Emerald, p.2
Emerald, page 2
The hierarchy of the Lower Realms was a rigid one. Those in power held onto it by sheer force alone, and the current ruler of Grim, Lord Nilegard, had held his position for well over three thousand years. Though he was only a Lesser Demon, he was at the very top of his class. Some even said he was on the verge of evolving into the next tier, a Lesser-Mid Demon, though as far as Shelderoth knew, that was only a myth.
One of the more powerful demons could, of course, come up and take the position from him, but no one who had evolved past the Lesser stage would lower themselves to coming back up to Grim.
The pecking order here was quite straightforward. Elementals were at the bottom, followed next by Dufinity, powerful beings of light and darkness. After that came the Familiars, the servants to the Lesser Demons, followed by the Demons themselves.
Though his life was a fairly boring one, he, like all Elementals, had heard the stories of Morganitus, the lowly Elemental who had risen up from nothingness, to become a Demon King. No one had ever seen this supposed Demon King, though, as he would reside in the lowest Realm known as Abyss. No Elemental had ever gone lower than Dun – the second Realm – and lived to tell about it.
The Crimson-Ash Elemental stood, stretching his small arms and grimacing. In the mortal realms, he would appear as a tower of flames, taking on the shape granted to him by the mortal’s imagination as well as his power. In Grim, he would take on his true form, a twelve-inch-tall red and white skinned humanoid creature with a pair of small, bat-like wings and a stubby tail made of fire.
Normally when he returned from a summoning, he would go report to his direct superior. This time was different. When he’d been in the mortal realm known as Laedrin, he’d come across something very unexpected: a mortal who could match him in combat.
There were, of course, many powerful beings in that world, though very few could match him. And according to the information he’d been given before he’d answered the summons, none had been in the area.
There had been something a few miles out, but his superior had assured him that there would be no interference. Yet when he’d materialized, he’d come across a mortal who’d held him at bay.
He’d had an enormous amount of power for one so young, though it was still raw and unrefined. Given a few more minutes, he was sure he could have slain the pesky mortal. But as the battle went on and he couldn’t defeat him, he began to grow worried. The mere fact that the mortal could hold him off was one thing, but that he’d survived even his most devastating attack was something else entirely.
So, for the first time ever, he’d looked deeper into the mortal’s soul. What he’d discovered shook him to his very core—the Origin.
He’d thought it was a myth up until that moment. Just a story that was told to young Elementals to scare them into following orders. But witnessing it himself, he could now say that it was very real. The mortal had been terrifying, his presence smothering his very soul.
And the worst part was, he had barely even scratched the surface of what he could one day be capable of. Shelderoth had known he had to stamp him out then and there or risk a calamity the likes of which had never been seen.
But he’d run out of power and been banished back to Grim. The Origin was not supposed to exist, yet it did. Meaning that the accords had been broken, though by whom, he had no idea. Shelderoth did know one thing; whether for good or ill, this was an opportunity.
His small wings buzzed as he floated off the small summoning platform. Around him, thousands of other Elementals vanished and reappeared on similar devices. The air was scorching hot and filled with a red haze, perfect for Elementals like him. He would, however, need to fly through the Water, Wind, and Smoke sections to leave the Elemental summoning area.
It wouldn’t be pleasant, but he didn’t mind. Opportunity awaited no one, and if he went to make his report instead of taking this directly to Lord Nilegard, he would remain stuck as a lowly Elemental forever.
It would be a huge risk to go request an audience with the powerful Demon. Though not an actual Demon Lord, he seemed to think of himself as one and tried to imitate their temperament. Or at least, what he thought of as their temperament. The truth was that no one in Grim had ever seen a Demon Lord – the ranking of Demon right below that of a King – but that didn’t stop Nilegard from pretending he had. And since he was the most powerful Demon in Grim, no one argued with him.
Shelderoth steeled his nerve as he approached the watery blue haze of the Water Elemental’s workstation. He’d been stuck as an Elemental for thousands of years, watching in envy as his siblings and old friends had moved up. Now was his time. All he had to do was seize the opportunity.
1
“It’s too risky, I tell you! With such a large force dispatched against us, the capitol must know what we’re after. Going to Fivora now would be playing directly into their hands!”
Arbor stifled a yawn as he watched Sesalie, one of the Cofounders, make her case for the umpteenth time.
This argument had been going on for nearly two weeks, ever since Hord had come back with the Defiants who’d been gathering in the Endless wood, about a day after Arbor had held off the Crimson-Ash Elemental.
The gremlin force, those left anyway, had surrendered soon after and joined up with the group Arbor had already turned to his cause. They were now camping several miles south of the Defiants’ underground base. He would have liked them to have been allowed in, but he understood the necessity of keeping them out.
There had just been a major battle, after all, costing thousands their lives. It was understandable that there would be some tension between the two sides. Though oddly enough, the gremlins seemed to have let go of all animosity and seemed more than ready to open friendly relations. It might have worked too, if not for the interference of one very unpleasant elf.
“I wholeheartedly agree,” Cofounder Zir said, his haughty and nasally voice making Arbor’s fists clench under the table.
