A/N: Characters are speaking Japanese unless otherwise noted.
Chapter 10: Dragon Road
Third Recon Squad, Koan Forest
They arrived at what had once been the Kowan settlement a couple of hours after nightfall. For most of the night, the flames were still too hot to permit entry beyond the edge of the woods. After dawn, with the ground still smoldering, the squad moved in to investigate. The acrid smoke still stinging the eyes. Here and there persistent embers burned and the remains of once proud trees continued to smolder. The smell reminded Taylor of a charcoal pit and they were in it. Where once had been bright greens, the vibrant colors of life, all that was left was black and grey, the colors of death. The only sounds were the sounds of their footfalls amid a moonscape, unnaturally devoid of even insect life. The only thing that looked even remotely intact was the well in what once must have been the center of the village. If one looked carefully, it was still possible to see the depression in the ground where a well-worn footpath cut through the village, with one end leading down to the stream and the other end leading into what yesterday had been forest.
"Base has responded to our contact report." Private Tozu reported.
About damn time! Taylor thought angrily. They had reported their sighting of the dragon the evening before as an extremely large and destructive biological, apparently a dragon. Apparently, the radio watch had not flagged it as urgent, so it had taken precious time to work its way through the chain of command.
"What do they say?" Itami asked.
"Message received. Report further sightings. Request for air support is being taken under advisement."
And thanks for nothing. Taylor groused silently to himself. Sure, their report might seem incredible but what was normal out here anyway?
"The ground is still hot." Sergeant Major Kuwahara noted
"It'll be a miracle if there are any survivors." Sergeant Kurata commented
"Let's assume there are," Taylor replied. "If you were in this village, where would you run to for safety?" Taylor looked around. Let's get the opinion of a ground pounder on this. "Kuribayashi!"
"Yes, sir?" She responded quickly
Taylor frowned at the ground. He knew that it was best for an officer not to look ignorant. In this case, he could justifiably state it was outside his realm of expertise but it was still a bad precedent. On the other hand, If he acted as if he were being the teacher, using the Socratic method to guide Kuribayashi to the answers, he would merely be displaying the traits of a good officer. "Walk me through this Sergeant. Study this ground. You are escorting a high priority target Where do you go to try and escape?"
Shino considered Taylor's question carefully, trying to picture herself amid the calamity that had occurred here. "Away from the deep woods. Anywhere but there."
"Why?" Taylor asked. "Don't you want to get into deeper cover?" He challenged, making sure to maintain a calm and neutral tone.
Shino closed her eyes, with her arms crossed over her chest as she imagined herself heading for the cover of the deep woods but saw the flames spreading faster than she could run."Yes, but the woods are a trap. Escaping the dragon means nothing if I can't escape the fire."
Taylor nodded approvingly. "The stream then." They had followed its course to arrive at the woods. Perhaps survivors had followed it further along in their efforts to escape?."Follow it further South?" He suggested in that same inquiring manner
Shino opened her eyes, turning them to the stream bank where the sound of water burbling on its course was the only truly natural sound to be heard, studying it with a level gaze and nodded in agreement, pleased that the Lieutenant was relying on her. In the back of her subconscious, she probably realized that as a Naval officer, that Taylor truly did not know the answers to the questions he posed. But it was good to know he had faith in her to find the right answers and saving face in a way that reflected well upon the both of them. In a way, it was very Japanese. "Hai!"
As the two started to follow up on their hunch, Itami sat down on the edge of a well to take a drink from his canteen, the unnatural heat affecting everyone. First Sergeant Tomita made report to him.
"We've counted thirty-two structures or rather what's left of thirty-two structures. But so far, we have only found twenty-seven bodies. Obviously, it's too few. Most were probably trapped in the rubble when the buildings collapsed in the fire."
Itami sighed, running the numbers. "Assuming three persons per building, a hundred people died." War was one thing. This was something different. The inhabitants of this village could not have been considered a serious threat to a creature as large and as powerful as that dragon and the charred remains of at least two dozen victims told them this was not the act of a normal predator. Predators killed and ate. This was simply murder.
