Skye's POV
The massive lake below made it difficult to get down. I climbed around from tree to tree until I found the shore. I climbed down and looked into the sky. The sun was setting to my left. That means I was facing north and Old Post is northeast of here. I shook my head at the lake in front of me. What a waste of time. I was going to have to stop and build myself a boat or go all the way around. Rubbing my temples I suddenly remembered that I didn't have my broadsword, daggers, or bow and quiver of arrows. I did still have the whip I created, though. I was going to have to find my other weapons or at least a sword to defend myself with. I was told to be at Old Post when the job was finished. Oh well, whichever deity that sent me on this mission was just going to have to wait.
I turned from the embankment and started scouring the woods for any fallen Draconi that kept their weapon. A lot of the bodies were still floating in the lake and their weapons had sunk to the bottom. With my near death experience still fresh in my mind I was not ecstatic to jump in. Are there any Draconi left? Just then I felt a rush of wind, like a breeze, but it was not a breeze. I turned around and followed the presence. It stopped at the lake and it's focus lessened.
A young Draconi wrapped in leather and cloth stared at the bodies of his kin. He fell to his knees in utter horror. I remembered my feelings when I saw my childhood village burned to ash. The grief and anger when I realized my entire family had been killed. Had it not been for Master Eyring, I would have been lost. Instead he challenged me to let it fuel my training. He challenged me to remember those I had lost and live my life honoring their memory. This young Draconi may not have anyone. I let my feet carry me to the edge of the lake and sat beside him.
With his eyes wide open, tears streamed down his face. His dark pallor was a pale gray and his hands were bunched into fists at his side. I sat beside him for several minutes before he spoke.
"Wha-" his voice broke and he took a couple of deep breaths before speaking again. "What happened here?"
"The truth?" I didn't look at him which forced him to speak again.
"Yes."
"I came to kill the Blood Chief and in his attempt to thwart me he summoned a tsunami drowning nearly his entire tribe." I didn't stop there. "I didn't help when I summoned a Leviathan to take him out. The monster raised the deep river into this massive lake." The boy didn't say a word. He sat there, taking it all in, trying to be numb to the news.
"What's your name, kid?" I glanced at him and saw him staring at me.
"You are a human." He noticed. I didn't say anything to that. "A human man came to kill the Blood-Chief?" His laugh was humorless. "And you fought him to the point where he wanted to kill his slaves all at once?" I didn't say anything while the kid laughed without mirth. "My family died because he was trying to kill you, so isn't it your fault they are dead?"
"Yes." I responded easily and took the boy by surprise. He wasn't expecting me to answer.
"Don't you feel any remorse?" He asked, to shocked to be angry.
"No. This is why I came here. To finish him and end his bloodthirsty ways. He decided to kill his own people long before I came here. However, his reign has ended. I am sorry that so many lives were taken in the process, but now he won't take any more lives. Your people are no longer slaves."
"My people are all dead!"
"But you're still alive." I countered his angry outburst. "You are no longer a slave."
"My freedom cost my family their lives." His shoulders slumped.
"Your family had no life. So live for them." I stood up and offered him my hand. He stared at it without taking it. I shrugged it off. "Find a new purpose. Learn a new trade. Do something with the opportunity you have."
The Draconi boy stood up and I was surprised to see that he was taller than me. Not by much though as I didn't have to look up at him. His slanted red eyes had ceased the waterfalls and some color came back into his gray face.
"I have nothing. No home, no family, no friends. Everything I had lay here in this lake." He motioned toward it. "The lake which The Blood-Chief made. The lake which you made, human." He paused and stared hard at me. "Here you sit beside me and you offer me hope in my great despair. Despair that you helped cause." His eyebrows furrowed. "Perhaps, I should kill you to avenge my family." He shook his head. "But I know the real murderer is dead. You already killed him. So, in a sense, you avenged my family." His stare left my face and he fell to the ground in front of me. "You also killed our Blood-Chief and so according to customs, that means you have become our Chieftain."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop right there kid." I grabbed his arm and pulled him off the ground. "I know what your customs say, but I am not staying here. I have many other things to do."
"And I have nothing to do, so I shall follow you."
"No, you won't." My stern voice must have reached him because a look of loneliness washed over him. "And what are you talking about, you have nothing to do? Don't you want to make a new home for yourself?"
"What's the point of making a new home if you have no one else to share it with?" His eyes trailed over to the lake. Are all Draconi children this sappy?
"Then you know the solution then. Find other survivors and together create a new home." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when his lit up.
