Tales of Xalthia

by xXGhostStalker

*DISCLAIMER: This holds no relation to Tales of VS. This is an original story* A mysterious lineage. An unimaginative power. Oblivious to Tsuki Himura, he defends his kingdom from evil and learns of a sinister plot. Forced to seek help, he travels the globe for much needed allies. Join him as he learns more about the world and about himself as something awakens inside him

46. Den of Dragons

Tales of Xalthia

Chapter 45: Den of Dragons

The sun rose high up into the sky the next morning. The effects of yesterday's eruption have all be subsided and the clean-up around town continued in full effect. Once there was signs of first light, Kasai had sent out a team of mercenaries to the earthen wall that the dwarf named Asgrim had created in order to inspect it and what lies beyond it. Because of what Asgrim did, Jibril and the surrounding grasslands were spared the worst as multiple rivers and pools of lava met up with the wall. If it hadn't been for that, more of the grasslands would have been lost with potential significant risk and damage to the town. Upon inspecting the wall, the mercenaries were able to conclude that it was sturdy and reinforced, so there was no risk of it collapsing. Much of the Lava Fields were unsafe for travel, so it didn't come as too much of a surprise that Jibril officials have proclaimed the volcano and the surrounding area off-limits. There were signs of more earthen reinforcement throughout the fields though, presumably made by Asgrim as he made his way towards the old, abandoned Dwarven settlement in the volcano's depths.

As the townspeople and mercenaries were pitching in on the clean-up around town, Tsuki and the others, including Amelia, Miyuki and Kasai, had all gathered back in the conference room they were at the day before. With Allie now fully awake and recovered from her ordeal the previous day, Lynette and the others were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Tsuki was going to tell everyone about what Allie had told him last night; the strange visions that she had in that steel compound, about Ashe Mayfield and their attempt to escape from it and how she kept being called a "weapon". However, he opted to not do that on account of the fact that he just didn't know enough to clearly talk about it. The revelation of how advanced technology and weaponry was back then would be more than enough to make their heads go spinning. The scenes that she had described to him all seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. Weapons that fire non-elemental lasers whereas others were powered by something called Atomic Crystals, which sounded terrifying to think about for some reason. He may not have seen what she saw, but just the word "Atomic" and how she seemed to describe it in slight detail was bone-chilling. It still bugged him that the souls of the Sigil refused to elaborate on anything.

Allie was in agreement with him as they had discussed what they should do with the information she gave prior to everyone waking up. While what she saw was inexplicably heartbreaking for her, she still didn't know the reasons for it, who Ashe was to her and why she kept being referred to as a "weapon". The only thing she knew was that it was pretty significant and no small matter. She also ended up telling him about the visions she had back in the Glacier when they arrived at the small research site. The visions where she found herself floating in a tube filled with water with a number of wires attached to her body as people in white lab coats were seemingly doing research on her and that she was apparently tied to something called the Artiface Project. Since the two different sets of visions seem to correlate with each other, she felt that he should know about them as well. It was all disturbing to hear for Tsuki and opened up an even bigger can of mysteries that surrounded Allie and her circumstances. This was also kept from the rest of the group until they can find more answers. When the group reconvened, the first order of business was to figure out how the group should be divided since the two groups will be going to two different places.

Melphi scratched the back of her head as she looked around the room to think about the options. The group that went with her to the Dragon Colonies had to be picked wisely. "If we're going to go off into two groups, then we should think about how to balance them out. To start with, I want Tsuki to come with me to the Colonies" she said. She wanted him specifically to go with her not because he was so adamant about wanting to help out, but the fact that he carries the soul of Cliff inside of him. "You harbor the soul of the Dragon King himself inside of you, so his presence will surely help smooth things over with the other Dragonkin" she said.

Lynette tilted her head a bit. The way she phrased it seemed to have an underlying message. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Melphi folded her arms as she glanced over towards Lynette. "Without a doubt, other Dragonkin will be able to pick up on Cliff's presence. The ones that we rescued from the volcano all said that they felt him resonating inside of Tsuki just from first glance and they were just ordinary folk. It stands to reason that those higher up in the seat of power will be able to as well" she said. Melphi's gaze slowly shifted over towards Tsuki. "The Dragon King may be a thing of legend now, but he's still widely revered and worshipped amongst Dragonkin" she said.

Moments after she said that, the voice of Cliff soon spoke out. "Makes sense considering that I was the one that brought the Dragonkin together" he said. Not long after he said that, his spiritual form appeared standing in the room with them. "While it does bring me peace and joy that I'm still held in such high regard, the world has greatly changed since my time. 1,500 years of change, to be exact. Given that to thought, I'm not sure just how far my word will carry these days. Based on what you've already said about the Colonies, it's completely changed since I was in charge" he said. While he wanted to be confident that the modern day Colonies would be open and receptive to him, he had to accept the reality that things aren't as simple as they once were. Back when the Colonies first formed, there were still strong ties to the Humans. Many of them were close friends and allies and even had a wide variety of marriages between Dragonkin and Human. Humans weren't shunned and hated back then like they are now. The treatment that Melphi received from having a connection with Shana was proof enough of this. "While I don't believe that the Colonies will show us too much hostility with me around, it would be wise to have a contingency plan" he said.

Elle nodded in agreement of this and stepped forward. "Which is why I'd like to go with you. Elves and Dragonkin have been close friends and allies since ancient times. With me being a High Elf, I can possibly use that to our advantage" she said. High Elves are held with great respect and dignity among Dragonkin. They're given treatment and privileges that normal Elves wouldn't normally get. "I may not be associated with any particular Elven village or tribe, but they won't know that nor will they question it as they know how private the Elves are. No sane Dragonkin would dare attempt to bring harm to or insult a High Elf either" she said.

Melphi was just about to suggest Elle to join them herself. With the presence of a High Elf, they may be able to learn some things that they wouldn't be able to. "Perfect. That makes three of us, obviously including Allie. One more would be ideal..." she said. She looked around the room and her gaze soon landed on Lynette. "Having Lyn's Healing Artes might be of help to us. While the mountains are maintained by the Dragonkin, the climb doesn't come without it's fair share of risks" she said.

Lynette was more than eager to accompany them. She wanted to learn more about draconian medicine that wouldn't wouldn't be available to Humans. Ever since she used her medicine to treat Phi, she always had a thought that lingered in the back of her mind. If she was able to somehow reverse-engineer the medicine and make it suitable for Human consumption, then the scope of the medicinal field will greatly widen. "If you think that they'll prove useful, then I'm willing to pitch in" she said.

Ramza looked around the room once the teams have seemingly been decided. Whoever was left would be the ones that go to Marstead. "That just leaves me, Ruko, Nagi, Cheria, Phi and Cesela in charge of investigating around Marstead then" he said.

Cesela slowly raised her hand, looking a bit nervous. "Um...would it be alright if I go to the Colonies too?" she asked.

Tsuki looked over towards Cesela, folding his arms. "Engaging with the Dragonkin won't be like our interactions with the other Faeries back in Ersheath. More than likely, we'll be met with hostility which might end up in fights. At least, tell us the reason why you want to come with" he said. Personally, he felt that she should go to Marstead with everyone else. While there was no guarantee that they won't be met with any difficulties, going to Marstead was definitely the safest of the two options. Not only that, but the Colonies were located in the high peaks of the mountains. The thin air would make it difficult for a non-Dragonkin child to breathe, something that would also give fully grown adults a problem if they weren't fully prepared.

Cesela held her hand up to her chest and took a moment to collect her thoughts. When she was ready, she took in a deep breath. "Well, I...there's someone I know that lives in the Colonies and I owe a lot to that person. If it wasn't for them, I may not be here right now..." she said. She looked up towards Tsuki and Melphi before continuing. "I'm confident that they'll be willing to help us" she said.

Melphi tilted her head a bit with a curious look."Curious. Who is this person?" she asked. Considering that she had been a slave captive for two years, it had to have been someone that she knew prior to that happening.

Much about her past was a mystery, just like with Allie. However, unlike with Allie's clear and evident memory loss, Cesela's supposed memory loss, which she claims is unable to remember anything that happened prior to being 4 years old from an accident, wasn't so genuine. She may have the others fooled into thinking that, but she has a gut feeling that she is hiding a lot more than what she has already told them. These suspicions only grew more based on the interactions she had with Ryoka and the other people around Haven Village. She seemed almost too familiar with them.

Cesela looked over towards Melphi. "An...old friend, you could say. He was the father of an old acquaintance I used to know back in Sirione. He saved me when I was in a tough spot and I haven't been able to see or thank him yet" she said. Since she hasn't revealed what her true identity was to the group, she couldn't just come out and say who they were. According to what she was told by her brother and aunt, there was a group of people that had saved the two of them when they fell into a raging river after the siege on Sirione had started. Amongst that group were two Dragonkin, a young male who looked to be in his 20s and an older male who appeared in his 50s. She never got to see them since by the time she regained consciousness, they were both gone. However, she made a note to remember their names if there ever came a time that she'd run into them. The only other thing she knew about them was that they both had lived in the Colonies. "I don't know if they're still there, but if there's a chance that they are, I want to take it. So...can I?" she asked.

Melphi thought about what she said. She seemed determined to go with them to see this person which only made her more curious. "Who is this person that you're looking for, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked.

Cesela hesitated for a moment before answering her. "Shinji Gensatou..." she said, looking a bit nervous as she spoke out the person's name.

Melphi stroked her chin in thought. The name immediately popped up in her head. It was a name that carried a lot of weight around the Colonies. Hearing her utter the name only makes her more suspicious of her supposed amnesia. In her mind, it shouldn't be possible for her to know that name unless she was aware of the background associated with it. "Shinji Gensatou, eh? Hmm...I see..." she mumbled to herself. After thinking about it for a few moments, she nodded before looking over towards Tsuki. "I'm fine with it, though it's your call. You're the one that's supposed to be looking out for her" she said.

Tsuki could see that she thought this through. It was ultimately her decision and it's not like he could tell her what to do. "If you understand the risks, then who am I to stop you?" he asked.

Cesela looked up towards Tsuki with bright eyes. "Y-you mean it!?" she asked.

Tsuki nodded at her. "It'll be tough on you with the thin air. If you start to feel uncomfortable in any way, make sure to let us know" he said. It'll be his first time going up to such heights, but he will have an easier time to adapt than she will.

Amelia listened in as they discussed their plans and it seems that they were all set after a few more minutes of planning. "Be careful out there. The further north you go towards the capital, the higher tensions become" she said. She and Miyuki had both passed through areas where it seemed like civil war was on the verge of breaking out. More and more people are becoming unsatisfied with the War Council and their blatant neglect on the common people by the day.

Ramza looked over towards Amelia and Miyuki. "As much as I want to get you guys to Esseand, we can't do much with the restrictive border crossing. The safest place for you guys to hunker down would be here" he said. He shifted his gaze over towards Kasai. "You sure it's alright for them to stay here?" he asked. He had made a formal request to the Jibril Guild Branch to provide shelter for the two of them before everyone met back up in the morning.

Kasai nodded at him, resting her hand on her hip. "No problem at all. There's plenty of space for the two of them and with the mining operations in the volcano shut down, there shouldn't be any more problems. We'll also make sure that Amelia's identity is kept a secret. The only people that will know will be me and Ichiro" she said. If word had gotten out that they were sheltering the missing Queen Amelia of Esseand, there would be more problems for them. Until they can get them over the border, this was their only option. "I'll also try and see if I can't find any other alternative routes to get them back over to Ersheath" she said. Smuggling them through Border Town will cause too many headaches and with the mountains that helped separate the two kingdoms that were around Border Town itself, there wasn't exactly many options unless they were to fly over through the mountains, something that might cause a bit of a stir amongst the people of Ersheath. There was one avenue of possibility that she could explore though. "This might be a thing for-" she said.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the other side of the door. Moments later, Ichiro's voice could be heard speaking from the other side. "Apologies Sai, but do you have a minute? There's a guest here that wants to meet with Tsuki and the others" he asked.

Kasai looked over towards the door. She had instructed everyone to not disturb them until their meeting was over. "What? A guest? Were you guys expecting anyone?" she asked, looking around the room.

Cheria shook her head. As far as they knew, there shouldn't be anyone coming to meet them. After all, they were still new around the area, so there couldn't be anyone that knew of them outside of Jibril. "Not that we're aware of..." she said.

Ichiro's voice soon spoke out moments later. "According to what she says, Tsuki has already met her before. Apparently, she's here to 'return the favor', whatever that means" he said.

Tsuki scratched the back of his head. He wasn't sure what this "favor" was that was being returned. That didn't stop his curiosity though. "Send her in, I suppose" he said.

Moments later the door to the conference room opened up and a woman walked inside, closing the door behind her. When Tsuki's group looked over to the woman that entered the room, half of the group looked at her with surprise while the other half were giving looks of confusion, along with Amelia and Miyuki. As for Kasai, however, she had a look of great shock.

The woman that entered the room was wearing simple travel clothes, had simple glasses with long, silver hair and red eyes. "It's a pleasure to see you all again. It warms my heart to see that you're all still in good health" she said.

Lynette was one of the few that immediately recognized her. "Hey, wait a minute. I know you! You're...Luna, right?" she asked.

The woman before them was someone Tsuki, Cheria, Lynette, Elle and Phi met before not too long ago. It was Luna Setsuno, the researcher they met back up at the Glacier and a member of the Nightwings. "I'm glad you remember me. I still can't thank you all enough for what you did for me and my team back up at the Glacier last week" she said.

Ramza looked over towards Tsuki, tilting his head a bit. Since he, Nagi, Ruko and Melphi went to Melte when they had to split up, they never got to meet Luna or anyone from Flynn's survey team that had been stationed around the Glacier. "You know who this is?" he asked.

