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

EPILOGUE

First Edition

© 2018 Robert Harper. All rights reserved.

I dedicate this novel to the memory of my Meme.

Thanks for all the bags of peanut M&Ms, games of Canasta, slices of caramel pie, and reading my five-year-old self the Poky Little Puppy for the umpteenth time.

CHAPTER 1

The lengthening days of late winter brought a sense of anticipation to the Great Forest. The weather, now too warm for snow, signaled to the earliest plants to begin budding. A sizable dirt road divided the groves of large trees that towered over the well-worn path. The boughs of a few of the nearest trees undulated as if blown by the wind, though on this day, the weather was the embodiment of peace and calm.

A procession of carts, carriages, and lone riders traveled at a surprisingly fast clip down the uneven forest road. If the unnatural beauty of the traveling folk did not give away their heritage, then their long pointy ears announced it. As they traveled along the trade road, the elven people kept their conversations relatively quiet so as not to attract any of the dangerous beasts that roamed the surrounding forest.

Near the center of the elven caravan rode three unique carriages. All three sported the crest of the elven royal family, a kestrel taking flight. A panicked yell pierced the air after a solitary figure lunged from a curtained window of the centermost carriage. A cry that started off human then evolved into a cat's yowling.

As the escaping figure scratched and scrabbled to find purchase on the side of the carriage, he screamed back, "I already let you pet me for the last two hours, let me go already!"

The only reply was the sound of unsympathetic giggling and laughing that emanated from inside of the carriage.

The half teenager/half ghost leopard, who went by the name Danny, barely managed to hang onto where he was clinging to the side of the carriage. Lifting his head a bit further, Danny glanced over the top of the carriage to find his familiar, a ghost leopard named Phantom, doing her best to ignore him while she soaked up what little heat she could get from the late winter sun. Phantom had been the size of a large dog when Danny first found her, but now she had grown into the size of a large pony. As soon as Phantom had made it known that she would be riding in Danny's carriage for the majority of the trip, their elven escorts added an extra pair of horses to manage the load. Danny's luggage and that of the other occupants of the carriage had all been safely secured in another wagon in the caravan.

Danny attempted to pull his backside further out of the carriage but gave up, blowing his long hair out of his eyes. "You know, you could at least attempt to look concerned," Danny grumbled at his feline familiar.

Phantom's head lifted and swung around to stop inches from Danny's face. A look of confusion crossed the teenager's face before the cat licked the boy from chin to forehead. Danny was about to sputter and yell at the leopard when he realized his long hair was now out of his eyes.

"Thanks, girl," Danny beamed.

Phantom head swung back around to bury itself in the confusing tangled mass of fur that was her body.

Danny managed to free one foot from the inside of the carriage and uselessly tried to use it to push himself higher. Danny, not for the first time, cursed the fact that his abilities made it necessary to wear robes or else find himself pants-less when he used some of his abilities. He couldn't place his foot or knee against the carriage without his robes getting in the way.

A sudden look of annoyance crossed Danny's face as he mumbled to himself, "Yes, I am fully aware they could easily pull me back inside whenever they wanted. Unless you have something constructive to add, just shut up!"

Danny froze as a smile slowly spread across his face, saying, "Now, that is constructive..."

That was about the time a low hanging branch slapped him across the face. Shaking his head as he spit out a few leaves, Danny focused on a point in the distance, and a surprised scream erupted from inside the carriage. Danny laughed and pulled out his remaining leg from inside the carriage and quickly used his newfound freedom to drag himself further onto the top of the carriage. Danny's upward movement was halted again as a yowl of pain ripped from his mouth.

A voice filled with disgust called out from inside, "Danny, that better have been water you summoned on your leg!"

"Not my tail," Danny barely managed to yell back down as he made sure his hands had a good grip on the railing lining the top of the carriage.

Then, Danny shifted back into his natural human form. The fine white fur that had covered his body was instantly shed and floated through the air. From inside the carriage, another scream erupted, but this time from multiple female voices. Danny smiled smugly as he pictured his former tail disintegrating into dust in Brooke's hands. He was sure the other screams were from the fur on his tail as it whipped around inside the carriage.

Danny finally pulled himself onto the top of the carriage and collapsed onto Phantom. The cat made no effort to acknowledge his presence except to unwind her body enough for Danny to slide down so that she was encircling him. Danny absently stroked the cat's back as he looked over at the elven driver and guard. Both of whom were doing their best to ignore the whole situation. Danny was sure they had become inoculated by now to the absurd behavior of Danny and the rest of the carriage's occupants.

"Excuse me, how much longer till we get there?" Danny called out toward the two elves.

The driver didn't respond, but the guard turned back toward Danny. Like the rest of the elven soldiers, the guard assigned to Danny's carriage was covered from head to toe in armor that appeared to made from dense wood. While wooden armor was inferior in defense to metal armors, it was enchanted to blend in with its surroundings when fed magic from its wearer.

"We are still on schedule to be in Crossbark by nightfall, Ascendant," the guard said respectfully.

Danny thanked the guard before laying backwards and focusing internally while controlling his breathing. Entering a meditative state, Danny entered his mental sanctuary.

***

Danny stepped through the wormhole-like portal that represented the entrance to his sanctuary. Looking around the room he was now in, he remembered back to when he had been newly reincarnated, after his death on Earth, and found himself on this alien world of magic. Not long after his birth, Danny discovered that he could access this very mental sanctuary.

A magically preserved memory had been left to Danny, and through it, he had learned that the sanctuary was not something innate to this new world. Instead, it was created during a time of great chaos. Beings from somewhere else had entered the world through a rift. Named the Cataclysmic, these otherworldly beings had destroyed any sentient beings they could reach. In an act of desperation, many warriors had died bringing a magical focus to the location of the rift. Then, from their tower far away, the last remnants of a sorcerous order cast two spells. The first destroyed the area around the magical focus and the warriors near the rift, effectively sealing the opening to elsewhere shut. The second spell changed the fundamental nature of magic in the world, creating the mental sanctuaries. Those sorcerers who survived the two epic spells soon fell to the remnants of the Cataclysmic that survived the massive spell. Fortunately for the rest of the survivors, the Cataclysmic could not survive for more than a year on this new world and died before they could completely eradicate any of the sentient civilizations. Scattered to isolated locations around the world, the remnants of each race's culture struggled to retain their former glory.

Besides allowing him to memorize anything he learned, the sanctuary ranked his skills from one to ten. Each level of skill also bestowed him with increased intelligence, strength, or agility. Intelligence increased his ability to process and analyze information. Strength increased his physical strength and decreased how slowly his muscles deteriorated. Agility increased the amount of energy his body stored and how fast he could move. Each attribute had a secondary effect that altered Danny's physical appearance. Intelligence increased physical attractiveness, agility increased height, and strength increased muscle mass.

Looking across the first room in his sanctuary, Danny found himself in what he always thought the inside of a soccer ball would look. A hexagon pattern covered the entire surface of the spherical room. From the portal, Danny stepped out of a walkway which extended across the center of the sphere to where it ended on the other side at a door leading out of the room. The center of the walkway bulged outward around a large console. Rising out of the console were three tubes that extended up into the ceiling. Each tube represented the three attributes and was partially filled to varying degrees with a similar copper colored liquid. That is, except for the tube denoting his increased intelligence. The bottom of the intelligence tube was filled a third of the way with copper. A current of electricity flowed through the copper, causing it to glow. The middle third of the tube was filled with an iron colored liquid, and it too was glowing and coursing with electricity. The last third of the tube held a small amount of an almost silver-colored liquid. Danny guessed it was actually supposed to be steel.

The electric current racing through his first two-thirds of his intelligence tube represented the two gifts he had been granted by the sanctuary for reaching those levels. The reward for reaching the top iron threshold was a new room that worked like a simulator. Danny could test new spells, train with weapons, or practice different crafts while not having to worry about being hurt or dying. Danny had decided to call this room Research and Development, or R&D for short. The gift for reaching the top of the copper threshold was a split, or second, consciousness. To Danny's chagrin, this came in the form of his previous Earth self.

A voice called out from the far side of the room, "Hello Kitty!"

Danny mumbled, "Think of the devil, and he shall appear..."

Danny's split consciousness had been dubbed "Cranny," an amalgam of Danny and crystal, as Cranny had first been encased in a crystal structure. Danny was still trying to figure out if there was some way to at least return Cranny to his previous crystal imprisoned state.

"When are you going to take a firmer claw with those girls, Danny? They treat you more like a pet than a fiancé," Cranny complained.

Due to an odd quirk of this new world, for every male born of any species, there were three females born. In the case of the human nation, Diadem, women formed groups of three women, called Trios, that sought out a husband. When part of Danny's unique magical nature had been discovered, he had been drafted into Diadem's paramilitary organization and was assigned a Trio of girls a few years older than him to train with. While they were not married, it was understood they were engaged. The caravan Danny was traveling in was headed to Diadem so they could get married right away. This was, in part, due to Danny's first marriage.

Almost a month previous, Danny had been married to Willow Kestrel, princess of the elven nation. While the princess looked half a decade older than Danny's physical age of sixteen, Willow was actually in her fifties. This didn't bother Danny because if he added his years on Earth to his new worlds, he was well into his forties.

"Cranny, what is going on with all the repairs," Danny asked as he gestured to the three technicians in red shirts diligently working around the room.

Danny's sanctuary used to have a classic study appearance, but when he almost died and inadvertently infused himself with an extreme amount of Harmony magic, his body and sanctuary had undergone a change. Danny's sanctuary took on a futuristic look while his body switched from running on chemical energy to existing off of magic. Danny still needed to eat every now and then to heal and grow. Also, certain things, such as breathing, were no longer required. That is unless he wanted to talk or use his sense of smell.

Danny saw a brief flash of worry pass over Cranny's face before his counterpart recovered, scoffing, "This? No, this is just routine monthly diagnostic... stuff."

Danny didn't look convinced but decided to let it go as he watched a technician waist deep inside the console. There was a brief flash of light from inside the console, and the technician suddenly jerked uncontrollably, cursing to himself.

"So, what skills have I upgraded since we last checked?" Danny asked as he looked expectantly at the walls of the room.

It didn't escape Danny's notice that the usual displays of his skills which normally played over each of the hexagons making up the room's walls were absent.

Cranny looked around uncomfortably and suggested, "Let's just skip this room for now so I can show you what I have cooked up in R&D."

Danny studied Cranny silently for more than a few seconds before walking past him and through the door on the far side. Entering the hallway, Danny looked up and down it to find more technicians working on other "routine maintenance" activities. Sighing in concern, Danny chose to ignore the activity and move on into the door labeled "R&D." As Danny passed through the doorway, he found himself standing in the forest surrounding the Elven Capital. A few structures that didn't exist in the real world now occupied the area. Cranny seemingly appeared from nowhere and led them toward one of the first buildings.

Whether it was because Cranny lacked imagination or because these structures were not intended to be permanent, Danny found the new buildings to be overly utilitarian and bland. The first building he visited was one giant room that held large tubes filled with a liquid of some sort. Light from the floor of each tube illuminated the contents. Looking inside a few of the tubes, Danny realized there was nothing to see.

Not waiting for Danny to ask, Cranny explained, "You are now looking at the results of 'Project Danny Junior.'"

Danny grumbled, "I thought I told you not to call it that."

Cranny looked at him askance, replying, "And I thought you knew reverse psychology always works on me."

"So, we can't have children with Willow, even if we shift into our Elven Aspect," Danny concluded.

Cranny nodded, replying, "Can I get approval to research using Nature Affinity magic to alter our DNA and see if I can get it to work that way?"

Danny pondered this a moment, suggesting, "Start with just modifying our little guys. Don't want to pigeonhole us with only being able to have children with elves."

Leaving the building, they entered the center of a nearby clearing wherein the middle grew a conspicuously wide tree with multicolored leaves.

Recognizing the tree, Danny moved quickly over and excitedly asked, "Is it finished?"

"There are still a few minor glitches that need ironing out, but for the most part it is finished," replied Cranny with more than a touch of pride in his voice.

Danny walked towards the large opening on one side of the tree and entered the wide hollowed-out room inside. The space inside appeared to consist of only a circular platform in the middle of the room. With his first step into the room, two crystals, one red and the other white, which were embedded in the ceiling glowed. Suddenly standing on the platform was a projection of Cranny in long flowing robes. Danny paused and gaped at the unexpected apparition. The image of Cranny looked toward the door but didn't follow Danny's movement as he circled the platform.

The hologram of Cranny spoke, "Greetings and welcome to the Tree of Magic and Knowledge. My name is Cranny, and I am in charge of guiding visitors in the use of this place. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have while here."

The dialog ended, and Danny looked over to where Cranny smugly leaned against the entryway, arms folded across his chest.

"You like?" Cranny asked.

Danny was at a loss at where to begin, "Wha... Where... How?"

"One of the other buildings here houses my experiments on crystals of different affinities. The two crystals in the ceiling are an enterchanted Flame and Air crystal. The projection and sound you witnessed were the culmination of my own little side project. The Flame crystal projects the light while the Air crystal projects the sound," Cranny explained.

Danny interrupted him, "Wait, a single light crystal alone costs a fortune in Diadem. The dwarves are the only ones who know where to mine for them. Are you saying we can make our own?"

Cranny shrugged, "It's as simple as infusing quartz with enough of a specific Magical Affinity. We could make a fortune selling the magic crystals in Diadem. Though, when was the last time we had to pay for anything?"

Danny opened his mouth to immediately reply but closed it as he realized he couldn't remember.

"Go ahead, ask the other me a question," Cranny said as he gestured to his holographic double.

Danny complied, asking, "What is this place?"

The hologram continued to look toward the entryway as it recited, "This facility has three functions. The first is unsealing those boys and men whose connection to the source has been sealed away. The second function will allow anyone, both male and female, who have access to their sanctuaries, and are not already wizards, to become a sorcerer. The third, and last, purpose for this facility is to train sorcerers on how to use their magic. For more information, please ask me about one of these functions."

Danny knew that all boys of the age of seven are tested for magical ability in the country of Diadem, as he was tested himself. In an attempt to compete with the other races, the men of Diadem ignorantly volunteered to be bombarded in seconds with massive amounts of mana using a dwarven device the Diadems called an 'ancient key.' This 'key' was used to supposedly 'unlock' their mana. In reality, the device either forced their magic open, permanently damaging their magical pathways, or sealed off their mana and their mental sanctuaries completely. These 'locked' boys, with their sanctuaries sealed off, grew up to be the weakest citizens in the country, as they wouldn't receive any of the benefits from their sanctuaries. All the while, the wizards would go on to become essential individuals to the country's power.

Sorcerers, like Danny, were innate users of magic that started at the lowest level of power and worked their way to great heights of power. Wizards, on the other hand, were permanently stuck at a specific level of magical power generation, be it impressive or not. Wizards can only grow by increasing their affinities. While the Tree of Magic and Knowledge could heal those boys whose power was sealed away by the ancient key, it could not revert the damage done to a wizard's mana lines. A wizard was a wizard for life.

Danny quickly turned to the real Cranny, "I thought we were going to keep the last two functions hidden until at least two weeks had passed."

"They still are set for a delayed release. As planned, the downstairs area will only open up after two weeks have passed," replied Cranny.

"Did you get the unsealing function to work?" Danny asked.

Cranny moved away from the door and approached one of the numerous alcoves set into the wall of the circular room. The alcoves were shaped like a reclined chair with a white crystal embedded into the top sticking down. Waving his hand, Cranny conjured a copy of Danny's brother, Gary. Like the majority of the entities they could create in the R&D room, this Gary only responded to simple commands and did not act independently or show signs of self-awareness.

At Cranny's command, the Gary copy walked over to the alcove and laid down inside it. The crystal sticking out from above him was already glowing and started flashing as soon as Gary laid down. To anyone else, it would have looked as if nothing was happening, but Danny could see the flow and movement of mana around him. As the flashing of the crystal continued for a few minutes, Danny watched, through his magic sensitive eyes, as massive amounts of mana flowed out to enter a magically dark spot right above Gary's stomach. After a couple of minutes were up, Gary's eyes closed and the crystal went dark. Where once there was a dark spot above his stomach there now was a new connection to the source of all magic that was releasing mana into pathways that followed the blood vessels in Gary's body.

"And it only works on those without a connection to the source?" Danny asked absently.

Cranny sighed, replying, "Yes, it only activates once the crystal has enough mana and there is a viable sealed connection nearby. Technically, we could grow a sacred tree flower there, and it would create a seed for us. I am happy to say it has a 99.999% success rate."

Danny frowned, asking, "What happens the other 0.001% of the time?"

Shrugging, Cranny said, "Nothing. They have to repeat the process until it works. It's one of the bugs I am working out. Should have it fixed by the time you are ready to finish the enchanting." Cranny walked over to an archway to one side of the room, explaining, "Downstairs are stone training rooms. Once one is activated, a crystal in the room absorbs a minute amount of mana from any male or female who enters it, gently pulling the mana out of their source, thus gently unlocking their mana and creating a new sorcerer. Then, another version of my holograms begins to teach them the basics followed by whatever element they request. I couldn't figure out how to get an enchantment to identify age, so all the training rooms can only be entered by activators high up on the wall. While the height of the activators will not be a deterrent to the more clever children, we will also have to apologize to the vertically challenged men or women."

Danny nodded dismissively as he studied the rest of the room.

Clapping his hands and rubbing them together, Cranny happily asked, "Now, are you ready to see the surprise for Crossbark?"

A huge smile was already plastered on Danny's face as he whipped his head back around excitedly.

CHAPTER 2

With the sun having already set below the forest canopy, the elven caravan hurried to make it the last few kilometers to what remained of the town of Crossbark. As previously requested, the driver of Danny's carriage turned around to inform him that they were almost there.

Danny stood up and sat down on the back of his lounging leopard. Looking back at Danny with a less than amused expression, Phantom tucked her head back into herself. Glaring at the back of Phantom's head, Danny tried patting the oversized cat's side, and he barely managed to cling to the cat's fur before she jumped from the top of the carriage, rushing into the trees of the surrounding forest.

Since his near death and sort of rebirth into what the elves called an Ascendant, Cranny figured out how to communicate to Danny through modifying what Danny could hear.

*Danny, about fifty meters to your left there's a small clearing,* Cranny said as a glowing blip appeared in Danny's vision.

Danny grumbled, *I wish you could have finalized the designs before we broke camp this morning. Though there will be fewer chances of interruptions this way.*

*While you were busy griping, I worked out the issue in the enchantment designs,* Cranny shot back at a suddenly silent Danny.

The imaginary light faded away as Danny reached the designated spot. Quickly jumping off Phantom's back, Danny pulled out what appeared to be a metallic egg made of iron and three large seeds from the pockets of his robes. Setting the seeds on the ground under the closest tree, Danny was startled as Phantom suddenly took off into the forest, probably after supper. Trying to focus again on what he was here to do, Danny's eyes took on a faraway look as he remembered creating the egg back in the Elven Capital.

***

Standing in the clearing next to his tower, Danny's body had changed as he activated his Lava Aspect. Danny's skin had taken on a burnt coloring with bright red light glowing through cracks that ran up part of his arms and legs. His robes took on a similar appearance, hiding most of the changes to his appearance. The areas affected on Danny's body seemed limited to his arms, legs, and above his shoulders. Though with his robes on, no one else could tell this.

Reaching over, Danny picked up an iron ingot he had requested from the elven palace's blacksmith. Sitting down cross-legged on the ground, Danny had held the ingot cupped in his hands and stared down at it intently. Then, a glow emanated from in between the patches of blackened skin on his hands, and his arms began to grow brighter. Soon the iron ingot had become as red as Danny's arms and started to droop as it melted. Instead of dripping between Danny's hands and falling to the floor, the now soft metal had begun to rise up and compress in on itself. In less than a minute, the iron ingot had been reshaped like an egg. As soon as the iron had taken on the new shape, the metal began to cool again.

*Alright, your turn Cranny,* Danny had announced internally.

Red-hot lines had begun to form all over the surface of the iron egg as Cranny carved into the metal with magic. Organic patterns of swirls and curves had started to appear across its surface, digging deep lines in the metal. With his Lava Affinity being the combined parts of Earth and Fire Affinities, Danny could not only effortlessly control heat, through Fire Affinity, but the metal itself through Earth Affinity. This prevented any iron separated from the whole from reforming together when it cooled.

Danny could only sigh in relief when the metal finally cooled enough again for him to set it on the ground without fear of setting fire to the grass. The metal egg had been successfully modified as planned. Over the next few weeks, to his wife and fiancés' annoyance, Danny had spent many hours each day enchanting the iron egg.

***

Back in the present, in the clearing near Crossbark, Danny moved back over to the tree line. Grabbing the three sacred tree seeds, he unceremoniously shoved them into the ground in a wide triangle around the egg. Sacred trees were unique in that not only could they produce mana, but they could generate large amounts of it. Danny had won the respect of the elves, and Princess Willow's hand in marriage, by discovering how to grow new seeds for these unique trees. Like the men in Diadem, whose connections to the source of magic had been sealed away in an attempt to turn them into wizards, the flowers of the sacred trees had a dark magical void in their centers. If enough mana was forced into the flower's dark voids, a connection to the source of magic would form. The flowers would then wither as a seed formed.

With a little magical coaxing, the seeds Danny planted began to grow into small sacred trees. These young sacred trees didn't provide as much mana as their older counterparts, but they worked when in a pinch. Once the trees' heights were to Danny's liking, he focused on his body and, specifically, on the many unique crystal structures embedded in his cellular walls. Using Nature Affinity magic, Danny activated his sacred tree form. As his skin and robes took on a bark-like quality, roots extended out of his feet and into the ground. The next change occurred when his hair swelled, taking on the appearance of skinny branches, and small multicolored leaves like the ones on the sacred trees around him. Unlike the limited change in his Lava Aspect, Danny's Nature Aspect almost completely covered his body. Danny extended roots from his feet to merge with the roots of the nearby sacred trees. This allowed Danny to passively absorb some of the sacred trees' mana and their nutrients.

*Try and help me keep an eye on our mana levels, Danny,* Cranny requested as he began the next phase.

The iron egg lying on the ground didn't show any physical signs as Nature Mana flowed out of Danny's body and began entering the different metal pieces that made up the whole. Enchantments were generally created by infusing a solid object with mana patterned to a set of runes, or circles containing complex patterns. The more complex the effect desired in the enchantment, the more the runes would have to be concentrically layered. Danny had learned of an alternate way of enchanting from the notes left by a powerful elven druid. Enterchanting allowed one to split an enchantment up between multiple objects by using interconnecting runes. The more uniform the items enchanted, the easier the process would go. Another essential aspect to enchanting was the fact that the more powerful an enchantment was, the more mana one would initially have to provide to have it take hold.

As mana flowed out of Danny's body and into the fragmented iron pieces that were trapped inside of the egg, excess mana from the sacred trees was absorbed through his connection to them through his roots. The rate the sacred trees generated mana was nowhere near the amount of mana Cranny was using for the enchantment process, but it would allow Cranny to continue enchanting longer before they would have to pause and allow his mana to regenerate to levels he could again work with. Fortunately, they were just finishing up the last minute additions and modifications. Enterchanting had the benefit of splitting up the enchantment cost amongst the different pieces, whereas a comparably complex single enchantment might unravel if Cranny had to pause in the middle of the process.

Over the course of the next four hours, Cranny had to stop three times to regenerate more mana. Danny made sure to monitor his mana levels and never let Cranny start enchanting when there was a chance he might not be able to finish a piece.

The finished product was unassuming in its eclectic design. Danny would have expected to find it hidden away in the corner of a small town antique store back on Earth. The openings carved onto the outside were never large enough to let the tiny metal fragments inside fall out. Danny was impressed and a little envious of what Cranny was able to produce without his help. Danny released his Nature Aspect and leaves and bits of bark floated or fell to the ground around him.

Now out of Nature Aspect, Danny started using an ability he called Air Scan. At set intervals, Cranny sent out a pulse of Air Magic that vibrated the particles in the air and returned to him an image of his surroundings. A wave of dizziness swept over Danny just as he picked up the egg and was turning it reverently in his hands. One of Danny's three elven guards assigned to protect him seemingly materialized out of thin air. The guards wore armor with an enchantment allowing them to blend in with their surroundings.

"Ascendant, are you alright?" the guard asked in concern.

Danny waved away the guard's concern, just as he picked up something substantial moving not far away from where they were standing. Danny knew how Phantom appeared to his Air Scan, and it wasn't her. Jerking his head to the side, Danny instantly regretted his action as the dizziness only increased tenfold, and he collapsed groundward, dropping the egg. Danny's guard reacted immediately, reaching out to catch him before he could fall to the forest floor.

Danny managed to get out a, "Thank...," before his vision clouded over and he passed out.

CHAPTER 3

Danny fell hard into the futuristic looking captain's chair inside the command room of his mental sanctuary. Klaxons blared loudly in his ears as multiple lights flashed in warning. Danny was surprised to find he was the only person in the room, and there was not a single sign of where everyone had gone. A few panels of the ceilings and walls were hanging open or missing. Exposed wires sparked and fallen tubing sprayed a foggy mist throughout the room.

Looking up at the various holoscreens arrayed in front of him, Danny searched for an answer as to what had happened. While the holoscreens were all flashing red, Danny couldn't discern what the issue was from the plethora of information provided. One screen displaying his body didn't show any of the red spots, designating damage, or green spots, designating disease or poison. There was obviously something wrong, but despite the flashing, none of the screens displayed any errors.

"Cranny," Danny called out incredulously, but only the noisy klaxons replied.

After repeating Cranny's name a few times with no success, Danny got up to check the rest of the ship. The hallway, skill room, mana room, and library were all in the same state of disrepair as the command room. There were only the signs consistent with gross neglect and no Cranny to be found.

Standing in front of the door to R&D room, Danny took a deep breath before opening the double doors and stepping into the void beyond. As he had passed through the door, Danny had focused on where in the room he wanted to go and appeared in the area near the simulated Elven Capital where Cranny had built his laboratories and prototypes. As Danny stepped onto the grassy ground, the featureless black doorway he had walked out of winked out of existence. Danny looked around in time to see Cranny rushing from one building to the next, panic evident on his counterpart's face.

"Cranny," Danny yelled after him.

Cranny jerked to a stop and turned around slowly, a complex array of emotions played across his face. Danny only knew two things: Something ominous was going on, and Cranny didn't have it under control.

"What's happening, Cranny?" Danny asked accusingly as he closed the distance with his counterpart.

Cranny visibly deflated, "Our mental sanctuary is being rejected by the source. I have a guess at what is wrong, but I have no way to confirm it."

Cranny hesitated to elaborate, but Danny's dark expression soon had Cranny reluctantly explaining. "I told you when we first met that this sanctuary could not handle multiple personalities and that you and I were essentially the same person." At Danny's nod of understanding, Cranny added, "I have slowly come to realize that it is not true."

Cranny rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he visibly struggled to get his next words out, "You and I are not the same person, well, at least not when you first let me out. Slowly you have been taking back more and more of your old self, that's me. When you came to this world, you felt you had to repress some of your original personality to survive. For example, and strangely enough, you forced back some of your immaturity in order to ensure you would always act more childlike to avoid detection. We are naturally mischievous, and you were scared you would accidentally give yourself away accidentally. Since I showed up, my positive influence has you acting more recklessly and taking the initiative where you would have just gone with the safest more cautious option."

Cranny's sudden cough sounded a lot like he had said, "Princess!"

Danny opened his mouth to speak when the ground shook, and everything went completely black. Danny could no longer sense where his body was. Then, with a flickering light, everything returned as if nothing had happened.

Cranny was still seated across from Danny, but his other self was looking wildly around, eyes as wide as they could go.

"We don't have any more time. I will have to speed this up," Cranny mumbled.

With a wave of Cranny's hand, the earth under Danny's feet lurched suddenly causing him to fall unceremoniously backwards onto the ground. Getting his hands underneath him, Danny pushed himself back up to yell at Cranny, when he was instead met with three very familiar individuals. A man and woman, both well past middle age, stood close to each other while a young man stood off a little to one side. Each of them shared more than a passing physical similarity to Cranny. Waves of emotions crashed into and through Danny as he struggled to respond to their sudden and unexpected presence.

"Good to see you, Daniel," the older man said with a loving smile.

A tear formed and ran down Danny's cheek to slide under his jawline.

"Hey D, you still dorkin it up in that lab?" the young man, who could have been a carbon copy of his younger self back on Earth, asked Danny teasingly.

Danny chokingly laughed as both his eyes threatened to spill over.

"Oh, my Danny boy, please tell me you haven't been eating take-out for every meal," the older woman fussed at Danny.

With that, the memories of some of his last conversations with his family were played right before Danny's eyes. The dam broke, and Danny was unable to stop as he cried uncontrollably. Deep, painful sobs racked his body, as he fell to his knees before his Earth family. He wanted nothing more than to rush over to hug his mother, father, and little brother, but deep down inside he knew they were not really there.

Danny's sobs petered out after a few moments, and he turned to yell at Cranny, "Why are you doing this to me? We need to be stopping whatever wrong with the sanctuary."

Cranny frowned sympathetically, replying, "Danny, the first thing you hid away was your feelings for your family. You tried to deal with your loss of them at first, but your survival instincts kicked in and you kept pushing back dealing with your feelings associated with the loss of them. I was first created then, and as you pushed more and more of yourself to the back, I grew more and more. Danny, I need you to come with me before it's too late."

Confused at the sudden change of topic, Danny numbly followed Cranny out of the R&D room, down the hall, and into his skills room. The customary images of his skills flickered as they struggled to display themselves on the walls. The tubes representing his attributes looked cracked and ready to break at any moment. The electric-like power that ran up his intelligence tube, displaying how he had reached two different thresholds, looked more like lightning as it arced across the ceiling.

As they walked through the room, Cranny explained, "Danny, since I was released from that crystal prison, I have been gaining skills independently from you. I did not realize at first that I was doing this until recently, when the gap between what I could do and what you could do widened significantly. At first, I thought this was due to me being in a distraction-free zone here while you had to focus through all the chaos of the outside world. Have you ever wondered why I can do so much while you struggle to keep up? I have come to the conclusion that I am actually stopping you from increasing your levels whenever I gain more skill in something."

They stopped in front of the swirling wormhole-like portal that represented Danny's exit from his sanctuary. Danny struggled to decide how he felt about everything Cranny was telling him.

Cranny stared into the portal for a few long seconds before turning to look Danny in the eye, saying, "You have two choices to save your sanctuary, Danny. Cast me into the void, and everything I represent will be gone from you forever. Or, you can accept me, and all that represents. All the skills and... all the craziness and feelings you have tried so hard to repress will be yours."

The silence played out as the two stared at each other. The room shook, and they both had to struggle to stay standing. Without having to ask, Danny could tell the tremors were getting worse. Looking towards the portal and then back to Cranny, Danny struggled, trying figure out what was the right thing to do.

"What would you like me to do?" Danny hesitantly asked Cranny.

Cranny smiled sadly, "I want to live. I want to experience the rest of this world. But," Cranny's smile reached his eyes, as he added, "I don't want you to hate yourself for listening to my selfish request. If locking me and your feelings for your Earth family away forever will make you stronger and happier, then I want you to do that."

Danny quietly asked, "If you go through the portal, you will cease to exist anywhere?" Cranny nodded silently as Danny continued, "If I accept you though, won't you still be here?"

Cranny shook his head as he smiled, lifting a single finger into the air. The fingertip began to glow with a bright light that lit up their surroundings whenever the room's lights flickered out.

Holding the glowing digit out towards Danny, Cranny said, "I will be right here."

Just as Danny thought Cranny was going to touch his chest, right over his heart, Cranny's finger dipped down towards a lower part of Danny's body.

"Stop that," Danny shouted in annoyance as he slapped Cranny's creepy finger away.

The sting of Danny's rebuke was softened by the fact he was trying really hard not to laugh.

Danny sighed with great suffering, "So how do I go about accepting you?"

Cranny's smile spread outward to take up most of his face as he just silently opened his arms wide and waited.

Danny looked at his counterpart in suspicion for almost a full minute before opening his own arms and stepping forward. Cranny didn't move a muscle as Danny realized it had to be initiated by him. It wasn't until Danny's arms finally made it all the way around Cranny's body before he was hugged in return. Cranny's whole body started to glow faintly, and the glow slowly grew brighter. Danny sighed in relief that his problems would soon be fixed and this ordeal over with. If Danny had to be honest, hugging himself was kind of therapeutic in its own way. But then in typical Cranny fashion, the moment was ruined.

"Have you ever had someone you barely knew ever try and touch pelvises while hugging?" Cranny asked, whispering directly into Danny's ear.

Danny barely managed to get out a frantic, "No, stop it," before Cranny thrust his hips towards Danny's.

Cranny's hysterical laugh faded away as his body grew so bright that Danny had to close his eyes. Countless tiny lights exploded outward from where Cranny had been standing and swirled around Danny's body before surging inward. As he waited for something else to happen, Danny realized he was standing there with his arms outstretched as if hugging the air, while at the same time he was still sticking his butt out behind him as far as it would go. Quickly standing straight, Danny's expectant expression turned into one of confusion as the seconds ticked by.

Danny frowned, mumbling to himself, "I could have sworn something wou..."

The entire room lurched sideways as Danny's head exploded in pain.

CHAPTER 4

Danny awoke to an intense pounding in his head with a similar feeling to the one he had when he had used that spell recently to age himself a few years. His whole body ached and was stiff as if he had failed to stretch after an intense bought of exercise. Danny opened his eyes slowly to find sunlight dimly streaming through the opening in the large tent he was laying in. Motes of dust floated into existence and disappeared again as they entered and exited the thin stream of light. Outside, he could hear the noises he had become accustomed to while traveling with the elves. The familiar and comforting sounds of people moving around and talking calmly with each other could be heard coming from just beyond the tent flap. Turning his head, Danny found Elder Frost snoozing where she sat against the large tent pole next to him. The ancient elven woman must have been looking after him all night and fallen asleep.

Not feeling ready yet to get up, Danny laid his head back down and stared up at the roof of the tent, trying to evaluate what had happened to him. He didn't have to search long to find the memories which he had now acquired from Cranny. Danny already found it odd having his memories from Earth returned to him, of growing up while he had grown up here on this planet, but then having a second set of memories that split and yet coincided at the same time, from two different perspectives, was a bit disorienting at first. Danny had to finally give up on trying to sort through the disunity and just move on.

In between assisting Danny, Cranny had not been wasting his time. Before he had received his R&D room, Cranny had used Danny's mana to experiment with each of the magical elements. Danny's mind was now filled with new knowledge, mostly on those elements he had frustratingly not improved in some time. It was fascinating how magic worked in parallel with the natural world. Filling in gaps to speed up reactions or to supplement the energy required to initiate different effects. After Danny had received his R&D room, Cranny had thrown himself into researching enchanting and enterchanting. The world of enterchanting was laid bare to Danny like he had been studying and working with it himself. The complexities of the skill now seemed so trivial to him, and Danny couldn't wait to try out some new ideas that instantly sprang to mind. Danny was surprised Cranny had also practiced some martial arts on the side.

The last bit of knowledge which Cranny had discovered was what he guessed had almost caused the magic that formed the sanctuary to unravel. Cranny had figured out how to modify Danny's genetic material with Nature Magic. Danny had created stem cells before using Harmony Magic. He had convinced the Harmony Magic that the natural state of the cells was that of an embryonic cell and not a fully adult cell. With what Cranny discovered with Nature Affinity, Danny could change the very nature of any living thing. There was, however, still the limitation of knowing what to alter in the genetic makeup. Danny already had a few ideas on how to address this as well.

Making sure his sleeping caretaker was still unconscious, Danny quit stalling, steeled his nerves, and took in a long deep breath as he meditated to enter his mental sanctuary.

***

Danny walked through the portal and into the skill room of his sanctuary. The room, which had been a disaster before, now looked brand new. Some of the hexagonal sections that made up the walls were flashing, indicating level increases. Looking around the room, Danny could only stand agape in shock at the increases Cranny had been withholding from him. His memories from being Cranny had given him a hint, but even Cranny's best guess was way off.

Human (spoken) 6 to 7

Elven (written) 6 to 7

Elven (spoken) 6 to 7

Goblin (spoken) 8 to 9

Military Leadership 0 to 2

Running 6 to 7

Dodging 6 to 7

Blacksmithing 0 to 1

Enchanting 5 to 6

Enterchanting 0 to 7

War Hammer 3 to 5

Crossbow 3 to 6

Fire Affinity 6 to 9

Earth Affinity 7 to 9

Nature Affinity Mastered

Storm Affinity 3 to 6

Lava Affinity 3 to 6

Freeze Affinity 5 to 6

Runecraft 7 to 8

Danny's intelligence had risen from eleven percent to sixty-two percent of the way to the third threshold. His strength was now twenty-seven percent and his agility was fifty-six percent of the way to their first thresholds. Danny was almost to the point of fuming until he remembered that Cranny's presence had been a fluke and Danny wouldn't have been able to acquire half of the skill increases without Cranny's presence.

Danny checked the other rooms but found nothing else new or out of place. He had hoped that mastering Nature Affinity would grant him some new power, but apparently being able to alter genes was supposed to be a gift in itself.

Entering the control room, Danny couldn't help but feel a strangeness about being all alone in the room. Then, Danny realized that Cranny had been the one to give life to all the various crewman who had filled his sanctuary. Each crewman that been created was, in fact, a part of Danny, a fractured portion of his split concentration ability. Cranny's memories told him that the higher his intelligence attribute grew, the more of these crew members Danny could create.

Danny sat down in the captain's chair in the center of the room and thought about what he needed help with first. Coming to a conclusion, he decided to create someone who would be in charge while he wasn't mentally present. Cranny's memories had taught Danny that someone with Cranny's level of detail wasn't possible without serious repercussions, but it would make Danny feel better to have someone to troubleshoot any issues that could arise.

The air in front of Danny shimmered with dazzling lights that slowly coalesced into a severe-looking young brown-haired woman wearing a gold uniform. While attractive, in mousy sort of way, Danny wasn't too sure about the serious expression on the woman's face.

"Commander...?" Danny asked hesitatingly.

"Reporting for duty, Captain," the woman shouted as she stood at attention and saluted him.

Feeling absurd, Danny halfway saluted her back, "Commander, I... I am not going to call you that. How about... Cece?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir," Cece interrupted him.

Danny questioned if he had diverted too many resources to this, for all intents and purposes, subroutine of an entity.

"Yes?" Danny asked.

"Captain, it is imperative that we get the ship back up to full staff as soon as possible," the woman announced in a way that brokered no room for arguments.

Danny struggled to not roll his eyes, replying, "I was just about to get to..."

"We should focus on defenses first," the commander interrupted him again. Then before Danny could say anything else, she continued, "Since we can't go around blind, we will require several navigators."

As she finished, three more crew members appeared in clouds of sparkling light. After saluting, the three sat down at different consoles situated around the room.

"There are Air Scan, Earth Scan, and Mana Scan. Can you think of anything else we should be scanning for, Captain?" Cece asked.

Danny sighed in annoyance, suggesting, "Put someone on Fire Scan to check for changes in the thermal range."

The commander nodded as another crew member materialized and immediately got to work.

"Now that navigation is covered, we need to discuss our serious lack of automated defenses," the commander asked as she looked over a holographic clipboard she had procured while Danny wasn't looking. Cece continued, "I was thinking about assigning a crewman for each element..."

"How about we just assign someone to neutralize any magic used against me. I don't want anyone here taking offensive actions for me just yet. That could cause issues," Danny explained.

The commander nodded as her fingers flew across the clipboard as she took down notes. The number of crewmen in the room increased by only one.

Danny suddenly remembered a particularly memorable evening back in the Elven Capital, "Also, put someone in charge of monitoring nearby conversations for pertinent information."

Cece responded, "One communications officer coming right up. Do you want them to be able to use Air Magic to establish two-way communication between yourself and a nearby target?"

Danny shrugged as he wondered why he had never thought of that himself... or had he? He replied, "Why not?"

As the latest crewmen took his post, Danny said, "I want someone in charge of keeping the air around me at a comfortable temperature and preventing me from getting wet or dirty, unless I want that for some odd reason."

The command room was finally beginning to become crowded, and Danny smiled to himself as he glanced around.

Getting up out of the captain's chair, he asked, "What about maintenance and engineering, you know, red shirts?"

The commander looked at him in confusion before a look of understanding dawned on her face.

She replied, "Captain, they were only here to offset Admiral Cranny's presence. Now that you are whole again, there is no need for them."

Danny looked a little surprised and sadly mumbled, "Oh..." Then thinking about the other rooms, he asked, "What about some people to assist me in the R&D department?"

Cece referenced something on her clipboard before replying, "You can assign science officers to conduct simple to complex experiments, but you will have to review the results and draw your own conclusions to what they find."

Danny smiled while rubbing his hands together, "Alright, now that's what I am talking about!"

One of the navigation officers turned to address them, "Captain, Elder Frost is beginning to wake up."

Another navigation officer added, "Estimated time to consciousness in two minutes and fifteen seconds."

"Not enough time to get my geek on," Danny grumbled. "Cece, you have the bridge," Danny announced as his body began to glow and sparkle before it faded from the room.

CHAPTER 5

Danny opened his eyes to once again see the top of the large tent. As he waited for Elder Frost to wake up, Danny contemplated how bizarre his fusion with Cranny was. He attempted to isolate which of his thoughts could be contributed to aspects from Cranny's personality. Then Danny realized that it was entirely possible that all of his thoughts were now laced with a bit of Cranny thrown in.

Elder Frost stirred next to him and slowly opened her eyes and looked around the tent, apparently not immediately remembering where she was. A broad smile crossed the elder's face as she noticed Danny was awake, exclaiming, "Danny, thank Gaea, you have awoken! When your guards brought you back and I couldn't find anything wrong with you," Frost whispered, conspiratorially, "I had to practically threaten everyone to leave you alone so you could rest in peace." Then speaking louder for anyone that could be listening in, the elder asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty and hungry," Danny managed to croak out through his parched throat.

"Of course you are! I will be right back," Elder Frost said as she hurried out of the tent.

Danny turned to address one of the corners of the tent, "Thank you for bringing me here safely."

The guard who was currently wholly camouflaged, and had carried Danny all the way to Crossbark, spoke out from a corner of the tent, "It was my honor, Ascendant. If I might ask, do you know the reason for your collapse?"

Danny nodded, replying, "I gained too many levels at once, and the changes to my body were too much for me to stay conscious. I doubt anything like it should happen again anytime soon."

It wasn't the full truth, but Danny did not feel they needed to tell them everything. Danny's head guard seemed mollified by this answer and nodded to show his acceptance of Danny's words. The fact that the elven guard did not once leave his camouflaged state while doing so, revealed his knowledge that Danny could see him even when others couldn't.

Danny decided to try something and spoke in a whisper so that only his head guard inside and his two other guards outside could hear him say, "Thank you all for looking after me."

From the corner of his tent and outside, three voices spoke out as one in perfect English, "Bros before hoes!"

Danny internally flinched at the guards' unfortunately chosen motto but kept his face neutral so the head guard wouldn't see his reaction. When Danny had once accidentally called them women, assuming all the soldiers and guards were female, he had nervously blurted out the phrase in an attempt at an apology. For some reason, the three guards believed this to be some sort of personal creed of Danny's. One thing above all was certain in this world comprised of mostly women: Danny could never let anyone else learn the English language. Danny had a sudden thought as he wondered if the three guards received a skill for English (spoken). Danny decided to forgo asking, as this could lead to them inadvertently learning what the words meant.

Elder Frost returned with servants in tow, one carrying a tray piled with dishes. As Danny sat up, pillows were propped behind his back, and the tray was laid across his lap. The speed and precision at which it was all done had Danny a little stunned, but the delicious smells wafting up from the food soon had him digging in like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Danny figured that his many skill level increases had altered his body in some way and used up resources in the process.

Coming up with an idea, Danny thought, *Cece, get someone on trying to figure out what exactly changes when my attributes increase. There is probably more than what I have been told in the past.*

*You will need to be more specific than that, Captain. Science officers can only follow set instructions and provide you with their findings,* Cece replied.

Danny pondered this for a few seconds before commanding, *Have someone go through any collected data on my vitals between level changes and attempt to identify any evidence of alteration. If there is no data, then have someone begin collecting that data immediately.*

*Right away, Captain.*

Elder Frost interrupted his thoughts to ask Danny about his condition, which had Danny repeating to her what he had told his guards. Danny was only halfway through the vast amount of food on his tray when, in a flash of light, Jade suddenly appeared at his side, knocking the tray of food over as she tackled him. Elder Frost chided Jade while barely managing to avoid being struck by some stray globs of oatmeal.

"Danny, you're all right," Jade shouted excitedly as she apparently tried to squeeze the food he had just eaten back out of him.

Elder Frost shook her head, saying, "This is why I tried to give you some time to eat before telling them..."

Brooke, Ivy, and Willow all entered the tent and stopped short at the mess.

"Jade, seriously, what are you doing?" Ivy yelled at her Trio member.

Brooke chuckled, "I don't know, makes me kind of hungry."

Princess Willow coughed into her hand to hide her laughter.

After Jade was convinced to let go of Danny, he explained again what had caused him to pass out. Of course, he omitted the part about Cranny.

Willow looked around the tent, asking, "So, where is it?"

Danny's excitement quickly turned to panic as his search of the pockets of his robes turned up empty. Danny froze as he looked over to the corner where his head guard was holding something out in his hand.

Sighing in relief, Danny gratefully exclaimed, "Thank you for keeping it safe."

"Of course, Ascendant," was the reply from the seemingly empty corner as the iron egg flew across the room to land in Danny's outstretched hand.

"So, that's an entire city," Brooke asked with a little doubt.

Danny nodded as he examined it for any damage that might have occurred while he was out.

Pleased that it was just as he had last seen it, Danny asked Elder Frost, "Is everything prepared?"

"Arrangements have been made, and everything is ready to go. As expected, the local governor has been less than understanding of what we are asking. Fortunately, the Basalts took the governor aside, and while she is still reluctant, we now have her support. I held off giving the go-ahead for a full evacuation till you awoke. The elven troops should be making their final sweeps of the city before we begin," Elder Frost reported.

Danny smiled broadly, "What about the seeds?"

"They have been placed around the city per your exact specifications," replied the elder.

Danny stood up and stretched his sore body, saying, "I will make one last sweep of the city, to make sure everyone's gone and the seeds are as they should be. Please ask the governor and the Basalts if they will have everyone gather somewhere right outside the city walls."

Elder Frost turned to two nearby servants who immediately slipped outside to send word.

With an excited twinkle in his eye, Danny addressed the other five left in the tent, "Who wants to take a tour of the city with me before we begin?"

***

Within the last few months, the city of Crossbark had been besieged and subsequently occupied by a goblin army. What homes had not been destroyed during the siege had been looted and rendered unlivable by the occupying goblin forces. In the midday sun, the once vibrant and lively trade city now looked like nothing more than a depressing mosaic of blacks, browns, and greys. Some of the human occupants who had fled the city had returned and were trying their best to salvage what was left of their homes, but fortunately, not much progress had been made.

Danny, in Air Aspect, flew around the city while keeping Elder Frost, Willow, Brook, and Ivy afloat next to him. Jade zipped around them. Being a Storm Ascendant Variant, she could command the weather, as well as use Water and Air Mana. Ascendant Variants differed from regular ascendants in that they produced mana in waves that flowed from their mana source, instead of following along their veins and arteries. Variant Ascendants couldn't cast spells in the classical sense but naturally used the specific type of mana they produced. While Jade was an Ascendant Storm Variant, Brooke was a Lava Ascendant Variant, and Ivy was an Ice Ascendant Variant. Each was powerful enough in their own right for him not to worry too much about them getting in a situation they couldn't handle on their own.

At various locations around Crossbark, Danny would land and exit his Air Aspect so he could scan his surroundings with the other affinities. A few times, he had to direct nearby elven soldiers to where there were still hiding human refugees, refusing to leave what remained of their ruined homes. While Danny sympathized with the residents, they would be much happier and healthier in the city he was going to give them.

Having confirmed that everything was ready, Danny flew to the edge of the village where eight figures waited in a protective circle of guards that separated them from the throng of human and elven peoples.

"Danny, over here," yelled one of the largest men Danny had ever met.

The man's impressive size was not just in height but in width. Wizard Basalt called out over-enthusiastically to Danny as if they were in some crowded room and not already separated from the rest of those waiting outside the city.

Chuckling, Danny waved back so the man would stop making a fool of himself. By the long-suffering looks coming from the wizard's three wives, they were both used to and not impressed with their husband's behavior in front of so many people.

As Danny landed with the others in tow, he got a good look at Crossbark's governor. She was a finely dressed middle-aged woman who did her best to try and hide the fact she had seen her fair share of nightmarish days in her life. Given the siege and occupation, then follow it up with a bunch of elves kicking out all the citizens brave enough to return, it was understandable she would appear exhausted. Next to the Governor were two other women of similar age, but they both were not dressed as impressively than the head of their Trio. Last, there was a handsome wizard in a black duster. Danny would guess he was somewhere in his early thirties. The four stood together, looking uncertain about the events happening around them.

Arya Basalt, head of the Basalt Trio, did not wait for them to finish touching the ground before introducing them, "Governor Bark, this is the elven Princess Willow and her husband, Wizard Danny Creek. Next is Elder Frost of the elven nation. Lastly are Danny's fiancés, Ivy Diadem, Brooke Peak, and Jade Brambles."

Governor Bark's eyes grew larger at each introduction. Having elven royalty and one of the elven elders was one thing, but Danny's fiancés were each daughters of one of the highest ruling families in the human country of Diadem.

Rushing forward to bow or shake an offered hand, the governor introduced her family, "It is a pleasure and an honor to meet you all. Please allow me to introduce you to my Trio and husband." With that, as expected with many people meeting for the first time, there was the traditional tangle of arms as hands were being shaken in greeting. Wizard Basalt took this opportunity to pick on his niece, Jade, and to mess up Danny's hair.

With an elbow to her husband's side, Arya once again took charge of the situation before individual conversations progressed down their proverbial rabbit holes, saying, "Danny, the people of Crossbark have been waiting outside in this chilly air for quite some time. Why don't we begin?"

"Of, course. You are correct, Arya," Danny thanked the woman.

The small gathered group quieted as Danny fished around in his pockets and led the Governor and Elder Frost over a ways from everyone else. Using Earth Affinity, Danny raised a nearby square section of ground two meters into the air, creating a small impromptu platform with simple stairs leading up. While Governor Bark and Elder Frost looked on, Danny finally fished out the enchanted iron egg from the folds of his robes.

