“Tirken, Efthma, Lthret”

  These words described how she felt about what she had done.

  “Iljifa, Pwertep, Azokelix”

  These words described what she saw it as now.

  “Awlklow, Ophfgher, Ycquveb”

  These words described what she saw it as previously.

  If she were to be honest, she was completely anxious and excited at the same time, it was a normal feeling for one to have if they were to do this for the first time in an area such as this.

  Athels hated it, so it was a crime against nature.

  She had spent three days weaving blankets to cover her windows in an effort to make sure none of them ever took notice of the act she was doing. For good measure, she had woven a steel sword next to an athel on them, with the word steel next to said sword.

  Yet even then, she couldn’t help but feel anxious. Her room wasn’t all that soundproof, but no noise should be made, unless the knife decides to roar for whatever reason. She had several bells ready to be used as a makeshift switch in case any came by, all natural of course, and in the event she was found out she had many excuses that could get her off with a loss of several organs.

  It wasn’t as if she could take them all on.

  Well she could take on one, but there was a total of 8.4 billion athels in teahir, each and every one being practically immune to anything she could do to them. Sure she had steel knives, but all it took was one just getting to her and she’d be done for.

  It was a bit of an unfair situation for her and her interest really.

  At least she could take solace in the fact she didn’t move to cemizen back then.

  She took a look at the knife she set down, placed right in the middle of an oluesan circle.

  It was nothing more than a regular steel knife that every other human used. Perfect for cutting, perfect for stabbing, perfect for dicing. Yet it was the source of the excitement that clashed against her overthinking mind.

  The spell she was casting was simple, but for someone like her, this was practically a proof of her worth. Of course it was also a declaration that she was an enemy to the world, but such things were secondary at the moment.

  Taking a smaller unneeded knife, she slit open her thumb, letting the blood fall onto the kitchenware.

  The spell had a simple effect, making the knife susceptible to her will. If she wanted it to float, it would, if she wanted it to bring her a book, it would. It was a beginning spell worthy of her touch.

  Said effect would have happened if the knife didn’t proceed to combust on the spot, the flames clamping down on it with a desire to break it. They quickly died down, leaving only a piece of charred metal on her floor.

  In a total of two and a half seconds, all her work was reduced to nothing.

  This made knife seven.

  She couldn’t help but sigh at the failure that just occurred. There was nothing wrong with what she did, that she was sure of. Well, nothing wrong with the circle and translations themselves, it is quite possible none of these objects could handle her blood. A bit disappointing, but it was fixable.

  Any thoughts on how she would fix it however were cut off by the feeling of two cold arms wrapping themselves around her neck, a weight being pushed onto the side of her head and a frigid breath assaulting her head.

  “Irnadel, I see a 2/10 on the ground.”

  The voice that came from her was hush and whispered, yet it was so loud and clear she might as well have been standing a table length away from her speaking.

  “What nonsense do you speak of, this is an 8/10 at the very least.”

  As quickly as it came, the weight on her head and neck left, and her sight was quickly filled with pale skin and blonde hair. The sound of the knife she had planned to discard being kicked away had echoed out, with the sound of it coming into contact with the other knives being the only reason she knew where it was without having to look at it.

  “I don’t know Irna, it looks to me like a big failure. No magic I’ve ever seen resulted in this.”

  “Dear Ul’silys doesn’t understand how magic is supposed to work, how baffling. Besides, even if it’s a failure, it’s still a product of my making. That automatically secures it a high rating.”

  “Oh, is that so? Then you don’t mind if I took one of these and killed an athel with it would you?”

  “Go ahead and try, you’re bound to instill complete and total fear with it if you do.”

  “Well I’ll take your word on that, now get out.”

  No sooner than she said that, she was already being dragged out her house, and her room by proxy.

  It was a complete blur, though she could remember a few things. The twirling that led to her being spun around, the opening of the locked front door which proved that the home invader came in through other means, and her being planted straight into the ground, all of which happened in a total of 7 seconds.

  “What?”

  Without warning, several of her failed products were also thrown out the door, each luckily falling around her instead of on her.

  “Sorry Irna, but I have a couple of family matters to attend to, so I’ll need this house to myself.”

