When The Heart Sings

Chapter 83

Serena's POV:

I stood at the top of the rise with Darien and Saphira. There were a lot of other spectators here as well. In the meadow below, Schlach, the Dranek representative, and all of the Dranek elders were present as they waited.

Movement in the shadows of the forest across from them drew my attention. From the shadows, shapes appeared and became recognizable as svipers. My excitement grew as I recognized the first two as the King and Queen. They walked across the meadow grass, followed by more svipers.

My excitement turned to awe as more and more came out of the forest. They did not walk in rows or organized columns, and with their long tails, that made sense. I did not see any particular pattern to how they organized themselves, but I was pretty sure there was some sort of organization.

The procession stopped as the King and Queen approached the last steps separating them from the welcoming committee. This was a formal, yet slightly friendly, meeting. Schlach and all of the Dranek bowed deeply to the sviper monarchs, who regally dipped their heads in a type of bow in return. The polite greetings were made and soon they were ready.

The gatemaster was also present for such a momentous event and opened the waygate within three seconds using his own abilities. He stood by the glowing stone arch to ensure that the waygate would remain open for as long as it was needed. The Dranek accompanied the sviper monarch pair through the waygate and those behind started to follow.

I simply could not figure out how any more svipers could fit in that forest, but they just kept emerging from the forest in a seemingly endless stream. A few small shapes trotting throughout the group showed that not only fighters were present, but children and entire families.

The entire colony was moving to Drashna.

It had taken almost a month for all of the small details to be settled, but all of the Dranek were eager to invite the svipers to their planet in order to save their forests. The svipers had given their hunting grounds to a neighboring sviper colony, and Schlach was now representing both the new colony and the one now on Drashna.

The Dranek now had a powerful ally who promised to help defend their planet in case of attack, and the svipers had an easy and overabundant source of food with no real competition for it. It benefited both sides greatly and both races had a strong sense of honor that would see this peace treaty last for generations.

The Dranek had insisted on adding 'Singer Recommendation' to the bottom of the treaty and the svipers had readily agreed. As much as I protested that I had only made a wild guess, neither race even considered removing the overly prominent footnote. I eventually gave up, if it made them happy and helped the treaty to last, who was I to complain?

Eventually, no more svipers exited the trees, and after the last ones had passed through, the gatemaster passed through himself as the gate finally closed. I had been told that the svipers were perfectly content to 'rough it' for a few nights until they carved enough rooms into massive trees for those who planned to reside near the waygate. Underground tunnels would flood during the storm season, so the ones who wanted a personal dwelling were making their homes in the trees.

Instead of living in one giant complex, they were going to spread out in several groups, with one larger group near the waygate to protect it. More groups were eager to try out a more nomadic lifestyle. Communication was not a problem among their race, so spreading out would cause no difficulties in that area.

Even several thousand svipers could not effectively hunt across an entire planet, so the Dranek had also signed agreements with half a dozen other colonies to allow them to use the waygates to hunt the faulia in another effort to control their population.

It would be many centuries before the number of faulia dwindled to an optimal equilibrium across the entire planet, but it was an excellent start, and I had reassured them that I was willing to come back and restore the forests until things balanced out.

I leaned my head against Darien as I now contemplated the rather unassuming stone arch in the middle of the meadow. "Well, that was exciting."

Darien snorted in amusement. Lucas looked at me wide eyes. "How can you be so calm when over a thousand rather dangerous predators just passed by? Even Darien couldn't have stopped more than a handful of them, super strength or no."

I suddenly realized that most of the bystanders were also somewhat rattled. They may have gotten used to Schlach, but nothing could have prepared them for this. On a planet where predators were a constant threat, the svipers tipped off normally lifesaving instincts that wanted to avoid the creatures at all costs.

I shrugged innocently, "They never offered me any harm. Schlach said they will likely send invitations for a visit later, and I look forward to seeing them in their new home once they settle in."

Lucas shook his head rapidly, "You have the oddest notions of fun. In fact, I think I will take the cart back and make you two walk."

Saphira snorted faintly before looking at Lucas like he was an idiot, "As if Darien would let Serena walk that far. He would likely carry her most of the way."

Darien brightened at that thought, "That sounds pretty good to me."

Lucas groaned as his idle threat fell flat on the floor, "Just for that, I should insist that she sits beside me on the cart."

Darien's sudden growl and fierce glare had Lucas quickly backtracking, "On second thought, I think I will walk instead." Lucas headed towards the other Tarulk who were also preparing to leave.

I glanced at Saphira, "It might be best if we can keep these two separated."

She nodded solemnly; sometimes Lucas hit the wrong buttons when he tried to tease Darien. Darien didn't exactly have the best sense of humor when others tried to lighten the mood. And that soul bond made Darien quite touchy about certain things...

I wrapped an arm around Darien's waist to help calm him, "Feel like heading back?"

He nodded and headed toward the cart.

Lucas was prominently absent.