To Danny's amusement, the governor whispered quietly, "What is that?"

Smiling, Danny could not hold back his excitement, "It's your new city!"

The governor looked skeptically down at the small object Danny was holding. Opening her mouth slightly to pose a question, the governor glanced briefly out at the crowd and quickly shut her mouth as she visibly remembered everyone was still waiting. Danny took her silence as permission to proceed and asked the two women to hold the egg between them. Both Elder Frost and Governor Bark looked uncertain at touching the enchanted object but did as Danny instructed them.

Danny activated his Air Aspect again, rising up into the air slightly above the two leaders. With his robes whipping around him, Danny briefly sent out a weak blast of wind to get the waiting crowd's attention and used Air Affinity to project his voice so that everyone could hear him clearly.

"Good afternoon everyone. I want to first apologize to the people of Crossbark for pulling you out of your homes this afternoon. I, Ascendant and Wizard Danny Creek, have come to you today as a representative of both Diadem and the elven nations. Today marks the first day in a long road for our two peoples will no longer need to walk separately. Today, Crossbark will rise again from the ashes and from those ashes will grow not just a city, but a beacon to the rest of the world," Danny said, pausing for effect, and doing his best to ignore the fact that only the elves politely clapped at his opening words. "Each and every one of you will have a choice to make in the coming days and years. Do you let the mistakes of the past carry on into the future, or do you learn from them and grow stronger? When the great cataclysm struck, the different races decided to fend for themselves, and we all know how that story ended. I ask you... no, I beg you do not live in this city and ignore the existence of your neighbor elf or human. When the next threat attacks these walls, who will you turn to for aid? The stranger living next door to you? Learn from each other and grow in strength!"

Once again, the elves in the crowd clapped and cheered, and Danny was pleased to hear some of the humans joining in. Turning to the two women next to him, Danny placed a hand on the iron egg between them.

Still projecting his voice with magic, Danny continued, "Governor Bark and Elder Frost, you have been tasked with governing the first elven/human city in known history. I charge you both with turning this vision of a future where our two peoples grow stronger together, into a reality." Then in a whisper to the two women, Danny added, "Good luck."

Sensing the end of the brief ceremony, the crowd applauded and cheered for their leaders, but there were more than a few confused looks and whispers passed around wondering why they had to be dragged outside the city for this.

Danny's robe swirled tightly around him as he flew towards the center of town where the market had been. Not that many months ago, Danny had wandered through this very space as peddlers shouted out their wares and citizens and traders swarmed the area looking for deals. Now the bare cobbled area had been used as a secure area for the returning refugees and Diadem soldiers to place their tents until they could rebuild their homes and barracks. The only exception was a pile of what Danny was sure were the burned remains of the goblins that had died when they recaptured the city.

Danny landed in the center of the square where a small bit of the cobblestone had been recently disturbed and released his Air Aspect. Danny placed the enchanted egg on top of the depression before throwing a hand out towards the egg. The iron egg immediately began to spin and sank down into the earth. Seconds ticked by, before turning into minutes. Danny stood there staring past the cobblestones of the square and deep into the ground with his magic sight.

Danny's contemplative and distracted expression switched quickly to one of panic, as he yelled, "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Danny had barely changed back into his Air Aspect before the first sacred tree burst forth from the ground, not forty meters away, then others quickly rose to join it. Danny spun sideways to dodge a rising tree when a growing branch from another trunk almost took off his head. Danny was trying his best to head back towards the waiting crowds, but couldn't see through the dense and quickly rising mass of trees. Cursing himself for a fool at having just stood there staring at the growing enchantment, Danny wisely changed directions to follow the growing trees upwards. Danny let out a pent-up breath in relief at the almost immediate lessening of the amount of effort he had to expend into trying not to die.

Danny continued on further into the sky and allowed a few hundred meters of empty air to separate him from where all the twisting and expanding sacred trees chose to stop reaching higher. Looking down at the mass of twisting trunks, branches, and limbs, Danny could see how someone else looking at it at this moment would not realize it was actually supposed to be anything other than a tightly packed grove of trees. It didn't take long, though, for the trees on the outside to start weaving their limbs into a living shell that stretched outward to encompass the mass of trees like the top of an elongated egg. Danny began to be able to make out the different levels as those branches on the inside started to intertwine into platforms at different heights up and down the structure.

Jade flew in next to him at a breakneck speed in her Storm Aspect, instantly wrapping her arms around his neck and shouting excitedly, "This is so awesome, Danny!"

Danny only spared the girl a brief glance as he wanted to make sure everything was going as planned.

"How many people will be able to live here when it's finished?" Jade asked.

"Crossbark probably held around twenty-five thousand citizens. This structure covers roughly three-fourths of the old city, so that would be around eighteen thousand souls. Then you add in the fact that the new city will be roughly six hundred meters high, with six levels completely spanning the entire area. Then, there are twenty-five levels spanning only about a third of the area that alternates between the different directions of the compass." Then, Danny side whispered, "This is to give the residence a sense of a large open area while inside." Danny continued on in his monotone college lecturer voice, "That would bring the potential capacity to somewhere around two hundred and fifty thousand people."

Jade took this all in as she stared down, wide-eyed, at the massive structure now rising high beyond the edge of the Great Forest. The walls of the former city shook as roots and branches used them as scaffolding. Rising higher than before, the new walls were topped with a parapet, and guard towers were set at regular intervals.

"But it looks so small from up here," Jade whispered, and only Danny's Air Affinity enhanced hearing allowed him to catch this.

Danny smiled and pretended to not hear her, explaining with excitement, "Each of the six main levels will also be where the businesses, markets, schools, and government buildings are located. I purposely made everything equal in size and function, though I am sure they will find some way to make one location more important than the others. Where this structure differs from the other elven sacred trees are the levitation tubes I installed everywhere. It's really just Air Magic, but levitation works here. Instead of having to climb stairs everywhere, you can also step near an up or down tube, and it slowly draws you in as you rise are fall at the pace of someone lightly jogging."

"Danny, you can show me everything later! Elder Frost says you should be there when they first enter," Jade said with an exasperated laugh at his lengthy discourse.

"Go tell her I will be there in a few minutes. I want to check everything one last time before we let everyone up into the rest of the city."

Danny felt a drop of rain and looked up to find the sky had clouded over and darkened quickly. Thinking to use his Storm Magic to change the weather, Danny instead decided this would be the perfect time to test how well the enchantments held up against the rain.

Stopping Jade before she took off, Danny said, "Since it is raining, please have everyone wait at the ground level, I have a surprise for the human male citizens," Danny said with a huge grin, thinking about how everything would soon change.

Danny couldn't wait to show the facilities he enchanted in the lower sections of Crossbark, as they were copies of Cranny's Trees of Magic and Knowledge. First, the 'locked' boys and men who entered them would gain access to their mental sanctuaries again. Then, a few weeks later, the downstairs doors inside would open, and both men and women would have their mana unlocked naturally and become sorcerers. Unfortunately, this wouldn't help the wizards with their damaged magical pathways, but Danny knew they were doing just fine as they were. Danny continued to smile just thinking about the near future.

Jade left Danny with a quick peck on his cheek, blasting off back down to the small far off crowd that looked like nothing more than a gathering of ants outside an oblong wicker basket covered in tiny leaves. Danny could just barely make out Jade's little form merging with the crowd before the falling rain drove them all inside the new city.

Danny's content smile fell as he realized he was no longer alone. Three strangely dressed individuals had quickly covered the half-dozen hundred meters between the forest canopy to where he hovered, almost instantly. Through Danny's Air Magic, he could sense they were using magic like he was, and like him, they were unperturbed by the heavy falling rain. Danny briefly considered retreating to the protection of the elves and humans below, but that would put the citizens in danger.

Danny contacted his sanctuary, *Cece, where did they come from?*

Cece, replied quickly, *In this form, only Air Scan is available, and they did not register until just now. Either they were hiding there since before we arrived, or they could sense our scan and avoid it somehow.*

Danny was still in Air Aspect and effortlessly shifted to Ice Aspect. While called Ice Aspect, the magic had nothing to do with Water Affinity as it was a combination of Air and Fire affinities. Calling it Frost would have been more accurate. The temperature around Danny instantly plummeted, and the rain falling around him immediately crystallized into snow. Gathering his magic, Danny prepared for possible trouble.

The three figures moved to surround him in a triangle, parallel to the ground. Danny could now see that they were wearing strips of tightly wrapped white cloth that didn't show the slightest bit of dampness as their magics prevented the rain and snow from touching them. There was no question by the way the cloth clung to their bodies that they were women, but their heads were also wrapped with only their eyes visible. This left Danny internally debating what race they were.

The wrapped woman facing Danny directly pointed to him and in a commanding voice, spoke in a language he didn't know.

Danny frowned, asking in elvish, "Greetings, my name is Danny Creek, and I can speak both human and elvish. How can I be of assistance?"

The women seemed to take this as their cue to attack and blasted him from all sides with massive amounts of highly pressurized air.

As his sanctuary's defenses worked to negate the external attacks, Danny took a fraction of a second to wonder why they didn't strike at him with blades of air before he unleashed the magic he had been preparing.

While Danny could cast spells near himself and send them outward, his most potent spells required him to send his magic out and cast the spell directly on the target. Moving his magic wasn't instantaneous, and as the expanding sphere of mana Danny sent out reached the three women, they reacted almost instantly. While all three women move to dodge, they couldn't tell what spell he was casting and chose to travel in different directions. Only two of them were able to entirely avoid the explosions of flame that wrapped themselves in a swirling orb around Danny's form.

By freezing the already cold air then blasting them with fire, Danny not only hurt the unlucky woman but sent a severe shock to her system.

As the smoldering woman fell limply towards the earth, the other two continued their attack, undaunted by their fallen comrade. Spinning in random orbits around Danny's stationary form, they assaulted him with rapid blasts that his sanctuary struggled to keep up with.

Frowning, Danny decided to try something new, and he suddenly exploded in light. When the brightness faded, the two women unshielded their eyes to find two Dannys standing there, both Dannys moving their hands in obvious preparation for an attack of some kind. One of the women dodged out of the way, but the other paused, throwing out her hand in a seemingly random direction before she immediately began to fall out of the sky.

The real Danny appeared suddenly in the direction the falling woman had thrown out her hand. Danny only had time to glance down towards the pain blossoming in his right abdomen when all sense of magic left his body. There were a brief few seconds as Danny still hung suspended in the air; then, the world below him started rushing his way.

Panicking, Danny looked down to see that the woman who had been struck by his fire blast and the other woman who had fallen on her own had recovered and were already busy unraveling the long strips of cloth that covered their bodies. The pieces of cloth appeared to move on their own, like snakes uncoiling and waiting to strike. Danny tried for what felt like the fifth time to find his magic, somewhere deep inside his body, but he could only feel the pounding of his heart hammering inside his chest and the rush of air streaming past as he continued falling.

*Cece! Cece, talk to me,* Danny screamed inside his head, before yelling out loud, "Cece!"

But there was no response, mentally or otherwise, to Danny's cries for help.

The remaining woman, who had managed to avoid Danny's attacks, quickly shot past him, unraveled strips of cloth whipping wildly around her form. Just as he thought he would soon be a mass of flesh splattered across the forest canopy, the pieces of cloth surrounding the three strangers shot out and wove together into a net that stretched out between them. Caught in a cloth net, Danny realized they would have had to have practiced this countless times to be able to create this net so quickly and efficiently.

As Danny fell into the net, the three woman spun around as they rose into the air, closing the net around him. One of the women quickly grabbed the top of the net while the second woman rushed over to help the third, the burned woman, who was struggling to stay in the air. The three strangers shouted to each other in hurried tones in the foreign language. Danny struggled to get himself upright, only to wince at the stabbing pain that was coming from the wound in his abdomen. Still high in the air, they immediately began heading away from Crossbark toward somewhere to the southeast. Looking down, Danny gave up any ideas about escaping as he would just fall to his death.

As Danny struggled to sit up in the swinging net, he was suddenly and painfully reminded again that something was lodged in his abdomen when he fell forward, and the net struck the object, driving it in deeper. It took him more than a few frustrating attempts, but Danny was able to get a hold of a slippery thin metal rod sticking up from his right side. In between taking a couple of calming deep breaths, Danny would steal his courage to pull a little more of the rod out. The blood coating the smooth rod made the process significantly more difficult. Danny instantly felt wetness spread outward on his robes when he finally managed to pull the rod out. As Danny did his best to apply pressure to the wound, using his robes like a bandage, he inspected what he could now see was a thin metal spike. The tip was cut off, and Danny thought it might be hollow, but it was hard to inspect with just one hand. At first, Danny thought the only thing covering the spike was just his blood, but when he managed to secure the rod in the folds of his robes, he was able to wipe up some brighter, thicker looking blood near the pointed end of the rod. Rubbing the odd blood between his fingers, Danny noted that there was some sort of gritty substance, like salt, mixed into it. Unfortunately, none of this gave him any answers to help him understand what had happened.

The amount of blood loss from removing the spike was starting to worry Danny when there came a scream that shook not only the net but the very air around him. Metal struck metal, and then Jade and one of the strange women flickered into existence not far from his fabric cage. Jade was trying to get past the second and unburned woman, who had produced a scimitar from somewhere on her person. While Jade's two short swords weaved through the air, her skilled opponent easily deflected every strike. The woman holding the net took off at an incredible pace, surprising Danny with her ability to do so while also supporting his weight.

Danny started to worriedly yell back at Jade, before stopping himself. He didn't need to distract her while she was facing an opponent who obviously outmatched her in speed as well as skill. The net started spinning, and Danny only caught brief glimpses of Jade's shrinking form as he was rushed away.

CHAPTER 6

Danny had given up trying to speak with his kidnappers. Any time Danny made so much as a moan, the woman carrying him would set the net to spinning again. A few times Danny heard loud noises in the distance that sounded like fighting, but he had no means of confirming this. Danny kept his robe firmly pressed to his wound as they flew out of sight of the Great Forest, past Diadem controlled lands, and into the grasslands beyond.

Danny was jolted out of his attempts to meditate or feel for his missing mana as the net he was still in collapsed onto the ground. Danny struggled to get out on his own, but hands hurriedly removed the net from around him as many different voices speaking in that foreign tongue he had heard before whispered frantically to each other. Danny vainly attempted to fight back as he was bound, hand and foot. Then lifted into the air before he could get a decent look at his captors.

Danny was flipped over onto his back and only got a brief glimpse of a red-hot glowing blade, before the front of his robes were lifted above his head. Superheated metal was immediately pressed into the wound on his abdomen, as it seared his flesh together. Then, through tears of pain, he saw the covered feet of someone stepping on the wagon's boards next to his face, and a wad of cloth was shoved into his mouth. There was a brief moment of heated words between his captors; then silence reigned for a few minutes. Danny was flipped over onto his back and only got a brief glimpse of a blade, glowing red from being heated, before the front of his robes were lifted above his head. Hot searing metal was immediately pressed into the wound on his abdomen. Danny could only mutely scream and cry into the cloth which filled his mouth as the blood-weeping flesh was sealed shut. Danny wished he could say he passed out from the sheer pain, but he was conscious for the entire time they cauterized the small wound. The smell of his own cooking flesh would have caused him to vomit if it hadn't been for the excruciating pain distracting him.

After the pain subsided enough for him to think, he found his robes were back down below his knees, and the wagon was already moving. Even though Danny was wearing short breeches, he couldn't help but feel deep humiliation at being helpless and exposed like that. Danny also noticed there were others in the small wagon with him. It was the three strange woman from before, including the one whom he had managed to strike with his massive flame attack. The three women all looked tired, but only the charred one seemed close to collapse. Eye's closed, the burned woman leaned against the front wall of the wagon, near where a driver would be sitting, her eyes drooping as she labored to breathe. Danny figured he had flash burned her lungs but these thoughts were brief as he was distracted by something else about her.

Only the woman's body was still wrapped in her singed strips of cloth. The woman's head covering was held in one hand as she was currently using it to wipe her brow. Danny could see the fur around one half of her face had been burned and singed, with only slight damage to the skin below. The wagon hit a bump, and her head lolled to one side, giving Danny a glimpse of the severe burn on one of her short cat-like ears. The same jolt of the wagon brought the beastwoman fully awake, and she froze when she saw Danny watching her. Golden eyes narrowed as they met his. She scowled in a way that had Danny expecting to hear deep growling, but instead, the beastwoman slapped her hand a few times against the wall shared with the empty seat for a driver. Wincing in pain at the very noise she had created herself, the beastwoman scowled at Danny as if that had been his fault.

As Danny had expected the burned cheetah-woman had fur all over her face, like Danny when he took on the form of a ghost leopard in his Nature Aspect. Her mouth and nose only slightly stuck out like a muzzle and her ears were large and cat-like, sitting almost on top of her head. The yellow/gold eyes definitely stood out with her pitch black pupils. Danny had yet to see a tail, though that would have instantly given their identity away.

Someone else climbed up onto the rear of the wagon, near Danny's feet, and squatted down next to him. Danny felt someone turn him on his side before they pressed their hand into his wound. Danny couldn't help the sharp indrawn breath as he winced in pain. Uncontrollably, drool leaked out between the folds of the wad of cloth in Danny's mouth. Even for the short period of time that the gag had been forced into Danny's mouth, it had caused a burning ache in his jaw. Large hands gripped Danny's arms and propped him up into a sitting position.

Danny head spun at the abrupt movement, and blinking, he now faced a different variety of beastwoman. Orange and black stripes ran down the sides of the face of a tiger-woman. She was dressed in light blue trousers and an ornately decorated jacket of the same color. Another set of yellow eyes stared back at Danny as the tiger-woman jerked the wet cloth from Danny's mouth and tossed it away. A cup of liquid was brought to his lips, and he hesitated at first, before coming to the conclusion that if they had wanted to kill him, they could have already done so. The first sip he took tasted of watered-down herbs, but Danny's nagging thirst drove him to ignore this and drink as much as the tiger-woman would allow him.

"What happened to Jade?" Danny blurted out before they could gag him again.

The tiger-woman frowned and studied Danny for a moment before turning to look out the back of the wagon. Danny followed her gaze, but there was nothing but empty grasslands as far as he could see. Danny briefly wondered if this was all of his captors or if there were more. The whole time the tiger-woman exchanged a few short sentences with the cheetah-woman she watched Danny suspiciously out of the corner of her eye.

Turning fully towards Danny, the tiger-woman said something to him, but to his frustration she continued to speak in what he assumed was the beast-tongue, as if she expected Danny to understand.

"Please, tell me. Did they kill her?" Danny pleaded.

Frowning, with the suspicious look still in her eyes, the tiger-woman replied, "She was no match for the guardians of the Cyclone Clan. Despite their anger at you, they took pity on the misguided girl and left her in the forest, unconscious."

While not the safest place to be sleeping, Danny still sighed in relief and was about to ask something else when the tiger-woman took advantage of his open mouth to gag him with a knotted strip of cloth. As she was tying it tightly behind his head, Danny struggled to stop this, but he suspected he wouldn't be a match for the woman's strength, even when he was at his best. He tried to speak around the strip of cloth, but it was futile. With his tongue trapped at the bottom of his mouth, Danny was only able to produce unintelligible noises.

The tiger-woman followed this up by threatening, "Stay quiet, or I will keep adding more cloth until I can't hear you anymore."

As Danny tried to swallow around the knot of cloth in his mouth, he thought of a thousand different ways he could make his kidnappers' lives miserable and not even make a peep. Just when he was about to give in to this impulse, Danny realized this was nothing more than Cranny's influence. Cranny would have already found a way to royally piss of his captors, and more than likely would have gotten himself killed in the process. While Danny could use Cranny's unique abilities later, that wouldn't get him the answers he needed or solve his missing magic issue. Plus, the single strip of cloth across his tongue was much better than the balled up rag forcing his jaws apart.

Danny resisted the urge to look around and inspect his surroundings more thoroughly, but the tiger-woman was still watching. Instead, he chose to lay back against the wagon side and close his eyes. After a few long seconds, Danny felt the wagon groan and shift as the tiger-woman stood up and jumped off the back of the wagon.

Danny did his best to ignore the throbbing, burning pain coming from his side and focused on his breathing as he attempted to meditate. Between the bouncing wagon, glaring cheetah-woman, and annoying way he now had to swallow so he didn't drool all over himself, Danny found meditating an almost impossible task. After a few minutes, Danny was able to ignore each little annoyance, one by one, and enter the calming sea that was his meditative state.

Danny didn't allow himself to get upset when the beacon that generally drew him into his sanctuary failed to immediately show itself. Instead, Danny waited patiently and let the relaxing waters of his mind take him where they willed.

***

Danny landed hard in the captain's chair of his sanctuary's control room. The room was a flurry of activity that came to a screeching halt at Danny's arrival.

"Captain, how did you make it here? I have been trying to contact...," Cece spoke rapidly in surprise from where she stood nearby.

Danny waved a hand, interrupting her, "That's not important right now. I don't know how much time I have. What can you tell me about my missing magic? My body runs off of magic, shouldn't I be dead now?"

Cece stood up straighter and turned to the large holoscreen situated near the front of the room, explaining, "I will start right before we lost contact."

The image on the screen revealed a three-dimensional outline of Danny's body. The image was transparent and showed a faint blue color throughout his entire body. Right above Danny's stomach was a pulsating bright blue light, representing his connection to the source of mana."

Cece continued, "There really isn't much to tell other than the fact that just before we lost contact, this happened."

The image of his body stayed unchanged until a chunk of it flickered near the right side of his abdomen and then the rest of his body slowly disappeared as well, all except the pulsing blue light at his center.

"The events displayed were slowed down by a factor of one hundred," Cece explained.

Danny absently rubbed a hand through his hair, asking, "That was too fast to be something that traveled through my bloodstream, right?"

"Yes sir, the effects were too quick for that to be the case." Cece postulated, " It appears whatever was introduced into your body blocked all magical communication between your cells."

"I was able to remove the metal spike they used to deliver the... poison. I am not absolutely certain, but I think compound had a gritty texture to it," Danny added.

Looking up at the screen, Danny noticed that a minute fraction of his body around his source would briefly light up before disappearing.

Pointing towards the phenomenon, Danny asked, "What is happening to my cells? How am I still alive?"

Cece answered, "With the brief contact we have with the cells directly over your source, the rest of your body is running on stored mana. Any mana attempting to cross the space between your cells disappears."

Danny's eyes widened, whispering, "How much mana did I have left when it occurred?"

Cece looked walked over to a nearby console and typed quickly at the keyboard.

"You were at forty-two percent, Sir," Cece answered.

"Forty-two! When were you planning to tell me I had dipped below the fifty percent threshold?" Danny yelled.

Cece glared back at him, "You were above fifty until your last attack pulled out almost fifteen percent of the mana your body can hold! You were not even finished drawing out the mana you required when things went dark."

Danny remembered back at that moment in the sky over Crossbark. His illusionary clones were distracting the two women, and he was going to attempt to create a blizzard to obscure their sight even more. He wanted to find a way to capture them instead of killing them. Their dead bodies would only reveal so many answers.

Danny had a sudden thought, asking, "What happened to the magic I was going to use for that spell?"

Cece fiddled with the console again, and the transparent three-dimensional image of Danny appeared again, but this time there was a massive cloud of white floating out of his body and amassing in front of him. Two opaque figures were circling his illusionary doubles, cones of magic blasting outward toward their position. Then one of the figures stopped pointing her hands outward and reached for something at her hip. Danny remembered that the woman had turned around to stare directly at him, but instead, the image on the screen showed her immediately disappearing as soon as she reached for something.

"Where did she go?" Danny demanded.

Before Cece could reply, Danny saw something strange happening on the playback being displayed. Right as the woman had disappeared, Danny was amassing a significant amount of mana outside his body to freeze the two strangers attacking his illusionary clones. Between the moment the woman had vanished and Danny had disappeared from his sanctuary's sensors, any mana still outside his body started rushing towards where the woman had been. On its way towards the woman's former position, some of the oddly behaving mana began to vanish. Then Danny was struck, and nearly all the lights went out. A light bulb went off inside Danny's head almost immediately. He had only seen mana behave like that once before.

"Obstinite! They injected me with crushed obstinite!" Danny shouted as he slammed a fist on the arm of his chair. The red diamond looking crystal was some of the hardest known material on the planet. It also could absorb massive amounts of mana and did so passively to any mana that came near it. While Danny had seen an enchantment that could draw mana from obstinite, he unfortunately had never learned the magic rune required to do this. The rune was hidden inside the obstinite, and Danny's magic sight couldn't penetrate the material that was still absorbing any magic that reached it.

"How much more time?" Danny asked.

"Thirty-four days..." Cece said before cautiously adding, "if you laid perfectly still and quit getting hurt."

Danny placed his head in his hands, asking, "Let's say I want to break the world record for jumping jacks on Legos before then."

"I do not have enough data to determine loss from injuries, but with only constant movement, that would be a little over 24 days."

"So, less than a month from now, my body will begin to break down, and I will die a horrible painful death," said Danny hysterically.

Cece corrected him, "Oh, no sir, in thirty-four days you will slip into a coma, and then after a few decades, you will peacefully die in a puddle of your own bodily fluids."

Danny rubbed his hands over his face as he looked around the room for something, anything that could trigger the answer to this problem.

"Well, I'm not going to find the answers here," Danny announced as he quickly stood up and walked out of the room.

Danny suspected they wouldn't have done this to him without having a way to reverse it. At least he hoped that, but just in case, Danny passed through the doors to the R&D room and appeared into the forest clearing near his simulated world's Elven Capital.

"Cece, I am going to need all my resources on this," Danny commanded.

Cece materialized next to him, "Yes Sir, and what are your orders?"

Danny filtered through his and Cranny's memories before listing off, "Have a few science officers running simulations to figure out how to convince my body how to recognize, isolate, and expel the obstinite from my body using runes. Just have them use random runes until something we want happens and branch off from there.

Next, I want you to fill this simulated world with animals. Then, I want you to dust the entire surface with obstinite particles, so all the animals take it into their bodies in a way that is similar to what is currently happening in my body. Speed the world up by a million years at a time, let nature take its course, and see if you can't find a creature that has evolved to use magic despite all the obstinite. Make sure you apply more obstinite as needed. If the creature just expels the obstinite from its body, then great, but it would be better if it can use magic while the obstinite is still inside its body. No telling if they will try to hit me with this again and I don't want to be incapacitated, even temporarily."

Cece nodded as she took notes on her notepad. Science officers began appearing in a light show of dazzling particles.

Danny turned back adding, "Oh, and after extensive testing on my body with the first effective method you find, I authorize you to go ahead and make the changes to my physical body. I don't want to be in the coma stage at the end and not be able to come back to approve a specific treatment."

Cece nodded again writing it down, "Yes, Captain."

Danny waited until she was finished before looking her in the eyes, commanding, "Make sure you are certain everything still works before you pull the trigger, Cece."

Cece returned his gaze with her own slightly confused expression, replying, "Yes, Sir."

Danny frowned at Cece's possible lack of understanding, adding slowly for emphasis, "I mean E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G."

Cece's expression brightened as she quickly wrote something down, saying, "Of course, Captain."

Danny was going to add more when he felt a strange sensation like someone dropped him out of a plane, but he was still standing right there. Danny bent down to put his head between his legs, pausing to wonder if that would actually help in this place.

Cece absently added as she looked over her notes, "You worry too much, Captain. I will make sure you stay in top form for your next curling match."

Danny's head jerked back up, asking, "Wait, what," but he was no longer in his sanctuary.

CHAPTER 7

When Danny opened his eyes again, he was still sitting in the back of his kidnapper's wagon. Danny didn't get a chance to enjoy the red-orange setting sun or the myriad of colors the sunset had dyed the cloudy sky. Instead, Danny was very much distracted by the reptile beastwoman crouching in front of him as she pulled out another one of the thin metal spikes from deep in the meat of his left thigh. The reptile-woman face and forearms were entirely covered in dark green scales while the rest of her body was covered in robes dyed purple.

Through the tears filling his eyes and screams of pain which he tried to force past the gag in his mouth, Danny noticed the reptile-woman distinctly berating anyone in earshot. The whole time, a reptilian hand was braced against Danny's chest, easily keeping him from pitching over as he thrashed around in pain.

Greenish eyes laced with faint black veins turned to regard Danny's writhing form. Danny thought she wore a cowl at first, but then he realized it was part of the beastwoman's flesh. The slightly darker scaly flesh started from the front of her bald head, where it then flared outward from the beastwoman's nonexistent ears down to the middle of her shoulders. Even through the pain, Danny's brain couldn't help but recognize that she looked like a cobra. The black slit-like eye shrunk to almost a vertical line. Ripping the gag off his mouth with her clawed hands, the snake-woman slightly lifted on Danny's neck with one hand.

Panicking, Danny struggled against his bound arms and legs to no effect. The cobra-woman screamed at him in their beast-tongue as Danny looked around wildly in confusion. Another metal spike was removed from her robes, and before he could find some way to stop her, she stabbed it into Danny's other thigh. More foreign words spilled out the beastwoman's lips as she yanked the second spike from his flesh.

"What the hell do you want? Tell me where I can understand! I speak human or elven! Please stop," Danny cried out as he struggled to think of what to say through the pain.

More of the foreign words streamed out of the reptile-woman as she now held the spike inches from Danny's left eye. Danny was rendered speechless as he attempted to figure a way out of this without losing his eye. Danny feared he had wet himself only to realize it was just blood pumping from the new wounds in his leg. Again the beastwoman spoke, and Danny didn't need a translator to know she wanted something or he would get a new piercing. Danny sighed in relief as the spike moved away from his eye, only to watch in horror as the scaled woman's arm began to flex in preparation for the strike.

Danny closed his eyes and somehow found his voice again, crying as he pleaded, "Please don't, I don't know what you want. Just speak so I can understand and I will help you."

The reptile-woman audibly spat onto the wall of the wagon next to his head and removed her hand from his neck by lifting and throwing him back against the inside of the wagon.

"I do not know how you managed to manipulate even a sliver of your mana with so much dust in your veins, but those two extra doses should put an end to that. Now, have you shared our secrets with anyone else?"

Danny's response obviously took too long, as the reptile-woman waved the spike in his direction.

Shaking his head, Danny responded in a desperate plea, "No, no, don't! I don't know what secrets you are talking about. Please, just let me go!"

The reptile-woman's face fell in disappointment before she held up the metal spike again, threatening, "Stay silent, do as you are told, and don't try reaching your sanctuary again unless you want another dose." When she saw only pain and fear in Danny's eyes, she sneered in disgust, adding, "You can stop pretending, betrayer. Before you get any ideas, I promise the next spike is going somewhere you are not likely to recover from. My orders are to bring you back so you can talk. There are many things you can lose and still be able to speak."

With that, the cobra-woman stood up and barked a few more things to those around her while placing the spikes in a thick cloth towel. The wagon bounced as she jumped off the back.

A fox beastwoman in green trousers and a jacket, similar in style to the tiger-woman's, jumped on the wagon before Danny could fall over from the pain screaming up at him from his legs. The fox-woman was shorter than the other beastwomen, and Danny saw a glimpse of a bushy tail pop up briefly behind her. She grumbled as she tried to hold Danny up while digging through a basket she had carried with her. Pulling out various vials and bandages, she only let go as she began treating the wound on Danny's legs that had closed enough to be only slowly weeping blood. Danny wasn't sure how much more blood he had in him, but at this rate, he was going to run out of blood before he ran out of mana. Then, he remembered that healing now equaled using his finite reserves of mana. Then, it dawned on him that to heal his cells would have to divide, thus dividing the magical energy stored inside. For parts of his body, Danny probably had less time than was estimated.

The wounds were dressed and tied tightly with bandages before Danny could even focus on what the beastwoman was doing to him. Then, with naturally long, practiced movements, the fox-woman twisted his ear, causing Danny to yell in pain. A foul liquid was immediately poured down his throat that burned going down. The fox-woman somehow managed to get two vials down his gullet before he could get his mouth closed again. The furry hand holding back his head by his ear prevented him from doing anything but swallow the awful concoctions.

Suddenly released from her grasp, Danny took in a couple of harried and deep breaths before subsiding into a racking coughing fit. Danny technically didn't need to breathe since his magical upgrade, but no one enjoys having liquid in their lungs. When his coughing subsided, Danny's mouth was immediately gagged again. The fox-woman was gone before the off-balance Danny could limply slump over and hit the floor of the wagon. Being bound and wounded, Danny found he had little motivation to try sitting up again. Numbly, Danny lay there, basking in the glow of the uncaring stare of the slightly burnt cheetah-woman still resting in the corner.

***

Danny was startled from his dark and private contemplations by multiple people shouting and a jolt as the wagon suddenly moving faster. Looking over to the far corner, Danny realized he was now all alone in the wagon. Danny managed to wiggle around so that he could look out the back of the wagon. Since there was no gate or anything to stop him from jumping, or more likely falling out, Danny could just barely see the dust kicked up by the wagon's wheels. Whipping particles of dirt and grass flowed and swirled into the night air as the wagon raced through yet another open expanse of featureless plains.

Far off in the distance behind Danny, a massive wall of flame burst forth from the darkness, reaching high up into the night sky. The wall of all-consuming fire raced across the plains behind him in either direction, effectively blocking any pursuers. The smoke of burning grass soon blocked off large portions of the light created by the spreading grass fire. Though, with their increased speed, the fire, and its smoke soon faded away into the darkness again.

More voices started calling out in the unfamiliar tongue from the darkness around him. The only light now came from the dense scattering of stars in the night sky above. Then Danny heard a sound like an avalanche coming from the front of the wagon. The sound of falling earth and stone grew to engulf the small wagon, as the stars above suddenly and disappeared. Looking back, Danny could see a bright hole shrinking in size as the wagon continued to travel downward into the earth. Dark silhouettes jumped briefly into the light of the circular hole before disappearing as they raced after the wagon. The wagon came to a slow stop, and the light from behind them went out entirely as the hole was sealed closed.

Blinding light blossomed from behind the wagon, and when Danny's eye's adjusted, he saw a lion beastwoman in red baggy pants and a vest holding the light aloft in one hand. Gathered around her were the three cheetah-women, fox-woman, cobra-woman, and tiger-woman, all of whom were whispering as they discussed something urgently in their own language. The back of the wagon rose higher in the air as someone in the front let out a tired moan. Danny realized his error, as he was not in a four-wheeled wagon but a two-wheeled cart. There was a heavy stomping as something massive walked around from the front of the cart and joined the discussion in a deep voice.

Part of Danny wanted to get up and check out what was happening, but the slope of the cart and his wounded and bound body made a stronger argument for staying put. The beastwomen continued to speak for some time in hushed voices before they seemed to come to some form of agreement and grew silent. A large fur-covered hand slapped down onto the back edge of the cart and lowered it down enough for Danny to be blinded from the glare of the lion-woman's bright light.

The deep voice from before spoke out from somewhere in the direction of the blinding light. Danny was sure the voice's owner was directing a question toward him, but the words didn't make any sense to his ears.

Danny's eyes finally adjusted enough for him to make out the last of his captors. The massive bear beastwoman was casually holding down the back of the cart with one hand as she interrogated him in the beast-tongue. A sleeveless gray tunic showed off the beastwoman's arms that were as big around as Danny's waist. Danny gawked in surprise at the bear-woman's impressive physique before realizing that he was being watched, and he purposely turned his head away from his captors.

Long sharp nails wrapped around Danny's leg as he was dragged to the edge of the cart. There was a flash, the light reflected off a short blade, and Danny's gag fell to the ground. While the cloth stretched across his mouth was better than the mouthful of wadded up rags, Danny still couldn't resist trying to relieve the ache in his jaw by flexing it.

Danny was jerked into an upright position, and the bear-woman's deep voice seemed to reverberate through his whole body as she calmly said in elvish, "Last chance, why are the elves so insistent on finding you?"

The bear-woman's face was now mere centimeters from his own, her heated and slightly pungent breath making the close proximity excessively more uncomfortable.

Not wanting another visit from the cobra optometrist, Danny replied, "I am the elven princess's husband."

The bear-woman frowned before turning back to the rest of his captors and discussing something at length.

"Excuse me, could someone let me in on why I have been kidnapped?" Danny asked.

Desperate, Danny decided to go with the friendly approach and hopefully throw them off. Danny's profoundly agitated emotional state only made his words come out in a more uncomfortably high pitch tone than he meant them to.

"Shut up," half of the beastwomen said in unison while the other half said something else in their foreign tongue. The bear-woman intentionally let go of the cart, causing the cart and Danny to tip backwards again.

Groaning in pain as he rolled to the front of the cart, Danny began to panic as he struggled to come up with a possible solution to his current predicament. Coming to the realization that there was no purpose to his body's labored breathing, Danny forced himself to calm down. Focusing on his captor's voices, they had already started arguing about something. Danny couldn't decide who the leader was until the one he recognized as the cobra-woman's voice spoke up, for what Danny realized was the first time. The others quickly grew silent upon hearing her speak. Despite not being able to see, Danny sensed the tension in the improvised cave increase as the snake-woman continued speaking.

At the cessetion of the cobra-woman's speech, the tiger-woman was the first to speak up, and she and the reptile-woman shared a few terse words with each other. Before the argument could reach its ultimate crescendo, the tiger-woman seemed to relent. The tension of the group grew heavier as they now spoke in more subdued tones. Danny's captors separated, and soon the front of the cart was raised again. The fox, reptile, and tiger-woman all jumped into the back of the cart with Danny as the ground around them began to grumble and complain again.

As they moved deeper underground, Danny wondered how the woman knew where they were going. The distance they had traveled was much further than his own magical senses could have reached. His questions were soon answered when the tiger-woman banged on the side of the cart and yelled out something to group around her. The angle of their decent changed drastically, and to Danny's surprise, they exited the dark, packed stone into an open rock tunnel filled with a hazy faint red light.

CHAPTER 8

While the walls were rough looking, the tunnel as a whole was surprisingly large and oddly uniform. Danny figured it could accommodate maybe a little more than four of their carts abreast. The height of the tunnel was almost as tall, and the red light was coming from some sort of fuzzy algae growth glowing all over the walls and floor. As the first of the cheetah-women stepped down on to the red algae, they begin to glow brighter in roughly a meter wide area. Through his pain and stress, Danny had an irrational urge to study the red algae with his Nature Affinity, but he quickly remembered that he had been magically neutered.

The two unharmed cheetah-women split up to dash off in either direction, apparently acting as scouts. Danny watched the light from one direction down the tunnel grow brighter as they took off. The rest of the group made no effort to move away from where they had exited into the large tunnel. No one spoke or made a move to do anything other than merely wait. Any sound they did make seemed to echo strangely around them. The minutes ticked by, and soon the two cheetah-women returned to report on what they had found. Danny, of course, was not privy to any of this information as they reported everything in the beast-tongue.

The cart was evacuated except for Danny, who got to flop around once again, landing painfully on his injuries as the cart fell forward. Danny could only lay there, and stew as his captors made more noise than he thought necessary. A few times, different beastwomen would come back to the cart and grab things from compartments he hadn't noticed built into the sides of the cart.

Soon, the cart was lifted up once again and rolled underneath the entry into the hole they came out of when entering the tunnel. The bear-woman came around and picked Danny up in her arms and carried him through the impromptu camp that had been set up. Danny realized the bear-woman must have expanded their entry point into a small cave for them to stay in. Placed into the furthest corner from the entrance, Danny was left there, still bound, while they continued to set up camp.

No fire was started, but a large orange crystal, about the size of a cantaloupe, was brought out and the cobra-woman hovered over it until it began to glow brightly and give off warmth which slowly filled the small cave. The beastwomen not set to guard the entrance soon all huddled around the orange crystal that was placed into the middle of the little cave. Numerous discussions cropped up as they spoke in quiet voices, all still in the language Danny didn't understand. Food and drink were brought out and passed around to those around the fire. Despite the cobra-woman's threats, Danny tried and tried again to reach his sanctuary. He came to the conclusion that unless something changed, he was entirely at his captors' mercy.

The tiger-woman looked back and seemed to remember Danny was still there. Speaking across the heated magic crystal, she said something to the fox-woman who immediately scowled. Without another word, the fox-woman got up and dragged a bag over to plop down near Danny's feet. After looking over Danny's prone form in disgust, the fox-woman began checking over his wounds. Danny did his best to ignore the lack of privacy when the fox-woman, without warning, pushed him down and lifted up the front of his robes to check on the wound on his abdomen.

Then, untying his hands, the fox-woman spoke a few words, in what Danny decided was the beast-tongue, before handing over a small paper bag with dried meat and a small cup. Sitting up, Danny briefly inspected his wrists where the cloth strips had already started to rub his skin raw. It was only as he took his first bite of the salted jerky that Danny realized they hadn't gagged him since they spoke while traveling down through the ground.

Deciding to try pleading with the fox-woman before she could move away, Danny whispered, "I have less than a month before the mana stored in my body runs out. Then I will die."

The fox-woman was busily packing up the bag she had brought over when Danny's words brought her actions to a halt. Danny suddenly found himself a meter away from where he had been seated just a second before, lying face up on the cave floor. Pain blossomed on his cheek as he realized he had been backhanded across the cheek. His meager strips of dried meat and cup lay strewn on the floor. Stomping over to him, the fox-woman grabbed one of Danny's arms, and with a strength that seemed a contradiction to her size, flipped Danny over and forced his arms together long enough to bind them.

Anger, outrage, and frustration warred within Danny's chest as he attempted to understand what had happened to bring him to this exact point when he had earlier that day been excitedly watching his enchanted city grow from the ground up. Deep inside his skull, Danny's brain switched from the flight to the fight response. A scream, born from a spark of insanity, started to build deep in Danny's chest and was about to burst forth when the fox-woman flipped him back over onto his knees and shoved a filthy piece of cloth in his mouth. It tasted of salt, dirt, and whatever wet dog smelled like. Arching his head to look behind him, Danny did his best to yell defiantly past the sweaty rag and into her face. The fox-woman reared back her hand to strike him again, her claws out and ready to add their damage to the blow.

The voice of the cobra-woman barked something out from where the others now watched with expressions ranging from shock to complete apathy. More words flowed from the reptilian woman's mouth before the fox-woman reluctantly lowered her hand and snatched her bag from nearby. The fox-woman stormed out of the cave without another word, and the bear-woman soon stood to follow after her.

The cobra-woman had patiently observed the fox-woman's departure, but her gaze immediately flicked back to Danny. Just when Danny figured he would be tortured again, the tiger-woman spoke up from where she sat next to the cobra-woman. The cobra-woman's eyes narrowed suspiciously at whatever it was that the tiger-woman had told her, and by the tone of the cobra-woman's voice, her reply matched her dubious expression. Turning back to Danny, the cobra-woman for some reason insisted on speaking to him in the beast-tongue. When the tiger-woman went to object, the robed cobra-woman held up a hand for silence before continuing to talk to Danny in their language. Danny's eyebrows drew together in confusion before he gave up listening to these half-crazed beings. His knees began to complain at his kneeling position, and Danny fell over in an attempt to sit on his rear end. Growling angrily in frustration, Danny fruitlessly attempted to lift himself back up into a sitting position.

While Danny's body could only become physically tired if he ran out of mana, he was so mentally and emotionally exhausted that he was past the point of caring anymore. With his hands tied behind his back, Danny found trying to get up into a sitting position on his butt next to impossible. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his abdomen, Danny rolled from his side onto his face. From there, he could get to his knees if he pushed off the ground after lifting himself up slightly with his head. Refusing to give up after more than a few failed attempts at getting to his knees, Danny finally found himself kneeling again. From there, standing was relatively effortless, even with his feet bound together. Right as Danny stood up, he started to lose his balance thanks to his injured legs. The jolt of pain that shot up through his body, plus the cloth tied around his ankles, had him pitching sideways.

The cobra-woman was already there in front of him and grabbed the front of his robes before he could fall. Fighting back his instinctual fear of the beastwoman, Danny angrily or stupidly stared her down, daring her to do something. Danny's heart almost beat its way out of his chest when the cobra-woman dragged him back over to his corner of the cave.

Back over around the orange crystal, the lion-woman looked on with interest as she ate something noisily from a bowl while the only cheetah-woman not on guard duty scowled at him as she slurped at something from her own bowl. The tiger-woman just sat there, hands empty, frowning in displeasure at apparently the whole situation.

To Danny's surprise, the cobra-woman helped Danny carefully sit down before she yanked the offensive smelling rag from Danny's mouth. Warily watching the beastwoman standing over him, Danny rested his back against the wall and tried to arrange himself so that he didn't put unnecessary pressure on his injuries.

Kneeling down in front of him, a look of intense frustration and hatred warred across the cobra-woman's face before she asked, "Did you say that you would die within a month?"

Still furious and emotionally unbalanced, Danny took deep breaths as he struggled to make his words civil, replying, "Yes, I estimate I have, at the most, twenty-four days before the mana reserves in my body go empty. My injuries have only lowered that estimate further."

The tiger-woman spoke up from by the warm crystal, explaining, "You have nothing to worry about. We use this poison on rogue guardians all the time. None have died from the poison and, despite losing their powers, all have gone on to live long lives amongst the lesser clans."

Danny shook his head, realizing his life depended on them understanding the crucial nature of his situation, "I am not like your arcane guardians. I am what the elven people call an Ascendant, and my human fiancés are more like your arcane guardians. Unlike yours, my body completely works off of magic, and I only require food for when I am growing or injured. Once the mana trapped in my body has almost run out, I will go into a deep sleep and eventually die. I never tried this with my fiancés, but apparently, your bodies can survive just fine without mana."

The tiger-woman and cobra-woman both shared a look that Danny failed to decipher.

"Please, who do you think I am? Why have you kidnapped me?" Danny asked, pleading for answers.

The cobra-woman ignored his questions, asking, "You are not an Ice Guardian?"

Danny sighed in frustration at not getting the answers he wanted, but at least they hadn't hit or gagged him again.

"No, I guess you could say I am whatever type of guardian I want to be. I am a true ascendant and not just a variation," explained Danny.

"Senui, you do not have to make up the lies. We know who you are," replied the tiger-woman.

Danny turned back to the tiger-woman, unsure of how to respond.

"Does that name mean anything to you?" asked the cobra-woman.

Danny looked between the beastwomen for some clue to the correct answer. When Danny found nothing forthcoming from their postures or expressions, Danny replied, "Did she just insult me?"

Across the orange crystal, the lion-woman barked a short laugh before trying to hide it by pretending to be choking on her food.

The cobra-woman stared daggers at the beastwoman's outburst before turning back to Danny, saying, "How about Hadrian?"

Danny's face darkened, and despite his apparent pathetic state, every beastwomen in the cave with him tensed, reaching for the weapons secreted on their persons.

Undaunted, Danny stared into the alien-like green and black eyes of the cobra-woman, saying menacingly, "If you are referring to Hadrian Diadem, then he and I have a lot of unfinished business. If you find him, then please don't kill him."

The cobra-woman's hand never left her side as she suspiciously asked, "Why should we keep him alive?"

"So that I can kill him myself," Danny replied almost before the cobra-woman could ask. Danny wasn't finished, adding, "That man took me from my home, hurt those I love, and then tried to wipe out both my people and my wives."

"Did you sense any lies from what he just said, Anhay?" asked the cobra-woman toward the cave entrance.

The fox-woman who Danny could see was now standing right inside the cave's opening replied upon hearing her name, "Tiaa, you know very well that I can't sense anything from him with that poison in his blood." She walked over next to the orange crystal and addressed the cheetah-woman sitting there, "If the Cyclone Clan's guardians had been strong enough to incapacitate him like they were supposed to, we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place."

The cheetah-woman rose to tower over the smaller woman saying something vehemently in beast-tongue. The cobra-woman, Tiaa, shouted something out that caused both beastwomen to back off from each other.

"Explain what exactly happened between you and the human Hadrian," the tiger-woman asked Danny, once the room grew quiet again.

Leaving out his Earth origins, Danny told them how he had died and been reborn in this his new body. How it wasn't until he attacked an ancient stronghold ruled by hobgoblins that he was able to learn the truth about why Diadem was trying to keep the mystery around his mother's scars a secret. How Hadrian had kidnapped and carved into Danny's pregnant mother the runes necessary to transfer Hadrian's soul into Danny's unborn body. How the spell Hadrian cast messed up somehow, and Hadrian's soul was sent out randomly to an unborn goblin's body. Then, how Hadrian had changed the natural order of the goblin society and created a goblin breeding and training machine bent on the destruction of the human and elven nations. Danny finished his tale up with how Hadrian had played the classic shell game to hide where his soul had actually transferred to.

"Was there anyone else there when Hadrian's son, this Bozhidar, admitted to you all these things?" asked Tiaa.

Danny sighed shaking his head, "No, I purposely hid as much as I could so as few people as possible could learn about this twisted soul magic Hadrian had discovered."

Anhay scoffed, saying in human, "This sounds all just a little too good to be true. The betrayer accidentally transfers his soul into the only creature more pathetic than the humans. Now, the one person most likely to be the betrayer wants us to go hunting all over the known lands chasing after infants. Infants that only exist because he says they do."

Danny was surprised that someone who so obviously hates humans would bother speaking their language at all. He knew she was talking so he could understand just to get him mad so that he would say something in error.

Danny replied calmly, "Then, you can confirm the goblin uprising and extent their numbers had grown in such a short time."

The fox-woman looked unimpressed with his words, sighing as if exhausted by the interchange, saying, "That wouldn't prove anything..."

Tiaa forestalled any further arguments, as she addressed Anhay, "Regardless if he is telling the truth or not, this boy is a guardian. Your father is now the only one who can truly search his mind without destroying it. Of course, your father is at Sentinel and currently unable to help us. Arguing about it now will not get us the answers we need."

Tiaa's next words were in the beast-tongue and lost to Danny's ears. Anhay glanced over at him briefly as Tiaa spoke and then walked over in a huff to where she had placed her things. The next words Tiaa said were addressed to the tiger-woman, before the cobra-woman returned to sit by the orange crystal, leaving Danny and the tiger-woman alone.

"Here, like you said, you need to eat and drink if you want to recover," the tiger-woman said as she untied Danny's hands again before handing him a new packet of dried meat and a cup of water.

"Thank you...," Danny mumbled, before shoving as much of the meat into his mouth as he could.

The tiger-woman frowned at his table manners but replied, "Call me Neferet. Now, slow down before you choke."

With that, the tiger-woman left to join the others. Danny thought the meat was very salty but tasty. He felt truly hungry for the first time in a while, and Danny suspected it had to do with his injuries. The drink had the same herbal taste as the last cup he had to drink.

