After Draxson’s mom spotted him falling from the sky and landing out of sight, she took to the skies, taking Draxson’s brother with her, while the rest of the group flew to the general area where Draxson landed. After eight minutes of searching in the skies, Solina spotted a pile of ash where Draxson lay curled up in a ball, tears gushing from his eyes, smoke coming from his nostrils in small puffs, and minor licks of embers flickering from the sides of his mouth. Solina cringed at the sight of her son. He was covered in soot and scorch marks where his shirt and pants had ripped off when he transformed. Solina looked away, not wanting to imagine the pain he was in. She would do her best to treat his wounds later. Solina descended back to the ground, her wings shrinking to the size of a bag, the meshy, colorful wing material fading into her like dust entering someone's nose as they inhaled.
When the group neared and approached Draxson, they could hear him releasing small sobs as he inhaled and exhaled while sleeping.
The Friel fighting Draxson earlier, whom Solina had to helplessly watch as she maintained the barrier as the sky battle moved away from the center of Town, were flying overhead, about a dozen of them. Coming from the southeast.
The Friel guard retained roughly a quarter of their forces flying overhead, ready to strike Draxson if he awoke; they could put him back to sleep from a safe distance while also notifying their comrades if the threat stirred as they ascended the mound of ash on which the target rested.
One of the Friel guards returned to the rest of their group to report that they had found the Dragon they had fought earlier. After reporting to leadership, the guard led the group as they steadily ran to the town center. When they passed the last block from their destination, they spotted a group of Friel, women, several children, and one man; they were a handful of meters from the mound of ash.
The leader of the small friel forces stated, “Halt! Who are you? State your names and tell me how you survived and why you approached this Dragon creature.” Solina and the surviving group halted and looked in the direction from which the voice had come, flying. The source of the voice and the three accompanying him crossed the short distance they had already climbed and slowly approached the group of soldiers.
“I am Solina Silverwing, and I’m the boy's mother. Solina replied to the leader of the soldiers. “Are you really Solina Silverwing? If you are, why did your son become a massive dragon?” “Yes, I am really Solina Silverwing,” said Solina as she spread her unique butterfly-like wings, identifying herself as Solina Silverwing. The battle commander looked shocked with a hint of embarrassment. “Forgive my impudence, Lady Solina. I had no idea it was you. said the battle commander Eliendail as he bowed to a knee, with his men following his gesture. “No, no, no, don't do that. I am not a subject of such honor. Please get up; I am not worthy of your submission and honor,” said Solina to the battle commander and his troops. “But you're the wife of our guardian dragon, “Dragnanarther Chaos Flame,’ the esteemed guardian of our little Town.”
The battle commander and his troops got up from kneeling, and then the battle commander looked over to the child on the pile of ash, letting out a sigh before he inquired, “What brought this about? Why did your son turn into a dragon?” Solina thought for a moment about giving the best answer before responding, “Because my son is a half Dragon,” she said with anxiousness, looking over at her child.
The battle commander (Eliendail) responded, “Well, we didn't consider the possibility of your children being capable of dragon transformation, but that would make a lot of sense when considering the tenacity of dragons. Well, we have a lot of things to do and discuss, but first, we need to find a way to prevent this from happening again, and we also need to find a way to help him get these powers under control or temporarily strip him of them.” Eliendail said, “We'll think of a way to keep him under control later, but for now, we will place some restraining spells. Can your pendant be used to prevent him from transforming if you activate it? At the same time, he wears it, so this doesn't happen again?” said the battle commander, waving his hand around his surroundings, insinuating the destruction around them.
Solina replied, “Yes, that would work, and I understand; I am willing to comply and lend my aid to restraining Draxson.” “Okay, good. Now that that's settled, let's try to restore the lives of those we lost. We could use an experienced doktor. Would you lend us your experience, doctor?” The commander asked, stretching his hand to Solina, “You may have my energy, but I'm not as apt with majic medicine as you are; it would be better if you had my energy instead. The non-medicals and I can help wherever you need to carry something. Solina reached out her hand and absorbed the commander's energy by lightly holding his hand until enough remained that he could fly in case there were any attacks, while the Town was mostly destroyed. When she absorbed all the energy she felt comfortable with, she let go of his hand and said, “There, I’m all done. You should still be able to cast a spell in an emergency. “It’s alright, you can take all my majic; the flow will stop and leave me just enough to stay conscious, so don't worry about it,” Eliendail said, extending his hand to Soilina again.
