Post by ☙Enoki❧ on Apr 21, 2015 19:11:15 GMT
Well, I've erased all those original chapters to make way f'er some new stuff. I've redone chapters one and two-making them sound a lot better and less info-based more story-filled. Anyways, I've posted this novel on Wattpad, so if you like what you read, you can follow me and my novel at www.wattpad.com/user/EnokiTheDryphon. Without further ado, here's that latest chapter that I just finished today.
"Splendid! Marvelous! Simply amazing!" I exclaim as I awake to a bustling cityscape view. "The creativity, the glamour, the technology!"
"Would you shut up already?" Hotaru growls and throws a decorative pillow at me. I laugh and duck, letting it skip off the top of my antlers and land besides the wall of endless windows.
"Oh, 'ave a sense of wonder, Hotaru. 'Tis not every day that he get to explore a brand new culture with an amazing level of technology! I mean, on the Clawdashev scale, they're off the charts!" I explain my excitement, watching the groggy Hotaru roll his eyes and turn over in his bed.
I shrug and go to grab my scarf that hangs on a decorative gear positioned creatively on the neutrally painted wall. For the short time wearing it, I've grown accustomed to it. Placing it over my head, I creep out the door with my satchel in hand, ready to explore the city.
The one thing I didn't bring with me was souvenir money; I hadn't even thought of the idea until now. All the shops are centered in the middle of town. I am on the far west side of the plateau, which means I get to take the Coaster Express. The ride to our living quarters was thoroughly enjoyable and I'm excited to take it for another spin.
It really is just a long roller coaster that makes stops at all the stations. The spherical cars pull to a stop, the glass top lifting up to allow passengers in and out. A few elves are startled as they get out, seeing me walk toward the transportation, but they recognize me and smile as I pass by. I wave to them and continue into the nearest vacant pod. I take up the entire car, but I don't anyone really minds.
"Please select destination," the choppy automatic voice calls to me over the speaker. I reply by pressing the button with a square symbol, meaning the shopping center. It answers my input with a click and, "Thank you. Have a nice day!"
The glass dome slowly shuts above me and locks itself in. A jolt rushes through the cars as the wheels begin to send us off. Tall, city buildings blur past me as my car chugs along the track. Exhilaration courses through me and pulls my stomach up to my throat each time we dive down a steep hill in the track. I'm rather wobbly getting out of the car.
"Thank you for choosing Coaster Express," the train bids me farewell and pulls out of the station.
"How exciting!" I exclaim with a smile and start out as fast as I can and still consider it walking. The first two shops can be seen on either side of the road. A few more of those steam engine bikes pedal by and I can't help myself but stare. Like a kid in a toy store, I don't know what I want to look at first.
"I had a feeling you'd be here," a familiar voice calls out, and I turn to recognize Adlanniel coming up on one of those fancy bikes. "Sightseeing before we have to start the day?" She smiles, dismounting her bike.
"Oh yes, I couldn't help m'self. The only problem is I don't know where I want to look first!" The stores all gleam with each a unique sign to draw in customers: some with running cogs, others with flashy lights, and others are beautifully handcrafted wooden signs. My eyes wander distractedly over all the buildings.
Adlanniel grabs my scarf and gives it a tug, making me stop in my tracks. "I know exactly the place to go. Follow me," she leads my on, still holding on to my scarf. I have to follow closely behind or risk choking.
I go to ask where we are going since we are leaving the shopping district, but she interrupts me saying that wherever it is I'll be amazed. I trust her word for what it is and follow her down a confusing combination of twists and turns. She allows me my freedom once we arrive at a large mansion-esque building littered with scrap metal and broken down primitive robots.
"What is this place?" I ask, fingering a robot lying in a pile of scrap metal.
"INTRUDER! INTRUDER! Tzzzzzzz," the automaton rises to life, nearly making me create an untidy situation that is only expected from wild, uncivilized animals. I do manage to topple over a pile of spare tires, however.
Adlanniel laughs, "You know that genius inventor who created the Coaster Express?" I nod, catching on to what she is going to say next. "Well, this is his place. C'mon, he'll want to meet you."
