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I am, however, falling.

I try to extend my wings, but the wind is pushing them back rather than letting them open. I’m in a nosedive. Directly to the moat, which will not be deep enough to make a comfortable landing in.

So this is how it ends. Huh.

I thought I’d feel more.

The tips of my wings twitch. The span opens up, and suddenly I am skyward bound, grazing the moat enough to get my toes wet, but flapping and rising and heading into the distance while still very much alive.

For the first time in my life, I use my wings. I fly. It’s harder than it looks, moving the front edge so I can keep elevation is effort. I bet birds do it without thinking, but I am doing this on manual, and it’s as hard as trying to think your way through walking would be.

I’m fucking scared that I’ll be spotted by someone and Ornix will come for me before I have the chance to save him.

Fortunately, that doesn’t happen. I turn toward the gulch, the narrow mountain pass that sits where the forest ends and leads through to the mouth of Ireforge. The gulch is full of vicious beasts, and they should slow the party down somewhat, though I’m not sure about that because the fact that they wiped out every living thing in the forest means they’re probably strong enough to deal with them.

As I fly over the gray rocky gulch, I smell the stench first. Bodies left on the ground, not despawning like they would in a game world, but rotting and being fed on by the few aerial scavengers that were not also killed on the way through.

I see rock hounds, lava brethren, some mountain cows, a lot of goats, all killed like so many digitally unimportant beasts. These people don’t care about what they’re doing, what horrors they leave behind. They are single-mindedly focused on leveling. Nothing else matters.

I keep flying up the gulch. We really don’t want them getting past Ireforge. The next zone will give them flying mounts, and the idea of a human horde who can take to the skies with magical weaponry is absolutely terrifying.

Should have stopped them here. Should have mounted a massive defense in one of the narrow spots and wiped them out. Not that I want anyone to die, but I’d rather they died than exterminated an entire realm of existence because they don’t get that consequences have actions. Or is it actions have consequences? The air is too thin up here. Thinking is challenging.

The gulch opens up into a red sand biome, where dust storms rage across distant deserts. This is truly a beautiful realm, and I wish that I was not disobeying the orders of my mate in order to see it. I wonder if he’s noticed me missing by now. Probably.

Ornix

The sun has risen, the day is reaching its zenith, and my mate is missing. Again. This human is going to live the rest of her life in the damn dungeon when I find her. Nobody seems to have seen her. I wonder if Nox somehow opened a portal and dragged her through.

I do not know what the world is anymore. Everything I thought I understood about my power seems to be shifting of late. My nephew has gone from a disappointment to a danger. My ability to walk between worlds has been destroyed. And my mate, whoshould be quietly gestating my firstborn, is yet again on some adventure of her own making.

One of my generals, Azure, waylays me as I storm through the castle looking for Melissa.

“Sire, the humans are massing outside Ireforge. Alarin Forgefist has requested our aid.”

“Of course, send a contingent. Erase the little bugs from the face of the earth,” I respond immediately, but in a somewhat distracted way. I am aware that the human infestation is being regarded with a more or less universal horror, but I am more worried about where my mate is than where all the other little beasts are.

“Yes, sire. Would you like to accompany us?”

“I need to find my mate.”

I am becoming tired of saying those words. I sound like an elderly, forgetful human who cannot find their keys.

“Is it not possible that she is at the battle already, sire?”

I look at Azure, my jaw dropping for a brief moment, as I realize that yes, yes, it is possible she is already at the battle.

“I would suggest, sire, it may be worth accompanying us. If she is not there, your aid would certainly ensure total victory. The humans cannot be allowed to spread. What if they were to start to breed? There could already be small pockets in hidden areas. We need to rout them from the realm.”

“With the exception of my mate, of course.”

“Yes, sire, naturally. With the exception of the royal mate.”

Melissa

As I fly out of the gulch, I spot the party immediately. There’s at least thirty of them, and I bet there’s more because I bet some of them are out farming for materials or just fucking around.

They’re preparing to push on Ireforge. Just as I suspected. They’re so fucking predictable. Not an original thought in their heads.