Panic had now enveloped the settlement of the valley Rodes. It now began to dawn on the individuals fighting that they were outclassed by the Drakar.
As the balls of fire rained down on the walls and forced their line of defense to retreat, it became clear that it was only a matter of time before they lost.
But even with such an outcome in mind, none of the valley Rodes retreated. Instead, they steeled themselves and broke out from their hiding places whenever the chance was presented to them and fired what few shots they could and the coming threats.
Their efforts though only served to delay the inevitable and did little to stop the incoming forces headed there way. But what choice did they have.
If they were going to lose anyway then the best thing, they could hope to do was by time for their families to escape.
As T'kar watched her warriors continue to fight despite the hopeless situation, showing no signs of retreating, she felt touched. They knew quite well that by staying, they would lose their lives but none looked the least bit scared of that fate. So long as those they cared for got away, they didn't believe they had lost.
T'kar also needed to put her feelings for her people aside. Her warriors had already shown her which option they preferred, it was now her job as the leader to see to it that their sacrifices wouldn't go in vain.
"Everyone, we are to leave the settlement at once using the rear exit! If you cannot fight then run that way now! So long as we live to see another day, we haven't lost!" She urged her people with unrivaled confidence and sternness.
At her command, all the valley Rodes within the main building of the city began to rush out and head toward the other side of the city.
Due to its large size, getting to the other end of the city was a difficult task. Some of the valley Rodes were small, elderly or injured and thus couldn't move as quickly.
Furthermore the streets of the city were narrow in some places while the wider routes had some debris of collapsed buildings blocking the path. This made escaping a daunting task on its own.
As the leader, T'kar chose to remain at the far back to ensure not anyone else had to be left, she felt this was the least she could do for the warriors who were willing to sacrifice their lives.
…
Back at the front end of the city, the situation only became worse for the valley Rode's last line of defense.
The Drakar were now closer than ever and some even broke into the ariel space of the city, but the strangest thing, they didn't pursue the retreating group and remained focused on the center.
Greile and Amarr, the two quickest flyers were among the first to reach the city's ariel space with their respective groups. Greile had thought the most logical thing to do next was pursue the retreating group but no…
She observed that Amarr only glanced at the fleeing group for a moment before turning her attention back to the area where the defending valley Rodes were hiding.
As many other Drakar arrived above the city, they too didn't go further than where Amarr was hovering, but they did wonder why she wasn't pursuing.
But since no one beside Mikaa, who was yet to arrive, had the authority to question her, they all just followed her lead.
"Do not kill them, stay hovering high enough to avoid their arrows but ensure none of them escape. Any chance you get, aim to injure their legs and hands to either make them immobile or incapable of firing those damned weapons of theirs."
Like an experienced general, Amarr was calm and collected during the siege. Greile marveled at her tactics and wondered if this was why she was such a threat to other races.
From a physical standpoint alone, even Osar exceeded her in terms of pure strength alone. She made up for her lack of physical prowess with extremely fast flying speed and agile movements that allowed her to make ariel maneuvers most Drakar never could.
Unlike regular gray scaled Drakar as well, she resembled humans far more and lacked heavy scales on much of her body and wings on her back too. At first glance one would think she was incapable of flight.
That was where they would be wrong, because the wing like structures that extended from her larger crown enabled her to not only fly but to do so quicker than anyone else.
Although small, the wings did their job fantastically thanks to the mana following within them.
In nature most Komi didn't use mana,depending on what type of creature hybrid they were and the ratio of inherited genetics.
For a race like Jagu's where the ratio was closer to humans than beast, they were incapable storing absurd levels of mana and projecting it to their uses. Instead, they too were capable of learning arts or techniques.
But because of the primitive nature of most Komi, few techniques or arts were ever available to them. In most cases, each race could possess a few techniques and one signature art. But to them, they weren't even considered as such.
In Jagu's case, his ability to run at break neck speeds came from not only the strong leg muscles he had but also his primal movement technique, used by the rest of his clan.
So then for Amarr to use her wings in such a manner, despite looking more human, her Drakar genetics were definitely superior.
Unaware of just how deadly of an opponent T'kar was facing, she continued to lead her people towards the southern end of the city.
All of a sudden though, the many valley Rodesin front of her came to an abrupt halt.
"What is it?"
T'kar worried that a Drakar might have circled around and blocked their path. She couldn't see from behind and due to how loud the atmosphere was with roaring Drakar filling the skies and panicking valley Rodes screaming while they ran.
