"My lord, we have scanned through each villages and rescued a few beings. We returned with a total of thirty-six beings. A few elves, werewolves and mermaids." the soldier reported to me.
"That's good news." I said with a neutral tone.
"Truly. The beings wanted to express their thanks to you, my lord." he smiled.
"Hmm...but your face tells me there is something else." I said "I can smell uncertainty from you. Did something else happen?"
The captain hesitated at first but then he took a deep breath before talking.
"The last village that we went... The last one on the map..." he trailed, unsure of what to say.
"What of it?" I asked, starting to get impatient.
"We... Uh, we couldn't find it, my lord." he said.
What?
"What do you mean you couldn't find it? You have a map!" I shouted in anger.
"Ye-yes, my lord. We followed the map ever since we stepped into the human territory. We successfully found the villages... Apart from the last one." he explained.
"On the map, it shows the entrance to the village is indicated with a huge birch tree. The last birch tree from the forest. And when we reached that tree, there was nothing but a vast space of dead soil and crumbled earth. There were no human structure nor sign of life. Nothing."
That's impossible. That map came from a human merchant whom we tricked into making a map for us. He specifically said that the last village was small. That their population wouldn't even reach fifty.
So how come?
"This is seriously mysterious." my first commander, Belerick, said.
"You said dead soil, right?" the second in command, Arus, rubbed his chin. "Why would there be a dead soil right next to a completely fertile forest?"
That made me wonder.
"We have to check this out ourselves." I said and the other two dragons agreed. "You may now leave." the captain bowed before leaving.
"Ezekiel, are we going to bring any other beings with us?" Belerick asked.
"Yes. A werewolf, an elf, and a fae. We'll fly with them on our backs." I said as I stood up and stretched.
"Okay. I'll go ahead and fetch them." Belerick stretched his wings and left the room.
"What do you think about this, Ezekiel?" Arus asked, doing the same thing as I did.
We have been seated this entire day in this room, addressing the concerns of every being. We have never been this united.
Never in my entire life did I see this coming... Let alone ME doing the unification of all beings... Of all races.
I am a dragon. A mortal enemy to some, especially the faes. But since that mad human king, whom we had nothing against, started slaughtering us race by race, we needed to take action. I would have said that burn them ourselves but the humans are smart.Too smart. They found a weapon against us. Against all beings.
Silver.
If it enters our system, it will be an instant kill.
"I have no idea... But I am sure there is something to it." I said before leaving.
I spent years to unify the races. It wasn't easy since our kind was so hated. I mean, we used to steal their treasures and burn a few of them but that was during my grandfather's reign. He was as cruel as the mad human king. My father didn't like his ways and so did I. When grandfather died, my father stepped into the throne and became the Dragon Lord.
Then that stupid mad human king murdered him and I, immediately assumed the throne. I had watched from the skies how this king had slaughtered other races and that was my turning point. A turning point for a change. For unity.
-----
We waited for Belerick and the three other beings on the top of the cliff.
"We're here." we turned around and saw him with the beings.
"A village disappeared. Is it true?" the elf asked.
"Yes."
"That's strange."
"True. Come on, we can't waste time. We'll be there tomorrow by noon." I said as I slowly shifted to my true dragon form. Arus and Belerick did the same, then the beings rode on our backs.
"Let's go." I flapped my wings and took flight first. The other two followed my lead and we soared the skies under the concealing spell the fae casted on us. We couldn't risk being seen by humans. We had to take measures.
The journey was tiring but we paid no attention to that. The small village was our priority and we needed to be as focused as possible so we could notice a slight hint of danger.
As soon as we entered the forest, the air started to feel humid and strong. It made me feel anxious and made my insides tremble.
Strangely, I could smell fear. My own fear and the others as well. This was ridiculous. There was nothing in sight but I felt scared and anxious. Nothing scares a dragon. This was a first.
"The forest is uneasy." the fae commented.
"What?"
"I can feel it. I am a fae afterall."
"Yes. It is indeed." the elf said. "It feels like it's hiding something."
"Protecting." the werewolf corrected.
Elves, Faes, and Werewolves have most interaction with the forest unlike us dragons, who only dwell in mountains.
"What do you mean protecting?" Arus asked and the werewolf shrugged.
"No idea. Yet."
"What the fuck?" we all looked at Belerick who seemed surprised with what was ahead. I followed his gaze, only to curse like him as well.
"My god." the fae covered her mouth and so did the elf. Faes and Elves are like... Children of the earth. So they are most affected if nature is being destroyed or disrupted.
We landed on the ground, right beside the last birch tree. It was already noon and the heat prickled my skin as soon as we shifted back to our normal forms.
The fae and elf touched the soil and both looked at each other nodding in agreement.
"What is it?" I asked. There were grim expressions on their faces when they looked at us.
"Annihilation." the elf said. "There is a village here... There WAS a village here."
