Underdark
Thafnoris
Middledark, Bhelveth clan territory

 

Idami appeared in the middle of the clan’s hall battered, badly burned with shattered legs. The male dark elf servants rushed to her aid. The servants ushered her into her chambers and urgently called the clan’s healers.

They arrived fifteen minutes later and immediately began diagnosing her wounds and current state. Matriarch Idami’s face couldn’t be saved as the fire that burned her was similar to a dragon’s fire breath and wounds made by dragons or artifacts crafted from parts of their bodies interfered with the natural or assisted recovery of a body. The Matriarch’s arm and wrist were put back together, but they couldn’t do the same for her legs so she would always need a cane now; her knees had been blown to powder by a tyrannical and powerful blow.

The Healers left the Matriarch to rest as they had worked on her for a night and a day; she was sedated and two sentries were placed at her door. One of the Matriarch sons, a tall black elf with a slender body named Ragguth was discussing the situation with his sister, the heir to the clan Aeruirn, who was a curvy and black haired dark elf female wearing an ornate and beautiful white open shoulder dress with silver slippers. Aeruirn had a glass of red wine in her right hand and she sipped on it elegantly.

“Mother returned gravely wounded, what are we going to do if she passes on?” Ragguth said worriedly. He was pacing like a caged Chimera in his private living room, wearing down the beautiful red carpet.

He was handsome, wore a noble attire consisting of pants with black lizard boots, a white shirt, and a tasteful silver encrusted vest; His long black hair on his tanned skin was his most beautiful feature. Ragguth was considered a very gorgeous male by the women of this kingdom.

“Calm down, Brother. Plans were made if mother passed away without giving us all her secrets and blackmail materials.” Aeruirn coldly said.

She didn’t like it when her favorite brother worried this way, but Aeruirn couldn’t fault him. The state in which their mother came back told them that she had bitten off more than she could chew. Idami had wanted to get revenge for their little brother Persandoral, however, it seemed that he was in the wrong, as he stole something from a noble sun elf visiting Svartalfheim; from the way Aeruirn’s mother was wounded and unrecognizable, this sun elf was cruel and wild.

“Calm down? How can I calm down when mother came back half-dead?!” Ragguth raised his hand in the air.

He stopped pacing and loomed over his sister and said, “Something must be done! We cannot let this indignity stand!”

Shaking her head, the beautiful dark elf answered, “Brother, be my guest and go get yourself killed. This sun elf shouldn’t be trifled with, mother went with two hundred troops to get her and she came back without them and half dead, disfigured for life.” Aeruirn drank another sip of wine.

Aeruirn had been laying low, treating the servants like family but still guarding herself against betrayal; the clan members loved her and were loyal to her and were happy that she was such a talented seedling. But to her? This was a burden, as she would, in fact, receive Idami’s legacy who had been betraying, blackmailing and making deals under the table with clans from other cities.

The beautiful female elf was inheriting a dark legacy, she had wanted to flee when she realized what kind of clan hers was and begin anew but it was impossible, Idami would drag her back after giving her a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget. But her brother? Her handsome brother who was blessed enough to have found love and didn’t have a scheming bone in his body, she would save him and had already prepared everything.

Ragguth’s voice pulled her out of her intense brooding.

“Why are you ignoring mother’s plight, sister? This is unlike you.” The dark elf was shocked by his sister’s attitude, she was after all the most compassionate person in their clan.

Aeruirn’s piercing gaze nailed Ragguth in place as she began her speech, “Brother, mother has been running rampant for too long, we have more enemies alive than dead circling us like megalodons. And now, she’s looking to antagonize a noble from abroad whose house has a might clearly superior to ours, please tell me that we don’t have a problem.”

“Aeruirn, shhh.” Ragguth knelt before his sister and put his hands on her shoulders, looked around him. “The walls have ears.”

This made Aeruirn giggle cutely. “Don’t worry, those ears belong to me. Brother it’s time for a change, it was a long overdue one but first we must take care of you.”

“Sister?” Ragguth was patted on the head by his sister and relished in the physical contact.

Aeruirn took a silver ring from between her breasts, took Ragguth’s hand and placed the ring in the giant dark elf’s palm.

Ragguth looked at his sister worriedly, but she just smiled warmly at him. “This is a spatial ring with enough money for several human lifetimes if you don’t go too crazy,” Aeruirn said, caressing her brother’s cheek.

Aeruirn continued to speak. “I have a friend who migrated to Midgard he will help you and sister Zestari enter this new realm ruled by a Dark Sorceress, her land is a happy one. I want my niece to live differently from us, and this is why brother you are no longer a Bhelveth, your name shall be erased from the clan’s annals. Marry into sister Zestari’s family please.”

Zestari Venrel was a wood elf adventurer that her brother Ragguth met while adventuring in the Lowerdark, they fell in love and had been together for over twenty years and even had a daughter. Ragguth had been trying to marry her and make her an honest elf for a while, however Matriarch Idami, his mother, was against such a union and had been trying to get Zestari and her daughter killed to marry Ragguth to another dark elf female who was a reflection of Idami.

If it wasn’t for Aeruirn protection and quick thinking, Zestari would be dead; The dark elf heir couldn’t understand why Ragguth was still loyal to their mother after this.

“Sister why?” Ragguth asked, licking his lips.

Aeruirn looked at the now sweating Ragguth. “No, Ragguth it’s me who asks the questions. You have even more reason to want mother dead than me, she tried to kill your lover, your confirmed soulmate by the temple of Nodicea. Why didn’t you do anything?”

Elves had a way to confirm who their intended mate was going to be and Zestari was pretty much it for Ragguth. Idami going against the way of their people because of bigotry was an act that deeply affected the clan; one more reason to do away with her.

For the first time, Aeruirn saw a cunning glint in her brother’s eyes, the change was so radical and alien that she recoiled from it.

