Chapter 3: Rise of the Rethi

If I had been partially Avealed I would've puffed up in happiness at the good news. The harsh noonday sun was shining down on Native Lakes and I was seated on the edge of my bed with Frank. The lady giving us the good news stood in front of the window.

"You can speak at any time, Buteo." The lady said with a small grin. "I know you and your husband have waited a long time, but you do need to make some sounds before everything is finalized."

It had been two weeks since I had brought the Rethi to Native Lakes. Two weeks of nothing out of the ordinary. Two weeks for fellow Drethiveal to finally stop questioning me as much. And now I had the best news I could ever get: the start of a family with the love of my life.

I grasped his hands and he squeezed mine. I took comfort in his closeness and found the strength to make a reply to the lady.

"So he won't be here for another month?" I asked, it was hard getting words out of my mouth in my happy state.

"His parents are too heavily injured from a recent battle to take care of him." The lady replied. "They both grew up in Native Lakes and wanted him sent here."

I know I should be sad about the parents' situation, but I wasn't. All that was on my mind was finally raising a family with Frank. I wasn't thinking about how sometimes injuries from parents would make them decide that it would be better for the child to be adopted so that they could grow up with non-disabled parents.

"What made you decide on us?" Frank asked, joy barely contained in his voice.

"You've been waiting for a child for such a long time." The lady replied as she took some papers out of a folder on a chair that had been moved up here for the meeting. "Besides that, the child is used to warrior parents. Buteo partially fulfills that bit of normalcy for the child. Though the exact nature of his work doesn't match completely."

"Has the child Avealed yet?"

"No, he hasn't. Though he probably will within two to three years."

Frank smiled a little and I nodded at him. We were still very much hoping that he wouldn't Aveal into a seagull. We would accept our son if he Avealed into a seagull, of course, but we could always dream. That's all any of us could do at times.

"Is that a problem?" The lady asked, probably noticing our silence.

"No, of course not." Frank replied. "Just that it'll be hard waiting a month to finally get to see him."

"I understand your impatience." She said with a smile. "Everything will be done to make sure that your son arrives here safely. Do any of you have experience in dealing with a child separated from their parents?"

"Some of my students have had that issue." I replied.

"How have you dealt with it?"

"By not imposing myself and waiting until they've asked for my help. I don't like to put myself in situations where I might do more harm than good."

In reality that wasn't fully the case. I didn't like to be disliked. I liked to be the one that others would turn to for advice. I liked to be respected and loathed any action that would discredit me. At the same time, though, I had an inability to stand down to injustice.

"What about you, Frank?"

Suddenly my hands were over my ears as a loud alarm went off. After a moment to make sure Frank was okay, I raced to the window. Before I even reached the window I had Avealed so that my wings and tail feathers had formed.

"What is it?" The lady, who had now curled into a ball on the floor, asked.

I saw Hawn Falco and Donta Nevin racing along the training course. They were running at such a speed that signaled Native Lakes was under attack. It didn't take me too long to figure out who was doing the attacking.

"The Rethi." I said under my breath.

All my goodwill towards them, enough to get them safety in my village, had resulted in betrayal. The ultimate betrayal of stabbing your rescuer in the back. Panic quickly set in as I remembered all the legends I had grown up with as a child.

From the bedtime stories to scare children as well as the histories that had been taught. That I had taught countless children that would die as the Rethi exacted their revenge.

"We need to get out." I said, looking at the lady and then at Frank. "If we have to run we can do that better without being hampered by these walls."

"Can you fly?" Frank asked the lady and she shook her head.

I was glad at least one of us was caring about her. I couldn't. All I could think of was keeping Frank alive so that we could live our lives together. I didn't know if Native Lakes would last the attack and dearly hoped that the legends about the Rethi were fabricated.

Though I doubted that part.

"I'll watch from the roof." I said and climbed out the window as I heard Frank helping the lady.

I could've flown up onto the roof, but I didn't want to waste my energy. I didn't know how much fighting would be done and all I could do was conserve the majority of my strength until later. Climbing was a little hard due to both my fear and the fact that I hadn't climbed on a roof since I had been a child.

After what seemed like ages, I got on the very top and spread my wings. Down below I saw chaos as some Drethiveal were just realizing the severity of the situation. They probably thought that the alarm was for an attack outside the village as there was no alarm on Gaia to indicate a Rethi attack.

