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Proceeding through the large tunnels of the thélméthra with the throng of monkey-foxes as her guide, Elinor glanced toward her two Royal Court members walking beside her.  Their advancement to the Rare Grade had given them an incredible increase in Stats and a few new Feats that were linked to their stations.  There would be a lot to explore when they had the time.

Black and Ash escorted Roman a short distance to her right, and Elinor assumed the Legend was silently observing the many branching tunnels that were just as uniform as the other.  There was a degree of precision in how this nest was crafted that impressed her.

Green eyes darting up to the giant, silent metal spider that crawled across the ceiling, Elinor anticipated great things from these monstrous creatures; since its first gentle hiss of air through its retractable plate on its back and joints, it hadn’t made a sound.

Unfortunately, Rare-Grade Undead were quite expensive to raise, and even maintaining them would swiftly add up, but the power they held felt real by the strength of their spirits.  The question was where all the corpses were if they could remain this preserved after a century.

She prompted El’Co’Ca to speak about what she knew about the thélméthra as they moved, yet the Hidden One’s matriarch didn’t know much, only able to give a general grasp of their habitat and lifestyle, which was fairly simple, considering their power.

Tunnel, hunt for the queens, find better prey or materials, and evolve; evolution was the key.  According to El’Co’Ca’s ‘ancient texts’ that had branded her a heretic by the yaltha’ma who currently occupied the black city fortress, the thélméthra had been a scourge on the quen’talrat in their former territory beyond the northern mountains.

For generations, the gorillas spread far and wide, growing stronger and stronger, until The White God appeared and gathered them into one tribe.  After that, the spiders had to follow them south as the quen’talrat put in an incredible amount of work to follow The White God’s instructions on gathering materials.  It was here the yaltha’ma had betrayed the thélméthra queens to serve the false god, showing them their secret places and treasures.

Elinor had to assume there was some embellishment in much of what the elder said to gather all these followers that would join her exile and cult.  How she told it, her misguided brethren were living a lie, led astray by the cushy life in the fortress as the quen’talrat servants.

It seemed to work pretty well for them from what she was hearing, making her think that there was something more to the story revolving around El’Co’Ca’s exile.  The yaltha’ma even used a similar naming system as the quen’talrat, showing how far they’d integrated into their role; they were creatures that thrived by serving stronger masters, and they chose The White God.

In any case, from these quen’talrat texts—which were likely historian records, showing how advanced the gorillas had become—the thélméthra went dormant after a big battle between The White God and Queen.  Losing a few powerful generals to The Queen, the eight-limbed gorilla seemed unaffected and led the remainder of his armies to the far north in further conquest.

Elinor was interested in that bit, having long figured Ke’Thra’Ma gained much of his knowledge and support from Shade, given how the entity talked about him.  It was a few years after that when the other queens made their appearance, gaining number and chasing the severely weakened quen’talrat people to this valley, where they destroyed the old ri’bot clans, sparking emissaries sent to other nations for aid.

El’Co’Ca boasted that the thélméthra were what kept the quen’talrat at bay, at least, until The White God returned, bringing with him great treasures from the far north, using all the resources his people had gathered to construct the ‘terrible’ city.

It was here that the elder’s records ran dry, but Elinor had gathered enough information from Valdar to know what came next.  In short, the first queen got what she wanted in that first big battle.  She had her daughters, caring for them before returning to the hunt to teach them; only, the strongest quen’talrat had already gone north.

Once they returned with their battle-hardened core, Ke’Thra’Ma organized everything and could go toe-to-toe with the Queen.  The construction of the city and its new technology posed a new challenge for the thélméthra, and when all the surrounding nations attacked, the Queen made her move to tackle the problem at its source, which was where both of them met their end.

El’Co’Ca ceased her tale upon stopping by a random wall that looked like any other, and Elinor watched in fascination as she made a few gentle motions on the fine thread layering the cave, revealing a hidden chamber.

