"Tell me a little about these fairies," Mongik began as he arose from the boat he'd been in. They were drawing closer to the serpent's den. They decided not to approach the den, keeping their existence in the dark.
This time, Dianah was very wary. She knew the master could only stomach so many losses, so she was taking all the necessary precautions she could. Last time, she had been so bold in her approach, so sure of herself. Nothing could threaten her.
What a rude awakening she had received. Not only had she gotten a beating, but she had also lost her partner. Granted, Diguin was a hot head and lacking in multiple ways, but she had still been there in his death. She had a feeling that she would quickly follow him if she returned with nothing to show.
"What do you want to learn about them?" She asked. Unlike Diguin, Mongik was rather easy going, less serious with himself.
"Just your general impression of them, everything you know about them, that kind of thing," Mongik answered. His power voice not booming as it usually did. "I like to be prepared, knowing my enemy as best I can."
"Did the master teach you that, or did you learn that in your past life?" Dianah asked, casting a glance at the other.
"I was a great general, thousands of soldiers moved at my beck and call," Mongik answered. "Now, I am reduced to commanding a unit of fifty soldiers. However, the principles of war remain the same."
"Is that why the master kept you?" Dianah pressed.
"Yes, my prowess in war proved quite valuable, such that he kept my consciousness and preserved it in a golem core. He did the same for my most trusted men, who now form my unit." Mongik realized that she was not going to stop until she had what she was seeking for. Since she wanted to learn of his past, he was not going to keep it from her.
"I wonder, why did he preserve your memories and eradicated mine?" Dianah whispered. "Why did he decide my power?"
These were questions she always had. The master, as she called him, had decided to wipe away her memories of the past life. Sometimes, she pretended she still could remember, but many of her fellows knew of her affliction. She was among the few who had no recollection of their past lives.
"Perhaps you had no past life," Mongik answered. "A new creation."
Dianah had her doubts, but she did not keep pressing. Mongik got out of the boat and started digging holes in the mud along the river. For every hole he dug, he would plant a small dark green crystal before moving to the next. Just like that, he finished fifty holes.
As he was getting done, the first holes were already showing signs of movement. The mud was pooling together and growing. First, it looked like an anthill, but it continued to grow. Slowly, it transformed into humanoids.
The humanoids continued to grow, becoming more rigid and their features more pronounced. Eventually, fifty humans were formed from the mud. Some were lean, others engorged in muscles. All were completely naked.
Seeing this, Mongik pulled out a set of clothes from his ring. Nothing fancy, something similar to his own attire. He even offered Dianah a set, but she declined. She was not accustomed to wearing clothes.
Soon, the newly formed golems were clothed and ready for action. They also had several forms of weaponry on them, something Mongik also provided. Mongik selected a few, and together with Dianah, they set off to scout on the fairies' home ground.
Unknown to them, several fairies were doing the same in their hometown. Luita and Etal, one of the juniors, were flying across the mog. The shallow canyons and canals providing some form of cover as they made their approach towards the castle.
It had been three days since they found the castle, but they had not approached it yet. Eventually, someone had to. For once, neither Nixa nor Medina volunteered, since they too recognized the danger.
They had had to cast lots, and Luita had lost to Nixa, and Etal had lost among the juniors. Hence the two were now slowly and very cautiously approaching the tower. They made sure to keep their eyes trained on the castle, looking out for any possible danger.
Far away, Kigen, the guardian, was receiving a report from one of the scouts out on patrol. A group of humans, and the golem, had been spotted. Surprisingly, they were trying to remain concealed, not their usual mode.
By now, the fairies had gotten very good at keeping concealed. Once they had a brush with death, they did not want to be caught off guard next time. Hence, the fairies had doubled their efforts, keeping watch, going on patrols, doing everything they could to keep themselves and the family safe.
Hence, the moment they caught wind of the new arrivals, they had already sent word. By now, they were grouped in threes, having one to remain guard, one to follow the target, and the last to deliver the message.
Once Kigen, and the rest of the group, got word, the place became awash with activity. This time, they were not flying about disordered and confused. Rather, they were getting into place. Multiple signals were being sent to the other fairies, while the rest of the group was organizing into predefined formations.
This had been Mistress Kering's guidance at work. She had suggested that since they were anticipating the enemy to return, they get a good plan on how to deal with this enemy. The plan was to overwhelm them with numbers. Flocking together in droves, they could ambush and put down the enemy, if they were not too overpowered.
Kigen suspected she did not come up with the idea but had seen it applied previously. From just the preliminary testing, the formation had shown to be very powerful, and capable of harnessing the individual powers of the group to form a collective whole.
As the days had gone by the fairies had not been idle, and it was showing. Just their coordination and collective ability showed how much effort every fairy was putting. They did not want to be on the losing end of a fight, especially one so close.
Over the days, more fairies were being born. As the mother tree continued to receive nourishment, so did the number of fairies continue to swell. Every new fairy was put in intensive training regiment, squeezing as much talent from them as possible.
Meanwhile, Kigen had also not been idle. Despite being kept on a leash, he had been steadily going out to hunt more often. His excuse was that he needed to hone his skills before the final fight. This was quite true, so the council allowed him this request.
Even so, they still selected a team of fairies to follow the guardian around. Kigen was shocked. Were they now assigning guards around him? At first, he had protested the whole arrangement, saying that the fairies needed to do other duties for the clan.
However, he had been overruled on this. These fairies were not just for his protection, but also as a means of communication. The clan needed to keep in touch with the guardian, and since they did not expect Kigen to go about sending signals himself, they had tasked these followers to aid him.
Deep down, the council members had instructed these fairies to guard the guardian with their lives, and never to allow any harm to befall him. In fact, they did not need to, since these fairies were already willing to lay their lives for their senior, the one fairy who cannot fall.
After a few days of hunting with Kigen, all the fairies were thoroughly impressed by his strength. Given the kind of beasts he felled, they were confident he could take on anything. Be it jaguars, bears, even gorillas, none could withstand his onslaught. Kigen was just too overpowered.
Hence, when he heard that they were going to receive new guests, Kigen was rather excited. As usual, he did not want to receive this threat so close to the mother tree. Therefore, he led a group of fairies, all in a formation, to meet this new threat. They made sure to leave a larger group back at the base, just in case.
As the vanguard took to the skies, the golems were trying to navigate their way across the jungle. The thick forest, the dark bushes, the lurking wildlife underneath, all these were nothing to this invading force. Just a group of five, but they were dauntlessly trudging across the jungle as though taking a walk in the park.
"I'm afraid we have been discovered," one of them said, not even out of breath.
"You are discovering this now? They found us quite some time ago. I thought you knew," another answered, staring dubiously at the first.
"What do we do now?" The first asked.
"Right now, I am more curious about what they will do. Let's see what kind of fairies we are dealing with," the leader of the group answered.
"Let's hope the guardian does not come out," Dianah muttered, reliving a horrible experience.