"INTRUDER! INTRUDER! Tzzzz. Tzzzz." The robot persists to shout. I try to quiet the thing, but it talks back to me. "Watch it, buddy! I am programmed with martial arts coding inspired from the great renowned qilin warriors of the Moonlight Tribe." The scrap metal frame stands up to reveal two mismatching legs that practically look like sticks. It waves its arms around madly, showing off its "skill".
I try not to laugh, offering my apologies. However, this does not deter the bucket of bolts from following us up the driveway and onto the porch of the inventor's workshop. Adlanniel bids the robot a wave and a hello, with the robot returning her good will with a polite curtsy.
"Hello, Adlanniel. We weren't expecting you. And who's your friend?" The robot speaks in a more natural voice.
"Ah, m'name is Enoki." I nod with a smile, offering my hand in greeting.
He gives me his hand and gives it a good shake. "A pleasure to meet you, Enoki. The name is Tinco. Sorry about earlier, it's just that it's hard wired into there; can't let the master of inventions' ideas get into the wrong hands-not that your the wrong hands, I uh-mean." The robot stutters, amusingly. I'm quite relieved that I'm not the only one bad with words.
"Tinco! Who's at the door?" A voice calls from behind the thick metal door we stand in front of. An odd looking telescope lowers itself from above the door. I can see an eyeball-immensely magnified from the lenses inside the scope-peering at us with interest. "Ah, Adlanniel, what a surprise. Well, don't just stand there, come on in!" The telescope retracts out of view and the door clicks ajar.
Adlanniel smiles and holds the door open for us. Tinco follows us in awkwardly with large and high steps, letting his legs lift higher than his waist and arms swing wildly. I have a hard time keeping the amusement of this metal man off my face as he strides past us with purpose in his steps.
"Tinco, what are you doing? You're walking like you haven't oiled your hips in weeks." A very short and boyish figure appears from behind the counter.
"Sorry, sir!" Tinco replies meekly, adjusting his posture. It takes me a moment to realize this, but that boyish elf that approaches me really is a boy.
"Y'er a kid," I declare with surprise.
"Well, you're a giant, green jackalope, but who am I to judge?" The boy replies smugly, offering a greasy hand in greeting. "I'm Rilien. You must be Enoki. Bellsulion mentioned you before you arrived."
I am surprised how fast word travels around here, but I guess it would have to be when you are fighting in a war. I accept his handshake, reluctant on the inside seeing that my hand is now covered in oil and mechanical grease.
"Well, I guess you'd like to see what I've been working on for you, eh? This way please," he wanders back behind the counter and pushes a swinging door open for us to head to the back room where all the inventions are-I hope.
Let's just say I'm not disappointed. Gadgets and gizmos buzz all around me. Miniatures of airships hum quietly around the room. I watch with interest as they land on the model landscaping set to the side of the room. A black airship with golden lightning bolt painted on its side slowly floats by my face. It has three balloons instead of just the one that standard airship.
"That's my latest project, the Thunder Transport. Isn't she a beaut? I started her a month or so ago; she'll be finished by the end of this month." Rilien crossed his arms with pride.
"Well, 'tis very nice, but it already looks finished to me."
"Oh, no, I mean the actual ship. It's almost finished. Perhaps we can look at it later." The boy grins smugly as he shows off his genius.
Adlanniel laughs and walks past a table that is set in the middle of the walkway. "Rilien wastes no time when it comes to finishing projects, which reminds me," she says walking over to a low shelf. The elf returns with an intricately carved cherry wood box; gold inlay sprawls over the box in a vine pattern. She opens the box to show crushed velvet and a brand new pair of shiny goggles. My goggles.
I gasp in awe of their craftsmanship. They are much larger than the pair that I was looking at and they seem to be engraved with my name. My eyes start to tear up with excitement. Adlanniel motions for me to try them on and with trembling hands, I reach for them and carefully scoop them up in my claws.
Strapping them on underneath my ears, I pull them over my forehead. My feathers get underneath the strap, so I go around the band and pull them out from under them. Once I put them over my eyes, everything goes a lime green. I smile with pure enjoyment as I turn my head around to look at everything.
