306 Priest Leading A Charge (1/2)

”Are you sure we're not on my world?” Xiao Yan asked, suspiciously.

”Yes, I'm pretty sure.” Remian said, pointing. ”Your world doesn't have airships from the Deutero company.”

”But it looks the same.” Xiao Yan said, with some disappointment. ”People are still people, and dirt is still dirt.”

With a short laugh, Remian turned toward the nearby town. ”Come on. I'll get in contact with my family first, and then bring you around to see other kinds of people and places.”

***

At that time, Mindy, George and the others were having a bad day.

As the sky turned red and the sun began to set upon the day and the sons of man alike, the weary defenders of Dragon Lake heard once more the horns of war.

With earth-shaking roars, the colossal titans they battled stood tall, casting long shadows upon the land. Nine Tier-8 Emperor-class Spectres surrounded by the countless forces of their kind. On their own side, the Emperors and Great Dragons had fallen or withdrawn, too badly exhausted and hurt to fight any more. The other Great Dragons were far away, and the nations of the world were silent, offering no word of hope.

Since the Rift was sealed, even their allies, such as they had been, had gone home, saying the job was done and the rest was up to the locals to handle. The unity of man had utterly failed.

So the remaining locals stood alone before Dragon Lake, holding the fort to prevent these ghostly assailants from reaching the heart of the Wildlands, the nests and nestlings of the Earth Emperor and the Wood Emperor. If they fell here, if they lost Dragon Lake…

Mal'thor-dras and Kor'ag-dras together declared that if they lost their home the humans would too. Everything in Kara-Goth and Three Pines, everything Remian and the others had put together, would be destroyed.

And the response of their dear 'allies'? 'Local problems should be dealt with locally'.

George held his helmet in his hands, needing to put it on, but unwilling, his heart unable to move his hands to begin the sequence of actions he'd long gotten used to every time he stepped onto the field of battle. What did those 'allies' of theirs care about the local community? Nothing. They were all too happy to see them annihilated beneath the remaining Spectres and then swoop in afterward to take everything left behind.

”In the end, it's come all the way back to us, just us, defending our home.” Mindy said, on his left.

”Even so, we're not the same children we were back then.” Tim said, on his right.

”I wasn't even here.” Darian offered, on the other side of Mindy.

”Me neither.” Tang Yin added.

”Me three.” Eriane chirped in from behind.

Chirpy also added her chirps to the conversation. [Me four!]

[You were here from the start!] Mindy shot back.

But her heart wasn't in it. Her heart wasn't anywhere.

”Any good words, Father Kairos?” George asked. ”Something to lift our spirits?” One last time?

Father Kairos sighed, taking up his Bible. ”My friends, I am a speaker of truth. Here, on this dark day, what more can I say that you have not all already understood in your hearts? Shall I speak of hope? Of such I have not the courage. Therefore, I can only speak of courage, and then hope for the best.”

”Oh? And what courage can you speak of?” George asked, perking up just a little.

”Ours.” Father Kairos looked around, and slowly put down his Bible. He looked on the faces of the people beside him, into the eyes of those at his back, and the backs of those who stood in front. ”I will speak of the courage of those who stand here today. I see survivors who still stand despite all odds. I see the children of forgotten families, bound together in a family of their own making. And I see warriors of old, the likes of which the world has never had the luck to see again. I see the Iron Legion.”

”Ho!” The weary shout was one of acknowledgment, and appreciation, a wordless thank you for being remembered. They, like George and the others, like Kairos, had long since considered themselves 'locals' and not a foreign expedition.

Father Kairos took a deep breath, and went over to Max's Memorial. ”Sorry, Max. I'm going to need to borrow your stuff one last time.”

Max's picture fluttered in the wind, as if in response.

With a sudden leap, Kairos heaved himself into Max's Frame.

”Father Kairos?!” Geoge blinked.

But Kairos didn't answer him. Instead, he turned to the Iron Legion and roared, his voice enhanced by Max's Frame's Loudspeaker Rune. ”In articulo mortis!”