《Ark Of The Burning Embers (Fantasy)》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    Time is but a spiral


    Repeating over and over endlessly in the endless void


    Darkness and light entwined with many shades of grey


    When all is truly lost is when things truly begin


    You can smell the stale scent of rotten air, as we move through the dark tunnels of the underground mine which is lit with red veins of light from the precious stone. But this stone now glows in the darkness bringing the mine to life, these long forgotten Minotaur ruins probably from the early times. Probably from the early wars that took place thousands of seasons before the races started to work together.


    This stone was once used to create bombs and arrows that could destroy though today they are used for the good of all races. Red Coralight stone is precious and difficult to mine just like its blue counterpart Yetasine, its why the Minotaur¡¯s, rat people and Dwarfs work together these days to mine it. Other races have to wear special protection when mining it, while the werewolf race transports it as there healing means they can¡¯t be harmed by its raw effects along with two other races.


    The other types of gem stone can be mined by all races but those two are the most volatile, which unnerves me as all this red stone is active, something has activated it. We are only safe because of our shields which are imbued with the counter element Yetasine, along with parts of our armour. That¡¯s why we were sent here, the Mages want us to find out what is going on with the stone which it¡¯s active, as it shouldn¡¯t be, as this is a closed mine currently.


    Keira eyed her companions, a lizard man Titus and the half elf woman Liliana. We are the Paladin scouts, the trainees from this year who passed our training. This will be our second mission together as lower ranking Paladins. We just have to find out what¡¯s causing it and report back as this mine is near two villages, if it¡¯s gem stones blows up it will destroy them killing everyone plus destroying everything in a three mile radius.


    She eased her sword higher watching as Titus moved closer, as he was the most experienced of them all and the leader, as they got to a tunnel that was glowing even brighter than the others, which meant they were getting closer to the source. He breathed in his frill coming up on his head and tail as he signalled for them to form up ready for whatever was in that open space.


    She breathed in, taking up her position as they entered the large open space where a large demon was working, though he didn¡¯t look up as he carried on working with the red and blue gem stone on the table. His huge nostrils flaring as his razor sharp teeth grinded together as he spoke coldly. ¡°Ah guests¡­.you should leave.¡± Titus raised his blade. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re doing, stop it now!¡±


    The demon shook his dark black mane breathing in deeply, letting the glowing red light come out of his fingers as he used his clawed hand to pull up the red gem stone over so it was floated in the air. ¡°Could you ever fathom what my intentions are, belly crawler?¡± His yellow eyes narrowed as he stood up slightly, looking at all the glowing gem stone all over the room. ¡°Sacrifice, of all kinds, is necessary to see the eyes of the gods.¡±


    He moved his other hand, causing the blue gem stone to move upwards and float, as he used his tail to grab a curved blade, as his huge wings opened. ¡°We can be slaves to fate or command our fate within this world.¡± His huge horns rose as he started to push the gem stones together, which caused blue and red light to fly out all around them, as his huge clawed feet dug into the ground as he tried to take the magical force forcing the stones further together.


    The demon watched as the Lizard man ran forward, as he raised his huge sword, only to be thrown by the power surges as he came crashing down on opposite side of the room hard. ¡°Foolish belly crawler¡­¡± He turned, seeing the elf coming at him from behind, only to smash his tail weapon into her shield, sending her flying back due to the power surge. ¡°You¡¯re not much better ether¡­¡±


    He eyed the last one under the helmet who wasn¡¯t moving, but he could smell from here that it was a human, and was very afraid. Her two companions were held down the forces coming off the stone. ¡°You¡¯re the overdressed one who is a coward am I right?¡± He pushed the gems further together. ¡°I would not expect any of you to understand the nature of my work and how important it is, but understand this, you won¡¯t leave alive!¡±


    He pushed the gems even closer. He had to join them as he¡¯d worked so hard for this. ¡°Everything is lies; we are sold mistruths, we deserve to be free!¡± Keira snapped out of her fear and her haze as she ran at him, only to feel the pain as his large clawed foot came up smashing in to her, sending her flying, only to hit the floor hard as the light wave came down hitting her, dragging her across floor only for the magic energy surge to suddenly cut out.


    The demon raised the almost combined gem stone, his ears going back as he looked up curiously, not thinking, as he ignored her screaming companions who were now being thrown around by his magic powers as there weapons were flung from their hands. ¡°Curious¡­¡± He didn¡¯t think as he flew over slamming his clawed foot down hard on her armours front before she could get up. ¡°Let¡¯s have a better look at you.¡±


    He raised his clawed hand, grabbing her sword before it could strike, throwing it not caring as it hit the Lizard man in the leg, imbedding itself, causing him to scream in agony. He used his other on the helmet, pulling it free, watching as it landed close by as she tried to get him off, desperately trying to hit his leg with her shield. He ignored the pain as he brought down his clawed fingers, hard-slashing it across her face hard enough to make her cry out in agony as the blood ran down her face. ¡°Behave!¡±


    His hand came out wrapping around throat slowly, raising her into the air ignoring her struggling. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be able to resist the two stone merging, your armour shouldn¡¯t allow it Paladin!¡± He turned her bloody face. ¡°So why can you resist it?¡± He didn¡¯t think as he slashed his other clawed hand right into her armour, digging his claws in deep, ignoring her screaming as he pulled them out smelling the blood on the tips, looking even more confused. ¡°You just smell like any normal boring human¡­fascinating.¡±


    The demon raised his bloody clawed finger, watching as the almost locked gems moved closer to them. ¡°Clearly I¡¯m going to have to slice you open for magical science.¡± He paused. ¡°Nothing personal you understand, my employer likes to learn about things like you, mostly dead, never alive.¡± He raised his clawed hand, grabbing her front plate and forcing it free, half ripping the protective padding underneath so he could see her neck and shoulders. ¡°Sorry you get to die today, but know it¡¯s for the greatest good.¡±


    He moved his clawed finger, jamming it into her chest, ignoring her screams and the red blood as it dripped on the floor as his yellow eyes narrowed, waves of purple light shot though it for a second before pulling it out. ¡°My¡­my¡­¡± He felt a smile form only for it to fade, as he turned hearing a rattling, as he eyed his floating gem stones which had turned in the air pointing towards the Paladin. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be doing that!¡±


    The next moment caused him utter horror and panic as the gem stones above suddenly locked together, cracking as they more crystal like merging in to one before he could stop them, sending out a huge shock wave as the other two Paladins were dropped as its huge magic waves moved on their own ignoring his command. He breathed in deeply. ¡°No, that is not possible!¡±


    The merged gem stone suddenly shot forward like an arrow. Keira opened her eyes only to watch the crystal merged shard go right through the demon''s neck, spraying blood all over her face, only for the pain to hit her chest as he fell sideways dropping her.


    She hit the floor hard on her back, as the demon''s horns shattered as they hit the floor, only for the room to go silent and black as all the light went out. But the red gem stone carried on glowing all around her, relighting it. She sat up, her ears ringing from the pain and her wounds burning as she got on to her knees, trying to take the spinning in her head as she breathed out slowly as her blood dripped onto the floor.


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    She looked down in to the darkness seeing a red and blue object glowing in her chest. She moved her hands towards it, only to feel the pain as pulses of red and blue light shot out. Everything really started to hurt but not in a way she could describe or even fathom, it felt like something was touching every bone in her body. Like her insides were turning to liquid and her brain was about to explode.


    She could see Titus and Liliana getting up, though Titus was trying to pull her sword out of his leg as he staggered towards her speaking, not that she could understand anything, as his claws moved to her chest casting a healing spell as he tried to pull on the imbedded crystal stone out violently, only for blue light to strike his hand. He looked annoyed as he tried again as Liliana started to cast a slow spell to heal his leg.


    Keira breathed in, only to start screaming, as from the centre of her chest patterns and light waves started to burn in to skin, everything started to spin as the pain got worse. She opened her eyes seeing that Titus and Liliana were backing off, only for her hands to grab the rocks, as the light steam came out she had no control over them whatsoever, only for it to turn to fire as her friends ran away from her, leaving her to her fate.


    All the red light in the stones started to be absorbed by the blue light coming off her body, as her eyes closed only for the pain to end. A huge shockwave blasted out from her body, turning to blue and red fire, smashing through all the mine''s tunnels all at once, lighting everything for an instant purple before it exploded. It was the last thing she saw, as she closed her eyes blacking out.


    8


    Pain, incredible pain as well as the feeling and sensation off floating, a mix of strange euphoria and dream like state, and yet it is now ending. I feel the pain again though this time it¡¯s enough to snap me out of my dreams. I open my eyes, slowly realizing that I¡¯m on the stone floor of the Mage¡¯s huge study rooms. My hands have huge chains on them, which, I know already, are there to suppress magic.


    The pain comes again, and I realize there is a Mage looking over me, prodding me in the stomach. ¡°Rise and shine you traitorous abomination!¡± ¡°Traitor¡±... that confuses me, but then I can hardly remember what happened in the mine¡­ I just know we killed the demon¡­ I take in a deep breath as everything floods back and I sit up, slowly seeing a Cleric on my other side clearly trying to cast a spell on me, but she looks frustrated as she speaks. ¡°Her wounds, I can¡¯t heal them¡­plus they''re healing on their own without me, but scaring up.¡±


    The old beast man Mage eyed the forma Paladin trainee in disgust on his floor, who had been stripped down to her padding as her broken armour had been hung nearby on a stand, while her shield and sword had been destroyed and were hanging close by, but unless now the battered armour was still fine though strangely its Yetasine gem stone was gone. ¡°Not surprising she gave herself to a demon Mage, one of her companions is dead, the other lost his tail and leg, and he does not want to see her.¡±


    He narrowed his eyes. ¡°He said she caused the blast and acted like a coward, not attacking when needed.¡± He paused. ¡°He can carry on and be fitted with a dwarf metal mechanical prosthetic, the elf¡­ well they only found her bones¡­ and that¡¯s not including the villages that were destroyed by the blast, and all the injury and death.¡± He watched as the human Cleric stepped away, so he could now get on with his work as she assisted him.


    Romulus eyed the twenty year old woman, with dark red hair in front of him, who had piercing green eyes, though the left eye had a long clawed jagged scar running through it. ¡°Ah Keira, you could have been someone great and heroic, now you''re just another pathetic failed Paladin.¡± Keira eyed him, only to feel the pain as a huge collar came up bolting to her neck, as the older beast man spoke again, scraping his hoof on the floor. ¡°But know it¡¯s not in vain, the Paladins want me to run tests on you till you die, as they want that merged crystal out of your chest.¡±


    Keira felt the pain as she was suddenly raised in the air with violent force by the magical chain. ¡°Tenos I want to speak to him!¡± Romulus rolled his eyes. ¡°The Paladin commander and hero approved your being here. As far as he is concerned, you died in the mine and your family have already been informed, but they still have two other children. I''m sure your brother and sister will go on to be great, so it¡¯s not a huge loss.¡±


    He raised a clawed finger, his yellow eyes gleaming. ¡°You instead get to die here, and we get to learn how this happened, as this shouldn¡¯t have happened.¡± He stepped closer to her, as the Cleric passed him the tool for clamping on to the magic gem stone, since his race couldn¡¯t touch it. ¡°I do have a question though, before we start.¡± Keira eyed him. ¡°What¡­that¡­¡± Romulus eyed her. ¡°Why did you freeze up and be such a coward? As in training you always proved yourself to have courage.¡±


    Keira breathed in painfully. ¡°Titus gave us no commands and we weren¡¯t ready for that. He was playing with both Coralight and Yetasine! We were not qualified to take him down, we should have had a Mage with us. I froze because nothing in my training said anything about this and I had no idea what to do.¡± Romulus laughed. ¡°Even now you lie¡­ Titus said he commanded you and that he struck the demon and you gave in to its will.¡±


    Keira eyed him in disgust. ¡°The demon died because the two gem stones merged in to some kind of crystal and ripped through his neck and went into me.¡± Romulus shook his head as he moved the device forward slowly. ¡°I pity your lies¡­.you are clearly not worthy of your Paladin oath.¡± He moved closer. ¡°Let me release you from your pain and lies.¡± Keira felt the sharp pain as the clamps came down, their hooks going through her skin locking on to the merged crystal, causing red blood to run free.


    Romulus eyed her. ¡°It will all be over in a moment, traitorous abomination.¡± He moved a clawed hand, pulling only to feel intense resistance, as he tried to use his other hand to force it out only for the crystal to pulse harder with red and blue light. ¡°Come out¡­come to me now!¡± He moved his other clawed hand feeling the crystal start to move, coming loose he smirked. ¡°I was expecting this to be harder.¡±


    Keira''s head, which had been down due to the pain, slowly rose. As the anger started to show, she started to fight her chains. ¡°Don¡¯t do this¡­¡± Romulus laughed coldly. ¡°Oh please¡­save it for someone else who cares¡­¡± His laugh was suddenly cut off, as the crystal shot out of the devices grip, going back in as her body lit up with veins of light that pulsed with red and blue, only for them to slowly change colour as she started to snarl like some crazy feral animal, which didn¡¯t sound human.


    The next moments caused pain, as she roared which caused a massive boom of energy to come out throwing him and the Cleric to the floor hard, as the light turned fully purple as her body hit the floor hard on her knees, her hands clutching the floor as the purple light became more intense. Only for a stream to fly out, smashing into his back and his Clerics as he watched her eyes burst into purple light as she stood up slowly.


    The chains bound to her wrists and neck flew open, smashing against the wall hard as her armour in its stand started to rattle, only to fly off as every plate reconnected with its owner, one after the other. Though it slowly started to change colour, all the silver fading on every plate, as it turned to a black with a purple hue. Purple veins of light lit up the chest area as her eyes changed from glowing purple to pure glowing green, it was clear her scars had now fully healed but it had scared up badly.


    He got up grabbing his Mage staff, as his Cleric ran for the door pounding it, trying to alert the elite Paladin guards. He sneered at her in disgust. ¡°Die you shitty being!¡± The light blasted from his purple gem stoned staff, hitting her with ice and rain, causing her to pull back stumbling painfully. If he froze her fast enough this would all be over. She raised her hand not able to stop it as the ice covered creating a prison.


    He breathed in, only to see the ice start to melt, and steam, as it lit up with purple light inside, only for it to blast apart as purple fire filled the room, engulfing the Paladin, only for a huge clawed hand to smash down out of the flames, covered in black fur with patterns of glowing purple as a wolf life face broke the flames, only to have demon horns that rose skywards. The huge lycanthrope body followed which had a huge mane of fur and spikes running all the way down its back, to a tail that was less werewolf and more demon with a bone tip end.


    Huge bat wings opened on its body. As the flames faded away he didn¡¯t think as he fired the ice again, more in panic, only for it to its narrow its glowing purple eyes, as its whole body leaped at him, grabbing him smashing him into the wall as its huge mouth opened, filling with a flames of red and blue, only for its head to turn as the doors smashed open as the Paladins ran inside. It eyed him, narrowing its gaze only to turn its head, as the huge glowing red and blue ball fired out only to hit one of the walls blasting a hole in its sending bricks flying.


    It let go off him, running for a moment on two legs, only to go down on all fours as it leapt out in to the opening, into the night, screaming hit the air as it left the tower, flying over the city swerving and moving. The arrows flew up along with other spells only for it to fire again from its mouth causing the whole city to be blinded by purple light. When it faded it was impossible to see where it had flown as it had vanished from all sight, not a single glow could be seen.


    He eyed the guards. ¡°Get after that thing we cannot let that escape!¡± He watched as they all sped into action leaving the room, watching as the Cleric got closer, he didn¡¯t think as he grabbed her robes. ¡°Let me be very clear¡­.we do not tell anyone we couldn¡¯t hold that thing¡­unless you want your head on the chopping board!¡± He watched as she nodded clearly scared by the threat, he let go of her hard causing her to stumble back. ¡°Tell them the magic chains were faulty¡­let the magic blacksmiths take the blame!¡±


    End of part 1


    Silvermoonlight

 Ark Of The Burning Embers

    Ark Of The Burning Embers


    Seven Seasons Later in the Mines of Estros


    The heavy crystal-tipped axes smashed the rocks in an endless vibrating sound that echoed through the whole mine. You can hear the grinding of the huge golden and red metal dwarf magical mechanics as they lift rubble out of the way so all the other races can work on the huge wall. They also fill the bucket trains that take everything to surface.


    There, the talking Wyvern, who are the smallest dragons in our world, come down with their riders and pick them up, flying them to buyers in all eight regions. We are currently in Moss Tempest, which is filled with forests and mines and dungeons and is one of the smaller regions.


    Everyone is trying to find the seams, but it means digging deep and having long days in the mine. They have not found anything in three days and we all need to find a new seam, as the blue Yetasine has been depleted in this section.


    Keira hit her hammer against the rock, not seeing anything or sensing anything in the stone. She adjusted her tunic and trousers as she used her rope to traverse the stone ledge, digging her boots in.


    Her friend Bastian, who was big a white furred rat man, moved opposite, eyeing the stone before using his huge front teeth to nibble at the rock, more out of annoyance than anything else. His yellow eyes flicked in the dark as he spoke. ¡°Nothing is here. It¡¯s just lime stone, iron and cobalt.¡± Keira breathed in, pushing her dark red hair back. ¡°The minotaurs and the demons are convinced something is here, they said they could smell it.¡±


    Bastian sneered slightly. ¡°Then those assholes should dig this out! Why send us down here? We are miles off from the main group.¡± Keira adjusted her glove, which was letting out magical light. Her friend didn¡¯t need it, he could see in the dark. The truth was neither did she, but she had never told him that. ¡°It¡¯s our turn¡­¡± Bastian moved along the wall using his claws to hook in. ¡°It¡¯s always our turn¡­¡±


    Keira carried on, moving along the ledge. ¡°If we find a seam we get a large cut of profit.¡± Bastian moved his white-clawed hand. ¡°Two percent of hundred percent isn¡¯t great. If we go work in the Rein Strand region we will get paid more.¡± Keira looked up, wishing she could tell him more, but she couldn¡¯t. She already used magic potions every three days to hide her face and body scars and make her hair slightly lighter in shade so she wouldn¡¯t be caught, since she had seen wanted posters of herself many years ago.


    She looked up slightly. ¡±Rein Strand is terrible, trust me. I grew up there, it¡¯s filled with egotistic Mages and Paladins.¡± Bastian moved across the wall, nibbling it again. Rat men and women did this a lot as they needed to grind their front teeth down. ¡°You say that but they have huge markets, cities better than this off-beaten track mining village.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°Great, more egotistic Mages to run into...¡±


    Bastian eyed her. ¡°What is it with you and Mages? Every time you speak about them, I sense your deep dislike. They¡¯re not all bad, my people have great horned seers who are amazing with magic.¡± Keira raised her axe. ¡°Where I came from they are not good people.¡± She slammed down her axe only for it to fly backwards as green light blasted though, causing instant pain as she instantly lost her footing.


    She found herself falling over the edge, only for a long tail to come down, grabbing her as Bastian moved away as fast as could. The green crack got wider as crumbling stones fell. He pulled down his mask, heaving her up with tail pulling on her mask on as he pulled her back on to the ledge. ¡°Bastards! It¡¯s Soulcore¡­ which is toxic as shit to you humans and my race!¡± Keira breathed in deeply as the pain left her face as her mask¡¯s blue Yetasine started to work. ¡°Well, that¡¯s clearly a seam¡­ just not the one I was hoping for.¡±


    Keira shook her head. ¡°We won¡¯t even get a cut from this¡­ no one but the lizard race and orcs can even use this stuff to channel magic¡­ elder dragons sometimes want it as grindstone for their teeth, but it¡¯s mostly worthless. It¡¯s too weak, unlike the other magic gem stones.¡± Bastian watched as she adjusted her rope. ¡°What a waste of trip...¡± Keira breathed in through her mask as she pulled out a blue gem Yetasine magic marker, shoving it into the rock, watching as it pulsed. ¡°Well, they weren¡¯t wrong there was a seam¡­ just nothing of real value.¡±


    Bastian snorted as they both started to move up the wall, quickly seeing a number of demons coming down, flying past them along with Orcs and lizard men who ignored them. ¡°I still say we should go to Rein Strand. We might get rich there.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°Rein Strand is awful. All you¡¯ll find there are judgemental assholes who won¡¯t like us being friends.¡± Bastian moved his whiskers forward as he pulled his mask off, since they were out of the danger zone, and he helped her keep hold of her rope. ¡°You have no sense of adventure Keira¡­¡±


    8


    The dinner hall was busy as the miners got their food, which was mostly a hearty stew of vegetables and meats and bread. You couldn¡¯t complain, they feed us well. We get three good square meals a day. Our shift is over and another set of miners are going down in the depths.


    Keira breathed, in taking a slow bite, only to stop as she leaned down, seeing something moving. She breathed in, moving her spoon through, pulling out the live blue worm and tossing it into Bastian¡¯s bowl.


    She breathed in deeply. ¡°Why do they always add live food to my plate? I want dead food¡­¡± Bastian eyed the worm, tossing it into a Lizard woman¡¯s plate opposite, though she hardly noticed as she was too busy talking with a minotaur. ¡°Glow worms don¡¯t taste of anything. Now, coral sea worms, they have real taste and flavour.¡± Keira eyed her bowl. ¡°I¡¯ll eat them if they¡¯re dead¡­¡±


    She felt a hard slap to the back, causing her to turn. She saw a big Orc behind her who was grinning. ¡°Yes Tiberius?¡± The Orc¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Congrats on you both finding a seam of things we like, for a change! It¡¯s such a huge seam it will take months to dig out...¡± He paused. ¡°Big boss though wants to see you both tomorrow morning, to talk cuts.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°No offence but there¡¯s hardly any cut in that seam.¡±


    Bastian shrugged. ¡°Coin is coin¡­¡± Tiberius laughed as he patted her shoulder again. ¡°Your friend, you see, he gets it. You need to lighten up, little human. Find is a find.¡± Keira eyed her bowl. ¡°When they find a way to not put glow worms alive in this stew, I¡¯ll be happy.¡± Tiberius eyed her bowl. ¡°They add flavour.¡± Keira eyed him. ¡°How do they add flavour? They don¡¯t taste of anything!¡±


    Tiberius eyed Bastian. ¡°Your friend has dulled taste or something.¡± Bastian eased up a clawed hand. ¡°No, I don¡¯t taste anything ether, I think it¡¯s just our races.¡± Keira took a drink from her wooden tankard which was mostly watered down wine. ¡°They taste of nothing.¡± Tiberius shook his head. ¡°All the other humans here taste them; you must just be a special case. Plus, you never hang around with them, it¡¯s weird. They ask about you from time to time.¡±


    Keira eyed Bastian. ¡°I just like him more¡­ it¡¯s complicated.¡± Bastian raised his tail. ¡°We¡¯ve known each other many seasons.¡± He took a drink of his weak mead. ¡°Like she said, it¡¯s complicated.¡± Keira eyed her best friend. ¡°He makes for a great warm blanket at night, if you¡¯re stuck out in the cold.¡± Bastian laughed as he started to eat his soup. ¡°Well, nice to know I am a furry rug for you to keep out the cold.¡± They both watched as the orc put his huge axe over his shoulder and he shook his head, walking away.


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    Bastian carried on eating. ¡°Guess we are going to get that cut, then. Not that it will be worth much.¡± He paused. ¡°He does bring up a point, though. You don¡¯t hang out with your own race much.¡± Keira started eating. ¡°I grew up in a small town filled with plenty of other races. I used to play with Minotaurs, Lizard people and a few off your race growing up. There weren¡¯t that many humans in that town so I never really made friends with them long term.¡±


    Bastian eyed her. ¡°Oh, okay. I was just checking that it¡¯s not like your weird thing with Mages.¡± Keira eased up her spoon. ¡°The world would be a much better place without Mages and Paladins¡­¡± Bastian raised a clawed finger. ¡°You know, we are really going to have to talk about this one day, because those two you really seem to hate and it¡¯s weird.¡±


    Keira stood up, putting her bowl neatly to one side as she finished her tankard. ¡°We¡¯ll talk tomorrow. I need to sleep.¡± Bastian looked up, stroking his white long fur on his chin. ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that¡­¡± Keira shook her head. ¡°Yeah well, remind me tomorrow.¡± Bastian eyed the Minotaur and Orcs who were starting to set up the game table. ¡°You¡¯re not going to play cards tonight with us?¡± Keira eyed the others, including Tiberius, who were waving to her to come over. ¡°No, not tonight. I¡¯m really tired, I need to sleep.¡±


    8


    The miners are all given little homes. They¡¯re not much but they are enough, and Bastian¡¯s is not far up from mine. I don¡¯t need much, I never did, I just feel bad every day that I have to hide my true appearance from people, and hide my scars and never tell the full truth about my where I came from. Even who I am. I¡¯m terrified they will just turn me in, the price on my head is too high. It has been since I fled.


    I know the Mages and Paladins want my head, I¡¯ve seen in on posters and it¡¯s a huge reward, so I live this very semi poor life to avoid it as no one would ever bother looking for an ex-Paladin in the mines. After all, they are picked by Mages along with clerics and barbarians to guard their castles and government, made up of the most powerful Mages who run the country and its eight regions, though there are other countries over the seas, even other races.


    Keira opened her door only to close it behind her, as she walked over the small room, which had a place to wash and dress and a small cooking area, not that he used it. Also, a bed and some shelves and cupboards. She breathed in, feeling the pain in her chest. The potion that changed her looks was about to wear off and so was the one that suppressed her power. She had to take it, though. It was the only thing that stopped her turning in that awful fucking abomination some nights, and it got worse close to blood moons, which were twice a month.


    The potions though were an awful combo together and they made her feel ill. They also only lasted three days tops, then she had to take them again. She locked her door, sitting on the bed, eyeing an old sword which was hanging on the wall. It was nothing special, she¡¯d found it in the mines and it was better than nothing. Her once glorious shield and magically gemstone-infused sword had broken after her transformation in to that abomination.


    She still had her armour, but that looked like some black awful nightmare and whenever she used it she had to splash the same potion on it to turn it back in dull silver, so it didn¡¯t draw attention. She breathed in, filling the pot with water and herbs as she pulled out her note book, which was for her recipes. She eased out her hand, watching as the blue and red light came out, lighting the fire instantly on the stove.


    She pulled out her bags of ingredients as she started to mix the bases of the potion slowly, watching as the liquid turned to an ugly blood red. She eased it out, pouring it in to a cheap wooden tankard as she carried on mixing and adding herbs to the other potion. When it turned green, she poured it into another wooden tankard. She moved over, putting the final herbs in both concoctions. In the guild she¡¯d never been so great with magic but her potion craft had been good, or so she¡¯d been told.


    She waited for the first tankard to cool. She hated this part; it was to keep her scars and glowing Paladin markings from ever showing and it kept her hair a lighter shade; but it hurt so much to take it. It was, however, the only thing that had kept her safe for seven seasons, along with dirtying up her armour so it had less shine and no one would catch that she was a former Paladin. She took hold of the mug, drinking it as fast as possible as it tasted worse that Goblin beer, it was bitter and horrible.


    She put the wooden tankard down only to feel the searing pain in her stomach and chest, which was keeping her form stable. She eyed the other tankard, knowing this one would hurt worse, but this kept the abomination under control. Otherwise, she¡¯d transform at night, remember nothing, go out and end up eating live stock or other horrible things like huge bugs or huge insects. It would make her so ill the next day and she never remembered any of it.


    She eased up the tankard with a shaking hand. Magic suppression did not suppress fully, it was why she could keep up her appearance, but it felt forever like something was trying to burst out of her. The good thing was that it made it really hard for magic users to tell she was magic. She slowly drank, trying to resist the urge to throw up and ignoring the pain that made her body sting and burn.


    She pulled the empty mug away, coughing painfully as she pulled herself onto the bed, trying to ignore how much her head was now spinning. She lay on the bed painfully, knowing it would finally stop and she¡¯d probably pass out and go to sleep. She moved, putting the note book away. She hated that she was dishonest with everyone including Bastian who had saved her life to start with, but telling him the truth would probably end their long four-season friendship. Plus, the gods had cursed her to be something horrible.


    She closed her eyes slowly. Furthermore, if anyone knew who she was they¡¯d hand her in as the coin on her head was massive. It had been rising year on year, she had no idea why they wanted her so badly, all they¡¯d ever told her was that she was a liar and a cursed monster. Life was never fair and if they ever found her she would run rather than cause Bastian pain, she owed him that much as he¡¯d always been kind to her. She breathed in, trying to think more only to move her hand, putting out the flames of the stove before she passed out in to an almost blissful darkness.


    8


    Keira felt a hand shaking her hard. She opened an eye followed by the other, groaning painfully. ¡°What?!¡± Bastian¡¯s voice cut through her thoughts. ¡°We are late for work and the big boss wants to chat to us, you need to get up¡­¡± Keira turned over, trying to ignore the sensation in her mind which felt like a bad hangover. ¡°How did you get into my house¡­ I locked the door¡­¡± Bastian eyed his friend. ¡°I have your spare key, remember? You gave it to me for emergencies.¡±


    He paused, sniffing the air. ¡°Smells like potion brewing in here.¡± Keira sat up painfully. ¡°Hardly, just my bad cooking¡± Bastian shook his head. ¡°You know, you need to get out more, maybe get laid.¡± Keira looked up sharply. ¡°Look, I¡¯ve slept with plenty of men and women from other races¡­ including humans, it just never goes anywhere. I don¡¯t need a lecture from you on my love life.¡±


    She eyed him. ¡°Plus, you¡¯re one to talk. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re getting your end away.¡± Bastian adjusted his decorative pants. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m reserving all this for the right person.¡± He pulled on his open tunic. ¡°Are Minotaurs good in bed?¡± Keira looked at him. It was way too early for this. ¡°They¡¯re an experience.¡± Bastian gave her an annoyed look. ¡°That tells me everything and nothing about your sexual history.¡±


    Keira pushed her hair back, hoping the throbbing pain in her head would end. ¡°I need a vacation¡­ from life¡­.¡± Bastian looked at her. ¡°Well, today is pick up day for the wyvern riders and we can see how pathetic our cut is. Then maybe we can take the week off.¡± He eyed her, poking her with his tail. ¡°So come on, get up and get washed. You still smell of yesterday¡¯s mine.¡± Keira eyed him. ¡°Fine, then please get out of my house so I can do so.¡±


    Bastian laughed. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve seen you naked before and you¡¯ve seen all of me.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. Gods give her strength. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve used the public baths together, like everyone else in the mine countless times; but I want privacy right now. I need to drink something to stop this headache.¡± Bastian laughed as he moved towards the door. ¡°As you wish. Don¡¯t take too long.¡±


    Keira watched him close the door. She moved over to the sink, painfully, only to cough painfully, spitting up blood. Clearly it was from her teeth playing up again, as in her true form both sets of canines were slightly longer than usual; but this forced them back to normal. However, it always caused her gums to bleed in the morning after. She poured the fresh water into a glass, taking a long drink. She really needed to have a slow day today, she just wasn¡¯t feeling her best.


    End of part 2


    Silvermoonlight.

 Riding In On Wings Of Bone

    Riding In On Wings Of Bone


    Well, there was no point in us getting here early as we did. The big boss has to see someone else first, plus they are loading the wyvern and riders who are all coming in to land, while the dwarf mechanics are pulling up huge crates of gems to load on to the special saddle holders to send to all the eight regions. Keira is dozing next to me; she needs to stop drinking late at night or taking whatever magic she is taking as it makes her so tired the next day.


    Bastian watched as one of the gold wyvern raised its multi horned head as it spoke. ¡°Your friend smells like unwashed wolf¡­¡± Bastian watched as the rider gave the wyvern an annoyed look as he spoke. ¡°Ignore him, he likes to speak his mind far too much.¡± The wyvern turned, eyeing its Orc rider. ¡°Only because you don¡¯t¡­¡± The Orc rider eyed him. ¡°You know, you can¡¯t be this rude when we get to Rein Strand¡­ the Mages and Paladins there won¡¯t have it.¡±


    The wyvern sneered. ¡°Egotistic fools with more magic than sense. The elder dragons do not care for them.¡± Bastian looked at the golden wyvern. ¡°My friend here is from there. She says the same thing¡­ But what is the grand city like? I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s beautiful.¡± The wyvern leaned closer. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s glorious, but hideous as are all unnatural things.¡± The huge Minotaur guard, who was close by, eyed the rider whose saddles were now full. ¡°Okay, you need to move over! We have another flying in from Trius Amaya!¡±


    The wyvern eyed Bastian. ¡°Don¡¯t go looking for trouble, little rat man, as it will find you sooner than you think.¡± He smirked as his rider spoke. ¡°Ignore him, he¡¯s just pissed as he wants to speak to the elder dragons, but he¡¯s on the job and not allowed.¡± Bastian watched as the huge wyvern moved. They were big, bigger than houses; but not nearly as huge as the elder dragons that were massive and so long lived. Wyverns could live for two hundred seasons whereas the elder dragons could live for eons.


    Elders could see the rise and fall of kingdoms and races but tended to stay out of race wars and disputes, unless they had a personal interest. He watched the golden wyvern moved aside as a huge skeleton wyvern landed in his place. It had two people in the saddle. One was a skeleton warrior dressed in black horned armour. The other dressed in gold and green armour and carried a skull shield. Also a single sword, which clearly had a converted Mage hilt on the end so it could channel power as well as be used in battle. It was impossible to see the face as it was covered by decorative helmet which had red eyes blazing.


    Bastian breathed in well. That was rare a war Mage, you didn¡¯t see them often as they could channel and fight with weapons. They used to be common but their numbers had been declining. He watched as the person got off the huge skeletal wyvern as the skeleton warrior made sure they got down safely. They gave both skeletons a wave before heading towards the main building.