Tsuki nodded. "Yeah. She told us what was happening when Flynn's survey team in the Glacier were attacked. She and their chief researcher were in the middle of an investigation when Utaru came and interrupted everything" he said. It brought a sense of relief to see that she was doing okay after such a traumatic event. Though, even from the first moment that they had met, she didn't even look all that much fazed by it. He also didn't expect to run into her in this place. "You said you wanted to 'return the favor', but I'm not sure what you mean" he said.

Luna walked over towards Tsuki, reaching into her bag to pull something out in a small leather case. She held it out for him to take. "Call it both a thank-you gift and...an investment from the Commander" she said.

Tsuki tilted his head, reaching for the small leather case and opened it up. He was surprised to see what was inside of it. Inside of it were two small devices that they've used in the past. "Wait, are these what I think they are?" he asked.

Luna nodded. "Correct. What you're looking at are the latest ComLink's that the Nightwings provide" she said. She then pointed to her own ear. "The Commander gave you one before leaving Imil, correct?" she asked.

Tsuki had completely forgotten about the ComLink that he still had on him. Since no one else would of had another one, he had put it away in his bag. He reached in and pulled it out, holding it in his hand. "I forgot about it since I didn't really have a use for it at the time, but yeah" he said.

Luna reached for the ComLink in his hand and took it from him, stuffing it away in her bag. "This newer version offers much more stability and the range of communications is far greater. The Commander heard about what you were tasked to do from King Raiku and has offered a pair of ComLinks to divide up in case the need ever arises" she said. Since Tsuki only had the one set on him, it was effectively useless for him. However, now that he has two of them, he can give one to someone else if they were to ever divide up their forces.

Nagi couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh as she scratched her cheek. The coincidence was almost uncanny. "Is this really just a coincidence...?" she asked.

Ramza sighed heavily, shaking his head. "No. If anything, this is just Raiku scheming three steps ahead of us again" he said. This timing was a little too suspicious to simply chalk up to coincidence.

Amelia let out a nervous laugh as well. It warms her heart to hear that Raiku still hasn't lost his touch. "I wouldn't put it past him to do this. Raiku is just that kind of man, after all" she said.

Miyuki scratched the back of her head. She hasn't had many interactions with Raiku herself since she was still technically a rookie knight. "You guys act like you've been through this before" she said.

Phi couldn't help but laugh a bit at her remark. "You could say that we're sort of used to it at this point" she said. She always had a nagging feeling that their journey was being pulled along through Raiku's scheming.

Everything that has happened to them since first arriving in Esseand seems to have worked out in a way that Raiku had predicted. While the context within those predictions was unexpected, the end result was what mattered. Raiku had sent them out to Chesberry to investigate the slave trade operations, fully confident that they would be able to resolve the matter. How they went about it was unknown at the time, but in the end, they lived up to his predictions. It happened again when they were sent out to Nobuo to defend the Raven's Claw. It is unclear if he knew that they lose against Kaito, but he continued to hold confidence in them to ensure that the Raven's Claw didn't fall into his hands, which they ended up doing. Beyond that point, they felt like things were going too smoothly and that can only be the result of Raiku's scheming. He even went as far as organizing things with the Nightwings and the Guild Branch.

Luna stood there in silence as they went back and forth with each other. She's never personally met Raiku before, but she's heard stories about him from Flynn. "Sounds like he's as great of a man as I had heard. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to meet him someday" she said.

As everyone chatted around the room, there was one person who was silent. On the other side of the table, Kasai stood there with a look of surprise and confusion with her gaze locked onto Luna. She didn't understand why this person suddenly decided to reappear again, especially now when the situation around the kingdom is almost to it's boiling point. "I...don't understand. Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be-" she said.

Luna had immediately taken notice of her consistent gaze and glanced over towards her as she spoke. Before she could finish her sentence, she interrupted her with a wide smile and closed eyes. "Ah...I forgot to introduce myself, my apologies. My name is Luna Setsuno, a researcher of the Nightwings. I realize that my sudden appearance may cause a bit of trouble, but there were things around here that needed my attention" she said. She shifted her gaze over towards Tsuki and the others once more. "And since they were all in the area, I thought it'd be best to kill two birds with one stone" she said.

Kasai was stopped by the look that she had given her. It may have appeared to be a bright, casual smile, but the message that she received from her vibes told her to shut up. "S-sure..." she said. They had to go through several hoops the last time they were together in which caused some problems. She didn't know why she decided to come back, but it must relate to her own personal circumstances. Circumstances that Tsuki and everyone else were none the wiser.

Ramza walked up to Tsuki and took one of the ComLinks from the box that Luna had given him. "Whether it is a coincidence or someone scheming in the background, it is true that these will come in handy for us" he said. He put the ComLink in his ear and activated it by channeling a small portion of Aer into it.

Tsuki did the same with his and did a quick test run with it. After confirming that the two of them were able to hear themselves through the ComLink, they looked towards Luna to inform her that they worked. "I can hear him loud and clear. You're right; they're definitely an upgrade compared to the last one" he said.

Luna nodded, feeling a bit proud at the achievement that they made. "We're always trying to improve the ComLink so that one day, we can produce them in mass quantities. Any sort of feedback you can provide will be helpful" she said. It would make communication across wide distances so much easier and it would help with coodinated efforts if the need ever arises.

While the ComLink will prove a useful tool for their disposal, there was one thing that was nagging Cesela. They had to go through some hoops themselves in order to get over from Ersheath to the southern reaches of Nargelond. She wondered how she got here, seemingly on short notice too. "Umm Luna, was it? How did you manage to get all the way out here? I thought the border was heavily restricted" she said.

Her question raised the curiosity amongst the group. They hadn't realized it until now, but she raised a good point. Tsuki was grateful that she came out all this way, but it couldn't have been easy for her especially with her being affiliated with the Nightwings. "She's right, how did you get here?" he asked.

Luna looked over towards Tsuki, holding a finger up to her chin with smile on her face. "Unfortunately, that's confidential information for the Nightwings. I'm afraid I can't tell you, even if you are esteemed guests of Flynn" she said.

Kasai scratched the back of her head, letting out an exasperated sigh. Whatever game she was playing at, it was probably best to go along with it. With her presence here, it could solve the predicament regarding Amelia and Miyuki. "Fine. We won't press you for information on this. However, I would like to request something of you, specifically of the Nightwings" she said.

Luna looked over towards Kasai, tilting her head slightly. "It's not often the Nightwings get requests from the Mercenary Guild. What is it?" she asked.

Kasai looked over towards Amelia and Miyuki. She debated on whether or not to reveal their identities to her. After the two of them both nodded, seemingly to give their consent to reveal who they are, she shifted her gaze back towards Luna. "This here is Amelia Wright, the Queen of Esseand that has been missing for some time now and that's her bodyguard, Miyuki Tokatsu" she said.

Luna shifted her gaze over towards Amelia and Miyuki. She gave them both a look of understanding. She had heard that Esseand's Queen had been missing for a while and rumors had circulated that she was abducted. She didn't expect to see her this far out. "I see..." she said. Based on their situation, she felt like she could relate to them.

Kasai soon continued to speak of her request. "With the borders heavily restricted, getting in and out of Nargelond is a difficult task if you aren't a merchant or a mercenary. Keeping another kingdom's figure of royalty hidden away here is a little too much for us since Jibril doesn't have a big Guild Branch" she said. Most of the mercenaries they have on-hand were still recovering from injuries they received from dealing with the Shogunate. She wasn't confident in their ability to be able to provide proper protection. "Would it be possible to use those connections of yours to be able to get the two of them across the border and back to Esseand?" she asked.

Luna stroked her chin in thought. Considering their status, she expected something like this would come up when she revealed their identity. "Hmm...certain arrangements would have to be made and I would need to talk to someone to about it, but I don't see it being an issue" she said.

Miyuki looked at her with an excited look. She was eager to finally be able to return home. "Really!?" she asked, shouting.

Luna shook her head slowly, holding her hand up. "Unfortunately, it could take some time. Things with Dolothlond and the War Council are starting to escalate, so the Nightwings have to be careful how they move around" she said. As much as she would love to help them get back to Esseand, the route she took to get here had been under watchful eyes of the Dragon Riders over the last few weeks. They had to take their eyes off the route in order for her to get across the border, so they created a distraction. As a result, this created a number of casualties amongst the Nightwings. Afterwards, they deemed that route was no longer safe for the Nightwings to travel across and are currently working on finding another alternative.

Amelia tilted her head a bit. The situation further up north was already pretty tense when they passed through. It was worrisome that things sounded like they were getting worse. "What's going on?" she asked.

Luna wasn't sure how to answer that as the information they had received was still pretty fresh. It was also information that seems to have shaken the entire kingdom to it's core. "I haven't been able to confirm it myself but...word amongst the Nightwings is that the War Council has effectively disowned the Dolothlond military" she said.

The sudden news has brought a heavy and tense atmosphere into the room as everyone fell silent, unable to find the right words to say. Ramza was the one to break the silence after about a minute of standing there in disbelief of what he's just heard. "Wait a minute! What do you mean, they 'disowned' them?" he asked. He didn't like where this was going one bit.

Luna was silent before answer as if she were hesitent to speak further. However, this was information that they were going to need if they were intending on traveling north. "Like I said, this is without confirmation, so take it with a grain of salt. The War Council, under Kaito's supervision, has deemed the Dolothlond military, which has served the royal family since time immemorial, unfit for their grand scheme and has effectively abolished it. In it's place, a new army has formed seemingly from out of nowhere to take it's place" she said. The information itself sounds baffling and made up. To abolish an entire military and have a new one ready as replacement sounded absurd.

Cheria couldn't believe what she was hearing. Such a thing was completely unheard of and would likely cause not only massive spark and outrage from the citizens, but also raises a multitude of warning flags for Esseand. "But that's just insane! Even if one were to reshape their military, to completely throw the old one away like that is disgraceful and shameless, not to mention an insult to those who have lived and died while serving!" she shouted.

Tsuki stroked his chin as he heard this troubling news. It definitely paints Dolothlond in a very bad light. It's almost as bad, if not worse, than when the Syndicate took over Sirione. It really begs the question of what the War Council's intentions are. His thoughts soon fell back to when they had made their way through Border Town and entered Nargelond territory. He had heard whispers of knights, warning each other to stay as far away from the capital city as possible. He initially thought that they were planning something nefarious, but this was unexpected. "Maybe that's one of the reasons they're restricting access to cross the border. News this big wouldn't escape Raiku's ears, knowing how well connected he is. From Esseand's point of view, they don't want people crossing into Nargelond and put themselves in unnecessary risk. Meanwhile, if the military is acting on it's own, it stands to reason that they don't want anyone coming in or going out that could make the situation worse" he said.

Phi glanced down at the map of both Ersheath and Dolothlond that was on the table. The situation was even more grim than they had anticipated. "This isn't a war between kingdoms. Not once have we actually seen Nargelond troops try to provoke Esseand. Based on the atmosphere of Border Town, it was the exact opposite" she said.

Luna sighed heavily, leaning forward against the table, shaking her head. "It gets worse. The Dragon Riders, which has served Nargelond as it's elite force, has also seemingly undergone a restructure too. Any that has defied the recent changes have either been executed or forced into hiding. We can expect more hostile activity from them in the coming days, which is why we had to close down one of our main routes of travel" she said. The route they would use took them through the mountains and valleys south of Border Town and to gain access to the fields outside of Marstead. This was their main point of travel and they've done their best to make sure it had been concealed. However, the newly formed Dragon Riders somehow learned about it.

Allie could feel a cold chill run down her spine. She didn't know why, but the thought of traveling north terrified her. She placed her hand up against her chest as she felt it tighten just thinking about it while grabbing hold of Tsuki's sleeve. Tsuki gently patted her on the head as she could feel her anxiety. He looked over to Luna with another question in mind. "What's the miliary's response with this? Do you know what their plans are?" he asked.

Luna glanced over towards Tsuki for a moment before pointing at a location northwest of Marstead that was tucked away in the mountains. "Supposedly, what's left of the military is gathering here, at Albinox Fortress. As you might expect, the military didn't take too kindly to being thrown away, so I believe that they're plotting the means for a counterattack against this new army..." she said, trailing off at the end. There was still one last thing that she's heard about the situation and it was unsettling. "But this new army..." she said, abruptly stopping.

Nagi tilted her head. Based on the look on her face, what she wanted to say didn't seem to be the easiest. "What about them...?" she asked.

Luna took a few moments before continuing on. "According to what one of our scouts said, this new army...has some familiar faces within it's ranks. Faces of friends and loved ones that have long since passed..." she said.

Cesela wasn't sure what she was trying to imply. She tilted her head with one of her ears lowered. "Meaning...?" she asked.

Luna shook her head slowly. "Faces of those who have died now roam the earth again, now as walking corpses under the command of a higher power. People have been calling them zombies" she said. It was unsettling to hear that this new army of theirs was that of the living dead. It sounded crazy to think about because such a thing didn't seem to ever be possible.

Soon after this, the voice of Cliff spoke out. "I was afraid of that..." he said. Moments later, he appeared in his spirutual form. Naturally, this came as a shock for Luna since she was kept out of the loop of what's been happening to Tsuki.

Luna jumped back in surprise at his sudden appearance. He was clearly a Dragonkin and he carried a powerful, commanding presence. He definitely wasn't a typical Spirit. "Whoa! Is that a Spirit? Who are you?" she asked.

Cliff glanced over towards Luna, bowing slightly towards her apologetically. "Apologies. I didn't mean to startle you. The name's Cliff Steele. Pleasure to meet you" he said.

Melphi looked over towards Cliff. She was interested to hear what he had to say about this. She's heard stories about zombies, but it all sounded like something out of a horror story. "Do you know something about this?" she asked.

