I LIVE!

...Yeah, that's about all I have to say. I have no excuses for my two month absence.

I'll get around to posting the rest of the late updates tomorrow.

Okay, no Fae's Ire. - Kairi

Chapter 6.6 - Conflicts and Sidequests
Part 59

We followed Dark. None of the rest of us had any idea where we were going, after all. It made no sense for us to be wandering around without any sort of direction.

Dark had also, over the last few hours, started drilling us on liger clan formalities, and had informed Reighn, Seth, and I of our ranks, since he'd told everyone else previously. We had also agreed that, once Dark got us in, he would explain my telepathy, and I'd keep a strong field over the area, so any liger that wanted to talk to us could do so without Dark or Mieu having to act as translators all the time.

By this point, I was starting to note the odd flash of blue-green, magenta, brown (in many shades), and gray. I smiled slightly when a light gray head poked out of a bush only to duck back in upon seeing us. I paused.

"It's okay."

The little liger poked its head out again, eyes wide as it watched me, before it padded over carefully. I kept up a mental connection with Twilight, since I couldn't understand the liger language on my own.

"Hi..."

"Hello, little one," Twilight growled back in greeting.

Another growl came out of the bushes a few yards up the path, more a sharp reprimand than anything else, and the baby liger squealed and ran off toward the growl. Probably its mother, then.

Natalia giggled. "It's so cute..."

Dark gave her a rather contorted expression. "She may have been cute now, but that was a beta liger. You won't be saying that in a few months."

Reighn rolled his eyes. "Personally, I'm hoping the fact that we've run into a young liger means we're getting close."

Disjointed sentences came through the connection with Twilight just before he and Sorylle gave the warning growl. I was already drawing my sword, Luke just a moment behind me, though he looked a little uneasy.

Seth and Reighn had the potential to be short-ranged fighters, but they preferred to stay back and cast. Dark, Natalia, and now Ion were all long-ranged fighters, which, counting the ligers, meant we had five long range and four short range. Of course, given the number of ligers that showed up a moment later, I hoped that the eastern clan was at least willing to fight back themselves.

Fifteen yellow-bodied ligers and one with a body that was rather more orange than yellow (its mane and tail matched most of the others, though, and I couldn't get past that wall of hate) came charging at us. Only three of them were Alphas, but the rest were still rather large. Betas and Gammas, probably. Twilight and Sorylle unleashed the attacks they'd been storing up, a line of ice tripping up three ligers, while the lightning blast caught another two off-guard.

That's when the eastern clan ligers showed up. Four Alphas, and about as many Betas and Gammas as the opposing force. Plus three that Dark identified as Omegas, and another six Deltas.

The feral southern clan ligers had one thing going for them, though. Unpredictability. They couldn't think, so they were dangerous, lashing out at each other if one of them came too close to its fellows.

Dark growled out a warning, then mentally pushed me to connect to all of our allies. I did so, before lifting Silver Clematis to guard against the first claw strike that had been aimed at me.

Mental images, trails of thought, and barely-structured orders all flew around in my head. Most of it was coming from Sorylle and the other four eastern clan Alphas, but bits and pieces were coming from Dark. The rest of us just seemed more focused on keeping ourselves alive and protecting Reighn, Seth, and Ion.

One of the four Alphas pushed a half-formed mental image at us, and I sent a rather more solid one back. Confirmation came back through, and I sent a questioning mental nudge to Luke, along with a memory of Asch signaling over-limit.

Luke stopped, lowering his sword with a grimace and taking the next swipe aimed at him without any sort of defense. The redhead was thrown in the air, only to flip and land on his feet. He looked back at me and nodded, and I sent a mental push back toward the ligers.

Seven thunder shots and two ice lines got the entire attacking force (minus one we'd already managed to kill) grouped together, and Luke ran in, unleashing a shockwave to knock two of them back into the group. I ran in right behind him. I'd meant for Fae's Ire to work with both Luke's Radiant Howl and Asch's Rending Sabre. I guess I'd just have to find out now if it worked.

The familiar fonic glyph appeared around Luke and caught most of the ligers. I didn't make a comment about him missing four of them. The glyph was only so big, after all. I did, however, note the flash of green off in my peripheral vision. Had that been...?

