Aleksi looked at Galen, “It’s time we reveal the truth to you, lad. I’ll let you decide what you want to do from there. Just know, what I tell you is true.”

  He nodded at his mentor, “I trust you, Aleksi. I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

  Aleksi smiled, “Thank you, lad. Now, is there anything you want to know first?”

  Galen pondered on that. As he did, Tufani spoke up, “Do I need to be here for this? This doesn’t concern me.”

  “Yes, you do,” Lusha smiled, “I believe hearing what is said will be very enlightening for you.”

  Tufani raised a brow, but said nothing more.

  “Well,” Galen began, “the most important thing to me right now would be about finding a way back to my world. Though, you’ve already mentioned to me that you don’t know of another way.”

  “I said that I wasn’t certain of another way,” Aleksi corrected, “I do, however, have an idea.”

  Galen perked up, “Such as?”

  “I’ll be straight with you, lad. It’s a long shot. It pretty much places all bets on someone else knowing the answers.”

  Galen took a deep breath, trying to not let his expectations grow wild, “Alright…”

  “Before I continue,” Aleksi leaned forward, “I must ask you, what did Athanasius tell you about how to return you to your world? Did he mention anything about it?”

  He tried to recall the one and only conversation he’d had with the Emperor of the Dominion. It wasn’t an experience he was likely to forget, “He said that there were three ways. The first way is to forcefully gather and use up a vast amount of the Ether in Axis Mundi and Branlyn. The second way he mentioned was for him to use his own power in combination with the first to reduce the amount of Ether needed. The final option is one that he said had the least risk with the highest odds of success. It was to unify the fractured Realms of Avani. He mentioned that that would allow him to more quickly gather the required Ether safely. He said he could then use that power to reverse the summoning process and send me home, with far less risk to his Dominion.”

  “I see…” Aleksi pondered on that.

  As he did, Lusha spoke up, “So, a whole bunch of Ether is all that’s needed?”

  Aleksi shook his head, “No, I imagine it’s more complicated than that. Getting the required Ether is just the start of it, I believe. Just like casting an Art, you’d need to direct all that power and get it to do as you wish. It would be no small feat to have the skill and power to pull that off.”

  The man nodded to himself, “Alright then. Before I tell you my idea, lad, I’ll need to first confirm it’s even an option. Do you mind if we save that for the very end?”

  Galen shrugged, “I’ve already waited all this time. What’s a bit more?”

  “Alright then. Anything else you’d like to ask about?” Aleksi asked.

  “Well, you mentioned how there was a lot the Dominion lied to me about. I guess we can go from there,” Galen answered.

  Aleksi leaned back, nodding, “You’ve figured out that much of the history in their texts is clearly biased. Well, we have reason to believe much of it was outright lies as well. Written to radicalize and indoctrinate the citizens of the Dominion into being Athanasius’s worshiping pawns.”

  Galen’s eyes widened, “Seriously?! Being biased in their documentation of events is one thing, but outright lying about their history?”

  Tufani snorted, “Why does that surprise you so much, ashborn? You’ve seen what they’ve done to my people. What is lying compared to that?”

  Lusha sighed, “We don’t know how much of the Dominion’s historical records are lies. Should we somehow manage to succeed in our goal of overthrowing Athanasius and his empire, we’re going to have a void of a time filtering truth from fiction.”

  “Which is where you and your people come in, lass,” Aleksi smiled at Tufani, “our hope is, should we succeed in our goal, that we can work on building relations with the other races and speaking with their scholars. That way we can both work towards lasting peace, and get a more truthful view of our history. One that incorporates not just humanity’s perspective, but those of the other races as well.”

  Tufani scowled. She hesitated to speak, but eventually managed to bring out the words. “I think,” she slowly began, “that you might have a hard time of that.”

  Galen could almost hear the unspoken “hume” that she wanted to add at the end.

  “I’m well aware that it won’t be easy,” Aleksi sighed, “given the bloody history between our people, I’d be shocked if it’s something we achieve within my lifetime. However, it’s something we need to work towards. Avani has seen enough bloodshed. The Great Fragmentation proves that we cannot continue on in our hatred of one another.”

  “Your people pushed mine to that point,” Tufani defended.

  “Yes, we did,” Aleksi agreed.

  Tufani looked surprised.

  Aleski smiled, “Shocked that I didn’t fight you on that point, lass? I’ve spoken at length to the elves we have in our retinue. Comparing the history I was taught to what they have passed down has drawn me to that conclusion. Humanity, though justified in defending Branlyn, went too far when they invaded Axis Mundi all those centuries ago.”

