The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2

#Chapter 30

Part 6

Vanakit emerged from the trees nineteen meters below the peak and paused, and he held his spotter

back as well as he waved the rest forward and upward. The rock was craggy and steep there, and the

Sylvan had to climb with one hand as they made their way up, weapons at the ready in their free

hands.

To the twins, peeking past the peak, all of the glowing golden slitted eyes looked like fireflies moving up

the slope, and they realized that they could now see the Sylvan visually. They were no longer bothering

to remain hidden behind the gift of their god.

As the Sylvan came within seven meters of the peak the rock was only eight meters wide, and they

began to bunch up, having to wait for each other to find a path to climb on.

As they came within four meters, the twins attacked.

They cast an Illusion of Fire three meters deep, encompassing the top fifty or so Sylvan.

It was incredibly realistic in sight and sound, roaring around the Sylvan who were immersed in it. They

couldn’t see anything for the fire in their faces, and the fear of inhaling fire struck all of them. The twins

even managed to convince the weaker-minded among them that it hurt.

As they cast the fire, the twins popped up from behind the peak and began throwing darts, Scout

swooped into the precarious crowd of blinded Sylvan and began pulling them off the rocks, and Stripe novelbin

leaped into them from the side and began laying waste to them with claws and teeth.

“Fight!!! Advance!!!” Vanakit screamed in rage. “The fire isn’t real, damn it! It’s just two babies and two

animals! Just kill them!”

The twins took their time and made every dart count, despite the overwhelming excitement of it all.

They had thirty darts, and they hit thirty Sylvan in the eye, but then they were reduced to throwing

rocks, at which they were far less effective. The Sylvan kept swarming up the rock toward them. They

moved the wall of Illusory fire up and towards themselves to keep the lead Sylvan within it.

Stripe was now between them and the Sylvan, just in front of the peak, killing and maiming any who

came near, roaring and snarling with deafening volume. But he’d taken many small wounds, and a

couple that were more serious.

Then one of the Sylvan got lucky and cut off most of Scout’s left foot. He wanted to continue fighting,

but the twins sent him away, and he hurt so much that he went.

“This is it!” Reggie cried.

“I’m going to GET Vanakit Lamitkeze, if it’s the last thing I do before I die!” Helemia vowed.

They let their rage take them, and let the fire Illusion dissolve, and struck with psionic attacks.

Helemia struck Vanakit first, crushing through his psionic Shields and shredding his mind, while

severely injuring six Sylvan at the pass who had been bolstering his psionic Shields.

In the next minute they attacked the highest seventy-two Sylvan on the mountain, leaving them with

broken psionic Shields and crippling, blinding headaches.

And then, suddenly, the twins were too exhausted to continue.

Almost eighty Sylvan remained of the attacking formation, all of them filled with their battle rage. They

screamed their hatred as they surged up the hill, sensing victory.

Stripe roared his defiance as he prepared to meet their rush, Scout gave a piercing cry and turned back

toward the battle despite his pain, and the twins grimly stood together, looking over the peak and

panting for breath, waiting for the end.

“That’s quite enough of that, I think.” Quewanak stated as he appeared hovering just above the slope

between Stripe and the advancing Sylvan. He froze them with a glance, held them immobile long

enough to make them realize they were helpless and for their emotions to cool a bit, and let them go.

The Dragon God of Dreaming looked around and Healed all the injured, including Stripe and Scout.

“None of your fallen compatriots are dead, and I have Healed them.” he announced in Blezogeth to all

of the confused Sylvan, many of whom were picking themselves up off the ground all over the valley.

“Were it not for my efforts, three hundred and seventeen of you would be dead or severely injured at

the hands of two babies and their pets. I hope you’ve learned something from this. You don’t want to

anger the rest of us. Now go, all of you, except that one.” He indicated the immobile form of Vanakit

Lamitkeze. “We’re keeping him.”

Slowly, then more quickly, the Sylvan moved away and began heading home.

Quewanak Translocated himself, Stripe, Scout, and the twins down to the valley floor.

Reggie and Helemia let themselves collapse to the grass and cry, venting some of the overwhelming

emotion that they felt. They hugged each other as they cried until Stripe nuzzled them and Scout

landed beside them, then they hugged their beloved pets with gratitude and affection, while the animals

soaked up all the love they were getting.

“Thank you, oh thank you both so much, you’re both such good boys, such great friends, we love you

so much…” the babies babbled.

Quewanak looked around, then Restored the goat shed, the chicken pen beside it, and the dead

livestock. He even Retrieved the twins’ darts and put them away in the shed, then lounged on the

grass.

Finally Helemia and Reggie turned their attention to the green dragon. Their bodies were still crying

and hugging the animals, but their psionic ‘voices’ seemed calm enough.

“Thank you for saving us.” Helemia told him.

“You’re welcome.” Quewanak chuckled.

They considered him a moment.

“I know you can’t resurrect dead people unless you know them absolutely, and you have to be in

psionic contact with them when they die. Or you have to be a god.” Reggie stated accusingly. “We

know that from Father.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Quewanak admitted.

“So, you either saved those Sylvan with god-power, or you were aware of what was happening here the

whole time. Or both.” Helemia said, sounding as miffed as her brother.

“Also true.” The dragon smiled.

“Maybe you are a god.” Reggie accused. “Father and Mother and Aunt Alilia have been hiding

something about you, now that I think about it. And none of us have ever noticed that you’ve never

been introduced to us, and we’ve never met you before today, even though you live right next door to

Kragorram and Povon and Karzog and we go there all the time.

“And whether you’re a god or not, I’d bet my lunch that you knew what was happening here, and you

could have stopped it anytime!”

“Yes, I could have. But it was an interesting event, and once I saw how well you were doing I wanted to

give you the chance at victory. I must say that I’m incredibly impressed by the two of you.”

“Thanks.” Helemia grumped, still trying to sound angry. Then she considered what he’d said. “Did we

really have a chance at victory?”

“You did indeed, though it was a very small chance. You did better than anyone would have predicted,

including me. Still, if you’d had some intensive training in psionic warfare, you could have prevailed.

Your initial tactics were extremely efficient uses of your power, those being the Illusions and extending

your perception to Stripe and Scout. But your final psionic attacks were understandably crude. You

wasted strength in clubbing them with a big psionic hammer, when you could have stabbed many more

of them with a slim sword of thought.”

“I’m still upset with you.” Reggie told him determinedly. “You let Stripe and Scout get hurt for nothing.

You let us think we were gonna die at the end there.”

“There was purpose in my actions, your friends were not hurt for nothing, and they aren’t capable of

remembering pain once it’s passed at any rate.” Quewanak patiently explained. “I learned things of

great value. I am not a humanoid, I’m a dragon, and we test our young on the hunt and in battle when

they’re ready. You were ready. A young dragon who cannot bring himself to kill is soon a starving and

useless individual. You were ready to kill. You fought to your limits against overwhelming odds, and

when you could fight no more, you faced your deaths with dignity and courage.

“Beyond all that, you didn’t ask for help. If you had, I’d have helped you sooner. I have rather

extraordinary perception, and I’d have heard you, but it might interest you to know that if you had used

your strength to get a message through the Sylvan barrier at the beginning of your battle, the best six

psionicists in the community would all have heard you. Even while engaged in battle training

exercises.”