After telling his Master that he had accomplished the goal assigned to him, and rubbing the fact that he was getting more action than his Master in the humans face, Mizutsune had yawned and decided that it would be a good time for a nap. Leaving the still twitching form of Felicia sprawled in mind numbing bliss where she lay, the fox had padded back towards the bonfire the sleeping Serena was left at.

Making sure to not wake the Owl-Kin who was laying on a log next to the roaring flames, Muzutsune had padded over to the bonfire and circled close to the roaring flames. Making sure that there were no sharp objects in his chosen spot, the fox had laid down with a yawn, the frost billowing out of his gaping maw caused the fire to sputter and spit sparks into the everlasting twilight of the forest.

Closing his eyes with a sigh, he let the warmth of the flames wash over his massive frame, and just listened to the crackling of the wood as it battled the waves of cold that radiated from his body. Just as his mind was slowing down along with his heartrate, a sneeze coming from the other side of the roaring fire caused Mizutsune’s ears to prick up, and he opened a single sapphire eye to stare at the waking Owl-Kin.

Serena mumbled to herself, and slowly pulled herself back into a normal sitting position. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the Owl-Kin blearily looked around, and noticed the shimmering silver coat of the massive fox lying across the flames.

“Hello, Master Mizutsune.” Serena yawned, and stretched her arms above her head with a light moan, her wings expanding to their full length before folding back up as her arms came down. Looking around again, Serena turned her large brown eyes on the fox and quirked her head to the side. “I do not suppose that you have seen the Mageous anywhere, have you? He has not returned for a while.”

Signing again, Mizutsune closed his eye and spread his conscious towards the Owlet. Wrapping her mind in his embrace, he spoke to her.

“The last I heard from my Master, he was working on something deep within the woods.” Serena’s muscles visibly clenched with worry, and Mizutsune couldn’t help but snort. “Do not be afraid. I am sure that he can handle whatever this little forest would confront him with easily.”

Serena fidgeted, before sighing while relaxing slightly. “You’re right, of course. He is rather strong.”

“Who is strong, Lady Serena?” A new voice broke through the conversation, and Mizutsune, surprised at the sudden noise, opened his eyes and turned to stare at two Beast-Kin, a Bear and a Wolf, supporting each other as they stumbled towards the flames. On closer inspection, it appeared as if the Bear was supporting the Wolf, who was dragging his feet and rolling his head around. The smell of alcohol coming off the two Beast-Kin was overpowering, and Mizutsune snorted in an attempt to rid himself of the stench.

“Ah, welcome back, Ursal. We were just speaking of the Mageous.” Serena gestured towards Mizutsune, and the Bear-Kin blinked at what appeared to be a much larger fox than what Mizutsune had previously been.

The Wolf-Kin took this moment to slowly fallout from the grip of Ursal, and dragged himself towards the roaring bonfire. Muttering to himself about being a failure, Lupik sprawled in front of the flames and quickly fell asleep, loud snores echoing through the darkness of the trees.

Ursal shook his head, and turned back to Serena. “My Lady, I understand that you are still grieving for your loss.” He spoke as quietly and gently as his alcohol addled mind would allow. “But the Mageous is dead. We must move past his sacrifice, so that it will not be in vain.”

Serena cocked her head, and blinked twice at the Bear-Kin. “What are you talking about, Ursal? Jake is still alive. He was just here, and went into the forest to hunt.” She turned her large eyes towards Mizutsune. “Correct, Master Mizutsune?”

The fox yawned and lowered his head back to the wooden deck. Projecting his voice to both of the awake Beast-Kin, he let his animosity towards them for keeping him awake seep into his voice. “Yes, the Master is still alive. Yes, he did die. He is the Agent of Lilith, the All Mother.” Yawning again, the fox closed his eyes and let out a content sigh. “Now, I will be grateful for you, if you would be so kind, to shut your maw’s and allow me to sleep. I have spent far too much energy advancing to this level of power and the mating that myself and the vixen Felicia had just partook of.”

And with that statement, Mizutsune promptly fell asleep, ignoring the slack-jawed stares of both Serena and Ursal, along with the occasional nonsensical muttering of the drunken Wolf-Kin.

________________________________________________________________________

Quelaag watched as her sister danced around the dark forest, giggling to herself like a child. A beaming smile was etched onto her face, and the locks of snow white hair adorning her head fanned out with each graceful spin that Quelana executed.

Letting a small sigh pass through her smiling lips, Quelaag moved over to join her sister, who was currently squatting down next to the trunk of a giant tree and poking at a mushroom with a dainty finger. Quelaag was still somewhat at a loss for the feeling of having her own legs back, and not the demonic spider she was forced to coexist with for the past hundreds of lifetimes. And all it took was a single human to correct her life, along with that of her sister. She was still unsure if this world was a dream, but she dearly hoped that it wasn’t.

