Dragon Gods Reign

[Ilnori]

Flying next to the leader of her accompanying unit of the emerald guard and the ranger they had saved, Alicia followed the latter's directions as they headed toward the last known position of the main portion of the human army. There, they would then meet up with the other units that had set out together with them and wait for further orders.

Following after them were Vika, Sonita, and five more members of the emerald guard, with the last two having split off from their group to return the prisoner they had taken to the capital.

Rapidly moving through the forest in this formation, Alicia quickly started to notice the hesitant glances Teril threw her way.

“What is it?” She finally asked after a few minutes.

“I'm just slightly confused by this situation.” Teril answered hastily, taken aback by her annoyed tone, “How come the emerald guard is leaving the mana tree for once and then in the company of a dragon, a vampire, and a human? And why did your arrival look like you had been anticipating the ambush?”

“Because we knew.” The leader, Aenor, confirmed.

Nearly stumbling on a small bump in his way as he was startled by the admission, Teril abruptly turned his head toward the man.

“More so that we, as well as the entire military leadership of you elves, knew that there are multiple human units preparing ambushes for the rangers. But the assassin units proved to be quite adept at hiding and the deployment of fourth ranks wasn't an option, so they decided to only let the rangers attack their targets when another unit was nearby to intervene if it became necessary.” Alicia explained.

“So I was bait?”

“Yes. But that's still better than if you had been among the unfortunate men and women whose targets were considerably faster and more direct in their movement. Once they had made it far enough from the forest edge that it was deemed impossible for human support could arrive in time they had received the order to engage, only for most of them to be in turn attacked by a unit like the one you encountered.” Aenor said.

“How many?” Teril asked with a frown.

“Nearly a hundred and fifty dead or unaccounted for, with around fifty more having received wounds serious enough that field healing wasn't enough. And that's despite us getting luck and learning of their plan after the first wave of attacks.” Aenor said in a gloomy tone.

Reacting with a pained expression as he heard the number, Teril drew at least some hope from the second sentence.

“So there were at least some survivors?” He asked, trying to focus on the positive.

“Most of them are heavily wounded, but yes. Though even among those who aren't, only one called Zestor has anything but luck to thank for it. Apparently, he succeeded in the promotion to the fourth rank only a few days ago and hadn't yet been transferred to an appropriate unit due to the usual time it takes for the paperwork to be finished.”

“That sounds just like him, even back at the academy he was always miles ahead of the rest of our year.” Teril said with a light smile, “I'm gonna have to congratulate him next time we see each other.”

“You'll have the chance in a few moments. While your other colleagues were called back to the city or an outpost, he was invited to join the gathering we're going to and I doubt he wouldn't accept.” Aenor said.

“Why's that?” Teril asked.

“Because it comes from the empress.” Alicia said while already looking forward to the man's reaction with a slight grin.

This revelation took Teril utterly by surprise. Abruptly planting his feet into the ground and sliding to a halt, he swiftly turned toward the other elf who came to a standstill after a few more meters.

“The empress is here?!” Teril asked in shock.

“Yes. And you have the opportunity to meet with her.” Alicia said.

“What?”

Calmly nodding in response to Teril's disbelieving outcry, Alicia continued speaking.

“Well, I'm on my way to meet with her and I don't care to send you away beforehand. So if you don't want to you can leave, otherwise just stay with us.”

“And here I was wondering how you got to work with the emerald guard. I'm assuming you aren't your average dragon then when you even know the empress.”

“Somewhat. Though it's mainly because of who my brother is. He was also the one she invited here, I just tagged along.” Alicia said.

“You just tagged along into a war zone, of course.”

Overwhelmed by the series of revelations, Teril just repeated Alicia's words in emotionless acceptance.

“If that is the reaction to just this then it definitely was a good idea not to have the rangers be a part of the operation. Though I know a few people who would have certainly enjoyed their reactions.” Alicia said.

“Who could fault them? I didn't as much as suspect your kind's alliance with the empress before I was told today and I doubt the council was any less surprised yesterday. And the rest of the elven population has even less knowledge of the details of the continent's politics. For them, dragons are something akin to an act of nature in that they do what they want without letting anyone else control or even just influence them.” Aenor said.

