“We didn't ste-ACK!” Ari choked as I squeezed the Presence Hand that held her.

“Lying won't help you.” I said. “You have my mother's locket around your neck and you took that from me.” I said and eased the hand's hold on her to let her breathe. “So, we can have a nice normal conversation, or I can interrogate you and get the answers I want anyway.”

“How are you generating mana?” The other woman named Sela asked calmly. “The shackles should prevent you from casting spells.”

“Mana?” I looked at her with raised eyebrows, that she couldn't see because they were behind the blast shield. Is mana the extra energy I can feel along with Presence? I asked myself, then I looked down at the shackles with Detect Presence and I could see that they were completely solid. There was no latch holding them closed and no locking mechanism for me to pick.

“You are trespassing on our protected lands.” Ari said, now that she had her breath back. “You are a criminal and all of your possessions have been confiscated.”

“More like picked over.” I said and turned to Sela. “Where are the cylinders that hung from my belt?”

“Nita took them.” Sela said and motioned to the unconscious woman that hung between her and Ari on the wall. “You'll need to wait for her to wake up to ask her what she did with them.”

“How did you get through the protective barrier?” Ari asked, because she didn't want to be left out of the conversation.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” I said and the two women exchanged glances. “I was in a fight for my freedom... which I lost.” I said, and my anger tried to rise again. I turned it to thinking of a way to get out of magical shackles that I didn't have a clue about opening. “I thought I died and then I woke up here.”

“You don't even know where you are?” Sela asked, shock clear in her voice. “You don't know anything about anything, do you?”

I stood there for several moments and tried to gather my thoughts. I couldn't refute her words, because I really didn't know anything. I didn't know where I was, who these people were, or what had happened to me. I felt someone enter my detection range and turned to look at them. They were coming down a long stairwell towards the room I was in and I thought about what to do.

I gently put the unconscious Nita on the floor and that freed up a Presence Hand for me to use. I reclaimed my mother's locket from around Ari's neck with it, against her protests that she had claimed it from a legitimate prisoner, then I walked over to the door.

“You can't leave.” Sela said with a smile. “The door is locked in the same fashion as the shackles.”

I didn't respond and stood behind where the door would open so I would be completely out of sight of whoever entered.

“Is someone coming?” Sela asked. “I'm just going to holler and warn them.”

“Go ahead.” I said with a smile. “You'll be a better distraction for me that way.”

Sela opened her mouth to yell, then she closed it.

“Sela, what do we do?” Ari asked.

“He's right. We are a distraction and it doesn't matter what we do.” Sela said.

I thought I heard some respect in her tone of voice, then I turned and watched the woman quickly walk towards the room. The door opened at a wave of her hand and she stepped into the room.

“Nita! My grandmother said you found two ancient artifacts!” The women said and gasped when she saw Sela and Ari hung on the wall and Nita unconscious on the floor. “Oh, no!” She said and moved over to them.

“Stop.” I said, and the woman stopped moving at the sound of my voice. I walked around the door and stepped out into the hallway. “Do you have healing magic?”

“You aren't injured.” The woman said, sure of her answer.

Maybe it's just the shackles making me weak. I thought. “Remove my shackles.”

“I can't do that.” The woman said. “You trespassed on our lands and broke our sacred law.”

“And it doesn't matter how I got here or why, all that matters is that I'm here, isn't that right?”

“Most times, yes.” The woman said and slowly turned around to look at me. She had long blonde hair like the other three and had similar features. Her high cheek bones and red lips matched; but, the eye colors were different and their hairstyles had slight variations. “Sometimes circumstances cause us to alter established protocol.”

“Like me?” I asked, and she nodded.

“You're the first male we've seen that had such an abundance of mana and your pointed ears also gave the elders pause.” She said. “Which of your parents had them?”

“Both.” I said, and she caught her breath.

“You were born of elves?” She asked, and Sela and Ari stared at me.

“No, they both had the same ears as I do.” I said. “Where are the ancient artifacts that were taken from me?”

“The elders have them in the...”

I used a Presence Hand to grab her by the neck and pulled her towards me and stopped with her just outside her arms reach of me. “Remove my shackles. Now.”

“I can't.” The woman said. “I didn't put them on you.”

