Akando roared and lifted his stone axe up towards the sky. With an even louder shout, he brought it down, slamming it against a tree. There was a massive cracking sound, and the bark split apart. A mont later, the rest of the tree split into two pieces. Like thunder, the two halves crashed to the ground, kicking up plus of dirt and dust. Silver stripes pulsed on Akandos arms, heavily contrasting his dark skin. The natives behind him whooped and cheered as Akando whirled around with both of his hands pumping up in the air. Flying Serpent, the greatest god!
Flying Serpent, the greatest god!
The natives shouted and stomped their feet. The ground quaked, and pebbles bounced up and down thanks to the vibrations. Silver stripes on their bare skin flashed in the sunlight, and faint traces of red mist leaked out of their pores. Behind them, in the distance, a large, ocean-blue dragon was sleeping. And on top of its head, four brightly colored rocks were staring at the natives. Sheryl licked her rocky lips. Do you guys think we buffed them a little too much?
Werent you the one who insisted we did? Mistle asked and raised her rocky eyebrow. She clicked her tongue and sniffed. Fire elentals. Typical.
Hey! Sheryl frowned. Whats that supposed to an?
Impulsive and rash, then imdiately regretful but too headstrong to admit it, Mistle said, staring at Sheryl. Thats how fire elentals behave.
Sheryl pouted and crossed her arms. Im not regretting it. I was just wondering if it was overdone. These people were completely normal, but now they can cut down trees in one hit.
Well, Stella said, butting into the two elentals conversation. It was mostly Mr. Rabbits fault. She glared at the rabbit made of mist. It was subrged in Vurs body, only its head and torso sticking out of his scales. Its two front paws were stretched out in front of it, and one of its ears flopped to the side. Without him, would we have buffed those people?
No, no, Diamant said. It cant be Mr. Rabbits fault.
Yeah! Zilphy said, bobbing her head, which was her body, up and down. It cant be Mr. Rabbits fault. Hes too cute.
Mistle cleared her throat and stretched her hand out, petting Mr. Rabbits head. Normally, I dont agree withher eyes narrowed, and she glared at Zilphythat woman, but just this one ti Ill accept her opinion being similar to mine.
Sheryl glanced at her companions. Mr. Rabbit stretched one of his paws forward, placing it Sheryls leg. It looked at her with glistening eyes. With a sigh, Sheryl nodded. Right, hes too cute, she said. We cant really say its his fault, right? Its not like buffing the natives was a mistake.
Stella narrowed her eyes at the spirit rabbit, calculating the perfect trajectory to launch an attack at the back of its furry head. She mumbled, At this rate, its going to steal my role as the cute mascot.
Oh, theyre coming back, Sheryl said, drawing her gaze away from the rabbit. In the distance, the group of natives were walking back, each one of them holding up a tree. With all of the natives carrying one, they looked like a moving forest from above. Once they arrived, the natives dumped the trees onto the ground next to the lake that Diamant and Mistle had created. They also placed a struggling buffalo in front of Vurs mouth. His nostrils twitched, and he inhaled in his sleep, sucking in the poor animal.
We give our thanks to Flying Serpent, the greatest god! Please, grant us more strength!
Sheryl sighed. Whos buffing them this ti?
Mr. Rabbit turned its head to stare at Diamant. Diamant grunted. Looks like its , he said. The brown runes on Vurs front leg shone and bathed the praying natives in a soft glow. Bits of brown mist condensed around the natives as the light faded away, and once the natives inhaled, the mist entered their bodies and disappeared.
Praise the greatest god, Flying Serpent! The natives danced and placed three more buffalo in front of Vurs mouth. He inhaled them one at a ti, crunching between every inhalation. Seeing that their god accepted their offering, the natives turned around and left, heading back towards the forest with their stone tools. anwhile, won and children gathered around the pile of trees that the n had left behind. They climbed into the leafy ss and broke the branches, snapping them off until all that remained were an organized set of logs. More native n ca along and picked up the logs, carrying them away to be used as building materials while the won and children brought the branches away to be carved into arrows or cut into firewood.
The natives city was expanding at a rapid pace. It was a mishmash of different styles: There were stone temples, whose foundations were created with the stones found in a quarry a few miles away. There were longhouses made of stacked logs and mud to fill in the imperfect cracks. There were teepees made of long branches wrapped in buffalo hide. There were even so residences dug into a nearby hill with leaves blanketing the interior. And at the center, there was a giant golden statue of a dragon next to an incredibly deep lake.
Sheryl lifted her leg, catching Mr. Rabbits attention. Theyll be fine once we leave, right? she asked, gesturing towards the natives.
Mr. Rabbit tilted its head as if it couldnt understand what the fire elental was saying.
Dont look at like that, Sheryl said and pursed her lips. Please. Its not fair. You know were not from around here. Well have to leave eventually, and our buffs are going to disappear over ti.
Mr. Rabbit frowned before lowering its head, the sharp glint in its eyes hidden from view. A wind blew past, and a few particles of mist, Mr. Rabbits fur, was lifted away and into the distance, flying over the artificial lake before eventually disappearing into one of the natives temples, landing on a praying priest. Mr. Rabbit raised his head, the glint in his eyes gone, replaced with a disappointed look. It nodded, patting Sheryls leg in reassurance.
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