Day 51, Evening

29th of Felsite
Thafnoris
Neutral Ground
Clans Gathering Building

Aeruirn sat in her designated seat, the one reserved for the Matriarch of clan Bhelveth. The other five Matriarchs filed into the meeting room, and sat at the round table; this gathering session was called hastily and Aeruirn was taken from her mourning to participate, in fact the invitation was worded as a threat. If she didn’t come, she would not be invited to future gatherings.

Each of the clan leaders sat in their seat and some were already chatting between themselves. They all knew each other and some were even united by bonds of blood by marrying their sons to their daughters. Matriarch Druldred was already checking her drink for poison, Matriarch Mervic was having an argument with Matriarch Nivnal; Matriarch Iedre was looking intently at Aeruirn as if she blamed her for something and finally when she was ready Matriarch Gevas of clan Elzia clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Greetings everyone, thank you for answering the call.” The old elf woman leaned in her seat, tears coming to her eyes, and with a lot of emotions continued to say, “We have gathered here because of an incident that has left us all bereaved.”

Aeruirn didn’t like how everyone abruptly looked at her when Matriarch Elzia spoke. The black haired dark elf sat ramrod straight in her long backed chair and stared at each of the Matriarchs as if she didn’t understand what was happening, but through the cloud of grief she suddenly remembered the things she forgot to do.

Like cancelling a certain bounty.

“Oh.” Aeruirn finally realized her mistake and understood why everyone was gazing at her as if they wanted to gut her.

“Matriarch Bhelveth we have questions for you.” Matriarch Elzia began to ask, “Why didn’t you give information on the individual you put a bounty on? Did you know that she has destroyed a Mithril ranked adventurer team? Most of them children of the Matriarchs sitting here.”

Then the recrimination of the other Matriarchs in the Gathering chamber started.

“My daughter was eaten by the sun-elf’s dragon familiars!”

“My consort was disfigured.”

“My son was tortured for information, and this Lady Dragonfang told him that she was coming for me! ME!”

This was a problem, Aeruirn had stopped thinking about Lady Dragonfang as she was thinking about her mother that she killed. No, it was more accurate to say that she helped her mother to commit suicide. As she looked at the dark elf women of all ages around her; Aeruirn shook her head and chuckled in derision.

“You are looking for someone to blame, and to you it’s logically me. However, this bounty was given by my mother and I didn’t have the time to cancel it. I was in mourning, I hope you can understand that.”

“You brat!” Matriarch Mervic swore, furious.

To all those here, Aeruirn was a newcomer, someone they could make light of easily.

Aeruirn stood up, glaring at the old Matriarch. “I am the heir of Idami Bhelveth, and you will respect me!”

And just like that, all the Matriarchs understood that Aeruirn wasn’t someone they could browbeat into taking the blame.

“You should have had your own spies tell you about what happened to my Mother! She went with two hundred troops and dozens of mages to attack a sun-elf and came back alone and half dead. If your sons and daughters couldn’t do such basic investigative work then maybe you shouldn’t cry for their loss, Nodicea always culls the weak.” Aeruirn said as she felt vindicated.

Aeruirn slammed her hand on the table and sat, looking at the now silent elf women. She was satisfied to have finally said her piece to them, and now she realized that she would not really like to see those people at each gathering or later in her life. After all, Elves have a long lifespan.

Calming down, she closed her eyes for ten seconds before reopening them and being able to speak in a civilized manner. “Nevertheless, Matriarch Duldred you said that Lady Dragonfang is going to come for you? I hope you are prepared to defend yourself from that demigoddess. No amount of troops or mages will save you.”

The old Matriarch with greying black hair and dull black robes stared at her uncomprehendingly.  “Demigoddess?”

Aeruirn nodded and with gravitas, began to say, “That is what my mother discovered and reported to me before taking her life; she discovered that Lady Dragonfang is a Demigoddess, her golden magical aura was a dead giveaway.” Aeruirn looked at the Matriarch with pity etched onto her face.

Aeruirn stood up and looked at her chair, happy to not have gotten too comfortable with this symbol of power.

*Look what it did to those Matriarchs, I don’t want to become like them.* She thought.

Staring at each of the women who thought themselves powerful Aeruirn said, “I will cancel the bounty right away, I know this isn’t going to make things better but… after your revelation I literally do not care about this city anymore as I believe that it will soon be conquered by Lady Dragonfang.”

The young Matriarch stepped back, nodded at everyone and turned heel to leave the Gathering Chamber. But all the mature elf women were anxious and worried by what she said as parting words.

“Matriarch Bhelveth! Explain what you meant by that, we wish to know please!” Matriarch Elzia called after Aeruirn who didn’t care much about them anyway.

Aeruirn already wrote Thafnoris off, what she could do though was to evacuate her clan members and wait for the calamity to be unleashed on the city. She was the Matriarch of clan Bhelveth and her duty was to disappear with it when the end came. Aeruirn ignored all the others calling for her and passed the black and silver ornate door.

Clack.

The Matriarchs were not used to being ignored, as proven by Matriarch Iedre who slammed her fist on the table and shouted, “What is her problem?! How impertinent.”

Matriarch Druldred sat on her seat and said aloud, “The girl seems to know something we don’t.”

The blond dark elf, Matriarch Nivnal snorted in derision. “A demigoddess? Really?”

This clan Matriarch didn’t like how Aeruirn had the last word in their investigation, what ticked her off even more was that the girl was right; they were looking for someone to blame and punish and she didn’t play their game. Though, a thread of doubt insinuated itself in Elanre Nivnal’s mind as Aeruirn said that she didn’t think the city would last.

*Is that Lady Dragonfang so hard to fight?* Elanre thought.

Matriarch Elzia spoke interrupting Elanre’s train of thought, “But it would explain how she could create so much of a splash in so little time.”

Lady Dragonfang’s legend had grown rather quickly, and was backed by proof and rumors. She killed Persandoral Bhelveth for stealing from her, she destroyed every troll tribe in Aryther’s surroundings, anihilated an army of mage and soldiers.

*Nodicea only knows what else that sun-elf is up to now.* Elzia didn’t like how this Lady Dragonfang seemed to disappear at times and reappear to do something thought impossible.

“I agree with you. If she is what Aeruirn Bhelveth claims, what are we going to do about it?” Bhikna Mervic said as she thought hard about what should be done, but they couldn’t just do nothing.

They needed a plan to deal with the so called demigoddess, they needed troops, mages and a way to know where Lady Dragonfang would be or when she would come to their City state. All the Matriarchs spent time devising a plan between them to take care of the upstart sun-elf. They had a map of the city’s surface on their table and were already war gaming and strategizing about what they needed to do to take down Elissa Dragonfang.

The Gathering continued for four hours before being interrupted.

Knock. Knock.

Matriarch Elzia looked at the black door and willed it to open with an out of breath male elf in guard armor who seemed to come from very far. “Matriarchs, I am sorry to interrupt you but I have grave news.”

“Speak!” Elzia hissed.

For an instant fear could be seen on male elf’s face before he took his courage in two hands and said, “We received news from the Adventurers’ Guild, they dropped the bounty on Lady Elissa Dragonfang.”

Elanre Nivnal said mockingly. “Aeruirn was quick, she already dropped it.”

*It’s too late, our children and my consort are gone now.* She was angry after this young Matriarch and was already scheming to have her killed.

