Cracks spread till, with a whoosh, a swirling tear in space opened.
The glow stones in the cave flicked, then one by one went out. Soon the only light in the cave was the swirling blue and purple of the portal.
Valgrath’s heart was racing as a figure stepped out of the portal, which closed behind the being, leaving the cave in pitch darkness.
Three eyes opened in the dark, shining brightly. There was no white in the eyes, but a vibrant purple with shining blue irises followed by an even brighter green pupil. Five similar colored and glowing maws opened, filling the space with hisses.
Valgrath had cold sweat running down his back. This…this was not who he thought would answer his call. He went to his knees, then kowtowed as the glow stones flickered to life.
A woman stood in the middle of the circle. She had three eyes, with one in the middle of her forehead, which was vertically oriented. Her skin was deathly pale and wore a black band across her chest with a tattered skirt. The woman’s hair started out white, but shifted to obsidian. The hair, if you even call it that, hissed and shifted behind the women. Valgrath glanced up to see the woman’s hair ended in five thick, serpent-like bodies. Obsidian bodies with glowing maws, moved independently around the women. He hurriedly looked back down at the ground. He had summoned an Ascendent exceeding all his expectations, but this one in particular would change everything.
“Ah, it’s nice to be back at my old home,” came a sultry voice.
Soft steps came towards Valgrath, then two black boots entered his sight.
“Rise, Valgrath, let me get a good look at you.”
Valgrath stood, his gaze locked onto the floor, which gave him a view of the women’s legs. The women wore black boots that matched her skin, which went from black to grey, then white as it went up her thigh.
A long, obsidian, claw-like finger moved under his chin and pushed up. Valgrath looked up, meeting the still glowing eyes.
“My lady, your humble servant is unworthy to-” Valgrath said, but the woman spoke.
“Enough of that. You know better than to use my real name, so Mistress will work, and we don’t need all of that servant nonsense,” the Mistress said.
“Yes Mistress,” Valgrath said, stepping back.
The Mistress looked around the cave, “I hope this won’t be our headquarters.”
“No, we can find better accommodations. As for-”
“Hmm, Valgrath, if I recall, your primary role was espionage and research.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Then let’s play to our strengths. As an Ascendent, I’m limited in what I can do in this plane of existence. But I can do enough to help expand your influence. Now, from what I observed of you, your plans in Esteron have progressed as planned.”
Valgrath nodded.
“Then let’s change the world. Starting with the familiar spying on us,” the Mistress said, her smile revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth.
Valgrath’s face went pale, and he whirled around towards the entranceway of the cave.
“Fucking Spectrid!” he snarled, his hand reaching out making a claw.
The Mistress had revealed a hidden being. A vague, transparent blueish outline of a spider-like creature scuttled away along the ceiling.
An orange claw appeared, grasping the creature, which was crushed, turning into blue wisps of energy.
“Forgive me Miss-” Valgrath said, turning to where the Mistress had been, but found the cave empty apart from him and the unconscious space spirit.
***
Ivron told me to be careful with this investigation, Lucien thought ruefully.
He was currently fleeing through the forest after his summon familiar had died. It had sent him terrifying information and an image of someone who was too powerful for this world. Josue’s odd shift in personality had proven to be far more than what Ivron and he had thought.
I wish I told Ivron what I was planning before he left, he thought.
Wind howled around him as he fled through the forest. Weaving in and out of the trees, Lucien hoped he could get away.
He froze in midair as he attempted to leap over a stream.
“Come now, first you’re rude enough to eavesdrop, then once you’re found out you flee like a little insect,” came the Mistresses voice, feigning being hurt.
“Ascendant I-” Lucien said, but trailed off as a hand brushed his cheek from behind.
“You’re going to tell us who you are, who you work for,” the Mistress said. “Oh,” she said, poorly feigning shock. “But wait, Valgrath can just kill you and get what we need. Isn’t that, right?”
Lucien only heard cold laughter before everything went dark.
After disposing of the body, which was primarily done by Valgrath eating it, they were back in the cave.
“It appears the adventurer guild and several nobles are taking more notice of me than I would like,” Valgrath said thoughtfully.