I sighed, because the Presence didn't waver. “Then take me to my artifacts.”

“I can't take a prisoner to the elders! I'll be banned from...”

“I don't care.” I said and dragged her out of the room.

“You can't leave us like this!” Ari exclaimed.

“I could, and it would serve you right.” I said, then I let them go. They dropped to the floor and I used a Presence Hand to shut the door. I saw the door meld into the rock and chuckled. With them held at bay temporarily and with two free Presence Hands, I tried to grab the shackles and pull them apart. I slowly started to walk and dragged the other woman with me while I tried to break free and I couldn't do it. I was tempted to absorb one of the hands and use the Presence to try and cut the shackle, or even just the chain, then decided the hand was more useful to me in my currently hobbled state.

“Do you even know where you're going?” The woman asked me.

“Away from there.” I motioned with my head to the room and started to hop up the stairs. The woman started to laugh at me, probably because I looked so pathetic with my arms and legs chained and hopped like a bunny. If I had access to my full Presence abilities, I would levitate and floated myself up the stairs, just so I could see the look on her face. We reached the top of the stairs and I used Detect Presence to look around through the walls and didn't see anyone nearby.

“I'm not telling you where to go.” The woman said.

“If you won't be useful, then I don't need you for anything other than bait.” I said and squeezed the Presence Hand around her throat. She choked and struggled and tried to pry the invisible hand off for several moments, then she stopped and held a hand out to me. I eased the pressure and she took in a deep breath.

“Th-that way.” She said and pointed. I felt the Presence waver slightly, so I turned and went in the other direction. “I said that way!” She exclaimed and pointed again.

“Yeah, you did.” I said and kept moving. It was slow going, and the hallways were surprisingly empty of people as I made my way to where she told me not to go. I used her lies and half-truths to find my way to a set of stairs. At the top was a small lobby and a pair of doors with two elves in armor that stood in front of them on either side.

“Help! I'm being kidnapped!” The woman hollered as soon as she saw them, and both armored elves drew their swords and ran towards us.

“Thank you.” I said to the woman, to her surprise. Just as the armored elves were about to lunge and attack me, I used my two free Presence Hands to grab the right foot on each of them. The ankles snapped as their own weight and momentum carried them forward while their right foot stayed stationary. Both of them screamed in pain and fell to the floor, their swords dropped and forgotten, and I let their feet go so they could cradle their injuries.

“Can you remove my shackles?” I asked one of them after using a Presence Hand to cover the mouth of the woman I carried behind me. “I promise to heal your injury if you do.”

The guard could barely see me through her tears. “Can't... trust... men.” She said through gritted teeth.

I used the third Presence Hand to remove her helmet and I used that hand to caress her face. “It's not your fault that I'm here. I'm sorry you got hurt because of me.” I managed to squeeze out a little more Presence and eased it into her through the hand to ease her pain.

The guard stared at me as she felt the invisible hand and my Presence. “How are you doing that?”

“That doesn't matter right now.” I said. “Please, help me so I can help you.”

The woman with me mumbled as loudly as she could; but, it wasn't enough to overcome the other guard's crying. The guard I had pleaded with held her hand out and waved it over the shackles on my wrists. A line formed on one side and hinges formed on the other side, then they popped open and fell to the floor. She did the same to the ones on my ankles. When they fell to the floor, I felt something like a black hole open up inside of my brain. I had been trying this whole time to gather Presence and energy into myself and I was only getting trickles here and there.

No wonder I felt so weak. I thought. My Presence was almost gone!

Now, the sparse energy that I had detected around me that was mixing with the Presence, was actually quite abundant, and both that and Presence poured into me. My body started to glow as I absorbed much more energy than I thought I could. The lights inside the room actually started to dim, and I felt that I was sucking in energy from them as well. I stood there and kept gathering more and more energy, and I felt my internal reserve fill up.

Both of them.

I was shocked and had to use several mental techniques to calm my mind and my body from that revelation, then I examined this new energy. Is this the mana she asked me about before? I asked myself and looked at my hands. The green energy flowed around them like smoke. She mentioned spells before. Does that mean there's magic wherever I am?

“You promised.” The guard said to remind me and that brought me out of my contemplation.

