A Decaying World Chapter 22: The Asen Fall

And here's the final chapter for this year. Be aware, that this is more of a draft than any of the chapters before. I normally edit these before posting them, but there's not enough time left before my vacation. There's also going to be another short story today. Didn't want to post these all at once, but that's just how it happened.

 

Chapter 22: The Asen Fall

From atop the hill overlooking the Sanctuary, only a small fraction of Mimeidr could be seen. No tree in existence could ever have hope to challenge its splendor. Neither in a thousand years, nor in a billion. Its sprawling crown had loomed over Meceruun's soil long before life decided to crawl from the oceans. Its position had changed over the aeons, however, as was evident by the ruins crushed beneath its roots. They disturbed the tree's precarious balance and gave its form a crooked appearance. Not that anyone would have noticed from up close.

Pulsing light emanated from Mimeidr's bark, invisible to the naked eye. It traveled across the land to confront the approaching darkness. Yet halfway there, the power waned and fizzled out. The tree had simply exhausted too much of his power. And the longer it tried to hold oblivion at bay, the more of its leaves withered away.

Looking at the fields leading up to the tree revealed a more immediate threat, however. An army of darkelves had surged up from beneath. They were dressed for battle and armed to the teeth, with swords and spears and claws and flails. Similarly dressed lizards were scattered through their ranks, only made visible due to their impressive size of at least 8 feet.

A beast made of wood and earth, with white moss spread out like hair, clombered along behind the army. Its body consisted of two giant faces opposing each other, with noses long enough to impale a human from top to bottom. They had no mouths to speak of, as that area was connected to small, tendril-like arms holding onto giant spheres with eyeballs in their center. Yellow, pulsing veins covered their circumference like a net.

Corpses of their surface-dwelling brothers lay in the darkelves' wake. Most seemed to have died without being able to offer resistance. More of them were gathered in front of Mimeidr and preparing for battle, despite being severely outnumbered. A group of mages sat around the entrance to the sanctuary, with their fingers were interlocked and their eyes closed. Whatever they were planning could not yet be deduced.

The thunder of the army's footsteps suddenly came to a halt. Two pillars broke through the ground and a dome of darkness expanded from within. It remained for about five seconds before fading away, unveiling Ri'zzar's bandaged form.

Crimson light emanated from within the Splinter of Desolation and forced the army to back away, lest they be consumed by its power. Ri'zzar clenched his fist to dim its influence and peered at the elves gathered in front of Mimeidr. They talked to each other in hushed whispers and held their weapons at the ready, apparently realizing that the time of battle drew near.

“Where did these maggots come from?” said Ri'zzar into the void.

A darkelf dressed in obsidian armor squeezed himself through the ranks and stepped onto Ri'zzar's right, avoiding the Splinter.

“They must have sought shelter after seeing Golgotha rise again.”

Ri'zzar chuckled and the Splinter flashed. His voice echoed across the field like the laughter of a demon. Some of the elves backed away, looking at each other in fright.

“As if the crippled spirit of Mimeidr could save them.” He raised his left hand and stared at the fire burning within the Splinter. “I could put them out of their misery with only a thought. But I can't afford to waste the power that I need to destroy the tree.” He clenched his fist shut again and turned his head to look into the unseeing eyes of the army's commander. “Crush them and stop anyone who tries to enter the Sanctuary. I cannot afford to be disturbed.”

A wide smile crept onto the commander's face. “As you wish.” He drew his sword and raised it high. Darkness trailed behind. “They've driven us into the darkness to silence our faith. Yet we grew stronger, even when robbed of our sight. They had to sacrifice Elvone just to kept themselves afloat. But now the time of reckoning has come.” He swung his sword forward. “Kill every single one of them and the surface will be ours again!”

The bandages around Ri'zzar's mouth deformed into the hint of a vicious smile. Opening his hand once more transformed him into a flash of light that shot past the elves and penetrated the barrier erected around Mimeidr's Sanctuary. It took him only the fraction of a second, therefore preventing anyone from noticing his passing. The army now charging towards them was too much of a distraction anyway.

