As I continue gaining altitude the noises she is making also continue and are obviously from excitement. For my part, I am finding it much easier to fly with a rider like this than carrying someone in my normal form. I am just hoping that using the bigger version of the form doesn't put too much strain on me like the drake does.

Then again I have grown stronger since the last time I used it, maybe it wouldn't be so bad now. Of course, if I try it and something does go wrong the goddesses will never let me hear the end of it. Even though it has been a while since we spoke, I can still feel their gazes occasionally.

It is almost as if they don't trust me to keep myself out of trouble, which is fair. Since coming to this world I have had a lot of fun and most of it came from getting into trouble. It is enough that it has sort of become a habit, besides they are both cute when they get mad.

Teasing deities is obviously a bad idea, but at the same time it is a lot of fun. Especially when the deities in question are complete hotties, it just makes it even more fun. Of course, it helps that no matter how much I might anger them, they can't hurt me because they need me.

I would like to think that they wouldn't hurt me anyway because they like me. However, I am not confident enough to gamble on that, but luckily I don't have to. It will be interesting to see how things go with them in the period between ending the war and dying.

Brightfire yells "This is amazing!!"

"You seem to be enjoying yourself!"

Brightfire says "I am having the best time of my life!!"

"I am glad to hear that. Am I just going north or do you want to point me a certain way?"

Brightfire says "Oh, sorry! That way!"

After leveling off I head the way Brightfire points and increase my speed. Since Brightfire is enjoying herself I don't worry about keeping my speed down to what she can handle. Even once I reach top speed, she doesn't seem to be having any problems.

Brightfire says "Can you go any faster?"

"No, this is my top speed unless I am diving."

Brightfire says "Then let's dive!"

"Not until we are across the badlands!"

Brightfire says "Oh, alright, fine!"

Luckily, the larger eagle form has a higher max speed, so we are covering a lot of ground. We make it across the badlands in just a few hours, much faster than I was expecting. Following Brightfire's directions, once we are past the badlands we head to some forested hills.

Once we are over the hills, Brightfire gets her wish as I dive down towards the ground. She shrieks in excitement, sounding just like a kid riding a rollercoaster. I am aiming for a decent sized clearing, but when I suddenly slow down to land I feel Brightfire almost fall off.

"Are you alright?"

Brightfire says "Yeah, I was just surprised. It was my own fault, I was having fun and not paying attention."

"As long as you weren't hurt then it is no big deal."

As soon as I fold away my wings Brightfire quickly climbs down and I release the shapeshift. She immediately begins searching the area until she finds whatever symbol she is looking for. Once she finds it she starts leading the way to the village, following these hidden symbols.

To be honest, I am a little doubtful at first, but change my mind when she leads me right to the village. The clearing I landed in wasn't too far away, but I could have walked right past the village. The reason is that there are no cabins or huts at ground level, everything is built up in the trees.

They are all worn down and overgrown, even looking for them they are hard to spot. It is in what would have been the village center that we find the tree we are looking for. It is small, only about four feet tall, but I can tell with just one look it is not ordinary.

For one thing the bark is a beautiful purple color and the leaves are all silver. It looks like it was planted next to a pond, but the pond has since dried up. In fact, the entire area around the tree looks dried out and I can also sense no mana around.

It would seem that the tree, in attempting to grow, has sucked the surrounding area completely dry. When I get closer to the tree I can even feel the tree trying to absorb my mana. I don't have much mana, but I go ahead and let the tree have what I do have.

Brightfire says "Is this it?"

"Yeah, I would say so!"

Brightfire says "It's so small! What good is it going to be?"

"As is, it can't be used. But it is a very special tree, it is exactly what I was hoping to find."

Brightfire says "So, what now?"

"Now we take the tree and return to your village."

Brightfire says "How are we going to move the tree?"

"Watch and see."

Moving forward I kneel down next to the tree and reach out to put my hand on the trunk. Then I carefully wrap the tree in sacred power, even covering all of the roots. Once it is completely wrapped I gently pull it out of the ground, roots and all.

Brightfire says "Okay, that is impressive. What's with that golden glow?"

"It is my power, I am using it to protect the tree."

Brightfire just watches as I carefully put the tree into my pouch, then we leave the village. Once we are back in an open area, I shapeshift into the giant eagle again and wait for Brightfire to climb aboard. Once she is seated I lift off and fly back across the badlands in a couple of hours.

As soon as we land and she climbs down I release shapeshift, then start looking around. Brightfire runs off to report to Stillwater, but I am looking for a good place to plant the tree. Considering how dry the area around the tree was, I need a place with a good water supply.

In the end I have to wait until Brightfire gets back since I don't know the area well enough. She then leads me south of the village where there is a small clearing with a stream running through it. After carefully planting the tree I release it from my sacred power and then go to talk to Stillwater.

Stillwater says "Were you successful?"

"Yes, the tree is replanted. Now, about the stone that made up the gate, do you care about them?"

Stillwater says "Not really. Why?"

"Because, even in pieces they still contain a massive amount of mana. I want to use that mana to feed the tree."

Stillwater says "Sure, go ahead!"