Allies and Enemies

Chapter Twenty: Updates

"We're still using the scouts, right?" Ginny asked as she walked alongside me on the way to the Training Room.

"Yup," I replied. "Updates are crucial at this time."

"Their numbers could grow at any time," Ginny remarked. We were quiet for a moment.

"What seemed scary was that... all our friends were the same," I said. "Same, but different, if you know what I mean."

"I do," Ginny replied. "But we know that they are not the people who we knew."

"Yes," I said. "Even though they appear to be." We separated, with her heading to the Training Room and me heading outside for a breath of fresh air. I had previously realized that I didn't see the outside area before, and I was wondering what it looked like. It was beautiful. Rowan did a wonderful job creating a nice pocket of nature in a time of hardship. I wandered amongst the variety of trees, eventually finding a bench and sitting down, thinking about how much my life had changed over a month. The majority of my friends were gone and dead. They had been brought back to life by banded villains from each of the homeworlds, being brainwashed into fighting for them. My homeworlds were burning, gone. Now I was living in a dimension that Rowan had practically created herself. See, she created this place when she sectioned off a part of the teleporting void and built the Portal Room there. I sighed.

"It's a bit too quiet," I said to myself. I took out my wand and whispered a quick spell. Chirping birds flew out of my wand and settled themselves down in the trees. I smiled. A pocket of nature was truly very nice. I heard someone come up behind me.

"We've got new people," Katooni said. "Plus the scouts saw new armies coming through." She looked around. "Did you add birds?"

"Yep," I replied. "Come on, I'm pretty sure I know who the new people are."

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"Hello, Kendra," I greeted my friend. "So, um, what happened?" I looked around. Many magical animals were also there, special animals from the preserves. The fairies were there as well, small and big. Astrids, dryads, and hamadryads were crowding the room too.

"We were caught by surprise," Kendra said sadly. "Many creatures were killed, the preserve set on fire. Thanks to your friend Rowan, all of us here got out all right."

"And the Fairy Kingdom?" I asked.

"She can answer that," Kendra replied, gesturing slightly behind me. I turned around, and the Fairy Queen was standing there. She looked quite tired.

"Your Majesty," I greeted her, bowing my head with respect.

"Hello, Kianna," she responded.

"I am truly sorry about the Fairy Kingdom," I apologized. "It was a place of wonder and beauty."

"It was," the Fairy Queen agreed. "Now, what has happened since I last saw you?" I managed to update her along the way to the War Room.

"We will win," I said. "We have a chance of taking back our worlds, however slim it may be. A chance is still a chance. If you'll excuse me, I need to see my scouts." I ran back to the Portal Room. Katooni joined me on the way.

"It's Kaelith and me next," she said. "Our round is today. After the Fairy Kingdom fell, we figured that it was a good time to check up and see if anything changed."

"Alright," I said. "Hopefully nothing did." We made it to the Portal Room, with Kaelith waiting there already, and Katooni promptly inputted the coordinates for Obsidia and hopped in with Kaelith. The two previous scouts were Katlize and a Materialki Grisha named Quenna Sable.

"We have a problem," Quenna said as I approached.

"What is it?" I asked.

"They managed to track down two more villains, with corresponding armies," Katlize said.

"The Darkling has joined them," Quenna finished. "As well as two other people who I'm guessing are the villains from the world that just came in."

"Probably Ronodin and the Sphinx," I groaned. "Lovely. Perfectly lovely. We just have to figure out how we're going to survive the Darkling too. I'm sure you know the damage he's done, Quenna."

"Yes, and him joining the Villains makes beating them quite a bit harder," she said.

Indeed. Well, I'd better —" All of a sudden, the air shimmered, and Katooni was panting. Rowan must have brought her back. When Rowan was combing through a map of Obsidia, she found one small point where she could teleport the scouts back. Makes it easier so I don't have to go every single time. The question is, why did Rowan bring her back early?

"Kianna!" Katooni cried out.

"Katooni?" I asked in surprise. "What happened?" Then I noticed someone missing. "Where's Kaelith?"

"I- I only just got back in time, barely escaped, nearly had me... I couldn't get her, she was already..." Katooni trailed off.

"Katooni, where's Kaelith?" I asked urgently.

"She's-she's been captured."