Ulmir’s Domain, Faery Plains: First day of the Hunt.

Ulmir’s secret was intended for someone special. The Watchdog’s mission was to wait for the Hunter God’s chosen one to arrive in order to reveal it. The tradition of the Hunt that continued even after Ulmir’s death didn’t trouble the Alfa Faery. The only way to draw it out was to threaten the realm’s existence.

Zedd had done just that. He needed the Watchdog in order to get the key to Ulmir’s inner courtyard. The Watchdog couldn’t allow Ulmir’s domain to be destroyed before the chosen one arrived.

Zedd’s visit to the Faery Plains was mandatory for two reasons. The first was the slaughter he had prepared for the flying monstrosities. The second was the Aether vein. Zedd was after power. In order to achieve his goal, he needed an inconceivable amount of Essence. He had been preparing to assault Ulmir’s domain for months.

Zedd ran as fast as his feet could carry him. Behind, he could hear the Faeries screaming, searching for the one who slaughtered their brethren. “Show yourself murderer!” the high pitched voice filled the entire flat plains.

“He’s here already?” Zedd shouted. “Man I need to move fast!”

Zedd kept running towards the stream that was projected to him by Silver. He had to reach it and access the vein. Something caught the running man’s attention which caused him to come to an abrupt stop. In front of him, Black Eyes saw the fox again. Its fur was snow white and it had three tails. As soon as their eyes met, the fox created a hole in the ground then disappeared into it. When Zedd arrived at the fox’s spot, the hole was nowhere to be found.

“There you are!” an angry, high pitched voice, spoke behind Black Eyes.

“Shit!” Zedd cursed. He turned around to look at the Alfa Faery. The monster towered over him, rendering his surroundings dark.

“You dared slaughter more than two dozen of my kin!” the creature snarled at Zedd, revealing threatening sharp fangs. It opened its hideous muzzle then extended its spiked tongue at Zedd. The tongue cracked like a whip. Black Eyes barely had time to dodge the supersonic attack. The spiked tongue hit him on the right shoulder.

Pain seared through Zedd’s body. His right arm became completely numb. His sword hand was rendered useless. The Faery coiled its abnormally long spiked tongue, ready to attack again. Zedd was at a clear disadvantage. ‘I have to do something before it attacks again,’ he thought while clenching his teeth.

Pain obscured his thoughts. He could only think of moving away from danger. Facing the beast without his sword hand could only mean his untimely death. Zedd extended his left arm towards the beast, drew an eight pointed star then shouted “Bhola!”

A bright light flashed at the Alfa Faery’s eyes. The beast immediately retreated then covered its body with its enormous wings. “Vanish!” Zedd shouted. A few leagues away, he was standing near a stream, panting.

He was bleeding heavily. The Watchdog’s attack had lacerated his right shoulder and biceps. He could see bones peeking behind the torn flesh. He tried to move his right fingers, to no avail. ‘I’ll bleed to death if I don’t get this situation under control.’

He couldn’t risk using anymore spells. His Life Force was escaping his body. He needed to heal his injuries fast. ‘Lucky I was close by,’ he thought as he fumbled through his pockets. With great difficulty, his hands found the cleansing solution he sought. He took the oblong shaped phial then poured it on the injured arm.

The cracked bones mended. Flesh started reconstructing, slowly but surely. ‘That thing will be here soon,’ he thought. ‘Concentrate Darkstar! Concentrate!’ he had to urge himself to calm down, to steady his breathing. Zedd stabilized essence flow in his body then urged himself to move.

Black Eyes drew a series of complex shapes in the air while reciting an incantation in the Ancient Language. Seconds later, the water in the stream dried out. A hole opened in the ground and Zedd jumped inside. Water flowed again and the stream regained its usual flow. There was no trace of the entrance to the vein anymore.

The Watchdog arrived at the stream moments later. The creature’s oblong pupils went from gray to red in an attempt to scan for abnormal energy expenditure. It could see a recent activity near the river, but it couldn’t pinpoint Black Eyes’ exact location. It could see blood on the river bank, but not being able to pinpoint Zedd infuriated it.

Far below the Alfa Faery, Zedd was falling into the void. The moment he jumped in the hole, he felt a foreign force pulling him downwards. His arm was still heavily bleeding, dangling by a single thread. He was starting to lose consciousness. ‘One misstep Darkstar! One careless movement, and you’re on the verge of death?!’ a voice, his voice, rung inside his head.

