Φ No waiting for us to recover the animal people dash at me with the same speed they came at Orb with. Seeing them move so fast I know I can never dodge such an attack so I take and am sent backwards.

“You rather sturdy aren’t you, but regardless it won’t let you survive against us.”

Like insects, they zoom around me, and strike me again and again slowly but surely chipping away at me. So in response to this, I activate my legacy and quickly swing my sword around in a circle, while darkness extends from my blade, increasing my reach.

This cuts quite a few of them, but many others dodge the attack. And then they run towards me at full speed and continue towards us and strike with speed and precision.

They are all incredibly fast, so much so that my eyes can barely keep track of them. Still, I don’t understand how a human body can move so fast, there must be some try it.

Suddenly one of them from behind me says, “Red branch battle arts; Passiflora,” And comes at me with the same incredible speed that came towards Orb.

But using my tail, I smash the ground behind us something him from closing in, and then I quickly move and swing my darkness-extended blade towards him, but he moves out of the way again.

As the fight continues and this process repeats itself, with my enemies constantly moving and striking me at incredible speed, I start to feel a sickening feeling come over me.

You promised, you promised you would take care of Orb and Suzuka, that you would be someone they could rely on, but are you going to fail again? Are you going to continue being nothing but a parasite?

Seeing an image of my sister play in front of my eyes, I start to shake again and again and again, until I start to feel something different. Anger, so much of it that I lash out like a moron, and with my blade producing as much darkness as possible I swing it.

Whatever I swing at with my blade either get’s absorbed into it, or sliced to pieces, and as I continue to do this I break the ground and any other footing they could use, and in those moments of imbalance I strike them with everything I have got knocking each and every one of them down to the floor.

But as I do this I am struck again by the animal people, this time by my cheek and he says, “You aren’t that sturdy everywhere, on certain places in your body are hard coloured scales which are very visible, but all over your skin are soft scales which completely blend into your body. They can be worn down.”

Looking at the cut on my cheek I notice it is one of the places Ahmed struck back in Jedidah. The scales across that area are of the softer variant, and they still haven’t fully repaired themselves since Jedidiah. The lack of energy that human food gives me is really apparent right now.

Getting into a battle stance he says, “The next blow will cut your head in half.”

As he prepares to attack me, an image plays before me like a memory is being forced out of my mind. Yet this memory isn’t anything I recognize.

In front of me, I see a silver-haired boy with rather lifeless eyes looking down at me. After a moment he says, “Red branch battle arts attacks are fast even for a dragon like you, but there is a trick to it. They usually come in sets of three before a break in between, and if you stare at our feet you will see another sign.”

“Oh, come on tell me!”

“I won’t spoil you like that, so get back up and figure it out yourself or is a noble dragon like you far weaker than a beastkin like me Azi.”

“NO WAY! You’re on!”

The memory comes to a halt, and a second later the animal person is coming towards me at high speed. So, using my sword I prepare to block which is easy enough knowing what his target is, I do it once, and again, and for the third strike, he attacks me in my stomach instead.

Taking the blow, I transfix my eyes on his feet and then swing my sword, and with a smile, I say, “I have got it.”

Taking another battle stance, he says again, “Red branch battle arts; Passiflora,” And charges.

But as he comes for me I take a step forward, and then I let his sword slice my cheek, but I dodge just enough that his blade doesn’t fully enter my mouth.

When using this fighting style, due to the strain after they do any attack one of their legs go numb, so they must alternate legs when doing follow-up attacks, so if you want to catch the user out you must stop this. As he lands his left foot into the ground in the same moment I stamp on his foot and keep it locked to the ground.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

His other leg is numb so no matter what he does he can’t move, and with incredible speed, I hit him with a downward slash winning the battle.

Looking around, I see I have defeated all of the animal people, so I let out a scream, and as I do Orb says, “Good job.”

Hearing this makes me incredibly bashful, and I say, “I-I-I-I am an ad-d-d-d-d-dult, so of course I would be there to p-p-p-p-p-protect a child like you.”

Orb snickers while still in pain and then walks over to the body of the man beneath me.

Φ As I unmask the man who Cyrus cut down last, I hear one of the children say, “Isn’t that the minister of defence.”

Staring down at him, I say, “He and his people were clearly here for me, so they must have aimed to assassinate me, and try to stick the blame on the Fanalis to make them look worse in they eyes of Maple. I guess this means my theory was correct.”