“The Hidden Ones found many treasures of the Secret Ones!”  she proudly proclaimed, ushering them to continue.  “El’Co’Ca found a Queen in El’Co’Ca’s exile!  The Hidden Ones carried the Queen here before the Crawling Ones attacked!  Vile shells!  Vile gas!”

Screeches came from the others mirroring their leader, but Elinor could hardly give their racket any attention with the massive specimen that lay at the center of the rough webbed mess in the room.

Elinor walked forward, the yaltha’ma squawking that it wasn’t safe to touch the web, but her drone hopped down to clear the way for her, its surgical touch making the silk part in a bunched wave.  Two other large spiders were nearby, but she was only focused on the middle one.

Her fingers ran over the impossibly smooth metal exoskeleton of the nearly five-meter-tall spider, studying the breaks in its black outer frame at the bright, ruby-like gemstone interior.

By the looks of the two four-meter-tall arachnids beside her, they were warrior-class thélméthra, but this one was special by her gemstone patterns and the power in her massive, lance-like legs.  This had to be something special.

Green fire lit across her arm as she slid it over its body, spotting a four diamond-like red pattern on the underside of her butt.  Immediately upon linking to its spirit, Elinor knew she wasn’t close to bringing this creature to life.

Tiffany’s voice whispered to her in awe through the Nexus at the terrifying arachnid.  “How strong is it, Empress?”

She shook her head, making the yaltha’ma go deathly quiet, watching her with anticipation.  All I can say is that she’s above Rare-Grade, and we just barely unlocked Intelligent Rare units.  We’ll keep her here for now.

“That’s a smart move,” her father said, keeping pace with her and an eye out for an ambush.  “The fewer people know about her, the better.  We don’t want this potential future Court member being taken like your body.  What about the other two?”

Swapping to the black and green-themed metallic warriors, Elinor sighed, disappointed and elated at the same time as Roman took in every centimeter of the creatures.  Above Rare, but probably just barely; this one’s spirit is so much stronger, she muttered, fingers sliding down the warrior to tighten into a fist.

We need to get stronger.  What we’re doing isn’t working.  She turned to look at the Legend as he turned to look at a wall, possibly peering beyond it to something more.  Roman seems to believe he’s discovered the answer to our block.  Even if it is dangerous, we have to take the chance with war looming closer.

A small frown touched her mouth while looking back at the drone.  This was an important discovery, but not necessarily for the immediate problems.

I am somewhat agitated that I wasn’t able to add to my fighting force in the short term, but it is better in the long run.  We’ll have the Yaltha’ma take care of the nest, and we don’t want to reveal our trump cards too soon.  Even the surprise sight of a thélméthra drone could cause panic at how many more might lie in wait.

A sly smile lifted Black’s thin lips as the Horsemen’s dark eyes drifted to the small, trembling creatures waiting for a miracle.  “Empress, I might have a suggestion.”

Vision flicking to the sickly woman, Elinor’s silence was her answer, prompting her to look toward Roman.

“How large is this tunnel system?”

The man used his middle finger to push his glasses up on his nose, a low rumble in his throat as the yaltha’ma looked at him funny, unable to understand him.  “Not that big.  The yaltha’ma haven’t seemed to touch these ones since they’re sacred, but there are three more Drones spread out a short distance away.  I expected a larger network, to be honest.”

The matriarch hobbled forward, eyes big with anticipation.  “El’Co’Ca knows what Big Feet asks!  El’Co’Ca sealed off many of the tunnels once learning the secret of the silk to protect the Hidden Ones from the Crawling Ones!  The Secret Ones have many, many networks and pockets for their rest, cleaning, and birthing chambers—many more—but the Crawling Ones—”  Elinor nodded and cut her off.

Death rubbed his bony chin, burning emerald eye sockets peering at his little sister.  “I see.  We leave them to search for more of these thélméthra, building up a hidden army.  Give them the means to fight back?”