A Decaying World Chapter 21: The Voidwalker

And one more chapter of A Decaying World. Not much else to say, really. I hope I'll be able to release one more chapter before the year is over, as I'll be away on vacation shortly after christmas. No idea how long the next chapter is going to be, however, as it is a finale of sorts. Not quite as final as Chapter 12 might have seemed, though.

 

Chapter 21: The Voidwalker

The arbiters could have struck hard and fast, preventing their prey from gathering their thoughts. Instead, they fanned out, with Halath walking clockwise and Aquis the other way around. The earth gushed out behind the Arbiter of Nature and rose into the sky like a waterspout. Its surface was coated in barbs whose tips were secreting a green, slimy substance. Nauseating fumes ascended into the air wherever it hit the ground.

That barrier was all that would have been needed to prevent our heroes from escaping. But Aquis created yet another layer by transforming the earth beneath her feet into sludge. It corrugated long after the arbiter had passed, as if a billion worms were moving beneath its surface, desperately searching for something to devour.

Mordred spread her arms when Halath's barrier sealed itself and a myriad of wyrms shot into the sky. They danced around each other and merged into a blistering tempest of fire that rose far above the arena. When not a single body remained to be seen, a shockwave ripped it apart, enveloping the wall in a fiery net that no one could have passed without suffering life-threatening burns.

Maximilian watched all of this happen with trepidation, ready to unleash Elegnis' power at the first sign of an attack. “What now? Do we run or do we fight?”

“How could we fight someone who already defeated us not long ago?” said Feyadal. “But escape is no option. They'd simply create another barrier further away.”

“Not that it matters.” Alyssa followed Halath's every step with an arrow resting between the tip of her fingers. “Reaching Mimeidr before Ri'zzar is impossible without a portal.”

There has to be something we can do. Drake looked at the arbiters, as if hoping for a miracle. Yet all he saw was Mordred's haughty gaze, who was still waiting for the final touches of Halath's barrier at that point. Maybe turn powers against each other. And how would you possibly do that? Invite them to stand next to you and hope they attack without a thought? If you put it like that...

The vampire's gaze wandered over the billowing steam. It grew thicker when the slime came into contact with Aquis' mud, offering only rare glimpses of the arena's outer shell.

“Drake, any ideas?” Maximilian turned towards his friend, who showed no sign of having noticed his name being spoken. So he stepped closer and tried again. “Hello, are you listening?” When even that accomplished nothing, he raised his hand in annoyance.

“Ouch!” Drake screamed and rubbed the cheek Maximilian had struck. At that exact moment, his eyes opened wide, lit up with inspiration. While not of his own making, he remembered a method that could allow them to escape while also catching up to their enemy.

The vampire turned his head and flinched. Maximilian had almost slapped him again and only caught his hand inches from his face.

“What are you doing?”

“Just trying to get your attention.”

“You could have said something.”

“I did!”

“Oh … anyway, I think I might have found the perfect solution for our predicament.” Everyone's eyes focused on him while Mordred's firms ascended into the sky. “Remember our trip through the desert? When we helped the villagers by defeating that giant scorpion?”

“How could I forget jumping into the maw of a beast? What about it?”

“The creature came into this world by escaping the Void, which we then used as a shortcut into the swamp. That's how we could escape while also reaching Mimeidr in time!”

Maximilian nodded and a smile flashed over his lips, but his expression darkened immediately after. “Good idea, but how should we cross over when there's no tear in the fabric of reality?”

“I'm sure the Alp could help. But I haven't heard from him since he went missing.”

Alyssa joined them moments before Mordred's net closed off the arena. “What is this Void you're talking about?”

“It's a place for our souls to gather when we're asleep.”

