Chapter 137:

Verona watched the sea spray lap at the jetty of the Sky Clearers. Their jetty was identical to the one shown by Fliodher. If the vision, or dream or whatever it really was, held true there would be some impressively large creatures hiding in a nearby cave. Why the local Dark Elves hadn’t run away or chased it off was a mystery.

“It’s a very dangerous beach.” The Sky Clearers mayor before continued speaking. “Strange creatures leap out of the water and attack the fishermen. And the forest’s not safe either. We cannot guarantee your safety.”

“We have business on that beach,” Verona stated adamantly. “So we have to go there.”

“I’m not going to stop you.” The Dark Elf stepped back. “But we don’t have the men to save you if you get into trouble.”

“Not any more, right?” Verona asked Ceccitol.

“Some of the warriors will be returning in the next few days.” Ceccitol received astonished looks from the assembled Dark Elves. “Reinforcements from the Mainland Clans are filling the holes in the defences and will allow those heavily wounded to return home.”

“How did Gerin manage that?” Another Dark Elf asked. “They wouldn’t do anything for us unless they had to.”

“They’ve had a change of heart,” Tuccac spoke softly. “Thanks to the humans and Beast-kin we brought.”

“Unbelievable…”

“Can we see the beach now?” Verona asked.

The Dark Elf sighed but agreed nonetheless. As they travelled through the port city Verona could only despair at the state of the Island Clans. The DuskReavers were actually quite well off; the number of fighting men she saw could be counted on one hand, the majority of fighters were women, and too often she saw children carrying weapons and wielding armour. Gerin might have been upset with Anton for removing the Elders but it was ultimately the right choice, of that she was sure.

Verona tapped Kal’s arm. “Can you see somewhere safe for the portal? I’m sure Anton wants to be a part of this.”

“…Fliodher kissed him.” Kal frowned. “I suppose that’s what you felt when someone turns up with bigger breasts than you.”

Verona chuckled. “Oh stop…And yes. I suppose a building will do.”

Their current force only consisted of themselves and twenty DuskReaver warriors. With Verona and Kal they had all the strength they should need, not that they expected anything to happen. Most people didn’t know the Mist Walker Elders were no longer in The Shadow Isles. Those that did had a vested interest in that knowledge not leaving their lips

Tuccac found a secluded area behind what was once a clothing store. Verona established the portal and clasped her hand over her ring. Before she could think a word the portal flashed, her heart raced for a moment, as Anton stepped through.

“We haven’t even contacted you yet.” Verona pulled a slightly delirious Anton off the portal.

“I was just standing on the thing waiting for you.” Anton hugged her tight. “I wanted to see what happened.”

“And?”

“And I just waited there. I was just chatting with Cetina and then I went through. We already knew that but I wanted to see if anything happened. Oh, by the way, Cetina’s coming through too. And another guest.”

“Another?”

Cetina flashed through the portal a moment later. The annoyingly tall Bebbezzarian accepted Kal’s hand to pull her off the portal. The portal flashed again. This time a woman wearing bright red stepped out, a white glove holding her temple hard, throwing back waves of bright red flowing hair.

“I’m going to be sick.” Duchess Belinda groaned. “Neither of you told me it was that bad.”

“You get used to it.” Cetina helped Duchess Belinda off the portal.

“That was terrible. I don’t know how this is going to be useful for transporting soldiers.”

“It doesn’t last that long,” Anton said.

Belinda continued rubbing her temples until the creases on her face softened. “I see.”

She stopped and looked around, taking a step back to look at the sky. A strange smile wormed its way over her face, something Verona never thought she would see on Belinda. Childlike wonder.

“This is The Shadow Isles, isn’t it? We’re actually here. The land of the Dark Elves.”

“Did you doubt us?” Verona asked.

Belinda paused. “No. But to actually see it. How many humans have seen this place?”

“The Sky Clearer’s?” Ceccitol ran a hand through her hair. “Probably four in the past hundred winters. Or longer than that.”

