---

Elinor put her weight on her left hip as she appraised the Legend, groaning like an old man while opening his dull, blind eyes and smacking his lips; she was fairly sure it was mostly exaggerated.

“Sleep well?”  she asked, moving to the still-lit campfire to sit on a log, where one of the butlers was finishing up breakfast for the man.  “I certainly hope so, considering the five-star treatment I’ve been giving you and the fact we have a very long day ahead of us.”

Roman stretched out and forced himself up, rolling his neck while reaching for his blue-tinted glasses beside him.  He found them without hesitation and slipped them on with a yawn.  Standing up, he sniffed and promptly rolled up his sleeping bag before slinking to a log to join her.

“Not everyone has an undead body with unlimited stamina and knights to go fetch her souls through the night, Empress…  The damn jungle is noisy when the sun goes down, too.”

Elinor smirked, shaking her head as the butler offered her some of the wild meat and eggs he’d procured with some help from the Horsemen.  “Always peeping, Roman.  When aren’t you looking?  Can you even spy in your sleep?”

“Good questions,” he grunted with another yawn.  “Smells good, Christian.  Mornin’, Edmon; I see the Empress was busy through the night by all those new bo staves,” he noted, her father nodding with a tilted head in response while shaving off a fifth branch into the weapon since he’d destroyed all of her stock throughout their intense practice session.

A low rumble shook her father’s throat as he inspected the piece he was making.  “I’ve wondered how strong these Seeds made you as a Legendkin compared to my daughter as a Mythickin.  Care to spar at some point and find out?”

Sipping at his hot drink with a satisfied hiss, he rubbed his fairly trimmed beard for the wild and laughed.  “I’d love to, but as I said earlier, I need to save my strength for when I need it, unlike the Empress here, who can restock at any time; I also don’t have a garrison of strong bodyguards constantly around me.  I’ve been working off two hours of sleep a day for over a month, and damn, days are long here.”

“Fair,” her father chuckled.  “Tiffany’s in the cave, still studying the web, but you already knew that.  She’s been glued to the wall in there.”

Roman’s stomach shook while inspecting his handed plate.  “She seems like the obsessive type.  Did she find anything interesting?  Wooh…”

He took the first bite of his food with an impressed nod at the butler.  “Tastes like heaven, Christian, unlike the shit I’ve eaten since comin’ here.  A meal like this might make me stick around Nethermore more often.”

“Nethermore?”  Elinor asked, shooting a questioning look at her father, who shrugged and gave her a brief explanation.

“It’s what some people are calling the home we’re building.  Apparently, it’s a play on words some of the detractors are calling the home base or ri’bot lake ‘concentration camp’ since nether means ‘below in position.’  They’re always of the lower class, which is ironic since the undead basically do the vast majority of the work.”

She rubbed her chin with a half-smile.  “It has a certain ring to it that I like…  Nethermore.  Sounds sinister.  Creative on their part, but I suppose they have the time to laze around and make up their own stories…  We’ll have to change that soon.

“As for Tiffany,” Elinor said, vision returning to Roman, “she has been growing increasingly frustrated and excited by the complexity of these new proteins and elements found in the silk.  According to her, every thread is uniquely crafted to function in a specific way that appears to give the idea that the entire cavern is a massive sensory hive.”

Roman sniffed loudly before clearing his throat.  “Impressive.  And these little creatures have somehow tapped into that to some degree?  Huh.  So, before we really start digging into this nest, care to enlighten me as to the new dangers you’ve discovered?  I’ve been hearing some things from the Clanless that might connect to a bigger picture, but I don’t have the network for that like you.  Some odd figures are moving about.”

Crossing her legs, Elinor’s eyes narrowed as her lips tilted upward, receiving constant reports from the network her father set up back at ‘Nethermore’ from the game of telephone.  Not one clue had come of her investigation into her missing corpse, which actually narrowed down the possible culprits.

Her braid tilted to the left with her head.  “Why does it seem like you’re dragging this out with all this friendly banter?  I’ve waited all night for this corpse you’d promised.  I’m on a clock, Roman—five days and counting.”

