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Nicolas barely had time to take a breath as he ushered the remaining Fae away from the falling tree palace. Maevis’ rock wall helped to block the dead soldiers, but it also limited the directions in which the Fae had to run. Many had given up, and huddled down in terror instead of even attempting to run.

It made sense to Nic, in a twisted way. Run away to be torn apart by undead soldiers, or be instantly crushed by a tree so big that they had little chance of escaping. He still tried to get everyone to run, but even Nic thought that it was a moot point.

“NOW! As Hard As You Can!”

Nic whipped his head up just in time to see Aero coordinating the flying guardians to direct the falling tree palace. They slammed full-force into the palace, and shifted it just enough to avoid the Fae, and land on the other side of Maevis’ rock wall. The force in which it had landed with sent the wall flying in every direction, but everyone was still alive, albeit a bit battered.

Once the dust had settled enough to see through, Nic sought out Aero. He’d been relatively easy to spot, but not so much to get to since he kept diving to attack. It took him running out of of his arrows for him to pause for more to be brought to him.

The arrows were dipped in a neurotoxin that had been extracted from a plant native to the Fae realm, so it had a small effect on the soldiers. Nicolas wondered how Doctor Stein would react once he examined the bodies of his defeated soldiers, but quickly pushed the thought aside. A shiver ran up his spine at the mere thought of the doctor, and didn’t want to become distracted now.

Before the Fae King could load up and continue, Nicolas shouted to him; “Your Majesty! Wait! WAIT! I have news of the Queen for you!”

Aero’s head shot up; “What?! Why are you here?! Shouldn’t you be-”

.....

“The Queen wentthrough the portal, my King, before it closed. She couldn’t sustain herself, not with the number of people she had to evacuate,” Nicolas replied while trying to catch his breath.

Aero sighed; “At least she’s safe. That is what’s most important. How many weren’t able to be evacuated?”

“At least six or seven hundred,” Nic replied.

Aero squinted as he looked downwards at his frightened people. Worry etched itself into his features as he desperately tried to think of a place for his people to go, but he had no options left..

‘Even if we ran to Moonstone Castle, Lucas couldn’t house us all. And his walls aren’t strong enough to withstand an army, let alone a one made up of the dead..’

As if reading his mind, Nicolas commented; “My King, what about the Highlands? I know King Murdoc will take us in! His people see the Fae the same as themselves! If we can make it there, I know we can survive!”

Aero’s expression grew pensive for several moments before he relented. It was the only logical option that they had, considering Ruscovic was the next closest kingdom. Since their king was brother to Marco, Aero didn’t trust him.

The Highlanders had made their disdain for Marco obvious when they had all attended King Lawrence’s wedding. Aero had gotten along with Murdoc, despite him being a human. The fact that he was a close friend of Skye and Tidas, according to Nic; also put him as ease.

“Spread the word to as many as you can, then lead them there. I will stay back with the guard, and hold off the undead for as long as we can..”

Nic’s expression dropped; “You can’t do that, Aero! You’re the bloody King!”

“Exactly! It’s my responsibility As the King to defend my people!”

Nicolas flew up to him, and nearly knocked him off the back of his ride as he grabbed the edge of Aero’s shirt; “It’s a king’s responsibility to LEAD his people! You defend them by maintaining a rational head, and issuing orders clearly, and thoroughly!”

“Anyone can fight! But Very Few are smart enough to guide others! Especially in situations like this! Do you honestly think that your people won’t scatter, and end up caught or dead without guidance?! They Need a leader to get them to the Highlands!”

Seeing the conflict reflected in his king’s eyes, Nic added; “And what of Celestia? How do you think she will feel if she loses you?! Would you put her through that?! All over your warrior’s pride?!”

Aero looked between his people, Nicolas, and the horde of undead making their way around the fallen tree palace. After a few seconds, he closed his eyes in contemplation, then locked them with Nic’s..

“Are you Sure that the Highlanders with take us in? With no hidden agenda or ‘fees’ later?”

Nicolas grinned; “I swear that the Highlanders aren’t like that. I’d bet my life on them.”

Aero nodded at him; “Fine. I will issue orders to the guardians to cover our flanks as we head north. Spread the word: we’re abandoning Warrick Forest, and heading for the Highlands.”

Nic bowed quickly, then took off to tell the Fae below what was happening. Aero told the air sprite that was delivering him his arrows to spread his plan to the others, and to have them congregate above the remaining civilians. He didn’t have much power left himself since he’d been using his Tamer trait to coordinate throughout the battle.