However, the guard interrupted her. “No, my Matriarch. The Guildmaster dropped it after receiving news from the guild in Nirnyahr. Lady Dragonfang felled the Fire Dragoness, Siodhanth. Single Handedly.”

Everyone in the room stopped moving, only the pants of the male elf could be heard has he normalized his breathing. Siodhanth the scourge, the same dragon who has been terrifying the North of Svartalfheim and more precisely the Dwarven Kingdom, destroying countless high ranked teams of adventurers. She was killed by the newcomer on their planet.

The Matriarchs looked at each other in turn, there was fear and uncertainty in their expression.

“What are we gonna do?” Matriarch Iedre said in a panicked voice.

“I am pulling out of this.” Gevas Elzia decided as she stood up and gathered her things from the table.

Bhikna Mervic did the same. “I will follow you sister.”

The guard who played messenger subtly walked back out of the room, making himself as little and insignificant as possible, engaged his magical stealth and disappeared; he was happy to have escaped from those crazy Matriarchs.

This was followed by the decision of not wanting to escalate this situation by the clan of Mervic and Elzia.

“Wait! We should investigate first, don’t give in to fear!” Matriarch Oheri Druldred was anxious to see her allies leave, but she just couldn’t let go of what happened to her son. This was a matter of honor right now.

Gevas and Bhikna didn’t stop as they now understood why Aeruirn Bhelveth left. Lady Dragonfang seemed to have been busy killing one the most powerful entities on the planet. They now felt that it would be foolhardy to antagonize such an individual; they were already making plans to hide in their clan holds and raise their defensive wards to the war footing setting.

Phanelle Iedre, Oheri Druldred and Elanre Nivnal looked at the departing Matriarchs, calling them cowards and a lot of different expletives. When they were the only ones left alone in the Gathering Chamber, the three Matriarchs glared at the door, looked at each other and began to think of their options.

“If we do nothing, we will lose reputation and influence.” Matriarch Iedre stubbornly said, she couldn’t accept that the status quo would be broken so easily.

“I-I have a plan.” Elanre Nivnal said.

“It better be good.” Oheri Druldred added.

Matriarch Nivnal gave them a smile that turned predatory and began to outline the changes in their strategy now that they have lost the support of three of their number. 

---

Day 58
5th of Hematite, Late afternoon
Pocket Realm of Aryther

Elissa crashed into the Lake’s water once again, the platinum blonde surfaced and spat the water and glared at no one in particular. She glared at her wings, it offended her that she could control them just fine in the Dreamscape but in the real world she could barely fly and glide.

River, Elissa’s contracted elemental appeared in her humanoid form walking at the surface of the lake and held her hand to her mistress. Elissa caught River’s hand and was lifted onto the surface of the lake where she stood with difficulty at first but quickly steadied herself. Thanks to her mastery over water that kind of cantrip to walk on water wasn’t hard to do.

<You’ll get it, spiritual wings are easy to control once you get the trick to it.>

“Says the elemental who was born with them!” Elissa growled.

But River didn’t take it badly, even though her mistress had changed since the last time; Elissa was now more… primal with her mana manipulation, if the elemental didn’t know better she would think that Elissa was descended from Elemental Lords or Kings.

<I have faith in you.> River tried to cheer her mistress up, clapped her watery hands and put one on Elissa’s head.

As for Elissa, she glared at River who just smiled contentedly at her. “That’s it, I’m going to cheat!” The young woman shouted as she dried herself with an air spell.

River didn’t understand Elissa’s haste in wanting to fly right now. After all, she couldn’t use them yet as she was barely focused enough. <Cheat? How?>

“An Air Spirit.” The young woman said as she gazed into River’s whirlpool-like eyes.

The elemental’s watery body rippled, it was visible on her body as she became disturbed by Elissa’s plan; Air Elementals were flighty, whimsical and hard to trust.

<Please, that’s a bad idea.> River said in a pleading tone to try to dissuade Elissa.

The young woman harrumphed and tried to turn heel. Elissa tripped as she tried to walk too fast and fell into the water again, sinking five meters under the surface. As she let her body float back to the surface Elissa was almost about to cry, she could not control her body and this was getting out of hand. River plunged, barely discernible into the water of the lake and decided to escort her mistress to the shore.

After quickly bringing her Mistress to the shore of the Fortress where Dicinna waited for Elissa, River stayed in standby on the surface.

Dicinna took Elissa in her arms and dried her with a towel in silence. The dark elf smiled at her and made her looking into her eyes and said, “You are doing it wrong.”

Dicinna looked earnestly at Elissa trying to lead the conversation where she wanted; she had had a good laugh when she had seen the young woman falling and crashing into the Lake a countless number of times. But now, as she saw how powerless the girl she loved felt through their bond she couldn’t suffer her distress any longer.

Elissa didn’t mind Dicinna touching her. “What do you mean?” The young girl suddenly became conscious that she was wearing just a white bikini and made a pareo with the towel Dicinna had dried her with.

The dark elf’s mouth quirked into a smile at that, however it wasn’t the time to mock her intended. “Let me train you.”

Elissa stopped moving, the grass under her feet felt soggy; gazing into Dicinna cold blue eyes, Elissa’s anger flared. “You think you can do better!?”

She didn’t take it well, Elissa had been trying for a week to get back some semblance of control and it had begun to piss her off. If she didn’t walk like she was on eggshells she sped all over the place or crashed into things or discharged elemental magic. It was becoming dangerous for her friends and people.

Dicinna hugged her intended and felt her instantly relax, such was their bond after one week of constant proximity. The dark elf adventurer was happy that she almost won and got through Elissa’s resistance to her affections; she had already won her place in Elissa’s bed after her own was pierced by Rilo walking on it with her talons, but they simply slept or hugged.

“Actually yes, do you want to be able to at least walk like before?” Dicinna said, raising an eyebrow at Elissa.

The young woman angry expression melted into a pleading one laced with desperation. “Please, help me.”

Dicinna noticed how her intended’s chest rose each time she breathed. *Nodicea, you are dangerous…*

Elissa hugged Dicinna and thanked her. Dicinna focused on what her intended should be doing right now, seeing her suffer wasn’t fun. “First thing you must do Elissa, calm down. Getting angry will just make you go even further out of control.”

“I… I don’t know why I keep getting angry over nothing. It has been happening more and more.” The platinum blonde said sheepishly looking down at her feet.

“We will add a bit of meditation onto the list.” Dicinna said, snapping her fingers in realization.

“Meditation?” Elissa was floored that such a basic things would be needed, she had even stopped consciously taking cosmic energy in to avoid aggravating her problems.

“Yes to center yourself and curb your new instincts. I am not sure if you realize it, but Elissa you have become more… draconic in how you act everyday.”

Dicinna had noticed this behavior and how it didn't seem to be going away anytime soon. It had started early, when Elissa got out of the Ice Casket she had been trapped in. She was easier to anger.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Elissa pushed Dicinna away from her and walked to the pier.

Dicinna followed her as the stone pier’s gate opened. As she walked, the dark elf continued to speak. “I am being serious, you have become greedier and more threatening with things and people you think are yours. I noticed how you think of me.”

This stopped Elissa who was stricken by this, she thought that she had been subtle. “I…”

Dicinna caught her left hand. “It’s flattering, really.”

“That can’t be right.” Elissa shook her head. “This is embarrassing!”

Dicinna grinned at her, “Elissa, every night since I came to share your bed, in your sleep you hug me tight and says things like mine or you can’t have her.”