Her curiosity rose as the man reached into a pack beside his log to take out a plastic bag with some kind of herb.  He took out a rather square leaf, rolled it up, and stuck the end near the fire to light it.  Taking a drag, he puffed out the sweet-smelling smoke with a short chuckle.

“I knew you would gravitate to the stronger contenders in the valley to obtain legitimacy, which is why I made myself useful in traveling among the homeless and outcasts, which you’d naturally pass up in favor of more connected and organized groups.  You are playing a zero-sum game, after all.”

He rolled up a second and offered it to Christian, continuing his low conversation.

“You’ve got reach, Empress, and a decent mind behind it, but you’re still young.”

Elinor’s smile grew.  “Bold of you to call me incompetent.”

“Far from it,” he returned.  “And while your father and former mother have excellent advice and guidance, it is specialized.  There are things you still lack, and I’ve been maneuvering myself to fill that gap so I could make use of your power while puzzling you out.  Certainly, you aren’t your average teenager,” he grunted, his eyebrows raising in a way to say it was self-evident.

Christian looked at her, and Elinor waved her hand in a dismissive gesture that said she didn’t care; he was building toward something.

“Go on,” Elinor whispered, interested to see where he would take this topic.

The butler took the burning leaf and tested out the herb, face twisting in a way that said it certainly hit different.  Roman chuckled and held the leaf between his fingers before scooping up some more eggs from his wooden plate.

“Courtesy of the northeastern packs of Clanless.  Ahem.  And what I’m saying, Empress, is that I have shown myself to be useful twice already in the form of my insight into the Clanless and here at the cave.  Five days are more than enough for me to give you what we both want.”

Fingers folding around her crossed knee, Elinor’s bright green eyes drilled into the casually eating Legend after a statement like that; her Royal Court offered their own thoughts in the short, ensuing silence.  For once, the pair were somewhat in agreement.

“You can train me to battle in this tournament, and I suppose it would be by this Legend’s Quest?  It’s hard to trust a crafty man, Roman,” she whispered, a cool breeze picking up and making the canopy sway, rustling the leaves.  “Yes, you’ve shown yourself resourceful.”

Roman hissed at the reductive framing, popping his tongue a few times as she continued.

“Still, resourceful you may be, you’re not loyal to me or my cause.  You’re only interested in your own benefit, which is still a mystery to me and, therefore, a major risk letting you in closer.”

“Not necessarily true or wrong,” he mused, twirling his fork with a stabbed piece of meat on it.  “You’ve been testing me to see my fruits, thus far.  I’m not so selfish as to only think of myself…  I just have yet to meet a cause I’m willing to join…  Yet.  You’re close, though.”

The flickering fire in the moderate breeze reflected on his sunglasses as the Legend turned his head toward the cave, Tiffany exiting to enter the round circle.

“Hmm.  I think we’ll learn a lot about each other in the next few days.  That is, if we can be more honest and open with each other, then I think we can overcome the block we’ve both hit.  Tiffany!  The Queen of Evil herself, radiantly devious, as always.”

The Witch Queen giggled at his toothy smile and semi-mocking gesture of a greeting.  “So… you’ve hit a barrier in your levels, I take it, by your prior comment.  An admission, if true, that delivers quite a generous degree of faith in us.  An old wolf in new fur; this change has certainly hidden the man you used to be, General, but we can’t be the only side you’ve talked to.  Can you at least admit to that?”

Roman set his fork on his plate and leaned back to stare up at the morning rays peeking through the canopy.  He worked around his jaw before puffing on his homebrew joint and dissecting the witch’s worded dagger.

“Mmm.  I’m loyal, my yellow star fruit.  I was in service to my country my entire life…  Am I scouting the sides?  Absolutely,” he said in his gravelly tone, head lowering to stare at her through his blue sunglasses.

“I’m more of a strategist and advisor than a combatant.  I don’t have an army, and you do, with ample room to grow.  That alone makes you a powerful contender for an ally, and only a fool would think otherwise, given your track record.  Also, an advisor only holds weight to those who can trust that advice, sparking a need for rapport.”

Elinor’s eyes creased as she sat forward with his next statement.