After chuckling, the tall male elf said, “Sister, why do you think she stopped? I… I have some dirt on her and Zessie is protected by some of my friends.”

Ragguth began to recount his tale to his sister, he had felt betrayed and like all Dark Elves had already planned to kill his mother in her sleep because of what she tried to do. However, he was stopped by one of Nodicea’s priestesses who had told him to stay his hand, to bear it and that in the near future a time would come when he would be free but he had to protect his loved ones first.

So that is how Ragguth did away with some precious treasures he found in the Lowerdark and networked with the sons of a more powerful clan who felt for his situation. Zestari and their daughter Keishara lived in a secure home in the Middledark under the umbrella of the Valynn clan, a clan who was known for interbreeding with different Tel-Quessir races. He had confronted his mother about the situation and had promised that if he or his family died in anyway the royal clan would receive a certain missive about her seditious affairs going on in the city and alliances with other kingdoms. It would essentially spell the end of the clan if that happened.

Aeruirn began to laugh hysterically. She calmed down five minutes later after Ragguth switched her wine glass for a tea cup filled with honeyed tea of pale jade herb, a special plant from Alfheim that relaxed and boosted the immune system. “Oh, brother! I didn’t think you had it in you!”

Ragguth gave her a handsome smile. “Well now you are giving me an out and I will take it. I don’t have to pretend to care about her anymore.”

The tall elf stood up and placed the spatial ring his sister gave him on his index finger.

“I want to say that I am surprised about that, but I really am not.” Aeruirn said.

Ragguth kneeled again and hugged Aeruirn tightly, he wanted to take her away from this place. But he couldn’t, they would be stopped. “Then this is goodbye sister, I want you to come with me but I know you won’t.”

The beautiful dark elf maiden appreciated the thought. “You got that right, I must try and save the situation first…” Aeruirn said loudly, but then she leaned toward her brother and whispered, “I-if I cannot I will follow you to Midgard and forget everything about dark elf politics.”

To Ragguth it was difficult to let go of his sister, but the Fates were acting in strange ways so he added, “There’s going to be a room in my new house for you, stay alive Ruirn.”

Aeruirn giggled, “Get out now, and be happy!”

She watched her brother leaving the room, looking at her and putting a hand on his heart; Aeruirn followed suit and they stayed like this for forty seconds, but it was time for Ragguth to leave so he exited and closed the door. Aeruirn’s tears couldn’t be held back anymore, and big fat drops ran down her cheeks, she was now alone in this den of iniquity.

She stood up and put the precious teacup on the low table, and wiped the tears from her face and her resolve steeled. Aeruirn left her brother’s living room, or should she say that it was hers now? Her preparations were already complete; all she had to do was stay at her mother’s side. While walking through the Bhelveth clan’s cavernous palace, Aeruirn wondered if the course of action she was taking was a good one.

“No it’s not, but I don’t know of any other way to appease this Lady Dragonfang.” She told herself.

The legend of Lady Dragonfang was already growing beyond reason in Thafnoris, because of all the titles she had collected that were her actual achievements; the surroundings of Lake Aryther were known to be infested with troll villages and Fishfolk settlements, but a survey of the region by the royal scouts showed that they had completely disappeared. The Lake was also surrounded by a spatial disturbance that was a sign that the major disturbance some weeks ago was caused by the birth of a pocket realm.

A powerful sun elf storm mage like Lady Dragonfang arrived on Svartalfheim to take its surface from the rightful owners, the dark elves; however they were too mired in their backstabbing politics to unite against the danger that this invader represented.

Aeruirn arrived at the Matriarch’s quarters and the sentries at the door allowed her to enter. The chamber was ostentatious, filled with red tapestries, black walls covered in paintings or frescos of Midgard and Alfheim’s landscapes. There were also pictures of her children, at least one of Ragguth, a lot more of Persandoral and a giant painting of Aeruirn that Idami seemed to love above all.

This made the heiress falter in her plan for a second but she found her resolve again, at least she would give her mother a peaceful parting. Aeruirn took a comfy chair, placed it at her mother’s bedside and sat, waiting for her to wake up. No, she would not kill Idami in her sleep. She would confront her and tell her why, she wasn’t one of those conniving bitches from the other families who killed their family members in the dark.

It took four hours but Idami finally woke up to find her daughter at her side with her hand in hers. She squeezed her daughter’s hand and suddenly felt pain assailing her body, a part of her face felt tight and like it was leather. Aeruirn woke up to find her mother touching herself and panicking.

“Mother calm down, you were gravely wounded.”

“What happened? I-” Then she remembered everything and she screamed bloody murder.

Aeruirn took her mother in her arms and for an hour passed the time rocking her and telling her how much she loved her whatever she looked like. It was the complete and unvarnished truth, Aeruirn loved Idami, enough to save her mother from herself.

Idami began to tell her daughter about what happened. “Ruirn, she was… so powerful, she’s no elf! She’s a monster, she killed everyone and... And I don’t think she can be killed, I had-I had two cursed daggers of bloodletting in her. It stopped her for one minute before her body disintegrated them and she killed the surviving troops.”

Aeruirn’s mind reeled at that, her mother had failed to even kill someone with her usual schemes? Idami was a prodigy at stealth and was hailed to be a tactical genius in the royal academy in her younger days. Military strength was what the Bhelveth clan had going for it.

“Mother what was the color of her magic?” The heiress asked with a nagging suspicion.

Idami recalled how the golden lightning struck her troops, “Gold… oh.” Now she understood where her daughter’s true line of thoughts brought her.

Aeruirn said, “Mother this Lady Dragonfang seems to be a demigoddess of some sort.”

Idami began to think about what she knew about demigods; Demigods were half immortals and were considered the first rung on the ladder of the gods.

They had extreme resistance to the cold, able to survive even in space. And unlike hero deities, a demigod’s body was beyond durable, completely immune to acids as well as mortal ailments like disease, poison or paralysis.. It was also nearly impossible to harm a demigod with magic, requiring high magic or magic infused with divine energy to have any effect on their bodies.

