Kalira point of view:
Kingdom of Quelthalas
No matter where she looked, the skies remained veiled under a thick curtain of shadowy clouds, the few gaps between their disembodied mass had barely given way to a few beams of light, which descended gracefully over the large fresh green landmass like the spot lights of a theatre.
The powerful summer heat so typical of the unchanging weather she had been so used to for decades stubbornly resisted the intrusion of cold air currents that had come from the North, clashing repeatedly and violently to the point that she found the need to grasp her hood down in case it was ripped away from her head while in others she wished nothing more than to let it down and run away from the suns unkind light.
And yet, even with all the things that had taken place, and even those that seemed like they would take place anyway, the atmosphere around her seemed calm, warm even...or as much as it could get in a makeshift camp filled to the brim with refugees from a fallen kingdom.
She sighed while brushing the sweat starting to fall off her forehead. This damn humid weather was starting to soak her to the bone.
Lazily, her eyes wandered over the hundreds of dozens of tents that adorned the once empty field, the small patches in the thick cloth she could spy in their features spoke that there were not even one identical to the others. Most of them made by the frightened civilians once they were told there were not enough residences to accommodate them in the surrounding areas.
A crude result, though one that would suffice for now...though for how long was yet to be said.
Her nose wriggled for a second as the wave of sweat and odour brushed against her delicate senses. There were already too many to begin with, too many for their meagre numbers to take care and yet there were still more coming, more people washing ashore their borders, sharing a myriad of horrifying tales in their wake as great as their appearance.
Forcing them not only to accommodate them accordingly, but also to redistribute the already strained supplies even.
They were far less than before though, but still coming…., and with them more injured and sickly people joined the already huge group. Emaciated bodies, open wounds where blood was still gushing into the ground and all kinds of horrors still plastered in their visages of the more than probable terrible tales they had been unwilling participants...
She was amazed that there had been no sign of sickness running rampart through the camp, perhaps she could pray it would stay that way. Beloore knew they did not have enough medicine nor men at the moment to deal with such eventuality.
Eyes closed, she left another tired sigh leave her lips as she moved away from her spot. The thoughtful expression that had warped in her features vanished slightly as she was finally pushed away those thoughts away from her mind.
``What a mess….´´
It was no use fretting about every egg at this point, not everything had actually been bad, without the constant supervision of that one eye Cyclops of Feldan and the fact that the magisters that had so graciously made their presence known at the hq had the decency not to linger anywhere near the masses it was a certainly a good change of pace among other things. For her they could watch all they wanted from afar, as long as they did not bitched about the smell she would be content.
She pinched the bridge of her nose, her memories slowly rewinding towards the events prior to this day. Her having to deal with Feldans bullshit for weeks, the arrival of the humans on mass like some sort of tidal wave, her friend and wife arriving announced….
Perhaps it was this latter that had bothered her the most all things considered.
The way she had avoided them when they arrived, how she refused to step in to help them when Feldan started going smug with them, how she and her beloved started bickering about the most pointless shit…
A shadow crossed her eyes as she swam deeper into those thoughts, back then it felt so right, it had made so much sense..and how could she not? Her hands slowly closed into tight fists, her ears perked at the sound of the metal and leather below creaking under the pressure.
It was their god damn it honeymoon! Was it selfish to leave everything behind because it was their god damn time to have a moment for themselves? Perhaps. Did she care? Not at all….and so she did as she pleased..
And in the end she fucked up big time. She immediately tried to fight back the urge to chew her own lips, though with different grades of success...
Velo tried to fix things her way…, and she fucked again. She could have done so much better, so much had been left unsaid, words of sympathy and care drowned by childish pettiness. For all that she despised the cold logic of that grump abomination she surely regretted now her lack of self control.
And the worst part above all? Was that it wasn't her who put an end to their silliness, but her friend, Velonara had been the one with her eloquent words and bursting charisma. Not her….never her, not with her big mouth. For all she knew the two would have continue to bicker about their failed plans, uncaring of the thousands of people in need before their very eyes. All too absorbed in their petty grudges...
The fact that she could not deny it sicken her to no end...
Gods, what I was thinking….? She silently berated herself, failing to quench the flames of shame coursing through her heart that threatened to consume it in their wake.
There was no joke capable to lift up this burden from her shoulders...
When had she become so...selfish? So self centered? The words of a certain pious red head echoed in her head like divine karma. The soft sound of her words did not lessen their sharpness, but increased it.
