Donte’s eyes stopped glowing as his body collapsed to the ground. Simultaneously, a weak pulsing light returned to the walls of Dragon’s Nest. Donte layed on the ground, unconscious. His skin was pale. Blood was running from his mouth, nose, ears, and even his eyes.
I clutched my stomach as I tried to push down the nauseating side effects of moving through fractured space. It took all my willpower just to stand up. With shaking legs, I moved to Donte’s side and checked his pulse. Feeling a heartbeat, I sighed in relief. His breathing was weak but steady. There was no telling how messed up his body was after channeling that much energy. It was unlikely he would wake up anytime soon, but at least he was alive.
Nearby, Vissna was the quickest to recover from the ill effects of the messy teleport. However, she still seemed dazed. She had not moved from her kneeling position and just stared blankly at the empty space above the doorway where the symbol of the dragon had once shone.
“The king… That was the king’s presence…” She mumbled numbly, “He survived? Mare, answer me. What is this? Tell me before I tear down whatever remains of this place!”
An unstable shadow separated itself from the wall. The indiscernible figure of Mare appeared but it seemed much more indistinct and incoporeal than normal as if even this image was pushing her limits. “I am not really in the mood for inane banter. Are you really so surprised he is here? Matchsticks was one of the founding creators of Dragon’s Nest.”
“Matchsticks? He is the eldest of the Dragons, the king of us all!” Vissna shouted angrily.
Mare waved her hand dismissively. “He never minded the nickname,”
Vissna hesitated, unsure how to respond. After a moment, she just sighed and let it go. “Can I speak to him?”
Mare shook her head. “After the Preateritum killed him, Matchsticks’s soul was injured. The only way to awaken him is to trigger the seal that assists in his recovery and I need Donte for that.” Mare paused as she looked over at the unconscious Donte laying on the ground. There was audible disappointment in her voice as she spoke. “I don’t think the halfwit will survive if I try to do that again. He is still far too weak to be the true master of Dragon’s Nest.”
I poked Donte’s cheek curiously. There was no response from the unconscious boy. “So, if he was stronger, would Donte be able to activate that power at will?”
Mare had her hands on her hips as she puffed up her chest. “That is hardly the limit of what could be accomplished if Donte would just supply me the energy. Being damaged by these weak little Demons is insulting! Once upon a time, there was not a single person that did not fear the strength of Dragon’s Nest. If I wanted, I could crack a planet in half.” Mare deflated like a popped balloon as she sighed dejectedly. “Now, I can’t even withstand a few splinter cannons.”
I ignored Mare’s obvious boast as my stomach once again protested any movement. Slumping against the nearby wall, I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face in them. “The Demons completely outmaneuvered us this time. Even if we make it past the splinter cannons, there are still more alphas than we can handle and their numbers grow by the day. Mom is still injured and Dad had not yet woken up. Donte is unconscious and Dragon’s Nest is in ruins. My plan completely backfired. I… I don’t know what to do.”
Sebastion began to recover from his bought of nausea and walked over to my side. He hesitated for a second before placing his hand on my shoulder. “It is not your fault. We all agreed to the plan. Berith got the better of us this time but this war is far from decided.”
“Berith?” I mumbled as a spark ignited in my mind. I jumped to my feet in excitement. “That is right, Berith!”
“Did you figure something out?” Sebastion asked curiously.
“We know for sure that four Demons are protecting Ater-Albus but even when we were completely cornered, Berith never appeared,” I said breathlessly, “She never once made an appearance the entire time we were there, despite being the strongest of the Demons.”
“Maybe she was being cautious.”
“Maybe, but there is a far more likely explanation” I replied with a grin, “I think Berith was not there at all. We said it ourselves when we first entered the mist. At least one Demon was likely to stay behind on the front lines to retain command of the army there. If all the other Demons are guarding Ater-Albus, she might just be there… alone.”
“That’s right!” Sebastion said with a laugh, “The Demonkin and Alphas will go wild without a Demon to direct them. Berith’s ability makes her the perfect military commander but she can’t see this floating island. They have Aym to keep track of us instead. There is no advatage for her to stay in the city. She can simply relay any predictions she has about us once every day or so while remaining on the front lines.”
“It is not guaranteed but there is no way Berith could have foreseen our sudden teleport. If we hurry there now, we might be able to catch her by surprise and even if she is not there, we can still catch the army from behind. Without any Demons, we can deal a significant blow and maybe draw a few defenders away from Ater-Albus,” I said thoughtfully, “Mare, are you still able to fly? How far are we from the battlefield?”