  He shook his head in disapproval, “My ancestors were fools. I know not whether it was the First Champion who pushed them to continue the war, or if it was his summoning and aid that swelled the egos of those in charge at the time. Regardless, what’s done is done. We can do nothing to change the past. But it is my hope, however foolish or naive it may be, that we can one day work with the other races to build a brighter future.”

  “Your hope is an impossible one,” Tufani argued.

  “Is it?” Aleksi smiled, “why, I believe our Rebellion begs to differ, lass. It’s made up of not only humans, but elves, dwarves, and even half-bloods.”

  “What’s a half-blood?” Galen blurted out, curiosity reaching his mouth before his brain could reign it in.

  Aleksi, Tufani, and Lusha all turned to him. He flushed at the sudden attention, “Uh… I heard Komdar mention the term, but I have no idea what it means.”

  Lusha raised a brow, “They never taught you about all the races in the Dominion?”

  Galen shook his head, “I learned of a few, like elves and dwarves. I also read about giants being a thing at some point. But half-bloods?”

  He shook his head.

  “Huh…” Lusha muttered, “that’s weird.”

  “So, what is a half-” Galen began.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  His voice trailed off when Lusha brushed aside her blonde hair, revealing one of her ears. It was nearly human shaped.

  Nearly.

  It was nowhere near as long as an elf’s, its size being closer to human, but the end was clearly pointed. Her ears were very much like an elf’s from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

  He heard a choking sound to his side, and he turned to see Tufani looking absolutely astounded and aghast.

  “What is this?!” she gasped, “what… why…”

  “It’s as you suspect, kid,” Lusha brushed her hair with her hand, concealing her ear, “I’m a half-blood. My mother was a human, and my father an elf. Half human. Half elf.”

  Tufani’s face was sweaty and growing pale. She clasped a hand over her mouth, looking like she was about to throw up.

  Galen, Aleksi, and Lusha all stared at her with alarm.

  “Void!” Lusha said, wide-eyed, “I figured you wouldn’t take it very well, but…”

  “Your hume mother,” Tufani shook her head, trying to calm herself, “did she… did she force herself on-”

  “No!” Lusha interrupted, looking offended, “I’ll have you know that my parents genuinely loved each other!”

  Tufani somehow looked even more bewildered.

  Lusha rolled her eyes, “Don’t give me that look, kid! I can understand why you have such a negative view of humans. But contrary to what you might think, there are some who aren’t as you believe.”

  She jutted her jaw towards Galen and Aleksi, “Like these two, for example. I might not know the Champion, but I know Aleksi. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever known. From ANY race.”

  Tufani still looked nauseated at the revelation of Lusha being a half human and half elf. She couldn’t seem to bring herself to look at the woman.

  The woman knit her brows, “Can’t say I’m surprised with how you’re acting. Maker knows most of the elves can’t stand me for what I am. Many humans can’t either. On that note, both races are more alike than you’d think.”

  Lusha wrapped her arms around herself. Aleksi walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

  Galen himself walked to Tufani, who stared at the ground in numb shock. Was the idea of humans and elves having children really so appalling for her?

  He knelt in front of her, “Hey, you going to be okay, Tufani?”

  Tufani gulped audibly, before weakly nodding, “I… I will be. Apologies. I…”

  She trailed off.

  Lusha sighed, “Look, I get it. The idea of humans and elves even so much as getting along must be a completely foreign concept to you. Let alone one of each actually forming a romantic relationship.”

  “I don’t get it,” Galen spoke up, “is a half-blood really considered that egregious in this world?”

  He’d directed the question to Tufani, but it was Lusha who answered.

  After a bout of laughter, that is.

  “Void,” Lusha snickered, “you really don’t know much about Avani.”

  Galen flushed, but before he could argue, Lusha raised a placating hand, “Easy, there. I don’t mean to make fun of you. Void, you’re just so innocent!”

  That only made him more embarrassed

  Aleksi spoke up next, “Pardon my wife, lad. She had a tendency to tease. To answer your question, half-bloods are a bit of a rarity. The Dominion has strict laws about this sort of thing. If a human male were to ever… force themselves… onto a female of another race… Well, they would be required to have the poor woman executed once they’re done. As for female humans, if they became pregnant after forcing themselves on a male of another race, then they’d be required to abort the baby.”

  This time, Galen was the one to grow pale. He swallowed with difficulty, before saying, “That’s… that’s terrible! Just… why?!”