The beastwomen moved back into speaking in their own language. Danny spent this time brooding on the options available to him and only came up with one conclusion. Unless his sanctuary came up with a cure, it was in his best interest to stay with his captors and hope they had some sort of antidote to the poison. Danny couldn't help but question if they really didn't know what obstinite was or if they were just trying to throw him off so that he wouldn't figure it out himself.

When Neferet noticed he was done eating, she explained, "You will sleep there. Those on guard will watch you so don't think about trying anything."

Trying to bank on the positive vibe he was getting, Danny smiled saying, "Sure, you will get no problems from me. So how long till we get to where we are going?"

The tiger-woman seemed to immediately know what Danny was doing. Any sympathy Danny had begun to notice in her expression previously instantly left it. Neferet stood and walked over to some of the supplies, only to throw a simple cloth pallet in his face from halfway across the cave. Danny was too taken by surprise by the beastwoman's quick one-eighty in demeanor to try protesting.

"Sleep and do not speak for the rest of the night unless it's an emergency. I am sure you know what I will do if you do not," Neferet threatened him before turning back to join the rest of his captors.

Watching the tiger-woman's retreating form, Danny sighed in resignation. His earlier efforts to leave on his own had only shown him how his captor's presence wasn't even needed to stop him from trying to escape. Looking down at the wound on his leg, Danny touched the bandage gingerly. By the lack of a damp sensation, he decided that despite his recent pathetic attempt to stand up, it hadn't started bleeding again. Watching the beastwomen begin preparations to bed down for the night, Danny did his best to make himself comfortable on the pallet. The bear-woman had thankfully made the cave floor flat, so he didn't have to search for a location without sharp rocks jutting out from the ground. Looking up at the ceiling of the cave, Danny tried to focus on the positives. He was no longer gagged, and his arms and legs were not tied. Danny had eaten, and his wounds had been tended to. If worse came to worse, he would at least get to fall asleep one last time...

Glancing around the room again and thinking about the long night ahead of him, Danny missed being able to retreat to the distraction of his mental sanctuary.

CHAPTER 9

As Danny stared up at the walls and ceiling of the red algae covered tunnel, he was reminded of a time in school back on Earth. One of Danny's science teachers had decided to waste time by showing the class a video of her recent surgery. The surgeon's camera had flown through the fleshy tubing of some part of Danny's teacher which he had never had a desire to witness. He couldn't remember exactly, but Danny thought there was a part where a clamp came out and snipped a fleshy bulge off of the wall.

"How are these tunnels even made, lava maybe?" Danny mumble his guess out loud to himself.

"Devourers, now be quiet," came the grumpy reply from the bear-woman, whom Danny had learned was named Kern, from over where she was pulling the cart.

Earlier, Danny had been woken up and given something to eat and drink before being loaded into the back of the cart. He was made to understand that only his wounds prevented him from having to walk, and as soon as he was healed enough, he would also get to pull the cart. Danny was just fine with this leisurely arrangement; he just wished he had something to keep himself occupied with. The seemingly endless tunnels of changing red light and the sparsely enforced silence was causing Danny to suffer from the effects of sensory deprivation. He took to staring at the groves and patterns in the grain of the wood on the cart so as not to get lost in the numbing redness of everything else. He figured he could draw most of the back of the cart from memory by now.

Anhay, the fox-woman, walked next to Kern and kept her company. The two would frequently speak in hushed voices in their language. Anhay still refused to acknowledge Danny's presence unless forced to when she checked on his wounds. Danny found that he was slowly able to speak more freely with the group, despite their earlier attempts to keep him silent. The beastwomen were slowly letting their guards down, and Danny was more than happy to take advantage of this.

Fed up with the never-ending boredom, Danny scooted closer to the front of the cart and leaned forward, whispering to the two beastwomen, "I've decided that pronouncing your names is too difficult, so I am just going to have to give you human names."

Anhay turned around to glare at Danny, and in an uncharacteristic show of existential confirmation, threatened him, "You leave her," the fox-woman indicated her bear-woman friend, "alone and shut up now, or I will come back there and not only tie you up but make sure you're tied securely to the cart as you accidentally fall out. See how you like being dragged behind the cart for the next couple miles."

Danny leaned back into the cart, unfazed by her anger, and performed a mock salute, "Right away, Frumpy."

The fox-woman sneered, her canine-like teeth openly visible, as she came to a complete halt, the front of the cart almost running into her back. Realizing her predicament at the last second, Anhay had to jump forward and dodge to avoid the collision.

The fox-woman stood there for a few seconds before rounding on Danny, shrilly screaming, "What did you just call me?"

The sound of the beastwoman's shout rang out down the tunnel. Danny made sure the short beastwoman could see him as he pantomimed not being able to speak because of her command not to.

Anhay jumped up onto the front of the cart as Kern looked back in annoyance at the sudden shift in weight.

Getting right in Danny's face, Anhay yelled again as she commanded him, "Tell me the name you just called me!"

Danny instead nodded his head toward the bear-woman, explaining, "I have decided to call her Honey because she has to be super sweet to want to be your friend."

Kern glanced backwards, to confirm he was talking about her, before quickly looking forward again. Surprised by the lack of response, Danny really wished he knew what kind of face she was making. Danny turned back to find Anhay had discovered a way for their faces to be even closer to each other. The canines were back, and Danny absently wondered if the beastmen used their teeth when fighting. Then, he began to wonder why humans frowned on the tactic so much if that was one of our few natural weapons.

Whatever Anhay's next words were going to be, they were cut short by the arrival of one of the cheetah-women scouts. The fox-woman's head jerked up as the returning beastwoman spoke in hurried, angry tones, openly glaring at the fox-woman. The other beastwomen had been traveling on either side or behind the cart and had been ignoring Anhay's outburst, but now they turned as one to look at her with reproach. Danny wished for the hundredth time that he knew the beast-tongue.

"What did she say?" Danny asked up to the fox-woman still hovering over him.

Anhay looked down, only to find her face still just centimeters from Danny's and jerked backwards with a look of revulsion.

"Be quiet and keep your head down, human. We are going to be traveling past a goblin nest, and I don't want to have to deal with your cousins if I don't have to," Anhay complained.

Danny wanted to counter with something witty but noticed Tiaa looking over at them. Deciding he also didn't want to get her yelling again if they really were about to pass through a goblin infested area, Danny sat down further in the cart. The cheetah-woman took Anhay with her when she returned back up ahead in the direction they were traveling. The tunnel didn't change the slightest in dimensions or appearance. That is until the red algae that covered the walls began to disappear and only grow fully on the ceiling and high up the tunnel walls. Danny looked out the back of the cart to see that the red algae on the floor and lower walls was now patchy, and pieces of the dead plant matter cluttered the ground.

The cart came to a stop, and Danny poked his head over the side. The cheetah-woman from earlier was back and was whispering to the gathered beastwomen at front of the cart. They continued on, and Kern kept the cart moving at a slower pace to lower the noise created. The others ranged out to surround the cart in a defensive formation. The tunnel ended as it opened into a large cavern that stretched up so high Danny could not see the top. Peering again over the edge of the cart, Danny could see from the faint light of the red algae growing high up on the walls some little dark bodies lying toward the farthest sides of the cavern. There were a few crude structures made of wood and stone, but the rest of the area looked like the goblins had decided to sleep wherever on the ground for the night. What information that Danny had stripped from Bozhidar's mind hadn't mentioned anything about goblin's all sharing a set bedtime. In fact, everything he knew seemed to point to the exact opposite being true. The sudden rotting stench that assaulted Danny's nose confirmed his suspicions. Then, he came to have the same question the beastwomen must be asking, who had killed all the goblins? The eerie silence in the vast cavern made Danny's skin crawl.

While the tunnel had ended, the slightly rounded rocky floor of the tunnel kept extending out into the middle of the cavern. This sloped path abruptly ended a ways past the center of the cavern. Even with the red algae growing along the walls, Danny could see there was a drop off that lead only into the darkness below.

As they slowly approached the drop-off, Danny saw Anhay working on something on the ground near the edge. Across the cavern and the deep empty expanse between, Danny could see where the red algae on the far wall grew into a continuation of the devourer's tunnel. Even as they reached the fox-woman's position, no one dared to speak up. Multiple pairs of yellow eyes flashed in the dim light, as the beastwomen searched their surroundings for potential threats.

There was a sound of falling debris; then the ground in front of Anhay began to stretch outward towards the tunnel-opening on the far side of the drop-off. It took Danny a moment in the dim light to figure out that it was not earth that was being moved but some sort of dark, thick vine-like plant that grew out across the expanse. After a few minutes, the two sides were connected, and one of the cheetah-women ran out across it to range ahead.

As was their habit, the rest of the group stayed put while the scouts did their job. Danny was getting antsy waiting there when there was a sound like a didgeridoo coming from the darkness below them. The noise was low and easily reverberated upward, reverberating off the walls of the cavern they waited in. The cheetah-woman returned to the far opening and gave up all pretenses of stealth as she shouted something over to them that had all the beastwomen quickly moving out in formation across the vine-like bridge Anhay had grown.

They had only made it halfway across when a loud sound like rushing water slowly filled the cavern. Then, from some hidden ramp along the drop-off, a river of goblins flowed out into the cavern and headed straight for the large vine bridge. Unlike those he had fought in the ancient stronghold, these goblins were not wearing any armor and only carried the crudest of weapons. The little nude, club-wielding creatures did not hesitate to charge the beastwomen and the cowering Danny. Danny wondered what the chances were of the beastwomen allowing him a weapon when one of the cheetah-women flew up out over the expanse and turned perpendicular to the vine bridge. Slowly continuing across the bridge, the lion beastwoman took the cart from Kern, as the bear-woman moved to position herself between their group and the oncoming goblins.

Just as the goblins were about to hit the beastwomen's formation, the flying cheetah-woman thrust out her arms, and a considerable gust whipped through the cavern. Small childlike goblin bodies flew off the bridge and down into whatever was at the bottom of the expanse. Between the wind and sounds of screaming, Danny was prevented from hearing how far the goblins fell before they struck anything.

More than a few of the goblins clung to the viney bridge, but that quickly ended when the cheetah-woman switched to random blasts of compressed air. This kept up for a few minutes before the amount goblins flooding into the cavern and onto the bridge came to a complete halt. Danny could still see the silhouettes of goblins still waiting on the other side of the bridge, while the rest rushed down the devourer's tunnel from which Danny and his captors had just arrived. A few of the goblins tried throwing stones across the bridge, but it was too far to reach the retreating beastwomen. A heated discussion broke out between the beastwomen on what to do, when the screaming started.

To one side of the rear of the cavern, movement could be seen where many goblin corpses had been piled high. The mass of dead flesh bulged and shrunk as if breathing. Then, as the pile collapsed, something jumped out and flashed through the hysterical goblins in the cavern then out into the nearby devourer's tunnel. Soon the nightmarish blur was back, and more bodies began littering the already cluttered cavern floor. In a matter of minutes, the cavern was empty again except for a small shiny creature with oddly large and serrated ears. The bizarre animal's ears twitched as its head swiveled towards the group about to make it across the vine bridge.

The flying cheetah-woman moved over towards the strange sight, hands raised, when Danny yelled, "Don't attack it! Don't try and stop it! Just let it pass!"

The beastwomen were taken by surprise at Danny's outburst and turned to stare incredulously at him.

"Why would we listen to what you have to say?" Anhay asked in indignation, raising her hands to attack.

Danny pleaded with her, "Anhay, please, I helped create them to fight the goblins."

The use of her actual name brought the fox-woman up short, but behind her, the floating cheetah-woman was choosing to ignore him. Sensing the threat, the red critter moved toward the bridge and the approaching danger. Wind shot out of the cheetah-woman's hands, but to her surprise, it had minimal effect on the diminutive creature. Retreating to the rest of the group, the curious animal started to follow.

"Everyone, just stop attacking it and it will hopefully leave us alone," Danny begged.

Neferet blinked as if to clear her eyes, asking, "Is that supposed to be a squirrel?"

Danny nodded, explaining, "I didn't make it, but I figured out how to modify it. It is made from the same stuff as the poison you injected me with."

Tiaa's head jerked away from the approaching obstinite squirrel to glare at Danny, "If you know what it is we poisoned you with and how to manipulate it. Then why haven't you countered it then?"

Danny hesitated to give away his secrets, growling out, "Because you have to completely saturate the obstinite with mana. The obstinite you forced into my body, while small, will require much more mana than I have to fill it completely."

The cobra beastwoman turned back to quietly watch the red enchanted crystal squirrel almost leisurely hop up to them. Danny warily ducked down into the back of the cart as the crimson rodent reached them. Yellow, green, and white eyes all swiveled to follow the squirrel as it made its way up and onto the cart.

"Danny," Neferet, the tiger beastwoman not trusting Danny's assurances that the creature wouldn't harm them, growled in concern.

Danny shook his head, too scared to speak, as the red glass-like squirrel moved up and acted as if it was smelling him.

A lone goblin ran up the ramp from below and into the cavern. It started to turn toward the bridge when it saw the waiting beastwomen. Continuing to race toward them, the goblin froze when it apparently saw the squirrel sitting in front of Danny. The obstinite squirrel turned its head all around at an angle impossible for an ordinary squirrel to mimic and looked right at the goblin.

The goblin couldn't run fast enough back toward the ramp, and it never made it as the little red squirrel crashed into the goblin's back and they both fell over the edge into the dark abyss.

Anhay looked over the side of the drop off and turned back to Danny, complaining, "Well, that was anticlimactic."

Then, the sounds of screaming goblins could be heard from somewhere far below. A few of the beastwomen dared to glance over the edge of the bridge in an attempt to see what was happening.

"I just remembered," Danny admitted.

The tiger-woman was the first to respond to Danny's lack of information, asking, "What did you forget?"

"When I modified them to only attack goblins, I used a series of very specific runes to describe the goblin's physical structure. I just remembered that I didn't know any beastmen when I was testing the final product so it could have just as easily attacked you all."

The beastwomen all looked back towards the now empty ramp leading downward in quiet contemplation before the Tiaa silently took the lead and finished crossing the bridge.

CHAPTER 10

The group of beastwomen and the lone human traveled as quickly as they dared through more of the red algae covered tunnel. Danny almost wished the goblins had made it over to this side of that ravine just so he could see some other color besides red on the tunnel walls. They came across a few more caverns merging with the tunnel. The cheetah-women scouted these caverns' perimeters for anything of interest, only to return empty-handed. They just found the remains of various animals and sentients littered around the hollowed areas. To the group's relief, there were no signs of any more of the obstinite squirrels anywhere they searched.

"Wait, how far are we from the Great Forest? I let those squirrels out on the other side nearest the Dwarven Mountains. That one would have had to travel for thousands and thousands of kilometers just to reach here," Danny asked a few days later to anyone who would listen.

The cobra-woman said something at length in the beastmen tongue before lapsing into silence. Danny frowned and wondered if he asked nicely if Tiaa would allow him to try out the thin metal spikes on her. Danny still couldn't bring himself to see or hear the cobra-woman without flinching, as memories of what she had done to him came flooding back.

"I don't think you are him."

Danny opened his eyes and looked over to see Neferet, the tiger-woman, watching him.

"Senui despised anything to do with enchantments," the tiger-woman said conversationally as they continued down the tunnel. Neferet was walking close so she could look down at where Danny was lying on his back in the cart.

Danny mulled on the beastwoman's words, replying, "Hadrian stole an enchanted dwarven device from Diadem that had the chance unlock a human or goblin's mana. He successfully used it on himself and on countless other goblins."

Neferet nodded, "Your people called the devices 'ancient keys.' Senui must have been very desperate to have relied on an enchantment. Especially to have used it on himself."

Danny sat up in the back of the cart and scooted closer to the side the tiger-woman was walking on, asking, "What did Senui do that has your people so upset with him?"

Neferet started to reply when she stopped, looking at something behind Danny. Danny turned around in the cart to find Tiaa watching them both. Speaking to Neferet in the beastmen tongue, Tiaa seemed to dismiss them before she quickly walked away.

Danny looked back questioningly to the tiger-woman, but instead, she answered his earlier question, "He betrayed our people and our people's sacred cause."

When no further information was given, Danny chose to wait patiently, intently staring at Neferet. Even though he was now allowed to sit closer to the warm orange crystal when they stopped to sleep, Danny still found the need to wrap himself in the pallet they had given him in an attempt to stay warm. Wrapping the blanket further around his shoulders, Danny looked to the beastwomen's fur with envy.

With a deep sigh, Neferet continued, "Senui was in charge of studying any ancient knowledge left behind by those who had perished in the cataclysm. The beastmen who knew him well said Senui was obsessed with seeking out new sources of power. Not power gained through politics or conquest, but arcane power. Senui was a physically weak male and always loathed our traditional courtship rituals. It wasn't like women wouldn't intentionally give a favored male an advantage during a challenge for courtship, but there was not a single female who was interested in becoming his mate.

Senui was said to have studied anything and everything that would possibly grant him more power and knowledge over the arcane. As I said, he despised enchantments as they required something external to give one power. He belittled any fellow researchers who studied the recovered ancient enchantments. His obsession allowed Senui to become one of the foremost researchers into pre-cataclysmic records. When Senui was in his declining years, he must have come across an ancient text detailing how to transfer one's soul, and thus, he enacted his plan. Knowing our people would not have suffered such knowledge to exist and would have destroyed it immediately, Senui conspired with the neighboring human tribes, convincing them to attack Sentinel. While the humans were no match for our guardians, Senui provided them with a hidden way into the city. Instead of fighting us like warriors, the cowardly humans scattered through the city, setting fire to anything that would burn. Before we stopped them all, half the city was on fire. When the last of the flames was finally extinguished, thousands of beastmen had died. The clans gathered and wiped out every human village within a week's walk of Sentinel.

Back in Sentinel, it was assumed that the ancient records and research building had been destroyed during the spreading fire, but someone pointed out that the building had intentionally been constructed entirely from stone. No mere fire would have been able to reach inside to all the precious artifacts. When some of the captured humans had confessed to working with a beastman in their assault on the city, the city leadership started to connect the dots. Senui had provided them with a false name, but their description of him limited the suspects. When Senui's body never turned up, and many of his possessions were missing from his unburned home, the search was narrowed further.

Many humans had fled before the attack, knowing our people would not suffer them to live so close to us after the attack. Guessing that Senui hid amongst these refugees, hunters were dispatched to follow them. The hunters found the trail the humans had taken and quickly discovered Senui's dead body. They found it strange that there were neither signs of struggle nor wounds on the beastman's body. The hunters returned and only brought with them more questions than answers.

Senui made one mistake. He was unable to unlock the secrets of the soul transfer magic on his own. One of the first buildings to be set on fire was the home of his assistant. Fortunately, the assistant made an impromptu visit to her friends on the other side of the city. With much pressuring, the assistant revealed everything. Senui had the assistant under his thumb, threatening the poor beastwoman's life and those of her loved ones should she reveal his secrets. The assistant was subsequently executed as an example to the rest of the city.

While my people had no concrete proof that Senui had managed to complete the soul transfer spell, we heard rumors about odd happenings in Diadem. Our spies were sent out and stationed in Diadem. It wasn't until three months ago, a little over seventy years after Senui's official death, that our spies uncovered a lead. An opportunity presented itself, and our best spy was able to steal the memories of the head of the Diadem family. The spies knew from these stolen memories that you were part of their special organization, and it was decided that a retrieval team was required to bring you back. That spy returned and... here we are."

Danny didn't immediately reply as he thought about the story he had just heard. He couldn't shake the feeling pieces of the story were missing; to what end these pieces were omitted, however, Danny would just have to probe more. The other beastwomen were silent, apparently listening to the story and waiting on Danny's reply. Danny had caught many of them watching for his reaction when the story had been told.

"How did the refugees that escaped not tell Diadem about Sentinel?" Danny finally asked.

The tiger-woman didn't respond and just looked over at him with a small smile on her lips.

Danny wouldn't be dissuaded that easily, "Come on, what is there to hide?"

The tiger-woman seemed uncertain and was about to respond when Danny suddenly noticed a strange vibration over the usual shaking of the cart. Looking at those around him, Danny realized he wasn't the only feeling it.

One of the cheetah-woman raced behind them and shouted something, and then Tiaa barked out an order that had the entire group rushing ahead as fast as they dared. While the tunnel was relatively smooth, the cart started to lurch even on the smallest of bumps, with the speed they were going. Though Danny was being tossed around the back of the cart, he could still tell the vibrations were only getting stronger. The strange thing was that the vibrations never paused but stayed constant.

Danny shouted out loud, "What is going on?"

No one replied to his question, and by this point, Danny couldn't tell if his bumpy ride was being caused by the algae and loose stones or by the strange vibrations themselves. Danny could swear that he could feel the vibrations now coming through the air. They caused a loud roar like the sound of the the surf of a beach. Danny glanced back in fear that some layer of impermeable rock had cracked and sent a lake or river from above rushing down to drown them.

At Tiaa's command, one of the cheetah-women picked Anhay up and flew on up ahead. The sound was now deafening, and Danny was torn between steadying himself and covering his aching ears. Anhay and the cheetah-woman appeared up ahead and waited in the tunnel until those around the cart could see them before the fox-woman rushed into an opening on the side of the tunnel. The cheetah-woman took off further down the tunnel. Looking back, Danny saw something coming toward them. At first, he thought it was a swirling vortex of glowing blood, but then there was a brief break in the oncoming swirling wall of redness. The first thing Danny recognized was the massive mouth as it undulated open and closed. There were also countless appendages that were ripping, shredding, and pushing the algae into the giant maw. Then, the creature was hidden again under a cover of harvested algae.

Danny almost flew out the side of the cart as the bear-woman swerved to enter the side cave. Everyone pushed as far away from the opening of the cave as they could, just as the creature passed by. Danny was reminded of a passing subway car as the small cave they were in was filled with gale force winds that threatened to suck them all out. Danny tried his best but could not make out the shape of the strange appendages completely covering the creature's body. There was only the blur of something moving faster than his eye could see. Moist dirt and debris flew into the cave and covered everything.

Deciding to cover his ears with his hands, Danny couldn't help but feel sympathy for the beastwomen who had to have better hearing than he did. The dust filling the air seemed to try its best to get everywhere, including into any of Danny's exposed orifices. Once again, he was grateful for his lack of requirement for breathing air. It took far longer for the creature to pass than Danny would have guessed given the speed at which it was traveling. Then as quickly as it arrived, the creature was gone, and their world went instantly dark. In the goblin caves, the red algae had still been on the upper walls and ceiling, but now there was nothing to light up the cave or tunnel.

Both the lion-woman and tiger-woman held up their hands, balls of light appearing at the tips of their fingers. The dust was oddly no longer thick in the air, but the beastwomen were still coughing and trying to pointlessly brush the dirt and grime off their clothes and bodies.

"Danny, are you alright?" came Neferet's voice.

Danny looked down at the brownness that covered his robes and most assuredly his face, replying, "I've had worst. Do you mind telling me what that was?"

The tiger-woman simply replied, "Devourer."

Wiping the grime from his eye, Danny noticed the light from the two beastwomen's hands filtered into the tunnel. There, Danny could see the remains of devourer's passing. The walls seemed to be glistening, and Danny realized what he was looking at.

"Please, don't tell me we are covered in devourer shit," Danny said, as he jumped up quickly in the back of the cart and looked down at himself in disgust.

The lion-woman turned away from where she was inspecting the cave's opening to the tunnel and replied, "Alright, I won't tell you."

Danny just stood there and did his best not to open his mouth, ever again. If it indeed was what Danny thought it was, it at least had a strong earthy smell to it. Then someone turned a fireman's hose on him, and he fell over on the back of the cart. Waiving his hands in the air, Danny tried to find the source of the high-pressure spray when it suddenly stopped.

Anhay stood not far away with her hand outstretched towards him, exclaiming, "Uhhh, I cleaned all that off, and you still look like something that came out a devourer's ass."

The fox-woman's words were meant to hurt Danny's feelings, but he was just happy to be clean.

"Well, at least I don't look like a devourer's dingleberry," Danny pointed at Anhay and laughed, as he couldn't help himself from rejoining on Anhay's humor.

There was a shrill scream, and an explosion of water that Danny did his best to imagine was just mud. This was immediately followed by a cacophony of screams, growls, and yowls that echoed through the small cave. When the rushing water stopped, there was not a single speck of dirt left inside the cave. Outside in the tunnel was a mound of "mud," slowly spreading out along the ground. There were more than a few glares thrown Anhay's way, but like Danny, everyone seemed happier at no longer being "muddy."

Danny sat up in the back of the cart and rubbed his aching side. The cauterized wound in his side bothered him still, but the sharp internal pain he would feel a few days ago was mostly gone. Whatever medical ointment Anhay had also been putting on the wounds on his thighs was working. Thankfully, the wounds there had partially closed and scabbed over, but when he wasn't careful with his movements, they started to want to open up again. Danny did his best to not think about how much mana was being divided up with each individual cell division. He wasn't sure, but he had started feeling a weakness that wouldn't go away.

The cart jerked, and Danny almost fell forward as the bear-woman grabbed hold of the front and immediately pulled them out into the tunnel. Danny was going to ask why they didn't just stop there for the night when he noticed the looks on the beastwomen's faces. While not wholly human in appearance, Danny had started to pick up on his captor's moods by watching their ears, tails, and general posture. After seeing Neferet glance sympathetically over at the cheetah-woman, Danny realized what was wrong. The group was down by two cheetah-woman. The first had been scouting ahead, while the second had taken off after the first, after first taking Anhay up a ways to create the small cave.

Remembering that most of them thought he was the real reason they were even here in the first place, Danny kept his thoughts and questions to himself. He could easily see the remaining cheetah-woman blaming him for whatever happened to the two missing beastwomen. Under the glare of the two feline beastwomen's magical lights, the group continued their trek down the dark and sodden tunnel.

***

After leaving the small cave that had protected them from the devourer, they continued on their way, stopping twice to rest. Danny had taken to calling the walking hours days, but he had lost all sense of time in the seemingly endless tunnels. The remaining cheetah-woman quickly scouted ahead. Danny could tell she was eager to search for the two missing beastwomen. It was not long after their second stop to sleep that the cheetah-woman returned with a dark expression.

"Neferet, what did she say?" asked Danny to the tiger-woman.

Previously, it was during their first stop after the devourer's passing that Danny had gotten to know Neferet better. The reptile-woman looked more than displeased when she first heard Danny speaking on such friendly terms with the tiger-woman but hadn't punished him or Neferet for it. Danny mostly stayed out of the cobra-woman's way and only gave her short replies if she ever spoke with him. Danny noticed that all of the other beastwomen had stopped speaking privately to listen in on that first night after the devourer when Danny told Neferet about how he solved the elven sacred tree issue and had figured out how to enter the elven ascendants' hidden vault. Of course, Danny left out specifics that would allow them to grow their own sacred trees or find the hidden vault themselves. Anhay, who had pretended not to be listening in, had immediately tried to drag the secret of the sacred trees out of him. Danny had refused her multiple times when the fox-woman stood up and approached him threateningly. Neferet didn't hesitate to place herself between Anhay and Danny. The fox-woman glared up at Neferet, saying something biting in the beast-tongue. Tiaa spoke up calmly from where she sat by the warm orange crystal, directing her words only to Neferet. Anhay looked on smugly, but after Neferet's refusal to move out of the way and her short reply to their leader, the fox-woman returned unhappily to her previous spot around the orange crystal.

Returning to the present, Neferet looked back at Danny from where the beastwomen had gathered behind the wagon to discuss the news, replying first with a word in the beastman language, but seeing Danny's confusion added in human, "I don't know what you humans call them, but they are the elves who live underground. Their skin is a pale gray, and their hair is white."

Danny frowned, unconsciously speaking the English name, "Drow." Quickly returning to using the human tongue, Danny asked, "What are they like, will they help us?"

"No, they will more than likely try to capture and enslave us. The drow are constantly warring with the dwarves, and very little is known about how their society works. They are especially fond of beastmen for slaves so we will be doing our best to pass by them without them noticing," Neferet explained.

Danny had noticed that the devourer's tunnels would sometimes branch off in different directions, but his captors always continued traveling in what Danny assumed was the same direction.

Danny asked Neferet, "Is there no alternate way around them?"

The tiger-woman looked back toward Tiaa, who was busy speaking with the others, before whispering to Danny, "Very few of the devourer's tunnels have been mapped, and new ones pop up every now and then. I am surprised we actually made it this far without getting lost. I think our leader is not taking any chances about you possibly lying about having a limited time before the poison kills you. The only other path we could take would add possibly a week to our travel, and just like the area we just passed through, it hasn't been traveled through in a long time."

Danny followed her lead and whispered back, "Why take the chance of entering where you did if we would have to travel past the drow?"

"We were having trouble shaking off the elves, and we had been instructed not to engage with them unless absolutely necessary," Neferet said, before adding, "They were also significantly more powerful than was reported to us. You wouldn't, by chance, know why that would be?"

Danny tried to fake ignorance, but the tiger-woman didn't buy it for a second. Danny was relieved when she didn't make an issue out of it, and the group proceeded on down the tunnel towards the drow.

CHAPTER 11

Lights swarmed around the red glow of the cavern floor. Despite all of the light sources, it was impossible to see either the ceiling or the far walls. The red glow was courtesy of the familiar red algae of the tunnels. The algae stretched out far into the distance. Danny witnessed all of this from the devourer's tunnel, where the devourer had slightly cut along the side of the colossal cavern at specific points, exposing them to the vast expanse beyond. The devourer's tunnel sat high above the cavern floor, and this helped Danny to see blue lights that seemed to hover further out past the algae. While some of the blue lights were near the floor of the cavern, others were up high at various points along a mountain-like rise in the middle cavern floor that reached up hundreds of meters. While the red glow stayed constant, many of the blue lights moved up and down the subterranean mountain.

Even given the tunnel's remote location, Neferet and the lion-woman had doused their magic lights and picked up either end of the back of the cart. The large bear-woman had done the same with the front of the cart. All three beastwomen carried the cart on their shoulders. Doing their best to remain undetected, the group slunk down the tunnel, holding their breath as they passed the parts of the tunnel where the wall between the tunnel and the cavern ceased to exist.

Danny did his best to not shift his weight around but couldn't help occasionally peeking over the edge of the cart. It took Danny a while to recognize the dark shapes moving through the dense red algae covering the massive cavern floor. There was a particularly tense moment when one of the bright blue lights traveled swiftly out across the cavern floor right below the tunnel, but the light stopped short of actually reaching it. Danny could clearly see a deathly pale elf with huge eyes and dark clothing beating on one of the figures Dany had seen moving through the red algae. The one the drow was beating looked small enough to be a goblin or a child. The pathetic creature was bent protectively over a basket of glowing red algae, doing its best to fend off the blows from the long thin stick the drow wielded.

The beastwomen used the distraction to quickly move further down the tunnel. Fortunately, the exposed portions of the tunnel didn't exist down the full extent of the cavern, and soon they were surrounded by the familiar all-encompassing red. However, the algae soon began to fade until there was only darkness ahead of them. The cheetah-woman scouted ahead, and even though she had better night vision than Danny, he knew she had to be depending on her magical senses to see in the dark. Neferet and the lion-woman risked casting faint lights from their hands so that they could at least see where they were walking.

The group hadn't traveled much farther when they were suddenly set upon.

One moment, Danny was laying on the back of the cart, and the next, he was flung to the side and out onto the tunnel floor. The beastwomen were already engaged with club and staff wielding goblins, dwarves, and beastmen that swarmed the tunnel from nearby hidden passages. Danny was surprised to see Neferet freezing the bodies of those around her before sending out fireballs and blades of wind, shattering her frozen enemies' bodies. The beastwomen's leader did not use any magic Danny could see, but instead, Tiaa lashed out with unheard of agility and strength with her twin scimitars. The bear-woman collapsed the hidden tunnels with walls of rock while bashing enemies around her with a heavy metal gauntlet. Anhay was busy either impaling enemies on spikes of stone, slowing groups down in thick mud, or jumping into the air with the aid of a long wooden staff to drop pieces of the ceiling down on her attackers.

Danny did his best to stay out of the way by quickly crawling under the overturned cart. A slain goblin fell beside the cart, and Danny noticed there was a metal collar around its neck. Something heavy struck the cart, and it rocked heavily to one side. Fortunately, Danny had not been on that side and suffered no injury from it. To Danny, the fighting seemed to last forever, but he knew only a few minutes had passed when the tunnel grew quiet again. Peeking out from under the cart, Danny found the beastwomen breathing exhaustedly, but relatively unharmed. Standing up and surveying the group again, he realized there were two beastwomen missing. The cheetah-woman had yet to return from scouting, and the lion-woman was not anywhere in sight.

Tiaa was yelling at Anhay and the bear-woman while Neferet searched under the destroyed cart and the corpses. Danny immediately helped Neferet search the bodies of the slaves. While he didn't find the lion-woman, he did pick up an iron club dropped by one of the slain attackers.

The club was suddenly missing from his hand, and Danny found his neck snuggly confined in between two scimitars.

"Next time I find you with a weapon in your hands, I will not kill you. I will remove your arms and allow you to pray that Anhay can stop the bleeding before you die," threatened Tiaa.

The cobra-woman's irises were now just two thin slits in her yellow eyes.

"Tiaa, he either helps us or becomes a slave to the drow," Neferet growled at the cobra-woman.

Tiaa's eyes widened as she hissed at Neferet, "Silence, you have foolishly allowed him to deceive you! You put this whole mission in jeopardy with your decisions."

"Is this really the best time to get into this?" complained Anhay from were she continued to watch their rear.

Neferet stepped up right next to the reptile-woman, fiercely whispering, "You have to know by now that this is not the betrayer, Tiaa! He has not once shown any of the traits we were told to look for in his behavior. He has also not fallen for any of the traps we have set for him."

Tiaa never took her eye's off Danny as she continued to hold him hostage between her two blades. With a frustrated yell, the cobra-woman flung her blades away from Danny's neck. Part of Danny feared the beastwoman had finished crossing the blades and removed his head, and he collapsed to the ground on one knee. Danny's brain struggled to believe he was still alive.

Turning to place her muzzle in Neferet's, Tiaa voice dropped to an octave Danny didn't think possible, half shouting, "Senui is known to be an experienced and most convincing liar. I will not trust this human boy until we have him examined by the Cultivation Syndicate's Patriarch! As Mitigator, that is my judgment, and my judgment is law!"

Danny felt he had just learned more about these beastwomen in those two sentences than he had in the past week or so he had been with them. Even Neferet hadn't given away much about their culture in their many chats. Tiaa seemed to realize what she had just said and turned to glare at him.

Shakily standing again, Danny held up his hands as he replied, "Despite you stabbing me repeatedly, I really would rather stick with your group than get enslaved by the drow. Hurting or killing any of you would not help that happen."

Tiaa moved within an inch of Danny's face, commanding, "You will not touch another weapon again, and the only reason you are not bound and gagged is that we cannot afford to spare anyone to carry you."

Giving out an order in the beast-tongue, the four beastwomen quickly grabbed what they could from the remains of the cart and continued down the tunnel. Danny was hurried along in the middle of the group, doing his best not to trip over the bodies or debris from the battle. Without the noise from the cart, Danny felt like their every footfall and breath echoed loudly off the tunnel walls. Only Neferet could produce a source of light for them to see by, so she walked at the front of the group. The tunnel soon opened up into an area carved from the very stone of the walls. Neferet paused and consulted something quietly with Tiaa. The group's leader then turned to whisper orders to Anhay and the bear-woman, who immediately began creating a tunnel to one side.

Before either of the beastwomen could get very deep into the walls of the tunnel, dozens of arrows flew through the limited space. No one was lucky enough to avoid them, and the light Neferet was casting went out. Darkness descended as Danny questioned how Neferet hadn't sensed the arrows and batted them out of the air with her magic. One arrow had struck Danny in the back while another was lodged in his arm. Danny joined the beastwomen around him as the struggled to deal with their wounds.

Blue lights appeared from either direction in the tunnel as slaves emerged from the darkness beyond the light, additional iron collars and shackles held in their hands. Danny looked down to find one of the arrows that had been fired in their direction still whole with a red obstinite arrowhead. The beastwomen had been positioned around him and had taken most of the arrows. Anhay had fallen to the ground, one of the arrows she had taken had pierced her thigh. While they were in no condition to fight, that didn't stop them from drawing their weapons and preparing for battle. Anhay used her staff to push herself off the ground, breaking off the arrow shaft from her thigh. Danny didn't have a chance to warn her against such actions.

Drow archers appeared behind the approaching slaves, drawing their bows as one called out in elvish, "Drop your weapons or die!"

Tiaa glanced both ways and then down at the arrow still lodged in her upper shoulder. Hissing in frustration, Tiaa rushed forward toward the wall of slaves who stood between her and the drow archers.

CHAPTER 12

Danny couldn't believe the size of the cavern. What he had perceived as a large hill in the center of the cavern was, in reality, more like a mountain. The slave-drawn, caged wagon they had been tossed into bounced and rocked as they traveled through the fields of red algae. A sea of red extended as far into the distance as the dark mountain grew before them. The blue lights turned out to be some sort of large caterpillar-looking creature. The drow wore them draped around their necks or left them to crawl on the wagon.

The captured beastwomen had started to speak quietly with each other, but their drow guards soon put an end to that. Removed of all clothing, save for their undergarments, the captives waited quietly as a few drow healers tended their wounds. Danny bit back a scream as an arrow was removed from his back. That was followed by a burning sensation as the wound was cleaned. The slaves tending him followed the wound cleansing up by stitching close and binding the wound. The healer slaves had saved him for last since he had been hit with the fewest arrows and hadn't participated in the final assault.

The bear-woman had somehow remained standing even though one of the arrows had pierced her left lung. Even her heavy gauntlets and impressive size could not stop her from being captured by the numerous slaves. Anhay had stood at her friends' side, fighting back the slaves that rushed them, but without her powers and with her wounded leg, she was the first to be tackled to the ground. Neferet had only been grazed by the first volley of arrows and had used her magical affinities to their fullest. The drow leader who had commanded them to surrender had to personally step in and subdue her. From where he hid under the wagon, Danny witnessed the drow leader draw a crude obstinite blade. More a club than a blade, the weapon gave the drow leader the advantage she needed. Any magic Neferet sent at the drow leader was absorbed by her obstinite weapon. As soon as the drow leader reached Neferet, the slaves moved in to swarm the tiger-woman.

Tiaa did not survive her first charge. Danny wasn't sure if the drow had made a split decision to make an example out of her, but at the drow leader's command, the cobra-woman went down under a hail of obstinite arrows and the slaves' clubs.

The rough manacles on Danny's hands and feet were already chafing him, so he kept still to avoid any unnecessary rubbing.

The fields were filled with slaves busily picking something from the red algae and placing them into bags or baskets they carried. Danny hadn't noticed anything worth taking from the algae in the tunnels, but then again, the beastwomen hadn't really given him much free time to do as he liked.

They reached the base of the mountain and began climbing the road that spiraled up around the outer edge. Homes, businesses, and other structures were dug into the inside of the mountain and kept free of red algae growth. Drow and slaves alike hurried to move out of the way of the guards and wagon transporting them. While worried about his near future, Danny couldn't help finding the drow, with their large eyes, beautiful like the elves. Due to the traffic, the trek up the mountain took longer than it did to cross the fields from the devourer's tunnel. By the time they reached the top, Danny had lost interest with his surroundings and was busy inspecting how secure his shackles were.

The wagon stopped with a jolt, and Danny realized they hadn't really once had to completely stop on their way up. They were now in a palace-like fortress sitting on top of the mountain. The walls were made from the same dark stone as the mountain, but the palace itself was a shocking pearl white color. The blue lights cast strange reflections along the palace's smooth surfaces.

The guards drew long blades of obstinite and directed them out of the wagon with shouts and threats. They did not care that Anhay could barely stand or that the bear-woman was just struggling to stay conscious. With swords to their backs, Danny and the captured beastwomen were rushed through the palace. Danny had the briefest glimpses of expansive halls, extravagant living quarters, and opulent decorations showcased throughout the halls when they were pushed into the throne room.

On either side of the throne room, half walls rose up over three meters to where self-important looking drow peered down at the prisoners. Bright white light glared down from the ceiling above casting the drow faces in perpetual shadow. Danny internally questioned why this was the only place he had seen with light not coming from a plant or insect, but he doubted it was that important to find out.

Up ahead, stairs rose well past where the drow on either side of the room sat. The stairs ended in a dais upon which a genuinely imposing throne had been placed. The empty seat of the throne wasn't overly large, but the back of the throne stretched high up on the wall behind it, causing the eyes to naturally fall back down to whomever would be sitting upon it.

Forced to the ground, Danny's knees struck the carpeted surface, and he couldn't help being thankful for the little things in life. Then as if the universe had been listening in on his musings, the back of Danny's head was struck with the pommel of a sword, driving his head into that same carpet. Trying to see past the stars in his eyes, Danny stayed where he was, kneeling head down in front of the steps to the throne.

A voice called out over the din of the throne room in a heavily accented elvish, announcing, "All bow for Her Majesty, the Empress of the Eternal Darkness, the Keeper of the Keys, Queen Eclipse."

There was the sound of movement from hundreds of drow as they stood and bowed to the queen, before sitting down again. Danny tried to get a look at the queen, but his current position made it an impossible task. Taking a deep breath, Danny attempted to focus on anything but his now aching knees.

A shrill voice shouted down from the throne with a strange lisp-like impediment that Danny struggled to follow, "Guards, why have you brought these filthy slaves before my presence?"

Despite the queen's muddled words, one of the drow standing behind Danny spoke up, "Your Majesty, we caught these beasts traveling with a human through the tunnel. They killed a full slave platoon before our archers were able to subdue them with obstinite arrows. One of the beasts refused to be subdued and had to be put down."

"A whole platoon! Marshal, you will explain how these beasts killed a whole platoon of slaves," the queen said with much venom.

Danny could hear the marshal shift uncomfortably, "Your Majesty, I believe the beasts are from the tribes that live past the dwarven caverns. They wielded magics I have not seen. I saw more than one slave frozen before they were broken by fire and force."

The queen's tone changed, and she almost sounded happy, "Interesting, and the human?"

The marshal sounded relieved by the change in the queen's mood, quickly replying, "I did not see him fight, nor use magic. He hid like a coward under their fallen cart. I suspect he is merely their servant. The slave healers tell me he had old wounds..."

"Please, your majesty..." Danny interrupted in elvish.

A foot slammed into Danny's side, as the Marshall shouted, "How dare you speak in front of her majesty without permission?"

Danny was grabbed by the hair and yanked backwards so that he could only see the ceiling where he still sat on his knees.

The Marshall continued to yell at Danny, "I will slice out your tongue for your insolence!"

"Stop! Marshall, release the human at once," the queen ordered furiously.

The hand gripping Danny's hair instantly let go, and he now found himself thrown closer to the throne, kneeling before the queen. He had to check his outward reaction upon seeing the queen. While the drow he had seen up until now had looked like elves, just with gray skin, pale hair, and larger eyes, the queen was something different. Her nose was long with a noticeably large bump in it. Her long left ear twisted around on itself. Lastly, she had a significant overbite that was the source of her particular way of talking.

The queen seemed to study Danny for a moment before asking, "Human worm, I do not know where you learned to speak the ancient tongue. Probably your filthy beastmasters. Now, explain your outburst so that I might decide if I shall let you keep your tongue and possibly your head."

Danny enjoyed his head being where it was and his tongue safely inside it.

Wisely choosing to bow before speaking, Danny proclaimed, "I greet you, Your Majesty. I am Danny Creek, wizard of Diadem, and husband to Willow, Princess of the Elven Nation..."

Danny paused as he could almost sense the sudden change in the queen's mood like someone had quickly lowered the temperature of the room. No one dared to speak; not even a single person could be heard breathing. Danny glanced up to see the queen angrily glaring down at him, shaking with barely restrained fury.

"You say you are not only married to the forest folk but to their princess," the queen's tone was like the calm before the storm.

"Y-yes your Majesty, to Princess Willow," Danny replied, making the statement sound almost like a question in his sudden reluctance to anger the drow queen.

There was a pregnant pause which followed Danny's statement, and he could just see his end coming.

There was a strange noise that took Danny to recognize as a snort. It was so unexpected he almost didn't hear it for what it was. Then, the drow queen leaned back in her throne and began laughing like a donkey. A snort ripped through her extremely long royal nose every time she paused to take in a breath. The entire throne room erupted in amiable laughter as those drow allowed in rushed to follow their queen's example.

Danny didn't dare interrupt the queen's mood after seeing her so angry and resigned himself to waiting.

"We haven't laughed like that in some time," the drow queen sighed as she was out of breath. "Marshall," the queen yelled, "how many human slaves do we have?"

The Marshall looked a little unsure, explaining, "I do not know of any, your Majesty. I apologize, as I do not see any records of the permitted slaves. They are weak and not as hardy as the other races."

"And ugly as well," the queen added as she peered down at Danny. "Though this one is so ugly it's almost cute," the queen admitted as if it were some great concession on her part.

Frowning at how they were talking about him like he wasn't there, Danny struggled to remain silent.

The Marshall cleared her throat and asked, "What are your orders for these beastmen, Your Majesty?"

The queen seemed to remember the three Sentinels still silently kneeling nearby, and waved her hand as if at an errant fly, "Take them away for questioning and then sell what's left."

The Marshall bowed, and the drow guards roughly gathered up the beastwomen. Danny glanced back to see a worried Neferet staring back at him before she was forced to turn back towards the exit. The beastwomen didn't fight their captors, and they were quickly gone from the room.

"Your Highness, what should we do with this human?" the Marshall quickly added, apparently ready to be gone from the queen's presence.

The queen stared down at Danny thoughtfully and flicked a hand to one side of the room, calling out, "Duchess Eventide, does anyone in your family have a human slave?"

Danny glanced over to see a beautiful drow woman who looked more like a queen than the queen herself reply, "No, Your Highness. It has been some time since we have come across a human."

Looking around the room, the queen called out to a Duchess Gloam and Duchess Nocturne and received a similar answer.

Smiling down at Danny, the queen finally answered the Marshall's previous question, "The human will be my personal pet."

CHAPTER 13

Danny had many thoughts, all of them frightful and honestly nauseating, upon hearing that he would become the "queen's pet." The queen quickly handed Danny over to her head servant, an older female drow by the name of Polly Ann. Danny quickly found out that Polly was as outgoing as a brick, and she made it abundantly clear that she would not be answering any of Danny's questions by whipping out a short and heavy stick (For the life of him, Danny could not figure out where she could have concealed it.). Under the constant and imposing glares of the palace guard, Polly had Danny scrubbed raw and dressed in surprisingly nice clothing. Danny's embarrassment at being forced to strip for the bath was soon overshadowed as the servants scrubbing him reached his wounds.

Dressed in a simple tunic and slacks which had been dyed in the queen's royal purple, Danny sat on a cushion on the floor next to where the queen was sitting at her dining table. The pillow wasn't so much for him as it was for not getting his fancy clothes dirty. Polly made sure Danny was aware that he would not be speaking during the meal unless spoken to. When Danny went to ask her for specifics, he found out how much Polly's stick hurt. When he had been shown to his cushion, Danny went to protest only to close his mouth as Polly made a show of reaching for something behind her back.

The queen seemed to surreptitiously glance over at Danny before her hand extended down next to the table, a bit of food in her hand. Rubbing the welt on his upper thigh, Danny looked over at the proffered piece of meat incredulously. While the queen didn't look down at him, her hand shook impatiently until Danny reluctantly grabbed the morsel from her hand.

Dining with the queen that night was the drow woman Danny had heard called Duchess Eventide and a drow male introduced as Duke Eventide. Danny only got a glimpse of the Duke as he came in to sit on the other side of the table from Danny. The Duke looked to be a young man, and judging by the Duchess's appearance, Danny guessed that the Duke much younger than her. Danny also noted that while the Duke wasn't very physically imposing, his attire was much more extravagant than either the queen or duchess. After the brief pleasantries, the three drow spoke about the goings on of the queendom, and after listening in for something he might be able to use to escape, Danny's mind slowly wandered off.

Every now and then, the queen would pass down some other bit of food, and Danny would just dump it on the cushion between his crossed legs. The queen glanced over at one point and caught Danny doing this, her eyes narrowing dangerously. The queen's momentary distraction didn't go unnoticed by the Duchess.

"He really is an attractive specimen, for a human," Duchess Eventide remarked.

Danny was grateful when the question drew the queen's attention away from him.

Looking as if she couldn't care less, the queen replied, "Yes, well, I will see how well he performs at his nightly duties before I officially make him my pet."

The bottom dropped out of Danny's stomach, and he was suddenly grateful he hadn't eaten any of the table scraps in his lap. A slight panic set in, and impending death by running out of mana suddenly seemed to be the least of his worries

Hiding her smile by taking a sip from her goblet, the Duchess said, "Of course, you can't be too careful with a new slave."

"What do you think about my new jabot, your Majesty?" Duke Eventide asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

Danny was already tuning out the queen's response as his mind raced on how he could escape before the queen went to bed.

***

"Hurry up and take those off," Polly grumbled at Danny.

Having found it easier to just go along with the woman than to try her patience, Danny removed the tunic and slacks. Polly shoved a puffy pair of breeches into Danny's arms and followed it up with a thick robe after he had those on.

Rushing him through a small hidden hallway used only by the servants, Polly pushed Danny out into a spacious bedroom. The bed looked as if it could safely sleep five people without them ever worrying about touching each other.

"Now, do I need to explain what your nightly duties are?" Polly asked in obvious annoyance that Danny simply existed.

Hesitant at attempting to speak or to have the woman verbalize what he was dreading, Danny just nodded his head.

Frowning at the inconvenience, Polly simply stated, "You will be warming her highness's feet."

Danny was trying his best to figure out if Polly was making an innuendo or not when the queen suddenly bustled into the room. Servants followed her as she walked into a side room.

"That's the dressing room," Polly generously offered the explanation at Danny's questioning look. As if realizing what she had unconsciously done, Polly added, "Don't let me catch you in there without explicit instruction to do so!"

The old drow woman rushed off into the dressing room, leaving Danny alone to worry over his current predicament. Glancing at the hidden doorway to the servant's hallway, Danny quickly walked over and pulled it open slightly. Just outside the door standing guard in the servant's hallway was one of the palace guards. The guard's head turned at the noise of the door opening, and Danny quickly shut it. Rushing over to where he had been standing before, Danny barely made it in time for the queen, Polly, and the other servants to come out of the dressing room. Despite Danny's attempts to look nonchalant, Polly still looked from him to the surrounding room suspiciously, expecting to find incriminating evidence.

"I am so exhausted," the queen complained as she stretched in a nightgown that left little to the imagination.

