[Kara] Chapter 32: Changes (Patreon)

Kara flew into the air as the pillar of golden flames faded away. This was the power of a Juvenile Dragon. With her dragonsoul at the Third Stage, she was so much stronger now. Previously, she had only been able to kill about a thousand or so forminac soldiers before she felt like she was pushing herself to her limit. But now, she had slaughtered thousands of them with her brand new abilities… with great cost, of course.

Exhaustion claimed her body, her dragonsoul flickering as its embers were reduced to sparks. Still, she forced herself into the air, surveying the empty encampment.

All that remained of the attacking forminac soldiers were broken chunks of their carapaces that had rained down from the sky after she had blown up their underground network of tunnels. There were no monsters left. No danger to be found. Even though there had been thousands of them just earlier, they were all gone.

And when the young woman was certain the area was safe, she descended to the ground, only for her fiery wings to sputter out of existence halfway down. Her dragonsoul’s flames turned to sparks. She blinked as she tumbled out of the air.

“Oh, fuck—”

But before she could crash into the ground, a hand made of stone rose up into the air to catch her. Kara looked down at Angel as he nodded at her, and she smiled gratefully back at him.

“Thanks, Angel.”

And as he set her to the ground, a large crowd began to converge around her. Tashia and a group of soldiers arrived. The Captain of the Second Company sent her soldiers to clear the area in case there were any stray monsters about, before turning to face Kara.

“What was that?” Tashia asked, goggle-eyed.

And she was not the only one with questions. Kara groaned as she picked herself up, only to catch a glimpse of a drakenrider drawing closer. Hayder arrived at the camp as he nodded at Tashia.

But before either of the captains could bombard Kara with further questions, Arjin and Dammir arrived, followed by many more bystanders who had seen what happened. They all had questions. They all wanted answers.

And Kara exchanged a glance with Angel, before they both shrugged.

—--

Caius had stayed behind with Hayder, Bushra, Uzbug, and the other companies that stayed to help with burning the bodies of the dead soldiers. Even though the elf didn’t know many of these soldiers personally, he recognized some of their faces. And to see them now dead…

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt the need to stay behind and see them off before their bodies were turned to ash. Unfortunately, that turned out to have been the wrong decision to make, because he had missed out on another attack on the main group of survivors.

They had set up camp for the night before a group of a few thousand forminacs ambushed them from underground. And even though Caius rushed to their aid with Bushra, Uzbug, and the other companies, they arrived too late— after the fighting was already finished.

There were a lot of casualties. Especially since the forminac soldiers targeted unsuspecting civilians first. Nearly two thousand innocent lives were lost before the monsters were defeated, and just under five hundred soldiers were killed too.

Which was a surprisingly low number, considering how it was an ambush. But Caius was told that more would have been killed if Kara hadn’t intervened. He heard a lot of conflicting reports about what she did. However, the gist of it was that she had somehow become much stronger than ever before. And he could sort of infer what had happened to her that allowed this sudden boost in power.

Kara must have ascended.

But that was going to be difficult to explain to pretty much anyone in the encampment. So the elf hurried to help bail her out of any predicament she could be in. He eventually found her in a tent, surrounded by Hayder, Tashia, and Bushra.

The Captain of the First Company was shaking his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ms Kara, please, while I am grateful for what you have done for us, I just want to know why you didn’t showcase that power sooner?”

It was a simple question. But Kara shrank back as she averted her gaze. “Uh, because I couldn’t?”

Caius pursed his lips. He saw the way Hayder sighed in exhaustion from that answer. And he knew he was going to have to intervene to help Kara out of this situation. Or at least, that was what he thought.

“Why not?” Hayder asked insistently.

And Kara gave him an apologetic look. “It’s not something I can explain easily, Hayder. I’m sorry. Maybe I can explain it to you one day… but for now, just know that I am on your side.”

This is my cue to step in, Caius thought as he was about to step foot into the tent.

But much to his surprise, Hayder closed his eyes, before nodding.

“I see.”

That made the elf pause. He watched as Hayder drew back and crossed his arms.

“Very well then, Ms Kara. I hope you’ll be able to trust me enough to explain this mystery one day. For now, you may go.”

Kara smiled back at him as she rose to her feet. “Thanks, Hayder.”

And Caius just blinked, watching as the human was let go without a problem. He hadn’t expected that at all. He would’ve thought that Hayder would’ve caused more of a fuss. But…

“Caius?” Kara stared at the elf when she stepped out of the tent. “Oh, you’re back.”

He glanced between here and the captains in befuddlement, before clearing his throat. “I… I got back a bit ago. But— good gods, what just happened?”

