Peter and the Kuroneko
Author: T.J. Dixon
Date: 2014-07-11 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Magic; Elves; Gods; Young Adult; Epic Fantasy; Demons; Harem
Description: Please note that this is the THIRD book in the War of Contractia. Peter must defeat the most devious of foes to protect his friends, but he cannot do so alone. He will need to rely on a small group of comrades and on the advice of an ally with far more experience than he has. His own talent and power will however still prove vital. Yu Kii, the former miko (shrine maiden) of the Kuroneko has adjusted to her life in Contractia, but those she left behind must continue their duties. Meanwhile Yu Kii and her classmates will go much further afield than just the academy. As she does so you will learn

Peter and the Kuroneko Book 3 of The War of Contractia By T.J. Dixon (part of The Chronicles of Contractia)

Author’s Foreword

Please note that all people, places and events in this story are purely fictional.  Any resemblance to any real person, place or event (or anything else) is purely co-incidence.  This is the third book in The War of Contractia, which is the first series in The Chronicles of Contractia.

Peter must defeat the most devious of foes to protect his friends, but he cannot do so alone.  He will need to rely on a small group of comrades and on the advice of an ally with far more experience than he has.  His own talent and power will however still prove vital.

Yu Kii, the former miko (shrine maiden) of the Kuroneko has adjusted to her life in Contractia, but those she left behind must continue their duties.  Meanwhile Yu Kii and her classmates will go much further afield than just the academy.  As she does so you will learn more about both Yu Kii and Contractia itself.

Prologue (Peter)

This is the last village.  We have already been to all the other villages in the Hoshi land.  The villagers greet Hinata, but look at the rest of us fearfully.  It is a greeting we have become accustomed to.  It takes a while to find the right spot but eventually Dairon does find it.

Then Dairon begins to sing.  It is a different song in each village but without exception they are all beautiful songs.  I just stand there listening and watching.  There is nothing I can do to help.  As the song continues the ground softens and grass sprouts under our feet and all around us.  I am sad when the song finishes but Dairon has again done his job, and a fine job he has done.  This once desolate land is now clearly fertile and I have no doubt that it will support a good crop.

“So now the real job begins.”  Lucy reminds me.

“I know, but I couldn’t just leave without sorting this out first.”  I tell her.

“Healing that girl’s mother and healing the land of the Hoshi has taken a good six days.  I hope we still have time to complete our mission.”  Lucy says with a sigh.

“We’ll port directly to the Black Isle and from there to Portalis, once we have what we need from the Black Forest.”  I assure her.

“Well don’t just stand there then.”  Lucy says and lands on my shoulder.

“Take my hand.”  I tell Dairon and Hinata who both reach out and touch my only hand.  Then I port us and we are back at the town gates of Black Isle.  There are lit torches whose flames cast a flickering light upon our surroundings.  It feels really spooky and is of course almost deserted.  Other than the town guard, Black Isle was evacuated around the same time I lost my left arm.

“Hinata, this is your last chance to change your mind.”  I tell her.

“I’m not changing my mind.  No matter how dangerous it is, I’m going with you.  I won’t rest until that man is dead.”  Hinata tells me with the same sad determination and simmering fury as always.

“Then the hunt begins.”  I say grimly and lead the way through the gates and into the Black Forest.

Black Forest is named that because of the trees’ black wood, but recently the name has taken on a new meaning.  It is the middle of the day but it is pitch black.  Sure the trees always provided shade, but this isn’t the natural shade of the trees.  This is a darkness brought about by magic.  It isn’t elemental magic and neither is it dimensional magic.  This is life magic, also known as soul magic and death magic.

Hinata holds out a small stone and pours earth magic into it.  It glows with a gentle purple light that reveals our surroundings.  The trees around us are obviously dying as their souls are slowly drained by the life magic.  We pass countless rotting corpses of both animals and birds.   The smell is sickening but Dairon is clearly worst affected.

“That way.”  Dairon says with a grimace as he points at our new route.  We follow his direction without speaking.  Speaking means breathing in more than we need to, so unnecessary words remain unspoken.  The further we walk the worse the smell becomes.  It takes an hour or so, but it seems like days.

The sight before us makes the walk seem quite pleasant.  So this is what a slave farm looks like.  Well, at least what it looks like after everyone in it has been slaughtered.  It is beyond description and I am very close to vomiting.  I am clearly not the only one either.  It seems like Dairon only just manages to keep the contents of his stomach inside him.

After my initial horror and disgust I notice something that confuses me.  Most of the slave corpses are black.  Is it just an effect of the enchantment?  It must be, because black people are really rare in Contractia.  At the back of my mind though, I wonder whether this is why they are rare.  Are they not really all that rare, but instead living as slaves?

“I’m sorry, but you need to sing, or coming here will be pointless.”  I tell Dairon.

“I know.”  Dairon says and closes his eyes.  Then he begins to sing the Song of Release.  As he does so I can see the souls of the dead rise into the air.  It is indescribable for the opposite reason to before.  I can tell just by looking that they are grateful and relieved to finally be released from their hellish prison.  As the magic fades the slaves’ skin turns to white, which further confuses me, but now is not the time to be distracted.

The song finishes and the magic is undone.  Light returns, and the forest is released from the evil enchantment.  It will not be long before the one that cast this magic returns and tries to slay us.  Retreat will be impossible.  It is victory or death.

Victory through brute force is impossible but I have no doubts.  It will be victory.  All I need to do is draw the enemy’s attention.  The job of actually defeating it is Dairon’s.  Unless the battle goes badly there will be nothing for Lucy or Hinata to do.

It isn’t long before the demon appears.  It is perhaps thirty foot tall and twenty foot wide.  It has leathery yellow and green skin, but from that skin blue flames burn.  Its eyes are burning red in the centre and surrounded by darkness that is far darker than simple black.  That darkness reminds me of dimensional magic and makes me shiver.

I jump into the air and attack with wind slices.  They have to be fairly powerful, or it wouldn’t even notice them thanks to its natural magical shielding.  There is no chance of actually harming this demon with wind slices though. I have to maintain a delicate balance of using enough power to draw the demon to me whilst avoiding running out of power.  As the demon’s flames strike at me I of course have to focus on dodging too.

It takes about ten minutes for Dairon to finish his song and I am so busy I don’t even notice it until it finishes.  Thankfully neither does the demon.  Not until Dairon launches his attack that is.  Dairon’s powers are focused by the song and using every drop of power within him this is our one and only chance at victory.

Dairon has used a water based attack, but it is not simply water.  Dairon has infused water with the power of life.  Demons use the power of death to live.  This attack uses their natural weakness, but to infuse water with the power of life is no simple task.  Most importantly it uses part of the mage’s soul as well as their magical power.  Even though it is only a very small piece of Dairon’s soul, unlike using magic which naturally replenishes, it is a permanent price to pay.

In a healthy forest it may have been possible to use a small part of the forest’s soul.  This forest is far from healthy though and using its soul would kill it for good.  Even with time it may not recover from the attack it has already sustained, but we still don’t want to kill it ourselves.  Also if we kill it to defeat our first enemy, how would we kill the rest of the demons?

“I’m sorry Dairon, but we have three more to kill.  Are you going to be alright?”  I ask.

“Yes, but I will need to recover my power before we hunt the next enemy.”  Dairon says gasping for breath.

Chapter 1 (Multiple)

(Yu Kii)

We meet at the training grounds like usual.  Most of the group don’t notice our unseen guards, but they can’t elude my senses.  I know why they are there of course.  They don’t follow us everywhere so I have privacy when I need it most, but they are never far away.  How much they’ll be able to help if David attacks again I don’t know, but I guess if nothing else they can let the Queen know.  Lilian and Asuna must also be able to sense our guards, but I don’t think that Helski can.

Lilian teaches us both just like normal, whilst Asuna watches.  Then we change elements and Rin helps us with water magic, along with Sherry, Mirai and Tabi.  It is a very normal training session, but our training has helped us all improve so much more than lessons alone could have achieved.

As the training ends Rin calls out to everyone.  “If I call your name out please remain behind.  Wind element; Cherry, Felicity, Galico, Midori, Mirai and Tabi.  Fire element; Jenny, Sherry, Rose and Marian.  Earth element; Lilian, Yu Kii, Helski and Hermes.  Water element; Lily, Asuna, Charlotte, Clara, Yusa.  Everyone else please meet here again the day after tomorrow straight after lessons.”

I assume we must have been chosen for tomorrow’s bounty hunts, but it would have been easier to call out everyone who is not on the hunt!  I assume Rin must be planning on splitting us up into three or four groups, but there’s no way she’s going to split us into groups of the same element.  I wonder who I will be working with and why she called us by element.

“Everyone I called out will be going on tomorrow’s hunt.  Does anyone have a problem with that?”  Rin asks quite bluntly.  She waits a moment but nobody complains.  “Good.  We’re going to be working in one group.  We will be hunting drakes.”  Rin says and for a moment there is a stunned silence.

“Drakes?!”  Clara protests.

“Yes, drakes.  My mother needs some drake skin and blood.  There also happens to be a bounty for drake heads at the Drake.  It seems the owner wants some decorations for the place.  I have to question her taste, but she is willing to pay ten gold per head for up to twenty heads.  In other words, each of us can earn ten gold if we can kill twenty drakes.”

“That’s a lot of money.”  Yusa says looking very bright eyed.

“That’s a lot of drakes!”  Clara says sounding dismayed.

“Are you too scared to go on the hunt?”  Rin asks sounding annoyed.  Now everyone is looking at Clara.

“No!”  Clara protests.

“Everyone meet here tomorrow an hour after dawn.”  Rin says and then ports away.  Everyone is very quiet for a moment and then they start to port away too.  I port back to our room and of course find Rin there already.

“Are drakes that dangerous?”  I ask.

“You wouldn’t want to fight one on one, but with twenty of us it should be easy.”  Rin says with a shrug.

“So where do we find twenty drakes?”  I ask.

“Drake Mountain of course.  We fought one of those giant bugs there.  The ones that had attacked Utopia Camerona.  It’s the best place to hunt drakes.”  Rin tells me.

“I remember that mountain.”  I say with a nod.

“Anyway don’t worry.  Lilian will be leading the earth users tomorrow so all you will need to do is focus on your own magic.  Just get some sleep so your power levels are back to full.”  Rin says.  I feel relieved and take her advice about sleep.

Morning comes and as usual Rin wakes me.  Since I started living indoors I have rarely been able to wake on my own before Rin.  Back at the Kuroneko Mountains I lived outside just like I did when I first arrived here.  Of course I didn’t have anything as luxurious as the tent that the academy gave me.  I used to sleep in the icy temple courtyard on the hard stones.  At least the stones were flat, but that was the only good thing about that courtyard.

Now though I can’t imagine going back to living like that again.  I am used to my soft bed and the warmth of our room.  I am used to Rin waking me like this instead of having icy water poured over me if I don’t wake before dawn.

I take my time washing and dressing.  Then we have a leisurely breakfast and return to the room for a while.  If it had been Peter leading the hunt we’d have had to meet at or just after dawn.  An hour after dawn feels so much more comfortable.  I feel guilty for thinking like this though, because I know just how worried Rin is about Peter.  I am worried too of course, but it isn’t the same.

We meet under the trees and everyone gets there about the same time.  With so many of us I had thought somebody would be late.  Perhaps everyone was too worried about keeping so many of us waiting, or maybe they were just scared of what Rin would do to them if they were late!

Rin has quite the reputation, but she is never cruel for the sake of it.  Sure she has a temper, but it is only because she cares so much about everything.  People who don’t care don’t get angry.  Rin also puts up an icy front as a facade, because she is too embarrassed to show when she cares.  Around close friends that front fades, but even then it is rarely completely gone.

Rin whistles for attention, because everyone is busy talking in their excitement at the thought of fighting drakes.  When everyone is listening she starts to speak.  “Lilian will lead the earth users.  Jenny the flame users.  Cherry wind and Lily water.  I will lead overall.  The plan is to kill the drakes inside their caves.  If they leave the cave we may need to chase them into the air or let them escape.

“Believe me when I say that fighting a drake in the air would be suicide, but if we let them escape they will attack us again when they feel the time is right.  Most likely when we attack the next drake.  That would of course also be bad.  So if a drake escapes into the air I will give the signal and we will all port back here.

“The wind users will drain the cave of air to weaken the drake’s flames.  Then the water users will seal the cave with ice.  The earth users will then collapse the cave onto the drake and attack the drake until it is dead.  The fire users will help guide the earth users’ attacks using their fire sense.  Each earth user will pair up with a fire user.  If a drake leaves the cave, the fire users will protect us against the drake’s flames.  Does anyone have any questions?  …  No, then element leaders choose someone to port your team.  Water element will port last.  If any element doesn’t have someone who has been to Drake Mountain then let me know.”

It seems everyone in the earth element has been to Drake Mountain before so Lilian gets Hermes to port us.  I am glad she didn’t ask me to, because no matter how many times I port it still feels unnatural.  Even the other elements still feel a bit unnatural, but thankfully it sounds like I will only be using earth magic today.  That is as natural to me as walking or talking.  I can’t sense our unseen guards here so I assume they think we’re safe with twenty mages.

I pair up with Sherry.  I am grateful, because I know Sherry a lot better than Rose or Marian, and almost as well as Jenny.  As we approach a cave Sherry guides my senses, which helps me target the drake inside.  I could target it with my earth sense, but a drake is much more aligned to the fire element.  I am confident I would still have hit it, but I can understand why Rin suggested we work like this.

I can not only feel, but also see the wind as the air is quickly drained from the cave.  Then an ice wall is up and it is my turn.  Between us we quickly collapse the cave but something so minor is only a nuisance to the drake.  I strike the drake repeatedly with a hundred stone spikes from above.  I can feel Lilian’s attacks from below.  Hermes and Helski attack from each side but their attacks are weaker.

The drake is angry and hurt, but our attacks are too weak to really injure the drake.  It presses forward, burrowing through the collapsed cave and ignoring our attacks.  Soon it reaches the ice wall.  The drake breathes fire, but without air its flames are too weak to penetrate the ice wall.  Once it is clear the wall is holding some of the water mages strike the drake with ice attacks.

After a few minutes of relentless attacks the drake collapses and then after a minute it is dead.  It takes another minute to sever its head.  Only now it is dead do I get a chance to really look at it properly.  It has very, very thick red scaly metallic armour.  No wonder it took so much effort to kill it.  It has wings formed of flowing red metal.  Now it is dead though, the metal is quickly flowing into the ground.  It must have maintained them with magic.

We repeat the same tactic and after an hour or so we have a nice pile of drake heads.  Unfortunately we are getting low on power and we only have ten drake heads.  I am relieved when Rin calls out, “We’ll hand these heads in and take the bodies to my home.  We’ll do the other half of the bounty next week.  We should have five gold each from today’s job though, so not bad going for an hour’s work.”

“Are we doing the other ten next week?”  Yusa asks eagerly.

“As long as the bounty is still available.”  Rin answers with a grin.  We all port back whilst Rin and Jenny sort out the bounty and the bodies.  Hermes ports our element group again to my relief.  A few minutes later Rin hands us five gold each.  As she said, it really isn’t bad pay for such a short job.  In fact it would still be really good pay even if the job had taken all day.  “The rest of the day is yours, but don’t forget to meet up here after lessons tomorrow like normal.”

Rin walks towards me as everyone else says goodbye to each other.  They start to port away as Rin reaches me, but I bow to Rin in apology.  “I’m sorry, but I have something to take care of.  Is that ok?”

“Of course.”  Rin says hiding her disappointment well, but I can tell from the way she fiddles with the fingers of her left hand.

“I’m sorry!”  I say and bow again.

“Don’t be silly.”  Rin says with a kind smile.  “So what do you need to take care of?”

“I’m sorry!”  I say bowing again.

“You can’t say?  Well, never mind.  When do you think you’ll be back?”

“I should be back before it gets dark, or just after.”  I tell her and Rin frowns.

“Do you need any help?”  Rin asks.

“No, I’m sorry, but I need to be alone.”  I tell her.

“Ok, well, I’ll see you tonight then.  Good luck.”  Rin says.

“Thank you.  Please have a good day.”

“Thanks and I hope everything goes ok with whatever you need to do.  Bye, see you later.”  Rin says.

“Good bye.”  I say politely and port away.

I am in a private glade in the forest.  It is very well connected to the spirit of the forest.  He is sick from the stain of the Death Bird, but he still has the strength to help me if I am able to convince him.  So far my attempts have been met with failure, but I will not give up.

I remove my clothes and then summon spiritual clothing.  They look like my old miko clothes from my time as a shrine maiden.  The people here use the word priestess instead of miko or shrine maiden, but it isn’t exactly the same.  A miko is more like an offering to the gods and a priestess is the one who performs the ritual to offer the miko to them.

The closest concept in Contractia is a ritual that the new queen abandoned, where a teenage son was sacrificed to the queen as a sign of loyalty.  Even this is very different though, because it is the soul of a miko not her body that is considered important.  Of course both belong to the god, but the body is just a vessel that holds the soul, whereas with the Contractian ritual it was only the body that was considered important.

My spirit clothes only appear the same as my old clothes because that is what I am most comfortable with.  The spirit of the forest like the Kuroneko has no interest in my body.  All that concerns him is my soul.  The spirit clothes draw my soul out into my whole body, instead of keeping it concentrated in my head and womb like normal.  This allows my dance to interest even a god or nature spirit.

So I begin to dance.  It is a dance I have never shown another mortal.  I feel sorry for Rin but the dance I showed her was just my practise dance.  If I showed her the real dance it would lose its power.  For a mortal watcher though, there is little difference between a practise dance and the real thing.

As always the spirit of the forest is unmoved by my dance.  Whether my soul isn’t pure enough, or whether my dancing lacks elegance I don’t know.  He is the only one who can help me talk to my brother though, so I dance and dance until the sun sets.  I then dance some more but finally give up for today.  Tears fall down my cheeks but I quickly wipe them away.

I return to our room and pretend that nothing is wrong.  Rin asks how my day was and I tell her it was fine, but I am not sure whether Rin is fooled.  She doesn’t say anything about it though, for which I am grateful.  We wish each other goodnight and I fall asleep almost the moment my head hits the pillow.

The morning begins like any other morning, with Rin waking me.  Rin ports us to 2A like normal.  Hermes, Asuna and Emma arrive just after us.  It feels strange to be in the top class.  The other class members are very, very cautious towards us.  They aren’t openly rude but they feel hostile.  It isn’t just us that they are hostile towards, but each other as well.  A few seem to get on with the girl they happen to be sitting next to, but most pass each day in silence.

The teacher, Professor Schwarz, is effective but nobody ever asks her a question.  Like a typical Contractian she has short blond hair, blue eyes and pale skin.  She is thin but about seven foot tall.  She always wears plain white mage robes with a black hood, though the hood is always down.

Perhaps the other students don’t want to be seen to need to ask anything.  Perhaps they are just so smart that they don’t need to ask any questions.  To be honest I feel out of my depth in 2A.  We got here because of the royal tournament and I transferred in to the academy part way through last year, so there is no doubt that my theory knowledge is well below that of the rest of the class.  Even Rin and Emma occasionally struggle on the theory, and Hermes is about the same as me.  Asuna is the only one who seems to understand all the theories without any trouble.

Like normal the theory lesson passes in an oppressive silence.  We talk more each day at lunch to make up for the silence in lessons.   We avoid mentioning anything related to Peter or David, but talk about anything else we can think of.  After eating we hang around outside.  It is cold but it is a more comfortable cold than the classroom, and Hermes warms us up with a small flame.

The afternoon lesson like always is practical.  Today the focus is on earth so I am lucky.  With the other elements I have a very hard time completing the tasks Professor Schwarz sets us.  Today all I have to do is summon marble and create a statue of myself from it.  To my surprise even Hermes and a few of the students originally from this class struggle.  Emma’s statue looks nothing like her and Rin isn’t even able to summon the marble.

Professor Schwarz assesses our statues at the end of the lesson.  She frowns at my statue for a minute before nodding but she just shakes her head in wry amusement at Emma and Rin’s attempts.  She frowns at Hermes’ statue for a few moments before shaking her head.

“The outside is fine, but the inside is weak.  You need to distribute the power more evenly in the summoning and moulding processes.”  Professor Schwarz says.  Then she looks at Asuna’s and smiles.  “Finally a statue that is worth looking at.  I doubt I could do better myself.”

“Thank you.”  Asuna says with a small smile.

Training goes fine but is uneventful.  The next morning passes just as slowly as always, but it is dimensional practical this afternoon.  As lunch passes I dread the afternoon lesson.  I pray that it will be an easy lesson today, but of course my prayers are received just as my dance was.  That is to say that they are ignored and the lesson is as challenging as I feared.

We are expected to port twenty times in ten seconds to precise locations.  Most of the lesson is just practise but at the end we are tested.  The other students go first.  Only one student fails it and they only just fail.  Then it is Rin’s turn and she manages it, but only just.  Hermes passes it slightly better than Rin.  Asuna manages it without too much trouble.  Then it is my turn.  Everyone, other than my friends, laughs at my failed attempt.  Most of them try to hide their laughter but a few are much more blatant.

“Two ports in ten seconds and both were off target…”  Professor Schwarz says with a sigh.  “In 2A it is not sufficient to be good at just one element.  You may get away with one weak element, but not dimensional magic.  Stay behind after lesson for further practise.  Emma, you’re next, and last.”

“Ok.”  Emma says sounding really nervous.  She wasn’t much better than me during practise so I am not surprised when she only manages three ports.

“At least they were on target, but three in ten seconds is simply not good enough.  Stay behind too.”

“When would you ever port that many times in ten seconds?”  Emma asks with a glare.

“No talking back.”  Professor Schwarz says glaring back.  “Everyone else leave.”

“I hope to see you both at training.”  Rin says.

“They’re both going to be here all night, so you’ll see them in the morning.  Now get out of here.”  Professor Schwarz tells Rin with an angry scowl.  All night!?

“Sorry!”  Rin apologises to us and then ports away.  Now it is just Professor Schwarz and the two of us.

“You both got here because of the tournament.  It was an interesting fight, but neither of you even fought in the last match.  I understand why you didn’t, and that was what made it interesting.  I have serious doubts though, whether either of you would ever have been promoted to 2A on your own talent.”  Professor Schwarz tells us both.  I can’t disagree and Emma remains silent with her head hung low.  “Well, as long as you understand.  As a matter of pride though, I can’t allow you both to remain incompetent mages.”

She teaches us through the night, but in fairness to her, she is working just as hard as we are.  I am completely magically and physically drained by the time the morning lesson starts.  I am also very unfresh, but the teacher doesn’t give me a chance to return to my room to freshen up.  I am glad I am sitting next to Emma though, because she is in the same position as me.  Rin is thankfully polite enough not to comment but she must notice.

I have a hard time focusing on the theory lesson but I wash and have a short nap at lunchtime with some help from a potion Rin gives me.  It improves the effectiveness of sleep.  She gives one to Emma too.

The afternoon lesson is water magic but I am wide awake now.  It has never been my strength but I am at least better than at dimensional magic.  It is similar to the earth lesson in that we need to summon water and form a body of water that looks like us.  We aren’t allowed to freeze it though.  Rin and Asuna both manage it in less than a minute without any problem.  Emma takes longer but manages it too.  Hermes and I both have a hard time, but we manage to form the water into a vague human like shape.  Professor Schwarz just sighs as she sees ours but seems impressed by Rin and Asuna’s.

Rin tells me and Emma to rest instead of doing the training for today.  The effects of our nap seem to be wearing off so we are both grateful.  The next day theory is slow as always but this time it is followed by fire practical.  Again it isn’t my strength but I manage somehow to make a human form that vaguely resembles me.  I wonder what wind magic will be though.  I don’t imagine we will be making a human form out of wind.

To my surprise we skip wind and the next lesson is earth magic again.  This time we need not only to create a human form but to control it like a golem.  It is harder for everyone else but I am relieved.  The teacher isn’t very impressed by Asuna’s attempt or any of the other students, but when she sees mine she gasps.

“This is perfect.  I’ve never seen such control over a temporary earth body.  A golem is totally different because an enchantment controls it, but to control a temporary body requires an entirely different level of skill.  You could still improve the body itself by spreading the power a little slower at the point of creation.  Even so though, very well done Yu Kii.”  Professor Schwarz says.  A few of the other students mutter quietly and none of them look very happy.

Training goes fine and the next day’s theory lesson goes a bit quicker than usual.  The afternoon is wind practical and as I had suspected it is totally different to the other elemental lessons this week.  I guess that is why we did earth again yesterday.  It is a flight lesson, but it is group flight magic.  Having worked with Peter we all manage it without any problem, although none of us especially excel at wind magic.  Emma is by far the best in our group.

Finally it is our next day off.  The drake hunt earns us another five gold.  I don’t ask Rin why her mother needs the drake bodies, but she has twenty now.  Rin seems a bit put off when I tell her again that I have something to do.  She accepts it, but since Elucia left under David’s control she seems less accepting that I’m not spending time with her.  I had probably best spend my next day off with Rin before she gets too suspicious, but for today I will dance for the Spirit of the Forest again.

I return to the same glade.  I take my clothes off and summon the spirit clothes.  Again I dance my sacred dance.  My spirit clothes protect my dignity as I dance, but they offer little protection from this cold weather.  As the day passes it seems to get even colder than usual.  I am used to the cold, though I have never liked it.  This seems worse even than back at the temple.

Suddenly I realise that this cold is the Spirit of the Forest.  It seems that I have his attention.  He remains silent and I dare not speak first, but if he is watching so closely then there is hope.  I doubt he will speak to me today, but perhaps next time or the time after he may do so.  My dance gains energy as I am filled with hope.

(Ara Kii)

I watch Haru Kii, the new miko, dance in the shadow of the temple.  The temple is carved from the mountain’s grey stone and layers of red and white stone have been added.  It makes for an impressive backdrop to her dance, even though the dance itself is less than impressive.  She is still clumsy and inexperienced.  If she danced like this in front of the Kuroneko she would certainly be killed.

It has been months since she became my sister.  Our bodies are unrelated and this is obvious to even a casual onlooker, because my skin and hair are black and her skin is the same pale golden colour as Yu Kii.  She also has the same white hair as Yu Kii.  In fact her body is related to Yu Kii who is her elder sister in both body and soul.

“Haru Kii, are you even trying?”  I ask with a sigh as her limbs end up in a tangled mess around her on the stony ground.

“Of course I am trying!”  She protests as she untangles herself.

“The longer you take to train, the more pressure Aka Ra is under.  She has to perform the dance every day because you aren’t ready to help out.  Both the other miko have other duties and so have not been trained to dance.”  I remind her.

“I know!  I’m sorry!  I’m just not good at this!”  Haru Kii says bowing as she gets up.

“When I heard you were Yu Kii’s sister I was sure you would be great, but I’ve never known a miko to still be this useless after so long.  Anyway get ready.”  I tell her and she assumes the opening pose.

Haru Kii waits for my order without moving.  I let her wait for a few minutes.  She will need to wait for hours when she is doing it for real, but we don’t have hours to waste between each practise.  This part at least she manages without too much trouble.

“Start.”  I tell her abruptly and she begins to dance.  She manages the first few steps without any problem.  Unfortunately though, it doesn’t take long before she ends up in a mess on the floor again.  I sigh.  Like every day since I took Haru Kii as my sister, this is going to be a long day.

(Rin)

The money from the drakes was very welcome, but their bodies were much more important.  With Lucy awake again and Emma’s mother cured, my mother is now able to focus more on other jobs.  I was surprised when Trinity asked for twenty suits of drake armour for their company, but it is much easier than you might expect.  Assuming of course you have twenty drakes!

It was good practise working as a large group.  Everyone was paid by the Drake’s bounty though, so we’re not going to split the considerable fee from the Divine Flames.  It may seem mean, but even though my mother’s work isn’t too difficult it still involves a lot of work.  We are much better off now than before we met Peter.  We were really struggling back then, but now we can get all the materials we need and even have noble customers like the Divine Flames.

The drake blood can be used in potions if you have the other ingredients.  We don’t yet, but I plan to get them.  The potion I want most is the life juice potion.  It can slow the aging process considerably.  It isn’t the same as immortality of course.  It only slows, not stops, aging.  It also doesn’t prevent or cure illness.  Not many alchemists can make it even with the ingredients, but my mother can.

There aren’t many bounties worth using the whole group for other than ones that are a bit too risky.  So for today’s hunt we will split into three groups.  I will lead one group.  Emma and Jenny will lead the other two groups.  I chose bounties that will help get the ingredients for a couple of very expensive potions that also use drake blood.  It isn’t going to help with the life juice, but it will be a quick win if we can get these ingredients today.  The bounties are also fairly good.

My group is Asuna, Tabi, Midori, Niji, Tomo, Neko and Mirai.  Me, Asuna and six wind users!  It may seem foolish, but the enemy we are hunting require a powerful lightning attack to kill.  Asuna and I will focus on defence whilst the rest of our group focuses on hunting down and killing the enemy.  If it gets dangerous Asuna will port us all back here to the training grounds.

I don’t like Asuna but I respect her magical talent.  It’s not like I hate her but I do find her annoying.  What sort of idiot chooses to remain a slave?  Despite that I do feel sorry for her, because of everything she has been through.  So I am trying to be nice to her.  It isn’t always easy though.

“What are your orders?”  Asuna asks a bit like an officer in the military.  I suppose we are going to be in the military but I would still prefer to keep it a bit more informal.

“Everyone hold onto Asuna, and Asuna please port us to the location I am about to share with you.”  I say.  Everyone holds on and I place my forehead against Asuna’s to share the location.  As soon as I share it Asuna ports us.

We are now beside a large river.  The water is flowing fast and is higher than normal because of heavy rain over the last few nights.  The rain was bad even for this season.  If it keeps up for too long we could have flooding, but I suppose if that happens mages will just send the water somewhere that could actually use it.  I am sure Asuna would like that to be her homeland, but I doubt they’d send it that far.

“We are hunting Ice Birds today.  They make their nests in the trees by this river but I doubt we’ll catch them there.  The adult birds are generally about five feet in length and have powerful beaks as well as deadly sharp claws.  Worse they can use ice magic and the river gives them plenty of water to make use of.  The bounty is per beak but I want to make use of their blood in alchemy, so please only use lightning attacks.  They are vulnerable to lightning anyway so it works out ok.”

“How much is the bounty?”  Asuna asks even though she isn’t going to accept even a single black coin of it for herself.  Her share will go to Peter instead, which I will look after until I see him again.

“It is thirty five silver per beak, so shared seven ways it works out at five silver each.”  I say.  It certainly isn’t on the same level as the drakes, but there are less of us so we can still earn a fair amount if we get enough of these Ice Birds.  With a hundred silver in a gold though, there is no way we’ll earn as much as the five gold we took home last week and the week before.  If we are lucky we might end up with close to a gold each by the end of the day, but I doubt it.

“So if you don’t think we’ll find them in their nests how do we find them?”  Tabi asks.

“They’re birds, so they’ll be in the sky.  We have plenty of wind users, so just use your senses and find them.  There can’t be that many things in the sky that are five foot long.”  I answer.

“I hope not!”  Tabi answers.

It takes a while to find the first one but, much to her delight, it is Midori who does so.  To thank her I have her lure it down here.  She is most grateful!

“Damn it!  That thing almost ate me!”  Midori complains as we stand over its corpse.

“Fly quicker next time.”  I tell her sympathetically.

“I flew as quickly as I could!  Are you trying to get me killed?”  Midori asks bitterly.

“Don’t be silly.  Just because you’re going to be luring them all down here doesn’t mean…”  I start to say but am predictably interrupted.

“All of them?!  You can’t be serious.”  Midori complains.

“Actually I am.  You now know that you can outfly them, but the same may not be true for everyone.”  I tell her.

“I hate you, Rin.”  She says, but she doesn’t really mean it.  I hope she doesn’t anyway.  I’m not going to risk getting someone killed just because she might hate me though.  I guess my joke may have gone a little too far.

“Sorry, but you’re our best wind user.”  I tell Midori.  My flattery may be a bit too obvious but she seems to accept it as an apology.

“Fine, I’ll do it.”  Midori says.  “Since I’m our best wind user, I’m sure you’ll agree I’m better suited to Peter than you are.”

My mind goes blank at her words.  I just don’t know what to say, but I am just as shocked at Asuna’s furious response.  “There’s no way someone who can joke about Peter whilst he is in danger could ever be suited to him.”

“Wha… what did you…?”  Midori starts to say but is interrupted by Neko.

“Enough all of you, nyyya.  Peter, nyyya, wouldn’t want you arguing like this, nyyya.”  Neko says sadly with tears in the corners of her eyes.

“Neko is right.”  I say with a sigh.  “Everyone, please focus on the job.”

“Fine…”  Midori says and Asuna looks away but remains silent.

The hunt seems to last forever as everyone seems awkward, but at midday we are running low on power so I call an end to the hunt.  We have twenty one Ice Birds though, so we each take home just over a gold.  I have plenty of ingredients for my mother too.

Jenny’s group, which Yu Kii was in, finished their hunt before us.  I have lunch with Jenny but can’t find Yu Kii.  Hermes was in Emma’s group so isn’t back yet.

Chapter 2 (Ara Kii)

I am watching Haru Kii dance and she finally seems to be getting better.  I suspect it will still be another month before she is ready, but at last there is hope for her.  It is late though, so I decide this will be her last practise for today.

“Not bad.  Not perfect, but not bad.”  I say as she finishes.

“Thank you!”  She says with a bow.

“Supper now, and then time to sleep.”  I tell her.  I feel sorry for her because she has to sleep on the hard stone in the courtyard, but there is nothing I can do about that.

“Why did it get dark so suddenly?”  Haru Kii asks sounding confused, and she is right.  Although it is late it was still fairly light until a moment ago.  Now it is almost like night.  We look up at the same time.  The sky is filled with black feathers falling towards us.  They block out the sun almost entirely.  “What are they?”

“Death feathers.”  I say fearful as I recognise them.  It is the first time seeing such a sight but there can be no doubt.  Haru Kii isn’t attuned enough yet to sense the life magic in them but each feather has enough power to instantly kill a person.  “Get inside, now!”

Despite my words Haru Kii just stands there, so I literally pick her up and run carrying her over my shoulder.  We reach the main temple building and I put Haru Kii down. I turn to look back and the feathers are still slowly falling towards the ground.

There is a roar and a bright light forms a dome around the temple complex.  As each feather hits the dome there is a small flash.  Then the feather is gone.  The sky is like a divine light display on the Kuroneko’s birthday.  This though is of course very different to the harmless but pretty display each year.  Two very powerful spells are competing and the one which wins will determine our fate.

There can be no doubt that the dome is the work of the Kuroneko herself.  Nobody other than a god, a Fallen Angel, or the Queen of Contractia could compete with life magic on that scale.  At least not on their own.  Surely this attack must be the work of the Fallen Angels, but I have no doubt that the Kuroneko will be victorious.  We will be safe.  Even so I don’t want to go outside and risk getting killed by a stray feather that happens to get past her protective magic.

“What’s happening?”  Haru Kii asks fearfully.

“The Kuroneko is fighting to protect us.  There is nothing to be worried about as long as you stay inside.”  I tell her.

“Is it the Fallen Angels?”

“No, this is just a servant of the Fallen Angels.”  I tell her.  I don’t tell her that if it had been a Fallen Angel we would already be dead.  There’s no need to worry her even more.  Also, there’s no way the Fallen Angels will personally attack us.  Doing so would mean dragging the Queen of Contractia personally into this war.  That would be suicide even for the Fallen Angels.

“So we’re safe?”  Haru Kii asks nervously.

“Yes, we’re safe.”  I tell her with a smile.

“So what do we do now?”  Haru Kii asks.

“Like I said earlier, it is time to eat and then to sleep.  You’ll need to sleep inside for now though.”  I tell her.

“Is it really ok to eat when we’re being attacked?”  Haru Kii asks.

“You weren’t planning on going out there and fighting were you?”  I ask.

“Of course not!”

“So all we can do is carry on with our lives for now.”  I tell her and she nods in understanding.

Supper is sparse for her as usual.  Just stale bread and cold pea soup.  I wish I could be kinder to her, but these are the rules written by the Kuroneko.  A miko must lead a hard life devoid of comfort.  By being strict with her body in matters like these her soul is strengthened.  It still seems cruel to me, but I haven’t exactly led an easy life either.

My first sister was a sister of body as well as of soul.  I worked hard with her as she trained.  She was exceptional and I was sure that she would please the Kuroneko enough to spare her life.  She made a mistake after eight years of dancing.  Just one simple mistake.  Most people wouldn’t even have noticed it.  I was sure she would be spared, but instead she was executed in front of me.

Yu Kii was next and I decided not to grow too attached to her emotionally.  She wasn’t even related to me by blood so it should have been easy.  When you work with someone for years though, it simply isn’t easy to not care about them.  No, not just not easy, it isn’t possible.  Not for me anyway.  I am grateful her life was spared but even so I miss her.  I hope Yu Kii is living an easier life in Contractia than she did here.  She would be sad though if she knew her sister was now a miko.

I am lucky that I can now eat enough and sleep on a soft bed each night in this spacious room carved out of the mountain’s grey stone, but it wasn’t always like that.  As a child I was abandoned along with Ari Kii, my twin sister, on the mountain top.  Somehow we survived the first night without freezing to death or getting eaten.  Then we were found by a catman.  He brought us here and I was trained as a monk.  My sister of course became a miko.

Like a miko I slept outside when I was about three years old, but not in the sheltered courtyard with my sister.  I slept outside the temple’s red stone gates on my own.  There were times wild animals attacked me but thankfully I managed to ward them off.  They left scars on my body that scared Haru Kii when she first met me, but Yu Kii never showed fear when she saw them.  Instead there was pity in her eyes.

As a monk I was of course trained to use magic, as well as my body.  Now that war has come to our mountain I will surely have to fight.  I take Haru Kii to an empty room near mine and have her sleep there.  On the way back to my room through the grey stone corridor a catman I am familiar with greets me.  He is both black and talented so commands a great deal of respect from most of the other catmen, but he is one of the few catmen that treats me with respect despite my being a mere human.

“Ara Kii, there is a war council being held in the common room.  You should attend.”  He tells me.

“Thank you, Nico Na.”  I say and bow respectfully before following him to the common room.

The common room is the largest room carved out of the mountain and normally seems huge with dozens of small wooden tables for four spread throughout and rarely more than a dozen people in the room.  Today it is full and feels cramped as the tables form a semicircle facing towards one small table in the centre.  Of course everyone is only sitting on the one side so there isn’t going to be enough room for everyone, but for now there are still some free tables.

At the centre table is someone I have never spoken to, the High Priestess.  She is the only person allowed to talk to the Kuroneko.  Obviously she is a black catwoman, the closest thing to the Kuroneko herself.  Beside her sits the High Monk, a black catman, who I have spoken to a few times, but never for more than a few words.

The room is filled with excited whispered conversations, but the High Priestess is silent.  We find an empty table and start our own whispered conversation.  Like everyone else we pass the time speculating about how we will fight the enemy.  After a while a gong rings three times.  The conversations stop the moment it rings the first time.  After the third ring the High Priestess stands and so does everyone else in the room.

“The Kuroneko’s shield will not fall to the enemy’s foul magic.  Their magic weakens, but the shield is as strong as ever.  We have called on Contractia to honour their deal.  They are sending a hundred mages to aid us in our fight.  Tomorrow every monk in the temple will arm themselves with both weapons and magic.  Alongside Contractia’s mages we will defeat the enemy.  The battle will begin shortly after dawn and victory shall be ours before tomorrow’s sun sets.”  The High Priestess then sits and the High Monk rises.

“The enemy have only twenty mages.  They are obviously very powerful mages, but they have seriously underestimated us.  They use life magic, but every monk in this temple knows how to fight life magic.  Do not forget your training.  The enemy ride drakes but a tamed drake is not as dangerous as a wild one.  We will split into twenty teams with five Contractian mages and twenty monks in each team.  The team lists are written on that wall.”  He says and points at the wall behind him.  As he does so lists appear on the wall.  “Good luck everyone.”

The High Priestess and High Monk then leave the room.  I wait with Nico Na as everyone rushes to see the lists.  He looks at me with a smile and asks.  “So do you remember how to form spiritual armour?”

“That’s not something I could forget.”  I say with a laugh.  It took a while to learn but failing to summon it properly was very painful.  I still practise it every day to make sure I really don’t forget.  “What about you?”

“I summoned it successfully the first time.”  Nico Na says with a smile.  It is just typical of him.  He normally masters everything on the first attempt.

“I wish I did.”  I say bitterly.  We talk for a while and then as the crowd thins we get up and take a look at the list.

“It seems I’m leading the team you’re in.”  Nico Na says with a grin.  I am actually relieved.  He will lead fairly so I have a much better chance of survival than under any other team leader.

“Try not to get me killed.”  I joke.

“Don’t worry.  You’ll be the first one to die.”  He jokes back.

I have a hard time sleeping but somehow I do eventually manage to get to sleep.  I get up and wake Haru Kii at dawn.  I tell her to practise all day on her own.  There is no time to prepare food for her so she’ll be hungry today, but at least she will be safe.

I go back to my room and take off my clothes.  After a quick wash I summon spiritual armour.  Thankfully it only takes energy to summon and not to maintain so there is no reason to wait until the last moment to summon it.

I go to the armoury and take a black wooden staff.  It is as tall as I am and as thick as my muscle covered leg, but it is as light as a feather.  It can be used to break protective magic as well as to block offensive magic.  Like any enchanted item there is a limit to its power, but it is much better than fighting unarmed.

We gather at the main entrance and I quickly find Nico Na.  There are five very unhappy looking mages standing there in plain blue mage robes arguing with him.  They are human women so they are certainly the Contractian mages.  If I had any doubt their words would have rid me of it.

“I will not take orders from a mere man, and a catman at that.  As a Contractian woman, I will be the one giving you the orders.  Do you understand?”

“I was put in charge of this team, so you will obey me.”  Nico Na snarls back at her.  He is a very friendly catman, but no catman is just going to accept that sort of insult.

“Are you too dumb to…?”  She starts to say but then there is a loud ring of a gong.  We all turn towards the main temple gong that just rang.  Standing there are the High Priestess, the High Monk and a human woman in blue robes with a single red stripe from the right side of her waist to her left shoulder, who I assume must be the leader of the Contractians.  It is the Contractian who speaks.

“Under orders of the Queen you are all required to cooperate with the locals.  The monks are in charge of the teams, so you will obey their orders.  That is all.”  She says firmly and the Contractians seem to accept her orders.

“Team leaders confirm when your team is ready.”  The High Monk says.

It isn’t long before we are all ready.  The sight of so many monks armed for war is quite impressive.  I find defeat hard to imagine with so many of us against just twenty enemies.  The Contractians are useful because they can port us into position to surround the enemy.  They can also prevent the enemy porting away from us.

The High Monk gives the order and we are all ported.  It is a little disorienting but I recover quickly. My attack joins the many attacks that fill the air.  Naturally we use earth magic, mostly stone and metal shards.  Earth magic is what we are attuned to and shard attacks are much harder to dodge than unbroken stones.  The Contractians focus on defence and preventing the enemy from porting.

Initially the enemy use fire and lightning against us.  Our team has its target just as every team does and it isn’t long before each enemy focuses on the team that is attacking him.  Drakes are very hard to kill even without magical shielding, but our target is the rider.  He starts to struggle to defend against so many powerful stone and metal shards.

The mage we are attacking uses life magic.  The same feathers as yesterday form a cloud in front of him and then with a blast of wind they fly straight at our Contractian mages.  He must realise our armour will protect us from them.  I am between him and our Contractians though, so I fill my staff with power and strike the feathers with a spirit blast.  The feathers are neutralised instantly.

There is a piercing screech and then the drakes fly upwards.  We concentrate our attack even more but soon they are out of our range.  We forced them to retreat, but our taking to the sky would give them too big an advantage.  I am not surprised when Nico Na orders us to retreat to the temple complex.  The Contractians try to port us but their port is blocked.

“We’ll just have to walk.”  Nico Na says with a shrug.  It really isn’t a big deal.

Back at the temple we must relax and recover our energy.  In peacetime it is unheard of for monks to be resting in the middle of the morning, but we are at war and need to be at our best whenever the enemy attacks.  I interrupt Haru Kii’s training for a late breakfast.  She isn’t allowed to eat lunch so I am glad she doesn’t have to do without breakfast as well today.

After breakfast I just watch Haru Kii dance.  It is the most relaxing thing I can do so I don’t see it as a problem even though it is my usual routine.  It seems to unsettle Haru Kii a little that I am not criticising her mistakes but I am just watching her to relax today.  She knows when she has made a mistake anyway so I don’t really need to tell her anymore.

At lunchtime I feel as guilty as I always do to be eating whilst Haru Kii has to work without anything to eat again until tonight.  I have gone without food too often though to pass the chance to eat.  I just have to live with my guilt.

In the afternoon there is another war council.  The enemy have retreated but we have no way to pursue them.  There is much debate about what to do next.  Some of course argue to wait until the enemy make their next move, but most are against that option.  In war it is rarely wise to give the enemy the initiative.

The High Priestess is angry that Contractia is unwilling to send enough support to defeat the enemy in the sky.  On this though the Contractians make it clear there will be no compromise.  They even threaten to leave entirely if we don’t accept this.  In the end there is no decision.  Most of us want to do something but nobody can agree just what we should do.

It is dark by the time we leave the war council.  I return to find Haru Kii still dancing in her room.  I take her to get some supper and after that send her to bed.  Well, to sleep on the floor like always, but at least she is warm and safe inside the main temple.

It is the middle of the night when the temple gong sounds.  I jump up instantly wide awake.  As we suspected the enemy chose to attack at night.  We are ready.  The night guards easily maintain the defences for the short time it takes the rest of us to get there.  The night guards had taken extra care to get enough sleep during the day so they were at full power just like we are.

The enemy are inside the Kuroneko’s barrier.  It only repels magic not people, but at least their life magic will not work inside the barrier.  They seem much more determined than they did in our last battle.  Now they are closer I can clearly see their fearsome mounts.  They are huge red scaly beasts and their wings are formed of a flowing red metal.  Their fearsome claws and fangs are scary, but what is worst is that in their eyes I can see their dark souls.

These aren’t just wild animals that have been tamed.  These are creatures born, bred and trained for war.  They are much more dangerous than their riders and despite our attacks they are edging closer to the temple.  As they approach us though we start to surround them.  Once we have them completely surrounded we start to chant.  It is an ancient chant that even we don’t understand the meaning of, but even so we have all practised it and follow it exactly.

Magic flows from the mountain.  It isn’t our magic, but rather it is the Spirit of the Mountain.  We have called him forth to destroy those who have trespassed on this sacred land.  Angry at those who would defile him, he mercilessly crushes the enemy with huge hands of spiritually charged stone.  It takes only a moment and the enemy are dead.  He takes their remains inside his body, the mountain itself.

It is not a magic we can use often but it was certainly worth using it against such a powerful foe.  Should we anger the Spirit of the Mountain by relying on him too often though, he will kill us as well as our enemy.  Certainly it would not be wise to use it again until a few years have passed.  The High Priestess and High Monk will be the ones to decide that though.

With the enemy dead we will be celebrating tomorrow.  Even the miko will get to eat the feast that will be held.  I am glad that Haru Kii will have something that she can actually enjoy.  Most of the night guards will get some sleep tonight, but there will still be a light guard in case the enemy have more forces nearby.  As I am not part of the night guard I can just go back to my room and get some sleep without having to worry about drawing straws to see who has to stay on guard.

The rest of the night passes peacefully.  I get up in the morning and prepare our breakfast.  Haru Kii is relieved now the enemy have been defeated.  She is really happy when I tell her about the victory feast we will be holding.

I leave Haru Kii to practise her dance whilst I help prepare for the feast.  We will be holding it just outside the temple entrance as is customary.  It is the first time I have helped prepare for a victory feast but it is very similar to preparing for any other celebratory feast.  We create stone tables and seats with magic.  Despite being stone they are actually very soft because of the way we form them.

The most important work is of course preparing and cooking the food.  I only help prepare some of the vegetables but soon the smell of cooking meats, fish and vegetables along with the smell of spices fills the temple kitchen.  Then they are joined by the smell of sweeter foods.

