Pity and Regret
A cold shiver went over my body as I raised even higher over the treetops. I had never been fond of heights, flying, however, was a whole different story than just looking down from the windows of the second or third story of a building.
It wasn't exactly dangerous, as my wings did all of the work by themselves, not by flapping around uncontrollably, but by gently waving up and down and letting magic do the rest of the work. I felt as if I floated in a lake untouched by wind or waves, in water that was too clear to even see it. Obviously, that wasn't the case, as I could breathe or rather pant just fine.
The area in front of the cavern was somewhat cleared. It had some brushes, but there were no trees to be found. Sadly enough, the bulls didn't use or built any furniture, so all the wood they had cut here had probably found its way into one of their campfires. Clearing a few hundred meters worth of former forest had the benefit of intruders being easily spotted, too.
Looking back at it, the bulls had most likely discovered our party long before we knew they really existed in the first place. Sure, we had heard of them from other adventures, but those tended to spread a lot of lies and exaggerations, too. In the end, we were naive and blind to the danger that had lied before us.
«Maybe they wouldn't have attacked us if we didn't intrude into their hideout.»
「What did you even plan on doing here anyway?」
«I'm not sure...»
「You let yourself be killed for nothing?! Just because you guys were bored?!」
«I wasn't bored!»
「But you won't deny your little adventure was retarded, will you?」
«It was ...»
「After all of this, you finally show some kind of common sense.」
«...»
I breathed in deeply before rising further into the sky. The forest was getting smaller and smaller, as I searched for traces of the bulls. There were the calls of birds and insects, but I didn't hear the stomps or growls of the demons. It was only when I had already half given up on finding them, that I discovered a dust cloud in the far reach.
«They do a bad job at hiding ...»
With a flap of my wings, I accelerated. The trees under me got faster and faster until they even got slightly blurry. My eyes could still see clearly, no tears gathered in them, which made it easy to make out the large, horned shadows in the beige cloud that had spread beneath me.
«What are they fighting?!»
It was only when I descended enough to almost touch the dust cloud, that I realized that the bulls weren't fighting boars, bears, deer or other animals they could turn into a hearty meal, but rather dozens of armored human men who attacked them not only with bows, swords and spears but with magic, too.
The bulls did fight them desperately, but even their though skin and powerful magic wouldn't help them against the sheer numbers of what seemed to be trained soldiers, especially since they were assisted by healers who safely stood behind a wall of steel and flesh.
«What- why are they-»
One by one, the demons fell to the ground. They managed to defeat quite a few of the humans, but this feat didn't help the slightest in bitting through the attack. Pitiful growls and moos rang in my ears by the dozens.
My eyes wandered through the chaos, tears gathering in them. When they found a way too familiar furry body lying on the ground and twisting in pain, I felt something in me break.
"WHHYYY?!"
Dozens of heads turned towards me, men and bull alike.
"WHY!!"
A chaos of voices spread under me. The bulls seemingly tried to drive me away, likely fearing for my safety, others, however, mainly the wounded, saw in me the savior that would turn this situation around. The humans were far more united in their opinion. Their voices were shouting countless commands. The mages that had waited in the backline began chanting their magic. I beat them to it.
"Aelain, goddess of fire and the burning mountains, please embrace my enemies and turn them into ashes, for them to nourish the field they trampled on!"
As I felt the mana being drained out of my hands, a swarm of fireballs grew everywhere around me. They began spinning and almost dancing, before, without a warning, darting towards the men and women that were attacking me.
Their counterattacks came flying towards me, in the form of fire, ice, water and shards of stone, but none of these could even wish to hit me. With a flap of my wings, I had avoided them all. Lacking these tools of mine, they naturally had less luck themselves.
A series of explosions spread in midst of their backline, immediately denying any form of counter-attack. The remaining soldiers panicked, they ran towards their screaming and burning comrades, trying to extinguish the fires my magic had brought upon them. I didn't pay them any heed.
My gaze was long bound to the bleeding bull demon on the ground. I let myself sink to the ground next to him, I called out for him and searched for his breath and heartbeat, but neither of them was to be found. He had died, probably trying his best to protect me and his home from these men.
"Why... why did this happen?"
「Flatty...」
"He didn't do anything wrong! He just tried to protect me..."
Panicked shouts forced my attention onto them. When I turned around, the soldiers were already trying to prepare their attack. It was no longer the bull demons they tried to get rid off, but rather me, who had released that magic onto their comrades. Among the men, I found a single one wearing more flashy armor, a man I knew all to well.
«It is him! Why is he here!? WHY IS HE HERE?!»
「Because you let him go, Flatty ...」
"I let him go ..."
⊱————- Extra ————-⊰
Meja: Hey, Flatty.
Risa: What is it?
Meja: You want to learn the Dream Manipulation Rank B?
Risa: Rank B? What is different from Rank E?
Meja: Rank D would let you manipulate their dreams.
Risa: You already told me before. Something about fetishes, wasn't it?
Meja: You can change the landscape or rooms the person dreams about, your own clothes and hair color, all that stuff.
Risa: What about it?
Meja: With Rank B and above, you would be able to manipulate his clothes and hair color instead.
Risa: Wha- what about Rank A?!
Meja: His body.
Risa: LEARN RANK S! I WANT TO LEARN RANK S RIGHT NOW!
Meja: Are you-
Risa: DO IT!
Meja: Thanks for your patronage~
Risa: Michel~
Meja: You are drooling.
Risa: This is the best~