by SlyOkami
“Oh, kill your bickering you two, you had a job and you failed. Be men and admit to your own shortcomings, or should I say be human?” The third said with a giggle. A demonic female with bright red skin and long violet hair reaching down her hips, her body was voluptuous and barely covered with thin straps of black silk. Her puffy lips were bright pink just like her eyes, a misty violet hue hovering about her gaze. The Pact’s head of hell, Lust.
“You had survivors from Daldorth no? What was their report.” Solemnly asked the fourth. Covered in a blood red cloak with a noble’s attire beneath, just as red. The man had black hair and seemingly was a normal human among the rest. All but his bright red eyes, surging with crimson energy that seemed to hum with every blink. The Pact’s head of blood, Vein.
“They say the Destroyer has truly returned.” Umbra responded, and each of them then turned to face the fifth.
“As I said he would, the xilfir people speak of his resurrection. We must move forward with haste but also care, the drake is reborn human but he is powerful nonetheless. Wise as a dragon he still is as well.” Warned the fifth. Dark skin with many scars covering her face and body, a dark elf having had her scale patches carved off. Her shoulder-long hair was dyed green, badly so as the original white was still visible at the root. Her eyes were a white void, blind and staring off into the nothingness. The Pact’s head of soul, Ether.
“Yes, haste in killing Druvia’s ties with Sinbeni, care if the drake accompanies the ambassador.” Agreed the sixth. A gruff panther-man warrior, a bestia with black feline ears and a long tail. Their skin was a dark grey and their eyes a bright ember that lay wide and attentive. He wore pitch-black spiked plate-armour and heaved a massive two-handed longsword over his back, its details hidden by the thick violet miasma that hovered about its blade and hilt. The Pact’s head of beasts, Hunter.
“My shadows cannot fight his dreadblades, fighting other assassins is not what I trained them for.” Umbra stated, his voice echoing through the room.
“I won’t send another of my minions, one was all I could spare, this is off my hands.” added Dread.
“Hmph, cowards the lot of you.” Lust said, rolling her eyes while smirking.
Suddenly the room went completely dark, as slowly the heart at the centre pulsed once more, slowly with each pulse a violet light began to refill the room. Now emanating solely from the large organ.
A misty figure stood above it, an image, like an illusion the demonic being was there yet not.
“If you wish to take this on, Lust, then be my guest.” Said the devil, her skin made of smooth red scales while violet energy rushed through them like flames. Crimson hair with linings of violet, cut short and braided on the front. She seemed young in age compared to the rest in the room, much younger than even Lust who had a perfect appearance.
Each of the six heads kneeled before the devil, “I-If that is y-your wish Mistress Azkel!?” Lust exclaimed in fearful question.
“No, you’re not equipped to deal with a drake. Not even a human bound drake’s soul.” Azkel scoffed in annoyance, looking the succubus up and down. “This being killed Azruxan, my foolish yet dear uncle. My father King Kurzan and uncle Xokith left the take-over of Faeterra to me and my cousin Brazath in his absence. Make no mistake, there shall be none, and I shall give no second chances.” She warned, “I can and will replace any number of you.”
Azkel turned to Ether, “You, and Hunter, you and your bodies will deal with this in full force. You are xilfir, you know your people the best. You’re in command over this operation above Hunter. Understood?”
“Yes, mistress.” Ether quickly answered, rising to then fade out of existence. Hunter on the other hand solemnly nodded before walking out of the room, stepping into the room’s shadows where he disappeared.
“Dread, Vein and Lust continue watching over the ritual, it is paramount to our success.” Azkel then glanced at the three of them. Each head lowering as each voiced their agreement.
She lastly turned to Umbra, “Continue watching and reporting on Brazath’s little magic experiment…we will intervene and…destroy everything if his maniac loses control of that pet.”
“To be clear mistress. Destroy the pet and…Ramzi?” Umbra asked.
“Yes.” Azkel plainly said before her image faded away.
A dark misty grin formed over Umbra’s shadow engulfed face, “It would be my pleasure.” he whispered.