“Wow…” Belinda laughed. “This makes the headache worth it.”

“Is the portal safe?” Verona asked. “Now there’s no one on the other side.”

Anton gently patted her shoulder. “We’ve stopped at a small city close to the Black Rider’s Fortress. A Knight Order from the south has sent some scouts ahead, they’ve been convinced by King, or Prince, Leo to join his side. So we were going to move as one group. It’s a lot safer that way.”

“And if it’s a trap?” Kal looked rather worried. If everything failed in Qaiviel they’d be left without a home, once again for Kal.

“I’ve been assured that it’s not,” Anton said. “As far as I’m aware the Knight Orders aren’t particularly happy about their representatives being slaughtered in the throne room. Unless they’ve been possessed they’re pretty much on our side. We’ve also hidden the portal extremely well and I’ve paid Conrad an extra coin just to make sure.”

Belinda chuckled. “I don’t want to stare down a thousand charging Knights.”

“Are you just here to have a look at the Isles?” Kal asked. “Or is there something else?”

“I’d like to see if there are any opportunities for trading with the Dark Elves.” Belinda stepped away from the portal stones as Anton began collecting them. “If that can take things as easily as people then goods are certainly no problem. With, of course, a tidy profit for Atros and your burgeoning little empire. Hopefully we won’t ever come into conflict.”

Is that a threat? No, that’s too obvious. Perhaps a warning that we stay out of each other’s way.

“I certainly hope so.” Anton patted the bag of stones. “Do we know where this beach is? I don’t think it’s a good idea for Belinda to stay long, just in case.”

“This way.” Ceccitol led them back into the port streets.

Though they were clearly an oddity before now they were active gossip amongst the remaining Dark Elves. Every Dark Elf had long, jet black hair, without exception. Some girls looked longingly at their own, like they didn’t know it was possible to have anything but.

Ceccitol followed the mayor’s directions away from the port and along the rocky beach. This was nothing like the golden sands of Seocuria or Bebbezzar, more like the rocky stones that bordered the mountain range of Dragon Tooth Bay. Small rocks crunched underneath her boots, some were covered in a thin slime and were extremely slippery. More than once she found herself teetering on the edge of falling over. She wanted to ask how Anton was doing, his legs weren’t exactly his own anymore, but letting Belinda know of his change probably wasn’t a good idea. Sure, she didn’t care that Kal was a half-breed, but where did that tolerance end? As for Belinda, she was taking everything quite well. She had more near slips and spills than anyone else. Two Dark Elves followed her, hands ready to catch her if she slipped, but they were unnecessary.

When the port was almost out of sight the scouting Dark Elves signalled for everyone to stop. Though they only had a few moments to look at the cave’s surroundings in Fliodher dream this was undoubtedly the right place.

“Something ahead.” The scout whispered. “In one of the caves. Lots of seal bones are lying outside, a lot of bones.”

“Sounds like the place.” Anton mused. “Did you see anything that looked like…Well, a giant flying dog?”

The scouts blinked twice before shaking their heads.

“Maybe he’s out.” Anton gently clambered up the rocks for a vantage point. “If his mate is ill he’ll want to stay with her, so he’ll only go out when necessary. I’m sure he’ll be nervous and pretty stressed too. So, does that mean we wait or go in early?”

“If he finds us with his sick partner he’d go crazy,” Verona said. “I know I would.”

Anton nodded. “Let’s get a bit closer and wait for him to come back.”

They moved to the next outcropping of stone. Verona clearly saw the cave and the pile of bones tossed to one side. Vivid memories of early Atros came back, mostly unpleasant ones.

“If she’s sick he shouldn’t be too far away.” Anton mused as he sat down. The others took their seats as well, Belinda looked around before settling to sit with them. Her red dress was even less camouflaged than Cetina’s but she didn’t appear to care that it would get dirty or damaged.

Verona and Kal nestled close to Anton, Cetina nearby, as they waited for the Chirok to return.