“Of course.” I said and knelt beside her. “I didn't have enough control to put you to sleep and had to trip you.” I slipped my glove off and put my hand on her ankle. She hissed at me and I smiled at her as I used Presence Heal on her. The energy sputtered and faltered for the first time, ever, and I wondered what was wrong.

“What are you doing?” The guard asked. “Hurry up and use mana to cast the spell!”

“Use mana?” I asked and felt reassurance from somewhere as I looked at my hand and the green smoke still flowed around it. “Yes, you're right. I think that's what's missing.” I concentrated on using Presence Heal and added the green smoke to it as well. I felt the two slightly different energies combine, just like Lashina's and my energy had, and both flowed into the guard's ankle. It was healed a moment later, much faster than it should have been with using Presence Heal. The two guards and the woman I carried with a Presence Hand, stared at me.

I stepped around to the other guard and healed her ankle as well. “I am sorry I hurt you unnecessarily.” I said. “If you will excuse me, I need to get my items back.” I picked up the shackles and put them on the woman I held with a Presence Hand, then moved that hand around her and picked her up by the collar instead. I absorbed the two spare hands I had and put my glove back on.

“Hey! Let me go!” The woman in the shackles said.

“I may need a hostage for another little while.” I said and walked over to the large doors and easily carried her with me. With all of my Presence back and this mana inside me as well, I felt like I could take on the whole universe.

“You can't get in without being invited.” The woman said with satisfaction in her voice. “The doors are magically sealed.”

“Who's going inside?” I asked with a smile and looked through the doors. The entire chamber was well within my detection range and I could see several women puttering around an altar and both of the Light swords were on it. I smiled as I thought about a good trick to play on them. The two guards stood up, one with her helmet and one without, and they picked up their swords and approached me.

“Step back from the sacred chamber doors.” The first guard I had healed said. “Please.”

“I'm only retrieving my property.” I said, then used Presence to enhance my voice like I had when I was a child. “WHO DARES TOUCH MY SACRED ARTIFACTS?!?”

The guards drop their swords and screamed as they covered their ears. The woman I had captive could only scream, as did the women inside the chamber and everyone else that was within my detection range. I laughed with the same boost, and they screamed again.

I used Presence Hands to pick up the two Light swords, and none of the women in the chamber tried to grab them. I pulled them over to the door and could barely see that it was surrounded by that green energy. If I concentrated on it too much, it became solid in my vision and that wasn't going to help me. I then thought about using the Light swords to cut through it, then I assumed that I didn't have the time to waste trying to do that. I moved them over to the unprotected wall next to the door instead and activated them when they touched the wall. The energy blades came out and burned through the wall instantly.

I could see two inches of the blades sticking out through the wall, which meant the wall was almost three feet thick. I shifted the Light swords around in a small vertical circle to carve out a slightly bigger hole, deactivated them, and pulled them through the holes that were just big enough for the hilts to fit through. I absorbed the Presence Hands and caught the two cylinders, then hung them on my belt. I turned and looked at the woman with me, and she just stared at my face.

“I know you're not going to answer me properly.” I said in a normal voice and walked over to the two guards. They still had their ears covered and their eyes shut, so I tapped the shoulder of the one without the helmet. “Hi, again. Can you tell me how to get out of here?”

“You... you damaged the sacred tree!” The guard said and pointed to the two holes I had made.

“I was tempted to cut the door away; but, I'm not here to wreck the place.” I said. “Well, I don't think I am. I only just woke up and I don't know why I'm here.”

“I can't forgive someone that can disregard...”

I walked over to the wall and looked around to see the flow of energy. The tree actually was alive and not an empty facade like I thought it was. I took my glove off and touched the wall under the holes and used some of my Presence and mana to heal it. Just like the ankles on the guards, it was healed instantly. The three women gasped when the holes disappeared and I walked over to them.

“I spent a lot of time in a magical forest.” I said, in reference to the East Forest Glade on The Order's home planet. “I have the utmost respect for sacred trees and would never cause irreparable harm to them.”

“Th-then, go down the stairs, take a right. Follow the curve of the tree until you reach the third door. Go through that and down the hall, down the stairs, and straight out through the large archway.” The guard said. The Presence didn't waver, so I looked into her eyes and took her hand.

