The fall of the port city had throughout derailed any plans we have had to get us a passage to the continent. The distance was also too great for me to act as boat again, so we agreed to follow the groups of fleeing civilians and bypass the conflict through a mountain-pass that was marked on our map. None of us was keen to find out if the god that had smashed the pagoda was still watching or not, the display of force that had removed an entire area was still fresh in our memories.

The street passing the only viable pass was guarded by a fortress erected in ancient times; to this day the humans used its walls to enforce passage fees and control all travel through the only safe pass crossing the mountain ridge in a gigantic radius. Now we did the same as many others and hoped that its walls would prevent any pursuit of the Elven armies. Even if the city fell, we would be long gone before they could spare any troops to test the mountain fortress.

Words about reinforcements and entire legions of Elves landing in the port were hopefully only exaggerations born of false rumors that fed on the general fear. Could the Elves really have called for the invasion of the entire island?

The march towards the pass would take us two days but the increasing amount of refugees began to reduce our speed down to walking pace. More and more human regiments were seen as slowly the person in charge of the army began amassing his soldiers for the confrontation. The clash could not be long into the future and we were still too close!

The sides of the road were littered with anything the fleeing people had deemed too unwieldy or which had broken down, turning it into fields of garbage.

Bundles of fabric, entire wagons and carts riddled the once clean areas as we made our way through the desolate masses. It did not take long as we began to notice a general trend in the fleeing people, most were of impure or bestial linage! Even in the dire case of war, the so commonly practiced discrimination had made the humans abandon those they deemed impure.

Entire family's of beast-men were on the run, even healthy males in their prime had not been drafted for military service. The more I watched the people around us, the lower my expectations for the humans side became. Without resting, the long train of ragged figures followed the road, slowly the chaos on the side of the road began to change. Where once broken equipment littered the ground, a new horror began to appear, a new type of abandoned luggage. The old, the ill and those too young fell prey to the march. The insects had not yet noticed the opulent meal that was being served on their table, but it was only a matter of time before they would do so.

With increasing frequency small motionless bundles appeared on the side. Without access to a water source the march began to turn into a procession of the living dead under the blazing sun. At the start we had used our magic to form a basin in which we had condensed water, but after we left the mad scramble for the saving liquid had taught us to keep to ourselves. We had to watch as an old woman that had tried to distribute water was trampled to death as the hopeless tried to reach her.

Only my size prevented the desperate mob to dare attack us for our rations, every time we ate or drunk the murderous gazes around us would shower us in killing-intent. On the fourth day of the march we finally saw the fortress! Gray walls seemed to grow from the very cliffs, the etched sigils in their stone promised to last even against concentrated magic barrages. Mighty towers on its entire length made the building look imposing and indestructible.

Painfully slow the long rows passed the only gate, barely two hundred meters away I was privy to the most shameful of human acts I had witnessed in a long time. A group of soldiers was stripping the passing refugees of any valuables and denied those that could not give anything passage, they were the reason the passage had become so slow! In front of the gates a large crowd had been forced to gather.

Only the bad condition they were in had prevented the starving people to try their luck in charging the gate.

I was still contemplating if I should bite off the puny humans head if I got close enough as the shrill ring of a trumpet echoed through the narrow valley as we finally noticed the smoke. The hills had prevented any better view but now the fire had reached an intensity that the thick pillar of smoke pierced the sky, Jerias one of the main city's on the Island stood in flames!

Panic began to spread through the ranks as the refugees began to push towards the gate. The fat pig in charge of the fortress proved to me, that biting off his head would have been to lenient. With a deep rumble the massive gates began to close.

Desperate figures began to charge the bridge leading to the gate but even the massive bridge began to sink into the very walls. The screams of those unfortunate enough to be on it abruptly ended as the bottom of the trench turned into their grave.

With a deep * thud * the doors locked into place, the formations and sigils began to light up as the magical defenses came active. Now we could not even pass over the walls, the barrier would fry us alive!

My head spun, how had the Elves crushed the army and broken the defense of the city? It should have taken a long siege to bring down a city as well planned and defended as Jerias. We were out of options this time, our path forward was blocked and somewhere behind us the Elves were closing in!

“Buckle up we will try our luck with the mountain!”

It pained me greatly to shake off those that had tried to latch onto my fur as my claws dug into the rock but we could not save them. My family had secured themselves to the saddle using rope, still they had to cling to the leather with all their force as I began to scale the near vertical cliffs.

