Fallen Ambitions

by Vann, Eric J.

  Rhene laughed before turning to face Rosaline. “See, sister? Lord Aziel knows that only your grove messed up here.”

  “Amber may have been a daughter of my grove, sister, but it was you who assigned her that domain to protect,” Rosaline replied without turning away from Aziel, her gentle smile never wavering. “And I’m certain her exposure to your grove’s aggressive ways made her do such thoughtless things.”

  Rhene’s grin turned into a scowl and she looked ready to pounce on the other Dryad, but then she seemed to gain control of herself. She looked back at Aziel. “It is true, I had assigned her this domain. I chose the furthest, and the most isolated point within our borders to ensure my sister’s foolish eldest daughter did no harm. And yet, she still found a way.” Rhene shrugged in an exaggerated manner. “I will apologize for our role in her presence here.”

  Aziel didn’t know what to make of this. Both groups were acting hostile toward one other, yet they had come here at the same time and with the same objective. So then, not totally hostile… reluctant allies, perhaps?

  Before Aziel could respond, Rosaline began to speak. “As recompense and to ensure this never happens again, I will surrender Amber’s seed to you to do with as you wish. She had already been judged by her peers and her tree uprooted. She will therefore not be able to regenerate unless you plant her somewhere.” At these words, Rosaline moved closer to his throne, producing something from between her breasts.

  Aziel glanced down to examine her offering: a small brown seed lay nestled on her open palm. Aziel supposed most would have dismissed it as nothing unique, no different from any other seed, but to him it was anything but. It was absolutely bursting with mana.

  Aziel stared at the seed for a few seconds before picking it up, his hand grazing Rosaline’s as he did. The seed felt warm against his skin as he recalled the deadly fight with Amber. He was so fixed on his memories that he didn’t notice Vhal move closer.

  “My Lord,” Vhal whispered. “Dryads are their trees—killing or destroying their incarnate forms weakens them, but it is just a matter of time before they regenerate and remerge from their trees. In other words, Dryads are not dead unless they lose their trees and the seed within it.”

  Aziel listened carefully, this rather incredible fact only making the Dryads’ offer more puzzling. If he understood it correctly, Rosaline had just offered the life of her eldest daughter to him to do with as he pleased. This seemed too great a sacrifice to simply be about mending relations between them. Especially since Aziel had not asked for this in the first place.

  He frowned as Rosaline stepped back again. Aziel thought for a moment, quickly settling on a course of action. Nodding to himself, he tossed the seed to Celia, who caught it expertly.

  “Burn it,” he commanded. All the Dryads stared at him, then at the Succubus. On their faces he read a mixture of shock, fear—and from the Crimson Grove members, if he wasn’t imagining it, respect.

  Celia grinned as she bounced the seed in her palm a few times. “My pleasure, Master,” she said. Aziel knew she would enjoy doing it. Amber had tried to kill her, after all.

  Celia tossed the seed on the marble floor between herself and the Dryads, and immediately began weaving her fire mana. Red mist swirled around her fingers to form glowing symbols, before coalescing into a much larger and complex one. Celia maneuvered the completed spell so that it pointed at the helpless seed. “Focused Flame,” she said, and the symbol erupted and roared as the flames stretched into a sharp lance, the wave of heat it generated washing over him. With a gesture from Celia’s finger, the lance streaked forward and engulfed the helpless seed before exploding.

  The Dryads and surrounding Grauda took a step back in reaction to the sudden and intense heatwave, as well as the resulting cacophony of noise which echoed around the chamber. The actual fire burned for only a few moments before the magic fueling it was spent. In the end, there was no sign of the seed—all that remained was a scorched mark upon the marble.

  Rosaline and the other members of the Rosa Grove gazed at the blackened mark, and while he noticed Rosaline’s shoulders slump slightly, she didn’t move or protest Aziel’s decision.

  The fact that none of them did improved Aziel’s opinion of them. They might not have expected him to destroy the seed, but not interfering meant he could trust their word.

  He smiled gently at Rosaline, who wore a somber expression as her eyes lingered on the spot where her daughter’s seed had been.

