Darkness was a strange thing to Elysia. Despite her blindness, she never perceived the world around her as a place devoid of colors. Her natural affinity to magic allowed her to see, but in a different manner than most others would.

But now, she was unable to perceive any colors. There was only darkness, and the cold press of steel chains against her skin. She had resigned herself to this fate long ago, the only surprising part to her was the fact that she was not yet dead.

But then, she heard the sound of something sharp constantly hitting the ground. The sound grew louder and louder as seconds passed. Elysia was familiar with this sound now, her tormentor had come for her.

As the sound of metal grating against the floor rang out throughout her prison, Elysia greeted her newfound visitor. "Hello, Arachne, I must admit that I wasn't expecting to hear from you so recently after your last visit."

The elf oracle heard a chuckle in response to her words. "You shouldn't be so surprised, I can be rather fond of my toys."

"If you wish to ask me again whether I can divine your future for you, I am sad to say that I am still unable to do so." Elysia said.

"It is of no matter, I only asked before out of curiosity." Arachne replied.

"Then to what do I owe you this visit?"

"I was bored and wanted to pass the time." Arachne replied. "Besides, how are your accommodations?"

"There is only darkness that I can see, where there was color before all around me, now there isn't."

Arachne skittered forward and lowered her head so that she spoke just next to Elysia's ear. "That is only to be expected, you're here in my domain after all. Things don't work the same way as they do in the mortal realm or even other parts of Pandemonia."

"I see." Elysia said.

She then felt the drider's head move away from her, as now Elysia could no longer feel Arachne's breath on her skin. "Tell me a tale of some kind, oracle, and perhaps if you entertain me. I will allow for your eventual death to be swift and painless."

A smug grin tugged at Elysia's lips. "Sure, I don't mind telling you the story of how you will die."

Suddenly, Elsyia felt something sharp press into her neck. "Do tell me, oracle. How do I die?"

Elysia remained unfazed, even as she felt a trail of blood flow down from her neck. "You will die by your Father's hand."

Then, Elysia felt the sharp object pressed against her neck pull away. "Father? You mean that I will not die because of Alza?"

The elf oracle shook her head. "Alza will not be the one to kill you."

"That is surprising, but if it means I will have a chance to kill her when she is in her true form, then perhaps it might not be so bad after all"

"I admire the level of delusion you have, Arachne." Elysia said.

"Delusion? That is an odd statement coming from someone who states half-truths."

Elysia remained level headed as ever. "Just because you dislike a premonition, doesn't mean that it won't- "

"I've learnt a lot about you oracles." Arachne interrupted. "There are quite a few of you who enjoy sowing discord and delivering falsehoods."

"And you believe that I am lying to you right now?" Elysia asked.

"I do, because there is not a single chance that Alza can beat me, even in her true form. While her abilities have stagnated over thousands of years, I've had time to hone my craft and become more powerful than ever before. Once I kill Alza, I'll finally be acknowledged as the foremost amongst the demon princes."

"I see, best of luck with that." Elysia shrugged.

"Make no mistake, I have plans for you, oracle. I'm going to enjoy the moment when I kill you."

"Whatever you say."

In a few moments, Elysia heard the sound of metal clang together as Arachne closed the doors to her jail cell. She heard the tap of the drider's chitinous legs grow less audible by the moment as she left.

Elysia let out a long exhale as she slumped back against the wall and braced for the worst. However, she suddenly sensed a malevolent presence appear in front of her. Judging by the sound of ravens squawking, she knew well who this was.

"I hope Arachne hasn't been treating you too badly." Amuria said.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Elysia shook her head. "I expected to die, so I suppose things could be worse."

Amuria chuckled. "You have a sense of humor, oracle, I like that."

"I merely state the facts." Elysia shrugged. "Besides, to what do I owe you this pleasure?"

"I came here to ask a question, actually."

"I'm an open book, ask and I will answer to the best of my ability."

"I asked you this before when we fought, but you refused to answer then. So I will ask this again now, will Alza return to us?" Amuria asked.

Elysia took in a deep breath and considered her options. She wanted to be as careful as possible about revealing this part of her visions, to ensure that nothing unnecessary was said.

"Alza will return to her true self eventually, yes."

"That's all I wanted to hear."

***

After six months had passed inside Mist Lake Temple.

Mist filled Alza's lungs as she took in deep breaths. Her eyes had been closed for quite a long time. She found it oddly easy to bring herself to near complete stillness within the temple, it was as if the very mist she inhaled provided her with all the sustenance she needed.