  “You mean to tell me you weren’t disowned.”

  “Not by her, now. Scram.”

  The door was promptly slammed shut, with a small paper that had a neatly drawn smiley face upon it, the words ‘Apologies, Irnadel is not home’ written boldly under it.

  “Hey, I have a panatomeila fresh out of nemezu in there, you better not do anything to it.”

  Her words most likely went unheard, for a roar had overtaken the general silence her house usually held, a light breaking past the blankets she had used to hide herself. While it was bright, it was blocked out by the cloth so she had no need to cover her eyes.

  It was obvious she would be stuck out here, and while this usually would not be much of a problem, she was thrown out by Ul’silys, things were bound to go wrong.

  It wasn’t as if the girl caused problems wherever she went, in fact it would be best to say that the monster in human skin was graceful with everything she did, treating the entire world as if it were made of grass.

  No, the real reason she kept looking all around, minimizing every sound she could and would make, was because she paid a lot of attention to the pattern that was the misfortune she would suffer if she ever lost her housing temporarily to this pale monstrosity.

  Three years ago, when she had first met her, and willingly left the house for a deal she could not resist, she ended up being attacked by a galrorth pack that found her easy prey.

  That was only one of twenty-eight events that had left her in peril.

  “Hey.”

  It was also why she could not be blamed for immediately grabbing one of the charred knives and making a stab at the short girl with a color palette for hair, stopping only due to an invisible force exerted on her arm.

  “Practicing magic again Irna?”

  As suddenly as it came, the invisible force on her arm disappeared.

  Quickly shoving the broken tool into her robe, she bent down to grab the others, never once breaking eye contact with the deity.

  “Who knows, you can’t exactly prove it. For all you know, these knives are a result of the invaders' attempts at torching my house.”

  “So you were practicing it.”

  “What is it to you?”

  “Well there were a couple of athels I passed by on my way here.”

  Whatever effect this multi haired deity hoped to have on her with those words worked perfectly and instantly, for the world around her had blacked out, and the only thing she could actually see was Aske.

  In that same moment, the deity had raised her hands in complete surrender.

  “Calm calm, don’t misjudge my character like that. I just wanted to warn you that they could come by and see you.”

  The world had quickly come back into focus, and the heat that had built up in her left arm had dissipated. She could feel her facial muscles relax, before they quickly tightened back up again.

  “Was that supposed to be a joke? It was horrible, never do them again.”

  “My humor is fine thank you, you’re the one who chose to jump the gun like that.”

  “I made a perfectly reasonable assumption, what are you even here for anyways.”

  “Ah, that’s right, I wanted to show you this.”

  Reaching into the blue satchel she had strung around her shoulders, she pulled out a radiant flower.

  It was completely white, from its long stem to its numerous petals, and it gave off so much light it felt like she was staring straight at a raging fire.

  “Real pretty thing isn’t it?”

  “More like an affront to my eyes, is this supposed to be your gift to me, because it is both insulting and unworthy.”

  “No, I just wanted to let you know what to look for.”

  “What?”

  Her answer had quickly come in the form of the deity flipping the satchel upside down and dumping a load of white flowers onto the ground.

  They were practically identical to the one she held in her hand, and each and every one of them hurt her eyes all the same. With all of them jumbled up together like that, it was like staring into a serjo, in fact she was sure that her vision had taken considerable damage from that.

  “I found a bunch of these just lying on the ground, though it was really weird ground. A bit blue and black, kind of unnatural really. It was kind of like someone cut out a piece of the land and replaced it with that, though it blended in really well, so I guess you could say that it was more of a growth that spread pretty deeply.”

  “Get to the point.”

  “Right right, I need you to go explore it.”

  The resulting silence was completely deafening, with the sound of the wind being the only thing that actually told her that she could still hear. It could not compare however to the urge she had to absolutely harm the deity that dared to stand before her after what she just said.

  It was a completely baffling thought, her actually bringing harm to a deity, such a thing would end with her dead on the ground no matter what.

  “Calm calm, I can see right through you, no need to bring any harm to me.”

  What a preposterous proposition she was just given.