Cliff nodded, rubbing the side of his head. He had a feeling that something like this would happen since the Hands of Sarex are involved in this mess. The line of morality and natural law had already been crossed with the reappearance of Kaito. "Zombies are undead monsters that have been reanimated through the art of Necromancy. They attack and kill indiscriminately. There's no logic to their actions, only bloodshed and death" he said.

Melphi stroked her chin as a cold sweat ran down her cheek. The stories behind them were true, after all. "Necromancy...wait, Kaito's reappearance was through Necromancy, right? But based off what I've heard, zombies don't have intelligence let alone a living will. Kaito doesn't fit into that category at all" she said.

Cliff shook his head, looking over towards Melphi. He realized that things were never properly explained about the situation revolving around Kaito. "That's because he doesn't. He was revived as a Hell Lord, one of the higher levels of Daemons. Zombies are at the bottom of the food chain, even lower than Lesser Daemons and are easier to create. Rather than corrupting one's soul with Arcanum, all you need is a corpse and someone that knows Necromancy..." he said, falling silent for a moment. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the long forgotten past of when his younger self was confronting an individual in tattered robes, carrying a demonic-looking staff. "And there's only one person I know that's capable of such a thing. Yorick Bone, the Staff of Sarex" he said.

Allie tilted her head a bit. For some reason, hearing their name brings chills to her spine. "Yorick...Bone..." she mumbled. It was a name that seemed familiar to her, but was unable to put her finger on it. Thinking about the Hands of Sarex brought back a flashback of their brief encounter with one back in the Glacier.

Cliff continued on with his explanation. "Yorick is the weakest amongst them in terms of power and strength, but his vast knowledge in the Magical Artes is his biggest threat. He was the one who created the art of Necromancy, after all..." he said, drifting off at the end. He soon clenched his fists with a look of frustration on his face. "And it's due to my incompetence that this was allowed to happen" he said.

Phi looked over towards Cliff. Based off his expressions, there appeared to be some history between them. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Cliff sighed heavily as he tried to let go of his frustration. "I had the chance to kill him, so I attempted to seize it. However, I rushed into battle without thinking and he ended up gaining the upperhand which gave him the opportunity to escape" he said. It was possibly his biggest blunder he has ever made. It was after Sarex had been defeated back in Year 1500, so there wasn't a possibility of him being revived. After he had made his escape, he never showed his face again. That is, until now.

Ramza stroked his chin in thought as he considered the information that was being presented. It didn't take much thought to figure out what they were trying to do. "It seems that they're attempting to build an army of undead. Why worry about manpower when you can just reanimate dead corpses?" he said. This was deeply unsettling news on many levels. Not only was this an unprecedented threat, it goes against the laws of 's almost as bad as when the Syndicate attempted human experiements to create their own Faeries like what happened with Kesuke and how he was forcibly injected with genes of an Elder Behemoth.

Tsuki glanced down at the map of Nargelond, his gaze focused on the area surrounding Dolothlond. "Do we know how big this army of theirs is?" he asked.

Luna shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head. The Nightwings were still in the middle of investigating the matter, so information was still coming in. "Unfortunately, no. Our scouts are still working on obtaining that information. Getting around the defensive perimeters around Dolothlond isn't easy. After all, they lay smack dab in-between Albinox Fortress and Dolothlond" she said, glancing down at the map.

In the northeastern part of Nargelond lies Dolothlond, which was located in a large field surrounded by mountains. Across the other side of the that field was Albinox Fortress where the former military is gathering their forces. The fields between the two are about half as large as the Great Plains of Eresseas. It offers the perfect place for a battlefield between two large opposing forces without causing any unnecessary destruction to any surrounding towns and villages.

Tsuki fell into his thoughts for a moment as he stared down at the map. His gaze soon shifted over towards Albinox Fortress. With the military now thrown to the wayside and are now acting against the War Council, this could potentially work in their favor. "If we can link up with the military at Albinox and convince them to side with us, then we might be able to figure things out and turn this around. They won't know how to effectively deal with the threat of Necromancy and since Sarex is involved in some way, there's also a chance that Daemons will also play a factor too" he said.

Luna put her finger down onto the map, sliding it south of the fields that they were looking at. "If you're going to do that, you're going to need to figure out what you're going to do with the Dragon Riders since you'll be treading directly into their territory with their main headquarters, Starfall southwest of them. Not only that, but you'll have to worry about the wild frontier known as The Scaled Peaks to the north of Marstead where wild dragons roam as well as the Serpent's Pass, a thin stretch of land that cuts through the mountains to reach the Steppes, the fields in question" she said. It was going to be a tough journey and their travels would eventually take them into and out of Marstead at some point. Going through the Peaks and making their way through Dragon Rider territory was going to be hard enough as it was and adding Serpent's Pass to the mix would only make it more challenging. "Serpent's Pass is a nightmare for anyone to traverse through. The entire area is plagued with rockfalls and landslides with it's unstable terrain. Many people have died making their way through it in order to reach the Steppes. Many merchants tend to use the servies of DracoFlights in order to reach Dolothlond" she said.

Nagi tilted her head a bit. If land travel was such a danger, then the wise choice for them was to simply fly over. However, if what she was saying about the military shakedown was true, then that might no longer be possible. "And I can probably assume that they've effectively closed off Dolothlond to prevent anyone from entering and leaving" she said.

Luna nodded at her. "Correct and considering the apparent dangers that Dolothlond now presents, DracoFlights have suspended any flights to the Steppes" she said. Unfortunately for them, they would need to take the long road to get where they needed to be.

Melphi shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head. "We'll have to worry about it later. Right now, we have things to do before we make our trip north" she said.

Ramza nodded in agreement. "It'll give us something to look into further once we get to Marstead. With them being the biggest trading city in Nargelond, no doubt someone there will know more about this" he said. He shifted his gaze over towards Melphi. "You plan on escorting the people you saved back to the Colonies, right?" he asked.

Melphi nodded at him, folding her arms. "Yes. According to what they said, they've been missing for a few days now. It's my obligation to take them back as the High Acheron's successor" she said. Not only does she feel responsible for bringing them back, she could also use this as additional leverage to make their trip to the Dragon Colonies more smoother. "It could also help garner us some favor amongst some of the least accepting Dragonkin" she said.

Lynette took a look over at the clock on the wall. It was still fairly early on in the morning so if they wanted to leave, now would be a good time. "We should get going now, don't you think?" she asked.

Melphi nodded in agreement, looking over towards Ramza and the others that were going to Marstead. "Yes. It'll take us about an hour to get to the major hub of the Colonies where the High Acheron is seated. The rest of you will have to either walk or use DracoFlights to get there" she said.

Ruko didn't mind the walk through new lands, but considering the distance they'd have to travel on foot, it was probably best to go with DracoFlights. "Well, they did say that we could rely on them for our travel needs..." he said.

Melphi soon made her way over towards the door, putting her hand on the handle before looking back at the rest of them. "I'll go and get them ready to go. I'll meet you guys over by the Dragon Stables" she said. She opened the door and left the room.

Kasai soon clapped her hands together loud enough that it echoed through the room. "Alright, we'll call the meeting here then. I wish you all the best of luck out there. Try not to do anything too crazy out there, okay? Whether it's a temporary thing or not, you are still technically mercenaries signed under Jibril" she said.

Luna patted herself on the chest with a smile on her face, glancing over towards Amelia and Miyuki. "Don't you guys worry. Once I have worked things out with my associates, we'll get you two back to Esseand. Just be a little patient with us, okay?" she asked.

Amelia nodded before bowing slightly. "We appreciate it. No need to rush. Besides, I'd like to spend some time with Nephie and Mahrie too. I also want to make sure that Gael recovers enough so that he's able to walk around" she said. After a heartfelt and much awaited reunion, she was able to learn the full extent of his injuries. He had taken quite the beating from the Shogunate that he was pursuing and because of that, he was recommended extensive bed rest to allow his injuries to heal.

Miyuki stretched her arms up over her head, letting out soft groans. "It's been a long time since we've been to a hot spring, so I've been wanting to take this opportunity. Not like I can do much with this injured arm of mine, in any case" she said. The hot, healing waters might do wonders for the body too.

Tsuki soon stood up and gathered their things. "Let's check out the shops and stock up on what we need before heading to the Dragon Stables" he said. He shifted his glance over towards Kasai for a moment. "We appreciate the hospitality you've given us. We're in your debt" he said.

Kasai let out a mischevious chuckle with a smirk on her face as she put her finger up to her chin. "If you really want to repay that debt, then come work under me as an official mercenary once everything's all said and done. I could use someone with your skill" she said. She could see that he had strong potential as a mercenary if the way of the knight no longer appealed to him.

Tsuki let out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. This was now the second time that someone wanted to recruit him as a mercenary. The appeal of a mercenary definitely had his interests, but he still had a duty to fulfill as Cheria's bodyguard and as a knight of Eresseas. "I'll consider it one day" he said. Putting that thought on the backburner, he made his way over towards the door. "Let's get a move on. The sooner we leave, the better" he said.

Everyone soon gathered their things and all left the room as a group, leaving Kasai, Amelia and Miyuki behind. They said their goodbyes to the local mercenaries and Ichiro before leaving the Guild Hall. They spent the next several minutes to check out the shops that were open. While the town didn't suffer a whole lot of damage from the eruption, there were many places of business that were closed. Thankfully, the shops that were selling Gels and other needs were open and provided them with all they needed. They also took the time to check out the equipment shops and get what they all needed.

After about thirty minutes, the group made their way over to the Dragon Stables. Unfortunately, when they arrived, there were no dragons in sight. They took a look inside the stables themselves, but they were also empty. They spent the next few minutes waiting for a handler to show up.

After another ten minutes, one of the handlers walked up towards the stables, taking notice of them. He recognized the group as the ones that had arrived the other day, so he approached them. "Ah, you're the group that came in the other day, right? What can I do for you all?" he asked.

Tsuki scratched the back of his head as he looked around the empty stables. "Well, we were hoping we could request a ride for some of us to Marstead" he said.

The handler had a nervous sweat on his face as he put his hands up together, bowing slightly. "Is that so? My apologies, but we've just sent out our last dragon. It'll be, at least, several hours before some of them come back" he said. They had a lot of business in the early hours, moreso than usual. With the threat of the eruption gone, people wanted to leave.

Ramza folded his arms with a slight grumbling. This would pose a problem for them. "Well, that's not great to hear..." he said.

Ruko sunk his shoulders, lowering his head in defeat. "Looks like we have no choice to but walk then..." he said.

Moments later, Melphi came walking up to the Dragon Stables with the people that they had rescued from the Shogunate. "Hey guys, sorry about the wait. What's going on?" she asked, looking around.

Cheria turned to face Melphi. "It appears that there aren't any dragons around to fly us to Marstead" she said.

The handler kept bowing to them apologetically. "I'm deeply sorry for this, folks" he said. Jibril was a small location to begin with, so they didn't have a really big stable to hold a lot of dragons. Most DracoFlight locations have about 20 dragons on standby, but Jibril only had, at most, 8 of them.

Melphi scratched her head a bit with this news. This will only make things a bit tougher for Ramza and his group, but it seems that it can't be helped. "Hmm...unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Looks like you guys are going to have to go the long route" she said.

Nagi tilted her head a bit. "How long does it take to get there by foot?" she asked. Considering the distance, they had a pretty far distance to travel. They had to go through the nearby canyons,. mountain roads and winding trails. Not to mention the fact that the terrtain itself seems pretty rough.

Melphi looked over towards the mountains that they would have to travel to. "If all things go smoothly, it should be a three day trip on foot" she said.

Phi shrugged her shoulders and turned back around to face towards the town's exit. "Well then, we better start getting a move on then. With any luck, we should be able to through the nearby mountains by sundown" she said.

Ramza nodded, tapping his ear where the ComLink was inserted. "We'll keep in touch if anything happens" he said.

Cheria walked up to Tsuki with a slightly worried expression. Thinking back on it, this would be the second time that the two of them will be apart, this time by choice. "You be careful up there, you hear? I don't want to hear about any crazy stunts that you might pull" she said.

Tsuki let out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. Given his track record of things, he didn't have much to say to refute what she said. "I'll be careful, don't worry" he said.

Allie put her hands on her hips with a wide smile on her face. "Yeah! I'll make sure Master stays out of trouble" she said.

Cesela couldn't help but let out a soft giggle at her statement. "Looks like Allie will have to play babysitter" she said.

Tsuki looked down at the two of them, giving them an annoyed look. "Hey, I'm a grown adult. I can take care of myself. It's kids like you two that need to be careful" he said.

Cheria had a soft smile on her face as she reached down and patted the two of them on their heads. "I'm counting on the two of you to look out for him" she said. Allie has proven to be reliable with her heavy attachment with Tsuki and Cesela has shown significant progress with her archery skills. Whenever they practiced together, the two of them were almost perfectly in-sync. They were the perfect partners to look out for each other's backs.

Tsuki sighed heavily, lowering his head. "Why do I feel like I have no power here?" he asked.

Both Cesela and Allie turned to face him, pointing their fingers at him and spoke out the same sentence at the same time in perfect sync. "Because you're too reckless!" they said.

Ramza walked over to Tsuki and patted him on the back. "The kids got a point, you know. Can't argue with that" he said.

Lynette scratched the back of her head as she watched the two of them gang up on him. "It's almost like two young daughters scolding their father for doing something bad" she said.

Ramza soon walked away from Tsuki and headed towards the center of town, stopping to look back at them. "We better get moving then. Good luck with your mountain adventures" he said.

Nagi nodded, stepping over towards him and glancing over towards Elle. "Make sure you bring back some good stories for us, okay?" she asked.

Elle waved her off with a slight chuckle. "I'll see what I can dig up for you up there. My status as a High Elf should get me certain privileges" she said.

