A few weeks had passed since the fight against the ancient lords and I finally took the time to address one thing I had ignored so far: The bond. Shani had opened a connection to the plane of water which was empowering our network.

  Storm was an interesting element and this world was not following all the rules I knew from the game. Electricity was a part of wind magic but the storm element incorporated water to achieve something more. Before Shani's modifications only electricity, or electrical mana, had flown from the plane of wind into our bond. The electricity was dangerous to most so it had flown into Lucy and myself at first, then we had refined it into a beneficial form that had empowered the maids. Now the water and electricity mingled and turned into something else.

  The basic flow was the same, Lucy and myself still refined the mana before it reached our maids. The secret to the elemental knights of the fey was an archfey who could withstand the natural mana and turn it into a boon. Switching from lightning to the storm element had increased the efficiency and I could really feel the change in our maids. The bond was not simply granting them power, it changed them, made them more.

  I pulled the weapon I had collected from Abaddon from my storage. Besides the weapon we had collected some other equipment from the fallen lords, we also had a lot of corpses. Quite a few demons had already become fertiliser but the corpses of the lords had not been used yet. For now I wanted to study the weapon.

  It was magical and covered in runes. A device to interact with someone's soul and siphon their power. It was something evil, something that should not exist. But would it help me restore the people who had been enslaved? Could I unlock a way to purge their souls and remove the vile runes Beira had inflicted on them?

  Part of me wanted to destroy the weapon immediately but I suppressed the urge and studied it. Those runes might be helpful in the future so I made sure to write them down. Once I had gotten all the information I could I decided to finally destroy the weapon. Devour Magic!

  I watched as the spell started to consume the weapon. The magic fought back, almost as if the glaive was alive. It felt hungry, it felt mad but it was no match for my power. The glaive that had been forged to consume souls was consumed by magic. It felt right, it felt just and it fed our bond. I could feel the magic nourishing my people and I smiled. Then my eyes widened. Why was there so much power inside that stupid weapon?!?

  Interlude - Kira

  I had been dispatched to deliver aid to the southern part of the former Empire. As I crossed the lake next to Iron Rock I could see Beravis claiming territory. They had planted their flags and were building defences. I wondered if they would be foolish enough to challenge Iron Rock and Amaya.

  There was shouting and a lot of pointing at the sky as I flew over a town. A dragon was not a common sight but I did not care. Since I had joined Amaya I was able to travel more openly. Her aura training had increased my own power and dragon hunters would think twice about challenging my Mistress.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Things were going smoothly until I felt something from the bond. My eyes widened as power rushed through the link. I angled myself downwards, towards a field, as I felt my body reacting. My wings twitched and my flight grew erratic as I neared the ground, then the world went black.

  Interlude - Bob

  It was a nice day for adventuring. The locals had spotted some wolves and my party was on the hunt. We crossed the fields outside of town and were headed towards the forest when I noticed a shadow. I looked at the sky and froze.

  "Is… is that a dragon?" I stammered.

  "Really Bob? A…" Jane's mouth hung open as she stared at the sky.

  "We should run." Jack proposed.

  "We are all going to die!" Jill screamed.

  Suddenly the dragon angled downward. I thought our life was over but it did not attack, it crashed.

  "Huh." I said.

  "Let's go back to town and warn them!" Jane suggested.

  "I don't know, it does not seem to be moving." I said, while squinting.

  "Maybe it ate old Henry and got drunk from all the whisky inside his blood!" Jill proposed.

  "I am not sure if that is possible." Jack replied.

  "There is no smoke coming from the town, I don't think it attacked." Jane said.

  "It must have been Beravis! They have been all over the region, I bet they brought some strong people who could slay a dragon! We can loot it if we act quickly!" I proposed.

  "Bob, have you gone mad?" Jill asked.

  "Look, it is not moving! This is our chance! We are going to get rich!" I said, then I started moving towards it. A part of me was concerned but it really did not move.

  "You are getting us killed!" Jane complained.

  "Then go back, but I won't share!" I told her and hurried closer to the monster. Up close it looked even more terrifying.

  "Is it still breathing? It's still breathing!" Jill whispered.

  "It crashed, clearly it is not in a state to defend itself!" I announced and grabbed my dagger. Maybe we could just take a scale or two. They looked pristine. They would be worth a fortune!

  The others stayed back as I approached the beast. Maybe I should stay away from the head. There, one of the back claws. I could just get a scale from there. I tried to stick my dagger underneath it and remove the scale but it was surprisingly difficult. I started to sweat but there was some movement! Wait, that was not me.

  Interlude - Kira

  As I opened my eyes again I was on the ground. My body… felt surprisingly fine. Everything was still attached and I did not feel pain, just a bit sore. However there was a weird itch in my left back claw. I turned my head.

  "What are you doing?" I asked the adventurer, who froze. The man had a dagger which he tried to stick between my scales, with little success. Unless it was magical it would not be able to pierce my skin anyway. Behind the man were three other people, watching nervously.

  I stood up and stretched as the man dropped his dagger. He was still frozen from fear, however I smelled something… Ugh, he had wet himself. I immediately took a step back and inspected my claw, thankfully it had not been soiled.

  "Be grateful that my Mistress does not approve of eating humans." I told them. The man's legs had given out and he was a quivering mess on the ground, as were his companions. I had put a bit of my aura in my voice and it seemed to have worked nicely.

  I ignored the inconsequential mortals and inspected my body. While Amaya's timing had been bad I did appreciate the snack and wondered what she had devoured this time. Not that it mattered, my scales gleamed beautifully in the sun and my body was full of power. I could feel the storm coursing through my veins. I left the mortals behind and took to the skies to continue my journey.