Danny was a little surprised to admit that despite the queen's face betraying her unfortunately stunted family tree, he couldn't find any fault with the rest of her. That is until he saw her webbed feet.

"I bet you are," Polly replied dryly as she helped the queen get into the oversized monstrosity of a bed.

If the queen noticed the head servant's lack of genuine sympathy, she just ignored it. The other servants rushed around busily, but Danny, for the life of him, couldn't figure out what it was they were accomplishing.

Sitting up to pat on the bed, the queen asked Danny, "What are you doing standing there? Get over here."

Looking lost, Danny slowly made his way onto the end of the bed and started crawling toward the spot next to the drow queen.

"Where are you going?" the queen asked incredulously. At Danny's confused expression, the queen huffed, "Get back down there!"

Moving back to the end of the bed, Danny hesitatingly laid down facing away from the queen and curling into a ball.

In an exasperated tone, the queen yelled, "Polly, fix him."

Polly was folding some clothes to put away and sighed as she had to set them down. Without saying anything, Polly gestured Danny further up the bed until he suddenly felt the queen's two feet slide under him. Holding still, Danny watched Polly finish what she was doing earlier and touch the light stones set into the walls.

In the complete darkness of the room, Danny heard the queen begin snoring. Danny admitted that this situation was preferable to what he had earlier feared. Then, the queen stopped snoring long enough for her to let out a most foul bout of gas.

***

After literally getting kicked out of bed and then having breakfast next to the queen, Danny sat with his head resting in his hands as he sat a few steps below and to the left of the queen's throne. So far, Danny had realized that escaping from this place would not likely happen unless he got away from the queen. Her ever-present guards were always a constant shadow that Danny knew he wouldn't be able to shake.

"Didn't we just hold court yesterday?" the queen complained pitifully to some adviser who was doing her best to explain just precisely that.

Danny couldn't help but be impressed by the adviser's patience when she explained for the second time, "Your Highness, today is the day you choose your consort."

"Oh, is it that time already," the queen said sounding bored. "Fine, let's get this over with."

The adviser bowed low, "I will usher the candidates in."

The seats on either side of the throne room were packed again to maximum capacity. The room was filled with the quiet murmurs of hundreds of conversations.

Moving back down the steps, the adviser whispered to a servant who in turn rushed down the aisle toward the closed throne room doors.

Danny couldn't stop himself from asking, "Did she just say consort?"

The queen, having heard Danny's whispered question, frowned and said, "Yes, I wish they would just get this over with already."

Surprised at the queen's reply, Danny looked up to find the monarch studiously watching the large doors on the far side as they opened to let in three drow males. Danny couldn't see them yet, but they all seemed to be preening as much as they could as they made their way down the center of the room toward the throne.

"Who are they?" Danny asked.

"Representatives of the three duchies," the queen replied, not seeming to care that Danny continued to talk out of turn.

The three men seemed to slowly build up speed, and Danny realized they had turned arriving at the throne first into a competition.

Laughing to himself, Danny whispered to the queen, "I bet getting to eat off my own plate of food for dinner versus not eating at all, that the Nocturne representative reaches the throne first."

Unable to prevent the smirk that crossed her face, the queen glanced to the human boy at her side and asked, "You know which one is the Nocturne's?"

Danny shrugged, "Nope," as he finally got his first look at the three men.

The queen leaned slightly forward, now intent on the unofficial drag race happening in her throne room.

"Is that the duke from last night?" Danny asked as he recognized one of the representatives.

Duke Eventide struggled to keep up with the pace set by his counterparts. Of the other two drow males, one was older, slightly on the rotund side, and balding while the other looked to be a similar age to Eventide but built like an Olympic athlete.

"Is Duke Eventide the Duchess's son?" Danny quietly asked.

Shaking her head, the queen still focused on the race said, "Her husband."

Danny looked over at the queen's lack of concern and asked, "Are the other two other Duchesses' husbands?"

The queen finally looked annoyed at being distracted from the proceedings, "While they are all Dukes, the handsome one is Duchess Gloum's husband, and the balding one is Duchess Nocturne's father."

Glancing back quickly, the queen smiled wide and smugly said, "Looks like you will go to bed hungry tonight," as she leaned back in her throne.

Danny didn't have a chance to reply, as the adviser stepped up and announced the three representatives to the room, all three of whom bowed lowly toward the queen as their names and titles were called out.

Clearing his throat audibly, the adviser introduced the next portion of the ceremony, "The three dukes will now read their dedications of affection for the queen."

"This is the worst part," the queen grumbled quietly as the balding drow began.

Danny, seeing the queen wasn't interested in the proceedings, whispered more quietly than before, "Why are you selecting a husband from the husbands of the Duchesses?"

The queen's expression looked confused as she replied without looking Danny's way, "They are not going to be my husband. It is almost the solstice, and I need to pick a potential father for my heir."

"Wait, so this is a one night kind of thing?" Danny asked.

The queen just nodded like she had agreed with something the droning Duke Nocturne had said.

Danny looked between the queen and the men below and, realizing something, asked, "What happens if you have a male heir?"

"He lives with his father's family under their name," whispered the queen.

Things were slowly starting to fall into place, and Danny wasn't sure he liked where it was headed.

"So, one of those men down there could be a close relation of yours," Danny whispered.

The queen applauded as Duke Nocturne had finished his speech. Both the queen and Danny had missed most of what the man had said. The flamboyant Duke Eventide was called forward, and his honey-like voice soon moved through the throne room like molasses. Despite his previous distraction, Danny found himself lost in the man's words.

"He's my cousin," the queen whispered.

It took Danny a moment to realize who she was referring to and replied, "You mean a distant cousin?"

"No, he's my aunt's son," the queen replied.

Shaking his head, Danny warned the queen, "You don't want to marry your first cousin."

The queen actually turned toward Danny and asked incredulously, "Then would you rather I marry my brother instead?"

Danny looked unbelievingly at the queen, "What are you talking about?"

The queen gestured to Duke Nocturne, "He's my brother."

Danny's mind started to stall and stutter as he attempted to take in the situation and compare it to what the queen was saying.

"Isn't my son handsome?" the queen said wistfully as she stared at Duke Gloum.

Danny's mouth opened and closed a few times, like a fish out of water.

"What is wrong with you? You know, just be quiet. I like this one," the queen hissed at him.

Danny shook his head, "You are joking right?"

The queen started to look angry and replied, "Joking about what?"

Danny tried his best to whisper, but his words slowly got louder, "Your options for the father of your children are your own cousin, y-your brother, and YOUR SON!"

The queen stood up to her full height and glared down at Danny. A few of the guards started walking up towards the throne, but Danny didn't notice them.

"You ever wonder why you look the way you do?" Danny didn't bother to keep his voice down as he was past the point of rational thinking.

Eyes full of wrath, the queen seethed, "The way I loo--. No, slave, why don't you tell me why I look this way?"

Danny shouted, "Because anyone would start to look ugly if their family only slept with their cousins, uncles, and children!"

Turning back around, Danny realized that he had the undivided attention of the entire throne room. And that was about the time the palace guards reached him.

CHAPTER 14

Back outside the palace, Danny was thrown back into another caged wagon, bruised and slightly bleeding from being almost beaten to death by the palace guards. Danny couldn't believe how quickly everything had gone wrong. Danny admitted to himself that he could have handled that a little better. But he felt justified by the fact that you don't just spring random acts of incest on someone like that.

Still, Danny called himself stupid in every language he knew as the driver snapped a whip over the yoked slaves hitched in front of the caged wagon. With a jerk, the wagon was thrust into motion, moving on back down the underground mountain. Staring at the drow going about their day and at the hunched slaves moving about quickly to their assigned tasks, Danny replayed the events in the throne room over and over in his head. Danny wondered, why had he attempted to even speak up when it was obvious he should have just kept his mouth closed. He questioned if his somewhat easy dealings with the humans and elves had made him complacent. Lastly, he pondered on the possibility that the obstinite in his body was causing him to slowly lose his mind.

The driver yelled out and the wagon halted in front of a large expansive building surrounded by high walls. The driver hopped down and knocked on the large gate set into the high walls. The gate opened and the driver handed over a piece of parchment to a well-dressed drow.

"The queen needs more slaves for the obstinite mines," the well-dressed drow exclaimed happily.

The driver shrugged, "I heard the queen has declared that this next campaign on the dwarves will be the last and that she believes the obstinite weapons will be the key to our success."

The well-dressed drow frowned, saying, "Yes, I knew about our queen's (long may she reign) desire to become an empress over all races. I hope these obstinite weapons are the key to finally conquering the pathetic dwarves."

The driver nodded toward Danny, adding, "We captured this one and four beasts that wielded magic. They killed a platoon of slaves before the Marshall sent in the archers. One of the beasts died, and another had to be subdued personally by the Marshall."

"I see he is wearing one of the new obstinite collars. It is good to see they are working. I hated how we had to kill any that showed a significant aptitude with magic. Such a waste," commented the well-dressed drow.

Danny reached up to touch the iron collar around his neck to find rough stones had been inlaid into it. He hadn't noticed the stone in the collars the other beastwomen were wearing. He also realized that he had never bothered to look at himself in the mirror. Danny figured he probably was too scared to see the face looking back at him.

Danny's contemplations were interrupted as more slaves were crammed into the caged wagon with him. Danny quickly moved as best he could to one corner to make room. Comprised of mostly beastmen and dwarves, the other slaves quickly dropped into a sitting position as soon as they found enough space. No one spared Danny more than a passing glance, and Danny decided he would try getting to know the closest beastwoman to his right.

A pole slammed into the side of Danny's head as soon as he started to speak, the driver yelling, "No speaking, slave. You are never allowed to speak unless addressed by a drow. Do you hear me?"

Danny hid the scowl he wanted to direct toward the driver and instead nursed his already bruised head. Seemingly pleased with Danny's response, the driver cracked his whip, and the yoked slaves strained noticeably under the increased weight. A few more cracks of the whip, this time closer to the slaves' exposed flesh, and the wagon slowly began to move and gain speed.

***

"Get out, you lazy thralls," screamed the female drow standing outside the caged wagon.

After traveling in the opposite direction from where Danny had arrived in, the slave wagon had stopped near the cavern wall. Not far off was a pile of obstinite chunks of various sizes, ranging from small pebbles to some the length of Danny's arm. Danny was the last to exit the wagon and couldn't help but move slowly to stand in the line that had formed in front of the drow who had just yelled at them. The caged wagon took off back the way it came, leaving Danny and the other slaves with three female drows.

Looking up and down the line, the drow who had called them out of the wagons stated, "I am the head foreman here. My word is law. You will be assigned to a foreman to begin working an area. You will be assigned to areas based on how well you mine and how well you behave. Those that mine near the top get to eat first. Those that mine near the bottom of the mine are lucky if we have enough food left by the time we reach you."

With that cheerful welcoming speech, the foremen moved forward and started divvying up the line of slaves. Danny quietly walked to his assigned group, and no time was wasted in taking them down into the sizeable nearby hole in the ground. The central tunnel to the mine sloped downward before leveling off for a dozen meters or so before sloping downward again. As they passed each level, Danny could hear down the side tunnels the ringing of picks on rock and the occasional shouts of drow foremen encouraging the slaves with harsh words or a crack of a whip. This pattern repeated itself a half dozen times before they reached their assigned level.

The foreman Danny was assigned to pointed toward a cart filled to the brim with pickaxes, commanding, "Grab one and follow me."

After everyone had claimed a pick, they moved further into the nearest side tunnel and continued on until the tunnel abruptly ended. Setting down something that looked kind of like a hat stand that she had grabbed near the central tunnel, the foreman placed one of the glowing blue insects in a shallow box situated near the top. Then, the foremen put them to work creating branching tunnels or expanding the central side tunnel. She explained as they went how to properly mine the obstinite, but during that first work period, Danny never once encountered the red crystal. Danny quickly discovered that their foreman had no trouble helping anyone who she saw not mining promptly get back to work. Every so often, a slave would arrive to drag away the loose stone and debris which Danny had created, carting them off back up the side tunnel.

Hours later, a slave arrived with a heavy cart like the one that was holding the picks. Upon seeing the slave and cart, the foreman called everyone to a stop and gather around. Grabbing a bowl from a sack hanging off the side, the slave reached into the cart and filled the bowl with a dark stringy mush. Filled bowls were passed around until everyone had one.

Sitting down against the walls, Danny looked around to find the other slaves shoveling the stringy mash into their mouths as quickly as they could. Sensing that there was a reason for their rush, Danny reached in and grabbed a pinch of the substance to inspect it. It was a dark red color, and the stringy unmashed portions reminded Danny of the red algae. Taking a tentative bite, Danny was surprised to find that the mash had a salty, yet flavorful, taste. Putting some more of the food in his mouth, Danny's only complaint was that they apparently hadn't bothered to wash the algae before preparing it.

Before Danny could even get halfway through his bowl, the foreman called for them to bring her their bowls and return to mining. Danny handed over his bowl, and without giving him a second glance, the foreman dumped the remaining mush into the box containing the glowing insect. The fat insect quickly twisted around so that it could begin eating the food.

Another work period continued, and by the end, Danny was unable to see what he was doing. The foreman called for them to quit and everyone was made to put their pickaxes in an empty cart that waited near the glowing bug. No further instructions were given as the foreman grabbed the blue insect and directed the slave with the pick-filled cart back up the side tunnel. Danny started to follow the foreman when he realized that he was the only one doing so. The rest of his fellow slaves were finding places to sit or lie down. As the blue glow faded down the side tunnel, Danny realized that this hole within a hole in the ground would be where he would work, eat, and sleep for the foreseeable future.

Blindly reaching for the wall, Danny stumbled over someone and received a few claw scratches to his legs until he managed to get away. Finding the wall, Danny settled down onto the ground and laid curled in on himself. Danny spent most of the night trying to imagine the best way to get out of this situation, but he struggled to come up with a viable solution. The glow from the foreman's blue bug that slowly greeted him hours later was a blessed respite from the deprivations of the dark.

***

The glow of the blue insect was reflected and refracted off of the large chunk of obstinite Danny was digging around. Danny looked up to see countless versions of himself played out all over the surface of the magical mineral. Danny wondered which of these refractions of himself could possibly be happy with his current predicament.

Danny shook as another wave of chills racked his body. The head of Danny's pickaxe fell to the floor, but he managed to keep a one-handed grip on the handle. The shaking and brief wave of weakness passed, and Danny picked up his pickaxe again and began swinging at the rock. One only had to accidentally strike the obstinite a few times before the bone-jarring feeling racing up your arms quickly turned you into a skilled miner.

The drow foreman for the lowest level of the mine passed by, hand on her whip, as she checked on each slave's progress and ensured that the blue caterpillars had enough food and water on their perches. A young beastwoman slave followed behind the foreman and grabbed the few meager chunks of rock which Danny had managed to hew loose from the wall, placing them in a cart before moving down to where the next slave was mining. As always, no one spoke, and Danny realized he hadn't used his voice in the last two weeks since he had been sent here. Danny knew his time was running out, but he had yet to formulate a plan for escape. He had finally decided that the drow apparently sent any undesirable slaves with high attributes into their army, leaving the weaker slaves for industrial, commercial, and residential uses. Danny had no doubts that even with the element of surprise on their hands the few drow foremen assigned to the mine could easily have crushed any resistance.

For the millionth time, Danny paused to look at his fractal image in the obstinite. The irony wasn't lost on Danny that the very thing he was mining was what was going to ultimately kill him.

"Stop gawking at yourself and get back to work," the foreman yelled at Danny, punctuating her point with the crack of the whip across his back. Danny winced in pain and then fell to his knees as a cloudy haze filled his mind and a bout of dizziness threatened to bring up the food he had been served that morning.

The foreman whipped Danny across his back again, shouting, "Get up! No one told you to rest yet."

The pain from the cut of the whip across his back tipped the scales causing Danny to finally throw up his food from that morning. Pitching forward, face first into the ground, Danny limply lay in a pool of his own vomit. He had been feeling himself grow weaker as the days had passed, and he was walking with a noticeable limp from where the thin metal spikes had been driven into his legs. The wounds had healed, but it was as if the muscles in those parts of his legs had refused to function correctly anymore. Danny knew he would grow weaker as his mana ran out, but he hadn't been expecting the chills or hot flashes that seemed to come at random moments, sometimes lasting for hours. Today had been the first day Danny hadn't been able to power through the weaknesses or to merely shake them off.

The foreman bent over Danny's prone form, cursing the smell from the half-digested food. Stopping the beastwoman slave loading the small cart, the drow told her to go find the mine's healer. After a few moments, the slave returned with a bored looking robed drow in tow.

"What happened?" asked the robed healer in an annoyed tone of voice.

The foreman explained what had transpired as the healer checked over Danny.

The healer did her best to avoid the bodily fluids, saying unhappily, "He's burning up."

"I noticed his work has been slacking more and more since they brought him down here. He's always been slow and has never seemed to swing his pickaxe very hard. Though that's not really surprising for a human," added the foreman.

Danny was now laying on his back and saw a silent look pass between the two drow. The healer nodded once to the foreman who called back over to the young beastwoman slave again. The foreman and the beastwoman slave worked together to get Danny into the cart and on top of the loose rock. In a behavior out of the norm, the foreman whispered her orders to the beastwoman slave. When the slave hesitated, the foreman reached for the whip she had hooked back on the belt at her hip. The beastwoman slave immediately lost all reservations and mechanically began pushing the cart back out of the mineshaft they were in.

Taking a turn right before the exit to the mine, the beastwoman slave pushed the cart down toward an area that had already been mined out. The mineshaft ended where they had dug out a large pit, going after a large vein of obstinite. While the largest of the chunks of obstinite still remained, the slaves had already removed all the smaller pieces which could be used as arrowheads or for the blades or heads of various weapons.

The beastwoman slave stopped the cart and looked down at Danny in a moment of internal conflict. Scratching the underside of her collar in a clear sign of agitation, the beastwoman said something in her native tongue. Danny's head was swimming, and he lacked the focus to reply or to attempt asking what she had said.

Without any further hesitation, the beastwoman turned over the cart with Danny in it, spilling the contents into the deep pit below. Danny fell feet first into the pit and struck one of the large pieces of obstinite, instantly shattering one of his legs and breaking the other. Danny weakly cried out in pain as his body slid into a space between three massive pieces of obstinite, his head striking against one as he dropped down further. Between the fever that had caused Danny to feel as if he was on fire and the pain from his shattered limbs and bruised head, Danny could only moan. Any attempt to shift around caused a lightning storm of pain to bloom in his legs and race through the rest of his body.

An hour later, more rock was poured in on top of Danny, pelting him with loose stones. By the next day, Danny's whole world consisted of darkness, cold, heat, and pain.

CHAPTER 15

Nothing

Silence

Gray

The nothingness was a safe place to be. In the nothingness, there was nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to feel. Thoughts were darker than darkness and a most dangerous pastime. It was better to float in the gray and wrap yourself in the nothingness than to slip into the madness that was the dark void.

"I don't see why we need to bother sifting through those inbred gray bastard's garbage dump. Edlin, I swear, I will quit right here and now if you don't handle the next body we find. I signed up as a miner, not a mortician."

Danny heard the voice and identified it as yet another hallucination and temptation sent to him by the void. He did his best to forget the words he had heard and sunk back into the sedating embrace of the nothingness.

"Quit your bellyaching. I handled the first twenty without a word, and they were still partly fresh. Plus, we've only been hittin' mostly skeletons lately, an you know we can't leave any obstinite here for some other race to find again."

Danny hated the voices. They caused him to think... which was a hazardous thing to do. The earth shifted slightly around Danny's body.

"Yes, I am sure you are only thinkin' of the good o' our people. A bleedin' compatriot this one."

"Shut your trap, and come look over here! I told you me family's dousin' rod was the real deal. Wow, they are huge. The price these will fetch will more than make up for dealing with your griping'."

"Great ancestors! Alright, alright, your family's honor is upheld. Pull the stone around them, and I will start gettin' the heavy clamps attached."

There was a rumbling sound that Danny did his best to block out. This went on for some time until the stone above Danny shifted and then abruptly lifted off of him. Danny felt his hands lifted up into the air above him as his body grew lighter. On instinct, his eyelids scraped against their long dried out eyeballs, as Danny tried to open them and see. The piercing light that followed had Danny closing them as tight as he could. Trying to wet his lips with his moistureless mouth, Danny rasped something out. With no response, Danny tried again but louder. The noise and upward movement came to a grinding halt. As Danny now floated in the air and the occasional hovering rock bumped into him, he did his best to get his eyes to tolerate the light. The silence dragged on as Danny turned his head from side to side for the first time in he didn't know how long.

"Uhh, this one still has its skin on it. Wait, I got a mover!"

"I don't... is that... it's not possible!"

Something pressed against his chest and a voice exclaimed, "He's alive!"

There was a flurry of cursing and activity as Danny felt something large grab hold around his chest and lift him up. Vertigo took over as he was hefted and swung through the air.

The voice Danny now recognized to be Edlin, suggested, "Let's get him up top. I think I left the medical kit in the carriage."

"What good is the medical kit goin' to do us all the way down here? I swear," complained Acca.

Even though Danny's body was held as still as possible, the movement of whatever carried him caused excruciating pain from his broken and shattered legs. Danny hoarsely moaned in pain.

Acca apologized, "I'm sorry, we will get you patched up here right quick."

The nearby voice did its best to calm Danny down, but unfortunately, it did nothing to stop the pain in his legs.

Danny was gently set down on something soft, and not soon after, a wet cloth was being used to wash away the grime and dust that felt like it had fused with his flesh. As soon as the damp cloth passed over Danny's legs, he moaned in pain.

Acca tried her best to encourage Danny, "Hang on, we almost got you clean."

"The healin' charm isn't working... Do we have another one somewhere?" asked Edlin with a worried voice.

"Here let me look at that charm? There shouldn't be anythin' wrong with it. Are you sure you activated the rune correctly?" grumbled Acca.

Edlin sounded offended, "You seriously didn't just ask me that..."

Danny felt the wet rag start cleaning around his collar, when Edlin suddenly exclaimed, "Acca, look, those damned dark elves set obstinite in his collar! No wonder the charm isn't workin'."

Acca picked up on Edlin's mood, saying, "Well then, let's cut it off of him. What can we use that won't take off his head at the same time?"

Danny heard the sounds of clanging metal as the two rummaged around and argued over which tool to use. Having finally managed to open his eyes a fraction, Danny noticed a bright white light hovering not far from where he lay. The rest of the area around him was hidden in shadows. That is until someone stepped out into the light holding something in their hands. Danny couldn't help the jerk he made as the stranger lowered the object to his neck. Danny realized as she spoke that the one hovering over him was Acca.

"Now hold still, boy. Edlin, grab his head!"

A pair of hands gripped the sides of Danny's head as Acca bore down on the collar with what Danny guessed was some sort of tool. The collar, resting against whatever he was using as a bed, redirected most of the pressure around Danny's neck, but he still couldn't help but tense up. The woman gave the tool a sudden twist, and then it felt like the skin on Danny's neck fell off, but there was no pain.

"Wow, you never washed under this thing, did you?" Acca tried to joke with Danny.

A rush of coolness flooded into every corner of Danny's body, like nothing he had never felt before. Danny tried to lift a hand to touch the newly exposed flesh on his neck, but he couldn't find the strength to do so. Acca moved down and freed him from the manacles around his feet.

Edlin held something over Danny's chest and frowned, yelling in frustration, "It's still not workin'!"

Acca dropped the tool on the ground and stomped over across from Edlin, "You really want me to ask you again don't y..."

Danny felt a flash of magic cross his skin, and then his feet dived into the ground below him. Danny could feel his skin change as his legs were covered in a bark-like texture. There was a flash of pain from his busted legs when he felt the strange flesh around his feet expand where they had extended down into the ground. The expanding flesh straightened out his legs, and in doing so, lifted Danny up into a standing position.

Edlin barely whispered, "What in the depths is going on? I thought he was human."

After a few moments of silence, Acca reached over and patted her partner's arm, "Edlin, get the cog and go tell the sages to come here immediately."

Edlin looked over in shock, "The sages, Acca, are you mad? They will revoke my salvagin' license if I drag their asses out here unnecessarily! Not to mention what they will do..."

"Fine, tell them I called for them. I will vouch for it, now go, hurry," Acca shouted over the other woman in annoyance.

Edlin reluctantly rushed off into the darkness beyond the bright light.

"Boy, can you hear me?" Acca asked Danny as she walked a circle around him.

Danny was already feeling better, but it was a slow and gradual change. Magic seemed to be whipping around inside his body, healing the damage. There was a significant amount of magic, but something was creating a bottleneck, slowing down the healing process. Part of Danny was so tired and used to not thinking and wanted was nothing more than to slip back into the nothingness. Danny almost gave in to avoid the malaise of existing, but then a memory crawled to the surface of his thoughts. The memory wasn't an amazing or significant moment in his life; it was just merely one of Danny sitting by a campfire. In the memory, he was leaning back against a large fur covered animal and sharing the fire with four other individuals. Their names and faces escaped him, but he knew, based on the feeling the memory of them provided, that he needed to get back to them at all cost. They were essential to him.

Danny's eyes were still dry, and everything was a blur when he tried to open them again. Danny was able to find enough saliva to make his mouth feel tacky, if not damp.

Coughing, Danny spoke, "Thank you."

Acca jumped back at Danny's words, squinting up at his face. Reaching forward, the woman tentatively touched his skin in a few places.

"What are you?" Acca asked in a whispered wonder.

Danny rasped out, "Daniel."

This simple response brought a smile to the woman's face, as she replied, "Well, Daniel, you are the most interesting human/tree creature I have ever met. Now, that's not saying much, you being the only human/tree creature I have had the pleasure of meeting."

Danny felt the broken and fractured bones in his legs realigning themselves. Unable to not respond, Danny moaned in pain.

"What's the matter?" Acca asked in concern.

Danny gritted his teeth and responded through the pain, "Legs broken, fixing them now."

Acca's eyes grew wide as she deciphered what Danny was implying.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Acca asked, unsure.

"Water," Danny rasped.

Acca rushed off before coming back with a cup. Danny was too high up for her to reach his mouth, so she handed it over to him. Danny tried to reach down and hold it, but his hands shook, and he found that his strength was not up to this simple task. To his growing frustration, the cup fell to the ground spilling its contents. Acca cursed, picked up the cup, and rushed off to get more. By the time she came back, Danny could feel the spilled water racing up through his body through his roots. Acca had also brought a box she used to step up on and reach Danny. Danny greedily tried to drink the water, but Acca wouldn't allow him but a few sips at a time.

Danny smiled down at the woman, saying, "Thank you," in a slightly stronger voice.

Then, something deep inside Danny's brain healed itself. Some connection that had been damaged in the fall into the pit more than likely. Most of the darkness and depression fled from Danny's mind, but not all of it. It was replaced with burning passion and a desire for revenge. Danny felt something incorporeal in the corner of his eye and instinctively focused inward toward what used to be the nothingness. The nothingness had been transformed into the tranquil sea he remembered like some memory from so many lifetimes ago. Danny sighed in contentment as he closed his eyes.

***

Danny appeared whole and healthy in his sanctuary's command room. Danny stared at the largest holoscreen in front of him. Like before he had been poisoned with the powdered obstinite, Danny's full body was on display. Large swaths of red covered his legs, chest, and head. Danny watched the image for a few minutes, noting that the red was subtly fading away.

A hesitant voice asked from his right, "Captain?"

Danny turned to find Cece standing there, clipboard in hand, staring at him in obvious concern.

Danny ignored the emotions playing across her face. She was nothing but a construct created by his imagination. Apparently, Danny was concerned about his own well-being. He figured that was a healthy response to his current situation.

"I take it you found a way to free me from the obstinite poison?" asked Danny.

Cece seemed almost scared to reply, eventually explaining, "Yes, sir. Our simulations evolved a creature able to not only process obstinite but to incorporate it into their cells."

"What did this creature look like?" Danny asked.

Cece gestured to the large holoscreen that now displayed the image of a vaguely humanoid creature. It looked like evolution had merged a man and a gorilla, forgetting to add any hair at all.

Danny's eyes betrayed his first sign of genuine emotion as he interestedly asked, "What did that evolve from?"

"It evolved from you," replied Cece.

Danny looked in confusion between Cece and the creature on the screen, before asking, "Come again..."

Cece continued, "Seeding the simulated world with basic life was getting us nowhere, so I took the initiative to add a few known variables to the world. Namely, yourself and other compatible human ascendants. An ascendant and a non-ascendant have a zero chance of conceiving an ascendant. In fact, being incompatible, ascendants and non-ascendants do not have a chance to conceive any sort of new life. With the obstinite everywhere, these simulated ascendants were devoid of using any magic outside what they could produce on their own. I had to also dilute the concentration of obstinite in the test world as it too quickly slipped into the test subjects bloodstreams and slowly killed them. With the new parameters established it was only a matter of a few million years and you have what you see before you. Then it was only a matter of extrapolating the correct genetic coding, conducting the testing you requested, and then initiating the genetic modifications."

Cece waited while Danny took in all this new information, before continuing, "The modifications that occurred are as shown on the screen."

Danny looked over to see a magnification of one of his cells. Along the cell membrane were the different proteins and clear crystals Danny had come to associate with his ascendant body. The image was now focused on a recent addition. A large red crystal was now taking up some of the space along his cell membrane. This new crystal was the only one of its kind in the cell Cece had focused on. As Danny peered closely, he realized there was a faint clear crystal shell covering the red crystal.

Danny nodded, saying, "I see. Has this modification revealed how I could draw mana from obstinite not incorporated into my body?"

Cece shook her head, "As I explained when you first summoned me, I am only able to make small alterations to your orders but not create new orders. I will have the science officers begin looking into that now."

Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath before asking the one thing he had been avoiding asking, "Cece, how long has it been?"

"It's been over six years, sir."

Danny's head flopped backwards as if Cece's words had been a physical blow. Danny stared at the ceiling for a long while as he tried to process the ramifications of what this meant. Willow, Ivy, Brooke, Jade, would they have waited for him, or would they have moved on? What about Phantom or Crossbark?

Danny ran his hand through his hair and down his face, asking, "How did those women get me out of there?"

"I don't know. The obstinite in your slave collar and the large chunks of obstinite around you stopped us from being able to scan outside your body," Cece answered.

Danny looked askance at Cece, asking, "It's been six years and since I don't physically age anymore, I still look sixteen. Besides waiting to turn me into a tree, what have you been doing all this time?"

Cece shook her head, "We had no orders past solving the obstinite issue and healing you once we were able to."

Groaning at all the extreme amount of lost time, Danny stood up and began to pace. His mind was starting to careen down a spiral of depression he was all too familiar with. The Danny from six years ago might have lost himself to this darkness, but he was no longer that same person.

Danny stopped pacing and began listing things off, "Get everyone back in here, scanning the area on all frequencies. I want my automatic defenses in place. Make sure to scan for gaps in the ambient mana, specifically those related to obstinite interferences. I want you to raise the earth or stir up the air so that any attacks against me are stopped or redirected before the obstinite can affect my ability to cast any spells at all."

Cece only nodded as she started taking down notes. Specialists appeared from thin air and took up any empty positions around the control room.

Danny mumbled to himself, "Boy, everyone keeps calling me boy. I need them to take me seriously, and that won't happen with the face of a sixteen-year-old." Danny addressed Cece again, "What would we require to increase my age physically to twenty-five?"

Cece pondered this a while before saying, "There would be significant resources involved, both physical and magical. Then, there is the pain you will feel during the transition. We also don't know if there are any negative side effects to you aging that quickly."

"How much time?" Danny asked.

Cece seemed to reference something on her clipboard, "Estimates place it at a little over two days."

Danny sighed, "Alright, that's a good chunk of time. Get everything ready to start that process, but don't pull the trigger until I give the word. I need to check on something first before we begin."

***

Danny opened his eyes, pleased to find not only his vision back to normal but those magical senses which he could use in his sacred form were gathering precious information about his surroundings. Danny looked down and noticed that the strange sensation he felt from before persisted, the feeling of something cool entering through his whole body.

Danny thought, *Cece, do you know what this strange feeling I have all over my body is?*

*Captain, what little obstinite absorbed by the cells in your epidermis is now drawing in ambient mana from your surroundings,* Cece explained.

*Is the amount absorbed constant?* Danny asked.

*There is a maximum absorption rate, but I suspect if you entered an area with an ambient mana deficiency then you would draw in less. Assimilating more obstinite would increase this maximum,* Cece added.

*So we would have to find a ready supply of powdered obstinite?* Danny guessed.

Cece hesitated, replying, *Technically you could swallow a larger piece of obstinite, but you would have to wait till it is completely saturated with mana before your body would start digesting it. It was what both the simulated creature and what our tests showed you would be able to do.*

*What would the negatives be to trying this out?* Danny asked, perplexed.

Cece explained, *If the piece you consume is more substantial in mass than the total amount already assimilated into your body, then you will have slightly similar issues as when you were first poisoned. If you consume a smaller piece, then the amount of mana you generate would decrease by the difference. If, while you still had a large enough foreign unincorporated piece of obstinite in you, and you leave an area with significant ambient mana, you could start dipping into the amount mana you usually generate.*

Danny sighed, muttering to himself, "More obstacles."

"Hey, you decided to quit pretending to be just a tree," exclaimed Acca from where she sat in a nearby collapsible metal chair.

Danny studied the woman with his restored eyes for the first time. She was short, but that could have been because Danny was in his Sacred Tree Aspect. She was wearing bulky clothing meant for someone accustomed to doing hard work. The layer of dirt and soil covering the clothing also attested to this.

Acca smiled knowingly while asking, "Hey Tree-Boy, you see somethin' you like? No offense, but I prefer my men with a bit more meat on there... well, everythin'. An abundance of foliage is also somethin' I also try to avoid."

Danny blinked in confusion before realizing he had been fixedly staring at her clothing, lost in thought. More specifically, he had been staring at the upper portion of her attire for longer than socially acceptable.

Danny nodded his head in a semblance of a bow, "My apologies, it has been a long time since I was thrown down in that pit and my mind stalls at times. Could you tell me what has happened? Where are all the drow?"

Acca spit to one side, growling, "Those floppy-eared rejects of nature decided to invade the dwarven caverns. Unfortunately for them, their initial forays didn't go as planned, and we finally got tired of puttin' up with them. We brought the fight to them and sent them fleein' out into the devourer's tunnels. What slaves the bastards didn't take with them, they killed. We only managed to save a handful. Sent them back home with our apologies for not realizin' our distant neighbor was practicin' slavery."

Danny doubted that there hadn't been at least someone on the outside who didn't know what the drow were doing, but he didn't want to upset his rescuer.

"How long did the attempted drow invasion last?" asked Danny.

"I don't know, four or five years, maybe more," Acca replied her attention slipping to something she was fiddling within her hands.

Danny searched through the information coming to him through his magical senses. The cavern ceiling and floor were bare. The red algae that had covered the floors of the cavern was now completely gone. A strange square building now stood where Danny didn't remember there being one. Made entirely of stone, the building had dense glass-like windows spaced all around it. Various equipment was arranged around the campsite the two woman had established. Then, there were the two huge headless statues off to one side. Danny stared at them for more than a few seconds before giving up.

Danny glanced back down to where Acca sat in her chair. He questioned how he had not seen it before. The woman had practically told him when she explained where the drow went. The woman's body was proportionally correct for a human, but now Danny realized she was just surrounded by objects appropriately sized for someone her height.

"You're a dwarf," Danny stated.

Acca stopped her fiddling to frown up at him, "You have a problem with dwarves?"

Danny shook his head, a few small multicolored leaves falling from his head, explaining, "A dwarf saved my life once. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just a little confused right now."

Acca's face softened, "I'm sure y'are, you poor thing. Is there anythin' y'need? More water?"

Danny just shook his head to the negative. Everything he needed was coming from the ground now that his roots had spread out far enough.

"So, now that you have had some time to yourself, are you going to tell me what you are? How you got here," Acca asked, making sure her words came out as a request and not a demand.

Danny was grateful to the dwarf women for saving him, but this world had decided to stab, beat, whip, and bury alive the idea that above all else, Danny needed to look after number one. Danny was good at lying, but there was something else he was even better at. Plus it would help pull him out of his year-and-a-half long funk he had been in.

Danny shrugged as much as he could, telling her, "Well, you probably guess I was procured illegally by the drow and forced into slavery. I was immediately sent to the mines for pissing off Queen Snaggletooth. Then, about six years ago, I was tossed into that old mining pit after an abysmal performance review. I broke both my legs; it was pretty embarrassing," Danny finished as he waved a hand dismissively as if what had happened to him was a minor thing.

"Alright, well then, how's about before you were a slave?" Acca asked.

Danny looked down at the woman then looked down at himself. Then looked back to the woman, then back at himself.

"Seriously? I was a man-tree. You already pointed that out like half an hour ago," Danny said as he stared down at the woman as if she had lost more than a few marbles.

Acca did not look impressed, "So you are tellin' me you were this tree-boy..."

"Man-tree," Danny interrupted.

"Fine, boy-tree," Acca replied, with an emphasis on the word 'boy,' before finishing, "and the drow just stumbled upon you underground?"

Danny shook his head pretending to be ready to argue when he acted suddenly distracted by the object in the woman's hands, asking, "What's that?"

Acca, successfully distracted by the change in topic, replied, "It's a healing charm. It didn't work on you, and I am trying to figure out what is wrong."

Danny leaned over extending his hand, "Let me take a look."

Acca eyed him warily before handing the device over to him. Danny held the charm up to study it. The ornate charm looked like someone had attached a metal tube to a necklace and tried to pass it off as jewelry. Danny would have to leave his Sacred Tree Aspect if he wanted to use his mana sight. Then, Danny noticed that something had been carved into the device. In the bottom corner was a Nature Affinity rune, but with the rune's rings left out. Using the correct rune himself, he discovered that it put out only a small amount of healing. Danny knew the symbol carved into the charm wasn't the actual rune and wondered why they had put it there at all.

*Cece, how's my healing?* Danny thought.

*You're good enough to go, Captain. But you might want to do some more healing later.*

Danny exited his Nature Aspect, and Acca jumped out of her chair as the excess bark and leaves on Danny's body fell to the ground near her. Danny ignored the woman's reaction and opened his mana sight to look at the charm. There was the same rune he had seen partially carved on the outside of the charm. The charm didn't hold any mana in reserve, so Danny held up the charm to Acca and pushed some of his mana into it. Nature magic flowed out of the charm and into the dwarf woman, who was still too busy staring at all the plant matter surrounding him to notice.

Danny wobbled a bit unsteadily as he held out the charm to Acca, explaining, "Your charm is fine; it just doesn't work on man-trees."

Acca took the charm back, looking at it as if he might have tampered with it. Then, the dwarf stood up and helped the unsteady Danny into the metal chair. Danny used the movement to look around the campsite with his mana sight, confirming something he had suspected. Everything that the dwarves had brought with them was covered in magical runes.

Acca spoke up from where she was bringing over a plate of food and a cup, asking, "Why are you staring at my mining suit like that?"

"What does it do?" Danny asked without turning back to the dwarf.

Acca frowned, saying, "It mines."

Danny nodded as if that explained everything. Quickly pulling his attention from the mining suits, he realized something else. Something that should have stood out from the beginning.

"Why are you speaking elvish?" Danny asked.

It was Acca's turn to act aloof, asking, "What's wrong with elvish?"

Danny wasn't buying her act one bit and couldn't help but run through the various reasons why.

Acca nervously changed the topic, saying, "Look, Daniel, I am going to have to go back down there and finish this reclaim job, or it will never get finished. You can sit in this chair here and recover. Here is some water and food for you if you get hungry. When my partner Edlin gets back, she can help you get to wherever you need to go."

Danny smiled up at the dwarf as cordially as he could, replying, "Thanks, I might take a nap if that is alright. I did a lot of healing, and it tired me out."

Relief evident on her face, Acca easily returned his smile, saying, "That sounds like a good idea. I will be down there for a while, but I will do my best to come to check on you every now and then."

Danny smiled and nodded her off before picking up something that looked like a flat piece of bread. He was pleasantly surprised it was sweet like a cookie. The dwarf woman walked over to climb up and then into her mining suit. Danny did his best not to gawk as the statue-like contraption stood up and two arms separated from the body. The suit's movements looked slow and cumbersome like one would expect from a heavy piece of machinery. Feigning disinterest, Danny reached over and took a sip of water from the cup next to him before pretending to lay back and fall asleep. As the dwarven woman headed down into the mine, Danny couldn't stop the mischievous smile that spread slowly across his lips.

CHAPTER 16

Three massive mechanical centipedes raced across the vast drow cavern toward the abandoned mine. Their metal limbs were silent, but spear-like ends created the sound of a stampede as they struck the ground. For the life of him, Danny could not figure out where she could have concealed it. Moving fluidly over large rocks or shallow depressions, the three monstrosities covered the distance with ease.

Still, unsteady on his legs, Danny, in his Mana Aspect, floated down behind Edlin's mining suit and hurriedly drew more mana from a large red obstinite crystal attached to the back of it. Realizing that he had run out of time, Danny exited his Mana Aspect and quickly resealed the stone panel covering the crystal.

*Cece, I can't believe it was that easy. Have the science officers analyze that rune and determine how we can manipulate it further. Oh, and use them all in and around obstinite to see if it has any other unique effects,* Danny commanded.

*Right away, Captain.*

Danny couldn't believe he would just randomly stumble upon the rune he had been searching for so long. The fact that the dwarves placed the rune in a stone piece allowed him to see it clearly in his Mana Aspect. The rune readily absorbed mana from the sizeable obstinite crystal-like battery. The obstinite must have been enchanted itself to not absorb mana. Otherwise, Danny's magic would have never been able to analyze any of the nearby runes in the mining suit's various parts.

*Also, have someone work on improving the efficiency of this mining suit. Run modified versions through a series of tests similar to military and automobile obstacle courses from my memories of Earth. I want something to thank Acca and Edlin with,* Danny added.

Danny excitedly started thinking about all the possibilities for how he could use these suits.

*Captain, with the command room fully staffed again, we do not have enough resources to handle more than one research task at a time,* Cece informed him reluctantly.

Danny sighed, replying, *Focus on researching the rune; then move on to optimizing the suit.*

Just then, the thundering noise of the approaching mechanical creatures came to a halt. Danny didn't move out from behind the mining suit and used his magical senses to scan the mechanical centipedes. Danny had the results of the scan show up in his vision like the afterimage one gets when staring at a light for too long. Closing his eyes, Danny could see that the inside of the centipedes were hollow. Inside were more mining suits. At least, that's what had he thought a first. These suits had the addition of helmets and were made from metal. The runes that came back from his Mana Scan showed that they were optimized for military and not for excavation activities. There were a handful of individuals in each craft who were not in battle suites, and Danny chalked them up to being drivers and support staff.

Danny hunkered down further behind the mining suit and cursed himself for getting caught in these situations, but he needed to see this through if it could get him an in with the dwarves.

Bright lights bathed the surrounding area as the sound of metal grinding on metal was followed by two loud bangs. Then, the earth rumbled slightly as numerous dwarven battle suits exited the mechanical centipedes and fanned out in a half circle around the mining suit. Even as the suits moved into position, they drew large weapons with one hand, mostly axes and swords, and kept an empty hand outstretched toward Danny's hiding location. Danny peeked around the mining suit to see that each bore the same pattern of blue and green , but had various different symbols painted on their metal shells.

Debating his options, Danny decided he would play this one by the book. Raising his hands, Danny wobblily moved out from behind the mining suit and stood there waiting for whomever was in charge to come out of the last mechanical transport. Danny started to get impatient as the minutes ticked by and no one exited the second craft or communicated to him in any way.

*Cece, any update on the rune yet?*

*We are still delving into it, but we have some preliminary data. Transferring it now,* Cece replied.

Danny looked confused, asking, *You're what...*

Danny had a moment that could only be described as something akin to déjà vu, as he experienced the sanctuary research science officer's memories. Smiling to himself, Danny figured out that the runes which allowed one to absorb mana from obstinite also allowed one to absorb the mana at range. Whatever the mana absorbing fields were that surrounded natural obstinite, they could be overcome by adding these extra runes. Danny's smile slipped as he realized the mana expenditure for such spells was exponentially higher depending on range, magnitude, and complexity of the desired draw.

At some imperceptible signal, the last and middle transport opened up, and more of the same type of battle suits poured out to join their counterparts. That is, all but the three battle suits that exited last. The three new, all red, battle suits moved to a position in the center of the half-moon formation. Danny's magic senses could instantly tell they were made of obstinite. Danny couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that these imposing and large dwarven battle suits had not only half surrounded him but were also actively trained on a scrawny human teenage boy as though he were some sort of bloodthirsty dragon.

A gruff voice emerged from the center obstinite battle suit, yelling in elvish, "Human, are you the one called Danny Creek?"

Danny smiled in relief, grateful that the dwarves knew who he was. He quickly lowered his hands, visibly relaxing.

Empowering his voice with Air Magic, Danny replied, "Yes, that's me!"

Danny was about to continue with a friendly greeting when his ascendant senses started to tingle. Klaxons blared all throughout Danny's skull as magical power flared to life in every single battle suit standing in front of him. Danny turned and awkwardly tumbled around and behind Edlin's mining suit, just as bolts of lightning, fire, and ice struck where he had just been. The battle suits had followed Danny's movements and were now trained on the mining suit Danny had chosen to hide behind. The onslaught continued for a few more seconds before the lead obstinite suit quit firing, lowering its arm. The action was quickly followed by the others.

The billowing cloud of smoke and dust slowly dissipated to reveal the shattered remains of Edlin's mining suit. Sticking straight up out of the middle of the pile was what was left of one of Danny's arms. Danny's mangled hand was twitching as it bled rivulets of bright red blood down his arm. The lead obstinite battle suit raised its arm, preparing to fire again when Danny's hand finally quit twitching. Deciding the threat was gone, the lead battle suit started to lower its arm again when Danny's hand flipped them all the bird. The ground around Danny's arm exploded as long dark forms burst forth like thick black oil from a ruptured tanker. Every light, from the scavenger's camp to the centipede-like mechanical transports went dark, as the seething mass bathed the area in the deepest of black.

There were a few heartbeats of just complete darkness before the battle suits turned on their enchanted lights. The bright illumination came from crystals embedded in their suit's helmets and shoulders. Even though the crystals showed very brightly, the light barely managed to travel out past a few meters. Where the light stopped a wall of writhing dark flesh began. There was no discerning what creature or creatures the flesh belong to, as scales, fur, long clawed arms, and mouths brimming with fangs emerged and returned from random locations along the frightening thrashing wall. The dwarves' battle suits stood frozen as their occupants' minds tried to process what they were seeing.

Once again, the lead obstinite battle suit was the first to respond, firing into the mass as they backed away toward the center transport. The other suits were slow to follow. More than a few failed to move at all as the nightmare made flesh closed in and consumed them. The other two transports rocked as the swirling mass reached them. Their remaining occupants had just fled to join those in the centermost transport as their abandoned craft were grabbed up and consumed.

The center transport was quickly surrounded by the remaining battle suits. Firing into their surroundings, the dwarven battle suit's attacks of fire, ice, and lightning splashed against the slowly constricting wall of flesh. While the dwarves' attacks seemed to damage their enemy, the damaged area soon swelled again with unblemished flesh.

Occasionally, the wall of flesh would separate, and the coiled rope-like layers would swing out to snag a battle suit and drag it into its swirling self.

A lone elderly dwarf in robes now stood at the opening to the remaining transport, watching the battle through strangely tinted spectacles. Despite the dwarf's advanced age, she effortlessly jumped up onto the lead battle suit's shoulder, yelling into it over the deafening noise. The lead suit quit firing, and the color of the suit's visor changed. Spinning agilely on one foot, the lead suit turned and fired up into the air, almost directly over the remaining transport.

The swirling nightmare vanished in an instant as the lights of the mining camp and remaining transport returned. Two half-buried transports, and numerous battle suits buried to the bottom of their helmets littered the, now visible, area surrounding them.

CHAPTER 17

Minutes before the nightmare had ended, Danny had circled behind Edlin's mining suit, debating whether or not to just kill the dwarves or incapacitate them. He took a moment to fume at the injustice of their attacking him without provocation before deciding to at least let them get a taste of where one's mind wanders when left alone for over half a decade. To glimpse what it is like to embrace the darkness as one would the closest loved one. To experience being trapped in nearly complete sensory deprivation past the point time ceases to have meaning. Being unable to move due to the weight of the mass of earth and rocks bearing down on you from above. All alone, no promise of relief in site and all you can hear is your own screaming sobs, until they too leave you.

Switching quickly to his Ice Aspect, Danny used a little Fire Affinity and hid his body from visible spectrum as he rose high toward the cavern's ceiling with the aid of Air Affinity. Below Danny, the dwarven battle suits continued to uselessly destroy Edlin's mining suit in an attempt to get to him. Danny mentally added more debt to the dwarves' tab for taking away one of his savior's personal possessions.

The dwarves had quit firing now, and Danny didn't hesitate to create the illusion of his mangled arm sticking out from the wreckage of Edlin's suit. Then, with a flip of his illusionary middle finger, Danny began to show the dwarves what true soul-crushing terror looks like.

Danny was able to claim a quarter of the battle suits in the first few minutes as they just stood there, unmoving. Landing before switching to Lava Aspect, Danny maintained the illusion as he used Earth Affinity to drag the passed out or terror frozen dwarves' battle suits outside the range of his illusion and the other battle suits' sight. Not wasting any time, Danny moved in and removed the captured suits' back panels. With malicious glee, Danny ripped out what he took to calling the battle suits' "obstinite batteries." Without the mana stored in the obstinite, the battle suits quickly used up their remaining mana and could no longer move. As Danny predicted, the suits' occupants couldn't lift the suits' helmet-like hatches without the extra mana either. A serious design flaw in Danny's opinion.

Once the obstinite batteries were removed, Danny buried the suits up to the bottom of their helmets in the rocky ground of the cavern. He made sure to seal the helmets closed with rock as an added precaution.

Unable to remove the mana from the batteries in his aspects other than Mana Aspect, Danny was forced to hide them to one side underground before returning to the battle raging on the other side of his swirling hurricane of an illusion.

This process continued as Danny used Earth Affinity and his illusions to 'grab' more battle suits, removing their mana batteries and burying the battle suits. Making sure to randomize his targets, so as not to give up the game, Danny switched to Ice Aspect and flew up to a point in the middle of his illusion to find the next likely victim.

Danny was pleased with his little show. He hoped the dwarves would be more appreciative when he next spoke to them and would stop trying to kill him with their little toys. He needed allies, and since they didn't seem to even allow negotiations to begin, Danny would have to use a firmer hand with them.