"Do you like them?" Rilien asks, smiling like a cat.
"Oh yes! Very much so, thank you! Thank you!" I emphasize my gratitude multiple times to Rilien, shaking his hand.
"I'm very glad. I do love making those goggles; one of my favorite inventions." Rilien explains while I walk around playing with the toggles of the binocular features.
Tinco is staring curiously at one of the flying airships. He grabs the ship out of the sky and looks closer at it. His metal hand taps one of the running motors, analyzing how it works. He must have tapped it too hard, because the motor cracks off and dangles below, suspended by the wires. The bot jumps with shock and frantically hides the airship in the model town, walking away casually.
I shake my head with sympathy, partially listening to Adlanniel and Rilien's conversation.
"Well, we best get going. We need to meet up with the rest of the team to get those three all up to date on the strategy for defeating these ruffians. You coming with, Rilien?" She asks, lifting my satchel and politely placing my goggles' case inside.
"Oh yes, I'll be on my way in a few. I'm just finishing up on a diagram," he says with a wave goodbye.
We bid Rilien and Tinco farewell and start heading out to the front room. I take one last glance around the woodwork, mechanical models, and broken down clocks before letting Adlanniel usher me out the door.
It doesn't take as long as it felt like it did to get there to return to the Coaster Express. We squeeze into a single cart and enter in our designated station. The ride is quiet, since there isn't much to say. I look out the window using my goggles, zooming in and out of the cityscape. Adlanniel laughs at my childish playing, and I chuckle along with her.
We arrive at a station I've yet to explore and it turns out that it is our stop. Many scholarly looking folks stand around the station's overhang conversing with one another. Their matching uniforms imply to me that they are, in fact, apart of some school, but Adlanniel informs me that this is the brain of the rebellion. This is the Yugurian Guard's center of intelligence, YGI.
The building looks very neat and polished. The rounded sides are a creamy metal, buffed to perfection. It looks almost like a tall flower or a hatched egg, having the walls flair out in a flamboyant style. We are greeted by two polite officers who open the door for us.
The marble flooring reminds me of something rather fancy and more advanced than most cultures dare to try around these parts. I comment my observation to Adlanniel and she agrees with me saying that they have a quarry somewhere down on the surface of the realm that harvests this fine rock. Apparently their artists and architects value marble higher than gold when working on a project.
The shininess reveals my smiling reflection as I look down while we head down the hall. We end up at the end of a narrow corridor with nothing to see but a large metal bolted door. With a grunt, Adlanniel heaves the door open, revealing a long winding staircase downwards. I can only imagine what is down here which gives me the shivers.
She enters without caution. 'Well, if she can do it, so can I.' I tell myself as I walk warily down the steps, closing the door behind me. It gives off an awfully loud clunk noise, creating an echo all the way down the stairs. I start feeling like I'm in the middle of a horror novel, where the hero is walking down that dark and creepy staircase, knowing that at any minute something might jump out at them and-
"Boo!"
I have never screamed so high in my life. My feathers explode around my neck and the tip of my tail, making me look like some highly groomed poodle, as I jump and land on the platform I had just stepped down from. My assailant bursts into a dark laughter that I can only recognize as Hotaru's.
"I see y'er foot is doing better." I say in an angered tone. I look to Adlanniel for support and perhaps a scolding, but she is hiding behind Hotaru quietly laughing her rump off. "Oh, very mature." I sniff and lift my head up, walking with a pompous sway.
"Oh brother," Hotaru mumbles, watching me walk through the door I presume he came from.
My feelings for the place change in an instant. It no longer looks dark and mysterious, but bright and colorful. Multiple doohickeys and thingamabobs flutter across the very tall room carrying papers and files. It almost looks like our experiment room in Blacktalon's lab, yet much more advanced. There are cubicles on the walls with elves at work doing who knows what.
I spot one elf jumping from their cubicle and releasing a sting on their back that opens up a pair of wings and releases pedals near their feet, which they begin to work at furiously. A puttering sound comes from their back and I spot a small engine beginning to spark to life. They notice me watching and smile at me with a polite wave. I wave back but can't seem to find my facial muscles. They soar down a large tunnel in the center of the wall on the left side of the room.