We kept outside the defense perimeter of the fortress as we ascended the mountain. Then we saw the army and finally I understood how the Elves had won so easily, SHIPS!

The damn Elven mages had managed to create flying ships; I had seen the flying constructs in many variations across multiple lives but they were all a work of art that required extremely advanced knowledge to create. In the shadow of the sleek, white rumps their army marched. My heart sunk even more, if they had created flying ships they would also use them to carry heavy siege weapons.

As the thought had barely crossed my mind a glowing rock sailed into the valley. Blood and body-parts splattered across the area as the magical crystal detonated in the middle of the refugees. Had we waited a few more minutes that rock would have exploded right next to us! The smoking crater had appeared where we had stood minutes ago.

Fear filled me with enough energy to double the speed of our climbing. The mountain seemed to laugh at us as its density denied me the option to dive into the safety of its depth.

More and bigger rocks began to impact into the area, the pressure waves of explosions that were stopped by the magical formations grew in intensity and frequency. Ripples ran across the barrier that was covering the walls, it was only a matter of time until It would break under such stress.

Then it came into view, the flagship, styled after a flying dragon crept towards the fortress. Built like an artwork in white, green and gold the opulent carvings seemed to ridicule the plight of the tiny figures that died below it.

The earlier bombardments were only the greeting by its smaller escort vessels! With the promise of total annihilation a huge circular tube in its bow opened. The pressure wave that was create as a crystal the size of a house was launched spread through the lands and toppled trees as it passed.

The time seemed to slow down as the smoking thing sailed through the sky, tiny sparks and fragments painted a beautiful ballistic arc. Deep inside I knew that whoever had launched it had made perfect calculations, it would impact the gatehouse directly! Instantly i knew we could not survive if that thing were to hit the fortress, the resulting explosion would rip us apart even up on the mountainside we were simply too close.

The crew of the fortress must have thought of the same as they launched everything they had against the incoming projectile. The spray of projectiles created in the face of death was beyond chaotic, many of them even clashed with each other, nullifying one another.

Then one fateful javelin managed to make contact, unable to stop the crystal it still managed to alter its course slightly. The changed path made the mighty rock impact the cliffs over the fortress on the opposite side of us. Born of desperation a plan formed in my head, the tower between us and the explosion had given us a tiny chance!

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Blinding white light was the first I saw as the impact zone evaporated, using every defense ability I had my body turned. Even the smallest chance for my family was better than none, it would just be another reincarnation for me, for them it would be the end. The decision was not hard to make as I shot them one last gaze while shifting myself to shield them from the white death, then the world drowned in light and noise.

POV Gale

If only I had voted to try our luck with the forests and find a different way across the damn mountains! The horror I had to witness in the rows of refugees would create enough bad dreams to last an eternity. I did not know if I could ever look at a human without remembering their crimes from this day.

We simply had not expected the Elves to win this fast and that had led us into our current situation. In the middle of aerial bombardment I did my best to cling to the saddle as Kai tried her best to get us out of the area. Tiny rocks painfully showered all over me as the overloaded crystals detonated on impact. The scholar in me looked at the flying constructs mesmerized by their design and magic, while my remaining brain screamed to get away from those harbingers of death.

If nothing changed we had a chance, I could already see the edge of the shield. If only we could get behind it we would be saved.

I felt the utter horror spread through her body as Kai looked at something in the distance, without stopping even slightly she increased the speed even more. Then I saw it too, like a shooting star it sailed through the sky. The throbbing pulse of its contained energy made me sick, unable to avert my eyes I was forced to watch its short journey through the sky.

Finally we reached the top of the barrier, as the time began to slow down to a crawl. I saw Kai look at us, eyes filled with so much pain and sorrow. I knew what she was going to do even before her body began to shift. I wanted to scream at her, hit her, cuddle her but I was stunned by her eyes. How could anyone hold so much pain? Unable to do anything I felt her body shift, the first glimpse of destruction already pierced through the tower as her form turned itself between us and the blooming wall of energy.

Then everything went dark.

For an unknown time I was in the blissful darkness, just me and peaceful nothing. Then something began to disrupt the peace at first just barely, but it increased every second, it was pain demanding me to awaken. It took every ounce of my strength to open my eyes. The scene that came into view kicked my consciousness into action.

