--------///----Eclina's POV----\\\--------
We all looked at the sky and set off. I hopped on Espiral's back while Mr.Garris and Mr.Fenrir ran up with us. The rifts kept forming and there were more that kept forming onto each other turning into bigger rifts. Mr.Fenrir looked all around us and seemed to be taking in how many rifts before turning back to the Arbor.
(Fenrir) " Hmm... Less then i was expecting. Arbor, coat the forest for a bit. Garris, set up a barrier and keep it up until i'm done. "
Mr.Fenrir sounded serious and it looked like the tree responded since the trees of the forest all started to rustle as they started to shine a bright green. Mr.Fenrir waited for the glow to reach its peak before doing anything. When it looked like the trees couldn't get any brighter, Mr.Fenrir turned back to face the rifts and closed his eyes. Then he turned to us to see that Mr.Garris did what he asked and nodded his head. The Mr.Fenrir slowly started to breath in and out before he started took a big breath in that looked like he was inhaling a tornado as he opened his eyes to release it all as a howl.
The air felt like it was shaking and being close to him while he was howling felt like we were caught in a storm despite being covered by Mr.Garris' barrier. The rifts that looked like they would blanket the sky started to close as soon as they formed. Even the ones that had been getting bigger from having multiple rifts formed on them were being closed. Soon every rift was closed and we didn't see any more opening. Mr.Fenrir looked over to Mr.Garris and nodded, so Mr.Garris took the barrier down.
We looked all around the forest's sky and saw that there weren't anymore rifts forming. No matter where we looked, there weren't any rifts forming in the sky.
(Fenrir) " That should do it for now. You three won't have to go around the forest anymore. I can handle anything here on my own. "
(Eclina) " Then... Does that mean we can leave? "
(Fenrir) " Yes. You've stayed in the forest for too long now anyway. Go, experience the world and grow into a proper progenitor. If we need you or anything happens, then we can call you through your Sylum. So Eclina, Espiral, go. Go and see Astrum to your hearts contents. "
(Garris) " And Eclina, go find your mother. Seeing your mother before leaving will do you some good. "
(Fenrir) " Huh? Mother? Am i missing something here? "
(Garris) " Eclina's mother wanted to meet you. She is currently on her way here. However she should be a week or so away. "
(Fenrir) " Huh? Why should that matter? "
After he said that, Mr.Fenrir came over to us and lowered his head in my direction.
(Fenrir) " Eclina, visualize her for me. "
I knew what he meant so i lowered my head against his and pictured mama. After a few seconds, a light started to coat us and i could feel something happening. When i looked up, there was a space next to us that was slowly distorting, but differently from how a rift would be. Then after anoter few seconds, the rift changed to a weird portal that showed a plains and a figure that was slowling down as she saw the portal. That figure was mama.
On the other side of the portal i could see mama tilting her head as she walked over to the portal. When she got closer it seemed like she noticed us and her face changed to shock. She ran through the portal and showed up on our side... But in the air. Though it looks like mama was expecting to show up in the air since a massive earth pillar shot up and stopped her from falling to the ground. Mama turned to us and i hopped off of Espiral's back and onto her pillar where she started to coddle me and Espiral. Though it was a little embarrasing with everyone here.
Even though mama has come to visit before, she couldn't come as often as papa. Mama would only visit once every three months because making the journey between the forest and the empire was a little too much, even for mama. It was all the way across the continent after all. Only papa could do that often given how fast he could go. It made it hard for mama because she wanted to always come over and see us but she accepted waiting so she could coddle us as much as possible whenever she could come.
(Garris) " *Ahem* "
After a while, Mr.Garris cleared his throat and mama turned to look at Mr.Garris and Mr.Fenrir. When she did, she stopped coddling me and knelt down.
(Losine) " The eclipse wolf Losine pays homege to the progenitor of the lycans. "
(Fenrir) " Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks, but you don't have to do that. I'm not into formalities and all that stuff. "
Mama just flinched and looked up to him and over to me. The look in her eyes was along the lines of "Is that fine?", which i just nodded. She didn't drop the formalities instantly but she seemed to be trying to drop them. Though she seemed to be doing a little too much to try that. Mr.Garris and Mr.Fenrir noticed that and let out awkward smiles. We all started to go down to the ground where we talked about me and Espiral leaving the forest. When mama heard that, she started to lecture me and Espiral not minding Mr.Garris or Mr.Fenrir at all.
This was the first time Espiral got to experience mama being overprotective since she would tell us of what not to do, where not to go, what not to eat and so on. Mama got really used to Espiral ever since her first visit, so she really considered him one of us and her own child. Espiral had a smile on his face the whole time since he could tell that mama was just worried about us and really cared. Mr.Garris and Mr.Fenrir would butt in on occasion to try to say that an area would be safer then mama said it was, but mama would glare at them for a second and shut them up.
The first time that happened we were all surprised because mama did that to them without hesitating. But when i asked why she did that, her answer made me and Espiral happy.