Jake, after curing her sister and bringing her over to this world, had spoken to Quelaag quietly and asked her to get Quelana accustomed to the new world as he had some final business to attend to before they would be able to leave this dreary place. Quelaag had agreed, mostly to spend time with her sister now that both of the sisters of Chaos were no longer under the constant threat of death, either from Quelana’s self-afflicted curse or the threat of constant invaders into their homeland.

The elder sister placed a hand gently across Quelana’s shoulder, and kneeled down while giving a one armed hug. The snowy-haired woman turned and gave a beaming smile to her sister. “Dear sister, look at this strange plant.” Quelana poked the mushroom again, and a small cloud of spores floated out from underneath the cap. “It is rather spongey, and the dust that it releases floats around in the wind beautifully.”

Quelaag smiled at her sister, and began to gently pull her away from the mushroom. Quelana pouted slightly, but her frown quickly changed back into her smile. “What is it, dear sister?”

The two sisters sat down in a small break within the trees, and Quelaag gently spun her sister around to run her hands through the healthy white locks of Quelana. While the elder sister worked on the hair, she spoke quietly to Quelana. “Sister, what do you remember? Before you were brought here?”

Quelana remained quiet, and Quelaag continued to gently pull on the cascading white hairs, straightening them out and removing the occasional leaf and twig that randomly showed up within.

“Darkness.” She spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. “Darkness and pain. The last thing that I remember was the Knight of Thorns bringing me a shard of Humanity, and then…” Quelana’s voice petered out, as if she were struggling to find the proper words. “And then… something changed. The darkness was still there, but it was different. Instead of the clotting, blinding void that I had become used to, I could feel it, as if it was gently enwrapping me within its embrace.”

Quelaag remained silent, and slowly began to braid her sister’s hair. Quelana sighed in contentment, and began her story again.

“The new darkness snuffed out the pain, akin to wet wool being tossed on a roaring flame. And I… reached out to the darkness, and drew it into myself. It was as if the Dark Soul had wrapped me within its embrace, and healed me. Completely.

“Then, it felt as if I were being pulled towards somewhere. I allowed it to take me wherever it wanted. I was free, free of the pain and suffering.” Quelana shrugged a shoulder daintily. “The next thing that I knew, I was standing on my own feet, and I could see.” She turned her head back towards her sister slowly, to not disrupt Quelaag’s efforts. “Who was that human, Sister? Was he the one that healed us?”

Quelaag nodded, and gently put a finger on her sister’s angular chin, turning her head back around. “Yes, dear sister, he is. While I do not know much about Jake Roshaven, I do know that he is the one who saved us from that never ending agony.” Quelaag tilted her head slightly to look at her sister. “Why do you ask?”

Quelana didn’t answer, instead raised her hands and cupped the air. Liquid darkness pooled into her hands, and the viscous fluid quickly filled her small hands. When it reached the top of the small ‘bowl’, the liquid spilled outwards, staining her porcelain fingers inky black. As the liquid slowly dripped downwards, it evaporated into a thick black smoke that hovered around the kneeling women, dancing hypnotically with the gentle breeze passing around the trees.

“… It is strange.” Quelana spoke softly, her voice quiet. “All of my life, I have practiced with the flame, and lived with it buried within my breast. I lived my life in the warmth and glow of the eternal fire, and yet… And yet, now I feel as if that flame has left me, leaving me in darkness.” She clenched her hands into fists, the liquid shadows spurting between her fingers violently.

A small smile slowly grew onto her angular face. “But I wouldn’t change this feeling for anything else. I feel strong in the darkness, and my pain is lost within the shadows.” She laughed to herself. “Listen to me. I have been blind for as long as I can remember, always wanting to see the light. And now that I have regained my sight, I feel more comfortable in the dark.”

Quelaag finished braiding her sister’s hair, and gently hugged the woman from behind. “And you are thankful towards the one who brought this change upon you, sister?”

Quelana leaned backwards into the hug, and raised her hands to grasp onto her sister’s arms. “Beyond grateful, dear sister.”

____________________________________________________________________

Tukolii sighed as the final representative of the Elves left the court. The Matriarch had been fielding requests and disturbances within her court for the last three hours, and the last complaint about the ‘very-fuzzy Half-Bear drink all fire-water’ had almost made the Matriarch snap at the still-drunk Elf male.

Tukolii arched her back, the spines jutting from her back quivering slightly, and sighed again. Turning towards the other members of the court, spoke with exhaustion clearly evident in her voice. “I think we shall finish this for tonight. Unless there is anything else?”