Lynette looked over towards the other group, reaching into her bag to pull out a stuffed cloth pouch. "Oh Ramza, I nearly forgot. Take this with you. It's medicine that I made for you guys since you'll be without a Healer. They won't be as potent as Healing Artes, but they should fit your needs if normal Gels and over-the-counter neutrilizers aren't effective" she said. She walked over towards him, handing him the cloth pouch and stepping away.

Ramza took the pouch from her and stuffed it away in his bag. "Perfect. We'll put it to good use" he said. The absence of a Healer will prove to be an additional challenge for them as they make their way towards Marstead.

The two groups said their farewells before splitting up. With Ramza, Cheria, Nagi, Phi and Ruko gone, those that remained gathered back up. Now, it was just Tsuki, Lynette, Melphi, Cesela, Elle and Allie left along with the group of Dragonkin, who were standing off to the side. They soon made their way over towards the open fields where they were given access to by the DracoFlights handler to prepare for their own departure.

Once they were in the fields, Tsuki glanced over towards the group of Dragonkin. "I'm assuming they're gonna fly behind us?" he asked.

Melphi nodded, stepping towards an open area so she could transform. "Correct. I'll carry you, Elle and Lyn. Would it be okay if one of you carried Cesela and Allie?" she asked.

One of the male Dragonkin stepped forward and nodded, putting his hand up to his chest. "I'll do it. They're both small and light, so it won't be an issue" he said. While they've already seen that this particular group of Humans can be trustworthy, the entire group were still slightly guarded and reluctant to open themselves to them. However, since Cesela was a Foxkin and Allie was a Spirit and that both of them were still at a young age of 11 and 12, they were more relaxed around them.

Lynette looked over towards Melphi. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to carry them without straining herself. "Will you be okay carrying the rest of us though?" she asked.

Melphi nodded, patting herself on the chest with a confident smile. "It'll only be three of you, so I'll be fine. Besides, the stronger I become, the better I'll be able carry more weight. Literally" she said.

She soon entered a moment of concentration as energy swirled around her. Seconds later, her body lifted up slightly off the ground and was soon enveloped in a black sphere of energy. After a few moments, the sphere expanded outwards until the figure of a dragon emerged out of it. After another minute had passed, Melphi appeared in her dragon form. Following suit, the group of four Dragonkin also transformed, 2 of them clad in yellow scales, 1 in blue scales and the other in green scales. Tsuki, Elle and Lynette climbed onto the back of Melphi and made themselves comfortable while Allie and Cesela climbed onto the back of the green dragon.

Once everyone was settled and secured, Melphi glanced over towards the other Dragonkin. "How are you all feeling? Any exhaustion or strain?" she asked. She asks this because they had their power siphoned into Prismatic Crystals by the Shogunate.

One of the yellow-scaled dragons looked over towards her and spoke in a female voice. "A little bit, but I'll be alright. The medicine you gave us all worked wonders" she said.

The other yellow-scaled dragon spoke out after her, this time in a male voice. "Draconian medicine always hits the sweet spots. By this time yesterday, it hurt to move around. Now, all I feel is light strain. Nothing too concerning" he said.

The blue dragon was next to speak in a male tone. "At least we don't have far to fly. I can't wait to get back to the Colonies. My sister must be worried sick about me" he said.

The green dragon nodded in agreement. "I can't agree with you more. My wife probably hasn't gotten much sleep since I've been missing" he said.

Tsuki was relieved to see that they were all in good spirits, but he was still concerned about them. "It's best not to strain yourselves though. If anyone needs a moment to rest, don't feel afraid to speak up" he said.

Lynette was in agreement with Tsuki. Their physical injuries were all healed, but the mental and spiritual strain most likely still needed some time to recover. This was something Healing Artes can't do anything with and since normal Human medicines like Gels would be too ineffective, they didn't have much they could provide in terms of pain relief. "He's right. It might be a short flight, but your health and fortitude are our most important concern. Can't have you guys falling out of the sky on us" she said.

The group of Dragonkin felt a strange kindness in their words. It was exceedingly rare for a Human to speak to them with care. Most Humans either didn't want anything to do with them, hated them or feared them. The fact that Tsuki and Lynette were able to look and speak to them as if they were common, everyday people felt a bit strange to them but in a good way.

Melphi stretched out her wings as she prepared to take flight. "Let's get flying. Remember, expect some hostility with the other Dragonkin. They may attempt to antagonize you, but you mustn't engage them" she said, looking back towards the three on her back.

Tsuki nodded. Getting into fights with the local Dragonkin would only hurt their cause, so there was no reason for them to fight them. "Got it" he said.

Melphi nodded before flapping her wings a bit and soon lifting up off the ground. With the other Dragonkin behind her lifting up off the ground and making sure that they were okay, she soon took off up into the sky as she led the group up towards the mountains. It only took them a matter of minutes before they found themselves diving up through the clouds.

As they flew up and eventually out through the clouds, they could see the tall, snowy mountains off in the distance. The closer they got to them, the colder it became. Since it would take them some time to get to the Colonies, the group decided that it was best that they learn about as much as them as they can.

Tsuki could feel the brisk, cold air blow across his face as they flew through the sky. "So, what can you tell us about the Colonies? You seemed to skirt around the subject before, but we're going to need to have some basic knowledge about the place" he said.

Melphi let out a low rumble as her gaze was locked onto the mountains ahead of them. "The Dragon Colonies were once all divided into 5 different tribes: Boreal, Infernus, Grandar, Ironscale and Rhaegal. Each tribe was ruled by a Chieftain and an Overseer and each held different values and beliefs. Sometimes, those values and beliefs caused the tribes to have certain disagreements about things. Basically, what you'd probably expect from a small, closed-off community" she said.

The green dragon looked over towards them as Melphi started to talk abou the Colonies. "According to the stories, the tribes weren't on the friendliest terms with each other. Sympathizers were few and far in-between and were quickly shut out. The concept of peace and harmony amongst the tribes seemed like dream. That is, until Cliff Steele showed up" he said. Much of what transpired from when Cliff showed up in the Colonies to him uniting them had been lost to the passages of time, so they could only rely on the bits of information that they managed to preserve.

The female yellow dragon was the next to speak up. "Word has it that a large-scale battle between the tribes almost occurred too when a bid for territory happened" she said, adding into the conversation.

The male yellow dragon spoke out after her. "Sarex took advantage of that and attempted to cause further divide amongst the tribes. It was only through the actions of Cliff and his companions that the truth would be brought to life. Once it did, the tribes settled their differences and joined forces with Cliff in order to bring Sarex to heel" he said.

The blue dragon let out a low rumble before speaking next. "After Sarex was defeated, Cliff brought the leaders of the tribes together and discussed unity. One long and drawn-out discussion later, the 5 tribes came together and formed into the Dragon Colonies with Cliff as it's leader of High Acheron. Many looked up to him for his strength and determination as he was the strongest Dragonkin to have existed at that point and thus was also given the title of Dragon King" he said. While many details about Cliff had been lost to time, his legend was passed down through the ages and became a thing of reverance after his death in Year 1598.

The green dragon spoke out once more, glancing over towards Melphi. "However, in recent years, there have been people that no longer look up to him. Some believe it was his association of Humans that they couldn't ignore. While there were families that consisted of both Human and Dragonkin in the past, that number has been on the decline for some time now. Despite being the Varnis' successor, Melphi has experienced her fair share of criticism due to her association with Humans, just like Cliff" he said. His gaze shifted back to the slowly approaching mountains in front of them as they contiued to fly through the sky. "There are very few Humans left in the Colonies. Those that remain have had generations of families that lived there and are considered honorary Dragonkin who share similar views and beliefs as we do. It's not just the other Dragonkin that you have to worry about" he added.

Tsuki stroked his chin as he processed the information they were told. He didn't know that Humans lived within the Colonies. However, considering what he said, they could potentially be just as dangerous and unpredictable as the Dragonkin. "So, in other words, watch where we step" he said.

Allie tilted her head a bit as she looked at the dragon that she was riding on. "Who's Varnis?" she asked.

Melphi glanced over towards Allie. "Varnis Falkor. He's served as the High Achron for the Colonies for almost 100 years now. His deep wisdom has been a boon to everyone and despite his old age, he continues to look out for the Colonies..." she said, pausing for a brief moment. To many, Varnis was an indomitable leader, but for her, he was practically her father. "He's also the one that took me in when Kaito killed the people of Elkhorn and raised me like as his own" she said.

Cesela knew that the lifespan of Dragonkin was different than most other races. While the Elves have bigger lifespans, Dragonkin can easily live the lives of three different Humans. "100 years...just how old is the High Acheron?" she asked.

Melphi shifted her gaze back forward as the mountains grew bigger as they got closer. The cold chill of the winds intensified as they got closer too. "He'll be 248 years old in the coming weeks" she said.

Allie started to shiver a bit from the cold wind chill as they approached the mountains. "I-It's amazing th-that they're s-still able to r-rule at s-such an age..."she said.

Cesela wrapped her arms around Allie from behind and pulled her close in order to help keep her warm through body heat. While it was cold, she was used to cold weather since Sirione's winters were pretty harsh. "Stay close to me if you want to stay warm" she said. She looked over to Melphi as she held Allie closely in her arms. "The average life expectancy of Dragonkin is betwen 260 and 280, right?" she asked.

Melphi nodded, letting out a low rumble as she thought back on Varnis. "Correct though some have lived as high as 300" she said. Thinking back on his age, he was probably the oldest High Acheron. "The previous High Acheron served until he turned 235 years old. Considering that Varnis is getting up there in his age, it's no surprise that he seeks a successor" she said.

The female yellow dragon never understood the reason why Melphi left the Colonies. "Why did you leave when you're suppose to take over once he retires?" she asked.

Melphi shook her head. She never felt like the position suited her considering that she has connections with Humans. She figured that someone more suited would come take her place. However, considering the fact that she could wield the Spark, there was little hope for that happening. "I just figured someone more suited would be appropriate, like the Overseer" she said.

The other Dragonkin suddenly fell silent at the mention of the Overseer. There was an awkward silence between them until the blue dragon spoke up to break it but not before letting out a heavy huff as if he was about to say something difficult. "About the Overseer, there's been something strange about him" he said.

Melphi looked over towards the blue dragon. "Strange? How so?" she asked.

The blue dragon was silent for a brief moment before elaborating on his statement. "His behavior has been...odd. Everyone's noticed that something about him has changed, but aren't sure what it is. The daughter of smithy commented something about getting 'cold vibes' from him, whatever that means" he said. Thinking about it, there are things that people have pointed out that seem very uncharacteristic of him.

Melphi tilted her head a bit in confusion. She knew the Overseer very well and considered him a good friend. "Cold vibes? Hiyoshi is the last person who could ever give off the impression of having cold vibes. He's normally a warm and gentle person who puts the safety of the Colonies before anything else" she said.

The blue dragon nodded in agreement. He had always looked up to him as an individual and admired his strength, but the latest rumors about him haven't exactly painted him in a good light. "That's why everyone's shown concern about him. Even Varnis has taken notice and attempted to ask him about it, but never got an answer" he said.

The female yellow dragon let out a low grumble before speaking. "His son tried to push him for an answer but got shoved away himself too. It's clear that something is going on" she said. People were being distant to him before because of this sudden change in attitude, so she was concerned with how things are now.

The male yellow dragon spoke out after her. "Perhaps it's due to the fact that our fields have been getting ransacked lately. Maybe it's just stress that's getting to him?" he asked. It was the only thing he could think of to be a possible cause.

Melphi was troubled to hear this. Hiyoshi was always kind to her and supported her when others were against her because of her Human connections. She didn't like how things seem to be now. "Something else for us to investigate while we're here then" she said.

The group continued to talk about the Colonies and it's people as they made their approach to the mountains. After about another 15 minutes had passed, the group flew through the mountain ranges with the temperature dropping down into the single digits. Everyone tried to keep themselves as warm as possible as the brisk wind chill blew past them as they flew. The mountain peaks themselves were covered in snow with the sun beating down on them. The views that they were able to get were stunning and would make great photography and landscape paintings. Being an area untouched by outside hands, the mountains were preserved quite well.

After 10 minutes passed since entering the mountains, they eventually spotted a large settlement nestled against one of the more larger mountains with other sections connected by an arrange of bridges and walkways. The settlement itself was located across the span of three tightly packed mountains and was bigger than a normal village, but not quite the size of a city. Below the large settlement at the base of these mountains was a vast field of grass and snow where all of their farms and medicinal fields were. There were also much smaller settlements down in these fields too, but judging by their size, they most likely belonged to the people that tended to the fields. The settlement itself appeared as if it was carved into the mountains. Just looking at how the settlement was established made Tsuki and the others stare off in the distance with a sense of excitement, thrill and wonder. Building a large settlement like this in such a harsh environment couldn't of been a easy task.

In what appeared to be the main plaza of the large settlement, the nearby Dragonkin had taken notice of Melphi and the others flying with her. Unbeknownst to them, however, they didn't realize who they were carrying on their backs. It didn't take long for people to quickly gather around the plaza, both citizen and what appeared to be settlement guardsmen. The settlement was made out of wood and cobblestone with snow-covered roofs. Despite the apparent harsh environment, life was thriving unabated.

Before long, Melphi and the other Dragonkin made touchdown in the plaza. By this point, they had drawn a pretty big crowd. Not only were people standing around the plaza watching them, but there were also others in their dragon form that started to gather in the skies above them. It was a pretty big reception especially since Melphi was easily recognizable to everyone. However, things would start to become uneasy and wary once they realized that they were carrying some unlikely passengers.

