When the Great Fragmentation tore the world asunder and separated the Realms, I found the Empire had been cleaved into two between Axis Mundi and Branlyn. We had no way to connect with the human Realm, to reach out to them and inform them of our status. As the Champion, and recently turned Emperor, it was my duty to reunite my Empire’s two halves. It took far longer than any of us would have liked. Almost two decades of vigilant work, and a perilous journey through the Void Sea that continues to haunt my dreams… after all that, instead of welcoming us with open arms, my Empire’s other half in Branlyn attempted to turn us away, claiming independence. We could not afford to become divided. Not when there was so much we didn’t know about this post fragmented world. So, as if to test whether I was truly worthy to be the new Emperor, civil war began. Needless to say, my half emerged the victor.

  -Excerpt from “The First Champion’s Reminiscence: Volume Four”

  Aria was befuddled by the news just given to her.

  She blinked several times, unable to register what her mother was saying, “What did you say, Mom?”

  Anila remained stoic as she repeated, “There’s been an incident in the First Circle of Ignis. Apparently, the Champion had been found wandering the capital without supervision. He stumbled into a group of our people being forced to carry supplies to the castle. And he apparently took great offense to the revelation of slavery within the Dominion.”

  Aria frowned, unable to believe what she was hearing, “You make it sound as though he didn’t know.”

  Anila gave her a half smile, “From what I heard, it seems like he didn’t.”

  “So you mean to tell me that the humes have been keeping the Champion in the dark? The CHAMPION? The one they summoned to lead their armies?” Aria scoffed, “I’m sorry, Mom. I just can’t believe that.”

  Her mother shrugged, “I find it hard to believe myself. However… both the previous Champion and this new one come from another world altogether. Perhaps slavery didn’t occur in this one’s original world. Who can say? This does tell us that there’s a chance the replacement they brought forth may not be as bloodthirsty as his predecessor.”

  Aria snorted, “What difference does that make? He’s still a hume. Conquering, enslaving, and razing are in their blood. They’re evil incarnate. To the void with the lot of them.”

  Anila seemed taken aback by that. Her eyes narrowed, “I’ve no love for the humans, Aria. You know that. But the world isn’t nearly as black and white as you’re making it out to be. As difficult as it may be to believe, there are some humans who are good people. And though I love our people, even among the elves, there are those who commit acts of evil simply for the sake of it. Wickedness is inherent in us all, regardless of race.”

  “Is that so? It sure seems like the ashborn relish in embracing their inner evil far more than the rest of us.”

  Her mother shook her head disapprovingly, “That’s because you have a skewed view of such things. I’ve known some in Vindanna who have been lowlife criminal scum. But that’s because, unlike you, I know of a time before all this. Our kin and the other races that you know are all in the same terrible circumstances.”

  “Not the dwarves,” Aria pointed out, “they sure seemed to have warmed up to the humes. You’ve told me as much.”

  “I’ve told you some of the dwarves have sold themselves out to willingly serve the Dominion. In exchange for better circumstances. Many, however, have refused to do so and are either dead or enslaved like us.”

  Aria set her jaw and didn’t respond. Her mother sighed and dropped the matter.

  A loud bell rang in the distance. It was time for more of that disgusting slop. Would it kill them to add some variety every now and again?

  “Come,” Anila said, “we must get moving.”

  Despite her opinions on the food, Aria’s stomach couldn’t help but growl ravenously. They were never given enough to eat to keep them satisfied for long. Hunger kept them miserable and too weak to resist their slavers. Had Aria not been trained to store and use Ether, she probably would be well on her way to becoming another wretch like the rest of her people with their hollow and hopeless eyes.

  She shuddered to imagine such a scenario. She once more marveled at her mother’s willpower. Despite centuries of abuse, torment, and slavery, Anila Tufani still held strong.

  Except… she remembered the tired look her mother had when they were planning their escape. Everyone had a limit. Even Anila.

  And her mother was quickly approaching hers.

  Aria didn’t pray often, but she gave a quick one to the Maker that they could soon make their escape.

  The mother-daughter duo separated briefly as they went out for breakfast. Aria hated to be apart from her, but with her own growing resemblance to Anila as she got older, it was becoming more and more necessary for them to remain separated during working hours. Unfortunately, that meant most of the day.

  After getting her bowl of slop, Aria found a spot to eat. It was somewhere where she could be left alone, but still have some of her fellow elves around so that she wouldn’t stick out. Unfortunately, there were no spots with shade to sit at. That meant that she and the other slaves had to constantly bear the punishing rays of sunlight that often felt as though they scorched the skin.

