The kobolds were craftier than any of the recognized races gave them credit for. Under orders from Falketh, they pretended to have the same level of technology as the rest of Euriea to lull them into falsely thinking they weren’t as advanced as they were. The past two hundred years that saw no growth from the rest of the continent was matched by significant growth from the more bestial looking sapients referred to as the lower races. If Sofie had been upset when she had found out Euriea was stagnant technologically, finding out they had been eclipsed by those they thought lower definitely did.

To say nothing of the clear speciesism.

The sheer threat that gunpowder could possess to the world was enough to immediately send her and her comrades packing for Nentara. It was no longer just about bringing in a wanted criminal, but warning an entire country about a far graver threat. She only hoped that they would listen, that the knowledge she was the Lord of Terror did not need to surface for any chance at them even attempting to listen. Sofie wouldn’t know until they reached the capital, and according to Harper that was eight days' travel.

That amount of time gave her a moment's reprieve from the craziness of the past two days. She stayed in the back to keep an eye on Raazin along with Cameron and Maria, Elenise and Harper taking the reins at the front of the wagon. The kobold was insistent on trying to get Cameron to abandon them, spending the first few hours of travel trying to sell serving under Falketh as better than helping humans. They found a way to shut that up, or at the very least get him to stop his salesmen act.

“You’re human?!” Raazin yelled, Sofie covering her ears due to just how loud the kobold was. “You're lying, you have to be! You look like a typical wyrmret as far as i can tell.”

“Been a long time since I’ve heard those words, though I would prefer not to explore mystery dungeons with someone like you,” Cameron joked with a chuckle, Sofie tilting her head in confusion as Maria let out an exasperated sigh only her brother could hear. That sigh just made said brother smile. “Believe it or not if you want, but I’m not supposed to be in this body. That honor goes to my sister. She is the one that actually tried to take you out in the cave.”

“Just to make it clear, my answer is the same as my brother,” Maria said, taking over for just a second to get her message across before giving control back to Cameron. “I hate preachy types like him.”

“Well if that is true Falketh wouldn’t want you anyways,” Raazin said, turning away. “You are a fake dragon.”

“Fuck you, rodent! I know how frail your kind is and I will snap you like a goddamn twig!” Maria shouted, Cameron wincing at the words “Dare call this otherkin a fake and I will see to it you never see your precious “master” again!”

Sofie had turned to watching the road disappear behind her, the grassy plains that surrounded Taevenburg having an hour ago at that point. Trees now blocked the sun from view, though Sofie could actually make out one of Evra’s moons just slightly below it. She frowned at that, having never seen a lunar eclipse in her entire life. Some part of her wondered if she would ever get the chance to.

“Hey Cam,” Sofie said, turning back to the american. “What do you mean by it being your sister's body?”

“Oh, right. You’ve probably never heard of otherkins or therions before,” Cameron said, shifting to face the Ukrainian instead of the kobold. He tapped a paw against the wagon’s wooden floor before looking off to the side. “Hey, sis, mind explaining this for me? Don’t want to mess it up.”

“Yeah, sure,” Maria said, brother giving control to her as she took a deep breath and started explaining. “Basically, people like myself believe that the physical human form we have – or had in my case – doesn’t fully encompass who we are in one way or another. We believe we have an affinity or relationship to a creature or being,” She raised a paw to her chest, smiling. “I’m still human inside, and I was more than fine going about my life as one. After all, on earth things like dragons, gryphons, kobolds, fae and the like don’t exist.”

“You are happy being what you are because you feel an innate connection with it? Is that right?” Sofie asked.

“On a basic level, yes,” Maria said, nodding. “It’s complicated, so I won’t go into it much more. I just ask that you don’t think I’m crazy for believing in such things,” She then turned to the kobold, the sudden rage in her eyes and the reminder he was currently completely helpless making Raazin very afraid. “As for you, toothpick for a skeleton, say I’m a fake one more time and I’ll crush your bone like a freight train crushes a convertible.”

Despite having no idea what a freight train was, the sheer rage held in those words nearly brought Raazin to tears. Maria gave control back to her brother, who instantly let loose a shiver at the words his sister had unleashed. He could still feel her rage at the back of their mind, leaving a clear reminder of one thing: never say an otherkin is faking it. Raazin learned that very lesson that day.

Sofie, however, felt numbness to the rage that took place before her. Instead of focusing on that, she instead took what she had just learned of future Earth. It was proving to be an even bigger anomaly than she expected. With nearly a century worth of time between herself and the siblings it was to be expected, but that didn’t change how different it was. Yet, with those differences came a feeling in her soul that gave her hope. A hope she had long ago abandoned.

She went to open her mouth, the words on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t do it. As much as the idea of her love – one deemed unacceptable in her time – being okay gave her hope, she was not on Earth. She was in a place more backwards than her own Ukraine, and that no doubt meant that what her mother had said all those years ago stayed true. That was all it took for that little bit of hope that had allowed itself into her heart to die.

“Everything okay Sofie?” Cameron asked.

“I’m… I’m fine,” She told him, not realizing that a tear had fallen down the left side of her face. “Just… reminded myself of some things. That is all.”