Tomita shook his head as he could not find words adequate to describe the anguish he felt in his heart for these people His hands clenching at his sides, his innards twisting in a knot. "Terrible," he said finally, knowing it was altogether insufficient a word for this.
Itami nodded. "We should report that the dragons here may attack settlements." Only by thinking of his duties could he pull his mind and feelings from the awfulness around them. Moreover, he had to be the example for his squad. No matter how horrible this all was, they still had a job to do and for once, Itami was thankful for it.
"Even the small dragons the enemy used as aerial cavalry were resistant to rifle fire. It took 12.7 mm machine guns with armor piercing rounds to penetrate. Something as big as this thing? We're going to need a lot more firepower." Tomita noted.
"It's a problem." Itami agreed. "Best to find its nest. I wouldn't want to try fighting it in the open." Itami dropped a bucket into the well, hoping to refill his canteen. Instead, it made a hollow 'clunk' as it hit something solid.
Tomita took out a flashlight and shone its beam down into the well. That's when Itami and Tomita saw there was someone there…
In the meantime, Taylor and Kuribayashi continued to head south, following the stream. Here the ground was cool. If anyone had gotten this far, they were probably alive for the moment. That's when Shino heard it first. It sounded like a voice, young and insistent and speaking a language neither Taylor or Kuribayashi recognized.
"Mom! Mom! Please don't leave me. Someone will find us."
Shino held up a hand and signaled a direction to Taylor, who nodded. They heard a second voice, more mature, fainter, as if tired.
"My son… I love you so much. I promise I am not ready to leave you."
Taylor did not recognize the language but hopefully, being close to Coda Village, these people might speak Popularii, the form of Latin in use in this world.
"Hello? Is anyone there? We're here to help!" I expect Lucilla would give me low scores for my diction, but hopefully, I did well enough to be understood.
Taylor and Kuribayashi heard the young voice first as they got closer.
"They must be from Coda Village mom. We'll be okay now, right?"
"Of course, we will, Galador. We'll be fine." Though the boy's mother did not believe this. Villagers seldom came this way and she had no expectation that they would take in Elves. Especially when in all likelihood, they too would soon be fleeing from the Flame Dragon. But there was no choice but to hope. She heard the footfalls and then with her son huddled in her arms, she looked up to see two of the strangest humans she had ever seen in her three hundred and eight years.
Taylor nodded to Shino, who thumbed her mic open. "We have found two survivors. South on the stream bank."
"Roger. We have also found a survivor." Kurata's voice came back. "The Lieutenant has gone down into a well to retrieve her. She appears to be alive but unconscious. Do you need Kurokawa?"
Lieutenant Taylor shook his head 'no'. If their survivor was unconscious, then the medic was definitely needed there, not here.
"Negative. Kuribayashi out."
They took a moment to get a look at the two elves before them. The mother was covered in soot and had some cuts and bruises. The son was physically unharmed. Both were shivering slightly from being out in a cold rain all night. Taylor took off his field jacket and wrapped it gently around the mother. Shino likewise took her jacket off and after waiting for a nod from his mother put it around the boy. The mother winced in pain as she tried to stand on a twisted ankle.
No wonder why they didn't get any further. Taylor realized.
"Lieutenant?" Kuribayashi asked. "Should we continue searching for survivors?"
"No. If anyone else made it out of all that, they're probably long gone. These two need our help now. Let's head back."
"Roger!" Shino picked up the boy, who spoke to them in the local human dialect of Popularii and identified himself proudly as Galador and said his mother's name was Aenaire.
After bandaging Aenaire's ankle, Taylor carried her on his back to where the rest of the squad was waiting. Taylor lowered Aenaire gently down so Kurokawa could examine her once the medic was finished tending her other patient. It did not take a medic to know that what Aenaire and her son needed right now was to get warm. He looked around. "Somebody breakout some blankets and if anyone would care to donate a clean undershirt and shorts? And somebody look into our ration kits and break out some soup or something? Let's get some heated up for these two and get them in one of the trucks and crank up the heater."
A chorus of Yes sirs' and 'Rogers' and 'Hais' resounded as meantime, Aenaire got her first clear look at the other survivor amid these strange humans.
