7th Century, 832, Mournful the 12th

Arachnid Empire, outside Undercity, underneath Argon Mountains

Six sharp legs tapped against the stone floor of the tunnel and the three meters tall black owner of the body had his hands behind his long back. He had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a spider. His talons were long and slick, tangled together behind his back. His red eyes scanned the tunnel ahead of him. His long ebony black hair stretched down his back. Daelin spotted a female Arachnid as the tunnel started going further down into the ground.

“Engineer captain,” he said in his raspy voice.

The tall female turned around. She had a smaller and slender frame and although she was tall, he towered above her. She bowed her head.

“Warmaster Daelin,” Naelia said with her gentle and raspy voice. “You honor me.” She raised her head to look up at him.

He looked around for a moment.

“About the tunnel collapse,” he said, looking down at her with a stoic gaze.

“It was just an accident. The tunnel hadn’t been stabilized properly and the minor earthquake destroyed the foundation,” Naelia explained. “It was no ones fault, but it happened all the same.”

He licked his black lips. His eyes diverted from her face for a moment and studied her firm breasts.

“It still happened,” he remarked.

“Of course Warmaster, but…” she hesitated. “…why is a Warmaster personally checking in on us? If I may ask.”

He looked from her breast and to locked eyes with her.

“Your engineering teams are building birthing chambers, Captain Naelia. If it collapses when finished, countless younglings could die.”

“T-that w-won’t happen. The tunnel collapsed because it wasn’t complete. I swear it on the queen,” Naelia declared.

She was trying to avoid thinking about that he was locking eyes with her. Looking away could be considered a sign of weakness. She had to stare him down to show that she was strong. She had to show that she was strong enough to choose her own mate. If he won, he could chose to mate with her, as was tradition. The only reason to lock eyes with someone was to declare your intentions and wishes to mate or challenge her. Intentions between the two were very clear. There were never a case of misunderstanding between mate and a challenge. It was the third time she had met him, but the first time he had locked eyes.

“I will hold you to that, Naelia.”

This female did have an interesting and thrilling spark in her eyes. She was strong. He found that aspect exciting and increasing his interest in her. She was really strong, but not strong enough. He would take delight in breaking her resistance.

“Of course Warmaster.” Naelia said with their eyes still locked.

“Don’t fall behind.”

She hardened her glare.

“I won’t. But it would be faster with more drones and engineers for the tunnel system.”

“Send the Construction Council a request,” he suggested.

“I have”, she snarled. “They’re not working very fast. It will take time to make chambers large enough for five-thousand younglings and larva.”

He untangled his taloned hands behind his back and his left hand reached forward and grabbed Naelia’s hip. She flinched but managed to keep her eyes locked with his. For a moment she felt her body tremble but she managed to get control of herself again. She reached down and grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t. Warmaster,” she warned.

He curved his black lips into a small smile. Her hand was trembling slightly. Slowly he let go of her hip. He was a very patient man and this young female could not resist him forever. He broke the locking of their eyes and looked over her, deeper into the tunnel.

She breathed out in relief.

“I’ll leave you to your work, Naelia,” he said. Daelin turned around and walked away on his six legs.

“Always a pleasure Warmaster,” she lied politely.

She was not sure why someone like him would want to mate with a young thing like her. He was a relatively young adult of sixty-two years and she was only a seventeen year old adult. She had only been an adult for seven years. Arachnids grew much faster than human youths did. She knew almost nothing about him. She did know that he had had two mates. But one were killed in battle and the other became sick and died around the same time.

She reached out and supported herself against the wall.

She scooted to the side when three drones arched by her, down the tunnel. Unlike Daelin’s 3.2 meters and her own 2.6 meter height, the drones were only 1.5 meters-even smaller than most humans. The drones were simple minded workers that served as the labor force of the Arachnid Empire. A regular Arachnid engineer of 2.7 meters came behind the drones.

Naelia had been chosen for the engineering force when she was ten years old. That was when an Arachnid reached adulthood. Before reaching adulthood she was an Honored youngling. She had spent her whole adult life constructing tunnels and other building projects in the Undercity-the capital and center of the Arachnid Empire. It was located deep below the surface of a mountain range. Naelia’s parents was a pair of none-important Arachnids that handled farm animals in a city on the surface.

She turned and looked as Daelin disappeared around the corner of the tunnel. She turned around and walked down the tunnel. She walked one-hundred and sixty meters in until she reached the end of it. Drones and regular engineers were excavating what would be a chamber for larva when finished. Four drones were hauling a thick wooden beam into the chamber to reinforce the ceiling.

7th Century, 832, June the 12th

Arachnid Empire, Undercity palace, underneath Argon Mountains

The mountain ceiling was one kilometer from the massive chambers ground level. The chamber were twenty kilometers long across. Across, the white palace and its towers rose above all else, almost reaching the ceiling. Thousands of white stone buildings were located around it and the stone walls around was filled with tunnel entrances. A river-forty meters wide-ran through the middle of Undercity. It was a large part of the lifeblood of the capital and jewel of the Arachnids ancient Empire. Hundreds-of-thousands, maybe even millions of Arachnids was moving around in the city streets and tunnels. Large and wide tunnels connected the city with outposts, production facilities and smaller underground cities around it.

Ayya pulled the silk drapers aside and looked out from her chamber in the highest tower of the palace. She could see the large market place the center of Undercity. The 2.7 meter tall queen flickered her red eyes and looked down at the river one-hundred meters from the palace. She swept her talons through her ebony black braided hair gently. The wind left a comforting feeling as it swept through her hair.

She heard tiny tapping against the floor come closer. The sound of six tiny legs dancing across the floor. It ended and a tugging on her right first leg took over. Ayya looked down on a tiny Arachnid girl. She was only half a meter tall and her hair reached past her ears. She tugged her mommy’s leg for attention. Her small red eyes looked up at her mommy. The little two year old was the latest born of Ayya’s younglings. Little Rae looked very sad.

“What’s the matter?” Ayya asked in her raspy voice.

“Mommy…” the girl said sobbingly. She pointed to the door out into the corridor. “…Bael and Baal make fun of me.”

Ayya tilted her head to the right and kneeled. She patted the little girls head gently.

“What do they say cutie?”

Little Rae wiped tears from her eyes.

“T-they call me shorty and say my hairs ugly and-and-and c-ca-call me a scared little larva,” she blurted out through sobs.

Ayya picked the little girl up and Rae attached her legs around her mommy’s chest as she was carried in her arms. She cuddled up against her mommy’s chin. Her talons touched Ayya’s face carefully. Ayya hushed her and rocked her in her arms slowly.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

She heard quick tapping against the floor as two small figures ran. Two black 0.7 meter tall younglings appeared in the doorway. Both had long hair to their neck and red excited eyes. They were the same age as Rae but they were taller than her regardless.

“Oh-uh,” Bael whispered, seeing Rae in their mom’s arms.

“Bael. Baal,” their mom said with a sharp voice.

“Mommy? Ehm. Love you,” Baal quickly blurted out.

“Don’t even try it,” she replied and glared at them. “Get in here.”

They both looked down at the floor shamefully. They tapped inside on their black sharp legs.

“Did you make fun of your sister?”

Baal didn’t say anything. He stood silently, thinking it was best. Bael nodded slowly.

“Why?” Ayya demanded.

Both younglings shrugged hopelessly. Rae glanced shyly at her siblings.

“Baal. What am I always telling you? Do you remember?”

He glanced up at his angry mom. He cleared his throat.

“It is the duty of every sibling to defend and protect his or her other siblings,” he retold his mother’s words. He had been told that to many times to count.

Ayya nodded slowly.

“How many more times do I have to knock that into your skulls? You aren’t larva anymore. You are younglings and should know better. You’re almost three years old, the lot of you.”

“I’m sorry, Rae,” Bael apologized.

Baal looked at his brother and up at his sister.

“Yeah. I’m sorry sister.”

Ayya’s talons rubbed the back on the girls head gently.

“Did you hear them?” She whispered.

Rae nodded her head.

“Y-yes.”

“I know they were mean to you sweetheart, but you have to be strong.” Rae was extremely sensitive. No one of her younglings had ever been as sensitive as she was. She was always shy, so worried and often frightened. She wasn’t independent and often needed motherly support and love to get passed any hindrance in her path.

Ayya kissed Rae’s forehead.

She put her down gently on the floor.

“Now go play.”

Baal and Bael quickly left the room but Rae remained standing in front of her. She reached up to take her mommy’s hand. She skipped on the spot, trying to reach the hand. Ayya kneeled again and gripped the girls hand with both of her larger ones. She let Rae climb up her back and sit on her spider body. She held her mommy’s waist tightly when Ayya walked out from her chambers.

“You have to be quiet if you come with me sweetie, ok?”

Rae nodded slowly.

“Ok mommy.”

“I’m going to meet with the Military Council and you can’t interrupt.”

She nodded again.

Ayya made her way to the Council chamber where she met with different Councils for different reasons. Now the five Warmasters of the Military Council were gathered. They were all but one, Honored Elders. Arachnid’s became Honored Elders when reaching one-hundred and fifty years old. The youngest was a male of one-hundred and twenty-seven.

The five bowed their upper bodies respectfully to Ayya. Ayya took up her place at the stone table, Rae still sitting on her back, hugging her waist. She looked shyly at the Honored Elders.

“My queen,” Warmaster Taelaen greeted.

“I want to start with the meeting between the Councilors and dwarves in our lands,” Ayya explained.

“Of course,” Taelaen responded.

Warmaster Aedencan cleared his throat.

“Majesty. Our delegation spoke with them and answered their demands.” He brought out a scroll. “I have their official demands here. Their first demand was immediate independence.”

“I’m not agreeing to that,” Ayya said firmly.

Aedencan nodded.

“I the Councilors knew when writing up other demands. The first is better pay for dwarven military engineers, the seconds is that more dwarves shall be lifted into the government, improved laws and justice for racism against dwarves, better reactions from the Oversight Council on mistreatment of dwarves by Arachnid officials in cities and industrial or mine workplaces. The fifty term is more military commands should be provided to dwarves.” He looked over at the queen.

“Hmm.”

“All military engineers is paid the same,” Taelaen declared in anger. “They should not be paid more than our own engineers.”

Ayya looked at him.

“They are as much our engineers as any Arachnid,” she reminded him. “Remember that.”

He nodded.

“Very well majesty.”

“This point about more dwarves in the government.”

“They want more power,” Warmaster Ylbanicc said. She was the only female on the Military Council.” “We already have dwarves in several councils. They are there because they deserved it.”

Ayya agreed with a nod.

“They might feel that it is a token jest,” Taelaen mused.

“We’ll forget that point. It is irrational to even ask. They cannot have expected me to allow that. What about the next point? What was it?”

“Improvements in the legal system to fight racism against dwarves,” Aedencan said.

“I thought we were already working on that,” Ayya stated. “Get the Oversight Council to look into it.”

Ylbanicc nodded.

“I’ll see to it.”

“Also, I’ll meet with them and give them a wakeup call to…improve…their speed and progress with their tasks.”

Taelaen snorted amused.

“I think the mistreatment of dwarves by officials is a part of that so we’ll skip that.”

Aedencan and Ylbanicc nodded affirmatively.

“Last point is more military commands.” Ayya glanced back at her little daughter and gave her a smile and a pat on the head. Rae smiled back. “If they think they need more dwarven officers, they have to earn them. I intend to give commissions to only those to earn it.” She said coolly. Rae looked a little scared and concerned at her mother’s tone.

In truth, Ayya thought the dwarves deserved a kingdom of their own. She truly did, but not from her territory. She would never diminish her own empire. Others should give them their rightful land back, but the Arachnid would keep what they controlled. If any force could hold back the demonic hordes and cleans Ardaena of them for good. But to do that, her empire needs to grow stronger. More resources much come into her grasp to carry out that last war. Unlike most people and governments, the Arachnid government and people had no doubt about a new demon war. It was only a matter of time in their mind. Only a matter of time. One day it would happen. The Wildling and Aeyaen tribes in the east would probably be slaughtered if they didn’t quickly withdraw. But, the Harpy Northern Empire had no chance of survival in her and her Warmasters minds. They would be obliterated completely.

Warmaster Rhaegal III’s estimate of that conflict estimated that it would take the demons five-six months to exterminate the Harpy. Rhaegal died at the age of one-hundred and ninety-five, almost three hundred years ago. That would buy them some time to organize their forces for a defensive campaign. With sturdy built forts they would hold the demons back for months while they continued with failed assaults, until they grounded them down enough in Eiiron Forest. Then they would take the offensive with whatever allies they had and pushed the Witch Kings forces back. It would start slowly, capturing important strategic positions and bombarding them with catapults. After a few years alliance forces would have taken all of Eiiron forest and could continue into snow covered territory and wipe the demons out. Millions would surely die, but it would be a necessary sacrifice to safeguard the world.

“Our spies have confirmed our earlier suspicions with the Darkhammer human Kingdom,” Warlord Taelaen said.

“So they really are building alliances with Wildling factions in Eiiron forest,” Ayya said with a sigh.

“Yes majesty,” Taelaen confirmed. “At least six groups have signed treaties with them. In return to assistance, the humans of Darkhammer will help push certain Aeyaen tribes out.”

“We could use our diplomats and spies to arrange our own treaties with Aeyaen tribes,” Warmaster Leeann suggested. He had been silent up to this point. “That might restore the cold war status between both our peoples.”

“Should keep the humans off our backs,” Aedencan agreed. He scratched his dark chin. “Of course this could create proxy wars between the Wildlings and Aeyaen’s.”

“Sending supplies, engineers and strategists to help some tribes in a tiny conflict?” Ayya mused. “That isn’t a problem for us. It will keep Darkhammer busy and let me work on securing resources for the next demon wars.” She glanced back at Rae. She looked a little scared at the mentioning of demons. Gently she reached back and patted her head lightly. “They won’t sit back forever. It’s been a thousand years. They’ll move soon. Very soon.”

“We’d be lucky if we had fifty years,” Taelaen’s  raspy voice said grimly.

“I am meeting with members of all involved councils later today.”

Rae was finding it hard to follow everything. She tried but there was so many long and hard words her mom used. She was thinking of humans. She had never seen a human I her two year life. She had seen dwarves though. Big brother Faekron had told her that humans kinda look like dwarves, but taller and often less beardy. She didn’t understand how there were species that didn’t have six legs. How did they walk? They had to fall over all the time. Why would the gods of the underworld allow species with such disabilities exist? It was such a terrible thing. Millions of people was probably falling over every day because they didn’t have six legs.

Poor surface dwellers, she thought. She felt so sorry for them.

A few hours later Ayya reconvened with the delegates from all councils.

Ayya had left Rae to play with a few of her siblings after dinner. Rae had been a little sad when she was left but her siblings comforted her and made her forget about why she was sad while playing with her. She was meeting with council members from all councils. It had been five hours sense the meeting with the Military Council.

Warmaster Taelaen represented the Military Council.

The Councilor from the Agricultural Council spoke first after Ayya started the meeting.

“Excellency. Our supply stocks are filled and with the surface farms, we can keep them filled indefinitely. But-” he raised a sharp talon. “-before anyone comments on it. If they would be burnt in war, we have a large number of cattle in cities beneath the surface. Enough to supply our troops and citizens for many years.”

Ayya listened on the monthly report. Every month she had a meeting with the councils together to listen to reports and progress in all fields.

The Industrial Council was to give a report.

“Our industries keeps growing, like it has done for the last four decades. But, we would prefer to step up the ore mining capacity or number of mines to make sure our production of weapons, equipment and catapults doesn’t suddenly stop.”

Ayya nodded.

“Occupying a few settlements along our borders and perhaps increase of capacity in the mining front. Neither should be much of a problem. Trade is also an idea. We could expand trade with the Orc Republic and the Loorenburg Merchant League. Surely at least one of the human kingdoms and smaller villages would accept trade with us. The small villages could be granted our protection in exchange.”

“An excellent idea my queen,” the diplomatic councilor complimented.

The Arachnid female councilor from the Oversight Council leaned forward.

“We have nothing new to add, majesty. And…my fellow councilors and I completely understood your point on our own improvements.”

Ayya nodded. She would have to keep an eye on them but hopefully they would keep a closer eye on dwarven and Arachnid incidents.

7th Century, 832, June 12th

Elven village of Ramstead, local tavern

Sayana brushed her long auburn braided hair with her hands gently. The High elf’s auburn hair just barely passed by her shoulders. Her dark blue eyes looked firmly at the tray of ale glasses coming their way. She shined up and grinned when the barmaid placed them on their table. Quickly she grabbed one and took a large sip from it.

“Maybe you should take it easy, Sayana?” Her friend suggested.

Sayana glanced suspiciously at her best friend beside her. The woman was almost two meters in height and with beautiful braided blonde hair. It went down her back and almost to her rump. Her emerald green eyes looked back into Sayana’s own dark blue ones.

Sayana raised a finger and waved it at her.

“I. don’t. think. So,” she declared firmly. She ended with a giggle.

