
Elyanthra was standing in a dark room, her vision disoriented and body shaky from the extreme long-distance teleportation. Her mana raged within her.
She staggered to the nearest wall and used it as an aid to keep herself steady.
Movement felt a little easier in that new world; the air was lighter, too.
Her lord said it would happen, but she didn’t think it would be that intense. It felt like all the mana in her body was violently pulled and shaken by an unbelievably powerful force.
It was recovering, but she struggled to get her bearings.
But her lord’s teleportation worked; she was presumably on Earth. It should be the exact location Anna used to teleport to her world many months ago.
The room was dark, with the remnants of a shattered statue on the backside. There seemed to be lights lining the walls, but they were off.
“A teleportation chamber?” Elyanthra whispered. She didn’t know how they worked but imagined a mechanism similar to the Waypoint Stones.
A tingling sensation suddenly swept through her body, making her mana feel similar to when she was teleported.
“Holy shit, an actual Elf!”
That was an unfamiliar voice of a woman. She had somewhat of an odd accent, and her tone, though mature, came with a playfulness that sounded natural.
Still, it was a pleasant voice and one she would have enjoyed had it not been for the circumstances.
“Hello?” Elyanthra asked. A spell had been activated—her mana felt it—but she couldn’t identify the source.
That tingling was undoubtedly a powerful ability.
But what was it?
“Beautiful face, even more beautiful voice, and very powerful!” the voice said. “You’re doing a great job at getting me excited. But that isn’t important, is it?”
She emerged.
From the front of the room, a woman of less height than Aria stepped forward. She wore an odd outfit; a simple pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt with a hood over her head. That shirt had an odd icon but was overshadowed by the metallic silver mask over her face. Beneath that, powerful, deep blue eyes.
Elyanthra could tell a lot from someone’s eyes, and she immediately knew how dangerous that person was.
“Are you… Alisha?” Elyanthra asked.
Aria often spoke of her strength, and the woman before her seemed to fit that image. She activated some kind of ability without Elyanthra even feeling it before it was too late.
“Oh?” The woman’s head tilted slightly. “That was the only reasonable explanation, but it still surprises me to have it confirmed. You’re from Sorana?”
“Yes.”
Elyanthra felt fine enough to engage in combat… should the need arise. But Aria and Anna had some confidence in Alisha’s character, so she didn’t expect it. Besides, her body was still recovering.
Alisha’s eyes swept over Elyanthra, an unhidden analytical gaze appraising her.
She clapped once. “Okay, Miss. Elf. You’re quite fortunate that I have a special device tuned to spatial disturbances—if it were anybody else, you would be in some significant trouble.”
“My name is Elyanthra.”
“Elyanthra?” Alisha briefly chuckled. “Yeah, that fits the theme. We have so much to discuss, Elyanthra. But first, tell me: how are my people doing over in your world?”
“Your people?”
Anna did describe her as a headmaster, but Elyanthra never detected loyalty in her words or tone.
“Annabelle Frost and Aria, of course. I assume they’re fine, or you wouldn’t have dared show your face to me.”
Although she said it like that, Elyanthra could tell how much she cared and how eager she was for the information. It seemed more important to her than meeting an alien race. But the woman before her was confusing her senses.
“Anna and Aria are both fine—they are exceptional mages who require little aid from me.”
Alisha silently released a breath, and her voice lowered. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. Come, we can continue our discussion in my office... before someone gets a little nosey.”
Elyanthra quickly shook her head. “No! I apologize, but there is an urgent matter I must immediately discuss with you.”
“I figured,” Alisha said, shrugging. “But we will certainly not do it here—let’s go to my office so my people can hear this.”
“Fine.”
She wasn’t scared, even if Alisha wasn’t enough to keep prying hands away from her. Even in the worst case, she needed only to call upon her lord.
“Perfect! I’m sure this is going to be very enlightening.”
6:32 PM.
It had been ten minutes since Alisha left after her tuning stone alerted her to a spatial disturbance.
Jaxon was ordered to stay still, so he would.