It is midday by the time everything is ready and the tempting smells have made us all even more eager to enjoy the feast.  As everyone else starts to take their seats I go to get Haru Kii.  She is still hard at work practising but even from here she can smell the food and is delighted to hear it is time to eat.  This will be the first time in a very long time that she can eat as much as she wants.

Nico Na has saved a couple of seats to his immediate left so I sit next to him and Haru Kii sits to my left.  To her left is a catman I don’t know.  Haru Kii seems a little intimidated by him but the catman is much more interested in the food than in a human miko.

“It will be a long time before you eat like this again, so make the most of it.”  I tell Haru Kii.  It isn’t long before the lovely food makes her forget about everything else.  After a while the High Priestess calls on three of the older miko to dance.  They are dancing for us and not for the Kuroneko so it is just their practise dance and there is no risk of execution.  It is fun to watch the miko dance without having to watch for mistakes.

The miko have long white hair, bright green eyes and pale skin.  They wear simple white sleeveless dresses instead of their spirit clothes, which are only worn when dancing for the Kuroneko.  They all have a relaxed smile as they dance.

“I’ll never be that good.”  Haru Kii says quietly.  I pat her on the head.

“You will be.  You just need to carry on working hard at it.”  I quietly tell her.

The miko are not quite as elegant as normal, but they are much more energetic because they aren’t worrying about every possible mistake.  Haru Kii is cute but she is very young.  These miko are young adults rather than children so they are rather attractive.  Of course they are reserved for the Kuroneko so even if they found someone they loved they couldn’t even tell him their feelings.

I have sometimes wondered why the Kuroneko chooses humans instead of cat people to serve as her miko.  Cat people are considered superior and wouldn’t a god want the best?  It is pointless thinking about such things though, because whatever her reasons may be it isn’t going to change the fact that human girls like Haru Kii must serve as miko.

It must be hard for her parents to lose two daughters to the Kuroneko.  They live in a village under the mountain.  Like all the other villages of the Kuroneko Mountains it can only be accessed through the temple.  It is ideal for defence from invaders like we fought off last night, but it does mean the people are completely at the mercy of the cat people who control the temple.  If the cat people come for your child you really have no choice because there is no escape and nowhere to hide.  Fighting is of course impossible.

I drink some wine and then return my attention to my food.  It is only at feasts like this that we are allowed wine so it tastes all the sweeter for being such a rare treat.  Of course as a monk even at a feast it would not do to get drunk so I will only drink the one glass.

“What’s that song?”  Haru Kii asks.

“What song?”  I ask her.  There is the gentle sound of a harp in the air but I can’t hear singing.

“It’s really quiet, but it sounds so beautiful.”  Haru Kii says with a smile.

“It must be too quiet for me to hear.”  I say with a shrug.  I didn’t realise she had better hearing than me.

“It’s a pity it isn’t louder.  You would like it if you could hear it.”  Haru Kii says sadly.

“You enjoy it for me then.”  I say with a smile and pat her on the head.  She smiles back, and then returns her attention to her food.

Somehow we manage to finish the huge amount of food.  We always do at feasts despite normally eating so modestly or perhaps because we are used to eating so modestly.  Haru Kii sits there contently rubbing her full belly with a smile on her face.  Her breath smells like she had a little wine.  She isn’t really meant to but I didn’t notice and I don’t think anyone will care.  I had best take her back to her room before anyone else notices though, just in case they do care.

“We’re going back to your room.”  I tell Haru Kii quietly.

“Ok.”  Haru Kii says sounding a little absent minded.  I hold her hand as we walk because she doesn’t seem able to focus without being guided.  The temple corridors are made of white stone with occasional statues of famous catmen and catwomen.

I stop by the statue of the Kuroneko.  It is the only black statue in the corridor and is much larger than the other statues.  The Kuroneko statue is sitting elegantly in a pure cat form.  Sometimes the statue takes the form of a catman or a catwoman.  Some believe the Kuroneko is male and others believe the Kuroneko is female.  Only the High Priestess and the Kuroneko know for sure.  It is beside the door to the common room.  I bow my head and clap my hands three times as a sign of respect to the Kuroneko.  Then I turn to walk on but as I turn I notice the Contractians in the common room.  They are leaving through a portal.

The Contractians may at times have been rude but they helped us defend ourselves against the enemy and they never did anything to me personally.  It seems sad for them to leave unnoticed and without thanks.  Haru Kii looks at them like she shares my feelings.  So I lead her into the room.

“Thank you.”  I say.  It isn’t much but I am not great with words and I don’t know what else to say.  The woman who seemed to be their leader turns to me with a smile.

“You’re welcome.  Who’s the little girl?”

“This is my sister, Haru Kii.  She is a miko of the Kuroneko.”  I tell her and approach closer.

“I wish you the best of luck young miko.”  She says with a sad smile.  It seems she knows the meaning of being a miko.  “The portal will close soon and everyone has now gone, so I must now leave.  Farewell.”

She walks through the portal, which is now only a few feet away, and it starts to shrink.  As it does so I sense enemies.  Not just any enemies but powerful ones.  I have never sensed them before but they are certainly elves.  I sense ten.  Fighting one elf would be suicide but the thought of fighting ten is just laughable.

The portal is far too small now for me to pass through, but for Haru Kii it is still just about possible.  I pick her up much to her shock and literally throw her through.  She makes it and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I turn and find an elf right behind me.  I did not sense her before so there are at least eleven enemies.  She is about Haru Kii’s size, so if she were human she would be about ten or eleven years old.  As an elf she is surely much older though.  Even looking straight at her I can’t sense her presence.  It would be easy to mistake this for weakness, but there is no doubt in my mind.  She is the strongest enemy by far.  Of course there’s no way I could beat even the weakest of elves.

Chapter 3 (Yu Kii)

“Before we start today’s lesson I would like to remind everyone about the field trip tomorrow.  Attendance is required and we will meet here at dawn.  Make sure you are not late and do not forget to bring enough money to last the whole week.  You will have free time on your day off, so if there is anything you wish to do then make sure you have enough money for it.  You must wear your uniform for the whole trip, so there is no need to bring casual clothing.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  It is the first time anyone has told me about a field trip and it looks like Rin knows nothing more than I do about it.

“Where are we going?”  Rin asks.  Professor Schwarz frowns at Rin for a moment before seeming to realise that she must have told the rest of the class before we got promoted.

“We will be visiting Portalis, the old capital.  We normally visit Minerva, but due to the war it was considered too dangerous.  Portalis is a bit more expensive, but other than Minerva it is the oldest city in Contractia.  There is plenty to see.  Not least the Circle of Portals and the Great Shield.  There was talk when the new Queen came to power of reinstating Portalis as the capital.  They decided against it but Portalis is still the second most important city in Contractia.  As the saying goes, all rivers flow to Portalis.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.

“What does that mean?”  I ask confused.

“You’re not from Contractia, are you?”  Professor Schwarz asks with a smirk and a few of our classmates laugh.

“No, I’m not.”  I answer honestly and try to ignore the laughter.

“All rivers cross dimensions.  Not physically of course, but their true essence passes through the dimensions.”

“Their spirit.”  I say with a nod.

“I suppose you could say it like that.”  Professor Schwarz says with a frown and more students laugh.  Perhaps I should have just asked Rin later.  “Anyway, their essence crosses the dimensions and so all rivers in all dimensions are in a manner connected.  It is said that they meet in Portalis because of the sheer number of magical portals there. Of course they don’t really, it is just a saying.  Most Contractian worlds though can be reached from Portalis or from a world connected to Portalis.  The outer worlds are all connected via Minerva.  The inner worlds mostly connect directly or via the new capital, Regalia.”

“Thank you.”  I say politely but unable to hide my embarrassment.  It is probably the first time I have asked Professor Schwarz a question in class.  I don’t think I’ll be asking another question for a while.

“We will be travelling via the new capital, Regalia.  The academy will be paying for travel costs and accommodation.  All other costs, including food, you will need to pay for.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  “Now for today’s lesson…  You must port small stones into moving buckets.  The buckets and stones are over there.  For practise you will need to control the buckets with wind magic or earth magic.  Naturally that means working in pairs.  There will be a test at the end and I will be moving the buckets for that.”

I silently groan as I hear this.  I had a feeling it would be dimensional magic today, but I hoped I was wrong.  No such luck!  I work with Rin but I am only able to succeed when she moves the bucket really slowly.  I doubt the teacher will be moving it anywhere near as slowly.  The lesson is painful but finally it is time to take the test.

“I will be starting with Yu Kii.”  Professor Schwarz says and I gulp.  “Come to the front.”

“Ok.”  I say and walk to the front.

“Start by porting one into the bucket and I will then start moving the bucket slowly.  The more you can get in the better.  We will stop when you miss.  Ready?”

“Yes.”  I say and port one into the bucket.  I am so nervous that I miss.  The class roars in laughter.

“Stay behind after the afternoon lesson.”  Professor Schwarz says with a sigh.  “Next is Emma.”

Emma at least manages to get the first couple in but Professor Schwarz tells her to stay behind as well.  The rest of the class do much better.  I hope it isn’t another overnight lesson, especially with the trip starting tomorrow.  I can’t focus on lunch and have a hard time focusing on the afternoon lesson but thankfully it is just theory so I can catch up later with Rin’s help.

“Other than Emma and Yu Kii, everyone leave, and make sure you are here by dawn.”  Professor Schwarz says.  Rin takes a quick but sympathetic look at me before porting away.  Soon it is just the three of us.

“So is it going to be another whole night?”  I ask nervously.

“We have the trip tomorrow so that would be unwise.  We will only do an hour today, but once we get back I will be working with you both for two hours after lessons every day, except your day off.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  I am relieved we don’t have to work for too long today but an extra two hours a day six days a week.  That’s an extra twelve hours each week!  On dimensional magic…

The dimensional training is just as hard as I feared it would be but I do at least make some progress.  I then go to our usual training.  The earth training relaxes me a bit and then we move onto fire training.  Jenny is a great teacher but fire is never going to be my element.  I am relieved when we finish.  I skip practising porting at the end because I have spent way too much time on dimensional magic today already.  Rin frowns at me but doesn’t say anything.

As soon as we get back to our room I get changed into my nightwear and go to bed.  I sleep well but like always Rin has to wake me.  I get washed, dressed and packed as quickly as possible.  I only have to pack my night clothes and a spare uniform though so there wasn’t much point packing last night.  We share a smallish bag but it isn’t Rin’s special one.  Perhaps she is worried it might get lost or stolen.

I am still sleepy when we get to class but I am far from the only one.  It is still just before dawn when Professor Schwarz wearing her usual white robes with the black hood ports into the classroom.  As always the hood is down.  She is carrying a large bag in one hand.  It looks really heavy but I can tell it has a minor enchantment to reduce the weight.

“Everyone is here on time.  That is good.  Everyone please step inside the circle.”  Professor Schwarz says and a blue glowing circle forms on the floor.  She is of course at the centre but it is large enough for all of us to fit inside easily.  Once we are all inside the circle the blue glow rises into the air forming a wall.  Then a green glow forms a roof above us.  Once the roof is complete we are ported.  It is instant like normal but I feel queasy afterwards.

“This is the main port hub at the capital.”  Rin whispers to me.  I notice that our unseen guards don’t seem to have followed us.

“Everyone head to queue number seven.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  I look up and follow everyone else.

We are in a huge blue marble room with about twenty large queues of people.  Either side of the queues are large black buildings each the size of a small house.  The house on the left of each queue has a large number written in blue.  They are ordered from one to twenty.  The one we are headed towards has the number seven on it.  As we get closer I see that there are mages walking up and down the queues on both sides.  They are always watching the people in the queue but every now and again they stop to look at someone in a bit more detail.

“They’re scanners.”  Rin tells me.

“What are they doing?”  I ask.

“They use magic to see through physical objects.  Bags, clothes, etc.”  Rin says and I gulp.

“They can see through our clothes?!”

“Don’t worry, only women are allowed to be scanners.  It’s the guys you should feel sorry for.  Not that many guys go through here.”  Rin tells me.

“Even if it is a woman, don’t you feel uncomfortable knowing that they can see you as if you weren’t wearing anything?”  I ask.

“They’re only doing this for our safety.  You should feel comfortable knowing that anyone trying to harm us will get caught.”  Rin tells me as if it is common sense that I should feel comfortable having a stranger look at me as if I was naked.  It really doesn’t make me feel comfortable.  Rin can obviously tell.  “Don’t cause any trouble, or they can take you into one of those black buildings and search your mind, as well as your body, for hours.”

“This is so weird.”  I say shaking my head and feeling even more uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry.”  One of the scanner mages tells me.  I guess she overheard our conversation.  “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”

I nod back politely to her but her words don’t help calm me at all.  They just make things worse.  I have nothing to hide, but I would still like a little human dignity.  Even the Kuroneko gave me that.  The scanner looks me over more closely and I squirm.  I don’t want to be taken into the black building though, so I don’t say anything.  Eventually she moves on.

“How long does this queue normally take?”  I ask Rin.

“I think it is meant to take about a couple of hours.  Only top students and the military are allowed to pass through the gate so I’ve never been here before.  My class last year went to Drake Mountain for our school trip.  That was of course just a day trip.”  Rin tells me.

“So everyone in this queue is either a student or in the military?”  I ask.

“This queue is just for students.  Queues one to seven are for students.  The other queues are for the military.”  Rin says.

“There seem to be a lot of soldiers.  In a war between mages, how much difference can a soldier make?”  I ask.

“They can provide our mages with power and defeat enemy mages who have run out of power.  They can also make a big difference against monsters.  Probably their most important job though, is to maintain order so that our mages can focus on the enemy.”  Rin explains.

“So if it is only top students in these seven queues, why are there so many?”  I ask.

“Most of them will be returning home.  Regalia is the capital so it is a popular destination for students from other worlds.  Especially worlds that don’t directly connect to Portalis.”  Rin explains.

“I hope it isn’t a whole two hours.”  I say but it is actually closer to three by the time we are almost at the front of the queue.  At the front I can see that the scanners feel our entire body whilst chanting.

“They’re checking for prohibited enchantments.”  Rin whispers to me.  It is now the girl in front of us.  She looks very uncomfortable as the woman feels her body for enchantments.  I recognise her but I don’t know her name.  She is very thin, with a delicate look like a noble.  She has the typical features of a Contractian with pale skin, blue eyes and short blonde hair.  I think she is probably about thirteen or fourteen.  I can’t help thinking she looks cute and I am a bit envious of her appearance.

“Come with me.”  The woman says, having apparently found an enchantment.

“What’s wrong?”  The girl asks sounding a bit arrogant, which also makes me think she may be a noble.

“You have an enchantment, now no more questions.  We are the only ones allowed to ask questions.”  The woman says sounding rather annoyed.

“I need the enchantment to survive.”  The girl protests with her head held high.

“Yes, yes...  Now come with me.”  The woman says paying no attention to the girl’s words.  Then Professor Schwarz who was slightly behind us walks up to her.

“That girl has authorisation for an enchantment.”  Professor Schwarz says firmly.

“Regardless, we will still need to examine her to ensure she only has what has been authorised.”

“That has never been the policy in all the years I have been a teacher.”  Professor Schwarz says with a frown.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a war on at the moment.”  The woman says glaring at Professor Schwarz.

“Then as her supervisor I will accompany you.”  Professor Schwarz tells the woman in a tone that leaves no room for disagreement.

“You will not be accompanying her, but you will be detained and examined.  We can do so for six hours without need for suspicion.  Both of you come with me.”

“This is outrageous!”  Professor Schwarz protests.

“Whatever...  Just come with us.”  The woman says.

“The academy will need to be informed so that a substitute supervisor can be sent here.”  Professor Schwarz says through gritted teeth.

“I am sure your students will be fine.  I see no need to inform a minor academy.  Besides they will notice when your students don’t return.”

“This is the start, not the end of their trip.  We are from this world.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“Fine, we’ll have them wait in the other building until your examination has been completed.  Or would you rather we examined all of your students?”

“They can wait in the other building.” Professor Schwarz says reluctantly.  She is led away with the student who was first stopped.  Then another scanner leads us all into the other building.  They fetch those of us who have already been checked as well and soon the whole class is waiting here.  What a great start to our school trip!?

“Do you know who that girl was?”  I ask Rin.

“Her name is Sor.  She was the winner of a competition last year, so she is considered one of the best students in the year.  She fought alongside Emi last year but neither of them entered the tournament this year.  A lot of people were surprised by that.  Maybe they feel they’ve already proven themselves, but I would have thought they’d want the prize.  It could be they just didn’t want to fight each other.   They seem to be good friends.  That’s Emi, over there.”  Rin says and discreetly points at Emi.

Emi is fidgeting and her face shows her worry without any attempt to hide it.  Emi has typical Contractian features like Sor, but she isn’t as thin and doesn’t look delicate at all.  Her arms and legs have a bit more muscle than most girls in our class.  She doesn’t strike me as an athlete though, rather she just seems like a healthy girl.  I would guess she is about thirteen or fourteen, and I would think Sor is about the same age or maybe slightly younger.

“Do you know many of our classmates?”  I ask Rin.  Rin looks embarrassed and shakes her head.

“I only know those two because I have a score to settle with them.”

“What score?”  I ask.

“It’s a family matter.  Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Did they do something to your family?”  I ask curiously.

“No, they didn’t personally do anything.  So you didn’t seem too comfortable about those scanners.  Isn’t it strange to be bothered about another woman looking at you?”  Rin asks.  Her attempt to change the subject may be blatant but her choice of words is enough to distract me.

“Isn’t it weirder not to be bothered?”  I ask back at her.

“Hermes, Asuna... are either of you bothered by the scanners?”  Rin asks looking past me at them.

“No.”  Asuna, who sitting next to me is closest, says with a shrug as she turns to face Rin.  She had been busy talking to Hermes about something.

“Yes.”  Hermes says and she sounds just as disturbed by the idea as I am.  Perhaps even more so.  “They remind me of my mother.”

“Oh, sorry Hermes.”  Rin says with a wince.  I had forgotten that Hermes’ mother was interested in other women.  A scanner would be a good job for someone like that so there probably are scanners like Hermes’ mother.  Hopefully though none as sadistic as Hermes’ mother.

“It’s because they have the same cruel attitude my mother had.”  Hermes says and I realise I totally misjudged what reminded Hermes of her mother.

“So, what were you both talking about?”  Rin asks.

“We were talking about what we could do on our day off.”  Asuna says.  “When we graduate we will travel between worlds as part of the military, but we may never get another chance to spend time in the old capital just having fun.”

“That’s true.”  Rin says.  “So what ideas did you have?”

“We had just realised how little we know about the old capital.”  Asuna says.

“If I’d had a little warning I could have done some research, but I probably don’t know any more than you do.”  Rin says with a sigh.

“Do you think Professor Schwarz is ok?”  Hermes asks.

“I hope so.”  I say.

“Really?  I would have thought you would have been happy after she forced you to do that all-nighter.”  Rin says.

“Sure I would have preferred not to spend all night practising dimensional magic, but she spent her whole night helping me.  I’m the one who will benefit from it.”  I tell Rin.

“I suppose she isn’t a bad person.”  Rin says.  “They’re not going to harm her though, unless she has done something bad.”

“Or that they don’t like.”  Emma says.  I knew she was there sitting on the other side of Rin, but I had forgotten about her because she has been silent almost all day.

“Isn’t that the same thing?”  Rin asks.

“No.” Emma says sounding quite emotional.

“Ok.”  Rin says backing down without protest.  “So, is there anything you want to do on your day off?”

“There’s a restaurant I’d like to visit.”  Emma says.

“You know a restaurant in the old capital?”  Rin asks in surprise.

“Yes, it’s nothing special, but my mother’s sister runs it.”  Emma says.

“Your mother’s sister lives in Portalis?”  Rin asks a little surprised.

“Yes, she used to be with the Old Guard.”  Emma says and Rin’s mouth now falls open as wide as could be.

“But that’s second only to the Royal Guard!”  Rin protests.

“She always used to say that the Royal Guard were lazy because they just relied on the Queen’s powers.  The Old Guard had to deal with everything themselves.”  Emma says and Rin laughs.

“So why did she quit?”  Asuna asks.

“She wanted to settle down and have kids.  It turned out she couldn’t have kids but she decided to settle down anyway.”  Emma says.

“How old is she?”  Asuna asks.

“It was her seven hundredth birthday a few years ago.”  Emma says and I choke.

“Seven hundred?!”  I ask in shock.

“She must be seven hundred and three, give or take a year.”  Emma says.  “She wasn’t rich though.  She couldn’t even afford to come home to see us after she left the military.  The whole company were granted immortality so she got lucky.”

“So how old is your mother?”  I ask.

“She’ll be forty this year.”  Emma says.

“What about your grandmother?”  I ask.

“She was killed two years back.  One more year and she’d have made a thousand.”  Emma says sadly.

“You never said your family were immortals.”  Rin says sounding annoyed.

“What if I had?  Would it have made a difference to anything?”  Emma asks.

“Well I suppose not, but...”  Rin says sounding irritated but confused.

“Anyway, I’ve told you now.”  Emma says with a shrug.

We continue to chat to pass the time but even so the hours pass really slowly.  Finally both Sor and Professor Schwarz enter the building and we continue to go through the checks.  The students who had already passed through the final check have to do so again but nobody dares complain for fear of the consequences.

I stiffen up as the scanner puts their hands all over me.  When I am told to move on I feel dirty but relieved that the ordeal is over.  Finally everyone has passed through the final check and we can continue onwards.  We have to walk into a giant skull through a gap in its teeth.  We then come out in a huge grassy park.  There is no obvious way back so I assume the return portal must be somewhere else.

“We will proceed straight to the inn.  We had plans for today but those damn fools have ruined them.  The good news is it is a hot springs inn, so you will have the chance to relax in the hot springs.  Alternatively once you have checked in and dumped your luggage in your room you can find something else to do in the city.  We will be up at dawn tomorrow though, so make sure you are ready for a busy day and an early start.  Now everyone inside the circle.”  Professor Schwarz says and forms another glowing blue circle on the ground.  Just like before once we are all inside the circle it forms a blue wall and then a green roof above us.

It takes only a few minutes to check us all in at the reception desk and we quickly find our room.  The rooms are for five, which works out really well.  Naturally Rin, Asuna, Hermes and Emma share a room with me.  It is more than back at the academy but I know everyone and we get on fine.

“Did you want to see your aunt today?”  Rin asks Emma.

“Let’s just relax in the hot spring.  I’m not mentally prepared to see my aunt yet.”  Emma says and she sounds really nervous.

“Is she that bad?”  Rin asks.

“She’s great, but a little intimidating.”  Emma answers with a nervous smile.

“The more you put it off the more nervous you’ll be.”  Asuna warns her.

“Maybe, but if I go there without preparing, then I’ll just make a fool out of myself.”  Emma says.  “So let’s find the hot spring.”

“I wonder what would have happened if Peter had been with us.  This is a female only inn.”  Hermes says with a frown.

“They’d have had to find somewhere else for him to stay.”  Rin says with a sad frown.  “I wonder what he’s doing now.”

“Probably killing monsters.”  Hermes says with a sad smile of her own.

“I hope he’s not doing anything too dangerous.”  Rin says.

“So what is a hot spring?”  I ask quickly to distract them.

“It’s like a giant natural warm bath.  It is meant to be really good for both your body and your magic.  Especially for earth and water mages.  You bathe in it to absorb the nutrients and magic through your skin.  It is very relaxing too.”

“So what do you wear in it?”  I ask nervously suspecting and fearing the answer.

“Nothing of course.  Clothes would get in the way of absorbing anything.  Not to mention that they’d get soaked.”  Rin says looking at me strangely.

“So do we go in one at a time?”  I ask but the answer is on Rin’s face even before she says anything.

“Don’t be silly.  We’re all girls.”  Rin says.

“I’m sorry but I think I’ll find something else to do.”  I tell her.

“It would be rude to decline our invitation.”  Rin says but I know she is just trying to play on my habit of remaining polite at all times.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to be rude this time then.”  I tell her firmly.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen Yu Kii so assertive.”  Emma says with a laugh.

“More like the first time she has been assertive at all.”  Hermes laughs.

“Are you making fun of me!?”  I protest helplessly.

“A little.”  Hermes says apologetically but still laughing.

“Anyway, enjoy yourselves and I’ll see you back here later.”  I say and make a quick exit before they can tease me even more.

“Enjoy yourself too, and don’t get lost!”  Rin calls after me.  Much as I don’t like porting I can at least manage to port back here even if I do get lost.

Emi and Sor are talking at the bottom of the stairs down to the exit.  I don’t want to disturb them so I wait for them to finish.

“I can’t believe we have to share a room with three other people.”  Sor says angrily.

“We really don’t have a choice.”  Emi says trying to calm her.

“This is just the worst.  I wish we were back at the academy instead of playing around here.  We’re going to miss a week’s studies, not that they are worth much, but for what?  What exactly do we get out of this?”  Sor says bitterly.

“We could at least make use of the Ancient Library.  It isn’t as good as the Great Library but at least students are allowed to use it freely.”

“I suppose that would be good, but what about the rest of this stupid week?”  Sor says with a sigh.

“Perhaps we might learn something in the Circle of Portals.”  Emi says but Sor laughs at her.

“Don’t be ridiculous.  There is no way there would be secrets so unguarded that we could obtain them just by going on the official tour.”  Sor says.  Then they both go quiet.  “It’s rude to eavesdrop.”  My heart races as I realise that they have noticed me.

“I’m sorry!”  But it isn’t me who apologises.  “I was asked to show you to the room.”

“So why wait so long?  At least you apologised though, unlike that girl waiting up there.”  Sor says and I realise I have missed my chance to apologise.  In a panic I port outside and wish I had done so sooner.  I hate porting though.  I take a deep breath and then gasp as a hand grabs my shoulder.

“I’m sorry!”  I say but turning see it is a stranger.  She is probably in her thirties but her eyes are bloodshot and desperate.

“You’re a mage!  You can help find my son, can’t you?!”  She asks.  Her soul is wavering so badly that I don’t want to reject her, but how am I supposed to help her?  I don’t even know what her son looks like!

“Hey you!”  A woman calls out.  She is probably in her early twenties, has typical Contractian features and is rather large.  Outwards not upwards.  “Leave our customers alone or I’ll summon the guards!”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”  I tell her.  She scowls for a moment.

“Don’t go getting yourself into trouble, or it’ll be the last thing you do.  There are dangerous folk on the streets.  Some people say they work for the Fallen Angels.  People disappear and are never seen again.”

“Don’t say never!”  The older woman screams and throws herself at the younger woman.  I gasp as the younger woman punches the older woman in the stomach who falling coughs up blood.  I dash over to her and take my healing potion out.  The young woman scowls at me as I pour it down the older woman’s throat.

“What a bloody waste.”  She says and walks back inside the inn.  The older woman however looks up gratefully at me.

“Thank you.”  She says with tears running down her cheeks.

“It’s no problem.  I doubt I can help, but when did you last see your son?”  I ask.

“It was the night before last, when he went to bed.  He’s only eight.  The next morning he was gone.”  She says and tears run down her cheek.

“Were there any clues?”  I ask.

“He was just gone.  Like taken by magic in the middle of the night.  The house door and all the windows were still locked from the inside.”  She says.

“Wait here a moment.”  I say and port back to our room.  I am grateful that they haven’t yet left for the hot spring.

“Changed your mind?”  Rin asks but then notices I look serious.  With a frown she says.  “You don’t normally port when you can walk.  What’s wrong?”

“I need your help, or rather someone else does.  Could you port outside the inn with me?”  I ask and Rin nods before taking my hand.

“We’ll come along too.”  Asuna says. Hermes and Emma nod.

“Thank you.”  I say relieved.  Once everyone is holding on Rin ports us directly outside the inn.  The woman looks at us nervously but with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Chapter 4 (Multiple)

(Asuna)

I am not sure what Yu Kii thinks we can do to find a missing boy.  There were traces of dimensional magic but none of us have the talent to trace a cold port.  If I had been there when it happened I doubt I could have traced the port, but with a cold port I have no chance.  Both Yu Kii and Emma are of course extremely bad at dimensional magic so there is no point asking them.  Hermes and Rin are about the same as me or perhaps even a little worse.

Without being able to trace the port all we can be sure of is that the boy left by magic, and since he didn’t seem to know any magic himself it seems almost certain that he was abducted.  If he had been a noble’s child, or the daughter of a wealthy merchant, then the city guard might have been willing to send a talented mage to track him down.  For the son of a mother who is barely able to pay her rent there is no way they will help.

It seems an impossible problem to solve, but knowing the loss of losing family I don’t want to give up.  As I am a slave I don’t actually have to follow the class plan.  Professor Schwarz seemed a little annoyed when I told her that I was not going to be accompanying the class today but she seemed to accept it.

“Hello Natalie.”  I greet the boy’s mother as I arrive to continue the investigation.

“Thank you.”  She says emotionally with teary eyes.

“I can only do what I can do.”  I say wincing at the heavy expectation in her voice.  “I will need to share your thoughts again to reassert the image of your son in my mind.  So please think of Brian again.”

Once I have shared her thoughts and have the image of her son in my mind there is nothing more to do here.  My investigation today will take place further afield.  It is pointless to hope that I will just bump into the boy.  He is most likely living as somebody’s slave.

There are rumours of people, especially young boys, being taken from the streets and their homes just like Brian was.  My investigation must focus there.  If I can catch someone being abducted by magic they may lead me to the rest of the victims.  It could be coincidence but if that is the case then it is truly hopeless.

I use magic to hide my presence completely and wander the streets.  Especially back alleys and anywhere that seems vulnerable.  Hiding from everyone else’s senses I keep my own wide open for anything magical or out of the ordinary.

I don’t really expect to find anything so easily.  If the culprit is targeting poor children then they may not expect any mages to come looking for them, but given how widespread the rumours are it seems naively optimistic to assume they will be that careless.  What else can I do though?

The morning turns to afternoon and afternoon to evening.  I am hungry and tired but I am not going to stop my search for such petty reasons.  It is getting dark when I notice an adult port into a nearby house.  They could just be a mage coming home but this is a very poor part of town.  Most mages would live somewhere a bit nicer than this neighbourhood.  I can’t just barge into the home and randomly accuse them, but I focus my senses on them.  Sure enough moments later they port away with a child.

It takes every last bit of my dimensional senses to trace the port, but somehow I manage it.  I inscribe the destination into my mind.  Of course I have no idea where the physical location actually is but I can now follow the port.  It is possible the culprit is just a lone mage, but I believe that about as much as I believe in gold coins growing on trees.

I port back to our room at the inn.  I don’t want to give the mother false hope so until I have found her child I don’t plan to return unless it is to tell her I was unsuccessful at the end of our trip.  I should know better but I am now filled with what may well turn out to be false hope myself.  I truly believe that following that port will take me to her son, or at least lead me to him.  How many people can there be abducting children in this city?

I have to wait a while but eventually everyone else returns to the room.  They are tired but only physically.  They haven’t used magic all day so they are willing to go with me right away.  I share the location with Rin and hide everyone’s presence.

Rin ports us.  I had expected the port to lead to a dark warehouse or dungeon.  Somewhere gloomy and secret.  I don’t know why but it never struck me that we would find ourselves at the bottom of a mage tower.  They are very popular in Portalis because space is so limited, so it makes perfect sense.  It isn’t so perfect for us though.

Mage towers are impossible to port within unless you have the permission of the owner.  That means we can’t port straight to the top of the tower or even back to our room at the inn.  They are also generally filled with traps and magical guards.  This tower has golden and silver statues of warriors that are undoubtedly enchanted.  The floor, roof, walls and stairs are all formed of white marble.

“Those statues are formed of magically summoned gold and silver.”  Yu Kii says and I gasp in shock.  There are four mages in recorded history able to summon gold and very few even able to summon silver.  Of those four one died over a hundred years ago.  One is in charge of the Royal Guard and one leads the old guard.  The other died less than a year ago.  She was of course the Queen.

“Is this the home of the leader of the Old Guard?”  Rin asks.  Given our location it would make perfect sense.  She does live in Portalis whereas the leader of the Royal Guard obviously lives in the palace with the Queen.

“No.”  Emma says.

“How do you know?”  Rin asks.

“She doesn’t live in a mage tower.  My aunt told me about her home.  She lives in a ship in the sky.  She takes it with her on campaign.  A tower would be impossible to take with her so she chose the ship instead.”  Emma replies.

“Maybe she summoned the statues for whoever does live here.”  I suggest.

“That’s impossible too.  She is able to summon gold but the last time she did so was hundreds of years ago.  I’m not sure why but it sounds like there is a good reason she refuses to do so.  Even I can tell these statues were created recently.”  Emma says.  It is true.  I’d say they have existed no more than a month.

“They were created just under two weeks ago.”  Yu Kii says.  As always her sense for anything related to earth magic is flawless.

“While you naughty children are busy guessing who I am, why don’t you play with my toys?”  A melodic voice says.  The moment it does so the statues come alive.  Golden and silver weapons raised they charge at us.  I prepare to raise a stone wall between us and them but before I can do so they have all fallen to the ground in molten lumps.  Then the voice says with a laugh.  “Not bad.”

“Gold and silver may be pretty but they are weak against earth magic.”  Yu Kii says with a shrug as we all stare at her.  I thought I was good at earth magic but I am left stunned by the ease with which she defeated those statues.

“If you take too long to climb my tower I’ll start killing the boys.”  The melodic voice says but this time it has a much harsher edge to it.

“The stairs are trapped.”  Yu Kii says.  “Asuna, could you pierce the roof over there.  That is the only safe way to get to the next level.”

I am not used to Yu Kii taking the lead but she sounds confident and it seems she is in her element right now.  I pierce the roof with a stone spear.  I then turn the spear into makeshift stairs.

“I’m not sure what is in the room above but I don’t think it is earth magic.”  Yu Kii says.

“It’s ice magic.  Very powerful too.  An earth shield around the area we come up would be wise.”  Rin says after a moment.

“I’ll do it.”  I say and create one.  Then we climb the stairs.  As we reach the top my earth shield takes a battering from ice spears.  I have to strengthen it but after a couple of hundred in about five second the ice spears stop.

“The stairs don’t have any earth magic traps, but what about other elements?”  Yu Kii says.

“Wind magic this time.”  Emma says.  “We should probably go through the roof again.”

“There’s magical shielding this time.”  I tell her shaking my head.

“Then we’ll need an earth shield all around us including below and above.  It shouldn’t need to be as strong as the one you just created.”  Emma says.

“Hermes, could you do this one?”  I ask.  I don’t want to exhaust my power before we reach the top.

“Sure.”  Hermes says a little nervously.  Her shield is fine though, and we are soon in the next room.  As soon as we enter we are attacked by fire magic.  Rin creates an ice shield that easily resists the flames until after a few seconds they stop.

“Almost at the top.”  The melodic voice says with a laugh.  It seems very short for a mage tower, and especially one with such powerful magic.  Perhaps she is lying to make us less cautious.  Either way we have to continue up so it makes no difference.  “Almost out of time too.”

“It’s earth magic again on the stairs.”  Yu Kii says.

“The roof is shielded again.”  I tell her.

“It will use too much power to block the attacks but if we fly through them quickly enough we should be able to avoid them.  Hopefully.”  Yu Kii says.  I gulp but we don’t have time to stand around discussing it.  We all look at Emma who buries her head in her hands.

“Don’t blame me if we get killed.”  She says.  She is our best wind mage here, but she isn’t even close to the same level as Peter or Cherry.  “Where can we stand safely?”

“Here.”  Yu Kii says at the bottom of the stairs.

“I wish Peter were here.”  Emma says and then throws us all up the stairs with wind magic.  We barely avoid the dark metal blades and stone shards. Given their strength I see why Yu Kii didn’t think it wise to try blocking them.

As we enter the top we leave behind the well-lit rooms and are suddenly in a dark room perhaps similar to what I imagined before.  From the ceiling hang probably close to a hundred metal cages.  In almost every cage is a terrified looking young boy.  They are all wearing cheap clothes, mostly night clothing.  Like I thought, they all seem to be from poor families.

“There is still room for all of you.”  The melodic voice says and I turn my attention to her.  She is about my age so around fifteen and looks like a typical Contractian with blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin.  Her trousers and shirt are made from a silver silk like material.  Even a non-mage would get the impression her clothes are enchanted but as an earth mage I can sense their power screaming out at me.  With those clothes even an amateur could wield powerful magic, but a skilled mage could work miracles.  Perhaps even summon gold.

“What do you plan to do with those boys?”  Yu Kii asks and her voice is shaking, but with anger not fear.  There is no way Yu Kii doesn’t understand the power of those clothes.  Her earth senses are way too good for that.

“They will be sacrifices to summon the Great Demon Baal of the Seventh Abyss.  They are only boys so they aren’t going to be missed.  Adding the five of you to the sacrifice should please Baal though, and guarantee the ritual’s success.”  The girl says.

“I am sorry but it is not Baal who shall be summoned here.”  Yu Kii says and then to my shock she throws her own clothes off with magic.

They are ruined, literally shredded, but no sooner are they gone than new clothes have taken their place.  It is so quick that I would wonder whether she was wearing them the whole time, but they are filled with magic so strong that I could not have missed them.  The new clothes are like a dress but with a white layer on top and a red layer beneath.  The red layer you can see where there are patterned diamond holes in the white layer as well as the sleeves which are missing from the white layer.

Yu Kii summons an earth shield around herself and then begins to both sing and dance.  The song is filled with magic but so is the dance.  I can’t see the dance but even the sound is enough to feel its magic.  The enemy is initially taken by surprise but she quickly recovers and blasts fire at Yu Kii.  Rin shields it with an ice wall but she strains under the sheer pressure of the fire.  I add to her ice with my own.

Suddenly a gentle white light and a cold mist fill the room.  For the first time we can see the walls and ceiling clearly.  The flames go out instantly.  The enemy for the first time seems afraid.  She clutches her hands over her ears and falling to her knees her eyes go wide.

“No!  Don’t come any closer!  Stop!”  She screams.  Then she collapses.  I cautiously approach her and confirm that she is unconscious.  The tower’s port block is down now too.  It isn’t a very good one if it collapses the moment she loses consciousness.

“Could you port her to the city guard?  I’m porting back to our room to get changed.  I’ll meet you there.”  Yu Kii says still within the earth shield.

“Ok.”  I say.  Questions can wait.  If that girl wakes up before she is arrested it could be a problem.  A big problem in fact.

“Wait.”  Rin says.  I look at her questioningly.  “I want those clothes.  They’re the ideal of any alchemist.”

“So what do you want me to do?”  I ask Rin dubiously.

“Those clothes should fit you.  Swap clothes with her.  That’s an order.”  Rin says.  I gulp.  Peter told me to obey Rin so I really have no choice.  Cursing at Rin I summon an earth wall around us and obey.  Soon I am wearing those silver clothes and the girl is wearing my uniform.  Emma, Rin and Hermes have freed lots of the boys now and it isn’t long before they are all ready to be ported.

I am the only one confident porting so many of us and it uses almost all my remaining power to do so.  I am unable to make use of the clothing to help because there seems to be a block that only allows the owner to use their power.  I port us outside the inn and Rin quickly gets the innkeeper to summon the city guard.  The city guards who arrive are dumbfounded by the sight of close to a hundred poor and in some cases almost starved boys.

The guards quickly take the girl away but it takes longer for them to take the boys.  The guards will find their parents who will soon be reunited with the boys.  We return to our room but Yu Kii isn’t there.  We are worried but there is nothing we can do other than wait.  After a minute she ports in.

“Sorry, but I had to tell that boy’s mother the good news.  I was so relieved we found him alive.”  Yu Kii says.

“How do you know for sure he was one of those boys?”  I ask worried she may have made a bad assumption.

“I sensed him.  His spirit is connected to his mother’s spirit so they are very similar.”  Yu Kii answers.  She could identify the boy out of all those boys there without even having met him before?  Despite her funny talk about spirits Yu Kii really is amazing.

(Yu Kii)

Knowing that those poor young boys have been returned to their mothers is a huge weight off of my mind.  I couldn’t concentrate at all yesterday because I was so worried.  Today I intend to focus on just enjoying the trip.  It is obvious that is the purpose of the trip and I plan to make the most of it.

I am wearing my spare uniform since I destroyed my normal one.  I’ll have to get another spare when we return.  I am just lucky I can wash and dry it instantly with magic each night when I take it off.  Otherwise it might have been a bit smelly by the end of the week.  That would have been embarrassing.  I am still embarrassed when I think back to yesterday.

“Yu Kii, pass the salt.”  Rin says.  I put my fork down and pass her the salt.

Even if it is a bit expensive the breakfast at this inn is rather special.  Now I can eat it without distraction so I really am enjoying it this morning.  The spiced Fire Bird steaks are really flavourful and the Fire Bird omelette is really sweet.  There are even Fire Bird pancakes.  They taste amazing when drizzled with fruit juice, sprinkled with sugar or even with a subtle enchantment.  The mushrooms are all enchanted and are to die for.  If I tried everything on the buffet I would double in weight, but I really enjoy what I do eat.

“Everyone be ready to leave in five minutes.”  Professor Schwarz calls out.  Other guests look at her in amusement but she doesn’t pay them any attention.

“We’d better head back to our room.”  Rin says and quickly gulps down her enchanted milk.  I quickly finish off my last Fire Bird steak and then rush after Rin.  In my haste I bump into another girl on the way.  It is Sor and she falls to the ground even though I only lightly knocked her.

“Rude girl, watch where you’re going!”  She yells at me as she struggles to get up.

“I’m sorry!”  I tell her and offer a helping hand but she just glares at it disdainfully.  She has a hard time getting up but even so she seems determined to refuse my help.  Once she is up she just walks off ignoring me.

“What’s her problem?”  Rin mutters quietly once she is gone.

“We’d better hurry or we’ll be late.”  I tell Rin and so we hurry off again but with a bit more care to avoid any more unfortunate accidents.

In our room we quickly freshen up and grab the complimentary heat stones the inn provided.  It is cold outside and they will keep us warm until they run out of power.  We could in theory use fire magic to keep warm but this is much more convenient and using fire magic like that in the city streets is banned.  There’s too much risk of accidentally hurting someone.

We get down to the main entrance just as Professor Schwarz says, “Anyone after this will be late now.  You two just avoided being late Rin and Yu Kii.  Lucky for you since anyone who is late will be cleaning the 3F classroom every day at lunchtime, without magic, for two weeks when we get back.”

She said the same thing yesterday, except it was 3H.  I guess we don’t want to be late.  Cleaning a room isn’t so bad, but at lunchtime the whole class will be there.  I can feel their stares even just imagining it.  Fortunately we got back in time and Hermes, Emma and Asuna are already here.

“Sor and Emi.  It isn’t like you two to be late, but you’ll be cleaning 3F for two weeks when we get back.”  Professor Schwarz says with a frown.  Sor glares at me and Emi just winces.  Professor Schwarz looks around as if counting students.  “It seems everyone is here now.  We will be walking to our first destination because it isn’t far.  Everyone follow me.”

We all follow Professor Schwarz through the streets.  The streets are busy already even though it is so early.  Portalis is by far the largest and busiest place I have ever been to.  I thought the temple was big but then I saw the academy and after that Utopia Camerona.  Portalis easily dwarfs even Utopia Camerona.

We walk through the crowds and past shops and street stalls.  Even simple street stalls sell goods I have never heard of and some of the shops are rather intimidating.  To my horror there are even stalls and shops selling slaves.  Most of the slaves are men or black, or both.

“Are black people more likely to be slaves in Contractia?”  I ask Rin.

“The Fallen Angels prefer to use black people because they are also black.  As a result prisoners of war, both in this war and wars past are often black.  Prisoners of war are normally sold as slaves to fund the war effort or used as human sacrifices for spells like the one we stopped yesterday.  If they are captured by an independent company the captain decides their fate.  Otherwise the Queen or someone acting on her behalf does. The descendants of the original slaves are also slaves unless their master is kind enough to free them.  So being black doesn’t make you a slave but a lot of slaves are black.”  Rin says.

“I’m glad my brother doesn’t have to see this.”  I say with a sigh.

“You have a brother?”  Rin asks in surprise.

“And a sister.  My brother is black though.”  I say and Rin’s mouth falls wide open.

“Wouldn’t you be black too if your brother was?”  Rin asks.

“No, our bodies are unrelated.  We are siblings of the soul.”  I tell Rin.

“I really don’t get that.”  Rin says shaking her head.  “You should really stop talking about souls and spirits though.  I don’t personally care, but most people will look down on you for it.”

“Why?”  I ask confused.

“Because Contractians don’t believe in such things.  Sure we know magic and gods are real.  We don’t believe in life after death or anything like that though.”  Rin says.

“But spirits are just as real as magic.”  I tell Rin but she just sighs.

“I’m not telling you to stop believing in such things, but it would be wise to stop mentioning them.”  Rin tells me.

“It’s not like I go out of my way to mention them.”  I tell her.

“Well it’s your choice, but it annoys me when people look down on you for something so silly.”  Rin says.

“Yesterday I summoned a spirit to defeat that girl.”  I tell Rin.  I can tell she doesn’t believe me though.  I was fortunate that the spirit of that tower so obviously hated the girl.  It couldn’t stand what she had turned it into and the sacrifice of all those boys would have defiled it.  It was a weak spirit but with my help it was able to enter her mind.

“Everyone join the middle queue.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  I look up and see a huge building even bigger than the academy.

“The Ancient Library!”  Emi exclaims.

“You only just noticed.”  Sor says mocking her.  I am not the only one puzzled by her cold attitude towards her friend.

“I’m sorry.”  Emi says to Sor as if she is the one who should be apologising.

“Pay more attention to your surroundings in the future.”  Sor says and Emi nods accepting her words.

“Stop standing around everyone!  Get a move on!”  Professor Schwarz tells us and we all quickly join the queue.  It is long but moves quite quickly.  The queues to either side of us are long but don’t seem to be moving at all.

“They’re for non-mages.”  Rin tells me.  “I read that people in those queues sometimes wait most of the day to enter.”

“Sometimes people queue all day and get turned away before they get to enter.”  Emma tells us.

“Seriously?”  Rin asks sounding shocked.  I must admit I am shocked too.

“Yes.  It really isn’t good to be a non-mage in Portalis, City of Mages.”  Emma says looking down darkly.

“How do you know?”  Rin asks.

“My aunt used to tell me all about Portalis.”  Emma says.  “She was lucky to be a mage but she still saw what it was like not to be one.”

“We’re almost at the front already.”  I comment.

“Yes, if you are a mage it doesn’t take long.”  Emma says.  Then we are passing through the doors.  Once inside Professor Schwarz tells us we should look around on our own.  We are to meet up near the exit at midday.

“I’m sorry but I’m going to spend the whole time immersed in books so I’ll meet everyone back here at midday.”  Rin says.  “Don’t get lost, because you can’t port inside here.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”  I tell Rin.  I am confident that my earth sense can guide me out of here when it is time.  “Enjoy yourself.”

“Thanks, and you too.”  Rin says with a smile and then rushes off.

“See you later.”  Hermes and Asuna both say and head off together.

“See you.”  Emma says with a smile and then I am on my own.  I have no particular interest so I just wander randomly.  The library is huge.  Book cases are lined up and stacked on top of each other forming corridors within each room.  There must be at least a couple of hundred book cases stacked on top of each other.  I can sense the powerful earth magic keeping them stable.  The first bookcase I can reach easily and the second I would have to stretch to reach even the second shelf, but after that the only way for me to reach any of the books would be with magic.

“How do you even find anything in here?”  I ask to myself but to my surprise I get an answer.

“Everything is ordered according to category and author.  The map is over there.  Now stop blocking the way, rude girl.”  Sor tells me.  I quickly get out her way.

“I’m really sorry about earlier.”  I tell her.

“And for eavesdropping?”  She asks.  I hadn’t realised she had recognised me that time.

“Yes, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I just didn’t want to interrupt you.”  I say and bow deeply to her.

“You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you?  You could have just ported.”  Sor says with a cynical laugh.

“I could have, but I hate porting so I try not to if I don’t need to.”  I explain.

“Hate porting?  Why would you hate the only good thing about being a mage?”  Sor asks in disbelief.

“It just feels unnatural.”  I tell her unable to put it into better words.

“Why do you even care what I think of you?”  Sor asks me.  Her question makes me blink.

