Contents

Copywright

Dedication

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

EPILOGUE

Second Edition

© 2018 Robert Harper. All rights reserved.

I dedicate this novel to Bill Watterson.

His comics taught me that my imagination is my greatest asset and the only limitations I have are those I place upon myself.

Though, while growing up I had very little in common with the character of Calvin, I lived vicariously through his rebellion of life in general and his stubborn refusal to accept anyone’s worldview but his own.

CHAPTER 1

Light from the waning moon struggled to illuminate the dense forest floor. There in the undergrowth, a large cat lay curled upon the ground, fast asleep. The tranquil scene was interrupted as a sleepy-eyed young teenage boy slowly lifted his head from the middle of the mass of feline fur.

Looking around in confusion, the boy, Danny, paused to glance at the moon above. Just from observing his gaze, one could tell his thoughts were not about anything celestial. Those eyes spoke of experience, pain, and loss.

After a few minutes had passed, the ghost leopard lifted her head and, purring, rubbed her face on the boy's back. The contact seemed to jar the boy from his dark contemplation. Turning, he smiled at the cat's display of affection and reached out to rub behind a sizeable furry ear. Right where she liked it the most.

Danny's hoarse voice croaked out, "Hey girl…what happened. Where exactly are we?"

A voice spoke out from the darkness, *You flew pretty far after that explosion, then struck the tree above you. That big broken branch covered in your blood managed not only to stop but catch you as well.*

After glancing around in alarm, Danny turned to the cat in shock. "Phantom, you…you can speak now? It just used to be feelings, emotions, and memories. I can hear your thoughts like words now!"

The cat licked her lips and laid her head down, not taking her eyes off of him.

*What? Ohhhh! Yes, I have always been able to speak with you. You have just been too stupid to hear me... Meow.*

Danny's excited smile faded at the response, "Did you just think the word ‘Meow' at me? Wait...why do you have a masculine voice?"

The boy squinted and leaned closer to the cat. Lifting her head, the cat rubbed her face against his before laying it back down again, this time choosing to face away from him.

Danny's face contorted in outrage, "Cranny, is that you?"

Danny winced as his hearing was overwhelmed by howls of laughter from the now all-too-familiar voice. Waiting for the laughing to end, Danny just sat there, not the least bit amused. Cranny's laughter eventually stopped but not without ending in a long drawn out sigh.

Danny grumbled, "You done now?"

*Oh you should have seen the way you turned and looked at that cat… Meow!*

The laughter returned with a vengeance. Throwing his hands in the air with defeat, Danny laid back against the cat to wait.

Cranny composed himself long enough to apologize, *Sorry, sorry, it's just been a long day…and night, and I needed a good stress reliever.*

Folding his arms, Danny replied, "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, but that doesn't answer my question about what happened."

*Of course, I was going to try and catch you on your way back into the land of consciousness, but things have been crazy. Come to your sanctuary, and I will show you what I mean.*

Danny rubbed the cat's back and told her, "I will be back in a bit. So, get some rest."

Focusing on the unnatural calm he now felt permeating his body, Danny quickly fell into a meditative state.

***

After dying a most embarrassing and mundane way back on Earth, Danny, a twenty-seven-year-old chemist, had been reincarnated into this new world and the body of an unborn infant. Here, all creatures of significant intelligence can gain access to an individual inspired mental sanctuary through meditation. The benefits of the mental sanctuary come in the form of increased intelligence, agility, or strength.

As he had expected, Danny came into his mental sanctuary, sitting down in a chair at the center of a large room. While the room of the sanctuary he was currently in had once looked like the bridge of a science fiction starship from a poorly budgeted B-movie, it now appeared sleek and refined. Everything had odd angles, and there were no curves to be seen. Lighted crystalline channels ran uninterrupted between every surface. Whereas the control panels used to consist of buttons and knobs, they now had a holographic keyboard floating above them. Holographiccally projected screens replaced the old monitors that used to line the front of the room. All the moment needed was an overabundance of lens flares, and Danny would be the lead actor in his very own blockbuster movie.

Two chairs sat at a long console in front of him, below the large holoscreens. Danny looked to the one on his left and saw Cranny sitting there working away at a keyboard. While they were technically the same person, when Danny had reached a milestone with his sanctuary infused intelligence, he had received a split consciousness in the form of his previous Earth-self. His split consciousness just took on the appearance of his previous self to help maintain their sanity.

Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, Danny looked over to realize the other chairs in the room were occupied as well. Glancing around the room, it finally registered with Danny that there were other people, working at the different stations. Having watched a plethora of sci-fi movies in his previous life, it filled some expectation that they be there.

Cranny turned around and smiled, "Welcome Danny, to Sanctuary 2.0."

The other chair in front of Danny spun around, and a woman he vaguely recognized but couldn't place looked at him in surprise. She quickly stood up at attention and saluted, shouting, "Captain on the bridge!"

The activity in the room came to a complete halt as everyone stopped to stand at attention and salute in Danny's direction. Danny looked around, unsure of what to do.

Erratically nodding his head to the room, Danny made an awkward gesture while stuttering, "Uhh… um… as you were?"

Everyone immediately turned and got back to work. Danny turned to stare incredulously at Cranny. The other man just sat there, smirking over a cup of steaming coffee.

Putting down the cup, Cranny cleared his throat and began, "Where were we? … Ah yes. After being impaled on that tree, you eventually slid off and fell to the ground. Besides the gaping wound in your shoulder, you had multiple bone fractures and breaks all across your body. As expected, there was also extensive internal bleeding. I used nearly all of your remaining mana, with Air Affinity, to prevent the branch from piercing your heart. With that crisis over, I quickly realized that you would die from your injuries before I could use your slowly recovering mana to heal you.

Having no other viable options, I decided to use that immense mass of mana we had been storing outside your body for days. Unfortunately, you were in no shape to help me separate a smaller portion of it for use, and I couldn't manipulate that much mana the way I really needed to on my own. So, I just compressed and centered it on the wound at your shoulder. Stopping the blood loss was the most critical step. We could always heal your bones later.

It quickly healed your shoulder, and I was pleased when the excess healing mana fixed the rest of your body. I had expected the excess to dissipate into the surrounding air, but it didn't. Healing you didn't even use half…

It was quiet there for a few moments, then you started screaming, and I thought you would never stop. You eventually passed out.

Now, I have concluded that the excess mana did something to you. I tapped into your pain receptors for a moment, and it felt kind of like an extreme burning sensation. The pain was all centered on your shoulder and slowly radiating outwards. Whatever was causing the pain was consuming all the mana you were regenerating, and I was operating on only reserves and my natural connection to your body. Before whatever was altering you reached your heart, almost gave up due to the strain. A few of your other organs decided they didn't like what was happening either. It was everything I could do to keep them all functioning. Once, the change reached your connection to the source of mana; it started to spread even faster.

That was when I noticed the zombie goblin. It came from, what I assume, was the direction of the battle. Danny, it was inches from you when Phantom showed up and tore into it like a blender. Phantom was bleeding from a few places, but it looked like she had fared a lot better than we did.

In all the chaos with the goblin, I almost forgot to keep your body going. Then, the change reached your brain, and everything went white for a while. When it all came back, I found myself here in the improved sanctuary.

I noticed we had mana again, so I started up some of the little protocols I had previously created. That's when the new crew members started showing up. Air Scan, Earth Scan, and Mana Sight each created a new one. Every time I thought of something else I wanted to do, another showed up. I was excited at first, but they are not a very talkative bunch."

Danny looked around the room again and asked, "Did we hit the second triangle with intelligence? We shouldn't have been that close."

Cranny shook his head, "No, but our intelligence did rise a bit. I think the presence of the crew is part of your upgrade."

Danny tilted his head, "Upgrade?"

Cranny nodded, "There have been a lot of changes, and not just to your sanctuary. Here, look at this."

A holographic, three-dimensional display of Danny's internal body appeared in front of him. Nothing looked different to Danny.

Cranny reached behind himself and dragged a holographic keyboard around, so he was still partially facing both Danny and the holographic display.

"As you can see, nothing has changed much from this view. Your mana regeneration doubled, which is fortunate because any more and I wouldn't have been able to keep up. I have no clue how much mana you can store now because we still haven't topped off the tanks yet."

Danny interrupted, smiling, "My regeneration ONLY doubled! I'll take that."

Cranny cringed, "I didn't finish. I estimate that a quarter of your mana regeneration is currently being lost to your body."

Danny looked confused, "How can I lose it to my body? Where is it going?"

Cranny zoomed in the holographic image, and Danny was shocked to see it focus in further and further. A group of cells was visible, doing…cell stuff.

Danny's jaw dropped, "Is this a live feed or just a re-creation?"

Cranny nodded, "It's live. Our cells have undergone a change on the fundamental level. My current theory is that our body uses mana now as an energy source. All operations that used chemical energy have been systematically replaced. We are still mostly water and carbon, but there is now a crystal-like nature embedded throughout our body."

The cellular walls came into focus as the image zoomed in further on the cell. Danny remembered from biology how the outside looked bumpy, kind of like the surface of a basketball. There were also the proteins and lipids sticking out, doing various functions. Danny didn't really remember what all they did, but now there was something new. Interspersed evenly across the wall were crystal-like structures. Danny only remembered seeing something shaped like that at the cellular level.

Danny leaned in, alarmed, "Are those viruses?"

Cranny shook his head, "No, those are now a natural component of our cells. I haven't figured out their purpose, yet. Now, look at your mitochondria."

The view panned over to a something that looked nothing like the mitochondria Danny had seen in his textbooks at school. It had the expected bean shape, except now its surface was angular and had countless ice crystal-like structures on its surface. Particles of light were flowing into it as streams of energy shot out to various parts of the cell.

Cranny didn't wait for a response from Danny, explaining, "Took me a while to realize what that thing was. I can only assume magic is being absorbed naturally from where it is stored in our body and is then processed in some way, before being sent to the various parts of the cell. Why it needs to be processed, I don't know. The mitochondria are supposed to handle a few other important processes, so I don't know how those are being affected. The rest of the cells' organelles have the same crystals dotting their surfaces. Your DNA now includes nucleotides with numerous crystal structures, especially at the ends. In summary, your body is now a highly efficient magical machine."

Danny didn't know what to say and just shook his head.

Getting up, Cranny motioned for him to follow. "Let's go check out the rest of the sanctuary."

Danny paused at the door to the hallway as he realized something, "Cranny, I have a body here now."

Cranny had stopped on the other side of the doorway to let a woman pass by. "Yes, like I said, lots of changes."

Danny looked back at the woman who had just come through the door. "Wasn't that woman... Isn't she that actress…"

Cranny looked back quickly and interrupted him, "Yep, that's her, let's go."

Looking around Danny continued, "In fact, all the women here are famous actresses... Didn't you say you created all of them? Well, except her over there. Wait, didn't we used to work with her at the lab? I remember having a crush on her..."

Cranny's eyes widened, and he jerked his arm up to look at his empty wrist. "Look at the time. We need to get going. There is a lot more to show you!"

"Wait, why are all the men in red uniforms? Hey, they are the only ones in red uniforms..."

Cranny's voice called out to him through the now empty doorway, "Hey Danny, you gotta come look at this!"

CHAPTER 2

Danny walked out into the hallway of the sanctuary to see that it had taken on a similar appearance to the bridge. Gone were the familiar tall rectangular shaped hallways; now they were shaped more like a pentagon with an elongated top.

Danny couldn't help but ask, "Are all the rooms sci-fi themed as well? What's up with that?"

Cranny slowed down and pondered this for a moment before replying, "Yes, the rest of the rooms have taken on this similar appearance, except the library. Just the wooden paneled walls of the library now have a crystal pattern inlaid. I can only guess that this look is a combination of our interpretation of our upgrade added to our overall desire to see our previous technologically inclined world. I believe the technical term is overcompensation."

Danny nodded in agreement as they reached the door to the mana room. The door here was not two panels which separated, like the one to the bridge; instead, it was in the shape of a pentagon which opened like an iris.

Walking through, they entered a small entry room with another pentagon shaped door on the other side. To the left was a holoscreen with a plaque above it that just read, "Runic Lexicon (6)".

Cranny pointed at it and explained, "This is how your runic language skill is represented. Tell the screen what you are looking for, and the appropriate runes will appear. I suspect we will need to find more of these at some point. I am surprised we were not given more by the order, but I suspect that was a test of some sort. That is unless they were scared and just didn't trust us. Stupid of them if you ask me."

Moving to the other door in the room, Cranny paused before entering. The expanding iris doorway revealed a spherical chamber with large pentagons all over it like the pattern of a soccer ball. The doorway was situated so that it looked slightly down into the room. In the center was a massive hovering crystal structure that randomly fluctuated between all the colors of the rainbow. Along the walls, a ring of pentagons halfway up the sphere appeared to contain different people.

Cranny jumped into the room and, to Danny's surprise, floated to the crystal in the center. Gesturing for Danny to follow, Cranny waited until Danny had made it safely across.

Cranny patted the glowing crystal and explained, "This center crystal represents your mastery of mana manipulation."

Danny's eyes couldn't have opened any further, as Cranny continued, "It is without a doubt an effect of the change you underwent. While I would call this a serious cheat, the path to getting this was not one I would care to repeat. I haven't yet had a chance to determine what this mastery means." Cranny gestured to the ring of pentagon shaped "cells." "These are your magic affinities. Come with me so you can meet them."

Floating across the room, they stopped themselves in front of the cell labeled "Fire Affinity (6)". Inside the cell was another Danny, his appearance similar to the one in this new world. Bright flames poured from blackened flesh on the lower half of his body and from halfway down his arms to his hands. The top of his head was burnt as well, with firelike hair lifted up in the air similar to a candle's flame. The rest of his flesh had a red tinge to it, and his eyes glowed with a soft red light. Danny couldn't help but imagine the destruction he could wreak if he could take on this form. The fire-Danny turned to him with a feral grin and reached out a hand as if beckoning him. Danny was surprised, as he had assumed these were immobile apparitions, symbolic Danny manikins which were showing him different affinities as though they were the latest fashions.

Cranny led him around the rest of the center ring of cells. Each affinity's version of himself was different and seemed to display a distinct personality. Cranny was unable to elaborate on what this could mean. The degree at which each version of himself was altered in form, differed depending on his affinity level. While earth, water, and nature affinities matched Fire Affinity's level of change, Storm, Lava, and Freeze Affinities only showed changes to the hands and lower legs. Air Affinity was now level eight, and his entire semitransparent body seemed to be surrounded by a layer of swirling air.

Nature Affinity's cell was the oddity by containing two versions of himself. One was covered in the bark of a tree while the other version looked almost like Phantom.

Once they finished with the center, Cranny gestured upwards. Above them, the uppermost pentagons were a bright white with a crystal pattern inlaid. The topmost pentagon was a pure white cell. As they neared, Danny could see a version of himself whose skin barely looked different than his current self, except for a crystal pattern faintly glowing across his flesh. The only other differences were that his eyes glowed white, as an aura of pure light emitted from his body. The cell was labeled "Harmony Affinity (7)". Danny looked towards Cranny in confusion.

"I sort of changed the name myself. This used to be Life Affinity until we received access to its opposite, the newest affinity. Thinking about what the two truly meant resulted in the change," Cranny explained.

Danny looked around and, not seeing what he was looking for, asked, "What are you talking about? There are not any other affinities."

Cranny pointed at the crystal in the center. "I spent some time in here before you woke up. I realized that any affinities that are polar opposites are separated by a line of sight here."

Drifting toward the bottom, they rounded the center crystal to see a swirling mass of darkness. Danny recognized different sized pieces of the pentagon walls swirling and breaking apart. Danny paused before gliding toward the cell at the bottom. This was his sanctuary; it couldn't hurt him, could it? He started to panic when he realized that the cell in the middle of the dark whirlpool was hard to discern, and he feared he would be swallowed into the nothingness. His body bounced lightly off a wall of pure blackness. Nothing could be seen in front of him.

Danny was about to turn around to question Cranny when a pale ghost of a face quickly emerged from the void and stopped abruptly before him. The face had a grin that caused Danny's skin to crawl and pure black eyes that proclaimed the insanity that was barely kept inside. Danny unconsciously pushed away and drifted back toward the center crystal. As he drifted, Danny noticed dark veins running jaggedly through the face's sickly pale flesh, appearing like dark cracks in an ancient porcelain vase.

Danny didn't breathe again until he had touched the crystal, and shakingly, he whispered, "Wha... what the hell is that?"

Cranny seemed to look everywhere but down at what Danny was referring to. Cranny shrugged uncomfortably, "When we disrupted the goblin shaman circle from casting the massive dark spell that would have assuredly destroyed the caravan, I think we took in a bit of that mana into ourselves and gained an affinity for it."

Danny shook his head, "Can we get rid of it? What is it exactly?"

Cranny looked increasing uncomfortable, "I do not think we can rid ourselves of it. When I saw how it changed you into… Danny Freako… and then how the goblins used it, a name appeared in bright letters before fading into nothingness... ‘Entropy.'"

Gesturing to the top and bottom of the room, Cranny continued, "While one fortifies and brings things back as they should be, the other corrupts and tears them apart into nothingness."

Danny looked confused for a second. "Was there a number next to the name?"

Cranny shook his head, "No, there wasn't. I can only come up with two theories on why. Either the sorcerers who created these sanctuaries didn't know about this affinity, or they purposely avoided rewarding anyone for gaining skill and understanding in its use… Based on his appearance compared to the others, our affinity is pretty high."

Danny shuddered but had nothing to say to this and stared blankly at a far wall.

"Come on Danny, let's go look in the entrance room."

The entrance room had once looked like an extensive study. Long bookshelves held all his accumulated knowledge and skills not associated with magic. A desk once set to one side with a triangle within a triangle above it. Now, the room was another white sphere of hexagons, except that this one was traversable by a metal walkway that stretched across the room. On the other side of the room, the walkway ended in a large circular metal ring. What could only be described as a wormhole, funneled away from the metal circle far into the distance.

Cranny took Danny to the center of the room where the walkway bulged around a circular workstation. Out of the top of the workstation, three clear tubes rose toward the ceiling. The first tube was labeled "Strength," and a copper looking liquid could barely be seen bubbling up from the bottom. The second tube was labeled "Agility," and the copper liquid almost reached halfway up it. The last tube, "Intelligence," was more than twice as tall as the others. The bottom half of this tube was filled with copper, and it glowed brightly as energy raced through it. The top half of this tube was filled over half way with an iron colored liquid. The glowing effect of the bottom half did not extend to that of the top half.

Danny nodded at the tubes but then looked around in confusion. "Where did all the skill books go?"

Cranny typed into the console, and video images of his different skills displayed on the hexagon sections of the surrounding room's walls. Skill names and their levels displayed below them. Each hexagon cycled through different skills. "Nothing really new, just presented in a different way."

Danny watched this a while before he turned and walked up to the wormhole and asked, "Why even have an exit when I can come in and leave from wherever I want?"

Cranny walked over next to him. "Danny, before you go back I have one last thing to tell you. Something I figured out during your upgrade."

Danny glanced over at him, "Hmmm?"

"Your sanctuary isn't in your mind; it's with me in the source."

Danny looked over at him in shock, right before Cranny pushed him through the wormhole.

CHAPTER 3

Light from the early morning sun had barely begun to illuminate the forest floor where a group of vultures had gathered for a feast. Ripping and tearing into the flesh, they fought over the choicest pieces. Not having been able to get to the crowded corpse, the smallest vulture turned as it smelled fresh drying blood nearby. Hopping over to the other body, the scrawny bird could tell it was still alive, but with all the blood, it was sure to be dead soon. Pecking at the area with the most dried blood the bird was surprised when it was abruptly knocked away.

"I'm not dead! Get off of me! I'm not food!"

Danny shot up waving his arms and legs around without aim. As birds took off into the air, a few feathers fell, drifting listlessly to the ground. He took a minute to look around and gain his bearings.

Cupping his hands to his mouth, he yelled, "Phantom!"

Danny waited a few moments for the cat before he noticed the smell coming from the half-eaten and rotten goblin.

"Gross…Cranny, was kicking me out really necessary?"

*No, but the morning was coming, and we need to check on the caravan. Plus that one vulture was about to kick you out anyway, so I did you a favor before he really went to town.*

"…so, you're not really part of me?"

*Nope, I am apparently a construct of the source. Two personalities can't occupy one mind without serious psychological ramifications. Think of your sanctuary and, by extension, me as part of a remote magical server enhancing you.*

"So if I lose my connection to the source…"

*You will lose me. But don't worry, as you will be dead anyway since you now run off of mana.*

"Cranny, you really missed your calling as a motivational speaker."

Cranny chuckled, and then there was a brief moment of silence.

Small birds flew above the canopy, calling out to the early day as clouds slowly crossed the sky.

Danny, scratched his arm and asked, "Do you think I have enough power now?"

There was no immediate response, and Danny was starting to wonder if Cranny had heard him or not.

*I think we are almost there? Let's see how strong these elves are. They are all born with their mana unlocked already. Maybe they have knowledge that will give us the edge we need,* Cranny said with a heavy sigh.

Danny nodded, "Let's go find the girls. I hope they survived."

Cranny didn't have to ask him who "they" were.

*Stop worrying, and don't tell them about your upgrade! At least not yet. I don't know if that Arya will let us go to the elves if they find out. If you want to try anything, I would suggest experimenting a bit now before you go back.*

Danny really wanted to head back and check on his friends, but he needed to figure out what changes occurred before doing that. Who knows what trouble he could run into… or cause?

"What's first, Cranny?"

*Try and use your magic as you have been. I will monitor what's happening on this end.*

Danny nodded and cast a fireball, stone spike, air blade, and grew a small tree from a sapling.

Putting his hands on his hips, Danny pondered this as the mana used seemed to go a bit further. Unfortunately, he still couldn't tell how much of his overall mana he had used, as he still wasn't used to the changes to his body.

*That's interesting, try writing your name with flames in the air about two meters away.*

"Whaaaa… Ok, I will try, but you know that I have never managed to make anything more complex than simple shapes…"

Danny gathered mana and started to manipulate it into a "D" and then tried to make an "A." Danny was shocked at how easy it was.

*Danny, stop what you're doing. I want you to try something else. Draw a dotted line with mana, and continuously cast light on each dot outwards as far as you can.*

Danny didn't question him and did as he was told. The dots of light started popping briefly into existence in a long chain that appeared randomly around the imaginary line as they traveled out into the distance.

"I couldn't see through the trees any further to cast, but I can tell that I can cast farther away, can't I?"

*It's better than that. You now have an area of around five meters where you can cast with little to no focus. After that, the distance increases to somewhere around 500 meters, but at that range, your spells would require massive amounts of mana to be effective. You would also have to be able to see that far so it would not be very accurate. It is perfect for our scanning magic, though.*

"Wow, that's crazy! Can you sense the caravan? I can sense what the scanning spells pick up, but there is too much for me to focus on."

*Yes, I see them but there doesn't seem to be much movement. They appear to be staying put.*

"Alright, I want to test things out further, but we need to get back. Where is Phantom? Are you picking her up anywhere?"

*Nope, maybe she got tired of the stinking corpse... and that dead goblin over there.*

Danny ignored him and started calling out, but the cat must have wandered off too far to hear.

"Cranny, can you point me in the right direction for the caravan?"

*Here let me try something. Keeping you alive during the upgrade gave me the idea for being able to communicate with you by hacking into your ear's sensory cells. I am going to try the same to your eyes.*

"What are you going... Ahhhhh!" Danny covered his eyes with his hands.

*Sorry! Sorry… I had that turned up too high. Try it now.*

Danny cautiously blinked and finally opened his eyes to look around. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

*Turn your head until you see a faint flashing light. That will be in the direction you need to go.*

Danny turned his head in the direction he thought he had flown from and noticed what Cranny was talking about.

"Thanks!" Danny took off in a jog toward the faint light that appeared in the distance.

Allowing his worries about the girls to surface, he took off at a fast pace. He had used a lot of his reserves to heal himself and was worried about how far he could make it in his current state. He was surprised after five minutes of jogging that he wasn't getting tired. His muscles had a slight ache, but there wasn't the burn he was used to feeling when he pushed himself. He wasn't even breathing hard.

Speaking without strain, Danny asked, "How far did I exactly fly?"

*You flew pretty far, but you had traveled a ways down the road to stop the group spell the goblin shamans were casting. I am taking you right back to the caravan's current location. It looks like they moved further back down the road.*

Danny moved through the forest, effortlessly jumping roots and dodging trees. He realized something was off.

"Why am I not tired, or needing to breathe hard? This is kind of freaking me out," Danny asked.

*Remember, you are not getting tired because you are using mana instead of chemical energy. On top of that, you don't really need oxygen anymore. There might be a few processes that require it, but your lungs are not very useful now except for when you want to talk or smell.*

Being distracted by what he had just been told, Danny almost tripped over something.

"Wait, so how much of my mana am I using right now?"

*Right now, you are only cutting into the amount of mana you regenerate, and not taking out of your reserves. When resting, your body eats about a quarter of the regeneration; right now, it's getting near half.*

"So, I now have super speed!"

*No, you have super endurance. Stop trying to run and think. While you are puttering along for the marathon, your enemies are going to catch you before the 200-meter dash is even finished.*

Danny shrugged and mumbled defensively, "It's still super."

Danny took off at a faster speed and burst from the forest onto the road. On the other side of the road was a vast clearing, filled with burned trees and underbrush. Dead bodies were littered everywhere.

This now wide open area wasn't the merchant clearing that the caravan had started in the day before. Looking back to the south, Danny spotted that merchant clearing, itself filled with corpses and the remains of the earthen fortifications the wizards had hastily put up. Past that, Danny thought he saw a massive crater in the ground. Large forest trees had been blown backwards and away from the center of a tremendous explosion of force.

Further south, Danny could guess the remnants of the caravan were huddled behind the new earthen fortification sitting in the middle of the clearing. Seeing the small square fort, Danny could tell the wizards had apparently had more time to work on this one. Figures could be seen watching from stone towers erected at each corner.

As he approached, he was hailed by a soldier watching from the northwest tower. Word was passed, or instead shouted, down, and part of the western wall opened up. The Basalt trio stepped out, immediately followed by Ivy and Brooke.

The sizable wizard opened his arms wide. "Danny! We thought you escaped back to Diadem. It got crazy there for a bit, but it wasn't anything me and my little ladies couldn't handle."

Arya stopped a distance away, eyes boring into Danny's, "Yes, why are you back and why are you covered in dried blood and scorch marks?"

"Oh, these? Crazy story, you see I was…"

Arya interrupted him, "Danny, not long after the beginning of the battle, there was a large explosion near the rear of the enemy formation. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

Danny sighed. He'd had enough of this farce. He didn't know if it was the almost dying that was pushing him over the edge, but he was tired of playing the complacent fool he had grown accustomed to being. He always figured back on Earth that it would be fun to play the senile old man to the fullest when he got older, but you eventually get tired of everyone looking down on you.

Cranny tried to interject and prevent what was about to happen, *Danny, don't forget what we talked about...*

Danny wasn't listening, "Fine! I was going to lie and make this easy, but apparently, you want to get me in trouble for saving your asses. Yes, I stopped the goblin shamans from releasing some dark ritual spell they were cooking up to kill you all. Then, I was ejected into the forest and hit my head on a tree and woke up only a few minutes ago. Scream at me all you want, but all I care about is where they keep the food around here? I had to heal quite a bit, and I am starving!"

As he stomped away, he glanced out of the corner of his eye. They were all staring at him in different states of shock.

Arya seemed to be recovering the fastest, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Danny quickly walked back up to the woman. Jabbing his finger repeatedly into her chest, he fiercely whispered, "Oh, and before you begin. Go ahead, threaten my family or me again, like the Umbra did, and I am out of here. I am sure after I show the elves what I am capable of, they will be able to help me get my family safely out of Diadem."

Wizard Basalt looked angry when Danny started jabbing his wife with his finger but then looked over at his wife in confusion at Danny's accusation.

Arya also looked genuinely confused, "Threaten your family? Who threatened your family?"

Danny crossed his arm and glared, "The Umbra... through instructor Meadows…"

Arya looked at her husband, who just subtly shook his head, before she told Danny, "We never heard about this. We were just told to keep you safe at all costs and to do our best not to let the elven queen lure you away. What did Meadows say to you exactly?"

Danny went over the conversation he had with Meadows.

Arya looked at him with concern in her eyes, "Danny, of course, they don't want you to try and stay with the elves. We know they are sorcerers like you. Why wouldn't you want to stay with them?"

Danny frowned, not able to accuse the one responsible for his anger. Arya was obviously going into damage control mode, but they had to be made to understand, "So they threaten my family… my shadow?"

Wizard Basalt turned to his wife, obviously not happy, "Arya…"

Arya slowly reached out and took hold of Danny's shoulder, "Danny, you are going to become a powerful sorcerer one day... Well, if you don't kill yourself first. I don't know what good they thought it would it do to possibly make you an enemy by threatening you or your family...? I can only assume they thought threatening you was the most likely tactic to work. Scared you would not return…" Arya looked down for a moment before again looking him in the eyes, "I will speak with them when we return and make sure this mistake is not repeated, and ensure you are compensated. Will you accept that?"

*Danny, they apparently didn't know about this. There is no point dragging this out…*

Danny deflated and realized this was a waste of time, "Sure."

Arya smiled brightly, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Come on Danny, let's go get you some food. We can't have you wasting away."

Danny was led into the fort. The opening in the wall quietly closed behind them.

CHAPTER 4

The inside of the makeshift fort was filled to capacity with what tents they managed to salvage. In the center of all these tents was a space set aside for cook fires, all under a canopy set up with stone tables and benches. Danny noticed that the carriages and wagons had been crammed in one far back corner. An occasional soldier or wizard could be seen moving quietly between the tents. The atmosphere of the fort was very subdued.

Wizard Basalt turned to the group. "Girls, why don't you take Danny to get cleaned up, get him some food, and then come to meet us at the healer's tent."

After the Basalt shadow moved off, Brooke rushed over to give Danny a hug.

Brooke looked down at Danny's torn clothes and all the dried blood, "Are you sure you do not need to go see the healers?"

Danny shook his head, "Nah, I am good. Just hungry."

Ivy traded places with Brooke. When Danny thought Ivy wasn't ever going to let go of him, he asked, "What's going on, where is Jade?"

Pulling away from him, Ivy pushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes and looked to the side, "Jade was injured pretty badly during the attack. She's in the healer's tent right now, and she is recovering. After she is released, we might need you to... help her get back to her old self."

Danny looked alarmed, "What, she got hurt! Why don't we go see her now?"

Brooke put a hand on Danny's arm, "She is doing fine now. She fell asleep right before we were told you were waiting outside. Her aunts and uncle are with her now, so let's go get you cleaned up and get some food in you before you collapse. You are nothing but skin and bones. It's kind of scary looking."

Danny started to argue, but his stomach chose that moment to start grumbling, loudly. "Alright, a quick bite and then we will go see Jade."

The girls led him to their tent. Danny noticed it wasn't the one they had been using before the attack. There were two pallets inside, and Danny recognized his backpack in the far corner. Brooke brought in a bucket of water and a washcloth. The girls gave him some privacy to clean up and change into his new clothes.

The cook fire was an extended pit with a pot boiling on one end and meat cooking on a spit at the other. Brooke and Ivy went over and waited in line while Danny sat under the canopy in an empty spot. The food consisted of bread, soup, and a slice of cooked deer meat. Danny dug into the meal like a starved dog. Brooke and Ivy had eaten earlier and were just drinking tea while waiting for Danny to finish.

While cutting into his slice of meat, Danny asked, "So what happened to Jade?"

Brooke answered, "Things were pretty rough there from the beginning. If they had just attacked with the cursed goblins, we wouldn't have had any problem handling them. The cursed ogres and mountain troll really pushed things in their favor."

Danny interrupted, with a piece of meat in his mouth, "I saw that! Wizard Basalt flew in the air and killed that mountain troll with one hit. That was so awesome!"

Brooke nodded but didn't share any of Danny's enthusiasm. "Yes, it was impressive, but things got worse after that. The shaman started to raise some of our own fallen to fight against us. Fortunately, we hadn't suffered too many losses at that point, but it was still disturbing to see.

Then, after you stopped the ritual spell and caused that explosion, we were immediately flanked from the east. The explosion knocked over more than a few people, and everyone was too distracted at first to notice them. I think they were waiting for something like that to happen and used it to catch us by surprise. A group of shamans leading another mass of cursed ogres and goblins attacked our flank, right where Ivy, Jade, and I were stationed.

We really hadn't seen much of the enemy, and then, there were suddenly dozens of them climbing over the wall. Jade was behind us with her bow and saw that Ivy was too distracted fighting some goblins to notice the ogre coming up behind her. Arrows didn't seem to affect the cursed ones much, and so Jade pulled Ivy out of the way at the last second. That's when the ogre grabbed Jade instead. A few soldiers managed to make it over to Jade and kill the ogre and goblins attacking her, but not before they had ripped her arm off."

Danny put his fork with another piece of meat down on his plate. He was suddenly not very hungry anymore.

Swallowing, Danny looked around and asked, "How many are left?"

Brooke answered again, "After the battle, there was at least a dozen dead and around thirty wounded. Of that, only one wizard was killed."

Danny noticed that Ivy had been quiet all through this and pushed his plate away. "Well, I am done. Let's go see Jade."

Ivy got up quickly. "I am going to go find you a pallet for tonight. The wagon with our things loaded on it was caught in the attack and some of our stuff was destroyed."

Danny watched Ivy walk away before turning to Brooke, "She blaming herself for Jade?"

Brooke nodded. Danny reached out and put a hand on her arm, "How are you holding up?"

Brooke sighed, "I am worried about Jade, and I want Ivy to snap out of it... She won't listen to me."

"I will talk with her later, but I want to see Jade. Where is the healer's tent?"

Brooke led Danny over to a long tent near the south side of the fort. As they approached the large tent, there were sounds of a commotion inside. The sides of the tent started moving erratically, and a group of three wizards rushed out of the entrance. Wizard Basalt emerged next from the tent, carrying Jade in his arms. His wives followed him out shortly after with their weapons drawn, slowly backing out of the tent.

Lieutenant Cove, with a group of soldiers, rushed over, "What is going on?"

Arya didn't lower her weapon and spoke over her soldier, "One of the recovering soldiers killed one of the healers. She bit through the wizard's neck and then attacked the patient on the pallet next to her. I engaged her only to realize she had been turned into one of the cursed ones."

Lieutenant Cove turned to the three healers standing behind the Basalts, "How did that happen?"

The oldest of the three wizards stepped forward. "Ever since the battle, we have been fighting an infection that barely responds to our healing magic. Anyone who was attacked by a dark one seems to have contracted this sickness, but it is one we have not seen before."

"Why was I not informed of this?" Lieutenant Cove barked.

The older wizard hesitated and then stood up straighter, "We were too busy treating the patients to come and inform you of a simple infection. What could you have done?"

Danny had heard enough already and walked over to inspect Jade, who still lay unconscious in Wizard Basalt's arms. Her skin was ashen, and her veins were standing out in relief.

*Danny, look at this!*

Danny's vision changed to his mana sight. Typically, using mana sight in the forest would overwhelm Danny's vision with innumerable bright dots, each one representing a creature's connection to the source of mana. Instead, only Jade's connection was visible. Danny figured Cranny could filter this now.

Besides her connection, there was a dark mass slowly spreading through her body. Danny had been hoping that the undead they had seen before were just conjured undead. It was clear that this was more of a magically spreadable infection. The strange thing was it didn't appear to be killing her. The soldier that turned undead must have succumbed to the entropy magic. Danny knew he was going to need more information.

While Lieutenant Cove continued to interrogate the healers, Danny tried healing Jade. His Harmony Affinity seemed to stop the spread of the entropy curse, but it didn't push it back. No matter how dense he made his mana, it only served to halt the spreading curse.

Danny turned away from Wizard Basalt and muttered to himself, "There has to be a solution..." Danny couldn't bear the thought of losing Jade.

*I hesitate to suggest this... What about the harmony-Danny from the sanctuary? That might be more than just a symbolic representation of your affinity.*

Danny continued to mutter under his breath, "I thought of that... What about all these people?"

*We don't know if it will even work. If we can do it, they will eventually find out about it. It could be Jade's only chance.*

Danny could see he had very few options. Reaching out, he tapped on Wizard Basalt's shoulder.

The large man turned to him and grumbling, "Danny, can this wait until we get this situation sorted out here and Jade can be seen by the healers?"

Danny whispered, "Jade is in serious danger, and I want to try something to help, but we can't do it out in the open."

Wizard Basalt stared at Danny for a moment before looking down at the girl in his arms. The wizard walked forward to brush up against Arya, "We need to take Jade and Danny to our tent."

Arya looked back in confusion only to see the look in her husband's eyes. She signaled to the other two wives and Brooke before they slipped away.

Lieutenant Cove barked orders for the healers to go back into the tent and figure out what was happening. She stationed guards inside with orders to kill any that turned.

Danny was surprised no one stopped them, but he figured it was because they could cure any diseases that popped up with magic or alchemy. Based on what he read in the books at the wizard academy, it was apparent they barely understood how diseases actually spread.

Danny, Arya, and Wizard Basalt, who was carrying Jade, entered the tent while the rest stayed right outside.

Wizard Basalt gently laid Jade on pallet, "Why is Jade in danger Danny?"

Danny sat down cross-legged in front of Jade, "She and everyone else attacked by the undead have been cursed. The dark magic you saw the shamans use is now slowly spreading through her body."

Arya squatted down next to Danny, "What is an ‘undead'… Danny, the wizards said their healing magic wasn't working."

Danny nodded, "Yes, healing magic appears to halt it for a moment, and then the curse keeps spreading. I might be able to do something to help her. I will warn you now that I will look... different."

Wizard Basalt sat down on the ground next to Danny. "Look different how?"

Danny shrugged, "It's best if you just see it for yourself. Now, I haven't done this before so it might take me awhile to figure out how. I will probably talk to myself a bit. I tend to do that when working through a problem."

Arya looked askance at the boy and stood up, "Alright, we will give you some space. I will be right over here on the other pallet. Let us know if you need anything."

Wizard Basalt also stood up to sit on the closest pallet. Both of the adults didn't speak, and he could sense them quietly watching him.

Danny looked down at the girl, who typically seemed so tall next to him. With her body curled up on the pallet and an arm missing, the girl looked so small and frail. Danny knew he had to make this work somehow.

Running a hand through his hair, he muttered under his breath, "Where to begin? Do I just cast Harmony Affinity on myself? That will just heal me and uselessly…"

*I think that might have actually changed. With your upgrade, I have wondered if it is possible for you to heal individual cells if you want to. I have been too worried about possibly using all your stored mana over a theory.*

"Well, we can test that later. How do we change? Is it the crystal structures in my DNA?"

*I have been going over all your changes, and if it's your DNA, then I don't have a clue where to even begin. My money is on the crystal structures in your cellular walls. I am scared to think what would happen if you pour too much mana into your mitochondria.*

"Alright, there is just one problem. I do not think I can focus on all the crystals in my cells."

*Your magic follows your intent so that shouldn't be a problem. I am just worried that you don't have enough mana for your whole body. Just try focusing on your hand. Remember, it's the crystal in your cells and not your cells you cast your mana on.*

"How much mana should I use?"

*I honestly don't know. How about half of what we have saved up so far?*

"No, a quarter. We might have to try multiple things."

Danny took a deep breath and grabbed a quarter of his stored mana. Focusing on his right hand, he cast Harmony Affinity, explicitly targeting the crystals in the cellular walls.

Danny screamed as an intense pain stabbed into his hand like a thousand tiny needles. Rubbing his hand gently, Danny muttered, "That didn't work. Maybe it isn't the crystals."

*Danny, one more try. Focus on the crystals in your whole body this time.*

Danny looked back at the two adults in the room. Both looked concerned, and he tried to smile reassuringly at them, but they only looked even more worried.

Danny turned back to Jade, muttering as quietly as possible, "Maybe you should tap into my pain sensors in my hand so you can also appreciate what just happened before telling me to involve my whole body."

*Danny, we don't have time to be weak! This is for Jade.*

"...Fine"

*Use half your remaining mana this time.*

"Half?"

Cranny didn't respond. Danny gave up waiting and started taking deep breaths, preparing himself. He couldn't afford to let his fear distract him. Danny steeled himself and cast half his mana as Harmony Affinity on the crystals all across his body.

Danny had closed his eyes after casting, expecting intense pain all over his body. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked around. Danny hadn't felt the severe pain like he had with his hand. He also didn't feel the healing effect which Harmony Affinity usually caused.

Looking down at his hands, he didn't see any of the changes he expected.

"Did it not work?"

*Something is definitely happening to you; give it a bit more time.*

Danny turned around and asked Wizard Basalt, "I think I got it to work, but it seems to be taking a while. Do you notice anything different about me?"

Wizard Basalt shook his head, "No, what am I looking for agai..."

Arya drew in a sharp breath and pointed at his face, "Danny, what is that!"

Looking back down at his hands, he saw they now had a faint crystal-like pattern forming all over his skin, and a white aura was glowing from out of his body.

Smiling, Danny held up his hands, "I hope this works."

CHAPTER 5

Danny looked down at the aura that had stopped growing from his body, "I thought it would be more than this... Why is it so weak looking?"

*Not enough mana input? I don't know! Wait, let me check the mana room... Yep! Harmony-Danny's is bigger.*

Danny threw up his hands and just barely resisted verbally lashing out at his split consciousness's choice of words. Before he could let out more than a frustrated growl, Cranny interrupted.

*Hey, air-scan and earth-scan are not working. I don't think we can use other affinities in this...aspect mode. Don't you dare try them! You will just waste mana...like I just did. Wow, we are getting low.*

Danny decided it would be best to ignore the voice in his head.

Looking down at Jade, he reached out with one hand, and the white aura around his body stretched toward her with his intent. As his aura surrounded her body, it lit up like a transparent hologram. Instead of a single image like he would get with scanning, it was a constant feed. Danny was pleased to note there wasn't any discernible drain on his resources for doing this.

The entropy curse was still spreading, and things had escalated. It was about to reach Jade's source connection, and Danny couldn't let that happen. Fortunately, the presence of Danny's aura halted any further movement by the curse.

Danny focused on attacking the curse with his aura, and the two opposing forces went to war. Where the two sides met, grey mist evaporated, and his aura quickly gained ground. The problem was that his aura was shrinking in the process.

Trying not to lose his focus, Danny muttered, "Need. More. Mana."

*Oh! Right... I will try infusing what we have left into the crystals around your cells. Here goes!*

Danny could see his aura visibly swell, but it wasn't by much. Danny could only focus as sweat started to drip down his brow and into his eyes. Eventually, the last of the entropy curse was purged from Jade's body. Danny let out a sigh and collapsed back on the ground. He held up a hand and noticed the Harmony Aspect was still activated, but his aura was almost non-existent.

Wizard Basalt and Arya rushed to Jade's side.

Wizard Basalt turned to Danny, "Is it done, boy? Is she free of the curse?"

Danny just nodded mutely, too mentally exhausted to speak. It had been like trying to squish dough between his hands. The second he thought he had the entropy mana all trapped between his aura, it would escape out whatever side he was focusing the least on.

Arya whispered reverently, "You even regrew her arm."

Danny sat back up with this revelation. Looking between the two adults, he could clearly see Jade now sported two full arms. Most of those in the healers' tent were in similar or worse shape.

Shaking his head, Danny asked, "We have how many more cursed in the healers' tent? The mana I just used took me a night and most of today to accumulate. How am I supposed to treat the rest of them?"

The wizard and his wife looked at each other for a brief moment before the wizard simply frowned while shaking his head.

Arya turned to Danny, "You are not going to be able to treat them, Danny. Given how quickly the first ones turned, I doubt they have much time left anyway. Especially since doing so would reveal your secret."

Arya rose and left the tent without another word. Wizard Basalt reached down and took his niece's body into his arms once again. With tears in his eyes, the Wizard said, "Thank you, Danny... Since she joined the order, I have always tried to keep an eye on her for my sister, but it hasn't been easy." The older man wiped at his face with one hand before holding Jade closer, "My little jewel."

Danny was staring at the ground shaking his head, "Is there no way for me to get more mana? I can't just sit back and watch all those women...turn into...those things!"

The wizard put his niece back down moved over to squat down in front of Danny, "Boy, wizards have been trying for years to exchange mana. Even mana stones filled by one wizard, will not be usable by another."

Danny stared at the wizard and thought about his words, when an idea struck him, "Wizards! I'm not a wizard! Where are the elves?"

Arya returned at that moment and answered him, "Danny, the ambassador and Leaf took advantage of the battle to slip away and finish the rest of the journey on foot. I am sorry, they will not be able to help you. I wish we could save these soldiers, but we do not have any other options currently available. Now, we are going to go and continue on to the elvish lands. It's too dangerous to stay here where we could be attacked again at any moment. We will allow them to attract the enemy while we slip away. Everyone, pack up."

Danny barely registered anything Arya had said past that the elves had left. He hated the fact that he had the capability to heal those women but could do nothing about it. This new aspect ability was obviously meant for someone with a large reserve of mana or with substantial regeneration abilities. Plus, he had to go and waste it on regenerating Jade's arm. That could have waited.

*You actually didn't use much of the aura to regenerate her arm. Maybe ten percent of the mana you put into it. That's not enough to save someone else.*

Danny looked up to realize that Brooke and Ivy were gone from where they had been standing outside and that the Basalt Shadow was quickly packing.

Arya looked over and seemed to fixate on his eyes, "Danny, do you think you can return to how you normally look?"

Danny stared at her dumbly for a second before looking down at his arms. He was still in Harmony Aspect form with its faint aura.

*Danny, I don't know if this will work, but just use the rest of the aura.*

Danny looked up at Arya, "Hold still."

Reaching out, he touched Arya's arm as the woman looked at him warily. It didn't take long for Danny to find numerous improperly healed breaks across the woman's body. One does not take up a career this hazardous without it leaving a story to tell across your body.

While harmony magic allows the medically untrained to treat critical injuries, it only works as efficiently as the understanding and knowledge of the person who wields the magic. Danny was shocked when his aura ran out before he could fix all the issues he had found.

Arya scrutinized his appearance, then nodded her head a few seconds later, "Good, back to your old self. Go to your tent and gather up your things. Hurry now. My husband will carry Jade until she wakes up."

Danny turned to leave, but Arya stopped him, "Danny, I am sorry we can't do anything for the soldiers. You know I would do whatever I could if there was a chance?"

Danny looked back at her and frowned, then nodded before turning back to leave.

Returning to his tent, he had only been able to visit briefly that morning, Danny found the girls waiting on him with their things already packed away.

Before he could do anything, Ivy pulled him down to sit between her and Brooke on the ground, "Danny, thank you for healing Jade's arm. Brooke and I peeked in while you were healing her. Is it true you also stopped her from turning into one of the dark ones?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah, it was extremely difficult. If my experience with Jade were any indication, it would take me most of another day to have enough mana to save another person. At the rate it was spreading in Jade, I would be surprised if the rest of the cursed women survive the night..."

Brooke pulled Danny over into a hug, "Well, that's it then, no use fretting over it. You have my thanks for saving Jade. Let's get your things and pack up the tent... Hey, you never told me you could glow! I've seen fireflies do that at night, but it was just their butts..." Brooke paused as if she just realized what she had said. "Wait, can you do that glowing thing again? I need to check something," said Brooke as a mischievous smile crossed her face.

Danny fell over as he swatted Brooke's hands away from trying to pull down the back of his pants, "Stop trying to cheer me up, I am trying to be dark and brooding! Ivy help me here!"

Danny looked over at the other girl for assistance but only found Ivy already leaning over him with a predatory smile.

Danny's eyes widened, "No! Not that!"

Tears were streaming down Danny's eyes as he crawled toward the entrance to their tent. Arya stuck her head in and looked down at the two girls who were relentlessly tickling Danny. Shaking her head, she said, "Girls, that will have to wait until later. I hope you can be a little more discreet when we slip out of the camp tonight."

Ivy and Brooke immediately stopped and sat up, speaking in unison, "Yes ma'am!"

Danny just rolled over onto his back and laid there breathing heavily.

Smiling down at him, Arya commanded, "Hurry and pack up the tent, we are leaving."

***

With the faint glow of the moon as their only source of light, the two groups left the security of the fort and slipped out into the forest.

Before they slipped out, Danny had seen a grim-faced Lieutenant Cove headed toward the healing tents with a group of soldiers. Ashamed of himself, Danny hurried to catch up with his group.

They did not dare travel by the road, as it was more than likely being watched by their enemies. They hadn't traveled very far when Wizard Basalt called out to let everyone know Jade was finally waking up. Everyone stopped to gather around where she was being carried in the wizard's arms.

Jade opened her eyes slowly, squinting as if the faint moonlight was actually the blaze of a midday sun. Her bright green eyes almost seemed to glow in the soft light. Recognizing everyone, she smiled weakly, confused by everyone's sudden close proximity.

Wizard Basalt walked over and gently sat her down on a nearby fallen log. Jade kept an arm on the wizard until Ivy and Brooke squeezed in to sit down on either side of her.

"Why am I so weak?" Jade said as she wobbled uncontrollably between the two girls.

Danny laughed, "You don't just grow a new arm from nowhere. I am sure you will be weak for a while until you can get more food and exercise." Thinking a bit more Danny added, "Your bones might also be a little weaker, so take it extra easy."

Jade looked at Danny with a frown, and then tears started rolling down her eyes.

Danny looked around unsure of what he had said wrong.

Jade reached out her arms to him, and seeing what she wanted, he quickly knelt in front of her and gave her a hug.

Jade pulled back enough so that he was looking into her eyes. Jade's voice cracked as she spoke, "I was so worried, Danny. There was that explosion, and I knew you were out there somewhere. Then, when I was in the healer's tent, they either changed the subject or lied about where you were. Danny..."

Jade hugged him as hard as her weak arms could as she cried.

Danny craned his neck, as much as Jade would let him, to look pleadingly at everyone for backup. Everyone just quietly smiled as they watched them. A few wiped their eyes.

Danny could hear someone blow their nose loudly, but it was as if they were far in the distance.

*Awwwwww, Danny, please say we can keep her! Oh, and we need more tissues and popcorn when you next go to the store. We ran out.*

Danny leaned his head down into Jade's shoulder and subtly rolled his eyes.

CHAPTER 6

The forest at night was a place of darkness broken only by small pools of light. Large clouds moving across the sky would only briefly allow the light of the moon to shine down on six weary travelers. The occasional flickers of light caused the mind to see illusionary movement in the forest around them. The wind picked up as a cold front had begun to move in.

Jade eventually released Danny, and the group slowly continued on their way. Jade stubbornly refused to leave Danny's side. The two thin teenagers walked hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, one supporting the other. When Danny had healed himself, he had used a considerable amount of his body's resources, but Jade's healing had put a strain on her body. They agreed that it would be best for her to walk awhile before Wizard Basalt began to carry her again.

In the quiet of their trek through the trees, Danny's thoughts went to where Phantom had gone. Why hadn't she returned yet?

*Sorry, I don't remember seeing her get hurt by the zombie goblin, but I couldn't see much from where we were laying on the ground.*

Danny would have to hope she returned on her own, eventually.

*Hey, I am going to try an experiment while your mana is already low.*

Danny didn't dare reply, with Jade practically leaning on him, and just nodded. Danny could sense his mana being used without his conscious effort, like when Cranny would scan with air or earth.

*Yes, we can heal specific parts of your body now. It works using the crystals surrounding your cells. The mana activated to only the cells that required healing, even though I didn't focus on the crystals specifically. This still used all the mana stored in those cells affected, but this is definitely an improvement.*

Danny nodded his head in agreement, and Jade's mouth opened with a huge yawn.

Wizard Basalt walked up next to sleepy-eyed Jade and patted her on her shoulder. She looked over at her uncle and frowned, holding tightly to Danny's arm. Her uncle chuckled and picked the girl up before she could put up any resistance. Danny looked over to see her pouting before the wizard's lumbering gait quickly rocked her to sleep.

***

By morning, they still hadn't stopped, and neither had the cold wind. A few drops of rain could be felt whenever they were not directly under the canopy. The forest hadn't changed much in appearance, and Danny wondered if Leaf and the ambassador had made it safely to their home.

Arya called for a halt and told everyone to put up their tents. Danny suggested making them a place in the trees, and Arya said they wouldn't rest here for that long. She did ask him to put up some additional cover around the location they had chosen. While the Basalt women would take turns standing watch, everyone else went into their tents to rest.

Wizard Basalt placed Jade in the tent with Danny and the girls. Ivy and Brooke positioned their pallets next to hers to make sure she didn't get too cold.

Danny was frustrated to find he wasn't tired at all. After half an hour, he got up and left the tent. Maybe getting something warm to drink would help him sleep.

If it weren't for his Air Scan, he wouldn't have spotted Brianna Basalt sitting on a large limb in a nearby tree. He waved to her and then realized there wouldn't be anything hot to drink because nobody had started a fire. Shrugging, he figured he could always try heating something with magic.

Brianna swung down from the tree and silently walked over to him, whispering, "You alright, Danny?"

Nodding, Danny replied, "Yeah, just not tired. Not even a little."

Brianna nodded, "It has been an eventful couple of days." She smiled, "I figured you would be in there snuggled up with my niece."

Danny smirked, "I probably wouldn't have had a choice if she had woken up before we put her down, but she slept through it all. Hey, if you want to go sleep, I can watch. We are breaking again at noon, right?"

Brianna hesitated, "I wouldn't mind that, but I don't want you missing any sleep if you are tired. You did use a lot of mana yesterday. My husband always sleeps like a rock after he uses a lot of mana. Takes all three of us to shove him off the bed the next day."

They shared a chuckle at that image, and then she went inside her tent after checking the area one last time.

Danny climbed up to the branch Brianna had vacated. He had a long way to go before he reached the agility to match the ease that the woman had shown getting around the forest. His weakened state apparently didn't help that any.

Danny, barely under his breath, asked, "Why am I not even the least bit tired?"

*Well, it looks like you don't need to sleep.*

Danny rolled his eyes, "Yes, thank you captain obvious."

*No, Danny, you don't understand. You probably will never need to sleep. Ever again. Well, maybe if you sustain some sort of brain damage and we can't heal it fast enough.*

Danny thought about this for a second, "Wait, can't I sleep if I wanted too?"

*Your mind was already enhanced by the intelligence attribute. Then, your upgrade happened, and now your whole body is more efficient than ever. As far as sleeping whenever you want to, have you ever been wide awake and still able to go to sleep? I've never been. Maybe, if we used something from alchemy. Wait, can you get addicted to potions? I wonder if there are health potion support groups?*

Danny ignored his last comment, "Well, I guess we can always train at night, and no one else would have to stand watch. I actually feel better with us using Air Scan than relying on someone else falling asleep or missing something in a blind spot."

*Yeah, I would have loved this ability back when some of my favorite videos games first came out.*

Danny nodded, "I miss those too. I wish we at least had more books to read. This whole, books costing a small fortune thing is killing me. Also, no one writes fiction here yet, or maybe the whole extreme cost of knowledge is suppressing that as well…"

*Oh, yeah. Since you received your upgrade, I have started assigning a measurement to your mana regeneration. I still have no clue how much mana your body can hold but based on gut feeling, it is a ridiculous amount.*

"Alright, so give me the numbers we have then."

*I randomly assigned your mana regeneration a set number of units of mana per minute, but I quickly started getting lost in the numbers. The amount of mana your body can store is so much greater than the amount you regenerate I found using percentages works best. Now, based on how much it costs to use some of the spells we started with, I have estimated that our regeneration is slightly above the lowest wizard. I tried to factor in for our advanced affinities, so this is all purely conjectural.*

Danny grumbled, "We need to find a way to gain more mana regeneration. This is ridiculous. What is the use of all this storage we supposedly have if we can't gather enough mana to utilize it? Based on the aspect's appearance in the mana room, my aura when using the Harmony Aspect is nothing compared to what it could be."

*True, but for now you are storing all of the mana you regenerate. Compare this to before your upgrade. When your body's mana storage filled up, you stopped regeneration. Now, you can keep on producing mana long after you used to be full. Like the wizards have told you, you need to try to use as much mana as possible if you start to fill up. If we are not regenerating mana because our body is full, then we are doing it wrong. By the way, your Harmony Affinity increased to level eight when you were healing Jade.*

Danny smiled, "Well, not wasting regeneration is good. The new level helps a little, and we are close to mastering that one."

*So it has been about ten hours since we used up most of your magic healing Jade. In that time, you have accumulated a little over ten percent of the total possible mana you can store.*

"Is that a lot or not?"

*Just this ten percent is about ten times as much as we could store previously. So as I said, your change definitely came with some serious perks. Also, don't forget, I have been using air and earth scan. There is also the fact that your body uses anywhere from a third to almost half of your mana depending on how much you are physically exerting.*

"Oh…" Danny sat up, "Maybe this isn't so bad after all. Right, let's try another aspect!"

*We are on watch, and we can't use Air Scan unless we try the Air Aspect. Plus, we don't even know what that will do to your ability to use Air Scan...*

"Well, then we won't use it for very long. The Basalts already know something's up, so there's no use trying to hide it."

*Alright…so I will activate your air asp...*

"Flame on!"

*Wait! We are in a forest, pyro.*

Danny rolled his eyes, "We have used Flame Affinity in the forest plenty of times. We will literally be part fire. I am sure we will be able to control it."

*Famous last words...*

Ignoring him, Danny jumped carefully down from the tree and walked over into a small clearing nearby. "I will not use that much mana, so stop nagging."

*Fine, just let me handle the mana then. Let's use...one percent of your total mana and see what that does.*

Danny felt part of his mana disappear, and like before, there was no immediate feeling of change. Watching his hands and arms closely, he eventually noticed that his skin was darkening. After a few minutes, his hands and arms looked black and coarse like coal. Pulling back his shirt, he noticed the skin on his chest just looked red.

Danny waved his arms around, "Where is the flame aura? Did we not use enough mana?"

*Maybe it is a safety measure in case you are inside a wooden structure or riding something when you activate it? I don't know, try using Flame Affinity on the ground in front of you.*

Danny focused, and flame erupted all over his body to coalesce onto the ground in front of him. It was strange, as he didn't feel the heat of the flame.

After only a second, smoke suddenly obscured his vision. He cursed all things magic as he started to inhale the smoke and cough violently. While he didn't panic enough to run aimlessly around, he did lose control of the flames as they burned brightly through the smoke.

*Stop inhaling smoke, you don't have to breathe, idiot! Uhhh, stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!*

Danny was too scared of causing a forest fire and ignored Cranny's last suggestion. Plus, he wasn't on fire, he was the fire. With that in mind, he calmed himself and focused.

The smoke abruptly cleared, and Danny could easily see the forest around him. The flames surrounding him dwindled away as his aspect faded. The grass around him was burning, and a low hanging branch had caught fire. He quickly reached out and used Flame Affinity to pull the heat from the surrounding smoldering plant life.

Coughing, Danny turned around, only to find everyone had woken up and gathered in a semicircle not far from him. A few of them even had their weapons drawn.

Danny smiled sheepishly and weakly said, "Hey everyone… I discovered how to use my Flame Aspect. It lets me surround myself in flames. Though, I didn't expect all that smoke."

No one was responding, and that's when Danny realized where everyone was looking--wide-eyed, down at his legs. Confused, he looked down and could see that, not only was he back to his old self, but all the smoke had come from a clear source. All of his clothing had burned away, and he was buck naked.

Danny quickly looked back up to see Wizard Basalt silently chuckling while turning back to walk to his tent. The wizard's wives smirked while having apparent coughing fits behind their hands. They quickly chose to follow their husband.