But god, he was curious.
The disturbance came from the teleportation rooms, and not just any room—the one used for the Sorana temporary gate. It hadn’t been refurnished because Alisha didn’t let it.
Was he about to see Aria and Frost again? It had been nearly eight months since Frost disappeared and nearly two since Aria left.
He didn’t expect to see them again until the permanent gate was built. A task that was nearly done even after months of stalling and hurdles by those with ulterior motives—it would be done within the month.
So, then… what could have allowed them to return to Earth on their own?
It was a curiosity that would be solved soon, as Jaxon felt Alisha returning with another being he didn’t recognize. But they were powerful.
“Your people fascinate me,” a woman said from behind the door. That voice was soft and melodic, containing a mature curiosity in her tone. Polite, graceful—not a threat. “Anna has told me a lot, but I didn’t expect to see it myself so soon.”
Frost?
The door opened, revealing the being attached to that voice.
She was beautiful, even by Jaxon standards. But what really stood out were those long, pointed ears—even more so than her bright green eyes and long, smooth blonde hair.
“A fucking Elf?” Jaxon exclaimed.
That was definitely what his eyes saw.
“Language.” Alisha chuckled. “Elyanthra, this brutish-looking man is Jaxon—my right hand!” She quickly shut the door once the Elf stepped in. She was looking at him curiously… and appraisingly. “He was Aria’s combat teacher… and the leader of the expedition to Sorana.”
Sorana.
“Oh? It is a pleasure to meet you,” Elyanthra said, briefly bowing her head in greeting. “Aria is a prodigy in combat—you have trained her well.”
“Hardly.”
While he was proud to hear it, Aria was indeed a prodigy, just not by his work. Her ability did not come from him, and he barely taught her anything. Most of what she knew came from herself.
But that wasn’t important.
Why the hell was there an Elf standing across from him? She was from Sorana, but why?
“And now you can speak safely,” Alisha said as she sat on one of the two couches parallel to her desk, inviting Elyanthra to sit opposite of her. “I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.”
“Should we wait for the others?” Jaxon asked. It seemed like they were about to hear something absurd.
Most importantly, the story of Frost. She climbed in importance behind the scenes—even more so than before—and many would bite once word got out of her return.
“Hmm~ … Nope!” Alisha gestured for Jaxon to come over. “We can inform them based on what Elyanthra has to say.”
Jaxon complied, moving to stand behind Alisha.
“I have… a lot that I must say to prepare you for what I will ask.” Elyanthra sighed, her tone becoming darker. “While I will not speak of Anna and Aria—that is their stories to tell—I will speak of the threat to my world… the threat to our universe.”
“Now, this is going to be quite exciting.”
But Elyanthra’s tone said otherwise. That was a tone Jaxon was more than familiar with—so was Alisha.
As expected, the tale Elyanthra spun was so dreadful that Jaxon forgot everything about the mystery of the Elven woman.
She spoke for over an hour, telling them the tale of her world and the threats it faced. It started with the cores of the Taint scattered across Sorana, all somehow hidden from Bastion’s senses. That was likely related to the being she also talked about.
So, he was wrong and should have scanned outside that forest. At the time, he was only concerned with getting that core erased and leaving so he wouldn’t catch the ire of whatever made that noise.
Neither Alisha nor Jaxon interrupted her story, letting her continue until the end.
The races of Sorana fought a battle for over a few hundred years, one that left them little choice but to abandon their world.
But that wasn’t the horrific part—Jaxon was all too familiar with that tale.
He finally got an answer to the question he had back on Sorana; the powerful sound that spread across the world. Rather, the being capable of producing that sound.
A Dragon she described as close to the level of a god. And that Dragon was going to fall to the Taint, becoming a being that could very well cause a calamity in the universe. There were myths of Dragons, even in the wider universe.
But even that wasn’t all Elyanthra had to say, as the almighty wanted to make his day even worse.
Evolving cores.
Elyanthra told them of the corrupted with barriers—already a dreadful possibility—but made it worse.