A demigod could speak any language, including non-verbal ones. They could speak to creatures within a range calculated in miles of themselves in a direct manner but also send telepathic messages and manifestations to their followers or people around sites dedicated to themselves. They also had some control over their own realms. They could set the temperature in there and fill it with smells and sounds of their choice.

Idami had seen most of those minor feats when she confronted Elissa Dragonfang.

The Matriarch looked at her daughter and pleaded, “Ruirn, kill me. Please kill me, I want to die by your hands. Please kill me, for the clan and offer my head to Lady Dragonfang.”

It was unexpected, Idami was willing to die for the clan. “Mother?!”

Tears flowed on the Matriarch’s damaged face. “You don’t know what I’ve seen, she’s a monster who doesn’t consider us people. Once you are labelled a threat she kills you in the most gruesome way possible. Lady Dragonfang took one of my healers white capes and bathed it in a pool of his own blood before putting it around her shoulders.”

Aeruirn looked at her mother in shock, disgust and a lot of fear. Idami looked at the tea kettle and made it float to her with a telekinetic spell. Opening the kettle she casted detect poison and the liquid inside glowed blue, clear signs that it was poisoned. Idami looked at her daughter who looked straight in her eyes.

“Mother you should not have-” Aeruirn began to say but she stopped when her mother smiled radiantly at her.

“You were about to kill me in my sleep, Ruirn?” Idami asked, she was proud of her daughter at this moment.

Aeruirn’s eyes teared up, “No mother, I intended to kill you after telling you why, you plunged the family into a war we are now certain we won’t be able to win by ourselves.”

The Matriarch looked at her daughter and a decision was made in her heart, “Give me a cup.” Idami’s voice was neutral.

She wouldn’t let herself live with a face this damaged anyway, she was too vain to appear like a cripple in this cutthroat society; Aeruirn made a teacup from her mother’s precious crystal setfloat toward her by magic. Idami intercepted the spell and took it over and poured the poisoned tea in the cup.

“I am proud of you, Aeruirn for thinking of the clan first. Be a better Matriarch that I was, oh and you’ll find the accounts and blackmail materials in this ring.” Idami took off the signet ring showing that she was the clan’s Matriarch that also acted like a spatial ring.

Idami looked at her daughter whose eyes were red and tears flowed anew on her cheeks. “Aeruirn, you didn’t kill me, I am committing suicide to buy redemption for the clan.”

“Understood, mother…” This sentence came out strangled from her mouth.

Idami began to tell everything to Aeruirn about the clan, the artifacts stashed all around the cities, the blackmail material she had and the magical safe under her bed and the ins she had in the palace. She sipped on the tea while speaking and Aeruirn listened with rapt attention until Idami felt tired and gave Aeruirn her final advice. “Don’t be like me, you can be cruel, but rule fairly.” She said weakly.

Aeruirn made her mother lay on her bed and tucked the cover sheet on her body.

“Yes, mother.” Aeruirn kissed her mother’s forehead wetly. She kept Idami’s hand tightly in hers.

The Matriarch’s voice became even weaker. “I will take care of you from Nodicea’s embrace.” Idami closed her eyes forever.

“I am so sorry.” Aeruirn cried and she began to sob.

---

Underdark
Middledark
Dark Elven Kingdom of Cynlenor

 

Dicinna Zerloth stabbed her dagger into her sister’s right thigh, taking care to not nick an artery and then kicked her off the dark blue training mat, standing over her threateningly. She pitied her twin, “Ocima, how many times is this now? Why do you force me to beat you this much every time I come back from my travels?”

Ocima Zerloth was her twin’s perfect copy, tanned really light brown skin, long toned legs that adjoined a firm, round bottom. Like her sister, she wore a full body skin-tight leather armor that was made of lesser dragon hide which had the appearance of lustrous black scales. As her body tapers in, her abdomen was super tight. She had a sexy six-pack. Her breasts had the perfect nipple-to-boob ratio.

Ocima was passionate and expressive, whereas Dicinna was a little more concealed in her beauty. She was subtle about it as she often didn't want to garner attention. She had short white silver hair with a long braid on the side, cold dark blue eyes, high cheekbones, and soft, pink, pouty lips.

“You dare ask me why?!” Ocima knew her sister had retired from political intrigue and preferred to lead an adventurous life as world walker, but to be outright ignored and be inconsequential to her was hurting.

Dicinna’s cold gaze was on her sister, she tilted her head. “As usual I don’t understand you. Even though we are sisters.”

Dicinna didn’t bother with her sister anymore and turned heel to leave the training room; she twirled her short sword and dagger, then sheathed them in her thigh-sheathes. Ocima had failed yet again, failed to be noticed by her monstrously talented sister. Their mother, Kiomdra always praised Dicinna to her oldest and second oldest girls because the world walker always brought big achievements and treasures to the clan. To everyone she should be the new heiress instead of the first born who was a typical backstabbing dark elf.

Ocima tried to emulate her twin sister and become as tough and combat trained as her, but she could only be half the warrior she was.

“THIS IS BECAUSE WE ARE SISTERS.” Ocima shouted.

“Oh?” Dicinna laconically answered, she slowly turned to Ocima.

Dicinna noticed how her sister trembled with rage, she stood up and made a tourniquet on her wounded thigh with bandages that she took from her spatial ring.

“I will make you acknowledge me sister.” Ocima said simply and left the room through the second entrance giving way to the archery range.

Dicinna shook her head, just the fact that they were sisters was enough - why did she need to acknowledge her? She was good with a blade but awfully bossy, that’s why Dicinna distanced herself from her. Ocima had felt that she needed to control everything in her twin sister’s life and Dicinna hated it so she beat her black and blue by telling her she was too weak to follow her where she was going and she had thought that this would be the end of it.