  Do a deity’s dirty work, explore unknown lands that could likely get her killed or maimed, all for the sole purpose of satiating the curiosity of someone too lazy to do it themselves despite the power they commanded.

  Anyone who valued their life even a little would automatically say no, what did she hope to accomplish by asking her that? She had half a mind to stab her in the head for even considering the offer.

  “Calm calm, please, don’t come to such bizarre conclusions, I never said such things.”

  “For what reason would I have to believe you?”

  “Trust trust, I just want you to make sure nothing bad is going to happen.”

  “Why would you need me to do such a thing, aren’t you the immortal here? It would be no issue for you to just go in there and observe the situation, and should you lose an arm or a head you can always just get another one.”

  “Yes, but there’s been a human who wandered inside, and I want to make sure he gets back into celizila safely.”

  “It always falls to me to make sure they get out of wirtbur, what makes you doing it so important?”

  “Ah, well, I.”

  Above all else, she was immensely successful in giving out some of the most judgemental glares. It was a thankfully useful tool, especially for those like Aske. The deity was completely frozen by it, with the only movement she ever made being the slight twitches she would have here and there.

  It wasn’t as if she was intimidated though, if she were she would actually be sweating, but she was willing to settle to be honest. That suggestion was far out of her comfort zone and daily plans, though they already have been derailed, so anything that would get her to call it off or reconsider was useful in her book.

  Sure it would be easier to just say no, but then she’d have to deal with the pestering.

  “He just looks so handsome, can’t you let me have this one.”

  The glare that previously only judged quickly shifted into one that held nothing but contempt. There was no need to actually think about the deity’s words, it was automatically one that deserved hate.

  “Oh come on, I’m allowed to experience the pleasure you humans feel too.”

  “Romance should be both a foreign concept and a useless one to you. As far as everyone is concerned, he’ll be dead in what is a blink of an eye for you.”

  “So what, I'll still have the joy of actually having an honest date for the first time in my life.”

  “Still be dead.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  “And you just proved to me why I should continue to treat you as an untrustworthy, eternal pest, that has attempted murder if you wanna get into it.”

  Each and every word she spoke had stabbed right through Aske, she could see that very clearly by how much she continued to deflate and flinch, it was as if she was physically showing the guilt of someone being caught in the act and having every crime they’ve committed being spoken in order to prove that they did deserve what was coming for them.

  It was a completely joyful display that would have been absolutely euphoric if she could bring the deity to tears. Unfortunately, for most of her life ever since she knew her, Aske has yet to drag her, successfully, into any life threatening events.

  Still though, it was this sort of behavior that was currently being used in an attempt to actually get her to risk her life, so what she did was warranted. And judging by the deity’s silence, she agreed.

  “If that is all, then I’ll be on my way.”

  “I’ll make it worth your while.”

  When Aske had said those words, she was already mid turn, so she had to quickly plant her foot onto the ground to stop herself and turn her head.

  “I’m listening.”

  If there was anything she should be surprised about, it should have been how quickly Aske could brighten after being in such a pathetic state.

  “I’ll give you another panatomeila.”

  It turns out she was wrong to think Aske would have said anything of actual worth, just as she has been before.

  It was because of that that she returned to looking at Aske with contempt.

  “I can get my own panatomeila, and how did you know I even had one?”

  “You were shouting not too long ago.”

  “Preposterous, I have a perfectly monotone voice that can not be broken.”

  “Whatever you say, now how about I make sure Ul’silys never throws you out of your house ever again, it should be easy work for a deity like me.”

  “Tempting, but that should be a basic thing you already do. I don’t enjoy the thought of you withholding that act just to exploit me.”

  “Hey hey, don’t misjudge my character like that, I just simply didn’t think it needed to be done until now.”

  “Then why don’t you give me a proper deal, or better yet, allow me to choose what is done.”

  “Fine.”

  There was a thought she had, it was a thought about what would happen if she told the deity to kill herself, it was squashed down by logic rather quickly, and popped back up again.

  It came with a second thought, about how fun it would be if she could torture the deity, and how she had the tools to do it. It was also squashed down by logic, only to also pop back up again.

