By: Lucien

Rejuvenation. I could feel the vibrant, twisted energy coursing through my elven body. Every sense was sharp and clear. The haze of confusion and terror vanished – only a crisp, primal focus was present. I saw details that went unnoticed before. I felt the movements in the air density shifting around me. I could smell the fresh blood and sweat that flooded this Spire. I inhaled deeply; the complex aromas of sex and fear filling me. I salivated at the mixture of pheromones twirling in the air. Dragons, horses, Keeat hounds, Worms… the thick musk of male Kazdruk soldiers. Leather and steel, fresh smoke and embers; I took all of it in, my mind processing it in a crazed frenzy.  Above all, I felt the unbreakable bond to my Master. A drone in her hive, tethered by her psychic chain.

Master had ordered me to wander the halls freely, to take everything in. I felt lighter on my feet, faster and stronger. My legs flexed with every brisk step I took, advancing through the hollow halls with ease. My breasts were being hugged tightly under my newly adorned Kazdruk armor, having been reduced slightly to a more manageable size. I peered upward, gazing across the stone walls, examining every unique sculpture and support column. 

My heart skipped a beat when I caught the scent of a familiar wood. A quick and brief waft; I inhaled deeply.  My thoughts immediately began to falter and relapse. I stumbled for a second, losing balance momentarily. The smell triggered a glimpse of a memory of the Zelkathorn jungles. Elu’s face filled my mind. I was set back, suddenly questioning who I was. The foggy thoughts of my past…I couldn’t remember. Fear poured into me. Who was I? Where am I? Enemy territory? My mind was flooded with questions and chaos. I fell to the side, supporting my body with my arm against the cold wall. I felt sick to my stomach. What have I done?

The sound of screaming echoed from far off in the Spire, perhaps many floors below. The shrieks were bouncing off the high walls over and over before finally fading.  The sound broke my relapse, as the inner animal inside me took control again. The beast inside re-kindled.  I smiled at the sound – the pleasantly dreadful sound of pain and anguish. 

>><< 

The cold air rushed across Jelthra’s face as she peered into the horizon. The appearance of a cluster of white islands filtered through the heavy, winter cloud cover. Each island was speckled with snowcapped mountains sparkling in the dusk.  She pulled Daliik’s reins, commanding him to drop from their altitude sharply into a controlled nosedive. Jelthra had been traveling for almost a day, her destination now finally coming into her vision. The sun was setting, casting deep orange rays of sunlight across Daliik’s dark scales.  She and her dragon leveled off considerably low, skimming across the deep blue Saja Ruun Ocean and falling below visual sight of any guard towers along the western Coast of Crystals.  Jelthra continued onward across the ocean towards the elven island of Wayyel.   

AzurLyyn.  -The Elvish Prosperity-

 “With due respect your Highness – we won’t last much longer! We need to take the battle to them! And we need to do it now!” Javan spoke.

The young human’s golden brown, shoulder length hair danced as he spoke before the Wayyel elven council. His deep brown eyes pleading with all at the round marble table.  

“That would certainly be suicide Javan!” King Tepel spoke.  “Kazdruk and its godforsaken Tortured Sea is far too hazardous! It can’t be navigated safely. Not only that, but It would require us leaving AzurLyyn completely exposed.” 

The King’s age was catching up with him, his soft round gut covered in an elegant royal robe. His fur coat was lined in jewels and exquisitely tailored trim.  The soft wrinkles on his weathered face danced as he spoke, sharply contrasted by his immaculately kept white beard and bushy white eyebrows. 

“For the last time boy, I will not sanction such chaotic actions at the expense of my elven people! We will stay and defend our lands.”

Javan bowed before the King and turned his attention towards the Queen.  “Your Excellence, please; you must see the madness behind this, no? We can’t sit here forever!”  

“He speaks true, Javan,” The elven woman spoke softly. “Even if all of the houses came to an agreement, the risk would still be too high.”

The white chamber danced with winter butterflies and small azure birds. The setting sun burned through the chamber’s great glass window. The Queen palmed a small purple flower, spinning the petals between her soft fingers. Her long snow white dress glimmered in the late afternoon sunlight. White fur trim ran up the shoulders and around her thin neck, outlining her soft elven face.  Her icy blue eyes pierced through the human. 

