"Quick Laore, prepare me a wind barrier and continue on a smokescreen!" cried Lucy, more serious than ever, preparing, in turn, multiple bluish rectangular barriers at the back of the dragon who frantically moved away as far as possible in the opposite direction from the giants, as if sensing their dangers.
The giants, although separated from the group by several kilometers, turned their heads one by one in our direction then all opened their mouths. A violet light emanating from their bodies made them even more visible on this stormy night. Then, the violet lights gathered at a point in front of their mouths. Then there was a momentary flash illuminating the entire plain where the town of Shernat was in flames and part of the adjacent Greywitch Forest. Several violet rays could be observed approaching our position at an alarming speed.
"I am ready!" exclaimed Laore who gradually caused a violent tornado to appear on the back of Gerald, Lucy's dragon.
"Likewise." Calmly retorted Laore who invoked more and more protection.
A first ray came into contact with the tornado, dispersing it by annihilating itself against it. A second pulverized a dozen magic barriers. Finally, when Laore turned the surrounding area into a smokescreen, Lucy told Gerald to drop altitude to escape the other six rays that seemed to be remotely controlled by the 'Catastrophes'. Only one ray managed to hit us and destroyed the rest of Lucy's magic shield.
"We should now have taken enough distance from their attack zones for them to ignore us." declared Lucy
But the goddess of fortune didn't seem to be on our side that night. No sooner had we emerged from the smokescreen than we were attacked by three gaping-jawed winged giants on our flanks. I could even count the number of teeth on one of them and smell the stench emanating from them as they were so close. Surprised, Laore and Lucy narrowly deflected the trajectory of two of the abominations with wind spells but a third hit its target. It engulfed two of our most faithful servants at once and moved away from us, no doubt it was for them to swallow their freshly harvested prey.
"By all the elements! Let's hurry and take down this one before the others come back! Laore, cast me as many explosive arrows as you've ever created for diversion! They can't stray too long from the epicenter of the Ether Wave! Courage! We almost got to the mountain pass. Here is a fortress capable of protecting us."
Both 'catastrophes' began to prepare the same rays that we had faced earlier. I then looked anxiously at my mother who was whispering words of power very quickly. She looked back at me and smiled, which eased my worry. Lucy, on the other hand, displayed an almost senseless serenity in combat. But, I realized that it was her who kept everyone's cool.
The two beasts finally sent out their purple rays which slammed into the first shield that Laore had re-formed. 1, 2, 3… 19. All that remained after this assault was a feverish shield.
"Done!" Laore exclaimed, sending about fifty slender shapes in their direction. Only about twenty reached them but it was enough to gain some distance.
Suddenly, a third purple ray passed through the smoke caused by the explosions and destroyed the last shield. It continued on its way and shredded the back of Gerald as well as all the servants who were there except Marie and Cooper.
"NO!" I cried with all the breath available in my lungs, seeing the loss of my precious servants whom I considered family, and our inevitable downfall.
Gerald emitted a simple grunt and then closed his eyes, Lucy stunned by what had just happened closed her eyes in turn then reopened them with determination. She looked at me then turned her head to Laore, Lawrence, Marie and Cooper. She just nodded and said hugging me, "I don't have much ether left in me, you know what that means"
The concerned nodded in return and then Cooper said to me, "Tss, what are you going to do without me seriously. I advise you to take my daughter as your new steward, she learns as quickly as you.
Marie continued: "It's a little late to say it but Cooper and I are married young master and I can assure you that our daughter will be a great cook too, so please take care of her"
Lawrence continued, "Well I guess that's how we part Mayron Lizharte, my son, take care of the company and these employees and above all be as happy as I was with you both"
"What are you telling?! Master Lucy and mom can levitate us all to the fortress!" I said tearfully
Laore finished: "She won't be able to, unfortunately. These years spent with your father and you have been a real dream, but all good things must come to an end. Let that not stop you from continuing to grow and become what you desire. We love you my little Mayron, be brave, goodbye."
"NO! NO! NO! I don't want things to go that way! Why?! Why?!" I screamed before going mad and fainting.
Lucy then proceeded to levitate with the young child in her arms before the dragon slammed into the ground. Once on the ground, if someone took a closer look at Laore's lifeless body, he could see that runes had formed on her entire corpse. When two giants voraciously threw themselves on the corpse of the dragon to feed on it, a large-scale explosion took place and disintegrated the abominations in an instant.
Seeing that the last 'Catastrophe' was heading towards the scattered remains of the dragon, Lucy breathed a sigh of relief and began to cry as she made her way to the mountain pass further away.
…
…
…
(It was just a bad dream) I thought to myself as I woke up in a bed that was smaller than the standard I had been used to. Looking around I saw a large sunny fortress with an imposing look through a window, and then noticed that a person in uniform was looking at me.
"Already standing up? You should go back to sleep after all you've been through."
"Hm… Excuse me but where am I?" I said subconsciously trying to ignore the last part of what he was telling me.
"I see… You must have been traumatized. The magician accompanying you will be better able to explain the situation to you, but she is busy at the moment."
My breathing became faster following these words and I began to cry for no apparent reason. Then the realization of what had just happened hit me. I wanted to scream but could only make a muffled sound.
After a few minutes, Lucy entered the room and excused the soldier who came out of it with a military salute.
"You! Why didn't you save them, aren't you supposed to be part of the elite of this kingdom?! So why!"
Lucy said no words and moved closer to me while watching me, then hugged me. I suddenly started crying again and hugged Lucy back.
"We will have to live with this stigma. I won't let you down so don't give up either."
Thus ended my peaceful life.