The majority of the population of his mythical Jade Empire is made up of demihumans, specifically anthropomorphs. It is well known that these species are not fit to rule what is claimed to exist deep within the Darklands, the few humans in their society must therefore hold every position of power if such a place even exists. – an excerpt from Myths of Those Long Lost

Lysan

The day after our attack, we ended up walking far further and longer than normal. I don’t fully understand why but sister said it was about putting distance between us and those that will be or already have been sent to figure out what happened to their facility. A day through the night and the next day.

When we finally stop to rest in some small town not marked on any map I’ve ever seen. We’re the only group of travelers currently in the small inn and yet it is full as we sit in small groups around the tables in the common room. As we sit, all waiting for the rooms to be readied as they have to prepare extra beds. I am surprised at how well some of the others have handled the extended marching.

Sister and me can use a variation on the daily rest to take it while walking but the others don’t have that benefit. The werewolves look exhausted as they sit around a table and the little human woman looks dead on her feet but somehow the other humans look fine as they sit around talking. I try to listen in on their conversation but cannot get more that a few of the words.

I can hear them, I just don’t understand it. I’ve only figured out a few words from overhearing the lessons Adrian is giving to the others.

“Why do you bother with that?” my sister asks as we both frown at the barely eatable fruit that the owner of the inn sold us.

“Learning their language will be helpful” I answer.

“How? They are not enemies and already know ours.”

“There are more reasons than just military to learn others languages.”

“They’re no tomes written in whatever tongue that is.”

“You haven’t been paying attention to them have you.”

“Why would I?”

“To learn from them.”

“They can teach us in our own language.”

“All day those two,” I begin pointing at Adrian and the older man, “were talking about the secrets of their magic.”

“What? Right there in the open?”

“Well, they we’re quiet enough for the other humans not to hear but the rest way just the language barrier.”

“Then how do you know that’s what they were talking about?”

Both of us go quiet when a certain kitsune walks over to are table and very quietly asks “are there stores in elven lands?”

“Uh yes” I answer surprised that she could actually speak the elven tongue.

“Do these stores sell clothes?”

My sister rolls her eyes as I again answer “yes.” Why would she be asking such obvious questions?

The kitsune then leans in closer and whispers, “fancy girly clothes?”

“Of course but why are. . .”

I don’t get our the rest of the sentence as she hugs me and says, “we’ll have to go shopping then.”

“There rather expensive” my sister says at the kitsune.

“That’s okay. Adrian will let me spend money on this.”

“And what mákes you thought that he did” Kythia says as she walks over to the table, butchering the conjunctions of the elven tongue.

I turn to look at her leaving Adrian to the mercies of a lecture from the older human woman as she takes a bottle away from him.

The kitsune then says something I don’t catch, something in Lycanthrip. I do however see the werewolf pause and smile at whatever it was before saying, “no you worry, Adrian has money for we twelve.”

“You need to practice more” the kitsune says.

“Your need to stopped cheater.”

“It’s not cheating.”

“Remembered things that no happen is cheater.”

“not yet happen.”

“What is she talking about?” I whisper in confusion to my sister who merely shrugs before taking a bite of her apple.

“are cheater”

Ria just sticks her tongue out at Kythia before turning and walking over to the table Adrian is at. Kythia's eyes follow her for a moment with the slightest of frown before she turns back to sister and me and says, “máke learn me you . . .” she pauses for a moment before saying “words please” clearly knowing that it is the wrong word but close enough for us to understand.

“No” my sister answers before I can.

“What your want?”

“Sister, she’s one of our benefactors. Keeping us safe as we travel back home” I say towards my sister.

“But teaching a language takes so long. . .”

“We’ll teach you but. . .”

“I don’t want to.”

I sigh, knowing she isn’t going to budge on that soon.

Katherine

I sigh as I give a bottle of wine back to my son. He grins as he takes it back and pours a glass. Why did he have to change so much?

“Adrian, can howlie and me go. . .” Ria begins saying as she walks up to my son before she is interrupted by his other wife.

“Don’t call me that!” my son's other woman shouts from where she is talking with the elves.

Only to continue with the same slightest of smirks, “. . . shopping when we get to the elven cities?” having paused for the exact moment she was interrupted.

“Your going to push her too far one of these days” my son says.

“It’ll still be worth it.”

“Just don’t push her too far” my son whispers as she leans up against him.

“Adrian, we. . .” I begin as Ria sits in his lap, easily getting his attention, even if they don’t go farther than that.

“You didn’t answer my question” Ria says and my son just replies, “you already know my answer.”

“I still like to hear it.”

“Later” he whispers in her ear.