“I can see you’re hitting walls you haven’t been able to crack, and if I can see that, eventually, others will, as well.  You’re trying to bolster your physical prowess, but I think that’s the wrong direction, at least at this critical junction.”

“That’s the second time you’ve insinuated I’m incompetent in this conversation,” she challenged.

“On the contrary, and you know it,” Roman whispered, finishing his herb and tossing it into the fire.  “Don’t get me wrong, you are a natural prodigy, without a doubt in my mind.  But an intelligent leader knows they cannot do everything alone, and you happen to be on the more intelligent side of that spectrum, from what I’ve witnessed.”

He motioned to Tiffany and her father.  “How about a compromise, since I completed my task in identifying the threat that you charged me with during our previous encounter, have I not?  You know what is destroying your undead.  Now, we need a new agreement since I’ve fulfilled my contractual obligation.”

Tiffany glared at the Legend, her black heart twisting with the desire to leash him under her control.  Elinor did find the black-haired general to be quite dubious, and even more so after the Prume’s visit.

Damn, I am becoming paranoid ever since my body went missing, she snarled to her two advisors.

Listening to the pair bicker and argue about which direction to go, Elinor made her decision but wanted to confirm her suspicions herself.

“You have your own agenda; of that, I’m sure.  You’re working on a bigger picture and need my help to get off the ground, similar to how I played the ri’bot clans.  I need something, my time is valuable, and you have a solution…  You’re exploiting me.”

“Maybe a little,” Roman said with a dismissive grunt.  “Aren’t we all exploiting whoever and whatever we can to get what we want?  I will say you strike me as far more agreeable and palatable than some unstable cult who follow the dictates of some mysterious deity with unknown motives anyway.  I’m fairly confident in your goals.  Others?  Not so much.  Hah.  I can tell Tiffany here wants to skin me.”

A sweet smile lifted the witch’s eyes.  “Oh, that is so cute and innocent.”

“Haha!  Queen of Evil, indeed,” he breathed.  “Well, will we continue doing business, or am I to be shooed off your land—maybe turned into a devoted undead underling?”

A light upward turn came to the corner of Elinor’s lip.  “How about I listen to what you want, and I will tell you what I want.  So far, you have been helpful.  When you fail to be otherwise…  We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Scary!”  He grinned, showing his teeth.  “I’m glad I was right about you.  I know you will refuse my offer to join me in a Legend’s Quest because it will likely separate you from this hive network you have and cause disruption within your empire…  There are too many unknowns in it to make it worth the risk for you.”

Her father leaned forward, eyes narrowing.  “And you need us?”

Roman clapped his hands together with a pained hiss.  “Let’s just say… you’d make things so much easier.  It would also provide wonderful experimental opportunities for us, which I’m sure Tiffany would love… if it didn’t come with an exit strategy.  Once we go in, we accomplish the objective, or we probably die—not that I know how that would work for you.”

Elinor’s nose creased at the way he phrased his condition; in essence, he believed it would work out in great favor for her, but it would require her to risk everything she had while also trusting him in an area that could easily be a trap.

“I know,” she mumbled as her father and Tiffany shot her looks that said they were highly against it; her father was mostly against anything potentially harmful, though, which had lessened somewhat since the change.  “There are a lot of factors that could go wrong.”

Tiffany chortled, white fingers clasped at her front as she wore a strained smile.  “Klaus could panic when you vanish.  War would likely leave the Roxim and race back.  Your sister could flip around.  It could be a trap for a second attempt made by Shade to bypass my charm.  Perhaps this is how his Seed eats others to gain your power.  This is more than a risk, it is asking for trouble.”

“Agreed,” her father growled.  “He hasn’t provided us with anything all that noteworthy so I hestitate to put trust in him.  Some information about Clanless and spotting something Tiffany could have easily discovered herself when investigating the entrance.  He’s offering an incredible amount of ‘potential’ rewards, and that was the key when it required such a trust investment on her part that hasn’t been earned yet.”

It is a big ask, Elinor sighed, having already made up her mind before he spoke; unfortunately, what he wanted was quite costly.  So, she had to ask for something that she needed most right now.

