[Story] Sapere Aude - Released Again

Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.

The sound of the all-to-familiar gong alarm caused Ion to shoot out of his sleeping rack, instinct taking over to release the holding clamps and start throwing on his envirosuit before his mind had a chance to wipe away the grogginess of sleep. Despite being berthed at Ea colony, habit had prevented him from sleeping without wearing the necessary undergarments for the envirosuit.

"General Quarters, General Quarters! Alllll hands, MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS!"

The gears of his mind whirred into motion as they placed everything together. Not a drill. I didn't authorize this. The voice... must be First Lieutenant Sarin. First watch then. Ion was awake enough now to continue fitting into his suit, the protective garment designed to handle the hard vacuum of space for a few hours should the hull be breached. If only our ship's had shields... ah, for scifi... he allowed himself to muse before his personal communication circuit activated.

"Commodore, your presence is requested on the bridge. We have multiple inbound bogies from an Alfa-Alfa-Victor heading. Scans show a large battlegroup, at least fourteen ships!"

"Understood. I'm on my way."

Alfa-Alfa-Victor... Mars base then. Must be everything Earth can muster against us. So much for our vacation. They'll never give us a break. Grabbing his helmet, Ion rushed from his stateroom, making his way for the bridge.

~~~~~

As Ion flew up through the ladderwell to the Jehanne d'Arc's bridge, Lieutenant Sarin announced his presence and rose up from the command chair. "Captain on the bridge!"

"At ease Lieutenant. I have the conn. Now, what is our status?"

"You have the conn, aye sir. Our status is not good." Sarin motioned towards the navigation table in the center of the tight bridge, the large and open table at odds with the rest of the compact stations. Ion whistled as he took in what was coming for them.

"Three heavies and supporting elements. I didn't realize Earth still had that many left. What class are those?"

"Tonnage indicates one command platform and two battleships. The rest are battlecruisers and drone carriers," answered Sarin, filling in the next couple of Ion's questions before he could ask.

"What's the status of the Jehanne?"

"Repairs still are not complete. Tertiary weapons are online and ready, but secondaries are intermittent at best. Primary turret Charlie has not had its gyro's replaced, making it for all intents and purposes a fixed battery. Ammunition has not been restocked since our return, but we should have enough to last through a home front battle. Manning is only at twenty percentile due to shore leave. Recall orders are out, but its a mess on the colony. The defense forces are already moving out to engage the fleet proper - the problem is the vanguard."

Ion's eyebrow twitched, a tell-tale sign of his exasperation. "What vanguard?"

Using the controls to move the display over, Sarin focused on the Ea colony and another group of hostiles. "This. Stealth forces of some type, shielding their EM spectra. Elements are unknown, but the only thing between them and the colony are the fixed platforms... and us, sir."

Ion grimaced. "Fixed platforms my ass. They've failed every single target and tracking test they've ever had. It has to be us. We can't wait for the crew to get back. Sound off for emergency breakaway, get us clearance from Station Control."

"Aye sir! I've already taken the liberty of doing just that. Engines are warm, system checks in final stages. Once they are complete I recommend launching, sir."

"Make it so, Mr. Sarin."

~~~~~

"Commodore, they just dropped their screens! We've got... dammit all to Hell! Six battlecruisers, I say again, six battlecruisers inbound!"

Ion couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Six, huh? That really is the entirety of the Martian fleet. They're pulling out all the stops on this operation. That means when we stop them here we'll win a decisive victory against them."

Lieutenant Sarin shook his head in awe, his visor still up allowing for his face to be seen. "Sometimes sir, I really have to wonder where you find your optimism."

"Optimism is just the belief that things will work out in a favorable manner. I don't believe in belief, Mr. Sarin. One must know, and if you know then it is only a matter of making the pieces fit about your knowledge in such a way to ensure that reality."

Laughing as he slid his faceplate down over his face and locked it in place, Sarin turned towards the helm and stretched out his arm. "Well, sir, I'm not Captain Vatee, but I will do my best to fill her place as your XO. Helm, all ahead full. Gunnery ensure all torpedo bays are loaded and prepped, we will be entering extreme salvo range in a matter of minutes. Engineering be prepared for what's coming, you guys are in for one helluva long day!"

A chorus of 'ayes' rang out over the bridge, those on board the Jehanne d'Arc confident that Commodore Ion would find some way to make everything work out - he always did, somehow. Even with a skeleton crew, with him onboard... everything would be all right.

~~~~~

"Batteries thirteen through twenty six are down!" "Hull breach on deck fourteen!" "Casualties in the forward torpedo room!" "We've fires in main engineering! Damage control systems are offline, we need response teams or we'll lose the number two reactor!" "The starboard repair lockers were just spaced! There are no response teams left!!" "The number four reactor just went down, power to the aft weapons quadrants is-"

The myriad of reports ended abruptly as Ion keyed the override circuit. There was no point in listening any more. Of the original bridge personnel, only he and Sergeant Nelson remained alive. Ion wasn't sure how. The torpedo hit that had taken out the port electronics suite had damn near sheared the bridge off with it... The young weapons specialist was performing valiantly, her typical shy and bashful nature gone and replaced now with the everlasting spirit of a battle hardened veteran. It was one of two inevitable outcomes in a human being exposed to such conditions - they either broke down completely or found a way to survive. Nelson was apparently one of the latter.

A least it was no longer necessary for a navigator, Ion thought in the bemused manner of a man on the verge of losing it, their engines having been silenced over an hour ago. They were just a fixed platform themselves now, drifting on momentum alone and slowly being torn apart by the three remaining battlecruisers that had formed the vanguard for the main Earth force. Ion couldn't help but grin, one damaged and undermanned battleship had sunk two battlecruisers and disabled a third before they had finally silenced enough of the Jehanne's batteries to get in close with their own weapons. I'll be joining you soon, just wait for me a little longer... a little longer... thought Ion as his mind flashed the faces of all those on board whom he knew that had already died this day.

His ship had held together so far, somehow, despite all the damage it had already taken from the second Battle of the Belt just a little under a fortnight before... but that wouldn't last much longer. He no longer had communications with the rest of the CDF, so what was happening with the main forces he had no idea. The fact that noone had shot at him from behind yet gave some credence to the belief that their forces were holding. Jehanne shook violently beneath them again, the remaining ships getting more aggressive as the remaining batteries fell silent. The weapons that had not been destroyed were little more than melted slag at this point, having continuously fired for so long.

"Nelson..." Ion croaked, his throat hoarse and dry from the hours of fighting and dry air of his suit. Clearing his throat, he repeated "Nelson! Get off of my bridge. Go. There is nothing left for you to do here now."

The figure sitting forwards of him and to his right, manning the only lit console on the Jehanne's bridge shook her head gently from side to side, the motion nearly lost behind the bulkiness of her helmet. "No, sir."

"This is the only chance you're going to get, girl, now get out of here!"

"I SAID NO!" Her voice broke into sobs then as she leaned forwards against her console. "Its too much sir! They're all dead, they're all gone! I can hear them, I can still hear them..." she cried, her voice fading away incoherently into her sobs.

"I see," replied Ion, his own face sobering from behind the golden visor of his helmet. The lights on the bridge went out then, leaving it completely dark - the emergency lanterns did not activate, for whatever reason. The air ceased ventilating finally, the ambient noise of the ship replaced solely with the rumbling of weapons fire tearing into Jehanne's flanks, Nelson's silent sobs only breaking through the pauses in volleys. "You should not despair," Ion continued in a far calmer tone, "I could imagine no other place I would rather be either."

For a few minutes more Ion continued to stare off at the twisted metal of the bulkhead before him, waiting for the inevitable to come. I think I can safely say that my only regret is that I broke her resolve when the enemy could not. Another torpedo slammed into one of the support pylons for the bridge, the aftershocks tearing away a portion of the bridge and filling Ion's world with an intense bright light and heat. What a fitting way to end, to die by fire on a ship named after the Witch of Orléans...

************

Viceroy continued to watch on in stunned silence from his hidden vantage point in the foyer of the great hall of the dridder outpost. Less than a hundred feet away from him was a truly raucous battle, several dozen dridder warriors being held back by one little girl with a pair of pistols. If he wasn't watching it with his own eyes he never would have believed it. He shivered involuntarily, only part of which was due to Liari's immense capability for frost magic that was causing ice patterns to form on the walls... I was going to attack her earlier - if she had been upset instead of amused... Viceroy tried to dispel the vision from his mind, focusing on her battle.

The twin weapons Liari wielded were obviously not the little cannons he had originally assumed them to be. They spit out magic at insane rates that greatly varied from one moment to the next. Her horns glowed so brightly they were like miniature suns, her coiled bluish-white hair reflecting it into a halo atop her head - a clear indication that the magic of the guns was being provided, or at least amplified by, Liari herself. Liari would use a rain of ice shards from one cannon to halt the advance of one dridder while with her other cannon she used to spit out massive fireballs that suppressed any more from coming up from below. Then she would follow it by blasting out powerful shamanistic blasts of soul energy that tore pieces out of the visages of the dridder ghosts.


The entire time she never stopped moving, sometimes even running directly underneath those that she had paralyzed or stunned to get off a powerful barrage from an advantageous position. Whenever one of the ghostly warriors collapsed Liari would quickly turn her blazing cannons on it, firing a strange water like bubble created by holding the guns close together and charging a flare of energy for a few precious seconds. Once the bubble was formed it flew so fast that it only formed a blur before encapsulating the fallen dridder warrior and collapsing upon itself, taking the ghastly form with it and leaving behind only the empty armor.

Still, Viceroy could only cringe in the foyer. In the past when he dared to enter at night, he had never seen more than a couple of them, but there was at least an entire army down there. The combat would have normally been a wonderful spectacle - after all, he fancied himself a warrior and such an epic battle was one that was to be read of or heard in story, not actually witnessed - but Liari herself was the reason for his fear and lack of enjoyment, not the ghastly dridders. She pranced about like a youth skipping along, laughing and taunting the ancient warriors with pure and utter glee, completely wrapped up in the moment. Since the structure was designed to house full grown dridder warriors in armor, Liari had plenty of room to maneuver.

She's insane. Completely insane. Shaking his head from side to side as he watched her carnage, he could not help but recall something an elder warrior had once told him; "All women are crazy. Every last one of them. Especially the nice ones - they just build up the crazy and release it all at once." I wonder how long Liari's been building up her crazy? I hope that it must have been quite a while...

Looking back down the hall, Viceroy noticed that right before a new dridder warrior would swarm up from the lower levels of the complex a large crest of arms mounted above the stairwell would flash and shimmer, a constant haze always seemingly surrounding it. Leaning forwards from the foyer a bit, Viceroy shouted down to Liari "Hey Liari! I think the spirits are being summoned by that crest above the stairwell! If you destroy it they might stop coming!" Getting no response from her, he drew a deep breath and channeled his voice down the hallway. "LIARI!"

"I heard you the first time, Viceroy!" Liari called back with a chiding tone. "I know they're coming from there silly, I can feel the powerful magic emanating from the crest." Pausing to send another of the strange water bubble shots at a fallen dridder in silver and blue armor, Liari continued with "I'm not going to destroy such a rare and priceless artifact though, you have no idea what the Magiocrats of Negav would do for such a thing!"

"Is it really worth dying over?!" Viceroy shouted back, indignant. It was clearly the wrong idea to let this woman in here...

"Hah, I've been in worse trouble than this!" Liari jeered back, ducking and rolling underneath a dridder's limb and sending the creature flying up and back with a multitude of blasts from its weaker underside. "Besides, this is too much fun!" Liari cheered gleefully, charging at one of the cornered dridder warriors with her guns ablaze.

"Whatever," muttered Viceroy under his breath. It was clear nothing he said was going to stop her tirade, and he didn't want to have to fight his way through both his ghastly ancestors and a madwoman to reach the magical crest of arms. Well, at least she made this armor fit me, I guess I can be thankful for that, he thought as he turned and left, being sure to close and bar the door to the hall.


It was late into the night now, and he should have been asleep an hour or two ago - which is exactly where he planned on going now. He could visit in the morning and see how Liari's battle fared. Regardless of her outcome, he had a fair idea of what was now creating those ghosts and if she failed to destroy it he would remove the crest and toss it off the closest cliff himself in the safety of daylight. Before he went to sleep though, he needed to go see to his webs... something the crazy not-human had said about them earlier in regards to his armor was gnawing at his mind and he wanted to see for himself what she had meant.

~~~~~

Liari woke late the next morning, light drifting in through stained glass windows fitted high into the structure's walls. It had been a while since she had simply let go of all her inhibitions and truly exhausted herself, and the feeling was quite wonderful. I wonder when the last of them stopped? She wasn't sure when she had passed out, but it was obvious that she had done so after one hell of a battle. The vast chamber she was in was completely wrecked, armored suits strewn about all over the place.

Carefully picking her tender frame from the floor, she examined the carnage about her, walking up to the crest of arms to examine it more closely. She had seen a guardian magic like this before, a unique crafted magical ability that only powerful sorcerers were capable of creating. The magic gave life to golems at specified times that would aide said sorcerer in protecting their treasures or carrying out their directions, typically while they slept. Unless destroyed, the device would attract the souls of any free spirits within a wide margin that fit a specific criteria defined by the creator, inhabiting golems also defined by the creator.


The magic had its drawbacks however. It could only fill the golems defined by the creator of the device, and if those golems were destroyed the spirits would be released once more. Additionally, such a powerful magic could only be used in a limited manner, as a vast amount of spiritual energy was required to attract the ghosts that would fill the golems. The crest must have been used as a first defense system Liari reckoned, allowing the other dridder inhabitants to sleep without stationing a guard watch - which could also significantly cut down on required manning for a remote outpost.

In the case of the crest, Liari imagined that the spirits it had created were not random pickings but actual warriors of the former dridder queen who had allowed themselves to be sealed within it - or perhaps forced into doing so - when they fell in battle. The spirits within the crest collected energy from the ambient sources of Felarya during the day, activating a few at night to act as guards - their golems being their own former suits of armor. It seemed the crest was able to draw from some other magical source however, given the hoards of dridder warriors it had sent against Liari the day before. This source was not without limitation itself though, as Liari had noticed only six or seven active golems at any given time.

Stepping back from the crest Liari slipped and tripped over a small sphere, crashing with a clatter amidst a now-lifeless suit of armor. "Owww," Liari intoned, massaging her aching body as she looked down to find the offending object. A sparkling crystal orb the size of a large marble caught her attention lying adrift on the floor, the exterior clear like glass revealing a murky whitish-gray core. She stared at it for a few moments before realizing what it was, her mind still sluggish from her exhaustion.

Cursing her own forgetfulness, she picked up the marble and bolted towards the foyer, being careful to avoid any more heaps of armor before reaching her rucksack. I can't believe I forgot about my food! I need to store these before Viceroy comes back. Pulling out an empty metal tin, she opened it up to reveal a frosty interior much like that of her popsicle container, only the white padding in this one was dimpled to fit against the marble snugly. It had several filler layers that were also dimpled to fit around the marbles, providing a layer of separation between them and allowing the single tin to store a multitude of them - though currently only a handful of marbles remained within it.

Sitting on the floor with the tin in her lap, Liari held the marble she had just reclaimed in one of her hands and concentrated on it, reaching out with her magic to find the others like it in the large chamber she had battled in. The orbs were a form of magic she had learned from some ancient texts in her exploration of a cultist temple, a means of trapping and storing souls. Liari didn't know what the original cultists had used the orbs for, but she knew what she used them for. Whenever she encountered free roaming spirits on her journeys, she would seal them with the technique for later consumption to provide her with mana boosts in difficult situations.

All told there were fifty three more marbles like the one in her hand from her battle the night before, and using another learned technique she 'pulled' them towards her using magical strings. She had consumed at least three of the orbs in order to keep from running out of energy during her battle of attrition. While she had told Viceroy the night before that it was the prospect of selling the crest that held her interest, it was actually what the crest could do for her that had led her to not destroy it. In essence, Liari used the crest of arms to 'farm' a healthy collection of spirits she could turn into power boosts for the future and restock her dwindling supplies.

As the orbs rolled across the floor and came within her reach she quickly snatched them up and pushed them gently into the metal tin, sealing it once she was finished collecting them all. Liari had just finished placing the tin into her rucksack when she heard the massive door bar being released, opening to let in a flood of sunlight that caused her to shield her eyes. Viceroy entered the foyer a moment after and quickly spotting Liari who was gingerly standing up, her sore muscles revealing their dislike for her earlier rapid movement after such a trying night.

"Good morning to you, Viceroy. Sorry about the mess, I haven't had a chance to clean up."

"Clean... up?" The dridder looked about him at the mess of the hall, turning quickly back to look at Liari and waving his hands at her rapidly in a halting motion. "No, no, no... that's quite alright, really, I'll take care of it myself."

"Hey, I'll have you know I can clean up my messes quite well!"

"As well as you make them?" Viceroy replied without thinking, quickly slapping his hands over his mouth as his face drained of color. "I'm sorry, please don't take offense!"

Patting her clothes free of dust that had accumulated on them while she slept, Liari looked up and smirked at him, her jade eyes dancing with mischief. "Oh, don't worry, I shan't take offense..." Viceroy's body visibly slackened before she continued with, "...but I shall take more than one set of armor with me. And I get to pick which ones!"

Viceroy groaned audibly, but nodded his head as he covered his face in his palms. "Just try not to bring the roof down, please..." he intoned softly as he looked once more at the damage to the room and wandered back out of the structure.

Clapping her hands with glee, Liari moved about the room as she examined the sets of armor for the best craftsmanship and finest designs. What a wonderful little trip... fine dridder armor all laid out for my perusal and claim! She hopped and skipped between each cluttered pile, her soreness all but forgotten in the midst of her excitement.

************

Triela made her way back down the passageway to the glide-port she had recently transversed on her journey to her cabin. Holding the portable scanner she idly scratched her head with one of her tentacles as she moved, trying to discern how it could have possibly gotten where she found it.


It was rather unlikely that it was a teleportal accident. A quick check with the ship's database had shown no abnormal fluctuations in the dimensional matrix during the teleport of the scout team. No teleportal accidents had occurred in over a century either, but that had been back in their old dimension. Perhaps in Felarya the rules were different.

If it wasn't a teleportal glitch though, the other option was that a member of the crew had left it there - which was just as unlikely. What reason could they have for such a device on board the ship? A quick consult to the ship's computer was all that would be required for anyone desiring to know the makeup of something on board.

Upon reaching the glide-port, Triela simply shrugged and let the thought drop. She could think of no reason for it to be where it was, but it had been there. Shortly she would return it to the Holds for proper storage, and that would be that. Stepping into the port, she directed the ship's computer to deliver her to the cargo decks which were located just beneath her. The trip lasted but a few moments, landing her in the starboard bays which were more open for travel currently than those on the port side.

She deposited the container with another set of similar ones, turning to make her way back to the glide-port when she felt someone watching her. Triela glanced around the bay, shuddering slightly. Just a case of the willies... there isn't anyone here, she reassured herself. She could just see the glide-port coming up around a stack of crates when she felt her body tingling, her vision seemingly blurring as the room got bigger around her.

The sensation of being watched returned full force, causing Triela to whirl around to see a human foot with a greenish hue mere inches away from her body. What the...? Glancing up quickly, she took in the sight of the giantess before her noticing her petite frame for her size. Wait a minute, giantess? On board?! NO! It was then that she noted the wings growing from the woman's back and the feathery antenna sprouting from her head, instantly realizing that it was a fairy that must have somehow got aboard the ship.


Triela reached out to the ship's computers with an urgent help request in order to get the alert out - before realizing that her neural link was dead. How is that possible? Is this a side effect of their shrinking magic? Is that why fairies are always able to decimate groups in the field? Her mind whirled at light speed, quickly analyzing the possibilities of the newfound knowledge. I have to escape! This knowledge has to be known! Its no wonder fairies are such an abomination - the scout teams would never think to shout for help, instead always relying on their neural networks! Triela turned to run just as the fairy's hand grasped her body, pulling her up to her face.

NO! I'm not going to be your meal today! thought Triela, writhing her muscles with all her might. Her efforts were rewarded, the fairy apparently never having dealt with a creature that lacked a spine. She slipped free of the hand, falling a short distance before she was caught by the other hand. While the fairy may have lacked experience she made up for it with her learning curve, using the fingers of both her hands to more firmly grasp Triela's body to prevent her from repeating the same technique.

The rumbling of the fairy's stomach and her motions of holding Triela above her face clearly identified her intentions to Triela. Try as she might though, she just couldn't slip free from the fairy's grasp. She had a small, cute face with golden eyes and tan lips that became quite terrifying for Triela as she opened her small mouth wide, revealing her white teeth and pink saliva-coated tongue. Her mouth was wet with her saliva and colored a dark pink inside, her tongue leading to the dark depression of her throat which seemed to move, beckoning and anticipating her arrival. The fairy's warm, surprisingly sweet breath washed over her gently with every breath - much like Reya's when she held Triela up to her face only far more alarming.

Is this really how I'm going to end?! As food for a fairy aboard one of our own battleships?! Triela continued to struggle as the fairy placed her body on her outstretched tongue, her tentacles latching onto the surface and trying to create enough leverage to launch herself out. Unfortunately, the fairy was seemingly aware of her intent, using one of her hands to hold her upper body as she slurped Triela in up to her chest. In any other situation Triela would have found the pressure of the fairy's lips and the suction of her mouth quite erotic, but right now she was completely focused on finding a way out.

Trying to use her invertebrate form to her advantage, Triela twisted her body sideways towards the edge of her mouth and pushed against the fairy's thin lips with her strong arms. The fairy seemed interested in her efforts, her eyes watching Triela from above as she continued to try anything to free herself from this situation. Then another pressure suddenly pushed against her shoulders as she pursed her lips and sucked hard, forcing Triela into the fairy's mouth, her amused eyes the last thing Triela saw before her world went dark. Inside the mouth it was hot with wet, sticky saliva everywhere that coated her body and soaked into her uniform.

A pleasured moan came up from deep in the fairy's throat as she began to slosh Triela about in her small mouth, tasting her and apparently enjoying her immensely. Triela continued to lash out with her tentacles and hands, trying to grab onto anything and force the fairy to spit her out. She would have thought in such a confined space she could find something, anything to aid her, but everywhere about her was the same soft, yielding flesh that was covered in slick saliva.

After what seemed like forever, the tongue pressed her against the hard upper palate of her mouth, swallowing the built up saliva while holding an exhausted Triela captive. The tongue rolled back against Triela who was tilted back as the fairy raised her jaw, sending her sliding and tumbling down its length to a grasping tightness that gripped her body. When she was not immediately swallowed Triela reached out with three of her tentacles trying to reach where the back molars should be since she couldn't see the uvula to grasp it instead. The tips of her tentacles just reached the hard enamel of the fairy's teeth when the tight muscles around her forcefully contracted and sent her down the fairy's throat with an audible gulp.

The tight undulating muscles of the fairy's slick esophagus sent Triela deeper and deeper into her body, the sound of the fairy's heartbeat and lungs loud in her ears as she passed by them on her way to the stomach. Within moments she felt her body pressed against a new tightness, and then through it into another chamber. She dropped a short distance into a pool of fluid that caused her skin to numb.


The chamber of her stomach was hot and humid, the darkness completely enveloping her. Treila could have activated other types of vision her implants provided, but she didn't really need to see where she was right now. Without wasting a moment, she used her tentacles to scale the walls of the fairy's stomach and quickly escaping the pool of acid that had already started to form. Hanging from the same tight entrance she had just entered from, she gripped with all her strength and hoped that someone else would run across the fairy better prepared than she. Treila knew now that the container she had handled was really just an illusion, and such powerful magic ability did not bode well for the rest of the crew aboard the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

************

Liari strolled along happily through the outlying Dridder Forest near Negav. It had been a long trip, but well worth the effort of claiming the magical crest of arms and five amazing suits of dridder armor. The shrunken items were now clinking about in her rucksack, wrapped in a protective foam sheet to prevent them from being harmed. Viceroy had bid her farewell four days ago, and Liari was looking forwards to the feeling of her luxurious bed about her worn body. She fully intended to sleep for a few days at least before trying to sell her new wares.

Hearing something odd in the distance, Liari stopped, her hands coming up to rest on the grips of her pistols. The ground shook with the approach of something massive, but Liari sensed the approach of humans. Since she didn't hear screaming, she doubted that they were being chased. She felt her sixth sense telling her something was wrong though, and it was hardly ever wrong. She had survived a great deal relying on her intuition, and it was currently telling her that her day was about to get worse.

As if on cue, two heavy mechanized walkers roughly fifteen feet tall and a half-track emerged from the forest supporting the insignia's of one of Negav's more nefarious mercenary groups, Sever's Raiders. They were well known for their ruthlessness, using heavy equipment and magic to annihilate those in their way. A tall man stood from the back of the half-track, looking over at Liari and grinning the malice in his eyes clearly evident.

"Well well well, look at what we have here. If it isn't the infamous explorer babe that upset Mr. Sazlg last week with that rather fancy scheme that cost him a lot of money. He was rather displeased with his purchase, woman."

"My articles are genuine. If Mr. Sazlg does not like my prices, perhaps he should not buy from me. All of my sales are final," Liari intoned neutrally, keeping her hands on her pistols but not making any motion to free them.

"Ah, begging my pardon, I fear you have misunderstood me! Mr. Sazlg was not displeased with the article, merely the price. Especially from an independent like yourself. He would very much like it if you would endeavor to dine with him, to discuss your future."

"And should I refuse?"

In reply, he raised up his left arm whereupon the mechs standing next to him lifted their gatling cannons and pointed them at Liari. "You wouldn't very much like the results, miss explorer lady. Mr. Sazlg will be having his audience you see - and he wasn't too specific about your state of affairs for said meeting."

Liari grimaced. She could probably take out or at least disable the two mechs, but not before the team in the half-track with the speaker managed to gun her down. And assuming she missed or did not immediately disable the mechs, their cannon would definitely take nice chunks out of her body. Unless there is no body for them to hit. With that thought in mind she decided to try her luck. With a deep sigh she raised her arms above her head in a placating manner, pretending to be pacified by their threat.

"That's a gooood girl. Alrighty then, why don't you just come over here nice and slow like."

As she began to walk slowly over to the half-track, she noted the eyes of the men were focused primarily on the weapons still holstered against her chest. You 'boys' should be paying more attention to my hands instead of my chest, Liari thought as she slowly closed her palms and began to build up energy into her palms. When she was less than a few feet from the side of the half-track and underneath the tracking azimuth of the mech's guns, she threw open her palms releasing a bright flash of light and roar of thunder before bolting between them, her body compressing down into a bright ball of blue energy that zipped into the trees.

"Arrrgh, that bitch! I knew she was up to something! Don't just stand there, after her!!"

The gyros of the mechs whirred loudly as they spun about, their enhanced vision optics adjusting to the light of her magic quickly and locking onto her impressive energy signature as she ran through the jungle. They set off after her, firing their cannon for effect into the underbrush.

~~~~~

Ion awoke from his dreams of Ea Colony to Nyselyn's fretful face inches above his own. Her red and green eyes looked into his gray ones for several moments before she spoke.

<Are you well, my master? Did you have another of your dreams?>

Ion sat up, remembering where they were. At his own suggestion the two of them had gone out for a restful day in the woods near Negav, without sparring. They had a picnic and afterwards Ion had laid upon a large rock to sun himself, apparently having drifted off to sleep while Nyselyn watched over him.

<Yes, dear Nyselyn. I was just... remembering the day that I died.>

<That does not sound very pleasant.>

<I suppose not. It's been a while since I dreamed about Ea... I guess it was just about time for a rerun.>

Shaking her head and laughing, Nyselyn looked back at Ion with a bemused expression. <A rerun, is it? Does your brain have standard programming?>

<I dunno, you tell me - you've been in there personally.> Ion replied, smirking back at her.

<Only to do what was necessary. I was not exactly exploring at the time.>

<Probably best for both of us.> Ion replied honestly. A thunderous roar shook them from their reverie, causing them both to snap their head's sharply in the direction of the noise.

<Any idea what that was, Nyselyn?>

<No... but my scans indicate that it is coming this way.>

<Best get ready then.> Ion replied, materializing his hammer. <You might get your sparring match yet.>

~~~~~

Liari ran through the forest, once again in her human form. It was too much effort to assume her energy form for very long, but she had only needed it to get a decent head start. The mechs would have difficulty moving in the jungle, even if the underbrush was light this close to the city.

Running blindly, she never even noticed the two figures in the clearing before her until it was too late to stop. She barreled into a towering human figure at full speed, knocking them both onto the ground and rolling over several times. Shaking her head, she found herself straddling an attractive male with gray eyes and white hair, wearing rather odd clothes.

"Well, aren't you a wonderful specimen of tall, dark, and handsome. Unfortunately, I can't spend the time to greet you properly right now," Liari stated, rolling off of him. She was surprised by his lack of speech - the man hadn't even made a sound since she ran into him. Looking up she noticed the woman finally, her oddly colored eyes, raven hair, and icy demeanor setting her apart from anyone Liari had met before. It wasn't until she stood that she realized she had lost her safari hat in the tussle, revealing her horns to all. Grimacing, she made to run when the mechs burst through the jungle, leveling their cannons at the trio.

"She's not even human!" came an amplified voice from one of the mechs, just as the half-track arrived on the scene.

"Who cares! It doesn't matter what she is, just so long as we capture or kill her!" Turning his attention away from his subordinates and towards the trio, he barked "Now then, are you going to come quietly this time or are we going to have to turn you and your friends there into piecemeal?!"

Stepping forward, the girl with raven hair focused her red and green eyes on the leader. "You, there. Yes, you, the loud one. Do you not think that you have an awful lot of equipment to capture one woman? One could be lead to believe you were compensating for your own lack of ability," the girl stated in a chilled monotone, her voice causing Liari to compulsively shiver from behind the surprisingly tall man she had just bowled over a little earlier. He was supporting his weight on a massive and ornate hammer that glittered in the light of the current sun, catching Liari's attention.

"As if I need the opinion of a little brat! I have no business with your or your big boyfriend there, so why don't you just high tail it out of here?" leered the merc leader, drawing Liari's attention back to the current situation. The man still had not spoken, seemingly letting the smaller woman do all the talking for him.

"I think not," the woman replied calmly, holding her arm out and her palm up towards the mercenary group. The leader snarled and was about to order his men to attack when both mech's electronics suites completely shutdown, reducing them to useless hulks.

"What in the hell did you do to my mechs, you little bitch?!"

Liari wasted no time after seeing the mech's shutdown, taking advantage of the situation and drawing her pistols, blasting bolts of lightning-based energy into the group of mercs as she whirled from behind the tall man's back. She was surprised when the half-track exploded violently, sending shards of metal all about - not the typical result of such magic she was employing. The man before her seemed to be somewhat knowledgeable in magic, as a faint blue barrier prevented the shrapnel from hurting any of them - the shards bouncing harmlessly off a shimmering wall. When the smoke cleared, there was little left to identify the three former vehicles.

"Well, um, thanks for the assist," replied Liari, turning to look at the strange couple as she holstered her weapons. "My name is Liari, who might you two be?" she inquired, conscious of how her horns were on display for both of them to see, leading her to be fairly subdued and cautious wondering how they would react now that the mercs were out of the picture.

************

It was getting difficult for Triela to remain attached to the top of the fairy's stomach. The acids were actively churning below her now, the walls compressing about her occasionally as the fairy's body geared up to digest her meal. The air was getting rather thin, making it difficult for the chimera to breathe.

At least there was something promising starting to happen. Triela had noticed that the fairy's heart and breathing rates had substantially increased, as if she were frightened or excited. Triela hoped it was the former, and that maybe someone had managed to find her. That was until the stomach lurched about her, knocking her from her perch and dropping her into the vat of acid. The liquids numbed her skin instantly upon contact, though in her mind she felt a burning sensation. She could hear the fairy coughing, and her stomach began to actively heave.

She was suddenly - and quite forcibly - driven back into the fairy's esophagus, the muscles that she had known were sending her to her unpleasant death now working to cough her up. Maybe someone found her after all! Could they have possibly realized I was eaten? Triela couldn't believe her luck. That was until she landed on the cold floor of the cargo bays, looking about and seeing that the fairy was the only other 'person' present.

What the hell is going on here? Triela asked herself, turning to gaze at the fairy. She felt her body tingling again as the fairy's magic apparently wore off, returning her quickly to her normal size. The fairy's face was contorted in pain, her pupils dilated and her breathing rapid and shallow. What's happening to her?

"Please... please... help me! MAKE IT STOP." The fairy pleaded, beating her hands against the metal deck as her body began to convulse. Triela watched in awe as her wings glowed brightly and then exploded, like an incandescent light bulb being burst while still lit. The dust particles that were her wings drifted slowly down and settled on her naked body and the floor as she wailed and screamed.

Without even consciously realizing it, Triela reached out with her link and noted that it was active again. A quick poll of the ship's location revealed that they were now docked at the mesa. Of course! So... this is what the effects are on a native Felaryan in close proximity... Her engineering mind couldn't help but being interested in the massive amounts of data she was currently gathering, watching the fairy suffer before her.

After another long wail of pain and a rather powerful convulsion wracked the fairy though, Triela's more sympathetic nature broke through. She's... in so much pain. She'll probably die here if nothing is done... without her wings she isn't even a threat... Triela shook her head in surprise at her overwhelming sympathy for the fairy. What the hell am I thinking?! She just tried to eat me! ...that's just what fairies do though... it's her nature, chided her conscience.

Giving another long look at the suffering fairy, Triela made up her mind. I can't believe I'm going to do this... she thought, quickly picking the fairy up in her arms and rushing towards the ship's chaos reactor. The dimensional disturbances of the MSEGW were the only things Triela could think of that seemed to react with the mesa in any way, the irregularities of its operating fields troubling her engineers for a while now - irregularities that were only present when the battleships were near the mesa. So far the massive reactor that powered the settlement seemed unaffected by the mesa, but the smaller ones in the aerial battleships were.

Maybe... maybe it will stop this... because the only other thing to do would be to take her away from here, and I doubt I can do so quickly enough. Triela only hoped that she wasn't already too late, shaking her head in disbelief as she realized the implications of her own thoughts.

Still in her form of the object that this strange creature called a 'scanner', she was led through the same passageway she had just been exploring, stopping at an alcove in the side of the passage. This is odd... I don't recall seeing these. The strange alcove suddenly opened wide, like a predator's mouth, frightening the fairy and causing her illusion to shimmer and fade momentarily in her shock.

