《Blood Rising》


 Chapter 1: Prelude to Darkness

    It is said that life''s first moments are in darkness and as you are born you escape the darkness by following the light. My glimpse of this path was fleeting and my life has since been consumed by the darkness which defines both the beginning and end of all things. The story I am to tell will not glorify myself as a hero for I am without a doubt the villain of this tale. A tale of loss, sorrow, love and bloody vengeance.


    All events told take place in a world known as Proelia. A land of great beings which far surpass humanity and even greater dangers. After years of war the continents have been divided between the species with the exception of Ausmier, the southern southern continent known as the trading hub of the world where all species meet to sell the products which are unique to their continent. This is also the location of many races near extinction or otherwise looking to avoid the skirmishes often found on the other continents.


    The most prominent, feared and hated species upon Ausmier would be the Sangalia. A race once known as the most proud and powerful in all of Proelia which has now been driven to hiding amongst the forests and mountains; rarely interacting with their neighbors or other species. The Sangalia are a species of an abnormal lifespan, in fact none except the Sangalia themselves hold any records of how long of a life they actually live and many say that they are in fact immortal beings descended from the God of Darkness Darkal.


    A Sangalia is born with strength many times greater than a human however they also hold the ability to gain more power. Every time one drains the vitality of another living being their strength is given to the Sangair. When this is done in moderation on a weaker being will only the nutrients necessary to sustain life are carried on to the one who drains the life however when a much stronger being is devoured the Sangair may gain strength equivalent to that which has been drained. Legends of the past tell of eight great warriors of the Sangalia who were able to subdue and share in the blood of a dragon, the great God of the Sky. These warriors then split apart and began to conquer many regions single-handedly where the ruled for hundreds of years and tyrants of their individual domains.


    The legend known as ¡®Drako¡¯s Bane¡± was the beginning of the downfall for the once great race. As the Eight Heroes grew more tyrannical over their six centuries of rule the people of their domains plotted their downfall. The humans, demi-humans, beast men, faye and demons all knew that individually they could not compare to the ¡®heroes¡¯ or the elite guard of Sangair and thus over generations trained in secret and devised a plot to free themselves. The first revolt was in the northern kingdom of the eastern continent which is known now as Muerton. The demons, those who are most capable of living in such an inhospitable environment lead the power behind the revolt and soon the entire Sangalia population was wiped out. The rest of the continent soon followed as the other races combined their power to fight and eradicate those they had now entitled as Darkal¡¯s Leeches. The next continent was the west which is now Lucivien, where the Faye and their power over mother nature allowed them and the beast-men to swiftly conquer the area. The humans and their cockroach like vitality and never ending numbers soon took the northern continent of Gairen. The final continent, the southern region of Ausmier, was the quickest battle as all four of the great powers of the world worked in collusion thus ending the 600 year reign of the eight heroes.


    The revolution became known to history as the ''Hero''s Downfall'' and is a story taught to children to warn against greed and the dangers of overwhelming power. This event was the catalyst for the other species to shun the Sangalia and soon the species could no longer populate cities or towns on a main road. As the wars continued to spread the Sangair were brought near extinction and could only survive by hiding away far from other civilizations and soon even among tribes of their own kind the location of their brethren was lost.


    Peace was not found within Proelia with the revolution however as now the four great races had a taste for war and the ability to rule themselves. With this power each race felt they deserved more land and authority than the other beginning a blood bath of which the world had never before seen. The wars began not ten years after the revolution when the Demon kin made a move to conquer the northernmost port of Ausmier which was governed by the beast-men. While the beast-men excel in strength and agility they have no magic to use and were quickly conquered by the blood magic common amongst the demons whom also have extreme regenerative capabilities making them difficult to kill.


    The demons were not satisfied however and continued to move further toward the center of Ausmier and its capital of Risten where the faye and humans held a council to rule over the people of all Ausmier. As the armies met countless villages and small towns were burnt and the citizens were slaughtered at an unimaginable rate.


    Furious at the actions of the demons the faye began to invade Muerton, the home of the demons, however their nature magic was at a loss in the desolate lands of the eastern continent and their invasion quickly repelled. The faye withdrew to Lucivien and gathered their forces. The humans which did not centralize on any continent began to gather together in the north at the easternmost part of Gairen creating a kingdom known as Bainrender which was to become the capital of all humanity. Being the most capable of reproduction they had much larger numbers but lacked the inherent magical abilities or enhanced strength of the other races except for the magic of the witches and sorcerers which were rare, approximately one in every five hundred humans had the ability to use magic. However as the beast-men began to invade Gairen to recuperate the losses from the demons the humans were read with their magically enhanced weapons and armor and as they pushed the beast-men back they were able to build upon more territory of the north securing their borders and increasing their numbers.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    These battles continued on for 80 years without change, villages were burnt and countless lives continued to be lost for nothing more than the arrogance of the four great races and their desire to conquer the land. The people of the world however began to see that this bloodshed could not continue, and they looked to see who would be most suitable an ally for their race so that they may end the bloodshed once and for all.


    The faye were the first to offer a treaty to the beast-men. Both species preferred the glory of mother nature and as they loved the earth they found themselves able to coexist without fear of each other. Upon the conclusion of this treaty the beast-men which had been divided across all four continents retreated to the west and created their own kingdom using the southern half of Lucivien. Their capital would be known as Lunas and the northern half of the land would be ruled by the faye and the capital took the name of Terras. It took ten years to clear the land of all demons and humans, the two species which show little to no regard for nature and were destroying the forests and the soil for the poorly grown crops.


    As the faye and beast-men had allied the humans and demons also shook hands. Both species were heavily war like and thought more about their own gain than the loss which would occur with more war. As they cleared the Gairen and Muerton of enemies they began to argue amongst each other as to which lands should go to whom. Deciding that the northern content most suited the needs of the humans as they had already established many towns during their battles with the beast-men the demons were naturally settled in Muerton. With this conclusion all races turned to the south and the battle for Ausmier would soon begin.


    At the beginning of the bloodiest battle of all 100 years of ''Proelia Divided'' all species already had a home, and as such did not have any need for the land in Ausmier. Wanting to halt the war a council was created amongst the four great races which would decide on a division of the the land. This ended quickly however when the dwarves, a small tribe of people which spent their lives mining the mountains and creating weapons made an unexpected discovery. The great mountain range spanning all of Ausmier had at one time been a famous home to countless Dragons and thus was named Dragon''s Roost. When a dragon dies their immense magic seeps into the earth and is a great boon to the land cause crops to grow stronger and larger than in any other soil. No one had yet known that if the magic seeps into the mountains it would create a metal more powerful than any yet discovered in Proelia, mithril.


    When the dwarves first showcased their discovery in Risten they used the magic attacks of the faye and the strong sword strokes of the beast kin to show it was not only strong, but provided a never before seen natural defense against magical attacks. The news of mithril set fire to the people and soon everyone wanted to know of the metal and how they could mine it for themselves. Quickly the talks at the council quickly broke down and the races again began to assemble for war all with the same thought that if another race gained this metal than they would have power far too great in comparison to the other races.


    The battle began in the plains of of Ausmier with the alliances held over the past 20 years. This would be the final battle and the losses would be immense. The demons lost roughly 30 percent of their people, the beast-men and faye losing almost forty and humanity suffered a devastating loss of sixty percent of their armed forces. The plains the battle was fought upon would be known as ¡°The Sacrificial River.¡± A truce was made, and talks were held to split the rights to the mountains in four among the four great races and the mining began. Thus peace was created upon Proelia.


    If we can take a moment and hold you realize that for the past one hundred years nothing has been said of the Sangalia. Many people believed that at this point they had became extinct due to the four great races. As the battles for land had been waged any Sangair villages that were located were razed and the people within the slaughtered without mercy. The Sangalia were truly now at the edge of extinction. Only a handful of villages remained and their former glory was all but lost. The people themselves degraded to hunting the animals of the wilderness for the blood they needed to survive. This is the environment I was born in, I was the final descendant of a line which was once kings among all living creatures now barely more than a beggar, destitute and lost.

 Chapter 2: The Brief Glimpse of Light

    I was born a healthy girl named Jade for my vibrant green eyes. My mother was called Saria and father Zaren, a warrior of the village and one of the strongest due to our lineage. My birth took place only fifty years after the peace treaty signed at Ausmier, an event both of my parents had been alive during.


    Our village was hidden at the base of the easternmost part of Dragoon''s Roost and was named Sanctuarius. We who lived in the village believed we were the last of our kind as we had never met any of our race which were not born alongside us in the village.


    The homes we resided in were all log cabins and none were very large. It was a custom for the family to live together until marriage where the couple would then build their own cabin and proceed to get married and move in together upon completion of the home. Our village saw it as as a trial to show that you will work together on a foundation in matrimony and life until you were able to shelter each other no matter what storm may come to spread you apart. An extra room is always added for the child that would be born in the future the fact that only a single room was built was rarely an issue. The birth rate had heavily declined as our people were no longer able to drain the stronger species such as those among the four great races and a family was rarely gifted with more than one child.


    It was forbidden for the youths to go out of the village without an adult, and even the adults could not go further than a fifteen kilometer radius from the gates. There were no mining spots for mithril anywhere near us on the mountains, and as such most of the children would sneak out to explore the mountain which was our backyard. Once the child became an adult at 18, the age of which the Sangair ceased to aesthetically grow older, you would accompany an adult for your first solo hunting trip where we would track down an animal from the forest and drain its vitality without assistance.


    The defining characteristics of the Sangair are beautiful pale skin, vibrant eyes which shone like the highest quality gems and the two sharp teeth which allow us to bite and drain the life force of our victims, their ever so delectable blood. Our beauty such that it was on par with the faye, those otherworld beings which were said the be descendants of the gods of magic and beauty.


    I was the only child among the village or within known history to have red hair which matched the color of fresh blood, a symbol which my parents believed showed my strength to be great among the Sangalia. The leader of the 8 great heroes was said to have a similar color. This would make sense as my father was a descendant of that leader, and my mother was a descendant of the second in command. We were the head family of the village and my parents were strong and just rulers, never overly ambitious or desiring more power. I had always admired those qualities in them during my youth.


