POV Natalia Talios

There was peace to be found amid frenetic combat. Within its hallowed conflict, Natalia didn’t need to worry about what others thought or the worries and cares of the day. In battle there was only time to react, the only thoughts in her head being what she needed to do to survive and no others. Such was the case in conflicts between higher tiers.

Her team darted around her, the tank Gisham making sure to draw the majority of the attention with his roars and posturing. Her friend, Aliria, stayed back a ways from the melee to shoot her bow. The rhythmic thunk of well-placed arrows rang out rapidly as they found their mark. Boris, their combat magus, darted in and out of melee range, his arms wreathed in flames that he used to devastating effect.

The only other member was one that Natalia couldn’t see apart from momentary flashes as the rogue dipped in and out of shadows. Korim was like a ghost, flitting from place to place with a lithe grace that never ceased to impress her. Natalia herself was the leader of the merry band but also their healer. This did not mean she played a purely support role, however. With a strong Life Affinity, she was less reliant on ambient Aether to sustain her spells and as a Silver-Core she could take almost as much punishment as their tank could and with less armor.

She was a physical healer by definition, with little in the way of ranged healing. Almost every spell in her repertoire required her to be touching her target which was made incredibly more dangerous by the type of monster they were facing. Like a mad splicing of bear and ape, the Abigu was a true monster. Even as they darted in and around its ten-foot frame, she could feel the hungry pull of its core.

This one must have crystalized relatively soon because there was no other reason why it wouldn’t be stronger than this. Not that it being a high silver was weak by any means. But a normal Abigu was only low silver, possibly even high bronze. With a monster’s capability to consume Aether, it would have been gold within a few weeks. It wasn’t a stretch therefore to say they had caught it at a good time.

She darted under a swing of the Abigu’s eight-foot arm to slam her mace into the creature’s knee with a satisfying crunch. It howled in agony and the pull of its core intensified causing a small patch of grass to wither away around its stomping feet. With an ease born of intense practice, Natalia kept her Aether tightly held within her Crystalline Core, her Silver Rank more than enough to keep the monster’s Aether Gravitation at bay.

That was the danger whenever non-Cores tried to fight real monsters. Depending on the strength of the monster they could find themselves subject to Withering, their natural Aether reserves being ripped from them violently. The stronger the monster the faster it occurred. There were legends of platinum-rank monsters who could Wither entire cities in a matter of minutes.

A pained grunt from Grisham had her ducking around the creature and deflecting one of its arms upward even as she clasped arms with Grisham in a familiar well-practiced movement. Life Affinitied Aether flooded from her and into Grisham, topping him off and snapping his dislocated shoulder back into place. Just in time for him to catch another smashing blow on his shield.

The creature was almost finished. High silver though it was, Natalia and her team were mid-silver and more than its match. An arrow from Aliria spelled the beginning of the end. With a wet squelch, it sank into the creature’s eye. With impressive fortitude, the creature kept on fighting but it was clear that something internal had been severely damaged. Without the ability to remove the offending metal of the arrow, there was no way for the Abigu to utilize its monstrous healing as it had for the more surface area wounds.

It slowed and the team ripped it apart with Boris closing in to set it aflame and Korim ending it with a well-placed dagger to the back of its head. The Abigu fell like a tree being felled, its bulk causing the ground to shudder as it collapsed. The team stood for a moment, breathing deeply to catch their breath. They didn’t immediately move toward the corpse and followed protocol. It wasn’t the first time a Delver team had killed a monster only to have another one charge out after they had finished with the first.

After a moment Korim gave Natalia a nod and she motioned for Boris to collect the Core. Nine times out of ten the Core shattered but this time it seemed they had been in luck. As Boris finished excavating the crystal from the creature’s chest, the group closed in on him to see the results. It was large but they had expected that. Roughly a foot in length tall and a third of that wide it was an impressive specimen.

Like all monster cores, it was a jagged and barbaric thing with the remnants of the Spark still in place as protrusions of the main crystal, like lightning had been frozen in time.

Grisham whistled, seemingly impressed. “That there will fetch a pretty penny when we get back.” The others nodded.

“Boris,” Natalia said, watching the man’s gaze flick to her, “Go ahead and sever the Spark ends. We’ll turn them into Chits.”

“You got it, boss,” The man nodded in understanding while giving a mock salute.

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Natalia just smirked at him, rolling her eyes. As Aliria came over to get her own view of the Core, Natalia made her way over to where Korim was observing the surrounding woodland. She gave him a raised eyebrow and he answered the unspoken question as he had for the last week.

“We’re getting closer.” When that answer didn’t lower the eyebrow he sighed. “Natalia we truly aren’t far but something is interfering. I can’t get a read on the exact distance and the closer we get the harder it is becoming.”

Natalia felt excitement bubble up from within her. She was close; she could feel it. “Could it be a dampening array?” She asked, some of the excitement coming out with the question. Korim turned his head casually to crack his neck, something he did when he was thinking.

“Perhaps,” He said after a moment. “To be honest I’ve never had to test my senses against one so I wouldn’t know. Most Dungeons never use them so I haven’t been trained to Seek them or anything in one.”