"Because between laughs and jokes you are only thinking about yourself…."
She looked down her arms, her eyes fixated over her flexed gloved fingers, easily picturing the horrifying mess below the fabric as she felt the lump of bile burning her throat with each passing second, tears started to blur the corners of her vision, but she quickly brushed them away with her arm.
She hated it, she hated how much was true…
And now Velo probably did not want to speak with her ever again…., how was she gonna approach her and try to mend things her own way? Fixing things was not her thing...more like fucking them up.
Velo had always been the one to defuse any tension she knowingly or unwittingly unleashed in their path.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a small hand tug her cape repeatedly, a soft childish voice quickly following through as she carefully turned around, her shining blue eyes meeting a pair of light browns that glare at her with as much vivid enthusiasm as naivety while their small little fingers pointed somewhere else lost in the crowd with their remaining hand.
Their owner, a small little thing with clothes a little bigger than it should, its raven unkempt black hair looking a lot more like a wild nest than any other thing as it fell over his shoulders. A clear look urgency in his eyes as he looked up at her.
Wishing for her attention….
Now what is it….?
``Miss! Look, look! Dragons….´´ He repeated over and over again as he tried to pull her to the side in some sort of attempt to lead her to the origin of his enthusiasm.
She wished she could share such optimism too though….
She would never admit it, but for a moment her body became tense, her hands aching with a dreadful sensation of a time no long forgotten. The acrid taste of ashes in her mouth was accompanied with the thick sensation of smoke suffocating her throat. Whisking away whatever comfort she may have held until then.
Luckily as fast as that feeling came, it washed away….., for right where the little boy was pointing stood out a dozen more of his kin, all of them in different shapes and forms from weeks of living on the wilderness if she could guess. Boys and girls who could not be more than nine to fifteen summers old give or take….
Curiously, most of them were holding sticks and crude feather masks, those at the centre of their merry band held tightly a bunch of worn out blankets, tied by the edges to one another, allowing them to place it around their body as if they were some sort of….
Snake….? It had no wings so...it was a bit hard to picture it as some sort of dragon as the boy had said.
Speaking of the child, now more had joined him on his endeavour to carry her away.
By the lights sake…, there are so many. Where did they come from? She thought with apprehension as she tried in futility to held her ground, some of them were running and circling around her like oversized vultures, sometimes even going as far to walk between her legs as they circled around her, tugging her cape and legs in all directions as they tried to call for her attention.
It was a rather touching scene, for anyone looking at her, but for her it was a miracle she had not stepped over any of them yet.
With a quick side glance she spied the looks the people around them were giving them, easily recognising which of them were the parents of the kids as their features were either warped with amused smiles or guarded expressions but were either too tired or uncaring to intervene and put a stop to their own children's fun.
There were enough things to worried about out there to waste energy in such things as it was….
With a sigh of resignation she switched her attention back to the little rapscallions waving at her from all sides. It seemed that they were not gonna step out and help her with them, that mean that there was only one thing to do.
Remember Kali, children are children….you can do this. It can't be harder than paperwork... She reminded herself multiple times as a myriad of thoughts started to resurface, truly...they were a handful…
What are you doing? She asked, putting a hand on her hip.
The child that had originally draw her attention looked back at her but before he could say anything those disguising themselves started moaning noises and waving their arms in some sort of an attempt to be scary. She sighed and turned around.
``We are a dragooooon´´ They said, moving closely around her as they tried to grab those who were hiding between her legs. The citizens of Lordaderon stared at them, but their eyes glittered with amusement and some pointed and laughed.
Sometimes she wondered what sort of deity she had annoyed to earn this kind of treatment, taking a slow deep breath in resignation to her fate. In times like these there was only one thing left to do.
A few seconds later, she waved her arms in fake panic, kneeling next to the children so that they would stop tugging her cape. Or at least she hoped….
``Oh no! What is that foul creature doing here? What are we gonna do?´´ She asked, pointing towards the mass of dirty cloth and children.
``You must protect us lady or it will eat us whole. You must pull their hide to eliminate those monsters´´ They replied in earnest, as if confirmation of the boys statement, those hidden under the mattress tried to emulate a roar, though a cute one.
``See? They are going to eat us, protect us strange lady!´´
She would have very much object at the fact that they had label her as strange but something told her that it would fly over their heads if she even tried. Children sometimes could be such scatterbrains…
The things I do and I don't get paid for… She lamented to herself before switching her attention back at them. ``Then that is what shall be done´´ She slowly stood out, waving at the children around her to stay behind while she moved forward, only stopping half a meter away from them.