"The Rethi?" Frank asked as his familiar wing flaps alerted me to his presence.

"I assume so." I replied, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Why now?"

I shrugged as I had no good answer. My husband and I deserved a peaceful, as peaceful as our harsh mistress would allow us, life with our adopted son. It was beyond painful for me to push my hopes aside so I could focus on the battle at hand.

"You need to get your weapons." Frank said and I cringed.

I didn't want to leave his side, not now. The world would be changing and I wanted him by my side while it did. He wasn't as well trained as me and I worried, worried more than he could ever know, that something would happen to him.

"I'll be fine." Frank said in a gentle voice. "I'll stay out of trouble until you return."

I looked at his lips and the Bald eagle wings that were now on his back. I started to lean in to kiss him and then pulled back. If I gave myself one more second I would be unable to leave his side.

Without looking back at him, I took to the skies. As my wings opened to catch the wind, I noticed a very easy time rising high into the sky. I looked around quickly for any signs of a fire as that's the only thing I could think of that would cause my easy rise.

I wish I hadn't looked around as down below me a massacre was starting.

During certain times of the year, especially when a child had chosen an animal to Aveal into, holograms would parade through the streets. These holograms were able to have an impact in the world so that joy could be had by all.

Other times, in times of war, they could be turned into weapons.

Usually they were turned into weapons against the enemies of Native Lakes, but now they were going after their citizens.

A group of five small children rushed towards a hologram of a lion and it turned towards them. At first it seemed innocent but then it growled. The children stepped back as they didn't know how to react, they didn't know why it was angry at them.

Maybe they even thought that they had done something wrong.

I forced myself to look, to make myself certain of the horrors that the Rethi could inflict, as the lion tore one child apart and then the next. As it roared after its final victim died, I could hear screams from across the village so I knew that this wasn't an isolated case.

Flying even quicker now, praying to Fang that Frank didn't try to help, I heard the screams as if they were moving through me. Like they were infecting the very reality that I lived in.

I dove down so that I could hear the yells and to see if I could glean any information on what the Rethi's plans were.

"The Rethi are trying to send out a signal!" A woman's voice yelled out as quickly as her life passed away.

Her dying yell was meant for a man who didn't live that long either.

When I landed by one of the waterfalls, all I saw were corpses. I averted my eyes when I figured they were dead. I rushed to where I knew my weapon was and tried to push the images from my mind. I had to pretend, if just for a moment, that everything was going to be alright and no one was dying today.

As I made my sure my quiver wouldn't fall off, I remembered what I had heard the woman yell before she had died. The school was the best place to send a signal, though there were two other places in Native Lakes.

I forced my wings to work and was soon heading towards the school. I hadn't flown by the school on my way to the waterfalls as I had wanted to check out a possible fire. Looking in the distance I saw smoke and hurried towards my destination.

I could only focus on one thing at a time.

"Frank!" I yelled out as I saw him trying to fight off a hologram, a kid in his arms.

I was about to shoot an arrow at the hologram, though I knew it wouldn't disable it in time, when he moved out of the way of danger and then the hologram ran off with the child's head.

"I told you to stay safe!" I yelled out as I landed while he just clutched the headless corpse.

"I had to help." He whispered.

"I know," I replied with a sigh. "Let's work on getting to the school, the Rethi might be there. We could stop this war here and now."

Frank just nodded and I took the corpse from him, placing it gently on the ground.

As we took to the skies, I could see that the fire was spreading. I could even feel the heat and knew that it was only a matter of time until the fire consumed the entire village. A matter of time until the only home I ever knew was gone.

Screams filled the air nearly as quickly as the scent of burning Drethiveal flesh did. Frank's flight pattern became unstable as I could see him trying to not vomit.

Times like these reminded me that the Council of Ant had a point of making me a warrior. I could put all the pain and anguish to the back of my mind. I didn't like how easily I could, but it was a good thing in this moment.

When we reached the school I didn't see any warriors except three dead ones.

"Why isn't anyone helping?" Frank asked and then vomited, nearly falling out of the sky while doing so.

"The other warriors are at the other signal locations." I said as we continued to circle, I wanted to make sure there weren't any surprises when we landed. "They probably just got an alert that a signal was being launched but not where."

"The Rethi learn quickly."

Sending a signal should've taken the Rethi awhile to learn which meant the two weeks were just them waiting for their moment.