Natalia didn’t let his answer diminish her excitement. She called back over her shoulder to the rest of her group. “Half an hour's rest and then we move. Korim says we’re close.” She ignored the good-natured groans and comments of “That’s what he said the last half a dozen times” and dove into her pack for her canteen. Taking a long drink, she fought a sudden pang of loss, fighting to keep it from showing.

I’ll be there soon Grandpa. I’ll find out what happened to you and clear your name. And Mine.

POV Cormac Torgir

“Cormac Torgir!” The stern and loud voice of Dialgar of the Slua Sidhe echoed in the open chamber deep in the heart of the Mother Tree. The Fae towered over his lesser brethren, glaring down at the Leprechaun bound before him. For his part, Cormac was subdued, as he had been since leaving the Dungeon. After having bound himself to one of the Tall-Folk gods. His eyes were hollow as he lifted his eyes to meet the greatest member of their dwindling community.

“You are accused of antagonizing a local Dungeon with the intention of claiming it for yourself, leading dozens of your fellow Fae to death in said Dungeon, and thus enacting treason against this community and Mother Tree. How do you plead?” The Fae continued before Cormac had even opened his mouth. “Know that any plea you give forth will not stay our judgment of you but if you have any information you wish to give to this council to soothe the ache of the pain you have caused, do so now.

Cormac simply shook his head, too weary of soul to muster the energy to respond. He was broken and he knew it. Not even the pulsing power dwelling within his chest was enough to bring him out of his state of mind. His ambitions were spent except for one. His gaze found his fiancé Fiona and he gave her a sad smile that matched the tears streaming down her face. His last remaining ambition flared at seeing her and he once again swore that if he somehow survived his sentence he would be marrying that woman.

“Then we sentence you to Reclamation and Dissolvement.” Dialgar’s words brought a tide of chatter that echoed through the chamber though Cormac only had ears for the choked sob that sprang unbidden from Fiona’s mouth. He couldn’t blame her as even his heart had frozen over at the words. Reclamation and Dissolvement. The capital punishment leftover from the Fae Courts of the Other.

Reclamation was when a Fae’s Inheritances were stripped away and absorbed by the Mother Tree. It left the Fae in question without their legacy and effectively stripped them of their place in Fae society. Banishment was a lesser punishment in comparison. At least then they were still Fae and not a hollow shell. Dissolvement was even worse. After being Reclaimed, the Fae individual would be forcefully subjected to the Mother Tree’s central Aether Heart. There they would be overcome by the Aether content and gradually dissolve back into the Dust from which their seeds were born.

Cormac had little time to react at all before the seed of power within his chest flared with power, sending a ripple through the chamber. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” He heard his voice state with calm indifference. “This vessel is one I have spent a good deal of Potential on. I would hate to lose it so soon.” What Cormac couldn’t see and what the other Fae had a front-seat view of was the change that took over the Leprechaun.

Green light erupted from his eyes to mix with golden light that gradually formed horns above the bearded little man. His threadbare clothes shifted into green robes with gold and black accents. A black shirt and soft deep green pants completed the ensemble. Knee-high boots formed around his naked feet before forming golden buckles in the shape of two curved horns. The chains around his hands melted into gold dust that then formed golden clasps that clamped themselves around his forearms.

Dialgar was before Cormac immediately in a flash of red-black energy, sword raised to strike. The Slua Sidhe’s face was twisted in a rage Cormac had never before seen. Not even when he had been declaring Cormac a traitor. Cormac didn’t feel his arm flash upward but he saw it when it stopped the blade mid-swing. His other arm caught the Fae before him in a backhand that catapulted the Stage 4 into the Mother Tree’s wood with a crunch that shook the inner chamber.

“Now, now, none of that. The adults are going to talk for a while.” It was strange hearing his voice take on that cold imperiousness. Cormac was still bewildered but he gradually began recovering even as his mouth spoke. “To those of you who don’t know, let me introduce myself.” He felt his mouth twist into a sardonic smile and his body bowed with a flamboyant air. “I am Trik’Weri, High Spirit of Mischief and Promises that Bind.” He felt himself rise from the bow and give a rakish wink that made Cormac cringe inwardly. “Now, how about we have a little talk Alu’Mira? It’s been a long time.”

Cormac watched, stunned, as the wood in front of them split, revealing a golden light. Motes of golden Dust coalesced into a feminine form that caused the Fae gathered in the chamber to fall to their knees in awe and respect. The tone of the words that emanated from the Voice of the Mother was tired. “Trik’Weri,” it acknowledged. “The Mother will speak to you. There is much to speak of, not the least of which is the claiming of one of her children as a High Priest.”

Cormac felt his mouth go metaphorically dry even as his voice answered the Voice. “Yes, yes, that will be explained. All will be settled. Let’s be off.” His hands slipped into the pockets of his robes as his body strolled into the golden slit that had opened in the wood of the Mother Tree’s trunk. In a flash, they were gone from the room and the stunned Fae that were gathered there.