I didn’t know what to make of this situation. Anyone who knew us by name and face should be ancient but this voice was young and I couldn’t turn to see them without getting my head lopped off. So I stood very still as I waited for her to continue speaking.

  “You will remain very quiet so we can speak without disturbing Eren.” The Woman growled.

  “Yes Ma’am.” I agreed.

  “How do we know she is alright?” Masai asked.

  “She isn’t but you can be told more once I figure out what you are. You aren’t flesh and blood, or I would be able to speak in your minds. You don’t look like you’ve aged a day since the fall of this land. So tell me about yourselves, quietly.”

  I glanced over toward Masai and she let out a sigh.

  “Well in truth I don’t know much about our situation. I remember seeing Eren’s rampage, I remember the Castle beginning to crumble and then I remember waking up to Masai telling me that I needed to wait. And then I did. I’ve only just remembered her name, because you spoke it.” I said, calmly and slowly so as not to anger the woman.

  “You truly expect me to believe that?” The Woman asked, her voice dripping with doubt.

  “Perhaps not but it is the truth. I have no reason to lie.” I said softly.

  We were all silent for a moment as a groan came from the tent before it fell silent. After another moment of silence the woman spoke again.

  “And what of you, Masai of the Undying Flame? What do you know?”

  Masai smirked before she let out a breath.

  “Not much of an Undying Flame am I, Callira Brightscale?” She asked, confidence in her voice.

  I felt the blade at my throat tremble for just a moment. When the voice spoke again it was less even in its tone.

  “Speak Girl.”

  “When Eren witnessed your Death she brought Ruin to Ecantel and Ausien. I survived long enough to try and reach out to her but I do not think she could be reached in her fury. She buried me alive in molten rock. But I did not pass through the Sky Veil as was supposed to happen. No. I was dragged beneath the soil and bound to a crystal. An Ancient device years in the making that had been discovered by the old king, an ancient machine in caverns beneath the Capital. One from before the Calamity that wiped clean the world of its kingdoms. I believe I was spared from mindless imprisonment due to my wards and as soon as I had found my footing in my new state, I found Callax and pulled us both from the device before it could fully wipe our minds. Callax could barely form words for so long and he waited while I worked. For nearly a millennia I have studied our would-be prison and the King who plotted its use. I have been awake and alone for all that time. It was only when I sensed Eren’s blood hitting the sands that I began moving. It awakened the Old King as well, and he now hunts her to free himself from the prison of his own making.” Masai explained calmly and casually.

  “And if you have been alive for so long, you expect me to believe you are still flesh and blood?” The Woman asked, her voice skeptical.

  “Nay. I… if I may dispel my glamour?” Masai asked, raising her hand to weave a spell.

  She received no answer but continued on. I watched her hand glow with a ruby light, before her form shifted. Skin and cloth fell away to wood and metal, a mannequin of artificial make. And in its center a faint green crystal hummed with an inner light. There was a gasp from behind us as her form fell away before she quickly restored it.

  “You are a construct, no longer flesh and blood.” The Woman said, a sadness in her voice.

  “Indeed. I gather you have fared similarly well? Your voice is not the same as it was and I saw your corpse. I doubt you have the means to revive the dead.” Masai asked calmly.

  “No… I do not.” The Woman said.

  “Then I am curious what fate has become of you.”

  “In time dear…. In time. Have you fashioned other constructs?” The woman asked.

  “Nay, I had to steal the material to fashion bodies for Callax and I and even then I was able to acquire far less than I would have liked.”

  “We were attacked by another. A Scorpion. Only a few hours ago. What do you know of it?” The Woman asked.

  Masai looked equally puzzled before she responded.

  “I… I am unsure. If it was one of the King’s constructs then he would have needed her alive, it should not have attacked you but tried to capture Eren and return. That or they were also found with the device that bound us and he has tried and failed to control them. At the very least he cannot control them well.”

  “Why would he wish for Eren’s capture? What is he planning?”

  “The device he has made use of relies upon old magics, namely that of living blood, to operate. I spent no small amount of time investigating it during my years. Without blood from his own bloodline, of which Eren is the only living descendant, then he cannot leave the device’s immediate vicinity. It is a necropolis beneath these sands that the spirits of the people slain during Eren’s destruction have constructed. All of the people of Ecantel that were killed that day now reside there, under the King’s control. He remains as he was but they are thralls to his will.” Masai explained, she looked saddened as she mentioned the people.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “And what of the people of Ausien? Are they not also under his thrall?” The woman asked.

  “Some are. I do not think the device’s sphere of influence reached to Ausien’s capital, I spent many years looking for some of my old colleagues and for Callax’s family. I can confirm that they are not within the Necropolis at least.” Masai said as the blade at her throat retracted and I felt the one at mine lifted as well.