The Matron of Trade shook her head, appearing as exhausted as the Matriarch felt. The Half-Beast delegation and Trade had been making progress with their trade talks, but it was still an ongoing process and took much of the Elven woman’s time.

The Matron of Magic had been missing for this session. She had come to the Matriarch prior and explained that she would be attempting to get information out of the God-ling. Tukolii knew that, if Magic was successful, she would be undoubtedly practicing new ideas for spells, new combinations of runes or other such magical pastimes instead of her tedious, but necessary, job of helping the hordes of the Enclave.

The Matrons of War and the Wilds appeared bored with this task, clearly wishing to be doing something else. When they heard what the Matriarch asked, the Wilds sighed with relief and began to stretch out the muscles of her shoulders and arms through calisthenics. War, on the other hand, immediately jumped up from her seat and dashed outside of the court, saying something over her shoulder to the effect of ‘new training regime, will get back to you later’.

The remaining members of the court stared at War’s retreating figure, before each getting up and leaving at their own pace. Trade walked up to the Wilds and began to speak to her about any new resources the hunters had found in their hunts, and if they would make any profit if exported or would be more needed within the Enclave. The duo left the Matriarch alone, giving her a nod before they walked out of sight.

Tukolii sighed again in relief. Standing upwards, she moved towards her hovel within the Elderwood. Being in command had its perks, including the miniscule amount of distance between her hammock and the place of her work.

Walking into the large knot within the towering trunk, the Matriarch gestured and an orb of glowing water appeared above her shoulder, lighting the way through the twisting and turning paths of her home. After many different turns, Tukolii arrived at her current destination. A small shrine was laid before her, depicting her prime deity.

A small girl, with star filled eyes, smiled coquettishly into empty space, her wooden frame glowing slightly within the sparse light. The detail of the carving was exquisite, and Tukolli could have sworn that the eyes followed her every movement, and the plain fabric of the diminutive goddess’ dress seemed to change color depending on the angle viewed.

Kneeling down in front of the shrine to Lilith, the Matriarch placed her head flat against the woolen fabric lining the small room. Prostrating herself, Tukolli began her nightly ritual of praying to her goddess before allowing sleep to claim her.

“Dear All-Mother, blessed be thy name. Thy will be wrought, thy thoughts be brought forth, and thy boredom be fought. May thy Change be with me, now and for all time.”

Tukolli remained kneeling, her head pressed to the wool, hoping for an answer to her prayers. As normal, nothing happened. Suppressing the feeling of worthlessness to her goddess, the Matriarch slowly regained her feet. Even if she knew that gods worked in mysterious ways, she always hoped that Lilith would respond to her.

Without warning, pain exploded from her back. Tukolli screamed and stumbled forwards, crashing into the carved image of the All-Mother. Thick blue blood dripped from her back, and the Elf woman quickly spun around to deal with her attacker, spraying the turbid liquid around the small room.

Before she could conjure up a spell to defend herself, a flash of something metallic appeared with the sound of cutting wind. Tukolii sprang backwards in an attempt to dodge, but was quickly stopped by the shrine behind her. Pain again tore through the Elf, as something sharp tore across her chest, splitting her skin and breaking her concentration.

Growing desperate, the Matriarch lanced a hand forward, and a pressurized burst of water erupted from her upturned hand. The water slammed into the figure with the bladed weapon, and sent it backwards to slam into the wall with a muffled shout.

Getting back to her feet, Tukolii moved towards the downed figure, holding onto her wounded chest with one hand while keeping the other extended to her assailant, torrents of water rotating around her figure.

“Who are you, coward?!” Her voice emanated power, and hundreds of runes flashed to life on her body, empowering the Elven woman.

Coughing slightly, the figure looked up from beneath a dark hood. From the sporadic light of her magic, Tukolii wasn’t able to make out any features beneath the shadows of the cloth.

“Who, me?” The figure spoke, and his decidedly male voice shook her. Her raised hand began to shake, and her control over her magic wavered.

The figure slowly rose to his feet, dusting off his back. Fingers of dread wrapped themselves tightly around her heart, and she realized that, in a moment of irony, her goddess had answered her prayers in her own way.

The figure looked up at the Matriarch, his hazel eyes flashing and a cocky grin slowly being revealed by a growing violet light. “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch.”

The last thing Tukolii, the Matriarch of the Wood Elves saw was a torrent of purple flames as they devoured her completely, turning her skin to ash and evaporating her screams in a rage of hellfire.

Minutes later, a figure dressed in burnt clothes fled from the now heavily smoking knot within the Elderwood, and turned around to stare at his handiwork. Looking at the long serrated knife in his hand dripping with blue blood, he sighed to himself and tossed the weapon onto the flat.

“That didn’t work out how I wanted it.”