She gave him a quizzical glance. “What do you mean?”

“I was under the impression that Hayder… hated your guts, you know?” Caius scratched the back of his head. “I thought you would have gotten into trouble for what you did.”

“Well, Hayder and I are cool now,” she said with a shrug. “So it’s all good.”

“Oh.” The elf processed her words, but he was still in disbelief. He had so many questions.

When did this happen? Didn’t Hayder care that Kara was a human? Where did the distrust go?

But then Caius looked into the tent and he saw the tired look on Hayder’s face. And the realization settled in as the elf heard what the dark elf captain had to say.

“If Dark Lord Koros were here…” Hayder whispered, rubbing his temples.

For whatever reason, Caius still hadn’t fully allowed himself to comprehend what happened over the last week or so. It was such a short amount of time compared to his long life. And it was so similar to something he had experienced before, he thought that things wouldn’t really change.

But as he saw the dead faces of the soldiers he had barely known flash in his mind, before the last words of Koros echoed in his ears, the elf began to fully understand:

Things had changed.

And they were never going to be the same again.

—--

Kara and Caius quickly caught up with one another before they broke off and went separate ways.

“Well, I’m going to head to bed now. I’m beat. These last few days have been too exhausting…” Kara said as she waved back at him.

He nodded in agreement, before turning away. “I’ll probably get some shut-eye too.”

Kara really couldn’t wait to lie down in bed and fall asleep for the night. She hadn’t been this exhausted in a while— even during the destruction of Alyona. While she had been injured back then, she hadn’t pushed her dragonsoul as much as she did today.

And it was also an accumulation of exhaustion from everything that had happened since then. After all, it had just been one thing after another, again and again. The nightmares, the hunting, and the forminacs. It was a lot, even for Kara.

But it wasn’t pointless. Because she could feel the mana pooling up in her dragonsoul once more. Compared to her previous ascension, it was going to be a much longer and arduous path before she could reach the Fourth Stage. So getting to where she already did was a good start, even if she knew she wasn’t anywhere close to ascending again.

“That just means I’ll become even stronger when I ascend…” Kara muttered under her breath as she made her way back to her tent. Angel was waiting there, having been so exhausted, he went to sleep as she was interrogated. “As I am right now, I’m certain even the Soulmaster’s machine cannot defeat me.”

Although— did she even need to worry about fighting against the Soulmaster’s machine? It had saved her from Adam during the destruction of Alyona. And while she had pushed that memory to the back of her mind because of everything else that was happening requiring her more immediate attention, she did wonder if the machines weren’t actually meant to be hostile.

Maybe there was a malfunction in the first machine that made it attack her immediately. After all, the machines did clearly state that they were supposed to bring her to the Soulmaster.

“But that doesn’t mean they’re completely harmless either, because if I refuse to follow them, they would force me to follow by any means necessary…”

However, meeting the Soulmaster might not be a bad thing now, considering she had a message to deliver to him. Her lips drew into a thin line as she recalled Zlo’tan’s last words.

But before she could relive that moment, her thoughts were interrupted by a voice from the side.

“Ms Kara!” Arjin called out as she ran up to the human. “I’ve been looking for you!”

“Arjin, how many times have I told you to just call me by my name.” Kara rolled her eyes.

She turned to face her friend, before smiling. However, the smile quickly vanished. The former prostitute was covered in some cuts and smudged with dirt, and although she was otherwise fine, Kara wondered what happened.

“You look hurt. Were you attacked by the forminac soldiers?”

Arjin shrank back as she tried to cover some of her cuts. “I did— but I ended up taking down two of them on my own!”

That took Kara by surprise. “You did what?”

The former prostitute averted her gaze as she tried to make up an excuse. “I know. It was kind of dangerous of me. Mr Dammir said I should’ve run away when I saw them. But I wanted to—“

And before she could finish, Kara took her by the hand and exclaimed.

“That’s amazing, Arjin! I always knew you had it in you!”

“You’re—” Arjin blinked. “You’re not mad at me? Even though it was risky and stupid?”

“I mean, I do risky and stupid things all the time. I’m not Dammir, so I’m not going to rebuke you for it.” Kara waved a hand dismissively.

And Arjin blinked a few times, before her gaze shadowed over. At first, Kara thought the former prostitute was ashamed of what she did. After all, Arjin had told Kara she hated the very idea of killing.

But Kara realized that Arjin was beaming.

“Thank you, Ms Kara. I…” She shyly looked away, practically covering her face with her hands. “But I’m still not as amazing as you.”

“That doesn’t make you any less great.” Kara rolled her eyes.

