Chapter 2: The Passengers of the Ark
AS she made it through the thicket, Camila stopped her galloping horse. She had come upon a clearing and saw a destroyed, overturned carriage. The ground was charred, and many holes were gouged in the dirt. Nearby trees had been shattered, hinting that a grisly battle had occurred here. Those who followed Camila dismounted from their horses and looked around.
The dragons were left behind in the village where the fire had been extinguished; they were restless and still a bit unreliable. Since there still could’ve been some clues left in that village, their unit split into two teams. Camila, the other Dragon Knights, and Finn, who served as Jill’s dragon teacher of sorts, chased after the Dragon Consort. The other team remained in the village. If Camila’s team didn’t return by evening, the village team would contact the imperial capital.
Rolf tossed aside a chunk of debris from the destroyed carriage and muttered, “This is where their trail ends. No wheel tracks either. They either used dragons or…maybe teleportation. But unlike the teleportation devices that the Kratos Kingdom uses, attemptin’ this feat means that they couldn’t have gone very far.”
Finn, perhaps feeling responsible for this whole mess, turned pale. “Will the Dragon Consort and the Dragon King be all right?”
“Don’t worry,” Zeke said as he clapped Finn’s shoulder. “Based on past experiences, it’s their enemies who should watch out.”
“Er, but…how can you be sure? I’m well aware of the Dragon Consort’s strength, but the Dragon King is so small and round and puny…” Finn trailed off.
“If anyone so much as raises a finger against Raw, the dragons won’t stay quiet,” Camila said. “And above all—”
A loud explosion cut her off. Smoke and light rose from the forest along with a gust of powerful wind. The light clearly came from magic, and the fire spread, causing dragons and birds to scatter to the skies.
“Those whippersnappers…” Rolf grumbled.
“W-Wait, that’s, uh, you know who…right?” Camila mumbled.
“Y-Yeah,” Zeke agreed.
“We should head out!” Finn shouted.
Skilled with horseback riding as well, Finn gracefully mounted his steed and rushed ahead. A few moments later, a truly hellish scene, straight from the maws of the underworld, greeted Camila and the others. The forest was on fire, and a plushie bear stood there with glowing eyes. A bird grabbed a tree trunk with its legs and swung it around to defeat nearby enemies, and a red dragon breathed fire at the sky above.
“Have I finally gone to Hell?” Rolf muttered.
“H-Hey, don’t say that, Grandpa,” Camila said. “This is the power of the Knights of the Dragon Consort, and you’re one of us now!”
“This is worse than the last time,” Zeke murmured. “Did the weakening spell get lifted from His Majesty Bear?”
“Wh-Why is a stuffed animal…standing? And that bird… It’s fighting,” Finn stammered.
“Chiiirp!”
Blown back by the tree trunk, the enemies in black hoods blasted off into the distance.
Rolf gasped and shouted, “Hey, capture ’em alive! We can milk some info outta ’em!”
The group in black hoods noticed Rolf and vanished instantly—their enemies had teleported away. Sauté tossed the tree trunk aside and let out a cry of victory. Hadis Bear quickly fell on its side.
“Rawr!” Raw cried as he popped out from his hiding place on Meine’s back.
Camila, who’d dismounted and outstretched her arms, caught Raw as he flew back down.
“Raw! I’m so glad you’re safe!” Camila cried. “Where’s Jill?”
“Rawr! Rar! Rar rar rar! Raaaawr! Rawr!”
“The hell is he sayin’?” Rolf asked.
Raw froze and thought pensively in Camila’s arms for a while before he jumped down. He turned around to explain himself to Sauté, who was collecting Hadis Bear, and Meine. With that, Raw carried Hadis Bear on his back and gestured between himself and the stuffed toy.
“His Majesty Bear is…you?” Camila asked.
“Rawr!” Raw nodded happily as he swung the bear around and walked ahead. “Raaawr! Rawr! Rar rar!”
The Dragon King seemed to be calling for help. “Jill! Jill! Help me!” he seemingly cried out, and Meine, who carried Sauté on its back, slowly walked forward.
“Graaar…” Meine roared gently.
“Y-You’re being chased!” Camila surmised. “Jill gave chase to save you!”
“Rawr!”
“Then what?” Zeke asked.
“Chiiirp!”
Sauté gave a proud cry as it jumped from Meine’s back. The bird twirled as it kicked His Majesty Bear—a stand-in for Raw—and the plush went flying.
“Raaawr,” Raw cried rather emotionlessly.