“But you did enter with your physical bodies?” They nodded. “Then there's only one thing—”

“Are you done yet?” A wall of fire as wide as the chasm rushed towards them. Drake and Maximilian jumped into opposite directions while Alyssa propelled herself into the air. It would have been too soon to evade the attack entirely, but she managed to keep herself afloat by unleashing a short bust of air. Feyadal, however, could not get away. Claws created by the earth itself had latched onto his feet and were keeping him in place.

Halath smiled from beside her sisters. “One down, three to go.”

“No, not with such a halfhearted attempt.” Mordred spread her arms. A fiery bubble displaying the events beyond the fire came into focus.

Drake saw Feyadal's dilemma before hitting the ground and propelled himself backwards. The elf gasped and buckled over when the vampire's arm connected with his stomach. That's the only reason he didn't scream when his feet were wrenched loose at a painful angle.

“Are you okay?” A pointless question, as Feyadal could barely take a step without faltering. “Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you.”

“Better than turning into ash.” Kneeling down, he traced his fingers over his covered feet. He grimaced once, then raised himself into a standing position by reaching for Drake's offered arm. “They don't appear to be broken. But I won't be of much help.”

“No one will. You're all too pathetic to stand up to the likes of us!” Halath leapt from beneath the earth and pointed her palms forward. A myriad of barbs ejected themselves from beneath her dress, tearing it to shreds and revealing a wooden body underneath.

Drake stepped in front of Feyadal, dug his feet into the ground, and conjured a barrier. But the arbiter's attack was as powerful as the fist of a giant, easily pushing him backwards and into the elf. Feyadal pressed his hands into Drake's back, but without magic, there was nothing he could do.

The barrier shattered as they both toppled over. Yet Halath could not enjoy her victory. An arrow had pierced her face with perfect timing. Its force was powerful enough to push her skull upwards, almost severing the strands of flesh keeping her body connected to her head.

“Nice shot.” Drake scrambled to his feet and pulled Feyadal with him.

“Thank you. But it won't deter her for lo—”

Mordred's body wreathed in fire shot from the sky like a comet. The ground shattered upon impact, propelling Drake and Feyadal into Halath and Alyssa dangerously close to Aquis' barrier.

Huge bubbles rose from beneath the mud and splattered Alyssa's dress upon popping. A minor inconvenience compared to the foul-smelling odor assaulting her at the same time. It coiled itself around her brain and clogged up her cerebrum, slowing down her thought-processes. One could say she felt horribly drunk. A sensation entirely new to her.

She pressed her right hand onto her skull and toppled forward, constantly opening and closing her eyes. Blue and black shadows were moving in the distance, but she could neither make out what they were nor logically connect the dots.

A Decaying World Chapter 20: Splinter of Desolation

And yet another chapter of A Decaying World, the events of which are only possible because the last chapter added something that wasn't originally planned. But hey, the game this story is based on wasn't particularly exciting. So this might be for the better.

 

Chapter 20: Splinter of Desolation

Beautiful crimson hair fluttered in front of Drake's unseeing eyes while someone pressed a wet piece of cloth onto his aching flesh. It corrugated like the ocean, slowly repairing the damage done by Feyadal's devastating attack. He could have been healed minutes ago, but everyone present was either screaming, howling, complaining, demanding, or simply sitting in the grass and staring off into the distance, with a horrified expression etched into their skin.

Upon realizing that, a question popped into Drake mind: if no one was paying him any attention, then who was the person whose flesh smelled like roses and whose hands were caressing his burning cheeks?

He forced his eyes open and just about caught a glimpse of a face long gone.

“Wait!”

His right hand reached for the retreating figure and the sky burst into flames. It was accompanied by a gust of wind that carried the stank of decay right into Drake's nose. He chocked and reached for his throat as his vision blurred, turning dark at the edges as if smoke was seeping into his eyes.

“Why don't you just give up? The end of the world is rapidly approaching. There is nothing anyone can do to stop it.” Drake remembered this voice from before everything went to shit. But he found himself unable to place its origin.

