99 Echoes And Mysteries (1/2)
The dark elf stared at me, awe visible in her eyes. I could tell she was appreciative of the fact that her sight had been returned to her. The pride I felt as we stared at each other wasn't small at all.
Qu'Ren had once been a blind dark-elf, something quite rare for her species. The quest to gain influence over the domain of light had been to restore sight to the blind. She was one of the blind people whose sight I had restored.
I only later learned the reason behind her blindness: she had evidently made a mistake when casting an evocation spell and evidently her spell backfired as a result.
After restoring her sight she had apparently asked the system for information about whoever it was that was responsible for healing her. The system informed her about me, and she prayed to me sometime later.
In that prayer, she asked me to come and meet her some time at her family's property. Minutes ago I arrived in her familial home and was promptly escorted to where we were now.
We were pleasantly seated around a table, and the moment was quite nice. It felt like I was being treated like royalty, or at least like nobility. It was a bit unusual, but frankly, I could get used to it.
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”It's so nice to meet you Althos!” Qu'Ren said, speaking emphatically. If not for my powers to detect lies I'd have thought she was being insincere or polite. Her attitude differed from that of the other dark-elves I had met, and even those of her species who worshipped me.
I studied her for a moment, eyeing her cautiously. She noticed and the grin that was on her face only widened. On the other hand, her bodyguard's scowl also widened. I could hear his muscles tensing, and his knuckles whitened from the strain of his grip on his weapon.
”Is there anything I could provide for you? Some refreshments perhaps?” Qu'Ren asked, in her thus far perpetually bubbly way. I smiled at her and shook my head to decline her offer before turning to look at Sombra.
”Would you like anything?” I asked. My shadowy assistant was seated to my left. Sombra looked at me and then at Qu'Ren and wordlessly declined the offer. She did so with a surprisingly polite gesture and with a smile on her face.
Her presence intrigued Qu'Ren, and one of the first things that the dark-elven evoker had done when my minion had shown up beside me was question the praereptor. Sombra had remained silent though and thus far had shown more interest in studying the dark elf than permitting herself to be studied.
Qu'Ren wasn't deterred for a few moments, but eventually she did give up. That said, I didn't blame Sombra for being interested in the odd evoker, Qu'Ren was fascinating. Her friendliness was so unusual for members of her kind and Sombra's interest only amplified my own since my demonic pet told me she knew the dark elf before today.
”Well... If you're sure.” Qu'Ren said to us, giving us a funny look. I chuckled and considered what to say for a few moments before beginning to converse with the dark elf.
”So Qu'Ren... Why don't you tell us about yourself?” I asked though I considered for a moment merely using my powers on the mortal.
I ultimately decided against that, preferring to see what would happen if I let this moment play out naturally and without the usage of my godly powers. Qu'Ren considered my question for the amount of time it took her heart to beat, before beginning to speak.
”Hmm... Okay, where do I begin? I know you're young... Very young as far as I know, so I honestly don't know what you know.” She asked, looking at me with an amused smirk on her face. I chuckled at her, appreciative of her candor.
”Well, if you feel comfortable discussing the day you lost your vision, I'd love to hear about that.” I asked, hoping that I hadn't said something that made her feel uncomfortable. She chuckled at my recommendation and locked eyes with me.
”You're very direct aren't you?” She asked a cocky smirk on her lips. I laughed audibly at her statement before replying.
”I didn't mean to be. I apologize if I asked you something delicate. It wasn't my intention.” I replied, grinning at her. She shook her head at me to indicate that she wasn't offended before speaking up.
”You didn't. I have no problem explaining what happened the day I went blind.” She told me, speaking casually and easily before her eyes began to mist over as she reminisced about the past.
”A few months ago a demon came to my family. This demon taught us what it knew about conjuration magic. The thing was actually an excellent teacher! And some of our family... Well, they took to conjuration a bit too well.” She explained.
I had to work to contain my shock when she implied that a demon was indirectly responsible for her misfortune. I was able to do so, but not before sending an annoyed mental message to Sombra. It seemed that the playful praereptor demon had had her fill of mischief and inflicting misfortune before I came and twisted her mind into its present state.
”My family is filled with ambitious people. It makes sense that the spiteful creature chose us. We had fun summoning demons and using them to act as enforcers. Until the tiny asshole who taught us turned on us.” She told me, beginning to frown a bit.
”The little shit liked watching us suffer. We had mistakenly summoned something that was more than we could handle under the assumption that it would work for us.” Qu'Ren explained. Sombra turned her head, pretending to cough, but I turned and saw her smiling.
”Demonic conjuring circles are finicky things. All it takes is for one part of it to be adjusted slightly and the magic that makes them actually bind demons to someone is weakened.” Qu'Ren told me, revealing something that I immediately stored away in my mind.
”The spiteful shadow demon adjusted the circle slightly, using its innate mastery over darkness to do so without us noticing. In doing so it allowed the final demon we summoned to run amuck. I was there when the creature the demon was summoned. Incidentally the praereptor demon... wasn't. It had left the day before.” Qu'Ren said, anger twisting her facial features into a cruel grimace.
”The battle against the demon was long. Nearly three hours long in fact. Many of my relatives died. Others... survived. They are currently locked away, for their own safety.” Qu'Ren told me, and I had to suppress a grin.
Mortals who survived being attacked by demons contracted a vicious disease. A magical one. I could cure it, but if I wanted too I could also take advantage of this opportunity.
”Towards the end of the battle, when our side was beginning to lose more ground to the demon I stepped in. I was actually a major player in defeating the demon!” Qu'Ren explained, her eyes alight with pride as she said that.
”I hit the demon with a flurry of magical spells. I helped put it on the ropes. But evocation magic is tricky. All it took was one moment where I wasn't focused and the spell I was using turned on me. And exploded in my hand. I was blown out of the room the fight was going on in and knocked unconscious.” Qu'Ren explained, a frown pulling her lips down.
”When I woke up I couldn't see. That was months ago. And then one day that changed. All of a sudden, I could see. All of sudden, seemingly from nowhere, my sight was back. For months I couldn't see at all and then all at once I could. You gave me back my sight. And what's more is that you didn't ask me for anything. You didn't bargain with me, you just gave me what I lost.” Qu'Ren told me, turning and looking intently at me.