Chapter 794: Father (1/2)

Ilea glanced up at the sea of stars and smiled, spreading her arms as the Fae floated away from her shoulder.

It looked at her with its white lack of eyes.

“Give me your power, oh stars beyond,” she murmured, closing her eyes as she kept her face towards the stars.

A slight wave of space magic pushed down on her, the earth below giving way.

She opened her right eye and glanced at the fae, ignoring its attempt at destroying the organ.

Mad, it sent.

“Why? Because I talk to the stars? Maybe I can befriend them. I did manage to befriend you,” she said.

The Fae crossed its tiny arms.

“Oh I see. You’re jealous,” she said.

The Fae looked away.

“That means I’m right. Hello, stars? Can you talk to me?” she said, looking up. I guess it would be kind of inconvenient if a star came closer to this planet. The thought made her give up on the halfhearted attempt of channeling astral energies.

She teleported the Fae into her hands and cuddled it close to her chest, spreading her wings before she flew towards the city gates. This time the Guardians and guards on the wall recognized her immediately when she landed. Two machines and three human guards stood in front of the open gates, checking the travelers, merchants, and adventurers entering the city. It seemed just as busy as during the day. The only difference Ilea noticed was the fact that people moved directly from the gate bunkers to the city gate, very much aware of the people and forests around them.

Secure travel, but also a way to avoid any and all dangerous areas in the Plains, she thought, walking to the side of the gate before she leaned against the wall. Nobody complained.

Wait? the Fae asked.

“Yeah. Ten minutes or so. They’re still in Virilya I think,” she said.

Bored The Fae appeared on the ground and kicked away a small rock lying in the dirt.

Ilea formed two ash copies of the being and infused them. She let them loose a moment later.

“No, can’t be,” an adventurer said to his colleague as their group approached. He wore leather armor, a greatsword strapped to his back.

Another man dressed in a thick gray robe nodded quickly, his face largely hidden by a scarf and hood. “It’s her. Identify her.”

“I can hear you people,” Ilea sent to them, all four in the team tensing up as they looked her way.

“Apologies, Lady Lilith,” the leader said, his face clean shaven, black eyes taking her in.

[Berserker – lvl 128]

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said as he approached.

Ilea smiled. “That’s interesting,” she answered and teleported them to the other side of the wall. A few guards jumped down from above immediately. “That was me. I moved them,” Ilea sent to the guards she saw in her dominion before summoning a cloak, pulling the hood up before she teleported down and closer to the river, leaning against the foundation of the city wall with a sigh. I’m literally famous.

“Come here, Violence. Or you’ll get abducted,” she sent, moving the three beings towards her with Fabric Tear.

Ilea still heard the people above come and go, gasps and excited voices resounding at the first sight of the Guardians. Most adjusted quickly. Ilea even saw a considerable amount of people going about their business as usual, already adjusted or simply uncaring for the new addition of the machines. Guess not everyone is going to give a shit.

She did see Executioners move through the air and towards the nearby forests at breakneck speeds. New ones arriving in turn. Ilea assumed Aki had to charge them up before sending them back through his own network. The dagger did mention his expansion of the current Taleen network. For now only outside Accords cities that accepted the presence. All of them did.

Felicia was early. Her mark moved through the Plains in a split second, appearing far away and in the south. A few minutes passed before she moved again, this time arriving in one of the gate bunkers a hundred meters south of the Riverwatch walls.

Ilea was glad she could ignore the marks when they weren’t relevant. With all this recent long range teleportation, she would’ve long needed her healing to be active to counter the growing headache.

A few seconds later she saw the duo walk on the street leading to the city, Felicia wearing her Imperial armor, followed closely by the masked half elf and Immortal Guard Syrithis. They drew quite a lot of looks but nobody was brave enough to talk to them.

Does that mean I just have more approachable vibes about me? Or was that specific Berserker just braver than most? Ilea wondered. “Hey, good to see you. I’m down by the river,” she sent to Felicia.

The woman smiled and started towards the riverbank, floating down with a casual use of wind magic before she landed a few meters away from Ilea.

Syrithis followed behind, landing before she looked at the three Fae like creatures battling each other with ashen swords and space magic.

“Hi there,” Ilea sent to them both.