“No, you have to belie—”

Metal streaking through the air and cutting through flesh scattered Emily's voice into the wind, replacing it with the screams of all those who had perished at the hands of the black lightning.

“All you can believe in is your impotence. Just look at the corpses lining your path.” The flames began to swirl, twisting themselves into burning renditions of the past. “The soldiers of Pagan, who were nothing more than cannon fodder. A respected general. A powerful wizard. All those who died in the fire, and all those who perished soon after. Not to mention your father and girlfriend.”

Drake tried to close his eyes when Glenn was being consumed by smoke that took the place of shadows, but all he achieved was to flutter with his eyelids. The scene then shifted to his unconscious form, with Emily hunched over him. Arlington had already been destroyed at that point, which is why Drake stopped resisting and stared intently at what happened next.

Emily shook his body, yelled words the fire didn't replay. And during all that, she never noticed a figure approaching her from behind. Drake couldn't make out who it was, but his muscles tensed when the person extended a hand towards his girlfriend.

It only took a second for her form to fall apart.

No! This can't be true.

Laughter as sharp as a knife cut right into his flesh. “But why would I lie when my goal is to hurt you? She was alive … and then she was dead. All because you couldn't protect her. And while you may not have cared about them, you're also responsible for the deaths of Alyssa's brethren, most of whom never even realized that they were part of a ritual to raise Golgotha from oblivion.”

“Would you stuff it already?”

Drake's shaking hands clawed into the ground as he tried to move his mouth, but all he accomplished was to open it wide, signaling his presence with an unearthly moan.

“We have to do some—”

“Shut up!”

The unending complaints were momentarily silenced by Maximilian's stressed scream. But they resumed after he had taken a single step into Drake's direction, whose body he had placed within the shadow of a rock.

“You have no right to—”

“Enough already!” yelled Alyssa. She was sitting next to a bush, with her hair blowing in the wind, and flexed the muscles of her injured arm while keeping an eye on Feyadal. His chin was resting on his arms, which were in turn propped up by the knees he had pulled close to this body. He did not pay any attention to the bickering, however. Instead, his gaze was focused solely on the black castle and the forest burning around it. “We won't accomplish anything by screaming at each other.”

Alyssa unglued her eyes and looked at what little was left of her group. Only the most skilled of fighters had survived, which wasn't saying much, given her experience in the War. At least twice as much had been alive at the end, but their bodies were now burned to a crisp. And everyone knew who was responsible for their demise.

“There isn't much we can do now,” continued Alyssa. “So we either investigate the castle or try to get to the nearest village and save as many as we can.”

“What about our village?”

“What village? Don't you see where Golgotha has risen? There's nothin...” her gaze fell unto the earth as her voice failed her.

“Are we sure this is Golgotha?” asked Maximilian, who was kneeling in the shadows and pouring blood into Drake's quivering mouth. “I've read the books written by the heroes who fought in its depths, and while they do embellish their actions, they all agree on the fact, that the castle crumbled on their way out.”

Drake choked and coughed up blood. Maximilian quickly raised his left hand, with his forefinger pointing into the air, while wiping his friend's mouth with the other.

“Sorry, I should have paid more attention.” He turned his head back to the elves. “What I am getting at is: couldn't this be an illusion meant to drive fear into our hearts?”

Alyssa shook her head with her eyes closed. “No, it's the genuine article. The power emanating from within might not be as strong as it was back in the day, but there's no mistaking its source.”

“But that was also destroyed!”

The elf's head threatened to unwind when her icy stare pierced Maximilian's flesh. “Don't you think I know that?” her voice was as shrill as the screech of a banshee. The other elves eyed each other nervously and moved away from Alyssa, lest she blow them all away in her rage. “But this”—her finger slashed through the air and came to land on the structure towering even above the World Tree—“is without a doubt Golgotha, the same castle that has brought devastation upon Meceruun a thousand years ago!”

“No need to freak out. I was just trying to make sure...”

