Fire In The Desert

Kies had never tried to enhance another person's speed before. This was his first time, and on several people at once, nevertheless. The winds wrapped around their bodies, startling everyone.

"All of you, calm down!" Nell yelled at her squad. They all stopped panicking and relaxed a little. Though they still didn't know what Kies was doing to them, it wasn't anything harmful.

Kies finished casting his spell and everyone immediately felt lighter. "I feel... different," one of them said out loud, examining the winds that were circling around his body.

"Try moving around," Kies told Nell and her squad. One by one, they took a couple of steps in front of them and they were not only felt lighter but were actually lighter. Their feet didn't make any noise as they touched the sand even with all their heavy equipment. It was easier for them to move now.

"Next time, give us a warning before you do this," Nell told Kies so that he wouldn't surprise them again like this in the future.

"Oh. Sorry, I should have said something first. I'll keep that in mind for the future," Kies apologized. He wasn't used to interacting with people after spending such a long time in isolation. And even more so since he lost his emotions a long time ago.

Luckily, it seemed like some of them were returning after his last encounter with the Stormcaller. That was very strange. Did something that restricted his emotion get removed then?

The Stormcaller couldn't answer his questions anymore. He was gone. However, there was still someone that can. The Aeos pretending to be him. He needed to find them and confront them about their intentions.

"I'll scout ahead first," Kies told the soldiers, snapping back into reality. If something bad was going to happen, it was better for him to be there when it does occur so he can handle it.

"Please do. We will catch up with you."

Kies nodded and bolted off, sprinting down the sandy streets. He chose not to use the rooftops this time around since he didn't want the enemy to see him coming. And while he can also make himself invisible with the winds, it required a lot of magic power and any mage could easily detect him a mile away before his arrival.

A simple speed enhancement on the other hand required no magic at all. It should, but it was because the winds were willing to follow him that he didn't need magic to control them. The fiercer winds, the ones that didn't want to be controlled. Those were the winds that he needed to use magic on.

Kies navigated through the city and arrived at the outpost. He heard a multitude of voices. There were people everywhere. There were so many people in fact that there was no space inside of the base for everyone and some were forced to sit outside of the camp.

Kies approached a guard patrolling around the outskirts of the camp and asked, "Have you seen a man with a tattoo of a snake on his body?" Though he could be anywhere, it didn't hurt to ask.

"A snake tattoo?" The guard looked around, trying to remember if he saw anyone that had a tattoo like that.

"There are a lot of people here. Even if he is here, I don't think I saw him," he answered after a short while.

"I see... Sorry for bothering you." Kies walked away from the guard and entered the camp. It was crowded and there was very little space for him to squeeze himself through.

Luckily, there was a small clearing somewhere within the camp and Kies found himself being able to freely move his arms again. Lining up together in a row in front of him were five tents. Each of them had people sitting around outside of them with bandages wrapped around their injured body parts.

This place was for treating the wounded. Injured people were brought into the tent where they would be tended to. The ratio of uninjured to injured people was quite low. Kies saw this by looking around. It was a good thing that the majority of the people here were able to evacuate safely without any trouble.

Kies left the area, not seeing the person he was looking for anywhere. If only he got a clear look at his face back at the queen's bed-chamber. This would make things a bit easier, but only a tiny bit. The number of people here made it impossible to find a single individual in the midst, and that was if he was even here to begin with.

Why did things have to be so complicated? The cure, the demons, and the Aeos pretending to be him. He had to deal with all of this at the same time.

Kies went around the entire camp, finding no clue to the whereabouts of the boss. He doubled back to where he came from and spotted Nell and her squad as they arrived at the camp too. It took them longer than he expected. They should've made it here in half the time.

Kies was about to walk up to them and ask why it took them this long when an earth-shattering roar shook the sands.

Everyone stopped what they were doing. The entire camp turned silent as every single person looked in the direction of where the sound came from.

"What was that..." Panicked voices filled the air and people began to look for cover. Many of them went inside the buildings which were already jammed packed with people. To make things even more chaotic, the people inside were poking their heads out, trying to see what was the disturbance.

The soldiers and guards tried to get everyone to settle down but they couldn't. The people didn't know what was coming, but whatever it was, it was not something good.

"...Why here? Why again...?" Kies couldn't believe it. If his ears didn't deceive him and his memory was still intact, they were in big trouble. And by "they," it was the whole city. No, it was the whole kingdom. Not even God can save them now.

So that was the demons' plan!? Kies remembered vividly that day when Messa took the baby dragon back home. Silverfield was burnt down to ashes while they watched from afar. Without a doubt, they were planning on doing the same thing to Otane...

Forget the leader of the Black Fang. Kies needed to find Messa. If that was a real roar, and it felt pretty real, the only way to prevent Otane from getting decimated like Silverfield was to return the juvenile dragon back.

"Winds, scout ahead." Kies sent the winds to survey the area where the roar came from. He couldn't see anything with the walls in the wall. He was still half-hoping that it wasn't real, but when the winds crashed into what felt like a mountain, Kies cut off his connection with them and opened his eyes. It was the real deal.

There was no time to waste. Kies surrounded himself with a layer of wind and took off. He didn't take to the sky as he didn't want to see the mythical beast which he knew was coming towards the city right now. He could feel the ground shake with every step it took.

This was Messa's doing for sure. He needed to find her and get her to stop.

***

"What in the world was that!?" Sirks was leaning against the wall by the window when the roar of what sounded like a massive beast shook the building.

Everyone inside was stunned by what they heard and felt. The soldiers standing guard outside peeked inside the room to make sure everything was okay.

Sirks looked out the window but he didn't see anything.

"I see something! It's on this side!" a soldier cried out. Everyone turned around and looked at the room opposite the one they were in. It was their room, the one with a hole in the middle of the floor.

Iris looked through the door and out the window, spotting movement far off in the distance. It was a giant red hill? No, it was bigger than that. It looked like a mountain and it looked like it was coming their way.

"What is that?"

The soldiers asked questions, not sure of what they were looking at.

Nyana stared at the giant moving mass of red, trying to figure out what it was. But once she saw the thing's eyes, she knew what it was straight away.

Her eyes flew open and her jaw dropped. "A dragon!?" she exclaimed, rubbing her eyes, checking to see if she was hallucinating.

Everyone turned to the elf, surprised and in disbelief by what they heard come out of her mouth.

"Did you say, a dragon?" Sirks asked her to confirm her words.

Nyana took another look at the beast and saw that it was real. "I hope I'm wrong, but my eyes are telling me otherwise..."

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