    8


    Magnus looked up as the beast-woman guard opened the door, speaking quietly. ¡°Magnus, your visitor from Trius Amaya, the land of the undead, is here.¡± Magnus stroked his long beard as he sat up adjusting his glasses. ¡°Thank you.¡± He watched as the armoured war Mage came in. ¡°Ah yes, your guild told me you were coming here today¡­ Apparently your two guild masters was very insistent.¡±


    The person slowly eased off their helmet, revealing really dark long black hair, which was tailed, and glowing red eyes as well as white skin. She spoke with a light voice, showing her long canines top teeth and pointed ears. Clearly a vampire of some sort. ¡°Oh, you should ignore my adopted parents; they always make a big deal whenever I go anywhere.¡± She watched as the big blue demon sat in his chair. Like the dragons and wyvern, demons came in many colours and types. ¡°But yes, they did send me here for something very interesting.¡±


    She paused, raising an armoured hand as she grinned widely. ¡°I need two of your miners as I need to go in to one of the dungeons down here. Preferably someone strong and someone smart. I heard you run a service.¡± Magnus eased up a big clawed finger as he created magic symbols with his hand. These turned into miners¡¯ faces as he put his pipe in his mouth as he started to smoke it, letting out coloured smoke which created long steams. ¡°Could be more specific, Elysande. I have ten who would fit that.¡±


    Elysande put her helmet down, moving over to the miner¡¯s symbols. ¡°Well, they have to be good in a tight fix, good at working together, oh and someone who can kill insects. Big ones.¡± Magnus felt a sly smile form as he threw some of the face magic symbol cards aside, moving two of them up. ¡°Oh, I have the perfect pair for you¡­ Since they¡¯re getting a little cut from this operation and they¡¯re going to complain all week about it; them going with you will mean a week of peace and quiet.¡±


    He watched as the cards lowered. ¡°Meet Keira, warrior. No magic but great with hammers and swords. Killed a thunder centipede in the mines once, with a vicious blow to the face. Strong for a human, can lift a lot.¡± He paused. ¡°She is a package deal, though. You¡¯ll have to bring her little rat friend Bastian along. He is very good and they work great as a team. Bonus, they are best friends.¡± He sneered slightly as he shook his head. ¡°But they are both annoying and pig-headed and have no magical skills, just basic weapons training.¡±


    Elysande smiled. ¡°I need to kill a centipede down there, though its spews acid and ice¡­ It¡¯s guarding some treasure from old times. You will get a nice little cut.¡± Magnus sat up. ¡°They¡¯re both yours. Once I¡¯ve had my meeting with them they can go with you. I¡¯ll pack them off with supplies, and they both have their own armour¡­ Not that you could call Keira¡¯s an armour; it¡¯s so ugly as well as not well maintained, unlike Bastian¡¯s. He looks after his gear and he can use three daggers thanks to his tail.¡±


    Elysande pulled out a small bag, throwing it on to table and watching as he took it. ¡°Pure gold. No silver or copper. Twenty coins to cover everything... I hope.¡± She watched as Magnus took a coin out, biting on it, clearly to check it wasn¡¯t a fake. He looked up, eyeing the coin. ¡°Your gold is good quality. Nice to not have fakes for a change, they hurt the operation I¡¯m running here.¡±


    Elysande gave him a wide smile. ¡°Oh I don¡¯t do fakes good sir. My guild believes in good, honest business.¡± She paused. ¡°I do hope you get those two ready for me in a few turns of the sun dial.¡± She moved over taking both magic symbol cards of the faces. ¡°The guild just wants me well protected. you know how it is.¡± She turned Keira¡¯s card. ¡°I see myself having fun with this one.¡± Magnus snorted as he spoke. ¡°Best of luck with that, she¡¯s a miserable moody cretin, but she is very good at her job¡­ Like her best friend, who is the more intelligent one.¡±


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    8


    Keira yawned as she walked in to Magnus¡¯s office, followed by Bastian. ¡°You wanted to see us.¡± Magnus breathed in, eyeing the two big travel packs he had ready. They could go and get both their armours and good from home after this. ¡°Ah yes, my favourite people¡­ so nice to see you both.¡± Bastian eyed the big blue demon. ¡°You know; we both understand sarcasm very well.¡± Magnus sat up, eyeing Keira who was clearly hung over again, the idiot. ¡°Today is both your lucky day.¡±


    Keira folded her arms. ¡°Oh, so we are going to get paid a decent cut?¡± Magnus laughed as he looked at her. ¡°You know; its shame you¡¯re not intelligent, because if you were you would have already caught on to what I¡¯m going to say next.¡± Keira breathed in. She hated not being called smart, but it was a role she acted. Yes, she¡¯d already seen the packs. She already knew she was going on a field trip; but playing the idiot made it that people never took too much notice of her.


    Bastian eyed his boss. ¡°Why do you always have to be this mean?¡± Magnus smirked. ¡°It¡¯s the joy of running this operation.¡± He eyed the bags. ¡°Before you both get you reward, you¡¯re going to take that vampire war Mage up to the Bright Burn tunnels, two days travel from here. She wants one of those huge centipedes dead.¡± He paused. ¡°Your both very good at killing those, so do make sure you do this for and come back alive.¡±


    Keira looked up, sharply. ¡°She¡¯s a war Mage! Why doesn¡¯t she do it herself, why have us?¡± Magnus breathed in his pipe. ¡°Because she can¡¯t carry that thing out there and you¡¯re both so good at bludgeoning them in the head.¡± He paused. ¡°Plus, those sets of tunnels are very small¡­ and no Mogwai nests because we all know how much you hate Mogwai, Keira.¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°Plus, getting out and away would be good for you. You both need fresh air.¡±


    Keira breathed in, deeply. ¡°A lot of people hate Mogwai, it¡¯s not just me. They cause magic chaos, they tamper with magic and cause explosions.¡± Magnus sat up slightly. ¡°Yes, and you won¡¯t be dealing with them so quit your bellyaching.¡± He paused. ¡°You both take these packs. Get dressed in your armour and meet the war Mage at the entrance to the mine, next to the cook shops and bread maker.¡± He watched as they both picked up there packs. ¡°Oh and Keira¡­¡±


    Keira turned to him. ¡°Yes?¡± Magnus breathed in deeply, letting the breath out slowly. ¡°Please, clean that thing you call armour. It¡¯s filthy. Like, treat your kit with some respect.¡± Keira flung the pack over her shoulder. If only he knew that look was just put on by magic and rubbing dirt in. She¡¯d always kept the real armour spotless underneath and well maintained. ¡°Whatever you say, boss...¡± Magnus watched as they turned to leave. ¡°I¡¯m serious, Keira! Stop looking like a dirty; scruffy vagabond! You¡¯re an insult to the race of humans!¡±


    8


    Elysande sat back as she caught sight of the rat man, dressed in red and silver plated helmet with eye sockets either side and three spikes coming out of the top. He had gauntlets as well as greaves, along with a chest plate and back plate and shoulder armour and also with some tail armour, mostly to protect the tip. He had a lot of curved daggers on him, as well as a huge swinging axe and chain mail and leather along with his trousers padding on the legs.


    She looked up as the dark-red haired warrior came in to sight. She had what looked like silver armour with all the plating, but no helmet. Her armour looked over used and not well maintained, as it was dirty, although she clearly had all the under padding to it, even if it wasn¡¯t a complete set. There was no helmet, and the two weapons crossed at her back were a long bastard sword that looked old and tired, and a large swinging axe.


    They were about the same age, around twenty-seven seasons old. At least that was what she sensed and smelt. She eyed the woman, who had tailed up her red hair in a high pony tail and who had green eyes, although they looked tired. They both came to a stop close to her. ¡°Ah, you both made it here safe and sound.¡± She eyed the rat man. ¡°Bastian and Keira, I presume?¡±


    Keira eyed the other woman. She was her same height, with long tailed dark hair and glowing red eyes, along with pale vampire skin and long canine upper teeth. She was giving her a wide smile. ¡°I really hope we are not here to be your blood bank¡­.¡± Bastian turned, eyeing his best friend in annoyance before turning back, giving the vampire his best smile. ¡°She doesn¡¯t mean that, she¡¯s just hung over and cranky.¡±


    Elysande raised her hand. ¡°Oh, its fine. Not the first time I¡¯ve had that, but you need not worry, I can eat human food and I feed rarely. Plus, normally I always have willing donors, it¡¯s not like the days of old.¡± She moved, picking up a bag. ¡°Brought you both some fresh food from the cook shop and bakery.¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°I got you some meat-filled pastry and honey hot cakes and bread and cheese, it¡¯s all fresh.¡±


    She watched as the other woman took it, though she looked very uncertain. ¡°You don¡¯t talk much, do you?¡± Keira narrowed her gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t talk to that many vampire War Mages. Your kind are not seen much in these parts.¡± Elysande smirked. ¡°Oh, we are here, along with skeletons ghouls and zombies; but they only come out very late at night when you are all sleeping.¡± Bastian eyed her. ¡°So, are you a necromancer?¡±


    Elysande shook her head, standing up as she adjusted her green armour. ¡°No, and it¡¯s very rude to take away someone¡¯s subconscious and have them fight for you. Skeletons and zombies have souls and are their own individuals, like I am. Ghouls are another story, but the ones that have not lost themselves to eating people are good company.¡± She paused, easing out a leather skin scroll as she opened it so they could both see that it was a map. ¡°So, I was told by your boss that you can take me to Bright Burn tunnels?¡±


    Keira took a bite out of the meat-filled pastry. It tasted very good, she was not going to lie. ¡°Yes, its two days travel and we will need to stop at Dawn Star on the way there. They have a tavern and beds to sleep in.¡± She moved her finger. ¡°On the way back there is the small town, Ramstad. We¡¯ll stop there too; so four days total. Two days in tavern and two days sleeping out in the open at camp.¡± Elysande eyed the map. ¡°That¡¯s quite a way from the other village...¡±


    Bastian moved forward, pointing with a clawed finger. ¡°The Bright Burn tunnels are big. They call it a small underground, but unless you¡¯ve been there you wouldn¡¯t know. It¡¯s two levels, has magic traps that reset¡­ and the thing you want hangs out in the lower level. We¡¯ve killed one before down there, although our last client was after a huge bugbear. Alive, not dead. Anyway, those centipede things are aggressive and spit all kinds of things at you. The pincers are mean, too.¡±


    Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°I¡¯d still love to know who resets all these traps, they change every time we are down there.¡± Elysande closed the map, putting it away carefully in her pack. ¡°One of life¡¯s mysteries, I guess.¡± She stood up, easing on her pack. ¡°Well, I guess we should start moving and make our way to the first camp.¡± Bastian smiled as he moved forward. ¡°We¡¯ve done this plenty of times, you¡¯re in good hands!¡±


    Elysande watched as they both went in front as they started to walk away from the mines; they clearly both knew the way. So, they weren¡¯t wrong, she was in good hands and she felt that very strongly. Still, they needed to get to those old tunnels. They were ancient, or at least that was what her adoptive parents had told her. They went back to the time when it had been a great empire, before the great wars of the races.


    Now though, little history remained of that time; but she had to get down there, even if it was dangerous due to its age. A long forgotten dungeon that was deteriorating away. Still, she needed to go there and any place like it and get as much info as possible. She eyed her companions, who were now making their way up the green grass of the hill, towards the big beautiful distant forests. She just hoped she was right about both of them and that her instincts were right.


    End of part 3


    Silvermoonlight

 When Divine Light Ignites The Starlight

    When Divine Light Ignites The Starlight


    Moss Tempest is a place of high forests and dipping mountains stretching out for miles in all directions. Trees of all colours, along with some with gold and silver leaves litter the landscape, and long stretches of lakes can be seen. It¡¯s summer, glowing birds can be seen flying through the fresh air. They believe this place was made many centuries ago after they called peace, but it¡¯s that¡¯s not so clear, as so much of history has been lost.


    For its beauty you do have to be careful here since huge spiders roam these forests, beings are as colourful as the trees to blend into their leaves. There are also huge plants with teeth that will eat you, and you have to be careful of moss hydra who prey on the spiders. The rest of the animals and creatures here are not as bad but it always helps to air on the side of caution, Mogwai also live here in vast burrows and nests and they will steal your things.


    Though it''s clear Bastian and Keira know this area and are well prepared, though I want to know way more about them as they seem like really close friends. Elysande breathed in as she looked at both of them. ¡°You know you should get a helmet for your armour.¡± Keira turned eyeing her as she spoke in a sarcastic tone. ¡°Yeah and maybe I can buy a winged horse, or a warthog, or a raptor to¡­¡±


    She eyed the other woman. ¡°You know I¡¯m not made of money, it¡¯s why I have to take rich people like you to places.¡± Bastian didn¡¯t think as he turned to his friend. ¡°Seriously, stop being so rude, she''s our guest.¡± He eyed her as she gave him an annoyed look. ¡°You really did get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.¡± He turned to the other woman who was taking it in her stride. ¡°I apologise on her behalf, trust me she¡¯s not normally this rude or moody.¡±


    He paused grinning widely. ¡°She can be really fun on a good day.¡± Elysande smiled as she walked along with them. ¡°It''s fine I¡¯ve heard worse insults after all Rein Strand thinks we don¡¯t deserve to exist, that we ruin the natural order of magic, even though in the last five hundred years we¡¯ve had one short war compared to their five.¡± Bastian moved to her side as Keira listened quietly. ¡°So is the capital bad then?¡±


    Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°Well I¡¯ve been to all eight regions on my travels though they were small stop offs like this one. They weren¡¯t very polite there, not to me at least, that was mostly the guards though as well as the Mages and the Paladins. The shopkeepers and tavern owners were very polite towards me.¡± Bastian put a rock in his mouth nibbling slightly before putting it away. ¡°Keira was born there, she said the same thing.¡±


    Elysande eyed the dark red haired woman. ¡°That¡¯s most unfortunate, even if it is a very beautiful place with all those crystal towers.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°I wasn¡¯t anyone important. I grew up in a bakery along with my brothers and sister.¡± Bastian eyed his friend. ¡°Oh I love bread I beg to differ, just wish you¡¯d cook it once in a while.¡± Keira eyed him. If only he knew that she was the worst baker ever, her brother and sister were far better than her.


    She just used to anger her parents by causing chaos with her magic use; it¡¯s why the guild had been interested in her to start with as she was great at blowing things up, much to her parent¡¯s anger. She eyed him, feeling a smile form. ¡°You would hate my bread. I always burnt it.¡± Elysande eyed the other woman. ¡°Well I love bread, yours can¡¯t be that bad.¡± Keira turned to Elysande. ¡°Trust me, it was not the best. I don''t have a gift for it and I couldn¡¯t bake anything right, my parents told me that a lot.¡±


    Bastian eyed her. ¡°Well I got eight siblings and my parents were never that blunt. I mean they must have liked something you made.¡± Keira shook her. ¡°I think my parents were happy when I left as they wouldn¡¯t have to fix the things I broke due to having no baking skills.¡± Elysande took in a deep inward breath. Finally she had broken the ice with the other warrior, though Bastian clearly wanted to help. ¡°Parents can be very foolish.¡±


    Bastian moved ahead pointing with a clawed finger. ¡°So we just have to go over that mountain.¡± Keira moved forward pointing. ¡°Just don¡¯t go to the right or the left at all.¡± Elysande raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why?¡± Bastian moved his tail pointing. ¡°To the right in that lake sleeps a moss hydra, she¡¯s old and likes to eat people.¡± He pointed the other way. ¡°Spiders nest.¡± Keira tapped her boot on the ground. ¡°Also Mogwai nests, watch your footing or you¡¯ll fall into one.¡±


    Bastian eyed her. ¡°Like you do?¡± Keira turned sharply. ¡°It was one time!¡± Bastian shrugged as he looked at her. ¡°Look I¡¯m just surprised they didn¡¯t strip you naked like they do everyone else and steal your stuff¡­ those things act weird around you.¡± Keira moved, adjusting her weapons. Why did he always have to bring that story up? She hated that she fell in that nest of furry weird things, though they had not attacked her and had let her leave unharmed. ¡°I just got lucky that they were all sleeping!¡±


    Bastian raised a clawed hand tapping her chest plate. ¡°No, I know Mogwai; they left you alone, it''s weird.¡± Keira rolled her eyes. ¡°Seriously we are not having this conversation again. Plus we need to move, set up camp before the light fades. It''s dangerous here at night.¡± Bastian watched Keira move ahead pulling out her weapons. Elysande leaned down, speaking quietly. ¡°You were joking about the Mogwai I presume.¡± Bastian smirked. ¡°Oh no. They like her¡­ it''s weird.¡±


    8


    I have a lot of nightmares; they are so common now they always happen after taking the potions. I have bad dreams about the night I became this monster. It''s why I can¡¯t sleep. The others are fast asleep. What Bastian said about the Mogwai was true: they do leave me alone for some reason. Weird furry big long pointy eared things that are as tall as your knee in height.


    They have thick fur all over, a long bushy tail as well as big yellow eyes, whiskers and small snout-like faces with black noses and a mouth full of razor teeth. They have three clawed fingers on their hands and feet and they run around in groups, they steal things, bite and scratch you leaving really nasty wounds, they''re mean things. Yet all my life they¡¯ve never touched me, not even as a child at the bakery, yes they stole cooked goods as they are very opportunistic and will have any food you eat, meat, vegetables, sweets¡­


    They can¡¯t talk though and are considered more wildlife than an intelligent race. They are in every region here, fur and eyes can also be different colours. You can see them running around at night as their eyes are reflective meowing and chattering.


    Keira breathed in, eyeing the others who were fast asleep from what she could tell including Elysande though she wasn¡¯t that sure if vampires slept or just imitated being asleep. Truth be told she had only been that short with her as she had been in pain all day, her potions just had not settled in her system. She had no idea why but it was constant stomach pain and she didn¡¯t feel well. She was just trying to hide it from the others.


    Plus all the Mages and Paladins had battered into her as trainee was that Trius Amaya was an evil place, that the Mages and warped Paladins did dark magic, murdered and ate people or put dark spells on them. There were no undead on the council of Mages, which made up all seven regions but not Trius Amaya, though despite this everyone still traded with that region.


    That had always seemed odd to her them constantly buying their goods yet insulting them openly. She turned over, slightly looking at the night¡¯s sky, with its many stars which were flowing with bright colours of greens red and blues¡­ as the magic pull here was great. Despite taking the potions, she could always feel it like an ever presence and it was stronger after she¡¯d become the abomination. It was probably why blood moons were so bad and she lost control, but one of them was a long way off.


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    She breathed in. She hated feeling this way all the time . She hated hiding and she wanted her life to be normal again. The truth was she didn¡¯t just become a miner to mash out stone, she wanted to learn all the types of stones in the hope one could cure her. She had scraped through the mine''s whole library reading all the scrolls trying to find one that was about two stones connecting together but she had found nothing.


    Maybe she was going to die in this miserable state and never be free, but the truth was despite her feelings she needed to be kinder to their guest. Bastian was right. If Magnus found out she wasn¡¯t being civil he would pull her pay, as he was a bastard. She tried to ignore the chest pain as she turned on her side in the red and blue material tent as sleep finally started to come but it was more from mental exhaustion.


    The truth was she knew nothing of vampires, she knew nothing of the region, it was just a bunch of shitty hear say. People sometimes spoke badly of rat people but Bastian was her best friend, plus these were the same assholes who had wanted to take her apart when they¡¯d found out she¡¯d merged with the stone. She still had so many questions about that day and not a single answer, so maybe the question she didn¡¯t want to ask herself was how much was lie and truth.


    She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes as sleep finally overtook her, though she didn¡¯t catch the glowing yellow eyes watching her near the dying camp fire with their black slits, before they blinked and vanished into the night. Nor did she notice that the vampire woman was awake, though she had woken up more because they were being watched only to see the Mogwai run away into the night and vanishing, taking some fallen scraps of food with it from the cooking.


    8


    Bastian opened his eyes, jawing as he stretched seeing that Keira and Elysande were both still sleeping soundly. Not that he knew much about vampires but he knew they had a second form and they sometimes used it to sleep. It was normally much bigger than their normal form, with white skin and wings on the arms and claws while the face was still similar. It was stronger though but not much more than the average werewolf as he¡¯d met both on his travels and all had been nice to him.


    He moved his head up, sniffing the air. Today felt strange in a way he had not smelt in a long time, it normally meant magic off some kind was afoot. It had also gone so quiet, no birds, nothing. All you could hear was the wind through the trees under the very early morning sun. He stood up as his whiskers twitched even more, he moved his tail using it to poke Keira, then Elysande who had been sleeping on either side of him. ¡°Hey you need to both get up!¡±


    Keira bolted awake grabbing her sword out of habit looking around. ¡°What¡¯s happening!?¡± Elysande woke up half groggy looking at him. ¡°What is it?¡± Bastian moved towards the ledge of the hill that they had set up camp on pointing down. ¡°Something moving! It''s so powerful! I can feel it in my whiskers.¡± He watched as they both moved to the hillside, catching sight of the trees moving only for the vibrations to hit as whatever it was moved closer, only for the trees to start bending back and even twisting.


    Bastian breathed in, seeing the tree move further back, creating what looked like a road as tree folk with glowing staffs appeared. There were eight of them and they were clearly leading something huge and acting as guards. The huge being they were guarding suddenly came into view, as it was taller than the tallest trees and it raised its huge neck revealing its whole body made of trees of every type. Even its wings were made of trees. Its orange eyes glowed as it carried on its slow walk.


    He breathed in. His heart beating faster seeing the shock from the others, and it was no wonder. This was an elder dragon. But not just any elder dragon, this was one of the life givers, the ancient Eleshaain, one of the oldest of the elders whose role was to spread life in all seven regions, though she never went to Trius Amaya. He watched as she opened her huge wings, her tail rising as seeds and flowers showed out from her body filling the air as she carried on walking on her huge four legs.


    She was beautiful, and they were all so privileged to witness her, and despite her huge size she was rare to see. She carried on moving, as her guards led her forward, her huge head whose horns were made of tree as birds nested on her neck and body and flew along with her, as she walked slowly past them. Everyone knew she had a mate as her child was Ormarr, the Dragon whose skin was made of every crystal and stone, but he was still very young but no one knew who his other parent was.


    Dragons could change gender at will, so it was so difficult to know as they could switch back and forth, and dragons weren¡¯t limited; they could mate with any kind of dragon. Their magic was supreme, even the greatest Mages answered to the dragons. They were the power and driving forces of the world: fire dragon¡¯s, ice dragon¡¯s, even storm dragons, everyone played a role. They all brought balance to the world; as long as he could live no one could out live these wonders.


    It was said that they had once taught all the races magic, and blessed them with it but the great war of the Empire had killed the first great elders who had bestowed that. Except one, Eleshaain, she was from that line as nothing could destroy her since she was the embodiment of life. All those dragons that had died have had children, and those children who were adult size now ruled in their place now.


    He watched as the huge dragon vanished into the far distance, lowering her head, tail and wings though leaving thousands of seeds flowers moving through the air. The trees also pulled back into their normal position though some had already started to grow fruit while others were flowering. Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°Eleshaain¡­she¡¯s so beautiful.¡± Bastian turned to her. ¡°I know. Do you know how lucky we all are to see her? You¡¯re lucky if you see her once in your lifetime, and the rumour is that it brings you great fortune of some kind.¡±


    Keira looked at the forest below, the dragon was beautiful, but she couldn¡¯t see how it was lucky, then she never got to the point in her study at the guide on dragons. Bastian knew a lot about them as his people had one they iodized. ¡°Which is the dragon your Seers worship?¡± Bastian turned to her. ¡°The black night dragon Torrim. Her powers are most powerful at night, as she keeps the balance of the night in all eight regions.¡±


    He paused. ¡°Her brother Choryrth, he controls the sunlight.¡± Keira looked down slightly, the more she spoke to Bastian and their guest the more she found herself feeling that she wasn¡¯t well travelled in this world. She¡¯d never seen an elder dragon till now. The only thing she¡¯d seen off their world in reality was when she had been on the run in the beginning for two very long seasons, alone, mostly travelling from place to place in Moss Tempest, taking odd jobs.


    At least until she had run into Bastian four seasons ago but she had never seen the other regions outside of her place of birth, and she lived far away in Moss Tempest as it was easy to just slide into the region¡¯s life as it was mostly peaceful, with so few conflicts, and people there were not looking for trouble as a whole. It was a region of mining trade, with a very peaceful Elf Mage in charge, though he was not part of the seven Mage council, they just did their bidding.


    All the Mages who led regions with the different races and glasses of Lords answered to those Mages. When there had been an empire there had been Kings and Queens, but they had all died in the battle of the races eons ago. Little history remained in, whether bad or good as a lot of history had been lost in that period. They had barely spoken about it in her time there, and always seemed to want to move on and say that things were better now.


    She felt a hand on her shoulder snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned looking at Bastian who spoke. ¡°We should pack up the camp. It''s another day¡¯s walk to the tavern in Dawn Star, and we¡¯ll all need to get our rest there tonight, for when we go into the bright burn tunnels.¡± Keira took a deep breath. ¡°You¡¯re right, it¡¯s a long walk.¡± Elysande stood up fully. ¡°Let me help you both as we can move faster.¡±


    Keira watched as she got to work¡­ She was such a strange guest. Guests normally didn¡¯t help, they just sat there while they did everything, and she was really unsure how to feel about it. The pain was still there, today felt like a better day at least for her. Though she still wished she could sleep at night, and that the nightmares would leave her alone if only for one night, and that on blood moons she wouldn¡¯t wake up bathed in blood next to some half eaten dead animal wanting to throw up¡­.


    End of part 4


    Silvermoonlight

 Little Places Of Glee And Joy

    Little Places Of Glee And Joy


    You can smell the smoke, the beer, the wine, and the rich herbs and spice of the food cooking on the spits and bowls. You can hear the chatter and the chess games from all the races inside as they gamble, drink and even cast spells at the tables. Or play magic games with dice and cards while they move wooden miniatures around while laughing, and conversations that echo through the air filling the big drinking and eating room of this decorative Tavern.


    Dawn Star is a very beautiful small town. It''s always welcoming. The reality is I once dreamed of settling down here with a husband or wife, dreamed of that person having children with me and them running around the waterfalls and low hills. There are beautiful houses made of wood and stone, everyone is also welcoming here, but Moss Tempest is like this in general. It''s one of the most relaxed regions, and it¡¯s a place you can hide well if you¡¯re wanted by the law, so long as you give nothing away.


    Not far from here lies the ancient bones of one of the elder dragons, though it¡¯s so old it¡¯s now part of the mountain and people sometimes use the huge skull to have parties and celebrate around, it¡¯s not the only one. The capital city building has a huge dragon''s skull built into its front. It''s not clear who these bones in both cases used to belong to, they are so old their stone¡¯s like now.


    The story was that the first dragons died to stop the war, which was what they taught to the Paladins, Mages and Cleric guilds, at least when I was there. I have never seen a live dragon though this is my first time outside of books and scrolls. She was really beautiful and in that moment I felt more like myself and how I used to be seven seasons ago when I was happy. Happiness though is fleeting like all things and the pain is coming back again.


    ¡°What do you want to eat?¡±


    Keira turned, seeing that Elysande was speaking to her as she had been miles away in her own thoughts and she spoke quietly. ¡°Can I have the hog stew and dumplings with vegetables?¡± Elysande blinked ¡°okay¡±, that was the first time she had heard the other woman speak in a voice that wasn¡¯t grumpy or annoyed and it was very different, almost soft. ¡°Whatever you like I¡¯m paying.¡±


    Keira looked up. ¡°If they have Ryschewys I¡¯ll have that to you know those pies filled with sweet custard.¡± Bastian raised a clawed finger. ¡°I want roasted spider legs in stew and iced currant cakes¡±. Elysande eyed the menu looking at the beast woman bar servant who was taking their order. ¡°Hog roast with blood sauce and Rastons; you know that sweet buttery bread and no glow worms dead or alive.¡± The servant smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll get those cooked up for you.¡±


    Keira eyed the woman as she drank the sweet mead from the wooden tankard. ¡°You don¡¯t like glow worms?¡± Elysande sneered slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t eat live food and they don¡¯t taste of anything.¡± Bastian laughed as he eyed them as he got comfortable on the table they were seated on. ¡°Well you got that in common with Keira then she hates them for those same reasons.¡±


    Keira was about to speak, only for a big furry orange-clawed hand to grab her shoulder as a big booming male voice spoke out. ¡°Keira, long time no see!¡± She turned only to be nearly shoved up the table as the huge dark orange haired Minotaur sat next to her grinning wildly, his huge ivory coloured horns pointing upward as he pulled his ringed ears back. ¡°Are we stealing magic staffs again?¡± Keira breathed in deeply, wishing she could vanish. Despite his size Agomais was not much older than her and they kept meeting up.


    Everyone said he was such a wild card though and an ex cleric. She eyed his mother and father who were the Tavern owners, though his mother was a Minotaur his father was human, although he looked like regular Minotaur: fur all over and built like a brick wall. Bastian eyed the young Minotaur. ¡°We weren¡¯t stealing just returning something to the rightful owner.¡± The young Minotaur laughed. ¡°That¡¯s not what they say in Merrygot, you¡¯re both still wanted there.¡±


    Bastian raised a clawed hand. ¡°No, their Mage stole from Mazak, one of our horned Seers. We got it back for her, it was her magical staff, always was.¡± He paused. ¡°Plus Merrygot is a shit hole, it¡¯s full of people who hate my race and steal from us.¡± Agomais smirked. ¡°Twenty seasons of a magic war will do that though.¡± Bastian sneered as his food was put down along with the others and he grabbed the cooked spider leg munching down. ¡°They started it, we ended it.¡±


    Agomais leaned forward, lowering his voice. ¡°Did you see that dragon, the green one¡­I saw her last night I was out hunting hogs, she was with the tree folk.¡± He paused. ¡°No one believes me, they think I had too much mead or spice.¡± Elysande slowly started to eat. ¡°Yes we saw it too.¡± Agomais turned eyeing the new member. ¡°Who are you, beautiful lady?¡± Elysande smiled. ¡°They call me Elysande; I need these two to help me get something.¡±


    Agomais slammed his hand on Keira¡¯s back, almost shoving her forward. ¡°Oh look who scored big!¡± Keira eyed him in annoyance. ¡°It¡¯s not like that! She¡¯s the guest I¡¯m taking to somewhere with Bastian.¡± Agomais nodded as he eyed her. ¡°Oh yeah sure¡­I remember that day you got drunk¡­ I know you had a wild time in bed.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°You¡¯re one to talk¡­you and Bastian had your own fun with some of the other races, men and women.¡±


    Bastian looked at her. ¡°Well it was a fun night and they did give us a great celebration as a thank you.¡± Agomais raised his clawed hands. ¡°You two shouldn¡¯t be working down that shit hole mine. There are far better jobs here in Dawn Star that pay better.¡± Bastian finished his spider leg. ¡°I¡¯ve been telling her that for months. I hate that mine and Magnus is an asshole.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°Okay I will give it some thought when we get back¡­.¡±


    Agomais turned, putting a small bag on the table. ¡°Well here¡¯s a little something for you all.¡± Keira took the packet, opening it, giving a sniff only to eye him in annoyance. ¡°This is spice, you really need to stop selling this, it''s illegal.¡± Elysande took the bag eyeing it. ¡°Very high grade though, I¡¯m impressed.¡± Agomais put a hand on his leather armoured chest. ¡°No it¡¯s only illegal in Ramstad, not in Dawn Star.¡±


    He raised a clawed finger. ¡°I make the best there is, as it helps enhance your magic ability for a short period of time or, in non-magic people, just gives them a really good time.¡± Bastian shook his head. ¡°You know this is why they kicked you out of the cleric¡¯s guild right?¡± Agomais pulled his hands out to both sides. ¡°No, they just couldn¡¯t handle my magnificence.¡±


    Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°Look, just don¡¯t get into trouble¡­ okay you just keep on getting lucky, but your luck might run out.¡± Agomais shook his long mane as he smirked. ¡°You worry too much Keira; you should maybe live a little.¡± He eyed Elysande. ¡°You know she can be fun, it¡¯s very rare but it happens.¡± He leaned over. ¡°And when she is she¡¯ll make your day, but the rest of the time she¡¯s grumpy as hell, sad really.¡±


    Bastian slowly finished his mead eyeing her. ¡°He¡¯s not wrong you know, as I never see you happy outside drinking or getting high on magic dust and spice.¡± Keira folded her arms. ¡°You know, when you two are done I would like to go back to eating¡­.¡± Agomais laughed, his booming voice filling the air. ¡°Ah the Keira we all know and love.¡± Kira started to eat, eyeing him and Bastian. ¡°You two really need to get partners, my private life should not be this interesting to you.¡±


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Elysande eyed them all. It was most curious how they liked Keira, but at the same time didn¡¯t know her, as she wasn¡¯t very open with them as friends. She slowly started to eat. ¡°Everyone has truths¡¯ they hide I guess.¡± Agomais stood up. ¡°Well, you should all keep the truth to yourselves that I¡¯m about to make it huge Ramstad so I have to leave now so I get there tomorrow as I need to spend a few days there.¡±


    Keira looked up slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t get yourself killed Agomais¡­ I¡¯m serious.¡± Agomais smirked as he pulled up his huge sword which was on his back in a scabbard. ¡°No one¡¯s going to get me. I have my little friend here and unlike you two I can cast magic.¡± Keira shook her head. ¡°Trust me, Paladin guards are way harder than you think, so are trained Mages.¡± Bastian breathed in deeply. ¡°For the record I can use magic¡­ just not well.¡±


    He raised a clawed hand. ¡°She¡¯s right though, those men and women from all races will really beat the shit out of you, we had to flee them once¡­ not that great.¡± Keira finished her food. ¡°Yes, they don¡¯t back up that easily and they''re brutal¡­ it¡¯s all part of their training.¡± She started on her sweet. ¡°Never ever underestimate them, they are very highly skilled and really highly trained, you have to be very strong magic wise to stand up to them.¡±


    Agomais laughed. ¡°You guys worry way too much¡­ you need to get drunk way more and have fun, live a little.¡± He paused. ¡°And give up working that mine, I can get you both better jobs here!¡± Keira shook her head watching him go. She liked Agomais, he had always been fun but he was really pushing his luck with this one. She¡¯d seen how they treated prisoners in the capital, it was part of the training and the magic torture to make them confess was awful along with beatings and breaking horns, fingers, hooves and tails or your legs and arms if you were human.


    This was even before these poor people went to trial just so they would confess, she¡¯d always thought it was normal until they¡¯d tried to take her apart after her accident, since they were so fast to turn on her. She just really hoped he didn¡¯t get caught as they would break his horns and hooves as punishment. It was a horrible way if you lived for everyone to know that you¡¯d done bad things and it could take ages to heal as it was done using magic.


    8


    Romulus opened his eyes slowly, letting them adjust as he heard the pounding on the door to his room. He groaned, shaking his furry head, as he sat up seeing the woman lying opposite naked on the sheets. He wouldn¡¯t lie he had assumed that seven seasons ago his Cleric assistant had been a mistake, but every day he could see that she was the perfect gift sent from the Mages above.