"Welcome to the heart of the Yugurian Guard Intelligence!" Bellsulion appears from the commanding desk centered in the room. His uniform has changed from armor to a practical green fabric
-almost the same color as my fur-and leather ensemble. His broad shoulders carry a rugged, tanned animal hide that flowed behind him. Stripes are painted on his right shoulder, which I assume portrays his rank.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Bellsulion ushers us to a long meeting table in front of a large board with a map pinned of the Spires to it.
Everyone takes a seat except Hotaru and I, since we cannot fit in the chairs; Sendaar fits rather well in the elves' chairs besides his tail. Bellsulion takes a seat at the head of the table and begins to explain his plans: "We know the Mist has been hiring outside forces to aid in his attacks. From our knowledge, some trolls from Mirum Silvis have signed a contract with the League of Mist and have been teaching their battle strategies to the wolfwyre hoards.
"They plan to take the First Realm in a matter of days as a bloody warning to the dragons of Second Realm. We've just received word from the Hikari and Kurai that dispatches have been sent to the gryphons for their safety." I heave a sigh of relief to hear this news. Just then, the doors open once more to reveal Rilien and his robot companion. He nods with respect to Bellsulion and the rest of the company before taking a seat next to Adlanniel. Tinco remains standing behind his maker.
Our leader acknowledges their arrival with a small salute before continuing his allocution, "Now, we need to prepare ourselves for battle. We will be the reinforcements for the dragons during the battle. Our forces are going to be a shock to the Mist as we draw in from the Ancient Catacombs. Our arms will be the second wave the Mist was not prepared for, and that is how we will defeat them.
"The dragons and elves will force the League of Mist back to the Second Realm, where the rest of the dragon forces are ready to attack. Our gryphon friends have a few tricks up their sleeves that we plan to use to our advantage. Now, the good gryphon Professor and I have-"
Ka-klash!
The lights pop from the ceiling and fade slowly out to nothing but darkness. Down here in the underground headquarters, screams of horror can be heard on the surface. A blood curdling roar rattles all sides of our hideout and my innards as I recognize the owner of the roar-Krah. The Mist have found us.
Day Twenty-Four
"Splendid! Marvelous! Simply amazing!" I exclaim as I awake to a bustling cityscape view. "The creativity, the glamour, the technology!"
"Would you shut up already?" Hotaru growls and throws a decorative pillow at me. I laugh and duck, letting it skip off the top of my antlers and land besides the wall of endless windows.
"Oh, 'ave a sense of wonder, Hotaru. 'Tis not every day that he get to explore a brand new culture with an amazing level of technology! I mean, on the Clawdashev scale, they're off the charts!" I explain my excitement, watching the groggy Hotaru roll his eyes and turn over in his bed.
I shrug and go to grab my scarf that hangs on a decorative gear positioned creatively on the neutrally painted wall. For the short time wearing it, I've grown accustomed to it. Placing it over my head, I creep out the door with my satchel in hand, ready to explore the city.
The one thing I didn't bring with me was souvenir money; I hadn't even thought of the idea until now. All the shops are centered in the middle of town. I am on the far west side of the plateau, which means I get to take the Coaster Express. The ride to our living quarters was thoroughly enjoyable and I'm excited to take it for another spin.
It really is just a long roller coaster that makes stops at all the stations. The spherical cars pull to a stop, the glass top lifting up to allow passengers in and out. A few elves are startled as they get out, seeing me walk toward the transportation, but they recognize me and smile as I pass by. I wave to them and continue into the nearest vacant pod. I take up the entire car, but I don't anyone really minds.
"Please select destination," the choppy automatic voice calls to me over the speaker. I reply by pressing the button with a square symbol, meaning the shopping center. It answers my input with a click and, "Thank you. Have a nice day!"
The glass dome slowly shuts above me and locks itself in. A jolt rushes through the cars as the wheels begin to send us off. Tall, city buildings blur past me as my car chugs along the track. Exhilaration courses through me and pulls my stomach up to my throat each time we dive down a steep hill in the track. I'm rather wobbly getting out of the car.