However life was complicated and dark elves even more so. Putting on her dark cloak, Dicinna left the clan compound and bumped into her big sister who simply waved at her saying hello and continued walking toward the hall. She was a beautiful dark elf with the same white and silver hair as Dicinna, but she was more voluptuous and in no way a fighter; Asonra was cunning and mercenary in her thinking.

Dicinna didn’t trust her big sister, she was the kind of snake that stabbed you in the back because it is in their nature. The dark elf used her ability to open a portal to the adventurers’ guild’s hall, a red hole was pierced before her and expanded instantly showing the inside of the hall with people going about their business, drinking or looking for jobs on the billboard.

Dicinna’s power was portal manipulation, she could create, shape and manipulate portals, allowing her to control portal size and destination; however, her power was so much more than that. She may not be good at magic like her sisters but she made do with what she had.

She passed through and immediately let the portal collapse allowing reality to reassert itself at the portal location, sewing back the hole in reality. Dicinna cut a dashing figure with her blue Wyvern skin cloak and her skin-tight black leather armor; her vambraces were made from a mithril-orichalcum alloy with blue Crystarium gems. In fact most of her armor had this magical crystal only found in the Lowerdark of Svartalfheim; when killed in proximity of this crystal, lifeforce found itself absorbed by the crystal permitting their owner to get stronger magically and physically.

Dicinna had hunted Wyverns for fun on Svartalfheim when her complete set of light armor, dagger and shortsword were made. She became as strong as twenty of them.

The elfling from the Zerloth family was a familiar sight in the adventurers’ guild of Cynlenor, she was an adventurer rated at the mithril level like the material of the leaf brooch tethered to her magical signature on her cloak was advertising. There were levels for adventurer teams and lone adventurers; they went from copper to iron, silver, gold, mithril and finally orichalcum.

People made way for her, to avoid hindering her in any way; the way she had been taking down to people who did so before became legendary as they were no longer able to be adventurers since they took a dagger in the knee.

On the billboard at the end of the hall, the one reserved for the mithril ranked adventurers there was a new hologram crystal placed on the top. Dicinna was about to touch it when someone interrupted her.

“I wouldn’t touch that crystal if I were you.” A really old elf came up behind her, he had a brown robe and a lot of enchanted jewelry on.

It was the guild master of Cynlenor, Arno Isazish. The most powerful mage in the Kingdom and a personal friend of the Queen, his advice was generally good as it was tempered with centuries of experience. Dicinna took her hand back.

“Why?” Dicinna asked as she looked directly in his old but wizened silver eyes.

Arno looked at her and smiled. “The client who posted this contract is dead but the clan that offered it still hasn’t rescinded the contract.”

“What happened to the client.” This sounded like typical dark elf business that Dicinna tried to steer clear of. Her people were really selfish and were worse than humans in her opinion, at least when something threatened to kill them all, the humans put their differences aside and united to take down a common enemy; Dark elves always wanted to get benefits from doing so and that was why they lived underground, now.

“Killed by a sun elf.” Arno said waiting for a reaction from the normally cold dark elf female.

Dicinna’s eyes opened wide. “Sun elf? Here? On Svartalfheim?”

Those haughty and arrogant sun elves were known for their heavy handed approach outworld where their consortium and politicians had free reign.

Arno laughed at her expression, this was exactly what his bored bones needed. “Where were you Dicinna? This has been the talk of the Underdark for weeks.”

“Just came back from Alfheim, hunted dark fairies.” Dicinna looked at the holo-crystal with more interest.

Rolling his eyes, Arno said, “Only you are crazy enough to hunt dark fairies alone.”

Dicinna’s lips curved slightly. “Maybe. Can you tell me what happened with the sun elf? I am really interested in the gossip.”

“Ok, but you pay for it with Alfheim wine.”

“I have some Titania’s blood in my space ring.” Dicinna said absently.

Arno’s eyes glinted with greed, this was the most expensive wine in the yggdrasil connected worlds, it was made by Winemaker genies who were unique genies dedicated to making the best possible wines in Alfheim. He brought the girl to his study and went on to give her the intel the guild shadows had gathered.

Lady Elissa Dragonfang was a sun elf from some distant planet they had no way of knowing and had established a foothold on Svartalfheim by taking control of one of the five major nexuses on the surface, the one at the center of Lake Aryther. Lady Dragonfang also exterminated the troll tribes on the Upper Moon Continent with some kind of dark mythal curse. As she established her Pocket Realm she exterminated the colonies of fishfolks that the elves were aware of and freed their slaves, the cute creatures known as Lutrinian.

“So far there’s nothing bad.” Dicinna stood transfixed.

Arno put a crystal on the low table and made it slide to Dicinna who caught it, the likeness of a kingdom destroying beauty appeared through a magical hologram. She had crimson red hair, emerald green eyes and a voluptuous body that still showed signs of intense muscle conditioning. Her skin was sun kissed and golden and her prominent pointy ears announced her to be Ar-tel-quessir. The Female sun elf on the hologram unsheathed the sword at her hip twirling it, the blade glowing a luminescent blue, golden lightning coursing through it.

“This is Lady Dragonfang, some of our scouts caught her fight with Persandoral Bhelveth on hologram.”

Dicinna was silent as she watched the fight, the delivered one liners and her overwhelming fighting style. Elissa Dragonfang was a wave, a powerful tsunami of might and magic; if you were not stout enough of character and of body to withstand her passage then you were washed away. The way she killed Persandoral and taunted his family to try to attack her…

Dicinna rewatched the fight ten times and Arno ran out of wine, he decided that that was it and that they should return to their business. But watching the intense obsessed gaze of Dicinna Zerloth was scary enough.

“Dicinna?” Arno tried to make her react.

The female dark elf pocketed the holo-crystal in her spatial ring. “Arno, I think I just fell in love.” Dicinna said as her heart and her blood sang and warmed up, her face became more expressive.