    She was as ruthless and as cunning as he could be to get the job done, and he loved her for it Odessa was pure carnage. They had a lot of good times together as a couple as she was just as fun as he was. He breathed in grabbing his robe, getting out of bed, moving over to the door, pulling it open only to be greeted with a face he detested. ¡°Hello Titus¡­¡± The Paladin sneered at him, moving his mechanical golden and red leg and tail, raising a leather scroll sealed by them. ¡°Scroll for you, from the seat of grand Mages.¡±


    Romulus snatched it from his clawed hand. ¡°Great, now go blow your ugly frog faced boyfriend¡¯s dick or something and get out of my sight¡­.¡± He slammed the door on him before the seasoned Paladin could speak. ¡°Stupid belly crawler¡­.¡± He watched as the blonde haired woman woke up yawning before giving him a very sly smile. ¡°Are you being mean to Titus again?¡± Romulus moved over to the bed. ¡°No more than need be, can¡¯t wait till I can send that idiot and his frog partner elsewhere.¡±


    Odessa raised her hand, causing multi-coloured smoke to come out as she played with it. ¡°Makes you think that what that Paladin said seven seasons ago about not giving the order was probably right.¡± Romulus smirked. ¡°With hindsight it probably was.¡± He stroked his long goat beard. ¡°Wish I had not lost that werewolf demon though, they have not had a single sighting of it in seven seasons, the higher Mages want that thing so badly and anything like it dead.¡±


    He pressed the wax seal with the griffin and the dragon on it, opening the scroll slowly as he started to read. ¡°Great, they found another set of charred bodies; another Mage was trying the same shit again with those merged stones.¡± He threw the scroll aside. ¡°All we ever do is investigate these deaths and find nothing, as when it goes wrong the host of these stones dies half the time and burns the other victims to a crisp.¡±


    He raised a clawed hand. ¡°Why are these Mages even doing this, why do they want to create these abominations?¡± He put a hand on his face in frustration. ¡°It makes no sense!¡± Odessa pulled on her robe moving over to him. Her glowing blue eyes shining. ¡°We are going to find out what this is, I¡¯m certain of it. I mean there has to be a perfectly rational reason¡­ Mages go crazy, grab a bunch of victims and do this. It is happening three times every season now and every time they fail.¡±


    She paused, putting a hand on his leg watching as he gave her a razor sharp toothed smile. ¡°You and me we are going to find out what is doing on, we have been in this together since the day you had me tell them the werewolf demon escaped because the black smiths magic chains failed.¡± Romulus laughed. ¡°My dear you do know the maker of those chains a poor rat woman got twenty lashes for that?¡± Odessa smirked. ¡°Well, you know what they say¡­ shit rolls downhill from the castle.¡± Romulus eyed her. ¡°You are beautiful, magnificent and terrible.¡± Odessa leaned over kissing his snout. ¡°I know, now get your furry butt out of bed and go clean your horns. We have work to do.¡±


    8


    We are almost there. At long last, just one more long hill and we will be at the Bright Burn entrance. Keira breathed in, this was the halfway mark, at least, and they could rest in Ramstad, though they¡¯d get out late at night and have to make their way there, under the dark of night. Bastian ran up the hill, stopping at the grassy top, pawing with his clawed feet. ¡°Right here as always.¡± Elysande raised an eyebrow. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡±


    Bastian eyed Keira. ¡°Should we do the honours? It''s probably not changed from the last time¡± She paused, eyeing the other woman. ¡°Stay where you are and don¡¯t step on anything.¡± She moved her boot as he moved his clawed foot, pushing grass segments in the ground, hearing them grind as they both worked together forcing certain blocks down. They both stopped hearing the grinding as a huge metal ring came up from the ground in two halves. ¡°Okay you take the left I¡¯ll take the right.¡±


    Bastian moved, grabbing one side while she grabbed the other section, as they started to move them fully past each other only to bring them back together, forcing them together on each side hearing them click. He moved off watching as Keira did the same, as he smiled at the vampire raising his tail. ¡°Wait for it.¡± He looked down as all the grass blocks suddenly flipped over, showing stone, as each stone clammed together only to create a huge circular door that slowly creaked as it came apart in two halves, as it slowly opened revealing long stone stairs in to the old dungeon first level. ¡°Welcome to Burn Bright.¡±


    Elysande felt a smile form. ¡°That¡¯s very impressive, you''re both very good with puzzles.¡± Bastian smirked. ¡°My people make these kinds of locks, they''re not hard.¡± Elysande raised her hand. ¡°I get you knowing them but not Keira.¡± Keira eyed the open doors. ¡°I just grew up around his people.¡± Elysande put her hand on her chin. ¡°I see¡­ nice skills to have.¡± Keira moved to the steps. ¡°What you want will be at the end of the dungeon¡¯s second level; there is always one or two down there.¡±


    Elysande looked down. ¡°Do you think your friend Agomais will be okay?¡± Bastian smirked. ¡°Yeah he¡¯ll be fine, plus he is stronger than we are. He can lift a whole hog over his head with one arm.¡± Elysande eyed Keira. ¡°I was told you were strong by your boss, stronger than normal for humans.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s just the mining, makes me strong since I just hammer rocks all day.¡±


    Elysande felt a smile form. ¡°That is most curious, as most people like that have a strong race member in their family tree.¡± Keira eyed her, as she pulled out her weapons, watching as Bastian did the same. ¡°Trust me my family tree is not that interesting.¡± She started making her way down into the dark depths below, raising her sword hands glove as the light started to come out from it, leading the way in the darkness. ¡°I¡¯m no royal or special family, like I said I¡¯m a failed baker.¡±


    End of part 5


    Silvermoonlight

 Traversing The Depths And Darkness

    Traversing The Depths And Darkness


    The air, despite being deep underground, is not stale in these old dungeons. Even the ancient ones have ventilation shafts. This place is so old and writing is from the Age of the Empire, but most of it has degraded to the point of being readable or even understandable. It is disappointing, as I wanted to read it; but I have to get down to a better level. Not that I can read this language well as no one uses it anymore. Though I learnt how at my adopted parent¡¯s guild; but not even they have put this all together and know what every symbol means.


    Lost language, lost history, the greatest tragedy of all. I just hope the scraps of parchment I found in another region were right and it is down here. If it¡¯s not, it will be another wasted trip, just like my last time here. I found nothing in the other old dungeon far to the west of the region. These old dungeons used to be under the huge villa homes during the old empire, though they weren¡¯t prisons. They were for making potions and leaning magic in safety, as early spell crafting was dangerous and accidents happened a lot.


    The wall used to have special flat stones to absorb magic blasts. It¡¯s still used today in the guilds for training. Here though, it¡¯s all been pillaged and torn off. Only the decorative walls remain, but the air and humidity have pealed the paint off leaving, only the old carvings. The others¡¯ glow stones light up the way, so it¡¯s very bright as we make our way past the old open rooms. Most don¡¯t have doors; they have long since rotted away.


    The only thing moving around us is boot-sized insects but they have no interest in us. What was the combination my parents said? Elysande was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts sharply as Keira¡¯s hand suddenly moved her to one side. Keira¡¯s other hand grabbed something in the dark that started screeching. She turned, seeing that the warrior was holding a huge red and black worm with horrible teeth.


    Keira eyed the large worm before speaking. ¡°Ribbon Worms. These are highly poisonous. They will bite you, they strike from the walls and they have a long, ribbon-like tongue that latches on to your body and digs in.¡± She turned, dropping it on the floor, watching as it sped off. ¡°You need to be more careful.¡± Elysande watched as it crawled away past Bastian, vanishing. ¡°You didn¡¯t kill it. Why?¡±


    Keira moved forward. ¡°I don¡¯t kill things that are just surviving. At the end of the day, the worm is just looking for food, and I don¡¯t kill things unless I¡¯m hunting them to eat, or they attack me or someone like you wants some parts.¡± Bastian moved forward. ¡°Killing that does not serve a need it is very wasteful.¡±


    Elysande watched them both move forward, drawing their weapons again. That was deeply refreshing. Her other guides, on other trips, had not been so thoughtful. They just wanted to kill everything to impress her, hoping she¡¯d pay them more, but the reality was the land of the dead didn¡¯t want slaughtered or forced deaths. They wanted the cycle to complete naturally, for beings to have lived long, fulfilled lives before they became undead, not brutal and short ones.


    She took in a deep slow breath she had become what she was nine years ago, though her adopted parents love her deeply. Though a part of her couldn¡¯t help but feel that her parents felt deeply sorry for her. Because she I had not lived a full long life, before becoming what she was unlike them as they had both lived long lives. It made her sad at times that this happened to her when she had been young but such was the will of all things, which you were powerless to change.


    She moved slowly forward, seeing another empty room as she watched her sword¡¯s hilt¡¯s stone glow, which was to give the others way more light as they all carried on moving in the darkness. Bastian turned slightly. ¡°The secret passage to the next level is down there is that not far; we just have to carry on walking this way. The off corridors don¡¯t lead anywhere, it¡¯s like they were building them but then stopped suddenly.¡±


    Keira looked at the old dungeons stone walls. ¡°These corridors just have small wild life nothing really dangerous or threatening. The centipedes tend to hang around in the level below, since they feed off the things at this level.¡± Elysande looked at them both. ¡°I need one that spews ice and acid, as I need its parts for my magic mostly as I¡¯ve heard they are the best for mixing potions as they grow big around here.¡±


    Bastian licked his lips. ¡°You know, their meat is really good. You can sell some of it at the next tavern, along with the parts you don¡¯t need. They pay good money for that and it cooks up well.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. Why did Bastian always love weird food? Granted, he didn¡¯t eat live food like some of his race; but he really did love eating cooked insects. She preferred to eat sea food like crabs and fish, or meats like hog and chicken. Plus, whenever she ate those creatures in her other form she would find herself vomiting afterwards for hours.


    8


    Agomais watched as Ramstad came in to view. It was nothing like Dawn Star; it was a smaller, quieter village, mostly for farming as it had vast hills of corn, wheat and rye. There were mills for grinding grain all over the place, as they mostly made grain to sell for bread and other meals. It had the normal set of Paladin and Warrior guards and a few Mages, but nothing of note that he needed to be remotely concerned about.


    He pulled his heavy worn pack over his shoulder. All he had to do was mix all those herbs for those who wanted spice and sell it to them. Once the trades were done he could leave. He had done that plenty of times before without a hitch. The others worried too much, Ramstad was too laid back to care about anything let alone spice. All they liked was having fun at night with festivals. They weren¡¯t a danger.


    He carried on walking, not seeing the two shadows in the far distance, near the old dungeon stone door that had not opened in many seasons. There was another opening a mile away, which was where his friends would leave by. The first shadow spoke, its rat teeth grinding. ¡°That bastard has been stealing our spice sales for months¡­ I think it¡¯s time to end him.¡± The other nodded calmly, raising his human hand. ¡°I¡¯ve told the Paladins and Mages. They are just pretending to not care¡­ but once he makes the trade, it will be all over.¡±


    He paused. ¡°It will be retribution for Merrygot, after all.¡± He raised his sword. ¡°That whole group is trouble. Him, the dumb over-sexed warrior human and that dumb white rat.¡± He eyed his friend, whose red eyes were glowing under the dark hood. ¡°No offence intended to you, old friend.¡± The rat man shook his head. ¡°None taken. That maggot-eater is not from my region. I don¡¯t give two shits about him¡­.¡±


    He eyed his human friend. ¡°White furred rat people are always idiots. It¡¯s their breeding; they¡¯re less pure magic-wise than those of us who were born with black or brown fur. They don¡¯t channel as well as we do.¡± He raised his clawed hand. ¡°My whiskers tell me there is nothing true in that group. The warrior woman lies, the maggot eater lies, and the Minotaur is an idiot who thinks with his dick.¡± He raised his short magical cleric staff. ¡°I sense the magic in all of them¡­ it is the greatest tragedy that none of them are true to themselves. They will never reach their true potential as it¡¯s so untrained and weak.¡±


    He breathed in deeply. ¡°There is no sadder thing than living a half-life and never being true to yourself even if it¡¯s your best and worst self.¡± The human smirked. ¡°Yes, well let¡¯s be true to ourselves and get rid of this dumb fucker. I¡¯m tired of him stealing our monthly wages for spice.¡± He folded his arms, watching as the Minotaur vanished though the multi-coloured trees, going down the big hill that led to the village. ¡°I want my monthly silver and copper wage back¡­¡±


    8


    Bastian watched as the end of the corridor came in to view, although it looked like a wall. He watched as Keira put her weapons away, moving to the side. ¡°The door is hidden here.¡± He moved, pushing the middle inwards with Keira¡¯s help, watching as the circle of stone clicked. They both turned it clock wise slowly, hearing it click again as the whole wall pulled back, revealing a long tunnel downwards and stone stairs. ¡°This will close behind us, but its fine. Like the other level, it¡¯s still ventilated.¡±


    They all slowly made their way down in to the darkness, hearing a grinding on the other side as the stone door grinded back at the bottom, letting them through. He watched as it closed behind them. ¡°Hate to think what it would be like to be stuck between those two doors and the steps.¡± Elysande eased her skull shield free from its holder, raising her sword higher as the others did the same with their weapons, moving much more slowly through the long corridor which was not well preserved like the upper level.


    Again there were insects scurrying around, but less. They moved checking the empty rooms. Bastian¡¯s whiskers moved forward as he lowered his voice. ¡°I can sense two huge ones here, but we need to ignore one of them. It¡¯s breathes fire.¡± He moved his tail. ¡°It¡¯s sleeping in the room, close by.¡± Keira moved slowly seeing it as she shone the light of her glove down but not on it. She caught sight of the creature which was bigger than all three of them, circled up in a huge ball. ¡°Keep it asleep¡­ give it Aspen.¡±


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    Bastian pulled a small, yellow glowing pot from his armour, opening it slowly as he pulled another dagger free from his back. He locked the dagger on to his tail guard then dipped the razor sharp tip in the thick, sticky liquid before closing the cap. Keira guarded him as he moved forward, over to the huge red and yellow centipede. He moved the dagger¡¯s tip near its neck, jammed it in quickly. He watched as the whole thing squirmed for a second and then carried on sleeping. ¡°It will only last two turns of the sun dial, but it will stop it attacking us while we get the other one.¡±


    They both moved away from, it slowly and quietly. ¡°Shame the other one¡¯s ice and acid, as this stuff won¡¯t work on it, at all.¡± He eased out his axe, readying it. ¡°Plus, I¡¯m no good at potion mixing. I had to buy this back at the mines at one of the stores and they ripped me off and overcharged.¡± He sneered slightly. ¡°It¡¯s not even good grade.¡± Elysande looked at them as they walked slowly up the long wide corridor. ¡°Why not get your friend Agomais to make it?¡±


    Keira shook her head. ¡°He is excellent at mixing spice and magic dust, but he¡¯s really not very good at potion craft outside the very basic stuff. But that¡¯s how he makes a living and gets extra money for his parents¡¯ tavern.¡± Elysande looked at her as Bastian pointed his whiskers forward again. ¡°You don¡¯t know any advanced potion craft?¡± Keira shook her head. ¡°No I¡¯m not that smart.¡± Bastian turned, eyeing her. ¡°You know, just because Magnus thinks you¡¯re not clever you shouldn¡¯t believe what he says. He¡¯s a greedy self-centred asshole; I¡¯ve met way better and kinder demons than him.¡±


    Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s okay; he can think what he wants.¡± Bastian stopped suddenly, causing the others to do so, raising his head higher as he checked with his whiskers. ¡°I¡¯ve got the other one. It¡¯s big, though¡­ bigger that the last one.¡± He raised his axe. ¡°It¡¯s in the last room from the bottom. It just crawled in though a huge crack in the floor from the level above.¡± Keira raised her weapons, moving slowly forward. ¡°Is it eating?¡±


    Bastian moved his whiskers. ¡°No. Hunting.¡± Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°Great, then it¡¯s going to be very aggressive.¡± She twirled her sword. ¡°This is going to be as fun as the one in the mine.¡± Bastian smirked. ¡°Well, you did save my life that day.¡± Keira gave him a slight smile. ¡°Well, I did owe you one for the spider when we met.¡± She breathed in as they got closer to the room, hearing the tapping and moving of the huge legs. The thing was clearly on the ceiling. ¡°Here goes nothing. You take the left; I¡¯ll take the right.¡±


    They moved closer as the other woman raised her shield, her sword lighting up with green flames as the hilt glowed with its gem stone. Keira looked up, seeing the huge centipede come in to view, its white and blue body showing in the low glow as it opened its huge forked mandibles, hissing in their direction. It was bigger than the other one, so much so that half its body was on the wall as well as the ceiling. Its huge antenna moved, clearly sensing them as the hissing got louder and even more threatening.


    Its whole body suddenly lit up, pure blue on the back as its head rose higher. Keira found herself moving fast as the huge head came down within inches of all of them, snapping hard only to come out again, faster as it started to screech, moving its mandibles as ice crystals started to form in them. Elysande raised her shield, which pulsed as green fire come out of it, as the ice stream flew out hitting the floor causing her to stumble back slightly.


    The centipede moved fast, crawling down from the ceiling as it rose up half way, getting ready to strike again. Keira watched as its head came down as she smashed the sword in its face. Sadly, it didn¡¯t land as the centipede pulled its head back, only to be struck by Bastian at the side, causing it to turn violently, blowing out ice which struck the wall close to him. Bastian went down on all fours, running out of the way as he smashed his axe in to the tail end of the monster but didn¡¯t get a clean cut.


    The huge head came down again, smashing the tiles as the vampire¡¯s green flaming sword stuck its face, though still didn¡¯t break the shell, it just forced its head back slightly. Keira watched as its head snapped forward, spraying acid webbing which stuck to the floor, causing her to pull back as the webbing started to eat at the floor, sizzling and burning as a foul smoky smell filled the air. The next moments turned to pain as the tail section flew around, striking her hard in the chest, hard enough to send her flying backwards, hitting the floor hard.


    The huge head came down fast, its mandibles wide as Keira moved, missing them as they slammed in to the floor where her head had been. She rolled out of the way, getting to her feet. The tail moved, narrowly missing Bastian as he tried to slice the horned tip ends, only for it to turn, spitting acid webbing directly at the vampire¡¯s shield, only for intense green fire to come out of her shield as it fell off hitting the floor causing more smoke to fill the air.


    Keira slammed the axe in its face as it came at her again, only this time it hit, getting stuck in the side of its face, causing it to pull back, throwing its head from side to side. The monster screeched, smashing the walls hard as it tried to get it out, only for Bastian to run up its back, right up to its, head slamming his axe in the other side. At the same time, he pulled out up his tail dagger, using it to pierce holes in between the neck segments as blue blood spattered all over the floor.


    Bastian grabbed his axe, which was still attached, forcing the centipede¡¯s head down. He watched as Keira grabbed her side as they both forced its head further down, as he kept on stabbing it. He eyed the vampire. ¡°Break this thing¡¯s head right between the antenna! The shell is soft there! Do it now, we can¡¯t hold it for long!¡± Elysande¡¯s sword flew forward, hitting the target, causing blue blood to fly everywhere as the huge insect screeched long and loud. Its back end trashed one last time before it suddenly twisted over, death taking over as it became still.


    Keira eyed all the blue blood that had hit her, face wiping it off as she forced her axe out harshly. She saw Bastian doing the same as the vampire eased her sword free. ¡°Which parts do you want?¡± Elysande looked at the dead insect. ¡°The whole tail section, the ice and acid sack and the mandibles. The rest can be sold for meat and armour. I¡¯ve heard the native frog men and women like wearing the shell on their armour, as it protects them from some water animals.¡±


    Elysande watched as they both started to work methodically, cutting the huge dead centipede apart. She breathed in, moving to the other wall her fingers over it, trying to feel for a different kind of stone. It had to be here, the entrance to the third level. She was sure of it. She could see the long tunnel leading out some way down from them; but she had no intention of using it. She breathed in again, ignoring the cutting going on behind her and the blue blood as it ran in trails out of the room.


    Bastian pulled the tail end off as he turned to Keira. ¡°What do you think she¡¯s doing?¡± Keira yanked a huge mandible free. She was glad this thing had mostly used acid and not its ice that much, as cold really hurt her even through the armour. It was way worse since she had been cursed. She put her axe away as she finished cutting the parts stacking them up. ¡°Who cares? We all did the job. Let¡¯s just get out of here before its firesome friend wakes up.¡±


    Bastian eyed her using his axe to cut away huge solid plates. ¡°She did help us, which was nice.¡± Keira started to strap the parts to their packs. ¡°I guess.¡± She pulled up the ice sack, only to drop it painfully as she shook her hand. ¡°I¡¯ll just be happy to go home.¡± Bastian picked up both sacks, using a special magic binding cloth to keep them from causing problems. Magnus had packed two for them, so they could spare one. ¡°What is she looking for?¡±


    Keira shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s an old dungeon; she was reading the writing on the other levels.¡± She turned, throwing the remaining pieces all around, watching as all the smaller insects started to appear in the room as they wanted to eat the centipede¡¯s flesh. They slowly made their way slowly over to them. It was only fair to give them the left overs, plus it was considered good practice that if you took from the land, you gave back to others things that were surviving.


    Elysande pressed her fingers in deeper on the stone, suddenly feeling something shift in the wall. This was it! This was entrance to third level! Clearly, even when this place had been made for training, it had been hidden from the students back in the empire days. She breathed, in pushing down only to watch as the whole stone wall rose, creating a pattern of circles. She smiled. Her parents had been right, it was here. She turned, seeing that the others were coming towards her, holding all the insect parts and looking utterly shocked. ¡°Come closer as you¡¯re both good with puzzles; you can check if I¡¯m doing this right.¡±


    Keira eyed the other woman, her shock turning to annoyance. ¡°What the fuck is this?¡± Elysande turned, smiling at her. ¡°Something you¡¯ll be very interested in when we get to the next level.¡± Bastian watched as she started to push in the stone sections with glee. ¡°Wait, there is a third level?¡± Elysande eyed him. ¡°Oh yes, we are about to find out what it¡¯s like.¡± Keira moved forward, feeling a sneer form. ¡°I was paid to get your insect! I was not paid for this shit!¡±


    Elysande turned to look at her. ¡°Oh, trust me Keira this is going to be worth it.¡± She slammed the last stone down hard, stepping away, watching the other sections glow with bright, pulsing blue Yetasine stones. Only for it to suddenly stop pulsing, as it faded away. ¡°No! That¡¯s not possible; I know I got this right!¡± Keira watched as the other woman slammed the last stone again in frustration. She laughed coldly. ¡°Oh, well, that sucks. And here I was, worried you were actuality smart.¡±


    Elysande turned, eyeing her disgust. ¡°You know, you¡¯re an asshole! At least I¡¯m happy with myself, unlike you.¡± Keira watched as Bastian moved past them both, eyeing the wall with keen interest; she turned back glaring at the vampire. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean!?¡± Elysande shook her head. ¡°I think you know what it means.¡± Keira narrowed her gaze ¡°You know, I trekked and got what you wanted for your stupid mission! No amount of gold is worth this kind of shit, of being down trodden by a privileged rich war Mage!¡±


    Bastian turned seeing something that had risen out of the floor that neither of them had noticed: a decorative block near the puzzle. He eased his foot up, looking at it before bringing it down. ¡°Oh, I see! It¡¯s a press trigger. Clever!¡± Keira turned sharply. ¡°Don¡¯t press that!¡± Whatever she was about to say was cut off suddenly as the whole floor gave way. It slammed down wards like a slide, sending them tumbling painful along with the insect parts in the deep unlit darkness bellow.


    End of part 6


    Silvermoonlight

 Unwanted Memories That Return To Haunt You

    Unwanted Memories That Return To Haunt You


    I hit the floor hard, as did we all. It was like going down a rolling stone slide, and it was a long way down. Now, to my horror, I can see the huge section slowly rising up and I can¡¯t get up due to the pain. It rises up slowly grinding as it closes slowly turning everything to darkness. It all goes pitch black and all I can see is that stupid fucking vampire¡¯s eyes glowing in the darkness along with Bastian¡¯s. Mine in my real form would glow but they''re suppressed which means they don¡¯t and it takes them longer to adjust.


    I pull myself up painfully, even with Paladin armour that can take impacts it still hurts. That is when I notice something is wrong, very wrong. The air down here feels stale, which means there might not be a set of veneration shafts going up to the surface to funnel the air. Keira pressed her glove watching as her glow stone started to let out dim light as Bastian got up shaking his head, his glow stone also working.


    She looked around her in surprise, seeing all the beautiful coloured paintings and ancient writings and even the glossy black stone to protect from serious magic incidents still in place, the vampire was looking at it with extreme interest and awe. She could see her already casting some spell on the walls all around which was making copies of the images and dragging them back into her sword hilt in a flash of green smoke. ¡°You fucking idiot!¡±


    Keira raised a gloved hand. ¡°There¡¯s no air down here¡­.we are going to suffocate.¡± Elysande breathed in deeply, she knew this was coming. She finished her work watching as her sword hilt started to glow with green light. ¡°No, there is a way out. I read it¡¯s very near the village of Ramstad.¡± Bastian turned sharply. ¡°That¡¯s closed, it''s been closed forever, they¡¯ve never been able to open it¡­¡± Elysande eyed him. ¡°You pressed the puzzle block to make us all fall in here, not me, though I¡¯m very grateful.¡±


    Bastian raised a clawed finger to speak only to stop. ¡°Yes I did¡­I just like my peoples designs.¡± Keira felt her teeth grind together. ¡°Yes and now we are going to die down here. Thank you so much both of you!¡± Elysande hated to have to say this but she was very tired of this now. ¡°Then stop your unnecessary bitching and conserve oxygen. I know what I¡¯m doing and where I¡¯m going.¡±


    Keira felt a sneer form as she spoke under her breath. ¡°It''s fine for your undead; you won¡¯t die from a lack of oxygen.¡± Elysande turned, giving her a wide smile as she started working, watching as they all picked up their pack along with the large fallen insect tail. ¡°Yes I also have excellent hearing and can hear you perfectly.¡± She paused, speaking calmly. ¡°Shame you can¡¯t do magic, as you''d be able to make air bubbles or mimic a frog persons lungs to purify your air and your friends.¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°Unless in reality you can and you¡¯re holding out on us.¡±


    Keira eyed her in disgust. ¡°I can¡¯t do magic!¡± Elysande smiled walking forward ignoring Bastian¡¯s confusion over that statement. ¡°Well since you can¡¯t let all hurry along before the air goes bad.¡± She carried on walking, seeing that there were no doors down here or rooms, just a very long corridor, with no animals as the she cast her copy spell, copying as many off the walls as possible as they walked forward slowly. ¡°Also enjoy the view and take in the sights. I mean look at this place it was carved by our ancestors and it¡¯s so intact and beautiful.¡±


    She carried on moving, seeing that they were finally at the end as she looked at the stone wall, easing her hand up pressing the middle only to see the centre light up with beautiful blue stone, before it opened slowly, grinding open with more ease than the other ones revealing a huge room filled with chests of gold and gemstones. What she wanted had to be here; she didn¡¯t care about the piles of gold, she moved forward only for Bastian¡¯s clawed hand to grab her pushing her back. ¡°Don¡¯t! It¡¯s not real.¡±


    Bastian eyed the room watching as she stepped back while Keira''s face turned from glee to utter disappointment. ¡°You know the saying, too good to be true, it probably is.¡± He moved forward. ¡°Let me turn off the illusion spell as it¡¯s not a room.¡± He grabbed the wall in the room, climbing around it slowly, looking only to find what he was looking for, which was a blue stone turning wheel. ¡°This is so impressive I have not seen one of these in years, very old work really hard to make.¡±


    He moved his clawed hand, turning it. ¡°Who ever lived here had talent, as trap illusion rooms you need so much skill to keep the magic going, and this has been going for seasons.¡± The wheel in his hand pulled out, clicking as he began to turn other way slowly. He carefully pushed it down. Only to watch as the magic started to fade slowly, the gold melted away like paint along with the room colours turning dark grey only for the floor to suddenly vanish. Except for a narrow bridge which led across to the real black stone door, under it was razor sharp spikes and a lot of bones and the skeletons from many other races who had fallen for it.


    He moved over jumping back on to the bridge. ¡°You both can come over now.¡± Keira breathed in as they made their way across slowly and carefully. ¡°Why is it that all the copper, silver and gold I want are always fake why can¡¯t it just be real for once?¡± She eyed the black door. ¡°How does this open then as it¡¯s made from stone to stop magic like in the tunnels?¡± Elysande breathed in looking at the door. ¡°Must have a switch somewhere¡­.¡±


    Keira moved, putting her hand against the door. ¡°Great¡­¡± The next moments turned to agony as a black clawed device shot out the door, grabbing her hand, slamming it into the door, causing intense pain as the others tried to force to let go only for Elysande to stop as a smile appeared on her face. ¡°I know what to do.¡± She eased up her hand in the same way the other woman had only for it to be grabbed by another clawed device and pulled towards the door. ¡°It needs two people to unlock it¡­it¡¯s not a trap.¡±


    Keira eyed the claws that were getting tighter. ¡°Unlock it now!¡± Elysande ignored her, as she watched blue and yellow streams of light came out on her side lighting up the stone turning it to white. ¡°You need to relax Keira¡­let it feel your soul.¡± She watched as the other woman stopped though not fully relaxed, as red and blue light came out turning the other side white, only for both claws to let go violently as the huge stone began to slowly creak open.


    Bastian looked at the vampire. ¡°Never seen one of these before, how did you know what to do?¡± Elysande looked at him, she could see Keira moving her fingers, painfully though, she could see wisps of red and blue light coming out of her fingers before they vanished. ¡°They are still used where I live, to guard things they are called spirit doors, if you¡¯re not true to them you lose your hand.¡± Keira sneered, shaking her gloved armoured hand. ¡°Well I¡¯m so flattered it made the choice to not rip mine off.¡±


    She watched as a highly decorated room came into view, probably more decorated than any other room though there was nothing in it, just a huge highly decorated sarcophagus. ¡°Are there any traps in here?¡± Bastian moved his whiskers forward. ¡°None.¡± He moved inside. ¡°Plus the door way out is over there, it¡¯s a hidden switch you press it.¡± Elysande moved forward looking at the beautiful sarcophagus as she scanned everything in the room including it, it was so ancient a true ancient grave.


    She put her sword away. ¡°Help me get the lid off.¡± Keira raised her hands. ¡°Look I¡¯m happy to take old gold treasure but I don¡¯t grave rob, that¡¯s heresy!¡± Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°I need one single thing off this body, nothing more; I¡¯m not here to desecrate graves.¡± She moved, pulling out a pendant from her armour which had a star symbol on top of the sun. ¡°I would never do that. I have a dawn light trinket. I can see if they have crossed over to the great beyond, or are undead and sleeping.¡±


    She put her hands on the heavy top. ¡°So please help me move this.¡± She watched as they both helped her move the top which grinded echoing through the room as it slid off. She looked down, seeing a beautifully embalmed body come into view in wrapping and wearing a gold mask on its beast man head which had two sets of huge horns. There were ancient symbols all over the body. The mask was also beautiful pure gold plated with woven silver symbols; the horns also had silver and gold decorations. ¡°This is amazing.¡±


    She eased up her sword, scanning quickly before putting it away as she raised the dawn star trinket to the mouth watching it spin, as green smoke came out channelling through the body before coming back into the pendant as it went glowing white for an instant. ¡°She¡¯s passed over, and she¡¯s not undead either.¡± Bastian eyed the horns. ¡°Why does she have two sets of horns? Beast people only ever have one set and they''re not this big?¡±


    Keira eyed the old body, leaning closer eyeing the gold mask only to watch in surprise as the eyes suddenly started to glow white, only for the body to suddenly shoot up sitting up right looking at her directly, not flinching as the old clawed hands scratched the stone and hand raised pointing at her as the voice spoke darkly. ¡°You dishonour yourself pretending to be this; it¡¯s a dishonour to my memory.¡± She found herself stumbling back only to close her eyes painfully only to feel Bastian grab her. ¡°Keira snap out of it!¡±


    She opened her eyes and realized that nothing had pointed to her the body was still. Bastian spoke though he seemed confused and uncertain. ¡°You phased out for a second there; your eyes were even glowing white in the pupils.¡± Keira looked at the body which had not moved at all which meant it was all an illusion. ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± Elysande watched as the other woman came forward putting hands on the coffin breathing in deeply. ¡°Take it slowly, it might have been some sort of trap to keep people away and bewitch or charm them. Just take deep slow breaths and you''ll feel better soon.¡±


    Her hands moved to the body¡¯s chest, as she started to slowly undo the wrappings. ¡°Whoever she was, she was deeply respected and powerful. This is a very expensive tomb.¡± She eased the last bandage away seeing a piece of decorative metal near the chest bone, she took hold of it carefully pulling it back seeing what she came for glowing brightly. It was a combined red and yellow stone merged like crystal. She didn¡¯t think of it as she grabbed Bastian clawed hand before he touched it. ¡°Don¡¯t handle it.¡±


    She watched as all the colour seemed to drain from Keira''s face in an instant as she just stood there staring at it. She slowly eased out a tool with clamps, seeing that the stone was going through the top breast bone section that was between the ribs the manubrium, it had dug a hole permanently placing itself inside that bone. ¡°She died of old age, so I should be able to loosen this from her bone.¡±


    Keira could feel her heart pounding in her ears and feel her-self sweating and panicking internally. Nothing was making sense to her right now and her whole brain was being filled with the bad memories of Magnus trying to pull out an identical stone from her chest. She could only freeze as she watched the vampire carefully clamp down on it slowly easing it out, not breaking the bone, looking at it glistening for a moment before carefully putting it in a special magic lock box.


    Did this person know who she was? Was she one of the horrible mages making the stones? Nothing was making sense to her and it was horrible. Elysande carefully placed the chest plate back in place as she looked at the others. ¡°Help me put the lid back in place; I got what I needed so we can leave.¡± Bastian eyed the stone holder as she put it away. ¡°What is that I¡¯ve never seen anything like it?¡±


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    Elysande smiled as they both pushed the lid back in place, locking it closed. ¡°It¡¯s a very ancient magic gem stones, that¡¯s why I needed to come here, I''ve been looking for them, but all the other finds I¡¯ve found are cracked gems, this is the first intact one I¡¯ve found.¡± She eyed Keira, who seemed to be completely phased out now in her own thoughts. ¡°We can all go now, though we will need that insect¡¯s tail for the next part.¡±


    Keira snapped out of her thoughts, eyeing her rarely used curved dagger on her belt, which was mostly used for forest work and the camp, eyeing the vampire. If she was one of them, she would kill her outright. That fucking demon Mage¡­ he had ruined her life. Maybe the vampire was a stupid fool who just liked to play with dangerous magic and had no idea what she really had in her hands. Either way she would wait till they got to the top side¡­ since she was the only one who knew the way out of this place.


    She breathed in deeply and slowly trying to calm herself down, Paladin code would say murder in cold blood was one of worst crimes, along with some others, but she was no longer any kind of Paladin of worth. She had stopped being that long ago. She moved forward watching as Bastian and Elysande pressing both sides of the hidden locks, watching as the door opened slowly, its stone grinding as it opened fully. Bastian looked up, eyeing Keira who was still deep in thoughts but looked slightly better. ¡°Are you ready to go Keira?¡±


    Keira looked at her dagger again, could she do it? Could she kill someone in cold blood? She had never killed anyone before, mostly just animals. Elysande, as much as she didn¡¯t like the undead or Mages, had not shown her any harm. She was annoying and happy about everything and liked her stupid toys as well as looking at the Empires past. Yet she was so fascinated by the thing that had caused her so much pain and was so dangerous. She breathed in deeply, hating how frustrating this felt and how unwell she still felt since that vision as she slowly started walking forward. ¡°I¡¯m coming.¡±


    8


    Agomais slowly placed all the herbs on the desk as he started to carefully mix them. Eyeing the Orc in the corner who was smoking his pipe, which was letting off coloured smoke, those pipes could be used to channel magic and you could make images with them. The stronger the person¡¯s magic the more amazing images they could make. Though the orc in question was a bard and just preferred to play on his Rebec which was a type of wooden violin that you needed a bow to play.