“Sayana, you’ll be incredible hungover tomorrow if you decide to continue on that eight glass,” her friend reiterated for what felt like the hundredth time for both of them.

“Stop trying to hold me back. We’re celebrating!” She drank up half the glass in one go.

The other two by the table laughed. The large 2.8 meter Drakken emptied his ale glass immediately. The pale horned male turned to Sayana’s best friend. “I think she deserves a night to remember, Tali.” He looked at her with his orange eyes.

Talizaryna-or Tali-looked at him with a stoic gaze.

“If she keeps drinking like this, she probably won’t.”

The Drakken male laughed loudly.

“Perhaps.”

Turning back to Sayana, Tali realized she had emptied the glass and was waving at the barmaid for another round.

“Wait for the rest of us,” Fallon said, smirking.

“Not my fault you fall behind,” Sayana told her promptly. “Drink faster.”

Fallon snickered and decided to let out her long black hair from the ponytail. She was only 1.7 meters tall, in comparison to the others, she was pretty short, compared to them. She had light blue eyes and tanned skin. She drank from her ale glass but didn’t empty it.

“Drink up, Tali,” the Drakken male-Draak told his companion. “Celebrate.”

“I am,” she replied in her usual monotone voice.

“Come on. Have fun and let yourself go a tad,” he encouraged her. “We earned four-thousand gold. Easy coin for once.”

“Easy?” Fallon disagreed. “Sayana almost got her head chopped off.”

“Twice,” Sayana giggled.

“And I was almost hit by an arrow in the chest,” Draak said bluntly. “So? We’re still here and unharmed. Let’s have fun!”

“Yeah!” Sayana yelled and fist pumped the air. She looked around. “Where’s Archon anywho?”

“In his room,” Tali reminded her. “He doesn’t drink, remember?”

Sayana thought for at least a minute. “Oh…yeah. Right.” Suddenly she got up and headed over to a light green skinned orc. She swung him around and kissed him, tongue and all. The surprised orc quickly came over the surprise and grabbed her hips.

“Ok,” Fallon said slowly, getting up and after her.

She pulled her friend away from the orc. He didn’t look pleased with that.

“Wait your turn human,” he said and chuckled. “There’s enough for everyone lady here.”

Fallon forced a smile and kicked him in the groin.

“You little fucker, you dead!” He growled. “You dead!”

Two of his friends came over to back him up. Sayana stood and looked dreamily at a Warg seven meters away. The upright walking wolf hadn’t noticed her yet. When Draak stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, the three orcs backed down. Fallon led Sayana back to their table. She seemed quite disappointed and pouty she wasn’t allowed to make out with a random guy.

“Look honey, ale,” Draak said encouragingly.

She immediately shinned up and grabbed the glass.

Tali rubbed her forehead in defeat.

“Don’t babysit her all the time, Tali.”

She glared at him.

“I am protecting her. She’s my best friend and it is my duty. My family served hers for two generations. It is my honorable duty.”

“What a duty that is,” Fallon muttered sarcastically, glancing at the drunk High elf girl. “Hey, Sayana.” The auburn headed girl turned to her human friend. “Why don’t you go find Archon and tell him you have a crush on him?” She arched her eyebrows.

Sayana thought about it for almost three minutes. Trying to wrap her head around the complexity of the suggestion.

“That’s a bad idea,” Tali explained, glaring daggers at Fallon. She didn’t like when someone messed with her best friend. Especially in this vulnerable state. “Drink up and I’ll take you to your room to sleep it off. Before you have some milk.”

“Milk?” Draak chuckled. “What?”

“It is good for preventing hangovers slightly if you drink it the same night.”

“Hangover’s half the fun lass.”

Tali shook her head. “Drakken’s.”

Draak simply laughed at that. When Tali turned to Sayana, she had fallen asleep. She smiled slightly and removed a few strains of hair from her face. She gently shifted Sayana’s body and let her rest her head in her lap for a moment. She breathed softly and cutely as her chest raised slightly and lowered. Tali couldn’t help but smile.

7th Century, 832, June 12th

Eiiron forest, Aeyaen Red-tree Tribe encampment

On a wooden altar an Aeyaen sized wooden coffin had been placed by six strong warriors. Hundreds of Aeyaen’s were gathered around. Drums were sounding loudly and chanting from the shamans was heard from a corner beside the alter. The coffin had markings carved into it. In Aeyaenetic it said: Leeova Chieavr Dae’ai, “Loved Chief Dae’ai.”

An Aeyaen male with a bear pelt as a short cloak jumped up on the coffin. His features were that of a regular Aeyaen. From his dark blue skin, his slender figure and his black eyes. He wore a brown fur skirt and his chest were bare. He started to sing with a quick tone. Not many could keep up the high tempo he had. People around cheered and screamed along with him. He danced around on the coffin with quick elegant steps.

In a tent a young Aeyaen boy of fifteen winters stood, looking out at the funeral. He sighed and moved a hand through his dark blue short cut hair. His dark blue eyes looked out over the masses paying their respect to his father and sending him into the next life.

“Rae’kai,” he heard his name called. He turned around to face his older sister. She looked at him with disapproval and her hands on her hips. Her long dark blue hair were caught up in the wind. “Why aren’t you out there?” She demanded. “We’re sending father into the next world and you don’t even bother attending.”

Rae’kai looked away. She stood right outside the tent entrance. Her black eyes looked right into his dark blue ones.

“I…I was contemplating being Chief,” Rae’kai mumbled.

His sister smiled.

“You’ll do fine. Father knew that. He believed in you,” she reassured him.

Rae’kai looked at her with a small smile rising.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’m ready.”

“I know that you are.” She locked eyes with her brother. “Trust me. I know.”

Rae’kai looked out at the darkening night outside.

“Come on,” Kal’ai reached her hand out. “Let go out there sending father off.”

2: Chapter 2 New life

7th Century, 832, Mournful the 13th

South of the Elven forest, Dark elf village

Verena looked out at the road entering the village from her window. Her black skinned hands rested on the window frame as she raised a hand to wipe a tear away. As she hung her head, her black hair hanged down on both sides of her face. Her mother watched her from across the room. The older dark elf looked at her daughter, holding back her tears.

“Honey,” she began.

Verena didn’t reply.

“Honey.”

Nothing.

Her mother walked closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Verena flinched and shoved her mother’s hand away.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Sweetheart,” her mother started. “Listen to me.”

“No. I don’t care what you or dad has to say.” She turned around and glared at her mother. “You’re selling me like a potato or something!”

Her mother shook her head defensively.

“The elders-”

“Dad suggested it! And chose me! Of course no one argued, no one else wanted to sell a daughter or niece to a wolf!”

Her mother wiped some tears away.

“There’s no options left. It’s for the good of the village. My baby, you have to-”

“I’m being sold like a slave! Even worse, it’s my own parents idea to sell me! Me!” She clenched her fists hard, narrowed her eyes on her mother. “To what? A fuckin’ wolf!”

“Don’t call them that, sweetie,” her mother tried, tears still dripping. “They-”

“They what?!” Verena demanded. “Might hurt me? I might as well be dead already.”

Her mother shook her head.

“No. Never say that baby.”

“Don’t call me that. You lost the right when to sold me into slavery.” She turned to look out the window again. “You’re dead to me.”

Hearing her mother’s sobbing, she refused to turn around. She didn’t want her mom to cry, but she hadn’t protested at all. Not a word in protest when her daughter was supposed to be sold as a slave. Not even seeming to be angry with her dad for coming up with the idea, and nominating their own daughter. What parent would have no issue with that? She deserved to be heartbroken. She hoped her dad would regret this until the day he died. Which hopefully, was very, very soon.

Verena’s eyes widened when she saw several riders approaching on the road. There was no elves on those horses. No. Warg’s. The one up front was a huge male with jet black fur. He was taller and more muscular than the others. There was six more with him. They had grey fur and two of them had black fur spots covering them. They were around 7.5 to 8 feet. The black furred one, without a doubt the leader, was 8.3 feet in height.

Verena stepped away from the window. They looked absolutely terrifying. She turned around. Her mom had left. She turned back and looked out the window as the Warg’s rode into the village. When the black furred Warg looked in her direction, she quickly hid behind the side of the window.

She hurried into the main room, finding her crying mom sitting at the wood table. She slowly looked up at her daughter. To her surprise, Verena ran over and kneeled in front of her.

“Mom don’t force me to go, please, please!” She begged, putting her hands in her mother’s lap. “You’re my mom. You’re supposed to protect me.”

Her mother swallowed and patted her daughters black hair gently and hushed her.

“It’s going to be ok honey, I promise.”

She gently helped her to stand up and led her to the door. Verena looked pleadingly and desperately at her mother.

“Mom I’m sorry for everything I said, help me please!”

Her mother hugged her caringly. When she moved away, she opened the door and force her to walk out of the house. Verena stared at her with horrified eyes.

“I’m sorry baby.”

Her mother closed the door behind her, leaving Verena standing outside. Verena stood five meters from the Warg’s. They were met by three village elders. Two dark elves and a wood elf. Her dad was nowhere to be found. One of the elders pointed in her direction.

“Verena’s her name,” he explained. “All yours Bloodlord.”

The black furred Warg grinned widely, showing off his large white teeth. He looked at her for a while. Then, he licked his lips. Verena felt her stomach turn. Every part of her body shivered with fear. He wore leather armored pants over his fur, but otherwise he had no clothes on, apart from the sword attached to his left side. It had a bone handle.

One of the elders waved her forward. She didn’t move a muscle. That made the Warg Bloodlord walk over to her instead. He looked down at her, as she stared up into his frightening yellow eyes.

“Hello little lady,” he greeted her, giving her a frightening smile.

She swallowed hard and tried to speak.

“I presume you have a name.”

She managed to nod, but said nothing.

“Well?” He glared softly at her, getting annoyed already. “What is it?”

She opened her mouth, but couldn’t get a single word out.

“I’ll go first,” he conceded annoyed. “I am Kashk. Bloodlord of the mighty Blood splatter Clan.”

He then waited for her to speak.

“V-Ve-Verena,” she managed to blurt out.

“Verena,” he rolled it on his tongue. “Verena? Yes, it’ll do. I like it.” He then grabbed her arm, making her flinch in panic, but maintaining control to some extent. “Come. We ride to the camp now.” He pulled her back to the horses.”

He grabbed her hips tightly and lifted the light dark elf up on his horse. Verena looked pleadingly at the three elders, but they looked back at her with cold emotionless stares. Suddenly she saw her father. He stood ten meters away, looking at them-her-with an equally emotionless expression. As if he felt nothing about this. About what he was doing to her. What was going to happen to her. His only child was going to get violated by a Warg. A slave to obey his every whim.

She froze when Kashk mounted the horse too, sitting right behind her. She felt her skin against his soft fur. A part of her wanted to lean against his soft and warm fur, ,but then she remembered he was a Warg.

“Remember the deal,” the wood elf elder reminded. “The girl against aid.”

Kashk nodded.

“Do not fear little elf. I shall deal with the threat to your puny village,” he assured with his rough voice.

The group started riding away the same road they had come in on. Verena felt his arms around her as he steered the brown horse.

“How old are you?” Kashk asked as they rode.

“S-s-seventeen,” she stuttered.

“Hmm. You have no reason to fear,” he looked down at the trembling elf. “You are mine now. My mate. No one in my clan will hurt you. If they do, I shall skin them alive and give you there pelts for warmth in cold nights. After we feast on their flesh, I will make a weapon from their bones and present it to you.” He had a proud tone in his voice.

Was that something that was highly regarded in Warg society? Verena was both confused and disgusted. She felt him let go of the reins with his right hand and put it on her hips.

“We’ll have to find something warmer and more practical for you to wear. Unless you prefer going naked?”

She rapidly shook her head. He laughed, sending chills down her spine.

“Well, I don’t mind either way. None of my warriors would touch you if you decided to be naked, I assure you. It’s only Mournful, so you’ll have plenty of time before falls comes.”

She managed to nod.

The group rode for several hours, across fields into thick forest and villages at the horizon. The sun managed to rise to its peak in the sky before they arrived at the Warg camp. They rode into a deep part of the forest. It must have been midday when they stopped, finally. Verena had gotten used to having the furry Warg against her, but didn’t mind getting off. she could see dozens of round leather tents in sight. At least forty or fifty Warg’s was visible to her right now. Every tent looked to be able to inhabit ten Warg’s or so, she knew this wasn’t all of them, not by a long shot. She saw a fence with twenty or so horses inside. A small stream ran on the edge of the camp, it ran out into a larger and deeper stream of clear water.

When Kashk got off and lifted her down, she saw a fireplace. Some piece of meat was grilled there on a stick over it. It was a quite large piece. Wondering what it was, she looked carefully to see if she could see anything specific. That’s when she saw a wood bucket on the ground. Inside it laid a head. The thick brown head of a Drakken. It was covering in blood, with a trail of blood towards the fireplace. Verena’s eyes widened and she felt like throwing up.

A Drakken. They were eating a sentient being. Not a cruel animal, a living, thinking, intelligent being. The rumors about Warg’s she had heard was true. She knew they were true, but not, it felt so real. Would she spend the rest of her life here? With Warg’s? Feasting on Drakken’s, Boars, elves even? She would rather starve then eat a Drakken’s flesh.

A female Warg came and brought the horses into the fenced off space.

“This way,” Kashk told Verena.

She quickly followed him. he walked towards a tent.

“Get her something to wear,” he told a female Warg. She had a double handed axe on her back. The handle was made entirely out of bones, but the blunt parts was regular steel.

“Alright, Bloodlord,” she responded.

Verena walked inside the tent, after Kashk. Inside was two dark brown thick pelt bedrolls on the grassy ground. There was also a wood oak table with three bottles of wine on them. One of the bottles was half empty. Kashk pointed at one of the bedrolls.

“You’ll sleep there.”

She looked at it. It looked kinda comfy. Not nearly as comfortable as her bed, but it would do. She looked at the other bedroll. That would he his then? Great. Sharing a tent with him. How long until he decided to make love? Those words didn’t seem to fit. How long until he decided to violate her? A horrifying though struck her, in the middle of already being horrified. Was Warg’s and dark elves even compatible to have a baby? She would rather die than try.

“You must be tired,” Kashk said plainly. “Sleep.” He walked out of the tent.

She wouldn’t say no to sleeping. She gently laid down on the pelt and pulled it over her body. This was it than, the end of her old life. The beginning of her new life as a slave to this Kashk beast. As he said, she was his property. She already wanted to escape, but he would surely kill her if-or when-he caught her. Then he might eat her and her village would be destroyed by him. She started frowning. Fuck them. Fuck her village. Let them all die. Every single one of the fucking bastards. They deserved it.

She slept for several hours, only waking up when someone pushed her with a furry grey foot. She snapped her eyes open and looked around. A Warg walked out and beside her laid black leather skin skirt and a revealing black tight leather shirt, with no sleeves and a cleavage and revealing her midriff. At least she wouldn’t get to hot. Although she preferred something…less, revealing, but she had little chose really. On the table she saw a plate with ribs.

She got dressed in the new clothes and threw the old grey clothes away in the grass. She was hesitant to touch the ribs. They looked tasty, but for all she knew, it was from a Boar or a dwarf.

“It’s from a Dire wolf,” Kashk’s voice told her from the entrance.

Verena turned around of out pure fright.

He chuckled at her scare.

“Didn’t mean to scare you so badly.”

Verena nodded slightly and looked at the ribs.

“Should eat it before it gets cold.” He took a chair and placed it at the table. In a surprisingly gentlemen way, he gently shoved it in and made sure she sat comfortably. She was surprised that he was capable of being nice. Warg’s was nothing but brutal savages. She had never heard anything else about them. He grabbed one of the wine bottles and put it closer to her. “Centaur wine, from 801. Pretty good year.”

“Th-thank you.”

She had never been drinking wine before.

He looked down at her as she started eating. He said nothing for a while.

“Hmm. You know little Verena, you don’t need to worry about eating an elf or Boar. I won’t force you to eat anything like that. You aren’t a Warg after all.”

“A-are you g-g-going to save the village?” Verena managed to ask with minimal stuttering, changing the subject.

“Off course. I agreed to it. That’s why you’re here, remember?” She nodded and he chuckled. “The three Warg clans isn’t a problem. I’m meeting one of their Bloodlords tomorrow. I am killing him, than I absorb his clan into mine. I will attack and slaughter one of the other two the same day, or the next at worst. I will demand that the last clan join me or I turn on them too. They’ll happily kill their Bloodlord for me.” He straightened his back and stretched his arms out. “Leaving those packs of raiders. I’ll kill one or two, the rest will scatter for the hills. Sounds good?”

She nodded slowly.

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I-I don’t really care what happens to my village.”

He chuckled.

“Why not?”

“The sold me to-” she shut herself up and froze.

She stared into the tent wall in front of her with horror. She didn’t dare turning around to look at him. Her hands trembled. Surprisingly, she heard an amused snort in response.