Rising to her feet, she gave him a tight smile.  “I will help you with your Legend’s Quest, but any and all rewards therein are dubious in meaning since it is an empty promise on a word that has yet to be proven.  I certainly will be excited if your word doesn’t turn out to be hot air.”

Roman puffed out a long stream of air and used his knees to get to his feet to look down at her.  “You will join…  Your price for putting your risk in my word?”

She could see the weight pressing against the man as she stewed on how to ask what she needed for peace of mind.  “I help you with your Legend’s Quest, and you help me overcome his ethical test the Prume have given me, discover who and why my original body was stolen in broad daylight, and you get me Rare-Grade soldiers before we enter your trial.”

The man lifted his knuckles to his mouth and nose, deep in thought, and after a full minute, smiled and turned to walk into the jungle.  “The only one I need before starting the Legend’s Quest is Rare-Grade soldiers.  Explain in detail the information regarding those three tasks you’ve given me, and I’ll tell you if I can help solve them.  Now, let’s go get you a body to raise.”

Her father fell into line beside Elinor.  “You are going to give us one of these monkey-foxes?”

“Consider it a gift for entertaining and stimulating me with a challenge!  Personally, out of all the creatures I’ve dealt with so far in this world… I have the most hope for you,” he said with a backward glance.  “I am in the business of uplifting all parties in a deal.”

Tiffany’s suspicious orange eyes were locked on the man’s back.  “We will see.  I have something special planned if you try to stab us in the back.”

“Haha!  You’re one of the few people I am scared of, Ms. Pointy Hat.  It isn’t far.  Now, what’s this about the Prume?  I am curious.  I’ve heard the name, but only that they don’t deal with basically anyone.”

 

* — * — *

 

If there was one gamble she’d taken that took her out of her comfort zone, it was Roman’s proposal.  Her sister was to the northwest.  Her Horsemen split up across hundreds of kilometers.  All of the Empire’s higher leadership was with her.  A mysterious body disappearance that had her second-guessing her choices.  Then Roman drops this Legend Quest isolation on her, and right after the Prume’s visit.

There were so many ways this could go wrong, yet she was making little progress on her own after hitting Level 16.  She needed to do something drastic if she was going to be ready for this tournament, and Roman’s mention that going the brute force route was the wrong play had pricked her interest.  If she could get Rare-Grade undead, then at least she would be comfortable that the Legend was bent on increasing her power, and it couldn’t come at a better time.

The previous night, she had already planned to swap languages, so she’d proactively unselected Quin on [Prose of the Potentate II] in order to slot in this new creature since Garu’s proficiency at quen’talrat was higher than her ri’bot.

Forty minutes they traveled in the early-morning hours of the jungle, much of which had been long cleared of deadly predators by the Delthax and Wixum, taking up the apex position.  Due to that, they’d found all sorts of prey for her to sap souls from, and while her undead had scoured the Wixum lands, mapping it out since arriving here, what Roman brought her to was a first.

 

* — * — *

 

Elinor gave Roman a quizzical look as he brought them into a dense thicket, cutting back the undergrowth to show a one-and-a-half-meter-tall cave entrance.  Her father went in first, and she followed, scanning the rather tall cavern inside the deceptive hillside.  Light shone from above from holes in the ceiling, not that she needed it to penetrate the darkness.

Her father hummed, giving updates to the maids and butlers who kept them within the telephone network, and Tiffany was swift to snap her fingers and ignite her witch’s flames to study the environment.

“A bubbling pool of mud… this far southwest of the volcanic area near that giant black city,” she whispered, kneeling down on the rocky surface.  “There are minerals here I’ve never encountered near the lake or my limited time in that cave to the north.  And look, Empress.”

Elinor gripped her wrist behind her back, seeing the unnatural, circular cavern that was partially hidden in the back.  “So, the spiders’ tunnels do stretch far and wide…  That could be useful.”

Internally apologizing to her sister, Elinor forcefully de-summoned one of her butterflies to resummon it here since Death couldn’t raise Intelligent Undead or anything beyond Common at his current Uncommon Grade.