Realizing that the creature carrying her was more than likely not walking into a mouth on its own free will, Kaede reinforced her illusion looking up to see if her host had noticed the lapse in her magic. Fortunately, it seemed she had not, moving into the open hole with her focus directly ahead instead of the 'object' in her hands. As soon as the creature stepped into the hole, Kaede felt as if they were being whisked away, some invisible force acting against her skin and making her tingle.

Almost as quickly as it had begun the sensation ended, reappearing back in the room where Kaede had initially found herself. So, it's some form of transportation device? Interesting. It moved the both of us quite a distance... the fairy mused, recalling her own explorations of the strange place she now inhabited. This place has such strange things in it. I wonder just where I am? I've never even heard of something like this mentioned before, though I suppose I haven't asked either. Kaede reflected back on her encounters, recalling how her conversations typically were about the Academy, or perhaps teasing her future prey items.

The strange creature/woman carried Kaede into the storage bay, seemingly searching about until she located a crate containing objects similar to that of what Kaede was mimicking. She set the illusion Kaede portrayed down onto the stack gently and then turned back towards the alcove that they had arrived in. Just as she was moving away, Kaede's stomach rumbled plaintively, reminding the fairy that she hadn't eaten anything in a long time. In fact, the whole reason she had gotten into this new situation was because she had been hunting and curious, two things that didn't work out well when pursued together.

Unknowing of when she might get another chance, Kaede decided to take a chance with the strange creature that was now walking away. She was the first and only living thing Kaede had yet to encounter in this new place, and she couldn't risk letting her go and starving. She dropped the illusion, flitting up above and behind her prey growing to her normal five foot size. She quickly ducked out of the way when the creature spun about, obviously unnerved by Kaede's presence even if she wasn't necessarily aware of it.

After a momentary pause, she started moving away towards the alcove again, giving Kaede the opportunity to move out from her hiding place and reach for the tentacled-woman with her magic, shrinking her body from its towering height over even her five foot form to a much more manageable three or four inches. Kaede stepped up to her after the miniaturization was complete, observing how rapidly she reacted. Good reflexes, but it wouldn't have helped you anyway, thought Kaede. Her prey seemed to realize the danger after a momentary pause, turning to flee just as Kaede's hand grasped her body and began to pull her up.

Unlike her normal prey though, this one was much more powerful and capable of amazing contortions. Though Kaede had thought she had a good grip, the creature slipped right out of her hands with an amazing display of power for something so small, nearly causing her to drop her prey. She managed to catch it with her other hand though, being sure to more firmly grasp with both hands now as she raised it up to her face. Kaede noted a distinct smell coming from her prey, and though it wasn't something she recognized it cause her to salivate.

Kaede's stomach rumbled its discontent at being ignored, so without examining her prey further she stretched her mouth open wide and carefully placed it on her tongue. She continued to struggle against her with powerful motions, filling Kaede with a sense of anticipation. I've never had something struggle so much! The experience was exciting, and with slow, deliberate motions she sucked on her prey, drawing it deeper and deeper into her mouth.

Despite the powerful suction though, her prey was still making good progress at preventing her from sucking her in. Kaede watched with surprise and delight, amazed at this creature's abilities. Her hunger was not to be denied though, so she placed her fingers against her prey's shoulders, pushing her in and sucking simultaneously. This allowed her to finally get her prey inside her small mouth completely, and Kaede made sure to clamp her lips shut firmly as she began to roll her food about with her tongue and taste.

As soon as she could focus her attention on the more enjoyable process of eating, Kaede emitted a low moan from deep within her throat. This. Is. Delicious. Her prey had a salty tang with another taste she couldn't place, but combined with her frantic struggles and her tongue's motions allowed her to experience it in great detail. Kaede was reluctant to finish the task with such a tasty morsel, but eventually all good things must come to an end.


She pressed the now motionless prey against her palate, swallowing the built up saliva in her mouth. Sighing in pleasure and completion through her nose, Kaede tilted her head back and rolled her tongue, forcing her food into the back of her mouth and into her gullet. She raised one of her hands up to her throat, squeezing gently where she felt the bulge of her meal and waiting until it was no longer comfortable to do so before swallowing with a healthy gulp.

Kaede followed her meal's bulge with the hand on her throat, tracing its path deeper into her body until it vanished between the cleavage of her breasts. Letting out another contented sigh, Kaede was a bit disappointed when she felt her food enter her stomach and not immediately commence thrashing again. She must have put up all her fight in my mouth, thought the fairy, slightly disappointed by the notion. The amazing thrashing she had put forth previously would have felt divine in her belly.

Turning her attention towards the alcove that had delivered them back into the apparent storage room. Kaede flitted over to it, examining the smooth wall of the door as she folded her wings comfortably. Her delicious meal moments before all but forgotten in her inquisitiveness, she pushed against the cold and hard material testing it with her fingers and palms. Nothing happened regardless of what she did though, eventually boring her as she surprised herself with a yawn.

I suppose I could use a nap. I'll need to go hunting when I wake up though. This tunnel transport is useless to me, but I can still use the way I got up before the last time. She looked about and found a suitable dark corner away from the alcove, curling up against a wall to get some sleep. She would need to learn more about this new place she inhabited once she got some rest, but for now this would be good enough.

~~~~~

Kaede awoke, sweating.

Something is wrong.

She could feel her body tingling all over, and a cold sweat covered every inch of her lithe frame. It was as if she was having a nightmare, only she didn't recall any dreams. Her conscience screamed for her to leave this place, and even though she didn't know why she knew better than to argue against her instincts. They rarely if ever let her down. The problem though was that she had no idea where to go.

The tingling continued without abating, making Kaede stand up and pace in her restlessness. It wasn't painful, necessarily, but it was annoying her. Like a limb that had fallen asleep and refused to awaken, only throughout her entire body, even her head. This is driving me crazy, thought the fairy as she began to scratch her head, trying to calm her nerves.

Kaede started to become queasy and nauseated, her stomach fluttering with discontent. The tingling became more harsh, bordering very much on pain. She moved to sit on her knees, holding herself up with her hands on the cold floor a foot in front of her knees. Kaede could feel her nausea increasing with each passing moment, becoming unbearable. Ooooh, what the hell is wrong with me? She coughed, lightly, feeling the taste of bile rising from within.

The tingling felt like legions of tiny fairies gripping her body from the inside now, extremely painful and wracking her body with shivers of pain. The desire to leave increased several-fold, but Kaede couldn't find the energy to move. After a few moments she began to actively retch, her nausea so powerful she couldn't hold back the vomit any longer. A few particularly powerful convulsions later and the contents of her stomach voided onto the floor, revealing her former prey still very much intact amidst a pool of her bodily fluids.

If Kaede had more presence of mind, she would have been surprised by how well her prey had managed to fair inside of her stomach. It had been a while since she had swallowed it, so she would have expected some digestion to have occurred. In her condition however, all she could do was slam her hands against the hard floor and wail in pain as she fought for air. Turning to look up at the now full-sized creature she had recently eaten, Kaede cried out to her, begging for help.

"Please... please... help me! MAKE IT STOP."

She continued to bang her hands against the floor as she felt a growing pressure on her back, pain shooting forth from her wing joints throughout her body. Her body convulsed hard, a bright glow emanating from behind her that was followed by a crackling pop sound and a momentarily release of tension in her body. Dust began to settle about her as the brief respite ended, the full force of the pain returning all at once and making her wail anew.

Kaede couldn't even begin to describe the emotional response when the creature reached down and picked her up in her powerful arms, some of her tentacles also coming up to hold onto her arms and legs to prevent her from writhing too much as the convulsions and shocks continued to wrack her body. I'll give you anything to make this end! Kaede thought, amazed that her former prey would help her at all.

Kaede couldn't recall the much of what happened next, her body shaking too much even in the powerful grip. Combined with her heavy nausea, it was simply too much to take in and Kaede closed her eyes. She barely felt the tugging motions of the travel tunnel against her this time. Kaede opened her eyes when she felt her body dropped from a short distance back onto the floor, finding herself in a room that extended up high around a large cylinder with a massive spherical bulge halfway up.

She was thankful to find that she was no longer violently convulsing, though the pain, nausea, and shivering did not subside. Kaede turned and looked about, finding the tentacled woman at a console with her hands manipulating the controls. The room seemed to hum loudly about her, and a bright glow attracted her attention back to the large cylinder behind her. Her eyes opened wide as she witnessed the cylinder glow a bright bluish-white, particles and streams of light escaping from within the sphere and dissipating into the room.

This room... it feels like I'm in the fairy kingdom... I can feel the power from that device even though it isn't magical at all! Kaede wheezed in relief as the pain and nausea subsided, though her body continued to shiver and sweat with exertion.

Kaede was pulled from her reverie when her rescuer spoke to her for the first time, having moved from the console to stand a few feet from her exhausted body. "So... what happens now?"

"I... I don't know. I can't say this has ever happened to me before," spoke Kaede, having to pause every few words to breathe. "Thank you... for this."

"Well, so you know, my name is Triela. I can't say I've enjoyed meeting you, but I guess I'm somewhat glad my idea seems to have dealt with your pain, so... you're welcome."

"Aahaa..." breathed Kaede, her facial hue darkening with her blush of embarrassment. "My name... I'm Kaede. You... don't need to worry though. I can't hurt you, without my wings."

"I'm not. Worried, that is. Here at the mesa, this reactor at power is the only thing keeping you from that pain from before. If I lower the output, or if you try to leave, the pain will return. In your condition, you'll probably die," stated Triela flatly.

"Mesa? Reactor?" Kaede repeated questioningly.

"Yes, the mesa is where we live. It seems to have some adverse affect on Felaryan denizens. This is the first time a predator has been this close though, to my knowledge. And I must say even I'm surprised by the intensity." Pointing with a tentacle at the cylinder and globe behind her, Triela continued with "That is a reactor. A power source, if you will. For some reason, they seem to interact with something about the mesa."

"I... don't really understand..." Kaede said, finally able to relax her taunt body against the floor as the last vestiges of pain faded away. "But... I do thank you... that was... horrible."

Triela shrugged. "I guess we're even then, since your stomach wasn't exactly pleasant either," said Triela, pausing to continue with "And I wouldn't be thanking me just yet. It won't be long before someone realizes the Táin Bó Cúailnge's reactor is operating at combat ratios. I can't promise you'll like what happens when the others get here."

"I'll deal with that when it happens. For now... I just want to enjoy breathing without pain."

Triela nodded, sprawling out her tentacles to let her body rest against the floor and waiting to see who would be first to her neural-link summons.

************

"Well, um, thanks for the assist," replied the horned woman as she turned to look at Ion and Nyselyn, holstering her weapons. "My name is Liari, who might you two be?"

<I think she's a wee bit nervous, don't you?>

<Very.> Nyselyn replied to Ion, speaking in his place without emotion. "I am Nyselyn," she stated whilst pointing at herself, turning her arm to Ion and continuing "...and this is Ion. Might we inquire to the nature of what we just experienced here?"

"Just a l'il bit of unnnfriendly competition," Liari replied, laughing nervously. She reached up with one hand and stroked her right horn timidly as she spoke again, "You two... don't seem upset by my... more unique attributes. I can't say that's happened often with humans."

"It is not uncommon to see such attributes on other people where we are from. The presence of your horns is not a concern for either of us. I find it is not uncommon for people to be disturbed by the colors of my eyes."

"Ahah, I see. So, are you new to Felarya?" Liari responded, lowering her hands to her sides and visibly relaxing.

"No, we are not. Ion and I arrived here several years ago by choice." Nyselyn flicked her eyes at Ion as she continued her sentence in thought to Ion alone. <Mostly.>

<Careful, m'dear, your fangs are showing.>

"Truly? How rare it is to find people that come to Felarya and stay. Well, I owe you and I always pay my debts. Would you prefer money, or perhaps an item from my wares? I have some realllly good ones!" Liari placed one of her hands on her hips before continuing, "If you want money though we'll have to go back to Negav."

"That is not required. They threatened us as well, even if it was just guilt by association. I am more intrigued as to why they were targeting you. That was a lot of hardware for just one person. I find myself asking just what exactly is required to incur such ire?"

"Not much in this city," mumbled Liari, maintaining eye contact despite getting quiet momentarily. "I'm an explorer, and I sell that which I find and have no use for. Some merchants do not desire competition, at least not the kind they cannot influence. As for the heavy handedness... More money than sense, yeah?" Liari paused, before continuing emphatically "I'm afraid I can't accept you not requiring a payment though. I owe you, it is a simple as that. If all you are willing to accept is a meal, then at least allow me to offer that."

"Interesting. I am well aware of the less than honorable business tactics employed by some in the city. I suppose I am merely surprised at the tenacity they have in dealing with their... problems." Ion gently squeezed Nyselyn's shoulder as she finished, drawing her attention away from Liari.

<She's not going to accept no for an answer. She's the kind that will honor a debt or feel twice removed for the insult of us not accepting. Moreover, if she is as seasoned as she looks, we could probably use her help in reacquiring your pearl. She might know where to look. Better than simply waiting around for an airship to arrive.>

<A good idea, my master. I am surprised the thought escaped me. I suppose it would do no harm to join her for a meal, then?>

<I think not.>

Returning her attention to Liari, Nyselyn nodded. "Ion and I have no objections to joining you for a meal if you should feel that indebted. Perhaps we can discuss some business of our own, as well."

Liari nodded, though her jade eyes were thoughtful as she stared back at Ion and Nyselyn. "Let us be off then. I relish the opportunity to have such hospitable companions for... err, accompany me for a meal," she corrected with a nervous giggle as she stooped to retrieve her hat.

~~~~~

The trio did not speak to one another again until they had left the forest, walking along the well kept paths that led through the thick walls and into the city of Negav. Reaching a plaza, Liari turned to face Nyselyn and Ion, stifling a yawn.

"Would it be alright with you two if that meal was tomorrow or the next day? I'm rather tired from my trip, and I could use some time to recharge."

"That is fine with us. Where and when would be a good time for us to meet with you again?"

Liari pointed to a building with a red roof in the distance, answering with "The Adventurer's Guild is as good a place as any, I'd say. You two won't have any issues finding that, I think. Say in three days time we meet there at noon?"

Ion nodded, with Nyselyn replying in the affirmative right after. The two turned and walked away into the throngs of people moving through the plaza, leaving Liari by herself watching them disappear. She was a bit confused by the couple, unsure of just how to classify them. For one, she felt as though they weren't lovers yet their relationship seemed different than a familial one. For another, she couldn't understand Ion's silence, nor how the two of them were communicating with each other.

She was fairly certain they were talking to each other somehow. The slight mannerisms and expressions Nyselyn used, along with her word choice, indicated that they were communicating and mutually choosing answers rather than her simply deciding what should be done. She just didn't know how they were doing it, which was a bit unsettling. Liari often had interactions with a variety of people in the marketplace, so she considered herself to have a well-honed ability to read people. Reading Ion was difficult - reading Nyselyn was impossible.

Despite her reservations, Liari did enjoy being around the one named Ion though. It was rare to see such a tall specimen in humans, and his appearance was more than pleasing to the eyes. Running into him earlier as she had while escaping from the mercs had also given her the opportunity to size him up... and based on the firm muscular build she had impacted against, she wouldn't mind finding herself back in a similar position straddling him in the near future without the hindrance of clothes.

Shaking her head vigorously, she shook the thought of the two of them from her head as she made her way towards her condo. First, Liari needed a bath. A long one. And then, she needed to have a meeting with this Mr. Sazlg that had put a price on her head. Liari considered herself a fairly easygoing person, but such actions as those he had taken against her earlier in the day required a swift and appropriate response. She was going to have fun teaching him a lesson that he would never forget as long as he lived - which wouldn't be much longer if Liari had anything to say about it.

Without even realizing it, Liari found herself walking into the lobby floor of her home. Time flies by when you're thinking about food, she thought with a grin. The condo lobby was quite lavish, with golden candlelit chandeliers and sweeping staircases to the upper floors. She always looked out of place in such an environment with her worn clothes, but Liari loved the contrast. The idea that she could have and live in that environment, but not belong to it.

Arriving at her room, Liari waved her hand unsealing the various magical locks and barriers that were tied to her personal aura. The only people that penetrated the sanctity of her private quarters were those she invited. I wouldn't mind inviting that Ion character up here, she thought with a giggle as she dumped her rucksack and waved her hand behind her and reactivated the sealing wards. Wriggling her lithe body Liari began to work out of her filthy clothes as she made her way to the bath.

By the time she reached her bath, she had ditched the last of her grimy and clingy clothes and arrived to find the tub filling to the brim with nice hot water, smelling salts, and lathering bubbles - another spell that had commenced the instant she had entered her suite. She sighed with contentment as she sank into the bath, letting the hot water rinse away the built up grime and soot. Thoroughly scrubbing away the grit with one hand, Liari used her free hand to pleasure herself while thinking about the tall and handsome human.

Liari spent a long while enjoying herself in the bath until a chanced glance at her timepiece made her finish up. She had work that needed to be done, and the sooner the better. Sighing and standing up from the cooling water, Liari expelled the water and soap from her body with a simple spell and walked nude to her huge closet, clicking through her dresses and clucking her tongue as she inspected each one. I need something that'll get attention and yet still come off as submissive, Liari mused.

Liari elected for a fanciful sundress made from ancient elven techniques and laced with lightly dyed spectral weed that caught the sources of light in a room and reflected them in tiny sparkles. With a matching wide-brimmed hat to hide her horns, she was set for the evening. The disarming clothes would most likely have the intended affect on this Mr. Sazlg, and so long as she could get him alone for a few moments she would ensure that he had a night he would never forget - just not the kind of evening she would be willing to share with someone like Ion.

Pulling out her logbook, Liari flipped calmly through the pages as she searched for the man in question. She always kept a record of all her transactions just for events such as this, where relations between clients went sour. Liari didn't consider it personal revenge, merely harsh business tactics. Where Mr. Sazlg had employed mercs, Liari would simply use herself... because there was nothing quite like a late night snack and the satisfaction of knowing she was still very much a predator of Felarya.

Acquiring the information she needed from the records of her logbook, Liari set the journal down, dressing and preparing herself for the evening. It was time to hunt.

~~~~~

In their small hotel room, Ion was sprawled on the bed, looking up at the ceiling absently when Nyselyn returned.

<Her story checks out from what I could research. She has several legitimate trading licenses and bank accounts with no real political or legal infractions. The mercs were hired by Deits Sazlg to 'collect' and 'deliver' if possible. It would appear that it really was just business as usual in Negav.>

<Thorough, aren't we?>

<My apologies for not being able to read people well enough to trust them implicitly after a short interaction. Perhaps you can teach me the ways of ogling so that I might better anticipate human responses.>

Ion raised his head to look at Nyselyn who seated herself in the futon across from the bed that Ion was sprawled over. <My, my, when did you become so testy?>

<Probably after my master decided to act with reckless abandon instead of rational thought.>

<Sticks and stones, my dear. Sticks and stones.> Continuing to look at her, Ion paused before his teasing demeanor changed to take on a more serious tone. <I'm not too worried about the explorer named Liari. I could sense her will and her ability, and both were well set. I feel we can trust her and benefit from further interactions with her. I also think that tomorrow I will be examining the missing section of the Negav Times, if for no other reason than to satiate my own curiosity regarding the matter of the mercs.>

<You think that an event shall occur?>

<Oh, dear Nyselyn, I feel more certain than that. The only real question is whether or not I shall be disappointed by the event's finale. This will be my test of the one named Liari. I will base our future course with her on the actions I believe shall occur within the passing of this night.>

Nyselyn's eyes glittered with her own thoughts as she considered Ion's words, turning to look out the small window of their room and withdrawing on herself before he laid back upon the bed and teasingly continued with <If I am correct in my assumptions, perhaps you could stand to learn a thing or two about the investigative art of ogling.>

Nyselyn snorted, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples briefly. <No, I think I shall be quite alright without such... techniques. Perhaps though, the next time you engage in this highly scientific visual investigation method one might think to include looking at more than the subject's body longingly.>

<It was a rather nice body though. She even had her own handlebars.>

<My master, the things you say in jest worry me the most of all.>

************

The dark skinned elf scanned the forest with her green eyes. She knew her prey was here somewhere. She could smell them. She just needed to catch them.

Grrrroowwl.

Her stomach reminded her that it had been a while since she'd eaten. The noise it was making wasn't helping her situation any, the loud rumbles easily giving her position away. Luck was on her side though, as the trio of a human and two nekos ran right past her hiding place. Must have mistaken the direction. Silly food. They never learn.

The giant elf jumped out, her hand sweeping down and across the forest floor. Her fingernail managed to just graze the human and knocked her forward, but it wasn't enough to catch her. The human showed remarkable dexterity in staying on her feet after the near miss, continuing her run. The elf licked her lips, as she loved prey that could give her a good run. Besides, the longer they ran, the better they tasted.

The nekos and human continued just ahead of her, trying to stick to bramble bushes to prevent her from swiping at them. It was a good plan but it was slowing them down. The elf kept pushing them forward, but she wasn't running too fast herself. At their pace she didn't have to - all that was required was that she keep from losing them. It would be nice to catch them soon though, I'm huungry.

The elf never noticed the change in environment, the area becoming more rocky as they ran and less forested. There were no mountains here, but occasionally one would run across small cliffs or outcroppings. They were rather good hiding places, but they couldn't escape her. They wouldn't.

She ran into a clearing and noticed the human and nekos just cresting over the peak of the rocky outcropping. Two of them jumped over while she watched, the human - a female - was the last to jump, turning to look at the elf catching up to them and leaping to follow her neko comrades. Not to be outdone, the giant elf leapt as well intent on slamming the ground on the other side and bringing this chase to its inevitable conclusion.

At least, that's what should have happened. She launched herself over the edge they had, only to find her fall stopped midway. The elf yelped, surprised at her sudden stop still in the air. Her cushion was quite soft but held her fast, and a quick glimpse was all it took to alert the elf to her fate.

A giant dridder web? Dammit! Those little pests! They set me up~!

Right on cue, she noticed the trio staring down at her from one side of the rocky outcropping. The nekos were both males, wearing the same clothing she had seen on the ones from the other day. The human was wearing a torn white shirt with a set of faded black suspenders that fit loosely over her small body. The woman's face was youthful, and she was looking down at her with a set of piercing hazel eyes and a big grin.

"Ahoy there maneater!" cried the girl. She has a strange accent, thought the elf. Not like anything she'd ever heard, for sure. "My mates and I 'ere thought you'd enjoy some nice alone time, see?! There be t'is right pwerty dridder runnin' abouts, an' she knows how to 'andle you lot reeeaal well, see? I 'ope you dinna min' 'er 'osp'tal'ty! I 'ear she's got a right goo' set of table manners!"

"You think you can feed me to a dridder for your own safety?!" cried the elf with incredulity.

"Our safety, is it? I fin' it real 'ard to believe you be lookin' out fer our safety, maneater! Tha' there dridder be a maneater 'erself, buh we dun 'ave to werry 'bout 'er chasin' us, an' that sits right well wit' us, see? Jus' gotta keep yoh eyes open fer 'er traps!" The human followed her statement by pointing two fingers spread apart at her eyes then back down at the elf. "We'll happily keep that pwerty one 'round, 'specially as she be doin' us a favor by thinnin' you chasers out!"

The human snuffed her nose at the giant elf before turning about and walking away from the edge. The elf couldn't believe this. She'd just been played by some silly little girl with a speach impediment!

"When I get out of this web you best pray I don't find you! I'll play with you for DAYS until you're BEGGING me to let you be my food! Do you hear me you little brats?! I'LL GET YOU!"

~~~~~

Reya cautiously climbed over the steep and rocky terrain of the small outcropping towards one of her traps. As she moved she reached out with her limbs and tested the sensing lines that stretched away from it, nodding as she felt their tension. Dinner... is served, Reya thought with a smile.

Reaching the crest of the outcropping, Reya peered down and over, taking a sharp breath at what she saw. Entangled in the midst of her webbing was a familiar brown elf, her jade eyes continuously scanning the area that she could see and whimpering. What did Cecaeda say her name was...? Reya pulled back from the ledge and poised in her typical thinking pose as she reached for the name that was on the tip of her tongue. Ah yes~ Gea!

Looking back down at the elf, Reya shook her head. Apparently she's a bit dense. Losing sight of the situation, Cecaeda says? That was one of my most simplistic traps! Reya paused however, recalling how Cecaeda had thanked her for not taking Gea's life the first time they met. Why did she say that? It is out of character for her. Cecaeda typically says nothing at all about my meals...

Reya pondered over the odd situation. On one hand, it was just business as usual. Gea would just disappear, another missing predator in the jungle. Such things were not unusual and Cecaeda would never know that it was Reya who had claimed her. Still... there was the odd behavior Cecaeda had demonstrated before. I wonder... a few more moments of deliberation, and Reya made her choice.

Crawling at a slow measured pace over the rock down to her orb web, Reya made sure to click her claws against the terrain to alert Gea of her approach. Normally Reya would never alert herself to her prey, but this was lesson time. Regardless of what happened later with Cecaeda, Reya intended on teaching Gea an important lesson about awareness. The loud clicks of her claws over the rocks had the intended effect on Gea, making her writhe around attempting to locate the source of the noise as her nervousness increased.

"W-w-who's there?! Please, if there is someone there, help me!"

Reya let the clicks of her claws approaching closer from behind the elf be her response. Slowly and meticulously she took her time crawling over the outcropping to the web and the trapped elf, enjoying her increasingly worried cries and shivers. A part of Reya's mind tugged at her enjoyment of the elf's plight, recognizing her more basic predatory instincts rising up.

"Ifff you're out there, someone, please, I could use some help..." Gea said, her voice becoming quieter as Reya's clicking claws got closer. She had stopped writhing now as well, the sound of her breathing rapid and shallow, the smell of her fear clear and present. Reya slowed her breathing once she got closer to prevent Gea from knowing exactly where she was coming from.

"Pleaasee... an-n-nyone..." she asked again, her voice on the verge of sobs.

Placing her hands on Gea's shoulders through her webbing, Reya noted how the elf woman froze and stiffened, leaning her face to just behind the elf's ear on the other side of her silk web.

"I seem to recall saying last time we met that the only reason I let you go was not being hungry myself. And this time, I'm huuungry," Reya said slowly and clearly, closing her mouth with a loud chomp sound after stressing the last word.

"Nnnno no no no no no no plllleeeaaassssseeeee nooooooo!!" Gea wailed, struggling again in Reya's web. Her struggling suddenly stopped at the feeling of Reya's legs stroking along her back through the silk entangling her, whimpering and crying instead.

"Now now, don't be like that. I promise it doesn't hurt. Just a little bite, that's all..." Reya kept her voice soothing and soft, speaking right into Gea's ear from the other side as she continued her exploration of the elf's back with her long forelegs, keeping her pedipalps pulled against her own body for the time being. The elf's skin was covered in goosebumps from her fright.

"But I don't want to die. I really don't. I really really don't want to die!"

Leaning in to breathe hotly against her shoulder, Reya didn't respond this time, instead letting her motions talk for her as she poked her fangs through the silk and just lightly into Gea's flesh, making the elf go completely rigid in shock. Gea let out a long wail before collapsing limp, the life completely gone from her body as another of Reya's long limbs applied a quick pressure to the correct point and knocked the giant elf out.

Stepping back from Gea, Reya began the process of cutting her webbing down and wrapping the elf up for transport. This would be the first time that Reya went home with something still alive, having held back her venom during the light bite. She hoped that Cecaeda would take her up on her offer and visit tonight. If she did, the night would make for an interesting experience indeed. At the very least she'd find out why someone so careless would have gotten Cecaeda's attention...

************

"Why hello Mr. Sazlg! It was so nice of you to take me up on my offer on such short notice!" Liari said, her sing-song voice the picture of innocence. She was pleased to note his attention kept getting drawn to her chest that was teasingly revealed by the deep neck of her sundress. The lightly colored sundress clashed nicely with her caramel skin, and the spectral weed shimmered just enough to be catching and not distracting.

"It was no problem at all to meet with such a lovely lady. I hope the establishment is to your liking?" the man stated, sweeping his hand to cover the backdrop of the private dining room situated on a balcony several stories above the main floor. It was truly a lavish place, with precious jewels adorning almost everything. The man was of medium height, a lanky build, pasty skin and the slight odor of sweat. Such a waste of oxygen, thought Liari.

Truth be told though, she couldn't be happier with the place and establishment Mr. Sazlg had chosen. His guards were just outside the door across from them, but apart from that there were no people around and the walls were soundproofed besides. The balcony was actually enclosed by double-paned glass. Many lucrative business deals happened in this place, and secrecy was an important item to their clientele. It was perfect for her needs.

"Absolutely. I hear the dining here is to die for," Liari said with a brilliant smile. And I hope they're not lying because I doubt you're going to taste good, personally. "So, what is it that one of my esteemed patrons would need to discuss with me?" she asked nonchalantly, pretending that the merc encounter had never occurred.

"Ah, right to the point. I like direct women." Yes, I'll just bet you do. "I would like to hire you to work for my group. We offer a good rate on the things that you find, I'm sure it can't be easy to be a lone seller in this dangerous market. We'll offer you fine protection for a modest fee!"

"I see, I see. Wow, that is a generous offer for you to make," said Liari with a broad smile, her naïve persona in full force. Protection... okay. Let's see how scummy you are. "What sort of fee do you charge for your protection? Not that your offer isn't tempting, I just like knowing what I'm getting myself into."

"Oh, its just a modest fee. Forty percent every quarter, that's all." Liari had to fight not to lose her façade. It was hard. This guy couldn't be serious, could he? Who has this nutbar been making these offers to, his brain has got to be addled.

"Forty percent. I see." Liari coughed lightly to keep from laughing. "So, what sort of... protection... does such a fee include?"

"We will ensure no... incidents occur while you are in Negav. Your wares will be under our protection at a central warehouse, so you can store whatever you like without issue, for an additional fee. Sever's Raiders are at our beck and call should you be hassled, one of the finest mercenary groups in all of Negav."

Ahah. So you not only rob people blind of their money, you even steal their wares straight out of this 'warehouse' you offer for lack of payment I bet. I'd put money on those mercs being the very Sword of Damocles for your patrons. Of course, getting rid of this guy would not change anything - Liari knew that. Someone else would take his place tomorrow, to be sure. Getting rid of him though would get them off of her back for a little while until the next opportunistic bastard came along. Oh well.

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Sazlg. It would be really nice to just forget about the human predators inside the walls of the city. Sometimes they can be just as dangerous as the predators outside the walls." Liari flashed him another bright smile, letting her eyes sparkle with the subtle application of magic. She had to be careful with that though - her hat wouldn't hide her horns if they started glowing.

"So, do you agree to the terms? If so, I can have the paperwork drafted up and delivered to us by the end of the meal."

Oh, I don't think that'll be necessary, thought Liari. You, my dear boy, are the meal. Ok, part of it. "Absolutely..." said Liari with a long pause, "Not."

"No? I assure you m'dear, its a good offer. I'd advise you not to turn it down, lest you regret it later."

"I don't think there will be a later..." said Liari as the man across from her began to rapidly shrink in size. The look on his face was priceless and she couldn't help but show him a feral grin as he rapidly vanished from sight. Her timing was perfect, he hadn't even tried to cry out. She quickly stepped over and picked him out of the chair, grasping him firmly in her hand and bringing the shocked human up to her face.

"I have to wonder, Mr. Sazlg... just what is it I need protection from? Your little mechs? You perhaps? How many other poor souls have you driven underfoot in the name of profit?"

"What.... just what the hell are you?!" he managed to gasp, both due to his shock and her powerful grip.

"I'm a predator, Mr. Sazlg." Liari wasted not a moment more, opening her mouth wide and tossing the human up into the air. He screamed as he fell into her mouth, his screams ending quickly as she gulped him down. Ewww. He was all oily. Liari spat, rinsing her mouth with her water glass that had been sitting on the table whilst the restaurant staff prepared their meals.

Without wasting a moment, Liari checked herself over to make sure her hat and clothes were still in place, taking a couple of deep breaths. Time for a little collateral damage. Sorry boys, you chose the wrong employer, Liari thought as she made her way over to the door of the suite.

Opening the door wide, she beckoned to the guards and with her best innocent and concerned voice asked, "Hey, can you two come help me out? Mr. Sazlg seems to have passed out!"

"What?!" Both men immediately rushed into the room, never noticing as Liari quickly shut the door. They reached the archway at the end of the small hall of the suite before they could see the table on the balcony and realize that there was noone at it. And that's when everything got rapidly larger...

They fired their tiny weapons at Liari, but the miniscule bullets never even reached her down the hallway before reaching their apogee and falling back to the carpet harmlessly. Liari waited for them to waste their clips before darting forward from the door and scooping both of them off the floor as they had the sudden realization that running would have probably been more fruitful than shooting.

"Mmm, you two look yummy. I hope you taste better than your boss."

"What the fuck!?" "You won't get away with this!" Their chorus of feeble cries and insults landed on deaf ears as Liari smiled down to both of them.

"Oh? And why won't I? Your boss paid for this meal, a little magic touch and the waiters won't even remember me beyond a vague recollection, and you have no written records of me at all besides my description - which matches a great many other feminine adventurers in the city. Your boss undoubtedly has many enemies... no one's going to suspect lil' ol' me. The only loose end I have is you two... so I'm afraid you'll just have to go. My apologies. It's just business, boys."

Liari had been walking over to the table as she talked, and sitting down in the chair she tossed the two guards into her mouth simultaneously. Mmm. Now this is more like it~! Liari thought, taking the time to savor them. She let out a sensual moan as she sucked on their bodies in her mouth before maneuvering them with her tongue so that she could swallow each one separately. Almost on cue, one of the restaurant's servers entered catering a large cart of food.

"Dinner is served, madame! I hope that your party finds it to their liking!"