    As I have previously stated our birth-rate was slow, so even with my lineage I was an only child. This does not mean I had no-one my age around me. There were two other children born within a year of myself Garette and Sylva, both born to close friends of my parents and from birth we were always around each other. Garette was a wild boy, but had the signs of being one of the most handsome in the village when he became older, he had raven black hair which was darker than the starless sky and eyes of a dark blue with a forest green sparks specked throughout. He was always biting Sylva and myself as toddlers, and if not causing a fuss between us three he would be constantly exploring whichever home we were spending the day in.


    Sylva however was a very beautiful and very typical girl. She was shy to Garette and cried whenever he bit her, her beautiful sky-blue eyes would well up and one could get lost in the ocean as the tears poured. The hair upon her head was a glimmering gold that shined like the sun and everyone awaited the day she too came of age though even as a child I had no doubt they would be together forever.


    I became the natural leader. When Garette bit I would smack him with my toy and he would withdraw. When Sylva cried I would hush her with a hug until she calmed down and we made a perfect trio. The days continued and when we became three and were able to quite fluently speak to each other our education began.


    The Sangalia education at three began with martial arts, history and languages. It may seem a young age but as we were stronger than the other species we held a special intellect and could comfortably train our bodies without fear of harm. Further a Sangair with a healthy blood source to feed from was harder to kill than even a demon, for practice injuries the animals of the forest were more than adequate to remove any bruises or cuts. Sylva was a natural in the histories and languages, her mind was quick and she remembered everything after a single lesson. Garette was strong and fast, he made it seem as though the martial arts were made for him to learn and within a few years it became a necessity for him to take special lessons on the arts from my father.


    Myself I found it all boring. It all came too easily for me, almost as if I had genetically given memories of the languages of the other species, my knowledge of the history would come to me as if I had lived the events and not simply heard about them from out teachers. I was not as talented in brute strength in the martial arts however my speed made up for my flaws and I was able to dual equally with Garette almost every day where we constantly tied for whom had the most wins. I soon began the special lessons in leadership from my parents which included war tactics, something we never used but it was a tradition passed down among the leadership of our kind for as long as we had existed. Among these too I was a natural, the war games played between my father and I soon became a single sided domination where my docile and peace loving father could never defeat my ruthless and cunning tactics. Perhaps this was a sign of my inner self which would not be seen for many years.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    During these years us three children never grew apart, when we were six we became confident and began to wander into the mountain. Garette and I would then learn the hunt, we would find creatures of the forest and capture them for Sylva to devour hoping it would assist her lack of strength. This is where we first experienced a real sense of danger.


    While doing our normal expedition Garette and I were scouting ahead of Sylva when we heard a piercing screech from behind us in a very familiar voice. Garette, ever so attuned to Sylva was the first to react, instantly pulling an about-face and sprinting back to her location with me close on his heals. When we arrived we found Sylva in tears with tattered clothes and blood dripping from her left arm attempting to cling to a branch above a tree. Below her was an orc, the larger mutant cousins of the goblin both of whom were known for capturing women and raping them for reproduction. To our knowledge there should have been no orc''s anywhere near our village so it must have been a lone traveler or some variety of a scout. The beast itself was many times larger than us, to our seven year old eyes it may as well have been a giant. In its hands was a rusted human blade which was also considerable larger than even Garette the tallest of us three.


    Without hesitation Garette charged at the back of the orc knocking it off balance and distracting it from Sylva. Quickly I jumped pivoting off the mid section of the tree and snatching Sylva down. I then placed her a good distance away from the orc and Garette which were now locked in a fierce stare-down, neither moving from their position awaiting the first movement of the battle. Garette, infuriated and impatient, made the first move. He charged the orc and as the creature lifted is blade to strike Garette he dropped down and slid low using his powerful legs to knock the orc to its knees. Before it could recuperate I joined the encounter, using my speed I jumped on the fallen orc and sunk my teeth into its neck and began to drain the now wailing creature. Garette followed my lead and latched on to the arm, draining the wrist of the orc which know was desperately trying to knock us away with its one good arm. Our combined strength was far too much however even in our youth and it soon succumbed to death.


    With the completion of our task Garette rushed to Sylva''s side whom was still crying and shaking in her fear. Without asking I ran to the forest while he soothed her worries and found a wolf, without hesitation I jumped the beast and using my fangs ripped the jugular from its throat spraying myself in its blood. Dragging the wolf I ran back to Sylva and Garette lying the creature taking its last breaths in front of her. With quick coaxing from Garette Sylva soon had her fangs in the creature and drained the last of its life, quickly healing her wounds encountered from the orc. With her wounds head she seemed to lose the last of her anxiety and we made our way to the nearby river flowing from the mountain and proceeded to clean the blood from our encounters.


    We arrived back to find my father at the gate, with one glance at his towering figure with slanted eyes I knew that this was not going to be pleasant.


    ¡°Jade, where the hell..... What in Darkal''s name happened to Sylva, look at her damned clothes! Jade, Explain!¡±


    ¡°Well father... see we were exploring toward the mountains and experienced an orc. I had separated Garette and myself from Sylva and it caught her unawares, this is my fault entirely.¡±


    ¡°Damn straight it is Jade, Garette, take Sylva home and then go home yourself, I need to have a discussion with my daughter.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±


    Garette quickly escorted Sylva back toward her house and my father and I headed home. The discussion from there was heated and luckily upon conclusion all blame was put on myself as the leader of our rag tag group of rebel youths. This quickly put an end to our expeditions at our young age as the parents now kept a much closer watch on ourselves and the boarders in expectation of more orcs. My father did compliment me however once he had cooled down saying that for children our age to take down an orc was an extraordinary accomplishment. He is at the core of his heart a warrior I guess.


    Life quickly returned to normal with our studies and instead of expeditions we now began training in weapons. I found myself to prefer an agile curved blade which well accentuated my swift movements. The mithril blade was stolen by our scouts while raiding a convey by some faye merchants and was light with an unbelievable sharp blade. Garette learned to use a two-handed weapon which likely outweighed me but he swung it with power that could crumble a house. Sylva chose the art of archery using mithril tipped arrows. We continued to train like this every day until my eighth birthday. The day that disaster struck our village, the day my path deviated from the warm light and began its descent on to the chilling darkness, my bloody path begins now.

 Chapter 3: Descending Darkness

    The silence of the night was broken with resounding boom and a flash of light. My thoughts which I can now only describe as egotistical were that ''this must be my eighth birthday celebration!'' I jumped out of my bed and only then heard the screams. They were not shouts of joy or celebration but clearly shrill sounds of someone begging for a savior. The sounds multiplied and soon the clang of metal on metal was heard throughout the village and a chill of fear immediately shot down my spine.


    The following scenes are clearly ingrained in my memory. No matter the time that passes the nightmares of this night will never go away, the horrors of what happened here will play scene by scene almost every time I shut my eyes. There is no peace from this memory, no escape from this hell.


    As I stepped out of my home the first thing that hit me was the scent, blood, as a member of the Sangalia this is a scent we are at home with, a scent we crave however I was now experiencing a combination of scents I had never before experienced, the heavy scent of my people''s blood blowing as a river throughout the village.. I could see clearly a fire blossoming from the cabins posted near the entrance of the village where the battle was commencing. I knew my parents would be in the midst of the fight defending possibly the last bastion of our people.


    I made my way towards the gate, I do not know why my choice was not to flee, any smart child would have immediately ran away knowing that nothing good would come of my advancement forward. As I proceeded onward the sounds of battle became louder and the heat from the burning homes washed over me in waves.


    The scene greeted me upon reaching my destination was gruesome. The ground was soaked in blood, the cabins not yet set on fire were splatted as if the previous occupants had decided to paint the cabin using themselves as the material. It quickly became clear that the attackers were without mercy as no death appears to be clean or swift. Hands and many other body parts were cut and scattered everywhere. On the ground the dead and dying bodies of Sangair people were moaning for help. I could offer them none in my youth. Horrified I could do nothing but move forward. Where is my mother? Where is my father? These thoughts repeated over and over again as anxieties welled up inside me, my eight year old mind ready to snap at the horrors everywhere around me.


    ¡°J....ade...¡± a weak voice pleaded to me snapping me back to the reality and out of my spiraling mind. I looked down and experienced my first personal losses of the night. Garette weeping and covered in blood was clinging to the lifeless body of a tattered Sylva. Both just nearly nine years old their lives were over and nothing could be done. Garette still even had a sword sticking through his chest, likely to pull it out would only speed his death... no amount of blood can cure a hole in the heart even for the Sangalia.


    ¡°NO!¡± I screamed.


    ¡°Garette, Sylva, no! Why?? Who is doing this? Why us?!¡± The pleads continued to escape my lips one after another as the tears finally began to fall..


    ¡°We saw.... faye and human.... other smells unknown. Jade.. You must... flee... We will await you in the sky...¡± with these words Garette, still clinging to Sylva stopped breathing. It was the first death I had ever seen in the village, my heart crumbled into pieces at the sight.


    As I fell to my knees the tears flowing from my eyes and I wailed not caring who could hear me a scent caught my attention and I froze. Behind me was an odd, bitter odor like the darkest of chocolates. Soon the scent was close, directly upon me and I could only think I don''t want to die. As the child I was the only word to escape my lips as I turned to face my final moments.


    ¡°Mommy...¡±


    Immediately there was a swift moment and the scent was pushed away and I was enveloped in a familiar warmth. The warmth of my mother''s arms.


    ¡°Jade! Thank Darkal we thought you were dead oh thank God. Are you injured? What is this blood.¡± My mother quickly checked me over as she frantically questioned me not giving me even enough time to answer.


    ¡°Mom... Garette Sylva, they are....¡± I couldn''t finish the words as my tears began to fall. My mother then looked beside us to see the corpse of my two best friends, my siblings.