“Nothing that can’t be easily handled. Remember, this isn’t a sprint, but a marathon. We take the time we need, staying in the shadows. I also have some suggestions we can go over. But it’s a good thing my mere presence will obscure divination abilities. Even more than those helping you currently,” The Mistress said lounging in a chair. She smiled, “It certainly helps when you have a former fate breaker on your side.”
“I thank you, Mistress. With your guidance, I know we can succeed,” Valgrath said gratefully.
The Mistress simply waved off his comment. “This world is far more complicated and powerful than any of the ones you have dealt with in the past, so we will need to be cautious. But let’s discuss our next steps.”
***
Back in the Heartstone kingdom, Liliana frowned.
The fate of Esteron was now truly obscured. Nothing could be gleaned by even checking the other nations that its actions could affect. The paths simply led to nothingness in her eyes. She had dealt with divination blocking abilities, but this was on an entirely different level. Fate breakers had a similar effect by virtue of what path they were walking, but this…was trouble.
This isn’t a good sign, she thought, leaning back in her chair.
“Marabella, can you come here?” she said, speaking to a crystal.
A few minutes later, Marabella walked in with a smile, but it faded as she saw Liliana’s mood.
“Sit,” Liliana said, gesturing to a chair across from her desk.
“So, it’s bad,” Marabella said, sitting down.
“Yeah, we will need to prepare. I am more certain now that greater powers are involved with Esteron. I will need items to prepare a powerful ritual to communicate with several ascendants and to see what little of fate I can.”
Marabella leaned back in her chair, thinking. “Luckily, we have gathered plenty of quintessence and other items for large rituals because of the intersection. It will still take time to complete, though.”
Liliana sighed, “that’s fine. I just want to ensure we are ready for whatever the future brings. As it stands right now, powerful forces are in motion, and we can’t fall behind.”
***
Falkor swam in the depths of the ocean. He could feel the mythical catalyst’s energy calling. With his aura blanketing the area, none dared approach his prize. As he got deeper, he felt two individuals enter his hatchlings’ area. It had become a pastime of his to observe the little spirit and Zerine’s visits.
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His eyes glowed as he scried, casting his sight back to the coast.
The spirit had made impressive progress on its magic, especially as his hatchlings and it worked on magic together. As for Zerine, well, her progress was slow, as expected. But she had been taking inspiration from his hatchlings and the spirit for her ambient magic control, creating a rather unique approach. Even with her novel approach, it still required an insane amount of willpower for her to even affect the surrounding area without a crest. But Zerine kept striving to improve despite many failures.
His sense of the barrier alerted him to two intruders. Finally, after reducing the power blocking aspect of the barrier, monsters had come to test his hatchlings.
Ah good, they need a little push, he thought, as the monsters headed towards his hatchlings.
***
Zerine was meditating while the dragons and Varino practiced magic when a chill went down her spin. Her eyes snapped open. She saw that Terrinixis sniffing the air.
“Something is coming. Caught the scent when the breeze shifted,” Terrinixis thought to her and the others.
Zerine stood, grabbing some rocks good for throwing, along with a sturdy stick. Varino flew to her, landing on her shoulder.
“I smell brimstone and it’s getting closer,” Fulguramoz thought to them.
The dragons were spreading out, giving each other room to move. They had grown since their first meeting. They had been the size of an average dog, but now they were easily the size of a bear.
Zerine heard rustling and the snap of breaking sticks in the distance. A breeze brought a pungent sulfuric smell, and her eyes went wide.
“Hellhounds,” she whispered.
Varino began to subtly prepare, gathering energy for her attack. The dragons were gathering their own energies.
Zerine smiled to herself. She could actually feel the energy the others were gathering, a small victory for her magic sensing practice.
A howl broke the tense silence. The fear Zerine had at the back of her mind suddenly came to the forefront, rushing through.
A mental attack, she thought, before shoving the fear back down once again.
Two auras released, and it washed over them. The others brushed it off, but Zerine found herself struggling once again.
Amongst the trees, Zerine could see two fiery forms come into view. The largest one was nearly the same size as the dragons, with a skeleton body encased in raging flames. The second hellhound came into view and was about as large as a wolf.
