17. Cinis

Two days after seeing, and killing, those dark elves outside the hovel, I still don't understand what's happening. I thought I had accepted that Serena could not be trusted, but giving her up and walking away still doesn't sit right with me.

I have too many questions, too many things I need to ask before I can understand why we're in the position we're in now, not even speaking to each other. I've got to make sense of this.

I leave the cavern, ready to confront Serena now that I've calmed myself. I need to understand how she's associated with the dark elves and what she isn't telling me.

I don't understand this bond. But I know that I hunger in a way that souls can't feed me.

And I know that I can't say goodbye until I make sense of this.

The vast expanse seems far larger, my jets of flame only vaguely punctuating the silence.

I miss talking with her on these long travels. It's been so long since we've been close.

In the distance, I can see our stony abode. I vaguely wonder why I wasn't able to touch her when we last met. It's been heavy on my mind since I left her.

That's when a familiar feeling of dread overtakes me.

We've been found. There's someone here.

I don't try to hide or run away from the source of that noise. I remain motionless, staring off into the distance where I can only discern trees and snow. Nothing attracts my attention at first, but then I see them.

It's not like before, when they were only vaguely passing by, stopping outside our hovel. This time, there are legions of them.

They're coming my way, clad in a strange blue armor that reflects light brilliantly. That's what catches my gaze immediately. Then, I notice their hardened faces, their dark eyes that stare directly at me.

"Who sent you here?"

I try to project my voice into their minds. But either they're indifferent to my words, or they somehow don't hear me.

"I'm asking you a question!"

Their smug smiles as they look at me send me into a rage.

Tendrils extend out from my body towards the attackers. I throw all of my energy and strength into this attack, wanting to tear each of these creatures apart for threatening the sanctity and peace of my makeshift home with Serena. Wanting to sear the flesh from their bodies.

Luckily enough, I have enough fire to melt through their bodies completely.

Whatever they're doing here, and however they've manipulated Serena, I'll make them pay for all of it.

Jets of fire project from me in waves, enveloping the entire area save for the hovel.

The melting snow heats up, becoming a vapor, and the grass catches fire, creating a layer of smoke.

When the smoke clears, they are completely unharmed.

I lift my arm again, sending fire at one of the men, whose smile is especially malicious.

But my flames bounce off of his armor as if they're a passing breeze, stretching toward the blue metal and then flinging off in opposing directions.

"You're not a threat to us anymore," one of the men says. "Leave this place. We have no more business with you."

This disgusts me.

"Get the girl," he adds. "Aldris wants to question her personally."

The white-hot heat within my soul burns furiously, unable to conceal my fury for the creatures who have ruined everything.

I throw more flames at them, trying everything I can to stop them. But as Serena emerges from the hovel, a light blue magical energy surrounding her, she struggles against her captor, and I realize that I misread the situation.

"Cinis," she cries out, squirming in the large dark elf's arms. "Be careful, Cinis! They have my amulet! It's–"

A bright green energy snakes from one of their fingers, swirling itself around her mouth. Her screams are effectively muffled.

"What are we going to do with him?" one asks. "Isn't he going to pose a problem?"

"Don't worry about that. We've nullified the threat."

That's when one of the men in the back readies a magical surge.

I want to lift him into the air, as I see him aiming for the hovel.

But my magic doesn't connect. Whatever that armor is, it nullifies everything I can do to them.

A burst of magical energy emits from the dark elf, as the others watch with glee.

With a thunderous impact, the walls of the hovel are sent crashing down, all of our belongings surely crushed inside upon collision.

I watch in horror. I could always build it back, but it will never be the same.

I can't very easily touch Serena, or I'm going to burn her. And the magical energy surrounding her makes her immune to my magic too.

"Nothing is working," I say to myself, feeling an overwhelming urge to destroy everything in my path. They have taken everything away from me. "Why is nothing working?"

"Oh, good idea," one of the dark elves says, admiring the collapsed hovel. "Really puts a nice bow on it."

The laughter grows louder. My fury burns deeper.

My flames do not work against them. I can't lift them into the air.

For the first time in my existence, I feel helpless.

There's only one thing I can do, I think.

As far as I know, they're not immune to mental attacks.

As Serena remains muffled in one of the men's arms, I emit a high-pitched scream, feeling my rage fill their minds.

It has some effect, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. Instead, the dark elves grit their fangs together, their eyes squinting in annoyance.

