Cearbhail:

Oh boy, so I should explain this down below.

Oh... and enjoy. =^^=

[Kara]

I screamed as I ran my dagger through the throat of a frost troll. I had my arms wrapped around the thick neck of the massive creature. The troll was nearly 8 feet tall standing straight, his arms easily as large as I was, and his neck thick as me too. His skin was tough, tougher than my leather armor. And to add to this… trolls regenerate their health. Only setting them on fire seems to do anything. Some spells have an effect. I don't know what spells those are… I'm not a spell-caster.

The Troll I was clinging to, trying my best to stab my dagger deep into his throat, was thrashing his arms madly, trying to throw me off. He got lucky as he whipped his shoulders around, making me loosen my grip on him. I fell from his broad shoulders, slamming into the watery ice. My snow leather was soaked through, and even though I'm used to the colder weathers, I could feel the icy sting of the nearly frozen water taking my coat's lining. If I didn't find a warm environment and ditch these wet clothes… I'm looking at frostbite in probably 15 minutes. Even soaked, this coat would do something to keep me somewhat warm. It would take a little more than a little jump in a freezing lake to kill me… as long as I got moving before the cold air began to freeze my exposed bits.

I rolled up onto my feet as quickly as I could. Trolls were rounding on me as I bolted to my feet. The slick ice took me once again, and I found myself taking a face dive into the icy water. It didn't help that the troll was looking for me, slamming his feet down all around me. His heavy stomps were breaking the ice all around me. More and more the two of us were beginning to submerge into the icy water. The ice platform I was climbing on shatter into several pieces and I found myself taking a full plunge into the freezing water.

Not good… very not good! If I didn't do anything soon… I was going to die. Running in a cold insulated coat… while not great… is survivable. My core temperature is dropping by the second… and all the breath in my lungs exploded out of me as soon as I hit the cold water. And… I can't swim. Thought I should throw that out there. And I definitely can't swim in ice.

As my vision began to darken, I felt a hand grasp my collar. I was yanked out of the icy water by Blade, the young preteen Tiefling. "Great Freya… get your butt out of that water."

The troll falling into the icy depths gripped madly on the icy platforms surrounding them. They managed to pull themselves out of the icy water, taking a swing at me and Blade. I managed to miss the troll's slash, but my coat was not so lucky. The backside was torn, enchanted feathers flying to the winds as I managed to avoid dying for the third time today. Blade wasn't so lucky though. His hand gripping me was torn from his arm.

Blade screamed madly as he fell onto his butt, gripping his severed arm as tightly as he could.

I snapped around, throwing one of my daggers at the troll. My dagger harmlessly bounced off the troll, barely even leaving a dent. All I managed to do was piss the troll off more than I already had. The dragon was crashing down behind us, breathing freezing ice down on top of the frost trolls, which only managed to throw them off their feet as they slid across the ice.

I rushed to gather Blade into my arms as I lifted him onto his feet. We had to get moving. Blade was already going into shock. And to be honest… my clothes are soaked through… and my only defense against the cold… was practically gone. With the massive hole in my back, I could feel the frost forming on my sweatshirt. I'm going to die in minutes if I don't get moving. Not to mention my ears are screaming at me… my fingers are going painfully numb… and my nose was burning. It was getting harder to keep my eyes open. I was so cold.

As we rushed, we managed to outrun the trolls as they turned their attention to the dragon breathing down on top of them. Blade began pulsing… and I don't mean convulsing. His… energy, or mana, or whatever, was pulsing off his body. And I remember he said something about his wild magic having dire consequences for whenever it went off. There was a massive slam of energy streaming off Blade. And I'm sure what happened, but with wild magic… you really can't know for certain.

…

[Silver]

Man… my eyes felt heavy. Like I was sleeping for a long time. My body felt stiff… my bones felt almost fused. Man… breathing was burning. Where was I? Who was I?

"Umm… sir…" I heard an unfamiliar feminine voice call off beside me. "You'll want to see this."

"What?" Another deeper voice called.

