Dianah stood there, patiently waiting for the matrix to do its thing. She could not stray far from a water body, which was why she preferred to be around rivers and ponds. The exception was when it was raining. Then, she could move about as she pleased.
Her companion, Diguin the black bird, was not much of a talker, so they passed the time in silence. Not that she minded. Neither was that close to the other.
Soon, the first drop from the clouds fell. After that, the deluge closely followed.
Once it started raining, the two began moving, one walking, the other flying in circles overhead. The black bird did not seem bothered by the rain.
This was not the case for the fairies though. They loved flying in the free air, but the rain drops constrained them. Thus, they were less active, choosing to find shelter under the trees. They would occasionally spot some prey moving about underneath the canopy and grab a quick snack.
The last thing they expected was to see a humanoid ice figure to come trudging through the forest, while a black bird flew in circles overhead, acting like her protector.
As the pair continued to draw near the mother tree, more and more fairies took notice. Multiple sentries came running to the seniors, reporting of the encroaching threat.
Kigen did not know how to respond. He had no idea why they were coming, and what their intentions were. All in all, he could not allow them to come any closer to the mother tree, hence he gathered the fairies around him, and set off to confront this threat.
And so it was, on that day, an epic meet-up happened. On one side, Kigen had his fairies flanking him. On the other side, the two golems, one a big bird, the other a human block of ice. Even the serpent and Mistress Kering, alongside several flying birds, came out for this.
Watching such a grand gathering, Dianah had an amused smile. The antics of these fairies were cute, she thought. Never for one second did she consider them a threat. For her, they were barely considered capable of killing a chicken.
Meanwhile, on the fairy side, Kigen and his kin were quite wary of this unknown entity. The bird was a little too dark. Darker than black. It seemed to be sucking the light. Hence it looked as though it was shrouded in darkness.
As for the water golem, she looked quite weak and frail, if you ignored the fact that she was made completely of ice and water. She was even translucent in some places. Her hair looked like fine strands of ice grouped together. What a sight she was to behold.
In the heavy rains, she seemed to be using the rainwater to replenish herself. Kigen was especially wary of her, but he could also tell, the bird was not that simple.
"Greetings, fairies," the ice lady had a surprisingly cheerful tone in her feminine voice, capable of disarming one's opponents.
"Greetings to the visitors from afar," Kigen responded. He had the highest status of them all.
"We come a long way, seeking news of our brother," the ice lady began, edging closer to the fairies. She made her approach very calmly and friendly, but no one was fooled. They knew there was a fox in the hen house, and they were the hen.
"Who is this brother you talk of, is he also made of ice as you are?" Kigen asked. He knew exactly who she was talking about, and the ill fate that had befallen him. However, he was not about to confess. Deny! Deny! Deny to the very end.
"No, he was not quite like me," Dianah smiled. She could not directly accuse the fairies, but did she need to? When did a lion justify itself to a gazelle? Hence, she continued to draw closer.
"He looked much like your human, only that he was a man and quite tall and muscular," she explained. Her eyes were glued to the main prize.
A guardian of a newborn mother tree. What a prize. Master would be extremely overjoyed. How fortunate that this creature, which is usually as rare as a unicorn, would willingly walk out of its lair. Perhaps it did not understand its place in the food chain, or it was looking down on them.
"No such person was seen around here," Kigen answered. By now, the air was palpitating with tension. Both sides were arrayed against each other, ready to pounce.
"How curious," she replied, before looking at the serpent on the side, "How come you have his serpent?"
Kigen knew the cat was out of the bag. They definitely knew he was hiding something. He couldn't maintain the excuse he'd be selling so far.
Just as he was thinking of what to say, he saw a massive palm splitting through the air to grab at him. Similarly, the water that had been dripping along his wings seemed to be freezing, causing his wings to slack.
Dianah had timed her attack very well. Growing her had to be bigger than even her own head, she wanted to grab the guardian in one fell swoop. This meant that she had to act fast. This stupid thing had allowed her to get too close.
Had this been a few days ago, before Kigen met her brother, he would have been at her mercy. However, the fairy she was facing right now was completely different.
Responding just as fast, Kigen shot forward. This time, he was not just evading but directly attacking. He had taken on bears and other kinds of wild beasts; he was not going to be easily harassed.
Poof!
Kigen directly shot through the water golem's face, leaving a gaping hole where her nose used to be. He was much more powerful than he'd been prior, so he easily broke through. He had not expected such an easy kill.
Turning around, he realized she was still standing. The heavy rain was still falling. Somehow, the raindrops around her face were pooling together, remaking the damaged parts.
"Impressive," the water golem said, once she could say something. She was looking at Kigen, a sinister grin on her face. "Not many can even leave a dent on my ice skin," she added.
Meanwhile, the raindrops around Kigen seemed to come together as well, almost encapsulating him. Was she whipping up a cage from the rain?
"Not today," Kigen shouted as he shot forward, breaking through whatever restraints that were on him effortlessly. Dianah frowned seeing this. The fairy was far stronger than she expected.
Kigen directly shot through her chest, moving with power and vehemence. Once more, he easily tore through her body. Despite her frantic effort, she could neither keep him off nor keep him once he had broken through her defenses.
Much to Kigen's chagrin, the golem was still standing.
"Seems like the core is not in the chest," he muttered. Meanwhile, Dianah was repairing her broken body with a gaping hole in her chest.
"Stop this," she shouted, seeing Kigen ready himself for another strike.
Suddenly, big talons showed up out of nowhere, primed and ready to skewer Kigen. The black bird had made its move. Seeing this, Kigen smiled. He had been expecting this, rather, this was all part of his plan. The bird was his target, once he realized the water golem was not so easily killed.
With the aid of his mid wings, Kigen suddenly shot upwards. By doing so, he not only easily evading the talons, but also managed to penetrate the bird through its midriff. That's when things turned ugly.
Firstly, instead of flesh, the bird seemed to be made of some kind of black fog. Kigen felt like he was rushing through a sandstorm, only it wasn't sand, but some kind of black particles.
Secondly, it was dark. It was not just murky, but it seemed as though he had lost the ability to see. There was no light. In this mess he found himself in, things started getting eerie.
The particles were battling against him, chipping away at his momentum, at first, then his body. Even his wings seemed to be affected. Being hit once by a single particle was not bad, but being battered by hundreds, maybe thousands, was a whole other story.
Kigen suddenly realized he had just gotten into some kind of trap. Now, how was he going to get out. Worse still, the fairies, they were unprotected. Without him there, who knew what manner of evil these things could do.
As he continued to panic, he desperately looked for a way out, a chance to break through from this holding cell, but none came. If he tried to fly in any direction, he would be instantly pushed back.
Danger was piling up. The particles had managed to break his skin, some even lodging themselves deep into his tiny body. It seemed only a matter of time before he would be torn up.