“I could let them die too, makes little difference to me. It would be good farmland at least.”

She didn’t say anything. She looked down at the oak table with eyes closed shut hard. She wasn’t sure what he meant by good farmland. Warg’s didn’t farm. They traveled around and caught their food by hunting or raiding some caravan or village.

7th Century, 832, Mournful 13th

Elven village of Ramstead, local tavern

Sayana groaned loudly when she leaned over the table. Fallon smirked.

“Not feeling so hot, huh?”

Sayana glared at her.

“Hungover,” Tali said plainly. “Drank too much. I told you not to, remember? Or maybe you don’t.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sayana waved her away with a painful grimace.

Fallon snickered.

“Sorry love. But she did tell ya.”

Sayana groaned again.

“I feel horrible. Archon make it go away.” She looked at the Dragon elf druid.

Archon had blue skin with clear white eyes and long dark green dreadlocks. He was dressed in black robes and had a dark blue mages staff with him. he looked up at Sayana. Nodded flatly.

“I can do nothing.”

“You’re a druid, Archon. How can you not know how to cure a hangover?!”

“I didn’t say that.”

Sayana and Fallon both looked at him. Sayana blinked.

“Y-you know how to cure a hangover?”

He nodded.

“Then why did you-never mind, just do it.”

“I cannot. The cure, my friend, is to not drink in the first place.”

Sayana slammed her head into the table with a groan. Fallon laughed, ignoring her own aching head. Archon had a stoic look on his face as he drank from his glass of milk. Draak came over and joined them. He looked at Sayana.

“Not feeling so good?”

She groaned and waved a closed fist at him.

He chuckled.

“Shocking,” said said sarcastically. “How’s that kiss feel?”

Tali glared at him.

Sayana lifted her head and stared at him.

“What? What? What kiss?” She asked hysterically with grave concern.

“That orc,” Draak told her with a grin. “The one you randomly kissed last night. I’d add the Warg, but I think you just looked dreamingly at him.”

He annoyed Sayana’s horrified expression. She looked at Tali desperately. She unfortunately, nodded.

“I-I kissed an orc? Was-was he uh…”

“Hot?” Fallon finished. “Not really. I’m sorry though. I stopped ya, by the way.”

Sayana gave her a hug across the table.

“Oh god, thank you, Fallon. Thank you sooooo much!”

Fallon had trouble breathing when Sayana hugged her by the throat.

A barmaid placed a plate beside Sayana.

“Your breakfast madam.” The plate had a piece of bread, two eggs and roasted tomatoes. “I hope you enjoy it.” She smiled sweetly when she left the table. “Your glass of milk is on the way in a moment.”

Fallon playfully tried to grab the plate, only to have Sayana slap her head away.

“Don’t even try it, thief,” she warned her.

Fallon and Draak chuckled. Archon smiled at how she put her arms around her breakfast protectively.

7th Century, 832, Mournful 14th

South of the Elven forest, Blood splatter Clan camp

Verena slowly flickered her eyes, opening them and looking up at the tent ceiling. It was somewhat bright outside, should make it early morning still. She looked across the tent. Kashk wasn’t in his bedroll. He’d gone up already. Thank the gods. She didn’t have to see him naked. Again. She shivered at the thought and desperately tried to get him out of her mind. Having seen that big-no, push it out. She tried pushing the picture out of your mind.

Supposedly at least she knew what she was dealing with. She had no doubt, one day, and soon, he desired her enough to just take her. She couldn’t stop him. At least she knew he wasn’t big enough to hurt her. She could-probably-handle it. The thought of it was almost painful, bringing a tear to her eye. She held the rest in and quickly wiped it away.

She slowly stood up and got dressed. She heard fighting outside and peaked out. Two Warg warriors was fighting. They were fighting with their claws. Cutting and slashing. One of them grabbed the other and threw him to the ground. He stomped down on him hard twice. The other then managed to grab his foot and make him lose his balance. He kicked him in the back and stood up, punching him four times before slashing him across the face.

Both male and female Warg’s cheering, growling and roaring. They seemed very entertained by the fight.

“Enjoying the fight?” A rough voice asked.

Verena jumped and turned around, wide eyes looking at the Warg male.

“Sorry,” he apologized, to her great surprise. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Eh, I…no,” she mumbled in response, her hands shaking slightly in fear. “I-I-I-”

He raised a hand. She looked closer at him. He looked rather old. He had dark grey fur and several of his terrifying teeth was broken off in half and he had a walking stick of bone.

“I am Shaman Grrechk,” he introduced himself. “You have nothing to fear from me. Too old to find a mate. Too old to steal you away from, Kashk.”

Verena’s eyes went wider. As if that was possible.

“C-can that h-ha-happen?!” She asked desperately.

He titled his wolf head.

“Occasionally. But only if someone challenges the Bloodlord. No one has ever challenged Kashk and even been close to winning. Never. He’s young. Thirty-six. Been Bloodlord sense he killed his father in combat.”

Killing his father? What a barbaric way to change power.

“I know what you think.”

“W-what? How?!” She panicked.

“You’re an elf. My race is quite barbaric in your eyes. Don’t deny it.” He smiled, looking slightly less terrifying with a few cracked teeth. “It’s history. You kill us. We kill you. We eat you. It’s all history. When you become a Shaman at my age, you think of these things.” He stepped up on her side, looking at the fight. “You are quite lucky, you know that?”

“H-how, S-s-shaman?” She stuttered.

“Being an elf. Elves live for six-hundred years. We? Warg’s live for around one-hundred and seventy. If we’re lucky that is.” He turned to her. “You only need to live with us for a little more than a century. Or, until you die in childbirth. You never know. Or, someone kills Kashk and doesn’t want you. Then you die too, likely you’ll be eaten alive if that happens. Or a rival Bloodlord will kill you to hurt Kashk, his status, family and honor.”

“You have honor?” She asked amazed, forgetting herself.

When she realized what she asked, she gasped. But Grrechk just snickered.

“Yes. Our own off course. Our own culture, honor system, just like elves and Aeyaen’s are different. Just like humans and Arachnids,” he explained.

She nodded slowly.

“I am so, so sorry, Shaman. Please, I beg you not to tell Kashk.”

Grrechk looked at the scared and pleading woman’s eyes. He stood silently. Then, he nodded. She breathed out.

“Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to know our culture. Not at all. Kashk will teach you, just ask him and I’m sure he’ll be happy to help you. As an outsider, it will raise his attraction to you.”

Verena just lost all will to ask him anything about their culture. But she did want to know. She couldn’t survive here if she didn’t know anything. Maybe she should risk it. He would take her sooner or later anyway.

“Will you join us at the meeting with the Bloodlord from Dark stone-face Clan?”

“T-those Kashk wants t-to kill?”

Grrechk nodded.

“Yes.”

She shrugged helplessly.

“I-I don’t know.”

He smiled, showing his large teeth. As always, it sent chills down Verena’s spine. One of the Warg’s was victorious, winning the fight. The other was lying dead on the ground. The cheers and growls continued for a moment.

“You’re not scaring her are you?” Kashk’s voice asked.

Verena jumped slightly. She hadn’t seen or heard him come.

Grrechk looked at the dark elf.

“I’m fairly sure, I am, actually.” He bowed his head. “I’ll depart.”

Verena looked up at Kashk.

“I hope he didn’t scare you too much. He can do that to slaves and outsiders.”

“H-he explained h-how many w-wa-ways I c-can die a-and how horrible,” she admitted. He had scared her nicely. She was a lot more scared now than before.

He growled slightly disapproving.

She couldn’t help but smile at how he was upset because the Shaman scared her. She hadn’t expected a Warg to do that, not for her. Could there be more beneath him? Maybe? Question was, did she want to find out.

He put a hand on her shoulder and led her to walk with him.

“You don’t need to worry about anything happening to you. I won’t let you be harmed. No one in this clan will hurt you. I swear on that.”

She felt a little better when hearing that.

“What did he say, exactly? I can disprove him.”

“W-well…h-he said that if someone challenges y-you, a-and don’t like me, they’ll eat m-me…alive.”

“That has happened, but it’s rare. It’s only if someone who’s weak needs to show force. And if they are weak, they can’t kill me.”

That actually made a lot of sense to her.

“He-he also said that other Chief’s or whatever-lord m-might kill me to hurt you.” She looked up at him.

He shrugged.

“Could happen.” He looked down at her. She immediately looked away. “Anything else?”

She shook her head.

“N-not really…I guess. Just childbirth I think. C-can elves and Warg’s even have a baby?” She hoped he knew and would say no. But it was just her hopeless wishes thinking, hoping.

“Yes, and babies,” he corrected her.

She blinked.

“Babies,” he said again.

She blinked again.

“What?” She asked confused with grave worry.

“You said baby, the right term would be babies. For us anyway.”

Her eyes widened and she stared forward. Oh my god.

“If the gods let you die in childbirth,” he started, looking down at her. “I’d kill them. They won’t dare cross me.” He grinned at her.

3: Chapter 3 Protected by blood

7th Century, 832, Mournful 14th

South of the Elven forest, Blood splatter Clan camp

Verena watched from the edge of the tent when seven Warg’s on six horses arrived. The Warg’s mounted on them was coming to meet Kashk. Her… …husband… or… master. She wasn’t sure which it was. The leader of the Dark stone-face Clan was a Warg of 8.1 feet. Slightly shorter than Kashk. He had five warriors with him for protection. The sixth male was a Shaman. He had a staff so he must have been a mage, too. But one of the bodyguards caught her eye. He had light grey fur with dark grey spots of fur. He was extremely muscular with a height of 9.7 feet. He wasn’t on a horse, but had moved alongside the others on all four. He looked around with red eyes. Around his neck hung a neckless with neck bones from different enemies he had killed and devoured.

Three meters in front of Verena stood Kashk. Grrechk was nearby, along with twenty or so warriors. Kashk stood tall, his arms crossed over his muscular black furred chest. His narrowed eyes narrowed slightly on the approaching Bloodlord. The Bloodlord looked way too confident.

“So you finally agree to succumb to my authority,” he said thrilled. “I knew you’d come my way.”

Kashk scoffed.

“As promised I will keep my word, you will be allowed to go into exile,” the Bloodlord continued.

“How kind,” Kashk growled amused.

The other Bloodlord stopped one meter in front of him.

“Your sword then, Kashk.”

Kashk slowly drew his blade, holding it by the bone handle.

The Bloodlord looked with interest at Verena.

“I do hope you haven’t gone and made her pregnant yet. I’d hate to kill the baby after birth.” He turned to Kashk. “I suppose, could raise it, if so. Perhaps. Depends on my mood if she is pregnant.”

Kashk looked at his rival and smiled. Then, he jabbed it through the Bloodlords gut. The other Warg gasped and gripped the bone handle of his own axe, attached to his waist. Kashk dug his blade deeper into him and turned it, causing unimaginable pain. He leaned closer to the dying male and whispered in his ear. “You wanted my sword. Here you have it.” He drew the blade out and pushed him to the ground.

The other six Warg’s with him drew their arms and roared. One of them loaded a bolt into his crossbow swiftly and aimed at Verena. She panicked, but couldn’t move. She stared horrified and frozen in shock at the crossbows point.

A Warg warrior sprinted an all four and leaped at her, pushing her into the tent and using his body as  cover. The bolt swept through the air at a high velocity, hitting the warrior in the side. When Verena opened her eyes again, the injured warrior laid on the side, between her and any hostile as cover. If he tried to shoot again, he would only hit him. She stared frightened and shocked at the male who saved her life, injuring himself in the process.

“Slay them!” Kashk roared.

The warriors that had been hiding in tents came forth. Up to thirty crossbow men showed themselves. They unleashed six bolts into the mage. He was quick to cry out and collapse. Another Warg fell, receiving two bolts in the back. His two opponents in front of him cut him down.

Kashk rushed towards the mountain sized warrior. The giant swung his double handed axe, cutting a Warg in two. He roared loudly. Six bolts cut into his flesh. Kashk came at him. He leaped and ducked the axe and slashed the mountainous Warg’s chest. He cried out and staggered. Kashk was quick to stab his blade deep into his throat, blood splatting him down, flooding out on the grassy ground.

The three remaining warriors fought against Warg melee fighters. One male fought two of Kashk’s men with two bone handled blades. He cut one across the side, injuring him slightly. The other growled and slashed at him, but was blocked. Three bolts carved into his furry back. He screamed and fell to his knees. He was decapitated before he could try getting up.

Kashk blocked the incoming attack and kicked the warrior in the stomach, making him stagger. He took the opportunity and jabbed his sword into his gut three times. His intestines hung out. He let him fall to the ground and turned to the last. He had a bolt in his arm and two in his chest. He simply finished him off with a cut across the throat.

Kashk attached his sword to his waist again before turning around, looking for Verena. She was sitting on the ground, cowering in the tent. She came over to her and kneeled before her.

“Are you wounded?”

She shook her head.

“Good.” He sighed thankfully and grabbed her hips, pulling her up. Gently he stroked her cheek. She was shaking as she hugged herself, trying to calm down. He put his large hands on her shoulders comfortingly. “You are okay. Calm down, Verena.”

She swallowed hard. There was so much blood around. Bodies covered in blood. She closed her eyes, refusing to look. She was taken off guard when he put his arms around her.

“You don’t need to be scared. I told you I’d keep you safe. I promised that.” After a moment he let her go. “I must now ride for their camp. Then, I’ll claim his Clan as mine.” He turned around. “Fetch my horse!”

As he walked away to get his horse and gathered men to ride, she looked after him. he was actually concerned for her safety. Not in the way you care for your possession or for a slave. Honest concern. At least he was honest about his promises to protect her. He was clearly capable of it too. He hated him for being so nice and protecting, he was making it very hard to hate his furry guts.

7th Century, 832, Mournful 14th

Loorenburg Merchant League, West Greenfoot island, city of Loorenburg

Lionel stood on the terrace. His green boots tapped against the white stone as he walked over and leaned on the three feet stone wall. He wore a black and blue jacket and yellow pants. The wind softly brushed against his dark brown hair. The young senator looked out over the houses and streets below. He had quite the view from the senate building. With the senate in recess he had decided for a breath of fresh air. All that arguing was giving him a headache. Sometimes he almost regret entering politics. It was a hellhole unlike any other. He’d fight ten Boar warriors unarmed rather than spend his entire life as a senator.

“Excuse me, senator Salazar,” a young man said politely.

Lionel turned to him.

“Yes?”

The young aide bowed his head.

“Excuse me senator, but this message arrived for you,” he handed him a letter.

“Thank you.”

Lionel took it and opened it as the aide left. He read through it. It was from his uncle. Rear Admiral Falk Salazar. Sometimes Lionel wished he had chosen to go into his uncles profession rather than his fathers. To be an office in the military must be so much more giving, so much more exciting and rewarding. Off course, he enjoyed the status of being a senator. That he didn’t mind at all. He lived in a mansion with his wife and three year old son and one year old daughter. This way, he didn’t risk his life in battle with pirates or hostile nations.

His uncle started out with wishing him and his lovely family well before going into what he wrote to him for. He requested that he would support the bill currently discussed in the senate. It was a bill that-if passed-would increase the budget of the navy and permit the shipyards to expand and more ships to be built. They were losing their naval supremacy they had enjoyed for the last one-hundred years. The Reetér Kingdom and the Orc Republic was both expanding their navies. The Orc navy was strong and massive. In a few years, they would outnumber the Leagues fleet and it would drastically effect there trade overseas.

They was outnumbering the Dark Hammer navy though, but they were trusting more in their heavy fortresses along their beaches. They built some of the best forts in modern time. Few invasion forces managed to enter their territory without serious casualties.

He revealed to Lionel that the current plan of taking Lowrock from the Reetér was looking less likely of success. The twenty year old plan had been modified yearly by the military, but lately, they wasn’t sure if they could carry it through anymore. Their fellow humans down south had too strong naval forces present and they had many strong coastal forts and inland forts that could repel any or most assaults.

Lionel read through the letter twice before putting it in his inner jacket pocket.

This was not good. It meant the League was slipping. If they lost their naval power, they would lose their great trade and both islands could easily be blockaded by hostile forces.

“Ah, Lionel. Wonderful view, isn’t it?” Victor Asturan said.

The bald man leaned against the wall and smiled.

“Yes. It certainly is,” Lionel agreed with him. He turned to him. “I understand that our naval supremacy isn’t as complete as the people think.”

Victor looked at him for a moment before smiling.

“As long as the people think it is, we’re fine.”

“Until Republic troops march through Loorenburg, that is,” Lionel countered dryly. “I know you’ve heard the rumors.”

Victor sighed.

“It’s that. Only rumors, Lionel. Don’t put too much stock into it.”

“And if it is true? An alliance between the Reetér, Dark Hammer and the Orc Republic would leave us outnumbered four or five to one in naval power. Not to mention land forces. If they cut our trade routes and supply lines, they would effectively win the war.”

Victor smiled at him.

“You worry too much. We already have allies in Heavenfield Forest. A Kingdom of Goblin and two Clans of Minotaurs,” he assured him confidently.

