Delanna opened her eyes, her physical eyes. She could still see Lily floating around in front of her.

Well, that was less than spectacular. I was expecting something grand and wonderful from the body of the Lady Death. Lily spoke to Delanna’s mind.

“It’s okay Lily, can you please guide him out of here?” she weakly replied, unable to focus enough for a mental response.

Ummmm, that’s not really going to be possible. You see, when you went into the trance he began to…cover? Yeah, cover your hand.

Delanna looked down at her right hand to see a semi-translucent glove. It moved with slow ribbons of blue, green and purple. Amazingly, she couldn’t even feel the pressure of it on her skin, it felt like it WAS her skin. She brushed her fingers along it and felt the sensation of the touch.

Amazing! Her eyes were wide, and mouth was hanging completely open at this point.

He said that you need to your Essence now that your minds are bound. He also said to make sure that you’re sitting down when you do it. In her most manly voice possible Lily repeated the instructions given to her “Make sure that she understands Lily, both of you must understand. This will be intense on a whole new level. Brace yourselves.”

Delanna giggled at the wisp and looked around for a place to sit. “How long before the soldiers come in?”

Oh, they’ve been trying to get in for a long time now! I asked all our sisters to keep them away! Lily sounded smug about this.

“What do you mean? Sisters? Keeping them away? I don’t understand any of that.”

Less thinking, more doing what you’re told! I’ll explain it to you when your life isn’t on the line, kay? The little wisp floated over and brushed against Delanna’s cheek. Now, let’s do this! Delanna’s consciousness immediately felt the connection to Lily intertwine with her own and focus down on the glove.

“Let’s do it."

Moments passed with nothing happening and she nearly faltered, then…

“aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” her scream was uncontrollable as power flooded into her.

Lily’s form filled out into the shape of a full-grown woman, smoke danced and flowed around her amazingly bright blue body.

Both of their bodies were lifted into the hair, faces turned up towards the stars overhead. They grasped hands tightly. Lily’s form began to crack like broken glass, lines growing longer and in greater numbers forming all over her. Delanna focused, still screaming, and pushed her own body into Lily’s to keep her in one piece. The air around them was trembling, a low hum gradually growing louder and louder. Delanna’s deep red essence flared alongside Lily’s dancing smoke Essence, perfectly synchronized.

A man, her…Brother, stepped through the wall beside them. His face radiated glee, confidence and power. I’m sorry this hurts so much sisters, you must endure. He placed his right hand on top Delanna’s left hand, Lily’s right.

Energy swirled around the group, their joined hands began to meld together. "More!" the teenager shouted and lifted his hand, pointing in the direction of the city. The temple! Delanna thought. “Kind of, I’m trying to tear the veil and pull a little energy from it” came the mental reply. A beam of light pierced the air where he was pointing.

The teenager’s eyes went wide as he quickly turned his hand up, palm facing the breach. Oh shit! Not that much! His arm shot back and slammed forwards again as the tear he opened grew larger. It’s too much, I can’t stop the flow. He thought. Finally, after several attempts the tear seemed to close, but he’d managed to pull enough energy that the horizon looked like a second sun in the sky.

He raised his left hand towards the light, palm up and tensed, his body was shaking uncontrollably. His fingers slammed closed and if to crush something. The tidal wave of power condensed to about half of its original size. For a few moments it seemed to be well contained. Suddenly it exploded out of the barrier he placed and came crashing towards them like a wave. He opened his hand and slammed it closed again and it shrank, only in size, about one thirds of its previous shape. Concern crept over his face for a moment as he realized that he’d not be able to refine the Feral Magic. It hasn’t been used in so long that its fighting control.

Suddenly the power was crushed to the size of a woman. Mother he thought. You over-reach child. She replied, sending the trio feelings of amusement. Delanna and Lily watched on in pure aww, unable to even move their spiritual bodies because of the overwhelming power they were trying to contain.

The young man made a pulling motion to the refined energy as he turned and wrapped both arms around Delanna and Lily. All three of them were floating 3 feet off the ground now, the energy steadily approaching them, form becoming clearer. “It looks just like I’ve imagined Lady Death!” She thought. “It is her! Well, a part of her. I took a portion of the energy from her Realm and tried to refine it so that we didn’t all die when we absorbed it. She took over and shaped it like that.”

“What’s your name?” Delanna had finally thought to ask.

“Never had one, no need. I’m simply an extension of you now. After we’re done here, you’ll never see this form again, but I’ll always be with you.”

“Damn that was close! Why did you wait so long to take over?!” Srit screamed at Sariah

“He’s got to know his limits, he took too much.” Sariah was focusing with the intensity that only came from a mother protecting her children.

