"Did you manage to follow it?" Kigen asked, when a small fairy returned. Asha had a particularly good eyesight, and for this task, she had been especially selected. Her elder, Luita, was away, so she had filled in his role.
When the golems attacked, she had been tasked with following the survivors, while keeping out of sight. Of all the fairies, she was the best at stealth. In some ways, she was even better than Luita.
"Yes," She simply said. She did not explain how difficult it was following a puddle of water through the forest, while trying to remain hidden. She had not been sure if she was being led to a trap, or even if she had been detected in the first place.
Somehow, through all that, even losing the target a few times, she managed to successfully find the golem, and her comrades. Watching this gathering, she had been positively surprised that the group consisted of so little.
To think that once, a single golem terrified them, not this group did not pose a threat to the mother tree. However, they were a symptom of a larger enemy, one who's foundations they did not fully understand.
Upon receiving their location, Kigen organized a few fairies to go over and keep an eye on them. If at all possible, they were to remain out of sight. If not, they were to make a quick escape, lest they get captured.
Little did Kigen, and the fairies, know that as they were keeping tabs on the enemy, so were they. Shona's group, the golem that had been sent off by Mongik, has successfully slithered until they were close enough to monitor the mother tree.
Given how powerful and capable these fairies had proven to be, they were keeping a good distance from them. From their hide, they could see the towering mother tree, and a few fairies milling about. However, the real number was unidentifiable, and only a few were seen on the tree. Most were going about their activities below the tree canopy.
Despite the two groups keeping watch over each other, neither knew about the other's intelligence agencies, or spies. They settled into an uneasy calm.
Kigen was patiently waiting to receive the report from the group that had been sent off to go check out the headquarters. Once they arrived, he would have a complete picture of what kind of enemy they were dealing with.
Mongik, on the other hand, was waiting to receive word of the whereabouts of the fairies that had dared break into their headquarters. He also wanted to gather more intelligence about the fairies.
This once general was well versed in the art of war, and he was not taking these fairies lightly. Moreover, something worried him. None of these fairies had fallen, at least, according to the reports he got. As such, just how capable were they? He wished he could capture one and perform some tests, but that would have to wait. Moreover, the master needed them.
And so, the days went on like this. The fairies were watchful, careful to hunt as a group, and to not wander too far from home.
Perhaps the one who hated this experience the most was none other than Kigen. As the leader of this fairy community, he could not wander off, even to hunt. After all, he was the last line of defense, and the first responder in case of any problem.
A lot of times, the fairies would take turn bringing in fresh kills, which was shared among the rest. There was even a duty roster and hunting allocations, divide along factional lines.
While all this was happening, the fairy community continued to develop. By now, there were multiple little chicks of different species all around the mother tree. None of the pets were sheltered on the mother tree, but on the surroundings.
The various factions had selected a specific direction away from the mother tree. Since they were five, the division of land ended up looking more like a pentagon. Each faction had already picked out a bird as their insignia, and now they were busy breeding them. Tande had successfully recovered the condor eggs, and they too were celebrating the first of many to hatch.
The space around the mother tree was no longer as barren also. Somehow, due to the influx of food due to all the fairies bringing back plenty of kills, the mother tree was no longer sucking the life out of the forest.
Already, some vegetation had appeared underneath the canopy, as well as the accompanying insects.
Perhaps the biggest improvement was on the fairies themselves. After consuming the previous rock golem, the fairies' bodies had hardened somewhat, making their movements stiff and rigid. Luckily, this condition did not last for long.
The mud golems had been the solution. Once the fairies consumed them, the previously stiff joints and wings had become more flexible, restoring the agility of the fairies, while retaining the new hardened feature.
Now, the fairies packed quite the punch, and even Kigen found himself wondering just how destructive his fist would be. Could he take down a bear, or elephant, with one strike? He'd done it before, on a bear, but that was by exploiting the bear's weak points. Now, he wondered that if he went for a straight up punch, how much damage would he inflict.
Despite this boost in power, Kigen did not slack in growing his internal power. He found that he could continue to cultivate his internal power. The effects from the golems were even more amplified this way.
One thing that they had noticed was, rolling up in the mother tree's consumption of a golem would allow the fairy to share the new ability with the mother tree, who would in turn share this with the rest of the fairies.
Hence, if they obtained a new element, they could easily share this with the other fairies. Of course, this was just the manipulation of new element, not actual power. For that, you needed to hunt, consume, and cultivate.
As such, many fairies were also cultivating under the mother tree's canopy. In these times of war, if one was not out hunting, or gathering intelligence, they were under the mother tree, cultivating their power.
Therefore, the power of the entire fairy clan was growing day by day. The mother tree continued to produce more and more fairies, especially considering how much food she was consuming. This led to more fairies, and more food, which led to even more fairies.
With their numbers snowballing day by day, Kigen found himself feeling quite optimistic. Perhaps, the battle was not as hopeless as he'd thought. Just like that, several days went by.
One day as he was cultivating, he got word that a certain group of fairies were seen rushing back. Behind them, there was what seemed like a flock of birds chasing them.
Just as Kigen was about to take action, another fairy came rushing in. Apparently, they had found another ground of golems, this time, they were dangerously close to the mother tree. If allowed to continue, who knew what manner of chaos they could bring down on the clan.
For a moment, Kigen faltered, wondering what to do. However, he remembered that he was not alone, and the faction leaders were actually quite capable.
"Nina, take Foli and remove this golem threat. Tande, remain here and watch over the little ones," he said, then with a smile, he slowly rose to the air. It was almost like an answer to his prayers. He'd been praying for a fight, and here it was.
The next moment, he turned into a streak, disappearing into the horizon, in the direction he'd been informed. Sure enough, he saw the fairies, and sure enough, there were black silhouettes of birds chasing them. Kigen was not going to allow that.