“Give me half an hour and I can restore flight functions,” Mare replied with a delighted laugh, “After that, we can reach the battlefront in two hours. That annoying little Demon will never see us coming.”
“Good, that will give us time to recover from the last battle. Charly, once you get done hurling up your breakfast, check on Mom and Dad for me. Their room is deep within Dragon’s Nest so they should be fine, but all the shaking could have aggravated Mom’s injuries.” I said as brushed off my pants and deeper into Dragon’s Nest.
Charly hesitated. “I know that look. What are you planning to do?”
“Guaranteeing Berith’s surprise,” I said with a grin.
Leaving the others to rest I stepped over the remains of the busted entryway. Everything was in ruins from the earlier explosion. Debris littered every room from either broken windows or busted furniture but as I walked into the bowels of the ruin, all that damage faded from sight.
Deep within Dragon’s Nest was a room originally designed to be a prison for Sebastion. After he agreed to help us, it was left unused until more recently. Now, it was occupied by a single woman. Marilyn, the undead I had brought back to life, and the woman that served the fortune teller claiming to be Aevus.
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I did not trust the woman but since her revival, Marilyn had yet to leave Dragon’s Nest. This meant that Berith should not know that she exists as anything other than undead. With strength comparable to Cyra or Sigmund, she was capable of turning the tide of a battle in our favor or, at the very least, distracting a few of the Alphas when we attacked. According to her own testimony, her innate talent was strong enough to force me, Vissna, and all the others I revived to self-destruct. She was an asset I could not afford to leave locked away.
I unlocked the sturdy door to a view of hundreds of slightly glowing crystals. A wave of weakness washed over me as I felt the energy in my body being drained away. Already feeling sick from the earlier teleport, I was hit with another wave of nausea as soon as the door opened.
Marilyn did not seem to be doing much better. She was hunched over in her cell, her face pale as she tried to recover. Somehow, looking pathetically weak did nothing to dimmish her world-ruining beauty. Even after being locked in a cell for days, she still looked as if she had just come out of a beauty salon. I could not help but feel self-conscious about my own disheveled appearance the moment I saw her.
“What in the realms happened out there?” Marilyn asked weakly as she tried and failed not to appear sick in front of me.
“A minor setback,” I replied simply, “You of all people should understand how powerful our enemies are, or did Aevus not tell you that part?”
“No, he explained it very well,” Marilyn said as she slowly stood up and straightened her dress, “I assume you are not here because you want his solutions though.”
“Of course not,” I said with a dismissive wave, “I am here because I think you should be given an opportunity to help.”
“You actually trust me?”
“Not even slightly but Envy is unlikely to arrive for at least another month or two. If I die before then, you will not be able to complete your mission.”
Marilyn covered a smirk with her hand. “I like your way of thinking. Maybe if we had met under different circumstances, we could have been friends.”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically as I felt a slight tugging at my consciousness. I could not help but be amazed at the fact that I felt the signs of her power despite the fact that she was in a room designed to block energy completely.
“With your talent, I am sure most people become your ‘friends’ but if you try to use your talent on me, I will not hesitate to keep you locked in this room until the end of the war," I warned in a low tone.
“Aw, don’t be like that,” Marilyn said with an exaggerated pouting expression, “You are not that much different than me. I feel a very similar power to my own radiating from that little body of yours. Why are you trying so hard to repress it? Abilities like ours are a great gift. You should let them flow without constraint.” As Marilyn talked, she moved uncomfortably close to me. Her hand reached out and brush a loose hair out of my face, causing me to flinch away. “You still lack experience but I could teach you.”
I smacked Marilyn’s hand away and took a step back. “I don’t have any interest in learning from you. If you want to help fight, I will let you out of your cell. Otherwise, I don’t mind leaving you locked up.”
“You’re such a boorish girl. You know, talents like our work best when the emotion is already present. People will respond better if you acted a bit more sweat and innocent.” Marilyn said as she brought her fingers to her lips in thought, “Fine, fine, I loathe fighting but I guess anything is better than being locked in this cell forever.”
I moved to the side and let Marilyn out of her cell. She took a deep breath in pure delight as she was finally free of the crystals draining her power. Almost instantly I felt as if something was pulling at my mind. Marilyn started to appear more beautiful and I found myself unintentionally wanting to be friendlier with her.