    He¡¯d always loved music and song, even though he couldn¡¯t play, and was always attracted to people who could play them, as it warmed his soul deeply. This was their third meeting, they¡¯d slept together a few times and he was hoping to take it further and show him to his parents. He finished his mixing, putting it into bags, watching as the young orc stood up removing his pipe looking at the bags. ¡°Very nice work Agomais.¡±


    Agomais smiled at him. ¡°I do try Felix.¡± The orc picked up a bag looking at it. ¡°Shame it is that I have to do this to you, but someone made me a much better offer going forward on handing this out to the village.¡± Agomais blinked in confusion. ¡°Wait, what are you talking about?¡± The orc breathed in deeply, taking hold of his face. ¡°You¡¯re a na?ve idiot Agomais; did you ever think we were a thing? I only cared about your spice and how you make it¡­you¡¯re not even that good in bed.¡±


    He pulled his hands over to the bags. ¡°So I¡¯ll be taking this now.¡± Agomais slammed his clawed hands down on the desk, the anger starting to boil. ¡°No you won¡¯t!¡± The orc smirked. ¡°Rage isn¡¯t going to help you here Agomais.¡± He smiled as the door opened and the four of the Paladin guard appeared along with a low rank Mage. ¡°Time is up for you my friend, it''s been fun, but all fun things come to an end, and you¡¯re not even worthy of being partner material.¡±


    Agomais watched as one of the armoured guards stepped inside he eyed Felix in utter disgust. ¡°You¡¯re a slimy betraying bastard and a dishonour to your race, orcs believe in honour, pride and good will.¡± Felix laughed as he eyed him. ¡°That is true¡­ I just prefer money more I always have.¡± Agomais breathed in feeling the cutting pain in his chest; he thought they were something that Felix maybe was in love with him.


    He looked down sadly that was the story of his current life though and maybe why he¡¯d always been slightly jealous of Keira and Bastian. They seemed to get good sex and partners even if it didn¡¯t last and Keira had new vampire girlfriend, while he just ended up with the shit and people who left him or betrayed him. He hated this! He was worth more than this what was so wrong with him that this kept happening?


    He felt the rage start to build up as he eyed his red glowing stone on his armoured hand and felt the red smoke start to come out of his nostrils he knew activating his rage spell was bad he knew it wasn¡¯t allowed among Minotaurs and could be viewed as a criminal offence, when used badly but fuck Felix and fuck these shining armoured Paladins and there little belly crawler of a frog woman Mage. He felt a sadistic smile form as he looked at the Felix. ¡°Well I hope it¡¯s enough to fix your house¡­¡±


    The orc looked up in shock as it suddenly dawned on him what was going to happen. Agomais turned running, full pelt feeling his magic take strength as he smashed through the wooden wall of the house, sending wood everywhere as he carried on running as the Paladin guard and the Mage turned in shock, running after him shouting loudly. He wasn¡¯t going to go to prison, all he had to do was get to the villages hill and run towards the nearest spider''s nest. They wouldn¡¯t follow and there was one but he needed to get past the old door ruins which were closed.


    8


    Elysande walked slowly into the black stone room. Much further up she could see the huge stone door opening that led to the surface. ¡°This is the last part; we should drop the tail of the insect here.¡± Keira breathed as she and Bastian threw the tail down. ¡°Why?¡± Elysande looked around her. ¡°Because feeding the guardian will appease it, and it will let us free.¡± Keira eyed her. ¡°I really hope you''re right.¡± She moved the tail end across the floor putting it in the centre of the room. ¡°I do not want to get eaten because you¡¯re wrong!¡±


    Bastian moved forward, as he caught sight of something which was moving above, feeling his whiskers twitch. ¡°You both need to be quiet, whatever it is, it¡¯s big, and it¡¯s coming down. It¡¯s not magical but it is highly aggressive.¡± Keira breathed in, stepping back as a huge black form with shimming scales came into view in the low light. Its three eyes blinking on each side of its head as it came downwards like a snake, only to stop its huge head coming into view. Its massive mouth that could open wide came in to view, as well as a huge pouch like stomach that could extend.


    She felt her heart start to beat faster as she realised half a huge centipede was sticking out of its mouth, its legs still moving and it was red and yellow in colour. Its huge mouth suddenly finished swallowing it down, much to her horror as its stomach extended fully. It turned eyeing them using its long fins on either side that had claws to crawl across the floor quickly, despite how full it was. ¡°It¡¯s a black finned gulper snake¡­.¡±


    She watched as it moved over, eyeing what they¡¯d given it, flicking out its long tongue only for the razor sharp fins to come up along its back, as it hissed low and loud in anger. ¡°And you just offered it the wrong type of centipede!¡± Her hand moved towards her weapons. ¡°Which means it¡¯s going to eat us instead!¡± Elysande breathed in. ¡°No, that''s not possible! I read the old scrolls that said this kind of centipede!¡±


    Keira turned sharply as Bastian pulled out his axe. ¡°Scrolls can be misleading!¡± Elysande eased out her weapons. ¡°No! We just missed a step!¡± Keira felt her anger start to burn before she could stop it. ¡°Well I hope you enjoy contemplating that inside its stomach¡­ since that thing can eat anything living or dead!¡± The huge snake mouth opened wide as it screeched in anger, its eyes glowing as it looked at them all.


    Bastian watched moving in closer. ¡°Less talk both of you more killing!¡± The snake¡¯s huge wide jaws opened again as its razor teeth flew down. ¡°Unless you both want this thing to eat you!¡± The huge head came down, narrowly missing him, only to turn, striking the others who ran as fast as they could to get away. He smashed his axe down only to hit a thick hide, like that of any lizard person, as the scales were thick and heavy.


    The next moments turned to pain, as he was smashed by the forked tail and sent flying enough to cause him to hit the wall and land hard. Its head turned, beginning to aim at his friends, moving them further and further up against the walls, trying to box them in striking violently. He got up painfully¡­ one full strike head on and it was over, as that mouth would swallow you whole.


    Keira smashed her sword against the face, as it came at her narrowly missing, only for the tail to knock Elysande flying as the other woman hit the floor hard, her sword leaving her grip as it slid along the floor. She breathed in, seeing the huge head rise as it turned in the other woman¡¯s direction, the mouth opening wide as time starting to crawl painfully. If it eat her all her problems were gone, and yet even in this moment¡­ Even when it was easy to just turn away, she found herself putting her weapons on her back, as she ran forward with all her might.


    Each step grinding the stone as she watched the vampire get to her feet, as the gulpers mouth opened fully, only to shove her out of the way, watching as she was thrown clear. She breathed in, knowing this was the end¡­ knowing her death would be horrible, but the truth that she couldn¡¯t deny was that she was not a cold blooded murder. She was no Paladin, but she still swore that oath to protect others and she wanted to die knowing that.


    Everything went black in an instant, as she felt the teeth grind on her armour and everything became wet¡­ and cold¡­ and dark¡­ as she was thrown backwards down the throat, unable to stop herself from falling as the light from her glove lit up the insides horribly, only for her to fall landing painfully on top of something. Her gloves light brightened as the stale horrible air started to make her choke. She could see now that the only thing between her and the pool of acid was the slowly disintegrating centipede.


    The air was hot, stale and it made her sweat, as her heart started to beat faster in pure panic which was made worse as the huge being moved around. She grabbed the dead centipede''s head, which was out of the acid, clinging to it for dear life. She breathed in, already finding it harder to breathe, only to find herself suddenly throwing up as purple liquid spilled down her chin. Her head started to spin as blue and red light came out in streams across her chest.


    Bastian grabbed his axe, watching the vampire do the same as the monster turned on them. It had killed his best friend. He was going to kill it or die trying! He ran forward only to watch the huge gulper snake stop dead in its tracks no longer moving, it was frozen like a statue, its six eyes going wide only for it to start choking much to his surprise. Elysande grabbed him, pulling him back. ¡°You need to move! You don¡¯t want to be close for what¡¯s going to happen next!¡±


    Bastian turned in confusion. ¡°What do you even mean, what happens next?!¡± Elysande pushed him down, raising her shield as the green fire came out, creating a protective barrier around them both as she watched red and blue light fly out of the gulper¡¯s huge mouth. Its whole stomach lit up with the same light only for its screech as its stomach was torn apart and blue and red light ripped through its body and its stomach went off like a bomb, with centipede parts and acid flying everywhere, raining down, only to be stopped by the shield.


    He breathed in, watching as the gulper fell sideways, dying instantly, only for him to watch in utter shock as his friend walked out covered in purple light with her chest glowing like a star in the darkness, her body untouched by acid burns and weapons still in place on her back. Though her shoulder was bleeding from where the teeth had hooked into when eating her, and red blood was leaking out of the plate. It was clearly a very serious wound that would need healing.


    Kiera carried on walking only for the light to fade slowly, as she threw up thick purple liquid which burnt through the acid around her, turning it into nothing but water. She seemed to be in a trance like state and unaware as her eyes glowed green before she hit the floor hard on her knees. Her long red hair spilling everywhere, as her hair tie had been lost. What in the fuck was going on?! Keira had no magic; she had always told him that!


    He turned, seeing her spilt blood suddenly move on its own towards the stone doors, instantly causing them to flash with red light as the huge stone doors bolts moved on their own, unlocking slowly as they began to open for the first time in seasons. It pulled the vines and branches away, cracking them in two as it opened fully staying fully open. Elysande eased her shield down eyeing Bastian. ¡°We need to get Keira and we need to leave now.¡±


    Bastian turned to her in pure confusion. ¡°Who the fuck are you? Also why does my best friend suddenly have magic?!¡± Elysande raised her hands. ¡°I¡¯ll explain everything when we get out but we have to leave now!¡± She ran over to Keira pulling her up as she watched him pick up the packs. ¡°She needs to be healed quickly, or way worse than this is coming!¡± Bastian grabbed his injured friend, helping pull her up as they ran towards the entrance not stopping or looking back.


    End of part 7


    Silvermoonlight

 Seeing My True Form In The Darkest Light

    Seeing My True Form In The Darkest Light


    What is happening with Keira?! She said she was non-magical she has always told me that! I was so enraged and horrified when the gulper snake eat her! I wanted to kill it even if I couldn¡¯t save her yet she saved herself and nothing makes sense anymore. She even saved the vampire which surprised me as they don¡¯t get on at all, yet she took that moment to be braver than I would have been. I was out of time and slow and I didn¡¯t act fast enough.


    Now she just won¡¯t stop vomiting all this purple liquid up, as we both lay her down on the grassy floor near the village. Its night now, but it¡¯s not quiet in the village, lots of shouting is going on in the distance but it¡¯s too far for my ears to hear. Plus I can¡¯t concentrate, I¡¯m picking up such weird magic and my whiskers won¡¯t stop twitching as its coming off Keira. I took off her weapons and strapped them to my back for now. I watch as Elysande tries to pull her shoulder armour off where it¡¯s bleeding, only to have trouble, which surprises me as it should come right off.


    Elysande pulled on the armour plate again, she had undone the ties so it should just come free! An armoured hand came up, grabbing hers as the other woman¡¯s green eyes shot open, glowing pure green in the darkness as she suddenly coughed up blood before looking at her. ¡°I am dead!¡± Bastian pushed her down. ¡°No you are not dead. You will be though if you don¡¯t relax, you foolish idiot.¡±


    He moved to her shoulder trying to get her plated armour off. ¡°Tell us how to get your armour off? We can¡¯t get your shoulder plating free.¡± Keira didn¡¯t think as she stood up, shoving them both off with force. ¡°Get off me!¡± Bastian breathed in, in surprise he turned helping Elysande up who now just looked concerned and frustrated. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding internally as well as on your shoulder, you need us to help you or you could die!¡± Keira turned, spitting more blood out. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me!¡±


    Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°You need to calm down Keira¡­trust me I know what you¡¯re going through now, being angry makes it worse.¡± Keira stumbled back hitting the nearest tree, back first, breathing in deeply and slowly. ¡°You don¡¯t know shit about me lady, you''re just a rich asshole with gold.¡± Elysande moved a step closer. ¡°No I know a lot about you Keira, more than you realise, and regardless how you feel about me, you need to stay calm as you can¡¯t control your magic right now. That¡¯s why you''re feeling so sick.¡±


    Keira eyed her in disgust. ¡°Did Titus send you? To bring me in¡­¡± Elysande shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know this Titus you speak off.¡± Keira felt her hand form a fist, she had no idea where her weapon were. ¡°You''re lying, he sent you to capture me to bring me back to the capital so the Mages can finish what they started!¡± Elysande watched as the other woman¡¯s chest started to glow again as blue and red light waves started to surround her body. ¡°I don¡¯t care about anyone from there Keira.¡±


    She breathed in looking at Bastian. ¡°You need to run. I can''t stop your friend but you need to get away now.¡± Bastian eyed her. ¡°No, I''m staying! She might be an idiot and an asshole who has magic but she is still my friend plus I had to help you drag her, her fallen weapons and her pack out of there. I want answers.¡± Keira eyed them as the light got brighter around her and pulsed faster. She now felt really unwell her heart was pounded faster, so much so that she could feel it in her chest. ¡°I will die before I give myself up to some assholes who want to cut me open!¡±


    Elysande breathed in knowing it was now too late as the light became purple flames engulfing the other woman. She had hoped it would not be this way, but now the time of choice was over as she felt the green light start to surround her own body. Bastian watched in horror as the purple flames grew higher letting off a massive shock wave only for a huge dark red fur coloured hand to slam into the grass burning it. What could only be described as a demon dark furred werewolf with wings stepped out, its eyes glowing pure purple.


    Its huge jaws opened, roaring into the night as its huge wings opened fully. It had bone spikes going down its back right down to its tail and its huge demonic horns could be seen in the moonlight. It was also massive, much bigger than any normal werewolf as it rose up onto its hind legs. Its mouth was drooling with saliva and blood, even stranger the left eye was scared up badly with what looked like a long claw mark and the red colour was also darker than the light red his friend''s hair had been.


    He breathed in only to watch as the same green fire engulfed the vampire, sending off a similar shock wave only for it to fade as a huge bat creature with wings hit the ground it was nothing like a normal vampire''s form. It had glowing red eyes and a huge bat-like face as well as huge bat ears and was a similar size to the other creature. It had dark black fur all over and a long whip lash tail which had barbed bone points like a mace.


    Vampires looked nothing like this. They normally looked more human and they weren¡¯t this big. The huge bat-like creatures clawed hands and feet dug in as its long dagger-like teeth shone in the night as its opponent started to snarl. The vampire bat creature''s head suddenly turned to him as it spoke and Elysande''s voice came out with a boom. ¡°I said run, she will see you for dinner now since she has no self-control!¡±


    The demon werewolf turned eyeing Bastian, coming at him mouth wide open the huge bat-like creature slammed in to it knocking it to one side violently. He found himself running with all his might trying to get clear as both huge beasts started to bite and claw at each other violently causing red blood to run free. Though the bat¡¯s blood was a much richer glowing red, unlike the demon werewolves which looked more human was dark red.


    They clashed again against the trees with enough force to shake them violently. Elysande breathed in, feeling the claws dig in as Keira pushed violently against her, though she wasn¡¯t in control at all; the glowing purple eyes were proof of that. Her magic wasn¡¯t synced with her emotionally, only physically, so it was both violent and out of control. Now she had no choice but to wear her down until the woman collapsed, as only then would she return to normal form, and one that was no longer hidden by suppression magic.


    She moved her head, narrowly missing the bone tail, as it came very close to her face. Nine long years of being alone, of feeling that she was the only one. Nine years of searching for someone like herself, someone who had survived the merged stone transition. Who wasn¡¯t dead, who wasn¡¯t a burnt corpse and now here she was desperately trying to fend her off as the woman in question was in a deranged and animalistic mode, which was both wonderful to see and yet so frustrating.


    All that raw magic power, yet so mismanaged and unfocused. She felt the pain as the claws sliced her back, as they both collided again, though this time she slammed her long teeth down into the demonic werewolf''s shoulder, causing it to roar in pain letting her go as more blood ran free. If she was a vampire she might have worried about blood loss, but the reality was like this woman who wasn¡¯t a normal werewolf, she wasn¡¯t a normal vampire, she was a mix of two things.


    She sliced her claws across the werewolf''s face sending the huge demonic being tumbling back, though she had to move back quickly to avoid the tail end with its bone points, noticing something¡­ For all that raw power there was a lot of strategy there; she¡¯s seen that with Keira in the mines. Which made her think she was a warrior of some kind, not a seasoned one but one who just needed much more training to reach their real potential.


    The demon werewolf¡¯s head suddenly turned as it lost interest in her, instantly turning on all fours, running away from her straight towards the village, much to her horror. She found herself running after as fast as she could go in this form, trying to catch up even though the other woman was much faster, since she seemed to have better control of her other form. She could hear the commotion even from outside the village and she had to stop her now as she could kill someone and not know she had done so!


    Agomais carried on running, seeing that the Paladins were gaining on him even though he was now close to the hill. Their Mage kept on shooting ice to freeze him but they were missing. He ran up the hill he was so close now to getting away; he just needed to get a little further! He stopped dead in his tracks as a huge roar came from the forest tree line and the sound of something huge crashing through.


    The next moment turned to pure pain as a dark red furred being smashed into him, almost knocking him over. Only to land on his other side as it started snarling and growling at the Mage and Paladins whose look turned to pure terror, as it raised itself on to its hind legs opening its huge wings, its jaws foaming and eyes narrowing. The Mage who was panicking sent out an ice beam hitting its tail freezing it end in a heavy ice block, only for it to swing its iced up tail around smashing it into the Paladins, sending them flying down the hill. Their armour crashing as they hit the bottom crying out in pain.


    The huge tail smashed down breaking the ice off as its point came up towards the young Mage who was now frozen in fear. Agomais eyed the huge creature as he moved, tapping it back. ¡°Hey! No need to do that to her, you saved me.¡± The huge being turned its horns gleaming in the moonlight as it turned to look at him directly. What was it? It looked like some kind of demon with fur and glowing purple eyes. ¡°See now, let''s not be rash.¡±


    The next moment turned to blinding pain, as its clawed hand grabbed his horn, yanking him sideways only for a horrible cracking sound to hit the air, which caused him intense pain as he was tossed over slamming into the floor. The huge being moved towards him on his hind legs, it was holding part of his right horn in its clawed hand which it threw aside. Its mouth opened as red and blue fire formed in it burning like a hot furnace. He pulled his clawed hand up trying to create a protective shield only to find he couldn¡¯t as it kept sparking up and vanishing.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He felt his breathing heighten in fear, only for the red wolf-like being to be smashed sideways, as a huge vampire bat looking creature with a long mace-like barbed tail appeared at the last second, knocking the werewolf demons head sideways. The Mage was running away, as were the other Paladins as the huge ball of blazing blue red fire flew up into the air only to come crashing down miles away, hitting one of the mills, lighting it up in purple flames causing screaming and terror from the villagers. Who started to run around trying to put it out magically along with the other Paladins guards.


    Bastian moved to his pack, grabbing the yellow liquid bottle as he dipped his tail end dagger tips into it. He had to stop this now before it got any worse! He moved running on all fours as fast as he could. Jumping out of the forest, seeing the utter commotion as Keira and Elysande carried on fighting, though he could see Agomais getting up though his right horn long tip had been smashed clean off and he looked scared even for a big Minotaur.


    He ran harder knowing this was very dangerous but he had to stop Keira, he leapt with all his might landing on her back, only for her to go down on all fours roaring in anger, trying to throw him off only for Elysande to instantly realise what he was doing and came in hard biting the demon werewolf other shoulder, forcing her sideways with her whole weight to distract her. Bastian moved his tail up only to jam it three times into the other side of Keira¡¯s neck, only to be thrown off.


    The huge demonic werewolf forced the vampire off as it got up on to its hind legs, its mouth opening only for it to stop suddenly. Its face turning to confusion as it started to stumble sideways. Its clawed hand moved to its neck as the purple eyes started to flicker and they started to turn glowing green. It moved away from them all going back down on all fours as it started to move back into the trees hitting them as stumbled trying to stay on all fours.


    Bastian eyed Agomais as the huge bat creature followed it. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t stick around, we are all in deep shit!¡± Agomais scrambled to his feet. ¡°I was already in deep shit! You people just made it ten times worse!¡± Elysande moved through the tree line, seeing Keira who had now stopped at the camp, each breath getting heavy her glowing green eyes could now be seen. She looked terrified now despite her form as she turned to look at her, swaying slightly as the Aspen¡¯s effects slowly hold.


    She slowly sat close to her not attacking her just watching as their eyes locked as she spoke gently. ¡°It¡¯s okay I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± She raised a clawed bat hand running it gently over the huge mane of fur. ¡°You¡¯re safe.¡± She watched as the others appeared as she raised her huge wings stopping them moving any closer. ¡°Stay back, she will turn back.¡± Agomais turned recognising that voice instantly despite the growling edge that was Elysande the vampire. ¡°I want an explanation, what even the fuck are you?!¡±


    Elysande turned eyeing him. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later right now I need you to be quiet. She is about to turn back and show her real form.¡± Agomais eyed the vampire bat creature. ¡°She? Who is she?!¡± Bastian eyed him. ¡°Keira, now be quiet.¡± Elysande watched the demonic werewolf sway again trying to fight the magic drug, as its ears lowered along with its tail and it suddenly began to look sad and miserable in the face, as the purple fire started to slowly surround it.


    She moved back slowly as it faded away, revealing Keira¡¯s human form as she grabbed a tree, though it was still her fake one. She watched as a long scar made demon claws appeared on her left eye and her light long red hair slowly turned a more deep dark red. Magic patterns appeared on her neck glowing brightly as her silver armour colour faded away, turning black with a deep purple hue and the magic purple patterns moved through it, lighting it up.


    She hit the floor on her knees as she looked at them all, they could all see her glowing green eyes now and the long canine teeth on her upper and lower jaw like most werewolves had. Her voice came out but it was meek and afraid as she spoke. ¡°Please don¡¯t turn me into the Mages.¡± Elysande watched as the other woman collapsed sideways passing out leaving the others in shock for a long moment.


    Agomais¡¯s voice suddenly broke the long silence. ¡°She¡¯s a fucking Paladin! Look at the glowing symbols on her armour and neck!¡± Bastian moved over to his long term friend looking at her realising that this was a true face, her true armour. The face he had known all those years had never been his friend''s real one, he turned as a clawed winged finger touched his back gently as Elysande spoke softly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry it¡¯s taken this long for you to see your best friend¡¯s true face.¡±


    Bastian turned to the bat creature with her red glowing eyes as he spoke bitterly. ¡°I want answers.¡± Agomais eyed Elysande. ¡°So do I! What even are you two?! I have never read or seen anything like you?¡± Elysande heard the commotion from the village which had now just managed to put out the purple fire on the mill. ¡°We need to leave now, they can¡¯t find us.¡± She eyed them both. ¡°I need one of you to carry her as I can fly us out of here, but I can¡¯t hold her and you both with my feet and one of you needs to fly on back.¡±


    Agomais grunted as he turned picking Keira off the floor as he grabbed Bastian who had just picked up all the packs and weapons from the camp, tossing him on to the bat creatures back much to his annoyance. ¡°Get us out of here!¡± Elysande moved, jumping and grabbing his armoured shoulders. ¡°Hang on both of you!¡± She started to beat her huge wings forcing herself fully into flight. She didn¡¯t have the strength to take them out of this region; she could only take them a huge distance away.


    She did know a place here that was safe, from years back; she just had to hope it was still there and that the spider she had run into eight years ago was still friendly and remembered her. She was exhausted and her wounds needed to heal overnight as did Keira¡¯s when they landed. They should now be able to get the other woman¡¯s armour off as her suppression magic had bonded it to her in a dangerous manner, and her powers should now kick in and start to heal her as she was part werewolf after all.


    8


    Romulus looked out over the huge white city of Rein Strand as he ate his food with Odessa who was looking down at the city streets below. They were on one of the building''s balconies eating food made by the servants. Tomorrow they needed to head out to where those bodies had been burnt but for now they could enjoy the view. At they were packed and ready to go and had hired raptor steeds to ride on. The Lizard people breed them so well and they were better and faster than Orcs huge boars.


    The Pegasus were only used by the higher Mages of the council of the nine, anyone under them was banned from riding them. Stealing one was considered a crime, along with unicorns though no one rode those, as they were considered too beautiful and divine, but weren¡¯t viewed as godly like the elder dragons. There were also regular cheap pathetic horses that used magic hooves for fast travel, but it was mostly humans, rat people and dwarfs that used those, though the dwarfs had a small pony version.


    The other races preferred heavy steeds to carry their weight, Minotaurs used boars and his race it was a mix of boars and raptors. All mounts could be armoured up for battle if needed by the armies. He carried on eating his food enjoying the flavour, as Odessa toyed with her food looking over the scrolls opposite. ¡°Something on your mind, beautiful?¡± Odessa breathed in deeply. ¡°Just pathetic complaints from all over the Moss Tempest region, they have all their own low level Mages, Paladins and Clerics to deal with this.¡±


    Romulus smirked. ¡°We have to listen to the peasants and humour them from time to time.¡± Odessa breathed in deeply only to see a bird made of ice flying in its long tail, feathers sweeping in fast as it dropped a scroll right on the balcony before vanishing in a blast of ice. Odessa eyed the scroll. ¡°Do they think if they make the bird more beautiful that we¡¯ll care?¡± She picked up the scroll with its blue village seal cracking it, opening it slowly. ¡°It¡¯s from the town of Ramstad¡­¡±


    Romulus raised a clawed finger. ¡°Probably complaining that they can¡¯t make enough grain this season, they¡¯ve had issues the last three seasons. The other grain towns and villages are doing fine. I blame it on the fact they like Spice too much as they do more festivals than work.¡± Odessa¡¯s eyes scanned the scroll and its sketches as she turned it towards him, the shock in her face. ¡°I think you need to read this.¡±


    Romulus slowly took it from her hands, reading carefully as it wasn¡¯t that often that Odessa was ever shocked or surprised by anything anymore. He eyed the words and the two sketches that had been put into the scrolls, feeling the shock hit him, followed by joy as he looked up. ¡°Finally, after all these years, our demon werewolf set fire to a grain mill last night. I can finally do something more interesting than look at carded dead bodies with melted and cracked crystal stones!¡±


    Odessa breathed in realising that he had not looked at something very important. ¡°You need to keep reading, you''re missing the best part.¡± Romulus¡¯s eyes moved down as it dawned on him what she was talking about. He eyed the two sketches in more detail side by side which the lower rank Mage had sent them. ¡°There were two of them!¡± He carried on reading. ¡°They witnessed a huge vampire bat-like creature with a mace of bone for its tail, both were fighting each other.¡±


    He lowered the scroll; the higher Mages had always said if he or anyone could bring in one of these abominations alive they would be given vast wealth lands. As well as a lesser position on the council a lower seat from the ten places they had. ¡°This is our chance Odessa; we can finally catch that thing or the other one and move up the ladder.¡± He eased the scroll up. ¡°Tell that horned Seer rat woman Calliope and her human boyfriend, Cleric, whatever his name is that she can go check on those dead bodies because we are doing this and we are taking our personal guard with us!¡±


    He paused. ¡°We can use the mounts to get there, shouldn¡¯t take too long and then we can start tracking them both down depending on who lived.¡± He breathed in grinning through razor teeth stomping a roof on the decorative tile floor as his goat tail swing. ¡°We finally get to finish this, it¡¯s been far too long.¡± Odessa nodded smirking slightly. ¡°Of cause we will need better chains this time, much stronger ones. I have been pushing the dwarfs black smiths to design something much better for this instance; the elves were against it as they consider all life sacred.¡±


    Romulus snorted in disgust. ¡°I hate elves and half elves, pretty looking men and women with no substance, who claim they saw the great and powerful elder dragon, Eleshaain once and that she blessed them to protect life along with the tree folk aeons ago.¡± He eyed the window looking below at the hundreds of races going about their daily lives. ¡°Their role is to serve us and do as they are told.¡± He felt a cols smile form. ¡°To go against us is to go against the higher Mages whose word is law.¡±


    End of part 8


    Silvermoonlight

 When Painful Secrets Finally See The Light.

    When Painful Secrets Finally See The Light.


    Keira eyed her dough, seeing that her brother and sister had the better technique. As much as she tried she just couldn¡¯t get it right. Her father¡¯s booming voice cut through the air. ¡°Knead much more strongly, Keira.¡± She watched as his big hands took her dough, moulding it with an ease that she couldn¡¯t master. She breathed in, seeing her younger sister smirking and her older brother looking annoyed, as per usual. She looked up seeing the young Mogwai in the window looking in. The creatuer had a long stripe of white on its head going down its back.


    Her father took in a deep breath. ¡°I keep telling you, child, not to feed those things. They are magical vermin.¡± He moved, bashing the window with his hand, watching as it ran away in panic. ¡°You also should have not have saved that thing and given it back to the nest, they never leave the bakery alone now.¡± Keira breathed in painfully. ¡°It was going to get eaten. It was alone.¡± Her father breathed in deeply, folding his arms. ¡°Things eat other things, child. It¡¯s just the nature of this world. You would do well to learn that and your place in it.¡±


    Keira felt the pain as she opened one eye, slowly followed by the other, painfully as the memory from when she had been nine seasons old faded away. She groaned painfully, pulling herself in to a sitting position, watching as everything came in to focus. She looked down seeing that her armour padding was in place but not the rest of her armour. It had all been taken off and put close by in the dark cave. There was a camp fire burning close by.


    She looked down, realizing that her hands were tied with magical rope, much to her annoyance. She moved her hands, trying to get them off, only to hear a weird sound behind her. Her heart started racing when she realized what it was. She turned, seeing a huge spider on the wall behind her, moving its mandibles as its yellow and green eyes stared at her. Keira found herself crawling as best she could across the floor, trying to get away. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she won¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    She watched as Elysande appeared, moving past her and over to the huge spider. ¡°She¡¯s very friendly.¡± The other woman moved her hand petting its head gently as she fed it a large dead insect. ¡°She¡¯s somewhat misunderstood.¡± She turned, seeing Keira move up against the wall opposite. ¡°Kind of like you and I are.¡± She turned speaking loudly. ¡°She¡¯s awake. You¡¯re not in danger anymore.¡±


    Keira eyed her in disgust. ¡°So, you trapped me here with your fucking spider that¡¯s going to eat me if I don¡¯t tell you what I know.¡± Elysande rolled her eyes, watching as the others appeared. ¡°No, I tended to your wounds, which have now almost healed and I had to tie your hand in case your powers came out again.¡± Agomais moved, not thinking as he grabbed Keira, pulling her to her feet and moving her around slightly. ¡°Me on the other hand, I¡¯m pissed as fuck at you!¡±


    Keira felt the blinding pain as she was punched in the face, only to fall back painfully on the floor as Agomais¡¯ voice hit the air. ¡°You broke my horn!¡± His hoofed foot came down close to her. ¡°I can¡¯t channel magic right because of you! I¡¯ll have to buy a channelling horn cap with another stone in the next town, as my magic is not powerful enough to counteract it!¡± Keira felt the blood run down her chin. She turned, spitting it out as she snarled at him, only for an inhuman growl to come out. ¡°I don¡¯t remember breaking your horn!¡±


    Elysande moved to stand in front of the Minotaur raising her hands. ¡°Please, stop this! You¡¯re not helping, she doesn¡¯t remember.¡± Bastian moved to sit close by, watching as Keira got up, painfully, as Agomais sat opposite him. He could now see his best friend for who she really was, and her true form, and he didn¡¯t know what to think anymore. Had any of their friendship been real? Was her past all fabricated?


    He eased up the book he had found in her pack, which had been a collection of recipes for mixing potions, she could mix potions and she had never told him. Plus, she was magical and a Paladin even though she claimed to hate Paladins. He eyed Agomais. ¡°Look, I want to hit her too, but I would first like to hear her side of the story. After reading all her notes it¡¯s clear she lied and she can mix potions and do magic, and she¡¯s a Paladin, namely a dark one, but still a Paladin.¡±


    Elysande looked at the armour, with its purple hue it was no longer glowing, as it had been fully disconnected from its owner. ¡°She¡¯s not a dark Paladin, she¡¯s something new. I know I¡¯m a War Mage, but what she is it¡¯s either very new, or used to exist in the ancient times but the information on it was lost.¡± She moved over to where Keira had sat up, though she looked really angry as she wiped the blood from her mouth with her padded sleeve.


    She carefully sat opposite her, watching as her glowing green eyes locked on to her. ¡°Tell me, was Liliana the half elf really nice to you? Did she promise you wonders? Give you a great time in bed?¡± Keira blinked in confusion as she eyed her. ¡°Are you here to take me to the Mages? Did they send you?¡± Elysande breathed, in realizing the other woman just wasn¡¯t getting it. She was still so wounded emotionally from magic suppression that her mind was full of mental illness and anger.