"Thank you for choosing Coaster Express," the train bids me farewell and pulls out of the station.
"How exciting!" I exclaim with a smile and start out as fast as I can and still consider it walking. The first two shops can be seen on either side of the road. A few more of those steam engine bikes pedal by and I can't help myself but stare. Like a kid in a toy store, I don't know what I want to look at first.
"I had a feeling you'd be here," a familiar voice calls out, and I turn to recognize Adlanniel coming up on one of those fancy bikes. "Sightseeing before we have to start the day?" She smiles, dismounting her bike.
"Oh yes, I couldn't help m'self. The only problem is I don't know where I want to look first!" The stores all gleam with each a unique sign to draw in customers: some with running cogs, others with flashy lights, and others are beautifully handcrafted wooden signs. My eyes wander distractedly over all the buildings.
Adlanniel grabs my scarf and gives it a tug, making me stop in my tracks. "I know exactly the place to go. Follow me," she leads my on, still holding on to my scarf. I have to follow closely behind or risk choking.
I go to ask where we are going since we are leaving the shopping district, but she interrupts me saying that wherever it is I'll be amazed. I trust her word for what it is and follow her down a confusing combination of twists and turns. She allows me my freedom once we arrive at a large mansion-esque building littered with scrap metal and broken down primitive robots.
"What is this place?" I ask, fingering a robot lying in a pile of scrap metal.
"INTRUDER! INTRUDER! Tzzzzzzz," the automaton rises to life, nearly making me create an untidy situation that is only expected from wild, uncivilized animals. I do manage to topple over a pile of spare tires, however.
Adlanniel laughs, "You know that genius inventor who created the Coaster Express?" I nod, catching on to what she is going to say next. "Well, this is his place. C'mon, he'll want to meet you."
"INTRUDER! INTRUDER! Tzzzz. Tzzzz." The robot persists to shout. I try to quiet the thing, but it talks back to me. "Watch it, buddy! I am programmed with martial arts coding inspired from the great renowned qilin warriors of the Moonlight Tribe." The scrap metal frame stands up to reveal two mismatching legs that practically look like sticks. It waves its arms around madly, showing off its "skill".
I try not to laugh, offering my apologies. However, this does not deter the bucket of bolts from following us up the driveway and onto the porch of the inventor's workshop. Adlanniel bids the robot a wave and a hello, with the robot returning her good will with a polite curtsy.
"Hello, Adlanniel. We weren't expecting you. And who's your friend?" The robot speaks in a more natural voice.
"Ah, m'name is Enoki." I nod with a smile, offering my hand in greeting.
He gives me his hand and gives it a good shake. "A pleasure to meet you, Enoki. The name is Tinco. Sorry about earlier, it's just that it's hard wired into there; can't let the master of inventions' ideas get into the wrong hands-not that your the wrong hands, I uh-mean." The robot stutters, amusingly. I'm quite relieved that I'm not the only one bad with words.
"Tinco! Who's at the door?" A voice calls from behind the thick metal door we stand in front of. An odd looking telescope lowers itself from above the door. I can see an eyeball-immensely magnified from the lenses inside the scope-peering at us with interest. "Ah, Adlanniel, what a surprise. Well, don't just stand there, come on in!" The telescope retracts out of view and the door clicks ajar.
Adlanniel smiles and holds the door open for us. Tinco follows us in awkwardly with large and high steps, letting his legs lift higher than his waist and arms swing wildly. I have a hard time keeping the amusement of this metal man off my face as he strides past us with purpose in his steps.
"Tinco, what are you doing? You're walking like you haven't oiled your hips in weeks." A very short and boyish figure appears from behind the counter.
"Sorry, sir!" Tinco replies meekly, adjusting his posture. It takes me a moment to realize this, but that boyish elf that approaches me really is a boy.
"Y'er a kid," I declare with surprise.
"Well, you're a giant, green jackalope, but who am I to judge?" The boy replies smugly, offering a greasy hand in greeting. "I'm Rilien. You must be Enoki. Bellsulion mentioned you before you arrived."
