Solanna came to a stop among the dense brush that surrounded her. The sky trees peering down almost judging, as if they were left wanting. It sent a shiver down her spine.
And why wouldn’t they? she thought to herself. Only now are we looking for the others…
She wasn’t alone, however. With her were Tracker and Falzan. The three of them were deep within the forest now.
And still no sign of the other hunters. She let out a tsk and continued observing her surroundings, carefully looking for any traces.
“Picked up on any of their scents?”
“Tracker no find scent,” the kobold said as she walked up to her. Solanna couldn’t help but notice a slight hesitancy coming from Tracker.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Tracker is… Tracker sorry.”
Solanna brought her full attention to the kobold. “Sorry for what?” she asked genuinely.
“Tracker was scared… Tracker only thought of running.”
She put a reassuring hand on the kobold’s shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I was scared myself. Not to mention, we didn’t really have a choice. The flames were closing in.”
The green kobold peered up to her, looking for confirmation in her words.
I scared too! Falzan added, causing Solanna to smile.
“Falzan says he was scared as well,” she said, echoing the dragon’s words for him.
“Masters were…scared?”
Solanna nodded. “And not just me and Falzan, Noria was terrified. You saw how she was, barely keeping it together. I don’t fault her for that though, nor do I fault you–” she looked down to Falzan. “–or you.”
The emerald dragon rubbed up against her side. I just happy you okay. I scared of losing you…
I know. I don’t want to lose you either. She kneeled down to the dragon and gave him a scritch under his snout.
He let out a purr.
“Anyway,” she said standing up. “We need to continue our search. Clearly, there isn’t any sign of them in this direction… We’ll have to–”
The snapping of a twig caused her to whip around to the direction of the sound. Tracker and Falzan, meanwhile, immediately went for scenting the air.
Tracker, true to her name, was the first to pick up the scent. “Elf!” she shouted.
It them for sure! Falzan added excitedly.
“Julous?! Doram?! Anyone?!” Solanna called out, feeling a weight suddenly lift off of her shoulders.
However, there was a moment of tense silence before another voice called out. “Solanna?! Solanna? Is that you?!”
That’s Julous! she thought, immediately recognizing the voice.
“Yes! It’s me! I have Tracker as well!” She started making her way over to the man. Yet, it was he who burst through the brush first.
“Thank the Gods!” he exclaimed with immediate relief, practically collapsing to the ground at the sight of them.
She rushed the rest of the way and came to kneel next to him. “Are you okay– Where’s the rest?”
“Not too far behind,” he said with a heavy exhale. “I went out ahead to scout. We… We weren’t sure how things would be.”
Solanna gave him a nod. “It’s…not good. But, Calsen was stopped.”
She looked over to the kobold. “Tracker, go on ahead and look for them.” Her attention came back to Julous and the wounds that covered the left side of the hunter’s body. “I’m going to help him…”
“I find elfs!” The kobold shouted and darted off into the brush.
“Gods… What happened to you?” Solanna asked, carefully looking the injuries over. Julous had burns across his entire left arm and down the side of his chest and stomach, his shirt was completely gone and his pants were heavily singed.
“Fire,” he said nonchalantly. “I was sent flying, hit something hard and passed out. When I came to, it was in searing pain. The fire was licking at my side.”
Falzan whimpered at the hunter’s tale. Meanwhile, Solanna pulled out a few linen wraps and a small bottle of salve.
Julous continued as she did her best to treat his wounds. “I tried to make it back to the clearing but the fire pushed me away. I had no choice but to run in the opposite direction…” He trailed off with a distasteful look.
“Luckily, I ran into the others– Well, most of them. Unfortunately, I don’t think a couple made it out.”
Solanna winced but kept working. “That’s…not your fault. If anything, it is mine. We’ll have to find their bodies, though. No matter what condition they are in.”
“Yeah… Tell me, is Oralyn okay?” There was a hesitation in his voice that wasn’t just concern.
