Serenydi [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPcZUyB0SoQMuKL0SFbX792X4VKVewVtvcINj7d3WRyxGvDUjCFv9jKC9sTK2EhpNJ1_aVEmiVoJ5t9yem0LlVEac8BoIVUGHuwvf7T7pjekhKXv0EAnIJiEaeFZDKDQ5jddzIsb7CkTOygbESoYgII=w661-h992-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Dazien had been hungry before when he had acted up and been sent to bed without dinner as a child, but he had never been borderline starved like this before.
The few Crystal Mana Bits he had been given weren’t nearly enough to sustain him as a Sapphire Caster, but it didn’t seem like his captors cared about keeping him strong enough to potentially fight back. In fact, after some visual analysis of the manacles that wrapped his wrists and ankles, connected by a thick chain to the collar at his neck, he realized the main cause of his hunger to be the Silencer itself, slowly draining him to keep him weak.
He didn’t have an actual stomach anymore to growl angrily at him, but the amount of fatigue and weakness he felt was signal enough that he needed to eat something with more magic in it. They had kept him Silenced, gagged, and closely guarded as they moved him to a different ship, and he got his first glimpse of where he was.
A sign informed him that he had first awoken on Silent Isle, which, by the looks of it, was a lawless pirate port where all manner of normally illegal goods were being peddled and transferred around. Nobody batted an eye at him being chained up like a wild animal and moved across the sea dock and further into the ramshackle city with the rest of the group of captives.
“How much for that one’s hair?” a sultry-looking lady asked Lukas Lumeris, who currently held the lead to his chains. Dazien realized she was speaking the Night dialect of Elvish, which he had actually purchased a Knowledge Tome for as part of his preparations, and he was glad he had sacrificed the handful of Sapphire Bits for it.
“No sale,” Lukas retorted, trying to brush past her. His Elvish sounded a bit broken as if he had more recently been trying to learn it the hard way instead of short-cutting like Dazien had. Honestly, he would have preferred learning the long way as well since his higher Caste Mind made that easier, but he had felt pressed for time.
“But it’s so long, and one of my daughters is in desperate need of a wig rather than mere potion ingredients,” the woman pushed, moving closer to try and grasp Dazien’s hair in her hand.
He jerked away from her touch, but Lukas yanked him closer, almost causing him to stumble in his weakened state and Lukas’ higher Caste Strength.
“I will pay in Emeralds,” she added, and that caused Lukas to pause and finally take her in.
Lukas glanced back at his hair, taking in the length before glancing back at the woman and asking, “Speak Trade Pyrinese?”
Dazien knew that was the common trade language for a majority of the continent, but not every culture embraced it. Tulim did, and it was what he had grown up with, but he knew during his research that Serenydi did not, focusing on embracing their own roots of being founded by Night Elves.
The woman nodded and said in the more common tongue they were both familiar with, “You let me cut and keep what I collect, and I will give…” She glanced over at his hair one last time, as though weighing it in her mind, “Three Emerald Bits.”
That number almost made Dazien’s heart stop. He had no idea that his hair could sell for that astronomical price and was almost tempted to sell it himself if he ever got free. However, the thought also brought Uriel’s words to mind. It was so long ago now, but those words had never left him: “If you put a price on your body, people will see it as an object for sale. You won’t be a person in their eyes but just another commodity to trade.”
Priestess Aimi, who was a follower of the Lover, had only partially agreed with that idea but had also urged Dazien not to trade physical favors for Bits, no matter how hard things felt. She had argued that unless it was something he was actually passionate about pursuing as a form of service, he shouldn’t feel forced into it due to his poverty.
Now, it didn’t seem like he would get a say in it either way, though.
“Four, and it will be where I can supervise. Follow now because we leave shortly for Serenydi,” Lukas replied promptly, leaving no room for argument as he resumed walking.
The woman fell quickly into step as Dazien was yanked along again. The city was bustling, but that didn’t seem to deter Lukas as they moved to a towering building where Dazien actually gawked as he saw his first airships docked above him. He had never seen one so close before, let alone rode one, and he was both in awe and slightly disappointed. He had been hoping to experience something like that with his friends… not as smuggled cargo.
While the Silent Isle might not care about slaves being dragged through the streets, Serenydi did not abide unwilling slavery.
Dazien was slightly impressed when the woman was joined by a couple of others who looked more like intimidating bodyguards. She said to Lukas, “If you want me to board to cut it, then my girls will ensure my safety, yes?”
He figured she must have some kind of ability or item that acted like his own [Noble Subjects] to call for backup like that, but it made sense in a place like this where the only rule seemed to be the Rule of Caste and Bits.
“Fine,” Lukas growled, pulling Dazien and the others further along and up the staggering stairwell. It seemed so much more of a challenge than normal, with his body weakened and his mind simply wanting to shut down from lack of magical nutrition.
He barely registered when they reached the landing platform, but his attention was captured again when he took in the large and luxurious airship they would be boarding. It was mostly made from polished dark wood, gilded with silver embellishments and silken sails that glittered in the sunlight.