Famine’s head tilted to the side with a bright gleam.  “If they are going to remain underground and out of the spotlight, we might as well leave them to explore for us.”

Elinor could agree with that, but there was something to be cautious of.  It is a good suggestion, Black.  I will make my decision as to what task to give these creatures once we raise an Intelligent Drone and discover what these Crawling Ones are.

Turning to the nervous matriarch, shifty eyes constantly going to the dumb drone beside her, Elinor added a smile to her voice.  “We must wait to raise your Queen to prepare the nest for her.  Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh!  Oh, yes, Empress!”  El’Co’Ca and many of her followers, including Ina’ko, mirrored; some were now dancing and shrieking their glee at the thélméthra’s return.  “Tell the Hidden Ones what the Hidden Ones must do!  The Hidden Ones serve the Secret Ones, and the Secret Ones serve the Empress!”

Elinor lifted her eyebrow, making the matriarch quake, yet she took the action a bit differently than she expected, acting as if she’d scolded her.  “Ah, the Drones!  Yes, I will take the Empress to the Drones!  Graceful One,” she breathed, bowing in reverence to the unintelligent drone in her rushed exit.  “The Hidden Ones prepare the way for the Queen!”

“The Queen!”

“For the Queen!”

“Death to the Crawling Ones!”

“Step on me!”

“Energetic things, aren’t they?”  Tiffany whispered with amusement until that last odd statement made her choke.  “Step on her?!  What kind of creatures are these?”

“The obsessive kind,” her father snickered.  “You’d fit right in, Dear.  You used to like to pretend to have your tail tugged and what it might feel like.  Sorry, honey!  I’m sure you didn’t want to hear that.”

I mean, Elinor refrained from scratching her neck while thinking back to things she wished she hadn’t seen when searching for Christmas gifts in her parents’ room.  I knew more than you thought.  Perhaps it would have been better to place those kinds of things in a locked box.

“Ahem!”  The witch’s cheeks colored a little with a long smile.  “Yes, well, your mother did have her fantasies and experiments, many of which have yet to be satisfied.  We, umm, are keeping them here, then?  Haha-haaa.”

Yes, Elinor said, keeping away from the private channel Edmon opened with the witch to continue teasing her, no doubt.  Let’s try not to get distracted while in a giant spider nest…

Dismissing the uncomfortable thoughts and memories she thought well buried, Elinor went to each of the remaining three Drones, checking their status as Roman hovered in the background.  All of them were around the exact Grade and Rank as the previous.

It was on the last one, near a dead-end, that Roman cleared his throat and pointed at the wall.  “Elinor, I think you’ll find what the Crawling Ones are behind this, and can I be so bold as to offer my two cents?”

Elinor turned to Ina’ko, having her direct the matriarch to open the way; if what she feared regarding the thélméthra turned out to be correct, the resurrected yaltha’ma might need to represent her in this tunnel system.

“Go ahead.”

Roman sat down beside the dead drone with a deep frown.  “I think I understand what you intend to do, but I want to caution you on stirring up trouble where it is bound to bite you in the ass.  You have enough problems in enough areas as it is.  Going to war with these Crawling Ones is opening up a new bag of worms to an already bubbling-over pot, waiting to explode.”

Famine’s amusement fell.  “Fortune favors the bold, Roman.”

The man offered the dark-haired Horsemen an accepting gesture.  “Indeed it does, and remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.  How stretched are you right now, Empress?”

Elinor’s mouth tightened as the quaking matriarch opened the wall to show a small graveyard of a few dozen one-meter-tall, crab-like gray crustaceans.  The entire hallway was filled with putrid, greenish mushrooms that oozed noxious fumes and grew out of the monsters’ shells, saw-like arms built for combat.

Breathing the deadly smog in as Roman and the yaltha’ma retreated, her father strode forward to study the throng.  A secondary sealed webbing area seemed to have been eaten through by the substance over time, making Elinor realize the Legend was right.  She had enough to deal with on the surface at the moment; she didn’t need more troubles here, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything.