Alyssa growled and faced the earth, repressing the urge to scream by keeping her lips pressed together. Cold air with a hint of smoke entered her nostrils as she inhaled deeply. Only when her lungs felt like they would burst did she release it. She repeated the process for about a minute, slowly draining the tension that had built up within her flesh.

Someone cleared his throat next to her, but she kept her eyes glued to the ground and pressed the tips of her left fingers against those of her right. Magic began to flow from one arm into the other, coursing through her magic circuits and then returning to the starting point. It was a technique she had been taught in trying to focus her power and was supposed to take her attention away from the physical plane. But her concentration was so scattered that sparks of pure magic erupted from her hands and burned the grass beneath her feet.

More annoyed than ever, she raised her head and looked at Feyadal. Just a quick glimpse to see how he fared. Their eyes met for a split-second and his turned wide. He rapidly averted his gaze and scratched his head as if nothing had happened.

Alyssa's body lifted off the ground like that of a predator who was about to assault his prey. Magically enhanced steps carried her to Feyadal with lightning speed, upon which she grabbed his arms and pulled him up. He yelped in surprise and reached for her shoulders to steady himself, but she pressed her arms against his chest and chucked him onto the ground.

“Ouch!” He staggered to his feet and rubbed his back. “What are you—”

“Stop looking at me like that! How do you think that makes me feel, when all you do is avoid me otherwise?”

His lips turned into a thin line and his eyes drooped. He had thought about a thousand scenarios that could unfold upon his return, but this was so far from his imagination that he didn't know how to act. Most likely because he had stopped thinking about it after losing what little magic he had.

Eventually, he took a deep breath, stepped towards her, and looked her in the eye. His right hand was about to touch her shoulder before she slapped it away.

Some of the elves had already pressed their hands onto their mouths when Feyadal hit the ground, but now they couldn't contain themselves any longer and broke into laughter.

Alyssa's body trembled and her eyes flared up. She raised her arms into the air and immediately slammed them back down, ramming all of her brethren into the earth, even those who had remained silent. They whined and yelled, but only until they noticed the threatening glare she cast at them over her shoulders.

“Aly, you have to calm down. This isn't the time for—”

“And when will there ever be time?” Her hair fell over her face when her head turned back, covering half of it. “You might not have noticed, but a castle full of monster has just risen where our village lay! We'd be lucky to survive the coming weeks.”

“If at all,” came the hoarse voice of Drake from beside her.

“If you don't have anything useful to add, then just shut up!” Her eyes appeared to be consumed by fire while Drake was being helped into a standing position by Maximilian.

“But I do have something to add.” He looked at where the castle lay, then peered even further into the distance. “Haven't you noticed the storm clouds hovering above the mountains? The ones unleashing black lightning unto the earth?”

The elf furrowed her brow and followed his gaze. A few seconds passed, during which more than a dozen lighting bolts were unleashed on areas hidden by the mountain range.

“What about it? The color might be weird, but—”

“Keep looking!”

Everyone but Maximilian and Feyadal were now looking into the distance. As if to reward their attention, the storm clouds moved further inland, which allowed the lightning to slam into trees and rocks and mountaintops. And everything it came in touch with exploded in rain of dust.

Alyssa scrunched her face in incredulity and shushed her gasping brethren before facing Drake once more. “What is that?”

“The End of Time, the harbinger of Meceruun's destruction. My hometown has already fallen victim to it.” He clenched his fists, replaying the scene of Emily's death in front of his eyes. “And it seems to have followed us all the way here.”

Fury tarnished Alyssa's beautiful face as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and raised her bow into the air. Maximilian drew his blade and Feyadal lunged forward, grabbing Alyssa's arm before she could take aim.

“Don't!”

“He has to take responsibility for what's about to happen!” said Alyssa without looking at Feyadal.

“But I came here to stop it! How was I supposed to know that it would follow me?”

“Stop it how?”