Arno smiled, he knew of this phenomenon that elves experienced when they saw their intended one for the first time. Dicinna Zerloth seemed to be one of the lucky few that Goddess Nodicea blessed with finding their soulmate.

The guild master chuckled and said, “Then little one, you should go out there and seek her out.”

The young elf stood up, nodded and said, “Excuse me, I have places to be.” Dicinna disappeared into one of her red portals, opening to the place where the fight with the Bhelveth young master happened.

Arno began to laugh maniacally.

 

---

 

32nd day, midnight
Battlefield

 

Elissa was back to normal, she had felt so constrained in that pink place that Damian called the dreamscape. She didn’t like it at all. The young woman thought that that place was related to the Dream domain she read about in one the Sanctum’s books her mother owned, it was a godly domain that granted spellcasters with a patron deity, like her, access to dream- and mind-related spells.

Lightning crackled around her, and the air got colder too because of her irritation; Elissa couldn’t believe that she had done it yet again. She had pushed her limits and gained even more power than before but it seemed that reality was testing her.

“Mistress.” Fenirael came up behind her.

The demoness’ black armor was battered and her hair was in disarray, strangely seeing her like this made Elissa feel desire; she didn’t act on it, however, she was surprised that the feeling was there at all. Yes, this planet was testing her, her resolution and fortitude; both mental and physical.

Elissa acknowledged her familiar’s presence but turned her back to her as she looked up at the sky. “Feni, we are going to leave soon.”

“Before that there’s something we must talk about.” Elissa didn’t catch the strange intonation in Fenirael’s voice when she approached her, thinking that it was business as usual. “Out with it, we don’t have much time.”

“I understand, then forgive me.” Fenirael said as Elissa was turning toward her to listen. The demoness slapped Elissa with all her might, the young woman barely felt a sting from it, however she stared at her handmaiden shocked by what had just happened.

“What the hell were you thinking? Attacking without a plan?! We should have fled or delayed them till we could fly on the dragons! You…” Fenirael stopped talking and started sobbing and crying.

Elissa didn’t care that she got slapped, she took Fenirael in her arms and held her for a long moment, letting the tears run their course. The worst was that the demoness was right, they should have fled, or at least Elissa should have delayed them with her ice and lightning and escaped into the sky.

“Mistress, you can’t let power blind your common sense, please don’t drown in it. Don’t let it… corrupt you.”

Elissa had failed. She had failed those that counted on her the most and caused them untold anguish; like a certain man on Earth said: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. The result was to be expected as Elissa let her power go to her head, thinking herself beyond whatever damage or trials this planet could dish out; she was obviously wrong, Elissa had become interested in power for the sake of power.

The object of power is power. Now Elissa began to understand.

Here lay the beautiful lesson of today’s trial, Elissa looked at the moons and imagined Hekate smiling upon her. She had a nagging suspicion that her Goddess was forging her into… something.

“Next time assume that they can kill you and plan accordingly.” Reinatiel chimed helpfully.

She was leaning against a burned tree, her arms crossed under her chest and watching the bittersweet moment. Elissa thought that the demoness mage was nonchalant but the feelings she caught emanating from her familiar through her synesthesia were those of relief, joy, sadness and acceptance. Reinatiel’s eyes were red and her makeup was completely ruined by the tears that had flowed. “I- I am sorry. It won’t ever happen again.”

“We love you mistress.” Fenirael said as she kissed Elissa on the cheek.

“And I you.” Elissa hugged her tighter.

A huge bang was heard near them and there was another; Elissa found herself surrounded by the forms of her pseudodragon familiars who were in their giant form.

<We love you too.> Rilo the black dragon said as she necked her mistress and licked her cheek too. Aghri didn’t let himself partake in the skinship.

Now Elissa came to an important decision: She would not be the slave of her own past, she would plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so that she could come back with a new self-respect, with a new power and with an advanced experience that would explain and overlook the old.

*First, I need to get a handle on my anger, it's a paralyzing emotion. It's absence of control and I need all of my skills, all of the control, all of my powers ... and anger doesn't provide any of that. I have no use for it whatsoever.* Elissa thought.

Inside the dreamscape, Damian was laughing at his descendent as she was going through the same rite of passage he had. He decided that he would test her, test her because she was still too green to his tastes. He would give her the most trying of his memories and see how she handled them.

Meanwhile, Elissa climbed on her favorite black pseudodragon, the demonesses did the same and installed themselves on Aghri’s back. The white pseudodragon felt a bit jealous that this time Elissa chose to mount on his mate, but he wouldn’t mention it or he would sleep alone next time. The young woman’s night vision and senses mixed with those of Rilo and Aghri; From what Elissa experienced with her familiars, Dragons had excellent depth perception and comparably good peripheral vision, able to see twice as well as a human in daylight.

As she looked around her, Elissa compared her own senses with theirs and found that they were superior to even a superhuman’s. They had great night vision, and were able to see even when conditions had no light to offer, though not in color, so there was that at least.

Dragons could also pick up scents very well, utilizing both their sensitive noses and forked tongues, much like snakes; however it was a disadvantage in their current location as the foul smell of death and putrefaction was prevalent. Elissa turned her head as she heard the voices of her demonesses speaking about her and how relieved they were that she was alive; Dragons hearing… it seemed that it was on par with human hearing, although she had a suspicion that their minds could filter what they heard.

After this check of her dragons’ senses, Elissa decided that it was time to leave; with a mental command from Elissa they catapulted into the sky, their wings beating with power and bringing them away from this battlefield that they had picked clean. There were only naked elves on the ground near her nexus of power that she took the time to reinforce against ward breakers.

The dragons flew over the burned landscape and the lakes, Elissa loved the sensation of seeing the ground quickly passing under her. She trusted her dragons to know where they were going as they had an excellent sense of direction.

“Rilo do you know where we can find Dwarves? I thought that you knew.”