Times passed slowly before Kal tapped Anton’s hand. In the dim, mist-covered sky a black blot descended. The Chirok approached at tremendous speed, only extending its wings at the last moment, bringing the beast to a sudden stop just before reaching the cave. Small claws on the front edge of its large wings, Anton called them bat wings, scratched on the stones as it ran into the cave with a giant animal in its mouth slightly smaller than its head. Only then did Verona realise how large the Chirok actually was. It was far larger than the adult Peryton or Griffin, probably almost twice as large. How big were the wings?

“So The Shadow Isles have seals?” Anton mused.

“They live on small stone outcrops in the sea.” Ceccitol rose up. “The same stones that most ships run into.”

“A lot of wrecks out there? I bet there’s some gold and silver just lurking beneath the waves.”

Ceccitol chuckled. “Only if you can see in the dark and don’t need to breathe.”

If only you were single…

“Only a few of us should go forward,” Anton said. “Too many of us and he’ll just panic.”

“I’ll wait here.” Belinda patted the rock, inspecting the tiny grey wet stones stuck to her glove. “I’ll just get in the way. Besides, I just want to see this place. I’m one of the few humans to ever experience this.”

I don’t think all the DuskReavers are happy to have humans here.

Slowly they moved forward, crouching low to make as little noise as possible. The bones of the seals, or whatever they were, reeked of rotten flesh. Could that be a reason why they were sick? Rotten food? Possibly, but animals would have stronger stomachs and they would know, roughly, what was safe to eat.

Thankfully they reached the cavern entrance without alerting the Chiroks. The Dark Elves waved them forward as they leant around the cavern entrance. Two adult Chirok’s moved near the rear of the cave. The male, with the seal still in his mouth, dropped it before the female Chirok. She barely moved, its eyes were glazed and its head moved about listless. The male nuzzled the dead seal towards its mate, she sniffed once before her head rolled onto its side. She began coughing harshly, something Verona never expected to see from a dog and vomited a weak white liquid. The male whimpered; his mate was dying and there was nothing he could do to help.

A tiny squeak came from behind her. She shifted her body and tried to push a baby Chirok forward, though her legs were so weak it was a futile effort. The baby was bigger than Verona was but just as sickly as the mother. Verona spied another five babies behind her. They were barely breathing but alive, just. Seeing tomorrow was incredibly unlikely for them.

“What’s the plan?” Verona tapped Anton’s waist. She could feel the outline of the tail around Anton’s waist. No wonder Rasha could feel it. Maybe there was something to gain from that…

“I…Honestly don’t know,” Anton said. “I’ve never had to get close to something this big that probably wants to rip my head off.” Anton sighed. “And we can’t just walk in there with food.”

“Fliodher will help us.” Kal nodded seriously. “I believe in the Old Gods.”

It did give you happiness. Took a while though.

“I really don’t want to have to kill this thing.” Anton stepped into the cave.

The male Chirok snapped his eyes towards the sudden shift in light. Dozens of teeth, still dripping in blood and fat, snarled at Anton. Whatever Fliodher had done the Chirok didn’t immediately lash out at Anton. Slowly the others moved forward and into the light. The male Chirok backed away, putting himself in front of his mate, while she tried to move but couldn’t muster the strength.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Shame they can’t understand us,” Anton mumbled.

He raised his hand, whispering for everyone to remove their weapons. Though loathe to part they followed Anton’s instructions. The male Chirok continued to snarl but relaxed ever so slightly.

“Fliodher sent us,” Anton said. “To help you and your mate.” Anton pointed at his sickly female. “We can help you.”

Anton slowly advanced but the Chirok only allowed him to close half the distance. He snarled loudly and Anton stepped back. Verona was very glad to have her blood power right now.

The Chirok backed away slightly but refused to let Anton get any closer. Anton clicked his tongue and scratched his head, at least the Chirok wasn’t about to kill them.

“How about this?”

Anton drew a small dagger, the Chirok snarled at the sight of iron, and cut his hand. For a moment the Chirok’s ears pulled back, its expression questioning before turning right back to hostility.

