The Mysterious Fire Bird!
After running deeper into the forest to go the Slashers' location, the triplet Velociraptor maids finally reach their place with them face to face with a male Slasher in his human form, Axel Acceraptor!
There's a heavy air between the two raptor kinds since it's been a long time before the Kingdom fell apart and their dissappearance after the king's death and queen's sacrifice. Since it's been a long time, the female Velociraptors are really nervous about conversing with the Slashers who loyally serve the king and queen by their side, even in human forms.
"Um..." Kanon started.
"I assumed there's a message from the Lavender Witch, and you three came to deliver it to me." Axel deduced.
The maids gasp in shock that the Slasher guessed their arrival with the letter they're suppose to deliver to him. How on earth did he know? Zinnia only met them once, not counting the past when Sauravis and Saffira was alive? Even if she did, she never had much conversation with the Slashers since they only obey their royal masters and because she's a human being of different status they won't take her favor, except if their masters' asked them to.
"H-how did you know?" Kanon questioned.
Axel ignore the oldest triplet's question and ask her to just hand over the letter.
Kanon nodded as she give the letter to Axel and he read it.
A few minutes later, after reading the letter, he close his eyes as he transform from human to his dino form. Slit eyes narrow furiously as his bladed tail slash a nearby tree, making it fall down.
The sound of a falling tree made the Velociraptors shaking in fear and many sweats falling from all over their bodies.
"I can't believe this happened...!" Axel pants furiously.
In the letter that Zinnia wrote for him was about Z-Rex, one of Zongazonga's undead monsters that he once encountered before, had attacked King Sauravis and Queen Saffira's daughter, Princess Saura. Fortunately, she's safe with the help of her dinosaur friends and that assured him that she's still alive and wasn't hurt.
That calms the maids a bit as they sigh in relief.
Other than that in the letter Zinnia wrote to him was that she wishes for his help if he or his mate had other encounters with the other 3; Z-Tricera, Z-Ptera and Z-Elamo. Including the type of ability they have other than Z-Rex's Resurrection. If they did, she wants the Slasher's help in anniliating them as well as reports about their type of ability they have since already has Z-Rex's Resurrection.
"I see that the other 3 are still out there. But I've only seen some Z-Ptera flying about."
"W-wait... Did you said, 'some' Z-Ptera?" Junon.
"Yes, that's correct. There's more than one Z-Ptera." Axel answer seriously.
"Since we're outside of bound from Lavender Witch's barrier magic, Alexa and I had countered them lots of them flying about in the sky." Axel explain. "Of course, we annihilated them one by one."
"Wow..." The maids gasp in awe. "As expected of the Slashers."
"But..." Axel continue. "There're probably still more of them."
"Ehh...?!" Kanon.
"But we already have our claws full with the Raptor ones~!" Pinon.
"There's no way we can handle the flying Z-Ptera too~!" Junon.
The triplets whine. Just how many of those undead monsters they have to exterminate until there's no more. Zongazonga evil creations really had the royal servants work to the bone.
"Is that anyway a servant of the royal family to complain like that?" Axel told them.
"Huh?"
"You can't say that. We Slashers have a hard time too, just like you as servants who takes care of domestic duties around the castle and other things." Axel said serious but with a gentle tone. "We trained hard to polish our fighting skills so that we can use it to protect our masters with our life. It's not as easy as you three think. We also need to think about how important it is for them to us so that we won't suffer and how much we care for them. That's the way of the Slashers!"
The triplets gasp at Axel's speech. They always thought the Slashers were scary in appearance but it turns out there's more to it than that. From the inside, they care about their masters, the king and queen, a lot!
In the past, they've always wondered how Sauravis and Saffira weren't scared or even intimidated by their dinosaur appearance or their status as Slashers who sheds blood on their enemies. But now they know... Because of their ability or magic to understand dinosaurs and their hearts, they didn't care about any of those and they treated them as equels and most importantly a friend. It's no different than them or their brother who told them about their struggling past as orphans.
"More importantly... We, too, have a child to care for." Axel turn his head making a signal to his mate and son to come out.
Alexa, transform into dino form, and Skye come out of their home cave to introduce themselves to the Velociraptor maids.
"Kanon, Pinon, Junon... Meet Skye, my son."
The maids gasp to their surprise that a young human child was with the Slashers.
"N-nice to meet you. I'm Skye." Skye introduce himself and bow to them.
"T-The pleasure's ours." The three answer together and bow back.
XXX
(MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE CLOSER TO A VILLAGE)
As for what the maid's older brother, Dillon nicknamed Dill for short, was doing...
By Zinnia's important quest to him, she asked him to search for something more specifically someone.
"What exactly Zinnia wants me to search?" Dill questioned himself. "I'm confused."
'I need you to look for a dinosaur of brown body in red feather colors and golden eyes.'