It almost looked like a normal sailing ship, yet much sleeker and far less rope hanging everywhere. Runes covered the mast itself and while they were invisible to the naked eye, his magical vision lit up with the teal of Wind magic and white of Light. If he had to guess, the sails were actually powered by the sun while it flew through the air.
He wasn’t given much time to admire it, however, as the sight of Lord Finndeshin smirking at him drew his attention. “Who are your new guests, Mister Lumeris?” the Night Elf asked as he opened the half-door leading onto the ship.
“Just a customer. We’ll be done dealing shortly,” Lukas replied tersely as he walked past and led them to a lower floor. Lukas shoved him into a small empty room before adding to the women, “Payment first, then be quick about it.”
“Half now, half when you let us leave peacefully,” she retorted with a flat look.
Lukas simply rolled his eyes but nodded, holding out a hand that the woman dropped two Emerald Bits into before turning a predatory gaze onto Dazien—or, more specifically, his hair.
As the door shut behind them, leaving him chained and Silenced with the three women that he had no inkling of their Caste levels, the woman ordered in Nightish, “Hold him still in the corner while I draw out the circle to preserve the hair, then keep him within it. I want to keep the length intact as much as possible.”
Dazien tried to struggle against their grips and attempted to speak through the gag in the same language. “Stop. I’m a noble and—”
Her laughter cut off his attempt at bartering as she said, “That collar says otherwise. You’re nothing but a slave boy now, Shiny. Be grateful I’m only taking something so temporarily lost. My daughter will be thrilled to have your hair and make me a fortune in the process. You simply have to wait a few years for it to grow back. Now, don’t be so selfish and stay still!”
To her utter frustration, he didn’t listen. He continued to struggle as she drew out a ritual circle with some chalk from the messenger bag she carried. Even as the guards forced him back into it, he tried to fight back. Through every snip her impressively enchanted scissors made against his scalp, he never gave up on making it difficult for her.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He had been practically pinned to the floor by the other two hulking women as their leader complained and kept cutting his silken hair. He wasn’t strong enough to stop them. His words weren’t enough to convince them.
With Rex gone, he couldn’t empower his words to try and convince them how wrong this was and that his threats for retribution would one day be fulfilled. He wasn’t sure having Rex would have made much of a difference, though. These women were obviously higher level than him, if not Emerald Caste. His words would likely be resisted as much as his struggling was.
When the women finally released him, and the door opened again, with more Bits exchanging hands along with other words he barely had the mind to listen to, he glanced up just in time to see the door shut again.
It was only a few minutes later that he felt the ship tremble for just a moment. He felt a soft rocking as the ship began to glide through the sky. It would be no time at all now before they would arrive in the city of luxury.
Laying alone in the dark closet, with no one to witness his shame, Dazien silently let the tears he had been holding back fall.
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As Phoenix broke through the tree line into a clearing within the vast forest, the sight before her brought tears to her eyes as Uriel turned to look at her in surprise. She didn’t stop running as she practically tackled him, causing them both to fall into the white sand of the beach. She clung to him like he was a life raft, breathing in his stormy scent and letting his natural warmth radiate through her.
He managed to sit up, much to her displeasure, and he grabbed her shoulders to push her back when all she wanted to do was bury her face in his shirt.
“Where’s Daze?” he asked her, and she frowned. Not even a ‘hello’? No, ‘thank the gods you’re alive’? She knew Dazien meant more than she did to him, but he was acting like she didn’t matter at all at the moment. They had been apart for over two weeks, and the first words out of his mouth were about her brother?
“I don’t know,” she said, lifting her partially broken bracelet. “I’ve been worried about him since his bead shattered, but I have no clue where he is.”
Uriel winced for a moment as if in pain, clutching his left forearm to his chest before managing to glare up at her, “You killed him, didn’t you?”
“What? No, I—”
“It’s your fault the ship’s shields went down, and the monster was able to destroy the ship. It’s your fault Dazien is dead!”
His words felt like a stab to her heart, confirming her own fears, but her eyes were distracted by the fact that his bracer was missing, and glowing tendrils of mana seemed to be spreading across his skin. She had seen that effect on him before…
“Did a Corrupted monster bite you?” she ended up asking in growing horror.
“It doesn’t matter!” Uriel shouted at her, shoving her off him and back into the sand. “What point is there in living without my king?!”
“But I—”
“There’s nothing left for me without him! I need him, and you took him away! You killed the only thing that matters to me!”
“Uriel, I—” her words were cut off as he screamed, and the tendrils of mana crept over his face, turning his eyes an eerie glowing violet. She was too late. He had become one of the Corrupted.
For a moment, she hoped he would kill her as retribution for what she had done. For the pain she had caused her best friend.
“Phoenix! Wake up this instant!” Tala’s voice called into her mind.
It was almost difficult to do so as she watched the horrific scene of Uriel transforming before her, the veins glowing brighter with that eerie light of Death magic and his flesh rotting before her eyes.
Just before he leaned forward to bite into her neck, corrupting her own soul, she managed to open her eyes.