“Your heart knows what it wants but your head still fights our bond, but that is not important. You need to control yourself, but we must start with your mind first. Flying and crashing into the lake’s water won’t help you, please come with me?” Dicinna reasoned.

Elissa liked the fact that the dark elf put aside their relationship to help her, this bond thing has been getting in the way for a while now. The more she was near Dicinna and learned more about her, the more she fell for her; this was a betrayal toward Dawn. However, wanting to be normal again warred with her distaste of her situation.

“Fine.” Elissa finally said.

That is how five minutes later, they were in Elissa’s Yurt in the lotus position looking at each other. The two girls were in bikinis and touching each other’s palms, mixing their mana and projecting their wills out of their bodies. Now in the astral plane, they looked around their surroundings. Dicinna was startled by something in her intended’s aura.

“Elissa, what is that chain made of light linked to your aura?” Dicinna pointed at the white chain at the top of her aura feeding her untold amounts of energy.

The young woman recognized it instantly, “That is my link to the main Nexus of Aryther.”

“I see. Cut it.” Dicinna ordered her.

Elissa looked at her with horror. “What? No!”

If she cut it, she would… would what? She had no idea of what would happen. Whenever she gets back to Aryther it automatically links back to her but there was no effect when she wasn’t there every time she travels.

Dicinna looked more sternly at the young woman. “Cut it, it’s interfering with you gaining control.”

Elissa willed the link to her realm to cease momentarily and it responded to her mental command. However, she was surprised to feel that she was still linked to the nexus mentally, it was just not feeding power to her.

“See, it was easy.” The dark elf giggled, observing the young girl with a critical eye.

“I am still linked to it.”

“I know, when someone bonds with a nexus they can stop the energy flow being fed to them. Your body is saturated with too much mana since we got to Aryther; now what we need to do is work on your instincts. Let’s get back to your body, you have work to do on yourself.”

“Okay, you were right.” Elissa rolled her eyes, Dicinna was a really smug girl.

“Of course I am. I might not know too much magic, but I still know the important points of it.” Dicinna grinned and after touching the young woman’s astral form, she pushed Elissa back into her body, her astral form merging back with her body.

At once, Elissa was back into her body and after a slight moment of hesitation she plunged back into meditation, she was clearly spiritually out of sync. Her aura like a raging river, crackling with power, and dispersing into the aether as it circulated outside her body each time Elissa breathed.

*Calm, I need to be calm.* Elissa steadied her breathing and slowed her heartbeat.

Through her meditation, Elissa plunged deep into her heart and laid bare her doubts and inner turmoil. She was embroiled into a grey mist that surrounded her almost immediately; random thoughts she had rang each time she dispersed the grey muck.

I am not Malicia’s daughter.

Cassandra is my sister.

No, she isn’t.

Heracles has always hated me.

Dawn please don’t leave me.

I like you Dicinna.

I am weak, so weak.

Elissa opened her eyes, breathing heavily as she let go of her inner-thoughts. Dicinna was hugging her and telling her to calm down while rocking her slowly. Elissa could smell a burned scent coming from the dark elf and pushed her away from her and saw what she had done. Dicinna’s hair was all frizzled and her skin was burnt.

“Shit. Cinna you are reckless.”

The dark elf’s hair was still smoking, and Elissa patted her friend’s head trying to put out the smoke.

“It was the... the only way to make you stop.” Dicinna said as she groaned from the pain of having electricity coursing through her body.

Elissa felt guilty. She had had another discharge of electricity caused by her feelings. It was embarrassing and made Elissa even more indebted to the dark elf who was able to sacrifice her well being for hers.

“Here, I will heal you.” Elissa said as her hands glowed with gold and white light.

Dicinna’s hair straightened and her burned skin cracked to show perfect tanned and unblemished skin under it. The dark elf sighed in relief, as for Elissa she was looking for another towel to cover her friend as her blue bikini gave out and was in tatters, no longer covering her at all. The platinum blonde tore it from Dicinna’s body then wrapped her in a white towel she found in the bathroom. After a moment, Elissa helped the dark elf groom herself, and apologizing to her the whole time.

“It’s alright, I knew you would take care of me somehow.” Dicinna hugged the young woman reflexively.

Elissa wiped her tears with a hand and said, “This is not okay, I need to stop harming my people.”

Dicinna didn’t like this side of Elissa when she’s at her worst, so she decided to cheer her up the only way she knew.

“I am one of your people?” The dark elf grinned at Elissa.

Embracing her more tightly Elissa answered instantly. “Of course you are! You are my guildmate!”

“Oh.” Dicinna said in disappointment, she had hoped that the platinum blonde thought of her more as a partner. A partner in love.

Elissa stared at the disappointed dark elf who made puppy eyes at her and stopped embracing her, pushing her away delicately. “We are not together, Dicinna.”

“Yet.” Dicinna added with a smirk.

Sigh. “I wish I could slap you right now.”

Elissa really wanted to, this dark elf girl was getting under her skin too easily. Dicinna looked at her in feigned shock and began to undo the towel wrapped around her body, “I didn’t know you were into such plays, but we can negotiate.”

Stopping her from removing her towel Elissa screamed, “Don’t do that!”

“Don’t do what?” Dicinna tilted her head tauntingly.

Elissa’s hand tightened into fists, she looked down and breathed in and out. Dicinna took advantage of this to undo her towel and her bountiful chest was thus exposed under Elissa’s nose, who quickly turned heel and said, “Ok, I will stop bothering you, I need to meditate. I guess I will do that away from the settlement.”

The platinum blonde left the Yurt as Dicinna’s lilting laugh rang behind her and walked up to the Mead Hall that was now surrounded by wooden houses built by the Lutrinians. As she entered into the rectangular building, the Sisterhood was sitting around the table discussing the map that they had in the middle of the table.

Elissa approached them and from afar saw with her augmented senses that it was a map of Aryther, there were green, grey and red areas around the walls of the fortress.

“Elissa ye are finally here.” Brunhilda called her friend as she noticed her approach.

The other members of the Sisterhood greeted her or simply returned to their study of the map. Some of them were also snacking on food, polishing weapons and looking outside the Mead Hall.

“Sorry Hilda, I was busy training. What are you doing?” Elissa smiled at her friend who looked sternly at her.

Brunhilda looked tired, she had bags under her eyes and her blonde hair wasn’t as shiny as it normally was.

The Dwarf Princess informed Elissa, “We are collating tha data and information dat tha Lutrinian’s collected on tha map, it’s all about knowin’ what is around us.”

Narsenelyn added, “We are also tryin’ tae see what infrastructure tha Fortress needs tha most.”

Elissa opened her eyes wide, this was serious work that she had been neglecting because she had her mad on for a while and her friends have been working without direction from her from the get go. “Oh, girls you should just have asked me…”

“Dat’s tha problem, ye’ve yer own problems tae take care of, me friend. Do yer stuff, and we tha grunt will do our job, aye?” Brunhilda said sarcastically, her eyes cold as she looked at Elissa.

Brunhilda didn’t like how Elissa let them take care of everything by themselves and her acerbic answer showed what she thought of her guildmaster at the moment. The other members of the guild stayed silent, they didn’t like how Brunhilda phrased it, but they agreed; it was only Asta who understood Elissa and her position, as she couldn’t be around anyone if she couldn’t control her powers.