"Perhaps that itself shall be my purpose!" He exclaimed.
"Fantastic." My job here is done. Just then a shiver went down my spine. Someone else was here. I looked at the source of discomfort behind me at the trees and sighed. A little Draconi girl was standing beside the trees holding a dagger to her chest like one would hold a teddy bear. I knelt where I was and motioned for her to come over. She didn't budge until the older boy told her it was okay. She came forward and sat beside the lake.
"She trusts you more than she trusts me." I told the boy whose name I still didn't know. "Find your people, make a new home, and maybe I'll visit once in a while." I laughed as the boy stroked the younger girl's hair.
"Yes, I'll do as you say." He told me and I finally began to leave. "Hey! Take this, you might need it." He passed me the dagger the little girl was holding. "And if you need to find me, my name is Nylras."
"Skye." Is all I said before I left the young Draconi children behind.
It took me an hour before I realized that I just left two children to survive on their own. I retraced my steps and found them scouring the shore, possibly looking for anyone they knew in the lake. I marked their location in my head and then began to search the woods for any other Draconi. The sun had begun to set before I heard a scuttling to my left. I caught up to the source. An older Draconi woman was nursing a few other Draconi survivors to health. One of which I was happy to see was one of the guards who helped me get to Linus. I found my way to him. Some Draconi glared at me, some stared at me suspiciously, and some welcomed me with an open smile.
"You killed him then?" Came the guards response when I sat beside him. I nodded. He turned to his companions the best he could and gestured to me. "Linus, the Blood-Chief is dead! Linus, the Torturer is dead! This human has bested the greatest foe to our people! We are free!" He cheered and many others joined in. I smirked and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to me.
"There are two children at the lake northeast of here. One is a boy named Nylras. The other is a young girl, but I don't know her name."
An injured woman turned to me so fast, I'm sure she got whiplash. She stuttered in her own tongue.
"T-the ch-children live? Nylra-as and E-esekne?" She scooted the best she could toward me and the older woman tried to push her down to rest. She pushed the nurse back and climbed over the other injured men and women to rest before me. Her red eyes were filled with such hope, it made me nervous. "Th-they live, yes?" She said again.
"Yes." I told her where they could be found. She struggled to get up and I let her lean on me. Her leg and throat were badly damaged. It looked like she had been strangled and her leg had been stabbed by a thick branch. Their darker skin had me wondering if I would even be able to see any bruises. "Why don't I bring them to you?" I asked as I looked over her actual wounds.
"I must se-e them!" She vomited blood darker than I had ever seen. I set her down as she continued to cough up her organs. I turned to the guard and he nodded at me. I ran back to the lake as fast as I could.
The children were pulling bodies out of the water now using some water manipulation.
"Hey! Nylras!" I called. He turned to me and stopped what he was doing. He patted the girl's shoulder and met me at the trees lining. "I found some other survivors. One of them knows you personally and wants to see you, but she's in bad shape." Nylras's eyes grew to saucers and called to the young girl. She ran over to us and held onto Nylras's leg. "I know where they are, let's go!" The two followed me as I went back to the nursing area.
The lady who had been vomiting was asleep when we arrived, but Nylras ran to her immediately. I went over to the guard who was still awake.
"So, what's the plan now?" He asked as I sat down.
"What plan?" I countered.
"You are technically our Chieftain now. What are you going to do?"
"Oh," I rolled my eyes. "I won't be playing that role. One of you will. I've got other things to do."
"It will be easier if you decide who will inherit the role as our customs demand it." The Draconi man stated. I stared at Nylras who was now helping the nurse.
"You guys can't just do it?" I asked without really listening. Nylras was comforting the patients and I overheard him speaking to the nurse.
"This could be the center of our new home, this healing area!"
The guard stared at me. "Of course not!"
"Fine." I huffed then stood up. Projecting my voice to be heard over the moans of hurt Draconi, I made my intentions clear. "As some of you may believe, I am now your new Chieftain. I assure you, a human shall not lead you. It is your custom that a Chieftain who wishes to leave office will choose another to take his place." I had the survivor's attention. I stared at Nylras. "Nylras will become Chieftain when he is ready." His people looked at the child standing open-mouthed at me. I continued, "Until then, this Draconi man," I pointed at my guard, "shall lead you. And if that is all you need from me, I shall be on my way." I turned away from the group and started walking towards Old Post.
"Ragorn is my name." My guard called.
"Skye Firebird." I called as I left.