-
* * *
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Another place
Another time
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The dungeon shuddered and quaked, the corridor falling apart as cloaked mages ran around in urgency, casting magic to hold it all together.
An ear-piercing roar filled their hearts with dread and fear, it would sound off from time to time but the quaking never stopped.
Ramzi walked past the mages, ignoring their fruitless efforts in holding his surroundings from falling apart. He followed the roars of fury and their following monstrous shrieks of pain. He reached the final door, a bowing servant awaiting him out of the way.
“Well?” Ramzi asked with a raised brow, stopping to stand before the wide door in wait.
“Umbra failed, master. The Pact is convening as we speak.” Shahla said, the human slave rising to stand straight by his side as she spoke. “The drake still resists, she is young but powerful.”
Ramzi chuckled, “No reward is worth it if it doesn’t take time and bloody struggle. The Pact doesn’t understand that, too afraid of their mistress, too afraid to anger their inpatient princess. But my lord is patient, my prince knows that good comes to those who wait.” He pushed open the door, suddenly having to struggle with it as an even louder roar crashed into it.
The roar ended, followed by an agonized in-human scream.
Ramzi smiled wider then fully opened the door, revealing the large cavern within.
A hole carved to be sphere-like, vast enough to hold the Coliseum and more. Over the floor, the walls and even the ceiling, runic carvings of all kinds lay in a highly complicated web. Their bright glow shining light into the cavern, the rune’s colours sometimes set to either red, blue or yellow, or ever-changing between violet, green, white and ember.
A magnificent sight, but none of it was for cosmetic reasons.
Chains etched with pitch black runes lay embedded across the cavern, meeting at the very centre where they held Ivyieth imprisoned. The drake was breathing heavily, blood leaking out from in between her scales, seemingly flowing of its own will and onto the chains. From the chains the blood then ran down them and into long scrolls of paper that lay hanging along the chains, strange characters were written upon them in blood red.
Ramzi gazed up at the restrained drake, “Magnificent. A beauty of a beast…No, a God among beasts. The epitome of Faeterra, the ultimate existence on this world. Their souls filled with more mana than any elf could possibly use in a life time. Their bodies hardened by evolution, senses keener than any bestia, a hide tougher than any dwarf’s. Albeit it lacks the upbringing of a true dragon…it still looks down on anything but itself and the nature that made them.”
“Oh please, you’ll make me blush.” Ivyieth snarled down at him, the chains that bound her suddenly getting tighter as jolts of black lightning ran through her body. Causing her to shriek in agony for several moments, yet breaking out into a chuckle right after. “You will not break me. Alone I was born but dragon I still am!” She laughed, “These restraints do nothing more than that, restrain me. And they won’t last forever, neither will you. We both might be mortal, but with how much longer I’ll live? Yes, you might as well call me your God.”
The jolts once again filled her with pain.
“Hm, I guess I have captured God then. And am about to kill said God.” Ramzi mused, “Yes it is true that you dragons have powers beyond what we younger races are capable of producing but…We’ve evolved in a different way than you monsters. Craftsmanship is our power, what you see around
you is more than just seals and restraints.” He gestured at the town-sized cavern around them.
Ramzi’s smile crept wider, “Gods made Faeterra, Faeterra made us…It is our turn to make something, don’t you think so too…Ivyieth?” he asked, his voice changing. It rumbled like thunder yet hissed wetly, a demonic voice.
Ivyieth struggled with her restraints in fury, her proud name being spoken with such a vile tongue enraged her. The restraints punished her for this, black energy jolting through her entire body, ceasing her struggle once more.
Ramzi chuckled, gesturing at the slave behind him to step forth from the doorway. Shahla did so, coming to stand by his side. He suddenly grabbed her by the hair, roughly holding her forward at the chained drake. “What do you see here, drake? A human? No, you’d be close, but wrong.”
Shahla did nothing as he held her, her eyes empty and cold as she lay limply in his grasp.
Ramzi threw the woman forward, her body stumbling onto the ground between them. “Soon, drake, soon you will find out what she is and why you’re here.” He said, Shahla remaining on the floor where she was thrown as the dozens of mages that stayed back before, now walked into the cavern.