I dove down and then pulled up once a hologram appeared out of the ground. The tiger hologram roared after me as Frank attempted to distract it. I landed a small distance away and hoped that it wouldn't notice me. I hoped that it would be too distracted attacking Frank.

Holograms didn't react to physical attacks like Dreth, but there were ways to make them not as deadly. Unfortunately the only way I knew how to do that was by shooting at it and I only had a limited number of arrows.

Focusing on one of its knees I got ready to shoot all the while hoping that Frank didn't move too much. My arrow went off course as three lion holograms attacked me, sweat dripping off my body as the fire consumed even more of Native Lakes.

As I dodged attack after attack, I realized that the amount of screams probably meant that the shields were up and trapping my fellow villagers inside.

Would I die here no matter what I did? Would anyone figure a way to escape in all the panic?

It was hard to push away all my doubts and the holograms nearly managed to kill me. Frank kept yelling my name but I had to give up even my love for him as it made me fear and I couldn't spare those feelings right now.

I shot whenever I had a chance, sometimes missing as I also had to avoid shooting the love of my life. The love who didn't have a weapon to attack the holograms with, but did the best he could with what he had.

After what seemed like a lifetime, I managed to disable two of the holograms. The remaining roared and I crouched down with my wings spread, an instinct to warn before attacking. Not like the things before me would be intimated.

They hadn't been programmed with fear.

As they rushed towards me I jumped up, flapping my wings, and they managed to pull me back down by my tail feathers. I rolled away from them as they let go. It would be useless to fly away now as I didn't have enough tail feathers to make a clean escape.

I could fly away, but not in an intense situation such as this.

I dodged their attacks and went to pick up the arrows I had used. Taking mere seconds to check if they were still usable. Some of the tips were too damaged and I threw them at the holograms as I got an arrow ready.

"Buteo!" I heard Frank yell as I disabled one of the holograms which left only one left.

Frank dove down to distract the final hologram and I prepared my arrow to make the kill. My love was successful in distracting the hologram. I did my best to hold my arrow steady as the hologram gripped on one of his legs and pulled him down.

I held my arrow steady as I knew I didn't have a clear shot. If I fired now I would waste an arrow that might be the difference between my life and death. I felt so selfish as Frank tried to get away and he cried out my name in a trembling voice.

I wanted to do something as the hologram bit into his skull. Blood and brain going through the air before landing on the ground. The sound being like fanfare for the arrow that finally disabled the hologram. The hologram wavered into nothing, the blood and bone on its once physical teeth raining down.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I focused on the mission. I felt like vomiting as the fresh sounds of Frank's dying screams came to me. At the time he needed me the most I had abandoned him. But I couldn't focus on that now as all of Gaia could soon be in danger.

But why did the planet need saving if Frank wasn't there by my side?

I readied another arrow and walked slowly into the school. Going through the small building was a quick affair, but not a pleasant one. I kept expecting the Rethi to jump out as quiet sounds came to my ears. The blowing of the wind as I opened the door and the sporadic buzzing of electrical equipment greeted my entrance.

"Rethi scum, come out!" I said, the loss of Frank fueling my anger.

I turned the final corner and was greeted by the sight of two dead Rethi. There was a dead Drethiveal across the room with its hands Avealed into paws, though I couldn't tell what species it was. Walking slowly to the Rethi I saw their bodies mauled and a fired gun lying in one of their hands.

It must have killed itself after sending the signal.

I hadn't gone over to the transmitter as the sounds it was making made it clear that the signal had already been sent. I hadn't accomplished anything today.

I had let Frank die, let the signal be sent, and hadn't had the good fortune of killing a Rethi.

Even though I wanted to lie there until the fire enveloped me, I knew I had to move. Maybe it was because of a Dreth's need to live, maybe it was because I needed to honor Frank's memory, maybe it was because I wanted to kill Rethi, or maybe it was something else that made me move.

Once I left the building I flew up as the fire started to come after me. I flapped my wings even as I thought I should've given Frank one last kiss. I flew past the waterfalls and attempted to slam into the shield, but I failed at that.

I flew through one of the only holes in the shield until I found a few survivors by the tree.

I landed by Hawn Falco, Donta Nevin, Nadia Caballus, and Nidae Boris. We stood by the marker of Native Lake's territory as we watched our home burn.

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