Iahmi sat down, allowing Allegra and Melsa to climb down from his back before his main took over his body once more, and when it retreated, he was back to his tall, normal form.
As Melsa grabbed Allegra, Heru, and the two of his clan turned back to normal as well.
"Did you find anything?" Heru ran towards them.
"Only bad news," Allegra replied, "Gather everyone who needs to hear and I'll explain."
Heru's face turned sour at her words, but he soon started giving orders.
"Come," said Iahmi towards the rest, "We talk at the hearth."
They all nodded and began walking towards the center of the camp, where a large, long hearth made of rocks stood, burning the charred remains of a tree trunk.
Around the hearth, twelve logs stood as seats, the Seats of the Elders, or the seat of any present leaders of the clans.
With each step they took, another person joined their walk, curious about the topic of discussion that would soon follow.
And even though Allegra, Melsa, Iahmi, and Heru got there pretty soon, they waited for all the seats to be filled before they began.
However, that did not mean the usual chatting was absent while they waited.
"Say, Allegra," Iahmi began as he received a wooden cup full of wine from one of his people, "Still not interested in having a mate?"
"Why would you care?" Heru asked, looking coldly at the man.
"Ah, here comes the bird flying in conversations he isn't part of," Iahmi smiled proudly.
Heru sighed, hearing the stupid joke he made, but got angry when he saw the prideful smile Iahmi wore on his lips, "Why act like you are proud of that fucking joke?"
"Because I am," Iahmi shrugged his shoulders, "It's surely way funnier than your attempts at hitting on Allegra… or fighting humans."
"Fucking bastard," Heru jumped to his feet, throwing his cup to the ground, "Let me show you the difference between us."
"Very well," said Iahmi, getting up as well after chugging down the wine in his cup, "Let me rough some feathers. Allegra, make sure you are watching."
"You can kill yourselves for all I care," Allegra sighed, too exhausted to even look at the two fools, "What makes any of you think that this shit is impressing anyone? I would not even shed a tear seeing the bodies of either one of you."
"Harsh and cold as always," giggled a woman as people made way to let her pass.
She was a young, tall, broad, and beautiful woman, with two large ox horns protruding from the sides of her head.
She was of the Oxen clan, one of the strongest and most resilient of the twelve.
"Vifien," Allegra greeted her with a nod.
"To have two of them fight over you and not choose one or both, even, is a far cry from the daughter of your clan," Vifien said.
"Not all can be like you, Vifien, with what, three kids at your young age? And how many husbands?" Allegra replied.
"Young age for you, spirit bear," Vifien said, taking a seat, "I am twenty-five, and you are what? Double that?"
"Why would my age matter? We age differently, after all. In my clan's eyes, I am your age, yet here I am, no kids, nor the headaches you call husbands. If what these two fools are what I'm supposed to marry, give me a knife and put me on that pyre outside the camp," Allegra said, the exhaustion making her care less than usual, letting her tongue utter things that most of the time should not be uttered.
Silence fell over the gathering, the faces of Heru and Iahmi going blank of any emotion at Allegra's words.
The spirit bears were always cold and distant.
But this was beyond cold, beyond distant. Even Melsa knew that it was too much.
But she, as the rest, stood silent.
Though the words were hard to digest, Allegra had the talent and strength to back it up.
None dared to argue with her when they knew she was in a worse mood than usual.
They let her be, for she was the one who cared for how they fared.
When they were sent to take the city of Kanat, they gave her the leading position, not to Heru.
When it became impossible to attack Kanat directly due to all the traps, the chiefs sent her inside the Gardens to find a way in, not Melsa, Iahmi, Vifien, or any other present representative of their clan.
Her coldness gave her the edge they lacked.
Her distance from reality made her see situations in ways others did not.
And the strength and powers she possessed made it certain she would be able to make things happen.
Or at least that's how most saw it.
They took the words of their chiefs and twisted them in such a way that they took the form of Allegra.
They placed everything on her shoulders as if she were a cart and a horse at the same time.
They sent her into the unknown to solve an impossible puzzle as if she had omniscience.
They attacked and got greedy, all because of one man who told them they must do it years ago.
They exhausted her, drained her of strength and power, then screamed at one another to impress her as if whoever screamed louder would replace the dead, or improve her mood.
They were all wrong. That man, the High-Chief, the clan chiefs, the elders, all of them.
In their greed, they stretched to grab something they could not afford by sending the younger generations to grab it for them, while they showed off their warmongering skills against women, children, and the elderly as if they were the greatest of warriors.
And all because of what? No more.
The truth was different, and Allegra hoped that they would listen and refuse to do the bidding of old men and women just because they told them to.
It would be better to return to their home and leave the humans to their own, to war, conquer, and die.
She just wanted to sleep, to dream of a life where such things were easy.
Where the conquering is done with words, where life has more worth than death ever would, where one could laugh instead of cry twice a day over the dead body of someone they knew for decades, where a smile was more valuable than gold ever could be.
Allegra began to wander off, as the exhaustion was more deafening than the sounds of people gathering.
And she hoped to relieve that dream she had outside the Gardens.
But her mind did not listen to her.
Her mind took her back into the Gardens, on the log she sat as she ate a porridge so sweet she wondered if it was made of honey.
On the log she sat as she watched a few people cherish each other, love, and laugh with each other.
Even though she could feel that death and pain brought that group together, she could also feel pure love, lack of any pride or greed, just hope, hope for a healthy child, hope for a future together, hope for healthy lives, hope for the well-being of missed ones, hope for life, and hope for happiness.
Not for glory, riches, or blood.
She could feel that those five humans understood that all that was secondary.
All ambitions are useless if there is nobody to cherish your accomplishments with you.
All ambitions are useless if, as the ground takes you back in, it takes that legacy in with you.
All ambitions are useless if you are dead and forgotten.
They, in their own way, understood that better. It didn't need to be said.
Their action showed such things back with Heru, and now with her.
But she did not mind being dead, forgotten.
For her own ambition was to dream of worlds that would never be lived by others. Others besides her.
For her own ambition was to sleep. And dead people sleep best.
But before she could rest, as she felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her awake, she knew that there was work left.
"Finally awake," Vifien giggled, "Tell us what you have to say, then rest, Allegra."
"How I wish," Allegra muttered, looking at the seats around her.
They were now filled by the chosen representatives of their clans, ready to begin.
"You said that you only have bad news," Heru said, his face still blank of any emotion. "What happened in the Silver Gardens?"
"I met your old friends, Heru," Allegra replied, but before Heru's eyes could widen or his mouth to complain, she placed a hand in the air, silencing anyone who wanted to speak, "While it's true that they are humans, they also had intel that made me realize that we, young Metamorphs, are taken for fools, by the chiefs, elders, and even the High-Chief."
"How dare you!" yelled a few of the people gathered, which soon turned into hundreds of people yelling whatever crossed their minds, be it curses or words of disagreement.
But the people sitting remained silent, all staring at her.
"They-" Allegra said, but stopped speaking since the yelling was not planned on calming down too soon.
It was frustrating, how frustrating even for one as tired as she was.
She looked through the shoulders of yelling people at the pyre outside the camp, where the corpse of one of her kin stood, waiting to turn to ash.
She gave her life for something she believed in.
For a lie, these fools screamed at her, cursed her, not even listen to her.
She gathered what of her power was left in her body, and looked at the crowd as her crystal white eyes turned a blinding white as she spoke, in a whisper, a single word, "Silence!"
And all grew still, all holding their breath, too afraid to speak again.
Allegra sighed, but took the opportunity that was given to finally speak.
"Well then," she said, drawing air in, "This is how things stand."