    She breathed in, pulling her armoured front plate off and pulling back the padding, watching as the others looked over. A merged, glowing blue and yellow stone came in to view as the others moved closer, to look at it with deep shock and curiosity. ¡°Why would I ever want to turn in the only living person who is like me?¡± She looked at Keira, who for the first time since she¡¯d met her seemed genuinely shocked. ¡°So you see, I have no interest in ever turning you in.¡±


    She slowly covered it again with her padding and armour plating. ¡°So please, answer my earlier question, because that same elf has tricked thousands of races and sent them to early graves. She tricked me too. I wasn¡¯t anything special, my family and I were very poor farmers living on the edge of Arken Stone, or the desert region that was nine seasons ago.¡± She breathed in, sadly. ¡°My parents, my friends, they all died because of her. I got to live because this strange magic turned me in to this.¡±


    Bastian turned, looking at her. ¡°What are you? I¡¯m curious because she is clearly as werewolf mixed with a demon.¡± Elysande felt the pain in her chest as she spoke. ¡°I¡¯m a vampire mixed with ghoul. Unlike vampires, I hardly have to drink blood, only now and again. It was a ghoul Mage who put this merged stone in my chest and she died for her troubles, it killed her before entering me.¡± She looked at Keira. ¡°I assume the demon or werewolf who made you it was the same. They died, but you lived. Right?¡±


    Keira breathed in as everything slowly sunk in. She looked down, sadly. ¡°It was a demon Mage. He died creating me, the magic even shattered his horns to dust as I was created. I was a nobody, just a junior Paladin. It caused an explosion that killed a lot of people and I was blamed because I couldn¡¯t control the magic.¡± Elysande laughed, coldly. ¡°Did they now? Well that¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve heard that bullshit. My explosion killed everyone in the room, yes, including me; but it never went beyond the room.¡±


    Keira eyed her. ¡°I was in a mine filled with active Coralight gem stone, so regardless of what you say the reality is I may have still killed those people. It¡¯s why the Mages want me so badly, because I¡¯m a fucking abomination in my other form and because I killed those people!¡± Elysande eyed her. ¡°Let me guess, though: they found Liliana¡¯s bones in the rubble, all charred up, and blamed you.¡±


    Keira pulled up her hands, about to speak, only to stop when Elysande moved a little closer. ¡°She used you, tricked you and got some good bed time with you, Keira. It happened to me as well. I was human, I had weak magic, my prospects weren¡¯t good as there had been a long drought and our crops weren¡¯t growing. I saw the prospect of her leading me to a better region as a great thing. I took my family and friends and it cost everyone their lives. Whatever she is, she is not a half elf¡­¡±


    Agomais raised a clawed finger. ¡°So you weren¡¯t born a vampire?¡± Elysande shook her head. ¡°No, I was just a regular human though my magic was very weak. I do have a vampire ancestor that I always knew of.¡± She turned to Keira. ¡°Was your ancestor also a demon or a werewolf?¡± Keira looked down, sadly. ¡°My great grandfather was a werewolf, but none of my recent family became werewolves. But, when I became this, it mixed with the demon and it activated, somehow.¡±


    Bastian raised a clawed hand. ¡°That explains, then, why you¡¯re so strong even for a human.¡± He paused. ¡°So this is the real you.¡± Keira pulled up her tied hands pointing at her scarred face. ¡°Yeah, I look wonderful, and all thanks to you and her! Everyone is now going to know who I fucking am now!¡± Elysande shook her head sadly, looking at Bastian. ¡°Your friend has been overdosing on suppression magic potions, as well as ones to change her form, for a very long time, Bastian.¡±


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    She looked up slightly. ¡°Her anger is now about her coming off her addiction, which is giving her magical mental illness.¡± Agomais laughed as he eyed Keira. ¡°You fucking hypocrite! Always going on that you don¡¯t want my Spice when you¡¯re a worse addict than me¡­ we¡¯ve seen your other drinking tankards, they were in your pack. I smelt the magic on them, you didn¡¯t even water the product down, you were drinking it straight, which could have killed you, which is offensive to me and shows your incompetence.¡±


    He folded his arms. ¡°Plus, all those time you could have helped me and Bastian but you clearly chose to hide your skills, you¡¯re a selfish asshole of a Paladin!¡± Keira eyed him, feeling her teeth grind together. ¡°I¡¯m not a Paladin¡­ I stopped being one a long time ago.¡± Elysande looked at her for a long moment before speaking. ¡°Yet you saved my life at the cost of your own to the gulper snake, which tells me you still feel things in your heart.¡±


    She breathed in, sadly. ¡°I¡¯ve spent nine seasons searching for someone like me. I¡¯ve come across countless charred bodies in every region. Anyone who lived, though not for long, always pointed out the half elf who led them to their doom. Then I heard a story that a female werewolf demon had fled the capital seven seasons ago, and I had to follow countless tip bits till I found you. It was only when your boss at the mines showed me your picture that I knew it had to be you, I felt it like a pull in my soul.¡±


    She raised her hand. ¡°Now here you are, finally, another living, breathing merged of two races just like me.¡± She felt a warm smile form. ¡°You¡¯re a stunning living creation, a marvel of new magic, and you¡¯re so different to me.¡± Agomais snorted in annoyance. ¡°Oh yes, great she¡¯s, just a stupid uncontrolled werewolf hybrid addict who can¡¯t even control her own magic.¡± He paused. ¡°Along with being a mean grumpy asshole who lies.¡±


    Bastian ignored him as he moved closer to Keira. ¡°Tell me, was our friendship real? Is any of your past true?¡± Keira breathed in painfully. ¡°Yes, my friendship with you was real, I could just never tell you my past because when the Mages caught me they tried to kill me, to find out how the stone in my chest worked.¡± Bastian moved closer. ¡°Please, let me see it.¡± Keira lowered her hands. ¡°Just pull away the protective padding.¡±


    Bastian moved his clawed hand, pulling the padding back, watching as the merged crystal stone with blue and red came in to view, along with the glowing patterns on her chest that all paladins had, though hers looked different. They seemed more decorative, more artistic even, and less mathematical. The patterns were given once a Paladin gained their armour and it was bound to them forever, regardless of race, through their soul, and those same patterns channelled through the armour.


    These patterns helped them channel their magic better and made any extra form of channelling they had stronger. Although every race had magic and channelling stones, all had other devices they could add to channel better from the body. Demons, Minotaurs and beast men used their horns; while frog people, lizard people and crocodile people marked themselves with special magical tattoos embedded in their scales.


    Elves could channel through their ears like orcs. For werewolves and vampires, ghouls and undead, it was their teeth. For skeletons it was unclear, they seemed to get their magic elsewhere. In his race it was the teeth, though the Seers also used their horns. Dwarfs though only used stones, but it was believed that their armour, like the Paladins¡¯, was magical and bound to them until death in the same way.


    He carefully put her padding back in place, stepping back. ¡°Is anything you ever said about your childhood true?¡± Keira nodded. ¡°Yes, it was. I¡¯m a failed baker¡¯s daughter whose brother and sister were better at everything. My father was a retired guard, he and my mother were human and we stoked all the bread in one of the regions of the capital.¡± She felt the pain sting her chest. ¡°My parents saw me as a huge disappointment, and the happiest day of their lives was when they sent me away to the Paladin training when I was thirteen.¡±


    Elysande looked up in surprise. ¡°Why did they send you away that young? Training for Mages and Paladins is normally sixteen.¡±  Keira felt the painful sting of her tears. It felt like an eternity since she¡¯d last cried, but it was more the raw emotional build-up ¡°I blew up a storage house with magic, and let all the local Mogwai in, who stole everything¡­.¡± Agomais laughed as he eyed her others. ¡°That¡¯s funny¡­ I did the same with my parents¡¯ out-house, but they didn¡¯t send me away.¡±


    Bastian sat back down, watching as Keira wiped her tears away, clearly trying to hide her deep emotional pain. ¡°How did you get the scar on your face?¡± Keira sat back on the stone, suddenly feeling drained. ¡°The demon Mage who died gave it to me for misbehaving, since his magic wasn¡¯t working on me. Only on the other two Paladins I was with, though from what Elysande is telling me, the half-elf, despite the fact I slept with her, wasn¡¯t a friend.¡±


    Elysande stood up, moving over to the spider, stroking its head again. ¡°Well, I did too. It¡¯s not that you¡¯re stupid, it¡¯s more that she¡¯s very manipulative.¡± Bastian looked at Keira. ¡°Well, I prefer your form better now, at least it¡¯s the real you.¡± Keira sneered, looking away from him. ¡°Please, you don¡¯t have to be nice. I know I look ugly as shit, at least under the transformation spell I didn¡¯t have ugly scars, glowing eyes and wolf teeth and my hair was a better colour.¡±


    Elysande stroked one of the spider¡¯s mandibles. ¡°I tried that. Never worked for me either¡­ the magic from the merged stones is really strong.¡± Keira eyed her. ¡°I wasn¡¯t interested in your opinion, since you just ruined my life! These two never needed to see the real me!¡± Elysande closed her eyes, knowing it was the magic withdrawal, and she was going to have put up with this until Keira was clean and her magic had stabilized and her mind was better, which could take a long while as magic withdrawal could be very bad. ¡°You weren¡¯t living your best life Keira. Hiding in a mine, pretending to be someone else you¡¯re not, with very little money¡­ that¡¯s no life.¡±


    Bastian clapped his clawed hands. ¡°She¡¯s right! I wanted to leave the mines ages ago, the pay was pathetic.¡± He turned to Elysande. ¡°Why did you want the other stone, though, when you have Keira?¡± Elysande turned slightly. ¡°I needed the stone from someone who wasn¡¯t living, as taking these out people kills them horribly.¡± She paused, eyeing them. ¡°I apologise to both for the deception. I just had to know for sure that you were good people and that you wouldn¡¯t sell me out.¡±


    Agomais looked up. ¡°So you and Keira are not dating then?¡± Elysande shook her head in confusion. ¡°No, I am not dating your friend. What gave you that idea?¡± Agomais scratched his nose. ¡°She just gets to sleep with all the good looking men and women from both races, along with Bastian¡­¡± Bastian folded his arms, raising his tail. ¡°No I don¡¯t!¡± Elysande breathed in, looking at Keira who was now being very quiet. ¡°The truth is, I needed that stone so my parents could test it safety.¡±


    She leaned against the wall. ¡°There, in Trius Amaya, they have been trying to work out what these stones are and how they are created.¡± Keira eyed her ropes. ¡°I¡¯m not going with you! I¡¯m not going to the land of the dead!¡± Bastian and Agomais looked at each other before Bastian spoke. ¡°Ignore her, she¡¯s still high on suppression magic among other things and we would be happy to lead you there.¡± Agomais raised a clawed hand. ¡°I¡¯m already in trouble with the law so I need to go elsewhere for a while.¡±


    Elysande felt a warm smile form. ¡°That¡¯s very nice of you both. We may have to get mounts in the next town or village. I have the coin, and it could take a long time to get there. Know though that if I flew you there I¡¯ll be spotted instantly, so would Keira. Although in her other form she can clearly fly, she is not mentality well enough and it will take a week or two for the magic side effects to wear off from her abusing potions.¡±


    She paused. ¡°Only after that she will be well enough to train to sync mentality with her other form and gain control over it. That¡¯s what my parents can help her with, since they helped me. The reason she can¡¯t currently, like I can, is the potion abuse.¡± Keira eyed them all in disgust. ¡°Do I get a voice here!?¡± Bastian eyed her. ¡°No, because you¡¯re an addict who is high and you need to get better.¡± Agomais eyed Keira. ¡°Plus, you are a wanted criminal so I doubt you want to stay here in this region. You did fight Elysande in your other form while she fought you in hers and you set fire to a grain mill.¡±


    Elysande moved over to the spider, stroking its head again. ¡°Plus, my friend here can get us to the nearest village, she just can¡¯t go in herself as they are afraid of her.¡± Keira turned, eyeing her. ¡°You talk to her¡­¡± Elysande turned slightly. ¡°Yes after my incident I can understand what some spiders say. Not all, mostly just the frost spiders.¡± Keira looked at the creature. ¡°What makes you think she won¡¯t eat you in your sleep?¡±


    Elysande turned to her. ¡°Because I saved her as a baby, many seasons ago. She was going to be eaten by a hydra and didn¡¯t see the danger, she¡¯s always been grateful and never attacked me since.¡± Keira turned away slightly. ¡°Things eat other things. It¡¯s just the nature of this world.¡± Elysande shook her head. ¡°Yes, they do; but it doesn¡¯t mean we as people need to be as cruel. We should treasure all life in this world, young, old and undead.¡±


    Keira looked at her for a long moment. She could almost see her idealistic thirteen-year-old self in this woman and it was getting under her skin. She turned away. ¡°Are you going to untie me?¡± Elysande shook her head. ¡°No, because you¡¯re still a danger to yourself. I won¡¯t be untying you till we get to the next village, as you¡¯re not in control yet. You¡¯re still very much a danger to us and yourself, we need the violence to wear off you fully. Don¡¯t worry, we will put your armour back on tomorrow morning. Your body also needs to heal fully from the stress, and as you¡¯re a werewolf, sort of, that part of you is healing up slowly.¡±


    Keira looked down slightly. Great, she was now stuck with all these people who probably hated her. She couldn¡¯t leave or run away. She had to now travel with them even though she had lied and been dishonest with them. She didn¡¯t see why she needed to be cured, she was fine! The cure she needed was not to control this, it was to get rid of it so she could be normal again. Maybe then the Paladins would welcome her back, maybe then she could return to her old life and no longer be a fucking monster!


    End of part 9


    Silvermoonlight

 Hidden Realms Unseen To The Eye

    Hidden Realms Unseen To The Eye


    Where it even is Trognath? I¡¯ve never heard of it, I¡¯ve never even seen it mentioned on a map. I¡¯m on the huge spider''s back as it moves through the colourful forests. It is moving slowly and carefully as smaller creatures run away. Everyone is on the frost spider¡¯s back while Elysande is talking to it. I recognise nothing here, where ever we are in Moss Tempest it¡¯s nowhere I¡¯ve ever been before. It¡¯s also annoying as my hands are still tied and Agomais is holding the rope end, watching me with his annoyed glowing violet coloured eyes.


    Neither him or Bastian have spoken to me since we left this morning at first light. My head has been hurting so much from the moment I woke up it¡¯s like a nail being driven into my brain. Worse since they put my armour back on the patterns that glow have been pulsing on and off like firefly lights and it¡¯s making my headache worse. I watch as the huge spider suddenly stops in the centre of a huge open area as Elysande gets off looking at us. ¡°We are here!¡±


    Keira eyed her. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here!¡± Agomais sneered at her as he spoke. ¡°Shut up Keira.¡± Elysande moved into the centre of the open area. ¡°You know you should never take anything at face value, as things are not always as they seem.¡± She lowered her sword hilt putting the tip into the ground watching as the gem stone hilt pulsed with bright light. ¡°Trognath isn¡¯t on the map as its people don¡¯t want to be part of the capital nor be under its laws. They also don¡¯t want to give their wealth and products to them.¡±


    She paused, pulling her sword away, watching as the illusion around them melted away and the ancient town appeared, which had huge stone closed gates. ¡°They hide themselves away permanently, so the Mages and Paladins have no control over them.¡± She watched as the others got off the spider who stepped away from the gate she moved over to her stroking her mandibles. ¡°Thank you old friend.¡±


    The spider¡¯s eyes moved as it spoke. ¡°Be safe, little human friend.¡± She smiled looking at her. ¡°I will, be safe too.¡± She watched as the huge spider turned moving back in to the forest disappearing from sight. ¡°We all need to go inside, the illusion will fade and it will vanish again, as when it vanishes the magic makes it so phased out that even if you walked through it you¡¯d never know."


    Bastian moved forward. ¡°Fascinating, the same kind of magic as the dungeon where the mummified body was?¡± Elysande nodded. ¡°Yes but it¡¯s not done by Mages. All these people are craftsmen and women, they only sell to people they trust on the agreement that they keep the village safe. Plus it won¡¯t be here tomorrow as it moves regions. Don¡¯t ask me how, all they told me was that the ancient device built under the village means it can move and change appearance depending on where it is, I first found it in Trius Amaya.¡±


    Agomais moved towards the gate pulling Keira along much to her annoyance. ¡°Do they have someone who can cap my horn?¡± Elysande watched as the huge stone gates creaked open fully revealing the village inside which unlike the modern villages had houses that were old white stone and more villa like. Showing its ancient age and heritage, though towns like this existed in some regions they were now in disrepair or being rebuilt with the more modern look. ¡°They have everything here, even magic that¡¯s considered illegal so if you need it, it''s here.¡±


    She looked at Keira. ¡°They have things in there that can help you, but I can¡¯t untie your hands till you''re inside.¡± Keira eyed the rope. ¡°I¡¯ve broken magic chains¡­I¡¯ve broken other magic ropes, why can¡¯t I break or get out of this?¡± Elysande took the rope from Agomais clawed hand. ¡°Because it came from this place, it¡¯s a more ancient design.¡± She paused as they all walked inside fully as the huge stone doors closed behind and the sound of bolting was heard. ¡°I brought it to hold you when I met you, since my adopted parents used it on me when I was recovering.¡±


    Keira eyed the rope. ¡°I see¡­ so how were you out of control?¡± Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°I was sucking animals dry of their blood, and like you, high on suppression magic. I also thought changing my look would help but unlike you, I was trying to look the way I used to, not like someone else.¡± She moved her inside so they were in the village square, with its many shops and vendors. She eased her hands up, undoing the ropes letting the other woman free. ¡°You should go eat something, it might stop the headache you¡¯re getting, I put some silver in your money bag, also we need to sell off those insect parts here¡±


    Keira breathed in, moving away from her saying nothing, truth be told she was tired, worn out and hungry. Today had just felt like an effort, and she just wanted to eat and forget that she was living this nightmare. Agomais eyed Elysande. ¡°Are you positive she won¡¯t run away?¡± Elysande watched Keira go inside the tavern. ¡°She is about as ill as Paladin gets. She won¡¯t run anywhere, though I can buy something here that can help her mind a little.¡±


    Agomais snorted. ¡°Surprised you want to help her as she¡¯s such an asshole towards you.¡± Elysande turned to him, seeing that Bastian was not paying attention, he was getting giddy about all the stalls with their trinkets and devices. ¡°No she¡¯s just sick and I don¡¯t think any of us really knows who she is. I don¡¯t think she even knows who she is, she¡¯s just lost.¡± Agomais carefully took the pack with the insect parts from her hands. ¡°I¡¯ll go sell these for you, get a really good price.¡±


    8


    It¡¯s been a long time since I was here, eight seasons ago this place showed up in Trius Amaya. They all knew about it appearing, they even waited for it. As the goods sold here are some of the best magic wise there is, plus the rare items and illegal ones which are very hard to get. We are not the only ones here, there are loads of races shopping and browsing and eating at the Tavern. As that¡¯s how it works, you come early in the morning but must leave by nightfall as then they move the place to another region.


    It¡¯s not the only village or town that moves regions; there are four in total, though I have never found the other three; they are run by a group called Orionfell Enclave, a secretive faction who believe that no magic should be banned and that losing old magic is a sin. They were where I brought a lot of my old scrolls from but they had no idea what the stone in my chest is. They said it was much older magic than their moving towns and villages.


    They could tell me though what a War Mage was, which is when they used to work with the Paladins and Mages as guards to kings, queens, emperors and empresses. At the height of the first age which is now called the ancient time. They were highly respected for their specialist skills, since they could channel spells through weapons, along with being a much harder mage than the regular one.


    That¡¯s why my adopted parents, once I was well, put me in this armour, they wanted me to be true to myself and embrace my powers. My armour was recreated based on sketches and drawings of how those Mages used to dress. I picked the colours though and the helmet design as that¡¯s an undead land signature and I am happier with whom I am now. I embraced it, that it is now my home.


    I really hope the seller I¡¯m looking for is here, as she gave me something I value deeply, and though I can¡¯t give Keira the item I have, I can have one made for her. I turn, finally catching sight of the cleric stall in the busy market area where a beast woman cleric is sitting, working with her tools on her best creations. These are not illegal items, you can get them anywhere, but hers are best as they channel through a single person, helping them control bad emotions.


    They are far from a cure, it''s more that they calm you down, they allow you to think of a happier places and times, and see happy images in your mind¡¯s eye, you can even hear music. She watched as the beast woman looked up, with a smile appearing on her face as she stood up. ¡°Elysande! It¡¯s been so long.¡± Elysande moved forward giving her a warm hug. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you again Safiya.¡± Safiya pulls away from her, sitting back down as she adjusted her white and blue robes. ¡°So I see the trinket I gave you worked, you found this place again no issue.¡±


    Elysande pulled out a glowing gold and green metal ball whose sections began to rotate and glow green. ¡°Well you did hide it inside my serenity sphere, where only I could see the vision since no other person can access these as they bind to a single person forever.¡± Safiya raised a long clawed finger. ¡°As it should be, we both know the capital is full of evil corrupt Mages and Paladins.¡±


    She paused, shaking her decorated horns. ¡°But I do get the feeling you are not here to talk about that.¡± Elysande raised her gold and green ball. ¡°No, I need a new one of these for a friend.¡± Safiya smirked. ¡°You mean for the really sick werewolf Paladin?¡± Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°Yes, how did you know?¡± Safiya laughed as she pulled over some steel and bronze metal as she started to work. ¡°Oh trust me, that one¡¯s very ill I could feel her emotional turmoil the moment she came in.¡±


    She looked over at the tavern where the dark haired woman had gone inside. ¡°She needs much stronger magic than mine to fix her shattered mind, plus her self-loathing is very bad. She won¡¯t accept what she has become and embrace it.¡± She carried on moulding and curving what would be a round blank until its new owner held it and channelled it. ¡°This will help through, like it helped you, as you feel much healthier now in your soul.¡±


    Elysande breathed in sadly. ¡°That¡¯s why I want to help her, I know how it feels.¡± Safiya felt a sly grin form as she looked up. ¡°You don¡¯t normally speak highly of people you have just met.¡± Elysande leaned forward. ¡°She saved my life so I feel I at least owe her something that can make her life a little better.¡± Safiya slowly finished her work raising the perfect bronze and steel sphere. ¡°Well I hope this works.¡±


    She carefully wrapped it in a cloth. ¡°Since this is hers you can¡¯t touch it so give it as a gift or something as the first person who holds it, it binds to them.¡± Elysande slowly passed her two gold pieces. ¡°I¡¯ll do that thank you.¡± Safiya eyed the Ratman and Minotaur who were looking over the other stalls. ¡°Also nice to see you have more friends.¡± Elysande put the sphere away carefully. ¡°No, they are the werewolf Paladin¡¯s friends. They have been very welcoming to me and understanding.¡± Safiya looked up with a smile forming. ¡°I¡¯m sure they will be your friends in time.¡±


    8


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    Agomais walked through the stalls which were filled with items he had never seen before. Some were from distant regions and he had no idea what they were for, he could see that Elysande was talking with a beast woman cleric some distance away at her stall. He stopped as he caught sight of a stall which had metal horn caps and was being run by a weird looking ratman, as he was wearing some kind of glasses on his face that had multi lenses and could be changed¡­ it was impossible to see his eyes.


    He had just sold off all the parts and shared all the money out with the others apart from Keira who was in the tavern and who had fallen asleep at one of the tables. He could see her in the window as the tavern had bigger windows than normal. He walked over to the ratman who was looking over some gem stones. ¡°Hey do you do horn caps?¡± The middle aged ratman turned looking at him grinning with his crooked teeth. ¡°Yes-yes we do all sorts.¡±


    He suddenly sat up. ¡°Oh I see someone broke your pride, Minotaurs love their horns and they are a big measure of your power and a status symbol.¡± Agomais breathe in deeply. ¡°Yeah some idiot broke it and I can¡¯t channel my magic right.¡± The black rat man suddenly jumped on his stall as he pulled over a chair for him. ¡°You can sit down here; I will fix your horn up real good.¡± Agomais sat down slowly as the rat man looked his broken horn over. ¡°Red, blue, yellow, which type of gemstone do you channel?¡± Agomais raised his armoured clawed hand. ¡°Red.¡±


    The rat man looked his hand over. ¡°What magic user type are you?¡± Agomais breathed in deeply. ¡°Cleric.¡± The ratman looked at his gemstone breathing in. ¡°Your current stone isn¡¯t a good grade, I¡¯ll fix it. Very shitty grades have cracks that stop your magic working well.¡± He unscrewed it out of his glove, his eye lenses moving as they looked at it. ¡°Whoever sold you this was restraining your magic.¡± Agomais eyed him. ¡°It was the guild of clerics.¡±


    The ratman shrugged. ¡°Shitty grade equals poor magic.¡± He turned going through his stones pulling out two red ones. ¡°These are much better from Ethereal Tusken, the snow region.¡± He paused. ¡°It¡¯s freeze your balls off cold but they have high grade quality gemstones with no cracks.¡± He turned his glove as he pushed the new one in, then used special four screws to lock it into place. He moved to his horn grabbing a bunch of unworked caps. ¡°Silver, bronze or gold?¡±


    Agomais turned to look at them. ¡°Bronze like my armour.¡± The rat man¡¯s lenses moved. ¡°Good choice.¡± He slowly brought the decorative cap down covering the big Minotaurs broken horn. ¡°This horn cap will help your horn grow back but it could take some months.¡± He pulled out the special magic nails as he started to hammer the metal join in. ¡°You¡¯ll look very handsome with this, maybe you can gain a loved one¡¯s interest.¡±


    Agomais looked down sadly. ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t think that will be a thing, my relationships never work out.¡± The ratman smiled as he started to carefully bend and shape the decorative metal into a seamless point along with creating a decorative edge near the bottom. ¡°You like men, women or both?¡± Agomais looked at him. ¡°Men.¡± The ratman smiled. ¡°Then you just have not found the right one yet is all, as they say plenty more sunfish flying over the endless seas of Dreath.¡±


    Agomais eyed him as he started to put in the second stone, screwing it in. ¡°No, I think it¡¯s me, people don¡¯t like me.¡± The ratman stopped working as he looked at him. ¡°If people you love have not been kind to you then they are not the ones for you, and they cannot see the goodness in your heart.¡± He carefully finished his work. ¡°There you go all done and dusted.¡± Agomais turned to him as he started to use a special cloth to buff and shine the bronze tip. ¡°How much?¡±


    The rat man smiled as he pulled around a small glass mirror so he could see his work. ¡°Three silver.¡± Agomais stood up slightly pulling some coins out. ¡°Take four silver, for your good work.¡± The rat man took them smiling. ¡°You¡¯re a nice young man.¡± He paused. ¡°You need to test it though so give channelling a shot.¡± Agomais breathed in as he closed his fist watching as his gemstone started to glow only for it to channel up his horns which he felt instantly. ¡°Oh that¡¯s much better!¡± He eyed the ratman. ¡°Thank you so much.¡± The rat man moved the chair back behind his stall. ¡°You can always come to me in the future if you need replacements.¡±


    8


    Bastian moved around the stalls, a lot of things here he recognised, a lot he didn¡¯t. He moved up to a stall which was being run by a white bearded dwarf man who was busy fiddling with his magic tools while making amulets and rings. The dwarf looked up smiling. ¡°Looking for something special?¡± Bastian eyed all the rings and trinkets. ¡°Do you have anything to enhance magic?¡± The dwarf man smiled. ¡°I do but it¡¯s not legal.¡±


    Bastian raised his clawed hands. ¡°My magic is very weak. I just want something else to help channel it.¡± The dwarf man eyed him. ¡°Ah yes I¡¯ve heard white furred rat men and women get issues with that, unlike those with black and brown fur.¡± He paused. ¡°I can give you a channelling amulet but understand, once you open that door it can never be closed again and for some people it doesn¡¯t end well.¡±


    Bastian looked around him. ¡°All my friends are magical. I just feel like the odd one out. I can only do limited magic like seeing traps and hidden doors.¡± The dwarf looked at him. ¡°What stone are you using to channel?¡± Bastian looked up. ¡°Red gemstone.¡± The dwarf looked at him picking up a red stoned amulet with a large red gemstone at its centre. ¡°This you can put around your neck, it will slowly release its magic into the stone on your hand.¡±


    He paused. ¡°Once its released fully it will split and crack, it will work slowly over a week or two, and don¡¯t let anyone see it, as you¡¯ll be arrested. Those awful Mages and Paladin up in the capital are very unsympathetic about people enhancing their magic, but everyone should be allowed to in my opinion.¡± He raised the chain. ¡°Three silver, one gold.¡± Bastian eyed his coins this would be his last gold which he hated all he¡¯d be left with was silver and copper.


    He handed him the money. ¡°There you go.¡± The dwarf handed him the amulet. ¡°To activate it you need to channel.¡± Bastian carefully put the pendent on, hiding it under his armour. ¡°Thank you, the reality is I may need this, as my friend is not well, her magic won¡¯t be normal for a while.¡± The dwarf pulled up a ring as he started to work on it. ¡°Ah yes¡­ the werewolf Paladin, we¡¯ve all felt her torn up magic. I hope she recovers as I can spell magic suppression and potion addiction from here.¡±


    Bastian looked at him in surprise. ¡°Is my friend dangerous in this state?¡± The dwarf turned a ring pressing in a new yellow gem stone. ¡°Only to herself, but coming off the addiction is the worst. For some people, they realise they have not been good, which might hurt her more as she is a Paladin, not the regular type, but Paladins like rules and being good people. Dark Paladins do not care what they do, they have no morals and they waste magic like the Dark Mages and Necromancers.¡±


    Bastian blinked. ¡°What is a Necromancer?¡± The dwarf looked up. ¡°A Mage who is undead themselves, controlling undead against their will, they are rare and deeply disliked, by the region of the dead. They are not to be confused with Dark Mages or Paladins who abuse magic¡­as they are using powers from the nether realms. They have a name but I don¡¯t know it and it¡¯s not to be confused with the undead realms, as it¡¯s a different plane of existence.¡±


    He put the ring down. ¡°Necromancer¡¯s steal power from the realm of the dead and bastardise it.¡± He raised a thick eyebrow. ¡°Only saying it unless you meet one on your travels, as here though we believe all magic should be given and used. We don¡¯t believe in magic that harms and hurts others or stealing it from other realms and twisting it.¡± Bastian looked at him for a long moment. ¡°Thank you for the advice. I will keep that in mind.¡±


    8


    Keira felt a hand shaking her, only to cause her to shoot up out of her dreams suddenly as an older woman¡¯s voice spoke. ¡°Here¡¯s what you ordered: vegetable stew and weak mead.¡± Keira groaned as the meal was put in front of her. She looked up seeing that a huge green clawed hand was holding it. Her eyes moved up slowly as she realised a huge crocodile woman was standing over smiling. The words came out before she could stop herself. ¡°Please don¡¯t eat me!¡±


    The crocodile woman looked at her for a long moment before bursting out laughing. ¡°Oh it¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve heard that.¡± She put a hand on her shoulder turning to the huge crocodile man who was cooking behind the tavern bar. ¡°Hey this little werewolf paladin thinks I¡¯m going to eat her.¡± Her husband smirked. ¡°She''s clearly from the capital!¡± Keira looked at the huge crocodile woman. ¡°But I heard that you eat your children¡­¡±


    The crocodile woman smirked as she opened her jaws then slowly inflated a thick large pouch on her throat. ¡°This is a safe pouch for our young. We normally only have three to four and we carry them around in this with our mouths open, we don¡¯t eat them.¡± She breathed out causing the thick pouch to deflate. ¡°The jungles region off Anacaona Narah and other regions have dangerous predators that hunt our hatchlings.¡±


    She raised a clawed hand. ¡°It¡¯s not just us frog men and women have even bigger throat sacks for taking their tadpoles around. Also Lizard people carry their two to three hatchlings on their backs, till they''re old enough to be safe.¡± She turned, seeing the vampire, the white rat man and Minotaur all appearing in the tavern though only one she recognised. ¡°Elysande, it''s been a while!¡± She walked up hugging the vampire before pulling away. ¡°I see your new werewolf Paladin friend here is a real sweet summer child.¡±


    Elysande looked at her as they all sat near Keira, who looked down as she started eating, clearly embarrassed that she had been caught saying something foolish. ¡°Sorry about that, my friend has not travelled much beyond the capital and Moss Tempest.¡± The crocodile woman smirked. ¡°It really shows¡­ I¡¯ll get you and your friends some lunch. Just tell me what you want; the menu is on the chalkboard.¡±


    Agomais eyed Keira in annoyance. ¡°So how did you insult the tavern owner?¡± Keira turned to look at him, seeing he had a new decorative bronze horn cap in place. ¡°I thought they eat their young! An ex friend once told me that.¡± Bastian shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m from Anacaona Narah, trust me they don¡¯t do that. The crocodile and frog people just protect their young in special throat pouches¡­who even told you that bullshit?¡±


    Keira looked down sadly. ¡°A lizard man called Titus¡­told me that he was in charge as the head of the junior Paladins, he is probably elite by now.¡± Agomais shook his head. ¡°Guy sounds like a complete idiot.¡± Keira took a sip of her mead. ¡°Funny, because he always really enjoyed sleeping with Minotaur men...¡± Agomais sneered slightly, showing off his razor sharp teeth. ¡°Yes, well I prefer Orc men, beast men and rat man, because I have a real taste, unlike your idiot ex friend. I can¡¯t stand how the capital forever spills out lies on other races.¡±


    Bastian looked at the menu. ¡°I just want women of any race who are nice to me, I¡¯m not picky.¡± Elysande looked up slightly. ¡°Once we¡¯ve all eaten we can go to the stables at the entrance. They have everything there, but after this my money will run out so we will need to start hunting for food supplies.¡± Bastian pulled a map he had brought, putting it on the table and rolling it out. ¡°Well I know the way to the tip of Anacaona Narah as my family lives there so we can drop in, see my brothers and sisters.¡±


    He paused, moving his clawed finger to the tip of the undead region. ¡°I don¡¯t know my way to Trius Amaya. I''ve never been there before.¡± Elysande looked at the map. ¡°It''s fine I can take it from here. It will take over a week to get there though and we¡¯ll pass through many villages and towns.¡± Keira breathed in as the others carried on talking as she looked at the map, realising now that her destiny was set and she could do nothing to change it.


    All she could do was go with it and hope at some point they threw her out. Everyone who had spoken to her today, before she¡¯d fallen asleep in the tavern, had called her werewolf Paladin, so there was no escaping now from who she was in their eyes now, which was deeply depressing. She breathed in, noticing that Elysande was watching her quietly and with keen interest, she really didn¡¯t understand this woman at all. Why wasn¡¯t she telling her she was an idiot like everyone else was? Truth was she still didn¡¯t feel well. She kept on needing sleep. The only upside was her headache was going away slowly.


    End of part 10


    Silvermoonlight

 Not Seeing The Wood For The Trees

    Not Seeing The Wood For The Trees


    So I finally get to find this werewolf demon. It should be fun. Keira was never the best of the Paladins, she was always the weakest and most pathetic magic wise. Her potion craft though, was good. She was top of her class, and they were always confused by that as it matched some of the Mages skills, yet her soul and magic were tied to the Paladins. Still, from the map I¡¯m looking at, we need to go to Ramstad, whose mill she set fire to, then work our way back to trace her back to where she¡¯s been hiding.


    As she must have been there for a very long time but it will be some days to travel to get out of Rein Strand. Three in total, then a few days to move to the place in Moss Tempest where she was spotted, then we need to go anywhere she has been. He was looking forward now to pulling that stone from her chest and also forcing her to tell him where the bat thing was. As clearly more than one of these abominations had been created and lived.


    He was genuinely interested to know how Keira had escaped everyone¡¯s notice for so long. She had a massive scar on her face, it wasn¡¯t like she could blend in since it was a magic scar and those never healed unlike regular weapon scars, magic ones remained with you until death, even normal potions to change your appearance couldn¡¯t get rid of them. He watched as the servants finished packing the final part of their gear onto the raptor mounts. He watched as Odessa got on her mount putting her mace and round shield away then adjusted her armour which had white and blue symbols.


    ¡°You better bring that abomination and its counterpart here dead or alive!¡±


    He turned, seeing the big black Minotaur with a long mane of white hair come towards them, who was dressed in the elite mages gold and red robes. ¡°Lady Lucina, it is so kind for you to grace us with your magnificent presence.¡± The elderly black furred female Minotaur eyed him. ¡°Quit with your sucking up Romulus, you let that demon werewolf escape all those seasons ago.¡± Odessa looked up slightly. ¡°It was not my partner''s fault; the magical chains were badly made.¡±


    The old Minotaur eyed her. ¡°Your opinion is not required right now Odessa, your job is to guard and heal your partner.¡± She turned, seeing Titus and the frogman Cepos coming towards them on their raptors. ¡°Along with your two elite Paladin guards.¡± Titus raised his head fin. ¡°It is our duty to protect him, my lady. Even from the scummy little peasants and ills off this world.¡±


    The frogman opposite him looked down slightly but said nothing as he smiled. ¡°I hope that pleases you lady.¡± Valerius snorted, eyeing them. ¡°Anyone who helped those abominations is to be punished, is that understood?¡± Romulus nodded. ¡°As they should be, great lord, we will see to it.¡± Lucina raised her staff. ¡°Be sure you do this time and you kill the other one too, these things should not exist¡­ they go against what we stand for on the council.¡±


    Romulus took the reins. ¡°It shall be done my lady.¡± He felt the raptor start to move fast, as its clawed feet hit the dirt and they all started moving through the huge front gates that opened as they left the central palace of the elite Mages. Where you got to stay if you made the elite, you got to live was the biggest place in the entire city. A lot of Mages wanted it as it meant being treated like a ruler of the ancient age. Still he and Odessa could enjoy that once he had Kiera¡¯s head on platter and had punishing anyone who had been helping her.


    8


    We have to leave Trognath, like everyone else, as the gates have been reopened and people are leaving. I¡¯m sad to go as I love this place. I know people here but it¡¯s for their safety it''s best we go as they need to move the village''s location, but not without mounts, as we are now heading to the stables which have just come into view. It¡¯s filled with different types of mounts including things I¡¯ve not seen before.