Ivy had a single eyebrow raised as she looked him in the eyes. Jade had her hands over eyes, but Danny noticed she was doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that she was peeking. Brooke unabashedly stared at his… "magic wand."

Brooke looked up, smiled, and said, "Hmmm, it's a good thing you're so pretty."

Everyone but Danny broke down into fits of raucous laughter.

Danny opened his mouth and looked around quickly, unsure how best to defend himself.

"The cold front blew in… This is a normal response to the cold!" Danny tried his best cover himself.

Brooke took a few deep breaths so that she could stop laughing long enough to add, "But I thought… I thought you said… that you were just surrounded by flames… did you miss a spot?"

Danny made a frustrated noise and fled into his tent to the sounds of uncontrolled laughter.

CHAPTER 7

The peace and quiet of the Great Forest was suddenly disturbed by a slap that reverberated loudly as it echoed through the dense woods.

Danny tried to ignore the sting in his back as Wizard Basalt laughed next to him. The evening after Danny's attempt at using his Flame Aspect found the group still trekking through the Great Forest. Arya told them that they should soon be nearing the edge of the Great Forest, where it merged with the Elven Forest. A great river, called the Wisteria, separates the two forests from one another.

Wizard Basalt wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he asked, "So you just thought your clothes wouldn't be burned by fire?"

Danny rolled his eyes and wished he could be anywhere else at the moment, "Yes, how was I supposed to know there wasn't some sort of protective barrier for my clothing? It didn't burn my skin!"

Wizard Basalt smirked as he looked at Danny's head, "You forgot about your hair. You were so soot covered and…bare we didn't notice it at first."

Danny went to run his hands through his hair, as was his go-to tic when frustrated, only to find the unfamiliar bald head. Well, there was a small bit of stubbly hair, but according to the girls, you couldn't even see it.

*Danny, I confirmed your new hair has those crystalline structures in it as well. Maybe it won't burn up next time… Or it might explode! Oh, try it now and let's see!*

Danny shook his head and thought back to earlier when he had conjured some water in one of his bowls. Only to be horrified to find out that his eyebrows were gone as well. The girls tried to soothe his ego by saying it made him look older.

Wizard Basalt's loud laugh echoed again through the forest, "Older, oh those poor girls. They sure are trying their best."

Danny made a pleading look to the older wizard, in hopes that he would give him a break.

The wizard smiled at Danny and looked conspiratorially forward at the females who had given the two some distance to speak privately. Danny noticed the change in mood and observed the wizard, carefully.

Wizard Basalt leaned over and whispered, "I am going to let you in on a little secret. You know, they teach the lady folk early on how to handle us men and wizards."

Danny looked skeptically at the wizard, unsure if this wasn't a joke at his expense.

The wizard nodded, "It's true, I found the instructional book one of my wives had when I first joined the order. It covered topics like positive reinforcement and distraction techniques. Ways to keep a wizard happy, content, and not rebelling. If I hadn't looked through it thoroughly, I wouldn't have noticed how they all seemed to have read the same book."

*Ha! I bet it was titled 'Ten Easy Steps to Keeping a Good Wizard,' or better, 'How to Turn Your Evil Wizard into a Good Wizard.'*

Danny scoffed and jokingly added, while trying to shock the wizard, "Sure, and I bet there is a section on how to handle us in the bedroom as well..."

Danny, having decided the wizard was pulling his leg, had turned to look ahead. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to see the wizard looking at him with a smirk and singly eyebrow raised.

Danny gave his full attention back to the wizard, "No, you're kidding... you are, right?"

The wizard looked ahead and seemed to check where the rest of their group was. "If you ever find your girls' copy of the book, I know I have been particularly appreciative of the last section covered in the book. They probably have it hidden away in some secret compartment in their packs."

*Oh, oh, I got it! How about 'Bewitching Your Wizard: Magic Wands and How to Use Them'!*

Continuing to ignore Cranny, Danny began debating if looking for this supposed book was worth getting caught….if it even existed. It would fill in some gaps on how this society functioned the way it did without most men revolting. Still, there had to be more than a few men who would seek more than what the society allowed them. Maybe the fact that only wizards were seen rising to great heights reinforced contentment with "locked" men when they found favorable marriages. A case of if you don't know better, you can't expect better.

***

They made good time and didn't stop to rest for longer than six hours at a time. Danny decided to wait until later before he tried his other aspects in private. A few mornings later, they were still trudging along through the forest when Cranny interrupted Danny's thoughts.

*Danny, something is headed this way!*

Danny stopped walking, *Where?*

*I think it is following our trail. I will put a dot on it so you can see the direction it is coming from.*

Brooke noticed Danny had stopped and looked back with a questioning glance.

Danny turned until he saw the dot of light in his vision, moving ever so slightly. He asked, *Can you tell what it is?*

There was a pause before Cranny answered, "I think it's big, but I don't have a good reference point. It is definitely running on four legs.*

Danny perked up, *Could it be Phantom!*

*...No, I don't think so.*

"Danny, what's the matter. Are you tired? Do you need us to stop for a bit?" Brooke asked with concern.

The others noticed that Danny and Brooke had stopped. Arya called out, "Is everything alright, we need to keep moving?"

"Something's headed this way," Danny replied without turning around.

Arya looked at him in confusion before looking in the direction he was facing. Everyone stood still, and the quiet of the forest settled around them. There was the sudden sound of a branch breaking in the distance, and then all was quiet again.

At some unseen communication, Wren and Brianna split apart from the group to move into the forest in different directions. The dot in Danny's vision was getting bigger and taking shape into something tall, with four legs. Danny wasn't entirely sure, but he thought something was riding on its back. Since he could tell it was almost on them, Danny moved toward a nearby tree and crouched down to peer around it.

A flash of movement between the trees and Danny saw a brief glimpse of a wolf and goblin rider before they were hidden again from his sight. Through his Air Scan, Danny could see the wolf had stopped moving while the goblin on its back looked around. Tired of waiting, Danny prepared to cast a spell when an arrow flew from far off to his right. The wolf let out a yelp in pain and collapsed to the ground. The goblin on its back fell off onto the ground and then lifted something long up to its head. Danny still couldn't tell through his Air Aspect what it was, but Danny had no trouble targeting the goblin with a blast of flame. Due to the distance, the mana consumption was higher and the accuracy a bit off.

The sound of a horn blaring into the surrounding forest was cut short as the goblin then screamed in pain at the fire from Danny's spell. Realizing the spell had gone wide and only injured the goblin, Danny prepared another fireball. A second arrow cuts through the air, but this time from Danny's right. The goblin quit screaming and fell to the ground, unmoving. The wolf had yet to get up, and Danny took that to mean it was down for good.

After scanning the area one more time, Danny announced, "That was the only one."

"Danny, keep your voice down," Arya whispered fiercely as she moved past him to check the dead goblin and wolf. After a few minutes, she returned with Wren and Brianna. "How did you know it was coming?" Arya asked Danny.

Danny decided it couldn't hurt to let them know, "I can sense thing really far away now. It isn't very exact, so I can't tell a wolf from a horse but…"

*Danny!*

Danny turned toward where the goblin had come from and numbly watched as one white dot after another appeared in his vision. The dots became so numerous they soon blurred into a long white line.

"We have to go," Danny turned to start running the other way. When he saw the others looking confused, he yelled, "Run, Now! There are hundreds more headed this way," Danny yelled.

The rest of his group quickly followed after him, and soon, they were racing through the forest, dodging trees and hopping over shallow roots. They hadn't gone very far at their reckless pace when Jade started to stumble. Wizard Basalt effortless picked her up on the fly and unceremoniously slung her over his shoulder.

"How far are we from the elves," Danny yelled to Arya, who had taken up the lead position.

Arya replied, between breaths, "Not that far. We should reach the border soon. We have to cross...a large river."

As if on cue, Danny could hear the sound of rushing water filtering through the trees. Though that was the about the same time Danny heard the howls of wolves and the cries from their goblin riders. The sounds of their enemy seemed to spur the group on to run at a renewed pace. The others were breathing heavily, and only Danny's weakened muscles were preventing him from racing ahead of them.

*Cranny, how much mana do I have to work with?*

Cranny hummed to himself, before replying, *After the past two days, you are sitting at a little over half full.*

Danny pondered this while he ducked under a low hanging branch, *So that is fifty times more mana than I had before?*

*Yep!*

The growling of the wolves caught up to them before the wolves themselves had reached them.

Arya yelled out, "Positions! Wizard, I want a defense alpha, immediately. Also, I can't see a thing with all these damn trees!"

"As you wish, M'lady," Wizard Basalt replied smarmily, as he sat Jade down on her feet.

Wizard Basalt began casting, and the ground below them, in a six square meters, rose up a meter off the ground. Then, as he began to turn, one-meter tall walls rose on the front side in the direction of the approaching wolf riders. Then, two-meter tall walls rose up on either side. Finally, another meter high wall rose up at their rear.

"Got to have a quick way out," responded the wizard to Danny's questioning look.

Wizard Basalt finished by stomping the ground. All around them, the nearest trees toppled outward and fell to the ground.

The Basalt women all drew their bows and turned to form a line. Brooke, mace and shield in hand, moved up to stand next to them, as Ivy drew her crossbow and checked her sword's position at her hip. Wizard Basalt unslung his hammer from his back as Jade nocked an arrow on her bow.

Even though Danny was sure the goblins couldn't see them yet, one of the goblins screamed out a battle cry that was quickly picked up by the others. The sound was deafening as the first wolf riders broke through the trees and into the newly created clearing. The Basalt women, Ivy, and Jade started picking off goblins and wolves at will.

Danny didn't wait for the wolves to reach them and summoned balls of fire right in front of each goblin he could see. The now burning goblins fell off, but the wolves they were riding continued on. Danny reveled in his new powers, as he would never have been able to attack this many times, at this distance, or with the same precision before his recent change.

New riders appeared from behind to carelessly trample the cooked goblins. While slowed, the new riders were still able to continue the charge. Danny cursed himself for not focusing on the wolves and breaking their momentum completely.

The Basalt women, with swords now in hand, were soon busy, fending of tooth and claw while striking out to do what damage they could. Brooke focused on deflecting incoming spears thrown from those riders arriving in the rear of the riderless wolves. Wizard Basalt guarded their rear, swinging at any wolf that tried to climb the wall and casting earthen spikes whenever the opportunity permeated itself. The wizard was slowly surrounding their little fort with a barrier of stone spikes.

To Danny's surprise, Jade continued to effortlessly draw her bow, landing arrows in any wolves trying to flank the front line. Ivy wove in between the front line, aiding anyone who was being overwhelmed.

Danny continued to summon clusters of fireballs with almost pinpoint accuracy. That's until one of the burning goblins caught a fallen tree on fire.

*Danny, we should use your Earth Aspect and the new spikes we came up with. Any spikes that miss their target will become a defensive trap for the other riders. So, no more fire. It's going to get out of hand in this forest, and your magic goes further while in your different aspects,* Cranny yelled to be heard over the chaos.

Danny didn't hesitate at Cranny's logic, replying, *Do it, Cranny.*

Danny felt a strange sensation but had little time to check out the changes as the new aspect spread over his body.

*Cranny, can you use earth scan to sense where they are touching the ground?*

*Not really…*

Danny could only frown as he watched the enemy that was slowly spreading out around them. The riderless wolves were now all dead, and the new goblins on top of their mounts easily leaned over the walls with their weapons to strike at the women in the front line. A few spears flew through the air, and while one barely missed Wren, another two were deflected off of Brooke's shield.

Feeling that the transition to his Earth Aspect had finished, Danny commanded Cranny, "I will focus on dodging spears, you give us some breathing room!"

Danny could sense a good chunk of mana leave his body as multiple stone spikes shot out of the ground. These were not the large spikes Wizard Basalt liked to use. These spikes were thin and used as little mana as possible, just sturdy enough to pierce his enemy's flesh. While not all of his spikes were fatal, they did easily break off inside the enemy, quickly bringing the advancing horde to a halt. Danny, observing the distance the goblins could throw their spears, made sure Cranny placed countless more spikes all around them. Wolves and goblins in droves now lay impaled on the spikes.

In the initial attack, enemy numbers had been reduced, but the uninjured were quickly swarming around the wounded and fallen. Some were even trying to throw the wounded and weaker members onto the spikes, to create a path.

"How we doing, Cranny?"

*Mana is down to forty-four percent,* Cranny replied, "The new spikes are very efficient, but the distance is increasing the cost.*

Arya took the brief break in fighting to check over everyone, pausing when she saw Danny's new appearance. Grabbing Ivy by her arm, Arya told her, "Get your team and get Danny to safety! We will try and draw their attack while you get across the river." When Ivy looked as if she would argue, Arya yelled, "Now, that's an order!"

Ivy hesitated a second longer before shouting, "Let's go. Brooke, you take the lead. Jade, you stay with me. Danny, give us a way out."

Danny was about to argue when there was a loud crash from behind them. The group turned as one to watch a mountain troll crash through the trees behind them.

*Cranny, why didn't you warn me?*

*There's no Air Scan in this aspect,* Cranny yelled back, defensively.

Danny could only shiver as the troll turned its cursed black eyes toward them. Another horde of goblins, this one on foot, flowed around the legs of the troll. Danny spotted a pair of hobgoblins leading them from the rear.

"Change of plans. We take on the troll, and you four will run once we have it distracted," Arya ordered. While she did her best to sound confident, Danny could see her control slipping. Turning to her husband, she said, "Wizard, the troll is all yours."

Wizard Basalt slung his hammer over his shoulder and smiled at them as if they were on a quiet woodland stroll. "Try to keep up this time, Honey," the wizard teased his wife. Turning, the man unflinchingly jumped on the rear wall and charged toward the troll which was many times his already impressive size. As the wizard landed, stone spikes in a straight line in front of him parted, to fall to the ground as the earth raised slightly upward. The Basalt women quickly rushed to protect him from the mass of goblins that had already reached the rear of their fort.

Ivy didn't wait to watch, yelling, "Let's move out." Leading the way as Brooke. Jade and she jumped over the wall while Ivy turned back to check on Danny's progress.

Danny knew the wizard and his wives could take care of the troll, but those hobgoblins were already in position, preparing to cast. Dark magic filled their hands, and Danny reacted before they could cast. Earthen spikes burst forth from the ground and impaled them in multiple directions. Satisfied that the hobgoblins were finished, Danny cast as many spikes as he had at the wolf riders which were in a crescent formation behind the troll. He didn't want to accidentally impale the Basalts. Danny was pleased to see the flow of goblins come to a halt.

*We are down to thirty-one percent mana, Danny. We need to stick to casting nearby.*

"Danny, we need your help, and then we have to get moving again," Ivy called out in frustration from somewhere below him.

Danny turned to find the wolf riders had made it around to the rear of the fort and were now engaged with the three teenage girls. Brooke was taking the brunt of the attack by the wolf riders while Ivy and Jade did their best to support her. Spears littered the ground around the girls, and even more wolf riders were moving to flank them. Danny didn't wait and just raised even more spikes from the ground. The rear of the fort was now a forest of deadly stone spikes, except for where the girls still fought those wolf riders which were lucky enough to be nearest them.

After helping kill and push the remaining wolf riders back, Danny turned and jumped from the rear wall to create a safe path for the girls to reach the river.

Brooke was limping, and Jade's arm was visibly bleeding from a cut somewhere under her shirt. Jade had run out of arrows and was doing her best to assist with her short blades. Her weakened state and the prolonged battle had apparently slowed down her movements.

As Danny ran behind the three girls through the pathway he had created, Danny turned to see the Basalts fighting from on top of the now dead mountain troll. The wolf riders had already given up on getting to the teenagers and raced over to join the goblins trying to reach the Basalts. Danny started to stop to help them, but Ivy, knowing his thoughts, just pushed him on.

They didn't travel much further through the forest before they came upon a river that had to be well over 200 meters wide. The part of the river they needed to cross was not the least bit calm. Whitewater rushed around rocks and fallen trees stuck up from the rough waters.

Turning at an all too familiar crashing sound, the four watched in dread as another mountain troll tore through the trees behind them. Danny took a step toward the troll, intent on taking it on, but a hand gripped his shoulder.

"Don't, Danny. Just get us across the river," Ivy pleaded with him.

The troll was momentarily distracted as it struggled to fight its way through a particularly dense copse of trees, though the trees didn't seem to stop the flood of goblins that had now caught up with the giant creature.

Ivy stopped Danny, who was now focused on the approaching goblins, commanding, "Bridge, now! We will take care of the goblins while you summon it. Hurry, before the troll gets here."

*Danny, we are down to fourteen percent. I calculate we barely have enough to stop the goblins and troll. That would leave us stranded on the wrong side of the river.*

Danny looked behind Ivy to the advancing enemy and reluctantly turned to the river. Convinced he was going to do his part, Ivy began to bark orders to Brooke and Jade.

As Danny continued to focus on the river, he asked, *What kind of bridge do we build?*

*We don't have time for anything fancy, and I suspect we will have to forgo railings to be able to make it all the way across,* Cranny advised.

The natural flow of the river water started to change as stone columns, with large round balls on top, rose up at intervals across the river. Once they had reached a meter above the water, the balls on top of the columns elongated to merge together. Water in the river was displaced, and quickly flooded up near the bank where they were standing. The surface immediately grew slippery with all the spray from the river. Danny was surprised that the whole undertaking hadn't taken but a minute.

The earth shook, and Danny turned back to see the girls behind him fending off the goblin's swords, clubs, and spears. The river bed dropped down enough here that the goblins in the back couldn't get a clear shot to throw any of their spears. The troll had gotten free of the trees, and the ground continued to shake as it closed the distance between them, one of the previous offending trees in its enormous paws. This proved enough of a distraction for Ivy to be pierced in the side by a stab from a goblin's sword. Ivy yelled in frustrated anger as she took the goblin's head from its shoulders with her sword. The movement from her attack caused something to give out in Ivy's body.

Moving forward to support Ivy, Danny yelled, "It's done, hurry!"

Jade and Brooke both braved a glance back at the bridge and started retreating. The bridge was barely broad enough for two of them to stand side by side, and Danny took the lead while helping Ivy across.

"How much left, Cranny?"

*We are down to three percent.*

"Use up the last of the Earth Aspect so we can heal Ivy and be prepared for anything else."

As the four made it up onto the bridge, two dozen stone spikes rose from the ground to block the goblins from following. Danny could already feel the Earth Aspect slipping from his body. Spears clanged off of Brooke's heavily dented shield, and her limp from before became more noticeable under the strain of the blows. A few spears sneaked around Brooke's shield, and the other three had to duck to avoid them while trying to maintain their footing on the slippery surface of the bridge.

Danny heard what sounded like bees flying past his ears. Many of the goblins crowded on the other side of the bridge collapsed to the ground as arrows sprouted from their bodies. Before Danny could figure out the identity of their saviors, the troll smashed its tree of a club through the end of the bridge. The structure collapsed under the raw power of the blow.

As the four teenagers flew through the air and into the river, Cranny grumbled, *I knew I should have used the rest of the mana to reinforce the bridge some more…*

CHAPTER 8

The weightless feeling was a sweet alternative to the past few days of seemingly endless walking through the forest. While there was sound, it came across almost like loud white noise. Just as soothing as the feeling of weightlessness. Even the sudden movements pulling from different directions did not hinder the overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility.

*…anny!*

*Danny!*

Danny opened his eyes to find himself underwater. The current of the river was strong enough to keep him from floating to the surface. Danny bumped against something in the river but was surprised when it didn’t hurt.

*Danny, I am activating your Water Aspect. Hold on!*

A change washed over him, and Danny could suddenly feel his aching body. Apparently, the river had thrown his body around quite a bit, and the cold of the river had numbed his senses enough for him to not even notice.

*The girls, Danny!*

Danny used his new aspect to effortlessly spin in the water.

*Danny, don’t move around unless necessary. You use mana whenever you do. Now save the girls. We only have a few minutes to get them out of here before they drown or freeze to death.*

Danny looked around, but despite his best efforts, he could not see through the churning waters. Then suddenly, two white outlines appeared, hovering in his vision.

Cranny interrupted, *Alright, I was able to come up with a water scanning ability in this form. I am picking up all three of them. One of them is behind you.*

Danny effortlessly moved through the turbulent waters and grabbed the first outline. Even this close he couldn’t make out who it was, he didn’t linger to try and figure it out. When he grabbed the arm of the second outline, the arm’s owner began to fight at first, then went still. While Danny knew to panic when drowning was normal, suddenly stopping, especially when still under water, wasn't. Danny turned and slowed down to let the third outline bump into them.

The water at the edge of the far side of the river bulged as it seemed as if the turbulent waters were giving birth to a mass of wiggling human arms and legs.

Danny struggled to get up as he maneuvered himself away from Jade and Brooke who were busy coughing up river water. Across the river, Danny saw only the seemingly endless forest, and no sight of his bridge, Basalts, or the battle. Danny turned to ask Ivy a question, only to find her lying pale and still on the ground.

Alarmed, Danny frantically asked, “Would harmony mana help?” He started to use the last of his water aspect’s mana so he could heal Ivy.

*No, try touching her in this aspect!*

Not having time to argue, Danny reached out his hand and placed it on Ivy’s chest, just below her throat. Danny briefly noted the flesh of his hand looked like that of a jellyfish before he refocused back on the pale and unmoving girl beneath his hand.

Danny was surprised as he could sense all the water inside Ivy’s body. Given water is what most creatures are made of, he should have thought of this. Danny’s fears were confirmed when it dawned on him that if no water was moving around in her body, then her heart wasn’t beating and thus blood wasn’t circulating.

Focusing on where her lungs should be, Danny found them full of water. Drawing the water out, Danny watched as it bubbled up and out of her mouth, flowing down onto the ground. Then Danny thanked whoever decided that his laboratory back on earth would require annual first aid training, specifically including CPR.

Rising up above her chest, Danny started chest compressions. After singing a song he had been told to use, so as not to go too quickly, Danny bent down to pinch her nose and breathe deeply into her mouth. It was on his second horribly out of tune rendition of the song that Ivy jerked, coughing, and tried to sit up.

Jade and Brooke appeared on either side of him and quickly fussed over Ivy as she tried to get her breathing under control.

”Simply amazing! I have never seen such a technique used before. Please allow me to check you all over for injuries.”

Danny’s head jerked around to find an ancient looking male elf and a younger female elf approaching slowly and trying their best to look non-threatening.

The ancient elf had a face that was heavily wrinkled and had extremely long, drooping ears. He was wearing robes made from some material that mimicked the bark of a tree, and in his long pale hair, he wore a laurel of vines that looked to be made of a metal.

The female elf was young and beautiful, like all of her kind seemed to be. She wore armor that looked to be crafted to camouflage her in the forest. She also carried a longbow and sword.

The older elf moved forward toward Danny, but Danny quickly gestured to Ivy, “She just drowned,” and suddenly remembered, “and was stabbed in the side!”

Danny inspected Ivy’s side, but there wasn’t any sign that the wound was still bleeding. The older elf bent down to cast magic over Ivy. The girl’s color seemed, and her breathing sounded stronger. After healing Jade’s cut arm and Brooke’s injured leg, the older elf turned to check Danny.

They were interrupted by the arrival of the Basalts and a squad of elven soldiers. The Basalts looked worse for the wear. Danny realized that their clothing was torn in a few places, and blood was drying on their clothes, but they showed no outward signs of injury.

A female elf in a long robe like the ancient one’s stepped around the Basalts and bowed, “Elder, they had some injuries but nothing I wasn’t able to handle. The goblins have either been put down or retreated.”

Danny looked out across the river, but the girls apparently had floated a ways downstream before he got them out.

The ancient elf smiled and nodded toward the other robed elf.

The Basalts noticed Ivy still lying on the ground and rushed over. Arya asked, worried, “Ivy, are you alright?”

Brooke responded, “She wasn’t breathing, and Danny did something to remove the water inside her. Then, he pushed on her chest until she started breathing again. This kind elf here healed the wound on her side.”

Arya looked again at Ivy, who nodded and, speaking with a croak, answered, “I’m fine.”

Arya didn’t look convinced but was interrupted.

The ancient elf coughed to get their attention, “We welcome you all to the elven lands. I apologize that my people did not find you sooner. You traveled further east than we expected. I am pleased, to find the story that was brought to us of a human sorcerer is indeed true. Using water magic to heal someone who has drowned is not a simple task.”

Danny and those in his group who were able to stand, since they had discussed elven customs the night before, stood and bowed low to the old elf.

Arya replied, “Greetings to you Elder. I thank you and your people for their most timely rescue. Please, let me introduce my family.”

After Arya introduced their group, the old elf nodded his head, replying, “I am Elder Rising-Breeze-Felt-On-The-Wings-Of-The-Falcon. As I have been warned beforehand by our scout, Leaf, you may call me Elder Breeze. Unlike Leaf, I would rather choose my own name than have your young sorcerer pick it for me.”

The young female elf next to him turned, alarmed, “Elder Rising-Breeze-Felt-On-The-Wings-Of-The-Falcon, this is unheard of, and you deserve...”

The Elder raised his hand and interrupted her, “It is fine. I am old enough to choose what I do and don't deserve.”

The female elf bowed at his words.

An obviously nervous Arya stepped forward, “Elder Rising-Breeze-Felt-On-The-Wings-Of-The-Falcon, we have no intentions of circumventing decorum, and I apologize for my future nephew if his actions have caused any disrespect to you or your people.”

The Elder turned to her with a small smile on his lips, “Your ‘future nephew’ has caused no disrespect. In fact, in the short few days since my grandson's return, Leaf has become the talk of the forest. Now, all of the elves, especially the younger ones, have taken it upon themselves to create their own informal names.”

Danny couldn't help but ask, “Elder Breeze, I am curious. If your people have not had a custom of using informal names, then are you always formal, even in front of friends and family members?”

“No Danny, instead of using a proper name, we would just call them 'friend,’” Elder Breeze gestured toward the female elf next to him, “or ‘granddaughter.' Isn't that right, Sparrow?”

The female elf just blushed and nodded while smiling at her grandfather.

Danny looked thoughtful as he nodded in his understanding and bowed, “Thank you for the explanation, Elder Breeze.”

Elder Breeze smiled at Danny, only for the smile to fall from his face and be replaced by a look of alarm. Walking over to Danny, Elder Breeze grabbed his hand, and the elf’s vision slowly traced up Danny’s body and into Danny's eyes. The elder just stood there for some time, still holding his hand.

Danny was unsure what was going on, but Arya had not covered this in the ‘Elven Customs for Dummies’ discussion. He was honestly getting very uncomfortable with the invasion of his personal space.

*Danny, you are still in Water Aspect!*

Danny’s eyes widened, as he anxiously replied, *Well, get rid of it for me. I am trying not to freak out with Old Man Handsy here.*

The water still covering Danny, Ivy, Jade, and Brooke flowed off their bodies to pool on the ground below them. Now that he was dry, Danny realized how cold he was and noted that the girls had also been shaking from their little dip in the river. A few of the elven soldiers immediately gave them cloaks to cover up with.

As Danny’s form returned to normal, he couldn’t help the annoyed sigh that escaped him, *Cranny, couldn’t you have picked a less conspicuous way to do that…*

Noticing the water falling off the teenagers seemed to bring the ancient elf back to his senses. The Elder quickly let go of Danny’s hand, saying, “Ah yes, my child. My apologies...”

As Elder Breeze stepped away, he looked down deep in thought. Sparrow looked on at her grandfather’s behavior with grave concern.

Turning suddenly back to Danny's group, the Elder distractedly spoke, barely loud enough for everyone to hear, “Everyone…welcome again, and please follow us. We are not far from the road where carriages are waiting to take us to the palace…where the queen and the rest of the elders are patiently awaiting your visit.”

The rest of his group looked to him for an explanation, and he could only shrug his shoulders.

Unsure of what had just happened, Danny followed the others as they traveled further into the elven forest. Wizard Basalt didn’t wait for Ivy’s permission and just picked her off the ground.

As they walked through the elven forest, Danny was expecting the trees here to look different, but it almost appeared to be a continuation of the Great Forest.

Cranny chimed in, *What was up with the old fart holding our hand and looking longingly into our eyes?*

Danny shrugged to himself, confused as well.

*My money's on him noticing your recent upgrade. I mean, who wouldn’t take note of you looking like you were made from jello.*

They emerged from the forest to find a dirt road and three carriages awaiting them. Looking up and down the road, Danny didn't see a reason why they chose this spot to stop. Probably because it was closest to where his group had entered the elven forest.

The groups were split up, and Danny got into one of the carriages with the girls. Wizard Basalt first carefully placed Ivy inside. As soon as Danny sat down on the opposite side, Jade pushed her way past Brooke to sit next to him. Danny took this to mean the girl's recovery must be going well. That was until she promptly fell asleep on his shoulder. In fact, after the other two girls closed the curtains, it wasn't long before Brooke too had given in to the Sandman.

“Thank you, Danny, for saving my life today,” whispered Ivy from across the carriage.

Danny fidgeted uncomfortably, “I am sorry I didn’t save you sooner.”

Ivy leaned forward and placed her hand on top of his, admonishing him, “Don’t you dare do that, Danny. We all worked together to pull through back there, and you did everything to the best of your ability.”

Frowning, Danny nodded slowly, before smiling and asking, “I think I made up my debt for that time you saved me from getting my head ripped off by the forest troll.”

Ivy chuckled sleepily, “No, you still owed me for two more times before that.”

Danny froze, lost in thought, before laughing himself. Looking back over, Danny realized Ivy had fallen asleep when he hadn’t been paying attention. Somehow, she had fallen asleep while still holding his hand. After a few minutes, his arm grew tired, so Danny slowly let go, and Ivy didn’t even fidget.

Danny hadn’t really had much opportunity to ride in a carriage in this world. These noble girls obviously were used to this mode of travel. So, Danny was the only one still awake, left with only his thoughts. Danny peeked outside the carriage to see more of the same forest passing by. The light that was let in by this caused Jade to start fussing in her sleep. Not wanting to wake the exhausted girl, Danny decided it was best to keep the curtain closed.

***

Hours passed as Danny tried to ignore the drool slowly working through the shoulder of his shirt and down his back. The loud snores coming from Brooke's corner of the carriage were getting hard to tune out. He was pretty sure someone had passed gas, and he took a little time to practice his innocent face. The rest of the time Danny spent quietly talking with Cranny about how best to handle his Flame Aspect.

*Danny, look outside!*

Peeking out the carriage window, Danny saw what must be the elven capital. He thought it was odd that there were no city walls or clear defensive structures. The city seemed just suddenly to grow right where the trees stopped. The outskirts of the capital consisted of beautifully crafted homes of wood and stone. There was an apparent attempt to make each house appear organic or natural. Like an earth and stone hillside, with growing moss, or interlayered logs of wood made to look like a small grove of trees. The thing that surprised Danny the most was what comprised the center of the city.

*Danny, they have trees filled with mana!*

Danny reached over and pulled back a curtain all the way to better see that they were now moving through an area of the city made of living trees. Each building was shaped by numerous trunks rising from the ground to twist around each other in an elaborate dance of architecture. Whether it was one large tree with multiple trunks or multiple smaller trees braided together, Danny couldn't tell. Some of the structures were as tall as three stories while others were squat and short. Each one looked natural in its placement, giving Danny an uncanny sense of rightness.

Looking up the canopy was filled with leaves of different colors that seemed to refract the light that passed through them.

Through his mana sight, Danny could see mana coursing all throughout the trees. There was something else about what he saw that he couldn't put his finger on it.

*Danny, their cellular structure is similar to yours!*

An image of the inside of one of the trees was suddenly inlaid over Danny's vision. He could see the same crystal structures embedded throughout the cells’ structures.

*The mitochondria look like yours, and their chloroplasts look changed as well... Maybe they use mana to generate carbohydrates. Though they actually need to ‘breath.’ This is crazy!*

Danny shook his head but didn't have time to dwell on it anymore, as their carriage came to a sudden stop. The girls all awoke at the sudden movement and looked around, confused.

Brooke rubbed her sore neck and asked, “What's going on?”

The door opposite to Danny opened, and a male elf in bright green armor politely greeted them, “Welcome to the royal palace. When you are ready, please step this way.”

CHAPTER 9

The lights in the room flickered on and off, on and off. Danny stood transfixed by the door, brushing his hand across a patch of what looked like brightly colored moss. Each pass of his hand turned a bulb of tree flesh hanging from the ceiling into an orb of light. When the lights turned off, the moss took on a bioluminescent property, easily visible in the now dark room.

"Danny, what are you doing? You are going to make yourself go blind playing with it like that..."

*Wait, what did she just say?*

Brooke stood in the entryway to the guest room assigned to Danny. He really wished the elves used something more substantial than the heavy fabrics covering doorways. Danny turned to stare dryly at Brooke while still waving the light on and off repeatedly. The staring contest began.

Danny finally gave in and blinked first. Turning in frustration, he pointed up at the ceiling, "How is that doing...that! I can't do that with my Affinity Aspect. I have to change my whole body, while this...this tree can change just a small portion of itself. That would be an extremely useful ability."

Brooke nodded her head, obviously pretending interest, "Yes, you're right, it would... So, you going to come to eat supper with us or play with your room all night?"

Danny stopped staring at the ceiling and sighed, "I'm coming. Just let me go to the bathroom, and I will be there."

The guest room provided to Danny in the palace was spacious. The room's shape was best described as a bread bun. The corners, walls, ceiling, and floor were all one continuation of each other. Leaves grew out of the ceiling, which made zero sense from a light gathering role, though with the fresh air, it could help parts of the building not feel so stuffy. Furniture was crafted by hand and consisted of a bed, dresser, desk, and small table with chairs. A large opening exited out onto a balcony overlooking the elven capital.

The bathroom was an attached, much smaller, room with a toilet, counter with sink, and a large tub. The fixtures all had more moss activators that turned the water on. The tub even had a particular activator that heated the bathwater. How they got the tree to use Flame Affinity without lighting itself on fire was going to be another mystery to drive him crazy trying to figure out.

***

After stepping out into the hallway outside his room, Danny headed down toward the large foyer to the guest wing he was in. This area doubled as a sitting room and dining room for non-official functions with visiting guests.

Everyone was already gathered around the table and apparently waiting for Danny to arrive.

Danny had expected to be rushed off to meet the Queen and the Elders immediately when they arrived, but apparently, it was considered rude to hurry things along like that when visitors had just come on a long journey. Palace guards had guided them to their guest rooms, and the palace staff had shown up immediately afterward to make sure everyone had what they needed.

While the Basalts had received a room to themselves, Danny had been separated from the girls. Danny had expected the girls to argue, and they looked like they wanted to, but they kept quiet about it in the end. Danny didn't want to be rude and just followed the palace guard to his private room. Which turned out to be a good thing in the end, since he would have driven the girls crazy studying the lights in the room.

Danny was surprised to see that they were not going to eat by themselves tonight. The Basalts and the girls all sat on one end of the dining table while a group of elves took up the other side. Danny recognized Leaf and Elder Breeze, but Danny had not met the other four elves at the table. Danny's vision flared as Cranny highlighted a good number of other individuals hidden from sight all around the room. Danny assumed these were here for the protection of the additional dinner guests.

The elves stood to greet him as he approached the table. The Basalts and the girls quickly rose as well.

Danny paused, unsure of what was happening until Elder Breeze moved over to guide him toward the far side of the table.

"Danny, it is good you were able to join us. Please let me introduce you to everyone."

Danny looked around and mumbled, "My apologies for making everyone wait."

Elder Breeze's hand moved through the air as if swatting a fly, "Don't worry about it. You already know my grandson Leaf."

Danny smiled at the young male elf, "Hey Leaf, how are the ears growing back? None of those odd things I mentioned happening?"

Leaf smiled, "No Danny, they are better than ever. Thank you again."

The Elder waited for the two to finish before directing Danny over to the four elves he didn't know. The strangers had gathered on the side of the table Danny had been approaching. There was only one empty seat right next to Ivy. The elf who would be sitting on his other side from Ivy was a tall boy who, if he were a human, would appear to be in his twenties. He had bleach blonde hair and vivid crystal blue eyes. He was dressed in what Danny assumed was a military uniform, dyed to match the color of his eyes. Take away the ethereal elven features, and his face could be considered classically handsome, what with the chiseled features and high cheekbones.

The Elder gestured to the young elf, "Danny, this is Prince Hawke, heir to the elven lands."

Danny, while bowing politely, did his best to hide his surprise at a male being able to inherit here. No one had mentioned this to him, and they did not cover that in the elven culture and language book he had read back at the academy. This place was starting to look better and better. Though, he didn't fail to notice the girls stealing glances at the prince.

Doing his best to hide his jealousy, Danny greeted him, "It is a pleasure to meet you, your royal highness."

Prince Hawke's face split into a pleased grin as he nodded to Danny, "It is good to meet the one who saved the life of my best friend, Leaf. Please if you ever need anything, just let me know."

Danny bowed again, "Thank you, but I did not save him on my own. I could not have done it without, Ivy, Brooke, and Jade."

The Prince nodded and smiled toward the girls, "Of course! I have also extended my offer to each of them as well."

"Your Highness is too kind."

Turning to the two who had walked over from the other side of the table, Elder Breeze introduced them, "Danny, this is the commander of the elven forces, Prince Consort Barrow, and this is Princess Willow."

Danny bowed to both of them individually, as he had been instructed beforehand.

The Prince Consort was impressive for an elf. Most of the elves he had seen looked lithe and built for speed. The Prince Consort was not only taller than most, but he looked like he was also made for ripping trees apart with his bare hands. He had the whole ruggedly handsome thing down to perfection, with dark hair and eyes to top it all off. He also wore a military uniform, but unlike the Prince's, he wore a sash that crossed his chest with different medals and insignia sewed into it. His collar also sported golden leaf pins shaped like the leaves of the tree they were currently inside. While his demeanor was polite, Danny couldn't help but notice the Prince Consort was looking at him as if sizing up a potential enemy.

The princess looked to be in her late teens. Her beauty was a given, but it was even exceptional for one of the elven race. It was apparent she took her coloring after her father. Dark blonde hair and aquamarine eyes sat on a petite face with delicate features. She wore a gown that flattered her youthful figure. The princess tried to smile at Danny but couldn't seem to stop the confusion from showing on her face as she kept glancing at his forehead.

Before the Prince Consort could speak, the princess suddenly stepped closer to Danny, looking above his eyes, "Are humans supposed to lose all their hair when they become druids?"

Danny was too humiliated to speak and tried to shrink in on himself.

The last elf, a statuesque woman who had yet to be introduced, reprimanded the princess, "Willow, that is no way to speak to our guests! Can't you see you have offended him greatly? You will apologize immediately!"

The princess looked shocked and turned to Danny, contrite, "My apologies, Danny. I did not mean to offend you. While I have seen humans without hair on their heads, I haven't seen one without eyebrows before."

Danny, face still beet-red, nodded and mumbled, "It's alright. It will all grow back soon."

Elder Breeze was frowning, but when he realized Danny was looking, quickly replaced it with a smile. Directing Danny to the woman who had just reprimanded the princess, "Danny, it is my pleasure to introduce you to her Majesty, Queen Kestrel."

Danny quickly bowed as low as he could, "It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty."

The queen was statuesque with a bearing one would expect of someone in power. When Danny had walked into the room, the way she carried herself left no doubt about who she was. She wore a long flowing gown that hugged the full curves of her body. Her beauty would be unrivaled except for some odd scarring that appeared to radiate from her left eye. Whatever had caused the scarring must have damaged her eye as well because Danny had yet to see her open it. It was a testament to her appearance that this did not detract whatsoever from her overwhelming beauty.

The queen happened to be turned so that her back was to the Basalts and the girls when she suddenly opened her left eye. Inside was what looked like a polished stone with the coloring of an opal. Tiny fractures along the stone's surface started to glow with white light.

Danny tensed, not sure of what was happening. He quickly prepared himself for the worse.

The queen closed her left eye after a few moments and smiled at him. "Danny it is an honor to meet one such as yourself. I see now that Elder Breeze's initial assessment was correct, and you are more than what we had been informed."

The Basalts visibly tensed upon hearing these words spoken by the queen. Arya and her trio slowly moved toward Danny. The girls looked unsure of what was happening but followed the Basalts' lead. Ivy cautiously moved forward to stand in front of Danny.

The walls of the room shifted as elven guards, completely covered in the camouflaged armor Danny had seen before, appeared to grow and separate from the tree wall behind them. Each guard had a hand ready to draw his weapon.

The queen frowned and raised her hand in the air, "Hold!"

Turning to the Basalts, the queen spoke calmly, "Do not worry, we are not barbarians to just take him away from you. We hold our alliance with your people too important to do that."

The Basalts visibly relaxed, but only slightly. The elven guards seemed to fade back into the tree, though with his mana sight, Danny could see them standing there, watching.

The queen called for everyone to return to their seats, and dinner was promptly served. The food was delicious, and soon, everyone seemed to be acting as if the tense moments from before had never happened. The elves kept to mundane conversation topics, asking about Danny's family and the academy.

Sitting next to him, the prince turned to Danny, "So Danny, you said your hair would grow back?"

All the individual conversations around the table stopped as everyone focused on him.

Danny had been coached beforehand on what he was and wasn't allowed to say. Seeing as the elves seemed to know something about his new abilities, he figured his origins were the only thing he would remain silent on.

Taking a sip of the watered down wine that had been served with the meal, Danny cleared his throat, "Yes, recent events have led to me attaining new ways of using my magical affinities." Danny proceeded to explain to them his first attempt at using Flame Aspect. Instead of laughing, the elves seemed shocked.

Elder Breeze spoke up from across the table, and almost in an admonishing tone said, "That was very dangerous, Danny. You could have burned yourself alive."

Danny nodded, "Yes, but I had reason to believe otherwise."

Elder Breeze hesitated before continuing, "If you wish to try another of these aspects, then please have me or one of the other elders there in case something happens."

Danny smiled, "I would like that very much, thank you."

This visibly pleased the elder, who nodded to him, smiling.

Danny spoke up again, "I can't help but ask; are there elves here like me? You seemed to recognize what I am when we first met."

Elder Breeze started to speak but turned with a questioning look toward the queen.

The queen who had been listening bowed her head as if deep in thought. After a few moments, she seemed to have come to a decision, "I would like to speak with Danny, alone with Elder Breeze if possible." With this said, the queen looked across the table at the Basalts, specifically at Arya.

Arya took her time responding, her gaze switching back and forth between the queen and Danny. During this moment, not a single emotion was expressed on the shadow leader's face, even when she finally replied, "Yes, of course, Your Majesty."

The Queen and Elder Breeze stood, and Danny quickly rose to follow them.

The three left the guest wing of the palace but did not travel far before entering another room. Servants were inside removing sheets from the furniture in the small sitting room. A few extra chairs were taken away as the three sat down in the chairs left behind. A servant brought in a tray with tea, setting it down at a short table placed between them. A large window overlooked a small courtyard that contained a small pond and a garden located in a bend of the palace's base. Music began playing from somewhere outside, a string instrument of some kind.

The queen picked up a cup of tea, and Elder Breeze and Danny followed her lead. Taking a sip, the queen spoke softly, "Danny, what I am going to tell you is a secret normally only told to royalty and the Elders. I am going to take a calculated risk and tell you this secret as well. I hope we can find a way for my people to become someone you can trust and depend on as well."

The queen paused to take another sip of tea before continuing, "Now Danny, while I would like for us to begin on a relationship of complete trust, I hope you understand that should you divulge what I am about to tell you to anyone else, you will become an enemy to the elven state. This is a condition placed on all who hear what I am about to tell you. Since you are a human, I will also add the condition that our alliance with your people will be immediately dissolved. Do you understand what I have told you? This is your only chance to back out."

Danny didn't wait and replied, "Yes, I understand. I will keep your people's secret safe and understand that should I not, myself and my people will suffer for it."

The queen didn't respond immediately and studied him for a moment. Putting down her cup, she stood to walk over to the window and looked at the courtyard below. Turning to Danny, she gestured for him to join her.

Once Danny stood beside her, the queen began her tale, "Before the great cataclysm, our people had groves like this one, all over the known world. The rest of the races believed us to be religious zealots, as we would allow no one to enter our cities or our ‘sacred groves,' as we called them. We purposely fostered this belief by giving the great source of all mana the name Gaea. Attributing our sacred groves to her creation, as a gift to our people.

All of this subterfuge held a purpose, and that was to hide the weakness of the Elven people. We elves are born with magic, and for the rest of our lives, we require mana from an external source. These sacred trees produce tremendous amounts of mana which they store in their roots, branches, and leaves. We elves can access this mana to use as our own. We do this because, while we can store more mana than humans, we barely generate any mana through our connections to the source. It is indeed a pitiful amount, and our bodies use mana for a particular purpose."

The queen took a deep breath, as if she was preparing to climb a steep hill, "Our longevity is a byproduct of our storing large amounts of mana in our bodies. You, humans, have a taste of this, living two or three times what you should. Elves can exist for millennia. The more magic we store in our bodies throughout our lives, the longer we can exist, and these bodies of ours use significant amounts of mana to do this. The sacred trees provide this mana, and we, in turn, protect the trees and aid in their proliferation.

That is until the great cataclysm when the last ascendant of the royal lineage died to halt the advance of the invaders so that his children, my ancestors, could travel to this secluded grove. This palace you see around you is nothing compared to the great sacred tree that housed the royal family of ages past."

The queen lapsed into silence, looking lost while staring out at the tree that grew around the small courtyard. Danny thought about asking her one of his many burning questions but decided to wait for her to collect her thoughts.

The queen blinked and shook her head slightly, turning to look at Danny, "My great-grandfather was the last ascendant of the royal line, and he died so that we could live on. Since then, there have been no more ascendants to come out of the royal line. Every so often an elder would ascend and be welcomed into the royal family, but they too have not produced an ascendant since the great collapse."

Danny interrupted her, "Excuse me, Your Majesty. You keep using the term ‘ascendant,' but I don't know what that is. Who were the ascendant?"

The queen looked confused, "Danny, you are an ascendant."

Elder Breeze spoke up from his chair, "Your majesty, I believe the humans call them variants."

The queen's mouth opened, "Oh, that's right!"

Danny was quickly thinking back and realized that he hadn't seen a variant since he had changed so he couldn't confirm it himself. He never bothered to look too closely at one with his mana sight before, because he was usually too busy trying not to die.

Elder Breeze added, "Danny, you are similar, yet different to the beastmen's arcane guardians."

Danny interrupted the elder, "Arcane guardians?"

"You have, of course, heard about the beastmen that wield magic?" Elder Breeze asked, surprised.

"I was told they have magic users called ‘shamans,' and their affinities vary from one race to another," Danny replied.

"While it is true their affinities vary, they are by no means normal magic users. We would consider them ascendants. Their powers are more like the beast variants'. They not only wield the affinities' magic but become the affinity themselves," the elder explained with more than a little interest and enthusiasm on the topic.

Cranny quickly interrupted, *Danny, do you remember how Arya looked at us when we used Earth Affinity in the forest? Instead of looking only shocked, she almost seemed to recognize the change in our appearance. I would bet the Basalts have fought at least one of these arcane guardians before.*

The Queen put the conversation back on track, "Danny, we tell you all this with a purpose. The sacred trees of this city are all that keeps my people from living short fleeting lives like the humans who have not unlocked their mana. Our people can maintain the sacred trees we have, but only the ascendants held the knowledge of how to induce them to propagate. These trees would grow uncontrolled throughout the world if left to their own devices, so our ancient ancestors locked their ability to procreate without our assistance. This concealed information has unfortunately led to our own slow and eventual fall into abject mortality. The more elves that are born, the fewer trees there are to sustain them. The shorter our lives, the more children who are being born each year. It is a cycle that only has one unfortunate ending.

Our people are capable of becoming truly unlimited beings, but that is changing. Danny, will you help us gain back our birthright? We will gift you all that we have in wealth, artifacts, weapons, armor..." The queen paused and spoke quietly, "I will even give you my daughter's hand in marriage. In exchange for my people's freedom from this fate, I will give her to you. Like most nobles, our people only marry to form an alliance between houses. Marrying my daughter would cement your place among my people. You would be able to wield much influence between my people and yours."

"Are you asking me to absolve my engagement with Ivy, Brooke, and Jade?" Danny asked incredulously.

The queen shook her head, "No, I would never ask you to do such a thing."

Danny was rendered speechless by the weight of what was being asked of him. He finally gathered his thoughts enough to give a reply, "How do you even know I can do this?"

Elder Breeze moved over to join them by the window, "Given the sensitive nature of this knowledge, nothing was written down on how to accomplish this task. You, of course, will not do this alone. I am certain with your apparent genius and the full experience of the elders, we should be able to easily accomplish this task."

The queen added, "Once it is finished, you will be granted whatever you choose as your reward."

Danny turned to look out the window while he pondered what he should do next.

*Take the princess! Just look at her mother if you want to see into the future! Maiwage, maiwage is wot bwings us togedur... and don't worry about that twu wuv stuff.*

Danny rolled his eyes. Turning back to the two awaiting elves, Danny bowed low, "I would be honored to help your people, Your Majesty."

*In exchange for the princess!*

CHAPTER 10

Like the palace's rooms, the natural surfaces of the corridor were not sharply defined, but unlike the rooms, the hallway did not have any leaves growing from the ceiling. Smooth bark, arching across from one wall to the next. Ornate Paintings, lavish tapestries, detailed pottery, and other impressive artworks decorated the walls every few feet.

The next morning found Danny following a liveried elven servant through the halls of the palace toward the wing specifically reserved for the Elders.

The night before, after his meeting with the Queen and Elder Breeze, Danny had followed a servant back to his room.

Everyone else had retired for the evening, and the dinner table was already devoid of any evidence a meal had recently taken place.

Danny hadn't been surprised when Arya nearly walked into his room immediately after his return, looking to find out what had transpired. Danny knew the walls could literally have ears, so he kept things simple and truthful. Danny told her he had been asked to do something important for the elves. Something only he could accomplish. In exchange, relations between their two countries would improve, and he would be personally rewarded. Before she could ask, Danny explained that he would become an enemy of the elven state, and the human/eleven alliance would be dissolved, should he ever divulge what it was he had to do.

Arya accepted his explanation better than he would have thought, only having concerns that what Danny was doing could give the elves too much power. Danny had already thought of this and explained that he believed it was better to have a stronger and grateful ally than a weaker one. Arya obviously didn't like all the unknowns but reluctantly admitted that she had no choice but to trust his judgment. Danny was slightly shocked by this, as he figured she of all people would have questioned his decisions.

Danny continued to follow the palace servant through the palace's twists and turns. Everything about the palace seemed almost natural. There were no straight hallways or even level floors. He passed a window to find they had travelled up a storey without him even realizing it. His air scanning ability had shown this would happen, but he figured he would notice the change in elevation somehow.

Walking through a doorway and into a large atrium, Danny could see the light pouring in from numerous large windows high up the walls. One side of the room was taken up by a large round table, around which sat two dozen elves in long robes.

The other side of the room held rows upon rows of bookshelves. A small space filled with tables and chairs was left open at the end of the bookshelves. Danny immediately veered toward the knowledge awaiting him on those long shelves. He had only made it a few steps when there was a cough behind him.

The liveried servant spoke nervously, "Honored guest, if you would, please continue on this way. The entire elder council is awaiting your presence."

Danny frowned and looked back toward the bookshelves for a few moments before continuing on to the other side of the room.

Looking around, all the elders appeared well advanced in years, and he was surprised to see the male/female ratio of the table seemed to be split evenly. Danny recognized Elder Breeze when he stood up and walked up next to Danny.

The servant left the room, and that was when Danny realized there were only the elders and himself present in the entire room. Elder Breeze looked at the entryway and nodded to an elven guard standing there.

A large door, fit to match the shape of the room's entryway, closed with an audible heavy thump.

Clearing his throat, Elder Breeze addressed the room, "Esteemed council members, I would like to introduce you to Danny Creek. Originally, he was to come to us as the first human sorcerer since the great cataclysm to visit us. Now, I would like to introduce you all to the first known human ascendant."

Reactions around the room varied from shock to disbelief. Elder Breeze settled everyone down before calling on two of the more senior members of the group to step forward and verify his claim.

A female elder came up to stand close to Danny and stared at different parts of his body. Danny thought he felt her using nature magic before she quietly confirmed the claim before sitting down.

Another elder seemed especially skeptical and reached out to place his hand on Danny's cheek.

Danny suddenly felt odd. Very odd.

*Danny! I don't know how, but he is stealing our mana!*

Danny yelled out in alarm and on instinct tossed the elder away from him with a blast of air that radiated from his body. Currents of wind surrounded him, and he turned to find the offending elder on the ground looking back at him with wide eyes.

"Do not do that again!" Danny's voice seemed too loud to his ears as the sound of it reverberated off the walls.

Two guards appeared in front of the elder laying on the ground, their swords drawn.

"Danny! Please calm down! Danny!"

Danny turned to see Elder Breeze yelling at him while crouching a few meters away from where he had been a short while ago. The elder's hands were held in front of his face, trying to block the wind. Danny glanced around to find the room in chaos. Many of the elders were standing away from their chairs, each having a pair of guards standing over them with weapons drawn.

Books from the library started falling from the shelves, as pages were ripped out to fly around the room.

Danny closed his eyes and while centering himself, began calming down. Eventually pulling the winds into himself, he realized he had activated Air Aspect on impulse.

Looking down at himself, his body was almost transparent. It also felt lighter and added a nearly fluid quality to his movements. He was pleased to find that his clothes, despite a few tears, were relatively intact. It looked as if his clothes were both trying to cling to and fly off of his body at the same time.

"Danny, I apologize for my council member's actions. I had no clue he would attempt something like that." Elder Breeze was standing close to him but was still obviously wary about approaching the boy. Elder Breeze turned to the offender to demand,"What did you do to him?"

The elder who had stolen his mana rose and bowed low toward Danny, "Ascendant, I apologize for my actions and my doubt. Please, just tell me how and I will make amends for the wrong I have done you today."

From what Danny had been told by Arya before, the elven hierarchy went from the royalty to the elders than to the nobility and so on. An elder rarely bowed more than their head to anyone, except of course toward the ruling monarch. This elder was shoving his pride aside in exchange for Danny's forgiveness.

Danny took a deep breath, staring at the elder who still bowed before him, "Just don't do that again unless I give you my explicit permission. Now, let's talk about how I'm going to try and return your people to their former glory."

The bowing elder raised his head and nodded it reassuringly at first, only for it to fall in shame at hearing the last of Danny's reply.

Everyone settled back into their chairs, and their personal guards faded into the background. When Danny started moving toward the chair which had been placed there for him, he was surprised to find that he was naturally floating above the ground. He had forgotten that he was still in Air Aspect and would have to get rid of the excess Air Affinity stored before he could return to normal. Danny stopped moving his legs, as he was uselessly trying to walk by swinging them. He focused and willed himself toward the chair.

*You look like a ghost!*

When Danny went to sit in his chair, he found his butt wouldn't settle on the seat cushion. After trying to pull himself down a few times, only to float back up again, he gave up and just relaxed. Many of the elders openly stared at him while others looked markedly uncomfortable with his new appearance.

Elder Breeze was looking at Danny with an amused smile, "Danny, on behalf of the elder council, thank you for agreeing to help our people. Now, we have a few questions before we begin that effort. First, how did you achieve ascendancy? You see, our histories tell us that the youngest elf to achieve ascendancy did so around the age of seven hundred and fifty years. Normally, only after spending the good part of a millennium using large amounts of mana might one be expected to reach the point you are at. The transition to ascendancy is a slow and gradual one that takes time to acquire."

Danny had expected this question and had prepared an answer, "I was gravely wounded after stopping the goblins from casting a Dark Affinity ritual spell. I used the last of my mana to slow my descent through the forest from the resulting explosion. When I came to later, I was alone, healed, and physically weak.

Then, there was pain, nothing but an excruciating pain until I passed out from it. I awoke later, and it was dark and almost morning the next day. I found myself changed into an ascendant."

The elders discussed this for a while; some of their theories even came close to the truth. When asked, Danny answered with the truth, just omitting anything Cranny had done.

They then grilled Danny on his education, family, and finally his affinity levels. To say they were shocked upon hearing his affinity levels would be an understatement. Of course he did not mention the entropy affinity, and fortunately, no one asked.

Elder Breeze was civilized enough to look uncomfortable when he asked, "Danny, the last question I have for you is one that is considered rude, and you can refuse if you want to. Have you exceeded any attribute thresholds?"

Danny was not surprised they asked this question even though most people did not give out this information, as it could give an enemy or rival an edge.

Danny paused for dramatic effect, "Yes, my intelligence passed the first threshold."

"What was the gift bestowed upon you?"

Danny shook his head, smiling, "I won't tell you unless someone else tells me what they got. Information for information."

Elder Breeze looked confused, "The gift bestowed is the same for all members of the same race. For intelligence, Elves receive the ability to think faster and thus perceive time at a decreased pace, humans can split their concentration, and dwarfs can form a space in their sanctuaries to create, train, and test their skills safely. The effects on the beastman races are still unknown to us."

Danny nodded, "I also received the split concentration ability."

Elder Breeze looked confused, "What kind of education did you have to get such high magical affinities, yet not know about attribute thresholds?"

Danny shrugged and slowly started to rise up toward the ceiling, "I assumed it was the same for everyone and didn't ask. Also, humans tend to keep their libraries locked tighter than their purse strings."

They broke shortly after for lunch, with Danny agreeing to meet back in the council chambers afterward.

***

Danny flew down the hallway. He was pleased to find active movements used the mana still allocated to Air Aspect while floating didn't. More than a few servants and guards looked up in alarm as he flew by too quickly for them to react.

*The three guards they assigned to us are struggling to keep up.*

"They know where I am headed, and I am sure this will be a nice change from just standing around all day."

*It's crazy how easy it is to manipulate the air around us in this form. Do you think we could fly like this in our natural state?*

"I don't know, maybe. Well, at least not for long. Mana put into this aspect goes a lot further than in our natural state. If we do test it, let's just try it over a body of water in case I fall. How much mana did I put into this aspect? I was a little upset and didn't pay attention."

*You had about twelve percent of your total mana saved, and you grabbed seven percent when you activated your aspect. Then after your tantrum, you only had five percent left. So, at this rate, you should be able to fly around for another twenty minutes before you turn back.*

"Works for me, let's go show the girls!"

Danny flew into the guest wing past the Basalts, who were sitting in the atrium with an important looking elf, and then down to the girls' room. Flying in through the open doorway, he found the room empty. Turning back, he flew into the atrium where the Basalts were eying Danny warily.

Danny looked around the room, "Hey, where did the girls go?"

Arya recovered first from the surprise, "Danny, what are you doing?"

Danny flipped over so that everything was upside down, "…flying."

Wizard Basalt started chuckling at Danny's antics, "I assume that's your Air Aspect then. You will find the girls in the courtyard right outside. There are a number of them surrounding the castle. The elves have allowed them to train under some of their experts here. Something about your future wives needing to be able to keep you safe." The wizard winked at him.

Wren Basalt spoke up, next to her husband, "Danny, the elves have never allowed a human to train under them. What exactly are you doing for them?"

Danny turned right side up and straightened out his clothing, "Nothing I can talk about without serious consequences. I am going to go find the girls, bye!"

Danny took off, out one of the large windows before they could ask any further questions.

Danny flew out into the cold open air and gratefully felt the midday sun warming his skin. Looking back, he realized each opening in the tree held a few layers of air over it, trapping the air, and thus heat, inside. This aspect allowed his air scanning ability a new level of detail he wasn't used to.

Danny realized he was wasting a great opportunity with his nerding out and quickly shot off into the sky, flying as high as he dared.

