The Hellhound’s mouth bellowed out smoke from its second mouth. The beast had a much higher natural resistance towards heat than any other feral in its pack, explaining its dominance over the smaller dogs. The elf activated her magic once more, a vine grabbed onto each of its limbs. This binding only lasted for a few seconds before the considerable heat burned the foliage to a crisp. But that was all the time that was needed for Hera, She swiped the dog, her attack resulted in a large gash on the side of its rib cage. However the attack was double sided, The body heat was also an offensive barrier. The tips of her claws that made contact had become melted to the point that they were unusable.

The hellhound was no idiotic creature. There was a reason for it to be the head of the pack. It backed away from the fight into the grass. Even though the elf could control the foliage, she couldn’t attack what she couldn’t see. Hera took the initiative to go on the defensive because it was hiding in natural magic it was hard to discern just what was the creature and what wasn’t.

A fireball emerged from the north, the blind side of Hera. The fireball exploded with an impressive force. The shockwave knocked the elf on her butt with an ‘oof.’ Everything was engulfed in flames and smoke. Just to be sure the hellhound fire six more times in the general area of where she was standing. The female elf just sat there, unable to do anything to stop the incoming fire, she watched in horror as each impact grew the plumes higher and higher. But that's when she actually could do something. She activated her magic, encasing them in a massive cocoon of greenery, She left the top loosely connected for ventilation. All she had to do was just wait out the smoke. The ground began to shake from impacts, seconds were most likely the only time they had. Impacts struck the side of the leafery shielding them. It is being attacked by fire and all, she had to continually expend more magic to keep them protected.

Eventually, the smoke did clear, all that was left standing was a half melted bug woman, The flesh on her back was nearly exposed from underneath the chitin. Her face began to melt too, not just her armor but her actual face. The bones that were revealed were not human. Her jaw was filled with rows of sharp teeth, not a single molar existed. Her tongue was more triangular than a human’s as well. Her eyes had also become revealed. The paleness was at a level of a cave dweller’s. Even bits of her hair was singed.

She stumbled forward, her expression was beyond any form of anger. The elf stopped providing magic to the barrier and rushed to her.

“Don’t move!” She frantically began to move her arms towards the damaged face of Hera. “I’ll heal you!” She wasn’t the best at recovery magic, but at the moment she was the best that they had. Her hand began to glow making contact. Hera grabbed her forearm, staring inside of her. Hera’s grip was tight and hurt the poor elf. It only took moments for her to start feeling faint. Hera couldn't innately retrieve raw magic, but if the ‘valves’ were already open, she could well enough just keep the flow going.

The elf fell to her knees, but Hera kept going. Her face and body were slowly healing back to their original states. She did eventually stop, her mission was to keep the elf alive after all. When the elf was nothing more than powerless girl Hera let go, her body slumped to the ground.

~^~

“And who are you?” Mateo backtracked to Amalia, his sword hand hovering over the pommel.

The man sat on top of one of the many counters, His hair was disheveled, and his body looked malnourished. He looked at the two and clasped his hands together. “I pray you two are here to see the elder?”

“It’s quite rude to not answer questions..” Mateo said, his eyes fierce.

“It’s also rude for a couple of strangers to break into my home.”

“If you couldn’t tell-” Amalia raised a hand in front of him, signaling him to stop talking. She would handle the situation from there.

“My name is Amalia, and this is my squire, Mateo.” Her face was as stern as when they walked in.

The man got up from the counter and bowed in front of them, his quick movements nearly knocked a few beakers from the tables. “Nice to meet you Lady Amalia, squire Mateo.” Since he was now closer they could finally see just how sunken his face had been, it was as if he desperately needed proteins in his body. “My name is Emile, and this is my home.”

Mateo rolled his eyes, he saw this man as nothing but a nutjob.

“Was it you who lead us here?” Amalia asked.

The man looked up and smiled, He was missing several teeth, “Yes, I guided you here. But.” He paused. “But, she made the order.”

“She?” Amalia repeated, “The elder?”

Emile simply nodded.

“If she wanted us here, that means she wants to meet. Bring us to her.”

“You won’t be needing any form of coercion now do you?”

Amalia didn’t intend to entertain the man any longer. She merely stared and said nothing. His smile faded, and he stepped to the side. Guiding them towards the back of the house. “Watch your step.”

Amalia was the first to go, Mateo lagged behind. His distrust of Emile was very apparent.

It wasn’t a long walk, but it also wasn’t what they were expecting, they came out to a large room without a ceiling, The fog could be seen trying to worm its way in but was being forced back creating a thick barrier. In the room were several beds most were empty except for three. Two were filled with strangers, and the third was Elizabeth. A fair-skinned female who could've been in her late twenties was standing next to Elizabeth.

“Hello, you two.” She gave a soft smile while keeping her focus on Elizabeth.

“Are you the elder?” Mateo took to the initiative in the conversation.

“Don’t you think I’m a little too young to be the elder?” She said taking turning her head to face Mateo, of course, she did look younger than all the other’s they’ve encountered. She chuckled “Don’t worry, I am. Inherited the title from my mother and father.”

Amalia spoke. “Did you cure the Mire?”

“The Mire?” She tilted her head in confusion. Then looked down to Elizabeth. “Oh! Her condition. I gave her a few herbs commonly found around here, she’ll be fine.”

“Good. So you wanted an audience with us?” Amalia asked.

The woman sat on an adjacent bed. “The moment you stepped in here, I sensed each of you.” She paused. “This village is cursed, no one comes here for no reason. I expected you’d want an easier time getting here so I thought I’d guide you.”

“You sensed us?” Mateo asked.

“It’s hard to explain. When you guys came here, I could see you, unlike most of the villagers, you were colorful.”

Mateo turned around to face Amalia. “Milady, I think the information we received was correct.”

She nodded. “We came to inquire about a race that shared your ability.”

She sighed. And looked up to the fog covering the open roof. “I’ve heard stories from my parents. Stories about demons that crossed over from this exact village.” She signaled for the two to take seats, the story was going to be a long one.

“Maybe around a century ago, long before this village was built, this area was said to be the breeding grounds for dangerous monsters. The empire sent a force of over ten thousand to clear the area for expansion.”

“I can see they succeeded,” Mateo said.

The elder nodded. “Everything here was exterminated. No monsters were seen for many years when this place was being settled. One day people just started to disappear, until legions of black soldiers descended from the skies, the empire employed just about everything they could. Monsters, forbidden arts, everything.”

Mateo spoke up once more. “That’d explain the shades we fought.”

She picked the story back up. “Everything failed. They realized that the soldiers were impossible to kill, they decided to trap everything here, The monsters they let loose, The citizens and the black soldiers.”

Amalia spoke up, “Then the creatures originated from here. Mateo, elder. we are leaving.”

“You can’t leave.” the elder raised a voice, to the two that were turning for the door.

“And why is that?” Spouted and irritated Amalia.

“I told you that the fog was a trap, right? You can enter, but leaving is impossible.”

“Trapped?” repeated Mateo, “If this is a barrier, then there should be a conduit somewhere.”

Amalia looked to the elder, “Is there such a thing?”

She shrugged. “I was born to this village, but I have no idea of anything outside these walls.”

Amalia got much closer to her. “If your eyes are anything like how I think they are, I want you to look.”

The elder looked around the room, she couldn’t see anything. Other than the three that were in the room with her. “I can’t see anything.”

“Then we’re doing this the hard way.” Amalia grabbed her by the arm and hoisted her over her back.