Liari couldn't help but giggle.

~~~~~

<You look unusually happy, my master. What has your mood so lifted?>

Ion looked up from his copy of the newspaper as Nyselyn set down a plate of sausage and eggs in front of him at the small table of their room. He gave the AI a smile as he pointed towards a certain portion of the paper, drawing Nyselyn's attention.

<The lady does not disappoint.> Ion stated, as Nyselyn's eyes widened slightly from reading the list of missing for the day. The name that Ion pointed at in the paper was none other than a Mr. Deits Sazlg, of the Fiefdom Trade Company, listed as missing in the columns.

She tread with purpose through the forest, her magnificent presence causing the creatures aware of her passage to quiet in awe and respect - perhaps even a healthy fear. The light of the day shimmered through the treetops and glinted off of her armor, cascading into prismatic rays and rainbows in the morning dew that further amplified her presence.

Up ahead, she could hear the clamor of a group of humans. Based on their excited language and fanciful curses, they were most displeased with their current situation. Though she was concerned for the safety of those she approached, she did not hasten - to approach blindly could lead to an awkward misunderstanding or worse, cause further panic and disorientation.

Humans are such loud little things. One would think that evolution would have bred that out of their system by now, she thought. Regardless of their faults, she was near them and currently without charges of her own - it was therefore her duty to respond to their plight, should her assistance be required. Some humans were capable of handling their own problems; she did not believe that those ahead of her belonged to that particular category based on what she was currently hearing.

Climbing up a nearby tree trunk, she made her way along one of the thick, lower branches that would be above those approaching. It did not take long for her eyes to find them. The group of humans were stampeding directly for her, a large caravan consisting of several wagons and mounted riders. At first she could not see what had disturbed them so, the cloud of dust billowing up behind them obscuring her view.

A few minutes after she had spotted the caravan the human's pursuers came within her view; the mottled fur and rippling body clearly identified the kensha beast pack even before she got a clear look at one of them. A pack though? Why would an entire pack converge on a convoy? That is not typical hunting style... The odd behavior concerned her, and she did not wish to walk into a fight that she did not understand. She needed to get closer.

With a quick burst of power, she flew off her observation branch and buzzed right across the top of the pack, trailing her spear like an anchor amongst them. To her surprise the pack ignored her entirely, even after she landed on the ground behind them, their single-minded pursuit of the humans not to be denied. Now I know that something is wrong. Kensha beasts are opportunistic hunters - they would not ignore a potential prey. At the very least I should have garnered the attention of one or two.

Knowing she could not acquire any more information by observation alone, she made up her mind to engage. The situation was still quite vague - but what she did know was enough to entice her to action. Extending her wings fully, she took off and zipped over both the kensha pack and the human caravan, lowering down closer to the ground once past the pack and matching pace with the lead wagons.

"You there!" She called to grab their attention, "There is a cul-de-sac up ahead! Gather your men within it, and I shall handle your pursuers." She was taking a chance interacting with the humans while they were panicked - a creature near her size would almost undoubtedly mean 'predator' to the uneducated in Felarya. She needed to get them into an area that she could adequately defend though if she meant to save as many as possible.

The humans in the convoy now alerted to her presence angled their mounts away from her, their expressions alarmed at the sudden presence of another giant. "Thank the gods!" Cried one of the men suddenly, apparently recognizing her giant form as an ally and not another enemy. "Listen to the Eurhyssa men, she'll be our ticket out of this crazy mess!" The man who spoke seemed to have at least some weight in the caravan, as those nearest him shouted back in the affirmative and relayed the message to those behind them.

Trusting the humans to carry out her instructions, she lifted away from them and flew over to one of the sides of the cul-de-sac to wait for their arrival. Her timing would have to be impeccable to ensure the first drive of her lance placed her firmly between the convoy and the kenshas for any creature that passed her into the small enclosed pen would reek havoc and lead to several deaths. Such an outcome is unacceptable.

As she witnessed their approach she began to knock the flat of her weapon's blades against the nearest tree, each hit increasing with power as they closed until the massive Felaryan tree was shaking with the force of her impacts. The first members of the group were now arriving into the natural enclosure as she tensed her body and readied her weapon. Any moment now...

"That was the last!" came the shout from the man who had recognized her form before, the words akin to a starting pistol as her wings beat with the intensity of a small storm and her large body jetted in front of the oncoming pack as she sliced her weapon in a wide crescent. The weapon released its stored energy when it met the first beast, a deafening roar echoing throughout the forest as the two halves of the cleanly severed kensha were tossed back onto its advancing comrades.

The attack seemed to finally faze the pack as the other members stopped, circling about her. To her surprise they made no noise; no challenges were uttered as they grouped around. Why would that... a sudden flicker of light caught her eye, answering her unfinished question. Those magical gems again?! Now that she knew what to look for, her eyes scanned the rest of the pack and found each of them wearing the same - a jeweled collar with a gem set into the clasp.

She knew the gem well; she had seen it before as the eye of a giant squid. While these were not as large, the intent was still the same. Controlling wild beasts to attack indiscriminately... what is the purpose? Her thought was cut short as a trio from the pack leapt towards her, mouths agape and claws extended. And still not a sound, she thought as her body flexed effortlessly to the side, the gaesum tip spearing one of the beasts as her shoulders rolled and tossed it into the other two knocking them back and away.

They know not emotion... they know only to attack... again, I must question why? And why now, after so long? The answers to her questions were not forthcoming though, and her attention could not be divided so. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the scene before her and determined the fastest way to end the conflict. With the calm and practiced ease of a combat veteran, she began her counterattack.

To an outside observer, her body's form would have been most easily described as 'the calm before the storm.' She visibly relaxed, the tautness from before completely removed in the moments just before her own assault. Then the lightning strike - her entire body an extension of her weapon as she thrust into the closest kensha. The raucous calls of the following thunder were not far behind, as the energy absorbed and released by her weapon echoed and reverberated against the rock nearby.

Twist. Slash. Whirl. Burst. Jab. Break. Dodge. Her thoughts were one word visions, her body instantly performing each as she envisioned them. Unlike the silent beasts, she was a chorus of sound; her breath sharp but not labored, an occasionally cry breaking free from her lips, the loud thunder that would follow her more powerful strikes. The rays of light that broke the jungle canopy alighted upon her armor and flashed with her blade, her smooth and practiced choreography of death enrapturing her human observers.

The battle ended swiftly. Her youthful days when kensha beasts were a threat to her were distant memories, the beasts she had encountered in the distant past of Felarya making them out to be mere gnats to be swatted away. The last of the beasts fell before her as she swung her lance in a wide arc, ending the swing with a powerful flick of her wrist that cleaned the blood from her blade. Turning to a nearby tree, she knocked the flat of her spear's blades against it as she had done earlier, building up energy before slamming the weapon into the ground and removing the dried blood from it as well, a final strike of thunder in her passing storm.

Turning to face her human observers from the convoy, she noticed their shocked expressions as her armor shifted subtly, the blood, scratches, and dents of the battle vanishing into cascading pools of seemingly liquid-metal that solidified again into an unblemished shell. Oh. Of course, they would not know of such armor... the metals and techniques for making it have been lost to the sands of time for aeons. Some of them even moved their hands in a fashion she recognized as religious, bringing a small smile to her face. As if that would actually help.

She kneeled down on her forward legs so that her thorax was touching the ground, bringing her body closer to the humans - and she hoped - presenting herself in a non-threatening way. The armor plates she wore made a soft rasping sound as they rubbed against the ground, and she required the use of her lance as a staff to maintain her balance in the odd position. She sighed softly as several of the humans backed away from her, apparently still in doubt as to her intentions. One of the riders dismounted and walked up to her - the chosen spokesman, I see. I wonder though just how you lot would escape if my intentions were ill willed... you're a bit trapped, I think.

The human was now standing less than an arm's length away from her, looking up at her large form nervously. With a gentle flick of her head she flipped her antennae over and brought them around to the front, waiting until they settled before willing them into motion and lightly tapping them against the human. She knew better than to reach out with her hand, as most creatures his size interpreted that only one way and they were nervous enough. He flinched as the long, whip like appendages touched him, visually willing himself to stand fast before her. Oh yes, you're quite the nervous one, aren't you? Her sensitive antennae could pick out each nervous twitch of his body, the tautness of his tense form only amplifying his motions.

"Relax, little one. You have nothing to fear from me - I do not consume flesh for sustenance. You may refer to me as Aidee. I only desire some information, specifically as to the nature of this attack, and then I shall be on my way, and you may be on yours."

"Aah, you must forgive me miss Aidee, this day has been most trying. My name is Garr, and even though I know what you are and that your kind are 'safe', I find that meeting with you is another matter entirely. That pack of beasts set upon us just half a day's hard ride from Negav. They attacked us in broad daylight on the main road! Our escorts were quickly overwhelmed - the beasts make no noise and kill with abandon, not even eating their prey! - so we made our way with haste into the forest. Then you happened upon us and this is the result."

"I see. Their behavior is to be expected, I suppose, considering the stones. Tell me, are there any magi in your group?"

"Any magi, you ask? Well, there is one, a scholar from one of the libraries in Negav on journey with us as far as the Misty Glade before they'd separate on their way to the Academy. If you wish to speak with her, I'll ask to see if she'll approach but I cannot guarantee anything. I know my nerves are worn thin enough without having to stand face to face with a giant. No offense intended, miss Aidee, we are indeed most grateful for your swift action."

"I do not take offense to honesty, Garr. Please, inquire with your magi to see if I might acquire their assistance temporarily with regards to the magical artifacts the beasts have been affixed with."

"I'll go see if she'll grant you an audience, but I can make no promises Aidee."

She nodded in understanding to the human as he turned on his heel and walked back towards the others. They were all milling about nervously, casting quick glances over at her but none letting their eyes linger. At least they're cautious, if nothing else. They seemed to have noticed I'm conveniently blocking their way out but aren't willing to test my patience. The human named Garr had reached one of the wagons on the far side of the clearing and was speaking with its occupants whom remained out of her sight.

Just when she was about to pull herself back up to a more comfortable position, a tall human female bundled and wrapped in thick clothes and a colorful scarf climbed out of the wagon, walking over towards her with Garr. Hmm. That required less convincing time than I would have thought. As they approached, she continued to examine the human female. Her dirty blonde hair was tied in a high bun combined with her large, thick glasses with silver rims which gave Aidee the impression that the tall human was of a scholar, teacher, or librarian profession.

What was really surprising to Aidee was just how close this mage was willing to get. Unlike Garr who maintained a healthy distance away from her, the mage closed to nearly a hand's length away from her. She's a brave one... or more certain of her safety than the others. Tapping the human with her antennae, she couldn't detect any twitching or flinches like with Garr, but that might also be due to the clothing she wore. Then again, if she really is traveling to the Academy she probably has experience in dealing with the larger of Felarya's denizens.

"Well met, Eurhyssa Aidee. I am called Y'vanne, and I have been asked to assist you with your dilemma. Might I know as to what your issue is?"

The woman's voice was a smooth lyric contralto, her brown eyes intent but not piercing as she spoke. A very practiced manner indeed. "I wish to know if you have some information regarding temper stones. These beasts are affixed with them, and I wish to know if you could help me to achieve insight as to whom might be capable of making or using such an artifact."

Y'vanne's eyes lit up with interest, though her face retained her stoic appearance. This one seems to have some experience with the world. Perhaps she will be of more use than those in the past. Aidee pushed herself back up, walking over to the nearest creature and cutting loose the collar that it wore about its neck. Once it was removed from the body, the beast collapsed into a pile of dust and soot, leaving nothing behind that could have identified the former creature. Using her lance to hold the item at length from her own body, Aidee dumped it before Y'vanne, the stone set into the hardened leather band nearly as tall as the woman.

"It would be best not to touch it I think," spoke Aidee as she watched Y'vanne's reactions. "I have seen these before, and each time they were used to influence or outright control a creature's actions. Though I have yet to see them used on a person, there is a possibility that it might invoke some dire consequence upon them. The magi I have seeked counsel with in the past have spoken of such stones used for familiar training, but never anything so large."

"Interesting. Most interesting," was Y'vanne's only comment as she walked around the large stone and examined it. She took a few steps towards the gem before jumping back, letting out a startled yelp. Garr, who had been standing by nervously since their exchange started rushed up to her as she collapsed, catching her as she fell. "Yes... I think... ...touching it... would be a bad idea."

"Are you alright, little one?" asked Aidee with concern. She had not expected such a reaction from the woman, though her response now convinced her that these artifacts were indeed dangerous to others without being attached to a mindless creature.

"Yes, yes... I'm fine. The stone contains... very powerful magic. It reacted to my mere presence! There are very few groups in Negav that could have possibly created such a thing. However, that stone is also laced with ascarlin, which limits the groups who could have created it to just one. Only a Ps'isol would have both the magical knowledge and ridiculous wealth to create such a thing."

"The Ps'isol Magiocrats, is it? I find that very interesting."

"I would agree. Using such stones to control creatures... though, I cannot imagine how they could make many of these stones. Especially so large! Sure, its just laced with it, not actually made of it, but the amount of ascarlin in this crystal would lead an adventurer to an early retirement. That stuff doesn't grow on trees you know."

"I see. You have been most helpful, Y'vanne. Now please Garr, assist her back to the wagons. I have learned what I need to know and much more than I expected to learn."

Garr nodded to the Eurhyssa warrior, assisting Y'vanne in walking back to her wagon when they heard a loud crashing sound, whirling their heads about to watch as Aidee drove her weapon through the temper stone that she had presented to Y'vanne. Garr couldn't help but suppress a groan as the gems shattered, turning to dust just like the dead kenshas they had been affixed to.

"It's for the best," muttered Y'vanne quietly, turning back around and urging Garr to continue walking. Behind them, Aidee methodically continued with destroying each and every stone, leaving behind nothing of either beast or gem but piles of dust.

************

Triela was continuing to watch over the fairy whilst occasionally stealing glances at the reactor for any signs of destabilization. They had never run them at combat ratio this close to the mesa before due to the disturbances. She couldn't help but feel at ease though, watching the Hawking Radiation stream from inside the sphere where a singularity was being held at bay by invisible inertia fields.

<Triela! What's going on in here?> came a voice, startling Triela as she realized she hadn't been paying any attention for the people that would soon be arriving.

<Fairy attack. She got aboard somehow - from what I can tell she has impressive illusionist magic ability. Even my coprocessors were unable to see through her deception. Probably snuck aboard with the survey team. Seems the mesa has some powerful effects on them, though.> Triela turned to look at Alecto as she rushed into engineering, but kept one eye on the sleeping fairy.

<What about you? You're... covered... in crap.>

<Ah... yeah. Its been a fun day.>

<Did she... eat you?!>

<Yes.> Honesty was probably the best recourse here, and it was hard to argue the point when she was covered in the dried gastric juices and saliva of the fairy. <That doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that the reactor is keeping her from dying. Also, I know why we keep losing entire survey teams without a trace. Fairy magic disrupts neural links.>

<That's insane! They can disrupt our links?> Alecto's expression showed her shock as she turned to look at the sleeping fairy, apparently recovering from her experience. <What are you planning on doing with her?>

<I don't know, to be honest. Part of me wants to put the reactor into minimum sustaining. Just let her suffer.> Triela sighed as one of her tentacles ruffled her sticky hair. <But I can't really do that. She's far too valuable, there is so much we could learn. About fairies and the mesa. Opportunities like this don't happen every day... and we are a part of the food chain in their world. I can't really fault her for being herself.>

<Heh. You're taking this rather well, Master Triela.> Alecto's tone was teasing, and Triela couldn't help but roll her eyes at the emphasis on her title.

<Yeah yeah. But we do need to do something. We can't keep her here, but I'm not sure what we can do to move her. And the other council members need to be informed.>

<Master Ryrja is already on his way. Something about one of his babies suddenly lighting up like a holiday tree. I've summoned a dispatch team from the Patrol Forces to come here as well. Once they're here we can keep her under guard while you get a shower. By then the other League masters should be here and you can all contemplate your leaderly things and figure out what to do.>

<Why is it that I'm in charge again? That was a helluva lot more than what I was coming up with.>

<Hehe. You're just stressed and burnt out.> Alecto stuck out her pink tongue at Triela as she continued, <I'm sure your brain will start working again once you have a shower and some rest.>

<I'm definitely looking forwards to the shower at least. Not so much the rest.>

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of several Patrol Forces personnel, accompanied by a muscular tabby-colored Ti'Glath wearing an outfit that was a cross between Triela's body-suit and Commodore Ion's uniform. The symbols for the Xevian Authority and the Defense League adorned his lapels, a tall and ornate walking cane in his left hand helping to support his weight. Master Ryrja had once required the cane to walk, but the healing properties of Felarya's soil had long since removed the need - mere force of habit kept the cane in his hand now.

<I must admit, this is certainly an interesting sight. Do I even wish to ask where you've been, Master Triela?>

<No, Master Ryrja. I think it would be better if you didn't know.>

<Expert Alecto has explained the gist of the situation to me. I'm glad that you're alright, Master Triela. And I agree with your assessment, this will be quite the unique opportunity for us.>

<The only question currently is how to get her off my ship without killing her. Apparently the mesa did quite a bit of damage to her.>

<Yes, we will require some thought on how to transport her. However, that is not something for Master Triela to be concerned with at the moment. Masters Neare and Anaja will be here shortly to assist with the task. For now, Master Triela, I recommend you take some time to yourself.>

<Thank you, Master Ryrja. I intend to do just that.> With a breathy sigh, Triela tensed her tentacles to bring herself up to her normal height, casting one last look at the fairy who slept upon the floor. Shaking her head, Triela made her way out of Lower Engineering intent on stopping for nothing until she got to the privacy of her room.

~~~~~

At the sound of the door whisking closed behind her, Triela began unfastening the clasps of her uniform and made her way quickly to the bath. She needed to get out of these clothes. They were totally gross and stunk of things Triela did not even wish to know of, and provided an ever present reminder of just how close she'd come to being digested. Her mind was still in shock at the thought.

Reya had made it clear a long time ago to her just where she - no, the Settlement - would stand in regards to the Felaryan circle of life. Lives had been lost time and time again due to the carelessness of those who forgot the rules of this dimension. Triela had known the possibility always existed that such an event could happen to her, but she never really believed that it could. Especially not behind the safety nets of their technology.

Now that it had happened, and even more so because it had happened in one of those supposed safety nets, she didn't really know what to do.

She mindlessly tossed the soiled uniform directly into the trash receptacle as she moved past. There was no way she was going to ever wear that set of clothing again. With a simple thought directed to her suite's network she activated the jets of her bath as she slipped over to the tub, her body oozing into the large basin as she collapsed into the mass of her tentacles and tried not to think of anything at all as the water cascaded over her from all sides.

~~~~~

Kaede awoke dazed and fearful, the alien surroundings about her causing her alarm. It took a moment or two for her memory to catch back up with her, recalling the ordeal she had been through prior to passing out. Looking about her she noticed a healthy throng of... creatures... that were standing near her and looking at one another, occasionally making a hand motion or glancing at her.


No words ever breached their lips, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Its so... wrong, not to make noise when you talk! Closer to her were several pairs of guards who kept their weapons pointed at her constantly - some sort of long, advanced gun-like weapon that hummed quietly. The entire group of creatures were wearing similar clothing, a tight suit made of a white material covered with blue stripes. The stripes glowed subtly in the light of the room, allowing Kaede to notice that the white material was rather smooth and glossy.

As her eyes continued to scan the room, she suddenly noticed a pair of guards much closer to her than the others. Unlike the others they wore armor, some alien material of interlocking segments that glided and shifted with their movement rather than remaining hard and stiff like the armor she had seen before. What drew her attention though was the weapons they brandished - a long spear type weapon nearly as tall as their bodies that terminated on each end with a curved blade of transparent crystal she could not recall having ever heard of. Whenever they moved the blade would create ghosts of itself in the path of its travel.

Pulling her gaze away from the distracting images of the strange blades, she began to examine the gathering about her in the room. The entire group of creatures gathered about her consisted of four distinct types. The first type and the one she actually recognized were the two humans. While they were the shortest of the group they were still taller than her by at least a full headspan. The other three types were best described as nekos, lizard-men, and tentacle-people.


The creatures she described as nekos could only be thought of such vaguely, for they resembled cats much more than did humans. Unlike nekos they had feline faces including a cat-like snout. None of the ones present had round pupils, and all had fur that seemingly covered their entire bodies. Both sexes had large manes of hair, rippling with each motion of their heads. Like nekos, their fur consisted of a variety of colors and patterns that clearly identified each one separately. Their arms and legs terminated with some sort of combination between a padded paw and a human hand or foot - both clearly visible since they did not wear footwear.

The lizard-men were by far the tallest and largest builds in the room, with powerful muscles rippling beneath their scaly skin. Their scales seemed to be limited to only green, gray, or brown in color. Surprisingly to her, all of the ones present had rounded pupils - Kaede would have assumed that being reptilian-like they would have had slitted eyes as well. They did not appear to have any hair or fur on their body that Kaede could see, though several of them had one or more pairs of horns atop their head. Their faces were defined by short, triangular snouts with several pairs of teeth visible from the lower jaw even when the mouth was closed. Like the neko-creatures, their arms and legs terminated with a combination between a human hand and a reptile's claws, and also without any footwear. On the inside of their foot was a rather large and curved claw that Kaede hoped she'd never have to deal with.

The last type present were the same as the creature she had eaten and subsequently vomited up earlier, but she couldn't look at them too long without shuddering. They were the next fewest in number, with only three present, but even that was too many for Kaede. Their fluidic movements were just disturbing. What she did notice was that all of them had ten tentacles that branched off from a common 'trunk', something similar to a shortened human thigh.

Noticing that she had awakened, one of the lizard-men from the farther group walked over to where she was and kneeled down next to her body. Each step he took the large claws of his feet tapped against the hard floor, making an odd clicking sound that reverberated and echoed against the walls of the room. He and two others were wearing more fanciful uniforms than the others, so Kaede assumed they were the ones in charge.

"Why hello there lil' missy. I'm Neare, what do they call ya as they run away screamin' 'fairy'?"

"Ah-". Kaede couldn't say anything else. She had to struggle to suppress a fit of laughter. Something so large and frightening was talking to her like that? The very notion was just ridiculous.

"Ah? That's a rather short name, donchuthink? I s'pose that makes it easier to scream, though."

Kaede couldn't stop it this time. She burst into a fit of giggles, holding her still sore body with her hands as she looked up at the lizard-man. Of all the ways I could die, its going to be in a fit of laughter due to a laid-back layman lizard! The absurdity of the situation only made her laugh more.

"Well, assuming the lil' missy isn't laughin' because she went mad I'd say this is a good start."

One of the other three leader types, a sophisticated and mature looking human woman, rubbed her face with her hands and shook her head at the lizard-man. "Master Neare, you are absolutely incorrigible."

"Neare, I am called Kaede. You are... definitely not what I was expecting at all in a captor," she said, getting control of her giggles.

"Well lil' Kaede, whilst it be truth that we seek to contain ya, we'd be most glad if t'would be volunteer like. Just makes it easier for all of us. We canna' let this happenstance pass, as learnin' more would be right helpful to us. Beside, not havin' your wings canna be helpful to ya outside, right?"

"Well, that much is true, but I can't say I like being caged much. And from what the other said before, I can't really leave this room, can I? Not unless I want to go through that pain again..." said Kaede, shuddering at the memory.

"We have a few ideas about that," spoke up the third leader at last, his hulking cat-like form imposing to Kaede despite the cane he leaned upon. "If the chaos reactor is disturbing the effects of the mesa, that means it is most likely affected by dimensional disturbances. I have some of my men bringing down a special suit for you to try on. We'll take it slow for now until we have more experience in the matter but I believe we'll find a way to move you about. As for being caged... well, truly you have no choice."

"Well, I suppose, as long as it works... I'd rather not ever experience that level of pain again. Could I... would you let me go though, eventually? If I agree to help you?"

"Felarya is what it is... we could both argue the semantics and ethics of your dietary choices for hours without fruition. That being said, we shall take this presented opportunity to further aid ourselves in our future encounters with your kind by studying you," replied the human woman. "If you assist us with that and don't give us any trouble, I don't see any reason to keep you indefinitely. If you decide to be a pain on the other hand, I'm sure the Science League can still learn something from your corpse."

The bluntness of the human's statement chilled her, but the vague promise of being released alive was at least a starting point. For the time being, Kaede really had no ability to argue her case anyway, as without her wings she was powerless against them. She doubted she would be able to physically overpower them, even without their weapons.

"I think you should pro'lly let Master Triela alone for a bit though. That would be the chimera lady you tried to eat before. By the way, Kaede, Master Triela is in charge of the Science League. So I would remember Master Anaja's words well regarding your behavior."

"Master Triela will be alright with time. Just let her have her peace for now, and the opportunity to deal with the memories. You'll most likely find her to be a more understanding individual than Master Neare's statement would imply," replied the cat-like one. "In the meantime, about that suit..." he continued, motioning to a trio of humans who had entered the room as he spoke with several packages tucked beneath their arms.

~~~~~

Triela woke up panting, the water jets of her bath still spraying against her body. She had a nightmare of being eaten again, and it took her a moment to realize that she was safe and sound in her bath. Triela was more aware now than she'd ever been about what it must have been like for Warismat... or the other survivors of the Lysenthians.

I can't believe I sent him with Reya before.. Warismat must have gone mad with watching Reya feed. Triela's body shivered despite the warmth of the water, hugging herself with her arms. I know Deca-Commander Aten said that he didn't feel it was due to Warismat's past but... what Reya described his actions to be fits with what I feel now. Knowing of and knowing from experience were two very, very different things.

Shivering again, Triela pulled herself out of the bath slowly and gently, grabbing a nearby towel and taking her time with drying herself off. She would have to go back down there, to the fairy, eventually. Shaking her head, Triela decided it best to drop these reminiscing thoughts. Triela had no intention of becoming like Warismat - she wasn't going to be controlled by what had happened to her. This was a lesson, something to take with her and remember so that it didn't happen again. She made the same mistake she scoffed at others for, becoming complacent, and nearly had paid the ultimate price for it.

Warismat was strong and I loved him, but he carried a lot of baggage. I won't make the same mistakes that he did. After all, she had been exposed to this for a good portion of her life now. She had watched Reya feed multiple times, without any issues or remorse for what might have been her prey. Most of the time I was fascinated by it. This was really no different - the prey had just been her this time. This is Felarya after all, and Reya showed us all a long time ago what life would be like here. Sometimes... we just forget.

She dropped the towel to the floor once she reached her bedroom, collapsing atop herself in the center of her bed. Triela could feel sleep coming upon her again, she only hoped that this time she wouldn't have nightmares about becoming food. She was going to need a good rest before she got back to work, and she didn't have the time to be fearful of her dreams.

************

Reya smiled pleasantly at Cecaeda as the giant elf made her way silently up to her. Reya was rocking her body gently in her large hammock of silk again, enjoying the cool evening air. The questioning glances of the elf's red eyes at the large silken sack on the ground near Reya spoke of her curiosity, but the elf was attempting her best to hide any emotions behind a stoic face. We'll see about that. Reya was really interested in seeing where this particular evening would lead.

"Hello Cecaeda. I'm really glad you decided to stop by tonight."

"Oh? Why is that Reya?"

Reya's eyes glittered with mischief as she flashed Cecaeda a grin, revealing her white teeth and her fangs. To her credit, the elf didn't shiver or shy away from Reya, but her eyebrows did rise slightly at the display. "Oh, nothing much. I ran across this elf earlier today, she was throwing quite a fit in one of my webs."

"An elf? As in a giant elf?" asked Cecaeda, unable to hide her growing interest. Reya knew that Cecaeda had an axe to grind with several of her kind, as they had given her many troubles due to her albinism. Cecaeda had been the communal outcast for a while, and while Reya didn't think Cecaeda was on fighting terms with them she did take delight in Reya turning them into a meal. So whenever Reya talked about having done so, Cecaeda would always be interested. We'll see if that holds true for this one.

"Mmmhmmm. In fact, she's someone I've met before."

The response was immediate. Cecaeda's face suddenly went from growing interest to crest-fallen, nibbling on her lower lip nervously. Ahah. There is something to this then. Cecaeda reached out and touched one of Reya's legs, rubbing her exoskeleton lightly. She hasn't done that in a long time, thought Reya. It was something the elf had done when they first met often, with Reya presuming that the motion was meant to placate her.

"That elf, the one you caught... it wouldn't happen to be the same one from the other day, would it? You remember Gea, right?"

"Aha!" said Reya, clapping her hands and feigning surprise. "I thought I remember you talking about her. Yes, Gea. She was the one. I caught her in one of my really simple traps. She was quite the tasty one."

"You... you... already.... she's already gone?" asked Cecaeda, her voice becoming quieter with each word that she spoke and her face becoming even more ashen than normal.

Reya didn't speak this time, not trusting her voice. The change in her friend's demeanor was rather disturbing and Reya was tempted to just stop her trial now, but Cecaeda tended to keep to herself a lot. If Reya folded now, she might not learn why this elf was so important to her, and there must be a story behind this. So instead, Reya reached down with one of her hands and stroked the large silk cocoon, letting her motions speak for her instead.

Cecaeda understood Reya's intended message though. She reached out and stroked the silken cocoon, her face blank. After a few moments of silence, Cecaeda spoke again. "I owed that stupid, idiotic, useless waste of space a life-debt. You would think that in a place like this being able to repay a life-debt would be easy enough, everyone is in danger sometime. But not Gea. No, she just had the damnest luck. What am I supposed to do now? She's gone, and the debt is unpaid... that means I'll be indebted to her relatives."

Reya couldn't help but look at Cecaeda shocked. "How exactly did you come to owe Gea a life-debt?"

"I got cocky and therefore stupid. Made a few mistakes on a hunt two or three years ago now that could have cost me big-time. Gea just happened to be in the area and she helped me fight through it. I still don't understand it."

"So what is exactly owed in terms of this life-debt with Gea gone?"

"Well, without the ability to repay her, tradition and customs would dictate that I now serve her family for a period of no less than ten years. Its up to them how long I would remain a servant. Its an old and ridiculous thing, and normally I would have no intent on following it, but picking fights over such traditions is a good way to wind up broken and beaten. Especially when you're already considered an outcast."

"You really think the other elves would get physical with you? How would they know that you didn't repay the debt?"

"Because Gea can't keep her mouth shut! And of course they would, they've beaten me before for less."

Now this makes a lot more sense, Reya thought. This wasn't about Gea at all, just about having to deal with those that had in the past forcefully imposed themselves on Cecaeda due to her differences. Her albinism had become one of the elf's sore points, as it had greatly affected her hunting until she met Reya and received the suit she now wore. Reya happened to think the physical traits of the lack of pigmentation made Cecaeda rather pretty, but she could also understand how such a thing could get in the way of a hunter.

"So what if Gea wasn't dead, and you managed to save her, from say... a really large and hungry dridder?" asked Reya, putting on her best innocence display.

"Do you really mean..." trailed Cecaeda, snapping her hand back off the cocoon when she realized it was moving. "You... you didn't eat her?"

"No. I'm sorry Cecaeda, but you tend to be so secretive about things. I decided to see just what this elf was to you when she landed in one of my traps. I found it odd for you to speak of her as you did when last we met."

"She's still... alive... inside of this?!"

"Yes, she is. I only knocked her out and wrapped her up. She should be waking soonish. If she isn't already. So I'll just meander off and you can 'free' her. That should clear your debt, no?"

"Well... yes, it would..." Cecaeda said thoughtfully, her crestfallen face quickly vanishing into a much happier one. "I could actually be rid of this nonsense!" Cecaeda clapped her hands, her eyes lighting up. "I could really be done with it. You have no idea how happy that would make me Reya!"

"Oh, I think I'm getting an idea. So, I'll just leave this with you then. I would recommend that instead of trying to cut it you simply pull on this," said Reya, tugging on a thick silk strand at one end of the cocoon. "It is made to come undone from the outside, at least."

"Thank you, Reya." Cecaeda had calmed down a bit, but her elation was still very present on her face. "And if it is any consolation to you, after I let her go and she winds up in one of your traps again I won't have any problems with her being your dinner."

Reya laughed as she walked away in the direction of her nest, waving her hand to Cecaeda as she departed. I'm glad she decided to stop by tonight. I would hate to think that I had caused her trouble. At least now the mystery of Cecaeda's odd behavior earlier in the week was solved. Reya would have to go out and check her traps again tomorrow since her catch for the day would not become her prey... for now.

~~~~~

Cecaeda waited until her dridder friend had left the area completely before she turned her attention to the now actively writhing sack of silk. She was still recovering from the large swing of emotions she had just experienced with Reya. Things had ended on a better note than she could have ever hoped for though, and now as she held the pull line for the sack in her hand she couldn't help but smile.

Finally. This debt is repaid. It was like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. I'll have to do something special for Reya to make up for this.

"Stop struggling Gea, this is going to be hard enough!" Cecaeda would have to at least act as if it was going to be difficult for her to get her out of the cocoon. The vigorous shaking of the silken sack subsided somewhat, Cecaeda's voice no doubt coming as a surprise to the elf inside.

Cecaeda made like she was fussing over the cocoon, pushing and pulling against the silk to make it seem as if she was having a difficult time getting Gea out. After she felt like she'd played around long enough, she yanked the cord Reya had indicated to her. The effect was immediate, the strands breaking away and pulling apart the cocoon with ease.

"Cecaeda! I'm so glad to see you! Where... how did I get here?!"

"Well, you were about to become dridder food. I would ask how that happened, but I'm fairly certain I don't wish to know. Hopefully you learned something from this."

"Oh, I certainly did! I'm going to crush those silly little nekos! Setting me up like that, I could have been eaten!"

Cecaeda had to try hard not to roll her eyes at Gea's airhead statement, her simplistic logic apparently unable to grasp the true magnanimity of the situation. "You know, I can't be around to save you every time. As a matter of fact, I do believe we're now even."

"You're always so stiff Cecaeda. You really ought to try and loosen up a bit, you'll never make friends like that."

The giant albino elf coughed lightly to hide her scoffing at the other's statement. You assume, incorrectly I might add, that I would want to be friends with any of you people. "Perhaps, perhaps not, Gea. At any rate, I need to be going, and I would suggest you do the same, in case that dridder manages to figure out where I went."

"Wait Cecaeda. You ought to know, the others are planning a meeting three days from now at the usual communal grounds. I know that you don't often participate, but you will probably want to attend this one."

"Oh really? So what are we going to be discussing this time? More gloom and doom, or some silly contest? There is a reason I don't attend those meetings, Gea."

"No, not this time. Like I said, it is important. We're going to be war planning. It is high time we did something to get rid of these threats that have come into our jungle - most especially the Zagaru neko tribe and that colorful dridder!"

************

<Do you think she will show, my master? She is almost half an hour late.>

<While I would say it is possible she has forgotten about us, I doubt that it is the case.>

<As you say...>

Ion couldn't help but smile at the AI's mulishness. Nyselyn of course would never have tolerated tardiness, but there was something else about her behavior that was interesting to Ion. It was as if she were jealous. Of course, it was too soon to go making blatant accusations just yet, but the mere thought of an AI displaying such an emotion was almost too good to be true. Ion would have to keep an eye on her.

"Hi guys! I'm sorry I'm late!" came a call from a short distance away. Ion turned away from Nyselyn and spotted Liari approaching them, his smile quickly vanishing. Now that is definitely not what she was wearing previously. He swore he could almost feel the heat from Nyselyn's gaze as her head snapped up to look at him out of the corner of his eye having spotted Liari and her attire moments before.

Unlike how they had met with Liari wearing her explorer garb, she was now wearing a strapless white cocktail dress that matched her hair, which was currently untied and flowing down her back. Completing her attire was a white sombriolet to cover her horns and a pair of white court shoes. Her attire seemed to be sparkling in the sunlight, providing a wonderful contrast to her creamy caramel skin and revealed her nicely toned and curvy body.

I recant my previous statement about observing a jealous AI, Ion thought with a sigh. Well, at least I won't have to worry about this being interesting...

"You should have told us that this was to be a more formal occasion. We could have worn better attire," spoke Nyselyn, her cool and icy demeanor in full force.

"Oh, it's quite alright! No need to worry about it, I just got back from a private auction is all and I didn't have time to change before coming to meet you. I was already late anyway."

"I see. So, what establishment were you planning on treating us to?"

"I was thinking we could go to the Blue Moonlight. They have some of the best food this side of Negav, and excellent customer service. It'll also be rather light in clientele right now since it's so early in the afternoon, so we shouldn't have any trouble getting a table."

"Lead the way then, Liari." Ion couldn't help but think that he had heard the slightest hint of an emotion breaking through Nyselyn's usually blank words. This is either going to end with them as best friends or worst enemies, Ion thought with a sigh as he fell in behind the two women.

