The Chimeric Ascension of Lyudmila Springfield

Intermission – Quella – Undead Curse & Chimeric Menace – Part Three (Illustrations!)

And so, fifteen minutes later, Kaiho grew twenty times his size. He was big enough for us to jump in his shell, and he swam through the air, over the cliff, and headed towards the city in the distance. Its walls were partly crumbling. The closer we got, the more awful the smell became. There wasn’t anything green or resembling life anywhere. Hordes of undead mindlessly walked through the deaf forests below us, and we saw them get attacked by undead wolves, zombie hawks, and skeleton alligators that lived in the blackest, most putrid rivers imaginable.     

Kaiho landed at the city’s gates—on the south side. Thirty stumbling undead were protecting the entrance. They were called decayed guardians, and they were Lv. 44. The armor was rusted, but their exposed bones shimmered and glowed with charged electricity.    

Remy pulled her daggers and merely walked forward.   

“[Temporal Slowness].” A white fog burst from her body, slowing everything within by a factor of 100.    

That included us. 

From our point of view, she moved faster than lightning, zipping between each monster and severing their heads. Enele clapped his hands and used a barrier to make us immune to the effects, and the inverse happened.    

The decayed guardians were the ones who acted as if they were standing still.    

But then Remy teleported into the air. Then to the left. And the right. And there were four of her, yet she was also standing beside us, juggling her daggers.    

But…   

Remy laughed and said our confusion was adorable.   

Whatever power she held…it was on a different level. Slowing time and teleporting? Was she fast enough to be in five spots while continuing a conversation? Was each teleport bringing a Remy from another world or time to fight in her place?   

Or was it something else?   

Nothing made sense about her. When the last monster died, she sheathed her weapons and said she wanted us to redeem ourselves from the earlier showing.    

Enele remained quiet when I looked to him for help. If I was right, his neutrality was really being tested, or maybe I was naïve enough to think that.    

Regardless, we entered the city, enduring a hazy mist of oppressive death that was thick and visible. Breathing was difficult. We were given a debuff, reducing our mana and stamina. Even a mere [Heat Wave], which I used to melt a group of acid ghouls, required drastically more resources. They exploded and dissolved a nearby house, which held thirty zombie rats. They spread like the plague, charging straight for us. I was about to wipe them out when Elly started to sing. She cried and sang [Healing Melody], the deep and haunting lyrics about a girl who wanted her friends to rest in peace.    

In shadows cast, where memories reside, 

A whispered melody, where sorrow abides, 

A girl with a heavy heart, her voice so serene, 

Singing a haunting song, to lay souls serene. 

[Healing Melody], flow into the night, 

Ease the weary hearts, in eternal flight, 

Grant them solace, where darkness is released, 

Let them find their peace, in eternal sleep. 

With gentle notes, she weaves a mournful tale, 

Of love once cherished, now lost to the veil, 

Her voice resonates, piercing through the gloom, 

To bring solace and rest, beyond the tomb. 

May the echoes of her song, reach the distant shores, 

To mend broken spirits, where anguish soars, 

For in the depths of her sorrowful strain, 

Lies the power to heal, to soothe all pain. 

[Healing Melody], flow into the night, 

Ease the weary hearts, in eternal flight, 

Grant them solace, where darkness is released, 

Let them find their peace, in eternal sleep. 

As tears fall like rain, her voice carries on, 

Guiding lost souls to a tranquil dawn, 

With each mournful verse, she bids them depart, 

To find solace in slumber, and peace in their heart. 

In the realm of shadows, her song remains, 

A healing requiem, where sadness wanes, 

May her melody bring peace to the undead, 

And grant them the rest they longed for, as she said. 

Her voice was so pretty, but it was corrosive poison to the rats. They groaned in pain and almost melted from the inside out, and it attracted even more undead. They all ran to Elly from everywhere in the city, and her singing strengthened. She used every drop of mana, then forced herself to continue, acquiring an ability to overdraw her mana at the risk of limiting herself in the future.    

For thirty minutes, we listened. The undead wails and groans tried to drown out our idol's voice. 

But Elly never stopped. She refused to quiet. Elly became an idol to help people with the power of music. She yearned for her voice to be a source of hope, not death. And even though she was killing, she probably hoped our enemies received relief on the other side.  

The only one who wasn’t crying was Remy. The heartless bitch didn’t have a soul. She didn’t have an ounce of humanity resting in her rotting core.     