“So, you’re, um, kind of a “mother” now?”

“I guess so” she chuckled behind tears, “I’d never thought about it like that. I mean, I’ve never allowed a piece of me to fully bond with anyone else so why would I, ya know?”

“Speaking of, why?”

“Why? Oh. I can’t fully remember what happened last time I was awake, but I do know that I nearly died. Had they done enough damage to this body, I’m pretty sure that I’d have died for real. I don’t want to leave behind a world without magic again. I NEED successors and companions to share the burden with. I like you and all, but you’re a dick.” She set the Imp on her lap as she joked with him. Her tension was finally easing, though her eyes stayed locked on the events at hand.

“I get it, you’re not really good company either. Another few thousand years with you and I might have to have some babies too. Do you think this shaking and magical release is okay? It seems like it might do quite a bit of damage.” He prodded right back at her.

“What?” Sariah’s focus finally drifted to her surroundings. “Oh shit, I didn’t even notice.” All around them the ground was violently shaking, she could faintly hear the screams of the women over the noise. She held up her hand and opened her magical senses. Feral magic was pouring out into the world so fast and thick that it felt like a hurricane. “They’re joining is resonating so strongly that it’s causing waves in the binding between realms.”

“So, you could have let them release all of the power stored in your realm?”

“No, this place held the second of what I think are three focal points. They were using my armor to direct and power a spell that placed a containment barrier on my dimension. With two gone, this much power can get out, but as the third locations power increases so does the effect of the spell. If the spell is unbalanced when the barrier is broken it will direct the full blast of the energy in one direction. Do you remember the Claymore Mines? It would be just like that.” She explained.

“OHHHH! Okay.” Srit adjusted himself. “Sariah, what will she become?”

“I can’t wait to see Srit.” She settled her elbows on her knees and focused on the action.

Delanna, Lily and their Brother

The energy form finally reached them but stopped. Delanna looked down for the first time able to see more than her peripheral would allow. The form in front of them just waited.

We will have to meld our energies into a single mass before we can absorb that. If we’re out of sync at all, we’ll all die. Mother made it much easier, I can feel her guiding me. Open your entire being to each other.

The trio managed the act in mere minutes. Sariah’s red essence was at the core, wrapped tightly around it was the smoky black essence of Lily. Pulsing around, inside and through their two essences was his. Their spiritual bodies melded into a single form and they floated to the ground.

A blue green looking dome formed over their head, followed by hundreds more layers being added to it.

The energy woman simply upheld her hands, Delanna held hers up and placed them palm to palm with the woman.

Pain that dwarfed the previous absorption erupted through her body. The vision of power vanished in the blink of an eye. A shockwave of energy fired out all around Delanna, most splashed against the dome and dissipated quickly. The shaking ground finally settled. Every living person had felt the trembling of the ground and those that were sensitive to magic had been knocked unconscious by the magic energy assaulting their sense. Magical devices that had previously been dormant for hundreds of years came back to life. Everyone now knew that magic had returned to the universe.

Delanna found herself staring at her own body, time seemed to have ceased. Find your Bond she heard the boys voice resonate inside her.

Her body floated higher and she could see twisted images of her dead blood elf friends spirits barring entry at all doors leading to her physical body. Ohh! Wow, I didn’t even know that our spirits were that strong.

They usually aren’t. The atrocities committed to them created a very nasty amount of negative energy. It was hard to get that energy to do anything until I said that we’d reap the souls of the Duke and all involved in our treatment. They all swore oaths to serve me, and I told them to keep you safe. Lily replied.

“I see. Let us travel to The Afterlife, I will find my bond there.” A door tore open in front of her with writing on it.

THE AFTERLIFE: ONE WAY

She opened the door with no hesitation, somehow, she knew that she’d be able to return.

Srit and Sariah

“What the fuck?! All of that just so she could kill herself?” Srit’s annoyance was usually relished by Sariah, but on this day, she shared a bit of it.

“I can’t be totally sure, but, she may be able to make it out of there. When I built that place I never intended for anyone other than me to travel back and forth.” Sariah had already begun to move towards Delanna’s physical body so that she could keep her safe and relieve the spirits that stood watch.

Kavon, Erection, Tom and Sub had all made it minutes before the magical pulse of energy. Tom and Kavon were currently in the same state as all Mages, unconscious.

The Afterlife

Immediately after traveling through the door to The Afterlife Delanna was subdued by two Dragons. They gave no warning and showed no hesitation. Del was wrapped in a cocoon of blackness and being transported quickly to some location in the realm. Both creatures were speaking, but, the Dragon’s language had been lost long ago.

Hey! On the bright side, it seems like we’re headed straight for the center of this place! Lily sang in her mind.