“Inside the mud?”

“See for yourself,” he insisted, sitting on a flat rise and leaning against one of the bo staffs he’d stolen on their journey.  “It seems like an execution site from what I saw, where they sacrifice themselves to these spider gods or for some punishment.”

Tiffany’s flames filtered through the boiling liquid.  “Unfortunately, bodies degrade fastest in hot and moist environments, where bacteria can eat at them, and this is… surprisingly rich with alien bacteria.”

“Lovely,” Elinor grunted, sending her ethereal butterfly into the ground to search for corpses, and she frowned upon finding only one that could be raised through bones but hundreds of spirits.  “One of these was recent?”

“A day or two ago,” Roman confirmed.  “In response to one of our skeleton tests; they didn’t suck up all of the acid and fumbled it a bit.  It honestly looked like a mistake due to a birth defect, having a slightly shorter front hand.  Are they strong?”

“No…”  Elinor grumbled, feeling quite disappointed by the Grade and Tier.

She spoke through the Nexus.  Dad, can you go in and fetch her?  She might just get destroyed the moment I try to bind her spirit back into her bones.

Her father looked at Tiffany, who scrutinized him with a glint in her eye.  “You’ll clean me off, sweetie?”

“Of course!  Just strip a little, though,” she chimed.  “It’s easier to clean bare skin than fabric.  Show me that chest!”

Elinor rolled her eyes as her father played into it; still, it was cute that they could get along and play these games at times.  She really did hope there was a piece of her mother that her father could pull back.

Her father jumped in, only wearing trunks; he seemed to be prepared under all that armor.  His resistance proved phenomenal, as she expected, and one flaming arm later, he was pulling up the bony and hyperventilating creature.  Roman sat straighter, still pondering everything she’d told him about the Prume and what had happened since their last meeting.

She slotted the monkey-fox into her language Feat, feeling her terror subsiding.

 

[Ina’ko - Serving Court - Poor F-tier - None - Female Yaltha’ma - Level 1]

 

“Yaltha’ma?”  Elinor whispered as her new undead’s information ignited in her mind; the pathetic creature didn’t even have a Serving Court role.  “Welcome to the Empire.”

The sweet, high-pitched voice of the little, shivering pile of bones looked up at her as she was set down.  “Ina’ko i-is…  Ina’ko should die.  Where is Ina’ko?”

Elinor sighed, bending down to comfort the frightened girl; despite their creativity in using these devices, it didn’t seem their intelligence matched up to their ingenuity, which was an interesting combination.

“It’s okay, Ina’ko.  Let’s start from the beginning.  Tell us more about who you are, and where you came from.  Who are the yaltha’ma?”

“Y-Yes, Empress!  Ina’ko will serve better than Ina’ko served the Hidden Ones!  What does Empress want?”  she asked, head tiling and bony tail freezing in its way.  “Ina’ko remembered all El’Co’Ca’s teachings.  Ina’ko knows all about the Profane Ones!  The Betrayers!”

 

* — * — *

 

Finding a more comfortable place outside of the boiling cavern, Elinor listened to the tiny creature explain her life, fraught with danger and discrimination.  It was a tad cute to see the monkey-fox dance around in unaware delight as she spotted her arm length was now the same; she’d been cured of her disability.  Although, Elinor was dubious if she could ever reach Common-C to get her full body back, and she didn’t want to burst her bubble.

Silence took them the more they heard from the chatty yaltha’ma.  She was a part of a shunned ‘cult’ of the race, who worshiped the Secret Ones.  In fact, so many answers came from this simple creature that it stunned Elinor.

In less than twenty minutes, the mystery as to who controlled the black city-fortress was revealed, and she couldn’t believe it.

 

* — * — *

 

“Let me get this straight,” Tiffany whispered in disbelief when Ina’ko finished her story.  “The Profane Ones abandoned The Secret Ones, and… how many generations ago did El’Co’Ca discover the truth of this betrayal?”

“Uh… this many!”  she said, not looking quite the picture of confidence as she held up seven of her twelve digits.

“Uh-huh,” Roman muttered, “and how many years in a generation?”

