Book 5 - Chapter 44 - Bai (1/2)

Cloudhawk neither accepted nor denied the Khan’s offer. Likewise, the Khan did not press for an answer. In truth, Cloudhawk didn’t have much of a choice – just like the first time they’d met. He might have been able to avoid the rough seas when there was just one storm, but as two threatened to collide there were no more safe ports for him to just wait it out in.

Either he rode the waves of the storm, or he got swept away by it. Often in one’s life, decisions would be forced. Sometimes you could escape, but not always.

Members of the Polaris family were already sick with worry for Dawn and desperate to act. The moment she was handed to the expeditionary force her situation became deadly. Yet, could they really align themselves with this sinister figure? He was the leader of a group whose goal was to obliterate their former home! The moment they stood with him, they became sworn enemies of Skycloud.

The Polaris family had been protectors of the realm for hundreds of years. Their beloved patriarch had been its penultimate defender, and had even died in Skycloud’s service.

Now they were faced with a bitter circumstance: To save Dawn, were they willing to throw away hundreds of years of honor and doom their future generations to be marked as traitors? When they left Skycloud, it wasn’t because they were casting off Skycloud. They’d left in protest against Arcturus’ power grab. They’d left with Dawn to gather strength and win vengeance for General Skye.

Never was it their intention to bring harm to Skycloud or its people. Those many citizens were completely innocent. Each person knew that if the General were alive today he would balk at the mere suggestion, yet none could stomach the idea of abandoning Dawn to die.

Confusion, apprehension and indecision took over the crowd. Lost, they could only turn their eyes to Greenland’s leader to make the decision for them.

Cloudhawk’s expression was hidden beneath his bandages, but they could feel the tempest raging underneath those bindings. After a few moments of silence, he made his decision. “Not yet. It’s been only half a day since Dawn was captured. Even if she has been delivered to the expeditionary force, they haven’t had time to deliver her to their headquarters. Everyone, come with me. We’re setting off.”

Hellflower was taken aback by the decision. They were going to save her? Right now? Greenland wasn’t strong enough to do this on their own. Their new realm was only just stabilizing.

Aside from a handful Cloudhawk had brought with him, most of Greenland was administered by members of the Polaris family. The Goshawks were strong but still fresh and untested. They weren’t prepared for a full-on battle with the Elysians.

Right now, they weren’t any more of a threat to Skycloud than the Dark Atom. How were they supposed to take on the entire Elysian army?

Yet seeing things from Cloudhawk’s perspective, it wasn’t difficult to see why he made this choice. If they decided to join with the Khan of Evernight – to side with this mysterious southern power – Greenland would lose its purity. The peace and safety he wanted so much would be forever out of their reach.

The dangers were great and forever mounting, but Cloudhawk had to at least try. Try to free Dawn with whatever power he could muster instead of selling the soul of his young nation.

Gathering a few of his core members, Cloudhawk set off immediately. Greenland’s fittest went with him, with only Hellflower and the Shepherd God left behind. Their stop was Howling Outpost, where Dawn was captured. Once there, Cloudhawk had his scouts begin tracking.

They traveled through the night nonstop, covering hundreds of kilometers. As the sun was rising over the horizon they arrived at the borders of an Elysian camp.

From the outside there didn’t appear to be anything special about this outpost. It was a converted wasteland city where perhaps a few thousand troops had been stationed. No further trace of Dawn was found elsewhere, so she had to be somewhere in the base.

Cloudhawk shut his eyes and reached out with his mind. It was confirmed when he heard the familiar resonance coming from the center of the outpost. “I hear Terrangelica,” he announced.

Roc was eager to act. “Let’s cut our way through!”

“It’s not so simple,” Cloudhawk responded with a sigh. His expression was grave. “Terrangelica isn’t the only relic here, not by a long shot. They have a company of demonhunters stationed here, too.”

The effect of this realization was reflected on their faces. Everyone knew how strong demonhunters were individually, and that strength was enhanced when they worked as a unit.

“How many,” the drunk asked.

Cloudhawk thought for a moment. “A couple hundred.”

Their faces darkened further. Even the drunk was surprised. “Skycloud has two major demonhunter organizations; Baldur’s League of Demonhunters and Sterling’s Demonhunter Corps. The League is a loosely affiliated organization, unlikely to have so many members gathered together. That means we’re facing the Corps.”

Up to now Cloudhawk was mostly unfamiliar with the Demonhunter Corps. He knew that the Crimson One and Wyrmsole had once been its highest officers.

If the Corps was here, it could only mean that the Cloude family was extending its reach into the south. And not only that, they were sending in the big guns.