“Javan, come. Take a walk with me.”

The young man nodded and followed The Queen out of the chamber.

The two walked outside onto a long, engraved pine bridge, covered in a light dusting of fresh snow and arching over a deep valley overlooking the South. The Queen’s white dress conformed to her hourglass figure tightly, hips swaying with every light step she took. Javan tried his best not to stare, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her beautiful body. Although she was much older than himself, the sheer beauty emanating from her royal elven bloodline was hypnotic.

She appeared to be in her late thirties or mid-forties, Javan thought to himself. He continued to watch as her round ass bounced softly. He could make out the faint line of her thong through her white elven fabric. Her long braided platinum hair swayed back and forth with every step. Suddenly, The Queen spun and faced Javan. Javan quickly looked away as if he had been staring off into the horizon this whole time. He slowly and casually looked back at her. The young man quickly caught himself looking at her heaving chest, barely hidden in her extremely low cut dress. Javan made sure to keep his eyes up high. He used her elegant gold woven crown band as a target. She only smiled.  

“Javan my dear, I know the loss of your family five years ago was arduous and difficult. You’re a young man now; mature and strong willed. Much like this Frost Rose – determined and ever evolving to survive.”    

Javan found himself lost in her plunging cleavage again, enchanted jewels resting on her soft white skin. The view was very inviting, but he quickly snapped his eyes back upward.   

The two looked out into the southern horizon across to the icy Feather Sea. The Island of Vilaya lied beyond, not too distant from the shore. 

“The Demons have taken so much, Queen Aria.” Javan spoke, his voice filled with sadness and sorrow.

“Please Javan, just call me Aria,” The Queen smiled. “Indeed they have taken much. But you must have patience Javan. The demons want us to make hasty decisions; they want us to lash out in revenge and blind hatred… They will not win this war Javan.”        

>><< 

Jelthra had earlier flown past the shores of Romelawield and Desstada under the veil of the young night sky. The sun’s last rays sizzled out over the western horizon, vanishing into the sea. Jelthra banked hard northeastward, cutting across the snowy island before landing on the shores of Wayyel. 

Jelthra dismounted Daliik, her black boots launching up a cloud of fresh powder.  She made her way up the snowy beachhead silently, crouching low and strafing. She kept her silhouette between the approaching northern trees and the elegant castle in the near distance. Jelthra caught two elven sentries carrying long pikes, each crossing the other’s path before moving apart from one another. Without slowing her pace, she silently ran up to the first guard tossing a throwing knife. Before the knife caught its target, she was already in the air.  She drew her black sword, coming down onto her second target. The throwing knife caught the first guard in his trachea. He let out a faint gargled wheezing cry. The elfish guard fell to his knees in a pool of blood, his agony muffled out by the icy crashing waves.

Jelthra came down in one swift motion over the second sentry, cleaving his head clean off. She made her way through the natural wall of trees, slowly scanning the area for more guards. She reached the side of a valley overlooking the south side of the Elfish royal palace. Guards surrounded the area marching back and forth, their extravagant armor reflecting the ambient torchlight. Jelthra laid prone, holstering her scoped crossbow. She begin scanning the area carefully. She found the main castle walkway and started monitoring the windows of every warm glowing room.

“Where… are… you?”

Her search of all the major windows ended without luck. But just as she was going to leave the area, she caught movement at the east side of the main walkway. A young human male and a female royal elf; her adorned headband sparking wildly in the low light.

“Ah, waz do we have here?”

Jelthra followed the two as they made their way up the stone walkway, her crosshairs on the boy’s chest. The two disappeared behind a cobblestone column. Jelthra lost visual of them momentarily before they reappeared on the upper level walkway. The two made their way onto the center porch before entering two large glass doors.            

Jelthra smiled to herself. She swapped out her crossbow’s ordinance, switching to a bolt with a coiled spool of rope attached to the end. She took the metal piece at the end of the rope and squeezed it. Two sharp toothed prongs lashed out. She wrapped the pronged end around a nearby tree before sinking the teeth into the thick tree bark.