"You're mine!" Luke cried, an inarticulate yell following it up as the hyperresonance converged on the ligers. "Now, die!"

The blast brought the ligers to the ground, and before I could even start up Fae's Ire, another even more familiar glyph appeared.

"Maybe I can help..." I heard Ion say. I immediately let go of the sixth fonons and started pulling on fifth. Okay, no Fae's Ire. Shall we extend on the extension? (Can we even do that?)

"Akashic Torment!" Light rose up a second time, and three of the ligers started separating, even as the white glyph turned red.

I laughed, amazed and grateful that this had even worked. "Don't think we're finished yet!" I jumped into the air, letting the fonons gather at the tips of my fingers. "Eternal faith..." And didn't that fit Ion and Luke? I smiled and flung the two fireballs at the ligers. "Sorcerer's Rage!"

The darkness around me faded out, the rest of the battlefield returning. There were only seven ligers remaining of the original sixteen, and a louder-than-usual gunshot took one of them down, one that hadn't been caught in the Mystic Arte Mash that Luke, Ion, and I had unleashed. I smirked, running forward and slashing at as many of the ligers as I could. Two of them dropped from the blade's poison, one dropped from me finally finishing it off after the mass of fonons we'd dropped on it, and the other three were taken care of by the eastern ligers.

Once the threat was gone, I let Silver Clematis reform on my arm once more.

*Thank you.*

I turned to the Alpha who had spoken, a gorgeous female who looked an awful lot like Sorylle. Or rather, as I realized a moment later from the way Sorylle stood near her, Sorylle looked a lot like her.

*There is no need to thank us. We came to help,* I told her. She nodded once, then turned to Dark.

*And you... Thank you, for looking after my daughter.*

Dark forced a smile. *I was raised alongside an eastern liger. I wasn't about to leave one of my own.*

The Alpha nodded again. *I see. I am Illeka, Clan Queen of the Eastern Ligers.*

I got the distinct feeling from Dark that we'd gotten very, very lucky. *What is it you are trying to accomplish, ma'am?* he asked.

Illeka tilted her head to the side. *Freedom. Our western cousins await the ice bridges from the north. Given our options, we would prefer to go as well. However, there are doubts among our numbers that we will be able to break through the veritable wall of southern ligers who have chosen to stand between us and the northern shore.*

I nodded. It seemed that Dark had been right. Sorylle flicked an ear.

*We came to help you break through those lines. We figured that was the problem,* she said. Illeka seemed to take pause, before silently asking me if I could cut the line, seeming to understand that none of us, save Dark, was fluent in their language.

I dropped the telepathic field completely, and forced down the wave of exhaustion that hit me while Illeka and Sorylle growled a conversation to each other. Sorylle seemed sad, but defiant, while Illeka slowly seemed to be accepting that her daughter had chosen to stand by Dark's side instead of hers.

Dark, I noted, looked conflicted, like he wasn't sure whether to be happy that Sorylle wanted to stay with him, or upset that she was leaving her family behind for it.

A growl from behind the two brought their attention away from each other, which was then followed up by Illeka continuing the conversation. The queen turned to me, then folded her ears back and made a rather meek growl. Sorylle's broken growling sounded like a laugh, and I sighed, realizing what had just happened.

*Twilight does that a lot,* I said once the telepathic field was down and most of the ligers had latched on again.

*I usually don't get any warning, though,* he added.

Illeka seemed amused now. *I see... Your name is Twilight?* The western liger dipped his head. *Do you fight as Sorylle does, with a human as your fang-brother?*

Just so you know, 'fang-brother' was my mind's rough translation for what Illeka said.

*Yes. The mind-bridge-maker is my fang-sister.* (Again, with words that aren't really words. I had a feeling this was going to happen a lot...)

