Worry and anxiety knotted in Trillia's stomach. She spent the next few hours staring at her arms. Quetzalcoatl told her to simply call him Storm. It was far easier, and it seemed to annoy him less that she wasn't constantly stumbling over his name.

As the hours ticked by, a knock on her door caused her to close her eyes and brace herself. "Coming!"

She stood and walked over to open the door. Another dragon stood there, a heavy robe wrapped around her lizard-like frame. She had come to realize these smaller forms they walked around in were called their drakken forms. A way for them to navigate the tiny mortal cities without crushing them.

"May I ask how this works?"

The drakken tilted its head and motioned for her to follow. She did so without further question.

She was led to a large room. In the center were chains coming from the ceiling and dropping to just above Trillia's head. On the left side of this dais was an odd contraption with belts and more chains that would fit her left arm. Her heart started thumping faster.

Storm's voice rang out, and Trillia glanced up to see him staring down at the scene. "All of the dragons present are females. I know that lesser mortals have varied beliefs about their naked form. I must oversee it to ensure you are not killed, but I will be the only male here. This process is going to be painful."

Trillia took another deep breath and stepped up onto the dais. The other drakken helped her undress, and Storm told her to put her artifacts down. She stood there devoid of any items, her left arm latched into the contraption on her left, and her right arm held above her.

"You will want to scream. You will plead for us to stop. It will feel as if every inch of your body is on fire and in agony. You will soil yourself from the pain. Do all of these things without shame, for even dragons falter when they are forced to undergo this procedure. The one thing you cannot do is pass out. We will use spells if we must to keep you awake. The way mana channels in a body flow is different when they are sleeping and at rest. Are you ready?"

Trillia closed her eyes and managed to nod. She felt something press against her lips, and as she opened her eyes, it was the same drakken that got her from her room. It was a small leather strap, and the drakken mimicked biting down on it. Trillia did so.

"Stay strong, Trillia Demonsbane. You are in good hands."

Trillia looked up at the dragon and nodded once more.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was going on. The first bit of pain came from her left arm. Something heavy sliced the last couple of inches of the stump off. She bit down on the leather strap and felt her knees wobble. Tears streamed down her face.

She felt clawed hands grab her arm, then felt a tug at her insides. She could feel the mana channels inside her shift and move as they were slowly dragged away from Alirast's connections.

Her first instinct was to lash out with mana, but she resisted. Trillia screamed against the leather in her mouth as she bit down harder on it. She didn't dare open her eyes.

She heard the sound of her blood flowing out and plopping onto the ground from her left stump. Her regeneration worked overtime to heal the wound, but every few seconds, another sharp slice prevented it from closing entirely.

Trillia felt a loud pop and watched as notifications streamed in her mind. Informing her of the many traits that were disabled because she no longer had access to Alirast's mana.

She silently prayed to Arlyss and Ora'sys that she hadn't fallen for some trap. She prayed to them to watch over her family and her friends.

The drakken grabbed her left arm and tied it up in chains. Blood continued to flow from the open wound down to cover the rest of her.

"Brace yourself."

Trillia did her best to do just that. She felt the tip of a blade slice into the base of her neck. It was a slow and methodical cut. As the blade pulled away, Trillia's legs gave out under her.

Her eyes still closed, she felt two drakken come-over and lift her up to a standing position and hold her there. She wanted this to be over.

She felt long tendrils of magic lash onto her spine and slowly wrap around it before pushing their way out to her arms and legs. A burning sensation came over her neck. She had no idea what it was.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Her traits began to come back, and as the last one did, she screamed.

Her mana felt like it was on fire. The leather in her mouth fell to the ground as her body convulsed. She felt herself losing consciousness. She was vaguely aware of Storm's voice.

"[Draconic Adrenaline]"

You've had Draconic Adrenaline cast on you! You cannot be killed or fall unconscious for the next 6 hours!

Your Vitality has been permanently lowered by 5!

Fire raced through her veins yet again. Her eyes shot open, and she screamed even louder. The tendrils of mana slowly latched onto her mana channels. This was the process that had happened before. Just much, much faster.

The procedure only took two hours, but it felt like she had been in that room for an eternity. They unchained her arms, and she slumped to the ground in a puddle.

"Take her to her room, clean her, feed her, and let her rest. You did good, Trillia."

The other drakken gathered her things, carrying her over so that she could lift her artifacts before taking her back to her room. The same drakken that had gathered her a few hours ago stayed behind to wash all the blood off.