I agree, we must do this quickly. I know exactly who I want to bond. If he accepts this shouldn’t take long and we can get back to our sister’s spirits. I don’t really care to have them expending their Essence for us any longer than possible.

Almost as if being granted a wish, Del’s cocoon lifted and she was standing in front of three beings. Two of them she knew of, the third was a mystery.

“Child. You should not be here. Why do you risk your everlasting soul to come here?” The third man spoke, his voice was booming and commanding. This was a powerful spirit.

Delanna knelt in respect, lowered her eyes to the floor and replied. “My Kings, I’ve come to bond with Queen Cully. I am Delanna the Prime and…daughter of Lady Death.”

The spirits that had gathered all began chattering in a rush of excitement.

A strong female voice rang out above the voices “Guardians, return to your posts please. We know who you are Lady Delanna. Our vision reaches far, we’ve watched your line closely when we could. Stand Child, I will hear you.”

“Queen Cully…I” she was cut off.

“Cully will do, you share the energy and blood of the Goddess. We felt you the moment the door was open, sorry for the poor welcome, but we must protect this realm. In this place, only Lady Death is above you. If you command that I Bond with you, I will obey. Allow me to serve.” Cully extended a low bow.

“Command? No, I would never command the spirits of the dead. I would request your Bond, and have you make your own choice. If you would accept I’d speak terms.” Life was a funny thing to Delanna. She was not used to this reverence towards her.

“My Lady Delanna, there need be no terms. I’ve seen your actions and feel your spirit. Lady Joan can assume my mantle as the leader of the Tribunal and I appoint the Ancient known as Lilith as my replacement. Let us Bond Lady Delanna, I wish to serve you.” Cully had bowed with an extended hand.

“I wish to serve as well Lady Delanna” the other two spirits spoke at the same time. “And I” came a powerful voice from behind Delanna. The third spirit lumbered behind the other two, all of them speaking in an unheard language, and bowed as well. “We, The Tribunal of The Afterlife, present the service of all spirits to be used through Cully to assist you in all things. We will give all and expect nothing for our service, save for your visits and services as Prime.”

Delanna couldn’t believe the dedication or gift she was given. “Cully, Tribunal and spirits of The Afterlife. I pledge to all of you on my own Essence that I shall perform my duties as Prime from now until my dying breath. I will honor you in my actions. I will visit whenever I can. I will fill this realm with clean spirits and care for you for all my days” Delanna stated as she placed her hand on Cully’s.

Every spirit in the realm, save for Cully, raised their hands and shouted over and over “Lady Delanna! Lady Delanna! Lady Delanna!” A brief flash of light radiated from Cully, and then The Tribunal followed by the masses of spirits gathered.

“Let us find passage back to the land of the living Lady Delanna, from your mind I can see that there are powers and vengeance awaiting us all.” At that, the pair shot into the air towards the entrance of The Afterlife.

Once at the entrance Delanna closed her eyes and spoke to herself, “Brother, please show me how to open the veil and return to the Human Realm.” A warm feeling rushed to her mind accompanied by knowledge of Sariah’s methods to Realm Walking. She pointed her fingers to a spot next to where the entrance door had been, and a tiny circle formed in thin air. She twisted her hand clockwise while expanding her fingers outward, the red circle opened wide enough for the pair to walk through. Before entering she decided that the only flow outward would be connected to Cully. Delanna knew that she was going to taint her spirit and hoped that she could prevent or mitigate the same from happening to the spirits of this realm. A symbol formed both on the door and on the backs of Cully’s hands. “Thank you, Lady, I understand your intention. Do not fear, any spirit that becomes corrupted by our actions will easily be able to be purified upon our next visit.”

Delanna came out of the portal a new woman. Her armor, Lily, hugged her body like a second skin made of dense black energy and roiling like smoke. Her eyes were a deep purple and skin alabaster. She exuded power and death. To her side was the spirit of Cully, the most revered Blood Elf in the history of their race. Cully was famed for her Necromancy, but a legend because of her fighting skills and strategy in war.

Scattered around the pair were all the solders, weapons drawn and fully armored. Each man looked terrified at the sight before them, except one. Jasper strode out between two of the soldiers and sneered at Delanna. “So, you’ve become a Mage? You’re still nothing, and you’ll die like the whore you are.”

Not taking her eyes from the man, Cully heard and understood Delanna’s request. “Cully…” she spoke.

“I will not interfere Lady Delanna.” She remained unmoving.

