The first born's condition was a freakish show. Not to mention its dry and powerless body.
"Shut up and share with me your food! I should be able to recover in no time!" The firstborn replied weakly via telepathic communication.
"You wan't my food? Why don't you die instead?" The second-born shouted while holding some soldier corpse in his hand. They all talked as if they were not in the middle of a fight. Knowing their capacity, their pride also made them confident that they can squash anyone who dares to disturb them.
"I will share to you some of my catch later." The firstborn helplessly replied telepathically.
"How many?" The second-born asked.
"Five."
"No."
"Five and a leg?"
"Six and two legs! That's a deal. And you also that redtail you were hunting should also be mine."
"You can have the salty soldiers but that red-tailed is mine. And that turtle's head, I will make sure to turn its skull as a trophy back on the human realm."
The firstborn quickly negotiated with his brothers. despite losing its water essence, as long as he gets to eat some water elemental natives, he should be able to recover some of his strength and probably live to give his revenge against that cocky turtle.
The secondborn thought for a while before he decided to lend some soldier corpse to their weakened brother.
***
SWOOOSH~
Arriving at the entrance of the Golden Cave, Dash quickly gave the unconscious Danna to the assisting healing merfolks.
He scanned the surrounding area only to see more wounded or even dead soldiers being carried towards the safe rooms of the Golden Cave. He watched as the weary soldiers brought in their comrades and other innocent victims of the Chagas.
In their eyes, reflected are tge the sadness and hopelessness of the current plight of the water realm. It was not long ago since the battle of Elric and the late Lord Aghus has ended, which took countless lives and even paralyzing their army forces.
The sound of the merfolks, crying over their dead loved ones echoed across the area. The painful grunting of the wounded and the spilling blood of the innocents painted the whole atmosphere of the entrance.
Now another disaster has struck them hard and it broke Dash's heart, even more, to see his people dying before him.
"This is all my fault..." he muttered to himself. He could not help but blame himself for being an inexperienced Lord. If only he had more time to figure out more of his powers as the Lord of the water realm, perhaps he might stand a chance to irradicate the Thagdas in one go.
But he had just awakened up recently and it was not even a whole day since he got the power of the Lord.
The once beautiful and lively land of the water realm is now a messy kingdom with collapsed houses, dead bodies of native water elementals and even the majestic Golden Palace is being tainted with the innocent blood of its people.
Everything seems too dark in Dash's eyes as he felt the hopelessness and discouragement creep in his heart.
"Elric." One person comes out of his mind. The main reason all of this is happening.
"If only I did not save you from the human realm..." Dash weakly muttered.
"Maybe... all of this could have been avoided."
No...
"Blaming won't answer the problem. The damage has been done. I must stand up and be a man!"
Dash took a deep breath and concentrated.
"No..not a man. I am a Turtle! The Overwhelming Mighty Grand Dash!"
Suddenly, Dash sent a telepathic message to every citizen of the water realm Using his Lord authority,
"Everyone hide to the Golden Cave.Now."
Dash's voice echoed across every water creature's mind and they all quickly recognized him with the power of his authority. Quickly everyone stopped what they were doing and listened intently at Dash's next words.
"Soldiers, fortify the entrance. Mages, build another layer of entrance barrier. Keep everyone in! Men and women, fishlings and even eggs! Soldiers or healers! Don't let anyone out until I say so." Dash added.
"But what about you Dash?" Danna, with a weak voice, replied telepathically.
"I will stand to guard the entrance. Don't worry, I will make sure no creepy dragon creature can get inside." Dash replied resolutely.
"But you will end up facing them alo-"
"That's an order as the Lord of the water realm!" Dash did not let the princess finish her words.
"HAH!" Dash summoned a powerful current of water and pushed everyone in the area towards the Golden Cave.
This Golden Cave is their haven against any outside attack. It is in the shape of a cone shell and is made entirely of gold. However, its hardness is not the same as that of Gold. Rather, it was made of a diamond-like substance, harder than any rock, and only took a golden hue color as its adaptive effect after being hidden behind the Golden Castle for thousand of years.
Like a powerful wind, the soldiers, merfolks and even the various water species are being sucked towards the Golden Cave, leaving no one behind except Dash - the Lord of the water realm and the only guard remaining.
The merfolks and creature inside the Golden Cave all hurriedly gathered towards the White Pearl that shows the current event outside. The eyes of the citizens are weary and barely have any hope left as they glanced at the figure of a giant turtle, standing like an unmovable rock before the wide entrance. All hoping that all of this nightmare will end soon.
Dash's eyes remained on guard, scanning for any clues of the enemy's position, all while trying to recover his strength and preparing for another round of battle.
The atmosphere had become tense. Dash knows that the real fight is about to start.
***