  “I am sorry you had to witness that,” Aziel told her, “but given her actions and attitude, it had to be done.”

  The beautiful Dryad did not say anything; without looking up, she simply nodded.

  A few moments of silence followed, before it was broken by Vhal. “Dryads of the Rosa and Crimson Groves,” he said, taking a few steps forward to stand at the edge of the dais. “Now that any outstanding issues have been resolved, perhaps a more… beneficial arrangement can be worked out between your groves and the Fallen.”

  The Crimson Grove leader’s face twisted in disgust. “We came here to make amends, not to speak to the undead,” Rhene spat. Rosaline looked over sharply at her sister, before turning back to Vhal with a more passive expression. It was clear from her tense shoulders and the way her hands gripped her dress that she did not like the idea of speaking to Vhal either, but she was more willing to move past her repulsion.

  Vhal chuckled. “I only speak for the benefit of both of us, and to avoid any future… misunderstandings.”

  “Misunderstandings?” Rosaline echoed with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yes! As my Lord mentioned, the Fallen fully intend to take control of the Central Wilds. Which of course includes your groves,” Vhal added with a shrug. “Establishing good relations early on would bring you more benefits than actively resisting the inevitable… don’t you agree?” He grinned in way that left little doubt as to how much he was enjoying this.

  The two Dryads looked at one another and frowned. Vhal had just placed them in a corner. They either had to accept his statement, or admit they had no intention of establishing good relations with Aziel, and by extension the Fallen, which meant they would be at war in future if Aziel ever hoped to subjugate the Wilds.

  Rosaline and Rhene moved closer to each other and began whispering. Aziel raised an eyebrow, but Vhal’s continued grin kept him from worrying.

  It took them just over a minute to reach a decision. Rosaline stepped forward.

  “We Dryads have always kept to ourselves, but those times appear to be coming to an end. We agree with your premise, lich. Our groves do not wish to fight with Lord Aziel or the Fallen. I believe that building a positive link between us can be beneficial. With that said, I would rather put my fate, and the fate of my sisters and daughters, in my hands and fight than to blindly place my grove in your care, Lord Aziel. I need to know I can trust you.”

  Rhene stepped forward now. “Our groves have recently run into some… difficulties. If you help us resolve them, then you will prove yourself trustworthy, and will demonstrate your capability in supporting us. In return, we will join you.”

  Aziel kept his expression neutral. The two Dryads had planned this and had come ready to ask these favors in exchange for their allegiance. “And what is it you wish of me?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

  Rosaline spoke. “When my grove was still young and Rhene was yet to form her own, we had to fight to protect what little we had. Though not the only threat in the Wilds, the Arachne of the Webbed Woods were by far the greatest and most imminent.” Rosaline shook her head. “After many years of fighting, I met with their queen, Lhara. We reached an agreement to end hostilities by staying out of each other’s territories—”

  “But now the Arachne have lost all sense, correct?” Astrel interjected. “They are attacking everything around them, including your groves?”

  Rosaline and Astrel’s eyes met for only a moment before the Dryad nodded.

  “It is the same for
us, but the attacks have been getting smaller and less organized,” Astrel continued as her antennae began twitching. She turned to Aziel. “I have never met or heard of their queen, but if what Blossom Rosaline says is true, then it might be of benefit to approach her.”

  Aziel stayed silent as he thought this through. Would the Arachne queen even want to speak with him? The Fallen must have killed hundreds, if not thousands, of her ranks, even if most were in self-defense.

  Aziel turned to Celia. “Any thoughts?” he whispered.

  Celia twisted on the armrest to look at him. “I don’t know…” she said, tapping her lower lip with her finger. “If it was just a matter of peace then I would agree with Astrel, talking might be worth the trouble. But it’s not really about peace, is it? It’s more a question of whether the Arachne would join the Fallen, and I don’t see that happening.”