Bending down to touch one of the crabs, her father swiftly moved in front of her as an explosion of pussy bulbs erupted in a spray of chemical clouds.  It didn’t bother Elinor past her practical immunity to poisons, but acid could certainly be a problem.  The shield stopped the liquid from touching her, at least.

Once it settled down, she sent a butterfly to land on the creature, hoping to get some answers, and she did.  A hollow pit entered her stomach as the information fed back to her spirit.  It could only be raised as unintelligent, and that only left her with one answer that came to mind.

“I think… it’s a hive mind.  Tiffany?”

The Witch Queen’s fire lit up the sickly green hue the mushrooms cast in the molding space, and she forced a laugh.  “Empress…  Move back!  Seal it up again!”

Edmon picked both of them up and jumped out, their drone already closing it off, but Tiffany was a flurry of activity in the Nexus.

“I need my ingredients bag, now!  Whoever is outside, bring everything!” she ordered, staring at the twinkling green spores floating slowly in the still cavern air.  “This is… not good.”

“What is it?”  Roman asked, yelling down the hall.

Tiffany responded by shouting at the yaltha’ma and Legend.  “Leave the cave, now—no, stay where you are…  You may already be infected,” she hissed, biting her thumbnail.  “What do you know about ophiocordyceps unilateralis?”

Edmon sighed, keeping an eye on all the puffy balls sticking to anything they came into contact with.  “English, not science, Tiff.”

She snapped her fingers, lighting a bonfire of witchfire and clearing it away before burning it, treating it like an end-of-the-world contagion in a horror movie.

“The zombie-ant fungus.  If it is a hive mind, we are in trouble, depending on how intelligent it is or if its intelligence is dependent on the hosts it infects…  I’m not sure if it would affect the biological undead,” she snarled, prompting the maids and butlers outside to hurry it up.  “The only reason it couldn’t move those husks anymore was because their nervous system was already shot.  I need to purge this area of its unique biology before it settles in.”

Roman walked closer, likely figuring if he was already infected, then he might as well be close enough to join in the conversation.  “Well, what did I tell you about overconfidence…  I was a tad too hasty to get my point across,” he chuckled.  “The zombie-ant fungus?  That doesn’t sound… pleasant?”  he trailed off as a decaying haze fell over them.

Elinor breathed a sigh of relief as Famine summoned her horse, holding his neck as she walked closer, deadly mist starving the fungus of nutrients and shriveling the weak spores into blackened husks.  “I suppose that is one way to get rid of a fungus, Black.”

The woman wasn’t wearing a smile, though.  “It is hard enough to target this tunnel; I doubt I could purge that entire room without being more heavy-handed.”

“We might have a bigger problem,” her father muttered, arms crossed and staring at the wall as Tiffany meticulously cleaned off the drone in case it was able to be infected.  “We can assume those giant crabs are a hive mind, but what if it is also fighting these spores, or is the one infected and spreading it outward?  Could that be what the Prume were warning us about?”

“It’s definitely possible,” Roman muttered, watching Tiffany work frantically as the yaltha’ma stressed over the upset.  “If the fungus gained sentience through the hive mind, then it is a problem for everyone if it gets out.  Even if it is just using its network, it could spread exponentially.  But… why hasn’t it?”

Elinor nodded, raising the thélméthra Tiffany was cleaning in passing, allowing her own undead flames to purify it.  “Good question, and one we’ll need to investigate.”

Prompting her new intelligent drone to follow her as she raised the other two, she watched as Tiffany prepared to eradicate the fungus in the sealed room.  Elinor confirmed what she feared with her new spiders as their deep, rumbly voices echoed through her spirit within the Nexus, utterly unintelligible.

Figuring they were asking for orders, she tried to better study its spirit.  They seemed to be simple workers, intelligent and able to follow complex instructions, but thoughts of their own were probably not a thing since it was hanging on her beck and call.  Powerful, yet limited.  It could have been worse, and she hoped the warriors would be less mentally blocked.

