Prudence be damned, Henry mulled.

  Ulrum was days away from Verugo on foot. It could even be weeks if the winds weren’t fair. Time was against him. The longer he dallied, the less prepared Ulrum would be when the kingdom made their move. Against his usual cautious judgement, he assumed his true form the moment he stepped out of the pace’s grounds. Without giving a word of warning, he threw Rayne and Ani onto his back before promptly soaring high into the sky.

  Ani screamed as the winds brushed harshly against her skin. Rayne had a milder reaction but was, nevertheless, just as stupefied when Henry manhandled her without any prior word.

  “Is this wise?” Ani asked once Henry gained enough altitude and began hurtling in the direction of Ulrum.

  “No,” Henry answered.

  “Is it truly so dire?” Rayne asked.

  “Very.”

  “More dire than being exposed to the whole world? Lest you forget, as far as the world is concerned, Dragons are extinct. Exposing your existence would draw the kingdom to Ulrum faster than before.”

  “No faster than now.”

  “...What is it that you’re not telling us?”

  “This new advisor the kingdom has found is an outworld threat. He possesses knowledge that would surely give the kingdom a huge edge in the advancement of their… warring efforts. We have to warn all the tribes in Ulrum as soon as possible. A war with the kingdom is imminent.”

  “How imminent?”

  “I would say months but I would also say that would just be me being optimistic. Even I do not know the extent of his knowledge or can it be applied to practice. However, peace will become a very distant dream.”

  Ani shuddered and Henry felt it.

  “Don’t worry,” he assured. “Nothing will happen to us. I will not let it.”

  “I know… but what about the others? What about the innocents?”

  “I can only warn the tribes and tell them of the kind of forces they would most likely be facing. As for the others, the ones outside of Ulrum, they will have to fend for themselves.”

  “Can’t we help them? I have witnessed war before, Henry. The ones that suffered the most were the small folks who wanted nothing to do with the war. With your strength, we could—”

  “Don’t be naive, Ani,” Rayne chided. “Before helping others, we have to make sure that we can help ourselves. As things stand, we have not even assured of our own safety and you’re already thinking of charity. How commendable.”

  “Monsters don’t give me nightmares. The suffering of the innocents does, especially when I can do nothing but watch them suffer.”

  “You have a very altruistic conscience. I will advise you to cast it away. Unadulterated kindness will bring ruin to oneself.”

  Ani scowled at Rayne. “Don’t call it unadulterated. I just hate being so helpless whenever my help is needed.”

  “We will help others if we can,” Henry said. “But only after we make sure of our own safety.

  Towns and vilges streaked past below them as Henry glided along the clouds. With his size, he would surely be seen and exposed if someone were to just gnce up into the sky. In no time at all, Ulrum came into view. From high above the clouds, Henry could finally appreciate just how vast Ulrum was, though much of the nds were still uncharted.

  The closer Ulrum drew towards them, the lighter Henry’s heartfelt. However, it hardened when he saw the strange movements below. There were people, streams of them, making their way through the mountains and forests. Behind these people's stream were massive contraptions, trailing after the marches. Not to mention, they moved at a uniform pace and the streams seemed organised.

  It took Henry a few seconds to realise the shocking truth. Those contraptions were machines of war and those people were soldiers. And they were all heading towards Ulrum.

  “Henry, are those… soldiers?” Ani asked in dread after taking a peak of what’s below them.

  “They couldn’t be anything else.” It was Rayne who answered. “Looks like the princess had failed to persuade her brother.”

  “It has been only days,” Henry said. “Not even a week. It’s impossible for an army of such a size to be amassed on such short notice. No, this is long premeditated. It’s a good thing that we returned early.”

  “Do you think Vishara knew?” Ani questioned.

  “...She better not have known. Or else there will be a whole other war.”

  Eventually, they reached the borders of Ulrum, which is also the vilge of the Lavans. When they st left through here, the road had been teeming with people. But now, they were barren and empty. Two Lavan soldiers stood guard at the entrance of the vilge. One of them yawned with his head tilted up and that was when he saw Henry’s silhouette in the sky.

  It was too far away for Henry to hear what the soldier was saying to his peer but their body nguage told Henry enough. The two soldiers rushed into the vilge and when they came back out, they brought along a battalion and a small entourage of clergy figures with an important individual in the centre.

  Henry couldn’t help but smile. It was only a week at best but it felt like forever. “Hang on tight. We’re making our descent.” Henry didn’t wait for them to respond and immediately made his descent. Contrary to his expectations, neither of them screamed.

  “Of course you would do this,” Ani grumbled. She was gripping tightly to Henry’s spike when they neared Ulrum.

  Moments before he reached the ground, Henry assumed his human form and nded before clergy figures with Rayne and Ani by his side.

  The clergy figures were about to kneel when Iluna pushed herself through and trotted up to Henry.

  “Lord Henry!” she beamed. “You have returned just in time. We have received strange and dire tidings from our scouts.”

  “I know,” Henry said. “I have seen them on my way here.”

  “...How rge an army?”

  “Large enough to take over this vilge.”

  “By the goddess…” Iluna gasped.

  “Have you informed the other tribes?”

  “Word has been sent using our best carriers. We are currently constructing our defences and honing our weapons. We will be ready for them, Lord Henry.”

  “Triple your efforts or maybe even more. This is just the beginning.”