While Danny wasn't scared of heights, he did have a healthy respect for gravity and his limited mana. Looking down, he could see that the city radiated outward like a five petal flower. Maybe the different areas had a purpose.

*Four percent mana left!*

Danny flew back down to the palace and noticed a few guards staring up at him through the leaves, with bows drawn. Suddenly unsure of what he had been thinking, Danny slowed down outside of what he hoped was their bows' range. He wasn't about to try testing the skill of an elven archer.

Three familiar guards ran up into the bowers of the tree, and the archers quickly lowered their bows.

Moving closer to the bottom of the palace, Danny spotted three familiar heads practicing in a courtyard below.

Jade had her bow out and was shooting at a target while dodging things being thrown at her by an older female elf. Brooke and Ivy were sparring together while a male elf looked on with arms crossed.

Danny flew down toward Jade as she was the first to stop to catch her breath. The instructor helping her noticed Danny and looked up in shock. Danny held his finger up to his lips, and the instructor nodded dumbly.

Jade was busy studying the placement of her recent shots and completely missed their little interaction.

Danny floated upside down and right above Jade, tapping her from behind on one shoulder. Turning, she looked around in confusion before turning back to her instructor. The older woman had a horrible poker face, but to her credit didn't look up at Danny once. Tapping her shoulder again, Danny couldn't help but laugh after Jade whipped around in frustration.

Hearing his laugh, Jade finally spotted him, and her frustrated expression quickly slipped away.

Still laughing, Danny floated lower to kiss her on the nose. Jade instinctively jumped backwards and flushed a bright shade of red upon finally recognizing him.

Noticing the commotion, Ivy and Brooke ran over to them, along with their instructor.

Brooke was laughing, "Danny, what are you doing up there?"

Danny turned right side up and floated over to Brooke, explaining, "I was trying out a new aspect when I realized it was lunchtime. I was wondering if you three wanted to eat with me."

Brooke looked to her instructor, who shrugged and gave her a nod. Smiling, she turned back to Danny, while failing to act nonchalantly, "Sure."

Danny couldn't help chuckling as he looked at the other two girls. "You two ready?"

Jade's face had returned to normal, and with a huge smile she said, "Yep!"

Ivy though looked concerned, "I don't know..."

Danny raised his hands, and all three girls screamed as they rose into the air. Bands of wind swirled close to their bodies, holding them in place. Danny turned and headed toward the guest wing with the three girls in tow.

Forgetting something, Danny turned and bowed slightly to the two instructors, "Thank you for agreeing to train them!"

Jade's instructor just stood there, mouth agape, while Ivy and Brooke's instructor numbly nodded back to him as the four floated up into the air.

*Danny, at this rate you have two minutes to get them there. I will add more mana to the aspect if needed.*

Danny nodded and called out to the girls, "You wanna see the city?"

Jade and Brooke excitedly screamed, throwing their hands into the air, "Yes!" "Let's do it!"

Turning to Ivy, it looked like she was drowning in the air. Danny immediately stopped them and floated her over toward him. Grabbing her arms, he pulled her into a hug until she seemed to calm down a bit.

"Ivy, are you alright now?"

Ivy was taking short breaths while looking everywhere yet nowhere, all at once, "No, please, can we just get down?"

Danny looked at the other two girls who looked disappointed but nodded in agreement.

Danny pulled her up into his arms in a princess carry, "Alright, we will go to lunch. I won't let go of you until we get there."

Ivy swallowed visibly and nodded her head that was now buried as deep into his chest as she could get it.

Danny chuckled at the girl who always seemed to have it all together. He had to admit this side of her was very cute.

*Now we know what to do next time she gets upset at us!*

They all floated over through one of the large atrium windows in the guest wing.

CHAPTER 11

Danny made sure to set Jade and Brooke down on the floor of the guest wing's atrium first before he began lowering Ivy and himself down.

Cranny's exasperated voice laughed out lightheartedly, *You realize you just wasted over a day and a half's worth of mana regeneration, only to fly around and annoy everyone.*

Danny just shrugged in reply.

The Basalts had stood to watch the whole spectacle from the window that faced the courtyard the girls had been training in. The elf they had been speaking with had gone, but now was returning with the elven queen and princess in tow.

The three female elves walked in right as he reached the ground, where he slowly began the process of untangling the beautiful human girl in his arms. Of course, the death grip Ivy had on him made it all the harder.

Ivy unsteadily walked toward the nearest chair where she promptly sat down with her head between her legs.

Walking right up to him, the queen beamed, "Danny, you didn't tell us you could fly!"

Danny was a little stunned by the queen's ever-present beauty and sudden closeness. Before he could speak, a blur ran past the monarch and flew into his arms. Danny barely managed to catch Princess Willow, who now occupied the space Ivy had recently left. Danny was thankful the princess had on a short sleeve blouse and long skirt that only came down to her knees. A full gown, like the queen was wearing, would have made the elven girl even heavier and more awkward to try and carry.

The princess looked up at Danny while somehow bouncing in his arms, "It's my turn, my turn! Let's fly!"

Danny looked around for assistance with what to do, only to be met by the amused looks from the adults and glares from the two girls who were not currently trying to now throw up.

Jade stepped forward, crossing her arms, "Princess, you do not have to be in his arms to fly. You can fly with him while standing next to him. That's how Brooke and I flew with him."

The princess looked over at the tall human girl with a sudden annoyed look in her eyes.

Snuggling further into Danny's chest, she smiled toward Jade, "No, I want to fly like this! Danny, you are so...fluffy and comfortable in this form."

Danny looked pleadingly toward the queen for assistance with her daughter, only to see the smug and calculating look she was giving him be quickly replaced with feigned innocence.

"Danny, would you please take my daughter for a small flight around the palace? The silly child has been trying to fly ever since she started using her Air Affinity."

Danny was debating how to handle the situation when he remembered Cranny's most recent words. His aspect form should disappear with just the smallest bit of usage. He could claim he had run out of mana.

*Annnnnnd, I added more mana to the Air Aspect, so you have at least seven minutes of uninterrupted princess time. Don't worry, I already factored in her weight from you holding Ivy… You can thank me later.*

Danny did his best to hide his sudden frustration and question if there was a way to recrystallize a certain someone. Looking to the elven girl still hanging onto him, Danny explained, "Princess, I only have enough mana for a few minutes, so we can't stay up too long. Also, Jade is right, you can fly next to me. That way you can actually feel like you are flying."

*Spoilsport...*

The princess seemed a little reluctant at first to leave her place in his arms, only to quickly jump down and bounce excitedly as she stood next to him. Danny realized, now that she wasn't next to her giant of a father, that the princess was actually slightly taller than himself. He also admitted that all the bouncing was very distracting.

Quickly turning back to everyone in the room, Danny remembered protocol and bowed to the queen, "We will be back shortly, Your Majesty."

The queen waved demurely as they flew up and out of the window. Danny took the princess for a few turns around the palace before flying higher so they could see the whole capital.

"This is sooo amazing, Danny! Though it is freezing up here." The princess hugged herself and started to shake.

"I am glad you like it, Princess. Here, let me try something I saw the sacred trees do."

A large bubble of air surrounded the two. It had two layers and kept the wind out. Danny thought it would keep them insulated with their body heat raising the temperature inside. Danny noticed that the sun still felt hot on his skin. He would have to be careful and let the hot air out soon, or they might start broiling in there after too long.

The princess smiled shyly, "Please Danny, call me Willow. Well, at least when we are alone."

Danny looked at the elf next to him, who appeared to be nothing more than a young girl having the time of her life.

Danny slowed them down once they were high enough. Willow took the opportunity to look around, taking in everything she could. The city extended far out below them. Elves could be seen moving from building to building, like tiny ants.

Danny coughed awkwardly, speaking, "So, your mother offered me your hand in marriage as a reward if I can help your people. I didn't really have any plans to do such a thing. I was wondering what your thoughts were on the matter."

*Have you ever heard of easing into something, Danny?*

The princess stopped looking around excitedly and replied without turning back to face him, "I don't know honestly. My family expects me to marry someone for political gain. Mother has been pushing me toward you lately... I don't know."

Danny flew around, so they were facing each other, "You seemed to be really cozy to me down there just now."

The princess smiled ruefully at him, "Yes, because I wanted to do this!" The princess spread her arms wide and leaned back as far as Danny's magic would allow her before she toppled over into a flip that brought her back up to where she had been.

"Ah, I thought that was just something your mother made up to get us alone together."

Willow shook her head, "No, she didn't lie, but I have no doubt she did it to get us alone together. Would marrying me be that horrible?"

Danny shrugged, "I don't really know you past the beautiful elven girl who likes to fly. I mean, I don't even know how old you are."

The princess spun around, "Oh, I am very young."

"I know it is a rude thing to ask a lady, but how young exactly is young?" pressed Danny.

The princess laughed, and the quality of her voice seemed to change; it seemed richer, more refined, "Mother was hoping I could get you to fall in love with me before you asked that question." The princess's demeanor changed slightly, and she seemed to age a bit before his eyes. With a small smile, she continued, "I don't mind telling you the truth. I don't want to be stuck with someone who balks at something as silly as an age difference."

When the princess didn't continue, Danny crossed his arms and looked at her, with one eyebrow raised.

The princess looked away, "I will be fifty-four in a couple of weeks."

Danny uncrossed his arms and frowned, "Hmmm, that does cause a problem."

The princess looked up warily, "It does?" Her face hardened, "Oh, well that's a relief then, I will save me the trouble of..."

Danny interrupted her, "That is not enough time to get you a decent gift that I know you will like. As I said before, I barely know you. I can't go offending one of the elven royalty. People have been imprisoned or worse for doing less."

The princess looked back at him suspiciously, "Wait, so you have no problem with my age? I am old enough to be your mother."

"No, I don't have a problem with your age, and actually, you are older than my mother."

Willow looked shocked and offended all at once, "Excuse me, bald little boy, but I don't think the best way to win a woman's heart is to mock her age."

Danny looked around with mock confusion, "Who said I was trying to win your heart?"

Willow looked agape at him, "Wha...why not! Is it the age thing again? You humans and your hang-ups on age. If we elves did that, our population would dwindle and quickly cease to exist."

Danny shook his head, "What about you? You really ready to latch yourself to a 'little boy'?"

*You forgot bald.*

Ignoring Cranny, Danny continued, "What I can't fathom is why you would want to marry me?"

Willow looked at Danny like he had just told her he was really from another world, "Really, Danny? You don't think I would have a reason to want to marry you?"

Danny shrugged, "Yes, your people are pressuring you to because I am an Ascendant. You would become a chain that shackled me to the elves, like those three girls down there will bind me to Diadem. Except, I have no interest in political marriages. Yes, my fiancées are children of council members, but they are not recognized ones. So, marrying a princess would be up there on the list of things to avoid at all costs."

The princess stared at him for a second, "What are you talking about? You are already marrying a princess..."

It was Danny's turn to look confused, "What are you talking about?"

The princess looked uncertain, "Ivy... Ivy Diadem, third daughter to the current head of the Diadem family. Even though they claim to only head the council as equals, it is, in reality, more like our arrangement with the Council of Elders. My mother rules and they only advise. We at least have the decency to not lie to our subjects."

Danny floated, unmoving for so long that Willow reached out and dragged herself over to him.

"Danny, are you alright in there?"

Danny's eyes finally seemed to focus and look over into hers, causing him to lose himself in a fleeting thought. Back on earth, he had once gone snorkeling near a coral reef. The amazing multitude of fish and plant life all in one place. The water there had the same coloring as her eyes.

As he continued to study her face closely, he pondered the ramifications of what he had just been told. He couldn't help wondering why the girls would keep this from him. He thought they were close enough to not have secrets. Well, he also had secrets…

In a moment of irrationality, he numbly told Willow, "I am actually around forty years old, so you're only about ten years older than me."

Willow cocked her head to the side, looking really worried, "Danny, what are you talking about?"

Even though the princess kept talking, Danny tuned her out as he tried to figure out what his next move should be.

*Just so you know, I have been adding more mana to the aspect. This bubble is cool, but it is a huge mana suck. We have a bit more time for you to freak out, but we are seriously going to have to cut this chat short soon.

So, what are you going to do here, Danny boy? I guess I should have seen the Ivy thing coming. Oh, and just so you know, you can think about what you want to say to me and not actually verbalize it.*

This seemed to shake Danny from his current thoughts, *Wait, really?*

Cranny laughed, *Yeah man, I'm actually surprised, and kind of embarrassed, you haven't tried that yet. Everyone is really starting to worry you're going a little soft in the head.*

*And you let them keep thinking that when you could have just told me!*

*Hey, it gets boring up here. We need to add an arcade room, OR a room to practice curling! You know, that sport where they sweep the ice and bump the funky looking clothing irons together.*

*Cranny, what are we going to do about this?*

*Well, I guess we have to make a room big enough and figure out how to make a Zamboni. Of course, neither of us has a license…*

*Not that! This princess drama, this crap which we are apparently already up to our necks in. Ahhhhh!*

*Danny, calm down, your buddy here has it all figured out.*

*You do?*

*Yep! But you have to answer a couple of questions first.*

*I swear Cranny, if this is another set up to…*

*Just answer the damn questions!*

*…Fine!*

*How many princesses did I marry or even date in my last lifetime?*

*…None.*

*How many chances did I take when the rewards were just as outrageous as the risks?*

*Not many?*

*None, Danny. The answer is, none. Do you want to stay with the girls? Can you just drop them and go live with the elves or run off to live in the wild alone?*

*Well, no. We have been through so much together, and I… I don't want to leave them.*

*Good! Do you think it was the girls who chose to hide Ivy's identity? Do you think they are the ones pulling the strings?*

*Well, obviously no.*

*So if we marry Ivy and the girls, we are going to be fighting the Diadems for control of our lives. Ivy doesn't seem to be the type to go against her family's wishes either.*

*True, so what is your solution, Cranny?*

*Dueling princesses!*

*That doesn't even make sense. Then, we would just have twice the headache with both races trying to control us.*

*Exactly, Danny! They would both have a claim to you, and they would have to agree on everything. This would all be through your wives, of course, so we would have to make sure they were on our side.*

*But what if they have already thought that far ahead. Well, I wouldn't put it past the elven queen or Diadem to have thought that far ahead.*

*Then, ask the princess while we have her all to ourselves.*

Danny looked up to see that Princess Willow was just floating there, angrily staring at him. She had moved further away from him during his mental absence.

Danny smiled, "Excuse me Your Highness, but can I actually marry you and the girls both? Wouldn't that violate one of our people's laws?"

The princess's dangerous expression didn't change, "Oh, are you talking to me again?"

When Danny just smiled and nodded she rolled her eyes, "No elf has been in a marriage with a human before, at least that I know of. There also has never been an elf marriage with more than three members. Not sure how I feel about that one. So, there is no law, human or elven, that would prevent this type of union."

"Then who decides what I do if I was just to marry you?"

Willow's frown turned into speculation, "No one. Well, except in times of war. All elven citizens are 'free' to do as they wish unless they break the law or are conscripted into the army. You would be given a high rank in our military if you were enlisted."

Danny frowned, "So whose army would I join if I married both you and the girls?"

Willow seemed to weigh what to tell him before speaking, "If my people were in danger right now, would you help them?"

Danny didn't hesitate, "If I am able to help and I have no unresolved issues with your people, then I would help, anytime, without you even promising to marry me. Maybe even if we were on less than agreeable terms."

The princess's smile somehow managed to brighten up the already a cloudless noonday, "Don't let my mother know that, or she won't let me marry you."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "So you want to marry me now?"

The princess smirked while feigning indifference, "I'm leaning that way. Most of the elven nobles my mother was considering before you arrived are all so pretentious and dull. They all think I should be lucky to have the opportunity to marry them. You, on the other hand, question why I would want to marry you. I can't help but think a younger, dare I say moldable, husband who sees me as the one to lose something in a possible marriage is a favorable situation."

Danny frowned, "What about my previous question on whose army I would be expected to join?"

Willow shrugged, "My mother would not think twice about threatening the alliance's existence over forcing you to stay with us. You saw how quickly your people sent you here, despite your great potential. They need us a lot more than we need them."

Danny thought about what she said for a moment, "Why are you telling me this? You could help your people the most by withholding some of these things."

The princess sighed, "Look, if there is a chance you would agree to marry me, I don't want to spend the rest of our lives with you resenting me. Of course, I will refuse you if something you want is detrimental to my people or their future."

Danny couldn't help but ask, "So, your people don't believe in divorce?"

Willow suddenly pushed herself across the space separating them with her own air magic, depending on Danny's magic to stabilize herself. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, she dragged his face to within an inch of hers, "Danny, some say an elf cannot lie, but the truth is much different. An elf's word is who they are. When one can live for a very long time, their word is the only true worth they have. To go back on a promise, especially one made before all, is to admit that you and everything you are is a lie. Those who go back on their word are never trusted again. Danny Creek, you should think long and hard before you dare make me an outcast to my own people!"

Danny thought that was a little extreme, but he figured this aspect of the elven culture could prove useful. Danny grabbed the princess's hands from his collar and kissed each one before gently pushing her away. The princess seemed unaffected by his actions and didn't fight him.

*Cranny, I like that she is being cooperative. Do you think we can trust her?*

Cranny scoffed, *Trust her? Not yet. I still think we will be in a better place to control our own lives if the two countries are too busy fighting over what to do with us. Hey, if you don't like her, there's always the prince.*

*…*

*Uhhhh, I was just kidding, Danny.*

"Willow, would your mother accept our betrothal if I also made her swear that your people would not seek to dictate my actions, nor that I would be bound by your rules of conscription into the army?"

The princess didn't have to consider this long, "Danny, she won't like it, but if you give back our people their near immortality, she will probably agree to anything you ask."

Danny nodded, "Speaking of immortality, how bad is the issue really? Your mother gave me an idea, but I would like to know your opinion."

Willow frowned, "My family is the only one allowed to keep their mana reserves at full. Then, there are the elders, the nobles, and last the skilled craftsmen and warriors, in that order. They all receive half of what those before them get. The elders monitor the mana of every tree and make sure everyone receives their allotted amount.

There are those on the fringe of our society which barely receives any mana at all, so there is motivation to rise in status. With mana, we are slow to reach our maturity, but the mana slows our physical aging even further once we look around your people's age of thirty. That is until the mana can no longer sustain us, then we begin to wither and die."

Danny nodded, "Thank you for telling me all this… Wait, what happens when I get all old and wrinkly? Are you alright being married to an old bald human?"

Willow tilted her head, "Wow, you really don't understand, Danny. You're an Ascendant. Unless you get fatally injured, no one has ever seen one of your kind die of old age. With your potential and immortality, who else would be a better candidate for me to marry?"

CHAPTER 12

Danny and Willow landed in the guest atrium to find everyone already eating lunch. Jade waved for Danny to sit in the empty spot between Brooke and her. Danny smiled to the princess before heading over to the table, trying his best to ignore the sudden depressing thought that he could easily outlive every single person at the table. Danny noted that Willow chose to sit in the empty seat next to Ivy.

As Danny floated down to his chair, the queen asked, "How was flying? You two were up there for a bit longer than I had expected."

Willow beamed, "It was awesome, and Danny took me so high we could see the whole city!"

Jade looked over at Danny, not hiding how jealous she was.

Smiling, Danny leaned over and whispered, "If I have enough mana I will take you and Brooke later tonight. I don't think Ivy will be up for flying again anytime soon."

Jade seemed slightly mollified by this. Turning to Brooke, he found she had heard what he said to Jade and was smiling excitedly.

Danny hurried to eat so he wouldn't keep the elders waiting. He was having fun making a piece of bread float into his mouth when Ivy and Willow suddenly burst into hysterical laughter. Looking over, he saw the two of them look his way before huddling together and whispering quietly again.

Cranny grumbled, *I always hate when women do that...*

Danny looked over to see Brooke watching his reaction, shaking with silent laughter. Danny tried to give her a menacing look, but it only made her laugh out loud. Reaching under the tablecloth, Danny squeezed Brooke's leg, right above her knee, as hard as he could. Brooke shot up in her chair and glared daggers at Danny when her knees banged against the table. He innocently took a bite of his floating bread, pretending to be looking out a nearby window. He could sense her trying to stealthily reach for his leg.

Danny hastily floated away from his chair and grabbed his drink to take a last swig. "Excuse me everyone, but the elders are probably already waiting for me. I just need to grab my bag from my room."

Danny heard Brooke mutter, "Coward..."

"Danny, I want to come, too!" The princess jumped up from where she had been sitting next to Ivy.

Danny's eyes grew like saucers as he looked to a glaring Jade, "Uhhh, that's not necessary, Your Highness. It will probably just be boring druid talk all afternoon." Danny flew down to his room to grab his things, but he could still hear everything in the room just as though he was still standing in there.

*Danny, I figured out how to pick up vibrations in the air from far off and convert them to sound. I am pretty sure I can do the same thing but in reverse. That would be better than the loudspeaker spell the Archwizard used. We can totally freak people out with this!*

*Awesome! Well, not about the freaking people out part.*

Danny heard Jade speak up in the other room, "I want to come too..."

The queen sounded apologetic, "I am sorry Jade, but this really something that only Danny has been allowed to participate in. No other humans are authorized to participate in what they are doing."

Jade replied quietly, "Yes, Your Majesty."

The queen's voice gained some excitement, "How about I take you three girls shopping? The Basalt ladies can come as well."

Then, there was suddenly too much talking at once for Danny to attempt focusing on anymore. He grabbed a simple cloth bag he had requested from the servants. Placing an extra pair of undergarments in his bag, Danny wondered how much it cost to have his own servant. Then, he remembered he had Cranny.

*Cranny, how much magic is left in my normal reserves?*

*A little less than two percent. That's like 30 minutes of Air Aspect. Don't know how much we will be able to do with Nature, so I will just let Air Aspect die out. Oh, we reached level nine affinity with Air Affinity!*

Danny was pleasantly surprised, *What, really?*

*One more and we will have mastered Air Affinity. I wonder if something will happen?*

Danny reached the atrium and saw that things still hadn't died down. Not wanting to get caught in the middle of the incessant chatter, Danny floated up to the ceiling and started inching toward the hallway when he noticed something was off.

*Cranny, how much mana is left in Air Aspect…*

Danny fell to the ground on top of a small table in the sitting area opposite the dining table. The room went deathly silent as everyone turned to the sudden noise.

Danny slowly stood up, groaning in pain. He instantly healed himself before grabbing the bag off the floor where it had fallen.

*Cranny... you bastard.*

*Whaaa, what did you do? I just noticed something and looked away... I will tell you about it later. And why can't you just monitor your mana on your own for once?*

Trying to keep what little dignity he had left, Danny chose to ignore what happened and just head to his meeting with the elders. Danny couldn't help notice everyone was quietly watching his progress across the room with different degrees of the same worried look.

When his path through the room took him past the queen, he stopped and bowed, "My apologies for breaking your table, Your Majesty. Please let me know how, and I will repay you as best I can."

The queen smiled weakly, "Think nothing of it. I didn't like that table anyway, so I should be thanking you instead."

Danny bowed to her again and continued toward the door.

"D-Danny, wait for me. I am coming with you!" Willow ran up next to him and smiled as though nothing untoward had just happened.

Looking for a way out, Danny asked, "I thought you were going shopping with everyone else?"

The princess put her hands behind her back and rolled back and forth on her heels, "Nope."

Frowning and annoyed, Danny asked, "Are you sure you're as old as you claim?"

The princess paused and gave him a flat look before sticking a small bit of her tongue out at him.

***

Danny and Willow walked into the elders' wing to find Elder Breeze waiting alone for Danny in his seat at the council table.

Elder Breeze noticed them immediately and stood to walk over to them, "Danny, I hope you had fun with your new aspect. Did you have time at all for lunch?"

"Yes, sir."

The older elf smiled warmly, "Good, now please follow me. You will only be working with a few of the elders as we have many responsibilities in the community. I apologize, as I have already taken too much time away from my own duties and probably won't get to assist you personally."

"Of course, I understand, elder. I tend to prefer working alone anyway but will welcome any assistance the elders can provide."

Elder Breeze took them down a hallway to a large room that appeared to be set aside for training. The two elders who had validated Danny's ascendancy the day before were waiting inside.

"Danny, I apologize we didn't have time to introduce everyone yesterday. This is Elder Frost, who is our most senior member, and her expertise is in the use of nature magic on plants. I am sure you remember Elder Cardinal who is in charge of our library. Elder Cardinal is also a descendant of the last Ascendant.*

Danny bowed to both of the elders as they were introduced to him.

Elder Frost spoke first, "Hello Danny, I will help you as much as these old bones can."

The elder had more wrinkles than any elf Danny had seen so far. Danny could easily imagine there was a sharp mind behind those tired eyes.

Elder Cardinal nodded his head hesitantly, "My apologies again for my actions earlier today. I was told that was something my mother could only do with my grandfather. I should have warned you, and I was in the wrong for not doing so."

Princess Willow spoke up, "Uncle, what did you do?"

Danny bowed again and interrupted whatever was about to be said, "All is forgiven, I hope I did not injure you when you fell?"

Elder Cardinal smiled genuinely, "Thank you for your concern, Danny. I am healthy as can be expected for one my age."

The princess looked sternly at both of them as if to say they would be explaining things to her later on.

Elder Breeze clapped his hands, "Good, now that introductions are completed, this room has been set aside for your use. The two tables by the door are for any research material you wish to keep here. Please use the small dining table over there for any food or drink you bring in. We want to prevent any further damage to our library records. Last is the area through the wall here."

Danny was confused; they seemed to think that discovering the secret to the sacred trees would take a while. He should be able to handle this in a few hours at most. Growing a new tree had never been hard for Danny, but he decided to be polite in case they knew something he didn't understand.

Elder Breeze led them through an archway and into what Danny could only describe as an indoor garden. Water ran out of one wall and through a small stream into a pool. Danny realized there was soil here, as grass was growing wherever there wasn't water.

Elder Breeze explained, "We keep this training room simple so those learning nature magic can show off their creative abilities to their fullest without having to leave the wing. Before I leave, Danny, I was hoping I could see your Nature Aspect. We have only heard stories passed down from those who survived."

Danny nodded, "Sure, but I am afraid I am a little low on mana."

Princess Willow admitted sheepishly, "I might have begged him to take me flying for far too long."

The three elders chuckled at this.

Elder Frost gestured Danny over to one of the walls, "Danny, put your hand on the tree here and reach out and merge your mana with the tree's."

Danny hadn't tried this as it had never occurred to him that it would do anything. Any attempts he made in the past to affect someone else's mana resulted in nothing happening. But this time, when his mana came in contact with the tree's, he was surprised to find the tree's mana flowing back into his body. The rate was about three times his normal regeneration rate.

Danny couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, this is amazing! You do this all the time?"

Elder Frost nodded, "Yes, and you have been approved to use all the mana you need for this project."

"Though please keep all recreational uses to your own personally regenerated amounts," Elder Breeze added.

Danny nodded while keeping his hand on the tree.

*Cranny, do we have enough to try Nature Aspect?*

*Yeah, this time I want to try starting with a lower amount of mana and adding as needed.*

*Sure, but you are in charge of that. I don't want to break any more of the Queen's furniture.*

*Oh, Danny. I didn't get to tell you what I found. Anything we scan with Nature Affinity we can mimic with our Nature Aspect. So we have a Sacred Tree Aspect along with an Elf Aspect!*

*Wait, we can scan with Nature Affinity? Since when did you start doing that?*

*I tried it on the tree last night while we were experimenting and then while you were holding the princess…*

*Why on earth did you think to do that to the princess? We could have insulted her if she had noticed!*

*Don't worry! I did it while we were eating, and she totally missed it.*

*Alright, so let's use the Sacred Tree Nature Aspect then.*

*Starting with only a small fraction of mana and then adding more from there.*

*Wait! I almost forgot.*

Danny turned to the three elves, "I don't know how best to say this. Since I do not want a repeat of what happened when I used Flame Aspect, I am going to remove everything but my boxers. I say this because I don't know how your culture feels about nudity."

Danny didn't know what they called them on earth in the past, but here they were a loose fitting shorts made of linen. They came in the fun colors of white, beige, and white.

The elders all looked at each other before Elder Breeze shrugged, saying, "We have no problem with nudity if you would rather remove all your clothing. We don't want you to harm yourself for our sakes."

"Boy, it isn't like you got something I haven't seen yet," Elder Frost chuckled.

Elder Cardinal looked at Elder Frost in reproach.

Danny turned to see Princess Willow staring at him with a polite and expectant smile on her face, though Danny could swear he saw silent laughter behind her eyes.

Danny turned around, "Alright, then. But I am keeping my boxers on."

Heading into the other room where he left his bag, Danny stripped to his boxers. When he walked back in, he couldn't help looking for Willow's reaction. She looked a little shocked, but not in the good way.

"Danny, why are you so skinny!"

Danny looked down at his exposed ribs, "Oh, when I healed myself after the battle with the goblins, I had to use a lot of internal resources. I had a pretty good-sized hole through my shoulder."

Elder Frost made a tsking sound, "We will make sure the palace staff knows to give you extra during meals times."

Danny smiled at her grandmotherly words, unsure how best to respond.

*Alright Cranny, do it.*

Danny felt a small amount of mana move through his body. He could now describe it best like when one emotion suddenly turns into another. For example, when you get scared because you are falling from a great height, and then embarrassed when you break a table. Nature magic, specifically, gave him a sudden feeling of wanderlust. Like his other aspects, nothing happened at first.

Danny felt the first changes begin at his feet. Looking down, he watched as his flesh became scaled as bark formed on his skin. He started worrying as he began losing the sense of touch wherever the bark spread. His feet seemed to elongate and dig into the soil. He could feel a pull start at his feet and spread upward as his body changed. He was relieved when his boxers stayed on as the bark spread up his waist. By the time it had reached his arms and then hands, it had already covered his head.

Similar to Fire Affinity, his Nature Affinity was now a level higher at seven, and the bark skin was a little more pronounced on his upper chest, shoulders, and neck. Why those were always the last to change, Danny couldn't guess.

He could move his body fairly easily from the knees up. Though, his feet were apparently rooted to the ground, which was a tad nerve-racking.

Danny asked, *Did my feet actually stretch?*

*No, your body stays the same size and shape. We apparently can grow external roots in this form. I suspect we can do much more,* Cranny explained.

Elder Breeze stared at Danny in fascination, "Amazing! How does it feel?"

Danny looked down at himself, "A bit like I am wearing a thick full body suit, but on the places that look like bark."

Danny felt pressure on his arm and turned to see Princess Willow rubbing the skin there.

She looked up at him, curiously, "Did you feel that?"

Danny nodded, "I felt a pressure but not the detailed sensations I am used to."

The elders all walked up to touch the skin on his arms and hands.

Elder Frost looked like a kid on Christmas morning, "Your bark is exactly like the sacred trees!"

"Yes, anything I observe with my Nature Affinity, I can mimic." Danny hoped he hadn't just lied, with the two nature aspects he had, so he added, "I am sure there are exceptions, but I haven't found one yet."

Elder Frost clapped her hands together once and laughed happily.

*Danny, I am going to try some things. You keep up the public relations.*

*…Sure…*

Danny address the group, "So do we have any clue how to propagate a sacred tree? I spent last night trying a few things in my room and the courtyard below."

Elder Breeze nodded, "Yes, the guards informed me of your actions, worried you might be hurting the tree. I told them to come get me if you somehow injured yourself, or the tree…"

Elder Breeze stopped talking to look up at Danny's head.

Concerned, Danny nervously ran his hands over his head and was surprised to find thousands of thin pliable twigs growing out of his head. Each twig had something growing out of it at regular intervals. Danny, unthinkingly, plucked one and was surprised when it didn't hurt. Bringing it in front of his face, he saw a small leafs like the ones on the sacred tree.

Cranny guessed, *I think that is your hair. I don't know why it's doing this on its own. I was messing with your roots. Though, I don't know how permanent this ‘hair' is.*

Danny was going to reply when he felt a new sensation; mana and something else had started to flood his body from his feet upwards.

*Oh, wow! I was just aiming to get water and nutrients from the soils, but I had our roots spread out and accidentally merged with the sacred tree below. It's giving us mana, and we are directly tapped into its nutrient flow. Your mana regeneration is now up to seven times the normal rate!*

Danny was shocked and got lost in the powerful sensations now coursing through his body.

"Danny!" Someone was pushing on his chest, but Danny was too lost in the sensation of his body filling with mana and nutrients. It felt like his was lying in a warm river that was racing not only past but his body but coursing through it.

Someone pushed his face hard, and Danny instinctively reached out to them, annoyed, "Stop that!"

Danny opened his eyes to find Willow trapped in a cage of branches seemingly suspended in the air in front of him. It looked as if his hand had increased in size to capture the princess. The bark-like skin of his left side and arm had grown thicker and had swelled, apparently in order to support the weight of the new branches and Willow. The princess looked at him with wide eyes through the branches, scared and in shock.

Once again, Danny found himself surrounded by the palace guards, who were always present, but hiding in the background.

One guard, in particular, stood between Danny and the princess, weapon pointed at him, "Ascendant, please release the princess."

Danny couldn't see the guard's face through the helmet he wore. When the guard spoke, the voice might have sounded feminine; Danny wasn't sure.

Danny took a deep breath and focused on lowering the princess and retracting the branches he had created. He was able to lower and release the princess by growing the branches further, but the limbs wouldn't withdraw after that.

Realizing what he should have done from the beginning, Danny released the new growth from his body. He thought his hand had stretched to create the cage which surrounded Willow, but instead, branches had grown and extended outward from his hand. The hand-like shape which the cage had taken on must have been an unconscious interpretation from his mind. The dead plant matter fell to the ground, and his familiar sized hand and arm was all that was left. He was lucky he hadn't accidentally attacked her.

Willow stood up as the branches surrounding her collapsed and turned to look at Danny warily.

Danny bowed as low as his aspect would allow him, "I am sorry I did that Willow. I was lost in all the new sensations and reacted improperly when I wasn't allowed to continue enjoying them. Can you forgive me?"

Willow crossed her arms, protectively, and nodded silently. A couple of guards checked over the princess's physical condition before fading into the background.

Elder Frost and Breeze stood next to each other talking as Frost frantically wrote notes in a journal.

Elder Cardinal had his hand against the wall. "Still, no change in the rate he is siphoning mana, though it is the largest draw I have ever observed."

Elder Frost stopped writing, "Danny, it is not uncommon for elves to become lost in the power one feels when first drawing on the sacred tree's mana. I was surprised that it hadn't occur earlier before you changed."

Elder Breeze walked over to also check on the princess before turning to address the room, "I will be leaving you now. Please let me know of any resource you all might need, and let's not directly interact with Danny while he is focused, unless it is absolutely necessary." Turning to Danny, he added, "Danny, thank you for taking on this task for us. Just let someone know what you need, and we will do what we can to acquire it."

Danny bowed respectfully to the elder as he left.

Turning to the room, Danny smiled and asked, "So, my esteemed colleagues, what do we know about growing a new sacred tree?"

Danny looked between the two elders. Elder Frost seemed suddenly consumed by her notes while Elder Cardinal gave Danny an uncomfortable look. In a last-ditch effort, Danny looked to Willow to only watch her shrug apologetically.

Elder Frost cleared her throat and looked up from her notes, "Due to this being the ultimate secret of our race, it was passed down verbally from Ascendant to Ascendant. Since they were numerous and rarely died--well except for in battle or in an accident--no one thought to write it down. Even when the cataclysm started, they were too focused on our defenses. Our attempts at normal propagation have failed, and we can only assume it is truly something only an Ascendant can accomplish."

Danny looked around concerned, before saying incredulously, "Seriously! So, we have nothing to go on?"

CHAPTER 13

A small pile of elven tomes rested on the petals of a large flower growing out of the ground, like a small table under the shade of a small tree. The flower was white with a translucence that shimmered when light showed through its petals. It also gave off a sweet fragrance that filled the large room it was growing in. Next to the flower, a small tree started to shake before turning to reveal the face of a teenage boy.

Danny shook his head slowly. The leaves which were growing out of his thin branch-like hair moved back and forth and trickled down his back.

"Still no luck, Danny?" Princess Willow sat down on the petals of the large flower, which surprisingly supported her weight.

Danny carefully rubbed his hands through his hair, "I knew sacred trees were different, but squirrels probably have more in common with other trees than a sacred tree does."

Danny looked over his shoulder to see that the princess had been rubbing his back sympathetically. He hadn't even felt her doing this, but he still smiled appreciatively.

Looking down at all the dead twigs sticking out of the ground, Danny reviewed all his failed attempts at growing cuttings from different parts of the tree. The cuttings seemed to grow but quickly died when mana wasn't supplied to them. The sacred tree generated mana from its connection to the source, which was located where the trunk started, and the roots ended. These cuttings didn't create their own connection to the source, and Danny was oblivious to how that would even begin to happen. He had nervously grown excess cells inside the source and tried to use those, but the cells might have well come from the furthest branches of the tree for all the good it did.

Danny looked over to Elder Cardinal, "These are all the books concerning the sacred trees. What about books about Ascendants? Maybe I can glean some insight from those."

Elder Cardinal looked up from the book he was studying, "Of course, though most are just village histories and family records."

Danny turned to Elder Frost, who was inspecting some of his dead cuttings. "Seeds are the only thing that I think would work. I was excited when I got this flower to grow out of the tree, but there are none of the sex characteristics I expected to find which would have led to the production of seeds. You told me the fruit it produces are seedless, right?"

Elder Frost stood up and wiped her hands on her robes, "Yes, after a while, a flower grows into a fruit, but there are no seeds in the fruits. Those fruits are the main staple of our diet and are in most of the foods we prepare. If there were a seed in one, someone surely would have noticed it."

Danny reached up and, through his connection with the tree, had a branch rise up from under the flower, between two of its petals, and curl a meter above the top of the flower. A second bud emerged from the curved end of the new branch, then closed before swelling into a large pink fruit. It grew to the size of a watermelon before stopping. Danny frowned while studying its internal structure with his Nature Affinity.

The princess spoke up next to him, "Danny, it's supper time. You can work on this some more tomorrow."

Danny, deep in thought, turned to look at her for a few seconds before her words seemed to register, "Oh, is it that late already?"

Looking at the ceiling, Danny realized the room had a dozen of those "bulbs" that emitted light evenly across the ceiling. Danny remembered those bulbs were also on his to-learn list.

Danny turned to the elders, "My apologies for keeping you both here so late."

The two elders embarrassingly conceded that they had both lost track of the time as well. Excited to try and solve the dilemma.

Elder Frost smiled, "It has been so long since I had a good challenge. I am just glad I can be of some help."

Danny nodded, "Yes, your insights and Elder Cardinal's knowledge of the records have been most beneficial. Eliminating failed theories can only lead us to pick the correct path."

They bade their goodbyes, and Danny used the last of his mana to grow four bouquets made from smaller versions of the flowers and leaves. As he changed back into his natural form, he pulled the shirt he had brought over his head. Leaves fell from his head and littered the ground below him. Danny sighed at his destroyed boxers that had torn when he grew new bark around his waist at different times throughout the afternoon. Yet another aspect that could cause suddenly uncontrollable nudity.

"Danny, your hair stayed!" Princess Willowed said excitedly while leaning in to inspect his new locks.

Reaching up, Danny and felt the new hair that now covered his previously bald head. The hair felt different, smoother.

Smiling he turned to the princess, only realizing she had just watched him get dress. Danny couldn't help but feel mortified, what with his emaciated condition.

Trying to act like it didn't bother him, Danny blushed while asking her, "So, how do I look with hair?"

Willow smiled, "Much better! Especially now that you have eyebrows. I have to say you are very attractive…for a human." A playful smirk crossed her beautiful lips.

Danny rolled his eyes, "Sorry I couldn't be born with a perfect features like you elves."

The princess stopped Danny from moving toward the door. "Danny, we look this way because we have such high intelligence. Before the sorcerers created the sanctuaries, we were only slightly better looking than your kind."

Danny had not heard this before, and with great interest, he honestly exclaimed, "Wow, then either you already had a predisposition to be beautiful before, or your intelligence attribute is ridiculously higher than the other elves'."

The princess started walking ahead of Danny toward the door, and sounding annoyed, said, "Danny, please do not feel like you have to flatter me, unnecessarily."

Danny was pretty sure he had seen a blush creep up Willow's neck. He didn't think his words were that strange. Danny was sure she had heard them before from countless suitors. He had actually been hoping to trick her into telling him her intelligence level.

*Wow, Mr. Casanova! Where did that come from? We interested in girls finally?*

That reminded Danny, and he ran back to grab the bouquets before hurrying after Willow.

Handing one of the bouquets to Willow, Danny saw her smile down at them happily before she seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly tried to control her expression.

Nodding politely toward him, Willow said, "Danny, these are lovely, thank you."

"They are an apology for earlier. I didn't mean to scare you," Danny said with great sincerity.

Danny was happy when the smile didn't leave Willow's eyes as she looked over at him.

***

Danny and Willow returned to the guest wing, but Danny was surprised when Willow immediately bade him a good night.

"Did you just come get me for supper? You could have sent someone else," Danny asked, confused.

The princess seemed to find some microscopic speck on her blouse that needed removing, "I honestly wanted to see if you all had made any progress."

Danny frowned, remembering his lack of success, "Sorry, I was only able to eliminate a bunch of things that won't work."

Willow smiled, placing a hand on his arm, "That's still progress. You are doing fine, Danny. No one expects miracles." The princess leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "Good night, Danny."

Taken off guard, Danny almost forgot to respond, "G-Good night, Willow." Danny couldn't help but stand there stunned as he watched her walk away.

*Danny, your life is sooo much better than mine was!*

*Yeah, well she is probably just doing it under pressure from her mother. Remember the whole being told to get me to fall in love with her bit?*

*Hmmm, I don't know. If she was doing that then she was also faking an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, oh, and her eyes wouldn't dilate whenever she looked at you.*

*Cranny, were you scanning her again?*

*Yeah, only the elders seem to notice it. I wonder if it's a skill only they have?*

*Yeah, well anyway, all that could easily be because Willow associates my appearance with my powers, and she was nervous I wouldn't fall for her womanly wiles.*

*Danny, if that is true, I am alright with that. She uses you, and I get to enjoy having my very own elven princess.*

*Why is what I want not even considered in that statement?*

*Danny, I am pretty much your subconsciousness. You want to marry the princess.*

*But what about the girls? What are they going to say?*

*Honestly, right now they are probably wondering when you are going to turn around and quit staring at the princess's remarkable royal rear end.*

Danny froze, *Why didn't you tell me they were behind me?*

*Because you have poor multitasking abilities, and plus, things are more interesting this way!*

Danny turned around slowly to find all three girls staring at him. While Ivy and Brooke looked unamused, Jade looked livid.

"Hi girls…look what I brought for each of you!" Danny held out the bouquets.

No one moved.

"Come with us, Danny." Ivy turned around, and Brooke and Jade followed behind her.

Danny lowered the flowers and looked back down the hallway. "Better give me some privacy for this next part."

The three guards appeared and bowed, "Your secrets are safe with us, Ascendant."

Danny shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I cannot trust you, not yet anyway."

The guard closest to him bowed, "We will stay far enough to not hear."

Danny nodded and entered the guest wing to follow the girls.

He sensed the girls in his room, and when he entered, Danny announced, "All guards leave the room. You are welcome to wait outside."

Five guards materialized around the room and walked out into the hallway.

The girls looked around in shock and confusion.

"Are you not a guard?" Danny turned to look in one corner.

A guard materialized and bowed, "My apologies, Ascendant."

After the final guard left, Ivy started to speak, but Danny held up his hand. A double layer of air surrounded them, effectively cutting off the sound from either side.

Danny looked to Ivy, "It is safe to speak now."

Ivy looked around the room as if she would find more guards hiding somewhere, "I thought they just followed the queen."

Danny shook his head, "You each have at least two following you at all times."

Jade shuddered and crossed her arms. Brooke just looked angry.

Danny took the initiative, "I was planning to talk about this with you three, but I haven't had the chance. It seems a lot can happen in a day."

Danny told them about the last reward the queen offered him the day before. The girls' emotions ranged from uncomfortable to frustrated.

Jade stepped up to him and touched his arm, "Are you going to accept the offer, Danny?"

Danny shrugged, "I wanted to hear your opinions as I do not know what would happen if I chose either way. I barely know her, and she admitted her family is pressuring her to convince me. I didn't want to make you mad, and then, she went and kissed me in front of you."

Jade looked to be almost in tears, "So, you don't want to marry us anymore?"

Danny shook his head, "No, the offer was for her to join us."

Jade looked like she had just eaten something sour, "Oh..."

Ivy sighed and sat down on his bed, "Even with us married to you, would they use her to take you away?"

Danny nodded, "I asked Willow about that, and she said that if I can do what they want me to do, I can demand stipulations that absolve me from obligations normally required of one married to the princess."

Brooke walked over and punched Danny hard in the arm, "You are calling her Willow now?"

Danny nodded, "She asked me to call her that, sorry."

Brooke pursed her lips, "You like her, don't you?"

Danny shrugged, "I won't lie. I tried to get to know her today, so I could find out what kind of person she is. She at least appears honest, but I know, we just met."

Ivy scoffed, "Yeah, I don't know about this... Can we bring Arya into this conversation?"

Danny looked up at her, "I would rather like to know what you three think before we speak with her."

Jade spoke quietly, "I don't want to share you with anyone else…"

Brooke nodded, "I'm with Jade."

Ivy stood up and started walking to the door, "We might not have a choice..."

Danny grabbed her arm, "Ivy Diadem, I know you want to stay true to your family, but I want to know what you think, not your family."

Ivy looked wide-eyed back at Danny. She had a worried expression as she nervously asked, "Who...who told you?"

"Willow."

Ivy looked down, frowning. She seemed lost in her own thoughts.

Danny pulled Ivy back over to the bed and sat her down, "Ivy, is it true what they said? Are you in all but name a princess? I thought your connections to your family were severed when you joined the order?"

Ivy shook her head, "That is something said but rarely followed for my family. I am still in line for the high seat of the council, if something were to happen to my older sisters… Even though we are put into harm's way, it has always been beneficial to have a daughter hidden inside the order. Besides training in the martial arts, I am taught what I would need to know in case I must rule one day."

Danny grabbed one of Ivy's hands, "One of the things I was going to ask you three was if you would be willing to leave the order and potentially Diadem and follow me?"

The room was completely devoid of a sound as all three girls quit breathing. Danny patiently waited.

Ivy stood up, "No, Danny. We can't do that... I...I want to say yes, but I have to think about my family. I have obligations. It is what I have been trained for all my life."

Danny shook his head, "How many third daughters have had to assume the high seat in the council?"

Ivy seemed to look around the room for the right answer, before replying, "Well, my family expects this of me!"

Brooke shook her head, "Danny, we can't…"

Jade was oddly silent, not looking at anyone. Brooke and Ivy seemed to notice this as well.

There were many things Danny could do or say at that moment that might change the girls' minds, but he couldn't bring himself do it. Especially, now that he knew how strongly at least two of them felt. He had no doubt they would come to resent him later on if pressured against their instincts. They had grown to be too valuable to him now to just cast aside.

Danny hung his head down, "Go get Arya."

Ivy looked very scared, "Danny, please understand!"

Danny still held her hand and brought it up to his lips, "Don't worry Ivy, I do understand. Go get Arya and let's decide our next step."

Ivy looked sick while she nodded. Getting up, she left the room.

Danny got up and walked to the edge of his bubble. His movements slowed slightly as he passed through the double layer of stilled air.

Turning to the nearest hidden guard, Danny stated, "I need you to stop Arya's guards from entering... You can tell the queen we are discussing her final offer. She will know what I am speaking of."

The wall where Danny was looking moved as the vague shape of a head could be seen bowing, "As you wish, Ascendant."

Ivy returned with Arya, and Danny made sure Arya's guards did as he had asked.

Arya looked around in surprise as she entered the bubble, "What is going on here? Danny, did you duplicate the magic they put on the doors and windows?"

Danny nodded, "We should be able to talk freely here."

Arya looked confusedly out the curtained doorway to his room, "Why are the guards allowing this?"

Danny shrugged, "Because I asked nicely."

Ivy touched Arya's arm, "Danny was offered the privilege of marrying the princess if he solves whatever it is they have him doing. The princess even said he would be able to add whatever stipulations he wants."

Arya turned to stare at Danny, "Did you give them an answer yet?"

Danny shook his head, "Not yet. I wanted to hear the girls' opinion first."

Arya nodded and walked over to look out Danny's window while she thought. Danny was surprised to see the usually stoic woman start biting one of her nails.

Turning around, Arya stood so she could see all of them, "The Diadem..."

Ivy interrupted, "Danny knows, Arya. The princess told him about my mother."

Arya looked annoyed and sighed, "Ivy's mother and the Umbra gave us explicit instructions for a number of scenarios similar to this one. While they were counting on a noble's daughter, this goes beyond even their expectations. Danny, you will accept the queen's offer."

Jade and Brooke made sounds of surprise, while Ivy seemed to expect this news.

*Danny, now part of me wants you to tell the queen ‘no' just to spite them all. Well, it's just a small part of me though.*

Danny spoke up defiantly, "Arya, the girls do not want this. I do have a say in this matter."

Arya looked askance at Danny and barked out a laugh.

Danny frowned, "What?"

Arya shook her head, "Those two...never go against them unless you know you hold all the cards."

Danny didn't like where this is going, "My family, right?"

Arya frowned, "Yes Danny, but not in the way you are thinking."

Danny growled, "Then, what is it?"

"If you marry the princess you, Ivy, Brooke, and Jade will be kicked out of the order. Then, when you next visit Diadem, Ivy's mother will tell you what happened with your family."

Danny's eyes widened as he walked over to the woman, "You mean…"

Arya held up a hand to interrupt him from going further, "She didn't tell me what, just that it was something very important to you."

The girls looked concerned and Danny just frustrated.

Arya explained, "The elves know who we are and about the order. The elves will undoubtedly make it a requirement that you all leave the order anyway if you agree to marry the princess. Danny, you will not be the only one with stipulations."

Brooke asked, "Why would Diadem give up Danny, and us, just to marry the princess?"

Ivy spoke up in sudden realization, "Because it would be like two royals marrying. The Diadem and the elven alliance would be sealed with the marriage between two wives."

*Alright, I didn't see that coming. Danny, you need to be careful here.*

Arya nodded, "You four will become the most important people in the two nations. And it is all thanks to Danny."

Danny couldn't help but feel sick at his stomach, "What will happen to us then if I agree to say ‘yes'?"

Arya shrugged, "Whatever you want, I guess. The elves will make requests of course, but I doubt you will reject your new extended family members or us."

Danny looked out the window nearby, thoughts returning to just running away and escaping it all. Danny could feel a metaphorical corner at his back, "Ivy, Brooke, Jade, you can tell me to say ‘no.'"

Ivy shook her head, "Tell her ‘yes.'"

Brooke shrugged, "Danny, we need the elves' help. Things are getting worse out there. Elven scouts returned today with news: the goblins are already headed to attacked Crossbark."

Danny stood up from the bed and looked to the open window of his room.

*Danny, I know what you're thinking. We need to stay here and get stronger. We can't just run out there blindly! You do not have the power to save everyone. At least not yet.*

Jade was staring at the ground and mumbled, "Tell her ‘yes.'"

Danny closed his eyes and leaned his head back as far as it would go. With a sigh, he cancelled the bubble, "Jade and Brooke, do you want to take that tour of the sky I promised you? Ivy, I figured you would rather sit this one out unless you want to go?"

Ivy looked conflicted and sad, "Sorry, I really do want to go with you, it's just…"

Danny smiled at her, "Hey, we can do something later. Just me and you."

Ivy perked up a little at this. Some of her old confidence and bravado returning, "I'm going to hold you to that."

CHAPTER 14

The late evening sun was starting to dim as it moved closer toward the safety of the distant horizon. The wind whipped around the upper branches of the palace as clouds raced past overhead. Jade and Brooke seemed to forget the tense moments that had happened just moments before as they flew through the air, screaming in excitement. Danny was in his Air Aspect with the girls on either side. He was glad it was so windy, or he would have gone deaf from the stereo squealing.

Danny had to yell to be heard over the wind and screaming, "Do you two want me to put a bubble around us? You two have to be getting cold by now."

"Don't you dare," threatened Brooke.

Jade laughed merrily as she demanded, "No, go faster!"

Danny could only laugh at the two adrenaline junkies.

*Danny, there is something strange in the neighborhood!*

A huge grin split Danny's face, as he stopped their movement and turned toward the white blinking light that now appeared in his vision.

Taking off as fast as he could, the girls, whooping and hollering, seemed to think Danny had finally given into their demands.

Many elves looked up that evening in an attempt to find the source of the unusual noises which seemed to be coming from the heavens.

Past the edge of the city, the evergreen forest seemed to have turned a shade of orange as the setting sun was casting everything in a red glow. As Danny got closer, he saw multiple blips of a green color appear all around the original white blip.

*Some elves have surrounded her. I don't think they have taken any action toward her yet.*

Danny landed himself and the girls a short way from Phantom's location, making sure Jade and Brooke were safely on the ground.

"You two stay here; I need to take care of something." Danny floated quickly toward the distant commotion.

The two girls collapsed to the ground laughing from having such a good time. Brooke, misunderstanding Danny's words, yelled after him, "Seriously Danny, you should have just gone before we left."

There was a steep rise in a large hill up ahead, and a group of elves had cornered Phantom against it. Danny could tell that something wasn't right with her the second he saw her. Phantom looked every bit a cornered, feral animal.

The elves looked agitated, but none of them had tried anything other than to prevent Phantom from slipping away.

One of the elves turned to Danny, "Ascendant, please stay back. This animal is sick. We think she might be corrupted by the goblins' foul magic."

Danny released the last of the Air Aspect in the form of a blast of wind that blew through the area and carried his command to the rest of the elves present, "She is mine, leave her to me."

Never taking his eyes off of Phantom, Danny cooed, "Hey Phantom, hey girl. I am sorry I didn't go back to check on you. Please, let me help you."

One of the elves moved to stand in his way when Danny activated his Harmony Affinity. With the setting sun, the sky had darkened further since arriving, but that changed when a bright light filled the forest's undergrowth. The elf who had moved to stop him halted in awe as a brightly illuminated Danny walked past.

Having heard his voice and seen his transformation, Phantom growled threateningly at Danny, baring her lethal fangs. Now that there was enough light, Danny could clearly see the war playing out below the surface of Phantom's flesh. His Harmony Affinity only confirmed it when his aura lashed out to surround the cat.

A wound in Phantom's side seemed to fester with a dense Entropy Affinity. From there, it was spreading to the rest of her body. The only reason she had survived this long was that she too had ascended. Harmony Affinity radiated outward from her source to the rest of her body and warded off the encroaching darkness, though he could immediately tell she was losing the ground, albeit slowly.

The curse seemed to be having trouble spreading toward the cat's mana source. Taking the path of least resistance, the curse spread up and down Phantom's sides where it had eventually reached her head.

Danny had gotten close enough, and the cat jumped at him, effortlessly knocking him down and biting deeply into his shoulder. Danny could tell the cat had easily grown twice as big since the last time he had seen her. Phantom's mouth effortlessly bit from his neck down to his lower arm. Concerned for what the elves would do, Danny expanded his aura beyond them, in hopes of obscuring the elves' sight with the blinding light.

Danny found it odd that he didn't feel any pain from the cat's bite and just continued to focus on removing the curse from Phantom's body. He was grateful to find she must have some control of herself, as all Phantom did was bite down. All it would have taken was a quick shake, and she would have easily snapped Danny's neck.

Through his affinity, Danny could suddenly sense dozens of wounds appeared all over Phantom's back. Phantom bit down further on Danny's shoulder, but fortunately still refused to do more than this.

Danny screamed, "Hold your fire! Hold!"

He had already healed the festering wound and had refocused his magic toward her head. As soon as Phantom's head was clear of the curse, she released his shoulder and stood up. Whining in discomfort, she collapsed on her side to ground.

Retracting his aura back down to just Phantom, Danny stood up and continued to focus on the cat. He rubbed her fur as he pulled on the arrows which had embedded themselves deeply into the cat's flesh. Phantom jerked with the removal of the arrows, but the pain must have been dulled by the presence of their combined harmony affinities.

Finally finished, Danny collapsed against Phantom's side, and the ghost leopard craned her head to rest it on his back. Danny looked out of the corner of his eye at his torn and blood covered clothes. Even though all the blood, he could tell the bite marks had healed already. This confirmed his suspicion that the Harmony Aspect automatically repaired his body when damaged.

*Yeah, but don't depend on it too much, Danny. You will eventually run out of internal resources to replace the flesh that was lost. You are really getting dangerously thin.*

Danny just nodded into Phantom's fur, mentally exhausted.

"Danny!" Brooke and Ivy ran over toward them.

Danny looked over to see Jade crying, and even Brooke had tears in her eyes.

Brooke picked up Danny like he was made of straw and turned him so that she could check his bloody shoulder. Finding him in one piece, she grabbed him into a hug that caused his Harmony Aspect to abruptly end. Pain returned to Danny's world.

"Brooke! Ribs!"

Even in the now darkened woods, Danny could see Brooke's blush, "Sorry, Danny!"

Jade was busy pulling back his torn clothing to thoroughly inspect Danny's shoulder.

Danny smiled, "I'm fine now Jade. Look, Phantom's back!"

Looking at his shoulder, Danny added, "There goes my last duster."

Phantom rose up and pushed her way past Danny to nudge Brooke and Jade. The girls hugged either side of the cat's head, cooing and petting her. The cat had been just large enough for Danny to ride before' now she could probably carry two or more of them.

*Danny, I am sorry. I never checked on her after she saved us from the undead goblin. I was just too busy trying to keep you alive, and then there were all the upgrades to deal with. I should have spared a second to scan for her.*

*Cranny, it's alright. She's fine now and back with us. I should have gone back for her, but we were in such a rush.*

One of the elven soldiers moved forward and bowed to Danny, "Ascendant, I am in command of this patrol, Is everyone alright?"

Danny nodded, "Yes, we are all safe, and my familiar, Phantom, is free of the curse she was under."

Some of the other elves had moved forward hesitantly and seemed transfixed by Phantom. A few made gestures of respect or bowed low toward Danny's furry companion.

The elf looked uncomfortable, "My apologies for allowing your familiar to be harmed by those under my command. I will take full responsibility for what transpired."

Danny shook his head, "You were just trying to protect me from what obviously looked like a threat to my life."

The elf bowed lower, "Thank you for your understanding. We had orders to protect you at all costs. I feared that we had failed before we could even fire the first arrow. We had your familiar contained and were waiting for one of the elders to come and confirm what was wrong with the sacred beast. Some of the troops recognized the curse from the descriptions in the recent reports and wanted to go against our traditions and immediately put the sacred beast out of its misery. I am grateful we did not make that mistake."

Danny's smile faded, "As am I. We will be heading back now unless there is a reason you need us to stay?"

The elf's head shook, "No, good night, Ascendant. Please allow me to send some of my troops to escort you back to the palace."

Danny looked over at Phantom and took a moment to decide, "No, thank you. I don't think they will be able to keep up. Brooke, Jade, get up on Phantom. We are heading back."

Brooke climbed up on Phantom behind Jade and looked down at Danny with disappointment, "I was hoping to fly some more."

Danny put a hand on Phantom's head and activated Air Aspect, "Who said we weren't flying? Hang on."

Wind wrapped around the cat and the girls, keeping them securely on. They all rose up in the air and took off slowly toward the palace. At first, Phantom was tense with arms and legs splayed outward, but once they cleared the treetops, she started trying to run. While this action made them wobble a bit, Danny didn't stop her as it seemed to have a calming effect on the massive cat.