Lionel just crossed his arms over his chest.

“How many in these Minotaur Clans? A few hundred warriors? A thousand each at most?”

“Five-hundred in total. Eight-thousand Goblin warrior, plus there engineering skills and war machines. Last a checked.”

Lionel scoffed.

“The Reetér army is at least thirty-thousand,” he stated adamantly. “Add a Legion of heavy Orc troops and the Goblins will scatter and the Minotaurs won’t stand a chance. They’ll be heavily outnumbered. Even with our troops on the continent. An extra fifteen-thousand. Not to mention Dark Hammer heavily armored forces.”

“Granted…” Victor started. “…they allied us mostly for the protection of our military, but that gives us leverage and power. Others will join us and together we can outlast the Reetér, Orc and Dark Hammer threat. The League is eternal and immortal, Lionel. Remember that.”

Lionel sighed. That old phrase. The ruling Prince had always used that phrase. The League was eternal and immortal. It made people arrogant and provided an aura of invincibility. One that was false and undeserved. With this sentiment, his beloved Merchant League, would soon fall into ruin if nothing changed. Senators way to cozy to deal with any real problem.

Lionel thought on his beautiful children. His wonderful little boy Hadrianus. On his wonderful little baby girl Tilde. Respectively they were three and one years old. He had to make the League a safe place for them. It had been his goal sense joining the senate five years ago, making it safe for his and Margret’s future children. He had to strength the military. Democracy was failing him.

“The coin the bill would add take from the coffers and drop into the naval budget can be used elsewhere,” Victor argued. “For example the school system. Didn’t you support the law to allow all children to attend a school? Including lower class children.” He paused and looked over the port of the city. A large battleship was arriving in port.

It was massive, twenty meters from starboard to port and one-hundred and twenty meters from aft to the rear. It had three masts and two catapults mounted on the upper deck. It had three decks with cannons and had the look of a beast. The cannon. A new piece of technology for naval warfare. They were used for naval warfare more and more, but they were way to crude for use on land. The idea seemed preposterous to most.

Letting lower class children to attend school was unheard of in most of Ardaena. It was a strange and new concept for most. Higher classes hated it and was trying to crush it. Some nobles and merchants had threaten violence if the law passed. They had tried to pass something like this before. Eighty years ago, but it failed in the worse way possible. The day the law passed nobles and highly ranked merchants burnt three of the school to the ground and slaughtered five-hundred and twelve children and eight-hundred and fifty-nine men and women on the lower classes. In the coming week, almost three-thousand lower class people was butchered as the Leagues military often did nothing, or partook in the slaughter. The law was removed quickly to end the butchery.

This time it would be different. Victor had passed another law, stating that any noble, merchant or priest could be arrested for any crime and giving the military authority to crush any noble or merchant disobeying the new law. The military-consisting mostly of lower income people would protect the schools and, this time, any butchering of children would be punished severely. He was also working on passing a resolution to round up and execute members of the League’s most powerful noble and merchant families opposing the new school laws. Victor was extremely invested in passing the school law, and protecting the lower class from the higher classes, by any means necessary.

Victor looked back to Lionel. “Shouldn’t we drop that money into the education system? Or perhaps fort maintenance?”

“Nothing of that matters if our fleet is wiped out.”

Victor chuckled.

“Well my friend. Let us argue with further in the senate later.” He put a hand on his shoulder.

“Agreed,” Lionel said with a smile. “How’s your lovely wife?”

Victor smiled.

“As beautiful as the day we married.”

“She’s carrying your, what is it, fourth?”

Victor smirked.

“Barely close. Seventh. She’s pregnant with our seventh child. Two girls, five boys.”

Lionel smirked.

“And I thought two seemed straining.”

Victor laughed.

“Just wait a decade and you might change your mind.”

4: Chapter 4 Ambush

7th Century, 632, Mournful 14th

South of the Elven forest, Blood splatter Clan camp

Verena was eating her evening meal in her tent when she heard some commotion outside. She stood up and left her half eaten beef and glass of fresh water from the stream. It was perfectly cold. Kashk had left yesterday for the Clan of the Bloodlord he cut down in his camp. He had taken sixty warriors with him. when she came outside she saw how a caravan arrived. She was surprised at first. So many new Warg’s. Wagons and horses. Countless females with children and a handful of warriors in sight.

She spotted Grrechk and walked over to him. He had lost his left ear sense last she saw him. What had happened?

“Shaman, a-are they from the other clan?” She asked.

He turned to her and nodded.

“They are. Kashk sent them back here ahead of him,” he answered. He noticed her looking at his missing left ear. Noticing he noticed, she quickly looked away.

“I-I sorry!”

He scoffed.

“Hmm. Kashk took it. Disliked that I scared you.” He turned back to watch the newcomers once more.

“W-where is h-he?” She tried to avoid his ear, looking at the ground.

“I would imagine attacking one of the two remaining Warg Clans with some of our warriors and the strength of the new clans warriors, he can crush them swiftly. He have over two-hundred warriors at his disposal right now.” He turned to her again. “You are quite lucky, you know. Kashk is a strange one. A new thinker. Want to evolve the Warg race and such.” He shrugged. “Not in so many words.”

Evolve? “H-how do you-”

“I don’t know what he wants to do. But it is unheard of that a Warg Bloodlord would take an outsider like you as a mate, and not a simple slave to ravage and enjoy.” He looked at her breast. “I have no doubt he’ll enjoy ravaging you when the time comes.”

He smirked at how Verena shivered at those words. He licked his lips as he looked at her ass thoughtfully.

Verena left him and returned to her tent. She felt to uncomfortable around him. She was pretty sure he liked that, always pushing limits to the edge. Even though he lost an ear because of it. He laughed as she walked off. Verena understood why there wasn’t so many Warg mages. If Grrechk was any indication, they were all assholes. They were probably mostly killed off for being annoying idiots. Maybe it was because he was old. That he had gone through life already and wanted to enjoy his last years. But anyway, she returned to her meal and swept down the entire glass of water.

Realizing her bottle was empty, she got up and headed over to the stream to fill it with cold water. She bent down on one knee and lowered the bottle into the stream and filled it quickly. When she stood up to return to her tent, she saw Grrechk look at her, smirking. She looked away nervously and tried ignoring him. She felt unsettling around him.

Suddenly a Warg male jogged up to him and then Grrechk started walking towards her. She swallowed and continued walking.

“Verena, little elf,” the Shaman said.

She stopped.

“Word just arrived. Kashk want you to meet him at the camp of the fourth Clan.”

She was confused.

“The fourth? He can’t possibly have butchered the third yet.”

To her surprise Grrechk started laughing.

“You would be surprised with how fast we can butcher a large group.” He slowly stopped laughing and calmed down, wiping a tear from his eye. “He probably want to show you how he subjugate a whole clan without a fight. Want to show you a duel perhaps, if he challenged the Bloodlord.”

“W-when do I leave?”

He shrugged.

“You’re his mate. Leave whenever you want.”

He stared surprised at him. It was up to her? She didn’t expect them to listen to her.

“Th-they’ll listen to me?” She asked hesitantly.

“Off course,” Grrechk said as if it was obvious. “You’re the Bloodlords mate, remember? You are extremely important and, if elf terms, you’re the Queen.”

She thought about it. She kind of liked that. When he wasn’t here, did that mean she was in charge? She didn’t want to ask, Grrechk would probably laugh at her no matter what the answer was.

“Let’s get going then,” she decided.

Grrechk nodded.

“Very well. I’ll have an escort prepared.”

He turned and walked away. Verena returned to quickly finish her meal before she would depart.

As darkness was falling they departed from the camp.

7th Century, 632, Mournful 14th

South of the Elven forest

After two hours of riding in a normal pace darkness of the night had fallen. Verena rode with a Warrior behind her, sharing a horse. She wasn’t good at riding and had never learned, so he was there to assist and protect her. He sat behind her to make sure no one could shoot her in the back from the shadows on the forest. Verena was placed in the middle of the column. She had two riders in front of her, four behind her and three to her sides. A total of thirteen warriors followed her. She thought they were overdoing it slightly, but didn’t feel it her was place to complain about it. After all, she had to get used to-possibly-being actually important now. She wasn’t too sure if they would actually die for her. She didn’t want anyone to sacrifice themselves for her, but she didn’t want to die either. One of them had showed his willingness to die for her already. Would all of them. She didn’t want to find out either way.

“We should only been a short ride off,” the warrior sitting behind her told her.

She yawned and suddenly felt his left arm around her stomach.

“If you want to rest, I shall hold you.”

“I-I don’t want t-to be a burden,” she responded, blushing.

“Rest, lady of Blood,” he said softly. “Rest.”

Deciding to trust him, she leaned her head back against his furry chest and closed her eyes. His grip around her tightened slightly. She focused on the softness of his fur and forget all her troubles for a short moment. And indeed, it was short.

Her horse stop abruptly.

“Ambush!” a Warrior shouted.

Verena snapped her dark elf eyes open in horror. One of the warriors had two arrowed in his side, whilst one in front of her had fallen off his horse. He had four arrows in him. she screamed. The warrior behind her maneuvered the horse so an incoming arrow him his arm instead of her. She put her hands over her head and closed her eyes hard.

Two warriors got off their horses and leaped into the forest from the road. They ignored the arrows hitting them. Soon slashing and screaming filled the air, mixing with roars from her escort.

“Get her out of here!” The captain of her escort roared. “Hurry!”

Quickly her horse started galloping along the road. A pair of arrows swished by them. A third arrow dug into the warriors back. He growled and kept the pain in check. Verena was finding out Warg’s was incredibly resilient. Slowly the clashing of metal and screams and roars became more and more distant.

Just when she started thinking she was safe, the horse was hit by an arrow in the neck. The poor horse collapsed and the warrior gripped her hard to protect her from hitting the ground to hard. He took the brunt of the impact. But just as quickly he got up and drew a bone shafted axe and a bone handled broadsword.

He growled before turning to her. “Stay here.” With that, he rushed into the forest. An arrow his his knee, but he ignored it. Verena was curled together on the ground in fear. Her adrenaline was pumping and her mind was racing.

She saw a Wood elf came towards the warrior with two long knives. They were both made from elven steel. It was obvious on the golden color. He had a wooden bow on his back. He slashed twice after the Warg. The warrior was quick and avoided him. He jumped back and with one cut of his blade, made blood spewed violently from the elf’s chest. He fell backwards to the ground and dropped both daggers.

The Warg continued rushing forward. Now two opponents appeared. One was a human woman and the other an Orc. Either they were dealing with a well-organized raider band-unlikely-or a pack of mercenaries.

The woman swung a double handed steel axe and the orc had a shield and a Orchmar sword. Orchmar was the ore used to make Orc weapons. It was dark green and black. He swung the edged blade at the Warg, temporarily lowering his shield. The woman-at the same time-striked him with her double handed axe. The warrior dodged both and kicked the Orcs shield, staggering him. He barely though, avoided the woman’s next attack. He proceeded to kick her in the face. She lost her grip on the axe and fell to the ground.

The warrior used that time to deliver four quick attacks to the Orc. The Orc staggered back but held his defensive posture. The Warg roared loudly.

Suddenly two other mercenaries came towards them. Both were human. The wore light iron armor. Both had a steel sword in their hands.

“Die, you beast!” One of them shouted.

The Warg turned to face them, blocking the Orcs attack. He threw his axe, cutting one of the men’s head in two on impact. Verena gasped when the Orc managed to hit him. He cut deep into his left arm. The Warg howled and kicked his shield again, forcing him back. He threw an eye at the human female. She was grabbing her axe again.

He leaped at the second human and managed to punch his sword from his hand. He buried his own blade deep in his chest, jabbing it through the iron armor and letting blood flow. His teeth dug into his face and ripped a piece of meat off. Verena closed her eyes in disgust.

He got up and grabbed the man’s sword. He attacked the Orc with both. The dark green Orc attacked him, but the Warg cut his arm off and jabbed the new steel sword into his throat. He turned and looked at the woman.

She looked at her died comrades and narrowed her eyes.

“You’ll die for this,” she swore.

He smirked smugly.

“What’s that? Couldn’t hear you over your friends dying screams of mercy.”

“I’ll kill you!” She screamed in rage. “You’ll hang on my wall!”

With that she rushed him with the axe raised high. He leaped right, avoiding her. She turned and swung the axe down on him, but missed. He leaped right again, turning she brought her axe down again. He ducked and kicked her arm hard. She cried out when the bone snapped, dropping the axe completely. He roared loudly. She stumbled back and slipped, falling into a puddle of her elven comrades blood. She gasped and started trying to get up. Holding her broken left arm and got up on her feet, only to have the Warg stand right in front of her.

He roared right into her face. She fell backwards, falling over the dead wood elf man. She screamed in panic and started trying to crawl away.

“Not so fast,” the Warg growled. “I’m not done with you.”

He bent down and ripped her leather pants apart.

“No, no, no, no!” She cried out. “Leave me alone! Monster, you leave me alone!”

He laid down on top of her and held her down his his strong arms. Slowly Verena looked again. She carefully looked at how her bodyguard was starting to violate the woman. She had no sympathy for the mercenary scum that had tried to kill them. Most likely her. It made sense, given that she was the mate of the Bloodlord of the Blood splatter Clan. This hadn’t been an accidental attack. No way.

She looked on, listening to the woman’s screams and crying. Not so tough anymore. Not so tough with a Warg on top of her. Verena didn’t know she had a side like this. It had been hidden away before. As the Warg gave a final grunt, the woman cried out in horror. Slowly he got up.

“Maybe you should keep her,” Verena found herself suggesting.

“I think I will, lady of my Blood,” he replied.

“What does t-that mean, e-exactly?”

He looked at her.

“It is the proper title of the official mate of the Bloodlord. It is one of great respect.”

Verena nodded that she understood and stepped forward. She looked at the auburn haired woman. She cried as she laid half naked on the grassy ground. She sniffed into her arms. She didn’t feel sorry for her at all. Not one bit.

“We need to question her. Find out who send them here.”

The Warg nodded.

“I’ll keep an eye on her during our journey,” he said looking down at the woman. “If she tries to run, I’ll fuck her until she gets the point.”

The crying woman looked up. Her eyes was filled with tears and her cheeks was wet. She held her broken arm carefully with her right arm.

“M-mercy,” she begged. “I-I won’t t-try a-an-any-anything. I p-pro-promise.”

“Don’t look at me,” Verena shrugged and turned her head away. “He’s your master.”

The woman sniffed and look at the Warg who had just violated her. She sniffed.

“P-please.”

He smirked grimly at her.

“Get up. We’re leaving. If you listen to my every word. I won’t fuck you. Too often.”

She slowly started getting up on her feet. Her body was trembling in fear. This was supposed to be easy. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

A battle cry interrupted them. The Warg turned to face three mercenaries charging him. One was a tanned human, one Drakken and the third and last was a Baeschi. A create that was half man and half snake. He slithered quickly towards the Warg with two steel maces in hand. His lower body was that of a large snake while his upper body was that of a human. His body was covered in light green scales. His snake tongue left his mouth as he growled. His head was that of a regular cobra snake. His yellow eyes was glaring at the Warg and the bodies of his comrades, including the obviously violated human female. The Baeschi male was 9.8 feet tall. Rising over the Warg with 1.4 feet.

The Drakken’s Desert steel sword was blocked by the Warg male’s own bone handled blade. He stepped back and attacked again. The Warg blocked him and kicked him twice in the chest. The human attacked, his spear pointed at the Warg’s gut. He leaped out of the way and cut the spear in two. He decapitated the human in one motion. Both the body and the head fell to the ground with a thud in the grass.

“Die!” The Baeschi seethed.

The Warg blocked him, barely.

“The bone on my blade belongs to your kind!” The Warg growled menacingly. “I’ll make a new axe with yours.”

The Drakken took the opportunity to attack. He managed to jab the orange Desert steel sword into his side. The Warg howled in pain. Verena stumbled backwards in fear. She glanced at the human woman. She remained on the ground. She didn’t dare to move. She didn’t want to risk being raped again if the Warg proved victorious.

The Baeschi used its tail to trip the Warg up, getting him to lose his footing. He then brought both maces to bare on him. he cracked bones, smashed flesh and splattered blood. The Warg collapsed down to the ground.

The Drakken turned to Verena. The Baeschi turned his own attention to the crying and shivering human female and slithered over. He bent over beside her and placed a scaled hand on her back.

“Are you, okay, Tyra?” He asked with a very soft and gentle voice. “My friend. Did they hurt you?”

She nodded slowly.

“M-my a-arm…” she stuttered.

“He has paid for it. I swear it.” He looked down to her naked legs and ass. “He paid for everything. Everything.”

The Drakken approached Verena quickly.

“Before we do what we’re paid for, I’m going to do to do, what your Warg did to Tyra.” His eyes was narrowed on her own orange eyes.

Light footsteps approached. A light figure jumped at the Baeschi and stuck his scaly back with two slightly curved blades. He cried out and collapsed beside the woman he had comforted. She screamed in fear and closed her eyes.