    ¡°I''m so sorry Jade honey, but we need to go. Now.¡±


    My mother''s anxious words startled me. I still had not calmed down and had no awareness of my situation at the moment. It was then I remembered the bitter scent and wondered where it had gone. I looked over to see my father locked in combat with a fierce creature I had never seen before. Near seven feet tall with horns sticking out of its head. The body was entire covered in blood as if it had taken bath in the life force of the Sangalia. A spiked tail was show swinging behind the creature occasionally attempting to swipe at my father who would parry and dodge the blows. This was a demon, and a very high level one who could fight on par with my father. Fortunately blood magic has no effect on the Sangalia as our entire existence is based on using blood to survive and grow stronger. However this did not mean the demon was lacking in combat, quite the opposite it appeared to be steadily driving my father back.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.	Turning back my father looked at my mother and I and did nothing but nod, the expression he held was that of the deepest despair. Looking back on this now it was a mixture of an apologize, to me, saying that he was sorry that he would not be able to see me grow and an acceptance of his fate, he would go down with the village. At the time I did not understand the expression but as my mother grabbed me and began to run swiftly away I looked back once more and saw the blade of the demon slicing up and cutting through my father''s chest. My screams became hoarse and I lost consciousness as my father dropped to the ground, I could still see his lifeless eyes facing my direction.


    I was only out for a moment, the rough ground and my mother''s maneuvering around the corpses scattered everywhere quickly shook me awake and as I came to I noticed my mother''s panicked expression. We weren''t escape, we were fleeing for our lives. As I looked behind us I saw two beast-men sprinting in our direction. One had a ferocious look on his face with a smile that said he was enjoying chasing after prey, he had the ears of a wolf and sharp claws. The other was following on the rooftops jumping from cabin to cabin with his long beard, or would it be mane flowing in the wind, clearly this was a cat-type beast-man, likely of the lion family. We were close to the rear exit of the village, the entrance to the woods at the base of the mountain. We knew the area around the village better than anyone else possibly could, our last hope was to get into the mountains and find a cave to hide within. Every second made this hope look more and more impossible as the beast-men were slowly gaining on us. Were it my mother alone she could easily have escaped but she was carrying me, and an eight year old child was not a light burden to carry while fleeing from these creatures.


    As we reached the gate my mother tripped. There was the body of Garette''s mother lying at the gate with a gash that cut her head almost in two. One of her legs were gone and the left arm from the elbow down was missing. Whoever had killed her had taken pleasure in the death of this woman, for the first time since the attack had begun I began to feel anger welling within all of the fear. This was an utterly cruel act done by monsters. I came to my senses, realizing I had once again became lost in the carnage surrounding me and forget entirely the depth of how bad my current situation was. As I regained senses I could hear my mother screaming to me.


    ¡°RUN JADE NOW! TO THE FOREST! GO!!¡±


    I realized then that she had not yet got up from her fall, and when she tripped she had thrown me a good distance away and outside the village. As I looked back to her I saw the two beast-men preparing to jump and grab her with looks of glee on their faces. My mother noticed too and made an immediate decision, she would not be prey to their cruel tricks, she took a dagger from her waist and plunged it into her heart, ending her own life. My feet took me where my head and my heart could not, I ran. Sprinting into the forest that I knew so well I fled from the now angry and roaring beast-men who appears to be calling for a search, they would not allow a single Sangair person to escape this slaughter. As I reached the mountain and began to climb I lost their voices, perhaps they could not navigate the forest or make out my scent amongst all the new creatures of the woods they had no experience smelling. I climbed and climbed for hours until I reached a cave near half-way up the mountain and made my way inside.


    The cave was dark, and had an oppressive air about it which I had never before experienced. I was scared but I knew nothing could be worse than returning outside into the arms of those executioners. The cave was like a labyrinth throughout the mountain with multiple passageways and no light at all. Luckily the eyes of the Sangalia were made for darkness and I could see without any issues however I had never before seen this cave and had no clue where the path I took would lead but I continued forward, tears streaming down my face and made myself a vow... the vow my weak and meager eight year old self made here was the basis for the rest of my existence. The moment that anger overrode all fear and my hatred blossomed. The vow, I will come back, I will kill them all. They will rue the day they believed they could exterminate my kind. The Sangalia will return.

 Chapter 4: The Twisting and the The trials.

    I do not known how long I continued through the mountain. I remembered waking, sleeping, I grew weaker every day however it would take months without blood to truly kill one of my kind though we would be a vulgar existences long before that death. I continued forward as if this was a trial, locking away the happy memories, pushing thoughts of Garette and Sylva, Mother and father all from my mind. The dreams began in this cave, every night I would wake myself screaming from the blood soaked walls of the cabin. The burning corpses of villagers and the moans and pleas for help were always with me.


    When I would awake from these nightmares I would again harden my heart and continue forward. Fear and tears would not allow me to survive, I was only a child but I knew I may be the very last child of my people and I had a duty. My duty to be sure that those who looked down upon us, that those who treated us as vermin to exterminate experienced the same pain, the same fear they put my people through. There was a price that must be paid for making a race such as the Sangair and it would be paid in the blood of many.


    I knew I needed more information on who attacked the village, from my memory there were two beast-men, a faye, a human and a demon. Why would there be a collaboration force of the four great races? I understood that there was a truce, and even the two alliances, but for all four to work together was unheard of. I now held a grudge against all four races but I needed to know how they found out the location of our village, and who exactly those people were.


    The next issued lied with those warriors themselves. I may have been a child but I knew my father was strong, no average soldier could have possibly driven him back and ended his life. This meant that there was only one solution, those were elite warriors, a force of elite warriors from four races. Is it possible their entire purpose was to annihilate our village, or rather is this a genocide force to exterminate my people? I could not fathom the hatred they held for us, why was there so much fear? Was the rule of my ancestors not so much more peaceful than the hundreds of years after where the fools of the so called ''four great'' races continuously battled and slaughtered each other and innocent citizens. We never once used acts of genocide to annihilated the people and though the may have been tyrannical in the end it was clear that it was because the talks of revolts were becoming ever greater. I felt no pity however for the lives lost in those wars it was their own fault. They had peace, they had a strong economy and starvation was never an issue. They threw out these blessings given to the my the Sangalia and choose greed and power over our path.


    If they had stopped there we would have likely gone away into the shadows of the world and continued on in peace allowing our great history to only become legend. This however was not enough, it was clear those races feared our people, the fact that we were better than every one of them in ever means, we were stronger, faster, more intelligent and more resilient to damage. Our life span and potential for growth far surpassed any other race and they feared what we could do if we decided we wanted the glory of old. Their response to this fear without any basis or grounds was to exterminate us all, and village by village, women children and all were slaughtered as they found us. There was nothing great about those four races, in fact their monsters and I despise them all. I would kill them all, and it would be my please.


    With my thoughts twisting ever darker to match the surroundings of the cave I continued to adventure deeper into the mountain. The depths of which I could not possibly have known. Nor could I have known that awaiting within these mountains would lead me to begin in acquiring the power to I needed to exact my revenge.


    With ever sleep cycle my hunger continued to grow. My lack of blood intake had made me weak and tired. I was growing dizzy and unable to properly pay attention to the direction I was taking. In my daze I never noticed I was being followed from the shadows. The ominous air covered my surroundings and my natural instincts against predators were all but gone. I was a starving child lost in a mountain and there was a fox closing in on me.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.	The shadow fox is known to hide in dark and dangerous places, their innate magic allows them to blend into the darkness becoming almost invisible, most species have some ability to sense them such as the nose of a beast-men or for the Sangalia the pull of their blood. However as I stated I was near starvation and could not sense anything abnormal. As I excited my current pathway into a large and round cavern the shadow fox made its attack, as it lept on me I lost footing not realizing that their was a cliff and as I stumbled to avoid the attack the fox latched onto my shoulder and we both fell down and down into the mountain''s depths. As we hit the ground I heard the snap of bone and quick lost consciousness.


    I awoke to the pitiful cry of the fox broken and bleeding beside me, the scent a blood was overwhelming and my hunger finally blossomed into an uncontrollable an utterly animalistic need to feed, without paying heed to what was broken within my body I knew only the voice repeating in my head kill, kill, kill, feed, feed. I flailed on top of the shad fox and immediately sunk my fangs in. Within moments the creature was dead, my hunger partially sated the broken bones then made themselves known. I screamed as the blood assisted my regeneration and cuts closed while bones slowly mended themselves in the most excruciating manner. The fox was enough for me to regain awareness of my surroundings and once the painful healing process was done I stood up and took in my location.


    I was in the largest cavern I had yet seen. There was no ceiling above me and the circular room seemed to be twice as large as the living room of our cabin. There were three exits amongst the room one with an almost refreshing feeling coming from it and the farthest had an even more disturbing aura than the paths I had been previously following before I fell. My mind told me that the refreshing route was likely an escape from this mountain and that would be the wise decision for me to take. However my mind had already snapped after the destruction of my village, and the final straw when I smelt the blood of the fox might have driven me insane, my desire to kill and become stronger lead me to follow the more ominous path.


    Instinctively I had felt that this path would be full of tribulations however I also knew that I would exit this path far stronger than I currently was, if I survived. I was correct, within a few feet of the tight corridor I felt the pulsing blood of another shadow fox about to make an attack. This time I was ready, as it pounced towards me I shot out my arm and grabbed its neck. It struggled and bit at my arm but I was beyond feeling such insignificant amounts of pain and quick dug my teeth into its neck filling myself with its warm blood. For the first time since my arrival within the mountain I was well satiated and no longer had the pains demanding more blood, I felt great.


    The path was apparently the foxes den, I encountered dozens and had to make a knife with the rocks of the cave to battle with the foxes. After a dozen of the shadow foxes had fallen to my knife and teeth they began to avoid me and I began to feel a change. The darkness of the cave began to feel like home, as if I was drawing power from the shadows and I knew how to become one with the darkness. It was as if the trait had always been given to me and I knew that it was a gift from the blood of these foxes.


    I continued following the ominous path from then on the creatures became stronger and so did I. This was not a short path, I continued to do battle hardening my heart and my body for what must have been months. I was constantly covered in blood. Darkal knows the beauty my people are known for would not have been noticeable on me as I had not found a source of water to cleanse myself once since I entered. I was filthy and savage, no longer an intelligent creature my mind became honed to only one thing, battle and blood. Death domination became my only companions and I no longer spoken even to myself in an attempt to alleviate the silence. It was then after many months I found what hid within the center of the mountain. I was greeted suddenly by a loud booming voice which dripped power with every word.