***

They reached Danny's window, and Phantom was almost too big to fit through. After the girls got off, the cat quickly bounded around the room and promptly declared Danny's bed as her own. The bed groaned and sagged in complaint at the weight of the large beast. Danny flopped down next to her, and the cat turned to lick Danny's face.

Laughing and wiping his face on the covers, Danny looked around to find it was just Phantom and him in the room. Danny turned to the cat and extended his mana and connected to Phantom's mind with his Nature Affinity. Over the next half hour, Danny and Phantom shared their experiences since they had been separated.

Through memories and emotions, Phantom shared how she had also been caught up in Danny's massive spell to heal himself. Before he had healed himself, Phantom had quickly returned to find him on the ground. Then a few minutes later, there had been a bright light, and she had collapsed to the ground, blacking out. She had no memory of her transition after that.

*Danny, like the elder explained, the other variant beasts we fought were ascended as well. Maybe beasts can skip unlocking their mana all together and go straight to ascension. I'm guessing either this is a natural process for them or there is a better chance for the beasts to survive the change.*

Phantom continued showing Danny her memories. She had awakened before Danny, to discover the undead goblin almost upon them. Maybe it was coincidence or perhaps instinct that awoke her, Danny only knew he was grateful for whatever it had been. Phantom had been disoriented from the change, and the cursed goblin was able to bite into her shoulder before she could finish it off. Phantom felt pain at the site of the bite but otherwise felt no immediate ill effects from it.

Phantom's ascendance brought about a great hunger, but she resisted long enough for Danny to wake up before she ran off to hunt. Over the next few days, Phantom knew only the pangs of hunger and the darkness of unconsciousness. Danny found this odd as he didn't need to--or couldn't--sleep anymore.

*Look at how large she is now, and in such a short time. I bet this is why she had to rest so much. Apparently, even this ascendancy state has its limitations.*

By the third day, Phantom's neverending hunger lessened enough for her to realize that something was amiss. One whole side felt wrong. Danny had expected pain or a feeling of sickness. Phantom reaffirmed that, besides the bite which hadn't healed, she just felt off. Phantom struggled over the next day to reach where she knew Danny was. The wrongness spread to her head, and that's when she had to start endlessly fight for control. Reaching Danny soon became her only coherent thought.

Danny hugged the cat around her neck as Phantom purred and pushed back against him. Danny watched with interest as his mana sight showed the mana in Phantom's body rippling outward from her source. He wasn't sure what to make of this.

Cranny guessed, *Maybe it's an animal thing?

Before the ascendancy, Danny would normally go to sleep at this point. Last night he had spent experimenting with Nature Affinity but had held off using Nature Aspect until he was with the elders.

A guard materialized at his room's doorway, "Ascendant, the queen apologizes for not coming to you in person. Recent events are taking up most of her time. She would like to express her happiness at you being united with your familiar. She requests yours and Phantom's presence in the throne room tomorrow morning after breakfast. A servant will come by to take you there."

Danny hadn't expected this and figured he couldn't ignore the queen. He replied, "Thank you. Tell her I will be there."

After the guard left, Danny grumblingly thought, *I wonder what that is all about? I got the impression she had been keeping our presence here low key…*

*With us flying around every day? She probably also wants to show off Phantom.*

Danny got up out of bed, "Come on Phantom. Let's go find some supper."

CHAPTER 15

Danny and Phantom walked into the atrium of the guest wing. The girls were talking in the sitting area with the Basalt women while Wizard Basalt was still busily eating over at the dining table.

Ivy saw the two enter the room and called over excitedly, but to Danny's chagrin, it was just to Phantom. Hearing the familiar voice, the cat quickly ran over to greet the girl. The rest of them quickly gathered around to lavish the ghost leopard with a ridiculous amount of affection.

Danny just stood there watching with a pained look until he heard a deep chuckle coming from the dining table. He turned to see the wizard stuffing his face while watching and shaking in laughter at Danny's expression. A few bits of food flew out of his mouth as he failed to reign in his mirth at the dejected look on Danny's face.

Danny scowled at the older man which only made the wizard laugh harder. Danny sat down next to the man and grabbed a plate and started filling it from the abundance of food still left in the middle of the table. His recent healing had made him ravenous.

Wizard Basalt swallowed the not so insignificant amount of food that was currently in his mouth, "Danny, I see you found the girls' little kitten. Don't worry, I am sure you will always be in a close second in their hearts."

Danny smirked while taking a bite of some sort of pie that was filled with meat and a delicious tasting fruit, "Yes, she is quite the popular one with the ladies."

"Is that jealousy I hear there Danny?"

Danny turned to the wizard, "Yes. Yes, it is."

The older man nodded, "Good! I was afraid with that with that princess around you would be forgetting about my little Jade."

Danny smiled and shook his head, "Never, sir."

The wizard slapped Danny on the back and then got back to work on the cooked large bird carcass he apparently was eating by himself.

"Wizard, I saw you fight that undead mountain troll during the battle in the forest. That was awesome! How did you train yourself to be so strong?"

The older man stopped eating and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his duster, "Danny, I only have one affinity, Earth. Because of that, I felt I would need to have something else to support my magic. I decided that strength was the way to go. My wives are all swift and deadly with their blades and bows, so I took up the heavy lifting to offset that."

Looking around conspiratorially the wizard continued, "Now, this next part I didn't tell you because I was only able to get it out of my wives when they were young and easily swayed by my undeniable manly charms."

Danny really tried hard to keep a look of disbelief from spreading across his face, and just barely managed to stay silent so the man would continue.

"Danny, there is something they don't tell wizards because they want us to focus only on magic, even in the order. In Diadem, the men have their roles and the women theirs. What I discovered, was that the benefits of strength and agility attribute bonuses provided by the sanctuary are all dependent on the condition of one's body.

After long years of study, the people of Diadem discovered that a person who has reached halfway to the first threshold in strength has fifty percent more strength than they would typically have. Those who reach their first threshold have one hundred percent more strength. Now, fifty percent more strength on my body versus yours, Danny, would have drastically different results. More muscle, more benefit."

Danny was ready with a question, "I noticed agility makes you taller, strength makes you more muscular, and intelligence makes you..."

The wizard smiled and batted his eyelashes, "Prettier?"

Danny laughed and nodded.

Wizard Basalt nodded and took a long drought from his glass, "You are right on all cases, yet you don't have everything. Strength makes your muscles more efficient and takes longer to start regressing. Agility makes you taller, but it also makes you more limber and helps you to store more energy in your body. The vanity of the sorcerers made sure intelligence made one more attractive, but it also increases the amount of information you can store in your head and how quickly you can access it. All attribute bonuses are about increasing efficiency, well except the pretty part. It appears the first tier of every attribute raised some aspect by one hundred percent."

Danny shook his head, "Are there added benefits when you reach the thresholds?"

Wizard Basalt nodded, "Yes, for the strength threshold, we never lose muscle growth, which if one is not careful can cause a person to get too large. For the agility threshold, we get an extraordinary sense of danger that allows us to instinctively respond to threats we normally wouldn't be aware of. Danny, I suspect you already know what happens when someone crosses the intelligence threshold."

Danny stared at the wizard before answering, "Yes, sir, I am."

Danny decided not to tell the older man about his knowledge of the other races. He didn't want to give up information provided by the elves. Especially in an area where the guards were listening.

"I am surprised you haven't asked me about this before, Danny."

"Well, I was always focused on my magic until now, and Instructor Meadow always just gave me more tasks when I bugged her with questions on specifics."

"Yes, she is expected to reinforce the division of labor. Well, my wives and I were a special case, especially when they couldn't dissuade me from training in other areas."

"Wizard, I now find my physical abilities are sorely lacking. Could you give me some tips on how to increase my strength? It seems like that one is the hardest to raise. Most skills seem to have agility as well as strength."

"Yes, that is true. There are not many known skills that just raise strength. I can make you a list of skills to raise, but will you have time to train while you are helping the elves? I thought you were not finished."

"No, sir, I am not finished helping them, but I find myself not sleeping as much lately, and I think the exercise will help."

"That would do it. But you might want to gain a bit more muscle before you try anything on my lists…" The wizard reached over to put a massive hand on Danny's shoulder, "Danny, let me know if you want to talk about anything. I know I have had many a sleepless night from things I have seen and done in this line of work. Just come to find me, and I will be happy to speak with you."

Danny smiled at Wizard Basalt, "Thank you very much, sir, I appreciate that."

The two then tucked into the rest of the food left on the table.

***

Later that night when everyone else had gone to sleep, Danny and Phantom made their way down to one of the courtyards. Danny had gotten the promised list from Wizard Basalt and decided to spend his nights training his body. He was getting tired of people pointing out how skinny he was.

*Yeah, you are looking more lady-man than lady's man.*

*Shut up, Cranny!*

Danny didn't want to disturb the elven trainers this late at night and decided to try what he could on his own. At first, he thought about using Nature Affinity, but he wanted to build strength. So he switched gears, which then led him to the decision that it was time to try his Earth Aspect.

Standing in one of the moonlit courtyards of the palace, Danny found a place that was set aside specifically for training. The area didn't have as much grass due to heavy use, and it was in a corner out of the way. Danny cast a light spell that he knew would last a few hours. Having all this excess mana was great. Phantom wandered over to a nearby tree and laid down in its shadow. In moments she was fast asleep.

Danny looked around the courtyard and remembered his guards who were always there. Sighing, he resigned himself to this fate and stripped off all his clothing. He paused with his boxers around his ankles, *Wait, why didn't I just go to my research room in the elder's wing?*

*Sorry, I did didn't hear that. Did you say something closet exhibitionist?*

Danny let a frustrated growl and finished undressing. He was in a secluded corner of the courtyard, and his guards would just follow him to the research room anyway.

*Danny, we only have level six in Earth Affinity so the change shouldn't be as drastic as nature, more like fire's.*

*Alright Cranny, let's do it.*

After a few moments, Danny's skin started to darken. Smooth skin stiffened to be replaced with rough, craggy rock like striations. Danny noticed that his flesh also felt denser, more substantial.

*Once again, no aura with this one. Danny, this stuff almost seems like a natural armor. Do you think you could add another layer to your body?*

Danny focused on his skin and imagined an inch layer of stone covering his body like a knight's armor.

The earth bulged below his feet and started to undulate. It was but a few seconds before stone rose out of the ground and swelled around his feet. It only started at his feet like a giant tumor then slowly thinned out as it moved upwards. Soon it covered his entire body from the neck down.

"Ahhhhh!"

There was a large crack as the rock still connected with the earth broke, and Danny fell sideways under the weight of all the stone covering his body. The rock didn't shatter like he thought it would and still clung to his flesh. Once the stone had formed over him, Danny realized there was no way for him to move. Even though he imagined individual armor pieces, the stone seemed to have fused them together.

Danny could just barely manage to see Phantom out of the corner of his eye. She was awake now and obviously annoyed at being woken up. Standing up, her ears were pointed as high in the air as they could go as Phantom searched for the reason Danny had yelled out. Padding over to him slowly she sniffed his hair and face for a bit as her harmony aura flowed out of her body. Danny realized she was inspecting him for injury.

After a few seconds, the cat's aura retreated, and she blew out all the air in her lungs in a huff. Danny's stony, noodle-like, hair was pushed over to fall, partially covering his eyes. Danny could just make out Phantom's retreating backside as she exited the courtyard.

Cranny laughed, *Girl knows a lost cause when she smells one.*

Danny did his best to not be offended while focusing on his joints and imagining gaps forming. It didn't take long for the stone at these locations to crumble and slough off.

Danny then tried to get up but found the weight was still too much for his scrawny body. Danny struggled for a bit longer before admitting defeat and removing the stone from everywhere but small bands on his arms, legs, and waist. He wasn't ready to entirely give up and knew he just needed to increase his insignificant amount of muscle mass. In fact, this is precisely what Wizard Basalt had suggested.

Danny began going through a basic calisthenics workout. It didn't take long for his muscles to burn. He wasn't physically tired; his muscles had just been stimulated enough to begin changing and growing. Danny was thinking about using Harmony Affinity but hesitated.

*Cranny, do you think I have eaten enough to repair my body with Harmony Affinity? I don't want it to start consuming my muscles to repair the damage I have done."

*I was thinking about that too, and I want to try something. Switch to Nature Aspect and tap into the palace's nutrient feed.*

Danny could see where this was going, and since Earth Affinity was part of Nature Affinity, he smoothly switched to Nature Aspect. Extending his roots out to the sacred tree, Danny tapped into it and waited.

*Yep, that confirms it, Danny. Nature Aspect boosts regeneration. Harmony Affinity definitely wins out though for use during emergency situations.*

*How fast is it, though?*

*Looks like you will be good to go in an hour?*

*Wow, really?*

*Yeah, though I suspect that's an effect of you being tied directly into a sacred tree.*

Danny waited for the small amount of mana invested into the aspect to run out before heading for the elder's wing and his research room. He might as well study what books he could while he was resting between workouts.

***

Danny hadn't had much of a chance to read the day before while testing different propagation methods. Now, he stood there in his Sacred Tree Form, reading an elven tome, detailing their understandings in nature magic. He was learning a great deal.

As he knew, Nature Affinity could bridge a mental connection between the caster and a target. Telepathic communication between people was possible as well. Danny couldn't wait to try that one out, though it depended on how open a person's mind was to the caster. Sentient races were harder to do this with.

Nature Affinity could also speed up any process that occurred naturally, like healing. He started looking for a way to grow his muscles magically, but that wasn't considered a natural process as the muscles had to be stimulated in some way first. While he didn't know why magic couldn't be used to do this, Danny did stumble upon something even better.

Danny was excited to find that one could also speed up aging but was bummed as the book explained it couldn't reverse the process. Due to its significantly high mana cost, this spell was usually used to speed up the growth of mounts or livestock during times of war. Though the author noted that only the physical maturity of the animal was affected, there were definitely psychological aspects to consider.

*Hey, Cranny? What do you think about making ourselves physically older? I am tired of being looked down on like a child. The elves seemed to not know if we will actually ever physically age older than a thirteen-year-old.*

Cranny sounded uncertain, *I want to say yes, but not too much older.*

*So...twenty five?*

*Danny, no one will recognize us...*

*Fine, eighteen! I guess we'll just have to magically age a year on my birthday?*

*Let's look for a spell book so we can be as accurate as possible.*

Danny followed a reference in the text to another book he was provided on Nature Affinity spells. These runic spells were similar to what wizards would use, as the wizard's mana was too chaotic and hard to freely manipulate on their own. Apparently, even the druids found the need to develop runic spells when they needed to control a specific amount of magic used. Especially in use with extremely delicate magic. He discovered a spell which would age an elf by a single year. It was scalable by changing one of the layers of the rune.

*Danny, now that I think about it, maybe we should ask one of the elders about this before we try anything,* warned Cranny.

Danny didn't respond and spoke out loud to the seemingly empty room, "Here goes nothing."

CHAPTER 16

The next morning, Danny walked back into his bedroom and stretched, trying to ignore the lingering aches that now permeated what felt like his entire being.

He had begun casting the spell he found with the goal of aging to eighteen. Unfortunately, aging his body was not like switching aspects. It came with the natural growing pains from his bones elongating and every one of his cell dividing. Danny had a severe case of the flu once, back in his life on Earth. His parents had taken him to the emergency room because his fever had spiked so severely. He remembered laying in the hospital room, barely able to focus on anything at all as he was in too much discomfort to fall asleep. He easily rated the discomfort of the aging spell to be significantly higher than the suffering he went through with the flu. He had started with the plan to just age a year at a time. Then, when he realized the spell wasn't instantaneous and was uncomfortable, he decided to bite the bullet and age another two more years. That had been a mistake. While he was writhing on the ground in horrible pain, he could hear his bones creaking and popping as they grew. Without waiting for Danny's approval, Cranny activated his Sacred Tree Form and connected his body to the palace. This didn't lessen his pain, but it did speed up the process quite a bit. By morning, Danny was feeling much better.

Danny came out of his room with Phantom and looked down at his clothing. They now barely fit on his taller frame. He had managed not to screw things up with the aging spell but had forgotten that this was the age range where some people hit another growth spurt. He went from around 165 centimeters to 180 centimeters tall.

He was delighted with his fifteen extra centimeters, except that it made his pants look like long shorts. He found a shirt that was styled a little long, so besides the uncomfortably short sleeves, he wasn't showing off his stomach. Well, all he had to do was raise his hands, and that would change.

Danny had gone from a scrawny thirteen-year-old to a gangly sixteen-year-old in appearance. Well, that is if he and Cranny had used the spell correctly. He had no plans of repeating that awful night anytime soon. Once a year would be more than enough.

His muscles had gained a little mass, but it still was not anything Danny would consider reasonable. He sighed as he realized even shortcuts had their price to pay.

Cranny didn't give him any sympathy or time to mope, *Awwwwwwww, my wittle man, is growing so big a stwong!*

***

Danny walked into the dining area of the guest wing to find the girls eating at the dining table. They had been talking animatedly about their training and shopping with the queen when Ivy looked over as she noticed Danny enter the room.

"Danny," Ivy questioned as her face scrunched up in confusion.

Seeing her look, Brook and Jade turned their heads to see what was going on.

Brooke jumped up and ran over to him, and while she was looking him up and down, Danny was pleased to find he was taller than her now. Well, only slightly.

Brooke smiled while tugging at the bottom of his shirt, "First your hair, now this. I have heard of growth spurts, but this is insane, Danny. What did you eat?"

Danny explained the spell to them and how he tested it carefully before cranking it up to growing by years.

"I've had growing pains before, but that was almost pure torture." Danny chuckled but quickly stopped when he saw the girl's reactions.

Ivy looked at him incredulously, "Danny, why would you want to age yourself? Won't you just die that much quicker…"

Brooke, looked over at him, "I don't mind the change as long as you promise not to get any older than us."

"Change me too, Danny," Jade blurted out from where she still sat at the table.

Ivy and Brooke looked worriedly toward her, while Danny asked, "What? Why?"

Jade stood up and stomped over to him, "Because I wasn't the youngest, and now that I am, I don't like it. Make me older, too!"

Danny shook his head as he was forced to look up at the taller girl, "Jade, sometimes I forget you're the youngest because you are so tall. You really don't want to do that."

Jade didn't look pacified. Her green eyes turned as big a saucers in an attempt to get her way.

Danny screamed in his head, *She is at least three centimeters taller than me! She is only fourteen for crying out loud!*

*Danny, you can't win them all... So we will just have to find more ways to cheat.*

Arya spoke up from the entryway into the guest wing, "I would like to know why you would shorten your life as well." The rest of the Basalts stood behind her.

Danny had sensed them but had hoped that they would give the girls and him some privacy.

Danny didn't turn to recognize Arya's presence, "Jade, I am not going to age for a very long time. You know I am different now. One of the things I gained was a long life like the elves. I see now I shouldn't have done this. I would take it back if I could, but I can only make myself older, not younger."

Arya walked over and stood next to them, "What else has changed about you, Danny? I was hoping you would eventually open up and tell us, but I feel there are things you have been hiding from us."

Danny collected his thoughts and opened his mouth to speak.

"Excuse me Ascendant, the queen awaits you and your familiar in the throne room."

They all turned to see a liveried servant waiting in the entryway to the guest wing.

Arya turned back to Danny, "Also, what is this ‘Ascendant' title they keep calling you?"

The servant cleared his throat, "The queen is requesting that you do not delay."

"Arya, I will explain it all when I get back."

While she didn't say anything else, Arya did not look pleased.

Looking over at the servant, Danny asked, "Do you have anything I can change into? My familiar ate my last duster?"

The servant bowed, "Clothing and a room near the throne room have already been set aside for your use."

Danny turned around, "Phantom! Where are you?"

The ghost leopard jumped through one of the large windows and dropped what Danny thought was half a dead deer at his feet. It was only the back half, so he took a wild guess at the species. The cat licked the last of the blood from her nose and sat there proudly.

Danny couldn't help but stand there agape, before yelling, "Phantom, you do not have to hunt for every meal. They will bring you all the meat you want. Now, look at the mess you made!"

Danny was sure the cat could sense the tone of his voice, but she just looked bored instead of chastised. She lifted a paw to start using it to clean the rest of her face and head.

Frustrated, Danny flung his hands in the air, before turning to the servant again, "We are ready. Could you have someone put that away for her to eat later?"

The servant nodded and turned, "Of course, if you will follow me this way."

Danny waved to everyone as he and Phantom followed quickly after.

***

Once again, Danny was impressed and confused by the logic behind the palace's layout. Though if it were attacked, the invaders would have difficulty moving around and clearing the structure.

The servant stopped and opened a random door, "This is the room prepared for you, and over here are the clothes that were just delivered this morning. The queen personally asks that you wear these robes."

Danny nodded his understanding of the Queen's message, "Asks not tells. I get it."

The room was just another sitting room, like the one the queen, Elder Breeze, and he had sat in the night they first arrived. The clothes provided for him were laid out over a long table to one side of the room.

Phantom moved over to a corner and curled up to snooze.

The servant immediately went behind Danny and started to lift Danny's shirt.

Jumping at the sudden cold draft, Danny yelled, "Hey, now! What are you doing?"

The servant looked bored, "I am helping you dress, Your Ascendancy."

Danny held up his hands, saying, "That's alright. You just wait outside. I will come to get you if there is something I can't figure out."

"Of course. If you will excuse me."

Danny nodded the man out and made sure the door was firmly closed.

Turning back to the clothes, he immediately noticed they had prepared some type of formal robes for him. The robe was different shades of brown and green, and though it looked as though it had multiple layers, there really was just a single layer intricately folded in on itself.

A design had been embroidered on the back. A dark green bird of prey taking to the sky with a floating yellow crown above the bird's head, the merged symbols of the houses of Kestrel and Diadem.

*Soooo, it looks like Arya and the queen have reached a conclusion. You going to wear it, Danny?*

Danny scoffed, *They want to mark what's theirs...*

Cranny waited for Danny to continue, but seeing it wasn't going to happen, he calming asked, *Danny?*

*What? Yeah...I got nothing else to wear, and it is only just a piece of cloth. They can try to control me, but those days of being dependent upon them are coming to an end. There is just one more thing here I want before I leave.*

Cranny sounded hopeful, *The Princess?*

*No, she is just a perk…well potentially.* Danny touched the robes, *Actually, this robe feels odd, but not in an uncomfortable way.*

*Wow, it's made from the sacred tree. Danny, the robe's fibers have those crystals embedded in them.*

*Like the guards' armor?*

*Yeah, we need to find that camouflage spell they use. It would take too much concentration to keep up along with everything else, but it could help in a pinch. I wonder why it hasn't been in any of the books they have given us?*

Danny started putting on the robes. They were surprisingly soft. He wondered what part of the tree they used to make them. There were no pants, so he just left his on. The robe hung down right to his ankles.

*Cranny...*

*They knew your size even though you grew…the guards! Snitches.*

Danny activated his Mana Aspect and was surprised to see his robes immediately mimicking his aspect's translucent form. He switched to Ice Aspect, and the robes grew hard and white.

*Impressive, maybe we will be able to wear this without worrying about people laughing at us afterward,* Cranny remarked.

There was knocking at the door to the room.

Danny sighed and went to open the door. The servant stood outside along with Elder Cardinal.

The elder smiled upon seeing him, "Sorry Danny, they are running a bit late and sent me out to keep you company."

"What exactly is going on, Elder?"

The elder walked over and sat down slowly in one of the empty chairs, "Just the meeting with the noble houses. They do not have any official say in political matters, but without their support, the queen can't rule. So, she puts on this little show every so often to keep them happy.

With the new reports of goblin attacks and dark-tainted beasts, they all but demanded to speak with her. They are taking their usual complaining to new extremes. Frankly, I was glad to get out of there."

Danny sat down in the empty chair across from the elder and gestured at his robes, "So she wants to make it official. I haven't even solved the problem she asked of me. Plus, I spoke with the princess about establishing some rules on what your people can expect from me."

Elder Cardinal looked at him, "I share the others' opinion that you will eventually solve this issue for us. It is only a matter of time."

Danny appreciated the vote of confidence, but that was a bit much.

The Elder continued, "As far as the verbal agreement which the Queen and Lady Basalt have drafted, I understand it leans greatly in your favor. I expected you would be interested, so I managed to grab the latest version of the agreement."

The elder reached into his robes and pulled out a few leaves of paper and handed them to Danny.

Danny took some time to read over the documents. He was pleased to see they had written the contract specifically with his expressed wishes in mind.

Cranny grumbled, *About damn time…*

The agreement would give Danny and his wives, essentially, political immunity. As long as whatever Danny chose to do is considered beneficial to the host country, they would support him in whatever capacity they could. There was also language about how they would handle the event that additional "members" join his group. Of course, they reserved the right to "expel" him from a country should he violate major laws.

*Works for me, Danny.*

Elder Cardinal looked closely at Danny, "You aged yourself, I see. Are you sure you wanted to do that?"

Danny nodded, asking, "Will I age on my own?"

The elder shrugged, "We don't really know. Most Ascendants were already much much older. Maybe, like the elves, you will age until you have reached maturity, then slow down or stop. I would suggest not aging yourself too much more or too frequently. Some things should not be rushed, Danny."

Danny bowed in acknowledgment to the elder's wise words, "Yes, aging myself, even this much, was unpleasant. So, what are the nobles complaining about now?"

Elder Cardinal shifted to a more comfortable position, "After spending over an hour on the goblin threat, it fell back to complaining about the usual. The peasants have been noticing for decades now that they are not living as long as the nobles. They are supposed to not know about the mana rationing, as we have been doing it slowly over the years, but the evidence speaks for itself. 500 years ago, we easily explained it away as pedigree. With our numbers proliferating, we have had to decrease the amount rationed out even further. The differences have been getting too extreme to hide it."

"How? Has the decreased lifespan created more elves?"

Elder Cardinal looked down and sighed, "Danny, you will find this out eventually, so there is no use hiding it. Elven women are normally only fertile twice a year. On the winter and summer solstices. Well, that was true until we started rationing mana. The less mana an elven woman stores, the more frequently she becomes fertile. The winter solstice is still weeks away, and one of the prominent noblewomen, present today, has already become pregnant. That is another reason this meeting isn't going so well. The nobles are starting to be affected by the mana shortage. They didn't realize we were also rationing their mana, until now."

Danny turned on his mana sight and looked toward where he had seen the doors to the throne room. There were a number of lights representing an individual's connection to the source, but he couldn't tell the pregnant woman's from two people sitting next to each other.

*Danny, I isolated the noblewoman, and you can see the two connections almost side by side. Any two people that close together would not typically be in a public setting.*

That gave Danny a question, "Elder, when does a...creature gain their connection to the source?"

The elder pondered this for a moment, "There was one druid who specialized in domesticated animals. She noted in one of her journals that a connection formed not long after mating."

Danny realized that probably meant fertilization. Changing to a topic he was looking into for a future project, Danny asked, "Elder, have you really read all the books in the library?"

The elder smiled proudly and nodded.

"How long would that take to do?"

The elder pondered, "Many years."

Danny smiled to himself at how much he wished he could read what was in the elven library. Then had a thought, "Elder, can all elves see mana?"

The elder shook his head, "No, most established druids can't see mana, only sense its usage. Though, that's just the ones who use mana regularly and for many years, like the Elder Council."

Danny wondered if he could work on sensing the mana in the same way.

Cranny said, *I don't see why not. Though, we would have to have someone send mana our way.*

Disrupting Danny's train of thought, there was a knock at the door, and a servant appeared, "Ascendant, the queen, and assembled guests await your presence."

CHAPTER 17

The large double doors to the throne room opened as a self-important servant who stood to one side announced to the room, "Ascendant, Danny Creek of Diadem."

Danny walked in through the doorway to see, without a doubt, the most enormous room he had visited in the palace. The walls went so high that the tree started to twist in on the room. There was no discernible ceiling as the tree eventually merged back together at a distant point. The multitude of colorful leaves, hanging from different intervals, seemed to add to this lofty effect.

The walls were decorated with long tapestries, and ornate rugs covered the floors. A long stretch of pale green runner connected the doorway Danny now stood at the bottom of the dais where the queen sat on her large throne. The throne looked as if it had been grown from the palace floor and not carved, as he had first suspected. To her right sat the heir, Prince Hawk, and to the left her husband.

Danny looked around and spotted Willow over to one side sitting next to Elder Breeze and Elder Frost. He also noticed the elven ambassador to Diadem sitting with them. The rest of the room was filled with finely dressed elves. Every single one of them was looking at Danny with expressions that ranged from curiosity to suspicion and finally to disgust. Danny was a little surprised by the following reactions but admitted to himself it had to be expected.

Elder Cardinal slipped in behind Danny and walked around to sit with the other elders.

Danny had stopped just inside the room to gather his bearings and to reassure Phantom to wait out of sight in the foyer.

As Danny walked forward, the elves Danny passed suddenly made noises of shock. Following their eyes to where they looked at his back, Danny remembered what he was wearing.

One elven woman, in particular, stood up and pointed at him, "Your majesty, what is the meaning of this? This…human is wearing a perversion of the symbol of our nation and royal house."

Before the queen could respond, another elf stood up. He was, of course, handsome enough to put Earth's male "so-called" supermodels to shame. Speaking with a refined air, he demanded, "I see what is clearly going on, and I will not allow it! Your majesty, you promised me the princess's hand in marriage. Now, you are throwing her away to this…this…human boy!"

Others in the room stood and started yelling, struggling to make their own voices heard. Danny stopped and just stood there in the middle of it all and patiently waited to see what the queen would do.

Rising out of her chair and taking the time to smooth out the voluminous dress that she was wearing, the queen raised a hand daintily to her throat, "SILENCE!"

The sound reverberated around the room and Danny could tell the sound was immediately muffled from his own ears.

*Thanks, Cranny!*

*Anytime.*

The nobles around the room were either cowering or covering their ears in pain. Danny noticed the royals and elders were not as affected.

The queen turned to address the outspoken noble male elf, "Lord Pine, would you please remind me when it was exactly that I ‘promised' you my daughter's hand in marriage?"

Lord Pine, who was still wincing in pain, looked suddenly worried, "Did I say promised, Your Majesty? I must have misspoken! My, my most sincere apologies for my slip of the tongue." With that, the lord nervously bowed low to the queen and sat down as if to hide his presence as much as possible.

With a cold stare, the queen watched the lord sit there a bit longer, before eventually turning to address the rest of the room, "As you have told me countless times and in numerous ways this morning, the sacred trees we have are not enough to support our current or future population. Noble Houses, I present to you the answer to this problem." With that, the queen gestured toward Danny.

The whole room turned again to look expectantly at Danny.

Danny did his best to keep from his face his annoyance at the queen's grandiose assumptions. He asked, *Cranny, why are we trying to help them again?*

Cranny ventured a guess, *…Princess?*

*Try again.*

Danny could practically hear the smile on Cranny's face in his next words, *Power!*

Danny smiled and walked further down the aisle and stopped short of the dais. Bowing low to the queen, he spoke loudly, "You requested my presence, Your Majesty?"

The queen smiled at his display of confidence and bowed slightly toward Danny, "Yes Ascendant, thank you for joining us this morning."

Turning to her daughter, the queen gestured for Willow to join them, and the queen descended from the dais. Grabbing Danny's left hand and Willow's right, the queen brought them together between her own hands, "Elders and assembled nobility, I would like to formally announce the engagement of my daughter, Princess Willow, to the Ascendant, Danny Creek."

The room broke out into scattered applause, and Danny could see more than half of the nobles just sitting there, glowering. Danny also noticed that the side with the most clapping chose to sit nearest the elders.

The queen raised a hand for silence, "I would also like to announce that the marriage will be held within two weeks' time to coincide with Princess Willow's birthday."

Cranny grumbled, *Well, they are moving fast. You think something happened, Danny?*

*Doesn't matter, since this takes the pressure off us needing to hurry and create the sacred tree seeds.*

The room broke out again into scattered applause.

A lady from the side opposite of the room from the elders stood up, "Your majesty, I feel I must protest this decision. We nobles have so few children already. Our kind cannot afford to have part of our royal bloodline cut off unnecessarily."

Before the queen could speak, Danny stepped forward and addressed the lady directly, "What is the acceptable quota of elven children I will be required to have with the princess?"

The lady looked at Danny, not appreciating his apparent jest, replying, "Ascendant, humans, and elves cannot have children."

Danny made a blatant show of looking around confused. Slapping his forehead, he acted as if he had just realized that the woman was referring to him. Looking down, Danny covered his face with one hand while shaking it despondently. All the while, he was laughing loudly as if there was a joke only he understood.

When he raised his head, the room broke out in noises of shock.

Danny had activated his Nature Aspect but in his elven form this time. He was surprised when his feet, now covered in bark, reached into the tree below and started drawing nutrients into his body to help effect the change. He soon felt the roots that had sprung from his feet fall off and stretch his now free toes. He noted a shift in his peripheral vision as he surely now sported those high even cheekbones.

Gloating over his wit and the room's shocked expressions, Danny was momentarily distracted by something repeatedly touching his butt. The queen, being the only one behind him, Danny couldn't help feeling a little weirded out by this, but decided to press on, "Again, how many elven children will be sufficient to please the nobility?"

Willow whispered next to him, "Danny!"

Danny didn't look over and whispered back, "Hang on, I got this."

Danny licked his dry and irritated nose before continuing with his response, "I can take on many forms and as you can see elf is one of them."

Danny saw Willow reach up and over his head to start rubbing his ear. It felt really good, and he couldn't help the rumbling that began in his chest. Danny was confused, as he didn't know elves could purr, especially this loud.

Danny froze in sudden realization.

With great self-control, Danny managed to only scream out internally, *Cranny, why the hell am I in my ghost leopard form!*

Laughter exploded in Danny's ears alone; the laughter abated enough for Cranny to get out, *Oh, oh, ha… Meow!* Cranny continued his unrestrained laughter.

*Cranny, when I next get a moment to myself, I will find a way to put you back into that crystal, and this time I will place it next to my Entropy Affinity Aspect. You two probably have way too much in common.*

This sobered Cranny slightly, *Oh, stop. You should see the way the princess is looking at you while you're purring! Totally worth it!*

Danny turned to see the princess wholly enraptured as she was still rubbing one of his ears. He didn't think it was possible for her irises to get any larger.

The princess noticed that his attention had turned to her and lowered her hand, apologizing, "Sorry, I-I couldn't help it."

Danny briefly looked back to confirm that he did, in fact, now have a tail, and the queen wasn't molesting his posterior. Focusing on his magic and not leaving any of it to Cranny's control, he switched to his elf form.

This time the roots didn't spring up, but all the body hair from his cat form was shed. Danny brushed off the white hair from his shoulders and did his best to ignore all the hair now trapped inside his robes. Danny knew from trying this form out the previous night, his elven hair took on an exquisite quality and his features became sharper and more refined than they were in his human form. While his high intelligence had rendered him extremely attractive, his Elven Aspect somehow refined this look even further.

Turning to Willow, Danny asked, "How do I look?"

Willow looked disappointed but smiled encouragingly, "You look really handsome, Danny, but…when are you going to turn back into a cat?"

Danny's smug and confident smile faltered.

The queen leaned forward and whispered, "I agree; you do look very handsome, Danny."

Danny rolled his eyes, "Thanks a lot, Mom!"

The queen couldn't stop the small smile that appeared on the corner of her mouth.

Quickly walking to the middle of the room, Danny raised his hands, "You see, I am not a human or an elf."

*… or a cat*

*Shut it, Cranny!*

"I am something even better. Now, I consider myself a fair sort of person, so if more than half of you have a problem with me marrying the princess, we will call it off. Let's do this with a raise of hands. All opposed to the marriage raise your hand. Come on, get them paws or whatever you elves have in the air."

The nobles looked around uncertainly. Until a lord, who hadn't spoken yet, defiantly looked at Danny and raised his hand. Then, others hesitantly joined him, until a good bit more than half of the room had their hands raised.

Danny mentally reached out to Phantom, who exploded through the closed double doors and bounded down to stand next to Danny.

The throne room exploded into a cacophony of talking and excitement. Most of the nobles had already heard about the boy's familiar, but they had not actually seen it themselves.

Danny climbed onto the cat's back as he looked around the room in feigned annoyance, "QUIET!" Danny really wished he could have used Air Affinity while in his Nature Aspect, but his normal voice seemed to do the trick, as everyone quieted and looked toward him.

Danny stood there and let the silence sink in for a moment, "Now, raise your hands if you don't want the princess and me to marry."

The room stood deathly still as it seemed no one dared to move. Then Lord Pine, looking around, raised his hand all while glaring in challenge toward Danny.

Before anyone could join the lord, Phantom started to glow with an intense white light. Many of the elves immediately realized what this meant, and word quickly spread to those ignorant of its significance.

"An Ascendant Sacred Beast!"

Phantom's Harmony Aura exploded outward, bathing the room in a blinding light.

When the light faded, Danny looked around to notice that Lord Pine's chair was now oddly empty.

Confirming that no one else was ready to oppose him, Danny clapped his hands once, "Good! Your Majesty, with your leave, I will start working on the task you have given me."

The queen just nodded to him with an amused smile on her face.

Reaching down, he brought the princess's hand to his lips, "I look forward to our wedding, Princess Willow."

Princess Willow excitedly whispered conspiratorially, "Later, let me rub your ears some more!"

Danny's face froze, trying his best to find a double-meaning behind that request, thinking, *Wellll Crap! I am going to be spending a lot of time as a cat now aren't I…*

Before anything else degrading could happen, Danny had Phantom quickly rush them out of the room.

Cranny complained, *D... Danny, what are you doing? You are supposed to pick her up on your steed, kiss her in front of everyone, then ride off and make sweet hot princess lo…. Ahhhh! You are so useless!"

CHAPTER 18

Later that morning, Elder Frost entered the research room in the elder's wing. Looking around for her notebook, she found it lying on the chair she had been using the day before.

Turning around, she jumped at finding Danny curled up with Phantom in the far corner, reading a book.

Recovering from her surprise, the elder exclaimed, "Danny, good job impressing the nobles today. I never thought I would see the day someone other than the queen could manage to shut them up for more than five seconds."

Danny looked up from his book, "Thank you, Elder."

"So, what do you have planned today? I haven't been able to track down anything extra in the texts Cardinal gave me."

Danny closed the book he was reading and, coming to a decision, asked, "What is buried in the room right above this tree's source?"

Elder Frost cocked her head to the side, "I'm sorry, did you say buried?"

Danny nodded, "Yes, there is a room that I can only guess is used for storage, right above the tree's connection to the source. Then right next to that is something I have never seen before."

Elder Frost looked confused, "I don't know anything about this. When did you get a chance to go down there?"

"I didn't. I can see it from here… There is some sort of circle of dense magic near the base of the tree. After that is…well, nothing. I can't see anything past that. It's as if my magic just ceases to exist whenever I get near it."

The elder looked alarmed and asked Danny to follow her. As they left the elder's wing, Frost grabbed a servant and gave them orders to fetch Elders Cardinal and Breeze and meet them down to the palace's basement.

The trip took them past parts of the palace Danny had yet to see. Servants bustled around, carrying trays of food or hauling laundry. Many stopped, surprised to see the elder in the area usually only frequented by the servants.

"Here it is, Danny. This is the place, correct," Elder Frost asked as they entered a nondescript storage room.

Boxes were stacked neatly in the corners. By the level of dust down here, Danny assumed no one had added anything or had needed to access the contents of the room in some time.

Pointing down to the middle of the room, Danny explained, "The tree's source is just down there." Turning to the side where multiple stacks of boxes were set, Danny continued, "The anomaly is right through there."

Frost left, to return shortly with servants who began to move the boxes and clean the room.

Danny sat in the middle of the floor with Phantom, studying the curiosity.

*Cranny, it is obviously not normal. How did it take us until yesterday to see it?*

*We weren't looking for it, and I didn't know to be looking for gaps in our scans. Whatever it is, it covers a large area down there. The tree's source also provides a convenient distraction from it. I would almost guess it was intentionally placed there.*

"Frost, Danny, what is going on?" Elder Breeze asked as he swept into the room with Elder Cardinal.

Elder Frost explained, "Danny has found something here. Do you know anything about this?"

Elder Breeze shook his head, "No, I have not been made aware of anything that is supposed to be down here."

Standing, Danny walked over to the now cleared space, asking, "Can I have permission to remove a large section of the tree? It shouldn't hurt the tree or endanger its structural integrity."

The three elders looked amongst themselves before Elder Breeze consented to his request.

Bark started to cover Danny's body as he activated his Sacred Tree Form with Nature Affinity. Focusing on what he needed, Danny created a hole going down into the roots of the tree.

The resulting hole was instantly filled with the debris from the section of the tree which used to be there. The bottom of the new hole was filled with soil, and Danny was able to get the earth to swallow the remains from the sacred tree.

As the debris were removed, a dim light began to filter up from the hole. The elders gathered with Danny at the tunnel's entrance to see a rounded surface blocking the path downward. This rounded surface glowed, reminding Danny of Hollywood depictions of a force field.

Danny turned to the druids around him, "Do you have any idea what that could be?"

"I have not seen anything like that," Elder Breeze replied.

Elder Frost added, "I do not recognize this light crossing its surface. Do you, Cardinal?"

The last elder didn't appear to hear her and seemed engrossed with something. Stepping further down the hole, Elder Cardinal jerked in surprise, "It's like red diamond… Of course, it is surrounded by a wall of obstinite!"

"What is obstinite?" Danny asked.

Elder Cardinal quickly explained, "Rare mineral that negates all magic."

"What in Gaea's name is it doing down here?" Elder Breeze exclaimed.

No one seemed to have a satisfactory answer to this.

***

"I can't believe it just absorbs everything we throw at it. Fire, Ice, and that explosive thing you did with the small rocks. You will have to show me how you do that one, Danny."

Danny nodded to Elder Breeze, "Of course, Elder. I just don't know how it can repel all physical attacks as well as absorb all magical attacks. I fear we are getting nowhere. Also, I am still convinced it is a doorway or hatch of some kind."

"Yes, I believe we are in agreement that is what it is. The question now is, do we really wish to open this vault?" interjected Elder Frost. Danny and the three elders had decided to refer to the unknown structure as the vault.

Elder Cardinal had his head in a book and suddenly exclaimed, "Aha, I knew it was here," before going back to reading.

"Well, are you going to tell us or not Cardinal?" Elder Frost asked impatiently.

Elder Cardinal looked up as if forgetting where he was, "Ah, yes. Let's see… Oh, here it is. Obstinite, also known to some as the blood diamond, is a rare mineral found only deep within the earth. Crafting with obstinite is nearly impossible, given its unnatural hardness and resistance to magic. While rumor has it the dwarves had found a method of manipulating the stone, the only confirmed person able to work with this mineral was the…Archdruid Wisteria."

Cranny interrupted, *Obstinite, seriously Danny?*

*It's impossible to deal with, and when I look at it all, I see red. So, of course, I named it after you,* Danny smugly replied.

Meanwhile, the elders had gone quiet in thought, and Danny couldn't wait for them to snap out of it, "So, you're saying this Archdruid Wisteria created this…barrier and vault down here out of an impossible to damage or change crystal?"

Elder Cardinal stared off into the distance before nodding, "Yes, it appears so."

Danny looked confused, "Elder Breeze, why are you not an Archdruid? Aren't you the head of the druids now?"

This question seemed to shake Elder Breeze out of his daze, "What? No, Danny, I cannot be an archdruid. Only Ascendants were given the title ‘Archdruid.' Wisteria was a local Ascendant, many centuries ago, who did much for this secluded grove. Though, if I remember correctly, she disappeared long before the cataclysm."

*You realize, this could be what we need to figure out the seed issue? There could be a treasure trove of notes or books on how to propagate the sacred trees. I thought it strange they wouldn't leave some form of instructions behind.*

*Well, it could it be a tomb for this Wisteria's body? Or maybe it is a prison for some terrible entity that is impossible to kill! You think about that,* Danny accused.

*Danny, no one builds prisons filled with world-ending monsters right under their home… Well, not intelligent people.*

As Danny and the three elves traveled down the hallway discussing their finding, a sense of déjà vu overcame him. Past memories washed over Danny of arguing over what was wrong with the most recently broken equipment with his laboratory coworkers. Smiling, Danny realized it didn't matter what universe, world, or species, nerds be being nerds.

The three elders escorted him all the way to the entrance of the guest wing, where Ivy stood waiting patiently.

Danny had missed the girl's presence as he was still busy arguing with Elder Breeze, "I tried every aspect I had, and it didn't faze it one bit. If it was meant for only an Ascendant to access, it's something I haven't thought of."

Ivy asked from the doorway, "So, what are you all trying to do?"

The three elders froze, realizing where they had been and what they were discussing in front of the girl.

Danny looked back at the elders, "Can we at least talk about this around them?"

Elder Breeze smiled apologetically, "I am sorry, Ms. Diadem, we cannot discuss this with you without approval by the queen. Please understand."

Ivy's face fell, but she put a smile back on it, "That's alright, I am here to get Danny for the outing he promised me."

Looking out a nearby window, Danny hadn't realized how late in the day it had gotten. They had decided to give up for the day, but only because they hadn't come up with any further ideas for how to break through the barrier.

"If you two would excuse us, we will just be heading back to our offices. Have fun," Elder Frost smiled, as she practically dragged her fellow elders off. Before they even got out of earshot, the three started bickering over if the barrier required a verbal passphrase, and what language to use.

Danny laughed to himself as he turned to Ivy, "Did you have somewhere in…"

Actually looking at the girl for the first time, he realized she was wearing a long dark and sleeveless blue dress of obvious elven origin. The dress looked like someone had sewn large blue leaves together. She wore a light fur coat that hung loosely off her bare shoulders. Danny couldn't help notice how the blue of the dress went well with her long glossy black hair and rich brown eyes.

Ivy turned her head slightly to the side as she smiled at him, "What was that, Danny? I didn't catch it all."

Danny blinked a few times, "I was saying…how beautiful you look in that dress."

He could tell she was trying her best to stop it, but a blush colored her cheeks, "Danny, let's get going before it gets dark. I found the perfect place to take you." With that she grabbed his hand, pulling him back down the hallway.

CHAPTER 19

They exited the palace to find the temperature had dropped even further and a strong crosswind was blowing. Ivy leaned into him for shared warmth, and as Danny wrapped an arm around her, he was pleased to find himself now at least a head taller than the girl. Unfortunately, the ground was cold on his bare feet, and his robe only provided so much warmth.

Using Flame Affinity, Danny wrapped them both in an aura of warmth.

Ivy relaxed visibly, "Mmmmm, that feels good. Thanks, Danny."

Danny smirked as he noted that Ivy didn't bother to pull away from him, even though his magic was providing enough warmth to drive back the cold and wind.

"Do we need to get a carriage?" Danny asked.

Ivy shook her head against the side of his chest, "It's not far."

Cranny asked, *Did you bring any money for this date?*

*No, I don't even know what they use for money here. I don't think it matters because I get the feeling she is taking us on a date. Things in this world are definitely different*

Cranny scoffed, *Well, she better not think we are a cheap date! I don't just let anyone into my sanctuary on a first date.*

The two teenagers leisurely walked between the massive trees as the city's elves hurried from place to place, trying to only be out in the cold as little as possible.

The sky was already clouded, and lights started appearing in the doorways and windows high up in the canopy of the sacred trees. Someone had the idea to illuminate parts of the trees themselves, and with the sacred tree's colored leaves, it almost gave the city a holiday feel.

They soon came to a large tree with an area out front crowded with small tables. Given the weather, they were understandably empty. The large doors at the entryway to the tree were wide open as light and music spilled out into the busy street.

*Don't worry Danny, I got your back tonight. I will be playing the role of your wingman.*

Danny looked around in concern, *That is not as reassuring as you think it is. Plus, I already have the girl; what do I need a wingman for?*

Cranny made a disgusted noise, *Please, like I don't already know how you will handle this, or more likely not handle this.*

Moving inside, the two found a large restaurant full of couples and groups eating around numerous tables. Waiters hurried around taking orders and delivering meals. In a far corner, two elves played a soothing tune on flute-like instruments. The sound level was perfect for everyone inside to maintain their quiet conversations.

Cranny grumbled, *I never understood why people always insist on going places with tons of strangers, more than a few within arms reach, to have a private dinner. Seems counterintuitive.*

Danny rebuked him, *Not everyone is as anti-social as we are.*

A male waiter passed by the entrance and stopped short upon seeing who was there, "Welcome to the… Oh, it's you, you're here. Please wait here. I will get your waiter." The waiter exited the room through a nearby doorway.

They didn't have to wait long for a waitress to arrive, all smiles, "Welcome to Alder's. My name is Petal, and I will be serving you tonight. Please, come this way."

They were taken past the ground floor and led up a flight of stairs to a large covered balcony overlooking the city. The massive opening to the outside was sealed with air magic, like the doors and windows at the palace. The view looked over the rest of the city, made all the more spectacular with all the lights illuminating the trees and buildings.

*Now this is something we can work with,* Cranny didn't bother to hide the excitement in his voice.

While there looked to be room for a dozen tables, there was just a lone table in the center of the spacious area. Danny almost sat down before he remembered himself, moving around to help Ivy with her chair. The girl looked at him in confusion but allowed Danny to help her into her seat.

Cranny mumbled, *Not bad, there's some hope for you yet.*

As Danny was taking his own seat, the waitress spoke, "I will bring your meals here shortly. Please ring that bell if you need anything while I am gone."

Danny had never been to a restaurant where you didn't order anything. He looked at the table to find a steaming hot cup of tea already set on his side of the table. Taking a sip, he was surprised to discover it was his favorite.

"Do you like it, Danny?"

Danny looked up to find Ivy staring hopefully at him.

"Yes, this is very nice, Ivy. How did you arrange all this?"

"Well, the princess helped me to reserve the balcony. She also said the food here is excellent."

Danny tried to hide his confusion, "The princess helped you reserve this…for our outing."

Ivy smiled knowingly, "Yes, she knows that if we are going to be all living together that it's best if we get along."

Danny picked up his tea, wishing there was something stronger to put in it.

*What's the matter, Danny boy? They are working on getting along.*

*That's the problem. What happens when women get along?*

*Nothing they… OH! Oh, crap.*

"Danny, you have been working so hard since we got here we never get to see you except at mealtimes. As you know, the elves have been helping us train while we wait. I doubt there is a warrior in Diadem who can match our elven trainers. Now that I think about it, we have seen the princess more than we have seen you."

"Sorry, they have me working on this issue, and it seems to keep getting more complicated. More questions keep cropping up than answers."

Ivy reached across the table and grabbed his hand, "Just let us know, and we will come to kidnap you for a day."

Danny smiled at that and then froze as Ivy started rubbing his hand with her thumb. Looking at Ivy across the table, she seemed worried about what his reaction to this would be.

Cranny sighed, *Danny, I forgot how nice that could feel. It has been way too long.*

*Uhhhhh, I don't know. I have been trying my best to ignore all this stuff.*

Cranny huffed, *I told you this is what you were going to pull. You know that's not gonna fly for much longer. Plus, you are going to be busy keeping all four of them happy now.*

*What do you mean by ‘you,' Cranny. We are in this mess together, Mr. Iwantprincesses!*

Cranny mumbled, *I see I will have to pull out the big guns. What did they use to do in the movies… Ah, I wonder if I can teach Phantom to sing! No, she has horrible breath; that would be a disaster.*

Danny squeezed Ivy's hand and was just about to let go. Ivy tensed up expecting this reaction when, all of a sudden, his thumb started circling the back of her hand on its own. Ivy's eyes seemed to cloud over as she smiled lopsidedly at him.

Danny was internally appalled, *Cranny, did you just move my thumb on your own!*

Cranny smugly said, *You are very welcome. Wow, that was about to be a disaster. Super Cranny saves the date!*

Ivy took in an unsteady breath and then suddenly started to lean across the table.

An excited Cranny announce, *Captain, we have incoming. Brace for impact!*

Danny was saved by the arrival of stomping feet coming from the stairway. Ivy almost didn't notice them and quickly sat back down in her chair. Their waitress and another waiter walked in with arms full of plates of food.

Cranny groaned in frustration, *Seriously, perfectly timed interruptions. What, is this some sort of cheesy after-school television special?*

Somehow, the two wait staff were able to fit the small banquet on the tiny table for two.

The waitress adjusted a few plates and said, "Please enjoy your meal and don't forget to ring the bell if you need anything else."

With that, they were left alone again. Ivy looked perturbed and sullen while Danny dug into the delicious smelling food.

Stopping for a second, Danny said, "Ivy, this is so good! You need to try the grey stuff, it's deli… What's wrong?"

Ivy huffed with a frown, "Nothing," before picking up her fork and stabbing it into one of the dishes.

Danny knew what was wrong but didn't know how best to salvage this.

He was about to start with conversation when Cranny interrupted his thoughts, *Danny, I really don't want to, but you need to hear this. It is coming from the tree next to this one.*

Danny could hear the voice of an older sounding woman as if she was sitting across the table from him, "…attacks have been relentless. I don't know how much longer they can last. There is no question their only focus is Diadem. Our scouts have yet to find a logical reason."

A second woman's voice was heard saying, "Do you think the queen or Barrow are going to step in and help them?"

"I don't know. We haven't been as active as we have in the past. We especially don't send as many druids out like we used to. Then, there are all the tainted beasts appearing in the forest. Gaea save us."

Ivy interrupted his eavesdropping, "Are you alright, Danny? You quit eating."

Danny, empty fork halfway to his mouth, glanced at the girl across from him, *Cranny, have you heard anything like that in the palace?*

*No, there actually hasn't been much talk about anything military while we are around. Well, except for the meeting with the nobles, but it didn't sound this bad. I am now wondering if they suspect you can hear from a great distance, but how would they get around that?*

Danny hedged, *Only using written communication? Using air magic?*

*Could be either or both… Before you were listening in, they were talking about the goblins attacking Crossbark,* Cranny said.

Ivy spoke up again, but this time, there was a pained look in her eyes, "Danny…"

Standing up, Danny walked around the table and held out his hand. Ivy looked up at him in confusion, uncertain of what was going on.

Looking down at her, Danny didn't see the fierce leader of his shadow but the vulnerable teenage girl, hesitating only a fraction of a second, before reaching out to take his hand.

Pulling her up into his arms, Danny began to circle to room as he used his magic to call up to the storm above them. He had never gotten around to learning how to dance formally, in this life or the last, but sometimes, slowly turning round and round while holding each other is all that is really needed.

Ivy had her head laying sideways on his chest as they slowly spun around the room.

Danny looked down at Ivy's head, "Hey, look at that."

Ivy lifted her head and followed his gaze to where he was looking at the now falling snow outside. The lights of the city started to twinkle as the snow briefly blocked their view.

Ivy brushed away some of her hair which had fallen in front of her face, quietly commenting, "So pretty..."

Danny chuckled to himself as he squeezed her slightly in his arms, "Yes, you are."

Cranny suddenly had an apparent coughing fit, but Danny heard a distinct *Lame* thrown in there at some point.

Ivy quickly turned back to him, and her eyes seemed unable to choose whether to settle on his eyes or his lips.

Knowing this was the eventual conclusion, Danny leaned forward. The kiss only lasted a few moments, but when they separated, Ivy's smile made him reconsider if humans couldn't be as beautiful as elves.

Sighing, Ivy leaned her head back down against his chest, content to slowly rock with him while they watched the snow fall.

Danny did his best to wait patiently for a few moments before asking, "Ivy, has Arya mentioned any more attacks by the goblins or, more specifically, attacks on one of our cities?"

Ivy tensed at the sudden topic and leaned away to look at him,"What? No, we haven't received any news since arriving here."

"My apologies, but I am going to have to cut our dinner short. Well, at least for me."

Phantom jumped through the balcony opening, as Danny continued,"Phantom will keep you company and will follow you back to the palace. I need to go speak with the queen. It's urgent."

Ivy looked around, confused,"Is something going on?"

Danny leaned forward and kissed her forehead,"Yes, and I will let you all know more when I confirm some things I just inadvertently overheard. Finish dinner, and I will meet you back in the guest wing, alright?"

Ivy silently nodded, and Danny stepped backwards, activating his Air Aspect. He kept himself turned toward Ivy, watching her as long as he could as he disappeared into the snowfall.

Danny heard the sound of someone blowing their nose and, between sniffles, Cranny spoke to no one in particular, *They grow up so fast.*

***

Danny walked through the front entrance of the palace. The palace's innate air magic did not allow the wind and snow from outside to pass through the opening of the large double doors. A bit of snow was beginning to accumulate outside at the foot of the door. His three ever-present and camouflaged guards were already behind him, not missing a step. He had been able to easily lose them when he first arrived at the capital, but they had started to surprise him with their uncanny ability to expect where he was headed. Not only that but now, they usually beat him to his destination.

Turning to where one followed him, Danny commanded, "Take me to the queen. I am sure you know why."

The air distorted and an armored elf appeared, moving quickly to walk in front of him. Following the guard, they were led through the palace to a wing he had yet to visit. Stopping in front of a single solid door, the guard knocked in a pattern that Danny suspected was some sort of signal.

The guard moved behind Danny and dissolved into the background. The door in front him opened, and a female elf he had only seen speaking to the Basalts, that day he first flew through the guest wing, ushered him in.

"The queen can see you now, Ascendant."

Danny was led through a short hallway and into an extensive study. There was an impressive desk to one side and bookshelves on most of the walls. The queen, though, was seated in one of the two large comfortable looking chairs sequestered in a far corner.

Danny stopped short on seeing that the queen was setting down an empty plate of food on a small table next to her, saying, "My apologies, Your Highness. I did not mean to interrupt your supper. I can return at a better…"

"Danny, you are fine. Please, come sit here, and let's talk." The queen indicated the chair next to her.

Walking over, Danny took the offered chair and sighed as he realized they were even more comfortable than they looked.

The queen, amused, asked, "They are pretty nice, are they not?"

Danny limply waived an arm, "I've flown through clouds that were harder than this chair."

The queen laughed good-naturedly, "Now, tell me, what do you want to know about the goblin situation?"

Cranny grumbled, *Did she tell that from the brief set of knocks on the door, or did someone already show up to tell her what we discussed with Ivy?*

Danny chose not to mince words, "Why are you not doing more to address this situation? I won't begin to guess your people's true capabilities, but I could see you easily crushing them with little effort."

The queen waved to someone behind him, and he turned to see the elven woman from before leaving. Seeing Danny's look, the queen explained, "My personal aide. I had her draft your marriage agreement with the Basalts. It is good to always surround yourself with capable individuals."

"The goblins, Your Majesty," Danny reminded her.

The queen looked uncomfortable and shifted in her chair, "Danny, you know our current situation, but not the true extent of it. You know, we have finite mana production and a growing population. What you don't know is that my people are closer to choosing whether we should only allow a select few to receive any mana at all, or whether we should go on spreading out until it eventually doesn't affect us anymore.

The royal family has been voluntarily taking less and less mana to provide it to those who need it most. Soldiers going into the field, druids maintaining the sacred trees, and now you. In just a few days, Danny, you have used the royal family's allotment of mana for a month. To give you a better understanding, Willow should actually appear much younger than she does now. She should not look as old as she does until she is well into her one-hundreds and soon approaching two hundred.

As long as this situation stays the same, and the elven people are not threatened, I find it difficult to put them in harm's way."

Danny sighed as the weight on his shoulders seemed to increase significantly, "So, you're saying the quickest way to help my people is to first help yours?"

The queen looked him in the eyes, "Danny, I want you to understand something else. The teams Leaf was sent with were our most experienced scouts. Our people lost some of our greatest talents that night, and we are loathed to attack again without our druids at their full potential. To do that, they will need all the mana they can store before they leave. Mana we currently do not have."