The solution he had applied managed to heal most of his wounds. But casting a spell in the middle of the healing process hurt him even more. His wounds reopened and the bleeding became faster. Zedd suddenly felt a gentle force push against his body. He slowly opened his eyes to see what happened.

In front of him, Zedd could see a fluorescent plant. He had landed in a cave below Faery Plains. “About seven feet tall and five feet wide,” he murmured. “It looks like a tree root. But it doesn’t supply just the trees with life. For the Aether vein is the canal through which all Life Force is distributed.” Zedd was quoting the Book of Life, one of the many encyclopedias he kept in his library. Pain brought him back to reality though. His wounds hadn’t healed. He had to act quickly before he lost all hope.

Zedd advanced towards the Aether vein. He had to draw energy from it if he wanted to heal his critical wounds. Something caught Zedd’s eyes and made his heart skip a beat. “You again!” he shouted at the white fox that stood near the vein. Because of the light emanated from the plant, Zedd didn’t notice the fox before. “What do you want?”

The fox looked at Zedd with its round crimson eyes. It remained in place, blinking but never taking its eyes off the man with black eyes and rectangular pupils. Its three tails bobbed right and left. “Are you not capable of speech? Or are you just acting like a mute?” Zedd asked.

The white fox blinked once more at Zedd, then walked towards the vein. He tried to run after the animal but his body wouldn’t respond. He was reduced to walking, panting, trying to reach that mysterious animal. As soon as the strange animal came in touch with the vein, it disappeared. “What the hell is up with that?” Zedd was frustrated. “Every time this little shit appears, something bad happens. I gotta act fast!”

Black Eyes extended his left arm then touched the vein. For any mortal, that would be a fatal move. Too much Essence injected into a frail body at once would kill it. But Zedd was no ordinary mortal. He touched the vein then started redirecting the Essence towards his injured arm. Bones were mended. Flesh was reconstructed. Black Eyes had fully recovered and the vein didn’t lose any of its fluorescence.

Zedd looked around the underground cave he was in. The Aether vein shone a bright light, illuminating the area around it. Apart from the vein, there was nothing of great value in the cave. Zedd found a rock large enough to conceal his body then sat behind it.

He sat in a lotus position then spent a minute stabilizing his breathing, redirecting the Essence flow in all his Conduits. After that, Zedd started projecting his soul out of his body. In order to store more energy inside his body, Zedd had to strengthen his soul first. The process was tedious and dangerous. If someone found his inanimate body, he’d be in grave danger.

Zedd’s soul was transparent. It had no apparent limbs. He was just a pile of transparent smoke with a face. To a critical eye, this meant that Zedd was but a beginner Assimil. But the same critical eye would notice the shining fragment on the soul’s forehead. That was Zedd’s source of power.

Zedd’s ethereal form started absorbing energy from the vein. The bright light from the vein started flickering. He was sucking the Life Force that fed the entire flora of the Faery Lands. This wouldn’t have been possible if the imperialists had reached the vein first. They’d only harvest part of the energy stored inside, not all of it. But Zedd wasn’t the empire. He was the man who’d eventually destroy Ulmir’s Domain.

As the plants above the vein started withering, the Watchdog became suspicious. “After the vein, are we?” the Alfa Faery shouted. “No one steals from Ulmir, no one!”

The beast screamed, calling for its kin to join it. The other Faeries heard the screech then flew towards their leader.

***

Far from the vein’s position, the six imperialists that decided to flee the flat plains realized something was amiss. “Stop the Mobeel,” the leader shouted. “Look at all the Fearies,” he urged his men.

All soldiers got out of the metallic carriage that was transporting them then looked at the sky. Minutes ago a Faery horde was chasing them. There were at least a dozen of them. They all abruptly stopped then flew away. “Looks like they’ve stopped chasing, is it over?” one of them asked.

“No, they’re regrouping. They’ve found a common enemy,” the leader, named Brahms, said.

“Are these beasts even capable of such a feat?” the Mobeel pilot said.

“Yes Gavin, they have a leader,” Brahms answered. “If that monster called for them, it only means one thing.”

Brahms jumped inside the Mobeel then shouted at his men. “Come! We’ve no time to waste. Somebody beat us to the vein!”

Everyone got inside the Mobeel. Gavin put his hands on a glass monitor in front of him then directed it to turn around. Rimbaldi’s technology relied on harvesting energy from veins in order to use it to power his automata. The Mobeel was one of the numerous automatons Rimbaldi created. Using a Crux, the machine could be linked to the pilot’s mind. Wherever Gavin willed the Mobeel to move, it would follow. The Crux only required elementary magic proficiency. Gavin was the only mage in the team, and a mediocre one at that.