~~~~~

The booth they were seated in was a private one, away from the currently slow traffic of the main dining area. Liari assured them that later in the afternoon the restaurant would quickly fill up into quite the healthy throng, which is why it was always imperative to visit early if one wanted good seating. The plush benches they were seated upon seemed to mold and contour themselves with the occupant, no doubt an expensive luxury item, with the booth also following suit with an extravagant and bejeweled nature.

As they were seated Ion had been impressed with the way the lighting of the restaurant had been arranged. It had to be some form of local magic, the way their were no electric bulbs for illumination but rather blue stone-like orbs that cast pulsating and cascading shades of blue over the entire area. The restaurant seemed to have a theme based on that of an archaic wooden sailing ship, providing for an atmosphere at sea during nighttime. Ambient sounds seemingly emanating from everywhere in the form of wooden creaks and groans, with the occasional lapping of ocean waves, no doubt provided to help enhance the setting.

"So, Ion and Nyselyn, right?" Liari asked, pointing at them each in turn. Without waiting for an answer, she continued with "So, what brought you to Felarya? Or is it more appropriate to ask what keeps you here?"

"We came here willingly, though some of us required some persuasion," said Nyselyn with a jab to Ion's ribs out of sight. "Are you sure this is not too much though? From my estimation the fee for such a meal as this will not be inexpensive."

"Oh, it's quite alright, I assure you Nyselyn. Don't worry about it at all." She flashed her a smile before turning her jade eyes on Ion, examining him for several long moments before glancing back to Nyselyn. "How come your companion doesn't talk? Do you have him that whipped? I don't even remember him making so much as a peep during our confrontation with the mercs."

To Ion's surprise, Nyselyn smiled back at Liari as she answered with a matter-of-fact tone. "Perhaps I do. Would it trouble you if I did? Upset that you couldn't run into him alone and unattended to?"

<Just what has gotten into you, my dear Nyselyn?>

<Nothing that concerns you, my master. Just keep staring at her ample bosum and ignore the conversations of the higher evolved beings.>

<Ouch, Nyselyn. That hurts.>

Truth be told though, Ion was quite ecstatic with Nyselyn's current behavior. Ion hoped that Liari would be someone they could interact with more often, if their interactions led to such behavioral developments in Nyselyn. She was already much more than any other AI had ever been, but there was still plenty of room for her to continue evolving.

"Wow, you're certainly a feisty ice maiden. I was just curious, that's all. Pretty abnormal to see a little girl speaking for such a fine specimen. And what if I was? I'm sure Ion wouldn't mind being... attended to... by myself."

"Why, I do believe I located a nerve. And speaking of little girls, I couldn't help but notice that your only size advantage over myself would be these assets," stated Nyselyn smugly, reaching over the table to tap her finger on Liari's chest.

"Hey!" Liari yelped in surprise, recoiling away from Nyselyn's hand as Ion palmed his face and let out a breathy sigh. Ion would have to intervene before this got out of hand, as Nyselyn didn't have an off switch once she got started. He knew that all too well.

Communicating through both telepathy and his neural link, Ion addressed both of them. <Girls, girls. You're making a scene. Nyselyn, I would think you at least could show greater control.> Continuing on just his link alone, Ion chastised Nyselyn with <So much for the higher evolved beings. At least I can look without touching.>

Nyselyn coughed as she leaned back away from Liari and sat on her hands while Liari visibly recoiled again, turning her attention back towards Ion.

"Did you just... talk to me... without speaking?"

"Ion can't speak. He lost his voice a long time ago... he has other ways of communicating instead," spoke Nyselyn, her voice returning to a more common neutral tone.

"Oh! My apologies, I didn't mean to insult! I guess I got a little carried away there..."

<You're not the only one getting carried away. I've never seen Nyselyn that animated, especially with someone she's just met. And you needn't worry, I did not take offense.>

Nyselyn blushed, turning her head to the side and sitting on her hands. Ion recognized the submissive stance as Nyselyn's way of showing embarrassment and excusing herself. It had been a while since he'd last seen her default to it - it was generally a stance she had assumed in the past when having grossly misunderstood a concept. The posture reminded Ion of a young child who had just been on the receiving end of an intense scolding.

"So what happened, if you don't mind my asking? How did you lose just your voice? Isn't that something that can be fixed?" The questions came rapid fire, Liari leaning forward as her interest grew.

<It would be difficult to explain, but no, in my case it is not something that could be repaired. If you don't mind though, we were rather curious about you. How long have you been exploring?>

"Curious about me, hmm?" Liari asked with a coquettish smile. "Well, you already know something about me that most don't," she stated, her hand toying with the rim of her hat. "As for how long I've been exploring, let's just go with 'a while' for now. I've been in and out of many sites during my time. My absolute love is finding advanced technology that has been long forgotten and figuring out how to use it."

<You have an interest in the sciences, then?>

"I suppose I do a little bit. Really, I just love the technological gadgets I come across. The intricate construction, the inner workings, learning what makes it work. That's what I really like."

<I see. I don't suppose in your travels seeking lost technology you have run across anything like this?>

Ion created an image of Nyselyn's pearl in his mind, pausing to examine it and make sure it was accurate and detailed before showing the thought to Liari. Her eyes widened and she gasped at having the new thought suddenly thrust upon her, but it only took a moment before she was instead focusing on the thought itself rather than how she had acquired it.

"No, I can't say I've seen anything like this. What is it used for?"

"It's my pearl. Ion... misplaced it, and we've been trying to get it back," spoke Nyselyn, having recovered from her embarrassment, her demeanor having returned to usual.

Note to self. AI character building should be conducted in a controlled environment, thought Ion. <It is something very important to Nyselyn here, and I know that it is somewhere in Felarya. We haven't had much luck in ascertaining a starting location for the search though.>

"Oh, okay. So you're looking for an explorer or guide perhaps to help you on your quest for locating it?"

"That would sum it up. We know that the people who Ion left it with and should still be in possession of my pearl are in Felarya somewhere. The aerial battleships with the Xevian Authority insignias are proof enough of that, but they visit Negav rarely. The last visit here was a while ago."

"Aerial battleship...?" questioned Liari, rubbing her cheek as she sat back to think. Her eyes lit up with a particular memory of a large white airship that had visited Negav before, with blue markings on it... "I think I've seen what you're talking about. Yeah! Of course! I knew I recognized that insignia on Ion's back! That same insignia was on the airship, and it had writing beside it. Unfortunately, the inherent Felaryan translative magic does not work on written word, so I couldn't read what it said."

<So, you have seen them as well. We originated from the same group, but became separated due to events in our realm. I left Nyselyn's pearl behind as a safety measure, but it has become apparent that was a non-issue. She would very much like it back, and we're getting tired of waiting around. We could use someone with exceptional skill to help us locate their settlement in Felarya. I'm sure you could trade some of your own wares for technology as well, so it would not be a fruitless endeavor for you.>

Liari leaned back into her bench, pursing her lips as she considered the idea. As their food cart was brought to the table, Liari leaned forward again, looking up into Ion's eyes. He met her intense gaze for what seemed to be an eternity before she sat back to a normal position, the hint of a smile on her face.

"Let me think about it for a day or two. I'd also like to meet with you again before I make my decision. This meal is my thank you, and I don't wish to mar it by getting deep into a business discussion. Why don't you two tell me more about where you come from, and I'll share some of my own stories... We can talk business when we meet again."

Ion and Nyselyn nodded, the decision mutually agreed upon. The rest of their dinner was filled with the three of them regaling past exploits and future plans, just enjoying the moment. Ion happily noted that even Nyselyn opened up during their talk, relaxing and letting himself muse on the promise of what the near future might entail as the two women took over the conversation, chatting well into the evening.

The light patter of feet against the soil and their labored breathing were the only sounds coming from the trio of nekos as they ran through the thick forest undergrowth. Hot on their tails was a young pantaur, following along behind and above them in the lower branches of the massive trees.

It was an intricate dance between hunter and hunted, each looking for the most opportune time to make their move. Unbeknownst to the pantaur however, the intentions of the three nekos were anything but innocent, and escape was not the thought foremost in their minds.

Indeed, an observer would note that the nekos were intentionally making noise as they passed through the forest, pacing their run to be just ahead of the larger tauric feline behind them. Their coordinated shifts seemed random, but if one were to examine the pattern of their run from above their path and destination would have been clear.

Unfortunately, the young male pantuar was too inexperienced to examine such cues, and more importantly, too hungry to care. His past few days had been filled with botched attempts, and he was tired, irritable, and hungry.

He could taste the nekos as he began catching up with them again, his mouth salivating at the thought of gulping the three of them down. They would be slick with sweat and full of flavor after such a long run. It was time to end this chase.

The pantaur saw his opportunity coming up fast as the forest gave way to a rocky crevasse, planning on using his superior size and power to leap ahead of the three and cut them off in the narrow corridor before they were lost to the caves. His mind made up and his course set, the giant predator acted.

It was about halfway through his leap that he identified the trap. His entire world slowed down, time crawling along at a slug girl's pace. All along the walls of the crevasse a large gathering of neko warriors were waiting for him, their long and narrow spears at the ready. Below the warriors on the walls, in front of both him and the three nekos he had been chasing, a small human woman waited for him, kneeling on the ground with a large tube for her frame hefted upon one of her shoulders.

The human appeared to be the leader, the nekos keeping their vision upon both the human as well as himself. Her piercing hazel eyes looked right into the pantaur's as he made his final descent, her fierce grin marking her defiance. As his paws hit the hard ground in the crevasse, the tube on the human's shoulder made a loud chook sound and kicked up a cloud of dust behind her, sending forth a massive silk net that spread out in front of him.

Simultaneously with the human's fire, the nekos hurled their spears at the pantaur, causing a rain of needle-like objects to pierce through his fur and into his skin. They did not penetrate deep, but the sheer volume of the tiny pinpricks hurt, causing the youthful predator to howl in both fury and pain. The silken net appeared to be magically weighted, wrapping about a major portion of his feline body and hopelessly entangling his lower limbs.

"Just what do you hope to accomplish? If I don't eat you someone else will! You should just learn your place!"

"Lurn our place, is't? 'ow rude of you! Me and my mates 'ere are in our place, maneater... and t'at'd be ri'ht atop a'you! Your kin' best be a'learnin' t'at t'is jungle is nawt your matey!"

"Oh great, just my luck. I get captured by a human that can't even speak properly! Where were you raised in such a sloppy fashion?! I've heard harpies talk with more sense!"

"I be t'inkin' t'at I talk jus' fine! You can understa' me, can yea nawt? An' while I be havin' ya attenshun, I t'ink you shou'd be a hoppin' offa t'at their 'igh 'orse ya be ridin' and enjoy ta pwerty scenery, as you won' be havin' anut'er chance to be observin' it!"

"Hah! Don't make me laugh! You surprised me, that's all! If all you've brought to the table are some annoying needles and a flimsy net, you should be making for the exit as I won't be merciful on a single one of your 'mates' once I get out of this mess."

"Ya talkin' a bit big fo' yo' breeches, me t'inks. Me and my own dinna start huntin' your kin' last for'nigh' ya know! Tell meh ya oversized fleabag, is yer skin startin' to tingle jus' a bit?"

The pantaur's eyes widened, as the light tingling he had brushed aside before had become a small fire spreading across his skin, made even worse as he couldn't reach back to scratch the itch. The realization of what that tingling had been caused by now infuriated him even more, the absurdity of this situation getting to him. He was the hunter and they were the prey, not the other way around!

"You little bitch!" he cried, "Just what was on those spears?!"

"Aha! A lil' bit slow, but yous a'comin' around now, I see! As to what was on me mate's spears, well t'at'd be a lil' concoction yea shuld know be made fro' kensha beastie claws an' our own sekret ingreedients! 'Tis more 'n enou'h to put yer lights out fer good!"

The fire had spread throughout his entire body now, and it was becoming harder and harder for the young pantaur to breathe. He was taking the same amount of air into his lungs, or so he thought, yet no matter how much air he took in he was still short of breath. Each minute brought even more pain and fire throughout his entire body.

As his struggles became less violent and his breathing more haggard, the neko tribe advanced on his position, ensuring that they still remained well outside of the pantaur's reach. Finally succumbing to the effects of the poison, he gave up on his struggles to break free and instead put all of his effort into reaching out for the human girl that had orchestrated this trap.

Try as he might though his reach was just short of his target, and the human girl only smiled wider at him as his fingertips just brushed against her body. The hopelessness of the situation finally settled upon him, and with one last howl he cried out at the unfairness of his dealt hand before closing his eyes and breathing his last.

"Me mateys, let us feast!"

~~~~~

"Today was a good hunt, mistress S'ryne," spoke a rugged-looking gray-haired neko. Though his hair and fur were gray he did not appear aged, merely experienced. The magical soil had been quite kind to the Zagaru neko, making him appear only middle-aged. The human female he had spoken to was seated across from him, her eyes closed as she leaned up against the far wall of the tree house.

Outside the tree house, a clamor of activity could be heard as the neko tribesmen set upon their latest catch with a variety of tools. The pantaur had been lifted and carried the relatively short distance from the crevasse to the neko's hidden village, mainly thanks to S'ryne's powerful wind magics. The tribe would use every bit of the creature that they could; from the bones to the fur to the acids of the stomach, almost everything had a use they could exploit. The tribe was so efficient at their tasks that in two days time there would be no trace left of the former pantuar.

"Ano'ter pred bites t'dust. He t'was a small one though, won' las' the tribe too long. 'Nough for a couple for'nigh's mayhap."

"True enough, mistress. But there will always be plenty more. Using that dridder's silk paid off well, don't you think? Just took a little extra touch from your wind magic to get a good spread."

"T'at pwerty dridder lass has 'elped us a lot, even if t'weren't intentional like. Nawt usin' t'at crappy 'icky silk makes 'er stuff real useful. T'would thank 'er in person, 'cept she be a maneater too. A righ' clevar one a't'at, too - 'tis a goo' t'ing she dun really hun' us small types. Sum o'er traps be werks of art."

"Yes, they are indeed. Unfortunately, I think the elves have reached their breaking point. We were hoping for some more time to prepare. Our scouts have reported them gathering more and more often, and their topics of discussion are both us and the big dridder. Eventually, they will move against us."

"I know t'at, Silver," S'ryne spoke with a sigh, finally opening her hazel eyes and sitting up on her knees. "T'was da risk we took w'en we includin' dem wit' the res' o' our preys. We'll haf t'hope our preps are finnished a'fore t'ey get wise."

"I have nothing against your defense plans, mistress, but I think we should also try something else. We can really only defend against five or six elves before we would be quickly overpowered."

"W'at dast'rly scheme is t'at min' of yers comin' up wit' now, Silver?"

"I think we should go talk to the dridder."

S'ryne's eyes widened, her head snapping up to look at Silver. "Hav' yea gon' mad, Silver?! Dinna ya remem'er wat happen' the time w'en we 'unted 'er?! She 'ad us dancin' to 'er chem'cals, jist like puppets on a string! We 'ere lucky then, an' now you'd 'ave us go up to 'er, jist walk up, all willy-nilly?!"

"I didn't say it would be easy mistress. As you've said before though, she doesn't really hunt us, we're just too small for her. As long as we stay upwind and out of her reach, I think we could actually talk to her. Think about it, mistress; at least warn her of the elves' intent; if they do make a move against the dridder and she survives, we could gain a powerful ally!"

S'ryne let out another breathy sigh, shaking her head at her older adviser. "T'at's a lotta what if's Silver. A bunch of 'em. 'Tis not worth a'sendin' mates to die on sush a lon' shot. T'would be a shame for 'er to git dun in by t'em elves t'ough, she's a big 'elp to us. Mark my word, iffen t'ey did try, I t'ink t'ey t'wouldn't haf an easy go at takin' 'er down, she's a cle'er one and much bigger t'an t'ose elves beside."

"Actually, mistress, I was only planning on sending one to talk to the dridder."

"Jist one? I sup'ose we kud do t'at. Iffen we kud make a friend of the pwerty one, t'would be mos' advantageous. Who'd yea haf in min'?""

"You, mistress."

************

Beepbeep. Beepbeep. Beepbeep. Beepbeep. Beepbeep.

Without opening her eyes Reya reached up and tapped the silver sphere suspended to the ceiling of her nest, silencing the alarm. The nanite orb had been given to her by Triela when she had departed to make a new life for herself in Felarya, and served as a link between Reya and the colony. It was also capable of a multitude of other roles; the current role being that of an alarm clock.

Yawning and stretching each of her limbs one at a time, she slowly limbered herself up and pushed off against the thickly padded side and bottom of her nest orb. The thick silk padding allowed her to rest on her human belly at a gentle incline, comfortably supporting her human-like upper body while her larger spider-like body rested against the bottom with her legs curled up against her sides.

Turning about inside of her nest, Reya touched the north wall and felt around for the loose ends she put into her nest seal, ripping it loose once she located them and allowing the early morning light to filter through the now open horizontal tear into her nest. By making it a horizontal vice a vertical tear, Reya's abdominal spikes did not snag as she passed through. Reaching out with her forelegs, she steadied herself on a pair of anchoring lines and slipped her human half through the tear, blinking away the last vestiges of sleep.

Pulling her body out so that her cephalothorax was mostly visible, she steadied herself on an additional pair of limbs and reached up to leisurely pluck down a thin layer of fluffy webbing that had become laden with dew as she slept, being suspended and stretched between two of the higher anchor lines. The silk web was Reya's watercatcher, made by purposefully fraying thick and wooly silk strands, combing them with her pedipalp claws, and randomly weaving stabilimenta into the webbing. The final product looked much like white cotton candy, and Reya ate it the same way.

As she was enjoying her morning treat, Reya slowly and gently pulled her spiked abdomen free of her nest, taking care to not let her large spikes get caught on the silk edges. Once her entire body was freed, she began using her rearmost pair of legs to reseal the entrance, leaving behind another ripcord for easy access later. By the time she had finished consuming her dew-laden silk, she had patched the tear in her nest orb and commenced her descent along the anchor lines to the ground.

On the ground, Reya plucked two of her smaller, prepared meal cocoons from another anchor line, placing them against her body to warm them up. Walking around the inner perimeter wall outside of her orb nest, Reya examined the silk with her eyes, claws, and hands, testing for tensile strength, durability, and searching for any 'litter' that had accumulated. Any weak areas that she found were ripped out and replaced, though usually she did not have to replace much as her silk was quite durable and long-lasting. Most of her time was spent grooming the webs, cleaning out any objects that became lodged or trapped within the silk.


These large walls of silk that constituted Reya's final defensive line were much thicker and denser than any other type of webbing she made, even that of her nest orb. The structure of the wall was formed by large hawser-type lines of silk that criss-crossed through the area of space the wall would fill, anchored securely to the three trees around her nest. These reinforcements ensured that no creatures could storm right through the walls. Nyselyn had suggested the idea after seeing Reya's original nest designs in order to provide better structural support.

From those reinforcement and structural lines she hung 'blankets' of dense, stretchy silk that were patched together to form the outer and inner wall. The same blankets were also used to make the walls of her nest orb, but with much smaller reinforcement lines between the walls. These 'blankets' were formed by using the spigots of her cribellum to weave the pattern vice using her legs or pedipalps allowing for a much more dense pattern of silk to form, though requiring a great deal more time to make. These patterns were then layered atop each other and 'glued' together to make a near-solid structure.

Once happy with the status of her inner defensive walls, Reya picked off one of her two smaller food cocoons and peeled off its top, drinking the soupy contents as she made her way down a preplanned path through the labyrinth of webbing. Reya had a total of five paths, taking a different route each day to examine the webbing of her labyrinth and ensure it was kept well maintained. By the time she had completed her examination and reached the end of her silken labyrinth, she had finished consuming the two cocoons and felt the first urges of nature calling her.


As she moved a little farther from her nest to deal with the urges, her mind wandered to her time at the Settlement prior to returning to Felarya, using their technology to learn about herself during periods of boredom. Her silk and any bite-sized meals had to be broken down into chyme first by her human stomach before traveling further into her digestive system. The majority of Reya's food intake though was in the form of her soup, which consisted of material broken down before ingestion by her digestive enzymes delivered through her fangs to the prey wrapped in her food cocoons. Since her silk was made of advanced proteins, and she used quite a lot of it, her diet was high in protein supplemented by her recycling a majority of her silk.

Consuming her soup vice silk or solid food allowed the nutrient-rich material to pass quickly through the small stomach of her human half and instead delivered it to a 'pumping stomach' in her cephalothorax that pumped her chyme and soup into the massive midgut located in her abdomen. No digestion or breakdown of material actually occurred in her pumping stomach, and usually the organ was shrunken to a small size. When material passed through her smaller stomach, the organ would expand against her heart, the expansion and contraction of which provided the pumping action. Her midgut consisted of a large portion of the internal volume of her abdomen, and contained thousands of digestive ceca filled with more of her advanced enzymes to aide in the absorption of nutrients.

Within the ceca her food would spend several days to a couple weeks being absorbed into her bloodstream, and unlike a human's digestive tract, Reya's ended with her midgut. Everything and anything Reya ate would eventually be absorbed within the ceca of her midgut into her bloodstream to nourish her body. The toxins, surplus hormones, and metabolic wastes made by her body, as well as any solid particulates from the digestive process absorbed by her bloodstream were filtered out of her blood by two pairs of large kidney-like organs located physically behind her midgut and between her silk glands.

In order to provide the requisite bloodflow for a large creature such as herself, her closed circulatory system had one true-heart and two heart-like pumps. The true-heart was located in her cephalothorax, with one pump in her human chest and the other in her abdomen. The pump located in her human chest was the smaller of the two pumps, helping to boost flow up from her larger spider-like body to her human-like features and brain. The abdominal pump was located above her midgut, a much larger organ than the one in her human chest that kept the blood pressure up in her extremities and promoted better absorption of nutrients from her digestive tract.


Reya's true-heart made up a majority of the volume in her cephalothorax, providing the blood flow throughout her body and the hydraulic pressure used to extend her spider-like limbs. Her true heart was bordered by tough membranes that held it in place and prevented damage from occurring to her venom and digestive enzyme production glands. The rear-most membrane allowed the motion of her heart to provide for the action of her pumping stomach when it expanded. The massive organ maintained a constant pressure by dead-heading two multi-chambered blood sacks on the left and right of her cephalothroax that served as reservoirs for her advanced hydraulics.

These tough protective membranes were not only located about her heart. They served as Reya's internal framework, providing the structure to protect and separate her body into various subsections similar to a human skeleton. Like all of her kind, Reya had both an endoskeleton and exoskeleton that provided for a substantial amount of protection. The exoskeleton was even present in her human-like portions, though much thinner and mostly beneath her human skin. Her endoskeleton was formed of a material similar to her chitin, with an appearance similar to a thick, ribbed membrane that compartmentalized her internal organs. This made it very difficult for her to sustain internal injury even if the exoskeleton were punctured.

A series of valves in her legs manipulated the pressure of these sacks to move her limbs, venting back into her bloodstream and working in conjunction with a complex set of both extensor and flexor muscles, unlike the smaller and simpler spiders she resembled. These valves also ensured that she would not bleed out if a limb was severed. The combined system of muscles and hydraulics allowed for efficient and rapid motion of her lower limbs, able to move her legs faster than even some advanced technology could track. The need for hydraulic pressure though meant that Reya was limited by how long the reservoirs could sustain it, and as a result her typical pace was slow and measured to allow for continuous movement.

Reya had two pairs of lungs to provide oxygen for her blood, generally the same in construction but vastly different in size. The larger set were her abdominal lungs, located in the lower forward hemisphere of her abdomen around her midgut providing the majority of the oxygen for her blood. These lungs received air from spiracles around the base of her forward pair of spikes, with the outlet spiracles located around the base of her middle pair of spikes. The lungs located in her human half that exchanged air through her mouth and nose were secondary to her abdominal ones due to their smaller size, though they still played an important role in ensuring that her arteries remained highly oxygenated far from her abdominal lungs.

The two pairs of renal organs in her abdomen drained their waste products to an elastic bladder also located in her abdomen, behind her midgut and between her ovaries, kidneys, and silk glands. For her bladder to go from completely empty to painfully full required around two days, though Reya generally expelled her wastes twice a day, once after completing her morning chores and then again before entering her nest for the evening. While she was less sensitive and finicky now about her excrement than she had been aboard the Adagio of Fate, she still avoided releasing it inside of her nest proper.

Outside of her labyrinth of webs she was no longer concerned with holding back, sighing softly in relief as she relaxed and flexed the appropriate sets of abdominal muscles to let a flood of murky-gray waste fluid gush from a sphincter behind and below her cribellum. Unlike her time on the Adagio of Fate and later at the Settlement, her waste was no longer clear due to her more varied diet and her body becoming better at water conservation as she matured, resulting in less water being expelled with her waste. Reya remained in the same position until she felt the flow ebb just over a minute later, pulsing the same muscle sets as before to ensure her bladder was voided completely.

Satisfied that she had emptied her bladder as much as possible, she reached back with her middle-rear pair of legs to draw forth silk from her cribellum to clean herself with. Six dozen silk glands spread throughout her upper and lower rear abdominal hemispheres provided a protein fluid that was delivered to the several thousand spigots of her cribellum plate. By altering the levels of a specific set of her hormones, Reya could change the amount or types of silk made by those glands. Using instinctual knowledge, she turned on and off sets of spigots in her cribellum to make an infinite variety of silk that she drew forth by rubbing her legs against the cribella plate. Aside from her midgut and lungs, most of Reya's abdomen was filled by her numerous silk glands.

Making sure to clean herself thoroughly, Reya dropped the soiled silk into the pool of her waste to slowly decompose before heading back inside her nest. Once the fluid dried or was absorbed by the soil, the solute of her waste - a fine chalk-like powder - would scatter to the wind. Her routine morning tasks and bodily functions attended to, Reya set aside the musings of her body's internal workings and made her way to a large food cocoon attached to one of her defensive walls. It was now late morning, meaning that it was time for Reya to go check on her traps after she first prepared some travel meals for her journey.

~~~~~

Much like how Reya had five separate paths to follow through her labyrinth to ensure that all of her silk would be checked to verify its integrity, she transversed a large region away from her nests by dividing it up into three regions. She did not follow a specific path within these regions like she did with her nest in order to prevent her patrols from becoming too routine and easily identified by her more intelligent prey.

The first area she stopped at was populated with one of her most common traps as it worked well at capturing all types of prey. Large horizontally-oriented orb webs were suspended from the canopy with thin sensing and trip lines criss-crossing the entire area beneath them. The lines served two purposes: the first to momentarily slow down potential prey and the second to drop the large canopy webs. The suspended webs could additionally catch flyers that became careless or canopy dwellers that lost their balance without requiring them to interact with the sensing and trip lines.

To build these simple webs, Reya would first scale a tree up to the desired height in the forest canopy. From there, she would cast out two thick silk lines from the tree she was on to another nearby tree to form the scaffolding of her web to be. Balancing on the two lines, she would commence building her web from the center out, bowing the two lines with her weight in order to increase their tension as she wove the web using her middle-rear pair of legs as looms and both her pedipalps and forward pair of legs to weave. Her pedipalps would start building the center of the web and work out while her larger and longer forward legs would start on the outside and work in.

Once Reya had established herself in the center, it took her roughly twenty minutes to weave a web with an average diameter of one hundred feet. After the structure of the web was complete she would move to the edges and weight them with whatever material she could find. This was done in order to make the web fall quickly in the shape of a dome, ensuring that whatever had tripped the sensing wires would not be able to escape. The entire process, including the making of the sensing and trip wires, took less than an hour to do, meaning Reya could weave over a dozen of these a day.

Today though there was nothing waiting for her in the trap area. It was always disappointing when none of her traps rewarded her with food, but it was to be expected of the common traps. She never seemed to get a happy medium with them, alternating between having a minimal amount of catches or having nearly every web in an area writhing with prey. Reya's more complex traps, while requiring more time and effort to setup, almost always yielded better results than her common canopy traps.

Still, there is something to be said for quantity sometimes, she thought. Walking in to find a flock of glouteux writhing in her webs always made her day and provided a significant amount of food, despite the individual small size of the bird-like creatures compared to her.

Reya maneuvered around the traps, examining each one to ensure no repairs were needed and worked on grooming the webs themselves, cleaning up the variety of things that fell out of trees and found themselves trapped in her silk. These items made it easier to spot the strands of her web, and if enough clutter became trapped in them they could prematurely fall.

After spending an hour cleaning up her webs, it was time to start moving on. The next location Reya stopped at was setup the same way, and its webs were also devoid of any prey. Grabbing one of her meal orbs, she nursed the soup as she groomed this set of webbing. After spending the requisite time to clean them, Reya was starting to get disheartened. The day had now crossed from morning to afternoon, and she had nothing to show for it.

Hopefully though, things were about to change. The next site she was going to visit was one of her specialized traps, and a favorite one to boot. The trap was based on a similar concept to the weapon known as the S-Mine that she had learned of from the Settlement's history banks. Reya had been fascinated by mines, engineering ways to design her traps using the concepts of such weapons. This trap was started by digging out a cylindrical hole in the ground using her legs as if they were a post hole digging tool. She layered the inside of the hole with her silk to provide a rigid and smooth structure. By altering her hormonal levels, she changed the production of some silk glands, producing a rigid and stiff silk that she could coil and use as a spring. These springs would be instrumental in the design of the trap, and had required a great deal of painstaking effort to get right. The first time Reya successfully implemented it had led to her being giddy for a week.

With the hole made, Reya would build a web with a diameter of at least two hundred feet. Once constructed, she folded the edges inward until she had a much smaller package and attached sets of small silken springs to the structure lines of the web. Making a half cocoon like those for storing her liquidy soup, the web was then suspended inside and the springs attached to the structure lines were compressed against the shell, held in place by lines across the diameter of the cocoon.


Then she would make two very large and thick springs, one for the half-cocoon and the other for the cylindrical hole. Taking one of the large springs and placing it at the bottom of the hole, Reya compacted the half-cocoon with its contents down into the hole atop it to compress the spring. She compressed the other spring into the cocoon after sliding it into the hole. The entire ensemble would then be held fast by anchoring lines that were attached to trip wires, hidden by rearranging forest clutter atop the hole.

When the wires were broken, the anchoring lines would rapidly unravel or even snap and allow the cocoon to fly out of the hole, knocking aside the clutter that concealed it to be burst apart by the other large spring after a short upward flight. No longer held in place, the smaller springs attached to the structure lines carried the edges of the web out fast, far, and down. It took hours to build one and mere seconds for it to deploy, but despite that Reya rather enjoyed using them as their unconventional nature worked well to catch prey.

As she traveled to the mine-trap she nursed another one of her meal orbs, both to quell her rising hunger and disappointment at the lack of catches. She was going to need some more food soon, as the soup from the naga she'd caught earlier was almost gone and she would be molting within a week. Molting was a tiring evolution and her normally tough exoskeleton would be fragile for a day or two after the molt. She would need a food stockpile ahead of time so that she didn't have to go out in a weakened condition.

Reya had just commenced unraveling the now empty meal cocoon when she approached the site of the trap and heard muffled cries of distress. Perfect. The corners of her mouth curved upwards slightly at the quick change in her mood. Perhaps today won't be a wasted effort after all. Her blue eyes brightened at the promise of new prey just over the horizon, her pace quickening slightly as she got closer.


Big prey, big prey, big prey, big prey... the chant filled Reya's mind as she willed her potential meal's size to fill her upcoming needs. She forced herself to slow down once she got close, able to hear two people whispering back and forth but unable to make out their words. It was always a possibility that one of those voices was attempting to assist a potential prey, so Reya needed to approach cautiously.

Deciding to climb up a tree for the better observation angle rather than approach on the ground, Reya couldn't help but purse her lips in a silent whistle. Her trap had deployed, and entangled in the massive web was not one, but two giant elves. A female and a male. That alone wasn't enough to cause her reaction though as she'd had such lucky strikes before.

No, what caught her by surprise was the clothing that was strewn about the area and the two nude elves locked in a lover's embrace within her web. Reya's mind imagined the two as a couple, coming into the clearing for a little naughty fun away from any potential spectators and managing to trigger her trap in the process. Satisfied that it would be safe for her to approach, she dropped gracefully from the tree using a drag-line and landed silently near the edge of the web.

"Hello there! Just what were you two lovebirds up to?"

The female shooshed the male when they heard Reya's voice, both attempting to wriggle around to get a view of their new arrival. As the web wasn't actually suspended, they were able to move around and Reya waited patiently for them to lay their eyes upon her. The female let out a yelp and the male gasped at Reya's large and colorful form towering over them from the edge of the webbing.

"We... we were just out... e-e-enjoying time to ourselves!" The female shouted, her voice climbing to a shrill at the end of her cry. Her brown eyes were wetting with unshed tears as she looked up at Reya, her mind subconsciously recognizing the implied threat the dridder represented.