“Why?”  I ask confused.  “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Most people wouldn’t.  Unless there is something you think you can get from me.  You’re in for a disappointment though, because no matter how much you kiss up to me I’m not going to so much as lift a finger for you.”  Sor tells me.

“There’s nothing I want from you!”  I protest.

“Good, because that’s exactly what you’re going to get.  Now stop wasting my precious time and go play with your friends.”  Sor says and casually waves me away.

“I’m not here to play!”  I tell her starting to get annoyed now that my guilt is relieved.

“Fine, but play somewhere else.”  Sor says.  I take a step towards her but Emi steps between us.

“It would be best to back off.”  Emi says and her tone is cold as ice.

“Fine, but if you stop acting like that, maybe other people would like you better.”  I tell them both and walk away.

“Why would I want people to like me?”  Sor asks angrily.  I stop in shock, but after a moment carrying on walking.

“Life is easier and more interesting if people like you.”  I tell Sor loudly before breaking into a run.

“Don’t run in here!”  A scary looking woman shouts at me from above and I reduce my pace to a fast walk.

“Sorry!”  I tell her but I don’t wait for her reaction.  Normally I would stop to bow to her but that would mean staying in front of Sor for even longer.  After walking for a few minutes and having taken at least a few turns to get here I stop to look around me.  I have no idea where I am but I’ll just use my earth sense to get back later.

I look at a random book and gasp.  No way!  In a library this size I just happened across this book.  The History of Ishki - Abridged.  Out of curiosity I take it off the shelf and open it.  This copy is in modern Contractian.  I read the first few lines and find myself unable to stop.

Before I realise it the busy section I am in has emptied.  I am the only one here.  I check the city time keeper with my dimensional senses and realise that it is almost midday.  I wish you could check the time without the need for dimensional magic.  Perhaps I should ask Rin whether her mother could make something simpler that I could use.  It would surely be useful for commoners to know the time too, so perhaps it would catch on with her customers.

I put the book back wishing I had time to finish it.  There is nothing remotely useful in it but it is the most addictive read I have ever experienced.  Even though I am short of time I stand there with one hand on the book.  It takes a lot of will power to finally let go.  Then I open my earth senses to work out where the exit is.  That’s when I begin to panic.  Many of the books here are magical and all the cases are.  That means there is an awful lot of magic permeating the whole area.  In other words my earth senses are useless in here.

I try to think which way I came in but thanks to the book I can’t even remember the general direction.  Thanks to the argument with Sor I also paid no attention on my way here so I am truly lost with no hope of finding the exit.  Then I remember Sor told me about the maps.  I look around desperately and see one.  I breathe a sigh of relief and take a look at it.

The words are blurred from age but I think I can see where the exit is.  It has a big ‘YOU ARE HERE’ with an arrow so there is no problem working out where I am on it.  Okay, so that way, then that way, then that way.  Easy.  Let’s go.

I walk for a while and then check a map as I am passing it.  To my horror I am even further than I was when I started.  I need to turn around and go back that way.  I sigh.  It is midday now so I am definitely late and Professor Schwarz is not going to be happy.

“Hey, rude girl.”  Sor’s voice comes from behind me.

“Sor, we’re going to be late!”  Turning I tell her urgently.

“You already are, so I figured I’d pick you up instead of having to wait even longer for lunch.”  Sor says.

“Pick me up?”  I ask confused.

“Porting.”  Sor says.

“But you can’t port in here.”  I tell her.

“I can.  That’s how I got here.”  Sor says with a shrug.

“Thank you!”  I tell her bowing deeply.

“Stop acting so bloody polite, rude girl, or I’ll have to vomit.”  She says looking at me disdainfully but for a moment I thought I saw the hint of a blush.

“I’m sorry.”  I say but not bowing this time.  Sor then ports us just out of sight of the exit, but I recognise where we are now.  She didn’t even need to touch me.

“I didn’t just port us.  Porting is impossible here.”  Sor says and then walks towards the exit.  As she does so a woman brushes past her and though she was only barely touched, Sor falls to the floor.  “Watch where you’re going, idiot!”

“I barely touched you.  Talk to me like that and I’ll call the city guard.”  The woman says and turns to carry on walking.

“That book is from the ancient section.”  Sor shouts after her.  I don’t understand why but everyone in earshot turns to look first at Sor and then at the woman.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”  The woman says with a haughty laugh.

“Even so, I’ll need to check.”  The same scary woman who scolded me earlier says to the woman.

“You can’t seriously believe that brat.”  The haughty woman says with a nervous laugh.

“The book, now.”  The scary woman tells her firmly and much scarier now.

“Here.”  The haughty woman says but she sounds resigned now.

“This is a first edition of Death’s Shadow.  It is indeed from the ancient section.  Come with me.”  The scary woman says and as she does so the book disappears as if ported.

I turn and Sor is standing again now, but she seems short of breath.

Chapter 5 (Multiple)

(Emma)

To think that I am actually in the Ancient Library…  I had considered coming here on my day off but decided against it.  It was too risky.  Just seeing my aunt is enough.  To be here and not do it though…  I don’t have the willpower for that.  I sigh and then walk straight to my destination.  I don’t check the map.  There is no need for that.  I have never been here but I have seen this place plenty of times before.  Mother, aunt, if I don’t survive, I am truly sorry.  I didn’t plan to do this, but fate has tempted me.

“Girl, you seem to be lost.”  A librarian tells me.

“No, I am heading for the section on nonlinear singularities.”  I tell her.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise you were an immortal.  Sorry to bother you.”  She says and flies away to help someone else.  I figured she would assume I was immortal.  Only an immortal or a genius would have an interest in that topic.  A genius however would be heading for a very different section.  I breathe a sigh of relief and walk on.  I couldn’t tell her the section I am really headed for.

(Yu Kii)

“Yu Kii and Sor, you are both late!  We are very hungry thanks to the pair of you.”  Professor Schwarz scolds us.

It really isn’t that late to be eating and after the breakfast everyone had I doubt anyone is truly hungry.  In fact I doubt many of my class even know what very hungry means.  Being late for a meal or even skipping one doesn’t make you very hungry.  Going without food for days does.  I was lucky to have a kind brother, but even he had to be strict at times.  Other miko were very hungry all the time.  I was generally just hungry.  I do miss Ara Kii.  As for my family, I missed them when I first became a miko, but now I doubt I would even recognise them.

“Where were you?”  Rin asks me as we leave the library.

“Sorry, I got lost.”  I answer.

“So did you use the maps to get unlost?”  Rin asks.

“I tried to but they didn’t make sense.”  I tell Rin.

“So how did you get out?”  Rin asks confused.

“Sor helped me.”  I tell her and Rin blinks a few times.

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t imagine her helping anyone other than Emi.”  Rin says with a laugh.  “So that’s why you both arrived at the same time.  I was sure it was coincidence, but to think that you happened to bump into her like that, and that she actually helped you.”

“She came to find me.”  I admit.  Rin looks at me like I’m crazy.

“This is Sor we are talking about, right?”  Rin asks.

“Yes.”  I say with a nod.  We walk for a while before everyone stops.

“This is where we will be eating.  This is the one meal that the academy will be paying for.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  We look up at the building she is steering us towards.

“Wow.”  Rin says in awe.  It is a small building, at least compared to the Ancient Library, but the walls are made from golden bricks.  It is surrounded by a small moat with nasty looking monsters swimming around.  Some look like purple fish with razor sharp white teeth.  Others look a bit like goblins, but they are a silver colour and with my earth sense I can tell they are metal golems.  They must be using water magic to swim, because they are far too heavy to do so without magic.  There is a drawbridge made of silver, which is slowly lowering as we approach.

“Be warned though, if you try to steal anything from here you will be enslaved for the rest of your life.”  Professor Schwarz tells us gravely.

“There’s an enchantment that detects thieves.”  Rin tells me.  “You’d have to be a fool to steal from here, or even to enter with stolen property.”

“So what’s it like on the inside?”  I ask.

“How should I know?  I don’t even know the name of the place.”  Rin asks.

“So how did you know about the enchantment?”

“I’m an alchemist, or at least aiming to be one.”  Rin says with a shrug.  “If I couldn’t detect and understand an enchantment this obvious I would be a lost cause.”

“Hurry up everyone!”  Professor Schwarz calls out and we stop talking as we hurry across the drawbridge.  The inside walls are made from silver bricks and the corridors are lined with golden statues of female mages.  Their eyes are diamonds, rubies, emeralds, amethysts, sapphires and the most precious gem of all, black soul gems.

“Doesn’t that look like Lucy, only without the wings?”  Rin asks me and looking at the statue I notice the resemblance.

“It does look a bit like her.”  I agree.

“That statue is based on one of the most infamous mages in Contractia’s history.  Her name was Feline Dragonbreath.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  “Now hurry up, we’re already late thanks to a certain girl.”

“Sorry!”  I apologise.  We hurry along.

“Where have I heard that name before?”  Rin asks herself.

“Probably in The History Of Contractia or The Fall Of The Serpent.  I suppose Silmarion may have mentioned it, but I doubt it would have come up in conversation.”    Professor Schwarz says now physically pushing us along.  We seem to have fallen behind everyone whilst we were looking at the statue.

We enter the dining hall and hanging from the ceiling are chandeliers formed of the same types of gems that formed the eyes of the statues.  Not black soul gems of course.  There is no way they could afford enough of those.  I was surprised even to see a single pair in the statues.  The tables and chairs are made from white marble but the chairs have enchanted soft seats and backs.  In front of each seat is a small black marble slab.  They have writing carved into, which is filled with gold.  It is the menu.

“Where’s Emma?”  I ask.  Rin looks around and frowns.

“She was with us when we left the library.”  Rin says.

“Didn’t Peter leave you the…?”  I start to ask but Rin shakes her head.

“There is a barrier preventing communication magic.”

“Did she get lost on the way here?”  I ask.

“If it was you, sure, but not Emma.  She isn’t the sort of girl to get lost.  She even did bounty hunts on her own.”

“So what happened to her?”  I ask.

“I don’t know, but I’m really worried about her.”  Rin says with a frown.

“Are you ready to order?”  A tall waitress with typical Contractian features wearing a silver dress asks us.

“I’m sorry, but our friend is missing.”  Rin says shaking her head.  “Professor Schwarz!”

“Yes Rin, what is it?”  Professor Schwarz says looking up from across the table where she had been reading the menu.

“Emma seems to be missing.”  Rin tell her.  Professor Schwarz blinks and looks all down the table.

“Damn.”  She curses.  “When did you last see her?”

“When we left the library.”  Rin answers.

“I should have checked everyone was here before we entered but we didn’t have time, and now it isn’t possible to leave until the allocated time has passed.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.  “I’m sure we’ll find her easily enough once we can leave, but for now there is nothing we can do.  So you may as well focus on your meal.”

“I hope she is ok.”  I say.

“She will be.”  Rin says but I can tell she is worried.

The food is very good, but we can’t really concentrate on it.  We are relieved when the meal is over and we can leave.  True to her word Professor Schwarz finds Emma straight away.  It turned out she did get lost and returned to the inn because we would return there eventually.

“See, it isn’t just me that gets lost.”  I tell Rin.  Rin nods but she seems distracted.

In the afternoon we visit the city guard headquarters.  To our amusement one of the officers recognises and thanks us for our work capturing the criminal.  It turns out she will be lashed ten times for trying to kill us ‘brave girls’ as the officer puts it.  She was then going to be executed for stealing so many boys from their rightful owners.  She volunteered to join the military and donated all her wealth to the war effort though, which just about saved her life.  I am angry that she is going to be spared after trying to kill so many children, but at least those boys are now safe.

We listen to a lecture in a huge audience hall given by one of the senior officers at the headquarters.  There must be at least twenty other schools present.  They give a demonstration of dimensional tracking techniques used to capture criminals who ported away from crime scenes.  We see the jail, which is rather disturbing because the part we see is filled with prisoners awaiting their executions.  I almost bring myself to be relieved that girl isn’t going to be executed, but then I recall the terrified faces of those poor boys.  No, I can’t bring myself to be happy she is being spared.

We finish the tour by watching the city guard combat practise.  Combined teams of both mages and non-mages compete against each other.  Then individuals spar.  Obviously mages spar with mages and non-mages spar with each other.

It is getting dark when we leave the headquarters.  We walk from the headquarters to a huge hall filled with people walking seemingly randomly.  I am confused as to its function.  I look at Rin questioningly but she has a huge smile on her face and doesn’t notice my confusion.

“Everyone meet back here in an hour.”  Professor Schwarz calls out and almost everyone rushes off immediately.  Rin pulls me along with her as she rushes towards a crystal window and black wooden door.  Through the window wearing a rich variety of clothes are statues of women and men.

“This is Kappa Kups!  Of course there is no way we could afford anything in here, but even just looking in the window is special.”  Rin says with a weird look on her face.

“I don’t understand.  What is this place?”  I ask.

“Hey, don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Kappa Kups!”  Rin exclaims.

“Sorry.”  I tell her.

“Well, as you can see, Kappa Kups is a clothes store.  A very expensive clothes store.  The cheapest item costs at least a hundred gold even when it has a huge discount.”  Rin says looking wishful.

“So, this is a shop, like in Utopia Camerona?”  I ask.

“Well yes, obviously, though you can’t compare anything in this shopping district to the lousy shops in Utopia Camerona.  Do you want to go in?”

“If it is that expensive why would we go in?”  I ask confused.

“To look!  How many people at school can say they have been in Kappa Kups?”  Rin asks.

“Umm, I don’t know.”  I say.

“Anyway, I’m going in, so you may as well come too.”  Rin says and drags me through the door into an alien world.  In the end we only visit the one shop.  Rin looks a little guilty, but her guilt didn’t stop her from making me try on dozens of outfits that we couldn’t afford even if we both used all our money from every job we have ever done.

We port back to the inn and Rin tries to convince me to go with everyone into the hot spring but I refuse of course.  So I am left alone in the room.  After all the excitement of the day I actually appreciate the chance to be alone.  It is lazy but I lie down even though it isn’t quite dinner time yet.  My eyes are closed but I am still very much awake.

To eat breakfast, lunch and dinner is also an extravagance I am not used to.  Back at the academy I generally have breakfast and lunch.  Sometimes I even have supper but that is just a light snack.  This trip is probably the first time I have eaten lunch and dinner in the same day.  Back at the temple I of course ate a lot less than I do at the academy.

“Not joining the others in the hot spring, rude girl?”  A now familiar voice says.

“Sor.”  I say in surprise.  Opening my eyes I look at her as I shake my head.  “I don’t like the idea of the hot spring.”

“I would have thought it would be ideal for an earth mage.”  Sor says raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“I don’t like the idea of being seen without my clothes on.”  I admit to Sor.

“Perhaps I should call you shy girl from now on.”  Sor says with small laugh.

“Please don’t, and please stop calling me rude girl.”

“So you can talk back.  Took you long enough though.”  Sor says and I blink at her words.

“So you’re going to stop calling me rude girl?”  I ask.

“Nope, rude girl.”  Sor says with a laugh.  I sigh.

“So, why aren’t you in the hot spring?”  I ask.  I’m pretty sure that’s where the rest of the class is.

“It’s pretty pointless for me.  I hate doing pointless things.  At least Emi is able to use it though.”  Sor says.

“Is it no good for a dimensional mage?”  I ask.

“It’s good for almost all mages.  If nothing else it will help replenish your natural mana.  It’s no good for me though, because it drains mine at the same rate it replenishes mine.”  Sor says.

“I don’t understand.”

“There’s no reason you would, and no reason for me to explain any further.  You might want to keep an eye on Emma though.  She ported away the moment Rin mentioned the enchantment on that place.  Bye, rude girl.”  Sor says and ports away before I can say anything.

I don’t understand why Sor told me this.  Sor must be talking about lunchtime.  The enchantment was only to do with stealing though, so why would Emma port away like that?  Can I even trust Sor?  Sure she helped me earlier, but I don’t know her anywhere near as well as I know Emma.  There is no way the Emma I know would steal anything.  Why would Sor lie though?  I don’t know her well enough to be sure, but she doesn’t seem like a liar.

I lie here confused.  After a while I decide there is no harm keeping an eye on Emma, but that doesn’t mean I believe she has done anything wrong.  Time was passing quickly until Sor spoke to me but now every second feels like a minute and every minute like an hour.  Eventually everyone returns and we have dinner.

After dinner we spend the time in our room just chatting.  I feel a little uncomfortable around Emma and I think she notices.  Of course she has no idea why, but it makes me wish that Sor had remained silent.

“What’s wrong, Yu Kii?”  Emma eventually asks and everyone’s eyes are on me.

“Nothing.”  I tell her.

“If you say so.”  Emma says dubiously.  “Well, I’m going outside for a breath of fresh air.”

“I’ll join you then.”  I say.

“You’re already in your nightwear.”  Emma reminds me and sounds even more suspicious now.

“Oh, I forgot.  I’ll stay here then.”  I say.

“See you.”  Emma says and grabs a small bag out of her main bag.  I stop myself from asking what is in it.

“I could actually use some fresh air too.”  Rin says and jumps up to follow Emma.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’d actually like some time to myself.”  Emma tells Rin.

“Fine, then show me what you’ve got in the bag.”  Rin says looking Emma in the eye.

“Why?”  Emma asks.

“Why would you take a bag if all you plan to do is get some fresh air?”  Rin asks.

“I was planning on having a drink too, so I needed my money.”  Emma says and opens her bag to show Rin.  “Satisfied?”

“Sure.”  Rin says.  Emma leaves and Rin looks me in the eye and asks.  “So why are acting like that?”

“Like what?”  I ask.

“You clearly suspect Emma of something.  Even she can tell that.  That’s probably why she left the room just now.”

“I’m not acting like that, am I?”  I say turning to Hermes for help, but it is Asuna who speaks.

“Even an idiot could tell you are acting weird around her.”  Asuna says.

“So just be honest with us.”  Rin tells me firmly.

“Sor said Emma ported away when you mentioned about the enchantment earlier.”  I tell Rin.  It only takes Rin a moment to realise what I mean.

“At lunchtime?”  Rin asks.

“I assume so.”  I answer.

“I wish Peter were here.  He could tell whether Emma was lying.  I trust Emma more than Sor, but it is strange for Emma to get lost.  She’s not like you.”  Rin says and I blush.

“I’m sorry for getting lost earlier.”  I tell Rin.

“Oh I’m not bothered about that.”  Rin tells me with a shrug and a smile.  “I am bothered by what Sor said.  When did you two become friends, anyway?”

“I’m not sure we’re friends.  She still calls me rude girl.”

“When did that start, anyway?  I can’t imagine you being rude to anyone.”  Hermes says.

“She started calling me rude girl after I bumped into her at breakfast today.  It’s because I accidentally eavesdropped on her and Emi at the start of the trip.”  I explain.

“What were they talking about?”  Rin asks.

“I’m sorry, but I really would be being rude if I told you that.  It was nothing important though.”  I answer.

“Fine, fine…”  Rin says with a sigh.

“I’m tired, so do you mind if I have an early night?”  I ask.

“Sure, it was a rather busy day.  Not as long as our normal day but it did feel tiring.  Of course you wouldn’t be so tired if you had relaxed in the hot spring.”  Rin tells me with a grin.

“Unless you can find me a private one I’m not going in.”  I tell Rin.

“There are private ones but they are really expensive.”  Rin says with a sigh.  “Why can’t you just relax when it’s only girls?”

“It’s still embarrassing whether it’s girls or boys.”  I tell her.

The others settle down for the night too and when Emma returns I manage to get some sleep.  The morning seems to arrive too soon.  I am still sleepy when we get up.  Breakfast refreshes me though.  I could get used to eating this much, but I shouldn’t.

We meet at the main entrance after breakfast.  Professor Schwarz hands us each a small red stone.  It is no bigger than a pebble but is perfectly round.  I look at it with my earth sense and can feel a light enchantment but I have no idea what it is meant to do.

“Your task for today is to find the five ancient shrines in the city and touch this stone against them.  It will react each time you do so.  Once you have completed the task the rest of the day is yours.  Have fun everyone.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“What’s the point?”  Sor asks sounding rather annoyed.

“It is to test your problem solving and elemental senses.”  Professor Schwarz answers.

“But all you need to do is read a map and port to each location.”  Sor complains.

“You can only port to locations you have already been to.  Seeing it on a map wouldn’t be enough to port there.”  Professor Schwarz reminds Sor.  Sor nods but doesn’t look very happy.

“So does it matter whether we complete the task?”  Sor asks.

“Yes, because I’m counting it as an official test.  Each shrine is worth twenty percent.”  Professor Schwarz tells us.

“Annoying.”  Sor says.  “Emi, we’re leaving.”

“Yes!”  Emi says.  Then Sor ports them both without even needing to touch Emi.

“Let’s do this together.”  I suggest.

“Of course.”  Rin says.

“Sure.”  Hermes and Asuna say.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I want to test my skills, so I’m going to do it on my own.”  Emma says.

“Oh, ok.”  Rin says.

“Well, good luck.”  I say trying to be polite.  Why do I have to feel suspicious?

“See you all later.”  Emma says and ports away.

“Damn, without Emma or Peter none of us have a good sense for the air element.”  Rin says and sighs.  “Oh well, we’d best get started.  I guess we could take Sor’s advice and get a map.  We can’t port to them, but it beats wandering randomly just hoping to find the shrines.”

“Where would we get a map?”  I ask.

“I bet we could get one in any of the tourist shops or the information exchanges.”  Rin suggests.

“So how do we find one of those?”  I ask.

“We went past loads yesterday.  The tourist shops are annoying and overpriced, but the information exchanges have a sign with a blue circle on a red background.  You must have seen some yesterday.”  Rin tells me.

“I do vaguely remember seeing some, but not where they were.”  I say.

“There’s one just outside the inn.”  Hermes tells us.

“I don’t remember seeing one so close.”  Rin says looking at Hermes.

“It was just down the first alley to the left as you leave.”  Hermes says.

“That’s unusual.  They are normally in the main streets and busy city squares.”  Rin says with a frown and a shrug.

“So do you want to avoid that one?”  Hermes asks.

“No, it saves us walking all the way to the nearest one I can remember seeing.”  Rin says.  “Well, let’s go.”

So we leave the inn and get to the alley.  I am about to walk down it when Rin grabs my arm.  I turn and Rin is blushing madly.

“What’s wrong?”  I ask.

“That’s not an information exchange.  That’s a red circle and a blue background.  That is something entirely different.”  Rin says.

“What is it then?”  I ask.

“Well, I’d rather not say.”  Rin answers and her face is a deep scarlet.  I look to Hermes but she shrugs.  I then look to Asuna.

“It is a shop that rents out slaves.  Male slaves…”  Asuna says but even she is blushing.  I don’t have to think too hard to understand what the slaves are most likely used for.

Chapter 6 (Multiple)

(Sor)

It took three minutes to find and visit all of the shrines.  Three wasted minutes of my life that I will never get back.  Oh well, I had expected to waste all day until I heard about the silly little task Professor Schwarz set.

“So what now?”  Emi asks as if there was a need.

“Back to the library.”  I say and port us back there.  We have to queue again, which wastes even more of my life.  I hate wasting my life waiting as much as I hate wasting it doing pointless things.  At least once we are inside we can spend all day reading.  I can that is.  Emi will have to guard me whilst I read.  That is her job though, so she has no right to complain.

I port us both straight to the ancient section.  I quickly find where Death’s Shadow, the book that woman tried to steal should be.  It would have been returned by now.  There is a gap where it should be.  It must have taken them longer than normal to return it.  It isn’t like I was that interested in the book.

I look for another book that captures my interest.  Ah, that one looks useful.  I read it from cover to cover.  It is only seven hundred pages but it takes over a minute to read because I take my time.  It really was interesting.  My next book takes only twenty seconds but that is twenty seconds wasted that I will never get back.  I look up and gasp.  Emi is lying on the floor unconscious and a girl is standing in front of me with a huge grin on her face.

“Hello Sor.”  She says with a snicker.

“Hello Claire.”  I say reading her name tag.

“The ancient section is restricted.  You shouldn’t be here.”  She says.

“I don’t suppose you should be either.”  I say with a frown.  She is too young to be assigned here as a worker.

“But I work here.”  She says sounding innocent.

“You’re lying.”  I tell her.

“Oh, are you like Peter?”  She asks.  I frown.  Is she a student from my class?  I didn’t waste any of my life memorising every student in the class.  A few were interesting.  The rest are a waste of space, and more importantly time.  “No, that’s impossible.  I always wanted to duel you, so how about we fight here?”

“If you are from my class you should know it is pointless to duel me.”  I tell her with a mocking laugh.

“Oh, I’m not from your class.  I was in 3E.  I’ll even give you first move.  So, want to play?”  She asks.  There is no way anyone in such a low class would challenge me, but I sense danger.  More danger than I would imagine possible from another student.

“You’ve been studying here?”  I ask.

“I started in the Great Library, but they have a few books here that can’t be found there.”  She says.

“Then I’ll have to decline.”  I tell her.  I then try to port away with Emi.  Port blocks, even ones as powerful as in this library, make no difference to me.  Port barriers are something else entirely.  That’s why I had to queue to get in here.  She obviously has a port barrier up, because my port is blocked.

“Oh don’t go running away already.  So the great Sor is just a scared little mouse.  To think I had to pretend to be weaker than idiots like you.”  She says.  Silently I curse Emi for getting beaten so easily.  I can control dimensional magic with a precision most can only admire, but my attack is pathetic because my magic is so weak.

“What do you really want?”  I ask her.

“To kill you.”  She says and her grin is even wider than before.

“Sorry, but she is one of us now.”  Emma says appearing out of nowhere.  She didn’t port so she must have been hiding her presence.

“There’s no way that Sor would join you.”  Claire says looking at Emma in utter disbelief.

“Well she did, so the contract prevents you from harming her.  The same goes for her friend.  You’re lucky it didn’t trigger when you attacked her the first time.”  Emma says with a shrug.  Claire spits at me but I shield.

“Same goes for you then.  Harm me and you’ll trigger the contract.”  Claire says and ports away.

“Who was that girl?”  I ask Emma.

“Claire Ippy.  She was sentenced to death for treason.  Her mother was executed but she escaped.  I didn’t see you here and you didn’t see me.”  Emma says and hides her presence again.  Even though I know she is there I can’t sense her.  She is better than I thought.

“Emi!”  I whisper urgently and shake Emi awake.

(Emma)

The second book I am looking for is still missing.  I have the first hidden in our room.  I used an enchantment so I am confident nobody will find it.  Why Yu Kii chose now of all times to get suspicious of me I have no idea, but I am glad it wasn’t someone a little better at hiding their feelings.

Rin is smart but not very good at hiding her feelings, so wouldn’t have been any more of an issue than Yu Kii.  If it had been Asuna and she had kept quiet I doubt I would have figured it out, but she would probably have openly challenged me.  Hermes would have been the real problem.  She may not be as smart as Rin but she is no fool and knows exactly how to hide her feelings.

I don’t like deceiving my friends.  They even saved me and my mother.  I am committed now though.  I have one book but alone it is as good as having none.  Actually it is worse, because with even just one book I can still be executed.  Why does the other book choose now to go missing!?  It isn’t checked out so it is most likely undergoing repairs, but that means it should be back by tonight at the latest.  I will return later.

My presence still hidden I leave the library.  I may as well test my skills like I said I was going to.  That way I don’t have to lie about anything trivial.

The first shrine is easy because it is in the air way above the city arena.  I find that in five minutes.  The second shrine is predictably in the city moat.  Where else would a water shrine be…?  Earth isn’t too hard either.  It is at the top of the mountain in the northern city sector.

The other two shrines are more interesting to find.  Fire and dimension.  Fire I would have expected to be near the main city forge but it isn’t.  I stumble upon dimension by chance.  Fortunate really, given how rubbish my dimensional magic is.  I was sure I’d need a map to find that one, but where is the fire shrine?

I return to the top of the mountain and look for clues with my eyes and my senses.  It is my earth sense that proves crucial.  The shrines are as old as the Ancient Library so my thinking was off about the main forge.  That is a modern building but with my earth sense I find the old forge.  The old forge is gone now but its ruins lie buried outside the city walls, although still within the city shield.  I realise there must have been a disaster, because the whole area around it clearly used to be part of the city.  Perhaps it was even the original city, because it seems even older than the Ancient Library.

Having visited all of the shrines I decide to retry the library.  I get inside with my presence hidden again.  Again the book is missing.  I don’t see anyone I know this time though.

(Yu Kii)

It is dark by the time we return to the inn.  We found all five shrines using the map.  After that we just had fun exploring the city.  We had a nice lunch in the city centre, although it cost almost a gold each, so we can’t afford to do that again!

We figured that Professor Schwarz will take us to the Circle of Portals so we didn’t do that, but we saw the Great Shield when we visited the fire shrine.  For a city shield it is spectacular.  I doubt even a Fallen Angel or an army of elves could destroy it.  The others talk about using the power of earth but it is actually connected to the spirit of the land.  A powerful spirit it is too.

When we get back to our room Emma is already there and has just come back from the hot spring.  Everyone else decides to go in, which just leaves the two of us.  I am sure it will be awkward and almost consider going in the hot spring too.  I consider it for about half a second before deciding that no matter how awkward it is with Emma there is no way I am going in the hot spring.

“So just the two of us now.”  Emma says with an awkward smile.

“Um, yeah.”  I say smiling back just as awkwardly.

“So how did your shrine hunt go?”  Emma asks.

“We used a map so it wasn’t too bad.  We had a great time exploring the city though.  You should have joined us.”  I say.

“I had a good time too, and I found all the shrines without a map.  The fire one was difficult and I figured I might need a map for the dimensional one, but I found them all in the end.”  Emma says with a smile that seems less awkward now.

“So what did you do with the rest of the day?”  I ask.

“It took a lot of the day, and the hot spring was great.  You really should try it at least once.”

“Sorry, but that’s not possible.”  I say shaking my head wildly.

“You’re the one who’s missing out, so no need to be sorry to me.”  Emma says with a laugh.  We end up talking easily enough and I soon forget any awkwardness.  Before we know it the others return and we go down and eat dinner.  We are still a little full from lunch so we only order a light meal.  Then we return to our room.

“Just one more day and then it is our day off.”  Emma says with a nervous smile.

“Are you still worried about your aunt?”  Rin asks.

“You would be too if she was your aunt.”  Emma says with a nervous laugh.

“She doesn’t know you are in Portalis, right?  So if you are that worried, you don’t have to see her.”  I suggest.

“I couldn’t do that to her.  It’s true that I am worried, but to come here and not see her would be cruel.”  Emma says shaking her head.

“We’re all betting it’s the Circle of Portals tomorrow, but what’s your bet?”  Rin asks Emma, perhaps trying to distract her.

“My bet is the Sky Garden.  We’ll pass the Circle of Portals on the way home, because the queue for the return gate goes right past there.”  Emma says.

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”  Rin says.  “I hope it is the Sky Garden.  Do they sell rare herbs there?”

“If you can afford them, but their prices are just as high as the garden itself.”  Emma says and Rin’s disappointment is obvious.  Seeing this Emma thinks for a moment and then says.  “I know somewhere you can get rare herb seeds at a more reasonable price.  There’s no such thing as cheap with rare herbs, but if there are herbs of particular interest to you it may be worthwhile.”

“You must show me this place!”  Rin tells Emma enthusiastically.

“So what herbs do you need?”  Emma asks.

“I’d like to know what they have first.”  Rin answers.

“Ok.”  Emma says, clearly a little dubious.

We talk a while longer and then go to sleep.  The morning as always seems to arrive too soon.  Still sleepy I get up and have breakfast.  Then we meet at the main entrance again.

“Where are Sor and Emi?”  Professor Schwarz asks as everyone else is here already.

“They didn’t return to their room yesterday.”  A girl I don’t know the name of says.

“So, why didn’t you inform me yesterday?”  Professor Schwarz asks clearly in a panic.

“You know what those two are like.”  The girl says with a shrug.

“We’re here.”  Sor says appearing out of nowhere and glaring at the girl who goes pale.

“Where have you been?!”  Professor Schwarz yells at Sor.

“We did a quick job last night.  It took longer than I expected.”  Sor says with a shrug.

“What job?”  Professor Schwarz asks quietly angry.

“Hunting a criminal.  We caught her in the end.”  Sor says with a yawn.

“What criminal?”  Professor Schwarz asks with a frown.

“Claire Ippy.  A traitor.”  Sor says and I gasp.

“She used to be a student at our academy.  How did you find her?”  Professor Schwarz asks intrigued.

“With magic, of course.”  Sor says as if to an idiot.

“But…”  Professor Schwarz starts to say.

“Don’t you have a schedule to follow?”  Sor asks innocently.

“Yes, and we’re late.”  Professor Schwarz says with a sigh.  “We’ll continue this conversation later, but for now everyone please follow me and be quick about it.”

We follow Professor Schwarz as she rushes through the streets until we arrive at a large black granite circle resting on and surrounded by a huge white marble square.  The granite is only about a foot high and it clearly has earth and wind magic enchantments on it.  There is a fair crowd standing on it already but there is plenty of room left.  I don’t see any men or boys in the crowd.  We all follow Professor Schwarz onto it.

“It must almost be time, ah there we go.  We just made it in time.  We’d have had to wait ten minutes for the next one if we had missed it.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“Is the Sky Garden up there?”  Rin asks excitedly.

“Yes and I suppose an alchemist’s daughter would be interested in this place.”  Professor Schwarz answers.

“You’re an alchemist’s daughter?”  Emi asks sounding interested for the first time.

“Yes.”  Rin says looking at Emi in confusion.

“Probably a rubbish alchemist though.”  Sor says and glares at Emi.

“What did you say about my mother?”  Rin asks taking a step towards Sor.

“Enough, both of you.”  Professor Schwarz warns them before things can get out of hand.  Rin glares at Sor but doesn’t say anything else.  Sor however just ignores Rin and walks to the edge to look at the city below us.  Emi follows Sor but keeps her eyes down on the ground.  I am sure the view is really good but I can’t see it because the whole edge is lined with people looking down at it.  I look up but can’t see the Sky Garden.

It takes almost five minutes but eventually we reach the Sky Garden.  One moment there is nothing in sight above us and the next moment we are plunged into darkness as we continue straight up through a stone tunnel in the sky.  It only takes a few moments and we are through the tunnel.  It is bright again and I find myself blinking.

“Everyone off!”  Professor Schwarz calls out and so we follow everyone else off of the granite disk.  There is a long queue following a glowing green stone tunnel that winds out of sight, but it is moving quite quickly.  After a few minutes we can see three huge green stone gates.  The queue splits into three and people are going through each gate.  Seeing the gates Professor Schwarz tells us.  “We’ll be using the middle gate everyone.  Make sure to stay together and don’t stop the moment we get through the gate.  We don’t want to hold everyone up.”

It doesn’t take long to reach the gate and once we do we are just waved through.  I had thought there would be a fee to enter, but it is nice that there isn’t.    Through the gate there is a large open area where the roof is far above us.  There are large slabs of stone glowing green, red, orange and blue forming a colourful patterned path from the gate and into the distance.

“This way everyone.”  Professor Schwarz tells us and leads us to the left of the path.  The ground we are on is a dark stone but the light from the path and the glowing green roof allow us to see easily enough.

“This smell reminds me of the garden back at the academy.”  Rin says with a sniff.  I sniff too and can barely sense a sweet smell.  It is a bit like the academy garden if I recall correctly, but it is much fainter.

“We will meet back here in three hours.  Do not be late.  Until then explore the Sky Garden and make the most of this rare opportunity to see some of the most valuable plants, stones and animals in all of Contractia.  The Soul Stone is a must see for any mage, so don’t miss it.  I’m going to be busy until we leave so goodbye for now.”  Professor Schwarz tells us and ports away.  Right after she does so Sor and Emi port away, though I doubt they are porting to the same place as Professor Schwarz.

“We may as well follow the path.”  A girl I don’t know suggests.  We all seem to be in agreement so we wander along the path again.  Soon we reach a split in the path.

“Let’s go this way.  I think the smell is coming from this direction.”  Rin suggests and so Asuna, Hermes, Emma and I follow her.  Most of the class head the other way but some make the same choice as us.  The path splits a few more times and each time we follow the direction that the smell is coming from.  Soon it is just the five of us from our class, although there are still plenty of other people going in both directions along the path.

“It is definitely the same smell.”  Rin says.  I can’t tell since it was so long ago that I went to that garden at the academy.

“What’s that up ahead?”  I ask mostly to myself.

“It looks the same as before to me.  Do you sense something with your earth sense?”  Rin asks.

“Yes.  It’s still a fair way but I sense powerful magic.”  I tell her.

“Maybe we’re about to find the source of the smell.”  Rin suggests.

“Maybe, but I didn’t sense anything like this at the academy.”  I say.  We walk a little further and then arrive at the source of the magic.  “Here it is.”

“I don’t see anything.”  Rin says with a frown.

“I do sense something, but it is very well hidden.  I am amazed you sensed it from so far away.  If I hadn’t known it was there I would have walked straight past it without noticing.”  Asuna says.

“I still can’t sense anything.”  Hermes says sounding embarrassed.

“It can’t be the source of the smell.  That gets stronger further on.”  Asuna says and Rin nods.

“I think we’re still a fair way from the source.  What is it that you sensed here though?”  Rin asks.

“I’m not sure.”  I say and kneel by the source of the magic.  I focus all of my earth sense on it but I am still confused.

“What are you girls doing?”  A young woman asks.  She is wearing green clothes with a name tag on her left breast that I can’t read from here.  She must work here.

“We were just wondering what this magic here was.”  Rin says.  The woman frowns.

“There must be a flaw in the enchantment if you can sense it.  It is meant to be undetectable except by the most talented of earth mages.  There’s no way a mere student mage could detect it if it was done correctly.  It must have been that lazy Nell that did this one.  This is one of the many enchantment points that keep the Sky Garden in the sky.  If they were all destroyed we would fall onto the city below us.  I’ll get one of the senior mages to take a look at it, but please just go about your business instead of standing around here.”

“Oh, ok.  Let’s go everyone.”  Rin says and so we follow her towards the source of the smell.  “I bet the enchantment was fine and you just happen to be talented enough to find it anyway.  I wish I could see the look on their faces when they discover there wasn’t a flaw.”

“I’m not that good.  There probably was a flaw.”  I say shaking my head.  After a while and a few more splits in the path we arrive at the source of the smell.  It is a red plant with long tendrils about the thickness of my arm covering the whole area ahead of us.  It has one large red flower.  The whole plant is surrounded by a magical shield that allows the smell to permeate the air, but doesn’t allow us to get too close.

“It really isn’t much to look at, but the smell is lovely.”  Rin says.  “I wish they hadn’t stopped us going into the garden at the academy.”

“I recognise this plant.”  I say in horror.

“So what is it?”  Rin asks not seeming to notice my feelings.

“This plant drinks blood and eats people.  I only saw one plant like it before.  I don’t remember the smell from that time, but this is definitely the same.”  I say shaking slightly.

“Do you think they feed it slaves?”  Asuna asks with a horrified voice.

“I don’t think they’d kill anyone to feed it, but they might feed it slaves who are already dead.  I used to really enjoy this smell, but if it is the smell of death…  Let’s go.”  Rin says bitterly and turns away from the plant.  Everyone turns to follow Rin but I stand there shaking and unable to move.

“Yu Kii?”  Hermes asks noticing I am just standing there still.  I can’t answer her.  I burst into tears unable to suppress my sorrow any longer.

“Yu Kii, what’s wrong?”  Rin asks urgently.  She runs the few steps to reach me and grabs my shoulders.

“Port me.”  I manage to say through my tears.

“Ok, back near the gates everyone.”  Rin says and ports me.  The others follow moments later.  I sit and try to stop my tears but they just flow even faster.

“What’s wrong?”  A young woman asks.

I look up and see a name tag on her left breast.  Another member of staff…  I take deep breaths until I can talk and then talk in a rush through my tears.  “The hell flower, how, why?”

“Hell flower…  Oh that.  We only feed it dead black male slaves.  We don’t even kill them.  There are plenty to use already and it saves us burying or incinerating them.  They should be grateful, because it is the only way a male or a black person will ever enter this place.”  She says and every part of me just screams out in anger.  She is only a foot away, so it would only take a moment to grab her throat, reinforce my grip and kill her.  My very soul yells at me to do so but somehow I resist.

“Get out of my sight, now!”  I yell at her whilst fighting my soul’s fury.

“What…?”  She starts to ask.

“Go, now.”  I tell her quietly but with a voice as cold as ice.  She jumps back clearly alarmed and ports away.

“Yu Kii…?”  Rin asks in utter shock.  I sense everyone’s eyes on me.  Not just Hermes, Asuna, Emma and Rin.  Everyone’s eyes.  The people passing by.  Other members of staff.

“What do you want to do?”  Asuna asks.  I am grateful for her calm words.

“The, inn.”  I say with a few deep breathes.

“We’ll need to walk to the exit but I can port you back as soon as the disk takes us out of the port block around the edge of this place.”  Asuna says.

“Thanks.”  I say after a few more deep breathes.

“It’s called a port barrier, but there are holes in it.  How utterly worthless to create a barrier and then leave holes in it…”  Sor says appearing out of nowhere with Emi beside her.  “I’ll take her back now.  It gives me an excuse to leave this gloomy place.  I can’t stand the scent of death either.  You coming too, slave?”  Asuna looks a little shocked but nods.  Nobody else seems to know what to say so they just stand there looking unsure.  “Then stand close to me, but don’t touch me or I’ll kill you.  Same goes for you, excuse girl.”

I manage to stand and walk the few steps towards her.  Then she ports the four of us.  Sor looks at me a moment with a weird expression on her face.  Then she ports away with Emi, leaving me and Asuna alone.  I look around and see we are in our room at the inn.

“Thanks Sor.”  I say weakly even though she is already gone.

“I really don’t understand that girl, but you seem to have some sort of connection with her.”  Asuna says.  “You look like you’re feeling a bit better now.  You don’t have to talk about what happened, but I will listen if you want to.”

“That plant doesn’t just eat people’s bodies.  It eats their soul.  Even feeding it a corpse will feed it their soul if they died recently.  If they didn’t it refuses to eat their body.”  I say wiping away tears.

“I don’t really believe in souls, but if what you say is true I can understand your reaction.”  Asuna says with a frown.  “Nobles pray to the Queen to guide people’s souls after death, but we mostly just do it for the sake of the feelings of those left behind.  We don’t actually believe the Queen does anything of the sort.”

“She doesn’t.”  I say shaking my head at such an absurd idea.  “Only gods and angels can do that.  People can pray to those gods and angels, but nothing more.  Even that is useless if you don’t have their favour.”

Chapter 7 (Multiple)

(Yu Kii)

It is the afternoon now and I have calmed down.  The rest of the class returned to the inn for lunch and now we are heading out again for the afternoon.  Professor Schwarz hasn’t said a word about earlier.  Rin, Hermes and Emma seem a little cautious around me as if they are unsure of what to do or say.

“Everyone seems to be here on time for once.”  Professor Schwarz says with a relieved look on her face.  “We will be visiting IEHQ, the Information Exchange Headquarters.  For those with an interest in the more subtle ways magic can be used, this is an ideal opportunity to see the ingenuity of some of Contractia’s best mages at work.  Anyone can throw a fireball or port, but how many mages are capable of keeping communications open between the many worlds within Contractia?  The Queen and our forces can make the correct decisions, because of the people you will see today.  This is the place where the war against the Fallen Angels will be won.”

“Don’t you think the mages who actually fight on the battlefield are rather important too?”  One girl asks and a few others laugh.

“Of course every mage and even many non-mages play an important role in the war.  The role they play though is determined by mages at IEHQ.  Now let’s go before we fall behind schedule yet again.”  Professor Schwarz says dismissively.

We follow Professor Schwarz through the streets.  The building is the least impressive one we have been taken to.  Even the inn is much more impressive than this rundown little building.  On the outside and in the reception area that is.  It seems most of the work is done downstairs and after being led down a deep dark staircase I blink to adjust to the bright light.

There are hundreds of neat rows of desks as far as I can see.  At each desk is a mage.  Most of them seem to be old women.  I can tell they are using dimensional magic just by looking.  I have no idea what they are using it for, but I can only assume they are using it for communication just as Professor Schwarz said.  We are greeted by a woman who is a bit younger than most of the mages here but certainly isn’t young.  I don’t get the impression she is a mage.

“Hello girls.  I am your guide for today.  Due to the war many areas are strictly off limits for visitors but there is still plenty to see.  We only have half an hour so please don’t dawdle.  Also under no circumstances are you allowed to talk to any of our mages or use magic.  They have important work to do that requires the utmost concentration.  Now please follow me.”  The woman tells us and then sets a fairly fast pace.  We do follow but Sor seems to struggle to keep up.

“Do you need help?”  Emi whispers to Sor but I am close enough to hear her.

“Mind your own damn business.”  Sor whispers back with a dark glare.  She is struggling but she manages to just about keep up.

“Here we are.”  The guide tells us.  “The large desk here is a map of all the worlds under Contractian rule as well as many allied and enemy worlds.  It doesn’t of course go into detail about each world but strategically it is very important.  Most mages here make use of it in their work.

“It also tells us when a world has recently changed hands.  Here for example we have a world that used to be allied, but has unfortunately fallen to the enemy.  That is why it shows as a flashing red instead of a constant red.  Here we have a world which used to belong to the enemy but is now under our control, and is of course a flashing green.  In war it is not uncommon for worlds to change hands frequently.  It is essential that all mages here only relay communication to our worlds and those of our allies.  Imagine if we relayed everything to the enemy!”

“There seem to be an awful lot of worlds in red that were in green last time I visited here.”  Professor Schwarz says sounding rather shocked.

“You’ve been here before?”  The woman asks in surprise.

“Yes, but it was back when I was a student.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“What are the lines between the worlds?”  Rin asks.

“Those are dimensional streams that allow us to travel and communicate between worlds.”  The woman says.

“Where the lines cross is it possible to change onto a different line?”  Rin asks.

“Yes, with enough skill, but only our more talented mages can communicate like that.”

“What about when you travel between worlds?”  Rin asks.

“Only if you feel particularly suicidal.  It is theoretically possible, but it would be incredibly difficult and failure would leave you permanently lost between dimensions.  You would also need to be using a direct control port with a magical booster and not simply walking through a portal.”  The woman says.

“So how did the enemy take that world?”  Rin asks pointing.

“Oh, they probably passed through one of these two worlds.  They are still mostly under our control but we know the enemy also have forces there.  The small yellow circle above them represents enemy forces believed or known to be present.

“There is writing in it which if you, and please don’t, use magic you can read.  You don’t even need to be a full-fledged mage to use it so even I can do that much.  In this case some minor settlements in a region called the Kuroneko Mountains have fallen to unknown enemy forces.  They must be pretty powerful enemies though, because we lost five whole companies in an attempt to retake the region.”  The woman says.

The Kuroneko Mountains, my former home, have fallen?  It is hard to imagine.  The spirit of the mountain and the Kuroneko herself are powerful guardians.  Five companies also sounds like a lot.  Just how powerful was the enemy?

More importantly though, what happened to everyone living there?  My family and the other villagers would be protected by the temple, but that also means when it fell they would be completely trapped.  And what of Ara Kii and everyone at the temple itself?  Tears are falling from my eyes before I even realise it.

“It’s the cry baby again.”  A girl says.  I don’t recognise her but suddenly everyone is looking at me.

“How would you feel if your home had fallen to the enemy?”  I ask her bitterly wiping away my tears.

“There’s no way that could happen because, unlike you, I come from a proper Contractian world.”  She laughs at me.

“That’s enough.”  Professor Schwarz warns her sharply.  “Yu Kii, if you wish to leave I can take you back to the entrance and we can wait there.”

“No, I’ll continue.”  I tell her.

“Ok, but if you change your mind please let me know.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“Thank you, but I’ll be ok.”  I say and my tears have stopped flowing.  I know that they’ll be back later but for now I will be ok.  Today hasn’t been a good day!

The rest of the tour is probably very interesting but I don’t really take any of it in.  It just seems like a blur.  When the tour is over Professor Schwarz tells us the rest of the day is ours but offers to take anyone who is interested to the city arena to watch the wind races.  Apparently it is an important match.  It sounds like she has been looking forward to it.