***

Back at the Aether vein, Zedd was still absorbing energy. The more he absorbed, the dimmer the light became. If the imperialists saw what Zedd was doing, they’d be horrified. The man with black eyes didn’t mean to borrow some energy. He was planning to suck it dry. If he succeeded, a great catastrophe would fall upon the Faery Plains.

Above Black Eyes, the Alfa Faery was gathering its followers. The champions who were about to be devoured by the vicious beasts were saved at the last minute. Most decided to flee the flat plains that very same day. Besides the imperialists, only one team remained in the area. Three champions observed the Faeries that covered the sky that day.

“Someone’s gone and pissed the Watchdog;” the oldest man in the group said. He had a dark complexion. He was tall and wore steel armor.

“I’ve heard rumors of a vein beneath the plains. Vik, do you think someone might’ve found it?” the second man asked. This one looked younger. He had red hair, green eyes and wore chainmail.

“My money’s on those imperials. If they drain the place of energy, Ulmir’s domain will suffer,” the man named Vik answered.

“Wanna check it out?” the third companion asked. This one had black hair and a large nose, his most distinctive feature.

“The Watchdog’s there,” Vik said. “Our prey’s formidable this year boys. May Ulmir guide our way!”

The three ran towards the source of the commotion. In the meantime the Mobeel was at full throttle, heading towards Ulmir’s Watchdog. The imperialists had clear orders. They were to harvest the energy in the flat plains. Whoever tried to steal from them had to suffer the consequences.

The two teams reached the stream at the same time. The Watchdog towered above all beasts in the flat plains. Its brown hide and abnormally large head made it look like a disgusting flying cow. It had long fangs that protruded from its deer-like muzzle. Multiple horns grew from several parts of its forehead. Each of them interlocked, creating a bizarre bony cone that resembled a rhino’s horn. Every part of the Alfa Faery’s body was a deadly weapon.

Each of its leather wings covered at least two leagues. It arms and legs had sharp claws that threatened to cleave the earth itself. The only reason the Alfa Faery hadn’t attacked Zedd’s location was because of the vein. If the beast accidentally hit it, the Faery Plains would be reduced to ash.

Brahms looked at the monstrosity in front of him then shouted at his men, “Get in formation! We have to bring this thing down and fast. Whoever’s draining that vein is below us!”

“What do you think Vik?” the boy in red hair asked.

“We’re not helping imperialists!” he answered. “Let them weaken the beast, we’ll deal with it then.”

The three champions retreated a few paces. At least a thousand Faeries were flying above their heads but none attacked them. “That beast is preparing for something. Better be on our guard, let the imperialists do the job for us,” the man with the abnormally large nose said.

The Watchdog was busy collecting energy from the Faeries that flied above its head. The imperialists surrounded the monster then began the offensive. “Chains!” Brahms shouted. Two soldiers took their Bowguns then shot the beast. The bullets split in three midair then surrounded the monster’s leg.

A chain was embedded inside the fist-sized bullet. As soon as it split, the chain surrounded the Faery’s leg then lodged itself deep underground. “Fire!” Brahms shouted another command. Gavin, the pilot, used the gun attached to the Mobeel, aimed it at the beast’s head then fired. A red glass sphere left the muzzle then broke on the Faery’s hideous face.

Fire engulfed it, causing the beast to let out a loud screech. “Spears!” Brahms gave the order, took his spear then hurled it at the beast’s wings. Two other soldiers did the same.

“They’re not stupid, those imperialists,” Vyk commented as he watched the fight.

“What will they do about the swarm above?” the man with red hair asked.

“Cage!” Brahms shouted. Gavin had already prepared the device when Brahms shouted the command. All the other soldiers ran to the Mobeel after hearing the command. A metallic case was thrown by the monster’s feet. After it opened, thunder rumbled across the sky, dark clouds started gathering.

“This doesn’t bode well,” Vyk announced to his companions. “Red, protect us!”

The man with red hair shouted a spell after which a light screen surrounded the three champions. “It’s about to get bloody,” the man with the large nose announced, a smirk on his face.

The clouds in the sky condensed, the entire plains became dark. Lightning suddenly rained down on the entire area. Indiscriminately, it killed whatever came in contact with it. The Faeries started dropping like flies. The Watchdog screamed in pain with every hit.