I am surprised how fast word travels around here, but I guess it would have to be when you are fighting in a war. I accept his handshake, reluctant on the inside seeing that my hand is now covered in oil and mechanical grease.
"Well, I guess you'd like to see what I've been working on for you, eh? This way please," he wanders back behind the counter and pushes a swinging door open for us to head to the back room where all the inventions are-I hope.
Let's just say I'm not disappointed. Gadgets and gizmos buzz all around me. Miniatures of airships hum quietly around the room. I watch with interest as they land on the model landscaping set to the side of the room. A black airship with golden lightning bolt painted on its side slowly floats by my face. It has three balloons instead of just the one that standard airship.
"That's my latest project, the Thunder Transport. Isn't she a beaut? I started her a month or so ago; she'll be finished by the end of this month." Rilien crossed his arms with pride.
"Well, 'tis very nice, but it already looks finished to me."
"Oh, no, I mean the actual ship. It's almost finished. Perhaps we can look at it later." The boy grins smugly as he shows off his genius.
Adlanniel laughs and walks past a table that is set in the middle of the walkway. "Rilien wastes no time when it comes to finishing projects, which reminds me," she says walking over to a low shelf. The elf returns with an intricately carved cherry wood box; gold inlay sprawls over the box in a vine pattern. She opens the box to show crushed velvet and a brand new pair of shiny goggles. My goggles.
I gasp in awe of their craftsmanship. They are much larger than the pair that I was looking at and they seem to be engraved with my name. My eyes start to tear up with excitement. Adlanniel motions for me to try them on and with trembling hands, I reach for them and carefully scoop them up in my claws.
Strapping them on underneath my ears, I pull them over my forehead. My feathers get underneath the strap, so I go around the band and pull them out from under them. Once I put them over my eyes, everything goes a lime green. I smile with pure enjoyment as I turn my head around to look at everything.
"Do you like them?" Rilien asks, smiling like a cat.
"Oh yes! Very much so, thank you! Thank you!" I emphasize my gratitude multiple times to Rilien, shaking his hand.
"I'm very glad. I do love making those goggles; one of my favorite inventions." Rilien explains while I walk around playing with the toggles of the binocular features.
Tinco is staring curiously at one of the flying airships. He grabs the ship out of the sky and looks closer at it. His metal hand taps one of the running motors, analyzing how it works. He must have tapped it too hard, because the motor cracks off and dangles below, suspended by the wires. The bot jumps with shock and frantically hides the airship in the model town, walking away casually.
I shake my head with sympathy, partially listening to Adlanniel and Rilien's conversation.
"Well, we best get going. We need to meet up with the rest of the team to get those three all up to date on the strategy for defeating these ruffians. You coming with, Rilien?" She asks, lifting my satchel and politely placing my goggles' case inside.
"Oh yes, I'll be on my way in a few. I'm just finishing up on a diagram," he says with a wave goodbye.
We bid Rilien and Tinco farewell and start heading out to the front room. I take one last glance around the woodwork, mechanical models, and broken down clocks before letting Adlanniel usher me out the door.
It doesn't take as long as it felt like it did to get there to return to the Coaster Express. We squeeze into a single cart and enter in our designated station. The ride is quiet, since there isn't much to say. I look out the window using my goggles, zooming in and out of the cityscape. Adlanniel laughs at my childish playing, and I chuckle along with her.
We arrive at a station I've yet to explore and it turns out that it is our stop. Many scholarly looking folks stand around the station's overhang conversing with one another. Their matching uniforms imply to me that they are, in fact, apart of some school, but Adlanniel informs me that this is the brain of the rebellion. This is the Yugurian Guard's center of intelligence, YGI.
The building looks very neat and polished. The rounded sides are a creamy metal, buffed to perfection. It looks almost like a tall flower or a hatched egg, having the walls flair out in a flamboyant style. We are greeted by two polite officers who open the door for us.
The marble flooring reminds me of something rather fancy and more advanced than most cultures dare to try around these parts. I comment my observation to Adlanniel and she agrees with me saying that they have a quarry somewhere down on the surface of the realm that harvests this fine rock. Apparently their artists and architects value marble higher than gold when working on a project.