But she was glad to see the former prostitute acting more confidently. Even though Arjin was still modest, she wasn’t stammering or stumbling over every word any longer.

Arjin shook her head. “I saw what you did, Ms Kara— you killed all those monsters by yourself. I can’t imagine ever being as strong as you.”

“You saw that?” Kara raised a brow.

“Everyone did.” Arjin nodded eagerly. She was practically bouncing where she stood, gesticulating wildly as she spoke. “You were flying across the sky like some kind of fire elemental. It was awesome!”

Kara smiled as she saw her friend’s excitement. But she shrugged and waved a hand off dismissively. “The only reason I could do what I did was because it was an open space and these soldier forminacs couldn’t do anything to get to me. If I had been up against another kind of monster, it would’ve been way more dangerous.”

“That is true. But it’s still amazing.” Arjin smiled, meeting the human’s gaze.

And Kara chuckled as she strode back towards her tent. “Thanks. It was a bit flashy, though. Next time, I’ll try to be more discreet.”

Arjin laughed in response. “You won’t…”

—--

And the next morning came as the haze blanketing the Ashfields during the night dissipated. There was still a thin layer of smog, but not enough to significantly affect visibility in any way. In the distance, a small volcano erupted as the sun began to rise over the horizon.

The camp began to dismantle, and Hayder hopped onto his draken. The monstermount groaned, expressing its exhaustion. But he simply gave it some of his water and patted its side.

He was stirred too. And still, he pushed himself to rally the survivors of Alyona onward. They pressed through the flat terrain as he kept an eye out for any possible further ambushes. He had hoped that there would be no altercations with any monsters today.

But that did not happen.

Because the survivors of Alyona were attacked by monsters even more than the day before. They were smaller-scale battles. Many deceit whompers— or as Kara called them, fake trees— foolishly attempted to sneak up and steal one or two people without anyone realizing. Each time, they were caught, and they were quickly dealt with.

A large group of a few hundred igna salamanders fled the site of the eruption, which led to a incursion with the survivors of Alyona— half of them were killed before they fled. There was even a fire elemental that had briefly attacked Bushra’s company.

Fortunately, it hadn’t been a large fire elemental. It was about the size of a troll, made out of molten rocks and flames. Perhaps it had been attracted to the eruption, or maybe it had just been passing through. But Kara scared it away, although she didn’t bother giving chase to finish it off.

However, these weren’t all the altercations the survivors of Alyona had that day either. There were still the forminac attacks.

That was right. Just as Architect Magus Uzbug had said, her queen was relentless. Even after thousands of forminac soldiers were slaughtered yesterday, even more were sent after the survivors of Alyona.

And it wasn’t like they were charging mindlessly to their deaths.

“They’re employing different tactics,” Hayder whispered as he heard the screams echoing further behind the group.

It was a simple hit-and-run strategy. Worker forminacs would dig a hole underneath the group to grab unsuspecting passersby from below. By the time the nearby soldiers could rush to the scene, the forminacs were gone, disappearing into the tunnels they dug.

And while the monsters weren’t able to deal as many casualties as they would with a full-on assault, there were still a dozen people or so dying each hour to this.

Kara tried her best to help out with stopping these attacks, flying as quickly as possible to the screaming. But even if she was able to burn the worker forminacs before they could flee, the damage would already be done. Someone would have been killed.

And when Hayder consulted Architect Magus Uzbug, she only said the same things she had said before.

My queen is like a petulant child. Even if she has to sacrifice another ten thousand of her people’s lives, she will do so if it means getting some kind of revenge.

“But we should be far from her territory by now,” Hayder tried to argue.

It was late in the afternoon when the Architect Magus was only proven right. The survivors of Alyona stumbled across another makeshift encampment— once again, belonging to the orc clans and troll tribes that had gone ahead with Karwan’s group.

There were another thousand dead here, this time around. And while Karwan didn’t seem to be amongst those who had been killed, Hayder himself recognized a familiar troll. Chieftain Elias of the Boraka Tribe.

He had been one of the brash troll chieftains who had laughed at Hayder’s face for suggesting the Ashfields were too dangerous to cross without a proper plan. While a small part of Hayder mourned the chieftain’s death, he also couldn’t help but feel no sympathy— that it was a deserved death.

After all, Hayder had warned Elias against rushing ahead. But the troll chieftain didn’t listen.

And as night finally approached, and the attacks seemed to slow down, the survivors of Alyona made camp once again. But Hayder did not let his guard down. He brought his fellow drakenriders with him as he continuously patrolled the perimeter of the encampment, checking for any inconsistencies in the soil, in case there was another ambush.