Illeka growled, a sound of irritation, before she looked at me. *I would not normally ask this, but will you and my daughter's fang-brother consent to being separated from your partners? We would like to send an emissary to the western clan, a final request for aid.*

*And it would make sense that you would want to send me...* Twilight said, reluctantly admitting that he would have to face his clan again. *Very well. Dark? Kairi? Sorylle?*

Sorylle nodded, and I sighed. *I'm fine with it, but... I'd like to keep Luke and Ion with me, if possible.*

*I don't think I'll be able to handle another Akashic Torment in such short succession,* Ion admitted. Then he paused. *Unless...* I crossed my arms.

*Sync told you?* I guessed. Ion nodded. *I can fix that, then.*

*What about the rest of us?* Natalia asked. Dark shook his head.

*I'd feel a lot better if I knew you were here, relatively safe, where Sorylle can keep an eye on you.*

*At this rate, we're going to end up sending him alone,* Seth noted. Twilight chuckled in his mind.

*Might as well. The two of us will travel faster without the added weight.*

Natalia didn't say anything, but all of us felt her discomfort.

*We don't even know if they'll help, and we've got barely two weeks before the ice bridges form,* one of the other ligers said. *What are we going to do then?*

I shrugged. *We'll figure something else out. Believe me, I'm good at improvising. Still, having even a little support from the other side will be nice,* I said. Dark nodded and walked over to Twilight, stopping just a foot away to turn and smirk at Natalia.

"It'll be fine. I survived four years with just Koran before, didn't I? Give me three days. If you don't hear anything by then, assume I'll meet you on the northern shore. Believe me, I have no intention of dying," he said, jumping up onto Twilight's back with a practiced ease. Twilight growled something akin to 'good luck' at me before turning and taking off.

Once the two were out of sight, Sorylle growled at us to get our attention.

Illeka stepped over to me, Sorylle nudging Natalia. *Get on. We must travel quickly,* Illeka said. I nodded, jumping up and swinging my right leg over the queen's back. The other three Alphas picked up Seth, Reighn, and Luke, Ion clambering up behind the redhead. Sorylle, who was about the size of a Beta, was just large enough to carry Natalia without problems.

Illeka and I spent most of the run going over geography in our heads. Some of the other ligers joined in, but most of it was just me and the queen.

Then the field I was keeping active brushed against many other minds, and I let that warning go out to those I was still connected to. Illeka thanked me before going quiet. We weren't that far away from the others when she finally let out a yowl. Through the others, I recognized it as a warning that they were returning with company.

Illeka bounded into a large, communal nesting ground. It looked like there were hundreds, if not thousands of ligers in the half-mile-wide depression in the ground. I looked around, silently amazed by the sheer number of ligers here.

A few dozen Alphas came running up, and I realized that all of them were female. The queens of the individual packs, then?

Illeka let me get down, and the others followed suit. I almost immediately crouched down and started drawing out a rough sketch of the land around us. The ligers helped, and within moments, we not only had a map, we had a general idea of where we'd split up with Dark, where the line of southern ligers were, and where the western ligers were waiting on the ice bridges.

I built up some barriers around my mind so I could think without the others having to listen in.

*What about this area?* Natalia asked, pointing to a valley. Reighn shook his head immediately.

*No way. If they got up on those walls, we'd be screwed.*

I blinked and looked over the valley in question. *Assuming we don't get there first.*

*Kairi?*

Lots of eyes locked on me, while I looked over the map again, running through the plans in my mind a second time. Then I nodded.

*What if we set up our own ambush here? These guys don't think, they act. We send the fastest ligers to get their attention and draw them into the valley...*

*While the ligers above unleash hell,* Reighn continued, seeing where I was going. I nodded, while Illeka looked over the map herself.

*That's close enough to the eastern coast... If we can draw them into the valley and away from the water, the young and elderly could get past them with minimal fighting,* she noted. I looked up at her and nodded.

*Yeah. That valley's perfect for an ambush, and even if the southern ligers figure it out...* I trailed off.

*It'll be too late to stop at least some of our number from escaping.*

Reighn, Seth, Natalia, Ion, Luke, and I looked up at her, Sorylle sitting behind us, and the rest of the queens around our circle.

*Well? It's your call, Your Majesty,* Ion said.

Illeka looked at him and nodded.

"Prepare!"

Fun Fact: Illeka was not an only child. She had a brother. (That is all I shall say for now.)