The air suddenly swirled viciously around Danny and the battle suits below. There was a sound like bullets whizzing by Danny's head, and Danny cried out in pain as he fell towards the ground near the only remaining unburied transport.

Cece, called out in alarm, *Captain, you have been struck by small pellets of obstinite. I tried to redirect them with Air Affinity as you requested but was unable to block the entire spread. Your magical casting has been interrupted with the foreign obstinite, and we are attempting to reroute your mana."

Danny struggled to think through the pain, *Get... get us underground.*

*Right away, Captain!*

Danny's body flickered orange momentarily as he attempted to enter Lava Aspect, but then, the light faded. Danny's body was now only a handful of meters from the ground. Cursing silently, Danny added his own limited concentration to working his mana around the bits of obstinite lodged in his body.

Cece screamed, *The foreign obstinite has been isolated!*

Danny's body hit the ground just as it flared brightly. There was a slight jarring sensation as his body landed, but then, the ground turned red with intense heat as Danny sunk down into the earth like it was made of honey. After descending over four meters underground, Danny stopped himself. Stretching outwards, Danny compressed the earth around him create some space for himself to think. As he exited his Lava Aspect, Danny clenched his hands in anger around the loose stone nearby.

*Cece, can we get rid of these foreign pieces of obstinite?*

*Yes, Captain, but it will take more time than you currently have. Can't you just escape?*

Danny didn't reply at first as he brooded over his options. Absently playing with a loose stone in his hands, Danny paused as he came to a realization. The Lava Aspect left his body as his blackened and burned appearing flesh regained its natural hue.

*Cece, I need you to..." Danny didn't get to finish, as his position was rushed by the three obstinite battle suits.

The rocky earth around Danny shattered and flew in all directions as fists made of obstinite smoothly forced their way through the ground toward where he waited. Deciding to keep his options open, Danny stayed in his natural form as he called up chunks of rock from below to push the obstinite hands away from where they were aiming at him. Just in time, small obstinite pellets shot out of the battle suits to ricochet around the small cavity.

*Cece, start draining them,* Danny frantically thought as he wrapped more rock around the three obstinite suits' arms, preventing them from firing on him further.

Three giant red hands strained toward him no less than a meter away from where Danny squatted down as low as he could. To Danny's continued frustration, the obstinite comprising the three battlesuits was also actively draining the mana from the very Earth Magic he was using to stop it. Chunks of dirt and rock occasionally fell onto Danny, as the mana holding them together was drained away by his enemies' suits. Very soon, Danny's limited mana would not be able to overcome the draining effect of the obstinite suits as he kept their rocky restraints manifested.

"Give up, Defiler," shouted the familiar voice of the lead dwarf, coming from the obstinite suit directly in front of Danny.

Danny didn't know what to make of his new nickname and didn't really have the time to concentrate on anything other than fending off one of the suit's attempts to punch at him as the suit managed to get its other arm into the tiny cavity. Danny's little cavity underground caved in as the suits' combined weight became too much for the small dome Danny had created to support. Danny glanced over briefly to see that he and the three suits now struggled against each other in a large depression right next to where the dwarven transport sat.

*Captain, there doesn't appear to be a battery within these obstinite suits,* Cece chimed in. *The suits themselves are the battery.*

Grunting audibly, Danny moved more rock around the obstinite battle suits' feet as he replied, *Use the new rune we found to surround everything dwarven in a field of mana under my control, absorbing any and all mana. Make sure to grab what mana is left in the batteries we removed.*

*Sir, at this distance, the cost of the spell versus the mana absorbed will not be very efficient...*

Danny screamed out loud at the figment of his imagination, "Just do it!"

Danny didn't hear if Cece replied because one of the secondary obstinite battle suits broke free of its restrains, and Danny was forced to leap up higher to avoid a swipe from the giant obstinite battle axe it clutched in its other hand. Doing something he had been too scared to do since an accident as a child, Danny flew without being in his Air Aspect high above the three battle suits. Outside the reach of the obstinite battle suits' melee weapons, the first freed battle suit raised its other hand to use one of its long-range abilities. The battle suit's hand remained raised for a few seconds longer, but nothing happened. The freed suit thrust its hand out further as if this would help activate the runes refusing to work.

*Captain, switch to Mana Aspect before it's too late!*

Danny didn't hesitate to comply, his body instantly becoming ethereal in appearance.

*Cece, status update,* Danny asked as he suddenly found he didn't have to fight the other obstinite battle suits for control of the rock he was building up around them.

*Captain, I am absorbing any mana used in an attempt to activate any of the suit's various runes. There is also a draw on mana stored in the suits, but it will take a while given the dwarf's natural mana regenerative abilities.*

*Thank you, Cece. Keep up the excellent work,* Danny replied as he floated closer to where the lead obstinite suit was now almost completely covered in rock.

"Tell me, Dwarf, why you are attacking me?" Danny demanded the dwarf in the lead suit.

There was a spitting noise, and Danny saw something strike the tinted glass covering the inside of the obstinite suit's helmet. Danny wondered if the dwarf had forgotten that had been lowered.

"I'll tell you nothing, Monster," yelled back the fanatical dwarf.

Rolling his eyes, Danny floated out of the slowly filling depression. The three obstinite suits were now just three helmets, barely peeking out of the rocky terrain. The metal dwarven battle suits still protecting the last transport were rendered useless as Danny slowly stripped them of their stored mana. Every battle suit still standing now slowly sunk into the rocky floor of the cavern. Danny made his way over to the bespectacled dwarf in the robes he had seen before. The dwarven woman must have vacated the lead battle suit's shoulder while Danny had been busy not being crushed during his recent fall.

Floating slowly to the ground next to the open dwarven transport, Danny stared into the robed dwarf's tinted glasses. The two regarded each other in silence as the dwarves who had been driving the transports waited nervously further back inside the remaining centipede-like craft.

"Good day to you, Madam Dwarf," Danny broke the silence with a comical bow.

Creating the dark apparition early had had an extremely cathartic effect on Danny's psyche, and for the first time he felt a little like his old self. While his voice had been cordial, Danny's expression was anything but friendly.

The tinted spectacles on the dwarf's face hid part of her expression, but the frowning mouth slipped quickly into a scowl at Danny's mock greeting. The robed dwarven women refused to reply to Danny's greeting, instead choosing to draw a hand hidden in her robes. Removing a long cylinder, the dwarven woman quickly pointed it in Danny's direction. A long, loud sound emitted from the device, like an explosive fart. This noise continued on for what felt like at least a single long and uncomfortable minute. The elderly bespectacled dwarf stood frozen for a few moments after the noise had ended, mouth pinched, as the cylinder began to shake in her hand.

Danny made a sputtering sound before he broke out laughing. Arms crossing his stomach, Danny reached up to wipe a tear from his eye, managing to get out, "The look on your face... Oh, I needed that, thanks."

Danny subsided into only a few chuckles as he raised a hand dismissively, stone chairs and a small table rising behind him. Danny lifted himself up and floated over to one of the chairs, which he promptly settled into.

Indicating the chair next to him, Danny said, "Sit."

The elderly dwarf looked as if she would reach into her robes to try something else, but then her shoulders slumped in defeat. Seeming to come to some internal conclusion, the woman returned the cylinder to her robes before walking over to sit in the vacant chair, her back and head held up straight.

Danny silently regarded the dwarven woman sitting next to him as he considered his next words carefully. The bespectacled dwarf ignored Danny's scrutiny and removed the large glasses from her face and set them down on the stone table Danny had summoned. The ancient eyes which looked up in challenge to Danny's stare were not cowed or defeated. The pale brown eyes of the dwarven woman spoke of experience and confidence in herself and in her own abilities. The look left the dwarf's face the moment Danny waved his hand again and numerous pieces of obstinite, wood, and metal fell from the robes of the ancient dwarf to scatter across the cavern floor.

Danny cleared his throat, "You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Ms. Dwarf. You know my name, but I do not know yours."

The woman was looking down at the remains of her weapons and personal effects now littering the ground below her as she absently mumbled, "Sage."

Danny looked confused, "Is that your name or your title?"

Recovering, the sage looked, glaring at Danny as she fumed, "That is my title. You will not have my name, Defiler."

A deep sigh escaped Danny's lips as he questioned why he even bothered, asking in a bored voice, "Why do you call me by that title?"

"Your kind opened the barriers between worlds and nearly destroyed ours in the process. Then, those of your blood who discovered how to meddle with magic decided to change the very fabric which our reality was woven with," the sage smugly replied as she leaned away from Danny in open disgust, adding, "Now, you return to finish what you started. I tell you now that I will not stand by and allow you to finish the job!"

The sage leaped up and with speed and strength that belied her age struck out at Danny with a roundhouse kick to his head. Danny didn't move as the dwarven woman's foot froze centimeters from his face. Beads of sweat broke out across the sage's brow and to Danny's surprise, the woman's foot moved a hairbreadth closer. Then, the sage brought her foot down on the table, effortlessly breaking through it and striking the ground below. The cavern floor cracked and broke, dislodging the chairs from the floor and unseating Danny. With outstretched hands, Danny used his Earth Affinity to stop the ground directly beneath them from splitting entirely and flying upward. Impressed, Danny recognized that the diminutive dwarven woman had done this with just the power of her body alone.

Of course, this was all just a faint to distract Danny from the two dwarven warriors who had managed to escape from their immobilized battle suits. Wielding an obstinite sword and hammer respectively, the two dwarven warriors silently slashed and slammed their weapons into Danny's waiting form. Once again, the attacks were halted with an immensely dense barrier of Air Affinity before the blows could land. Still patiently standing in front of the sage, Danny watched the woman's eyes open wide in shock.

"But, how? You shouldn't be able to...," the sage mumbled in disbelief.

Slowly sinking, the dwarven warriors refused to give up their weapons as they were swallowed by the cavern floor up to their shoulders. Their shouts of fear and outrage were cut short by the bubbles of Air Affinity that surrounded their heads. The sage's body moved against her will as she sat down on the ground near her overturned stone chair, only to have the chair and cavern floor beneath her rise up and encase her body up to her nose. The stone around the sage's body cracked and groaned but reformed to hold firm. The door to the centipede transport slammed shut, and the seams sealed themselves. Danny ignored the banging and shouts of the dwarves still trapped inside as he stepped up to the sage's struggling form.

"I would have rather worked with your people," Danny said forlornly as he reached across the short distance and placed a hand on the sage's exposed head. The sage looked pleadingly into Danny's eyes, but she found no sympathy there. Looking into Danny's eyes, she found nothing there at all.

CHAPTER 18

Even though they were not his own, Danny experienced the sage's memories like brief glimpses of the hilly countryside from a passing train. Playing in Danny's mind like a short documentary, the sage's memories came complete with a voiceover by the woman herself, but in third person for some reason.

Sage Bedelia Corundum had been born to a prestigious and honored dwarven family. Held in regard from the time of the Cataclysm, their secret training regimen placed warriors from their lineage above the others in terms of raw physical power. Strength being one of the hardest attributes to train, their family held political power by holding many high positions in the dwarven military.

Bedelia had been unique among her blood relations in that she had an exceptionally sharp tactical mind to match her family's strength. Despite their political sway, very few Corundums had managed to obtain a high enough mastery in the military ranks to reach the title of sage. The title of sage was only bestowed upon those dwarves who had entered the pinnacle of their chosen paths.

The vast subterranean realm of the dwarves, called the Crimson Caverns, had been the last refuge during the end of the great cataclysm. Before the Great Cataclysm, the dwarves had been strongly allied to the forebears of the elves now occupying the elven forest. When the Cataclysmic drove the elves and dwarves from their ancestral homelands and into the far outlands they now called home, the two races fled as one. Hundreds of thousands of elves and dwarves, vastly more dwarves than elves, traveled as one defensible force. Just as the two races believed they had managed to escape the alien creatures which had hounded their every step, they found themselves beset on two sides by the vast hordes of the Cataclysmic. With retreating back into Cataclysmic infested lands no longer being an option, the dwarven and elven races had raced ahead in a vain attempt to outpace the quickly encroaching doom.

Even with the dwarves' mechanical transports, they were unable to keep up with their swift elven allies. The elves didn't hesitate to throw down their prized possessions and artifacts in favor of their lives. Many dwarven warriors fell back in an attempt to stall the Cataclysmic, but it was all for nothing. In the end, even the elves' impressive speed could not save them from the closing Cataclysmic ranks. The remaining dwarves, regardless of their chosen paths, turned to fight for the survival of their species.

The story passed down from generation to generation of Corundums was that the earth lurched beneath the feet of all who were there that day. The sounds of battle had died as the ground beneath their feet began to move like the waters of the oceans. Those who survived that day say the elves had also made their last stand, but it was at the edge of the two waves of Cataclysmic. While the dwarves' allies fought bravely, their numbers dwindled faster than those of the dwarves. Then, the elven leader, a powerful being they called an Ascendant, had separated himself from the fighting and now stood at the epicenter of the earthly undulations.

It was all the dwarven people could do to remain standing as the earth lurched and bucked like a wild hog. The Cataclysmic stopped attacking as they too struggled to not be thrown around by the rippling earthquakes. There was a loud shout that deafened those nearest the ascendant, right before the ground rose up to touch the sky. Just as many dwarfs died that day from the upheaval as were killed by the Cataclysmic. Whether the Ascendant had possessed enough power to work the great magic on his own, or if he had somehow infused his own soul, the dwarves never found out. When those dwarves surviving came to their senses, they found themselves stranded on the other side of a far-stretching mountain range. As far as anyone could see, the mountains acted like a great distance stretching wall, severely hindering any from entering the Outlands.

The dwarves used their natural skills in working the earth to move through the mountains and gather up those still able to continue on. Cataclysmic now infested the mountains as well but lacked the dwarves' skills in elevated terrain and fell swiftly to the assembled dwarves. When the dwarves realized that traversing the mountains was impossible, they searched downward for a defensible location. That's when they discovered a large cave that opened up into a wonder never seen before. While obstinite was known to the dwarven people, they had never found more than a handful of the substance at a time. The elven Ascendant had dragged something not usually seen this side of the darkest depths up near the surface.

The Crimson Caverns were a grouping of vast caverns studded with obstinite. When the dwarves hobbled and carried their brethren into the glittering caverns, they had found the place none too soon. A horde of Cataclysmic discovered them only a few days later. Fighting back the horde, the dwarves retreated into the Crimson Caverns, as they fought for their lives. It was during this fight that the dwarves had first witnessed a Cataclysmic touch the red crystal that made up the surrounding cavern. The Cataclysmic touching the obstinite quickly swelled before bursting in a spray of blood and viscera. Emboldened by this, the dwarves mined the stone around any chunk of obstinite they could move into place at the cavern's only entrance. Many more dwarves died before the cavern could be safely sealed, but eventually, the task was done.

Unlike the elves, the dwarves had been able to retain many of their skilled warriors and craftsman. Once the dwarves had determined that the Cataclysmic had all either left or died of some unknown cause, they had gone out to retrieve precious resources they had hidden after the mountains had been raised. Seeds, tools, and great tomes of knowledge were just a few of the items the dwarves had wisely stashed away before swiftly fleeing into the Crimson Caverns. With the majority of their cultural and technological histories intact, Bedelia's ancestors had prospered under the new and untapped resources of the Dwarven Mountains.

Thousands of years later, the Crimson Caverns had become a marvel, an amalgam of what magical and technological advancement could achieve. The dwarves had kept their advancements and secrets to themselves, following strict rules when venturing out of their sacred caverns. Their language, both written and spoken, would not be allowed outside, to deter any of the other races from learning from what they had suffered so much to gain.

The beastmen were the first race the dwarves had encountered after the end of the Cataclysm. The beastmen claimed to still be fighting the Cataclysmic, but the dwarves believed this to be a pathetic attempt at getting them to share their secrets. While the beastmen warriors were respectably fierce, the dwarves reinforced the beastmen's false sense of superiority over the dwarves by playing the fool. Most recently, the beastmen claimed to be seeking an ancient enemy who had risen as an ascendant. Over the years, the dwarves had developed a dogma against those that could use magic naturally and, above all else, against ascendants. Enough of the conclave of sages were happy to agree to give the beastmen powdered obstinite, claiming it some secret compound they called mana poison. Sharing this with the beastmen would also make the creatures think twice before testing the dwarves' mettle.

The drow appeared from time to time, breeding in the dark places, stealing and enslaving whatever and whomever they could. A drow queen would rise up to threaten the dwarves' territory. As they always did, the dwarves would prolong the wars, using the opportunity to train their younger warriors in the ways of battle. The second the dwarves quit fighting was the second they grew soft, and that could not be allowed. The last batch of drow proved this by discovering the precious obstinite and crafting weapons of their own. More than a few dwarven youths died when the drow finally brought their new weapons to bare.

After finding a clear path to the outlands, the dwarves first encountered the humans. The faux dwarven market town they crafted from the side of the Dwarven Mountain served as a means of gathering resources and information from the squabbling humans. The dwarves prided themselves on selling the stupid humans the quartz infused with weak enchantments. For the price of a half-hour of a dwarf's time, a specialized charm, and a few quartz pieces, they were able to purchase an acre of lumber, a field of wheat, or the meat from half a herd of cattle. The humans had only recently united and made some attempt at regaining their magic. At first, the dwarves were afraid the sorcerers of old would return until they found out that the humans had discovered some activator charms. Many dwarves questioned the humans' sanity when they started 'unlocking' their male's mana.

Lastly, there were their former allies, the forest elves. The once proud race was merely a shadow of their former selves. The frantic race to escape the workings of their last ascendant had stripped them of much of their ancient knowledge and power. Their only saving grace was the small settlement already located within the Outlands. Many dwarves who had lost ancestors to the elves' betrayal wanted to reach out and punish them further for their ancestors' actions. The rapidly growing elvish population and the shortening of their legendary lengthy lives were all that was required to appease the loudest dissenters.

At six hundred and fourteen summers, Sage Bedelia Corundum had served as a general and renowned sage of the warrior path for over one hundred springs. Her position in the conclave allowed her a residence in the main column of the Crimson Caverns. Centered near the middle of the cluster of caverns, the great column was the epicenter of the dwarven culture and government. There the conclave lived, worked, and decided on the future of the dwarven race. There were many paths, and thus, there were many sages. While Bedelia enjoyed the company and prestige of living with her fellow sages, she preferred the familiar atmosphere of the central column in the cavern dedicated to the path of the warrior. There, her family ruled, and she was consulted in almost all things.

The rest of Bedelia's life was laid out before her. She would continue on as a sage until she no longer had the mental faculties to continue; then, she would retire to her family home to live out her days in peaceful contemplation. That was until word came of the new ascendant. Some male from the family Quarry, a name so common it held little meaning anymore, returned from a failed exploratory visit to the elven forest. More than a few doubted that the male had enough education to back what he claimed, but then one of the sages from the path of secrets vouched for him. Bedelia was assured that the obstinite would be Danny Creek's undoing. That their precious Crimson Cavern would be all but unreachable by their most feared and hated of enemies, the ascendants.

Bedelia had only realized too late how wrong they were.

CHAPTER 19

The elderly dwarven woman somehow looked positively ancient as she squeezed shut her wrinkly eyes in an attempt to ward off a pounding migraine. The cavernous folds of sagging flesh shook slightly as the sage suffered silently in pain. Danny had opened his own eyes, relieved to find himself feeling quite normal.

*Captain, that concludes all relevant data from Sage Corundum's memories. The rest of her memories can be accessed from the library at will, or we can assign resources to search for more relevant information that you require.*

*Thank you, Cece. Excellent work. I didn't pass out this time,* Danny replied as he stretched his arms high above his head.

Turning around, Danny found Acca in her mining suit standing over him with one of the large chunks of obstinite lifted high above her head. Danny suspected his close proximity to the sage was the only thing keeping the dwarven scavenger from dropping the large crystal boulder on top of him.

Danny ignored Acca as he asked Cece, *Can you have someone start filtering through her memories for anything that could provide me with additional skill gains? Also, do you have those advancements to the mining suit ready yet?*

*I will send over what we have so far on the mining suit,* Cece replied.

Danny felt like he was free-falling backwards for a few seconds, and then the experience was over. Floating up into the air, Danny held the obstinite boulder stationary with Air Magic as Acca finally gathered the courage to crush him. Acca struggled for a few seconds to slam the obstinite downwards when she finally realized that it wasn't going to happen.

"What did you do to the sage?" Acca screamed in equal parts fear and anger.

Danny held up a placating hand as he tried to sooth the frantic dwarven woman, "I merely gave her a bit of a headache as I took a tour down memory lane with her. She will be back to smashing and telling people what to do in a few hours."

Acca looked unconvinced and quickly ducked out of the way as she let go of the massive piece of obstinite. She stood there in confusion as the obstinite didn't shift in the slightest from where it hung suspended in the air.

"Acca, I want to thank you and Edlin from saving me from the living death that was my earthbound tomb. If you just step out of your mining suit, I can make the upgrades to it that will assist you in your chosen path," Danny requested.

"Go away..." mumbled Acca.

With his magically enhanced sense, Danny easily heard the woman, but he wasn't sure what she meant, saying, "I'm sorry, Acca, I didn't kill anyone. They are all fine, just trapped so they can't hurt me."

Acca looked down in hatred at Danny, screaming, "I said get out! If you want to thank me, then leave! Or better yet go die! Your kind is not wanted here!"

Danny looked down and away, before floating up to the hovering boulder of obstinite, asking, "Of course, but can I take this?"

Acca didn't respond verbally but just silently nodded her head. Danny floated with his new pet rock over to one of the half-buried centipede transports. The rocky floor rippled as the transport rose up out of the cavern floor. Not feeling the need to ask Acca for something that wasn't hers by right, Danny used his mana manipulation to activate the transports controls and open the hatch. Floating down, Danny placed the obstinite inside and closed the hatch behind him as he entered. Danny moved to the front of the transport, noting the simple benches lining the sides before reaching a grouping of four captain's chairs facing the front. The controls to the dwarven transport were simple, but Danny didn't even need to touch them to move the vehicle.

Danny's new transport turned and moved quickly away from the old mine and the dwarves still trapped in various ways. Danny knew Acca would find a way to start freeing them. If that didn't work, then Danny's absence would soon return the remaining mana in the obstinite battle suits back over to them.

The massive subterranean mountain once belonging to the drow loomed taller and taller as Danny traveled on a path to pass it. As he drew alongside it, Danny saw the mountain now had a smooth, yet lumpy in some spots, surface. The sage's memories held the moment the mountain had fallen and the dwarves' runic magic had turned it into a volcano. The sulfurous fumes had killed anyone and anything remaining in the cavern. A layer of dust Danny hadn't chanced to breathe in covered the majority of surfaces. A team of dwarven scavengers had already been through to clean up the dead drow and slave bodies.

Danny had been shocked when he had learned through Sage Corundum's memories of how much of a passive disregard she and the rest of the dwarves had when they indiscriminately killed all the slaves as well as the drow. Past experiences had shown many of the slaves were brainwashed into faithfully serving their drow masters, throwing their lives away as they attacked the backs of their unwary dwarven saviors. It didn't matter the race of the slaves, be they beastman, human, elf, or dwarf; they were all killed along with their masters. Danny didn't really know how he felt about the dwarves, now that so much had been revealed to him. While he sympathized with the reasons behind the dwarves' desire for isolationism, he didn't agree with all of their methods.

Danny reluctantly turned the transport down the tunnel leading to the Crimson Caverns and in the opposite direction of those he loved. He had to take care of unfinished business before he risked bringing more enemies to his friends' and family's front door.

***

The centipede transport was now parked around a small sacred tree located in a pocket of air just hundreds of meters away from the Crimson Caverns. It had been a little over three days since Danny had tunneled into this vast area near the dwarven territory which was comprised mostly of solid stone. Danny consumed a small pebble from his boulder of obstinite before changing into his sacred tree form. Then, Danny continued the healing process while, against his better judgment, casting the aging spell he had learned from the forest elves.

Danny quickly dived into his sanctuary in a coward's way to avoid not only the tedium of waiting on his body to finish healing but the pain caused by the aging spell. Moving through his skills' room, Danny was surprised to see his intelligence attribute had moved very close to the third threshold. Glancing around the room at the new skill gains displayed, Danny learned that he had mastered the meditation skill while trapped in the ground for six years. Without this ability, he would have surely gone mad. Then, Danny saw that his walk through the sage's memories had netted him the skills Dwarven (spoken) at level eight and Dwarven (written) at level six.

Excited to gain more easy skill levels, Danny shouted, "Cece! Cece, come here!"

"Yes, Captain," a voice spoke up from behind him.

Surprised, Danny jumped, shouting, "Don't do that! Only suddenly appear in front of me like a normal figment of my imagination," Danny grumbled before getting to what he wanted, "How are you doing on weeding out the Sage's memories containing potential skill gains?"

Cece referenced her clipboard before replying, "We are double-checking now, but it appears that there are only a few skill gains available as the Sage only sought to learn martial skills. Though, I would point out that her family's secret training regimen for strength is something we can schedule for you in the R&D room."

Danny smiled excitedly, "Sure, but how long did it take the sage to complete the secret training?"

"A little over thirty years."

"Wha...," Danny looked sick at his stomach as he asked, "Is there some way we can use the R&D room to speed that up?"

"Given the time it takes to master the training, if you trained nonstop for days on end, it would take you ten years," Cece replied.

Danny grumbled as he stomped off into the hallway with Cece close on his heels. Stopping to take in his bearings Danny found himself too frustrated to make a decision.

Instead, Danny turned to the woman next to him, asking, "Cece, do I have anything pending? Anything I asked you all to do that is actually finished?"

Cece looked a little miffed at his wording, replying defensively, "We have isolated all of the sage's memories that will most likely increase your skills."

Danny's lousy mood lifted instantly, "Alright, get on with the transfer of..."

Cece pressed something on her clipboard before Danny could finish his command and watched apathetically as he passed out onto the hallway floor. Cece stepped over Danny's unconscious body and walked off toward the control room.

***

Danny awoke with a jerk, absently wiping the drool from his mouth with the back of his hand as he looked around in confusion. He was still on the floor of the sanctuary hallway wondering why his mind had bothered to create imaginary drool while he had been knocked out. Pushing off the ground, Danny looked around and realized something was off. Obtusely, Danny started counting and recounting the doors when he realized that there was one too many. Across from the entrance to the R&D room was a new door without any distinguishing features.

"What the hell is going on?" Danny muttered to himself.

"You absorbed the sage's memories and reached the third intelligence threshold," said someone behind Danny.

Releasing an unintentional high pitched scream, Danny jumped in the air, somehow managing to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees halfway through. Behind him stood Cece, looking unimpressed with everything.

"What did I tell you about appearing suddenly behind me like that?" Danny half yelled, half wined.

Without bothering to reply, Cece started walking down the hallway, and Danny found himself following her without consciously choosing to.

"You have reached level six in Beastmen (spoken) and Beastmen (written). It appears Dwarven warriors are required to know and understand the major sentient languages in case they come across other races. You have also reached level nine in Military Leadership, level six in Politics, and level eight in Intimidate," Cece explained as they reached the new door.

There was a holographic marque above the door like the others, but there wasn't any text scrolling across it, just some strange fluctuating lights. Cece walked through the door, completely ignoring Danny's questioning looks. Danny stepped through the door to find a massive silver turn dial occupying the far wall. There was nothing else in the bright white room to help explain what Danny was looking at. The dial had four numbers marked around it with the dial's arrow pointing to the first number. The first number also happened to be the number one. Then, there was a one-half, a one-fourth, and finally a one-sixteenth fraction marking at the four corners of the compass around the dial.

Danny scratched his head, "Is this the... faster thinking?"

Cece, shrugged, "I only do what I am instructed or given permission to do. No one has touched it since you passed out, drooling all over the hallway."

Danny glared at the woman, grumbling, "You don't have to say it like that."

Danny walked over and, without preamble, turned the dial to the one-half mark. Danny looked around the featureless room in disappointment when nothing noteworthy happened.

"Can we get some decorations in here, like a painting or a window or something?" gripped Danny, wanting something to vent about.

Cece merely raised a single eyebrow and tapped on her clipboard. Large windows expanded outward from the center to take up the entirety of the side walls. Danny looked out at a star field quickly moving past them. Walking over, Danny turned the dial to the one-fourth setting. The stars moving by outside turned into streaks of light.

Danny turned his head slightly to the side, asking, "Shouldn't we be slowing down, not speeding up?"

Cece ignored him, engrossed in something on her clipboard. Danny frowned at her lack of response as he moved over to raise the dial one more time. The last setting turned the view outside the windows to pure whiteness streaked with lines of black.

Once again, the only apparent changes when turning up the dial were to what was happening outside the windows. Danny couldn't help himself and began moving the dial back and forth as he watched the stars stop and fly backwards before stopping again.

***

Danny came to for the second time, deciding that playing with the dial had not been the best idea. This awakening was different from his last in that he was completely naked, laying on top of a hill in a field of long grass. Individual stalks were tickling his face, and Danny had to sit up to get away from the irritation.

Confused, Danny looked around for some familiar landmark or feature that would tell him where he was and maybe how he got there. The grassy field was large but surrounded on all sides by a dense forest he didn't recognize. Off in the distance was only more forest, not a mountain or elevated area to be seen.

Danny came to the conclusion he was in the R&D room and reached for his mental control over the room. The entirety of the simulated space should be under his control.

Nothing happened. Worried, Danny attempted to use his magic when that too failed him. Crushing dread filled Danny's chest as he couldn't stop the memories of his powerless time with the beastwomen kidnappers and then as a slave in the drow mine.

Noisily, Something burst forth from the forest to his left. Scrabbling to keep its footing, a naked male goblin armed with only a wooden club pulled himself up the hill as quickly as he could. The sight of the nude goblin caused something in Danny's mind to click, and he shook himself out of his oppressive fear. Danny hurriedly looked around for something, anything he could use as a weapon.

Seeing only blades of healthy emerald grass, Danny dodged the first swing of the goblin's club. Then, Danny reactively reached for his magic again. The goblin used this time to kick out with one of his stubby legs, catching Danny off guard. Danny's struck leg bent at an odd angle as the goblin reared back to swing sideways toward Danny's hip. As Danny fell to the ground, the goblin's club connected with Danny's shoulder instead.

The pain in Danny's leg and shoulder cleared some more of the fog clouding his mind. Giving up on his magic, Danny kicked out with his good leg at the goblin's head. The goblin hadn't been prepared for the blow, having brought his club up to begin finishing Danny off. The little goblin's body flew up and tumbled a ways down the hill.

Danny limped painfully as he managed to stand up, putting all his weight on his good leg. The goblin's blow to his shoulder ached, but the arm was still useable. The goblin hadn't taken much damage, if any, from his fall down the hill and had already made it back swinging wildly in anger. Danny knew he was in no condition to dodge the blow and lunged, tackling the goblin to the ground.

Danny had a significant weight advantage over the goblin and easily stayed on top. Gripping the goblin's neck, Danny began choking the smaller creature. Dropping the club, the goblin dug its dirty, haggard nails into Danny's hands and arms. The goblin's legs were fortunately trapped entirely under Danny's weight, and the goblin was unable to kick or maneuver for better leverage. Danny ignored the feeling of the strips of skin coming off his arms. Instead, he used the pain to squeeze the goblin's neck even harder.

After what felt like forever, the goblin quit struggling. Danny was too cautious to let up yet and continued to press on the goblin's neck for a little bit longer.

A peculiar feeling raced across Danny's body, and he jumped up in surprise, suspecting that it was some new threat. Surprised, Danny realized the leg that had been twisted and the shoulder that had been bashed with the club now felt like nothing had ever happened to them. Swiping at the blood covering his hands and arms, Danny found them whole and scratch free.

Confused, Danny's head jerked up at the sound of more shouting coming from the forest. Two goblins now raced up the hill toward Danny. Danny was at least grateful that these two were wearing loincloths. One held a club similar to the dead goblin's while the other goblin wielded a rusty sword. Picking up the dead goblin's club, Danny swung the small crude weapon around to get a feel for the weight.

The goblin with the club was closer, reaching Danny seconds before the other. With both their clubs raised high, Danny joined the goblin as it yelled fiercely. The two combatants swung their clubs at the same time.

CHAPTER 20

The sharp metal edge of the arrowhead dug a shallow channel in Danny's cheek, as the young man parried the blow of a dwarven battle axe with his own war hammer.

Danny stood there struggling against the armored dwarf warrior on that same grassy hill. A hodgepodge of armor covered Danny's body as he wore what he could recover and wasn't damaged.

Crying out in pain, Danny glanced over his shoulder to see the same drow he had been trying to keep an eye out for, now pulling her blade out from his left kidney. The drow's blade easily found the gap under Danny's leather chest piece.

With a loud cry, Danny flung the dwarf with the battle axe away, ignored the elven arrow that sprouted from his chest, just missing his heart, and slammed his war hammer into the side of the drow. Danny could hear the air explosively escape the drow's lungs as the war hammer picked her up, crushing the side of her chest in, and launched the drow past the bottom of the hill.

Not stopping, Danny continued his movement around to find the dwarf ducking below his strike and shoving the head of the battle axe into Danny's stomach. Bending over with the blow, Danny felt the wind from an arrow that had been aimed at his head. The dwarf whipped back his battle axe to strike, but Danny, not needing air that would have been provided by his seizing diaphragm muscles, rushed the shorter man, kneeing him in the head. The dwarf was knocked over, losing his battle axe in the process. Danny brought down his war hammer on the dwarf's head before he could get back up.

Danny lifted the head of his war hammer to his face, just barely deflecting another arrow. Failing to hide his own surprise and excitement at doing something so cool, a goofy grin plastered itself on Danny's face.

The forest elf at the foot of the hill botched another arrow and carefully aimed at Danny's rushing form. Danny knew from countless experiences that dodging an arrow up close really depended on the archer's skill. Ducking behind the corpse of a troll which Danny had only killed through sheer luck, Danny tried to surprise the elven archer by climbing and leaping from the giant creature's body.

The forest elf must have had some sixth sense because at the moment when Danny was a meter into the air above the troll's corpse an arrow shaft blossomed from the side of Danny's forehead. The elf had moved far away from where he had previously been.

Danny collapsed to the ground as he had done countless times in what felt like forever.

Coming to, Danny was once again lying naked and weaponless on the ground. He heard the sound of a goblin rushing the grassy hill Danny lay on. Lifting his head up, Danny checked and confirmed that the creature was naked.

Danny was confident he was in the R&D room as he never died and was healed instantly after each successful battle. After each skirmish, the enemies increased in either skill, numbers, or armaments. The only thing that stayed constant was his first enemy, the naked goblin with the overgrown stick.

Danny stood up, not interested in spending more time with a naked stranger than absolutely necessary. The goblin was yelling something about Danny's mother and the goblin's troll-like appendage when a door made of light appeared bisecting the goblin mid-stride. The goblin's eyes grew unfocused as his body was divided in two. Stepping out of the doorway, Cece carefully stepped around half of the goblin's corpse.

Cece was by Danny's side in an instant, reporting, "Captain, your healing and aging spell have finished. I had to increase the time required by another day to accommodate your growth from the training."

Danny stood there, mouth agape, as his brain tried its best to catch up with what was happening. Closing his mouth, Danny glared suspiciously at Cece, as he dove through the doorway of light before it could close.

***

Collapsing into the sanctuary's hallway, Danny began unabashedly kissing the floor as he laughed. He had never been so happy to see the metallic floors, never noticing the subtle crystal pattern repeating itself along its surface. Nothing had ever looked so beautiful to Danny.

Sitting back on his heels, Danny realized Cece was waiting on him nearby and asked politely, "WHAT THE HELL?"

Cece didn't even pretend to be ignorant of what Danny could be referring to, replying, "You requested to undergo the Corundum's secret training before you decided to take a nap on the ground again. I took the initiative to set up the training and had you moved to the R&D room while you remained unresponsive."

Danny shook his head, questioning, "The secret training involved creatures from other races?"

"No, it only involves other members of the Corundum family. The Hundred Trials of Corundum is a special training all children of the Corundum family go through after choosing the warrior path. A Corundum warrior is not allowed to leave the family training compound until they have successfully completed all hundred trials without fail. I modified the trials to incorporate warriors from other races and, since we were utilizing the R&D room, gave them lethal weapons. This obviously increases the difficulty significantly," Cece explained.

Doing his best to ignore the lethal weapons comment, Danny asked, "Hundred Trials... what trial number did I make it too," as he scoured his memories for the number himself.

"Captain, you managed to reach the twelfth trial, twice."

Danny winced at the low number, remembering something else that was nagging him, "How long was I in there?"

Cece was prepared for the question, explaining, "In real time it was almost eight straight days, but with the one-sixteenth time compression it was more like one hundred and twenty-five days. Your tireless efforts awarded you level two in long swords, bastard swords, greatswords, axes, battle axes, maces, mauls, throwing small weapons, throwing large weapons, shields, light armor, medium armor. Given that you only reached the twelfth trial, there were very few heavily armored enemies, and you were reluctant to wear it, so you only gained level one in heavy armor."

Danny was pleased with the total overall count of the skill increases, but they were all low-level increases. He had worked hard in the Order to develop other martial skills not included in Cece's list.

"What about my other skills? I know I used a war hammer quite a bit in there."

"There was a definite difference in time requirement from when you gained the first level and second level for your skills. This time was cut shorter if you came up with a technique or move while fighting. There are definite merits to being trained by an expert, as your time in the Order granted you more than the two levels in each skill you trained in, especially given that the time you spent there should have only netted you two levels," Cece postulated.

Danny looked confused, "If learning from an expert is beneficial, why didn't I use the sage's memories as a guide to gaining levels?"

Cece sighed, looking like she needed to be doing other things than explaining everything, saying, "The Hundred Trials of Corundum forces participants to learn how to use all forms of weapons and develop their own styles of fighting. An army of warriors using the same styles can be easily beaten once an enemy picks up on predictable patterns. Though, the Corundum family does record the most successful styles and moves for later advanced training."

Deciding to move on, Danny stood up and rubbed his hands together, asking excitedly, "Alright, I've spent enough time on sadistic exercise regimens. Time to go get my dwarven library card."

***

Danny stretched his limbs and shook some of the loose leaves from his hair. He could feel his roots had expanded further out than they ever had before. While healing, his body had located a small aquifer not far off that provided his body with a steady supply of water. The nutrients in the rock his roots tore through as they grew provided him with everything his developing body needed. Focusing on his form, Danny was reluctant to return to his human body. The Sacred Tree Form was comforting, in a way that was hard to explain. He could see someone with fewer responsibilities and burdens weighing on their soul easily giving into the steady feel of water and nutrients slowly moving through their body.

The weight of Danny's body settled on the soles of his feet as he released the Sacred Tree Form. There was a shower of bark, leaves, limbs, and dust that immediately piled up around Danny's feet. Looking down at the remnants of the loincloth he had been wearing scattered among the debris, Danny realized that he was taller. Now well over two meters tall, Danny twisted one way and then the other as he inspected his twenty-five-year-old body. It was just as it had been when Danny aged during the trials in the R&D room. As Danny's real body healed, it apparently also gained muscles as he went through the trials in the R&D room. Gone was his emaciated sixteen-year-old self and in its place was a hardened twenty-five-year-old.

"I need to remember to do this more often," Danny mumbled to himself.

*Captain, I am picking up some strange enchanted objects moving through the nearest tunnels. They appear round and as large as a soccer ball,* Cece reported.

*I don't recall any flying dwarven sports in the sage's memories,* Danny chuckled at the image.

In a long-suffering tone, Cece suggested, *If you got closer, we could conduct a better analysis on them.*

Danny climbed into the dwarven transport and closed the doors. Ensuring that the large chunk of obstinite was still safely secured in the back, Danny focused on opening a path to the nearest devourer tunnel. The rock shifted away from a central point, opening into a tunnel large enough for the centipede-like craft to easily move through. Sealing back the stone behind them, Danny stopped extending the tunnel meters from devourer tunnel and waited. Danny took the time while he waited to modify some of the transports enchantments.

Roughly an hour later, one of the strange floating soccer balls passed by and Danny used every sense he had to analyze the unknown object. The object paused in its path as Danny's magic washed over it for a fraction of a second. Danny held his breath, only to release it as the floating ball moved on. The first couple of things Danny noted were that it was made of metal and was heavily enchanted.

*Cece, bring up an image of the enchanted object with all the data we collected on it. Also, please have the science officers begin analysis on any unknown runes I come across.*

A hologram only Danny could see overlaid itself in his vision. Mentally manipulating it, Danny coursed through the runes he understood. Now close enough for his magic to get a clearer image, Danny recognized the dwarven scry-hound from the sage's memories. While the sage utilized the enchanted scouts, she was a warrior through and through and never bothered to learn about the runes used in enchanting. The sage's memories did allow Danny to understand that there were dwarves somewhere remotely monitoring the information gathered by the scry-hounds. Enchanted bowls of water displayed the visible images gathered by the scry-hounds, while maps of the dwarves territory, linked by her enchantment, displayed bright dots for the location of each scry-hound. If the brief blast of magic didn't draw a squad of dwarves to inspect the area, they would probably increase the frequency of visits to the area by more scry-hounds.

Danny knew if they were bothering to use the scry-hounds outside the Crimson Caverns, then the dwarves considered Danny a significant threat to their nation. He briefly reconsidered his planned information gathering mission for when he came back through but worried that would give the dwarves more time to come up with some extreme ways of dealing with him. Opening a passage to the devourer tunnel, Danny exited the transport with his pet obstinite rock and activated the new runes he had installed into the transport. The transport took off on a course back the way Danny had traveled. It shouldn't take long for the dwarves to realize it was their missing transport and give chase.

Turning back to the boulder of obstinite, Danny asked, *Why am I lugging all of this around? How much of this do I need to bother charging myself?*

*I calculate your body would assimilate roughly ten kilograms of obstinite before it would begin expelling the excess through your urine and fe...*

*Thank you, Cece, that will be enough,* Danny interrupted quickly.

Danny easily decided he no longer needed to take so much obstinite with him. Using the new runes he had learned for controlling mana at a higher level, Danny cut off a piece of the large chunk of obstinite a little larger than the size of his head. Danny added a handle so he could carry it like a bowling bag. Lifting the new stone with one hand, Danny felt the significant weight and decided to switch to using two hands. Naked as the day he was reincarnated, Danny sealed the rest of the obstinite in the wall of the devourer's tunnel and set off toward the Crimson Caverns.

CHAPTER 21

The spotless and gleaming metal of the two colossal gates stood as the first barrier between Danny and the Crimson Caverns. Set into the stone of the wall at the far end of a vast cavern, the dwarves hadn't bothered to decorate them with an ornate design. This didn't stop them in the least bit from looking impressive. Danny knew from the sage's memories that there were another two sets of gates awaiting him once he got past these.

Two obstinite battle suits stood guard, lowering their weapons in challenge at anyone who approached. Danny sighed as another group of dwarves from outlands brought wares back from the trade city. They drove mechanical transports that looked like six-legged horses without their heads. Danny could easily hear the newly arrived dwarves yelling their reason for being there to the two obstinite guards from where he stood across the cavern. Danny waited until the guards were distracted by the trade group before sprinting across the cavern, keeping to the walls. Danny had to use as little magic as possible, given that the obstinite battle suits had lowered their visors allowing them to see magic. Since Danny and the obstinite he was carrying were probably flaming beacons, he created a field of magic that absorbed any stray magic he generated.

Once he safely reached the far side of the cavern next to the gates, Danny dived into the stone wall there. Moving through the stone like a bubble through the water, Danny made sure nothing was left out of place by his passing. He didn't have to travel far before he reached the second set of gates and his first real obstacle. The dwarves, being true masters of the subterranean, did not expect a few imposing gates at existing tunnels and caverns stop their enemies from burrowing into their home. A series of obstinite ward crystals, interconnected and enchanted to detect anything magical or foreign, were buried around the outside of the caverns. Any disruption to the protective magical curtain they erected around their home would alert the dwarves to an external threat. Given enough time, Danny could have discovered a way through at any point he wanted, but Danny didn't have time.

The group of dwarves from the trade city on the surface made it to the second set of gates, and nearest ward crystals were dropped to allow them through. With only a space of a few meters, Danny slipped inside the protective magical curtain. After passing between a layer of obstinite, Danny entered the Crimson Caverns proper.

Danny actually had a few places to visit, and fortunately, they were all located in the central column in the main cavern. Danny remained in the stone of the cavern's walls until he reached a safe height near its ceiling. Then, Danny created for himself a small ledge and set down the heavy handled ball of obstinite before sitting with his legs dangling off the edge. Down below, the dwarves traveled from one cavern to the next, from one column to another, or from one level to the next, on floating barges empowered by an enchantment Danny was very interested in. It was the same enchantment that allowed the scry-hounds to move about. Fortunately, there was no need for the dwarves to travel as high as his ledge, so Danny had no fear of being discovered.

Chunks of obstinite covered the majority of the walls of the cavern, giving Danny the impression of being inside a massive red geode. Fortunately for Danny, the layer wasn't utterly perfect, and the dwarves, even though they knew the layer wasn't perfect, still believed that it added another layer of security to their home.. Even though the dwarves felt secure in their subterranean haven, Danny didn't miss the scry-hounds patrolling the cavern floors below. Danny could only shake his head at seeing how the massive obstinite chunks lining the walls gave off a soft glow, a sign that they were full to the brim with mana. The dwarves used the soft glow to see when traveling from one place to another. The white lights coming out of the windows and other openings of their buildings twinkled brightly in contrast to the steady red glow.

Danny switched to his Mana Aspect and looked down at the cavern with a new set of eyes. On the surface, Danny would see small motes of free mana moving around and through things. Here down in the Crimson Cavern, the very air was filled with so much free mana that Danny felt like he was underwater. Instead of looking like a cold, foggy morning, the cavern air swirled in Danny's vision, obscuring his view entirely after only a few meters. Danny's hand rose of its own volition, as his body released his mana aspect. Danny barely managed to hold his powers back as they reached out and began absorbing the free mana. Danny breathed easier as his body seemed to quit fighting against his attempts to limit the amount of mana it was absorbing.

Danny started adding free mana to his obstinite ball. He had considered stealing some of the obstinite lining the cavern surface, but he wanted to get in and out without them knowing. If the dwarves knew Danny had infiltrated their precious home, they probably wouldn't stop at just searching the immediate vicinity for his whereabouts. He would rather be extra careful than deal with yet another race he had to keep an eye out for.

Even without him directing it, mana was flowing into the obstinite ball. Danny took a quick peek outside his alcove to confirm that he hadn't garnered any attention before he began using large amounts of magic which he now had in spades. The ball of obstinite cracked and broke apart near the top. The broken pieces of obstinite shifted and fell over each other as Danny worked his way through it. Soon there was a bowl of obstinite filled with little round obstinite balls. Grabbing a handful of the small obstinite balls, Danny floated himself in the air and then disappeared from sight.

Moving out of the alcove, Danny cautiously made his way toward the center column. Different lifts actively transported dwarves up and down the outside of the column, from the bottom all the way to the ceiling. Danny glanced back to confirm that he had designed his alcove in such a way that it wouldn't be visible from these lifts.

Reaching the top of the central column without incident, Danny began working his way down to the upper level dedicated to the operation and observation of the scry-hounds. The uppermost levels of the central column lacked windows and external lifts, to give the impression that there wasn't anything but structural support for the column. Scanning a short distance from his person, Danny found the level he was looking for by comparing it to the sage's memories. Danny's body seemed to be absorbed by the rocky surface of the column as he passed through it.

Danny's invisible head emerged from the inside wall of the scry-room. Anyone looking at the wall would see exactly what should be there, a smooth unaltered wall. The room took up the entire level and easily spanned a hundred meters. Danny was greeted by a scene of organized chaos. At least a hundred dwarves moved quickly from the various standing pedestals lining the room to the large tables that occupied the outer circumference of the room. Each pedestal held anywhere from one to three bowls of water, associated with a scry-hound patrolling somewhere in the dwarven territory. Danny checked the room for sensor runes and, finding none, figured the dwarves either felt secure here or the scry runes were sensitive to other enchantment interference. Danny got to test the second theory as he scanned the runes in the bowls on the nearest table. The image of the endless tunnel which the scry-hounds were associated with didn't falter in the slightest. Shrugging, Danny moved down the wall to the nearest table to find a map of the Crystal Cavern and devourer tunnels and various other caverns under dwarven control. The same map was on every large table in the room. Scanning the table for the runes inside, Danny watched brightly colored dots move around the map. Looking across the room, he observed a dwarf touch part of the map only to watch a light show up on his map. Smiling, Danny had everything he needed from this room.

Backing out of the central tower wall, Danny looked down in trepidation. He was not looking forward to his next task. The sage had known about the repository but had never been inside it. Located in the center of the central column was a secure storage facility with all the collected knowledge of the dwarven people. Danny could probably scour the city and manage to come up with more than half of what was collected in the repository, but that would take too much time, most of which would be spent sneaking around.

As Danny drew close to the location, he found the personal rooms for the sages who chose to stay within the central column itself. These rooms acted to camouflage the repository that was hidden in the very center of the column, taking up the innermost space of two dozen levels. Danny chose to enter through the sage rooms located nearest the very top of the repository. A quick short range scan of the area revealed the surprise that the repository was actually entirely encased in obstinite, all except a small section at the top, near where he was. Danny would have just cut his way through the obstinite with his new abilities, but the whole surface was enchanted. What was worse was that even with his new runes that had allowed him to modify other enchanted pieces of obstinite, the repository's walls resisted his probing.

As Danny moved through one lavishly decorated living space without issue, he began to worry. This was all going a little too well thus far, and he considered leaving and forgetting about the repository. Through a pair of wooden double doors, Danny found the resident sage's bedroom. The rear wall was a stone relief of different dwarves, facing outward, but they were all lying sideways on top of each other. It was an odd effigy that made little sense in Danny's opinion. The vacant space in the obstinite walls of the repository exited into this room. Looking at the wall, Danny couldn't see anything, visibly, to differentiate it from the rest of the wall. There were no hidden seems, no track for a sliding door or hatch to move out onto.

*Captain, I wanted you to know that there is significantly less available free mana here. The amount of free mana your obstinite infused cells have been capturing has been steadily decreasing over the last dozen meters.*

Danny paused mid-step, replying, *Thanks Cece, let me know if anything else changes.*

Taking a breath to steady his nerves, Danny effortlessly walked through the portion of the wall comprised only of stone. There was a layer of magic covering the opening, and Danny ignored it, for now. He needed to get in and get out before anyone saw him. Emerging into a circular room, Danny saw that the walls were covered in tomes and papers. The space was only maybe fifty meters across if you took away the shelves that lined the walls. Behind the shelves and tomes, Danny could clearly see the red of the obstinite walls. There was a table piled with books not far from where Danny had entered the room, and a set of stairs in the middle of the space spiraled downward. Danny opened the first tome he found and saw that it was instructions for the storage and preparation techniques for beef jerky.