Danny started to think about all the mana he had been using recently and all the mana he would probably still need to use. He realized he could be costing the elves years or decades of extended life if he were unable to solve this.

*Danny, this ‘attack' could have all been a setup to get us to work harder. It might not have been a coincidence that we didn't hear anything until tonight.*

*I know that, but we don't really have a way to tell without heading down there ourselves.*

"How far away is the goblin fortress?" asked Danny.

"Four days' travel for my people."

Danny's eyes bugged out of his head, "Four days! That's practically next door, and they are not attacking you?"

The queen shook her head as her aide came in with a tea tray, "Besides the events that occurred when you arrived at our border, we have only seen a small scattering of scouts or small groups of goblins. Our patrols have done a good job of keeping any of the goblins that get close to our borders from reporting back to their people."

Danny numbly accepted a cup of tea as he pondered the situation.

Cranny added his two cents, *If what she is saying is true, then the elven scouts with Leaf ran out of mana. Those elven soldiers with Air Affinity use magic to supplement their martial skills. They were possibly overconfident and complacent. There is no other way these speed freaks died to that pack of ugly bumbling munchkins.*

Danny sighed, *Doesn't matter. The best course of action is to solve the problem here first. I can only fight one battle at a time, and the elves could end things before we could get around to killing our first hobgoblin.*

Putting down his cup, Danny asked, "Could you please inform the Basalts about the situation and let them know that I will not be back to the guest wing until this issue here is resolved?"

The queen looked like she would protest but instead sought out her aid, replying to Danny, "It will be done immediately. I will let the elders know and make sure you are provided with whatever comforts you need. Danny, we didn't want the attacks to distract you, and that's why we withheld their knowledge from you and the Basalts. I hope you understand this."

Danny stood up, bowed to the queen, and walked out of the room, already deep in thought.

CHAPTER 20

Motes of dust floated all over the storage room. Two guards visibly stood by an oddly placed hole in one corner. The loud sound of someone scraping wood on wood could be heard coming from the entrance of the room. The noise grew louder as a voice could be heard growling in frustration.

"The things I do for my butt…"

Danny dragged a dusty and comfortable looking chair which he had found in a separate storage room in front of the hole leading down to the vault's barrier. Ignoring the guards, Danny settled into it to look down, opening and study the vault's barrier closely. The tell-tale glow of magic still covered its physical surface.

*Cranny, what have we not tried?*

*We tried all combinations of magic, both passive and active spells. We tried using each aspect to no avail. I can only think of two things we haven't tried. Using Entropy Affinity magic on the barrier.*

*What's the second thing?* Danny hurried Cranny along.

*Learn how to compartmentalize our aspect, like the light bulbs in the sacred trees, and use them all at once on the barrier.*

Danny thought on Cranny's last suggestion. Something about it seemed correct, but slightly off.

*Cranny, what changed again when we became an Ascendant?*

Cranny sounded annoyed at the seemingly repetitive questions, *Your body grew those crystalline structures all over it, and we were able to use the different aspects of our affinities.*

Closing his eyes, Danny thought the solution was close, but the pieces didn't fit right somehow. He couldn't quite figure out what they were missing.

Cranny chimed in, *Oh yeah, and your mana manipulation jumped to the max level. We must have used some major cheat code to get that one.*

Danny's eyes shot open.

***

The sanctuary portal flashed, and Danny didn't pause, jogging across the walkway spanning the skill room. His current skills were being displayed on the numerous hexagons making up the room. A few crewmen were walking around, and they stopped to salute him, saying, "Captain." When he reached the other side, the door opened where Cranny was already waiting.

Danny excitedly asked, "Have you checked yet?"

Cranny shook his head, "Nope, I figured you would want to do the honors."

They entered the door across the hall and into the small room holding Danny's knowledge of runes. A crewman in a red shirt was working on the door next to the mana room proper. The redshirt stopped what he was doing to stand and saluted them both, "Good day, Captain and Admir…"

In a panicked voice, Cranny suddenly flew by yelling, "Ahhh," and crashed right into the crewman, unceremoniously kicking him through the open doorway.

The crewman flipped end-over-end into the room and crashed right into the wall representing the Entropy Affinity. Instead of bouncing off, there was a loud crash, and the crewman was sucked out into the dark nothingness. The screams of the crewman echoed around the room as the wall slowly repaired itself.

Danny looked to Cranny in horror, "What the hell! Did you do that on purpose?"

Cranny ignored Danny's questions and still looked down at what had just occurred. In a voice utterly void of concern, Cranny said, "Oops."

"Are we going to try and go help him," Danny panicked as he looked back for some other crewman who might be able to help.

Cranny barked a laugh, "Don't bother, it's just a redshirt. They are a dime a dozen and just appear again like cockroaches. I swear they must have their own special advanced breeding program."

Shuddering at his own thoughts, Cranny jumped out to float into the mana room.

Danny followed after him, and they both reached out to grab hold of the bright crystal in the middle that represented Danny's mana manipulation. The light emitted by the crystal cycled between various colors.

Frowning, Danny tried his best to shield his eyes while looking into the crystal. He asked Cranny, "Do you see anything in there? It's too bright."

Cranny had his face up against the crystal with his hands cupped on either side of his eyes, "I think I see someone in there. Well, I think I just see an arm."

Cranny's head jerked back as the crystal vibrated.

Danny looked over in concern, "What happened?"

Cranny frowned, looking at the crystal, "That bast… he just hit the crystal from the inside while flipping me off."

Danny smiled, "Yep, that would also be my gut reaction when seeing your face."

Cranny turned to stare daggers at Danny, who was still trying to see the person inside the crystal.

***

Danny opened his eyes to find not much changed. He was still sitting in the chair in the storage room. The barrier appeared to be staring, unconcerned, up at him from down in the tunnel. It was as if the barrier knew of Danny's discovery and was purposely tempting him to try it.

"Danny!"

Danny jumped, barely catching himself from falling out of the chair. Behind him, Elders Breeze, Frost, and Cardinal entered the room. They all looked tired but ready to help him.

Wondering why his scanning didn't warn him about their presence, Danny greeted them, "Good evening elders. I apologize for the late hour, but recent events have forced me to push up the timetable on completing this task. I didn't expect you three down here right away, but it is good you showed up when you did."

Looking down into the opening in the floor, Elder Breeze asked excitedly, "You figured it out?"

Danny shrugged, "While necessity may be the mother of invention, most inventions end up having alternate, and more practical, applications. Hopefully what I have come up with serves its intended purpose."

Elder Frost cocked her head to one side, "Dear, you lost me a bit there."

Danny smiled, "I discovered a new aspect I have, hiding right under my nose."

*Cranny, you there…*

Danny waited, *…Cranny!*

*What,* barked Cranny.

Danny paused, realizing what was going on, *Cranny, are you seriously pouting right now?*

*…No!*

Danny asked in a soothing voice, *Could you help me, please? You know of all the other voices in my head, you're my favorite.*

*Hmf, I am the only other voice in your head… Fine, I will help. But only because I want to find out what is in there.*

*Good, then we need Mana Aspect with the standard controls,* Danny requested.

Cranny sighed, *Right away…Your Worshipfulness.*

A minute passed, and nothing happened. Danny looked over awkwardly at the Elders who were waiting expectantly, and he tried to smile reassuringly. A few more heartbeats and Danny opened his mouth, "Hold on for just…"

Danny's body felt like it exploded into…nothingness. As if he had almost ceased to have a physical presence. The world shifted from solid colors into a phantasmic array of different shades of white.

The air was filled with microscopic motes of pure light that floated around, ignoring the physical objects they might pass through. Those motes inside the sacred tree moved with purpose all throughout, while those in the air flowed, shook, or hovered in one place. There was no immediately discernible pattern to their movements, and Danny spent some time just observing them.

"Danny…Danny, can you hear me?"

The sound of a voice came through to Danny like he was in at the bottom of a pool and someone was shouting down from above water. Danny turned to find Elder Breeze, studying him with an intense look of concern on his face. The elder had the bright motes of light coursing all through him. There was an almost blinding light shining right above his stomach.

"Danny, what is this, what did you do?" Elder Breeze asked again.

Danny wasn't sure, but he thought the elder actually had to yell for him to hear. Distracted by something out of the corner of his eye, Danny moved toward the barrier.

It was almost as bright as the elder's source was. The magic swirled around the object covering the entrance to whatever Archdruid Wisteria had left behind. The magic coursing over it was mesmerizing and hypnotic.

Unlike before, there was something about the magic that made sense. Magic flowed through visible runes infused into the object and twisted the magic to fit their purpose. These runes seemed to exist at specific points all over the barrier. Danny had assumed enchanting involved carving the runes into an object, but he did not see anything to suggest that this had occurred. He did note that the outermost ring of each enchantment rune held a similar and unique modifier he had not seen before.

*Danny? Can you hear me, Danny!*

"Cranny, how's it hanging!"

*Danny, what are you… You know, never mind. Took me a while to figure out how to speak with you in this form, but nothing too difficult for my amazing genius.*

"That's so awesome! You are such a great guy, Cranny!"

Cranny hesitated for a second,*Maybe, we should use this form more often.*

Danny didn't reply and just stared at the barrier, his head rotating as it constantly followed the flow of magic.

Cranny coughed, *Danny, I was able to work out how this barrier works. In this form, I can not only see the runes embedded but can discern a little on how they function. Those runes seem random, but they are all connected by the magic flowing through them. There are repeating patterns in parts of the rune that cause them to function similarly. The entirety of the barrier appearers to work almost like a computer program. Unfortunately for me, I sucked at learning computer programing back on earth. Fortunately for you, we now have a higher intelligence and can just blow past the majority of that previous limitation.*

Danny moved closer to the barrier, *Oh Cranny, look at all the little circles! They are so so pretty.*

*…Yes…Yes, they are, Danny. If I am guessing the purpose of these runes correctly, then all we have to do is modify the runes in any little way, and the whole thing will collapse. But I don't know how to do th…*

Danny suddenly looked down, as in self-realization, "Cranny, look, I can fly! Weee!" Danny started to fly in circles inside the tunnel leading down to the barrier. His movement was slow as if he was traveling through a thick substance and not air.

Cranny grumbled, *I can't believe I am about to… Hey Danny! Why don't we go look at the shiny letters again!*

Danny stopped, "Shiny letters?"

*The circles! Over there by the… thing!*

Danny seemed to know what Cranny wanted, looking over to the runes as if he was just seeing them for the first time, "Ohhh, they are shiny! Ohh wow!"

*Alright, this isn't going to work, hold on. What is going on with you? I will be right back, don't you dare move,* Cranny threatened.

Danny could hear the sound of someone typing furiously on a keyboard then swearing. Cranny grumbled, *Can't work under these conditions.* A door was suddenly slammed loudly somewhere in the background.

A stranger's voice was heard asking, *Oh hey, Admiral Cranny, looking for the coffee filters? I think I saw some in that drawer over there.*

Cranny griped, *What idiot put them in there!*. Then there was the sound of bits of metal and plastic rattling around.

The stranger's voice was heard again, *Admiral, we can't seem to find Jenkins anywhere. Have you seen him?*

Cranny growled while still distractedly digging around, *No, I haven't! You all look the same to me.*

The stranger complained, "That's not nice, sir. He was the only crewman on door maintenance."

The digging sounds slowly paused, and Cranny said, *Oh uhhh yeah him, real nice guy. I think I saw him over by the…portal. Yes, definitely the portal! Dangerous place. I hope nothing happened to h… I found them!*

The unmistakable sound of coffee brewing filled the air. Then, there was a loud slurping noise followed by a long contented sigh. The typing sounds picked up again at a furious pace, until Cranny exclaimed, *HA! There's what's wrong with you, Danny boy! You're high as a kite, on mana. Wow, this stuff is potent! Working on a filter…*

Slowly, Danny's mind began to clear, "What, what happened to me?"

*You were crazy wasted on mana juice, Danny.* Cranny then took the time to explain to him what he had been trying to do earlier, while Danny was acting strangely.

Danny had fully recovered and asked, *So all we have to do is figure out how to modify one of these runes?*

*Yes, or disrupt the flow of magic to the runes. Which apparently can't be done by casting basic or aspect powered spells at it.*

Danny shook his head and looked over the barrier, reaching out as he did so with his Mana Aspect. The tiny motes of mana in front of his hand started to freeze in place in a straight line toward the direction he was pointing. By moving his hand, the trapped mana moved with his intention.

*Cranny, I can control free mana! Am I seeing this right?*

*Best I can tell you are. We definitely need to test this on mana owned by something else. Now the barrier, Danny. Focus.*

Danny focused on the mana flowing around the barrier and pulled. A loop of concentrated mana stretched out and stopped, like a part of a badly tangled knot of string.

*That's not working,* Cranny pointed out, unhelpfully.

Danny rolled his eyes, *What would you do then, smarty pants?*

*Ummm, I would try connecting it to something.*

Danny looked around and realized the only viable targets were the sacred tree, the elders, or himself. The elders were all watching him quietly, well except for Elder Frost who was busily trying to catch her journal on fire with a stylus. What she was writing down, he couldn't fathom.

Shrugging to himself, Danny said, "Bottoms up!"

*Danny, NO!*

Danny closed his eyes and connected the loop of mana to himself.

There was a loud popping noise, and then a huge rush of power. Danny felt like a million bucks had brought its whole family over for the greatest party of his life. Mana raced swiftly around the remains of the physical barrier and into Danny's body. It was over in a fraction of a second, but the amount of mana that had entered him was far from insignificant.

*Wow Danny! Your aspect just absorbed somewhere around two and a half times the mana your body can typically store. You shouldn't be able to do that…at least that's what I thought.*

Danny wobbled unsteadily where he was floating in the air, *This feels nice but weird.*

*Don't do magic barriers kids. Drink your milk and stay in wizarding school.*

*What…who are you talking to, Cranny? Uhhh, I think we should leave this aspect.*

Cranny countered, *No can do there. You just overcharged your Mana Aspect.*

Danny groaned, *Crap!*

"You did it, Danny," exclaimed an excited Elder Breeze.

Danny turned to get a look at his work. The no longer enchanted barrier lay in fragmented pieces on the ground. Past that, a large room could be seen illuminated from something within.

The elders rushed down to stand next to Danny, peeking carefully inside the entrance. No one was foolish enough to go rushing into the unknown.

The newly opened chamber was wholly comprised of the obstinite, except for a second circular barrier on the far wall. The only source of light inside came from the distant barrier. The surfaces of the walls and floors were all smooth, with the ceiling having a rough texture. The chamber itself seemed to slope slightly downward toward the other side.

Danny turned to the elders, "So, who is going to volunteer to go in first?"

The three elders glanced at each other and came to a silent decision. Elder Breeze leaned back to look up the opening to the storage room, "Guards!"

Elder Frost leaned over to Danny, whispering, "Who is Cranny?"

CHAPTER 21

The image of the elven guard was cast and refracted countless times on and through the walls, floor, and ceiling of the newly opened chamber. The obstinite lived up to its alternate name, refracting light the same way a regular diamond would. Danny didn't know how the guard wasn't completely disoriented or throwing up his last meal.

Elder Breeze yelled after the guard, "Don't touch anything! Just go to the other side of the room and come back."

The guard's helmeted head nodded in response, while still cautiously watching the next barrier. Stepping carefully, the guard moved further into the room. The distance to the next barrier was about thirty yards, and the light from the barrier seemed to grow brighter the closer the guard moved toward it. This caused the guard to visibly slow his pace down more as the light became brighter.

Elder Cardinal held up a piece of the first barrier, frowning, "It's just iron…"

Elder Breeze took the proffered piece, turning it in his own hand. He shook his head, "An entire structure of an incredibly rare mineral, and she chose to close it up with one of the cheapest metals?"

The guard stumbled but corrected himself, continuing on his way to the barrier. The guard was within about seven yards of the next barrier when he collapsed to the ground, unmoving. The brightness of the light from the barrier slowly dropped down to the level it was at when they first opened up the chamber.

"Is he dead?" Asked Elder frost.

Danny had been watching the whole time quietly. This new barrier was utterly different from the first. Instead of repelling everything, it was soaking up mana like a sponge. The barrier had started sucking the mana out of the guard's body the second he got within fifteen yards of it. The closer the guard got, the stronger the pull on the guard's mana got. The guard had merely passed out from a lack of mana and wasn't in danger of dying, only of getting older faster than he would want to.

"It sucks up mana the closer you get to it. The guard's mana is all gone now, so it is only soaking up what free mana is being drawn into this room," Danny explained.

Danny watched as the mana that didn't touch the surfaces of the chamber moved through the open doorway toward the new barrier. He got the impression it wasn't being drawn there directly by the barrier. Instead, the free mana was trying to reach an equilibrium or homeostasis.

*Danny, we need to see the runes on that barrier. Can you imagine having a device that could help you harvest all the free mana around you instead of waiting for it to recharge from just your connection to the source?*

*Why would we need to bother with that?*

Danny focused and started to draw in all the free mana around him and into his body and not the crystalline structures of his cells. It wasn't much, and to his disappointment, it didn't come close to his natural regeneration. He continued this until the new barrier started to dim and almost went out.

"Danny, did you just do something?" asked a shocked Elder Frost.

"Yes, I collected all the free mana to see what would happen if the new barrier was starved."

Elder Cardinal asked, "Does that mean it's safe now?"

Danny shook his head, "No, it was trapped in here, and I would bet it soaked up all the remaining mana in this chamber after Wisteria sealed it up. It was too far away to drain the first barrier. The enchantment is still active, just dormant."

Danny quit drawing in mana and waited for the barrier to brighten again. Once he had enough light, he floated into the chamber toward the barrier.

The elders protested, "Danny, wait!" "No, Danny!"

The elders had started to move to stop him physically, but Danny held up a hand, "It's alright. In this form, I should be just fine."

Cranny laughed, *Famous last words…*

The elders didn't move any further into the room.

"Turn back if you feel it start draining your mana," Elder Breeze told him.

Danny waived a hand to acknowledge him and continued forward. Pausing before where the barrier had started drawing on the guard.

*Cranny, you think we can stop it from stealing our mana?*

Cranny guessed, *Probably, but we don't know if it is stronger than us. I vote we do the hokey-pokey.*

Danny rolled his eyes and held one hand out as he continued to move forward. He had measured correctly and didn't make it much further before mana started flowing out of his body toward the barrier.

*It is definitely strong. I will try creating a mana field around our body to hold it in. Please stand by.*

Danny knew Cranny was focused when he started sounding like a protocol droid. Danny looked at his outstretched arm wondering why it wasn't getting tired. In this aspect, his body tended to just stay in whatever pose he left it, no matter how high he was off the ground. He absently wondered if he could just float up to outer space.

Cranny sighed, *There, got it. I will stop the barrier from drawing out our mana. You get in there and look at the runes.*

Now cut off from Danny's mana, the barrier dimmed back to its base free mana level. Danny cautiously moved closer.

*Any change, Cranny?*

*The pull is definitely getting stronger, but it's nothing we can't handle. Oddly enough, it is using up the mana from our aspect to do this. I need to find out where this mana goes, as we are not creating or destroying anything. We can't go around defying metaphysical laws.*

Danny got close enough to the barrier to observe the runes and how they functioned in relation to the mana that flowed across it.

*Cranny, what is this doing with the mana it absorbs? The amount flowing across it isn't changing.*

*I could drop the mana field around you so you could try and rip it apart like the last one.*

Danny frowned, *I could only feed it into myself unless we figure out how to just break it.*

*Yeah, I got no ideas on that one. I assume it would be innate to your aspect if it were possible.*

*That's what I figured as well,* Danny sighed.

Cranny hesitatingly suggested, *It gets brighter like a light bulb. Wha… What if we overloaded it?*

Danny caught on, *I like that idea. Should we get the druids to help provide us with extra mana? We will probably need to direct it if our theory on being able to control other's mana is correct. I doubt just putting the mana near it will work, as it only absorbs the mana at a set rate. We will have to shove the whole mass of mana thing down its throat, though.*

Danny returned to the elders and relayed his plans.

Elder Cardinal grabbed the chair from outside and brought it to Danny, "Could you place this at the point where it starts stealing mana?"

Danny nodded, "Good idea!" Danny reached down and was a little disappointed when he was able to pick it up.

*I was hoping we could pass through objects like the mana…,* Danny complained.

*Sorry, Danny. Part of you is still physical. No phantom Danny for you!*

***

The following morning, everyone required had been gathered. The chamber was now packed with druids, hand picked by Elder Breeze. They formed a semicircle behind the chairs Danny had placed along the extents of the barrier's reach.

The queen had arrived with Princess Willow in tow, and they now stood in the storage room above, looking down the tunnel into the open vault.

The queen turned a concerned eye to Danny, asking, "Are you sure this is perfectly safe? Is this the only way to find out what we are looking for?"

"This is probably the quickest way to figure out the answer, as I have not found any answers or clues on my own," Danny admitted.

Princess Willow was standing uncomfortably close. With her face right next to his right ear, she reached an arm around him and waved her hand around his left ear.

"What are you doing," Danny asked her in an annoyed tone.

The princess stopped and stepped back, looking slightly embarrassed, "I can almost see right through you; it's so weird."

Danny ignored her, floating down toward the opened chamber, "I will be right back. Maybe you two should head upstairs while we do this next part."

Willow rushed forward and placed a quick kiss on Danny's cheek. She whispered, "Ivy had a wonderful time at dinner last night. Jade and Brooke are wondering when their turn will be. I will admit, I am a little jealous she got your first kiss." The princess quickly hopped back to her mother's side.

Danny paused, wanting to ask for specifics. Remembering Crossbark, Danny ignored the distraction and continued floating down into the vault.

*Danny, I have taken a poll of those voices currently residing in your head. The results are unanimous, and we need a vacation after this. A princess vacation!*

Danny ignored his counterpart as he moved into position at the front and center of the chamber. Danny first looked to the guards stationed in front of him holding heavy shields, then questioningly to Elder Breeze, who was standing next to him.

"They are here in case the physical barrier explodes outward. We are going to be potentially putting a tremendous amount of mana into this," the elder explained in response to his unspoken question.

Danny nodded, speaking loudly, "No use waiting, let's begin."

Danny ejected the majority of the mana stored in his Mana Aspect as he watched the druids build up a mass of their own mana not far from each of their bodies. Before the druids could accidentally touch the chamber's surfaces with their own mana, Danny started to collect it, creating a massive concentrated sphere of mana. The druids had been warned ahead of time that he would be taking their mana, so they continued to feed him what they could.

*Danny, we are reaching the point where we can't control it anymore. It's over five times the mana you can normally store. You ready to do this?*

Danny yelled out, "Druids halt! Stand by in case I require more."

The guards behind the chairs raised their shields and crouched down. The druids quickly followed their example, ducking down low.

The last of the druids' mana was sucked into the sphere orbiting not far from Danny's position.

*Doesn't this bring back memories, Danny? A giant mass of mana and half-baked ideas.*

*No way to turn back out now. Do it!*

At Danny's command, Cranny sent a giant river of mana out from the sphere and forced it into the barrier. The dim light from the enchantment exploded into a mini star, yet the barrier still held.

Cranny called out in a strained voice, *Danny, you too!*

A second torrent of mana shot out of the sphere, doubling the amount. Danny wanted to say the light had gotten brighter, but even with his aspect, his vision had already filled the chamber with a blinding whiteness. As he felt the sphere quickly shrink, Danny began to worry, as they were almost out of mana. He could always pull from his own reserves, but then, there was a high pitched sound coming from the barrier.

The barrier exploded, and so did the rest of the mana Danny had collected. The guards' shields rang as the remains of the barrier and chairs crashed into them. At the same time, the explosion centered on Danny's mana sphere exploded outward, knocking everyone away from its epicenter.

While the druids flew to the sides and back, the guards fell forward onto their shields. Since he had been floating off the ground, Danny had the singular experience of flying up at an angle and into the ceiling where he was forced tightly against it.

Danny already knew from experimenting that touching obstinite didn't affect an ascendant's mana inside his body, but he was now able to confirm a theory he'd had, that obstinite cancelled the mana in an Ascendant Aspect form. The draw wasn't instantaneous, as mana flowed between the crystals throughout his body to the point of contact. Between the blast and striking the ceiling, Danny didn't get a chance to move away in time.

The druids and guards groaned and stood as they took stock of their injuries.

Elder Cardinal stood up, stretching, his back popped audibly, "This right here is why I became the librarian."

"Are you by chance looking to hire a new assistant?" asked Elder Frost, who stood up with a groan. She had managed to get thrown a good distance near the entrance to the vault.

Elder Breeze made it onto his feet and quickly looked around in panic, calling out, "Danny! Where are you?"

The entire room started to panic, before Danny, who had now returned to normal, fell unceremoniously onto Elder Cardinal.

CHAPTER 22

If it weren't for the red walls and ceiling, Danny could swear the staircase leading down into the darkness below was right out of a horror movie. He paused to reconsider his first impression; the overwhelming red definitely gave the whole setting a sort of macabre flair.

"Danny, are you sure you are alright? Let me cast a little healing magic on you just in case," worried Elder Frost.

Danny turned to the grandmotherly elf, "I'm fine, Elder. I am more concerned about Elder Cardinal. I broke his arm and a few ribs… Do the elves have a formal way of making an apology to someone else you accidentally landed on?"

Elder Frost made a scoffing sound, "Don't you worry about him. That old rickety bookshelf will outlive us all. He was only in pain for a few moments before you healed him. He was just glad to have helped protect you from breaking your neck. Once he recovers from the healing, they won't be able to keep him away from this project."

Danny smirked at her attempt to humor him before turning back to consider the darkness below.

"We are about ready to send a few guards down there. This time they will be tying a rope around their waists so we don't have to wait until you can get over there to help them," explained Elder Breeze, before walking away to ensure the preparations were ready.

Danny shook his head, "I already sent some mana down there, and it was drained away by something."

"I went as far as I could and didn't find anything," countered Elder Frost in surprise. "How far can you reach with your mana?"

Danny activated his Mana Aspect and, realizing his bare feet were still touching the floor, jumped quickly into the air.

"I will go check it out myself," Danny called behind him as he began to float down.

A hand wrapped around his ankle in a vice-like grip. Jerking back, Danny found Elder Frost still standing on the other side of the threshold, stopping him from continuing on.

The elder tried to soften her action with a sympathetic smile, "Danny, I know you can do this, but we need to send someone else down there first. We have already put you into harm's way enough times today as it is."

Cranny interrupted, speaking as quickly as he could, *Danny, I was going to wait until you were further down to tell you. I figured out how the doors work.*

*Are you talking about the barriers?*

*Yes, but they are doors, or meant to act as doors. I finished analyzing their patterns, and there was an inherent flaw in the arrangement of runes that could be exploited to cause them to quickly collapse.*

Danny was upset, *Why didn't you tell me about this possibility earlier? Half the people in that room got injured, and they could have easily died had things gone slightly different.*

*Danny, I didn't think I would find anything and just had someone working on it in the background. The reason I am telling you now is that I can reactivate the doors if you give me the word.*

*The doors were destroyed into little pieces.*

*Just trust me. I think this was meant to only be a deterrent for non-ascendants.*

Danny focused back on Elder Frost, politely saying, "Please, let me go."

Two guards appeared before him, blocking his path.

Elder Breeze's head appeared over Elder Frost's shoulder, asking, "Danny, please listen to Frost. We really cannot afford to lose you right now."

Danny considered a few different ways he could get out of this, but they would all involve burning down bridges he would have to cross when he climbed back up the stairs.

Feeding his leftover mana into Elder Frost, he released his Mana Aspect. Elder Frost let out a pent-up breath, as she let go of his ankle so that he wouldn't collapse on the stairs.

"Thank you for understanding, Danny," Elder Breeze stated with audible relief.

Danny walked back into the chamber, "Sure, I am just ready for this to be over with, and I know your guards won't make it very far down those stairs."

Elder Breeze gestured to some chairs that had been brought in for their comfort, "Please, just let us try, and you can rest while you wait. We missed breakfast, so lunch will be brought down soon."

Danny sat down with the elders and watched precisely what he had expected to unfold while eating the delicious palace food. Collapsing not far down the stairway, the poor guard was dragged back up the stairs for a few yards, before the guard could be safely retrieved. Even with the magical healing, Danny doubted the unconscious guard would appreciate that when they woke up.

Elder Breeze looked down forlornly into the darkness and stairs, stating, "Looks like this is where we will stop for now. I doubt we have enough mana to go any further, and I fear we have wasted enough as it is. Do you know how much it would require to take out another one of those…mana thieves, Danny?"

"I used the mana I absorbed from the first barrier to knock out the second. It is far more mana than the total amount I have gathered from the tree since I have been here."

Elder Breeze's eyes widened in disbelief before walking over to collapse in one of the chairs.

Elder Frost asked, "Back to the guessing game then?"

Elder Breeze just nodded silently, then looked around before stating, "I say we break for the day and start our ‘games' again tomorrow. What do you all say?"

Frost and Danny quickly agreed, and they left the chamber to rest for the remainder of the day.

Danny noticed as he was leaving that they had a druid cover up the tunnel he had created, and four guards were stationed at the storage room's entrance.

***

Princess Willow stood waiting in the hallway outside the storage room as Danny was leaving. She smiled brightly upon seeing him.

Walking over, he greeted her lamely, "Hey."

The Princess frowned, "It didn't go well?"

Danny looked away and thought, *Cranny, I understand why they are protecting me, but this is only slowing things down.*

Cranny, sympathetic, said, *I know.*

*Did they send Willow down here to keep me distracted and away from what they see as a danger?*

Cranny seemed unsure, *Could be…*

*So, how do we get back in there and not ruin our relationship with the elves?*

*Sorry, I got nothing, Danny.*

Danny returned to the moment, realizing the Princess was still waiting on a response, a look of grave concern etched on her beautiful face. Then, he had an idea.

With a small smile on his face, Danny whispered conspiratorially, "We are going to be married in a few weeks right?"

The Princess's smile made a return appearance, as she matched his whisper, "Yes, I am so excited."

"Well, you mentioned you were disappointed you were not my first kiss."

Willow's smile stayed where it was, but her eyes turned suspicious real quick, "Yes…"

Danny looked subtly toward the guards around him, "How do we ditch them and have some time to ourselves? You know, just you and me. I always feel like we have an audience every time I am with you."

He knew this was a long shot. The princess looked conflicted, but she surprisingly seemed to genuinely consider what he was asking. He was about to laugh it all off as a weak attempt to embarrass the princess when she surprised him.

"Where did you want to go?" she asked.

Danny almost didn't respond but recovered, saying, "Uhhh, how about in one of these storage rooms? Deep down inside the palace. They probably couldn't find a safer place to leave us alone."

The suspicious look in Willow's eyes returned with a vengeance. With a look that questioned his sanity, Willow asked, "You want to spend time alone…in one of the storage rooms?"

*Danny, this is not going to work, and you are looking like a complete weirdo. You know the guards can hear everything," Cranny complained.

Danny ignored them both and reached out to take Willow's hand, saying sadly, "You know what? I am tired. I think I will just go lay in my room. It was a long night and nothing to show for it."

"Captain," Princess Willow barked while frowning at Danny.

One of the princess's guards stepped forward, "Yes, Your Highness."

"My fiance and I wish to discuss something private and will be down this hallway. There are no other exits, so please stay here and ensure we are not disturbed."

The guard saluted her, and the rest of our guards moved to follow her orders.

With Danny's hand still in hers, the princess led him past the guards and down the hallway she had previously indicated. Turning into a storage room, he noted it was on the opposite side of the hallway from the one he wanted to get back to. He had no doubt she suspected what his true intentions were.

Willow stopped only after walking a few steps into the room. It was filled with furniture, but it was all stacked up like it would collapse on them with a single tug in the wrong direction.

Turning around, the princess smiled thinly, "Alright Danny, you have me all to yourself. What's this really all about?"

Cranny called out, *I'm ready on my end. You are cleared for launch!*

Danny confirmed the guards had remained where they were told to and leaned forward, pressing his lips to Willow's.

The princess's body froze up in shock at first, and Danny sensed she was about to pull away from him. But to his surprise, she started kissing him back. It was then Danny's turn for a shock when Willow's tongue entered the fray.

*Danny.*

*Uhh, you there Danny…*

*Danny, I'm done!*

Pulling away, Danny saw that the princess's eyes had been closed, and she now opened them. Willow's large blue-green eyes seemed to study Danny as she smiled.

Cranny whined loudly, *It's not fair. I missed most of that, and now she is going to be pissed.*

As if cued in by some slip in the expression on his face, the smile gradually fell from Willow's lips.

Danny tried for a preemptive strike with an award-winning smile and flattery, asking,"You in for a little stroll, my princess?"

Willow turned her suspicious eyes toward the door, well, where the door used to be. The bark making up the wall now smoothly continued across where the doorway used to be.

"Danny, what are you doing?" demanded Willow as she returned her focus back to him.

Danny's face had an expression as if to say, "Who me?"

Willow's eyes narrowed dangerously as she shifted a foot backwards in a subtle fighting stance.

Extending his hand and bowing low the princess, Danny formally asked,"Would Your Highness do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to the Archdruid Wisteria's vaul…"

Willow's mood changed in an instant as she pushed him backwards excitedly,"Yes, yes yes. Now stop all that bowing nonsense. Let's go!"

***

Willow practically dragged Danny out of the opposite end of the newly created tunnel.

"All these flowers are very romantic, Danny, nice touch," the princess complimented as they reached the entrance to the obstinite chamber.

Danny was wondering about that as well. Almost every surface of the new tunnel had a sizeable sacred flower growing from it.

Cranny mumbled defensively, *While you were playing vacuum cleaner with the princess's face, I was having a difficult time focusing on making the new tunnel.*

Danny slowed down, bringing the princess up short due to their joined hands, *Wow Cranny, and you inadvertently created flowers huh? That is so precio….*

*Shut up!*

*Maybe you should open your own shop… I know! Carnations by Cranny,* Danny suggested in a sickeningly sweet and overly excited voice.

Danny felt a small amount of mana escape him, and the ground bulged slightly, causing him to lose his grip on the princess's hand and land flat on his face.

The princess stifled a laugh, before rushing to help him,"Are you alright, Danny? Maybe you should hold my hand tighter. I forget how human you can sometimes be."

Danny let some of his anger at Cranny show in the glare he leveled at Willow.

The princess visibly wilted,"My apologies, Danny; it was just a joke."

Danny stood up and shook his head, "No, don't apologize. My pride was just hurt."

Entering the vault for the first time, Willow looked around as if she would find the archdruid hiding in one of the corners,"Wow, it's so… red."

*Cranny, can you close this barrier…I mean door, again?*

*Yep, hang on.*

The scattered pieces of iron on the floor flew up, merging together in the opening. Danny came close to getting struck in the head by one piece which had somehow made it to the far side of the room.

Once the whole thing was in place, the enchantment flowed like it had before. The barrier from the inside was concave but other than that, not much was different.

"Why did you do that?" cautiously asked Willow.

Danny smiled, reassuringly,"Because I don't want the elders or guards stopping me from looking at what's down there."

The princess looked confused, "What makes you think they will do that?"

Danny shrugged, "Because that's what I would do if I were in their place."

The princess paused and looked offended,"Then, what makes you think I won't stop you?"

Danny smiled happily at her,"You could have before, but you didn't." Then Danny studied her curiously,"Why didn't you?"

The princess looked away, mumbling,"My mother wouldn't let me."

Danny leaned around her so that he could see her face, "Let you what, Willow?"

Sighing, Willow explained,"My mother said it was too dangerous, and I barely was able to get her to bring me with her when she visited earlier."

"That…must be frustrating," Danny said sympathetically.

Willow didn't respond and looked down the newly exposed stairway and into the darkness below, asking, "You sure it's safe?"

"It will be in a second," Danny reassured her as he jumped into the air, activating Mana Aspect.

Danny began floating down the stairway, which was comfortably large enough for him to do so. He deactivated a total of three small enchanted plates, set high into the ceiling, before reaching the bottom.

The darkness had posed no problem for him, but Willow had to cast her own light to see by.

Danny, not seeing any further threats, pushed the remaining small amount of the mana still in his aspect into the princess. If she noticed, she didn't visibly react. Though when faced with what was now before them, it was understandable why she could be distracted.

"My mother and I spent all evening excitedly trying to guess what was down here," the princess quietly admitted.

"The elders and I couldn't decide which was more likely. A workshop, a treasure trove, or the archdruid herself," Danny said around his obviously disappointed frown.

Danny cast a few more lights around the new chamber, but his frown only deepened. The added light didn't improve things.

Danny ran a hand through his hair as he looked around uncomfortably,"Everything is so purple and…"

"Frilly," Willow offered.

Danny nodded,"Yeah, that."

The stairway ended in another large chamber. This one had been covered in a light marble, from floor to the walls. The obstinite ceiling had been left unaltered.

The new chamber had apparently been used as a living space, with three areas partitioned by marble walls not quite reaching the ceiling. Danny noted the ceiling here was not as high as the previous chamber's. The marble wall partitions ran from the opposite side of the chamber toward where they now stood, leaving enough space to walk around them from room to room. The far right section was staged as a bedroom, while the middle had a full kitchen and dining area. The left-most segment was a cozy den, with couches, fireplace, and a bookshelf.

Everything in the room that was made from fabric had as many ruffles on it as physically possible. Not just any kind of ruffle--huge, elaborate ruffles. Hanging from the ceiling were numerous ropes with round ruffled purple fabric cascading down them like petals.

"She really took the wisteria theme to a truly uncomfortable level," Danny said before shuddering.

The princess shrugged,"I think it's kind of cute."

Danny looked questioningly at Willow. He was seriously concerned about her mental health.

"Now, I know why she hid this behind two enchanted doorways," Danny scoffed as he took in the room again.

*Cranny, when you scanned the outside of the vault, did it match up with the areas we have visited?*

*No, there is twice as much left over to explore, but it should be below us.*

Danny walked over to the den, "There has to be more. Let's check the books for clues. She is bound to have an impressive collection."

The princess followed him, warning, "Be careful, Danny. Like you said, everything must be at least a millennia-old by now."

Danny grabbed the first book on the shelf with care before realizing what he was looking at,"It's fine. Everything has a preservation enchantment on it. I can barely look at the room with my mana sight without getting a headache."

With a magic light floating over his head, Danny started reading and stacking book after book onto the table beside the bookshelf.

Willow was looking through some of the books Danny had already set to the side,"These are all poetry…poetry she wrote."

Danny grumbled, looking through the next book,"Yeah, and really bad poetry at tha…wait."

The princess moved closer to see what he is reading,"What is it?"

Danny started laughing. The laughing got louder until he couldn't stand up any longer and collapsed on a nearby couch.

"Danny, what did you find?"

Danny stopped laughing,"Figures, the first fictional novel I find in this world, and it's a romance novel."

The princess looked confused, "This world…wait, romance, let me see."

Danny pulled the book away before she could grab it, "No, you will get unrealistic expectations about the size of… Never mind, that's not why we are here!"

The princess pouted and crossed her arms as Danny placed the offending book high on top of the bookshelf.

Danny kept looking through the books until he, disgusted, reached the last, throwing it onto the pile of books next to him, "Poetry, every single one of them! Amateur poetry at that…"

*Danny, I searched through everything you looked at, and there was no discernible hidden code or meaning. I would like to clarify that we never studied code breaking so someone else might actually find something. Also, we now have a section of the sanctuary's library called ‘Poetry.' I took the initiative and moved it toward the back.*

Danny looked listlessly around the den but paused as he heard giggling coming from another part of the chamber. Realizing he was now alone in the den, he immediately looked to the top of the bookshelf to find it empty.

Rushing into the kitchen, he found it empty as well and continued on. Entering the bedroom area, he discovered Willow laying on the archdruid's bed, reading the romance novel. Her eyes were comically wide as she held her fist to her mouth, biting back fits of laughter. The princess hadn't noticed Danny yet and must have crossed a particularly interesting passage, as the princess gave up all pretense of keeping quiet. Kicking her long legs, Willow rolled on the bed in a fit of laughter as she clutched the book to her chest.

Annoyed, Danny asked, *Cranny, did you block me from seeing her take that?*

Cranny didn't hesitate to reply, *Yes, one of her previous comments made me realize that we are potentially reaching the uncanny valley with our abilities. Plus, the princess gets so happy and cute when she can surprise… Hey, Danny, what's with that dresser?*

Danny reluctantly halted his plans of tackling the princess on the bed. Only to get the book back, of course.

He scrutinized the dresser in question, grumbling, *I-I don't see it.*

*Use your mana sight.*

Danny made a face, *Uhhh, alright.*

The room turned to a sickly white. With all the preservation enchantments assaulting his vision, he wondered how the archdruid ever found anything in here.

*What am I looking for, Cranny?*

*Look at what's not there.*

Danny rolled his eyes, *Thanks sensei Cranny…*

*Near the bottom of the dresser,* added Cranny, helpfully.

Danny studied the piece of furniture as he moved closer, only to see that Cranny was right. Down at the bottom, near the back, the preservation enchantment was oddly missing. There was a distinct dark spot.

Squatting down, Danny grabbed the bottom drawer and pulled it out. The drawer didn't glide smoothly out as expected. Even with the drawer partially out, the dark mass stayed in its original location at the far back of the dresser.

Searching around in the drawer, Danny did his best to carefully move aside the clothing that had been seemingly packed as densely as possible inside. The process was taking too long for Danny's short patience, so he started unceremoniously scooping the material out on the ground around him.

Danny didn't know when she snuck up on him, but Willow's concerned voice asked, "Uhhh, Danny, why are you playing in the archdruid's underwear drawer?"

Danny quickly released his mana sight to look at what was in his hands.

They were panties. Danny now had both fists full of panties.

*Fists Full of Panties… That would be an awesome band name! I am adding that one to the list below Savage Ponies…there, and done,* Cranny mumbled seemingly to himself.

Willow continued in an uncomfortable tone, "The girls didn't mention you having that…inclination. I guess I don't mind, but please just put the archdruid's unmentionables back. She is not here, and it's really creepy…"

Danny dropped what was in his hands to glance back at the princess with a long-suffering look before leaning forward to dig something out of the back of the drawer.

The entire back of the drawer was gone, and the…ladies underthings there were nothing more than remnants and dust. Danny felt a smooth and hard block of something at the back nearest the wall. It wasn't that heavy, and he managed to effortlessly pull it out. Panty dust flew everywhere, and Danny had to cough a few times until it settled down.

Willow saw what was in his hands and could only manage an, "Ohhhh…"

The object was a box made out of obstinite. It explained why the enchantments had unravelled near the back of the dresser. Didn't make much sense if you were trying to hide it there.

Cranny guessed, *Maybe something happened, and she didn't think she would be gone this long.*

Danny turned the box around until he located the opening on the side opposite the hinge. Carefully lifting the lid, something shot out across the room.

Willow and Danny's heads turned to follow it where it hit the bedroom partition with a loud clicking sound.

Walking over to the partition, Danny just stared at the small disc no wider than his finger. It had stuck flat against the short wall and quit moving.

"Why did it do that?" asked Willow now next to him.

Danny shrugged and reached out to pick the disc off the wall. While it was easy to do, Danny could tell the thing was still wanting to go toward the wall. The marble partition didn't appear to be anything special. Danny knew from seeing the side that the wall was only maybe six centimeters thick.

Willow suggested, "Try throwing it in the air."

Danny couldn't hide what he thought about that stupid suggestion, when he frowned and shrugged, tossing it in the air. The disc flew up and then shot over the partition. On the other side of the room, there was another loud click. Danny looked at the princess in surprise as she had crossed her arms with a smug look on her face.

Coming around the bedroom partition, they found the disc stuck on the kitchen side of the den's partition. Willow reached it first and glanced briefly at Danny before reaching out, lightly tossing the disc into the air again.

This time there was no click. Instead, there were the sounds of stone moving and separating.

Walking into the den, Willow and Danny watched as the stone fireplace collapsed in on itself to reveal another set of stairs leading down into more darkness. This staircase was different, though, as it almost immediately spiraled as it travelled downward.

The two shared a fleeting look before walking down into the darkness together.

CHAPTER 23

The spiraling staircase held no surprises like the last staircase. Unless you count it feeling as if they would eventually reach the center of the planet as they seemingly went on forever. Though when they started to reach the bottom, a light began to filter up from whatever was awaiting them below.

Danny insisted on going down first and checking for anything hazardous. Willow reluctantly agreed to wait, albeit impatiently, in clear view of the bottom of the stairs.

Peeking slowly around the edge of the entryway and into the newest chamber, Danny discovered that a barrier of air magic was filling the entryway. He could tell that something was slightly different in this air barrier from the ones used in the sacred tree. However, just like the ones in the sacred trees, Danny's head easily passed through so that he could carefully scan the rest of the chamber for potential threats.

*Wow, there is a massive amount of free mana in here, and ugh, it's incredibly humid,* complained Danny.

*Worried about your hair, Pretty Boy?* mocked Cranny.

There was a potent enchantment in the ceiling. It acted like a small sun to the dense jungle that blocked his view of the rest of the chamber. Through his mana sight, he could see mana pouring out of it like a water mister, pushing mana out and into the room. The ground, at least on this side of the chamber, was comprised of soil. Cranny pointed out a few sacred trees hidden among the other plants. With all the free mana, he couldn't tell what else was out there.

Willow whisper-yelled from where she was still waiting above, "Danny, what do you see?"

Danny looked up at the princess, pleading, "Willow, I am going to ask you to stay there. There are some potentially dangerous things in here that I need to check out first. Please stay where you are."

The princess looked as if she would argue but then silently sat down on the stairs.

Danny moved into the room and paused, *What do you think?*

*I don't like it. Reminds me of the beginning to too many horror/suspense movies.*

Annoyed, Danny grumbled, *That's not exactly helpful…*

*Let's get out of Mana Aspect, and I will have Air Aspect ready to go. If we can't cut the potential threat, we can always quickly retreat and grab the princess on the way,* Cranny suggested.

*That's a lot better! Remind me to give you another one of those raise thingies.*

Danny sent his excess mana into the princess again, who made a cute shocked sound, before he switched back to Air Aspect. Flying high, he stopped over the vegetation but couldn't visibly make out what was below. Even his heightened Air Scan seemed to be disrupted by all the free-floating mana.

Danny decided to just keep going on to the far side of the chamber. Based on Cranny's previous scans from outside the vault, this chamber should take up the same area of the other two combined.

The jungle abruptly ended, and Danny passed through another odd (though similar to the previous) barrier of air magic. The oppressive humidity of the jungle area was immediately gone, and Danny paused to look over the new space he had just entered.

Taking up roughly a third of the chamber, Danny found the hoped-for archdruid's workspace. Like the second chamber, this area's floor and most of the wall was lined with marble.

Long tables were placed on one side and a couple of bookshelves on the other. The tables were covered with what Danny could only guess were tools and projects in different states of completion.

Drawn toward the bookshelves, he stopped himself with only the greatest effort, knowing that Willow was waiting on him. She too would want to see all this and wouldn't be content to wait much longer.

Turning back, he started to fly over the jungle again, when he decided he should see what it was like inside. Releasing his Air Aspect, Danny chose to continue on foot.

Danny was pleased to find a pathway he hadn't noticed before running down the middle of the jungle. Moving aside branches and stepping over shrubs, Danny did his best to keep to the path.

Danny couldn't hide his frustration and shock, *I can't believe all this survived for this long down here.*

*Danny, was that something on the sacred tree to your left?*

Danny stopped and turned back to the tree they had just passed. There was a squirrel just sitting there, looking down at Danny. Its body was made entirely of the same material as the vault.

*Cranny, am I seeing this right?*

*Yeah, that is the reddest squirrel I have ever seen. You think it dyes its hair?*

Ignoring Cranny's quips, Danny asked worriedly, *You think it's dangerous?*

Cranny scoffed, "Danny, it's just a cute fluffy squirrel…*

Danny stepped a little closer, and the ‘fluffy' squirrel lunged at him.

A huge ball of air blast shot away from Danny, hitting the squirrel dead center, but it was only halted mid-lunge, falling to the ground.

Cranny yelled, "Damn, that thing is heavy! Let's just run, Danny!"

Danny rushed through the brush, back toward the workspace. Another ball of air shot out of Danny, and a second squirrel was halted only centimeters from hitting him.

Cranny worriedly yelled, *Air Scan is buggy as hell in all this mana. I can't really spot them until they are almost on top of us.*

Detecting another ‘furry' missile, Danny turned in a panic, his go-to fireball prepared to cast in his hand.

Pushing the squirrel away with air, Cranny admonished, *No fire! Enclosed, airtight spaces, and flammable plant matter do not mix. Use something else!*

To his horror, more obstinite squirrels poured from the underbrush and surrounding trees. He had been hoping that the one squirrel was just really fast.

Cranny tried to surround them in a cushion of still air, but there were just too many. While some squirrels were halted mid-air by the dome of stilled air, the other squirrels started slowly kicking and knocking each other through. It wasn't long before Danny was being turned black and blue from the deluge of little furious paws and bodies.

"ENOUGH," screamed Danny and an area of two meters around him froze in an instant. Little frozen red ice cubes and vegetation fell all around him.

*Wow, Danny, good job! I should have thought of that…*

*Did I get all of them?* Danny asked as he looked around in concern.

Cranny paused, *I think so. Otherwise, they would probably still be attacking.*

Danny took a moment to catch his breath, *Why didn't we just fly out of there?*

*…uhhh, I don't know. Why didn't you think of that earlier?*

Danny admonished, *You were the one who said you would have it ready when we first came in here. You should have thought of it!*

There was a cracking sound, and Danny's head turned toward a red shard of ice to his left, *Are they breaking out?*

There was another cracking sound to his right, and as he turned, another of the red ice cubes started to shake.

*Danny, let's get out of here. Now!*

The sound of more ice cracking filled the air behind him as Danny ran as hard as he could toward the work area.

Cranny's panicked voice pierced through Danny's frantic thoughts, *Ahhh, what are you doing? Fly Danny!*

Danny activated Air Aspect and flew the rest of the way to the barrier. As he passed through the barrier over, a dozen squirrels bounced off it, as if it were a solid wall.

Danny turned around, ready for a fight, only to find dozens of obstinite squirrels just standing there, facing him, unmoving.

*Ahhh, that's so damn creepy! Make them go away!* screamed Cranny, hysterically.

Danny floated away slowly and switched to Mana Aspect, *Can we deactivate them like the doors?*

*Hang on, let me see. Uhh, they are too creepy, and the air in there has so much mana.*

Danny agreed, *And here I thought her choice in decorating was what was messed up.*

Danny looked around the jungle to see if he could spot any more squirrels, not already patiently waiting to play Kick the Ascendant.

Danny spotted something odd near the edge of the air barrier, *Cranny.*

*Hang on, Danny. These things are a lot more complex than those doors. If we had encountered these first, I would never have figured the trick out. And…I got it.*

One by one, little red bodies tipped over to lay on the ground.

*Now, what is it, Danny?*

Danny floated over the jungle to hover next to one of the sacred trees. The tree was not very large, being confined to the chamber. What Danny had spotted were the large fruits hanging along one of the branches.

*It has a connection to the source,* exclaimed Cranny reverently.

*Look, there's a seed in there…*

Cranny couldn't contain his frustration, *But how?*

Danny looked around and spotted a cluster of three flowers, blooming on another branch. His vision enhanced by the Mana Aspect, he saw what he had missed before. Each flower had a faint dark spot in the center.

*Danny, what is that?*

Danny didn't reply and sent mana out and into the closest flower. The flower's dark spot greedily accepted the mana, and Danny fed it more.

*Cranny, note how much mana I use,* Danny commanded.

Cranny didn't remark on Danny's tone, saying, *Sure. We are at ten percent, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five…*

Shortly after Cranny reached over sixty percent, the flower shriveled up into a bulb. Danny was worried at first, but then, the bulb started swelling until it took on the familiar shape and color of the tree's fruit.

*It's been staring us in the face the whole time…* Cranny said in disbelief. He added, *That's no joke either as that was over half of the mana you can store.*

Danny was confused, *But why didn't we see it when we… Wait, we have never been near a flower while in Mana Aspect.*

Grabbing the fruit, Danny rushed back to the stairwell.

Willow was reading with her back to the entryway so that she could see the book's text clearly with the light.

Danny paused upon realizing that she still had that book. Coughing into his hand, it took three tries, each louder than the next, before the princess heard him.

Startled at being caught, Willow fell backwards down a few steps before catching herself up against the wall. Standing up and refusing to look him in the eye, Willow complained, "What took you so long, Danny?"

Danny didn't see where the book had landed in the fall, but it had somehow ‘magically' disappeared. Ignoring that for now, Danny handed her the sacred tree fruit.

Danny boasted, "There are a few dangerous beasts in there but nothing I couldn't avoid easily. It might be a bit longer before I am sure it is completely safe."

Taking a bite into the fruit, Princess Willow swallowed before asking, "How did beasts survive down here all this t... What? Why are you staring like that?"

Danny snatched the fruit out of her hands and reached inside where she had just bitten, only to pull out a seed.

Willow's eyes widened as she pointed at the seed, "Is that what I think it is?"

Danny just nodded at her, while grinning.

The princess squealed and tackled Danny to the ground. From on top of him, Willow studied the seed in her hand one more time before leaning down to kiss him soundly.

***

"Do you think they are waiting outside?" Danny whispered as if they might hear him.

The princess just gave Danny a levelled look for asking a such a stupid question.

Raising his hands in defeat, Danny sighed, "Sorry I asked."

In his Mana Aspect, Danny opened the door he had sealed to the outside.

A wall of elven soldiers awaited them on the other side. Each had a bow drawn, prepared to fire.

"Danny, release my daughter immediately; then, turn yourself over to my guards," the queen's voice brokered no arguments.

Willow huffed, "Mother, I am fine, and Danny found some sacred tree seeds..."

The queen's head comically popped around the corner, her look suspicious. She immediately zeroed in on the seed in Willow's hands, "Is it true? Oh please let it be!"

The queen rushed forward to embrace her daughter and to look at the seed herself. Reaching over to grab one, the queen held up the plain but sizeable brown seed, remarking, "It's magnificent!"

Cranny grumbled, *Do you think her husband knows about her and that seed?*

The queen led her daughter toward the entryway but stopped when she saw Danny wasn't following her, "Danny?"

"Sorry for going on my own and dragging the princess with me."

The queen took one of Danny's arms in her own and led him out of the archdruid's vault, "Danny, it is more than alright. You have just given us a little more time to figure out how to create the seeds ourselves. Unless there was a record or instructions down there to help us?"

Danny smiled and found the gathering of armed guards hadn't disturbed the flowers which Cranny had created earlier. Selecting the closest flower, Danny filled it with the same amount of mana he had used below, almost draining his slightly restored reserves dry in the process.

The flower shriveled up and from the bud grew a fruit. Danny reached down and removed the fruit. Taking a bite into its sweet flesh, he dug in the resulting hole to remove the seed hidden within.

There was a collective gasp, and the queen took the seed from him as if it was the first one she had seen.

Looking between the seed and Danny multiple times, the queen threw her arms around his neck, "Thank you, thank you, Danny," said the queen as she cried into his shoulder.

Danny awkwardly patted the queen's back. This seemed to bring the queen back to her senses, and she straightened up quickly, composing herself.

Turning to the nearest guard, the queen commanded, "Tell the elder council all is well and to meet us on the northeast outskirts of the city."

The guard saluted and rushed off.

"Where were the elders? I figured they be here waiting," Danny asked.

The queen looked embarrassed, "My apologies for doubting you Danny, but I feared your rogue actions might signal a threat to our people and..."

Danny raised a hand, interrupting her, "I would have done the same. Now, if you will excuse me a second, we don't want anyone wandering down there. I had to dodge a few dangerous things that I am uncertain I neutralized."

Danny turned back to the sanctuary's opening, raising a hand. The door over the entrance to the vault came together, sealing it off.

Cranny whined, *I don't want to go grow trees. I want to go play in the archdruid's workshop.*

Danny smiled sadly, *Me too, but Diadem can't afford to wait.*

CHAPTER 24

The edge of the city was normally a quiet place, but this day the peace was disrupted by the argument of two dozen robed, wrinkly elves.

They were all huddled around a table in the middle of the clearing between the last buildings and the forest's edge.

"...we should grow homes first! Too many have had to resort to living in fabricated housing. What are we, humans?"

"You just want to grow a home so you can get away from that noblewoman who has been trying to get her hooks in you for the last three decades."

Elder Breeze looked nervously at the queen and princess who stood not far off. The two royals had wanted to be present but understood that the council needed privacy to discuss important matters. The head elder waved his hands in an attempt to get the council's attention before finally resorting to yelling, "Silence!"

The gathered druids all quieted down, while crankily glaring at their elected head. Not a single one looked the least bit contrite for their behavior.

Staring them each down, the elder calmly explained, "For almost two millennia we have been unable to increase our grove, and the second we do I can't get you bunch of squabbling crows to shut up. The queen has declared more housing, and that is what we are going to do."

Pausing to make sure no one was going to interrupt him, Elder Breeze continued, "Now, Danny here has come to watch us in order to learn how we druids use our ritual magic to grow our trees."

The elders all bowed or nodded at Danny, where he currently stood next to Elder Breeze, in recognition.

Elder Breeze explained, "Now everyone, we will be growing this house here..."

An elder on the far side grumbled, "That's not very big; if I was going to..."

Elder Breeze spoke over the interrupting elder, "We will be growing this tree here, and in fact, we will keep growing this tree for all the rest of these seeds."

Danny looked down at the diagram that showed a single family home. It had room for over a dozen elves to live in, and that was with everyone having their own room.

Elder Breeze directed the group through the growing spell and the runes they would use. The elders read over the runes a few times, easily memorizing them.

Elder Breeze, with the seed, stood in the center, the other elders gathered in a full circle around him. The head elder planted the seed and backed up quickly as they began chanting in unison.

Nothing happened for a second, and then, a sapling shot out of the ground. Rising high up into the sky, it began to expand outward.

Even though they had shared the runes used in the spell, Danny still chose to watch through his Mana Aspect. This allowed him to see how the magic all flowed and combined to create the wonder appearing before his eyes.

After what felt like fifteen minutes, the tree was finished. Claps and cheers came from where the royalty waited nearby. A crowd of elven citizens had decided to brave the cold air and find out what was happening. Soon, they were all excited to watch their city grow in size and joined in with cheering the druids on.

The elder council took a moment to rest, their heavy breathing noticeable in the frigid air. Bolstered by the crowd, the elders moved over to start again on the second tree. Danny switched to his Nature Aspect and watched as the new tree drew minerals and water from deep within the earth to fuel its rapid growth. The elders couldn't rely on just the nutrients in the immediate vicinity but needed to draw what else they required directly from deeper down in the earth.

Danny had finally learned or been allowed to see, the rune for compartmentalizing the lights, heat, and air barriers. It was a containment rune specifically keyed toward ascendant physiology.

The elders now looked physically exhausted, and Danny took pity on them by growing chairs out of one of the roots of the tree they had just produced.

The elders thanked him, and Danny pulled out a seed he had secreted away. Having seen the plans, Danny knew where the next house was to go, and he planted the seed there.

Having not had enough time to recover his spent mana, Danny, still in Nature Aspect, extended his roots to the two new trees and tapped into their mana flows. He made sure not to tax the still maturing plants, only using the excess mana regeneration.

Danny slowly began growing the next tree. With the excess flow from the first two trees, he couldn't go as fast as the elder council, but he had the third tree up in a little less than an hour.

Tapping into the third tree, Danny shouted, "Elder Breeze, the next seed."

The elder rushed over to plant a fourth seed, and Danny repeated the process. By that evening, Danny had over two dozen new homes grown as had been planned.