“Soon, everyone will know.” Ramzi hissed, then breaking out into a maniacal laugh. Laughter which, Ivyieth, regarded as nothing less than evil.
Ch 25 - A Yearning
Erik watched as four dark elves sat Alan down, glancing back he also saw the port city shrink in the distance as their ship sailed along Druvia’s coast.
“To you, it has been thousands of years but…To me?” Erik sighed, not recognising a single bit of the world around him. “It has only been the few weeks since I’ve returned.” He turned back to face Alan, the hero laying tied up with enchanted rope and chains. “I can see it in your eyes, human, immortality hasn’t been kind to you has it?”
Alan smiled weakly, “Just get it over with, monster.”
Erik raised a brow at his words but did not respond, instead he turned to Thea stepping out of the ship’s interior, a small house of a metal building laying in the middle of the ship’s deck. “I told the captain to keep his crew below deck, we won’t be interrupted and neither will your xilfir be seen if they want to rest from holding onto invisibility.” Thea said, Nerick and Shizuka followed exiting to the main deck right after.
Ivara was snoring audibly while lying around Nerick’s neck, asleep.
“Good,” Erik said, “Xilfir, rest your mana.” He then stated in elven.
In the hundreds they numbered, dark elves stepping out of the shadows and filling the ship’s deck. Weary from holding onto their stealth magic for so long, but not showing a single sign of it. Some lay about to rest, whether sitting down in groups or looking over the ship’s railing. Others remained attentive, sticking to the ship’s walls and corners while watching the horizon or passing landscape.
“Makaela,” Erik called out, the dark elf appearing beside him right then.
“Yes? Master?~” She asked with a warm smile, a stark change Erik noted.
(“She’s adjusting to the situation…At least she’s not acting awkward anymore.”) He mused, “What do you know of this…Assassin’s Pact?” he then asked.
Makaela clapped her hands, another Dark elf appearing before them, kneeling. She gestured at the man, “This is Kyrenic, my information officer.”
“It is my pleasure to meet you, Dragon.” Kyrenic said, not daring to raise his head.
“Go on then.” Erik said, “What do you know of the Pact.”
Kyrenic nodded, “The assassin’s pact is a coalition of four Sinbeni groups, one Druvian and one Demonic. These groups they call Bodies, each one having a head, a singular leader. The six bodies being; Shadow, Death, Blood and Beast who are Sinbeni based. Soul who are Druvian based and Hell who are demon based. Little is known of each, not even the true names of their leaders, we only know the code names by which they go.”
“And those would be?” Erik urged him to go on.
“Umbra, the head of shadow. Dread, the head of death. Lust, the head of hell. Vein, the head of blood. Hunter, the head of beast. And lastly Ether, the head of Soul.” Kyrenic listed them.
Erik’s eyes briefly widened, “Ether?…What is known about this Ether?” he asked with slight agitation in his tone.
“Ether is Xilfir.” Kyrenic responded.
“It couldn’t be…after so long?” Erik mused, glancing then at Alan.
Who was chuckling weakly, “Oh it is, Ether Xilfir, The Dark Elf Queen. She still lives, unfortunately.” Alan explained with disdain in his tone.
“Dark Elf Queen?” Makaela repeated in confusion.
Erik sighed, “The first born xilfir, the one I put in charge of…” his gaze darkened, “If she’s still alive, and has turned against me…”
“The first? Queen Etheria?” Makaela asked once more, her own eyes widening. “Impossible…”
“Look over here girlie, I’m immortal. Nothing is impossible.” Alan said bitterly.
Erik grimaced, (“Could she still…No, no they couldn’t have survived this long either. But if…”) he glanced about at the dreadblades, at Makaela, Thea and Nerick. “Thea, how long till we reach Sinroz?”
“Uh, the ship isn’t exactly as fast as by wyvern mind you…the captain said it’ll take about 2 months.” Thea explained.
