Several days have passed since the war between the Niskari and the Fae had begun. Scars of battle littered the fields of what were once lush green clearings.

With the earth torn along with scattered fragments of flesh, bone, and wood, the scene could only be described as brutal. Anywhere one could look, scenes of Niskari being burned and eviscerated along with some Spriggans and rock men being torn apart lay scattered across the field.

The fae were not one for tactics as war wasn’t in their nature, but their ability to borrow the elemental forces gave them the edge against their foes. However, this didn’t mean the Niskari were helpless and this advantage won’t last.

“Amver, how is it looking out there?” asked a man seemingly made out of stone as he sat on the floor while continuing to generate more rock men.

While unleashing a torrent of flames, the ashen robed flame fae answered with a slight edge to his voice, “Not good, old stone. We’ve been taking out as many of the Hounds we could find, but they’ve managed to encroach a lot of ground. The mana is withering.”

With a grim look, the rock fae sighed and nodded. “The red crystals have taken root as well and have corroded as much soil. Soon, the Landvaettir will weaken and I will lose the power to guide them.”

The news soured the flame fae’s mood even further. They’ve already lost so many of their kin, yet their enemies’ numbers show no sign of diminishing. That they’ve managed to warp the region to their advantage would mean that soon the greater of their forces would arrive.

They needed more time for their brethren to consolidate their powers, but unless they could somehow stop the Niskari's encroachment of the land, then they’d be forced to surrender the edge of the Faelands much sooner than planned.

As the two Fae Lords racked their heads, a sudden rush of ensorcelled wind blew across the battlefield. Wherever the wind made contact, the red mist dissipated until the rooted red crystals were exposed.

Upon their exposure, explosions rang out which accompanied the shattering of a crystal with each one heard. Soon, the exposed crystals were no more and the advance of the Niskarii slowed. The black roots of the crystals that once held their fallen started shriveling up along with the accelerated decay of the entangled corpses.

Without the red mists' protection, it was simple for their forces to wipe out the remaining Niskari on the field.

Seeing their enemies weakening along with the mana returning, the edges of the stone fae’s mouth slowly curled upwards. “You sure took your time, old wizard. We were starting to think you didn’t receive the message.”

From the edge of the clearing, the expedition forces made themselves known with Jortus standing at the lead. With eyes aglow, he commanded the elemental forces of the wind and continued to whittle down the corroding red mist.

“Ogmai, there’s no way anyone could miss your message considering your methods. I’m still paying off the damage caused by your little friend when he broke into my room.”

Despite Jortus’ thorny remark, the rock fae’s smile only widened further. “With your help here, we can finally take a breather. Also, what were those loud popping sounds?”

The glow in Jortus eyes died down as soon as most of the mist was cleared while he looked towards Ogmai. “Kind of mild of you to call it a “pop,” but regardless, they’re new weapons designed through a coalition of the dwarves and humes to fight off the Niskari. Considering how dangerous it is to approach those crystals, they were developed to fire fast high-penetrating disposable shells from a distance to take care of said crystals. As you can see, they have quite the boom and kick to them.”

Ogmai nodded in admiration at how effective they were in clearing out the crystal growths. They’ve been having a hard time dealing with the crystals due to the immense amount of corrosive mist surrounding them, which prevented them from stopping their encroachment.

“As always, you Felvalim are ingenious when it comes to inventing new things. With your devices, it will be much easier to deal with the encroachment.”

Loen raised his brow at the stone fae’s statement then looked at Jortus. In a low tone, Jortus quietly explained, “It’s what the fae refer to us in general. In their language, it means “those born of flesh.” Nature Fae are born from the union of the elements, after all.”

As the two spoke quietly, the flame fae approached them and introduced himself. “This one’s name is Amver, and I’m honored to meet the Magister of the Wilds. My predecessor spoke highly of your accomplishments.”

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Jortus straightened himself in greeting as he nodded, “Ah, then you must be the new Fae Lord of Flame. How is Morlana doing?”

Amver shook his head with a solemn expression, “My master has already entered the Eternal Dream of Syldrasil. I’m afraid she won’t be able to return in your lifetime.”

Hearing the former fae lord’s circumstances, Jortus could only nod and sigh, “It’s unfortunate, but is as all things should be. I’ll miss that old firecracker and the burn of her words.”

The flame fae only nodded in response. “The other Lords are gathering the energies from the Vein. Unless we are graced by the Flow, I’m afraid it would take more time before the vessel is ready.”

