The Dragon of Dreams

Chapter 367: Steps Toward Salvation

Early Evening - Late Winter : The Nest

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- Chamrosh ~

"How long are you all going to sit around, and let the upper cavern trample on us?!" I yelled out into the cavern with my chest as I walked around the edge of the gates platform with firm steps. "When I grew up, I was told all these incredible stories about how this cavern used to be a paradise! BUT LOOK AT IT NOW!" Anger laced my voice like poison, yelling out over a crowd of thunderbirds suppressed by generational fear. "None of you, even the lucky ones with partners, wish to bring children into a world of fear and suffering, but we finally have an opportunity to change that fate! So what are you all doing?!"

It had been several minutes since I first split up with the Lord and came down from the upper cavern, but while I initially tried to coerce the others to come see the upper cavern with gentle words, not a single one of them budged.

"Lord Nott is here, not to kill us, but to kill the ones who took everything from us! The ones who left us to rot in this dark abyss, cowering in fear of the endless skies outside while they thrived!" The longer it went on, the more angry I became. "We aren't paying for the sins of our ancestors anymore! We have no reason to hide! Had the Lord wished us to be dead, we would have had no ability to resist it, yet today, he waltzed through the cavern without killing a single one of us!"

*Crackle* The edge of the platform cracked slightly as I dug my talons into it out of anger.

-You know what...- "At this point, I'm convinced our ancestors deserved it." I spoke coldly as I stopped, looking down at the thunderbirds cowering in their crumbling stone nests below. "I'm certain we have been fed lies, manipulated by the likes of Acanthis to drive us into fear, turning us into mindless slaves that did nothing but exist and do the dirty work of the nobles. Whatever happened for the Ancient Fenrir to deem our race unworthy of the sky, I understand them. Earlier today, I was told by the floor guardian to allow a group of humans into the nest, led by one of Lady Corella's servants. They were an envoy of the Holy Kingdom, the kingdom of detestful humans to the east." A rune instantly lit off the tip of my beak before I spoke through it, amplifying my voice through the cavern. "What purpose do you all think a kingdom's envoy would have here?!"

The silence that filled the cavern whenever I stopped talking was indescribable. Throughout the entire cavern, there wasn't even the sound of a wing beat.

"If my speculation is right, the nobles were going to sell us to them.. like slaves... They were going to make us fight their wars while they sat in the oasis of the upper cavern..." I paused before lowering my stance and speaking harshly. "Do any of you wish to listen to the orders of a human? Do you really wish to wield your sword for weak beings who believe they own the world?!" I let my voice echo for several seconds before I continued. "I don't know about all of you, but I would much rather listen to Lord Nott, a being who nearly wiped out our race single-handedly, than some humans I could kill with a flap of my wings."

There was a long pause before, eventually, a shaky feminine voice appeared among the crowd. "How... How can you be so sure he will even let us serve him..."

Straightening my posture, I picked out the young girl in the crowd, a thunderbird who could have only been 700 at most. "He is a god. For what reason would he come here to liberate us from corruption if it weren't to gain our faith."

"So, you want us to simply become the slaves of someone else..." This time, another voice responded, the voice of a man around my age.

"If you would simply fly up here and see the upper cavern myself, you would understand where I am coming from. I would rather lick Nott's paw than ever listen to another word from the nobles or Acanthis."

There was an eerie silence that quickly overtook the cavern before eventually, an elder spoke up as he took to the air. "If you are so confident, then I will just have to see this myself."

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-Finally...- I wanted to click my tongue at him, but thankfully, after he flew up past me and entered the gate, others started reluctantly following his lead. "Those who wish to remain blind to the corruption we were rotting beneath, you can stay here. However.. if you come and see the upper cavern yourself, I can guarantee your mind will change."

Eventually turning away from the edge of the platform, the flow of people heading up through the gate increased substantially. It seemed like once the dam broke, everyone started moving, and with every passing second, there were only more that wanted to come up. -I guess I should head up as well, then...- *Fwoosh*

Quickly blending back into the crowd, I took to the air and headed back to the upper cavern, with my anger only growing as time passed.

However, when the sky of the upper cavern started coming into view, something felt off.. the air was thin, and the air felt like it was on fire.

The moment I flew up into the cavern and the crowd dispersed, landing around the opposite side of the gate, I looked around in a rush, only to find an unfathomable hole freshly bored through the side of the mountain, exposing the open sky outside. -W..woah...- It drove a sense of fear into me that I couldn't describe.

And I wasn't alone. The rest of the cavern was generally as I saw it originally, but was a mess, wrapped in complete silence as everyone hopelessly stared at the hole as if the hand of god had fallen over them. Even those coming up from the lower cavern couldn't help but stare.

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After a moment though, we were all dragged out of our thoughts by the sight of Nott flying toward us.. carrying something...

"Are.. Are you sure.. he won't kill us..?" The voice of a younger thunderbird in the crowd below me spoke with a quivering voice.