Tsuki climbed off the back of Melphi and helped Lynette and Elle down as Cesela climbed off the back of the green dragon so that she could help Allie get down. Once they were all dismounted, Melphi and the other Dragonkin turned back into their half-Human forms. Amongst the cautious whispers and murmuring of the crowds, there were other voices shouting out as a couple Dragonkin from the crowds all gathered around the four that Melphi had brought back with her. Based off their reactions, they appeared to be both friends and family to them. As for everyone else, however, Tsuki and the others could feel the intense looks they were getting, Melphi and Tsuki in particular.

It wasn't until a few minutes had passed when an old man with a long beard stepped out from the crowd and approached the group. Tsuki could immediately feel the intensity of the man despite his age. The stare that he got from him was like he was looking into his soul. The man shared this same look with the rest of the group, not even speaking a single word.

Then, one of the guardsmen adorned in sophisticated armor made out of leather and steel approached Melphi and keeping his hand by the the sword strapped to his waist. Based on the armor he was wearing compared to the rest of the guardsmen, he appeared to be of someone of high rank. He was looking down at Melphi, glaring at her. "What is the meaning of this, Melphi? First, you disappear without so much of a word then you return with Humans? Have you truly lost your mind?" he asked. Bringing a Human who wasn't born within the Colonies was a taboo and comes with strict punishment.

Melphi folded her arms, looking up at the man glaring down at her. She didn't really appreciate the tone he was giving her. "Nice to see you too. You're still as abrasive as ever, I see" she said.

The man's glares only intensified with each passing second, passing sharp glances towards Tsuki and Lynette. "You should know that bringing outsiders here is strictly prohibited by Colony Law. You may be the would-be successor for High Acheron, but that doesn't mean you can do as you please" he said. He always knew that she had an unbreakable connection with Humans, but he didn't think she'd bring one here. "I hope you're ready for the consequences. As for the Humans, they're not welcome here and shall be immediately thrown out" he said. He then snapped his finger and in moments, other guardsmen surrounded the group with their weapons ready. He then started to make his way over to them.

Melphi's left arm, which had suddenly transformed into one of her claws, was thrown out to the side to prevent him from approaching the others. Her eyes had turned to a piercing yellow color as she glared up at the man with intensity. "Not another step unless you want to end up with your guts ripped out" she said. She knew what they would do to them.

One of the guardsmen tried to each for Lynette in order to restrain her. "Humans unaffiliated with the Colonies don't belong here. I'm sorry, but we need you to leave" he said.

While Lynette was a bit anxious by the sudden approach, she wasn't frightened. Before the guardsmen could grab her though, Tsuki grabbed onto the man's wrist with an extremely tight grip. They promised Melphi to not get into any fights with the inhabitants, but that doesn't mean that they won't protect themselves if they were to try anything.

The grip Tsuki gave the man was so tight that it caused the guardsmen some slight pain and discomfort. He couldn't even pull away from him which puzzled him. No Human should have such a strong grip. "W-what's with this kid's intense grip?" he asked.

Tsuki eventually looked up at the man with dark red eyes before speaking out in vocal mix of Tsuki and Cliff's voice. "I'd advise you all to step away unless you want to get hurt. We didn't come here to cause trouble" he said.

The old man glanced over towards Tsuki for a moment and soon had a sudden look of realization on his face. He then held his hand up to address the guardsmen. "Everyone, stand down" he said.

The man that was blocked off by Melphi turned his head towards the old man. "But High Acheron! This is clearly a violation of our laws!" he shouted.

The old man approached Tsuki with a nervous sweat and an anxious look on his face. "Why don't you take another good look at the boy?" he asked.

The man reluctantly gave Tsuki a good, hard look and immediately caught on to something. The color and intensity of his eyes were almost akin to that of a Dragonkin and the presence and aura he suddenly started to give off felt very familiar. "This aura...is it Dragonkin? But he's just a Human..." he said.

The old man could feel the aura of a Dragonkin inside of Tsuki. While he wasn't sure who the aura belonged to, he knew that it wasn't an ordinary Dragonkin's aura. It felt ancient and exceedingly powerful. He definitely felt not just one but multiple presences within Tsuki and one of them was undeniable. "Human...just who are you?" he asked.

Tsuki released the guardsmen's wrist and faced the old man, his eyes still dark red. "Tsuki Himura. I'm temporarily working as a mercenary due to strenuous circumstances" he said.

The old man stroked his beard, mumbling to himself with the same anxious look on his face. "Tsuki Himura...if I may ask, why do you carry the presence and aura of a Dragonkin?" he asked.

After he asked that question, a red aura formed around Tsuki and after a few moments, Cliff seemed to walk out from Tsuki's body in spiritual form. "That would be because of me" he said.

The sudden appearance of Cliff sent shockwaves across the entire crowd. No matter how one would look at it, no one could deny that he had a striking resemblance to the statue of Cliff that could be seen in the center of the plaza. Most of the people gathered thought that they were hallucinating, but after making sure that they weren't seeing things, they crowd became riled up with excitement and bewilderment.

The same guardsmen that have Tsuki such intense stares was now looking in his direction in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Th-that figure...and that axe on your back...you can't be...!?" he asked.

Cliff folded his arms and looked around the crowd as all eyes were on him. "I'm sure introductions aren't needed, but just in case...the name's Cliff Steele" he said.

When he mentioned his name, it sent more shockwaves through the crowd as a wild clamor erupted. This caused several people amongst the guardsmen and elderly to take a knee and bow down to Cliff. Being in the presence of the Dragon King himself was something no one would have ever expected woiuld happen. For the rest, they were either too stunned to react or were one of the people that didn't think much of the Dragon King anymore.

The old man was one of those people that ended up taking a knee and bowing to Cliff. He was still just as stunned as everyone else, but as High Acheron, he needed to keep his composure. "Cliff Steele...are you really the Dragon King himself?" he asked.

Cliff scratched the back of his head. Even in his spiritual form, he could feel the intense stares coming the crowds. "Perhaps this isn't the best place for such discussions. Why don't we take this to the Hall of Scales?" he asked. The Hall of Scales was basically a large meeting hall for places of discussion that people of the Colonies could participate in. Whether it was still refered to as the Hall of Scales or not, it should have been obvious to those of what he was talking about.

The old man nodded in agreement, taking another glance at Tsuki and his group. He's never seen such an unexpected combination of people in one group. It only adds to his curiosity and interest. "Sounds good. If you would all please follow me..." he said. He turned and headed towards a sloping walkway that went up the nearby hill.

Once the old man walked off, Cliff took a few glances around the area with a smile and look of nostalgia on his face before disappearing. Tsuki's eyes turned back to normal meanwhile Melphi released her claws with her eye color turning back to normal as well. The anxiety in the air soon turned into bustling sounds of excitement and wonder as the crowds started to chat amongst themselves while making quick glances towards them. It was obvious that Tsuki became the talk of the town. Everyone was curious about him and why the Dragon King suddenly appeared before them.

Elle walked up alongside Tsuki. "All things considered, that ended up working out pretty well" she said. The welcome they got was something that she had expected. It wasn't much of a surprise that things almost had gotten hostile.

Cesela walked up to them, her ears slightly lowered with her hand up to her chest. She was a bit worried about how things would turn out. "I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest for a moment there..." she said. She was told to expect some level of hostility from the Dragonkin locals, but she wasn't fully prepared.

Tsuki patted her on the head, brushing up between her fox ears to help settle her down. "With such an unfriendly welcome, it's easy to lose one's cool especially when they try to threaten you" he said. He's supposed to represent his entire group. While he did what he did in self-defense, he would need to make sure to keep himself in check next time. Who knows what would of happened if the old man hadn't stepped in.

Allie walked up behind Cesela, clinging onto her left arm as she shivered from the cold. "Is it b-bad that I h-hoped for something to happen? At l-least then, I c-could warm up f-from the heat of b-battle..." she said. Ever since she lost Frost's Aer, she became extremely sensitive to the cold.

Lynette looked over towards Allie, tilting her head a bit. She wasn't bothered by the frigid cold of the Glacier or the Tundra before, so she was confused on why she was feeling so bothered by it now. "Is it because we awakened Frost?" she asked.

Elle folded her arms while stroking her chin. "Possibly. Remember, she carries the Aer of the Great Spirits inside of her. Not only does that grant her additional strength, I wouldn't be surprised if it also offered her resistances to the elements too" she said.

Tsuki thought back on their trek through Mt. Praxis and the scorching lava tunnels as well as their trek through Raffiki Desert. He recalled that she was relatively unfazed by the scorching heat too. "If that's the case, I wish we had revisited the lava tunnels to see how she fares against scorching temperatures" he said. It was a pretty good theory that would be interesting to put to the test.

As Allie clung onto Cesela's arm, she looked over in Melphi's direction. She had been standing there in silence for a while now with a focused gaze as she looked around the area. "M-Mel? What is it?" she asked.

Melphi had been silent for the last few minutes as she appeared as if she was scanning her the area around her. She was like this for a bit longer until Allie's voice brought her back to her senses. When she looked back at the group, she had a disturbed and perplexed look on her face. "Can you all feel that? The aetherial disturbance in the air..." she said.

Lynette tilted her head a bit and focused some of her energy to scan the surroundings. Almost immediately, she picked up a strange feeling that covered a very large vicinity. "What...is this? It feels so heavy and thick..." she said. She didn't know what it was, but something about it felt very off and that was concerning for her.

Elle sensed the area around them as well and to her surprise, this was a feeling she's felt before. "This feeling...I've felt it before, but where...?" she asked herself. She couldn't think of where off the top of her head, but it was enough to cause a chill to run down her spine.

Cesela tried to use her abilities to "see" the surrounding Aer, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. There were no abnormalities with the flow of Aer and nothing seemed suspicious. "I don't see anything strange happening" she said.

Allie continued to cling onto Cesela as she was able to pick up on the samething that Lynette, Elle and Melphi were feeling. "B-but it's d-definitely th-there though. I f-feel it too..." she said.

Tsuki was the only person who couldn't feel that anything was off. The only thing he could feel was the sharp cold winds blowing past them. If all of them were able to sense something, that must mean something and whatever it was, it didn't exactly give off good vibes. "If you're all feeling something, then it seems like there's more that's going on here than we thought" he said.

Melphi stepped forward towards the slope, stopping for a second to look back at them. "Come on. Let's see what the old man knows" she said. She soon started to make her way up the snowy slope.

Tsuki and the others followed her up the slope and through the winding roads of the settlement as they made their way up along the side of the mountain. Word had already spread about them, so people were both curious and wary of their presence. More than that, they were in awe about their group. Not only were there Humans, but a High Elf, Dragonkin, Foxkin and a Spirit amongst the group. It was definitely an odd and peculiar sight for many to see in this day and age. The settlement was rather simple in it's design. Nothing too fancy stood out to them as they made their way through. It was a humble settlement that relied on basic materials. Given it's location, it was more rural and dated than most settlements and villages.

The settlement had three different levels to it. The first level was at the base of the mountain where the fields were. According to what Melphi said to them as they made their way through, the base of the mountain was known as the Agricultural Zone. This is where they plant all of their foods and medicinal herbs and next to that was a hunting ground to procure meats, fish and things of that nature. The entire area is managed by the field workers and the hunters. The second level, which incorporated most of the settlement including the plaza that they were in, was known as the Habitual Zone. This was where all the big markets, small shops, recreational activities and housing is and spans across the nearby mountains, connected by numerous bridges and walkways. It was a pretty complex system as these bridges and walkways tend to go over and under others. It was like a giant spider web with how everything was woven and built. Finally, the third level was known as the Hierarchical Zone. This was where the High Acheron and other officials of the Colonies reside and conduct business. It was the smallest zone out of the three, but it still held more importance over the three zones. It was also where the local guardsmen made their headquarters, so security was usually pretty tight.

After several minutes of walking through the winding walkways, the group arrived in the Hiearchial Zone. Almost immediately, they were all given watchful gazes from the guardsmen. One wrong step and they would have swords, spears and bows aimed at them. The trek through the zone felt like an eternity with all the piercing stares that they were giving them. Eventually, they arrived at a large building that was embedded in the mountainside behind it towards the center of the zone. The group wasted no time and entered the building as a crowd of people started to gather around the outside of the building.

Inside of the building was a single large room with multiple tables and chairs that lined it's hall. The interior design had a draconian look to it. There was tough leather strewn along the walls with bones, torches and swords attached to the walls. It had a prominent medieval thid-world feel to it. As they entered the building, the old man from before was already waiting for them, sitting at the end of the center table. Tsuki and the others proceeded to join him and took their seats.

Once everyone was situated, the old man cleared his throat with his hand up to his chin. "First of all, I'd like to apologize for my guardsmen. It's been generations since the last time a Human from the outside world set foot within our settlement" he said, bowing slightly in his chair.

Tsuki shook his head. He knew that their sudden appearance would cause unrest among the Dragonkin. Even the native Humans who have lived within the Colonies for generations gave them wary and cautious looks. "There's no need to apologize. We came here expecting to cause some level of disturbance, so their reactions aren't a surprise" he said.

The old man lifted his head up and gave the group another look. It was still a bizarre sight to see such a mix of people all in one place. "My name is Varnis Falkor, High Acheron of the Dragon Colonies. I must say, you have quite an interesting group composition" he said.

Tsuki proceeded to introduce everyone to him. "I'm Tsuki Himura. I serve the royal family of Eresseas as a member of the Royal Eight. The people with me are Lynette Suzaki, Elle Solize, Allie and Cesela Reese. You're already familiar with Melphi" he said. He needed to make sure that they set off a good first impression. "There are others amongst our group, but they are operating seperately from us" he said.

Varnis stroked his chin as he introduced the group to him. There were two things that piqued his interest and those were the fact that Tsuki was a knight from Eresseas and Cesela's family name, Reese. "Two Humans, a High Elf, a Foxkin and a Spirit. It would seem that my daughter brought home a unique group of people" he said.

