Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Skotádi—Shadow Walker—The Void’s Melody—Maeve, those are just some of the names our little assailant has been called, but I found a much more suitable name for her over the years.

Maeve had pulled the smoke back over her face and disappeared into the night. I lowered the rapier to my side. She had positioned herself in the shadow of the tree furthest to the left—keeping out of my field of view. “Your ability to dive within shadows has improved greatly,” I stated. “I almost didn’t see you slither,” I lifted the rapier outward. “Into that tree right,” I angled the tip of the blade at the base of the tree. “There.” As the word left my lips, I shot a fireball into the shadow, knocking Maeve out from within.

I will admit—I chuckled a bit as she propelled from the shadow. She was ejected unexpectedly, causing her to ragdoll through the air for a moment before catching herself mid-flight. It was impressive, watching her use the very air around her as a brace—it was like she could fly. 

Maeve dropped herself back onto the ground, pulling on the brim of her hood, she adjusted it, moving it further over her head.

“I see you’re just as annoying as ever.” She stated.

“And I see you are just as, just as, just as fast as ever, so hah,” I replied and upon hearing the words out loud, I realized how ridiculous it sounded—it was better in my head.

I had positioned the blade to my side, debating if I should transmute it into something else or continue my poor attempt at Rapier Swordsmanship. Maeve was standing about fifty meters in front of me. A magic circle was hovering behind her. The warm purple glow was all too familiar and when it began to draw the patterns of the spell inside itself, it was confirmed. 

“Oh, okay then, we are going to go all out are we?” I tossed the rapier to the side, watching as it disappeared into the night as specks of blue dust. “Let us see how far we have come!” As the words exited my lips, an enormous magic circle appeared behind me in white. It rotated to the left, slowly inscribing a pattern as the color morphed into a bright orange. “This is gonna hurt and I’m not sorry.” The magic circle stopped its rotation, expanding its size to nearly thirty meters in diameter. The circle turned some of the trees of the forest into a cloud of chalky dust as the brim touched what remained of them. The orange grew more intense, turning the entire area from night to day with its light.

Maeve lowered her head, allowing her circle to move in front of her. She placed her hand against it, pushing it inside. The circle moved its way up her shoulder, transforming her entire left arm into that of a Demon’s—a black ooze-covered appendage with long talons. The circle hit the collar of her cloak and disappeared into a display of purple sparks.

I smiled, extending my arms outward, I began to laugh; “YES, THIS IS EXHILARATING!” I went to clap my hands together to activate my spell, but just as they were about to touch—yellow vines wrapped around my arms, pulling them out to the side. I tried to move away, only for vines to wrap around my feet, locking me in place. I moved my attention to Maeve. She too was being wrapped in vines, with her Demon arm being completely sealed in magic chains. The same chains began pulling themselves from the floor of the forest, wrapping themselves around my magic circle, canceling the spell. The night began to creep its way in as the spell crumbled to dust.

I went to teleport and the vines turned green, stopping me in my tracks. I pulled on them and they pulled on me. I turned my attention to the South; “Something is heading toward us, a few somethings, actually,” I turned back to Maeve. “Oh, they are already here, my mistake.” 

Maeve was surrounded by seven silhouettes, all of them hiding their appearance with Illusion Magic—they were trying to at least.

“MOONSHADOW ELVES, LET’S GO!” I exclaimed, drawing their attention over to me. “What? I’m excited, thought yall went extinct like three hundred years ago.” I heard one of them sigh and all seven of them released the spell hiding their appearance. “See, all better, no need to waste mana when you’re outed right?”

Six of the seven Elves were dressed in matching attire—black-sleeved vests with white bandages wrapped around their chest—matching black pants and gloves—their feet were wrapped in the same bandages as their chest and their faces were mostly hidden by bandanas. Their eyes were white as the light of the Moon, while their skin was a darker complexion, making their eyes appear to glow under the right conditions. Each of them, including the seventh who was dressed in a much more prestigious-looking attire, had their blonde hair tied in a bun on the top of their head. The seventh of the group stood the tallest, and instead of all black, their attire had golden seams sewn throughout and their chest was not wrapped in bandages, but instead, covered in burns.

The assumed leader of the Elves began walking over to me and as they got closer, I had to adjust my gaze upward to meet them. They ran the back of their hand down my mask, stopping at the bottom, they tapped it. “Interesting, I thought the legendary Zero would be taller.”

That voice.

“Wait, Alinanda? No way, you’re alive?!”

The Elf lowered their bandana, revealing the entirety of their face; “In the flesh, or what’s left of it.”

*

Alinanda Coranaut, daughter of Liananda Coranaut, firstborn MoonShadow Elf, and Queen of Ek Hajaar Haathon Ka Shahar—The City of a Thousand Hands.

Liananda was born from a shard of the Moon that had fallen into Lake Kio in the North, she emerged from the lake, a grown woman with no memories, but an urge to serve The Higher of The Moon; Ivara. Liananda retreated to the West, where she found a structure, one that wasn’t natural, it had been carved out of hundreds, maybe even thousands of trees. It looked to have long existed on the island, the moss and grass had taken over decades ago, but the structure itself was sound.

