It took only a few moments of hovering over the Trading Center for the airborne trio to realize the futility in their course, however. There did not exist an inch of Pandling Grounds that was not under threat of being utterly razed, and a good deal of the area was home to chaos and flaming rubble the likes of which the three of them had never seen. The dark army had broken down into smaller teams with the goal of chasing down and butchering innocents. The Fae warriors, where they did appear, were consistently outnumbered and overpowered. It was apparent that efforts had been made toward stymying the advance of the enemy force; the heaps of fallen Fae littering the square evidenced their complete lack of success, however.
Kaleb was overwhelmed at the scope of the destruction; every time he thought to land, to intervene in a new battle, another would present itself nearby. One could not hope to take part in the odd skirmish here and turn the tide. It was pandemonium, and only a large, organized force could hope to drive off the vandals presently sacking the territory. “There's just too much going on,” he said, circling the Trading Center in disbelief. “We can go down there and fight them off one at a time, but they're everywhere—they've swarmed the whole place like insects.”
The handful of common dragons that Kaleb had left to guard the outside of the Trading Center had sadly been struck down; they had doubtlessly taken care of numerous dark warriors apiece, but the young fire dragons had been unable to match the overwhelming power of the army's initial rush. Mau was the first one to catch sight of them, scattered before the gate amidst many fallen Wuffs. So much for our guard dragons. The poor things never had a chance. They fought bravely, but were unprepared for this kind of force.
Minx was ready to touch down, to begin unloading her bow no matter the odds, but stopped short of asking Kaleb to do so when she spied a familiar face among the throngs of dark warriors. It was her father. “Kaleb, look!” she gasped. “There... Go there!” she urged, pointing down at him.
Valdar of the Fae stood in the midst of several armed Krah. The leather cap on his head was skewed and his disheveled hair fanned out all about him as he shouted and took confused swings with his longsword. Though always a capable fighter, he looked positively helpless under the circumstances, barking nonsense and failing to strike any of the reptilian fighters that were then closing the gap. The dark warriors howled in laughter as they approached, and one of them approaching from the rear gave the old Fae a hard shove, knocking him to the ground. Once toppled, Valdar yelled confusedly at his attackers, the sword having fallen from his grasp and his tangled locks clinging to his sweat-soaked face. His wide eyes were vacant, darting this way and that as if in pursuit of phantoms.
Kaleb sailed downward, making a harsh landing near a half-collapsed building, and before he'd even finished shifting back into his human form, both Minx and Mau had jumped from his back, starting at once into a furious attack against the Krah. Minx fed half a dozen arrows to her bow, sending them out in quick succession with the barest tease of the bowstring, and each one found a home in the bullying Krah, who finally turned from the blathering Valdar. Mau roared, her silver bulk ramming into one of the lizard-men and collapsing the semi-circle formation they'd been keeping to.
Kaleb strode into the fray, intercepting an axe-swing by the handle and wrenching it from its wielder's scaly grasp. At this, the Krah fled—and were quickly absorbed by other frays that were taking place all about the square.
“Father!” Minx knelt down beside Valdar, attempting to help him to his feet, but was stunned when he suddenly looked up at her and loosed an animalistic howl. He took a swing at his daughter with a quivering fist, his eyes remaining vacant. A thread of drool slipped from the corners of his gaping lips as Minx doubled back, narrowly avoiding the wild punch. “What's gotten into you?” she demanded, grasping his shoulders firmly and giving him a shake.
Valdar moaned weakly, his rage quickly transitioning into apparent sadness, and his eyes were soon dressed in tears. Finally, the old spark returned to them and he looked into his daughter's face with something like familiarity. “M-Minx...” he sighed clumsily, as if struggling with a foreign word.
“Yes...” Minx turned to Kaleb, her pulse racing. “Yes, father, it's me...” She gulped. “Are you... are you all right?” She looked him over carefully, trying to find evidence of some great injury. Had he been struck in the head by one of the Krah before she'd arrived? That was the only explanation she could think of for the violent confusion that'd gripped him. “They had you surrounded. Did they hurt you?”
Kaleb knelt beside her while Valdar sought to compose himself. “He was acting like this before,” he uttered. “Remember? I told you he wasn't himself the last time I spoke to him. Something's definitely wrong, but I don't think he was injured.”
The Faelyr agreed. Your father's not well, but I don't think it has anything to do with the battle.
After a pause, Valdar took to rubbing his brow and explained himself. “Minx... things have been difficult ever since your mother passed. We were bonded, the two of us, and her loss has affected me profoundly. I haven't spoken of my struggles... Now is not the time to mourn and complain, after all. Our people are facing ruin. And so, I've hidden my pain, my difficulties. But recently, when Torrent tainted the lake...” He shuddered. “As a member of the Silence, I am bound to the lake as well,