“The magic shield will break if we stay here,” Red shouted to his friends. “Their attack will increase in potency soon enough.”

“Fools!” Vyk mumbled under his breath. “There’s no stopping the watchdog now boys. We should retreat, slowly now!” The three champions started walking back, away from the lightning shower. They knew something the imperialists didn’t. The Watchdog was the Alfa Faery. This meant that the beast could merge with all of its kin, recalling them to form his ultimate form.

“Nose, can you fly us away from here?” Vyk asked.

“Five to six leagues at most,” the man with the large nose answered. Everybody called him Nose ever since he was a child. He was used to the nickname.

“That’s more than enough,” Vyk replied. “Red, try to keep that shield up, I don’t intend to die just yet.”

“Are we leaving the Watchdog then?” Red asked.

“It will get angrier which will make killing it harder, almost impossible,” Vyk explained. “It’s best we go to the Canyon, there are beasts big enough to get us to the Courtyard. It’s the only safe place in Ulmir’s domain now.”

The three flew away from the beast’s location while the imperialists hid in the Mobeel. The metallic rolling structure was equipped with a rod. It allowed them to evade lightning strikes and collect energy at the same time. “How much time do we have until the Aeon’s attack?” Brahms asked Gavin.

“Judging from the concentrated hits the rod has taken, I’d say it’s coming now;” Gavin answered.

“Will it kill the beast?” one of the soldiers asked.

“No one can tell,” Gavin answered. “Aeon attacks are powerful, but we’re not Summoners. We artificially provoked the attack. There’s no telling how strong it would be.”

“Plus,” Brahms interjected. “The Watchdog is a Vassal-class Familiar. Only a true Summoner can defeat that beast in one hit.”

In the sky above the Watchdog, a circle of light seemed to push the clouds away. The Alfa Faery looked up. A lightning bolt descended on the creature. Its leather wings got torn in all places. Its knees gave way. The Alfa Faery fell, face first on the ground. Then the remaining Faeries screamed. This time, their voices were different. Instead of the deafening screech, their screams were akin to a lion’s roar. In the clearing sky, thousands of lions roared in unison.

Earth shook. The soldiers inside the Mobeel were shaken by the sudden development. Brahms opened the door to have a better look at what was happening outside. A dark substance oozed out of all the Faeries in the sky.

“They’re transmitting their Life Force to their leader!” Brahms shouted at his companions. It was impossible to hear anything with all the roaring that shook the earth itself.

“There’s nothing we can do against that!” Gavin shouted back. “We have to retreat! Lieutenant, do you hear me?”

“We have orders!” Brahms reminded the pilot.

“Orders we can’t deliver if we’re dead. We have to retreat!” one of the soldiers intervened.

“There’s no time to waste Lieutenant!” Gavin shouted. “Are you coming?!”

Brahms looked at the Faeries with contempt. “I’m not leaving here without results. We can beat this thing! Nothing can stand in the way of the Empire!”

“He’s insane,” the soldiers murmured.

“Gavin, I’m not throwing my life away here,” one of the soldiers shouted at the pilot. “Let him die for all we care. If don’t get the vein this year, there’s always the next.”

“General Flavious won’t punish us for our tactical retreat,” another soldier told the pilot. “We can’t let foreigners get their hands on our technology, can we?” the soldier went on.

“Brahms! Staying here is foolish!” Gavin shouted. He’d decided it was his last warning to the lieutenant.

Brahms only fixed the Faeries, transmitting all their Life Force to their leader. It was impossible to get close to the beast. The Faeries’ roar created a sound barrier around them and their leader. The lieutenant didn’t seem to hear Gavin shouting at him. The revival of the Watchdog was fascinating. As the dark substance was transferred into the Alfa Faery, its body underwent a complete transformation.

Its body started shrinking. The Watchdog’s dark brown hide started disappearing. Instead it was replaced with silver skin. The creature’s shoulders and wings shone a golden light. Its monstrous face shrunk. It became that of a human. It had a pointy chin, long pointy ears and almond eyes. The Alfa Faery slowly rose from the ground. It was no longer large and enormous in size. It shrank to a humanoid size. Its golden wings flapped about, creating a sudden gust. Brahm’s body was thrown backwards.

As soon as the lieutenant landed, he rolled backwards to avoid any retaliation. “Get in formation!” he shouted at his men. Brahms stood up, unsheathed his great sword then looked around. It was at that moment Brahms realized, “I’m fucked!”