  As she ate, she tried to listen in to any gossip or conversations either her kin or the slavers were having. Perhaps she’d learn something new that could aid in the coming escape.

  She had been a little over halfway done eating when she heard discussion regarding the news that her mother had given her earlier.

  “Did you hear?” a nearby slave whispered to another, “the Dominion’s Champion ran into a group of slaves.”

  “Why does that matter?” asked another.

  “Apparently, the Champion was unaware that the Dominion had slaves. Rumor has it that he’d been angry about it. According to some of our people, he demanded that the slaves be cared for, fed, bathed, and that they be set free!”

  Aria’s hand, holding another handful of slop, froze halfway to her mouth.

  “Really?!” asked the second with as much disbelief as Aria felt.

  “Yes… unfortunately,” the one that had started the discussion suddenly sounded morose, “according to what I heard, the Dominion had promised their Champion that they would care for the slaves as per his demand. Only, once the slaves were led off, they were butchered and burned to ash as punishment for exposing their slavery to the Champion.”

  Aria crushed the slop in her hand as she clenched a fist.

  “That’s terrible!” said the second.

  How dare these monsters punish us for the crimes they themselves committed?! Aria seethed, her eye twitching in rage.

  She felt like she was going to be sick, and not from the slop she’d been choking down.

  The loud sounds of bells ringing brought Aria back to reality. It was time for another day of slaving away for the humes.

  Damn them all to the void, Aria thought as she followed her fellow slaves, I swear I will one day return tenfold the death and agony that they have wrought upon my people!

  ***

  Aria didn’t think her day could have gotten worse.

  She couldn’t have been more wrong.

  It started when she learned that her usual group would be separated into two. They would be working on opposite areas of the mine they’d been working in. And unfortunately, Aria and Anila were in different groups.

  This wouldn’t be the first time Aria had been forced to work away from her mother. Far from it. But it always made her uneasy and anxious. Glancing to Anila, she could tell from her eyes that her mother felt the same.

  Anila subtly gave her a nod of encouragement, as if to say, “Don’t worry. We’ll see each other later today.”

  Aria certainly hoped that would be the case.

  The task given to her group, a measly twelve counting her, was the next red flag. They were to explore down a new chasm that had been found in Aria’s former sanctuary for more Ether rich ores. That sent a chill down her spine. She knew exactly what chasm they were referring to.

  When Anila first discovered the cavern that would become her and Aria’s secret training grounds, she’d naturally explored the area herself. Her mother found the chasm in question and used Ether to fly down and see where it went.

  Aria had asked her what she’d discovered.

  Anila explained that the chasm was unfathomably deep, and that she’d nearly run out of Ether by the time she reached the bottom. That alone had been shocking. Aria’s mother had an unrivaled Efficiency with Ether due to centuries of secret practice working against their slave collars. If Anila of all people had nearly run out of Ether exploring the chasm, then that spoke to just how deep it had been.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  That had been the first time she’d explored the chasm.

  When her mother had told her about the second time she’d explored the pit, Aria’s jaw had dropped. Particularly at the part where Anila nonchalantly said she’d thrown herself into the chasm without flying since she now knew how deep it was.

  On her way down, Anila had told her that, with Ether enhanced vision, she’d spotted numerous tunnels that led to who knows where. Her mother had eerily stated how the holes hadn’t seemed to be natural, but that they clearly weren’t dug by humes. They had also been massive, and likely led to a maze-like network of tunnels. Which meant that it was likely some kind of wildlife that had dug the tunnels.

  Both mother and daughter sincerely hoped that it was simply wildlife and not Ether Beasts.

  Some of the slavers forced Aria’s group into one of the mine entrances, whipping at them on occasion for moving too slow. It was a long walk through the man-made tunnels to Aria’s former sanctuary.

  She felt a mixture of sadness, bitterness, and anger upon stepping foot into her former training grounds. The area, which had once been bright with Ether infused crystals, was now dim due to the recent mining. Torches now hung on the walls. Their meager flames failed to light up the cavern as much as the beautiful crystals had before. It made the area more depressing.

  The slavers continued to push them forward, all their steps echoing in an eerie chorus. It took several minutes for them to reach the massive chasm. Aria shuddered at seeing the pitch black pit. The darkness seemed to stretch on forever, with the hole itself being the nearly the size of a small lake.

  Even the slavers seemed uneasy staring into the dark hole. One of them stepped forward to address Aria’s group of twelve. She clenched her teeth at seeing who it was.

