As the morning light peeked over the tips of the eastern mountains three men quietly and quickly moved out of their home and down to the battered and shredded remnants of the villages wharf. The hulks and remnants of fishing ships clung against the rocks, most broken beyond repair, while the only one that was serviceable was only was due to days of diligent repairs.
Now they could finally go through with their plans.
"Hey, should we really be doing this?" The youngest of the three men suddenly asked as he passed a large bulky sack up to the middle aged of the three.
"What are you talking about bro? We talked about this already," the older brother said as he tossed the sack behind him and then helped his brother up.
"I know, but, Duchess Valliere was clear that,-"
"bah, she's a stuck up noble just like the rest, don't let her words bother you. Nobles like her-"
"Both of you are being to loud, and you should not speak ill of the nobility Jakob," the oldest man suddenly said darkly. "You never know where their ears and eyes are."
"r-right, sorry dad," the oldest son said apologetically.
"Just be careful," the boys father said as he turned to his youngest son. "I understand your worry Roth, but this is the best thing we can do for the village right now. Duchess Valliere was nice enough while here, but the local lord is not so nice. You heard his son last night, right?"
Roth scowled. He remembered all right. The destructive wind that heralded the appearance of that island and the destruction of Albion had hurt them. Their village was nearly ruins, and the tidal waves that had come afterword's had killed many of the villages livestock and flooded their fields with saltwater. The fact that only one family had perished was a miracle in and of itself but had left their village in a precarious position.
When the duchess had appeared and helped the village repair many of their houses it was a nice surprise, but as soon as she had left to return to the capitol the local lord, Baron Marou, had decided to strike. His son come into the village declaring that, due to the destructive wind and damage done to his families estate it had been decided that the three villages on their land would have to pay double the usual taxes and that they would be due by the weeks end. He also added that if the village could not pay that they would be required to forfeit four girls to the noble house as unpaid servant labor to pay off the debt.
Considering that the baron had been aiming for a number of young village girls for a few years, held back only by his penchant to abuse the word of law and not his rights as a noble, it was a horrific ultimatum. The baron had a horrid reputation as a womanizer, an abuser, and a man who wanted women to serve him at all times. The rumors about him were not as bad as those of the distant count Mott, but they were close.
"I understand," Roth said grimly as he replied, knowing that his own sister was one of the girls the count was after.
"Do you though?" their father pressed. "What are we doing then, and why?"
"Were going to that island that, according to some that overheard the duchesses words, has a high amount of gems on it, to gather them to help pay off our local lords unfair tax hike, and protect the village girls, and our sister "
"Good man," their father said with a grin, clearly pleased. "Do we have everything?"
"Yep," Jakob said with a grin. "We got the picks, the sacks, the rations and a small barrel of grog to go with the rations. Well be good for a couple days if need be!"
"Good, then let's get going, we're burning daylight!"
Both boys let out words of affirmation as they got to work. As a fishing family they knew their business and the boat was gliding across the waves to the distant island as quickly as its sail could allow. By mid day they could see the island easier, and by mid afternoon they managed to approach at what appeared to be the only beach. Beaching the sailboat they were awed by two things, the size of the cliffs to either side if them, and the one cliff face to the left that was nearly glittering from the amounts of uncut gemstones in it. They were huge, some of then nearly the size of a man's head, and there were so many it boggled their mind even trying to figure out how much coin could be acquired from such a quantity of jewels.
"This is, by the founder, how much Ecu is here?" Jakob asked in awe.
"we, we could live like nobles!" Roth exclaimed.
"You don't want to, but this will easily pay off the baron without a single issue!" their father stated as he tossed a pair of picks off the boat to the sand before he vaulted over the railing of the ship. He took a few steps and then stopped, looked down, kicked the sand, and smirked before letting out a deep belly laugh. "There are even gems in the sand! Roth, grab a sack and start grabbing them out of the sand! Your brother and I will go at the ones in the Cliffside!"
"Yes!" Roth replied as jakob jumped off the boat and ran up to his father.
