I could feel her passing. It’s like the wind screamed it to me when Venus died and I almost lost it there. I did not know her long, only a few days while we waited here to save her people from the throes of this war we find ourselves in. But I felt close to her because of our connection to the wind, or was it the blessing I am not sure? Her passing is a loss to the world, one of our Titans a pillar of the kingdom’s strength. That’s what Titans are, to me, at least a show of strength.

“Rene, have you seen Alva?” Victoria, and I met up with Rene and Levi a few moments ago after we watched the Cataclysmic battle on top of the mountain that Golem and the pressure it gave off even this far would kill an entire city of non mages. It would have killed me because I don’t have control of my aura that well.

“No, I but she for sure was up on the mountain with Venus. I’m guessing she’ll be here soon.” Rene says as she and Victoria build a stretcher to carry Levi.

He can’t move because of his fight with the Beastial wolves. Their poison paralyzes you for a short period, he told me before it stops your heart. He said he injected the antidote so he will live.

Then, in a quick blink, Alva appears. “Good, you're all alive.”

“Was there any doubt?” I ask her, and she turns to me and gives a sad smile.

“No.” Her eyes gaze into the distance, fixed on the mountaintop.

“Is Venus dead?” Victoria asks without looking up to Alva.

“Yes, she is dead.” Alva says, her fist clenched.

“Damn poor Venus.” Rene says as she stands up and walks over to Alva.

Then she hugs her. “I know you and Venus were close, Alva, so let me know if you need anything.”

Alva nods and goes back into her work mode. “Okay, let’s check on the citizens, then make I’ll a report to Ezekiel to send people out here to help.”

We all stand up while Victoria and Rene carry Levi on the stretcher. We walk through the town that is unrecognizable from the colorful city we were in before to this bloody and destructive mess it is now. Morbidly some Slyphans line the rooftops and some lay on the ground like messy dolls with how perfect they were as a species. Lost, beautiful living beings make my blood boil all over again.

We reach the end of the city were the large door in the mountain is where we stashed the living Sylphans

I swing the door open and immediately rush away to vomit at the vile stench of fresh blood inside.

“Dear Fates, protect their souls.” I hear Levi say.

Standing back, we swing the door wide open. Once we get a peek, I can see a person inside munching on a leg, and I almost vomit again. The room doesn’t help. It has blood splatter sticking to the wall like icing on a cake.

Alva asks. “Who are you tell us!?“ In a booming voice,” Alva asks as the person with long thinning hair, large tattered wings, and a body with visible protruding ribs turns around. It makes me actually vomit again. The person says while the large talons are sunk into the leg, it holds onto like a kid’s favorite toy.

“Thank you for the meal.” His face covered in blood, his face his mouth full of meat.

Then he vanishes.

A few hours later, we all sit outside the building with the woman and children of the last of the Slyphans dead inside. The guards all dead most of the Embers army. We finished. But the rest left in a flash of light after Alva sent away Zara.

I finish vomiting again and walk over to the others.

“Why did they have to die so horrifically?” No one deserves to die that way...Eaten alive, dammit!” I say, my voice cracking like glass.

“How did it even get in there in the first place? What the hell was it?” Victoria asks.

Alva speaks up after coming from investigating the vault." It’s a minor devil of flesh." Alva pauses as I hear her tapping her sword in frustration.

“A minor devil out of the labyrinth? How?” Levi asks.

“Genuinely I am not sure, but I am guessing the Embers are releasing devils from the Labyrinth?” She bites her thumbnail a first I’ve seen from her.

“I will have to consult with Ezekiel about this. He would know more than I would. This is a recent development that I know nothing about.” Alva walks over to me.

“Emelia, come with me, please.” I look at her..

“Where are we going?” I ask her.

“Just come with me and I’ll tell you.” She turns to the group.

“Emelia and I need to investigate something. I will fill you in on what it is when we return.” Then she turns and walks away as I follow her.

When I reach a large door in a mountainside, a few hundred steps outside the city I stop when I see Alva standing next to it.

“Emelia, we need to do what Venus asked you to do, yes?” I nod to her.

“Yes, she said something precious is in here and if we cannot save the citizens to come here, it’s the Sylphans last hope.” I say and Alva nods.

“Yes, I know she has something she’s been working on in here for years. Very well, let us go inside and see what awaits us.” Alva walks up to the door and places her hand up to it but it shocks her.

“Owe, guess it is not a fan of me.” Alva looks at me and steps out of the way.

“I believe you should open it,” Alva says as she waves at the door.

As I walk over to the door, my legs becoming wobbly.

Placing my hand to the door, it flashes white, the same color as my magic, and shatters the magic barrier into pieces. Then the stone doors open to a blackened stair case. Alva claps her hands, and a light appears in her right hand.