<Yes, mistress. I am bringing you near the pseudodragon community in this part of the world, one hundred kilometers from it there’s a Dwarf outpost leading to Nirnyahr the Dwarven capital.> Rilo said as she veered left in the direction of the brightest star.

Elissa began to caress the part of Rilo’s neck that she loved being scratched. “Very well, I will trust your judgment my pretty one.”

They travelled until morning, and put a thousand kilometers behind them while heading north by northwest, where the purple forests and lakes gave place to frozen lakes, tundra and weird areas influenced by wild magic pockets which looked like jungles? Elissa wasn’t sure. Rilo told her though, that was the forbidden forest, a True Dragon lived there.

True Dragons were like Gadhiss the Dragon Matriarch from Earth, this term "true dragon" referred to dragons that became more powerful as they aged and Gadhiss was a Metallic Dragon; those were inherently good. Like every Gold Dragon, Gadhiss was one of the most powerful and majestic of the classic metallic dragons. They were wise and benevolent beings who were foes of evil and injustice. Gold dragons were very knowledgeable and reclusive. They preferred stone lairs and could produce a deadly cone of fire or lightning as a breath weapon; they were often found helping others and that was why the matriarch played babysitter for Elissa and Cassandra after she was kidnapped while Malicia went on a rampage in Europe.

Extending her senses, Elissa could feel the aura this forbidden forest emanated, it didn’t feel evil but it didn’t feel good either.

ROOAR.

Aghri and Rilo suddenly stopped ten kilometers from the forbidden forest and hovered by beating their wings frenetically. The black dragon panicked and Elissa knew a warning roar from a true dragon when she heard one, and saw a flash of red as the sun rose from the horizon; she ordered Rilo to avoid flying and go around the forest taking a longer route.

“What was that?” Fenirael asked through their familiar’s link.

“A really competitive dragon that we don’t want to antagonize, there are extremely powerful fire mana traces emanating from this forest. I think it’s the dragon’s domain, the greenery survives this far north only because of the warmth the ambient magic this Red dragoness gives out.”

“Understood, Mistress; you are bad with fire we know this.”

Fire and high temperatures were Elissa’s main weakness and Red dragons breathed fire and were greedy, evil creatures, interested only in their own well-being, vanity, and the extension of their treasure hoards. They were supremely confident, being the largest and most powerful of the chromatic dragons. Those types of dragons were generally predators ruled by their desires, who looked down on other forms of life...

With her new found responsibilities, the people depending on her and her promise to herself to stop being reckless, Elissa decided to not antagonize the beast.

*This is weird, though. Red Dragons are typically found living in mountainous regions.*

“How was it? Did it feel weird to not brave the danger and be… prudent for once?” Reinatiel asked through their link.

The demoness worried about Elissa’s development, the girl was gaining power too fast and she had a hard time not feeling full of herself as she easily crushed the opposition. But Reinatiel and her sister hoped that she would pull through and become the woman she needed to be, the ruler that would retake her throne and accompany everyone into a new golden age.

“Being brave isn’t only about recklessly rushing to fight danger that could have been avoided. And I don’t want to drag you girls down.” Elissa answered, showing wisdom from her earlier experiences.

Reinatiel giggled at that and said in a teasing tone, “That’s surprisingly profound from you, mistress.”

“Hey, I can say smart things!” Elissa felt wronged.

Reinatiel ignored her. “Mmhm.”

They finally arrived before the pseudodragon mountain chain. Rilo and Aghri began to play the part of tourist guides and described the place; the Faraway Peaks were a collection of northern white peaks in the Lesay Mountains, set apart from the rest of the range by Treefall Pass. The peaks overlooked the Forbidden Forest.

They had landed in the tundra giving way to the entrance of the mountain pass, a big sign with arrows and directions was planted on the side of the road leading into it.

<The Lesay Mountains were notable for containing the volcano Mount Darvus, which was sacred to the god Holaf the Dwarf Deity, and the dwarven mine of Ironfang Deep> Rilo said.

“No wonder they live this far, those are the perfect condition to harvest precious metals and gems.” Elissa said in wonder.

Fenirael frowned. “Sometimes, Mistress I think you would have wanted to be born a Dwarf.”

“Is this so bad? They lead such good and fulfilled lives.” Elissa liked what she had seen from the Forgemaster clan, male and female Dwarves were driven people when they were working and really funny when they relaxed.

The howl of beasts rang in the air and Elissa felt tremors from the ground, Gungnir flashed into her hand and she scowled in the direction of the Forbidden forest. With great strides countless fell beasts appeared and Elissa with her new found wisdom didn’t stay here waiting for them to attack and ordered her party to run into the mountain pass.

Aghri and Rilo returned to their normal size and followed the demonesses, Elissa stayed behind gathering power and when they reached the pass she closed it with a two meter thick and seventy two meter tall wall of ice rooted in the rocky ground. She transmuted the ice to granite.

Elissa turned and ran, following her familiars, she was surprised to see that they were engaged in combat when she caught up. Giants covered in white fur were fighting her demonesses, Elissa was just annoyed at first, until n one of them whacked Fenirael on the head strongly enough for her to hear the crack of bones and her falling on her knees.

"No!!" The young woman was horrified by what she saw happen.

More and more creatures arrived to attack them and Elissa had had enough and unleashed her mana and overcharged Gungnir’s Lightning blast spells; the plasma beam slew most of the creatures by either vaporizing them or cutting some part of their lower bodies and limbs.

The young woman ran to her familiars and examined Fenirael who was out of it, she was bleeding from the mouth, ears and nose.

“Concussion, brain damage, cracked skull.” Elissa said.

Reinatiel was frantic but found the strength and focus to conjure a wall of energy around her to ward off the oncoming monster, there were more and more coming to them. This was insane.

“Rei, I need time to heal those wounds and ailments or she won’t ever wake up again.” Elissa said calmly but she was boiling inside, she didn’t want to lose Fenirael.