"Now then, let's see what we are working with, their father mumbled as he walked straight for the cliff face, only stopping when right in front of it. He ran a hand over the stones, finding them strangely warm and very smooth. There were sharp edges, but only upon the gemstone chunks themselves, and the stone around the chunks was smooth and curved in a way that made no sense. Not that he was an expert on stone. "Alright, let's start swinging. Aim for around the bigger chunks, they should be easier to haul."
"Yes," Jakob said as he and his father began swinging their picks at the cliff side. Despite the amount of gems in it the stone was very tough, barely yielding anything as they struck it. Sure small flecks of stone came away with each strike, but it almost seemed as if the rock was growing to replace what they chipped away. But that was impossible, right?
"This, is harder than I thought it would be", jakobs father grumbled as he hefted the pick over his shoulder and stared at the rock in annoyance. It really seemed as if the rock itself was resisting his work. Sure he wasn't a miner by trade, but he understood how to use a pick, and he knew it shouldn't be this difficult just to dent the rock.
The sand had looked filled with smaller gemstone pieces though, so as long as Roth was making good time in picking them up then-.
"Wah! What in the founder are you!? " came Roths voice screaming from behind them in fear and surprise.
Both Jakob and his father spun about at once, seeing Roth sitting on the sand with one sack beside him mostly full. A few feet from him was a creature that looked humanoid in shape, but was clearly not. It wore an outfit of black and white, had hair that looked like green glass, and arms that looked made of some yellow material that was almost liquid.
Was it a golem of some kind? No it couldn't be, golems always looked like armor or simple stone he had heard. Some kind of magical beast? Maybe a mages familiar perhaps? That was certainly possible. There was also the possibility it was some kind of demon, as there stories that demons could take a human form to temp people away from the founders path.
Regardless of what it was though, it was clearly dangerous with the way it was reaching for Roth. So his father rushed forward and interposed himself between the monster and his son, holding the pickaxe aloft as a simple, yet surely deadly makeshift weapon. "Get away from my son monster! You don't belong here!"
"AAAAAA, I wish we had some way of knowing when the Lunarians would attack again!" Phosphophylite loudly complained as they walked through the grass with Bort and Diamond to the side.
"They will come when they do, and we will beat them when they do," Bort stated seriously as their eyes were glued to the skies, perfectly clear, yet with no sunspot activity whatsoever.
"I like the calm. The Lunarians not appearing everyday here is nice," Diamond said with a smile, enjoying the lack of urgency.
"I suppose, but I do not like the humans, " Bort said with a scowl.
"Uraninite says that the ones that came after those first groups are talking about reconciliation though, right?"
"It does not change that their thoughts on us were little different than the lunarians," Bort pressed before they looked at Phosphophylite.
"Uh, the two I talked to seemed nice, I guess."
"You do not know?" Bort pushed.
"uh, well, I didn't talk to them for long. They seemed curious about us, but Rutile was after me and dragged me off after knocking me into the jellyfish pond," Phosphophylite explained in a rather animated fashion, their arms drooping a bit as they did.
Bort took a step back, staring at Phos's arms before shaking their head. "Did they seem dangerous at least in some way? Or are they as weak as those first ones I saw?"
"Uh, I don't know," Phos admitted with a sigh. "I never saw them fight, that was Uraninite, Obsidian and Yellow Diamond."
"So they didn't tell you either," Bort said in annoyance. "Those three have been holding back to much."
"I don't think so. They are doing their best, and there is a lot of information, action they have to think about," Diamond said warmly. "Yellow told me that they have to be careful to not say too much or agree to things too readily or it could endanger everyone."
"I Doubt these humans could endanger us. They seemed pretty weak," Bort stated, their tone making it clear that they did not think much of them.
"I don't think it's their physical prowess that Uraninite is worried about, but their numbers," Diamond said carefully before looking slightly worried. "The idea of more than hundreds of them is, hard to imagine."
"It is, but if they prove hostile we simply deal with them, just like the Lunarians," Bort declared as they turned their gaze to a early cliff. "You were getting something from the Chord Shore Phos?"
"Yes, there was a large chunk of Ruby that I thought Rutile might want on hand," Phosphophylite answered as they began walking toward the cliff, splitting from Bort and Diamond.
"Why didn't you get it earlier then?" Bort asked instantly.
"It was during the winter. When I lost my arms there were, more important things than bringing it back then."