“That’s… very well.” There was an uptick of pride in Elissa’s voice that made her not want to take this lying down but she desisted as she felt that she was clearly in the wrong too.

Elissa turned heel and didn’t bother even trying to listen to the sudden smack she heard behind her. She was sure Asta just hit Brunhilda on the shoulders. The young woman decided to go to the Majestic Temple and meditate there, at least it was silent there. But before that she needed to be presentable, Elissa put on a dark blue tunic, black riding breeches and boots behind the homes near the Mead Hall.

Dicinna had stealthily followed her intended and saw her walk toward the teleportation circle, until she disappeared in a pillar of light the dark elf asked herself where Elissa had gone? She tried to use the teleportation circle but couldn't access the last destination used without permission. Dicinna clicked her tongue.

*She has a lot of secrets that she doesn’t share with us.* Dicinna thought as she began to play with her braid.

The dark elf looked at the mithril ring on her left ring finger, it gave her partial control of certain functions of the wards in Aryther and Dragonfall. Dicinna tried to pinpoint the location of her intended via the magical item, the pocket realm’s ward showed her where the dwarves were accurately but didn’t for Elissa.

*Shit, those wards are smart.* Dicinna grumbled.

---

Majestic Temple 

Elissa knelt before Hekate’s statue and prayed for five minutes, asking for her Goddess to give her the strength to control her expanded abilities, and to protect her friends, lover and sister on Earth. After that she sat on the cold stone floor comfortably, the soft light of the water crystals in the cave gave off a soothing feeling; but that quickly changed as Elissa’s elemental mana discharged from her body.

Hekate saw what was happening, and manifested in her temple through the ice statue and put a finger on Elissa’s forehead, instilling calm in her Champion. Elissa stayed like that for another hour as she sagged in relief, her thoughts put to rest. As she opened her eyes, she saw Hekate before her and smiled at her.

“Mother Hekate.”

Elissa was happy to see her and that she had finally answered her prayers, the young woman had been trying to get ahold of her in the dreamscapes but it seemed that her goddess was otherwise engaged elsewhere.

“You have been having performance issues.” Hekate began to say.

Cold fingers began to brush Elissa’s hair who abandoned herself to the delightful feeling of being pampered by someone she had begun to consider part of her family.

“Yes…” Elissa wanted to cry, this problem had been tormenting her for a while now.

The goddess seemed to have made a decision, she was about to go back to Lekrys to deliver the weapon she had crafted for Liira’s champion. But that could wait, as her champion needed her; and if she had performance issues it could alter the future that she had crafted so perfectly.

“We have a day to speak about what troubles you, daughter.” Hekate sat at Elissa’s side.

“There are a lot of things that I do not understand, Mother Hekate.” Elissa said.

The young woman leaned on Hekate’s side, the goddess put an arm around her champion and grand daughter’s shoulders.

Hekate laughed. “Ask me questions and I might answer.”

Elissa froze for an instant, Hekate’s tone was similar to Malicia’s. Now that she thought about it, her goddess was really similar to her adoptive mother; however, Hekate was more honest than the Dae. Elissa looked at Hekate with a frown on her face.

“When you say things like that, you remind me of mo- I mean Malicia.” Elissa said to her Goddess.

Hekate smoothly avoided answering her by saying, “Therein lies the problem: Malicia.”

Elissa’s train of thought went screeching to a halt and a cold anger invaded her. “She’s part of the problem and many others born from her sending me to this planet.” The young woman said as her fist tightened so much that her knuckles cracked.

Hekate took her champion’s fist in her hands and sent another wave of calm into her, making Elissa let go of her anger and relax her body. For the goddess it wasn’t good that Elissa held a grudge, she was supposed to help Malicia later. She really needed those two to resolve their problems, though Malicia didn’t know that she had one yet. Her actions on Earth were going to bring her even more problems too, if Elissa ever learns of them.

“I think I know one of your questions, does Malicia love you or was she using you?” Hekate asked.

Elissa didn’t know how to react, but she should have; she was speaking with a goddess that seemed to have crafted her lineage and seemed to spy on her most of the time, she didn’t know what to think about that. “Hum, yes that’s-”

Hekate chuckled at her champion’s hesitation.

“A bit of both.” Hekate finally answered.

“Both?”

“Yes, both.”

“But both isn’t good in this situation!” Elissa said in anger.

“Elissa remember that Malicia isn’t human, she does not think like you. Hmm, how do I give you an explanation? Oh! Yes you might understand with this: do you still like Game of Swords?”

Elissa opened her eyes wide in alarm, “How do you kn-ah right, Goddess I forgot. I am not supposed to watch that series; but yes, I do like it.”

This was humiliating, the goddess knew that she was a pervert now. She liked the blood, the sex and the ruthlessness that she saw in it; to Elissa it showed an in depth analysis of what humans truly were and wanted.

“Then you know about Cersei Krannister’s life, right?” Hekate asked as she combed Elissa’s hair with her fingers, unmaking her ponytail.

As for Elissa, she was asking herself what was it with people wanting to do her hair? Dicinna and Dawn did the same, Sarah Jordan at least asked her.

“Yes, I don’t like her.” Elissa vehemently said.

Cersei was a monster, a woman that Elissa wouldn’t mind killing at all.

“She’s a bit similar to Malicia.” Hekate smiled as she said it, she knew what went on in Elissa’s mind.

Looking stricken, Elissa shook her head; her love for Malicia still burned in her heart and she knew her adoptive mother was far more genteel than this character. Hekate saw how Malicia had brainwashed Elissa into thinking that everything she did had a reason and to also look away from her bad actions. It was time to break her champion of this bad habit.

“In what? They have nothing in common.” Elissa said testily.

Hekate smiled at Elissa and flicked her forehead. “Oh yes they do, it’s all about their children and their love of them.”

“Oh.” Elissa should have known better.

The young woman knew how dangerous Malicia became when Cass or her were in danger. What happened in Europe after her rescue from her kidnapping was the perfect example.

“Malicia loves you and Cassandra to a fanatical degree. It was caused by what happened to her when she was just a child and she was turned into a hostage for the Phantasian throne.” Hekate wouldn't tell Elissa that it was her idea to link the Fae and Phantasia that caused it, though Ersha went harder on them than she thought she would.

“I don’t know what to say.” Elissa wrung her hands as she thought of how Malicia was in Daphne’s memories. An innocent girl that was bullied because she was different and turned into a cynical and dangerous person as the years went on.

Hekate saw when she began to make sense to her champion. “Elissa, Malicia has done and will continue to do ethically ambiguous acts to protect you and your family. When she attacked the Vatican, you didn’t take it well but she then convinced you that it was for a good reason and you closed your eyes to it. You shouldn’t have, I want you to be your own person Elissa; not Malicia’s puppet, do you understand?”

Tears flowed down Elissa’s cheek as she realized that everything Hekate was saying was true. She had closed her eyes to everything Malicia had done. The goddess wiped Elissa’s tears from her face.

“I promise I won’t be led astray anymore.” Elissa gave her oath.

Hekate smiled, already seeing the changes in her champion settle; her aura was steadily coming under control as this matter about Malicia was settled.

“Good. Now do you have any other questions?” Hekate asked, she checked the time and one hour had already passed.

Elissa thought furiously, and she finally found a question she wanted to have answers to. “Yes, it’s about something that is rather strange.” The young woman's expression looked thoughtful.

“Go on.” Hekate leaned against the pedestal her statue normally stood on.