Aero’s last order inside their home was to knock over as many of the trees as they could to block the army’s way. It was painful for them to topple their homes to protect the people, but they all understood that their homes were already lost. The piled-up trees also helped to slow down the flames spreading throughout the forest, and kept the path north clear.

Nicolas rallied the remaining Fae, and had them start to head through the forest. Many were crying, or in shock as they began their arduous journey. But they all felt a growing resentment towards humans.

Every time something terrible happened to their kind, it always seemed to be a human’s fault in some way. The last time Warrick Forest was attacked, it was due to humans, and the few that were able to talk were discussing those facts. Nicolas wanted to address their misplaced hatred, but he didn’t have a chance to.

The dead soldiers that had survived the crushing from the tree palace had funneled around it, and had continued on. They would continue to pursue them until they were either put down, or recalled by their master. As he watched his people march on, Aero wondered if they really would make it to the Highlands intact..

************

Norvis felt as giddy as a schoolgirl with a crush as he’d watched the largest tree he’d ever seen fall to the wayside. Neither he, nor Doctor Stein could see the Fae pushing it to the side as it had fallen. So when the tree had crushed hundreds of his precious creations, Stein had flipped out on Norvis.

After yanking his partner from his seat, the doctor screamed in his face; “What the Fuck is WRONG With You?! If you’re gonna fell a tree, at least be fucking smart enough to know where it’s gonna land! Do have any idea how many of my precious babies you just destroyed?! I should have the rest of the army pick apart your fucking monstrosity!”

It took everything Norvis had not to puke in Stein’s face because of his rank breath. It rivaled his usual stench of decaying bodies, but was worse due to it’s warmth. After he pulled himself away and took a few deep breaths of fresh air, Norvis snapped back at him.

A wide smirk stretched across his face before he’d spoken; “Go ahead and try, but I know you can’t do shit, you nasty bastard. First off, I know that you’ve already given control over to our King. You’re just here to collect data, and watch from the sidelines..”

“Secondly, you know how angry our King would get if I didn’t finish leveling the whole forest. I couldn’t do that if your gross wee ghoulies Could do anything to my creation, so how about you quit yer bitchin’?”

Stein wanted to snap Norvis’ neck and use him as a guinea pig, but he was right about his king getting mad if he inhibited the fool’s assignment in any way. They were both ordered to avoid interfering with the other’s work, so the doctor felt like his options were unfairly limited, but he pressed on.

Testing the durability, speed, strength, and efficiency of his creations was Stein’s top priority, but Norvis had two. The first was to demolish the forest that spanned nearly the whole of Alcon. It was an arduous task, but Norvis was confident that his machine could complete the it within a month, even with the heavy snows.

The second priority was relatively the same as Stein’s: take copious notes so that they could improve their creations however they saw fit. Neither had purposely interfered, but when conducting two large-scale experiments at the same time; crossovers were bound to happen.

After they had each calmed down, they had discussed this fact, and concluded that another experiment could be worked in. They were forced to do a joint-operation, so they decided to see how their creations could compliment each other..

The doctor didn’t have control over the army, but he could still order around up to a dozen or so undead without needing his King’s direct permission. He didn’t like sacrificing any of his creations, but Norvis’ proposal had been too intriguing to pass up. After ordering a couple undead to each tankers’ side, he waited until Norvis gave the okay that everything was ready..

“Good ta go!” he yelled cockily.

Doctor Stein nodded to him before refacing his creations; “Alright boys! Time to take down shop! Dismantle!”

Upon hearing his words, the undead immediately started to pull themselves apart, and drop the removed pieces into the oil tankers. They waited until the soldiers had removed everything but an arm, their heads, and the bulk of their torsos. They were in the middle of unraveling their intestines when Stein kicked the rest of them into the tankers.

“Remember the report about how the Highlands near the old capital looked? I bet if we burn the woods with a bit of the King’s magic mixed in, the forest won’t grow back,” Stein commented as he finished kicking the rest last body into the tank.

“Interesting hypothesis! Let’s find out, shall we?! Haha!” Norvis cackled as he shifted his baby into gear; “Let’s go! There’s one more place that we gotta stop along the way!”

Stein scrunched his face; “Where?!”

A wide, evil grin stretched across Norvis face; “We’re gonna stop and pick up a present for our King along the way! ...At Moonstone Castle!”