sounds of lightning and stars

It's been a couple weeks since we moved to this coastal village if you could call it that luckily we have made great progress here the castle was completed in a few days thanks to the gemsmiths and Leon working hard to get it done when it was all finished the castle looked fit for even royalty which I guess Elise and emily technically are

Now the gemsmiths were doing different jobs a couple were making a road out of gems that ran from the castle before splitting in three different direction one towards the coast another to the woodlands were we came from and the last one led to some rocky flat-hills with beautiful streams running through it that went towards the human kingdom

They planned to make the road go for a while so when it comes time for us to expand we already have the necessary infrastructure to do so

Another group of gemsmiths were working on building house that lined the road but their were no banging of hammers or smashing of nails

I was watching them work fascinated by how they were building when they wanted to make something or add it they would pull out a gem and hold it cuped in their hand for a few seconds before manipulating it like it was clay or play-doh making the desired shape before placing it when it hardened again it was like it had always been there it was amazing to watch at least for me

my monkey brain was enthralled I wanted to give it a try but I knew I couldn't it was something exclusive to a select few Dwarves

Hearing children laugh I looked down the still dirt road to see Emily playing with her friends some of them were the kids that were here already it took a couple days but they eventually warmed up to her wanting to play especially after we set up a place for the people to get food every day the kids had tons of energy now

A little bit away from them I saw a small group of people move towards me led by the lone human we saw when we first arrived I had learned his name was Alistair

Taking a bow when he got to me he then proceeded to tell me the issue luckily the people have accepted me so there hasn't been much issues there i suspect the old woman had a hand in it " my lord there is a group of carriages arriving "

I was surprised to hear that I didn't think they would get here that fast " that's fine we are expecting them if you can...please make sure nobody messes with them " nodding he went to let the other villagers know

I took one last moment to watch the gemsmiths work before heading back towards the entrance of the village moving out of the way of a couple worker that were making the road as i did Elise came out of a building nearby moving to the same place I was she had been discussing with some villagers about plotting some crops for another food source

When the convoy came to a stop Amelia was the first one out fallowed by Liam who was now able to walk though there was still a bit of a limp in his walking now

" this certainly is a place that's for sure " Amelia said after looking around at the half built or worn down houses and not even close to being finished road

" it's a work in progress but this place could be amazing when done" Liam defended the village seeing the potential in what it could become I would expect nothing less from someone in his line of work it's pretty much about seeing the potential in things and making it a reality

" nice to see you guys are alright glad you all could make it without anything happening " Elise said seeing everyone arrived without issues

" I wouldn't say that my queen " kal said carrying a crude stone spear made with a long white bone of a creature i wouldn't be able to identify " this was thrown at one of our carriages when we were moving through the woodlands it seemed like a warning since no one attacked after "

" I wouldn't say the thing almost hit me making me almost die from a heart attack " Hearing a familiar face I turned to see a older Man with white hair and bunny ears shuffling towards us " doc what are you doing here " I was shocked to see the old rabbit-man here

" I had heard you got your own land and thought you would be glad to have a healer around since I haven't really been needed recently hope you don't mind " I shook my head " no it's fine we have been talking about getting a healer out here since there will be a lot going on soon"

Coughing Elise drew my attention back to her " we need to deal with this we can't let them keep holding the woodlands forever or we will all slowly starve "

Sighing i nodded " I know I'll go deal with it " looking to the side I waved lazza over as shadow materialized under me I had put this off long then I should have

" I'll take lazza and see what can be done " with that I took off towards the woodlands but instead of traversing the road I processed into it's deeps

After a while of the trees flowing past us like a river thanks to shadows speed he came to a sudden stop sniffing the air " they shouldn't be to much further ahead " nodding I got off Shadow and looked around

All I saw were trees as far as I could see they were similar to the ones in the elven royal garden that I first saw but a bit taller and Skinner

looking back towards our destination the woodlands changed although not much from a woodlands to swamp " are we sure it's that way " lazza asked not thrilled to be waddling through waist high murky water

" you don't have to worry about it " suddenly lazza felt light as feather if like a huge weight was taken off her that she didn't know existed " be careful not" before I could finish lazza went flying towards the swamp skidding across the surface like a thrown pebble coming to a stop a few feet away face down in the water

Shaking my head I took a step forward walking on the surface of the swamp like it was a solid " you should have let me finish " I said picking her up and helping her stabilize on the water like me

Once she got her footing she looked at me with a frown not very happy " you could have said something before you did it "she said annoyed

I shrugged " let's agree to disagree " she opened her mouth then closed it just shaking her head as she tried to get some of the water of herself

" shall we " she said waving for me to continue

Nodding I continued forward with the buzzing of insects in my ears after a few minutes I got the feeling we were being watched but i didn't see anything after checking around us

Looking towards lazza she already had her rifle ready obviously getting the same feeling I was

after taking a few cautious steps forward the swamp suddenly exploded with movement underwater in front of us and to the sides

The water was cut as the four creatures moved towards us with great speed

I managed to grab my staff in time to block lunging attack from a spear similar to the one James just showed me the force from the attack forced me into the waist high water were i felt my right foot get grabbed

But the creature found my body unable to be moved " you know water and electricity don't mix very well " I taunted even though who or whatever was attacking us probably couldn't hear me

Lightning discharged off me electrocuting a good bit off the swamp around me causing bubbles to come to the surface were the attackers were behind me lazza watched in awe as the sparks of lightning flowed around her body leaving her unharmed still struggling to get use to the mystical sight

A few moments after my attack four body's floated to the surface leaving me a bit shocked then hearing the sloshing of water I looked towards its source only to be surprised again as the lizard-man from the arena came swimming towards us like a crocodile coming to a stop a few feet away standing up

" ka'zeck " lazza said absentminded just as shocked as me to see him here seeing the state of his tribe members he shook his head " are they alive at least " Turning i poked one of the lizard-man with the end of my staff making them let out a groan

" good now it's my turn I've been wanting a rematch I won't go down so easily as last time " but before he could attack he got smacked in the back of his head sending him into the water by another lizard-man but this one had a smaller tail and was slimmer then the others with less ridges " we didn't come to fight him you fool. we came to invite them to the village "