“I can heal wounds.” Anton’s bloody hand healed itself, the cut knit itself together. “And I can heal your mate and children. I need you to trust me.”

Verona pleaded to the Old Gods, certainly not Jira, that the creature would listen. Slowly the Chirok relaxed but not enough that Verona was entirely content. Anton gently approached, both hands raised and taking very, very small steps. The male Chirok moved out of the way and allowed Anton to reach the sickly female. Her eyes looked at him not in fear but with an emptiness. She was so far gone that she didn’t care or perhaps even understand.

“You’ll be better in no time,” Anton said, the male Chirok responded with a very wet and hot growl.

Anton placed one hand behind his back and lay one against the feathered paw of the female.

“So hot.” Anton mused. “You’re burning up. Poor thing.”

Anton chanted a healing prayer, one that followed the writings of Tethra’s book. Upon finishing the female’s eyes widened, the emptiness gave way to clarity and focus. Slowly she rose up, her legs still shaking slightly, and nuzzled Anton’s face. Anton chuckled nervously as the giant mouth, filled with huge teeth, was right against his. Slowly they relaxed and Anton gently rubbed her snout. She let out a tiny mewl before licking his face. Her tongue was almost as big as his face, leaving him covered in a thin drool. The male Chirok didn’t look too happy with the attention Anton was receiving.

“Let me help your children too.” Anton stepped to the side, both frowned and snarled lightly. “They’re sick like you were, yes? I can heal them.”

The Chirok's shared a glance and allowed Anton to approach. Verona wanted to be there as well, just in case, but her presence would only aggravate the beasts; they clearly considered Anton something they could deal with easily.

Anton knelt by the children and healed them. One by one the baby Chirok’s, far larger than any dog, slowly rose up and began to try and play with Anton. He had to fend off some very intense and curious creatures as he tried to heal the others. With the last baby, Chirok healed Anton stood up and began to scratch their ears. That brought one Chirok to its knees, a leg flailed wildly as its eyes rolled into its skull.

“Okay. Calm down all of you.” Anton laughed. “These are my friends. Do you want to play with them as well?”

Though children and unable to communicate they somehow understood and ran towards them. Verona was a little off-put by their black wings but overall they were rather cute, especially the way the children ran and stopped just before reaching them, their little paws slipping on the stone and grabbing at each other with their wings in an attempt to stop. None were willing to make the first move, content with sniffing at the air surrounding them, rather than playing like they were with Anton. Verona raised out her hand, just as she would with Luna before Anton made a noise. The adult Chirok’s looked at him with a slight tilt to their heads.

“Careful,” Anton said softly. “Don’t go over their heads. They might be curious but you don’t want to be aggressive with them. Try scratching underneath their chins rather than on top of their heads.”

“Why?” Verona still did as she was bid.

“Because it’ll show that you aren’t trying to attack or dominate them. Just trust me.”

Verona reached out for underneath their chin. The baby Chirok’s sniffed at her hand but didn’t back away. Verona’s fingers slipped through the tiny and soft feathers and onto the soft skin underneath. Verona giggled at the warm and soft sensation and the baby Chirok’s expression. It pushed its body closer and forced Verona’s hands to scratch deeper. It wasn’t long before Verona was scratching this baby Chirok like Luna was when she was being aggressively needy. The others soon followed and the babies were mewling and pawing with delight, not afraid to use their wings to get attention.

Anton moved towards them, the adult Chirok’s watching them very closely, and pulled her, Kal and Cetina through. Though he had a smile on his face she knew him well enough to know it was forced.

“There is a slight problem,” Anton said. He looked to the adult Chirok’s watching over their children. “Their sickness wasn’t just caused by some rotten meat or virus. I felt Strega magic in them.”

“What?” Cetina’s cry startled the adults and the children stopped to look at the source. Anton gently waved down the adults so they wouldn’t attack. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. I felt the green smoke in them. Far, far less than what you had, Cetina, but it was there. But…It was only in their stomachs.” Anton turned to the adults. “So we just need to find out what they ate.”