A piercing gaze landed on Zerine, soon followed by an increase of one of the auras. The largest hellhound was trying to force Zerine to her knees to make her an easier target. She struggled against the pressure, but it was a losing proposition. She was on her knees in short order. Zerine fought the pressure as cold sweat dripped off her as she forced herself to breathe.
The hellhounds attacked at the same time, using a movement ability to appear in the clearing. The smallest hellhound attacked Zerine, while the largest one went for the dragons.
A blast of wind shoved the small monster from Zerine. Varino’s tiny frame stood in between her and the hellhound. The monster snarled, then spat flames. A sound of shattering glass escaped from Varino, who blasted out a jet of water.
A steam explosion rocked the area, knocking Zerine back. She gasped as the pressure from the largest hellhound was gone. It was now fighting the three dragons who were fending off spells that the large hellhound cast rapidly. Making the ground rubble and shake under her body.
Zerine looked back in time to watch Varino sending the hellhound into a tree with a loud crash. The attack was so strong there were cracks and groans as the tree fell slowly. Getting to its feet, the hellhound howled and charged, using a blast of flames to propel itself at a blur towards Varino.
In the moments before it launched itself at Varino, Zerine had thrown a rock. There was a satisfying thunk as the monster’s own momentum made the rocks impact stronger. But to Zerine’s dismay, it had hardly any effect other than bringing attention to herself.
The creature spat a ball of flames towards her as it continued its fight with Varino. Zerine’s heart raced as the flame roared towards her. Time seemed to slow as the ball of flame came closer. There wasn’t enough time for her to dodge, so Zerine did the first time that came to her mind.
She tried to create a mana barrier. During her practice, Zerine had managed to make a tiny and weak barrier nothing larger than a finger. There was no time to think. She put everything in, commanding the surrounding magic to obey. Zerine lashed out with a fist, intending to make the barrier appear in front of it, knowing that this was all she could do.
A large barrier appeared in front of Zerine, blocking the attack. Zerine was too busy staring at a light blue fist sized barrier that hovered in the air where her fist had been. She had done it.
A screech of pain knocked Zerine out of her surprise stopper. Terrinixis and Fulguramoz had landed lightning strikes severely wounding the largest hellhound. The ungodly sound made Zerine stagger back.
Cool hands touching her check made Zerine start. Varino stood on her shoulder and burbled a question.
“I’m fine. You did great and thanks for the save,” she replied. Varino hugged her cheek. Zerine patted her back with a finger. Her gaze went to where the smaller hellhound had been and only saw a pile of ashes.
Varino chimed a question. Zerine rubbed her nose. Her hand came away red with blood.
“I’m fine. I push past my limit again. Clearly, I still need to improve my willpower,” Zerine muttered to herself and Varino, who patted her check.
Soon the other hellhound was defeated.
“That was unexpected, but you all did amazing,” Zerine said to the others. The dragons glanced at one another.
“Thank you. But there are some things we all need to still work on. Even if that was an alpha, it shouldn’t have taken all three of us to kill it. As for you, we should have you work on dealing with aura suppression,” Terrinixis thought to her and Varino.
Varino whistled a question.
“Yes, you did probably the best out of us all, but improvements can always be made,” Terrinixis replied.
***
Falkor drew his attention back from the group.
Plenty of areas to improve, but they did well, he thought.
He moved his claw, and a small assortment of catalysts flew to him, then vanished into his spatial storage.
“I understand your interest in the spirit, but why Zerine? She doesn’t seem to have inherited the talents of her parents,” Sithera thought to him.
“Hmm, her soul is strong, and I find her odd instincts intriguing.”
“The instincts are interesting, but everyone’s souls are strong and at that age, all have great potential,” Sithera rebutted.
“True, but combining that with her mind set, makes her stand out. She doesn’t give up and does what she can, striving to improve. I don’t believe you truly understand just how difficult it is for a crestless to use ambient magic. In that fight she finally had created a mana barrier.”
“Hmm, I will admit I still don’t understand the delay with the less magical beings getting their crest later in life.” Sithera replied. “But those two have had a positive impact on the little ones.”
“That they have. But I have retrieved the mythical catalyst. I gave the first one to the Shadow Legion. That one focused on water and shadows. This one we shall keep.”