  Vhal leaned in, grinning. “Your Champion is correct, my Lord. Dealing with the Arachne is something we were bound to do sooner or later. This favor just gives us a reason to prioritize it. Whether the end result is the recruitment of a new ally or their total annihilation is a matter to be decided when the time comes.”

  Aziel redirected his attention to Rosaline. She smiled, and as if waiting for just that, gray runes began to form before him.

  You have been offered a quest: Webbed Madness

  The Leader of the Rosa Grove has tasked you with investigating the Arachne and putting a stop to their sudden, unusual and violent behavior.

  Quest objective: Discover the reason for the sudden violence originating from the Webbed Woods and put a stop to it.

  Reward: The Leader of the Rosa Grove has given her word to join the Fallen.

  Aziel raised an eyebrow at that. The quest was straightforward, but the reward was oddly phrased. Why mention that she had given her word? Aziel turned back to Vhal, and relayed the strange phrasing. “Any insight you would like to impart? Why the emphasis on her giving her word? Can’t she simply break that?”

  Vhal’s grin widened. “One thing you quickly learn when in the higher levels of power and influence is that there is more to the Seed than what commoners and people of lesser station would believe. The Seed punishes just as much as it rewards. It is one of the many reasons why factions and guilds have as much influence as they do.”

  Aziel kept his expression neutral. He more than anyone knew that, given his recent experiences, but how did others know it?

  “If her word was taken into account in the quest,” Vhal continued, “then breaking it would have consequences. The same would be true if you issued a quest and your followers went against it. How these consequences would manifest is outside my own knowledge, however.”

  “I see,” Aziel said, as he thought through the ramifications. So not only did the World Seed have the ability to pick and choose which requests or jobs it turned into quests, it was also able to enforce them in some way. This just made the already powerful sway the Seed had over their lives that much more pronounced.

  He quickly scanned the Dryads standing before him, then gave Rosaline a short nod. “So be it, Blossom Rosaline. I will not promise you anything other than that we will look into the Arachne threat.”

  A small smile appeared on Rosaline’s lips before she dipped her head in agreement. Aziel turned to the other Blossom in the room, who had remained silent during their exchange. The dark-skinned, orange-haired Dryad was staring at the ground and did not seem to notice his attention. “Blossom Rhene,” Aziel called out. “What is the task you came to ask of me?”

  Rhene looked up and her face contorted in anger. “My grove was attacked and one of the hearts was taken!” she hissed, her whole body tensing, her aggressive posture causing the surrounding Grauda guards to also tense reflexively. Rosaline remained silent, but she wore an expression that struck Aziel as almost motherly.

  “Heart?” Aziel asked.

  Rosaline coughed to regain his attention, or more specifically to divert it from Rhene, who Aziel suspected was poised for a tirade. “A Grove Heart, an item of great power, able to heal even the gravest of wounds and bring out the powers of nature in whoever it connects with,” she explained. “My sister and I were both given a heart by our mother, the Blossom of the Jade Grove in the Southern Wilds. It was a farewell and good luck gift on our journey here to establish our own groves. Since then, we have been able to create a few of our own. They are quite valuable and important to us.”

  “And you what?” Celia asked as she recrossed her legs on his armrest. “Want us to get this heart back?

  “Yes, that is what I am asking from the Lord of the Fallen,” Rhene said, and once more gray runes appeared before him detailing a new quest.

  You have been offered a quest: The Missing Heart

  The Leader of the Crimson Grove has tasked you with retrieving the Grove Heart stolen from her grove.

  Quest objective: Retrieve and deliver the stolen Grove Heart to Rhene, Blossom of the Crimson Grove.

  Reward: The Leader of the Crimson Grove has given her word to join the Fallen.

  “Who attacked you?” Aziel asked.

  “Wervins!” Rhene spat. “The scum had united under a leader they call Gorshak. They are not new to the Wilds, but they normally keep underground and away from the forests and valley. The pale beasts have grown too bold of late. Slaughter them, bring my Grove Heart home, and my Crimson Grove will join and serve your faction.”