"that is true," Diamond said withva smile. "I'm sure Rutile will like having such a piece of material but, why Ruby though?"
Phosphophylite averted their gaze for a moment in embarrassment before speaking. "I uh, I was thinking they could use it for Padparadsha."
Both Bort and Diamond stared at them for a few moments before Diamond spoke up. "um, have you ever met them?"
Phosphophylite shook their head. "Uraninite and Antarcticite mentioned them, and I recall something about them being connected to Rutile." Phosphophylite then let out a sigh. "I think most of that memory got lost with my arms though, so I'm not fully sure."
Diamond smiled. "Well you kept the important part of that, so I think you should go bring it to Rutile then. It would make them very happy I would think!"
To Phosphophylites surprise Bort was nodding in agreement, though they were not saying anything. "Um r-right, talk later," Phosphophylite then said as they turned and ran off to the Chord shore, leaving Diamond and Bort alone again.
And making Diamond let out a giggle a moment later. "Its nice to know they don't hate Rutile."
"It would also be nice if Padparadsha could be awake again. They were skilled, and their council would be good with what is going on now."
"True. I just hope that there are no more problems with the humans in the future, peace would be nice," Diamond said hopefully.
Right before a loud bang echoed out through the air from the direction of the Chord shore.
Bort spun in place to look in the direction of the noise, annoyance and exasperation covering their face as they yelled. "Phos!"
Phosphophylite ran to the Chord shore only to stop halfway down the stars that went down the cliff. The Chord shore was the only beach on the island and aside from the cliff face that Gems could be born from and materials for repairs could be found, was normally an unassuming and quiet place with little else of note.
So seeing a wooden construction with a billowing sheet of cloth mounted atop it beached in the sand was a surprise, and seeing a trio of humans on the beach was even more so. Two of them appeared to be doing something at the cliffface where gems came from, while the third was wandering the sand with some kind of bag. It only took a second for Phosphophylite to realize what was being done as the human with the sack picked up a hunk of gem and tossed it into the sack, then eyed the very piece of Ruby that Phosphophylite was looking for, mostly sticking out of the sand near the human.
It was odd because Yellow Diamond had said that the humans they had met with had said they would tell others to not come to the island for some reason. So Phosphophylite did what she figured was the best thing to do. She ran down to the sand and spoke up. "Excuse me, I don't think you are supposed to be here, and you can't have those."
The human with the sack looked up toward Phosphophylite and, much to their surprise, screamed and fell backwards, the sack falling behind them even further. "Wah, What in the founder are you?!"
"I'm a Gem, Phosphophylite. I'm not going to harm you, okay?" Phosphophylite said as they extended a hand to help the human up. After all, even if they were not supposed to be on the island, they could still be friendly to them.
One of the other humans, the largest one, however seemed to think differently as he ran over and interposed himself between the human and Phosphophylite, holding a pick high as he yelled at them.
"Get away from my son monster! You don't belong here!"
Phosphophylite took a step back on reflex before they realized what the man had said. It made them angry in an instant. "Uh no, I do belong here, its my home. You are not supposed to be here though."
"Shut up! I will not listen to a monster!" the human yelled angrily as he turned to look at the other two. "Get to the boat with what we have!"
The two boys nodded with one running straight for the boat, and the other doing the same, but not before it grabbed the sack full of uncut gemstones and began dragging it behind him toward the boat.
"Ah wait, you can't take those!" Phosphophylite exclaimed as they took a step forward and reached a hand out to the human with the sack.
Only for the one in front of them to take offense to that and swing his pick at them with a roar. "I said back you monster! Demon! Whatever you are!" he called out angrily as he swung the pick in broad swathes. He only managed to hit Phosphophylite arm, doing little damage, but from the force of the strike that they felt Phosphophylite knew one thing. This human was out to break them.
"Look you can't take those, can you, just, stop for a, just stop it already!" Phosphophylite finally yelled in annoyance as they caught the pick in their hands and wrenched it away from the man, much to his visible horror and shock. "Look I'm not going to hurt you, but we were told no humans would come here, so you shouldn't be here, and you can't take those gemstones, they're ours,"
"Shut up monster I will not listen to your damning words of-"
"Dad, move!" one of the humans called, cutting off the man and making both him and Phosphophylite turn to look at him. He was on the boat and holding something and pointing it toward them. It looked like a long stick of some kind, and in that instant the older human leapt backwards, throwing himself to the sand.