“You see, there’s this dark elf called Dicinna; she and I seem to be soulmates…” Elissa said in a tone full of uncertainty.

Hekate chuckled, finally she asked something really relevant! The goddess nodded. “Oh that, yes she is your soulmate.”

“...” Elissa almost choked on her breath.

Hekate began to explain things to her, “I made a deal with the Dark Elven Goddess, Nodicea; but I can attest that she’s your soulmate.”

This wasn’t what she thought would be revealed, Elissa had thought that this was a mistake on Dicinna’s part but her hope was broken into so many tiny pieces that it was surely visible on her face. After calming down for a minute, Elissa had a nagging suspicion concerning how her life had been going lately.

Narrowing her eyes, Elissa asked. “What about Dawn Kisaragi, my girlfriend?”

“She’s another soulmate of yours.” Hekate revealed.

*Good the girl is catching on, I thought she would never do it, it seems that she’s not a muscle brained idiot like Ersha was.* The goddess thought.

“I don’t understand, I thought you could have only one?!”  Elissa was sure about that, but it seemed that there were more knowledge that she wasn’t aware of.

Normally no one can predict when soulmates would meet. When an individual meets their soulmate was when the souls were ready to meet. Fate and destiny contributed to the romantic bliss and happiness where both partners were so immersed in the strong karmic connection.

*But it seems that an elder god can know when soulmates will meet, and even engineer it.*

The relationship between soulmates had a certain magical, mystical feel to it. The love was so strong the chemistry was unexplainable and the sex was mind blowing. Destiny made sure these people found each other and gave two people the opportunity to have a fabulous relationship, to grow as people and to learn valuable lessons.

Hekate knew how the mechanics of fate worked and shamelessly took advantage of them, this was how she could be proud of her achievement in engineering Elissa’s bloodline and obtaining a champion without having to choose one from the masses on Phantasia. Her new friend, Liira had done the same with her own, but she was more hands on than her with Shiwan Zel Reis. Hekate prefered to let Elissa choose her way and just correcting her course if she deviated.

The goddess continued to speak. “See, your soul was too powerful and your body would not have been able to sustain it, this generally makes people like that sick for life; so I had to divide the soul -yours- I had prepared into three. That’s how Dawn and Dicinna came into being.”

Elissa felt manipulated, as if her life was a means to an end. Her cold aura leaked out of her as negative emotions filled her mind. “Why are you doing this, Mother Hekate? It seems that every aspect of my life is under your control.”

Hekate shook her head and flicked Elissa’s forehead yet again. “Don’t be silly, girl. You have free will, this is something that I cannot take away from you.”

The goddess didn’t need a robot or a slave, she needed someone who was able to choose. Elissa’s feelings settled, Hekate had a way to reassure her that she appreciated. However, those finger flicks of hers were deadly. Elissa rubbed her forehead, healing it with her power.

“Do I really love them for themselves?” Elissa subtly asked her goddess if she had engineered their relationship.

“Dawn and Dicinna?” Hekate caught on, but decided not to answer that.

“Yes.” Elissa waited for an answer.

Hekate answered with, “Only you can answer that, I am not in your head. What are you going to do about them?”

Elissa’s doubts cleared, “My feelings won’t change.”

“Good, do you have any other questions?” Hekate asked, she felt that the conversation was winding down. That Elissa was almost satisfied.

Elissa stared meaningfully at her Goddess. “My powers, how can I control them?”

Hekate didn’t think the young woman would ask. “Training, a lot of training. But you should first exhaust your mana and cosmic energy before trying to get used to your new strength and abilities.”

“Huh?” Elissa frowned.

She had not thought of weakening herself first to be able to control her magic and abilities. But would this help? Her mana and cosmic energy tank seemed to fill quickly as of late.

“Trust me, your body will get used to it and you’ll be able to control yourself more easily. And Dicinna was right, you need to meditate on your feelings.” The goddess assured her.

The dark elf was right and it flummoxed her, apologize? Not say anything? Elissa would know when she saw Dicinna next. “Fine.”

Hekate disturbed Elissa train of thought and said, “I have some advice to give you.”

“Oh?” Intrigued, Elissa showed that she was eager to listen to Hekate.

The goddess smiled at Elissa who put a hand on her arm as a sign of familiarity. “You found a book recently in the dumb Dragoness’ lair.”

Elissa snorted in laughter at how Hekate described Siodhanth. “What kind of book?” She asked when she recovered from the bout of hilarity.

“It’s a book about Blood wards and High Level Forbiddance spells; you should set them up on Emerald Island and while you are at it, you should make a little temple for me there too.”

Blood wards were a nasty piece of magic, there were two settings on them: Warning and Lethal. They were tied to the owner or family of the owner of the area they protected. They could be configured to give warnings to those that attempted to pass them the first time and the second time they would destroy the intruder.

“Ok, I will! I wanted to make Emerald Island my getaway home too anyway.” Elissa said, she was thinking of creating a place where no one but those she considers family could enter.

*I will throw in a Magical shield too while I am at it.* She thought.

Hekate hugged Elissa. “Good girl, hmm it’s been three hours. How do you feel?”

“I feel free, reassured.” Elissa said as she let go of the tension that she didn’t know she was feeling before.

“You should be careful with your emotional balance, Elissa.” Hekate said as she let go of Elissa and stood up.

The platinum blonde did the same, she blinked and suddenly Hekate’s statue was back on its pedestal. Elissa shook her head and was happy to have had this little get together with her granny and she made a decision that would be an important one in the future.

“I will not let it get this bad again.” Elissa said in a decisive tone.

---

Day 59
6th of Hematite, Morning
Pocket Realm of Aryther

Elissa woke up with her elf in her arms, she was used to it now but each time Dicinna hugged her tightly seeking the cool temperature of her body. When Hekate revealed that Dicinna was right, Elissa’s resistance melted and she ended up grudgingly accepting the situation, letting things go on naturally. The young woman permitted herself a short lie in of forty minutes before disentangling herself from Dicinna’s embrace and replacing her body with her pillow for the dark elf to hug.

As usual, Elissa saw that breakfast had been prepared and the smell of a particular demoness wafted through the air. The young woman disliked how long it was taking Reinatiel to make her decision; from the familiar link she knew Fenirael had already chosen her, but that the Demon mage was wavering between duty toward Malicia and love for her.

Walking toward the kitchenette, Elissa was careful not to go into overdrive like she so obviously did when she moved now. On Earth she would be classified as a low beta speedster and she couldn’t control herself just yet.

Elissa heard Dicinna waking up, she looked toward the bed and watched as the dark elf noticed that she was hugging a pillow instead of the sun-elf.

“Elissa.” Dicinna whined as she didn’t feel her favorite body pillow on the bed with her.

The platinum blonde rolled her eyes and said, “Here.”

Dicinna blinked as she found her intended near the kitchen partition of the Yurt. “Ah, there you are. I smell food.”

The dark elf smelled that delicious wolf meat and waffles with giant bee honey. Elissa had access to princely and luxurious foods on the surface and Dicinna loved it. The young woman made a come on gesture to her dark elf, “Yes, c’mere we need food for today.”

Breakfast was convivial, Dicinna was still joined at the hip with Elissa; they literally did everything together this morning and it pleased the dark elf. After eating their fill, the two girls put on their training gear consisting of brown tunics, black breeches and dwarfish soft leather boots.