  Aziel should have expected this. There was no chance that all the main groups in the Wilds would join him, as there would of course be unresolvable differences between them. It all boiled down to a choice: either he did what the Dryads were asking of him and secured them for his faction, or he sought the support of Gorshak’s Horde. Bringing the Arachne on board was still a possibility, as unlikely as that might be. What was evident, however, was that only some factions would join him, while the others would likely need to be destroyed if he wished to subjugate the Wilds.

  “Did they only take the heart?” Aziel asked.

  “They raided my nursery as well,” Rhene said, a terrible look on her beautiful face. Aziel could practically hear her teeth grinding against each other before her head dropped forward and her shoulders trembled. Even Rosaline had a difficult time keeping her bitter expression in check before she spoke.

  “We were able to intercept and slay the ones who tried to take my sister’s young seeds, but we were too late to retrieve the heart.”

  “They tried to steal your seeds?” Aziel asked, surprised. “Why not simply destroy the nursery?”

  “We cannot be certain why they tried to take either the seeds or the heart.” Rosaline hesitated, glancing at her sister. “Both can—and have—been used in powerful rituals before, but I have never heard of Wervins delving into such things.”

  Aziel considered this. “What can you tell me of these Wervins?”

  “Wervins are a violent and merciless race who live off what they can plunder. It is the domination of others which they seek, and that is why they constantly target smaller human settlements and sometimes elven villages. They are numerous and easier. A risky raid on a Dryad grove for items they don’t usually make use of is unlike them. The beasts tend to capture as many prisoners as they can from their constant raiding, usually to work them to death, or simply to consume them later…” Here, Rosaline’s voice trailed off and her expression turned hostile, almost deadly. It was an expression Aziel hadn’t thought possible for a Dryad who had been so calm and gentle until now. “They are cruel, monstrous creatures in the truest meaning of the word.”

  Aziel felt Celia lean closer and whisper in his ear, a hint of distain coloring her words. “Master, we should help them.”

  “Any particular reason why?” he murmured back, surprised.

  Celia hesitated before leaning in even closer, presumably to avoid others hearing what she was about to say. “These Wervins sound very similar to another race I’m familiar with: Troggs. When I was human, monsters like t
he Troggs were always a great source of fear. They took every opportunity to raid villages, to kill and brutalize people. I heard… stories. I don’t think we could trust them even if they did agree to join us. I wouldn’t, that’s for certain.”

  Aziel felt Celia’s tail tighten around him as she spoke, to the point where even through his armor it started to hurt. He rested a hand on her thigh, which brought her back out of her thoughts. Noticing what she had done, she quickly unwrapped her tail from around him before mouthing a silent apology.

  Aziel looked into Celia’s golden eyes: there was anger there, hate. There was more to these stories then she was letting on. He turned back to his guests and took a deep breath to arrange his thoughts.

  Vhal suddenly took a few steps forward to position himself directly before Aziel, his ethereal blue eyes flashing brightly. “My lord, allow me to take on this task.”

  Aziel blinked. Was Vhal actually volunteering to leave Soul’s Rest and his research behind to fight? Just as he was getting over his shock, Celia moved to stand beside the lich.

  “Master, I would like to go too,” she said, her expression hard and determined.

  Aziel attempted to hide his amazement at this development, too. But seeing the determination of his Champion and closest advisor before him, he slowly nodded, and they both bowed before resuming their places on either side of him.

  “Then it is decided,” Aziel declared. “The Fallen will help, and in exchange, your groves will formally join the Fallen and be sworn in as my followers.”

  Both Rosaline and Rhene lowered their heads respectfully. Then Rosaline stepped closer and gestured to the smallest of her three companions to follow her. “When two groves wish to establish relations, we traditionally exchange seedlings. This is so we learn from each other and create direct connections.”

  Rosaline placed her hand on the younger Dryad’s head.

  “This is Niyela. She is one of mine. She will stay here with you and act as the representative for the Sister Groves.” She smiled as she slowly, almost carefully, drew her fingers through the slender young Dryad’s dark-green hair. “I do not believe you have anyone to offer us, so I hope you will recognize the trust I am placing in you, Lord Aziel.”