I decide to head back to the inn because I am in no mood for doing anything else.  Asuna and Rin come back with me but both Hermes and Emma have something they want to do.  So Emma ports away, Hermes walks towards the city centre and we head back to the inn.

(Emma)

I breathe a sigh of relief.  The book is back where it should be.  In my rush to take it I almost forget to double check that I am not being watched.  I’m not so I take it.  Then I leave the library and head back to the inn.  I take the first book without anyone noticing and head to my aunt’s home.  It doesn’t take long to find it.

I am welcomed by my aunt’s slave.  He is an old black man that she captured in battle.  He was a young mage when he became her slave but that was years ago.  His magic was of course sealed.  I have seen him before but I have only ever heard him referred to as ‘slave’, ‘brute’, ‘you’ or ‘him’.  I have no idea what his name is.

“Can I get milady anything to eat or drink?”  He asks bowing low.

“A drink would be nice.”  I say.

“Please wait here.”  He says and points towards a few comfy looking seats in the first room on the left.  There are only two rooms on each side and no sign of stairs up or down.  The place looks like it has seen better days.  I sit and it isn’t long before he returns.

“Thank you.”  I say and take a sip of the drink.  It is cool and refreshing.  I take a second sip and find myself feeling sleepy but happy.  I take a third sip.

I wake in darkness.  My magic feels like it has been drained.  My arms are bound and I am hanging from them.  I can feel the weight of my whole body pulling down on my arms so my feet are clearly above the ground.

“I’m sorry milady, but these are your aunt’s orders.”  The slave says.

“Why?”  I ask in disbelief.  I am only answered by silence.  After a while I hear a door opening and then closing.  I assume it is the front door because I could briefly hear distant voices.  I don’t dare scream though.

“I see my niece is here.”  I hear my aunt’s voice as light floods the room.  I blink for a few moments and then squint at her.  “You have been in Portalis for almost a week and only now do you think to pay your poor old aunt a visit.  I must say I am disappointed in you Emma.”

“Is that why I’m hanging here like this?”  I ask in shock.

“Don’t be silly.  You are hanging here, because I need a human sacrifice to use the books you kindly brought with you.  This is convenient, because dead people don’t talk.  I’ll need a few days to prepare, so please enjoy your stay.”  She says and then to my shock kisses me.  My magic was starting to return, but now it is completely drained again.  “I can still taste that brute’s mouth on yours.  I’ll have to punish him later.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone, so you don’t need to use me as your sacrifice.”  I tell her pleadingly.

“Don’t be silly.  Of course I have to use you.”  She says and runs one finger across my eyes.  “You know too much, and I always found you annoying, little brat.  Two drakes, one boulder…”

“Please!”  I plead but I know it is useless.

(Yu Kii)

It is dark now and Emma still hasn’t returned.  Hermes came back before dinner and everyone else has used the hot spring.  We are all really worried.  She didn’t say how long she would be or what she needed to do, so we don’t know for certain that she didn’t plan to be this late.  If she had known though, wouldn’t she have said something?  Maybe whatever she is doing has taken longer than expected.

If we were back at the academy or in our local town we could just search for her using magic, but in Portalis that is of course impossible.  We may as well search for a grain of sand on the ocean floor.  Eventually we decide we can wait no longer.

“I’ll tell Professor Schwarz.”  Rin says with a sigh.

“I’ll come with you.”  I say.

“Ok, but you two wait here.”  Rin says to Hermes and Asuna.  We head downstairs and check at reception to find out which room is Professor Schwarz’s.

“It is room 231 on the second floor.”  The woman says sounding bored.

“Thank you!”  I say with a bow and hit my head on her desk.  She covers her mouth but she doesn’t manage to suppress her laughter.  This really isn’t my day!

We get to room 231 and find Sor and Emi standing outside talking to Professor Schwarz.  Actually Professor Schwarz is the one talking to, or more precisely yelling at them.  Rin looks at me nervously and I look back at her with a wince.

“Professor, it seems that these two want to talk to you.”  Sor says pointing at us.

“What do you two want?”  Professor Schwarz says barely containing her anger.

“Emma seems to be missing.”  Rin says in a rush.  Professor Schwarz immediately calms her anger but it is replaced with panic.

“Where and when did you last see her?”  Professor Schwarz says.

“When we all split up after the IEHQ.  She had something she wanted to do so she ported away.  She didn’t say what.”  Rin says.

“I’ll have to try to trace the port, but tracing a cold port isn’t easy.”  Professor Schwarz says sounding worried.

“I can do it.”  Sor says with a sigh.

“But…”  Emi starts to say and Sor kicks her in the leg.

“Your concerns are not required.”  Sor says and glares at Emi.  I had thought they were really good friends but Sor seems to have been treating Emi really badly whilst we’ve been on the trip.  Emi just seems to put up with it too.

“So Emma ported straight from IEHQ?”  Professor Schwarz asks.

“Yes.”  Rin says.

“Fine, everyone hold onto me.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“I’ll port myself.”  Sor says and ports before anyone can say anything.

“Just what is that girl’s problem?”  Professor Schwarz asks not sounding like she expects an answer.  This is good because she doesn’t get one.  We all hang on and she ports us.  Sor glares at us.

“She went to the Ancient Library and then back to the inn.  From there she went to a small alley off of West Street.”  Sor says.

“You’ve already traced it that far?”  Professor Schwarz says in disbelief.

“The ports weren’t far apart in time or distance, so it is really quite easy.”  Sor says with a shrug.

“She has an aunt in Portalis she was going to visit whilst we were here.  I wonder whether that is where she is.”  I say, thinking aloud.

“I’ll check where she lives.”  Professor Schwarz says and ports away.  It takes a few minutes but she returns with a smile.  “Yes, she lives in Dream Alley off of West Street.  I bet it’s the same alley she ported to.  Sor can…”  Professor Schwarz says approaching Sor but suddenly we are all ported.

“This is where she ported to.”  Sor says taking a step away from Professor Schwarz.

“Thank you.”  Professor Schwarz says sounding a little disoriented.  Then she points at a sign. “Dream Alley.  We should look for number seventeen.”

We walk slowly down the road until we find seventeen.  Only a few houses are numbered but eighteen and sixteen are, so this has to be the right house.  It looks a bit dirty from the outside but it is bigger than most of the other houses in this alley.  Professor Schwarz knocks.  After a minute a black man answers the door.

“How may I help you?”  He asks.

“We believe one of my students may be here.  Her name is Emma.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“Emma was here, but she left a few hours ago.  She was returning to the inn where she is staying.”  He says.

“You don’t mind if we come in, do you?”  Professor Schwarz says in a tone that suggests he had better not mind.

“I suppose you may enter, but please remove your shoes at the entrance.”  He says.  Professor Schwarz sighs but shrugs.

“Fine, now move out the way.”  Professor Schwarz says abandoning any pretence at politeness.  He moves back a few steps and allows us to enter the house.

“Who are our guests?”  A young looking woman asks.

“Apparently they know your niece milady.”  The man says.

“Well get them a drink, slave.”  Emma’s aunt says.

“I’m afraid we aren’t here for social reasons.  We are looking for Emma.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“My niece left hours ago.”  Emma’s aunt says.

“Even so we would like to look around to make sure she isn’t here.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“Surely you aren’t accusing me of lying.”  Emma’s aunt says.

“I am not accusing you of anything but I need to rule out the possibility.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“Surely a mage could just check for the presence of another person in the house.”  Emma’s aunt says mockingly.

“There are ways to hide that.”  Professor Schwarz tells her.

“I suppose there are if the mage who is looking doesn’t know what she is doing.”  Emma’s aunt says with a laugh.

“Most mages can’t detect a hidden presence.  In fact the number who can be sure of detection no matter what magic was used is probably no more than you could count on the fingers of one hand.”  Professor Schwarz says sounding genuinely angry now.

“Fine, look wherever you want and then get out of my house and look for my niece somewhere she might actually be.  Just you though, not the girls. To think you lost track of her whilst under your care.”  Emma’s aunt says sounding just as angry.

Professor Schwarz looks everywhere but can’t find Emma.  I suppressed my urge to remind Professor Schwarz to remove her shoes when she started looking and Emma’s aunt didn’t dare remind her.  We use our senses whilst she is looking around the house but can’t find any sign of Emma either.  Professor Schwarz returns to us and looking Emma’s aunt in the eye says, “If you see her then accompany her to…”

“Yes, I know where you are staying with her.  Let me know when you find my troublesome niece.  Now, goodbye.”  She says the last part as if to say ‘get out of my home’.

“Yes… goodbye.”  Professor Schwarz says and from her tone and expression she is still clearly suspicious.  We leave though, because Emma doesn’t appear to be here.

“I don’t trust that woman.”  Sor says as we leave.

“I wish Peter were here.  He could tell whether she was lying.”  Rin says.

“Really?”  Professor Schwarz asks surprised.

“Yes.  Where do we look next?”  Rin asks.

“Can you sense any more port traces?”  Professor Schwarz asks Sor.

“If I had I’d have told you before going into that dirty home.”  Sor says.

“Does anyone have any ideas?”  Professor Schwarz asks and it is clear she doesn’t.

“No.”  Sor says with a sigh.  “Those two must know that troublesome girl better than we do.”

“I have no idea where she is.  She’s been doing things on her own the whole trip.  Like Sor though, I don’t trust that woman.”  Rin says shaking her head in frustration.  Then everyone turns to me.

“Sorry.”  I say shaking my head.

“Let’s check the inn again to make sure she hasn’t returned whilst we were looking for her.”  Professor Schwarz says but she doesn’t sound like she believes it is possible.

“Wait, I’ll check with Hermes.”  Rin says and her eyes glaze over slightly.  After a moment she shakes her head.  “She’s not returned yet.”

“How…?”  Professor Schwarz asks but it is Sor who answers.

“That’s an interesting item you have there.  Communication magical items of that level are really difficult to craft.  Did your mother make it?”  Sor asks sounding genuinely interested.

“No.  My father used to make them, but this was a gift.”  Rin says.

“Who from?”  Professor Schwarz asks.

“I’m sorry but I can’t tell you that.”  Rin says apologetically.

“Is your father dead, or does he just not make them anymore?”  Sor asks.

“He was killed.”  Rin says sadly.

“I’m sorry.”  Sor says sounding genuinely sorry.  It really doesn’t sound like Sor at all.  “I’ll see if I can find any link to Emma.  Unless she has ported again though, I’m not going to be able to find her.”

“I’ll check with the city guard.  The rest of you please stay together.  If Emma has been harmed you may also be at risk.  Even if she hasn’t been, the streets of Portalis are not the safest place at night.  Dark alleys especially.”  Professor Schwarz says.  “It may take a while to get the city guard to cooperate, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.  She is a first rate mage student, except for her dimensional magic so they can’t just ignore her.”

Once Professor Schwarz has ported away, Sor leads and we follow.  We try to sense Emma but not being Peter our chances of finding her this way are slim to none even at the best of times.  We look with our eyes too of course but unless we happen to stumble upon her we’re not going to find her like that either.

It is a couple of hours later when Professor Schwarz returns.  She does so with a few tired looking city guards.  Only one is a mage.  I doubt they will be of much help but I refuse to accept that it is hopeless.

Dawn arrives and we still haven’t found Emma.  This is our day off now so we only have today and tomorrow to find Emma before we have to return to the academy.  We return to the inn tired and dejected.

“Yu Kii?”  A small girl asks as we arrive at the reception.

“Yes, do I know you?”  I ask confused.

“I’m Haru Kii.  I’m now your sister in soul as well as body.”  She says bowing to me.  It takes a moment to realise what she just said.

“Haru… Kii…”  I say in amazement.  Putting aside the fact that she is now my soul’s sister as well as my body’s sister, I ask.  “How did you get here?”

“Captain Highwood brought me here.  She’s staying in the inn until tomorrow morning.”  Haru Kii says.

“Captain Highwood of the Old Guard?”  Professor Schwarz asks stunned.

“Yes.  Her company helped us out at the temple.  Ara Kii threw me through the portal at the last moment and…  Captain Highwood says the temple was attacked after we left.”  Haru Kii says.

“Is it coincidence that you happen to be staying at the same inn as us?”  Professor Schwarz asks.

“No, Captain Highwood heard that you were staying here when she was at I, E, H something.”  Haru Kii says.

“At IEHQ.  It is fortunate we went there then.  We had to give the location we were staying at and the list of everyone’s name on the registration form.”  Professor Schwarz says.  “She must have signed in right after us though, or the page would have been turned over already.  Will you be returning with us, Haru Kii?”

“Yes, if you’ll let me.”  Haru Kii says.

“We’ll need to get the paperwork sorted, but it should be fine.”  Professor Schwarz says with a nod.  Then she turns serious.  “Captain Highwood can probably help us find Emma.  She is an elite mage with a whole company of Contractia’s best mages under her command.  She also probably has connections at IEHQ.  They could probably track her down instantly if they tried.  With the war on though, even for Captain Highwood it could be too much.  I hope she is willing to help us.  Haru Kii, can you take us to her?”

“Yes.”  Haru Kii says with a small bow.

“Thank you.”  Professor Schwarz says.  Haru Kii leads us to the fifth floor where Captain Highwood is staying.  There is only one room on this floor.  Professor Schwarz knocks.

“Come in, it’s not locked.”  A young woman calls out to us.  Professor Schwarz leads us into the room.

“Are they your students?”  The young woman asks pointing at us.

“Yes.  Unfortunately I have a student missing at the moment.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“Is it Yu Kii?”  The young woman asks sounding worried.

“No, this is Yu Kii.  The missing student is called Emma and was last seen at her aunt’s house.  I was hoping you might be able to help us.”

Chapter 8 (Multiple)

(Sor)

I cannot help noticing the pitying looks Emi throws my way.  It annoys me, but the truth is that I am almost at my limit.  That brat Emma saved me though, so I have to see this through to the end for the sake of my personal honour.  Actually I don’t really care about honour, but I hate feeling indebted to that brat and this is a good chance to pay it back.  So I volunteered to go with everyone again.  Professor Schwarz isn’t a fool so she suspects something, but she doesn’t stop me.

This time Professor Schwarz uses a wide area port again so I don’t need to waste energy porting.  Yu Kii and Haru Kii remain behind but everyone else who was with us before insists on going again.  Captain Highwood not only accompanies us, but has ten mages from her company come too.  Some are experts at tracking magic and others at combat magic.  Naturally we go to the last place Emma was seen.  The black slave seems shocked to see so many mages on the front door but there is nothing he can do to stop us entering.

“Captain Highwood?”  Emma’s aunt says in surprise.

“Sasha… Sasha Bloodworm?  What a surprise to find out this is your home.  Is Emma your niece?”  Captain Highwood asks.

“Yes.  Has she still not turned up?”  Sasha asks and I can tell she seems much more nervous than the last time we came here.

“No.  We suspect she may be in danger so we will be tracing her from here, since this is where she was last seen.”  Captain Highwood says.  It isn’t a request but she keeps it polite.

“My niece will be so embarrassed when she learns how much trouble she has caused.”  Sasha says.  “I wouldn’t be surprised if you found she was out drinking all last night.”

“I hope that is all it is, but you seem mighty unconcerned about your niece.”  Captain Highwood says with a frown.

“She was always causing trouble so I just can’t imagine she is really in danger.”  Sasha says.

“Even troublemakers can be in danger.”  Captain Highwood says.  “Karen and April please start your work.”

“Yes, captain!”  They both say with a quick salute and then close their eyes.  They remain still for a while.

“There are traces of a girl’s presence entering this house but not leaving it.  There are no signs of her presence now.  She must have ported from here.”  One of the women says.

“She didn’t.  If she had I would be able to detect the port even if it happened weeks ago.  It was only last night so there is no way she ported from here.”  I contradict her.

“I don’t see how you’d detect a port from a week ago, but if that really was true it would be a problem.  The only way she could have left here alive is porting.  If she had been killed here though…”  The woman says with a frown.

“Are you accusing me of killing my own niece?!”  Sasha asks angrily.

“We’re going to take a look around.”  Captain Highwood says ignoring the question completely.

“Who do you think you are to just come into…?”  Sasha starts to shout but Captain Highwood looks her in the eye and Sasha is suddenly unable to talk.  It doesn’t seem like magic so I assume it is just fear.

“I am a captain of the Old Guard.  You should know that, since you used to work for me.  You may have left the guard, but I am sure you remember the authority the Queen bestowed upon me at the same time we were all granted immortality.  Or Sasha Bloodworm, perhaps your memory has grown rusty?”  Captain Highwood asks.  Sasha shakes her head and Captain Highwood smiles but there is nothing pleasant about it.  It reminds me of a hungry predator that just spotted easy prey.  The two mages from before are busy tapping and placing their hands on walls.

“There’s a hidden door here.  The enchantment is extremely subtle and uses all five, no, six types of magic.  Even life magic was used…  I doubt any mage could detect it without direct contact.”    One of the mages says.

“Thank you Karen.  Life magic though…  That is interesting.”  Captain Highwood says and then looks Sasha in the eyes again.  “Sasha Bloodworm and slave of Sasha Bloodworm, in the name of the Queen I am placing you both under arrest on suspicion of treason.”

“Slave, now.”  Sasha says urgently but sounding much calmer.  The black slave raises both his hands high in the air and for the first time I see a genuine smile on his face.  He reminds me of a wolf licking blood from his lips.

Even an idiot could tell he is about to use magic but I recognise his two words.  The other mages shield and raise port blocks thinking it is just a normal attack or a desperate port.  They can attack later, but for now shielding is enough.  The fools don’t realise he is about to use life magic.  They even heard there was life magic in the enchantment.  Why am I always surrounded by idiots?

“Release!”  I shout pointing the middle finger of my right arm at him.  The ring contains the power that keeps me alive, but I can survive briefly without it.  Emi can recharge it and it is the only attack I have worth calling an attack.

I’m too late though.  Even as my fire magic incinerates the slave I can tell it is too late.  Death feathers spread out from his ash and fly towards us.  No mage other than the Queen can shield against those feathers.  I tried once before so I should know.  They may not be as bad the ones used by Death Birds or Fallen Angels, but even weak death feathers like these are too much for a shield.

The port blocks drop as the other mages feel the feathers.  They aren’t such big fools that they could fail to realise what those feathers are.  I sense Sasha port away and so I port everyone else outside the house.  They were going to port anyway, but some may have been too slow.

I collapse backwards hitting the ground hard.  I feel Emi pour power into the ring and I breathe a sigh of relief.  I look at the ring.  I can probably use it like that once more, but only probably, so I can’t take the risk even if it is my only means of survival.  Damn the cheap alchemist who charged me a fortune for such a flawed enchantment.  It saved my life when I was at death’s door though, so I can’t complain that vigorously.

“Someone trace Sasha’s port!”  Captain Highwood shouts furiously.

“She went to the Circle of Portals.”  I whisper but only Emi can hear me.

“Circle of Portals!”  Emi calls out.

“Damn!”  Captain Highwood says as she ports.  Her other mages have ported too.

“Emma?”  Rin asks Professor Schwarz desperately.

“Wait here.  The feathers should be gone by now but there could be other dangers.”  Professor Schwarz says and before Rin can protest enters the house cautiously.  After a minute she ports back with a tired looking Emma in her arms.  I can see red marks on Emma’s wrists and it is clear she is unable to walk and barely able to move but she doesn’t appear to be in any danger.

“Emi, port me back.”  I whisper.

“We’re porting back.”  Emi says and ports us both back before anyone can say anything.  She knows better than to touch me for the port.  “You could have stayed.  I’m sure everyone was very grateful for your help.”

“Whatever.  Now port us back to the room like I meant you to in the first place.”  I tell her coldly.  Why waste time porting us to the reception area?  I hate it when people waste part of my life doing pointless things.  Emi should know better.

“Ok, sorry.”  Emi says and ports us both back there.  The room is thankfully empty.  Everyone is out having fun on their day off, which gives me a chance to rest in peace.  Phew!

(Peter)

It seems like we’ve been in Portalis for ages but we finally have all the ingredients we need and an alchemist skilled enough to forge it.  I would have liked to use Rin’s mother, but her specialty is potions not enchanted jewellery.  At least this avoids her becoming a target.  The Queen had to recall a whole company of the Old Guard to allow me to use this alchemist.

“Hello Captain Highwood.  You’re a little late.”  I say with a frown as she finally arrives.

“I was dealing with a traitor.  She got away, but at least her niece was saved.  Anyway the Queen tells me that you need an item forged that requires my skill.  She wouldn’t tell me the details.  I had to bring my whole company back here so I hope it isn’t something worthless.”  Captain Highwood says sounding annoyed.

“Do you recognise these?”  I ask and show her the four black soul gems we collected from the demons we killed in the Black Forest.

“How did you get those?”  She asks with a gasp.

“We killed four demons.”  I tell her and she frowns.

“How many mages did you use?”

“It was mostly me and Dairon.  Actually mostly Dairon.  I just distracted the enemy.  Dairon killed them.  Lucy and Hinata were there too but they didn’t do much.”  I say.

“A good thing too.”  Lucy says landing on my shoulder.

“You look familiar.”  Captain Highwood says.

“And so I should!  I taught you enough that I’d expect you to remember me.  You would have called me Feline Dragonbreath back then though.”  Lucy says and Captain Highwood gasps again.

“I thought you died!  I should have known a cockroach like you couldn’t die though.  So where were you hiding and how did you get so small?”

“I was a prisoner, but I can’t really talk about it.  The important thing is, can you forge these into a spirit gate?”  Lucy says saving me the trouble.

It was Lucy’s idea in the first place.  Despite her feigned ignorance back when we left the academy she was the only one who knew the plan, and still is.  Even now I don’t know more than the current stage.  A young boy like me wouldn’t have a clue how to deal with someone as slippery as David.  Lucy on the other hand has plenty of experience dealing with all sorts of enemies.

“Yes, I can but I also need drake blood.”

“We have that.”  Lucy says.  We managed to get some from our club’s hunt.  We didn’t tell them, but Rin’s mother passed it on to us.  “We also have the spine of a fire goblin.”  The fire goblin was about the same size as Lucy, but it was a dangerous foe thanks to its potent fire magic.  Extracting the spine without it breaking and before it turned to ash with the rest of the corpse was also difficult but with a careful port I managed to.  It was the last thing we needed.  It took ages to track one down by the ruins of the old forge.

“And rare herbs.”  Captain Highwood says.

“Which can be found in the Sky Garden.  You have the Queen’s permission to use whatever you need.”  Lucy says with a bored yawn.

“I also need blood from the human who will use it.”

“Hinata here will be using it.”  Lucy says with another yawn.  “Take as much blood as you need from her.”

I had assumed I would use it, or maybe Dairon would.  I never imagined Hinata would.   I look at Hinata and I can see fear and shock in her aura.  She remains composed outwardly though.  I had refused Lucy’s suggestion to ask Hinata to join us, but when Hinata volunteered I changed my mind.  Was this why Lucy wanted Hinata?

“I suppose it makes sense to use a weak human.”  Captain Highwood says nodding.  “Hinata, I don’t need much and it shouldn’t hurt.  There is no need to be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.”  Hinata says sounding calm.

“That is good.  You’re a brave girl.”  Captain Highwood says with a smile.  “So what sort of demon are you fighting?”

“Our enemy is far more dangerous than a demon, but there’s no need to tell you the details.  Just make what we need and take precautions.  He can possess mages so never rely on just one or two guards.  The drake blood is in five vials in that bag and the spine is in a jar next to them.  Take Hinata and everything else you need.  Come back with our soul gate.”  Lucy says sounding serious.

“I doubt anyone could possess my mages after all the training they have gone through.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.  Regardless, hurry up.”  Lucy tells her.

(Sor)

“Come in.”  I say as someone knocks on the door.  My senses are too much of a mess to tell who it is.  Emi is standing guard but she is tired and likely to mess up if I need to rely on her.  Unfortunately I am far worse so I have no choice but to rely on her.  The door has no magical protection though, so there is no point trying to use it as a shield.

“Hello.”  Captain Highwood says as she enters the room.

“Hi.”  I say weakly from my bed.

“Show me that ring.”  Captain Highwood says approaching me.  I make no move to do so and just stare at her suspiciously.  She however throws aside the sheet covering me and grabs my wrist with her left hand.  I gasp as she touches me but she ignores my pain and touches the ring with the middle finger on her right hand.

“Let go of Sor.”  Emi says angrily and takes a step forward.

“Be silent and do not interfere.”  Captain Highwood says sharply.

“I will not allow you to harm Sor.”  Emi says taking another step forward.

“I am not going to harm Sor, but if you take one more step towards me I will harm you.”  Captain Highwood says softly.  She releases my wrist.  “This ring was created by a skilled alchemist.  She wasn’t skilled enough though.  Use it like you did earlier even once more and it will break.”

“I know that.”  I say.  I would shrug but I don’t have the energy.  I didn’t exactly know it would break, but I did fear it would.

“Fortunately for you I know someone capable of removing your curse.  I will accept the ring in trade for her help.”

“Sorry, but no deal.”  I tell her and she frowns.

“Why?  A perfect healing for a flawed ring is a very good deal.”

“I cannot part with this ring.  The enchantment may keep me alive, but the ring is very precious to me.”

“More precious than your own life?”  She asks in disbelief.

“Yes.”  I say firmly.

“Why?”

“Do you know what the stone in the centre is?”  I ask.

“Yes, a black soul gem, but it is cracked.  Only slightly, but that is enough to make it almost worthless.”

“My mother’s soul is trapped somewhere within that stone.  Even if it costs me my life I will free her.  If using the ring again will break it then I cannot do so, because doing so would send her to hell.”  I say firmly.

“You believe those children’s stories?”  Captain Highwood laughs.

“I do not simply believe them.  I have seen the proof.”  I tell her.

“What proof?”  She asks sounding interested.

“I have seen within the stone.  Its magic is very similar to dimensional magic.  Similar, but not quite the same.  It is close enough though for a master of dimensional magic to see within.  Everyone killed by the demon that forged this stone still lingers within.  I was almost trapped inside myself when I looked within it.”  I tell her.

“Just who are you?”  Captain Highwood asks suspiciously.

“I am Sor of the Silver Flow.”  I tell her proudly.

“Daughter of Mercury of the Silver Flow?”  She asks a little taken aback.

“Yes.”

“I never heard anything about Mercury’s death.”  She says frowning.

“She was killed at the start of the war.  Her company conquered seven worlds of the Fallen Angels, but she died whilst conquering the seventh.  The enemy’s army of demons was defeated but at the cost of her life.  I saw the other day that her death has been squandered by the fools in charge nowadays.  All seven worlds are back under the enemy’s control.”  I tell her bitterly.

“Your words could almost be considered an insult to the Queen.  You had best not let anyone else hear them.  You never know when the inquisitors are around.”  Captain Highwood says.

“Whatever…”  I say but my words have robbed me of what little energy I had left so I can barely keep my eyes open.

“Is this girl your slave?”  She asks pointing at Emi.

“No, she is simply indebted to my family.  She is my bodyguard and nothing more.”  I say.  “I am tired.  Please let me sleep.”

“There is one other person who may be able to help you.”  Captain Highwood says thoughtfully.

“I do not need charity and I have nothing to give.”  I say with a sigh and now my eyes are closed and I am close to sleep.

“If what you say is true though, he may be able to save your mother’s soul too.”  She says and I wish I could answer but the dark hands of sleep claim me.

I wake alone and in pain, surrounded by darkness as usual.  I struggle through the dark depths of my soul until I reach my body.  I breathe a sigh of relief as I find I am still alive.  Then I open my eyes and glare at Emi who is standing there looking tired as anything.  It must be late morning now and the glare of the sun hurts my eyes.

“Get some sleep.”  I tell her irritably.  I have recovered enough energy to protect myself whilst she sleeps.

“But…”  She starts to protest but after seeing the expression in my eyes she nods.  “Before I sleep though, don’t you want to know who Captain Highwood was talking about?”

I frown for a moment and then remember what she is talking about.  I blink and glare at her.  “That should have been the first thing you said when I woke up!”

“It sort of was.”  She says helplessly but I wave aside her petty complaint.

“She said you should speak to Peter of the Wind.  She wrote down an address and said your skills would be payment enough if his mission is as dangerous as she suspects.”  Emi says.

“That boy…  Why does it have to be him?”  I ask depressed.

“I don’t know.”  Emi says.

“Well get some sleep.  I’ll wake you in a few hours, but that’s as much as you normally get anyway.”  I tell her.

“Thank you.”  Emi says sounding relieved.

“Don’t use pointless words though, or I’ll wake you with cold water.”  I tell her with a glare.  She nods and quickly gets into bed.  She uses magic to improve her sleep.  It is the only way she has coped for over a year at the academy as my only bodyguard.

There is a knock at the door only minutes after Emi has fallen asleep. It is pointless to wake her.  She has too little power and is too tired to make any difference in a fight right now.  I sigh.  “Come in!”

“Hello!”  Yu Kii says and then sees Emi asleep.  Yu Kii looks tired herself.  Looking at Emi she whispers.  “Sorry.”

“She’s not going to wake that easily.”  I say with a shrug.  “What did you want, rude girl?”

“I wanted to thank you for your help finding Emma.”  Yu Kii says sounding genuine.

“I didn’t do it for you so thanking me is pointless.”  I say with another shrug.  “If you don’t need anything you can leave us alone.”

“Aren’t you lonely or bored?”  Yu Kii asks me.

“I don’t get lonely.  That would be pointless.  I suppose I am bored, but more so since you came in here and disturbed me.”  I tell her bluntly hoping she’ll get the point and leave me alone.

“Why did you tell me about Emma before and why did you help her?”  Yu Kii asks simply ignoring my point.

“I was bored.”  I lie.  If she hears about Emma saving me it will lead to awkward questions.

“You obviously pushed yourself really hard last night and this morning.  There’s no way you did it because you were bored.”  Yu Kii says.  She’s always seemed blindly trusting but it seems even she isn’t dumb enough to believe my lie.

“Mind your own business and get out of my room, rude girl.”  I tell her with a deep sigh, because I can’t be bothered to think up a better lie.

“I’m sorry, and thank you again for your help.”  Yu Kii says whilst bowing deeply.  Then she finally leaves so I don’t bother telling her it is pointless again.  Besides, it would be pointless to keep repeating it and I hate doing pointless things myself more than I hate other people doing them.

The morning passes slowly but I recover some more of my energy even awake.  Only a little though.  I wake Emi for a late lunch.  It will help us recover our energy so it is important to eat.  Obviously I can’t taste the food thanks to the curse, but Emi says it is good so at least she can enjoy it.  The important thing is it isn’t poisoned.  Nobody has tried to assassinate me for almost half a year but I shouldn’t let my guard down.  This trip would be a perfect opportunity to kill me away from the protection of the academy.

After we finish eating we return to our room and get changed into more suitable clothing.  I choose my favourite battle armour.  It is cloth but enchanted to provide much greater protection than the uniform the academy makes us wear.  To a casual observer we look like a couple of commoner girls in matching black shirts and shorts.  My shoes are black too of course.  The contrast of black against our blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes looks good, but it is the comfort and protection that I like about it.

The only thing that would seem odd is that it is a very cold day outside and these clothes seem much better suited to a hot summer’s day, or at least a warmer day than today.  With the enchantment though, we of course don’t need to worry about the cold.

“Ready?”  I ask Emi nervously.

“Yes.  I’m sure that we aren’t going to have to fight Peter though.”  Emi says.

“It isn’t likely so I imagine you’re right.  If I had to assassinate a student on this trip though, I’d choose today.  It is our day off when we are most likely to relax.  Having seen us exhaust our energy like we did would only sweeten the opportunity.  Staying here would deter an assassin, because they are likely to be caught or at least seen by other guests or staff.  We are lucky we weren’t attacked earlier thanks to that, but the day you let your guard down is the day you die, or more to the point the day I die.  Be ready to fight the moment we leave this room.”  I tell Emi.

“Not everyone is out to kill you.”  Emi says.

“No, but it only takes one assassin and one lazy or naive bodyguard.”  I remind her with a glare.

I actually like Emi a bit, but that makes her less useful.  I must sometimes remind myself as well as Emi that she is nothing more than my bodyguard.  If I get too attached to Emi I’ll be unwilling to sacrifice her to save myself should the need arise.  I can’t let myself get that soft.  My life doesn’t just belong to me.  Not until I have saved my mother’s soul that is.  After that I can consider luxuries such as friends, but not until then.  It would be great if that time is about to come, but I can’t assume it is.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”  Emi says with a smile.  I sigh.

“You’d better not.  Now are you ready?”  I ask again.

“Yes, I’m still ready.”  Emi says with a confident nod.

“Then let’s get this over with.  I only hope he really does need our help and can help us in return.  I hate the idea of asking that awful boy for help.”  I say shaking my head and then opening the door.  We’ll walk to save power.  I would waste it all with just a single port, and that would be deadly foolish.

Thankfully the corridor is empty so we get as far as the stairs and even down them without meeting anyone.  Reception is empty too, which is weird.  There should at least be someone at the desk.  Alarm bells are ringing in my head but perhaps they just got called away.  I don’t sense anyone and neither does Emi so we continue cautiously.

The streets are really quiet.  Ok, most people will be at work, but the Academy of Contractia in Portalis is the second largest in all of Contractia and there are at least a hundred smaller schools for girls who aren’t mages.  Those students should all have the day off like we do.  Some jobs also involve being in the streets.  I don’t see a single street seller despite seeing at least one every time I so much as took one step out of the inn from the main entrance.  Just what is going on?

At the main city square it is as busy as always, but even here the mood seems sombre. I see an Information Exchange and take a quick look inside to satisfy my foolish curiosity.  It is the first place that seems crowded.  The queue is almost to the door.

I’m not going to waste time and money buying anything but I take a quick look at the main board.  I gasp as I read the main title.  ‘Minerva Falls to Elven and Demonic Armies – Her Majesty and the Royal Guard Deployed to Portalis’.  I read the words five times to be sure.

“Does that say what I think it does?”  I ask Emi still doubting myself.

“Yes.”  Emi says quietly and clearly shaken.

“An army of elves?  Putting aside the demons and Minerva… an army of elves?”

“Yes.”  Emi nods and her words are almost a whisper.

“When was the last time that an army of elves was used?”  I ask really just to myself.  Emi shakes her head.  The only time I have ever heard of an elven army was before they were conquered by the Fallen Angels.  I don’t ever remember reading or hearing about an elven army being used by the Fallen Angels.  Not even in the last war.

“Maybe we’re reading it wrong.  Perhaps there were just a few elves in the demonic armies.”  Emi says but I shake my head.

“Impossible.  Demons and elves can’t fight in the same army.  It would be a bit like how some water and fire users get in each other’s way.”  I say.  “It must have been a small army of elves though.  I hate wasting time and money like this, but we’d better get a copy of the news-slate.  I can’t stand not knowing the details of something so important.”

“They’re sold out.”  Emi says and I curse.  Of all the times to run out.  We could wait for them to make more but given the queue it will take forever.

“We’d better go.”  I say with a sigh.  “Don’t let your guard down.”

So we leave and I am relieved to be outside that busy place.  I hate busy places.  It doesn’t take long to find the house Peter is supposedly staying in.  It is a huge dirty looking grey brick house.  I sense a powerful protection on the door.  It is subtle and would evade the senses of most mages but it can’t evade mine.  There is a rusty black iron bell with a rotting rope attached to it.

“You ring it.”  I tell Emi.

“Ok.”  Emi says and pulls the rope.  The bell rings very quietly but I can tell it has triggered an enchantment.  We wait and I have to stop myself from fidgeting.  The truth is I am very nervous.

“Yes Captain…  Oh…”  Peter says opening the door.  He is wearing enchanted black trousers and shirt.  It is clear he expected Captain Highwood.  “I guess it seemed a bit too quick.”

“We have a matter to discuss with you.  Can we come in?”  I ask sounding very formal.

“Yes. I’m sure I recognise you, but I can’t quite place you.  Anyway come in and we can talk inside.”  Peter says with a frown on his face.  We enter and Emi closes the door behind us.

“I’m Sor of the Silver Flow.  This is my bodyguard Emi.”  I say.  It is true we haven’t spoken before.  I can’t afford to be rude or to risk offending Peter no matter how much I dislike him.

“Ah, you both won the competition last year.”  Peter says with a nod.  “Since you came to talk to me I assume you must know who I am but I’ll introduce you to the others when we get upstairs.  Follow me please.”

We follow him up the stairs.  I don’t know whether he is just confident or foolish to show his back to us.  It leaves him very vulnerable but as I need his help I can’t take advantage of that.  I wouldn’t anyway since I hate unfair fights.  Not everyone thinks like that though.

The stairs are bare wood that has clearly seen better days.  Even the carpet in the hall is rotting away.  Everything about this place makes me want to leave but that is not an option.  The stairs creak as we walk up them.  The landing is also bare wood.

The door is missing but the room Peter leads us into looks comfortable enough.  The carpet was clearly created using magic but it looks a bit like fresh grass and even has the same smell.  The desk is an old wooden desk but it is made from good wood.  I would guess it came from the Black Forest given its colour and age.  All the best black wood comes from there.  There are a few black wooden chairs but they are empty and pushed into a corner.

There is a small winged woman who is clearly cursed.  She flies right up to my face but what shocks me most is the elf standing at the desk.  His stare unnerves me.  Who wouldn’t be unnerved to see an elf staring at them!

“Are you Mercury’s daughter?”  The flying woman asks abruptly.

“Yes.  You knew my mother?”  I ask surprised, taking a step backwards.

“Knew?  Did she get herself killed?”

“Yes, she died at the start of the war.”  I answer.

“A pity.  She’s just the sort of mage Contractia needs.  So did you inherit her title?”

“Yes.”  I say proudly with a nod.

“So you can port between dimensions?”

“No.”  I admit.  “I have the skill but not the strength.”

“So you’re just another worthless imitation.” She says and I open my mouth to protest but close it again before I can ruin my chances.  “I guess even a poor imitation of the Silver Flow is still worth more than most mages though.  Wait…  It is a strange one, but that looks like a curse.  Is that why you lack strength?”

“You can tell?”  I ask surprised.  I’ve rarely met a mage who can sense my curse.  Sure it doesn’t take a genius to see the symptoms but even most mages assume I am just sick.

“So why did you come here?”  She asks sounding serious.

“May I ask your name first?”  I ask a little off balance still.

“I am Lucy Athena.  This over here is Dairon and you have met Peter already.  Now your names.”  She says and it is clearly an order not a request.

“I am Sor of the Silver Flow and this is my bodyguard Emi.”  I tell her.

“The Silver Flow needs a bodyguard!”  Lucy says through her laughter.  She lands on the desk and I nervously edge towards it.  I don’t really want to get too close to the elf.

“Dairon doesn’t bite, though I do occasionally.”  Lucy says seeing my caution.  I silently curse.  Showing weakness was a mistake.  “So what did you want?”

“I was told you may be able to remove my curse and free my mother’s soul from this stone.”  I say showing her my ring.

“If I wasn’t cursed I could probably remove that curse.  It is a strange one so I can’t be sure, but I could probably do it with brute force.  Freeing your mother’s soul is beyond even my full power.”  Lucy says shattering my hopes.

“I can do both.”  Dairon says.  I blink and look up at him.

“You can?”  I ask unsure if I heard him correctly.

“Yes, if it is my master’s wish.”  He says looking at Peter.

“How much power would it use?”  Lucy asks him cautiously.

“I would be fully recovered by the morning.”  He says.

“What do we get?”  Lucy asks.  I figured it would come down to this but I had expected Peter would be the one to ask that question.

“Would our services for your current mission be sufficient?”  I ask.

“It seems someone has revealed too much.  If she were still under my command I would punish that foolish captain.”  Lucy says with a frown.

“Under your command?  That would make you a former High Commander of the Old Guard.”  I say in shock.

“She wasn’t Captain Highwood back then.”  Lucy says shaking her head.

“Regardless, I am sure I can be of assistance on your mission.”  I say more confident now.

“Mercury of the Silver Flow would be a valuable ally but even she would be useless on this mission.”  Lucy says shaking her head.

“So what do you want from me?”  I ask nervously.  Her words angered me but I need to remain calm.

“It’s boring but I guess we should just have the brats join your club and company, unless you want to make her your wife.”  Lucy tells Peter.  I gulp at her last words.

“What is a wife?”  Peter asks and already embarrassed my face goes red.  Lucy answers him with an amused smile.

“Well normally they own the man, but if you make her the lower partner you basically own her, though you don’t have quite the same rights as a woman over a man.”  Lucy explains.

“That sounds like a slave.  As you know I hate slavery, so no thanks.”  Peter says.  I am both relieved and secretly indignant that he so carelessly rejected the idea.  Mostly of course I am relieved.  “So will you join my club and on graduation my company?”

“So if I want a future I have to give it to you.  Yes, since I don’t really have a choice.  Emi has to obey me so she will too.”  I say resigned to my future under his command.  I’m not very happy about it though.

“You’d be a valuable ally but I don’t want to force you like this.”  Peter says with a frown.

“Why not?”  I ask suspicious.

“I just don’t.  It doesn’t feel right.  Dairon will do what you asked for, but I’m not going to ask for anything in return.”  Peter says and I blink in shock.

“Are you an idiot?”  I ask Peter at the same time Lucy does.  Lucy glances my way at the same time I glance at her.

“You can think that if you want.”  Peter says with a shrug.

“You made the people you beat in the tournament join your club.”  I say staring him in the eye.

“They weren’t exactly against it though.”  He says trying to excuse his actions.

“They had no choice.  It was that or slavery.”  I remind him.  He looks uncomfortable.  “So why am I different?”

“Do you want to join my company?”  Peter asks and I realise my anger got the better of me.

“No.”  I admit.

“So accept my help before I change my mind.”  Peter says sounding serious.

“Ok, thank you.”  I say with a sigh.  To think I’m going to be in this boy’s debt.  At least it is better than joining his company. It is also much better than being his wife as a lower partner, or at all for that matter.

Chapter 9 (Multiple)

(Yu Kii)

It has certainly been an eventful trip.  Parts have been fun but I am relieved to soon be heading back to the academy.  I am worried for Ara Kii and everyone at the temple but there is nothing I can do to help them.

I have my little sister with me now though.  It is amusing to watch her sitting there wolfing down the food.  I still recall what it was like living as a miko and I have no idea how much Captain Highwood fed her, but I know exactly why she looks like she expects the food to be taken from her.  If I had been given a huge meal like this when I first arrived at the academy I would have felt a little like her.  Even the food I did have seemed like a feast.

“Emma.”  Sor says and I look up from my breakfast in surprise.  “Your room, alone, now.”

Sor ports away and Emma quickly follows her port.  I look at a confused Rin and ask.  “What do you think that’s about?”

“No idea.”  Rin says shaking her head just as confused as I am.  Emma looks like she has recovered but I am sure she is still feeling really bad inside, even if it is just from being betrayed.  I don’t think Sor is a bad person but she can be very difficult.  I’m worried about Emma but I can’t intrude on them.  That would only make things worse.  Then Emma ports back.

“That was quick.”  Hermes says.

“So what did she want?”  Rin asks.

“Nothing important.”  Emma says with a shrug.  “It would be rude to tell you exactly what though, after she went to the trouble of talking to me in private.”

“I suppose that’s true.”  Rin says but she clearly isn’t satisfied by the answer any more than I am.  It is true that it would be rude though so it can’t be helped.

“You have twenty minutes to get ready!”  Professor Schwarz calls out to all of us.  Other guests look at her in amusement but it reminds us that we don’t have that long before we need to leave.  The few possessions we have with us are all packed so we don’t need to rush our breakfast.  We finish and take one last look at the food.  It may have been a bit expensive but it was a really nice treat to eat like this each morning.

“Excuse me little girl, but you can’t take food from the breakfast area.”  The guard tells Haru Kii as we leave.  Poor Haru Kii looks really scared.  She takes a half-eaten white bread roll out of her pocket and goes to hand it back to the guard.  The guard looks at it and laughs.  “Never mind, I’ll drop the enchantment for that, so you can keep it.  Don’t do it again though, because you’ll trigger the anti-theft enchantment.  It’s a good thing you didn’t port away with that.”

“Thank you.”  Haru Kii says in a really small voice bowing deeply to her.  The guard looks embarrassed.

We get what little we brought with us as well as a couple of small things Rin and Hermes bought here.  I don’t even need to carry anything since Rin is carrying the bag we’re sharing.  We meet down at the main entrance a little earlier than Professor Schwarz said to, but it seems everyone else had the same idea.

“Since we’re all here early there’s no point hanging around.”  Professor Schwarz says and leads us out of the inn and through the streets.  They are always busy but they seem a lot busier than normal.  Even the alleys seem filled with people.  Almost everyone looks scared and tired.  Many appear to be wandering aimlessly or are sitting at the sides of the street.  I very rarely noticed people sitting on the street before but now there doesn’t seem to be any space left on either side other than where doors are.

Rin looks at me seriously and says.  “They must be refugees from Minerva or the outer worlds.  I don’t know whether anyone got away from Minerva, but they would certainly have evacuated any of the outer worlds that were relying on Minerva’s protection.  Probably all of the outer worlds on that side of Minerva, because there would only be a couple of other routes to Portalis and the worlds they relied on would be vulnerable with the fall of Minerva.  This is the frontline of the war now.  To think we almost went to Minerva too!”

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that.”  I say only now remembering that we would have gone there if not for the war.  It seems they had good reason not to take us there.

“I doubt they’d have even let us come here if this had happened before our trip.”  Rin says.

“What do the Fallen Angels do with their prisoners?”  I ask Rin.  I haven’t been able to bring myself to ask until now.  If he wasn’t killed then Ara Kii would certainly be a prisoner now.  I can see Haru Kii understands what I am asking.  She is young but there is no point trying to shelter her from this.  It will only hurt more when she does find out if I do that.

“It depends.  In Contractia women, particularly pure blooded Contractian women, are considered superior, right?  Well, with the Fallen Angels it is better to be a man, particularly a black man.  I assume it is because the Fallen Angels are black too.  That’s why many of the prisoners we take are black like I said before.  That means it is really bad for a light skinned female mage like us to be taken prisoner, but for a male soldier or civilian it isn’t as bad.”

“So my brother would be ok if he was taken prisoner?”  I ask.

“There’s never any guarantee but there’s a good chance he would be.  Was he a mage?”  Rin asks.

“He was a monk so he used magic, but he wasn’t the same as a Contractian mage.”  I tell her.

“If they captured him they would probably have recruited him.”  Rin says.  That means I may one day have to fight him, though the odds of that are low.  At least there is a good chance he is alive.

“Is that the queue?”  Professor Schwarz asks herself in shock and I look up.  There appears to be a queue right round the huge circular building ahead of us.   We can see both the start of the queue and where it enters the building.  “This is going to take all day.”

“Are you an academic group?”  The tired looking woman at the end of the queue asks.  Presumably she is supervising the queue.

“Yes.”  Professor Schwarz says.

“You’ll need to use the Circle of Portals instead.  Only refugees are using the gate today.”  She says.

“How do we even do that?”  Professor Schwarz asks clearly shocked.

“The entrance is through that tunnel over there.  You’ll need to provide the normal paperwork.  There aren’t enough scanners so you’ll need to submit to a full body wash.”  She says.

“What exactly is a full body wash?”  Professor Schwarz asks curiously.

“Any enchantments on your body will be erased.  Enchanted items will need to be checked so you’ll need to remove any enchanted items whilst they are inspected, other than standard issue enchanted uniforms.  If you have any more questions they can answer them over there.”  The woman tells us sounding a bit annoyed.

“Thank you.”  Professor Schwarz says and then looks back at us.  “Everyone head over there.  If you have any enchanted items other than your uniforms they will need to be inspected.  If you have any enchantments directly on you they will be cancelled so you may as well cancel them now.  Where are Sor and Emi?  They were with us when we left.”

“They’re going back separately.”  Emma calls out from behind us.

“They never told me.  I suppose Sor doesn’t want to go through the same problems as on the way here.  She could have told me though.”  Professor Schwarz says sounding stressed but accepting Emma’s words.

“Was that what she was talking to you about earlier?”  Rin asks Emma sounding as surprised as I am.

“Yes.”  Emma says with a nod.

“Why didn’t she just tell Professor Schwarz?”  Rin asks.

