The rocky trails of the Eastern Foothills were rough going. The landscape was dry, and prone to frequent rockfalls due to the lack of vegetation. The air was also thin, as much of the Waste sat on a plateau, which really put into question the term ‘foothills’ being used for them in Illyxa’s mind. She was definitely glad she didn’t have to walk it much, sitting on Gragya’s pack and going over her spellbooks. At least the thin air meant the elves were able to talk much.
It seemed like any time Hyi opened her mouth she said something foolish.
Illyxa supposed she couldn’t blame the sheltered woman that much. Priestesses rarely left their temples, and were generally on guided pilgrimages when they did.
That morning, though, Gragya showed she had a bit of curiosity about the elven priestess while they ate breakfast. For reasons that didn’t surprise Illyxa in the least.
“So, are you two a thing, or?” the muscular woman asked, while enjoying a bit of stew.
Hyi and Fuan glanced at one another, looking more confused than anything.
“I’m married,” Fuan said.
“And your wife isn’t the one to help you?” Illyxa asked, mildly curious about the mysterious elf herself.
For rather different reasons from Gragya’s curiosity about Hyi.
“We had a… slight argument,” Fuan replied. “She has been living with her sister for a bit… eight years, or so? She also isn’t the best at travelling.”
“Ah,” Illyxa said, mildly annoyed he was clearly dodging the questions still.
Gragya, on the other hand, seemed uninterested in Fuan, and kept her focus on Hyi. “Curious, your position at the Temple of Luvra… is there, like, a vow of chastity or anything involved?”
“No?” Hyi asked, tilting her head.
“Are you seeing anyone?” Gragya asked.
“You’re shameless,” Illyxa said, starting to gather her stuff to head out.
“What? It’s at least another week until we get to the next town. A girl gets lonely,” the tall woman replied.
“It’s only a week…” Illyxa muttered.
“I don’t mind us getting to know each other?” Hyi asked.
Gragya lit up, causing Illyxa to groan.
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After a few hours, their moods had switched around. Gragya’s continued flirting efforts had hit a brick wall with Hyi’s obliviousness. Even Fuan seemed mildly amused by Hyi’s completely inability to pick up on innuendo.
Illyxa was teasing her cousin, trying to egg her on to more failure, when a boulder slammed into the ground in front of them.
“You!” a deep and bellowing voice roared.
Turning, the group were facing off with a particularly large ice giant, with several other giants, who were, well, not as large, but still clearly giants. Their intimidation factor was somewhat dampened by the way most were heavily covered in bandages, a few having crutches supporting them.
“Friends of yours?” Fuan asked.
“Uhh… are you the giants from Dobengof?” Illyxa shouted up, using magic to improve the projection of her voice.
“Of course we are!” the largest giant roared. “Who else would we be??”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to recognise you under all those bandages,” Illyxa shouted back.
“And whose fault is that?”
“Listen, it wasn’t anything personal. Dobengof hired me. I did my job. If you want vengeance, attack them again!” Illyxa shouted up. “They’re pretty defenceless now!”
“They didn’t give us these burns!”
“Exactly!??!” Illyxa replied, waving her arms in frustration.
“Enough talking! We fight!” the lead giant shouted, the rest of the group starting to throw boulders down at them.
Hyi rushed forward, extending her arms with a magic shout of ‘bembaii’, a sphere of protective magic flashing into existence moments before the boulders crashed down. The rocks shattered against the magic shield. Not that Illyxa had been overly worried, Gragya having moved the two of them to a point that would have been safe either way.
Fuan held out a hand, hissing ‘dyun’. A green blade of crackling magical energy formed in his hand, before he launched himself forward at the giants.
Gragya dropped her backpack, Illyxa hopping off of it and onto her cousin’s shoulder. The taller woman then charged forward as well.
“D-doesn’t anyone want to stay in the shield?” Hyi asked, looking mildly concerned as she was left behind.
Gragya bounded off of a rock tossed her way, launching herself at a giant on the left. Illyxa shouted ‘lindu’, using the goblin flight spell to throw herself from Gragya’s shoulder and at the head of the lead giant.