“I don't fault them but I can also see why your leadership didn't want to deal with it.”

Turning toward Teril as she said this, Alicia snapped her fingers in front of his face a couple of times to bring him out of his thoughts.

“On the point of dealing with it, do you still have questions or can we get going again?” She asked.

“What? No, no, we can go.” Teril quickly answered.

“Good, I don't want to be late.”

Flying ahead at those words and moving just fast enough for the ranger and the emerald guard to be able to catch up soon, Alicia again moved along their previous path. A moment later the elves as well as Vika and Sonita followed, catching up to her in a few seconds at which point she then picked up her speed and headed toward their destination with them.

Moving through the forest like this, it only took them a few more minutes to come close to the gathering point.

Passing by trees inlaid with sensing formations that served as the outermost defensive layer of the outpost they were heading to, Alicia furrowed her brows when her mana sense started picking up far more presences than she expected.

Noticing from the small change in Aenor's expression that he noticed the same thing, she started slowing down before he even gave the signal to the rest of their group. As the sound of their movement started to die down as a result, she in turn noticed the sound of boots marching across the forest floor and the clattering of armor plates in the distance.

Immediately hiding her presence in response, Alicia turned her head to the rest of their group. First placing her index finger on her lips, she then pointed upward.

Understanding the gesture, the elves immediately scattered toward the nearest trees and started climbing them. Grabbing whatever small footholds they could get as they made their way up the branch-free bottom third of the trees, they occasionally had to supplement them with aura constructs to keep up the quick pace with which they scaled the trunks.

Alicia meanwhile simply unfurled two draconic wings on her back before shooting to the skies with a single strong beat from them. Behind her, Vika and Sonita did the same with wings of blood and phoenix wings respectively, allowing them to land on a branch near the top of the tree just after her.

Waiting a few moments until the elves reached the lowest branches, the three of them then started moving from tree to tree as their allies did the same during their ascend. Jumping from branch to branch, the elven soldiers expertly navigated the chaotic wave of wood as if it were an extremely oversized stairway.

Keeping extra vigilant while they focused on reaching her, Alicia was the first to notice when a new presence arrived nearby just before Aenor reached her. And though she noticed that this person expertly kept their otherwise hidden aura noticeable once closer as if not wanting to startle them, she nonetheless spun around with her claws extended.

Similarly, Vika and Sonita drew their weapons. Spreading out while taking care not to let their stealth drop despite this, they didn't mobilize their mana but otherwise got fully ready for a fight.

Not dropping their guard even when an elf in the attire of the emerald guard stepped into their view a few seconds later, they watched as the woman stopped in place and followed Aenor's movement.

Noticing her as soon as he stepped onto the branch Alicia was standing on, he greeted her after only a moment of surprise.

“Shyla?” Aenor asked surprised.

“Didn't know you were also part of this operation.” The woman replied.

Shifting her gaze from one to the other a couple of times, Alicia slowly lowered her arms.

“You know her?” She asked simultaneously.

“Yes, we were part of the same unit back before I was promoted to lead a squad of my own.”

Turning her eyes into their draconic form for a moment, Alicia let her claws disappear before speaking, “Alright. And as the form we see is neither an illusion nor transformed we can trust her then.”

“So you're one of the dragons helping us.” Shyla responded with some surprise.

“You already met my brother or Yldra?” Alicia asked.

“Both. Just a few minutes ago in fact, but you won't make it to the meeting place in time. The human army was faster than expected and is already attacking the outpost so the empress decided to move up the timetable.

Those that didn't make it in time to receive orders of their own are supposed to just join the soldier or unit they encounter at their position. While I am unsure whether that also applies to you and would not even try ordering you even if it did, your presence would certainly be a help if you were to join me.”

Pausing for a moment to consider it, Alicia answered just a few seconds later.

“I will gladly be of help, just lead the way.”

Smiling lightly as she saw how glad and relieved Shyla was by her decision, Alicia beckoned the rest of their group to follow her as the other woman started moving again a moment later.

“Then let's see what awaits us.” She murmured as they thus rapidly approached the invading army.