Tashia found him during his fourth lap around the camp. She offered him some water which he promptly gave to his weary draken.

“Hayder,” Tashia started, pursing her lips at him. “You’re pushing yourself too hard. You need to rest. Let Bushra or another captain take over the patrols.”

“Address me by my title, Captain Tashia.” He shook his head as he drank what was left of the bottle she had given him. There were only a few sips left. “And none of the other captains are drakenriders like me. They will respond to an attack too slowly. It needs to be me.”

Tashia drew her lips into a thin line. “I’m not going to call you by your title when I see you like this, Hayder. We’ve known each other since we were both children, and I’m worried about you. You can’t do everything by yourself.”

And Hayder sighed, “But I need to do this. Without Dark Lord Koros here, someone has to protect what is left of Alyona…”

“But who is going to protect you?” Tashia asked, her gaze boring into him.

He paused for a moment, before he handed her bottle back to her. He tugged the reins of his draken and continued his patrol.

And as the two captains separated from each other, another figure watched, before turning to face the rest of the camp. Architect Magus Uzbug’s antennae twitched as she drew away.

—--

Kara settled down into her tent as Angel whined. The two of them barely had anything to eat today, but that was because everyone was running out of rations, and there weren’t too many monsters to hunt and eat in the Ashfields.

Edible monsters, at the very least. Forminacs and those flaming salamanders could hardly be considered edible to most people.

Well, Kara had eaten a flaming salamander before, and they didn’t taste that bad— at least, compared to some of the other stuff she had tried. But she hadn’t thought of dragging their corpses around after she had helped Hayder repel them.

Now, she regretted that decision. So did the utlas bear. The two of them collapsed to the ground as their stomachs both groaned.

“I can’t wait to eat good food again…” Kara murmured.

And Angel nodded in agreement with her.

The two of them would have lain there until they passed out. But they both perked up, hearing a soft set of footfalls approaching their tent. Kara had expected it to be Arjin at first, but then she heard the telepathic voice in her head.

Greetings, Ms Kara, Uzbug said, still waiting outside. May I speak with you please?

Kara furrowed her brows as she sat up. “Sure, come on in.”

Thank you, came the reply.

The tent’s flap opened up as the Architect Magus stepped inside. She nodded at Angel who remained lying down, but waved a hand to greet her.

I apologize for my intrusion. Uzbug knelt down on the ground as Kara tilted her head. Especially late at night, when you are trying to rest. It is rude of me.

“Don’t worry about it. I was just relaxing— I wasn’t going to go to sleep any time soon. So, what’s up, Uzbug?” the human asked curiously.

And the ant-person bowed her head. I know that this may come quite suddenly, and you can reject it. But I have a request for you, Ms Kara.

“A request for me?” Kara frowned. “Why are you coming to me for help, and not someone else?”

Because this is something only you can accomplish, Uzbug said as her mandibles clicked together nervously. Her antennae wagged in the air, looking almost embarrassed. And I do not know who else to turn to.

“I mean, I’ll see what I can do. But that depends on the request. Because if you want me to share my rations with you… I can’t do that.” Kara chuckled as she placed her hands on her stomach.

Uzbug didn’t laugh. She remained stoic, meeting the human’s gaze seriously. And finally, she made her request.

Could you please kill the queen of my hive?

Kara blinked when she heard what the ant-person said.

—-

Angel’s ears twitched when he heard Uzbug’s request. Even though her words echoed in his mind, he still instinctively cleared his ears like it would better his hearing of the conversation. He sat up and listened as Kara repeated the question.

“You want me to kill your queen? I mean, I can kind of guess your reasoning behind it, but still, I have to ask: why?” Kara placed a hand on her chin.

Because these attacks will not stop unless the queen is dead, Uzbug explained simply.

Kara gave the forminac a dubious look. Even Angel was certain there was more to it than that. Uzbug’s antennae wiggled as she glanced between the two of them.

“Come on, Uzbug. Is that really all?”

That is… my main reason, the forminac finally admitted. But if you wish to know my ulterior motive, I simply wish for my hive to be freed from my queen’s rule.

“Not because you hate your queen?” Kara asked curiously.

There is indeed some resentment I harbor towards my queen for what she did to me. Uzbug nodded. However, over the last few days, I have seen once again how callously she has treated my fellow forminacs. She has knowingly sent them here to die again and again, but she will not relent.

“Because she was upset we killed a few of her soldiers?”

It was a guess. But Kara seemed almost certain of it. Angel would have thought that was the reason too. But Uzbug shook her head.

My queen is not so caring to be upset over a few dead soldiers. If I had to presume, she takes it as an affront to her ego that she wasn’t able to chase us out of her newfound territory. That is why she will remain persistent in this senseless slaughter of both my old people and my new people.