  Arawn, the taskmaster that had beheaded one of Aria’s fellow elves, bellowed out, “Alright you knife ears, listen up! This chasm is one of the few places we’ve yet to explore in this mine. We’re sending your group down there to search for Ether rich veins and to scout for danger. Should the chasm prove dangerous, well… no point in losing good men in exploring. Good thing for us that you lot aren’t human!”

  The slavers chuckled and snickered smugly. Aria wanted nothing more than to tear their black hearts from their chests.

  Arawn continued, “As amusing as it would be to send you all down there with no equipment, that would be counterproductive and a waste of time. We will be providing you with headlamps to help you see. As well as pickaxes and a bag for you to mine samples. Retrieve samples from veins and ores you find down there, and give us a detailed report of your exploration.”

  He gave them all a threatening glare, “Also, a warning. None of you better be thinking of using this as an opportunity to escape. For one, the Dominion controls this entire Realm! So there is nowhere for you to run. Two, your collars would alert us of your attempt to escape, and we will eventually find you and kill you. After slaughtering a good portion of your fellow slaves as punishment, of course.”

  Aria heard several in her group audibly gulp. She merely kept her head down and did her best to smother her anger.

  Several slavers handed them their equipment. Just as Arawn had promised, they were handed an empty, worn out backpack, a headlamp, and a pickaxe.

  “Take care of that equipment. It’s worth more than the lot of you. Now get moving!” Arawn left the area as the slavers began to not so gently push them towards the chasm.

  Aria and her group were reluctant to start climbing down. That is, until the slavers began to snap their whips at them.

  Aria clicked her tongue in annoyance and anger.

  She was the first one to begin climbing down, and by doing so she avoided getting hit by any of the striking whips. Judging from the sounds, not everyone in her group was so lucky.

  She immediately began losing her nerve as she carefully climbed down. She paused briefly to turn on her headlamp, and made the mistake of looking down into the chasm. It was so deep that her meager light couldn’t penetrate the gaping darkness. She began to get so nervous and fearful that she nearly lost her grip.

  Aria gasped as she regained her grip and made sure to carefully climb down.

  Calm down. Deep breaths… deep, slow breaths… Aria thought to herself.

  The descent was slow and steady. Occasionally, she would stop and look around, swinging her light around and looking for one of the tunnels her mother had seen. Thus far, she saw nothing but darkness and swinging lights from the others.

  Her arms and legs had begun to shake after a certain point, and she could feel her grip weakening. Her heart was hammering in her chest, both from the exertion of the descent and the fear of falling into the pit.

  She stopped, shut her eyes tight, and breathed in Ether. She took several, long, deep breaths before burning the Ether she stored to strengthen her grip by enhancing the muscles in her arms and legs. She had to be careful to use it sparingly lest she use up all that she had in her Capacity. Even with that, the collar was making her leak the power and use it up alarmingly quickly.

  It was a few moments later that the first among them died.

  Aria didn’t know what happened. All she heard was the breaking of rocks, and suddenly one of them began to scream, their cries quickly becoming distant. Aria swerved her head around, and only barely saw the fading light from one of them as they fell. The darkness quickly swallowed up that light along with the screams of that doomed slave.

  She looked up, and saw the others were a decent distance above her. Aria could tell from their lights that they were all frozen. Likely with both disbelief and shock that one of them had just died.

  They never heard the impact of that poor elf splattering on the bottom of the pit.

  Aria’s breathing began to quicken as panic began to set in.

  No… no, no, NO! I’m going to die here if I don’t find a tunnel NOW!

  Despite knowing that she would go through her stores of Ether even faster, she burned more of it to briefly enhance her vision. She dared not shut off the strengthening effect lest she lose her grip. Using Ether to enhance multiple aspects like this was difficult with the collars, and what she was doing now was her current limit. She kept one eye closed as she steeled her nerves. She turned her head towards the darkness and frantically began to search for a tunnel.

  Come on… Aria thought desperately as she strained her enhanced and open eye to pierce the illuminated darkness, COME ON!!!

  Her eye widened as she thought she saw something. An outline.

  She burned even more Ether to further empower her sight.

  There! she thought triumphantly as she saw what had to be a tunnel entrance.

  She stopped enhancing her vision, closing the eye that had been open. She then opened the one that she’s kept closed. That allowed her to see better after her vision returned to normal levels.

  Normal for an elf anyway. Even an elf’s normal eyesight was superior to that of a meager ashborn’s.