    ¡°Hello little blood child, I congratulate you on becoming my new toy.¡±

 Chapter 5: Untamed Fires

    A voice accompanying an overwhelming presence that none of the warriors which attacked my village could even come close to was descending upon me. For the first time since I feel from the cliff in the mountain the old sensation of fear welled up inside me again for an instant. Quickly I snapped away from my dread and made use of the darkness to mask my presence hoping to avoid this creature.


    ¡°Do not think you can hide from me with such petty tricks child.¡±


    The voice was near, too near and behind me. I did not know how it was possible for it to have snuck up on me but the being was breathing down my neck and my body was paralyzed. The fear returned in an instant as I understood there was no hope for me against this being, whatever it was. I just prayed it wouldn''t kill me, it wasn''t time for me to die yet.


    ¡°Who... what are you?¡± I gasped as the presence created an atmosphere so strong it was difficult for me to even breathe. I realized the ominous aura that I had been following all the way here must have been from this creature.


    ¡°I am the Master of the Mountain, I am the Fire which Consumes all, To you I shall be God and Master, my name is Dreana.¡±


    ¡°Mistress Dreana what is it you wish of me, am I to die?¡±


    ¡°No, not yet, as I stated you will be my new toy little blood sucker, we shall have some fun. Tell me, why are you in my caves? Have you become lost?¡±


    I proceeded to tell my tale to this Dreana, my new master. Wondering all the while what my fate would be, and what role exactly I played as a toy. I still had no clue as to what sort of creature Dreana was nor if I would survive the end of this encounter. When I concluded my story Draena only snorted, it was a derisive sound full of underlying amusement at the cruel twist fate had thrown into my life, and I realized right then we would not become friends nor would my stay be pleasant. I had not yet thrown out the hope that the encounter could be beneficial however.


    ¡°It seems your people got what was coming to them, they say a curse is placed on those who drain a dragon, even one as weak as Ashmil. He whom your eight ancestors devoured.¡±


    ¡°You know the name of the Dragon? How?¡± This was not information that was not passed down even amongst my family lineage.. How exactly is it possible this creature knew. I had an idea, due to the location of this creature''s lair, the overwhelming presence of the being and the fact that it knew the Dragon''s name really left me with little doubt.


    It was then that Draena came into view and the sight was as breathtaking as the presence she emitted. A beautiful and mature woman, she stood tall, taller than and proud with powerful features. Her hair was red like mine yet instead of the color of blood it seemed a blazing fire stood atop her head wild and untamed yet you could not look away from its glory. Her eyes were slanted and golden, the gaze piercing the soul and seeing far beyond. She wore an elegant black dress far more luxurious than anything I had ever seen in my life with low cut in the front and swooping back which seemed to promote the design on her back of a beautiful dragon reaching to the sky and devouring the moon.


    ¡°Because I am the Queen of Dragons, all who soar the sky bow to me, though there are few left of my kind all know my strength and glory.¡± And as she spoke these words I did not doubt for a moment their truth. Her entire being was regal and elegant as a queen, her gaze strong and proud never faltering. I was before royalty in a manner unknown to the four great races, this was truly one of the most frightful beings in existence, an existence barely a step away from The god Drakal himself.


    I had no words left. My existence was not left to the whims of this dragon queen and I would do as she wished and only hope that I would be allowed to continue my quest for vengeance when she was bored of me. I knew she hated me and my kind, but I felt no warmth for her either, this relationship would only be a tool for us both, her to ease her boredom and me to seek the strength I so desired.


    Remembering again that I lacked much information regarding the assailants of my home I thought to question Draena of my enemy. Though the thought of angering her with foolish questions caused me anxiety, I had to know no matter what.


    ¡°Mistress Draena, may I ask, do you know who it was that attacked my village, why were the four races allied and slaughtering the Sangalia?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Confident enough to question me are you? Foolish child. Well I see no reason not to tell you. Upon the conclusion of the battle at The Sacrificial River the council split these mountain between them to mine mithril. Once the treaty was drawn one last question which plagued the worries of all species was what to do about any remaining Sangalia. They all knew that if your people were to once again find the ability to gain great power the vengeance against them would be fierce. As such the created a squad of the top two warriors of each race and formed the Sangalia Extermination Squad. Their purpose is clear within their name, they seek only the complete annihilation of your people, from your story it seems they find a great amount of joy in the slaughter.¡±


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.	This new knowledge re-awoke my rage again. My rage was apparently visible through my bloodthirsty aura and the Queen for the first time looked down at me and smiled. Though this smile was not kind but cunning and cruel, a perfect reflection of who Draena was.


    ¡°I can clearly see you thirst for the blood of your enemies, a child so young yet so full of hatred. Very well then, I shall twist you and turn you into death itself. When you leave my side you will go to the world and dye it red. I hate these arrogant fools which title themselves the ''great races'' and I believe it is nigh time for them to learn their proper place. ¡°


    These words sparked the flames of hope in me, there was no joy or happiness at this declaration, such emotions I believe were no longer possible for me. I felt only the thrill which the knowledge that I would here find the strength I so longed for. That my hands would soon enough be soaked entirely in blood. It was almost time for me to begin the feast.


    ¡°We shall begin your training tomorrow. Know this, if I see your tears or hear your whine I will become bored, when I become bored I will kill you. If you do not meet my expectations or struggle beyond what is expected I will kill you. This is not your home, this is your dojo, you will eat when I allow it and do only that which I tell you to do, no more. There is no freedom for you and further there will be no possibility of escape. Do you understand this?


    ¡°Yes, Mistress.¡±


    ¡°Very good then, let me take you to my home so that you may sleep and we will begin once you have recuperated.¡±


    She then grasped me with on hand by the scruff of my neck as a dog would do and sunk into the ground. The surroundings faded to a pitch blackness which was quickly replaced by a bright room with lanterns hanging about. It took me a moment to regain my senses as my sight was restored for I had not seen any form of light in what must be close to a year. What I saw then was a brilliant hallway of white marble. Portraits of the queen and many other powerful figures lined the halls with golden frames on each. Wooden doors on each side signified rooms and she lead me to the furthest room to the right. I saw no more of the home I was in, rather it seemed as if this was all I would be permitted to see at this time.


    ¡°Get in, you will be sent for when is time to wake up. You are not to wander around or explore, this room should be plenty for you. When you are not training you will be sleeping, as I have stated there is no freedom for you.¡±


    With this she opened the door and walked away without another word. I went into the room and found it did not at all match the luxurious nature of the hallway. Stone walls and a single small bed which I would clearly outgrow soon even at my current age. There was an old wooden desk in the room and a dresser filled with low-grade scratchy clothes, nothing like the warm apparel my mother would often make for me. I knew however any complaints would be pointless, and that reminiscing on what I once had would only cause myself pain. After exploring my minuscule room I went to the bed with my single pillow and fell asleep instantly. After all I had spent what I believe to be close to a year sleeping in a mountain always half awake in preparation for dinner. Simply having a bed and a safe place was a feeling I had completely forgotten at this point.


    The comfort unfortunately resulted in me letting my guard down, without the constant fear of danger my mind was allowed to reset bringing again the nightmares of dismembered limbs and my mother''s hopeless gaze as she forced the dagger into her heart. I no longer awoke screaming from the dreams, a conditioned response designed to protect me from danger, but the tears still flowed. I again locked away the pain, allowing my heart to grow cold and prepared myself for my first day of training with Draena.

 Chapter 6: The First Test

    The first lessons of the morning would begin with the ancient languages of the world. I would learn the native language of dragons, the lost tongue of the elves and dwarvic runes which one could apparent imbue with magic to enhance weapons and armor if one knew how. If I forgot a word or pronounced a word with the wrong accentuations I would be hit with a dull sword so that the bones in my hand would break or whipped bloody. I never shed a tear however, nor did I even whisper a word of complaint complaint for to do so would be death. Draena never issued an empty threat.


    After these studies would be combat. The Mistress had lived for what I assumed was an unimaginable amount of time and had knowledge of many fighting styles. She would alter her form, apparently a magic which all dragons possessed, to match my size. Even when she gave herself strength equivalent to what I had I could never match her skill. To see her fight was almost a dance, and was beautiful and elegant yet utterly lethal. Not once did I come away from training without many broken bones yet again I never let my pain show. Deep inside my heart however the hatred for this cruel mistress slowly grew.


    When our hand to hand combat sessions were done she would allow me to recover with whichever offering she deemed worthy my efforts, most often were shadow foxes or dark rats. When she was angry I would be forced to digest a venomous spider, the poisons could not harm me but the blood was amazingly painful to digest. It was then time to continue training.


    I ended my days with weapons training. Mistress did not believe that you should only master a single weapon as one should be able to kill with whatever tool was readily available so I learned to kill with knives and daggers, one handed swords and broadswords, whips, throwing knives and countless other weapons. She taught by example and I often took my evening meal bleeding from countless locations on my body. Pain became my friend and only ally, it was a constant in those days and I began to become numb to sensation. This was a routine which continued day after day, there was no resting or down time just constant training as I grew and become a lethal blade myself.


    Soon enough I had been under the mistress'' training for four years. I was now thirteen by my own count and had grown considerably. My height was around 5''5¡± with my legs long and strong, my feet already stuck over the edge of my tiny bed. My hair had never yet been cut and I always had to keep it tied for when it was down the red waves flowed below my waist. I wondered whether I was as beautiful as my parents always told me I would be. I constantly pondered how I would look when this nightmare with the mistress was completed and how old I would be at that time.


    I was already fluent in as many tongues as the mistress knew, I could recite the histories of the world further back than any written record my village had held. It was likely my knowledge held the details of events further back than the archives of the four great races. My skill with the weapons held in our training center was borderline mastery, I could have a healthy duel with the mistress yet never could I best her but I thought it a joke that I would ever be able to conquer the queen of dragons without some amazingly powerful blood.


    Today as I prepared to continue lessons pondering what the Mistress was preparing to teach me she surprised me with an announcement.