(Losine) " My children come first. Loyalties come second. "
After that, we just let mama keep going until she was finished. It had to have gone on for over an hour and mama hardly stopped. She told us about Reina's mom taking over the area on the other side of the forest and where Reina and her party were. There was a lot that she talked about and most of it were things that Mr.Garris and Mr.Fenrir didn't know about. She rold us that if we ever went to the empire, Ulderria would let us rest and feed us if we ever wanted to go visit her, Morrius and papa. She told us where Lily was so we could go visit if we ever wanted. Then she told us about other world changes.
Mr.Garris and Mr.Fenrir were curious about how mama knew about them, so she told them about Ulderria and how her information network works. she was very detailed so it got boring after a bit which made me and Espiral doze off. Though mama saw that and gave us a look that made me and Espiral straighten up on the spot. After that, mama went on for a bit more until she was done. Then she nodded at us and gave a warm smile. But then Mr.Fenrir cleared his throat and spoke up in a resectful way, which seemed odd but then i felt like he was worried mama would talk back to him.
(Fenrir) " Can i make a suggestion? "
(Losine) " Yes, my lord. "
(Fenrir) " How about meeting with the other new progenitors? You've all met in Sylum and Elysium but you've never met in reality. Especially after their evolutions. "
Mr.Fenrir was right. After their evolutions, everyone was able to come in to Sylum. We all had our own but we could call each other to our respective Sylums if the other was in there while we were. Alatrea would call me often and she was nice to talk too. I never knew why, but she really liked me for some reason. Gulvae was the opposite since she didn't really like me much. Althea was fine with me though if her and Gulvae were ever together, they would have a fight. Which was fun to see especially after their evolutions.
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I thought about it and thought that visiting Alatrea would be good. There would be strong things to fight on the way and we could see the sights while we did that. And we could even meet up with Reina and her party on the way since they were in the general direction of the Infernal Island chain. I looked over to Espiral and he just looked at me with a "I'll follow you wherever you want" look. Which was expected. I nodded at him and looked back to everyone else and made up my mind.
(Eclina) " We'll go over to the Infernal Island Chain. I wanna visit Alatrea. "
(Garris) " Should we tell Fafnir? "
(Fenrir) " Hmm... No. Let it stay a surprise. Besides, Bahamut would probably agree with me with giving Fafnir a shock. "
(Garris) " A shock? "
(Fenrir) " Fafnir can be a control freak. And with his brother there, he's been having a hard enough time as is. If Eclina just shows up without warning then he'll probably just start losing scales on the spot. "
(Garris) " Hmm... That would be entertaining to see... Ignastra would probably love to see that aswell. "
(Fenrir) " Well, Eclina could always transfer the memory to us when it happens. "
They were in their own world at that point and didn't pay much attention to us after they started talking to themselves. Mama looked at them and then looked back at us with a complicated look on her face.
(Losine) " ... I want you two to follow mme for a moment. "
Me and Espiral looked confused since we thought mama got everything she wanted to say out but it looked like she had more to say. So we nodded and started to follow after mama who sprinted full speed in a certain direction. Mama went fast but if me and Espiral wanted too, we could outspeed her. But we didn't since that would be way too rude and mama might rebuke us so we didn't even think about it. And after a while, we reached our destination. Our old den... Mama used her earth to expand the den so Espiral could go in wwithout any issues.
Mama walked in and looked around with a nostalgic look in her eyes. And i could relate since it's been a while since i came back here. As the years passed, i focused more on my elements and didn't really come back here. I brought Espiral here maybe once or twice so even though he didn't have the same history here, he knew the significance it had for us.
(Losine) " Back then... I could have never imagined how you would all turn out... Back then i was so worried about all of your wellbeing... Especially after... "
Mama went quiet for a bit after she said that and i could tell what she was going to say. Even though i didn't get the chance to make memories with them, mama did. And she still hurt when she remembered what happened.
(Losine) " I was so... Entrapped, by the fear that i wouldn't be able to protect you all. However looking at you now... I don't have to be afraid anymore. I don't need to feel as if you're still my small little pup that needs to be shielded from the world. Even Lily and Morrius are growing stronger right before my eyes. My children no longer need me to be worried whether they will be safe. You can all see the world without having to be watched over by me or your father.
You can protect not just yourself but also others... You may even protect me one day... However despite all that... You're still my child and always shall be. I will always be here for you no matter what. And that applies to you aswell, Espiral. I may not be your actual mother yet you are and will always be my child. I love the both of you and will always be on your side. "
I couldn't stop listening to mama and i couldn't even bring myself to say anything while she was talking. The same was true for Espiral since i could see that he was moved by what mama was saying. Especially when it came to her addressing him. And even when she was done talking, we didn't respond. We both just walked over to her and all huddled together. I almost didn't want to leave but mama must've noticed that as she was the first to move out and let out a smile that made me want to stay even more.
(Losine) " It's time. Go out and see Astrum. Form your own experiences and live a beautiful life my children. "
And so... After struggling to move, we left. We got out of our den and looked to each other with a look that showed how much we didn't want to leave mama. But just like she said, it was time. It was time for us to leave the forest and see what was out there for us.