Coming out of his seemingly mindless focus, he found the entire city had gathered to view the new homes. A great feast had been prepared in the middle of one of the clusters of new trees.

Willow appeared out of the last tree he had grown and ran over on her lithe legs while rubbing her arms to ward off the cold air. Reaching him, she quickly reached out to hug him. Releasing his Nature Aspect, Danny hugged her back.

The princess pulled away enough to see his face, "Stop working, and come eat, Danny. It's cold over here, and everyone wants to meet you."

Danny stretched his stiff muscles and let her take his hand as they walked toward the long tables of food and the cheering crowds. A few of the druids with Flame Affinity had erected a large area of warmth supplemented by fire pits set up between long tables.

***

Finally getting to eat took a while, as Danny felt every elf in the city wished to either meet or thank him, personally. The secret of the dwindling mana supply either wasn't as much of a mystery among the elves as the queen had thought or someone had spilled the beans on recent events.

Either way, it didn't matter to Danny. He just wanted to sit down and try some of the delicious smelling food.

His Sacred Tree Form usually provided him with everything he needed, but raw nutrients and minerals had nothing on the elves' sacred fruit braised ribs. The sweet meat seemed to melt in his mouth. Danny decided that all the best food required as little chewing as possible.

Willow waved him over to a table where the entire royal family, the Basalts, and his Trio were seated.

Danny immediately noted that General Barrow and Prince Hawke looked tired while there was a noticeable lack of smiles and merriment from the Basalts and his Trio.

Turning to the Ivy on his left, Danny asked, "What's going on? What has happened?"

Ivy turned from his question to glance at Arya and the queen, the both of whom nodded to her silent question.

"Crossbars is gone," said Ivy.

Prince Hawke, who was sitting on the other side of Princess Willow to his right, elaborated, "The town held up well against the seemingly endless goblin assault. Then, the goblin shamans found a way into the city and used their dark magic to corrupt some of the townsfolk. The people of Crossbark used the knowledge Lieutenant Cove gained from the first battle to stop the spread of corruption. However, before the army could isolate and put down those affected, half the town was already gone.

My father and I led some of our troops in protecting the rest of the citizens as they escaped to the capital. Diadem's forces remained to continue the defense of the city, but with the relentless goblin attacks, all they could do was delay the inevitable."

Danny sat frozen in shock at this news, *I thought we had more time. Could we have stopped them?*

*No Danny, our mana regeneration would have eventually run out, and there is no way we could have cleansed that many people of entropy magic.*

Danny came out of his stupor, saying, "Thank you for assisting the people, Your Royal Highness, General Barrow." Danny made sure to bow respectfully to each of them.

The prince smiled, nodding to Danny while the Barrow said, "Danny, while the second goblin army has settled down to occupy Crossbark, our scouts report a third army is being raised back at the ancient fortress. This army is even larger than the last and will either move on to the capital or split to attack the other outlying cities and towns."

Danny pondered this and asked, "Have I raised enough trees to empower your soldiers and druids, or will I need to create more? This war will not be won without our two countries working together."

General Barrow looked thoughtful, "I spoke with the druids on that. The trees you have grown are young and will not produce as much mana as the older ones, but if you can keep growing the city, we will be ready that much faster. I would rather attack them with overwhelming force than risk my soldiers by taking them into a battle with only half their potential mana and capabilities."

With pleading and apologetic eyes, the queen added, "Danny, we had not planned for this many trees to be grown so fast, and my aids are working right now on the expanded city plans. If you could wait and follow those blueprints, we would be most appreciative. The druids will provide you with the additional chants to complete the other types of buildings we will want you to grow."

Danny sighed, "Of course, Your Majesty. Since I can split my concentration, I will want to study while doing this. I will go back to the archdruid's vault to retrieve some reading material. Once I have read through it, I will hand it over to Elder Cardinal. I will ask you not stop me from reading anything and will grant me access to anything from the druid's library as well. There may be something I can learn that gives us more of an edge in this battle."

The queen and general shared a brief look, before the queen replied, "My people and their knowledge are at your disposal."

Danny bowed to her from where he was sitting. Looking to the other side of the table, he saw the mood was brighter.

Arya smiled and silently whispered her thanks to him.

Danny made sure to greet Ivy, Jade, and Brooke individually before greedily grabbing a braised rib from his plate. With his first bite, he somehow managed to smear most of the sauce on his face. A smile of contentment crossed his face before thoughts of what he needed to accomplish threatened to drive it away.

"Danny," asked Ivy, with a concerned look.

Danny turned and smiled reassuringly at her.

Laughing at the mess on his face, Ivy reached up to try and clean the sauce from it but feeling mischievous, Danny took another huge bite, only smearing more sauce. Ivy pouted at his antics, and Danny surprised himself by leaning forward to try and kiss her. Ivy laughed and pushed back Danny's head, keeping him at arm's length.

Danny had mercy on the poor girl and let her be. Pushing his worries to the side, he took another bite and just basked in the cheerful atmosphere while it lasted.

***

In the middle of a rapidly growing forest of homes, Danny stood in his Sacred Tree Form. He was currently connected to at least half a dozen other trees as Cranny worked the magic to grow them. Two elves stood nearby, ready to assist him with whatever he needed.

Danny was also busy looking through the books that had been brought to him from the druid's library.

He had already returned to the archdruid's vault to collect what he could. A lot of her notes and experiments were unsalvageable; nothing but dust remained.

He took the time to look over one of the red squirrels. Cranny told him that, thanks to their photographic memory, they could just glance over the runes and their placement, and he would analyze it later, as he had done with the barriers to the vault.

When they had reached the bookshelves, Danny suggested they use the photographic memory the same way. Cranny confirmed that just by Danny looking at a page for long enough, they could go back and review what had been written later. It wasn't actually a speed cheat, but it was a way to take the texts with them, in case something took them away from the elven capital.

What notes the Archdruid had enchanted with preservation runes held a cryptic or fractured knowledge which Danny would need more context to understand. Maybe the tomes on her bookshelf would lead him to the answers he sought.

Briefly looking at their content, Danny found that the vast majority of the archdruid's collection of books did not hold anything revolutionary. There were a few surprises, though, and he took those to actually read first while he worked.

The first book was written in what Danny could best guess was Dwarf. The archdruid's side notes gave hints as to what the book was about and what she had discovered. With this, he learned that obstinite was made from massive amounts of mana condensed into common quartz. This new material did not negate magic but absorbed it and stored it. The archdruid's notes also spoke of a way to remove the mana from obstinite, but Danny was frustrated to find that she had not included specific instructions.

The second book was on alchemy. The principle of the book was around the use of the sacred trees' ascendancy to augment potions. For example, using leaves infused with Harmony Aspect in a potion would heal a person as if it had been cast on them. Danny saw much potential for this new information.

The last book was the archdruid's own notebook. It delved into the art of enterchanting, the art of enchanting by using interconnected runes. Only a solid object that is broken into smaller pieces can be used for this purpose. In the squirrel's case, a single piece of quartz was split apart, enchanted, and then infused with mana to turn it into obstinite. Normal enchanting usually involved a single uniform piece, like the blade of a knife, and a specific number of ever-increasing concentric runes. The more complex the enchantment, the larger the rune one would have to visualize when enchanting. Enterchanting had the benefit of bypassing this large visualization requirement by breaking it up into smaller parts.

His study of the squirrel was still underway. Cranny said that the Archdruid had actually made a simple brain for the squirrels but that it was taking some time to unravel. Cranny admitted that the vault's entrance barriers were simple to solve because there were only a couple dozen pieces. These squirrels contained hundreds of connected parts, and he wasn't sure that he would ever be able to understand the creature as a whole.

With the archdruid's notebook, Danny discovered Enchanting. By infusing mana into an object with the desired rune, one could create an activated enchantment. In other words, one would have to actively add mana to the enchantment for it to work. The archdruid used the mana stored in the obstinite and some method, still unknown to Danny, to keep the enchantments working.

Having finished reading everything from the archdruid's bookshelf, Danny began scanning the remaining elven tomes into his sanctuary's library. When he next had a free moment, he would be able to read them at his leisure.

*Hey Cranny, have I gained any levels since I last visited the sanctuary?*

*Hmmmm, yes. Can't talk much. Must focus on chanting. Check yourself. Lazy.*

Setting aside the tome he just finished, Danny entered his sanctuary and came out of the portal into his skill room. The first thing he noticed was that his intelligence was almost at the next threshold. He went over to the console and figured out how to display only the recently acquired skill levels. The walls around him darkened, and then three hexagons were illuminated. The three hexagons displayed the same skill. "Enchanting" was considered a "Crafting" skill and had risen by three ranks. Each image showed his newfound knowledge in enchanting.

Leaving the skill room he entered the small rune room to discover his "Runecraft" skill had risen to level seven. He really needed to go through and figure out what Cranny had gathered from their trip down into the archdruid's vault. While he could see the runes in the barriers and squirrels, that didn't mean he understood them. Fortunately, a good portion of them were covered in the archdruid's notes and tomes.

The mana room was last, and he was pleased to see Nature Affinity was now level nine. Ice Affinity was level three, and Danny shuddered at the only reason he had used Ice Affinity.

Cranny floated into the mana room, "Hey Danny, I finished the latest batch of sacred trees. We can move on to the next."

"Why didn't you tell me Nature Affinity had reached level nine?" Danny asked.

Cranny shrugged, "Nothing happens really, so I figured I would just tell you if you hit a new threshold on one of the attributes or max out a skill. I can't wait to see what happens when one does!"

"That seems fair. There really haven't been a lot of skill gains lately," lamented Danny.

"Yeah, but we need to finish those books before the goblin army starts to move. I wouldn't be surprised if we get caught up in something else and lose our access to them," complained Cranny.

CHAPTER 25

The outskirts of over a quarter of the elven capital city were now composed entirely of sacred trees. The druids declared the mana crisis abated, for now. It had taken Danny only four days to complete this feat, and the goblin army had yet to make its move. The elven scouts claimed that the goblins seemed to be content to just train and breed.

Danny still had at least three more full days' worth of reading to get through the rest of the elven library's collection. He had read through most of the practical texts and had entered into the individual tomes and notebooks left behind by deceased druids. He figured that these would be less likely to contain information of importance, though he did not doubt there were hidden gems inside the numerous volumes he had left to read.

It was frustrating spending all that time and not receiving anything for it, but it would provide him with potential gains later.

A soldier walked over to Danny, and saluted him, "Ascendant, we have what you requested. We were able to acquire three of them, unharmed. Where would you like us to put them?"

Danny was still by the last few sacred trees he had grown and decided it best to not do this near the city.

Traveling into the forest, Danny found a peaceful open area and switched to Earth Aspect. A long rectangular foundation of stone rose from the ground, nine meters long and three meters wide, and the walls rose up to a height of four meters. He made sure the insides of the walls sloped slightly inward. As a last touch, Danny added a staircase to the top with a walkway around the outside.

Releasing Earth Aspect, Danny turned to the soldier, "Toss one in each, and post as many guards as you feel necessary."

The soldier saluted and quickly left.

Danny would need more mana than he usually regenerated and didn't want to use any of the elves'. He decided he might as well create a temporary workplace. Grabbing three sacred tree seeds from a pocket in his robe, Danny buried each carefully. Switching to his Sacred Tree Form, he began using the last of his mana reserves to grow the three trees.

Spiraling upward, the tree saplings were made to twist around each other. The process of growing the elven buildings had given Danny some ideas. Even the growing trees provided a small amount of excess mana he could steal to fuel their continued growth.

The twisting trees rose a half dozen meters in the air before bulging outward to create a simple sphere. An opening had been left in the side of the sphere, and leaves had sprouted from the top of the trees to create a canopy in case it rained.

The inside of the sphere had a flat floor and a few light bulbs for illumination. Any furniture could be grown as needed. For now, Danny just required the mana regeneration the trees provided.

Connecting to the three trees with his roots, Danny waited and read in his sanctuary while waiting.

Roughly an hour later, he emerged to find the soldier from before, patiently waiting.

"Ascendant, they have been delivered, and four guards have been posted at the corners," the soldier said.

Danny nodded, "Thank you and please give my thanks to your team for your assistance."

"It was our pleasure, Ascendant," the soldier saluted before leaving.

Cranny mumbled, *Did we gain a military rank while I wasn't looking?*

*I gave up trying to stop them after the first few days of it,* Danny said, tiredly.

Walking up the staircase, Danny looked down into the stone pens. In each, a goblin had been placed. They were all awake and highly agitated. Danny noted they were all male as well. Were the females sending out males to scout, now?

Danny had thought about conducting experiments on a few of the forest animals, but that just seemed too cruel.

Cranny grumbled, *Except for the squirrels...*

*Cranny...*

*Uhhh, fine! No squirrels.*

Activating Mana Aspect, Danny studied the goblins.

Danny's thoughts took on the clinical tone they did while working, *I have verified their connection to the source is gone. How did they accomplish this?*

* A significant surge of mana might have done it, but I don't think that the ancient key missing in Diadem is a coincidence,* said Cranny.

Danny thought back to when he was seven, and the wizards had tried to unlock his already opened mana with one of these ancient keys. He had overheard one of the wizards worried about an ancient key that had gone missing.

*If that is true, then what we are looking at is potentially fixable for all the ‘locked' men back in Diadem,* Danny speculated.

Where the goblin's connection to the source had been now contained a faint dark void. Not unlike the one found in the flowers of the sacred tree.

Danny turned to the nearest guard, "Please secure this one, so he doesn't move."

Two guards dropped down into the pen and squatted down to hold the arms of the goblin on either side. One of the two guards also managed to get the goblin in a headlock, securing him even further.

Danny entered Mana Aspect, floated down to the restrained goblin, and then started pouring mana into the void sitting above the goblin's stomach.

A few minutes later came a brief moment when the void stopped accepting mana, and the goblin's connection to the mana source was restored.

*More than half of our total mana reserves used, just like the flowers,* reported Cranny.

*Fortunately, unlike the flowers, he doesn't automatically have access to his mana,* Danny added.

Cranny speculated, *It's possible the sacred trees have their mana unlocked naturally once their connection is established, like the elves who are born with their mana unlocked.*

Danny decided to continue the test but wanted to avoid endangering the guards. Switching to his Earth Aspect, stone rose from the ground like vines to wrap around the goblin's body. The guards removed themselves as the stone finally secured the goblin. After making sure that the stone around the goblin was going to hold, Danny ordered the guards back to their posts as he released his Earth Aspect, returning to normal. Pulling on just the minutest amount of mana from the goblin's source, mana started flowing through its body.

*It all works... We can save them,* Danny breathed a sigh of relief as the goblin collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Bringing reality back into the equation, Cranny said, *That is if we can stop the goblins from killing them all first.*

Danny nodded to himself, *Just one more thing to try, but I suspect we will need more mana.*

Doubtfully, Cranny said, *I don't know if we have enough right now.*

*Do you remember how much it was?* Danny asked.

*That's the thing. It was barely as much as we used on the flowers. I think it has to do with me concentrating on it. I figured after all your wounds were healed, the rest of the harmony magic would be released like free mana.*

Danny sighed, *Well then, I guess we have enough mana. Let's try repeating exactly what you did last time with this goblin.*

Danny could feel a significant portion of his mana leave his body, only to watch it move outward to surround the trapped goblin. The mass of mana condensed around the goblin's shoulder before Cranny activated Harmony Affinity. There was a blast of light such as Danny didn't think could be possible when not using Harmony Aspect. Then, the goblin started to writhe around and scream in pain from inside its stone restraints.

*Danny, its vitals are fluctuating wildly like yours did.*

*That's what we expected. Let's see if we can guide it through the change.*

Danny grew stairs down into the pit and, once there, activated his Nature Affinity, but this time he took on the form of a goblin.

He probably could have used his elven or ghost leopard forms, but he figured this couldn't hurt.

Reaching out, he touched the changing goblin for maximum effect.

*Cranny, are you maintaining his organs so that they don't shut down?*

Cranny spoke as if through clenched teeth, *Yes...but it is nowhere nearly as easy as it was with you. I am burning through a lot of mana right now.*

Danny looked over the wall of the pen toward his intertwined sacred trees, *Alright, hang on. I will see what I can do.*

Danny's switched to his Sacred Tree Form, and his feet became bark-like. He extended roots through the stone pen's foundation, tapping into the sacred trees so that he could absorb their excess mana.

Twenty minutes later, Cranny yelled, *It's reached his source, and it's now spreading even faster. We probably should have cast it somewhere near here, to begin with.*

Cranny's control over the goblin's body started to slip, and then its organs started failing left and right. The goblin soon lay unmoving in the stone restraints. It had fainted from the pain before it took its last breath.

Cranny dejectedly said, *It wouldn't have mattered where we started. Once it hits the source, there is no controlling the goblin's bodies anymore.*

***

After restoring his mana to full, Danny left his Sacred Tree Aspect and went to the first pen. Walking over, Danny stopped as he stared down at the cowering goblin, shivering in the middle pen. It was fidgeting and incessantly looking around as if a way out would suddenly appear.

*Variant ascendant, this time?" Danny asked.

*Yes, this one should be a little easier,* Cranny said with more than a little relief.

Danny studied the goblin, asking, *Do we want to go straight for our end goal and try creating one of the dual affinities?*

*Sure, but which one? Nature Affinity can actually be used to heal. If Nature Affinity works, we won't know if the other affinities would kill someone by just attempting them,* Cranny replied.

*So…what about Ice?* Danny suggested.

*Yes, that works for me.*

Danny called the guards, and they repeated the process of confining the goblin in stone. The goblin thrashed and fought as hard as he could, but the rocky prison was unmovable. Danny then used over half of his restored mana reserves to unlock the goblin's connection to the source.

Then, Danny started sending ice infused mana directly into the goblin's connection. Cranny had come up with this theory based on the fact that creature in the forest must come across dense sources of magic with natural affinities. His theory was that variant ascendants were sort of accidental ascendants. Though the process seemed more natural, Danny believed the Archdruid, for instance, had grown steadily, infusing herself with so much mana that she reached ascendancy. It wouldn't surprise Danny if this were a painless, albeit lengthy, alternative to his own shortcut.

The second goblin soon collapsed unconscious in its stone restraints, and Danny quit sending it mana.

Activating his Mana Aspect, Danny watched as the goblin's source began to give off waves of ice mana that gradually changed the nature of its being.

After waiting a few minutes, Danny was flung back as the pen, and surrounding area was hit by an expanding aura of ice that coated the stone of the pens in a thin layer of frost and ice.

Danny looked down in shock at the ice goblin still trapped in the stone restraints, *It worked!*

Cranny scoffed, *Of course it worked. It was my idea after all.*

Looking closely at the unique way the mana moved through the creature's body, Danny asked, *I wonder if we can change their aff…*

Danny's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something cracking. Then the stone restraints around the ice goblin began to break and fall off. The ice goblin was not even free for a second when it flung its arm out as if it was throwing something. Short spears made of icicles formed and flew toward Danny's position.

Danny had barely managed to move out of the icicles' way when the ice goblin collapsed onto the ground. The freezing aura it was giving off moments before started to wear away.

*What, just happened?* Danny asked in confusion.

*I wasn't paying attention to the goblin either,* Cranny confessed.

A dark red stain on the ice started to spread slowly outward from under the ice goblin's neck. Looking over to the guards, he didn't see any of them missing or looking out of place.

Looking at his guards in a new light, Danny muttered fearfully, *Did you just see which one did that, Cranny?*

Cranny's voice, matched his own, *No, is this what the elves are like when topped off on mana? What have we created…*

Danny floated a short ways over the edge of the last pen to see the third goblin sitting in a far corner, frozen solid. The goblin's finger was buried deeper than Danny thought possible, inside its nose.

Danny frowned, saying, *Well, looks like that is that. I got all the information I needed. How about you?*

*What a way to go…,* Cranny mumbled, before replying to Danny's question, *What? Oh yeah, I'm good.*

CHAPTER 26

“Danny! The guards tell me you have been up to some interesting experiments,” Elder Breeze called out as he walked out of the forest with Elder Frost and Cardinal.

Danny turned to the guards, “Please have everyone move back to a safe distance.”

The guard hesitated, then bowed, before seeming to disappear. This time, Danny’s magically enhanced scans showed the guards using Air Affinity magic to move at impossible speeds.

Cranny moaned to himself, *What have we done…*

Before the elders could get any closer, Danny activated his Lava Aspect, and the entire stone structure he had created, not hours before, started to melt into the ground. Danny stood standing on the wall, as it continued to melt, and allowed it to lower him to the ground. He could not feel the heat, and where his flesh touched the lava, there were no apparent adverse effects. The goblin bodies eventually caught fire, and smoke filled the air behind him. It didn’t take but a few minutes, and there was nothing but a slowly cooling pool of lava and no trace of the goblins.

Danny smugly said, *No apple trees will be giving me away this time.*

Releasing his Lava Aspect, Danny walked over to the waiting elders, “Good to see you, elders. Especially you Elder Cardinal, how are you?”

Elder Cardinal smiled at Danny, “I am fine Danny, so stop worrying.”

Elder Frost looked behind Danny, asking, “So are you going to share what you were up to?”

Danny thought about how best to handle the situation before admitting, “I was trying to see if I could create another ascendant the same way I was changed.”

“You told us you didn’t know how that had happened,” Elder Breeze reminded him, suspiciously.

Danny bowed to the elders, “Please forgive me, but I didn’t know who I could trust or if I should share the information. Now that I have tested it, I am glad I didn’t tell you.”

Danny confessed what had happened to him, and what had happened to the goblin he had tried it on. The elders had questions and wanted to find a way around the issues, but eventually relented to Danny’s instance that his was a fortunate accident.

“Now, if you will excuse me, elders, I plan to offer my fiancées the option to become variant ascendants,” Danny said as he turned to leave.

“Wait, Danny! What are you talking about? You said your experiments failed,” Elder Breeze begged.

Danny turned smiling, “Come to the guest wing. If they agree, I will wait for you to arrive before changing them.”

With that Danny changed to Air Aspect and flew as fast as he could back to the palace.

***

The girls were practicing in the courtyard near the guest wing, as they always did during the day. Danny found them quickly with his Air Scan and promptly flew down low to stop an inch above the ground.

Releasing his Air Aspect, Danny dropped to the ground and greeted everyone, “Good afternoon!”

The girls stopped practicing and turned to see what the commotion was. Their labored breaths come out as fog in the freezing air.

Danny was smiling brightly, “Hey, I have something for you, if you’re interested.”

The girls hadn’t moved from where they had been practicing and just stood there, arms crossed. The unhappy expressions were not what Danny had been expecting.

Looking between the three for some clue, Danny asked, “What’s wrong?”

“We understand you were busy helping the elves, and that was great, but when we came to visit you, you just sat there looking at books,” Ivy complained.

Danny raised a finger of one hand, opening his mouth to speak.

“Phantom has been moping around and acting awful. She destroyed your bed by the way…” Jade informed him before he could speak.

Danny lowered his finger and frowned.

“I gained three kilos, and it wasn’t in muscle,” Brooke pouted.

Danny looked at Brooke in confusion.

Brooke stopped him before he could say more, “Yes, that was your fault.”

“Better listen to them, Boy. It’s always best if you let the womenfolk be right. That’s the only way everyone wins,” Wizard Basalt stage-whispered as he walked up next to Danny. The large man smiled down warmly at him.

Danny looked to his human mentor before turning to bow to the girls, “Please accept my apologies. In compensation for the undue stress I have caused you, please allow me to give you magical abilities I believe will instantly become instinctive to you.”

The three girls first looked to one another in confusion.

“What are you talking about, Danny?” Arya asked in suspicion. She and the other Basalt women were standing behind Wizard Basalt.

Danny turned to address Arya’s question, “I will turn the girls into variant ascendants. They will be given the ability to take on aspects of an affinity. They will also have the bonuses that come from being a variant ascendant. I want them to be able to continue traveling beside me and believe this the best way to do this.”

Doubtful, Arya said, “I don’t know about this, Danny. It sounds dangerous, and do you even know it will work?”

Danny nodded, “Yes, of course I know it’s safe. I just successfully tested it on two goblins.”

“You did? Then where are they?” Arya asked.

Danny was about to say one was killed before he could fully use his powers and the other exploded in a fiery death, but then chose the wiser course.

“They, unfortunately, had to be killed before their powers became too strong,” Danny said with a neutral expression.

Arya studied him carefully as he said this. She glanced over at the girls before sighing, “It is up to the girls. I figure you will just do it anyway if I say no. Better under my nose than behind my back.”

Danny turned to the girls, “What do you three say?”

Jade looked uncertain, asking, “What will we look like afterwards? When you change, you look… different.”

Danny nodded, “Phant…”

The cat came out of nowhere, tackling Danny to the ground.

*Cranny, seriously! Blocking the cat too?*

*Hey, I got to help keep all our ladies happy.*

Phantom licked all over his face, covering him liberally in stringy coatings of saliva.

Getting the cat off him, Danny stood up, explaining, “As you can see, Phantom is a variant ascendant. She can choose between a normal appearance and the aspect of the affinity she was infused with.”

With his words, Phantom’s body began to glow, and her eyes turned pure white.

“If she couldn’t change back and forth, she would have a difficult time sneaking up on her prey,” Danny continued.

The girls suddenly seemed less concerned and more eager to accept his proposal. Especially upon hearing they wouldn’t be stuck looking like a tree for the rest of their lives.

While fending off Phantom’s attempts to groom him, Danny went over the different affinities they could choose from. He then explained why he thought they should pick storm, lava, ice, or nature magic, as they would also have the benefits of two elemental affinities.

Excitedly, Danny suggested, “Brooke, I think Lava Affinity would be best for you. You use heavy weapons, and you would benefit from the strength of earth magic and the offensive power of fire magic.

Jade, Storm Affinity is perfect for you. You would gain the speed from air magic and the mobility of water magic.

Ivy, that leaves Ice Affinity for you.”

Ivy interrupted him, asking, “Why not Nature Affinity?”

Danny sheepishly replied, “Because that is my personal favorite, and I suspect Willow might be able to use it as well.”

“I can, but how did you know that?” asked Willow as she arrived with her mother and the elders.

Everyone gathered bowed to the queen as she approached.

Danny smiled, “I have had a suspicion that only families with the ability to produce those with water and earth magic are allowed to rule? Am I right, Your Majesty?”

The queen smiled ruefully, “Yes, you are, Danny, but don’t be giving away all our secrets now.”

Danny heard the message behind her joking nature and bowed again to the queen’s request.

Jade rushed forward, “Can I go first? We can fly together afterward, right?”

Danny laughed, “I am not really certain how variant abilities work, so you will just have to figure it out as you go. Alright, I need you to lie down as this will make you sleep until your transformation is complete.”

Jade found a soft patch of grass to lie down in, and Danny asked, “Last chance, are you sure you wish for me to do this?”

Jade glared at him, “Just do it already, Danny. There won’t be much daylight left to fly in.”

Exasperated at the girl’s one track mind, Danny infused his mana with Storm Affinity and pushed it into Jade’s mana connection. After a minute, Jade’s mana connection started to produce waves of Storm Affinity mana, and the girl was fast asleep. Danny switched to his Mana Aspect to make certain everything was going as intended.

Once reassured, he released his aspect and turned to Ivy and Brooke, asking, “So, who wants to go next? It doesn’t take very long so let’s…”

Danny’s ears popped, as the air pressure increased dramatically, and then all the hair on his arms stood up. The winds picked up, and dark clouds rolled in at an unnatural speed to blanket the entirety of the afternoon sky.

Cranny balked, *Oh, crap…*

Reacting quickly, Danny activated Storm Aspect and grabbed Jade’s prone form from the ground.

Flying quickly high into the air, the pressure only seemed to grow, and he feared he would be too late. Then, the world was awash in pure light as a bolt of lightning struck the two. While the electric component of the lightning bolt did him no harm, the concussion of air created by air being superheated to temperatures usually reserved for the surface of the sun, knocked him out as it sent him hurtling toward the ground.

Danny managed to regain consciousness when he struck the first tree limb of the city’s canopy. Still in his Storm Aspect, Danny reflexively halted his descent. Having closed his eyes, Danny slowly opened them to see the ground positioned an uncomfortable meter away.

*Danny! Jade!*

Danny took off into the rough winds that now blew through the capital. Desperately searching around, the dark rolling clouds did little to help him in his search. So, he had to rely on Air Scan to try and find where the tall girl had been blasted.

*Danny, look up!*

High above him, Jade was floating, suspended in the air, with her arms outstretched to her sides. Her head was laid back, and each of the long hairs on her head seemed to be whipping around separately. As the electricity arced all across her body, her hair seemed to just evaporate and be replaced with long strands of pure lighting. Her body shifted and seemed to be made from some sort of ghostly ephemeral substance that appeared to lose substance when she moved. As when Danny had become upset when he first met with the druid counsel, Jade’s clothes were flung around her thin form. Not only were they ripped and torn, but they were burned from the electricity coursing through her.

Danny was forced to cover his eyes with his hands as another bolt of lightning struck her. When his eyes adjusted, the storm was quickly losing strength, and he could see Jade’s body gradually lowering to the ground. The dark rolling clouds started to calm and dissipate as the strong winds died down. Flying down, Danny caught Jade in his arms and redirected them down to the waiting crowd in the palace courtyard.

Jade was now conscious and watching him with tired eyes. As she smiled weakly, she asked, “Did you see me flying?”

Danny looked down in concern but did his best to cover it with a smile of his own, “Yes, you were most impressive. Once you have rested, please make sure I am with you when you do that again.”

Jade didn’t reply and was content to snuggle up into him and close her eyes. By the time they landed, she was already fast asleep.

He handed her off to her uncle, and seeing the overly concerned look in the wizard’s eyes, reassured him, “She is fine, but we might have to try and rein in her flying impulses until she can produce enough mana to stay aloft for more than a few minutes.”

The wizard nodded in relief, asking weakly, “Please be careful, Danny.”

The queen spoke up behind them, “Yes, Danny, if you do plan to continue with the others, could we possibly finish this somewhere…not next to my palace?”

***

The group reconvened half an hour later, near where Danny had been experimenting with the goblins earlier. Danny had taken the time to merge with the triple sacred trees and regain his lost mana.

Brooke was next, and everyone was standing as far away as they could while still being able to see her and Danny. Under the distant forest canopy, the Basalts, royals, and elders all huddled around a small fire someone had created for warmth. Danny was also concerned for his own safety and activated his Lava Aspect in preparation this time. Laying down in the grass next to the now cooled remains of the stone goblin pens, Brooke tried to get as comfortable as she could.

“Are you sure Jade is alright, Danny?” Brooke asked, worriedly.

Danny looked down at her as if she had gone crazy, “What? She is better than ever! You can back out if you do not wish to do this.”

Brooke just shook her head and closed her eyes.

Danny nervously thought, *You checked Jade while I was explaining everything to the druids, right?*

Cranny sounded slightly offended, *Yes, of course I did, and she is alright. This form of change seems to be not only faster but takes its toll on the user’s mind and body. I think we need to reconsider how natural this will be to them.*

Danny turned his attention back to Brook. “Now, I want you to try and relax when you feel the change occur. I did not expect for Jade’s powers to flare up as they did. I believe her own impatience to be able to fly manifested into the display you saw. Jade will be able to eventually control her new nature, and I have no doubt you will, too. Don’t forget; I will be here right next to you to help you through this,” Danny calmly reassured the girl.

Brooke, with eyes still closed, swallowed loudly and nodded her head with abrupt jerks. Danny didn’t prolong things and infused the lava mana into her source connection.

The change began, spreading quickly throughout Brooke’s body. Then, her eyes snapped open, and her body began to grow brighter as a red haze began to spread across her skin. The redness crept into her flesh as it seemed to darken in some places at the same time. Danny did his best to maintain her modesty as he now realized Brooke’s clothing and hair were burning away in the resulting change. He would need to make sure the girls could use something similar to his robes. If not, he would think of something else.

Danny stood up as the ground beneath them rapidly heated. Standing up, Danny concentrated on making sure he and Brooke stayed on the surface, as a ever expanding pool of lava was created from the earth around him.

“Brooke, you must learn to control it. Calm yourself, and practice the meditation and breathing exercises we learned with Instructor Meadows,” Danny calmly spoke into Brooke’s ear.

Brooke’s eyes closed again, and Danny watched as her chest steadily began to rise and fall. The large pool of mana around him slowly stopped spreading and then started to cool. Danny picked Brooke up, as the lava hardened enough for him to walk across. Brooke’s form began to return to normal, so Danny switched to Air Aspect, flying them over to the others.

Brooke managed to stay awake and sat down on the ground to rest near the fire. Princess Willow immediately threw a blanket someone had thought to bring for the cold around Brooke and sat down next to her.

“Mother thinks it best that you four camp out here until their powers are stable,” Willow answered Danny’s question before he could ask.

Danny nodded before turning to Ivy, who was already standing next to him.

“Are you ready?” Danny asked.

“Let’s get this over with,” Ivy bravely said, though Danny could sense the underlying nervousness she tried to hide.

Walking to the middle of the incompletely cooled pool of lava, Danny in his Ice Aspect used Ice Affinity to quickly freeze them a pathway. Ivy laid down on the cooled stone, and Danny didn’t pause as he infused her with Ice Affinity. Before Danny had time to react, Ivy exploded with ice magic.

Any lava that had yet to cool was turned instantly into a hard dark stone. Water vapor in the air immediately froze, lightly falling to the ground like snow. Danny, the grass, bushes, and the closest trees were flashed frozen. Frost covered the affected space, and the surrounding forest was instantly devoid of any noise.

Danny, frost covered and frozen in place, started to shake uncontrollably before his hair burst into flames. Then, his body and robes took on the appearance of smoldering coals. He shook himself as any frost on his body turned directly into steam.

Cranny ignored Danny nearly freezing and was too busy geeking out, *Her affinity for ice must be higher than yours! I never thought about that aspect to a potential ascendant dual.*

Danny looked over to see Ivy in the form of a living goddess, seemingly made of clear glass. Ivy’s black hair, which had a striking contrast to her translucent skin, was the only part of her that had not changed. The clothing she had been training in looked stiff and coated in frost but was not as frozen looking as he figured it would be. It was a little uncanny when the ice statue that was Ivy turned to look in his direction. He instantly noticed that even her eyes were like crystal orbs.

“I think I have it now, Danny,” Ivy said with a strange tinkling sound that was produced when she moved her lips.

The permeating coldness that she had been exuding began to slacken, and the familiar cold of winter returned. The Ivy he knew returned and stood up awkwardly, due to her partially frozen clothes. She only made it a few steps before she faltered.

Her eyes unfocused, Ivy started to shake as she mumbled, “S-so c-c-cold and t-tired.”

Danny turned off his Flame Aspect and picked her up in his arms before she could hurt herself by falling on the hard ground.

The waiting group had built up the fire and huddled around it to ward off the sudden decrease in temperature. While they had been far away enough to avoid the instant freeze, the surrounding area had been hit with a blast of arctic air.

“Is she alright?” asked Arya as she took Ivy from him to sit with her near the fire.

Danny was pleased. He could tell that the woman wasn’t just concerned for Ivy because she was the daughter of Diadem but out of a place of genuine feeling.

Danny handed Ivy over to the leader of the Basalt shadow. “She will be fine after a little rest, as will Brooke if she will just close her eyes,” Danny addressed the last comment to Brooke who still leaned against Willow, fighting to keep her eyes open.

As if Danny’s word had broken some spell, Brooke glanced briefly over at Ivy before closing her eyes and entirely leaning against the Princess.

The queen waited until Danny was finished checking on the three girls before asking, “Is it safe for them to come back to the palace?”

Danny shook his head, “I think the worst is over, but it would probably be best to keep them out here until it’s certain they are in control of their new powers. I will erect a few separate structures for them to stay in. They will probably be hungry when they wake up. Could you have some food brought here?”

The queen was more than happy to agree to his requests and dispatched servants to fulfill them.

“So this variant ascendancy, as you call it, can only be done to humans and goblins?” asked Elder Breeze.

Danny shrugged, “To anyone who doesn’t have their mana unlocked already. That would exclude elves by default.”

The group continued to discuss what to expect and what Danny would require while training them. The Basalts insisted on staying and watching over their charges, instead of returning to the palace. The druids agreed to provide the girls with clothing similar to Danny’s. Unsure of how they had created his robes, Danny made a request for the runes used to create them. He was not surprised to find this was a secret of the elven people, and they would be happy to provide them all with any clothing and armor from the sacred tree they needed.

“Danny, there has been no further movement from the goblins. My husband suspects they may be waiting until after the thaw of spring to move forward with their next attack. This unfortunately only gives them more time to grow. They must be reaching the point where the area can’t support their numbers, but they haven’t shown signs of that happening,” the queen reported. “The best you can do is train your fiancées and prepare for your wedding to my daughter. It is only a week away now.”

“Do you need me to grow any more trees, Your Majesty?” asked Danny.

The queen shook her head, “No, you have done more than enough for us, Danny. Thanks to your instructions, the elders now know how to create more seeds, and maybe in a few generations, we will have an Ascendant of our own. We will repay you by helping to defend your people and destroy this common threat to both our peoples.”

They broke their impromptu camp, and while the elves returned to the palace, the Basalts looked over the girls as Danny began preparing the area for what they needed to do.

CHAPTER 27

A massive hammer flew through the air and struck the snow-covered ground. An explosion of soil and snow flew in all directions. As the snow and dust settled, Danny could be seen laying on the ground near the new crater. The forest clearing now held three stone buildings and the three sacred trees wrapped around each other. Danny was in his Earth Aspect and was covered in a thin stone armor that included his new robe. In his hands was a simple stone great sword that currently shook as Danny tried his best not to wet himself.

*Can you actually urinate in the aspects? Oh! Flaming pee! Hurry, switch to Flame Aspect! That will teach that overgrown gorilla...*

Danny scrambled to get up, his movements slower with the new "armor" he could wear. Danny complained, "Was it really necessary to hit that hard, Wizard? We are just supposed to be training?"

Wizard Basalt was picking something from his teeth while leaning against the handle of his hammer, "Danny, you said you wanted to get stronger, and you know I don't like to do things half-way." Then, he mumbled where he thought Danny couldn't hear, "It is definitely not because I am jealous that you can turn your whole body into stone..." Looking up, the wizard seemed to realize Danny might have heard that and quickly raised his hammer, "Now, get ready!"

Danny raised his great sword in time to block a blow from the hammer. His first lesson had been how to redirect a strike instead of trying to take it head-on. His first lesson had also lasted all of five seconds, which ended with Danny laying in a Danny shaped depression in the ground. His stone armor, having taken most of the blow, had fragmented into dust as it fell off him. He remembered the wizard laughing at his injuries and sarcastically explaining how healing magic works.

Blow after blow rained down on Danny. Spinning to one side, he tried to change the pace by getting behind the older man. Wizard Basalt chuckled and used the shaft of his hammer like a pool cue, thrusting it behind himself and into Danny's stomach. While the blow wasn't that powerful, it was enough to disrupt Danny's attack.

Danny came to a stop and let his frustration out, "How are you so...."

"Agile? It's called agility, Danny. I didn't just train strength," The wizard paused to think, "I just MOSTLY trained strength. Also, there is no substitute for experience." With that, the Wizard went back to wailing on Danny.

While dodging and parrying, Danny thought about how, over the past week, he had advanced quickly on various skills. Still, he could tell that Wizard Basalt was holding back.

Danny's intelligence benefit from the sanctuary was increased when 'Elven (spoken)' and 'Elven (written)' had both advanced to journeyman rank (level six), 'Earth Affinity' had risen to level seven, 'Nature Affinity' made it all the way level nine.

His new exercise regime, with the increasing level of stone added, had netted him increases in strength, as 'hauling' had increased to level six, or journeyman rank. After training with Wizard Basalt, his stone armor gave him three new levels in 'heavy armor.' The wizard had also given him pointers that allowed him to get to level three in 'war hammer' and the first level in his current weapon ‘great sword.' What really drove this fast increase was Danny's ability to train multiple times a night. The elven guards came out to the clearing and took turns sparring with him, giving him pointers and tips of their own.

A reasonable fear of the Wizard Basalt's hammer had upped his agility as well. Run and dodge rose to journeyman rank, while jump rose to level five.

His strength bonus had gone from barely anything to a quarter of the way to the first attribute threshold. He now had twenty-five percent more strength than he would have had from just training his muscles. He no longer looked like a gangly teenager and more like an actual athlete. His agility now boosted his body by almost fifty percent. His intelligence was a quarter away from the second threshold. That thought alone excited Danny and made him impatient to find out what would happen.

His thoughts were unfortunately interrupted.

"Danny! We just got back from the palace, and the queen wants to see you right away, but she wouldn't say what for. Don't keep her waiting," Ivy yelled down to him as she leaned out of a nearby window. Before he could respond, she ducked back inside the tower.

Danny had expanded the tall twisting triple sacred trees into a small, but functional, home away from home. There were rooms for the Basalts, the girls, and himself. He added extra rooms for eating and other necessities, like his experimentations. The girls had named the building, and now everyone referred to it as Danny's Tower. He was glad that it was now safe for the girls to move in with the rest of them.

The three stone buildings in the clearing had been temporarily used to house Ivy, Brooke, and Jade. Before he was sure they had mastered their new affinities and wouldn't hurt themselves, others, or the elven forest, he had them stay in one of the three stone buildings. Under Danny's guidance, the three girls all trained and learned how these aspects worked for a variant ascendant.

Danny discovered that they, like Phantom, needed to eat and sleep almost as much as they had before. He theorized that this variant pathway might actually be a more natural and gradual way to reach ascendancy, though neither he nor Cranny had any good theories on how to take the next step.

Danny confirmed that just as their mana flowed in waves from their source connection, their powers rippled out from their bodies to affect their immediate surroundings. Creating pools of lava, fields of ice, and flying were just a few examples of what they could do. While they never produced the same extreme reactions as when they first transformed, the girls tended to manifest their powers naturally when fighting.

Brooke would strike the ground with her heavy mace, and after the hammer grew bright red, the ground below her would begin to boil. Danny didn't really want to see what such a strike would directly do to someone's body. Ivy would swing her sword and water in the air would instantly freeze, flying out in arcs of sharp blades of ice. Jade seemed the most natural. Her body was hard to see, as her aspect gave it a fleeting and insubstantial form. Her already stealthy and quick skills were enhanced even further. Danny was glad he was in his own Storm Aspect when she first caused lightning to strike from a clear sky and spread out all around them through the ground.

Worried about getting the girls used to their new bodies and preparing for the goblin threat, Danny had little chance to dabble as much as he wanted to with enchanting. Not able to use traditional weapons in their forms, Danny modified some of the melee weapons explicitly crafted for them by the elven blacksmiths with the runes found on the barriers to the archdruid's vault. These runes were all for transferring and manipulating mana. Danny had a devil of a time trying to figure out how to tweak the runes for the girls' specific affinities, but he eventually figured it out through trial and error. There were, though, limitations like how Brooke's heavy mace and shield would only work with Lava Affinity. Danny couldn't figure out how to allow her to use her Fire and Earth Affinity at the same time. Enterchanting might work, but Danny had to put that on the back burner while he prepared everyone for war.

Bringing Danny back to the present, Wizard Basalt lowered his hammer, telling him, "Better get going, boy. Don't want to start any new wars by keeping the queen waiting." Looking up at the quickly darkening sky, the wizard added, "You definitely don't want to be outside for much longer."

***

A blizzard had blown through the elven capital, and the biting wind and snow kept all but those without Fire Affinity or high constitutions indoors. The beauty of the growing city of sacred trees was now hidden beneath a dusting of snow that now covered everything.

Having no desire to bother to land in the deep snow near the front entrance, Danny flew through a window near the throne room. The snow was conveniently stripped from his body as he passed through the sacred tree's opening. Looking around the large foyer, Danny found a few elves waiting there for their turn to see the queen.

A servant by the double doors called Danny over, "Ascendant, perfect timing. The queen is between visitors. Please come in, she wishes to see you immediately."

Past the double doors, the throne room was empty save for the queen, General Barrow, and two female elves in high ranking military uniforms. From afar, Danny could hear their conversation clearly with his Air Affinity.

"There is definitely a change in their behavioral patterns, and it isn't just because they are preparing to move. Something has happened, but it is too late to tell if it is a good thing or not," one of the elves in military uniform was saying.

The elves' discussion stopped when a servant announced Danny's presence.

"Danny, thank you so much for coming. I hope I didn't take you away from something important," the queen said politely.

"No, Your Majesty. I was just getting my afternoon beating from Wizard Basalt. He is teaching me the finer arts of how not to get hit with his hammer," Danny replied.

General Barrow nodded in his direction and moved right to business, "Danny, thank you for your time. These two here are my lieutenants. We have just come from the field. I was hoping to get your opinion on something. If you don't know, maybe Wizard Basalt could be consulted as well."

General Barrow was handed something from one of the lieutenants, and the general passed into Danny. It was a dark piece of fabric, tattered and bloodstained. Crude white paint of some indeterminable substance had been spread across the material to create a pattern. The pattern seemed strange, yet familiar, in some way Danny couldn't place.

"Do you recognize this pattern, Danny? One of the goblins we saw was holding it like a flag," the general explained. Barrow obviously saw something of recognition in Danny's eyes.

"I think so, but I don't know where…," Danny mumbled, trying to place where he had seen this pattern.

The queen spoke in a motherly tone, "Take your time, Danny."

There were variations on what Danny only could guess were symbols radiating from the center of the flag. The symbols seemed familiar, but the answer behind them felt like something far off into the distance, just out of his reach.

There was a disturbance by the door, and a soldier was let in. Walking quickly to below the dais, the soldier bowed low, "Your Majesty, General, the goblins are on the move. All indications point that they are headed toward Diadem as expected."

The general dismissed the soldier, and the two lieutenants quickly left as well.

Turning to his wife, the general said, "They must be using the storm for cover. These goblins grow smarter every second. We will head out immediately and head them off before they reach the Diadem border."

"Please be careful, and don't take any unnecessary risks," the queen whispered quietly to the general before pulling him down for a quick kiss.

Danny was still absorbed in the flag and pretended not to notice their intimate exchange.

"Danny, if you figure out what it is you know about this symbol, let us know. The elven people will repay their debt for what you have done for us," the general promised Danny.

"I will go get the Basalts and the girls. We all do not wish to sit by while your people do all the work," Danny started to say.

"No, I must insist. Stay here. My people know how to move quickly through these woods, and it would be to our shame if any guests were killed while visiting. Especially an Ascendant such as yourself," General Barrow spoke. While respectful, Danny could tell he was used to not having his decisions questioned.

Seeing the logic that, should he go and get the Basalts and the girls now, they would be hard-pressed to keep up with the elven army, Danny tried to think up an alternative idea to assist them.

Seeing Danny's silence as acceptance, Barrow quickly bowed to the queen and Danny before taking his leave.

Now alone, the queen addressed Danny, "Please take the flag with you and see if Wizard Basalt might not shed some light on this. And Danny, don't worry about the goblins. They are for my husband to deal with, and no one is better equipped to deal with them.

Unfortunately, this will push back the marriage date until this issue is fully resolved and my son and husband can return. Why don't you all return to the palace until then? I know Willow would prefer having you nearby. You said yourself that Ivy, Brooke, and Jade are in control of their powers now."

"I will speak with my group about moving back here. I suspect they would prefer that as well. I will let you know if we recognize what this flag's symbol means. Good day, Your Majesty," Danny bowed and left the throne room.

Flying back out into the storm, Danny pondered the strange symbols on the flag. A bubble of air surrounded him so that the flag would not get swept out of his hands.

*Where have we seen this before, Cranny?*

*I am not finding anything, Danny. Though there is something about it…*

Absently, Danny mentioned, *It is almost like you could connect each of the symbol groups with a circle. Like a rune, maybe?*

Cranny created an image over Danny's vision that produced the rings he was suggesting. When the final circle was formed, Danny paused in the air, *Five circles... Cranny, we have seen this rune before. It isn't exactly the same but close enough.*

Cranny agreed, *Ninety percent compatible with what you recorded. I agree. This is without a doubt supposed to be the same rune. Danny, what are you going to do? Should we tell the elves?*

Danny struggled with what to do as he watched the snow bounce off the bubble of air that surrounded him. He knew, on the one hand, that help from the others would quickly resolve the issue. While on the other hand, his family could be in danger if the secrets behind all this got out.

*We are going to have to do this on our own, Cranny,* Danny finally decided.

Cranny sounded doubtful, but conceded, *I am with you whether I agree or not.*

Danny took off again into the storm, *It's time to have a personal chat with the new neighbors.*

Cranny sounded excited, exclaiming, *It would be rude not to bring an ancient fortress warming gift!* His voice abruptly changed to something sinister, *I just hope we can find something they all can enjoy.*

***

Danny arrived back at his tower and went straight to the bedroom he had made for himself. Phantom was laying on his bed and shifted her head toward the door without bothering to lift it. She looked bored as if she didn't already know who it was. Finding his backpack, he removed the things inside by directly dumping it out onto his bed.

Danny rubbed Phantom's head and momentarily enjoyed the soothing feeling of her purring. Then, he asked her to do something for him. The cat looked like she was going to just ignore him and lay back down again, but she jumped off the bed and left the room.

Danny rolled his eyes as he picked up his backpack, "Cats…"

Heading to his workroom, Danny grabbed a large leather sack he had requested be specially made by the elves and placed it in his pack. Looking around, Danny realized he needed at least a couple of changes of clothes when he suddenly paused, frowning. Frustrated, Danny returned to his room to find the Basalt Trio waiting on him.

"The goblins are making their move and are headed to Diadem. The elves requested that we stay here. How would you three like to go back to the palace?" Danny asked as he sat his backpack on a table near the door.

Arya looked at the mess on his bed, "Where are you headed then?"

"I am preparing to move into the palace," Danny said as he made sure to be busily looking away from them as he searched through a shelf.

"Danny, you really need to work on your lying if you are going to survive both Diadem and the elven courts," Arya admonished him.

Danny peered over his shoulder to meet the eyes of the older woman, "Arya, I have something I must take care of. Something the Diadem herself forbid me to tell anyone else about."

Arya's eyes closed slightly in suspicion as she watched Danny, who was grabbing random items and clothing from his shelves, ignore her. The Basalt leader would not be dissuaded, "I have been charged with ensuring your safe return here and back to the capital. I will not have you running off into who knows what danger. Especially not after you gave Ivy and her Trio those powers. I would venture those three girls are more powerful than the beastmen's shamans."

Danny shook his head, interrupting her, "I was told they are called arcane guardians."

Arya looked as if she had bitten into something sour, "Those of us who have fought them agree the savages should just be called beastmen variants. Of course, the politicians don't want us publicly naming them something offensive in case we can one day make peace with them. These beastmen variants are rare, even moreso on the battlefield. I have heard that Diadem's wizards outnumber them twenty to one, and I have seen their magics easily overwhelmed by our wizards'.

Danny, with the power you can give our people, Diadem cannot, now more than ever, afford to lose you. I am of half a mind for us to leave this minute, the eleven alliance be damned. So Danny, here is what you are going to do..."

Tired with the charade Danny focused on the three women, and they dropped to the floor, unconscious.

*Are you sure that was wise, Danny?*

Danny grabbed his pack and threw in the items he collected, replying, *It will buy us enough time to get away.*

Danny headed down the staircase in the center of the trees, passing Wizard Basalt on his way. Danny paused, turning back, "Wizard, you might want to go check on your wives in my room. Try not to destroy my tower while you are teaching them how to use their new magic, especially Arya."

Danny briefly saw the wizard's conflicted look as he debated between questioning Danny and rushing upstairs. As Danny reached the entrance at the bottom of the tower, he heard the heavy footfalls of the wizard as he raced to check on his wives.

Danny smiled as he opened the front door, *This was easier than I thoug…*

Ivy, Brook, and Jade were waiting out front. All three were packed for travel.

Danny fumed, *Cranny!*

*What? Oh no…when did they get there?* Cranny's shock was anything but believable.

CHAPTER 28

"Danny! Can we please get down now?" Ivy begged, from where she was being carried high in the air in his arms.

"Not if we want to continue to throw off our guards," Danny replied in his Air Aspect, "We both know you didn't have to come with me. I wouldn't have invited you three if you hadn't caught me before I left. You are free to stay behind if you want to."

Ivy hit him in the chest, causing him to wince in pain. Angrily, Ivy told him, "I am not letting you do this by yourself. Despite how utterly stupid and ridiculous it is. I know when you won't be dissuaded. Good thing you're such a bad liar."

Brooke, who was floating along next to them, laughingly said, "Yeah, he was doing that thing where he makes his lips as small as possible. Why don't you just wear a sign that says, ‘Lying in progress'?"

"That still doesn't explain why you three already had your packs ready…," Danny complained.

"Arya can tell when you are lying, Danny, but we can tell when you are up to something big," Ivy said patronizingly as she patted his arm. The movement caused her to shift, and she yelped in alarm.

Jade moved over behind Danny, hugging him around the neck. She pouted, "I don't see why Ivy always gets to be carried. When will it be my turn?"

Danny sighed and lowered them all to the ground. He had already used too much mana getting the four of them far enough away so that the guards would be hard pressed to locate them. He had used the blizzard to hide his movements, back-tracking a few times to obscure the path Danny took them.

Phantom was already waiting below, and Danny carefully placed Ivy on the cat's back. Brooke climbed on behind her and grabbed hold of Phantom's fur.

"We will be heading in that direction for a few days before we reach the goblins' new fortress. This is your last chance to go back out. I would prefer you three not go, but I figure you would warn the elves before I could get far enough away," Danny explained.

Ivy ignored him, excitedly saying, "Danny, this is just going to be like old times!"

Rolling his eyes, Danny turned to Jade, asking, "Are you ready?"

Jade smiled as her body started to turn misty.

Danny took off through the snow in the direction of the goblin fortress.

***

The four teenagers traveled through the forest for five days, with three of those being through the dense snowy weather. At night, Danny would put up a smaller version of his sacred tree tower, which he called a "hideaway," making sure to hide it in a large group of trees. The bright leaves of the sacred trees were tricky to hide in the winter foliage of the forest. Danny was sure these interspersed sacred trees would leave a trail right to him, but he needed to stop and replenish his mana. Keeping the girls warm and moving them swiftly through the forest could take quite a toll on his mana stores.

By the evening of the fifth day, they reached the Dwarf Mountains. There was nothing small about them, as they rose high into the clouds and extended far off into the distance. They could just make out the goblin fortress built just outside where the surrounding forest ended. The fortress could conveniently look over the surrounding forest and any approaching threat.

The fortress itself was oddly angled so that a corner pointed toward the mountainside. Like a square with the only gatehouse on the tower at the edge of the southeast and northeast walls. Other towers had been built on the three other corners but had obviously collapsed some time ago.

The goblins occupied not only the fortress but the surrounding area. Spilling out to the edges of the forest, little huts and campfires dotted the landscape. Makeshift wooden walls were erected at intervals around the fortress. A significant portion of the forest had been cleared away to make room for the teeming masses and to generate resources for the construction of the walls and buildings. If the army that had just left had been as large as he believed it to be, Danny shuddered to think what this place would have looked like before. Smoke rose up from the scattered campfires and a few locations inside the fortress.

Moving northeast of the fortress, Danny set to work creating another hideaway as the girls watched for threats below. Danny assured them that there were no goblins within three hundred yards, but they ignored him, intent on protecting him. Danny grew the trees around them to better hide the bright leaves of the new hideaway. Making sure the entrance was up high, Danny flew everyone inside. Danny didn't bother to make furniture and only added the bare necessities. There were only four rooms. The entryway, or common room, a bathroom, and then two bedrooms.

"Do they not have any scouts at all? No wonder the elves know their every move," Jade observed as she looked out the entrance. Her own ability to sense things far away was more of an instinct and didn't have the pinpoint accuracy Danny enjoyed.

Ivy was boiling water in a pot for supper and asked, "Didn't the elves leave anyone here?"

Danny was in his Nature form, trying to recovering the last of his mana, and replied, "There are three of them stationed to the southeast of the fortress. I could sense them when we first arrived which is why I picked this location. We will have to be careful if we want to avoid their observation."

Brooke rubbed her thawing hands over the bulb in the center of the room that was altered with Fire Affinity to be as hot as a fireplace, "I still don't understand why we have to avoid the elves…"

"I am sorry; I can't tell you why. I was told to not tell anyone under penalty of death," Danny replied, as he grew sacred tree fruits that hung down near where Ivy was preparing their food.

The three girls grew quiet and, to his surprise, didn't press him for further clarification.

The four ate together and spent the evening discussing frivolous things, their training, and the girls' new abilities. Brooke was the first to yawn and head off to bed quickly followed by Ivy. The room grew quiet, and Jade seemed content to just sit there with him.

Danny was in his Sacred Tree Form, preparing to make a few more seeds for use in his plans. He finally had enough mana regenerated to grow a new one, and he opened his eyes, leaving his Sacred Tree Form. He was surprised to find Jade kneeling down right in front of where he was sitting, her face level with his own.

"Jade," Danny asked cautiously.

Jade was taking a long time replying and just knelt there, studying his face. She took a deep breath before saying, "Danny." Her big emerald eyes seemed to twinkle as they quickly expanded to fill his entire field of view. Jade closed the distance between them and confidently placed her lips against his. Warning bells went off in Danny's head, and while he returned her kiss, he slowly tried to pull away. He didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings, but he was conflicted about how he felt and on Jade's unexpected aggressiveness.

To his growing alarm, Jade effortlessly continued their kiss by leaning with him until he fell backwards. Jade was now laying on top of him. Her long hair had fallen forward and tickled his face. Her hands went up to cup the back of his head, and Danny instinctively switched to Air Aspect.

Jade noticed his sudden transformation and released his head in reaction. While her guard was down, Danny floated up into the air, smirking as he said, "Jade, while that was nice, we don't have time for that right now, and you need to get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Jade seemed emboldened by his response and smiled, smugly, saying, "I wasn't last!"

"Last," Danny asked in confusion.

Jade nodded, proudly explaining, "Yes, everyone has kissed you but Brooke and me. Now, I won't be last."

Danny had to resolutely resist expressing his sudden frustration that this was all a competition now. Flying past Jade, he used his magic to float her into the room the girls shared. Danny raised a finger to his lips in silence as he laid her down in her bedroll. Danny could tell by Brooke and Ivy's heartbeats that they were still thankfully fast asleep.

Jade released her aspect and lifted her arms to him, silently asking Danny for a hug. Chuckling softly, Danny shook his head as he backed out of the room.

Cranny laughed at Danny's expense, *Well, looks like you are going to have your hands full figuring out how to balance all that out.*

*I will have to,* replied Danny, adding, *and you are going to be right there helping me.*

*Sure, sure…* Cranny said, noncommittally.

In the common room of the hideaway, Danny released his aspect and walked over to rub Phantom's ears. Using Nature Affinity to convey his request, he asked the cat to watch over the three girls and to alert them should any trouble come sniffing around. The cat responded with a long lick to his face, which Danny promptly wiped away with the sleeve of his robe. "I will be back by morning," Danny whispered.

Fortunately, the girls had learned to trust Danny to watch over them at night so that they could sleep. Danny wasn't too worried, as Phantom's senses could alert her to any threat posed to the girls, even if she also went to sleep.

With his backpack on, Danny activated his Air Aspect and slipped through the tops of the trees toward the fortress. His movements went unnoticed as he scanned for threats.

***

Danny had spent most of the evening pondering how best to approach the task he had set for himself. The simplest path was to rain destruction down upon the mountainside and pick through the pieces. Unfortunately, Danny needed answers, and there were probably also prisoners being kept somewhere.