"Would you be willing to let Crete go?" asked the male, his features much more calm and collected than his female companion. Reya crossed her arms over her chest while she mused over his query. She didn't need both of them, one would be enough for her needs; the male was the larger of the two anyway, and his muscular body would provide more protein. It would be gluttonous to go for two elves in a week, but the idea did appeal to Reya a lot.

"Ok. Sure. I would be fine with that," Reya stated as she addressed the male. It wasn't totally true and she didn't need to reason with them, but she also didn't wish to become a glutton. "What's your name, Mr. Selfless?"

"I am called Lect. Please, don't mock me though. This is difficult enough already. Would you release Crete before you do... whatever you do? Its not like I can go anywhere." The elf's tone was a bit haughty, but Reya ignored it. She could forgive his attitude a little given his situation, and it really wasn't as if he'd be going anywhere.

"Very well, Lect. Give me a moment, and Crete, stay still. You moving around isn't going to make this any easier." The female elf had been writhing and wriggling constantly since Reya's arrival, and she was now even more entangled than she had been previously.

Humming softly to herself Reya set upon the webbing, using her large forward pair of legs to cut Crete out by first clipping the general outline of the elf, picking her up and gently landing her on the edge of the web. Moving in closer, she used her more agile pedipalps to start clipping and pulling the strands that entangled the elf from her bare body.

Reya was nearing the end of her task when Crete suddenly snapped up, the elf's balled fist catching her jaw and knocking her back in shock. Reya was nearly a third taller than the elf and several times her mass, but she had been leaning over her which had given the elf the chance to sock her a good one. The elf's left leg swept around to follow her punch, barely missing Reya's shoulder as she pulled quickly back and out of the elf's shorter reach.

Damn. I should have expected something like this. Letting the possibility of them fighting back slip past me... it shows that I've been getting lax. "You're certainly a quick one, Crete," Reya bluntly stated as she rubbed her sore jaw.

"Thank you, but flattery won't win you any points from me," replied the elf. Her demeanor had done a complete one-eighty, and Reya observed her carefully. She had a small and sharp frame much like a gymnist, her hips and ribs easily visible with hidden muscles that rippled beneath her supple white skin. Reya was also willing to bet she had some combat experience, observing as Crete rolled back and away from Reya after her kick missed and stood in a defensive stance that was obviously both comfortable and familiar to the elf.

Reya couldn't help but smirk at the elf though, one of her fangs tipping over her lower lip. It is truly laudable for you to defend your mate so, but engaging me in a fist fight will be the last mistake you ever make. Reya's smirk spurred Crete to action with a tch of distaste, the elf barrelling in at Reya's legs with her arm's outstretched.

This time though, the elf no longer had the element of surprise. Reya stepped into Crete's charge, using one of her forward legs to sweep outwards rapidly in a vertical sweep that the elf managed to avoid, lashing out with a kick that Reya caught in her hands and tossed harmlessly away from her body. Crete recovered with another sweep, catching one of Reya's forelimbs. Reya's hard exoskeleton handled the blow with ease, and Crete spun back and away again to build distance for her next attack.

Reya watched as Crete tried to circle around, attacking her from the side rather than the front with another hard charge. The problem for the elf was that Reya was naturally armored and her legs enabled her to strike from multiple angles, not to mention that even standing on her tiptoes Reya was still much taller than her. She couldn't get another hit in like the first solid connection with Reya's jaw. Reya held her punches, letting Crete tire herself out and simply tossed her back again and again.

"Ok... maybe you're more... than just another dridder..." the elf panted after another unsuccessful assault.

"Why, are you complimenting me now?" asked Reya with mock innocence.

Without waiting for a reply, Reya hopped towards Crete in a blur of motion as she lashed out with her forward pair of legs in a double sweep. The elf avoided the first leg-sweep as Reya had anticipated that she would, but the second limb caught her right below her ribcage and winded her, with Crete crumpling onto her leg. Wasting no time, she quickly spun the elf on her pedipalps and bound her with thick strands of silk.

"Well, that was sure a lot of fun," Reya stated with a cough, turning to look back at Lect. He had been silently watching the entire fight, unable to assist Crete at all and having to watch as Reya overpowered his mate. "I'm guessing you guys set this idea up when I was approaching?"

"Something like that," Lect replied, his tone much more subdued now.

Picking Crete up by the silk binding her, Reya brought the female elf up and held her before her face. "You fought well for someone at such a disadvantage, Crete. I'm afraid I'm going to have to go back on my word though," stated Reya, her voice quiet as her blue eyes connected with Crete's dilated brown ones.

"Just... please. Promise... ...that... you'll make it quick..." pleaded Crete, her breath ragged. Reya's large size combined with the powerful hydraulic action of her leg sweep had probably ruptured Crete's internal organs, though that had not been Reya's intention. The elf's breathing had not improved at all since Reya's attack. As she held her close, Reya released calming pheromones to help ease the elf's pain.

Nodding in acknowledgement to Crete, Reya sank her fangs into the elf's shoulder causing her to cry out softly in surprise. After a few short moments Reya released her bite, carrying the elf over and placing her next to Lect still tangled in her trap.

"She's only got a few minutes at most," Reya stated without emotion. "If you have something to tell her, now would be a good time to do it."

The couple did not talk though, as Crete's breathing slowed markedly. Lect reached out to touch Crete's hand, even though both his and hers were now bound in silk again. They continued to touch each other as Reya watched, Crete's eyelids fully closing as she took her last breaths. Lect turned his eyes back to Reya then, his face hardening into a scowl.

"Was that really necessary? Couldn't you have just knocked her out? I would have-"

"No, you wouldn't have. It was a clever ploy, and if I were your size Crete could probably have done enough damage in her surprise attack to drive me off. She had at least some knowledge of fighting. Do not aim your hostility at me now because your escape plan failed after your entrapment due to willfully choosing to ignore the dangers of this forest. A little foresight could have prevented us from ever having met."

"Pah. Dangers? This region has been safe to our kind for countless generations, you're the only danger here," spoke Lect, seemingly ignoring the rest of Reya's statement.

"I am most certainly not the only one. How many elves have fallen to the neko tribes now? There is no such thing as 'safe'. I should think that a race claiming to be 'predators' here would recognize that."

"Those infuriating nekos are an exception to the rule. They haven't learned their place yet, but we'll teach them. You can be sure of that. They're food, plain and simple. Our size ensures our place."

"My, my," said Reya, actually shocked at his statement. "How smug you elves have become. Your entire argument is based on a blind assumption; do you not see the hypocrisy of what you just said? I'm much bigger than you. If you're going to follow the 'might makes right' mindset, you should be offering yourself to me on a platter at this point. Such a foolish mindset; makes me think you were a human."


Reya deliberately emphasized the word, knowing from Cecaeda that most elves considered such a description to be a powerful insult. His response was to spit in her direction, which served to prove the albino elf had been correct about the reception it would garner.

"Be that as it may, there is still but one of you. We'll deal with you in due time, mark my words."

Exhaling in exasperation at Lect's retort, Reya moved next to him feeling that enough time had passed for her venom to be ready again. "Fare thee well, Lect," Reya said softly, her tone returning to its normal gentleness. She bit him on the shoulder just as she had done to Crete, lingering in her bite to ensure that he received the full amount of venom she could deliver. Despite what the elves might think of her, it was never Reya's intention to be cruel.

I don't expect them to like being prey. I know I would prefer to live, myself. Yet, if you're going to live here, you have to accept that being something else's prey is a part of that life. Size only buys you so much. If anything, it makes me more respectful of that little neko tribe with the human shaman.

Setting the quickly fading Lect onto the ground, she turned her attention back to Crete, positioning the elf's body into the shape of a ball and starting the process of spinning her silk about her. While she worked over the female elf she pulled another of her meal cocoons off of her back, peeling back the top to nurse its soupy contents as she prepared the two of them.

Shaking the thoughts that annoyed her in regards to Lect and Crete's ethos, Reya at least could take solace in having both elves after all. I know now I won't have to worry about my upcoming molt, at least. Not with two such large meals in stock.

~~~~~

"Aaahhhh," Reya moaned contentedly as she settled into her hot spring. The refreshingly hot water always felt good on her skin, and Reya had need of its relaxing qualities after her day. Reaching around behind her she pulled free the threads of silk that maintained her hair braided, allowing it to cascade about her shoulders and back.

Once she was comfortable Reya slipped a large towel-like object from shoulders and began to gently scrub her skin. The object was made of her silk, with a construction very similar to her defensive walls. It consisted of two layers of tiny silk strands woven tightly into a thick towel. Caked between the two layers was a granular substance that served as a washing soap, the one thing that was not made naturally here on Felarya.

The soap was delivered to Reya by Triela whenever she came to visit, making sure to bring enough to last Reya until her next visit. Reya had been unable to find something suitable to serve as a replacement in Felarya, and had been unwilling to give it up. The material served as a deep cleansing agent to supplement scrubbing alone and absorbed odors without supplementing one of its own. Additionally the soap aided in keeping her exoskeleton moisturized and healthy as well as glossy in its appearance.

It's no bubble bath, but it gets the job done, thought Reya. One of her earliest and fondest memories with the Authority had been her bath with Triela. Before she had been captured and taken away from Felarya, Reya had never put too much substance in baths. They were just a necessary chore to keep one's self healthy. Triela had changed her perspective on that. It would be the first of many such changes for her.

As she cleaned herself, Reya let her mind wander to the day's events. She had been reminded of several things she had nearly forgotten since her return. Though she had chastised Lect, she too had become a bit used to her position and relative safety. Crete had provided a solid reminder of that, but alone she hadn't been a match for Reya. This time.

Along the same line of thought, there was something that Lect had stated towards the end that was bothering her. At the time she had dismissed it as yet another idle threat, but now that she had the time to muse over it Reya wondered if it really had been so limited in its scope.


If the elves did band together against me, I doubt I could stop them all. I'd say the most I could handle simultaneously in a melee encounter is five or six. If they had more though, or from a wider range... Reya didn't like where that might lead. Her defenses around the nest had been sufficient to stop everything that had tried to make its way in before.

However, they could only slow down a determined opponent. They couldn't stop someone who was determined and had enough bodies to throw at the problem. That had not happened while she had been here, and for the most part there weren't any large enough concerted populations to assault her in the nest. The elves though... they could.

Reya continued to mull over her thoughts as she gently scrubbed herself down, paying careful attention to her more prickly portions. As she did so, another memory surfaced from when she had returned to Felarya. The first molt that had resulted in the growth of her spikes had provided a good deal of grief for her. Though they were still small, they got snagged on everything. Not to mention they were difficult to clean around. Her human arms were too short to reach everywhere on her body, so she had to use her legs to help... she couldn't help but smile now thinking of all the times she collapsed onto her side trying to find ways around her spikes.

Finishing her bath, Reya ripped up the washcloth into much smaller pieces and dropped them into the spring. The hot water combined with the larger surface area of the separated pieces would help them breakdown faster. Climbing carefully out of the spring and onto the bank, Reya glanced over herself to make sure she hadn't missed any areas, admiring the glistening sheen of her exoskeleton thanks to the water still clinging to her body.

Her inspection complete, Reya began making way towards her nest. Stopping on the way to expel her wastes again prior to bed, she let her mind drift back to the impending possibilities Lect had brought forth to her mind. If the elves do come for me... I will need to be ready. Of course, there could always be others aside, I should probably have tended to this possibility before.

Scanning the area around her labyrinth, Reya nodded to herself. I'll make this entire area a minefield, those seemed to have worked well in the past for humans. Traps of all sorts could be made, and so she would... tomorrow. Tonight, she just wanted to rest after her long day. Reya would need to get all of her preparations made before her molt, so the upcoming days held promise of a great deal more work than usual.

Entering her nest proper, Reya climbed up her anchor lines to the entrance of her orb, spinning another dew-catcher web as she pulled off the seal she had attached that morning. Wrapping the silk about her finger she sucked and slurped it up, consuming it even as she was making more to consume in the morning. The thought of eating and making it simultaneously always curled her mouth in a tiny smile; it brought to her mind the human phrase of "in one end, out the other" in reference to tunnel construction.

Complete with her morning treat, she slipped into her nest orb and settled down upon the padding, nestling her body and getting comfortable. Habit allowed her to weave shut and seal her orb again without sparing a single glance behind her, trusting her sensitive sense of touch to guide her silk properly. With the last chore of her day complete, Reya closed her eyes and allowed the gentle sway of the wind against her shelter to rock her to sleep.

Aidee was humming softly to herself as she looked across the expanse before her from atop the small rocky crest she rested upon. Her long flexible body was curled about the warm rock at the edge of a cliff face as she enjoyed the afternoon sun. Aidee's amber eyes were not focused on the beauty of the landscape about and before her though, her mind focused entirely on the rising spires of a human city across the way.

The human city was known as Negav, and the information concerning her newly adopted quest awaited her within its walls. Unfortunately, she could see no way to actually obtain the information she required and that no doubt awaited her. The human city was inaccessible for Aidee due to her large size. Not to mention the humans there wouldn't be very amicable to her presence, even if they knew she wouldn't be eating any of them.

Which means that simply visiting on a tour to seek answers to my questions will not work.

Continuing to gaze at the city, Aidee let her mind drift back to the past once she recognized the song she had been humming. It was the marching hymn of the great Insiannestam Guard, something near and dear to Aidee's heart. Up until recently, she had still been a part of the Guard and stationed at a remote outpost that had come under siege by the Correctors.

Aidee was still overwhelmed from the pain that came from knowing that the city had fallen. No, not just the city... my home. She could call it that. Of all the places and times Aidee had lived, she had never felt so at ease as she had within that great city. The one she looked upon now was nothing but a stain compared to the magnificence of her home, and she could not help but sigh from a sudden weight that tugged at her heart.

I should not be here. It seemed like an odd thought to have, but Aidee knew in her heart that it was what she felt, and the reason for her idling. I am from this time, but this is not my home. Through whatever accident had occurred during the siege, she had at last returned to her own time after a lengthy duration spent in the depths of long forgotten pasts whose records surely no longer existed.

This is not my place. I found a place to belong, and even though I know what the outcome of the war must have been, I wish I still could have been there. To fight alongside my friends... to have died with them in the name of the Guard... Aidee felt as though she had been cheated from her rightful destiny. The Guard had given Aidee a life she could never have dreamed of, and a legacy that none would ever know.

Aidee couldn't help but wonder if the current quest she had assigned herself was nothing more than a subconscious effort to distract and occupy her mind. It was true that prior to her encounter with the Akaptor Desert, she would have been eager to learn more about the odd stones that had the power to influence and control beasts. It would have been a worthy endeavor to pursue back then. It didn't really seem that way now.

Still, it is something to do. Reminiscing on the past will not help me to move forward. Even if it was but a short time ago for me, it has truly been thousands of years. My home is gone.

Sighing once again, Aidee allowed her eyes to refocus on the city of Negav. What I require is an envoy, she mused. Someone that can go in my place and trace back the information I have acquired to see if there is anything within to lead me to whom or what is trying to subjugate large predators for their own devices.

It was the best plan Aidee could seemingly come up with, but it had one glaringly obvious fault. Where do I get a willing envoy? Perhaps I should have asked that scholar from the caravan. I doubt I find another human at ease around me so easily. Picking herself up from her perch, Aidee began to stretch and limber up her body from the tightness that developed from having been at rest on the warm rocks for several hours.

Malingering about will not provide me any advance. Perhaps the answer I seek can be found outside of the city proper. Surely the scholar is not the only human to be at ease around giants in this realm.

As Aidee left the rocky crest and moved into the forest, the clinking of her armor and claws resonated off the hard and brittle rock about her. Unlike many others in Felarya, she did not concern herself with hiding or slinking about. Her days in the Guard had taught her to walk with purpose, even in the shadow of hopelessness. If something saw fit to assault you, meet it with a strong weapon and an unbreakable code. Training and experience would handle the rest.

After a few hours of walking along and having reached the foothills of the mountains, Aidee reached into one of the two storage sacks she wore about her powerful hind pair of legs. The bags carried the things she could not easily find on her travels, and in particular what she was reaching for were soulnuts. Compared to the light clinking of her armor and claws, the loud crack of her powerful jaws breaking apart the nut could be heard for quite a distance.

Typically, the soulnut would be too small for Aidee to even consider a food source. They grew from tiny trees in the forest, and the normal size would be minuscule for someone of Aidee's size. In the present time, the nuts were often used as a trade item by the feys for services rendered, who used their size-altering magics to increase their dimensions several-fold.

Aidee had another way of acquiring the wonderful nuts. Apparently they had been as treasured in the past as they were in the present, and the greatest minds of her home had been well-known for their inventions that used mixtures of both technology and magic. She carried within her bags one such invention - a talisman that was capable of altering the size of a specific designated item.

Since the device was only capable of altering the size of one thing and only to a certain extent, it had severely limited the practical applications until an exasperated fey in the Guard had suggested using one instead of coming to them for their magic. Soulnut alters were one of the higher markets of the talisman in question, and Aidee never traveled anywhere without it since she had acquired it. It had been easy enough to learn how to spot the type of tree that the soulnuts grew from to restock her supplies.

While the nuts were her favorite food, they weren't very filling. The delicious concoction contained within was quite wonderful, but it unfortunately wouldn't keep Aidee from getting hungry. Especially not considering their small size - even after enlargement they were no longer than a finger segment - and her fast metabolism. So while she was enjoying the succulent soulnuts, her other hand was busy picking the materials she would need to make a proper meal from the trees around her.

It was while she was picking up the parts of her next meal that she heard the unmistakable clash of weapons. It had become such a part of her life that she could always distinguish it from any other sound, even over the loud cracks of her favorite food broken between her teeth. From what she could hear both magic and melee were being employed by the unseen fighters. The intriguing part to her was the lack of other noise - there were no shouts or cries.

Aidee dropped the parts she had collected for her meal and sealed the bag on her leg. Her curiosity was getting the better of her but Aidee justified it with the possibility of perhaps finding an envoy for her quest. Extending her wings to reach for her lance that was tied about the armor of her abdomen, she approached the racket as she unfurled her weapon. This lack of noise is disconcerting, and means that it must be between sentients. Animals would make a racket. Who would fight here though?

It did not take long for her to approach a clearing in the forest, her amber eyes quickly scanning the area and taking in the chaotic scene before her. Three individuals were present, two females and a male. For the most part they looked human, but one of the females had a pair of brightly glowing horns growing from atop her head. The horned one wielded a pair of ornate pistols that spat powerful magic at the two others.

The other female seemed to have some sort of transformation magic, able to alter her form to make her arms or parts of her body into weapons to assault the other two opponents. There didn't seem to be anything else to her abilities. The third person in the clearing, the human male... he caught her attention. There is something familiar about this one... why? He wielded some sort of large weapon in a quick fashion and the random explosions around the clearing seemed to be his doing.

It wasn't until he stopped moving that her eyes widened in shock and she gasped in surprise. There is no way he can have that. Why does he have that? How could he have possibly obtained it? Before she even realized what she was doing, Aidee had stepped into the clearing and snatched the man up in one of her hands. She had to know... she just had to know who this man was.

Aidee was so intent on the man that she didn't even notice the two women who had ceased their battle to stare up at her with the same shocked expressions that Aidee wore looking down at the human male.

************

The clothing Kaede wore now was made of some sort of soft fabric that fit well against her, almost like a second skin. She was surprised at how comfortable it felt to wear, though the intended purpose of the clothing was very clear to her. It seemed to be inlaid with some sort of crystal that created a faint humming sound about her, and she imagined it was responsible for allowing her to walk around away from the 'reactor' without suffering.

Of course, while the clothing was comfortable it still felt alien to her. Kaede had not worn clothing in quite some time, and when it was combined with the cuffs about her wrists and ankles the secondary purpose was also clear. Kaede was a prisoner of these people, and they had demonstrated just what the metal cuffs were capable of - at what they stated was a 'reduced' setting.

Whether or not it actually was a 'reduced' setting was something Kaede did not wish to learn.

They had made their way off of the 'airship' she had apparently been teleported to through a series of tunnels and platforms. The place seemed to be an intricate maze of them, bustling with more of the strange creatures and the tall humans. The passageways were quite wide and would have allowed for several of the much larger creatures to pass at once. To Kaede, it was as if the passageway was actually a room that had been extended on two sides to form a tunnel - it was that large to her.

The walls and ceiling of the passageway were made of some sort of reflective, white material that was quite smooth to the touch. The floor beneath her feet was made of a polished black material, slightly rough in texture to Kaede's feet yet still able to produce a mirror-like reflection of those walking upon it. Kaede could not ascertain where the light that illuminated the hallway was originating from, and despite her new clothing the chill of the air made her shiver.

None of the entourage escorting her spoke to her as they passed through, though it was not as if Kaede was paying them any attention anyway. Her senses were focused on everything around her. Technology she could barely scarce to imagine was everywhere, something beyond any picturesque descriptions of ancient and forgotten societies as a child at the Academy she had been regaled with.

She watched the inhabitants come and go through doors like those of the place she had been delivered to before when she had eaten the one known as Triela, whisking open and shut by some unseen command. As if that wasn't enough, there were platforms at regular intervals where people would suddenly appear or disappear in a swirl of light and a cascade of sound. Kaede knew they must be some type of teleportal, but it was unlike anything she had ever heard of.

The one thing that did interest her about the inhabitants themselves was their lack of sound. None of them spoke or uttered a single word or noise. It was a bit unnerving, actually. How could so many walk around in absolute silence? How do they talk to each other? So far, the only people that had spoken to her were those currently walking with her, and even they did not speak now. To her or to those they passed.

Her thoughts of such things came to an abrupt end when the group reached a circular platform at the end of the hallway. The platform was even larger in diameter than the hallway had been, undoubtedly able to move several dozen at once. Perhaps even large equipment or supplies were also moved upon it.


Instead of the black floor like that of the hallway, the floor of the platform was white and blue, with several symbols etched into the surface in what appeared to be some sort of seal. Glancing about her, Kaede recognized those escorting her wore symbols upon their clothing that matched some of those etched into the platform, making her certain the design was indeed a seal of some sort.

The platform lifted their group up to the surface, the morning light surprising her with its intense glare. She found herself standing in what she recalled from the Academy was a human city with tall buildings that reached towards the sky and supported some sort of domed roof above them. Kaede began to doubt that she was still in Felarya despite what the others had said, as she could not recall such a place ever having been mentioned before. Surely she would have heard something about such a place before during her travels.

Between the buildings were pathways of the black material from the passageway from before and zones of natural growth, with trees and grass and flowers growing all about in a seemingly random pattern within the zones. The flora growing here was also unlike anything she'd ever seen before. For one thing the trees appeared to be full grown but were much shorter than the buildings around her. The flowers supported a dazzling array of color and contrasted greatly with the simplistic coloring of the buildings.

The part that surprised her most though was the noise.

Unlike everywhere else that she had been so far in this place, the creatures here were talking. By their size and stature Kaede reckoned they were the youth playing some sort of game in the large grassy areas. She was certain the humans present in the grassy areas were children, but it was more difficult to identify age with the other creatures. The racket almost seemed out of place to her now considering how silent everyone else had been. Kaede wondered why the youth would act in such a manner when the adults did not.

She was led through the streets of the city to one of the tall buildings, Kaede noting that the symbol etched onto the front matching the one that Triela had worn on her collar. The entryway seemed to be made of a material like glass, allowing the light of the day to flood the room. Judging by the thickness of the walls though, she was certain this 'glass' was really made of some other type of material. It was certainly thicker than any other glass she had seen.

The human at the front desk stood up and made an odd hand motion to the group as they passed by, leading her to a smaller rising platform with just enough room for their group that went back down under the surface. This platform did not have the same large seal as the other carved into it, but there were some symbols present that Kaede recognized from the other platform.

The platform came to a stop after a short travel time in another hallway similar to the one she had been in before, only much smaller in its size. It was also quite empty - unlike the first passage this one was populated only by their group. Kaede was led down the passageway and stopped before a depression in the walls that she recognized as one of the whisking doors. The one called Neare made a motion with his head as she watched, causing the door to whisk open and reveal a small, plain room. She could see that the room at least had a bed.

The large cat-like man named Ryrja turned to the human and the lizard-man, nodding to them both as he turned silently and walked away with most of the contingent of guards that had escorted her. That left her alone with the two guards from earlier in armor, the human woman named Anaja, and the lizard-man named Neare.

"Here be your stop lil' Kaede," spoke Neare at last, turning to face her and nodding towards the open entrance. "This'll be your room foa now. Just so that you be aware, this 'ere be the only entrance or exit. These two," nodding towards the two wearing armor and wielding the long bladed weapons, "shall be ya guards. If ya have need of somethin', you can just shout. Try not to waste their time."

Kaede nodded, taking a step into the room and turning back around to face the lizard-man. "Excuse me, Neare, but... is it possible for me to remove this suit here? I have a need to... well you know..." she said, becoming flustered and blushing. Kaede couldn't understand her embarrassment though, considering to whom she was speaking with and that she had been naked just recently before.

"You can give it a try. This room here shou' be sufficiently near the main reactor, so the fields should prevent the pain. Go ahead if you wish."

"I'm guessing I have to keep wearing these?" asked Kaede, motioning towards the rings about her wrists and ankles.

"That ya do, lil' missy."

"How am I supposed to take this thing off wearing these though?"

"The retaining cuffs are nanotech. That means they are made from countless tiny machines. They will allow the clothing to pass over or through as necessary, but will prevent you from removing them as they are bound to your unique physical signatures," spoke the human woman at last.

"So I just..." spoke Kaede questioningly as she tested one of her sleeves, her face revealing her surprise when her hand - metallic cuff and all - was easily pulled into the sleeve of the suit. She drew the arm out and held it away from the suit and her body, smiling to herself when the pain did not return.

"We need to be going. Those cuffs will monitor your health status, and should the pain return please acquire the attention of your guards. If it is not inhibiting you though I would just recommend putting the protective suit back on. We will return for you later," spoke Anaja. Anaja and Neare stepped away from the door which quickly whisked shut, leaving her standing alone before the now shut doorway.

Without wasting another moment Kaede quickly pulled the suit off of her body and dropped it to the floor. While it was comfortable it was also alien and a constant reminder that she was a prisoner, and since the pain didn't return without it she had no intention of wearing it. Walking the short distance from the entrance passage and into the room proper, she noted that aside from her bed the room was devoid of any furnishings.

Unlike the passageways, her room had some sort of carpet covering the floor. While it was similar to those from taverns and inns she had stayed at on her travels it was much softer than anything she had yet experienced. Continuing her exploration, she noted a pair of depressions in the walls. Walking up to the larger one first Kaede couldn't help but gasp in surprise as suddenly the depression whisked aside to reveal another, smaller room connected.

Get ahold of yourself! You should know by now these depressions are usually doors of some sort... stop acting so foolish. What if they're watching you right now?

Refraining from the urge to look about her to identify how her captors might be viewing her, she examined the newly revealed space before her. The smaller room was apparently a washroom of sorts, containing within it a sink, a structure resembling a toilet, and a cylindrical enclosed glass platform she assumed was the actual bath. A quick glance about revealed no faucets though, and Kaede was too tired at the moment to attempt to learn how the facilities worked.

Exiting the smaller room she walked over to the other wall depression, surpressing the urge to jump back or gasp when it too whisked aside to reveal a small compartment. Within the compartment were several metallic cylinders with some sort of alien writing describing their function. Kaede had seen such things before at human campsites and recognized the potential for food, her stomach quickly reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything in quite a while. At least, not that had remained in my stomach, at any rate.

Removing one of the cans from the compartment she walked over and sat down upon her bed, flipping the can over and testing the sides with her fingers to try and figure out how to open it without spilling whatever was inside. She was starting to get frustrated when she realized that one of the ends turned about, quickly spinning it off to reveal the contents. It appeared to be filled with several dozen small pellets that were a brownish hue in color.

Picking out one of the pellets, Kaede examined it with her fingers, testing the properties of the pellet. It was smooth to her touch but when she broke it apart the composition seemed to be of small granular particles that were 'glued' together somehow. Picking up one of the broken pieces, she squinted her eyes closed and dared to lick it.

Hey! This stuff isn't all that bad! thought Kaede, her eyes opening again and her features relaxing as she popped the piece into her mouth and sucked on it. It was filled with a variety of flavors she couldn't really place, but it actually tasted good. That or I'm just too hungry to care.

Shrugging her shoulders to herself, Kaede threw the other piece into her mouth and swallowed without preamble. She could enjoy the tastes later, right now she needed food. She picked up the cylinder in both of her hands and held it up to her mouth, tilting her head back and gulping down the strange food. Shaking the container to ensure nothing was left, she allowed it to drop onto the floor and collapsed upon the bed.

I wonder though, just what they are planning on doing to me. I've heard a lot of horror stories regarding fairies and experiments, especially in regards to those silly fairy hunters that try to capture us with nets. She shivered as she imagined herself being tortured with a variety of imaginative and alien contraptions that probed her body and caused intense pain.

I guess I'll find out eventually. I suppose for now I should just try to sleep. I wonder if they're really sincere about letting me go when they're done...

"Good day to you all, my brothers and sisters, esteemed elders and youngest apprentices. I've asked you to gather here to day to discuss the growing problems to the Reagere Tribe - both large and small."

The youthful and charismatic male elf was speaking to a large gathered group of twenty-some giant elves. While it was not uncommon for the Reagere Tribe to have such meetings, it was very uncommon to have so many present at once. The chosen speaker for the meeting was Ilon, the son of Sylael and Arihaltril and the two founders of Reagere.

Personally I think he's still just a snot-nosed-wet-behind-the-ears-good-for-nothing-greenhorn who's enjoying the lime-light, Cecaeda thought with a snort of derision. Looking about the gathering, she couldn't help but feel this was going to be another waste of her time when a whole bunch of her 'family' would rant and rave about what they might do to fix a problem.

Ignoring Ilon as he continued with the lengthy and completely unnecessary introductions, Cecaeda looked about her in boredom. They were gathered in the usual spot, what the Reagere Tribe considered the communal grounds. The Tribe had no village, as it would be difficult to support creatures their size living together in that sort of density. The grounds were a large rocky clearing just a short location from the elder's living quarters, and the layout was much like a natural amphitheater.

Three rows of 'seats' were present, uneven and uncomfortable natural formations forming a large arc about a mighty battal oak tree which a circular dais had been constructed about. The platform had a mural carved upon its surface with words written in the ancient tongues, long forgotten by tribes such as themselves. Supposedly it had been brought here by the founders in order to prevent its destruction, but the reasons for such a necessity were never spoken of. Upon the dais is where the speaker would stand, and no doubt the presence of the oak behind them was meant to convey a sense of power and respect.

Not that Cecaeda could feel such a thing for the current speaker. No, not this little brat. Ilon had been a ringleader of the little popularity groups that had beaten her in her youth, due to her unnatural skin tone. And they called me the abomination. Ilon had been quite ruthless, and once would probably have beaten her to death if Aerya had not intervened. Sighing, Cecaeda put her attention back on what Ilon was saying, the necessary formalities having finally been completed.

"As of late we have lost several of our brothers and sisters to these threats. It must have been the work of the Zagaru or the dridder - none others have dared to oppose us in these woods for generations. This week alone Lect and Crete have vanished without a trace, and despite our greatest efforts we cannot find them."

Why oh why did I let Gea talk me into this? I should have abstained like I normally do. Such a pathetic waste of my time. Of course you can't find them. If they don't return on their own, they won't be returning at all. Although, Reya, if that was you, you've been a little glutton. Cecaeda couldn't prevent a small smirk from breaking her facial features at the thought.

"To that end, we are gathered here not to discuss what should be done, but when it shall come to pass. Before Lect and Crete vanished, they revealed the location of the Zagaru's hidden village. With that, we solve but one of our two problems, and to be blunt, the lesser of the two. The nekos may be using the dridder's silk but I say it is safe to assume they are not in league with one another. However, we must ascertain the location of the dridder's nest as well, and soon, lest we be reduced to nothing at all."

Well, that is surprising news indeed. I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. A large group like that, even though the individual is little, was bound to draw attention to itself. Especially considering what they chose to hunt. I wonder how they've been using Reya's silk though... she never mentioned anything like that in our conversations.

"You needn't worry about that Ilon!" shouted a familiar voice, drawing Cecaeda away from her own thoughts. Her eyes focused on the new speaker, causing her to do a double-take. Gea? What sort of stupid stunt are you trying to...

To Cecaeda's horror, the dark-skinned elf pointed straight towards her, green eyes flashing with amusement. "Cecaeda here knows where to find her! She saved me just the other day from being one of her meals!"

No no no no no no NO! Not like this! How could I have been such a fool? I should have known better than to think Gea wanted me to come here just to listen in! Has this been her plan the entire time? Did I really underestimate her? No, that's not possible, she's too much of an airhead to be able to put something like this together!

"Really? Well, Cecaeda, do you think you could lead us to her nest?" Ilon's voice rang in her ears, and Cecaeda tried very hard to steady her rapidly increasing heartrate. She didn't need to panic now, she needed to think! Cecaeda could just feel the eyes of those present turning towards her.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Cecaeda answered with "I don't know the location of the dridder's nest. What I do know is what you all know, she never gives chase."

"So you just ran in, grabbed her, and ran out? I find that difficult to believe," spoke Aerya. "What really happened?" She was the most powerful magi of the Reagere, close to an elder in age, and Cecaeda admitted one worthy of respect. Not to mention during the times when it seemed like the entire tribe was out to get her, Aerya had always intervened on her behalf. It was a rather pathetic lie anyway, to be honest.

"Why is it difficult to believe?" asked Gea. "I mean, after all, she is in league with her. Isn't that right, Cecaeda?"

"What... did you say?" Cecaeda could not bring her voice above a whisper for her shock at what Gea was saying. There is no way this bumbling idiot could have...

"That's a rather dangerous accusation to make Gea," stated Aerya flatly. "What proof do you have of that?"

"I heard her, of course. She was talking with the dridder, scheming with her. They sounded like old friends, if you ask me. Even knew her by name."

"That's almost as difficult to believe as Cecaeda just waltzing into the dridder's nest and grabbing you before you could be a meal. I'm not aware of any dridder that would choose to align itself as such, what benefit could it possibly gain from having her as an ally?"

"Enough, Aerya. Gea speaks the truth." Ilon's voice again. It sounded much more smug to her now than it had before. Cecaeda turned slowly to face him, unable to mask her growing rage at the realization of just why she'd been asked to attend. And just who was really behind this. Not Gea. Ilon. You little fiend. Did you set this whole thing up? Were you the one responsible for Gea's intervention that caused me to be bound to her? It made almost chilling sense to her now, but it was far too late to do anything about it.

"Did you really think none of us would notice? Your clothing alone is enough to raise serious question. I was hoping you would at least come up with a better lie, something to give pause. Nyil, Eryr, bind her." Damn. I should have known better. I should have seen this. No doubt that airhead was a perfect little tool for him. Cecaeda didn't try to fight as her legs were knocked from beneath her, as the cold steel of a blade pressed against her neck.

"You're going to help us find her whether you like it or not Cecaeda. I always knew you were an abomination. If it pleases you, we'll leave your body behind with hers. Make no mistake, Cecaeda. For your treason you will die - the extent of your assistance will determine how slow the method. Starting right now."

She could sense Ilon turn around then, back towards the others that had gathered about her. "Come my brothers and sisters, for daybreak tomorrow we shall end these threats to our home once and for all. Every last one of them!"

Cecaeda blocked out the rest of his words, her mind whirling from the shock of it all. Oh Reya... I wish I had never mentioned Gea to you. If you had just eaten her, this would never have come to pass... Consumed by her emotions, she never noticed Aerya's gaze at her hunkered down form as she was bound, an unanswered question resounding in her troubled gray eyes.

************

"Good morning Nyselyn, Ion," spoke Liari as she walked up from the stairs to join them on the allure. She noted that both Ion and Nyselyn were wearing the same clothing as all their previous meetings, something that piqued her curiosity. Don't they have anything else to wear? At least they seemed to maintain good hygiene, even if they did always wear the same things.

The location they had picked to meet today was known as the Keep of Forgotten Knights, a segment of an older interior city wall. The wall was one of the oldest surviving walls in the city, some even believing that it predated the time of the Great Destruction. All along the parapet of the wall were remarkably preserved statues depicting humans, nekos, and elves in fanciful armors.

The reason for the name of the wall was due to the loss of the statue's placards. When the wall had first been constructed, stone placards had been placed at the feet of each statue to name the figure it represented and the story behind their lives. Only one such placard remained, protected in one of the city's more distinguished museums. The rest had been either destroyed or stolen at some point in the past. The problem with the surviving placard was that none could read it - the language upon it had long since been forgotten.

Liari had chosen the location because it was relatively untraveled, and though it was out in the open it was still a suitable meeting location. It presented a wonderful view of the city and the lands beyond. It also provided a special tug at Liari's heartstrings - she would love to know the story behind those stoic figures, and why so many races were presented. It was a rather uncommon element in the city of Negav.

<And to you as well, Liari.> came Ion's thought while Nyselyn merely nodded in greetings, showing Liari little interest. The woman seemed to default to her cold and emotionless ways upon each meeting, but Liari was happy to note that the amount of time she spent in such a manner was becoming less and less each time.

"It is a rather beautiful sight from up here don't you think? You can see quite a bit of Felarya from these walls."

<It is beautiful. But like every rose, this one has its thorns. The more beautiful the rose, the sharper the thorns will be.> Ion waved his hand out over the expanse, continuing with <The thorns of Felarya are as sharp as they come.>

"Waxing poetic on me, Ion? Careful now, you wouldn't want to give your companion a reason to get rowdy." Liari stepped across the allure and up to the parapet, joining Ion and Nyselyn against the ancient battlements. Nyselyn didn't rise to her baiting, which she found a bit odd. The last visit had required hardly any effort to set her off - though she did admit that at times during every meeting Nyselyn would slip back into a much more reserved stance.

"At any rate, I have come to a decision about your request." Liari focused her attention on Ion since she could at least read his expressions well enough. "I'm willing to accept it, provided you allow for a couple conditions."

"What conditions would you seek to place upon us?" asked Nyselyn, her voice quiet but intent.


"The first is the matter of defining my payment. You want a guide to help you through the lands of Felarya to find this settlement of yours because you're tired of waiting for them to show back up in Negav. I understand that, but you realize that Felarya is huge, right? This isn't going to be a quick trip, assuming we do find it."

"Agreed. So, what would do you ask for in terms of payment? We do not exactly have much to offer you unless we are successful in locating what we are looking for. If we are, then we shall have more to offer than you would know what to do with."

"I accept and understand that, given the situation you've described to me. Though I think you might be surprised with just what I could accept given what I've seen. So I offer you a compromise of sorts. During a journey such as this we shall no doubt encounter ruins, and some will be worth investigating for relics. My condition is that I be allowed to do so at my leasure for a period of no more than five days. I get to keep whatever I can carry without becoming a burden. I believe that will suffice for my payment, and if we don't find your settlement I won't be coming back empty handed at least."

"I see. So our payment is to be our wasted time, then?"

Liari couldn't help but growl slightly at Nyselyn's phrasing. Though she was focusing her attention on Ion, Nyselyn was doing all the talking - much like their first meeting. The woman's caustic tongue was really starting to grate on her nerves. She can be such a bitch. I'm not really asking for that much considering how much of my time you want.

"Hmph." Nyselyn flicked her head and tossed her long raven hair, a smile breaching her facade as her eyes flashed with amusement. "I told you that she has no patience, my master. She will get us into trouble, of this I have little doubt."

"What did you say? Did you just call Ion your master?" Liari felt her anger subsiding rapidly, though she was still annoyed. Apparently she had been the one rising for the bait today, and it had caught her off guard. All of that paled in comparison to Nyselyn calling Ion 'master' though, and she allowed herself to break eye contact with Ion to look at Nyselyn in shock. It was not a term she would have thought Nyselyn had in her vocabulary.

<It's her term of endearment. Don't think for an instant she would ever let me call her my slave. I think she would probably break me if she had the slightest notion I might be thinking of her that way.> Ion paused for a moment, sweeping his gaze between the two of them. <At any rate, I do not believe you wanting to stop for treasure hunting will be a problem. We are not expecting to arrive there in a short amount of time. What other conditions did you have in regards to serving as our guide?>

Shaking her head to clear her mind of the oddities these two continued to present her, Liari looked back to Ion. She justified doing so since he was the one who asked the question this time, but really she didn't want to look upon Nyselyn right now. The pale woman had crossed her arms and continued to smirk in satisfaction at having successfully incited her.

"I want to know for certain that those I travel with are capable. I did get to see a piece of what you are capable of during our initial meeting, but I want to have a better understanding of your capabilities before I decide to go on a trek through the forest with you."

"How intriguing. That was to be one of our conditions about hiring you."

Nyselyn's comment made Liari turn to look at her, shuddering slightly at the feral look of anticipation within the woman's multicolored eyes. If she can fight like she can intimidate, we won't have any problems at all.

<Nyselyn is correct. If you had not asked it of us, we would have asked it of you. Is there anything else?>

"I suppose not," said Liari as she turned back to Ion. "From our past meetings I feel secure enough with this proposition, and even if we don't find what you're looking for it's sure to be an interesting journey. So, when and where would you like to meet? I'm not to interested in doing so within the city, as I know I would draw too much attention. If you don't know of any places I'm sure I could suggest some."

"That will not be an issue. We will use our routine sparring grounds. We have made plenty of noise in the past without attracting attention. The only person who has stumbled upon them so far happened to be running away from a small band of mercs," spoke Nyselyn with a slight cough for emphasis. Don't Liari. Just don't. You know she's just intentionally inciting you.

"Very well, if you already have a place I don't mind letting you lead the way. When and where would you propose we meet?"

<It is still quite early in the day. Why not go now, before the heat becomes oppressive?>

"I am not averse to that, but I fear I'm not wearing the appropriate attire for such an outing," spoke Liari, motioning to the sundress and straw hat she currently wore. "Would you mind waiting for me here? My place is not far away, I could change and be back within the hour."

"Would it not be quicker for us to accompany you? Then you would not have to backtrack, and thus the process would be much more efficient."

"As much as I wouldn't mind your companion joining me at my humble abode, I have no interest in showing you where specifically I live. That little innate voice of my subconscious tells me that it would be a bad idea. I'll be returning shortly, if you can deign to wait that long."

Liari spun quickly around, not even waiting for a reply as she stalked off. She couldn't wait to get back home and change. Not when her afternoon was going to be filled with the pleasure of stomping all over that sanctimonious ice maiden.

