and laid down, wrapping the trio up in her wings before falling asleep for the night.