Melphi coughed a bit when she was brought up. "You make it sound like I picked them up from the streets, old man" she said.

Varnis laughed a bit at her remark. "The fact that you have such a mixed group makes me curious on what's happened since you disappeared on us" he said. The attack on Eresseas took place almost two months ago at this point and she had made her disappearing act days prior to that. "Before we get into the reason as to why you've come, might I ask about what's going on? I've raised Melphi since she was a young child and she knows that bringing outsiders here is against our law. She wouldn't have broken it unless she had a good reason" he said.

The group proceeded to tell Varnis about everything that's been happening outside of the Colonies. Being so remote and cut off from mainstream media and interaction, they had been completely unaware of what's been going on. The news of Eresseas falling to Honegroth, their experiences and knowledge about the Wellsprings and how they're related to the Great Spirits and the situation revolving around Dolothlond and it's War Council. All of this came as a great shock and surprise to him. He had no idea how bad things were in the outside world and it only made him more comfortable knowing the fact that they're in such a remote location that they're largely unaffected by it all. However, what really interested him was the secret that Tsuki harbored inside of him. The concept of the Sigil and the three souls was a foreign concept to him that was hard to grasp.

Varnis took his time to process everything that they had told him. Even though there were many difficulties and hardships currently happening outside of the Colonies, he didn't feel the slightest bit sympathetic for the Humans. However, this was good information to have nonetheless in case something were to happen. Aside the whole thing with the Sigil, another thing that bothered him was the return of Kaito Isamu. His was the most vile and hated name for all the Dragonkin. The atrocities he commited 30 years ago against Elkhorn was a day that will forever be remembered. They were informed of his death by Shana, the person who personally saw to his execution. It was disturbing news to hear that he had apparently been revived somehow through what Tsuki and the others referred to as Necromancy.

Varnis sat back in his chair as it took him a while to wrap his head around what he's been told. A lot of seemed like a fantasy story that borderlines absurdity. However, the way their eyes spoke, it didn't seem like a lie at all. "This is indeed disturbing news to hear about. Normally, us Dragonkin don't care about what happens beyond these mountains. Even the few Humans that have been in our generational family for centuries have long since renounced their racial ties don't wish to be involved. However, if Kaito Isamu is indeed back..." he said, trailing off at the end for a moment, While he didn't take everything that Tsuki said at face value, there were three different opinions that he cared for amongst the group. His gaze shifted over towards Elle and Cesela before going back towards Tsuki. "How true are your words?" he asked.

Elle nodded slowly. Being amongst the Elves and a High Elf at that, they were in similar positions and viewpoitns as the Dragonkin. The Elves don't have a shred of care for the Humans. They don't go outside of their forest homes, so there aren't many recorded incidents between the two races. Much like the Dragonkin, the Elves don't care what happens within Human society. It could collapse entirely and they still wouldn't care. "Having witnessed and personally experienced it all myself, on my honor and pride as a High Elf, I assure you that everything we've said is true. Things are quite bad beyond the mountain borders" she said.

Cesela nodded with Elle. "I've seen the worst that Humans could offer. I lost everything while I was still too young to remember. My family, friends...my home. I was enslaved by Humans and looked upon as if I were just a dispensible tool. But then, Tsuki and his friends saved her and it's because of them that I've been able to experience everything firsthand. As a Foxkin who was once oppressed by the Humans, it's all true" she said. When it came to relations between Dragonkin and Foxkin, they weren't as close to them as the Elves were, but they still kept a type of familial bond as fellow Faeries.

Varnis mumbled a bit as he continued to stroke his beard, his gaze fixed onto Tsuki. There was just one thing he wanted to confirm once more. "Boy, you said you carry the soul of Cliff Steele, the Dragon King, inside of you, correct? I would like to hear his own account too" he said. He saw it out in the plaza. The aura Tsuki gave off when he grabbed onto the guardsmen's wrist was undeniably that of a Dragonkin. Not only that, but he saw the man himself step out from inside of him in spirit form.

Soon after he said that, Cliff's voice soon spoke out to the group. "Everything that they say is the truth" he said. Moments later, Cliff appeared standing up next to Tsuki. "I've seen it all through Tsuki's eyes. The outside struggles and revelations are very much apparent and getting worse with each day" he said.

Varnis looked over towards Cliff who had suddenly appeared in the room. To be able to get a good look at him now, he was able to confirm that what he saw was real and not a simple trick of the light. "To be able to see the Dragon King himself...the founder of the Dragon Colonies...there's no greater honor than this" he said.

Cliff folded his arms as he locked his gaze onto Varnis. "The Dragon Colonies sure have changed since the day of my passing, some of it good and some of it bad. I had heard that the previous High Acheron attempted to defile the ancient laws and traditions that I had worked hard to establish" he said. Many of the traditions and laws have changed. While most were still being honored, others were either discarded or completely changed.

Varnis was silent as he let out a heavy sigh. There was nothing he could say to deny what he said. "Unfortunately, yes. The previous High Acheron, whose name no one shall speak, made quite a mess of things and brought about irreperable damage that we still haven't recovered from. It was one of the Colonies biggest disgraces" he said. It took generations to address the problems that had been created and while there were things that wouldn't be the same, he's spent most of his life as High Acheron to restore things as they once were.

Cliff was disappointed to hear that the Colonies have fallen quite a bit from his original grand scheme, but he was also feeling proud that they were able to endure and try to improve on themselves. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time that the Colonies faced unprecedented challenges. With a straight-headed and dedicated person as you are, I'm sure that the Colonies will one day return to it's former glory" he said.

Varnis held his hand up to his chest, bowing slightly to Cliff. His words brought him great comfort. "Your words honor me, Great King. Many Dragonkin still look up to you for guidance and direction. Even our young ones can't help but be inspired by you and the things you've done" he said. Many young Dragonkin to this day want to grow up and be a man befitting that of Cliff. Majority of the guardsmen shared this same sentiment and train themselves everyday to become the next Cliff Steele. "Now then, before we talk about the reason you all came, allow me to express my gratitude. If it weren't for you, who knows what would of happened to our fellow Dragonkin that went missing. When news of their abduction occurred, it caused quite a stir that instigated a wide search of the mountains. Alas, it was to no avail and little wonder why if they were removed from the mountains. On behalf ot the Dragon Colonies, we're in your debt for their return" he said.

Tsuki shook his head. In reality, it was Ramza and Melphi that did the rescuing. They were the ones that deserved the most credit. "Think nothing of it. We just did what we thought was right. Too many Humans have taken life for granted and far too many lives have been thrown and cast aside because ot it. The Dragonkin are right to avoid all interactions with us. Humans are indeed the most vile beings in the world" he said, clenching his fists tightly. He couldn't help but think back to all that's happened. The destruction of his hometown, the Syndicate that tarnished Sirione's name and the experiements they did to Kesuke and altering his genetic code, the actions that Caius has taken, the sins committed by Kaito and even back in ancient times when Allie had told him about the visions that she had been getting. Of how she was basically no more than an object for Humans to experiment on. It pissed him off immensely and made him disgusted to think that he shared the same blood. "I'm dong what I can to fix things, but the sins us Humans have committed run far deeper than I could ever imagine" he said.

Allie walked over to Tsuki, grabbing onto his right hand with both of hers. She could feel the anger and frustration welling up inside of him. He hid it well when she told him about the things she's seen back in Jibril, but he felt genuine anger and hatred. The look he gave was scary and made her feel uneasy at the time. "Master..." she said softly.

Cesela got up from her seat and walked to the other side of Tsuki and took hold of his other hand. "Please, don't beat yourself over it. You're doing everything you can to try and fix the mistakes that Humans create. That's more than enough Tsuki was the first Human to talk to her with such warmth since she lost everything. He was her savior that guided her out from the darkness. While she hasn't been much good on the frontlines like everyone else, he gave her all his support along with everyone else. There was a lifetime of debt that she would probably never be able to repay. To see him so angered by the actions his own race has committed against others that they deemed lower than them was both touching and hurtful. On one side, it shows that he truly thought Faeries were the same as Humans and didn't need to be treated any differently and that made her like him even more. On the other hand, it brought pain to her seeing him in this state. These were things that he couldn't have prevented and seems to shoulder the weight of the consequences as if they were his own.

Varnis grumbled a bit as he stroked his beard. Bizarrely, he could feel the sincerity in his words which was a rare thing to hear from a Human outsider. While he seemed to be a genuinely nice person, there was a bit of foolishness in his words. "It's conceited to think a single Human can right the wrongs that have been committed by Human hands. However, I can feel sincerity in what you say" he said. Too many Humans are highly opposed to his ideals. "Given the fact that you've earned my daughter's trust and brought back our missing folk, I'm willing to give you all a chance" he said.

Melphi was silent for a moment before speaking. "I heard that strange things have been happening around here. Various mineral deposits have suddenly run dry and our fields have been raided by unknown individuals" she said.

Varnis scratched the back of his head. While this was indeed true, it wasn't something alarming enough to bring Tsuki and everyone else. "Regrettably, yes. That has been happening as for the last few weeks. The guardsmen have been working diligently to find the culprit, but haven't been able to find anything conclusive yet. All we know is that there are two people responsible. One of them was seen shrouded in a black robe. Before we could confront them, they had disappeared into thin air. No one knows what this individual looks like. As for the second one...even more regrettably, it appears that they're Dragonkin. However, much like the shrouded individual, no one has been able to get a close look at them" he said. He couldn't understand why someone would raid their fields. There has been no evidence of unexpected surplus of goods from the local stores, so the only other thing is that the raided goods are being exported out. "Hiyoshi, my Overseer, took charge of the investigation but has yet to turn up any leads. While all of this has been causing us some headaches, I don't see why it warrants you to bring in outsiders" he said.

Melphi was a little disturbed that a Dragonkin was involved in this. There was no reason for them to do such things. Explaining to him as to why she brought the others with her was going to be difficult, but with the added information about Hiyoshi and the strange feelings they had got throughout the settlement, she now had reasonable concerns to properly justify her reasons. "I was also informed about the strange rumors about Hiyoshi. Something about him acting uncharacteristically over the last few weeks as well. Not only that, but we all picked up on a strange energy throughout the settlement. Things weren't like this two months ago when I left and after all I've experienced thus far, I had reasonable concerns that might require assistance" she said. While these weren't the initial reasons for bringing Tsuki and the others, they were all still valid reasons.

Varnis mumbled more to himself as she gave her reasons to him. It wasn't a surprise that she was able to pick up on the aether disturbance. The ordinary folks of the settlement haven't picked up on it, but those that are more attuned were able to such as himself as the guardsmen. No one knows what the cause is, but everyone is of the same mind that it brings uneasiness to them. It's a disturbance that has never occurred before and has continued to have gotten gradually worse through the last few weeks. "This still doesn't warrant outside assistance. Surely. we can handle it ourselves like we have been" he said.

Cliff shook his head slowly. While he believes that that the Dragonkin are capable, the threat they potentially face was something beyond them. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think you can" he said. He knew what type of aetherial disturbance this was and it wasn't anything good. It's something that hasn't been felt in centuires, since when he was alive.

Tsuki glanced over towards Cliff, tilting his head a bit. "What do you mean? Do you know something about this?" he asked.

Cliff took a few moments to gather his thoughts. Not only was this a familiar disturbance for him, it was far more potent than he remembered. "The aetherial disturbance that's affecting this place is the beginning stages of what we used to refer to as a Necrotic Cloud" he said.

Lynette didn't like the sound of that at all. "N-Necrotic Cloud...?" she asked. She got bad vibes just from the name alone.

Cliff nodded slowly. With the news of what's happening in Dolothlond and how they appear to be in the midst of forming an army of undead, this was something he had expected would happen at some point. "It's a malevolent cloud of energy used to conjure up a legion of undead forces. They manifest within that cloud and cause untold havoc and heavy loss of life if left unchecked" he said.

Elle stroked her chin a bit. It reminds her of a similar experience that they've once dealt with before. "A malevolent cloud that spawns the undead..." she said.

That's when the realization hit her. Memories of her time in the sublevels of Eresseas Castle came back in her mind of when the supply of crystal shards that they had transported from Basilwell had suddenly exploded, resulting in the sublevels of the castle being filled with a strange, violet mist. Almost immediately after the mist appeared, strange beings started to manifest and swarm the sublevels. These beings were extremely unnatural and weren't typical monsters. She fought several of them, resulting in serioues injury to herself as she frantically made her way out to inform Taichi and Emma of what's happened. It didn't matter how many she had cut down, more just manifested in their place.

Elle noted this realization to the group. She had told them what occurred in the sublevels and initially chalked it up to one of Honegroth's' plans to create further chaos within the city. "I remember now! This Necrotic Cloud...does it have a violet mist to it?" she asked.

Cliff looked over towards Elle and nodded. "Correct" he said.

Elle felt a chill down her spine. If what she experienced was truly a Necrotic Cloud, then that greatly escalates things. "Then, it is indeed what I think it is. It's the same as what I experienced back in Eresseas when Shades and Dusks suddenly manifested in the castle sublevels" she said. She had barely managed to escape out of the sublevels before managing to seal it off.

Cliff folded his arms, tilting his head a bit. "Shades and Dusks? I suppose thats one way to refer the undead as" he said. Knowing that at least one of them knew what a Necrotic Cloud was, it would make explanations easier. "As you might expect, Necrotic Clouds are a byproduct of Necromancy. They've wiped out entire villages and overwhelmed many fortified positions back in ancient times. They're much more dangerous than you might imagine" he said.

Varnis stroked his beard as he spoke up about Necrotic Clouds and the dangers they impose. "And you're saying one of these Necrotic Clouds are in the process of forming here?" he asked.