Can you identify contagions within the nest and destroy them?

Her gaze drifted to the side, where the two thélméthra leisurely walked, matching her slow pace; unlike the Queen or Warriors, these ones were totally generic with the exception of their eight, small, glowing sapphire eyes.

Sticky saliva dripped out of their mandibles, diamond-like fangs hidden within their monstrous mouths as they probed the area and stopped over the monkey-foxes.

“Stop!”  her father shouted just before the massive spike at the end of its leg almost pierced a wide-eyed little critter.  “The yaltha’ma serve the Empire.”

Elinor confirmed the order, causing the two drones to swivel to look at her; the intelligent one had instantly taken control of its brethren, and an air of confusion cycled through the precise arachnid as it puzzled over her order.  She winced as an unearthly whistle shrilled through the Nexus.

She wanted to rub her temples as many of the monkey-foxes fainted on the spot, overwhelmed by seeing their gods agitated and then almost killing them.

“Tiffany, what are they saying?”

Carefully scooting forward, witchfire surrounded one of the unconscious foxes.  “Uh, these yaltha’ma carry with them the infectious spores inside their lungs and brains, Empress.  They’re… probably beyond saving at this point.  I can use them as test subjects to see what happens to them!”

Still concerned about the ethical choices the Prume were overseeing, and not wanting the creatures to suffer, Elinor did the only logical action she could.  “Tiffany, take those infected to a private room and screen the rest…  We need to find out how to prevent further infection for the others and learn how to stop it if it does enter the jungle.  It could wipe out everything in the valley.”

“Leave it to me, Empress!”  the Witch Queen chimed.

Painlessly.

“Of course!”

“Right…”  She eyed her former mother, feeling her urge to study and dissect them.  “The thélméthra will clean the nest and Queen.”

Roman crossed his arms as she revealed their true name to the group; now, they had a name for the monster spiders.

Elinor took a step back, brow furrowing as the bright sapphire eyes of the spiders lit up, and her new intelligent super-minion released fits of angry steam.  Her father was in front of the angry drone in a split second, ordering it to stand down; it was the first minion she had that had taken such a tone and aggression toward her.

Tiffany cleared her throat, speaking to the fuming tank that could easily kill all of them in a second, with the exception of her dad.  “Who is in… that chamber?”

The drone’s tone lowered to its moderate, still unintelligible level as it settled down, and after a few more prompts and creative charades, the witch had the drone draw a picture on the wall of its hierarchy.

“I see,” Tiffany mumbled, as she pointed at the largest spider.  “That is The Queen and the red-gemmed one in the other room is her… daughter?  It is!”  she clapped.  “Her… first,” she added as it pointed at three smaller big ones underneath The Queen.  “And… we can leave it there for now,” she mumbled as it then got into a complicated mess of thread woven hundreds of pictures that flooded the walls.

The spider returned them to their smooth design, making Tiffany slowly laugh and tap its sleek and dangerous leg.  “Good to know…  Continue on your orders.  Finally, my bag!” she huffed, taking it from the sprinting maid that came to a skipping stop.  “Help me set up the ritual.”

“Y-Yes, Queen Tiffany.”

The witch froze and looked back at the spiders as they manipulated the rippling threads around them in unique ways Elinor couldn’t begin to understand, yet they didn’t react as they did before, showing they were hyper-aware of context.

She continued to raise the other two to make four in total: three intelligent, one unintelligent.  Tiffany gave them a short rundown through the Nexus as to what she’d come to suspect about the thélméthra after seeing them in action as Roman stayed close to the witch to not turn into a zombie.

These spiders acted more like bees.  The Queen, singular, was the sole purpose of the colony, and there could only be one Queen.  Her Seed was next on the hierarchy, basically the princesses.  The Warriors came next, with their designated class grade within the sanctum, and finally, the Worker Drones.