~~~~~

As Liari spun about on her heels and stalked away, the sundress fluttered about her in a gust of wind that blew over the parapet and threatened to steal away the straw hat concealing her horns. The motion of the dress in the wind revealed the woman's nice curves and any bits of her legs that had been concealed by it, and Ion shook his head as he looked over at Nyselyn. Her face was stoic and emotionless as she too watched Liari walking away, revealing nothing of her thoughts as she turned to look up at Ion.

<You're terrible, you do know that right?>

<How is that? I thought you would like an invitation to her room. She misjudges me greatly if she thinks that I do not know where it is already. Shall I lead you to it? Humans like surprises, right?>

<That, my dear Nyselyn, is why you're so terrible.>

"Tch," the AI intoned, raising one of her hands to rest against Ion's cheek. <You would be misjudging me if you believed I would let someone close to you without being absolutely certain of their ability or intent. I do not believe you to be so foolish my master, so if you were you should keep it to yourself and allow me to assume you the wiser.>

Grasping her hand in his own and squeezing gently, Ion's gaze met Nyselyn's as she stepped up against him and sighed. <I knew that you would. Just promise me you won't get too carried away on her. She has power, but she's never dealt with something like you.>

<It would not be a good evaluation if she were holding back. By my calculations and interpretations of her emotions, I think we shall be treated to a good demonstration of ability.>

<T'was a rather mean way to go about it though, wasn't it?>

<You should know by now I am not adverse to such tactics. While I can emulate human emotion I am not chained by it as you and she are. I believe earlier you intoned that I might be lacking in the area of judging others? Perhaps you are the one that is misjudging the character of others. I have had quite the opportunity to evaluate hers and yours through these exchanges.>

Ion did a double take, actually shocked by Nyselyn's words. <Do you mean to tell me you've been... faking out this entire time with your display of emotion?> The thought had never occurred to Ion, and it hurt somewhat. He had believed that her display of emotion was genuine and a sign of her evolving further.

<Are you displeased with that, my master? You should not think so light of me, for I am not so shallow. I do not mind allowing her to guide us, my evaluation of her character is already complete. I merely wish to see how she handles battle.> Nyselyn's thoughts paused for a moment as she nestled her head against Ion's chest, breaking their eye contact. <If you must know, I did not fake all of it.>

<I see.> Ion sighed, wrapping his free arm around Nyselyn's back and stroking her hair. <I suppose... that I was just hoping for something more.>

<I am not some child to be educated by you, my master. I shall do as I please.> Nyselyn stepped away from him then, resuming their previous eye contact. For a moment her expression was unreadable to even Ion, before her eyes glinted with amusement. <If it pleases you, shall I focus on you in our upcoming session instead of her? Liari can be your naughty little nurse to coax you back to health.>

<That's not funny, Nyselyn.>

<Au contraire, my master, I find it to be a most amusing thought indeed. Do not deny you would enjoy it. What say you of my emotional development now?>

<I think I gave you too much free reign when I told you to simply observe all those years ago.> Ion sighed with exasperation, turning back to look out over the city. Behind him Nyselyn giggled at his own display of emotion before moving to stand beside him, but chose not to speak any further.


Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to her, if I've been getting so distracted as to not notice her actions. Just what is she hiding from me? It has something to do with Liari, but what? And what did she mean by including me as well? She's been acting differently ever since she realized my intentions after sending the Settlement to Felarya... Even more so since meeting Liari... Have I been mistaken all this time as to the manner in which she changed?


His eyes fell to her form in his peripheral vision, his mind mulling over the concerns she had raised within him. For some reason, the words she had spoken to him after forcibly resulting in his arrival in Felarya replayed in his mind, and Ion knew that he would be needing to reevaluate just what she had meant back then.

~~~~~

Liari returned to Ion and Nyselyn within the hour, just as she had promised that she would. Having changed into her more typical explorer garb, she was ready to give the pale woman a demonstration of ability she wouldn't soon forget.

They had proceeded without speaking for most of the way, which was a little surprising to her. Its as if the atmosphere has changed... I wonder if something happened while I was away? As usual, it was impossible to discern what Nyselyn was thinking. Ion's on the other hand was easy to read at the moment, and struck her as deep contemplation. What got you two so quiet anyway? This is boring.

While it was true that talking in the wild was not the safest strategy, they were currently still within the radius of effect from the Isolon Eye. If something did come across them, they would likely be able to handle it without great difficulty. It wasn't like they were walking through the middle of the Fairy Kingdom. Still, Liari opted to not break the silence for the time being. There would certainly be plenty of time to talk on their trip.

Liari didn't recognize the clearing at first when they stepped into it, as all the signs of the previous scuffle had been overcome by the jungle as if nothing had happened. It also seemed to be a bit further than she remembered, as it took them near two hours to reach it. She noted that the clearing itself remained void of life, which intrigued her a bit. The forest had no issues reclaiming the area up to it, but for some reason no life permeated into this particular spot.

"We're here," spoke Nyselyn. She continued to walk into the clearing as Ion stopped near the edge, activating some device and causing the ornate hammer she had seen him with when they first met to materialize into his hands. Taking the hint, Liari unholstered her own pistols, their familiar weight a comfort in her hands.

"You should go stand over there Liari," she spoke again, pointing to the opposite side of the clearing. "This is going to be done like the typical sparring matches that myself and Ion have on a routine basis. Only with an extra person this time, so you will be on Ion's team. Since this is to be a test of ability and is also your first time sparring with us, I will endeavor to not break any bones or maim you."

Do... what? Had she just heard that little mouse of a woman right? No, she must be hearing things... though the idea of being on Ion's team sat well enough with her. "Why, you're certainly full of yourself Nyselyn. It'll be my pleasure to knock you off that high horse."

Nyselyn looked at her for several long moments after her comment, long enough to make her feel awkward. Then she smiled, her eyes glinting with genuine amusement. Wow. She actually makes looking happy be scary. "You are certainly welcome to try, Liari. Try as hard as you can, in fact. That would be the point."

Just what have I gotten myself into? What is she anyway, to be so certain of herself? Liari turned to look upon Ion only to notice that he was holding his hammer at the ready, his hands tensing on the shaft's grips. Why does he look concerned...

<Liari, you would do well not to underestimate her. I would recommend preparing yourself.> Ion's thought-voice pervaded her mind moments before Nyselyn shouted "Begin!" In that instant, Nyselyn completely vanished from her previous location across the clearing, causing Liari to gasp in shock. Damn, she's fast. Just where did she-

Liari was never allowed to finish the thought, as a great force lifted her from the ground and tossed her like a rag-doll across the clearing, catching her off guard and winding her. For several moments the only things Liari was aware of was the hard ground beneath her and the smell of disturbed soil about her. Her skull was still reverberating from the impact with the ground when she looked up to see Nyselyn and Ion battling across from her. Her arm was... a giant blade? What is she? And how was she so damn fast?! To hell with that!

She certainly wasn't about to allow the rest of the fight to continue in such a manner. Rolling to her feet she blasted at the little witch of a girl with the full power of her hand cannons, sending massive bursts of energy down range. It seemed that her aim was a little off though as Ion had to block one of her shots with his hammer, and none of them hit Nyselyn. No doubt from the mild concussion I just received~.

The assault caused Nyselyn to switch her attention to Liari instead, blinking out from next to Ion and reappearing before her twirling about with the massive blade. She dodged and fired, only to scowl in disappointment as Nyselyn easily dodged her blasts and knocked her back to the ground with the back of the massive blade. Before Nyselyn could bring it down atop her head though, a mild explosion detonated above her body and in front of Nyselyn, seeming to momentarily catch her off guard.

Ion was there in the next instant, his hammer meeting her blade and the two of them standing off above her collapsed form. Not to be outdone, Liari twisted and fired her two cannons at Nyselyn beside and above her. There's no way she could have dodged... what?! The lace of Nyselyn's golden dress had seemingly come alive, forming a fan that absorbed the energy of her bolts while her free arm changed into a second, smaller blade and swiped low to catch Liari.

Quickly rolling over and cartwheeling herself out of the way, Liari looked down to notice that the sleeve of her shirt had been sliced clean in half by Nyselyn's swipe, causing a bit of both shock and fear to manifest in her mind. This is... how they normally spar? You've got to be kidding me! If I didn't know any better, I'd say Nyselyn was out for my head! Taking a few moments to adjust her breathing and get her emotions under control, Liari watched as Ion and Nyselyn flung themselves at each other again and again, blade against hammer.

While it looked like a stalemate at first, Liari noticed that each time Nyselyn seemed to be slightly overpowering Ion, even once causing him to skid back with the force of one of her blows. What... is she? No, really?! That's just crazy. She's like, a third smaller than him - in height - and he's definitely got her in mass. How can she be so quick and powerful? Liari couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy watching them, noting to herself that they were obviously well studied on combat. She wouldn't need to worry about traveling with them, to be sure.

I underestimated you, Nyselyn, but that won't happen again, I promise you that! Liari was not about to be outdone in performance, and even if she was fast Liari had the advantage of range. Ion couldn't focus on both using his explosions and the hammer it seemed, but Liari could certainly focus on her two beloved weapons. Taking a deep breath she leapt into action again, blasting at Nyselyn when she and Ion broke apart momentarily. I just need to stay out of her range!

Nyselyn seemed happy to change her targets once again, giving Ion a momentary reprieve to catch his breath after a particularly haranguing assault. Liari alternated the blasts of her cannons, changing between powerful blasts of energy and spreads of ice shards to try and catch Nyselyn off guard for even a moment. The woman was seemingly capable of avoiding her, and Liari had apparently been mistaken about her range - Nyselyn merely altered the the form of her arm from a large blade to that of a long pike, forcing her to continue moving about and not giving her a chance to aim.

Another motion in the peripheral of her vision attracted her attention after another unsuccessful assault on Nyselyn, her body coming to an abrupt halt as she realized that the motion had been the sweep of a giant hand, and that Ion had been captured by said hand. Such a thing wasn't uncommon in Felarya, but Liari had not been expecting such an event this close to Negav. Across from her Nyselyn had also seemingly noticed the new presence, halting her attack to spin around and stare up at the new arrival.

The creature that had just arrived was wearing a set of shimmering silver and blue armor, and brandishing a mean looking giant lance with the arm she wasn't currently using to hold Ion. A pair of long antenna sprouted from between locks of short blond hair and seemed to warble back and forth near Ion. A tauric insect of some sort, she had six legs and a long, slender body that Liari didn't recognize at first.


Her mind informed her through her shock that what she was looking at was a Eurhyssa, though Liari had never had any personal dealings with them. What she did know was that they were supposedly capable warriors... and there was something else too. Something important... though for the moment it was all Liari could do to watch, as if time had stopped for everyone in the clearing. The Eurhyssa was staring down at Ion in her hand with shocked amber eyes, almost as if she recognized him.

At least she doesn't look hungry-

"MASTER!!!"

Nyselyn's fretful cry seemed to break through the reverie and spurred Liari to action. We have to get Ion out of her hands and fast! Even as she was spinning about to bring her pistols to bear on the new threat Nyselyn's body exploded apart, becoming a cloud of silver that sparkled in the light streaming through the trees and soared up at the giant Eurhyssa.

Nyselyn's attack proved ineffective though, as the Eurhyssa caused a massive wind with her smoky-clear wings that blew the fragments of Nyselyn's transformed body apart and scattered them across the clearing. Liari was also blown about by the intense current caused by her wings, and when she regained her bearings Liari found herself facing the business end of the Eurhyssa's spear. The smaller of the two bright-silver spearheads was hanging just above her body and ready to strike as the Eurhyssa's amber eyes focused on her tiny form.

Damn. This wasn't good. Not good at all. Their journey would be rather short lived if Ion got eaten before it even began. Not to mention a real waste of potential, a more primal side of her brain urged causing her to blush.

<STOP. All of you, just stop! There is no need for this!>

While Ion's voice in her mind was a welcome thought, she couldn't really fathom his words. No need for it? Nyselyn's body had reformed next to Liari's in the meantime, her red and green eyes staring up in worry. Apparently his words had not only been aimed at the two of them though, as the Eurhyssa seemed even more shocked than before, with her attention returning to the man held captive in her hand.

"Was that you just now? Speaking, in my mind?" The Eurhyssa's voice was surprisingly calm, a mature and rich voice that reached out whilst still being relatively quiet.

<Yes.> Came the next thought, followed quickly by <Nyselyn, Liari, calm down. She's a Eurhyssa. They don't eat meat, so you don't need to worry about me. I don't suppose you'd be willing to put me down though?>

Of course. That was the other thing about them. Liari felt like smacking herself for her own silliness - she had known that fact already.

"My apologies. It was not my intention to cause alarm. I acted recklessly and on impulse," spoke the Eurhyssa, though she made no movement to set Ion down. She did at least move her lance away so that it wasn't pointed dangerously close to Liari's head.

"If that's truly the case why don't you set him down," asked Liari, feeling emboldened without the lance pointed at her. "Holding him like that makes him your hostage."

"Not quite yet. I have something to ask," she stated, opening up her palm to provide a platform for Ion to stand on. She continued holding him up in the air however, and now that her hands were no longer inhibiting her motions the antenna atop her head actively seeked Ion out, tapping against his body.

<What do you need to ask of me? I cannot recall having ever met you before.>

"Your weapon. Where did you get it and how long have you had it?"

<My weapon? You mean this hammer? I have had it since my discovery of the starship graveyard at C135-B. The same place I acquired Nyselyn's pearl.>

"I have not heard of such a thing. What is a starship graveyard? What does C135-B mean? Could you tell me where to find them?"

<It is not a place accessible to you. C135-B is an astronomical classification dictating a location in the dimension I originated from. A starship graveyard is a reference to forgotten wrecks of spacecraft - you could think of it like a set of ruins in Felarya - in my case it was a fleet of derelict alien craft surrounding a fractured world.>

"Ruins from another dimension, you say? How interesting." The Eurhyssa fell silent, her face contemplative with her eyes appearing distant, as if she were staring off at something that the rest could not see. Her eyes regained focus after several moments of silence, looking back at Ion. "Was it just laying about, or did you acquire it via other means?"

<It was something that just appeared. Whilst exploring one of the larger vessels in the graveyard I entered a large circular room with a high dome structure, and in the middle of the room was a glowing crystal. The more I approached it, the brighter it glowed. When I reached out to touch it, I lost consciousness for several hours. When I came to, the crystal had vanished and instead this hammer and the object I refer to as Nyselyn's pearl were laying beside me. I have carried them with me since that time - for some reason, it felt correct to do so. Most of the foundation for the technology used by the Authority comes from items I discovered in the ruins, but those two items I felt somehow belonged to me alone.>

"That is... most interesting. You felt it belonged to you? As if it had always been yours? I wonder..." While she was talking she moved to set Ion on the ground next to Liari and Nyselyn, seemingly talking to herself and not to any of them.

The instant Ion was on the ground again, Nyselyn moved up beside him and looked up at him, placing one of her hands against his cheek. She wondered whether or not they were speaking to one another mentally, in such a way that she was unable to 'hear' them. I just don't understand those two. I can't figure their relationship out. Liari sighed as she turned about to look up at the Eurhyssa, who was merely watching at this point.

Placing her hands on her hips, Liari decided it was time to make some sense out of what just happened. It looked like Ion and Nyselyn were off in their own little world and the Eurhyssa wasn't talking anymore so it was up to her. Speaking of, she still had no idea what her name was.

"Excuse me, but just what was all that about? What's so special about Ion's hammer? Also, do you have a name, or shall we simply refer to you with third person pronouns?"

The Eurhyssa's head immediately snapped over to look at Liari, her amber eyes burning straight through her. Ok, maybe the direct approach wasn't the best of ideas. The tauric insect-woman stared her down for what felt like an eternity before she smiled, knelt down and laid herself out onto the ground. Her entire body was covered in armor, yet it seemed that both her body and the armor had some flexibility as she curled herself around them in a wide arc.

"Normally, I wouldn't permit such behavior in my presence, yet to speak against it would make me a hypocrite after my own actions earlier. So I shall yield this one to you, little one. I am known as Aidee. What might your names be? I assume one of you is called Nyselyn and another Liari, since he mentioned them earlier, but I do not know which name belongs to which person."

As she spoke she reached to her side to pull off a piece of cloth that had been wrapped around one of her middle insect-like limbs and started wrapping it back around the bladed ends of her lance. Part of Liari couldn't help but to be interested in Aidee's weapons and armor - it was unlike anything she had ever seen or heard of. And Liari had seen and heard of a lot.

"My name is Liari," she said, indicating herself with her hand before pointing over at the other two. Nyselyn was no longer touching Ion's face, instead having moved to stand beside him which made Liari feel a little less awkward about introducing them. "Those two are Nyselyn and Ion - Nyselyn is the woman, and Ion is the guy you-"

"ION?! Your name is Ion? That cannot be coincidence. Do you by chance... remember me? Can you not remember the Insiannestam Guard?"

It sounds like... she knows him? But what is she talking about? I've never heard of this Guard... The instant Liari had mentioned Ion's name though, Aidee had immediately lowered her head right down in front of his body, her voice a whisper of shock and her eyes wide... with hope? Ion looked as lost as Liari felt though.... damn this is all really confusing. None of it was making any sense. At least Nyselyn was maintaining her typical stoic appearance. How nice it must be to have an on/off switch for emotions.

<I'm sorry... but while I know of your kind, I can't say I've ever met you specifically. I only learned of Eurhyssa after Nyselyn dragged me into Negav. I certainly don't recall this Insiannestam Guard you speak of, either. I'm sorry.>

Aidee pulled her head back then, sitting back up and looking down at her reflection in the halfway wrapped blade of her lance. Liari thought she looked as if she were on the verge of breaking down into tears. "How... you have his name... and his weapon... how can you not know... even though you don't look like him, how could you not be him?"

Liari couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for the Eurhyssa. Aidee looks so crestfallen... So, his hammer and his name are things she recognizes? Or at least, she thinks she does. I wonder how that could be though, as Ion and Nyselyn are not from Felarya...

After staring blankly at her lance for several minutes, Aidee shook herself visibly down the length of her entire body, even buzzing her wings slightly. This time though the wind generated was more like a summer breeze, and Liari professed it felt good against her flushed skin. She had almost forgotten that before Aidee's interruption they had been having a no-holds-barred battle.

Aidee went back to wrapping up her lance, remaining quiet as she did so. Liari couldn't think of anything to say though, and it seemed as if Ion and Nyselyn weren't able to come up with anything either.

So they waited.

When Aidee had finished wrapping up the spearheads of her lance, she gingerly lifted her wings and placed the lance along her long abdomen, lashing it tight to her armor with straps that seemed to have been installed for just that purpose. When she was finished, Aidee turned back to the three of them, her face a mirror of Nyselyn's expressionless self.

"I am... I must apologize for my behavior. It has been most obtuse of me, and is not fitting with how I should behave amongst others. Please accept my most humble apologies." She paused for a moment, but Liari could tell that she wasn't finished speaking yet so she continued to wait.

"I know it might seem even more obtuse of me to ask this, but if I may I would like to request your assistance with a quest of my taking. You said you were from Negav, correct? If you can help me with my duties in completing this quest, I shall repay you in kind with my service as a knight."

"What sort of assistance do you require?" asked Nyselyn, followed quickly by Liari with "And how long would this service of your repayment be?"


Liari did not know what the giant would need in Negav, but to have an escort like her to aide them when they set out to find Nyselyn's pearl would make things much easier. There was something to be said for size, particularly when it was backed with combat experience. Even if she seems a bit addled in the mind... one doesn't simply get armor like hers by chance. That stuff looks custom fitted, and they wouldn't give it to someone who couldn't fight.

"My size prohibits me from entering the city, yet that is where the trail of my information leads. I have for some time been encountering creatures that are being controlled by the use of strange gems. In every encounter, the controlled creatures were used to attack others - so it is safe to say that whomever is behind their use does not have benevolent intentions in mind. I need someone who can enter the city as my liaison, and learn what they can of these gems."


Aidee paused after her reply, turning her head slightly to focus on Liari. "As for how long my service would last, I do not have any quests besides this one. If Negav does not have the answers I seek, I would simply search about for new leads to follow. If you are adventurers, which you appear to be, then you will no doubt be leaving Negav on your own anyway. There is no difference between searching myself and following you. I would then remain in your service until I have learned of another lead to follow, and I would only leave your service at a safe location."

Oh yeah. This isn't looking bad at all! Liari couldn't believe this turn for the better. I mean, how hard could it be to find a gem that a giant was looking for?

"What do you know of these gems, Aidee? You say they are used to control beasts, but what led you to believe they are to be found in the city of Negav?" Uhoh, Nyselyn's in interrogator mode. Liari sighed to herself in remembrance of some of her question and answer sessions from their first meetings. That girl doesn't know when to stop sometimes.

"I know what I've seen of them, as well as the latest information I received from a scholar traveling to the Academy of Sentinels. Given the chance to analyze them, she informed me they were filled with powerful magic and laced with ascarlin, something that she believed only the humans known as the Ps'isol Magicrats would have access to create. I seek to learn if indeed the gems are being manufactured here, or perhaps distributed through here. Those that I have seen would seem quite large, the size of two or three people your sizes standing together."

"The Ps'isol, you say?" Now Liari was interested. Even if that particular bit wasn't true, something that was as large as Aidee described being laced with ascarlin could provide the potential to uncover some individuals with very, very, nice things. Things that she could acquire when the original owners no longer had need of worldly possessions. If those owners were sanctioning actions to catch the attention of a Eurhyssa warrior, then she highly doubted anyone would miss them when they were gone.

When Liari ceased her own line of thought and started paying attention again, she was surprised to note that Nyselyn hadn't asked any more questions. The woman was rather quiet, her eyes flicking between Ion and Aidee. Now I know they're talking again... and leaving me out of the conversation. It was a bit annoying to her, but she had to admit such a communication technique had a spectacular advantage - only those you wanted to listen in could.

<Liari.> Ion's thought brought her out of her sulk before it had a chance to really begin, as he continued with <I think we should help her. We were going to return to Negav anyway before we set out. Delaying a few extra days will be of no major consequence to us, and having her as a bodyguard could be very advantageous. What say you on the matter?>

"You actually have to ask her? The answer is clearly written on her smitten face."


ARGH. She can be such a bitch! Ignoring her baiting was difficult, but with a purposeful cough to clear her throat Liari turned to look at Ion. "I don't have a problem with it. It's not like I was intending on setting out right away if you'd accepted my conditions. At the very least I'd have needed to check my supplies to ensure I'm good for the trip and make sure my apartment was secure anyway."

"Mm. Such restraint. Mayhaps I was mistaken, my master." How was it possible for someone to completely lack emotion and yet come off as incredibly smug at the same time? Argh. To hell with the predators, she's going to be my end.

"Does that mean you are willing to help me then?" Aidee asked, speaking for the first time in several minutes - since she had answered Nyselyn's question, in fact.

<Yes, we will. Or more specifically, they will.>

"They?" "Us?" Nyselyn and Liari both asked simultaneously, their eyes locking onto one another.

<Indeed. I intend to stay here and have a chat with Aidee. You two can go have a girl's night out.>

Oh... wow. If looks could kill.... then Nyselyn just committed genocide, Liari thought, as she shuddered under the gaze the woman swept from her to Ion. Her head turned slow and purposeful - like a gun turret - honing in on its target.

<There's no need to be like that, m'dear.> Liari wondered if that was a reply to Nyselyn's behavior or something she had said to him through the thoughtspeak she couldn't hear. <Consider this a continuation of your evaluation, since the other one was cut short by Aidee here.>

A twitch resounded through Nyselyn's entire body as she turned to look back at Liari. "Very. Well. Master." Nyselyn's short and clipped tones did not bode well for her, and Liari was already starting to like this investigation of Negav for the Eurhyssa much less than she had before. I wonder if they're talking to each other right now too.... If they are I'm kind of glad I can't hear it. Maybe she could learn more about the woman's power - she certainly had a unique one.

"Come Liari," spoke Nyselyn, motioning for her to follow. At least she doesn't seem mad at me in particular... she thought, moving to follow Nyselyn as she walked away. Well, at least this will be a good test of whether or not we can put up with each other in the future... I wonder if that was Ion's intention? The question tugged at her mind as they left Ion and Aidee behind.

~~~~~

"Why did you stay behind?"

Ion turned around to look up at the creature who had asked the question, the only one besides him now in the clearing. Nyselyn and Liari had been gone now for several minutes, well out of earshot.

<I have no recollection of my parents or how I came into being - merely that of being found abandoned on a beach and nearly drowned. Yet you recognize this hammer and my name. I want to know why you think I should know who you are. Perhaps I do and just am not aware of it.>

"I knew someone once named Ion... well, that was his nickname. He wielded a weapon identical to yours - albeit much larger. We served in the same command structure, you could say. Like you, he spoke without speaking - talking through thoughts. Unlike you, he was not human."

<Hmm. Then again, perhaps not. I'm relatively certain I have always been a human. Of sorts. Also, my inability to speak came from an event later in my life - I was able to talk normally like any other human once. Would you still be willing to tell me about the Ion you knew?>

Aidee's amber eyes stared at him for several long moments before she extended one of her palms to him with a sigh. "I suppose I do not have a good reason to withhold the information from you. However, I was in the process of making dinner when I ran across your battle and dropped what I had prepared, and now I find my hunger returning. So I'll tell you whilst recollecting the ingredients."

With Ion centered in her hand, she raised him up and placed him in a dip of the armor between the neck and shoulder joints, pushing herself up from the ground with her insect-like limbs. Using her hands to push her long antennae gently back against and over her head, she turned and started walking into the forest and away from Negav. Ion looked up from his perch when he felt the warmth of her breath wash over him, watching as her amber eyes searched for the correct ingredients for her meal.

"I met him in a city called Etermaren..." Aidee began, and for the rest of the day she continued stopping her story only to eat, Ion listening intently the entire time.

"Papa, what was that all about," questioned a gentle and youthful feminine voice.

The owner of the voice revealed herself to be a small-framed, fine-featured, blue-furred neko as she slipped past the thick fur acting as a door. She was wearing a loose, short-sleeved orange shirt captured by a form-fitting blue and white vest that framed her small but proportionate bosum. The vest overlapped the waist of a pair of loose and flowing culottes that terminated just above her knees, orange in color with white racing stripes down the seams of the sides. Her feet and hands were wrapped tightly but not uncomfortably in white cloth, with only her fingers and toes visible.