  “Considering Athurai teaches that humanity is the superior and chosen race…” Lusha crossed her arms, “and considering how the Dominion and Athanasius feels about the other races… you can imagine that bearing half-blooded children would be seen as committing the grave sin of ‘diluting the pure bloodline of the species’ or some such nonsense.”

  “Of course,” Aleksi added, “not everyone is so adherent in their obedience to the Dominion. Which is how some half-bloods slip through the cracks. And then there are the rare cases, like with Lusha’s parents, where there was genuine affection involved.”

  “My mother,” Lusha explained, “was a part of the Rebellion. In fact, she was in the group that saved my father and his group of fellow slaves during a raid against a Dominion asset.”

  She smiled fondly as she continued, “My father shortly after joined the Rebellion himself. He and my mother worked together in the same unit. They gradually became closer, until finally marrying one another years later. Then, they had me.”

  Lusha glanced to Tufani, who looked mortified.

  “We should probably move on to another subject. The elf girl looks like she’s going to pass out,” the woman pointed out.

  Tufani gave her a glare, but it went ignored.

  “So, thus far I’ve heard of elves, dwarves, giants, and now half-bloods,” Galen spoke up, “but I also remember reading a passing mention of demi-humans. Are those the same as half-bloods?”

  “No,” Aleksi rubbed at his beard, “a demi-human is what we call someone who, on the whole looks like an ordinary human, but has a few animal traits. For example, rather than having human ears, they’ll have the ears of whatever animal they possess the traits of.”

  “…So, like a catgirl?” Galen asked.

  Aleksi frowned, “A strange and rather specific example, but yes, I suppose. Lad? What’s with that face?”

  The face in question was a cringe.

  “…It’s nothing,” Galen shook his head.

  Man, the more degenerate people from Earth would have a FIELD day if they were here, he thought with a shudder.

  Aleksi seemed confused by his reaction, but otherwise continued, “We call them demi-humans, or demis for short. Another term used for them is therianthropes or therians.”

  “Therian sounds much cooler,” Galen noted, “I’m going to stick with that.”

  “Very well, lad. You’ll have a void of a time meeting any, however. Among all the races, they were among the most recluse. Even as the Human-Elf War escalated, they refused to take a side. From what I can gather, it had been a long time since any of the races interacted with them. And that was BEFORE the Great Fragmentation.”

  Galen deflated at that. His inner nerd would have loved to meet one. Alas, there was nothing he could do about it.

  “Anyway,” Aleksi spoke again, “now that we’ve gotten through that topic. It’s time we move on to more… serious business.”

  Galen sensed the shift in mood, and tensed.

  His mentor took a deep breath and asked, “Lad, do you still have that Ether Intolerance medication the Dominion gave you?”

  Galen nodded. For some reason, he felt some of the anxiety and restlessness he’d been feeling the past few days spike at being reminded of them. Along with that, was the sudden urge to take one of the pills.

  “Lad?” Aleksi asked with concern.

  He shook his head, and asked, “I’m fine. What about them?”

  “I need you to hand them to me, if you please.”

  Galen raised a brow, but moved to do as his mentor asked. He took out the bottle of pills. He’d gotten a freshly filled container before the whole mess that occurred in Ignis. Aleksi extended a hand for him to hand it over. He was surprised to find himself hesitant to do so.

  He shook his head again, and handed one end of the bottle to the man. Aleksi grabbed it and moved to pull away, but Galen surprised himself again when he found his own hand refused to let go, his restlessness spiking and even some agitation seeping through.

  Aleksi flashed him a look of concern. He grit his teeth and forced his hand to let go. He found his eyes lingering on the bottle as his mentor pulled back.

  He frowned, What the hell is wrong with me?

  Aleksi glanced to Lusha, whose lips had pressed to a thin line.

  “Lad,” Aleksi began, “before I continue, I want you to stay as calm as possible.”

  Galen frowned, but nodded in understanding.

  “To start with,” Aleksi began, “I should tell you how I was found out by the Dominion. At least, what I believe to be the cause. You see, lad, back when you were given these pills to curb your Ether Intolerance, I couldn’t help but note they never answered your question about what the medicine was made from. So, I did some digging. I’m afraid, however, that I might have pressed too hard to find the answers. I was already being watched by the Shadows of Athanasius, as you were. My research into the topic, however, caused their attention to focus more readily on me. It was that, I believe, that led them to discovering who I really was. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the answers I sought before I was forced to escape. In the months that followed, however, in the midst of keeping a low profile, I managed to find out just what was used to make your Ether Intolerance medication.”

  Galen felt his stomach sink with dread.

  Aleksi looked him in the eye, “I’m afraid they laced your medicine with highly addictive substances, lad.”

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