Cameron didn’t believe her for a second, and he could tell Maria felt just the same. The sudden shift in her expression, the knowledge that the girl had remained mostly unshaken by things till then. Even if they had only known her for a day and a half, they could tell she wasn’t alright. Not knowing if she was in the right mindset to talk about it, both siblings kept quiet and nodded, looking out to the passing of the trees and forest that marked their road.

Hours later, the sun reaching the far west of the sky, the wagon stopped. Sofie and Cameron looked toward the front, though the canvas of the wagon gave them little to go on. Raazin stayed quiet, terrified of speaking in fear of what Maria might do. He didn’t care that Cameron was the one who typically stayed in control, the wyrmret had successfully put fear into what had once been a very proud kobold. Now they were just as quiet as everyone else, hoping that said quiet would keep them safe from a possible death.

Elenise hopped off the front seat of the wagon and raced to a nearby tree. Placing her hand on it, she felt whispers enter her head. Most were unintelligible, and some she ignored out of pain, instead focusing on those whispers that all the others tried to block out. She smiled, brought her hand away from the tree, and went back towards the wagon.

“Hey, Sofie,” The elf said. The Ukrainian turned her attention to Elenise. “There is an elk nearby. Would be good for dinner tonight. Wanna give it a shot?”

Raazin let out a surprised “huh?” as he heard Elenise's words. An elf hunting, he never thought he would have heard of such a thing. As far as he was aware their kind were cultural vegetarians, refusing to eat meat as it was against the will of the woods. This was the first time he had ever heard of one going against said will.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“You mean use your bow?” Sofie asked back, a nod from Elenise her response. “You do realize that I’ve never used one before right? I’m pretty sure I would leave us without anything to eat.”

“You mean you don’t remember that one day I took you with me?” Elenise asked. She crossed her arms and gave a confident smile. “Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you replicate something that day.”

Sofie’s eyes went wide for just a second, sudden realization being overtaken by her feeling greatly disappointed in herself. It had completely slipped her mind, the knowledge there far in the back of her mind due to never picking up said bow herself. Part of her wanted to slam her head into the wagon for forgetting such a thing, but she held back the urge to over react. It was not that big of a deal.

“I think this would be a better test as to how far the replication process goes,” Elenise told the Ukrainian. “Since you have never held a bow before, and you aren’t facing untrained thieves or militia, this would probably be a better test. Don’t you agree?”

“Yeah, sure,” Sofie answered as she stood up and walked out of the wagon, grabbing Elenise’s bow and quiver from the wagon as she did. She turned around as she reached the elf’s side, looking to Cameron. “Guess that leaves you and Harper in charge of the kobold then.”

“I have a name you know,” Raazin mumbled, though none of the others listened to him.

Cameron sulked at Sofie’s request. “Makes sense, but I was really interested in–”

“Don’t. Mention. My magic,” Elenise said. She did her best to give an angry glare, but what Cameron got instead was a look of what reminded him of a terrified little girl. “Please… don’t tell Harper. I don’t know what he would think if he found out.”

While Cameron didn’t know where that fear originated from, he was more than familiar with it. The thought of being treated as wrong, as off, had been something he experienced even before he ended up in a body not his own. This situation was different, as he knew that whatever deep seated fear Elenise had was not the same as his. So Cameron nodded, the fear dissipating from the elf’s eyes but not her body thanks to it.

“Elk sounds wonderful,” Harper said as he came around from the front of the wagon. “I’ll get a fire going if this is where we are going to stop tonight. Gotta give our new companion a taste of my best cooking.”

“Oh, you're a chef?” Cameron asked Harper. He received a nod and smirk from the man. “I didn’t take you as the type to like cooking, though considering I’m currently in the body of what is basically the rodent of all dragon-kind I can’t say much.”

“Hubby is pretty damn good, trust me,” Elenise said, a smile on her that Sofie and Cameron could both tell was forced. “Sofie and I should probably get a move on though before the Elk heads off. I would imagine it not moving too much, but just to be safe.”

Her words were a desperate bid to get away, to allow the tension in her body to loosen and relax completely. She grabbed ahold of Sofie before the girl could reply and dragged her off. The Ukrainian was let go of rather quickly, following willingly. Cameron looked to Harper, the man none the wiser as he headed in another direction for firewood. With a sigh, the American started humming an old favorite tune of his as he turned toward the Kobold. Maria hummed as well, though her song was not the same.

Elenise led Sofie deeper and deeper into the forest, every once in a while touching one of the nearby trees to get a sense of where she was. It was the power of an elf, after all, to commune with nature in such a direct way. Yet she had never found it too comforting, noting the hating, fearing, and dissuading voice of nature as it begged her not just to leave the elk be, but to ditch her companions. This was how the forest always was towards her, but she also knew that strangled behind that voice was another.

She called it nature’s true voice.

It was less demanding, less hostile and strict. Elenise likened it to that of a caring parent one who cared about more than itself. That selfless voice, she wasn’t sure if the reason she heard it was because of her magic or if none of her kind had bothered to listen that deeply before. If the rest of her kind heard it no doubt they would have also asked the same question that she had: why was that voice strangled by the one they adhere to? Why follow the will of a voice that cared only for itself and not that of its protectors?

