Commander Grayson's perspective

"Gray. Gray. Gray. OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! GRAY!" I jolted and leaned back on my seat. I went to sleep again, didn't I? I almost forgot where we were because I was dreaming that I'm in the middle of a spelling bee contest. We're in the Flash warrior battleship together with the other warriors. I remember now, we were heading toward Hymnilyria for further investigation of this mysterious incident- or case rather. "I fell asleep, haven't I?" I groaned and stretched my arms.

"For a commander, you sure sleep a lot." Giuseppe was standing at the door, arms crossed. Leaning his back on the sidewall. "Jalve spotted Hymnilyria behind a small island. Oh, and your girlfriend is waiting for you at the deck. She kept yelling your name."

"Girlfriend?" I squinted, the sun telling me that it was morning. "Wait, why is she here?"

"I know it may sound strange to you, but while we discussed this Dragonslayer problem, she went berserk. I mean, real berserk. She decided to join in our quest."

"How did she get into this ship?" I yawned.

"Your question doesn't continue the flow for me to answer. If you want to know, ask her . . . if you can. Seriously, she sounds obsessed with you, this is the reason why I never wanted to have a relationship."

"I told you many times, Gius," I got up, strapping my sword behind my back, "She's not my girlfriend."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "In my perspective, you two are adorable as a couple."

"Yeah? Even though she wanted to kill me the other day?" We headed outside to feel the air of the morning. Somehow the freshness was still present, enough to handle the chaotic atmosphere that the Devastrigon had caused.

He laughed. "You can tell that to your future children."

"Oh, shut up," I said. On the deck, we saw her sitting on a barrel. Her red hair was wavy and wild, as usual. It had never been styled in a ponytail or straightened or even cut short- thus matches her personality. Her fierce, green eyes looking at the ocean. 

She wore the same outfit as the day she wanted to kill me: a light grey military uniform, blue jeans, and winter boots that she use to kick me in the nuts. Good times, yet painful. She then looked at us. "Next time you bring warriors with you, make sure they know the value of manners." I turned to Giuseppe, not knowing what's going on. "I-I have nothing to do with this, okay?" Giuseppe lifted his hands in surrender.

She hasn't changed one bit. This was none other than Lady Erna "Jewel" Evverest, known as the Lady with the flaming hair or Phoenix Everest- but I prefer calling her Flame head. The Evverest family are known to be quite powerful and fought side-by-side with the Flash warriors. 

She's very notorious when it comes to being aggressive- By that, I meant being hot-headed. I'm not sure if I'll be in awe or I'm just gonna keep my distance. If I could do telepathy, she could do worse. I mentioned that she's aggressive, right? That's within her nature, but with her magic, she could adapt natural energy from the environment and convert it into her supernatural powers.

Using the mythical, elemental energies like spreading fire from her rage, punch with her rocky fists, jump high and surf with the wind, and pushing you with her aquatic force. It also depends on her emotional state. Let's just say when she gets angry, she would grow into flames. "Why, what happened?" I asked her.

But she just ignored my question. "Never mind." She rolled her eyes. Please don't kick my nuts, again. Please.

"So, Giuseppe told me that you kept calling my name. Why is that?" I asked another question.

"We need to talk, commander." She blew at her bangs that were blocking her eye. I turned to Giuseppe, who didn't know what's going on. I turned back to Erna and nodded, muttering, "Okay." While the ship carried on towards the place of Hymnilyria, we went to the cockpit at the very back area of the ship so no one will eavesdrop on us or else they won't escape from her. "This Dragonslayer problem, please tell me it's not real."

"It is real."

"Oh my goodness, it's real."

"I also did not believe the legend of the Dragonslayer for many years. I thought it was folklore coming from a neighbor, but now I believe."

"Let me guess, Giuseppe?"

I nodded. "Yes, Giuseppe."

She cleared her throat. "So, who is this slayer? Is it a man? A woman? Another being?"

"A boy," I answered directly. Erna sighed in exhaustion, putting her hand on her face. She closed her eyes and swallowed. 

"This . . . ," she said. "We're . . . we're dead."

"Erna, hear me out." I concentrated on her eyes. "This boy . . . he has great magic that we have never seen before. His aura- It's powerful. But he's too young to contain it, yet."

"Like I said, dead."

"I'm not done. During his strict five-week training with the captain, he taught him meditation to control his magic. And for the record, he is handling it quite well." I explained.

"Wow," Erna whistled. "Strict five-week training? That was even harder than my training when I was a girl. Your brother sure is rigid unlike you, mister I-always-go-with-the-flow."

"Hey, I never said that," I said. "It was Bearelock's concept of me."

"The big-bad was probably right about you."

"Oh, please. If only he could see me now."

"You wish." she shook her head with a smile. "So anyway, who is this boy?"

"MaXabiere Berrygrewd, one of the only recruits."

"A Berrygrewd?" Erna asked.

I nodded, "Yes. What about it?"

"No- it's just- I heard the name Berrygrewd before."

"Must be from Wayde Berrygrewd. One of our best warriors whose rank could almost reach Master Flash warrior, yet a humble man. He may not be that great, but he's always trying to be the best father."

"I cannot say more than that," she agreed. "I hope the boy will make his old man proud. Otherwise . . . wait, Sir Wayde has a son?"