Looking at me, Cyrus asks, “Orb what is even going on?”

“No before that how did you even get down here?”

“I used my darkness to create a giant ball and absorb myself into it.”

“That makes sense, are you the only one?”

“For now, everyone was preparing to send a rescue party, to look for you, Iancu, Suzuka, Maple, and Willow.”

“Willow is down here as well, I should have expected that.”

As I sit and mull over my thoughts with Silver hair, I hear the kids say, “Is that a dragon?”

“Aren’t they super rare?”

“I always wanted to fly on the back of one.”

“Turn into a big dragon now.”

“You guys are really tasty right!?”

Suddenly something clicks within my head, and standing up I grab Cyrus and then start to run inside the house.

“What’s goin-n-n-n-n-g on?”

“I just need you to come with me.”

Getting over Dillon’s body, I say, “Cyrus I am going to keep you to make that wound on your cheek bigger for me.”

“Ok!” Cyrus says as he uses his finger to open the wound more in an incredibly gruesome fashion.

As his blood flows out, I grab a bowl and catch it within the bowl. Then I run over to Dillion and get him to drink it, and say, “IF what Abbán said earlier is true taking in something high quality like the blood of a dragon should help Dillion heal a lot faster.

Suddenly after Dillion drinks the blood, his eyes start to open and he says, “Where am I?”

“Yes, it worked!”

“Orb?”

Rubbing his cute little head, I say, “Yes it is me, but now is not the time for that. I know this may be a tad irresponsible but with Cyrus here we can probably do it now. Dillion I am going to need you to talk to Abbán.”

“What’s going on, I will fill you in on the way but for now I am going to need you to guide Cyrus to Prosúnfore.”

“Ok,” Dillion says.

Turning around and getting ready to leave, I fall to the ground in more pain, and as I do Cyrus says, “O-O-Orb are you ok?”

“Yes, it is just the pain, but it doesn’t matter right now just pick me and Abbán up, but before that please restrain all of those beastkin.”

“I w-w-w-w-will.”

As Cyrus does what I ask, I start to see more and more visions flow into my brain. I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of information, but strangely it feels like all of this information is starting to make sense to me.

Location: Plains of Díoltas

Φ The plains of Díoltas the place where some of the most brutal fighting took place during the last war between the beastkin. Due to it being an open plain with nowhere the hide, it was the place where the Tuatha De Dannan confronted the Fanalis during one of the most critical battles in the last war.

And on this plan now, two armies lie facing each other, one of the Fanalis, and one of the army and the people.

As they see each other, the realization of what truly is going to happen dawns on many of them, but the fear and anger they have for each other overtakes them.

No words are exchanged or even attempted, and when the leaders of both sides Ganthrú and Abbán are asked by their men whether or not they ask the other side to surrender now, they both say, “No those beasts don’t even know what peace is, the only option is death.

They each look at one another with anger and contempt, and in the same moment they stare at each other and prepare to give the sign to start, but in that same moment between the both of them, Maple drops down and shoots her arrows high into the sky.

My arrows seem to have distracted them enough, and noticing me, I am sure Ganthrú won’t risk attacking knowing what the Grand druid said, but still, in this situation, I need to say something quickly.

The tension I feel is far more intense than what happened back in Niflheim, so much so that I know that whatever I say whatever I do will decide the fates of the people here. And this pressure feels like I am being crushed by a mountain.

I shake, I can’t see straight, and I feel like I am about to throw up. But I also feel that in this situation not doing anything is just as bad, which causes me to wrack my brain for an answer. In this moment my mind goes so hectic, and all I can focus on is my bow.

In that moment I remember the words I said to Atalanta in Basileia. I have no time for thought or anything else, all I need to do right now is just be honest, so speak your heart, Maple.

Grabbing the shattered shell I took from Abais castle, I scream, “EVERYONE LISTEN UP!”

Name: Mòinteabrae

Height: 13m

Type: Wonderbeast, Herbivore

Description: A giant bipedal wonderbeast. It is covered in very sticky moss that asks in the same way fur does, and it has two giant eyes that glow with a white light. It Usually walks on its fours despite being bipedal. It is very agile despite its size and can even move through a city without breaking anyone or anything.

Fact: The moss covers their face, so it ends up looking like a monster in the dark, or a giant moving mountain with two white lights in the dark. Though it is an extremely friendly wonderbeast, and will never harm another even at the cost of its own life. All of these factors make it great for transporting kids to school.