Phoenix was drenched in a cold sweat as she stared up into a pair of silver eyes next to another set of glowing emerald ones. She didn’t try sitting up that time, just letting herself stay prone as she stared up at the lightening sky.
“That was the worst,” Tala complained. “Don’t ever do that again, either. It was even worse than the last time.”
Phoenix huffed. “You know I can’t control my dreams, Tala. It’s not like I ever want them to turn into nightmares… why didn’t you wake me sooner this time?”
“It started off so nice and cozy… I was hoping it would have stayed that way.”
She sighed, remembering the brief moment of warmth and relief. “I wish it would have. It felt so real, too.”
After a few silent moments as she tried to recenter herself, Ren finally shifted back into their daekin form and asked, “Go now. Phoenix ready?”
She gave another heavy sigh before nodding and getting to her feet, taking just a few moments to put her camping items back in her collection and swapping out her clothes. A tear in the arm of her armor that hadn’t finished self-repairing yet made her grimace, and she tried to make a mental note to look for some replacement armor of her Caste once they reached the city. Her Shifting Twilight had served her well over the half year, but it simply couldn’t withstand the higher Caste fights she was finding herself in.
“I’m ready now,” she replied, stretching slightly, “How much further to Serenydi?”
Ren pointed to the water and replied, “By whale, only few days.”
Phoenix stared at them for a moment before clarifying, “What do you mean ‘by whale’?”
“Phoenix ride in mouth of Ren. Be very fast.”
“Please tell me you’re joking,” Phoenix asked the shifter incredulously.
Ren shook their head in the negative, “Ren nom the Phoenix and swim to Serenydi. Be there soon.”
“I’m not climbing inside a whale’s mouth!” she protested as the pair of them stood on the snowy beach on the southeastern edge of the island they were currently on.
“Not in whale, in Ren,” the daekin tried to reassure.
“I don’t think that’s better!”
The shifter gave a comically exaggerated sigh and tried to explain, “Phoenix ride on top, takes many days. Phoenix ride inside, takes few days. Phoenix needs friends faster, yes?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, looking back and forth between the daekin and the expanse of the ocean. She did want to get to the city and her friends faster, but riding in the mouth of a whale, like some biblical character, a wooden puppet, or a snack, did not sound remotely appealing.
Phoenix gave an annoyed huff, remembering that she had resolved to try trusting her companions more, and this newest one had been nothing but helpful since they had met. She finally nodded, her shoulders slumping slightly, “Fine. Just… don’t swallow.”
Ren snickered at the request despite their best efforts not to worry her and then took a running leap into the water, shifting into a green whale that reminded her of an orca, but it was not quite the same and fairly larger, though it was difficult to gauge the size from pictures sometimes. Ren opened their now enormous mouth, letting the large tongue loll out and guard her from the very sharp teeth that lined the opening.
Phoenix hesitated, but at the thought of seeing her friends once more, she steeled her nerves and climbed into the gaping maw of the shifter. She had to crawl into the wet and very fishy-smelling mouth carefully, with not enough room to stand, but she could lie down fairly comfortably with the rough tongue acting as a bed for her to curl up on.
When they arrived after what felt to her like a never-ending ride of wondering when Ren would accidentally swallow her, Phoenix was relieved to land on solid ground once more. Even drenched in whale slobber and really hoping Serenydi had hot magical showers.
She quickly learned they weren’t on the island proper yet, however, when the whale shifted back into a daekin and led her a bit further down a noticeably less snowy beach. After rounding a bend, she was able to view a dock with the ferry that led to the city-state, which consumed the entire landmass of the distant island.
Phoenix was stunned by the sight of it as Serenydi didn’t look so much like a sprawling city but more like a single massive unevenly shaped tower that rose into the sky. Lights danced all over it in vibrant blues, purples, pinks, and greens, like a sparkling magical Tower of Babel made from a divine game of Jenga.
There were a few smaller towers near its base and floating obelisks in the sky that slowly orbited around the central mass of the city. With the clear night sky of millions of shining constellations that she couldn’t name yet as a backdrop being reflected by the crystal clear waters, the city was hands down the most magical thing she had ever seen.
Ren grinned at her stunned expression as they scampered forward slightly, made a grand gesture towards the impressive sight, and said happily, “Ren did bring Phoenix to Serenydi, City of Luxury!”
They tilted their head when she didn’t respond and asked curiously, “Phoenix like?”
She nodded in acknowledgment as she whispered in awe, “It’s beautiful.”
Ren smiled in agreement and said, “Everything on outside is beautiful in Serenydi.” Then they added in a slightly quieter voice, “Phoenix must be careful of what is on inside.”
Phoenix nodded in silent understanding. Ren was warning her that not everyone was to be trusted, but she already knew that. She needed to find her team; however, the sight of the stars still held her captive, and she quietly admitted to her new companion, “I rarely got to see the stars of my old world. I think they would be as strange and wondrous to me as these are.”
The daekin grinned and said, “Maybe Phoenix visit stars someday, too.”