"Can't you shut that thing up?" one of the men asks. "It's really giving me a headache."

"Not a worry," another dark elf says.

I watch as, only vaguely irritated by the intrusion, they ready a blast of light, sending it hurtling in my direction.

The blast knocks me back into a tree, which catches fire immediately.

I am woozy from the impact.

They walk off into the distance, and I am left alone with my pain.

I am alone with the realization of how badly I've failed her. Clearly, they weren't allying themselves with her. They were merely leaving her alive because she was useful to them somehow. Why, I'm not sure.

But I can't give up. She's still within reach. If I just move quickly…

"What a useless thing you are."

Glancing up, the creature in front of me looks down at me with his chin slightly upturned and his upper lip curled. He wears the same armor that the rest of his soldiers wear. But there's something about him that seems especially disgusted.

As I look up at him, I notice Serena's amulet hanging around his neck, the runes glowing bright red.

"So you're the monster who killed Arcanis?"

I try to rush away, back toward Serena. I can still sense her pain.

But the dark elf knocks me back down to the ground, white magic pushing me to the charred rock.

I pointlessly send a large flame casting toward him, but as expected, it hits the armor and flies off into the distance, crashing against the mountainside.

"You'll find we're a lot more prepared for you than we were when you first arrived here," the man says, his voice slow and toxic. "Arcanis was a fool. I was wrong for trusting him to carry out our mission."

"Who are you?" I ask, speaking directly into his mind.

He grits his teeth.

"It's a pleasure to meet the creature who has so badly stalled our research," he says, not immediately addressing the question. "I'm Aldris. Aldris Elruca. Perhaps you've heard of me?"

I harden my form, ready to launch another unsuccessful attack.

I just wish he'd shut up.

"No matter," he says, smiling widely. "You know, I wanted to congratulate you. Good job. You won a vital battle against my men earlier. But your girl–"

He pauses, looking at me with utter indifference.

"Oh, what was her name again?"

"Serena," I reply. "If you hurt her, you will regret it. That's all I am willing to say to you."

"Oh, don't bother with that. There's no use threatening me," Aldris replies, making a gesture with his hand. "I'm afraid you're far outside your element. And we'll make sure to treat your woman real nice. Make her the breeder she was always destined to be."

Another jet of flame collides with his armor and bounces off, doing absolutely nothing except dislodging several rocks from the mountain.

If I keep doing this, I'm going to burn up all my energy and ravage the landscape.

"Why aren't my attacks doing anything," I ask him, having given up on understanding. "What is that armor?"

A grin appears on his elven face. Then, he lets out a dry laugh as he closes his eyes and shakes his head. He lets out a long, drawn out sigh before continuing.

"That's something you don't need to know," he says. "No. I'm not giving you vital information. But I'm going to do you a favor."

I survey his face, trying to discern his intentions.

"What?"

"You were an accident, really," Aldris says. "Can you believe we were just trying to acquire a perpetual source of heat from your plane so that we could heat our houses and make colonization easier? But that girl's stupid amulet…"

He clutches the golden relic around his neck.

"Anyway, I'd be happy to send you home where you belong," he says. "I'm sure you've been just miserable here."

"But… but what about…"

"Your human?" Aldris asks, smiling wide. "Oh, don't worry about her. We'll take good care of her. Before long, she won't even remember you existed."

A deep ache materializes within my body, something that I can't explain nor control. It blooms within my chest at hearing those words, expanding throughout my body until I'm incapacitated once more.

What is happening to me?

"Please just let me go after her," I say. "I'll leave your soldiers alone. You don't need her."

"Oh, I beg to disagree," he replies, rubbing the amulet around his neck. "You see, the humans on Prazh have been allowed to roam free for far too long. It's time we reign them in and allow them to realize their true purpose."

I fling myself forward at him in a final fruitless effort.

"As breeders."

I crash into his armor, doing absolutely nothing.

"I think it's about time you go home, where you're not a problem to our mission," Aldris says. "Don't you agree?"

Light radiates from the amulet, matching the color of the snow. As Aldris whispers an incantation, the light stretches toward me in wispy strands, enveloping me and obscuring my vision.

Soon enough, it feels like I'm falling through the ground. I have no direction, no purpose, and nowhere to go. Only white light envelops me and holds me close.

I can feel the cool air of Protheka dissipating, heat surrounding me instead.

And I can only think of Serena.