The Drakken turned around to face the assailant. It turned out to be a young woman. A human woman. She had quite dark skin and raven hair in a ponytail. She had a pair of dark brown determined eyes. Her hands gripped two curved Orchmar Dark green and black blades. She was dressed in black tight clothes. A shirt with long sleeves and a small cleavage and black pants.

She started running towards the orange scaled Drakken. The ten feet horned warrior counter charged. His blade raised for a killing blow. She quickly dodged him blade and jabbed her blades into his side and neck, after getting in behind him. She was fast and quick on her feet, extremely so. The Drakken collapsed, dead.

The woman attached her swords to her back again and looked over at the half naked female on the ground. She was still lying perfectly and obediently still. Then she walked towards Verena.

“You safe,” she said.

Verena swallowed hard to calm down.

“I-I…thank you so much,” she fell to her knees of exhaustion.

The woman quickly reacted and caught her before her knees even hit the ground. Verena was shock at how fast she was. She sat by her side, carefully holding her.

Verena looked at her.

“You saved my life. I won’t forget that. Never.” She looked over at the dead Drakken and Baeschi. “I-I’ve never seen anything like that before. Y-you’re a-amazing.”

The dark skinned woman bowed her head honorably.

“Service.”

Verena looked confused. The woman let her go gently and kneeled in front of her. She went down low, letting her face almost kiss the ground.

“You service.”

Verena realized what she must mean.

“Y-you want to serve me? That’s what you’re saying?”

The woman sat up on her knees and nodded.

“Service. My life. Yours.”

Verena had so many questions. Like, why? Who she was? Why she would want to serve her? They had just met. Was it a coincidence that she was here to save her, just at the last moment?

“I…I accept your offer. I already feel safer. Tell me. Do, you have a name, my friend?”

“Vykaria.”

Verena smiled.

“That’s beautiful.”

Then, Vykaria stood up and gripped the handles of her swords. She looked behind her down the road. Three Warg’s approached quickly on all four.

“It’s okay!” Verena assured her quickly. “They’re coming for me.”

They approached quickly and stopped in front of them, rising to two legs. They had killed the ambushers back at the first site.

“Are you alright, lady of blood?” The captain asked.

Verena stepped forward and put a hand on Vykaria’s shoulder.

“Thanks to Vykaria.”

The captain breathed out. he looked over to the dead warrior.

“He fought bravely. I would be dead without him as well.”

The Warg captain nodded.

“He was a good warrior,” he said. His eyes swiftly stopped on the woman on the ground. She had stopped crying and looked at them. She was utterly terrified. “She’s one of them?”

“Yes,” Verena answered. “He claimed her before he fell. It would only be right if one of you claimed her in his honor and to his memory.”

The Warg’s nodded in agreement. The captain walked towards her and her eyes widened further.

“No, no please!” She cried out. She turned to Verena with pleading, horrified eyes. Locking her light grey with ones her orange eyes. “I beg you don’t. I didn’t try to escape. I never tried, I just laid here obediently. I’m obeying!”

“Then obey and lift your ass,” the captain scoffed. He grabbed her hips and raised her ass into the air.

“No, no wait, I beg you!” She screamed. “Don’t let them rape me again. I beg you! I’ll tell you want to know about the ambush! Everything!”

Verena slowly raised her hand.

“Wait.”

Tyra, as the woman had been called by her now dead comrades, froze. She felt the Warg’s manhood press against her vagina as he stopped. He didn’t protest, simply stopped as he was told.

Tyra looked at Verena as tears started streaming again.

“You will be my slave. My property,” Verena started in a dark and hard tone. “You will obey my every order or every Warg in the camp will share you. Understand?”

Tyra nodded swiftly.

“Yes, yes I understand! I can be a good slave! Please forgive me! Forgive me for attacking you!”

Verena looked at the calm captain.

“Leave her be.”

He nodded and rose.

“We should get moving. We have to meet Bloodlord Kashk and inform him of what happened. I’ll send one of my men ahead while we travel on foot.”

Verena nodded. She looked to Tyra.

“Get up.”

She scrambled to stand up, ignoring the pain in her broken left arm. She ran up to Verena and stood obediently at her side.

5: Chapter 5 Aftermath

7th Century, 632, Mournful 15th

South of the Elven forest

On their way to the encampment, Verena was surprisingly-to her-more than happy to see a column of Warg riders approaching them. At least sixty of them came out to meet them after word reached Kashk of what had happened. She was now realizing that he did indeed care about her. The signs had been there, but now, she really started realizing it. He cared deeply about her.

This was reinforced when they arrived at the camp Kashk had taken over. It belonged to the fourth and final Clan of Warg’s in the area. When Kashk’s word arrived about his demand, the son of the Bloodlord challenged his father and slayed him in ritualistic combat. Komb’baR. Komb’baR was the name of the ritual where the Bloodlord was challenged over the Clans power. It was mostly sons, nephews, brothers or other family members, at some occasions even women, that challenged the Bloodlord. Sometimes it was Shamans or strong warriors. When Kashk arrived the young and naïve new Bloodlord agreed to grant Kashk full command of the Clans, but with his position intact. They sealed it by blood. By cutting across their hands and dripping blood into a bowl. Unfortunately, the Bloodlord was too naïve. With the contract signed by blood, Kashk was free to challenge the young male for the Clans leader post. He easily killed the young male.

Kashk came out to meet them. He ran towards Verena, to her surprise. He stopped and looked at the human female leading the horse. He had a suspicious glare.

“It’s okay,” Verena promised. “Her name is Vykaria and she saved my life.”

His glare eased up and he hurried over to the horse they were on. He grabbed Verena’s hips roughly and lifted her down. He gripped her hips after and looked down at her, into her orange eyes. For a moment the black Dark elf stared into the large black furred Warg’s yellow eyes.

“I’m glad to see you safe, little lady,” he said softly with a smile. He glanced down as she put her smaller arms on his black furred ones. “Are you wounded in any way?”

She shook her head.

“N-no.”

He smiled wider and looked at Vykaria.

“I owe you human. That’s something I’ve never said before. You can have anything you want.”

“Already have,” she responded simply with a polite bow.

“She w-want to serve me,” Verena explained. “I granted her wish.” She was worried he wouldn’t approve of it.

To her gratitude, he nodded.

“Very well.” His eyes shifted back to Verena. “Captain good job. We shall mourn our dead tonight.”

The captain nodded and bowed his head.

“I sent some of the men you send us to gather the dead and retrieve the most powerful enemy bodies.”

“Good. We shall feast on them and use their strongest bones for tools and weapons.”

“I think you want to see her,” the captain shoved the mercenary woman forward.

Tyra stumbled and almost tripped. She gasped when she faced Kashk. The Bloodlord glared at her and growled. He looked at the female. She had a dark brown leather shirt, but her bottom was absolutely bare and exposed. Tyra trembled and looked pleadingly at Verena.

“You’ll tell us everything, won’t you?” Verena said.

She nodded swiftly.

Verena smiled.

“She’s mine.” Kashk looked at her. First surprised. “She’s my slave now. Her life is mine, and her fate.” The last part was an obvious warning for Tyra. To remind her what could happen if she disobeyed.

She kneeled. “I am your humble servant mistress and grand Bloodlord.”

He stepped closer to her.

“Why did you attack?” He growled.

“W-we w-were hired t-to-to k-kill the m-mistress. Forgive me.”

“By whom?”

“I-I don’t know. I-I s-swear!”

“I believe her,” Verena stated. “She’s too scared to lie.”

Kashk snorted and turned around.

“I suppose we should let a Shaman heal that broken arm.”

“T-thank you, tha-th-thank you Bloodlord,” Tyra exclaimed in her gratitude.

“Tell me, who leads your group and how many are there in it?”

“A-a Dragon elf woman named Jillian Wolfheart. I-I know h-her name does s-sound elven, but s-s-s-she w-wa-wasn’t raised by Dragon elves, but a kind dwarven family. Her village w-was burnt-”

“I didn’t ask for her backstory.”

“S-sorry!”

He groaned in annoyance.

“T-there are a-almost t-thr-three-hundred members of our mercenary g-group. We c-control four different castles in Ardaena. Th-they’ll b-be back.”

“They can try,” Kashk growled confidently. “They’ll fall easily before my feet.”

Kashk led Verena away with a gently hand behind her back.

“Just must be exhausted.”

I-I am, yes,” she admitted.

Vykaria followed close behind Verena.

“I have had transportation prepared for you. My men, old and new are packing up camp to travel to a new encampment soon.”

She stared surprised at her means of transportation. It was a carried chair of nice dark oak tree and red drapers covering the doors on each side. It was large enough for two to four elves to fit in, but maybe only one or two Warg’s. The long carrying poles was long enough for a total of six Warg’s to carry it. Verena smiled. She had never been or even touch one before. Last year a noble came through the village and he was carried in carried bed, carried by servants.

“This Clan captured it in a raid,” Kashk explained, smiling at her excited expression. “You can sleep the entire journey home without being bothered. If they dare try again, the mercenaries will find that my army will be in the way.”

“K-Kashk?” She used his name for the first time.

“Yes my pretty elf?”

“Your warriors fought very bravely,” she said somberly. “T-they…they were very brave.”

“Our warriors,” he corrected.

She blinked. Ours? Including mine?

“You are my mate. Making my men, ours.”

She turned completely to him.

“You said, new encampment. Are we leaving? Not going back to the old camp?”

He shook his furry head.

“No dear and pretty elf. I have sent word to them. They’ll meet us there. I have grand plans.” He stretched his arms into the air. “Warg’s everywhere will flock to me. To my clan.”

“W…eh, why?”

He looked down and grinned.

“You’ll see in a few days, when we arrive. Ahm, you understand, Verena this means I cannon aid your village for some time. But if you are unhappy with that…”

She shook her head and glared at the ground.

“No. They can all die for all I care.”

“Good. Then I am in no hurry.”

“Seriously though. Can’t you t-tell me? Please. What’s going on?”

He grinned wider and shook his head. He smacked her bottom gently, making her squeak.

“Not yet. Now get into that carried chair. Its surely comfy and soft and all mushy. There’s a pelt in case you get cold. Just let me know if you need anything.” He raised his hand. “Oh, I forgot. There’s a gift inside. Something I found in this camp and thought of you.”

With peaked interest Verena opened the chair carriage and saw a long red dress inside. She grabbed it and folded it out in front of her. It was absolutely beautiful. Simply beautiful. So adorable and sweet of him to think of her when he saw it. For a moment she forgot that he was a brutal and bloodthirsty Warg.

7th Century, 632, Mournful 17th

Arachnid Empire, Undercity palace, underneath Argon Mountains

Little Rae laughed and kicked around her as her bigger sister tickled her. She was trapped. Saela had her trapped by creating a cage with her six legs around her. Meanwhile she tickled her endlessly with her hands. Rae laughed and giggled as she tried to escape.

“I-I’ll tickle you sooner or, aaah! Sooner or later!”

“I think not,” Saela declared with a wide smile. “Time to for a full frontal tickle attack!”

“Noooooo!” Rae shouted, unable to contain her laugher. She tried pushing one of Saela’s hand away, only to have the other tickle her from the other side. When she tried pushing it away the other returned. When she tried to bend one of her legs away to make a hole big enough for her, both hands tickled her.

Saela smiled at her little sisters happy laugher. Her 1.6 feet made her easy to trap. Saela herself was 6.7 feet tall. She-just like her little sister-was was unusually short for her age. At an age of sixteen she was supposed to be at least seven feet in height. It was probably something that made the sisters even closer to each other.

“My lady,” a male Arachnid said curtly.

Saela looked up and stopped tickling her sister. Rae used the time to breath and try to break out between Saela’s legs.

“The Queen is ready to see you now,” the worker caste male announced.

Saela smiled.

“Thank you.”

She released Rae from between her makeshift cage. She looked a little sat actually. Saela smiled and picked her little sister up. she obviously wanted to continue playing. She understood Rae’s problems more than anyone else. Sense they both were smaller in size than expected.

“Oh don’t look so sad, sis. We’ll play later, I promise. We can play all day,” she promised her.

Rae smiled.

“Really? I’d like that.” She hugged her. “love you.”

Saela hugged the tiny girl back in her fathom.

“I love you too lil’ sis.”

She put Rae down and walked to the double doors at the corridors end. Her mother sat at the table, with a cake of some kind in front of her on the long table. Saela walked over with her six legs.

“Mom.”

Ayya stood up with a smile.

“Come here.” She opened her arms for her. Saela scooted into her arms and hugged her, and Ayya closed her arms and brought her into a big hug. “So good to have you back with me.”

“I’m really glad to be home mom,” Saela said happily. “It’s been months. I so missed Undercity.”

Ayya released her from her arms, but kept holding her hands.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to leave again my dear.”

“Oh,” Saela said, keeping her disappointment hidden. “Where am I going?”

Ayya let her go and strolled towards the balcony.

“I need you to attend and represent our empire at a negotiation. It will take place in the Orc capital Ogrimash.” She turned to her daughter. “This is important. Not only trying to convince the participants that the demons will be back sooner or later, you need to help create a defense pact against any demon threat.”

“I understand mom. W-when do I leave?”

“Immediately.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Ayya noticed the disappointment in her voice.

“This is very important, Saela.”

“Yeah, I get that mom.”

“Then what is it?”

“I, I just promised Rae to play with her.”

Ayya looked at her daughter for a moment in silence. She hadn’t thought of that. Of course Rae would love to have her big sister home. Especially Saela. She could make her feel better about being so short for her age.

“You leave in two days.”

Saela squeaked and hurried over to embrace her mom.

“Thanks mom! I love you.”

Ayya smiled widely and sighed.

“I love you too. Very much baby. You go play with, Rae. Have fun. She’s such a lonely little child.”

7th Century, 632, Mournful 18th

Elven village of Ramstead, Karle mansion

In the early morning Sayana and her friends arrived at Karle’s mansion. The large mansion had tall white brick walls, the road in had a beautiful garden on both sides. It was green with bushes, green and red leafed trees and flower beds in all the rainbows colors. Sayana was taken aback by the beauty of it. Fallon was right there with her on that point. Draak half-what agreed, but would prefer a more battlefield looking environment. Tali liked it but didn’t show much to it. Archon smiled and expressed that he deeply enjoyed the gardens beauty.

Inside the mansion they were escorted by four High elf guards. They wore the regular golden armor of the High elves. Plus the weapons of Elven steel. Elven steel was gold in color and quite strong.

Fallon looked at the decapitated head of a Rumbler. The pale skin and the giant creepy yellow eyes was unmistakable. The head was around three or four feet. Actually, for a Rumbler, it was a bit small. Rumblers was usually bigger than their cave troll cousins.

“Think this Karle guy killed that Rumbler himself?” Fallon whispered.

“Off course he did,” Draak said confidently. “Why else hang it on the wall?”

“Show off,” Tali stated flatly.

“Well off course he’s showing off,” Draak countered. “If he killed a Rumbler on his own-”

“I’m gonna ask him,” Fallon said.

Sayana looked over her shoulder to her human thief friend.

“Try acting professional. I promised him minion that we are very professional,” she said hopeful.

Fallon rolled her eyes.

“Ok, ok. Fine,” she sulked.

“He might enjoy telling a story about how he killed a Rumbler,” Archon decided to add. “Could be a good story.” He looked at Sayana and Fallon. Fallon cheered up and clapped her hands together excitedly. Sayana sighed and simply nodded.

They were escorted into a large room with a oak table with couches prepared. A man was sitting in a comfortable chair. He was human, with dark brown long hair and handsome dark grey eyes. He wore a black, brown and white soft silk shirt and dark brown leather pants.

“Ah, good day my friends,” he greeted them politely. He stood up and walked up to them. he gently grabbed Sayana’s hand and kissed it. She blushed. “You must be lady Sayana.”

She swallowed and cleared her throat quietly.

“Um, y-yes, very much so.”

Draak rolled his eyes as he glanced at her blush.

“I didn’t expect such a beautiful woman to lead a mercenary group,” Karle said passionately.

Sayana blushed even more.

“Oh, well…yeah.”

He smiled slightly wider and gestured to the table.

“Do have a seat, please.”

They sat down around the table in the couches. They were actually very comfortable. Fallon shifted in her seat and smiled. She could get used to this level of comfort. Karle gently held Sayana’s hand and gestured for her to sit down in the couch beside him. She smiled the entire time.

“Hmm,” was all she said dreamingly as she looked at the nobleman. She put her other hand on his as he held her left hand affectionately. He smiled pleasantly at her.

Tali and Draak glanced at each other.

He cleared his throat loudly.

Karle turned to them.

“Apologize gentlemen, ladies.”

Sayana glared daggers at Draak. She could just tell he had a giant smirk held back.

“Why I sent for you,” Karle started. “You see, I am a gatherer of artifacts.”

“Oh really?” Sayana said with great interest, leaning towards him. “How exciting.” She flickered her eyes.

The human noble smiled at her for a moment in silence.