    ¡°Little pet we will have a test for you today, this test will require you to leave the cave however I expect you to know better than to attempt escape, you have not yet learned all you need to know and do not have nearly enough power for your vengeance.¡±


    My vengeance, the hatred I bore the world was the only thing that continued to drive me over these past years. As the cruel treatment of my teacher worsened I let it boil and churn inside me so that all I could feel was rage and determination to become stronger. The warmth I had known as a youth was long gone, the happy days with my friends and family barely a memory which could not conquer the years of beatings and lectures. The Mistress knew this, and often reminded me of my vengeance to toy with me. She never wanted me to know peace and always made sure to remind me that I was nothing more than her toy, which could be disposed of as soon as she became bored.


    ¡°Yes Mistress, I understand. I will pass your test without fail and will not disappoint you.¡±


    ¡°I have no expectations of a toy like you for you to be able to disappoint me, do not speak up again unless I ask you to. For your test there is a faye village on the other side of this mountain I want you to invade. In the largest house there is an elder of the faye named Argon


    which is known for being a master of magic. Your task little pet will be to rip the heart of Argon and drain the blood from it. Bring me the shriveled remains of the faye heart and you will have completed your task. You are to do this the style of an assassination. You are to reign in your blood lust and kill only the target without being spotted by any others. Do you understand Jade?¡±


    ¡°Yes Mistress, I will drain the blood from the heart of this Argon without being spotted by any other faye. I will bring the remains of the heart to you for proof that my task has been completed.¡±


    ¡°Very good, now go and complete this task, you have no time limit so take your time scoping the village inhabitants and planning your task. Failure of any degree will mean your death.¡±


    I was given few weapons as I only had a single target. My toolset consisted of a short curved sword much like the one I used as a child and a set of throwing knives, one of my favorite weapons. The mistress provided me with skin tight black clothing consisting of a long sleeve back shirt, tight black leather pants, my first time ever wearing leather clothing and it gave a smooth but rough feel to it. I was given a black hooded cloak to hide my red hair and finally a set of boots to comfortably move about the wilderness.


    Newly equipped the mistress escorted me to a door which I had never before seen. It was an ornate large double door with a set of trees and stars on each. I had never been down this path, the training dojo and room used for my studies were down the same hallway as my room, I had never been beyond that section as I was not allowed to wander the premises per the mistress'' orders. Thus due to my restrictions I was unaware of how to even leave my cage, I was utterly a bird trapped. Nonetheless when the door was opened I could not hide my gasp of surprise. The door opened directly to the woods, though I had no way of guessing the location of our home within the mountain I would have never imagined the exit would be so close to where I slept for the past four years. I knew better than to think escape would be a simple matter however, the mistress was not so na?ve.


    ¡°Now go, your test begins, the village is to the east, follow the tracks made by the faye scouts. Do not forget you must not be seen by anyone. Come back to this location when you are done, I will know you are here.¡±


    With these words she turned and walked back through the doors which disappeared as soon as she was through leaving no trace that they were ever there. I did not hesitate or delay, turning to the east I began my first adventure outside the mountain in the past five years.


    Passing through the woods I took my time. The tall green trees were slightly different than those of my youth telling me I had exited the side of the mountain opposite where my village once was. I listened as the animals scampered around the fields, none aware of my presence as now using the darkness to hide my presence was had became as natural as breathing for me through the years. As I wandered the wood I looked for signs showing life outside of animals which made the woods their natural habitat. I found the clear signs of hunters moving about the woods earlier in the day. Felt the presence of magical traps which required careful maneuvering to avoid and soon came to a river bed which was likely the water source for the faye village.


    The river was not deserted, there was a single male swimming within the river. He was tall, I would estimate about six and a half feet. His muscles were well defined and toned making me guess him to be a warrior of some variety, one clearly versed in many battles. He had long hair down to his shoulders of a raven black that reminded me of Garette, in fact from the back I almost thought it could be Garette though I knew this was impossible. As he shifted positions I noticed a scar from the right shoulder which followed diagonally down to the middle of his back. I could tell this man was gorgeous by any standards though I do not believe he was faye. The smell which radiated from his blood was the most delectable scent I had ever encountered, it was a delicacy among delicacies and that made me even more nervous. I had to remind myself of my mission to avoid rushing out for the meal, it was the first man I had ever become truly attracted to but such a thing was not for me in this life. I decided then that I must retreat before he noticed me or I fell prey to this man.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.	As I slowly backed up the man turned and looked direct at my direction. I froze, unsure if he spotted me, knowing that if he had it would be my death at the mistress'' hands. As he stared in my direction I finally took notice of his eyes, if before I had found him attractive then once I gazed into those eyes of a deep blue as if god took the oceans and skies in all their beauty and compacted them into small orbs for this man to see through made him irresistible. My only hope now was that he would turn around and continue his swim staying far from where I crouched, I silently prayed to Darkal that the darkness I had shrouded myself in was enough. My prayer was granted as the man looked away and began his laps again and I quickly escaped the area once again finding the tracks of the faye hunters.


    Following the tracks through the woods I encountered no one else and soon saw a village in the distance. Upon approach the size of the village was amazing. The designs of the homes were much different than the cabins built in my village. It was as if the faye wanted to build their homes in coordination with nature, never taking from the forest but only asking for their help in finding shelters. Trees appears to have been hollowed by magic and spiral staircases of branches provided access to higher tiers of the homes within the trees. Between the high tiers of the trees there were bridges of vines allowing them easy access to their neighbors. Truly this was a beautiful village which stole nothing from nature. It was very late at night by this point and there were no lights in the village and no citizens walking around.


    Stationed amongst the trees surrounding the village I observed five guards with bows and long daggers strapped to their waste. Had they being using their magic to observe their surroundings through magic they may have been able to locate me but as it was a peaceful night and there were no signs of invasion the guard were relatively lax allowing me to observe their rotation. I climbed high into the trees where I could stay even during the light of day using the shade the tree would produce to continue masking my presence. I observed for the next two days.


    I spotted Argon early on the first day as he held an assembly for the guard in what I assumed was a normal briefing, a duty my father often took care of in our village. Argon looked not much older than the rest of the village citizens, the faye truly are a beautiful and long-lived race with slanted eyes, sharp tipped ears and flowing hair without flaws. All of them were long legged and tall the skins showing not a single imperfection. Perhaps these were gifts from mother nature for showing their respects and protecting the forest. I however could not bring myself to respect these people, in fact my heart only desired to destroy this peaceful village and begin my retribution however a reigned in my blood lust for it could give me away and set to my task of observing Argon¡¯s movements.


    I soon found where Argon lived, he had the largest tree in the region to himself. The spiral staircase on the outside was lined with a golden material as opposed to the greens and browns of the other homes you could tell that the owner of this home had a much greater affinity with nature. Argon slept on the second floor and only a single guard was stationed at the bottom of the tree between the lower entrance and the staircase. With the knowledge I needed of the guard rotation and the target''s movements I retreated further from the village and made my plans.


    The first step was to make sure I could remove the heart of the target without causing noise which would alert the guard at the door. For this I located a poisonous herb in the forest I had read about. The herb was called slepnir for its ability to induce a 12 hour coma like sleep. Every night the elder would have a tea delivered to his room as he bathed, he would drink the tea and immediately go to bed.


    As soon as night hit I was prepared. The task wasn''t difficult, there was no reason to believe Argon was in any danger as I had left no tracks to show my two day monitoring of the village. Awaiting two trees away from Argon¡¯s I watched as he entered the bath and monitored the guard as he carried up the tea.


    There was barely a single minute between the delivery of the tea and the elder exiting the bathing room on a normal night this gave me plenty of time to spike the tea with the herbs grounded into powder. Unfortunately the guard chose tonight to make a mistake. The tea split climbing up the stairs due to an almost unnatural fit of clumsiness and now the target would exit the bath before the tea was delivered. I had two choices, I could wait for tomorrow and hope there was no issue with the timing or attempt to spike the tea before the guard brings it up. I decided I would stay close to the guard while hidden in the shadows and if the chance arose I would take it but there was no room for me to make a careless mistake. As the tea was being made the guard was never separated and I thought I had lost my chance until a chance breeze blew and the guard happened to sneeze, without hesitation I dumped the powder into the tea with the guard only inches away. Quickly backing up just as he turned I double checked my shroud of darkness and crept out of the house to climb a nearby tree.


    I watched as the drink was delivered, sitting on the side of his bed Argon took a sip of the tea, then two larger gulps and my anxiety began to rise. This was my first time killing something that was not an animal, I was nervous that I could fail and my life would be over, that the slepnir would not work and I would need to find another way to carve out this damned faye''s heart. Soon Argon passed out, clearly comatose washing my anxieties about the powder away and I moved on to the next and final stage. I held no qualms about ending this man''s life, or any life for that case, for no love or pity was left in me for others. Entering through the window of the room and silently moved towards the target I made myself ready to finish my task. Swift as lightning using the power gained of years of brutal training I plunged my hands intoArgon¡¯s chest, grasped his heart in my hand and as his eyes shot open in shock I ripped the pulsing organ out of his chest. Before the beating heart could realize it was no longer connected I sunk my fangs in and drank heavily The taste was a sensation the likes of which i had never before encountered. The blood was sweet, fresh and brimming with power. I was in ecstasy with every drop I swallowed. Without noticing I had quickly drained the heart of all blood as it shriveled and shrank to nothing more than a pathetic slab of meat. I wrapped the now motionless heart in a cloth and tied it to my waist and made my way out of the window I had entered. I immediately fled the village without once looking back and the dead and bloody body laying on the bed.


    As I sped through the forest toward the mountain I noticed an incredible difference in my speed, I felt more powerful than I ever had. Further I felt incredibly in tune with the nature around me. My footsteps were lighter and I felt as if I knew exactly where to step as I continued to sprint among the trees and plants. I knew powerful blood had a great effect on my people yet I could never dream of such gains nor had I ever heard of a single faye providing such power to our people. Before I knew it I had arrived back at the base of the mountain I where I had first entered the forest from the home for Draena and within seconds I saw the doors slowly opening and the cruel smile of the Dragon Queen.

 Chapter 7: The Second Test

    As I stepped through the door I was brought back to the same hallway. A brief sense of accomplishment swept over me. Had I failed I would have been dead long before I was allowed to enter my cage again so I knew that I had not been spotted. No one would ever know what creature stole into the faye elder''s home and robbed him of his heart.