When it was all said and done, Elly dropped to her knees and gasped for air. She formed fists, silently crying away her feelings before standing up. Her mana bar, now red, not blue, was draining slowly. Until it emptied, she couldn’t use any magic.    

But that didn’t stop us.    

We pushed past the horde of undead attracted to Elly’s singing and reached the large castle in the middle of town, taking out any stragglers along the way. It was dangerous to fight the undead close, so it was up to me to kill them with my magic. Even with the debuff, my mana regenerated at a crazy rate.    

We encountered liches and undead abominations inside the castle’s gate. There was a front courtyard standing in front of the building. The liches were tall and skeletal, with withered flesh stretched across their bony appearance. Of the four I saw, two were dressed like royalty and wore crowns of bones. They used unholy magic via their bone scepters to raise the dead. They barked orders in a raspy voice, sending chills to my bones.    

They spoke Arezzian.     

The other two were bald, but they were dressed like spell casters. Long, tattered robes loosely clung to their bodies. They each wore ten rings and floated two feet above the ground. I activated [Mana Perception] and almost lost my mind. It… Everything was just the color of death. The undeath energy radiated enough to nearly suffocate me. I didn’t regain my sense of reasoning until Melusine grabbed my shoulders and whispered for me to be calm in my ears.     

My tome fluttered and opened its pages while I prepared another [Heat Wave]. Melusine summoned her wings and flew in, launching an assault of [Ice Hail] and [Cursed Ice Spear]. She was agile and avoided the incoming necrotic bolts of gross green energy. When the time was right, I dashed around the wall and sent my prepared spell their way. The hazy wave of incredibly superheated air melted the ground in moments. The liquid remains bubbled and boiled like the witches preparing a cauldron in a play involving a woman orchestrating her way into becoming the Queen of Scotland.    

The undead archers focused their hail of bony arrows on Melusine and were killed immediately. The liches turned around too late. They didn’t hear anything, and they died an agonizingly painful death.    

The Sanctus Tome is now available for use.    

My Ember Tome turned an intense shade of white and altered forms to look like a holy book. The abilities it held were [Divine Light], a spell to cast a radiant light that wasn’t blinding to illuminate the darkness, [Sacred Shield], a spell that created a transparent shield around the target, offering physical and magical resistance, [Benediction], a prayer type spell that healed my allies within an area, [Serenity’s Embrace], a spell designed to soothe the mind and erase anger and aggression, and [Divine Harmony], a spell to cleanse ourselves of debilitating status effects.    

It was clearly meant for support, not offense. But we had a new healing spell. It was effective.  

That chimera… It wasn’t going to get away.   

We felt more confident, and I had the Sanctus Tome ready when we entered the castle. Unfortunately, [Divine Harmony] didn’t work to remove the one debuff we were affected by. Could I apply a debuff immunity status effect? Maybe, but I didn’t know my Soul Weapon had a form with that spell.     

Melusine wondered if what she felt was what we experienced when we entered her castle in the dungeon.    

“It was a sense of awe and wonder,” I told her, wiping out another group of liches. Their weakness to flames was one thing, but I was starting to understand just how wide the gap of power was between the undead, myself, and that chimera.    

They went down like styrofoam boxes.  

And we went down like a lion swatting a toy block.  

The divide was massive. I knew I was practically a toddler when it came to living in this world, but the difference was staggeringly annoying.    

Enele said he felt dark energy coming from the prisons below, but to get there, we needed to walk around the outer halls to reach the inner sanctum. There existed a secret path to the armory and barracks. Going through via the castle was quicker than looping around the city, although I wondered why we couldn’t fly there on Kaiho.    

It was probably dangerous.    

[Sacred Shield] worked wonders in letting Ami and Greggie join the fight. The defensive spell protected them against wayward scratches or vile magic, and these undead were physically weak to their raw power. Remy had to make crude jokes about Greggie’s weight. She meant for it to be endearing, but that was a load of shit. She said it to be hurtful. Greggie tuned her out and focused on fighting.    

He'd gotten better, for sure. His weight was still a problem. I knew he wasn’t as agile or fit as he wanted, but his status as a Soul Warrior helped fill the gaps.    

Besides, it would take years to get the body Greggie wanted. There was a long road ahead of him-- of us, really. And it was only going to get steeper from here.  

When we arrived at the inner sanctum and discovered the throne room, we were met with a towering undead horde made by fusing corpses with [Flesh Crafting]. Men, women, and children were forcibly conjoined and wrapped in barbed wire.    