Thélméthra functioned off of a strict hierarchy, unlike ants, and took orders with an exactness that would make most rulers green with envy, yet that also came with its drawbacks.  The thélméthra acted very much like spiders from what she observed, only acting in massive colonies.

Perhaps the most frightening part was the diet and why The Queen chose the quen’talrat as her primary prey: their DNA.  Thélméthra queens could extract and adapt elements, DNA, or any other substance with a special organ to engineer her offspring, making the next generation stronger than the last.  They were hunters of powerful and unique abilities, all so they could absorb them, which meant with the quen’talrat, there would be invincible fire spiders.

Elinor stood in the doorway of the oldest Princess’ chamber, staring at the ruby-like designs on her exoskeleton as the spiders cleaned up and tidied the room.  She had a lot to ponder regarding the spores and crabs.

Tiffany believed whatever controlled the spores had likely not been able to connect to them at this early stage, meaning they were still safe from detection.  Time would tell, and with the precision and ridiculous sensory abilities of the thélméthra, maybe they could go on scouting missions and slowly close off the uninfected tunnels.

If they could gain access to this underground system, then it could make travel far easier and provide a way to sneak up on an attacking force.  When Roman finished getting purified and joined her, Elinor posed the question to him, wanting to see what the man thought.

Roman rubbed between his eyes and put his glasses back on, studying the thélméthra using saliva-soaked silk to destroy any bacteria or fungi as they detected it.  “Taking the stealthy route and mapping out the tunnels could come in handy later…  Hell, I’d love to use them.  A straight shot is better than trekking through that shithole of a jungle.  I think it’s worth a shot; it might even net you more thélméthra.”

“It’s something to make progress while remaining hidden,” she whispered.  “Seal off the infected areas and burrow new holes to make accessing the clean ones easier.  Maybe we’ll find something useful, but I’m going to have to leave someone from the Serving Court and Ina’ko to direct things…  Dad?”

“There are some guys with some experience that I can send to oversee it.”

“Good.”  With that decided, Elinor felt like a massive weight was lifted off her shoulders.  Finally, she had a secret weapon and trump card she could play if needed; these thélméthra could turn the tide of a battle if properly positioned, and the prospect of finding more delighted her.  “Let’s leave them to their work.”

Heading for the front of the cave instead of the hidden grotto with the mud pit, Elinor chuckled to herself at how finding new creatures and bodies was so much like some of the gatcha games she used to play with her friends; you never knew what you might pull.

Sitting on the log with Roman and her father, the Legend stoked up the fire to make another brew of his odd herbal tea as the Death Knight sent orders through their chain network back to the lake to send out select support staff.

Death and Famine went to find her more Death Energy since she’d exhausted a significant chunk raising the Rare-Grade thélméthra.  Perhaps the most depressing part was that she didn’t move up a Tier from it.  She still sat at [Raise Dead III - F-tier].  Things would be harder to level from here.

Waiting for Tiffany to finish up her ritual, having to set markers to identify where the purging fires were supposed to travel, Elinor turned her focus back to the Legend.  “Roman…”

“What can I do for you?”  he muttered, measuring the amount of root to add to the pot with a critical eye… even though he was blind.  “I owe you one for the spore save.  Hah.  As it turns out, I was the one being too hasty trying to teach you a lesson.  So, shoot.”

Crossing her legs and looking to the northeast, where her sister traveled, Elinor’s lips drew into a line.  “Tell it to me straight.  Why do you think our levels have slowed?  I’m pushing my body, I’m training in weapons, I’m building my empire, I’m exploring, I’m engaged in diplomacy…  I’m doing what an Empress should.  So why is this Seed not growing?”

“Hmm.”  He worked around his jaw and scratched his beard.  “…As a Legendkin, I have Quests that help develop my abilities… much like you in this empire business.  It takes place in another world, so far as I’ve been able to identify thus far, and I’m put in a prime position to make changes to that world.”