Closing the book, he returned it to where it came from and immediately headed downstairs to get a better idea of how much he was dealing with so he could come up with a better game plan. Descending the stairs, Danny found identical rooms on every level. Shelves of tomes or loose papers with either more shelves or desks were scattered between the shelves and the stairs in the middle. Danny was starting to get a bit dizzy as he finally turned down to the last floor and came to an abrupt stop before he could make it to the last step.

The bottom floor held a number of things completely different from the other levels. First, there were the scrying pools that were not only enchanted to show images from what Danny assumed were the scry-hounds, but they were also turned sideways in the walls like televisions. The water of the scrying pools didn't spill out despite the bowls' tipped positions. There was a familiar enchanted map of the dwarven territory with brightly colored dots littered all over it to one side and a collection of multicolored large clear crystals set into a stone pedestal in another. But the thing that topped them all was the short obstinite statue of an ancient looking dwarf with a beard hanging down to the floor. The statue was sitting at a small stone dining table with two chairs, made to look like scrolls and tomes. Though she was seated, the statue appeared to be leaning on dark metal cane inlaid with different crystals. As Danny hesitantly walked down the last few steps, a voice called out suddenly in dwarvish, echoing slightly in the enclosed space.

"Greetings Danny Creek, I have been waiting for you to show up!"

Danny's head whipped around in search of the source of the spoken words, finally settling on the obstinite statue on the small table. Danny's magic senses told him that the statue was enchanted, but like the rest of the repository, Danny couldn't pierce the magic surrounding it. He had one possible option, but it would leave him physically vulnerable.

Danny cleared his throat, asking, "Hello, I apologize for intruding. I wasn't aware anyone lived in here."

The voice, which Danny was now sure was coming from the statue, replied, "Oh yes, I am afraid you have stepped into ol' Gran's home. Strange as it is, you ascendants always seem to find your way to visit Gran. You have arrived just in time, too."

Danny glanced around suspiciously, asking, "There have been other ascendants? I thought I was the first since the Great Cataclysm?"

Though part of him expected it, Danny still jumped a little as the short obstinite statue shook her head slightly side to side, the action causing a quiet sound like glass rubbing against glass.

"No child, you are not the first, nor I suspect the last to visit ol' Gran," the statue said wistfully before gesturing towards the empty chair across from her and adding, "Now come, sit, sit. I have many questions, the first of which is how you managed to make it all the way to my little abode without me detecting you? I know the empty transport was just a diversion."

Danny hesitated a second, before moving across the room to sit in the offered chair. Danny schooled his features as he realized the small chair he barely could sit in was so cold he could feel it soaking into his rear end. Instead, he focused on the thing... person across from him. The obstinite statue's face didn't move when it spoke but made exaggerated gestures. It almost seemed like the statue was overcompensating for the lack of facial expression.

Now that he had been seen, Danny didn't see a reason to hide this information, answering, "I used the gap in your magical defenses nearest the gate when it opened for a trade caravan."

Gran tapped her cane once on the ground, declaring, "Of course! I feared you had found a way to bypass them altogether."

Danny shook his head, "No ma'am, I didn't want to chance triggering them, so I just went around them." The statue seemed frozen in thought, and after waiting more than a few seconds, Danny questioned her, "If I may ask, who else has visited you?"

Gran's head lifted slightly as if in deep thought, the intricate carving on her face challenging to make out when she turned specific ways in the light.

"Oh, well let's see. First was an older drow woman, not as old as me, mind you. She tore through our defenses like they were children with wooden swords. Fool melted half the crafter's cavern before I could invite her here and calm her down," Gran gripped her cane tightly before continuing, "Then, there was an old friend. One I hadn't seen since before the Great Cataclysm. Lovely elf woman by the name of Wisteria..."

Gran's words trailed off in mid-thought. Danny tried to wait patiently for the woman to continue, but he didn't want to stay in the Crimson Caverns any longer than he had to.

Danny leaned into what he hoped was the obstinite woman's line of sight, asking, "Gran, you were saying you know Wisteria? I read some of her notes on enchanting she gathered while working with the dwarves. I would really like to meet her if you know where she is."

Danny's words had Gran coming to with a start, rubbing her palm on the top of her metal cane, "You read Wisteria's notes did ya? She's a sharp one that's for sure. I remember before the Cataclysm when she came to the stronghold and we..."

As Gran continued to regale Danny with a story, Cece spoke up in his head, *Danny, your magic is being drained at an alarming rate. You only have half an hour at this rate.*

Danny schooled his features while pretending to shift in his stone chair, trying to find a more comfortable arrangement. Danny wondered if the cold he felt from the chair came from his rapidly draining mana.

*Can you determine the source or direction it's being drawn from?* Danny asked.

*Everywhere.*

Danny tuned back into Gran's story, "...that was back when Sage Hushing was still sitting in the conclave..."

"Stop absorbing my mana," Danny interrupted threateningly as he erected a field of mana using the mana control rune at its highest magnitude.

Gran chuckled, "You are much more perceptive than that drow witch or my former friend. Though, you are still only seeing half the picture."

*Cece, what is she talking about?*

*It is unclear, sir. You are still losing mana at a fraction of the rate before, but that is all I can detect.*

"You will have to forgive me if I do not stick around for you to drain me dry," Danny said as he stood up from the table.

Gran slammed her cane on the ground, saying, "I'm sorry, but you are not going anywhere, young man. I can't sustain this form with just mana alone, and I do not enjoy having to take small sips from my grandchildren."

Danny didn't understand the meaning behind the obstinite woman's words and wasn't going to wait around long enough to find out. Rushing up the stairs, Danny made it only a few levels before his path was blocked by an obstinite dwarven warrior wielding a shield and axe.

The sound of glass and metal on the stairs behind him had Danny glancing briefly backwards. Gran was steadily making her way up towards him.

"Danny, you can't leave here. Now come back downstairs, and we can have a nice chat before you go," Gran calmly said, sounding disappointed in Danny's behavior.

Danny racked his brain trying to come up with a way out. He couldn't read the runes in the obstinite warrior and had a good guess for where it had come from so suddenly. If he couldn't read the runes, then there was a good chance that any mana control magic he knew would be useless against them.

*Cece, I need an exit strategy. Damn it, if only I had more time...*

Danny's eyes widened as he smiled to himself. Even if what he was about to attempt would only confirmed that he was royally screwed, Danny berated himself for forgetting one of his newest abilities.

Gran spoke up from behind him, "Danny, would you like to play a gaaaaaaaa..."

The world around Danny moved to a crawl. While Danny couldn't move faster, this would allow him more time to process this structure, the creature known as Gran, and what effect it was having on his body. Danny activated an aspect he had been hesitant to use, due to the fact it left him relatively helpless. Danny's body flashed white and appeared to dissolve into a semitransparent, ghost-like appearance. What only took seconds was minutes for Danny. Then, he was expanding his mana toward the walls and obstinite beings near him. The wait was excruciating, but Danny didn't dare speed his perception of time up any.

In his Mana Aspect, Danny could see the lack of free mana inside the repository. His own mana met resistance as the obstinite warrior in front of Danny raised its axe and lunged forward to attack. The obstinite axe would probably do more damage to Danny in his Mana Aspect than it would normally. Even with his enhanced perception of time, Danny didn't have the luxury to attempt analyzing how his strengthened mana affected the warrior. Danny sent two crescents of condensed controlled mana at the obstinite dwarf warrior.

*Captain, Gran's doing something with her cane!*

Danny's initial wave of mana had reached Gran's outstretched cane as the obstinite woman moved back down the stairs, away from Danny. The runes in the cane, which were utterly unreadable before, were now clear as day to him, and Danny could see Gran was about to try and freeze him. Danny used the mana already at the cane to disrupt the runes. Unfortunately, the amount of mana wasn't enough to destroy the runes.

The twin crescents of mana hit the obstinite dwarven warrior and cut deep gouges in its shield, slicing the head of the axe in half. The remnant of the crescents made it to the warrior's forehead and legs, creating superficial cuts in the surface. Danny already had more crescents of mana exiting his body. The warrior let go of the axe handle and managed to brace itself behind the shield just as Danny's new mana reached it. The warrior was halted in its tracks before being thrown backwards. Danny watched in relief as the obstinite shield slowly separated to reveal the obstinite dwarven warrior suffering the same fate.

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw the obstinite walls behind the stone shelves begin to move and writhe. The first warrior wasn't even on the ground as the tomes and scrolls covering the shelves fell to make way for more warriors.

*Cece, get me an analysis on one of the warriors!*

*Sir, you don't have enough mana left to fight all of them. The science team's latest simulations don't even have you surviving half of them. If you leave through one side on this level, you can survive.*

Danny shook his head, *I have an even better idea!*

*Sir, I don't think...* Cece began, but Danny wasn't listening as he was too busy diving down the spiraling staircase.

His movements were so sluggish, to his new fast thinking mind, that his first few steps threatened to send Danny end over end down the stairs. Only his Mana Aspect's ethereal nature that caused him to float at will kept him from falling.

A stone column ran down the center of the staircase, and Danny realized it also helped support the suspended stone floors of the repository, though he questioned how well it would all hold up without the obstinite wall's assistance. Waves of condensed mana whipped outward from Danny to take out the legs of obstinite dwarven warriors as they appeared in the stairway above and below him.

The obstinite warriors now clogged the level right above the lowest one. While his mana could stop and even push back one obstinite warrior, the combined force of dozens of warriors resulted in Danny having little impact on their forward momentum toward his position. Like crystallized zombies, the limbless warriors still attempted to drag what remained of their bodies towards him. With the warriors right on top of him, Danny relied on his split concentration as much as his enhanced perception of time to remove any obstinite weapon or limb that came into his personal space. Not all of Danny's attackers were thwarted though. While bladed weapons left superficial cuts, the blunt weapons dealt bruising welts to his arms and legs.

As Danny reached the steps leading down to the lowest level, the obstinite warriors seemingly rained down the stairs from the upper levels. Broken fragments of the fallen obstinite warriors tumbled down the spiral stairs as their undamaged counterparts pushed each other from above. Danny managed to get the warriors clogged behind him as he moved lower.

The last level of the repository was now a sea of obstinite warriors. More poured in from between the stone bookshelves, trying to find a place to stand in the already packed floor. Gran stood in the corner by her small table as she pointed her cane toward Danny, magic flaring through multiple runes. Danny's heightened perception of time allowed him a moment to marvel at how his split concentration effortlessly kept the warriors at bay, though the small pile of limbs, heads, and torsos would soon cause him an additional headache.

Danny hadn't enough time to send mana out and disrupt the cane's runes again. Instead, he dove, head first, into the field of obstinite warriors.

*Captain, we need to hurry! Your substantial mana reserves have been cut down to a quarter of what they were. The repository is still slowly stealing your mana.*

Danny looked down with a detached sense of semi-omnipresence at the various red crystal weapons moving to intercept him. Fire, frost, and shards of ice from Gran's cane collided with the heads and upper torsos of the obstinite warriors nearest Danny, as his waves of mana carved him a small space of the floor. The obstinite warriors were already on him, piling on so that Danny was hidden from sight. Weapons struck out as feet and hands punched toward where Danny was last seen. Then, the pile exploded outward, and a dome of condensed mana flickered and vanished, revealing Danny's standing form.

*Sir, you are down to ten percent mana!*

*That's awesome, Cece,* Danny faked enthusiasm. Then as he asked, *Do you have anything on the warriors or Gran?* he began stretching out his arms, a long pole of condensed mana forming between his hands.

*It is as you expected. Sir. Gran and the repository are all tied by one enchantment. We are still analyzing the runes.*

Danny's hand curved outward as his arms stretched to their limits, a large axe blade of condensed mana joining the pole he had created.

Having completed his crafting, Danny asked, *Is there a linchpin? Is it Gran?*

*From what we can determine, Gran is no different than the warriors, sir. You should just get out of here and forget trying to take anything with you.*

*I don't know what you are talking about,* Danny asked in faux confusion, as he swung the mana battle axe in a circle around him.

The obstinite weapons and enchanted warriors that had almost reached him slowed the axe down but couldn't stop it from splitting them in two. Danny ducked over the long reach of a war hammer's mallet, only to be kicked in the shin by the remaining lower half of one obstinite warrior.

Wincing from the pain shooting up his leg, Danny chopped the red crystal trousers down the middle as he thought, *Alright, let's grab the target and get out of here. Send me whatever relevant data you can on it once we get close enough.*

"Danny, stop this madness at once! I do not want to have to destroy you," Gran shouted from across the room. Danny had to have Cece speed up her words once she finished so he could understand what she said.

Danny spun and twisted his way toward the opposite side of the room. Every now and then, an errant blade or hammer grazed him. Only his quick maneuvering, thanks to his heightened sense of time, and the assistance of the condensed mana controlled by his split consciousness allowed him to escape relatively unscathed.

*Cece, either I am truly awesome, or they are holding back from attempting any killing blows?*

*They are definitely holding back, sir!*

Frowning at the lack of support for his general awesomeness, Danny reached the stone pedestal with the various colored crystals sticking out of it. Swinging his battle axe, Danny easily cleared the area around the pedestal, which surprised Danny when the plethora of warriors paused a short distance away from him.

Kicking away an obstinite hand trying to drag itself over to his left foot, Danny grinned, *I was right, this pedestal is important. What you got for me, Cece?*

There was a shifting of the warriors not far away, and Danny could just make out Gran's features as she slowly drew closer. Danny's confidence faltered as the seconds passed without a response from his sanctuary. The obstinite warriors shifted to give their leader room to move past them.

Danny scanned the pedestal himself until he reached the rod-like core of obstinite running through it and down further than he could sense into the tower below. Danny raised his battle axe to the side so he could cut the obstinite core, and hopefully remove the stone pedestal, when Cece spoke up.

*Danny... this isn't the repository.*

Danny paused his windup, commanding, *...Explain.*

*Sir, the core of this pedestal must extend down to the bottom of the cavern where its enchantment is shared by the small pieces of obstinite surrounding and protecting the Crystal Caverns. This isn't the repository, the entirety of the Crystal Caverns is the repository. The crystals in this pedestal are like the nucleus of a cell.*

Danny struggled with the influx of information had Cece sent to his mind along with her explanation. Danny summarized, *Then Gran and these warriors are the last defense? No wait, the warriors are the last defense. Gran is something more, some sort of vessel.*

Cece rushed to explain, *I suspect Gran is the personification of a soul sealed in the repository when it was first created. She acts as some kind of guardian, and her soul resides inside every piece of obstinite sharing the enchantment. The science officers are struggling to understand the entirety of runes involved, but some of them share similarities to the one carved into your mother's abdomen.*

Danny's facial muscles started to twitch as he realized, *Soul magic... Then the other thing she mentioned taking from me is...*

*Captain, this is purely speculation, but I believe she is draining your soul to empower her own. We do not have any ability to sense this soul magic, so I can only suggest leaving as soon as possible.*

Danny agreed, *Alright, so if I take the pedestal, the dwarven people will be weakened. If I leave the pedestal, then this trapped soul will continue to feed on others.* Sighing internally, Danny realized, "The repository does indeed hold the combined knowledge and culture of the dwarven people. It is all there in the caverns below us.*

Gran was moving past the last few warriors still between her and Danny as she asked pleadingly, "Danny, I am sorry if I upset you. Why don't you come sit down and let's discuss this?"

Danny looked at the obstinite woman incredulously, declaring, "I know what you are, and I can destroy you right here and now."

Danny lifted the battle axe of condensed mana to hover over the stone pedestal with the colored crystals. Gran instantly froze on the edge of the circle of obstinite warriors still encircling Danny. The warriors moved away suddenly to pick up the pieces of their fallen brethren and return to their position as the walls of the structure.

Cece spoke up with concern, *The drain on your mana has stopped. I am unable to verify if the suspected drain on your soul is still occurring.*

"I have stopped the pull on your spirit, Danny, and the warriors will not bother you anymore. Please, for the sake of my people, do not do this," Gran begged.

Danny moved his axe away from the pedestal but stayed where he was, saying, "Gran, all I wanted was to work with your people. To have your people work with the other races so we could become stronger, together. I understand why your people are distrustful of others, especially ascendants, but these caverns will not hold your people forever. The Cataclysmic will return, and we must stand united against them."

Danny didn't mention his own interest in the secret knowledge the dwarves had, but he figured that was obvious. He didn't have enough information to make a discussion. Destroying Gran could cause some ripple effect he didn't currently understand. The perpetually frozen features of the obstinite woman's face were becoming infuriating to Danny. Gran hadn't moved at all since Danny first threatened the precious pedestal.

Gran's voice was firm as she spoke, "The dwarves have no interest in any dealings with the other races, outside trade."

"Is that the views of those down below, or just your own?" Danny accused. "Were you the one who infused and sustained their distrust in others, or have you tried leaving them alone to choose on their own?"

Gran's postured tensed, much as it could, as she replied vehemently, jabbing a stubby red crystalline finger in his direction, "I would like to see you watch your loved ones fall to mindless monsters, while those you saw almost as blood relations toss your kin aside to save themselves. I want to see you barely manage to cobble together enough family not already broken enough physically and mentally to carry on existing. Then, I would like to see you look me in the eyes and tell me you are still willing to stick your neck out, bare for the others of this world to do with as they will."

Gran's form deflated, as she gestured him away, asking Danny, "Please, go. You mentioned having business with the beastmen of Sentinel. Then, you will find the Cataclysmic already waiting for you there."

With that, Gran turned away from him, walking back toward the small table and chairs that had fallen over in the earlier scuffle. Part of the wall, near where Danny was standing, opened up as the obstinite dwarven warriors crawled over each other to create the passageway. The stone wall behind them opened up to reveal another sage's empty bedroom.

"The Cataclysmic are already back?" Danny asked the retreating woman's back in confusion.

Gran continued her slow trudge across the room as she replied, "Gone? They never truly left. Now go, child, and leave this old woman to her work."

Gran chose the chair facing away from him and sat down with a posture heavy with age and the weight of great responsibility.

Danny seemed reluctant to leave but conceded to the ancient being's wishes.

Bowing low, Danny said, "Long life to the dwarven people. When we meet again, may it be under better circumstances."

Gran's spoke up from behind him as he started walking through the wall of obstinite warriors, "Good luck, Danny. And don't ever return, or it will be the last time we meet."

Danny rolled his eyes at the threat and started to continue on only to be stopped, yet again, by her voice calling out, "Oh, and put on some clothes... Even the beastmen wear clothes, and the majority are all covered in fur... I swear humans get stranger every year..."

Danny's annoyance quickly slipped into embarrassment as he realized he was still completely nude and had been this entire time. Remembering the cuts and bruises he had sustained all over his body, Danny frantically checked his downstairs. Sighing in relief, Danny bolted through the opening in the stone wall.

CHAPTER 22

Tugging on the ill-fitting shirt, Danny couldn't believe it was intended as a sage's bedclothes. The floral pattern didn't really go well with Danny's overall desire to be taken seriously. Not to mention that the robes stopped just below his belly button.

Ripping it off, Danny threw it back into the sage's armoire, mumbling angrily, "What am I even doing..."

Danny turned at the sound of a loud clatter coming behind him. Staring at him slack-jawed, a dwarven woman in simple attire stood there amongst a dropped platter of food. The woman looked disturbed and confused all at the same time. Danny's hands flittered back and forth across his body, unsure of what exactly was best to cover up. Then, Danny disappeared. The dwarven woman hesitatingly entered and searched the empty room, looking a little pale as she bent down to clean up the mess from the dropped platter.

As he stood on the outside of the central column, Danny asked, *Cece, why didn't I sense someone was coming?*

*Captain, you used almost all of your mana dissuading Gran from absorbing your soul. It was actually a very close thing. Since there was a ceasefire and you can't survive without mana in your system, I turned off the background scanning until you could get outside the central column where the free mana was plentiful.*

*Ohhh...* Danny responded as he quickly glanced back through the window at the dwarven woman still cleaning up.

Danny focused on his surroundings and began absorbing the dense mana filling the Crimson Cavern. The rush of mana gave Danny a thrill as it filled his being. It was amazing how much mana the dwarves emitted naturally. For a moment, Danny wondered what he could do with a city full of dwarves providing him an almost endless amount of mana to use for his own.

*Cece, please turn on my background scanning and give me what you have on the runes we acquired from the scry-hound and scrying bowls.*

Danny felt the familiar odd sensation like he had just remembered something he needed to do and the information he requested was implanted into his brain. Danny reviewed the information he had received as he wandered back to the small alcove he had created.

Danny asked, *What is the range on the scrying?*

*Their range is greater than what we were able to simulate, Sir.*

Danny smiled, *Excellent, I have an idea I want you to...*

*Yes sir, we will get right on that,* Cece interrupted before he could finish.

Danny landed on the alcove and retrieved his obstinite basket and then moved through the earth, heading for the gate he had initially entered by. As he approached the gate, Danny found what he had been searching for. A good number of large chunks of obstinite all grouped together. Taking the largest one, about the size of a small house in Diadem, Danny moved the rest of the obstinite so that they covered the area better. No reason to not do something nice in return for stealing some of the dwarves' precious defense. The obstinite had absorbed the free mana from the dwarves since the Great Cataclysm and was completely full.

Danny reached the gate and did something he wished he had thought of before. He moved one of the enchanted fragments of obstinite that projected the magical defense surrounding the Crimson Cavern. Danny was all but certain that only him passing through or disrupting one of the fragment's abilities to contribute to the enchantment would be noticed.

While waiting for someone to pass through the gate, and thus open the gap he needed in the enchanted defenses, Danny decided to do a little enchanting of his own. He was deep enough in the cavern wall that no one should be able to find him without a considerable amount of luck. First, he swallowed a couple of the obstinite pieces he created inside the improvised obstinite basket. The smaller pieces were already full of mana from sitting in the Crimson Cavern, and his body would soon absorb them.

*Cece, what do you have for me?*

*I have the ideal design shape and layout, Captain,* Cece said as she sent him the information.

*What about the runes that allow the repository to be easily modified? Can we include those without issue?*

*Yes sir, I would suggest something like a honeycomb to facilitate that process.*

Surrounding the large chunk of obstinite with his own mana, Danny started at its center and began carving a beach ball sized sphere with a honeycomb pattern. The pattern extended inward for a few centimeters before cutting across again, separating the hexagons into individual fragments. The large chunk of obstinite now had hundreds of little coin-sized hexagon fragments trapped inside it.

Turning to focus on the large mass of obstinite he had pinched, Danny began the basis for his new enchantment, avoiding all of the little hexagon fragments. Something of this magnitude would take time, though with all the extra mana he had stored, he could speed things up significantly. Picturing the simple runes he would require, Danny began enchanting the large chunk of obstinite. Over the next three hours, Danny enchanted on only the original runes needed. His focus was interrupted as the gate opened and the Crimson Cavern's enchanted defenses were lowered with a changing of the guards. Grabbing his souvenirs, Danny fled through the larger gap he had created next to the slowly opening gate.

The space between the dwarves' enchanted obstinite fragment and the gate was just large enough for the obstinite chunk to pass through. Danny hadn't dared move the enchanted fragment further for fear of disrupting something. It was unfortunate, then, that during his passage through the gate the second time one of the two guards waiting on the gate to open enough for them to enter just happen to turn and look at the wall Danny was moving through. This wouldn't have been a problem had the guard not been in an obstinite battle suit with the special visor down. Apparently, the dwarves were not taking any chances when it came to a possible threat from an ascendant.

The guard was slow to react, but he still managed to push through the opening gate and follow Danny before he could get away. Shouting at the other guard also waiting on the gate, the first guard alerted them to what was happening, and Danny had two pursuers. The two guards still posted at the outer gates, turned at the shouting the first guard had made when pushing open the gate and immediately found Danny's approaching form moving through the rock of the walls.

Cursing his luck, Danny lashed out with his massive pool of mana and the mana control rune, only to find that the suits must have been modified in the past couple of days in the same way the repository had been. They were just as resistant as Gran and the obstinite warriors protecting her. Not having the ability to switch to his Mana Aspect and move through the rock at the same time, Danny moved vertically, heading straight for the surface.

To Danny's annoyance, the four guards moved into the rocky walls and quickly followed him upwards. Spreading out his mana in an expanding net beneath him, Danny triggered Lava Affinity. The rock superheated, and a dome of molten rock greeted the pursuing obstinite battle suits. While the suits were unaffected by the magma, two of the dwarven drivers were hit by the extreme heat as they passed through it, and Danny lost two of his pursuers. The other two battle suits avoided the area and continued the chase, neither stopping to help their fellow dwarf.

Danny was about to try the same tactic again when the two remaining battle suits separated even further apart, increasing the space between them. Danny couldn't help but feel impressed by the two pilots' quick thinking. Too bad they were not facing an opponent who played fair. Sending out his mana, Danny paused as the two battle suits moved to avoid the area where he was gathering his mana. Danny had forgotten they could see his mana and decided that he would have to step in closer if he wanted to finish this.

Danny left his things behind and took off toward the battle suit to his right. The driver of the battle suit stretched out their arms and created a large cavity around them. Danny didn't mind this as he entered the cavity and switched to his Mana Aspect. Moving his palms together, Danny pulled them apart, creating a sizeable obstinite spear, twice his height, out of condensed mana. The dwarven battle suit drew a large obstinite claymore from its back and rushed to where Danny waited.

There, Danny floated, an ethereal naked man, waiting patiently on the massive battle suit to reach him. As soon as Danny was in range, the dwarven driver skidded to a stop and swung the obstinite claymore sideways. There was no contest on who had the greater reach between the two combatants. Then a vertical line of light split the air to Danny's side, cutting the end of the claymore off before it could strike him. The two halves of the blade just missed Danny's body by the smallest of margins. The driver finally noticed Danny's spear was no longer with him, only to find it sticking outside the neck of the battle suit. There was a small moment of silence before the spear exploded, taking off the head of the obstinite battle suite. Red spilled out of the decapitated helmet, and Danny didn't need his magical senses to know that the dwarven driver had been riddled with countless shards of obstinite. Danny found he no longer had any patience left when dealing with the dwarves.

The remaining dwarven battle suit exploded from the rock behind Danny and landed heavily onto the floor of the cavity. The dwarven driver hesitated on seeing their fellow guard's headless battle suit. Danny formed another spear in his hand without making any fancy gestures this time. This seemed to be enough of a warning for the remaining dwarven guard as it sunk into the ground and headed back towards the Crimson Caverns.

Danny was a little concerned about his own well being, as part of him craved to go after the last guard. The guards were obviously tied into the scrying system the dwarves had created. Killing the last guard wouldn't stop them from knowing he had escaped. Clenching his hands as he thought about the ramifications of them knowing, he debated whether Gran would have actually kept her word and not told her people about his visit. It was meaningless speculation now, and Danny knew he had better things to do.

Switching out of his Mana Aspect, Danny moved through the earth again and grabbed the obstinite he had left behind. Surging upwards through the earth, Danny reached the surface. Inside a small valley in the Dwarven Mountains, Danny finally reached the surface. For the first time in over six years, Danny looked at the pale moon hanging in the night sky. Switching to Air Aspect, Danny floated himself and his obstinite to one of the highest peaks in the mountains above the Crimson Caverns. There, he went against his own desire to stay outside and see as much of the sky as possible and buried himself and the obstinite inside the peak.

***

In the complete darkness of a sealed cave found somewhere in the peak of the Dwarven Mountains, Danny let out a pent-up breath of air. Over thirty hours had passed since he had retreated to the peak of the mountain, and Danny had finally finished the first enchantment of the large chunk of obstinite he had taken with him from the Crimson Caverns. As far as enchanting went, what he wanted to eventually accomplish was too complex for standard enchanting, but thanks to the residents of the Crimson Caverns, Danny had found out that there was more than one way to shave a dwarf.

Wrapping the chunk of obstinite in his mana, Danny completed carving the sphere around the outside of the hexagonal fragments trapped inside. Then, Danny sat there for a long while as nothing happening.

Then, the rest of the chunk of obstinite turned to dust. The red dust held suspended in the air for a few seconds before it fell to the ground, coating the cave's floor a few centimeters deep. The honeycombed sphere of obstinite fell to the ground, knocking loose some of the hexagonal fragments from their housing. Frowning at this, Danny stood up to inspect the pieces which had fallen out.

*Is this going to be an issue, Cece? We can't have them just falling out like this.*

Cece spoke aloud in his thoughts, *No, it will fuse with the rest of the enchantment once activated. That's the only downside, making sure you only include what you want.*

Danny pushed one of the hexagonal fragments back in the sphere, nodding, *Yes, we will have to make everything toggleable. Can we maybe make the effects specific to certain portions of the whole?*

*Yes sir, but it will make the runes more complicated to do so.*

*That's fine,* Danny replied as he picked up the last hexagonal fragment and sat down with it, instead of returning it to the final open spot on the sphere.

Cece, seemed hesitant as she asked, *Captain, are you sure this is the best use of your time. While Sage Corundum never traveled to Sentinel, she did know how far away it was. If you ran nonstop, you could get there in a quarter of the time it would take to enchant this with everything you want.*

Danny seemed to take Cece's comment seriously, thinking upon her words for a few moments.

Finally, Danny countered, *If I don't do it now, when will I have the time to do so?*

*What about Willow? Ivy? Brooke...* Cece began to ask but was quickly intercepted.

"Not now!" Danny seemed to be taken aback just as much by the fear as by the anger in his voice. "Not right now. I don't want to think of... just not now."

Cece asked one final question, the question she was really getting to before Danny's outburst.

"Captain, are you absolutely certain that binding your soul to this enchantment is the wisest course of action? We are not even sure how it works. It could turn you into something like Gran."

Danny still seemed lost in thought after Cece's previous question, but still had a ready answer, "The dwarves or anyone else powerful enough could easily destroy, change, or use the runes in this enchantment if I don't bind my soul to it. You saw how even the modified runes on the last group of battle suits stopped me from doing anything but destroy or drain them."

With no additional questions or arguments from Cece, Danny began enchanting the first of many additional runes. The soul binding rune complete, Danny activated to watch as the obstinite all around him flash along with his own body. Danny wanted to say that he felt something when it happened, but it could have just been his imagination.

For the next twelve days straight, Danny added more enchantments to the honeycombed sphere, joining the additional enchantments with the massive network of enchantments he was constructing. He realized this time that enchanting was a lot like meditating, but instead of focusing on the nothingness, Danny concentrated solely on the required runes. The time Danny spent enchanting was time Danny didn't invest in thinking about what Willow or his fiancés were doing at that moment. Whether or not they believed he was still alive. Whether or not they had decided Danny was dead and whether or not they had moved on. Part of Danny was beyond afraid to find the answers to these questions, so he instead had let his work consume him.

As Danny completed each enchantment, he would slide the hexagonal fragments into a free space in the honeycombed sphere. The hexagonal piece would meld flush with the sphere as if it had never been separated. Then, the honeycombed orb and dust coating the ground would flash for a moment as the modification took hold. Sliding the final hexagon he enchanted into the sphere, Danny stood back and watched it flash one last time.

Clapping his hands together and rubbing them in enthusiasm, Danny managed to create a cloud of the red dust that quickly spread outward to coat him as well.

After he finished coughing up a lung, Danny wisely decided against speaking out loud, *Cece, let's start this thing up and run it through some checks. First let's make a basic shell, testing out its gravity and earth manipulating enchantments at the same time.*

*Initiating enchantments, choosing the optimal shape, please stand clear,* Cece warned.

The honeycombed sphere rose up in the air, floating in the middle of the small cave Danny had occupied for the last few weeks. Then, the dust that coated everything lifted up to swirl around the room, slowly closing in around the sphere. Danny had to shield his eyes at first from the irritating dust before it was all eventually swept up in the enchantment. The swirling red dust expanded outward, the cave being too small for what Danny had planned. As Danny backed up, a new type of dust was added to the spiraling hurricane of air. This dust was the remnant of the cave walls and ceiling. This small hurricane continued for a few minutes before the windy sound died, and it took twice that time for the rock dust to finally settle down to where Danny could see properly.

The top of the peak of the mountain Danny's cave had previously been in had been completely shorn off. Before Danny floated a ginormous red teardrop the size and length of a city bus. There were no windows or doors to make it stand out as anything other than a simple shape. To outward appearance, it looked completely solid from its bulbous front to the tip of its tail. This wasn't the case, however, as the thousands upon thousands of tiny dust-like particles that made up the enchanted object were individually suspended by their gravity enchantments.

As Danny approached the teardrop, a section of the side large enough for Danny to pass through, looked as if it melted off to create a set of steps leading inside. Smiling at a fond memory from a past life, Danny entered the teardrop. Inside was a half-domed shaped cavity except for at the very center. There the honeycombed sphere was suspended by its top and bottom by a strand of expanding obstinite attached to the floor and ceiling. Danny walked toward the front of the space, a chair emerging from the floor below.

Sitting down, Danny commanded, "I want a windshield or something to see out of."

The area in front of where Danny now sat turned transparent to reveal the sky and mountainous landscape below. It looked as if the very front of the teardrop had been chopped off, from above Danny's head to right in front of his feet. Danny could see the telltale signs of the transparent obstinite, completing the teardrop shape.

"Good, the illusion enchantments seem to be working. Cece, get us into a geosynchronous orbit," Danny commanded, barely able to hold back his excitement.

Cece's voice replied deadpan, *Compliance.*

Danny didn't fight the huge grin that spread itself across his face.

CHAPTER 23

The magnificent blue marble floated silently in the darkness of space. Only a large peninsula sticking outside the smallest of three visible continents was colored something other than near monochrome the rest of the planet shared. A dark grey ridge of mountains stretched out to cut off access to the emerald peninsula from the rest of the world. The rest of the world was bathed in various shades of blue, beige, or gray. Danny could just barely make out how the smallest narrow continent they were on stretched up and to the west, into the snow-capped northern pole at the top of the planet. The second largest continent was more bulbous and situated in the northern portion of the world. Then, stretched along the southern portion of the planet was the largest continent, which took up the same space as both the other continents combined. The largest continent looked as if someone had tried and failed to split it in two, giving up halfway through.

"What happened? Why is it so blue?" Danny wondered out loud where he sat in his obstinite craft in orbit, overlooking the world below.

Cece replied to his semi-rhetorical question, *Captain, what little evidence we have points to the Cataclysmic.*

Danny shook his head, "That doesn't explain why the majority of the land on the planet is blue. Most of the records we have found seem to suggest that the Great Cataclysm ended thousands of years ago... Did they also cause some sort of shift in the plantlife's pigment of choice?"

*Sir, I would suggest sending probes out to survey the rest of the planet and gather data.*

"You are certain you can access that many scrying runes and process what they send back," Danny questioned uncertainly.

*The scrying bowls were merely a conveyance of the information gathered. Captain, the dwarves have barely managed to scratch the surface of what can be done with these runes. I had the science team already come up with alternate runes enabling communication along all five senses. They were the ones you used when enchanting this craft.*

Danny paused, realizing something, "Cece, I never gave authorization for you to do that."

There was a long moment of silence before Cece replied, *It was inferred in your request to research the scrying runes, sir.*

"I always had to spell everything out for you before," Danny argued suspiciously.

*This is a recent development. Whenever you reached a new threshold, your existing sanctuary's gifts grow stronger,* Cece said defensively. *Not only can you split your consciousness more and more as your intelligence grows, but the complexity of what your split consciousness can handle increases with each threshold gain.*

"That's good as long as you don't become annoying like... well, like I was," Danny frowned as he struggled to get across his point.

*As you command, Captain.*

Danny rubbed his hands together and changed the subject, "What's the free mana situation like up here?"

*We are not absorbing any mana at all, sir.*

Danny looked upset, complaining, "Well, that rules out extended space travel, unless I get a sacred tree to grow inside one of these ships... Oh, or fill it with dwarves!"

*Sir, that would be inadvisable as the dwarves do not currently like you. They also have a strict social taboo against public nudity.*

Danny's shoulders slumped, as he grumbled, "I am well aware of that, Commander. Weren't you going to send out some probes?" Danny countered.

*Yes, of course, Captain!*

Danny sat there silently debating if these threshold upgrades were really a blessing or not. The outside of the ship shrunk by a few centimeters as fifty tiny red teardrops shot off in different directions. Danny watched in wonder as the small probes scattered like fireworks, disappearing as they activated visual cloaking.

Danny had a sudden epiphany, as he glanced between the retreating probes and the honeycombed sphere behind him, "Cece, please refer to this craft by the name Hive from now on."

*Very well, Captain.*

"Now, let's see how this craft handles the water. Speaking of which, have the probes scour the ocean."

*Yes, sir.*

The craft descended downward at a steep pace, and the giant blue ball of a planet grew larger until it encompassed the entirety of the transparent front half of the ship Danny was looking through. Danny half expected to see flames as they entered the atmosphere, but Danny sensed the Hive subtly manipulating their surroundings with Air Magic to prevent this. The magic Danny stole from the dwarves kept the gravity inside of the ship constantly stable and prevented him from being crushed against the craft's surfaces.

The Hive dropped down out of the upper atmosphere and the dark clouds to be greeted by a storm raging violently over choppy seas. Lightning ran jaggedly through the clouds or lashed out at the waters below. The clear front of the ship slowly expanded even further as the ship dropped the last few hundred meters. Water splashed against the window-like surface of the front of the ship before they were completely submerged. Countless tiny bubbles flowed upwards obscuring Danny's view for a few seconds, and then the vast dark expanse of the ocean opened up before him. Danny grew depressed as he realized there was only empty water as far as he could see.

"Nothing," Danny whispered in disbelief. "Cece, can we get some lights on out there?"

As beams of light shot out of the front of the craft, Cece reported, *Captain, I am picking up something actively blocking our scans. It's moving this way... It's rather large.*

The Hive turned around and came to a stop. Danny peered into the dark waters and barely managed to make out a small darker spot in the far distance. The spot kept getting larger but all the while never appeared the least bit closer. Danny's own magical senses failed to isolate it, and his eyes widened in alarm at this revelation. While his eyes told him the thing approaching was tiny, his other senses were screaming at him.

"Cece, we should probably get out of here," Danny said nervously.

*Captain, there is nothing to fear from this creature. In fact, this will be a good time to potentially test the Hive's structural integrity.*

Danny's expression broadcasted his thoughts on the sanity of such a statement, as he said, "That's a big N-O for me being a part of any testing involving... that. How about you drop me off somewhere safe, and you can come back. Now, where are the controls?"

*Sir, you are letting your fears override the logical conclusion.*

"And what is that?" Danny asked as he hurried over to stand behind the honeycombed sphere.

*That this... craft is... impact!*

Distracted by Cece's stuttering voice, Danny's head jerked around on pure instinct just in time to see a massive set of jaws filled with wide, jagged teeth close around his ship. The ceiling and floor bulged slightly inward, and there came the sound of trees snapping and explosions, and then the Hive was rocked violently away a dozen meters from where the creature had attacked them.

Water started spraying into the Hive from countless locations all over the craft. The spraying water stopped just as suddenly as it began but not before enough seawater had filled the craft enough to reach Danny's ankles. As the water quickly receded into the floor and walls, Danny was able to get his bearings again. Through the maelstrom of bubbles outside, something dark had stained the water, and large white fragments of what looked like marble floated past the ship's transparent front-facing dome. The water around the window cleared slightly, and Danny could see the monster better now. Its head and most of its neck were completely missing. Six sets of fin-like appendages grew out of the elongated body, like the oars of a ship. Finally, there was a long tail that ended with a broad dorsal fin. The sea monster's corpse floated slowly away from the Hive.

*Sir, we lost five percent of the Hive's mass.*

Danny's hands ached, and he realized he had been gripping the Hive's core tighter than was comfortable. Releasing the sphere, Danny stretched his fingers and walked over to sit in his chair again, asking, "What do you mean lost? I thought this was made of obstinite?"

*It is, sir. Even before the creature made contact with the ship, there was some sort of reaction. The ability of the different grains of enchanted obstinite to communicate with each other began to fail. Then, when the creature made contact, we immediately lost connection with the portion of the ship that came in direct contact with the creature's mouth. I scanned the loose pieces of obstinite, but they appear to have lost their enchantment entirely.*

"That's not good. Can you get it back and re-enchant it?" Danny asked.

Cece hesitantly replied, *Sorry, captain. At first, I suspected the obstinite had been merely disenchanted, and then, our scans just returned a sudden increase of quartz particles in the surrounding ocean. Contact with creature appears to have returned the obstinite back to its natural non-magical based state.*

Danny sighed, "Make sure to avoid the corpse then. Now, what about the life down here?"

*Captain, the probes we released are showing signs of natural aquatic life in and around the peninsula, but outside of that, there is a strange dead zone. Past that is what looks somewhat like aquatic plants, but we can't get a reading on anything in the water there. These plants are visually unlike anything I have seen before. The probes on the surface are reporting the same thing. The even stranger thing is when we do a magic scan anything that looks like plant life, it seems to immediately wilt and die as soon as the magic touches it. The probes have also uncovered some animal-like creatures this way, hiding in amongst the plants, though they have a very different reaction.*

Danny stared up at where he had seen the craft bend inward under the colossal creature's bite and tried to decide what to do next.

*Sir, we have a developing issue you might want to look at.*

"Show it to me then," Danny commanded.

A holographic screen appeared in front of Danny, displaying part of the blue plant-covered land now common with the majority of the planet. The elevated view from the probe zoomed in to show a strange phenomenon. A pinprick of pure darkness appeared hovering a half a meter above the ground, slowly pulsating larger and larger. Lightning cracked around the darkness, and as the probe drew closer, the pulsing of the anomaly appeared to strengthen as the air in numerous locations around it began to waver, much as air close to the ground does on a hot day. Creatures of different shapes and sizes flickered into existence around the dense blue foliage surrounding the tiny dark pulsating orb, loud pops announcing their arrival. The beings seemed to have very little in common except for the fact that they all acted as if they were in great pain. The probe immediately flew away from the phenomenon, watching as the rate the creatures appeared continued to increase.

Then, one of the creatures began jumping and leaping toward the probe. The probe was hundreds of yards in the air, and the pathetically short distance of the strange being's hops didn't seem to dissuade it at all. Then, the creature's body began to bubble and shift. Behind the first creature, more joined the chase. Some of them grew longer limbs trying to stretch higher, while others' legs began expanding, allowing them to jump higher. It was the ones that evolved into some shape or form of wings that made the most progress. Flapping, fluttering, and gliding, they spun upwards on drafts of wind toward the fleeing probe. Other strange creatures leaped out of the dense blue foliage to join the chase, coming from directions that were too far away for them to have originated from the nearby phenomenon.

Danny was shaken from his momentary shock, asking, "Are these the Cataclysmic?"

*Unknown sir, but this is not an isolated issue,* Cece explained as the inside of the Hive was flooded with more holographic screens showing some variation of the same phenomenon.

Danny looked from one screen to the next, watching as the creatures in one screen struggled to move through the sands of a desert while others tried to jump around on a mountainside. All were trying to reach the probe observing, it with a mindless obsessiveness that scared Danny.

Danny stood up to move around and look at all the screens, "Some of the creatures were there before the probe reached these."

*Yes, and the strange phenomenon didn't start reacting until the magical scans reached a point near the epicenter. Sir, in all cases the creatures not already there started appearing shortly afterwards.*

Danny rubbed a hand through his hair, "Have any of these creatures reached one of the probes?"

The room emptied of all but one holoscreen that flew across to stop in front of Danny. The image showed what Danny could best describe as a flying snake with dragonfly wings and a doorknob for a head reaching the probe which was sending back the current image.

Cece asked, *Should I give the probe an order to attack its pursuer?*

"Open fire. Single bullet of plasma," Danny commanded.

The probe releases a small ball of fire that oddly dimmed right before it hit the pursuing alien creature. Bursting through the resulting smoke, the strange creature suddenly closed the distance between itself and the probe. The image flickered as the doorknob-like head opened to reveal rows of needle-sharp teeth that attempted a few bites at the probe. Then, the image suddenly flashed and went dark. As the image flickered back into existence, Danny could see the now headless creature falling slowly it to the ground.

"What happened?" Danny demanded loudly.

*Captain, the events follow what happened with the large creature that attacked us. The moment the flying creature made contact with the probe we lost contact for a moment. Even before that, we started to lose contact with the probe. The probe has lost over half of its mass, and the creature's body appears to have ruptured like the creature in the ocean.*

Frowning in concern, Danny asked, "Yes, just like the sea monster... Did we at least get a good scan of the creature?"

*Sir, we are not receiving anything at all. It is like they don't exist,* Cece explained calmly.*

"What about the bullet of plasma? It seemed to lose power right before it struck the creature."

*I agree. While we were only able to observe it visually, there appeared to be some sort of interference with the magic, and it lost a significant amount of power.*

Danny began pacing, "What about these dark phenomena? What have you gathered from them?"

*Sir, it shows up on every scan as interference. Currently, nothing conclusive can be gleaned from the information we have received.*

Danny continued pacing, finding the repetitive movement soothing to his racing mind.

*Captain, more probes are being attacked, and some are losing mass at critical rates. Those probes specifically under the ocean have come under attack even though they are not detecting any of the interference I now expect from the phenomenon.*

Danny was still pacing as he commanded, "Note the locations of these phenomena and pull all the probes back immediately." Danny paused, adding, "Have them increase in elevation till you suspect they are outside these creature's ability to perceive the probes. Try to observe if the creature's numbers continue to grow; then take a roundabout way back here, through the stratosphere. No need to lead them back here."

*Sir, what about the probe at Sentinel?*

Danny turned to stare at a new screen that appeared, whispering, "Oh, shit..."

***

A massive city encircled one of the phenomena. Danny would think the area had been set aside as an enormous park if it were not for the signs that the open central area had been the location of a massive battlefield for a long time. Nothing grew in the vacant space at the center of the city. A series of three walls encircled the area at the middle, separating it from the buildings outside it. Danny found the picture strange until he realized that it was the first village or city he had seen with the walls on the inside and none on the outside.

The city was settled far out in the plains on the other side of the Dwarven Mountains from the peninsula known to the dwarves as the Outlands. The buildings of the city were densely clustered together around colossal fortified citadels, each of which rose impressively high above the rest of the city. Danny could hear bells ringing as he watched the occupants of the city fight from the city walls with both magic and martial force against the rapidly appearing creatures.

Danny walked back over to sit in his chair, commanding, "Cece, pull back to a safe distance above the city." Danny added as an afterthought, "Send more probes to observe and study these beastmen and Sentinel."

*Yes, sir.*

"Their walls sure are close to the epicenter of that phenomenon. Were they already engaged with the creatures when the probe first approached the city?" Danny asked as he watched the holoscreen of the probe still observing the city down below.

*Captain, the probe observed that they were already engaged with the unknown creatures, but the number increased steadily as the probe crossed the city's walls.*

Danny sighed, "Use the distance of the walls as a buffer for the probes not to cross and by no means are they to use magic within that area."

*Yes, sir. Should we move the probes in to assist in defense of the city?*

Danny watched as additional beastmen poured onto the walls from the rest of the city, replying, "No, it appears they have everything under control."

Looking back at the Hive's core, Danny slapped his hands on the armrests in frustration and stood back up, saying resignedly, "Looks like I will need to do some more enchanting."

CHAPTER 24

The red hexagonal chip slid into a slot with the same multi-sided dimensions. There was a brief flash of light that rippled outward, and then there was no longer any evidence that the hexagonal chip had ever existed.

Danny stretched his back out of habit after spending many days enchanting. The last enchantment he had made would hopefully be the final one he would personally have to spend the time enchanting, at least for a long while.

"Cece, have we discovered any of the other races that we have heard about but have yet to encounter?" Danny asked as a way to break up the silence.

Cece's voice came back distractedly, *Yes, sir. There are various beastmen tribes scattered throughout the peninsula. The majority, though, live in the plains to the east of Diadem. Then, there are the orcs residing in the swamplands to the northeast where the Wisteria River empties into the ocean.*

"Anything of interest to note about them?" Danny asked hopefully.

*No, they are fairly primitive technologically, while only a few members have any magical capabilities of note,* Cece quickly added, her voice laced with concern, *Captain, I believe you need to see something.*

Not ready for another emergency just yet, Danny took his time as he walked back and sat in the only chair inside the red craft.

"What is it now, Cece?"

*I suspect some of the beastmen can sense the probes' presence.*

Danny frowned as he asked, "The ones in Sentinel or the tribesmen? Are they sensing the scans? I thought the mana control runes I installed would negate anyone from sensing any of the magic used."

*It's the beastmen of Sentinel. I don't believe they are picking up on any of the magic being used. Instead, I think some of them can sense all the magic the probes are soaking up. Sir, I suspect they can tell there is less free magic in the air and also sense where it is going.*

Danny's head rocked back with a look of disbelief on his face, "Oh really? Well then have them immediately stop absorbing free mana. Can you show me one of these beastmen?"

*Actually, it's beastwomen. The probes report from their observations that there is an all-female group referred to as the Arcane Sect, and they are all Mana Variant Ascendants. Here is one that has managed to almost pinpoint the location of the nearest probe on more than one occasion.*

A holoscreen opened up in front of Danny's chair. The screen displayed a view of a gray-haired bear beastwoman who started almost directly at the Hive's probe. The beastwoman's eyes and the area directly around them appeared ethereal, as she had only partially entered her Mana Aspect. Danny was instantly jealous that he hadn't been able to accomplish this feat.

Smiling at an idea that just came to him, Danny commanded, "Cece, send all the probes in Sentinel away to an altitude the beastmen won't notice them anymore and make a new one here in front of me."

The floor in front of Danny's bulged upward, and a probe floated where he had directed.

"Alright, now change its form into a classic pixie's," Danny said with a little enthusiasm.

Little hands, feet, arms, legs, and wings bulged outward from the probe. When it was finished, a little naked, all red, androgynous human with a single pair of dragonfly wings floated before him.

"Can you give it more realistic coloring?" Danny asked.

The red skin turned pale white as the wings became semitransparent and the hair turned golden blonde.

Danny frowned, suggesting, "Make its features elfin, and it's hair some unnatural vibrant color."

The hair turned bright purple as the pixie's ears elongated and its tiny cheekbones jutted out slightly.

"Wait, why is it naked?" Danny asked in exasperation.