“Professor Schwarz might have tried to talk her into coming with us.”  Emma says with a shrug.

“So why you?”  Rin asks.  “She seemed to go to a lot of effort when we were looking for you.  Did you become friends?”

“No.  I have no idea why me so I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”  Emma says.

“It still seems odd.”  Rin mutters but then shrugs.

“Down here everyone!”  Professor Schwarz calls out.

We walk down the steps.  It is already a cold day but down here it is literally freezing.  The steps towards the bottom are icy so we have to be very careful not to slip.  Haru Kii doesn’t need to be told to hold on to the rail at the side and for that matter neither do I.  There are lots of steps too.  I didn’t count but I would estimate perhaps around a hundred.

We reach the bottom and then walk for about five minutes before reaching the end of a short queue.  Compared with the queue to get here it is tiny.  I was expecting a much longer queue than this but I am grateful.  It shouldn’t take too long to pass through here.

“Place any small enchanted items in the boxes provided and carry them with you for now.”    A young tired looking woman says pointing at a huge mess of small wooden boxes.  “You can keep your uniforms on but any other large items will need to be removed and inspected separately.  Are those clothes enchanted?”

“Yes.”  Professor Schwarz says with a groan, looking down at her usual white mage robes with the black hood.  I haven’t seen her put the hood up even once whilst on the trip.  It has been cold too, so it seems strange to have the hood and not use it.

“You’ll need to enter the room over there for a more detailed inspection.”  The young woman says with a yawn.

“Ok.”  Professor Schwarz sighs and leaves us behind as she enters that room.  It isn’t long before she returns and she is able to join us again even though it means skipping the queue that has formed behind us.  It isn’t that long before we reach the front.

“Box.”  An old woman says to the girl in front of me.  She takes the box and quickly inspects it before returning it.  Then she looks at me.  “You not got any?”

“Sorry, no.”  I say shaking my head.

“Move along then.”  She says and I walk on.  I feel a faint magic wash over me and then look back as the woman speaks to Rin.  “You got lots girl.”

“Sorry.  My mother’s an alchemist.”  Rin says.

“Doesn’t mean you got to take her whole workshop with you.”  The woman says sounding annoyed.  I look back as she looks through them.  “A poor alchemist judging by the work on these.  You can move on.”

Rin takes the box back angrily and follows me.  Past the check it doesn’t take long to reach the Circle of Portals.  The portals look like large circles of liquid silver.  Probably at least five people could walk through each portal side by side.  The idea of walking through them is rather daunting though.

“They look really different to the one Captain Highwood uses.  Will it hurt?”  Haru Kii asks.

“No.  I don’t think so.  It doesn’t, does it Rin?”  I ask.

“No, it doesn’t hurt.”  Rin laughs.

“That portal over there is yours.”  A woman says after taking a look at Professor Schwarz’s paperwork.

“This way everyone!  Don’t get left behind.”  Professor Schwarz calls out as she leads us through the portal.  I shiver as I walk through, but as Rin said it doesn’t hurt.  It just feels weird.

On the other side to my surprise we are in the academy classroom.  To think they sent us right back where we wanted and not just to the right world.  It saves a port so I smile in relief.  I’m back at the academy.  To me it is basically home.  Most of the other students port away immediately but I plan to walk.  Haru Kii, Rin and Professor Schwarz are the only ones who don’t port away.

“So have you thought where Haru Kii will be staying?”  Professor Schwarz asks me.

“I was thinking of getting a room to share with her.  Sorry Rin, but I can’t leave her on her own.”  I answer.

“Normally only students can stay at the academy but I suppose we could make an exception.  Just be glad you are in the top class because if this was even 2B I wouldn’t be allowed to make that sort of exception.”  Professor Schwarz says with a sigh.  “I’ll get the paperwork for you to fill in.  I expect you to make even more effort in lessons since I’m going out of my way to accommodate your circumstances.”

“I will put in every effort!”  I promise with a bow.

“Your extra dimensional lessons start tomorrow.  I shouldn’t be tired at this time in the morning, but I am.  I’ve never known such a stressful field trip in all my years as a teacher.”  Professor Schwarz says.  “Well, enjoy your extra day off, but don’t disturb the other classes.  I should have told the rest of the class but it should be common sense and they left too quickly.  I never thought the portal would take us all the way back to our classroom.”

Professor Schwarz ports away.  Rin looks at me for a moment.  “You’re really going to move rooms?”

“I’m sorry!”  I say bowing deeply.

“You could have Haru Kii stay with Asuna and Hermes in that large room.  They have a spare bed at the moment.”  Rin says.

“I couldn’t do that.”  I tell Rin shaking my head.

“Fine, you keep our room and I’ll move in with Hermes and Asuna until Peter gets back.”  Rin says.

“Are you sure?”  I ask.

“Yes, but you’re going to have to wake yourself up from now on.  Unless Haru Kii is going to do that for you.”  Rin says sounding a little sad.

“Thank you!”  I say bowing deeply.

“It’s not like I’m going to stay in a double room on my own.  You should be ok for the rent after all the bounty jobs you’ve done.  That’s one thing I don’t need to worry about in that big room.  I’m going to talk to Asuna and Hermes, and then I’ll move my things.”  Rin says and then ports away.

“Are you going to port us?”  Haru Kii asks nervously.

“No, we’ll walk.  I hate porting.”  I say and lead the way.

“Ah, that’s good.  It feels weird when I get ported.”  Haru Kii says with a relieved smile.

“I know what you mean.  I can’t describe it but I get that feeling too.”  I say with a nod.

“What will I do here?”  Haru Kii asks.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn magic.”  I say.  It is a magic academy so it makes sense.

“Is it like the magic back at the temple?”  Haru Kii asks.

“Earth magic is exactly the same, though a bit easier.  The other elements are more difficult and dimensional magic is the hardest.  For me anyway, but I suspect it will be the same for you.”  I tell her.

“Is this your room?”  Haru Kii asks.

“Yes.”  I say opening the door.  Rin must have already moved her things because they are gone.  “That bed is yours now.”

“I get a bed here too?”  Haru Kii asks happily.

“Yes.  You aren’t going to eat as much here as when we were at the inn, but it is much more than at the temple.  You don’t have to dance anymore either.”  I tell her.

“I was never that good at dancing.”  Haru Kii says with a smile.

“I’d better get you some new clothes.  I need a new uniform too.  I wrecked one on that trip.  We’re going to have to port after all.  At least I can show you the town.  It is much smaller than Portalis, but that makes it much less scary.”  I tell her.

(Sor)

There’s no reason to continue wasting my life at that ridiculous academy.  Emma played her part just like I told her to.  If she hadn’t I would of course have followed up on my threat to expose the theft of those books. Instead I returned them to their rightful place at the Ancient Library.  To think Death’s Shadow was stolen twice in one week!  It is fortunate Emma’s aunt didn’t have time to take the books with her.

“So what now?”  Emi asks.

“I’m curious what that boy is going to do next.  I may have a grudge against him, but he did remove the curse and save my mother’s soul.  I hate being in his debt.  I may as well repay the debt before I start my new life.”  I answer.

“So how will you repay him?”  Emi asks.

“We’ll follow him, he’ll most likely get in trouble and we’ll save him.”  I say with a shrug.  “It couldn’t be simpler.  Then I can actually start living my life.”

“Will that really be enough to repay the debt?”  Emi asks dubiously.

“I suppose not, but what do you want me to do?”  I reply.

“I don’t know.”  Emi says.

“Then don’t say pointless things.”  I tell her annoyed.

“I’m sorry.”  Emi says.

“So what do you want to do whilst we wait for Peter?”  I ask.

“Me?”  Emi asks thoroughly bewildered.

“Yes, you.”  I say with a glare.

“I want to do whatever you want to do.”  Emi says cautiously.

“Idiot, what kind of answer is that?”  I ask glaring even more fiercely at her.

“But I’m just your bodyguard.”  Emi says.

“Now the curse is lifted and mother is free you don’t have to be my bodyguard anymore.”  I tell her.

“But I want to protect you.”  Emi says.

“I’m more powerful than you now though.”  I remind her.

“You still can’t be awake all the time.”  Emi tells me.

“Obviously, but my protective enchantments should suffice.”  I tell her.

“So how long do you think it will be before Peter leaves Portalis?”  Emi asks.

“He just did.”  I say in shock.  He didn’t leave via a portal.  He was ported.  It must have been the Queen who ported him.

“Can you follow him?”  Emi asks me.

“Of course, I’m Sor of the Silver Flow.  There’s nowhere I can’t go.”  I tell her.

“So where are we going?”  Emi asks.

“Funnily enough he ported to the Kuroneko Mountains, where rude girl comes from.  It took two ports.  One instant and one delayed.  The Queen must be better than I thought she was, but she’s still not as good as I am.  Of course I can’t port between worlds with brute force like she can, but my way is much more elegant.  Also I can do it in one port by shifting dimensional streams partway.”  I tell Emi.

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”  Emi asks.

“For anyone else, sure, but not for me.”  I say smugly.

(Peter)

Captain Highwood brought Hinata back wearing the soul gate.  It is hidden beneath her shirt so it shouldn’t draw any unwanted attention.  Apparently it used more blood than expected and Hinata looks like she is still in shock from the experience.  She says she is ok.  Of course she is probably just saying it, but with the fall of Minerva I can’t afford to waste any more time.

I sense the door’s enchantment ring to tell me there is a visitor.  I port downstairs and open the door.  It is the Queen as expected.  She looks exhausted and enters without saying a word.

“Thank you for coming so quickly.”  I tell her as I shut the door behind her.

“I don’t have much time, so get the others.”  She says sounding just as tired as she looks.  I look up the stairs and see Dairon and Lucy are already on their way down.  Hinata ported and is standing at the bottom of the stairs.  “So where to?”

“The Kuroneko Mountains, but not too close to the temple.  A small cave would be ideal.”  Lucy says.

“I can’t possibly port you with that level of precision.  I’ll send you to the Kuroneko Mountains and not too close to the temple.  That is the best I can manage.”  The Queen says wearily.

“Thank you.”  I say truly grateful for her help.

“I’ll need contact with everyone.”  The Queen says and holds out a hand.  We all hold on and she ports us.  I see a blur for a moment and then, other than Lucy, we are standing knee deep in a river.  Lucy is floating in the air above the river and quickly flies up to land on my shoulder.  It is a large river and flowing really fast, but fortunately we are at the edge and not in the centre where it is really deep.

“That bloody Queen should practise her ports a bit more.”  Lucy says as we clamber out of the river.  There is a huge mountain range in the distance.  “I know I said not too close to the temple, but I didn’t ask to be ported this far from it!  It is going to take days to get there.  Maybe even weeks…  Even when we get there we need to find the right mountain and the temple.”

Between us and the mountains on this side of the river there is a large forest as far as I can see to both the left and right of us.  The dark brown trees are as tall as the tall trees back at the academy.  Or are these even taller?  Their leaves form a splendid golden canopy and it is dark inside the forest, though not pitch black like in the Black Forest.  There are also leaves blowing in the wind and laying on the forest floor.

On the far side of the river is grassland for as far as I can see.  Most is flat but there are rolling grassy hills in the far distance.  The grass is a lush green despite the season.  It is also almost as tall as I am.

“I can fly us there a lot quicker than that.  We could even port.”  I say a little annoyed that Lucy seems to think so poorly of my magic.

“No.  A port from another world is very hard to detect, but a normal port would definitely be detected.”  Lucy says.

“Then we should fly.”

“In case you’ve forgotten elves are very well attuned to wind magic.  They’d detect us for sure, even with your skills.”  Lucy says shaking her head.

“So we have to walk?”  I ask a little disheartened and Hinata clearly feels the same way.  Dairon doesn’t seem too concerned, but I suppose a forest is almost like home to an elf.  It is true that it is going to take days or weeks.  Most likely weeks.

Chapter 10 (Multiple)

(Dairon)

We are heading towards an elven tribe.  It could even be mine.  I will most likely have to fight my own kind.  I will be a blood traitor if I do, but I will have no regrets.  I am proud to serve my master and have high hopes for him.  Perhaps he can even free my people from the rule of the Fallen Angels.  He is young still but with immortality and experience he would be a force to be reckoned with.

Even though I only used a very small part of my soul for each demon I can notice the difference.  The soul of course generates and stores the mana within me that I use to power my magic.  As you mature it strengthens but after that it weakens with age until you die.  I probably lost almost a hundred years of my life just by using those four pieces of my soul.

Only when I die, having discarded the body, can it replenish.  Once it has replenished entirely I will be reborn, but I’ll be a completely different elf then.  To replenish the soul without discarding the body is the definition of immortality and I have no idea how it could be achieved.

Of course it is a bit more complicated for nature spirits.  For example the soul of a forest constantly sheds a small part of its body with the death of trees, plants and animals too small to have their own soul.  So it can replenish without the need for the whole body to die.  In fact if the whole body dies so does the soul.

Different nature spirits are not all the same though.  The spirit of a mountain for example is completely different to the spirit of a forest.  It is constant.  Never fading but never growing either.  Its body is not the living things that happen to reside on it, but rather it is the stone and metal within.

I look up and breathe in the pure forest air.  The feel of leaves in the air and underfoot as I walk is comforting.  The trees here are healthy and I can sense the soul of the forest.  It is restless or perhaps even scared.  I am not sure what is causing it to feel like this.  It is certainly not elves.  Despite the forest’s fear it feels good to be back in a forest after so long at that house in Portalis.  A city like that is not a place for an elf.

Peter and Lucy were the ones leading us until we arrived in this world.  Now they are relying on my senses to guide us to our destination.  I can tell exactly which mountain the temple is on and am guiding us through the forest to come out fairly close, but not too close.

The elves will certainly be guarding the forest at the base of the mountain.  If we have to fight elves it would not be wise to do so in the forest.  Once we are closer we hope to find a way to approach the mountain undetected, because fighting a whole tribe of elves would be suicide even for Peter.

Hinata and I walk faster than Peter who is a bit behind us with Lucy, though we wait for Peter to catch up from time to time.  Hinata seems to have no trouble keeping up with me and could probably do so even if I walked faster than this casual stroll through the forest.  There is no point walking faster if Peter can’t keep up though.

“What are those?”  Hinata asks pointing at a small clump of flat red mushrooms.

“Those mushrooms are called hell’s breakfast.  One bite is enough to kill you, and even a deep sniff can knock you out for a few hours.”  I tell her.

“Oh…”  Hinata says with a gulp.

“A skilled alchemist can use them in a potion to cure a minor curse, but used incorrectly the potion becomes a deadly poison that instantly kills the drinker.”  I tell her.

“Have you been here before?”  Hinata asks me.

“No, but this forest is very similar to the one where I was born.”  I answer remembering my homeland.  I wonder whether I’ll ever see it again.

“Do you miss it?”  Hinata asks.

“Yes, though I am much more comfortable here than in Portalis.  Do you miss your home?”

“I do, but I can return there when we have killed David.  What I miss most though are my mother and Asura.  Nothing will ever bring them back.  I miss Asuna too, but she at least is still alive.”  Hinata says and I see tears at the corner of her eyes.  She is holding them back, but only just.  I decide to try to distract her.

“You see those leaves over there?”  I ask her.  She looks up and nods.

“What are the small red spots on them?”  Hinata asks.

“Those are where nyamin have licked them.  Nyamin are small flying insects that eat the leaves of younger trees like that one at this time of year.  Before eating the leaves they lick them like that and if they turn red they leave them, but if they turn green they eat the leaf.”  I explain.

“Why?”  Hinata asks curiously.  I seem to have succeeded in distracting her for now.

“Elves have often asked that very same question.  There are lots of theories, but nobody knows for sure.  The most common theories are that the leaves which turn red don’t have what the nyamin want, or that they might actually be poisonous to the nyamin.”  I tell her.

(Peter)

I could fly all day without any trouble, but walking for hours and hours without rest is wearing me out.  It doesn’t help that we have to duck low branches and constantly step over and around stones ranging from boulders to pebbles as well as shrubs growing everywhere.  We’ve been walking since we got here a few hours ago and it doesn’t feel like we are any closer to our destination.  If there were an enemy nearby to fight or if I knew we were almost at our destination I wouldn’t mind.  We are nowhere near our destination though.

If nothing else, I wish I had longer legs.  To my surprise though, Hinata seems to be coping like it is nothing.  She was a bit shaky still when we first arrived but since that settled down she has been able to keep up with Dairon easily enough.

“Can’t you go a little faster?”  Lucy asks me.

“It’s alright for you!  You just get to sit on my shoulder the whole time.”  I complain.  My shoulder is starting to ache.  Lucy may not be heavy but even so.  “Why don’t you sit on Hinata or Dairon for a bit?”

“Fine… see if I care.  I’ll go sit on Hinata.”  Lucy says and flies over to Hinata.  Lucy looks as annoyed as she sounds.

“We should stop here.”  Dairon says.  It is a small glade in the forest.  There is a gap in the canopy so we can see the sky above us.  Below us there is a soft layer of short fresh grass.

“Don’t go easy on the boy.”  Lucy tells Dairon.

“We don’t have enough supplies to even reach our destination.  We should gather what we can on our way.  The forest seems less bountiful nearer the mountains.  Where there is plenty to be found we should stock up on supplies as well as avoiding using what we brought with us.”  Dairon says.

“That makes sense.  The elf actually seems to know what he is doing.”  Lucy says grudgingly.  “So will you be gathering supplies whilst we wait here?”

“It would be worth showing someone else how to do it.  If I am the only one who knows how it would be a problem if anything happened to me before we reach our destination.”  Dairon says.

“Show Hinata then.”  Lucy says and flies off of Hinata’s shoulder and lands on a branch at the edge of the clearing.

“We’ll probably be gone until the sun is almost ready to set, because I want to gather as much as possible.  We should aim to make camp here as it is a good spot.”  Dairon says.

“Isn’t it a bit vulnerable here?”  Lucy asks sounding worried.  “Anyone flying above here would see us.”

“We’re still far enough from the mountain that it should be safe.  Besides, if an elf was right overhead, the canopy of the forest wouldn’t stop them sensing us.  Even if they do find us here they aren’t likely to see us as a threat.  It will be very different once we are closer but for now we should be safe.  The grass will make for a soft bed and we can light a small fire here.  In the thick of the forest that wouldn’t be possible.”  Dairon explains.

“Hmm…  I suppose we are still a fair way from the mountain.”  Lucy says.  “Fine, we’ll make camp here.”

“We’ll see you later.”  Dairon says and leads Hinata away from us.

“Good luck!”  I call out.

“Thanks!”  Hinata calls back.

“Thank you.”  Dairon says with a small bow.  They are out of sight in moments as they go behind a big tree.  I see them a couple more times before they are too far away.

“Peter, I’ve told you this before, but I hope you understand that you aren’t going to be able to do this without killing people.”  Lucy says.

“If I have to kill I will, but only if I have to.”  I reply.

“That’s what you always say, but you will have to kill.  Not you might have to.  You will have to.”  Lucy tells me seriously.

“If I have to then I do.”  I tell her.

“So what do you think they’ll bring us to eat?”  Lucy asks more cheerfully.  I am grateful for the change of subject.

“Maybe berries and nuts?”  I suggest.

“Aren’t berries more a summer thing?”  Lucy asks with a frown.

“I don’t know.”  I say.

“I hope they bring us back some meat.”  Lucy says.

“Do elves eat meat?”  I ask.  I don’t recall seeing Dairon ever eat meat but he generally ate in private.  Hinata made all our meals back at Portalis.  She is a surprisingly good cook.

“Of course they do.  An elf that doesn’t eat meat is like a tall dwarf.”  Lucy says with a laugh.

“What is a dwarf?”  I ask.

“You are joking, right?”

“No.”  I say shaking my head.

“Most people think of dwarves as short old men with beards.  They are well attuned to the earth and fire elements, and physically really strong.  Some even say that female dwarves have beards too.  I actually said that to a dwarf once.  I thought I was talking to a human girl.  Naturally she hit me.  That’s when I realised just how strong dwarves are.  Dwarves look very much like human children, or at least the ones I’ve seen do.”  Lucy explains.

“Do they live in Contractia?”  I ask.

“Some do but most don’t.  Along with the elves they were one of the ancient powers but, unlike the elves, dwarves are generally still free.  After they were beaten in their old homes they mostly fled the Fallen Angels.

“A hundred very brave dwarves fought the Fallen Angels for close to a month to buy time for everyone else to escape.  They were of course all killed.  The dwarven homes are now too well hidden for outsiders to find.  A few however choose to leave those homes to explore the wider world.  Some are captured, but it is very hard to capture a dwarf and they will never reveal their people’s secrets.”

“Why?”  I ask.

“Their control of earth magic allows them to easily escape underground.  A powerful foe can prevent that, but most cannot.”  Lucy explains.

“Was that how the hundred dwarves lasted so long?”  I ask.

“They were fighting in their ancient homes.  They could take advantage of powerful enchantments created over the centuries, and of course they knew those homes really well.  Their enemies did not.”  Lucy explains.

“I suppose that makes sense.”  I say with a nod.

“Of course it does.  I’m the one who said it.”  Lucy says with a shrug.

We talk for a while longer and then I gather some firewood.  It is much better than wasting our magic maintaining a fire all night.  I only take fallen branches but soon I have enough.  There is a surprising amount even just in this area.  I didn’t notice whilst we were walking here, but in this area fallen branches are everywhere.  It is cold already but it isn’t cold enough to light the fire yet.  I don’t want to waste the wood I gathered.

It is getting dark when Dairon and Hinata return with huge bags of food.  They must have created the bags with magic.  I am impressed how much they have gathered.  It seems that there are different berries in different seasons so there are indeed nuts and berries. There are also herbs, mushrooms and even a variety of root vegetables.  In one bag there is the corpse of a twenty legged brown furry creature.

“The legs are the best part.  There should be enough for all of us.”  Dairon says with a smile.

“I’ll cook it.”  Hinata says and lights the fire with magic.  It isn’t long before we are sitting round the fire eating the very tasty legs.  There isn’t much meat on the main body but Hinata gets what is on it all off.  She then uses ice magic to ensure it will keep until the morning.

“We should get some sleep and then continue in the morning.”  Dairon says.

“We should take turns on watch.  If we all sleep at once we will be too vulnerable.”  Lucy says.

“I doubt we will be attacked, but that would be wise.”  Dairon agrees.

(Sor)

I made sure to port close, but not too close to Peter and his friends.  That meant we could see Peter but were hidden from his view.  I then hid our presence using dimensional magic and we followed him into the forest.

I used the bed I carry in my bag to sleep on last night.  It helps when your bag can carry large heavy objects without being too cumbersome or heavy.  In fact it even fits in my pocket!  This bag was made by a very good alchemist.  I’ve never seen them sold anywhere.  Emi guarded me whilst I slept and I guarded Emi whilst she slept.  I considered using an enchantment but it sounds like our enemies are elves and at the very least Peter has an elf.  Emi was right.  I do still need her to guard me.

“Looks like they’re leaving.”  Emi says.

“Why can’t they just port wherever they are going?”  I ask Emi with a sigh.  “If they are going to the mountains the destination is in sight.  Even Peter must be able to port there.  I hate walking.  I can’t stand walking.  I absolutely hate this cursed walking.”

“I know.”  Emi says with a sigh.  I think she is just annoyed at me for constantly moaning about it though.  We walk for a while in silence.

“I wish removing the curse had made me fitter.”  I say with a sigh.

“I know.”  Emi says.

“Do you want me to hit you?”  I ask Emi.

“I know.”  Emi says.  She obviously isn’t listening to me.  I consider actually hitting her, but we are too close to Peter and his friends.  They might hear her reaction.  I stop instead.  She carries on for a few more steps and then notices I have stopped.  “What’s wrong?”

“Would you actually listen to what I am saying?”  I ask quietly but angrily.

“Sorry.”  Emi says with a sigh.  She is clearly just saying it.

“Don’t say words you don’t mean.”  I say with a glare.

“I don’t like this any more than you do.”  Emi say sounding annoyed.

“I haven’t heard you complaining.”

“That’s because you’ve been complaining the whole time.  We could just leave them to do whatever they came here for.  They didn’t want our help, so…”  Emi says but her eyes go wide and she points above me.  I look up but as I do so something slimy drips onto the left side of my face.  It leaves my vision blurred and I shiver in disgust.

Acting on instinct I use a blast of pure magic and the thing above me explodes. I am now covered in slime though, and it feels really gross. Worse it feels like it is eating away at my skin and clothes.  Emi uses water magic and the slime is quickly removed.  Fortunately my skin seems ok and there are only two small holes in my shirt.  They are barely noticeable, but unfortunately the enchantment on it is now completely gone.  The shorts are still ok though.

“This was my favourite.”  I say with a sigh.  “I’d better get changed.  The enchantment probably saved my life.  Walking around with a disenchanted shirt though, is like walking around without one at all.”

I quickly remove my shirt and put it in my bag.  It is a small bag but the inside is much larger.  I consider for a moment which shirt to use before choosing another black one.  The enchantment is weaker than the one I was wearing but it is still one of the best.  Also some of the other shirts might reveal my presence.

“They’ve gotten a fair way ahead of us.”  Emi says sounding worried.

“We’ll just port and catch up with them.”  I say with a shrug.  Then I smile.  “It saves walking.”

We follow them for three more days without any more excitement.  It is boring as anything and tiring as hell.  I am just glad we have plenty of food in my bag so at least we don’t go hungry.

“They’ve stopped.”  Emi says and grabs my arm to stop me walking on.  Now the curse is gone there is no pain.  It feels weird to be touched without pain.  I really have been focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other for some time now.

“Thanks.”  I say relieved that Emi at least was paying attention.

“There’s a small pool nearby.  It might be nice to bathe in natural water.”  Emi suggests.

“It must be freezing.  We may as well just clean ourselves like normal.”

“It isn’t freezing.  It seems really warm.”  Emi says.

“Why?”  I ask suspiciously.

“I think it must be a natural hot spring.”  Emi says.

“That seems a bit of a coincidence.”  I say with a frown.

“Isn’t it perfect though?”

“Peter’s elf at least must also sense it.  They’re sure to use it.”  I say with a frown.

“We can use it after them.”  Emi says.

“Use it after a dirty boy has been in it?”  I ask sounding as disgusted as I feel about the idea.

“Do you mind if I use it?”  Emi asks.  It is probably the first time she has ever asked me for anything for herself like this.

“Fine, but don’t blame me if you catch something.”  I tell her.

We focus on remaining hidden for now.  The elf and girl gather food like normal but they don’t spot us.  My mouth waters as they eat roasted fish.  They got them from a nearby stream.  I could probably catch fish from the stream too, but neither Emi nor I would have a clue how to prepare and cook it.  Instead we sit here eating plain biscuits and dried fruit.

“Do you think that girl is Peter’s slave?”  I ask Emi.

“No.  He said he hated slavery, didn’t he?”  Emi reminds me.  I silently curse myself for forgetting something so simple.

“That doesn’t mean she isn’t a slave though.”  I say half-heartedly.

“I know, but I don’t think she is.”  Emi says.

“I hate to admit it, but I think you’re right.”

“It doesn’t look like they are going to be using the hot spring.”  Emi says as they start to lie down.  It is now a while after they ate and they must be planning to sleep.  Peter is keeping guard first tonight, just like normal.

“It seems you’re right again.  Twice in one day.  That must be a record.”  I say with a smile.  Emi knows I am joking.

“So will you join me?”  Emi asks.

“Since the curse is gone and it’s just us I think I will.”  I answer.  It would be nice to relax in the hot spring after walking all day.  It seems strange that they didn’t use it though.  Do they know something we don’t?  “It is definitely safe, right?”

“Of course.”  Emi says and then leads me to the hot spring.  I use my senses to check for anything odd.  It does seem safe.

“Check it again.”  I tell Emi.  It just seems too good to be true.  She closes her eyes to check it again.  She even puts one hand in it and uses her senses whilst in contact.

“It’s safe.”  Emi says.

“Then we may as well make the most of it.”  I say with a shrug.  We quickly take our clothes off and leave them on a big rock beside the water.  The water is actually hot, not just warm, but it feels nice in this cold weather.

“After a long day walking, this is just the best.”  Emi says with a content smile.

“The water doesn’t really seem like it’s going to help replenish our magical reserves, so this is probably pointless.”  I say half-heartedly, but Emi sees right through me straightaway.

“If you really didn’t want to do this you’d have just said, ‘this is pointless’, but you’re actually enjoying it too, aren’t you?”  Emi says with a knowing smile.  She knows me too well, so it would be pointless to deny her words.  I don’t give her the satisfaction of admitting it, but my silence is enough of an admission.  Emi then catches me completely off guard with her next comment as looking at me she says.  “I wish I was as cute as you.”

“Cute?”  I ask in surprise.

“Yes, cute.”  Emi says looking genuinely wishful.

“I’d rather have a healthy body like yours.”  I say with a shrug.  “Anyway, I’m not cute.”

“You are!”  Emi protests.

“Even if I was, what is so good about being cute?  It doesn’t help you walk, use magic or do anything remotely useful.”

“Neither does the hot spring, but it is still good.”  Emi tells me and I don’t know how to answer that so I stay silent again. “Also, if there’s ever a guy you’re interested in, it would help with that.”

“If there was a guy I wanted I would just buy or rent him.”  I say with a shrug.  “Not that I would ever want a guy.”

“Not every guy is for sale, and you never know who you might become interested in.”  Emi says sounding like she thinks she knows something I don’t.

“Do you want me to get angry?”  I ask Emi and I really am starting to get annoyed now.

“No.  I’ll shut up now.”  Emi says realising she is close to going too far.  Sure now my mother’s soul is released I want her to be my friend, but that doesn’t change the fact that she is my servant.  For a servant, insulting the one they are bound to serve is not a wise thing to do.  As if I would consider trying to attract a man that I couldn’t buy!

“That would be a good idea.”  I tell Emi.  We relax in silence for ages. The water still feels really good and after a while I put Emi’s insult to the back of my mind.  Eventually we get out, dried and dressed again.  We go back to the spot I chose earlier and I take out the bed like normal.  It is intended for one person to sleep on and is made from black wood.  The sheet, pillow and duvet cover are black too.

“Stay alert whilst I sleep.”  I tell Emi.  I fall asleep almost as soon as I lie down.

“Wake up!”  Emi whispers to me.  I am wide awake instantly.  “Your turn.”

“Fine, fine.”  I say with a sigh and get up.  Emi takes my place in the bed and is almost instantly asleep.  I sniff and something seems out of place but I’m not sure what.  I am starting to feel tired again and soon I have a hard time keeping my eyes open.

(Peter)

“It seems they decided to follow us.”  I say with an amused sigh.

“Yes.”  Lucy says and she can barely stop herself from laughing.  Hinata on the other hand is openly giggling.  Dairon almost manages to keep a straight face, but the side of his mouth reveals his true feelings even to someone who cannot see his aura.  I am getting better at reading his aura.  I hope it will help me with other elves.

Dairon could smell something odd and woke us to investigate.  In front of us is the source of the smell.  Close up we can smell a sickly sweet smell.  In front of us are Sor and Emi.  Sor is lying on the ground and Emi is in a bed.  The black bed looks out of place in the forest but their content sleeping smiles are hilarious.  Most funny though, they are both bright green all over.

“It seems they used the hot spring near here.”  Dairon says.

“Hot spring?”  I ask confused.

“I didn’t mention it because it, well...”  Dairon says.

“What enchantment is it?”  Lucy asks.

“It isn’t an enchantment.  It is entirely natural and doesn’t do anything at all.  The problem is that in this weather it attracts minor spirits, which cause all sorts of problems.”  Dairon explains.

“Can you do anything about it?”  I ask.

“I could, but we are close enough to the mountain now that it might be detected.  It would be best just to wait for the spirits to lose interest.  It should only take a day or so.”  Dairon says.

“Fine, we’ll wait until they recover.”  I say.  An extra day isn’t going to make much difference and we can’t leave them alone here like this.  There are wild animals in the area that could very easily kill those two in their sleep.

“Hinata, create something I can draw on.”  Lucy says and she has an evil grin on her face.

“Ok.”  Hinata says sounding worried.  She summons paper with earth magic.  I am impressed.  I couldn’t do that.

“You may not be strong, but you have excellent control.  I’ll need something flat to put the paper on.  A slate would work.”  Lucy says.  Hinata summons one and Lucy takes the slate and paper using magic and then closes her eyes.  I can sense the magic but it is very faint.  I doubt anyone other than us could sense it.

“That’s impressive.”  Hinata says.

“It does look just like them.”  Dairon says.

“It’s perfect.”  I say with a laugh.  The paper is now a picture of Emi and Sor, but it is exactly right.  It could only have been done using magic.  No artist could have created this picture without magic.

We wait here until they wake.  The colour fades until their skin looks normal and soon after that Sor wakes.  She seems confused for a moment.  Then she realises the situation and covers her eyes with her left hand.

“Go on.  Laugh.”  Sor says bitterly.

“We’ve done plenty of that already.”  Lucy tells Sor but she is still laughing as she says it.  Sor removes her hand from her eyes and looks at Lucy a little indignantly.

“So what now?”  Sor asks sounding both angry and embarrassed.

“Having amateurs follow us any further would be a problem.”  Lucy says.

“You’re the amateurs.”  Sor says with a glare.

“Did we get possessed by minor spirits?”  Lucy asks.

“Spirits?”  Sor asks dubiously.

“Yes.  You looked like this not that long ago.”  Lucy says and shows Sor the picture.  Sor goes bright red as soon as she sees the picture.  Then Sor ports the picture into her right hand and burns it so quickly we can’t react.

“I have it memorised so I can just create more.”  Lucy says sounding annoyed.

“Do you want me to kill you?”  Sor asks furiously.

“If I wasn’t still cursed I’d teach you a lesson for being so rude.”  Lucy says with a snarl.

“Enough, both of you.”  I tell them before things get out of hand.  “Sor, why did you follow us here?”

“I don’t like being in debt to a filthy boy.”  Sor says and glares at me now.  Before I can answer her Lucy replies first.

“You’re the one who smelt like filth not long ago.”  Lucy snarls.  Sor goes bright red again and clenches her fists.

“Morning.”  Emi says not really awake.  Then she notices the scene in front of her.  She seems lost for words and all she can say is.  “Oh.”

“Yes, oh.”  Sor says and glares at Emi now.

“It wasn’t my turn!”  Emi protests.

“You have two choices.”  Lucy says.

“We can do whatever we want.”  Sor says furiously.

“You can either go back or you can come with us.  If you follow us any further you will be killed and may get us killed too.”  Lucy tells Sor.  Sor just stands there glaring.

“We’ll go with you.”  Emi says and Sor looks at her in disbelief.  “It will be easier if we continue together.  Unless you do want to go back to Contractia.”

“Oh fine, we’ll join you, but don’t expect me to do boring work.”  Sor says.

“You’ll do whatever I tell you.  It’s not like you’ll be much help though.”  Lucy tells her.

“Enough, Lucy.  Thank you Sor and Emi.”  I say.

“Whatever.”  Sor says.

“You’re welcome.”  Emi says.

Chapter 11 (Multiple)

(Emi)

Despite sleeping all day it was too late in the day to start moving on.  Apparently there are dangerous animals and monsters that come out at night here.  We were just lucky Dairon found us before anything more dangerous did last night.  It is safer to stay here and then move on in the morning.

I volunteered to keep guard and Sor volunteered too.  Lucy was against letting us guard everyone in case we fell asleep again ‘or worse’, but Peter insisted on accepting our offer.  Sor went first for once and now it is my turn.  I am sitting on a stone close to the fire so at least I am warm.  I softened the stone with magic so it makes for a comfy seat.

Having slept so much I have plenty of energy.  I just wish there was someone to talk to.  I would have preferred for it to be a little more dignified, but I am still glad that we were found and ended up joining Peter’s group.  There are more of us to keep watch and we can share the lovely food they have been gathering.  Thanks to Sor’s bag we can help out by carrying the food and by sharing the supplies we brought when we are no longer able to gather food.  Sor is furious now, but I think she must understand this is better.

I feel a chill down my spine as I sense something approaching us.  It feels really dangerous.  My senses are blurred by magic so I’m not sure what it is.  Whatever it is though, it can use magic.

“Wake up!”  I call out to everyone and jump up facing the direction of the enemy.  Sor is instantly awake and so are Peter and Dairon.  Lucy takes another moment and Hinata is still rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Firefly.”  Dairon says calmly.  “Vulnerable to ice magic, but don’t use fire magic whatever you do.”

Then it is close enough to see.  It is a long flying insect, perhaps nine foot long and half a foot wide.  It is bright blue with red stripes all along its body.  Its wings are both about two foot long and are almost transparent.  They are a mad blur and shredding anything that gets in the way.

A small fireball shoots towards us out of its mouth and I put up a quick ice shield.  The fireball is far too weak to pierce it.  Then Dairon skewers the dragonfly’s head with an ice spear.  It convulses for a moment and then most of the body falls to the floor.  The head is still in the air held up by the ice spear.

“It’s almost sunrise.”  Peter says looking up as if he can see through the forest canopy.  “There’s no point going back to sleep.  We may as well pack anything we need to and prepare to move on.”

“Like the bed.”  Lucy says darkly.  Sor was sleeping on it whilst everyone else slept on the ground.  It is a pity she only kept one in that bag.

“Just because you didn’t think to bring one, don’t blame me.”  Sor says.

“Like we could carry around a bed without one of those magic bags you have.”  Lucy says with a glare.

“Then you should have got a magic bag too.”  Sor says.

“Do you have any idea how rare they are?”  Lucy asks.

“Not really.”  Sor says with a shrug.

“It takes a very skilled alchemist to make it, but worse it requires extremely rare ingredients.  You could buy a whole street in Portalis much cheaper than that bag.”  Lucy says.

“Really?”  Sor asks sounding interested for the first time.

“Yes.”  Lucy says.

“Well Emi’s mother made it, so I’m never selling it.”  Sor says and I breathe a sigh of relief.  “What, you thought I’d sell it?”

“No!”  I protest.

“The sun has risen.  Could you just put the bed away?  Everything else is already packed.”  Peter says.

“Fine.”  Sor says and quickly puts it in the bag.  Hinata seems really impressed it fits in a bag many times smaller than itself.  Dairon however appears a little uncomfortable about it.  “Ready.”

“Don’t you think you should wash before you say you’re ready?”  Lucy asks and Sor goes red.

“Fine, but if anyone looks, I’ll kill them.”  Sor says.  It may sound like an exaggeration but for Dairon and Peter she actually means it.

“I’ll go on a little ahead and wait for you to catch up.”  Peter says.  He looks like he has already washed even though he was standing there the whole time.  Dairon and Lucy appeared to be fresh even when they first got up.  Lucy and Dairon follow Peter and that just leaves Sor and Hinata with me.

“That includes you Hinata.”  Sor says with a glare and Hinata gulps and turns away from us.  It doesn’t take long for us to wash our bodies and our clothes.  Peter didn’t go far so we catch up quickly.

“Ready?”  Peter asks.

“Yes.”  Sor says and I nod.

“Dairon estimates another week and a half before we reach the mountains.  Of course it does depend on maintaining a reasonable pace.”  Peter says.

“Why are we walking?”  Sor asks and her frustration is clear.

“We don’t have a choice.”  Peter says with a frown.  “I wish we could port or fly, but we’d be detected by the enemy.”

“Elves aren’t exactly known for their skills at dimensional magic.”  Sor says.

Dairon shakes his head before speaking.  “The enemy aren’t all elves and even an elf can detect a port.  It was different before we were conquered but we have been trained in basic dimensional magic.  Most elves still wouldn’t know exactly where or who had ported but they’d know there had been a port nearby.  The Envoy however would know exactly where we were.”

“How many elves are we up against?”  Sor asks curiously.

“Let’s walk and talk.”  Peter says and Dairon leads the way.  Sor struggles to keep up with Dairon but for now she is managing to walk beside him.

“So how many?”  Sor asks.

“We believe a whole tribe of elves is using the Kuroneko Mountains as a base to attack Contractia, or at least they were before Minerva fell.  Now it is just part of their territory and the tribe is keeping the locals under control.”  Dairon says.

“So how many in a tribe?”  Sor asks.

“It depends on the tribe.  If it is a small tribe, perhaps just a few dozen but some tribes have at least a few hundred elves in.  The original tribes had tens of thousands, but they split up long ago.”  Dairon tells her.

“Even a few dozen is a bit much for such a small group.”  Sor says clearly just as worried as I am.

“We’re not here to defeat the tribe.”  Dairon explains.

“We’re not?”  Sor asks confused.

“No.  Only Lucy and Peter know what our mission is but it isn’t to defeat the elves.”  Dairon says.

“Emi, ask one of them what our mission is.”  Sor says even though they can both hear her.

“Even if you asked me directly I wouldn’t tell you, and neither will Peter.”  Lucy says with a laugh.

“It better not be something pointless.”  Sor says with a sigh.

“It isn’t.”  Peter says confidently.

“So tell me what it is.”  Sor says angrily.

“I can’t.”  Peter tells her.

“Then it probably is pointless.”  Sor says with a huff and then looks away from Peter.

We walk sometimes talking but mostly in silence.  Sor quickly falls behind Dairon and soon I am walking beside her at the back of the group.  Peter is only just ahead of us with Lucy on his shoulder but Hinata and Dairon are at the front a good ten to twenty foot away most of the time.  Dairon and Hinata often stop to wait for the rest of us but we always fall behind again very quickly.

“I’ve got to stop for a minute.”  Sor finally says.  Before we joined them we often ported a small distance to catch up when Sor needed to take a quick break.  Now though we are walking together and have been told not to port, so that is no longer an option.

“The annoying girl is even worse than Peter.”  Lucy says with a sigh.

“Sor has only just recovered from the curse.”  I remind Lucy.

“Then she should be grateful for the chance to exercise her body.”  Lucy says with a huff.

“Grateful?!”  Sor asks, but she can’t say anything else because she is so short of breath.

“Yes.”  Lucy laughs and I glare at her.

“Lucy…”  Peter says sounding exasperated.

“Yes?”  Lucy asks sweetly.

“Can you try not to torment our friends?”

“But it’s just so much fun.”  Lucy says with a laugh.

“Please?”  Peter asks.

“Oh fine, but if they provoke me I’ll show them no mercy.”  Lucy says cheerfully.  That Sor doesn’t respond just goes to show how much she was struggling.

“Is everything ok?”  Dairon asks walking back towards us.

“Yes.”  Peter says.  “We’re just waiting for Sor to catch her breath.”

“Am I walking too fast?”  Dairon asks sounding worried.

“Maybe we should slow the pace slightly if it is this hard for Sor.”  Peter says.

“It will take longer to get to the mountains but I’ll try to walk a bit slower.”  Dairon says nodding.

“I should be better now, if we walk slowly.”  Sor says but she is still clearly short of breath.  I look at her worriedly.

“I may not look it but I am quite strong.  Would it help if I carried Sor?”  Dairon asks.

“Do you want me to kill you?”  Sor asks him with a glare.

“No.”  Dairon says shaking his head clearly confused.

“Then don’t ask stupid questions.”  Sor says still glaring.

We continue at a slower pace and Sor stops every now and again to get her breath back.  We stop for the day a little before the sun sets.  Dairon and Hinata go to gather food whilst we wait in another small glade.  I turn some nearby stones into comfy seats and Peter gathers firewood.  Sor lies on the grass clearly even more exhausted than when we were following everyone.  She doesn’t even have the energy to get the bed out.  Thankfully Lucy keeps quiet for now.

Once everyone is back Hinata prepares supper.  I am starving so am really grateful for the food.  It is roasted spicy spider.  The spider’s body was about three foot wide and even its legs were a couple of inches thick.  It looks a bit disgusting but it smells and looks lovely.  Fortunately Sor didn’t see it until it was cooked and the smell was enough to wave aside any complaints about the appearance.

Our seats are near the fire so they are warm now. We just sit there full and content for a while.  Neither Lucy nor Sor seem to want to argue so it is quite peaceful.  Peter and Dairon will be keeping watch tonight and it will be our turn again tomorrow.  Hinata and Lucy will not be taking turns.  Sor gets the bed out and gets in it as the rest of us settle on the soft grass.

“We should probably avoid the glades from tomorrow.”  Dairon says as he settles down onto the grass.

“We’re that close?”  Peter asks surprised.

“No, but I sense danger ahead.  The elves still shouldn’t be a problem this far away, but monsters may be.”  Dairon says cautiously.

(Nico Na)

When the elves came we were caught completely unprepared.  Even at a feast like the one were eating we could easily have fought off most enemies.  The Kuroneko would have smelt them long before they reached us, but even caught by surprise we would have recovered.  Even if we hadn’t been caught off guard though, we could never have beaten the elves.

Now most of my people are serving the elves like slaves.  The Kuroneko herself could not be so easily captured even by elves, but with her followers enslaved she is much weakened.  As far as I know I am the only one from my people to have escaped the elves.  They knew we couldn’t port so they didn’t put up a port block.  I was ported by the Contractians though and I tried to copy them.  I manage most things with my first attempt and this was no exception.  It worked exactly how I thought it would.

My escaping didn’t go unnoticed, but one catman is hardly a threat to the elves.  They are much more concerned with catching the Kuroneko.  They have guards almost everywhere near the temple mountain, but they seem more concerned with people sneaking in, rather than out.

I made it to safety through a rarely used tunnel under the mountain.  It isn’t the main one that connects to the villages under the mountain, like the one Yu Kii and Haru Kii came from.  I have heard rumours that this was an ancient dwarven tunnel that is even older than the Kuroneko herself.

I came out just inside the forest.  Fighting an elven tribe alone is impossible but I hate the idea of simply fleeing.  What other options do I have though?  I thought about it a while before deciding that I have none.  So I cursed my weakness and fled deeper into the forest to save myself.  Now I am living far from the mountain of my birth in disgrace hunting for food and living from day to day just to survive.

I smell something different.  It only takes a moment to realise it is an elf.  Just one elf though.  It is common sense that a catman can’t beat even just one elf, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try.  They will track me down and kill me even if I flee.  It is much better to fight than to be hunted and slaughtered.  Hoping they haven’t noticed me yet, even though I know that they surely have, I approach them silently.

The elf is in a small glade, and after a moment I realise I mistook her smell, because in those light brown trousers and that pale grey linen shirt is clearly a young human woman and not an elf.  I would guess she is about six foot tall.  She has short white hair and pale skin with a golden tint, so I assume she is from the mountains. What I notice first though, is that she is caught in the web of a huge spider.  The spider’s body is perhaps thirty foot wide and has a natural shield against magic.

The woman is using a magical shield but it is weakening by the moment and she seems to have no power to attack.  I cannot kill that spider without attracting the attention of the elves but I should be able to cut the web and get her away from the spider if I time it right.  I can’t wait long though, because her shield could fail at any moment.

I jump at her, dodging the spider’s venomous spit and razor sharp legs.  I extend my spirit into blades from each of my claws and cut the web around her.  I withdraw my spirit and claws, as my body throws her to the ground.  The spider spits at me again but I put up a quick shield.  Then I throw the woman onto my back and run on all fours like my ancestors did.

The spider pursues us but I easily outrun it.  After a while it loses interest.  Then I throw the woman off my back and onto the ground.  It is not good for a catman to let a mere human ride on his back.

“Thank you!”  She says bowing deeply.

“Who are you?”  I ask suspiciously.

“I’m Kai.  I was travelling to the temple of the Kuroneko.”

“Why?”

“I was told that it was really impressive, so I wanted to see it.”  Kai says.

“The Fallen Angels and elves have captured the temple, so you should turn back.”  I warn her.  Her face goes grim as I mention the Fallen Angels.

“So how did you get away?”  Kai asks accusingly.

“I ran away like a coward.”  I admit.  Then Kai laughs.

“Well, thank you for saving me.”  Kai says.

“Are you thanking me or mocking me?”  I ask confused.

“Perhaps both.”  Kai says with a playful smile.

“Well, good luck.”  I say and walk away from her.

“Wait!”  Kai calls out.

“What now?”  I ask.

“Is there any chance you could help me get unlost?”

“You’re lost?”  I ask surprised.

“Yes.  I entered the forest weeks ago and haven’t a clue where I am anymore.  Is that the way towards the mountains?”

“No.  That’s directly away from the mountains, and would be the best direction to walk.”  I tell her.