“After you.” I nod.

We make our way down towards the stairs. After going down for a bit, we reach a dripping cell that goes below the mountainside. It leads to a small door on the far end.

The soft glow from Alva’s light barely cut through the darkness.

“What is it?” I ask, and Alva just shrugs.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“I suggest we try the door first.” Then she reaches for the door.

It clicks and whines to an open. We walk inside and see that someone has opened a pod. We notice

“What the hell? Why is it opened?” I ask and run up to the pod.

“Guess that note was correct.” Alva hands me a note.

“It’s a dressed to you.” My hands shake as I read the unopened bloody note.

“Dear sweet Emelia, come to Vaznguard city to claim your prize! Love number One.”

“This is bad.” I say.

“Why? What does it say, Emelia?”

“It says come to Vaznguard city to come and claim your prize. Love number one.”

Alva shakes her head and then punches a wall so hard the room rattles. “They have been two steps ahead of us this whole time. They knew Zara would beat Venus because she was distracted by whatever this project was.”

Alva, in a rage, punches the side of the pod, smashing it to pieces, then disappears out of the room.

I sit there staring at the pod, wondering what was supposed to be inside it.

“I broke it,” Alva says, rubbing her bloody hand. Ill get Rene to heal it and then we are off to Vaznguard.

“Are you okay Alva?” I ask her and she smiles but doesn’t make direct eye contact.

“No, but there is a job to do. I will mourn her later.” Then Alva grabs me and we teleport away to the crew.

After fifteen hours of travel, we finally make it to the outskirts of Vaznguard, and boy, this place is gorgeous.

Trees line the roads, lights do as well. It reminds me of the gardens back at Bladesfall. The homes are all different some are rectangles or triangular. We walk through the streets and see a restaurant on a corner with tables outside.

“You guys want to eat?” I ask.

“Very much.” Rene says rubbing her stomach.

We all walk to the restaurant and head inside.

“This is Vaznguard, I ask.” Alva nods.

“Not a huge town, but it produces huge amounts of metal,” Alva says.

“Wasn’t this the home of Riot Silver?” I ask and Rene wraps her arm around my shoulder.

“Yes, this was his home until he was just fifteen when he joined the Metal Smiths in Mount Vernon To become the best smith ever.” Rene seems to have rehearsed this.

“You still find that jackass attractive Victoria says and walks right past me to face Rene.

“Of course, with that cut body of his, plus being way richer than me, I could retire and be a housewife.” Alva scoffs.

“You become a housewife. You’d grow bored, and would you leave the association behind?” Alva asks as we sit down at a table to eat.

We all order a big plate of meat and cheese and mugs of water or ale, and Rene finally answers.

“No, I wouldn’t, but I would marry Riot Silver. Are you kidding?” Rene bumps me in the side.

“Emmy, help me out?” I look at her after spacing out.

“Uh, Riots cute sure.” Rene smiles.

We finish eating and Alva claps.

“Okay, time to look for whatever Venus wanted Emelia to find,” Alva says, and we all collectively nod.

“How, the note said to come to Vaznguard, but it could be here anywhere?” I say.

“I agree. How will we find whatever it is?” Levi asks, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Alva continues to talk when I notice a person staring at us from across the restaurant.

She wears a nice dress and for a second I think it’s the Dea girl from the visions, but no, she’s different. Dea was more scraggly than this girl is... pristine.

Gorgeous brown hair, ruby-red eyes, a long pink skirt, and a white shirt with leather straps, tiny crafted daggers on each arm, and a sword attached to her hip. She waves at me and smiles. Then gestures for me to come here.

“Alva, I think I figured out how to find what we’re looking for.” I point to the girl and she waves nicely to Alva.

“Well, let’s go.” We all get until the entire restaurant does as well. Many of the people inside, grab all of us by the arms and stop us from going to the girl.

“What in the Fuck!” Victoria struggles.

Five burly men grab Alva. “Dammit, what’s going on here?” Alva struggles, but to no avail.

“Why are you all doing this?” I shout, struggling to free myself.

The girl smiles and waves me over.

“Oh, sweet Emelia, just you, please. The rest of you, please stay there. Let them go now.” Everyone but me is forced to sit and I sigh.

“Alva?” Looking at Alva for confirmation, she nods.

“Becareful.” She says.

I look at the burly man with a red beard and bald head that holds Alva’s wrist.

“Man, let’s see what the crazy girl wants.” I walk over to her and stand and hover over the chair.

“Emelia, my sweet, please sit.” She gleefully points to the chair.

“Why? Are you the one who left the note?” I ask, trying to keep my shaky voice from showing.

The girl pouts. “Sit,” I am pushed into the seat by a heavyset man, and I finally oblige.