The pixie shrugged, and Cece spoke from it in a higher pitch, "Master, I only used the template you provided in your mind. Also, I wanted to remind you of your own unclothed state."

Danny, unfazed by the pixie suddenly using Cece's voice, looked outraged as he retorted, "I know that! You don't have to remind me, and stop with the master talk."

The pixie looked sternly at him, "Master, it's just that you forgot to find proper coverings back in the dwarv..."

"Alright, let's focus on the pixie right now," Danny shouted. When he was sure Cece had been silenced, he added, "Now, just give it a simple tunic and leggings."

Red clothing seemed to seep out of the pixie's body as it shrunk ever so slightly. The pixie was now barely ten centimeters tall.

Spinning around and moving, the pixie asked, "How is this, Master?"

Distracted, Danny asked, "How did you make the clothing move like real fabric?"

The pixie smiled brightly, explaining, "I already ran simulations on the enchanted fine obstinite dust to make sure it could mimic different materials."

Danny looked impressed, asking, "Can you give me some clothing like that?"

The pixie placed a finger on her chin, tapping it in thought.

"Why are you doing that?" Danny interrupted her.

The pixie put her hands on her hips as she looked up at him in confusion, "Doing what?"

Danny gestured to all of her, asking, "All the cutesy poses, the squeaky voice, the over the top actions, and you're still calling me Master..."

"Oh, the probe translates my words and intentions into your ideal expectations of what a typical pixie would say and act like," the pixie explained happily.

Danny's mouth scrunched up as he considered how he felt about this, finally relenting with, "Alright, fine."

The chair Danny was sitting in suddenly started to melt inward, and some of its form began inching its way across Danny's body.

"Cece, the ship's trying to eat me!" Danny yelled out in terror as he struggled to get away.

The diminutive pixie flew up and slapped him across the nose, "Stop fighting, or I won't get the measurements right!"

The strike to his nose was weak, like someone flicking it, but the action still caused Danny to pause in his attempts to free himself. Looking unhappy and exceedingly uncomfortable, Danny waited for the Hive to finish covering his body.

After about a minute had passed, Cece flew up higher and commanded Danny to stand so she could see how it looked. Cece couldn't seem to find the look she was wanting, and Danny shuddered as his new clothes moved on their own across his flesh. As Danny turned around for the umpteenth time, he questioned his own sanity at the fact that a construct of his own consciousness, born of magic, was now making him put on a fashion show.

To Danny's relief, the Cece-possessed pixie finally settled on a look that was apparently popular in Sentinel, a long-sleeved tunic and pleated slacks. Danny liked the new clothes, not just because they were loose fitting, but because the enchanted obstinite dust felt like silk against his skin. Cece left them red as that was mana conservative.

Danny sat back down in his chair, telling Cece, who chose to land on his arm, "I want you to turn all the probes into these pixies and randomize their features and hair color. Is that bear beastwoman still looking for the probe?"

Cece froze for a few seconds before she nodded, "Yes, she has found another probe and is taking notes from on top of a nearby building."

"Good, now how do I control one?" Danny asked, rubbing his hands together with malicious glee.

To his horror, Danny's shirt began to slide up the back of his head and silenced the scream starting to escape his throat.

***

The gray-haired bear beastwoman carefully sketched a map showing the location of the strange disturbances she had noted around the city. Perched on the edge of a gabled roof, the beastwoman was unperturbed by the height or precariousness of her position. She looked up with her Mana Aspect infused sight at the single pixie Danny left to keep her distracted. There came a loud shrill scream from somewhere far off, but the beastwoman was too focused on what she was doing to bother with it. That is until a voice spoke up from much closer.

"You missed one over here and here."

The bear-woman's eyes returned to normal as she jerked her head around, looking for the source of the sudden voice. Carefully laying her stylus down on her book, the beastwoman surreptitiously checked the roof behind her only to confirm that she was all alone.

"If you aren't going to do it, I will. Though, these will probably all change soon, so it's a bit of a waste of time."

Now that she was prepared, the bear-woman was instantly drawn to the source of the voice. On her book stood a small winged person who was busy using her stylus to mark points on the map she had already drawn.

Finished, the pixie dropped the stylus and wiped a hand across its brow, exclaiming, "Wow, that thing's heavier than it looks!" Then, the pixie sat down and smiled up at the beastwoman, saying, "Hello up there, my name's Dixie!"

The old bear-woman looked lost for words as she gaped at the tiny peculiar creature sitting on her notebook.

Dixie waited a bit before making a "come on, hurry up" gesture and asking, "And your name is?"

The beastwoman opened and closed her mouth a few times before she managed a hoarse, "Ipip."

"Ipip? Is that your name?" Dixie asked in confusion.

Ipip mechanically nodded as she continued to stare, dumbfounded.

Dixie looked around in annoyance, muttering, "A whole city of Cataclysmic fighting anthropomorphic animals. and I pick the deer in the headlights..."

"What was that?" Ipip asked, seeming to suddenly come back to life.

Dixie flew up to Ipip's eye level, "You're back! I was wondering why you kept staring at my brothers and sisters all day and decided to come ask."

Ipip looked up towards the probe she had been studying, asking, "Is that one of... your kind up there?"

Dixie looked shocked, "Don't tell me you have never seen a pixie!" Then, turning to where Ipip had been staring the last hour, Dixie yelled, "Cece, get down here and meet Ipip!"

There was a flicker of light, and then another pixie flew down and landed on Ipip's book. Cece didn't even greet the beastwoman as she was too busy staring at the map of the city in the notebook.

"That looks nothing like me," Cece complained. Cece crossed her arms and huffed, "I spent all that time holding still, and you were just drawing circles and dots."

Ipip looked unsure of what to do, apologizing, "I... I couldn't clearly see you before... I am sorry."

Cece looked instantly mollified, smiling brightly as she waived, "Hi, I'm Cece!"

A hesitant smile spread across Ipip's face as she took in both of the pixies.

Seeming to come to some realization, Ipip spoke formally, "I welcome you both to the city of Sentinel. If you don't mind me asking, what has brought you... all to our city?"

Dixie spoke up first, announcing, "We come scouting for our master!" Cece rushed over shushing him and tried to cover his mouth, but Dixie fended her off adding, "He is a seeker of knowledge and has searched far and wide for a solution to rid the world of the Cataclysmic."

Cece made a frustrated sound, stomping her foot while Dixie blew a raspberry at her.

"Your master? What manner of beastman is he?" Ipip asked, trying not to laugh at the two pixies' antics.

Cece stepped in front of Dixie, answering, "He is very handsome! You know, he has a thing for big strong bear-woman. You wouldn't be available would..."

Dixie spun Cece around before she could finish, fiercely whispering, "Cece! What. Are. You. Doing?"

Cece smiled innocently, replying, "What's the matter, Dixie, I am just looking out for our master's well-being. Why else would he be looking for the beastmen?"

"For knowledge against the Cataclysmic, and why don't we let him do any wooing himself?" Dixie mumbled through gnashing teeth.

"Excuse me, what kind of beastman did you say he was?" Ipip interrupted.

Cece used the beastwoman's distraction to get away from Dixie, exclaiming, "I am sorry, we really must return and report to our master. He will arrive here tomorrow evening, from the west. Is there somewhere you could meet him and show him around?"

"From the west? That can't be..." Ipip said in disbelief. Regaining her composure, she suggested, "I will be happy to wait for him outside the city on the west side near a large statue of a group of beastmen and women in battle. Do you think you could find that and lead him there?"

Dixie puffed up his chest, "Of course, I know exactly where that is!"

Despite Ipip's attempts to get them to answer more questions, she was unable to stop both pixies from taking off, the two still bickering as their voices faded away. Waiving, the bear-woman returned their goodbyes before they both disappeared from sight.

Unknown to Ipip, another pixie floated high above and observed as the beastwoman stood there for a long while before gathering her book and racing off across the city.

***

Back under the ocean, far across the world, Danny watched Ipip rush away through a floating holoscreen in front of him. Setting one elbow down on the chair's arm, Danny rested his head on his hand as he considered if he was going about this the right way.

"Cece, have the probes... I mean the pixies, still been unable to locate the remains of the artifacts building Neferet claimed Senui had destroyed?"

Cece landed on Danny's shoulder and replied, "No, they have not, master. Either the story was a lie or the building was so damaged they finished demolishing it. Earth scans have revealed a large number of underground structures and tunnels running throughout the city. Anyone of them could be part of the rumored building. I have the pixies searching through them now, but doing so while keeping away from any Arcane Sect members has been challenging."

Danny sighed, "Alright, let's head out and get me something to eat other than obstinite, to aid me in my beastman transformation. All that extra hair I will be growing will have to come from somewhere, and I have been operating on empty for far too long."

The Hive lifted up out of the ocean to reveal a haggard and choppy sea, still settling after a great storm. The dark clouds above looked strained, and the noon sun only managed to pierce them in a few locations. The streaks of sunlight slashed outward, striking the ocean surface.

Cece spoke up in a calm tone, "There is something you should really see."

Distracted from the view out the front portal, Danny looked concerned, "What is it?"

A holoscreen appeared in front of him showing a pixie's view of the elven forest. There was a lightly worn path moving through the trees, but other than that, the view was uneventful.

"Cece, what am I supposed to be seeing here?"

Cece flew closer to the holoscreen, sighing impatiently she said, "Master, it would be easier if you took control of the fairy."

Looking in suspicion at Cece, Danny asked, "Are they in trouble?"

Cece didn't need to ask who "they' were, and shook her head, urging him, "You need to just see, please hurry."

Danny closed his eyes and settled back into the chair, struggling to allow his clothes and chair to consume his entire body. Once wrapped tightly around him, the enchanted obstinite relayed everything the pixie in the elven forest was sensing.

CHAPTER 25

The leaves swayed in a strong wind that picked up pollen and any fallen flowers or leaves that were sprinkled over every tree and the forest floor. Birds, insects, and other small creatures called out lazily to each other across the elven forest.

The pixie Danny had taken over dipped briefly as he took control and changed its appearance into Dixie's. The possessed pixie began to look around for whatever Cece needed him to see. Coming out of the dense canopy, Danny flew down to the dirt path that was winding its way between the densely packed trees. That's when he picked up on four riders moving his way. Danny took off down the trail until he was close enough to see them with his tiny eyes.

Three young women and a young man traveled on horseback down the trail. The three women were instantly recognizable to Danny, and he almost fled right then and there.

*Cece! What are you doing? I don't... They are... I need to go!* Seeing that nothing was obviously wrong, Danny struggled with himself, almost breaking his connection with Dixie.

*Danny, you will do this, now! Since they have been traveling, it has taken me awhile to hunt them down. Now, you have been diving recklessly into everything you can, trying to block out thoughts of them. I mean, who sneaks into a heavily fortified underground dwarven city and completely forgets that they are doing so bare ass naked?* Cece berated him. Taking a deep breath, she continued, *Face what has happened to them now or you will be too busy trying to distract yourself from seeing your death descend upon you. I have things to do, and I can't finish them if you're no longer here.*

Pausing his reckless flight through the trees, Danny slowed down to hug himself, trying to settle his upset stomach. Reluctantly turning around, the pixie witnessed the four riders move directly below him on the forest path. The handsome young man who wore a multicolored duster of red, blue, and gray, laughed together with two of the three women riding with him. Danny's heart seemed to seize as he recognized Ivy and Brooke as the ones laughing with the handsome young wizard.

Danny, in the back of his mind, had fleetingly thought about this very scenario happening, but he had never admitted to himself how much he didn't want it to be true. The twenty-two-year-old daughter of the ruling woman of Diadem sat on her horse looking like the princess Ivy should be. Her beauty was like a beacon, drawing the eye unintentionally toward her. Ivy somehow made the simple dark leather armor, over a black tunic and pants she wore, look like expensive riding attire. Even though she was the shortest of the four and the least martial in appearance of the three young women, Ivy's apparel didn't make her look out of place and only seemed to enhanced her womanly curves.

On the young wizard's other side sat Brooke. Brooke would be twenty-one now, and she seemed to have increased in not only height but strength. Wearing dark, heavy metal armor, Brooke's bare arms bulged out of the black material she wore underneath her armor. While Brooke wasn't the tallest of the four riders, her sheer size made the other three look like children next to her. Danny smiled sadly as he realized that the extra weight she had carried around with her and worried about obsessively as a teenager was now all gone. The undeniably handsome young woman with sharply angled features wearing an impressively large iron breastplate smiled over at something the young man riding next to her had said.

Glancing quickly away toward the back, Danny found Jade vigilantly scanning the elven forest. She had always been a shy and quiet girl, so it did not surprise him that she wasn't joining in on the pleasant conversation. Watching her, Danny couldn't deny that the girl he would once have compared to a ballerina would now be better placed among the runway models on Earth. The horse she was riding couldn't hide her long legs that seemed to stretch on forever. Jade would probably be able to just barely look over Danny's head. Jade's dark blonde hair was cut very short, like Brooke's, but it only seemed to emphasize her beautiful emerald eyes. Covered from head to toe in skin-tight leather armor, Danny couldn't deny how well it outlined her athletically toned body. Danny caught her suddenly looking forward at the back of the wizard's head for a few moments. Then, looking downward, she pursed her lips that slid into a slightly rueful grin.

Heart heavy, Danny watched the four riders continue onward out of sight. He had a bittersweet feeling to see they had found happiness while he had been taken away. Danny figured that it was for the best. Especially with how his life was now. Focusing on the Hive and his physical body sitting in the chair, Danny released his control of Dixie's body.

But nothing happened.

*There is one more person you need to see, Master. In fact, I insist you must see her.*

Danny felt a lump rise in his throat, but he swallowed it down as he relented to Cece's wishes, *Where?*

A dot appeared not far away, just out of range of his magical senses, in the direction the four riders were headed. Realizing that he didn't have much time before the four humans reached their destination, Danny took off, up, and over the top of the canopy. Quickly outpacing the four slowly moving riders, Danny soon came to his home away from home near the Elven Capital. Three sacred trees had been grown, wrapped around each other, to form his private tower. At one point Danny had expanded it to allow for not only his fiancés, but the Basalts, to stay there.

As he flew down below the canopy and across the open field where the tower had been built, Danny could sense a familiar presence waiting inside. Taking in a deep breath, Danny alighted on the windowsill of a room where a single elven girl waited at a table prepared for a meal, looking out another window. While she appeared to be in her late teens, the elven woman was in reality in her early sixties. One only had to look into an elf's eyes to see that their physical bodies were mere illusions hiding their actual age. The eyes that started out the window appeared to have aged more than they should have. The beautiful princess of the elven nation looked barely a year older and had only grown more attractive in that time.

Danny struggled internally, as he paced back and forth on the window sill, trying to determine how best to approach his wife.

"Are you just going to spend all day walking in a circle, or are you going to tell me why you haven't come to see me yet?" Willow spoke out loud, still looking out the other window.

Danny paused, mid-step, and searched the room for who she could be speaking to. Danny pushed his senses outward and could only find the princess in front of him and the elven guards waiting at the edge of the forest clearing, hidden amongst the trees.

Willow glanced over with her aquamarine eyes to look directly at Danny, saying, "Danny is in there somewhere, is he not?"

Danny looked down, realizing Cece had used his distraction to overwrite the Fire Magic bending light around his body without him noticing. Looking up at Willow, Danny struggled once again for the right words before merely flying over to her.

Landing on the table in front of his wife, Danny calmed his nerves, saying quietly, "Willow, I'm so sorry."

Willow's eyes filled with tears as she leaned down toward him and, wiping her eyes, asked quietly, "What happened?"

Danny explained to her his kidnapping, enslavement, and being buried alive for six years. Some of the fire and anger Danny had seen building behind Willow's eyes died as his story went on. The princess's hands fidgeted as if she wanted nothing more than to reach out and embrace the diminutive pixie. Then, Danny told her about the dwarves and what he had learned about the history between the dwarven and elven races.

Willow looked Danny in the eyes, not hesitating to admit, "It is the greatest secret of the royal family. When the last ascendant, my ancestor, sealed off the peninsula with his very life force, my surviving ancestors told the rest of our people that the dwarves were already lost to the Cataclysmic. When the dwarves appeared from under the mountain over a millennia ago, we feared retribution. When they showed no interest in us besides as a potential trading partner, we just left the truth of that history in the past."

"For your people's safety, I would not trust the dwarven people past trading with them," Danny advised. Sighing, he added, "Despite my attempts at diplomacy, the dwarves have taken your ancestors' betrayal to heart and refuse to help or ask for help from anyone."

"Where are you now? When will you come here personally? Should I have the servants prepare the tower or will you take up your residence in Crossbark?" Willow's questions were interrupted by the sound of the four guests arriving outside.

Flying to the window, Danny checked their progress before asking Willow, "I will return soon, but I still have a loose end to tie up before I return." Seeing the look in Willow's eye, Danny forestalled her, "Before I answer any questions about that, did they marry the wizard?"

Willow didn't have to ask who he was talking about, replying, "No, not yet. After four years of searching or waiting for you in Crossbark, we all decided to move on. They returned to Diadem and were pressured into a diplomatic role with my people. It is my understanding that they only agreed to becoming diplomats if they were also reinstated into the Order. Between trips to Diadem, Crossbark, and the Elven capital, they have been mostly busy hunting down rogue human sorcerers."

"And the wizard?" Danny asked.

Willow lifted a perfect dark blonde eyebrow, asking, "What are you really wanting to know, Danny?"

Danny hung his head, asking, "Should I tell them? Are they happier with him? I mean, I have been gone so long, and I have caused you all so much..."

Willow's hand landed lightly on Danny's head, as she gently patted it, "Danny, you need to tell them. They have been waiting all this time... like I have," Willow sniffed noisily, "They are grown women now, and the choice isn't yours alone to make."

Danny grabbed Willow's giant elven hand and brought it down in front of him, hugging it tightly to himself as he said, "But..."

Willow didn't take back her hand as she knelt down so that her head was level with his body, chiding him, "Danny, you will tell them or I will."

Danny reached out and stroked his wife's cheek, "I never did ask. Did you find yourself a replacement ascendant boy toy while I was gone?"

Willow's eyes narrowed dangerously as she held up her wrist and the enchanted sacred tree wood wrapped around it, replying, "I still have my wedding band, and so I knew you were not dead. After our pursuit into the eastern grasslands led to a dead end, I scoured the elven archives for a way to pinpoint your location, but if there was a way, its secret was lost."

Danny used the pixie's Mana Scan to analyze the wedding band. The band had a very particular rune, similar to the one he had named Soul Bound. Seeing the way the soul rune had been used twice, Danny almost immediately guessed why the rune was used.

"The drow slavers threatened to remove my hand if I didn't take it off along with everything else," Danny said apologetically. "I didn't realize its function when we were wed. The enchantment fades if one of us dies, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. I understand..." Willow began, but there was a knock on the room's open entryway.

"Willow, we are here," came Ivy's rich voice.

Willow stood up and turned around, blocking Danny's pixie from those entering the room. As the four humans stepped inside, Willow moved away from the now empty windowsill and walked around the table in the center of the room to greet them.

"Ivy, Brooke, Jade, and Harold, I hope your trip was uneventful," Willow said with a bright smile.

Brooke was already unstrapping some of her heavier metal armor while she complained, "Not a single beast bothered to attack us. I even went after a group of beast boars that wandered too close to the road, but they all ran away like cowards... Could have had pork cutlets for dinner, too."

"I am sorry to hear that. I hope you don't mind settling for some elven cuisine instead," Willow said with a stifled grin from hearing Brooke's story.

Ivy interjected for her friend, "That would be most welcome. Thank you, Willow."

"Your Highness, thank you for inviting me as well," Harold said as he moved forward, bowing slightly to the princess.

"You are part of their shadow now, and I would be remiss not to invite you, Harold." Only Willow's eyes betrayed her hesitance as she asked Harold, "I hope you wouldn't mind if I spoke privately with them about something of a national secret," she quickly added, "I trust you, but we would be in trouble if our families found out."

A disappointed, yet understanding, look filled Harold's face as he smiled slightly, saying, "Of course. I will be downstairs checking on the horses when you all are finished."

Willow smiled apologetically, "Thank you, Harold. Here, take some wine with you while you wait," Willow handed the wizard a cup as she walked him out of the room.

Jade was quietly leaning against the wall near the entryway door when Willow came back in, and Jade announced, "He's out of earshot." Walking right up to the princess, Jade asked, "What's going on, Willow? Something's different about you."

Willow took a step back from Jade's sudden closeness as she gestured to the round table, telling them, "Sit down."

The three human women silently shared a look at the princess's less than formal tone, before they each took a seat. Willow sat down in one of the two remaining places and then proceeded to say absolutely nothing.

Glancing between themselves, Brooke was the first to speak up, "So Low, what's the secret news you needed to tell us?"

There was a tinkling sound coming from the window, and then Dixie flew through the window and landed on the empty plate in front of Willow. Ivy's chair scooted back, while Brooke leaned forward, squinting. Jade was out of her chair, her hidden twin short swords already drawn.

Waiving to the three human women, Danny yelled, "Hello!"

The only sound that followed for the next few seconds was that of two swords falling to the room's wooden floor.

"It can't be," Ivy whispered to herself.

Brooke's head collapsed onto the table where she didn't stir.

Danny found himself suddenly in the air above the table. A wraith-like Jade was holding him in her hand as she inspected him from head to toe. Danny was then flipped upside down as Jade held him by one foot. With an almost frantic nature, Jade poked and prodded him, for what he assumed were answers.

"Jade, put my husband down right now," Willow commanded sternly from below.

Jade looked at Willow, tears welling in her eyes, sounding like a lost child as she asked, "It's really him?"

"Yes," Willow smiled. Sadly, her own eyes sympathetically teared up.

Jade clutched Danny to her breast as she slowly settled back down in her chair, her form returning to normal.

"Can... A little help here, please," Danny begged and waved his arms from where he was being smothered.

Brooke suddenly jolted upright, a roll plastered to one cheek as she looked around in confusion, asking, "Wha... What happened?"

Ivy ignored Brooke's question, looking around her to where Jade still clutched Danny, saying, "Let go of...," Ivy choked out, before eventually yelling, "Let him go, Jade!"

Jade was looking down into her hands, but at Ivy's words, Jade frowned and jerked her hands away from where Ivy was sitting. Just then, another pixie flew through the window and landed on the table, a second Dixie.

Jade missed the new arrival, but Ivy pointed at the table, yelling, "What is going on?"

Brooke, still looking out of it, reached out a finger and poked the second Dixie in the stomach.

To which Dixie couldn't stop himself from covering his stomach giggling, "Hoo hoo!"

Brooke joined the pixie's giggling and kept trying to poke him in the stomach again. The second Dixie looked like he wanted to say something, but was too busy struggling to fend off Brooke's giant fingers.

A third Dixie flew in and landed in front of a very confused and emotional Ivy.

Looking over at the state of his twins, the third Dixie mumbled, "That took way more pixies than I thought it would." Smiling brightly up at Ivy, Danny asked, "How are you doing, Ms. Bossy?"

Ivy's lip trembled as her mouth opened and closed a few times. Then, a downpour of tears started falling from Ivy's eyes to stream down her cheeks. To Danny's horror, Ivy covered her face and began sobbing uncontrollably. Danny ran a hand through his pixie hair before scratching it in a nervous habit.

Glancing back to where Willow now sat sipping on a glass of wine, Danny asked sheepishly, "A little help, please?"

Willow just gave Danny that look that no man has yet to truly define. A look men instinctively try to respond to with the best intentions, but only turn out to be, without a doubt, the worst possible actions.

"Right... Give me a few minutes here," Danny said to Willow as he hopelessly flew up to try and comfort Ivy.

CHAPTER 26

"So, you have been free for over a month now, and you just now came to see us," Ivy managed to sum up Danny's harrowing tale by fixating on this one small detail.

After the three women had calmed down from their initial reactions to him being alive, Danny had immediately delved into what had happened to him over the past six years. Their responses had left Danny wondering why he thought it had been a good idea to listen to his magical imaginary construct.

Danny held up his hands, pleadingly, as his pixie wings fluttered in agitation, "No, it took me three weeks to just find you, and then, I spent another six days enchanting something that should give me more free time to come and see you more often."

Brooke was back to her old self, except for the deep scowl she wore as she asked, "And why can't you come back in person yet?"

Danny held back a deep sigh, replying, "I have business with my kidnappers that I need to resolve. They have individuals who can apparently spot the difference between the enchantments of my pixies and an ascendant such as myself. Also, I am very certain they will not leave you or me alone if they find out I am still alive."

"Your reason for why we can't come and help you is...," Jade followed up, still holding onto one of the Dixies in a death grip.

Danny looked to Willow again for assistance, then regretted it as she stated, "I was wondering that myself... husband."

The way Willow said husband let Danny know he was treading on thin ice here. He was trying to protect them, but they were all adults now and, Danny reluctantly admitted to himself, needed to know this information in case something happened to him.

"The world is a lot worse off than any of us had imagined," Danny began as he held out his tiny hand and a holographic image appeared above him of their planet.

As the world spun around, little dots of light appeared all across the surface of the land and sea.

Danny explained, "Evenly distributed throughout this world are some sort of gateways that when magic comes into contact with them, expel the Cataclysmic into our world. I have been unable to gather much more information on these gateways than this. What I hope is that my kidnappers have information that could assist me, or at least narrow down my search."

"Where exactly are your kidnappers, dear? While I understand their reasons, I too wish to pay them a visit," Willow said, in a deadly serious voice Danny had yet to experience personally.

Danny's wings froze at his wife's tone, and he instead continued explaining, "I have determined that this area of the world has yet to be consumed by the cataclysmic for three reasons." Danny turned the globe so everyone at the table could see their peninsula, continuing, "The desert to the west, not the Dwarven Mountains, prevents most life from thriving and expanding to activate the gateways on the far side. The oceans pose a different kind of barrier I have yet to figure out, but they somehow hinder Cataclysmic expansion onto our shores. Lastly, the beastmen of Sentinel, my kidnappers, hold back the tide of Cataclysmic from flooding out and overwhelming us from our nearest gateway."

"Where are they, Danny?" Ivy pressed him.

"I don't want you four anywhere near there," Danny surprised himself as he practically commanded. At the quadruple set of glaring feminine eyes, Danny meekly added, "I will take care of this and figure it out myself?"

Willow addressed the other three women, "They are somewhere between the Dwarven Mountains and the deserts to the west."

Danny's mouth dropped open as he tried to reason with them, "Wait, you will either have to go over or through the Dwarven Mountains. One way is treacherous and the other full of angry little-bearded lawn ornaments that won't hesitate to capture you!"

"I can turn in our resignation to the Order and be ready to depart in a week," Ivy said to Willow, ignoring Danny completely. "Brooke, Jade, you with me?" Ivy asked her two companions.

Jade nodded once, but Brooke said uncertainly, "I don't know... Harold doesn't wander off for half a decade and then try to keep us out of his life. Plus, all I have to do is smile and bat my eyes at him, and he does anything I ask."

Hearing these words, Danny's wings deflated as he struggled with a sudden surge of fear.

Brooke slapped the table, scaring Danny half to death as she laughed, roaring, "Can you picture me, batting my eyes? Like I am going to let you get away again," Brooke threatened Danny.

"Good, I will meet you in Diadem, and we can go from..." Willow began before Danny interrupted her.

"Stop!"

Making sure he had their undivided attention, Danny ignored the self-satisfied looks coming from Ivy and Willow as he continued, "I will come and get you tomorrow morning. I have to be in Sentinel tomorrow evening and..."

"Wait, exactly how long does it take you to travel from here to Sentinel," Willow interrupted.

Danny shrugged, replying, "A couple of hours. Now, I need to meet the..."

"Could you come now and take us all to Diadem this evening?" Ivy interrupted him with a question, but all the while, she focused on Willow.

Looking in suspicion between Ivy and Willow, he realized that neither was even paying attention to him as they both conveyed information with just a few silent looks.

Danny opened his mouth to explain that he had things he needed to take care of when Willow asked, "Can you also include my parents and some of the elders?"

Danny crossed his arms, demanding, "What is going on?"

Jade apparently caught on to their plan before he did, as her eyes opened wide, and she released the first Dixie she had captured, yelling, "Yes, let's go now!"

The liberated Dixie was out the window before Jade finished her short exclamation and Danny had finally put the missing pieces together.

"Oh..."

Brooke chuckled, lamenting, "For such a smart guy, you really are slow when it comes to women."

"Do you not want to anymore?" Ivy asked Danny with a knowing look, adding, "We are not going anywhere with you until you do, and if you go anywhere else again without us... Well, Harold is still waiting downstairs."

Danny's little pixie stood there, mouth agape as he tried to find a way out of this trap they constructed in just a few minutes. He debated why he had revealed so much information to them but finally came to the conclusion that his subconscious was intentionally sabotaging his desire to protect them with his greater desire to be with them.

Deciding that he really only had one path to follow, a slow smile spread across Danny's face as he excitedly asked, "Can I tell Harold?"

***

Danny found out pretty quickly that Harold was a really, really great guy. After all four women finished giving Danny a dressing-down for even suggesting he be rude or mean to a single hair on their precious Harold's little head, they told Danny to leave and go get things ready for their trip to Diadem. Danny hadn't even turned to leave when Ivy told him to send her one of the pixies to relay some information to her mother.

Grumbling to himself at how he was already back under their collective thumbs, Danny was out the window before he paused, realizing he was still in one of the Dixie clones.

Opening his eyes in the Hive, Danny stretched and waited as the same material that made up his clothes and the ship receded from his body. Glancing out the window, Danny realized the ship was already clearing the Dwarven Mountains. The dangerous and vertigo-inducing peaks didn't look as imposing from the inside of his flying craft.

"Cece," Danny spoke aloud.

*Yes, Captain?*

Danny questioned briefly why he even bothered, before mumbling, "Thanks."

*You are very welcome, Sir,* said Cece, smugly. *I suggest expanding the Hive so we can accommodate all of the passengers we will need. The thinner hull will lower the impact rating, but we shouldn't encounter anything that could be a threat to the modified hull's integrity.*

"Very well. How are the enchantments coming along?" Danny asked as he looked back towards the Hive's core. Danny couldn't see them underneath the core, but encased in many thin protective bubbles, made of the Hive, were octagonal obstinite chips being enchanted by the Hive with a few new options Danny had recognized he needed.

*They are all still on track to be completed early tomorrow,* Cece replied.

"Good, I was thinking we needed to create a base somewhere near Sentinel, but what if we just modified the Hive to be a portable base? We can always create smaller transport vehicles to get around in."

*I will begin running simulations on optimal designs and arrangements,* Cece announced, asking, *Should I factor in a fluidity factor in the expectation that the others will want to make changes?*

Danny's eyes clouded over as he envisioned the potential arguments and incessant nagging that this modification would save him from, "Yes, please do that..."

A holoscreen appeared in front of Danny as Cece explained, *A list of potential enchantments already identified for the Hive's upgrade to a mobile base.*

Danny blinked at the list, asking, "How did you manage to find these so quickly?"

*You might still be operating in real time, but the science officers are already taking advantage of the sixteen times time compression in the R&D room. Before meeting the last threshold, they could only speed up a portion of the R&D room that didn't include yourself or the science officers,* Cece answered.

Danny's eyebrows shot upwards, impressed with his own abilities. Each one of these imaginary people were like a copy of a portion of himself. Part of him wished he could be the one doing the research, but there never was enough time, and he had wasted enough already creating the Hive.

"Then get to work on those and any other enchantments you think it will need," Danny replied.

*Sir, can I get permission to communicate directly with Willow and the others?*

Danny realized now why Cece hadn't chosen to appear in her pixie form, replying through gritted teeth, "That didn't stop you when you revealed yourself to Willow before you convinced me to meet her."

Cece sounded put-off, stating, *That was an emergency, this is different.*

Danny's eyes couldn't roll far enough into the back of his head, "Sure, knock yourself out."

*Sir, we have arrived.*

Danny almost didn't register Cece's words, jumping up and looking around to realize the ship had been modified already. Without him even noticing, the area past the core had expanded and now held five sets of table and chairs. Danny would have just made airline aisles, but he realized that the internal to external enchanted gravity difference would allow for this arrangement to work. There were a couple of doors in the rear he somehow knew were bathrooms.

*Sir, until we can get the enchantments made, I will need you to fill a reservoir I created with potable water,* Cece requested.

Danny agreed readily, "Sure, and also create some windows in here for them to see out of." Turning around he looked at the core and tumor-like enchantment bubbles, adding, "Also, cover all that up."

As the walls turned transparent in the shape of an elongated oval on either side of the rear section of the ship, a cylinder rose upward to cover the Hive's core. Danny walked over to one side, and a door melted downward, creating a ramp to the ground.

Peeking out the door, Danny confirmed that the clearing near the Elven Capital hadn't changed in the last thirty minutes or so, though Danny immediately noticed the horses were gone from where they had been tethered outside his tower. Danny had only made it a few steps when Jade swooped down on him from above, tackling him to the ground.

Danny groaned, "Uh, Jade, I should have just made you a Water variant... mffmm..."

Jade mashed her lips into his, passionately kissing him as she reached up to run her hands through his long hair. Danny, caught off guard, immediately forgot what he was going to say.

Someone cleared their throat, loudly, and Danny looked over to see Willow, Ivy, and Brooke standing over them. Danny froze, but Jade suspiciously failed to notice the change in atmosphere. A few more moments of this, and Jade finally huffed in annoyance before releasing him. Looking over at the three other women, Jade made a point to smile at them like the cat that got the cream before getting off of Danny.

As Danny was standing up and straightening his clothes, Willow informed him, "We are ready to depart to the palace. My mother and her entourage should be preparing to depart as well."

"If what your pixie told me is correct, my mother should already be getting everything ready for tomorrow," Ivy added, unable to hide her excitement.

Brooke looked around, asking curiously, "Are those little insect people going to fly us there?"

Realizing what was wrong, Danny deactivated the Hive's cloaking spell to the startled gasps of all four women. Danny saw the changes Cece had made to the Hive for the first time. Danny craned his head to one side and decided it looked a lot like a lopsided peanut. Just then, a Cece-possessed pixie emerged from the side of the Hive and flew down to the waiting group.

"Master, the ship is all prepared except for the water we need," Cece reminded Danny.

"Is it really going to take us long enough that we will need it?" Danny questioned.

Nodding vigorously, Cece replied, "Yes, I suspect the bathrooms could come in handy for multiple reasons."

Danny relented, suggesting, "Why don't you show them into the ship while I take care of that?"

As Cece led the four women up the lowered ramp and into the ship, Danny tackled the water issue. A funnel formed on top of the ship, and Danny called down a stream of condensed water vapor from the air above them. The increasingly condensing moisture turned into a swirling fog that quickly sank down into the waiting ship. Once the water started overfilling and spilling down the side, Danny stopped channeling the magic, and the funnel on top closed.

Danny walked into the Hive to find Cece finishing a story that had all four women laughing hysterically where they sat around one of the tables. Guessing at some of the stories she could be telling them, Danny rushed over, not wanting to give the demon pixie more time to corrupt his implacable image.

"So, what do you think of the Hive?" Danny asked in an attempt to change the topic to anything other than what it had been before.

"It is awe-inspiring, but everything is so... red. I can barely tell the difference between the table, chairs, and floors. Though, it is surprisingly comfortable," Willow added diplomatically.

Danny looked around and realized that without having his enhanced senses, all the red might be a little off-putting.

"Cece, please make this all look like the inside of the tower," asked Danny.

Cece's pixie froze and stayed that way for about a minute.

"Is she alright?" Brooke asked with a concern expression.

The walls, floors, and ceiling suddenly rippled and morphed as they took on a grainy wood-like texture. The tables and chairs followed suit, looking less perfect and more handmade. Then the whole thing flashed with Fire Magic as the various surfaces of the room took on the browns of a tree, and each table and its chairs took on a different color.

Willow smiled appreciatively, "Much better! Thank you, Cece."

The pixie was animated again and curtsied at the princess's praise.

Danny sat down at the table with the others and looked to the pixie, saying, "Enough redecorating, Cece, engage the cloak again, and get us to the palace."

Cece stood at attention and saluted before melting into the surface of the table. Outside the nearest window, Danny watched as the craft lifted up and took off over the forest canopy at a fantastic rate. They were already settling down in the palace's courtyard before anyone could even begin to strike up a conversation.

Willow stood up immediately, announcing, "I will go get mother and the others; you all stay here. I don't know how long this will take, and we will have plenty of time to greet everyone on the way to Diadem."

Danny lowered a ramp, and Willow was out of the craft in a flash. Danny turned back to see a very white Ivy sitting stiffly as her hands gripped the table tightly.

"Still scared of heights," Danny asked Ivy.

Ivy did her best to compose herself, replying, "A little."

Danny smiled, remembering how Ivy reacted similarly the first time he took her flying. Taking pity on the woman, Danny took a few milliseconds to run through a few ideas before finally having Cece begin converting the Hive once again. Even as the modifications started happening, the view outside the windows never changed, and the three women were oblivious to anything else but their conversation.

"Danny, you look much better when you're not the size of my little finger," Brooke joked, breaking Danny from his momentary distraction.

Danny made a point to look at each of the three women, saying, "I can't believe how beautiful each of you has become over the past six years. I am sorry I wasn't there to spend it with you." Suddenly realizing what had been missing from his reunion with Willow and his fiancés, Danny asked worriedly, "Wait, where's Phantom?"

Ivy looked suddenly upset as she admitted, "Phantom disappeared at the same time you were kidnapped. We kinda hoped she had found you."

Danny shook his head and stared out one of the windows as he ordered Cece, *Find Phantom if you can.*

*Already on it, Sir!*

Ivy reached across the table and took Danny's hand, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "Danny, we will find Phantom and the kidnapping... that wasn't your fault. We looked forever for you, but your trail just vanished. I am sorry we failed to find and rescue you."

"No, Ivy. You do not have to apologize to me..." Danny began but stopped as he realized that next to him Jade was sobbing loudly.

Brooke reached over to place a hand on Jade's back, but the crying young woman just shrugged her off. Leaping up, Jade ran out of the open door and down the ramp.

Looking to the others, Danny asked, "What's going on?"

Brooke sighed heavily, "Jade blames herself for them taking you. After they escaped with you, the elves found her lying unconscious, tangled in the canopy of the forest with only a few nasty cuts and bruises."

"She hasn't really smiled since that day. No one searched for you more than she did," Ivy added, looking down at the table.

Danny stood up and paused before leaving to give Brooke and Ivy both a hug, saying, "I blame no one but myself and hope you can forgive me for not rushing here immediately when I woke up. I wasn't really sure what I would be returning to..."

"It's alright Danny. I am just glad you are alive and back with us," Brooke smiled as she squeezed him so hard that things inside began grinding painfully against each other.

Given how muscular she was, Danny was surprised how soft Brooke was at the same time. It was a while before Brooke let him go, rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. Ivy swooped in as soon as Brooke let him go, doing her best to hug him just as hard.

Sighing as she leaned away from him, Danny thought Ivy was going to kiss him when she instead whispered inches from his face, "If you truly want to spend the rest of our lives together, then you will never doubt us again."

Danny protested, "I just wanted to protect..."

Ivy reached up to place her whole palm on his mouth, "If you are busy protecting us, then who is going to protect you from being stupid?"

Ivy released Danny's mouth, and he immediately exclaimed, "What stupid stuff?"

"Dwarves, soul-sucking enchantments, you, naked... is any of this ringing any bells, Danny," Ivy asked, frowning in genuine concern. "No matter how much time passes, I feel as if I keep having to try and get the fact that you don't have to do everything alone to sink into that thick skull of yours," Ivy said with a knowing smirk. Rubbing one of his arms, she added with all sincerity, "I... we want to protect you just as much as you do us. Maybe more."

Danny turned his head to the side with an expression like he had eaten something that had spoiled. He called out, "Cece..."

Ivy grabbed Danny's chin and, dragging his face back to hers, kissed him soundly before whispering, "I'm glad you're back, Danny. Go, find Jade, and see if you can do better than me at trying to make the deaf listen."

Danny blinked a few times, turning to glance at Brooke, half expecting her to either kiss him or say something witty. Brooke, probably reading his thoughts like only a woman can, just scoffed while slapping Danny on the butt to get him moving toward the door.

"Later," Brooke said with a wicked grin on her lips.

Danny wasn't sure if the words were meant as a promise or a threat, but he made sure to keep an eye on the physically impressive woman as he carefully inched his way toward the door. Danny dove through the exit to the sounds of Brooke and Ivy laughing loudly behind him.

***

Through a pixie Danny had sent off after her, he found Jade up in one of the tallest branches of the sacred tree that was the elven palace. Arms folded across her bent knees, Jade stared off into the distant horizon, not really seeing any of it. Danny's own magic hid him from Jade's keen senses, all supported by her high Air Affinity. Going for nostalgia, Danny surprised Jade by kissing her nose as he appeared to her suddenly in front of her while floating upside down.

Jade's hand slammed into the side of Danny's head so hard that he flew into some branches nearby. Danny had seen the hit coming, but the speed and power were much greater than he had expected. His brief flight was halted by a branch digging into his hip as Danny found his face shoved into a cluster of multicolored leaves.

"Danny," Jade shouted in alarm from somewhere above him.

Danny awkwardly tried to disentangle himself from the limbs, specifically one that kept managing to slap him in the face repeatedly no matter how he pushed it away. A slim, but deceptively strong, hand reached out and pulled him from the thicket and into somewhere warm.

Danny felt something wet strike the back of his neck from where he was being cradled against Jade's chest. Danny's feet dangled down past Jade's as she supported him only through the crushing grip she had on his skull. The place where she had struck his head still ached, and after she grabbed him up, Danny had immediately levitated himself with his own magic, so Jade wouldn't accidentally pull something out of place in his neck.

Jade's whispering grew louder and louder as she repeated over and over, "I'm sorry. So sorry, Danny..."

Glad once more that breathing was an option for him, Danny lamely patted the young woman's back. This only seemed to make Jade cry all the harder, so Danny called in some reinforcements.

Pixies converged on them from all directions. The little bodies crashed together, and the resulting mass stretched outward and over Danny and Jade.

Sniffing, Jade finally looked up as she realized something was happening. By then, they were completely surrounded in a red bubble only millimeters thick. A faint light illuminated the inside.

"Danny? What's going on?" Jade asked in concern, as she still latched onto Danny's head.

"I want to show you something I think you will like very much," Danny said cryptically as he gently disentangled himself only to keep her in his arms.

The bubble became transparent, and the disappearing sides seemed to peel open, like a flower blooming, to reveal the world far below them.

Jade gasped in wonder, before verbalizing her jumbled thoughts, "Is that... You showed us it, but I didn't know it actually was round and... so big."

"Jade," Danny smiled over at his friend.

Jade just continued to stare in wonder at the world below.

"Jade... Hey, Jade... Jade... Jade!," Danny screamed, finally getting the young woman's attention.

Startled, Jade's emerald eyes looked wildly into Danny's, as he finally got to say, "I wanted to show you this first as a thank you. A thank you for trying so hard to get me back from my kidnappers."

Jade, glanced back at the planet below them before turning to Danny and complaining, "But Danny, what kind of... wife would I be if I couldn't protect my husband?"

Danny was brought up short as these words were uttered. Slowing down his perception of time, Danny had to take a mental step backwards and remember how paradoxical this world was. Danny needed to remember sometimes he wasn't in Kansas anymore.

Returning his perception of time back to normal, Danny asked Jade, "You didn't try your hardest to stop them?"

Jade shrunk in on herself, admitting, "I did, but there was so much I could have done differently."

"Stop that," Danny yelled at her angrily, causing Jade to stare in shock at his tone.

"Did I rip my way out of that net and destroy those beastwomen for harming you when you came to save me?" Danny asked Jade, his tone still angry.

Jade barely shook her head in confusion, mumbling, "But you're just a boy. No one expects you to, Danny."

Unable to hold back, Danny couldn't stop the bubbled up laughter from escaping his throat. Jade's adorably perplexed look immediately had his sides in stitches.

"Jade, you did everything you could to save me, and that is all that I could ever expect. It is definitely more than I deserve," Danny said as he rubbed her back with his hand.

Jade looked as if she would argue, but Danny didn't let her, exclaiming, "Against all the logic I can surmise, for some reason you still want to be with me. Even though my time spent in that tomb of a prison felt like an eternity, I had to stop thinking about you and the others. You know why?"

Jade obviously had counterpoints she wanted to make to some of the things Danny had said, but she grew quiet at Danny's question, replying, "No, what?"

"I love you," Danny said, earnestly. "Why would I even bother to come back if I didn't? I have nothing against you failing when you tried to rescue me. The truth is that I know you tried your hardest, and it only makes me love you all the more."

Jade grew quiet, burying her head in his shoulder. When she looked back up at him, there were fat tears in her eyes.

"I love you too, Danny," Jade said happily.

Danny's eye grew distant as saw something only he could see, announcing, "Good! Because the Kestrel Elves have finally emerged from their tree, and I hope they thought to bring some cookies with them. I have had nothing but crystals to eat for the last six years."

CHAPTER 27

There was a blur of movement as exactly fourteen elven guards rushed into the Hive. Either taking up positions around the observation deck or rushing up a slight staircase in the rear of the ship that also hid the core and enchantments underneath it, they secured the smaller room Danny which called the bridge. The guards' customary enchanted camouflaged appearance was hindered by some form of interference from the Hive's own enchantments. Danny, from where he stood next to Brooke, Ivy, and Jade, smirked at the guards' annoyed expressions they assumed were hidden behind their full-faced helms.

"Danny, my favorite son-in-law! I am so glad you found your way back to us. How are you?" said the otherworldly beautiful queen of the elven nation who was the next to enter the Hive.

Danny didn't flinch at seeing the pale enchanted and cracked stone that had replaced one of the Queen's eyes as she took in everything she could. Danny knew from studying the enchantments in it that the stone allowed her to see as he did in his Mana Aspect. It was how she confirmed his identity as an ascendant. Unfortunately for the queen, the rune enchantment it held wasn't powerful enough to pierce Danny or the Hive's obstinite enchantments. Instead of looking agitated by the failure of the stone's enchantments, the Queen's expression turned absolutely euphoric, scaring Danny more than anything.

Realizing that he couldn't show up suddenly empty-handed, Danny quickly thought, *Cece, I need a gift idea for the queen.*

*On it, sir!*

"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to see you again," Danny said with a deep bow.

Elegantly manicured hands effortlessly lifted Danny out of his bow and into an affectionate hug. Danny was reminded why he hated politics as he wondered how much of the monarch's actions were genuine and how much was merely political posturing.

"Danny, there is no need to be so formal with me," the queen chided Danny while refusing to let go of one his arms as she greeted the three human women standing next to him.

The five of them talked at length, the queen mostly asking Danny questions about where he had been. Willow had apparently spent the short time she had been gone from the ship filling her mother in on Danny's most recent adventures.

"Danny, I see you didn't waste your time while away," Elder Breeze said by way of greeting as he entered the observation deck.

Danny used his free arm to shake the ancient elf's hand.

"Absolutely remarkable," Elder Cardinal mumbled from where he stood. He hadn't made it past the doorway, as he was too busy looking between the outside and inside of the Hive.

"Elder, please either choose to stay here or get inside. We need to get going," a deep voice said from outside.

Elder Cardinal, startled out of his intense scrutiny of the Hive, jumped comically as he rushed as quickly as he could inside. General Barrow had to duck as he walked through the door, making the observation deck look immediately smaller. Spotting his wife hanging onto Danny's arm, the General's eyes narrowed subtly but undoubtedly dangerously. Danny was torn between trying to rip his arm out of the queen's apparent vice-like grip and asking the General how he pulled off that glare.

Danny tried not to flinch as the General moved quickly forward, holding out his bear trap of a hand to say, "Danny, you're back."

Danny looked down at the offered hand like one looks at a rattlesnake suddenly shoved a few inches from their face. Reluctantly reaching out and shaking the General's hand, Danny did his best to resist crying, immediately sending healing Nature Magic to his compacted hand.

Danny complained internally, *Cece, I thought this obstinite would make me more durable.*

*It...it did, Sir.*

Danny's eyes widened as he silently vowed to always keep the queen's husband where he could see him.

Willow was the last to come on board, with a pixie flying close beside her.

"Cece says everything's packed away. We can leave now, Danny," Willow announced.

Danny thanked her and turned to those gathered inside, "Welcome to my ship, the Hive. We will be heading for Diadem..."

"Crossbark," Willow interrupted, adding, "We need to pick up Elder Frost."

Danny glanced questioningly at Cece, who bit her lip in thought, before nodding vigorously.

"We will be stopping by Crossbark first. While on the trip, everyone is welcome to remain in the observation deck, but should the view cause any discomfort, please move to the bridge just up those stairs there. There are also two bathrooms through those doors beside the stairs should you need them," Danny finished.

The ramp leading up from outside to the ship flowed upwards, and only a smooth wall remained where the door had been. The observation deck morphed as the two oval windows expanded and now had wrap-around transparent walls and ceiling, except for in the rear where the stairs and bathrooms were located. The newest passengers gasped at the display as the guards looked around frantically for somewhere less intrusive to stand than in front of the windows. Danny took advantage of the queen's momentary distraction to slip away and up to the bridge.

"Cece, please set a course for Crossbark, but take us out slowly. I would rather let the guests have enough time to make it to the bathrooms if the need suddenly arrives," Danny commanded, as he walked up the short ramp in between the bathrooms.

Walking over to the lone chair in the center of the bridge, Danny sat down and called up a few screens.

The pixies observing Sentinel were no longer harvesting the free mana, and this seemed to lower the Sect members' ability to detect them, though it was hard to confirm this as they had all moved higher into the air. There weren't any notable changes to the behavior of the city since he announced his upcoming visit tomorrow, but he knew this didn't mean much.

Pixies observing the various isolated phenomena all reported that the Cataclysmic wandered randomly and now only attacked each other territorially or for sustenance. Danny was confused as they didn't necessarily look or act like those the Archsorcerer's memories had left behind. Danny didn't like how the creatures could render his magic and enchantments inert with just their proximity.

Danny thought, *Cece, what are we going to do about the mass we lost from the Hive?*

*I'm not sure, Captain. If we lose enough of the Hive, it might be of benefit to just start over with a more significant piece of obstinite.*

Danny searched through the information Cece had compiled and found that while the pixies had found more obstinite hidden amongst the Dwarven Mountains, none of it was already conveniently and fully charged with mana like those in the Crimson Caverns.

A few pixies had tried to sneak back into the Crimson Caverns the same way he had, but the dwarves had modified their defenses already to accommodate for Danny's intrusion. A gap now no longer formed in the enchanted defenses around the gates when they opened. Danny's smirked as, at his prompting, his pixies just waited and hid against the obstinite battle suits that guarded the gates. The dwarves were clueless as Danny's pixies began searching the massive cavern.

