“You are?” I asked the four men waiting for me at the exit to the dissonance field the World Tree had created. I had noted their arrival over an hour ago, but I was too focused on my task to care.

Part of the reason I had was visiting the World Tree was to make the sacrifice. A blood tithe that wasn’t necessary. Still, it would allow the tree to grow stronger. The gift of my blood was more potent since I had taken the first step into the realm of the Divine.

My Demi-God status and the changes to the blood coursing through my veins would allow the Tree to spread branches and create the connections that I had hoped to patiently cultivate more quickly.

The sacrifice of blood was not a simple one. It wasn’t just a pinprick or slash across the palm with blood scattered. I slashed both wrists, repeatedly as they healed, to allow my blood to flow for almost an hour.

The Sidhe had a high enough regenerative and healing ability that made a task that would have killed any of the other magical races on Urt something possible. While it did exact a small cost on my body, I would have to bleed for years before I needed to worry. And even then, a simple meal would eliminate those costs—a meal rich in copper to restore the potency of my blood.

Once my body reached [Rank: S-], even that small consideration would no longer be necessary. The gift of blood was an insignificant cost to pay to build metaphysical bridges that would restore the other seven realms lost to Asgard to the province of the Sidhe.

“We are council guards,” the more powerful individual of the group answered. I didn’t have access to the System, so I couldn’t use [Inspect], but I was still able to judge how powerful they were. The one who had spoken was [Rank: C+], the other three [Rank: C].

On Talahm that would have gained them the rank of Earl, what someone that powerful was doing working as a messenger was suspect. So unbelievable that I knew that this was an ambush. Either an attempt at capture, assassination, or stalling actions to keep me from attending a meeting with the [Council of Twelve].

I could be wrong. Their presence might have had a purpose, a reason that made sense. But my instincts didn’t believe that. The only question was which of the Sidhe had put them up to this and why.

I had to admire their choice of location if this was an ambush. The flux between dimensions that the World Tree projected as a defense mechanism made it challenging to grasp and control magic in this location. It was possible, but no Sidhe new to their magic would risk it. Not this close to the Tree’s defenses.

One spell redirected, and the Tree would defend itself. No one would want to be shredded into mulch because the Tree thought they were an enemy.

The location limited my choices. I could allow them to proceed with their ambush or use my martial skills and attack now.

I chose to attack.

I moved forward, allowing the guards to surround me. After two of them had moved into position on my flank, I acted. Withdrawing a shield stored in the [Ring of Hidden Depths], I spun, charging at the one on the left with a [Shield Bash]. My strike with the shield had enough power to send him flying into the miasma of mutative reality that protected the tree.

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Whoever he was, he didn’t have enough time to cry out as the defensive shield the World Tree empowered shredded him like wood through a woodchipper. Bits and pieces of him transported to different realities, each part now nothing more than compost to provide nutrients for the Tree.

The ignored guard reacted as he palmed a dagger from a hidden wrist device and moved to stab my kidney. I had left my right side open, and he had a clear shot. I dropped and rolled to the floor after executing the shield bash expecting him to react.

I stored the shield as quickly as I summoned it, even before my body hit the floor and began rolling. I entered the boundary of the defensive shield, my connection with the Tree allowing me a freedom of movement that those ambushing would never enjoy.

As I rose from the floor, I equipped a bow and quiver. I removed arrows as fast as I could aim and shot at them. I soon had the other three flailing on the ground in agony. That wouldn’t last long. I had coated the tips of each arrow with concentrated Elfshot, an effective poison against a Sidhe of any rank.

Elfshot, in small doses, acted like a narcotic. It was unique in that it affected the spiritual, not the physical. It was highly addictive, and one dose was enough to build a dependence that was hard to break.

There were remedies. But those methods were painful. Months of torture as your body was poisoned, your blood feeling like it was boiling day after day. But it was only when the mind was fully engaged in the body that the soul's cravings could be ignored.

The concentrated dose of Elfshot that I had used would put them in a stupor. They would [Sleep] anywhere between fifty and a hundred years as their souls used that time to break down most of the drug.

They would spend the time in [Sleep] trapped and lost to ecstasy. Their souls would experience pleasure so profound that they would never be able to free themselves from Elfshot’s addiction.

I heard feet scurrying and equipment jostling as others decided it was best to retreat than continue with the ambush. It was hard to tell, but I thought I detected another half dozen people were running.

Sending so many people to either capture me or kill me meant that someone was taking no chances. If I had not been trained on Talahm, I would have died. But the Seelie/Unseelie factional bigotry forced me to always be aware of my surroundings and notice the small details that might lead to assassination.

It was those small details that had triggered my instincts and allowed me to suspect their intentions.

They might have claimed to be messengers or guards sent to escort me, but they were too powerful to be assigned that type of menial task. None of them came equipped with the trappings of a guard; their armor was too expensive—their weapons glowing with the magic of fresh enchantments.

And they moved strangely. A bit of hesitation coupled with anticipation. They wanted to succeed at whatever they had planned, but they were wary, afraid of my strength. They had probably heard about what I had done to the armies of Man and weren’t sure whether to believe those tales or not.

Their numbers were the most telling hint that they weren’t who they claimed to be. There were too many of them if they were guards sent to escort me to council chambers. A guard, maybe two, would have sufficed. The four I could detect were overkill unless I was being arrested, ambushed, or killed.

The ambush might have worked if the members of the council had attacked. Most of them were [Rank: B+] and [Rank: A-] with only Llew Llaw a half step more powerful. Without fully releasing my magic, they would probably have overwhelmed me.

Anywhere else, my strength would have decimated even the council members. With the new power gained, raising it from a [Rank: A+] to [Rank: S-], my burgeoning [Domain] over [Illusion and Glamour] would have seen them dead. I would have manipulated sight, sound, smell, and even magical aura’s so that they were fighting and killing each other in the end.

I examined the three men trapped in the ecstasy of Elfshot. I didn’t recognize any of them, and they hadn’t been stupid enough to wear any identifying badges or colors proclaiming their allegiance.

That wouldn’t matter, I thought as I grouped them so I could tie a rope around them. I would drag their bodies to the council chamber. Someone would know them, and I doubted every member of the Twelve was involved in this idiotic plot.