All four of us were still strapped to the saddle, which had tangled itself up in a large tree. The straps that had once secured it to my sisters back were reduced to smoldering dregs that barely held together. Multiple holes had been torn into the once sturdy construct, some even still contained the small rocks that had ripped into it. The three others were still out cold as I tried to check my state, barely a quarter life left and bleeding from multiple wounds I was in a sorry state.

Out of habit I reached for my small obelisks which were motionlessly lying on the forest floor a few meters below us. Instantly they shot upwards coming to a stop in front of my face. It took a moment to concentrate but I managed to close the wounds enough to stop any more life to escape my battered form.

My manapool was quite drained, I had poured everything I had into Kai just as the explosion had hit.

Where is Kai?!

Panic began to spread through myself, no matter where I turned, I was unable to spot any glimpse of the familiar silver fur with the green hue to it. Long practiced logic began to subdue the rising panic, I could do nothing to help Kai as long I was dangling from a tree.

My reserves were far too much drained to heal all of us, so I concentrated on mother, if I got her awake she could help me to save father and Ere who looked to be in the most critical state of us.

It took me painfully long seconds to mend the most critical bleeding as she began to stir. Her mouth began to open but I interrupted her harshly “Not now, father and Ere are in danger! My Mana is nearly out I cannot save them alone!”

The spreading wave of energy was visible to the naked eye as she immediately got to work. The dripping blood began to dry up as the source began to seal itself. While mother worked I tried to grab my knife, the solid thing had through all odds remained at my side. After a few uncoordinated movements I finally got hold of the sleek hilt.

Some muscles protested loudly as I unlatched the leather that had secured it in its sheath. I would have nearly lost my grip as more and more of my body began telling me in just how bad of a state I was in. Returning to the earth proved less of a challenge than I had feared. Clinging to my obelisks I gently reached the short grass, I would not win any race but at least it controlled my descend.

“Can you bring up the floating stones, your father should be ready any moment?” Like this I assisted in returning us all to solid ground. Ere had suffered the worst, a stone had hit her and one side of her lung had collapsed, only her sturdy build had preserved her life.

It took us multiple hours until we had patched ourselves up good enough to be capable of proper movement again. Immediately we began the search for our missing sister.

The explosion had catapulted us pretty far away, the smoking remains of the pass looked like a bad omen in the distance. Where once had stood an imposing fortress was now just a giant pile of stone. The detonation had caused the entire mountainside to cave in, uncountable numbers of rocks had buried the entire pass.

We searched until the setting sun disappeared completely. With a small fire to warm us the entire situation began to sink in. “She is gone! I could not save her!” The words began to spill out of me like a waterfall, tears began to rob me of my vision. If only I had trained more, any of the two obelisks Kai had gifted me could have saved us, why had I not improved fast enough to be able to wield at least one of them?

Warm arms closed around me, “Shhhh it is okay, cry all you need, then we will sleep and find her!”

my tears flowed freely in mothers warm embrace. We cuddled close to share our warmth and comfort us through these dark times. Restless sleep awaited us as exhaustion demanded its tribute.

On the next day we set off again with the first rays of the sun illuminating our path. We were so dreadfully slow, Kai had never complained to carry us through thick and thin; Only now as she was gone did I realize how much we had come to rely on her freely given help.

Mother took the lead, no one questioned her as she began to head in a general direction. Deep down I had to ask myself, Could Kai even have survived that explosion? I was not sure if Ignalis or Ere had similar thoughts but if they did, they stayed as silent as me.

Lukewarm water condensed from the air, small game we managed to hunt and berries were our sustenance as we followed Selanis on her path.

One week passed until she suddenly changed directions, it did not reduce her determination in the slightest as she marched towards a mountain in the distance.

In the evening Ignalis tried to comfort his mate to help her overcome the increasing likelihood of Kai's demise.

I had never seen Selanis so furious, the strike she delivered to father's jaw easily fractured it. Her barely contained anger made her lash out, but even I had to admit each day that passed reduced the chance of finding her alive greatly.

No one dared to voice out any concerns again as we followed her through the forest towards the goal only she could see.

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Chapter 19 is in the works, 18 took longer than expected as i deleted the entire thing after i was unhappy with some scenes.

18 is up enjoy (please don't murder me for the cliff)

MfG : Dr_Dac