Right before leaving the forest tree line, Danny used a considerable amount of mana to cover the whole mountainside in a dense fog. He then dropped to the ground and switched to Earth Aspect, before sinking deep into the ground, Danny moved through it like a fish by gathering earth from in front of him and shifting it where he had been.

*Danny, I am picking up structured hallways, stairs, and rooms below the fortress. There is also an inordinate amount of freshly dug tunnels littered all throughout the soft soils of the surrounding hillside. The tunnels lead all over the place and hold no significant or discernible pattern.*

Danny looked over the image overlay Cranny brought in front of his normal vision, *Wow, it's like an ant nest. How will we find anyone in all this?*

*I suggest we stick to the basement levels of the fortress. The goblins only bothered to make one tunnel from the soft soils of the hillside through to the hard stone of the mountain, where the fortress was built,* Cranny suggested.

Danny moved, careful to avoid the goblin tunnels and arrived just below the bottom basement level of the fortress. There were two basement levels with completely different layouts other than a single staircase leading from one to the other. The basement levels held numerous rooms of varying sizes along the branching hallways. The surface level was one long room, which Danny guessed was intended to be a great hall.

*Your mana is already down to fifty percent. That fog took more energy than we had estimated,* Cranny notified Danny.

Sticking with the plan, Danny opened up a hole in the ground and pulled out three sacred tree seeds from his backpack. He made sure to always replace the seeds he used once he created a new tower. Using his Sacred Tree Form, Danny began growing his new trees. If he wanted a ready supply of mana, he would need a source closer than the hideaway in the nearby forest. Winding the roots through the soil, Danny had them rise up out the west wall of the fortress nearest to the mountainside. He noticed the goblins tended to prefer the eastern side where the soil was softer and where they could dig. Danny wasn't concerned at all if they saw the growing sacred tree limbs and leaves. In fact, these would probably provide a good distraction for what he planned to do next.

***

Still, in his Sacred Tree Form and with roots attached to his three sacred trees, Danny moved to a central location and sealed off the entrance to the large room on the surface level from the outside. Then, he sealed the staircases between the basement levels and, finally, the lone stone tunnel at the bottom that led to the rest of the chaos inside the hill below.

*Danny, even though regeneration rates are up, your mana is down to thirty percent.*

Danny first went to where the goblin tunnel was attached to the lowest basement level. He stuck his head out the roof of the tunnel. Just on the other side of the entrance, the goblins had created the bottom basement. Danny saw a gathering of goblins trying to figure out what was happening and where the wall blocking access to the lower basement level had appeared from. Danny, having seen what he expected, slowly rose back up into the ceiling of the tunnel.

The staircases between the two basement floors of the fortress were still sealed off. Blocks of stone bulged and fell over as Danny, already covered in stone armor, emerged from the floor of the bottom basement level. He chose a location at the end of a hallway near the stairway entrance to the upper floors. The room was starting to fill with smoke from the torches made of pitch burning from holders placed on the walls. Between the smoke and the stench of goblin, Danny wisely decided to quit breathing.

Danny briefly thought about just waiting until any goblins had time to succumb to the fumes, but it would have made it nearly impossible for him to see. Plus, if there were any prisoners, they could be already weakened and might die before he could reach them. Caring for others was so exhausting.

The short hallway he was in had bars across every visible doorway, and Danny recognized the tell-tale signs of a prison. He didn't see any of the doors open, but at the other end of the hallway, Danny could make out dozens of goblins assessing the collapsed stairway.

Peering into the nearest cell door, Danny found the huddled bodies of goblins crammed as tightly as possible into the prison cell.

*That's different. What do you make of it, Cranny?*

*No clue,* replied Cranny with interest.

Pulling on the door, Danny confirmed that it was locked and then repeated the process at every door as he continued down the hallway. When he passed the hallway's single torch, he covered it with his rocky hand, easily putting it out.

One of the goblins standing around at the collapsed stairway finally noticed Danny as he emerged from the dark hallway into the light of the torch near the collapsed stairwell. At first, the goblins didn't know what to make of Danny, as he ignored them and continued to test doors. One of the goblins drew a crude sword and advanced toward Danny's position.

Reaching his right hand out to the ground beside him, a short sword made of stone rose up out of the floor. Danny grabbed the handle and broke it off from the ground. In his Earth Aspect, he learned to create a reasonably sharp edge on any weapon he made. It wouldn't stand up long to a metal weapon, but it would cut flesh easily enough.

The goblin, seeing the stone blade now in Danny's hand, approached cautiously. The goblin was holding his blade in an all too familiar way that Danny recognized from training in the Order. The goblin was but a few meters from him when Danny could tell the goblin was preparing to lunge at him.

A stone spike shot up out of the ground, impaling the goblin up through his groin.

*We don't have time for this,* Cranny grumbled to Danny.

Danny ignored his counterpart and advanced on the remaining goblins. More than a few drew swords and clubs and rushed toward Danny. Danny moved around the impaled goblin and got into his sword stance. While they were still far enough away to give him room to fight, more spikes emerged, spearing the mass of goblins. Only a few goblins emerged unscathed to rush him in a desperate attempt to survive.

Danny stood there and allowed the first goblin to ineffectively hit Danny's stone armor with his club. Pleased with how his armor stood up to the blow, Danny swung his sword and managed to open the goblin's throat.

Two more goblins followed right after with swords raised. As Danny blocked one goblin's sword, he kicked out at the other. While Danny's leg was struck by the goblin's sword, it only managed to change Danny's kick from hitting the goblin's stomach to its groin. The goblin he kicked fell to its knees in pain as the other goblin pulled its blade back for another strike. Danny easily stepped away from the still standing goblin's next attack as he stabbed his sword down into the chest of the kneeling goblin, piercing its heart. Finding his sword firmly lodged in the goblin's chest, Danny warded of the remaining goblin's next sword strike with his stone-covered hand. Reflexively, Danny punched the goblin in the face with his other fist and was surprised at the sound of breaking bones.

Seeing the remaining goblin slump to the ground unmoving, Danny turned to see all the goblins that had stayed behind at the collapsed stairway, already on top of him.

*I miss Air Scan in this aspect,* Cranny complained.

Danny raised his hands to protect his head as the blows rained down on him. Striking out with his hands, a few goblins fell to his half-blind strikes. Then, one goblin found the week spot in his leg armor.

Danny's knee buckled, but he managed to stay on his feet. The blows continued to strike the off-balance ascendant when stone spikes burst forth from the ground to spear the remaining goblins. Danny waved his arms around a few more times before he realized there was no one left to fight.

*Cranny?* Danny asked in confusion.

Cranny's annoyed voice spoke up, *Danny, we don't have time, or mana, for you to test your skills like this. You can't be good at everything…yet. Now, the clock is ticking.*

Danny sighed dejectedly as he stood up and walked gingerly over the blood-stained floor and bodies. He had to remove a few of the spikes to give himself enough room to pass in some places.

*This isn't working, Cranny.*

Ensuring there was no immediate danger, Danny released his Earth Aspect and used Harmony Magic to quickly heal his knee. He felt exposed as his stone armor fell to the ground around him, but he had trouble maintaining it in his natural form.

There was a wide central hallway from the stairway up to the goblin tunnel on the other side. Four smaller corridors crossed to either side of the main hallway.

*Alright, bringing up the minimap for you,* Cranny announced. A translucent display of the basement appeared with small red dots denoting living goblins.

Using Air Magic, Danny snuffed out the torches as soon as he checked each hallway. The smoke from the torches was getting thicker, so he had to hurry. He noticed that the air-tight basement made his ears want to pop when he used his Air Magic. That added air with fire to the list of elements to avoid excessively using down here.

There were over fifty rooms on this bottom floor, and every one of them so far contained cramped and huddled goblins. Out in the hallways were crude buckets and large bowls filled with goblin excrement. Happening to glance down, Danny realized one of the buckets held some sort of slop or gruel. There was nothing to tell this bucket from the others and shuddered thinking the goblins might not bother to denote the difference. Danny wouldn't be surprised if these goblins were all horribly diseased.

*Danny, I can't really scan all of them since they are all packed so closely in together, but my best guess is that they are all female. I would also suspect by the condition of the few I scanned that they are all in one stage of pregnancy or another.*

Danny grimaced, *What about the ones we killed by the stairs?*

*Those were all males,* Cranny replied.

Moving on, Danny soon reached the other side of the lower basement floor. As he already knew, a pair of goblin males had tried to hide from him. They must have seen the attack by the stairs and hidden.

*They don't have a connection to the source at all,* Danny pointed out.

Cranny agreed, *Yes, just like all these females.*

Killing them quickly with two ice spikes, Danny confirmed that the whole floor contained female goblins packed in as densely as possible.

Danny complained, *I thought the boss was always at the lowest level of a dungeon?*

*Yeah, so much for outsmarting our way to the end of the level,* Cranny agreed.

Moving to the sealed stairway, Danny activated Earth Aspect only to hesitate. He couldn't bring himself to just leave these female goblins here to suffocate to death. Even though they were like a plague, he couldn't bring himself to kill them in a way that would cause them to suffer far worse than they already had. Focusing on the far side of the basement, Danny created dozens of crude stone clubs that quickly piled up as they broke off from the ground. Then, he focused on the cell doors, weakening the hinges. With a cacophony of reverberating echoes, the cell doors fell under their own weight, and the female goblins were free.

*Danny, we really don't have time for this…but I won't try and stop you.*

As the first female goblins gathered up enough courage to step outside their cells, Danny sunk down into the ground. The female goblins rushed to pick up the stone weapons Danny had created and any weapons that were on the dead goblins that had attacked Danny. The sealed wall to the tunnel weakened, and a male goblin's pickaxe easily broke through. The new hole was widened enough to get by, and the male goblins piled up on the other side crowded in close to look in. The waiting males barely managed to take a step backwards as the first of the female goblins jumped through the new opening to stab one of them in the gut.

CHAPTER 29

The goblins of the upper basement level began to work on clearing the sealed stairway to the surface. A hobgoblin looked on as the smaller goblins dug with their crude picks or hauled away the chunks of removed stone. The other goblins not involved with the excavation were putting on armor and weapons. These goblins were visibly larger and moved with confidence.

Not yet wanting to put the goblins on alert, Danny ducked back into the ground and checked a few more locations.

In one of the larger rooms on the floor, a few hobgoblins were seated in what he could only assume was meditation. There was crude bedding along the nearby walls as well as a few female goblins chained by collars around their necks which were attached to the walls.

In all, Danny found that one side was devoted to the hobgoblins, while the other to armor and weapon storage. He had a few additional rooms to check when he stumbled upon a room where the goblins were making new weapons and armor.

A couple of goblins were apparently assisting a dwarf as he worked at a forge. One was carrying a crude sword over to a massive pile of weapons while the other was sharpening the swords as best he could with a whetstone. The smoke Danny had seen coming from one of the crumbled towers up top must have been from a vent to the smelter taking up a corner in this room.

Other goblins were walking in and selecting weapons from the pile before leaving. Danny waited for a gap in the visiting goblins and then immediately used Raised Earth to close off the doorway to the room. Before the two assistant goblins could react, spikes of earth rose up to permanently silence them. The room now secure, Danny dropped down to the floor.

The room was like an oven, and Danny wondered how the dwarf and assistant goblins hadn't turned into jerky by now. Realizing that he had just sealed this room off, Danny turned to watch the smelter still burning strong, still consuming oxygen. Coming up with an idea, he quickly rose the earth up, sealing off the smelter from the rest of the room.

Walking over to the dwarf, Danny touched the metal shackles at his feet, and they fell off, "Good day, sir. How are you? My name is Danny."

The dwarf hadn't moved a muscle when Danny had dropped down from the ceiling. Then, as he removed the shackles, the dwarf had fallen over, a look of fear and confusion on his face. That's when Danny realized he had spoken in Elvish. Danny was at a loss as for how to best communicate with the dwarf.

The dwarf looked closer and began to eye Danny cautiously before speaking in passable Elvish, "A-an elf? Wait, w-what exactly are ya?" Then realizing his manners said, "I mean, the name's Dain. Thank you for releasing me…I don't mean to be rude, but are you a stone elf?"

Danny had forgotten he was still in his Earth Aspect and released it, his body changing back to his true form. Danny explained, "I am actually human, but I know Elvish as well. How did you wind up here?"

From his position on the ground, Dain clearly decided Danny was more friend than foe as he started to tenderly inspect his recently freed ankles. Dain sounded tired as he began his story, "I was with a dwarven delegation to the elves, hoping to see if they would let us do a bit of prospecting in their lands. We were hoping to form a sort of business partnership with any minerals we find. Figure with the elves buying all their ores and metals from us, they wouldn't mind us providing the goods a bit closer to home. Blasted goblins took us by surprise and knocked me over the head before I knew what was what."

Reaching out with Nature Aspect, Danny scanned the man for injuries. There were a few other signs of poor treatment he had received from the goblins, and Danny used Nature Aspect to try and heal the dwarf. To his surprise, his mana was rebuffed.

Being the first dwarf he had seen, Danny scanned the man's body with his mana sight. He was surprised to find that, while the dwarf's mana was unlocked, it all seemed to flow along his mana veins only to be ejected from his body anywhere it got near his skin. The dwarf was producing a significant amount of mana as well. Apparently, this gave dwarfs a natural resistance to magic. Unfortunately, Danny didn't have time to figure out how to circumnavigate this in order to heal him.

Danny asked, "Do you know if there is anyone else being kept here, and where is the hobgoblin with the black duster?"

The dwarf frowned and shrugged his shoulders, "When we were attacked, and I came to, I only saw me and my clan cousin Mari in the group returning. They brought me here, and all I have done is work, sleep, eat, and shit here. I am a miner, not a blacksmith. I know a little about metalworking but just repairin' things. Which is good in a way, as all I can make are some shoddy swords and armor for them. I haven't seen any hobgoblin in a black duster, just black robes." Dain got quiet, "I haven't seen Mari since then. I hope she is alright. She and her baby…"

Danny looked confused, "She brought a baby on the trip?"

Dain shook his head, saying, "No, she was pregnant. She didn't mind having it in the elven lands, as her sisters would help her. She was pretty far along…we need to find her, please." Dain looked up imploringly at Danny.

"Of course, we will find her if she is still here," Danny promised. Now, he just had to figure out what to do with the dwarf and decided it would be best take him along.

Dain quickly agreed, "Better safe with you than trying not to get captured again by those little bastards!"

"You know how to fight?"

Dain shook his head, "My clan has been miners for generations. We are not trained to fight."

Danny started to second-guess his decision to take him along but had already wasted enough time.

***

Having completely scouted the upper basement floor, Danny only found goblins of one variety or another. Danny grew stone again to reseal what the goblins had mined from the stairway to the surface. The goblins had already discovered the sealed forge and had started to dig through it as well.

Cranny informed him, *Your mana is almost out, Danny.*

Danny had already taken Dain through a new tunnel he had created in the earth outside the forge, sealing it behind them. Danny showed the hard-working goblins some kindness, by removing the stone from the forge's door. Of course, the dwindling flames of the smelter had now turned the air of the forge room into a toxic, noxious smoke. Danny didn't bother to wait around to see how they handled this.

Moving to the large room on the surface, Danny sensed that the stone he had erected to block the doorway from the outside had already been breached. He decided to leave it alone for now.

Having run out of ground, Danny slowly surfaced in a corner, doing his best to hide his exit point by pulling the stone back down and condensing it. The room was obviously meant to be used as an assembly room or a great hall. There was a raised area on the farthest side of the room, and the entrance to the stairway to the basement was through a now sealed door on the same side. The walls were lined with female goblins, all chained to the walls.

The great hall was a flurry of activity. Large goblins in armor and weapons were rushing outside, while unarmored goblins were dragging the wounded back in. All the while, a hobgoblin in a black duster was screaming orders to the soldiers and goblins running all around. Behind the screaming hobgoblin, a large group of hobgoblin shamans was tending to the wounded.

Danny had no clue what was happening outside and did his best not to be distracted about the first few unpleasant possibilities that sprang to mind. Then, he noticed that the hobgoblins were not healing the wounded but were infusing them with entropy magic. The wounded would then rise up and leave to fight again outside.

He knew he had to stop this supply of fresh troops. The problem was he was getting dangerously low on mana and didn't have time to go back and recharge while he could be helping whomever they were fighting.

Danny growled in frustration, *If only I could…* He realized he was being an idiot. In his rush to locate the one responsible, he had been ignoring a more efficient way to tackle the problem.

Switching to his Nature Affinity in Sacred Tree Form, Danny willed the three trees to grow new roots toward him. They soon reached his position, and he merged his form with theirs. Mana flowed into him, and Danny took the extra seeds he had stored in his robes and quickly grew those as well. Soon, he was merged with five sacred trees. While they were new, the mana regeneration he now had access to was still nothing to balk at.

***

The great hall's doorway to the outside sealed itself again, as spikes burst forth from the ground. The male goblins that remained in the room were swiftly dispatched, and the group of hobgoblins were all that remained. As they gathered around each other, Danny could now see that there were a little more than twenty shamans.

Not trusting his Earth Affinity to not accidentally kill the hobgoblins, Danny sent the roots of one sacred tree through the floor to wrap around and restrain the shamans. His efforts were thwarted when a hobgoblin in the black duster hit the roots with entropy magic. The dark magic quickly entered the root system and began to spread, feeding on the mana within.

Danny killed off the infected roots before they could spread through the whole tree and then into him and his other trees.

Danny struggled to find an answer, *Crap, I need them alive.*

Able to keep a level head, Cranny came to his rescue, *Their entropy magic is what makes them difficult to handle. Why don't we just use ‘that' to remove their ability to cast magic?*

*Of course, but I need to get closer,* Danny agreed.

Danny took a calculated risk and created an opening to the surface and switched to Mana Aspect. Turning to Dain, Danny handed the dwarf his backpack and told him, "Here, take this and stay here."

Not waiting for a reply, Danny floated into the room, and the hobgoblins spotted him immediately.

The hobgoblin in the center, who had been barking orders earlier, seemed to recognize Danny. Speaking in a strangely fluent Elvish, the goblins wearing black dusters greeted him, "Welcome honored guest, to the future of the goblin race. Please, call me Bozhidar."

Danny studied the hobgoblin who had spoken. To his natural sight, there was only his black duster to distinguish him from the others in the room. Through his mana sight, Danny could tell the hobgoblins had mana lines and stored mana in their bodies just like the human wizards, who had been unlocked with one of the ancient keys. Their mana lines bulged irregularly, and their mana storage was inconsistent.

Danny remembered back to his theory on the whereabouts of Diadem's wizards missing ancient key. Danny felt he was sure where it had gone and now who had stolen it.

Bozhidar's smile fell from his lips as he studied where Danny floated, "You really are him, are you not? The one who stole my father's birthright. He said you might come. The one who was born with all the gifts my father had carefully crafted. The one my father curses his every waking hour…the son of Creek."

Danny frowned, not because of what had just been revealed to him, but because this wasn't the individual responsible for him being here on this world, "Where is your father? He and I have much to discuss."

Bozhidar looked behind him, "Father was frustrated with our short lifespans and poor position in this world and made plans for his future. His future and those of my two older brothers." Bozhidar said the last with palpable jealousy.

Turning back to Danny, the hobgoblin seemed to regain some of his confidence, proudly proclaiming, "Before my father left, he handed over his kingdom to me and set for me three tasks. Grow in power, crush Diadem, and if I get the chance, kill the thief stole what was his.

I have to thank you, Creek. I had lost hope when I heard the elves had finally decided to come out of their forest to wipe us out. Father was right when he said that they were cowards, only striking in the shadows, rarely risking their precious long lives. Now, before I die at their hands, I can at least grant one of my father's wishes."

With his mana sight, Danny could see all twenty-something shamans preparing spells. Bozhidar led six of his hobgoblins in casting some sort of complicated ritualistic spell, while the others started to rapidly fire fireballs and small bolts of Entropy Aspect at Danny.

Danny didn't move from where he was floating, as the spells splashed harmlessly against a shield made from pure mana. Danny found his mana quickly depleting, though, and didn't know how much longer he could maintain his shield. Switching to another aspect would be risky, so Danny did the only thing he could think of. He moved forward.

Behind him, Danny ignored the screams of pain a few of the female goblins made, as they were hit by a few poorly directed spells.

Before Danny could move into position, Bozhidar's ritual spell completed, and the six goblins assisting him fell to the ground, dead. The spell shot forward and struck Danny, surrounding him in a swirling mass of black energy.

Panting, Bozhidar started to laugh as he caught his breath, but then, he froze in confusion as the black mass of entropy magic began to swirl in a tight orb. The blackness of the spell started to take on other darker colors. Then, those colors became lighter until the whole spell became as bright a small sun.

The shamans all shielded their eyes in an attempt to keep up with what was happening. The blinding light receded, and they could only look up in shock to find Danny hovering directly above them.

"Thanks for refilling a good bit of my mana," Danny said with a smirk.

Not waiting any longer, Danny focused on each and every one of them. Reaching out with his mana, every hobgoblin still standing fell to the ground as Danny removed their connections to the source. Only dark voids now existed where they had once received their power.

CHAPTER 30

The muted sounds of battle continued outside, but for Danny, there was only the goblin in front of him and the answers only Bozhidar could provide. Danny didn't have time to wait for the wretched creature to wake up so that he could torture the information out of him.

Danny placed his hands on either side of the still unconscious Bozhidar. Activating Nature Aspect, Danny's features turned into those of an elf's. Focusing, Danny did what he promised himself he would never do to another creature; he forced his way into Bozhidar's mind.

There was token resistance at first, but Danny's mind was an unstoppable force by this point. His high intelligence quickly analyzed any resistance and, with Cranny's assistance, effectively countered it with little effort. The mass of memories of the hobgoblin's past flooded Danny's mind like a burst dam.

Bozhidar grew up in a brutal world where only the strong were kept and the weak thrown away. Growing up under the shadow of his two older brothers had made him strive to prove himself to his seemingly deranged father. Danny now realized that the hobgoblins who had surrounded Bozhidar were his brothers or half-brothers, all direct offspring of Bozhidar's father.

By the time Bozhidar was born, all the female goblins had already been turned over to the baby goblin making industrial complex engineered by his father. Every goblin male sired by Bozhidar's father had been tested with the key that he had stolen from the humans. Those of his brothers who had failed to unlock their mana with the key were turned into slaves and used as entropy fodder in the war.

Moving back to Bozhidar's father, Danny learned that he was called Hadrian and had insisted that he was the true ruler of Diadem. In one drunken evening, Bozhidar had heard his father muttering about his birthright and about his younger sister stealing the throne that rightfully belonged to him. Danny also learned that Bozhidar had received a second primary target, or targets, the current ruler of Diadem and the entire Diadem family.

Connecting the dots, Danny knew that if this was true, it explained why the Diadem family would want to keep Hadrian's actions such a national secret. Plus, this whole mind and soul transference magic, whatever it was called, could not be allowed into the wrong hands.

Danny dug through the rest of Bozhidar's mind but didn't find much of a spell-related nature, besides learning the few offensive entropy spells Hadrian Diadem had taught the goblins. This included the ritual spell which would consume everything in a specific radius depending on the "souls" it absorbed.

Danny was frustrated to find that Hadrian had conducted a transfer ritual in weeks past and had made sure the ritual of placing him and his sons into their new bodies had been private. Bozhidar had followed his father's orders and had waited outside the large chamber until an attendant had opened the door again to report that the ritual was finished. Then, at his father's last instructions, Bozhidar had killed those goblins left in the great hall.

A pregnant orc, dwarf, and beastwoman, who looked similar to a wolf, had been captured. Three infants were born shortly afterward and were taken away in the care of a female goblin nursemaid and a pair of trusted hobgoblins. They would make sure the infants made it to their respective species in secret. Even Bozhidar didn't know which child was now his father's new body, but Danny noted the orc infant had suspiciously been given the ancient key to take with it.

Nothing had been written down or saved that hadn't been carved into the flesh of the captured women. Bozhidar saw and memorized the rune that had been cut into each pregnant woman's lower abdomen. Hadrian had made sure that there was little to follow him with, giving the explicit order to dispose of the new mothers' bodies. The young hobgoblin had fortunately chosen to preserve and revere the image carved into the women's flesh, and he made the goblin artisan's crude attempts to replicate the rune that had been carved into their flesh a symbol for his growing nation.

The battles on the surface were a distraction to what the goblins were really working on. The mass of tunnels Danny had sensed when under the ground were just the tip of the iceberg. The goblins had grown and spread out toward the human and elven lands. They purposely had used the fortress as a distracting focal point. By the time the two countries realized what was really going on, there would be nothing they could do to stop the coming goblin tsunami.

All of this new information seemed to flow through Danny's mind like water coming out of a high-pressure hose. Danny struggled to process it all and fought to slow the force at which the memories invaded his mind. Losing the fight against the seemingly insurmountable amount of information, Danny passed out.

***

Pain. It spread across Danny's head and down to his face, causing him to double up and curl into a ball. He was unable to contain the groan that escaped his lips at the intensity of the excruciating throbbing in his skull. He could have sworn that his heart had switched places with his brain and was now in the middle of an extensive demolition in preparation for remodelling its new home.

Cracking an eye open, Danny found that he had either moved or been moved against a far wall. Something relatively soft lay under his head like a pillow. In the middle of the room lay the bodies of the hobgoblin shamans. Pools of drying blood that spread out under the hobgoblin's bodies spoke of some end Danny hadn't been conscious for.

As if registering for the first time the sounds of metal striking metal and the screaming in different languages, Danny managed to push through the grinding pain in his skull. Lifting his head toward the great hall's former entrance, he had to reorient himself since everything was sideways. Fortunately, that didn't prevent him from recognizing Ivy, Brooke, and Jade fighting alongside Dain against the teams of cursed goblins trying to force their way through a large hole in the wall leading from the fortress's courtyard. The hole was more significant in size than that of the previous entrance. It took Danny a moment to realize that only a majority of the goblins heading through the hole were cursed with entropy magic. Their deep pitch black eyes and total disregard for their own well-being gave them away. While the cursed goblins were harder to kill, these were not as impressive as the ones who had attacked the caravan in the Great Forest. Their movements were jerky and uncoordinated. Danny didn't have any clues as to why this was, but he was definitely glad of the fact.

*Easy for me to say as I take it easy back here on the floor,* Danny thought to himself as he chuckled before he immediately winced in pain as a new wave of pounding rose in his aching brain. Danny peeked back in concern as his friends continued to fight for their lives.

Brooke held the center with her large tower shield. With it, she would lash out with her large one-handed mace at any opportunity. The short goblins' bodies would go flying back through the hole, many striking their allies before hitting the ground.

Ice flooded one side of the hole from one outstretched hand as Ivy fired her crossbow at a goblin trying to flank Brooke's position. The ice-covered floor had the goblins tripping and falling on each other in their hard press to get inside.

A ball of dark energy shot out of the opening to strike Brooke on her head. Before Brooke could react, Phantom appeared at her side, and a pure white aura extended out of the cat to envelop the girl. Brooke shook her head and turned back to her work.

"Jade," Ivy yelled to be heard over the noise.

Jade's tall form grew faint, and she disappeared from where she had been engaging a few uncursed goblins with her short swords. The two goblins lowered their weapons and looked around in confusion. There was a flash of light from outside that forced Danny to close his eyes just before the air pressure rose sharply, and then Danny's ears popped. When Danny opened them again, Jade was already back at her previous position, her blades buried in the necks of the goblins. The flow of goblins entering then noticeably came to an end.

Phantom turned and was the first to notice that Danny was awake. Running over, the cat surrounded him in her white aura, but it did no good for whatever was wrong with his head. Danny pushed through his pain so that he could reach up and rubbed the cat's ears.

Brooke looked back when she noticed Phantom's absence, yelling "Danny's awake!" Brooke turned back to crush one of the last cursed goblins which had reached her. The others looked back briefly but didn't have the luxury to leave the opening unguarded.

Ivy yelled, "Dwarf, go check on Danny!"

The dwarf glared across the room, growling, "The name is Dain, little human!" Ivy ignored him and flung her sword outward. Blades of ice flew off her sword to bury themselves into a few remaining goblins' bodies.

As Phantom ran back over to help the girls, Danny tried to sit up. His careful movements were hindered when he realized that a root sticking up from the ground beneath him was wrapped tightly around his wrist.

*Cranny, what's going on?* Danny asked as he looked down in confusion at his restraint.

Danny waited a bit before asking again, *Cranny?*

"You alright there, Danny boy?" Dain asked as he knelt down next to him.

Danny sighed in frustration, "I don't know… What happened while I was out?"

Dain stroked his beard as he replied, "I gave up waiting on you and snuck out to find you and those shaman bastards all taking a nap. Well, all except that one in the black duster you were talking about. He looked like he had taken one too many blows to the head; he was all foaming at the mouth and mumbling. I didn't know when you were going to wake up, and so I found a sword nearby and slit their throats. Nasty work, but I wasn't going to wait for them to wake up."

Danny glanced over to where the girls were still trying to stop the last few goblins. Reaching out, Danny attempted to use Earth Affinity to close up the hole. Instead, he felt immediately faint, and the pain in his head spiked.

Crying out, Danny heard a familiar voice in his head, *Stop that Danny! I am busy, and we are going to have to depend on the girls for a bit longer. I am almost done, and then you can use all the magic you want. Stay out there, and make sure nothing happens to our body. Also, whatever you do, don't remove that root around your wrist!*

*Cranny, what are you talking about?* Danny replied in confusion.

There wasn't a response from Cranny, and after a few more tries, Danny eventually gave up trying to contact him. Danny was halfway tempted to head into his sanctuary and give Cranny a piece of his mind when the activity by the opening stopped altogether.

Jade, Ivy, and Brooke all looked between one another before Ivy called back, "Dain, come watch the entrance with Phantom while we talk with Danny."

Dain stood up grumbling, "Blasted females…to be her father…stick my boot up her…," as he headed back over to guard the opening.

The three teenage girls walked over to Danny with varying looks of displeasure. Danny couldn't help note a strong sense of deja vu, but he couldn't remember when this situation had ever happened before. He figured it was just his headache.

"Danny, you are going…," Ivy started in that tone Danny was all too familiar with, but Danny interrupted her, saying, "Ivy, I was here to stop the one who hurt my mother--your uncle, Hadrian."

Ivy froze and didn't say anything at first. Her brain was trying to catch up with what he had just said.

Danny continued on, saying, "Your mother threatened my parents, and then later myself, that if we told anyone what your uncle had done, that we and anyone they told would die. I saw an opportunity to kill Hadrian myself and to do it without anyone else being aware. I didn't want you three to get involved, even though you are her daughter. I didn't know how far she would take her threat. Unfortunately, your uncle got away."

Ivy regained her voice, saying, "Wait, Danny, what exactly did my uncle…"

The ground shook, and dust fell from the ceiling, covering everything in a thin layer.

"What was that?" Brooke asked. Everyone waited with baited breath, but nothing else happened.

Danny urgently whispered, "How did y'all get in here with all those goblins outside?"

Ivy looked like she wanted to revisit what he previously had been saying, but she replied, "When we found you were gone, Phantom led us down here, and we used our variant abilities to fight our way over here. We wouldn't have made it if Phantom hadn't been there to deal with the shaman's cursed magic. At first, they were flooding out of the hillside like ants. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped coming, and a few ran back down into the ground.

"Did you scare them off?" Danny asked in confusion.

Jade shook her head, "No, they didn't look scared. I think they were fighting someone or something else at the same time. When I was moving quickly around the field, I saw a bloodied shaman run up to grab a few groups of goblins and head back down, underground."

Brooke spoke excitedly, "It was awesome, Danny! I was melting the ground on one side, while Ivy froze the ground on the other. Jade was all over the place, taking out shamans left and right before taking out groups of spearman with a lightning strike. The whole time, Phantom was healing anyone who got hurt and killing whoever hurt them. Then, we had to run out of mana shortly before making it in here..."

Danny glanced over to where the massive opening to the courtyard was and had to ask, "How did you get in here then?"

Brooke smiled, bragging, "I easily smashed my way through with my raw strength."

"The goblins had already knocked out most of the wall already," Jade said, smirking.

Brooke looked put off, countering, "Well, I did smash through the front gate with one blow."

It was Ivy's turn to butt in, "Yes you did but not before I froze the thing solid, first."

Brooke pouted and turned away from the other two girls.

"Danny, do you think you could close the hole up now, and we could try to find a way out of here?" Ivy asked.

Danny looked down at the root wrapped around his wrist. He could feel mana regenerating in his body then immediately flowing out of him. His mana was staying at an uncomfortable constant--right next to nil.

Danny shifted on the hard floor, replying, "I can't really get up right now, and I hurt my head, so I can't…"

There was another explosion, and not only did the ground shake but the wall leading out to the courtyard now had a large crack running from the large opening to the ceiling.

Dain ran over with Phantom in tow. The dwarf asked, worriedly, "What in the dark depths was that?"

The only answer that came was a deafening crash, as a giant boulder fell through the courtyard wall and landed right where Dain and Phantom had been standing not a few seconds before. Ancient stones flew across the room as the dust and mortar which had been knocked loose flooded the space like a dense morning fog. The opening that Brooke had made in the wall was now filled with debris, but half the wall had come down along with it.

Coughing and hacking in an attempt to clear the irritating dust from their lungs, everyone turned toward the early morning light that now streamed through a jagged, gaping hole that stretched from the entirety of the courtyard wall all the way across the middle of the ceiling. Danny was at a loss as to how they all hadn't been crushed by the massive chunks of stone, that now surrounded his group.

The dark void-filled eyes of a cursed mountain troll looked through the opening and down right at them. With a blood-curdling yell from the troll, goblins flooded over the wall and into the great hall like a floodgate thrown open.

CHAPTER 31

Over the top of the half-collapsed wall came little green and gray hands pulling and pushing as small feet kicked and flailed. Out of gap-toothed mouths set between long, often torn or missing ears came screams of anger, hatred, and frustration. The goblins, both cursed and not, climbed over the remains of the wall, the fallen debris, and over each other in an attempt to get inside the great hall. Each one was bristling with scavenged or crudely made weapons. The looming figure of the troll turned away to bend over, out of sight.

Danny quickly tried to stand again, only be to jerk back as the sacred tree root reminded him that it was still wrapped around his wrist. Seeing the first goblin land, well more like tumble, onto the floor of the great hall caused Danny to give up on freeing himself from the root and look for a weapon.

*Cranny, I am going to kill you after this! You seriously can't give me any mana to work with!*

Danny didn't get a reply as Ivy rushed to his side, saying, "Danny, get us a way out of here while we defend you!"

Danny looked around wildly as he tried to figure out how best to explain the situation. Finally, he went with, "I have been working on something, but I can't move from this spot or use any mana."

Ivy just stared at him for a few contemplative seconds before yelling out, "Form up everyone! We have to protect Danny while he gets us out of here!" Turning to the dwarf, she added, "Dain, try to clear some of this rubble, so we have enough room to move around safely."

Dain, for once, didn't argue with the girl and got to work. Danny gritted his teeth as he settled down into a crouch. His head still ached something fierce, but adrenaline was now pumping, and he was getting somewhat more used to the pain.

With the wall at their back, Brooke stood between Danny and the oncoming goblins. Those who were first to enter had slowed down, waiting for more numbers before proceeding. Ivy took up Brooke's right side and Jade her left.

As the girls moved into position, Danny asked Jade, "I need a weapon. Can you find me one?"

Jade looked briefly around before running a few meters away and returning with a crude spear. She no sooner handed it to him than the first of the goblins attacked.

Brooke's shield flew out and met the first in the charge head-on. Two goblins were thrown backwards and crashed into those behind them. Ivy and Brooke rushed around her and quickly thrust their blades into the collapsed tangle of goblin bodies. Blades of ice and wind promptly cut them into pieces. Spears flew from the rear, and the two girls ducked back behind the protection of Brooke's shield.

The whole while, Dain ran past Danny to pick up any stones or debris that could threaten the girls' footing.

The mass of goblin flesh pushed forward again, and the three teenage girls did their best to hold it back. With her tower shield firmly planted, Brooke was struggling to fend off the attempted strikes to her feet and legs while blocking any spears from above. Ivy and Jade barely managed to avoid attacks to their exposed arms and sides as they reached around to strike from behind Brooke's shield.

Phantom leaped from her hiding spot in the nearby debris of the fallen ceiling, attacking the goblins' flank. The goblins were successfully distracted, and the pressure let off of the girls long enough for them to catch their breath for a few moments.

Phantom was gone as quickly as she had arrived, and even though a few goblins split off to chase after her, the girls were immediately thrown back into the thick of it. Danny had tried attacking with his spear from his crouched and fixed position, but he only managed to briefly trip up Ivy. After receiving a brief glare, he focused on helping Dain finish moving what debris they could reach safely.

It was while he was moving a few loose stones that he noticed his backpack lying there where he had been left while passed out. Someone had placed it under his head like a pillow. The only problem was that it should not have been comfortable at all. Lifting up the pack's flap in a panic, Danny quickly rummaged around inside with his free hand. Finding it empty, he visibly paled.

Danny yelled to be heard over the sounds of screaming goblins and clashing weapons, "Dain, where is my stuff that was in this backpack?"

Dain looked up and was distracted by something over Danny's shoulder. Looking back, Danny watched as a hobgoblin shaman who had managed to climb onto the collapsed wall cast a curse at them. The entropy magic flew across and splashed against Brooke's shield. The metal warped and corroded, but held.

Ivy turned to Jade, "Can you reach the shaman?"

Jade just frowned and shook her head. Her mana was too low.

Danny hesitatingly turned back to the now incredulous look on Dain's face, and the dwarf answered, "I don't think whatever you lost, boy, is really important right now. Unless it was a weapon that could save our asses."

Danny held up the empty backpack, "Yes, there was something we could have potentially used. Where is the second bag that was in here?"

Dain shrugged, "Everything was still in there when I moved you against the wall."

Danny looked around the room in terror, completely forgetting the goblins attacking not two meters away from him. He knew that this was not a good sign.

A shadow crossed the early morning sun, and the room grew quiet. The goblins that the girls were actively engaged with fell back, and none of the other goblins were in a hurry to press forward to take up their places.

The troll that had knocked the hole in the wall returned and now lifted another boulder over his head. Danny panicked trying to yank his hand out of the root's grip, but to his horror, the root grew thicker and in the process pulled him closer to the ground.

As the troll hurled the massive stone at them, Danny realized that even if he had been able to, there would have been no time for him to move out of the way. The rock smoothly flew over the retreating goblins and headed dead center for where Danny fruitlessly struggled on the dirty stone floor.

The light of the room visibly darkened. The approaching boulder seemed to grow in size as it eclipsed the sunlight streaming inside. Before the boulder could reach Danny, though, a red light blazed to life as Brooke held her mace aloft behind her head. Her entire arm was awash in a red light like a pillar of fire, and her mace was a now a small sun.

Danny could only watch in some strange physically dislocated way as Brooke's blindingly red mace flew forward and parted the approaching boulder like it was made of butter.

The boulder glowed for a second before exploding outward. Molten hot debris flew either outward to Brooke's sides or right back toward the goblins and the troll.

Brooke let out a relieved sigh, as she smiled back over her shoulder, saying, "Glad I saved some mana for an emergency."

Anything the rest of the group could have said would have been drowned out by the screams of pain that now filled the room. Uncursed goblins, lucky enough to still be alive, were coated in the remains of the boulder and were frantically trying to remove the steaming pieces from their bodies. The troll had been hit as well, but it just stood there as its flesh began to smoke and cook. A few cursed and uncursed goblins caught fire, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. The shaman who had made it up onto the wall had been struck in the head and had fallen to its death on the floor below. At the shaman's end, the troll and the cursed goblins immediately turned on the uncursed goblins and each other. The troll's behavior quickly became increasingly violent and unpredictable. Goblins ran screaming from the courtyard as the troll chased after them. More than a few goblins tried to find safety in the remains of the great hall, but Brooke and Jade quickly rushed to dispatch any survivors.

"Danny, this is our chance to get out of here. Let's go while we can," Ivy urged him as she tried to help him up.

Danny tried pulling on the root, but as expected, it held firm. Now that the pain in his head was not so severe, he could concentrate enough to manipulate his mana. Danny knew he could easily override, Cranny's control if he wanted to, but his other half's warnings gave him pause.

Jade yelled from near the wall, "Hey, the troll's coming back this way!"

*Cranny, we need to go. What are you doing?* Danny tried one last time.

To Danny's surprise, Cranny replied, *I'm done! We don't have to be connected to the sacred tree anymore.*

The root holding Danny's hand released him, and he let Ivy help him stand up. Rubbing his sore wrist, Danny said, "Alright, I am finished. Let's go." Reaching down, he grabbed his crude spear, hoping his staff skills might be somewhat transferred.

Before the rest of the group even started moving toward the collapsed wall, Jade jumped down from her perch as a towering figure loomed behind her. The now burned and blood-covered troll was back, and it looked as if it wasn't entirely out of control anymore. It reached out and kicked over the rest of the wall with one foot. As the wall collapsed, it sent out a plume of dust that quickly obscured the group's vision.

*Oh crap, I completely forgot about the trolls…* Cranny bemoaned.

*What is that supposed to mean?* Danny said worriedly.

*It means you need to figure out how to kill it with what little mana we are regenerating,* Cranny replied, unhelpfully.

"It's inside," yelled Jade, somewhere ahead.

Ivy was still next to him, and she yelled back, "Stay out of its reach, but keep it busy." Turning to Danny, she asked, "Can you do anything about it? I thought you were cooking something up?"

Danny was starting to panic, having hedged everything on Cranny coming up with something awesome. Shaking his head, Danny admitted, "It wasn't for this. Maybe if I had more time." Danny's magic was recovering, but it was still only enough to cast a few low-powered spells. He would either have to get creative or bide for time.

*Cranny, I am going to use Nature Affinity and merge with the sacred trees.*

Cranny's reply was immediate, *No! I already told you to leave it alone. I am still using the tree! It should be done soon.*

*I thought you said you were already done? And what is this ‘it' you are talking about?* Danny asked with barely concealed anger.

The dust still hadn't settled, and it freaked out Danny more than anything else that he still couldn't see the massive troll. Danny could hear Jade taunt the troll from one side of the room, while Brooke yelled from the other.

"We can't keep this up forever,' Brooke yelled out.

Phantom growled somewhere up ahead as the Troll hollered in pain.

Danny could finally make out Ivy next to him, and she was busy loading her crossbow. Ivy yelled back, "Just keep him busy!"

Cranny answered Danny's earlier question, *I can't go into it right now, but let's just say it should fix our goblin problem. I just wished I had remembered the trolls… Oh shit, the wolves!*

Danny wanted to tear his hair out, *What the hell did you do, Cranny?*

Ignoring Danny, Cranny added, "Oh, and I had to use the backup seeds as well."

Danny frantically checked his robes, confirming his last-resort sacred tree seeds were gone. Before Danny could begin the chewing out Cranny deserved, there was the sound of something heavy striking metal and a strangled cry from Brooke.

Jade yelled out, "Uhh, we could use a little help here…"

Ivy finished loading her crossbow just as the dust still floating in the room was swept away. Jade had used her affinity to clear up the air, exposing Brooke's prone form frantically trying to crawl away from under the troll. Jade's actions didn't distract the troll from targeting Brooke, and the troll lifted both hands above its head, preparing to smash Brooke into the ground. Danny spotted Phantom racing over, but he knew the cat wouldn't make it in time.

The twang of Ivy's crossbow was followed by the loud bellow of the troll. Ivy had almost missed the troll's eye, but the bolt burying itself in the inside corner near where Danny could only guess its tear duct should be. The troll dug at its eye, more than likely burying the bolt in further. Jade grabbed Brooke and slowly dragged her away, doing her best not to get them stomped on. Danny used some of his limited magic to send an extra large earthen spike into the troll's foot. The troll was so disoriented by his eye that the small spike was enough to trip it backwards and over into a large piece of collapsed roof.

Danny fell to one knee as it felt like his blood sugar had suddenly plummeted. His head spun, and his stomach lurched. The dull pounding in his head returned with a vengeance.

Cranny cautioned him, *You are almost empty; we need that mana to live!*

Ivy didn't waste any time and ran over to the troll, drawing her blade. The young girl jumped from the debris, up one leg, and ran to where the troll was still busy clawing at its eye. Just as she reached the top of the troll's chest, Ivy jumped into the air. Her arms exploded into a thousand dazzling lights, right before she stabbed her blade into the troll's neck. The troll's body jerked, and its hands swept down, knocking Ivy off. Ivy's body flew across the room and bounced off a bare stretch of the floor before slamming into a section of collapsed wall.

Phantom was still healing Brooke, so Jade was the first to reach Ivy, and immediately, she yelled, "She needs healing!"

As Danny stumbled to race across the floor, he watched the troll grabbing for its neck as if there was something it was trying to remove. The troll's face contorted strangely as it open and closed its mouth multiple times. Despite the troll's efforts no sound or air escaped its lips.

Reaching Jade and Ivy, Danny told Jade, "I got this. Watch the troll!"

Danny knelt down and inspected the girl with harmony magic.

*Danny, let me handle this. You still don't have a handle on how much to use,* Cranny pleaded.

Danny relented control to Cranny as they continued their examination. Besides the broken ribs, arm, and the leg on her right side, Ivy had sustained severe damage to her skull. Ivy wasn't moving, and her breathing had a liquid quality, synonymous with a punctured lung. Danny knew that if he didn't hurry, Ivy wouldn't last much longer. To his relief, Phantom was already there by his side, and her harmony aura leaked out of her body to surround Ivy's. Cranny used Danny's magic to control and guide Phantom's mana to maximize efficiency.

Danny was so wrapped up in healing Ivy that he almost didn't hear Dain speak up next to him with a relieved sigh, "The troll's dead, Danny. The brave girl froze its throat shut."

Danny finished healing Ivy, and while she was still unresponsive, she was at least breathing normally now. Danny stood up and turned to see the dead troll taking up a good eighth of the great hall's space. Lying down, it somehow looked more impressive than when it was standing. Brooke had recovered enough to take up a spear, which Danny assumed she had found on the ground, and stabbed up into the troll's eye, reaching deep into its brain. Brooke then used her mace like a hammer to drive it home. Danny recognized Brooke's shield lying on the ground nearby, bent almost in half. The shield was all but useless now.

Jade ran over from scouting the opening, whispering, "Danny, there are only a few goblins in the courtyard and manning the walls. They seem to have completely forgotten about us. I think they are fighting the elves." Jade held out her hand and in it was a familiar looking arrow.

Danny had Phantom stay with Ivy as he and Jade cautiously approached the opening that now extended all the way to the floor. Outside, there were goblin bodies everywhere. Danny was sure some of this was from when the girls first came through. Wooden fragments of the fortress gate were littered everywhere, and there were weird jagged scorch marks on the southernmost wall. The bodies of a good many goblins sported elven arrows. Based on the condition of the goblins' bodies, many had evidently fallen from the walls.

As Jade had said, only a scattering of goblins cowered behind the walls and parapets. Danny watched as a never-ending river of goblins seemed to be rushing past the opening which had formerly held the fortress's gate. They were all headed to the south. Even now, arrows rained down, most finding a spot in the goblins' flesh and causing wounds which assured they could not get back up again.

Brooke walked up next to them, asking, "Where in the elements did they all come from?"

Danny shook his head, replying, "I don't know, but we need to get Ivy out of here. First, though, I want to check on what is happening to the south with the elves. Jade, can you come with me? Brooke, do you mind watching Ivy?"

Jade nodded her head, while Brooke said, "Of course, but be careful. I didn't come all this way to get you so you could just fall off a wall and break your neck."

Danny smiled at Brooke's attempt to alleviate the dark mood, "We will be careful."

CHAPTER 32

Danny was shocked when the goblins cowering behind the walls made no move to attack them when he and Jade stepped out of the remains of the great hall and into the courtyard. The goblins rushing by heading outside, fortunately, paid no attention to anything going on inside the courtyard.

Carefully stepping over corpses and various liquid stains on the ground, Danny and Jade made their way up a hill of debris that had been piled up for use as a makeshift ramp. A goblin on the wall seemed to gather up a bit of courage, grabbing its sword off the ground as it prepared to rush the two humans. Seeing one of their kind taking action, a few of the other goblins started to grab their weapons. Then, seconds later, the brave goblin's head cleared the parapet with an arrow sunk into it. The goblin's body tipped over sideways and tumbled off the wall to fall on the ground of the courtyard below. The rest of the goblins paused, before dropping their weapons and sitting back down.

Danny and Jade shared a look before crouching down low as they made it up onto the wall. Ivy sat down with her back against the parapet, and Danny followed her example.

"Do you think it is safe to look?" Danny asked with concern.

Jade bit her lip as her emerald eyes seemed to search the courtyard for something in particular. Jade never said anything as she suddenly stood up and quickly glanced over the wall, before immediately dropping back down. A few seconds later, an arrow struck the top of the wall right above their heads.

Danny looked over at Jade with wide-eyed alarm, "I guess that answers that. Were you able to see anything?"

"The elves must all be firing arrows from the trees. There are definitely a lot more elves than just the three scouts you sensed last night. The goblins that made it to the edge of the forest are trying to climb up some of the trees. They have a few trolls pushing down what trees they can. Past that, I couldn't see much else," Jade relayed.

*Cranny, can we use Air Scan to see what else is going on?*

Cranny made an uncomfortable sound before replying, *They are pretty far away, and we won't be able to see for very long. You only regenerate one-thousandth of your mana every thirty minutes. Living with the elves has made us too reliant on our magic. I would wait until something happens before using Air Scan.*

Jade tapped Danny's shoulder and pointed toward where the fortress's gate used to be. There was a hazy appearance to the air there. After a few minutes, the haziness turned into visible smoke. The goblins inside the fortress were starting to get agitated.

"Do you think the elves are setting fire to the goblin walls and huts outside?" Jade whispered.

Danny shrugged, asking, "I wonder if the druids did this. Can you sense anything through your air affinity?"

"No, just smoke, and it's starting to build up," Jade replied.

*Think that counts as something?* Danny asked Cranny.

Danny's vision changed, and he watched a bubble of white expand outward from him in every direction. As the bubble passed objects and things, Danny could see them like an overexposure from looking into a bright light for too long. The goblins were still racing outward toward where Danny assumed most of the elves were hiding in the trees. While his Air Scan reached that far, his ability to separate objects was limited. He did notice that there were a few goblins who were running out in various directions into the forest. Danny figured, they were either scouting or were the cause of the smoke.

Dark billowing smoke was soon flowing over the top of the fortress walls. Danny knew that they would have to stay low to keep away from the worst of the smoke. Hoping the smoke would limit the elves' vision, Danny risked a quick glance over the wall.

Thousands of goblins still raced toward the forest that was now being consumed in flame and black smoke. Many goblins were trying to back away from the growing inferno, but those behind them only pushed them back toward the forest. Arrows still flew from some of the untouched trees, but there weren't as many as Danny expected. Danny kept his head above the wall a few more seconds as he watched the wave of goblins pushing back against those still struggling forward. The goblins seemed to turn as one, like a flock of birds, first a few then all the rest rushed toward the mountain. Some jumped down into their holes, while others headed straight for the fortress. It slowly dawned on Danny that when the wave of retreating goblins reached those running in front of the fortress, they would just immediately turn and come inside.

Danny tapped Jade's shoulder, saying, "We gotta get back inside now!"

Without waiting for her to reply, Danny grabbed her hand and started leading her toward the great hall. That was until she quickly rushed ahead of him and jumped down the rest of the distance, effortlessly dispatching two goblins that had been hiding near the bottom of the makeshift ramp.

Danny reached the bottom of the ramp just as the goblins immediately outside turned as one and rushed inside the fortress, *Cranny, we need that miracle you have been working on, now! Otherwise, I am overriding the sacred tree and getting us somewhere safe underground.*

Cranny complained, *But it still needs a couple more hours… Don't you think you all could hold out that long?*

Danny almost decided right then and there to go with plan B, Cranny be damned. Instead, for now, he focused on putting one foot in front of the other and not tripping over some random decaying goblin.

*All right, fine. I need to check, but I think I can cut it short and it still will work. It just won't be the deluxe model I was going for,* Cranny pouted.

Danny rushed inside the remains of the courtyard to see Ivy sitting up with Brooke's assistance. Dain was fidgeting around, trying to wear a trench in the ground with his pacing. Phantom had offered her side as a place for Ivy to rest against. The cat's healing aura would leak out every now and then to check on the recovering girl.

Danny realized that he needed all of his options and took the bait, *Deluxe model what, Cranny?*

Cranny laughed maniacally, *Ohhh, you are going to love this, Danny my boy!*

***

The two-thirds of the fortress's great hall that remained was slowly filling with dark smoke. From outside, the sounds of thousands of feet racing across the stone of the courtyard reminded Danny of rain during a heavy storm. The only other sounds that filtered in from the outside were the occasional coughing or even retching of those succumbing to the smoke.

Danny had gotten Brooke to carry Ivy over to where the sacred tree root stuck out of the ground. Danny didn't really need to be in contact with the root directly, but Cranny made him understand that it would help speed things along. Dain and Ivy watched the approaching wall of goblin flesh reach the remains of the great hall's wall as they raced inside. Phantom had managed to do her disappearing act, but Danny knew she wouldn't have gone too far.

Cranny's voice cut through Danny's thoughts and senses, *Alright, I changed the recipe, and it is done. Just try not to break them before they can get to work!*

The first of the goblins was about to reach them when Jade activated her Storm Aspect and disappeared. A hobgoblin who stood out in the courtyard was beginning to cast a spell. The hobgoblin suddenly stopped and cried out as two blades pierced through its chest from behind. Then, Jade was suddenly in front of Danny again, her blades dripping with fresh blood. Lighting crashed down through the missing roof and hit the area where the hobgoblin had been. Those goblins just entering the hall either went flying into the air or collapsed to the ground. The noise, light, and sound were enough to cause the rest of the goblins to pause.

Danny, used some of his sacred tree aided regenerated mana to summon earthen spikes all around them. Ivy hobbled forward, and Danny reached out to help her.

Ivy held up a hand to ward off Danny's help, "No, I have enough mana. I can do this." With that, Ivy raised her hands and then collapsed to her knees, slapping her now crystalline arms on the ground.

The glass-like nature left Ivy's arms as ice shot forward to spread along the floor. It seemed to rush out in waves as more and more was consumed by the frozen water. The ground, debris, and even the goblins were quickly covered in a sheet of solid ice. Danny let out a nervous breath and was startled as it froze instantly in the cold air.

Brooke was already behind Ivy, picking her up and carrying her back to lay her down somewhere safe behind them. The great hall was almost completely quiet, save for those noises in the distance. There was a strange beauty to the glassy surface of the ice and the dense, swirling smoke that reflected off the ground and frozen goblins.

Noises from outside grew in volume, as Danny could hear more goblins headed their way. A wolf howled from somewhere in the courtyard. Then there was a crash, followed by another. Wolf riders appeared over the heads of the frozen goblin statues that now filled the great hall. The riders had no qualms about shattering and ending the lives of their fellow goblins as they cleared a path inside. By the sounds now coming from outside, Danny figured there must be hundreds of them, and they were all trying to get inside.

The smoke was getting worse, and Danny started to cough. He was still holding the sacred tree root when he felt a significant drain on his mana. *Cranny, what are you doing with my mana now?* There was no reply, and the root crumbled into dust in Danny's hand. Danny reached out with his mana and could not find the sacred trees below him.

The floor broke up, and the earth in front of Danny started to shift and rise up in almost a bubbling way. The wolf riders were getting closer as more filled the room and aided the others. Jade grabbed Danny's arm and tugged him out of the way, just as a spear crashed into the debris behind him.

One of the lead goblins raised a hand, and Danny realized it was a shaman on an unusually large wolf just before it let loose with a gout of flame. Using it like a flamethrower, the hobgoblin slowly swept it in front of itself and added more smoke to the air. The goblins in its way melted, and the riders following the shaman all laughed and cheered at the sight. The shaman looked up at Danny and his group with a self-satisfied sneer, but they were not paying him any attention at all.

The looks on the faces of the humans and the dwarf ranged from confused, too cautious, to downright terrified.

Danny's voice rang out through the great hall in terror, "What the shit did you do to them, Cranny?"

The shifting ground had parted to reveal seven sparkling red figures. While they were the same height as the had been before their transformation, they could no longer be considered ‘fluffy.' Every single edge to them was a sharp blade, and long spikes rose up at different points along their bodies.

*Do you like what I did to them?* Cranny asked, excitedly.

Danny took an unconsciousness step backwards, *They are… They're soo….*

At Danny's mental block, Cranny ventured, *Horny?*

Blinking, Danny shook his head like a wet dog, asking, *What?*

Cranny could not hold back the pride in his voice when speaking about his creations. *It's because of all the horns I put all over them. I call them my horny squirrels!*

Danny groaned, *Have you seriously doomed me to die for something called a horny squirrel?*

*No,* Cranny scoffed, *Just snap your fingers, and all your troubles will…be diced away.*

The noise from the riders died down as they and the hobgoblin shaman all stared transfixed at the obstinite squirrels standing in front of Danny. The shaman's eyes moved up to meet Danny's in a wordless question.

Danny shrugged, saying, "They're horny," in goblin. The shaman's head tipped over in an almost comically impossible angle as it tried to process what it had just been told. Before the shaman could recover from its stupefied state, Danny went against his better judgment and twisted his fingers together.

A loud snap rang out, echoing off what few walls still remained in the great hall. Danny lowered his hand and slowly opened his eyes, as he had closed them tightly in fear. Looking down at his body, Danny sighed in relief when he found he was still in one piece, though Danny did do a double take when he realized the squirrels were no longer on the floor in front of him. Looking around the room, he only saw the shaman and goblin riders, who were also looking around for the missing tree rats. That is until the screaming started.

***

*One moment the goblin rider's head was on its shoulders, and the next moment… It. Was. GONE! In its place was one of the obstinite horny squirrels. Get this, the squirrel was now literally sitting where the goblin's head used to be. Just sitting there, staring blankly into the watching crowd while the goblin's headless corpse somehow stayed perfectly balanced on the back of the wolf. The squirrel's tail wagged once, and everyone instantly noticed that the tail had this new wickedly cool flat serrated blade-like shape. Hahaha, Danny totally peed in his…*

*Cranny! What are you doing?* Danny yelled, menacingly.

*and in a high falsetto!*

*Cranny,* Danny shouted in a noticeably deeper voice.

*What?* Cranny asked, obviously upset and annoyed, *Why can't I narrate every now and then?*

*We already went over this. I handle the internal monologues, and you…,* Danny prompted.

*Get princesses?*

Danny growled, *No…you just need to… Wait, I already said we are not calling them horny squirrels!*

***

The obstinite horny squirrel leapt of the decapitated goblin's shoulders, and the room descended into utter chaos. Screams of pain and terror seemed to come from every which way. Goblin riders collided into one another in their attempts to get away from the red squirrels. Some of the goblins made it out of the great hall, but many got turned around in the ensuing smoke and chaos, heading further back in. The obstinite squirrels smashed, sliced, and tore their way through any goblin they could reach.

Danny stood there with his legs slightly crossed, cursing the fact it was initially his ideas to bring the little demons with them. Danny could only watch as many wolves lost their riders merely to get swept up in the excitement and start attacking anything nearby. Soon, Danny, Brooke, and Ivy were busy fending off attacks from frenzied riderless wolves.

In a calm between attacks, Danny noticed the hobgoblin shaman had managed to stay seated on his large wolf. The shaman used its spear to cut down an approaching wolf. As if sensing his attention, the shaman's head jerked over to meet Danny's eyes and glared menacingly at him from amidst the pandemonium. Bellowing in anger, the shaman spurred his wolf into a charge. Danny called earthen spikes from the ground, but the large wolf had some uncanny ability to sense the danger and easily avoided them. Danny switched to fire, and the shaman and wolf exploded into flames. Falling faint once again, Danny cursed his low mana and almost missed what happened next. Out of Danny's fireball, the shaman emerged only slightly burned, but relatively unharmed. While the wolf he rode was now covered entirely in stone.

