“Crazy, he’s crazy!” Thalza murmured as she shook her head, and she and Olivia crawled on their stomach across the desert. The two of them were following after the group of guys as they rushed deeper into the wasteland, curious as to what they might do.

  They crested a small hill just as Gerald summoned the Eclipse, slammed it into the ground, and began working. The two women quickly figured out what they were doing, and that’s when Thalza couldn’t help but express her thoughts.

  “Is that it? The Eclipse?” Olivia asked, awestruck.

  “Yes!” Thalza hissed back, her mind a storm of emotions. The fact that he used her name suggestion surely had to mean something, right? But he only used half the name. Was he telling her she was not good enough? Or that only half of her ideas were good? She felt frustrated not knowing.

  The two waited as the guys blasted the land, burning the designs into the surface of the desert for hours on end until it was done. That’s when the energy in the surrounding area shifted, flowing towards the massive battleaxe sticking out of the ground like a mighty middle finger to the heavens.

  “That weapon should not exist. It is an abomination. An abomination only he can use.” Thalza explained. “I don’t think even a Sky Realm could use something like that. Perhaps only one of the High Priests could.”

  “Is it really all that? I mean, the Dreadstone was nasty, sure, but how much worse can an alloy made out of it be?” Olivia remained skeptical. Everyone had a taste of the mythical stone’s power, some of them resisting it better than others.

  “Hah! Who’s doubting now?”

  “Come on, that’s different.”

  “Not to me it isn’t.” Thalza insisted.

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Anyway, they left, wanna go and take a look?” She suggested.

  Thalza hesitated. The larger woman agreed to accompany her for a bit so they could see the Drow empire from an outside perspective to see if it was really that bad. But before they could do that, they stumbled upon the trio. Now it was Olivia who was dragging her around.

  “Fine, but I’m not touching it. You can if you want, but be careful, the tiny dagger was bad enough.” She warned.

  “Okay, mom!” Olivia shook her head and laughed, flying towards the Eclipse. As she neared the core of the Formation, it became harder to keep steady. It appeared as if the world itself was warping around the weapon, pulling the energy towards it.

  “Ugh! I hate this feeling.” Thalza complained as she entered the range of Eclipse’s influence. As large as the weapon was, the area it could affect around itself was similarly huge. Just being in its presence made it difficult for her body to work properly.

  “It’s not that bad.” Olivia dismissed her complaints and approached on foot. As she came into range of a few meters, her skin began to tingle as the cells made out of energy tried to escape her body. It was not painful, but it was unnerving. Like a thousand ants crawling all over her.

  She took a deep breath in. “Well, there goes nothing.” She touched the blade.

  Instantly her entire body seized up, pain shooting through her being. The skin of her hand was instantly turned to ash, all energy and life force drained out of it. That released the connection and her body flexed backward as she gasped in pain. No word escaped her mouth as her visage became one of pure agony.

  She stumbled and fell on her back, bloody sweat pouring out of her like a flood. Her entire body was twitching, contracting, starving for Qi. Her entire reserve was drained the moment she touched the Eclipse, leaving her feeling like a shriveled-up raisin.

  Thalza panicked from her reaction, jumping to help by pushing her own power into her body. As the first trickle of Qi began to touch Olivia’s skin, they both heard a booming laugh coming from all around them. It sounded happy, jovial even, and it mocked them for their weakness. And, of course, it was all too familiar.

  [Hahaha! That’s what happens when you touch what isn’t yours, pest!]

  The voice paused for a moment, giving them time to breathe. Then the voice came back.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  [Well, in case you are not dead, I prepared something. Enjoy!]

  Thalza’s eyes narrowed into a tiny point. “Run!” Was all she managed to say as she dragged her new companion to her feet. The circle around the Eclipse lit up, gathering power. Then it lit up some more and flashed, forming a thin beam of energy. It moved lightning fast, spinning upward in a spiral, almost instantly covering the entire sky with the blazing power of Gerald’s arcane magic.

  Thalza screamed as the beam cut her despite the barriers she formed, and Olivia suffered a similar fate despite lacking energy protection. Her body was fortunately much stronger.

  As quickly as it came, the Formation dimmed, and the spinning beam disappeared, returning the land to darkness. It was early evening when the two fell to the ground, wounded and in pain, painting the desert sand red.

  “Ah…” Thalza groaned as she dragged her bleeding self across the sand towards Olivia. “Damn… it all!”

