Defenders of Destiny Book One: Conflux

Chapter 3: Mushroom Forest

The group of nine chosen individuals sat in the middle of the clearing and decided on what their first action should be. Boog, Aragol, Karmen, Elmar, and Casandra conversed while the others remained quiet and listened.

Celestia kept rubbing her nose and sneezing, even though she was as far from the large mushroom trees as possible. "My head is starting to hurt some more," she said with a light whimper. "I don't want to become a child again..."

Graham, who sat beside her, put a hand on the grey stone at his neck and a breeze appeared from nowhere. It swirled around Celestia like a protective barrier, gently tossing her hair. He gulped and took a deep breath to gather some courage before saying, "I-I made a wind shield around you...a small one. Any spores that get close to you will-will be blown away."

Celestia giggled as the breeze tickled her nose. She inhaled deeply through her nostrils and exhaled with relief. She eyed Graham, who quickly looked away, and smiled warmly. "Thank you, Graham. I didn't know you could control the wind. That is amazing."

He turned her way but stared at her feet. Fighting through his thick wall of shyness he said, "I can't-I can't do much more than a breeze...I mean, I can do more but...I just...I need to be angry but I don't like being angry."

"I'm sure if you practised you could do more without having to be angry."

Graham shrugged. "Maybe..."

Boog was getting loud, as was his custom. "Now who the hell made you leader, Aragol? I'm the strongest one here. I should be the leader!"

"Physical strength does not equal the ability to lead!" Aragol spat back. "I fought so-called leaders before. They were the strongest men of their tribe but were often the easiest to defeat. They were clouded by their pride and could never think two steps ahead of them. I killed them all."

"You want to try that again?" Boog asked, standing up to his full height and tensing his bulging arms. "You did what?"

Aragol stood up as well. He was a reasonably tall man himself but Boog towered over him. He was not intimidated in the least, however, and stood his ground. "I killed them. I fought them and I killed them. In the battle pits I fought men even taller and more physically imposing than you. Some would claim them to be half giant. I killed them too."

"So your ability to kill anything makes you the leader?" Karmen asked with dripping sarcasm. "That's so much better than being the strongest."

Aragol relaxed and took a step back, releasing his gaze on Boog and glancing around at the others. "No...I was going to say that back home I am a general. I am accustomed to leading men. I do not claim to be the leader, only that I have led before and would not shy away from the responsibility." He gazed at Ivory. "Ivory has led as well. She is a captain in her world. She could lead as well."

Ivory felt everyone's gazes on her and she shook her head. "No...I will not."

"Why do we need a leader?" Celestia asked, joining in the conversation. "Aren't we a team? Shouldn't we be thinking about where to begin instead of butting heads?"

Aragol nodded. "We should. I have a war to fight when I return to Dracona. If we stay here too long it will be over by the time I return."

"No one gives a damn about your war," Boog grumbled.

"You have nothing waiting for you?" Aragol asked with a frown.

Boog didn't answer him.

"Where do we go, Aragol?" Casandra asked, wanting to quell the rising tension. "Where is the nearest anchor?"