The giants and Snow wolves clawed and beat on the energy barrier around them. “I can’t hold forever! Half of my mana is already gone.” As Reinatiel said this, cracks appeared on the barrier.

Elissa connected with the demoness, forming a circle of power and Reinatiel’s barrier was bolstered by the new influx of mana from Elissa who changed the nature of the barrier to lightning. Lots of creatures died but those that survived stepped back, and observed them like the predators they were. The demoness felt relieved for a moment but the tension in her shoulders revealed how panicked she was.

Rilo and Aghri wanted to fly away from here with their mistress, but they couldn’t. They looked on worriedly at Fenirael, Rilo licked her hand in affection.

Knowing Reinatiel well, Elissa asked an important question. “Do you have anything that can delay her death?”

While maintaining the barrier, Reinatiel thought and after one minute of pondering she snapped her fingers in realization. “Yes I have one, in my ring, it’s one of the items you took from the Dragon Turtle lair!”

“Quick.”

Reinatiel took a greenish sphere from her spatial ring, it was a glowing sphere made of crystal. She handed it to Elissa who appraised it, inside the sphere there was a very large extra-dimensional space. The owner could imprison one nearby living creature inside and place in temporal stasis. This was an unethical magical item, but Elissa didn’t care one bit as it would save one of her best-friends’ lives.

Fenirael was stored inside the sphere in a big shower of light that was absorbed into the crystal sphere; Elissa placed the sphere on her chain like a pendent and suddenly turned to the waiting horde of creatures. Anger boiled inside her but she didn’t let it consume her, not like before, it turned from hot to cold in an instant. She could get mad, but decided to apply a method to it and think about her familiars first.

She looked at Gungnir who was at her feet and made it teleport into her hand and a plan formed in her mind. Elissa materialized Gram in her other hand and knelt on the ground and prayed. The young woman pushed as much mana she could spare into the weapons and connected to a minor ley line. Elissa hoped that there was a node she could exploit in the sky.

“Mother I beseech for your help.”

The sky darkened as dense stormy clouds gathered around the mountain peak and extended to the mountain pass. For another five minutes the weather turned into a full blown tempest, the wind picked up, the rain fell and thunder rumbled in the sky.

“Rilo you are the fastest, turn into your giant form.” Elissa ordered.

The pseudodragon obeyed but Reinatiel barrier extended around them. “Rei, take Aghri and climb on Rilo. You two will fly to the Dwarven outpost, it must be near. I will follow you but I will slow them down. This is an order.”

“Yes… Mistress.” Reinatiel said subdued. She wanted to protest but the serious gaze of Elissa shut her up.

“Good.” Gram and Gungnir glowed gold with the accumulated mana she had pushed into them.

Gram decided to copy the elemental blast on Gungnir, knowing Elissa’s plan.

“Now go, take down the barrier and fly to the outpost and wait for me.”

Reinatiel dispelled the lightning barrier and Rilo bounded into the sky by catapulting into the air. The creatures attacked instantly, Elissa let go of her restraint and unleashed a double lightning blast that drowned the monster tide, this was like a cannon going off and blasting apart monsters in a storm with a wave of plasma.

Elissa rose into the sky, sheathed Gram and tightened her hold on Gungnir who continued to shine gold and blue.

“I who march to face our enemies, Lady of Magic, Heaven, Earth and the sea, may our combined strength bring down the hammer to shatter the shields of our foes.” Elissa continued her prayer to Hekate and the goddess let Lightning strike Elissa multiple times and the young woman recharged the mana she had lost in her initial assault. Her clothes were in tatters as they couldn’t handle being burned this much. She pointed her godly spear at the rest of the beast tide and blasted them with another beam of lightning.

With the power of the wind she followed the mana traces that Reinatiel left behind, however other more powerful creatures pursued her by running after her relentlessly. More lightning struck Elissa as she conjured her storm domain, the divine energy forming the heavenly lightning she previously used against the Kraken was absorbed by her spear. However this time she didn’t use the elemental blast, instead she targeted the toughest creatures who was really a giant among giants, it was twenty meters tall, had a scraggly beard and was heavily muscled. It wore a loin clothes and was riddled with scars.

Elissa stopped and took a javelin throwing stance and aimed with her left hand, with all her strength and magic she threw the spear that created three sonic booms before reaching the target and pierced his head and all the creatures behind him, creating a crater of ten meters in diameter. As she was low on mana, Elissa was struck by a lightning bolt that at least gave back one fourth of her mana before she teleported her weapon to her hand yet again and left for the outpost following Reinatiel’s breadcrumbs for the way.

---

Third Outpost
Outer ring perimeter
Iron Fang Settlement

 

Brunhilda was bored out of her mind, she was responsible for this outpost’s security but nothing ever happened in the outer ring. The young blonde Dwarf looked outside her watchtower, the sky had darkened and it seemed that they would have a big storm.

*Strange, dis ain’t tha season.* Brunhilda thought as she squinted her eyes at the horizon.

Brunhilda lamented her fate, it had to be her shift when the rain would soak her and without a doubt give her the flu. These kind of conditions were why her captain gave her the toughest jobs in the garrison, hoping that this would make her give up on being a soldier and put her princess circlet on her head. But Brunhilda was a stubborn and tough lass, she had inherited it from her Ma’.

Thunder rumbled and lightning appeared in the sky. Brunhilda grumbled even more as big fat drops of rain fell. She wasn’t crazy enough to stay under the sky, since the lightning might fry her. The young Dwarf climbed down the watchtower and decided to take refuge in the guard unit at ground level.

Her fellow senior guard looked at her drenched hair and armor and shook his head. He was about to tell her to get back in the tower when he heard the rumble in the sky and lightning flash. He kept his peace and said nothing. Bullying was somewhat normal in the garrison, when a dwarf perceived that you weren’t here through your own merit and that your parents helped you, they could become somewhat… mean.