"That's what she said but... I've been searching like an hour a half and I still can't find that specific dinosaur Zinnia describes!" Dill shouted in frustration.
Back from his thoughts, he found himself heading towards a ruin village. More specifically, the Commoner's Village.
"This place is... The Commoner's Village."
The Commoners Village now looks like a ruin with broken houses and other things. Everywhere he looked left only rocks, dirt all over the place and the air of lifelessness. There's not a single human or their dinosaur companions in sight. Looks like Zongazonga's Zombiesaurs really turn this happy village into a miserable village.
He and his sisters already heard the full story from Queen Saffira and Zinnia after they returned from visiting both villages when they asked why the king and princess weren't with them. Of course all 4 of them were heartbroken for their lost for the king and the so-young innocent princess had to be protected by Dino Village's trusted caretaker so she doesn't have to live a life of hardship since Saffira plans to use herself as a sacrificial price to help Zinnia work her magic to keep the remaining of her people safe by putting up barriers.
"How awful..." Dill walks around the ruin Commoner's Village feeling sad inside to see it with his own eyes after remembering what the queen and witch told him and his sisters.
As he continues to walk around the ruined village, he found an alleyway where he heard about the very place King Sauravis died... As well as where Zinnia killed Zongazonga, a dark sorcerer and her insane cousin.
He gasp when something, more specifically someone standing by the back, looking down on the floor as if it's lost in thought.
A dinosaur of brown body in red feather colors! It looks like a part of a raptor kind. "It's you...!"
The red raptor turn around and found a male Velociraptor facing him. "Oh, looks like I'm found." His voice sounds playful but gentle at the same time.
When Dill look into the raptor's golden eyes, he gasp. He'd seen those eyes before. No dinosaur in the world possessed those unique sparkling gold eyes. And it's not common for humans to possessed them either except for one...
"U-umm..." Dill tried to speak but couldn't get the right words to come out.
"Tell me. Are you enjoying your life?" The red feathered raptor suddenly asked.
"Eh?"
"I'm telling you if you're enjoying your life now. Despite all this and before that..."
"Well..."
Before becoming the butler for the royal in human form together with his younger triplet sisters as maids, he thought about his life from the past living as young dinosaurs.
Like what he told Zinnia, as the oldest hatchling of the Velociraptors, he already set his eyes on taking care of his sisters after growing up promising their mother. He loves them very much, feeling as long as his sisters are healthy and by his side together, he's plenty happy. However, as time passes, nature was being cruel to them with many hardships befall them, struggling to survive until a miracle happened.
King Sauravis and Queen Saffira as young children found them and sent them to the Dino Village where many young orphan hatchlings were raised until adulthood.
By the time they became adults, he and his sisters worked hard to become members of the royal family by serving them as their butler and maids so that they could be together to be with ones who saved them from suffering anymore hardships.
Even now... If evil beings, like the Zombiesaurs, dares to destroy the one place of their happiness they called home, he'll do whatever it takes to safeguard it even at the cost of his life.
Dill answered sincerely and honestly to the red raptor and he smiled.
"I see."
"Um... Why are you asking me this?" Dill questioned him.
"Let's just say... I feel glad for some reason." He smiled softly.
"Glad?"
"Living life to the fullest no matter how hard it is. Having someone precious who you love with all your heart. You'll do whatever it takes for them... Even if you have to sacrifice yourself." He said poeticly. "But, you can only get one soul in one life."
Dill tilt his head as he listens.
"Once that one life ends, there's no going back. Even if you're reborn. The past memories will no longer be with us and we'll live on as different being." He said in a sad tone. "Isn't it just pitiful?"
"What do you mean?"
"I should go now. Forgive me for taking up most of your time." He bow as he turn back to leave.
"Please wait, at least tell me your name!"
"..." He look back and smile. "I go by Phoenix. Phoenix Pyroraptor. Farewell for now." The red raptor now called Phoenix give his name to Dill before dissappearing in sight. "We'll meet again...soon."
"Phoenix... Pyroraptor, huh. At least I have his name. I better head back and report it to Zinnia right now." Dill left Commoner's Village and back to the castle to let Zinnia know that he completes her favor.
"I wonder why... He said all that? And why he seems both familiar and nostalgic at the same time? I'm so confuse." Dill suddenly feel his eyes begin to water. "Huh? Why am I crying?" Tears starts falling like soft rain and his heart beats strangely as if it's telling him that he's already felt it before.
That's right, from the moment somewhere in the past... when he and his sisters saved him and met again.
XXX
Here's hope you enjoy this chapter too and getting to know more part about the Slashers!
As you've read, the Commoner's Village is now in ruin with not a single human, adult or children. But it doesn't mean "all" of them. I promise that some of them are alive and somewhere.
To HunterHQ: I've seen all the series you've recommended. They're interesting and they'll be some nice references to use.
Glad you enjoyed the Slasher characters and as always I know Zongazonga will be revived and be the main antagonist in the story.