I slowly managed to open my eyes. The room was brightly lit. It was a smaller room, where I was placed in the center of it. I was lying on a medical bed; my arms and legs strapped down. I had some kind of… neck collar on. It felt like it was blocking something. I tried to breathe frost… and I couldn't. There was a lantern sitting on a table set next to my bed. Standing over my body was an elf. At least… I thought it was an elf. Her skin tone was dark. Almost ashy black. She had deep red eyes. Her hair was just as dark, oily almost. She had an apron covering her robes. The apron was covered in blood. And from the smell… it wasn't just mine. But mine was definitely fresh on her apron.

Standing next to the dark elf was a moon elf. I could tell by her glittery light silver skin and her bright silver eyes. She looked sympathetic to seeing me tied down on the bed. She wasn't wearing an apron, but her gloves were also covered in blood.

A human adorned in Templar armor walked into the small lit room. He ran up to the dark elf, giving her an angry glance. "You better have a good reason to…" He took a glance at me, his eyebrows arching up. "Well… welcome back from the land of the dead." He broke into a twisted smirk. "You're a better specimen alive anyway…" He looked back to the elf. "Continue your experiments, doctor."

"On your orders… Arch Paladin." The dark elf nodded to the human. She turned her head over to me, smiling sweetly as she placed her hand on my head. "Sleep…"

…

[Kara]

I gripped Blade tightly to me as I picked up our pace. Blade's legs were beginning to drag beside me. His eyes were beginning to roll into the back of his head. I felt another pulse of magick from his aura. A spectral sword formed in his free hand, and whatever that did… it caused Blade to snap out of his impending death. He managed to pick his feet up, keeping a small pace with me as we raced on.

"We're almost there…" Blade was barely able to even breathe, let alone whisper as he set his eyes on the distant tower. "Kara…" He looked over to me…

I couldn't… I…

…

[Kurohana]

I just finished placing my poison-laced caltrops when I saw two wounded people running right for the tower. They were Kara and that Tiefling person I saw her leave with. They both looked defeated. And when I saw Kara fall into the snow, taking the young kid with her… I knew I had to go help.

I glanced down, seeing the slight alterations I made in the deep snow to keep the caltrops hidden. Knowing where the caltrops were helped as I stepped through the active trap zone, racing towards my friend and Tiefling child. In the distance I could see several things begin to creep their way in towards the tower. I could just begin to make out the wave of Templars marching their way towards us, but it was the massive dragon diving into the… what I assume is a massive lake, is what was really ruffling my fur.

Deciding that I didn't really need to risk my tail for Kara and the Tiefling, I reached out with my Mage Hand, grabbing Kara's hood and dragging her through the snow towards me. The Tiefling wrapped their arms around Kara and clung for life on her as I dragged the two of them back over to me. Okay… I'm not sure I can pull this off… but here we go. As I got them closer to me, I lifted Kara up, keeping the Tiefling in the snow as I barely managed to lift Kara over the affected trap zone. Once I had Kara safely on my side, I turned my Mage Hand to pick up the Tiefling. She was lighter than Kara, by a lot actually, and I had her over with us in seconds. Once I had the two of them collected, I looked for the tower. It was still visible in this intense snowstorm. I smiled as I lifted Kara over my shoulder, wrapping my tail around the Tiefling's waist, dragging her behind me as I carried Kara back to the tower. Gods… this was harder than it looked. And I'm not really that strong either. At least the Tiefling girl is lighter than Kara. That made this a lot easier on me.

Standing next to the doorway was Erwin and Sebastian. Sebastian was still calling out to the wind, howling in a tone that almost sounded mythical. His howl sounded like the howling of the wind blasting through a tree's branches. It was kind of lovely to listen too. Erwin was busy looking out for the dragon, his elven ears perking as he listened to the roars of the distant dragon.

Erwin glanced down at me, smiling madly. "The dragon is speaking… she's angry at the trolls. She says they're intruding on her nest… but she's also happy. Her children will eat well tonight."

I glanced down at the Tiefling wrapping in my tail. "Erwin… you know healing spells, right?"

Erwin shook his head. "Not really. With some herbs, I can cook up a mean poultice though."

The door to the tower slowly opened up. The Dragonborn girl Sora was standing behind it, looking down at us. "I hear a dragon. Has it worked?"

Erwin snapped his head back. "I haven't called her yet. She's a little busy. Once she tends to her children… then I'll call for her. It would be rude of me… impatiently rude of me to interrupt her while she's hunting for her meal. Once she's readied her children's meals… then I'll call for her aid."