"Tuka!" She exclaimed in the Elven tongue, recognizing those golden locks and the serene face of the younger girl who now lay unconscious under the ministrations of what must be a healer. That her father, Hodor was nowhere in evidence, however, could only mean that he had perished with all the others. Aenaire glanced around, hoping that perhaps she might see the warm and strong face of her brother Gadrel. It was he who had directed her to take Galador and run for the stream as he grabbed their father's prized bow, determined to ensure their survival, even at the cost of his own life.
But in her heart, she had accepted that Gadrel was, indeed, dead. In the days ahead, she would mourn many, but for now, she embraced the knowledge that she, her son, and Tuka had all survived.
As to their current situation, it was obvious that these humans were not simple villagers by any means. Their demeanor and their clothes, while unusual, clearly bespoke their status as soldiers. And yet they carried neither swords, nor spears, nor shields, nor armor. As she held the cup of soup that had been given her, she considered that instead of making a fire, they had simply poured water into a pouch and from that had produced hot soup. Perhaps these people were an order of wizards? She thought to herself. But this still made little sense. Perhaps she would learn more later, but for now, it was enough to hold her son.
So the Third Recon Squad got underway once more. Behind and unknown to any of them, three other survivors of Kowan Village continued to flee, unknowing of what had transpired in the remains of their village.
In the meantime, Itami decided that the best course of action would be to head back to Coda Village and see if perhaps they could take in the survivors of this settlement. With the three Elves loaded into the back of the Humvee, where Kurokawa could tend them, the little convoy headed back to Coda Village. Reaching the village in under an hour, Itami and Taylor met immediately with the Village Elder. Unfortunately, this meeting had not produced a solution to what to do with the survivors of the Koan Forest village as the elder told them that not only could Coda Village not take in the elves but with a Flame dragon active in the area, they would have to evacuate Coda Village immediately.
To that end, Itami offered for Third Recon to assist the evacuation. It was an all-hands exercise helping to pack wagons, prioritizing what had to be taken and then what could be taken. Lieutenant William Taylor might not be proficient in the arts of infantry combat, but what he did possess was intense training in the art of damage control taught by the most demanding of practitioners in the world.
With that in mind, Taylor quickly found the Village blacksmith and carpenter. Promising them room in Third Recon's own vehicles if needed, Taylor had them inspect and shore up every wagon in the village. If time was of the essence, then it would not be wasted in haste. This did not prevent the loss of a wagon from overloading, but it did prevent others from breaking down as the refugees from Coda Village set out, not knowing where they would go.
Getting into the Humvee, Taylor smiled at Kurokawa, who was still tending to the girl identified as Tuka while the other elves and three curious local boys looked on. Then he stuck his head up front and addressed Itami. "I suppose we'll have to report this to base."
Itami leaned back with an apparent lack of concern. "The radio doesn't seem to be working. Must be atmospherics or some such."
"Must be." Taylor agreed and left it at that and withdrew into the back and turned to Aenaire. Fortunately, Aenaire and her son both understood Popularii. This made conversation at least possible, although awkward since no one was speaking in his or her native language.
"How are you?" Taylor asked in that shared tongue.
Aenaire looked at her son who was resting peacefully by her side."I am alive and with the most precious thing in my world safe by my side.I would say that makes me very happy, even with what we've lost." She ventured a warm smile. "And what land do you people come from? You certainly aren't from Coda Village, nor from the Empire, I would say."
"We come from lands far away."
"You come from beyond the sacred beginning then?"
"The Gate you mean?"
"Yes. Though I have not seen it open in my span, My father told stories of meeting men from beyond the Gate.."
Aenaire replied.
"Well, it appears that someone sent an army through that Gate and into the land of Japan, whence most of the soldiers here are from. We have come to explain to them this was not a good idea."
"I see. And what will you do with the lands you conquer?"
"We aren't here to conquer, though we intend to hold on to this Gate to make certain another such transgression doesn't occur."
"And the people of these lands? How will you treat them?"
"To those who will only accept war, we can only give war and war is something we have learned horribly well. But to those who would offer us friendship, then I only hope our leaders will choose to act as friends." He glanced at Kurokawa and Itami, who were discussing calling for more vehicles as apparently, Itami had not bothered telling the medic about the radio being 'broken', and at Kurata."As we wish to be as friends."