  She took a pill and swallowed it before giving another to the other woman. Then she simply collapsed, laying on the warm sandy ground as her wounds slowly healed. They lay there in silence as the pills worked their magic, looking at the sky where the first stars of the night began to appear. The two moons slowly moved across their vision, distant from one another, on the opposite sides of the sky.

  “That hurt.” Olivia sighed after she recovered enough for the searing pain to stop. “I guess you were right.”

  “Why is it like this?” Thalza said, her voice trembling. She was on the verge of tears.

  “Why is what?”

  Thalza stifled a frustrated roar and covered her face with her hands while still lying on the ground. “I didn’t even do anything! It’s not fair! Why is he so much stronger?! He wasn’t even here! I don’t deserve this! And you didn’t even protect yourself, yet you still took less damage than me!”

  “Oh…” Olivia scratched her cheek. “I never thought about it that way. I guess…”

  “And your… That guy, John…”

  “Our leader, yes. What about him?”

  “He can use a Domain!”

  “Uh-uh?”

  “He’s at Level Eight, right? He said so himself!” Thlaza shouted into the sky with frustration, not bothering to turn and look at her interlocutor.

  “Close to Nine, but yeah.” Olivia replied calmly.

  “And he can just… use a Domain. A Spatial Domain! That’s suck a rare ability! Most of our Sky Realm Grand Elders can’t do that!”

  “He is pretty amazing, huh?” Olivia replied with a dreamy voice and a smile.

  The Drow got up on her elbow to look at the other woman with a confused frown, but seeing her expression she sighed and dropped back down.

  “I guess… He is quite strong.” She admitted begrudgingly. “But even compared to him, Gerald is still stronger. He’s a monster! You felt it, he is so much worse! How is that even possible? He’s barely Level Five!”

  Olivia took some time to answer, and when she did, her voice was back to being nearly emotionless. “What do you want me to do? I tasted his power, and yes, he is stronger. But so what? Spirit Beasts and nightmarish monsters are all stronger than humans of the same Realm, so what if there is one that disrupts that trend? That’s good. And he is on our side as well. You should be happy.”

  “Haaaaah….” Thalza breathed out a long sigh. A part of her felt Olivia’s words were correct, but then another part once again refused to be reasoned with and accept what she was told. That was a problem she could never get rid of, and also the reason why she was banished, the first time, from her ranks.

  It was funny how such a little thing completely spiraled her life.

  “Hmm, I feel much better. Shall we return home?” Olivia Suggested. “I don’t feel like exploring anymore.”

  “Yeah… Yeah.” Thalza gritted her teeth and stood up, keeping the stiffness and pain of her body at bay.

  [Oooh, someone was naughty.] Gerald playfully teased after their return. Most of the gang was gathered around the table, eating, as well as curiously staring at them.

  Thalza looked down at her body and noticed her clothes were shredded, revealing much of her body together with the newly healed skin. After the shock of nearly getting cut to pieces wore off, the wardrobe malfunction completely slipped her mind. Same with Olivia.

  The larger woman simply laughed and didn’t seem to care while Thalza turned a deeper shade of gray. Her own way of blushing.

  “Don’t worry, everyone makes mistakes sometimes.” Alexandra said to calm her down. “I personally thought your actions were very wise, and kind.”

  “Huh?” Thalza cocked her head to the side, clueless as to what she could mean. That’s when Gerald turned his palm upward and a spherical picture formed. It showed the desert with the Eclipse stuck in the middle.

  The Drow’s eyes went wide and she was mortified. She recognized his actions as a distant scrying magic. They saw it all!

  Gerald chuckled. [Yeah, we’ve seen it all. Heard it too, since you triggered my early warning system. What were you thinking?] He shook his head towards Olivia. The woman just shrugged and sat down, taking some food for herself.

  [Anyway, now that we are all here, I can say what I have discovered today.] Gerald said, speaking with a more serious tone. [A few beasts we killed came from deep inside Drow territory. I extracted their memories so I can tell you with certainty that the first line of defense has fallen, and The City’s forces are falling back. It’s likely we will become the next point of interest for the advancing armies in the next few days or weeks, so we must prepare.]

  “You… can read the minds of monsters as well?” Thalza questioned.

  [I can read everyone’s minds.] Gerald confirmed.

  “I’d like my mind unmolested, thank you!” John said in what was clearly a joke.

  “I don’t mind!” Onyx immediately had to be the opposition. “My mind holds no secrets from Master Gerald. You are welcome to look any time! Although, there might not be much there…”

  There was a pause, and then everyone burst out laughing. Suddenly the mood lifted and they enjoyed themselves in the night festivities.