“But I believe that we should take this time to wipe out the enemy at our doorstep. Those damned gremlins have been camping out there for weeks. How can we let their crimes go unpunished?”
“We’ve already discussed this. They have been vouched for by Arbor,” Ramona said, rubbing at her temples.
“Yes, so you keep saying,” the elf said, turning his petulant gaze on Arbor. “But who’s to say this nobody can be trusted? He consorts with gremlins after all. That gremlin bitch probably has him wrapped around her filthy little finger, making him dance to her tune.”
The elf’s lips turned up in an ugly sneer as Arbor shot to his feet, his face going rigid with anger.
“You can say what you want about me, elf. But talk about Grak that way again, and I’ll mount your head on a pike!”
“You dare threaten a superior? I should have you killed for insubordination,” Zir droned, the ugly expression not vanishing from his face.
“Enough.”
Everyone turned to the man sitting at the head of the table. He was broadly built, with salt and pepper hair. His face was rugged and handsome, but his eyes were what really stood out. One shone a bright violet, while the other was black as coal. They burned with an intensity that made most uncomfortable, though Arbor could understand what he saw there. He knew well this man’s pain, even if he didn’t agree with his viewpoint.
“Take a seat, Arbor. This isn’t the first time you’ve had an outburst in the middle of a meeting. If you do so again, I’ll have you thrown out.”
Arbor turned his angry gaze on the man who seemed to take Zir’s side every time there was an argument. He didn’t understand these people at all. He’d singlehandedly saved thousands of their men and families, yet they treated him like trash. He wasn’t expecting medals and honors, but a little gratitude wouldn’t have hurt.
Naff, the Commander of the Defiants, met his gaze evenly and didn’t back down. Not that he expected him to. The man seemed to be as immovable as a brick wall.
“And you’ve got nothing to say to the elf?” Arbor asked.
There was a sudden and noticeable tension in the room. All the Cofounders, as well as their second in commands, were here. The room was lined with guards, each of them a Mage. All of the Cofounders had magic as well, though he wasn’t sure how powerful they were.
Until now, he’d merely listened when the Commander had ordered him to quiet down. But everyone had a breaking point. He was sick and tired of all of Zir’s comments, snide remarks, and outright insults. Naff never took his side, always sticking up for the pompous elf and he’d just about had it.
“Know your place, human!” Sesalie, who coincidentally was also an elf, said.
“You were lucky to have been allowed in here at all!” Juwei, an older dwarf woman, added in.
Arbor ignored them, keeping his eyes locked firmly on the Commander, who had yet to reply.
“Arbor,” Ramona said, grabbing his attention.
His eyes flicked to her. She was seated next to him and had a hard expression on her face.
“You really should listen to the Commander and have a seat.”
Arbor stared at the woman for a long few moments. If asked how to explain how he felt at that moment, he would not have been able to describe it accurately. The one person he was sure would take his side had turned against him. After everything he’d done. After all they’d been through. He thought he could trust her more than anyone.
Zir’s smug expression grew, if at all possible, even smugger.
“You heard her. Have a seat. And be glad that we won’t have you killed for your insolence.”
Arbor, however, did not have a seat. His pulse quickened as his power began crackling through his body and white tendrils of power began wisping off his skin. He could feel the mood shift instantly, from tense to outright hostile, as the guards all leveled weapons and magic flared around him.
He knew he couldn’t kill everyone here. But he would make his opinions known before he left.
“Before I agreed to fight for the Defiants, one of your Cofounders made me a deal,” he began, keeping his eyes locked on Naff.
“The deal was simple. I would help fight the gremlin army, and she would help me recover my sister. I believe that I’ve held up my side of the bargain. Now, I just have a simple question. Are you going to pay up or not?”
Arbor placed his hands on the table, and the stone shattered under, sending a spiderweb of cracks radiating across its surface. Naff shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes hardening.
“Release your magic at once and allow yourself to be taken into custody. Your behavior is bordering on treasonous. As a member of the Defiants, I order you to…”
“But I’m not a member of the Defiants,” Arbor cut him off. “I joined as an outside party under the previously stated conditions. As such, I don’t have to answer to any of you. You’re supposed to be a group of freedom fighters, but all I see is a bunch of spoiled, self-important brats who have no honor or integrity.
“I don’t need your help. If this is how you show gratitude, then I want no part of this joke of a rebel army. Now, are you going to let me leave, or will I have to fight my way out?”
Arbor could feel and see the magic in the room. He could see how pleased Zir looked and the shocked expressions on the faces of Sesalie and Juwei. He didn’t bother to look at Ramona. He was too angry.
“If you think we’ll just let you leave after learning so much about us, then you’re as deluded as you are arrogant, boy!” Naff said, finally seeming to lose his temper.
“You heard him, guards! Take this filth away and lock him up!” Zir gleefully cheered.
Arbor had no idea what the elf had against him. From the moment they’d met, the pompous asshole had looked down on him, treating him like trash. He’d thought that there might be another Infiltrator in their midst, but after examining the elf, he’d discovered that he was just as he seemed.
