To do what is right

Clyss was tensed to see the camp of refugees. He had only known the calm of the ballroom with only Zuline and Jäwell. Now that Jäwell disappeared to him suddenly, he was constantly checking for everything around him. Zuline made a decision, she left the camp for a few days with Clyss. They went into the desert to research a grotto that could welcome him. 

She walked on an errand for a few days, searching for a place for Clyss to be in a calm environment. They eventually managed to find him a den and Zuline stayed with him. Her heart was broken and she didn't have the force to come back to the camp. Zuline was not able to be a leader anymore, her mind was full of Jäwell's words, expressions, and scent. She spent countless time observing her leg as she still had the mark of his fangs and she surprised herself by caressing the scar with a terrible sense of loss.

Clyss was a newborn creature with tremendous power and knowledge but he was not able to understand the situation. He viewed Zuline falling into desperation more and more every day. They remained in absolute silence in the den holding each other. Zuline became the ghost of herself. She was submerged by the frustration of being trapped on the wrong side of the portal. 

A Jessadian went to search for her in the den. Clyss was about to defend his mother, but the man got scared and kept his distance, he only yelled from the entrance of the den. 

"Zuline, come back now, we need you at the camp."

Maybe this was what she needed to hear. Her anger blew suddenly, and she stood up walking to the man furiously.

"We promised the worlds to take care of the souls. Is running away your concept of protecting people?! We had a home! How can you accept the situation?!"

Her hooves were hammering the floor, she was almost ready to charge, the man placed his hands in front of him.

"You are the leader, we need you to guide us," he tried to say to appease her but it only made her angrier.

"We should be with the others, defending the world now. Defending our home."

The other jessadian seemed outraged by her words, "We are neutral and we don't get involved in quarrels. Have you forgotten?! Don't tell me that you want to come back there and involve our race in war!"

Zuline raised her head, she was the oldest of them even if she looked young.

"I am the oldest of you. I saw so many to be born and many more to die. I flee with our people more times than I can count, and in this eternal life, I can be sure of only one thing. Right now, we are not where we should be."

She came closer to Clyss and she dropped a kiss on his head with love as she was crying.

"I am sorry my child, you will have to be their guardian for a while. Take care of them for me."

The dragon opened his mouth and a tearful cry of pain could be heard all over the world. Like a son losing his mother, his scream of distress was heartbreaking but it didn't stop her. She had to do the right thing, she felt like a coward and the shame was taking its toll on her. 

Zuline pushed the jessadian who was standing at the entrance with a brutal impact and ran to the camp. A few others were thinking the same as her. They didn't feel doing the right thing in sheltering the refugees. The oldest of their kin joined her as they saw her, they had known each other for a long time. They were the ancient generation, the one who knew war against the light. The one who was holding a grudge against Archanium and its gods. They were taller than the others and more massive. They gathered around her quickly, a few of them used the shadows to materialize war hammers and armor. 

It was a view no one could have expected, the jessadians would never have been imagined as fierce fighters. Yet, they were here ready for the worst nightmares. Zuline opened a portal and yelled. 

"If we die! We die doing what is right!"

They were only seventeen but that was enough to make a big difference. The elder Jessadian of the new generation stepped forward and addressed Zuline directly without showing respect for his leader anymore. 

"If you pass this portal, consider yourselves pariahs. Don't ever think about coming back to our tribe or being welcome in Ombrae in the future."

Zuline watched him with a challenging gaze, "Consider yourself as unworthy of our kind. Coward!"

The little group left the world to join the battles. Zuline was by far the strongest of her race, she had learned a lot about the obscure forces with Zarkhaïm and she would be able to open and close portals for such a small group without issues, but when they arrived on the other side, their blood turned cold. 

The world was in chaos. The Capital was completely demolished, and even the castle was left in ruins. Lines of canons were spitting fire constantly in a terrible noise. Explosions enlightened the sky as if it were day. The Golden City has been bombarded constantly and also seemed in bad shape.

The Capital, the pride of Zuline, became a merciless battlefield. Gods were on one side of the town and demons were holding positions on the other. They were the first line protecting the path to the castle. Gods were going down on the ground to reinforce the troops and the dwarves were doing their best to shoot them in the sky before they landed but that was not enough.

Everything was bloody and terrific. Zuline led her group to the castle, her objective was to find Jäwell to know the situation. As they arrived, she saw him and her heart skipped a beat, an unknown wave of heat warmed her face. She stared at the prince for a second before he noticed her presence. She had time to admire his focused expression, the fact that he didn't take care of his look as usual and didn't attach his hair properly on his hairpin, locks of hair stained by the blood of his enemies were falling all over his face. 

She was in awe of his battle armor, his powerful hands on the table supporting him, and she felt her heart skip a beat when he turned his face, surprised to see her. Jäwell had a large smile as he ran to her and took her in his arms strongly.

"I thought I would not see you again."