Espiral shot upwards at full speed and passed the top of the Arbor in a moment. Espiral's top speed wasn't as fast as papa but he was getting close to it. We knew which way we had to go to get to the Infernal Island Chain and with Espiral's speed, we could probably get there in two months. Though that was if we didn't take any detours. We were probably going to stop to hunt and see Reina so it would probably take a bit more then two months. We didn't talk for a while after leaving the forest but if we didn't talk then we would probably be mentally exhuasted so we started talking.
Even though Espiral never met Reina, he got curious with how mama would talk about her and her party. He got even more curious about what being pet felt like, though he never said that i could tell he wondered about it. He was also wondering about humans and other bipeds other then the monsters. Since we've been staying in the forest,we didn't get to interact with any bipeds. Other then a odd tribe of ogres that just suddenly started to migrate in, he had never seen bipeds.
For now we were heading out to get to a hunting grounds that mama told us had a large group of monsters like Ogres and monsters that we didn't see before. Monsters would be different from beasts since even if they couldn't use elements, their bodies were ridiculous and they had weird things like regeneration and fast reproduction. They were also really different but i wanted to find out how they were different myself and not just rely on what mama told us.
The hunting grounds mama told us about were two weeks away but with Espiral's speed, we would easily get there in five days. We traveled without getting interrupted and the days came and went just like that. We traveled, sometimes i would run on the ground to keep my legs from getting rusty. My running speed might not be as fast as Espiral's flight, but i wouldn't slow down our trip that badly. The trip was fun since we hadn't left the forest for so long but now we were finally out.
We could enjoy running and flying along the river, see the common flowers that didn't normally grow in the forest, eat some normal beasts that wouldn't survive in the forest, and even ran past a small settlement that we could've visited but i chose not too. Espiral wondered why so i told him about what happened when we went to Reina's parents kingdom. When i started, he was mad and looked like he would've flew towards it. But then i told him about how nice Reina and they all were and that changed his mood.
I wanted Espiral to meet humans, but i just wanted him to meet the right ones first. I didn't want him to feel what i did when we walked through the crowd that time. I didn't tell him that and just finished the conversation after the story. We went back to traveling after that but i could see he was wondering what Reina and her party would be like. Though normally flying while not paying attention to the sky woould be a bad thing, there weren't any structures or trees that he could smack into so it was fine.
We kept going and the days passed just like that. Compared to the forest, it was boring. But in a good way. Fighting everyday could get boring and dull. But this peaceful atmosphere where we could take our time and relax was just what we needed. We could relax and get some rest that we couldn't get in the forest since we'd always wake up two hours after dawn and get our day started. Though our food probably didn't have it as easy as us. Especially in their last moments. But things were going good for us so that was still fine with us.
After a while, we finally made it. We made it to the hunting grounds. The hunting grounds were a barren area where the grass was dying, the trees were cut down, there seemed to be a settlement with wooden walls that had spikes at the top a ways away. Looking at this, we were both confused since this was something that we've never seen before. Though we had some knowledge about ogres but it didn't seem like ogres built settlements. They just smashed everything apart and caused havoc.
Something was off. So i hopped onto Espiral's back and he took us up. We got up atleast twenty meters where our eyesight would let us see them but they wouldn't see us, and took a peek. Though what we saw made us even more confused. Passed the walls, there were houses and what looked to be farms. This went against everything we knew about Ogres. Even though from where we were, we could see some of them and see that they looked similar, there was a slight difference between the ones we knew about.
From what we knew, Ogres were three meters tall, at the least. With green skin, two horns sprouting from their heads, massive muscles but pretty much no brain. They would wear simple hides and wield crude clubs or axes. But these Ogres were completly different! They were a meter shorter, had red skin, wore what looked to be cloth, though some still had hide skins as their clothing. They seemed to be civilized Ogres. Which was way too weird!
(Espiral) " Sis. Should we check it out? Or should we keep moving? "
(Eclina) " Umm... I'll check it out. If they're ok i'll let you know. If things go wrong i'll handle it. "
He started to grumble a bit before he reluctantly agreed. From our knowledge, Ogres were at mindless drake level, which we could both handle dozens of drakes if the situation called for it. So i started my wind tail, and started to run down. When i got closer, some Ogres noticed me coming down and seemed to go on the defensive. Some went back into their homes and took out weapons, some already had weapons and the rest either went to hide or put their fists up. Eventually i made it to the ground and looked at all the Ogres around me.
They stayed away from me by keeping their distance, and looked at me. We were both observing each other and i could hear them whispering between themselves. But what shocked me was that i could understand what they were saying! Monsters had a different language then what everyone learned. It shouldn't have been possible for me to know what they were saying. But i could. Then the crowd of Ogres started to part as a bigger Ogre that was atleast a head taller then the others, had three horns on its head and darker red skin, with hide armor and an iron war axe on his back walked forward.
We looked at each other and it looked like he could tell i was sizing him up. Then what shocked me was what he did next. The Ogre laid his war axe down on the ground and spoke.
(Chieftan?) " Beast. What brings you to my tribe? "