“And?” Draak interrupted.

Sayana closed her eyes and cursed mentally.

“Apologize again. in short. There is an old ruin. Essence Hollow. A remnant from a time long passed,” Karle explained. “Deep inside is an artifact. A heart shaped ruby. Quite large for a ruby too. Red in color. My research explains that it will be on a pedestal in the main chamber in the ruin.”

“Do you know who built the ruin?” Archon asked.

“My research shows that it was High elves, but, travelers who pass it, including myself can say that there are obvious signs of ancient goblin engineering. There is also a Templar statue outside. I believe it was a used by the Templars of Truth at some point.”

“It was built by both goblins and elves?” Draak asked. “For the Templars?”

“It appears so. My personal theory is that the temple was built during the 2nd Demon Wars. It is possible that elves and goblins worked together to construct it. Why it was built, I do not know. It could be that the temple was abandoned by the elves and goblins and later the Templars moved it, or they simply occupied it or bought it from the elves.”

Sayana gently put her left hand on his right hand affectionately.

“That’s really interesting. I’d love to hear more later my lord.”

He turned halfway to her.

“I’d be happy to discuss it with you over…say dinner when you return?”

She nodded excitedly.

“Sounds fantastic.”

He gave her a smile before waving a male wood elf servant over. He handed Karle a scroll. Karel accepted it and handed it to Sayana and they locked eyes. She blushed and accepted it.

“This is a map to Essence Hollow,” he said softly. “I tried gaining access myself but, you see there was too many enemies for me and my guards inside. Nothing you can’t handle. Simply a Cave troll and Scratling’s.”

“Thank you, m-my lord.”

“Call me Cedric, lady Sayana,” he requested.

“C-Cedric.” She flickered her eyes, glancing at the others.

“Gold,” Fallon whispered.

“Eh, w-we s-should…discuss payment, if-if you don’t mind, lord-ah, I mean…Cedric,” Sayana stuttered.

“Off course,” Cedric nodded. “If you agree, I will firstly give you a horse each and as much supplies and weapons you can carry. A house is being prepared inside my walls for you. You can stay here whenever you want.” He looked specifically into Sayana’s eyes as he spoke. Her smile rose to become even wider. “There will be one-thousand gold coins for each of you.”

Draak and Fallon both grinned excitedly. That was a lot of gold, not to mention weapons and horses. They only hand two horses and they used them mostly to carry things or if someone of them was injured.

“This is acceptable,” Archon said with a nod.

“I’ll happily await your return,” Cedric said and rose up.

He offered his hand to Sayana. She accepted and he assisted her in standing up from the couch. He offered her companions a friendly smile and a bow before kissing the auburn elves hand. She giggled.

“You won’t have to wait long, Cedric,” she assured him.

6: Chapter 6 Essence Hollow

7th Century, 632, Mournful 19th

 Elven Forest, Essence Hollow ruin

Arriving at the ruins after a day’s journey they entered the ruins. They were built by a stones by a darker shade. Six pillars rose into the air, two of them shorter than the others. Two more laid cracked on the stone laid ground. Grass was growing amongst the stones and around the large Templar statue.

It was almost fifty feet tall. It had the form of a Templar with a long broadsword and the triangular shield. It had the cylinder shaped helmet and feathers hanging in the back. The robes and combat skirt was hanging over the body, under the arm and leg armor and the chestplate hidden beneath the robes and skirt. The skirt went to the knees. The feathers on the head that hung downward was a symbol of the Templar Knight Commander.

Knight Commander was a rank that was more or less a general post and just below Lord Commander. A Lord Commander was usually an important person that had had a long career and commanded forts or other important offices of authority. The Templars of Truth was an order that was ruled by a council of Lord Commanders.

Fallon looked at the giant Templar Knight Commander statue.

“I wonder who he is,” she mused.

Draak shrugged and looked at Archon.

“You’re the druid who’s been around for five centuries.”

The blue skinned Dragon elf arched an eyebrow slowly.

“Five centuries, yes. The 2nd Demon Wars was almost two-thousand years ago, Draak,” he explained. “Did you not listen to Lord Karle?”

The saurian Drakken smirked and looked at Sayana. His thick orange scaled tail whipped gently on the ground.

“Well she surely did. Oh, I mean, Cedric.”

She turned to him with a death glare.

“What?!” She demanded. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Draak chuckled.

“You practically drooled over the guy yesterday. You’re on a first name basis already. Holding hands and him kissing your hand.”

“He was a gentleman,” she defended. “Chivalry isn’t dead yet, ya hear.”

Tali decided to come to her friends aid.

“Shall we go inside?” She asked, changing the subject to the task at hand.

“Yes-yes, let’s go,” Sayana immediately said and headed off for the entrance quickly.

Fallon and Draak chuckled and walked after her. They walked towards the large black doors into the dark ruins themselves. Archon wondered what threat laid inside. Cave trolls was interesting. They usually didn’t stay in ruins. Caves usually or simply camping out in the forest. Scratling’s was nothing strange. The two feet insectoid monsters was usually easily dispatched. But Ak’dornba beasts was nothing new for ruins from that age either. What worried him was if there was one or more Bloodhunters inside. He shook the thought away. Bloodhunters was the absolutely most dangerous creature in Ardaena. No wolf, bear, Ak’dornba beats or anything else could measure with a Bloodhunter. Including Cave trolls and Rumblers.

Fallon readied her Oak bow with an arrow as she entered second. First in was Draak with his Drakken broadsword and Drakken orange shield. Both weapons was made from Desert steel, giving them their orange color.

“Looks clear,” Draak said.

He looked around the large entrance chamber. He saw an old staircase leading for an upper level from which arrows could have been rained down upon any intruder when the ruin had been a temple. Sayana had light a torch. Archon used his staff to lit up the area directly around them.

Draak pointed forward.

“That hallway appears to lead deeper down,” he noted.

“I sense magic,” Archon said.

“What?” Sayana inquired. “Like necromancy?”

He shook his head.

“No. Defensive magic,” he explain in short.

Sayana was always amazed that he could sense magic users and magic. It was an impressive skill that Dragon elf druids was taught.

Tali walked beside Sayana with her golden elven bow ready. She had a red skirt and light silver robes. Her silver hood was lowered. She preferred to move without armor to weigh her down and limit her movement and agility.

The group continued towards the hallway and down the staircase it led to. Archon’s staffs blue light lit up the staircase as they proceeded down. Apart from a Scratling now and then, they heard nothing but their own steps.

Archon raised his left hand for them to suddenly stopped. Draak gave him a questioning look and nodded to the corner seventeen feet ahead. Archon nodded. He slowly moved forward and raised his staff to attack if necessary. If it was a necromancer he would cut him or her down on the spot.

A young woman spun around the corner. She was visibly shocked by the appearance of the group. She assumed a defensive posture.

“Who are you?!” She demanded to know.

“We outnumber you little Aeyaen,” Draak snorted. “We ask the questions.”

Sayana looked at the Aeyaen woman. She had the Aeyaen blue skin with rough and messy dark blue hair. Her eyes was silver, which was a rare color for most races. She wore a purple robe with a silver tree.

“Who are you?” Sayana asked with a friendly voice.

The Aeyaen turned to her.

“Ruby,” she said. “My name is Ruby.”

Ruby. A strange name for a Aeyaen. Sayana made a mental note to ask her about that sometime later.

“My name is Sayana. What are you doing here, alone?”

She gestured for everyone to relax and lower their weapons. Ruby did the same.

“I was hired by the Maidens of the North to follow a group of them here to bring back an artifact. They needed a mage trained to fight dark magic,” Ruby explained.

“You are very young for being trained to fight and resist dark magic,” Archon complimented. “You must be well trained for the Maidens to come to you.”

“Thank you druid,” she bowed her head to him. “You honor me.”

Draak looked around.

“Where are the Maidens?”

Ruby looked sad.

“They…they’re dead,” she said with sorrow. “The Bloodhunter killed them. Ripped their bodies apart. The Scratling’s cleaned out what was left. They snatched both the injured before I could even…they were eaten alive.”

Draak nodded sympathetically. “I am sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I didn’t know them very well. We just traveled together for three weeks. They didn’t like me very much. They needed my knowledge, nothing else. Didn’t want to get to know me.”

Archon nodded understandingly.

“Maidens doesn’t like mages or sorceress of any kind,” he stated.

“Hold it, hold it!” Fallon waved to get everyone’s attention. They turned to her.

“Did no one else listen when she mention a Bloodhunter!? Bloodhunter!” She exclaimed.

“We heard,” Sayana said nervously. She quickly mustered her courage. “But I promised Cedric we would get the heart ruby.” She turned to Ruby suspiciously. “You won’t be taking it back to the maidens, are you?”

She shook her head.

“No. I assure you. I won’t stand in your way,” she paused and looked at Archon. “Are you mercenaries, great druid?”

“Temporarily something in that…direction,” he begrudgingly muttered. “Destiny forces us on this path.”

“Oh.” She nodded understandingly. “I can help you find the Bloodhunter.”

“How?” Draak asked.

“I just, I can show you to where I saw it to make sure it doesn’t ambush you like it did us.”

“What do you think, Sayana?” Tali asked her elven friend.

She looked at Sayana and Sayana looked at Ruby. She looked trustworthy. She could be pretty useful.

“Alright. You’re in. Welcome to my fellowship,” she said cheerfully.

Fallon and Tali blinked in surprise. Did she just welcome her into their gang? Just like that? Ruby was equally surprise. She was silent before her silver eyes blinked.

“Y-you inviting me into your g-group?” She asked shocked.

Sayana nodded with a wide smile.

She bowed her head.

“I am honored.”

“Great. Let’s go,” Sayana decided.

They started walking and Draak leaned closer to Sayana.

“We’ll talk about this later, Sayana,” he whispered.

She glared at him.

“My fellowship. My call,” she whispered back angrily. “I says she’s in!”

“That’s a group call,” Draak argued.

Sayana didn’t say anything else. She focused on Ruby’s staff. It was an ice staff. Staff of ice specifically. It was white as new fallen snow with a crystal of some kind inside carved wolf-jaws on top.

“My name is Archon,” the druid introduced himself politely.

“It is an honor,” Ruby bowed her head again.

Fallon jogged up to the front.

“I’m Fallon. Big Drakken guys Draak and the tall blonde elf’s Talizaryna, or Tali for short,” she introduced the group.

“I am honored to meet you all,” Ruby assured them. “Can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“Off course you can,” Sayana said. “You can ask anything at any time now when you’re one of us.”

“Thank you. I want to ask if this is a job you are paid for?”

Fallon nodded beside her. “Yep.”

They turned a corner and looked inside a larger chamber with ten pillars in a square, supporting the ceiling. They could see blood on the floor, a trail across and into a smaller hallway.

“I thought you said you’d tell us when we neared-” Draak started sneering.

“This isn’t it,” Ruby whispered back. “Something dragged someone through here.”

Sayana took a step closer to Tali.

“W-was it t-the B-Bloodhunter?”

“I would assume,” Archon mumbled in a monotone voice.

Draak slowly made his way into the chamber with Tali and Fallon covering him with their bows and Archon and Ruby was ready with their staffs. Sayana had her steel sword ready and held it with both hands. He looked down the dark hallway to see if he saw anything. He stood quietly, unmovable. He narrowed his eyes slightly. The others waited with their hearts grinding to a halt. Sayana stopped breathing completely. Her dark blue eyes was wide and she could feel her hands trembling while she held the sword.

Draak lowered his sword and shield and gestured the others over.

“The Bloodhunter isn’t here. Not anymore.”

“I would not be surprised if its stalking us already,” Fallon said with a shiver going down her spine.

“D-don’t even say that,” Sayana pleaded.

“Do not worry, Sayana. I will keep it from hurting you,” Tali promised her.

Sayana smiled at the kind gesture.

They made their way deeper into the ruin. Statues of elven warriors stood on each side of the hallway. Several of them was broken and had been for hundreds of years. There was later a statue of the Goddess Nightingale. Sayana’s torch burnt out. she dropped it and got her backup out and lighted it with Tali’s help. Archon blasted a few Scratling’s with his staff. Otherwise, the journey to the main chamber was more or less silent and just caused Sayana’s nerves to ache.

“Is…is this it?” Fallon asked, slightly disappointed.

She looked into the main chamber. It was dark and at least one hundred and sixty four feet across. It was built as a square with the pedestal in the middle. The heart was on it. The red heart-shaped ruby. It looked to be five decimeters in diameter. The pedestal was seventy five feet away from them.

Archon and Ruby lighted up the entire chamber with their staffs. Archon looked at the stone laid down. He searched for any possible traps. Any stone slightly out of place or too high up from the others. He was happy to report that he saw nothing.

“Tali, stay here with Draak and Ruby and keep an eye on our exit,” Sayana decided.

Tali nodded obediently.

“I will protect your back,” she assured her friend.

Sayana walked towards the pedestal with Fallon and Archon. Sayana grabbed the heart carefully. She skipped happily on the spot.

“I can’t wait to give this to Cedric!” She said excitedly.

“I can’t wait to see how he’ll thank you personally,” Fallon commented with a grin.

7: Chapter 7 Queen of Kaeta

7th Century, 632, Mournful 21st

South of Heavenfield forest, City of Kaeta, Castle courtyard

The sun had risen in the sky over Kaeta. An ancient city of war. A city of warriors. Kaeta was the capital of a small but powerful kingdom. Dozens of cities was under its control, not counting clients. Several other tribes, clans and cities was clients to Kaeta. Sworn to fight with them, but also under their protection. Kaeta was known for its elite trained soldiers. For a small scale kingdom, Kaeta had won great respect for victories against armies ten or twenty times larger throughout their history.

In the castles courtyard a pair of male servants stood with a silver tray each. They wore green loose pants and loose white shirts with cleavage, exposing their clean shaved chests. They had both slightly tanned skin and black hair. One of them had slightly lighter than the other.

In the middle of the white stone laid yard a young woman of twenty seven swung a long slick blade. Around her stood three men with blue skirts, a golden helmet with a cylinder shape with the face exposed slightly. There was black feathers on top, stretching backwards. They had a relatively long blue cape. It stretched down to the end of their lower backs. They had golden chest armor. All three men had a short sword and a large round shield.

The young woman was dressed in a black skirt that ended above her legs, exposing her beautiful knees and legs. She wore a black shirt with a slight cleavage and no sleeves. The sleeves ended on her shoulders.

She jumped at one of the men and kicked his large golden shield. All three men’s shield had a two headed dark blue dragon over them. The man staggered backwards when both her feet landed on his shield. The woman quickly turned to the other two. She blocked an attack from one and cut at the third. She kicked his hand and turned to land two strikes on his shield.

She volted around in and striked the second man’s hand as he came towards her. She ended her third strikes with a kick and the short sword was kicked out of the man’s hand and landed eight feet away. Turning she moved towards the third man and attacked. She forced him back across the yard. She managed to swing her sword down and upward to cause the man to lose his shield. She finished by kicking him in the chest and hitting his helmet with the handle of her sword.

Then she turned to the first man. He was the last armed. She attacked and landed three quick blades on his shield and two on his short sword before forcing the blade from his hand.

The woman stopped and lowered her blade. She jabbed it in between the stone laid ground. She breathed heavily and threw her head back to look up at the sky. Her long raven hair hung down in a sweaty mess.

A young squire jogged over and took her sword and carried it back to the weapons rack.

“Well done, my queen,” the training master complimented. “You only get better and better every day. Just like your beauty rises every day.”

She smiled at him and lowered her head. The young queen turned around and strolled over to the male servants.

At the age of twenty seven Rei was one of youngest Queens in Kaeta’s long history. Even more so sense she became queen at the young age of twenty two. It was also rare for a woman to reign. Being able to fight was practically unacceptable for a woman in human society. Especially for a noble or monarch. Some thought of it as heresy. Those people was-surprisingly-only rich men.

Rei stretched out her tanned hand to pick up a glass of wine. The tanned woman looked down at the servants ass and smiled. She reached down and gave the man’s butt a squeeze. He shifted his feet in surprise but didn’t show any kind of discomfort or feelings at all. He showed neither pleasure to displeasure. Rei licked her lips and released her grip.

Rei sipped from her wine glass, emptying it almost completely. She than wiped sweat from her tanned forehead and focused her golden eyes on the second male servants exposed chest. She waved him closer with a finger. He stepped towards her with his tray. She leaned closer to him. His uncomfortable expression showed that he wasn’t sure what to do. That made her smirk and she pressed her lips against his for a short two seconds. When she pulled away she smirked at his surprised expression. She lowered her free hand into his pants and got a feel for him. The result made her smile. The man tensed up and looked over her head.

“Satisfying size,” she estimated simply. She pulled her hand out gently and took a few steps away and turned around to walk away. “Leave the tray and follow me, big boy.”

Hesitantly the man put the tray down and walked after the queen obediently.

Rei walked over the courtyard towards the castle. On the way a snow leopard jumped down from a small balcony and came over to her. She stopped and petted him as he rubbed against her.