But even I wasn't sure. As he flew over, I began doubting myself. -Did I.. misjudge why he was here..?-

"Y-You all are from the lower cavern, right?"

Hearing an extremely young voice laced with fear, I looked behind us to find a bright-blue feathered thunderbird shivering uncontrollably.

He was clearly a noble, but while locked by fear just like the rest of us, his solution wasn't to flee. "Y-You all need to go fight that demon for me! R-Right.. y-you have to!"

One of the older folk who was among the crowd quickly turned back toward him with an uncontrollable blaze in his eyes, as if he was going to rip the young man limb from limb.

But he didn't get that chance. *VWOOM-CRUNNCHHH* Seemingly out of nowhere, the young man was pancaked against the ground, sending a puff of feathers out around him before an ethereal voice echoed over us and filled the cavern. "How shameless. You leave your people to rot, yet expect them to die for you."

There was no malice in the voice, but somehow that only made it more horrifying.

But after a moment, rather than crushing the young thunderbird like a grape under his paw, the pressure on him eased, and I turned back to see Nott hovering in front of us with a huge head floating in front of him.

"Your leaders are no more. Acanthis is subservient to Hera Monachalkos, the current Monarch of Bahamut, and the Secretary is dead." Tossing the huge head down in front of us, it hit the ground with a crack. "I will now be the Monarch of the Thunderbirds, are there any objections?" *VWOOM* A deafening blast of mana blew over us as a huge metal platform seemed to be made out of nothing before Nott gently landed on it, expecting an answer.

But whether from awe or fear, no one responded.

"In that case, all thunderbirds residing in the upper cavern will go to Bahamut, just like Acanthis, and serve Hera. If anyone wishes, you may also choose to serve my apostles in Siratha, however, if no choice is made, I will make one for you. You will be treated as slaves until you prove yourself, regardless of where you go." He paused before his gaze lowered toward those of us from the lower cavern. "As for the rest of you, you can choose to remain here and begin rebuilding your race, serve my apostles, or head to Bahamut with the nobility. If you want to leave and explore the world, do as you wish, however, be careful where you choose to go." The air suddenly turned heavy as the light started warping and bending around him. "If you genuinely wish to serve the Holy Kingdom, I will make sure you don't die in one piece."

There was a long pause before he slowly calmed back down, and the light around him seemed to return to normal.

But that was when someone spoke up, a noble several kilometers away. "Who are you to tell us what to d-" *WOOM* The man's voice was instantly cut short as his body was turned into a plume of mist, showing other nobles that were nearby.

But Nott hadn't even looked at him. "In a moment, I will read your minds to determine where you will be going, however, if I find a single drop of desire for revenge, I will do to you what I did to him. Now make your choice."

The following moments felt like an indescribable eternity. Although we all wanted to speak between ourselves, sharing thoughts on what to do, there wasn't a peep. Even the young thunderbirds, too young to have gained sentience hid in fear, and were wrapped in silence.

But...

Raising my wing, I looked up at him confidently.

"Yes, Chamrosh?"

Folding my wing back, I stood up straight. "If you are our Monarch, will you be the one to lead us?"

But he only shook his head. "Those of you who remain here will choose a leader amongst yourselves, and that leader will be my direct subordinate. If no one wishes to be the leader, I will pick a dragon to be your leader."

Everyone in the crowd immediately started chattering, whispering to each other as they realized death was no longer breathing down their necks.

But as I went to chime in and see what people thought, I found many of them simply staring at me. "H..Huh?" With every passing second, I found more and more gazes on me. "I-I don't know how to lead though... I'm too young..."

But it didn't matter.

The crushing weight of responsibility was about to land on my shoulders, and there was nothing I could do to refuse. "G..Guys.. I can't be responsible for the growth of a population... I-I don't even have a family... How do you expect me to lead you all..." But I cut myself short upon realizing it wasn't something I could reason my way out of. -Isn't this.. too much..?-

After a moment of my thoughts continuing to race, I eventually gave up, thinking I would be able to reason my way out of it later when we returned to the lower cavern and figured out what the plan going forward was with the people still down there.

But before long, Nott continued. "Now that you have all had a moment to think, please close your eyes, and think of where you wish to go. Bahamut, or Siratha."

After a short moment of silence, innumerable faint, almost insensible mana ripples echoed through the cavern before a bright rune lit up over the heads of the nobles from the upper cavern.

However, the moment I looked around at them, questioning what the runes were, the sound of bones crackling and bodies being crushed into nothingness filled our minds like a dense fog.

It was a purge. Those who conformed were spared and left to be treated as slaves, while those who remained steadfast and thirsted for revenge were killed on the spot.

But in the end, of the few thousand nobles, only a few dozen were killed, with the strongest of nobles, likely being the patriarchs of the more powerful families, not backing down till the moment they and their families were indescribably pulverized.

It was a scene the word horror could not do justice; however, once the runes over their heads disappeared, the atmosphere of the entire cavern shifted, and a less cold, and more.. satisfied voice echoed through it. "I look forward to seeing how you all do."

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