Dragon Prince: A Warrior's Journey (Under Editing)

Chapter Eighteen: Call of War

A giant roar have shook the mountain of Storm Spire. Rayla's ears flicked up and turned to look at the entry warily. She soon looked at her companions; the three mages, the young king, the Moonstrider, the Shadowpaw, the Stormwolf, the baby dragon, and the grumpy glow toad have immediately became on high-alert.
"Are you expecting someone?" Rayla asked Ibis. He looked up from speaking to Sierra in private with confusion. Callum and their animal friends were gently comforting Zym from his sad sight of Queen Zubeia.
"No." Ibis shook his head, worry and confusion went over his face.
Callum stood up and stood next Ibis, who gotten out his staff and ready to fight. Rayla grabbed her blades and flipped them open. "Someone's comin'." She gestures for Callum to sneak around in case he needs to use his magic to fight as a backup. She gestured for Ibis to stand his ground to protect Zym and Queen Zubeia. Rayla gestured for Sierra and the mounts to join Ibis. Rayla creeps forward, her blades held out in front of her protectively, and makes out a shape in the growing darkness. "Show ya'reself!"
"Callum! Rayla! Sierra!" They soon heard Ezran's voice cried out to them. "We need your help!"
They approached the archway and soon saw Ezran on Prryha's back. The red and gold dragon had Soren gasping for breath between her claws.
"This guy?" Rayla deadpanned and crossed her arms as she gave Soren a slight glare.
"What's Soren doing here?" Callum looked at his gasping childhood friend in concern.
"Stop asking questions!" snapped Ezran. "Help him!"
"Oh, right. Breathing." Callum start drawing rune for the breathing spell. "Ventus Spiralis." When he activated his spell, a sparkling sky-blue magic went around Soren. He gasped as he felt new air entering him. Soren coughed several times, gasping for breaths before beginning to pant after he felt new air entering him.
Soren gotten up and looked at them in amazement. "Whoa. Is this the afterlife?"
"No, it's still the 'life'," Callum told Soren warily. "You're alive."
"What are you doing here?" asked Rayla defensively.
"Hold on..." Soren started catching his breath. "Let me catch my breath." Sierra raised an eyebrow at that. Something in Soren changed, but she's not sure what it is. "Okay." Soren looked at them. "We're all doomed."
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They brought Soren into the entry room, where Ibis and their animal companions were waiting for them. Sierra stood next to her Dad, while Callum stood next to Rayla and Ezran. They watched as Soren was drinking a cup of cool water. Sierra has a strong feeling that Soren has travelled extremely far to get to them.
Once Soren was done drinking, he looked at them with surprising urgency. "It's my dad."
"Your dad?" Sierra echoed, but she smiled as her Dad place his hand on top of hers.
"Lord Viren?" Callum looked startled, and worried. "He's here in Xadia?"
"He's rallied the armies of four kingdoms, and it's not just that," explained Soren. "We went to the... Sun Elf place?"
"The Lux Aurea?" Sierra corrected him.
"That's right." Soren nodded to her. "And my dad... he stole some kind of horrible power. And he used it to transform his armies into... into something else."
"What do you mean?" asked Ezran.
"They're stronger, angrier, big... claws!" Soren added. "He's made an army of darkness and he's leading them here... for him. The Dragon Prince." Everyone looked at each other, hidden panic and grim determination to keep Zym safe from harm can be seen between the humans and Xadians. But the moment was interrupted by Soren's slurping on his water.
Ibis let out a heavy and placed a protective hand on Sierra's shoulder. "I must see how long we have before this army of darkness is upon us. I'll scout from the sky." He gazed at the team who had all arrived to the Storm Spire to return the supposedly fallen Dragon Prince. "You all must leave. And you must take the Dragon Prince with you."
"Dad." Ibis ended up meeting the determined eyes of his only daughter. "We can't runaway forever." She glanced at the chamber that contains the sleeping Queen Zubeia. "Queen Zubeia can't be moved, and she's in danger as Zym is." Sierra gave Soren a sympathetic look. "And there's no telling what this Lord Viren will do to her as well." Ibis looked conflicted, but he understood that these brave kids are right. He gave her a gentle, sidelong hug and kissed her forehead before he headed out of the entry room.
Callum soon walked up onto a dais and started pacing restlessly. "So, our situation is that Viren is coming here for Zym, and he's leading an army of powerful monsters. The Dragon Queen is sick, and we don't know when she'll wake up... if she'll wake up. So, we have a choice to make. We can try to take a stand here, or we can go on the run, and protect Zym as long as we can."
"Uh, I know I'm not really part of the group, but can I say something?" Soren spoke up hesitantly. The team exchanged glances before gazing at the young member of the Crown Guard, waiting for him to speak to them. "I've known Viren longer than anyone here. I mean, because he's my dad. But it took me a long time to understand who my dad really is. And it was hard to see, because I really... I really looked up to him. He's smart, and the way he talks, you really believe that he's a good person, that everything he does is to protect his family, his home, or all of humanity. He makes you think that as long as you do what he says, you must be doing the right thing. Even when he asks you to do something bad. Something... evil. So, the truth is, someone who wants you to do horrible things, and convinces you that they're good, that's a villain. My dad.. is a villain. And he's only gonna get more powerful, and the more powerful he gets, the more people will listen to him, and believe him, and follow him. So, maybe we could run, and we'd be safe for a while, but... he's not gonna give up. It may seem hopeless, but our only chance is to fight him here. While we're all together. The only way to stop this is to look evil in the face and say, 'No more.'" Soren gazed at everyone with amazing determination and courageous honesty.