  More and more of these equally vile thoughts kept on racing through her mind, each screaming at the magic practitioner to bring hell towards this being that stood not just before her, but above her in every way.

  The small window that was opened by Aske’s willingness to relent to whatever she wished, the vulnerability she would dare give someone like her, such trust was all she needed to satiate her desires.

  As such, it was only natural that the screaming mess that her mind had instantly become perfectly meld into a single thought she truly wanted.

  “Forever, whatever I desire, you shall do.”

  “No can do.”

  The mind that had reached a consensus had instantly turned back into the screaming mess, though instead of thoughts to take advantage of the deity that had offered herself up unknowingly, it was thoughts to punish the deity that had so swiftly denied she as if she didn’t gain the reins to the promise these two would have.

  “Well then, neither can I.”

  Without any thought behind it, she had resumed her previously stopped action and fully turned around, only to freeze when she realized that she was merely facing her locked door.

  “Didn’t think that one through did you.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  The words Aske muttered went unheard by she as she walked by the deity, only to be stopped by said deity’s hand grasping her robes.

  “Look, I really need this done, so let me give you this. Three requests, I can promise you that. Should I fail at them, you get to keep that request for another day. Sounds good?”

  Yes, it was a good deal, at least a good compromise.

  It was still infuriating though, to be trumped by the deity so easily, as if everything that she tried earlier was really just stalling for time.

  What could she have really done? Aske was a deity, someone who had lived for thousands, millions, maybe even billions of years. She was simply just someone who had spent an entire portion of her life keeping her head down and learning general facts of what she could, what did she have to hope to compare to this mountain.

  So, without even looking at her, and with crossed arms, she spoke.

  “Fine, I shall accept.”

  There was no need for her to turn and look at Aske, she was most certainly beaming with happiness at her acceptance.

  “Glad to have you on board, now let's go.”

  For thirty minutes and twenty seven seconds, Aske had dragged her by the arm through the forest, the ginormous trees that provided warped light beaming down on them throughout the way.

  Several athels had passed by her, some even coming directly to her for questioning. She had no idea on whether or not they simply detected magic on her, or just wanted to do it out of boredom, either way, everytime she noticed one, her free arm had reached into her robes, hand grasping at one of the knives she had hidden in there.

  Thankfully, there was no need to get violent at all. The deity that held her had consistently either shooed away or gone unnoticed by the nature spirits that kept coming into her sight.

  “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea for you to bring those knives.”

  “Nonsense, I have no other way of defending myself if I am to explore your mystery land.”

  “While that is true, don’t you think you could have brought something like a backpack, maybe then they would be less suspicious.”

  “How do you know that they suspect me? For all you know this could simply be a prank they collectively agreed to do.”

  “That is true, but-”

  She was cut off by the sudden filling of her vision with purple and green, the black body that it formed a dress on floating in place as it’s white eyes stared straight past the deity and directly at her.

  “You did magic.”

  Three mere words were all it took for her to be on edge.

  Her arm was twitching, her eyes and ears were paying close attention to the sign of any other athel nearby, and her currently bound hand was doing its best to subtly get out of the deity’s grip.

  What the athel in front of her just said wasn’t just an accusation, it was a threat. So it would not be wrong to say that right now she wanted to eliminate a threat.

  But it was, for she merely had lost a reason to not do anything about them.

  “Ah, Enr, didn’t expect to see you here. What brings you this fine evening.”

  Her currently dying reason was brought back to semi life by the deity that her arm currently struggled to get away from. She was calm, judging by the way she continued to grip her arm in the same manner she had done a while ago.

  It was annoying really, being interrupted like that, even if the culprit wasn’t actually aware. As far as she could tell, no more of these nature spirits were actually here to witness anything she did. Sure she may not be able to kill any of them, but there was not much needed for her to restrain one indefinitely.

  “Don’t change the subject Aske, I know she did magic, I can feel it in my gut.”

  “This again Enr? How many times are you gonna try to prove things with your gut?”

  “For as long as it’s right!”

  “But how do you know it’s right?”

  “Because it’s my gut, the gut never lies.”

  “Paranoia.”

  “Irrelevant!”