Drake opened his mouth, then closed it very slowly. “I don't know … find someone who can help defeat the cause.” He looked at the ground and rubbed his head. “But that person seems to have been the darkelf I met near our camp.”

“The one who slew my men? Who trapped us with his magic and got even more of them killed? And you didn't think this was worth mentioning?” she screamed and elbowed Feyadal to free her arm. Then she aimed at Drake.

“You didn't need to kno—”

Alyssa let go and Drake ducked out of the way. Maximilian tried to hit the arrow in mid-air, but he only sliced through one of its feathers.

“Come on! How was I supposed to know what would happen? And the one who made a deal with him was Modera, not me. I rejected his help!”

Alyssa's held her trembling hand above her quiver. Drake hadn't gotten up yet, making him an easy target. But Maximilian looked like he would cut her down before she could fire once more.

“How did you even survive your previous encounter with this … this thing?”

Drake gathered himself from the floor, with his arms raised high and with his eyes focused on her bow. “It wasn't moving the first time, so I just ran out of its range. The second time … I don't know. It started following our ship a few days ago but seemed to have disappeared by the time we crashed.”

The storm in Alyssa's eyes turned into a sparkle of inspiration as she lowered her bow. “It … disappeared? So that's why Mimeidr unleashed its power. I should have thought of that.” She turned to the remains of her group. “Listen up! You will hurry to the World Tree and see if it can banish the storm once more. Me and the others will investigate Golgotha in the meantime.”

“Milady, you can't be serious,” interjected the elf with the golden armor. “The vampire got our comrades killed, while that … elf burned them to death!”

Her features hardened and her hands began to sparkle. “Do I look like I'm joking?”

“No … of course not. But what if Mimeidr can't repel the storm again?

“Then we're all doomed,” replied Drake in Alyssa's stead.

A Decaying World Chapter 19: Resurgence

And here's another chapter of A Decaying World, which turned out a bit different than originally planned, which is also why it's called Resurgence. Although I could have easily called it something else and moved the ending to the next chapter, as it will most likely not have the impact it could have. But whatever!

 

Chapter 19: Resurgence

As soon as the group returned to the camp, Alyssa stopped moving and pressed two fingers onto her throat. “Wake up!” Her voice was as loud as thunder. “We have to return to the village at voice. I'll explain everything on the way!”

Within less than a minute, all tents and campfires crumbled into dust and merged with the earth, wiping all signs of the elven encampment from the face of Meceruun.

“Do you always destroy your camps?” asked Drake and faced Alyssa, but she had already disappeared from his side and made sure that no one else had gone missing.

“We don't destroy,” said an elf who had overheard Drake. “Everything you saw was given to us by the forest. And now it's back where it belongs.”

“I see...”

“Good. Then start moving.”

The vampire looked over his shoulder and the elf backed off. His skin was as smooth as that of a child and his sword looked like it had never seen a serious battle.

You should teach him some manners! I'd rather not.

“You heard what lady Alyssa said! You're coming with us. So move.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

And so began their journey through the darkness of the night. But as luck would have it, dawn was less than an hour. At least it should have been. Yet no matter how long they walked, the darkness prevailed. And it wasn't the fault of the trees lining their path, as even those would have allowed the light to pass through.

“What's gotten into them?” asked Maximilian after catching up to Drake. “First they want to wait until dawn, now they're running as if the reaper himself is chasing us down.”

Drake looked at his companion out of the corner of his eyes. “Two elves were killed while you were asleep.”

“Shit!” The knight cursed and looked over his shoulder, but his eyes weren't able to pierce the darkness. “Are we being followed?”

Drake jumped over a slug-shaped root protruding from the ground before facing Maximilian once more. “No, and to be honest, I'm not sure why exactly we're running.” He sighed. “But the dead elves are the least of our problems.”

“What do you mea—”

A branch bent forward by one of the elves snapped back. It was thick enough to leave at least a nasty bruise, but while Maximilian tried to duck, Drake swung at it with his bare hand and ripped it off, propelling it forward. A wail followed, as it hit the same elf who had reached for it in the first place.