“Good boy, Neo,” Rei said as she petted him affectionately. “Where you got Mia boy?”

The leopard purred.

Rei turned her attention away from her snow leopard and continued walking inside her castle. Neo followed her. He walked behind the servant. Walking through a white stone hallway and up a large staircase Rei stumbled upon her second snow leopard. Mia joined in after rubbing against Rei for a moment. She walked with Neo in the back.

“My Queen!” A man called.

Rei rolled her eyes in annoyance and spun around.

“What?”

An older man came up the stairs towards her. He bowed. The man had tanned skin and a white beard with streaks of tamed black. His head was covered with receding white hair with a few strains of black. He wore a dark blue robe.

He looked to the servant with his dark brown eyes.

“Excuse the interruption, my queen,” he apologized.

Rei took a step forward.

“You haven’t interrupted anything…yet. Now speak Councilor Greydon.”

He bowed his head again.

“I wanted to talk to you about the impending meeting. Many nobles are displeased with the foreigners,” Councilor Greydon explained.

“I couldn’t care less,” Rei said coolly.

“My queen-”

“If they complain remind them they have no power,” Rei said firmly. “Execute a handful for whatever reasons. Make some up.”

Greydon looked quite uncomfortable.

“If you are uncomfortable to side against the nobles, I can find a new Councilors for my council.” She narrowed her eyes confrontationally.

Greydon bowed his upper body after a moment of silence.

“I will deal with it, my queen,” he assured her.

“Make sure you do,” Rei said coolly. “Master of War Syrasos is interested in assuming the Councilor position.”

Greydon nodded subtly as he turned around and walked away. Rei glared after him. He was a skilled man, no denying that. But, he was of noble birth from a city where the nobles used to have actual power because they were noble born. That didn’t count in Kaeta or many of her client states. Nobles hadn’t had power for one hundred and seventy years.

Rei looked after him for a moment before he rounded a corner. She turned around and walked back up the stairs.

“Come now little man,” she told the servant gleefully. “My entertainment awaits. I expect an excellent performance from you.”

“I-I’ll do m-my best, oh great Queen Rei,” he assured her stuttering.

Rei opened her pretty golden eyes to look up at the ceiling of her chambers. She rolled over in her bed and looked towards the balcony. Cloths was hanging over the archway out to the balcony. It was a few meter wide with a white stone reeling. Her bed had golden covers of silk and six silk pillows. The covers was half on her, covering her from the waist and down.

She had commanded her male companion to leave hours ago. She wasn’t sure how long she had slept but it seemed that the sun shined brightly outside. Even brighter than before. She pushed the cover off her tanned body and sat up on the side. She saw both Neo and Mia resting at the bottom of her bed. Mia opened her eyes and came over. She rested her head in Rei’s lap. Rei scratched her behind her ears.

“You slept too girl?” She asked.

Mia purred comfortably.

“Sometimes I wish I was a leopard. No problems in the world, apart from…eating, sleeping and scaring people. It’s so easy to be you, huh. Maybe a rabbit. A tamed one.” She frowned suddenly. “I couldn’t live in a cage though. I have that. My childhood felt like a cage. A golden cage within these walls.”

She gently pushed Mia away and stood up. She grabbed a dark blue robe and hung it around her naked form and walked towards the balcony. Mia followed right behind her. When Rei leaned over the edge and looked over the courtyard, the walls of the castle and the white city around it Mia rubbed her head against her mistresses leg. She petted the snow leopard gently. She then felt Neo rub up against her other side. She smiled and petted his white fur softly.

Rei left the balcony and walked over to her desk. She sat down and dipped the pen in the ink. The paper in front of her had a picture of an Orc and a Kaeta soldier fighting in a field of flowers. Mia and Neo followed her and gently sat at her sides.

8: Chapter 8 Vargen

7th Century, 632, Mournful 22nd

South of Elven Forest, west of South Passage

Verena stepped out of her carriage. They had finally arrived at the their destination. Wherever this was. She was curious why Kashk wanted to travel for so many days to get here. Why it was so important. She looked around, seeing Kashk coming towards her with a large and scary grin. They were on the edge of a field. A large one hundred and fifty meter field. Thick green trees surrounded the massive grass covered field.

Tents was being put up and trees chopped down. Vykaria stood silently behind Verena. She kept her eyes peeled on their surroundings.

“W-why are we here?” She asked carefully.

He put a firm furry hand on her back and pressed her against his side.

“This….will be the future of the Warg people!” He declared.

“A field?” Verena said in confusion.

He growled at her momentarily.

 She shivered in fear.

“I-I’m sorry,” she begged for forgiveness. “I-I didn’t m-mean to-”

“No,” Kashk interrupted her. “I should be sorry.” He had a heavy tone of honesty in his voice, and regret. “I shouldn’t growl at you. I am sorry Verena. A Bloodlord should never disrespect his beautiful mate.” He used his right hand to caress her chin gently.

She felt his talons and fur gently against her skin.

“This place. It isn’t for my people only. Not only my dreams. But A dream. You.”

She blinked in surprise and turned her head and looked up at him.

“I will found a city. For you. A large castle where our children and you will be safe. Behind high and thick walls of stone and strong Warg guards.”

She saw how he shined up by speaking about this. He wanted to build a Warg city. That had never been done before. Sense the beginning of time Warg’s had been nomadic and lived on steppes and in forests. And for her? he wanted to build a city. A castle for her safety and…their…children. She didn’t like that aspect of it. Their children. She couldn’t even imagine making love with him. Willingly or otherwise.

“Off course it is only a field now. We will start by building wooden houses. Palisades and barricades until we can establish a supply chain to local quarries. A few villages owns the ones nearby. We’ll attack them and take them. We’ll enslave them so they can serve us. Raise farm animals for us to slaughter. A steady supply of fresh meat. I will found a kingdom for all Warg’s. I shall unite them all under our rule.”

“Er…c-can I say something?”

“Off course. You can always speak your mind,” he encouraged her.

She swallowed hard before speaking.

“I-is it necessary to enslave them, or e-even attack them?”

He frowned curiously.

“How else would we get the stones we need? Not to mention meat without hunting every day?”

“Trade,” she suggested with her bravest voice. “Trade for the stone in their quarries. Trade for their fresh meat.”

He turned his full body to her.

“Warg’s do not trade,” he reminded her.

Her head fell.

“I’m sorry.”

He studied the beautiful Dark elf for a moment.

“What can we even trade?”

Verena looked up at him in surprise. He was accepting her idea? He must really want to follow a new path. He was serious about this.

“Well…” she thought about it. “Protection from raiders? Coin?”

He put his hand on his chin and scratched it.

“Hmm. Interesting,” he mused. The idea of not killing them seemed new to him.

“That’s what you did with my village. You protected those asses and in return, you got me.”

He started smiling.

“Yeah. That worked out better that I could have ever hoped.”

Verena found herself blushing.

“W-what will you name your new city?” She asked, quick to change the subject.

He smiled.

“Vargen.”

“Vargen?”

“Vargen was the name of my father. A great warrior. A grand leader. He was a great Warg.”

“He must have been a, great man,” Verena said hesitantly.

“You wouldn’t have liked him.”

“Why not?”

“My father liked elves. Raw,” he explained bluntly.

Verena put her hands over her mouth in disgust.

Kashk led her further into the field. Vykaria followed, along with Tyra, the first slave Verena had ever had. She was dressed in tanned rags. She followed Verena around obediently. She hoped that her comrades would rescue her when they came to kill the bratty elf. But she worried they would simply kill her for allowing herself to be captured, and providing information to the Warg’s.

Kashk began telling Verena how the castle would look when it was finished. It sounded quite impressive to Verena. A Warg empire. No human or elf state would accept it. Which worried Verena. The elves and humans would probably do almost anything to crush such a threat. News would spread quickly. Kashk was confident it would draw many Warg clans

7th Century, 632, Mournful 22nd

Heavenfield forest, Kilian village

Kilian village lay only a few kilometers from the Spearhead Sea. The Spearhead Sea stretch up through Ardaena along the middle of the continent. To the North Passage in the northwest to the beaches of the Orc Republic in the east. Kilian village wasn’t far from the islands of East and West Greenfoot. West Greenfoot held the capital city of the Loorenburg Merchant League, or LML. Kilian village was also a part of the LML. The village was old. Back in the day before the Dwarven Empire collapsed. It was about two thousand years ago. Far before the use of the current calendar.

In the hidden basement of the church a strongly build dwarf strolled towards the weapons rack lining up the walls. He stood at five feet in length. He had long red hair and beard stretching to his abdomen. His dark green eyes looked at the oak and steel weapons on the racks. He grabbed one of them and took it down. He aimed it across the room and looked down the sight.

“Killigan!” A friendly voice boomed.

Killigan turned around and lowered the weapon.

“Balin,” he acknowledged.

The yellow haired dwarf chuckled and hung up another weapon on the racks. He scratched his thick yellow mustache.

“What brought ya down here? Checking up my handiwork?” He asked casually.

“I wanna make sure we’re ready,” Killigan Ironmelter replied. “I’m not sure how much trust I put in these…” he looked down at the three feet weapon in his hands. “…constructions. Half the attempts of testing resulted in misfires.”

Balin Highsteel raised a large finger.

“One third. We’ve got it down. I reckon in a few months, we’ll have almost all of them working without practically never misfiring.” He sounded confident. “Besides, you wanna go back to crossbows instead?”

Killigan grumbled to himself.

“I know my crossbow won’t explode in my face.”

He placed the weapon back on the rack he took it from.

“That only happened twice,” Balin reminded him. “He was only burnt on half his face. Could’ve been worse.”

Killigan chuckled grimly.

“Huh. How many muskets you got ready? My boys are hitting the supply convoy tomorrow.”

Balin nodded.

“Yeah, I know, I know. I got over one hundred muskets functioning. My assistances are manufacturing enough steel rounds to kill half the Merchant League army,” he ended with a laugh. “With this breakthrough in weapons engineering, we can win our freedom. Just don’t leave any of them behind.” He gaze hardened. “I mean it. Don’t let the humans get a hold of a model.”

Killigan nodded understandingly.

“I remembered sense last you told me. Relax. I have run enough operations these last few years. I don’t make mistakes.”

“Make sure this isn’t the first.”

7th Century, 632, Mournful, 22nd

Elven Forest south, Ramstead village

Draak looked through the weapons at the local blacksmith. It was a decent number of diverse weaponry to choose from. He crossed his arms and eyed a large two handed steel sword. It looked quite impressive. Very impressive. They were taking it easy after returning to Karle’s mansion a few days ago. They got their house inside his property, six horses-Ruby included-and one thousand coins each. That too, included Ruby. Sayana made sure she got her reward too. Even though she didn’t do much, in Draak’s opinion. They also got a few weapons and supplies.

Sayana got a Shadow steel curved blade and a Shadow steel bow. They were jet black. She adored her new Arachnid made weapons she got from Karle. Right now, she was spending time with Karle at the mansion. Not their house, but inside his mention. Alone. Ruby stayed at the mansion with Archon and Tali, leaving Fallon to accompany him to the village.

Fallon bought two Elven steel daggers. It cost her two hundred coins.

Draak turned to the smith.

“Good man, how much will you have for that sword?”

The bearded man turned completely to him.

“Five hundred coin my Drakken warrior,” he said with a strong voice.

Draak nodded his scaly head.

“Accepted.” He handed half his coin over.

The smith happily accepted the coin and Draak picked up his new two handed steel sword with both hands. He attached it to his back, along with his orange Desert steel shield. His Desert steel sword was attached to a sheath by his waist.

He grinned and cracked his knuckles.

“You’re not getting something bigger?” He asked his human friend.

Fallon shook her head.

“I like my daggers,” she declared.

They walked out of the blacksmiths house and into the open dirt street. The sun was starting to go down in the east.

“I guess we should get back,” Fallon mused.

“Afraid of the dark?” Draak teased.

“As if,” she defended playfully. “I am afraid, though, of a big lizard giant who can’t see in the dark and might sit on me with his mountain sized butt.”

The nine feet Drakken’s bellowed in laugher.

He looked towards the tavern.

“What do you say about a few drinks before our return?”

She smirked.

“Getting drunk with a Drakken, huh. How can I say no to what.”

He patted her firmly in the back and started walking towards the tavern, with Fallon on his left side.

Fallen looked at the dirt road crossing through the village. A pair of older farmers was there with a wagon that had been filled with potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables. They were preparing to leave after having sold it all during the day. A young man was helping them collect their things and carry them into the wagon.

4,000 years before the 1st Century

Northeast of the Forgotten Valley

Eleonora looked out over the massive circular stone structure in front of her. It was twenty meters in diameter. A massive structure, surrounded by wastelands of snow and cold rock. They had finished building it two weeks ago. And now the mages were finished consulting their ancient texts and worked constantly to bring the portal to life. It was no easy task. Fellow spirituals was eagerly awaiting the portals opening.

Eleonora smiled to herself. She couldn’t deny the dwarf engineers participation. They clearly proved their devotion to their cause. No question anymore. But they weren’t going with them. not the first time. Ok, they had to bring a few dwarves so that they could build another portal in the other dimension. Otherwise they’d be stuck in the paradise of Eden. As the ancient books, scrolls and texts described.

She turned around and walked back inside her own tent. She was a tall 7.8 feet High elf with long golden blonde hair to her butt and beautiful soft skin. She was dressed in a long green dress with flowers. She had a pelt coat to keep her warm from the cold.

She sat down and continued writing in her journal. Eleonora started by looking over her last entry. It was four days ago. When the Dragon elf Druid Babenus arrived. He had been sent by the Dragon elf Druid Council to join them on their journey to Eden. It was an honor for a druid to join them. very few had ever even seen a druid before. Including herself. In her three hundred years she had never met one. Until now.

“High Priestess! High Priestess Eleonora!” She heard screaming.

She looked to the tent entrance just as a Woof elf entered. She wore heavy Elven steel armor. She looked extremely menacing in that golden armor. She had the usual auburn skin and two head-tails. Her light blue eyes looked right at Eleonora.

“What is it Florencia?” She was quick to ask.

“The Mages managed to activate it,” she said between her breathes. “It opened. The portal to Eden.”

Eleonora’s eyes widened. This was it. The fantastic journey began. It would change history.

Eleonora ran outside with Florencia and stared at the shimmering portal.

“By the gods,” Eleonora managed.

Their fellow spiritualists ran towards the crater the portal stood in. They cheered and stared in amazement. They had finally succeeded. Finally they could show the world that their faith had led them right. High Priestess Eleonora led them right. She had been right all along.

Eleonora turned to Florencia.

“Are you with me sister?”

The Wood elf nodded.

“I am with you. I swore to protect the people here. In this world and Eden,” she said.

Eleonora smiled softly.

“There will be nothing dangerous in Eden. It’s paradise. A bright future for us. Come. Let us prepare our people.”

Florencia nodded.

They began walking down towards the portal. People started gathering around Eleonora.

“It is time to gather our equipment,” she said loudly. “Our necessary supplies until we can use what Eden has to offer us.” She looked over them all. “I promise you, that when we open the portal from our side, we will let the rest of you join us. Paradise awaits us.”

They cheered and started hurrying to carry out the tasks at hand. Those who would leave took a temporary good bye of friends and loved ones. All children would wait here. Eleonora would bring two hundred High elves, wood elves and dwarves with them. Even a few Arachnids warriors. They had another five hundred High and Wood elves here. Mostly High elves. They had a one hundred dwarves left behind too. Plus, about six hundred dark elves. three hundred would join them. The dark elves was servants and served as manpower and their workforce. They weren’t here because they wanted to, but because they were forced to be here. And, to go through. Many of them hoped for better lives in Eden. Freedom for their families.

Eleonora spoke with the spokespersons of the mages. Dorali and Claudine. She met with Druid Babenus while she packed, and later Boldal Firestorm. He was the Engineer chief of the dwarves in their camp. He would also happily join the expedition. Fist he wanted to stay, but when he saw the portal opening, he found his faith and asked to join Eleonora in Eden. She gladly accepted. She was happy to have his expertise added to build the portal on the other side.

Babenus looked at the portal. The massive creation, built of black and red stone. It was certainly impressive. There was chiming blue light in the middle. The Druid Council was worried Eden would not be as safe as Eleonora and her followers believed. It was why he was here. To keep them safe and get them all home if necessary. There had been a question of sending several druids, but Babenus was experienced enough to handle anything alone. He had convinced the Council of that.

He was dressed in purple robes and held his staff. He would be the first through the portal. His dark blue dreadlocks moved slightly in the as the wind picked up. His black pupil-less eyes studied the portal carefully.

“Great Druid,” a young Tropical elf greeted with an honored tone. She bowed her head respectfully.

Babenus nodded to her.

“Have we met child?” He asked, not remembering her.

“I am Yuala. Just a humble sorceress from the Southern Island Chain, great Druid,” she introduced herself.

She was dressed in short light green dress with dark green flames on. Her skin was light green and her hair long dark green and wavy. Her yellow eyes looked up at the taller Dragon elf.

