"That's good. Hopefully, we will be able to rescue more as we travel."

Stillwater says "How would we do that? You aren't planning to stop in human ports are you?"

"Probably not with the ship. But that doesn't mean I can't fly over to search for more elves."

Stillwater says "I didn't think of that! That's great! Is it okay if I spread news of your plan? It would help with morale!"

"Sure, go ahead. Of course, it won't be anytime soon. I still have to build the ship after all."

Stillwater says "I understand that. However, even the tiniest spark of hope for those still missing family will make a huge difference."

"Alright, I can't argue that. Just try not to let them get their hopes up too much. The odds are against them."

Stillwater says "Don't worry, I know how bad the odds are. You have already done more than I thought was possible!"

"Maybe, but there is still a limit to what I can do."

Stillwater and I chat for a few more minutes before we head back to the village. As promised Stillwater has a storage shed built for me in a little over an hour. It isn't anything fancy, but it is just fine for what I need it for and so I start going through my pouch.

First thing I take out is all the bones from the legendary beast that I am saving for the ship. After that I actually have to go through everything because I can't remember what's inside. The forge and all my tools are also going into the shed for the time being, but there is still a lot to go through.

While I have quite a bit of gold, which I will keep, I also find silver and copper coins. Those must have been in there for ages because they are basically worthless at this point. I put them aside, I will give them to the elves, they might find a use for them.

Also in my pouch I find a lot of meat, even some drake meat that I never got around to eating. So I go out to find the elven cooks and give all of the meat to them to cook a feast with. They are more than happy to cook the feast, especially since it is not the legendary beast meat.

It would seem they have gotten tired of cooking the same thing over and over. Yet, there is still tons of meat left to use up and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. What's even worse is I am about to go get even more meat from the wyvern's corpse.

Now that my pouch is empty I put the empty water casks back in and then shift into an eagle. However, instead of flying straight to the mountains I head north first. I plan to check on the orcs and humans to see what they are up to before returning to the spring.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Flying above the badlands I don't find any orc activity on the east side of the mountains. This means the orcs aren't currently moving against the elves which is good. However, when I swing around to the west of the mountains it is a different story.

A little west of the mountains I actually spot a battle, humans versus orcs. It seems the humans are no longer content with staying in their fort, they came north to fight. However, it isn't going very well for them, the humans are currently surrounded.

On the other hand, this is good for us since it means both the humans and the orcs are distracted. Right now it is a little under five hundred humans against around two thousand orcs. If nothing changes the humans are going to be completely wiped out.

However, that isn't the best outcome from my point of view, I want some humans to survive. If some of them survive and make it back to the fort then they will come back even stronger. Since I want the humans to devote everything they have to fighting the orcs that is the best bet.

Now, the question is how do I go about helping the humans without making them suspicious. If I shift into human form and help out then they will question my sudden appearance. An elf certainly wouldn't help them, so I need to use something else, but what?

An idea pops into my head and so I start forming the image of a two-headed wyvern. However, as soon as I picture the two heads I get a splitting headache. It is so bad that I instantly give up the idea and have to land before I crash.

I guess that in order to have two heads I would have to split my mind between them. Apparently, from the pain, that is a horrible idea and I should never try it again! So I sit on a hill, still in eagle form, and watch the battle while waiting for the headache to pass.

The humans are fighting fairly well, they are in a defensive circle and are killing a lot of orcs. I still think the orcs will win in the end but it is going to cost them most of their number to do so. It wouldn't take much to tip the balance in the human's favor, but I still can't think of how to do it.

Unfortunately, it is still bright out, so sneaking around like an assassin is out. Whatever I do is going to be visible to the humans, so it needs to be something they will believe. Then I have another thought, if I go as a wyvern with only one head, will the humans even notice?

From what I was told, the humans are used to seeing wyverns all over the place. So me being here wouldn't be too suspicious, at least I don't think it would be. So again I start building the image of a wyvern but this time with only one head.

Shifter Form added: Deathstrike Wyvern!

The wyvern that I shapeshift into is only about a quarter the size of the one I killed. Unlike the wyvern I killed, which had gray scales, my scales are a glossy black. I am fairly sure that I look absolutely terrifying, but I don't look like a normal wyvern.

While it might make the humans suspicious, there isn't much I can do about it. This form feels similar to the drake form, so I think I need to be quick and get out of it. The last thing I want is to go through more backlash for using a form that is too powerful.

It is kind of disappointing though, I was hoping my strength had improved. After all, I went up a rank and have gained a couple of levels since I used the drake form. Maybe there is something I am missing, I don't know why my rank hasn't gone up.

I have tried working on my core, but nothing I have done has had any effect at all. Unfortunately, it is not something I can ask anyone about either, well except maybe the dragon. Maybe if I haven't figured it out by the time I get back I will go and ask him about it.

Right now I need to stop wasting time, so I raise my wings and start flapping. Then I jump into the air and attempt to fly, but it is a very ugly liftoff. The way a wyvern flies is nothing like how an eagle flies and I have trouble adapting.