Soldiers Test

The convoy was aptly reorganized prior to advancing up the Hollow Mountains. At the front, Emile, Willow, and Blood walked ahead.

Mariah attempted to insist they ride in a carriage, but Emile didn't feel safe being closed off to the greater world. If an ambush occurred, he wanted to be at the forefront of it, prepared to counterattack before the carriages took damage themselves.

Luckily, Fallen Sky didn't have many creatures available to pull carriages. The one and only animal available is the horned beast Emile first saw when he arrived in this world: large, heavy, and slow. Thanks to that, they were easily able to walk ahead of the convoy.

Behind them, the carriages were lined up. The guards that were stationed beside the carriages were pushed to the back, ordered to guard their rear.

The researchers and construction workers occupied the carriages and the remaining people, such as Mariah and Francis, sat beside the driver of the first carriage. Emile didn't know if it was intentional, but Francis chose the perfect spot to observe all of his actions.

The first couple of days flew by without a hitch. The mountains remained calm, the convoy steadily progressed, and nothing dared attack them.

On the night of the sixth day, the convoy stopped just beneath the peak of the mountains, beside the monstrous crater formed by the drake and Blaze. The crater stretched between two mountain peaks, from a distance, it looked like one of the mountains was blown apart.

Behind him, a handful of soldiers scurried around setting up makeshift tents and establishing a defensive perimeter around camp. Emile stood on the edge of the crater, lost in the sheer vastness of its reach.

The crater was both miles wide and miles deep and hundreds of holes filled the crater making it resemble some sort of ant colony.

"I remember when it happened—" Willow said, approaching Emile from behind, "the first thing we felt was tremors. Living in the caves, earthquakes were common, we had grown used to the world shaking so we didn't think much of it, until the explosion happened."

"The explosion?" Emile asked.

"The tremors were slight, just a subtle shaking that wobbled our tables and kicked up the dust. And then, out of nowhere, a roar penetrated deep into the caves. Louder than life, our ears bled and our balance was thrown off. We screamed and ran, hundreds of people called out in unison, some looking for their parents, others worried about their kids, but it was all for naught; we couldn't hear a thing, not even the waves of fire that tore through our home.

Perhaps it was the drake, or maybe it was the person fighting it, but an endless sea of flame rampaged in the caves. All those people who couldn't hear it ran towards it in search of their loved ones only to be razed to the ground, vaporized in an instant. They went from something to nothing in a matter of moments."

"Where were you?" Emile asked, his gaze fixed on the center of the crater.

"King Ulmor's palace is at the bottom of the caves, the deepest place we've ever managed to find. It was put there with something like this in mind, so attackers would get lost in the caves before ever reaching him. We never predicted something like this, if King Ulmor had been present he could have stopped the flames. If only we knew."

"I'm sorry," Emile said, finally interrupting his gaze and checking on Willow.

Her eyes were glossy and her cheeks were flushed red, but she wasn't choked up.

"You have no need to be sorry, Spright. There's nothing you could have done."

'But there's a lot I could have done'

Emile wanted to tell her, he felt gross hiding the truth from someone so strongly affected by his negligence, but he knew he couldn't. If he told her, she would probably kill him on the spot, or capture him and bring him to Ulmor, a fate probably much worse than dying to her.

Blood watched them in the distance. He could guess what they were discussing, Spright had always been on the softer side of things. But Blood trusted him, he didn't think Spright would slip up after all this time.

Suddenly, a group of soldiers ran across the camp and bowed behind Emile and Willow.

"We've confirmed a group of rodent-like monsters approaching from the rear. Your orders?" One of the men said.

"Willow?" Emile asked, she was bound to be more familiar with the native creatures than he was.

"Sounds like Scorching Hands—" she said, "a Chosen creature born near lava pools. They're a simple beast, just don't let them touch you."

"How many are there?" Emile asked the soldier who reported prior.

"Upwards of thirty!" He replied.

"Mobilize all soldiers. Willow and I will use this as a training exercise to gauge your ability. Willow, do not allow a soldier to be killed."

"Yes sir!" The group of men kneeled beneath them and roared in unison.

"Come on Blood!" Emile called out, "I know you're bored!"