The forest was oddly quiet that night, as it had been ever since they had arrived. The branches of massive trees once renowned for dancing in the ocean breeze hung like the hair of a corpse against their trunks. The fire they had lit in the small clearing painted them with an eerie ember light, illuminating them like otherworldly tombstones. The harpies and other native monsters had not appeared since they reached the forest days ago, content to let this new group settle in without issue.
Leaning against and among the solemn trees near the fire was a battered and weary group of monsters. A small group of various weaker species such as slimes and beast based monsters, a few injured strong breeds such as vampires and snake people, and at the top of the chain of command the disgraced royal guard. The four maidens who had dedicated their lives to protecting the monster lord, though not blamed for the queens death they still loathed their inability to alter her fate.
The group of leaders consisted of the strongest monsters of their kind, the queens of the slime and succubus race, an elder nine tailed fox, and a dragonkin swords woman. All of them had stayed in Hellgondo longer then any other monster native to the northern island, but even their insane strength had been taxed. Forced to withdraw they found new purpose in shepherding the remaining members of their respective kinds to safety for as long as possible. Though their efforts are noble, the moral of the group among followers and leaders lowers. more and more each passing day.
Idly running a rock over the edge of her blade in an attempt to sharpen it, the dragonkin Granberia let her view drift across their band of survivors. Her and her sister had managed to survive the inferno in Hellgondo at a high price, they all left a part of themselves behind on that wretched continent. Erubetie the queen of slimes had gathered the few surviving members of her kind and took them into her own body to ensure their survival, having doubted the human hero from the start she had refrained from commenting and only grimly watched the horizon. Tamamo the queen of the kitsune or fox people held her head in her hands, a normally cheerful person...the loss of her adoptive daughter had shattered her entire world. While a good many of her tribe had survived, basic orders and jobs had fallen to her lieutenants as the queen found herself incapable of anything but bitter mourning. Alma Elma the unofficial leader of the wild succubus race tried her best to comfort the grieving mother, her kind all but destroyed as the most hated race of Ilias. Though she ran a hand over the shorter woman's shoulder and spoke soft words, the dragon could sense the hatred most unbecoming of her directed to the long gone human child.
As for Granberia herself she simply did what she had to do to pass the day, fights with human patrols and duels with half crazed rival monsters for the little remaining food their was. Her guilt over her failure to protect her queen and friend the sole driving factor in keeping herself from falling on her own sword days ago. Though constantly painted with a facade of power and confidence, she was actually one of the weakest emotionally of her friends. Her respect for Alipheese had gone beyond admiration for a lord, she had been like a sister and now she was gone.
They were practically out of supplies, and driven to the farthest part of the land from their home. Their situation if not already hopeless was incredibly dire as the fact that the humans would return eventually weighed on every monsters mind. They had made contact with the native creatures of the northern Ilias forest to no avail, they're own lack of supplies meant they could be of no help to Granberia's band. They would more then likely all perish if a miracle did not happen soon.
The dragon chided herself as she managed to reach some vague resemblance of the blades original sharp edge. "Miracles don't happen here, that dam kid is proof of that...with his stupid talk of coexistence only serving to lower our defences" she thought miserably as she watched the flames, the glare of their light reflected by her orange eyes. She sheathed her blade and got up from her spot in the grass, it was her turn to do the night patrol. As she passed her sisters she patted the fox on the shoulder and gave a smile to the succubus. Reaching the edge of the glade she shook the hand of the slime queen before heading out into the jungle. Her and Erubetie as the two strongest monster currently capable of fighting shared this duty alternating each night.
Waling between the corpse like trees and overgrown shrubs she let her mind wander further, to her own experience with the human or Luka as she had once called him. She was the first of the guardians to meet him back on Ilias, she would have killed him had it not been for the interference of Alipheese. She had trusted her queen to guard him and test his strength, they battled several times before their final battle in the castle on Hellgondo. He had been too strong for her then with his combination of sword skills and spirit infused magic. Her thoughts quickly turned to the elemental spirits native to their land before shutting the thoughts out. She had not know why the spirits stuck with the treacherous human, they had a direct link to his mind. They knew he would kill the queen and yet they still aided him, even aiding him in his final attack of lord Fateburn.
