The Cat Town

"Lucinda once stated that they lived deep in the forest with a boundary around them. The boundary probably has a shielding effect like ours, protecting them from both, the clansmen and animals." Arella unhurriedly shared.

"Let's hover over the forest area first before going in," Adrian added after consideration.

"Okay," Arella readily agreed. She thought they would hover in the airship, but Adrian had different plans.

So, when the next off day appeared, Arella and Adrian went to their duplex. Before Arella could board the airship, Adrian changed.

He became a giant Ice Dragon. The Ice Dragon gracefully walked toward the stunned girl and nudged her a little. Arella absentmindedly touched it, patting it slowly. The Dragon's eyes squinted with satisfaction. It had been a long time since they had met.

Once fully satisfied, it bowed in front of Arella and spread its wings on the ground. It urged her to climb and sit. Arella understood its meaning and Adrian's thought process.

In comparison to an airship, this was faster and better. They could move at their own pace, scrutinizing the location closely. She began climbing up, but the Dragon shook a little and took back its wide spread wings.

Arella looked at it in a flustered manner. What? Did the proud Dragon change its mind? Arella thought quickly and then rejected the thought with double speed. Nope. It couldn't be.

Arella looked at the Dragon and found it staring at the bag. They had packed the bag with necessary items and food.

Arella jogged and quickly took the bag with her. The Dragon once again spread its wings, and this time, Arella successfully settled on its back.

Off they went, into the sky. The weather was extremely pleasant today. It didn't take them long to reach the premises of the forest. 

Arella reached into the bag and took out a pair of glasses. She wore it and started looking into the forest. In order to accommodate her, the Dragon took a dip, flying at the heights of the tallest trees. 

The glass she wore was capable of tracking geothermal activities. So, any warm body moving in the forest couldn't escape their eyes. She was looking for a cluster of warm bodies.

She found a lot of animals, in packs or alone, but nothing like a person. She also took notice of the smaller animals, looking for any cat like member, but nothing caught her eye.

Then, as if a realization hit her, she took off the glasses. Why take the help of external glasses when her senses could help better? She hit her forehead in annoyance and closed her eyes. 

The Dragon flew patiently and slowly, at the one hundredth of its original speed. Arella closed her eyes and let her hearing do the work. Her ears twitched, listening in to the various sounds of the forest. 

The swift swirling of the winds, the cacophony of various birds, the roars and chirps filled her ears. She only had one word for all this- beautiful! Her eyes could see nothing but greenery.

It was like the land of the Beast God: pure, happy, and peaceful. She was immersed in the beauty of it all when suddenly, something caught her senses.

It was the sudden quiet. Every voice stopped. The cacophony of the birds and animals stood still. Only the sound created by the gentle flapping of the wings could be heard. Everything else was quiet. The quietness was eerie. But after a while, the voices started assaulting her senses once again.

Arella opened her eyes and quickly tapped the Dragon, letting it take a U turn. Again, the same quietness greeted her. It felt as if they were going over a dead town. But the greenery was still the same. This part of the forest was similar to the other parts.

She tapped on the Dragon once again, and it obediently stopped in the air, flapping its wings continuously. Arella wore the glasses in hopes of seeing something, but the glasses couldn't trace any form of life or warmth in this part.

It made Arella skeptical. Because, technically, there should be some animals or birds, an even smaller number would do, so the lack of it was questionable.

Arella tapped on the Dragon once again. She thought of letting it find a resting place first. Flapping wings at the same place was exhausting. But the Dragon did something entirely different. Instead of going to find a place to have some rest, it went closer to the quiet area.

And then, it released an icy breath. Arella widened her eyes in surprise. Because in front of her, the small icy shards that should have fallen, remained floating! The shards appeared to be resting on something invisible.

Arella didn't have to think deeply because after a few seconds, the tiny icy shards melted, and a clear string of water appeared. The water droplets did not fall straight. Instead, the droplets descended along the lines of an inverted parabola!

This…was this really what Arella thought? The Dragon breathed a few more times, making the parabola more obvious. 

The more water droplets appeared the clearer the structure became. It was a semi spherical shield. And the area it covered was huge! Enough to protect an entire town.

The Dragon had a mind of its own. It flapped its wings and examined the height and length of the shield. It tried to go into the shield, but it couldn't. The outer area of the shield was too slippery, letting the Dragon slip and slide every time it tried to get in.

Looking at the impeccable defensive shield and the lack of warm bodies and sounds, Arella knew this was indeed the place they were looking for, the cat town! 

They found it! Arella was extremely happy! She didn't believe that it would be so easy to trace it! Unknown to her, it wasn't easy. Had it not been for the formidable combination of her sharp senses and the Dragon's alertness, they wouldn't be able to find it at all.

But her happiness was soon doused with a bucket of cold water because no matter where they went, they couldn't find an opening! They couldn't enter the shield at all! 

A little downcast, Arella tapped the Dragon to fly away and find a place to rest. It had been continuously flying for more than three hours! It was time to have some rest.

But the Dragon was a Proud Beast. How could it let a mere defensive shield stop its advances?