"Beast variant," Ivy shouted from where she sat, before firing her crossbow. Because of her position, her aim was off, and the bolt was deflected off the wolf's hardened muzzle without doing any real damage.

Jade charged one of her blades with Lighting Affinity and dashed toward the shaman. To her surprise, the shaman was prepared and deflected both swords with a tall wooden spear he carried, careful to keep the spear's metal tip away from Jade's swords. The girl dodged the shaman's return strike and was forced to turn away as she was surrounded by riderless wolves.

Brooke used the distraction of Jade's attack to rush forward as her mace grew bright but not nearly as bright as when she had struck the boulder earlier. The mace plowed into the stone wolf's open mouth, only for the stone wolf to prove itself stronger when it easily pushed Brooke back a few meters. With Brooke's mace held firmly in the wolf's jaws, the shaman took advantage of the moment to swing his spear around and strike Brooke across the head. As Brooke was knocked to the ground, the stone wolf's head started to turn red, and the wolf began to buck and thrash around. The shaman was knocked off its back just before the stone wolf's head exploded.

The shaman looked over in shock at the remains of his mount. Turning to Danny, the shaman's face was filled with only promises of pain and death. Lunging at Danny with his spear, the shaman's attack was easily parried by Danny's own spear. Once again, the shaman seemed one step ahead and brought out his hand from behind his back. A fireball the size of a watermelon careened toward Danny's face when there was a sudden blur of fur and an explosion. Danny was knocked backwards onto the ground by the blast but was surprisingly unhurt.

Looking over, Danny discovered Phantom laying on the floor. Her side was horribly burned, and he could see some of her ribs exposed to the filthy air. The cat's Magic Affinity was struggling to heal her body, as she must have used too much already keeping everyone in top form.

There was movement near where Phantom laid, and the shaman stood up, wobbly and using his spear for support. The hobgoblin was horribly burned, and half of his face was rendered unrecognizable. How the hobgoblin was able to stand, Danny had no clue. Shifting around, the shaman surprised Danny even further as he freed one of his hands enough to form another ball of fire. What this creature had gone through to be able to focus past that kind of pain, Danny never wanted to find out. Danny also tried to reach for his mana, but the increasing faintness and nausea caused him to lose focus. His magic collapsing in on itself.

Before the shaman could cast his spell, a pickaxe lodged deep within his skull, and the shaman collapsed in a heap onto the floor. Dain stood behind the corpse of the shaman, bloody pick shaking in his hand.

Spitting on the remains, Dain looked up to see Danny's look of surprise. With an expression of wounded pride, the dwarf laid his pickaxe over his shoulder and walked away. Dain moved over to sit down next to Ivy, grumbling, "Boy acts like he's never seen a dwarf swing a pick before..."

CHAPTER 33

The blade of a spear tore through the air to lash out and slice deeply into the wolf's throat, but then the tip struck bone. With the momentum of the wolf's lunge, the creature buried the spear deeply within its own chest. The now dead wolf's corpse continued forward to crash on top the spear's owner.

Pinned down under the dead weight of the wolf's body, Danny struggled to take in a breath, only to cough violently at the lungful of smoke he had inhaled. The smoke was going away, but it was enough to irritate his lungs.

*You don't have to breathe, and I don't know why you keep insisting on doing that,* Cranny said in a bored tone.

Danny sneered, asking, *I need mana and can't focus right now. Can you attach us to the sacred tree? I can't seem to find it anymore.*

*No can do, Danny. I cannibalized it to make the modifications to the squirrels,* Cranny said apologetically.

*We can do that?* Danny asked in awe.

*Yes, and we could do that to your body as well, so be careful,* Cranny warned.

Danny shuddered a little before trying to shift the wolf off of himself, but he didn't have the strength. Looking around, he saw Dain working to bandage Brooke's bleeding head and face. Danny hadn't had time to stop and help heal her. Ivy was looking a little better, but the smoky air couldn't be good for her. Phantom's side was all flesh now, but it still looked horribly burned. Danny could hear Jade yell out as she attacked some unseen goblin or wolf.

Then, the growling started from somewhere past the wolf that was now laying on top of Danny.

"Danny, there are three wolves headed for you," warned Dain.

There was the sound of a crossbow from where Ivy was sitting and then the yelp of one of the wolves.

"Two wolves," Dain corrected.

Danny pushed again on the wolf's corpse, but it still wouldn't budge off of him.

"Jade, Danny needs help," Ivy yelled out.

*I got this, Danny; you just rest there with your new blankie,* Cranny interrupted.

There was a drain in Danny's mana, and his eyes lost a little of their focus. There were a couple of small explosions, and the two wolves yelped in pain. The wolf on top of Danny started to shift, then fell over and off his body. Sitting up, Danny thanked Dain for his help. Nodding his head tiredly was the dwarf's only reply. Not a meter away from where Danny had been laying, two wolves were impaled and lifted in the air on two earthen spikes. Jade was not far off, and she lunged, separating a wolf's leg from its body. Stabbing downward, Jade finished off the last wolf left in the remains of the great hall.

Jade walked unsteadily over to collapse next to Danny, using his lap as a pillow. Danny absently stroked her hair as he struggled to find the motivation to get back up and get them out of that place.

The earth shook, and Danny's hand paused on its path down the side of Jade's head. The ground shook again, and the sounds of something massive and laboring to breathe made their way through the smoky air. Danny looked up, too mentally tired to care, as a troll stepped over the fallen wall of the great hall. Looking around the room, the cursed troll's head stopped when it found the group and, with labored breath, headed their way without so much as a peep.

Ivy made a strained noise as she tried to stand up, but she didn't make it far. Phantom yowled in pain, only to lay back down. Jade made it to her feet, but the girl looked like the slightest gust would knock her back down. Brooke reached over and pulled her mace closer, but she didn't bother to try standing as she nursed her head. Danny was about to get up when Dain ran by and chunked a large piece of debris. Everyone watched as the impromptu missile arched through the air to strike the cursed troll in between its two pitch black eyes. The troll came to a stop as soon as the stone hit, and to Danny's bewilderment, the troll's head continued backwards until it fell off its shoulders.

The large body of the troll collapsed forward, and dust and smoke whipped around the room. Danny turned to see Dain staring down at his own hand like it could now accidentally kill him in his sleep.

"Ascendant, there you are!"

Danny barely registered the new voice and turned to find his three elven guards standing there. Jade missed them as well and jumped backwards in surprise, only to trip and fall on her butt. Danny stood up and approached the three guards.

"You three don't know how glad I am to see you," Danny sighed in relief.

The guard in front of him quickly moved to invade his personal space, placing its helmet inches from his face, "You would do well to not leave the safety of our protection. We are sworn to serve you and cannot do so if you keep sneaking off!"

Surprised by the guard's anger, Danny, with eyes wide, took a step backwards, "Well, yes, you are right. I just had some personal business and didn't want to get you three ladies unnecessarily involved."

The guard's head turned slightly to the side, "I am male." Jerking his head to indicate the two behind him, the guard continued, "So are they."

Danny stood there, mouth agape, before trying to recover, "Ugh…I knew that! We should definitely all go grab a couple of beers after this. Just us guys, you know…" Flustered, Danny raised a single hand in the air for a high five and unthinkingly spoke up in English, "Bros before hoes!"

The three guards looked at each other in confusion, before raising their hands repeating in a perfect mimic of English, "Bros before hoes!" Activating their camouflage ability, the guards then backed away to take up defensive positions.

*Why did I just say that? I've never used that phrase before, and neither have you,* Danny rubbed his temples, whining, *Is it all the smoke I unnecessarily inhaled? What is wrong with me, Cranny?*

Cranny was too busy laughing uncontrollably, *You are worse with men than you are women! You should really just give me control and save yourself further embarrassment in this life.*

Danny grumbled, *Yeah, well I need you in control like I need a brick to the back of my head.*

Danny turned to his group, "Come on, let's get out of here. I am tired of being stuck in this room."

One of the three elven guards returned at that moment with more elven soldiers and a few druids. With their help, everyone made it outside, and Danny sighed in relief as they passed the gaping hole where the fortress's gate used to be. The air here was now clear of smoke, and Danny took a few extra gulps, only to bend over coughing and hack up something gross.

Elven soldiers were everywhere, searching the bodies of the fallen for survivors and clearing any remaining goblin tents and structures. Elven druids were working their way toward them from the surviving portions of the forest, pulling what little moisture they could find from the untouched trees. The nearby smoldering tree would suddenly steam and sizzle as the water hit them.

The soldiers carried Brooke and Ivy, and more than a few had to carry Phantom over to where some tents had already been set up in a cleared area away from any signs of goblin habitation. Dain and Jade followed after them, but Danny was halted by the sound of a familiar voice calling out to him.

General Barrow appeared out of the searching groups of elven soldiers. Walking over to Danny, he crossed his arms, "Danny, you owe me an explanation as to why you are here and what those red…"

Cranny coughed, *Horny...*

"Squirrels," Danny supplied.

"…were and where they went," finished Barrow, not looking the least bit pleased.

Danny debated, *What should we tell him, Cranny? If we had caught up with and killed Hadrian Diadem, I would have just made something up. Now, everyone is in potential danger.*

Cranny agreed, *Not giving the elves all the details could lead them to continue underestimating the enemy. I would wager that the elves have a greater potential to stop Hadrian than Diadem does. I will also point out that we owe Diadem nothing.*

Danny chose the most straightforward answer first, "The squirrels are a creation of Archdruid Wisteria. I just changed their appearance and modified them to only attack those of the goblin races. Even now, they should be chasing goblins through tunnels extending almost to Diadem and the elven capital. These tunnels contain areas where the goblins have set up small self-sufficient communities."

The general looked greatly alarmed by these words and started to turn away to call out to a nearby soldier.

Danny sighed, "Wait, there is more. It's the reason I rushed over here without consulting you or the queen. Unfortunately, I was too late to complete my task. About a week ago, three sets of two hobgoblins, a female goblin, and an infant left here and travelled in different directions. There was a dwarven, orc, and a dog or wolf beastman infant. We need to get these infants back, or we will someday have the same issue we had with the goblins here today."

Barrow looked confused, "What did they do to these infants?"

"The one responsible and two of his sons transferred their souls and knowledge into the infant bodies. I am sure they have some end goal that includes the annihilation of Diadem first, then of the elves, and then what I can only presume is some form of world domination. At least, that would be the next logical progression."

Barrow's eyes narrowed in both disbelief and concern as he seemed to pick up on some of the things Danny had only hinted at. Turning, the general started issuing orders, and a few squads of elven soldiers quickly moved out in different directions.

Turning back to Danny, Barrow said, "Let's head back. I would rather the queen be there when you explain your role and Diadem's in all of this. Then, more than likely…" Barrow unhappily added, "there will be a wedding to attend."

Confused, Danny looked at the man, "I get the impression you don't want me marrying your daughter?"

Barrow frowned, "I don't. After defeating the goblin army marching to attack Diadem, we got word that you had taken off with those three girls and foolishly attacked the goblin fortress by yourselves. I sent my son to help finish taking back Crossbark while I half-expected to rush over here only to deliver your remains to my daughter." Barrow leaned in and glowered at Danny, whispering, "Your lack of ‘consultation' with my wife or myself cost me seven lives, Danny. Some of my best swordsmen were quickly overwhelmed by the goblins' sheer numbers, and thankfully, the majority were able to escape into the trees. If only the druids could have traveled as quickly as my martial forces, we could have easily pushed the goblins back. Then, I did not foresee the goblins burning the trees. That was another unnaturally smart move for their kind. If it hadn't been for those…squirrels appearing when they did, the goblins would have burned down most of the forest before the druids finally arrived. I would have been forced to order a retreat until my scouts could sneak back and determine your fates. All of these deaths could have been avoided if we had worked together if I had known you had a plan. Danny Creek, I appreciate what you have done for my people, but the secrets you keep are getting too many of my troops…too many of my people killed."

Danny ran a hand through his hair, saying, "I understand. Let's go over here where we can have some privacy." Danny pointed toward the mountain, away from the stronghold. When they had gone a good distance away from the elven army, Danny turned to his guards, asking, "Could you give the general and me some privacy, guys?"

The guards paused, before looking to the general. Barrow nodded his head and sent his own bodyguards out of hearing distance as well.

*Why him, Danny?*

Danny shrugged internally, *Why not? We can't really keep it a secret for long, and he can be our guinea pig for what to expect. He doesn't trust us that much already.*

"First, I wish to apologize to you and your people for the secrets I kept and for the selfish actions I took. I will do my best to repay your people for their lives," Danny said while bowing as low as he could.

The general did not respond and only stood there just staring at Danny, waiting for him to continue.

"I need you to promise not to share what I am about to tell you," Danny said.

Barrow studied Danny for a few seconds more before nodding, "You have my word as an elf."

Danny was surprised there were no stipulations tacked on, but that was more than enough for him. "I am originally not from this world," Danny began. As he continued his story, the general's face became less stern as a look of pure skepticism crossed his face. "You are the first person I have told the truth to about who I really am. I haven't told anyone because of the expression you are making now. Also, I feared that if anyone believed me, I would be killed or imprisoned for various unpleasant reasons," Danny finished.

"You have nothing but this knowledge you claim you brought with you as proof of who you are?" the general asked, still quite visibly skeptical.

Danny shrugged, "Can you explain how I became an ascendant as a human and at such a young age? Can you explain why I not only have access to all of the elemental affinities but a high level in all of them? You don't have to believe me, just understand that this is the truth as far as I am concerned. If I were an elf, I would claim its truth on my word as one."

This seemed to have an effect on the queen's husband. Barrow mulled over this last bit as if it looked to have broken through some of his doubts, if only a little.

Danny decided to move things along, asking, "So, knowing that I am either a human from another world or just a raving lunatic with way too much power. Are you still going to let me marry your daughter?"

Barrow actually smirked at Danny's jest, "I am truly the first you have told all this to?"

Danny shrugged and nodded, "Yes. Not even my family or my fiancées know."

The general reached over to put his hand on Danny's shoulder, "What made you think my opinion really mattered when my wife and daughter are both dead set on this marriage happening? A good commander picks his battles, and that was one I had already lost."

Danny spoke honestly, "Your opinion and blessing matters a great deal to me. We are both going to live long lives, and I would rather not have to watch my back every time I come to visit my in-laws."

Barrow looked a little taken aback by Danny's frankness. He studied Danny a moment before saying, "Then, as long as you are honest with everything that happened here, you have my blessing."

The mountainside shook, and Danny looked past the general to see a ring of druids surrounding the remains of the ancient fortress. The rest of the army had moved back and watched on as the crumbled, and battle-scarred walls and towers slowly sank into the earth. Danny and Barrow just stood there quietly as they watched the earth seal over the last of the time-worn structure. A seemingly unremarkable hillside was now all that remained. Danny realised that the druids had not just already buried the crude goblin huts and walls but also the goblin bodies which had littered the hillside.

General Barrow leaned over and whispered to Danny, "Blessing or not, don't let me ever find out you hurt her, in any way. Otherwise, it will be like you never existed." Danny's future father-in-law spoke with a charming smile on his face. The general slapped Danny hard on the back before pushing him along back down to the waiting army below.

***

After the druids had healed the girls and Phantom, Danny left Dain with the elves before taking his group back to his nearby hideaway for the night. He needed to replenish his mana, and he wanted to get them away from the scene of that horrible battle.

With his ever watchful guards below, Danny prepared supper and thought on how best to tell the girls about who he was. His headache from before had thankfully subsided. He felt like his brain was just sore now like muscles on the day after a strenuous exercise. The girls had quickly left him to clean up and change in the bathroom. Knowing they would be a while, Danny entered his sanctuary to check out his newly acquired ability.

As he expected, the hallway in his sanctuary had expanded and now included a new room next to his library. The futuristic double doors looked generic for his sanctuary. A holoscreen above the doors read ‘Research & Development' in a simple font. Waiving a hand over a nearby panel, the double doors opened, and Danny was unceremoniously sucked into the new room.

Danny was now flipping around uncontrollably in a dark void. The void was not empty, as he could just barely manage to discern the countless stars in the black expanse he now occupied. A nearby sun and something that looked kind of like a planet would enter his vision briefly on each revolution. Confused and disoriented, Danny tried to rationalize what he was seeing and experiencing. Danny focused as best he could and attempted to use air magic to stabilize himself, only to realize his stupidity. He was, of course, in the vacuum of space. Then, Danny began to freak out as he realized he had no air to breathe.

"Danny, what do you think you are doing?" a familiar voice asked nearby.

Danny swiveled his head and saw Cranny floating nearby, his arms crossed as he watched Danny helplessly spin.

"Cranny, help me out here," Danny yelled in frustration as he waved his arms about in a futile attempt at stabilization.

Cranny shrugged his shoulders, mumbling, "Sure," before lifting a foot and kicking Danny toward the planet below him.

Danny wasn't sure if Cranny had meant to actually correct his spin with the kick, but he held no doubts that his alternate self-had purposely sent him into a free fall toward the expanding surface below. Now that he wasn't spinning, Danny realized that what he saw was indeed a planet, but it was only partially complete. It took Danny a moment to understand he was seeing Diadem, the elven forest, and parts of the dwarf mountains far below. The vast majority of the planet was a crosshatch with white wires representing the unknown. The planet's pale earth-like moon was starting to peak out over the horizon of the planet. Danny remembered how that had been a big disappointment when looking at the night sky of his new world.

Danny's body had soon reached the atmosphere, and a cone of displaced air swirled around him, obscuring his vision. His robes whipped around wildly as they fluttered behind him. There were none of the red flames he expected from watching science fiction movies on earth, though there was a slight hint of a red glow. As Danny punctured through the clouds hovering high above the surface, he started to panic again. Trying to slow his decent, Danny used air magic but only managed to black out for a few minutes when he almost ran out of mana. Helpless, Danny could only watch as the whole of Diadem spread out below him. As he careened toward the ground, his angle of descent almost made him feel as if he was flying. He quickly passed the smaller human towns and hamlets that dotted the human populated area of the world. His recognized Crossbark before his body continued to fall past the great forest before finally crashing into the dense woods of the elven forest.

Heart pounding in his throat, Danny screamed as trees broke and shattered against his body. Danny was surprised when he felt no pain, only a slight jarring, as he impacted the ground and continued down into it. When his momentum was finally halted, Danny struggled to move as the earth was now tightly packed in all around him. Danny instinctively lashed out with his magic, tossing tons of dirt and rock into the air. Confused, as he had already used up all but a minute amount of his mana, Danny started climbing out.

Standing up, he found that he was now in the center of a large crater not far from the elven capital. He scanned his surroundings but was only confused further when he found not an elf nor any other creature nearby.

"What the hell…," Danny said aloud.

"It's your new ability. I just made some early improvements. It used to just be a featureless white room. Very boring," Cranny said suddenly from right next to him.

Danny jumped away, "Ahh, where did you come from?"

Cranny rolled his eyes as he shook his head in disappointment, "I seriously thought you would figure this place out before you hit the ground." Without another word, Cranny started walking toward the elven capital. Danny hesitated a second before rushing after him.

Cranny paused once they left the impact site to wave a hand behind them. The ejected soil and debris from the crater rolled backwards as if someone had hit a rewind button. Soon, the forest and the area around the crater were indistinguishable from the rest of their surroundings.

Before Danny had a chance to ask, Cranny began explaining, "This is the first gift bestowed on the dwarfs upon reaching their first intelligence threshold. I don't know how the dwarfs comprehend it, but with my understanding that these sanctuaries are just extensions granted through the source, one could say this new room is a magical simulator. Here, we can take concepts we understand from the real world and test or practice them."

They had reached the first few buildings of the elven capital, and Danny asked, "Where are all the elves?"

Cranny stopped and waved his hand again. An elven soldier appeared out of nowhere. The same nondescript elven armor covered its body. The soldier just stood there, which actually was normal from what Danny was used to seeing.

"We can recreate creatures and people here, but they end up acting like computerized characters from a video game. We have to establish their behaviors, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Even then, they don't make it through the uncanny valley. After my first serious try, I erased it," explained Cranny. "I figure there is a trick to it, but I haven't figured it out."

"Yes, I can see that," said Danny as he studied the soldier.

"They are useful for one thing though," Cranny said with a hint of humor in his voice.

Danny looked cautiously over at Cranny, saying, "I probably don't want to know what you do in here when I am not…"

Cranny pointed at Danny, "Attack!"

The elven soldier drew a sword from its side and lunged toward Danny.

"Crap, Cranny, make him stop," yelled Danny as he barely dodged the first strike.

"HER name is Petunia, and she doesn't like being mistaken for a man," informed Cranny.

Danny blasted Petunia away from him with a condensed ball of air magic and didn't take his eyes off the elven soldier as he shouted, "Cranny, this is ridiculous. Make her stop!"

"No can do. I want you to see what it's like when these elite elven soldiers start using their different affinities. Petunia, use air magic to enhance your movements," commanded Cranny.

The elven soldier's body blurred as she moved forward, and Danny could only watch as her blade pierced effortlessly through his chest and out his back. Danny held out his hands in a weak and useless attempt to push her away. Looking down in shock, Danny realized that he didn't feel any pain from the over meter long blade now skewered directly through his heart. He continued to breathe regularly and didn't experience any of the other symptoms one would expect from such a sudden and unconventional body piercing.

Danny's brain had trouble processing what he was and wasn't feeling, "Wha… Cranny, why…"

Cranny waved a hand, and Petunia disappeared. Reaching out, his other self quickly grabbed the sword handle and pulled it out of Danny's chest. Cranny held the sword up, and Danny was surprised to not see any blood on it. Reaching down, Danny gingerly touched his chest and didn't discover any gaping wounds or torn robes. Holding his hand up to his face, his fingertips were devoid of the blood he expected to find.

Tossing the sword behind himself like it was trash, Cranny continued, "This place allows us to spar with opponents we have faced or seen fight before. To say we would not be able to take on an elite elven soldier unprepared would be a massive understatement. Fortunately for us, we get to choose how much physical pain we feel or receive." Cranny paused to let this sink in before continuing, "Come on, there is one more thing to show you."

Danny rubbed his chest as he numbly followed behind Cranny. They passed the center of the capital toward the opposite end. The newly grown sacred tree homes were there along with a few new trees he did not remember seeing.

"Where did those come from?" Danny asked.

"They are just some experiments of mine. The runes used to grow the sacred trees have many more possibilities than those used by the elves. To say it simply, the druids are growing small mud hovels when they could be creating massive…skyscrapers. Imagine entire cities within a single self-contained tree," Cranny said excitedly.

An obstinite squirrel chose that moment to hop out from behind one of the experimental trees.

Cranny groaned upon seeing the magical construct, "I rushed so much through different versions of those things, some of the defects got loose before I could delete them."

The red squirrel opened its mouth, and a red beam of light shot out to sweep across the area in front of it. Danny ducked, even though the light passed meters above his head. There was a sound like wood breaking, and Danny and Cranny both looked back to watch the sacred trees behind them split cleanly in two, half-way up, before toppling over to the ground. They all didn't fall at the same time, so the deafening sounds continued for a few minutes.

Cranny lifted a shaking hand to quickly wave away the squirrel from existence.

A seriously concerned Danny turned wide-eyed to stare at Cranny, asking, "You didn't give the ones we made at the fortress that ability did you?"

Cranny frowned and refused to look Danny in the eye.

CHAPTER 34

A rabbit's head popped out of its burrow, as it inspected its surroundings. The fur of the white bunny hid it well in the thick layer of snow covering the ground. Taking a few cautious hops out into the open, the rabbit stopped once more to sniff the air and to ascertain whether or not the area was clear. One of its ears swivelled to one side, and the rabbit's nose twitched nervously.

The small mammal suddenly leapt a foot in the air, seeming to turn mid-jump and dived back into its burrow. Hundreds of blurs rushed past through the trees and along the ground. It was hard to make out what they were as no sound had been made. The trees and the snow were left undisturbed.

A few moments later, Phantom, carrying Brook, Ivy, and Dain, came silently running past. Well, it would have been silent had the dwarf on Phantom's back not been groaning and complaining incessantly.

"Dain, how have you still not gotten used to riding on Phantom, even after three days?" In his Air Aspect, Danny landed a few feet in front of the cat and moved to follow alongside.

"There's no blasted saddle! I swear to… Ahhh," screamed the Dwarf as he forgot to keep hold of Phantom's pelt as he tried to make a gesture with a hand.

Brooke caught the short man before he slipped off.

The dwarf seemed to find insult in the teenage girl's assistance, grumbling, "Are you sure this is faster?"

Danny smiled patiently, "Yes, much much faster than the first four hours when you refused my offer to ride Phantom and you kept stumbling into every prickly bush in the forest. We probably hadn't even made it five kilometers by that point."

"Blasted forest, there is nothing natural about it, I say," Dain grumbled.

Danny took a quick glance over at Brook and Ivy, who had been quieter since he told them the truth about who and what he was. They seemed conflicted about how they felt on what he had revealed. Jade, on the other hand, had taken the news in stride, continuing on like Danny hadn't just told her he was essentially a spiritual parasite. They all agreed to keep his secret from their families. His mistrust of Diadem would have to be alleviated before he shared this with them.

An elven soldier appeared and saluted while keeping pace, "Ascendant, we are almost there. The Queen requests your presence as soon as you have recovered from your travels."

Danny replied, "Yes, of course. Thank you."

The elven soldier left, and Danny gestured toward the dwarf, and ordered him, "Stop complaining. We are almost there, and I will be taking you to the palace from here. I hope you are not afraid of heights."

The dwarf's look of confusion was quickly placed with one of great alarm.

The forest that had surrounded them for so long parted and the elven capital rose up from the absence. A certain dwarf's voice screamed out an unending stream of obscenities through the open air. Using an opportunity when Dain had to stop for breath, Danny asked the girls to go ahead back to his tower while he went to visit the queen. Danny wasn't sure what this was about, but he felt his time with the elves would soon be coming to a close.

***

As Danny drew closer to the Palace, he could see that many of the fabricated homes were starting to come down from the area surrounding the original sacred trees near the center. There were also quite a few more newly grown sacred trees around the perimeter. The druid council had been busy while he had been gone.

Danny flew them down to the front door of the palace. The doors were left wide open as servants, soldiers, and messengers busily hurried inside and out. Danny flew in and set the strangely quiet dwarf on the ground. A servant waited to one side, and upon seeing them, walked forward to take Dain to the guest wing.

The dwarf stood up on shaky legs and waived off the servant's attempts to help him. With a glare toward Danny, Dain stormed off without another word.

The servant chased after him, "Excuse me, Sir Dwarf, that is not the right way!"

Exiting his Air Aspect, Danny turned to his ever-present guards, "One of you want to help me find the queen?"

Without a word, one of his guards ran ahead and took him through a familiar path. Soon, they arrived at the queen's office. The guard knocked and stepped back. Danny noted that the knock was a different pattern than last time. The door almost opened immediately, and the queen's aid ushered him inside.

The queen and Willow were talking with General Barrow while sitting in the corner area Danny where had chatted with the Queen before. A light meal sat on the small table between the three elves, and an extra chair waited there as if they knew he would be coming immediately.

Willow quickly embraced him before he could make it across the room. She whispered, "Danny, I am so glad you're safe! You had me worried." By the look the princess was giving him, he knew she was anything but pleased with his taking off unannounced.

Danny whispered back, "I figured I would get more of a talking to than that for not telling you."

Willow's smile was knowing, "Oh, I will leave that to my mother. I am more upset that you took Ivy and the others and left me behind. I was starting to worry that you were trying to get out of marrying me."

Danny winced, "Sorry, I didn't exactly plan on the girls coming with me, and you were the main reason I came back."

Willow's lips turned upward in a small smile at these words.

"Danny, I am so glad that you have returned to us in one piece. Please come sit down. My husband was just recounting what happened," the queen interrupted them and motioned him to the empty chair across from her.

Not ones to argue with the queen, Willow and Danny sat down in their chairs.

Before anyone else spoke, Danny announced, "Before we go into the gory details of my latest misadventure, I would like to speak with you three in private." Danny turned to look at the queen's aid and the hidden guards in the room.

The queen looked confused, but at a shared look with her husband, she gave the orders. Danny raised a double layer of air around them and immediately went into his explanation for his presence in this world.

While the general had just looked on skeptically, and the girls had either had nothing to say or didn't know what to say, the queen and Willow had half a million questions. At first, Danny could tell that both the queen and the princess were skeptical, but as he told them more and more about Earth, they seemed to find validity in his quick and detailed answers. They asked about Earth's cultures, technology, and anything else that piqued their interest during his explanations. If they were not still skeptical, they were at least keeping an open mind.

"Alright, that is enough grilling Danny on this. I am not sure if I believe him, but I don't have anything better to explain why he can do what he does. Now, if you ladies don't mind, I would like to get back to discussing the current war," Barrow asked, his patience running thin.

"Oh, yes, of course. Danny we will have to speak more about your world later. Are you sure we cannot tell anyone else, especially the elder council?" the queen asked.

Danny shook his head, "I would rather this be kept between as few people as possible. I need both of your words on this. I fear that if the wrong hands get hold of this knowledge, then we will have more Hadrian Diadems."

"Hadrian Diadem, what does this have to do with him?" Willow asked as she was the first to pick up on Danny's reference.

Danny had left out this part of his personal story but didn't see a reason why they should not know what they were really dealing with. He wanted Hadrian gone, and the more people who knew about it, the likelier that would happen. The Diadem family could threaten him and those he loved all they wanted, but they were not going to manipulate him as easily as they once had.

After his explanation of the events that occurred at the goblin fortress, the queen mumbled, "I can see why they would want to keep this a secret."

"I have already dispatched our best scouts to track down the three goblin parties, but no word has returned yet," the general added, with a tired sigh. "I also have teams mapping the goblin tunnels. If any of the enemy escapes, we want to be ready to prevent them from spreading further. If what, Danny says is true, this will be a headache for both Diadem and our people for some time."

The queen nodded, "I am relieved we have the immediate goblin issue in hand. We should work closely with Diadem's forces to ensure there is no overlap and that knowledge on the issue is evenly shared."

Barrow wiped his mouth on his napkin, only to rise and bow, "I will go now. I have more than enough to take care of."

They said their goodbyes to the general before he left, and the queen picked up the conversation again, "Now that the threat of Diadem's total annihilation is no longer at hand, we will speak of your upcoming wedding."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Willow sit up straighter.

"I suggest that we not delay any further. I have already begun the preparations, and the ceremony is scheduled for a week from today. Given his success at Crossbark, my son should return by this time. Is there anything you would wish to be added to the ceremony, Danny?" the queen asked.

Danny shook his head, "No, I just wish my family could be here. With recent events, however, it is best they not travel."

Willow reached over and took Danny's hand, looking at him in sympathy.

"That is understandable, and I am sorry they will not be here as well," the queen smiled apologetically. "I am also disappointed that I will not get to meet them at your upcoming wedding in Diadem. I assume you will all wish to travel back after your wedding here."

*Cranny, did I miss where someone told me about immediately going back to get married in Diadem?*

*I don't have any records of this, though it doesn't surprise me that they would want to seal this alliance by marriage as soon as possible.*

Danny did his best to hide his surprise at the queen's words, "Yes, of course." Wanting to change the subject, Danny asked, "Is there anything I am expected to do at this wedding? Anything I should bring?"

The queen shook her head, "No, you have done enough as it is. Customarily, an ascendant marrying into the royal family is expected to provide something of benefit to the elven people. You have done this many times over already. Then, as is the custom, at the ceremony the ascendant grows a sacred tree befitting their new position. A home for the new couple. The ceremony usually takes place after the tree is grown. Danny, we know you do not plan to live here, and you have already expanded the city past what we could hope for. There is nothing for you to do now but show up."

Cranny interrupted Danny's thoughts, excitedly saying, *Leave this to me, Danny! I have a few ideas.*

Danny caught glimpses of what Cranny wanted to do and told the queen, "I do not want to break with tradition. May I have a large space to grow a tree? We can also call it a birthday gift for Willow."

Willow spoke up, "Danny, you really don't have to do this. No one would expect it of you. We can have the ceremony in front of the palace."

Danny ignored Willow's comment, asking, "We grew the new homes on the outskirts in circles of five. I would request you reserve a space twice as large as that for the tree I wish to grow."

Hearing this, the queen looked conflicted and uncomfortable, "Danny, my husband has told me about your hideaways you grew in the forest, and while perfect for helping secure our borders, they are not exactly what we are looking for to be grown in the capital."

Willow frowned at her mother before turning to Danny, "Danny, what my mother is saying is that we plan to make this place into not just a city for the survivors of the elven race, but the eventual capital for a true elven empire. Your addition will more than likely stand out, and she is just worried that it will be for the wrong reasons."

*Cranny?* Danny question in thought.

Cranny grumbled, *I am pulling references from hundreds of movies and illustrations I saw on Earth and am cross-referencing them with the architecture style in use here… Challenge accepted!*

Danny stood up and bowed to the queen, "Your Majesty, please make sure the area is prepared. I assure you that you will not regret this."

The queen's lips were pinched in concern, and she reluctantly conceded, "Fine, it will be prepared."

He turned to Willow next and leaned down to kiss her hand, saying, "I will be heading back to my tower if you need me."

Willow ignored her mother's worried expression and smiled at Danny, saying, "Of course, Danny. I will come to see you later."

***

The early morning light peeked over the treetops and flooded the palace's courtyard. There, a squad of five elven soldiers waited patiently by a horse-drawn carriage in front of the palace. The front doors of the palace opened, and the queen, Danny, and the dwarf Dain descended the steps to pause next to the carriage.

"Mr. Quarry, I really wish you could stay for the wedding, but I understand, given the circumstances, if you need to return. I am also sorry we did not arrive sooner to save your fellow countrymen," the queen said sincerely.

Dain bowed low to the queen, "Do not apologize, Your Majesty, as you did what you could. I really wish I could stay, but I must really be heading back to let my people know what happened to the envoy and to keep an eye out for the mysterious dwarven child. I won't let what happened to poor cousin Mari go unavenged."

"Before you go, Dain, I was hoping you could enlighten me on the purpose of the ‘ancient key,' as my people call it," asked Danny. Reaching down, Danny called the earth up to form a faux copy of the long cylindrical device that had been stolen from Diadem's wizards. Danny had specifically waited until the queen was present, as he noticed the dwarf's nervousness when she was near.

As expected, Dain looked between the stone object and the queen, and said, "I…I don't know if it is my place to explain its purpose."

Danny ignored Dain's reluctance, asking, "My people are using it to try and ‘unlock' every young boy's mana. They hold the device over a boy's chest and inject massive amounts of mana into it. The vast majority of boys are rendered without a connection to the source, thus losing its benefits. The rest have their mana unlocked, but it is an incomplete thing."

Dain looked horrified by this news, "Why in the dark depths would they do that? Every dwarf knows not to point them at anyone."

"Then, can you tell us what they are for?" Danny pressed.

Dain looked conflicted, but relented, "Calling it a ‘key' is not that far off. We dwarfs use it to focus mana, but not on ourselves… That's all I can say without gettin' in a heap of trouble."

Danny bowed his head in concession, "Thank you for that, and I wish you the safest of travels."

Forgetting the awkward moment, Dain moved forward to reach up and slap Danny's shoulder, "Send word if you are ever near the conclave, and I will be happy to meet you at the trading post right outside the Dwarven Mountains. I owe you at least a couple pints of dwarven ale for pulling my carcase out of that cesspit."

Danny smiled and shook the dwarf's hand before Dain climbed up into the carriage. Soon, the elven squad and the carriage were out of sight.

"Did you learn what you wanted to know, Danny?" asked the queen beside him.

Danny shook his head, "I was hoping for a quick and easy answer, but at least he did eliminate some of my guesses. I will know more when I get back to Diadem and see their copy of the key."

CHAPTER 35

The tall and unnatural tree seemed to grow right out of the freshly fallen snow. Made up of three intertwined sacred trees, it sat amongst the still of the peaceful winter forest. It held the kind of quiet that can only be experienced in the middle of the coldest of seasons. The quiet permeated the entire world so that one would expect to hear the sound of the last falling leaf hit the ground like the felling of a whole tree.

"Danny Creek!"

*Does the woman think she is our mother?* grumbled Cranny at hearing Arya yelling.

Danny sighed as he landed in front of his tower right outside the elven capital. Arya and the rest of her Trio were waiting outside. Danny noticed that Wizard Basalt was nowhere to be seen.

Danny put on a fake smile, "Good afternoon, Arya, Wren, Brianna. How's your sorcery going?"

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" Arya confronted him, placing her body between him and the front door.

Danny paused before he moved into the woman's personal space, "I know exactly what I have done, and you are welcome."

"How long have you been able to do this?! First Ivy and her Trio, now this," the shadow leader demanded.

Danny shrugged, "You three were the second group, and the first humans, for me to try turning into sorcerers, so I was happy there were not any adverse effects."

All three women's eyes widened upon hearing this. Arya's face only seemed to turn a deeper shade of red.

Before she could begin another tirade, Danny interrupted, "I can take it away if you would rather."

Brianna Basalt quickly stepped up next to Arya, "That is alright, Danny. We appreciate this amazing gift you have given us."

Wren Basalt grabbed Arya's arm and slowly pulled her out of Danny's way, "Yes, thank you, Danny. Please give us some guidance when you have free time."

Danny beamed at the ordinarily silent members of the Trio, saying, "You are most welcome. Please come to me if you have any question."

Danny walked through the front door to find Wizard Basalt wiping his forehead with a cloth. The older man nodded to Danny, saying, "Good job there, boy. I was having the hardest time keeping Arya from destroying half the forest with her new Fire Affinity. If it weren't for Wren and Brianna, I would probably have already gone to see if any of the elves are looking to adopt a handsome and slightly undercooked earth wizard. Now that you're back, you can help me deal with this mess you made."

"Sorry about that, Wizard," Danny apologized. "I needed them out of my hair for a few moments while I slipped out. I will work with them on the sorcerer side of magic."

The wizard landed one of his patented spine-crushing back slaps, "It's good to have you back…so they have someone else to nag."

Danny tried his best to get his arm to fall back into its socket as he headed up to his workroom. There wasn't really much to be done to prepare for the wedding ceremony. Cranny was busy at work in the new… Danny couldn't remember what were they calling it now?

*R&D Lab,* Cranny mumbled as if answering while distracted by something else.

*What are we a corporation now?* Danny asked.

If Cranny heard, he chose to ignore Danny's query. Danny put away a few things in the workshop before heading to his room. He found all three girls were there waiting for him, and they had already changed out of their traveling clothes.

"Hey Danny," Jade greeted him by the door with a smile.

Ivy and Brooke had taken his bed and were leaning against the wall it was pushed against.

"Hey, what's going on?" Danny asked them as he sat down at the end of his bed.

"Arya told us what you did before you left," Brooke said.

Danny looked confused, before answering, "I didn't tell you about that?"

Ivy shook her head, "No you didn't, Danny. Don't you understand what this could mean?"

Danny smiled knowingly, "Yes."

Ivy took in his response and kept quiet. Something about her reaction concerned Danny.

Jade came over and sat next to Danny on the bed, opposite Ivy and Brooke, her head quickly finding its way onto his shoulder.

"Danny, is what you said about where you are from is true?" Brooke asked suddenly.

Danny quickly put up a barrier around the room, making sure the guards were still waiting outside, "Yes, is there anything you wanted to ask me?"

Brooke look conflicted, "You told us about your family there…" Brooke hesitated before asking, "Did you have anyone special you left behind?"

Danny swallowed, slowly shaking his head, "I dated a few girls, but none of the relationships worked out. I was pretty lonely there at the end before I died. I am really glad I was paired up with you three." Danny smiled to himself, and Jade slipped her fingers between his own.

Ivy had apparently been trying to hold back, and as she blurted out, "So, you have been seeing us as children this whole time?" her words held more than a bit of anger, frustration, and, to Danny's shame, resentment.

Danny was taken aback by this. At first, he was going to deny it, but then he replied honestly, "Yes."

Brooke crossed her arms, tears welling up in her eyes, "That's not fair."

"What isn't fair?" Danny asked, wanting to make sure he understood.

Brooke wiped a hand quickly across her face, refusing to look him in the eyes, "You got to have all those…relationships, and we only get this one chance, and-and you don't even see us in that way." Brooke looked over at the girl next to her, "Well, except Ivy."

Jade spoke up next to him, "Brooke, I kissed Danny, too."

Ivy's jaw dropped at this news, and Brooke looked to Jade, completely floored in shock, before her gaze shifted slowly to Danny, "It's me then… You don't like me!"

"Brooke, it's not like…," Danny tried to get out, but Brooke had already bolted out of the room. He quickly tracked her as she rushed down and out of the tower.

He started to get up to follow, but a hand grasped Danny's shoulder, stopping him from following Brooke. Ivy had moved over and was sitting on Danny's other side.

"Promise me you will quit seeing us as kids and more as your proper fiancées. We all love you Danny, but you don't seem to love us in the same way," Ivy said sadly.

Danny sat back down and put his head in his hands, "Uhhh, I do feel that way about you three, but I don't know…"

Ivy placed a hand on his back, and a sarcastic laugh escaped her, "Back when we were still in training, I spoke with the Basalt Trio about how frustrated I was that you didn't seem interested in me…or us. They told me you were young, still, and to not pressure you into anything you were not ready for. Danny, how about you try that, but with us?"

Danny lifted his head to look over at Ivy. Laughing lightly, Danny asked, "Are you sure you are not also someone older trapped in a younger body?"

Ivy smiled at his jest, pushing on his back, "Go make it up to her, Danny."

Danny stood at Ivy's prompting and left to hunt down Brooke.

***

Brooke stomped through the now shin-high snow, moving deeper into the forest. It was getting dark, and she hadn't brought anything warmer to wear than the clothes the elves had made her from the sacred tree. Hugging herself for warmth she looked back toward the direction of the tower, debating whether or not to go back.

The tears, which she had stopped shedding a good while ago, still stained her cheeks and were frozen there by the cold winter air. She continued ignored them, not caring if they stung slightly.

There was a rustling noise in the trees to her left. In the dead of winter, there was nothing else to compete with the sound but Brooke's own breathing and now heavily beating heart. Searching around, she had foolishly forgotten her mace and was preparing to switch to her lava form when she spotted them. Two bright yellow eyes. The glowing eyes were staring directly at her from high up in a tree in the same direction she had heard the sound. The eyes started to move along the canopy, circling around her. What they could possibly belong to could not be discerned in the waning light of the sun. The eyes circled behind her while they slowly moved in closer.

Brooke turned her body with the movement of the eyes and stepped backwards, toward the safety of the tower. The eyes fell from the trees and into the snow below. With the white snow as a background, she was able to make out the shadow of a body with a long tail that swished around behind it.

Brooke was reaching for that part of her that controlled her Lava Aspect when a slightly familiar voice called out her name, "Brooke."

"Who's there? What do you want?" Brooke demanded. More than a little fear could be heard in her voice.

Walking out into the last light of the setting sun, Danny said, "I am sorry, Brooke. Can you forgive me?"

Brooke squinted as if that would make what she was seeing make sense, "Danny?"

In his Sacred Beast Form, Danny nervously swished his tail. He wasn't sure if this was the best way to make up for the pain he had caused her. He hadn't taken this form since the embarrassing episode in the throne room, so he hoped the surprise would get her to open up to him.

"Yeah, it's me. I wanted to make sure I could get to you before you ran off. I am a lot better at sneaking around in this form. Do you want me to change back?" Danny asked.

Brooke looked torn between curiosity at his new form and her hurt feelings. She finally turned away, arms crossed, "Do whatever you want. What I want never mattered to you before."

Danny crouched down and quickly bounded over behind the upset Brooke. He mimicked Phantom's habits by rubbing his face along Brooke's shoulder and purring loudly. Danny's nose was flat against his face like a cat's, and his long whiskers slid along her sleeve.

"Brooke, please don't be upset. I am sorry. Can't you see I am trying to make it up to you?" Danny begged.

Brooke froze at Danny's touch. As his head came around under her arm, she looked down at his now overly large black irises. Danny was giving her the epitome of the pathetic begging cat look. Brooke snorted as she unconsciously reached out and rubbed behind Danny's ears, a habit she had picked up from being around Phantom.

Danny purring became significantly louder, and he froze in surprise, not expecting the extreme reaction. If he were in his original form, he would have been beet red. His traitorous body continued to purr loudly as Brooke stopped rubbing to scratch a specific spot behind his ear.

"Brooke, not there," Danny moaned and came to his senses to find himself laying his head in Brooke's lap. She was now seated on a fallen log, and he had no recollection about how they had gotten there.

Brooke laughed happily, but it quickly turned into a sad sounding thing. "So is this how you want us to be, a girl and her pet?" Brooke asked.

Danny moved so that he sat across her lap, finding that the position was both strange and yet natural to his current form. Even though he was slightly taller, Brooke's body was more heavily muscled than his own, and he didn't have to worry about crushing her. His face was now mere inches from hers, and he said quietly, "No, it doesn't."

Being this close, Danny realized he had never really looked at Brooke. Her deep brown eyes were ringed by a lighter shade, giving them an almost halo-like appearance. Her blonde hair was cut short but was still long enough to frame her face. Freckles seemed to cover her cute little nose. Lastly, his eyes lingered on her lips.

Danny shook himself out of his revery as he realized that Brooke had stopped breathing. She, too, was quietly studying his face with great interest as the tension built between them. Leaning forward, Danny licked the side of Brooke's face.

"Ahhh, gross. Why did you do that?" Brooke yelled as she wiped at her face with her arm. "And why is your tongue so rough? It's like…"

Danny suddenly grabbed Brooke's chin and brought her lips to his. Brooke still had her arm up to wipe her face, and while they kissed, she awkwardly kept it up in the air as if she forgotten it was there. Danny pulled away, only to chuckle at her odd appearance.

Brooke slowly opened her eyes, only to realize her arm's odd position, and she quickly lowered it, glowering at Danny. "You think that's funny, do you?" Brooke threatened.

Before Danny could get away, Brooke had him by both his ears, and Danny lost all control of his body. Laying limply in her lap, Danny could only watch Brooke's wicked smile as she found every sensitive part of his ears.

An excited Cranny threatened to interrupt the moment, *Danny! You have to come see what I ma…de…* Cranny's voice trailed off before he continued in utter disbelief, *What the hell are you doing?* After it was apparent that Danny wasn't going to be able to reply, Cranny quickly added, *You know, I don't want to know. If you need me, I will be working in the R&D room, trying to forget…I ever saw whatever this is.*

Danny was once again brought out of his auricular induced state of bliss, but this time it was because he was dumped into the cold snow of the forest floor. His fur and robe were quickly soaked through, and he stood up awkwardly, his arms held out away from his body.

Brooke was walking away, but she had her head turned back watching him carefully. Seeing his haggard appearance, she couldn't help her laughter as she called over her shoulder, "Now, we are even!"

Danny's irises shrunk into vertical slits as he glared at the girl's retreating form. Crouching down low, Danny replied menacingly, "Oh, I will let you know when we are even."

Laughing, Brooke squealed as she ran back to the tower and away from the quickly approaching wet and cranky ball of fur.

CHAPTER 36

An area north of the palace, where once there stood numerous buildings crafted by elven hands, was now laid bare as throngs of elven citizens gathered in the large clearing marked off especially for them. Those elves of significance took prominent spots closer to the center of the clearing. The outskirts of the clearing now only held sacred trees as the city was slowly being transformed into a true elven capital. Throughout the clearing, the druids had managed to grow fresh grass and wildflowers in the winter weather. Their magic kept the grass green and the flowers blooming. On the far side of the clearing, Danny stood with Elder Breeze as he prepared for the first stage of the wedding ceremony.

"Danny, are you absolutely certain you have this? I know you are very capable, but having a second opinion never hurts," the head druid nervously wrung his hands. Apparently, the queen had put pressure on the head druid to find out Danny's plans.

Danny was now in his Sacred Tree Form and grew roots out to connect to the surrounding sacred trees, "Stop worrying. I have this covered, and I already got a second opinion on the design."

The elder looked surprised and relieved, "You did? Who was it?"

Danny paused and realized he couldn't say it was Cranny, so instead told the elf, "An old friend."

Elder Breeze was used to Danny's sometimes cryptic answers by now and knew to take a different tactic, "I see, now Elder Frost said she saw you planting more than one sacred tree seed. Is this is going to be like your towers you created?"

Danny finished reaching out to the closest sacred trees and the seeds he had planted. Sighing, Danny replied, "Elder, it is too late now to change anything so you should just go and get to your designated spot. I have a wedding tradition to start, and you have the ceremony to officiate."

The elder didn't look appeased but gave up and quickly headed over to the waiting crowd.

*Cranny, you got everything ready on your end?*

*Yep, everything is finalized, and you did approve it yourself… Danny, do you think they will like it?*

Danny sighed, *They will love it.*

*Are you sure I can't talk you into letting me add back in the enormous relief of me on the side? I think it would really tie the whole piece together,* Cranny asked excitedly.

Danny smiled and ignored his remark, *Everyone is safely out of the way, so you can start whenever you want.*

Mana began to flow in and then out of Danny. His part of this was to act as the flow regulator. Keep the mana going from the existing trees to the new ones without killing the existing elven homes. Nothing ruins a wedding like draining the very life out of the wedding guests' homes. Danny figured he would at least be obligated to return any wedding gifts.

There were seven seeds planted in a circle around the center of the clearing. As the mana flowed into them, they shot forth from the ground and began to rise in a spiral pattern. None of the trees touched each other as they climbed higher and higher, twisting like a tornado. As the trees grew higher, each tree grew in diameter. Soon, the trees merged, and only the spiral indentation where they touched showed proof of their multiplicity. The tallest tree in the forest, the palace, stood a couple dozen stories high, and Danny's mega sacred tree easily dwarfed it.

From the sides of the tree in seemingly random directions and heights, balconies grew outward. Their appearance was made to look like shelf fungus growing out the side of a tree. Each of these was shaped on the inside like a half-bowl. The balconies would be filled with soil, which could be used to grow gardens. Danny regretted that he couldn't add the soil or garden plants on the go. Cavities in the side of the tree turned into doorways for the balconies and windows for the rooms and hallways. The canopy of the new mega sacred tree expanded outward to reach the edges of the cleared area.

The last portion of the tree to develop was at the base of the tree. The gathered elves soon found the clearing ringed in a wall of crisscrossing limbs that grew a thick layer of multicolored sacred tree leaves. A stone pathway rose up out of the ground and wound its way up to a newly emerging double door entrance. The entryway was currently doorless, but those could be added later. A magnificent staircase reached down from the front entrance to the stone pathway.

The gathered elves stood dumbstruck at the sheer magnitude of this new sacred tree. Then someone cried out as water began to fall from the top of the tree. The water seemed to fall naturally from one balcony to the next. The water would fall from some balconies like a large waterfall, while others would divert the water into multiple smaller falls. The air soon filled with the mist generated from the multitudinous falls.

Danny, now back to his old self, emerged from the doorless entryway and headed down to the waiting Elder Breeze and Princess Willow. The two elves were almost too busy staring transfixed at the tree to notice Danny's approach. Willow recovered first, only to give Danny a similar look that she had given the new tree.

The elven crowd began to talk all at once, and the ever-increasing noise seemed to shake Elder Breeze out of the trance he had fallen into. Raising his hands in the air, silence descended on those gathered, and Elder Breeze began, "Here beneath the greatest of our sacred trees, I call upon Gaea to share her blessings in the union of these two souls. Princess Willow of the elven people and Ascendant Danny Creek of Diadem. We all now bear witness to not only the union of these two individuals but to the union of our two races."

Before Elder Breeze could finish the homily, something floated down, striking him in the face. The elder flinched and plucked the object off to see what it was. In his hand was a petal from the flower of a sacred tree. All those gathered glanced upward to see the sky filled with falling sacred tree petals.

The elves could only stare up in wonder at something never seen before. The flowers naturally lost their petals when the fruit developed. Elven children started running around, laughing, as they tried to catch as many petals as they could.

Elder Breeze looked over at Danny, to confirm that this was his doing.

Danny just smiled and shrugged, not sure if the elder was impressed or not. Looking back at Willow with a big smile, Danny said, "Happy birthday, Willow." Danny was taken aback to find her just staring at him with smoldering eyes.

Clearing his throat, Elder Breeze gave up trying to control the merriment of the crowd and took out a long flat piece of wood made from a sacred tree. It was only three centimeters in width, and the elder had Danny and Willow press their arms together so that their left wrists touched.

Laying the long piece of wood across them, the Elder continued, "Through the blessing of the Goddess, I hereby join these two together as one."

With this, the elder cast a spell, and the long stretch of wood wrapped itself around their two wrists. An intricate pattern appeared inlaid into the wood, and then, the wood brightened visibly before dividing in two.

As the crowd cheered, Danny lifted up his arm to look at the new accessory. The pattern on the band stopped at a flat portion where it had been connected with Willow's.

Danny wondered if this was one of the most literally metaphorical ways to shackle two people together in marriage. Fortunately, it appeared that the bracelet could be easily removed.

*Danny, incoming!*

Danny barely looked up in time to catch Willow as she leaped into his arms and kissed him.

The crowd roared in approval, and music started playing.

Everything else seemed to fade into the background, as Danny kissed his new wife.

*Cranny, I got married!*

*And to a princess! One down, many many more to go.*

Danny could hear Cranny's evil laugh echoing in his head.

Willow pulled away from him and led him over to their waiting families.

"Congratulations," the queen managed to get out before subtly wiping an eye and trying her best to hold back a sob. Willow ran over to hug her mother.

Barrow moved over to get out of the two women's way and to shake Danny's hand, "Congratulations, Danny, and good job on the tree. Though, did you have to make it larger than the palace?" The general said the last with a laugh.

"Well, I actually designed it for you to use as a new palace. I don't know how often we will be here, so I figured it best to build something practical. Plus, if you are going to be growing the capital out. That old palace just won't do," Danny admitted.

The queen suddenly grabbed Danny in a hug, and over his shoulder, he heard her ask, "You mean that, Danny?"

Danny hugged her back as he said, "Of course, Your Majesty."

The queen pulled away to look into his eyes, "Danny, you jokingly called me it before, but I would really prefer you call me ‘Mom'…well in private settings." The queen smiled as she hugged him again.

Before he could get away, the general leaned in and whispered, as he gave Danny a smile only a father's bride can pull off, "Don't go disappearing again, Danny."

Danny smiled awkwardly and just nodded before Willow pulled him away. Willow dragged him over to where Ivy, Brooke, and Jade were waiting. The three human girls made sure to hug the princess first. Ivy gave Danny a quick hug, while Brooke made sure to ruffle his hair, and Jade kissed him on the cheek.

***

After hearing congratulations from what must have been every elf living on the planet, tables with a feast waiting to be eaten, and chairs seemed to suddenly appear all around the new palace. The rest of the evening was filled with dancing, songs, and general merriment. People filed in and out of the new tree, marveling at its impressive size and complexity.

The queen ended the evening by thanking Danny for helping their people to grow the new palace and for leading her people in the destruction of the goblin threat. Then, wishing him and Willow a happy marriage, she sent the two into the newly grown palace, followed by the sound of the cheering crowd.

Servants led them to one of the larger bedrooms near the ground floor. Danny noted that guards were already posted at set intervals.

While Danny had learned how the lights and heating bulbs were created, unfortunately, he couldn't recreate the same effect in his own nature form…yet.

What Danny hadn't grown was a large four-post bed and other furnishings for this room. The elves must have snuck these in during the reception.

The bedroom door closed, and he and Willow were all alone in the room. The princess looked around, taking it all in, before turning to Danny.

Willow's smile stretched from one ear to the other. She said, "Husband...I was wondering how long I was going to wait before getting to say that."

Danny smiled at how happy the beautiful young elven woman looked, replying, "My apologies, my wife, I really didn't mean to rush off and leave you behind. You now have my complete and undivided attention."

Willow placed a slender finger to her lip, looking contemplative, and turned away from him, saying, "I do don't I...the question is, how can I keep it that way?"

Before Danny could reply, the princess reached behind her back and the gown she was wearing slid slowly to the floor. As the material flowed off of her, Danny realized that she was not wearing anything underneath. A few more tugs and flowers spilled onto the floor as her long dark hair cascaded down to pool around her posterior.

Looking over her shoulder, Princess Willow smiled at Danny's slack-jawed expression, "I'm suddenly very tired, but I really need a shower first. Would you mind giving me a hand?"

Danny's eyes were glued to her royal backside, and he looked up as if just registering her words, "I...uh sure."

Willow sauntered into the room's adjoining bathroom as Danny could only stand there transfixed.

*Danny, get in there now and stop acting like this is the first princess you have seen naked!*

*But this is the first princess I hav...!*

*Just shut up already and go!*

Danny jolted out of his stupor and rushed through the bathroom door.

EPILOGUE

Dark mahogany panelling covered the walls and ceiling. The lighter wood flooring was only broken up by the abundant shelves that filled the room. Each shelf was crammed full of books, tomes, and various papers. The wood panelling on the walls had an interesting inlaid crystal design near the bottom that circled the room. The room had soft lighting, except where there were places set aside to read.

In one far corner on a rug sat two wingback chairs. In one sat a studious-looking teenager reading a rough-looking little book filled with a neatly handwritten scrawl. In the other chair sat a young man appearing to be in his late twenties. The young man seemed unable to take his eyes off the holoscreen floating between, and a little more than a meter away from, the two chairs.

The screen held the view from Danny's physical body's half-lidded eyes. The inhumanly beautiful face of Princess Willow, along with a bare shoulder and slender arm filled most of the screen. The rest of her body was hidden under the covers of the bed they lay in.

Wiping the drool from the side of his mouth, Cranny finally tore his eyes away from the screen to scowl at Danny, exclaiming, "How on…whatever this damn planet is called, can you be reading with a view like this in front of you?"

Danny put a finger down on the page to mark his spot, before replying, "I need a bit more information before we get back to Diadem, and I am not going to be able to do that staring at my wife." Danny then returned to his reading.

Watching the holoscreen again, and without taking his eyes away, Cranny asked, "We going to take over the country?"

Danny's eyes kept moving across the page as he replied, "Nope."

Cranny glanced to the side, "We going to get back at Diadem for threatening us?"

"We are not that petty, Cranny," Danny replied magnanimously while continuing to read.

Cranny frowned, "Seriously then, we are not going to be doing anything there other than getting married?"

In a huff, Danny lowered the book he had been reading. The page he was on showed the Archdruid Wisteria's notes on mana transference runes. Specifically, it showed those dealing with using obstinite. While the Archdruid had not specifically said how she extracted mana out of the obstinite, Danny knew that there had to be a clue in her notes.

Danny studied the screen in front of them as he replied, "We are going to kill two birds with one stone. Nothing has really changed between the different races since the great cataclysm. In fact, it has only gotten worse. Then, there is how Diadem's leaders have manipulated me for far too long. So, it's time we do the manipulating. I have no doubt any attempt at subtlety will be out-maneuvered. So, instead of changing things with a scalpel, I propose we use a tactical nuke," Danny explained with a small chuckle and a self-assured grin on his face.

Cranny jerked as he seemingly just realized Danny had been talking to him. Turning from where he had been enraptured in watching the holoscreen, Cranny asked, "Huh, what? Could you repeat that again? I was a little distract…"

The archdruid's journal bounced off Cranny's forehead with such force that he fell sideways, over the arm of his chair and onto the floor.