  Though it was also an equally pathetic display.

  Why anyone would entertain the athel that is commonly labeled as insane and idiotic by her fellow athels, she would never know. It is a complete waste of time and sanity, and one would have better results trying to enter the human city whilst looking like a bloated flower than win any argument with her.

  If she were to be honest, it would have been far easier to just simply take the athels head and leave. It would save them time, she would get some bait in the event that something had come for her, and it generally would just be relieving.

  Enr, luckily for her, had stayed far away, so there was no actual attack she could make that the athel would not see coming. She was however, giving her a look of confusion, fear, and unease.

  “There should be natural laws against that.”

  “Unfortunately there aren’t, but we really need to be going. It’s kind of important.”

  “Is this related to that boy toy of yours?”

  “Not yet not yet, I’ll get him soon, but as of now there’s something really important we have to deal with.”

  “Hey, what do you mean by we?”

  “You see, it’s a bit unnatural and I need to know whether or not it’s gonna be a problem.”

  “Unnatural you say? Is it as unnatural as magic?”

  The two of them let out a small sigh, with Aske’s head tilting towards her.

  Their irritation and impatience were being shared, and if they were to look at each other any longer they would probably start sharing thoughts. The thing that kept them though was what stopped them.

  She was prevented from doing anything by being restrained and out of reach, an impractical act that could likely cause her problems. Aske was prevented by doing anything from how she was generally looked at by athels, promises she made, and some small attachment to the athel.

  The amount of things the two of them desired to do at the moment could not differ anymore.

  She had things to do, well not really, her house was still likely being occupied by Ul’silys who was doing whatever she did in their for her family reunion, but it was the principle of the thing.

  “You should just go and atleble.”

  Her words were muttered, said in a clear yet quiet manner that anyone who heard it would struggle to understand what the last thing she said was. Their minds would most likely slowly catch up to it, but the last word would be gibberish to them.

  “Adolbol?”

  Anyone except an athel.

  It was a gentle drop Enr’s body went through, falling straight to the ground in a manner so light she bounced off the ground. Her breathing had become gentle, and her stomach had raised up and down.

  Aside from the sound of the sleeping athel, all was silent for twelve seconds. It wasn’t until Aske turned to look at her, a look that judged her and her entire lifestyle, that it was broken.

  “Did you really have to do that?”

  “Of course. I chose the method that would be easy and not get us in trouble.”

  “Us?”

  “You would be my accomplice.”

  “Sounds a bit like you planned on framing me.”

  “No such thing would be done. I merely would have told them you were there during the entire process.”

  “Sounds like framing.”

  “I have no control over what the athels think. If they assume you helped in harming her, that means they didn’t like you as much as you thought. Now are we gonna get going?”

  “Shouldn’t we put her up somewhere first?”

  “She’ll be fine where she is, besides you can come back to get her later. Now let’s go.”

  Leaving the sleeping athel behind, the two of them continued on their travel to the eyesore that she would have to endure for potentially hours straight.

  While she did start leading them, she quickly had to switch places with Aske when she remembered she didn’t know the way to wherever it was they were meant to go, resulting in her once again being dragged along wherever the deity saw the abomination at.

  They arrived six minutes and fifteen seconds later.

  True to the deity's word, the ground was blue, or was it the grass, and glowing white flowers had decorated it entirely. The invading land had melded perfectly with the natural one that surrounded it. It truly was as if it had grown into it.

  “It’s growing.”

  That was a terrifying thing for her to just suddenly say with no elaboration. Saying something could be growing could mean a lot of things, the land could have been spreading, the flowers could be getting bigger, or it could just in general be growing stronger. Such words could give someone a heart attack if they were told no one knew if it was dangerous or not.

  “You care to elaborate on-”

  She was gone.

  Not a sound or sign was left to show she had even moved.

  It was as if she didn’t exist.

  “How irritating.”

  A sigh escaped her lips at the thought of what she had to do.

  It was already bad enough that all she was getting out of this was merely three requests that weren’t absolute in the slightest, only something that would be done within the deity’s ability. Accruing favors was something she did often, but only when what she was doing in return was either worth her time or had no actual affect on her, sometimes both.

