With full bellies, high spirits and exhaustion, everyone got a good night's rest. Well, mostly everyone, Night Silver had remained awake to ensure the total security of the camp. However, she didn't let it show on her face when the others started waking up. It hadn't been long since the sun started peeking over the horizon when all of the Elves and Dwarves had finished their preparations to leave.
The four Winged Humans who stayed behind seemed to have a mix of feelings going on. They were tired, but they felt satisfied. Not just satiated, but fully satisfied. It was a feeling they weren't all too familiar with. On top of that, to them, escorting their Goddess back home was nothing short of sacred.
"Well, how are the four of you feeling? Well I trust?" Night Silver asked, walking over to the Winged Humans. She gently placed a hand on the cheeks of the two women. "It's alright if you say you aren't, I'll heal you up in no time. I couldn't just let such two young ladies suffer when I am able to alleviate that suffering with a mere touch." She added, as she began appraising the two of them.
"Uh, Goddess, no, I'm just a little nervous. Was it really alright for us to dine on such a grand meal? Goddess created that food with her very own magic…" One of the two women couldn't help but answer.
"Oh? Pfft… Ahahaha, aren't you adorable." Night Silver laughed. "That wasn't hard for me to do. Don't worry about it. I planned on making something good once we arrive. So don't feel bad, your people will be eating a meal just as good very soon." She said, reassuring the young woman, whose wings were fluttering from the close proximity to her goddess. "And if that's not enough to sway your nerves, then understand this; a goddess should look out for her people. I won't let your people suffer under the thumb of that dragon lord any longer. Most of those things are unreasonable fools. However there are a few that can be reasoned with." She explained, giving a quick hug before letting go.
"Goddess… Allow us to escort you to the village." The four of the winged humans said in unison after nodding to each other.
Night Silver reached out her hand, making a crushing fist motion. The result was the shelter vanishing as if it had never existed in the first place. Looking back with her hands placed on her hips and a smile on her face. "Let's go then. Time to move a lot of people through the air, I wonder how much mana this will take… I haven't had many tests ever since the battle with that Dragon Emperor guy. So this will be interesting. Mass Fly?" Huh, it worked? Neat, I didn't expect it to work on everyone here. There's quite a lot of people after all.
"Woah! That's so cool, the Goddess can make the wingless fly." The two young men of the winged humans exclaimed in awe.
"Of course she can! Goddess can do anything!" The two young women retorted, pulling the men's ears with a tug.
"Pfft, I am strong, but I'm far from being able to do anything. I once had friends who made up for my weaknesses… Anyway, come on, you four have to lead the way." Night Silver giggled, holding a hand softly over her lips.
The four winged humans stretched their wings and took to the sky. "Since we are escorting our goddess, we will take the vanguard position. The two of you can spend more time with our Goddess. Let's fly!" The seemingly slightly older of the two young men said.
The four of them formed into a flying formation. The two men were in the front, slightly staggered off of each other. They would each take turns bearing the brunt of the wind, such was custom for the winged humans when flying in formation. The two young women flew next to Night Silver, each with an ear to ear smile. And thus their journey began.
~ The Winged Human Village ~
A half day before the time Night Silver departed the camp, a young warrior on lookout duty spotted something in the distance.
"Sir! Sir! Are we expecting the return of any flights?" The young Warrior bellowed over to his senior at the next position on post.
"Huh? What are you talking about, the flights just went out last night and this morning. The earliest they'll return is a day. It's barely been half that." The other Warrior yelled back, then he thought about it for a moment. "Though there is an exception… Not good…" He muttered to himself as he noticed the flight returning. With his eyesight being a bit better, he could make out that this flight was four short. "Call for the healers at once! Post prepare to receive wounded!" He shouted out in an orderly tone resounding through the post.
Everyone working at the post suddenly stopped and paused in confusion for a moment. It had been awhile since the last time they heard this chilling order. It was the singular order any watchman could call out, even so, none of them would dare call it for kicks. It also just so happened to be the order that ended with a complete relocation of their people. So there was a massive amount of disheartening feelings going on throughout the post.
Messengers were sent out in a hurry to carry the message to the elders and warn the people at the public center. Healers came prepared with all manner of instruments to help however they could. But healing through magic wasn't possible for them. After all, magic was originally restricted to the Dragon Lords, in other words the gods.
There were other visitors at the post at that time. Several of them were worried family members of those who had left recently. It wasn't like the warriors that had been sent out were all newbies, it was just those who had been overly worried, and thus paced back and forth while helping out with menial tasks at the post.
The Elders, soon after hearing what the messenger had said, quickly rushed to the post's line. "Who's group is that?" One said squinting. "Ah, it's Rocky Breeze's flight, didn't they leave a half day ago… and they are four less…" They continued, solemnly. "Goddess, give us the strength to…" They continued.