“I see…” Kara tapped a finger on her chin at that.

Uzbug lowered her head. I understand it may come across as odd, especially since the people of my hive have no real autonomy or identity. Even back then, I could not differentiate one worker from another. But my heart aches when I see them die. Just the same as my heart aches when I see a citizen of Alyona die to them.

Angel thought he could understand how the forminac felt. He remembered when his sleuth had been captured and slaughtered by those humans. He might not have been close with all of his kin, and he might have even disliked a few of his cousins, but it still hurt him to watch them suffer.

But if you kill my queen, then my hive will no longer pursue us, Uzbug continued. A new queen will take her place, and we will be able to trek through the rest of the Ashfields unscathed.

Kara snapped her fingers understandingly. “So it’s a win-win, then. And it’s especially good for you, because neither of your people from the past or present have to die any longer.”

Indeed. The forminac lowered her head. I had dreaded returning to the Ashfields for this reason, Ms Kara. Because I know that I will have to see the death of those I do not want to die.

There was a moment of silence as no one in the room said a word. Or for Uzbug’s case, thought a word. Kara and Angel exchanged a glance. The utlas bear nodded eagerly.

“Well,” Kara said as she rose to her feet, “I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll see what I can do about your queen. I do have another question, though.”

I will answer it to the best of my abilities, Uzbug replied.

“Won’t your hive’s new queen get mad at us?” Kara tilted her head.

And Angel found himself asking the same question as he stood up behind her. She peered curiously into the forminac.

“I mean, I feel like that’s the natural reaction to killing the previous queen.”

Uzbug crossed two of her arms across her chest, keeping the other two to the side. That may be a possibility. But a new queen will not be chosen easily. It is a long process. And by the time a new queen is chosen, we will be far away from the Ashfields.

“Makes sense.” Kara watched as Uzbug stood up before her. “And I assume you know the direction to your hive, right?”

The forminac nodded. Even if the hive’s territory has expanded, the previous entrances should remain the same.

Angel got to his feet as well. He started after Kara and Uzbug as the two began to leave the tent.

I will lead the way— Uzbug started.

But Kara paused, glancing back at Angel. He almost bumped into her as she faced him hesitantly. He tilted both his heads quizzically at her, and she scratched her cheek.

“Uh, Angel, I don’t think you should be coming with us,” she said, shaking her head. “I think it will be safer for you if you remain here.”

And the utlas bear just blinked all four of his eyes. He stared at her, completely confused.

She explained, “I mean, I kind of assumed that the reason why Uzbug is approaching just me is because this is going to be dangerous for even the likes of Hayder or Caius. Isn’t that right?”

That is correct, Uzbug confirmed. Even when I was still in the hive, there were over twenty thousand soldiers and workers combined. Considering that the hive’s territory has expanded…

“The number of forminacs should have grown quite significantly too,” Kara said, before eyeing Angel. “That’s why you shouldn’t come— it’ll be too dangerous for you.”

That statement came from a place of concern. Angel knew that. But he couldn’t help but feel hurt, being left out by Kara once again. He deflated a little bit as she looked away apologetically.

And then Angel remembered the last time she had asked him to stay back.

It was during the destruction of Alyona. When everything went wrong. He couldn’t do anything even if he wanted to— despite wishing he could be there.

Because of that, he wasn’t even there when Zlo’tan died.

Angel looked down at the crimson staff he was carrying. He stared at it for a long moment, before making his decision. Even though he couldn’t speak, he had to make his intentions clear.

Kara turned around to leave, but he stepped forward. He raised his staff as she looked back at him once more. She blinked, and he placed the staff firmly on the ground.

“Angel—” Kara started.

But then she saw the look on his face. Her eyes widened as they locked gazes. The two of them had traveled together for a long time. Even before Angel evolved to understand language, he was able to understand the human.

Similarly, she had learned to understand the utlas bear, even without him being able to speak. And what he was saying on his face was clear.

That he, too, wanted to grow stronger.

That he didn’t want to be left behind anymore.

Uzbug glanced back at the two of them as they remained in their silent confrontation. The forminac opted to remain silent. Angel refused to back down, and Kara pressed her lips thinly together.

Until Kara finally sighed.

“Alright,” she said as she took Angel’s paw. “We’ll do this together.”

And Angel smiled back at her when he heard that.

Then let us go, while the night is still young, Uzbug said as she strode forward. While we have the opportunity to strike.

Together, the three of them made their way out of the encampment, heading eastward.

Author's Notes:

4.9k words. Thanks for reading :) 

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