Cliff shifted his gaze over towards Varnis once more, nodding at him. "Without a doubt. Knowing Yorick, the being that commands Necromancy, they are attempting to overwhelm the Colonies with an unstoppable force of undead in order to turn the bodies of Dragonkin into zombies which will add significant force to their undead army" he said. Having a whole legion of undead Dragonkin, who would still possess the ability to transform into dragons, would pose a large threat to the surrounding areas.

Varnis mumbled to himself for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. Taking such words from outsiders, he would normally dismiss it. However, all of this was coming from the Dragon King himself, so this adds credibility to what he said. "How do we stop it from happening?" he asked.

Cliff has had plenty of experience dealing with Necrotic Clouds in the past, so he knows how to properly deal with them. "On the upside, Necrotic Clouds don't spread. They require 4 anchor points that surround the targeted area. So long as we destroy those anchor points, the Necrotic Cloud will disperse. That or you kill the one responsible which is a task unfit for us at our level currently. Like I said, Yorick may be the weakest among the Hands of Sarex, but they still hold more power over us right now" he said.

Varnis contemplated on the information that he was told. If all that was needed was to destroy the anchor points, then it should be easy for the settlers as they know the mountains like the back of their hand. "Then, as I said, it should be no issue if we handle it. We wouldn't need outside assistance" he said.

Cliff once again shook his head. He understands what Varnis is trying to say, but given the fact that majority of the settlers don't even realize what's going on, that would be like finding a needle in a haystack. "That still won't work. Tell me, did you or anyone else pick up on the aetherial disturbance?" he asked.

Varnis nodded. "So far, Hiyoshi was the only one to have noticed and informed me about it. Despite that though, I haven't felt anything off, but decided to trust in his judgment and left the investigation to him. So far, he hasn't came back with any information. This was a few weeks ago at this point" he said. Hiyoshi has been hard at work searching the mountains and surrounding areas for the source of the disturbance, so he hasn't been in the settlement much. "I've asked around to see if anyone's felt anything strange, but they all said no" he said.

Cliff was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "So, only one person has a vague idea that something's wrong, but doesn't know what it is. Yet, these guys picked up on the disturbance right away and one has even experienced it herself. I know Dragonkin have their pride, but this is something that you should entrust them with" he said. Tsuki and his friends have dealt with strange dealings in the past and considering Necromancy has a strong connection with Arcanum and Daemons, they were the most fit for the task.

Varnis grumbled more to himself as he stroked his beard. If the Dragon King himself was speaking so highly of Tsuki and his friends, then perhaps he may have misjudged them. As a result, he gave each of them a good, hard look as he took their measure. It was undeniable that he could tell that they were stronger than your average person. Each of them had the eyes of someone that's been through more than their fair share of fights, so it was clear that they knew their way around the combat zone. He didn't want to admit it, but they could potentially give some of the more experienced guardsmen a run for their money. After a few minutes of silence and observation, he let out a heavy sigh as he came to his decision. "Alright. As much as it pains me to say this, I'll allow them to assist in this matter" he said.

Melphi was surprised that he came to a decision so quickly. She was expecting him to put up more of a fight. "Old man..." she said.

Varnis got up from his seat and walked over to a nearby cabinet. He pulled open one of the drawers and grabbed something out of it before walking back over to the table. He set down a dragon-shaped stamp in front of Tsuki along with several pieces of cloth with intricate designs stitched into it. "Take these with you. You'll need them if you want to move around the settlement freely" he said.

Allie reached over and took one of the pieces of cloth. It almost looked like a bandana with how small and thin it was. "What's this?" she asked.

Varnis looked over towards Allie. "It's called a Draco Bond. It will show everyone that you've been officially recognized by me to reside within the Colonies. You may have noticed these around people's arms as you made your way here" he said. A Draco Bond was a form of passport or a form of identification.

Lynette thought back to their walk through the settlement to get here and he was right. Everyone had similar pieces of cloth wrapped around some parts of their body. "I see. So, it'll be easier to tell who's an outsider since they won't have these" she said.

Varnis nodded, looking down towards the pieces of cloth on the table. "These may not necessarily protect you from animosity of others, so beware of that. As for that stamp, show it to the shop and innkeepers and they'll provide their services" he said. He soon shifted his gaze up towards Tsuki and Melphi. "I do have a condition, however. I would like you all to assist Hiyoshi in finding and eliminating the cause of this aetherial disturbance" he said.

Elle leaned back in her chair as he gave his condition for allowing their assistance. "Would he accept our help though? Hasn't he been acting a bit strange?" she asked.

Varnis nodded once more. "It's probably due to stress. After all, he's been searching for clues for weeks now with nothing to show for it. Any help I could give him would be the best course of action. He's my Overseer and he trusts my judgment, so I don't think that'll be a problem" he said. The only thing they need to do now is inform the man himself. The only issue with that, however, is that his visits have become somewhat random. Not even he knows what he's been up to during his search through the mountains. Thankfully though, luck seems to be on their side.

Almost as if the wills demanded it, the door to the meeting hall opened up. A muscular man in primitive, Draconian armor with a sword strapped to his waist came walking in. This man had long, silver hair and blue eyes, had a long scar that went down the length of the left side of his face and numerous smaller scars all over his upper arms and chest. He appeared to be in his early 40s in terms of his half-Human form but appearances are always deceiving when it came to the Dragonkin. After all, Melphi has the height and appearance that barely surpasses a Dwarf and her half-Human age was 18 years old while her dragon age was well over 70.

The man walked towards the center of the room and stopped. He looked around and examined Tsuki and the others that were all gathered without saying a word. After about a minute of intense stares and silence, his gaze shifted back towards Varnis, bowing slightly to him. "I've returned, High Acheron. I apologize for my absence as of late" he said in a deep tone.

Varnis nodded, waving his hand towards him. "No need to apologize, Hiyoshi. I understand that your search of the mountains hasn't been easy. But, you've come at a good time" he said, looking towards Tsuki and the others.

The man stood upright as he was welcomed back. "I heard that a group of outsiders arrived unexpectedly from the people. I take it that this is them, I presume" he said.

Immediately after the man walked into the meetling hall, Cesela revolted. A vile, wretched stench caught her scent and it was so strong that it caused her to cover her face with her hand and her fox ears to lower against her head. The smell alone almost made her sick. "Ugh! What is that smell!? It smells like a decaying corpse!" she shouted, muffled through her hand.

The group looked over towards Cesela and the violent reaction she had and gave her confused looks. What was strange about this was that no one else smelled anything wrong. That's when Tsuki and the others remembered that she had a heightened sense of smell, so it was natural for her to pick up on smells that they wouldn't otherwise. However, it was a mystery as to why only she could smell it with whatever it was being in such close proximity to them.

The man scratched the back of his head, letting out nervous laugh. "Ah sorry about that. I just got back from slaying a horde of monsters out in the settlement outskirts. Monsters seem to have gotten quite active of late and some of their smell and blood ended up on me. I thought I had cleansed myself of the smell, but it seems not" he said. It was odd that she was able to pick up the smell, but no one else in the settlement did. Perhaps that they were just being considerate or something.

Varnis cleared his throat before speaking once more. "Hiyoshi, these outsiders brought back those that had been abducted a few weeks ago and now wish to aid in our efforts of eliminating the aetherial disturbance. They say that they've had experience with this and have substancial backing to back up their claims" he said, shifting his gaze over towards Cliff, who had been sitting back in silence for the last few minutes.

The man's gaze followed Varnis' and landed on Cliff. He was quite shocked to see the person standing in front of them albeit in spiritual form. "Is...is that the Dragon King himself?" he asked. He took a good look at Cliff's spiritual form, stroking his chin a bit before returning to a calm composure. "Interesting. It's quite unexpected to meet the legend himself. Now, I see why people are up in a clamor" he said.

Cliff tilted his head a bit at his reaction. "Hm?" he mumbled to himself. His reaction seemed a bit strange. For some reason, he didn't seem too surprised compared to everyone else.

The man bowed slightly to Cliff and the others. "Where are my manners? My name is Hiyoshi Alkens. I serve as Overseer for the Colonies" he said. Once he got his introduction out of the way, he turned his attention to the other thing that Varnis had mentioned about them. "So, you all wish to help in eliminating the disturbance, huh? Might I ask why?" he asked.

Cliff proceeded to tell Hiyoshi what he has already said. However, his reaction to it all was even more strange than the previous. This was news that should have came as great concern and yet, he didn't seem all that bothered by it. As an Overseer, the safety of the Colonies was a top priority, so it would make sense if they shared some bits of concern when such information came to light. Yet, there was barely any from him. This caused Cliff to become wary of Hiyoshi. Melphi was also of the same mind as Cliff was, but chose not to voice her concerns. Everyone else didn't seem to notice that something was definitely off about this whole situation.

Hiyoshi was stroking his chin as he was filled in on what has been discussed as well as who the rest of the group was. "Hmm...so, an impending ancient disaster is on the verge of occurring, huh?" he mumbled. He fell silent for a few moments before dropping his arm down to his side and nodded. "Why not let them help then?" he asked.

Melphi tilted her head a bit more. His sudden answer gave her pause. Hiyoshi was someone who would put their life on the line for the Colonies. While he doesn't share a strong hatred against Humans, he's always had his guard up even with the few Humans that have lived within the Colonies for centuries. He wouldn't normally go along with such a request so easily especially when outsiders were thrown into the mix. His quick answer made her think back on the rumors that have been spreading. "Huh? That was a quick response..." she said. This was very uncharacteristic of him and to see it for herself, it made her more concerned.

Hiyoshi looked over towards Melphi, shrugging his shoulders. "I've been scouring these mountains for a while now and don't have much to show for it. If what Cliff said was true about this...Necrotic Cloud forming, then it's time to find a different approach" he said. His gaze shifts over towards Tsuki and the rest of the group. One look was all it took for him to gauge their strength. "I can tell these folks are quite capable, so I'll accept any help I can get" he said.

Varnis nodded with his acknowledgment of cooperation. "Well, that makes things easier then. With that, I shall leave the rest of the investigation in your hands" he said. His gaze shifted over to Melphi "But before that, make yourselves known at the Cabins. Show that stamp to the consulate there and they'll get you situated. Afterwards, take some time to get your bearings and check out the surroundings to familiarize yourselves" he said. If they were going to be operating within the Colonies, it was best for them to know their surroundings in case of emergency.

Hiyoshi was in agreement with his suggestion. It would give him time to do what he came to do in the first place. "Excellent suggestion. While you guys do that, I can inform Varnis of everything I've learned over the last few days. I'll come find you guys at the Cabins once I'm done here and we'll go from there" he said.

Tsuki nodded before looking over towards Cliff. "It's best if you keep yourself hidden unless it's necessary. We've already caused enough fuss as it is" he said. By now, word of them most likely has spread to the entire settlement, particularly Cliff's sudden appearance. Whether they'll have an easier time moving around is yet to be determined.

Cliff shrugged his shoulders. It was a given that his presence would cause a fuss for the Colonies. Even if he didn't show himself to others now, they'd still feel his Aer and presence within Tsuki. "Don't have to tell me twice, Besides, it's not like I can keep up my spiritual form without causing stress on you, in any case" he said. He soon fell silent as he locked eyes with Tsuki. He soon spoke out one last time before disappearing but telepathically so no one else could hear. "I'd be cautious around Hiyoshi if I were you. I don't know what it is, but the rumors about him seem to be true. Something is very off about him" he said. As soon as he sent this message to him telepathically, he soon disappeared back into Tsuki.

Melphi scratched the back of her head, letting out a sigh. "I can lead you all to the Cabins then. They aren't too far from the plaza where we had entered from" she said. She stood up and faced Varnis for a moment before bowing to him. "If you'll excuse us then" she said.

The rest of the group said their farewells to Varnis and soon left the building, leaving Varnis and Hiyoshi behind. As soon as they walked out of the building, they noticed a relatively large group had gathered around the entrance, all staring at them with wonder and curiosity. Their attention soon looked onto the Draco Bonds each of them now had. Knowing that the only way to obtain those was through the High Acheron's approval, the crowd was understandably confused and curious. Some looked like they didn't understand why they were given them in the first place. However, the word of the High Acheron was absolute, so they opted not to speak up about it.

The group made their way through the crowd unimpeded as they seemed to recognize the High Acheron's authority. While the vast majority were left baffled by this, being given the Draco Bond meant that they were technically part of the Colonies. The Colonies have a strong sense of family which are all connected by these bonds. They knew that they were given these bonds through certain circumstances. If they garnered the High Acheron's trust, someone who was highly vigilant against outsider Humans, then they were going to place their trust in his decision.

Their walk back down through the Settlement into the Habitual Zone was met with a lot less hostile stares now that they had the Draco Bonds. Eventually, they returned back to the plaza and proceeded down the opposite road that lead down the mountain. While they walked, they were able to take in more of the unique sights of the settlement. It was vastly different compared to normal villages, There were a lot handwoven fabrics that strung across the various buildings with no sign of any modern innovations that Human villages and cities rely on. The lifestyle of the settlement was very dated and it made everyone feel like they stepped back in time. Stoves and ovens relied on fire pits as opposed to electricity. Lanterns served as streetlights and clothes were hanging up on clothelines as opposed to washing and drying machines. If there was anything electrically powered, it was converted from the windmills that were scattered around. Since they were so high up in the mountains, it was no wonder that they relied on wind power.

After about 15 minutes of walking from the plaza, they found themselves in what appears to be what was referred to as the Cabins. Small huts strung along the mountainside, all with a fantastic view of the valley down below. The huts themselves were fairly small, no bigger than one room apartments. At most, they could fit two people in them. They came with a few basic supplies such as a bed, stove, ice box to keep fresh meat and produce cold and a bathroom. The huts themselves were of a wooden and cobblestone design just like everything else and were kept in good shape.