Her voice could no longer be heard so she swiftly jumped from the back and onto the roof of a nearby building before directing her gaze forward. It was then that she discovered the person blocking the path wasn't a Drakar, but a human. To them, a tulsa.
"!!"
Several meters from where the group had stopped, Rose was hovering casually on one of her scouters while another circled around her vicinity.
T'kar who had never seen a tulsa live looked at Rose as if she were some kind of mythical creature.
But she didn't hesitate to jump forward using her powerful legs and land front of her group, as if shielding it. "All of you go back, use the east and climb over the wall, I will follow you shortly!"
She yelled at the top of her lungs to get the message through. Seeing a tulsa served to verify what she had learned from Lorserv and something else.
Not only were the Drakar defeated, they now served a new power. For the tulsa to be that strong, her people would only be courting death by lingering around such an unknown entity.
With no warriors present, it was now her job to by the time.
It took some time for her words to be passed all around the group but by the time they were, many showed resistance towards leaving behind their lovable leader.
Rose observed this interaction in silence as if studying some wild animals in their natural habitat. Only after they looked in her direction with the intention to fight did she finally speak.
"Aron was right, the thing that makes you so strong is also your greatest weakness. Even if it weren't, I assure you that you have a better chance of getting passed the entire Drakarian force than me."
Her ability to speak in their tongue caught T'karoff-guard. It was far from fluent and had an odd accent to it but every word was crystal clear.
Was she just bluffing? Could T'kar really take that chance?
No! It was far to risky to provoke an opponent she knew nothing about.
"Everyone, run east!"
Without thinking too much on the matter, T'karreached what she felt was the best hope for her people and launched an escape towards the eastern side of the city.
To her surprise, Rose didn't chase after her and continued to observe like she was watching an entertaining show. Was she that confident?
It didn't matter. T'kar needed to lead her people out, no matter what. But their break for freedom was cut to an abrupt end as the group once again came to a stop.
This time she was traveling on the roofs too so she was quick to identify why. Not far from the group, a Komi could be spotted crouching on the roof staring at them like prey.
It was none other than Jagu. He couldn't speak their language so he didn't even to attempt exchanging words.
Instead he just jumped down with great force and caused the entire area to experience a small quake before he roared furiously, his howl causing the sensitive ears of the valley Rodes to ache.
This brief demonstration was enough to show T'kar he was no ally but instead an enemy too, a strong one at that.
"Turn back, all of you run!"
Once again she chose not to risk fighting and had everyone turn and run the opposite direction, west.
T'kar followed by hopping from rooftop to rooftop so that she could see any threats ahead of anyone else.
Without going far, she spotted a lone tulsa sitting on the western city wall, staring directly at them. It was Evanora.
"They're everywhere…"
T'kar's heart sank at this realization. She looked south again but Rose was now hovering closer, east had jagu hopping rooftops and quickly approaching while the west had another tulsa.
Escape was no longer an option. "Everyone, back to the main building."
She was forced to abandon all hope of retreat and instead try bunkering down in the main building, while putting up a final stance in wait for reinforcements.
The valley Rodes ran and ran until finally the building was in sight. They hastily began to climb up the many stairs leading up with t'karcovering their rear but soon, they came to a stop once more.
T'kar didn't even ask what the problem was and just pushed her way to the front to see for herself. And that's when she saw him, Aron, seating right at the final step leading to the building.
She couldn't see his face through the helm but she was sure he too was a tulsa, an absurdly strong one at that. His stature alone was taller than that of any Komi she had seen, making him look all the more frightening.
But what choice did she have? If she wanted her people to have even a slimmer of hope, she had to fight this colossal tulsa.
Just when she steeled herself to fight, Aron warned. Speaking fluently and clearly in what they considered their tongue. "If you chose to fight, your race will be extinct by the time the other southern races even know of what's happening."
"!!"
His voice rang heavily and his fluctuations began to scatter in all directions. She felt an ominous feeling she had never experienced before.
Never in her life was she so sure she would die than when she felt it. Her legs subconsciously began to tremble, while the weakest of her people began to faint just from how dense his mana was.
She wanted to speak but it was like the words were stuck in her throat. It was then that Aron stood up and began to approach her, descending one step at a time.
Even so, she didn't run. Her pupils were focused on Aron's figure as he got closer and closer, until finally, his towering figure was looking right down at her, separated by only a single step.
"I'll ask again, will you fight?"