Sora nodded. "Sounds like mom, alright." She glanced down at me, and her entire face broke. "What happened to Blade?" She screamed, lightning crackling on her fangs. "Get him inside here, now!"

I waved to the Dragonborn girl. "I'm too tired to keep this up. Can you take my friend and Blade?"

Sora nodded, jumping through the doorway, clearing the entire staircase, and landing in the snow next to me with little effort. Ah, the benefits of growing up in this location. With the ease that made me ashamed, the Dragonborn hauled Kara off my shoulder, carrying her with ease in her right hand. She grabbed onto the Tiefling girl in the other, hulling her up onto her other hand. "Oh Blade… you lost an arm."

The Tiefling, smiling, glanced up at Sora. "Hey, girl…"

Sora rolled her eyes. "Don't 'hey, girl' me, you suicidal idiot. Come on, warrior, we'll get you patched up."

"I saw Silver…" The Tiefling managed to say through whispery breaths.

"Yeah, I bet you did. Keep this up and you'll end up like them too. Silver won't be happy if you meet them in the higher realms like this. Come on bro… let's get you stitched up."

"Bro?" I almost echoed.

Sora glanced back at me. "Oh… yeah. Blade's a guy." Sora gave me a warning glance. "Don't forget it."

My mind was fizzling, but… then I remembered the past few days. It wasn't the strangest thing I've seen yet. Probably won't be the last thing that's strange that I see either. I glanced over to Erwin. "So…"

"He's trans, Kuro." Erwin replied. He gave me a surprised expression at seeing my blank stare. "Never heard of it?"

I shook my head. "I mean… I never met one."

Erwin arched an eyebrow. "That's a surprise. Turami isn't exactly unknown for having trans people. There's a word for those to live the lives differing from those attached to their assigned gender right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, luuniva. It means person of light. The old fae would say that the spirit in the body is not bound by the flesh and the soul inside is a different light than the flesh. That's what's written in the old tomes anyway. We're not sure if that's how it works or not." I surely didn't know. I never spoke to a luuniva before. We didn't have any in my tribe. And I never met one in person.

Erwin nodded. "Elves would say something along the same line. Nature's never wrong…" Erwin shook his head. "If the soul is different, then it must be so." He glanced at me. "We elves are in tune with nature and all she holds. We know ourselves better than anyone else could. So, if someone says they're a girl… they're a girl. If they're a boy, they're a boy. If they're somewhere in between or can't explain what they are… then that's what they are. Nature makes us perfect. It's up to us to determine what perfect means to us." Erwin was smiling. "One of the beautiful things about my people. We don't kill each other for being different. Unless that 'different' gets people killed. Like murderous different."

I almost laughed. "Sounds unreal. My clan lived under a simple rule: you provide for the clan, you're family. You cause problems, you're gone. We were pretty suspicious of anyone who wasn't part of our clan, but if you proved yourself helpful, you were welcomed with open arms. And if you proved to be trouble… or dangerous… you were sent away into the sands. Something like that sound about right to you?"

Erwin almost glared at me, but it wasn't a harsh glare. "There's a cold indifference to my people. We can be warm, inviting, welcoming to anyone and anything that brings life and harmony. The same welcoming people will stand around you and watch you die if they feel nature is taking back what belongs to her. They watched my mother die. They watched countless other elves die. There was barely any mourning. Barely any sorrow. Just shrugs and small wakes. And then… life goes on. As if it never happened." I could see tears rolling down Erwin's face. "Even my father, who loved my mother, cried for her once, and then the next morning, he spoke of her as if nothing had changed. Even though she was dead… he showed little compassion. She suffered for days, coughing up blood. People all throughout our village… just like her. We lost hundreds of people in the course of a few weeks. This wasn't some disease brought to us from nature. No herbs treated it, no doctor could diagnose it. And we just… did nothing. What's done is done." Erwin shook his head. "So… while your village would welcome any with open arms… mine would be uncaring. If you proved troublesome or useful… if you're there, you belonged. As long as you didn't harm the nature… you would be alive." Erwin shrugged, placing his back to the door. "But it doesn't matter. Only elves and fae are able to pass the barrier to get into our forest. And we live under the natural creed. Nature trumps all." Erwin looked back at me. "So, all would be welcomed, but only because if they're in the forest… they already live under the same code, the same creed, as the rest of us. It would be like every person you meet would already be useful to your village. It could have thousands of people living in your tent… but you wouldn't care because they would be the same as you. Wandering the world… I never realized just how different elves were compared to humans, dwarves, or dragonborns. Tieflings still make no sense to me."