“GGGGGRRROOOOAAAAANNNNNN!!!” The monster didn’t have a definite name. Everything was fused into one being—a monster with as many minds as materials. Some screamed and begged for death. Others wanted to kill to stop the pain.    

And the children….   

The babies cried for their mothers.   

But I saw…   

There wasn’t an HP bar.    

Nor did I see a level.    

So…   

They…weren’t monsters…?   

“Lord Enele, we—”   

“You cannot save them, Quella,” said the Dark Lord of Justice. “Attempting to reverse the process will kill them.”   

“Why?! Why would the chimera do this?! It’s so inhumane!!!”   

The towering cylinders of flesh just slowly wobbled towards us. The barbed wire kept them from getting too close, and the cries…   

It was a hard sight to watch.     

“Why wouldn’t a chimera do this? They’re monsters. They follow their own path—their own rules. They kill to grow stronger. They don’t have a sense of morality. Common rules and senses don’t apply to them,” Remy said, causally tossing her daggers over her back and catching them between her teeth. “Kill them. Burn them to a crisp. End their lives. That’s all you can do.”   

“But I’m sure we can—”   

“Quella…” Mary looked at me. Melusine bit her lips, and Enele raised his large hand. I called his name, he lowered his arm, and I prepared another [Heat Wave].    

I burned them.    

I killed them.    

I melted the towering forms of conjoined flesh into goo.   

Some cursed me.    

Some thanked me.    

Some swore that I would regret being born.    

Some prayed for me to find forgiveness.    

But the children…   

I’d already killed so many in the villages…   

And here I was…   

Burning them again…   

It sucked.    

It fucking sucked.    

I hated that this power…was going to be used like this…   

Why did the world have to be so cruel?   

I dropped to my knees and tore my hair, but what did I feel?   

It didn’t compare to the thousands of people forming the monsters filling the room.    

I didn’t know how much more I could handle.    

I…just wanted to be done with it.    

“Qutie?” Elly wiped her tearful eyes and hugged me. She held me while I cried. Remy said something annoying, but…her words didn’t matter.    

What look did I have in my eyes?   

What expression did I make?   

Was I even me?   

“Let’s…just continue.” I walked forward, avoiding the melted floor and boiling puddles of flesh.   

Elly and Ami said something, but I approached the throne and melted it to nothing, revealing a lever. Hitting that caused a part of the floor to pop open.    

We descended the ladder and walked through dark, cramped tunnels occupied by corrosive spiders. Their webs were acid, but they couldn’t dissolve my [Sacred Shield]. Elly was still recovering her over-drafted mana, so the fighting went to Ami and Greggie. Keeth spoke and used one of our last few pieces of icy stone to make a thin, long spear. He wanted to fight and contribute.    

He wasn’t the best fighter, but he tried so hard. He feared the incoming acid webs, but Keeth believed in my protective spells and trusted them to keep him safe.     

That faith… His trust in me…   

I couldn’t save everyone, but I could protect us…    

That…counted for something, right?   

We took a break in the armory after clearing it out. Remy hopped over to a bunch of storage chests and rifled through them. She made an odd noise and pulled out a set of crimson robes. They were much like what a mage would wear her.    

She threw that and a pair of black boots at me and told me to put them on.   

“{All Elemental Resistance}? {Aurora Blockade}?” An information box with enchantments appeared when I focused.  

“Even Shuuta would know what the first one does,” said Remy. She intended to insult our intelligence. “The second is a spell that creates a wall of lightning. When used in water, it becomes stronger. Why not keep it? I’m certain you murdered its previous owner. Oh! I wonder if she was a mother? Maybe you killed her babies? Might makes right, so it’s yours, Cutie Qutie."  

“Just shut up!” growled Ami. She turned away from Remy after she laughed, but the Wolffolk continued to plunder.     

“Shuuta? I’m not familiar with that name.”   

“It’s no one important, Lord Enele. Please don’t pay the name any mind. The weakling it belonged to doesn’t need to have anyone spare a moment of thought over them.”   

Elly suddenly began to sing a soft song, and it was about how much she hated Remy. Remy saw it as something to be proud of, but our idol stopped singing when our enemy danced. I removed my jacket and asked Mary if one of her monsters could hold onto it, then slipped the robe over the black sweater I’d found in Melusine’s dungeon. It was partly tattered at the end—almost like it was ripped or torn in battle. But it fell well enough. It was furred, too, so it’d keep me warm.   

There wasn’t a reason to not wear it. 