  She called out to the others, her voice echoing in the chasm, “Everyone! I think I found an entrance to a tunnel. Focus on my light and follow where I go! Bob your lights up and down if you hear and understand me!”

  Thankfully, the ten other lights bobbed up and down. Aria then began to make her way towards where she saw the entrance. She had to move fast, because she was burning through her remaining Ether alarmingly fast. Soon, she began to clearly see where the entrance was with her normal vision.

  She almost made it when her Ether ran out.

  Aria yelped as she nearly slipped, her arms and legs shaking. One of her legs was dangling in the air and she hurriedly tried to find another foot hold.

  It took a terror filled moment before she managed. She sighed with relief, and then made the final stretch towards the tunnel entrance.

  She nearly cried when her feet touched solid ground. She took a few steps before collapsing in a sitting position by the entrance, her back to the uneven wall. Her body ached and cramped, especially her fingers, which were raw and bleeding, but she rejoiced at the chance to finally take a break. She made sure to keep her head, and thus her light, pointed out of the entrance so the others could see where she was.

  She waited patiently as they arrived one after the other. Aria felt tense as she counted them. When she got to nine, she nearly felt relieved.

  Nearly.

  Aria frowned as she asked the others, “There should be one more. Where is-”

  A high pitched, terrified scream followed by a blur falling past the entrance gave Aria the answer to her unfinished question.

  “NO!!!” Aria screamed as she half ran, half stumbled towards the tunnel’s entrance.

  The other elves moved to stop her, but she pushed them aside. She fell on her knees at the edge, looking down into the darkness yet unable to see any lingering sign of the one who fell.

  She closed her eyes tightly, head hanging as she cursed, “Void… she had been so close…”

  “Oh Maker…” one of the elves gasped, “we’ve already lost two of our number… How many more of us are going to-”

  “No others!” Aria whirled around to face them, “we’ll lose no more of us on this forsaken labor.”

  She got up to her feet with some effort, “Come on, let’s get this over with. Stay in a group and keep an eye out for danger. I’m not giving those humes the satisfaction of having any more of us die off today.”

  One of the older elves, one with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes, walked up to Aria and gave her a nod of respect, “As expected of Anila Tufani’s daughter. You have a strong will, just like her.”

  Aria flushed at the comparison, and humbly replied, “You flatter me. But my willpower is nothing compared to my mother’s.”

  “I think you’d be surprised,” he responded, “though I can see why you think that. Anila has always been the one with the strongest will among us.”

  Aria tilted her head, “If you don’t mind my asking, what generation are you?”

  “Tenth,” the elf answered, “I’d ask the same of you, but given you’re only fourteen, that means you’re of the latest generation.”

  She nodded.

  Anila Tufani and the others who were stranded right after the Great Fragmentation are considered the First Generation, for they were the first to be enslaved by the Dominion. Every generation of slaves after was measured by the Dominion at around twenty five years or so. Aria herself was of the latest and youngest generation, that being the Twentieth.

  The Tenth Generation elf sighed, “It shames me that someone as young as you has to help the rest of us muster up our courage.”

  He turned back to the others, “Well?! What about the rest of you? Are we going to continue to set a poor example for the youngest among us?!”

  The other elves found their nerve, and gave out a hearty cry.

  Aria was impressed by the spirit this elf was showing, “What’s your name?”

  “Elmar,” he responded, “I hope you don’t mind if I take the lead from you?”

  “Not at all. Go right ahead.”

  Elmar took several steps forward before turning to address them all, “Now that we’ve found this tunnel, we should all take a quick rest before we explore. If any of you were close with either of the two who perished, now is your time to grieve. The rest of us will be here for you. To provide what comfort we can.”

  Aria felt a stabbing pain in her chest when she heard one of the elves begin to sob. As she sat down against the wall, she saw several in the group, including Elmar, go to the one who was crying to hug and comfort them. She felt a bit relieved to see some of the others, like herself, were simply resting. It would have been awkward for her if she’d been the only one not comforting the crying elf.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t care. Quite the contrary. Her heart broke hearing the sobs of her people. She just wasn’t very good at comforting others. She’d been told that she shared that trait with her mother. Aria had to question that, however, since Anila was a constant source of infallible comfort for her. Perhaps it was because they were mother and daughter that they could put each other at ease, despite neither being very good at it with others?

  She shook her head and focused her mind. She began to breathe in Ether, taking long, deep breaths to replenish her Capacity. She had a feeling she’d need to use the power while they explore.

  She could only hope no more of her people would be lost on her watch.

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