“You wanted my power, I’ll give you my power!” The heads of the elven warriors exploded one after the other in a gruesome crescendo.
Fountains of blood gushed from their necks that grew even taller when their bodies crumpled like trash squeezed by a compactor. The broken bones snapped and crunched, turning living beings into meat sacks in a few excruciating seconds.
Morok had to stop fighting and started puking.
‘How can that be chore Spirit Magic?’ He could see with Life Vision countless tendrils infused with light magic that transferred every drop of stolen blood and life force to the flaming blade.
“You were willing to take our lives so we are taking yours in compensation!” Solus shrieked in fury, trying her best to replicate what she had seen her Soul Projection doing and mixing it with Creation Magic.
As Lith understood what she was doing, the Void Demon Dragon and the golden-scaled creature that still floated above their heads approached each other until they overlapped.
The thing that emerged from their union looked more than human yet less at the same time. The black overshadowed the gold and the four sets of wings were all bursting with blue flames.
‘Leave that to us.’ The fused Soul Projection grabbed War’s hilt, using the collected elven blood plus that of the fusion between Lith and Solus to open new mana channels inside the shattered blade.
It exploited the ruined state of the blade to temporarily disconnect some Adamant pieces and soften them with controlled bursts of Origin Flames so that once they bathed in the blue flames again, they opposed no resistance to the new mana flow.
‘This is the best we can do. We have bought as much time as we can. Anything else is beyond us.’
The Eyes of Menadion couldn’t perceive the spells used by a Soul Projection but they could study its effects on the Adamant.
Usually, Lith and Solus would have loved to collect priceless data but in that moment they couldn’t care less. The violent explosions of the spells employed and the amount of mana released during the conflict had alerted the inhabitants of the Fringe.
Dewan from the werepeople’s village and elves from Setraliie had rushed to check on the source of the anomaly, discovering an appalling answer.
The area of the clearing was in ruin due to the cave-in caused by M’Rael’s troops. Dozens of elven corpses littered the place and the only people alive belonged to a group of human and Emperor Beasts soaked in blood.
The High Chancellor was still alive and screaming in agony as his whole body was set ablaze in blue flames that erupted from his orifices and stumps.
Le’Ahy was among the border guards who had sounded the alarm first and was now staring at the familiar yet alien figure of the fusion.
Dewan and elves wanted to make the invader pay in blood, but the aura of the Lesser Dragons was terrifying. The aura of the other thing, however, sent horror freezing their veins.
The two species were enemies in every day’s life but they charged together against a common enemy.
Until the creature had turned around, fixing its gaze upon them. The Tiamat Fear struck them down like a bolt of lightning, turning the charge into a chaotic tumble where the people in the back tripped on those in the front.
The eyes of the creature studied the newcomers, trying to understand the part they had played in the ambush. Soon Lith caught Le’Ahy’s familiar scent and singled her out amid the mob.
“Did you know?” The upper maw spoke alone, making his voice recognizable.
“Lord Qisal?” She muttered in disbelief.
“Did you know they were coming to kill us? Did you sell us to your High Chancellor?” Both mouths roared, sending a shockwave that made elves and Dewan bleed from their eyes and ears.
Even Morok, Friya, and Nalrond weren’t immune to it.
Anyone without at least the violet core found themselves kneeling and puking from the shock. The raw and unbridled killing intent that the hybrid’s voice carried was further aggravated by the Tiamat Fear, bringing its victims on the verge of insanity.
“No, I swear upon my blood that I didn’t.” Le’Ahy said in between sobs, able to speak only because the pressure was lower on her. “My only wish is to serve. Everything I’ve done was to help your cause.
“Please, believe me!” She yelped in fear as a tendril of Spirit Magic picked her up from the ground and brought her centimeters away from the hybrid.
They sniffed her and listened to her heartbeat, finding fear but no ill-will. Le’Ahy was telling the truth or at least what she firmly believed to be the truth. If she had helped M’Rael in any way, he had to have manipulated her without her even noticing.
It was enough for Lith, but not for Solus who squeezed the elf harder.
‘She has everything. Beauty, magical power, talent, and freedom. Yet all she does is whine like a fucking child!’ Lith’s hate mixed with her trauma, making Solus seek any way to vent her anger.
She hated M’Rael. M’Rael was an elf and so was Le’Ahy. Along with Solus’ suspicions about how the High Chancellor had located the site of the ritual, that was enough for her to warrant rightful vengeance.
‘She’s telling the truth.’ Lith stopped Solus’ hand before the hold became lethal.
‘He’s right.’ The World Tree intervened. ‘I’m the one who sold you out. I taught M’Rael the locator spell that allowed him to find you from your amulet’s signal. Yet I did it only because he tortured me to do it.
‘I know it doesn’t make things any better for you, Elphyn, but if you have to take it out on someone, take it on me. This mess is all my fault.’
Solus froze in place, tormented by fury and compassion in equal measure. She wanted to burn the Yggdrasill to ashes for what they had done but at the same time, she knew their pain.
She too had been enslaved by M’Rael and forced to do his bidding. Blaming the Tree was like blaming herself for hurting Lith and her friends. She never wanted to do that. She had fought the command with every fiber of her being yet she had obeyed anyway.
The Tree had just done the same thing.
“Fine!” Solus let go of Le’Ahy, throwing her away like a dirty rag. “We have stuff to do so we’ll leave you in charge.”
A wave of her hand undid the Body Sculpting spell that twisted the Yggdrasill life force and allowed them to reconnect with the Sage Crown, recovering the connection with their main body and its power.
“If anything happens to them while we are away, I’ll take on your offer and burn you and your stupid Fringe to the ground.” Solus said while the World Tree recovered Eldun, their Chronicler, with a Warp and cured him.
“Guys, we are going to visit Grandma.” The Hybrid said with the rumbling voice of twin gods of thunder. “She’s the only one who might be able to save War. We’ll be back soon.”