“That’s wonderful news. I’ve monitored the two-legs, and they have followed the rules set by Cal. Although I sense ships coming from further out that might not play by those rules.”
“Hmm, have some of our kin watch them. We can’t have outsiders attempting to throw off the balance here.”
“I have felt this region improve over the years and so have the others. They will want to keep this going, especially since they felt like this ancestral place was too far gone.”
“It is a relief to feel noticeable improvement, but let’s keep protecting it. I would like this to one day be like what it had been in the past.”
***
Raith looked over Ivron’s notes.
“So, a civil war is possible, or at least major noble factions breaking out into fighting,” she said, looking up from the paper.
Ivron was a human with black curly hair that was cut short. His gold and brown eyes look tired back at Raith.
“Yeah,” he sighed, “from what I got recently, the factions are gearing up for a real fight. Once the intersection in Heartstone is done, then there will be another on the board of Esteron in the Great Forest and the Grand Mountain range. That will most likely help spark the place into full chaos as catalysts and other resources could help strengthen their forces.”
“Wonderful. If they push the fairies and the dragons in that area, they will get a fight.”
“Ooh, they know and will probably use them as scapegoats or something,” Ivron said.
“So, the next few years will be interesting ones,” Gary said, grinning.
“Sure, if you like wars, assassinations, major power shifts and more,” Selara said, walking up to them with a plate of food. She was a tall, slender elf with blonde hair and green eyes.
“Hmm, I doubt large scale war, but a civil war seems all but certain,” Raith said.
“Yeah, but to stop other nations from taking advantage of their weakness, they will strike either from the shadows or in a grand show of force,” Selara replied.
“True,” Ivron said, sighing.
“But enough of these depressing events that are out of our control. What do the adventurers’ guild want us to do next?” Gary wondered.
“They want us to investigate several vampire sightings and other odd happenings on the continent of Mewela.”
Ivron groaned. “They really mean the wastelands, right?”
“Yep,” Raith said cheerfully.
“I suppose Grace is getting our travel arrangements ready,” Gary said, which got a nod from Raith.
“I could do with a good fight,” Selara commented.
“Yeah, I need a fight, too. Can’t get rusty,” Gary said with a huge grin.
“Just don’t destroy a building like last time,” Ivron said.
“It was a street, and we learned our lesson. Isn’t that right Selara?” Gary replied.
Selara laughed, “yeah Ava and Raith nearly lost their minds.” Raith glowered and Selara coughed. “We will be the perfect adventurers.”
“Riiight,” Ivron said, shaking his head.
“Let me just go over what I have for our first step,” Raith said.
***
Varino clapped with a bright cheer as Zerine successfully created a plate size mana barrier. A sweat covered and panting, Zerine smiled. It had been six months since the hellhound attack and Zerine hadn’t stopped trying to improve her mana barrier.
She had turned twelve months ago and once again had gone to a crest ceremony to only not get one. Instead of letting it get to her, she pushed herself harder during training.
Staring at the light blue pane of glass, she felt triumphant. Times like this made all the past failures and effort worth it.
She smiled at Varino.
“Next, a mana bolt.”
Varino burbled a question.
“Yeah,” Zerine scratched the back of her head, “I probably should work on making it bigger, but it just isn’t that strong. At this size, I can keep the ambient magic under my control.”
“Varino is right. You should work on expanding its size before attempting a mana bolt,” Shiya walked over.
Behind Shiya, Naro was working on levitating with his wind magic.
“Alright, but I really wanted to make my first magical attack,” Zerine grumbled, releasing her control over the ambient magic. She felt the strain of using her willpower to control the magic ease off as the blue pane faded.
“Small steps. You have made great strides compared to where you were when we first met.”
“I just feel like I’m behind. But you're right, small steps and when Raith and others come home, Varino and I will wow them,” Zerine said, which got a chime in agreement.
When they were done training for the day, Zerine was back in her room. She was holding her hand out flat, palm up. She glared at a point above it and slowly, energy began to swirl. A smile broke out across her face as a finger sized mana bolt appeared. The mana bolt resembled a crystal with two pointed ends.
Blood dripped out of her nose, but it couldn’t stop her from smiling.
“Oooh,” came from Varino, sounding like a slide whistle.
“First step,” Zerine said with a huge grin.