Sofie looked on each time Elenise stopped to listen to that true voice, a sadness present on the elf’s face. Her mind lay not on the voice of nature but of her companions' magic. To her, the ability to use said thing wasn’t something that should be hidden, especially when it was clear one used it for good. She wanted to ask badly, but she remained quiet. The look of curiosity that dawned her face didn’t go unnoticed though, and in time Elenise gave it the attention it seeked.

“You wish to know why I kept it a secret,” Elenise said as she stopped dead in her tracks and looked to Sofie. “My magic, I mean.”

“I’m that easy to read?” Sofie asked, suddenly feeling rather awkward. “Yes, though, I do. What you did back in the cave was incredible. I had never seen anything like it, and while the militia weren’t a big threat in any way it helped us out a lot,” She placed her right hand under her chin, resting her head on it. “Why hide something like that, especially from the one you love?”

Elenise smiled, holding back a chuckle at the girl’s naivety. Of course she didn’t know; the world she hailed from had zero magic. If anyone was to be trusted with the information of her magic’s true nature, it was her. An open mind was the one person she could trust with such information. Elenise prepared herself by taking a deep breath in, and then let it out. Next she quickly checked to make sure they were the only ones around. When she felt safe, she turned back to Sofie.

“I have an aptitude in dark magic,” Elenise explained. “Raising the dead, manipulating one's mind, and as you saw in the cave the ability to move one's self through shadows,” She held her hand out in front of her, an orb appearing when she did. “My strength lies in the latter of those, shadow manipulation, but I’m capable of all that I just described. The teaching of such magic is frowned upon, and to us elves the discovery that one has aptitude in said field is a quick way to end up with a noose around your neck.”

“I… I see,” Sofie said, doing her best to process all she had just learned. “I could definitely see how some of those would not agree with people, but you aren’t a bad person.”

“Good or bad, doesn’t matter to us elves,” Elenise replied. She whisked the magical orb away with a flick of her hand. “The elves of Manark live by what nature tells them, and to go against the wishes of the forest is considered a grave offense. My kind doesn’t eat meat, because nature forbids us. We do not grow, because nature forbids us,” She curled her left hand into a fist as she stared at the ground. “We elves are the protectors of nature, therefore we must adhere to its will without a second's thought. To think against its will is punished by either exile or death.”

“You are one of those who were exiled, and that led you to meeting Harper,” Sofie summarized. Elenise nodded, her fist tightening. “Might I ask what happened, exactly?”

Elenise was silent for a good minute after that, Sofie patiently waiting for her to respond. She had never told anyone, not even Harper, and he had respected that. She looked to the ground, then closed her eyes. Sofie was the Lord of Terror, the one thing that could possibly help change Manark, even if they didn’t want it. She was the one thing that could help her free nature’s true voice, though she had no idea how that would be done. Still, her mind was decided, and with a stuttered breath she started her story.

“Before I went by Elenise Randolf, I was Shrauline Dau’Numin Manark,” Elenise explained. She quickly realized that Sofie didn’t know the Elvish naming scheme, so she shifted focus for a moment. “For clarification, Dau’Numin means I’m a daughter of the village Numin, and Manark of course stands for the country I was born in,” Sofie nodded in understanding. Elenise’s gaze turned to the sky. “The day I lost that name was the day Falketh’s forces burned my village to the ground. The day that nature told my entire village to sit and do nothing, and everyone I loved willingly let themselves get killed.”

Sofie felt herself stop breathing for a second as she heard those words. “It… it told you to sit and die?”

“Yes, though as you can probably guess I didn’t adhere to what nature wanted,” Elenise replied. She grabbed her own shirt by the collar. “I refused to sit and die. I refused to believe that is what nature really wanted, and so I ran away. It told me that I would be hated by all of nature, and I was fine with that. It told me that my name would be stripped for going against its will, and I was fine with that,” She looked back to Sofie, the hatred in her eyes clear. “Everyone I knew died that day, but I don’t regret what I did. I’m alive still, and though my name may be different I’m happier now than I ever was.”

Her eyes betrayed her words as she thought back, remembering all the fire and death that she had seen. She remembered the screams of her sister, and how she watched as their body was burned away to nothing but soot. It was true that she was happier now, that being with Harper had helped fill the gap in her heart that had formed after that day. It didn’t stop the memories from paining her any less.

She felt something thump into her and she looked down to see Sofie, the girl having wrapped her in a tight hug. Elenise looked at the girl in shock, having not expected the hug but all too glad to take it. She returned it in kind, gripping the Ukrainian’s dress tightly as she sobbed. The elf cried, the plants and trees hissing and at her in hate that only she could hear.

“We’ll change them, I promise,” Sofie said. “I don’t know how just yet, but I promise you that we’ll save your people from the forest, or whatever is controlling it. I promise you this, Elenise.”

“Thank you,” Elenise replied. “I promise to do whatever I can to help you out in turn, Sofie.”