  This was neither. There was no way to cut it, anyone who was dragged along for this thing would think exactly the same thing she did. Hell, they might have tried to escape before they did anything.

  Now that she thought about it, would it be possible for her to just say yes it was a danger. It’s not like it would hurt anyone, and besides, if anything inside of there did get hurt, no one would miss it. It’s the one invading the natural cycle here, nothing that resides there has any right to be here.

  Yes, she’ll just do that. Simply leave, say it’s a danger, and gain her favors. This would be a far better transaction.

  She was brought out of her thoughts by a rather unique sound.

  It was a mix of cracking and a balloon quickly deflating. It was a quick one that lasted only for a second. Yet that second was all that was needed.

  Maybe she was hallucinating, maybe her memory was off, or maybe she just isn’t looking at it right. Either way, the land has gotten closer to her, an empty patch of blue grass was spread out, far from the large patch of white flowers that previously covered it.

  Aske had said it was growing, she had also called it unnatural. But to this extent?

  What hope did she even have of dealing with it, this sort of thing was far outside of her capabilities. She might as well go with the thought up plan of calling it dangerous and leaving as quickly as possible.

  Turning around, she was quickly met with the sight of an aparone barreling straight towards her, the 4 winged monstrosity screeching louding as its beak split into four and its maw was opened wide.

  Tensing her leg, she quickly jumped out of the way, the ground beside her flying outwards as the aparone crashed straight into it.

  Wasting no time, she ran further inward into the alien land, the aparone furiously chasing after her, hitting tree after tree in its attempts to snap her head off.

  It was honestly a miracle she was where she was when it decided to attack, the amount of trees here and their general placement proved to be quite a deterrent against the flying bullet.

  Still, even in such an enclosed space, it proved why it was one of the greatest predators in wirtbur, for it quickly began to bounce off tree after tree, ricocheting wildly as it became a blur around her.

  However, when she had bursted through the trees, and into a far more open field than the entrance to this invasive world, did she realize that it was best to be in those woods, for the aparone immediately shot out, sticking true to its monicker, missing her entirely thanks to its uncontrolled bouncing.

  That did not stop it from turning around in the air, the desire for blood and an unmoving corpse clear in its eyes that bore straight through her.

  It was probably a sight most unfortunate enough to be within flying distance experienced, and it was probably that fear and sense of hopelessness that often resulted in bodies with holes in them perfectly laid flat.

  That was why she couldn’t help but be frozen.

  Or so she thought.

  A piece of wood, like a dead tree, or maybe a broken root if she were to give it another look, had burst out of the ground, snapping her out of her trance. It was the same as the other trees she saw, its dark blue bark glaring at her while its white and sky blue spots glowed in rage.

  The trees here stood tall, showing nothing but anger at her for merely existing near them. This one was smaller, yet still remained as strong as the others. That was why it was jarring to watch it swing itself at her as if it were a whip.

  Her confusion didn’t impede her ability to jump about the way, yet that did not stop it from chasing her down, slamming itself down again and again in an attempt to crush her, ground bursting into dust with each hit.

  In hindsight, the dodging she was forced to do probably helped her out in the long run, for a speeding spear had struck the ground she was at a second ago, the aparone wasting no time in straightening itself out, wings planted on the ground in preparation to pounce.

  It was quickly shut down by the dead shrunken tree striking it directly in the head, skull shattering as the central point of its body was completely flattened, dropping her pursuer dead on the ground.

  There was no easy way of putting how astonishing that sight was, just as there was no easy way out of the assault brought upon by the apparent guard of this land.

  As if it didn’t already kill something, it turned its attention to her immediately, resuming the song and dance that was interrupted by the avian predator.

  Maybe because it was just formed, or maybe it wasn’t actually meant for this kind of thing, but either way, it was rather easy for her to tell what it was about to do. Every move it made was telegraphed to such degree.

  And yet ever so slightly, it got better. It started having an attack ready after every miss, it was getting harder to tell how it was going to attack, its movements were becoming more subtle, it was becoming a genuine threat to her.

  So, without thinking, she grabbed the corpse on the ground.

  Its head may have been useless, but the rest of the body wasn’t.