“I ran out of food a couple of days ago.”  Kai tells me sounding desperate.

“So you mock me and now you want my help?”  I ask.

“I was mostly thanking you.”  Kai says wincing.

“Where did you come from?”  I ask.

“I can’t go back where I came from.”  Kai says firmly but looking sad.

“Why not?”  I ask.

“I’d be killed if I went back.”  Kai says looking at the ground.

“Why?”

“You’re not allowed to leave my village.”  Kai explains.

“So why did you leave?”

“I was bored.”  Kai says and I blink.

“Bored?”

“Yes.”  Kai nods as if that explains everything.

“So how did you learn magic?”  I ask.

“My father taught it to me.”  Kai tells me.  It is unusual for someone living in a village, but perhaps a mage retired there or fell in love with a woman from the village.

“There’s a human fishing village near the river.  That’s not where you’re from, right?”  I ask.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Then I’ll take you there.  I have nothing else to do.  Not that I can do anyway.”  I say.

“Thank you!”  Kai says bowing deeply again.

(Nairon)

I have been ordered to help capture the Kuroneko.  Capturing a god is no simple task.  There are of course many others hunting the Kuroneko but I have two elves under my command and both are talented spider riders.  We each ride a spiderfly.  Their bulbous grey bodies are about ten foot wide and covered in thick brown fur.  They all have unseen dimensional wings and their long, thin legs are covered in the same brown fur as their bodies.  Elves can’t stand these foul creatures, but we have no choice.  We must use them, because it is the Envoy’s command and we dare not disobey.

The Kuroneko was hiding in the mountains, but it seems to have fled into the forest now.  A poor choice, because the forest is where elves are at their best.  It is also further now from those who believe in it, so it will have a harder time replenishing its soul.  Even so we must not let our guard down or underestimate our foe.

Seraph is looking down intently.  Her blue eyes are glazed over so she is obviously using her elemental senses to detect the Kuroneko.  Her pale skin is common amongst the tribe but her short blonde hair is not.  I heard she has a little Contractian blood.  Her great grandmother was a Contractian captured in the last war if I recall correctly.

Ishki looks at me with a grin as his short brown hair blows in a strong gust of wind.  His green eyes gleam in the bright sun and his pale skin almost glows.  His eyes, skin and hair are all common traits amongst our tribe, and ones I share.  The wind only grows stronger so he has to shout over it.  “There’s a small group of humans below.  I sense an elf too.”

“The elf doesn’t seem to be a prisoner.  I’ll deal with him.  You two take out the humans.  Capture them alive though.  It should be easy enough.”  I tell Ishki and Seraph.

I don’t wait for an answer before diving down below the forest canopy.  One elf and a handful of humans versus three elves and three spiderflies.  The outcome is obvious.  I have my spiderfly spit at the elf and I strengthen the binding goo with magic.  He predictably raises a magical shield.  Against a spiderfly it is the right tactic, but not against a spiderfly with a rider.  The goo goes right through his shield and he is paralysed and bound.

The rest of the fight should be easy.  I relax for a moment and look to see how Ishki and Seraph are doing.  Like me they are using their spiders’ natural attack but strengthened with magic.  We are all trained to use it when capturing an enemy.  One human is already bound by the goo.  To my annoyance one of the humans seems able to port goo before it hits and is now creating a perfect defence against our natural attack.  I will need to help my comrades even though the enemy are just mere humans.

All of a sudden the spiderfly I am riding is dead.  It happened instantly and I only understand after it is dead that it was a lightning attack.  I sense dimensional energy too as if there was a small port.  Did the enemy port lightning into the spiderfly?  Regardless I use flight magic and abandon my dead mount.

I sense dimensional magic.  Dodging I barely avoid having lightning ported inside me.  I am a bit more sensitive than most elves to dimensional magic because I am not a pure blooded elf.  I was also trained more vigorously than most elves because they assumed I had more talent for dimensional magic.  Right now I am glad I was.  I hate doing it but I raise a port block over the whole area.  It hurts my body the moment it is up but they can’t use that attack again.

Who are these humans?  Are they really just humans?  I have never heard of humans capable of porting lightning before.  Right now though what matters is defeating them.

“If they die it can’t be helped.”  I tell Seraph and Ishki.

“Don’t change your mind after they die.”  Seraph says with a laugh.  She always struck me as a bit bloodthirsty but victory is what matters now.

Seraph’s lightning is way more powerful than what the human used.  It would take a lot of power to block it.  I sense the dimensional magic cut through my port block just in time to avoid the worst of the blast but I am still hit.  Stunned I start to fall, but then Ishki catches me with flight magic and retreats above the forest canopy.  Recovered I use my own flight magic now and Seraph catches up a moment later.

I am relieved for a moment but the relief is gone as a wind slice cuts right through Ishki’s spiderfly.  Ishki is covered in goo but I catch him with flight magic.  We retreat as far as we can as quickly as we can.  They don’t send any more attacks our way.  We are a long way from the enemy when we settle on the forest canopy and I remove the goo from Ishki.

To lose two spiderflies to mere humans is unthinkable.  At least we happen to be in the forest where they live, so it is easy to replace them.  Otherwise I would need to report our failure to the Envoy.  I shiver as I consider what that would mean.

“Let’s get our replacements.”  I say and jump into the air.  The sooner we get them the better.

Chapter 12 (Peter)

Emi has just finished removing the goo from Dairon and Hinata with water magic.  It seemed to have a paralysing effect as well as binding their bodies.  It is gone now though.

“How much power did you use?”  Lucy whispers in my ear.

“Less than a day’s worth.”  I say with a shrug.  The wind blast at the end used the most power but as I guessed it made the enemy retreat a lot further.

“That’s fine then, but make sure you don’t waste power.”  Lucy says.

“I know.”

“Why can’t Peter waste magic?”  Sor asks suspiciously.

“Oh, you heard that.  It’s none of your business though, so forget you did.”  Lucy tells her.

“It is my business if I need to work with someone who can’t use his full power.”  Sor says.

“I don’t recover the power I use.”  I tell Sor who blinks.

“That’s impossible.”  Sor says frowning.

“It’s because I have more power inside me than my natural limit.”  I tell her.

“I’m not an idiot!”  Sor says glaring at me.

“It’s true.”  Lucy says with a sigh.  “And you are a bit of an idiot.”

“Why you…”  Sor snarls.  I need to intervene before this gets out of hand.

“The enemy know we are here.  We need to hide our presence and move quickly or we may have a whole tribe of elves to fight next.”  I remind them both.  That brings them back to their senses.

“I’ll hide everyone with a dimensional cover if you fly us at full speed.  I can’t maintain it for long though.  A minute at most.  It will hide your wind magic completely though.”  Sor says grimly.

“I can get us a long way in a minute.”  I say with a smile.

“Lift us into the air and be ready to move when I say.”  Sor tells me.

“Ok.”  I say and lift us up with flight magic.

“Now!”  Sor says and I throw us through the air dodging the many branches, tree trunks, boulders and everything else that gets in our way.  It actually takes a lot of focus to dodge so many obstacles for so many people but I manage it.  “Stop!”  Sor shouts, so I stop the wind magic completely and we drop like stones onto the ground.

“This should be far enough.”  Dairon says with a smile.

“You could have been a bit gentler.”  Sor complains rubbing the right side of her face where it hit the ground.

“We should continue walking from here.”  I say.

“Peter’s right.”  Dairon agrees.

“You just said it was far enough.”  Sor complains.

“It is for now, but we shouldn’t stay here any longer than we need to.”  Dairon says.

“Peter, did you at least take us closer to the mountains?”  Sor asks.

“Yes, but not straight towards them.  That would be asking for trouble.”  I tell her.

“At least you’re not quite as stupid as you look.”  Sor says.

“Dairon, lead on.”  I say and Dairon sets a fairly fast pace.  Sor has trouble keeping up and to be fair so do I.  It is close to the end of the day though so we don’t need to maintain it for long.  After a while I feel the sun setting and the darkness is becoming complete.  Dairon turns and says.  “It would be dangerous to continue any further until the morning.  We can’t light a fire but a very dim light should be safe.  It would be less safe to be in complete darkness.”

“I’ll take care of the light.”  Hinata says and takes a small stone from the ground.  She infuses it with magic and it glows with a dim purple light.

“That should be safe.”  Dairon says.

“It should last until the morning.”  Hinata tells us.

“Emi and I will take first watch tonight.  Dairon and Sor will take second watch.  Now the elves know about us it would be dangerous to have just one guard at night.”  I say.

“Although it means less sleep I have to agree with that.”  Sor says nodding but not looking too happy about it.  “I’d rather pair up with Emi though.”

“Both Dairon and I should be able to sense the elves.  I’m not certain if you or Emi will be able to.”  I say shaking my head.

“Don’t underestimate me.  I sensed those elves at the same time Dairon warned us.”  Sor says angrily.

“Even so, I’d still be more comfortable this way.  If you’d rather, you can swap with Emi and pair up with me.”  I tell her.

“No.”  Sor says shaking her head vehemently.

“Then get some sleep now so you’re alert when it is your watch.”  I tell her.  Her only answer is a glare, but she does get her black bed out.  Emi uses earth magic to make the ground a little more comfortable for everyone else to sleep on but it isn’t going to be as pleasant as sleeping in a glade was.

Emi and I sit with our backs against each other to allow us to keep a watch with our eyes in both directions as well as using our senses in every direction.  We talk very quietly to avoid disturbing everyone else’s sleep.

“Your mother’s an alchemist, right?”  I ask.

“Yes.  How did you know that?”  Emi asks clearly surprised.

“Rin told me, and Sor said your mother made that bag of hers.”  I tell her.

“How did Rin know?”  Emi asks.

“I can’t really go into the details because it’s a bit personal.  Her mother is an alchemist too though.”  I say and leave out the part about Rin’s father.  It really isn’t right for me to tell Emi about that if she really doesn’t know.

“Yes, she said about that on the field trip.”  Emi says.  I consider her words for a moment.

“Was all of 2A on a trip to Portalis?”

“Yes.  Everyone else returned to the academy not long before you ported here.”  Emi says.  I am relieved they have returned, because Portalis could very well become a battlefield.

“So how did you meet Sor?”  I ask.

“I was trained my whole life to work as Sor’s bodyguard and servant.  My mother and grandmother worked for Sor’s mother, because she saved their lives.  They’re both dead now though.”  Emi says and there is sadness in her voice, but there is also pride.

“So are you under some sort of contract?”  I ask not wanting to make Emi think any more about their deaths and unsure what to say.

“Yes, but I don’t mind, because Sor is worth serving.”  Emi says sounding content.

We continue talking for a while and then pass the rest of the time in silence.  I let Emi wake Sor whilst I wake Dairon.  I miss the stars, but I am tired so fall asleep quickly despite their absence.

The morning comes and we continue towards the mountains.  There are a few times that Dairon senses elves above the forest canopy but they ignore us.  There is no way an elf would miss us so close by.  According to Dairon it seems like they are always in a hurry.  It makes me nervous.  What are they hurrying to do?

Night comes again and we are a little closer but still a long way from the mountains.   We are deciding who will take the first watch when we sense two people not far away.  One is a catman and the other a human.  They are being closely pursued by five elf women that are using flight magic.

“They should pass here any moment.”  Lucy warns.

“We’ll help them.”  I say after a moment’s indecision and prepare to fight.  Moments later the catman races by on all fours with a human woman on his back.  The elves are right behind him, but I use a wind blast and knock the elves out of the air.

I can’t afford to save my power when fighting five elves so my attacks are full force, but thankfully I am not alone.  Dairon uses tree roots to grab an elf as she is knocked back by my air blast.  The roots wrap tightly around her, robbing her of air and at the same time throw her head first against a tree trunk.  She is unconscious before she knows what is happening.

Emi launched a boulder at an elf but the elf easily deflected it even whilst she was falling through the air.  Continuing the air blast I strike with lightning even before the elves hit the ground.  A second elf is knocked out but the other three throw my air blast back at me as I take the concentration away from it.  We are thrown through the air whilst the elves land and strike with lightning of their own.

Sor ports one lightning blast back at the elf who struck with it but another blast hits her.  She is out cold and so is Hinata who caught the edge of the blast.  I regain control of the air and throw it back at the elves but they shield and it dissipates.

Roots reach out for me but I strike them with air slices.  All of a sudden the catman, alone now, jumps past us and strikes an elf with his claws.  She launches roots at him but he easily slices them and bites down on her neck.

One of the remaining elves is busy shielding against my latest lightning strike whilst the other blasts a hole in the catman’s side with a concentrated air blast.  The angle means it is a shallow wound but it still throws the catman off the elf he was biting.  Before the elf can turn her attention back on us I strengthen my lightning and finally pierce the shield.  It is now just the one elf left.  She holds up her hands.

“I surrender, but please let me heal my comrade.”  She says pleadingly.  We actually defeated five elves?!

“Sure.”  I say gasping for breath.  She takes a small vial out from under her skirt and pours it over the neck bite.  The wound heals over in moments.  The elf that was bitten has already passed out so it is just one conscious elf and four unconscious ones.  Meanwhile Lucy has healed both the catman and Hinata.

“Peter, drain their power.”  Lucy orders, pointing at the elves.

“Ok.”  I say with a nod and approach the only elf that is still conscious.  She looks down at me fearfully.  She is too tall for me to reach her mouth.  “Kneel and don’t resist.”

“I won’t resist.”  She says as she kneels.  She sounds really scared, but right now scared is good. It means she shouldn’t try anything dangerous.  I place my mouth on hers and kiss her.  It is fastest that way and we may not have much time before anyone who noticed our fight comes to investigate.  Her power drained I move onto the other elves and bend over their unconscious bodies.  I kiss each of them and quickly drain them of power.

“Did you recover as much power as you used?”  Lucy asks me.

“No.”  I say shaking my head.  They had mostly used a lot of power too so I didn’t even recover half of what I used.  It can’t be helped though.

“You finished napping yet, Sor?”  Lucy asks.  Sor just stands there with her right hand on her forehead and glares at Lucy.

“Do you have enough power to hide us again?”  I ask Sor urgently.

“No, I hadn’t fully recovered when we started fighting so now I’m mostly drained.  I can still port us though.  If I port us away from the mountains I can probably prevent anyone detecting the port.”  Sor tells me.

“Port the prisoners and the two they were pursuing as well.”  I tell her.

“Hurry, there are twenty more elves approaching.”  Dairon tells her urgently.  Sor closes her eyes and after a moment we are all ported.  Sor falls to her knees and clenches her fists in pain.

“Great, we’re even further from where we need to be.”  Lucy says with a sigh.

“You could at least be grateful!”  Emi protests angrily.

“I am actually.  Sor has been a lot more useful than I expected, but I don’t have to like the fact that we are now further from where we need to be and have attracted the attention of our enemy.”  Lucy says.  As she finishes speaking though Sor falls forward.

“Sor!”  Emi cries out and runs towards her.

“I’ll heal her, but stop shouting unless you feel like fighting an army of elves.”  Lucy says and beats Emi to Sor’s side.  The familiar gentle light of Lucy’s healing magic envelopes Sor and then fades.  “She just needs rest now.  It seems she is recovering from the after effects of the curse.  I suspected it would be like this, which is why I didn’t want you both coming with us.  If she keeps pushing herself like this, she could wreck her magical senses.  She’d recover them in time, but it could take as much as a year, and she might never be as capable as she is now.”

“I thought you said even her mother wouldn’t be useful?”  Emi asks surprised.

“I lied.”  Lucy says with a shrug.  “If she is anything like her mother she’d just push herself even more to prove me wrong if I told her the truth.  She’s smart enough to work it out herself though.  She probably knew from the moment Dairon removed the curse.”

“So why were you so mean to her, if you knew what she was going through?”  Emi asks.

“I was hoping she’d get fed up and go home.  That and because she is just as much fun as her mother to tease.  It seems though she’s just as stubborn as her mother is, and twice as stubborn as a rat mule.”  Lucy says shaking her head half in amusement and half in frustration.

“There’s no way I’d give up because of an incompetent whiner.”  Sor says slowly opening her eyes.

“You heard that then.  I was sure you’d sleep for at least another half hour.”  Lucy says looking at Sor in surprise.

“I’m not that weak.”  Sor tells Lucy but her voice is actually very weak right now.

“I’m not going to argue with you right now, because we have more important matters to worry about.  First we should decide what to do with the prisoners.  We could kill them or we could take them with us, but we can’t just let them go free.  They would be a good source of power, but they will draw the enemy to us.  Since Peter is leader though, I suppose we aren’t going to be killing them.”  Lucy says, but she seemed to enjoy watching the one conscious elf squirm at talk of killing the prisoners.

“We’ll take them with us then.”  I say.

“You’ll need a contract with each of them then.  I’ll write it.  Hinata, get me some paper and something to lean on again.”  Lucy tells me.

“Here.”  Hinata says having summoned both when Lucy mentioned the contract.

“Thanks.”  Lucy says and writes the contract with magic instead of a pen.  It reminds me of how she drew the picture of Sor and Emi, which makes me fight back laughter.  “What’s funny?”

“Nothing.”  I say but now I can’t help laughing as that picture and the real scene were just too funny.  “Sorry, I was just remembering when we first met Sor and Emi near the hot spring.”

“Ah, yes, I should draw another picture before I forget the details.”  Lucy says.  “Not right now though.  Sign these and get them to sign as well.  Since they don’t have any magic at the moment we can safely wake them all, but get that one to sign first.”  Lucy says handing me the contract.  I know I should but I don’t bother reading it before signing.  Lucy knows what she is doing and I trust her completely.

“Sign it.”  I tell the only conscious elf.  She reads it quickly and signs it too.  “Emi, wake the others and get them to sign it.”  I say and hand Emi the contract.  I let her deal with it whilst I turn my attention on the catman and human woman.

“I’m Nico Na and this is Kai.”  The catman says bowing slightly as I approach him.  The woman bows deeply.

“I’m Peter of the Wind and these are my comrades.  We don’t really have time to talk too much now.  Are you from the Kuroneko Mountains?”  I ask.

“I am.  I’m not sure where Kai is from but I saved her from a giant spider.  She was lost so I agreed to take her to a human village by the river.”  Nico Na says.

“Do you know where the temple in the mountains is?”  I ask.

“Yes, it was my home, but the elves have captured it.  I barely escaped with my life.”  Nico Na tells me.

“We need to get to the temple.  Are you able to help us, even just with advice?”  I ask.

“I could get you to the temple, but once you get there what do you plan to do?  There must be at least a hundred elves at the temple and more close by.”  Nico Na tells me.  Lucy interrupts us.

“We need to find the Kuroneko and then reach the Heart of the Mountain with her.”  Lucy says.  Not knowing the whole plan I had no idea.

“I know where the Kuroneko is, but what do you want from her?”  Nico Na says.

“Isn’t she in the sacred hall at the temple?”  Lucy asks.

“No, she is in the forest, but I cannot help you unless you tell me what you want from her.”  Nico Na tells Lucy.

“We need her help to kill an evil spirit.”  Lucy says.

“Why would she help you?”  Nico Na asks dubiously.

“We can help her in return.”  Lucy tells him.

“How?  Can you beat the elves?”  Nico Na asks cautiously.

“No, but we can free the Kuroneko’s followers.  The temple may be sacred, but what truly matters to a god are those who believe in her.”  Lucy says.

“How do you plan to free them?”  Nico Na asks.

“I still need to work out the details but we have a portal we will be using to return home.  They can come with us.  The Kuroneko should be powerful enough to fight off the elves for a short time whilst we free your people.  First though we must reach the centre of the mountain with the Kuroneko and defeat our foe.”  Lucy says.

“If you are lying the Kuroneko will know and she will kill you.  If you speak truly she may help, but it is not my place to answer for her.  All I can do is help you find her.”  Nico Na says.

“I’ll help too.”  Kai says with a childish grin despite her size.

“So why couldn’t you tell me this earlier?”  I ask Lucy.

“It’s more fun to keep you in the dark.”  Lucy says with a grin.

“You mean it had nothing to do with David’s power?”  I ask rather shocked.

“There’s no way he has such a ridiculous power.  He must have used the fact that he is a spirit to trick people into believing that.”  Lucy says with a laugh.  I am so annoyed at her, but I cannot spare the time to be angry right now.

“We can’t just stay here.  There’s no telling how long it will take the enemy to find us.”  I say suppressing a strong urge to complain.

“The Kuroneko isn’t far from here, but we need to be quick or she will move on to somewhere else.  The elves are hunting her and even with her power it doesn’t take them that long to find her.”  Nico Na tells us.

“Emi, have the prisoners all signed the contract?”  I ask.

“Yes.”  Emi says and the elves are standing nearby looking rather unhappy.

“We need to get moving and quickly.  Is everyone going to be able to do that?”  I ask.  Hinata nods and the elves nod too.  Lucy isn’t a problem since she’ll be sitting on my shoulder.  Kai and Nico Na seem fine too but Emi is looking at Sor in concern.

“I’ll ride the cat.”  Sor says after a moment.

“I am not some animal for you to ride!”  Nico Na snarls.

“You let Kai ride you.”  Sor reminds him.

“That was an emergency.”  Nico Na says sounding embarrassed.

“So is this.  There’s no way I can walk far or fast right now, and I’m not going to let anyone else carry me.  So it is let me ride you or we wait here until the morning.”  Sor tells him.  He snarls for a moment and then goes silent.  Then he sighs.

“Fine, but only this once.”  Nico Na says very reluctantly.

We are an odd group as we follow Nico Na who is walking on all fours like a giant black cat with Sor on his back.  Beside him a cheerful looking Kai walks on one side constantly ducking branches and on the other side Dairon walks looking much more serious than normal.  I have Emi and Hinata back with me and Lucy at the rear.  Between us are five scared looking elves.  They are all much shorter than Kai, but taller than Sor and Emi.  Hinata and I are shorter still.

The five elves all have very similar features.  They all have light brown hair and pale skin with a very slight hint of silver.  I can’t see their eyes from here but they are all pale green.  They are all really thin as if they have been almost starved.  I remember my days in the arena.  I passed slaves who were as thin as they are, but I don’t recall seeing anyone that thin since.  Unless you count Lucy, but proportionally they are much thinner.

Looking at the elves I realise they aren’t all about the same height.  They are exactly the same height, or at least they are as far as I can tell by looking.  They wear dark green leaf patterned skirts and shirts.  Their shoes are brown and fade into the earth that they walk on.  After a few moments I realise the shoes actually seem to change colour and pattern every step they take.  It is only a slight change but it is why they blend in so well.

Nico Na is a very sleek, muscled black catman and completely different from Neko who is much more of a cute friendly catgirl.  Walking like he is now on all fours with Sor on his back he may seem almost cute, but even now there is a sense of strength and danger in his aura.  Sor looks equally amusing at a glance. Nico Na standing upright, close up is very imposing with deadly claws and razor sharp fangs, but Sor stood up to him like it was nothing and not even her aura shook.  She may be easy for Lucy to tease and she may at times seem like just a cute girl, but she has a strength and determination that should not be underestimated.

Emi walking beside me isn’t as strong or assertive as Sor but Emi is not weak either.  Her determination at least is equal to Sor.  It is clearly a determination to support Sor, but I suspect it is as much as her friend as her servant.

Kai has me confused more than anyone.  Her aura seems a little bit off, but I can’t quite tell why.  She is a tall woman with a very athletic build.  She doesn’t seem as hardened as a warrior, but she is clearly physically strong.  Her skin has a light golden tint to it like Yu Kii’s.  Her hair is short and the same white as Yu Kii’s too.  Are they from the same village?  Perhaps her traits are common in this world, or at least this area of it.

“Did you read that contract?”  Emi asks me.

“No.”  I admit a little embarrassed.

“That’s always a bad idea.”  Emi says with a laugh.  “I didn’t think you did though.  It was a little harsh.”

“Why, what did it say?”  I ask nervously.

“If they disobey you they die.”  Emi says and I gulp.  “It isn’t a bad idea given how powerful they are.  That way they really do have to obey you, but you’d better be careful what orders you give them.  Anything impossible would be like executing them.”

“I’ll be very careful then.”  I say still in shock.

“I’m still amazed we beat five elves though.  I thought elves were meant be virtually invincible, but they didn’t seem as powerful as I expected.”  Emi says.

“None of the elves we have fought here seemed as powerful as the ones I fought before this.”  I say realising she has a point.

“You’ve fought elves before, and not just Dairon?”  Emi asks.

“Yes.  At Minerva.”  I tell her.

“Were you there when Minerva was conquered?”  Emi asks in shock.

“No.  It was just three elves that time and I fought them off.  I had a couple of allies with me.  I captured Dairon, killed one elf and the other escaped.”  I tell her.  I don’t like the idea of having killed, but it is the truth and I don’t want to hide the truth.  All too likely I’ll have to kill again before we return home.  I like that idea even less.

Chapter 13 (Multiple)

(Kuroneko)

The elves are never far away but now I smell a very different group approaching me.  They seem to be led by a catman.  Six are elves but I smell a contract binding each of them to one human.  Is he human though?  His body smells like a human, but his soul smells a little odd.  I recognise this smell but I can’t quite place it.  I think back a few hundred years, but nothing seems quite right.  I think back a thousand years and still I can’t recognise it.

The others smell like humans too, though a couple don’t smell quite right either.  I think on the smell and realise I can still smell the remains of immortality.  The immortality is broken but it is not completely gone.  It is probably enough to still slow down her aging, but not stop it.  I think on the smell of the last one that seems a bit odd.  It is faint, but it doesn’t take long to place that smell.

The elves are close by and this odd group is taking too long.  Do I meet them, or do I move on?  It would be wise to move on, but I am curious.  Perhaps curiosity will kill this catgod, but I decide to meet them anyway.

It only takes one quick jump in spirit form and I am in front of them.  Only the catman and the oddest of the humans see me.  The catman stops and throws the little girl off his back without warning.  Her expression makes me laugh, but I do not have time to waste.

I sit and create an illusion around my spirit so they can see me.  With all the trees so close together a physical form is impossible, at least without revealing myself to the enemy, but this also uses less magic.  The humans and elves gasp at the sight of me towering over them.  The catman kneels with his forehead touching the ground.  I am still below the forest canopy, but only just.  I had best take care not to rise above it or the elven hunters will see me.  Even if they don’t see me we do not have much time before they find me with their senses.

“Speak quickly.”  I say looking the odd human boy in the eyes.  They are bright blue and remind me of the sky.  In fact looking into his eyes I see his soul and it scares me.  I recognise his soul, though his body seems nothing more than that of a weak one armed human boy.  It would not do to show my fear.

“I am Peter of the Wind.  Are you the great Kuroneko?”  He asks.

“Yes.”  I say with a low purr, not daring to look away from his eyes.

“I have a favour to request of you, and an offering I wish to give you in return.”  He says.

“I am listening.”  I say and I am listening very intently indeed.

“My offering is the freedom of your people and their safe passage to the land of Contractia.  The favour I would ask of you is your assistance killing an evil spirit.”  He says and I frown.  Why would he need my assistance killing an evil spirit?  Surely he could do that as easily as breathing.  The freedom of my people would be a great offering, but if he cannot kill this spirit, will I be able to?

“What evil spirit?”  I ask cautiously.

“Its name is David Ishki.”  He says.  I do not recognise the name.  It would not do to give in to fear or doubt.  I could kill the elves, but not their masters.  His offer may be the only hope I have.

“Where can this spirit be found?”  I ask.

“We would defeat it at the Heart of the Mountain where your temple rests.”  The small former immortal human tells me.

“Very well.  The catman knows how to call me.  It does not matter who calls me.  I will answer the call, if it is made from the Heart of the Mountain.”  I say and in spirit form again I jump away from the odd group.  I jump a few times.  It will take the elves a while to find me now.

(Nico Na)

The Kuroneko turns back into spirit form and jumps away from us.  I can tell even with my eyes on the ground, but now she is gone I stand and look up.  I am amazed how quickly she agreed.  She didn’t even question whether Peter could keep his end of the deal.

Suddenly I feel a kick on the back of my legs and I turn furiously to face the arrogant human girl.  Snarling I barely contain the urge to tear into her with my claws.  What holds me back most is seeing the obvious pain she is in.  It must be from the magic she used to save us earlier.  It still doesn’t give her the right to kick me like that though!

“Human girl, if you kick me again…”  I start to say and before I can finish she tries to do just that!  I dodge and knock her legs out from under her.  She falls backwards onto the ground, hitting her head on a large tree root.

“Sor, Nico Na, please stop this.”  Peter says and I look at him with a glare.  How dare he try to blame me!

“Peter’s right.”  The elf boy who was walking beside me says.  “There are elves not far away.  They seem distracted, but that could easily change.  We should head in that direction, and fast.”

“Back where we came from.”  The arrogant girl says with a tired sigh.

“Kai will carry you from here.”  I tell her and she glares at me.

“That great big oaf of a woman is not going to…”  The arrogant girl starts to say but Kai has lifted the girl onto her back before the girl can say anything more.  Kai has one hand under the girl’s bum as a seat and the other hand supports the girl’s back.

“Hey, let go!”  The girl shouts but I cover her mouth before she can give away our position to the elves.  I wince as she bites my hand.

“Sor, stop this, please.”  The other girl her age says sounding upset.  Sor relaxes and stops biting my hand.  I remove my hand and lick it.  It isn’t bleeding thanks to my thick fur, but it still hurts.  She bit really hard.  Sor looks away from the other girl with her head held high.

“Everyone follow me.”  The elf boy says and leads us at a fast pace.  Now it is Peter who struggles to keep up.  After only a short while he calls us to a stop.

“We need to move on quickly, or we’ll be found.”  The elf boy says sounding worried.

“Dairon, I think you said you were fairly strong.  Are all elves physically strong?”  Peter asks.

“Fairly strong.”  The elf boy says sounding confused.

“Do you think one of our prisoners could carry me?”  Peter asks.

“Easily.”  The elf boy says with a nod.  The other elves look at Peter nervously.

“You, try to pick me up.”  Peter says to one of the elves.  They all have the same smell and appearance so I cannot tell them apart.  She quickly obeys and easily lifts him up into the air in front of her.  Peter smiles in relief and tells her.  “Carry me on your back.”

The elf turns him so he is facing the same direction she is.  She then lifts him over her head and puts him on her back.  The elf supports him in the same way Kai is supporting Sor.  So one hand is on his back and the other is acting as a seat.  Sor has her hands on Kai’s shoulders looking very dignified, but Peter puts his arm round the elf woman’s belly fairly tightly as if afraid he is going to be dropped.  It would be much easier with two arms, and he probably wouldn’t feel the need to grip her so tightly.

It must be uncomfortable for her, but after all that the elves have done to my people I would rather she was dead.  It also sounds like the Kuroneko is seriously considering abandoning our sacred land because of these cursed elves.  Yes, I would much rather rip open her belly and tear out what is inside, but a little discomfort is better than nothing.

I walk at the back with the youngest girl beside me.  The elves are in the middle again and this time Dairon leads with Kai carrying the arrogant girl, Sor, to his right.  The other girl the same age as Sor is walking beside Kai, but Sor is clearly trying not to look at her.

“Lucy?”  Peter asks sounding a little worried.

“Yes?”  Lucy, the mini winged human says.

“Do you think the elves would notice if I had to use a little wind magic?”  Peter asks nervously.

“It’s not worth the risk.  Why, what did you want to do?”  Lucy asks sounding curious.

“It’s just that if I was to fall, I was wondering whether I could break the fall with flight magic.”  Peter says.

“You are much higher than this in the sky.  Even if you fell the few feet to the ground, what does it matter?”  Lucy asks.

“It’s just that being carried feels weird, and I feel really vulnerable like this.  If I’m in the sky I’m in complete control of myself.”  Peter answers.

“She’s not going to drop you.  If she did that she’d risk the contract killing her.  If anyone should be scared it’s the elf.”  Lucy tells Peter impatiently.

“I don’t want that!”  Peter exclaims.

“You could tell her it’s ok to drop you.”

“I don’t want that either!”  Peter protests.  Then he thinks for a moment and tells the elf.  “As long as it is an accident it’s ok if you drop me.”

“I figured you’d think of that sooner.”  Lucy tells Peter.  We walk a while in silence.

“I’m feeling a bit funny.”  Peter says and his skin does seem to have changed colour a little.  Lucy looks at him.

“Well if you are sick, make sure it’s over her and not me.  Or the ground works, but if you throw up over me…”  Lucy warns Peter.  The elf carrying him looks really worried.  The other elven prisoners don’t look too happy either.

“Maybe I should just walk.”  Peter says.

“This is much better.  What if you get everyone killed by slowing us down walking, just because you’re a bit uncomfortable like this?”  Lucy asks.

“If we’re attacked I’m not going to be much good like this though.”  Peter argues.

“If we get found by too many elves we’re dead anyway.”  Lucy reminds him, sounding like she is rather enjoying the situation.  He shakes his head looking miserable but remains silent.  Perhaps just to be on the safe side though, Lucy flutters away from Peter and lands on the youngest girl’s right shoulder.  “Hinata, I’m going to rest here a while.”

“You shouldn’t tease Peter when he’s feeling so bad.”  Hinata scolds.

“Sorry, but how often do you see Peter looking so weak and vulnerable like that?  Right now he actually looks like a child.  There’s no way I could just let the opportunity to tease him pass by.”  Lucy says quietly with a chuckle and an amused grin.  Hinata shakes her head but doesn’t say anything more.

“So just who are you?”  I ask looking at Lucy.

“I’m Lucy.  You don’t have a very good memory, do you?”  She says.

“I know your name, but that wasn’t what I was asking.”

“I’m Peter’s pet.”  She says with a shrug.  I don’t feel like I’m going to learn much from her so I just shake my head and walk in silence.  Then she yawns and says.  “Boring cat.”

I growl and look at her with a murderous stare.  “What did you say?”

“I said boring cat.  Are you deaf as well?”  She asks with a laugh.

“No, but if I listen to you for much longer I may get hungry.  I don’t think you’d fill me up much, but at least I wouldn’t have to put up with the insults.”  I tell her and she laughs whole heartedly with one hand on her stomach.  Lucy seems entirely unintimidated, but Hinata seems rather scared, so I look away and try to ignore Lucy.

(Ara Kii)

I wake in my bed just like nothing has changed.  The white sheets cover me and the soft bedding is as comfortable as ever.  If I could just lie here everything would seem ok.  It isn’t though.  Everything changed that day the elves took the temple.

The cat people who used to rule this land are now slaves.  They work in the mines below along with the villagers we used to guard.  Until now the mines lay unused since the dwarves fled these mountains.  They were taken from the dwarves by the Fallen Angels, who long ago abandoned it.  It was too vulnerable to Contractia, but Contractia never took it even when it lay abandoned for centuries.  So the Kuroneko led her faithful from the forest below into the mountains where they built this temple.

Now I am one of a handful of humans living here with our elven captors.  We are slaves, but my life is easier than most.  The same cannot be said of the miko.  The only blessing is that Haru Kii is not sharing the same fate as the other three miko.  It is past dawn now so I cannot afford to lie here any longer.  I have work to do.

I wash and dress.  So far it is no different to my life before the temple was conquered.  As I leave my room though, the difference is obvious.  The grey corridors are empty and bare.  The statues that once lined the main corridor are gone.  Worse the cat people are of course also missing.  I reach the room where my duty begins.  I brace myself for the sight and smell that await within.  It takes a few moments to work up the courage to open the door.  I take a deep breath and then push the door open.

The smell of charred flesh and burning coal assaults my nose.  The miko is wearing the red and white patterned spirit clothes normally worn to dance for the Kuroneko.  She is now wearing them to spread out her spirit so it cannot be easily corrupted or broken, but that can only protect her spirit not her body.

Her arms and legs are each stretched out by unseen magic towards a different corner of this small grey room.  She lies there suspended in mid-air at the centre of the room about a foot and a half above the ground. Her hair is long and white, her eyes are bright green and her skin is pale, just like both the other miko prisoners.  Her body although covered to my eyes by the spirit clothes has been burnt many times with the hot iron that sits in the burning coals.  I can’t see the burns on her body, but I know they are there.

“You’re late.”  The black elf boy says with a grin.  He is wearing only shorts and an open shirt.  Both are naturally red but also completely soaked with blood.  He doesn’t even bother with shoes.  His short hair like his skin is black, and so are his eyes.  If he were human he would be perhaps thirteen or fourteen.  As an elf he is much older, but I have no idea how old.

“No, he’s just about on time.”  The pale elf girl says.

“You really should let me eat his soul.”  The boy says with a laugh.

“That would be boring.”  The girl says with a giggle.  She is wearing a short black skirt and a red leather top that covers her from just below her shoulders to an inch or so above her belly button.  She looks about the same age as the boy, but her skin is very pale, her dark brown hair is down to her shoulders and her eyes are bright green.  Although physically she may be a cute young girl, her soul is pure evil.  The boy isn’t as bad as the girl, but that is like saying that a desert isn’t as hot as magical flames.

“Then hurry up and do your work.”  The boy says yawning and then sits on the miko’s belly.  She doesn’t sink because the magic doesn’t allow that.  In fact he uses magic to raise her so his feet are now dangling in the air.

I close my eyes and begin the chant.  It only takes a minute and the smell is gone.  Her flesh is healed and the air is cleansed.  It isn’t healing magic.  That would be far too difficult for me.  Instead I am simply invoking the natural healing power of this room to do its job.  Anyone, even the elves could do this.  Why they have me do it I have no idea.  I can only assume they consider it below them, but they have plenty of elves to do their bidding.

“We’re going to continue playing with this one whilst you finish your work.”  The boy tells me with a laugh as he swings his legs in the air and ports the hot iron into his hands.  I suppress a wince as I leave the room and try not to hear the scream.  If I was the only one who could keep on healing the miko I would kill myself in an instant.

(Nairon)

“Five more wind sisters have been lost.”  Seraph tells me with a cruel laugh.  There is no wind tonight so I can hear her perfectly as she sits on her spiderfly atop the next tree.  “Not even their bodies were found.  I wonder how the Kuroneko killed these ones.”

“They’re on our side.”  I remind her.

“They’re easily replaced.”  Seraph laughs.  Then Ishki interrupts.

“The Kuroneko has been spotted near the river.”  Ishki tells us.

“Then we almost have her!”  Seraph laughs.

“I didn’t expect her to fall that far back so quickly.”  I say with a frown.  She was last seen not far from here and we are still some way from the river.

“We’d better hurry, or we’ll miss out on the fun.”  Seraph tells me.  I’m not sure about fun, but we had best hurry.

“Ishki, lead on.”  I say and his spiderfly has leapt into the air and landed on the next tree before I have finished my last word.  Seraph’s spiderfly jumps into the air too as I urge mine to follow.  Jumping from tree to tree we move faster than if we simply flew through the air.

I hate spiderflies but I was at least used to the last one.  This one I am still getting used to and so it takes a bit more concentration than normal to control.  I am concerned about fighting the Kuroneko on this unfamiliar spiderfly, but it can’t be helped.

We are still some way from the river when the Kuroneko takes the form of a huge black cat standing on the other side of the river in the field of long grass.  She is almost as big as the mountain where her temple sits, and towers over the trees.  Her eyes are red and her fur is charged with powerful magic.

It is the first time she has fought in physical form and shows she is serious now.  Perhaps this is why she left the forest.  It would have been better to have cornered her inside the forest where we are at our best and she was unable to easily manifest her body.  It is a forest she knows well though, and one we are unfamiliar with, so that was always unlikely.

I sense the huge bolt of lightning before I see it.  There must be at least a hundred wind sisters to produce lightning on that scale, but the Kuroneko just laughs over the deafening thunder and ignores it.  Then she strikes with one claw.  It rips apart the air and sends countless trees flying.  Undoubtedly many of the wind sisters were killed in just that first attack.

Other spiderfly riders have already reached the Kuroneko now and dot the sky above her.  I sense a foolish one dive their spiderfly onto her.  The result as expected is a quick incineration before even hitting the deadly fur.  Its magic is strong enough to burn the rider and spiderfly from even further than I realised.  The other riders have the sense to just spit venom and binding goo at the Kuroneko.  Needless to say it is ineffective, but it is a distraction.

The Kuroneko is busy swatting my fellow spiderfly riders when our main force finally arrives.  Thankfully that is before we arrive to get swatted.  The river leaps up into a monstrous form at the command of our water mages.  At the same time both behind and under the Kuroneko the earth forms giant hands.  Both earth and water strike the Kuroneko and these are not attacks she can simply laugh off.  Instead she leaps towards the forest and over the now dry river bed.

A huge wall of earth rises between her and the mages of our main force but she breaks through it with ease.  I sense the many ports as our mages split up.  Some are undoubtedly too slow, but from the sheer amount of ports most must have escaped her attack.  We have almost reached the battle now.

I sense their port and then their presence.  It is fifty drake riders now directly above the Kuroneko.  They are not elves but human death mages.  They use the foulest of death magic and before my eyes countless death feathers spread out below them.  The Kuroneko obviously senses them too and in spirit form again she leaps back into the forest directly towards us.  For a moment I fear she will kill us as she passes, but not sparing the time she is past us in an instant.

Now the hunt must begin anew.  If the death mages hadn’t shown up and scared her off like that we may have managed to wear her down and kill her.  At least the three of us survived though.  I breathe a sigh of relief.

Chapter 14 (Peter)

It got dark hours ago but we decided to risk continuing because there don’t seem to be any monsters nearby and the elves were still close by.    We can’t continue forever without rest though, and it is slower walking in the dark of night, because it is harder to dodge all the constant branches, shrubs, boulders and everything else that gets in the way.  Not that the day is exactly bright, but it isn’t as dark as the night.  So we will have to stop soon.

Suddenly I am plunged forward as the elf carrying me falls to the ground.  I hit my head on a thick tree trunk and my face is scratched by a sharp tree root.  I hear a loud screech and quickly jump to my feet.  The elf is trying desperately to pull a small furry animal off her left foot.  It has its teeth deep into her foot, which is bleeding badly.

“Stop struggling. Use ice magic to cool your foot.”  Kai tells her.  “It’s just a kari.  You stepped in its burrow so it’s only natural it is angry.  It doesn’t like the cold though, so it will give up quickly.  See, it’s already backed off.”

Sure enough the small creature has backed away, looking a bit confused.  Then it jumps back into its burrow.  The elf looks at me fearfully with her gaze not meeting my eyes.  The other elves look at her in obvious concern.

“Let’s stop here for the night.”  I suggest but as I do so there is a great flash and a deafening roar.  I feel lightning at the edge of the forest with my wind senses. Normally distant lightning only just registers, but this feels more like my wind senses are on fire.  I gasp in shock and hold my breath for a few moments.  Even though the lightning was only there a moment it takes that long to recover from the shock.

“Are you ok?”  Hinata asks.

“Yes.  The power of that though…”  I say shaking my head in disbelief.

“It was combined magic.”  Lucy tells me.

“Combined?”  I ask confused.

“More than one mage used magic to form a single effect, and in this case a lot more than one mage.  You have to be really attuned to each other to combine your magic, so it is really quite impressive for so many mages to do so.  It’s not like two mages simply summoning fire in the same place, because that is still two separate effects even though the effects themselves merge.”  Lucy explains.

“They must be fighting the Kuroneko.  Do you think she will be alright?”  I ask nervously.  That was a really powerful blast and we haven’t seen or heard any more.  Did it kill her?

“I doubt she’ll be beaten easily even if it is elves she is fighting.”  Lucy says but she still looks worried.  “There’s nothing we can do, so we may as well get some rest like you suggested.  We should be ready to move at dawn though.”

“I’ll take first watch.  Sor as well, since we were both carried.  Dairon and Emi will take second watch.”  I say.  Sor looks at me in distaste but for once doesn’t complain.  Instead she gets her bed out for Emi.  As she does so we hear a faint thud in the distance.  There are a few more thuds and then silence.

Everyone is tired so even though the ground is just as hard and uncomfortable as ever we are soon the only ones awake.  I look at Sor but she remains silent and seems determined to ignore me.  I don’t want to argue so I remain silent and look away.  I don’t like arguing anyway, but especially whilst I am so tired. I am still a little queasy too.

I wish that I could see the stars but the forest canopy blocks them completely.  At least an hour passes like this and having finally gotten used to it the silence feels quite comfortable.  That’s when Sor breaks it.

“Was that the first time you met the Kuroneko?”  Sor asks quietly.

“Yes.”  I say and look at Sor confused.  She is still looking away from me.

“She seemed to recognise you.”  Sor says sounding suspicious.

“I got that impression too, but what makes you think that?”  I ask.  Sor looks at me oddly and remains silent.  I don’t think she is going to answer me, but after a few minutes she does.

“Instincts.”  Is all Sor says when she does finally answer.  Another minute passes before she speaks again.  “Why did you feel she recognised you?”

“It was in her aura, but I’ve never seen a god before so I can’t be sure.”  I tell her.

“You can see auras?”  She asks straight away.

“Yes.”  I answer.  She remains silent and I am sure the conversation is over.

“How well?”  She asks after a few more minutes.  I don’t know quite how to answer that so remain silent for a moment.  I almost expect to be hurried despite her long pauses but she remains silent whilst I think.

“How well can you see anything?”  I ask.

“What does that have to do with it?”  She asks sounding annoyed.

“I can see auras just like I can see anything else.”  I tell her.

“That’s impossible.”  She says with a laugh.

“Impossible or not, it is true.”  I say with a shrug.

“So what does my aura look like?”  She asks.

“It is a slow turning swirl of black and bloody red mixed together like many clouds floating around in a large ring at different speeds.”  I tell her.

“Is that what most auras look like?”  She asks.

“No, most are just one colour and don’t move as much.”

“What does your aura look like?”  She asks.  I blink.

“I don’t know.  I can’t see my own aura.”  I admit.

“Doesn’t seeing auras get in the way of seeing everything else?”  Sor asks.

“No.  It is like a different sense.  Hearing and smell don’t get in the way of seeing, right?”

“I suppose that is true, but you just described it with colours and shape.  That sounds like seeing to me.  You also described it as seeing earlier.”  Sor reminds me.

“It is like seeing, but it isn’t.”  I say, unable to explain it in a way that makes sense.

“Are you human?”  Sor asks.  I blink.

“Of course I am.”  I answer a little indignantly.

“Humans can’t see auras though.  Not without being trained.  Who trained you?”  Sor asks.

“I don’t know.  I fought monsters in the arena at the capital.  I have very few memories before that.”  I tell her and I hear a small gasp.  “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing.”  Sor says, but it doesn’t sound like nothing.  Her tone is quite emotional and her aura spins furiously for a moment.  Then she suppresses it and her aura returns to normal.  “Have you ever killed?”

“Yes.  I killed an elf above Minerva.”  I tell her.  I thought I mentioned that before but maybe I am misremembering.

“Is that the only time you have ever killed anyone?”  She asks.

“No.  I’ve killed humans too, and monsters of course.”  I tell her.  I’m not sure David really counts, but certainly Hermes’ mother does and the woman who attacked the Hoshi land and David’s followers after the Death Bird attacked me.

“In the arena?”  Sor asks and I detect a tremor in both her voice and her aura.  I killed Hermes mother in the academy arena.

“Yes.”  I say.  Sor seems to breathe a sigh of relief.  A strange response.  Is she misunderstanding something?  “I killed Hermes’ mother in the academy arena.”

“What about the city arena?”  Sor asks sounding angry.

“I only fought animals and monsters there.”  I tell her.

“I see…”  Sor says.  Her aura is completely still now.  I am not sure I have ever seen an aura completely still before.  Most don’t move as much as hers, but there is always at least some movement.  I consider for a moment before finally asking.

“Do you think I killed someone?”  I ask.  Sor doesn’t answer.  I wait for a few minutes expecting another delayed answer, but eventually I realise she isn’t going to answer me.

“It’s time to change watches.”  Sor finally says and she is right.  “I’ll wake Emi and you can wake Dairon.”

“Ok.”  I answer with a tired sigh.  Once Dairon and Emi have taken over from us I quickly fall asleep.  It feels like I have only just done so though, when I wake to the sound of Dairon’s voice.  I don’t hear his words but I sit up tiredly and rub my eyes.

“It’s almost dawn.”  Dairon says and this time I hear what he said.  So another day begins.  I soon find myself being carried by an elf.  Sor resigns herself to being carried without protest today but insists an elf carry her.