“Ferula’s here?” Kal asked.

“I don’t think so.”

Anton approached the male Chirok. It was hesitant but allowed Anton to scratch its snout. It closed its eyes as Anton ruffled the tiny feathers and scratched at the skin underneath.

“So, where did you find the food that made your partner sick?”

---[]---

Verona followed the male Chirok along the beach. Every few steps it would flex its wings before glancing back, remembering it wasn’t going for a hunt. It looked mostly disappointed but continued walking at a very quick pace. After passing over a particularly large rock the Chirok stopped, crouching low and tucking its wings alongside its body.

“Oh.” Anton chuckled as he stood next to the Chirok and patted its side. “That would explain it.”

Lying in a small bay, isolated and sheltered from the sea, lay the corpse of a giant fish resting on its side. Except it wasn’t a fish; it lacked scales and gills and it didn’t appear to have any eyes.

“Is that a Leviathan?” Verona asked. “Like the one off of Graterious.”

“It seems a bit small for that.” Kal drew and readied her bow.

“It’s a whale. And a damn big one at that.”

Ceccitol grunted lightly. “I don’t know why one would come this close to The Shadow Isles.”

“Do they beach themselves?” Anton asked.

“Sometimes they do.” Ceccitol looked at Anton. “But it’s very rare. Normally, if they’re still alive, we push them out to sea, or dead we leave them for the animals. I don’t know what kind of whale this is. I’m not a fisherman. They’d know.”

“Could you send a messenger to the port and ask one to come here?”

A Dark Elf saluted and ran back along the coast. Verona knew he was more than a little happy to be away from the Chirok.

The whale was clearly dead as they approached. Anton pointed out its very small eye, glazed over and shrunken, the small hole on its head that allowed it to breathe, as well as how it fed. Verona was shocked to see the fine bristles it had for teeth. A very strange creature. Would Fliodher send them one of these too? Once she had her strength back from Nithroel, of course.

“Only a few creatures have tried to scavenge it.” Anton mused, touching the hard, leathery skin. “I thought it would have been swarming with creatures…Unless they all died like your mate was about to.”

The Chirok blinked at Anton.

“Show us where you took the meat.”

The beast scampered across the stony beach to the other side of the whale. The Whale’s stomach had been torn open and clearly been attacked by predators. The edges of the skin were torn and had many, many teeth marks.

“And everyone that ate here’s probably dead or dying.” Verona mused.

“Let’s see what’s happening with you.”

Anton held his hand onto the dead whale’s skin and closed his eyes. His eyes snapped to the chest of the whale, underneath a large fin lying limply across its body.

“It’s in its stomach. Something that’s bristling with Strega magic.”

“I’ll get it out.” Verona pushed them back, not that she had much chance with the Chirok. “My hardened blood is perfect for this sort of work.”

Verona directed the shards to its stomach, carefully removing the large bloated organ from the corpse. A shard severed a fleshy tube and Verona dry heaved at the smell. The Chirok sneezed and backed away, flapping its wings in an attempt to dispel the smell.

“That’s more than just rotten fish.” Anton held his nose shut. “How are you doing, Kal?”

“Terrible.” Kal vomited. She snarled as she wiped it away. “A bit better now.”

Anton patted her shoulders. “Keep going. It’s in the stomach somewhere.”

Verona severed the stomach and pulled it free. The fleshy sack rolled and split, releasing more foul smelling liquids and semi-digested slop. Their noses were already accustomed to the smell, perhaps deadened by it. Verona gently cut the stomach open completely and began searching through the remains. It was almost enough to make her vomit when she found something solid within. A small intact sea creature, one that shouldn’t be possible. Verona cleaned it as best she could and held it in front of Anton.

“Some sort of krill.” Anton almost rubbed his beard but remembered the stains on his glove. “Shrimp? But, even I can tell that’s not right.”

“It moves like they did.” Cetina, though suffering from the smell, snarled at the creature.