    They have horses that have magic hooves and can run fast but these are for farming. There are raptor mounts, boars and what looks like a strange lizard though it looks more amphibious, and it has eyes, a wide mouth and fins on its back along with strange finned legs with clawed toes. There are also some strange looking birds there, which are the same size as a raptor with long strong feathered legs but with beautiful plums and feathers and long parrot-like beak.


    The yellow skinned demon woman seller turns to us her long jaws forming a smile as she opens her wings and raising her tail. ¡°Here for a mount? I have the best anywhere.¡± Elysande moved forward. ¡°Yes we all are.¡± Agomais eyed them all, as he had never owned a mount. ¡°What do we need to feed them after buying them?¡± The demon woman moved raised a clawed hand. ¡°The boars, birds and the amphibious mounts eat grass and fruit, nuts; the raptors, dead insects. You will need about two to three feeds a day.¡±


    Bastian eyed the mounts. ¡°Are they all fit to go into the frozen regions?¡± The yellow demon smirked. ¡°Yes they can go anywhere, all can grow winter coats and feathers, and the new amphibious mounts grow temporary bone plates to keep in the heat.¡± Elysande moved over to the strange flat amphibious mount with its fins and long tail. ¡°Never seen one of these before, what is it?¡±


    The demon woman smiled. ¡°Oh that is a new unit that the frogmen and women have only brought to us last season, it can slither over anything, even dive into any earth or water and skim on it or walk, they are really fast and low to the ground, they call them Axolius.¡± She paused. ¡°The frogmen and women want to sell these all over and make a new market, since raptors seem to be everyone¡¯s choice. Despite that they are harder to look after.¡±


    Elysande moved rubbing the creature''s head watching as its tongue came out clearly showing that it enjoyed being scratched. It wasn''t wet skinned, but hard. ¡°I like it, how much?¡± The demon woman smirked. ¡°Two silver and he¡¯s yours, he is deeply loyal and well-mannered as they train them really well up in the rain forests.¡± She paused and eyed the Minotaur and white furred Ratman. ¡°What takes both your fancy, other than me?¡±


    Bastian smiled while Agomais rolled his eyes. ¡°Something sturdy.¡± The demon woman moved along the line. ¡°I have a few really nice boars here.¡± She paused. ¡°They also come with gold and brown fur now, not just black, as the orcs are now breeding more colours into them.¡± Bastian pointed. ¡°Can I have the smaller brown furred one?¡± The demon woman smiled. ¡°Of course he¡¯s one silver, one copper.¡±


    She eyed the huge Minotaur. ¡°You?¡± Agomais pointed. ¡°The big black boar.¡± The demon woman smiled. ¡°She¡¯s the same price as your friends.¡± She turned eyeing the werewolf Paladin who was moving closer to one of the big birds. ¡°Be careful with that one, they are my newest stock but that one is a little temperamental.¡± Keira moved towards the beautifully colourful bird with green and blue plumes and multi-coloured feathers and a parrot-like beak.


    She eased up her hand, watching as the big bird moved forward, pushing its head against her hand, seeing the demon woman¡¯s face turn to surprise. ¡°What is this called?¡± The demon woman moved forward. ¡°That¡¯s a female Kakopa. They live in the swamp regions of Morgue Ragnar, the zombie race there has been training them, both alive and undead they are very hardy and they can go fast with enough training.¡±


    She paused, moving a step closer. ¡°That one must really like you since they''re picky and tend to go for the face of people they dislike¡­¡± Keira eyed the bird. ¡°How much?¡± The demon woman raised a clawed hand. ¡°Normally two silver but since that one tried to take my eyes out unlike its friends, one silver, one copper.¡± Keira eased out the coins. ¡°Does all this include saddles?¡± The demon woman turned to them all. ¡°No, that''s extra. The cost is two silver for your saddle and reins, along with your saddle soap.¡±


    She watched as they all eyed her annoyance but pulled out the money handing it to her. ¡°I¡¯ll get your saddles and reins ready and placed along with your mounts.¡± Agomais watched as she left and he eyed Keira. ¡°Trust you to pick out the seven foot walking turkey bird.¡± Keira eyed him. ¡°They repaired your horn, so stop giving me shit.¡± Agomais sneered. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t change the fact you wouldn¡¯t share your magic or potions with me and Bastian all these years.¡±


    He snorted. ¡°In the Cleric¡¯s guild, not sharing potions with others in need is considered highly offensive, as healing and helpful magic should always be shared among the group for the greater good.¡± Keira eyed him. ¡°You don¡¯t get it, I can¡¯t control my magic!¡± Agomais felt a sneer form. ¡°You can still make potions, and like I said before your book shows you¡¯re good as you have loads of side notes on it.¡± Keira eyed him in disgust. ¡°What makes you think I can even control my magic?¡±


    ¡°When you are both done quarrying, our mounts are ready to go!¡±


    They turned seeing that Bastian was behind them smiling while all their mounts were now lined up.  Elysande got on hers taking the reins as she spoke calmly. ¡°Yes we do need to leave now. As this place is about to vanish and the gates are open.¡± Keira breathed in, moving over to her bird carefully getting on, watching as the others did the same. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Agomais eyed her. ¡°Yes, let''s leave, the light is fading and it¡¯s a long trip to camp.¡±


    8


    Titus breathed in, as he sat down in the Tavern room where they were staying tonight. He breathed in pulling out his tools as he started to tighten the magical bolts on his gold and red dwarfen prosthetic leg and tail. They had made good time but they still had some towns to go through, not to mention leaving the capital was always slow, he eyed the frog man who had reflective skin and scales as well as magical tattoos over all over his body, his skin was not wet. it had always been slightly scaly.


    Cepos was busy adjusting his silver armour and cleaning it, his reflective red eyes checking everything as he looked at him smiling kindly. ¡°Well at least we made good time here.¡± Titus smirked as he carried on working with his tools. ¡°Yeah and Romulus and Odessa are far away from us so we can talk about whatever we want for a change.¡± Cepos finished his cleaning putting the chest plate down. ¡°So you knew Keira?¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Titus breathed in deeply; he knew this question was coming. ¡°Yes we trained together with a female half elf Liliana, I really liked her but she died when the mines blew up. She was burnt down to nothing but bones and I found what was left of her.¡± He paused. ¡°Keira slept with her though, she was never much to look at for a human but she had great charisma and always got what she wanted.¡±


    He looked down slightly. ¡°She was fun though, like we always had a good time, she told me she was forced into the school of Paladins young, like thirteen, she said though she was happy to get away from her family, they weren¡¯t kind to her. It meant that she spent three years cleaning and cooking in the magic school kitchens until she could join the ranks as she was too young to join the Paladins, which was hard for her.¡±


    He raised a clawed hand. ¡°I didn¡¯t meet her though till she was twenty, when we both got our magic tattoos at the ceremony.¡± He shrugged, finishing his work. ¡°Sad that she made a choice to become the abomination as the dark Mage granted her his gifts at the cost of his own life.¡± He put his tools away. ¡°She had potential.¡± Cepos breathed in deeply. ¡°I heard one of the villages close by was almost destroyed though they got everyone out and rebuilt it. The other the shock wave hit, but no one was hurt outside of some injuries.¡±


    Titus shook his head. ¡°No, the explosion killed at least thirty people and another twenty died in the other village. Romulus told me that, I believe in his word.¡± Cepos looked down slightly; he didn''t trust that obnoxious old beast man, he seemed cruel and spiteful to him along with his human lover Odessa. He looked at his hands which had special groves so he could climb trees. Maybe he didn¡¯t understand how things worked here, he was new to the elite and had only come in nine months ago.


    Their relationship had started four months ago, but he hated all the bravado talk about smashing other races underfoot and being mean to the most weak. It was so common among the elite Paladins and Mages back in Rein Strand. His parents though were from the rainforest region before they¡¯d moved to the capital and they believed strongly that other races should be protected, as it was the order of the great jungles and the great elder dragon Merranyth that lived there.


    Titus was not from there but had been born in Moss Tempest, his family were third generation and used to be miners, so he wasn¡¯t connected to his roots in the same way he did. Saying that so many races in the capital felt disconnected from their roots¡­ It was hard to explain but it felt like there was something affecting people there and making them crueller than normal. Maybe he just wasn¡¯t used to it and he never would be.


    The thing that made no sense to him was these people were some of the richest there were and yet they were still miserable nasty assholes. He breathed in lying back on the bed watching as Titus did the same. ¡°Well by tomorrow night we should be out of the region.¡± Titus pulled the map up as Cepos cuddled up against him. ¡°Yes the first destination on the map is Merrygot, never been there personally but it¡¯s the first town at the edge of Moss Tempest, I think they had a war with Dawn Star in the past.¡±


    He leaned against Cepos. ¡°Once we find Keira we¡¯ll get a bigger home, everything will be better, the reward will be so high, it will change our lives forever.¡± Cepos looked up slightly but said nothing, it was the other thing he didn¡¯t understand¡­ by elite Paladin status they were already very well off. They had a whole house of their own when they weren¡¯t on the job. It was in one of the nicest areas of the capital. Why was that not enough for Titus? The place they had was huge, it was two floors.


    It was also well out of the affordability of the normal person or the lower classes. They had servants who cooked and cleaned, their job was just to guard Romulus and Odessa with other lower rank Paladins at night. Why was the coin never enough? Maybe he was just na?ve; his parents had lived in a humble home and farmed special fish to sell as food. He had never wanted for much as he had always been happy. He''d even been devastated when his magic had shown and he¡¯d had to leave for magic training, and he only got to visit them again even now, and enjoy the moments with his eleven brothers and sisters who tended the capital farm.


    8


    Flying through the air, high over the forest below in the darkness, I¡¯m not in control¡­ I am aware but not there. I can feel the fur off my body and the air on my wings yet I am a slave who can¡¯t make them do as I wish. I feel myself smash the floor hard as I catch sight of the huge bug bear nearby, using its huge claws to shovel the floor as its mandibles chew the leaves.


    It¡¯s not aware of me, as I start to stalk it slowly, and yet I don¡¯t want to stalk it or hurt it. I can¡¯t stop myself as much as scream in my own mind and much as I will it I can¡¯t change the course of what is to come. The huge tail raises high above my head. I can see it out of the corner of my eye which I don¡¯t control as it readies itself and the demonic werewolf body moves forward on its own.


    It¡¯s too late, as the horrible nightmare happens and I can¡¯t change it or stop it, as the tail comes back slamming into the huge hairy back, as the animal screams in pain and purple blood splatters the ground, only for the tail to keep coming down. I now see a zombie who was hiding up in a tree maybe to get away from the bugbear, but who is now staring down, their white eyes glowing in shock as the bloody tail pulls back.


    The tail suddenly comes forward with the killing blow, as my body moves without my consent going over the huge being and it starts to rip it apart. I¡¯m eating it from the inside out, guts and all, all as the zombie watches quietly. I want to wake up. I hate it here please let me wake up! I¡¯m just a vile disgusting monster that eats people and wildlife. Why do I have no self-control in this form it¡¯s been two years why can¡¯t I wake from this?


    Keira felt herself snap awake sharply; she could feel the cold sweat dripping down her face, and her breathing as her heart hammered against her rib cage. She eased up her hand, looking at, realising it was a dream, and yet that made her feel no better. She sat up, seeing that the others were fast asleep in the tent she needed to get some air. She eased herself up, slowly moving outside, taking in deep long breaths as the cold air hit her and she moved over leaning against one of the trees.


    ¡°Can you not sleep?¡±


    She turned sharply seeing that Elysande was behind her, she had not even heard her but then the woman was a strange vampire hybrid, she had the abilities of both a vampire and ghoul. ¡°No I can¡¯t sleep, I have bad dreams. I¡¯ve been having them for ages, always hunting, killing something, tearing it to ribbons. Never people, just wild life or I have dreams where I change for the first time when I flee.¡± Elysande looked at her sadly. ¡°They are not dreams, they are memories¡­ When you repress what you truly are, they still come through in your dreams.¡±


    Keira looked at her for a long moment. ¡°That¡¯s even less of a comfort to hear¡­ do they ever go away?¡± Elysande raised her hand. ¡°Only when you truly embrace what you truly are do they go away forever.¡± Keira looked down sadly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to embrace that¡­ I¡¯m an abomination and a monster.¡± Elysande moved to stand opposite her. ¡°What the Mages told you is wrong, you''re not those things you¡¯re just a different type of magic which they can¡¯t comprehend, so they showed fear and branded you as such.¡±


    She paused. ¡°You just can¡¯t see that right now as the things you took have been clouding your vision.¡± Keira felt her teeth grind together as she spoke coldly. ¡°I just want to sleep and not have bad dreams.¡± Elysande eased the cloth package out of her armour. ¡°Take this it will help, it may not stop the bad dreams fully, but it will sooth your mind and soul somewhat just until we get to Trius Amaya.¡± Kira took the wrapped cloth. ¡°What is it?¡±


    Elysande watched as the other woman unwrapped the metal sphere, looking at it with deep curiosity. ¡°It¡¯s called a serenity sphere, it helps with emotions, call it a thank you for saving my life in the mines.¡± She felt a smile form. ¡°Just take it, channel your magic through it and it will bind to you forever and it show you what you need.¡± Keira raised her hand towards the sphere which was made of steel and copper. ¡°What will I see?¡±


    Elysande looked up slightly. ¡°It¡¯s different for everyone and perfectly safe, it can be jarring the first time though.¡± Keira eased off her armoured glove, she wouldn¡¯t normally take something like this but she was desperate for sleep and calm or anything in life that resembled normality. She took hold of the steel and copper sphere, raising it, looking at the details. ¡°So I just channel right?¡± Elysande turned walking away. ¡°Yes, but limit it to once a day.¡±


    Keira eyed the steel and copper sphere again as she slowly gripped it, it had been years since she had channelled, it almost felt strange to her now. She had gotten so used to doing everything without magic or with very limited magic. She closed her eyes slightly, gripping harder, watching as the blue and red light started to come out of her hand as she began to channel, feeling her body buzz like lightning. It was such a forgotten feeling and almost comforting.


    She opened her hand, seeing the sphere''s colour slowly change to black with a purple hue, as it started to rise in her hand as its sections started to move and spin. Only for it to snap back together landing in her palm as the visions hit her with such force. She could see images of flying over the huge forests of Moss Tempest at speed, seeing their rainbow colours shine, only for the vision to change to a huge river as if she was skimming its surface and putting a huge red clawed hand into its water causing them to splash outwards.


    She blinked as the vision changed to ice Mountains and tundra but flying over the top in the hot sun. Feeling totally free, unencumbered by anything and in complete control which was strange as she had not felt any true sense of control in years. She breathed in, hearing the strings of a harp playing as the vision changed to a beautiful fireplace in a warm room of some kind of tavern or house with a person in shadow, who was playing like the claws of the elder dragons and hitting every divine note.


    Her focus stayed on that vision for a long time. She had no memory of anyone playing a harp in her life, her parents weren¡¯t artistic. Wait¡­ yes now she remembered, it was one of the servants in the school of magic, despite being a cook there for three years as she had been sent too young to join the other children, the male and female servants were always very kind to her there, and treated her well and had been better to her than her family had ever been.


    She used to watch one of them playing; she was a kindly old orc woman. She had always been happy there; she even missed the school when she left to become a Paladin; strange it was that she had forgotten how nice those memories of sitting by the fire watching her play had been. The woman had tucked her in bed and told her stories of the great elder dragons. She breathed in feeling the memories fade as her channelling ended and the visions faded and she realised she was alone in the darkness again.


    Yet now she didn¡¯t feel as bad about it as she looked at all the mounts which were sleeping opposite, she looked up slowly at the stars realising that because she was part werewolf she could now see them in the great sky in vivid detail due to her night vision coming back. When she was a child she used to wonder if other world¡¯s existed beyond her own, and what was in that great beyond, as it was still so unknown and no one truly knew as magic had broken that great frontier yet.


    Maybe none ever would in her lifetime. She breathed in very deeply, suddenly feeling the deep exhaustion hit in, and the deep need for sleep took over as she put the sphere away safe in a special pocket in her armour, before making her way back inside the tent seeing that Elysande was sleeping. She carefully stepped over the others once again, not seeing that she was being watched very closely by a pair of yellow eyes of a Mogwai, as she settled down pulling her glove back on. She pulled the cover back over herself feeling herself fall into a very deep sleep.


    End of part 11


    Silvermoonlight

 Sweet Succulent Little Breadcrumbs

    Sweet Succulent Little Breadcrumbs


    Romulus pulled his raptor to a halt, though they had covered a lot of ground, they just weren¡¯t out of the capital region yet and still wouldn¡¯t be by tomorrow. So they now had to stop in one of the villages, a place he¡¯d never been. It¡¯s just another boring town at the edge of the region, but we do need to eat so we¡¯ll feast here. Everything is free anyway since the high up Mages don¡¯t have to pay for food or even taverns if they were sent by the elite Mages and have an emblem.


    Maybe these peasants have half decent food, unlike the last tavern... not like they knew how to cook spider. He walked inside, watching as the others followed. It was filled with the normal rabble of mixed races, though at one end of the serving bar was a human zombie, which was very strange to see at this time of day. Most undead only came to taverns to drink at night, as there was a drink they could have a digest even in skeleton form, though it glowed green and didn¡¯t smell too nice.


    He moved forward, sitting at the bar as he pulled out his emblem showing it to the orc bartender, who had a patched eye. ¡°Breakfast for all four of us on the house, by order of the elite Mages palace¡­.¡± The orc eyed the amulet as he sneered, then pointed to the chalk board above the bar. ¡°Pick what you all want.¡± Romulus looked up, seeing it only for his eyes to turn to another board, which had two drawings on it. ¡°Who is that woman, the rat and the ugly bull on your wanted posters?¡±


    The orc stopped what he was doing as he moved over to them, pointing at the first. ¡°Keira Greenward, the ugly little white maggot eater rat is Bastian Obranion; they are both wanted here along with their stupid Minotaur friend Agomais Bovatain.¡± Odessa looked at the posters. ¡°If you know their names why don¡¯t you just take them in?¡± The orc sneered again. ¡°Because two of them work in the mines and Magnus, that red skinned asshole demon is very powerful magic wise. He never gives people up who are under his contracts even if they¡¯ve done bad things as he profits from it.¡±


    He pointed a clawed hand at the other image. ¡°The Minotaur is from Dawn Star and his family being tavern owners makes it... difficult, due to the laws as taverns owners are not meant to attack each other.¡± Titus looked up slightly. ¡°Can I see the poster¡­ you said Greenward.¡± The Orc pulled the moving coloured image off the wall. ¡°Yeah Greenward... you people know her?¡± Odessa eyed Titus who was studying the poster. ¡°Something fit to you, outside the first name, though that woman is clearly not the one we want, no scar and the wrong hair colour.¡±


    Titus breathed in deeply. ¡°Greenward was Liliana¡¯s second name.¡± Romulus moved over looking at him. ¡°Was it now¡­ how intriguing?¡± Titus eyed the poster. ¡°Keira¡¯s second name is Quatermaine, her family are bakers they have a baker¡¯s guild seal. As everyone buys thing from them in the capital, they are protected as they supply to their designated area. Not that Keira could ever make bread, even at the school they never let her make it, as her bread is foul tasting I tried it once.¡±


    Romulus looked at the tavern owner, as he put both images side by side seeing the similarity of the wanted posters compared to the one he had on him with her face scar. ¡°What has this Greenward done to piss you people off along with the rat and bull?¡± The Orc looked up. ¡°She and her friends stole our Mages staff, and gave it to the black female rat Seer in Dawn Star. ¡°Odessa eyed him. ¡°That is a very serious offence, did you report it?¡±


    The Orc eyed them. ¡°Yes, but nothing was done, so I put bounties on their heads as by law that is allowed.¡± Romulus smirked. ¡°Well, we will now be paying Magnus a visit, along with Dawn Star, as we already on our way to Ramstad anyway.¡± The Orc looked up. ¡°Well there is a second problem there, which is Dawn Star rat Seers son and his best friend are both dealing in spice and magic dust, though the Minotaur was ruining their operations in Ramstad.¡±


    Odessa picked up her wooden spoon looking at him. ¡°You know a lot for a tavern owner.¡± The Orc eased his collar down, slightly revealing glowing symbols. ¡°Ex paladin, I just can¡¯t deal with it myself because I have black sickness; it¡¯s stopped my magic working right. It will kill me in the end but I¡¯m making the most of my last years.¡± Cepos looked at him sadly. ¡°I am sorry.¡± The Orc shrugged. ¡°I had a very good run, so it¡¯s okay; it¡¯s just the state of this world, not all aliments can be cured, even with the best magic.¡±


    Romulus watched as the Zombie finished his glowing drink, leaving quickly, closing the door behind him. ¡°I don¡¯t see many undead during the day, why is he here?¡± The Orc eyed him. ¡°He has living family here and one of those huge maggots inside his chest that keep him from rotting. He wants to stay until his children are old enough to do their own thing, and ensure his wife is well cared for and can find someone new after he leaves for the land of the dead. He says the land calls to him every night but he will not leave until his task is done and he looks after the parasite in his chest, it¡¯s a pet of sorts.¡±


    He raised a clawed hand. ¡°Harmless bastard though, just loves to tell his story about how he saw a huge demon werewolf once kill a massive bugbear and eat it¡­ we all laugh at it. Because no such creature exists, and we think he was probably high on spice or magic dust.¡± Odessa eyes met Romulus¡¯s for a long moment. ¡°Yes... well we may have to talk to him, you know, small talk, we are interested in illegal magic.¡± The Orc pointed. ¡°He lives in town, can¡¯t miss his house, it brings in the viper ravens who live on his roof, it means the Mogwai leave his and his wife¡¯s house alone, as even they don¡¯t bother with them as they spit poison.¡±


    8


    We are lost, we have to be lost, this village isn¡¯t even in the map; maybe this map is old or not updated. Either way we¡¯ve had to stop and check our bearings, as it¡¯s not clear where we are meant to go from here in terms of going towards the jungle. It¡¯s a quiet little village with not much to see, just a tavern stalls, houses, and it looks new, like it¡¯s been built up in the last ten seasons. It¡¯s surrounded by the thick forest but the light is still sweeping in as it¡¯s a bright sunny day you can see the light bouncing off the houses windows.


    It has a beautiful deep lake, but it¡¯s some distance away, and water mills which are churning the water of two rivers going through the place. They are clearly making some form of textiles here, which is why they are using these mills, which are being run by magic. I can see the children opposite playing with toys, and some distance away a half elf woman with long white hair and wooden horns spouting from her head and a staff with purple crystal who is moving towards the huge lake.


    You can always tell half elf from elves, they¡¯re shorter in height and have more human features, and can get scars that don¡¯t heal as well. They also don¡¯t live as long, normal elf¡¯s can live a five hundred years if they are lucky, half elf¡¯s live to be two hundred years old. They¡¯re also very good looking like normal elves and they are very pleasurable in bed. Though I know now Liliana never loved me even though she told me she did, she just used me and it hurts... though it clearly wasn¡¯t just me, Elysande got stung as well.


    I¡¯m just sitting here, drinking very weak ale at a wooden table as they argue over the map route. It¡¯s not like I can be of any help anyway, I¡¯ve never been this far from Moss Tempest, everything from here on out is new to me. So I just wouldn¡¯t be of any great help so all I can do is watch them correct the map and watch the villagers as they work. Keira took another slow drink from the leather tankard, since it might be her last as they¡¯d have to brew any drink going forward with magic.


    Bastian pointed a claw at the map. ¡°This is so confusing, the rivers didn¡¯t used to be here seasons ago, like I don¡¯t get how they built this place so fast.¡± Agomais leaned over the map. ¡°Probably those asshole up at the capital, they want constant tributes of food, items and everything else, they¡¯ve been squeezing everyone for eons with their greed.¡± Elysande eyed the map in annoyance. Truth be told, she had not passed through this way before so this was annoying, she hated outdated maps.


    Bastian eyed the two rivers the village was using. ¡°I¡¯m guessing they are funnelling this river water down here from Anacaona Narah. So if we follow one of those rivers up we can get there.¡± Agomais looked around him. ¡°I mean they don¡¯t have any Paladin guards here, or a Mage, just a few warriors and clerics, so it all must really recent." Bastian looked up slightly as he finished using his dark stone to grind his teeth as his whiskers twitched. ¡°Do you all smell sulphur?¡±


    Keira lowered her drink. ¡°Yes¡­¡± Agomais stood up pulling his huge sword free. ¡°Yes I do¡­its coming from the lake over there.¡± Elysande looked at them in confusion, as they all started to draw their weapons. ¡°Sulphur, why is that bad? I don¡¯t understand¡± Keira ignored the villagers who suddenly looked uncertain. ¡°Because Moss Hydra¡¯s stink of it as they spit it out of their mouths¡­ which means one is hiding in that lake¡­¡±


    Agomais eyed the half elf who was looking at the waters totality unaware of how much danger she was now in. ¡°They go underwater and wait till someone gets to close then strike!¡± Bastian was running faster than the others, on all fours, as he ran towards the white haired elf, grabbing her at the last second before her hands could touch the water. He leapt to one side only to hear her cry out in annoyance as her voice hit the air. ¡°What are you doing? Put me down!¡±


    Whatever she was about to say next was cut off, as a huge snake like head came flying out of the water, its horns rising high and it¡¯s jaws snapped shut right where she had been standing. Bastian carried on running, not looking back as more heads broke the surface. ¡°No time to explain!¡± He didn¡¯t think as he put her down on the wooden table. ¡°Stay here! You will be safe!¡± Agomais watched as his weapon lit up with magenta coloured light and he swung it at its face, hitting it with enough force to smash it in to another head opposite.


    The rest of the heads broke the surface screeching, all with moss covered spines and long heads of horns and reflective skin, fish-like skin so it could hide in the deep waters and blend in. ¡°How do we kill this fucker!?¡± Bastian moved as one of the heads came down striking at him. ¡°Don¡¯t cut of its heads! It will grow two more in their place! Aim for that armoured plated chest cavity, break it open!¡±


    He turned, seeing that the villages were all running now, as the huge snake-like beast slithered out and the village clerics started to shoot fire and ice beams at the heads, while the warriors tried to guard them. He could see Elysande raising her sword and shield as they both lit up with green flames. If anything, they needed to all work as a team in this moment, it was the only way to bring one of these things down and ether make it leave or kill it.


    Keira pulled her weapons free looking at them, feeling the deep uncertainty as she started to channel, watching as they both lit up with red and blue flames. It had been so long since she had used her magic, and a part of her was afraid. Not of the hydra but off her own magic, she took in a slow deep breath, steading herself... she was a Paladin, it was time she started acting like one, in battle if nothing else.


    Today had been the first day she had not woken up feeling tired, or feeling like her head was being smashed with a really painful headache that kept coming and going. Her mind felt much clearer and her emotions felt less in turmoil, that serenity sphere had for the first time in a long time given her a good night sleep, even if she had not had any dreams. She felt her clawed armoured boots hit the floor as she ran at it going for the long tail end, and it broke the water swinging around violently.


    She ducked as the spiked tail swung over her head, only for one of its heads to be smashed by green flames from Elysande, who raised her flaming shield as burning hot sulphur was blasted in her direction, only to fly outwards as it struck it narrowly missing everyone. Bastian watched as the hydra pulled back, roaring and hissing its many red and yellow eyes glowed brighter, as all its mouths opened as it got ready to spit at everyone, only for a huge red tree to bend to suddenly come down, slamming it in the side, hard throwing it sideways.


    He turned realizing it was the half elf behind them was doing it, much to his surprise. She was a druid and he could now see her bending all the trees, causing them to sway as they started to come down, smashing at the hydra who avoided them as it started to get up. It pulled its tail up as it slammed the points down in to the ground hard, as everyone tried to stay out of the way off them.


    Only for Agomais huge blade to slam into its tail, cutting in deep, sending red blood everywhere, knocking a warrior over who was to close. Keira watched as vines from the lake shot up, wrapping around the huge hydra pulling it back. She could see the warrior getting up as she felt her power fully channel, while she ran towards him, seeing his half lowered shield not thinking as she jumped on it, her clawed armour shoes digging in as she leapt off, raising both weapons as red and blue fire covered everything. Her animalist roar hit the air as she brought the swords forward, their flames hitting its chest.


    The next moments turned to agony, as the tail smashed into her, sending her flying backwards only to hit one of the trees opposite, shattering it and setting it alight with purple flames as she hit the ground hard, unable to move, her weapon hands carried on shaking violently and painfully as everything went in and out of focus. Bastian blinked ¡°Was that smite? Had Kiera just tried to smite?¡± It was meant to be the paladin¡¯s most powerful weapon.


    He looked up seeing that the bone had cracked around the hydra¡¯s chest, but not fully. He pulled up his axe as it blasted in to red flames, not thinking as he threw it with all the force he had, watching as it spun and shattering the cracked bone, hitting its target imbedding itself right in its chest, followed by the cleric firing their ice bolts to drive it in deeper, only for Agomais¡¯s huge sword to slam in above as it let out a roar of agony raising up, only to come crashing down as death slowly took over.


    Elysande watched as the hydra let out its last breath, only to find herself running toward the burning tree of flames which suddenly exploded, sending bark and silver leaves everywhere. She watched as Keira came in to view as she was lying on the floor, but could not release her weapons as her hands were high. She dropped her sword and shield grabbing her hands. ¡°You need to let go off your weapons Keira!¡±


    She looked up as Agomais moved over, instantly pulling out his clawed hand as pure blue light came out, which was clearly to take away Keira¡¯s pain. His face turned to utter confusion as nothing happened. ¡°What¡¯s going on, my healing magic is not working!?¡± Elysande turned sharply. ¡°Cleric magic does not work on us¡­ it never has... trust me I know, I had part of my leg ripped off by a sand grab worm once¡­ had to wait for it to grow back.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    She grabbed Keira¡¯s hands tighter seeing her green eyes glow brighter. ¡°It¡¯s one of the few upsides of being a vampire.¡± She didn¡¯t think as she pulled the other woman¡¯s weapons free, since they¡¯d be the next thing she¡¯d destroy, as she¡¯d done it herself. She put her hand inside the other woman¡¯s armour, pulling out her serenity sphere which had now locked to her soul and was safe for others to pick up, as she forced it in to the other woman¡¯s hands.


    She watched as the other woman started to calm down, as the red and blue fire faded out, her green eyes becoming still. ¡°She suppressed her magic, as she couldn¡¯t control it, and when it¡¯s out of control you get spikes that can destroy things just by touch, including people.¡± Agomais eyed the dead hydra that the village was now looking over as everyone became calm. ¡°I¡¯ve seen Paladins smite¡­ but not like that, that was way more powerful than normal.¡±


    Elysande eyed the paladin, who had closed her eyes now, and had become fully calm as her self-healing process was probably kicking in, though it would take a night or two to get better. ¡°I have no idea what type of Paladin she is, or even what she is capable of doing.¡± She paused. ¡°The rot though is still in her brain and not her body anymore as I can¡¯t feel any more suppression potion, so her mind is now clearly holding her back, plus she just isn¡¯t channelling right with her weapons, they keep rejecting her.¡±


    She eyed the axe and sword. ¡°Those are clearly not the shield and sword all Paladins normally get, these are just brought or found weapons.¡± Agomais breathed in deeply. ¡°I see, I thought maybe she was being selfish with her magic.¡± Elysande shook her head, putting away the glowing ball back in the dark red haired woman¡¯s armour. Now she was fully calm. ¡°I think it¡¯s more she didn¡¯t want to kill both of you with her magic, she may have died long ago after becoming this, had it not been for the werewolf side.¡±


    She paused. ¡°It¡¯s the only thing that stops her being really badly injured every time her magic goes wrong. I know this as it¡¯s the same for me, I had accidents in the beginning.¡± She watched as Keira started to get up only to push her down gently. ¡°Take it slow and easy, you just got smashed in to a tree.¡± She looked up as moss veins wrapped around the damaged burning tree slowly putting out its purple flames, as a light voice spoke behind her. ¡°Is she okay?¡±


    Agomais eyed the half elf that was looking over, her glowing blue eyes filled with curiosity. ¡°She¡¯s fine, she¡¯s part werewolf, she can take a beating.¡± Elysande turned looking at the elf in annoyance. ¡°How do you not know Moss hydras are dangerous?! You¡¯re an elf; you were going to stick your hand in the water?¡± The elf looked at her for a long moment. ¡°I thought it was coming up to pet my hand... where I come in, Morgue Ragnar, the swamp region, they are herbivores and fish eaters and you can pet and ride them.¡±


    Elysande turned sneering at her. ¡°Well here they don¡¯t! Here they eat people as life stock!¡± She watched as the other woman pulled back, surprised by her anger. ¡°Elf¡¯s and half elf live a very long time how could you not know this?¡± The white haired woman looked up slightly. ¡°I¡¯m only twenty three seasons old! I just left my region and my guild; I was on my way to the capital. I wanted to see it as they say it¡¯s very beautiful.¡±


    Agomais snorted in disgust. ¡°Yeah... if you like beautiful buildings filled with horse shit.¡± He ignored the half elf¡¯s confusion look as he leaned over; helping Keira get on to her feet though she was being helped up by Elysande, clearly in a lot of pain. ¡°If I were you I¡¯d go elsewhere, way more fun to be had in other regions.¡± He paused sniffing the air. ¡°You don¡¯t smell like a regular half elf.¡±


    The elf woman raised her hand. ¡°My name is Fayeth, my mother is a full orc and my father is a full elf.¡± Agomais felt a smile form. ¡°I thought you were like me, as my mother is a Minotaur but my father is from the Barbarian tribes in the snow region of Ethereal Tusken.¡± He took her hand shaking it. Elysande raised an eyebrow. ¡°Orcs don¡¯t normally marry elves.¡± Fayeth felt a smile form. ¡°Morgue Ragnar is very open to it; it¡¯s the place where life and death live together in harmony at least before your called to the land of the dead.¡±


    She looked up seeing the armoured white rat man who was being surrounded by the villagers. ¡°I think they¡¯re grateful to your friend who killed the hydra.¡± Agomais raised his eyebrow. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll need to chat about that, as that¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen him throw a burning axe.¡± Fayeth felt her smile widen as the group got closer. ¡°What is his name? He saved my life.¡±


    Agomais turned to her. ¡°His name is Bastian, the vampire here is Elysande and the werewolf is Keira, who we really need to get to a safe place to heal up.¡± Fayeth turned looking at the dark red haired woman who was out of it and not paying attention to them. ¡°Is she a new type of Paladin? Because I¡¯ve never seen a Paladin with that kind of armour, it¡¯s normally always silver or gold plated and she has working claw grips on her armoured gloves and feet, I mean I saw her jump off that warrior¡¯s shield like it was nothing.¡±


    Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°It¡¯s very complicated.¡± She watched as Bastian moved towards them, though an old human man was with him as he brought back Agomais¡¯s weapon, handing it to him as he put his own on his back. ¡°Is Keira okay?¡± Elysande looked up slightly. ¡°She¡¯s fine; she just needs rest again, like last time.¡± The human man with the long bushy black beard moved towards them all. ¡°Thank you for saving our village, the capital told us here is safe.¡±


    Bastian raised a clawed hand. ¡°This place is not safe, hydras love to hunt people, but I know Agomais can make a magic signal with metal bells on trees, I¡¯ve seen him do it.¡± Agomais nodded. ¡°Yeah I can do that, as they are a huge problem around here, and until you get Paladins and Mages to protect you, you need to keep them away. Also, they make for good eating, so I wouldn¡¯t waste the one we killed. Plus the hide is great for weapons and armour, just be careful of the sulphur sack in the throat, it¡¯s very explosive.¡±


    Bastian smiled. ¡°We could set up camp here, as our mounts are close, help them set up everything.¡± The old man eyed the Paladin who was being held up. ¡°We can get her some healing salve, and we can give you food, for your trip.¡± Bastian turned pointing to the lakes. ¡°Do you know which one of them leads to Anacaona Narah? Because they weren¡¯t here, when I was here last time.¡±


    The old man smiled. ¡°Both were made by one of the Boa Quetzal guardians from the jungle region, as they wanted to help us set up, the right one is the faster route.¡± He turned pointing at the other. ¡°That left leads to Lake Osogai; sleeping place of one of the water dragons, but the trip to the jungle is longer.¡± Bastian blinked. ¡°Oh you mean Linevern, he wakes up now and again to fly around, or so legend has it.¡± The man nodded. ¡°We hope to see him and receive his blessing.¡±


    He paused. ¡°You set up and I¡¯ll have them bring food.¡± Bastian put his clawed hands together as he left. ¡°That went well.¡± Fayeth walked over to him putting hand gently on his arm. ¡°Thank you so much for saving me.¡± Bastian turned to her feeling a wide smile form. ¡°You¡¯re welcome, thank you so much for helping us fight that thing.¡± He turned to the others. ¡°She should come with us, more magic the better wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Elysande put Keira down on one of the bed rolls as Agomais started to magically pull up the tent. Great just what she needed another half elf to remind her that she¡¯d already been fucked over by Lilliana. Who had also told her that she loved her, she knew it was very wrong to think this way as this half elf was clearly from a very different background, but the thought wouldn¡¯t go away at all. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Agomais finished putting up the tent, as he moved his clawed hand causing all the pots and pans to shift out in the backpack as he lit the fire. ¡°Welcome to the team.¡± He eyed Bastian. ¡°Please ask them if they have eggs and fish, I¡¯m hungry.¡± Bastian sat by the fire as the others did the same. ¡°Yes, but you¡¯re cooking them.¡± Agomais raised his hand as he sat down. ¡°You know, it¡¯s your turn to cook tomorrow.¡± Bastian raised his clawed hands. ¡°I know, I know, just make sure you leave some for Keira when she finally wakes up.¡± Agomais turned. ¡°Yeah I know.¡±


    8


    Romulus eyed the little house, which was a quaint little cottage. He breathed in, banging the door noticing the ugly black viper ravens slithering around, hissing at them. He felt a smile form as the door opened and a dwarf woman answered, she had two children who were hanging back as she spoke. ¡°Yes how can I help you?¡± Romulus eased up the seal. ¡°I want to speak to your husband, very personal matter.¡±


    He watched as she stepped aside, the concern and uncertainty in her eyes as they all walked in. He smiled as he caught sight of the zombie sitting at the table working with a wood tool, carefully carving a miniature for a tavern game that the drunk and idiotic liked to play. He watched as Odessa moved to the other side of the table, slamming her staff down, making him look up his green glowing eyes blinking.