I found myself nodding. "This is my first time meeting one of them. So… two new things wrapped in one package. Wow… what a day." I looked down at the snow. "Three new things in one day. My life has totally changed." And hopefully… I would continue seeing new things and expanding my horizons.

I looked out to the advancing army. They were getting close enough that I was beginning to see figures forming out in the raging blizzard. They had to be getting close. "Shouldn't we… prepare for battle?"

Erwin nodded, pushing himself off the doorway. "Sebastian? Now where are the Treants?"

Sebastian pointed out to the right. "They march as we speak. They know their enemy lies in the snow waiting for them."

Erwin cracked his neck. "Okay then. My turn." He took a deep breath, letting out a loud roar. It sounded unreal. The first time I heard him roar, it sounded alien to me too, but I had no idea he was speaking draconic. Now I knew better. I didn't know what he was saying, but it sounded like nothing but my elven friend screaming at the top of his lungs, alternating pitch from time to time.

Erwin stopped his roar, and to my surprise, he didn't bend over, coughing to catch his breath, or complaining about his raspy throat. No, he just exhaled a bit and looked to the sky. His ears started twitching. And a second after I saw his ears shift, I heard the distant roars in the wind. Was the dragon responding?

Erwin took a deep breath, and I had time to cover my ears as he roared to the sky again. Sebastian looked at Erwin, his eyes once again showing just how enthusiastically he was just immersing himself into what was happening around him. I guess the two of us have one thing in common… we come from a small part of the world and haven't been anywhere else. Erwin was from the same kind of world we were, but he's been traveling for a while now. He at least knows what the world is like from a surface level. I don't even know what a Tiefling is, not really. A horned person? I don't really understand. Sora was my first dragonborn too. To be fair, I was her first Rakastan, so we had that in common.

"There are whispers in the wind." Sebastian called. "The Treants are reporting. The Templars are here. They're going to begin attacking." Off in the distance, you could hear the moaning of trees, and screaming, yelling, of humans.

I readied my katana. "Okay… I guess it's time we defend this tower."

I was instantly distracted by a massive blast of wind falling down on top of me. And then I felt another one. It felt like a wind heartbeat falling down on top of us, getting stronger by the beat. When I looked up to see what was happening, I could see the massive silver dragon flapping her wings as she soared down to meet us.

…

[Erwin]

She was beautiful. I never met a dragon outside of the golden dragons living in the mountain deep in Farvaan. The silver dragon standing above me had a slender face, looking almost rounded. She still had spikes, like the golden dragons in Farvaan, but they looked softer. The fin on her chin looked more pointed, matching the massive fin growing on top of her head. Two bright silver eyes glared at me, and I could feel her staring me down.

"Hello, honored ancestor." I called up to the silver dragon. "I am Erwin Dristole, offspring to the Golden Dragons that live in Farvaan. I wish to ask you a favor. There are mages that live in this tower. They're being attacked by an evil army of religious zealots that want nothing more than to kill people like us. You included. The mages only want to escape but are unable to at the moment, and they need time to build up their teleportation circle. There are a lot of Templars heading here, hundreds maybe. We can't hold them off. Everyone in this tower will die without aid. Would you kindly lend us your aid?"

The dragon glanced down at me, giving me a soul gaze. I let her into my eyes, letting her see me for who I was.

"The line of Aquatinzel continues…" The Silver Dragon glared down at me. "To think your line thought extinct. To see a living descendent, I am a proud… what's the word? What is it you call one who has seen the face of a race insect?"

I shrugged. "A collector?"

The dragon snorted. "A collector? Mortals have interesting hobbies. Seeing how you still live, I will do this one thing. Also because the human and the demon child brought me lunch. I think these… what did you call them, religious… I don't know the other word."

"It means one who kills for their beliefs. More or less." I shrugged.