“Are you walking across the portal with us?” He asked in his authority filled-but friendly-voice.

She nodded.

“Yes Druid. My younger brother is staying here until we return through the portal.”

He nodded understandingly and looked back to the portal.

“Do you have a lot of family here, child?”

“Just my little brother,” she replied with a smirk. “Little guy wanna be a warrior when he grows up. he’s fourteen now. Just started training with a sword for the first time.”

“I see.”

Those who would go through was gathering around the portal.

“The moment of truth,” Babenus muttered.

Yuala glanced at him. He didn’t sound as faithful as to what Eden was as the spiritual folk here.

Eleonora stood at the portal with Babenus and the Mage Dorali. Yuala and the mage Claudine stood behind them together with the rest of the one hundred and fifty expedition members. Florencia came up to join Eleonora. She had her square Elven steel shield and Elven Broadsword. She had four javelins on her back.

Eleonora was the first through the portal. She disappeared in blue shimmering light. Babenus was a second behind her. the rest started going through, carrying supplies with them.

9: Chapter 9 Exploration Part 1

4,000 years before the 1st Century

Unknown location

Eleonora appeared in blue light. Her happy and excited expression fated quickly. She stared at the sight before her. The sky was black as night. Not a single star was visible. No sun, no moon. Nothing. There was nothing to see in the sky. Just darkness. Terrible and frightening darkness. There was not a tree, bush or straw of grass in sight. Red rocky terrain. Red hills, boulders and red dirt and sand covered ground. Her eyes was wide with horror. She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand. How was this possible? This wasn’t Eden. It couldn’t be. She collapsed and fell to her knees.

She heard gasps and confused voices all around her. The expedition members were confused. Scared. Just like her.

“Eleonora!” She heard Florencia called out.

She grabbed her and helped her to stand up.

Eleonora looked at her.

“Where are we?” Florencia asked. She kept herself in control and gathered. Someone had to be.

Eleonora shook her head. She didn’t understand. “I-it was s-supposed to be paradise,” she stuttered.

“We will figure this out,” Florencia promised. She realized Eleonora was losing it.

Eleonora looked with frightened eyes at the Wood elf. She was gathered and in control. The High Priestess turned to look over her shoulder. Looking at the confused and scared people around them. Many looked at her. Hopefully waiting for answers.

“I-I c-can’t speak t-to-to them,” she stuttered.

“It’ll be alright,” Florencia promised. “But they need you. Right now.”

Eleonora swallowed hard.

“I-I-I..”

“The dwarves built it wrong!” A High elf cried out.

“Yeah!”

“Don’t ya blame us ya elf twat!” Boldal Firestorm snapped. He pointed fiercely at the elf in question with his slightly chubby finger. “We built it per instruction from the blasted scrolls! Maybe ya’self got the wrong scrolls!”

“Imperial dwarf filth!”

“Damn elves!”

“The mages activated it wrong! They must’ve gotten it wrong!”

“They sent us here on purpose!”

“We’re here too you nitwit elf!” An Arachnid mage defended his brethren. He sneered in his raspy voice.

“Who knows what you Arachnids do!” A dwarf yelled, raising a crossbow. “Ya so stupid ya got stuck here to!”

Dorali came to his fellow mages defense.

“This might be no one’s fault!” He said with a raised voice. “We cannot blame each other until we know what happened. It might be, that we actually came where we were supposed to.” He looked over at Eleonora and Florencia. “This…might be Eden.”

“How’s that possible?!” Someone shouted angrily.

Babenus walked into the middle of the argument.

“The scrolls are thousands of years old. Collected by scribes, scholars and mages long before us. Long before history was recorded,” he explained. “Perhaps this is Eden. But this part of the world is dead. It does not matter right now. We need to find a source of water, first of all. The water we brought can only sustain us for a few days.”

Everyone seemed to agree and follow him. Florencia was extremely happy that a Druid was with them. It was only a few people here that could keep the expedition from tearing each other apart out of fear and old hatreds. With Eleonora’s unstable condition they needed Druid Babenus to keep them calm and together.

“Get the High Priestess some water,” she told a dark elf servant.

The man nodded and hurried off to get it.

“We are going to send a few scouting parties out,” Babenus decided. “I need volunteers. We need at least one armed soldier with every scouting party.” He turned to a group of twenty dark elves. “You are all going. Four per group.” They didn’t look excited.

There was sixteen others who volunteered. They were spread out to lead the scouting parties with none-volunteer dark elves. Several other dark elves was forced to join the scouting parties.

“We need all supplies gathered in one place,” Babenus continued. “Engineer Chief. I would like you to start searching for sufficient supplies to construct a portal so we can return home.”

“Ya got it Druid,” Boldal confirmed. He began rounding up his dwarves and some dark elves. “Hey, dark skin, get over here!” He called to a few. “Nobody told ya ya could relax.”

A few hours went by as everyone set up tents and established a camp. Eleonora sat silently and contemplated the situation. Florencia left a pair of female dark elves to keep an eye on her while she joined a scouting party in search of water.

She was joined by the Tropic elf Sorceress Yuala, a dwarf with a heavy crossbow and four dark skinned servants.

They walked through the red dirty sand waste, over rocky hills and under the blackened sky. Through the red desert terrain. She could feel the worry amongst her fellow scouting comrades.

One of the dark elves bent over and let some red sand slip through her fingers. She stayed close to a male dark elf beside her. He held her hand tightly. The dwarf had a tight grip around the heavy crossbow. He was ready to shot at a moment’s notice.

“Can’t imagine anything living out here,” the dwarf stated.

“Sense we can breathe, there has to be fauna somewhere. A few trees,” Florencia pondered.

“Maybe cross the continent,” the dwarf replied. “This expedition was a terrible idea. I knew it. That Eleonora’s crazy.”

Florencia glared at him.

“No one foresaw this happening. It’s not her fault.”

The dwarf snorted.

“Typical elves. Always stickin’ togetha’.”

Yuala looked at both of them. She decided not to say anything.

“Typical dwarves,” Florencia countered. “Always racists.”

The dwarf glared at her.

“Watch it girlie or I shove this crossbow up ya ass,” he threatened.

“Not before I decapitate ya, with my Broadsword,” she replied with a threat of her own.

“Easy now, lady and lord,” a dark elf male tried.

“Shut up dark skin!” The dwarf snapped at him.

“Don’t yell at him!” Florencia demanded. “He’s my servant. You don’t get to threaten or yell at him or his girlfriend. Or any of my three servants.”

The dwarf snorted.

“Elf filth.”

Three of the dark elves with them belonged to Florencia, while the fourth was a random servant who was paired up with them.

They suddenly felt the ground quake.

“By Lord Highborn’s beard,” the dwarf exclaimed. “An earthquake!”

“It doesn’t feel like a real earthquake,” Yuala stated.

“I believe lady Yuala is right, mistress,” a female dark elf agreed.

She was quick to step closer to her wood elf mistress.

“Than what is it?!” The dwarf asked anxiously.

The quake stopped, but only for a moment. The dwarf breathed out.

“Thank Lady Nightingale,” he breathed.

“What was that?” Yuala asked.

The ground started shaking again.

“Damn it. It’s startin’ again!” The dwarf cried out.

The dark elf couple hugged each other.

“Stay close,” the man whispered to his love.

She leaned her head against his cheek and held him even tighter.

What happened next happened in a second flat.

A massive beast appeared from the red sand. It was a giant wormlike creature. The jaws was anywhere between ten and fifteen meters in diameter. Countless rows of teeth filled the inside of its jaws. When it appeared from under the sand, it swallowed the couple up hole. Their screams of horror and agony was quick to dissipate as they were certainly chowed and swallowed in moments, even seconds.

The dwarf, Florencia, Yuala and the other two dark elves threw themselves to the sandy ground in panic.

Florencia was quick to get to her feet.

The dwarf immediately screamed and regretted having chosen his heavy red chainmail armor. He gripped his crossbow tighter than ever and fired a bolt at the beast before it disappeared under the sand again.

“Oh god-oh god!” He cried out. He stood up. “Fuck! We gotta get out of here!”

The remaining male dark elf was gripped by panic and started running out across the sand.

“Get back here!” Florencia shouted after him. “Not that way!” He continued running. “Damn it.”

“Forget him!” The dwarf’s voice squealed. “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

He started running back the way they came. Yuala grabbed the last servants hand and pulled her back to her feet. Still holding her hand, she started running. As did Florencia. The could feel the quake again. it was moving around nearby.

Florencia heard the dark elf male screamed, and just as quickly stop. She stopped and turned about. She didn’t see him. The worm definitely took him.

“Mistress!” The female dark elf called with fear. “Mistress don’t stop!”

Florencia started running again.

“We have to reach high ground!” Yuala cried out as they ran. “Mountains or some rocky terrain!”

“It can’t get through rocks?!” The dwarf asked in panic.

“I don’t know but it makes sense!” He got in reply.

Not too calming for him.

A monstrous shriek filled the hair, sending chills down their backs. Behind them the red carapace covered giant worm leaped through the sand and towards them.

“Scatter!” Florencia screamed.

She ran left, the dwarf left, as did Yuala and the dark elf servant. The ground shook when the giant worms head missed them and disappeared under the sand. The worms body seemed unending. Yuala estimated it must have been at least over one hundred meters long.

The group didn’t stop running. They continued running in the same direction. The dwarf threw him helmet away. He breathed heavily. Clearly he was getting tired. Running in his heavy armor wasn’t easy. Florencia would agree. She was starting to get tired herself. Running in loose sand didn’t improve her condition. She was worried that if they didn’t stop soon, the dwarf would just collapse and get gobbled up by that giant red worm.

“Look, rocks!” Yuala saw. “Right ahead and left. Hurry!”

They saw six people appeared over the sandy dune head of them. Fifty meters of so. There were four dark elves, a wood elf mage and an Arachnid warrior.

Florencia waved at them.

“Run! To the rocky hill!”

They didn’t hear her. But they did ready their weapons, at least realizing something was chasing them. But they wouldn’t have a chance against the sand worm.

Florencia pointed at the rock hill.

“Run to the hill! Now!”

Before anyone knew it, a sand worm leaped out of the sand from the east and gobbled up the entire group in one fell swoop. To their horror, it was only half the size of the last one.

“Th-there’s two of them!” The dwarf exclaimed in horror.

“Just run to the rocks!” Florencia shouted. “Quickly everyone!”

“Quickly, quickly,” the dwarf muttered. “Dwarves aren’t supposed to run like this! We’re short range combatants!”

“You wanna stop?!” Yuala asked rhetorically. “Feel free to. Bye us a few seconds!”

“Oh haha! Funny elf! Never seen one of those before!”

“Never met a cute dwarf before!” Yuala shouted back. “But there’s always a first!”

“I’d blush if I wasn’t runnin’ for me freakin’ live! Trust me!”

The original worm came up from the sand right in front of the dwarf. He cried out and swung its head around before diving down again. the dwarf had stopped in his tracks.

“RUN!” Florencia screamed at him. “Run, Boren!”

It got him moving again. He threw his gauntlets away. Both of them. It was slightly less heavy without them.

Yuala was the first up on the mountainous hillside. The dark elf servant was next. With Florencia a few seconds later. They looked to Boren. He was approaching quickly, but they could see the sand moving swiftly behind him. In two places. Both worms was coming right behind him. The fifty meter ones jaws appeared, swallowing huge amounts of sand as it approached Boren.

“Come on, come on!” Florencia shouted. “You’re almost here!”

It was too late. He was twenty meters away and the worms jaws was five meters from him. A second away from swallowing him.

That was when the large worm appeared out from beneath the sand. Its massive jaws gripped the smaller worm and pulled it underneath the red sand. The smaller shrieked monstrously. Boren managed to reach the rocks and safety.

“By the fuckin’ goddess of love herself,” he breathed out. “This goddamn armor’s getting’ off.”

Florencia patted him on the back.

“Rest for a moment my friend.”

“What the fuck happened?” He asked. “I could see the beast behind me and then…nothin’.”

“The first worm decided it rather ate it then you. Luckily,” Yuala explained.

Florencia sat down against a rock.

“We have to warn the expedition. We have to tell them about those…worms.”

“Agreed,” Boren breathed. He looked towards a nearby cave in the middle of the rock formation, surrounded by sand. “Should we have a look in there?”

Florencia looked to the cave entrance.

“I suppose we should. No idea what might be inside.”

While Boren took his armor off completely, leaving him in brown leather, the others walked in to the cave to have a look. He drank from his water skin bottle before following them when he was finished. His crossbow ready to kill anything not to large in his path.

The cave was dark, only lit up because of Yuala’s staff.

Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was shaken up from the chase and his nerves was up in arms. He took a heavy breath to calm himself slightly. What the hell was this place? What kind of world were the on? What kind of dimension?

They started walking downward after only a short moment. When they heard a strange clicking noise. As if something walked against the cave ground. It wasn’t human or elf, or dwarf. That was certain. It sounded insect-like to Yuala.

They entered a huge underground chamber. They came into it from a ledge above. It was huge. Probably a few hundred meters across. Unfortunately it was incredibly dark so they didn’t see much. But they definitely heard a lot. There was something below them.

Florencia gestured for them to hide along the ledge. Yuala than shot down a boll of light to light up the chamber. To their horror they found a massive blob in the middle it was purple, brown and red. It was at least eight hundred meters in diameter. Sitting on the ground and stretching almost to the roof. They stared down at it. The chamber was clearly much bigger than they thought. Countless large ants crawled around it. Several crawled their way into the blob, while others crawled out of it. There were at least three tunnels on the ground and there were lines of ants leaving and entering through them.

Those ants were one meters long with red and black carapace and scary mandibles. Countless of them stopped and stared at the boll of light. Almost fifty of them charged at it, in an instinctual attempt to defend the blob. Was it their ant hive? Florencia asked herself.

“We need to get the fuck out of here,” Boren whispered firmly.

“Agreed,” Florencia replied.

Yuala raised her staff and lit up the chambers right wall. She saw half a dozen of those ants climbing up. They certainly had seen them.

“Crap, move!” Yuala warned.

They got up and moved for the exit. Boren fired a bolt which burrowed into the skull of an ant. It fell off the wall and towards the ground below. As he turned around he started reloading and running.

Yuala fired a wave of fired and burnt the rest. They fell down after the first.

The could hear how hundreds-at least-charged towards their tunnel. They had to get out of here and take their chances with the worm in the red sand.

As she ran, Yuala fired off a blaze of lightning. By the sounds of it, she zapped a bunch of them. Boren turned around and fired a bolt into the mandibles of an ant. He then started running and reloaded a new bolt.

“Boren, don’t fall behind!” Florencia shouted to him.

The head-tailed wood elf momentarily stopped to see where Boren was. He was three meters behind them, but those creatures was approaching fast.

“What the fuck kinda world is this shit?!” Boren shouted. “This is seriously fucked up!”

The elven servant was first out. Her grey eyes looked around and couldn’t see anything dangerous. Yuala was right behind her.

The dark elf screamed when an ant jumped her. Yuala blasted it in midair. The carapace cracked and it was torn in two. Florencia drew her broadsword and readied her shield when she came out. Boren was a short distance behind her. She could see dozens of ants approaching from the outside.

“W-where’d they come from?!” Boren exclaimed.

“Remember those tunnels in the main chamber?” Yuala reminded. “They must have led out somewhere. They probably use those to scavenge for food.”

“Forget that and just run,” Florencia motioned.

Yuala created a wall of ice between them and the bugs. Specifically she froze the entrance. It would take some time for them to cut their way through it. She then joined the others in running.

“Gotta get back to camp!” Boren shouted.

“Think any other scout parties have made it back?” Yuala asked.

“If they ran into the same wildlife we have-” Florencia started. “-not many!”

Boren fired a crossbow bolt into an approaching bug. He felt his legs trembling. He was exhausted. He hadn’t recovered completely from before either. He couldn’t keep this up.

“Fuck,” he cursed. He stopped and turned around. “Run!”

“Boren?!” Yuala cried for him. “What are you doing?!”

“I’m delaying ‘em. Just go!” He replied. “Go!”

He fired a bolt, killing another bug. Managing to reload and fired a second before they got to close. Boren then threw the crossbow at them and drew both of his steel axes. He held his posture and waited. Three. Two. One seconds away. He crushed a bugs mandibles and decapitated another. He kicked one away and blocked a pair of hungry jaws with his left axe. With his right he then jabbed it through the carapace and into a bugs head.

The others kept running. Trying to get back. The bugs was surrounding him. He kicked one away and drew his axes down on the heads of two others. He felt mandibles ripping through the back of his leather armor. another pair of mandibles tore apart his sides armor. he jabbed an axe into the bugs cranium. It collapsed on the spot. He felt three mandibles ripping into him. he held the pain in. two of them came down right on top of him, with a dozen more ripping into him as he fell to the ground. He then led out an echoing cry of pain and fear.

The other three just kept running. They kept running until they came over a hill and saw their basecamp.