As they exited the Yurt, the celestial dome of Elissa’s new home stretched, blue and cloudy; the more powerful sun bore down on the couple.

“What are we going to do today?” Dicinna asked Elissa.

Their entwined fingers giving her comfort making the dark elf appreciate the start of the day. Elissa turned her head to Dicinna and smiled; her hair and skin shone under the sun making her give off an ethereal glow that caught the eyes. It certainly had that effect on the dark elf.

“I am going to exhaust my mana and my cosmic energy.” Elissa let go of Dicinna and all of a sudden a blue aura surrounded her giving off an intense cold.

The dark elf stepped away from her intended, she didn’t understand what this cosmic energy was and that bothered her. “Cosmic energy?”

Elissa turned her head abruptly and stared at Dicinna with wide eyes. “You don’t know what it is?”

Dicinna shook her head, she suddenly felt self conscious.

Still generating her cold aura, Elissa held her hand to Dicinna with her palm open and the young woman manifested a white ball of energy. “Cosmic energy is an energy field that binds everything together in the material plane and gives life to beings and enables them to evolve and thrive. It represents the tangible energy that exists in the present here and now, which flows about all things to allow beings to be manipulated or gain abilities and be able to be sensitive to things beyond our six senses.”

Elissa gave her elf an academic reply, this was also what she noticed the more she manipulated this energy. It bolstered cellular regeneration and enabled telepaths to communicate. There were infinite uses for this energy field that Elissa still thought was sentient. The body was like a circuit board, the soul like a software and with the cosmic energy flowing through it, abilities might be born; it all depended on the DNA and other factors.

Dicinna’s pondering face brightened, “It kind of makes me thinks of nature energy.”

“I think it’s one and the same, but my people call it cosmic energy as it comes from the stars and spatial anomalies.”

A spatial anomaly is a very broad term for any sort of extraordinary disruption in the space-time continuum like wormholes, astronomical objects, subspace compression anomalies or dimensional portals; there were an untold number of events that generated cosmic energy. Yet again, cosmic energy was a broad term, as there were differences in type: living energy, unified energy, cosmic energy was just the more common.

For example, beings such as Ancient humans converted the cosmic energy generated by the stars into living energy to fuel their power hungry body cells, the unified energy was the energy they gave back to their environment. This was one of the early discoveries that was the backbone of the technology of the ancient humans as it powered their armor or life appliances until they discovered mana.

Dicinna had a really limited understanding of what her intended was speaking about, she was just a warrior. “Very well, hum... how much time is it going to take until your tanks are dry?”

Closing her eyes, Elissa analyzed herself and as she gauged her reserve she realized something truly wondrous. “I just realized that I have a really large mana core now, and to empty my body of sufficient energy… another hour.”

Dicinna was impressed, “The mana is going to be more difficult to bleed off, your realm will want to sustain you and inject you with more mana.”

Elissa smirked, jumping up excitedly. “I have a better idea, I will spend my mana while doing useful things for the Fluffies.” She said.

Dicinna frowned at Elissa. “The what?”

“I meant the Lutrinians.” Elissa corrected herself.

The dark elf shook her head in disappointment, now she knew why Elissa treated her people like children. She found them cute, as if they were animals she had to take care of, “Elissa those are people, not pets.”

The young woman knew that, but her protective instincts and the fragile psyche of the Lutrinians made her want to mother them. “I can’t help it, I see them as mine and they are so cute.”

Dicinna understood that Elissa’s heart was in the right place, after all, she offered those beings that were previously enslaved a place to stay and abundant food and even taught them magic. The white haired dark elf began to play with her braid, thinking about how those people were being treated all over Svartalfheim and chose to inform Elissa about it, “You know… they are killed on sight by my people and the dwarves.”

The atmosphere grew frosty and a sheet of ice spread on the ground from Elissa, causing Dicinna to backpedal to avoid getting frostbite.

“What? They dare?!” Elissa shouted, and as she finished her sentence the sky darkened as storm clouds formed, spewing lightning and thunder rumbled.

“I should have kept my mouth shut.” Dicinna grumbled, chastising herself.

It took ten minutes for Elissa to calm down and think straight, like a caged lion the platinum blonde prowled in circles until she finally looked at Dicinna who was waiting for her intended to speak to her and she asked, “Why are they doing it?”

Dicinna shrugged. “They don’t understand them I think, it’s reason enough for other race to treat them as if they were pests and non-sentient beings, even though they have tools, and know how to clothe themselves. I never liked it, but there are jobs in the adventurer's guild to exterminate some of their settlements.”

An evil smile that didn’t reach Elissa’s eyes formed on her lips. “I see, remind me to complain about this later when we get one of your cities.”

It alarmed Dicinna, she knew how her intended was when she identified an enemy. “Elissa, you don’t need to destroy…”

“Who said anything about destroying? I will just appeal to their sense of survival.” Elissa tilted her head and stared at Dicinna coldly.

Not specifically at her, but Dicinna felt goosebumps. “You seriously scare me and turn me on, at the same time.”

“I’m doing something right then.” Elissa whispered.

With that problem pushed to the back of her mind, Elissa went down toward the gates of the fortress and decided to do some alchemy and civil engineering for the Lutrinians. It all began with Elissa creating lamp posts with fire crystals providing light between clusters of wooden houses; for the dock she placed a lamp post every five meters, lighting the way. Elissa also made a mooring affixed to the pier for her ship to dock to.

It wasn’t enough, her mana was barely spent and she still had a lot in her core. So, Elissa decided to build a second pier to the east of the Fortress; she would make it wider, somewhere for people to relax, have stalls or enjoy the view. It was destined to be more of a marketplace. This project took out a good part of her mana as Elissa finished transmuting and reinforcing the square pylons into granite.

The pier looked crude but she thought that it could be worked on by the labourers who would come next when her deal with High-Queen Vanhylde would be finalized. As a finishing touch, Elissa created lamp posts and emplacements for gardening, which she intended to make beautiful. In her mind plans and schematics were drawing themselves, she needed to lay them on paper to give directions of what she wanted to the dwarven architects.

When this was done, Elissa thought about adding pincer gates to the two entrances. A pincer gate was a gate in a fortification that was deeply embedded between two inward angled exterior walls. Those wishing to enter the fort would have to approach what was in effect a sunken road and, if hostile, could be attacked from both side walls in a pincer fashion.

Dicinna looked bored when Elissa finished creating and linking them to the wards of her fortress. The platinum blonde noticed that the Sisterhood had created a permanent fortification built by Narsenelyn. It was a fortified round tower of grey stones of at least thirty meters in height, really close to the southern wall near her Yurt and teleportation circle.

“Those dwarves move fast, they already built a home.” Elissa commented.

The dark elf and Elissa walked to the round fortifications and examined them. Narsenelyn seemed to know how to build structures, the tower’s walls were smooth and there was even this modern feel that she saw in Nirnyahr. It didn’t look old, but sturdy and the way it was shaped also showed Elissa that it was resistant to siege technology such as sappers and projectiles, magical or physical. There was magic in those stone walls.

“You were too busy being sorry for yourself to notice.” Dicinna reprimanded.

Elissa’s examination came to a flinching halt, she turned to the dark elf, narrowed her eyes and said with sarcasm, “Well excuse me for being worried about not wanting to kill my friends by accident.”

Crossing her arms under her breast, the platinum blonde tried to look imposing but the pout on her face broke the impression she tried to convey.