The group soon approached a separate building off to the side of the huts and entered it. Inside was what someone would expect a travel agency would look like. There were several bookshelves full of books and travel brochures along various other items and knickknacks. It was a bit of a bizarre sight to see compared to what they've seen so far. In the center of the room, there was a half-circle desk with more magazines and books piled on it with a young Dragonkin female sitting behind it.

The female Dragonkin was working on a few documents when she heard the front door open up. "Hello! Welcome to the Habitual Consulate. If you need a place to stay or work, then you've come to the right-" she said as she looked up. She froze in her tracks once she saw the unfamiliar group walk in. At first, she became alarmed at their presence. She knew every Human settler, so Tsuki and Lynette were unrecognizable and there were no Elves or Foxkin that lived among them. Allie was the only person she wasn't wary of. "H-how may I help you...?" she asked nervously.

Melphi walked up to the desk and placed down the stamp for her to see. "Long time no see, Aida. Don't worry about them. They won't harm you" she said.

The girl named Aida took a quick look at Melphi and took her a minute to remember her. "Oh Mellie!" she said. She quickly got up from her sea, ran around the desk and grabbed her in a tight hug, lifting her up off the ground. "It's been so long since I've seen you! I heard you left the Colonies unexpectedly! Do you realize how worried I was!?" she asked. Aida was about as tall as Ramza was, so she basically towered over Melphi with her adult child-like size.

Melphi didn't expect to be suddenly hugged and lifted up off the ground like some kind of doll. Aida, being an adult Dragonkin herself, had a strong grip around her that she couldn't break free from. "H-hey! Aida! Enough of that! Let me go!" she shouted, trying to break free. Even with using her own strength, she couldn't budge from her arms.

Aida lifted her up by under her arms as if she was a young child. "Not until you apologize. I was worried sick about you! You left without saying a word to me!" she said, almost scolding her.

Melphi squirmed and struggled a bit more before giving in with a heavy sigh. She couldn't believe this was happening. "Fine! I'm sorry, okay!? I should of left a note or something. Now, put me down!" she said.

Aida slowly set her back down on the ground and put her hands on her hips. "That's more like it" she said. She was relieved to see that she was doing well and that she hasn't grown a single inch since the last time she saw her.

It was unexpected for Tsuki and everyone else to see a side of Melphi they didn't think she had. It left them almost speechless. It was clear that the two of them knew each other and through the reactions of the older Dragonkin, they were pretty close friends or something along those lines.

Aida shifted her gaze back over towards Tsuki and the others. If they were her companions, then she knew that they could be trusted. "You are her friends, I presume? As her Elder Sister, I want to thank you for keeping an eye on her" she said.

Melphi felt like whatever image she had built up for herself was all but shattered. She brushed herself off and fixed her clothes from behind manhandled by Aida. "She's most definitely not my Elder Sister, though she likes to think she is" she said.

Lynette scratched the back of her head. It was strangely refreshing to see Melphi so flustered. "If anything, she was the one keeping an eye on us" she said. It was no lie to say that they owed a lot to her.

Aida cleared her throat and bowed slightly to the group. "Excuse my manners. My name is Aida Stokes, self-proclaimed Elder Sister of Mellie and the one in charge of this consulate" she said. She stood back upright and headed back around her desk and took a look at the stamp that Melphi had set down. "If you have the High Acheron's stamp, that must mean you've been approved for some housing. Pretty odd for him to grant such an honor for outsiders" she said.

Melphi shook her head as she regained her composure. "It's a long story. I can explain it to you later. Just know that we'll be around for a few days, at the very least" she said. If they were going to be here for a while, might as well make themselves comfortable and if there was anyone who knew the best places to bunker down in, it'd be her.

Aida nodded as she started to go through her desk. "The huts can hold up to two people, so you're looking for accomodations for 3 groups of 2, correct?" she asked. She flipped through some papers for another minute and gathered the necessary documents. "Lucky for you, a third hut recently became available, so I can proceed without issue" she said.

Tsuki reached into his bag to pull out his wallet. They've amassed a wealth of Gald through their travels, but was slightly worried about the cost of renting out 3 different huts. "How much is the cost?" he asked.

Aida looked up at him as he pulled his wallet out, extending her hand out with a single finger as she shakes it back and forth. "No cost at all. The expenditure is covered by the High Acheron, so don't worry" she said. Once she was finished working through the various documents, she handed them over so that they could sign it before reaching to pull out three sets of keys. "Just sign on the line there and you'll be all set" she said.

Tsuki tilted his head a bit, putting his wallet away and taking the provided pen and signed on the leasing agreements. Once that was done, he returned the papers and in exchange, they were given the sets of keys. It was a simple and smooth process that was a lot easier than they would have expected. Usually, leasing out a house or an apartment in a Human village or city required an extensive screening process that could take hours. This was done in mere minutes.

Lynette was surprised at the how fast the whole transaction was processed. "Already? I expected that it would take all day to get approval" she said.

Melphi glanced over towards Lynette, folding her arms. "Despite her personality, Aida is extremely professional at her job. That's why everyone comes here if someone needs a place to stay or is looking for work. She can get them sorted out pretty quick, depending on what's available" she said. A lot of struggling settlers turned into successes because of her work recommendations. Everyone looked at her with great respect.

Aida shifted her gaze over to Melphi for a moment. "I'll be expecting a full explanation from you later, Mellie. Don't you forget that" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

Cesela couldn't help but let out a soft giggle. "Well, it's clear that she certainly cares for you, Mellie" she said, saying her nickname in an attempt to tease her.

Melphi shot a quick glare at Cesela. "Please, don't call me that too. Having one person alone calling me such an embarrassing nickname is enough as it is" she said. She soon headed towards the door to quickly remove herself from this environment. "Come on, let's get ourselves situated at our huts and we'll go from there" she said. She then quickly left through the door, not giving them a chance to stop her.

Allie tilted her head a bit, putting her finger up to her chin. "Is it just me or was her face red from embarrassment?" she asked.

Aida let out a brief laugh as Melphi quickly made her exit. It really was great to see her again and she looked forward to the times they have together over the next few days. "She may play it cool, but she's a nice, sweet girl deep down. Because of her small size and young age, people around here still treat her like a kid despite being 75 years old" she said.

Elle tilted her head a bit. Dragons and Elves shared a similar lifespan, so the age concepts of young and old highly differ compared to Human logic. "Dragons can live up to 300 years, right? I'd argue that 75 years old is still a child in that regard" she said.

Aida nodded in agreement, looking over towards Elle and taking note of her pointed ears. Immediately, she knew that she was a High Elf. "Normally, you'd be correct. However, she's very sensitive when it comes to her height and that's what makes it worse for her. By the age of 75, us Dragonkin usually have fully grown half-Human forms by then. She has since reached that age and has stopped growing" she said. While she may still be regarded as a child in the eyes of the Dragonkin, she tends to be looked upon as even younger. This had irritated her in the past and probably always will. She hated being treated like a child and she could only imagine that sentiment worsening outside of the Colonies where in the eyes of Humans, she looks like a fully grown child in their early teenage years. Even some Dwarves are taller than her by a few inches.

Elle could relate to this in more waysthan one. It was of a similar situation as the Elves. "Well, I can't say that I can't sympathize with her. Us Elves suffer the same fate as Dragonkin, by the sounds of it" she said. Memories flashed in her head of a time of peace. She was surrounded by a loving Human family and she had a fairly young appearance to her at the time. Through a Human's eye, she could pass off as a 4 year old girl when in actuality, she was well into her 20s in Elven years.

Aida stared off towards the door of the building, thinking back on the past. "Mellie would always try to act older and more mature than she really is and it seems she still tries to do that. I've told her in the past that she should just be herself, but maybe this is who she wants to be" she said, shrugging her shoulders. She soon sat down in the chair behind her and glanced at a framed picture which contained a photo of herself and Melphi. "In fact, I think her need to act older and more mature has only accelerated through her continuous Human interaction" she said. It wasn't hard to imagine that she would be treated as a kid even more in Human society.

Tsuki shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head. He didn't particularly care about how old she was. "Mel's a fantastic support to have regardless of how she acts. Personally, I've never looked at her and thought she was a child. Appearances can be deceiving, after all" he said.

Aida stroked her chin as she mumbles to herself, her thin blue dragon tail swaying from side to side. "You're an interesting Human, I'll give you that. If only there were more like you out there. Maybe this world wouldn't be so bad" she said. The only Humans she really trusted were the ones that were native to the settlement.

Lynette nodded, putting her hand up to her chest. "There are a lot of good Humans out there as there are bad ones. There are some of us that want to try and right the wrongs our forebearers committed" she said. Of course, she was one of them.

Elle soon turned to face the door. "We should go before Melphi decides to lose her patience" she said. She was the next person to walk off and leave the building.

Aida nodded and waved them off. "If you guys have any questions about something, my door is always open" she said.

Tsuki would remember her words in case the need ever came up. With that, the rest of the group left the building to rejoin Melphi. With the keys to their huts in hand, they started down going up a rocky pathway. The path took them up to the mountainside where three huts separated from the rest were located. The numbers on the huts matched the keys that they were given. The huts that were loaned out to them would offer them some privacy since they weren't near any others and it gave them a good window view of the settlement and the mountains off in the distance.

Tsuki took one set of keys and gave one set to Melphi. Since the huts were designed to hold two people, they would need to divide up. "Alright. Who's going to bunk with who?" he asked.

Allie tugged on Tsuki's sleeve. "Master, can me and Sela take one of the huts?" she asked.

Tsuki looked down at her, tilting his head a bit. That would mean it would be just the two of them. "By yourselves? You sure?" he asked.

Allie nodded at him with bright eyes. "Yeah! It'd be like a sleepover!" she said. In reality, it would give her the perfect chance to bond more with Cesela, who she has grown very fond of through the course of their journey.

Lynette was initially concerned at the thought of two kids staying in a hut all by themselves, but those thoughts were quickly dismissed when she realized that they weren't just ordinary kids. "I say let them. The kids deserve to have some time for themselves" she said.

Tsuki scratched the back of his head. It's not like he was worried about anything. The settlers might still look at them with wary eyes, but they wouldn't do anything after receiving the High Acheron's blessing. "Is that alright with you, Cesela?" he asked, looking towards her.

Cesela nodded as she walked up beside Allie. "Yeah! We'll be fine by ourselves. Besides, our huts are right next to each other, so it's not like we'll be far away" she said. The huts were in close proximity that if they were to yell and scream, they'd be able to hear them.

Lynette looked over towards Melphi. "Would you like to bunk together? I'd also like to ask you about the various medicines that are around here too" she said. While she was within the settlement, she wanted to learn about Draconian medicine and practices. By expanding her knowledge of the medicinial field, she can improve herself in terms of creating medicine and how they might apply to Healing Artes.

Melphi shrugged her shoulders a bit. She didn't mind the arrangement, but medicine was a subject field she wasn't too bright on. "That's fine with me. I don't know how much I can tell you, but there is someone I can introduce you to later that will be a better fit for your questions" she said.

Cesela soon walked up to Melphi. "Do you know where Shinji lives? After all, visiting him was the whole reason I wanted to come along" she said. This was an opportunity she wasn't going to let go to waste. Since there will be some time before the meet-up with Hiyoshi, she wanted to take the chance for a long awaited visit.

Melphi turned and pointed over to a lone house on top of a hill on the other side of consulate building that they were at. Because of their location, much of the settlement could be seen. The house had a red tiled roof surrounded by a cobblestone wall with a large torch stand in it's front yard. "That house right over there. Just head back to the consulate and take a left up the hill" she said. She turned back and looked at Cesela. "I can bring you over there if you want" she said.

Cesela shook her head. "No, that's alright. I can find it on my own" she said. She wanted to take the time to also walk around on her own. They may be in an unfamiliar environment with wary eyes on them, but she was confident that the settlers wouldn't cause her any undue harm.

Elle glanced over towards Tsuki, folding her arms up to her chest. "Looks like it'll be me and you then" she said. She soon quickly looked away from him as if to purposely avoid his eyes.

Tsuki nodded at her. "So it seems" he said. With the housing arrangements sorted out, all that was left to do was to get themselves accustomed to their surroundings."Alright. Let's drop our things off and then go our separate ways around the settlement. Remember that we're guests here. Let's try not to attract any more attention than we already have" he said. So long as they wore the Draco Bonds, they should be alright to roam around the settlement freely.

Melphi was in agreement. It'll be at least a few hours before Hiyoshi will meet back up with them, so that gave them plenty of time to do what was needed. "Once we've all seen what there is to see, we'll meet back up here. Got it?" she asked.

Everyone was in agreement with this. Tsuki gave the last set of keys to Allie before everyone split off into their desginated cabins. Inside, they put their bags down and unloaded their things. Tsuki was pretty exhausted, so he decided to rest up for a little bit before heading out. Meanwhile, both Allie and Cesela were the first ones to leave their hut and wander off into the settlement, presumably off to meet up with this Shinji person that Cesela was so keen on meeting.

Melphi and Lynette decided to hang back in their hut for a while so that Lynette could learn whatever Melphi knew about Draconian medicine. Elle was the next person to leave their hut and wander off into the settlement. She wanted to learn more about the Colonies while they had some free time and with her lineage as a High Elf, she shouldn't have too many issues. Considering that Dragonkin and Elves have always held good relations with one another, she would have the easiest time communicating with the settlers.

With them now situated within the Colonies, they'll have a few days to figure out what's been happening around the settlement. From the strange aether disturbance to Hiyoshi's seemingly strange behavior. Unfortuntely for Tsuki and his group, they'll soon come to realize that the next two days will test their mettle. They have yet to realize just how dangerous of a situation they have involved themselves in.

To be continued...