I stood partially hidden behind the Lynx, who kindly refrained from moving and allowed me to cling to his side. Tina had attempted to comfort me, but I pushed her away, while Alice shot a few uneasy glances in my direction. They had all torn into Julietta over that remark; however, the conversation about the world persisted, leaving me sulking in my corner and growing weary of it. Why did they take so long to grasp the situation? And who cared about the extent of Thorwal's contribution versus Julietta's in that book? Well, evidently, some people cared, but I wasn't one of them. On the other hand, I already knew this world was real, unlike the boys who struggled to accept this revelation. Meanwhile, Alice, the Lynx, and Tina continued to pose questions about game-related transformations.
“All right” – I said, grabbing my horns in despair. Normally I would have grabbed my head in despair, but now the horns were in the way – “We are talking since a couple of hours here, and it is getting late. Boys and girls, we are not on Earth, we are on Aldea. OK? So, what do we do now? Let's clear this first!”
"I'm hungry!" Tina exclaimed, and I nodded in agreement. My belly was already making beastly sounds.
"Me too," Michael echoed at the same time as Lynx. The two looked at each other and laughed.
"Yeah, true!" Tom approved.
I continued, "Well, as the suns will be going down in the next hour or two, we should make our camp here. Lynx, would you be so kind as to hunt something and bring us a part? Something to eat? I think a deer's leg would be more than enough for the rest of us. Boys," I turned to Tom, "Could you gather some wood for a fire? We need the fire to last the whole night, which is now long. Don't go far, just at the edge of the meadow, and don't enter the forest. Yell if you see anything! Alice, can you stay here, guard the camp, and keep an eye on the boys? I'll go inspect that abandoned mill over there. Maybe it's a good place to set up our camp for tonight."
"And us? What should we do?" Tina asked, pointing to herself and Michael.
I shrugged. "Stay here, or come with me, or..."
"We'll come with you. Maybe there's water by the mill," Tina suggested.
"Good point. Lynx, is the area secure?" I asked just as he was about to leave.
He glanced at the boys and then at me.
"The area seems pretty safe, that is, as long as you don't leave the glade. There are some low-level snakes near the mill, so just don't let the boys go over there," he warned.
Even as he spoke, he melted into the air. The next moment, we couldn't see him anymore, though his voice still resonated with us.
"As I said, don't leave the glade. The forest might be dangerous!"
It was some natural magic, similar to White Flower's illusions. Somehow, Lynx could make himself invisible while projecting an image of himself. I rolled my eyes at his gratuitous display of magic, but for him, it was a natural way of being.
"May I come with you?" the elf-girl asked just as I was about to move.
"Why not!" I answered with a shrug.
"Then I'll come with you too," Alice decided, and she gestured to the boys, pointing towards one part of the glade. "You should go in that direction. I want to keep you in sight!"
With that, we set ourselves in motion. It was a bit cumbersome to walk through the grass, which seemed to grow higher as we advanced. At one point, I even checked for a bigger knife or bat in my inventory to cut or strike the grass down. Seeing my puny knife, Alice handed me a sword she had in her inventory to use as a machete, and fortunately, we arrived soon at the mill.
Up close, the building looked even worse—completely ruined. The wood planks were rotten, and it was surrounded by high grass, taller than me. Overall, it had an unpleasant, humid, and dark atmosphere. It was in such a state that we decided it would make no sense to remain there for the night. However, there was a small creek with running water, and Tina filled two cauldrons with water, which she placed in her inventory. The elf-girl helped, as she had some rudimentary skills at manipulating water, which came in handy for filling the cauldrons with clean water.
“I think the previous place was better suited for a camp,” Alice said.
I nodded in agreement.
“What are you doing? Should we wait for you?” she asked, noticing me standing near the creek.
I shook my head. “I'd like to wash up a bit. I'm completely covered with soot and grime from the fight. Don't wait for me.”
"No need for them to wait for my impromptu striptease", I thought to myself.
She nodded in understanding. “You'll still be within my domain here, but I won't be able to see if something comes from the nearby woods. If you feel endangered, just yell and run to me. Okay?”
I nodded in agreement. As they left, the elf-girl remained. After the hours-long conversation that we had, I wasn't expecting her to suddenly attack me, but one should always be prepared for anything.