Growling as she made her way further and further into the network of trees she stopped, noticing in her recollections she had gotten turned around in the forest. Sighing she turned in a wide circle to take in her surroundings, she had gone just a little over a mile from home base and yet everything looked so different. Sniffing the air it smelled more salty then before, had she wandered closer to the coast then estimated? The coast led to practically only to the Harpy village and the wall of fog beyond that, there was absolutely no threat of a human attack from this direction unless the humans dared defy their beliefs. Some hogwash about the eastern sea beyond the continent being cursed and any man who dared venture there would be killed if not by the sea then Ilias herself. Superstition aside this aided them because it meant this was one of the last few safe spots on the map.
She turned as she prepared to head back into the forest a loud crash made her jump, turning mid stride and drawing her sword she heard a rabid screech followed by a higher pitched scream of terror. Rushing in the direction of the sound the sword woman burst into another clearing, before he what looked like the remains of a roper based monster assaulting a young injured harpy. The roper once an infamous monster of flesh and tendrils was now a drooling starving beast, her mind clouded to the point she saw her own kind as food. It very well my have been this that drove her mad Granberia thought sadly as she drew her sword and stepped between the two.
The consumption of monster flesh by another monster had the same effect as human flesh did on humans, it clouded and degraded the mind to utter insanity. Another potent side effect was the degrading effect it had on the monster body. Whatever the reason for its insanity Granberia had to save the child from being consumed, she drew her battered blade and held it aloft. "Do not make me do this" she growled at the roper, the beast did nothing but respond with a guttural growl and lunge. Sighing the dragonkin swung her sword in a high arc, she released her internal flames to ignite the blade as it met the roper's skin. The once proud monster screamed in pain before exploding into dust and fire.
The swords woman ran a hand down her neck before sliding the sword into its sheath at her waist, adjusting her scarred armour she turned to the young harpy. The child's condition was poor but not due to malnutrition it would seem, her wing had suffered a bad scar at her wrist, she would not be able to fly for some time. The dragon knelt down to look the child in the eye and smiled "What are you doing out here kid, you could have got killed if I hadn't been here". The child wiped away tears and gave a nervous look "I...I was just out looking for supplies...for the trip". The dragon raised an eyebrow, who would dare want to leave the forest now?
"Kid I am sorry to say it may not be the best time for a trip, the area outside the woods is not safe" she chided before grabbing the kid around the midriff. The child gave a small yelp as Granberia laid her over he shoulder, they're eyes met and the swords woman sighed "Which way to your house I will get you home". Several minutes later they reached the outside gates of the harpy village, the battered wooden posts signalling the end of the forest path. Making her way along the silent path into the town heart Granberia made took of all the dark and empty buildings, turning her head to face the child she raised an eyebrow "Where is everyone"?
The child rubbed her wings together uncomfortably as her eyes raced, as if she was having some internal debate. "At the cliffs...but mama said not to go there right now. They are having a town meeting" the child said quickly before she hooped of Granberia as the dragon stooped outside a pointed out house. The child waved a goodbye before disappearing back into the home. Though she wanted to check on the child and make sure she would be alright she forced herself to turn. She still had a patrol to finish and her own troop to look after.
The rest of the night passed relatively quietly, she made it to the edge of the forest facing the distant town of Iliasburg...still empty for the moment. She had contemplated raiding it in the armies absence but that would only serve to alert the humans to their position when they did return. Instead she simply pushed back into the dark embrace of the spooky forest and aimed for camp. As she saw the familiar glow of the fire in the distance she allowed herself to relax, the fight earlier had strained her more then she would have liked to admit. They had all been injured to some degree in the monster lords castle, Granberia herself had been the worse injured being a close range fighter, she didn't know long it would take her to recover fully. She grimaced as she made her way past the sleeping form of her sisters and the other monsters. Collapsing back alongside her tree she allowed sleep to claim her. Her dreams filled with the sad smiling face of her lost lord and friend.