Now it was free from the whale’s stomach the Krill twitched and tried to escape Verona’s encompassing shards but its movements were wooden and stiff, not like a creature with that many limbs and feelers should move. A limb snapped off as it tried to free itself, a faint trail of green smoke seeped from the wound.

“Cursed shrimp,” Anton said. “To make the whale beach itself? That’s a lot of work. But also cause the flesh to become poisonous? Why would they do that?”

Cetina held Verona’s shoulder hard. “Destroy that thing.”

Verona glanced at Anton who gave a nod. Verona smashed the creature to paste. After a brief puff of green smoke, the creature fell silent and still. Verona dropped it to the ground and pushed the shards that had touched the shrimp far away before relinquishing control. Better to be safe than sorry.

“Was that a good idea?” Kal asked. “Tethra could have told us something more.”

“We definitely shouldn’t be touching anything made by the witches.” Anton shrugged. “Ferula didn’t touch that man in the swamp to corrupt him.”

Cetina grunted and nodded.

“What could the Strega Witches want with this whale?” Anton approached the corpse. “They have a lot of resources; meat, skin and oil…”

“Oil?” Verona raised a brow. “For lamps?”

Anton snapped his fingers. “That’s why its flesh is toxic. It’ll keep the creature relatively in one piece, which means they realised those Krill but didn’t know when it would wash up. Or even if it would wash up and not just sink beneath the waves. But after that…If that’s everything I’ll burn it once we find out what it is.”

Anton pushed them back and away from the stench of the rotten corpse. The Chirok nestled beside them and watched them with its giant eyes. Almost immediately it began acting like an attention starved dog, or a needy Peryton, and slowly shuffled towards them. Anton relented first and scratched his nose. Verona and Kal soon followed.

“You’re just like a big lovely dog, aren’t you?” Anton smiled. “Shame that an easy meal turned out to be so bad for you.”

“You love dogs, don’t you?” Verona asked.

“I do. Though that’s how I lost one of my fingers. Down some dog’s throat, I think.”

“Was that in the far west of Graterious?” Cetina asked. “You were missing it then too.”

“No…Before that.”

Verona saw movement along the beach. Several Dark Elves, one a DuskReaver warrior, moved quickly towards them. Anton rose up and motioned to the whale.

“It’s,” The mayor took a deep breath. “Excuse me. It’s a Birx Whale. They roam the seas of the world but come near The Shadow Isles to give birth. We see them from the ports, they move quite close to the shore.”

“Anything special about them? Some valuable resource or material?” Anton waved to the whale. “Someone did this. The poor creature didn’t want to beach itself on purpose.”

“Well…They do have some oil that’s very useful.” The Mayor pointed to the front of the whale’s head. “It’s useful for magical rituals, or so I’m told.”

Verona poked the head of the whale with a blood shard. While the rest was still quite tough and hard the head was hollow. Verona cut the head open to find a giant cavity. Her shards didn’t have to cut that hard along the middle, a cut already ran along its length. Though she had no idea what these creatures were supposed to be the cavity was clearly unnatural; small pieces of yellow fat remained attached to the muscle, bones and skin of the head.

“What is this?” Kal asked.

Anton pulled Verona and Kal close. “Whales were hunted on my world for their fat, to make oil among other things, but we didn’t have magic back there.”

“The Strega’s could easily afford some oil.” Verona shook her head. “As you say, that’s a lot of effort to get some fat.”

“Indeed.” Anton patted their shoulders and turned to the mayor. “Do you know anything about magical…Have you heard of something called the Frangitur Ira? It’s a small flat stone with red markings.”

“No…” The mayor frowned lightly. “But…There are a lot of artefacts from the United Empire on the Storm Strider Clan. Before too. They might have the things you’re looking for. But they’ve fallen to the Goblins.”

“The Storm Striders live, lived, in the island beyond the Green Moon Clan’s,” Ceccitol said.

“Oh.” Verona chuckled. “Guess that’s off limit for us then. But,” Verona pointed towards the port. “It’s not like we can’t get some ships to travel there.”