“I know, but you worry too much.” Dicinna conceded grudgingly and then swatted Elissa’s bottom.

All it did was make Elissa furious and almost retaliate, but she stopped herself as she might hurt Dicinna.

“If I didn’t like you, I’d punch you.” The platinum blonde said.

Dicinna grinned. “You’d try.”

Elissa and Dicinna were similar this way, they never backed down. They just kept going! Elissa noticed that even in her hardest times, those events often led to the greatest moments in her life; she met Dicinna after battling Siodhanth after all. Dicinna and her seemed made from the same mold, it seemed to the platinum blonde that the dark elf was in a similar position to her.

Tough situations build strong people.

“Hmph. Oh.” Elissa flinched as she finally reached her goal.

Dicinna reacted to her intended flinching. “What?”

Elissa pondered on how to explain what she felt to Dicinna. “I am at a quarter of my mana and almost empty of cosmic energy. I think it’s time to really try to get used to my strength and powers now.”

“Finally!” Dicinna’s mood brightened. “We will be able to spar!” The dark elf took hold of Elissa’s hand and brought her to the training grounds in the southern part of the fortress.

The training grounds were the size of a football field, there were archery targets and there was a copse of trees bordering it. The ground was sandy enough to cushion falls and impacts, Elissa had wanted to create the same ground texture present in the Amazon complex’s arena. Under the cloudy sky, Elissa and Dicinna faced each other; the young woman already felt sluggish and a bit tired.

“So, Elissa. How fast can you move when you are exhausted?”

As if to answer her, Elissa lunged toward Dicinna who for once saw her move like flowing water toward her to grab her. The dark elf avoided the tackle by sidestepping but Elissa swayed to the side correcting her course and caught her by the arm.

“What?!” But Dicinna’s surprise quickly passed as she found the strength to bring Elissa down onto the sand with her in a grappling match.

Elissa was still as strong as ever, but without her cosmic energy to fuel her body it seemed that she was back to her previous strength level, the one she had when she landed on this planet. What impressed the young woman was how powerful Dicinna was, basically the same level as her. Was she a superpowered elf?

“Urgh.” Dicinna succeeded in getting Elissa into a choke hold.

“Do you give up?” The dark elf whispered in Elissa’s ear.

Elissa nodded and tapped twice on Dicinna’s arm; the dark elf didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment in doing so, she knew that her intended was more than weakened. Her panting breaths were a clear sign of that. The two stood up and Dicinna decided to go on the offensive this time. Elissa was on the defensive as Dicinna tried to grab her arms this time but she batted her hands away, crouched and tried to sweep the dark elf’s feet.

Dicinna jumped and as she moved behind Elissa’s back she put a hand on her shoulder, grabbed her  tunic and heaved the young woman into the air to then throw her on the ground. Elissa rolled with the impact and stood to find Dicinna’s leg coming for her head. Thanks to her innate ability to make her body match her mental speed she caught the dark elf’s leg and rotated on herself and threw Dicinna away from her thanks to the centrifugal force.

It gave Elissa time to calm herself, she found that Dicinna was an excellent close quarters combat fighter; she had let herself be pulled into her rhythm too easily. Elissa adopted a combat stance and spread her awareness around her, not too far, just a sphere a few meters around herself. A portal cracked open behind Elissa and she was immediately attacked by Dicinna who telegraphed a hold technique, it didn’t work as the young woman turned toward the dark elf and punted her back through her portal.

Elissa turned in the other direction where the other portal was open and dashed to it, pushing her awareness inward, reducing it to a thin layer above her skin. It was a combination of her instincts and one of the Inshek techniques Damian Snow excelled at; Dicinna righted herself in the air and burst into motion, realizing that just grappling with Elissa wasn’t enough and agilely charged Elissa, intent on punching her.

The platinum blonde leaned her head to the right and avoided being hit, and struck Dicinna with a palm strike in the middle of her body. Enduring the pain, the dark elf caught Elissa’s arm before being thrown back by the impact, however the young woman broke her hold by turning her arm clockwise.

Elissa jumped back with a somersault and crouched; Dicinna didn’t attack this time, she was busy contemplating how strong her intended was when she caught her bearings. One moment she could contend with Elissa and another she became difficult to catch, like one of those lightning eels from the lake she had tried to catch.

The dark elf blinked and Elissa was already on her, with all her strength and speed she kicked by doing a large circular motion with both feet in succession, making herself airborne. Elissa avoided the butterfly kick by going down and then rising to catch Dicinna by the throat, but it didn’t stop her as the dark elf grappled the young woman’s arms with her legs forcing her on the ground and straddling her.

“I win.” Dicinna said, having her intended between her legs warmed her core.

Elissa clicked her tongue, she had felt some measure of control on her body at its most weakened state. “You win, for now.”

Dicinna nodded, not getting a big head for having defeated her intended in two spars in a row. Now she was imagining what it would be like to fight Elissa at full strength and she shuddered, there would be nothing she would have been able to do.

“Cinna.” Elissa called the dark elf out.

Dicinna’s eyes fell on Elissa’s annoyed face. “Yes?”

“Get off me.” Elissa ordered.

Dicinna’s eyes narrowed at Elissa’s tone, it seemed that her victory made her angry. “No.” She said leaning forward to the platinum blonde’s face.

“Do it.” Elissa eyes went cold.

The dark elf smiled, “What are the magic words?”

Elissa stayed silent for a moment and made a frustrated growl that elicited a grin from Dicinna. “Can you get off me, please?”

Dicinna stood up and held her hand to Elissa who took it and was helped up onto her feet, she took advantage of this to quickly kiss the young woman on the lips and run away. Elissa went after her, to beat her up.

This is how the next eight days passed, Elissa was getting more and more control back to herself as she emptied her mana and cosmic energy at different levels and got used to her full power. Dicinna couldn’t compete anymore physically so they began to test Elissa’s speed and strength through an impromptu obstacle course built by Narsenelyn who had liked the challenge to go crazy with it.

It was good training, parkour was one of Elissa’s weaknesses but Dicinna helped her getting the hang of it. The obstacle course took half the training ground space and consisted of walls, stone blocks and climbing towers linked by steel cables. Elissa would love to show this place to Tabitha and Tsarra, they would have a blast.

In the Mead Hall, the sixty-seventh day of Elissa’s presence on Svartalfheim; Brunhilda finally came forward to Elissa and apologized to her for her reactions from the other day. Elissa knew it was fatigue and sleepless nights that had made her react this way so she forgave her dwarven friend. Aryther’s ruler then began to ask about the extermination job from the adventurer’s guild and if something could be done.

Brunhilda became nervous as she caught Elissa’s mood when she spoke about this state of affairs. “Aye, ye just have tae take them all in and place them under yer protection.”

“That is a big project.” Elissa’s cold eyes didn’t change when the dwarf princess offered her this solution.

The more she built Aryther, the more she found things to do; Elissa didn’t like politics; however, she wouldn’t give up what she had built. Aryther was home, her base of operation. She couldn’t wait to bring Dawn and Cassandra here. Tsarra would love this place and surely accept to help her with it and introduce some of her people.

“There aren’t a lot of them.” Brunhilda assured avoiding looking at Elissa in the eye.

*Holaf only knew what would happen if people killed them now, Elissa would enter a war with her people.* Brunhilda quickly excused herself to go write a magical letter to her parents telling them about this situation.