A very loud crack echoed out across the beach and in that same moment Phosphophylite felt something collide into their side, shattering bits of their body away from their torso with only thin strands of gold alloy still connecting them to them. The sudden hit was so surprising that Phosphophylite took a couple steps back and looked down at their damage, then looked back up at the humans before them and drew their blade. It was no longer simply being where they shouldn't be. They were stealing and had attacked them with the intent to break them.
Just like the Lunarians did.
Phosphophylite looked up to find the oldest of the humans making beeline for the boat while the youngest was struggling to bring the sack aboard. The one with the stick was doing something to it, and looked harried.
"You are not leaving with those stones!" Phosphophylite declared loudly as they began walking toward the boat, their free arm forming a barrier of gold alloy to protect them from whatever had hit them in the side. They couldn't really run with their hip still shattered and barely connected, but the humans were not far away so it probably wouldn't be a big deal.
"Hurry up! That thing is right behind you!" the human with the stick yelled as he pointed it at Phosphophylite. It let out the same cracking sound alongside an odd flash and in the second after something struck Phosphophylites gold barrier with just as much force as a Lunarian arrow. "Ah this stupid thing isn't doing anything! I thought it was supposed to be able to punch through plate armor!"
"It should, but a demon is not armour, just keep it busy!" the oldest human called out as he got to the youngest and helped him up onto the boat before picking up the sack and throwing it up onto the boat as well.
"Hey, I said you couldn't-" Phosphophylite began to say till they were cut off by heavy landing behind them and turned to see Bort and Diamond.
"Phos, what is going on?" diamond asked right before they saw Phosphophylites break on their waist. "you've been hurt!"
"I'm fine, but those humans were taking pieces from the chord shore, including that ruby chunk I wanted for Rutile," Phos said before suddenly jumping in front of diamond. "Watch out!"
A crack echoed out again, striking Phosphophylite barrier and showing the other two gems just how much force the weapon had.
"They shot you with that weapon?" Bort asked very carefully. They all had agreed that, after much deliberation as a group, that attacking humans like they had done before was bad unless they were attacked after all.
"That was the third shot," Phosphophylite stated as the large human started doing something with the boats mast. "That big one had tried hitting me with that pick over there," Phos added a second later as the humans were yelling amongst each other while the one with the stick weapon hurried to reload it.
"Then that means they are enemies,"Bort stated as they took a step forward, only stopping when Diamond put a hand on their shoulder.
"Can we just tell them they are not welcome and take back the gem pieces maybe?"
Bort looked at Phosphophylite, who simply shrugged. "They didn't listen to me. Maybe they'll listen to you I guess?"
Bort merely shook their head before dashing forward, startling the human with the ranged weapon, and then leapt up onto the railing of the boat. That same human fell backwards from fear and tried to point his weapon at Bort, but they simply swung their blade and knocked the weapon out of his hand in two pieces before then pointing their sword at the human, the tip a bare millimeter from his face. "You are not welcome here."
"Wah! I, you, I just-" the human blithered in fear, catching the attention of the others.
"Get away from my son monster! In the name of the founder I demand it!" the largest man said as he reached behind a door and pulled out a rusty looking axe that he then held in one hand while glaring at Bort.
"You are not welcome here. We were told that no other humans aside from the emissaries would come to our lands," Bort said and paused for a few seconds to let the information sink in. "You do not belong here."
"I don't care what those Fuckin nobles say, they just want to hoard all these jewels!" the man spat as he took a few steps forward, halving the distance between him and Bort. "I'm not letting them take my daughter, so I'm leaving with these, and you are leaving us be. Otherwise I'm gonna crack open that skull of yours, got it monster?"
"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible, we really need those gemstones, they are important to us," Diamond said as she jumped up onto the boat behind Bort, while Phosphophylite floated up beside the ship a few meters away from the large man. "Please just leave here without those stones and we will not harm you. I promise."
The man looked at the Three Gems and grimaced, hefting his axe as he spoke. "I barely believe the promises of a you the nobility, I shall not be believing the words of godless monsters!" He screamed a he lunged forward with his axe raised high.
