ALL NOVEL Chapter 43: The Winged Humans (4)
After a short murmuring of prayers, each person began to prepare themselves… Well, it was more like they were hoping the ones lost weren't their closest family. All the while feeling bad about wishing someone else to have been harmed. Nothing could have prepared them for when the flight had landed.
"Elders? What are you doing here?" Rocky Breeze asked, in a casual manner.
"Rocky my boy, don't leave anything out, there's no need to worry about any injuries… Huh?" One Elder said, noticing that there wasn't the slightest bit of a scratch on Rocky Breeze. "What happened? Where are your four missing warriors? Are they…?" He continued.
"Elders, my people…" Rocky Breeze started speaking, doing his utmost to keep his tears from falling, then decided to relent. "Our Goddess has returned! And the four who are not here now, are serving as her escort. And honor any of us warriors would want. But I gave this order to the youngest so they may grow close to her Divine Majesty!" He declared, dropping the sack he had been gifted, into the hands of the elder nearest to him. "In this sack is a small gift bestowed upon us by our goddess. With its contents we will be fed for the whole day." He continued explaining.
The elder opened the sack and looked at the contents. "It's a sack full of berries? Wait, hold on, these… These are magic berries! I can feel the divine power of our Goddess, Mother Nature, radiating off of them. These…" The Elder dropped to his knees crying as memories from the day he was forced to carry so many young people away from the throws of the peak of power… "Rocky, we must begin preparing a reception worthy of our goddess. Did her Divine Majesty have any instructions for these berries?" He asked, through the tears.
"Yes, only one berry per person. Her Divine Majesty said these berries were even capable of resolving hunger and the effects of malnutrition." Rocky Breeze explained.
"Then that means… Our most difficult problem has been solved." An Elder muttered after thinking about it. "Give one of these to everyone. Have them receive the Goddess' grace. Afterwards, we shall begin preparations." They continued. "Now then, why is your spear broken?" He asked, having turned to face the only warrior who had a shattered stick.
"Oh, that, Elder, allow me to explain in detail how that happened, in private. It is a bit more than a little embarrassing." Rocky Breeze answered for the now very frightened warrior.
The elder glanced at Rocky Breeze and took not the stern look in Rocky's gaze. "Fine, but tell the families of the four warriors you left behind the story as well. You owe them this much." He sighed, not relenting on this one condition.
"As you wish, Elder. I won't exclude them from the explanation." Rocky Breeze replied, a little bit annoyed but, he understood the meaning.
So, with what was supposed to be bad news turning into the best news they had heard, The Winged humans began their duties. Some went around handing out a berry to everyone, starting with the children and then the adults came after.
Rocky Breeze, the spearless warrior, the Elders and the family of the 4 young warriors that were charged with the duty to escort their Goddess had all found themselves in an isolated room. One where Rocky Breeze went over the events of what happened. How they encountered an anomaly in the plateau plains. And how their Goddess had appeared to protect an elf. Elves were also a race that worshiped Nature extremely closely, even so, it was extremely suspicious when they were casually convening with Dwarfs. At the end of the explanation, an elder sighed.
"Very well then, you'll have to get a new weapon. Since you were following the laws and have already been punished. Rightfully punished mind you. We Elders won't pursue any further action. Doing so would be no different than going against our Goddess' will." One Elder explained the verdict before the others could.
"Oh, come on do be such a stick in the mud. Even Rocky Breeze didn't recognize the Goddess at first glance. We couldn't hold a whipped pup accountable for such a thing." Another Elder chuckled out.
"I think we should make sure this young warrior takes another punishment. I don't mean anything serious, but simply breaking a weapon isn't enough. If it had just been the elf in question, sure. But from what I heard, even if it had been by accident that weapon was pointed at our Goddess." Another Elder spoke up. "We all know what that crime is punishable with. Even if it was a crazy law from way back before we lost our home." They continued.
"Oh! You mean that one where if a warrior pointed their weapon towards the statue? Would that even apply here? Or are you just trying to force this young man into something?" The first elder asked.
"Not really, but as you know, we've recently been struggling with the young people forming familial bonds. It's not for lack of looks, but we were lacking other essentials…" The Elder said, hinting at what the law might entail while glancing at the sack of berries.
"Hmm, you are right about that. But, let's not use that weird law. Besides, for it to happen a young lady would have to do it as well. So let's just drop it." The Elder said, making the other touch their chin and then nodded.
"Alright, the family of those four. You're kin has accepted a sacred mission. One I know they will carry out without fail. You should be proud of them. Each of them have distinguished themselves. You will be given an increased share for as long as we can sustain ourselves. Is there anything else you want?" The eldest elder explained, clearing his throat.
"Ehh? That's not necessary, Elder. But if we could have something, would it be too much to spend time with the Goddess? I've heard so much, I can't wait to see her perfect form." A woman answered with a tinge of excitement in her voice. The other family members all nodded emphatically agreeing with her in response.
"I'll see what I can do." The Elder chuckled with a sigh.