"A-annihilation?" Belerick asked in disbelief. "The mad king did it?"
"No. It was done by magic." the fae said. "Sniff the air."
I sniffed the air and smelled a hint of magic. More specifically, fae magic.
"A fae?" I asked.
"This is troubling. All of the faes is already in Drogaris." she said with furrowed brows "And this smell of magic... It's new to me."
We all looked at the werewolf who suddenly vomited on the side.
"Are you alright?" Arus asked. "Was it the flight?"
The werewolf shook his head. "No. The flight was smooth. It's just... The smell is too strong my stomach went upset."
Wolves have keener nose for magic than the rest of the races. If a werewolf vomited because of the strength of the smell... Then that could mean two things.
"It's either we have a strong ally or a greater enemy." I said, all eyes on me.
"Hell, it would be such a plot twist if we united with humans against what... I mean, whoever did this." the werewolf commented.
"That's unlikely." now, our eyes were on the fae. "The smell of magic was strong, indeed. But my inner self tells me that this... fae... Is not a threat to us."
"Of course. You are a fae after all. Bias." The elf snorted.
"Not really. I have a lot of faes I fucking hate back in the city." the rest of them stiffled a soft laugh at her reply but my attention was to something else.
"Shh. Quiet down." I said and they obeyed. "Do you hear that?" I asked.
There is a distant humming inside the forest.
"Someone is in the forest." Belerick said.
"But we didn't feel any presence when we passed through the forest." Arus replied.
"No, we did." I said as I met his gaze. "We felt anxious."
"And scared." the elf slowly walked inside the forest "Follow the sound."
"Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea." Arus commented.
"Pussy." the elf teased and continued walking deeper inside the forest. We all just sighed and followed her lead.
As we walked deeper inside, the humming sounded stronger and the smell of magic was scattered everywhere. There were golden thread-like things floating in the air. I tried to touch one and a flow of memories crashed into my mind. It was so painful that I growled in pain.
I was seeing something. No... It was more like I was experiencing it. I could feel the pain as the stones hit my small body. Little hands covered my head but I made no sound despite the pain each stone gave.
"You filthy cursed child!" people around me kept screaming as they continued throwing stones at me.
It hurts.
A tiny voice rang inside my head.
It hurts. Make it stop.
My heart started to ache and I suddenly felt warm liquid escaping my eyes... I was crying. No, this little girl was crying.
It wasn't my fault. Stop.
"Ezekiel!" I was dragged back to my original body when the fae touched my forehead.
"Wha... What was that?" I asked, still in a daze.
"These golden things are memory threads." the fae said.
"But aren't memory threads blue in color?" the elf asked which furrowed the brows of the fae even more.
"Yes... But this one is different." she said. "What did you see?"
I rummaged my thoughts and calmed my breathing. "I saw people... They were throwing stones at me and it hurt like hell." I complained.
"It hurt?" the fae asked and I nodded in response.
"But that's impossible. Memory threads only show you memories. Not feel it." she whispered.
"What is that glowing thing?" We all turned to wherever the elf was pointing at.
Not so far from us, something was glowing in golden hue. I had no idea why but it felt like I was being pulled. Like I was being called. I tried resisting but to no avail, my body moved all on it's own.
"Ezekiel, stop!" I heard them say but my body wouldn't obey.
"I... I can't!"
"You have to stop! We have no idea what it is!" Arus shouted
"I said I can't, you moron!" I shouted back at him and I felt him sigh in frustration. "Follow him!"
The glow was blinding so I had to squint my eyes so I could still see whatever was in front of me. I kept walking nearer and nearer... Until my body decided to stop.
This place felt almost surreal. It was beautiful. Everything was golden. The trees and leaves...the grass... Everything was golden.
"What is this place?" I heard the werewolf ask.
"Humans." there was a human boy sleeping so soundly and in his arms was a corpse of another child. But right beside him was...
"A shell... There's something inside it." I said. The human boy slowly opened his eyes and fear instantly was painted on his face.
"Wh-who are you?" he managed to ask despite the trembling of his voice.
"Who are YOU?" the werewolf asked back.
"P-please don't hurt us." he started to cry as he held the dead child closer to him. "Don't hurt us..."
"What happened to you, boy?" the Fae asked in a calm manner.
"My brother... My beloved brother was murdered..." he cried
"By who?"
"Mother." a surge of anger flowed inside of me. What kind of a fuckshit mother would kill her own son? I know I'm a brute and used to kill... But I would never... Ever... Hurt a child. Especially as small as him.
"Where do you live?" the fae continued to ask.
"The village." the boy replied, responding to the spell the fae casted to calm his nerves down.
"And the village? What happened to the village?"
"She got mad." the boy answered, obviously in a trance.
Wait... She?
"She cared for my brother so much. Marui had told me about her so many times. When she saw my little brother in my arms, she lost it." he continued.
"Who is she?"
"Gaia."
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