Bort simply took a step forward and swung their blade forward and caught the axe under its heel and then swung upwards, yanking it right out of the mans hands. They then spun in place and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him backwards, and causing their hair to swing around and cut right through the ships mast without any effort.
"Dad!" the youngest human called in horror, leaving the bag and running over to the man, who let out a heavy pain filled cough in response.
"If you had listened you could have avoided the pain, " Bort said with a shake of their head as they looked to Phosphophylite. "Grab the gemstones and we can-"
"I think not!" came a new voice alongside a shadow that quickly covered the small ship and forced everyone to look up to see the shadow was cast by a rather large dragon that was hovering above. It was bright white in color with a regal saddle of strong leather and chain on its back with a strange sigil painted onto the underside. A second later a man jumped down, startling everyone. He was not very tall and was young with a pretty face and golden hair and hetechromia, and perhaps most uniquely he was wearing a bright blue cape and was holding q sword in one hand. With a smile he turned and looked at the downed man. "Good sir, I am a traveling dragon knight of Romalia, please tell me what is going on here."
"We came here to do some mining to help our village get repaired by selling some uncut jewels, and then these creatures attacked us, they've been trying to kill us while leading us around like they are mocking us!" the old man said angrily, before looking down and coughing, before smirking.
"What?! That isn't true! I just talked to them and they attacked!" Phosphophylite declared. "They are not even supposed to be on our island and they are stealing!"
"The monster lies!" the old man declared as he got up and glared at Bort. He looked like he was going to speak up, but stopped as the dragon knight took a step forward.
"You creatures claim this island as your own?"
"its always been ours," Phosphophylite stated quickly, earning a careful glance from Diamond.
"Then clearly you, of course, must be devout followers of the Founder, yes?"
"What?" Phos said in confusion.
"I believe he means their religion yes?" Diamond asked as they looked at the blond knight.
"of course! If you are devout followers of the founder, then clearly this is just a misunderstanding," the blond said.
"This is a misunderstanding I think, as Phos would not have attacked them unless it was in self defense," diamond explained.
The knight smirked as he suddenly pointed his blades tip at Diamond. "so then, are you followers of the founder and the church, or are you not?"
"We are not," Bort spoke up sternly. "we only have heard a little of you humans beliefs and have been told by the emissaries that came that it was not an immediate concern.
The knights eyes almost flashed with a glint that Phosphophylite found odd. "I see. Then, can your kind, whatever they are, do magic?"
"No. What does this have to do with those humans trespass g on our land and stealing?" Bort asked, becoming visibly annoyed.
"It matters more than anything else! All of Halkeginia is the founders by right, and his lands are spread by those who claim lineage from his great blood. Those who can use magic, the reagents and nobility. As you cannot use magic, you cannot be considered even the lowest of nobility and therefore cannot own land. And as this island sits off the shore of Halkeginia, it is part of it, and therefore the founders. And as you have admitted you are not followers that makes you heathens stealing from the founder and the church," the boy declared seriously before smiling. "I am not unfair though. If you declare here and now to abandon your pagan ideals and follow the rule and law of the church in all things, I shall overlook both this transgression and your assault of citizens of Halkeginia and believers in the founder. And then, once you understand your place we can see about allowing you to stay here once it has proper rulership under the church. So, what say you, creatures?"
"You want us to adopt your beliefs and laws, while taking our home from us and handing it to another for the possibility of being allowed to stay here?" Bort asked while simply but sufficiently summarizing the knights words.
He simply nodded as he stared at Bort expectantly.
"Absolutely not!" Bort nearly screamed in outrage. "This has been our home for thousands of years and it will stay ours!"
The knight smirked as he flourished his sword to the side. "I see. Then I, Julio Chesare, Dragon knight of Romalia and direct subordinate of the pope, Sentence you heathens to death in the name of the Brimiric church for heretical actions, thievery of land, and assaulting citizens of the faith!"
"You cannot just-" Bort tried to say until they were forced to block a blow with their sword from Julio lunging forward at them with his blade.
"So you block my strike and fall even lower " Julio said as he continued to deftly attempt to swing or thrust his sword at Borts neck. "It would have been easier for you to simply accept your sentence!"
