Ad Astra - The Alagore War

AA V2 Assiaya, Chapter 12

"Colonel Hackett, this is Combat Fire Team-3 "Viking". We reached the dwarf borrian, Vagahm. On route, we encountered wildlife and merchants but received no resistance. However, Sergeant Luther Graham believed he saw a seeker in the distance. We couldn't confirm but agreed that the enemy might have seen us arriving at the borrian.

We escorted the negotiator, Major Smith, and motuia, Political Advisor of the previous royal family of Salva, Varitan Yeldan, who made contact with the dwarf lords. Major Smith informed me that the dwarves refused to allow the civilians to leave the borrian.

The dwarves didn't provide much information, according to Major Smith. The one thing they stated was that because the City of Salva original family was no longer alive, the previous agreement was no longer valid. I have no idea what this means, and the negotiator seems to be as clueless. He assumes the dwarves are looking to sweeten the deal, but we are requesting orders." – Captain Isacc Murphy, Viking

March, 12th, 2069 (Military Calendar)

Forest of Rostham, Western Frontier, Yuplenia Mountain Range, Verliance Aristocracy

Nevali Region, Aldrida, Alagore

*****

Seeing the rain clouds blending into the light night, Mathew Ryder struggled to find shelter for them to take cover. With his previous experiences during the daytime, the last thing he wanted to do was travel through these lands in the dark.

The two had been traveling hard since leaving the cave, and he felt exhausted. His entire body wanted to collapse, and the only thing that kept him going was sheer will. While the healing potion had done wonders to give his body the boost it needed to make it this far, especially after the melee fight against the Akuma, he knew he was running on empty.

After climbing over a log, which he was sluggish about doing, Ryder helped Assiaya over. When he looked at the girl, the Captain saw she was also exhausted. Until now, though, the girl had been a champ at pulling her weight so they could make it this far. While most would say the kid was handicapped, dragging him down from freedom, the truth was that knowing her life was in his hands helped push him to keep going that extra mile.

Wanting to tell her that she was a champion for tolerating more than most, the only expression he could muster was a thumbs-up. She took his hand with both hands and placed her head on it. A sudden, intense headache overcame him, and his vision slightly faded. Before everything blacked out, a slight ghostly green outline emerged from the colorful horizon.

At the sound of a quiet noise, the headache vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The voice turned into a light screech, with the clouds vibrating like ripples on water. With the sudden screech, the darkness evaporated, and Assiaya reemerged, her head resting on his hand.

Ryder shook his head to wake up. "I am losing it," he mumbled.

Suddenly hearing a resounding screech, Ryder grabbed Assiaya and lowered her to the ground using the log and a tree, realizing that the noise in his head was not from sleep deprivation. He looked around carefully and saw nothing until he heard the roar above them.

The rain clouds made it harder to see. Luckily, Tekali lit enough of the sky to see what was making that sound. They saw a small, dark-red wyvern flying overhead. The beast was moving slowly, allowing him to see ropes and an oversized saddle on its back. This led him to believe that the flying animal was domesticated.