“Yay!” Now, do you want dessert? I know you just had the beef and cheese? I love something sweet after a salty meal?”

She opens a menu, and I just sit there.

“Hmm, not a fan of sweet stuff, sad. I am a major fan of sweets and will order myself something. The girl says as she waves over the waiter.

“I’d like the soft serve with the macaroons, sprinkles, and one banana, please. Oh, cut it up and put it in the ice cream, thanks!!!”

My rage slowly scratches at the sides of my mind at the girl acting so carefree.

“Who the hell are you?” I ask through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, one dagger the girl had on her arms flies past me and hit the chair behind me.

“No cursing, please master does not like it and neither do I.” The girl tuts.

“Now ask nicely.” She smirks.

“Listen, I don’t have time. I need to find whatever Venus lost!” I slam my hands on the table, then a sword is at my throat.

A guard by me places it at my neck, and my rage subsides.

The next thing I see is a spray of blood and the guard falls with a small blade in his neck.

“How dare y...you miscreant lay you filthy blade on my Emelia’s neck!!!” The girl walks over and kicks the guard and he flies across the restaurant.

He shatters the wall. It crumbles on top of the man. Alva jumps up but can’t go because of the man holding her and the rest of the crew.

“Do not move filth!” Screams the practically Feral girl.

She walks back over and takes a cloth from the table and dabs it at my neck to clean up the small trail of blood.

“You okay Em, my sweet, that dirty man should not have placed his sword to your gorgeous neck.”

“You just murdered that man!” I shout, and she just shakes her head.

“He’s just a puppet. They are all my puppets. This is my town now.” The girl says and. She claps her hands and the group of people all release my friends.

“See, I let your friends go to show you. I mean you no harm. So please talk with me now?” The girl sniffles and I almost feel bad for her, minus the blood on my face from the man.

She wipes her nose, then looks at my face. “Oh, he got his vile blood on your face. I’m sorry.”

She snaps, and a woman walks out with a bucket and the girl dips it in the warm water, then wipes at my face with the cloth.

I’m so flabbergasted by the man’s death, everything from yesterday and the weird girl in front of me. I Just let her have her way.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I’ve let you get away with murder and cleaning me. Now oblige me.” The girl sits and faces me.

“Yes, My Dear I am Angelica Freeman at your service.” The girl bows her head.

“Angelica, did you leave the note at Venu’s hideout?” Judging by the girl calling me dear like in the note I think it is.

“Yes, I wanted you to come and talk, so I stole the queen’s prize!” She smiles sweetly.

“How did you know of it?” I ask and she cracks up, laughing.

“Watched her go in and out of the place as I stalked the city for weeks. Soooo I had one of her guards bring me the keys before the queen finished her battle, so I went there and took it.”

“Why, me?” Is another thing I ask, and she smiles.

“You are perfect, that’s why.” She goes serious.

“What does that mean?” I ask again.

“You’re not a Mistake Em. You are a Blessing!” The girl says and smiles.

My heart flutters at her kind words, but I shake that feeling away. The girl is strange; I feel like I should be attracted to her, but the look in her eyes shows otherwise. Devotion, and loathing, and lastly chaos.

Tell me, does it bother you to be called a mistake?“ I turned my head to her, confused.”

“How do you know about any of that?” No one should know of that.

“I can’t read your mind, but I can feel the despair from that word when you hear it. Your fists clench, your eyes dart around, you squirm. It makes you angry, confused, and uncomfortable, yes?” The girl reaches for my hand and I let her grab it.

She nailed everything about my emotions. I’ve been feeling she nails it.

“What does that matter?”

She sighs.

“I care for you so very much. I just want you to know that I accept you for what you are.” The girl never breaks eye contact. I almost lose myself in her Red Ruby-colored eyes.

“What am I?” I ask, almost too eagerly.

She smirks.” Not a mistake, but a blessing wrapped up in the body of a young girl."

Wrapped up?" Soo, I’m a present to you, is that it?"

She shakes her head."Not to me silly the world. You are the greatest gift to the world."

Despite this being the most heartfelt thing I’ve heard for a month. I can’t help but not feel anything because of her eyes screaming her faulty intentions at me.

“I...I... really should get going back to my friend’s.” The girl nods.

“Yes, of course, I shall lead you to the Inn to stay the night.” I shake my head.

“No, show me where the Queen’s item is.” She stands up.

“Nope, you need rest for our date tomorrow.” Then I’m grabbed under my arms and lifted off the chair.

I try to summon my magic, and the girl shakes her head.

“Sorry, the room limits your magic because it is made of Sea stone,” she said before she walked away to the door behind her and took the rest to the dungeon. Then she walked out the door.

And I’m dragged away from my kicking and screaming friends.