When we reached the main cavern, we gathered everyone and started by introducing ourselves. The dragon-kin introduced herself as Avi and began to explain how she had ended up here. When the Wild Elves had come to the lamia city where she was still learning to be a guard.

It had started with screams, the Wild Elves hoard’s battle cry echoing out across the city, just before a massive explosion had ripped apart the city’s wall sending burning splinters of wood flying throughout the morning air. The people that had tried to surrender or run had been cut down without mercy, some bursting into flames where they stood, some just falling down dead while others still disappeared under the weight of the hoard itself.

The guards and even some of the citizens, farmers and fathers, had fought back, a losing retreat, trying to buy time for anyone to escape as the defenders' numbers were chipped away. It didn’t matter how many they cut down there were always more there, always another invader to keep the pressure up. It hadn't taken long before they had been pushed back across the entire city, the defensive line all but broken now against the inside of their own city wall.

Then it was just over, no fanfare or great signal, the fighting just stopped in an instant. A man emerged from the hoard covered in resplendent white armor shinning under the clear morning skies, looking all the hero from every children's story Avi had ever been read. The man reached out placing his hand on the shoulder of a nearby invader, the invader had reached up clawing at their own throat as the man began to speak, and his voiced boomed across the whole city “Those of you graced the spirit to fight and live, welcome to the Wild Elves.’ then he simply let the now badly bleeding invader fall away without so much as sparing him a glance before striding back into the hoard.

The city’s defender backed into the literal wall as they were, had tentatively approached the invading hoard only to be welcomed with open arms and smiles. Avi had been mortified her friends and neighbors were going to join the very people that had just slaughtered everyone she and they had ever known. Using what strength she had left she had fled over the wall further tearing her wings in the process, and she ran not stopping for days until finally she had seen the dullahan. She remembered stories about how scores of them used to guard the Ephemeral Valley, she had tried to get past it and find the wizards who could help her fight back, instead she found the dullahan wouldn’t let her pass and she had soon been surrounded by goblins, which brought her to where we were now.

Looking around I found Ultai was cuddled up to Viess and the eggs shivering slightly. Sazz and Zraih both looked quietly furious. Grak had gotten up without saying anything, heading off to be alone with his bunnies, and then there was just Avi. Avi, alone possibly for the first time in her life, arms, tail, and wings wrapped around knees she had squeezed as tightly as possible to her chest.

Stolen story; please report.

“You can stay here, I don’t know that we will fair any better, but unless the armored mage agrees to a fair fight one on one against me, these goblins won't abandon you, its not how the tribe works.”

“Why can't you just annihilate the Wild Elves blow them all up or something like he did the wall? What makes him so much stronger than you’re claiming to be?” Avi asked.

“It would take years and years of advanced study to explain this properly but, the short version is aether and reality are the same thing. Reality wants to stay real and the same, if I try and change it, it fights back. There is a reason other species can't wield aether, being human is being adaptable, look at me I was a bumbling researcher until very recently now I'm the goblin Chief. Aether takes the very nature of human adaptability and gives us side effects for adapting reality to our will. I can't be certain, but I think your armored mage is using the will of the fanatical Wild Elves as a catalyst when he casts and forcing the side effects onto them. I’m not going to blow myself or a goblin up trying to kill someone I have a better chance at hiding from, maybe that makes me a coward but I’m not willing to make those kinds of sacrifices.”

“He isn't MY armored mage. I... I won't ask you to give up your family to fight him, that’s no different than what the Wild Elves do, but I feel powerless I want to fight back, to do anything other than run and hide.” Avi responded.

“Poor choice of words, I apologize. I’m not trying to be rude asking this, but you do understand what being dragon-kin is don’t you?”

“At some point in the past a dragon and wizard fucked so hard they aethered a new species into existence and lots of fucking later I was born.” Avi spat back at me like I had just insulted her wing size.

“Dragon-kin are born from aether, it can't directly hurt you. Sure I could drop a mountain on you with great effort and that will still kill you but if I just throw lighting at you, you're just going to get stronger. I’m sorry I thought that was common knowledge amongst dragon-kin.”

“Are you saying I could have killed that bastard and instead I just ran away?” Avi asked looking very close to coming unhinged.

“Exactly all you had to do was fight through an entire army of religious zealots that literally live to fight, avoid any sort of indirect attack like having a house collapsed on you or the ground under you blown up, single handedly get through a combat mages plate armor hoping it's not enchanted, and kill him, easy peazy. Don’t be naive, of course that’s not what I'm saying! What I am saying is out of everyone here, you are probably the furthest from being powerless.”

“Then what do I do?” Avi yelled at me

“I don’t know, train and get stronger and when you feel strong enough to beat me, well that’s a start at least.”

“Fine, I'll train and train until you can't even fight back anymore then I'll kill that whoreson.” Avi said with a new determined look in her star-filled eyes.

With that out of the way we started cooking some food, it had been a few days since Avi had eaten anything proper apparently. Zraih made plans to take Avi’s armor and see what could be done to repair it. I took my time eating trying to psych myself up, it was a good thing I'd finally have someone I could learn proper physical combat from, but I wasn’t looking forward to the many ass kickings I was for-seeing.