Aldrich had finally gotten his way to the edge of the dragon roost. Human soldiers were everywhere, which stopped him from entering the highly open hills of the dragon roost. Instead he lucked in the shadows with the cat-kin woman and child. He was in no shape to fight anymore. He had no magic left inside him and bruised and burned body. He was still standing however.

With a loud boom, he heard cannon fire blasts nearby and witnessed black knights running around. Reloading the cannon, they seemed to wait for another order before Aldrich saw a large screen open in the sky. There he saw his friends, friends that he stalled for time for, captured and hoisted up on crosses. Shock, anger, frustration, and sadness all took place within him. His friends never got away. That means the villagers never got away. Everything was for naught. In the end, everything failed.

He tried to pinpoint where they were, but too many humans were around so he couldn’t see and hid instead. Suddenly, war cries were shouted from afar. Unsure what was happening, he waited. The soldiers around him however, began running towards the war cries, leaving him able to cross out into the hills.

Quietly taking the two cat-kins, he sneaked his way past the few remaining human soldiers who were guarding and manning the cannon. With the woman tied to his back, he picked up the child and ran forward. His pain was nothing compared to relative safety within the dragon roost. Humans who witnessed him attempted to chase, but found it pointless with their numbers and went back instead.

Climbing over the hill that the cannon was located at, Aldrich saw a large stone fortification. Despite the anti-magic field, the dragon roost was capable of casting magic much like a dragon. It was a World Tree after all.

Closing in on the bunkers and walls, Aldrich could see villagers within the fortifications. They wave at him and beckon him inside. They quickly pull apart the stone sliding doors and then close it behind him.

“Sir Dragon, how horrible. What happened to you?”

“I was attacked throughout the village.”

The villagers who witnessed him looked with a large variety of feelings. Here was a single year old dragon, who on one hand is the strongest race to exist, who stumbled in on them with massive injuries and carried in survivors all by himself. The villagers revered the dragons, but here was their hero, being a hero, but harmed beyond belief.

“Here, take them and treat the woman. I’ve done what I can, but she is in critical condition. The loss of blood could still prove fatal.”

Aldrich takes off the adult cat-kin and unhands the child cat-kin.

“I need to see Lord Sinclair.”

They accept the pair of cat-kin, but one of them says,

“Lord Sinclair had sallied out to save his children.”

“Then who’s in charge?”

“Lady Sinclair.”

“Alright. Where is she?”

“By the dragon roost’s entrance.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

With that he set off. The cat-kin child waved goodbye to him as he left.

As he moved through the crowds of people, either those finding shelter or those who were aiding to prepare, they all looked shocked and gasped at the young dragon. Such a sight installed a sense of doom within them, but also a sense of guilt. Guilt that they allowed one of their most honored lords to suffer such a fate.

Upon reaching the entrance, he saw Lady Sinclair give out orders to the leaders of the village at the command table. They stop when they see Aldrich approach them, but before they could say anything, the god form appeared.

“What is that?!”

A leader of the cat-kin race asked with worry. Aldrich had one before, in Noriko’s dream story.

“It’s a god form.”

The leaders who did not know of its shape have surely known of its existence as their expressions spiked in hopelessness.

“It appeared by the lord’s army!”

“We need to confirm if the lord is alright!”

“Without the lord, we must stand firm here!”

“But it’s a god form! What can we even do against it?!”

Various discussions and even arguments took hold among the leaders, but the one to awaken them from their worries was Lady Sinclair.

“Silence! I shall make the decision. Evacuate the people from the dragon roost. We will head to the port and escape to the river instead of holding the dragon roost.”

“But Lady Sinclair, the dragon roost must be protected from ground forces!”

“Agreed. We will not abandon the dragon roost!”

Lady Sinclair shakes her head.

“We are not retreating. We are simply getting non-combatants out. To position ourselves here with our own hostages is a mistake.”

As if to prove her orders true, the god form walked forward and began to smash into the tree’s barriers.

“Quickly we must hurry if we are to protect the people.”

With this the leaders scrambled to gather and leave before the tree could be gravely injured. Aldrich looked to the sky. Hundreds of returning bees that fought all across the sky were struggling to fly as the god form was sucking away at the air. Some that were too close to it were whisked away into the torrent of wind, screaming and crying.

To answer their deaths, the tree glowed with blue light. From the tips of each branch to coming from the roots, the dragon roost charged up a blue electric blast that struck the god form.

The reason why the dragon roost was so important to the village and to the dragons themselves was because the dragon roost is a World Tree. They were designed by dragons long ago to be their homes and bastions. Time and time again, its power fended off gods and invasions. Even when not in combat, the World Tree casted its own cleansing field, removing poison, pollution, corruption, and provided services to all it would accept.

The god form, recoiling from the attack, came back with a vengeance and punched the tree, its torrent hand ripping through the bark of the tree. Aldrich could see the tree struggle to hold it back before letting go. Instead, thousands of plant tendrils, spawning from inside the dragon roost, grabbed onto all that were in the way and threw them away before the attack could reach them.

Lady Sinclair, beckoning and waving, signaled the leaders and their people to head to the west, the port side of the village. Aldrich had no interest in leaving the world tree, but he also had no power to do anything. Suddenly a sound like a sword through the wind could be heard. Gaelia had appeared.

Gaelia soared through the sky with unmatched speed, letting out a light green dragon breath. Normally, normal wind magic that was weak would simply be absorbed into the god form, but a dragon’s breath was too pure to be absorbed. Tearing its way through the god form, the breath exited on the other side. The god form certainly felt its body dissipate, causing it to attempt to swat Gaelia out of the sky, but it could not. Gaelia then led it away from the dragon roost.

Aldrich felt hope. His mother was now here. He wasn’t sure if she could beat a god form on her own as no one has fought one since the last war, but surely she was a great threat considering its reaction to her.