 

“Yep! You look like someone who would kill for a robe. You might even be as good of a murderer as me in a few decades.” Remy managed to find a few pieces of glowing metal ore. Keeth caught them out of the air and crafted a new sword and shield for Greggie. He used what was left to make a pair of spiked gloves for Ami. Keeth said he wanted to make us armor when he found more.  

Our break ended, and we passed through an iron gate to the barracks. The undead here was a higher Lv. than the rest, but our new equipment blocked their strikes and cleaved through armor. The undead zombie dogs were annoying. Gross vines broke from their necks to latch onto the walls. They flung themselves towards us. Greggie tried to swat them out of the air, but Greggie missed a few.    

Their agility and athleticism were more than what we were used to, but we emerged victorious after I used the tried-and-true combo of [Flame Barrier] and [Heat Wave]. Since we were so cramped and fighting through interconnected rooms, I needed to be careful.    

Enele warned me that carelessness could destroy the support beams, weaken the walls, and cause the building to collapse. It was more dangerous the further down we went. At that point, I was almost useless. My spells were too destructive to be effective. Greggie, Ami, Keeth, and Melusine took the brunt of the effort.    

But my healing didn’t require anything extra, nor did it cost me much to keep [Sacred Shield] applied with the debuff reducing my immense amount of mana.    

It took thirty minutes to fight our way through to the prison. The cells were a dark, dank environment. The air was stale and disgusting, with the taste of waste, death, and blood lingering on the tip of your tongue. Rats and bugs called these corridors home. Enele took the lead and led us through. The place was a maze, and it was dark. The torches that illuminated this place extinguished themselves after an inhumane roar came from further below us. But I had [Divine Light]. It produced a glowing orb that followed me. The brightness was something I could control, but it never hurt my eyes. It was useless as an attack, but that was fine.    

We saw even more gross details with the new illumination. Prisoners were chained to their cells. Some were bisected and left to rot in a pile of filth. A few beastfolk were strung up by their entrails, causing what was left to become covered in a thousand maggots. Our presence caused the eggs to hatch. Elly nearly screamed when the bugs burrowed into the rest of the corpse, but Ami covered her mouth. Keeth audibly gulped and tried to find a source of courage to keep going.    

Remy… She just had to cut down the iron bars. She summoned a small colorless orb to her hand and threw it at the corpse, causing the remainder of the carcass to dissolve.    

But the bugs were left alive.    

I didn’t know what she used, but Remy was strong enough to not require a chant. She wasn’t a monster, but I didn’t think she was a chimera, although I wouldn’t have put it past Meruria to employ the use of one.     

“Sorry, but if you’re thinking I’m one of them. I’m not. Lord Enele can attest to that, right?”    

“How’d you know what I was thinking?” My voice sounded dead. There was no tone. I couldn’t formulate the strength to do anything other than talk.   

“Because we’re soul mates, Cutie Qutie. Teehee!”   

Lord Enele finally broke his silence and said he was there when Remy joined Bellerophon. They were a guild of chimera hunters—often called their bane—who made it their raison d'etre to rid the world of chimera. Long ago, one of the founding members perfected a spell to detect titles or skills relating to chimerism. It worked like a Scan Stone or [Scan], but it couldn’t be blocked.    

It also only returned a positive or negative response, so it didn’t give the caster a rundown of what their target knew.    

Every Bellerophon soldier needed to be scanned regularly. If Remy was one, she’d have died. And Meruria would’ve been charged with aiding and abetting a chimera, which would have resulted in her death.    

The world hated them.    

And I…didn’t harbor any fair pleasantries towards them.    

It was a statistical improbability for all chimeras to be evil. Hardcoded absolutes rarely existed in the world, but…   

I wasn’t in a forgiving mood.   

I was just so done and tired of it. My mind was hanging on by threads. Ami and the others were pushing themselves hard. Burnout was real—and mental breakdowns would most likely follow.    

---

Ten minutes later, Enele led us to a locked door. Keeth used [Material Metamorphosis] to pick the lock without difficulty, which revealed a spiral staircase. We followed it for a while, then…   

There…it was...standing in the middle of a room, hunkered over a magic circle that nearly made me vomit when I channeled [Mana Perception].   

During our descent, Enele said the chimera had assimilated a necromancer and merged their power with an ability to create domains.    

Skill fusion was just another horrible power from the monstrous chimera. Proper use could result in disastrous and unimaginably powerful combinations that had no equal.     

But marking the Apival Duchy as their domain meant the chimera couldn’t leave.   