    ¡°Let me see your treasures little pet.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mistress.¡± I replied as I handed the heart wrapped in cloth to the queen. She slowly undid my package and had the first real smile of joy on her face as she inspected the shriveled slab. I wondered what she would want with the heart when she immediately conjured fire and burned the heart leaving not even a speck of ash in its wake.


    ¡°Tell me, how do you feel after devouring the heart of a powerful faye known as one of the top magic users among their kind?¡±


    ¡°Mistress it was unlike anything I have ever experienced, not only my physical attributes but my senses are far more alert than anything I have ever experienced. On my return trip I felt as if I was one with the surrounding nature.¡±


    ¡°Yes I would imagine so. Devouring the heart provides much more power than simply draining the blood of a being. This is a secret that not even your people remember any longer as it was seen as a ''savage'' and ''barbaric'' practice. You should also now hold the ability to learn the magics he was affluent in. We will begin training in this subject now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mistress.¡± My tone was shallow and void of emotion however inside I was excited. I had never been taught magic, and the ability to use this skill would be a skill I never dreamed of having as the Sangalia are known to be void of magic outside of the eight whom devoured a dragon. For the first time my mind wandered only momentarily as to what it would be like to devour the heart of Draena. I privately vowed to myself that if I was ever given the opportunity I would not allow it to pass me by.


    My training then took a new turn. The morning classes were now lessons in magic primarily the control of four elements. I seemed to have an inherent skill for fire, the heart of Argon gave me talent for nature magic, however I was somewhat lacking in water and control over the wind. After magic classes would be alchemy classes and how to imbue magic into alchemical mixtures. We still continued weapons and hand to hand combat training every day so I never lacked for bruises or broken bones.


    With the new training schedule I again passed every day trapped in my small hallway for another three years. Now sixteen years old I was growing steadily into my adult''s body. I stood at 5''10¡± and had finally begun to fill out in my chest and hips. I was truly becoming a woman and I was excited to see how I would look when I stopped my growth which normally happened for the Sangair at age 18, only a few more years.


    At this time I had mastered the fire and earth magic and was at an expert stage of wind and water magics however I was not likely to get too much better as I had no talent for them. The only reason I had only got as far as I did was through pure determination and training alone. The mistress never threatened to kill me for my inability to progress though, it seems even getting as far as I had without talent was almost unimaginable.


    The Martial arts training took on new difficulties as the mistress began to imbue my training clothes with gravity runes which increased the weight of all items. Within the first year my clothes weighed as much as I did and as I progressed so did the amount of weight I carried. Luckily my body type never became masculine as the Sanglair body is made to adjust to new strength on an incredible level so my body became toned but never overtly muscular.


    Finally the mistress came to me with new instructions. I was to have a second test which she advised me of previously. Apparently she would test me three times, and when I accomplished the third test I would be allowed to leave the mountain and begin my quest for vengeance. The second test was all I had thought about for the past three years.


    ¡°It is time little pet. I will advise you of your second test now. While the first test was to give you the power of magic and test your ability to kill on my command. This second test is to hone your ruthlessness. I will send you to a tribe of beast-men which lives outside of the forest. Your task will be annihilation. Do not leave a single living being within the village I am sending you to. How you kill them all is your decision I do not care but none must escape. This should be your first time ever leaving the forests as you have always lived within this mountain or the forests beyond but remember your freedom still has not yet been granted. Be sure to return once the task has been completed. Once again failure will mean death.¡±


    ¡°Yes Mistress, I will eradicate the village, none shall escape, none shall survive.¡±


    ¡°Weapons will be your choice, take whatever you please. I have new clothes for you, they will be in the armory, now be gone. You know the way to the door I need not see you out.¡±


    ¡°As you command Mistress.¡±


    I made my way to the dojo where we kept the weapons and made my selections. I took my favorite curved blade which now knew was called a lumer, and strapped it on my back in its sheathe. I loaded a holster for throwing knives which are worn over the shoulder and may be hidden by a good cloak. Finally I took a short dagger and sheathed it to my belt. The clothing this time was perfectly fit as it had been on my first test. Again all black with leather pants however the shirt this time was low cut and the sides were open and laced together revealing more skin but also allowing my body to breathe. For the first time I truly felt that I had the traits of a beautiful woman as the clothing made my assets well displayed. I wondered if this too was for Draena''s amusement as she seemed to live by the belief that less clothing was always better. Finally I took a backpack made of leather specially made for carrying alchemical creations and loaded it with various smokes and explosive concoctions


    Once geared up I proceeded to exit the room and navigate myself out of my hallway and towards the exit door for the second time. Mistress had told me that I needed to head northwest and would easily be able to locate the village about a day and a half outside of the forest. Navigating to the edge of the forest took about half a day and I decided it was best to sleep the day away before proceeding outside of the forest. When I awoke it was dusk so I made ready to proceed out of the forest for the first time in my life.


    I had been traveling for about three hours when I came across the first travelers. There were five men in total, human from the smell. They were each wearing a dirty cloak covering the most of their faces so I could only get a good glimpse of the man in front and it disgusted me immediately. The face was ugly and covered in dirt with a massive unkempt beard. On his forehead was a scar which looked as if it was relatively new and the wound underneath was never properly cleaned. As we came close into contact the men all finally took notice of me with their torches. My face was covered by my cloak however my body was visible clearly showing I was a female and the men''s eyes immediately clouded with lust. It was my first experience with the sexual desires of men and the only response I could muster was utter repulsion.


    I continued to move forward looking to avoid any encounter with these men, not that I felt an inkling of fear but rather the thought that any choice would be better than to come into contact with such grotesque creatures lead me to decide on quickly passing them by. The men however did not seem to agree with my choice, they saw a young man and thought easy prey, they believed they had found a toy to play with. It was obviously about to be their mistake. Now if only I can avoid direct contact.


    ¡°''Ey lil lady how ''bout you come play.¡± One of the men flanking the leader spoke up first. His voice deep and gnarled, likely destroyed by the smoke that so many humans were addicted to.


    ¡°Fuck off.¡± These were the only words I would allow the pigs. There would be no second warning nor games played with these men.


    ¡°Well lookie ''ere fellas she''s got a mouth on ''er, why don'' we show ''er some other uses for ''dem pretty lips.¡± The second the sentence was finished I had already conjured fire and tossed a flame between the man''s legs. His agonized screams followed him all the way to hell leaving only a pile of ash in his wake. I could have used a dagger but at the thought of retrieving the knife I decided fire was the best option.


    With the death of their friend the other four became more wary of me. Yet two of them could not control their tempers, or were simply too dumb to realize that their first steps forward would be their death. The second the began their charge I conjured two more balls of flame and immediately flung them to the assailants burning them on the spot. There were two left, the one I took as the leader and a silent man who was masked and apparently unmoved by the swift deaths of his three companions.


    The first attacker was the leader. I threw a ball of flame but he was quicker than expected and dodged the flame while drawing a one handed straight blade. He rushed me with a speed abnormal for a human and slashed at me with ferocious strength. However he was human, to my eyes even the swift movement was slow and before the swing finished rotation I had my dagger out and implanted in the crook of his neck. His lifeless body fell to the ground as I jerked my dagger free. Immediately I switched my attention to the last man standing, the masked man which I now noticed had a deeply bitter smell to his blood and I realized this one was no human, I was now facing a demon. Likely this final creature was the leader of the group, and I had no doubt in the least he was the strongest.


    ¡°What are you fire lady? Do I face a faye?¡± Croaked a gravely voice. My cloak had not once been lifted, none of my features were showing and as such the demon had no way of telling what being I was. My beauty, strength and magical abilities would most likely be to a faye, but I felt that this last man would know that he faced death from a far more frightening adversary. But not before I played with him first. I knew his first move, all demons were the same per Draena''s lessons so I naturally taunted him.


    ¡°If you can remove my hood then you can find out for yourself demon shit.¡±


    Immediately the masked figure pricked his finger and shot an arrow of blood directly at my neck. Normally even avoiding the shot would require me to move in a manner which would make my hood fall however this was blood, and I was Sangair. I moved an inch and allowed the shot directly into my mouth swallowing it hole. As the demon stepped back in surprise I lowered my hood and grinned.


    ¡°Now... it''s my attack, yes?¡±


    Without waiting another moment I leapt at the demon, as he raised his arms to block I kneed his solar plexus. Keeling over from the pain I lashed out with my fangs and bit into his neck. Not wanting to kill him just yet I stopped just before death and drove my hand into his chest just as I did the faye elder and began to drain from the weakly pulsating organ. The taste was exactly as expected, it was bitter but sweet at the same time, I had heard of a concoction called chocolate which was described as a very similar sensation. It did not hold the power of Argon but it was a significant pick me up and I decided later I would try to see if I could attempt any blood magic.


    Continuing northwest after burning the remains of my attackers I traveled for another six hours until the sun was ready to rise. I then began my search for some shelter which resulted in locating an abandoned cabin about two hours off the northwestern road. The cabin was old and appeared to be ready to fall apart at any time but I had stayed in far worse. My destination was about another half day away so I would arrive with time to do some preliminary observations of the village.


    I awoke again just as the sun fell, gathered my backpack and weapons and left the cabin. Soon the ground was covered with recent tracks of people moving to and from the region and I knew the village must be close. Within six hours of the cabin I had located the village and began to circle it looking for the best observational point. There was a small wooded area close to the outskirts most likely where the hunters gathered the food from. These woods would also be my hiding spot during the daytime.


