Chapter 178: War (II)
Cathy hair was a bit dishelved as if she was in a fight. THere were streaks of smudge on her cheeks. I wondered what she had met to be in such a hurry. Even Stryd was battered up a bit.
"You guys have finally made it back. Where were you guys?" I asked, I haven't seen them around for awhile, making me wonder what they have been doing.
"We don't have much time. I was off scouting and saw the army that are heading toward us. We need to leave now." Cathay said with a serious tone of voice.
I snaked my head back, checking how many children were strapped in. There were one last elven child left and Guinevere was handing him up to Phil. Phil grabbed him, bringing him up. His hand quickly moved, strapping the child in place.
When he was finished, he looked at me and nodded. Telling me that everything was ready for us to leave.
Stryd was trying to climb up onto my back, but his stocky legs weren't gripping the side of my scales very well to get the boost that he needed. I had to give him a light boost, which he was finally able to get himself up. He let out a loud grunt. The thought of flying again made him frown, but he kept such words in himself.
Cathay did a running jump onto my elbow and then hopped up gracefully. She sat down, strapping herself with the rope.
"Wait for us!" Gorum and Khor, the two dwarves, were running toward me. "Take us with you!"
At the rate this was going, I felt like I was taking a whole village on my back. I didn't even know if I even have space.
I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped. Maybe they could be of help. All, I know is that we needed to go now and who knew what dangerous journey we would run into and I needed quite a bit of hand, protecting the kids. There weren't much I could do without throwing everyone off my back.
"Fine. Get on quickly." I said, waiting for them to climb up.
Khor was the first one to grab the side of the leather straps. He pulled himself up, quite nimbly that I was a bit surprised that they could move so fast. Even Gorum got up without much problems, but it wasn't like the elf. They did have some trouble, but it wasn't as bad.
"We all set?" I asked. My wings spread open wide. I could feel the soft breeze rushing underneath my wings, already pulling me up.
"Yes." Phil called out.
Guinevere looked up at me. He shouted, "please protect our hope!"
"I will." With a hard flap, I could feel my feet slightly leaving off the ground. I continually to flap harder and harder, the push upward wasn't always the easiest, but the strength of my wings made up for the climb.
It didn't take long for me to get airborne. The children screamed in surprise as the wind hit against their tiny body. I couldn't help but excitedly push higher and higher. Eventually, the screams went silent.
I was excited that I was back high up in the air. The freedom to fly anywhere I wanted and nobody stopping me brought euphoric feeling. Even when things were heavy with urgency, such feelings couldn't be easily forgotten and calmed my mind.
The higher I flew up in the sky, the better I had of where I needed to go. I had seen in a distance a large oak tree that seem to even touch the skies. Such an ancient and large tree was hard not to miss.
"We need to go to the tree of life." Kathy said with a serious tone of voice. "From the village to the tree it takes a good five day travel on foot, but hopefully we could get there by the end of the day."
I was a bit taken aback at how long it would take to get to the Tree of Life. The sheer size of the tree could be seen from this far. I had to wonder how small I would feel when I finally arrived.
A strong blow of wind blew past me, carrying me higher into the sky. But at the same time, my nose widen from a familiar scent. I could smell something burning. I turned my head around to look over my shoulder.
Off in the distance, the trees were burning. Multiple large column of black smoke could be seen with fire ravaging the forest. My eyes narrowed, trying to catch any movements for the cause of this forest fire.
What I saw made me gritted my teeth. There were an army of orcs, wearing black metal armor. Half of their body were covered in it in certain spots, but the rest showed off their green and brown skin. They had a natural thick skin, which also protected them.
Was this my aunt's army or the Titan's I don't know and didn't want to find out. There were other strange creatures creating havoc on the forest floors. Thousands of animals burst out of the forest, fluttering away to get away. Animals scurried away in panic, running away not to get eaten, crushed, or burnt alive.
A low growl rumbled in my stomach, startling the children. A few hiccuped and shivered, wondering if they were going to be thrown over at how scary I was looking.
"Hey!" Kathy yelled, smacking me on the neck. "You're scaring the kids!"
I blinked a few times, wondering what she meant. My glare was directed at her.
"Did I do something wrong? Are you thinking about killing me?"
Kathy words startled me. I didn't think I was giving such a scary expression.
"Sorry." I tried to loosen up my expression. "I couldn't help it."
"Why? What do you mean?" Kathy was wondering what had caused such a sour mood.
Phil spoke, tapping Kathy on the shoulder. He then pointed in the direction that I was looking at as I hung in the air for a moment.
Kathy turned. A loud gasp escaped her lips. Her face fell into horror, realizing how bad this was. To see her beloved forest burning as far as the eye could see brought anger, tears, and a burst of livid magical energy arond her.
Phil had to hold onto her shoulder, squeezing it to remind her to calm down. "Calm down. There are children here." His voice was a lull.