Like most of the Zagaru nekos, her body was covered with a thin coat of fur, a soft fuzz that in her case was a deep sky blue in color, such as one might find on a clear day at twilight. Her arms, legs, tail, and hair graduated in hue to be a bluish-white, as though her fur were clothing that had been washed many a time in harsh water and had faded away. Her irises were a bright green that glowed in the dark, reflecting the low light even hidden as they were behind large dilated black discs in the low light of the tree house as they swept about, seeking her father's figure amidst the darkness.

"What would you speak of, Asurette?"

"Do not play coy with me papa. You know of what, no, whom I speak." Asurette tapped her wooden staff against the hard floor, causing the entire room to be bathed in a bright light and revealing the gray-furred neko sprawled out on a nook in the tree serving as a seating surface. He let out a startled yelp of pain when she lit the room, covering his eyes - one of which was swollen and black.

"I made a suggestion to our mistress. That is all. She's currently going out to act upon it."

"Haaaa," she sighed. Asurette leaned forward on her staff, a look of exasperation on her face. "Truly papa, you would do well to watch what you say in her presence. If you're going to insult her the least you could do is stand outside the immediate reach of her arm."

The staff she leaned upon was nearly a head taller than her, a nice stout piece of treated battal oak that seemingly grew about a crystal sphere near its crown. The sphere glowed and suffused with a variety of colors and tones, seemingly mirroring Asurette's own emotions. A heirloom passed down by generations within the Zagaru tribe to those who demonstrated great magical ability over multiple spectrum, the origins of the staff had been long since forgotten.

"Asurette, are you just going to lean on that thing or put it to use? Your father has a rather nasty headache and that bright light isn't helping at all."

"Perhaps I shall leave you with your prize instead, papa. You surely earned it. So what did you ask of our mistress this time?"

"I merely asked of her to be our ambassador. There is trouble coming to us, and soon, Asurette. We will need to have resources beyond our means if we wish to weather the coming storm."

"You believe it will be soon then?" Her eyes had widened at his statement, but they narrowed quickly again as she leaned slightly more forwards. "Oh no you don't papa. You're not getting out of this so easy. What did you send the mistress to do?"

"I sent her to go talk to the dridder."

Asurette nearly fell over at the simple statement - fortunately, she had already been leaning on her staff. "Ahk. Ahhh. Haaaaah. Papa, I think I misheard you. I think I just heard you say that you sent our mistress alone to go talk to the dridder. I cannot believe you would do that."

"Yes, Asurette. That is precisely what I did. Because out of all of us, she is the only one who could stand a chance at getting close enough to the dridder to talk to her without succumbing to her pheromones. Sending too many others would attract attention." He stopped speaking momentarily to let his words sink in. "That is why I have a black eye, and our mistress is leaving as we speak to go find the dridder. For while she might not have liked the suggestion, she does agree with it."

"I'm sorry papa. It is just..."

"I know, Asurette, I know. We have to be ready though. The elves are getting more and more active, and closer and closer with each day. There is even the possibility we've already been found. There is just too much at risk, so this is a chance we will have to take."

"Yes, papa. I understand," she said, having recovered enough from her shock at his admission to stand on her feet without the need of her staff to hold her up. "But I can't say that I like it." Picking up the staff she held it horizontally so that the crystal was above her father's face, emitting pulses of red warmth. Within a few moments her father's black eye had completely vanished, and Asurette withdrew her staff to be by her side.

"Thank you, my dear. At least I can say with certainty that our mistress' left hook still has as much strength as I remember."

"You would know about that, wouldn't you papa? Oh, and if anyone asks, I wasn't the one that healed that. You can keep her wrath all to yourself."

"Why thank you Asurette. You're sooo generous."

"Anything for you, papa."

~~~~~

The human known as S'ryne was lost.

"I canna belief I ley tha' crazy Silv'r telk me inna t'is," she muttered under her breath, looking around at the forest about her.

She didn't really have any clue where the dridder's nest was, and considering the size of both the forest and the dridder the particular object of her search could be just about anywhere. Her plan currently revolved around finding one of the dridder's traps, because they were always well maintained. Which meant they were -probably- tended to on a regular basis.

It was the best thing she could come up with... Of course, the whole plan revolved on her finding the dridder before the dridder found her, otherwise the one advantage she had to play would be useless. Not to mention that her advantage was already known to the dridder, as she had been forced to use her wind magic to disperse the pheromones that the tribe had nearly succumbed to the only time they had tried to hunt her.

Then of course there was the Felaryan jungle itself. S'ryne knew most of the tricks it could bring to bear against her, but if one were to get distracted whilst attempting to avoid one another could simply come along and grab you when you were unprepared. The elves would also be out here somewhere... and there was no chance they'd let her go. They always gave chase - it was one of those nice guarantees that had allowed them to kill a couple and lead several others into the dridder's traps.

And none of that compared to the fact that she had no bloody clue where she was. S'ryne reckoned that she had been walking for at least half a day now, mostly in the same direction away from the village. She didn't have the senses of her companions though, and so it was difficult for her to figure out where she was. "I shuda taken one o' teh o'hers wi'h me, at leas' one," she muttered. Even if she did succeed, she had no idea how she would find her way back.

Then again, being alone was a nice change. In the village, she always had others around her. Ever since the day she had been chosen to be the mistress of the Zagaru tribe. It had been years now... S'ryne had never tried to keep count, so she wasn't sure just how long it really had been. At least thirty years though.... that's about how old Asurette should have been. S'ryne could still remember when the day that Silver's daughter had been born - it was hard to believe that she was all grown up now.

Things had been so confusing to her then as yet another one of Felarya's displaced human residents. She had been but a teenager when she had been whisked away from her world and deposited alone in this one. Things that had seemed so cruel to her back then were now nothing more than a part of her daily life now. The confusion was gone, replaced instead with the troubles of surviving in this deadly and beautiful place.

Back then, she had wanted to never be alone for even a few moments - the Felaryan landscape had made her quite fearful of even her own shadow. The tribe had taken her in and given her a home, and then later made her their leader when her magical ability had manifested. She had to admit though, it was nice to be able to partake of solace occasionally.

Especially as of late, with how things were quickly turning about for them.

The elves were the greatest threat they faced, for unlike the other predators of the forest they typically united together in small bands of up to fifty. S'ryne was not foolish enough to blame herself for the elves hunting them - it was what they did. As of late though, they weren't hunting them for food, they were hunting them for revenge. Should the village ever be found, the elves would happily wipe them out. And that was S'ryne's fault.

After all, S'ryne had been the one to suggest and lead the Zagaru tribe into hunting those that hunted them.

Given how much power Asurette had been showing as of late, maybe S'ryne could turn over the duties to Silver's daughter in the near future. Then she could go back to being just another one of the tribe. She imagined she'd rather like that, going back to the simplicity she knew before. S'ryne had never really fancied herself as a leader, and though she had fallen into it with time she was fairly certain she could walk away from it whenever she wished.

Thump.

S'ryne was forcefully brought out of her daydreaming by toppling over and faceplanting into something soft and clingy. Mentally cursing her carelessness by allowing her mind to wander, she rolled over to see just what she had tripped herself up on to find a line of dridder silk just behind her feet.

"Now ain't t'at jist a thin'." The line of silk was just barely above the ground, and though it would be super thin for most of Felaryan's larger denizens it was nearly as thick as one of her forearms. "One o' teh pwerty one's sens'n' lines... buh whear is teh tra'?" S'ryne recognized it for what it was, but the trap she did not yet see... Looking about the clearing, she could see more sensing lines strewn about, seemingly haphazard - but S'ryne knew better than that. Nothing that dridder did was haphazard.

"Wai' une minue, teh gro'nd ish sof' n' clingee?"

S'ryne turned down to look at what she had fallen upon, testing the ground by bouncing on her knees. The ground gave beneath her, much as one would expect bedding material to do - not the ground. Not even the softest of soil.

"Oh."

S'ryne ran her hands across the 'ground' before her, her eyes and hands revealing to her the truth of what was beneath her. It wasn't the soil - no, it was silk. She was on the trap. But it wasn't a web. A hole in the ground, covered by lines of silk that had leaves and brush and trappings thrown across in a light layer. Just enough to be hidden from sight unless you were right on top of it; but not enough to obstruct whatever was beneath it.

"Wha' in ta' 'ell kinna tra' is t'is suppos' t' be, anywai? Wha' lil' sssheme 'as t'at dastar'ly min' cum u' wit'?" S'ryne asked aloud to herself as she continued moving the clutter serving as camouflage out of the way. Once done, she could see that some sort of shell was held caged by the lines stretched over the hole, and those lines were captured by a few of the nearer sensing lines.

Something as small as her wasn't meant to trip them, but a larger/heavier quarry would most assuredly have triggered the trap had they run across the sensing line as she had. Examining the area again, she smiled and nodded to herself. She didn't need to look any further - if she could trip one of these traps then she could make the dridder come to her. Which was a far more advantageous proposition than continuing to bumble about in the forest.

While her weight was nowhere near enough to trigger this trap, S'ryne had another way to do so. After all, she merely needed to trip a sensing line, not actually understand how the trap worked. And while she didn't weigh enough to trip it, she could cut it. Normally, dridder silk was quite resistant to such attempts, but sensing lines were made to fail.

S'ryne had even seen traps where the dridder had even dabbled in timed sensors, using unraveling silk as timers. This particular trap was not of that type, but it was assuredly quite the devious little thing for her to be unable to figure it out. When some of the tribe had suggested using the silk themselves, stealing it from her traps, S'ryne had been skeptical that it could work.

However, after they had started doing it she enjoyed coming across her traps and disassembling them. It was like a clever game where the outcome was always uncertain - if she failed to gauge correctly, the trap would go off right in their faces. The pretty dridder was certainly a thinker, and an opponent worthy of respect - unlike the other predators that her tribe hunted. The ones that smashed and grabbed with little planning... Though, she thought with a smile, those predators often wind up being -her- dinner too.

Carefully choosing her path, S'ryne walked backwards away from the trap hole, keeping both it and the nearest sensing lines within her sight. Once she felt comfortable, she began to concentrate on the air about her, shifting its temperature like a painter would shift colors on canvas. Within moments a whirlwind of energy had built about her sending leaves and loose material flying like bomb shrapnel as she focused the winds about her into an invisible wedge and slammed it through the nearest sensing line.

The next thing S'ryne knew, she was laying on the ground, her lungs robbed of air, and her body trapped beneath a silken prison.

In her stunned stupor immediately following, she could recall the twang of the silk snapping, followed by the whirr of silk unraveling atop the hole she had discovered earlier. There was a loud thunk sound as a white egg-like capsule shot out of the ground, her eyes wide with awe at the complexity of this particular trap. As her mind was beginning to form a question with regard to the purpose of the capsule, it burst apart into a massive web that spread across the entire clearing and fell down...

"Rite atop o' me!" she said aloud, concluding her thought. Twisting, S'ryne tried to free herself to find that the more she attempted to move, the less she was able to do so. "Cunfoun' 't all!" The web was meant to catch large prey, but that didn't mean it was safe for her - the dridder never used sticky silk to catch prey, instead somehow combing her silk to make it slightly frayed and cling naturally to those trapped within it. One of the silken lines had fallen right atop of her, trapping her just as well as if she had been much larger.

"Well... t'at certinly dinna go kuwite li' I t'was 'spectin' i' 'oo. Nao jist wha' am I suppos' t' do?"

************

"So, ah, Nyselyn... how would you like to go about this search?"

Liari and Nyselyn had been walking for a while now, the city walls within sight. The entire time, Nyselyn had walked just ahead of Liari, refusing to speak or to even acknowledge her presence. After a few minutes of initially trying, Liari had given up and let the ice maiden have her space.

Now though, they were approaching the city and unless Liari wanted to do this by herself, she needed to get Nyselyn talking. How long was the girl going to sulk, anyway?

Actually, why the hell do I want to involve her? I could do this by myself... I certainly don't need the aggravation.

"Tell me, Liari, where would one find very large jewels in Negav? Or the capability to make them? No doubt the city has its secrets, but surely there is someone eccentric enough to desire such things and wealthy enough to acquire them. I propose we start there, for the easiest place to hide things when one does not wish to be found is right in plain sight."

"Um, I... I guess the Dreamstone District would be a good place to start. Where they receive shipments of ascarlin for processing. They take rather large chunks of all types of rock and break it down for various use. Most of it is industrial, but along the outskirts of the district there are jeweler shops as well."

"Sounds like we have ourselves a starting point then. You know this city much better than I, please, lead the way."

Well... at least she's talking to me now. Nyselyn's tone was completely devoid of emotion, and she was acting extremely formal with her, but it wasn't the cold shoulder she had been receiving. It's a start.

"Sooo, what do you plan to do once you get there? Do you have a plan for that?"

"Do they have computers there?"

"How would I know that, Nyselyn? I'm sure that they might. They are rather useful for managing large operations... but I was never really in the mining or industry fields."

"Let us hope that they do. Otherwise this will be a long night. I would hate to postpone the character building my master is due for on the morrow."

"Nyselyn, you make stoic more like disturbing, you know that?"

~~~~~

It didn't take the two of them long to reach the district once they entered Negav. Having originally started as an industrial complex of the city, it had been located near the outer portions to be out of sight. The need for space within the city however had eventually resulted in the complex meshing with and becoming a part of the city proper.

Though, in the long run, I suppose it doesn't really matter - it isn't as if the rest of the city looks much different, Liari thought. The ascarlin that was processed here was a major source of revenue, but it was by no means the only raw material utilized. Due to the presence of the Negav gate, and the access provided by it, the city could export processed goods and material to a number of dimensions that were lacking. Ascarlin would always be a hot item, but simple things that they had aplenty - such as wood - were also in high demand on certain worlds.

And anything that someone else requires, or desires, is worth attempting to sell in this city. The high rising buildings that contained the factories hid the heavy smelters, mills, and assembly lines within and even beneath, space having become such a precious commodity within the city's walls. Can't hide the stench though. While certain areas of the city were rank with filth, the Dreamstone District was rank with the fumes of industry, but Liari didn't see much of a difference between the two.

It was one of the major reasons she never understood the typical human response upon being introduced to Felarya's predator population. Sure, dying would indeed suck, but the humans aren't prey argument was such a silly thing. Didn't they practice just such a lifestyle within the confines of their 'safe' city? Power and wealth meant everything in this place, those without it were just food for the greed of those with it.

Just because they aren't literally eating you doesn't really make it that much different, does it?

Clearing her thoughts, Liari turned her attention back to Nyselyn. She hadn't spoken since earlier when she had asked for her thoughts on where to start, but the woman did at least seem intent now. She wasn't just stalking along with a blank look upon her face - she was looking about, her face thoughtful as she scanned along the street at the various jeweler shops present at the outskirts.

At a glance, the shops weren't much to see, generally situated in the lower floors of the outer district buildings. The first few rows of buildings in the district grid weren't actually the processing facilities, but rather the administrative buildings where the companies and guilds responsible for the processing of the raw materials were housed. Since they were really just the lower floors, their exterior presence didn't have the flavor of the Grand Market District. Or any market district, for that matter.

Which is why Liari didn't understand Nyselyn's apparent fascination with the outside of the buildings. Just what was the woman looking for, anyway? If one wanted to find gem stones, one would need to actually go inside. Why am I still following her, anyway? Oh right, because Ion sort of implied that I should go with her.

Liari said nothing until the third time they passed by the same buildings, her exasperation finally getting the better of her patience. Just as she was about to say something Nyselyn stopped and spun about to face her. "I do not really think this is going to help us Liari. None of these facilities have jewelry items as large as Aidee described on display or within their catalogs."

"Alright, that's enough Nyselyn. Why don't we just go back to the beginning and search each one? We haven't even gone inside any of them, how could you possibly know what they're providing?"

"Sure I do. Searching each one singly is a highly inefficient process, and some of them would invariably close whilst we were doing so."

While Liari watched, Nyselyn held out her hands with palms up, a little smirk on her face as a cloud of silver materialized and danced above them, slowly but surely being assimilated into her body. Just like before when she had changed her arm into a variety of weapons, only on a much smaller scale.

"Why use only two pairs of eyes when I can send several dozen to search each building simultaneously? You think too one-dimensionally," continued Nyselyn, her expression smug.

Damn. I didn't even notice her doing that! No wonder she was trouncing me earlier. "If I think too simply for you, why do you keep asking me for my opinion?"

"You have the ability to understand emotions better than I. You can... 'put yourself in their shoes' ...which is something that I cannot do. You have much more knowledge of this city's... peculiarities... than I do." Nyselyn's smirk went away, replaced instead with an expression that seemed... depressed, Liari decided. "So yes, I asked, and am asking, for your opinion."

Hell, that almost sounded like an apology. Almost.

"Well, these gems are only laced with ascarlin, they're not actually made out of it. Perhaps what we're looking for is not a distributor of large gems but rather someone who can take small ones and combine them. There are some magi and alchemists capable of fusing items... and few within that community could successfully work with ascarlin to produce an artifact with the abilities Aidee described."

"I suppose those you describe would not be available in this particular district?"

"Nooo... but they would get their supplies from this district."

"I see. I suppose then that-" A rather noisy rumbling from Liari's stomach caused Nyselyn to pause, a smile returning to her face as Liari blushed sheepishly. "We should go get something to eat. I can gather information for you to cross-reference whilst we do."

"Um, how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"The same way I explored the shops earlier. This time I will just focus my interest on their shipping manifests." If she payed attention, Liari could see bits and pieces of both her clothing and body falling away in little silver flakes, vanishing as quickly as they appeared. I wonder... is her clothing even real, or just a manifestation of her power? So many unknowns with her...

"Perhaps we could discuss just how you're doing that while we eat?"

"I am afraid not. A girl has to have some secrets, right?" said Nyselyn, tapping Liari's hat. "Surely those are not the only ones you have? So, where should we eat?"

"Well, there's this place not too far away in the river markets district..."

************

"Silver! Silver!"

The cries of the sentry roused him from his sleeping spot in a hammock near the base of one of the greater trees in their village, the urgency contained within it helping him to shake off his sleepiness. Silver preferred to sleep outside, enjoying the evening breezes upon his fur and thus the sentries had known exactly where to find him.

"Yes, what is the problem? What has you drawn for breath?"

"Clin spotted several giant elves headed this way, from the south east. They're moving quietly through the forest but there are too many of them to hide effectively. He sent word by starkala hawk... so we have precious short time before they are upon us."

"I understand. What do we have ready?"

"Everything we can, Silver. Everything we can."

A series of screams announced the commencement of the battle to come, and fortunately they didn't sound like nekos. Yet. Silver knew that before this night was over, he would assuredly be hearing them.

"Sounds like the elves have discovered our pit traps," the sentry stated, a gleam in his eye as he turned away from Silver. "I have to go. I'm with the spear teams. You should be going Silver."

"Yes, but only for a little while. I will join you once I've taken care of something."

The sentry had already run off though, leaving Silver alone with his thoughts. Reaching down into a hidden cubby beneath his hammock, Silver pulled out a sealed potion bottle, swirling it to reveal a murky reddish-brown fluid within. Their mistress had forbid its use some time before, saying that it was for the weak. Tonight, however, their mistress was not here, and he wanted to give the surviving elves a night they would never forget.

Time to go, indeed. He could see the fires through the trees as the other sentries lit their pyres, providing enough light for the Zagaru warriors to see clearly in the night. Good luck.

~~~~~

Asurette had been sleeping soundly until just moments before when loud shouts close by burst through her pleasant dreams. Her groggy mind struggled with understanding the shouts, but the words slipped in and out of her still waking consciousness.

"Asurette! Up! Now!"

Her father's worried and clipped words broke through her sluggishness, reaching her still mind and bringing her to full alertness instantly.

"What is it papa?"

"They're here. You need to be going. Now."

"The elves? Already?" Asurette's green eyes were wide with shock. "How?"

"That doesn't matter. They're here. I won't let you be a part of this. Get dressed. You're leaving. Now."

"But papa-"

"No. You're leaving. Go to the meeting area, and join up with those that make it out. Take them to our mistress. I sincerely hope her luck is better than ours."

"What of our defense? Were we not going to fight them papa?"

"We are fighting them, my daughter. We are. But we will lose. We are losing. I'm surprised you've slept this long. Too long. You must leave, now. Ok? Promise me."

"Ok, papa." Asurette got out of bed, hugging her father and pecking his cheek. She could smell his familiar scent with him so close, so welcoming, probably the last time she would get to smell it. Something tickled the back of her mind, a faint scent on his breath that she should recognize, but she pushed the thought away. "I'll do as you ask. I'll go. You must promise me something though. Don't you dare make it easy for them."

"My daughter, that is a promise I will be most happy to keep. Now go," Silver pleaded of her, grabbing his spear as he broke free of his daughter's embrace and ran out of the house, leaving Asurette to herself.

She wasted no time watching her father leave, turning around to her bed and dressing herself quicker than she could ever remember doing. With a last quick glimpse at their humble home, she grabbed her staff and cast a quick spell to conceal both her body and her scent. Nothing more than a blurry shadow to the observer's eye, Asurette followed in her father's footsteps with no intention of ever returning to this house.

~~~~~

Ilon was pissed. This was not the way this night was supposed to happen. Even though all signs pointed to them wiping out the village before daybreak, he couldn't believe what had already come to pass. Nyil, Simnin, Eryr, and Nuli were dead. The first two had fallen victim to spike pits - large holes dug into the ground reamed with poisoned spikes. The holes were only large enough to capture their feet, but the poison had been more than enough.

Eryr and Nuli had fallen victim to the neko's defense. Ilon had assumed that they would mostly be asleep after nightfall - after all, what non-crazy sentient prey creature went around at night? They could see the crude treehouses of the neko village when a dazzling array of spears had assailed them from the tops of the trees. Those had also been poisoned.

However, things had turned up after that. Not that it was doing Ilon's mood any good. It didn't seem like the Zagaru had any more tricks up their sleeves, and using the trees as they were for vantage points was not a lasting advantage for the nekos. It left them high above the ground where escape was difficult if not impossible, and well within the elves' grabbing range. After they exhausted their number of throwing spears the little creatures were quite helpless.

The problem now was how many of them there were. Ilon had wanted to wipe their tribe out completely, but given how they had already been roused at the time of his attack that was going to be impossible. Several dozen were going to escape no matter what he or the others did. Which meant that one day, they could become a threat again. Since natural death was out of the question in Felarya, he would have to hope that in their haste to run away they would be careless.

Somehow, Ilon doubted that the neko tribe that had hunted giants would be careless. They were supposed to be tasty little morsels, not dangerous threats! The accumulation of it all only helped to further fan the flames of his anger at the entire situation. So by the time he had reached what he perceived to be the center of the village, he was a kettle about to boil over.

~~~~~

Silver had been waiting for just this particular moment. It was bound to happen eventually. And now it had. Right before him walking up to the center cluster of the village treehouses was a youthful male elf, who happened to look extremely pissed off.

Silver smiled to himself. He was going to enjoy this immensely, regardless of the inevitable outcome. His one spear wasn't going to stop the elf, poisoned though it may be. If he could land it in the right place though, it was going to give the elf one hell of a hangover in the morning.


Hopefully, the combined efforts of the tribe would slow the elves down enough to give S'ryne the opportunity to reach the dridder. There would be enough survivors after tonight to restore the tribe eventually - and if the dridder could kill off the rest of the elves, the survivors would have far less to worry about.

Silver held the spear perpendicular to the ground, lining his shot and taking his time. Coiling his body like a spring, every muscle taut and ready. The effects of the potion he consumed earlier were clouding his mind and reducing his effectiveness, but he had all the time in the world. The elf turned and finally took notice of Silver's presence on one of the treehouse platforms, right as the neko released the tension of his body and released the spear in a beautiful arc that terminated in the elf's upper lip.

The elf reached up and plucked the spear from his lip, nothing more than a toothpick to him. He flicked it aside with his forefinger and thumb, just like one would toss away such an item. His eyes were filled with anger, and he actually let out a deep guttural growl from his throat as one of his hands slammed into the tree, knocking Silver off the platform and into the elf's other hand.

"You are nothing but food. Learn your place."

"Food, am I? Well, I say the same to you. You are nothing but food, elf. Everything is food. You're not special because you stand tall."

"There are... were... only two things that could call us food. One of those things is gone now... and the other. Will be gone soon. Enjoy y-y-you..."

The elf stopped speaking, his tongue heavy in his mouth and an expression of shock dawning on his face. Silver's grin widened considerably as the effects of his spear finally took place.

"What's the matter elf? Are you finding it difficult to speak? That spear was special... tipped with poison from a Creeper... and delivered to one of the weakest points of your body," Silver managed to choke out. Like the elf, he too was finding it difficult to speak as well - though for different reasons. He could hear his bones crackling as the elf squeezed his body in his closed fist.

"Y-y-you think y-y-you're s-s-s-so clever, don't chu?" Apparently he was having to really concentrate to make his language comprehensible, and that necessity was pissing the elf off even more from Silver's perspective. The gray neko couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. "Y-y-you will n-n-never b-be an-n-nything b-but f-f-food!"

"Oh?" Silver managed to choke out, his breathing raspy as he continued with "Well... if all... we are... ...is food... then how come... right now you're not... ...eating me? Wouldn't you rather... crush me... ...with your teeth, instead of your... hand?"

~~~~~

Papa... what crazy stunt are you trying to pull?!?

Asurette, still cloaking herself with her magic, had been watching the entire affair from a safe distance, fearing that her father might try some stupid stunt. What is he going to accomplish by getting eaten? She couldn't make sense of it, and her eyes were already wet with the tears that were surely to follow. She knew that she couldn't save him.

Her father's last statement seemed to spurn the elf to action, raising her father up to his face and opening his mouth wide. With a quick and angry toss he threw her father into his open mouth and slammed his teeth down. Asurette shuddered as her tears began to flow, the crunching sounds of what had been her father echoing around as the elf chewed him in his anger.

It took all she had not to collapse on the ground and bawl, but her magic would not conceal her if she did. She had made a promise, and she would keep it. Her father had never promised her that he would live through the night, and she had not asked him for it. She knew deep down that he had no intention of surviving this attack, given how he had roused her earlier. But for what purpose? Did he gain some personal satisfaction in having antagonized their attackers?

Was this my fault? Did you do this because of the promise I asked of you papa? How is this possibly making things harder -

Before she could complete the thought she heard the elf swallow, a loud and angry gulp that seemed to echo all about her. Her father was gone for good now, and there was nothing more that could be gained by staying here. She turned to leave when the ground about her shook mightily, nearly flooring her with the power of the shocks. Her head whipped around just in time to see the elf that had killed her father on his knees, clutching his neck and choking.

Papa... what did you do? Is this something... The scent she had smelled earlier on his breath suddenly came back to her mind, her own breath taken in a gasp of shock. Papa! You didn't! But he had. The proof was right behind her. His death was not because of her promise... he had already been planning this.

The scent she had recognized was that of a concoction made primarily from the dust of sneeze pods. Before the times of her birth and their current mistress, Asurette had heard of tribesmen using the potion to give their brothers and sisters a chance at escape. It only worked when the user was chewed by a predator, allowing the potion that was filling their blood to violently mix with the materials in their bones which served as the chemical catalyst to produce the intended effects.

The intense paralysis and pain that followed lasted several minutes and allowed any others with the sacrifice to scatter, serving to give a sentient predator pause the next time they encountered a Zagaru neko. The tribe had built up a relative immunity to the powder in generations long before, allowing them to consume the potion while suffering limited effects in the form of sluggishness and loss of stamina.

Things that typically didn't matter for someone about to die anyway.

Their mistress had forbidden its use, saying that such tactics were for the weak who ran from predators rather than stand and face them. Some still made it in secret, she knew - and her father must have had some. While it was truly a horrible way to die, Asurette couldn't imagine that getting slowly dissolved in a stomach would particularly feel any better.

You're such a fool, papa. I hope your revenge for mother was truly worth it. There could be no other reason for him doing such a thing. It certainly hadn't been for her sake - he had already committed to this path before sending her away. He hadn't wanted her to see... With a deep breath and a conscious effort to stay her tears, Asurette slowly rose and stalked away, slipping into the forest and making for the rendezvous location.

"Cecaeda. Cecaeda. Cecaeda."

The voice was familiar, quiet, and insistent in her ear. All Cecaeda wanted to do was sleep. For one, her body hurt all over, inside and out. The memories explaining the reasons for such came back in a rush - Nyil, Eryr, and Ilon had tortured her for days, beating her bloody and senseless. Just like old times, she had thought, recalling memories of her childhood. The three of them had been the most violent offenders as she grew up. Not that the beating she had received had done them any good - she had years of conditioning against it now.

When violence alone had failed to provide them with the location to the dridder's nest, her three tormentors had moved on to rape. That had been a new low for the three of them. Just recalling the experience filled her with rage. How dare they! The last thing she wanted was to get pregnant with the seed from one of them. The actual act itself, while disgusting, was nothing more than an extension of the violence they had already inflicted upon her. No, it was the threat of bearing child from one of them that truly infuriated her.

Still, that too hadn't been enough to break her. They had continued to beat and rape her for a couple days on and off, to the point that she hadn't been able to recognize how long they had been at it. Cecaeda had withstood it all though - she wasn't about to betray Reya to them.

The final element, the one that had broken her and given them the knowledge they needed, had been the use of Devil's Thorn and toxic solanaceae. The excruciating pain of the seeds as they entered her bloodstream and 'took root' combined with the hallucinogenic effects of the solanaceae alkaloids had broken her resolve and allowed them to comb her shattered mind for the information they sought. She knew that she had told them, and she had been powerless to prevent it.

The knowledge that she had failed to protect her friend brought forth the tears she had held back for so long. I've failed her. She spared me, gave me my clothes, gave me a life... and I failed her. Cecaeda had no idea how long she had been asleep, but the physical pain and mental anguish that returned with her consciousness proved it had all been real and not part of some horrific dream.


"Cecaeda."

The voice again. She knew the voice. It belonged to... Aerya. The only one amongst the tribe who hadn't shunned her. What does she want? Can't I just sleep? It hurts so much. Despite herself she opened her eyes to see the magi hovering near her, Aerya's hand hovering above her head and glowing with a warm and gentle hue of pink. At first she hadn't noticed it, but now that she was more alert she could feel some of the pain ebbing away.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice raspy with dehydration. "But you shouldn't waste your magic on me."

"Oh, but I must, Cecaeda. You don't realize it, but you're very important."

"Important? I don't... understand."

"I know. I'm afraid it is probably too late for me to save you, the Devil's Thorn has taken root within you and is past the stage that I can safely remove it. They would not let me approach you while they were here, but the tribe has left to assault the Zagaru. It is just the two of us here now, and there are things that you need to know."

"What? What is there to know? My only friend is going to be killed, and it is all my fault. If I just hadn't mentioned Gea to her..."

"I doubt your friend is so helpless. From the talk I've heard from the others she's been doing quite well for herself. Besides, you're going to go help her, aren't you?"

"Help... her?" The thought was disturbingly alien. It shouldn't be so far from her mind. After all, she needed to do just that. Needed to make up for the trouble that would inevitably follow because of her own foolishness.

"Yes. The Cecaeda I know always got back up after she was beaten. Don't tell me that is about to change. That would just be sad," stated Aerya in a matter-of-fact tone as the luminosity of her hand increased several-fold and basked Cecaeda in light and warmth.

"Why? Why are you helping me Aerya? I don't understand. I really just don't understand it."

"I suppose part of it is curiosity. The question of why you survived when all the others have not. In truth though, it isn't about your dridder friend. I'm doing this because of who you are. A descendant of the Infra. Your hair, skin, and eyes are proof of your heritage. It is for your birthright than you are shunned, though none but myself and the elders are aware. You are what they wished to forget, and as such they promoted these... activities."

"A descendant of what? Aerya, you're still not making any sense. I'm grateful for you making the pains of my body go away but you're only making my head hurt more."

Aerya laughed without mirth as the glow of her magic finally subsided, her healing as complete as she could make it. Her gray eyes stared into Cecaeda's own, making her shiver from the expression the magi was presenting.

"When Sylael and Arihaltril left from our old lands to settle here, I was but a child - but I know why they left." Aerya turned to look away from her then, her eyes distant as she recalled events from years past. "Once upon a time, the Infra were the royalty of the elves. Rare, often beautiful and intelligent, and often bestowed with powerful abilities they were always the subject of great envy. That envy grew into hatred, and when the infighting broke out between the tribes they were the primary targets. A campaign of racial purification... none of the Infra were left alive. They were chased down and extinguished, every last one. Of course, once they were gone, those that remained began to fight over who should replace them. Sylael and Arihaltril were amongst those that had hunted the Infra - but they knew that the battle for power that followed would be deadly for all and fled before the fighting consumed them as well. They escaped to this place and created a new tribe with a few others, including your parents, and all within the tribe now are descendants of them."

Aerya turned to look back at Cecaeda then, a ghost of a smile forming on her lips. "So imagine their surprise and horror when one day, a baby would be born to their tribe who carried the genes of the Infra. An abomination... all but your parents wished to kill you on the spot, but we would not allow it. I had been friends with your mother since I was little, and thought of her as an aunt - I couldn't believe what the elders were suggesting should be done to you and what they were saying about your parents. Your mother really didn't die of complications from birth, but rather by foul play. We simply had no proof of it, but it is difficult to die from birthing complications nearly three years after giving birth. Sylael and Arihaltril convinced the others that it was due to your nature as an abomination, that nursing you caused her own health to fail. They must have all been truly mad to believe such a thing."

"Your father left the tribe with you to live alone and away from the rest, hoping that in doing so you would be forgotten. At the time, I was unaware of our elder's dark history, and so I could not understand the senseless fear and rage they had at your existence. I was no elder, but I was much more hotheaded in my youth and I have always been the most powerful of the magi within the Reagere - though if I were the most powerful than your parents were on an equal plane with me. When you were older and could be left alone your father and I crossed paths again and he taught me the truth of our past. I was infuriated. And even more determined to see you survive, if only to make them suffer in the memories of their own barbarianism. Your father returned one day to the village - though without you - to speak with Sylael and Arihaltril... I don't know what they spoke of, but what I do know is that there were heated words and I never saw your father again after he left that day."

