-Callen-

  As we continued to follow the trails of the elves through the mountains, it became apparent that despite the numerous sleeping stone giants buried under the surface, waking them up took more than running over them. I couldn’t be sure how the elves who were fighting the previous giant managed to get themselves stuck in that situation, but it was clear that the majority of the elves completely ignored the threat as they moved. The elvish trails shifted from northeast gradually more and more east; they weaved through the valley separating the foothills from the proper mountain range. The deterrence of our levels also began to fade. The monsters in this region were notably stronger than those near human territories. In one case I noticed a massive bear climbing a mountain. From a distance it might look like a normal bear against the side of a normal mountain, but both had been scaled up, and that bear, even walking on all four legs, matched the height of a three-story building.

  Conveniently the elves weren’t avoiding the monsters; instead, they were carving a path through the mountains, a path that was easy for us to follow. The day after the ambush, Callia finally woke up. She gave me a brief idea of her circumstances, but she also had to deal with some crazy old man who had been feeding her multiple sleeping potions. As for why? She was trying to figure that out, but the brief summary she did give me was bad news, really bad news. There was nothing I could do about it other than have Jolen convey the news to the best of his ability to Karia. However, I couldn’t make sense of the elvish objective. Clearly from my conversation with the witch, she hadn’t recovered her ring yet, but her army seemed to be in a full retreat. If they continued to follow the mountains, they would end up back in the Fallen Forest.

  At the end of the second day our target was finally in sight. A pack of mountain drakes noticed the elves while they were crossing the first of the two major branch rivers that feed into the Glassy Shallows Lake. Most of the drakes were killed quickly, but several of the older ones snatched elves from the river, flying off with the captives squirming helplessly in their talons. It was in the chaotic fighting that I finally saw what it would take for a stone giant to wake up. An elf that was almost abducted was freed by a friendly arrow, but the arrow caused the pair to crash into the hillside. The impact cracked the stone, and the grinding of rocks heralded the awakening of the giant. The previous giant was maybe twice the size of a human; this one was well over four times the size of a human. A small team rushed forward to distract the giant while the rest fled east.

  I signaled the others to move along the ridgeline, hoping to exploit the giant's distraction to catch those that remained off guard. As we moved, I continued to peek at the elves that had seemingly forgotten their intent of distracting the giant and now stubbornly insisted on fighting it with weapons that seemed poorly suited for the task. We reached the edge of the river without alerting the elves, but the majority of the army had disappeared after scattering. My gaze shifted back upwards, unfortunately confirming that the Mountain Drakes hadn’t given up hunting the river.

  “Everyone grab onto me and hang on tight.” Immediately my men closed in, grabbing on wherever they felt they could get a firm grip. Buried in people, I almost immediately regretted my order to hang on tight as Luther's grip made my ribs groan in protest. It was too far for a void gate, and swimming would make us prey to the drakes, so I summoned an air pressure rune. It was easily three times the size of the one I used previously. In the next moment an explosion of air sent us flying towards the river as a bundle of clinging men and Yana. Immediately I struggled breathing as Yana’s grip around my neck tightened. In the ball of humans, the sound of startled men and cries of shock at being launched into the air were muffled against each other's bodies. Our human bundle arced through the air and started to fall not even halfway across. As we dipped, I summoned another rune, bouncing us midair, and then a third finally delivered us to safety at the far side. The impact was anything but graceful as we rolled briefly and collapsed from a ball into a bundle of tangled people.

  I didn’t feel like untangling myself; instead, I violently shoved the others off, freeing myself while sending all but Yana and Polo rolling away. Polo jumped free before the rest of us landed gracefully and safely outside the pile, and Yana was still strangling me with her eyes shut tight.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Yana, choking. . .” I gasped to her while grabbing her arm, trying to break myself free of the chokehold. Her instinctive response to my attempt to pry her free was to double down, but only for a moment. I gasped for breath as she realized we had landed. They should definitely have noticed our crossing, but the group remained solely focused on the giant. My heart hammered as my gut screamed something was wrong. I dialed in my focus on my mana sense just in time to catch the shattering of an invisible barrier. The army that was supposed to have rushed away wasn’t gone. The distraction force had kept fighting because the others hadn’t left yet.

