Daimian was weighing his options, they would need at least one more day to gather all the materials in order to complete the construction so he still had some time to decide which path he wanted to take, but that was his second biggest worry at the moment as he had an even bigger challenge in front of him.
"For the last time you are getting on the boat!" Damian was close to yelling at his young companion who was stubbornly refusing to listen to reason
"No the hell I am not my good sir! I have sworn to never ride a boat again and that's that!"
Jasper was in front of Damian with wide eyes as he was pacing feverishly during their conversation, not wanting to give in to his demands,
"How about this? Instead, I will walk alongside the boats across the plateau towards our destination. That way you don't have to worry about me wandering off in some random direction, deal?"
Damian placed both of his hands on his face and slowly dragged them down as he looked upon Jasper, his usual armour and dagger was busy repairing itself within his soul so for the time he was wearing a simple tunic made from bark and vine much like Damian. The only new addition was the strange bird that was waddling across the ground, picking up stray insects to eat as its master was busy, Jasper had told him that the bird was an echo and that he got it from killing the creature, the only question Damian had was why…he had seen the docile creatures during his unknown travels with Jest so it was strange, Jasper had promised to tell that story once they had some freetime, but instead they were arguing instead.
"Its not the fact that I think you will wander off that's the problem! The problem is that you will be too far away to help if something goes wrong, which with your Attribute seems to be far more likely, we both don't need to be reminded of that incident do we now."
Jasper's face flushed slightly before he started to jitter slightly,
"Yo–ou said you wouldn't bring that up again! It was an accident, an accident I tell you! And what do you mean I would be too far away to help? You use a bow! It is literally designed to help in long distance and you've even had a set of arrows made for you. I'm starting to think you just want to keep me on a very short leash."
A short smile crocked on Damian's face before he answered,
"Keep dreaming, the only leash I ever used was left behind a while ago. Also what I meant was that I won't be able to stop the boats if something goes wrong for a single stubborn sleeper so if anything happens and we get too far away you will be stranded all alone with no means of escape."
Jasper was left speechless for a few moments as he stumbled over his words, his face growing an even brighter shade before he finally found the words he was looking for,
"That's just….wow your poor wife, that's an image I really didn't need in my life. My point still stands, I will happily accept the risk if it means that I don't have to get on one of those floating death traps."
Damian signed and folded his arms before he continued as he knew this conversation would be endless,
"I've said it before and I will say it again I will not let you risk your life just because you have a fear of boats, we can talk more on this later but there is a more pressing issue on hand…what did you mean by that first part of your last sentence?"
Jaspers eyes went wide as he finally processed what he had said previously before quickly glancing down at his wrist before looking back up at Damian,
"O-oh that…well I mean…Oh would you look at the time it seems like I'm late for ... .something something…bye!"
Quickly running off before giving Damian a chance to retort leaving the poor man standing on his own, now with a few questioning stares towards the strange scene, even the bird…Jackie he believed his name was, was at a loss before apologetically looking at Damian and flying after its master. On most days he would have given chase but he would give it a rest for now, there was work to be done and he knew that Jasper could outrun him if he got too close.
Leaning down to pick up his axe he was determined to finish his days work in order to take his mind of his disagreement and decide which force he would follow however he never got the chance, as he walked towards a nearby tree ready to start swinging he felt something, a subtle shift in the air so minute he felt like he imagined it yet every sleeper in the camp paused as they looked around, soon came another, then another.
The subtle shifts grew more and more frequent with each passing second and as each one passed the force they excluded grew in intensity, it wasn't long before the sleepers were huddled together in a defencive formation looking out in all directions to spot any incoming threat. Damian was the first to notice it, in the distance emerging from the tall walls of the castle a vermillion form rose into the sky like a second sun, its powerful wings beat with such force that their beat could be felt from such a great distance.
Its vermillion scales shone with a metallic gleam as if they were forged out of blessed steel instead of grown by a natural force, its blackened horns twisted backwards with a slight curve, their edges sharper than any blade could ever dream to be, its body was covered in black spikes jutting out of its vermillion scales. Its face was old and majestic with sharp features forming his face, its head was reptilian in shape yet its eyes glowed with a brilliant shade of amber filled with malicious intelligence as it scoured the forest. Its tail hung loose scraping against the ancient stone walls as parts chipped away under every graze, its eyes narrowed as it beat its wings to begin its hunt as it flew over the forests, rancid black smog escape from its mouth just before a burst of flames spew forward, engulfing the forests in brilliant fire.
The group of sleepers froze at the sight as the hopes and aspirations shattered right in front of their eyes, before most sleepers had decided to join mechanic in his conquest of the castle, but now that they saw their greatest foe, all chaos broke loose.
It started off as simple screaming as the fear for what they had seen filled the hearts of so many as rushes of movement began as the people started to clamber towards the boats, most of them had already been completed which meant that they were a precious resource.
What began as a simple clamber of fear quickly escalated into a bloody conflict as countless sleepers fought each other for the right to ride one of the boats to safety, with many using their inhuman strength to push them out into the water in the hopes of a quick escape, many others simply ran downstream in the hopes of getting as far as possible. Hours passed and what was left behind was a warzone, well not many people died during this battle the area would forever be changed from their presence. In the end the prophet had used this opportunity to steal one of the ships and lead his group away from the castle, seeking refuge in the deadly waters over the might of the dragon.
The valiant knight, the mechanic was left with only a few dozen bloodied sleepers and a handful of half finished boats to his name, nearly all the strong fighters had abandoned his plan once they felt doubt worm its way into their hearts which just showed how weak they truly were, among those who remained Damian and Jasper sat quietly around a fire with the rest of their group. They had a choice before but now it seemed that it had been made for them, they didn't want to invade the castle in all honestly they much like the rest believed it to be suicide, but they would rather die protecting the weak than save themselves.
Well that's what Damian believed anyway, Jasper simply didn't want to abandon his only remaining friend in the world…two worlds in fact.
So with not much left to do the remaining sleepers spent their night contemplating their choices, they spent the next day gathering the resources they needed and before long they had done it, thanks to the tireless efforts of their leader the boats made from the strange wood were ready for the day after, they worked all through the night in preparation for this and yet they knew not all of them would make it out alive.
The ones who had fallen asleep during this time were quietly dragged onto the boats before they set sail as the sun dawned over the horizon.
Jasper was not very pleased when he found himself waking up on the floor of the floating death trap, having fallen asleep during the night whilst aiding with construction, looking around he saw the faces of four others staring down at him, as the faces of Damian, Jest, Warden and Jackie looked at him with strange expressions on their faces.