“Thank you.” I said sincerely and looked at the woman in shackles. “Come along.”

“Please take me instead.” The guard offered. “I won't need the shackles.”

“You're willing to trade yourself for her?”

“I must protect everyone here, even if I believe what they do is wrong.” The guard said, then a wave of energy passed over us. “The elders have raised the alarm.”

“Dammit!” I said and used the guard's hand to quickly wave it over the woman's wrists and ankles. The shackles dropped off and I used the Presence Hand that held her to pick the shackles up instead and tucked them into my belt. “I accept your offer.” I said to the guard.

I picked up her sword and gave it to her, to her surprise, held her hand firmly, then ran down the stairs. I was a little surprised that she could keep up with me at first, then I felt energy flow over her. I glanced at her and saw the thin sheen of green on her, then glanced at our hands.

Some of my green smoke was flowing into her hand, and I had to assume that she was boosting her run ability. I remembered what I used to do with Lashina and covered myself with Presence. Before activating Presence Run, I did what the guard had suggested and included that green energy as well. My green glow was a lot brighter than hers and I knew that as the more powerful one, I would be controlling the run, just like Lashina had with me when we ran together.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I took the right turn and activated Presence Run. The guard stopped breathing as my Presence and mana energy flowed over her, and we were around the tree, through the third door, down the hall and another set of stairs, and reached the large archway only a few moments later.

It was blocked by a dozen armored female elves.

All of them had bows and arrows aimed and ready. Some had swords on their hips and others had spears on their backs. I was tempted to run around them; but, I felt like that wasn't going to work this time. I came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and an arrow stuck into the floor at my feet.

“Enhanced running can't get you by our best scouts.” A woman's authoritative voice said. “Maylia, you've done well. Giving yourself up in exchange for a more valuable prisoner was quite honorable.”

“Thank you, Caeda.” Maylia said.

“Is there another way out of here?” I asked.

“All exits are blocked when the alarm is raised.” Caeda said with a smile.

“How much does this ancient tree like having huge doors cut into it's body?” I returned the smile.

“No! Don't hurt it!” Maylia exclaimed and tried to tug on my hand.

I created four Presence Hands near the doors and used both Presence and mana to form blades for them to use. I could see the hinges and the doors themselves were only barred physically and not magically like the sacred chamber was. It took a lot of concentration, so I ignored Maylia's feeble attempts to distract me and severed the hinges. I absorbed the blades and had to use all four Presence Hands to push on the top of the massive doors.

“Look out below.” I said.

“LOOK OUT!” Maylia yelled and pointed.

Caeda and the twelve guards turned and saw the doors falling towards them. It seemed like they fell in slow motion and the guards had plenty of time to get out of the way. They managed to run to either side and the doors slammed down onto the floor with a loud bang. I used Presence to create two thin walls in front of the guards and used mana to make them solid. The walls weren't invisible like they usually were and instead were slightly green and see-through.

The guards tried to use their fists and weapons to attack the wall; but, it was too close for them to get any power behind it. Two of them were chanting something as I casually walked by them and I saw their hands glow green. I couldn't have them escaping just yet, so I made the green glow around their hands solid. The two women yelled at their solid hands and stared at them.

“Wh-what did you... are you a wizard?” Maylia asked as we stepped out into a well-used town square.

“Lady, I don't even know what planet I'm on.” I said to her surprise, and looked around. I could feel that there were a lot of people within my detection range, and I could see various building-like structures mixed in with the trees. They were made of thick wood, just like the enormous ancient tree we had just left.

“Did you grow the buildings or convert them to make them fit in with the forest?” I asked, unable to restrain my curiosity.

“They are grown.” Maylia said. “We use seeds to plant them and then use mana to grow them and shape them into what we desire.”

“That's really great.” I said and stopped walking in the middle of the square. “That would make housing problems disappear if everyone had that ability.”

“Why did you stop?” Maylia asked, confused.

“I didn't feel like becoming a pin cushion.” I said and looked up to see several hundred elves with bows and arrows pointed at me. All of them were female and they were spread out on tree branches, on building roofs, and in some of the windows.

“You know, this would be a great sex dream if most of you were as nice as you and not sadistic bitches that seem to hate me just for existing.” I whispered to Maylia, and her face went to a deep red.