Following the last incident, Keela mostly worked from her office, spending her free time mapping demiplanes. Over the course of the following month, the days melded together, only proving the advancement by the increasing amount of papers affixed to the wall that formed a map. Velka often accompanied Keela as her personal bodyguard, but would often have duties that couldn’t be shied away. The more Keela went about the planes, the more she felt something change. She would get frequent headaches when in an outside plane accompanied by profuse sweating which led her to stop exploring at the end of the month, associating this response to an overexposure to the planes.

At the end of the month, instead of eating in her own room like usual, she chose to head to the usual table, meeting the two surprised faces of Saphielle and Velka, both not expecting her presence. Shrugging this off, she grabbed an apple and bit into it, only to jab her own tongue. With a yelp, she dropped the apple, swearing under her breath while her eyes teared up.

“Did you just bite your tongue?” asked Velka, cocking an eyebrow in amusement.

“Yes, don’t laugh at me”, replied Keela, tasting the iron in her mouth.

“How did you manage that?”

“I’m just that good.”

Keela accompanied her statement with a wide mocking smile, which caused Velka to worry immediately, making Keela drop the attitude.

“What’s wrong?” asked Keela, puzzled at the sudden change in attitude.

“What happened to your teeth?” asked Velka, getting closer and pulling Keela’s lower lip down with her thumb.

Only four teeth had changed, the canines turning into full blown fangs. The four teeth were significantly larger and longer, curving over the other ones, hiding when her mouth was closed. The difference wasn’t felt for her but it was definitely perceptible.

“I don’t know? Do you think I’ve been exploring outer planes too much?” asked Keela, feeling her teeth intently with her tongue.

“You have no idea what’s in there! The mages capable of casting Gate all died five hundred years ago! Maybe stop pushing your luck?” said Velka, understandably unnerved.

“This is a new thing though. The headaches started two weeks ago.”

“And why didn’t you stop then?”

“I figured it was unrelated.”

Saphielle looked up from her papers, interrupting their bickering.

“With all due respect, your majesty, you are an idiot”, she said, going back to her papers as if nothing else had happened.

“Noted”, replied Keela, throwing away the discarded apple and grabbing another, being wary of her tongue this time.

“For all we know, you could be terribly sick”, continued Velka, crossing her arms like a disappointed mother.

“We can spar later, I’ll prove I’m in tip top shape”, said Keela, kicking up her feet on the table.

“But if you lose, no more planeswalking for the next month.”

“Deal.”

Within the next half hour, they were dressed for sparring and getting ready on the sides of the training square. A small crowd of soldiers had gathered around the edges as a fight between the queen and high general wasn’t something anyone could see every day. Keela sported simple form fitting clothes, the top cropped letting her stomach scar show. The cut of the neck reminded everyone of the lightning scars on her neck as well, making her look menacing in her own right. Her hair was tied in a short ponytail, freeing her of any worry regarding it, the white ends dangling on the few locks that had escaped. Velka wore similar attire, which didn’t show her scars or lack thereof but instead outlined the state of her body being above most people through rigorous training. She also sported a ponytail but had wrapped it around in a bun. Fingerless gloves fitted with forearm protectors were passed to the two of them, an addition by Saphielle to minimize the lingering pain that would come from the fight. As they were both ready, the crowd tightened, its numbers having grown over the preparation. The two opponents faced each other, their bare feet sitting restlessly on the sand of the training grounds. Velka was in a stable wide stance while Keela hopped on her toes, keeping light. As the signal was given, the battle began.

Keela immediately dashed towards Velka, boosting her physical strength to match hers. With a slight flourish, she got low to the ground, holding her weight on one hand as she bent a leg and flung the other towards Velka’s side at dizzying speed. Velka easily blocked the hit, which felt like hitting a wall for Keela. Bouncing back, Keela went for a series of quick punches, all dodged or blocked by her opponent. Velka replied to the last punch, dodging forward to get inside the volatile defense. Instead of punching, her knee rose and hit Keela in the stomach, making her fly off a few meters and tumble in the dirt, losing all the air in her lungs. She promptly got back up, deciding to amp the strength of her hits. In a dash that lifted sand behind her, she was right up to Velka again, palm striking her in the middle of the chest, sending her flying back far enough for the crowd to part so no one would get hit.

“Is that how you’re going to play it?” said Velka, wiping off some sweat while getting back up.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about love, I’m just here to spar like we said”, replied Keela, smiling, her newly sharp canines showing.

Velka smiled and advanced decisively, walking confidently towards Keela. As she raised her fist to punch, Keela raised an arm to parry, deeming it easy. As the hand opened and stopped before hitting her, she understood too late. The compressed heated air hit her with a loud explosion, which caused her to recoil despite her substantially boosted capabilities. A drop of blood came down from her nose, which she wiped off, grinning. She ran towards Velka again, jumping up and hitting from different angles. Every hit that she tried to land, rapidly heating gas expanded, blocking the hit by fighting the pressure. Instead of punching for the last hit, she hit with her fingers straight, mana accumulated into a thin veil of energy like a blade around her fingers. The gas deviated her hand at the last second. As Velka realized what the attack was, a small cut opened on her cheek. And from there, it degenerated.

What hit Keela first was the smell. A sweet scent emanated from Velka, making her unbelievably appealing. Going closer to the ground again, Keela lost control. The speed at which she dashed towards Velka exceeded everyone’s expectations. As the sonic boom hit Velka’s ears, she understood it was too late. Keela tackled her at an insane speed, causing the both of them to fly off the ground and through the crowd, hitting a wall at a speed that would be lethal if Velka hadn’t softened it with her gas technique. The heat required to make the hit survivable was so strong that Velka realized in the moment that she had burned the ends of her hair and the back of her neck. Keela was over her, pupils dilated, purring softly. A very strange sound to come out of an elven girl. As she leaned closer, she opened her mouth and immediately sank her teeth in Velka’s shoulder, causing her to yelp in pain. Pulling Keela off quickly before any flesh was ripped off, Velka stared into her eyes.

“Focus! Come back!” she yelled, looking desperately at the back of her eyes.

Seeing no trace of Keela made her panic as she kept fighting off the attempts to bite her, which only got more ferocious. Running out of options, she grabbed Keela’s cheeks and leaned in, kissing her intensely. After two seconds of it happening, Keela let out a yelp and separated their mouths, suddenly realizing what was happening. Velka raised her voice, ignoring the pain from the bite marks in her shoulder, holding a dumbfounded Keela at arms length by the shoulders.

“I think I win.”