    Before the sun came up I had already learned the night guard numbers. This village was much larger than the previous test''s and had a dozen nighttime guards. The large village was surrounded by a wooden wall with only two areas one could enter or leave the village through. One near the road I had previously been following and another at the opposite end near the forest. It was impossible for a single person to cover both exits and I had the requisite condition that no one may escape. This meant that closing one of the exits was a necessity. It would funnel all defenders to a single gate however this could be to my benefit if done correctly. However as it stood the numbers were far too against me at the moment. Even with my magic and strength I wasn''t sure of a win under these conditions. My plan was to first lower the number of fighters available in the village. Perhaps catching the hunters as the were in the woods would be the best starting point. Next I would take wait for the guards to go looking for the missing hunters. Once I had taken care of all reinforcements my attack on the village itself would begin. Deciding this was the best path forward I retreated to the woods and went to sleep early.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I arose before midday and not a moment too soon. My gear had just been collected when I heard rustling not too far from my tree. Taking a whiff I knew from the strong scent of rainfall on the forest there was a beast-man near my location. My first target had just wandered straight to me, how lucky. As they neared I noticed it was a wolf kin and memories of the last few moments with my mother flooded me, the predatory smile during the chase and her desperation to escape. What a fitting first victim to start my slaughter.


    As soon as the wolf reached my tree I dropped, instantly grabbing his mouth to prevent noise and latching to his neck I bit in. His muffled cries became weaker and soon ceased entirely as his body became lifeless. I dropped the corpse and retreated further away and into another tree. Using nature magic to search the forest I located another four hunters were currently close to my position. Two of the hunters were together and the other two separated. The together were my first target and quickly disposed of with throwing knives, each dying before the other even had a chance to react to the scent of blood. Retrieving the knives I set out for the fourth, this was a tiger kin. A scent of blood had apparently permeated the air as he was already wary and clearly ready for an attack. The last target was not far so I knew once the battle begun it would need to be quick or I would be fighting both at the same time which would interfere with my plans. Conjuring vines with nature magic I tied the arms of the beast kin and vaulted from my hiding place unsheathing my sword a quick swipe and his head went rolling. Prepared or not this hunter had never stood a chance against me, the kill was flawless.


    As predicted the fifth hunter was already a matter of feet away from me with his axe drawn. I parried his blow with my short sword and lunged straight towards his heart. He was agile and quickly jumped back to avoid my strike. I felt joy in a battle of blades and decided I would not use magic for this fight so I swung again and it was blocked by his axe. Admittedly I may have been playing with my food but there was no harm in having a little fun every now and then. His body tensed and he charged with his axe to his side and vertically sliced at me, I figured it was time already to end the charade and jumped landing neatly on the blade of his weapon. A second later I had pounced towards him and drove my hand into his chest gathering another heart to drain for power.


    The entire battle had taken place within fifteen minutes thus giving me likely half a day before anyone would be worried enough to send a search party for the group. This was the perfect time to test if my previous acquisition of a demon¡¯s¡¯ heart allowed me blood magic. My instincts said it was very likely as it seemed ridiculous to assume my kind wouldn¡¯t have a natural knack for all things blood related. My first test was to cut my finger and control the blood as it flowed out using the basics of elemental control I had already mastered. To my surprise it worked perfectly. I channeled magic into the flowing drops and created a string of blood twirling in mid-air. I then proceeded to vary the size and shape of the blood which was once again a very simple task. I decided one more tested would be enough for the moment so I formed an arrow with the blood and proceed to use an explosion of magic force to push it into the nearest tree. To my surprise the arrow shot forward at a speed almost untraceable to my eyes going all the way through not just the nearest tree but the one behind as well. This would become an extremely handy trick and one which I could keep a secret, I silently thanked the masked demon for his wonderful heart.


    The hours passed and soon enough shouts arose from the entrance of the forest. The reinforcements had arrived and I was very excited to see how useful my new abilities would be. Scouting the forest with my nature magic the amount of warriors which had came to hunt shocked me. There was a couple dozen men and women grouped into four parties of six departing in different directions hunting for their companions. They would never find them, I had burned the bodies to a crisp and used my magic to clear the smell of blood and death from the area to be sure they would split up. I took the first and second groups in a blur using only a thread of blood magic I targeted the vital spots on each member so that only a small amount of blood was needed. By the third group I was able to create multiple small strands and was practicing shooting them out at once to quickly whittle down the number of enemies. This left me with the last group and I only needed one or two test subjects because I had a few ideas for my new magic skill which needed to be tested. Killing four of the six members immediately I snuck behind the last two and incapacitated them with the hilt of my sword in the confusion.


    After tying them to a tree I made my way through the forest and disposed of the twenty two corpses littered around and once again cleansed the air. It was apparently time to start my experiments so I awoke one of the captives, a wolf-kin mongrel, with a little water magic.


    ¡°The fuck are you doing bitch, who are you?¡± Instantly sputtering with rage the dog began to struggle against his bindings and glaring at me. ¡°How long do you think tell the other warriors come and skin your ass for tying me up likes eh?¡±


    The thought was hilarious to me, and my laugh made it apparent that I felt no fear over the mongrel¡¯s threats.. There was a specific dislike in me for the wolf-kin due to my mother¡¯s death and I was looking forward to the tests. ¡°The dead cannot save you little pup. You two are the last of the group which entered these trees. My name is Jade, to be polite should you not tell me yours as well?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t get a word from me.. And don¡¯t call me pup, I can smell the death and blood on you, there is only one species rumored to smell so vile you dirty leech, go ahead and kill me now.¡±


    ¡°Oh dear you misunderstand¡± I giggled at his assumptions. ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill you, nor do I care for any information you think I want from you¡­ I merely need a test subject for some¡­. magical experiments. That is the only reason you¡¯re alive, to feel more pain. and then die when I am done.¡± His face immediately fell as he realized there was no hope for him or a quick death. What he now faced was a twisted creature that had no pity for him. Unfortunately he was right, as stated before he reminded me of my mother¡¯s death and the bloodthirsty rage I felt must be appeased.


    Earlier while playing with my blood and making shapes and strands I started to wonder if the blood used must be my own. To test the theory I cut the wolf and concentrated my magic on the drops of blood streaming from his cheek. Slowly the blood stopped falling and fathered mid-air as I held it with my concentration. Then the blood began to recede back towards his face. His eyes widened in fear as the blood was returned into the cut. I let go of my hold and now decided to focus on his arm. Freeing one arm from the vines used to entrap him he attempted to move for the instant they were gone but immediately new vines shot around his chest tying him in place. ¡°Please no¡­¡± he pleaded but it was ignored. This time without a cut I focused using my Sangair senses on the blood pulsing through his arm and concentrated my magic around it. I moved the arm up and down and smiled with glee as it moved freely with my will. There was only one last idea I had and this would be the cincher¡­ Focusing this time on the blood beating in his heart I again sent my magic through him. Seeing where I was looking the wolf began to whimper, again pleading ¡°Goddess no don¡¯t kill me, please don¡¯t kill me I¡¯ll do anything.¡± Well he asked so nicely didn¡¯t he? I changed my focus to his arm and without hesitation used an explosion of magic power to scatter the blood with force the arm shredding to pieces from the inside. The wolf¡¯s screams must have been heard kingdoms over and I decided the game was over. I halted the blood flow through his heart and the wolf seized dying within seconds.


    The screams had apparently woken up our second victim. A cat-girl who hadn¡¯t made a peep most likely due to the shock of seeing the dead and mutilated corpse of her companion. I would not be too cruel to this one, I just had a quick test then she was done. I used magic to shoot a ball of my blood into the agape mouth of the cat. Spreading the ball throughout her body I took control of her movements. Releasing her binds I had her stand and flail about like she was insane. It was truly a funny sight, but my fun was over. Paralyzing her I latched onto her neck and restored the lost blood from the day and burnt the last two bodies.


    As night fell and neither the hunters or warriors had returned the village was in an uproar. They could now clearly sense something was wrong. That there was something hunting them and they would be prepared. All adult villagers capable of bearing arms was doing so and constant patrols rotated the perimeter. The walls were manned all around with archers. It was time to begin the attack. I made my way around the walls shooting arrows of blood at the stationed archers. The attack was silent and soon half of the patrols on the walls were downed and I had arrived at the gate. This gate led to the road and would be blocked. Instantly using earth magic I made a massive wall at the exit startling the guards and civilians near this half of the village. Using the distraction I moved again heading alongside the walls and towards the other entrance while killing the stationed archers which had been heading towards my distraction. It was time for a grand entrance into the village.


    I struck the houses surrounding the forest exit with large rocks engulfed in flames, a trick I named meteor shower, killing all inside or around the homes. On the other side of the fire I could tell they had realized the wall was only a distraction and the warriors were being to swarm to me. Continuing to sneak around was a valid option but it was time to face the battle head on. Drawing my sword I lept through the flames at the forty warriors amassed near me. Using the wind I spend my movements and lept throughout the adversaries slashing at their necks and bathing myself in the delicious scent of their blood. As I arrived in the center of the circle the remaining couple dozen warriors closed ranks encircling me. I took their attack parrying their blades and slicing their limbs as they came at me. The sounds of angry screams and wails of pain only drove my bloodlust further and I carved myself through my foes killing one or even two at a time.


    Soon enough the enemies dwindled and it was down to me and the last man standing. One would assume the loss of all his compatriots would fill him with fear but the only emotion on his face was rage. Kael was the head of the village warriors,a proud and powerful tiger-kin. He was the very best and the one who trained the recruits, not once had he ever lost a fight before and swore he would not lose this one. His village was burning, the civilians all dead or dying and no warriors but himself stood. He no longer had thoughts of protecting his people, he only thought of revenge. With a blood thirsty cry he lifted his mithril blade and charged the vile creature  that had destroyed everything.


    I admired the speed of this tiger warrior, it was the first time I had seen anyone outside Draena that could possibly match myself. I shot an arrow of blood at him hoping that his rage could dull his senses but I was wrong, his mithril blade immediately deflected. Deciding this would be fought with blades between  warriors I lunged at him yet was parried with skilled efficiency. After deflecting my strike he swung at me forcing me to roll away to avoid the blow and I came up already swinging towards him. His skill was apparent as the battle became a show of parries and lunges never wounding the opponent enough to make a true difference in the fight. I decided drastic measures would be necessary for me to get the kill. I dropped my guard as the tiger lunged and allowed his sword to pierce my shoulder. Using his brief shock at the success of the blow I lunged at him and drove my fangs into his neck, the warrior was strong and it showed in the blood. I could feel power flowing through my body as he weakened. When he was to weak to fight back I removed the blade so that the wound would heal as I fed and dug his heart out of his chest as my reward.