The guards took a threatening step forward, and Arbor drew his weapon. The brown and green glaive hummed as he twirled it in a circle, allowing his white magic to flow into the blade. He still didn’t have a great amount of control or understanding of what it was, but he had learned a few things over the last few weeks.
One thing he’d learned was that the power seemed to have an aspect of destruction. Another was that his weapon could channel the power with far more control than he could without it. He could also coat his skin in power to shield himself, if only temporarily, from hostile magic. It was only at the 3rd Tier, as was his Perception magic, but he was sure he could fight his way free.
However, there was a much more diplomatic way he could get out of here, which would ensure he didn’t have an entire army to deal with once he did.
“Is that really what you want to do, Commander?” Arbor asked, staring the man down and ignoring the little shit of an elf. He would get what was coming to him eventually. “Do you really want to try and arrest me while I have an army camping outside your doors? All it would take was for them to get word of it, and then you’d have another war on your hands.”
“Who cares?” Zir yelled, shooting to his feet as well. “You have barely five thousand warriors and not a single Mage among them. We can easily defeat such a pitiful force!”
But Naff, it seemed, had more of a brain than the murder happy elf. He knew that despite their overwhelming odds of victory, a pitched battle with that many soldiers would still cost them. And it would be a loss that they could not afford.
Their forces had been depleted by nearly a quarter in their last fight, with over two thousand dead and over fifteen hundred too injured to fight. Another battle could cost them even more soldiers, so although their victory was almost assured, Naff backed down.
“Very well.”
He motioned for the guards to relax and took a seat, though it was clearly difficult for him to do so. Zir looked outraged, but a single glare from Naff was enough to make him back down.
“We will allow you and your army to clear out. You have twenty-four hours to do so. After that, we will consider you enemies, and we will attack.”
Arbor sheathed his weapon, allowing the white magic to retreat back into his body – yet another trick he’d picked up over the last few weeks.
“Oh, we’ll be gone by then, Commander,” Arbor said, injecting as much scorn as he could into the word.
“Just know that the same holds for you and your joke of an army. The Defiants are now my enemies. If I ever run across you or your forces again, I won’t hesitate to attack. Well, except for you, Zir. I’m going to kill you no matter what. Not here and now, of course. But if I were you, I’d watch my back.”
Arbor then turned and marched out of the room, feeling a grim smile touch his lips as the elf’s outraged cries reached him.
He’d meant what he’d said. Never in his life had he met anyone as ungrateful as his supposed allies. He still had a mission to complete, and he’d wasted enough time here. He now had an army of his own. Freeing his sister was now more attainable than it had been before. All he had to do was make it to the city, and then, she was as good as free.
2
Arbor rode toward the gremlin camp, set about five miles south of the Defiants’ base. He could hear the stone grinding closed over the entrance, but he didn’t turn back. He seethed at the injustice, feeling like an idiot for placing his faith in a total stranger. Ramona had played him well, and now that his usefulness to them was over, she had turned on him.
He allowed the anger to boil within for a few more minutes before slowly subduing it. He pulled his shaggy mount to the right to take the scenic route back to the gremlin camp. He needed some time to think and clear his head. Both Grak and Hord were back at the camp, opting to stay there in his stead.
Three leaders had stood out to him pretty quickly. They were triplets, which was quite rare among gremlins. It was rare among humans, elves, and dwarves as well, but not as rare as gremlins, apparently. Their names were Grab, Frunk, and Shukle, and they were each uniquely special in their own ways.
Arbor shook his head, clearing his wandering thoughts. He had to decide on their course of action and, more importantly, figure out why they were willing to follow him in the first place. Reaching under his breastplate, Arbor fished out the red pendant his father had given him on the night when his life had changed forever.
His fiancé, Florren, had been murdered on their wedding night, along with both his parents. His sister, Karria, had been taken as a slave, and all for this pendant. An oak tree was carved on one side, and a roaring lion’s head decorated the other. Six diamonds were set into its face around the outside, colored red by the metal.
At first glance, one would think it was just an ordinary piece of jewelry, but when he coated his eyes with his white magic, opening what he called his ‘Mage Sight,’ he could clearly see the powerful enchantment surrounding the object.
Rainbow-colored light swirled around the pendant in a mesmerizing pattern, shifting and changing as he watched. The most notable thing about it was the thick beam of light that separated itself from the pendant and disappeared into the distance. He knew that if he followed that light, it would lead him back to the gremlin camp.
And, if he looked closely enough, he’d be able to see the thousands of tiny threads connecting the gremlins to the pendant. This opened so many disturbing questions, like, was the pendant controlling the gremlins? Did they listen to him merely because he was wearing it? And if someone stole it from him, would they then listen to whomever it was? Was this just another form of slavery?
Then there was the question he hated thinking about most. Were Grak’s feelings for him genuine, or was it just a byproduct of the pendant’s influence?
He’d handed Hord the pendant to test his theories out, but the gremlins had continued taking his orders, and Grak said she didn’t feel any different toward him. It still didn’t make him feel at ease, though. The pendant was doing something to them. The real question was what.