He let out a yelp of surprise and jumped to the side.
She let out a fireball as she whizzed past his head, the force of it knocking him over. She then gave a shout of ‘botuut’, turning the rocks below her into a bouncy substance for just a moment, springing off to have a more manageable (if still rough) landing a few paces further away.
That last spell wasn’t generally in a red mage’s handbook, but it was one goblins were fond of due to how often they found themselves sent flying.
Spinning in her place, she saw Gragya was working through a group of giants to one end, while Fuan was dealing with those on the other. Which meant she could blast the center of the gang of giants without risking friendly fire.
Of course, it also meant the bulk of the group were charging her way right now.
She began her invocation speaking as quickly as she could (which was rather quickly), summoning a volley of fireballs to batter the giants charging her way. While the blasts knocked a few over, there were enough that she was going to be in trouble if she didn’t think quickly.
Luckily, Illyxa could think faster than she could speak (which, as we established, was very quickly) and decided to blast herself into the air with another Goblin flight spell.
She laughed as two of the giants collided over top of where she had been standing, and rained firebolts down onto them. The firebolts had the added advantage of kickback that pushed her higher into the air, allowing her to more or less float as long as she could keep the magic flowing.
What it really provided was a way to keep a few giants busy while she could keep her focus on Fuan. She was curious about his fighting style, to see what she could learn about him.
He showed skill with the sword, though he seemed, somehow, overconfident? She noticed him stumble a few times, being saved by Hyi providing support spells.
Was he just used to fighting with elven priests as support? Or was it something to do with whatever was off about him?
Eh, she was starting to get tired from all the firebolts she was shooting off, so Illyxa decided it was time to deal with her chunk of the giants. She landed on one’s head and hit him with a paralysis spell. She then scrambled down his back, moving quickly due to his cold icy skin being unpleasant on her poor hands and feet.
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She then used a spell to launch herself off of him, and onto a nearby ridge. It gave her the high ground, which she used to stick her tongue out and make an obscene gesture at the giants.
“One last chance to surrender, you big snowball brains!” she shouted.
“Not a chance, little gnat!” the lead giant shouted.
“Guess it’s sauna time,” she said, before beginning to recite her spell.
It wasn’t going to be at full strength, she was translating it into Goblin rather than speaking it in the original Celestine, but she had to hide what the spell was from the elves. To make them think it was just Goblin red magic they didn’t know.
“Pykezetpayzte!” she shouted, the burst of fiery plasma flaring out from the front of the magic circle her spell had summoned.
The heat of it blasted through the Ice Giant ranks, leaving only steam behind. Those giants not caught up in the blast stared for a moment, before breaking into a retreat. Illyxa didn’t care about them, they’d learned not to mess with her.
She then scrambled down the rock face, hurrying over to the elves, arriving at about the same time Gragya did. Her cousin was looking disappointed, which she always did after fighting giants. They were strong, but that was it, few giants having ever actually learned technique to their fighting. Gragya insisted they were like punching bags. Good for letting off some frustration, but far from a learning experience.
Fuan, on the other hand, was ranting angrily in elvish. He seemed angry with himself, rather than with Hyi, but the priestess seemed as upset as if he were yelling at her. She probably just wasn’t used to yelling. Illyxa’s own elven was limited outside of vocabulary relevant magic theory (having raided a few Human and Elven libraries for new spells), so she couldn’t follow much of what Fuan said.
There was one thing he said that stood out to her, though.
“What do you mean ‘this human body’?” she asked, having removed a few expletives from her translation.
Fuan blinked, before staring at her like a gazedeer mystified by a light spell. “Y-you know Elvish?”
“Bits and bobs,” Illyxa replied with a shrug.
“You should just tell her,” Hyi said, her voice soft. “It’s easier than hiding it.”
“If she tells anyone… I’ll never live it down,” Fuan muttered.
“We can keep secrets. For the right price,” Illyxa said.
“Price is negotiated after we learn how juicy the secret is, of course,” Gragya replied.
“I’ll give you fifteen gold, no more,” Fuan said, eyes narrow.