“Thank you,” said the knight, slightly out of breath.

“You did that on purpose, vampire!” yelled the elf, who was now cowering on the ground and pressing glowing hands onto the back of his head.

“And you didn't?” Maximilian recognized the elf by his golden armor. The wild look in his eyes was more than sufficient to tell him the truth of the matter.

“Would you please shut up?” screamed Alyssa from up front without pausing for even a second.

Both companions looked at each other and shrugged before moving on.

A Decaying World Chapter 18: The Messenger Of Chaos

And here's the next chapter of A Decaying World. Took a lot longer than it should have, due to me going on a short vacation, finishing up Aedis Tenebrum, working for Textbroker etc... but I'll try to get the next chapters out a bit faster again. Loop is kinda on a backburner right now.

 

Chapter 18: The Messenger Of Chaos

Drake's feet lifted off the ground when the light receded. He was gripped as if by a tornado and flung through the air, momentarily catching sight of the setting sun before getting entangled in a soft fabric upheld by wooden sticks.

“Guess I should have warned you that this might happen,” hissed Belia as he freed his paws. Light as piercing as the sun's lit up his ashen paws. The fabric was blown apart away and torn to shreds.

The cat freed himself from Drake's grasp and leapt onto a looping branch, just about evading the sight of a dozen elves who came running to investigate the commotion.

“It's the vampire!” yelled the same guard who had been about to fight Maximilian back in the village.

Within seconds, a circle of swords and spears had formed around Drake, with a few archers visible on nearby trees. One of them decided to jump onto the same branch Belia was sitting on, which resulted in him getting smacked into the underbrush without anyone noticing.

“There's no need for that,” said Drake, keeping his voice calm and his movements slow as he stood up with raised hands. “I'm entirely in control of myself.”

His right hand began to twitch and the urge to slap himself welled up within his mind. Only when he bit onto his tongue did the feeling recede. Do you want to get us killed? Just trying to have some fun. And what's so funny about us getting impaled or sliced to pieces? We would have managed. The force keeping your powers in check has calmed down. And even if it hadn't, you could still access the darkness I have amassed within your mind. I'd rather not. Suit yourself. But now that I have gained a bit of control, don't expect me to watch you bumble around.

“We should just kill him. No one would be able to tell if he was about to attack or not!” whispered one of the elves, before an arm landed on his shoulder and turned him around. Alyssa stared at him with cold eyes and he backed off. His feet came into contact with Drake's and he fell over, forcing his companions to pull their weapon's out of harms way, lest they impale him too.

The beast utilized the momentary confusion and catapulted Drake's body to the other side of the camp, where an enormous but artificial-looking tree rose into the sky. A sign with the words “Do not enter the Riddle Tower!” stood next to a gaping hole that seemed to lead nowhere.

An arrow lodged itself into the point of the exclamation mark, narrowly missing Drake's head. He flinched momentarily, then followed its course back to Alyssa. She had already readied another one.

“Don't you dare run away.”

“I didn't plan to.” So stop using my body as your plaything! “But I don't like being threatened.”

“Are you back to your old self?”

Drake turned his head and saw Maximilian standing in front of a tree, with his arms crossed. Feyadal could be seen sitting on one of its branches, but instead of threatening Drake with his bow, he was holding his sword in hand.

“Mostly, yes.” He bent his arm and clenched his fist, constantly feeling a slight pressure coursing through his muscles. “I might even be stronger than before.”

“One more reason to get ri—”

Alyssa lowered her bow and flung her arm sideways without breaking eye-contact. A sticky glob rose from the ground and shot towards the elf. He looked shocked for a moment, then smiled and moved his head out of the way. The projectile instantly corrected its course and slammed onto his mouth, gluing it shut.