“How so?”  Elinor asked, her father now listening in as he carved another bo staff for her.  “Is your objective made clear?”

“At first, it was,” he mumbled, sipping his brew.  “All of it was connected and was leading up to this Legend’s Quest, though.  I found out there are hidden objectives, or perhaps it changes depending on how you interact with the world, but it tells me there is extra EXP to be gained in doing added tasks.”

He gestured to the jungle.  “How would you rate your survival in this jungle right now?  Do you think it has become more difficult since arriving, or more challenging?”

Head tilting to the left, Elinor pondered the inquiry.  “Are you saying I’m not being challenged enough?  Things have become smoother, yes, but harder in other areas.  In getting enemies to become closer and gaining the respect of clan leaders, I did level… but they are few and far between since starting, which I thought was just an increase in the needed EXP pool.”

Roman waved his hand dismissively.  “I’m sure that has some truth in it.  The higher we go, the harder it is to level based on the same criteria we used before.  I think a war would flood you with EXP.  I think going to the nalveans or meeting some new nation would bring in new objectives for you to gain from, but this ‘Chain Quest’ of these four rival clans is about to run its course.”

Looking up at the bright sun rays peeking through the hot jungle canopy, Elinor could see his explanation lining up.  It was certainly worth testing, and if this Legend’s Quest that Roman had would introduce to her a new challenge and objective, then it could be the perfect opportunity to see how it might affect her.

“Alright, Roman,” she said with a curious smile, “we’ve danced around long enough.  Show me how you think I should use my powers in this Legend’s Quest.  Dad, make preparations for the possibility that I might vanish for a short time; it might cause some chaos, but I can sense messengers returning from the nalveans; Garu’s nearly back, and my sister… well, she’ll deal with it.”

An edge of adventure gripped her heart at something new as she allowed someone else to show her around.  “I will be a guest and providing a unique service to you, so I expect you to treat me better than you do now, Roman.  The rewards better live up to my expectations, as well.  Who should I bring?”

The Legend sipped at his mug and ran his fingers through his hair before nudging his head toward the cave, and her father chuckled as he listed, “The ugly duck, your lovely anorexic bag of locusts, horseman of death, and your stalwart guardian.  New sets of garments will be provided when we get to the other side.  I hope you can trust me.”

“Prove to me I can,” Elinor returned, adding an impish smirk.  “If I am not betrayed by you, am strong enough to do what needs doing in five days, and back in time for the match, then I will consider you a modicum more trustworthy.  What more can you tell me?”

He plucked at his dirtied clothes and downed the rest of his tea.  “I’ll treat you like my Empress… because that is who I told everyone I would be bringing.  Haha.  As ominous as that sounds, I’ve built you up to be quite the respectable woman, and you would be considered a woman that has just come of age and can legally rule a kingdom.”

Elinor’s teeth flashed at the teaser.  “Okay… maybe I would like to go in a little blind.  Surprise me.  I’m starting to feel the spur of adventuring into the unknown and trusting a rather dubious character I probably shouldn’t,” she giggled, feeling a little more her age with the mystery.

It only took an hour for Tiffany and her Horsemen to finish up their tasks, and once all the proper instructions were sent back, Elinor stood inside the mouth of the cave, ready for the task, and Roman didn’t disappoint.

Summoning his cane with the hidden sword inside, the man swiped the air, revealing a golden split in space, and inside, the front gate of a giant city, walls polished white and adorned with jewels to display their wealth and power.

A wry twist lifted Elinor’s lip, looking over at the anxious Legend, now not so aloof.  “I get the feeling my sister would have been a better pick, but I guess I’m all you have at the moment.”

The dark-haired man gave her a courteous bow, saying, “After you, Empress.”

Gazing upon the magnificent sight, Elinor made one slight alteration to her plan.

Dad… bring one of the Drones.  It’s always good to have a trump card in the shadows… just in case.

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