The Inadequate Summoned Hero

Chapter 14

We were silent for the rest of the walk back and Beck had taken my hand in hers. When we finally returned to everyone else I noticed there was no more fighting going on. I saw almost everyone carrying dead to a pile. "Are they not going to bury them?" "They don't want any undead going around so they will burn them." Most of those being piled up aren't humans but I also can't see many around anyways. The only humans I can see are my former classmates and there is less than half of them. "Where are the rest of the humans?" I look to Beck for an answer but she just shrugs.

"Come on we should go see that friend of yours." I nod silently as she begins dragging me to the burned center of the camp. At some point, Lucy must have spotted us because she started to run at me. "Charlie are you okay?" I look down ashamed. "I'm fine." Before I know it, she is hugging me as tight as she can. "No, you are most certainly not. I got the whole story from one of your human associates." She lets me go and I finally look up at her in horror to see that she is wearing an eyepatch.

"What happened to your eye?" She smiles slightly. "It's just an accessory sweetheart." Sweetheart? "But-" She cuts me off. "Don't worry about it. I'm making both of you an honorary member of the council." I look at Beck to see that she is as surprised as I am. "Why? You only just met me, and you don't even know Beck!" Lucy just smiles back. "Since I am the only council member left, I can do whatever I want. Since you two obviously like each other, whether just as friends or more, you will both make the decisions for me!"

Beck and I look at each other and then she realizes the problem. "Do everything for you? That is not how this should work, plus we know nothing about managing what is basically an entire race." Lucy pouts. "I never had to do anything before." I look around at everyone in the camp. Most are staring at us. "Um, everyone is looking at us." Lucy quickly looks at everyone and then back to Beck and I. "Look, we don't have a home anymore and I have no idea where we should go next."

"Where did your race live before you lived near the humans?" Beck probably knows more than I do because she always loved geography. I don't even know if that's what she is asking for but it makes the most sense to me. "We lived on another continent but when the mountain spewed fire we tried our best to evacuate. The humans clearly didn't understand that we had nowhere to go and they started slaughtering us when they thought we were trying to take over."

"How long does lava take to cool down?" "Depending on how much lava there was, it would take a year to be safe and even longer for plants to grow." "How long does it take for plants to grow?" "Approximately 200 to 400 years." "Lucy how long ago did the mountain, uh, spew fire?" If it is long enough we can just live on that continent. "Oh, it has been over 800 years but we still aren't sure if it's safe to return." I sigh in relief. "We'll be fine, let's head in the direction of that continent then." Lucy looks concerned but nods her head.

"We need to make sure everyone is healed properly before we start going. The continent is to the southeast and I have no idea how long it will take to cross the sea." She looks towards Beck now. "If any of you human friends want to join us and are willing to cooperate and work, those who can heal should assist with that and the rest will need to start building some transports." Beck nods and gets to work while Lucy starts to bark orders at various people that seem fine after the battle.

I approach her hesitantly. "Um, Lucy?" She pauses in her order giving. "Hm?" I gulp. "What can I do to help, you said I'm on the council too right? So I should help." She nods. "You can be moral support, change forms and let me carry you." She then continues overseeing various activities. "But, I can help so much more! I can be of so much more use! Plus, I found you a willing fox to be your pet! His name is Jacob." She just glances at him and looks at me expectantly. I sigh and transform. "Sorry for wasting your time Jacob. It was good to see you." He shrugs. "Bye." He walks off and I paw at Lucy's legs until she picks me up.

A few days later the people are building boats the best they can to cross the sea for an unknown amount of time. During the ride, many people became seasick and I was able to not eat as much by being small. Two weeks after we embark we finally hit land. There were a few close calls I hear but surprisingly, the humans, my classmates, convinced the beast-men that hygiene on a boat is the best way to not die. As soon as we park the boats, people are already cutting down trees in order to make houses.

"Wouldn't it be a better idea to go further inland?" Lucy just shrugs and Beck walks over. "Well, if everything died in the eruption, there shouldn't be any wildlife. The only meat these people will end up catching will be fish." That makes sense. "What about stuff that was deep underground?" She snorts. "What, like worms?" She walks off to help some people and Lucy clears her throat to tell me to do my job. I sigh and transform, which I have been doing constantly lately.

"So Charlie, are you able to become more than just a small fox or are there other secrets you've been hiding?"

The End

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