  With the wings wide enough to hide her entire body, she dashed straight towards the sentient log. She could not see where she was going, but she had a feeling that either was, she would have been fine.

  The body was held up in a position designed to protect her head, yet had a grip so loose that it could easily be knocked out of her hands. That was why when it struck, she was already to the side of it, charred knife out and ready.

  The moment the ravaged blade came in contact with the corrupted plant flesh, the effects were immediate.

  The strength it showed before meant nothing as the blood burnt through it, as if it were cutting nothing but air, and the lesser tree in a show of pain, thrashed wildly, its ever growing accuracy and rationale completely gone.

  In no time at all, the guard was bisected, and she was free to fall to the ground.

  It was official, this land was dangerous, in no circumstances should it be allowed to remain if anyone wanted to actually live. She held such desires, so she would make sure that it would be gone.

  A chime brought her out of her tired mind, causing her to strain her neck up to see it.

  It was gelatinous, it had a white color far brighter than anything here she’s seen so far. Actually, it would be more accurate to say it had a shining body and the white helped reflected that. If that wasn’t enough, it seemed to have a blue halo floating right above it, with the rest of the body floating as well.

  If she were to be honest, it was completely for this land she was in.

  It floated closer to her, emitting several chimes along the way. It wasn’t as harsh on her eyes as those white abominations that dared to be called flowers, but it still made her squint in the end.

  In one quick, slow, and gentle motion, it collided with her face. It wasn’t anything harsh, no, it was more like a pillow or balloon.

  Despite that, her hands immediately reached for her face, running across the skin of her head in search of any irregularities. When she found none there, she moved down, and lower, and lower, and lower, until she had reached her toes.

  There was nothing.

  Looking back at the thing that had her in a panic, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “You really are harmless, huh?”

  It didn’t respond, there was no way it would. It had no face, and probably never heard any english word. What she was doing was completely pointless to be honest.

  Still though, this thing was probably the sole entity that could probably deter her from signing the lands death warrant. Unless there was more of them, then there would be no need for any destruction. Any perceived danger would probably be them defending themselves.

  “What am I doing?”

  Maybe it did understand her, for it gave her a small twitch when she said those words.

  “Do you know what a witch is?”

  As expected, she received no response, though it may have been interested in what she was going to say.

  “A witch is any woman who chooses to indulge in magic, and is the ultimate evil in this world. So isn’t it funny that I strive to be a watch yet fail in every avenue. I try to cast a spell, it fails. I try to do evil, instead I end up doing good. Why, the reason I’m here at all is to determine if things are a danger to others and whether or not this land should be destroyed or not, and I’m wondering if it isn’t.”

  With her rant over, she found herself staring at a dark blue sky contained entirely within the body of what was effectively an alien. And then she realized how silly this all was.

  What exactly did she hope to accomplish with that, she’ll never know, nor will she ever understand what she hoped to accomplish by continuing the act.

  “Say, are you really the only one of your kind?”

  To her astonishment, it gave her a nod. At that, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “Excellent, may I request your help?”

  She gave it no actual time to response, for she had already grabbed it out the air and pulled out one of her burnt knives, raising it directly above the invasive creature in her grasp.

  “Die for me.”

  As expected, it rapidly began twitching. Such was expected for anything with a desire to live.

  That was why she was happy.

  What reason did she have to do this, she could have merely left and given a lie, maybe she could have enslaved it, maybe she could have left it alone entirely and say nothing to Aske. Either way, what she was doing had no reason.

  That was why she was happy.

  A crime without any reason, her very first one. There could be no other reason why she smiled.

  Her redeemed failure sunk straight into its flesh, and it screamed.

  And then there was roaring.

  It was far off, so she could only see a giant black figure. Yet it was loud, close, and an obvious danger. It obviously had not seen her yet, so there was still chance of escape.

  So she turned around.