    He had the semi rotten look, but didn¡¯t smell bad, though it was clear that something was moving under his tunic. He formed a smile as best he could and spoke calmly. ¡°How can I help you all?¡± Romulus watched as Titus moved behind the zombie¡¯s chair, folding his arms as the frogman shut the door. ¡°The tavern owner tells me you saw a big monster once?¡± The zombie looked around him nervously. ¡°Oh that¡­ yes you should pay no mind I was probably high on spice, when you turn at first it¡¯s hard, but I don¡¯t do spice anymore.¡±


    Romulus breathed in deeply. ¡°Let me say again... would you tell us what you saw that night?¡± The zombie shrugged. ¡°Some animal but as I said I was high, you don¡¯t see clearly on spice.¡± Odessa rolled her eyes. ¡°Titus would you please loosen the rotten corpse lips¡­¡± Romulus watched as Titus grabbed the zombie, smashing him back first onto the table, and ripped his tunic back, only for a huge glowing green worm to fly out from inside his rib cage, which he grabbed with one clawed hand, ignoring its screeches of pain holding it tight.


    He raised his staff seeing that the dwarf was moving her hands toward her huge axe. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t, I can fry your undead husband to a crisp in front of his children, and we both would not want that now would we?¡± He watched as the dark haired woman with dark skin and piercing white glowing eyes gave him a cold look, pushing the children further back to protect them, even though one was taller than her while the other was a dwarf child. ¡°Good woman, don¡¯t want a blood bath now.¡±


    He walked over to the zombie. ¡°What did you see? You rotten corpse bag.¡± He eyed Titus. ¡°Unless you want your ugly maggot pet that keeps you from rotting dead you¡¯ll tell us.¡± The zombie looked up. ¡°It was a huge werewolf! It just wasn¡¯t like any werewolf I ever saw before! It had huge demonic wings and a long spiked tail and horns burning fur amber red in colour it also had glowing green eyes that kept shifting purple, and a scar on its face, big one, going right through its left eye!¡±


    Romulus tapped his hoof on the floor. ¡°What was this huge thing doing?¡± The zombie turned blinking. ¡°Eating a bugbear, it killed it with its tail... I hid up a tree and I watched it feed. It ate everything down to bones, never seen a creature eat like that before. That night was also a blood moon; it¡¯s why I was out as the pet needs to feed off it!¡± He raised his bony hand. ¡°It saw me and was watching me the whole time, it never attacked me.¡±


    He paused. ¡°It was so full by the end it kind of waddled off.¡± Romulus raised his clawed finger, watching as Titus let go of the zombie and its pet, which screeched as it went back inside his tunic. ¡°Good rotting corpse, now tell me which direction did it go?¡± The zombie got off the table painfully. ¡°It went towards the mines of Estros, when it finally managed to flyaway.¡± Romulus eyed Titus who was grinning darkly. ¡°These mines just get better and better.¡±


    He paused. ¡°Now pay the corpse for his time.¡± He watched as Titus smashed the zombie in the face, sending him tumbling painfully to the floor, which almost dislocated his jaw and would need healing. He walked over to him, looking down smugly, ignoring his dwarf wife¡¯s utter rage. ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving now, next time you don¡¯t tell the truth to anyone, know it will mean your pet¡¯s death and you¡¯ll be forced to drag your corpse to the land of the dead.


    He raised a clawed finger. ¡°I hope you and I never meet again.¡± The dwarf woman spoke darkly. ¡°My husband has told you all he knows, you can leave now.¡± She watched as they left, closing the door behind them. She ran up to her husband, who had fixed his jaw and was looking down at all the wooden figures, two of which had been smashed by the lizard man¡¯s foot as he spoke, though it was gargled. ¡°They broke my game pieces¡­I needed them to sell at the tavern.¡±


    His wife gave him a wide smile as his children hugged him. ¡°Better your pieces than your pet or your neck.¡± She paused. ¡°Let¡¯s get you up and get you to a cleric, they can fix your jaw bone.¡± Her husband got up painfully holding his broken jaw. ¡°That means what I saw was real, the monster was never in my head.¡± His wife eyed him. ¡°Well I always believed you dear, even if no one else did, as my people have some strange myths about creatures like that.¡±


    8


    Keira opened her eyes slowly and painfully, as everything came back to focus, and she sat up only to be pushed down slightly be a gentle hand, as Elysande¡¯s voice hit the air. ¡°Easy now... you need to take it slowly, you really hurt yourself.¡± Keira eyed her, seeing that she was inside the tent someway back while the others were outside, though now the same half elf who had gotten too close to the lake was with them. ¡°Where are we and why is that elf here?¡±


    Elysande took in a deep breath. ¡°We are still in the village; they wanted to feed us as a thank you for killing the hydra... well more Bastian killing the hydra.¡± She eased up the plate of cooked food, gently rewarming it with a spell before passing it to the dark red haired woman. ¡°Everyone agreed that Fayeth should stay since she helped defeat the hydra.¡± Keira took a bite as she spoke coldly. ¡°Fantastic, just what I always wanted... another half elf to remind me of the one who slept me and fucked me over¡­¡±


    Elysande sat opposite her as she started to sharpen her sword with a wet stone. ¡°I know how you feel.¡± She paused. ¡°I saw that your weapons don¡¯t channel with you, my mother and father in the land of the dead can resolve that. I had the same issue though... I managed to ruin a clock tower with one of the magic spikes.¡± Keira looked at her for a long moment. ¡°Can I ask when you had no control over your other form, did you wake up with your stomach so full it was going to burst, and that you didn¡¯t want to eat for the next three days?¡±


    Elysande nodded calmly, as she finished her sword and moved to cleaning her shield. ¡°Yes, every black moon I changed, whether I wanted to or not. I can suppress it now, but it hurts a lot.¡± Keira looked at her palms which had a healing bandage wrapped around them. ¡°For me it is always the blood moon, black moons have no effect.¡± She was about to say more only for Bastian to come inside the tent, a wide smile on his face. ¡°You¡¯re awake! We were getting worried!¡±


    Keira looked at him, moving her shoulders and ignoring the pain. ¡°I¡¯m part werewolf, I¡¯ll be fine tomorrow.¡± She paused speaking slightly louder. ¡°Your new friend though will have to get a mount in the next town and ride on someone else¡¯s.¡± A light voice suddenly hit the air. ¡°Oh I¡¯m good I don¡¯t need a mount!¡± Bastian pulled back his grin, widening even more. ¡°Oh yes, you should see this, it¡¯s really something.¡±


    He moved well back as the half elf stood up. ¡°Show Keira!¡± Keira moved forward, as the woman body blasted into light, only for it to fade away, leaving a white and green glowing coloured, moss-covered horse, which had two wooden horns in place of the single one which unicorns normally had. The horse rose its head as spoke. ¡°I¡¯m my own mount, you don¡¯t need you to carry me anywhere; I can change in to many things but this one¡¯s my favourite.¡±


    Keira looked at her for a very long moment. ¡°You know looking like a unicorns is illegal right?¡± The two horned horse smirked. ¡°Two horns and covered in glowing moss, not a unicorn.¡± Keira raised her hand to speak, only to stop. ¡°Okay... well can you just make the horns bigger, more horn like, with a curve so no one locks us up?!¡± The light blasted out as the woman changed back. ¡°Yes I can do that.¡±


    Bastian turned, following Fayeth as she walked away from the camp and out of ear shot. ¡°Is your paladin always this grumpy?¡± Bastian raised a clawed hand. ¡°She is a friend, she is just going through something big right now and we need to get her to the land of the dead to resolve it.¡± He eyed Agomais who was cleaning his weapons. ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll come around to you. Her and Elysande just have a difficult history with half elves.¡±


    He paused. ¡°They both slept with the same one, and that half elf woman betrayed them both badly, messing up their lives.¡± Fayeth looked up in surprise. ¡°I see, well elves and half elf¡¯s view that behaviour as very dishonourable, so do orcs, so they have nothing to fear from me.¡± She leaned closer. ¡°Are Keira and Elysande a couple?¡± Bastian laughed as he shook his head. ¡°No, they do have a lot in common though, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll tell you when there both ready.¡±


    End of part 12


    Silvermoonlight

 When Gems Turn To Dirt And Dirt Burns To Ash

    When Gems Turn To Dirt And Dirt Burns To Ash


    Magnus... I just knew I would be meeting that bastard again; I put him in charge of the Mines of Estros seasons ago after his Elf predecessor got eaten. Very unfortunate accident with a gulper snake, not a nice way to go. We were different people back then though, and I did not know him well, I was just told to put him in charge by the higher up Mages. As I was no elite at the time, I was just a young cleric doing the job I was told, and it was long before I met Romulus.


    I am not looking forward to meeting this slimy demon on any level... I really regret having sex with him. I was young then, and stupid, but I wanted to try it, as they say demon men and women are great in bed. I did not have a great time, it was not the fantasy I wanted and his money and power play disgusted me. As I felt used afterwards as we signed his trade agreement to make the mines bigger, then he ignored all my messages, and treated me like I no longer existed.


    So maybe a part of me will enjoy seeing him again, just so I can give him a taste of his own medicine. Romulus knows about this, it¡¯s not a secret between us... Romulus has never liked him ether but its more due to the demons utter greed as he has become more and more difficult to control over the seasons. Odessa watched as the huge Mines slowly came to view, with its huge high walls you can see the Wyvern coming in to land and take gem stones to the regions that have brought them.


    The operation was so much bigger than she remembered; clearly he used the agreement to great benefit, but more for himself. ¡°The slimy bastard should be in his office.¡± Romulus eyed her as he felt a smile form. ¡°So sorry you have to visit your ex.¡± Odessa breathed in deeply as they came in to the stables and all dismounted. ¡°He¡¯s not my ex; he was just a person I slept with who pissed me off.¡±


    Titus eyed her. ¡°Guy can¡¯t be that bad?¡± Odessa eyed him in disgust. ¡°Oh you have no idea. Just surprised you¡¯re former friend Keira wanted to work for this piece of shit.¡± She breathed in seeing the guards coming towards them along with an orc who looked confused. He stopped, bowing, giving them a smile as he spoke. ¡°My name is Tiberius, I¡¯m the second in command of this mine, how may I help your lordships?¡±


    Romulus raised his pendent showing off the seal. ¡°I want to see your shitty boss, right now, by order the elite Mages from Rein Strand!¡± He watched as the orc blinked in surprise. ¡°. We¡¯ve been hearing a lot of interesting things regarding Magnus and want a chat in his office.¡± Odessa folded her arms. ¡°Yes, and I have personal beef with him, I¡¯m sure you remember me, right Tiberius?¡± The orc nodded. ¡°Yes I remember you, Odessa; I¡¯ll take you right to him now.¡±


    8


    We left Moss Tempest, now all that stretches out are the hallowed Meadows, which is not a region as such it¡¯s more a huge area that can take a whole day to cross, though its faster on mounts and it is filled with glowing grasses. It¡¯s the first time in a while we can see the morning sky, with its two bright suns, one who¡¯s a huge glowing ball of gold while the other is burning blue. At night here we get three moons that fill the sky and sometimes they change colour.


    There something else that can appear in the sky but it has a habit of vanishing and reappearing, it¡¯s much bigger than a moon which they call Vaibos it is purple in colour and has two rings around it, it can show up in the night or day on the continent of Athosi. We are still following the river they told us to, but it¡¯s slow going and everyone is tired, even the mounts need to stop and drink and we need to all eat something, the village gave us food supplies for a couple of days.


    I can¡¯t wait to get home; it¡¯s been so long since I left Anacaona Narah... I miss my brother and sisters, as I have seven, and my parents. I left to explore the world, to see what was beyond this region, but the truth is I have been homesick for a long time I¡¯ve wanted to return to the town of Oplena, which is high up in the jungle trees as no one walked the ground ever, it was too dangerous.


    Only the Boa Quetzal riders and the Terra Gog, which the lizard, frog and crocodile people used as mounts, walked the ground. Big predators were always in the long deep lakes, though a lot of frog people fished as they were very good at avoiding them, but that was not true of other races. So those in the region had built high up cities in all the trees and connected them with paths, you could walk for miles and miles and never touch the jungle floor.


    Bastian turned to the others as they came a quite clearing with some trees. ¡°We should stop here and rest for a while, get something to eat.¡± Agomais pulled his mount to a halt, watching as the half elf stopped, even she was tired as she lay down in horse form before turning back to her human one. ¡°I agree, I¡¯m tired.¡± Keira got off her mount as Elysande did the same. ¡°Plus all the mounts are tired we need to get them another tent to sleep in.¡±


    Keira watched as they all started to set everything up which was way faster because of magic. ¡°Can I cook?¡± Agomais turned sharply. ¡°Since when do you cook?¡± Keira sat down. ¡°What do you think I did with my time, when they sent me to the Paladin school too young? When you¡¯re too young they put you to work in the kitchens till your old enough to join the others.¡± Agomais slowly finished the tent. ¡°You said you couldn¡¯t cook.¡±


    Keira moved over, taking the food bag. ¡°No I said I could never cook bread¡­¡± She eased off her armoured gloves with their clawed tips, eyeing her hands which were still bandaged at the palms, though she didn¡¯t need them, just her fingers. ¡°Baking strews and everything else I can do.¡± Agomais sat down as he raised a clawed finger while she lit the fire. ¡°Why do you want to cook? You never cook.¡±


    Keira breathed in deeply. ¡°To thank you and Elysande, since you both helped me, I could hear what you were saying I just couldn¡¯t react.¡± Fayeth sat down next to Bastian, looking over at the cooking pot. ¡°What are we eating?¡± Keira eased up her fingers. ¡°Nothing if you interrupt me, I need to concentrate.¡± Agomais watched as Keira eased up the vegetables herbs and fruit, cutting them with magic as she put them in the big metal pot.


    She moved to the hydra meat, floating it in the air as she cut it in to thin strips, poured water in, as she started everything, moving in the pan. It was boiling before the fire had even gotten really hot. She moved the lid, putting it down only to pull her hand away as the whole thing was engulfed and surrounded in blue flames hanging there. She moved her other hand, mixing some herbs with water and wheat flour, creating light dough which she turned with her fingers, then pulled in to small balls and stretching them so they were flat.


    She moved her other hand as the pot came down, and she pulled off the hot lid, turning it over as she started to cook the flat breads one by one, creating very thin light flat bread that was airy and bubbled. She put the lid back on, letting it get engulfed a second time in orange flames, as she put the flat breads in the bowls then stopped the fire, opening the lid as a warm well-cooked Hydra strew came into view. The meat was so soft it could be pulled apart in the juices and its own meat gravy.


    She breathed in seeing them all staring at her, almost in shock. ¡°I¡¯m rusty but this should taste okay.¡± Bastian blinked in surprise, she had true magic cooking skills which also meant she could create a normally four long dish in minutes, which took real skill. ¡°I thought you said you couldn¡¯t cook bread.¡± Keira slowly started to put food in dishes filling them. ¡°Yes, bread that rises. I can¡¯t but flat bread, I can make all day long.¡±


    She passed the first to Elysande along with her bread and then gave the next to Agomais, then Bastian and Fayeth. ¡°As I say I¡¯m rusty.¡± Bastian took a bite only for the taste to explode in his mouth. ¡°Oh this is so good!¡± He watched as the other started to dig in, saying nothing as they were too busy eating. Keira took a bite of her own, yes it was nice but she just couldn¡¯t get it taste like the version that old orc woman used to cook.


    She had tried countless times to get that right, but she still had not mastered it, still it¡¯s okay cooking it with no magic was no longer and harder but she had been having it regardless, as she just wanted to recapture those moments and happy memories. Elysande looked up realizing she was being rude. ¡°My compliments to the chef, this is beautiful, never had hydra meat like this, it¡¯s amazing.¡±


    Bastian moved his bowl forward. ¡°Do you have enough for seconds?¡± Agomais leaned over. ¡°Yes I need seconds, because you can really cook.¡± Keira eyed the pot. ¡°There is plenty enough for three servings each, or some to reheat tomorrow.¡± She watched as they all dug in as she finished her own, only for Bastian to take her bowl, refilling it, before carefully passing it to her. ¡°You should have seconds, you need to heal.¡±


    Keira felt Elysande hand on her hair as she stroked it gently, which was a nice soothing feeling as the other woman spoke softly. ¡°Yes you should have more; he¡¯s right you need to keep your strength up.¡± Keira felt her hand pull away as she started eating. ¡°Thank you.¡± Fayeth eyed them as everyone carried on eating. Maybe it was just her, but those two had something going on that was for sure, though frankly she preferred her relationships with races that had fur. She loved fur as you could always be warm in it and sleep well.


    On the bright side though they were a nice group, they seemed dysfunctional right now, like there was a lot going on that she had no idea about but maybe it would get better in time. She eyed Bastian, who was eating, he was very nice though and clearly the leader. The big minotaur Agomais was also kind, Elysande though was very stand off and didn¡¯t seem to want to open up to her despite being polite, though she knew the reasons why she did want to speak to her, as she had not spoken to many vampires.


    Keira always seemed hot headed and watching her, but wasn¡¯t saying anything, as Bastian had made clear she had her own problems. Cooking though was clearly not one of them; her food was beautiful and had been a really nice meal from start to finish. Maybe all this would be clear to her once she got to know them all better, though she was really looking forward to going to the rain forest region as she¡¯d heard so many stories about it.


    8


    Romulus walked into the huge office with it¡¯s very luxurious chairs and tables, all clearly from the capital, along with expensive decorations, which was made off rich Mahanoy wood as well as dragon statues, all made from bronze and silver. There was an open fire burning in the room and paintings and tapestries on the white walls. As well as animal skins and hides on the floor as well as over the demon¡¯s chair which was close to his large desk.


    He watched as Tiberius stayed far back, as he had clearly picked up on the fact that this was very serious as he spoke. ¡°High Mage Romulus is here to speak to you.¡± Romulus watched as the others walked in, as the orc left and Magnus turned in his chair, eyeing them with a wide grin appearing. ¡°Ah! Elite guests, how can I help you?¡± He eyed the cleric who was looking at him in disgust. ¡°Odessa! How great it is to see you again! It¡¯s been so long...¡±


    Odessa folded her arms. ¡°Frankly... it¡¯s not great to see you again Magnus.¡± Magnus eyed her. ¡°Ah you still sore over that time in bed? Well I enjoyed it at least, shame you didn¡¯t.¡± Romulus raised his staff. ¡°Do me a favour and shut the fuck up; I¡¯ve been hearing a lot of things about you, none of which I like.¡± He paused eyeing Odessa, Titus and Cepos who were taking up their protective guard positions. ¡°I¡¯m here regarding two of your employees, Keira Greenward and Bastian Obranion.¡±


    Magnus put his pipe in his mouth, as he started to smoke it, forming shapes with multicolours. ¡°Well, if you know where they are please tell me? Because they were meant to return after taking a trip with a vampire but never did.¡± Odessa looked up sharply. ¡°Which vampire and which guild is she from?¡± Magnus turned, grabbing a scroll as he leaned back further in the velvet blue chair. ¡°Elysande Vistel, from the guild of Vistel, it is also her surname.¡±


    Romulus grabbed the scroll of him. That was a name he knew well, the Vistel family were notorious for always sticking their undead noses were they weren¡¯t wanted. The problem was they had vast wealth and power and were difficult to challenge. He breathed in annoyance. ¡°Rumour had it the two owners, who are a couple adopted some sickly young vampire woman some years back and gave her that title.¡± He read the scroll. ¡°So she wanted a centipede, and you sent Keira and Bastian to help her?¡± Magnus licked his lips. ¡°Yes, and she paid me handsomely, but if you¡¯re going to say I¡¯m in trouble for helping the Vistel, we both know you don¡¯t have a leg to stand on.¡±


    He smirked slightly. ¡°I¡¯m well with in my right to take money from whoever I want.¡± Odessa felt her gaze narrow. ¡°Yes that always was your problem Magnus.¡± Magnus raised a clawed hand. ¡°Look, if you didn¡¯t enjoy riding my dick that is not my problem, you sighed the agreement and I took you up on your offer to expand the mines.¡± A staff was suddenly jammed under his chin, shoving him back as Romulus spoke darkly. ¡°Do learn manners, she is my lover now and not yours¡­.¡±


    Magnus eyed him ignoring the pain. ¡°Wow, so she went to bed with an old smelly goat, well no accounting for taste¡­.¡± Odessa moved forward. ¡°We are not here regarding Vistel; we are here regarding Keira, since she is a wanted criminal.¡± Magnus felt the staff pull away sharply. ¡°Keira Greenward, you must be joking right? She is a just a stupid warrior with no magic to speak off and very little brains, probably why she needs her little white maggot eater to think for her.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Odessa moved over, seeing his employment cards which she brought up so everyone could see them. ¡°You know, this is why I never liked you Magnus, you¡¯re a stupid person who pretends to be clever.¡± She watched as Titus moved over, eyeing the card, whose image moved as it was a magic snap shot he spoke calmly. ¡°That is striking similar, and it¡¯s a better portrait than the tavern by far.¡±


    Magnus raised a clawed hand. ¡°Elysande was very taken with her, guess she had no sense of taste.¡± He smirked. ¡°But Keira would fuck anything with a heartbeat.¡± Odessa rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh well, that would make two of you then, because since that time I had a long list of men and women from all races complain about your sexual escapes.¡± She paused. ¡°Like how you sleep with them, take things and then ditch them.


    Magnus sat up putting down his pipe. ¡°You know that¡¯s not a crime, and everything was consenting.¡± Odessa moved over, slamming her shield on his desk as she leaned forward. ¡°It is when you have pissing off the elite Mages!¡± She felt her gaze narrow. ¡°They are not happy with you, Magnus, they put you in charge here to keep the gems rolling, not to affect other business in the region.¡± She paused. ¡°Do you still inventory everything brought by everyone near the mine?¡±


    Magnus eyed her. ¡°Yes, though I don¡¯t see what that has to do with anything.¡± Odessa put her shield on her back holder as she walked over to the large book. ¡°They¡¯re magically filled by the sellers, giving the name of the buyer, is that correct? Including books read and loaned in your mines library?¡± Magnus raised a clawed hand. ¡°Yes¡­. again I don¡¯t see what that has to do with anything.¡± Odessa raised her hand. ¡°This is why you¡¯re fucking stupid.¡±


    She raised her hand higher as the pages started to flip at lightning speed, as certain words were highlighted with gold, she carried on till the book reached the last page as she raised her hand and golden copies of the words all floated into it. She eyed Titus. ¡°Get that tapestry off the wall, its mine anyway, I want it back.¡± She watched as Titus pulled it down violently as she got closer to the white wall, throwing the words onto it, watching as they stuck glowing brightly.


    She eased up her fingers, clicking them, watching as they created lists. ¡°Well, it appears Keira has been a very busy woman.¡± Romulus moved over, eyeing the ingredients list. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken... those are the ingredients for suppressing magic and changing your form, she has ordered them constantly and it¡¯s the only herbs she ordered, everything else is food and drink.¡± Odessa looked at the book list. ¡°She also read every book on gem stones magic, mining and gem channelling over a five season period.¡±


    She eased up a smaller book list. ¡°Accept these, those are more recreational.¡± Titus eyed the list. ¡°Okay, her thirsty books aside, those last two I recall her reading in the Paladin school, they were her favourite stories of old and books she really liked as a child.¡± Romulus stroked his beard. ¡°Then this can mean only one thing... it is the Keira we are looking for, but she has done something which I didn¡¯t think was possible, she hid magic scars somehow.¡±


    He turned eyeing Magnus. ¡°What armour did Keira wear?¡± Magnus breathed in deeply. ¡°Crappy dirty silver armour.¡± Odessa eyed the list as she moved back to the book, re-flipping as the old list vanished and she started to draw up a new one. ¡°She¡¯s a Paladin; she can¡¯t wear any other armour that is what she¡¯s bound to. That means she must have changed that to, because her armour is black with a purple hue, it even has claws on the armoured gloves and feet.¡±


    She moved over to the wall, throwing a new list on it. ¡°I want to check on her maggot eater rat friend, see what he¡¯s been up to.¡± She flicked her fingers again, creating the lists. ¡°Well this guy is well into lock picking building locks, breaking locks and every illegal practice regarding opening traps.¡± Magnus raised his forked tail. ¡°Look... I need people who can open things in underground places. Puzzle breakers, so when they escort someone and they are safe.¡±


    He put his pipe down. ¡°I don¡¯t have them steal things, just take what is already there in the underground.¡± Romulus eyed him. ¡°Oh, I see, so you didn¡¯t have them steal a staff from Merrygot, and return it to one of their horned rat seers?¡± Magnus¡¯s face turned to concerned. ¡°Yes, but Mazak paid me to get that¡­ it is hers and she is from Dawn Star. Everyone likes Dawn Star, they¡¯re not high as kites on spice and magic dust, like up in Ramstad¡­¡±


    Odessa eyed the other lists, which was food, more thirsty reading. ¡°Does your library have a section for erotica or something?¡± Magnus sneered in disgust. ¡°Look, it keeps the workers happy, they complain less, plus I¡¯ll have you know it¡¯s becoming very popular... men and women of all races love reading it.¡± He put his hands together. ¡°It is also very popular reading in all the regions, they pay all kinds of writers for that stuff and it¡¯s not illegal.¡±


    Romulus breathed in deeply. ¡°Stealing from mages though is a very high offense, as that¡¯s not for you to do; it¡¯s to be taken up with the elites and council.¡± He moved over to the red demon¡¯s desk. ¡°Which means you must be punished¡­ I could throw you in normal jail but I feel that would be too good for you.¡± He turned to Odessa. ¡°What would you like to do with him my sweet?¡± He paused. ¡°I leave it to you since he utterly pissed you off and used you in bed.¡±


    Odessa closed her hand watching as the golden text faded. ¡°Cepos, please hold down this bastard.¡± She watched as the frogman nodded, only for his long tongue to fly out, wrapping around Magnus¡¯s neck, throwing him forward so he slammed to his desk.  A blue liquid started to come out of his tongue at the fine tipped points, working its way down towards the demon. It was a paralyzing agent, all frog men and women had for defence, plus in the ancient times it had also been used to catch food.


    She felt a sly smile form. ¡°Do you know frog people have the best paralyzing agent there is? Oh its only temporary, wears off in twenty minutes but it really stuns you.¡± She watched as Cepos un-wrapped his tongue, pulling it back in, leaving the huge demon utterly paralyzed at his desk. ¡°Believe me, you are going to jail, though for a least five seasons, but just to ensure you¡¯re not a pain in there, I¡¯m going to break your hand claws and your hoofed feet, followed by your horns, so it takes you a good three seasons to even heal.¡±


    She breathed in deeply. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but notice in your book you don¡¯t hire crocodile or frog people, and now I get why, you may never have wanted one of them to do this to you¡­ though crocodile people use their jaws to crack you in two.¡± She raised her sword point putting it on his horns. ¡°But that¡¯s also illegal under the current employment manifest, as you¡¯re meant to give anyone who asks a job if they have the skills.¡±


    She looked down slightly. ¡°So I guess we can add another five seasons to your total.¡± Romulus eyed the demon. ¡°May I just add, we could send him to Highburn Fortress up in Ethereal Tusken? The special underground prison there gets very cold. I¡¯ve heard red demons really hate the cold as it really messes with their fire magic.¡± He walked over to Magnus, who now looked utterly horrified. ¡°This old goat knows that well, also so happy you can¡¯t talk right now Magnus.¡±


    He paused. ¡°Also that fort gets constantly attacked by that asshole frost dragon Siberuani, because she has nothing better to do with her immortal life¡­.¡± He raised his clawed finger. ¡°I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s a monthly thing, should be a fun ten seasons for you.¡± Odessa felt a cold smile form as she started to channel her magic through her sword, watching as it lit up with gold light. ¡°My partner has an excellent point.¡± She paused. ¡°Also this is going to hurt a lot, and you¡¯re not going to be able scream, pity.¡±


    She watched the yellow light enter his horns, channelling down to his fingers then his huge hoofed feet. ¡°Also it¡¯s only the most gifted of the Clerics like me who can turn our healing spells into the reverse form and damage you this way.¡± She watched as his horns started to crack in sections, the pain in his face clear, even though he couldn¡¯t scream. ¡°I¡¯ve heard the pain is escalating like having a thousand daggers hitting you all at once.¡±


    She grinned as his horns suddenly shattered into pieces right down the base of his head, and his screaming suddenly started as the numbing agent was wearing off, followed by the crack of all of his fingers breaking, and his hooves spitting as he hit the floor hard in utter agony. Romulus walked up to him, not thinking as he slammed his hoofed foot right between his legs only for him to howl louder. ¡°Also that¡¯s my gift to you for pissing off my lover, not that you¡¯ll be getting anymore sex where you¡¯re going to be going¡­.¡±


    Odessa turned as Tiberius suddenly burst into the room only to see his boss on the floor screaming in pain. ¡°Ah we were just about to call you in.¡± She pointed to Magnus. ¡°Your boss is going to go for jail¡­ for many reasons, so your Paladins need to take him now, he¡¯s going to Highburn Fortress.¡± She raised her sword. ¡°That means as off now you¡¯re in charge of the mine from this day forward, so please do not fuck it up, because I don¡¯t want to be here in five season¡¯s time.¡±


    She eyed him. ¡°Everything in this room and everything that was Magnus¡¯s is now yours, including his wealth by decree of the high Mages seal.¡± She turned, pulling up the images of Bastian and Keira. ¡°If these two ever come back, they are to be arrested on sight, as they¡¯re both wanted criminals¡­ I hope that¡¯s perfectly clear to you?¡± She watched as the big orc nodded. She turned eyeing Titus and Cepos. ¡°Get that bastard demon out of here and hand him over to the Paladin guards outside¡­ tell them where to send him, one of the wyvern transports can drop him off with the gem stones.¡±


    Romulus walked up to the huge green orc, as the demon was dragged out still screaming in pain. ¡°Guess it¡¯s your lucky day Tiberius.¡± He raised his clawed hand. ¡°Oh and one more thing, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re into, be it women or men, or both, but don¡¯t let me hear that you¡¯ve been pissing people off after sleeping with them. Because I will come back here and rip your dick clean off, am I clear?¡±


    Tiberius nodded though it was rather meek. ¡°Yes, that is understood.¡± Romulus patted his cheek. ¡°Good boy.¡± He eyed him, taking one of the documents off the table as he eyed him. ¡°I will need to borrow this, as it¡¯s the contract your boss drew up for Keira and Bastian¡¯s route, along with the vampire¡¯s payment, I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± The orc nodded. ¡°I do understand.¡± Odessa sneered. ¡°Also your boss was refusing to employ frog people as well as crocodile people.¡± She put her sword away along with her shield. ¡°That¡¯s illegal get to fixing it.¡± Tiberius nodded. ¡°I will.¡±


    Romulus eyed the map on the contract. ¡°We are going to Dawn Star next to pay to that Minotaur mothers a visit, along with his father, and then we¡¯ll go to Ramstad as Vistel wanted something from the Bright burn tunnels. I want to know just what that little bitch was after. Because I highly doubt she wanted the centipede, plus that¡¯s where the other monster was spotted. I also need to speak to the rat seer they gave the Mages staff to and her son and anyone else involved as well, and the Frog Mage and the Paladins who took on both monsters.¡± Odessa eyed the document. ¡°This is going to be an interesting next few days¡­.¡±


    8


    Bastian looked out over the glowing meadow hills, seeing the huge trees that were starting to rise up in the distance and were bigger than houses or castles, the meadow land was starting to change with jungle vines and plants appearing all over. ¡°There it is! There is my home!¡± He watched as they all stopped, looking at the huge rainforest that went on for miles and miles, and took over the land going forward from here.


    Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°So do we just keep going in through those trees?¡± Bastian shook his head. ¡°No it¡¯s far too dangerous, we need to go to tip, I know where it is, they call it Kaia Knife Blade as it sticks out like a knife shape and everyone has to enter there for their own safety. Then one of the Boa Quetzal guardians will let us in, as we need to get up onto the travelling bridges that go up in to the trees. Then we can go through the sky towns and villages, My home is not far, it¡¯s the third one along. My family can also take us in for a day or two before we get moving again.¡±


    Agomais eyed him. ¡°Are you sure your house will be big enough? There are a lot of us.¡± Bastian smirked. ¡°Oh trust me my house is big enough. I have seven siblings. So a lot of brothers and sisters, I¡¯m used to a full house.¡± He paused. ¡°And my mother and father love to cook meals like that, they were always asking me to bring friends home, now I can bring some home for real and they will love it.¡±


    Agomais eyed him. ¡°Yeah maybe you can tell them how you threw a flaming sword at a hydra and killed it, despite that you have no magic.¡± Bastian eyed him. ¡°You know I told you to drop that, I have magic, it¡¯s just weak compared to yours due to me being born with white fur, in my brothers and sisters it¡¯s just stronger.¡± Fayeth turned hitting a hoof on the floor as the moss on her body was starting to glow. ¡°Well I look forward to your parents meals.¡±


    Bastian turned to Keira who had not said anything. ¡°My sister and one of my brothers want to be Paladins, they¡¯d love to meet you.¡± Keira looked down slightly. ¡°Sadly I don¡¯t think I¡¯d impress them, I¡¯m not the normal Paladin, they probably want to see someone dressed in sparkling gold or silver armour.¡± Elysande eyed Keira, this was a pattern she was starting to notice, that this other woman always seemed to put herself down, like she was never worthy of what she was.


    Paladins were picked by the magical assessor Mages they were picked as they had purity of heart and a high moral compass. They were compassionate and kind. At least the ones who held true to their path were, and despite her moody personality that came and went she had never shown to be against that Paladin code of honour, and during the hydra fight she had damaged herself to help them so that good heart had to be there. This had to be the mental block that was now really holding her back; it had to be tied to something in her past.


    Fayeth turned to Keira shaking her horse head. ¡°I think you¡¯re an amazing looking Paladin! I mean I¡¯ve never seen one with claws on the armoured gloves and feet, and you don¡¯t use a shield and sword, you use two swords and wear no helmet...¡± Keira raised a gloved clawed hand looking at it. ¡°Trust me Fayeth, where I come from they called this an abomination.¡±  Agomais raised a clawed finger. ¡°Look, the capital has no taste like I said.¡±


    She looked at Keira. ¡°Well I prefer your armour to theirs, at least you¡¯re being true to yours, I¡¯ve seen enough Paladins come to land of the dead with regrets over the fact that they hit and even killed innocent people and it tainted their armour and they couldn¡¯t fix it in life, until they lived their second undead life in our realm.¡± She moved her mount forward. ¡°You never come off as tainted to me, tainted armour smells like rotting flesh, yours smells normal to me.¡±


    Bastian raised a clawed finger. ¡°She¡¯s right, it does. It¡¯s the same with Clerics, pure divine ones have this feel to them but the tainted they smell like a lug head maggot.¡± Keira turned to him in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s a lug head maggot?¡± Bastian started moving slowly as the others followed. ¡°They are huge red maggots that live in the jungle, and they spit vomit at you as a defence, they call them lug head as they will smash you with their head.¡±


    Elysande breathed in deeply. ¡°They are misunderstood, as after they die, they take a new form in the land of the dead and live inside the skeletons and zombies, they keep them from rotting and search out hurt and injured undead all over the regions. Their form changes to glowing green, and they live of green liquid from the host and protect the and help them find their way back to the land of the dead when the time is right, and ascend with them after their second life is over. They¡¯re intelligent and misunderstood though we call them hollow maggots since they live in the hollow area of the dead¡¯s rib cage.¡±


    Keira turned to the Elysande. ¡°No one ever told me that in training, we were told land of the dead¡¯s hollow maggots were dangerous, not that they were pets.¡± Bastian shook his head. ¡°No our version is the dangerous one but everything can be dangerous in Anacaona Narah, it¡¯s why everyone lives high up in the trees.¡± He moved his mount forward. ¡°It¡¯s why we need to keep going, as it will be a few turns of the sun dial, before we get there.


    End of part 13


    Silvermoonlight

 To Be Misjudged and Misunderstood

    To Be Misjudged and Misunderstood


    I can see the huge painted pillars coming into view; they are painted in vibrant colours of golds, blues, and red. Carved into white stone there are two of them, rising up on either side, all of its decorations showing dragons, some with eight arms and two legs while others look like animals they are much taller than the trees with lots of levels. The hot sun of the day is blasting down, I felt the temperature start to change. As my under padding under my armour activated instantly as its job is to keep you warm but also cool you as you move through different regions.


    It¡¯s so even if the hottest place you don¡¯t cook like an egg in a pan while in the coldest you don¡¯t freeze to death. The change was sudden and strange though, but Bastian said it would happen as we got closer to these trees that are bigger than any buildings in the capital. The air has also turned humid and yet there is so much colour here... I¡¯ve never seen anything like; it¡¯s stunning and all green with flashes of multicolours, nothing like Moss Tempest. The colour is not just on the trees themselves but on the flowers and fruits and there is so much noise from animals, it¡¯s strange from going from somewhere so quiet to this.


    There are two huge snake like mounts, which are called the Boa Quetzal. These huge snakes have huge feather front arms that can walk across the ground like a gulper snake, but they are huge compared to them and much bigger than any hydra. They are dressed in gold, red and blue armour with huge headdresses that cover half their faces so you can only see the bottom jaw. This elaborate armour goes all the way down to the tails which have a furry tip.


    On them I can see two riders who are in special decorative saddles, similar to the armour, and they are both holding the reins. High above them though is what looks like a huge skinless bird with a huge crest and a long beak and leather like wings and tail, it¡¯s decorated in the same type of armour but this can clearly fly and has a frog man rider. I¡¯ve been told this is a Terra Gog, a huge flying lizard of sorts and considered one of the hardest mounts to control and master. While the huge Boa Quetzal needs two riders more because of the speed they move at, so each rider uses their skill and strength to move their direction.


    The riders though are all dressed in golds blues and reds with beautiful patterns and gold plated armoured head dresses. Even their armour is painted like nothing I¡¯ve ever seen before. I can see a huge stone pillar in the middle of a huge tower building with a golden circle, which is lit up with blue flames as we get closer, Bastian is leading us all towards it. Keira followed the others as they all made their way up as the two huge snake riders came down, their snakes clawed feather arms helping them down.


    Bastian watched as the two Boa Quetzal came closer, one of the riders moving up close to them, both riders leaning the huge head down so it could look them over. The first rider slowly got off, her huge crocodile feet vibrating as she hit the floor, looking them over with her blind eyes. ¡°State your baseness!¡± Bastian lowered his head watching as the other did the same. ¡°We ask for permission to enter the jungle, as I wish to return to my family and bring my friends to my home town of Oplena.¡±


    The huge crocodile woman looked at him a smile showing under her helmet. ¡°You are welcome my little rat friend.¡± Her blind eyes moved as her long spear pointed to Elysande. ¡°But first I want to know what you are. You smell of strange magic.¡± Elysande breathed in deeply, meeting her blind eyes. ¡°I¡¯m a War Mage and I mean you and your people no harm.¡± The crocodile woman looked her before turning away. ¡°I see your rare magic; don¡¯t see many of you being born much these days, only one every twenty seasons if that.¡±


    She was about to say something more only for her nose to sniff the air as she turned to Keira very suddenly. ¡°You on the other hand... you smell like Rein Strand capital shit.¡± She moved closer. ¡°You know the laws of our people, you Paladins and Mages are not welcome here so fuck of back to the capital!¡± Agomais turned sharply. ¡°She was just born in the capital and trained there; she¡¯s not one of those fuckers.¡±


    The crocodile woman leaned over sniffing the air. ¡°Get off your mount¡­now.¡± Keira breathed doing what she was told. ¡°I¡¯m a deserter; I¡¯m not loyal to the capital.¡± The clawed hand grabbed her as the crocodile woman smelled deeper before speaking. ¡°Strange... you smell of werewolf and something else.¡± Keira eyed the huge snout with its huge teeth. ¡°I am a werewolf.¡± The tongue suddenly came out licking her face much to her discomfort as the low voice spoke again. ¡°Paladin¡­.but not a regular Paladin¡­.¡±


    Bastian jumped off his mount. ¡°She¡¯s is a friend of mine I can vouch for her.¡± The crocodile woman pulled away letting Keira go. ¡°I do hope, my little rat friend, that the capital did not pay you to bring in some form of new Paladin to cause us harm.¡± Agomais got off his mount. ¡°Oh please our friend here is a criminal by their standards; they didn¡¯t make her, we both know they have not made any changes to Paladins since the second age.¡±


    Elysande got down carefully. ¡°Yes she is a new form of magic but she is like me, and I¡¯m trying to help her.¡± Keira didn¡¯t think as pulled her weapons free only for a spear to meet her neck. ¡°Please take my weapons if you think this off me, I offer them to you freely, you can even chain me till I reach Bastian¡¯s home.¡± She watched as the other snake rider came down, one of its riders who was a frog man jumping off as he walked over looking her over. ¡°Fascinating, I have not seen Paladin armour like this ever.¡±


    The crocodile woman sneered. ¡°You smell it though, her magic is strange.¡± The bearded frogman breathed in. ¡°Yes but it¡¯s not evil, she¡¯s clearly not a tainted Paladin.¡± He breathed in taking Keira¡¯s weapons gently away. ¡°She¡¯s offering to be civil, so we can make a raptor mount follow her to her destination just to be sure. ¡°The crocodile woman leaned forward snorting at the Paladin. ¡°Let me be clear you try anything here Paladin you will be killed, and it will be easy, here all they have to do is throw you off the walkway, the things below will make mincemeat of you¡­.¡±


    Fayeth tapped her hoof. ¡°This is all very unnecessary she¡¯s just different not evil.¡± The crocodile woman eyed her smelling the air. ¡°I don¡¯t care for the opinion of an elf blended with an Orc¡± She moved away from them getting back on the huge snake. ¡°You¡¯re just weird and strange.¡± The frogman breathed in, deeply watching as a lizard woman came through the portal on a decorated feathered raptor mount, he handed the weapons to him. ¡°Please escort the Paladin to the white rat¡¯s home of Oplena.¡±


    The lizard man turned as some of the portals decorative symbols lit up with glowing purple light. ¡°Go through the portal all of you and walk your mounts, the portal will transport you directly to that town.¡± Bastian turned to the others who all looked uncertain. ¡°It¡¯s safe, just follow me, though it will take us high in the trees.¡± He paused. ¡°It¡¯s very safe.¡± Elysande watched as he vanished through it and she took in a deep breath, this was not the welcome she had hoped for and she had heard that the frog, crocodile and lizard people were noble and that they defended the other races in their huge jungle region of Anacaona Narah, yet their treatment of Keira spoke quite the opposite.


    Agomais leaned over as Keira went through, seeing that she and Fayeth looked annoyed as he spoke quietly. ¡°Wow they¡¯re fucking assholes here.¡± Elysande breathed in speaking sharply under her breath. ¡°Yes they are.¡± Fayeth took back her human form following them, as she spoke quietly. ¡°I¡¯m not weird, I¡¯m special¡­¡± Agomais gave her a smile. ¡°Yeah ignore her nothing wrong with having different race parents¡­.¡± He breathed in as he walked into the blue light, which engulfed him only for him to be sucked in like a whirl pool as everything turned to white light.


    8


    Romulus pulled his raptor to a stop watching as the others did the same, they would have to go to Dawn Star tomorrow. So now they were going to have to make camp in one of the old ruins, from the first age that had once been a villa though now only the decorative pillars remained. He turned to the Paladins. ¡°Set up camp and make us a wood fire and start cooking.¡±


    Cepos got off his mount as he watched Romulus and Odessa sat down, while Titus started to magically put up the tent. Why did they always have to do everything it wasn¡¯t fair or right? These two did nothing and it annoyed him, yes they were their guards, but during his training all the Paladins had helped each other, along with the Mages they had been pared with from the other school. Yet for these two he felt he was being used like a work horse to work on the fields and getting no respect.


    He had not enjoyed them beating up the Zombie at all, the demon man he had understood, as he was an asshole and deserved what he got as he had sensed the unkindness in him deep in his soul. The Zombie on the other hand was just doing his thing and living, he had not deserved that treatment, neither did his Hallow Maggot or his living family. It all felt wrong to him, something deep in his vocal sack told him that, nothing had felt right from the start on this mission, he just couldn¡¯t put his finger on what it was yet.


    It wasn¡¯t just the violence, it was something deeper, and it bothered him that his boyfriend seemed to take such joy in this. Granted he was older, and he had been training after him as a Paladin, so he had never met this Keira they talked about. He moved his axe chopping some wood from the multi-coloured trees, seeing that dusk was starting to fall. He could see in the distance a huge white spider as it vanished into a deep underground tunnel, maybe to sleep or travel underground elsewhere... going about its life peacefully.


    This region was beautiful, it had to be said. Yes it was dangerous, but it was so full of life and it was so different from the capital. Granted he had never seen the region his parents were from, but he so wanted to in his life time. He breathed in slowly, pulling out a small flask of blood red potion, slowly taking it. He breathed in ignoring the pain as he swallowed it, he hated taking it but the school had told him to always do so.


    ¡°Have you got the wood!¡±


    Cepos put the half empty glass bottle away as he leaned down picking up the wood. ¡°Yes its here.¡± Titus took it from his hands. ¡°We need to get moving and start cooking, they are waiting for dinner.¡± Cepos breathed in deeply. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they cook for themselves or at least help us?¡± Titus breathed in sharply. ¡°No and this is just how things are, we are here to protect them.¡± Cepos raised his colourful hand with its sticky pads. ¡°Yes, but we could get it all done quicker.¡±


    Titus snorted. ¡°This is just how things are, you need to get used to it.¡± Cepos eyed him in annoyance. ¡°You know I didn¡¯t feel bad for I did to that demon man, he was not nice I sensed it in his soul, but that Zombie you hurt... he had a nice soul, you were really cruel to him.¡± Titus sneered slightly. ¡°Undead are bad, that¡¯s just what they are, that¡¯s what our teachings say, and that comes from the great Mages who rule over all.¡±


    Cepos blinked. ¡°That does not mean they are always right?!¡± Titus raised a clawed hand. ¡°We¡¯ve talked about this countless times; you do not question their words, its heresy.¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°Your problem is you want to see the good in a people, but these people are not good and it¡¯s our job to show them the way.¡± Cepos watched as the bigger lizard man walking away. He hated how he always dismissed him this way and thought everything was fine. It was the thing he hated a lot about the Capital, people just accepted things and it had never been the way he had been brought up.


    He looked up hurting the Zombie had been wrong; nothing was ever going to change that. Why didn¡¯t they see this? Truth be told he was dreading when they got to Dawn Star as he didn¡¯t want to be asked to do what was next, as his training had said a Paladins duty was to honour their armour, as it was forever bound to them, and it was their duty to use to protect others who were not as strong and able. What they were doing was not that and nothing like other missions he¡¯d been on before, he had become a guard for Romulus, Odessa, and they had first met.


    Maybe he was na?ve, maybe this was just how it was and it couldn¡¯t be changed, and he was expecting too much, but it didn¡¯t change the feeling he had on how it wasn¡¯t right. Also things did not add up here regarding Keira and that village, some of his friends in Paladin training had told him it had blown up, but no one had died just a few wounded, so why the huge differences in story?


    It just didn¡¯t add up in his head, and if this Keira was this bad, then why had she not killed people, taken control, as the reality was if she¡¯s a different form of Paladin, would it not have been easy for her to overpower Magnus, kill him and take over the mine since she could change her form? Why just become a worker? Why take that man¡¯s horrible abuse? Why hide in plain sight? It bothered him as these were the questions none of the others were asking¡­ they weren¡¯t even interested in finding out what she truly was.


    8


    Keira felt the force as she was thrown out of the portal, which was enough to make her stumble, and she wasn¡¯t the only one: everyone but Bastian stumbled out the portal. She breathed in, seeing the blue portal light vanish, only to feel the heat hit her, as her armour padding adjusted, cooling her down slowly. She looked up, seeing that they were in a huge town, but it was built into the huge trees and in a huge circle, yet this was not small, it¡¯s massive and it was clear it would take you a day to walk from one end to the other.


    Even more of a shocking, the houses were nothing like anything she had seen before, they were all painted and decorated, and they were built around tree branches, making them three... even four levels high. With vast space between the levels, there was a sellers markets going on not far from them, with all manner of things being traded and brought, plus all kinds of herbs and spices filling the air, none of which she recognised and meat being sold that was new to her.


    Stranger, there were lakes of floating waters clearly held up by magic, floating like globes under the homes. While others were filled with many types of fish, she wasn¡¯t sure though if these were ponds or places to bath in, it just wasn¡¯t clear... everything was so colourful. She moved towards the edge of the bridge they were walking on, looking over only to see that they were hundreds of meters up and there were hundreds of creatures below, all making noise in the green jungle trees there was a massive river at the bottom filled with raging waters.


    She could see a hydra moving towards the waters below, though it seemed to be a type that could cling to trees, as it had huge front arms as colourful as the reptile birds flew around it. There were huge spiders, but not like the ones she knew, they were hanging over the water with webbing between there furry legs waiting to catch something, and they were beautiful coloured. There were groups of red lug head maggots with barded pointed teeth in batches of the trees all around and even under the village.


    Three huge reptiles that were running on two legs with a tail and four small arms up front along with feathered manes leapt over the water, not stopping as they vanished into trees, while a huge flat reptile with a huge wide fin on its back and tail crawled out on to land to sun. She watched as the hydra, which had strange long arms to grip the tree, got closer to the water, taking a long drink only for a huge serpent-like creature to fly out grabbing it with its teeth.


    It crashed back in to the water sending pools of red blood, and torn limbs came to the surface, only for smaller white eel like fish with two sets of arms to latch on ripping it to shred in a sea of churning blood. She pulled back only to feel the lizard man¡¯s curved sword point tap her shoulder as he spoke. ¡°Everything eats everything here. So do behave, wouldn¡¯t want to toss you over.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Keira moved away from the bridge eyeing the raptor rider. ¡°They already told me that at the gate, I don¡¯t need it repeated.¡± The lizard man smirked. ¡°That¡¯s good; now start moving with your six foot turkey bird.¡± Keira eyed him in disgust, as she took her bird¡¯s reins talking to her as she stroked her beak and head. ¡°Ignore him; he¡¯s just jealous because he¡¯s suddenly not the only one with a good looking feathered mount here.¡±


    She walked watching as the others, remaining silent as they moved through the wooden streets, though the cold looks she was getting from some of the lizard, crocodile and frog people did not go unnoticed. While the other races were more interested by how she looked and were muttering things under their breath. Elysande moved over to Keira. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are good people here, we are just not seeing them right now.¡±


    Keira eyed her as she carried on following Bastian, as the others were right behind her. ¡°Maybe they are right to be afraid as even I don¡¯t know what I am, and maybe the Capital did something bad to them.¡± The lizard man suddenly spoke behind her in a cold voice. ¡°You Capital scum have been trying to gain control over this region for over a hundred seasons, the only reason you have never gone for all-out war are our mounts and war machines, they could destroy your armies outright.¡±


    He paused. ¡°You hurt people and you bring pain, you¡¯re bullies unworthy of your armours and powers.¡± He flicked out his long snake like tongue. ¡°It¡¯s why we don¡¯t allow your kind and the Mages to run any of the villages and towns in this region. Plus you squeeze all the supplies and all the wealth from every region you own, all of it goes to the Capital  and people starve, its why we have our own versions of Paladins and Mages here as guards and protectors, as they are not tainted like you.¡±


    He laughed slightly. ¡°Agincore at its finest.¡± Keira turned sharply looking at him. ¡°What does that word mean?¡± The lizard man eyed her. ¡°You should know, you¡¯re from the Capital and you are a Paladin.¡± Keira eyed him. ¡°I completed the full training but that word was never ever mentioned to me.¡± She paused. ¡°I heard my father once mention it while playing cards with my family, it was a game I was not invited to attend but I watched through a hole in the door anyway.¡±


    The Lizard man blinked in confusion. ¡°It means the Blinding Hand, it¡¯s from our old wall texts and it refers to the myth of the Fell Hand seven who died to save this world in the first age. Agincore were the corrupted Paladins and Mages they brought down. The Agincore, they were called, or the Blinding Hands as there magic was truly evil.¡± Elysande looked up slightly; her adopted parents had shown her those texts. ¡°In the land of the dead we just know them as the Blinding Hands; the myth reads the same though.¡±


    The Lizard man looked up, seeing that they were now half way through the village. ¡°The word is old they think it¡¯s from the first age regardless, but now it¡¯s just used to insult dumb or evil Paladins and Mages in most of the regions.¡± Keira looked down slightly... that didn¡¯t make sense, her father had not used it that way, she remembered now him smiling at her family saying words more akin to the Agincore shall rise again, which made even less sense to her.


    She carried on walking, as she became lost in her own thoughts; her father was a man who had hated her, her whole life, just for existing. As he preferred her brother and sister over her, as he had claimed that she was a bastard child, as she looked nothing like them. Which she didn¡¯t; her brother, sister and her father had light red hair and hers was burning dark red in colour and she had greens eyes, they had brown and blue eyes and even her skin tone was darker.


    Her mother, though, had been just as cruel to her, maybe that night they had been plotting against the Capital or something and that was why they had not wanted her there, because they thought she would mess it up. Though it seemed strange to her, as he had always seemed so loyal to the Capital... no, wait, that was wrong, he hated Paladins, as she remembered him being so angry when they had said she was one and he had asked that she be taken away that day, much to the shock of the magically Mages checking her powers and abilities.


    She eyed her clawed gloved hand maybe she was some vile bastard child, bastard children could be made via dark magic that had gone astray and changed things in the womb, along with cheating, she¡¯d just never know which she was. Not that it really mattered anymore; she¡¯d probably have to put up with this shit her whole life, the only small relief was that she was among friends, friends she had not treated well at all and yet who were all sticking up for her now despite everything.


    Her gaze drifted to Elysande, she¡¯d treated her the worst in the beginning, worse than all the others, insulting her, making remarks about her wealth and being extremely rude and judgemental, yet not once had this woman told her to fuck off, which she should have done as her comments had not been nice. She needed to make that up to her going forward, as at her worst this woman had been nothing but friendly and kind and even compassionate to her when she had been in pain.


    ¡°We are here!¡±


    Fayeth looked up sharply, seeing the huge house which was built into the tree in sections, with decorative paint and symbols, each huge section was built around the trunk, and there were three levels, all connected together, while on each side she could see huge balls of water spinning, though one level looked like it was filled with fish while the other was empty and just had sparkling clear water. ¡°That is one huge house.¡±


    Bastian turned looking at her. ¡°Hardly, they¡¯re much bigger in our version of the Capital, they can be seven or eight levels, this is just modest living and everyone who lives here has a three level home.¡± He moved over to huge door which was white wood and heavily decorated in gold symbols. He banged his hand on it as he eyed the lizard man rider. ¡°You can go now; Keira won¡¯t cause any more trouble to you.¡±


    The lizard man sneered moving his mount away. ¡°Very well, but you know the elite guardians might want to come here and check her over tomorrow or the day after, so she can¡¯t leave this house.¡± Bastian eyed him. ¡°Yes I get that.¡± The lizard man put his sword away. ¡°So long as you do get it... as we don¡¯t want her causing any trouble.¡± Bastian watched him vanish, as he eyed the others grabbing the bell close to the door and ringing it hard, watching as the feather raptor and its rider finally left looking at the others. ¡°Sorry about him, he thinks he¡¯s doing his job but he is just being rude.¡±


    He was about to say more, only for the door to swing open and a rat woman came into view, all dressed in reds and golds with white fur. A huge smile formed on her face as she looked at him, her eyes sparking with joy along with her gold front teeth. ¡°Bastian your home!¡± Bastian felt her arm wrap around him, as she squeezed hard before pulling away from him, as she looked up eyeing the others. A black furred Ratman in gold clothing appeared, with a long decorative beard filled with small gem stones and glasses instantly going to hug him as he spoke. ¡°Your home Bastian! It¡¯s so great to see you!¡± He pulled away paused looking at the others. ¡°And you brought friends!¡±


    Bastian stepped back smiling at his parents. ¡°Yes I did.¡± He raised his clawed hand. ¡°These are all my new friends.¡± He moved over to the dark red haired woman. ¡°This is Keira my close friend, a Paladin werewolf.¡± He moved to the Minotaur. ¡°This is my other good friend Agomais, he¡¯s a Cleric.¡± He moved quickly to the vampire. ¡°This is Elysande, she a War Mage.¡± He moved again to the beautiful white haired half elf. ¡°Oh and this Fayeth, she is a Druid!¡±


    His farther patted his hands together. ¡°So many wonderful guests I will look forward to looking after you all!¡± Bastian¡¯s mother stepped forward. ¡°Pleased to meet you all I¡¯m Lune and my husband here is Orion.¡± Orion eased up a hand watching as a section of the house opened, revealing a big barn area. ¡°Please put your mounts in there, they¡¯ll be safe and then please come in, we have a section where you can sleep, relax and use our Soleras pool to wash your padding and clean up your armour.¡±


    Agomais blinked in surprise. ¡°You have a Soleras pool? Only the very rich own those in Moss Tempest, and you can use them if you rent on but it¡¯s expensive¡± Lune raised a clawed ringed finger. ¡°Oh yes, every house here has them, they¡¯re important to keep your magic padding healthy and working right along with your armour. We also have a bath to wash and clean yourselves, as you all look like you¡¯ve been on a very long trip to get here and you all look tired.¡±


    Orion raised a clawed hand. ¡°Come on Bastian, bring in your friends once they are cleaned up and washed, we can make dinner and you can tell us about where you¡¯ve been all this time, some of your brothers and sisters should be back soon, as they are working on a big project for the elite guardians, you know how it is.¡± Bastian smiled as he followed them in. ¡°Oh, yes! I know what it¡¯s like, if it¡¯s a big project.¡± He watched as the other carefully put their mounts in the barn section as his father closed it. ¡°You¡¯ll have to tell me all about the new projects they had us build.¡± He turned, seeing the others slowly move inside, though Agomais had to duck down to avoid his horns getting stuck in the door frame. His friends were going to love it here and they all really needed to rest.


    8


    Elysande followed the others as they were led upstairs from the first floor to a very large round room, which had armour and weapon stands along with a very large pool in the middle of the room, filled with reflective iridescent water. She was used to seeing them in The Land Of The Dead as they were everywhere, even the undead still used them. Padding in general was made for you when you came of age, normally at eighteen or twenty one, depending on your race and height, and it was sown by special seamstress and made just for you and for only you to wear.


    It was considered extremely offensive to take off someone paddings unless it was a very serious injury, and people always washed their own padding. These special waters eat away bad magic, blood stains and grime, helping rejuvenate the threads and repair broken ones. The liquid could also clean armour and huge swords to a buff shine again and get rid of dents on plating, weapons and shields from overuse.


    She turned, seeing them all take a wooden decorative seat around the pool, as its good manners to take turns and let one person at a time wash their armour, weapons and padding and let them put them all up to dry on a stand. ¡°Who wants to go first?¡± Bastian shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± He paused. ¡°You all have under clothes for bathing, I assume, and extra clothing to wear when you¡¯re out of armour?¡± He watched as they all nodded.


    Keira looked up slightly. ¡°Agomais should go first, then the rest of you should follow, I¡¯ll go last.¡± Agomais slowly got up. He breathed in as he raised his clawed hands causing his armour to suddenly move, as it started to come off flying on to one of the bigger armour stands, leaving only his padding which was embroidered with patterns from his human father¡¯s home land and his barbarian tribe.


    He eased all his padding off gently so he had nothing on but his under garments, putting it in the water, watching as it started to bubble and churn as it washed away two seasons worth of dirt and old magic, and gently fixed any torn threads. He eased it out, slowly placing it on the hanger he moved his clawed hand, causing all the liquid from the pool to go on his armour as it burnt away the rust, dirt and popped some of the dents out and cleaned it all to a buffed shine along with his huge sword. He moved the water back, eyeing Bastian. ¡°Where is your bath?¡±


    Bastian smiled pointing. ¡°Go up a level to the guest bedrooms, I¡¯ll bring it up when we are all gathered up there.¡± Agomais smirked. ¡°I look forward to that, so tired of smelling like a horse barn.¡± Bastian watched him go. ¡°I know what you mean¡­.¡± He eyed Fayeth. ¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡± Fayeth stood up easing her hand out watching as green thin vines slowly came out from the walls easing and undoing her armour, taking it off piece by piece placing it on the stand.


    She eyed her padding, which had both Elf and Orc markings on it weaved together. Keira eyed the elf before speaking calmly. ¡°So you¡¯re part Orc?¡± Fayeth turned to her, not holding back her annoyance as she normally knew where this was going. ¡°Yes, do you have a problem with that?¡± Keira slowly raised her hands. ¡°You misunderstand I always really liked Orcs, they are some of the noblest people I¡¯ve ever met, and I¡¯m just surprised you don¡¯t have the lower jaw big teeth.¡±


    Fayeth eased off her padding, watching as the vines slowly placed it in the pool, as it bubble and churned, before easing it out and hanging it up before vanishing back in to the wall. ¡°I do when I¡¯m enraged; it¡¯s why people are not always kind to me as they don¡¯t see the union as normal, despite that it¡¯s very normal in my region.¡± She moved the waters washing her whole armour down and her weapons slowly and carefully.


    Bastian watched as the white haired beautiful elf woman stopped adjusted her under clothing. ¡°People are foolish.¡± Fayeth turned to him as she stepped back. ¡°Your turn...¡± Bastian stood up. ¡°Em, I might take a while, I can¡¯t throw my armour off like you guys can.¡± Fayeth raised her hand. ¡°I can help, so long as you don¡¯t see it as impolite.¡± Bastian nodded. ¡°Please, go ahead, but you¡¯ll need to dip them plate by plate before hanging them along with my weapons.¡±


    He watched as the green vines came out of the walls again, as Agomais poked his head around curiously from the upper floor, smirking at the whole scene. Keira looked at him. ¡°I do believe Agomais has an Orc boyfriend, so you two should chat about that.¡± Agomais felt the smile fade from his face. ¡°Used to, we spilt up, the bastard sold me out to the people I was selling to in the other village, it¡¯s why I was running away.¡±


    Bastian turned as he watched the vines place his armour and weapons on the stand, he eyed his padding, which had no patterns, yet the rumour was when you truly found yourself and you connected with it, it created its patterns to match your soul, and it seemed like Agomais and Fayeth had connected to theirs. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry to hear that, I thought you two were getting on well.¡± Agomais snorted in disgust. ¡°Story of my life, my partners always fuck me over¡­ I need to get better boyfriends.¡±


    Bastian slowly eased his padding off cleaning it gently, before moving it to the hanger. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find someone better in another region.¡± Keira looked down slightly, she had not asked Agomais about this since they had started travelling and now she felt guilty, as she had been so caught up in her own problems to see his. ¡°I¡¯m sorry he betrayed you.¡± Agomais looked at her, though more in surprise before he spoke. ¡°I just have bad taste in men.¡± Keira eyed him for a long moment. ¡°No, your taste is not bad; he just couldn¡¯t see a good thing and ruined it.¡±


    Agomais turned not really sure how to reply to her. ¡°I¡¯m going to wait for my bath, I¡¯ll see you all up there.¡± Keira watched as Bastian moved, with Fayeth following him up, leaving them both alone in the room. Elysande got up slowly, not thinking as she opened her arms as her whole armour came off in green glowing light, landing on the stand as she eyed her padding, which had glowing embroiled symbols and patterns from her guild in the Land Of The Dead, only for Keira¡¯s voice to suddenly hit the air nervously. ¡°May I wash your padding¡­¡±


    She turned in surprise eyeing her. ¡°What did you say?¡± Keira stood up slowly. ¡°Please, may I wash your padding?¡± She paused. ¡°I feel it would only be right to do so, as I have been nothing but rude and cold to you from day one, when you¡¯ve been nothing but kind and thoughtful towards me.¡± She looked up meeting her glowing red eyes. ¡°Please view it as my way of making things right with you.¡±


    Elysande smiled, as she eased her padding off, watching as Keira threw her armour off in a blast of red and blue light, showing her padding which was in desperate need off a cleaning and was white like Bastian¡¯s ,as she had not fully connected her soul to it yet. ¡°Of course.¡± Keira took the other woman¡¯s padding very gently, before placing it in the glowing waters, watching it boil and churn, working very gently to clean it before pulling it out and hanging it next to the other woman¡¯s armour.


    Elysande moved to the water, using them to clean her armour and weapons, watching as Keira got out of her padding, revealing for the first time a really deep scar on her side and stomach that had not healed, along with her eye scar. She looked down slightly trying not to be rude or stare. ¡°Did the demon Mage do that to you?¡± Keira breathed as she put her padding in the waters, watching as it churned, pulling of seasons of dirt and correcting the magic threads. ¡°Yes... his claw marks were so deep, it broke the padding.¡±


    She eased her padding out, putting it up to dry. ¡°I consider myself lucky to not die that day, there was blood everywhere, and a Cleric who was trying to heal me, but not for good reasons, couldn¡¯t close the wounds... then they just healed themselves, but left scars.¡± She moved her hands, letting the waters wash her armour and weapons, causing a lot of dents to pop out on both. ¡°I guess that was my werewolf side kicking in, before I became half and half.¡±


    Elysande smiled slightly. She was not going to lie, she liked the woman¡¯s company, she wasn¡¯t really sure why, maybe it was just nice to know another human being who had an understanding off her struggles with the thing they both suffered, and she felt a calm in her presence that was very new to her. As normally though she remained calm on the outside she did feel like she was internally screaming around people mentality, she just knew how to mask it. ¡°If it makes you feel better, I was just as rude to my new family who were trying to help me, I was also a nightmare until I found some sense of calm and control.¡±


    Keira stopped looking at her. ¡°It¡¯s not just that, I was rude to you regarding your wealth and that was jealous and spiteful, it wasn¡¯t even about you. It was more me being bitter about my family¡¯s wealth, as I will never have a part of it since I¡¯m a bastard child; I was cut the will.¡± She looked up slightly. ¡°You said as well, when you became what you are your family were struggling and I ignored that, I was disrespectful, as a Paladins duty is to understand the suffering of everyone, be they rich or poor.¡±


    Elysande moved putting her hand on the other woman¡¯s shoulder very gently. ¡°No one is perfect, we all have our failings, what matters is what we do after and how we make it right. Plus you¡¯re not bad Keira; you¡¯re a person who bad things have happened to.¡± She paused. ¡°I know you don¡¯t see that right now and your family doing that to you is terrible, as a bastard child is still a child, its sounds to me like the true failing was with them.¡± Keira breathed in sadly. ¡°We should go we shouldn¡¯t keep the others waiting.¡± Elysande eyed the stairs that led to the guest rooms. ¡°Your right we should go.¡±


    End of part 14


    Silvermoonlight