"Ah… honor guards. I see now. I shall dispose of these honor guards as best I can. If there is an Arch Paladin, I will depart. I will not fall this day, even for one as rare as you." The dragon nodded a farewell to me.

Kurohana and Sebastian looked to me as the dragon took off.

"So…" Kurohana clasped her hands as she rocked her body towards me. "What were you two talking about?"

I shrugged. "She thinks I'm a bug. But… she will help us. Unless there's an Arch Paladin. But really… what are the odds of that?"

...

[Silver Dragon Airgead]

It's been too long since one of my lineage has spoken to the golden dragons of ancient times. We thought the golden warriors to be long extinct. Even if the elf who spoke to me is distant enough to be a normal elf, it was an interesting experience I would one day tell to my hatchlings. To do me this honor of meeting him, I would gladly dispatch the vile pretenders marching upon my chosen humans. For long have I roosted by the tower, amused at the little ones playing with their small grasp of magick. It was amusing to see such little creatures pretend to understand the true grasp of something so majestic. To have my two-legged mortals attacked by some power-hungry scale-peelers, I would rend their souls from their bodies, rip their flesh asunder, crunch their bones into dust. Freeze their lodgings, level their towns. Such vile insects should keep their stingers to themselves.

Soaring the skies, I could see a row of Tree-Folk holding the advancing army in a standstill. The Tree-Folk were scooping up balls of snow, tossing them at the advancing humans. The snowballs were easily the size of 10 humans stacked on top of each other, and I found watching these attacking humans getting smashed by falling boulders of snow just as amusing as watching my 'mages' cast their first Fireball. The pure giddy looks on their faces as they realize they've just grasped the beginnings of a world they'll never truly understand. And seeing these humans perplexed on how to handle falling balls of snow, and failing to move out of the way, made me almost laugh with pure glee. I thought I'd join the fun.

I spun myself, letting myself showboat as I flipped myself upside down. I rolled myself underneath the humans, letting myself roar on top of their front line. Deep waves of Frost fell upon their front row. The humans looked up at me in horror as they were instantaneously coated with ice that could never be broken, or melted. I probably successfully exterminated 10 humans or so with one breath. This little distraction would easily become a full-on nest eradication. Not only would my mages feel free to come back, but… maybe I'll introduce myself to these small creatures. Teach them some useful magick. I could always transform into one of them, pose as a moon elf or something.

Humans were lining up to take shots at me. The ones wearing white robes over their armor were stretching their hands back. With a throw, spears of Light magick flew into the sky towards me. So… the insects were going to sting me after all? I also found this amusing.

I roared in laughter as I turned towards the spears, spinning through their attacks, letting the spears pass by me without a single one taking a hit on me. I would normally taunt my enemies, make them feel ashamed, but… my mother taught me not to play with my food. And while I enjoy playing with my toys… I shouldn't stretch this out too long. The Tree-Folk are doing a good job of getting the humans stuck in their spots, but… I can see there are many of these humans. I didn't feel like stopping to count them, but I think there was something near a hundred or so.

I folded my wings, flying down at the second wave of humans. They seemed to think I was dive-bombing them. Well… they were kind of right.

I watched as I twirled down to them, and right as I came close enough to reach their spears, I unfolded my wings, blasting wind down on top of the humans as hard as I could right before I crashed into the snow. A large gust of wind blasted the second and third ranks of humans off their feet. Giant balls of snow continued to rain down on top of the humans thanks to the Tree-Folk. My impact in the snow created a large wave of snow, one that was quickly consuming the nearby humans, and creating a massive wall for the incoming humans to deal with.

I laughed as I climbed up the small mound of snow. How many was that now? 50? Half of their little group? I wiped out more trolls for breakfast than this so-called army.

I looked to the group of humans. "Who is your leader?" I snaked my head down to look at the faces of the humans. "Who should I kill next?"

"Me." A voice of a woman called out. I looked over to her. She held herself upright, her robes… golden. The robes we dragons tell in tales of horror. The robes of the golden cross.

"Filth…" I breathed.

The woman with the robe of the golden cross smirked, bowing her head to me. "Good evening, dragon. I must say… we heard rumors of your nest… but to think you'd actually come to us. I must say…"

I didn't give her a chance to monologue to me. I unleashed a frost breath on her. And she stood there, looking up at me as if I didn't just exterminate her. The humans behind her were covered in ice.