When she pursued inside, she was swiftly met with Kalanova, a Forest Spirit. The structure, known as Schlass vun Verbindung—The Castle of Connection, is where the branch of The All Tree touches the island. Kalanova was once a Nymph, but like Liananda, she too ventured inside the structure, curious of its contents. The Castle requires a constant stream of Mana and to fuel itself, it lures individuals inside. Kalanova had once been a Nymph, but after having all of her Mana exhausted she was turned into a Spirit and locked to the structure until a new host was found—only then could she pass over.

Liananda began praying to her Higher, asking Ivara to allow her to escape her new prison and it was there, that she realized that she had powers over nature, as long as she was under a Full Moon’s Light. She used these abilities to turn The Castle and the area around it into the City of a Thousand Hands, a place welcome to all and any. This allowed her to free Kalanova and spread the Mana drain to all of the citizens, making it entirely unnoticeable to the citizens of her new kingdom. Ivara admired Liananda for what she had done, she had created a utopia for those of Vol and found a way for The All Tree to be content without taking away life. She gifted Liananda with a daughter—Alinanda. Ivara would watch over their family and kingdom for centuries, occasionally dropping another shard of the Moon into Lake Kio, giving birth to more MoonShadow Elves.

The MoonShadow Elves would eventually venture away from the city, leaving Liananda to finish out her days with her citizens. They would establish themselves in what would later be known as The Land of Poppies—a section of Vol where the trees are alive and the flowers sing freely. Alinanda would eventually establish Vol’s Hunter Association with her clan and be some of the first on the island to conquer a Dungeon.

*

I met Alinanda during my second visit to Vol, where we teamed up to take on a Dungeon—it was also the last time I saw her alive.

The Dungeon had opened itself toward the center of the island and had been categorized as a Five-Star. Not easy, but not difficult, it lay in the middle, but this one, in particular, was the home of a Fire Draken—fierce four-legged beasts who can bulldoze entire systems of tunnels underground in just a few hours while also being able to breathe intense fire.

A group of Hunters had ventured inside before us, a sizable party that should have been able to finish the dungeon in a little over three days, but it had been over a week without even a Distress Flare. We dispatched into the Dungeon right as the Suns were beginning to set. Dungeons open small staircases in the ground that lead into dark caves that you have to usually illuminate yourself, though, the higher starred Dungeons are sometimes lit with their own magic torches. This one in particular was not lit, but the party before us had left a trail of torches.

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Alinanda and I walked past a few dozen Monster corpses, the typical Monkey-Wolves, Bear-Birds, and Ferret-Snakes, but as we ventured further inside, the monster corpses dispersed and we were met with the corpses of Demons.

“Haven’t seen those in a Five-Star before, have you?” Alinanada asked me, lowering her bandana as she turned her attention to me.

“No, I haven’t, the party before us, were any of them Dark Magic Casters?”

Alinanda shook her head.

“Then, what do you do,” I stopped, holding out my hand in front of her. “Look, is that?”

“The Fire Draken.” Alinanda pushed further, walking up to the corpse.

It looked to have been dead for at least a day, but there was no sign of the party. I stepped up beside her, pulling out my sword, I drove it into the Draken’s stomach—carving out the contents in hopes of not seeing skeletons, and thankfully, I did not.

“Then where are they?” I stood up, looking further down the cavern. “It continues on, do you think maybe there is...” There was a sudden explosion, I still don’t know where it initially came from, but it had consumed the entire dungeon in an instant and when it finally passed, Alinanda was gone and I was face to face with a Fire Demon.

*

“How, how did you survive, what even happened to you?” I asked her, keeping my eye on Maeve because I know she likes to do sneak attacks. 

“I see you looking at me, don’t worry, our spare is over,” Maeve called out, drawing the attention back over to her. “Please, do not bring your glares to me, I know we almost destroyed this part of the island, but he started it.”

Before I could reply, Alinanda stepped in. “Both of you, enough, Zero, what are you doing back on Vol?”

“I thought we were talking about how you were still alive and what happened to you?”

She sighed at me, rubbing a hand against her eyes. “You’re unbearable sometimes, but I guess I can tell you that much.” 

She released the vines from Maeve and me, knocking the back of her hand against my chest.

“That explosion burned me pretty bad.” She moved part of her vest, showing more of the burns and scars. “But it also teleported me outside the Dungeon, my clan took care of me, but I was asleep for over a year, but what I wanna know is what happened in the Dungeon, how did YOU survive?”

I smiled under my mask, nodding at her; “I fought and killed a Fire Demon, then the Dungeon closed.”

“That’s it?” She asked.

I nodded again, moving my attention over to Maeve and the others. “You didn’t come all this way to ask me about a Dungeon, did you?”

She smiled at me. “No, but I would like you to not destroy my home with your sparring, but I would also like your help with saving my home from this plague.”

I moved past her, slapping my hand against her back; “Well, join the party, because it would seem you, Maeve, and The Princess of Vol all need my help.”

“The Princess? Varin has returned?”

I moved my attention back to Alinanda; “Yeah, brought her back hours ago, then she got kidnapped by her brother, but she is safe again, just a misunderstanding,” I looked up at the Crescent Moon. “She should be back at The Vault with her mother by now, wherever that is.”

Alinanda tilted her head; “The Vault?”

I nodded, looking back at her. “Yeah, her brother and butler were taking her there.”

Alinanda’s face lost all its color and her eyes turned cold. “Zero, Queen Amara, and The Jólu Elves, they were wiped out by The Dryads decades ago.”

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