She watched as the draconic adrenaline buff vanished. She could only assume it was removed by Storm. The hot water caused her to doze off. The drakken finally seemed to speak. "Rest, little orc. You will be better in a few days and feel more alive than you ever have. You've earned your rest."

Trillia groggily tried to turn her head to the drakken but found even that was too difficult in her exhausted state.

-=- Some Time Later -=-

Trillia woke in the bed. She raised her right hand to her head, where a headache was pounding away. The smell of meat hit her nose, and she glanced around the room. On a small table next to the bed sat a large bowl of stew.

Trillia was never bashful when it came to eating. She reached out with her right hand to cradle it against her knees and chest and wrapped her left arm around it for stability. Only to see a hand sticking out of her left arm.

She gently set the soup back down and stared at the regrown appendage. She wiggled her fingers and squeezed them into a fist. It felt weak, untrained, and foreign to her. But her hand was there.

Trillia brought up her status to see her traits were all in order, and her maximum mana was where it had been before. She didn't dare use her mana yet. The feeling of fire in her veins was still too close.

She slipped out of bed and grabbed the stew in her right hand, bringing it over to the table. She sat before it and tentatively grabbed the spoon with her left. It wobbled and shook. Half the starting spoons she pulled from the bowl only made it to her mouth with a single vegetable or a small bit of broth left on it.

But her hand had returned!

It took her nearly an hour to get the stew down like that. After, she took another hot bath before getting dressed.

As she equipped her artifacts, [Shattered Bolt] formed a gauntlet around her left hand, with her fingertips exposed. She dearly wanted to try it out but didn't want to access her mana until someone gave her the all-clear.

Once she was ready, she opened the door to see the Drakken from yesterday sitting outside her door, reading a book. Trillia bowed deeply to her. "Thank you. For cleaning me and laying me to rest."

The drakken smiled and nodded, motioning for Trillia to follow her again.

They walked to the giant dais that Storm had originally landed on. The great dragon looked as though it was slumbering. A drakken formed in front of it. "How do you feel?"

"I'm not sure. Happy to have my hand back, but I haven't dared to use my mana yet."

"Good. Don't for the next few days. Let your mana channels calm down and heal themselves fully before you put any stress on them. For now, the only training you will undergo is a few hours of tactics and strategy. Once I am comfortable with your healing, I will throw you into learning physical combat and various forms of mana-based combat. Am I clear?"

Trillia nodded. "Thank you. For this." She raised her left hand and flexed her fingers a few times."

"I assure you, little orc. You will earn all that we do for you here, in the Aetherian Realms."

Trillia chuckled softly and nodded. "A fair trade then."

Storm gave her an odd look but motioned to the drakken next to her. "This is Maya. She is my youngest daughter. She will be in charge of watching over you and helping you to learn strategy and tactics for the time being. Maya can only speak to you mentally. So you must form a telepathic bond with her. Otherwise, she must place herself in your mind. In a weakened state that is easy, as you are now, it could be dangerous for you both."

Trillia nodded and reached out with her mind to the drakken, who looked a little surprised. "I was taught telepathy by another creature! I'd be happy to practice!"

Storm motioned away. "Get rest. I know you feel ready to take on all of Alirast, but I assure you. There is still a lot of healing that must happen where eyes cannot see.

Trillia nodded and once more followed Maya away. "I have notifications about classes and stuff. Should I wait to allocate all of that?"

"Yes. Anything that could change your stats should be avoided. If something shifts how much mana you regenerate or you pick up another skill that alters your mana flows. It could impact your healing."

Once they were back in Trillia's room, the drakken pulled out a smooth board of crystal and set it on the table. "We'll begin with basic strategy. You may know some of this already, as you are an adventurer and an orc. But bear with us while we go back over the basics and fundamentals."

Trillia sat across from her and nodded.

The next couple of days went by quickly. For a few hours every morning, she'd be tutored on the basics of strategy and tactics. Most of it she sort of knew already, having spent so long listening to other orcs talk about such things. She was surprised to see a notification pop up after their training one day. She didn't dare bring it up or apply it, not wanting anything to shift. She still hadn't been given the all-clear, after all.

She spent the rest of the day reading her journal and flexing her left hand. Trying to write with it and eat with it to re-learn how to use the damn thing. When a familiar voice rang out in her head.

"Dwarven Portal is up. Patron speaking to diplomat. Hope you are safe. Stay strong. Love, Layla. Hopefully, I can visit."