The cousins glanced at each other, before shrugging and nodding. It was way more than they’d expected.
“That’s a good price,” Illyxa said. “Spill the beans.”
Fuan glared at her terms, but gave a reluctant sigh and began.
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The Red Dragon army had broken through Shuzia Forest’s northern line of forts. It hadn’t been a raid like the generals had claimed. Fuan was glad to have called his battalion’s reserves up, despite his superiors saying he was being over cautious.
He and his men hurried through the streets of Fyeizan, the old fortress city, taking the local soldiers’ advice of where they were most needed. If they couldn’t hold the Red Dragon’s here, the next step was Shuzia City itself.
The soldiers had been right, Fuan’s eye twitching as a flood of red kobolds broke through a drainage point for the main river that fed the city. The battalion’s archers called out invocations of various spells to summon a volley of enchanted arrows, whizzing past the ears of the spellswords like Fuan who charged into the frey.
Kobolds were light work, as one would expect from the magic creations of dragons meant as a mimicry of the mortal races the gods had forged. There were, however, always so many of them. They were nearly as bad as goblins with how quickly their numbers multiplied, and so much more dedicated to combat with the breath of their dragon lords ready to deal with any who might retreat.
Fuan faught conservatively, knowing he had to hold his strength for the main foes. Main foes who chose this moment to arrive, a red dragon landing in the middle of the melee, little regard for whether it landed on elves or kobolds.
Fuan leapt up, grabbing a flapping wing. He pulled himself up, running along it as the dragon tried to shake him off. It would take more than unsteady ground to throw off an elf.
He dodged a burst of fire, before throwing himself onto the dragon’s neck. He found an opening between the scales to drive his blade into, the great lizard letting out a roar of pain.
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“Do we need to hear the whole battle?” Illyxa groaned. “Especially in that much detail?”
Fuan’s eye twitched. “You asked me to tell you what happened.”
“Well, yeah, but how much does this all matter to your situation?” Gragya asked.
“Fine. Fine. I will give you the abridged version,” Fuan muttered. “Goblins… honestly.”
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There had been several dragons to slay during the battle. The city had turned into a firestorm around him from the red dragon’s fire.
Fuan panted, barely a third of his battalion was still alive as they stood in the central square of Fyeizan. The city was lost, but the battle was not. Not yet.
From the flames dancing around them emerged a greater dragon. The old and powerful serpent was missing an eye and had many a scar upon him. Between that and the large horns upon his head, Fuan recognised this as Korrnick the Destroyer. A dragon leader from wars in the time of Fuan’s own grandfather.
“Impressive that you lot have lasted this long. Know, though, that this shall be the end of your time as elves. I shall personally throw you all back upon the mill of rebirth,” Korrnick hissed, before launching a blast of fire.
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“Oh! I just remembered where I knew that name from. Korrnick’s Greater Firebreath! It’s an old spell for Kobolds,” Illyxa said, nodding sagely. “One of my favourites to use. The flames are hot enough to use against water enemies.”
Fuan stared at her. “May I continue?”
“Sure,” Illyxa replied, nibbling some more on the popcorn she’d summoned for listening to the story.
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The archers lobbed a volley at Korrnick, aiming for his eye as Fuan and the few remaining spellswords attempted to put pressure on the great dragon with close combat. The great dragon was no regular foe, however, and moved with a grace most would assume imposible for such a creature. Even the blessed guided arrows of the archers struggled to hit their marks.
Korrnick’s claws tore through the armour of Lorom, Fuan’s left hand and oldest friend. The elven warrior was then tossed aside, into a burning building with the attention trash kicked down a street.
Fuan cried out, rushing to his friend’s side and Lorom coughed and sputtered with his last breaths.
“Lorom!” Fuan said. “I will get you to a healer…”
“No! D—don’t lose the city on my behalf. It is already… to late,” Lorom whispered.
“But you.. you…” Fuan cried out, as he watched Lorom’s eyes fade.
Tears running down his face, Fuan whispered a prayer to Luvra that his friend might be given the blessing of an elven life again. He held his forehead against Lorom’s, whispering a goodbye, before turning back to the battle.