She raised an eyebrow. “Oralyn is well, but she did receive some nasty burns to her legs. Thankfully, Noria did a wonderful job in healing her. Not perfect, but Oralyn was walking around just fine earlier this morning.”
“Good… I was worried about her.” He chuckled. “Or maybe I was worried what her father would do if I brought back bad news.”
“Well, there is some news. Actually, good and bad news… Okay, I suppose it could both be bad news, depending on who you ask.”
Julous gave her a questioning look. “Oh?”
“Which do you want first?”
“Give me the good-not-good news first.”
“Eri was made the queen.”
“Oh.” He almost deflated at her words. “And the actual bad news?”
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Solanna paused, taking a moment to decide how best to break the news to him. “Calinna… She saved Oralyn’s life but… But she was killed in the process.”
“Oh…” The words were barely muttered.
Silence fell upon them as she finished wrapping Julous’s wounds. And, not long after, Tracker returned. Behind the kobold were the rest of the missing hunters, many of whom were sporting serious injuries.
The worst one off was Duram, who was carried on a makeshift stretcher. As far as she could tell, he wasn’t suffering from burns but he had a large, bloody stain near his stomach.
Gods… She looked down at the wraps she had left, it wasn’t going to be enough.
“Poor bastard… Got impaled by a tree limb,” Julous whispered, noticing her staring at the severely injured man. “You still alive?!” he called out suddenly.
Duram groaned and weakly held up a fist before giving a rude gesture in response.
“Good,” Solanna heard Julous say under his breath. “Anyway,” he continued as he slowly rose to his feet. “We need to keep moving. If we stop, I’m worried that we’ll end up with more people to bury…”
“I’ll send Tracker out ahead to warn the others then,” Solanna said before addressing the kobold properly. However, Tracker was already moving.
“Tracker go ahead! Tracker tell others!”
“Tell them we have wounded. Make sure they have something ready!” she called out to the kobold before speaking to the rest. “It’s going to be a long walk, let me know if we need to stop.”
There were a few nods, but most seemed determined to keep moving.
“You hear that Duram?! You can’t die yet!” Julous jeered.
“F-Fuck…you!”
Julous laughed but it was strained and forced.
“Stick with him,” Solanna whispered. “I will guide us back.”
He gave her a thankful nod and moved over to be with his fellow hunter and friend.
She took a deep breath and stared in the direction of home. Gods, please watch over us and see us safely returned…
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The air began to bristle with mana in the mid-afternoon sun. An instant later, Aluin appeared, standing in front of the manor. A determined, if grim, expression covered his face.
With a single breath, he could smell the char and ash. No doubt confirming what he already knew.
Indeed, Yarnel had informed him of what had transpired. The dragon arrived the night prior to the meeting of Sages. It was there and then that the grave situation was made known.
And what had he been doing for more than a week? Simple, preparing for the coming battle. Planning took time, especially when it involved the dwarves, gnomes, and dragons…
Now those plans will need to be scrapped. We have an intruder on the island. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth.
An intruder only made sense to him. Calsen could not have set any of this up himself. No, it had to be someone else. There was other proof as well. The dwarf who supposedly turned into a fire shade had a mana crystal. Yarnel was sure it was not one of his, and no one else could have produced one like it.
Unless the dragon is lying, but that is doubtful. Yarnel is many things, but not a liar. Besides, it would go against his own pride to create such a monstrosity.
No, he is telling the truth and that means another human is here. With that thought, Aluin made his way into the mansion. He observed, with relief, that the building had withstood the attack, albeit damaged.
Yet, it can be fixed. With a simple thought and a single snap of his fingers that’s exactly what happened. With a loud groan, the damage disappeared.
He made his way through to the kitchen, finding it empty. That didn’t quite surprise him, but he did come to a hesitant stop before the newly fixed backdoor.
