The morning came as promised.
And with that promise, Allegra began walking the short distance towards her destination, that revealed itself as she finished climbing up a hill.
It was a pretty ravaged and isolated village, with no more than a hundred houses.
It had fields of wheat on one side and a river on the other side.
Half the houses of this village, especially those at the entrance, were destroyed.
Their walls were a pile of rubble, and their roofs made of straw were now smoking ash.
As she approached the entrance to the village, a half-eaten man hung by the wooden entrance.
A gruesome scene, even for her.
It was the first time she ever saw how a brain looked, how an eyeless man was still able to stare at her.
And from the wounds on the man's body, it seemed the man had suffered at the talons and sharp beak of the eagle clan's chiefess, Heru's mother.
After this quick look at the body above her head, Allegra pressed on, entering the village.
"Oh my," said that same woman, now in her human form, eating an apple while using a young man's back as a chair, "Look who decided to visit."
"Good morning, Chiefess of the Eagle Clan, Leilani," Allegra bowed.
"Do you like the decorations at the entrance?" Leilani giggled as she bit into the apple, "It took me a while to set it up, you know?"
"I assumed so," Allegra replied, straightening herself as she looked in the eyes of the woman, "It looks… well done."
"I appreciate that," grinned Leilani.
She was a beautiful woman, past the prime of her life.
Age was beginning to show on her fair skin, yet the brown wings that she and her son shared as a similarity looked as if unaffected by the passing time.
"But I assume you did not decide to just visit, after all we've heard you talking over the last few days," Leilani added.
"That is correct," Allegra nodded, before looking around the village.
She could smell him nearby.
"Are you looking for your father?" Leilani asked, "He's busy at the moment."
"Is that so?" Allegra's crystal white eyes narrowed, "And the rest of the chiefs?"
"Eating, killing, or burning something," Leilani replied thoughtfully, in a tone that clearly showed her playful nature, unbothered by the sight she and the others created.
Seeing the lack of care the chiefess had, Allegra decided to get straight to the point.
She inhaled deeply, readying herself for what was to follow.
"I have come today-" she began, but Leilani raised a hand, stopping her from talking.
"Before that," Heru's mother began, "How is my son? How is the battle going on your side, and what is the situation with the camp supplies?"
"Heru is back towards the camp, angry I rejected him again," Allegra began, in a monotone voice, as if reading a report, "The battle is currently at a stalemate, but I see no possibility of ever getting past all the traps around the City of Silver in which we all go down dying, and as for the supplies, they are running low."
Leilani sighed, hearing Allegra's report, but decided not to mention the first of the three issues, "I've heard about both the supplies and the stalemate. All we can do is send more as we pillage more."
"That is not enough," Allegra replied the next moment, her voice loud enough to be heard by anyone nearby.
"Oh? And what do you suggest, Allegra of the Spirit Bear clan?" asked a tall man as he left a house, a young woman fighting to escape from his grasp as he held it on his shoulder.
The tall man had darker skin, his hands covered in black fur, and his light yellow eyes were those of a predator, with his vertical pupil as if splitting the eye in two.
"Good morning, Chief of the Panther Clan, Aleto," Allegra bowed.
"Get to the point," said the man as he approached, sending the woman he held to the ground, "I am in a bad mood today."
"I came here to request the chiefs to recall all campaigns on this Domain and return home for the time being. We are overwhelmed on our side, and many of our young have died pointless deaths against an enemy we can't even approach to fight with," Allegra explained.
Aleto sighed as he crouched in front of the woman, pulling her head up by the hair, "Who made all this destruction, human?"
The woman looked with hatred at him, but remained silent.
"She's a bit spicy, Allegra, give her a minute," Aleto said, chuckling before slapping the woman, a tooth flying out of her mouth straight in front of the trembling man who was still used as a chair by Leilani, "Now, let me ask you again, who made all this destruction?"
"Y-you did," the woman replied, stuttering as blood began dripping out of her mouth.
"So you see," Aleto replied, as if showing evidence against Allegra's point, "Our enemy is weak."
"A defenseless woman with no Raw Vita is weak, yes," Allegra replied flatly, "But traps you can't see as you head towards the most defended city in this Domain are not quite on the same level."
Though Aleto wanted to argue, Leilani burst out laughing, "Hahaha, I always loved this woman. But tell me, Allegra, if we refuse, what do you plan to do?"
"The only thing left," Allegra replied.
"Which is?" Aleto asked, narrowing his eyes.
Allegra closed her eyes as she gathered power in her body.
When she opened her eyes, her eyes were shining as if they were stars plucked from the night sky.
A circle of light left her eyes, which traveled all around the village.
When the circle of light reached the far ends of the village, she began speaking, "By the grace offered to me by the Forest Mother, I, Allegra of the Spirit Bear clan, daughter of Georn, chieftain of the clan, challenge my father to Pagnum Sacra for his position as chief of our clan."
"This? Madness… this is madness, Allegra," Leilani muttered clearly disturbed, as Allegra's voice reached the ears of everyone left alive in the village.
"Call it what you will, your greed sent hundreds to their death, I will stop it today or die trying," Allegra replied, her eyes back to normal, her face as neutral as ever, but her voice carrying the full weight and pain of the things she saw.
As Allegra spoke, doors flew open, and ten other Metamorphs began walking down towards her.
"What did the Forest Mother say to this?" Aleto asked, now on his feet as he let the woman he was playing with go.
"She allowed the Pagnum Sacra, and agreed that if I am to win, all will return home temporarily to regroup, and plan ahead for the next attack," Allegra explained, "Which is what I wanted from the beginning, but the greed and lack of knowledge of yours, sent many of your own to the pyre because you sent them to achieve a sucidal task while you are all here butchering defenseless, innocent humans, thinking they are the strongest of the bunch, and feeding your egos with it."
"There are no innocent humans, daughter," said a familiar voice to Allegra's ears, "And they are not as defenseless as you think. They reproduce at a fast pace, and before you know it, weak as they are, you die because you are overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. Feel free to call what we are doing population control."
"And feel free to call what I am doing a safety measure to keep the Metamorphs alive, Father," Allegra replied as the rest of the chiefs, together with humans they caught and enslaved, got here.
Georn, the chief of the Spirit Bears looked like a middle aged man, or, in terms of a Spirit Bear's age, at least four centuries old.
He had pale skin, white hair, and even whiter eyes, just like his daughter.
But even as a middle aged man, he carried undeniable strength within him.
Even though he was centuries old, his body remained full of vigor.
He also carried the coldness his daughter showed.
"Are you certain you want to do this, Allegra?" Georn asked, eyes studying her complexion.
"Will you and the rest of the chiefs recall the campaigns and return home for the time being?" Allegra asked.
Georn pressed on with another question of his own, "Are you that certain of your failure as leader that it will bring the death of all that are with you?"
And Allegra followed his lead, "Will me saying yes recall everyone left back or will you just replace me with another who is more willing to do what they are being told?"
Throwing questions around masked as answers was annoying to most present, but was a game this pair of father and daughter played often, as, slowly, it became how they usually talked with one another.
"Speak plainly," Georn said, a sharp coldness in his voice as he let go of the games.
"I do not wish to fight you, Father," Allegra replied honestly, looking straight into her father's eyes, "But if that is the only way to save the rest of our kind from dying a pointless death, then yes, I am certain."
A rare sight appeared in front of everyone as Allegra spoke.
A grin appeared onto the Spirit Bear's face, a grin that showed pride above all, that shattered the coldness of his heart.
"Good," he said.