Best Friend

Upon a successful debate about who might be the actual mastermind behind ruining Ivione's reputation, that being Codey as the primary suspect, Elliott and Shanya dragged the seized Seraphs and returned to meet with Olishia and Scanara people.

The front gate and the entire camp appeared to have been cleared of their enemies, each one tied by a rope. Olishia attended to their explanation immediately and terminated that Elliott's deduction was the most reasonable.

"Olishia!" a deep and strong voice called out to her as someone rammed a poleaxe into the ground and hauled everyone's attention onto him.

Everyone's eyes stirred and locked onto him. It was Notonious who caught them in the act. It amazed the others and hushed Olishia. It was horrifying to see their leader standing before them.

"You absolute critter. Someone to oppose the Seraphs and steal Scanara people from my command... you of all people, Olishia? I entrusted those men to you. And now you decide to raid the Seraphs' base without my allowance?! That is unforgivable!"

Another argument rose from the ashes. No one knew where it would lead them. It opened another gate to another debate that could cause another dispute, this time between the matching association.

"Notonius, listen to me. We haven't aligned an alliance to cause chaos across the Sanctum Islands. We didn't kill our enemies. All we did was capture them. You understand the trouble they could cause if we haven't stepped in and apprehended them, right? It was for the greater good."

Notonious grunted, shivering his teeth from anger that filled his head. He was getting gaslighted by his own decisions. It would be hard to side with him in the state he was in.

The pure disappointment in Olishia drove him to turn insane. He could restrain himself from freaking out, but no one knew how long that would last.

Out of all people gathered around the Seraphs' hideout, Notonious was one of those who despised them. However, he never intended to capture them. His only mission was to slaughter them one by one until the entire tribe would go extinct.

Most of his followers disregarded his thoughts, hoping it wouldn't come to the point of killing their one and only enemy. They were sane because of Olishia's comprehension and benign behavior.

"You're such a fool, Olishia..." he claimed, clutching his own forehead, disturbed. "I strongly advised you to kill this useless race. All this time, they caused destruction, slaughtering our people, yet you show them mercy? I'm afraid that won't do. Either you kill them one after another, or all of you are expelled from the Scanara tribe and will be sentenced to death."

Notonious' followers became terrified. They didn't want to suffer and lose their lives because of a simple-minded mistake. Some controlled themselves, ensuring not to join him, and the others chose to stay on Olishia's side.

Ferris snarled, readied to attack if Notonious caused trouble. But his roars and growls didn't scare Notonious. Instead, it coerced him to lift the poleaxe and lean it on his shoulder.

"I see..." With one swing over his head, Notonius prepared to smash the floor with the poleaxe. "I'll kill them myself, including you..."

It exerted intense pressure that controlled the winds, swinging the grass and trees around before vaporizing some of them.

Others didn't know what he planned, but Ferris lunged forward after looking at his master without a second thought, hearing Olishia screaming after him. She tried to stop him, but before she could succeed, Ferris met his demise.

Notonious' axe rammed the ground with full force and unleashed a round ball of energy that zipped across the terrain in their direction, demolishing it.

Ferris knew no one could stop Notonious' attack. He jumped into it, taking the hit and detonating the explosion. It formed a giant flash that covered others' eyes, practically blinding them, and with one final breath, the tiger got pulverized in the heat and shock.

Ferris sacrificed himself, saving the human lives that mattered.

It took a few seconds before the sky cleared and the flash disappeared, and when the final tree collapsed, Olishia witnessed her best friend lying on the ground in his own pool of blood.

"Whoa... That was intense." Elliott claimed, rubbing his eyes to regain his vision and noticing the destruction around them.

Olishia ran toward him, ignoring the others, and squatted beside him. "Ferris!" she placed her palms on his body and looked into his eyes. "Why'd you do that?! You didn't have to! Y-You know we don't have a doctor!"

However, despite Ferris breathing for another few seconds, he licked Olishia's face, and before she could say another word, he lost consciousness and died on the spot.

"Ferris... He knew the outcome before we had the chance to react. He knew none of us could live the attack, so he sacrificed himself for us to live..." Shanya stated, impressed by what a wild beast, tamed from a baby, would do for their master.

Notonious stood tall, keeping his poleaxe rammed into the ground. He didn't seem to care about Ferris' death. He pulled out his weapon and shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't whine, Olishia. It's just a wild animal. It didn't serve any purpose, to begin with. But I'm impressed you tamed it so well. I might have missed the first time because of that beast, but it won't happen again."

Olishia hurled her gaze at Notonious, dripping tears in her eye sockets. She seemed furious and wouldn't forgive her leader for killing her best friend.

She reached behind her back, grabbed the nearest spear, and stood up, throwing it in Notonious' direction at full speed. She didn't hold back her strength, but even after setting more effort into tossing it, it wasn't enough to harm Notonious.

Notonious swung with his poleaxe, sliced the spear in half, and exchanged eyes with Olishia. "Don't cave to frustration, this is warfare. Friends die no matter where you fight."

To be continued...