"We're dead. I know, I know. Well . . . yeah." Later, we finally arrived in the Hymnilyria, the land of musical elves. I've heard about this place. I even thought about building a home on this wonderful island, but it's not the perfect time for me to think about it. As we finally crossed the bridge, I noticed that the tall forest trees where their wooden houses are built were burned down. The fountain in the center of the village was torn and smothered with smoking ashes. "That's odd." Giuseppe looked around with narrowed eyes. "How on earth did this happen?"

Erna picked up a rose, now covered in crimson red. "This brings back horrible memories." 

"Search every area for survivors. This place cannot be empty." I ordered and the rest of my team followed. Erna went to the houses that were destroyed. Jalve, a man with the magic of eagle sight, climbed on a nearby tree. Giuseppe went under another huge tree, there are probably other houses built in there too.

I pressed my fingers on my forehead to find any consciousness left in Hymnlyria. Still nothing. I took a few steps and kept looking around the broken pieces of nature. Still nothing. Where are they? They can't be dead. I stopped by the time I spotted a creepy-looking doll crushed by a log. I pulled it out and scanned it. This doll would give me nightmares. It was made of white wool and soft cotton on the inside. The eyes were similar to mine as they had different colors on each side. Red on the left and blue on the right. The reason why it gave me goosebumps is because of the smile, especially the way it was stitched.

"What are you doing?" I gasped and quickly turned around to see Giuseppe looking at me before the doll.

"How many times do I need to remind you not to do that?!" I almost blurted, but he ignored it and focused on the doll.

"I like the doll," he said. I looked at the doll one more time, wondering if a child died or dropped the weird toy. 

"Are they all gone?"

"No idea," Giuseppe shrugged. "I searched everywhere. All I could see was filth, bugs, and shockingly, dead elves. Poor souls." We returned to where we came from. I looked up to see what Jalve was doing. 

"Anything Jalve?" I yelled.

He shook his head in disappointment. "Not a single trace of life, sir. They're gone." We watched as Jalve turned to the right. "Oh, they're back!" He suddenly announced, "And they brought a young elf with them."

"What about Erna?" I asked.

Giuseppe chuckled, "Look who's concerned."

I darted, "Shut it." Jalve kept turning his head until he stopped at eleven o'clock. 

"There!" He pointed. As Erna appeared, her face told me something was suspicious. "Are you reading my mind, commander?" She tilted her head. 

"Yes," I answered. She couldn't see any life either. The Flash warriors came closer with a young elf. The white rose tucked in her yellow-orange hair, forming a ponytail. Her blue eyes were big as if she doesn't know how to blink. Her cute dress was made out of orange leaves at the top and a green, thin cloth acted as a skirt. Her orange sandals were now piled with falling leaves from every broken tree.

"Commander," Hugo, who had the magic to creates storms, called. "We found this elf near the pond. She-" 

Suddenly, the little girl spoke. "Jeez, let me talk, will'ya?" This little girl was not a little girl after all. Giuseppe's jaw dropped. Erna backed away a little bit. This elf may look like twelve years old or less, but her voice convinced me that she was an adolescent. "Flayflay, a normal elf, but no one calls me that." She put out her hand with a grin. How strange, despite what happened here, her optimism is still intact. "You must be the Light warriors, oh, how lovely to see you! I heard about you guys, you're like us but human and do crazy things. Like-"

"Are you alone?" I interrupted. She stopped mid-talk, suddenly aware of my question. 

"Not . . . quite. Just because I run my mouth all day, doesn't mean I'm-"

"Are there others?" I asked.

She nodded and pointed in the opposite direction. "Yeah . . . yes, there's nothing to worry about. We are all right. Except for the bodies under the oak tree. Did you see them?" No one answered, not even Giuseppe. Flayflay was telling the truth based on my telepathy. I searched every memory in her mind that might tell me where the others might be hiding. Not long after, I found it. They're in a cave. "What happened here?" I looked at her after I looked up to see the falling leaves.

She stopped for a moment. "I . . . don't know." She scratched her head. "I'm not lying, I had no idea what happened here, but what I do know was that I heard my neighbors screaming, our houses were burned, also saw breathing fire. Oh, that's right, I don't have neighbors." She made a sad face, which I couldn't find annoying or sympathizing. "Breathing fire, you say?" I repeated. As she nodded, we all exchanged looks. This is bad. "Yes, love. It was very scary to see it through. I almost thought that I'm in the underworld."

"Can you take us to where the others are?" Erna asked.

"Of course, just follow me, love." Flayflay beamed.

There was no way. No way. The three-headed dragon was in Mt. Impyerno according to MaXabiere's dream-traveling. It couldn't just fly here and destroy things and kill elves just like that, that's absurd! It can't be. The investigation continues as we followed Flayflay into a dark forest where mushrooms glow as we go. 

A/N:

What? Didn't expect that you would enter into the perspective of the Flash warrior commander? The reason why I did this because . . . well . . . why not? Just kidding. I wrote his POV for you to see what's going on to the other side of the story while our main heroes were on the island. But why has the dragon returned despite its loss from MaXabiere? You'll have to figure that out in the next chapter. Also, question time. What do you feel about Grayson telling his story?