“Wahw aaa” Lucy tried to talk but she still had a piece of demon in her mouth. She spit it out and tried again. “What are you?” She asked.
Beira looked at her and changed. Her ears became longer, her skin became a light blue and her nails sharpened. Wait…
“You are a fey? An ice fey?” I asked.
“Archfey, obviously.” She corrected me. “It’s a shame you never chose to work with me. I really would have liked Mantus’ corpse. It could have greatly helped my research.”
“YOU… YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!” Maximilian shouted and charged her with his sword. It was covered in golden flames. She pointed her shiny staff at him and unleashed a golden beam. It sent the emperor flying.
Beria snorted. “You are irrelevant, little human. It’s so nice that I don’t have to pretend anymore. Can you imagine? Telling people how great humans are all the time? It was hard not to start laughing by accident.”
“What’s with all the undeath?” I asked. She seemed to be in a gloating mood. Maybe we could get some information. Undeath was not something fey were known for.
“I have long been looking for a way to grow my power. It’s all about the soul, isn't it? There are very few ways to change it. Undeath does fundamentally change a creature. I studied it. I hoped to use it to evolve. There are a lot of creatures of power. Archfey, demon lords, vampire lords, liches, dragons, kitsune,... What if you could combine those? What if you could become something more?” She sounded way too excited.
“You want to become a god?” Lucy asked.
“I have no intention of leaving this realm. I don’t need true godhood. But I think I will become the queen of the fey. It’s about time that we were all united, under my rule. What do you say, Amaya? Want to join me? Swear allegiance and become my general.”
I had no intention of joining this madwoman. But I hoped I could keep her talking. “What’s with the staff?” I asked.
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“Oh, this? Don’t worry about it.” She smiled.
Damn. She refused to brag about her plans.
“I am pretty sure it is the staff of dominion, a divine artefact of Imperius. The god of rulers.” Lilith said.
Oh. The mind control runes that were not working for non humans, yet. Maybe she failed to find an arcane, or alchemical solution to her problem, so she was now trying the divine. We could not let her leave with this staff.
Meanwhile, Lucy looked at me. “You fey are more elemental, right? How does she have necromancy? Is she a mage, instead of a sorceress? Are there archfey mages?”
“I am not sure. She does look like an ice fey to me. She really should not be able to do all of this.” I pointed at the skeletons surrounding her.
“My dear, your thinking is so limited. With proper preparation, and rituals, you can do anything!” Beira said.
“Oh, there were runes on those mages. I suppose they trusted you, so you could trap their bodies somehow.” I concluded.
“Exactly! Too many people rely on their personal strength alone. Proper preparation can make all the difference! You know, you still confuse me, Amaya. I have never heard of you, which is kind of impressive. There are not that many archfey around. You don’t behave like most of us either. You are either really young, or really old and good at keeping yourself hidden. You are far too powerful for someone young and you even have a two tailed kitsune with you. Something I failed to recognize when we met in the past. I must say, I really fell for the foxkin act.”
Then she looked at Lily. “And the succubus I had bonded in the past now works for you, Amaya. It does make me wonder how long you have been working with Lilith. I always knew I would get her attention, when I started my experiments. I hoped I could divert that attention to the Inquisition, while I conducted the more delicate experiments myself. You have been quite the wild card, and quite the mystery, Amaya.”
“Amaya is a proper archfey! With a court elemental! Far superior than you!” Shani said.
“Court elemental? That is not a title I have heard in a long time…” Beira said, looking thoughtful.
“That is because you lack style! Ice is just boring. It’s the worse version of water! See, water properly conducts electricity. It’s part of a nice storm. A hailstorm is just a bad excuse for a storm! Let’s melt her!” Shani suggested.
Beira shook her head. “Storm elementals…”
“I think I have seen enough of that smug grin.” Lucy announced, then she pounced.
Beira reacted quickly, she lifted her staff and it glowed. Golden chains emerged from the earth and caught Lucy in the air, then dragged her to the ground.
The skeletons surrounding Beira shot black bolts at Lucy, who was trapped. She howled in a mixture of pain and rage.
I quickly contemplated my options. I could go after Beira directly but I had no idea if her spell needed concentration. There was one way I should be able to free Lucy.
I used devour magic. It would cost me another 9th tier spell slot, but freeing Lucy was worth it. The black smoke emerged and greedily ate the chains. Beira looked surprised.
Lucy stood up, she looked angry, really angry. And she roared.