"This is our land, your rules have no weight here," Bort responded as they defended themselves, finding that while Julio was skilled and rather fast, that his strikes had no weight to them whatsoever. They didn't have to put any strength into their arms at all to block the blows.
"The word of the church is the word of the founder, and the founders word is the law of this world," Julio said in a self assured tone while he continued to strike at Bort, only to suddenly jump back and point his sword at them. "Surrender yourself to my blade and I shall give you a swift demise. I shall even give any other of you things on this island a chance to properly pledge themselves to the church. What say you?"
"Absolutely not," Bort replied instantly as they looked to Diamond and Phosphophylite, both of whom had their swords drawn and ready.
"I think not!" Julio declared as he turned his gaze to the large human. "Good citizen, keep those other two monsters off of me while I enact this ones sentence and I will make sure you are well rewarded by the church."
The man nodded and then turned to Phosphophylite, hefting his axe as he did.
"Phos, head back to the school and tell Sensei and Yellow Diamond what is happening here," Bort commanded.
"But I-" Phosphophylite began to say, stopping when Bort turned their gaze on them.
"Now, Phosphophylite!" Bort yelled, spurring Phosphophylite into action without another word. They then turned to Diamond. "Dia, step back."
Diamond did so without a word, causing Julio to chuckle to himself. "You think you can take me on yourself? I am a dragon knight of Romalia, and no true believer in the founder can be defeated by a heathen monster!"
"I am no monster, I am a Gem!" Bort declared as they began walking toward Julio with their sword to the side tightly in their grip.
Julio found the current situation to intriguing.
An island were sentient Golems that seemed to be made of gemstones was curious on its own, but the presence of some, what appeared to be miners or fishermen, on the beach had made it very easy to manipulate the situation to learn what he needed.
They knew nothing of the founder and refused him when offered a chance to repent. The churches stance would be either to assimilate or destroy them in all likelihood, so all he needed to do was discern how dangerous these creatures were. It would be an easy task with how simple it was to provoke them.
He watched the black creature start to approach him and wanted to laugh. It had no stance at all, just holding its jagged and sorry excuse for a sword to the side in a way that told him these creatures knew nothing of real swordplay. Sure it had managed to parry some simple strikes before, but he hadn't truly been trying then.
He waited until the creature was the right distance from him, twisted his foot, and then used that leg as a spring to lunge forward, his blade aimed solidly at the creatures center of body. Against a golem swords were normally useless, but his blade was enchanted by the pope himself. It would have no trouble carving the creature in twain.
Except it had more than just trouble. As soon as the point hit the things stomach it simply stopped. It didn't sink in or anything, and left Julio in a precarious position as he saw the creature motion to swing its sword at him. He leapt backwards as fast as he had lunged forward, fast enough that all but the most skilled of knights would be able to see him, only to witness the creatures blade pass through where he had been, and for it to be so fast it almost touched his nose.
'Its fast," Julio thought as he moved to the creature right side following its sword swing so that it would have difficulty swinging again. Its swing had left it open so he would go for its side this time.
Only for the creature to seemingly expect such a move and lean backwards, twisting its body and kicking its one leg out at Julio. He ducked under it but was then forced to back off as the other leg swung through the air, the foot passing by right where his head had been. He then saw its absurdly long hair swing toward him and smirked, raising his blade to simply cut the hair away form him.
Only what hit his sword was not hair, but a mass of heavy stone that shattered both his stance and his blade, sending him stumbling backward uncontrollably. 'Impossible!' Julio thought in shock as he tumbled, rolled, and barely managed to watch himself on the boats railing. He looked at his sword, finding it shattered into pieces with one of its shards painfully embedded in his dominant wrist and looked back at the creature. It had landed back on its feet with its hair waving about before falling back into place behind it, a telling show of its weight he had regrettably not noticed initially. It was not hair, but more akin to long edge blades that hung behind it from its head, and from the way it had moved and attacked, it knew how to use them as such. 'this just became far more dangerous than I first believed.'
"Careful sir knight, that one's hair is what cut the mast down!" one of the boys called out to Julio.