I must face it. Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of the doorknob and thrust the door open. With another breath, he stepped outside and took in the surroundings…
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“What do you think?” Felix asked, glancing over to Noria. They were standing in the rubble of the hatchery wall, looking down at the portal structure.
“I… I don’t know,” she muttered. “Its enchantments are complex– I will have to study them carefully.”
He let out a sigh. “I suppose that makes sense. We’ll need to get it standing up straight then…” He looked up to a gathering of elven men and motioned for them to come over.
“Where do you want to set it down?” Lorem asked from next to him.
Felix scanned the room, and found the opposite corner was barren enough for it. “Over there. We’ll move it slowly.”
There were a few grunts of approval as the men gathered around the portal.
“Now, on the count of three, we’ll lift it and start moving,” he said, lowering himself and getting a grip upon the stone archway. He waited a moment for everyone to get into position before starting his count.
“One… Two… Three!” With enormous effort, the group strained and lifted the portal up. “Okay! Now… Move! Slowly… Take your time!”
They began the grueling procession.
Damn it, this is much heavier than it looks! Felix cursed to himself as they made their way across the path. “C-Come on… Just a bit more!”
Finally, they made it to the opposite corner.
“Steady! You guys start lowering your side, we’ll lift ours!” he shouted and started to lift his section. The others quickly followed suit.
The bottom of the heavy portal hit the ground with a thunk as the men began to scatter from behind it. Thankfully, it was close enough to the wall that a quick shove was enough to leave it propped up.
“There we…go,” Felix said through several breaths, resting his hands on his knees.
“Gods, that was heavy!” Lorem added with a laugh, the elf hadn’t even broken a sweat…
“Anyway,” the elf continued, turning to his soon-to-be-wife. “Is this good enough, or do you need us to adjust it more?”
Noria raised an eyebrow at him. “No, I think this is good enough. Thank you. All of you,” she added for the rest of the group.
But Felix shook his head. “No, that’s my line. Thank you all for helping. We’re done here.”
There were a few chuckles however most simply took the opportunity to leave.
“Right,” he went on after everyone but Lorem and Noria left. “Let me know what you find, or if there is anything you need. I’m not expecting any miracles here, but I’m praying for good news.”
Of course the thought of simply using some magic on the portal to activate it had crossed his mind, but that was a bad idea. It might not be completely destroyed, but if it's damaged…
He didn’t want to think of the consequences.
Before he could dwell on it there was a disturbance from outside. “M-Master Aluin!” he heard someone shout.
That got his, Noria’s, and Lorem’s attention. Yet, before any of them could react the elven Sage entered into the hatchery.
“Felix,” Aluin said with a respectful nod.
“Aluin! You’re back!” There was a bit more relief in his voice than he meant for there to be.
“Indeed, and Yarnel has filled me in on…everything.”
Felix’s excitement fell away. “Ah. I take it you want to talk then?”
The Sage nodded once more. “Though, I can tell you, Eri, and Oralyn have already started organizing things.”
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yeah– Oh, you probably don’t know yet…”
“Hmm?”
Taking a deep breath, Felix took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Oralyn dropped out–”
Yet another disturbance cut him off. This time, it was the sight of a green kobold out of breath.
“Master come! Tracker and Bow Master find elfs! They hurt!”
Felix furrowed his brow. “Go find Eri and Oralyn and let them know!” he shouted at Lorem as he started making his way over to the Sage and Tracker.
The large elf immediately took off.
He paused for a moment as he came up to Aluin. “Eri was made queen,” and with that he rushed out the hatchery with Tracker.
Meanwhile, only Aluin and Noria remained. An awkward silence started as they stared at each other.
“W-well… I guess I should get to work,” Noria stammered out.
Aluin glanced at the portal next to her, noting the massive hole where it once stood. “Indeed, and I suppose I should go see if I can help with the wounded.”
He gave her a small bow before he too made his exit. From there, he decided to go find Eri. No doubt she would need assistance…