The bear plopped to the ground a good distance away, and Sauté went to fetch it with Meine in tow. Raw turned to everyone and proudly puffed out his chest.
“Rawr, rawr!”
“The end!” the Dragon King seemed to say.
“Crap, I don’t get it at all,” Zeke groaned.
“Rar?!”
“I-I can’t believe it…” Finn murmured. “This is amazing! Black and red dragons can even perform a play together! They’re so smart!”
“Earth to Finn,” Camila said. “Come on back down to reality. Uh, Grandpa?”
Rolf had already given up on trying to understand the situation as he crouched down and fiddled with the dirt.
“Did you find anything?” Camila asked.
“The heat rays and the dragons’ flames have burned everythin’ up,” Rolf replied. “Hey, ain’t that a dragon’s flower burning over there?! Are ye guys only good at destroyin’ stuff? Use your little brains!”
“Chirp?”
Sauté’s eyes glimmered menacingly. Camila hastily interjected herself into the conversation.
“I know, Sauté,” she said. “You went through your fair share of troubles. If you screwed up, you guys would’ve turned into dinner dishes.”
“Credit where credit’s due,” Rolf added. “Had the Dragon King been abducted, things woulda gotten more complicated.”
“Was Li’l Raw their target, then?” Zeke asked.
“Probably thought they could get him if they got lucky. Else, they wouldn’t be so lightly dressed against our quirky squad of slaughter, yeah?”
“In any case, we should search for Jill,” Camila said. “Or this situation will—”
“Chirp!” Sauté outstretched its wings and cut her off. After commanding everyone’s attention, the bird shook its head.
“You don’t want us to search for Captain? Why not?” Zeke asked.
Sauté glanced at Raw.
Camila sighed. “You received orders to protect Raw and not to worry about her, huh? Good grief, Jill… But it’d be a problem if she doesn’t return since we’ve got that meeting.”
Kratos was sending their queen for this meeting, after all. Only members of the imperial family could replace Jill, or, in the worst case, Hadis himself. Zeke cast a sweeping glance at his surroundings.
“Let’s search this area once more,” he suggested. “We can start from that carriage— Hey! Sauté! Don’t peck me!”
“Chirp chirp! Chiiirp!”
The bird firmly pointed toward Lehrsatz and braced itself with Hadis Bear. Camila and Zeke slowly inched back a short distance away and did a small huddle.
“What’s our plan?” Zeke whispered. “It’s gonna kill us if we don’t head for Lehrsatz.”
“But what use is there to attend without Jill?” Camila hissed back. “We’re Jill’s guards, aren’t we?”
A strong gust of wind from above interrupted their huddle. As a shadow flew past them, Camila looked up in astonishment. She thought she heard a faint melody carried by the wind.
“Hey! That dragon… Isn’t that the one from the Dragon Flower Crown Festival?!” she gasped.
The backlight made it hard for her to see, but she could make out the dark fog that enveloped the beast. She couldn’t even see the color of its scales, and most importantly, this dragon hardly paid Raw any attention. Atop this mysterious beast were the assailants who had teleported away from them.
“That birdy’s right,” Rolf said. “There’s nothin’ we can do. We should head for Lehrsatz.”
“And leave that dragon be, too?!” Camila cried. “We got nothing from this! Nothing!”
“Not exactly.”
Rolf patted the dust from his clothes and stood up. He tossed a burned bit of cloth at Camila. She gently peeled off a white petal that was burned onto it and saw the black embroidery, which was difficult to make out against the charred cloth. She could make out a serpent and an apple pierced by a cross.
Finn, a member of the imperial army, was the first to react to this symbol with a pale face. “It’s the insignia of the Order of the Ark,” he murmured. “Which means that dragon was a messenger of the Arks!”
“Wait, what?” Zeke replied. “I thought that thing came from Kratos.”
“Must be a different one,” Rolf replied. “The one that the poisonous herb lad rode on didn’t make any sort of magical energy sound.”
He paid no heed to Camila and the others as he unfurled a map, scribbled something down, and quickly mounted his horse. “C’mon, don’t dillydally!” Rolf called. “Duke Lehrsatz is strict when it comes to tardiness. I wouldn’t want to get a scoldin’!”
“Grandpa, wait, explain your thoughts—” Camila argued.
“I know nothin’! I hate troublesome matters!”
Before he could be questioned further, he kicked the sides of his horse and rushed ahead. Camila and the others hastily collected Sauté, Hadis Bear, and Raw and mounted their horses.