Galen coughed and retched as dust and ash rained from the sky. His mind was hazy, and all he remembered was a flash of light, a loud boom, an escalating roar, then a tempest of winds that cracked the foundations of the walls in front of him.

  As his mind calmed, a single thought nearly made him go back into shock.

  A nuclear explosion… was that… a nuclear explosion?! In THIS world?! he nearly began to hyperventilate at the thought.

  “BOSS!!!” Redian called out in his mind, “you, okay?!”

  He took a lethargic moment to assess himself. He didn’t feel injured.

  Yeah… yeah, I think so, Galen responded, Redian, what the hell was that?!

  “That explosion was a result of Etheric Fusion,” the sword answered.

  Galen had been about to ask if that was similar to nuclear fusion, but refrained. He was too terrified to find out if this world was aware of that particular phenomenon. Besides, he could get the gist of it from the name alone. He guessed Etheric Fusion was akin to nuclear fusion, but based around Ether.

  With that utterly terrifying thought, he slowly got to his feet. He was glad to see he was been unharmed for the most part. He looked around, and saw some of his guards were dazed or were frozen from shock. He tried to find Milton, but initially didn’t find the scribe. He did, however, hear his voice in the distance.

  “Answer me! Someone answer me! What the hell happened in there?!”

  Galen had begun to make his way towards the scribe, but slowly came to a stop as a thought entered his mind, I could escape right now, if I really wanted to…

  He shook his head, trying to shoo the thought away, but it remained lingering like a shadow. He reminded himself that as much as some of the Dominion’s ways sickened him… they were the only ones who knew how to return him to his world. Working with him and his empire was the only surefire way Galen knew of to return to Earth.

  Yet, in spite of that, the elf slaves he’d accidentally seen during the feast came to his mind. The question came unbidden, But is what I will have to do worth it? Will I really be able to work with the Dominion to return home, even if it means helping them conquer Avani? Even if it costs me my soul?

  That question left him paralyzed on his feet. It was one that he’d been avoiding asking himself during his entire time in Avani. So why did it now come to the forefront of his thoughts?

  He heard something in the distance in Milton’s direction. The lingering dust in the air made it impossible to see, but he could vaguely hear a muffled voice speaking to the scribe.

  Though he couldn’t make out their words, he definitely heard Milton’s outburst, “The First and Second Circles have been destroyed?!”

  If Galen hadn’t been frozen before, he definitely was now.

  Though he remained still, it seemed as though Milton and whomever he was with sensed his presence for the first time. He heard their footsteps coming to him. The scribe looked more stressed and pale than he’d ever seen him before.

  Not that I can blame him if I heard him right…

  “Galen, are you unharmed?” Milton asked him.

  He paused, a bit perturbed by the realization that this was the first time the scribe had ever addressed him by name, “Uh… yeah… I’m… I’m fine. Somehow.”

  Milton nodded, “Good. I’m going to have your guards take you somewhere safer. No objections!”

  Before Galen could ask questions, he noticed an armored figure appear next to Milton. It was someone wearing armor as black as night, with a helm that obscured their face. He couldn’t even tell if it was a man or woman underneath the armor.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Leaving the Champion somewhere amidst all this?” the voice from the armored figure was muffled, but he felt like the voice was familiar.

  Milton glared at his companion, “After what you told me, how could I not investigate for myself?! The Champion will be fine! His guards are capable enough, as is their captain.”

  “The captain is, yes. But the others, though moderately trained, were mostly for show. For the parades we had planned for the Champion,” the figure argued.

  “Wait, what?!” Galen balked.

  Milton shushed him with a glare before returning his hard gaze to the figure, “Yes, I’m sure. The nearest slaves out here are miles away.”

  “Very well,” the armored figure nodded.

  “Let’s go, Galen,” Milton addressed, grabbing him by the arm and all but dragging him along.

  They found his guards, and just as the scribe said, he ordered them and their captain to take Galen to the nearest safehouse.

  He frowned at the scribe, and asked him, “Milton, is what I heard about the First and Second-”

  “So you overheard that?” Milton interrupted, “void…”

  “So it’s true?”

  “We shall see,” the scribe set his jaw, “for now, you will go with the guards while we sort out this… this… void, I don’t even know what to call this yet!”

  “Hold on. I-”

  “Enough!” Milton snapped at him, his face growing red.