Her father was surely having a good laugh with his generals when they posted her there and wanting her to give up into becoming a warrior. He had said clearly, “Nae daughter o’ mine will rub elbows with those milk drinkers from tha adventurers’ guild.”

They’d had words after that and she enlisted in the army. However, her father didn’t mind making others think she was there through nepotism. Brunhilda took her Warhammer when she heard even more thunder in the sky, her instincts were telling her that this was no normal storm. The roar of something broke her reservation and she put on her helmet and ran to the exit. Brunhilda climbed the stairs of watchtower as quick as she could and looked outside the gates.

A black dragon the size of a wyvern was before the gate of the outpost and roaring at it, on its back were its rider clothed in a white wizard robe. Brunhilda didn’t dare move, the dragon wasn’t that big, but black dragons were often thought to be the most cunning and underhanded of their race.

“Oy there! Who are ye stranger?” Brunhilda heard her senior outpost guard holler.

“Open the gate, we are being pursued by a beast tide.” A really melodious voice with an unknown accent answered.

“Ah then, we kinna do that lassie.” The senior said almost apologetic.

Indeed protocol dictated that they keep the gates closed when a beast tide was about to happen.

The woman seemed to think for a time and said, “Then could I wait before this gate for my mistress to arrive? She will be negotiating our entry.”

“Ah hope she does, lass!” The old dwarf shouted.

Brunhilda expected the woman on dragon back to protest, but she took the news rather well. The flash of golden lightning on the horizon and the thunder rumbling from afar made the female dwarf look.

“Ah! Here she comes!” The mysterious white robbed woman said.

Brunhilda didn’t see anyone coming just lightning streaking through the s- wait, there was something flying at high speed through the sky, it looked like gold lightning. Then it stopped, it was a woman hovering in the sky with a spear in her hand, she was almost naked as her clothes were almost certainly burned, her crimson red hair was billowing in the air as the stormy wind made it flutter.

There was a sudden tremor and under the rain, far in the tundra Brunhilda saw the tide of monsters the white robed woman had spoken about. The Dwarven warrior sounded the alert by pushing a lever that was on her side to the right and it was now that the war machine of the famous dwarf race got itself into action. Troops deployed the mana cannons on the walls, they appeared through hatches concealed in the thick fortifications.

But they needn’t worry, the golden flying woman connected to the air nodes in the sky, those that were underused by the dwarven mages in the settlements, all thirteen of them and the output of the power she gave off was comparable to a little star. Brunhilda could feel the mana given off by this woman as she was a mage too; her mother gave her the education but she didn’t use it. That is how she could feel that this woman in the sky was more powerful than all the mages of the kingdom combined.

Multiple wards on the walls reacted to the sudden influx of power. The horde were almost upon the wall but suddenly there was a giant lightning bolt that flashed to it followed by a deafening crack of thunder that broke a lot of windows in the settlement. Brunhilda rubbed her eyes and she could finally see where the enemy was.

“Where are they?” She stared hard but there was nothing left. No monster and just… the scorched tundra and giant crater where the beast tide used to be.

The flying woman landed gracefully before the gate, the white robbed woman climbed down from the dragon and knelt in the mud, while the dragon prostrated itself as she passed them. She wasn’t human, but a sun elf, Brunhilda knew their kind all too well and expected this to turn really ugly if the guard handled this badly.

*Aye, dat’s a bigshot here.* Brunhilda thought. *Of tha kingdom razin’ kind*

“I am Elissa Dragonfang of House Dragonfang, First of Her Name, The Storm Mage, Lady of Aryther and... Monster Bane. I demand an audience with the highest ranked official of this settlement.” her voice was transmitted everywhere in the settlement, *dat’s some powerful mojo, she’s putting out.*

The same senior guard came forward and Brunhilda facepalmed already. “Oy there Lassie, we-”

However the woman interrupted him. “Silence worm,” Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. “I will not tolerate any snivelling from your part. Bring me someone important.”

“Look it there lassie, we are nae going tae open tha gate for a wacko lik-” Brunhilda threw her hammer at the senior dwarf. When it hit him, the impact ousted him from the wall and everyone watched as he fell from it.

Then everyone’s gaze landed on Brunhilda.

“Ah am Brunhilda Brightforge, second in line tae tha throne of tha Nirnyahr kingdom, ah welcome ye Lady Dragonfang. As tha second princess ah order ye ta open tha gate, guards.” She acted like she was in court and ordered them.

The guards saluted and chorused, “Aye, Princess Brunhilda.”

The trio was let into the walls and there was no one who said anything to Brunhilda as she left the watchtower and went to the main road to welcome her guests. Waiting for her were the sun elf who looked worse for wear, she put on a finely made black cloak to hide her half naked body. Her beauty was in no way muted by this and Brunhilda asked herself why such a powerful elven lady would grace Svartalfheim with her presence.

“Princess.” Lady Dragonfang slightly bowed her head.

Brunhilda began with, “Lady Dragonfang, are ye in need of aid?”

Surprised, the sun elf giggled a bit and said, “Right to the heart of the matter, I appreciate this. Yes, Princess I wish to have your assistance; could you provide me with a clean room and medical furniture?”

The young dwarf frowned, she expected the elf lady to have more… costly demands. “Dat‘s all ye want from us?”

“This is to get started, I will ask an audience with your father when I am done treating my companion.” Lady Dragonfang stared at the Dwarven princess intensely, she liked her way of carrying herself so far.

Brunhilda thought of what protocol should be in this case. “We’ll see if Da’ll receive ye, but with tha way ye’ve dealt with yer current problems ah don’t think ye’ll have tae wait for long.”

Lady Dragonfang nodded and smiled amiably at the princess who led her to suitable accommodation for someone of her peerage.

Reinatiel, Rilo and Aghri followed them, the demoness was worried for her sister but she knew that Elissa would take care of her. In the sky, the storm began to subside; letting the sun’s rays pierce the cloudy mantle.