"Danny, may I join you?" Ivy asked uncertainly from the ramp leading down to the observation deck.

Danny raised a chair from the floor right next to him and silently gestured for her to sit there. Ivy quietly made her way over as Danny manipulated screens and switched views between his pixies.

Cece flew up into the bridge and announced, "One hour until arrival, Master. I had to slow down our speed as just the visual alone was beginning to affect most of the passengers."

Danny just nodded and continued to pore over a few enchantment requisitions Cece had put in.

"Would you like some water and food, courtesy of the elven palace's kitchens? Or maybe you would like to view one of the interesting locations we have found around your world?" Cece asked Ivy.

Ivy looked to Danny, but seeing he was still distracted, replied, "Food and water would sound nice. Are these views you spoke of from up high?"

An end table rose up out of the floor, and part of its surface took on the shape of a clear cup and white plate. Water filled up the cup from the bottom and food rose up from the plate. Ivy carefully picked up the cup, surprised to not find it still attached to the table.

"The views are from up high, but I can make some arrangements. Do you have something in mind?" Cece replied.

Ivy responded immediately, "Please show me Sentinel. I would like to see these beastmen."

A few minutes later, a holoscreen appeared looking through a pixie's viewpoint in Sentinel. The holoscreen displayed a view at a street level showing the different beastmen wandering around a crowded market in Sentinel. Ivy reached over and grabbed a piece of cheese from the plate of food and ate it while she waited. On the screen, two beastmen argued over a piece of pottery while a human stood nearby silently waiting. Ivy reached over to grab something else from the plate of food only to fruitlessly swipe at vacant space. Looking over, she discovered the table and plate of food were now in between Danny and her chairs. She glanced over at Danny munching on something. Danny's eyes were glued to the holoscreen in front of her chair.

Ivy cleared her throat loudly, complaining, "That was my plate, get your own."

Danny paused, a piece of fruit halfway to his mouth. The hand with the fruit veered away from his mouth and pushed the food past Ivy's pouting lips. Danny smirked as he noticed Ivy blush at the unexpected action.

Drawing her attention away from his antics, Danny asked, "What's that human doing there?"

Ivy looked over at the screen and shrugged, "He's been standing there this whole time while those two beastmen argue."

Danny popped a new piece of fruit in his mouth and asked, "Cece, what's with the human?"

Cece's pixie appeared at his shoulder and sat down to watch the screen, saying, "It appears the human is the beastman's servant."

"Slave?" Danny asked, looking for a clarification.

Cece bit into a slice of cheese that looked more like a blanket to her tiny body, answering, "No, they are more like second class citizens. No true rights, impoverished, and usually in debt to one beastman clan or another. Indentured servants! I knew I had forgotten the right term."

Danny looked over at Cece incredulously, asking, "What do you think you are doing with that cheese?"

"I was hungry," Cece said defensively as she floated over to the plate of food.

"You are wasting food is what you are doing," Danny complained, then asked, "When did you find out about the human servants?"

Cece threw the cheese down, replying, "While you were planet gazing with Jade. Someone has to actually analyze all this information the pixies have been gathering."

To Cece's surprise, Danny actually used a finger to pat the pixie on her head, saying, "Good job. What else did you find out?"

Cece couldn't seem to stop herself from preening under the praise answering, "There are two types of beastmen. Those in the six main clans and then those in the lesser clans. The main clans are all Variant Ascendants of one type or another. Oh, there is also the Arcane Sect."

Danny had to finish swallowing what he was eating, before asking, "Who are they?"

"They are all Mana Variant Ascendant beastwomen. They have some sort of power over everyone, but I haven't figured out what it is," Cece explained.

The glass of water and a plate of food suddenly sunk into the table, just as Danny was about to grab something else.

Cece announced cheerfully to Danny's annoyed expression, "We're here!"

***

"What... is that?" Danny asked, trying really hard to keep the pleasant and affable smile plastered to his face.

On the highest level of Crossbark, a statue of a teenage Danny loomed over the entire center square. Elves and humans meandered past either on their way to wherever or just enjoyed the pretty little city park. The statue of Danny was bent protectively over two playing children, as if looking on in interest as the human and elven children read excitedly from a large tome.

Governor Bark beamed up at the statue as she explained, "I knew you would notice it if we came this way. I commissioned it on the first anniversary of..." the governor nervously looked back at Danny, "your going missing. It embodies the mission of this city and how we hope to raise future generations of citizens."

"It is very... impressive," Danny struggled for what to say. "Thank you, Governor, for this honor," he finished.

*Cece, what's the situation here?*

*Sir, the elves and humans live separately, but their interactions are more friendly than not. There is a general sense of community pride in their city. The city is already past half capacity and is growing as more immigrate here.*

"I'm so glad you like it, Danny," the governor gushed again. "And thank you for inviting my whole family to join us as well."

Danny glanced back at the governor's husband and two other members of her trio. They left behind the governor's four young daughters and their son. Of course, they had to go and name the boy after Danny. Willow was all too happy to tell him that the name Danny had become very popular amongst the humans of Crossbark.

Danny paused as he watched a female human merchant cast a small light in her hand to look into a crate she had just opened. A scream came from nearby, and a group of human children chased each other either casting gust of wind or condensing water above each other. A human gardener conjured a hole in the ground before he planted a young sapling inside. Everywhere he looked, Danny saw people using magic in little ways.

"Danny, shouldn't we get going?" the governor interrupted Danny's moment.

Danny reluctantly turned away from the city of Crossbark, sighing, "Yeah, let's get this over with."

CHAPTER 28

The buildings of the city of Diadem, the aptly named capital of the nation of Diadem, were constructed in a hatch pattern, like the pieces on a chess board. Every structure had been assigned to a specific location with a particular purpose. While the structures of the Elven Capital were each created as individual works of art, all in celebration of nature, the human capital was a study of efficiency and perfection. The setting evening sun was casting long shadows at strange angles across the buildings, turning the city into a woven straw mat, laid out to welcome them home.

"We will be landing in five minutes," Cece yelled out from where she hovered in the middle of the observation deck.

The various groups gathered around the tables immediately went back to their individual conversations.

"You believe it to be some product of Soul Magic, you say. Interesting...," Elder Cardinal said from across the table from Danny.

On either side of Danny sat Elder Frost and Elder Breeze, both listening in on the conversation.

"Yes, I just have yet to find anything to explain the way this Soul Magic works. I am hoping that Sentinel might reveal some answers," Danny admitted.

Elder Breeze patted Danny fondly on the arm, "Just let us know if you need any assistance, and we will be happy to do what we can."

Danny silently nodded his thanks to the kind old elf man.

"And I will help as much as I can," Elder Frost sighed, "As Crossbark's population grows, my ability to do the things I love seems more and more like a distant memory."

Danny winced, apologizing, "I probably went a little overboard on the design."

Elder Frost looked offended, "Don't you dare go apologizing for that magnificent piece of magic. I have loved watching that place grow every day."

"It wouldn't have happened without you," Danny told her knowingly.

The queen called out excitedly from the front window, "We are here! Everyone get ready!"

As they dropped downward, Danny watched as the top of the Corinthian styled main building of Diadem's government, the Council Chambers, came shooting up past the bottom of the Hive's transparent wall and high into the sky. The elven general had to steady his wife as even she was hit with a bout of intense vertigo. The Hive settled down in the round courtyard that was impressively wrapped in steps leading up to the chamber's massive main doors. The courtyard was surrounded by a large number of people awaiting their arrival. Danny noted that of the people gathered, all were richly dressed and well to do. Obviously, only the noble families and maybe a few of the wealthiest merchants had been allowed to attend this event.

To everyone outside, the strange craft that dropped out of the sky suddenly exploded into a tornado of red sand. Swirling around itself, the funnel elongated as the red dust spiraled upwards until the Hive's previous occupants stood safely on the courtyard grounds. Many looked up to find that the strange red storm had just vanished.

Polite applause and cheers broke out amongst the gentry gathered as the elven queen, already recovered, waved to the assembled crowd. The others in the queen's party quickly joined in waiving to the surrounding crowds. The elven guards had taken the opportunity provided by Danny's theatric entrance to disappear into the surrounding crowds and out of sight.

Walking up to the council chamber's steps, the visitors were greeted by all thirteen councilors of Diadem. They all had forgone their formal robes and were dressed to impress. The councilors were arrayed in two rows flanking the stairs, but a single councilor awaited them alone in front of the large double doors.

Danny got his first look at Ivy's mother as the woman smiled down at them benevolently. Where the elven queen was slender elegance and beauty, the head councilor of Diadem was voluptuousness and allure. Danny instantly recognized the dark brown hair and warm brown eyes she shared with her daughter. Though while Danny found distracting Ivy relatively easy, he knew this older pair of eyes, looking down at him, missed nothing. The head councilor wore a long dark blue gown that hugged the curves of her body without being indecent. A hand was raised in the air by Head Councilor Diadem, and the applause and cheers of the surrounding crowds immediately silenced.

Ivy's mother seemed to relish in the mass attention, shouting, "Welcome Your Majesties! Today you may come to us as allies, but tomorrow you will leave as family!"

The gathered nobles of Diadem shouted more loudly than before. All propriety was thrown out as the people celebrated the expected news. Already people were leaving to spread the word to the rest of the city.

Under the cheers and jubilation, the visitors were quickly ushered into the Council Chambers. The high arched marble hallway ended in a massive domed rotunda with twin spiral staircases along the walls leading upwards. Danny was surprised when Councilor Diadem continued on up the long flight of curving steps to the top of the rotunda where there was a spacious upper floor. This upper floor was shaped like a ring that looked down into the rotunda. As impressive as the internal view was, the view of the capital of Diadem through the upper floor's windows was spectacular. The sky had almost darkened fully, and the city in the setting sun was awash with lights.

Councilor Diadem led them over to the side of the upper floor that looked out over the vast majority of the city. Danny could see the city's large stadium, the inner market, and the inner wall itself. Danny's home was somewhere out there past the inner wall, in the sea of small dwellings between the inner and outer walls.

An impressively large half moon table took up the majority of this side of the upper floor. The inside of the half moon table was curved as well. Large ornate dark wooden chairs were placed around each side of the table. The councilors' table was already stacked to spilling with platters and bowls filled with delicious foods. A line of uniformed servers silently waited at attention to one side of the table.

"I hope you do not mind. With your arriving on such short notice, I had the chefs prepare a feast for us to eat as we wished," Councilor Diadem announced to more than a few grateful smiles. "A server will lead you individually to your seats. Danny, could I speak with you for a brief moment?"

Danny was surprised by the sudden request but readily nodded in agreement. Servers moved forward toward specific guests, leading them toward the large table of food and their assigned seats. Diadem was already moving off around the interior railing of the upper floor when Danny reached her. The beautiful woman took her time as they strolled slowly, one of her hands lingering on the rotunda's interior railing. Danny glanced outside the nearest windows to see the wizard's tower, not far away, glowing from the many magical lights.

"I am surprised we haven't met before now, your recent absence excluded. Ivy mentioned you were handsome, but I find her description was sorely lacking," Diadem said suddenly and with much charm.

Danny merely continued to stare at the wizard's tower, slowing his perception of time as he got lost in his own thoughts.

*Cece, are you sure there wasn't anything of interest in the entire tower? The restricted section of the library, the teacher's private rooms, the archwizard's study?*

Cece sounded almost apologetic, *Nothing new or groundbreaking, Sir. Though we have found a vast wealth of information in the bookstores and the nobles' private residences here in Diadem. Unfortunately, all we have collected has been on a great number of non-magical subjects... Unlike what we are learning from the dwarves.*

Danny's eyes started to widen in alarm, *You haven't been detected yet? I told you to not let anyone even remotely close to Gran's chamber.*

Cece scoffed, *Sir, you need to relax and trust us. Here, see what we found for yourself.*

Danny's paused as the memories flooded his brain. Danny smiled at the new runes and their purposes which had been gleaned from the science officers' tireless research.

*Magnetics, metal refining, and... would this allow us to expand an enchantment to additional materials?* Danny asked excitedly.

*The more similar the material, the easier it is to add to the existing enchantment. There is, of course, a significant cost in mana associated with adding more mass to an existing enchantment,* warned Cece.

Danny didn't care. He already had a few operations underway that could be altered slightly to use this new bit of information.

Speeding up his perception to the present, Danny moved forward again as he replied drolly to Diadem's previous remark, "Yes, I had been meaning to stop by, but I was too busy strengthening your alliance with the elves, stopping an invasion of your country, cleaning up after your brother's mess, reforging the elven alliance into something more permanent, and giving every human citizen the chance to become a sorcerer."

Diadem's face tensed, but with long practiced ease, the older woman schooled her features, her perfect smile never falling a millimeter.

In fact, Diadem's smile became even more dazzling as she angled her body toward Danny's, explaining, "That is the reason I wanted to speak with you. To thank you for your assistance with all that you have done for my..."

Danny interrupted her, all emotion gone from his person, "Do not mistake my actions for anything done for your sake, oh Queen of the Hidden Throne."

Diadem's mask of civility completely slipped from her face as she glared back at Danny. Others would have cowered before the woman, but Danny had faced entities far more powerful and definitely more physically imposing.

Diadem gestured suddenly with a flung hand back toward the stairs just as Danny's parents walked onto the upper floor.

If Diadem meant to catch Danny off-guard with this timely arrival, she was sorely mistaken. Danny had been monitoring them for weeks, making sure they were doing all right. Which made the Head Councilor's next words fail even further to surprise Danny.

"While you were gone, I was busy moving your family into the ranks of the nobility. No longer do they have to stay in that quaint little home in the outer walls, peddling their fine crafts to the few nobility willing to travel so low. The House of Creek is now one of the most prestigious and respected families in all of Diadem," Ivy's mother practically yelled. Smiling like the cat who had caught the mouse, she added, "Your exploits have made them the most coveted house to be aligned with. Your older brother was fought over by no less than three of the greatest houses. Your sisters have all found Trios amongst the elite. And all the while, I was making sure they did not fall prey to the wolves that masquerade as nobility."

Danny was too busy staring at his parents with his own two eyes, to respond to Diadem's long-winded speech right away. Sarah, the head of his mother's Trio, looked at home in the elegant gown she wore. Barb, the other member of his mother's Trio, looked uncomfortable and ready to bolt out of the building and her pretty dress. Danny's own mother looked around shyly while trying to get his father to quit messing with the suit he was wearing. Danny couldn't help but smile at the familiarity shining through all the fancy wrapping.

Tired of waiting, Diadem spoke up again from where she waited, "Well, don't you have something you wish to say, Danny?"

Danny slowly turned his head to look into the eyes of the leader of his country. Lifting his hands, Danny clapped. Anyone would have thought he was about to break out into applause, but Danny merely just brought his hands together. The sound his hands produced was not abrupt, but a growing roar.

Diadem must have thought Danny was about to applaud her as well because the noise caught her completely off guard. Then, she realized the sound wasn't coming from Danny at all. Looking out across the twinkling cityscape, she gasped as night turned into day before darkening again, but only slightly. A massive ball of fire fell from the heavens to swiftly strike the heart of the city. Falling backwards, Diadem covered her eyes in an attempt to block them from the blinding flash of light that followed. There was a crack, and the domed ceiling above her ripped away, followed quickly by the walls. The floor split, and the Head Councilor barely made it to the safety of the solid floor where Danny stood, as the floor she had been lying on fell away. Danny and Diadem were now on a small section, the only section of the upper floor, that hadn't collapsed to join the burning inferno below them. They had an unobstructed view of the entire city and the surrounding land that had either been blown away or was busily smoldering away into ash. The intense heat of the air settled to a broil, as the unforgiving wind that blew away most of the building died down.

Grasping Danny's leg, Diadem looked around in horror as she screamed uncontrollably in terror. Wailing, tears streamed down her eyes as she tried to understand what was happening. Looking up at Danny, she found him smiling kindly down at her. Reaching down, he detached her hands from around his legs and helped her to stand up. While Diadem was undoubtedly stronger than Danny, she was as helpless as a child.

When Diadem got to her feet, she blinked to find herself standing back again in the undamaged Council Chambers. Looking out the nearest window, she saw the city was there as if nothing had happened. Jerking her head around, the council's table still held the councilors and guests, happily feasting on the food.

Danny willed the small particles of the Hive away from where they had surrounded Diadem and himself. The particles had displayed a happily chatting Danny and Diadem to anyone watching, while inside, they had shown something Danny had only glimpsed briefly in the most profound darkness, while in his tomb below the Dwarven Mountains.

Moving so that he was blocking the Head Councilor's tear-streaked face from the rest of the upper floor, Danny whispered, "I can take away everything you have. All your possessions, all your money, all your power. Gone... just like that."

Diadem was still breathing heavily, but the woman had apparently been through her fair share of traumatic events in her life. Smoothing out her dress, she pulled a handkerchief from somewhere and did her best to shakily fix her face. The normalcy of her actions seemed to bring some sense of calm to her rattled mind.

"I am not going to thank you for helping my family," Danny continued, "No, you are far too deeply in my debt for me to thank you, Councilor Diadem." Danny moved out of the way so she could see the councilor's table, adding, "Those elves, my wife, my fiancés, my parents, and anyone I care about. If you so much as negatively talk about them, let alone threaten me with their safety..."

Danny didn't finish his sentence but instead walked over to the stairs where his parents were still waiting. Even though she had put up a brave front, the leader was still too disturbed to attempt walking back over and join the others just yet.

Just as Danny reached his parents, Diadem heard Danny's voice whisper right over her shoulder, "I'm always watching... listening..."

Diadem spun around to find a very faint red and glittering image of Danny's head smiling at her before it faded from sight. Clutching a hand to her chest, the woman struggled to catch her breath while her heart threatened to break free from her ribcage.

CHAPTER 29

Memories are usually transitory things that can obtain permanence with continuous use, but even the most enduring memories will fade with time. Like an ancient painting restored from the ravages of time, Danny's mind filled in all the little details of his mother's face he had forgotten.

Danny's mother's golden hair had started to fade to gray, but her brown eyes looked just as kind and subtlety sad as the first time he saw her peering over him as a newborn. At first, she didn't seem to recognize Danny, his mother shyly looking away after spotting him approaching their way. Then, her eyes widened as she quickly glanced back at him with recognition.

"Danny... is that you?" Danny's mother said, tentatively, as she searched his face for the familiar.

Danny smiled, "Yes, Mother, it's me."

Hands shaking as she raised them to cover her mouth, Danny's mother didn't bother to fight back the tears that filled her eyes.

Danny's father, Stan, hadn't been paying attention and finally looked closely at Danny, asking, "Boy, is that really you?"

"Hey, Dad. Have you been taking care of my mothers?" Danny replied, moving over to shake his father's hand.

Stan didn't hesitate to drag Danny into a fierce hug which Danny's mother quickly joined. His father pulled him away to give Danny a second look over as if he still wasn't sure who he was. Danny's mother pulled his face down so she could give him an endless supply of kisses.

"Now, don't smother the boy just when we got him back," Stan chided Danny's mother in jest.

Giving her husband the stink eye, his mother's expression instantly transformed as she gave Danny a beautiful smile as she focused back on him, asking, "Have you eaten yet?"

Danny spent the next few moments greeting Sarah and Barb while trying not to fall over as his mother practically dragged him to the dining table. Danny found it had been a mistake to admit he hadn't really eaten a full meal in six years. The questions from his parents came almost as fast as the heaps of food his mother was piling onto his plate. Danny did his best to answer everything around the forkfuls of food his mother was now practically shoving in his mouth. Danny did his best to not let anyone see as he rubbed a wet eye on the shoulder of his shirt.

Willow sat in the center of the inner curve of the table, with Danny on one side and Ivy, Brooke, and Jade on the other. Danny's parents were seated on the other side of him. Diadem had made her way over to apologize to everyone for her absence before sitting directly across from Danny on the outer curve, all the while avoiding looking directly at him. The councilors sat to Diadem's left while the elven queen and the rest of her retinue sat to her right.

Danny realized that the councilors seated directly across from Brooke and Jade were their mothers. Both imposing women in their own rights, Brooke's mother, Councilor Peak, sat in a chair that was slightly wider than the others. Her massive muscular frame would have put Wizard Basalt to shame. The giant chair would creak ominously as Councilor Peak frequently laughed uproariously over the rest of the table's conversation. Jade's mother, Councilor Bramble, would stare back at Danny with her piercing dark forest green eyes, while he replied to her many softly spoken questions. Councilor Bramble towered over everyone else seated at the table, her long limbs moving as if she had to carefully focus on not moving around too fast. Danny couldn't help but think that the rest of the councilors present were extremely mediocre when compared to Diadem, Peak, and Bramble.

The feast continued for a few more hours until Diadem rose, greeting the elven delegation and thanking them for their continued friendship. Bringing the feast to a close, Diadem directed the guests to follow servants to their sleeping quarters. Danny bade his family good night, promising to visit them in the morning before the ceremony. As a servant led Willow and him off, he noticed Councilor Diadem surreptitiously pull his fiancés and their mothers from the departing crowd before they could leave. Danny waved to his fiancés as Willow took his arm in hers, and they followed the servant down the stairs.

***

"I had to call in a lot of favors, but the wedding should be all set for tomorrow. Are you sure that we have to rush this so quickly? Just a few days more and I could have put together a more deserving ceremony," Councilor Diadem asked her daughter.

The two Diadem family members sat on the other side of the upper floor of the Council Chambers in richly upholstered chairs with Brooke, Jade, and their mothers. The group had waited, speaking on trivial topics, until the guests had finally left the upper floors before beginning their discussion.

Through one of the invisible pixie's eyes, Danny watched a different Ivy than he had ever seen, confidently reply, "Yes, there are things in motion that can't wait, Mother. The Cataclysmic have apparently taken over most of the world, and only a few natural barriers and these beastmen in a remote city on the other side of the Dwarven Mountains have prevented us from being overrun. Danny already told these beastmen to expect him tomorrow afternoon. I know when he gets that stubborn look in his eye and won't be persuaded to wait. I don't plan on letting him get away again."

The smaller chair Councilor Peak was sitting in groaned as she asked, "Did you see any of what he told you yourselves or is this information coming from Danny alone?"

The deadly serious expression the imposing Councilor Peak wore was a stark contrast to the uproariously loud woman who had been joking early at the dinner.

Brooke replied to her mother's question with a similar expression as her mother's, "I trust Danny."

Peak studied her daughter as she asked, "It's been a long time. Are you sure this is the same Danny who was taken from you so many years ago?"

Ivy didn't blink as she came to Brooke's defense, "I have no doubt it is still him, and yes, while there is something different about him, I can assure you he has our best interest at heart."

Councilor Bramble looked to her daughter who merely nodded once. The counselor apparently found this answer enough to answer her unspoken question and remained silent.

Diadem shifted in her seat uncomfortably, and the rest of the group appeared to find this seemingly natural action disconcerting.

"How powerful is Danny, truly? You told me what he could do before, but he..." Diadem's words trailed off as she became a loss for words, scared to speak the words after Danny's threat.

To the group's surprise, Jade spoke up first, "I know Danny is the only one who can fix this, but he needs our help."

Danny was shocked as the young woman turned and looked directly at the pixie he was watching from while addressing the room.

Danny had no doubt that Jade was really speaking to him as she said, "And no one is going to take him away from me again."

***

Danny unconsciously closed the view he was receiving from upstairs to find Willow's bemused face inches from his own. Danny glanced down, appreciating how the exotic beauty of his elven wife was magnified by the gossamer nightgown she was now wearing. Danny, having been distracted, must have missed her changing clothes and getting ready for bed. The two were now standing at the foot of the large bed in the extravagantly decorated guest room. Leaning forward, Danny went to plant his lips on hers. A slender finger got in Danny's way, and he looked up questioningly at his wife.

Confirming that she had his undivided attention, Willow said, "I don't want you traipsing off somewhere tonight, physically or up here," Willow poked him in the head to help get her point across. "Tonight you are mine, and I will not be satisfied until you answer all my questions."

Danny looked at her pleadingly to which Willow couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, there will be enough time for that too, but I haven't seen you in so long, Husband. Even though we didn't get to have much time before you were taken away. Knowing you were still alive, I didn't know what to think. If we could find you... if you could make your way back... if you wanted to come back..." Willow teared up at the end, lost in past memories.

Danny wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back and doing his best to silently comfort her. Willow returned his embrace, intentionally rubbing the tears in her eyes on his clothes.

Danny acted upset, exclaiming, "Hey these are my only clothes!"

Willow laughed pitifully as she stepped back, sniffing, "Oh, Ivy told me they will have your clothes for tomorrow ready before the ceremony."

"I should have told her that was unnecessary. I can change my clothes to whatever I want," Danny said, demonstrating this by turning the tunic he was wearing into a long duster.

"That's incredible," Willow said with obvious jealousy in her eyes. Then, looking back up into his eyes, with a wicked smile, she commanded, "Now, show me how you take them off."

CHAPTER 30

The early morning sun had yet to rise above the distant horizon as Danny knelt in one of the dozens of larger parks that littered the city of Diadem. There were many more smaller parks throughout the city, and these areas were one of the few free spaces in the city that broke up the monotony of the uniform rows of homes and businesses. Danny glanced up toward the gradually brightening horizon as he finished using Earth Affinity to form soil over the hole he had just made in the very center of the park.

"Cece, we better hurry if I am going to make it in time for breakfast," Danny said as he stood up, stretching his back.

A pixie flew down and asked worriedly in Cece's voice, "Master, are you sure we shouldn't inform the council before we do this?"

Walking toward the exit of the park, Danny scoffed, "No, they would probably just argue about it till they were blue in the face. Then if they did grant me permission, they would probably try and micromanage the whole arrangement. Probably somehow getting me to turn the things into weapons of some sort." Danny started to grumble under his breath, "I will be giving them more power than they deserve." Seeming to refocus on the task at hand, Danny smiled, "But this is not for the council. Too many of the poor or uneducated men here don't have the luxury of being able to travel to Crossbark."

"They are still offering to attempt unlocking male wizards for those who can't make the journey," Cece said.

A sour look crossed Danny's face upon being reminded of this and continued on up the main road. Passing through the marketplace in the outer wall, Danny pulled his dark cloak more tightly around himself. The marketplace was a flurry of activity as vendors and shop owners rushed to set up for the day's events. They would be making a lot of money that day.

With the sun still not up, his face was easily hidden in the darkness of his cloak, and no one paid Danny any attention. As he drew closer to the inner wall, Danny saw they had doubled up on the guards posted there. Turning away anyone from the outer walls who attempted to enter the inner and more affluent part of the city, the guard's expressions garnered no room for exceptions. Frowning at the obstacles, Danny wanted to just be able to walk through his hometown like a regular citizen. But the guards would undoubtedly know who he was if they saw his face, and there was no way they would let him pass without removing his hood.

*Cece, start project 'Bros Before Hoes.'*

The hood of Danny's cloak wiggled oddly, and Cece's voice whispered from inside, "But I enchanted them so everyone could learn to use them to be sorcerers, not just males?"

Jumping at the unexpected passenger in his hood, Danny reached up and clutched the pixie through the material of his cloak. A few vendors paused in their predawn preparations to openly stare at Danny's strange behavior.

Moving away from his new audience, Danny whispered fiercely, "Why are you in there? Just talk to me in my head!"

A tiny hand wiggled out of his hood as Danny struggled to contain the little pixie.

"I am bored of enchanting all the time. Let me go," Cece complained.

"Fine, just go help the others get the patients settled. I want this wrapped up before I have to leave," Danny commanded as he reluctantly released the pixie.

Saluting him, Cece flew off between the two nearest buildings, fortunately without anyone nearby noticing. Deciding that it would be more fun to watch, Danny slipped out of the outer market area and headed for the nearest park.

As he moved through the buildings, he could already hear the excited and nervous voices of many people talking at once. There was already a small crowd gathered around the outside of the large park. In its center now grew a large, squat sacred tree. It was one of Cranny's Trees of Magic and Knowledge. Barely taller than the other trees in the park, the tree finished growing, and an open doorway formed in the side.

Hidden amongst the observing crowd, Danny felt an excited thrill run up his spine as the crowds suddenly parted at different points all around the tree. Pixies, glowing and sparkling small motes of light, led older boys and men of all ages toward the waiting tree. Some of the waiting crowd expressed concern at the appearance of the strange flying beings, but no one in the waiting crowd made a move to stop them. A few of the older men stopped upon seeing where they were being led and refused to go in. A few parents ran out to grab their sons and prevent them from going inside, but not all of those being led resisted the pixies.

It didn't take but ten or twenty minutes for the first boy led into the tree to emerge again. An older man and woman ran out of the crowd and embraced the boy. Talking excitedly, the boy kept pointing back toward the tree.

People from the crowd couldn't stand waiting for word to get around and started shouting at the boy and his parents.

"What did he say?"

"Tell us, speak up!"

The mother stood up and turned around looking confused, but exclaiming, "My son says his sanctuary isn't locked anymore! He said there is a magical man inside the tree who spoke to him. This magic man said that in two weeks time the tree will make anyone who is not a wizard into a sorcerer, even girls and women!"

The boy tugged on his mother's shirt and told her something else, which the woman then relayed out to the crowd, "It will also teach anyone how to use magic for free!"

A few of the original boys and men who had entered, emerged from the tree to excitedly confirm what the first boy had told his parents. The name of Crossbark was quickly passed around as many related this tree to what they had been told could happen in the enchanted city near the border of the Great Forest. People started rushing forward to crowd up and enter the tree.

Guards quickly arrived and, after asking a few citizens what was going on, called for everyone to back away from the tree. A riot threatened to break out as people shouted at the guards and generally refused to back away from the tree. The limited number of guards were forced to merely keep order, instead of exerting their authority, and eventually just had everyone form a line to get in.

Danny took this as his cue to leave and quickly made his way back to the outer marketplace. There were fewer guards stationed there, and Danny reluctantly used his magic to bend the light around himself as he slipped into the inner wall and headed for his family's mansion.

***

"Danny, there you are! We have been expecting you for half an hour now."

Danny's mother yanked Danny through the front doors of their family's mansion, bypassing the handful of servants waiting uncertainly nearby.

"Lady Creek, we can answer the door. You do not have to do that," stated a matronly looking woman in liverish clothing.

Danny's mothered stopped hugging Danny long enough to reply to the other woman, "Frances, you all do enough as it is around here. Now go take a break."

Frances looked shocked at the suggestion, "I can't do that. The breakfast hasn't been served yet. The majordomo's work is never done."

Danny's mother frowned at the majordomo as if she were some puzzle she had yet to solve, before turning back to Danny and asking, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't. I just had a quick errand to run, and it took a bit longer than I planned," Danny admitted, unable to keep the huge grin on his face at seeing his mother so lively.

Danny's father came around the corner, "Danny! Good, you're here. Now, your mother can stop hovering by the front door and worrying the poor servants."

Hugging his father, Stan added in a whisper to his son, "More importantly, now we can eat!"

Laughing, the three Creeks walked through the spacious mansion and into a large dining room where the rest of Danny's family waited. It seemed as if everyone had been rounded up.

Danny was first introduced to his three newest siblings. Beth, Sarah's third child, was seven years old; Kandace, Barb's third child, was three years old; and, finally, there was Garett who was two years old, Sarah's fourth child and first boy. It was surreal and more than a little depressing getting to talk with Beth and realizing that he had missed most of her life. Kandace hid behind her mother's leg while Garett was happy to be picked up and held by Danny, at least until Garrett got hungry. Danny glanced over and saw a bitter-sweet look on his mother's face while she watched the little children playing. He then remembered something he had meant to fix six years ago, but that would have to wait until he could get his mother alone.

Danny was then surrounded by his siblings. After smothering him in affection and expressing how handsome Danny had become, his sisters Jane and April excitedly showed off their respective Trio members and husbands. Danny was a little taken aback at how nervous his sisters' spouses were at meeting him. That was all thrown out the window when Danny was surrounded by his new nieces and nephews. Danny had forgotten how quickly people had kids in this world. The thought brought Danny up short as he realized that he could have already had children of his own by now.

Gary's slap to Danny's back broke him out of his sudden melancholy mood. Danny's older brother was all smiles as he immediately lifted Danny into the air with a two-arm hug.

"Danny, I am so glad you are back," Gary exclaimed. Not trying in the slightest to whisper, Gary added, "I have been having to take both shares of our mom's badgering while you were gone!"

The brother's laughter was interrupted as Gary's wives reminded him that they were there as well. The three beautiful young women, all daughters of some relation or another of a council member, made sure Danny knew how happy they were to now be related to his family. Danny made sure to share at least one embarrassing story about his brother before moving on.

Mary, who was Danny's youngest sibling before he left home, stood next to her mother, Barb. The quiet girl had remained that way. None of her mother or brother's personality seemed to have worn off on her. Danny was fine with this as he spoke with her about her school and the Trio she had joined. Danny couldn't believe she would soon she would start searching for a husband of her own with her Trio. Barb butted in to say they already were scheduling marriage interviews.

The family finally sat down and dug into the breakfast brought in by the servants. The stark contrast between their current and past living situation didn't escape Danny. The last time Danny had eaten with his whole family was at the small table they used to have back in their modest home in the outer area. Being asked about his wives, Danny apologized for their absence as they were preparing for the wedding but promised to bring them over next time he visited.

The morning hour was getting late as they continued to reminisce and share stories of everything Danny had missed. Danny learned that his family had traveled to Crossbark after his kidnapping where his brother and father had unlocked their sealed mana sources. After that, the whole family had become sorcerers. They did admit to not being able to train their magic as much as they had wanted, due to assisting with the search efforts and dealing with their newfound fame and positions.

Danny found a moment to take his mother aside to another room. Using his Nature Affinity, Danny healed the scars both on and inside his mother's lower abdomen. His mother had cried for a solid hour after he explained that not only were her scars from the events of his birth now gone, but she should have no trouble giving him more brothers and sisters if that is what she wanted. Danny had to bring his father to help him eventually console his mother.

Gathering just his mothers and older siblings, Danny told them about the home he intended for them to have in Crossbark. He had set aside a place near the center of the city for them, but he had never told anyone about it before he had been taken. The location was still empty, and he asked if they were interested in living there. Sarah suggested that his older sister Jane could take over the Crossbark home in the Creek name.

Having resolved the last remaining major item from his past, Danny pulled out an ornate metal egg and set it down on the coffee table in between them and asked, "This mansion seems a bit drab and lifeless. How would you like to have the first home in the city of Diadem that was not only grown, and not built, but enchanted as well?"

Danny's family members looked between each other in surprise, before Danny smiled and added, "It will also have an area in the basement that will teach you magic, amongst other things."

EPILOGUE

The main street that ran all the way through the center of the city, from the outer wall directly to the palace, was empty of traffic, save for the random person bolting across. Citizens, visitors just happening to be there from other towns and cities, and nobles all packed the edges of the broad road, waiting in anticipation. The city had come to a complete standstill as the morning light broke and word spread of the pending wedding. As the early morning sun rose higher in the sky, many took to packing the windows of the buildings facing the main road in an attempt to get out of the dense throngs lining the roadside.

The main gates in the outer wall had been shut for the first time since word of the invading goblin army many years past. When the gates opened again, a cheer sprang up, and excitement spread up the rest of the road. A horse-drawn carriage was led through the gates and down the main road. Flowers rained down from the closest buildings to fall amongst the well-wishers and those riding in the open top carriage.

Willow, Danny, Ivy, Brook, and Jade all smiled and waved back occasionally to the surrounding crowds. The carriage didn't travel at a fast pace, so the trip took some time. Danny kept the smile on his face as he was interrupted by his internal assistant.

*Captain, as you requested, we have nearly finished clearing the area around a number of the alien gateways. We have found evidence of the remains of large cities or towns at each location.*

*Good work, Cece, did you find the Sorcerer's citadel?* Danny asked.

*No, sir, not yet. The rapid appearance of new Cataclysmic from the gateways are hindering our search efforts.*

Danny sighed internally, *Just destroy them with the enchantments we added.*

*Sir, do you remember how the beastmen were fighting the Cataclysmic, not in the open field around the gateway but at their walls? I believe that is more than just so they could have an advantage of attacking from an elevated position. Any magic we use within a specific radius of these gateways triggers the arrival of more Cataclysmic and only complicates the issue further. We have been running some of the pixies as bait while the others search.*

*Fine, just get me the location of that citadel. I need answers and, besides Sentinel, that's the most likely location to find them,* Danny grumbled while maintaining his happy expression.

The carriage passed through the inner wall and, after meandering through the inner market, soon stopped right back where they had started their day, in front of the Councilors' Chambers. Danny was annoyed by the pomp and circumstance, but after looking over at the expressions on the four women's faces, understood it was a necessary evil to the benefit of his own happiness. The courtyard to the Councilors' Chambers was packed again, but this time it looked like some of the citizens from the outer walls had used the events early that morning to sneak in to see the wedding party arrive at their final destination.

Stepping out, a guard helped them descend from the tall carriage. Willow was attired in a long flowing sleeveless gown made to resemble the many colored petals of the sacred tree. Her long dark blonde hair spilled down her back, and she somehow managed to have actual petals from a sacred tree clinging to her hair. Ivy, Brooke, and Jade all wore formal military uniforms of Diadem, their hair up in a bun or smoothed back if cut short. The gold and black uniforms were decorated with far more medals than Danny would think the three young women could have acquired at such a young age. Looking at the medals again, Danny briefly wondered if they had received one for having to deal with a particularly headstrong sorcerer.

Danny had been given a classic wizard's duster, in the traditional Diadem military cut. His duster sported no medals, as he had never been formally awarded any. Not trying to hide his status as a pentacle, the duster was designed with all five of the colors representing each magical affinity the Wizard's Academy officially recognized. The jacket was gray with black trim, and the long wide collar down the front was white. A swirling blue design flowed up his gray jacket's left side while a flaming red design consumed the right. While Danny had heard many of the revelers outside talk about Willow's dress, many more commented on or spoke in disbelief about the number of colors displayed on his jacket.

The Chambers had been transformed from the night before. Decked out in long banners of gold and green, the colors of both Diadem and the elven royal house, the building looked more like a grand concert hall or museum than the center of a government. They were led inside, through the rotunda, and stopped in front of the doors to a massive hall that was attached to the rear of the Chambers.

The nearly empty and silent hallways and antechambers were a strange contrast to what had greeted them in the streets outside. A few servants were awaiting their arrival, and upon seeing them heading down the hallway, some took off to one assigned task or another. Danny was made to wait to one side, while his wife and fiancés were lined up on the other.

"Last chance to back out," Brooke whispered to Danny rather loudly from where she was waiting in line with the others.

Ivy glared daggers at Brooke's little outburst, while Willow looked over at Danny, one eyebrow raised. Jade tensed visibly and stopped fiddling with her uniform to look up at him.

Danny seemed to actually be seriously considering Brooke's words just as a servant opened the doors and gestured for the four women to head inside. Willow moved forward immediately, but the three women behind her hesitated as they watched Danny frown and look back down the hallway toward the entrance of the Council Chambers and his potential freedom.

"Danny! I was just joking," Brooke whisper-yelled at Danny, which garnered no response.

Just as the three women got their last glimpse of Danny, he looked up and smiled at them evilly.

Danny had to wait there for a few moments before his mother rushed up to him from down the hallway, a nervous stream of words slipping from her mouth, "Sorry I am late! Councilor Diadem said that my old dress wouldn't do and had some seamstresses practically sewing this one onto me to get it refitted at the last moment... Oh, Danny, you look so handsome!"

"Mother, calm down, you look beautiful," Danny said, reaching out to take his mother by the shoulders before hugging her.

Taking a deep breath, his mother grabbed his arm replying, "You're right, Danny. Where do we go?"

"Please step this way, Lady Creek, Wizard Creek," a servant motioned them toward the opening doors.

The hall was decorated in the same gold and green theme. Two banners hung over the dias on the far end, a golden diadem and a green kestrel in flight, the two symbols of Diadem and the elven nation.

Nobles and essential figures from all over the city filled the aisles of chairs set up on either side of the room. Danny recognized a few of the professors from the Wizards' Academy. To one side, he saw Instructor Meadow and the Umbra from the Order sitting unobtrusively against the wall. Near the front, Danny spotted Archwizard Storm seated with the elven elders. Wizard Basalt's huge grin only fell when one of his wives sitting with him just barely stopped him from raising a hand to wave at Danny.

All of Danny's family sat at the front and to one side. His siblings, Jane, April, and Gary sat with their respective spouses. His sister Mary, who would probably have her own family in the next couple of years, still sat with the rest of his parents and Danny's newest siblings.

Returning his thoughts to the present, Danny watched as everyone stood up to glance back to where Danny and his mother now stood in the doorway to the Councilors' Chamber's great hall. Thinking about the few weddings he had been to in Danny's life back on Earth, the converse nature of the moment was not lost on him. As Danny and his mother took their first steps into the room, grass and small flowers sprouted up from the white carpet which had been laid out along the center aisle. With each step they took, more grass and flowers spread outwards until they reached the walls. The second the doors were closed again behind them, there came the sound of hundreds of wings flapping as the former walls and ceiling turned into a huge covey of birds that took flight into the bright blue and cloudy sky. The entire ceremony was now being held on the precipice of a short grassy cliff overlooking over a vast blue sea. A subtle wind blew across the proceedings, ruffling clothing and causing the former room's decorative banners that now hung from simple wooden poles, to flap around. The wedding guests were startled at first, more than one gasped or stifled a scream, but they settled when none of the wedding party appeared to be alarmed by the events.

Looking over at his mother walking him down the aisle, she glanced up with wide eyes to smile warmly when she caught him watching her. Glancing back up toward the dais, Willow stood to one side while Ivy, Brooke, and Jade stood together on the other. All four women watched him with rapt attention, their expressions a mixture of anywhere from happiness to nervousness. Both Head Councilor Diadem and Queen Kestrel were waiting to officiate the wedding. When Danny and his mother reached the front, they moved to stand with Willow. In Diadem society, a mother stands with her biological son until the ceremony is over. According to tradition, if Danny objected enough to the betrothal, he could try and run away from his mother. Why he would wait until the ceremony to do this, Danny didn't understand. Since Danny was also married to Willow, and his mother hadn't gotten to stand with him at his first wedding, they had compromised with him being joined by both women.

Diadem raised her voice to make sure she was heard over the noise of distant crashing waves, "Thank you, everyone, for joining us on the auspicious occasion. When two nations can come together..."

Diadem's speech carried on, and Danny could tell she was going to be at it for some time, so he decided to check on things while he was only required to just stand there.

*Cece, report.*

*We have been able to reorganize the obstinite surrounding the Crimson Caverns to make the coverage more efficient and complete. This has netted us almost fifteen times the amount of obstinite used in the creation of the Hive. We were able to successfully use your idea for bypassing the dwarves' enchanted wall with the ring of mana manipulating enchanted stones. The dwarves will notice the changes eventually, when they modify their enchanted wall or just discover the hole we created. Either way, we will be long gone with the obstinite before then.*

Danny watched Diadem take a deep breath and head into another topic, probably on some self-absorbed bent.

*What about the new base of operations?* Danny asked.

Cece's voice entered his thoughts, *The entry tunnel and cavern have been created and the walls reinforced. We heated some of the base material to create a more breathable atmosphere down here, but simulations show the air is toxic. After hauling in enough water, we began growing the red algae, and as soon as the control enchantment is completed, we will have the sacred trees growing as planned. Toxicity levels should already be dropping, and given that the Hive can handle multiple enchantments at once, the base should be ready in roughly three days' time.*

*Excellent, and what about the two searches? How are they going?*

*Sir, we can't stay too long near the gateways, but there has been some progress. I have ordered more pixies to search the areas that don't trigger the gateways. The planet surface is already five percent cleared of the alien infestation. Those Cataclysmic found far away from the gateways are easy to kill with the newest offensive enchantment you requested from the science officers. Their numbers are nothing like they were when the probes were scanning the ocean.*

*Yes, stick to the surface and keep on clearing the areas around the gateways. Try to avoid activating them further till we can come up with an effective strategy,* Danny commanded as he noticed Diadem winding down.

*What about my other request? Did you find a suitable target?*

Cece's response was hesitant, *Captain, are you certain you want us to do this? We found a few options nearby, but only one was the size you requested.*

*Cece, you worry too much. It's just a backup in case what I fear...*

Danny's thoughts were interrupted as the guests in the room applauded as the Head Councilor finished her long-winded sermon. Queen Kestrel at her side spoke up, and the whole audience quieted instantly, trying to hear the elven woman's words.

Danny's mother took his hand and walked him closer to Ivy, Brooke, and Jade, with Willow following right behind them. Danny's mother hesitatingly moved up to stand next to the queen and head councilor. As they had been instructed to before, Danny, Willow, Ivy, Brooke, and Jade all joined hands in a circle.

As if to offset Diadem's lengthy talk, Queen Kestral's closing words were short, "As queen of the elven nation, I hereby pronounce the marriage of these five individuals, this pentacle, formed. May your union be a promise to not only our two nations but the world."

The room erupted in applause as everyone seated rose to their feet. Danny was kissed by all four of his wives to the cheering of the crowd. Then, the newlyweds were ushered down the aisle, out of the room, and to the upper floor above the rotunda. There from a balcony, they were told to wave to the sea of people waiting down below. As the five first stepped out into the waiting sunlight, the quickly spreading noise of the city was soon deafening. If there were a few peasants who had snuck in when they arrived, then most of the citizens of the outer walls had overcome the guards and flooded the area around the Councilor Chambers courtyard. Many of the citizens below used their newfound magical abilities to send gouts of flame into the air, while others sent confetti skyward with gusts of magic wind.

Turning back from the balcony, Danny found his mother, the queen, and Diadem all waiting for the five newlyweds at the councilors' conference table. Danny's group took a seat and began eating from the food already prepared for them while the sounds of celebration from outside filtered in from the large windows around them.

"Is there no way to convince you to stay just a few more hours?" Diadem asked Danny, with a subtle pleading look at the four young women across from her.

Shaking his head, Danny replied, "I am sorry, there is too much to do and very little time to do it in."

Queen Kestrel argued, "Why can't you just send someone to tell them you will be delayed?"

Danny put down his fork and looked the queen in the eyes, saying, "Time. There never is enough of it, and just when you think you have some, it is already gone."

The queen looked on impassively, but Danny knew she was trying to figure out if there was a hidden meaning behind his words. Diadem was doing nothing to hide her contempt of Danny's refusal to stay longer. Danny's mother looked as if she was too afraid to speak up in front of the impressive two women sitting next to her.

It was a half hour later when, standing up and turning to his wives, Danny announced, "I need to go."

"Right now?" Willow asked, food half eaten.

None of his wives looked excited about leaving so soon after the wedding, but Danny's fears about the future overrode his desire to make them happy at the moment. Danny frowned as he silently nodded in response to Willow's question.

"Goodbye Mother," Danny said to the woman who had been sitting there quietly.

Danny's mother teared up, asking, "When are you going to come back?"

"I don't know, but I promise to come back as soon as I can," Danny said as he moved around the table to hug her.

Brooke spoke up from nearby, "Don't worry Mrs. Creek. I will make sure he visits often."

Danny's mother reached over to affectionately cup Brooke's cheek.

Queen Kestrel was there to hug Danny as soon as his mother let him go. There was a tinkling sound as a pixie flew through the balcony door and over to Danny.

"I can't believe I almost forgot," Danny said as he took something from the small creature. Turning around, Danny held up a perfectly round small red sphere, announcing, "I gave my mother and Diadem their gifts in private." Danny's mother beamed at him while Diadem tried her best to smile as her face paled slightly. Danny continued, holding out his hand, "For the Queen of the elven people, I give you this."

Taking the red sphere from Danny, Queen Kestrel studied it for a second before glancing curiously at Danny. At his nod, the queen stepped away for a few moments before turning back around. Blinking, the queen now had two perfectly normal, well elvishly beautiful, eyes. The scar around the eye that used to hold the white stone eye was smoothing out as the skin healed what the elven healers couldn't. Looking around, the queen seemed lost in whatever she was seeing.

"Is it working?" Danny asked tentatively.

The queen turned to look at Danny for the first time since donning the new eye. Taking a step back upon seeing him, she unthinkingly whispered, "What are you?"

Laughing, Danny walked forward to embrace the shocked queen, whispering in her ear, "I hope my trust in you does not go unfounded."

The queen's shocked look almost instantly turned serious as she silently nodded once.

While Willow, Ivy, Brooke, and Jade made their farewells, red dust floated in through the balcony to form a round platform hovering over the floor. At Danny's beckoning, the four women joined him on the red disk. The five waved to their mothers as the platform hovered out the window and into the sky above Diadem. When the crowds still waiting outside saw the disk and realized who was on it, they called out to the disk's passengers.

Seeing the forlorn and quiet looks on his wives' faces, Danny struggled with how to make up for the hasty departure from the wedding. Ivy was already pressed into his side, not wanting to see the ground so far below them. It was good she wasn't looking as Danny focused on the sky above Diadem just as it exploded in a cacophony of multicolored lights and sounds. Flying right through the middle of the waterfalls of sparkling radiance, Willow, Brooke, and Jade's faces lit up in wonder. The sounds of a symphony accompanied the bright lights that burst into existence and filled the air.

Danny's self satisfied smile slipped from his face as he turned to look in dread at something happening far away to the south.

***

Hovering far above one of the strange dark pulsating phenomenon, one of Danny's pixies yawned, stretching its arms high above its head in an attempt to ward off the boredom of its assigned task. The strange Cataclysmic creatures below had fallen into predictable patterns of behavior, not showing even the slightest sign of intelligence. The pixie had long ago lost interest in watching them.

At that moment the dark pinprick of darkness below expanded violently before shrinking again. The very air seemed to ripple outward, grabbing the pixie's attention. Eyes glued to the tiny black orb, the pixie waited expectantly for the lighting that should follow before more cataclysmic would appear.

The lightning never came, as the phenomenon pulsated violently again and again. The tiny dark orb seemed to grow larger and larger with each pulsation, until there was an explosion of power that sent everything in the surrounding area flying, including the pixie hovering far above.

Danny's pixie righted itself before flying back over. The tiny dark orb from before was now replaced with what looked like a small tear in the very fabric of space itself. A pale grey fist was withdrawing back into the darkness just as the pixie drew close. The pixie barely had enough time to question if it had only imagined the grey fist when two grey hands reached out and gripped the edges of the dark tear as if it was something physical. The pixie's wings flickered nervously and then stopped altogether. The pale grey hands gripping the edges of the darkness strained visibly, and then small tear began to rip ominously in both directions.