The shininess reveals my smiling reflection as I look down while we head down the hall. We end up at the end of a narrow corridor with nothing to see but a large metal bolted door. With a grunt, Adlanniel heaves the door open, revealing a long winding staircase downwards. I can only imagine what is down here which gives me the shivers.
She enters without caution. 'Well, if she can do it, so can I.' I tell myself as I walk warily down the steps, closing the door behind me. It gives off an awfully loud clunk noise, creating an echo all the way down the stairs. I start feeling like I'm in the middle of a horror novel, where the hero is walking down that dark and creepy staircase, knowing that at any minute something might jump out at them and-
"Boo!"
I have never screamed so high in my life. My feathers explode around my neck and the tip of my tail, making me look like some highly groomed poodle, as I jump and land on the platform I had just stepped down from. My assailant bursts into a dark laughter that I can only recognize as Hotaru's.
"I see y'er foot is doing better." I say in an angered tone. I look to Adlanniel for support and perhaps a scolding, but she is hiding behind Hotaru quietly laughing her rump off. "Oh, very mature." I sniff and lift my head up, walking with a pompous sway.
"Oh brother," Hotaru mumbles, watching me walk through the door I presume he came from.
My feelings for the place change in an instant. It no longer looks dark and mysterious, but bright and colorful. Multiple doohickeys and thingamabobs flutter across the very tall room carrying papers and files. It almost looks like our experiment room in Blacktalon's lab, yet much more advanced. There are cubicles on the walls with elves at work doing who knows what.
I spot one elf jumping from their cubicle and releasing a sting on their back that opens up a pair of wings and releases pedals near their feet, which they begin to work at furiously. A puttering sound comes from their back and I spot a small engine beginning to spark to life. They notice me watching and smile at me with a polite wave. I wave back but can't seem to find my facial muscles. They soar down a large tunnel in the center of the wall on the left side of the room.
"Welcome to the heart of the Yugurian Guard Intelligence!" Bellsulion appears from the commanding desk centered in the room. His uniform has changed from armor to a practical green fabric
-almost the same color as my fur-and leather ensemble. His broad shoulders carry a rugged, tanned animal hide that flowed behind him. Stripes are painted on his right shoulder, which I assume portrays his rank.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Bellsulion ushers us to a long meeting table in front of a large board with a map pinned of the Spires to it.
Everyone takes a seat except Hotaru and I, since we cannot fit in the chairs; Sendaar fits rather well in the elves' chairs besides his tail. Bellsulion takes a seat at the head of the table and begins to explain his plans: "We know the Mist has been hiring outside forces to aid in his attacks. From our knowledge, some trolls from Mirum Silvis have signed a contract with the League of Mist and have been teaching their battle strategies to the wolfwyre hoards.
"They plan to take the First Realm in a matter of days as a bloody warning to the dragons of Second Realm. We've just received word from the Hikari and Kurai that dispatches have been sent to the gryphons for their safety." I heave a sigh of relief to hear this news. Just then, the doors open once more to reveal Rilien and his robot companion. He nods with respect to Bellsulion and the rest of the company before taking a seat next to Adlanniel. Tinco remains standing behind his maker.
Our leader acknowledges their arrival with a small salute before continuing his allocution, "Now, we need to prepare ourselves for battle. We will be the reinforcements for the dragons during the battle. Our forces are going to be a shock to the Mist as we draw in from the Ancient Catacombs. Our arms will be the second wave the Mist was not prepared for, and that is how we will defeat them.
"The dragons and elves will force the League of Mist back to the Second Realm, where the rest of the dragon forces are ready to attack. Our gryphon friends have a few tricks up their sleeves that we plan to use to our advantage. Now, the good gryphon Professor and I have-"
Ka-klash!
The lights pop from the ceiling and fade slowly out to nothing but darkness. Down here in the underground headquarters, screams of horror can be heard on the surface. A blood curdling roar rattles all sides of our hideout and my innards as I recognize the owner of the roar-Krah. The Mist have found us.