The purpose of Alza's meditation was for her to achieve greater control over her magic. Ilm had instructed her to try and keep still and to concentrate on feeling the essence of the arcane which was all around the temple. At first, she could only meditate for a few hours, then a few days, and now finally: she lost count of how long she had been in her trance.

Though she sat with her legs crossed and her hands pressed together as if in prayer for an extended period of time, Alza no longer felt even the slightest hint of numbness in her muscles. She was completely content with her meditative state.

Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the mist. "That's enough, demon, awaken."

Alza opened her eyes in response to the dragon's call. Without even the slightest hint of difficulty, she got up onto her feet and walked through the thick mist. Though she could not see Ilm clearly, Alza could sense where the dragon was with ease. And soon enough, she stood just before the great dragon.

"That was a close call, demon." Ilm grumbled.

"How so?" Alza asked.

A stream of mist was pushed out of the way as the dragon exhaled. "Do you not realize how long you were in meditation?"

Alza tilted her head slightly. "Not…really, no."

"You've been meditating for roughly three months non-stop, while impressive, I believe you've proven yourself enough for this particular exercise."

"I…see. But if I am honest, I don't feel…that different."

"You can't see it yet, demon. But I've noticed that something has changed inside of you." Ilm explained. "But, I do have another task for you to test your progress."

"Alright, what do I need to do?"

"Look closely."

Ilm opened his jaws and conjured a bright, azure sphere of light within his mouth. The sphere grew brighter and larger as seconds passed. But then, in a blinding flash, the sphere vanished.

Alza slowly opened her eyes again after instinctively closing them earlier. "What was that?"

"Your next task: find the light sphere and return it to me."

"Are there any particular rules for this exercise?"

"No, you are free to do anything you'd like." Ilm then hovered back and dove deeper into the mist. "I'm taking another nap, wake me only after you have the sphere."

After breathing out an exasperated sigh, Alza set out to complete her task. Firstly, she brought her hands and head close to the ground to try and sense where the light sphere was. She tapped her fingers repeatedly against the ground, sending out a wave of subtle tremors through the ground using her earth magic. Despite this, she wasn't able to detect anything notable.

It was time for a change of plans. Alza stood back up and pressed her hands together. The floor of the temple cracked as countless skeletons began to emerge from the ground. They were each given a simple command: search the temple for the light sphere and alert Alza once they did.

With a snap of Alza's fingers, her skeletons walked out in droves and searched the temple. Long ago, in her demon days, Alza did send out groups of undead to hunt enemy mages. So, she did know that it was possible for undead to detect magic. Though, truth be told, Alza wasn't completely sure if her undead minions could actually detect the light sphere itself. Then again, she figured it was better to try rather than nothing at all.

With her skeletons combing through the temple, Alza also began her search. Due to the thick mist that obscured her vision, she went through her search with her eyes closed. Alza relied solely on her other senses to guide her as she tried to hone in on the elusive sphere.

After about a day of ceaseless searching, Alza could swear that she had combed through nearly every single inch of Mist Lake Temple. Her army of skeletons had also searched whatever corners of the temple she herself did not step into. She even extended her search with the aid of her bony wings, allowing her to comb through the temple up to its ceiling. Which made it all the more frustrating that she was unable to even so much as steal a glance at the light sphere.

Alza paused for a moment and thought to herself. The light sphere was definitely something made out of magic, and as such, it shouldn't be that difficult for Alza to actually find it. Unless, the sphere wasn't actually scattered somewhere around the temple at all.

With a soft thud, Alza descended back onto the temple's floor and dispersed her wings. She snapped her fingers and dismissed her skeletons, each one crumbling to dust in an instant. She then walked to where Ilm was sleeping. The dragon was snoring loudly, fully immersed in his rest.

Unfortunately for the dragon, Alza had no plans on allowing him to resume his rest. If her gut feeling was correct, Ilm had been playing her for a fool all this time.

"Ilm, I have returned with the sphere!" Alza yelled out.

The dragon lifted one of its eyelids open. "I don't see the sphere with you."

Alza crossed her arms and sighed. "That's because you sent me on a wild goose chase for no reason."

Ilm opened his other eye and raised his head. "Oh? Do tell me your reasoning for this claim."

"The sphere is inside of you all this time, isn't it?"

"Not too shabby, demon. But can you tell me where exactly the sphere is?"

"Give me a moment." Alza closed her eyes and focused her senses. Except this time, she concentrated solely on Ilm. Almost instantly, she could see a bright blue glow in her mind's eye.

"The sphere is at the top of your tail." Alza muttered.

The dragon let out a booming laugh. "Well done, demon. Perhaps I underestimated you."