    After healing with the blood from my opponent I sent my senses out through the village to search for any possible survivors. As I made my rounds there was none living, the women and children, farmers and elders, everyone was dead from my attacks or from the fire which had spread throughout the village. The sight made me remember my village for a moment, a very similar sight to the one before me and this made a single tear drop from my eyes. The sadness was not for any guilt I felt over the ¡®innocents¡¯ in the village, I strongly felt there was no innocent beings left in this village, I remember what their kind had done to my people for generations. Yet remembering the faces of my family and friends still struck a chord deep within my heart. I could not spare time for these feelings though so again I locked them away and left the still burning village.


    My mission was complete and I was tired. I spent that night within a tree deep within the forest while planning for my future. I could not spend much longer with the dragon but she was strong. Stronger than every opponent I had seen or fought put together and she was cunning. But I had now had a skill, more than that it was a skill that could be kept secret from my ¡®mistress.¡¯ A plan had now begun to slowly form in my mind, perhaps there would not be a third test.

 Chapter 8: Burning Oaths

    Two years had passed since my second test and the annihilation of the beast-kin village. I had returned to a satisfied Draena who could not be any more gleeful over my success. She congratulated me especially on my brutality, I guess it makes sense that a dragon take joy out of the villagers being burnt to death. I never got the sense that she was proud of me however, it seemed to be more along the lines of her perverse enjoyment of death.


    Training was not put on hold, and there was no celebration of victory yet this was all obvious and expected. In fact we tripped the training routine, and here at the crux of these two years as I turned 18 I felt my speed was on par with Draena. As a dragon she had an unimaginable amount of strength which I could never compare but I believe if i were to drain the heart of a powerful enough creature I could perhaps beat her via speed. Unfortunately I knew that she held magic nearly on par with the gods and any true confrontation would result in my death because no matter how talented I was it was simply not possible for me to be that good without the consumption of a creature equal to Draena herself.


    This did not mean that I had accepted her as my better, the cruel and cunning bitch was an enemy, I despised her for the years of hell I had gone through and I had been steadily planning for my vengeance. The entire plan revolved around my new skills with blood magic. I had been training in private and never once showed her my mastery of the skill or that I was even capable of doing it at all. When I had reported the details of my second test I had simply mentioned a group of vulgar men had attacked me out of lust and all died. She could sense if I was lying or not hence I choose to tell the truth only not the entire truth so that nothing would be suspected.


    In fact my skills had progressed so far that I could easily use my blood to create a sword and cover my body in a blood barrier. More than any other magic; blood magic gave me a feeling of rightness. It was likely due to my heritage but I believe this is a skill that was meant to be used by the Sangair. it personified everything my people are. So with this skill I devised a plot to rid myself of my ¡®mistress.¡¯


    I knew soon we would have to prepare for my third test. I had no idea what she would plan for such an event as I had annihilated a village, assassinated an elder. What additional powers could she have planned for me to gain. I decided that I would not proceed with my plan until I learned if this test would benefit me enough for a delay. The day had finally came as I was reading a book on the 8 heroes Draena owned she came to me.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for your next test little pet, this one should be your last if done well enough.¡±	¡°What is it you would have me do Mistress?¡±


    ¡°Your tasks before have not been challenging, one was to gain your magic and the next to make sure I bred you properly as a cruel pet. This test will verify if you are strong enough to have your leash extended. The dragons have only a single enemy worthy to be titled our nemesis, the phoenix. As it stands Fiera the queen of the phoenix has recently sent her only young out for the coming of age ceremony. Fiera herself is near my level of strength so I imagine her son to be more powerful than yourself. Your duty will be to kill her son, Zarkon.¡±


    To say I was ecstatic would be an understatement. A phoenix was known for their speed. While not as powerful as a dragon in pure force they were beings of agility and great fire magic. Eating the heart of Zarkon would give me the boost I needed to finalize my plans against Draena. With an ever rising excitement in my heart I set out from the residence for one final mission.


    Exiting the cave I found myself not within the forest I had previously entered but a desert wasteland. My previous belief that the door itself was hidden by illusion magic was shattered as I realized that the exit could only be made using one type of magic which had been long said to be only legend. It was spacial magic. The ability to summon the void and create new dimensions and portals. This brought a hole new level of understanding as to way Draena had never seemed to think I had the slightest chance of escape; for me as I was it was simply impossible. The desire for her blood and heart grew exponentially within me at this revelation. My thoughts were interrupted as I smelt power not but a couple miles away from where I stood. Huge power like I had never felt, power that all of my previous conquests combined could not compare to. This must be Zarkon and my final test.


    Using my speed I vanished, a blur to the eyes of most common beings and appeared a couple hundred yards away from the source of power to witness a young man appearing in his mid 20¡¯s. He stood about 6¡¯5 with red hair highlighted with strands of shining gold like a powerful flame. Fire shot from his hands and burning to crisp the pack of large sand wolves which were to arrogant to realize that they should not had picked a fight with this apex predator. Surrounding Zarkon were the disfigured corpses of four demonic scorpions which were known for their ferocious strength and steel like natural defenses. However this was all the insight I would be able to gain from my new foe for as soon as the wolves were dead he turned straight towards my direction and with a voice carried upon the wind demanded ¡®Who are you, I sense your presence now show yourself.¡¯


    ¡°Forgive me for hiding, I simply was curious as to what caused such an immense wave of power that I could feel it from miles away. My name is Jade, may I ask who you are?¡±


    ¡°Ahh, a beautiful woman I see, my name is Zarkon. Perhaps you would bless me with your company for a short while? It has been so long since I have had the pleasure of such¡­ beauty.¡±


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


    It was almost tempting. I seem to be woman with a weakness for beautiful eyes and this man had the second most beautiful eyes I had seen. Scorching red and gold that danced as if they were flames dancing upon the sun itself. Perhaps they were knowing what he was. But alas they were simply the second best, and my revenge was far more important than such luxuries. Yet this man I would fight head on as a test of my skills and to respect his strength. I held no grudge against his kind, in fact after what I had heard about the damage his kind had caused to the dragons and any race which bothered them I almost felt pity for what I was about to do.


    ¡°I feel I must unfortunately decline. It seems that we will not be able to part on amicable terms. You see I find myself in need of the strength to kill a dragon, more specifically the queen herself. For this I will need to defeat you. I hold no grudge against your kind, in fact I admire you greatly. But it seems that my selfishness is far greater. Prepare yourself.¡±


    ¡°A pity such a beauty need die here then.¡± With a sigh full of clear regret he looked straight at me and as my senses screamed danger I lunged away and to the side as a ball of fire hotter than any I had ever experienced flew by me with not an inch to spare. I pricked my finger and shot four arrows of blood towards him at lightning fast speeds to which a wall of fire blocked their advance and they sizzled away.


    Drawing my sword I lunged towards at the height of my speed and made a slash which he lept back and avoided. His speed was everything I had expected from a phoenix and more. Another slash diagonally was dodged this time he only managed to avoid being cut by a hair¡¯s breadth and withdrew a blade from his side. ¡®It appears I cannot take this fight lightly, stunning and deadly ah what a woman indeed.¡¯


    Now smiling Zarkon thrust his blade towards my neck and I parried but it was slow and a thin line of blood began flowing from the side of my neck. Normally I would resort to fire but against this man I knew it would do me no good, we were in the desert so I gathered earth and shot spikes from the ground in a circle using his position as the center. He jumped towards the sky and to my amazement sprouted wings of pure flame from his back as he dodged my magic. He was faster and stronger than myself with the ability to fly this was clearly not a battle in my favor. But giving up, failure itself was not an option. If I did not gain his power I would die either way. All I could do was plan and give everything I have to this battle.


    Shooting from the sky with a boom Zarkon slashed with his sword now covered in flames and I flipped backwards to avoid the strike to return with a lunge of my own. My mithril blade was protected from the heat of his fire as he parried. As I lunged again I used my sword to launch another arrow at his heart in a surprise attack which caught him in his shoulder. Blood shot out of his wound but the damage was quickly sealed as the flames cauterized the deep gash. In revenge for my actions lances of fire rained down from the sky. I was extremely skilled in fire but his masterful handing and the power behind each lance was again phenomenal. I summoned a barrier of water in a dome and covered myself in blood armor to avoid the attacks and was still thrown twenty feet away landing on my back in the dirt. Again my honed senses warned me of the coming danger and I rolled to barely avoid the sword being plunged into my head. Without a second to spare I again shot an earth spike piercing his leg rendering a scream of pain. Hopping up to see him fall to a knee and temporarily distracted I sung my blade and severed his legs from his thighs.


    He was not dead, as to be expected of someone so powerful I used this chance to give my thanks ¡°I swear to you this Zarkon son of Fiera, the power granted from your death will be the end of Dragon Queen Draena. With the sacrifice of your life will mean an end to your greatest foe and never again will I harm another of your kind. This I vow.¡±


    His reply was weak, riddled with pain he spoke his final words ¡®Than I forgive you my death knowing this. I will hold you to your oath and go in peace.¡¯ Before his last breath I plunged my hand into his chest and tore out his heart. Still full of power I devoured it in its entirety. Never before had I felt such power. The ripples of the magic must have been felt for a hundred miles as it surged through me. Flames shot out and engulfed my entire body. Pain, the likes of which I had never experienced coursed through my body and despite my greatest efforts a scream escaped my lips as my consciousness faded.


    I awoke with a start. I felt amazing, a hundred times stronger than I had ever been, as if I was a goddess and invincible. Dashing away my speed was incompatible to my previous abilities and the pool of magic within myself seemed to now be unlimited. With the thought of magic I summoned flames to me and they came, dancing around me with joy as if I were their beloved queen. Then I noticed a strange feeling on my back and noticed wings. They were beautiful and made of pure fire. Two grand wings with spanned five feet matching my proportions perfectly. The feeling was foreign like new limbs but I seemed to instinctively know how to use them so I thrust into the sky feeling joy and freedom for the first time in a decade.


    As my excitement died down and mind calmed I smirked. I had a vow to uphold, and now I knew my plan would work. Dear Draena, my vile mistress, I would not honor you with a fair fight, your demise was upon you It was time, and I was ready.