  That made Galen shut his mouth, as the scribe grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in close, “Listen here! If what I’ve just heard is true, then we have much bigger problems to worry about than your whining! I’m not asking you, I’m ordering you to follow your guards to safety. Do you understand?!”

  Galen stared in disbelief at Milton. This was NOT the meek scribe he had known in the past half a year. His disbelief quickly turned into rage, as he tried to break off Milton’s hold on his collar. However, to his surprise, the scribe’s grip was like steel. Unbreakable. So instead, he glared into his eyes, “You’re ordering me, Milton?! Is that any way to talk to the one you call a Champion?!”

  Milton’s eyes narrowed as he stated coldly, “You and I both know you are no Champion. Not as you are now. Yes, that is the role you were given. But the power and influence that come with that position are something that you will have to earn! Though I acknowledge it is through no fault of your own, the fact is you have yet to gain either. So yes, Galen. I’m ORDERING you to obey.”

  “I’m not your lackey, Milton!” Galen barked in response, “or do I need to remind you I was summoned to this world against my will?! And now you expect me to blindly follow along with everything you tell me, like some kind of puppet?! You people ripped me from my home to play a role! You all need me more than I need you!”

  “Is that so?” Milton gave him a cold smile, “without us, you have no way to return to your world.”

  “And without me, a wrench gets thrown in whatever plans you have!” Galen hissed, “I may not know what those plans actually are, but I know that I play an important role. Otherwise, you lot wouldn’t place my role as Champion on a pedestal. Isn’t that right?”

  Though the scribe’s eyes still looked angry, Galen could also see… respect?

  Whatever it was, he didn’t know. Nor would he find out, as the dark armored figure came in between them, forcing Milton to release his iron grip on Galen’s collar.

  “Enough,” the figure’s muffled voice said in a commanding voice, “Milton, it is unwise to antagonize Lord Athanasius’s Champion.”

  The scribe ran a hand through his hair, and gave out a long, deep sigh, “I know. Forgive me, Champion… the stress of the situation is getting to me…”

  Galen saw genuine concern for everything happening in his tired eyes. Though he could understand, he was still a bit angry.

  Perhaps sensing this, the figure spoke again, “Champion, it is a fact that the current situation is dangerous. We need you in a safe space until we figure things out.”

  Galen sighed, “Fine. But then why not take me to the castle? It sounds like the battle that was going on is over.”

  The figure simply stared at him for a moment before saying, “Champion… the castle is gone.”

  “What?” Galen frowned, not registering the statement.

  “The castle is gone. Razed. Destroyed. Vaporized. As is the entirety of the First Circle, and most of the Second,” the figure clarified.

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

  Galen began to slowly pale, as he looked up the walls of the Third, which he noticed for the first time showed signs of damage in the form of massive cracks. The castle was in the center of Ignis and the First Circle, visible even where they were. But not anymore. It was simply… gone.

  “Now do you understand?” the figure asked.

  He numbly nodded in response.

  “Good. Now, let us go, Milton. Guards, you have your task. Guide the Champion to safety, and protect him with your life,” the figure stated.

  The guards, having recovered from their shock, saluted. Their captain began to gently guide Galen away from the walls of Ignis, while Milton and his armored companion walked towards the ruined city.

  ***

  Aria groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Everything was hazy at first, and she couldn’t make heads or tails of where she was. A familiar voice brought her clarity.

  “Are you alright, Aria?” Anila asked.

  Her vision cleared, and she saw that her mother was holding onto her tightly in a protective embrace. She gasped at seeing Anila’s condition.

  “Mom!”

  Anila was bleeding from her head, had one eye closed, and she winced in pain every now and again. Aria looked around, and when she looked behind her, she saw a lined crater leading to where they were at right now. Looking down the line, she saw holes in several buildings in a diagonal line, no doubt in the direction they’d come from. It was evident Anila had shielded her through it all.

  “What happened?” Aria asked before looking back to her mother, “Mom, are you going to be alright?!”

  “I’m fine, Aria. I’ve got just enough Ether to heal, at least,” Anila assured her.

  Her panic subsiding a bit, Aria was now calm enough to sense her mother’s Ether at work. She could see her wounds healing slowly. Which was concerning in its own right since she’d seen earlier how fast her healing should be.

  Anila began to get up, and with Aria supporting her, she managed to stand on two shaky feet.

  “Mom, where are we?”

  “From what I can see, we were hurled all the way outside of Ignis, in the expanding areas under construction.”