After those who could lend their majic to Solina were done, they began, under Solina’s orders, to clear the rubble and debris near the center of Town. Meanwhile, Solina found the corpses with the most life potential and reformed them from almost ash to wholeness again. They would be ready in a quarter of an hour to be revived with healing majic. She walked around, looking gloomy as she passed many piles of ash that couldn't be restored and the bodies that were tainted with life-stealing majic that left them ineligible for revival. Solina shot a glance over to where her son still lay unconscious on the pile of ash, as was suggested. Solina sighed while wearing her modified observer mask to sense more life energy and improve her focus.
Solina looked away from her son, noticing Commander Eliendail discussing this with his officers. Then, one of the officers saw her and notified the commander. Eliendail turned around and beckoned Solina over for a discussion on how to proceed in handling Draxson. After a few minutes of formulating ideas, Solina said she had no further ideas about what to do with her son. Instead, she asked if she could borrow some of the soldiers to search for any medical supplies that survived “the scorching.” (what this event would later be recalled as in Friel culture) [*authors note (not included in the book) that this event, “the scorching,” will be the inspiration for the advancement of the Friel’s defensive military, start a new field of structural protection, and lead them to study and improve the wards. {The human majic kept the wards closed on the edges and weakened at the siege point. Few of the barrier breakers
While Solina and the small team she had been assigned searched for medical supplies, the commander assessed the current situation. “Major casualties, and if we go by Solina’s success rate so far, were only going to be able to revive about 50% at best of our population; the area that the siege began in before we arrived to support is probably a graveyard because of those tainted weapons the invaders had.” the commander said as he, his officers, and some soldiers walked toward the breaks in the west wall. As they walked, one of the officers voiced a question.
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“Shouldn't we find and dispose of the tainted weapons before we start looking for anyone that could be restored? It may be dangerous for us to interact with the deceased any more than we need to without the proper protection, plus we should be hasty to remove the taint from our environment before it kills our regrown vegetation.” The one who said this was Sergeant Elva of the Friel guard. “That would probably be best. Nice thinking, Sergeant Elva; let’s dispose of those weapons, and then we’ll continue to aid the restoration forces so that the survivors have somewhere to rest today.
One of the Friel soldiers wearing the mask of an observer stood slightly away from the group. His mask resembled a spike owl, a type of sharp-feathered owl. The owls usually stood 3-4 feet tall, their talons were metallic, and their skin was as hard as stone. The observer was standing a few inches from the mangled body of a Friel observer; this one wore a Raven Mask. Additionally, one of the unfortunate observers in training lay a few feet away from Raven Mask’s body, rotting by the tainted energy around the corpse. With Owl Mask’s enhanced vision, he could see a soft blue eye with a dilated pupil peeking out from under a cracked tiger mask, inadequately covering her youthful and bleeding face. Owl Mask quickly glanced at the rest of the battlefield, the tainted, rotting bodies of his allies, and the human invaders with large gashes in their stomachs from the brave Friel men and women, soldiers and civilians that fought to protect their home.
There were dozens of bodies of the brave defenders and the invaders. The scene of hundreds of dead Friel made it obvious which side had the upper hand. The Owl masked observer looked down at his deceased companion and whispered to his friend. “Thank you for your sacrifice; I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me. I hope your soul rests in peace, even though your body was tainted… Be at peace, my friend,” the observer said as one of his fellow soldiers approached him. “Was she your friend? I’m sorry for your…” The soldier was saying right before the observer silenced her. “No, please don’t give me your sorry; they were a dear friend. But her sacrifice was not in vain. She is why I made it out alive to notify your group before they made it any further, and she… sent me away, covering me as I ran to garner reinforcements.” The observer turned to look up at his compatriot, his Owl mask obscuring his sorrow and tearful face, but the signs of grief were evident in his voice. He turned away from her to take his mask off his face enough to wipe the tears that he undoubtedly shed for his friend.
Owl Mask turned back to his kin as he stood up from kneeling and spoke, his words still choked by tears. “There's no use saying I wish I had been here to help them out; then there would be more casualties; we’ve already lost too many of our kin. I’m glad and grateful for her sacrifice, but I am filled with rage against these invaders. The creator shall surely reward them according to their taking of life.” Owl mask said, waving his hand to the scene before them. Owl Mask looked at his compatriot and signaled that he was walking back to the group. She followed along, sparring one last glance at the depressing scene before rejoining the group and collecting the tainted weapons for disposal.
The Friel soldiers continued their work for another hour before regrouping in the town center.
Those they could not bring back because of the invaders' tainted weapons were gathered in burial mounds. At the same time, the best-conditioned were placed in tents that Solina and her medical group set up to protect them from the elements and preserve them while Friel worked on a way to restore them. The battle commander ordered some valiant men and women to gather the Friel, taking shelter in the mountains.