I cough just loud enough to catch my son’s attention before starting to speak again. My husband just sitting with a smirk on his face.

“Adrian, we need to talk about how to get home.”

“I don’t think dad’s original plan will work anymore” he responds.

“Why?”

“What’s going to happen when we bring a bunch of extra people back?”

“Others will start looking into where they came from.”

“And Ria is the only one who can speak English.”

“Don’t worry I’m good at hiding” Ria interjects.

“Until you think it’d be funny to mess with someone” Adrian adds to the end of her sentence.

“I can make a paper trail but that won’t last forever. Something else would be better. I’ll do it anyways but . . .” Randy starts before my son cuts him off.

“We can find another way. The magics of this world can do it and that can give both a background to answer questions and . . .”

“That’s not a good idea. Just oh aliens from another world will not go well.”

“I mean a larger scale. Dump a bunch of people, a bunch of the supernatural creatures, and enough of the land to make an island for them. . .”

“How is that better?” I ask.

“Our group won’t be the focus” Randy answers.

“There’s still several problems with it but. . .”

“Enough rampaging supernatural creatures and they’re not going to be able to deal with it themselves, then a significant population of those who do know. . .”

“That’s my idea. At least on how to make it perfectly fine for the Bloodclaw, Ria, and the rest won’t be a problem with their clearly not earthly culture and supernatural abilities. Doing that I’m not sure yet. It can’t be Ravnos magic though.”

Randy nods though I don’t understand why it can’t be the magic he used to get us here.

“Do you have any idea on how to do that or how much energy will have to be provided?”

“I grabbed a lot of books on Conjuration, that should give me some of the how. I’m not sure how to get the energy, blood magic while using Ravnos magic to regenerate works well but. . .”

“Aging is a problem” Ria states.

“How? I thought it was magic?” I say with a frown still a bit uncomfortable about it.

“You haven’t figured the way around that yet have you?” Randy asks.

“Sort of, I can just undo damage but that leaves the mana drawn from the blood hollow and it collapses.”

Randy nods for a moment, “how do the natives drag people to their world? That power source should be enough.”

“I don’t know. The Althaen never shared tha. . .”

“They use a mix of blood sacrifice and storing mana into crystals” Ria chimes in before snuggling herself further into my son’s lap.

“Blood sacrifice?” I ask, assuming mana is some form of energy.

“Usually ritualized murder to harvest life force and use it as a source of power” Adrian answers with none of the horror and disgust that he should at such a thing.

“Why would? How can?” I begin finishes to babble

“People do such a thing?” Ria finishes for me.

I nod my head before she answers the question, “they’re desperate and believe humans are more important than any other race.”

“How can they . . . No, it doesn’t matter” I begin wanting to disbelieve that it could be true but I catch myself. If the humans I know can do what history has told me to our own kind, this shouldn’t be a surprise.

“How can we get home then?” I ask returning to the only question I have to get an answer to.

“Gathering the power and lore” Randy answers and both my son and the girl I his lap nod.

“Do you speak German or any of the languages close to it?” Adrian asks while looking at my husband.

“Most of them, why?”

“I have a bunch of books I took from a man . . .”

“Stealing is wrong” I say cutting him off.

“But. . .”

“Do I need to . . .”

“Mom I’m fairly sure he was a Nazi and is part of an organization that is still trying to kill me.”

I stop and take a breath as my son cuts me off. I need to get used to him doing things that see wrong at face value. This is a world of greys, I can’t jump to conclusions. After all I do not understand any of the supernatural nor this world we currently stand on.

“Any idea on what the books are on?” Randy asks not caring about the how Adrian got them.

“They have diagrams that seem to be similar to anatomy but otherwise no. Lots of runic circles but they’re inscribed with the same language as the book so I can’t tell what they should do.”

“Want to look through them or . . .”

“I’ve gotten good a picking up languages. I’d like to be able to read it myself. I’ve a fair grasp on mana theory and. . .”

“I won’t get it all as I don’t know the terms nor a great deal of the basic information about the form of magic. Sure, I can teach you.”

My son smiles before turning to me and saying, “there’s also something else I’d like to talk to you about mom.”

“I’ll leave you two alone for this. Ria, would you mind coming with me to. . .” Randy starts.

“But I like sitting here. It’s my third or fourth favorite place” she wines before she gets up as Randy just looks at her for a second.

“Fine but you got to tell cool stories” she says as she gets up.

“Only if you tell me your side of how you met and decided to, what was the word your culture uses?” he answers her with a grin.

“Deal but I’m going to. . .” she begins as they walk off and my focus turns to Adrian.

“How much do you know of dragons?” he asks.

“What does that have anything to do with what’s going on?” I ask in return.