“This many!”  she screamed, holding up her trembling arms as if she were about to be eaten.  “We worship the great big butts!  Ina’ko failed to collect all the burning goo and forfeited Ina’ko’s life for Ina’ko’s mistake!  Ina’ko must be punished!”

“You said that,” Edmon chuckled, looking to Elinor as she pondered the specifics.

“What do you think?”

That we have a matriarch to meet.

Walking up to the cave entrance, the others following, she breathed in and spoke loudly and distinctly, “Empress Elinor seeks to speak to El’Co’Ca about the Secret One’s return!  The Hidden Ones will rise!”

Ina’ko’s skeletal mouth dropped to the floor.  “Y-You mean it, Empress!  Ina’ko has never seen the Queen!”

Elinor’s heart began to beat as whispers came from within the tunnels, too high-pitched for normal ears to hear.  Her request was passed on, and not three minutes later, Roman leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“A group is comin’ with three acid packs…  It seems they really do have a limited supply; there are over fifty of the creatures.  They’ll try to get us closer.”

“Yes, yes,” Elinor mumbled, feeling a tad underwhelmed at the ‘guardians’ of the Secret Ones.  “They know how to manipulate the web to entangle us.  I was expecting a lot more.  At least this will be quick.”

Her lips pushed to the side as an elderly female squeaked from deep within the burrow.  “El’Co’Ca speaks!  The Speaker does not know any Empress Elinor!  Come closer so El’Co’Ca can look upon the impudent prey that dares speak of the Great Reckoning!”

Elinor lifted an eyebrow and walked forward, causing her father and Tiffany to join her.  Roman begrudgingly followed, and keeping their distance was probably the wiser move, but now that they had a dialogue, she was confident in finding a way forward.  These people worshiped the spiders, and she could probably bring them back.

She smiled when they reached a shaft they had to slide down; it was as slick as a water slide.  Coming to a stop, she didn’t panic as webs shot out and wrapped them up in a rather clumsy manner, but not even her father’s ice could break it.

Ina’ko panicked as the web surrounded her.  “No, no, El’Co’Ca!  It is Ina’ko!  Ina’ko brings the Empress to return the Secret Ones!  Ina’ko—”

“Ina’ko died in shame!”  one of the foxes shouted, which was mirrored by others.

“Ina’ko lost the precious goo!”

“Ika’ko is a traitor!”

“Ina’ko must enter the great boiling pit!”

Roman forced a laugh.  “Rough crowd, Empress?”

“You could say that…  Look at Ina’ko.  Does she look like she’s alive?”

Silence fell over the roaring crowd, and their leader hummed.  “Ki’sos, check them.”

Tiffany?

“Working on it…  Sadly, I think plucking at random on these threads isn’t going to get me anywhere.  There is something I am missing.”

One of the furry creatures cautiously inched around the corner, big, white eyes squinting in the dark light.  “Ki’sos sees… bones!  It is the Intruder of Bones!  With… fleshy… things.  Ki’sos checks for spitting venom!”

Chants at how brave Ki’sos ensued as Elinor waited for the inspection to be done, the monkey-fox poking an annoyed Tiffany in the cheek.

“Ki’sos sees no venom!”

Dozens of yaltha’ma surrounded them, and Elinor picked out the leader in the back, walking on two legs with a cane instead of four.  These couldn’t be the things the Wixum were terrified of, but they had put a lot of caution in them due to destroying their undead so efficiently; it was only borrowed power and the unknown that shrouded them, though.

“What does the fleshy No-Tails wish with the Hidden Ones?  No-Tails.  No Feathers under their arms…  No-Tails are no yaltha’ma followers of the Secret Ones!  Ina’ko has lost all fur.  Shame!”

“Shame!  Shame!”  the others chanted, making the girl’s head droop as she started to sniffle.

Elinor wanted to use her chains to shoot forward and pull their leader forward, holding her taut to the others’ panic, but the Prume test was in the back of her mind.  So, she went with another route.

“El’Co’Ca, I can get rid of the Scurrying Ones.”

All noise hushed, eyes big at the proclamation.