But why couldn’t it sense Lord Enele? That was because he was withholding his mana, refusing to let it leak. It was a skill that, while easy to learn and hard to master, was invaluable when you wanted to be stealthy.  

Lord Enele gripped the railing. There were stairs to our left and right.    

“And how the prey returns to the predator, my Soul Warriors!” The chimera refused to look up.    

It didn’t know Lord Enele was here. It foolishly believed he had probably gone somewhere else, something I confirmed a moment when it resumed talking. “You’re foolish to think you can defeat me without that Dark Lord. But I won’t complain. The power of a Soul Warrior will be mine! I'll snatch it! I’ll use it to wipe out that detestable bitch, assimilate Meruria’s Holy Mana, and ascend to a Holy Lord. I’ll rule this country! I'll turn it into my own necromantic domain. I’ll fight the other Divine Countries and consume every Dark Lord I find. I’ll break the gap and emerge stronger—reaching the pinnacle no one has ever reached. I’ll become a god! I’ll force the world to bow to my rule! I’ll--”   

Lord Enele hopped the railing and landed hard enough to leave a crack in the floor.    

The chimera didn’t like that. He looked up and nearly soiled himself. He started to run away, but...   

“[Restraining Shackles of Condemnation]!” Lord Enele’s deep, powerful voice foreshadowed a startling sight. A magic circle appeared beneath the escaping chimera. Chains of mystical energy materialized from the heart of the glowing formation, their links shimmering with an otherworldly brilliance from the concept of justice.    

The chains slithered and weaved with purpose, their movements fluid and precise. They coiled, twisted, and latched onto the chimera’s legs before it could transfigure into a bird. Their grip was unbreakable and unyielding, although their captive tried its hardest to break free. The chimera bit and tore, breaking his arms and fingers in a futile attempt to shatter its bondage.    

The shackles glowed brighter, sapping the chimera’s strength until it took all it had to breathe.    

I watched in fascination and apprehension as we descended the steps to join Lord Enele. The chimera treated us like toys, yet Lord Enele effortlessly achieved what we couldn’t as a group.    

In the silence that followed, the room seemed to hold its breath as if acknowledging justice's swift and impartial hand. Lord Enele was a presence to behold. He calmly walked forward, ignoring the hatred and putrid insults that came his way.    

“Have you come to accept your end, chimera?” asked Enele.   

“Like hell I have! Do you think this is going to end me? I’ve taken every goddamn liberty to ensure my survival. If you kill me, I’ll just transfer my consciousness to a clone I have hidden. Who knows? They might even be behind you? You can’t kill me without destroying the duchy, and I know you don’t have--”   

“That’s where you’re wrong, my unholy child. I must uphold justice. I must be a shining beacon of light to protect the weak and cast out the evil.” Lord Enele used a spell to create a wavering, hazy portal just a few feet from us. I stared inside, yet I didn't see anything I recognized. “The only way to free the land of the curse you wrought is by destroying it at its core. You leave me no choice but to bring the end of the Apival Duchy.”   

Kaiho grew larger and told us to jump on his back, and we did. The turtle swam through the portal, and we appeared...in the air?   

Kaiho grew as large as a house as Lord Enele appeared a moment later. He overlooked a city in the distance. It was small and...   

No, it was Sinem... It had to be at least 5 or 6 miles away. Based on the sun, we were somewhere southeast of our previous location.    

I felt...something fearful...   

My instincts were sounding alarm bells...   

Slowly, Lord Enele raised his hands, and he chanted. “From the depths of the Abyss, where darkness reigns, I summon forth the power that nothing restrains. With words of ancient might and unearthly plea, let the world tremble in fear and bow to me. By the swirling void and the cosmic expanse, I command the forces of destruction to advance. Through the abyssal gates, let chaos be unfurled as I invoke the might of a dark, relentless world.”   

Lord Enele’s presence cast an ominous shadow over the land. An overwhelming surge of Dark Mana crackled around him, but he showed no signs of ending his chant anytime soon.  

“With a voice that echoes through realms unknown, I call upon the energies that lie deep overthrown. [Abyssal Annihilation], heed my dire call, unleash your fury and let devastation befall. Rend the earth asunder with cataclysmic might, engulf all in shadows, banish them from light. From the deepest void, let oblivion arise, infernal flames consuming, burning through the skies.”  

My gaze shifted to the once-vibrant cityscape. Its architectural wonders and culture were destined to be lost in Lord Enele’s wake of devastation. The thought of the lives that had been shattered—the innocent souls turned into mindless zombies and other undead by the twisted chimera filled me with profound sorrow.   