Elissa shrugged, knowing now that she had enough clout to influence the Dwarven Kingdom’s policy concerning the wild Lutrinian tribes on Svartalfheim. A plan already formed in her mind, she would just use the same operating mode that the Portuguese Missionaries used in Japan and send some of her fluffies to meet with the wild tribes to induct them into Aryther.

Dicinna entered the Mead Hall, she was clothed in her armor and had her weapon on her, she looked really sad. Elissa stood and walked up to her elf, and took her gloved hand in hers.

“Is there something wrong?” Elissa asked with a frown on her face.

Dicinna nodded. “I have to leave.”

“What? No, stay.” Elissa hugged her elf tightly to her body.

This couldn’t be happening, she just found her and thought that they had all the time in the world to get to know each other. “Is there a reason why this is happening now?”

There was no other way that her elf would leave her just like that.

Dicinna wrung her hands as she explained, “I received a magical letter from my mother, there’s trouble in the clan and I must help. Succession problems.”

Kiomdra, her mother, had her hands full with teaching the business to Lerrina her elder sister. If there were problems it was surely Lerrina’s fault. Dicinna couldn’t understand why the clan wanted Lerrina or herself to inherit the Matriarch position, Ocima was a good choice even if she is bossy and stubborn.

Elissa narrowed her eyes, another political problem. “Are you sure that you should go?”

This might get ugly, and her instinct told her to not let her elf go right now.

Sighing heavily, Dicinna answered. “I made a deal with mother, I am free to go where I please, but when she needs me then I must come help.”

“I don’t like it.” Elissa hugged Dicinna again.

The dark elf had grown on her and the revelation that she was as precious to her as Dawn made letting her Dicinna go difficult.

“Me neither, I want to stay with you forever.” Dicinna revealed. The Dark elf was in love for the first time in her life.

Elissa didn’t fight herself anymore, she looked into Dicinna’s eyes who sensed the young woman’s intention and slipped her hands around the blonde’s neck. Their eyes closed as they kissed, softly at first but then with increasing passion. Elissa wanted to drown in those lips. She felt so unbelievably good, and tasted so intoxicating, and-

Dicinna broke their kiss gently, looking down and stepping away. “I will return, Elissa. You’ll have time to think about us, and then we can talk.”

Breathing heavily, wanting nothing more than to continue inhaling her scent and tasting that kiss, Elissa shook and finally got control of herself. “Very well.” She said. “Very well.” The young woman stepped back from her elf, it was an act of will to not catch her and imprison her in her Yurt. But Elissa curbed her instincts and let go.

Dicinna felt the same, she didn’t want to leave but she wouldn’t be the person she was if she could easily betray her family. “Permission to open a long distance portal?” She asked Elissa.

“You have my permission. Get back to me as fast as you can, don’t force me to come looking for you.” Elissa said solemnly.

Dicinna smiled at that, opened a red portal and the wards placed on the pocket realm let her do so. She turned and sent a kiss to Elissa who mimed that she caught it and placed her hand on her lips; the dark elf smiled and entered the portal. Elissa looked at the landscape in the otherside intently, then the portal closed.

Elissa let go of her aura and walked out of the Mead Hall, not wanting to damage the furniture and the building. The Lutrinians knew to avoid her when she was in that state, so they stayed back, just watching her. The platinum blonde unfurled her spiritual wings, looked at the sky. As she bent her knees, Elissa pushed off with her wings and catapulted herself into the air.

She flew in the sky to let her pain go away, flying over her territory as the apex predator that she was. Elissa was soon joined by Rilo and Aghri in their giant forms who flew at her side, protecting her and showing her maneuvers that she unconsciously copied, letting her instincts take over.

Thinking about what happened to her since she arrived on Svartalfheim, Elissa narrowed her eyes when she thought that she had one loose-end that she wished to take care of. People who had almost killed her and hunted her down like an animal.

Elissa hovered in the sky, saw that she was already in Emerald island’s airspace and she chose to land. Rilo and Aghri followed her and looked around, having never been to this part of Aryther.

“Rilo, Aghri.” Elissa called out to her two pseudodragons.

<Yes?> The two familiars answered in unison.

Elissa took Gram from her dimensional sheath and twirled her in her hand. “In one day, we are leaving. We are going to go after Thafnoris.”

Finally after so much time, Gram will taste blood again! The sword spirit let out her song as she rent the air each time Elissa moved and practiced her Inshek Sword katas. Elissa placed her right foot before her, holding her sword with two hands, then she slid her left foot forward and slid her right one back cutting horizontally with Gram.

<Revenge?> Rilo asked.

She was liking this plan more and more, it meant more meat for her.

Elissa shook her head. “No, I will conquer it.”

They tried to take away her life, now she will take away what truly mattered to them; their power and influence and make them kneel. It was too bad that Dicinna couldn’t participate, she would have loved doing it.

Rilo slapped the ground with her tail, creating a crater. <Finally something to do, I thought I was about to go to nest soon.>

<What’s so bad about that, don’t you want my babies?> Aghri complained.

He wanted to make cute babies with his mate, they have been at it for the last few days.

Rilo pushed Aghri’s head with her left wing lovingly. <Sure Aghri, but not now. You and Elissa must create the bestest nest first.>

As she was executing a forward thrust with Gram and the shadow opponent’s sword she was fighting moved up, she redirected the initial strike to his head to become a thrust to the chest area. Elissa stopped moving and looked at Rilo with a frown.

“Why am I involved?” Elissa asked.

The female pseudodragon gave her a serpentine smile. <You are the mistress.>

“Ok, then. I will first need to secure Emerald island and you’ll have your nest here. I intend to put my Yurt permanently here once the dwarves come to build my palace.”

Without warning, Reinatiel appeared before Elissa and knelt before her. “I pledge myself to you Elissa.”

The platinum blonde looked at the demoness’ eyes and saw tears in them. Elissa dismissed Gram into her dimensional sheath and crouched next to her friend, and said, “I know what I asked you two sisters to do wasn’t easy.”

Fenirael appeared, her giant sword on her armored shoulder. The warrior demoness was smiling then planted her sword in the ground.

“No it wasn’t easy. But now I can be one hundred percent with my true mistress.” Fenirael said and then she finally made a double take as she looked at her mistress’ wings.

“Did I miss something?” Fenirael asked as she leaned against the blade of her giant sword.

Elissa knew what Fenirael was talking about and opened her wings manipulated them to cover Reinatiel and her. “Yes, you could say that.”

The demoness felt comfortable in Elissa’s embrace, her wings were slightly cold. Elissa kissed Reinatiel’s brows and played with her silky black hair and said to her two demonesses. “Break the bond with Malicia.”

Without hesitating the golden colored metaphysical bonds shared by Malicia and Elissa broke for a moment, then swiftly reformed to bind itself to the platinum blonde. It was thicker and took more mana from Elissa to sustain it; however, she didn’t care that it was greedy and let her mana flow between her two familiars and her.

Aryther itself fed mana to Elissa to help them complete the bonding. Elissa was happy, everything was going well.

As she looked at Reinatiel. “You will never regret choosing me, girls. I love you.”

Fenirael put herself on her knees and was instantly included in their group hug. The two demoness answered together. “We love you too.”

Meanwhile on Earth, in a certain pocket dimension; Malicia flinched when she felt the bond with Reinatiel and Fenirael break. Panicking, she teleported to the Sanctum to scry with her magic mirror and try to find out what happened.