I have my elven carrier walk just behind Dairon.  Sor then insists that her elf walks behind the other elves.  I have no idea why, but I see no reason to argue.  Kai now walks at the front beside Dairon and Nico Na.  Emi and Hinata walk at the very back with Lucy sitting on Hinata’s shoulder.

I feel a bit more comfortable today.  I must be getting used to being carried.  I eventually loosen my grip on the elf and simply rely on her to support me.  I start to pay a bit more attention to my surroundings now.  Even when I walked on my own feet I was much more focused on not tripping and on dodging the many obstacles that the forest put in my way.

The forest canopy seems thinner now.  Perhaps before long I will be able to see the stars again.  We will be much more vulnerable once the leaves are gone though.  Every now and again there are now holes in the canopy that let in rays of light from the sun when it is up, so it may not be long before we become more vulnerable.

Closer to me I notice that there are all sorts of mushrooms growing in this part of the forest.  Some are long thin grey ones growing along branches.  Others are small round green ones sticking out of tree trunks.  There are tiny red ones barely the size of my fingertips growing on tree roots.  There are large brown ones perhaps the size of both my feet.  They are rare and always grow on their own.  There are never other plants near them.

“They’re poisonous.”  Dairon tells me as I look closer at one.  He doesn’t even look back at me as he says it.

I haven’t noticed many shrubs recently and only the occasional boulder.  There haven’t been any smaller stones for some time now.  I smell something in the air, a bit like smoke but with hints of sweetness mixed in.  It takes a minute or two to place it.

“Stop!”  I whisper urgently.

“What is it?”  Dairon asks turning towards me.

“That smell is the same as the drake blood, right?”  I ask him.  He considers for a moment and nods.  Kai then surprises me by laughing.

“It isn’t drake blood.  This is the smell of ore.  There must be an entrance to the old mines here.  They haven’t been used since the dwarves abandoned them.”  Kai tells us.

“Would the mines allow us to reach the Heart of the Mountain?”  I ask.

“Yes, and it should be a much more pleasant walk.”  Kai tells me eagerly, but Dairon looks uncomfortable.

“Is there something wrong?”  I ask Dairon.

“Elves hate walking through dark tunnels.”  Dairon says apologetically.

“We shouldn’t meet too many enemies down there then.”  I say thoughtfully.

“Elves aren’t the only servants of the Fallen Angels.”  Lucy reminds me as she floats towards me.

“Put me down.”  I tell the elf carrying me, who happily does so. Lucy lands on my shoulder as soon as my feet touch the ground.

“Me too.”  Sor tells her elf, who seems even more eager to do so.

“You should take power from the elves again.”  Lucy says with a frown.  “We may face even more powerful enemies in the mines and tunnels. We will need to enter them sooner or later though, so this is an ideal opportunity to do so without having to go through the temple.  We will need to rely on our earth senses to find our destination, so I will lead us once we are down there.”

“I know the way.”  Kai says and surprises us again.  She pauses a moment as if choosing her next words very carefully.  “I’ve been down there before, so I may as well lead the way.  The entrance is just over there I think.  Follow me.”

We follow Kai and soon find ourselves at the entrance.  The smell is much stronger here.  It feels almost like a dark aura covers it, but that must be my imagination.  It is a deep square shaft lined with grey stone bricks and with one rusty iron ladder.  The entrance is just a square hole in the ground with one layer of bricks extending up out of the hole.  I can’t see the bottom.

“Take their power now.”  Lucy tells me.

“Ok, all of you kneel.”  I tell the elves and they quickly get down on their knees.  The ground is hard so it must be a bit uncomfortable, but they are too tall for me to reach their mouths easily whilst they are standing.  I could have them just crouch or something but this is probably easiest.

I kiss the first elf and am shocked by how much power she has.  It flows into me like a furious river even without my pulling it towards me.  She knows she has to give me her power and I am sure she doesn’t want this to last any longer than it has to.  It takes a few seconds and then the flow stops.  I check and she is definitely almost out of power.  Taking more would put her life at risk.

I move onto the second elf and only now do I realise just how similar her face is.  I kiss the second elf and her power flows into me just as quickly as the first elf’s power did.  I quickly move onto each of the other elves and soon I have more power than before we fought.  As I look closely at each of them though I realise they all seem exactly the same.  At a distance they just seemed similar and when I took power from them before I was in a rush so didn’t pay any attention to their appearance.

“Why do you all look the same?”  I ask unable to hold back my curiosity.

“We are wind sisters.”  They all say at exactly the same time.  I am about to ask more when Kai gasps.

“There are enemies approaching us.  Perhaps fifty or so drake riders.  They will pass close by here in a few minutes, so we should hurry.  There is shielding magic at the entrance, so they aren’t going to detect us if we are down there.”  Kai says urgently.

“Kai, you lead the way.”  I say and as I say it Kai starts to climb down.  “After Kai I want Dairon and Hinata.  Follow now.  Then our prisoners.  Then Sor and Emi.  Then me and, Nico Na, I want you last to guard us from behind.”

“Are you going to be alright climbing with just one arm?”  Lucy asks as I approach the entrance.  The last elf has just started climbing down.

“If there is shielding I can use wind magic, right?”  I ask with a grin.

“As long as you don’t overdo it I suppose it should be fine, but you’ll need to be below the shield before you use it.”  Lucy says cautiously from my right shoulder.

“I should have gone first.  Then I could have just jumped down.”  I say realising my mistake.  It is my turn now and I am going to have to be cautious.  I stand there a moment thinking that this isn’t going to be easy, but then Nico Na grabs me by my waist and lowers me down.  I gasp in surprise and Lucy seems just as shocked, but grateful I use wind magic to further lower myself slowly down the shaft.  Then Nico Na clambers down and Lucy flies down landing on my shoulder. We are all now below the entrance’s shield so we should be safe from the enemy above.

I am glad I don’t have to use the rusty old ladder.  Even with two hands it wouldn’t be pleasant.  Even though we have only just started climbing down I can hear Sor quietly cursing below me about how her hands hurt.  It may use a small amount of my power to float down like this, but it is worth it.  I think everyone else other than the elves, who have been drained of magic, can use flight magic.  So if it does break it shouldn’t be too bad.  I can always catch the elves with my own flight magic.

The smell gets stronger the further down we go and as we get further from the entrance it is getting too dark to see.  Then Hinata uses her now familiar enchantment on a small stone, which she places on her forehead.  She keeps it there with magic and its purple glow helps light the way so we can see much clearer now.

I’m not sure how long it takes to reach the bottom, but it feels like forever.  Finally we do arrive at the end of the shaft though, and everyone quite gladly jumps off the ladder.  The smell now is sickly sweet and overpoweringly smoky.  Nico Na looks extremely unwell now and all the elves, Dairon included, look a little sick too.  It is actually hard to breathe.  I would clear the air but the smell would just rush back at us the moment I dropped the magic.

We are in a long dark tunnel that stretches in both directions much further than the soft purple light reveals.  I can feel the stagnant air stretching out in a straight line almost as far as my wind sense will allow.  The tunnel is high enough for me and Hinata but everyone else has to crouch.

“There’s a room over there we can use to rest.  Follow me everyone.”  Kai says walking towards a square stone door that I hadn’t noticed.  It is wide enough for three people to walk through at a time.

It is only a few feet away, but was behind me until a moment ago.  It seems to have magic shielding, because my wind sense should have easily picked it up.  Kai opens the door and reveals a soft white light glowing from the centre of the room.  The room has a much higher ceiling than the tunnel.  Like the shaft but unlike the tunnel it has those grey bricks lining the floor, roof and walls.  It is easily big enough for all of us to fit in and as the door closes behind us the smell is instantly gone.  Other than Kai we all take deep breathes and soon only Nico Na seems to be feeling unwell.

“Is it going to be like this the whole way?”  Nico Na asks with obvious dread in his voice.

“No.”  Kai says with a sympathetic smile.  “It will get worse until we reach the main storage hall, but once we are past that it will get much better quickly.  The dwarves abandoned the ore there, but nobody else knows how to use it, so it just lies there.”

“How far away is this place, and can’t someone just port us past it?”  Nico Na asks sounding very unhappy.

“Perhaps an hour’s walk, depending on how quickly we walk.  Porting is very dangerous down here because of the mana ore.”  Kai says.

Nico Na looks grim but it could be much worse than an hour.  I suspect that Sor could port us, but I am concerned that might be detected. Also it doesn’t sound like it is a good idea for Sor to use magic if she doesn’t absolutely have to.  She doesn’t seem to be volunteering either so I think she must agree.

“What ore is it?”  Lucy asks sounding very intrigued.

“Mana ore.”  Kai says and Lucy looks puzzled.  “It was used by the dwarves to craft enchanted armour, weapons and tools.  They used it in buildings too, but it had to be something really special.  They used some when they built the original temple, where the Kuroneko’s temple now sits.  There may be a few rooms that still have dwarven enchantments.  Perhaps a healing room or the old shrine might still be there.”

“I have heard of healing rooms in the temple.”  Nico Na says with a frown.  “I was never told the temple used to be a dwarven temple though.”

“It was built to honour the spirit of the mountain.”  Kai tells him.

“How do you know all this?”  Nico Na asks sounding a bit suspicious.

“My father is a dwarf.”  Kai says and I blink.  I’m not the only one who seems shocked, but I am the one who voices it.

“I thought dwarves looked like human children.  Even if you are only half dwarven, wouldn’t you still be shorter?”  I ask.

“I take after my mother, though I am stronger than most humans.”  Kai tells me with a grin, but then she frowns and says.  “Dwarves don’t look like human children though.  Sure, they’re the same height, but that’s the only thing they have in common.”  Lucy laughs and then looks at Kai seriously.

“So what do they look like?”  Lucy asks and there is clear suspicion in her voice.  Kai doesn’t seem offended though.

“My father is the only dwarf I have ever seen, but he has a very long white beard down to his waist.  He has more muscles than anyone else I have ever seen.  His eyes are black.  Pure black without a drop of white.  His skin is leathery and cold.  His teeth are made from processed mana ore.”  Kai says and she sounds happy as she tells us about him.  “He is a very good man, who would save a stranger even if it meant dying.”

“It seems dwarven men and women are very different then.  Did he never describe a dwarven woman to you?”  Lucy asks.

“He never spoke about other dwarves, though he spoke about dwarven accomplishments and history many times.”  Kai says with a frown.

“It is very rare for a dwarven man to be seen by a human.  It wasn’t always like that, but I have never seen a dwarven man, so I assumed they were the same as dwarven women.”  Lucy says and she pauses for a moment as if deep in memory.  “Dwarven women are very much like human girls, except for their incredible magical abilities and their ridiculous fighting prowess.  Dwarven men are meant to be very good with enchantments, alchemy and crafting, but it is normally the women who fight.  Of course even a dwarven man can easily kill most humans one on one.”

“Are dwarves more powerful than elves?”  I ask.

“It depends on both the elf and the dwarf.”  Lucy says with a shrug.  “The dwarven kingdoms of old were at one time considered invincible, but so were the elves.  This was just a small dwarven outpost.  Their homeland is much deeper into enemy territory.  The enemy have a barrier world similar to Portalis that we would have to conquer to pass through to most of their worlds, including the ones where most dwarves lived.  We have never even come close to taking it.  The dwarves there held out for a long time even when most elves had been conquered.  For a long time it was assumed they could hold out forever even when their worlds were completely surrounded.”

“My father always said dwarves were much stronger than elves.”  Kai says.

“I was always told elves were stronger.”  Dairon says sounding a little confused.

“Most elves would say that elves are stronger, but most dwarves would say it is dwarves who are stronger.”  Lucy says with an amused grin.  “They never did get on.”

Chapter 15 (Multiple)

(Ara Kii)

I finish chanting and the miko is now completely healed.  She is the last one.  I look at her pale sweat covered face and see her admirable strength of spirit and mind.  No matter how strong she is she can’t hold out forever though.  We are alone, but the magic binding her is much greater than anything I can use.  Even if I could release it we would never escape from the temple.  Besides, where would we go?  Evading an elf in a forest is impossible.  We would be instantly spotted on the mountains and even the tunnels, villages and mines below are controlled by the enemy.

She doesn’t even look at me.  She just lies there unmoving staring blankly at the ceiling.  Her soul is still intact thanks to her spirit clothing.  If the elves succeed in corrupting or breaking her soul it will weaken the Kuroneko far more than simply killing her would.

Perhaps it would be a mercy to kill her.  All I would need to do is place my hands round her neck and strangle her.  Perhaps I could kill the others too before anyone realises.  The Kuroneko would surely forgive me if it was to save the miko from being corrupted, wouldn’t she?

“How boring.”  The elven girl says suddenly standing behind me.  I turn and see a pale skinned human girl standing next to the elven girl.  The elf boy is there too.  The human girl is probably about fourteen and has cool blue hair down to her shoulders as well as blue eyes.  Like the elves she has an evil grin on her face.  It is the human who speaks next.

“Let’s make things more interesting.  Either you can torture her, or I will torture you.  Either way you’re going to the mines afterwards, boring human.  So which will it be?”  The human girl asks with a big smile.

“Torture me.”  The miko says in a firm voice.  They are the first words I have heard her say in this room, but I shake my head.

“Torture me.”  I say, but my voice trembles.  I don’t want to hurt the miko, but I would much rather torture her than be tortured myself.  My torturing her or the elves doing it isn’t really that different.  Monks are forbidden to touch or harm a miko though, unless you are her soul brother.  Nothing they do to me can be worse than what the Kuroneko would do if I tortured one of her miko just for the sake of saving myself.

“It seems he’s more scared of the Kuroneko than us!”  The human girl laughs.  “We’ll have to show him how silly that is.”

(Wind Sister)

I am sitting against the wall with my sisters, glad to be away from that awful smell.  I am not looking forward to walking through it as it gets worse for another hour or so, and even then it isn’t going to be instantly gone.  The catman has a much better sense of smell than I do, so I don’t know how he is going to cope.

If our people find us as prisoners they will kill us without a second thought.  If they don’t we will remain prisoners until our captors decide they no longer need us, but I fear we will be killed when that time comes.  All I can do is hope they spare our lives.  The humans and others are sitting against the opposite wall and the catman is sitting against the wall between us, staring intently at the grey stone door.

“Why do you all look the same?”  Peter asks.  It is the second time he has asked.  He is asking me, not my sisters so I must answer.

“We are wind sisters.  We were not born but forged with magic.  We were forged at the same time so we are the same.”  I tell him.

“How?”  He asks looking very surprised.

“For each of us, nine humans were sacrificed, soul and body, and merged together by magic to form a wind sister.”  I tell him.  Shock is written all over his face.  Perhaps he will kill us now out of anger, but if he does, there is nothing I can do, so I just sit here waiting to learn my fate.

“Who created you like this?”  He asks sounding angry, but he doesn’t seem to be directing his anger at us.

“The Envoy.”

“The more I learn about the Envoy, the more I want to kill it.”  Peter says with utter disgust.  “It’s not your fault though, so there’s no need to be scared.  I’m not going to punish you for what the Envoy did.”  Killing the Envoy is impossible, but I don’t say anything.  He stares at me for a few moments and then asks another question.  “What’s your name?”

“I am wind sister three of group twenty six.  I am normally just referred to as three.”  I tell him.

“Do you not have a name?”  He asks sounding rather shocked.

“No wind sister has a name.”  I tell him.

“Do you mind if we name you?”  Peter asks with a frown.  I blink.

“If we return to our people we will be killed even without a name so I can see no harm in it.”  I tell him.

“Then we’d better not return you to your people.”  Peter says with a frown.  “Dairon, choose a name for each of them.  Make sure it’s something simple that we can easily pronounce.”

“It is unusual for a wind sister to have a name, but ok.”  Dairon says with a frown.  After a minute staring at me he says.  “You are sisters so you should have the same last name.  You will be Val Aer from now on.”  He then looks at two and says, “Kal Aer.”  Then he looks at one and says, “Ral Aer.”  Four becomes, “Sal Aer.” Five is now, “Dal Aer.”

It seems strange to have a name and not just a number.  I will burn our names into my mind as they are the first thing we have ever been given simply for the sake of giving.  I notice Lucy, the small winged human staring at me intently.  Seeing I have noticed her stare she looks me in the eye.

“Is it true you would be killed if you returned to your people?”  She asks.

“Yes.”  I answer.

“Is she telling the truth?”  Lucy asks Peter.

“Yes.”  He says with a nod.

“Then your fate is tied to our own.  We will take you with us if we escape, so helping us means you are more likely to survive.  Would you like to fight for us?”  Lucy asks.

“Fighting other elves of our tribe would go against our very nature.  It is impossible for a wind sister.  The Envoy made sure of that when we were forged.”  I tell her shaking my head.

“What about against monsters and non-elven enemies?”  Lucy asks.

“That would be possible, but if are drained of magic we cannot fight.”  I tell her.

“Don’t worry, it would be dangerous for Peter to keep draining you, so you just need to wait for it to recover.  He will need to drain your power when he uses his own though.”  Lucy tells me.

“Then we will help you when we have power and it isn’t against other elves.”  I answer for everyone.  There is no need to ask my sisters, because I know what their answer would be.

“We should move on soon.”  Lucy says and then looks at the catman.  “Nico Na, are you recovered?”

“Yes, but it is going to be difficult.”  He says sounding grim.

“Peter, maintain an air bubble around Nico Na’s head.  If we are attacked you’ll need to drop it, but whilst we are just walking it should be fine.  Everyone else will need to just put up with the smell.”  Lucy says.

(Peter)

The tunnel roof is much lower now and we have to crawl through it.  Back at the academy I could compensate with magic so I was pretty much used to having only one arm, but even something as simple as crawling through a tunnel is much harder with one arm than it would be with two.  We have been crawling for a while now and the smell is much worse.

Even I am feeling unwell and the elves are much worse. I am maintaining an air bubble around Nico Na’s head just like I would if we were underwater, but one is the most I can maintain.  It would be easier underwater because the water would form a clear distinction, but maintaining an air bubble within air is much harder.

Kai is leading us again but this time she has one of Hinata’s glowing stones.  I am right behind Kai this time.  Lucy is flying somewhere in the middle of our group to avoid getting squashed against the roof.  Nico Na is directly behind me, and then in order it is Dairon, the five other elves, Hinata, Sor and Emi.

Kai reaches the end of the tunnel and stands in a huge chamber. Covering the walls, floor and ceiling are the same grey stone bricks we saw in the shaft we climbed down and the room where we rested.  I come out a moment later and gladly stand.  The smell however is ten times worse now we are in the room, and my wind senses are completely messed up as a result.  I barely maintain the air bubble around Nico Na’s head.  The others are crawling out of the tunnel as I look at the huge glowing piles of earth and metal spread throughout the chamber.  It is as bright as daylight except in the corner we are standing.

“Mana ore.”  Kai says happily sniffing the air.  I knew she wasn’t affected but I didn’t realise it actually smells good to her.

“Where’s the exit?”  I ask seeing everyone is now out of the tunnel and that the elves look like they may vomit if they stay here too long.

“It’s over here.”  Kai says leading the way around a nearby pile of earth.  Everyone seems just as eager as I am to follow Kai and hopefully get out of here quickly.  Perhaps that’s why we don’t pay as much attention as we should do to our surroundings.

All of a sudden I hear Sor scream.  I spin and see a deep hole in the floor where she must have been standing.  Bricks have been thrown everywhere and Sor is gone.  My senses are too muddled to sense her and with my concentration broken I hear Nico Na gasp in shock as the air bubble breaks.

Emi throws an ice shard into the air and looking up I see Sor in the grip of a giant flying bug.  Sor, held in its grip, is struggling to maintain a pure magical shield.  It seems even she is unable to port so close to the mana ore.  The bug dodges the ice shard with ease. Emi is clearly concerned that she might hit Sor, so having missed the bug she now hesitates.

The bug has a huge silver shell, four hinged silver limbs, two silver wings, a bright red tail and its neck and head are also bright red, other than its many sharp silver teeth.  Its limbs hold Sor in place whilst it is desperately trying to eat her.  Every part of the bug reflects the room’s bright light, so it is hard to look at without shielding your eyes.

Suddenly the roof’s bricks near the bug are thrown aside as two huge earth hands reach out and tear off the bug’s wings.  Then one grabs and crushes the bug’s shell as the other rips off the bug’s limbs one at a time.  Finally it catches Sor as she starts to fall and places her back on the ground.

“Sorry, forgot about the bug.”  Kai says rubbing her hair and looking rather apologetic.

“Whatever.”  Sor says breathing deeply.  There’s not a hint of gratitude, but she seems mostly concerned about catching her breath.  The awful smell she is now breathing in much deeper also can’t help.

“We should move on quickly or we’ll have to face worse than that.”  Kai says.

“Any chance of putting up that air bubble again?”  Nico Na rasps.

“Oh, sorry!”  I say and it takes a bit of focus, but I manage to get it back up round his head.

“Now let’s go!”  Kai urges and so we follow her quickly, but pay a bit more attention to our surroundings this time.  It takes a couple of minutes winding around piles of ore before we reach our destination.  It turns out it is another shaft, but I can see the bottom this time.  We might even be able to jump down this one, but it is probably safer to climb down the ladder or in my case use wind magic to float down.  To my surprise however Nico Na actually does jump down.  I float down quickly after him and everyone else climbs down.

The tunnel only goes one way and is high enough for everyone to walk along this time.  The roof, walls and floor are all grey stone now without a brick in sight.  There is a shining white bar that extends as far as I can see close to both edges of the tunnel.  The bars easily light the tunnel.  Kai closes her eyes and suddenly a wooden box that looks a bit like a carved out tree stump appears in front of us.  It has four metal wheels, each of which sits on top of one of the metal bars.

“Peter, sit in it.”  Kai says and summons a second one.  “Nico Na in this one.  What are you both waiting for?”

“Why are we going to sit in it?”  I ask bewildered.

“It is much quicker than walking.  It should only take a couple of minutes and the smell of the ore will be behind us.  If you’d prefer to walk though…”  Kai says impatiently.

“Surely magic that powerful could be detected.”  I say with a frown.

“I only use magic to create it.  The magic isn’t that powerful.”  Kai says.

“So how does it move?”  I ask.

“I just give it a push and gravity does the rest.”  Kai says.

“What is gravity?”  I ask confused.

“It’s the reason you don’t normally float around without wind magic.”  Kai says with a smile.  “My father told me about it.  Apparently a dwarf figured it out after a huge emerald he was mining fell on his head.”

“And this gravity isn’t magic?”  I ask dubious and confused by her explanation.

“Not a drop of magic in it.  Now get in the box unless you like the smell of mana ore as much as I do.”  Kai says.

“Ok.”  I say seeing Dairon shoot me a pointed look.  Soon everyone is in a box very much like the one I am in.

“Keep your head down unless you want to lose it.  I’ll tell you when it is safe to get out.”  Kai says and as I put my head down she pushes the box I am in.  It slowly starts to move.  I could walk much faster than this.  It gradually picks up speed though and all of a sudden I feel it jump up into the air and fall back down.  As it falls back down however it races forwards and I feel the wind blowing past me.

Looking up without raising my head I see the grey stone roof pass quickly by.  In places it is lower than other places so I can easily see how I could lose my head if I didn’t keep it tucked safely inside the box.  The smell is soon gone. It is a while later when all of a sudden I come to a dramatic halt.

I sense a huge pile of broken stone directly ahead blocking the way.  For a moment I am sure my box is going to tear apart, but with a hasty wind shield it somehow remains sufficiently intact to avoid killing me.  The crash is deafening though and I sense people around me.  A lot of people at that.  I can’t afford to wait for Kai to tell me it is safe and the box has clearly stopped so I jump out of it away from the metal bars.  As I do so I see Nico Na’s box crash into mine tearing mine apart.

“Get out away from the tracks!”  I shout seeing the next box hurtling towards his.  I sense a powerful fire attack and throw up a wind shield.  At the same time I pick up a stunned Nico Na with wind magic and throw him away from the box and tracks just as the next box wrecks the one he was in a moment ago.  I do the same for a startled Dairon without weakening my wind shield.  “Dairon, save everyone else!”

“Ok!”  Dairon shouts back at me and I turn my attention on the enemy currently attacking me.

The fire mage is a human with black skin and enchanted red robes.  I notice five other black skinned men in the same robes running towards me.  We are in a large chamber with lots of humans and cat people holding pick axes and shovels staring at the scene in clear shock.  They each have a red collar around their necks and I sense it is slowly draining their magic, so even if any are mages they will not be able to help.  These flames are not a problem though.  They are weak, or at least they feel it to me.

I strike with lightning and each blast knocks out an enemy mage.  Fire strikes from behind me but I easily sense and shield it.  Turning I blast the four mages behind me too.  By the time the enemy are taken care of, all my comrades are safely out of their boxes.  The boxes are wrecked but I don’t care about that.  We are safe and seem to have just found the Kuroneko’s people.  I assume that must be who these miners are.

“Nico Na!  I thought you were dead!”  A human man with black skin and hair, wearing only torn grey shorts exclaims running up to Nico Na.  He has fresh burn marks all over his body, as well as scars that look much older.

“Ara Kii!”  Nico Na exclaims and pats the man on his head.

“Kii…”  I say frowning, thinking of Yu Kii.  Ara Kii looks sharply at me.

“If you’ve heard the name Kii before, do you know Haru Kii or Yu Kii?”  He asks in a rush without taking a single breath.

“Yu Kii is the name of a friend of mine at the academy.  She was a miko from the Kuroneko Mountains.”  I say

“Is she safe?”  He asks sounding a little relieved already.

“I think so.”  I tell him.  The other people nearby are forming a big crowd around us.

“We should deal with any more guards quickly.”  Lucy says bringing me back to my senses.

“You’re right.”  I say with a nod.

“What will you do after that?”  Nico Na asks.

“Once the guards are dealt with we should send everyone home through the portal.”  I say with a little trepidation.

“Leaving us stranded here?”  Nico Na asks.

“Yes.  Anyone who wishes to leave, other than Lucy and Hinata, may do so through the portal.”  I say.

“You need me to call the Kuroneko.”  Nico Na reminds me.

“I can do that if you remove this collar.  The enchantment isn’t strong but it prevents me using even the weak magic required to break it.”  Ara Kii says.

“Guards first.”  Lucy says urgently.  I sense what must be the exit to this chamber based on the flow of the air and everyone’s aura.

“Lucy, Dairon, Nico Na and Kai with me.  Everyone else start releasing the collars or deal with the prisoners.”  I say and use flight magic to race towards the exit before any enemies can escape, or worse.

It is much easier than I could ever have imagined.  The guards are all really weak and soon I have them all rounded up and unconscious.  The miners are all within the one large chamber, so we easily gather them completely together and open the portal.  It leads to the Hoshi land and is a Hoshi family heirloom.  The Queen would have objected if we had asked her for a portal that could bypass Portalis and jeopardise Contractia should it fall into enemy hands.

The people we just freed, other than Ara Kii, go through first. Once they have all passed through to safety I have the prisoners, elven and human, pass through too.  The portal is about to close when Nico Na grabs Sor and Emi, jumping through with them.  I am not surprised, because I asked him to do it.  Sor is of course more than surprised, not to mention angry.

The portal is closed now, leaving just me, Ara Kii, Dairon, Lucy, Hinata and Kai.  Six of us against an army of elves and we have no way home.  What could go wrong?  Actually I suspect the Kuroneko can send us home, but if not we will need to come up with a new plan.  Lucy doesn’t seem bothered though, so I suspect she anticipated this would happen despite planning to fulfil our part of the deal after the Kuroneko had helped us.

“Drakes.”  Kai says urgently as she points towards the exit and then turns away from it.  “Everyone follow me quickly.”

I use flight magic to follow as everyone else runs after Kai.  Kai suddenly stops and taps on a section of the grey wall that looks no different to the rest.  It opens like a door and we quickly dash through into a large grey tunnel.  The door closes behind us plunging us into complete darkness until Hinata takes a small stone out of her pocket and enchants it with the usual purple glow.

“They’ll never find this tunnel.”  Kai says with a smile.

“I hope you’re right.”  Lucy says.  “Where does it lead though?”

“You want to get to the Heart of the Mountain, right?”  Kai asks with a smile.

“Yes.”  Lucy says.

“Well it doesn’t lead there.”  Kai says disappointing us.  “But if we follow it and cross to a different tunnel at the right point we can get there.  We should move on a bit and rest before we attempt to cross.  That will be the one point where we will be vulnerable.  Everyone, follow me.”

We walk behind Kai and the tunnel, already high enough for Kai to stand upright and wide enough for five to walk side by side, gets higher and wider quickly.  You could soon have ten or so side by side and you could get another Kai standing on her head.  If you had another Kai and her balance was good enough.

After a while Kai stops and tells us, “We’ll rest here.  We should get some sleep and make sure we are at full power.  We’ll reach the Heart of the Mountain within an hour of setting out from here if all goes well and if we’re not killed trying to cross to the correct tunnel.”

“I hope we’re not killed!”  Lucy exclaims.  “We’ve come this far so it would be a waste to get killed like that.  Are we really that close though?  It doesn’t feel like we’ve travelled that far.”

“We travelled a long way in those boxes.  If we hadn’t been stopped we would have arrived more or less at the Heart of the Mountain.  That’s where the dwarven furnaces were, so they sent the ore there in wooden carts a bit like the ones we used.”  Kai says with a grin.

“That would have been handy.  It really is a pity the path was blocked.  You’re right though, we should rest here.”  Lucy says and then looks at the rest of us with a frown.  “It may not be very comfortable here, but try your best to rest and recover your magic.  We will want to be at full power when we reach the Heart of the Mountain, because there will almost certainly be enemies there even if we don’t meet any more before that.”

We all take Lucy’s advice and try to get some rest.  This hard stone floor though is the most uncomfortable place I have ever slept, or more to the point, tried to sleep.  We can’t use magic on it to make for a more comfortable bed, because it is heavily shielded by magic.  Dairon or Kai could use magic to create a bed of sorts, but it would use a lot of magic and even with the shielding might be detected.  At least it isn’t going to affect my power as that is way above my natural limit already.  It would still be good to be physically recovered though and the others need to recover their magic power.

“Peter…?”  Ara Kii asks quietly sounding very nervous.  He is laying just a couple of feet away from me.  “Yu Kii…  Is she happy in Contractia?”

“I think so.  She shares a room with Rin so I don’t see as much of her as Rin does, but I certainly get the impression that Yu Kii is happy.  Yu Kii tends to be fairly reserved and her aura often seems a bit nervous, but she has lots of friends and she seems to enjoy herself most of the time.”  I tell Ara Kii.

“Is Yu Kii doing well enough to graduate safely?”  Ara Kii asks.

“She’s in the top class now, so I can’t imagine her having trouble graduating, especially since we all help each other out.”

“Yu Kii’s in the top class?  I know she is good at earth magic, but she must have done well at all the elements to get to the top class.”  Ara Kii says sounding a bit shocked and very happy.

“She’s still mostly an earth mage, though a damned good earth mage.  She’s not bad at the other elements, but she isn’t great at them.  We got to the top class because of a competition.”

“I hope she doesn’t find the top class too hard.”  Ara Kii says sounding worried.

“She’s not alone so she’ll be fine.”  I assure him.

“I hope so.”  Ara Kii says still sounding just as worried.

Chapter 16 (Peter)

A couple of hours at least must have passed since I finished talking to Ara Kii and I am still unable to sleep.  I know how important it is to do so, but that doesn’t make it any easier.  Actually it makes it harder.  It is always hard to sleep when I know I must do so, and that is doubly true when I am this uncomfortable.  So for now I am just lying here thinking in the fading purple light.

Sor would certainly have tried to port us home when the time came, so I am glad I sent her back ahead of us.  She would certainly have attempted to, but she would most likely have failed.  The attempt would certainly have crossed the line and wrecked her magical senses.  She would also have slowed us down, but I could have lived with that.

There was really no need for Sor or Emi to be here in the first place, though they certainly helped us whilst they were here.  It was right to send them back.  We needed either Ara Kii or Nico Na, but not both so it gave me a good reason to send Nico Na back too.  I would probably have preferred to have Nico Na than Ara Kii, but it shouldn’t make too much difference and there was no point keeping both of them here.

Lucy may not have said it but the chances of our dying are very, very real.  I trust she has a plan, but our enemy are powerful and even if we defeat David, what next?  I wish I hadn’t dragged Hinata into this, but our plan depends on her now.  It was David though who really dragged her into this when he had her mother killed.

Eventually I do fall asleep.  Nobody wakes me but when I do wake I get the impression everyone has been ready for a while.  I stand and stretch my legs in the gentle purple light.  Hinata must have renewed it because it was starting to get dim when I fell asleep.

“Is everyone ready?”  I ask after walking to and fro a few times.  Everyone stands looking a bit grim and nods.  They don’t seem to want to use words right now.  “Well Kai, lead on then.”

Kai doesn’t answer but does lead the way through the dark tunnel lit only by Hinata’s purple glowing stone.  Right now there is only one way, but it isn’t long before the tunnel splits.  It splits three times before reaching what looks like a dead end.

“There are enemies outside.  Lots of human mages and drakes.  They don’t know we’re here, but it would be a very tough fight.  Even if we won, we’d probably use most of our power.”  Kai tells me.

“Then we wait here until they move on.”  I say with a sigh.  We are so close to our goal so it is really frustrating to just have to wait.  “How far once we cross to the other tunnel?”

“Less than five minutes even if we walk slowly.”  Kai says sounding as frustrated as I am.

“What are they doing out there?”  I ask.

“Just standing around like they are waiting for something.  I’ll show them to you, but don’t push on this door or it will open and we’ll have to fight right away.”  Kai says nervously.  She puts a hand against the wall and suddenly we can see through it.  The enemy on the other side don’t seem able to though.  They really are just standing around the huge chamber that has been revealed.

The chamber is perhaps a thousand foot by a thousand foot and about a hundred foot high.  The door comes out in one corner.  There are two obvious exits, both in the furthest corner from us.  One is in the wall and the other in the ceiling.  There could be one in the floor or a smaller exit hidden from view but I can’t sense it if there is.  Either of the exits I can see could easily allow a drake to pass through and clearly many have.

The drakes are fearsome beasts.  They have thick, red, scaly metallic armour and wings formed of flowing red metal.  On each drake is a human mage with black skin and hair, wearing red robes.  They have a lot of muscles for mages and could probably fight well as soldiers too.  There are lots more black human mages behind the drake, wearing the same red robes.  All of the mages seem to be men.  I count fifty drakes and at least three hundred mages behind them, so at least three hundred and fifty mages in total.  No matter how you look at it that is an army.

“Do they know that the tunnel comes out here?”  I ask.  It seems strange that they would be sitting here exactly where we want to go by sheer coincidence.

“Only if a dwarf told them, but most dwarves would rather die than betray their secrets.”  Kai says.

We wait for ages.  Eventually we decide to get some sleep again but to maintain a guard just in case.  I take first watch and Dairon second.  We don’t sleep well thanks to the uncomfortable stone floor, but we all get some more sleep.  The enemy are still waiting outside.

“If it should only take five minutes perhaps we could…”  I start to say.

“If we reveal this passage we have to kill or capture the enemy.  We can’t let a single foe escape.  Porting is impossible here, because that’s how the dwarves built this place.”  Kai says shaking her head before I even finish my words.

“Is there a different route we could take?”  I ask.

“Any other routes would either need to come back here and go through that tunnel, which would involve defeating that army anyway, or would mean going up into the temple and back down again.  The army up in the temple is elven, so even worse than the one down here.”  Kai tells me.

“Look!”  Ara Kii says urgently pointing through the door.  On the other side is a black elven boy.  He is wearing only shorts and an open shirt, without even a pair of shoes.  Both are naturally red but also completely soaked with blood.  His short hair like his skin is black, and so are his eyes.  I cannot see his aura.  “He’s one of the two elves in charge.”

Then the boy, standing right in front of Ara Kii now, waves to us with a big grin on his face.  Obviously he knows we are here.  It is as if he can see through the door just as clearly as we can.  Then twelve red robed mages port behind him, carrying three young women.  Each mage is holding a wrist or ankle.  The young women, perhaps in their late teens or early twenties, are wearing red and white patterned magical clothes.  Their hair is long and white, their eyes bright green and their skin is pale.

“I know you can hear me.”  The boy says and his words are the first sound we have heard from the other side of that door.  “Either come out and fight, or watch as I torture these lovely young women in front of you.  You have two minutes to decide.  Assuming I am patient enough to wait that long.  I’m not the patient type though.”

“Fighting that army is suicide.”  Kai says shaking her head as the boy walks away from us towards the miko on the other side of the huge chamber, in the corner opposite us.

“So we just watch as he tortures them again?”  Ara Kii asks sounding furious.  There is great pain in his aura.

“They know the tunnel is here already and surely know about the other one too, so it doesn’t matter if we reveal them.”  I say firmly.  “We’ll fight enough to rescue those women, and then we’ll go through the next tunnel and complete our mission.”

Kai looks like she wants to argue for a moment but stays silent and Hinata looks terrified, but nobody protests.  To be honest I am scared too but I am not just going to stand here and watch as he tortures his prisoners.  Lucy grins and says, “That sounds more like it.”  Then her grin fades.  “You’ll need to kill.  Holding back will get us killed.”

“I’m not holding back.”  I say and I mean it.  “I don’t want to kill, but it is better to kill than to be killed, especially when the enemy is about to torture their prisoners.”  Then I look at everyone and ask simply.  “Ready?”

“Yes.”  Ara Kii says darkly and everyone else nods.

Except Lucy who grins even more and says, “I’ve been ready since we got here, so let’s hurry up and send our enemies to hell!”

“Kai, open the door and everyone follow me.”  I say grimly but a little more confident thanks to Lucy’s words.  Not that I can really be confident against such a powerful army.

Kai throws the door open and the elf boy reacts first, even before we can.  His magic is a thunderous blast of lightning, which I shield, but I really notice the magic that shielding uses.  We need to be quick or we will soon be dead.  I throw us into the air and we hurtle towards the elf and three miko, dodging hundreds of fireballs, many drake bites and swipes, as well as the elf’s second blast of lightning.  My comrades save their power as wild attacks now would just be a waste.

“Don’t try to drain him!”  Lucy shouts in my ear.  I wasn’t planning to, but her words distract me and I almost fail to dodge his third blast of lightning.  It is so powerful that I hear the tunnel collapse behind us.  I am glad I did manage to dodge even if it was only just.

We have almost reached him when he strikes a fourth time.  I throw us in a wide arc to his side and just manage to dodge his blast.  Then a huge wall of flames appears in front of him, reaching from floor to roof.  I quickly reverse our flight but the wall races towards us.  I reverse our flight again to race at him but this time I throw a massive wind surge ahead of us.  It knocks back the flames, forming a small gap that I race us through.

Rock lances appear in front of us, reaching out of the floor but I easily dodge them.  I land us directly in front of the elf boy and throw my own lightning at him.  He strikes with his own blast at the same time and our lightning strikes collide, forming a deafening, echoing thunder that far surpasses the thunder his lightning alone produced.

I notice Kai, Ara Kii and Dairon form an earth shield that holds back the wall of flames as well as the many fireballs racing towards us from behind.  There are about twenty red robed mages in front of us, though thankfully no drakes.  If I can kill them and the elf we will have the wall to our back and can hopefully free the three miko.  Then we have to find the other tunnel.  I can only pray it is nearby.

As we both strike with lightning again, twenty or so fireballs shoot towards us.  I barely manage to throw up a wind shield in time.  My third lightning strike is again countered.  I can’t keep this up for long and the elf doesn’t seem concerned by the magic he is using.  I fear his magical reserves far exceed my own.  I can’t just keep on throwing my power against his, but just as Lucy said, I cannot risk attempting to drain him.  He would surely resist.

Just as my fourth strike hits his next attack, filling the chamber again with that deafening roar, a second roar joins it.  The aura is overpowering and, although I have no time to look, I sense drakes thrown through the air like rags in a storm.  I can hear them smash against walls and I smell their blood as it is spilt.  That aura is unmistakable.  It is the Kuroneko.

For the first time I sense the boy’s aura.  I sense pure joy, which is matched by the evil grin on his face.  His distraction is almost his undoing, but he blocks my next attack with a magical shield and then jumps at me forming two huge lightning blasts, one from each hand.  I form a single blast in front of me, but counter both of his just as they were about to hit me.  Then his hand is on my chest and there is nothing I can do to block his next blast, but it never comes.

Instead he jolts backwards, a bloody hole in his chest, and falls lifeless to the ground.  I look down and a blood covered dagger is floating in front of me at chest level.  I can sense magic from it and it obviously blasted him from inside as the hole in his chest is far bigger than the dagger would otherwise have created.  I didn’t sense the blast though.

“Always look before you jump.”  Lucy says with a grin, sitting until now unnoticed on my shoulder.  “Not that it helps when a dagger is invisible of course.”  As she says it the dagger fades from sight.

The mages behind us seem much more focused on the Kuroneko, who is tearing through their ranks and has thrown them into utter chaos.  Drakes are not weak beasts but against her power they are little more than sheep to the slaughter.  I do not have the time or power to be merciful, so I send twenty blasts of lightning at the mages in front of us.  Some probably survive, but I doubt all are that lucky.

I sense death feathers forming as a few of the enemy have now had time to almost complete the spell that forms them.  I strike the mages with lighting, overpowering the shields of their allies and instantly killing them.  In my haste I used too much power and am almost out.  I turn my attention to the miko.  Hinata has now freed them and I consider taking power from them.

“Don’t.”  Lucy says urgently, seeing my gaze and understanding my intention.  “The Kuroneko will kill you if you do.  Some of the enemy over there are still alive.  Take power from them instead.”

I hate the idea of kissing them, but I don’t have time to waste with slower methods, so I grimace and quickly take power from the lips of six enemies.  It isn’t much but it is better than none and it seems the others here were killed by my lightning.

I turn and to my shock the Kuroneko has already finished killing the rest of the enemy.  The room is a grotesque litter of scattered blood, bone and flesh.  Thanks to the Kuroneko we actually won.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  Then the Kuroneko speaks.

“It seems you are not able to use your true power, Sky Lord.  You have fulfilled the deal we made though, so I will honour my part of it.”  The Kuroneko says and her black whiskered face lunges down at me.  I take a step back in shock but she stops just in front of me.  With one paw she lazily slashes the surviving enemies that I just drained.  They are now dead.  Every enemy in this room is dead now.

The Kuroneko is about a hundred foot long and twenty foot wide.  I sense though, that her true form is much larger than this.  I can see her sharp white teeth dripping with blood, and the smell of drake blood is now much worse as it drips to the floor in front of me.  She has a puzzled expression as she looks at me.

“We are not far from the Heart of the Mountain.  It will not take long to pass through the tunnel of the dwarves as you clearly planned to.  I will accompany you from here.  First though…”  She says with a smile and turns her gaze on the miko.  “You have proven your worth, but you are still mere humans and that will never change.  Do not forget your place or your duty, or you will still die.”

Then the miko are gone.  It is like a port but different somehow.  I sense their auras mixed into the Kuroneko’s aura as if she just ate them. The Kuroneko notices my puzzled look.

“They are within me for now.  When I return to my people they will come with me and be returned to their true form.  I will not waste power sending them back ahead of me.  Now we should proceed before more enemies arrive to interfere.”  The Kuroneko says staring into my eyes.

The Kuroneko’s body disappears and then reappears in front of me.  Her aura remains there the whole time, but it shrinks instantly as she forms the smaller body.  She is now in a catgirl form similar to Neko’s, but the same height as me and her fur is still a glistening black.  Her clothing looks the same as the clothes worn by the miko, but the power of hers is of course incomparably stronger.  Of course the red and white pattern looks very different on the Kuroneko.

“Great Kuroneko, when we have done what we need to and you leave with the miko, would it be possible to send us back too?”  I ask.

“I will take the monk if he survives.  I can take one more, but that is all.”  The Kuroneko says with an amused grin.

“Lucy, can we send Hinata back when we have defeated David?”  I ask.

“Yes.”  Lucy says with a nod.  I can sense relief in Hinata’s aura.  The Kuroneko laughs.

“To think the great Sky Lord is asking for permission!  You have fallen far indeed.”  The Kuroneko exclaims with a laugh.

“You seem to know me.”  I say with a frown.

“As the mountain knows the sky.  It seems you have forgotten me though.”  The Kuroneko laughs, but then her smile fades.  “We do not have time to waste.  More powerful enemies will be here soon, and they will not be caught off guard like these foolish humans were.”

“Kai, open the door.”  I say.

“Ok.”  Kai says with a sad look at the collapsed tunnel behind us.  Then she turns her gaze on a section of the wall at the corner where we are standing.  She walks up to it and places a hand on it.  I sense magic and the wall simply disappears in a small section about wide enough for any of us to walk through but there is no room to walk side by side.  Kai and Ara Kii have to crouch though, because they are far taller than the even the tallest of dwarves would have been.  “Everyone through here quickly, before it closes again.”

We are all close by as everyone had the sense to follow Kai to the entrance before she opened it.  We are all through a few seconds before the wall reappears.  Hinata lights her stone and so we walk through the dark tunnel bathed in gentle purple light.

I look at the Kuroneko with a frown.  She is walking directly in front of me and immediately behind Kai.  Everyone else is behind us.  I consider my words carefully before asking.  “So how do you know me, and why do you call me a Sky Lord?”

“Because that is what you are.  Not a Sky Lord though, the Sky Lord.  Like I said though, you have fallen far indeed.  I pity Hades if you have forgotten her as well.”  The Kuroneko says and I stop as soon as she says the name Hades, but I hastily start walking again before Hinata can walk into me.

“How do you know Hades?”  I ask in shock.

“So you haven’t forgotten her then.  I would be jealous, but there is little reason for you to remember me.”  The Kuroneko laughs.

“How could I forget Hades?”  I say with a smile, but then I frown.  “So how do you know her?”

“How could I not know the name Hades?”  The Kuroneko laughs.

Before I can answer we have reached the exit.  On the other side of the transparent door is a room perhaps fifty foot wide, long and high.  In the centre of the room is a glowing white stone circle a foot high and five foot across, floating about a foot above the ground.  The light is pale but it is bright enough to see the whole room.  The walls, floor and roof are all covered by the same grey bricks that we are now very familiar with.  There is a ladder on the far side of the room leading to a door in the centre of the opposite wall.  Below that door is an altar with three large black statues in front of it.  The one in the centre is of a cat sitting elegantly.  The one on the right is a catman standing glaring with his hands clenched into fists and the one on the left is a catwoman standing with a smile on her face and hands held out palm up in front of her.  None of that is what I notice first though.

In that room just the other side of the door is Elucia standing smiling sweetly at us.  She is wearing black shorts that reach less than halfway down to her knees and a matching black top that covers her breasts but not much more.  Her cool blue hair that almost reaches her shoulders is unmistakable.  Her pale skin and blue eyes though less distinctive, are no less familiar.  Her face looks as kind as ever but her cruel aura shows the deception.

Beside Elucia is an elf girl wearing a short black skirt and a red leather top that covers her from just below her shoulders to an inch or so above her belly button.  Her dark brown hair hangs down to her shoulders and her bright green eyes are like daggers in the dark.  Her skin is pale and she seems about thirteen or fourteen, though being an elf she is surely much older.

Their auras were until now almost completely hidden, but as they look at us in amusement they unveil them.  The darkness of their auras makes the tunnel seem like the brightness of the sun, but it is truly only lit by the pale light of Hinata’s stone.  Elucia drops her smile and her face now wears a predator’s grin.

“It seems the kitten and boy, are ready to die.  Perhaps you would have expected to see me here, if the fairy girl hadn’t taken my powers lightly.  I knew your plans the moment she told you.”  Elucia says through the door and we hear her cruel voice perfectly.

“I cannot beat the Envoy.”  The Kuroneko hisses.

“Don’t worry, just buy us time and let us get to the ring in the middle of the room.”  Lucy says sounding very confident.  Elucia frowns at her words.

“That I can do.  Open the door.”  The Kuroneko says and the shine of her aura blinds me for a moment.  Once I can see again the door is open and the Kuroneko is pushing back Elucia and the elf with her claws and earthen lances shooting out of the ground.  The enemy are throwing black lances that shoot out from the palms of their hands. The black lances feel a bit like dimensional magic, but not exactly.  I can feel the damage they cause and we do not have time to waste.