“Darkness and chaos merge as one, the essence of annihilation has only just begun. No light shall pierce this veil of desolation, for [Abyssal Annihilation] brings utter devastation. Through realms uncharted, with fury unbound, let the world tremble, as destruction is found. In the wake of my chant, let ruin and demise, spread like wildfire, devouring all under darkened skies.”  

The skies darkened as foretold in the chant. The ground beneath Sinem trembled and cracked, pouring forth Dark Mana that formed like veins of malice.   

But it wasn’t limited to the city,  

No.   

They spread like without mercy, shattering the ground while consuming all land that belonged to the Apival Duchy. Swirling clouds of malefic energy descended upon the ground, striking the Dark Mana-infused lines with black thunderbolts that shook the heavens. The air  

“[Abyssal Annihilation], in your name I stand, a vessel of destruction, holding fate in my hand. With each uttered word, the world shall quake, as I harness the power that no mortal can break. A chant of darkness, an anthem of despair, [Abyssal Annihilation], beyond compare. Let the echoes of my words resound, as chaos reigns, and the world is unbound."  

In a cataclysmic burst of power, the spell took form—an ethereal vortex of pure destruction. Its hunger for annihilation was insatiable, consuming everything without mercy. Buildings, fields, cliffs, and mountains crumbled and splintered like fragile playthings while the land disintegrated into an abyss of nothingness.  

Within moments, the Apival Duchy was reduced to an unrecognizable wasteland. Whatever used to be there...wasn’t there anymore.  

It was just a fragment of a memory.  

A deep crater in the ground.  

Fractured mountains were left smoldering from the intense power.  

And then the pressure hit us.   

Remy was the only one who withstood it. If Kaiho hadn’t made a barrier around himself, my friends and I would’ve been flung off.  

The dust settled, and silence embraced the ravaged landscape. Lord Enele’s spell had left an indelible mark upon the world. I looked at Kaiho. The wise ancient turtle spirit’s eyes held a mixture of awe as he surveyed the devastation stretching before us.   

“The power Enele commands is truly...something to behold,” he said. His voice carried the weight of centuries. “But it comes with great responsibility and consequences. Enele is bound by his sworn promise to uphold justice. He must tread carefully in its use. It’s tempered by the solemn duty he bears. It cannot be harnessed for anger or selfish gain, for to do so would break his sacred oath and strip him of his power.”  

“Quella, the power I hold as the Dark Lord of justice is a double-edged sword. It can shape the world, but only when guided by pure justice.” Lord Enele turned around. He was so strong—so strong and muscular, yet he was...so kind. I felt it in his voice.   

I couldn’t help but reflect on his last line.   

Justice was different from vengeance. Had he gone differently, would he have been the Dark Lord of Vengeance? Did that exist? Melusine spoke of a Dark Lord of Tyranny, so I wondered if that was similar?  

But Lord Enele had chosen a path that demanded sacrifice and measured judgement. You could call it a gift and a curse—a reminder that, even in the pursuit of justice, your actions must be tempered by wisdom and empathy.   

Even though he had shown us this power, it still felt unreal. So much land... It was just...gone.  

Lord Enele said he couldn’t have used [Abyssal Annihilation] earlier because he needed to restrain the chimera. “The magic circle is destroyed. The necromancer is dead, and the curse... It has been destroyed. Time is nature's most valuable partner, so this land will heal. It won’t be easy, but life will eventually return. Kaiho, take us down.”  

“Nelly, are you okay?”  

“I’m fine, Ami. I’ve been alive for five centuries. You get used to this.”  

“It’s okay to be sad.” Ami sat down and looked up at Lord Enele. He chuckled softly and joined her.  

It was hard to talk. Really, the scene we witnessed was still too difficult to believe. But by the time we landed on the ground fifteen minutes later, I oddly felt better about some things and worse about others.   

It was something I couldn’t describe.   

Remy front flipped off Kaiho, summoned her daggers, and cut a hole in space and time. “The mission’s done,” she said, turning around. “It’s time to go back. I’ll even be nice enough to get you weaklings a ride. Lord Enele, do you wish to come? Or do you have anything else planned?”  

Remy just pissed me off. I hated that bitch so much.   

“It’ll be rude of me if I didn’t stop by and report to her,” said Lord Enele. Kaiho shrunk and landed on his back, then we all walked through the sparkling portal.  

Some of us were more excited than others. I shared a look with Elly and the others, and we didn’t know if we were ready to see Meruria’s face.