I scowled in annoyance. “I told you not to use your talent on me.”
“I’m not,” she replied as she stretched her body in a way that was obviously meant to catch people’s attention.
Not far away, I noticed that Charly was standing at the other end of the hall. Whatever reason he had come to find me was completely forgotten as he openly stared at Marilyn. His face was bright red and if his eyes opened any larger, they would probably pop out of his skull.
Twisting blue and green flames ignited in my hand as I pointed at Marilyn threateningly. “Don’t use them on my brother either.”
“Such a violent little girl. I was just stretching,” Marilyn said with a bewitching smile. My own blue flames reacted almost instinctually as they covered my body and resisted a sudden urge to fawn over the woman. Marilyn’s smile only grew bigger when seeing the flames. “Is that the form your talent takes? It is very beautiful but it is clear you have no idea how to use it properly. You cannot defend agaisnt a mental talent that way.” Once again, I felt an invisible pull at my mind as Marilyn leaned close. The closer she was, the more intense the pull became. Even with the protection of the blue flames and my own domain, I still felt as if I wanted to reach out and embrace the woman. It took all my willpower to resist the sudden urge. “If you leave your ability in its moost basic form, there is no way you will be able to influence anyone with even the slightest vigilance. To use a talent like ours you must learn to merge it into your flesh. Once you do, sight, smell… touch, however, the enemy perceives you, they will be drawn to you. Without hardly expending any energy at all, you could motivate an army to fight on your behalf. Though, we might have to work on your appearance a bit more before then. This rough tomboy look of yours might lessen the effect.”
Gritting my teeth, I gathered enough strength to push the woman away. “That’s it, you are going back into the cell!”
The pull on my mind diminished significantly as Marilyn frowned. It was still there but much fainter now. “Don’t be such a spoilsport. I am trying to help you.”
“I… I don’t mind if she stays free,” Charly stuttered, practically blushing from head to toe now.
“You stay out of this!”
Marilyn chuckled. “You still need my help, right? You should listen to the boy.”
“Do you want me to burn you to a crisp?” I growled threateningly.
“I was just having a bit of fun. You locked me alone in that room for so long with nothing to do. I promise not to use my ability on you or any of your family again. Are you happy?”
For a moment I considered whether or not to throw her back in the cage. Clearly, she was going to be a problem if left roaming free but if we were about to confront Berith, I needed all the help I could get.
“Do something like this again and next time I will not hesitate to fight back,” I said as a burst of fire swirled around me. “Help me fight the Demons without any of these tricks or I will personally make sure your time here is as miserable as possible.”
“Ask me nicely.”
“What?” I replied, blinking in surprise.
“You must really need the help if you’re still asking me to play along after all that. Try what I told you and ask me nicely. Merge your fire with your flesh, smile, and give me your best impression of a sweet little girl. Do that and I will fight for you without any tricks.”
“There is no way I am doing that!”
“Then I guess you will have to fight without me,” Marilyn replied with a shrug as she walked back to her cell.
I bit my lip as I considered the fight to come. The image of Mom injured flashed through my mind. I could not allow Berith to escape here, for her sake. In the back of my mind, I knew Marilyn was probably still influencing me but I also knew my thoughts were not wrong. I needed all the help I could get.
With my experiance and the increadible control that came from being an Adept it was not hard to do as Marilyn said. The blue flames surrounding me began to seep into my skin and spread throughout my body. Blushing bright red from embarrassment I spoke in a high-pitched cutesy voice. “Will you please help me fight the Demons?”
In a flash, Marilyn dashed up to me. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and squealed like a little girl. “You are so adorable! I just want to gobble you up.”
Completely ashamed of myself, I pulled free of Marilyn’s vice-like hug. Looking at the floor, I was not able to meet her eye. “Will you stop playing around and help me now?”
“Your technique still needs lots of practice but this was a good start. I promise I will not cause you any trouble.”
“I have heard a lot of promises from you already,” I mumbled dejectedly.
I knew that Marilyn was still influencing my mind and actions. I turned to escape this situation only to see Charly. He was no longer staring at Marilyn but instead at me. “For a moment there, you looked like a completely different person, almost like an innocent baby. It was so cute!”
“You tell anyone about this and I will burn every single book you own!” I shouted as my face turned bright red.