Jasper drew his sword as fast as a snake strike and lunged at Delanna. The woman didn’t move a muscle, but the smoke from the armor condensed where the tip of the sword would have penetrated. The weapon collided with a loud clang, the man wasted no time as he dropped and spun the sword at her legs. Delanna raised her leg over the sword and planted it behind her. She threw her right hand behind her and more quickly than a mortal’s eyes could perceive, smoke rolled down her arm forming a blade in her hand. The left was bent at an angle in front of her face, smoke formed a shield that solidified before intercepting the next swing of the Captain’s sword.

The man took a few steps back, panting a bit. “You have some skill, it won’t save you though. I’ll rip that pretty little armor from your body!” A dagger shot from the man’s hand towards Del’s face. Instantly the shield vanished, and smoke rolled from her arm to her face, forming a visor. Jasper took advantage of the situation scoring a deep wound on Del’s arm where the smoke was still in transition.

“Good armor, but it’s limited. I see your weakness, you’ll die slowly.” somewhere along the way the man had picked up a one-handed hammer. His sword arc was coming in from above, deceptively the hammer was coming in at the same time from the right side. Delanna threw her sword up to block the blow but missed the hammer. It pounded the armor and she felt the shock in her guts. Jasper gave her no time to recover, his hammer came in again and slammed into her shoulder, the sword falling to the ground and vanishing into smoke. One last blow connected in the middle of her back and she face planted.

“My Lady, I will…” Cully spoke.

“You will do nothing Cully.” Came the pained reply.

A slight head bow, “My Lady.”

Anger roiled in Delanna’s mind. Memories of all the sisters lost to her because of evil men. Torture and pain for their pleasure. Being treated as less than animals. Worse than anything though, the corruption of her sisters and friend’s spirits. “Lily, it’s time to bring the fight to them.” Delanna got to her feet quickly, her body now screaming in pain.

“Aww, I was having fun playing around. Can we save him for later and punish the rest now?”

“Sounds good.” Delanna laughed wickedly, her purple eyes turned red.

“Oh, so you think that changing your eye color is going to scare me? I’ve measured you and found you lacking. Come on bitch, it’s time to end this.” Jasper had acquired another hammer and was tensed for his next barrage of attacks.

Jasper lunged at her, hammers coming in on both sides of her head. She ducked the hammers as the smoke on her arms formed into knuckle weapons. Her uppercut connected at full force with Jaspers fat belly, forcing his feet a few inches from the ground. She stood and wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, a ridged sold strip formed on the top of her thigh as it was flying upwards into Jasper’s nose with a violent crack of breaking bones. She pushed the man backwards a few feet, crouched down and twisted her body to the right with both arms extended holding a quickly forming handle. The form solidified into a glassy black hammer. She uncoiled her body bringing the hammer up with her and smashed into the face of the Captain. The blow sent the man’s feet above his head, he landed in a heap on the ground. She sent a tendril of smoke into his body that would not allow his spirit to separate from his physical form until released.

The remaining men turned to run, but Cully tossed her hands to her side. Spirits flew from her hands and formed a barrier around the 15 men. “You will not leave until my Lady gives you permission.”

Panic sent the men into chaos. Two men turned to fight her. The man with the spear lunged at her and managed a cut on her cheek. She pointed to the shaft of the weapon, her hand staying by her side, a trail of smoke wrapped around it and solidified. She pulled the rope, tossing the spear behind her and impaling the second man. Her right hand moved over her left breast, a hilt rose from the surface, she grabbed the hilt and slowly pulled a dagger out. She held the man’s throat in her left hand, slowly pushing the dagger through the man’s heart. “I remember you.” She coldly said, using the dagger to syphon the evil in the man’s Essence. “Cully, what do you wish to do with the spirit once I syphon the corruption?”

“My lady, a spirit that corrupt cannot be pure. Please give it to me so that I may disperse what is left” the woman held a hand out.

“No, let’s hold on to it. We’ll find a place for those in-between spirits, until then they will be contained.” Del ripped the half-cleansed spirit from the man’s body and tossed it to Cully.

Lily, let us see what we can do to finish this quickly. I wish to confront the Duke as soon as possible. Kill all save for the Captain.

*hehe* Watch this! Lily replied.

All the armor and the dagger puffed completely into smoke, leaving Delanna naked. She fed her red energy into the cloud of smoke causing it to crackle wildly with energy. In a single moment the smoke stretched into spikes, impaling every man inside of the barrier and solidified.

“May I eat their evil?” Lily asked hopefully.

“Of course. Does it provide you sustenance?”

“It provides me power.” She said from a Smokey shaped face.

“Perfect, we waste nothing, consume them and Cully will store the remainder.”

The men’s Essences were ripped from their bodies simultaneously after Lily’s feeding frenzy and stopped, the smoke cloud gaining mass and depth.

Delanna lit the men’s bodies on fire, bound the Captain and began to make her way towards the City of the Dead with no further words.