Their leader slowly hobbled forward.  “Tell El’Co’Ca!  The Secret One’s goo does not stop the Crawling Ones anymore.”

Her bonds were suddenly loosened, excluding her arms, which remained stuck together as two with small, pointy spears jabbed at her back.  El’Co’Ca turned to leave, ordering her to join her.

“El’Co’Ca speaks!  Bring the Smelly One with The Speaker!”

Elinor turned the corner and froze, causing the spears to jab into her flesh as the dozens of yaltha’ma chirped in anger, but she couldn’t feel the pain.  Right in front of her was a three-meter-tall metallic spider, lying on its belly; her stomach turned at the ghoulish exoskeleton, and she acted on instinct.

Emerald flames erupted from her arms, and shouts came from the yaltha’ma.  The angry critters jumped into the air and spread their feathered arms for bursts of condensed air to shoot out of tiny hidden pockets to propel them toward the ceiling, readying themselves to fling acid onto her head, yet a single fluttering butterfly landed on the giant arachnid, and its leg twitched.

Monkey-foxes fell out of the sky in a panic, while El’Co’Ca fell to her belly with many others, praising the high heavens for a miracle as the terrifying creature of pure death erupted in lime green fire, igniting its eyes a bright, ruby red.  Sickly, discolored saliva began to drool out of its flexing mandibles as its horrific, lance-like legs lifted the metal spider off the ground to bring it almost to the height of Quin.

Deathly silence fell over them as a gentle, barely audible hiss of steam exited microscopic holes at its joints, and then her Unintelligent assassin turned toward her, waiting for orders.  Yet, a chill ran down Elinor’s spine as the information about the creature entered her marrow, her father’s internal questions fading away as he gained access to the spider’s information.

 

[Worker Drone - Serving Court - Rare E - Nest Worker/Assassin - Genderless Thélméthra - Level 1]

 

Elinor laughed, the rare feeling of elation gripping her chest as she turned around, with the spider loosening the bonds by simply touching them, freeing her, and the gear slid into place.

 

[Grade Advancement - Raise Undead III Unlocked]

[Rare Intelligent Undead Unlocked]

 

I was right!  Elinor’s stomach shook with the thought of finding other Thélméthra variants.  This could change everything.

Her father could only whisper what was already processing through Elinor’s mind.  “If the Worker Drone is Rare-E, and powerful enough in the Serving Court to make Garu sweat… a single one… then what are the Warrior Drones or Queens at?”

I don’t know, but we will find out.

Turning to the quaking yaltha’ma, Elinor felt like Christmas came early, only with spear holes stuck through her back.  She’d done it; she had found the next piece to at least one of her current problems, and the strength that abruptly flooded Tiffany and her father’s bodies proved it.

 

[Monarch Edmon Valera has Advancement to Rare-Grade]

[Monarch Tiffany Valera has Advancement to Rare-Grade]

 

Action surged through Elinor’s breast as she felt their power nearly double just from jumping from Uncommon-S to Rare-F; she couldn’t wait to learn more about these subterranean terrors to add more to her collection.

Still, she had to temper her expectations; a Queen was likely far out of her current Rare-Grade limit, but maybe there was some combat spider just within Rare-S that she could snag, and her two Court members going up a Grade would certainly be a welcomed gift.

“El’Co’Ca,” Elinor ordered, the roles reversed, “take me to the others.  We have a war with the Crawling Ones, don’t we?”

The yaltha’ma stopped their shakes, awe on their cute faces as now they looked upon her like a god.  She was this close to pushing to the next level, and Elinor sent the Thélméthra Drone back to release the others.  It was time to upgrade her army.

“Yes, yes!”  the yaltha’ma matriarch breathed with anticipation, but it soon fell with her shifting eyes.  “But, a-eh…  El’Co’Ca regrets to inform Empress Elinor… the Hidden Ones only have this many…”

Elinor’s eyes pacified.  “Seven…  All you have… are seven?”  At their nervous arm shaking, signifying yes, no doubt, she breathed out a heavy sigh.  “Well…  Mmgm.  It’s better than nothing.  Let’s go!”

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