While the Friel warriors gathered the injured, Eliendail talked with his second-in-command about where they would find the magic to prevent Draxson from unleashing his dragon powers. Sergeant Elva gave the commander an idea: “What if we go to that village specializing in ice magic in the northeast? Maybe they could help us create charms and wards to prevent an outbreak like this from happening again, and maybe they could… never. We’ll see when we get there.” Sergeant Elva said, whispering that last part to herself.
A moment later, the commander responded to her proposition, “That's excellent thinking, Sergeant Elva; we can take those that don't have shelter with us and leave most of our soldiers here to protect them. Great thinking. Let's gather everyone up and prepare to set out once the survivors arrive home. You are all dismissed to carry out your work,” the commander concluded, giving Sergeant Elva a pat on the back and whispering congratulations to her as he walked away. “Keep doing good, kid; you’ll be ready to ship out for the diverse collaboration training in the south.” (wink wink nudge, this is important later* from now on, all Important events will be marked with (`!`) )“Thank you, sir. Glad to be of assistance.” Elva said, looking back at the commander as he walked away.
Then she went back to fetching Solina. Elva brought in Solina and briefed her on their conclusion, and the commander charged her with a task.
"Do you, Solina Silverwing, understand and agree to your charge and comply with us, the ones dealing with Draxson and his powers?” The commander asked in a strict but calm military tone. "Yes, I, Solina Silverwing, swear by the forces of life that support our world and to the great creator that I will uphold my end of the agreement and take shared responsibility with my husband for Draxson and his powers," she replied respectfully. She gave the Friel’s ultimate salute of respect and acknowledgment to Commander Eliendail and to the sizeable spectating group of survivors and soldiers.
The battle commander ended the discussion by saying, "Very well. I trust you will do as you said and that your husband will also aid our cause.”
After all the events transpired, the commander’s restoration team restored a fifth section of the village’s houses for Friel, who couldn’t join the journey they were about to embark on. The escort included Draxson, Commander Eliendail, Sergeant Elva, Solina, her children, and their group when the village was destroyed.
“Alright, everyone, are you all ready to set off and trek to the village specializing in ice magic in the mountainous region?” Eliendail asked.
“Yes, we’re ready,” everyone present replied.
“Thank you for your compliance and support,” Eliendail responded. “Without any further delay, let's head out.”
“Yes, sir,” everyone replied in unison. The Friel group then took to the skies, heading towards their destination. Solina carried Draxson while his sister, Dralaliss, had her little brother, Friedellian, as they followed the soldiers in flight.
As they approached the village, it was a collection of a few dozen houses evenly surrounding the center of Town, with a few outside the village on the mountainsides and nearer to the forest surrounding them. The city's center was a tall 5-story structure made of wooden planks and pillars that were utilized and climbed by trainee cat-nye beast kin soldiers. The Friel commander used his telepathy to send a message to the Town before they drew any closer. When he received a response from the village chief, he went alone to speak with the chief and the village elders, informing them of the situation. After much discussion, the elders and chiefs allowed the Frielian people to land on the outskirts of the village.
Draxson slept throughout the journey and would remain asleep for an estimated two weeks. Upon their arrival, arrangements were made to prevent Draxson from using his dragon powers.
When he awoke next, Draxson would be told of the horrors he had committed and his new situation regarding his powers.
"A day later."
Upon landing at the Friel settlement, he shifted into a middle-aged pointy-eared friel, except that he had horns, which were shaped like antlers. He was approached by the chief of guards and was briefed on the situation. After bidding farewell to the troops accompanying him on the excursion in the Dragon lands yesterday. Then, he flew to the Town where Draxson and his wife sought help regarding Draxson's powers. Communicating with his wife, Solina, through their shared mental bond, he waited for the villagers to clear him for entry. Once given permission, he approached the village in his humanoid form to avoid scaring the villagers.
After checking on his son, Draxson, he listened to Solina describe what had transpired. To protect Draxson, he created an enchanted pendant to prevent him from using his magic and cast a spell to erase the memories of the disaster from his mind.
Once he ensured that his family, including his wife, youngest son, and daughter, were well, he visited the commander of the guards of the Friel people. There, he discussed the enchantments he had placed on Draxson and the measures he intended to take to prevent him from transforming into a dragon.
Draxson pov
I learned about this after I finally awakened weeks later. It’s still hard for me to think about that day, but I feel it’s necessary to share so that everything else makes sense when I tell you what happened seven years later.
Somewhere, at some other time, Draxson turned the page and began to write about the next chapter of his life.
The first words he wrote were, “Seven years later, I was sparring with my friend.” The scene opens with a fight commencing between two…