‘ding’ ‘Telepathy reaches lvl 15’

Thanks for reminding me that I should work on my skills, she thought, rolling her eyes at the message.

“Is that…” Syrithis sent.

“Syrithis, meet Violence, Violence, Syrithis,” Ilea sent.

Friend! the Fae exclaimed.

Syrithis jumped back, hands going towards her eyes as her wind magic flared up.

“It’s just a greeting,” Ilea sent.

“What do you mean? It nearly destroyed my eyes!” the half elf sent.

“Way to freak out over nothing. You could use the space magic resistance training it seems,” Ilea sent.

Violence knew not to attack Felicia, but the Immortal Guard was fair game. They were powerful enough to deal with a bit of eye opening space magic after all.

Syrithis remained at a reasonable distance. “I thought the Fae were peaceful creatures, exploring the lands.”

“Well not this guy,” Ilea said. “Violence has anger issues.”

The Fae turned towards her and somehow hissed, sending out a wave of space magic that thumped against the stone foundations. Her hood fell with the wave.

No

Issues

Violence

Fuels

Me

“Yes, as I said. Anger issues,” Ilea answered, squinting her eyes before she used her space manipulation to throw the small Fae into the river.

It plopped into the moving waters before being flushed away, occasionally resurfacing to throw space magic back towards Ilea.

“Is it going to be fine?” Felicia asked, following the small form with her eyes.

“Ah don’t worry about it, they might as well be indestructible,” Ilea sent and stood up, stretching when the Fae appeared on her head. It tried to rip out her hair, failing as the ashen copies flew up and restrained it. “Syrithis, how have you been?”

The masked half elf twitched when she heard her name. She shook her head slightly, watching the scene from behind the safety of her white and silver mask. “I have been well, Ilea. The news of your… acquisition has left an impression. It is why I’m here.”

“Yeah, I’ll let the others deal with all the politics and treaties. The Guardians will be a massive help. I assume you want to meet the Hunters?” Ilea asked.

“They… were there?” Syrithis asked, taking a slight step forward.

“Of course. We fought the hordes together. Isalthar is alive and well, before you ask. As are Fey, Ben, and Seithir,” Ilea sent.

The half elf remained silent for a few seconds before she bowed lightly. “I appreciate your candor. This is not information you had to share with me. I had hoped for an offer to meet them, but I did not expect it. There are other reasons too, that much I offer to you in return. Alyris wishes for me to find out more, about the current state of the Hunters, the Guardians, and the Dwarves of Io, whom I believe are the remnants of the Taleen.”

“We can go to Iz, I suppose. I don’t see a reason why you shouldn’t meet the Hunters,” Ilea said as she focused on Niivalyr’s mark. “Gonna bring a half elf and a human friend to you in a moment, alright?”

The confirmation came a few seconds later. “Do as you wish, I am in a side room of the Guild Hall, discussing with Evan.”

Ilea considered for a second if bringing Syrithis to Evan was an issue. She looked at the masked woman as the fae fought atop her hair. “You don’t have beef with Evan Trayne?”

The half elf shook her head ever so slightly. “If by having beef you mean if I have a dispute with the man, then no. However it’s been… a long time, since we met,” she said. “He knew my father.”

“Right,” Ilea said and activated transfer, connecting the beings around her to the spell when it activated, bringing all of them into a spacious room deep below Karth. Dull green light shined from above, a set of comfortable leather chairs standing next to a stone table. She saw the heavy stone seats in the corner of the room. Neither Elfie nor Evan seemed surprised. She assumed the elf had informed the sand creator.

The surface of the stone table was adorned by various runes and symbols, etched into it by its creators. A set of large tomes lay on top. Two cups filled with steaming liquid stood next to the books, a small tea cooking station set up in one corner of the room. Someone had even added candles, to break up the green light at least a little.

Evan leaned back in his leather chair and took a sip of his drink. “Lilith. And you, I presume, must be Felicia Redleaf.”

“Greetings,” Felicia said. “Evan Trayne, of the Foundation. I have heard some stories.”

He smiled. “I can imagine,” he said, glancing at Ilea before he stood up. “Syrithis, dear. You’ve grown,” he said, walking up to the half elf before he hugged her.

Syrithis returned the gesture. “Evan. It’s good to see you again.”