  “I am aware, Lord Henry. Lady Luvier had warned us of an enemy, one that possesses otherworldly devastating knowledge, capable of bringing ruin to Ulrum and the entire continent.”

  “Your goddess speaks truly, Iluna. And the kingdom is sheltering this enemy, in exchange for his knowledge.”

  Iluna’s face paled even more. “We will triple our efforts and more. What of you, Lord Henry? Do you require our assistance?”

  Henry shook his head. “Not for now. I will return home first and see that my women and abode are ready for the war.”

  ****

  Henry’s home— or rather, his nest, was located approximately in the centre of Ulrum. A rge clearing in a vast sea of trees. It couldn’t be missed if one viewed the forest from above. However, the view was different. There was a clearing but it wasn’t as rge as Henry remembered.

  “Is that a structure of some kind?” Ani mused as she squinted at the clearing.

  “That’s a building. A very rge one. The design is very… odd.”

  Henry nodded, or at least he did in his head. “It is indeed odd in this world.”

  The building reminded Henry of the kind of houses in his former world. A very modern architecture, though the materials used were only wood and stones. Nevertheless, the bungalow looked out of pce in the middle of a forest. It stood two storeys high and there was a third one in construction. A girl stood on the unfinished third floor. Tendrils of shadows moved according to her instructions, assembling the wood and stones together.

  Henry’s shadow had yet to reach the clearing but Yu had already turned around, gazing blissfully into the sky. She jumped and waved at Henry.

  A gigantic blue serpent slithered up to the third floor and took the form of a human by Yu’s side. Sarynn, too, looked joyous at seeing Henry’s return.

  Curiously, Sarynn and Yu weren’t the only ones at the clearing. There were others, Augrus. The tribe that resided in the west of Ulrum, bordering the Scorching Sands, a desert of unknown vastness. Lilim was among them, the first Augru he had encountered.

  “Those Augrus are helping,” Rayne muttered. “What gives?”

  “Let’s find out,” Henry said and took on his human form without making his descent first. As he let his wings remain, they merely drifted gently to the ground.

  The Augrus swarmed Henry, surrounding him, the moment he nded.

  “What’s going on here?” Henry asked.

  Before an answer came, Yu tossed herself into Henry using her shadow. “Welcome back!” she cheered as she wrapped her arms tightly around Henry.

  “I’m back,” Henry said as he stroked Yu’s head gently and softly while enjoying the wondrous sensation of her mountains being pressed into him.

  “We’re here too, you know?” Rayne said.

  “Yes yes, welcome back,” Yu gave the two a quick greeting before burrowing into Henry’s embrace.

  “Welcome back, dear.” Sarynn gave a more composed greeting but judging by how fast her tail was wagging, she was just as excited as Yu was. “Welcome back, Rayne, Ayne.”

  Ani gave an awkward smile upon hearing her other name. “It’s good to be back but… what’s all this?”

  “It’s our house. Do you like it? I like the cave but… it’s just so bnd and so, I suggest a few things to Sarynn on how we can… brighten things up. Before we knew it, this happened. What do you think, Henry?”

  Henry broke into a warm smile, one that seemed to be devoid of all his worries. “I love it. It’s very… nostalgic.”

  Yu giggled. “It will be even better after we finish. Oh, the Augrus are here to visit you. To give their… offerings, as they put it. You weren’t here, of course. Then, they saw me and Sarynn building and they offered to help.”

  “Sorry for the trouble,” Henry bade Augrus.

  “Not at all, Lord Henry. It is an honour,” Lilim said as she stepped forward with a deep bow. The rest of her people followed. “If Lord Henry would allow, I can tell my people that you are in need of more hands. They will surely be honoured and thrilled to help.”

  “Thanks but not now. This is great and all, but I’m afraid this would all have to wait. I brought grave news.”

  Henry then proceeded to recount his story and the imminent war they were about to face. The mood darkened immediately. The Augrus had grim expressions, and so did Sarynn, but Yu had it the worst. As someone who hailed from a peaceful era, the idea of participating in the war was tremendously intimidating.

  Seeing Yu’s reaction, Henry felt a sting in his heart.

  Lilim and her people wasted no time in taking their leave, but not before telling Henry they would come back and help with the construction of his house once the war was resolved.

  After the Augrus had left, Henry held Yu tightly. “I’m sorry.”

  “Huh? W-what for?”

  “For involving you. For… selfishly inducting you into my… harem.”

  “You have nothing to apologise for. I wanted this.”

  “Yu, I can tell you’re afraid and it’s my fault.”

  “It’s not, Henry. I’m well aware of the kinds of… hardships I would face but I went with you anyway. Besides, aren’t we all afraid? It’s war, we’re talking about. I don’t know much about war but I heard enough to know that it is not something people can just get used to. We are together in this Henry. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Neither am I, dear,” Sarynn said. “It’s time for the humans to face the punishment for their oppression.”

  Henry smiled wryly at the two’s resolve.

  “I-I’ll also do my best.”

  “I can use a war,” Rayne said. “I’m eager to test my newfound strength. So, Henry, what’s our move?”

  Henry gnced at the half-build house. “Hmm… Yu?”

  “Yes, Henry?”

  “How long did it take you to build this?”

  “Um… the hard part is getting the materials and getting the science right. Once I had that down, the building was a piece of cake. It took me just a few hours.”

  “Good. A fortress would not be impossible then, I take it?”

  Henry’s words left the four girls in shock.