She raised her crossbow again and fired the arrow off downward towards the center porch, trailed by the uncoiling rope. The arrow bolt struck perfectly above the door frame of the glass double doors. Jelthra quickly loaded two short coiled dual bolts onto her bow before tossing a clip around the rope and leaping down into the valley. She held the sliding clip with her right hand while shouldering her high powered crossbow with her right. Jel slid silently through the night air over the valley and kicked through the large glass doors. The Queen and boy jumped at the sudden crash as glass and debris launched in all directions. Without hesitation, Jel raised her cross bow and fired off the dual bolts towards the Queen. The bolts went wide in opposite directions, still attached together with a short rope. The wild trip-wire bolts wrapped around the Queen’s legs, ensnaring her ankles. The Queen screamed; losing her balance she spun and fell onto an oak wood table. Two armed guards instantly stormed into the room. Their swords were drawn, rushing towards Jelthra. She unsheathed her long ebony blade, easily parrying off the elven guards’ strikes. The first guard came in high with his silver blade above his head, barely missing the ceiling. Jelthra took advantage of his clumsy attempt and kicked him in the stomach, bringing him down to his knees in agony and dropping his sword. Jel punched him in the face with the pommel of her sword, knocking him out cold. The second guard swung low and to the side. She dodged the swipe and countered with a strike to the man’s leg, sending a mist of blood spraying across the clean floor. The man clutched his slashed thigh in pain before Jel drove her sword tip through the guard’s sternum. 

Without thinking, the boy picked up the fallen guard’s sword. The young untrained man swung wildly at Jelthra’s back. She deflected the boy’s blade at the last possible second, shifting her slightly off balance. The boy swung again in blind anger knocking Jelthra’s sword from her hand. 

“You have zum heart, kid.” Jel smiled.

She reached behind her back and pulled out two more short arrows, one in each hand. She uncoiled the short rope between them and rushed the boy. Jel got in close, denying the boy room to maneuver the large sword. He began to tumble backward, shuffling wildly. Jelthra used the rope as a weapon, entangling his arm and twisting his wrist. She bent his arm awkwardly and kicked it, knocking the sword out of his hand. Jelthra followed through smoothly, spinning the boy around and wrapping the short rope around the boy’s neck, choking him out slowly. The Queen stumbled up to her feet and tried to untie the tightly twisted snare around her ankles. As the boy’s body fell limp, Jelthra shackled his arms and tossed him onto the floor in front of the broken doors. She leapt over the oak table and landed in front of the Queen, smiling wide.

The Queen frantically tried uniting the impossibly tangled rope, knowing her attempts were futile.

“You sure are a pretty one, little queen lady,” Jel sneered before simply pushing her over.  The Queen sobbed, still trying to free herself. 

“Free me at once! You’ll never get away with this! I am the Qu-” 

Jel cut her off with a boot to her stomach.

“Zhut up, you stupid pretentious bitch.” 

Jelthra shackled the Queen’s hands and gaged her mouth before tossing her next to the boy. Jelthra picked up her sword, stood out on the porch, and whistled out loudly into the valley. A regiment of puzzled royal guards looked up from the courtyard. All of them scrambled for the stone stairs, some carrying brightly lit touches.  

“Intruder! Someone stop her!” A guard yelled out. 

Jel smiled and pulled out two small vials of fluid. She tossed one behind her into the room and tossed the second one down the stone walkway. The glass ampules shattered, soaking the cobble stone with clear fluid. The liquid quickly began to vaporize and dissipate into the nearby area.

Daliik appeared out of the heavy woodlands hearing her masters call, screeching loudly before taking flight towards Jelthra’s position. The guards made their way up to the upper level.  Daliik swung in overhead to the side of the royal porch. Jelthra quickly pushed the Boy and the Queen over the edge. The dragon caught both of them with his talons. Jel quickly ran and leapt onto Daliik’s back as he rose up high into the sky, a volley of arrows just missing them.

The group of guards reached the porch readying their next volley of arrows as a slower guard carrying a torch followed behind. The guard ran into the group, inadvertently igniting the vaporized ampules.  The entire porch violently exploded, bursting into a massive, brilliant fireball of flames.