He charged in with abandon, grabbing onto Korrnick’s tail while the others had kept the great beast busy. Hissing and calling for strength from the gods, Fuan drove his magic blade into the dragon’s tail, prying an opening in the scales. Fuan then pierced his own skin, offering his elven blood to the God of Poisons, that the Shadowy One might infuse his blade with a poison to slay a dragon.
The pact was accepted, and Fuan screamed as his blood was drained for his veins in exchange for his green magic blade being infused with the dark purple magic of the Shadowy One.
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“Bet you got in trouble for that one,” Illyxa said, her mouth half full of popcorn. “Though, maybe I should get my hands on some elven blood to offer to ol’ Ukryz if I need some quick poison. He doesn’t even care about goblin blood now, no matter how much you offer.”
“Is not goblin blood a poison to other creatures?” Hyi asked.
“Mhm, We sacrificed so much of it to him for help he gave us that blessing, but it’s not going to take down anything sturdier than a human. Even that takes a lot of blood,” Illyxa explained. “Mostly just keeps creatures from eating us.”
“My mum had to take all sorts of herbs to keep healthy while she was carrying me,” Gragya added with a nod.
“Oh my,” Hyi replied.
“Please don’t help them with getting off track, Hyi,” Fuan muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Sorry!” the priestess said, blushing.
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Fuan plunged his blade into the dragon’s tail with what strength he still had, driving the poison in with it. Korrnick’s tail spasmed, and Fuan was thrown across the square.
Roaring, the dragon let out another blast of flame, this one larger than Fuan’s had ever seen from a dragon before. There had been no escape for Fuan’s allies. He stared in fear as the dragon turned his way again. Fuan’s body was too drained of blood for him to move. He was preparing for death when one of Korrnick’s limbs went limp, and the dragon stumbled.
“You viiile elf!” Korrnick roared, struggling to stand back up as his other rear leg began to fail him. The dragon hissed a string of insults in his own language as Fuan gave a smile.
“Your invasion ends here,” Fuan said, slumped against a burnt husk of a tree.
“Perhaps, but I still have the strength to strip you of your life!” the dragon hissed, spitting small flicks of flame from his mouth.
Korrnick then began an invocation, black magic in the draconic tongue. Fuan made a mental effort to brace himself for whatever hell followed, only for the dragon’s tongue to fail him before the spell was finished. It was still enough of a spell to cause an explosion of magic energy as the dragon died, however.
Magic energy that Fuan blasting his life energy away. He screamed as it washed over him.
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When he came to, Fuan was still weak. He was alone in a burnt out husk of a city.
He struggled to his feet, wandering to the stream, wanting to see what shape he was in after that magic. To see what had happened to him.
He stared down at his reflection, and felt his stomach drop. His hair had lost its green. His magic felt faded. And his ears… his ears…
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Fuan lowered his hood, to reveal round human ears beneath it to Illyxa and Gragya.
“The dragon turned me into a mere human. My magic ability has been halved, at least. My senses and movements are like I am in water. And, the lifespan of a human means I have mere decades to live if I cannot reverse this,” Fuan said, eyes filled with horror.
“What is this food?” Hyi asked, nibbling on a bit of the popcorn Illyixa was munching on.
“Story food. Summoning it is an old goblin spell. No idea what it’s made out of, and you can’t live off of it for very long, but it sure is tasty, isn’t it?” Illyxia replied.
“Where you listening at all!?” Fuan hissed.
“I figured it out part way in, so I zoned out a little, but I got the gist, I think?” Illyxa said.
“It really doesn’t seem all that bad to me. Humans live to be what, like, sixty? Eighty if they know good healers? That’s plenty longer than orcs and goblins,” Gragya offered.
“It is? You poor things!” Hyi said, her eyes filling with tears.
“Ooh, she’s pitying you right now. Probably your best chance to get things rolling, cuz,” Illyxa said.
Fuan pulled his hood back on and spun around, crossing his arms and grumbling about their rudeness and lack of empathy.