“Two months?” Erik repeated, (“I could fly from that spit of land to this side of Druvia within a week…”) he inwardly sighed. (“It gives us precious time though…”) he glanced around at everyone again, “In my current state, I cannot fight Etheria without casting polymorph magic at the cost of my own life as I did with Azruxan…Makaela and Thea alongside me, together we might stand a chance but…Nobody here could fight her alone, not her.” He explained harshly.
“What’s so special about her? The first xilfir queen? Please, I’ve heard of the Queen of Thieves Makaela, I’ve heard of Alan the immortal and even you, Erikathyr the destroyer. But Etheria? Who the hell is tha-” Shizuka asked snidely, before Thea jabbed her in the arm. “Ow!”
“Language.” Thea stated.
Erik said nothing, he couldn’t blame the girl from not knowing. If anything he pitied her, because he knew exactly how powerful Etheria was. (“I created her after all…”) he thought, (“It’s been thousands of years…who knows what she’s capable of now.”)
He glanced down at his own hands, (“Weak.”) he thought in annoyance, “I’m too weak.” He then said. Causing everyone to look at him. “This body, your experience, if Etheria is our enemy, if perchance the other five are on similar standing to her. We are all too weak.”
Everyone fell silent at his words, were they heading to their doom?
“Makaela, Thea, Nerick. We begin your training tomorrow.” Erik then said, causing confusion to befall each of them. “We have two months, maybe less. We’re not wasting a single moment. Other than sleep, sustenance and reprieve of excess. Each of you will train underneath my guidance from here on.”
Nerick paled slightly at his words, but Thea smirked with resolve and Makaela smiled coldly, the both of them looking forward to it.
“Make no mistake, you might die before we even reach our destination.” Erik warned.
“I watched a Devil clash with a Drake. I doubt anything else can surprise me further…” Nerick said, his shoulders slumping down in surrender.
“Whatever you send my way, I’m ready.” Thea said, resolute in her words and gaze.
Erik’s eyes befell Makaela, who was staring off at the passing land longingly. “And you?” he asked her.
“My master you might not be, my god you never were. But my will shall not fade. I fight for this world, I fight for my people and my own survival. Your path is what I choose to follow, I’ll do as you say, as I always have.” Makaela said, turning to meet his gaze.
“Good, and I will spare not a drop of my magical knowledge then.” He responded with a grin, “First, rest. It’s been a long day,” he said wh
ile glancing up at the darkening sky, “I’m sure you’re all tired from that wyvern ride.”
“Now that you mention it…” Nerick said, yawning while covering his widening mouth.
“There’s sleeping quarters inside, the crew will stay below deck so you can tell your men to make use of the beds too, Makaela.” Thea pointed out, gesturing at the metal door.
Makaela nodded, “Thank you, we shall. Theaviss.”
Erik smiled at this, they were finally getting along. (“Not intervening then was a good choice, they’re bonding.”) “Go rest then, I have…some business to attend to.” He said, glancing back at the still tied up Alan with cold eyes.
Alan briefly met them, but his gaze dropped back to the ground right after. A depressed appearance befalling him.
“Erik…” Thea whispered out as the rest moved to the door behind her.
Erik sighed, (“I won’t hurt him, I don’t need to.”) he said through their mental bond, (“All I need is to look at him, to see how miserable he is. Whatever this human has been through…I don’t know if I could replicate.”)
Thea nodded, (“Still, I want you to remember. He fought who you were, not who you are now. You said yourself, you’ve made mistakes. He was only fighting to stop you from making them.”)
(“I wonder about that…”) Erik thought while gazing at Alan, (“A-About whether I have yet changed that is.”) he quickly corrected himself, not wanting to worry her further. Instead, he actually wondered about Alan’s true motives.
(“You saved Druvia and its people, would your past self have done that?”) Thea then asked.
(“No…I would’ve crushed the demonic presence alongside the city.”) Erik said, his eyes narrowing. (“Pitiful isn’t it? I call myself Dragon, yet I lack resolve.”) He then mused with cold amusement.
(“I don’t think so, isn’t acceptance part of learning?”) Thea pointed out.
“Lecturing me now?” Erik then asked, glancing back at her with a raised brow. A brief smile coming over his face, before he turned back to staring coldly at Alan.