``So you are the dragon I have been hearing about?´´ She asked as serious as one could be when addressing the makeshift dragon. They did not seem to mind though as they waved their arms like a wild windmill and made some strange noises at her. It felt they did not know whether growl like wild animals or snort like a cat.
A mix of the two perhaps?
``We dragon! We are strong!´´ They roared in unison.
Gods, I don't know what I was expecting... at least is not a headless snake She placed one of her hands over her lips to hide away the shit eating grin forming around them against her wishes.
Now was really not the time to laugh….
``Is that so? Well, I must warn you that if you don't move away from my little kittens I will place a curse upon you´´ She said softly, pointing at them a challenging finger towards them, she could hear the awe in the voices of those standing behind her as she did.
The children before her then stopped for a second, some rangers paused to watch the display before they moved away, whispering to themselves.
``Dragons don't fear little elves. We don't fear you!´´
Oh now its on! ``We shall see, for you know...if my elven eyes see your true forms, you suffer a most horrid death, and if you survive….´´ She paused to let the children briefly wonder if it was worth continuing on and what would be the survivors consequences.
When she noticed the unified nods that they sent her way as some sort of challenge she suddenly pulled the sheet from them, revealing their little forms to the eyes of others as well as the echo of their whining when they realized they were no longer protected by their blanket.
``Hey! We are not dead!´´ The children gasped in surprise and started jumping out of joy where they stood. In fact, one of them decided to walk towards him and grab her by the arm, perhaps wishing to twirling her around though he only managed to hang out of it. ``We are strong, we are really strong elf lady!´´ They proudly chanted as they patted their hands over their chests, mirth glowing from their little eyes as they eyed her with both pride and glee.
Gods, why had they so cute? Not even the dirt of their clothes could put an end to their ultimate weapon.
She shook her head as she tried to scoff. Get a hold of yourself, Kali. Just continue on…, don't get lost in their little…., adoring…., eyes….
``It seems that way…´´ The ghost of a smile warped around her lips, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by them. `` But will you survive elven cuties!?´´ She asked the children whose prior happiness vanished in one swift stroke into utter horror. She could heard some of the people around them cackle uncontrollably at this change of events.
``Elven cuties!?´´ They asked, their voices now meek and frightful of what it could mean, quickly their little merry band of trouble makers descending into chaos as they started running in all directions like headless chickens.
She could not avoid but snort at her handy work. Taking care of the humans was by far one of her less liked chores, but looking at it from another angle it was far better than be stuck doing nothing though.
``Now listen up boys and girls, there is only one cure…..´´ She held up one finger to emphasize her point.
She would have patted herself on the back with the way the children listened intently at her every word, the way their eyes followed her every move.
`` You must….´´ She looked up, searching for anything or anyone of inspiration, something to keep their attention in something else.
Luckily if fate would have it a certain brunette Ranger with a blank expression carved in stone that she knew all too well appeared at the end of her line of sight, the position of her new hood hiding her long ears from view.
Her previous fears reamed their ugly heads for a second once their eyes met, but the ache in her heart subsided slightly as a dangerous ideas crossed her mind. One that she knew she would not be able to ignore.
Beloore forgive me, but this is just too good to let pass on…. The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips.
``You must receive a hug from dear miss Velonara over there´´ She said with a brief glimpse at them.
Her words seemed to be loud enough for Velonara bit her tongue on the spot, before the brunette knew it, all the children who stopped to look at her suddenly flung themselves to her person. Some even as far to try to climb her imposing stature with their little hands.
``Hug us Lady Velonara, we don't want elven cooties´´
A soft chuckle left her lips, earning her the wrathful glare from her dearest, it was worth it though.
The way Velonara tried respectfully pried them off her with as little force as possible only increased their attempts to glued themselves to her. It was clear that she was not expecting such an onslaught in her patrol as she spied her body growing stiff.
Her wife may not have uttered a single word but she could see her ears were straighter than a spear and had started to take a deep shade of red. She knew it was a dick move.., but she would enjoy it for as long as she could for once she was done with the children there was nothing to say what sort of comeback would come at her.
For the first time since she had been wasting in this field a genuine smile warped around the edges of her lips as their eyes met. She will make it up to her somehow, she did not know when or how...but that will not deter her from sucking up to her own fuck ups. That she promised in the name of her honour.
As long as she survived her dearest deadly retribution first of course….