I pick everyone other than the Kuroneko up with magic and throw us through the air, avoiding a dozen black lances from the elf girl’s hands before the Kuroneko manages to get the elf girl’s attention again.  I land us right next to the stone ring.  Lucy then takes charge.

“Hinata, get in the centre of that ring and lay face down, legs and arms stretched towards the four lines in the ring.  Hurry!  Dairon, stand between her legs facing her!”  Lucy shouts from my shoulder and they move to obey.

Suddenly Elucia is standing in front of me, having ported.  The Kuroneko is busy dealing with the elf and is unable to help.  My power is weak so there is little I can do against Elucia’s overwhelming power.  Stone hands reach up from the floor and down from the roof to grab Elucia but with a single wave of her hand they are all shattered.  In that moment a blast of magical power shoots at her chest and a dagger appears in front of me.  Elucia laughs as the blast bounces off and hits me in the forehead.

My head is spinning like mad and pounding like a drum as Elucia reaches a hand towards me, or perhaps Lucy.  I fall to the floor.  The way I am now it is the only way I can dodge.  I hear Lucy’s voice but not her words.  Then I hear Dairon singing in a beautiful lilting voice that reminds me of the wind on a spring day.  I don’t hear his words, but I wouldn’t understand them even if I did.

Chapter 17 (Multiple)

(Lucy)

Elucia stands there staring at me unable to move or use magic.  There is no escape for David.  The enchanting words of Dairon’s song are filled with ancient magic.  All they will do is return David’s soul to Hinata, but when he has returned to her the soul gate will do its work.  It isn’t strong enough to contain him, but it is a gate and not a prison, so it doesn’t have to.

The Kuroneko and Envoy are fighting desperately.  I can see the earth spears and the Kuroneko’s claws but I know there is far more to her attacks than just that.  The Envoy is probably just using those dark lances but their power is not a simple or weak attack, and should not be underestimated.

Kai and Ara Kii stand behind me.  There is nothing they can do in a battle between such powerful beings.  It is not often you witness a battle between a god and a being even more powerful.  Of course the Kuroneko isn’t the strongest of gods.  Against the most powerful of gods even the Envoy would lose.  The Kuroneko is buying us time though, and we don’t need much more.

The song finishes and though I cannot see David’s soul getting dragged out of Elucia I can instantly sense the change in her.  After a moment she collapses to the ground.  Her own soul has been suppressed for too long, so she cannot simply get up and start moving straight away.  In fact she is unconscious now.  With Peter on the floor unable to move that leaves us two people to carry and when Ara Kii is gone that will leave only Dairon and Kai to carry them.

One of the black soul gems in the soul gate explodes as David must be struggling to resist its pull. I see blood seeping through Hinata’s clothing, but it is not going to kill her.  I will heal her once the soul gate has done its work.

I cannot sense David’s soul, but I can sense the Spirit of the Mountain as it enters the soul gate.  The soul gate is designed to send a human soul to either a god or nature spirit as a sacrifice.  For it to work there must be two souls within the body that the gate is bound to.  There must also be a god or nature spirit with a strong connection to the place where the human body rests.  In this case there are both, but it is the Spirit of the Mountain I am relying on.

The stronger of the two souls will be sent to the nature spirit, but if the weaker soul is too strong it risks being sent too.  That is why someone young whose soul is still weak like Hinata is perfect.  As a mage she was of some use to us the whole time but, unlike Peter or even her sister Asuna, she was not strong enough to risk losing her soul.

I sense the Spirit of the Mountain leave the soul gate, returning to his body with David’s soul.  The Envoy realises the danger just in time and ports away just as massive earth hands try to grasp her.  The Kuroneko jumps back to avoid getting caught in them.  Thanks to the Spirit of the Mountain and his earth hands we don’t have to worry about the Envoy for now.

“Heal the girl now if you wish me to take her.”  The Kuroneko tells me.  I heal Hinata and before I can even say anything she is gone.  So are Ara Kii and the Kuroneko.  That just leaves Kai, Dairon, Peter, Elucia and myself, but both Peter and Elucia are still unable to move.

“Dairon carry Peter. Kai take Elucia.  We need to get out of here quickly.  Preferably somewhere the enemy can’t find us, and definitely not the forest.  That would be suicide now the Kuroneko is no longer distracting the elves.”  I say.  Before I have finished Dairon and Kai are holding Peter and Elucia.

“Follow me.”  Kai says and dashes towards the far wall.  With three knocks a small door opens and crawling she leads the way.  I float between her and Dairon.  The door closes behind us and we are in pitch black.  Then a dim white light glows from Kai’s entire body.  It is enough to see by but still far weaker than Hinata’s purple gem.

“How far can we get if we continue this way?”  I ask as we continue to follow Kai down the tunnel.  It is tall enough for Kai to walk through with a spare foot or so above her head.

“We’ll need to leave the secret tunnel for the deep mines.  Once we are past the deep mines though I can take you through the newer tunnels until we reach the dwarven homeland.”  Kai says.

“The dwarven homeland?”  I ask in shock.  “You know where that is?”

“I’ve never been there before, but yes, I know where it is.”  Kai says.

“Will the dwarves welcome us?”  I ask dubiously.

“More so than the elves, as long as we don’t mean them any harm or try to deceive them.  They can tell when you lie or try to deceive, so honesty is always best with a dwarf.”  Kai tells me.

I don’t have any better ideas.  I had planned to use the portal.  If I could remove my curse then I could send us home myself, but in this form opening a portal is impossible.  With David dead the enemy shouldn’t be able to anticipate or follow our moves as easily.  I was pretty sure his power allowed him to see and hear us, but thankfully he was unable to read my mind, at least at a distance.  He thought I planned to use Kuroneko, perhaps assuming I didn’t know about the Spirit of the Mountain, or at least didn’t know how powerful it is.  Rarely is a nature spirit even stronger than a god.  This is not the first time I have been to these mountains though.  I fought that nature spirit once, but in this form I doubt he recognised me.

“So Kai, how do you create that light?”  I ask to distract myself from the dire situation we are in.  I haven’t seen magic quite like it before, which is unusual since I have seen most magic before.  Hinata’s glowing stone was just standard earth magic but to use your body instead of a stone would require a completely different magic.

“It is dwarven magic.  A full dwarf can create a much brighter light, but as a half-dwarf this is the best I can do, because my body is so different.”  Kai says without really explaining how she does it.  It doesn’t sound like a human could use it though.

“It sounds like your father is a good person and taught you a lot.  What was your mother like though?”  I ask.

“She’s a good mother.  My parents both wished me well when I left and helped me get past the village guards safely.  My mother taught me everything I know about cooking, but I will never be as good a cook as she is.  It’s normally the man’s job to cook, but dwarven cooking was never really to my taste, or to my mother’s.”  Kai says sounding happy as she talks.

“If life was so good, why did you leave?”  I ask.

“It was boring.”  She says but I’m not sure I believe her.

“So how long were you exploring on your own?”  I ask her, not wanting to pry too far for now.  We need her help if we are going to survive so it is not wise to upset her.

“Only a few months.  I had a great time exploring the tunnels and mines here, before the enemy captured them.  I had a horrible time in the forest though.  If I never see another forest it will be too soon!”  Kai says with a shiver.

“If I never see another tunnel it will be too soon.”  Dairon says unhappily as we walk down the tunnel.  “A forest on the other hand would be great, assuming it wasn’t filled with enemies.”

“The closest we have to that is a forest full of enemies that will kill you if you enter it again.”  I tell him.

“I’m just glad the tribe up there isn’t my tribe.  I still want a forest free of enemies though.”  Dairon says.  “Was your home in the forest, Kai?”

“I can’t really talk about my home.  My parents made me promise not to.”  Kai says apologetically.

“Oh, don’t worry about it then.”  Dairon says with a shrug.

“What was your home like?”  Kai asks him.

“It was a forest very similar to the one above us.  Not exactly the same, but the trees and plants were more or less the same.  Many of the creatures were different, and our tribe was different.”  Dairon says.

“What sort of creatures were there?”  Kai asks and Dairon begins to describe them.  I don’t pay much attention though, because I sense something ahead.

“Kai, what’s that up ahead?”  I ask urgently.

“Nothing to worry about.  Just a kari, like that one the elf woman annoyed in the forest.  As long as we don’t step on it, it isn’t going to bother us.”  Kai tells me.  That is a relief.  If we have to fight even a weak monster we are more likely to draw the enemy to us.

(Nairon)

The air is still as we sit on our spiderflies atop three trees.  The light is dying.  We are just waiting for orders so there is nothing to do.  The battle is under the ground and will soon be won.

“Do either of you have any plans for the victory feast?”  I ask Ishki and Seraph.  Seraph smiles evilly and even I feel a bit nervous.

“A jug of blood wine and some roasted kari.”  Seraph says.  It seems there was no need to be concerned.  The blood wine is made from animal blood and is always served at feasts.  It tastes great so I will be having some too, though only a glass or two.  A jug is excessive but it is a feast so there is nothing wrong with that.  Kari are small animals that are always served at feasts too.  Magic is used to enlarge them and they taste delicious roasted with mild spices.

“And you, Ishki?”  I ask.

“I’m sure I’ll have a few glasses of blood wine, though a jug is more than I can handle.  I prefer snake and spider meat rather than kari though, so that’s what I’ll be eating.  A pity we can’t roast these ugly beasts.”  Ishki says with a grin.

“You’ll be the one getting roasted if you try that.  I can understand why you’d want to though.”  I tell him with a sympathetic grin.  I hate these awful things just as much as he does.  “Do you both just plan to eat and drink though?  There’s other entertainment too.”

“The spymaster is dead.”  Ishki says urgently, looking and sounding stunned.  His words are more than enough to stun me.  Seraph never really understood how powerful he was so she seems unsurprised.

“That’s the problem with humans.  Too weak.”  Seraph laughs.

“The one thing he wasn’t was weak.”  I say shaking my head.  “He probably wasn’t as strong as the Envoy, but no other elf in our tribe could beat him in a fair fight.  Not that he would ever fight fair.”

“There’s no way an elf would lose to a mere human.”  Seraph laughs.

“Orders!”  Ishki says urgently.  “We are to hunt and kill the enemy humans in the mines and tunnels below!”

Seraph looks as unhappy as I feel but I don’t show my feelings and neither does Ishki.  We are too experienced to do that.  I take a deep breath and then calmly give the order that I really I don’t want to give.  “Down the shaft.”

I urge my spiderfly to jump down to the forest floor.  I enjoy the forest wind and floating leaves, racing past my face for the last time until this hunt is over.  Landing beside the tunnel that those drake riders made, I take one last breath of pleasant forest air.  Then I urge my spiderfly forwards and lead the way into the dark dismal tunnel.

The tunnel slopes steeply downwards towards the mountain and is big enough for a drake to pass through without too much trouble, so on our spiderflies there is plenty of room.  There is scattered earth and are many loose stones lying throughout the tunnel where the drakes threw them.  It was fine watching from far above as the drakes dug this tunnel, but I never expected to be going through it myself.

It takes only a few minutes to reach the end and come out in the mine, but even those few minutes seemed to last forever.  I can only hope we find those humans quickly so we can return to the forest.  If they are the same ones from before we may have trouble, but we are not the only hunters looking for them.  I can hear other spiderflies racing through the tunnel behind us.

As the next group catches up I start to lead my group through the mine.  The mine’s winding grey tunnels and large chambers were carved using both magic and some sort of bladed tool.  In the first chamber are piles of stone and ore, as well as carts filled with ore.  The humans we captured were digging here but they are gone and I sense the remains of unnatural magic.  The enemy must have used a portal.  We are soon past the large chamber where our prisoners were and enter the first tunnel we find.

We delve deeper into the mine and soon the other spiderfly riders have gone their own way.  There are enough of us that if the enemy are in the mine we will find them, and whoever does so can easily let the others know where.  Ishki is my specialist at communication magic, so if it is us I will be relying on him to pass the message along the wind to the other groups.

“The wind sisters have entered the mine.”  Ishki tells me as we race along the winding grey tunnel.  Then we come out in a small grey bricked chamber.  It is empty and there are no obvious exits other than the large square gap in the wall we just entered from.

“Dead end?”  I ask looking at Ishki and Seraph.  They both nod, so I turn my spiderfly, but as I do so I sense a small breeze blowing from the far corner of the room.  It is only there a moment.  “Wait!”

“What is it?”  Ishki asks cautiously.

“I sensed wind over there.  There must be another exit.”  I say and cautiously approach the corner.  With the wind gone I have no way of telling exactly where the exit may be.  It was definitely here somewhere though.  After studying the wall I decide we should wait.  When the wind blows again I will be able to tell where it is blowing from.

We wait a while and Seraph shows her displeasure the same way as normal.  I don’t think it is conscious, but she repeatedly taps the middle finger of her right hand against her thumb.  She isn’t really very patient at the best of times, and none of us are very happy to be standing around waiting in this awful mine.  We’d much rather be waiting atop the trees of the forest above.

Then I sense it again.  This time I am ready and work out immediately where it is coming from.  I jump down from my spiderfly and kneel by the gap.  It is perfectly hidden, but as I gently apply earth magic a small hole appears in the wall.  It is too small to ride the spiderfly through, but on the other side is a large grey tunnel very much like the one we rode through to get here, although there appears to be about an inch of water on the tunnel floor.  I can see the tunnel but my senses still don’t extend past the wall.

“We’ll send our mounts through first.  Then we’ll enter the tunnel.”  I tell Ishki and Seraph.  Then I use magic to urge my spiderfly through the gap.  Just like normal spiders they can squeeze through much smaller gaps than you would have thought possible.  I watch as Seraph and Ishki’s spiderflies squeeze through right after mine.  Then I get on my hands and knees and crawl through.

As my head passes into the tunnel I sense danger.  Just in time I raise a wind shield, which barely holds back the fireball.  Our mounts however are instantly turned to ash.  Seeing they are already lost I quickly pull myself back into the chamber, almost bumping into Seraph’s legs.

I jump up onto my feet and ready another wind shield.  Sure enough the head of a huge snake sticks out the hole and another fireball is shooting straight at me.  I block it much easier this time though, because I am expecting it.  Two bolts of lightning strike it.  One to the right of me jumps out of Ishki’s hands, whilst one to my left comes from Seraph’s hands.  I hold my wind shield steady even as I see the snake’s head explode.  I am glad I do because a moment later there is a huge explosion where its head was.

The wall collapses sending bricks flying as flames roar towards us.  The wind shield is way too weak to hold back the sheer power of that explosion, but it lasts a fraction of a moment and that is all the time Ishki needs to pick us all up with wind magic.  We are thrown through the air with his flight magic as flames race after us propelling shards of stone and brick.

We just about outpace them and make it out of the chamber and round the first bend in the tunnel.  The flames don’t make it quite as far as that and the shards bounce back when they hit the wall of the tunnel.  I breathe a sigh of relief and then hear an almighty bang.

“I guess we’re not going that way.”  Ishki says with a nervous laugh.  I use my senses and realise that the chamber has now collapsed completely.

“Looks like we need to replace all our mounts this time.”  Seraph says sounding unhappy.

“This time…?”  A small cheerful sounding voice says.  I gulp and turn.  It is the Envoy.  “I don’t remember your report from the last time.”

(Kai)

The door we entered through opens again.  I don’t sense anything yet, but the wall here blocks your senses in both directions.  Whatever comes through that gap is going to mean trouble, and I gulp when I see what does come through.

Spiderflies and pyroconders really don’t get on too well at all.  Putting them in the same place is a bit like storing large pots of oil in a fireball range.  You just know there’s going to be trouble, so when the first spiderfly squeezes through the gap I know we don’t have long to get out of here.

We were playing it safe, simply waiting here at the edge of the tunnel, because only Dairon and I are capable of using magic to defend ourselves at the moment.  We had hoped to wait until Peter recovered before moving on.  Elucia will probably take longer, but Lucy seems to think it should only be a few hours until Peter recovers.  The good news though, is that the many pyroconders in this tunnel are now much more interested in the spiderflies than in hunting for anything else.  Anything else, such as us...

“We should hurry.  Follow me and try not to reveal your presence.”  I say and lead the way down the dark wet tunnel.  Another large pyroconder slithers through the shallow water beside us.  It must be fifty foot long and almost two foot wide, but it is past us in just a few seconds.  Its red skin glows in the dark revealing the power of the fire magic that it is preparing to use.  The tunnel is large enough that if it was empty we could all easily walk side by side, at least if we were all able to walk right now.  The pyroconders would make that far too dangerous though.

Fortunately elves can see just as well as I can in the dark and Lucy is sitting on my shoulder.  I am still carrying Elucia on my back.  I used earth magic to create ropes that tie her in place on my back, so my hands are free.  Dairon is carrying Peter in the same way.  Peter seems to be drifting in and out of consciousness, but even when conscious he is completely out of it.

The tunnel is suddenly lit by a large fireball.  I look back and see the spiderflies have been reduced to ash.  Not unexpected, although I am surprised they didn’t seem to fight back.  A pyroconder is now darting through the hole and others are around it, waiting to get through too.

We are a fair way down the tunnel now, which turns out to be fortunate.  I sense the fire magic of the pyroconder explode as if hit by lightning.  Perhaps the enemy didn’t realise what it was, or perhaps they are just unfamiliar with how it reacts to lightning.  Using lightning against a pyroconder is a good way of creating a massive explosion, and that is exactly what happens now.

“Get down!”  I shout to Dairon and jump into the shallow water, throwing up an earth shield behind us.  Thankfully it holds as flames race past us to either side of and above the shield.  Then there is an almighty crash and looking back I see the tunnel behind us has collapsed.  If we had been a few feet closer to the explosion we would have been buried under the fallen rock shards and boulders that now block any possibility of returning the way we came.  The enemy could certainly break through, but unless they sensed us they are unlikely to try, and I certainly hope they didn’t sense us.

“At least all the pyroconders seem to have been killed.”  Lucy says as she floats back down onto my shoulder.  “This better not be a dead end though.”

“Don’t worry, it isn’t.”  I say with a smile.  Since the pyroconders are now dead I create my white light so we can walk quicker.  “I remember my father’s directions exactly as he told them to me.”

“Let’s hope he didn’t forget and give you the wrong directions then.”  Lucy says with a grin.

She’s just teasing so I don’t reply.  Instead I lead the way through the now empty waters focusing on where I am walking and keeping my senses open, mostly for monsters.  As we continue I realise the water is getting deeper until it is up to Dairon’s knees.  My father didn’t say anything about this water.  I hope it doesn’t get too deep, or we may need to use water magic to proceed.  As he is an elf I am sure Dairon is able to use water magic just fine, but the more magic we use the easier it will be for monsters and enemies to detect us.

“Wait a moment.”  I say as I feel something soft under my left foot.  I am watching where I’m going so it is quite a shock to step on something.  I put my left hand on Dairon’s shoulder to steady myself and lift my left leg.  I hold it up with my right hand and turn my foot upwards so I can see what is under my brown leather shoe.  To my shock there is a small white blob with dozens of little white tentacles.  Each tentacle is no more than the width of a strand of hair but as I watch they are slowly reaching towards my leg.

I use magic to create a flexible black stone glove on my right hand and using it try to tear off the blob.  I manage to get the blob off my shoe, but the tentacles quickly wind around my shoe.  No matter how much I pull they don’t come loose and instead continue to creep towards my leg.  Desperate I tear off my shoe and thankfully the tentacles now just seem focused on my shoe.  I try to burn them with fire magic but they resist and I don’t want to strengthen the flames, because if I use too much magic it will draw attention to us.  Besides if I burn the shoes as well there is no point.

I sigh and use earth magic to form a new shoe out of the same flexible black stone as the glove I created.  It is heavier than my leather shoe but unless those tentacles lose interest it will have to do.  We can’t just stand around waiting for them to lose interest either.  If the enemy did sense us we will need to reach our destination quickly.  I don’t want to step on another one of those creatures though, so now I look even more carefully where I am going.

“What was that?”  Dairon asks.

“No idea.”  I say shaking my head.  Lucy remains silent.

“Stop.”  Dairon says with a frown.  “We’re going to need to use water and wind magic to create an air bubble.”

“Why?  The water is still only just above your knees.”  I ask confused.  The tunnel doesn’t dip dramatically either.

“There’s a lot of water heading this way fast.”  Dairon says and closing his eyes he forms a layer of water and wind around us.  The water below us is pushed away and we are now walking in the dry.  I can tell it would take a lot to break that thin layer.

I sense the change in the tunnel walls before I see the wall of water racing at us.  It would be rather scary, but I know there is no chance of it breaking the elven magic that is protecting us.  The wall of water just gives way to the thin layer around us and we are now in a large air bubble.  The surrounding water gives the whole place a bluish green tint and there are a few small rocks floating around.  Other than that though there doesn’t seem to be anything in the water.

“We’d best stay close.  I can’t extend the air bubble too far with this much water around us.”  Dairon says and holds out his right hand.

It feels odd but I take his hand with mine and we walk forwards holding hands.  A half dwarf holding hands with an elf!  Elves and dwarves have rarely gotten on, and even less so since the elves were conquered by the Fallen Angels.  Dairon is an enemy of the Fallen Angels so I am confident that the dwarves will accept him, but they are still not going to like him.

I can’t sense far past the air bubble, because it interferes with my senses, but fortunately the route from here is mostly simple and it doesn’t block my senses completely.  We walk through the winding underwater tunnel in silence and the time passes slowly but we continue without any problems until we reach the first split in the tunnel.

“We take the left tunnel.”  I say remembering clearly my father’s instructions.  Sure enough after a minute or two it comes to a dead end.  There is an uneven wall ahead with lots of rock sticking out as if it was still being carved when the dwarves abandoned this tunnel.

“What did I say about dead ends?”  Lucy says sounding concerned now.

“Don’t worry.  It just looks like a dead end.”  I say with a smile.  Then when we reach the wall I crouch and find what I am looking for.  “There’s a hidden lever here.  Dairon, lie down there and be ready to slide through quickly.  Lucy, go through first so be ready too.  We aren’t going to have long to get through and I don’t fancy drowning or getting cut in half just because either of you were too slow.  Also don’t let the water through the hole when it opens.”

“Ok, but I can’t maintain the air bubble for too long if we are that far apart.”  Dairon says sounding worried.

“It shouldn’t take too long.”  I say and wait until he is in place.

The lever looks just like part of the wall, sticking out only slightly and would easily be missed if you didn’t know exactly what you’re looking for.  Especially since the wall is so uneven, with lots of parts sticking out far more than the lever.  Even this lever does nothing unless you use it correctly.

I pull it, twist it clockwise three times, push it back in, twist it anti clockwise twice, pull it out again and twist it anti clockwise once.  Then I use earth magic in the very subtle pattern my father taught me.  Sure enough a small hole opens in the wall.

“Hurry!”  I tell Dairon and get down on the ground near the hole as he slides through it with Peter still on his back.  I then follow him as quickly as I can and get through just before the stone wall section comes crashing down filling the hole again.  I am grateful it is high enough to fit two people at once, but it was designed for dwarves to carry baggage on their backs so I was fairly sure it would be.

The stone on this side of the wall is a little darker.  Although still grey it is definitely getting closer to black now.  It will be completely black by the time we reach the dwarven city.  That shouldn’t take too long now.  It is a straight tunnel from here to the main city gates, though the gates themselves are completely hidden and very easily missed.

“We should expect to find monsters in this tunnel.  The dwarves keep them here to deter intruders.”  I tell Dairon and Lucy.

“What sort of monsters?”  Lucy asks floating in front of me.

“There are stones enchanted to attack non dwarves.  There are all sorts of giant insects too.  There are probably other monsters too, and if we miss the city gates and go too far we would reach the nests of some really powerful monsters.  I don’t know what they are because my father didn’t know.  We really don’t want to miss the gates and end up there.”  I tell her.

“Perhaps we should wait for Peter to recover.”  Lucy says sounding worried.

“Don’t worry, we can deal with anything before the gates and I don’t plan on missing them.  It would be better to get into the city quickly.  If we hang around here we’ll attract the attention of more monsters so it would be better to get moving right away.”  I tell her.

“Then make sure you don’t miss those gates!”  Lucy warns and floats down onto my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I won’t miss them.”  I assure her with a confident smile.

Chapter 18 (Multiple)

(Dairon)

The tunnel’s colour is darkening the further in we get.  If it continues to darken it will soon be completely black.  Kai still lights the way with her faint white light though, so we can see where we are going.  We haven’t met any monsters yet despite walking for a while now.

As an elf the thought of walking into a dwarven city is more than a little intimidating.  There is no way Kai hasn’t considered the history between our people, especially since she said she had been told a lot about dwarven history.  Before the Fallen Angels conquered my people and forced the dwarves to hide, there were two great wars between the elves and the dwarves.  There were many skirmishes too, but compared to the great wars they were like children bickering.

The first war we won, but in the second war the dwarves were victorious.  That war left us weakened and is one of the main reasons we were conquered.  At the height of elven power even the Fallen Angels could not have beaten us.  Even weakened we were not easily conquered, but conquered we were and few elves would forgive the dwarves who weakened us.  I certainly don’t, but now I must beg for their protection from my own kind.  It is humiliating to say the least, but I have no choice.

I sense an enemy ahead and hold up my right hand in warning.  Kai notices immediately and stops.  I don’t speak because I’m not sure what the enemy is yet.  I just sense magic in the air and it feels dangerous.  Kai seems to sense and recognise the enemy after a moment.  She grins.

“Just a few enchanted stones, nothing to be overly worried about.  I’m surprised you noticed them before I did.  I know how to deactivate them whilst we pass so just wait here until I tell you it’s safe.  They shouldn’t attack me, because I’m a half dwarf.  Lucy, wait here with Dairon.”  Kai says and walks ahead as Lucy flies over to me and lands on my right shoulder.

“Good luck.”  Lucy calls out to Kai.

“Thanks!”  Kai shouts over her shoulder.  It only takes a minute or so and Kai is back.  “It’s safe for now but we should hurry.”

I follow Kai at a brisk pace.  There are a lot of stones in one big pile, but I’m not sure which the enchanted ones are.  I suppose they could all be enchanted.  If that is so I definitely wouldn’t want to fight them.  We are soon past the stones though.

“I’m glad that worked.”  Kai says breathing a sigh of relief.

“You weren’t sure?”  Lucy asks indignantly.

“I wasn’t certain if it would work with an elf.”  Kai admits.  “They might have made them so they always attacked elves even when deactivated.”

“You should have told me!  I’d have sat on your shoulder instead!”  Lucy complains.

“There’s something up ahead.”  Kai says and we all switch our attention to the possible enemy.  Sure enough, now I know it is there I can sense it.

“It feels a bit like a Tree Ent.”  I say confused.  This is really not their natural environment.

“It is similar, but this is a bit different.”  Kai says with a frown.  “This is a Fungi Ent.  Basically it looks like a giant mushroom, with normally about twelve legs that attach themselves to and slide along whatever it is walking on, whether that is the ceiling, floor or walls.  It has three mouths and will eat you if it gets the chance, but what is most dangerous is its spores.  They can easily put you to sleep and keep you that way even whilst it eats you.  Wind magic can prevent them affecting us, so it would be worth creating a strong wind or an air bubble.  It is weak against fire so I will attack it.”

“I’ll just create a strong wind.  It is easier than maintaining an air bubble.  Will your flames be ok in the wind though?”  I ask.

“My flames are dwarven flames.”  Kai says with a smile.  “These things are weak against fire so that isn’t going to be a problem.”

“Should I create the wind now or when we are closer?”  I ask.

“Can you create the wind and then fly us closer?”  Kai asks.

“Yes.”  I say with a nod.

“Then please do.”  Kai says.

I pick us up with flight magic and create a strong wind.  Then I fly us straight along the tunnel and with the wind racing through our hair I feel almost like I am outside.  That would be nice, but it may be a very long time before I see the outside world again.  We are almost on the enemy when I bring us to a sudden stop.  I maintain our position with the flight magic so we float completely still despite the strong wind.  I am ready to dodge the enemy if it gets a chance to attack us.

Kai’s flames rise up even before I see the enemy and it is instantly turned to ash.  They are powerful flames and even the strong wind doesn’t cause them to waver.  They only last a moment though, because Kai doesn’t waste power maintaining them once the creature is ash.  I drop the wind and gently lower us onto the ground.

“We should wait here for a few minutes to let any spores settle.”  Kai tells us and sits at an angle on a bit of rock sticking out from the wall.  It doesn’t look too comfortable sitting like that with Elucia on her back, and the rock looks really hard.  There is only space for one person to sit, so even if it looked comfortable I would still have had to stay standing.  Lucy flies over to Kai and sits on her right shoulder.

“It should be safer to stay with you.”  Lucy says.  This is really comforting, but not as much as her next words.  “If the dwarves decide to roast Dairon alive I don’t want to get killed too.”

“They’re not going to do that, are they?”  I ask nervously.

“Don’t be silly, I was just joking.  Dwarves prefer to skin their prisoners and feed them to the war dogs.”  Lucy says.

“She’s still joking.”  Kai says shaking her head in amusement.  “Dwarves generally behead their prisoners if they are going to execute them at all.  It is rare though to execute prisoners who haven’t actually done any harm.”

“Just rare?”  I ask cautiously.

“Very rare.”  Kai says.

“But not unheard of?”  I ask nervously.

“Not unheard of, but it really is rare.”  Kai says.

“I hope this isn’t one of those rare times.”  I say with a wince.

“We really don’t have any choice now.”  Kai reminds me.

“I know.”  I say.

“Peter?”  Lucy asks with a gasp.  I turn my head and see Peter seems to be awake and more or less with it now.

“Could you let me down, I’m about to vomit.”  Peter says with a coarse voice.

“Ok.”  I say quickly releasing the rope with magic and using flight magic to float Peter down to the ground.  I really don’t want to be vomited over.

(Peter)

I feel a little weak so I hold onto Dairon’s left arm.  I stand there regaining my senses for a few moments and then look up.  Dairon seems fine.  Looking to the left of him I see Lucy and Kai.  Kai is glowing with a dim white magical light and on her back is Elucia.

“So we did it then?”  I ask.  Seeing Elucia with us would certainly seem a positive sign.

“Yes, David is dead, unless he managed to beat the Spirit of the Mountain, but I doubt that very much.  Everyone on our side survived.  Hinata and Ara Kii went back to Contractia with the Kuroneko.”  Lucy says.

“Wasn’t it the Kuroneko who was meant to beat him?”  I say confused.  My memories from the fight are very vague.  Yet another gap in my memory!  Just what I need…  If we won and everyone survived though, that is all that really matters.

“Sorry, but sometimes to fool your enemies you must first fool your friends.”  Lucy says with a grin as if to say that is just an excuse.  Perhaps it is or perhaps it isn’t, and she really doesn’t look sorry at all, but I don’t care.  It is her plan that worked, so it is thanks to Lucy that we won.  I would have had no idea how to defeat David.

“So where are we now?”  I ask.

“Close to the gates of a dwarven city.  We’re heading there in the hope they will shelter us from the enemy, rather than behead or enslave us.”  Kai says.

“If they try to enslave me I’ll fight until I am free or dead.”  I tell Kai, staring into her eyes.

“Don’t worry.  I was mostly just joking about that part.  I’m half dwarf so they should help us, though we are a little worried about Dairon because he’s an elf.”  Kai says.

“Would it be better to go somewhere else?”  I ask worried.

Kai remains silent with a frown on her face, but Lucy answers me.  “We don’t have that option.  The way back is blocked and even if it wasn’t there are too many enemies searching for us.”

“Didn’t you have a plan to return?”  I ask.

“Yes…  The portal, but we’ve used that already, remember?”  Lucy says glaring at me as if she is actually annoyed now and not just teasing me.

“Yes, sorry, I thought you had another plan.”  I say.

“If Sor hadn’t still been recovering we could have used her to get back.  That wasn’t an option though, so we sent her back.  The only other option is to remove the curse from me.  I am linked to my mother’s home, so I can open a portal there without the need to go through Portalis.  Perhaps the dwarves can help with removing my curse, but they’d definitely want something in return.”  Lucy tells me.

“So how far are we from the dwarven city?”  I ask.  Lucy looks at Kai.

“Probably about an hour if we don’t encounter any monsters, but we will encounter monsters.”  Kai answers.

“So an hour plus however long it takes to defeat whatever monsters we come across.  That’s not too bad.”  I say and then ask Lucy.  “How is Elucia doing?”

“She’s been asleep most of the time since David left her body.  She needs proper rest but she can’t get that here.”  Lucy tells me.

“Then let’s get moving.”  I say.

“Are you ok to walk?”  Lucy asks dubiously.

“As long as we take it slowly at first.  Hopefully I’ll be able to walk faster once I get used to walking again.  Don’t count on me in a fight though.”  I say.

Kai gets up with Lucy still on her shoulder.  Dairon walks to her left and I walk behind them both.  My magic feels almost completely drained so I will be relying on them entirely to defend us.  I keep my senses open though, so I can at least still warn them of danger.  It isn’t long before I sense something but Kai senses it at the same time and seems to recognise it.

“Goblins.”  Kai says and raises a magical shield around us.  Moments later fireballs hurtle towards us and explode as they hit her shield.  Dairon throws lightning at the five goblins and quickly overpowers their shield.  The goblins are all fried as soon as the shield falls.  Kai laughs and says.  “That was quick.”

“Elves have been hunting goblins since goblins were first created.”  Dairon says with a shrug.  Then he can’t help but add, “By a dwarf.”

“A mad dwarven outlaw.  Words like that are unwise though, given how close we are to the city gates.”  Kai says glaring fiercely at him.  Dairon just shrugs.  “Let’s move on.”

So we pass the goblin corpses and walk on.  Again it isn’t long before we encounter more trouble.  This time though Kai senses it first and I didn’t have a clue until she warns us.

“Ants!”  She shouts, but I can’t see or sense anything.  She raises flames around us and I see a sharp yellow bone claw about a foot long pierce the flames.  It falls to the floor by our feet though, because whatever it was attached to didn’t survive the flames.  Nothing else tries to pierce the flames and after a few moments Kai says.  “They’ll pass us by as long as we keep the flames up.”

It is probably five or six minutes later when Kai sighs in relief and drops the flames.  She doesn’t say anything.  She just starts walking.  We walk for a while this time without getting attack again.  I must admit I let my guard down but Dairon was thankfully more alert.

“Enemy!”  Dairon shouts and throws up a quick wind shield.  A kind of goo is thrown back by his shield.  I don’t see what threw the goo at us, but after a moment I sense it.  No sooner have I done so than a flame has enveloped its head.  Now I see what we are fighting.  It is a huge caterpillar about a hundred foot long and three foot wide.  I don’t know how many legs it has, but lots would be a fair description.

It seemed to use some sort of magic to hide from us, but now it is using every bit of power it has to resist the flames.  After a few seconds it fails and its head is reduced to ash.  The body thrashes about for a few moments and then lies there unmoving.

“Something will be here soon to eat it, so we should move quickly.”  Kai says and then looks at Dairon.  “Flight magic would be good.”

“Ok.”  Dairon says and throws us through the air.

“That’s enough.”  Kai says after about a minute.  “We don’t want to go past the city gates.”

As it happens we don’t encounter anything else for some time and when we do it is just a couple of stray goblins.  They fall quickly to Dairon’s lightning.  Shortly after that Kai stops suddenly.

“This is it.”  She says with a relieved smile.  I look all around and can’t see anything unusual.

“This is what?”  I ask confused.

“The city gates of course.  Now we just have to wait here until they decide to open them and let us through.”  Kai says sitting down on the ground staring at a section of the wall with a big smile on her face.

“We just wait for them to open?  Isn’t there some way to open them ourselves?”  I ask.

“What kind of city gates open from the outside?”  Kai laughs.

“Well, I suppose that makes sense.”  I say, but just waiting here…  I sigh and shake my head in frustration, but there is nothing I can do.  As it happens it isn’t long before the wall just disappears like it was never there.  It doesn’t feel like it was ported though.  Behind it is a small black chamber with no obvious exit.

There are two short men with more muscles than anyone I have ever seen before, even without taking into account their height.  They have shiny golden beards down to their knees and wear black stone armour. Their hair is a matching golden colour but only down to their shoulders.  Their skin is black and matches their armour perfectly.  They have brown eyes.  Neither hold a weapon but I sense a strong aura from both.  They are certainly mages, and powerful mages at that.

“Who are you, and what do you want?”  The one on the right asks gruffly.  He is the slightly taller one and almost as tall as I am.  That isn’t very tall of course, but the other one is about half a foot shorter.  I look to Kai who answers him.

“My name is Kai and I am a half dwarf.  My dwarven father is Jar, son of Sheek and Bakara, former apprentice of the smithy lord Blake Two-Hammers.  I seek shelter in the magnificent dwarven city Nirvali, for myself and my comrades.”  Kai says confidently.

“It seems you speak true, so there is no need to cut out your tongue.”  The dwarf who spoke earlier says with a grim nod.  “You may wait inside the city jail until the Council of Elders decides your fate.”

“Thank you.”  Kai says bowing deeply and looking pointedly at us.  I follow her lead and after a moment so does Dairon.  I assume Lucy probably does too.

“Follow me then.”  The dwarf says gruffly and leads us through the wall at the back of the chamber as if it wasn’t there.  We are in a long empty black tunnel, but I hear sounds of people talking in the distance now.  “Don’t talk to anyone. Keep your eyes on the ground. Especially the elf.”

So we walk through the tunnel and then the city not seeing anything other than the black stone ground and each other’s shoes.  Kai seems to be wearing two very different shoes, one formed of black stone and one from brown leather.  The whole place seems to be lit with a dim magical white light that permeates the whole place.  Kai has dropped her own magical glow that she was using to light the way in the tunnel.

With my air sense I can feel the moment we enter a huge chamber with buildings all around, each carved into the stone.  After a while walking we enter a small stone building and then what must be a jail cell.  I hear the door creak as it opens to let us in and closes behind us.

“You can look around as much as you want now.”  The dwarf says with a laugh and then leaves us.

I look up and there is a bored looking dwarf sitting by the door in a small stone chair.  He is probably slightly shorter than me, but it is hard to tell whilst he is sitting.  He is wearing the same black armour and has the same black skin as the guards at the city gate.  He also has a golden beard down to his knees and golden shoulder length hair like the other dwarves, though his eyes are green.  Unlike the other dwarves he doesn’t have shoes. His feet are covered in short furry hair and I can smell them from here.  It really isn’t a pleasant smell.

There are stone bars and a stone door in front of us forming a jail cell.  There is a solid wall and door beyond that.  Behind us is a solid stone wall that feels like it is the outer wall of the huge chamber we were in.  There are bars between our cell and the cell to our right and left.  There only seem to be three cells in total.

Everything is made from the same black stone other than a small white stone circle on the wall, with twelve black markings equal distance from each other.  I can’t read the markings.  There are three small stones, one black, one red and one blue that seem to be moving around the edge of the circle.  The blue stone is closest to the centre and moving fairly quickly, though still not that fast.  The red stone is slightly closer to the edge and barely moving.  The black stone is right at the edge and I can only tell it is moving because of a small tremor in the air.

“The Council of Elders is due to meet in a week, so you’ll be in here a while.  You may as well make yourselves comfortable whilst you wait.  No magic though.  Meals are twice a day and we don’t do fussy eaters.  You get what we give you and you’d better be happy, or you’ll get nothing for your next meal.  Try anything and you’ll lose your head for sure.”  The dwarf tells us.  He then leans back against the wall and closes his eyes.  He then sticks his smelly feet out towards us and soon I hear snoring.

I turn and see Elucia is now lying on the floor and looks a bit more peaceful than when she was on Kai’s back.  The floor is cold hard stone but she is at least able to stay still now rather than being rocked about as Kai walks and fights.  I look up at the roof and wonder when I will see the stars again.

(Elucia)

I wake as if from a long nightmare.  I have vague memories but they are just a blur.  The last thing I remember clearly is tidying the workshop for Rin’s mother.  So why am I now lying on a cold stone floor lit only by a dim white magical glow?  Where am I?

“Awake at last.”  An unfamiliar voice says from above me.  I look up and see a blur that eventually settles down.  When it does I see a tall woman that I don’t recognise.

“Who are you?”  I ask in a raspy voice.  It actually hurts to talk so I wince as I say it.

“I’m Kai, a half dwarf and half human mage.  I carried you here for your friends.”  She says and looks past me.  I slowly turn my face to follow her gaze and see Peter, Lucy and Dairon.  So Lucy is awake now.  That’s good.  Rin and her mother were really worried about her.  I am glad she is awake again.

“Welcome back Elucia.”  Peter says with a warm smile.

“Where was I, and where am I now?”  I ask with another wince.

Lucy smiles and says.  “Right now we’re in a dwarven jail cell hoping the dwarves are going to protect us from an army of elves instead of executing us for being outsiders.”

I open my mouth and close it three times.  I just don’t know what to say to that.  After a moment though I ask, “So where was I and why are my memories a blur?”

“You were possessed by a servant of the Fallen Angels.”  Lucy says with a frown.

“Why? How?”  I ask but every answer seems to raise more questions than it answers.

“As for how, he was a spirit, and a strong one at that, so possessing people was easy.  He’s dead now though.  As for why he possessed you, he was escaping from us so he needed a new body.”  Lucy explains.  I don’t dare ask anything else.  “Do you remember anything from the time you were possessed?”

“Only very vague memories.  It’s a bit like a blur.  The odd face or smell.  An awful smell like burning meat seems very familiar, but I don’t know why.”  I tell her.

“Well, don’t worry.”  Lucy says with a shrug.  “For now all we can do is wait.”

“Is everyone else safe?”  I ask praying that they are and not sure it is a wise question to ask.

“Everyone in the whole of every world?”  Lucy asks with a grin.

“No, Rin, her mother and her friends.”  I say with a nervous frown.

“As far as we know they are all safe.”  Lucy says.  It is the best answer I could hope for so I am relieved, though I would be even more so if I knew for sure they were safe.

“Food.”  A gruff voice says and I can smell something rather unpleasant.

I slowly turn my gaze and see a couple of bare hairy feet at what must be the bars of our jail cell.  Near his feet but this side of the bars is one large dish with something stringy hanging from the side and resting on the floor.  I can’t see any cutlery.  It looks like we will be sharing and drinking directly from the dish.  Everything just seems to be getting better and better!

(General Karina)

The Council of Elders has met yet again and yet again the cowards are unwilling to give me the order to attack the elves.  Instead we are relying on secrecy and flooded tunnels.  So my forces are still waiting around, ready for the order that will probably never come.

In the meantime I have been given the unusual task of welcoming a damned elf and his friends to Nirvali.  One of them is a half dwarf, but she is the worthless daughter of a human and a dwarven coward who fled from Nirvali to escape punishment for his crimes.  Why the council couldn’t have just given that order to the head of the city guard I don’t know.  Running the prison is her duty.  I’m a general, not a lowly messenger.

“General!”  The guard says jumping to his bare feet and saluting.

“At ease.”  I say with a sigh and look into the cell through the stone bars at the odd group.  The half dwarf is taller than most humans.  There’s also a human boy with just one arm, a small elf and a human girl.  Most interesting of all though is a human woman under a curse that has shrunk her body and sealed most of her power.  They all seem to be asleep even though it is the middle of the day.  Glaring at them I shout, “Get up!”

I watch in amusement as they wake and jump to their feet.  The human boy and girl bump into each other as they get up.  I wait until they appear awake.

“So what is it to be?”  The cursed woman asks sounding fearless and I sense no deception in her words.

“You are to be given one small home to share whilst you remain here as our guests.  You will have to earn a living whilst you are here.  There is always plenty of work for those willing to do it, but if you are lazy you will starve.  You cannot leave the city without permission from me.  If you do leave without permission you will be considered our enemy.  If you cause any trouble whilst you are here you will be punished.”  I tell them.

“Are there dwarves skilled in removing curses?”  The cursed woman asks.

“Yes, but they don’t work for free.  There are dwarves who could remove your curse, if you were able to pay them enough.  There’s no way you could afford it though.”  I say with a shrug.  “I will show you to your new home as I have been ordered to do so, but after that I don’t want to have anything to do with you.  Especially with the elf.  Now follow me.”

I release the magic locking the door and swing it open with earth magic.  Then I lead the way through the streets to their home.  It is just one room carved into the outer wall very close to the prison so it is not a big problem to lend it to these outsiders, but I would still prefer to chop their heads off.  We literally leave the prison, walk around the prison and walk three doors down the street.  I then point at the open door and say, “This is your home for now, so don’t forget it.  Now I hope to never see you again.”

As I walk away I hear the boy whisper, “She really does look like a human girl.”

I resist the urge to incinerate him.  The council would be annoyed if I did that and right now I need to convince them to let me do my job.  Annoying them would be unwise.

Epilogue (Peter)

I am glad I am finally out of that jail cell.  The home we have been given really is tiny, but at least it doesn’t have bars and we have the opportunity to earn enough to eat properly now.  We also have now had a chance to wash.  We were starting to get really smelly, not having washed for a weak.  Most importantly though, we aren’t going to be executed.  That is a weight off my chest, or I suppose more to the point a weight that I can keep above my shoulders.

My magical reserves are back to normal, though they are only normal as opposed to the strengthened powers I have when I take magic from other people.  We need to find someone capable of removing Lucy’s curse, and find out how much it will cost.  We also need to find work both to pay for food and so that we can work towards being able to pay them to remove the curse.

I am surprised by how much difference there is between male and female dwarves.  I have only seen one female and three male dwarves, but all three male dwarves looked like strong black men, only really short and really, really strong.  The female dwarf looked like a girl perhaps Elucia’s age, so thirteen or fourteen.  She was really thin and childlike.  She also had the same pale skin with a golden tint that Yu Kii and most of the humans we freed in the mines had.  Her hair was white like Yu Kii too.  Her eyes were a bright blue a bit like a Contractian though.

I don’t expect to return home quickly, but at least it isn’t hopeless, and we are safe.  As long as the elves don’t take Nirvali that is.  It has survived for this long though, so I don’t see that happening.  I certainly hope it doesn’t happen!

Author’s Afterword

I hope you enjoyed reading the third book in The War of Contractia, which is part of The Chronicles of Contractia.  Peter’s story will be continued in Peter of Dwarven Stone, the next book of The War of Contractia.  I hope that you continue to follow Peter and his friends as they strive towards their dreams.

In addition to the main series I will also be writing short side stories as well, which will among other things give you additional background and understanding for some of the characters.  These stories will not impact the main plot so you will still be able to just read the main series if you wish.  Unlike the main series however, these side stories will mostly either be free or just cost cents (or cents converted into your local currency of course) as they will mostly be much shorter than the books in the main series.

I anticipate the release of book four between September and November 2014, but this could change.  If you wish to know when my future books and stories are released as soon as they become available, please note that you can sign up for email alerts on my author page.  You can reach my author page from any of my books’ product pages on Amazon.com and at least some of the other amazon websites such as Amazon.co.uk.  I also post occasional updates for future release estimates on a forum on my amazon.com author page.

If you bought a legal copy of this novel you have my thanks, and if you have provided feedback (especially positive feedback!) then even more so.  If you downloaded a pirated copy of this novel and enjoyed it, then please consider supporting the continuation of The Chronicles of Contractia by buying a copy on Amazon Kindle Store.  The more copies that sell and the more positive feedback I get, the sooner each book will be available.

Table of Contents

- Prologue (Peter)
- Chapter 1 (Multiple)(Yu Kii)
- Chapter 2 (Ara Kii)
- Chapter 3 (Yu Kii)“
- Chapter 4 (Multiple)(Asuna)
- Chapter 5 (Multiple)(Emma)
- Chapter 6 (Multiple)(Sor)
- Chapter 7 (Multiple)(Yu Kii)
- Chapter 8 (Multiple)(Sor)
- Chapter 9 (Multiple)(Yu Kii)
- Chapter 10 (Multiple)(Dairon)
- Chapter 11 (Multiple)(Emi)
- Chapter 12 (Peter)
- Chapter 13 (Multiple)(Kuroneko)
- Chapter 14 (Peter)
- Chapter 15 (Multiple)(Ara Kii)
- Chapter 16 (Peter)
- Chapter 17 (Multiple)(Lucy)
- Chapter 18 (Multiple)(Dairon)
- Epilogue (Peter)
- Author’s Afterword