“That's not for you to decide.” She lowered her hand and stepped forward, until she was just out of arm's reach. Her other hand was still holding tightly onto her bow, ready to snap back into action at even the slightest hint of danger. “Congratulations on surviving. Not many can claim to have bested that madman's challenge.”

“You meant to say no one, right? They would have had to get through—” Belia's paws shuddered as he collided with the ground, barely missing Alyssa's shoulder. “Hey, you didn't have to step away!”

The elf looked at the cat out of the corner of her eyes and an almost inaudible grumbling noise surged up from within her throat. “Belia … how 'nice' to see you again. I thought you couldn't leave the tower.”

“Maybe not out of his own accord, but carrying him outside proved to be surprisingly easy,” said Drake and smiled.

Alyssa's eyes locked onto his as her lips tightened for a moment. “Looks like I've chosen poorly. I should have killed you instead of risking this beast to attain freedom.”

Belia purred as his fur turned pink and his ass plopped onto the ground. “How dare you call me a beast? What have I ever done to you?”

“You mean apart from ripping off my dress, stealing my jewelry, and being a general pest to anyone who ever dared to venture into the tower?”

“But it's been ages since then!” Belia's ears twitched and his hind paw landed on his head, scratching it furiously.

“About 600 years. Not long enough to forget about your mischief. You could have had at least had the dignity to die of old age by now.”

“Ha, you wish! I'll still be around in a thousand years. But if you'll excuse me, I'll have a world to see.”

“Be my guest. And don't come back.”

Belia's fur turned into a mixture of green and brown, making him almost invisible if looked at from above. Then he sped off into the distance, jumping over sticks and stones like an excited rabbit.

The forest seemed to fall silent for a moment, as if every elf, human, and animal was mesmerized by the cat's departure. Only when his body vanished in the underbrush did everyone's thoughts return to the situation at hand.

“Back to you,” began Alyssa, but she stopped herself when Drake held out his hand.

“I'm Drake.” He smiled and stood there like a puppet, yet her arms remained frozen in place.

“I know.”

His eyes dropped and he mustered his hand, almost expecting something disgusting to be stuck in his palm. It looked perfectly fine, though. Just a bit dirty. He retracted it nonetheless, absentmindedly wiping it on his clothes.

“Sorry, I don't remember us being introduced.”

“We weren't. I was too busy sending you to your inevitable death.”

A few elves chuckled on the quiet but stopped when Alyssa turned her head halfway into their direction.

Drake glanced at Maximilian. A vague smile played around his lips as he shrugged. “I hope you're not planning to finish what the tower failed to do.”

“I stand by my word. You and your companion are free to go. But not until I know what your plans are.”

The vampire opened his mouth and came up empty. All he knew was that Modera had marked this place on a map, as she had done with Arlington and Pagan.

“To be honest, I don't have a clue. We're looking for someone … I guess. But I have no idea who it is or where to find him.”

“So you came here all the way from Pagan, looking for someone you know nothing about, with only a general location to go on?” She furrowed her brow and smirked. “That must be the worst plan I've ever heard.”

Drake scratched his head and eyed the ground. There was no denying her words, but he had acted on the spur of the moment, unwilling to waste even a second, just in case the same event that destroyed Arlington followed him to Pagan.

“Whatever the case, I doubt that anyone would be willing to help you out, even if the fate of the entire world might be at stake. We're busy enough as it is.” Alyssa rubbed her neck and relaxed the hand clutched around her bow. “However, you can follow us back to the village and try your luck if you want. But you'll have to wait until dawn. It's too dangerous to travel at night.”

“I thought the animals wouldn't attack you,” interjected Maximilian.

“They don't,” she replied without turning her head, “but there are other creatures lurking in the woods. You've already met some of them,” and with those words, Alyssa turned around and walked towards the rest of her group, who rapidly stepped aside to let her through. “Oh”—she stopped upon reaching the other side and looked over her shoulder, focusing on Drake once more—“I'm Alyssa Mirazzal. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” The vague hint of a smile flashed over her face before she moved on.