After a moment of stunned silence, Rayla has gotten up and stopped in front of Soren, meeting each other's eyes. "I was wrong." Rayla smiled at him warmly. "You are more than just a big, dumb lump, aren't you?"
Soren cracked a smile at Rayla and playfully crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe a little more."
"So, we are staying." Callum smiled at Soren, warm approval shining in his green eyes. "All of us. We all agree?" One by one, everyone smiled and nodded their agreement to make their stand. "All right. We're fighting."
Everyone turned to look at the entry door to see Ibis returning from his scouting mission and have reunited with them. "The Dark Mage's army will be here by daybreak. But there's something else. Come outside."
Sierra's eyes brightened and eagerly joined her Dad's side. He smiled at her softly and placed a gentle hand on her shoulders. Ever since the truth has been revealed to her, they both became increasingly closer to each other in their bond. 
They suddenly heard flapping wings and a faint scent of burning fire in the air. Sierra flinched when she saw a Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger landing gracefully in a patch of silvery moonlight. It is a unique sight to see. He has bright orange and creamy fur with streaks of teal and has a pair of long horns on his head and twin tails that sport flames at the tips. His front paws lack fur and resemble scaled bird feet, and have a thick mane around his neck. He looked at them with his teal eyes. But the magical feline has two riders on his back.
One of those two riders had excitedly dismounted the animal. The rider, heavily armored and radiating confidence, showed to Sierra that one is clearly one of the leaders. Sierra's eyes widened as she recognizes the warrior.
"Aunt Amaya!" exclaimed Ezran.
Amaya shook out her cropped, jet-black hair and brushed it from her face, revealing a long scar on her cheek. Amaya was the princes' mother's sister. She was a great general and a fearless leader, known across the land for her brilliant battlefield strategy and improvisation.
She swept Callum and Ezran into a bone-crushing bear hug and lifted them both off the ground, clearly overjoyed to see her missing nephews was safe and sound. But General Amaya didn't say anything to Callum and Ezran — she had been born deaf and signed to communicate.
But General Amaya spotted Rayla and almost became defensive when Callum stopped her. "Oh right. That stuff at the Banther Lodge was a... big misunderstanding. I'll explain later, Rayla's our friend." They soon saw the new Sunfire Elf Queen coming towards them. Next to General Amaya is female Sunfire elf warrior wearing a golden headdress, her armor glinting in the moonlight. Her yellow-gold face paint highlighted her dark brown eyes and fierce expression. She stood still — calm and confident. "Looks like you've made a new elf friend too?" Callum smiled at the Sunfire Elf playfully.
The Sunfire Elf crossed her arms over her chest proudly. "We are not 'friends'. She's my prisoner."
Sierra bit back an amused chuckle and the brothers smirked as Amaya signed, "She thinks I'm cute, but won't admit it." While her elf friend looked completely confused and a little embarrassed by Amaya's hand language, which increased her amusement.
The Sunfire Elf soon bowed to them, making a circular gesture with her hands above her hands. "I am Janai, Golden Knight of Lux Aurea." Janai raised herself gracefully. "I've brought my troops." She closed her eyes, a pained expression went over her face. "Or what's of them." But Janai strengthened her resolve. "They will fight the monster that destroyed their home."
After introductions has been made, Sierra watched as Amaya headed towards her and Ibis with Callum by her side. 
"Who are you two?" signed Amaya, with Callum interpreting her sign language.
"I'm Sierra." She spoke softly and looked at Amaya curiously.
"She's the friend we've met when we were in the mountains," Callum explained to Amaya. "She's a Sky Perian."
"And I'm Ibis." He placed a gentle hand on Sierra's shoulder. "She's my daughter."
Amaya smiled sadly and started signing (with Callum's interpretation skills). "Look after each other. You'll need to in this battle."
As the two humans left to meet up with their elf friends, Sierra glanced up at Ibis. "I know you said to Callum that we should run, but we wanna help. We wanna fight." 
"Then we will need all the help we can get." Ibis's expression softened and gently rubbed her back.
Pyrrah walked out of the cave. She let out a strong roar, ready to defend her queen. "Do you really think so?" Pyrrah lowered herself to the ground and let Ezran mount her. "We're going to find more help, too. Big help."
"Wow." Callum's eyes widened with amazement and his voice became full of brotherly pride. "My little brother, all grown up and riding dragons." They watched as Pyrrah unfolded her wings and flew off into the night sky with Ezran on her back.
Sierra followed Ibis into another chamber and was amazed at the sight before her. To think she was the only one when there are actually over a thousand. Many of them has similar features and others have other elven features.
"Are they...?" Sierra couldn't even finish the question that's on her mind.
"Perian." Ibis smiled at Sierra lovingly and gently placed a hand on her back as they gazed at the new warriors together. "Perian of the Sky, Moon, Sun, and Earth. They once helped defend Xadia, today they will make the effort again."
Sierra smiled at that. She is willing to protect Xadia from the monstrous army of darkness. She may be afraid, but she's ready to fight alongside her family and friends. "We can do it, Dad."
Ibis blinked back joyfully tears. He gently pulled his daughter closer to his side till they both feel each other's warmth. "I'm sure we will, daughter." The two of them both smiled at each other, Sierra smiled as Ibis placed his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side lovingly. The two of leaned against each other and gazed at the flenimus that have been gathered to join the battle.