Their discussion was interrupted by Kurata reporting. "Someone's coming from up ahead."
Taylor smiled at Aenaire. "I had better check what's going on."
Itami looked through his field glasses. "Crows?" He then jumped back in surprise to see a pretty young girl carrying a halberd, sitting as if waiting for them. Her bright rose-colored eyes sparkled mischievously as the thin smile on her lips suggested anticipation.
"A Gothic Lolita girl?!" Itami exclaimed. Taylor stuck his head back up front for a look. Presently, the girl stood up and walked calmly toward them, halberd held upright.
"Where do you come from?" She asked mildly. Taylor was reminded of a judge who wished to see if the suspect would attempt to lie his way out of trouble when the judge already knew the truth. Something about her attire was sending an urgent signal to his brain to recall some important piece of information he had been told. "Where are you going?" She added.
Apparently, without their phrasebooks open, this line of inquiry left Itami and Kurata at a loss to comprehend. Taylor frowned, trying to remember.
"She appears to be a child," Kurokawa noted. Just then, the three Coda children bounded out of the back of the vehicle in delight and recognition.
"It's the oracle!" They exclaimed.
Oracle? Crap! Taylor thought as it clicked. Lady Octavia herself had taught him to know the major temples, gods, and their apostles.
For us, Lieutenant, the Gods of our world are not a question of belief or faith as they are in yours. They are a part of our lives and their apostles walk among us. We ask for their favor but the gods do as they wish and their apostles carryout those wishes. Your tools and weapons may be far greater than any beheld in our world my son but you are still mortal. I give you this knowledge so you may avoid the displeasure of one who is not. I ask you not to rely solely on the protection of your God, but in the mind he fashioned for you, for our Gods will not spare you in his name. They would slay you and bring the matter up with him at his convenience.
Out in front of the truck, the children and several other villagers rushed to greet the oracle. These people she greeted in a manner appearing most friendly as she repeated her first question to them.
To the Oracle, they told the tale of their flight from Coda Village.
"They appear to be praying to her," Kurokawa noted.
"So there's some religious reason for that weird outfit?" Itami wondered.
"Ho boy… Is there ever!" Taylor told them as the Oracle turned her head toward them. It was as if she had heard and even understood Itami's remark about her clothing.
"Who are these strange people?" She asked the children as she studied the truck and Itami intently.
"They saved us! They're good people!" One of the boys proclaimed.
"So you aren't being forced out of your village?" The Oracle asked to be certain.
"Nope!" He told her.
Out of the mouths of children comes the truth! Taylor agreed hopefully in his mind.
She seemed to relax a little as she again studied the truck. "How does this move?"
"I don't know but it's way comfier than our carts!" The boy told her.
"Oh? A comfy ride huh?" She licked her lips in a most unsettling way as she looked up at Itami. "I'd like to see how it feels to ride it too."
Taylor had to give Itami credit for going down with a sinking ship as Itami so innocently recited the words in Popularii that were at the very front of the phrasebooks they had been issued.
"Hello? How are you?" Itami got out in stilted Popularii.
"Well, Lieutenant," Taylor told Itami. "I think I'll grab my gear and hop the half ton."
Itami blinked as the Apostle smiled at him intently.
In the meantime, Aenaire looked at Taylor as he grabbed his gear. He explained. "Lieutenant Itami is going to be having company and I wouldn't want them to be too crowded."
"Ah!" She said, observing the Oracle. "If we might, I think Galador and I would join you?"
"I don't see why not!" He said. As they exited the vehicle, he bowed to the Oracle. "Rory Mercury, your name precedes you. The Lord of the Forbidden Interior awaits your presence."
Rory smiled and gave an accepting bow in return and then hopped into the Hummer.
Taylor suppressing a smirk as the Oracle began to make Itami's life more interesting.
"Traitor!" Itami called out as Taylor walked away.
"You'll get over it Itami," Taylor replied as he opened the door to the half ton and Aenaire and Galador got in and he followed, closing the door. Space was a little tight with Galador forced to sit in his mother's lap, but it was definitely the more peaceful ride as the column got back underway.
To Be Continued.