  The others rallied behind me as one of the elves stepped forward, swaggering with a sway in his hips that didn’t match his bodybuilder physique. A cruel grin twisted so widely that the man's cheeks began to split.

  “Foolish Demon, it seems the advantage is finally mine again. I would’ve spent my time torturing you as vengeance for your kind’s deception; however, I must recover what was stolen. I need it. It must be recovered. Let us strike a bargain, Demon!” Her assertion and command immediately ticked me off, but I really wasn’t in a position to argue. Swallowing the anger that seemed to rise unbidden, I glared at her.

  “What are your terms, Witch?” Her cheek-splitting grin widened further, splitting and malforming into some kind of extended lip. The whites of her eyes turned black, and all of her teeth were visible as she started cackling gleefully.

  “What an odd stance for a demon, so protective of your companions. Your lives are in my hands, so the terms are simple. Take back my precious by any means necessary, kill the thief, and immediately return it to me. Do not let anything but what I bid you to do delay your efforts in returning my precious. Do you dare make such a pact with me, demon?” I swallowed as the pressure settled on me. Her body (the large male bodybuilder) seemed to contort in glee as I hesitated. I didn’t know how to make a pact, so I couldn’t accept, but refusing was certain death. Unintentionally my mind reviews my hell affinity. My concentration falters for a moment at the line of thought, but I disregard it, instead realizing that if I lace my words with affinity energy, I could make something like a binding agreement.

  “I will return your ring to you in exchange; you will leave humanity alone.” The words carried a weight that felt poisonous and unfamiliar. My forked tongue flicked nervously in my mouth as something felt incredibly wrong, but I just couldn’t place what.

  “Deal.” She hissed in delight as the elves turned and ran. A feeling of nauseousness settled on me, and I fell to my knees vomiting. A faint trembling shook my body as my companions brought me back up from the ground.

  “Baron, what happened? Why did they withdraw?” My mind raced as I needed to deceive the others. It would be problematic if I had to fight them as a group, but thankfully if I twist the scenario just a smidge, nothing dangerous would be made apparent.

  “The elves need the return of a specific item. I was informed what it was, and we struck a deal: if I can return the item and kill the thief, the elves will withdraw.” I felt a cold amusement as the others didn’t even question why the witch was willing to make such a deal with her enemy. “Humans are so foolish,” I think smugly, but as the thought floats through my head, for some reason everything feels off. I shook off my concern; returning the ring was what mattered most now. Fulfill the pact, and then I could consider what comes next.

  March East

  Lilia looked over her men in satisfaction. Despite the challenges they faced when weapons broke and rations ran out, they had managed to press on through the open fields and to the ruins of Portten Town. Still, despite her best efforts in circumventing the ruins of Eldraine, two small outbreaks of hive worms resulted in severe casualties. The only solution they had was a constant vigilance and disintegration by fire of any who got infected. As a band of child soldiers, they lacked the means to identify and treat infections, but the damage was limited since the entire army was alert to the threat.

  Her attention moved to the ruins of the wall in front of her. A feeling of loss settled in her gut. In her previous visit she had disregarded the fact that she had been treated for one of the hive worms, but in hindsight they had casually saved her life without even asking for thanks in return. A quick inspection showed traces of people fleeing towards Port Town while the town itself was set ablaze by light-footed outsiders. It didn’t take much for Lilia to assume that the town was pillaged by elves. The thought of the devastation here made her mind snap over to Port Town. Some memories of her time there were blurred, but the memory of her first friends shone brightly among the most recent memories she still had.

  In an act of instinct and hope, she gave a prayer, hoping that despite the circumstances, Port Town was still standing. At first it was purely mental, but she felt something crack and break free as she finished the prayer. The last word escaped her lips despite her bargain with her shadow. Immediately she felt a strong sense of revulsion and disgust. Dismissing it, she shook her head, turning back to organizing the camp being set up in the ruins.

  Psalm 145:18 NIV - The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.