“Hmm, then we must prepare. Breaking the Blood Quartz won’t stop the Niskari for long. I’ve already confirmed the presence of their main forces on the march while we were on our way here. We’ve only a few hours and my men will still need to setup. Recuperate your forces as best you can while we ready our positions.”

The two Fae Lords nodded as they aimed to replenish their energies and mend their forces. Jortus then turned towards Loen and the expeditionary force.

“As I’ve mentioned, we’ve only a few hours to prepare. Make sure all is in order and ready your arms. We may be few, but remember that we and the Fae are all that stands between the destruction of all that we hold dear and their salvation. Glory to the Five Empires!”

A fire grew within everyone who had heard his words.

““Glory to the Five Empires!””

***

It was the time before dusk as the sound of a thunderous march echoed across the wood. The ground quaked as great trees trembled revealing the existence of a mighty horde in its advance.

The coming of twilight hid their presence within the wood, but the thunder of the earth betrayed their numbers. An army of beasts was on the warpath hungering for vengeance for their slaughtered kin.

Sitting on the back of a red-haired four-armed giant leading the march, the changeling in its passive diminutive form pondered over its recent acquisition.

The creature it had previously consumed was strange in its composition. It had the trace genetic data of a human, but its body was horrifically disfigured and warped down to its cell structures turning it into something completely unrecognizable.

The mutation was so drastic that the resulting entity could almost no longer be traced back to its original species. It was an entity that basically existed with a forcibly imposed form; a form that possessed no organs and no means to function as a living organism that the changeling could only identify it as being made into a biological puppet. And the core of this change was believed to be the red crystal that was in the changeling’s hands.

The crystal had shrunk and no longer glowed as it did when it was attached to the creature, but the changeling could sense a vague force emanating from it. The emanations were gradually fading the more the changeling held onto it, but at the time when it consumed the creature; upon contact, the crystal had forcibly attempted to alter the changeling’s genetic structure while trying to absorb its vital force.

The way the crystal tried to alter it as well as the creature that was warped so forcibly and haphazardly were all familiar to the changeling and reminded it of only one thing – the black entity that now serves as its gene anchor.

That these creatures were warped beings in a similar manner to that entity could suggest that they may come from the same origin, but the changeling had found telltale differences that implied that this was not the case.

The first entity possessed absolute control over its ability to alter its form as well as possessing a will, but the second creature on the other hand was the exact opposite. Not only did it not possess a will of its own, the alteration of its body was forced upon it through a medium, the crystal, and used the base of another creature unlike the first entity where its body was originally its own.

Not only that, this new creature acted in a drone-like manner. While it possessed the desire to hunt and kill, it lacked a fundamental component of living organisms, which is the instinct to survive.

Its primary focus for some reason, was to kill its little green companion and it ignored all other variables to its objective unless they got in its way. The ones that escaped that they were currently chasing brought with them the corpses of the slain; completely ignoring the culling of their companions. It was as if they only had been programmed to hunt and collect corpses.

Probably the strangest factor regarding these creatures was that the changeling couldn’t trace a primary gene in their code. It’s as if they were a blank slate that could either be molded in any way as desired, or couldn’t be molded in any way at all. Their gene sequences were simply filled with so many contradictions that the changeling was still incapable of deciphering them.

There is another thing the changeling had discovered through its consumption of the entity, however, and it’s that the creature had in some way “nourished” the changeling. It didn’t know what was their relation to each other, but it believed that somehow the black entity being its anchor had allowed it to fully resist the enforced mutation. Otherwise, it would’ve resulted in another clash of wills like with the black entity. What’s more is that by consuming the new entity, it had a strange but soothing feeling of simply becoming “more” than its current self.

This sensation had awakened a hunger and desire to consume these beings that gave it a feeling that it could only describe as feeling more “complete.” The changeling had to rein in this desire, but the sensation still lingered as if its body knew a greater source was present and somehow it must find it and consume it.

Perhaps sensing the changeling’s troubles, its little green companion patted the top of its muzzle while it looked down at it from atop its head.

Seeing its companion’s worry, the changeling responded by patting it back in a calming manner. Satisfied, the little one curled back into a little green ball and peacefully nestled back into its spot atop its skull.

With its friend soothed, it looked towards the distance noticing a flickering shadow and a flash of white. Their warband was continuing its march and soon a war between beasts will erupt.

To the primatus, it was to sate their thirst for vengeance. But to the changeling, it was to quench its desire for more growth and to sate its growing new hunger.

***