The woman smirked as she looked up at me. "My Faith protects me from your poisonous magick, lizard." Her hands started to glow with her vile form of magick. "And my Faith will reward me for your sacrifice to our greater good."

I took off to the skies as quickly as I could.

"None can escape the Spear of Fate, lizard." The woman whispered, her voice tugging at the backside of my mind.

I felt a heavy burning pierce in my side. It twisted, pulling me apart. There was a spear of Light embedded into my ribs. I reached down to pull it out, but I felt several more slam into my body. My body felt heavy… my wings unresponsive. So… I survive years and years of hunting, watching my mages grow and learn… and yet… I suppose I won't get to see them learn from this. I should have introduced myself earlier.

I looked to my mountain. My hatchlings. I need to get to them. Tell them to travel south.

"Goodbye, lizard." I felt boots standing on the back of my neck. "I would tell you my name… but why waste words on the dead." I let out one desperate cry, calling to my only other ally. And then I felt something push down on the back of my head.

…

[Erwin]

I watched in horror as the dragon flying in the sky suddenly crashed into the side of the mountain. I don't know why… but that final roar she unleashed… she was calling to me. Telling me to protect her children. Telling me to run while I could. I… I wish I could go to her children… but…

"Erwin… the Treants are beginning to leave." Sebastian turned to me. "There's this woman. She's… she killed the dragon. They're calling her a reaper. They know they can't beat her. Most of the Templars are gone… but this woman. She killed a dragon. I doubt we'll be able to fight her off."

I nodded. "Yeah…" I thought of my prison escape. I saw what these Paladins are capable of. "We should leave." I sure hope Raven was ready. It's now or never.

The three of us turned around, rushing back into the tower. The kids were gathered by the door, their hands on their enchanted staves. Those staves weren't going to do any good now. These kids looked horrified at seeing us walk back into the tower.

"Blade's hand is gone." Ishia said, her eyes covered in tears. "And that one woman was bleeding to death." She looked up at me. "Are we all going to die?"

I sighed. "Get up to the teleportation circle. We're leaving." I didn't want to tell the kids that a dragon died defending this tower. I couldn't tell them.

The kids were quick to rush up the flights of the tower. As we cleared each floor, I called out for any other kids that didn't hear the retreat order. The only other person not already up at the tower's top was a Tiefling resting in the medical ward, sitting on an enchanting bed lined with healing crystals. I had to help the man up and help him walk to the top of the tower, but once we got there, I could see Raven and some shapeshifter woman kneeling in the middle of the teleportation circle, their hands clasped together. The circle seemed to be glowing.

"How close are they to being done?" I whispered to the Tiefling.

"We're done." Raven reported. "We're saying a prayer to the departed dragon who saved our lives." Tears were running down her cheek. "We'll start with a test subject." She looked over the shapeshifter holding her hand. "Yuki? Can you go first? Take a crystal ball. Just let me know if you make it to the fort."

"No time." I said. "Whoever killed that dragon is on their way here now. We need to leave." I looked around the library. "We really shouldn't let these tomes vanish." That's when I had a bright idea. "What if everyone took a couple tomes with them before they left? Their favorite spellbook or something?"

Raven smiled. "That's a good idea." She looked to the children. "Gather up what you want to take with you. We leave shortly."

I glanced down at Kara, who lay behind Raven, a puddle of blood staining the floor. "Is Kara dead?"

Raven shook her head. "Resting. She lost a lot of blood. She needs more healing."

While I looked down at Kara, the kids were running around the library, quick and coordinated as they grabbed tome after tome. Some of the older ones, like Sora, had a bag she was shoving books into. Her… her I like.

I looked around the library, looking for whatever I found interesting. So many of these books were spelled in a language I didn't know, using an alphabet I didn't understand. It was then that I finally figured out… Damarans have their own language. And their own alphabet. Does every country have their own specified language? Why wouldn't it?

"What language is this?" I asked, looking at Raven.

"Old Cyrillic. The original language of the Northern Tribes. Before Damara." Raven reported. "We still teach the language here in the tower, and the Beast Tamers communicate to their animals in this ancient language. It is the language of the North."