  It was black

  Maybe it was a hole

  Or was it an abyss

  There was two

  So two abysses

  Would the correct term be void

  There was nothing there

  It was cold

  She could see nothing else

  She was falling

  Color came back

  It disappeared again

  Something hurt

  Her chest, her stomach

  She didn’t know, it just hurt

  Was she attacked, did she freak out

  How could she tell

  She might have been bleeding

  No she was, the darkness made sure of it

  She was going to die

  That’s not funny

  Die here, like this, despite all her efforts

  Now that she thought about it, it was funny in a dramatic irony sort of way

  Still wasn’t going to get her to laugh

  After all, she was going to die

  She’ll die

  She’ll die

  She’ll die

  She’ll die

  “Okorotha, stop stop!”

  When did that giant ever get here, she could have sworn it was still off in the distance. Nothing can move that fast, not without making any sound, unless it could teleport. If so that was terrifying.

  Not as terrifying as the fact her stomach was split open, it was like someone attempted to bisect her. How she was even alive right now, she’ll never know.

  “Ah, Irna, didn’t expect you to be here. Seems you had a bit of an adventure.”

  She didn’t have to look up to tell who that voice belonged to. It was utter proof of the fact she would send her into disaster. She has to remember to forever hold this fact over her head.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll live, I’ll make sure of it. Excuse me now, I have some familial matters to attend to.”

  Were they family? That was a hilarious yet fitting thought.

  “As’kayr, it has been so long since I’ve seen you dear sister. The years have not been kind to you, have they?”

  “Eiieboriitscen.”

  “How crude dear sister, how could speak such language so casually.”

  “Wathaferil.”

  Ul’silys was silent for a bit, a soft ‘oh’ escaping her lips. It was a surprise she could ever heard that, or maybe they were just very loud and that was spoken at a regular tone. If that was so, then how they altered her hearing, she most likely will never know. What a horrid curse.

  “It appears you have forgotten. Worry not, I shall remind you swifty.”

  “I am Ul’silys Solidus Olone, child of Iraga, fourth nernhyl to be born, the entombed priestess, the sole herald, ancestor of the neryet. I am your sister, and I demand that you stand down.”

  The titles she spoke of, the words that left her tongue, they were both ridiculous and plausible. She honestly could not tell if she was speaking the truth or not, Ul’silys wasn’t a known liar but she always hid her intentions.

  If this was the truth, then she was going to have to start questioning everything.

  “Akxil?”

  “Akxil, dear sister.”

  “Inroyerum!”

  “Now hold on skayr, I know your angry but surely you can look past this.”

  “Lirvgorat”

  “What do you, oh.”

  It seems she finally took notice of the creature she had stabbed. In all honesty her open stomach was justified, but still, she would like to live. That is the only reason she was mentally begging for Ul’silys to overlook this.

  “It seems you are going to be angry for a while. But I like Irna, so how about this offer. She’ll be your servant, for all eternity.”

  That was not what she had hoped. Sure it was better than death on paper, but the execution of that solution would probably leave her in utter torment. Was this so called nernhyl not capable of reading the room.

  “Akxil.”

  “Great, now come here.”

  Whatever had gone on was honestly pretty rude if one were to ask her. An entire family that she was forced to take part of despite having no relation too it? The attempted bisection was punishment enough was it not?

  “There, now what do you think?”

  “Piklumun.”

  “I know right. Say, you should thank Irnadel over there. She’s the only reason I was able to even make that.”

  “Akxil?”

  “Akxil my dear sister.”

  “Eiieboriitscen.”

  “Now don’t be like that, everything done was 100% pure. Besides, shouldn’t she get to know the face of her new master.”

  It would be better if she was blindfolded, or just blind. Mentally blocking out her face would be fine too. Unfortunately, she could not voice out these thoughts.

  When she was turned over, she would admit she was stunned.

  That bleak white hair, those pitch black eyes, the only thing connecting those two together was the unimaginably pale skin. It was like looking at a ghost. If this was the years not being kind to them, she would hate to see what a dead body looked like.

  “So, what do you think of it, Irna. Doesn’t this dress of hers look wonderful on her.”

  There was no way she could appreciate it. She couldn’t even appreciate her new master in the slightest, or her unwelcome savior. Did they not know anything about human biology at all. No human can survive having their stomach ripped open like that, they would bleed out within seconds, much less minutes.

  That was why her vision went dark, and her mind went to sleep.