  Aria looked in the distance where they’d come from, expecting to see the castle of Ignis in the distance. Only she saw… nothing.

  Aria frowned, before remembering what had happened just before she’d lost consciousness. She snapped her attention to Anila, who had a look of pain on her face, and not just from her healing injuries.

  “Mom… did you… destroy the castle?!” Aria asked with disbelief, “how did-”

  “Etheric Fusion,” Anila answered, “it was a last resort I didn’t want to have to use. The result was even more destructive than I anticipated…”

  Aria smiled, something that made her mother frown deeply.

  “Aria,” Anila called to her warily, “why are you smiling like that?”

  She couldn’t help but give an ominous laugh, “Destroying the Dominion’s capital in this Realm ought to be a crippling blow. I wonder, just how many of the wretched humes died in that blast.”

  However many it was, it wasn’t nearly enough… she added mentally.

  Anila roughly grabbed her shoulder, whirled her around to face her, and then roughly slapped her across the face. Aria’s head snapped to the side, her cheek stinging. She was completely stunned, her eyes wide. Her mother had never once struck her outside of training. She put a hand up to her cheek as she slowly turned to face her.

  “Mom?! Why did you-” Aria’s words died in her throat when she saw her mother’s face.

  She’d expected Anila to be angry, because she could think of no other emotion that would have made her slap her like that! However, the expression she saw was not one of anger. At least, not entirely.

  Anila’s face was one full of worry, pain, and… fear? There were even tears beginning to form in her eyes.

  Her mother grabbed her by the shoulders roughly and brought her in close, “By the winds, what is the matter with you, Aria?! THAT’S the first thing that comes to your mind seeing the destruction I caused?!”

  “Mom… what are you-”

  “Listen to me!” her mother seemed almost pleading her grip on her shoulders tightening to an almost painful degree, “Aria… Think for a moment. That explosion wiped out the castle, the First Circle, and most of the Second. Yes, a lot of humans died, but who else?!”

  Aria went pale as she finally realized what her mother was implying.

  Anila shook her hard, and yelled “Answer me!”

  Aria’s lip quivered as she answered, “O-our people… All the elves in those areas…”

  Her mother closed her eyes tightly, tears falling from her eyes as she lowered her head, “Yes… they were caught up in that explosion… very few if any of them in the city survived. And so many innocent civilians died as well…”

  Aria realized that her mother was grieving not just for their people, but for the humes as well. She couldn’t understand why. Did Anila forget everything the humes put them through?!

  Before Aria could mention that, her mother continued, “Aria… you are beginning to frighten me…”

  Me? Why?

  “For the first thing for you to think amidst such a colossal loss of life to be how it hurts our enemies…” Anila wrapped Aria in a tight embrace, “I know you hate the humans for everything they’ve done to us, Aria… but somehow even I didn’t realize that hatred had grown so deep. Please… PLEASE! Don’t let your hatred for them consume you. You will become no better if not worse than our oppressors by the end of that road. Vengeance brings no peace, Aria! NONE!!! It only hurts everyone involved. Most of all you. It takes a terrifying and corrupting toll on your soul…”

  Aria could see then the burden that her mother’s actions caused her. Her mother seemed for a moment to show her true age then. A haunted, guilt stricken look shadowed her eyes.

  She didn’t know what to say. She felt horrible inside, her stomach feeling as though it were twisting. It wasn’t because she regretted her feelings of malice towards the humes. No, it was because of how it was making her mother feel. This was the first time she’d ever made her cry, and she never wanted to again.

  She returned her mother’s tight embrace. In response, Anila said, “Promise me, Aria… promise me you won’t ever let your hatred and need for vengeance consume you… Promise me you won’t become what we sought to free ourselves from. Promise me you won’t repeat my mistake…”

  “I… I…” Aria shut her eyes, and managed to choke out the words, “I… I won’t. I promise…”

  She honestly didn’t know if she’d be able to keep that promise. But for her sake, out of love for her mother she would try.

  Anila took a shaky breath, but seemed to calm a bit after that, “Good. Thank you, Aria. I promise you, not every human is as evil as our slavers. They are not all like Athanasius and his Shadows. You will see that I speak truth one day.”

  Mother and daughter held their embrace for a moment longer before separating. Aria saw that her mother had mostly finished mending her wounds. It alarmed her a bit that Anila’s healing had slowed down so much.