"Any books you'd recommend?" I asked.

Raven nodded. "The Introduction to Beast Taming, First Edition, written by Yungstar Damar. The Complete 24 Encyclopedic Compilation covering the Philosophies of the Northern Dwarves. Their impact on the Damaran people was exemplary. I would also recommend the Three following books covering the founding of Damara: The Diaries of a Slave and the Founding of an Empire: Ostin Damar. The Revised Analogs of a Slave Master and the Rebellion that Shaped a Nation: The Fall of the Dwarven State. And then there's my personal favorite. The Chronicles of the Dancing Elves. A small historical outlook on the relationship between the Moon Elves and their Dwarven neighbors, and how the humans strained the relationship between the elves and the dwarves. It also talks about how the moon elves helped the humans by arming them with their first bit of knowledge into using druidic magic."

Wow… that sounded intriguing. I couldn't wait to get started on them all. "Any books on nature?" I started looking for the books she already mentioned.

Raven walked out of her circle, dancing around me as she started running her hands across the bookshelves. "The Language of the Trees. What the Pine can tell us. The Whispers in the Wind. Connecting with your Wild Self. Taking the Deep Plunge. Ice Diving for Dummies. The Wisp Queen and her Frozen Realm. Taming the Frost Troll Within…" With each book, she ticked them off like she read them all several hundreds of times. "So You Just Learned You're a Faerie Werewolf. The Hunter That Lurks Behind. The Crafty God Behind It All." Raven shrugged. "That one I have a hard time believing."

"I'll take them all." I found myself drooling. So much knowledge. So much that would be lost if we just let it burn to the ground.

Raven shrugged. "Good luck. Grab what you can. I'll grab some stuff too."

I looked down to Lil-Gem. "Grab some books. I don't care which ones."

Kurohana nodded. "Okay. I'll join too."

All three of us started raiding the library. Meanwhile, Yuki and the first wave of kids started getting into the circle. She and the kids had a good arsenal of staves and books stuffed into some bags as they vanished.

We all waited for a second before a crystal ball on a nearby table started glowing. Yuki's face appeared on it. "We made it… somewhere. Green field, gentle hills."

"There should be a fort nearby. I didn't have a complete understanding of how to coordinate the spell's landing zone, so you should be within a mile. I wanted to make certain we wouldn't hit someplace painful, so you're should be surrounded by nothing." Raven said. "Look northwest."

Yuki nodded. "Yup. I'm definitely surrounded by nothing. But hey… it's better than dying in a tower, right?"

"Right." Raven smiled.

Raven looked over to me. "Well, it's our turn."

I quickly ushered everyone into the circle, dragging Kara into the circle. Kara looked in bad shape. "Is she safe to travel?"

Raven gave me a dark look. "Safer than being in an exploding tower."

"Good point." I muttered.

Raven hesitated as she looked around the tower. "Goodbye tower."

Right before we left, there was an explosion from underneath us.

"Oh, hell-bound?" A light voice sang through the walls, reaching us. "Where are you, you vile abominations of the Lord?"

Raven smiled. "Good, I hope this explosion takes her with the tower." With that, we were covered in light.

Cearbhail:

Okay... where to begin. So... Kara is not dead. I wanted her out of the picture so that the team could focus on what they wanted to do while I tended to the numerous armies coordinating their movements. Blade was my replacement for Kara, but I also wanted him temporarily out of the picture too. He, Sora, and Raven, as well as Ishia, were going to become recurring characters. They mostly stay at the base.

The person playing Erwin rolled a high number for calling the dragon, but rolled low for convincing her to join his cause. She fought the templars because she thought it was fun. And she was amused at Erwin's existence. But, I did have her die to demonstrate two things. One: calling a dragon won't always save the day; and Two: Arch Paladins are no joke. Throughout this campaign though... they might as well be jokes. I let my players do a lot of stupid stuff that shouldn't work, but did.

The woman who killed the dragon, she's Kalinski's second hand. She does his dirty work. She also commands the border wall between Northern Shou and Damara. Kind of like how Spencer was guarding his border wall from Southern Shou before he became a Death Knight. They were almost equal in strength. And Kara's dad was stronger than them both. Being in prison made him weaker. Having his god die also helped.

Anyway, let's continue on.