"Though your father had tried to keep you separated, it was doomed to fail, especially without him around - eventually you found your way back to the village on your own. At first, they were delighted to have you back it seemed... if for no other reason than to torment you. Most of it was just harsh words, but I knew a few took it much further than that. I intervened when I could, but as I did so the other village members began to disassociate with me for helping you until the influence I had carefully built up for myself was gone. I maintained what influence I had simply due to my magical ability. Eventually though, they grew tired of your presence, so they tried everything they could to get you to leave on your own volition. I imagine they were worried someone would get suspicious if the entire family were to vanish or die under mysterious circumstances. When you finally left, they were ecstatic. They just pretended you didn't exist. That was until tribesmen started to disappear without cause. Without trace. For a long time nothing existed here that could threaten us, but that all changed with the arrival of the dridder and the aggression of the Zagaru."

"So... how do I fit into all..." asked Cecaeda as she swept an arm out about the area "...all of this?"

"Isn't it obvious? They used you as scapegoat. They spread rumors and lies about you being in league with the nekos and the dridder, that you were responsible for the deaths of the tribesmen by inciting them to attack us. Convincing them that they could kill us. They already hated you, so it was easy to pin the blame upon you. Especially when you weren't around. No matter what you had said earlier, they would have found a way to achieve this outcome. The fact that you actually are friends with the dridder was just icing on the cake."

"I see. This is so.... stupid. Ridiculous. How could I not have seen it? Ilon... I'll kill him. Even if its the last thing I do. Where are Sylael and Arihaltril? Did they leave with the others? I think I'll start with them..."

"Calm yourself, Cecaeda. Things will come in due time. For now, you need rest to recover your strength, as much as you can obtain. Time is a luxury we do not have much of. As for the elders, you need not concern yourself with them. I have seen to serving justice for their crimes... if it possible, I would ask you to abstain from killing with your own hands. Please, allow me to carry the burden, for not being strong or brash enough to prevent this."

Cecaeda nodded in agreement, though in truth her emotions and mind were in complete turmoil. It just seemed so farfetched... and she was so very tired, even after Aerya's healing magic. "But we cannot stay here, Aerya. I refuse to stay here any longer."

"I know, Cecaeda. That was why I thought perhaps we could go meet with your dridder friend," stated Aerya, offering her hand to help Cecaeda stand up.

"Her name is Reya. And yes, we should... go to her. Have to warn her... and help her," said Cecaeda, taking the offered hand and shakily getting up on her feet.

Aerya placed her left arm about Cecaeda, pulling her against her body for support due to how weak she had become. "We need to get you some food. You're going to be too weak in this state. I'll see if I can't catch some along the way." They started to walk, very slowly, away from the village that had caused her so many problems over her life. They walked for a while in silence, until they were a good distance from the village and Aerya asked "So, how did you meet this dridder - I mean Reya?"

"She caught me."

"She caught you? And just let you go?"

"Yes, basically. She was younger and smaller back then.... Reya already had enough food at the time, so killing me would have been wasteful to her. And Reya doesn't waste food. She was new to the area apparently, so she asked that I show her around. For letting me go. I showed her places that I knew of for safety, good hunting grounds, dangerous areas, useful herbs, everything really. I showed her the place where she now nests. Over time we developed a friendship... she was my first actual friend. I suppose I turned to her because my own kind wouldn't have me."

"She must have grown up rather fast then..." stated Aerya to herself, musing over Cecaeda's words.

"Reya said that her kind grow up fast. When we first met, she was the same height as me... nowadays, she's much much taller. She hasn't grown any more that I've noticed though since reaching her current size. I think she's as big now as she's going to get."

"Just how big is she, exactly?" asked Aerya, a hint of fear ebbing into her words that caused Cecaeda to smile.

"The portion of her that looks human is about half again my own height. Her actual height changes depending on how she's supporting herself on her legs. I've never really thought about how large the rest of her body is, but I'm fairly certain that I could ride around sitting on her abdomen without any trouble."

"Oh my... and I thought Gea had simply been exaggerating her size because that's all she ever does. Exaggerate."

"Given how large Reya is, I don't even think Gea would have needed to exaggerate. She's big. I think she's probably the one that got Lect and Crete. I doubt the nekos could have taken down the two of them, and they're always inseparable. Reya's traps are immaculate works of art, and she isn't a weakling to boot. I know, I've wrestled with her a couple times. Even before she was so much bigger than me I always lost. I'd hate to try now."

"Well, it seems that you know her rather well. I do find it to be a bit of an odd pairing though."

"Just wait until you see her. She doesn't look like any dridder you have ever heard of."

"Cecaeda, I have heard of many things... though I must admit, an Infra and a dridder is something new."

Cecaeda smiled to herself, as the simple conversing back and forth with Aerya was rather nice. The problem was that in the end, it didn't matter. She was still going to die, thanks to Ilon and the others. Aerya had made the pain subside, but she could feel the itching still... an itch from within her body that she couldn't scratch. Cecaeda put the thought aside for the time being. Saving Reya was the most important thing right now, and soon they would be approaching her hunting grounds. Cecaeda would need to be alert for her friend's traps lest they be caught themselves.

************

"How is it?"

"It is not bad. The texture leaves something to be desired."

"You truly are never satisfied, are you Nyselyn?"

"Satisfaction breeds contempt and complacency. One should not be satisfied with something merely because it is what you are currently offered. Perfection is impossible, and inconsistent with the laws of entropy, yet one must seek it out lest one accept mediocrity instead."

"Wow. Just... wow," Liari said, recovering from having choked on her food at Nyselyn's comment. "That is... certainly an interesting mindset to have."

"It sounds as if you do not approve," said Nyselyn, turning to look up at Liari from her food with a smile. "And that, as they say, would be the point."

Liari's jade eyes glittered with understanding as she continued with her meal, her fork toying with the noodles of her pasta. "That was mighty clever of you," she purred, swirling her fork until it had captured a healthy amount of noodles and slurping them up. The pasta was rather good, she thought, but it could use more spice. Not that it would prevent her from enjoying the meal. If anything, the lack of spice made her enjoy it more, and because of that, she smiled.

"So, what have you been learning with those little seeecrets of yours?" Liari continued, pretending to be captivated by the fluid within her glass as she swirled it, her expression betraying nothing more.

"I have all the data that we should require. Would you prefer I crossreference with you or would the reverse be more efficient?"

"How much data have you gathered? I do have a rather long list..."

"I have the complete shipping manifests and transaction records of roughly four dozen companies and independent merchants for a length of time that varies between two months to ten years. It would... appear... some of these traders have extremely poor recordkeeping practices."

"Hmph," snorted Liari. "You're telling me. I've been dealing with them and their less than laudable practices for decades. We'll have to make do with whatever they have. This is becoming much more of a headache than I bothered to imagine it to be though."

"Such is the nature of those who wish to remain hidden from view. It will not be a problem."

"Oh no?"

"I am both thorough and patient. If my master wishes for this to be done, then I shall achieve it."

"Does he now? Why is it that you two would so quickly aid the Eurhyssa anyway?"

"I do not know why he wishes it, and that is in itself interesting to me. The two of them acted in a most peculiar manner, did they not? She as though she knew him; he as though she knew something of him. My master has his secrets, just as you and I do."

"Well, you two are very interesting, I must say. Unfortunately, all this lovely talk of secrets will have to wait until after our work is complete. When we finish eating I suggest we head back to my place to compare notes. From what you describe, we're going to need both room and privacy."

"My my, I fear my ears may have deceived me. I believe you just invited me to the place earlier you said you would never let me know of."

"I sort of have this depressing deep-down gut-feeling that you already know. One of the few things that never lets me down."

"Does it now. That is good to know; shame it took so long for it to surface though."

Liari struggled really hard to contain and managed to just withhold the word that very nearly slipped off the tip of her tongue.

~~~~~

"Nyselyn, I must say, you're quite the housewrecker."

Liari had her hands on her hips, surveying her living quarters with distaste. The white haired devil in the golden dress sitting in her living chamber was surrounded by stacks of papers. Papers that she was currently still in the process of generating, creating mountain upon mountain of data. Nyselyn had five separate stacks of paper before her, with a pen to each.

It was rather amazing to watch actually. Spooky and erie, but amazing in its own right. Her eyes were closed as she concentrated, controlling each of the pens and replacing and filing the papers as they were filled. All of it looked as though it were floating and flying about her, some form of magic that even Liari had never seen or heard of. Try as she might, she couldn't sense it, but she knew something was there driving it all.

"You would require a house in order for me to wreck it. This place is roughly the size of my master's quarters aboard the Caladbolg, the old flagship of the Authority."

"Hey, I'll have you know that this is a prince's quarters here in Negav."

"Of that at least, I have no doubt. The little room we have been staying in is little more than a closet."

"So, what did Ion do aboard this ship of his? I mean, what were his duties?"

"It was his ship. As well as the rest of the fleet. It was all his once. The Authority's Star Forces were not the first fleet he commanded either. He has seen more war in the centuries of his life than most other men, and the pain of those he has forever left behind will haunt him for the rest of his days. That is just the kind of man that he is. That is the answer to the question you really wished to ask, yes?"

"I suppose. It explains some of his character at least. Still, it doesn't explain his current behavior with that Eurhyssa. What dealings would he have had in Felarya? I thought you said that you two were not from here originally? I'm inclined to believe you as well, for I've never heard of this Authority and I've certainly never seen a fleet. They are things that seem to only exist in other realms."

"I am afraid that is a question I do not have an answer for. I do not know all of my master's secrets. I for one never would have believed him to throw away my pearl as he did. His behavior before our arrival in Felarya has made me question the very concepts of what I believed to once be true."

"It sounds as if he did something you didn't approve of."

"He tried to kill himself. To go out in a blaze of glory and leave me behind, to leave me without him. That action was not one I would have ever expected of the man I once saved from the brink of death."

"He tried to commit suicide? That doesn't really seem to fit him," said Liari musingly, sitting across from Nyselyn and waiting for her to continue.

"Yes, well, it just proves that you will never really know someone, no matter how long you have observed them. Still, I believe that event was merely a moment of weakness... not his true feelings on the matter. If he were truly so weak in character, I would not have acted that day at Brwydr Camlan, and none of this would have ever come to pass."

"It seems like you know him very well, Nyselyn. It also seems he's rather important to you."

"Of course he is important to me. If he were not, I would have no reason to be with him. I would have left him to die." Nyselyn's dual colored eyes opened to stare into Liari's own as she continued. "Once, I would have told you in the past that I knew everything about him, and have completely meant it. I was wrong then. I do not intend to be wrong again."

"You can't really blame yourself for how other people behave, y'know."

"I do not blame myself for how he acts, merely for not knowing it was possible for him to act in those ways. I mistakenly believed my observations had given me all the knowledge that I required. I have learned from this error in judgment protocols, and I know now that observations are never complete. A level of trust is required at a certain point for continued relations, but that does not mean that one should cease having a questioning attitude."

"I see. You're a rather complicated individual, Nyselyn, but I'm beginning to think there is actually something warm underneath all that ice," said Liari dismissively as she picked up a stack of the completed papers and set it in front of her, leafing through the pages and examining their contents. She heard Nyselyn snort at her remark but the woman offered no more commentary for the time being so Liari focused her attention on the papers before her.


They all looked as though they had been made in a printing press, the pages of a book that had not yet been bound. Upon each one were several dozen transactions, with contact information and dates for each sell. Every detail was captured, down to the exact translation of the worth of the item in the transaction. Some were recorded to the skeda. Liari had never known anyone who could dutifully examine and later recount information to such an exacting detail, causing her to rise an eyebrow as she flicked a momentary glance at Nyselyn. Such a mystery you are.

The next time Liari looked up from her stack, the light of the current Felaryan sun was fading from the sky. She sighed, looking around her. So far, the two of them had managed to get through about eight stacks of papers, with the only good news being that Nyselyn wasn't writing any more. It had been obvious that Liari had less information to provide than Nyselyn, so she had told her everything she knew and they had gotten started sorting through it.

Though, honestly, it doesn't even seem like she's reading the papers, she thought as she stole a glance at Nyselyn. She would pick up a paper and hold it for a few moments before setting it down in another stack and moving on. Either she's the fastest reader in the world or she's doing something else. Liari wasn't able to figure out just what though. Given that she was capable of multitasking like she had earlier, there should be no reason for her to examine one page at a time.

"Are you getting hungry Nyselyn?"

"Not really, no."

"Sooo... how come you're only reading one page at a time? You were being so... efficient earlier that I couldn't help but notice the lack thereof now," poked Liari, the hint of a smirk playing out on her face.

"It would be too difficult to explain my methods to someone who has your lack of knowledge in advanced hyper-heuristic capacities and capabilities." Before Liari could even bristle at her reply, the woman quickly continued with "That is not intended as an insult, merely a statement of fact."

"I don't even know what those words mean, Nyselyn, so it is difficult to feel insulted by them," replied Liari, feeling her anger backing off. So, she really does have feelings hidden beneath all that extraneous crap.

Her remark garnered a small smile from Nyselyn, continuing with her routine as if nothing had been said, leaving Liari to her mental questions once more. Excusing herself for the bathroom, she realized that was something else peculiar about her - unlike herself, Nyselyn showed no obvious signs of fatigue nor any biological needs. It was true that she had seen her eat on a few occasions, but Nyselyn had never excused herself for any bio breaks. Liari's digestion process was stronger than any human's could ever hope to be, yet she still needed bio breaks.

Always more questions, never any answers. I wonder if Ion actually knows her himself? He's been with her for quite a while it would seem, yet she speaks of him having secrets. Awfully curious. Washing her hands after concluding her business, Liari's stomach started complaining that it had been quite a while since her last meal and it was time for another. She made her way to the kitchen and pulled out a few pounds of glouteux meat along with some spices and a variety of fruits and vegetables. I have this feeling we'll be dining in tonight, Liari thought with a sigh.

Liari was about halfway through preparing the meat for cooking when she felt a presence behind her, turning to see that Nyselyn had entered the kitchen as well. Wait, when did she... before her were the vegetables she had intended to chop up, but that was apparently already done. I must have really been focused, to not have noticed her for that long...

"Here," Nyselyn said, offering the diced vegetables to her. Her green and red eyes seemed blank, staring right through her as though she wasn't there.

"Thanks, Nyselyn. You don't have to help though, I can make dinner. Shouldn't you be working on getting us some leads?"

"I have already acquired what I believe to be reasonable leads. I will discuss them with you over dinner, if that is acceptable. From my observations, you wish to have a break from our previously pledged activities. For the time being, I believe it to be the proper behavior of a guest to offer assistance to the host."

"As you wish. I certainly won't decline the offer. Thank you."

"It is not a problem, Liari."

Nyselyn stayed true to her word throughout the rest of their preparations, speaking nothing about the leads she had supposedly uncovered. They exchanged few words, only that which was necessary to continue making their dinner. And even that was minimal, thought Liari as she took their plates and set them on the dining table. Nyselyn was already seated, nodding her head to Liari as she set the plate before her.

"So, what did you think you had found," Liari asked as she sampled some of the meat. It was nice and tender, fresh, seemingly melting in her mouth. I love this stuff, and it is so cheap too with how easy it is to catch the stupid things.

"Do you remember that individual who crossed you recently?"

"Sazlg? Yes, I remember him. Distasteful little thing." The word choice was merely by accident, but it made her smile at the memory.

"He was an agent of the Fiefdom Trading Company. Their records have... multiple discrepancies. It is not that I would expect any less of them, given their previous business practices concerning you, just that these discrepancies have interest to us."

"In what way?" Liari asked, leaning in over her plate as she poked and played with her meal.

"The Fiefdom Trading Company has at least four interests in the DreamStone District. One of them, Bora Frontier Mining, deals in both ascarlin and large chunks of raw precious metals and crystals. The part which makes them interesting is that both Bora and Fiefdom share ties to Veles Crafts."

"Veles. I know that name. They specialize in making magical items via powerful enchantments."

"Yes. Now for the part that makes them important to us. All three share the same complex of facilities, and recently they processed a transaction that involved a finished product that is described in very similar terms to what Aidee specified. The delivery timeframe and number of items fits as well to the attack Aidee intercepted."

"Sounds good to me. Let's finish eating and then you can help me clean up and get rid of all those papers. By the time we're finished, it'll be well into nightfall and just perfect for a little stroll through town, wouldn't you agree?"

"As you wish."

************

Kaede's eyes opened at the now-familiar series of beeps that interrupted her sleep. It was a warning to alert her that Journeyman Hath would be along in a little while. So it was time for her to wake up and face the new day. He had been the doctor assigned to her case, responsible for conducting the testing on her.

Which, as it had turned out, was nothing like she had expected. For one, it was absolutely boring. There were no probes, no pain, no devilish torture chambers to slowly break her down and reveal her secrets. They took endless samples of everything, never speaking unless she asked a question, observing her and testing her. Half the time they never even showed her as much as an expression.

Hath was different though. He came by every day in the morning to pick her up, and took her to her room each day when their tests were complete, talking to her the entire time. Sometimes the sun would still be high in the sky, on the rare occasion it would be dark out. Hath was a young and impressionable human, with cute boyish features. Dark eyes like her own, but blond hair and fair skin.

The first time they had met had been the morning after Neare and Anaja had delivered her to the room, and she had answered the summons at the door without even thinking of where she was - and thus completely nude. Journeyman Hath had been greeted to a very sleepy and very naked Kaede, and his reaction had been very loud and amusing to her. As a result, she tended to tease and play with him whenever she got the chance.

Still, he had helped her greatly and for that she was thankful. He would talk to her, answer her questions in regards to the place she was now located, and had showed her how to use all the contraptions in the bathroom. Kaede had to admit that having both a shower and a cozy bed every day was nice, but if she didn't find a way to alleviate her boredom soon she'd go crazy.

This morning was different somehow. She could feel it. She didn't know why, but it was. Getting out of bed and stretching, Kaede made her way over to the storage cabinet and pulled out a food canister. Hath came by every few days to replenish her stock, even offering her different flavored ones to taste-test.

Pulling one of the canisters she sat back down at the edge of her bed, sampling the food pellets. This particular one had a sweet and tangy flavor, sort of like how humans tasted - and thus was one of her favorites. She had left off the particular reasoning to why when Hath had inquired, but he had been happy to provide more of them for her.

As she continued to savor the food pellets, she buzzed her wings in pleasure, humming in satisfaction and... wait. Is it? Did they? In her shock she dropped the canister, reaching up behind her in disbelief, her hands coming into contact with the thin membranes of her wings. She flicked them again, enjoying the motion against her hand... they came back. Finally! It had been nearly two weeks since that day of pain, which was much longer than it usually took for them to regrow.

She hugged herself, laughing in glee. I knew this was going to be a good day! Now to make sure everything else works. With a thought she shrank herself down to the size of one of the pellets that was now scattered about the floor, flittering about and alighting herself atop one of them. The sudden tones ringing again announced Hath's arrival and broke through her excitement, but her surprise quickly turned into genuine happiness. Oh, this is going to be fun.

Looking down beside her, she vanished into an illusion, becoming one of the pellets and creating a second illusion of herself without wings and wearing the suit that allowed her to move about away from her room without suffering pain. Right after her preparations were complete the door whisked open and shut, revealing Hath as he walked in through the short entranceway.

"Excuse me, Miss Kaede, but it's time for us to be going. Are you ready?"

He was completely focused on the illusion of herself, and she fought hard to contain her giggles as she used her false-self to accidentally knock several of the pellets - including the one she was pretending to be - across the floor, pretending surprise at his arrival.

"Oh, yes, I'm ready. But I made a mess of my breakfast. Could you help me pick it up?" her false-self asked as she - still in disguise as a pellet - came to rest behind him, watching as he stepped forward to assist her in picking up the pellets.

"Absolutely, that's not a problem at all. Is something the matter? Was it not to your liking?"

"No no! I just accidentally dropped it, that's all. I can be something of a klutz."

"That's good to hear. I think that's the last of it," he said, looking about on the floor for any more pellets after handing her the last he'd found. While he was distracted, she dropped the illusions and increased her size to normal height as she shrank him down. He didn't notice it until he turned completely around and found himself facing her now very giant feet, whipping his head to look up at her nude form smiling down at him.

"Good morning to you, Hath. My wings came back this morning! Isn't that great?"

"Um, um, K-kaede... y-yeah, that's great news... but w-w-why did you shrink me?"

"Mmm, because ever since meeting you I thought you looked cute enough to just eat right up," she said as she licked her lips enticingly, hinting at her intent.

"Y-y-ou're n-not really t-thinking of eat-t-ting me are you?" he asked, his voice getting more shrill as realization of the situation started to set in.

He didn't even try to run from her as Kaede bent over and picked him up with her hand, cradling him gently between her fingers as she lifted him. His face was constantly changing between fear, surprise, and embarrassment - the latter no doubt because her real-self wasn't wearing any clothing. Bringing him up to her face, she used a subtle touch of size changing magic to cause his own clothing to fall off of his body and onto the floor, back at its original size while keeping him tiny.

"Mmm, I am thinking about it. Is that so wrong? You could be a part of me forever. That wouldn't be so bad, now would it?" she asked in a provocative voice, playing with her hair and posing for him as she held him a little away from her to let him get a good look. That only made him blush more while he also tried to preserve his dignity, which of course fueled her teasing streak all the more.

"I think I like being a part of m-myself m-m-more, Kaede! Please, put me down!"

"Aww, as you wish." Kaede put on her best hurt expression, as she lowered him... right onto her lips. Hath's initial relief at her lowering him became shock she slurped gently and his legs disappeared between her lips. Her tongue tasted him and Kaede murred with pleasure, closing her eyes and enjoying his flavor.

"K-K-KAEDE!" Hath's scream made her sigh around him, all the noise was killing her enjoyment. He should know I'm just teasing him. It's not like they wouldn't notice he went missing when the last place he was seen entering was my room. Fortunately he was small enough that the guards outside her door couldn't hear his cries. He does taste really good though, and it's been so long... since he's already scared witless a little more tasting won't hurt.

With that thought in mind, she slurped him the rest of the way into her mouth, walking over to sit on her bed and rolling him around gently with her tongue. She still didn't want to hurt him, just taste him better. Ooooh, he is delicious though. Kaede could feel him lashing out at her tongue, hitting and kicking it for all he was worth. It really has been such a long time she thought, tilting her head back slowly to feel his body sliding on her tongue towards her throat...

She managed to just stop herself right before the gulp that would normally have followed and sent the cute doctor on a one way journey into the depths of her body. Carefully manipulating Hath's body into the pocket between her teeth and left cheek, she swallowed her built up saliva instead of him. Might have gotten a little too carried away there, she thought, walking into her bathroom and spitting him out into her hands and setting him in the basin of her sink.

"Are you alright there Hath?" she asked, poking him gently as he was no longer making any noise. She knew he wasn't injured because he was standing up without limping, but that said nothing to his emotional state. "C'mon Hath, I was just teasing, don't get all somber on me now. I wasn't really going to eat you," she pleaded.

"But you - and the shrinking - and and..." when he finally started talking again it was a rush of nearly incomprehensible words, but at least he was talking. Kaede tried to smile reassuringly at him but it didn't seem to help. She took a chance and picked him back up, stroking the top of his head with her index finger.

"I'm sorry ok? I was just really happy to wake up and find my wings were back and I wanted to try out my magic, that's all. I wasn't going to hurt you, I promise. Now, would you stop blabbering and help me out before the guards start wondering why you've been in here so long?"

"You're... you're not going to eat me?"

"I already said that!" Kaede declared with a huff, activating the faucet for the sink. "Now hold still so I can rinse you off before I bring you back to full size."

He didn't resist her so Kaede took to cleaning all of her saliva off of his tiny form, making sure not to drown him in her attempts to do so. Satisfied that she had cleaned him off, she placed him on the floor and reversed her magic to restore him to normal size. Hath continued to stare up at her in shock and disbelief, taking several moments to realize that he was nude before making a rush attempt to cover himself.

"Can I have my clothes back please? Its bad enough that you go around naked yourself and... and... tastetested me, I shouldn't have to be nude too!"

"Awww, now what's so wrong with nude? It's mighty comfortable. Besides, your lips say one thing but your body says another with regards to my nudity. There is no shame to be had in liking what you see. But I will go get your clothes. I'm sure we'll be having another glorious round of boring testing to go through and I'd hate for you to be late."

Hath didn't reply to her comments, instead he only blushed brighter and turned away. Such a cute little guy. I'm going to have a lot more fun with him now that my magic is back. The thought caught her by surprise, because Kaede generally hadn't though in this manner for years except on the rare occasion. She found now though that she couldn't wait.

Thinking about why that would be, she realized that even though she was their prisoner, she felt safe here. As long as she didn't hurt anyone they wouldn't hurt her, that had been what Master Anaja had said and so far it was true. Within the walls of this city she was safe from things that would have given her pause in the past, allowing the personality of her youth that she had repressed for so long to fight her pragmatic side and reveal itself once again.

When she left the washroom to collect his clothes, deep in her own thoughts, she also moved to retrieve her own protective suit so that she could dress as well. Returning to Hath, she found him exactly as she left him, sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest hugging himself and blushing bright red. She sighed and shook her head, placing his clothes at his feet.

"C'mon Hath, we must go. I'm surprised the guards haven't already come looking for you. I suspect the only reason they haven't is because you've taken time to show me things before, but they must be suspicious."

She turned away from him then and started to put on the protective suit, getting it up to her hips before she gasped in realization - the suit was not meant to fit around my wings! She wouldn't be able to put it on without removing them... and she dared not leave the room without it. No, no, anything, please, not my wings, I just got them back! She whirled about to face Hath, who was still in the same position as before but now watching her intently.

"Hath... Hath! I can't.... put it on! Please, you have to help!" Her emotions came forth in waves that seemed to pound her down, an array of thoughts flooding her mind. "Don't... don't take me to the lab today. Please! I don't... I can't! Lose my wings again, they just came back, I don't, I don't..." Kaede fell to her knees in front of him as her eyes began to tear up. She could just imagine them popping off her wings to keep her under control, or worse, letting her walk around without the suit so they could study her reactions. "Please, no pain."

She was looking down so she never noticed when he leaned forward until he wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her gently against him, drawing a gasp of surprise. "It'll be alright Kaede. Master Triela is coming in today. I'm sure she won't put you through pain just for the sake of it."

The warmth of his body as it pressed against hers felt rather nice, but the name he mentioned tugged at her mind, something she should remember... Oh no! "Hath, hath! Triela! She's... she's the one I ate before! She'll kill me!" Kaede began to shake, her near future being trusted to the one she had tried to digest. She couldn't imagine the pain that woman would wish to inflict on her...

"Kaede. Calm down. Master Triela isn't like that. If you could have picked anyone to eat, it would have been her. She was Reya's ambassador before we came here. She understands better than anyone the nature of this realm." He paused, squeezing her tight once more. "How about we make a deal? If you don't eat... or pretend to eat anyone, I'll make certain that you don't experience any pain. Ok? I have to admit, I didn't really enjoy that little game you played with me earlier."

"I'm sorry. It was just a joke. I'll refrain from doing it again, I promise. It's probably better that way anyway, it'll help me resist the temptation of the follow-through."

"Alright. Let me get dressed, and I'll go speak to Master Triela," Hath said, releasing her and picking up his clothes. It took a few moments for her comment to process, but when it did he whirled about in shock. "Wait a minute! Were you... were you about to swallow me?!? I thought it was a joke!"

"Ahhhh... oops?"

~~~~~

The door to Triela's office whisked open, admitting a youthful and flustered human wearing the insignia of a Journeyman in the Health Guild.

<Master Triela? Could I have a word with you?>

Looking up from her desk, Triela recognized the speaker as Journeyman Hath, the one who had been responsible for Kaede's testing. The fairy. At least she could say her name now. They had gotten a fair amount of data in regards to anatomical differences, but that had been it so far. Without her magic, they really couldn't explore the true depth of her abilities. And I know very well just how good her abilities are.

<Certainly, Journeyman Hath. What is it you need to speak of?> Consulting her chronometer, she quirked her head at him curiously. <Shouldn't you be doing testing with her now though?>

<That's what I need to speak to you about. Kaede... needs some help from us.>

<What's the issue?>

Hath stood before her for several moments, deep in thought as he seemingly toiled over how to word what he needed to say. <Her wings are back. She's afraid to leave her room for fear of the pain since she can't put on her suit, and afraid that we'll just take her wings away from her.> His thought came to her in a rush, and she took a moment to ensure she understood it correctly before replying.

<Why would I do that? I wanted her wings to grow back. I'm surprised it took this long, I thought it was an evolution of shorter duration.>

<You... wanted her wings to grow back?>

<Of course I did. Kaede is a fairy, Journeyman. Before now, all we've been able to study is her anatomy. We need to study her magic. I have this suspicion that its her magic that makes her susceptible to this rock formation, and if we can understand the element of why we can protect ourselves from her kind in the future.>

<So what happens to her?>

Triela smiled, understanding dawning on the real reason for this conversation. <You like her. That's understandable I suppose. She has a cute frame. You do realize she eats things like you though, right?>

<If I didn't before, I do now.> he said with a shudder.

<Do you really?> Triela asked, a smile playing on her face. <And why pray tell would your feelings on the subject change now, Journeyman?>

<Ah, well, I... ah...>

His stuttering brought her smile about full force, her eyes glittering with amusement. <Learn she was a fairy the hard way, did you? I take it she decided to try out the return of her magic on you?>

<Maybe... nothing happened though, Master Triela! Nothing of any importance. She didn't do anything to me or coerce me, I swear.>

<Hmm. Perhaps I should remove you from this project. I think you've become a little too attached.>

<I... well...> he shrugged, his face falling as he failed to come up with an appropriate counterpoint. Triela could see it on his face that he knew she was right. <You are probably right. I might have become... more attached than I should. I'll accept whatever disciplinary action you feel is necessary.>

<Excellent. Then your first task will be to get her some clothes that she can wear without impeding her wings, and then figure out exactly where she can walk without suffering pain. Look for any large open areas we can use for testing her magic. If you cannot find any open areas, start cataloging storage areas and I will see about getting them cleared for us.>

<You're... not removing me from the project?>

Triela's smile faded, her expression hardening as she locked in her command presence and answered his question. <Not yet. She's apparently attached to you, a little bit at least. Removing familiarity would be problematic at this stage. It is not my intention to punish her for being what she is. However, I am putting responsibility for her care and her actions solely in your hands. Be certain that I do not regret it, Journeyman.>

<You won't be disappointed, Master Triela!> Hath saluted, then spun about quickly to leave. He was trying his best not to flee from the room, she could tell. Putting his youthful enthusiasm out of her mind, she concentrated back on the matter at hand. So, she has her wings again. I daresay things will get interesting. We might actually be able to get some answers. She's a double-edged sword though. I hope this was the correct choice, and that the risk is worth the potential gains.

Looking out the window of her office, Triela allowed herself to get lost momentarily in the light of the rising sun. She felt it was the right choice though. Perhaps... no. I'll leave Reya out of this for now. I feel I should talk to her soon though. She would know better than anyone how to deal with these feelings I'm having. I will need to go see Kaede eventually... and I could use some words of my own encouragement, Triela thought with a sigh as she sank further down into her chair.

Those of you familiar with the story will note that this ends early. Anyone who decides to read this story as it is will probably notice it has some grammatical errors and issues. Plot continuity, etc. These were mostly fixed in The Werfeirverne Saga, a revised and more completed version of Sapere Aude that also remained incomplete.

After all, the dA version didn't even have the cute scene between Kaede and Hath in it... so sad.

But I do not think I have access to that data, and it was all WP coded anyway for specificity with the theme ( it had extra codes in it that helped create the JS effects of page turning and the like ). It would require a lot of work to get on the forum, even if I did have it.

What I do have is my Scrivener project files, and after I reinstall the applicable programs I will post another addition with some spoilers for those of you who might have wanted to know how the story would have progressed.

The Werfeirverne Saga

Read Above:

Nifty Ideas and Things

Spoiler:

Proof that I'm still writing... kinda.

Spoiler:

Yeah. I'm on the maps now.

Writer Resources -- most of you probably have a few of your own. What I'm going to talk about is programs. If you do not have Scrivener ( MAC, Windows, Linux - Beta, one future day iOS ), I highly recommend purchasing a copy. That program is amazing. For those still in school you can also use it for plays and research projects. I cannot stress or repeat how highly recommend it.

The picture above is a 'mind map' created with the program SimpleMind. It is available on iOS, Windows, and MAC. For those interested in creating your own planets and star systems using some actual real world numbers, I recommend a program called "AstroSynthesis". For those who would like a good starting point on creating your own realms and rules, while not necessarily a writing resource per se, I would highly recommend the GURPS books.


Edit: Made embedded picture a spoiler because its been a while and I forgot how webboards work. Especially crappy ones like Forumotion.

Sorry for not finishing last night. I found the more specific data planners for ANSA, but they were all in Microsoft Word....! The horror!

Sapere Aude spoiler updated. Text became too long for post length restrictions so split it apart. I think I'm done now.

Oh, right, one more disclosure thing.


For those of you who discover this thread in the late, as in you didn't know the original story and such, don't read too much into the use of Felaryan's Guardians. My employment of the Guardians - specifically Mercreti and Trejal - as well as the Correctors and the war between them, was something I was working on with Karbo. I wouldn't recommend you do the same without some lengthy indepth conversations with Karbo, as their use in stories is limited.

So, I in digging around the old word documents I found a backup copy of the site and the site's SQL. After a few hours of piecing things together, its back up more or less and should work okay for everyone. No need to register, just use the username and password below to access the site. Why a password protected site? Because it's Wordpress from 2011 and is very outdated. I'm not going to bother with trying to maintain it, but it should work just fine regardless ( tested on latest IE, FF, Chrome... no promises about the future though. May not look great on mobile devices but works on my iPad ). This will hopefully keep the script kiddies out of it, since the password protection forms are provided by my WAF.

Restored Sapere Aude Story Site ( link )

• Username: ansareader
  
• Password: TupKTbSLqfzB53Y\Mtbc?VX*JCR_6AxX
  
• Hit Enter on your keyboard / Hit Go on your Mobile device
  

Also included this information on the first post, for those that would prefer to use the site rather than the forums for reading. I *think* the site version is a newer / cleaned up copy ( it doesn't use the old Prologue even though that part of the story is still included ) but I'm not quite sure how far it goes.

Edit: The website version does go farther. One chapter only bit though. It has some of the cute scene in it between Hath and Kaede.

So obv. no access to my old account but just wanted to update this for anyone who wanted it.

Story Site Link

No password / etc. Probably will go offline in February for the updates mentioned here.

It's still using Wordpress, and I want to get away from that, but no idea when I'll be able to afford a commission project to design a website for myself. The url shouldn't change anymore though.