“We may need to commandeer a ship,” Anton said. “How many sailors do you have left?”

The mayor shook his head. “Not many. Most of the fighters were forced into the war.”

“That’s easy to fix. We’ll bring some from the front.” Anton smiled. “I’m sure they’ll be pleased to be sailing rather than fighting. And we can also find out what we saw at the Green Moon’s Island.”

I wonder if Fliodher is alright. If she got into a fight with Nithroel she might not come out unscathed. And the last thing we need is that woman to become even more powerful.

Anton raised his hand towards the dead whale. Underneath its corpse a ring of fire slowly emerged, the rocks turned red and the seawater boiled from the heat. Verona pushed the others back as the pillar of flame erupted, consuming the whale and everything nearby in unbelievable heat. No one spoke a word until nothing but a pile of charred dust and stones remained.

“No more sick Chirok’s.” Anton scratched the beast’s nose. “Or anyone else. Not much we can do for those though.”

“Let’s get you back to your family.” Verona took over patting the Chirok. “Then you can come to Atros with us. There’s nothing to get sick from, lots of room in the sky and there should be lots of things to hunt. Would you like that?”

The Chirok began panting and sneezed once. Verona didn’t understand what that meant but it seemed happy, a good start at least.

“Feeding them might be a problem.” Anton mused. “Most of the stuff we have isn’t meat.”

Verona laughed. “So long as they don’t go after Luna it’s fine.”

---[]---

The Chirok family and the remaining Dark Elves had emerged from the cave by the time they returned. Belinda, her red dress unmissable against the grey and blue, stood still, completely swarmed by the baby Chirok’s. The adult female sat at the edge of the cave and watched their children play with the human and Dark Elves. Now they had spent some time with each other they weren’t concerned with each other’s presence. Fliodher had made them more docile. Or perhaps they were just like all dogs and loved a good scratch.

“This has been a truly remarkable day,” Belinda said, ruffling the feather coat of a baby Chirok. “I spoke with some of the Dark Elves and it looks like there are great opportunities for trade and profit, for everyone. But I must be returning to Qaiviel soon.”

She looked towards the faint light from the sun. “I’m sure the Knights would have almost joined us.”

Verona tapped Anton’s hand. “When Belinda reaches the Black Rider Fortress you’ll want us all there, right?”

“Indeed.” Belinda gave a final pat. “Their feathers are beautiful. Such a shame that I can’t take some with me. I know they’d sell for a high price, for feathers that is.”

Anton leant in close. “Those cloaks of yours are going to become the fashion of Atros, I’m sure. Just wait until they see what my Blood Berserker can do.”

Verona swatted him away, a smile creeping over her face. “Stop it you.”

Anton established a portal back to Qaiviel. Belinda smiled at the sight.

“This will make us all a lot of money.” Belinda scrunched her hands tight in anticipation. “Think of how much traders will pay for this. Goods from all around the world in an instant…And a few headaches, but that’s inconsequential.”

Belinda bowed her head to the Dark Elves. “Thank you for showing me the beauty of your land. I hope that I may visit again. It is like nothing I have ever seen before.”

The mayor didn’t entirely know how to respond but returned the bow. Duchess Belinda stepped through and disappeared in a flash of light.

Anton swapped the portal back to Atros. “After we’ve got the Chirok’s set up we’ll head start blowing up the land Bridges. We’ll find out what’s happening on the Green Moon Island on the way.”

“And what the Strega Witches were after with that whale,” Kal added. Cetina was more than eager to stop anything those witches might be up to.

Anton stepped through the portal. Verona found herself being drawn to the north, across the crashing and rolling waves. She began wondering if the entire Goblin threat was caused by the witches to get at a fragment of the Frangitur Ira, whatever that really was.

What the hell are they planning to do with it? Make more people like Anton is now? Or something far worse. What could that even be?

Verona had no answers as the waves continued to crash against the stones, only hoping they would reveal themselves before it was too late.