  Mom’s probably low on Ether. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Even she would nearly deplete her reserves after the insane battle she had. Killing multiple Shadows, casting two Ultimate Arts in one day, and then right after, pushing herself to fly us both out of Ignis the hard way, Aria reminded herself as she and Anila began walking in a brisk pace away from the city.

  Aria tried to sense her mother’s Ether, but winced at the unbridled amount of the power in the air.

  What in the void?!

  Anila noticed her reaction and seemed to read the question evident on her face. She began to explain, “A phenomenon as powerful and destructive as Etheric Fusion has… strange consequences. One of which is the overabundance of Ether that permeates from the point of origin and flows outward, all as a result of the extreme levels of energy output the process creates. A plus to this is that it’ll be much easier for me, as well as other Ethereans to refill our Capacity for a while. At least until we either leave the area or the excess power spreads out enough.”

  Her mother sighed as she finished, “A downside, however, is that it effectively deadens our Ether senses for a time. It is akin to being temporarily blinded or having your ears ringing after hearing a sudden or continuous loud noise. Not even I can properly sense through it, so keep your guard up.”

  Aria nodded in understanding. What a terrifying phenomenon… she thought with a shudder.

  “Once I refill enough of my Capacity, I’ll start flying us again away from here as fast as I can manage,” Anila stated.

  Aria nodded, before smiling at her mother, “I still can’t believe how strong you are, Mom! The Shadows of Athanasius were humes that I was taught to avoid at all costs. You all spoke of them as though they were demons! Yet you slayed how many, today?”

  “Eight, no, nine of them,” Anila answered, her face stoic.

  “Nine?! Nine of them…” Aria chuckled almost nervously, “I guess I really should listen to what you say from now on. Uh, not that I wasn’t doing it before.”

  Her mother cracked a smile at that, “You shouldn’t need extra motivation to do so, young lady! But better late than never, I suppose.”

  A moment of silence passed before Aria grew serious and asked, “So what’s our next move, Mom? Once you start flying us out of here, I mean?”

  “We fly as far east as we can manage. Hopefully we’ll find either some of our people, or perhaps even some members of the Rebellion, and ask for shelter. From there, we get what information we can. Our ultimate goal is to reach the Boundary and enter the Void Sea. For that, we’ll need an airship.”

  Aria nodded, but raised a brow at the end, “Why an airship? Couldn’t you just fly us yourself through the Void Sea?”

  “No,” Anila responded quickly, “at least, I doubt it. I’ve never been in the Void Sea before, but from what I’ve heard, it’s an extremely chaotic and tumultuous plane in between the Realms.”

  “Wait, you’ve never been in there before, Mom?”

  Anila shook her head. When she saw her look of confusion, her mother chuckled, “Even I don’t know everything, Aria. The Void Sea was something that didn’t exist prior to the Great Fragmentation. It came to be after all the Realms were separated from one another on that catastrophic day…”

  “I see…”

  Another moment of silence passed before Anila suddenly said to her, “You will surpass me one day, you know.”

  To say Aria felt uncertain about that would be a massive understatement. Especially after the battle her mother had against the Shadows. Sensing her doubt, Anila reaffirmed, “I’m serious, Aria. You’re already far stronger than I was at your age. And my focus from the onset was becoming a warrior and mastering Ether. If my power rattles you, then your latent potential does so equally for me.”

  Aria flushed deeply at the compliment, with her mother smiling at her proudly.

  “You will do our people proud, Aria. I’m certain you will be among the greatest of us who’ve ever lived,” Anila said with a proud and loving smile.

  Aria’s blush deepened, now reaching her ears, but she smiled sheepishly at the compliment.

  “Thanks, Mom… For everything, I mean. I love you.”

  Her mother’s smile widened, and she’d been about to respond.

  But suddenly, her eyes widened, and she moved in a blur, pushing Aria out of the way.

  Aria fell to the floor. Recovering quickly from her surprise, she looked up, and let out a choked scream.

  Anila looked down, blood beginning to dribble out of her mouth. Both she and Aria saw the blade of a damaged and distorted scimitar poking out from Anila’s chest, the blade coated in her blood. Behind Aria’s mother, was a figure wearing half melted dark armor that was now clearly stuck to its wearer’s burnt body, his face horribly disfigured and missing an eye.

  “I finally… got you!” Arawn hissed through his teeth.

  A huge thank you and special shoutout to my Myth Keeper tier Patron, Mountain Knight, and Lore Master tier Patron, Conman2731. Your support is sincerely and greatly appreciated.

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