Sorana had a pair of sentient corrupted, and one was a human.
Sentient corrupted.
That was a threat of such a scale that it should not be confined to the small office in a place as insignificant as Bastion Academy.
It should not be possible.
And that was where her tale brought them to the present time. She needed their help to fight a horde of corrupted led by the so-called sentient ones.
Jaxon still struggled to believe it. Bastion had been fighting the Taint and Radiance for thousands of years, yet there has never been a story of it happening.
But Elyanthra needed help defending her home, the so-called Library of the Lost, which also functioned as a powerful weapon.
“That’s… fucking heavy,” was all Jaxon could say. Those words didn’t do any justice to his emotions, but that was all he could spit.
“Corrupted with barriers and sentient corrupted,” Alisha repeated. “Both equally terrifying for us.”
Even Alisha didn’t sound as unconcerned as before, though she did a good job keeping it from showing. Unfortunately, Jaxon was with her for far too long to not pick up on it.
“And they are going to attack within the week?” Jaxon asked.
That was too little time to prepare anything other than a complete bloodbath. But it wasn’t a battle for one side’s annihilation.
“Yes,” Elyanthra said. “Anna and Aria, as helpful as they have been…”
“They are weak,” Alisha said. She rose from her seat. “Okay, Elyanthra—you have given me such important information that I should be heading straight to the Grandmaster.”
“Please do not—”
“Ah,” Alisha interrupted, raising her hand. “But I would like to bring proof back with me, so that can wait until we are done.”
“Then, you will help?” Elyanthra asked hopefully.
Was there ever any doubt?
Politics, personal maneuvering, and strength aside… they were soldiers fighting for the same cause—saving the universe.
Alisha would never abandon such a world, and Jaxon couldn’t sit still with just a horrifying threat looming over them.
“Of course!” Alisha said. “Even if half of what you told me was a lie, I would still help you just because of your aid toward Annabelle and Aria.”
“Thank you.” Elyanthra suddenly dipped her head. “Truly, thank you. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have someone of your caliber aiding us.”
“What will we do?” Jaxon asked.
Powerful as they all were, Elyanthra was talking about corrupted in the billions.
And now they had to worry about proper planning and barriers with such little time. The only saving grace was that it was a simple recovery mission.
He’d not treat it as much trouble if it wasn’t for the barrier and the sentient corrupted.
“Jaxon, you go gather the others—we will discuss once we teleport to Sorana.”
“Yes… but how will we do that?”
Elyanthra stood. “My lord has given me the ability to have him bring us all back.”
“Perfect!” Alisha clapped. “You heard her, Jaxon.”
“Yes. Should I inform them of this?”
“No, I will brief them myself.”
“And will we be informing—”
“Nope.”
Of course. If they could get there and back within a week, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
“Ah, do you know someone by the name of… Gromak?” Elyanthra asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Anna has asked for his assistance in matters of golemancy.”
“Golemancy?”
That was certainly an interesting route for Frost to take. It was definitely a good one for her purity and supporting potential. How much had changed since he last saw her?
“Yes, but we haven’t been able to do it ourselves.”
“We can get the lazy oaf!” Alisha quickly said. “Golemancy is a specialty of the Dwarves—Annabelle asking for him was smart.”
Elyanthra’s eyes widened. “Right. Anna informed me of the Dwarven presence in Bastion…”
Yet another surprise.
“You know of the Dwarves?”
“Of course!” Elyanthra exclaimed. “They are our benefactors and once rendered great aid to my world!”
“A story for another day!” Alisha said before Jaxon could ask for more. “We have pressing matters. Jaxon, go.”
“Yes.”
“Elyanthra, tell me more about these sentient corrupted—everything you can possibly say, no matter how small.”
“Okay…”
Alisha getting exited at meeting Elanthyra makes sense, yet somehow with each's maternal archmage credentials and the unusual respect from Alisha the chemistry came off flirtier than usual. There's no bones to it but I like the common ground with opposite personalities.
I ship it.
It would be something, wouldn't it?
TFTC!