'would have been helpful before it shattered my weapon," Julio thought in annoyance before he leapt away from the railing, narrowly dodging the creatures blow and watching it shatter the railing. 'odd, it broke my blade, why is it not demanding I surrender?" he wondered to himself as he stepped back and then ducked under the broken mast, smirking when the creatures next swing got stuck in the masts solid beam. Now he just needed a way to win with them both missing their primary weapons.
The creature tugged on its blade before scowling. Then, much to Julio's surprise and horror it grabbed a chunk of its hair with its free hand and swung it up into, and right through, the mast. It them lifted its blade back up into the air with the chunk of mast still stuck along its edge as if the additional Weight made no difference to it.
Something it proved by then swinging its sword in Julio's direction and sending the chunk of mast right off of it and flying towards him.
He rolled to dodge it and then let out a whistle before jumping over the railing, landing squarely upon his dragon as it swooped down for him and then hovered well away from the boat. "I must say, you are more dangerous than I thought possible. Alas, your defiance to my sentence only dooms you and the rest of your kin." Julio called out in an impressed tone before looking to the three fishermen and sighing. "I am sorry, but the protection of the church is more important than a few lives no matter how faithful. These creatures must not leave, but know you will be protected by the founders embrace."
"Huh? What are you talking about you-" the older man began to say until Julio interrupted him.
"Azzurro, burn."
The dragon Julio was riding upon opened its mouth and complied.
"So you saw some humans mining, talked to them, scared them, and then when they attack you kept pressing instead of calling for help or coming to get us. Is that right?" Uraninite asked as they ran across the grass with Phosphophylite and Jade who happened to have been nearby when Phos had found them in the school.
"Um, that makes it sound pretty bad," Phosphophylite commented.
"it is bad!" Uraninite snapped back with an exasperated sigh. "If that person you mentioned is from Romalia we need to stop any violence and get them to understand the situation or it could explode out of control in the worst way possible!"
"Uh, its not like I tried to attack them, I was just defending myself while trying to tell them they shouldn't be here," Phos explained, sounding a bit upset by it all.
"Um, I hate to add to the situation, but I see smoke ahead," Jade then spoke up, drawing all eyes ahead of them to a number of plumes of dark smoke that wafted up to the sky.
"OH NO NO NO NO!" Uraninite yelled as they ran even faster outpacing both Jade and Phosphophylite and only stopping when they got to the edge of the cliff. What greeted them was a roaring inferno on the beach and partly in the water with Bort and Diamond standing a safe distance from the flame, though there were many areas of sand that looked to be heavily scorched. "Bort! Dia!" Uraninite called out as they began jumping down the cliffside.
"Uraninite!" Diamond called back just as They landed on the sand and ran over.
"Glowie, about time you showed up," Bort said in their usual tone.
"Phosphophylite gave me the rundown, but what happened here?" Uraninite asked as they looked past Bort to the Raging fire.
"After I broke the human knights sword they jumped onto that big creature it came here on and it began spitting fire over the wooden object and the three humans that were on it. They stopped moving quickly and then the human flew off on his beast," Bort explained simply.
"What was his name and did he say anything before leaving?" Uraninite asked instantly.
"His name was Julio Chesare, and the last thing he said before commanding that beast was that we could not leave the island," Diamond quickly provided before looking sad. "And that the other humans would know the protection of the founders embrace."
"Then, the humans were still on the boat?" Uraninite asked.
Diamond nodded.
"Damn. Jade, can you run back to the school and tell Sensei we need to have a meeting as soon as possible?"
Jade, who had just managed to catch up nodded in understanding as they looked at the burning wreck of the ship. "What do I tell sensei the meeting is about?"
Uraninite looked at the burning wreck grimly as it loudly broke in half, wood spars falling into the water his loud splashes. "That everything is about to become far more difficult."
Kibble Scribble: okay, that took a while but here we go.
Now I know some people might be thinking that Julio is massively out of character here, and while I agree he is out of character, its actually not that much really. Sure in the anime he seems nice enough, but he's agonizing sneak who convinces Tabithas twin to fall in love with him(Or something like that I can't recall precisely) just so that the church has control over a void mage and over Gallia. So yes I'm making him a bit different.
Either way I am sorry for the delay, I hope people liked the chapter!