“You're not going with them?” I wondered, unsure of what she was planning.
“It's the ring's pull,” she explained. “I feel better when I stay closer to the ring. Besides, it's better if somebody stays with you in case something happens, and I could even help with some water sputtering if you need that.”
I raised a brow at her sudden care for my well-being. That was a complete turnaround in record time, but I shouldn't get too complacent. After all, she did serve me that comment before...
“Can you explain what's with this ring?” I asked as I started to wash.
She sighed.
“Have you ever heard of the Battle of Norsewick?” she asked.
I shook my head. "Is she starting to give me history lessons now?" I wondered.
She sighed again, a deep, pained sigh.
"Well, it was almost one hundred years ago, so it's no wonder you don't know. But I thought you knew something about Aldea's history. It was one of this world's great battles, between a coalition of orcs and humans against elves. For the elves, even if the battle was mostly undecided, it was a catastrophe. A synonym for a Pyrrhic victory, and it defined the fate of this continent as we see it now. After so many losses, the elven coalition was shattered, and they split into many smaller kingdoms. Norsewick had been one of our great tree-towns, if not the greatest, but after the battle, it was abandoned. The humans had long wanted to expand into the forest, and we had long been at war with the orcs from the mountains. It was not far from here; that's where I had this portal from. This mill over here has probably been here since those times. I was captured during one of the battles by a squad of orcs and subsequently sold to K'hordock, the Warlock from Hologomora. I did escape a couple of times; once, I simply cut my chained leg and healed as soon as I escaped from the mana-draining tools, but I didn't make it to elven grounds. The orcs and even human hunters traced me and caught me back. The reward on my capture was too great."
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As I heard her recounting those moments, my mind finally connected her name to something from my memory.
"Wait, the name... Trachenorma... Are you related to King Trachenorma? There is an elven kingdom bordering Guarava in the North ruled by a king with that name?"
She nodded with a sad smile. "I am his eldest daughter."
"You're his eldest daughter?" I asked, taken aback.
She shrugged, biting her lip. "Should I tell you more about the ring?"
"Yes, please."
"Well, my father had tried to buy my freedom, but K'hordock had raised the ransom higher after each meeting, and in the end, he refused negotiations even though he had already received a first payment. Orcs have few healers, and he wanted to use me. He fulfilled his wish with the help of a demon."
"A demon?" I wondered.
"That ring was made by an arch-demon. It is connected to this..." she said, unveiling her back to reveal another black diamond artifact affixed to her spine, between her shoulder blades. As she pulled her dress back, she explained, "There is another one implanted in my head. Together, they make me the perfect slave. I can feel what my master wants from me, and I am compelled to obey. His orders are my laws, his wishes my duties. You cannot imagine what that demon did to me to demonstrate its effectiveness. I suffered unimaginable torture and debasement, and yet I cried out for more. That's when I gained insights into the mind of a demon. It was a relief to be handed back to K'hordock. Can you even imagine that? Would you like to hear more details of my torture and debasement?" She asked with a strange twist of her tongue and watched with surprise as I reacted horrified.
"Why did you not destroy it once you escaped?" I asked.
She sighed deeply once more.
"You're different... I don't understand..." she mumbled. "Oh well, you think I did not try? It was not possible to destroy it without it killing me,” she explained.
She began to laugh. “If I were to destroy the ring, it would respawn in a special bowl at K'hordock's place. I never tried it, but I knew about it, as K'hordock had boasted about the process. He would only have to come and collect me. If somebody removes the artifact from my spine, which cannot be done without severing my spine, it explodes, killing me and potentially the person who removes it.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
She chuckled.
“I tried, and I died. I had a shaman ready to resurrect me, and the resurrection worked. I can consider myself lucky, but it also regenerated the artifact on my back, as if it were part of me. I have not yet tried to remove the one that was implanted in my brain, the one that influences my feelings.”
I felt goosebumps at the thought of her horror story. I wanted to scratch my scalp and grabbed onto one horn.
“How did you manage to escape?” - I wondered.