Kathy breathed in deep. She closed her eyes. She squeezed her hand into a fist. Eventually, she let out the breath that she was holding. Her demeanor changed.
I knew how she felt. The nasty lingering feeling of anger was bubbling inside of me as well. Keeping it under control was hard and to see such a beautiful place being burned down was terrible. It was as if the forest was screaming in pain and I could feel it.
I wanted to go back, but I couldn't. The trembling children were glued to my back and having them there when I fought was more of a liability. Plus, I didn't want to put them in harms way. I promised to take them to safety.
Turning around was hard, but I had too.
With great effort, the rumbling sizzling feeling of anger rumbled through my heart and shot through my body. A blood must be paid.
I glared forward, trying to not to look back.
The childrens silently cried as a few burst into tears. Their bellow of despair made me cringe. It took all of me to steel my heart as I flew.
Each flapping wings brought a tremor of anger. The growing pain of lost and despair was heavy in the air.
I didn't know how I ended back at the major elven city. With a thump, he landed with a heavy heart and mind. The dragon in me was screaming for revenge.
A group of eleven warriors rushed over when they saw me. They noticed the elven children were on my back as they shouted in hurry to bring more soldiers to assit. One-by-one the elven children slid down as they were caught by a solider.
The others slide off as well.
The two dwarves kissed the ground a few times, happy to see solid ground.
Phil leaned over. "We should go talk with the others." He patted my neck.
"Why? We already have a problem as it is. We should go and destroy these bastards for what they have done." I hissed. My tongue flickered out. All I was seeing was red. The thought of these children future and their family being destroyed infuriated me even more.
"Yes, but we need a plan. We can't just jump into this without taking a moment to get the forces ready." Phil tried to bring reason into my mind. It wasn't easy, especially because of the raging emotions that kept berating my heart.
"Berry." Phil soften his voice, trying to console her. "Calm down."
I took a moment to listen to his calm voice. It wasnt' easy, especially because the raging torrent of emotions was trying to even overcome my mind. I had to focus. Focus on his deep voice that continued to call my name over and over again.
With a deep breath, I held it in my lungs. Counting down to zero, I let all the shroud of darkness in my mind go. I was better than this. I wasn't a animal that would purely act on rage. Oh no, I was a dragon.
"What do you have in mind?" I spoke out a lot calmly than I thought.
"A few things." Phil suggested, "But the most important part is for you to calm down so you can focus. An angry person going into battle is the worst thing to do. All you will become is a crazed dragon."
I sighed. He was right.
"If you want to bring justice, stay calm Berry."
"I know." I groaned.
"Then you know what to do."
I took another deep sigh.
"Come." Phil slid down. He patted his hand a couple of time on her legs. "Are you going to change?"
I shook my head. I didn't want too. I was still heated, but was strangely calm.
"Okay," Phil didn't say anything further.
I followed Phil, walking through the trees house and heading straight toward elven hall. The elven people quickly walked out of their homes, wondering what was going on. Especially to see her in her dragon form as it was not usually to see.
Iaewinth came running out when she saw us coming.
"What happened?!" Iaewinth panted, her eyes becoming wide.
"There has been an attack at the nearest village. In less than a few days, they would be here."
"Are you sure?" Iaewinth asked in shock.
"Why would I be lying?" Phil rolled his eyes.
"We need to move now." I spoke, my head lowered, looking down at Iaewinth. "The army is coming and they won't stop at the elven village."
Iaewinth winced, realizing what I meant. Her body became straighter, looking in the direction that we had arrived from. "We'll get the council started right this moment. I assure you we will be ready for war by night fall."
"That's not enough time." I snapped. "The number of eleven villages that are around will be taken over, would you kill them off as well?"
Iaewinth frowned. "We will move when its time." She turned around, heading straight back into the council hall.
I clicked my tongue, annoyed at her reply.
Phil stood in front of me from advancing forward. He shook his head. "You should go rest."
"No."
"Berry, listen to me." Phil stood up straighter. "We will go to battle when you are at a clamer state of mind." He promised her.
I snarled. "The elven council will take days." Staying here was not an option. I was itching to fight.
"Possibly, but did you forget what I said?"
I glared. "Yes, I remember."
"Excatly." Phil stated, "pratice that while you wait. I'll be back." He looked at me for a moment, making sure that I understood what I said.
"Fine." I snapped away.
Phil nodded. He walked away quickly, heading into the council hall.
I sighed and made my way toward the nearest tree. Away from the constant chatter of the elven residents and soldiers. They gazed up at her with awe and fright, nobody taking a step forward to talk with her.
I didn't mind that. Honestly, I wanted them away.
With a thump, I sat down, curling my tail around my body like a cat.
Anytime someone brave enough tried to approach me, i snorted a blast of smoke out of my nose, scaring them.
I closed my eyes.
Letting the angry emotions to simmer, but I did not forget. I knew that sooner or later, I would have to change my anger and redirect to the source that destroyed the children's home and family.
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