“He became complacent after he saw how submissive I was. He would take the ring off from time to time to wash his hands or before going to bed, but his orders remained my rule. Even when he removed the ring, I still knew his orders. One day, he wanted to buy a book from a dealer, but the price was too high. He didn't want to resort to theft or force, but I could do it for him. I could fulfill his wish if only I could walk away from the palace. Nobody would suspect me, and I could do that if I took the ring. So, that's how I managed to put the ring on my finger and become my own master. It took all that convoluted reasoning just for me to take the ring.”
“Oh my goodness! How could you live with that?” - I wondered.
“There was always conflict in my mind. There was always that urge to obey him, but I knew it was false. I knew it came from this damned artifact.”
“But why didn't you run to your father once you were free? He's a king! He could have helped you!”
She sadly shook her head.
“This cursed thing can only be destroyed by another arch-demon. My father would have done anything to help me, even try to summon an arch-demon and make some reckless deal with them. If I had run to him, I would have forced him to find a solution for me. I couldn't risk that. I couldn't do that to him, to my family, to my sister, to my sweet mother. No. I had to find a solution to my problem first.”
“Why didn't you simply keep the ring with you, be your own master, and go to your father? You could have thought of a solution there; wouldn't that have been better? Why did you run to Earth?”
“Because bearing the ring had spillover effects on me. It forces some kind of self-enforcing loop in my mind. I was becoming unhinged and making crazy decisions. It was very hard to behave normally. You think of something, and it becomes an obsession; you have to do it. However, Earth has a very low mana environment. Practically nil. There, it takes forever to replenish my mana. Okay, not forever, but it could take years. In such an environment, the ring's effect was weak. I could easily resist it, even if someone without magic had taken it.”
“But you still wore it?” I wondered.
“I was too afraid to let it out of sight. I used to deplete my mana, and in this way, the side effects were weaker. I could live with myself, but even so, you know the stories about the crazy Mrs. Thorwal who did all kinds of crazy things. That's where it came from, even if I always tried to keep a low profile.”
“Well, for a mana-depleted girl, you put up a fight there. You nearly killed me...” I observed.
“You're a weak demon, no offense, and I had artifacts. This dress allows me to teleport and has a shield built-in, this ring on my right hand allows me to shoot fireballs, the amulet to heal, the bracelet to swing an invisible hammer.”
“Oh, I got that...” I mumbled.
She chuckled.
“You don't have your own magic sources?” I wondered.
“No, I wasn't blessed with such, but I had Red Lilies. I always carry a couple of bulbs with me.”
First I thought that my mana sight was not good enough to see them, but she really had no such sources.
“Red Lilies?”
“Yes, mana-producing plants. Good for alchemists to use for mana drinks.”
I chuckled. There is a solution for everything, I thought.
I was clean and already dressed.
“Should we go back?” I asked.
“As you wish, Lores,” she answered.
That answer struck me in an unpleasant way.
“Look, should I give you back the ring?" I questioned. "Would you promise not to kill me?” I added hastily.
She sighed. “I told you that I become unhinged with the ring on my finger. I'm not sure what I will do, the smallest wishes become obsessions...”
“Does the ring transmit thoughts?” I wondered.
“No. Just an overall feeling. I get when you are upset or sad or angry. That is one. The other is, your words are orders for me that I have to comply with.”
“Look, I don't want to be your master. I don't want you to feel obliged to do as I say only because I said it. Can you behave like a normal person, like everybody else in this group, until we find a solution? There must be a solution to this thing. OK? Is that a deal?”
“So you mean that I should behave as if I would be free of restraints and free to say my mind? That's an easy thing to agree to.”
“Yes,” I nodded. "Even if sometimes you really know how to hurt with words..." I thought, but didn't want to complain. I didn't want to forbid her anything.
“I can do that,” she answered with a deep sigh of relief as we walked back towards the camp.
“I'm sorry,” she suddenly said. I raised a questioning brow, looking at her. What was her problem now?
“I'm really sorry for what I've said before, that about soulless demons. I know it did hurt you; I felt it, and I enjoyed it. I expected you to show your true self... and in a way, I succeeded with that. You are so very different from that other demon. I felt ashamed of myself after I said that, and even if I tried to tell myself that it was not true, that those were only feelings pushed into my brain by the ring, I now realize that I was mean without reason. I'm sorry.”