  I immediatley turned around to see the speaker and I had to stall for a moment to take in the sight. It was Eren, mostly. She was leaner but her hair, her face, her pointed ears, her golden eyes were the same. She was sitting on a rock and she wore black armor with glowing red and blue runes. A blue scaled dragon tail twitched behind her as its tail blade danced warily back and forth. As I took a moment to watch the tail warily I did notice a few more differences. She was a bit shorter than Eren had been last I saw her and she was missing a few key features. Namely the handful of scars that Eren had accrued over the course of our travels and the earrings I had given her after her transformation. I let out a sigh as I realized she was not Eren, I had known that from her words but still…

  “So who are you then? You are neither Callira nor Eren. Yet you bear many similarities to them.” Masai asked.

  “I am Naravie Greyson. Ereneya Vaesern’s Daughter.” She growled before a crash behind her had her spinning onto her feet.

  I spun on my heels as the tree came down. How had I not heard it until now? I let out a hiss and a roar as the scorpion construct charged towards me. My blade was in my hand and I swung as its claw rushed towards me. There was a clang of metal as the claw collided with Callax and my own blade crashed into the creature’s head. One of its eight green eyes shattered as my sword collided with it.

  As the green light faded and I heard the shattering of crystal I felt a rush of air and I was flung from my feet and sent flying backwards. I manifested my wings and tried to flare them out to slow down but I was moving too fast and I was dazed as I collided with a tree. I felt my horns collide first and I had a brief moment of fearing that they were going to break off before I slid down the tree trunk.

  I opened my eyes trying to get my bearings. I was on the far side of the clearing, Callax was swinging his blade at it but it was avoiding each swing easily. Masai seemed to be weaving a spell and Eren was staggering out of the tent looking as if she was drunk as she rushed to my side.

  “Naravie!” She cried.

  I grunted as she pressed a hand to my side and I felt a dull pain. I glanced down to see a small branch protruding from my armor, stained with red.

  Well that wasn’t good.

  “Eren, get back. It wants you. Hide.” I growled.

  “But-” I didn’t wait to hear her protests as I shoved her behind me and leapt back towards the construct.

  I saw Masai’s spell complete as I was midair, a blast of fire that latched onto a joint on the creature’s claw arm and it let out a screech like metal sliding on metal again. My blade slammed against the stone carapace, again aiming for its eyes but it managed to move out of the way of my strike. My blade fragmented as it collided with the stone and the metal shards scattered across its surface.

  I let out a curse and tried to bury my claws in its eyes only to be knocked backwards as Callax was thrown into me. We tumbled onto the ground and I scrambled to my feet.

  “We can’t hurt it! It's too quick and it's too tough!” Callax growled, leveling his own sword at the monster.

  “It is resistant to magic. My spells can slow it but not destroy it.” Masai called.

  ‘You need to run.’ Callira said within my mind.

  ‘You know Eren won’t leave them.’ I growled back.

  My mind was racing. I didn’t have a weapon, I didn’t have any water to use against it this time… the pain in my side reminded me of my wound. I bared my teeth as the Scorpion shrugged away Masai’s flames and began to move towards us. Two of its eight eyes were dark now but it seemed undeterred. As I pressed a hand against my wound I growled out a command.

  “Slow it down! Buy me time. I have an idea.”

  Callax and Masai nodded. I braced myself against the ground as I willed my magic forth and commanded that sickening feeling of blood magic. My stomach lurched as I felt blood welling up in my palm. It was warm and it felt sticky against my palm as I pulled more and more from the wound.

  My head swam and I had to resist the urge to lose the spell and retch as I turned my gaze up to the Construct. Masai was using some kind of barrier to slow it down while Callax was holding its tail in place after it had tried to sting her. His illusion was faded and I could see the form beneath, a twisted form of a man fashioned from metal and stone with a pulsing green crystal at its heart.

  I shrugged aside any worry I had for them as I lined up my spell. The scorpion struggled and thrashed and I couldn’t get a good angle until a pair of stone columns erupted from the ground and I heard Eren call my name from behind me. I ignored the urge to look as I willed by bloody lance to rush forward, directly into the Scorpion’s face plate.

  I heard the crack of stone and the shattering of crystal as I fell face first onto the ground.

  I do not know what I was expecting Eren’s daughter to do, but wielding one of the most taboo forms of magic and using it to destroy an Ancient Construct was not one of them. She collapsed onto the ground at the same time that construct did. Eren was already rushing over to her before the construct ceased its death throes. Such a magnificent creation of magic reduced to a weapon for a mad man. What a waste.

  I ran over to Naravie as Eren was already undoing the straps on her armor. The small branch had gone clean through the metal of her armor and was sticking out of her side, fortunately away from anything vital. Eren was crying as she uncovered the wound and revealed a grisly looking puncture wound. I wanted to comfort her but that could wait until Naravie was stable.

  “Eren, pull the branch from the wound and I will do what I can to close it. Slowly now.” I murmured as she looked ready to rip it out.

  She nodded and as she pulled it free I poured my magic into the wound, stitching the flesh closed and doing what I could to mend the damage. I knew from experience that dragons were tougher than normal humans and despite Naravie being only three shades darker than the pale of death, I had no doubt she would pull through. When the wound was closed leaving only a puckered scab I turned my attention to Eren.

  She was looking at me with tears in her eyes and I noticed she was staring at my chest. A quick glance down told me what I feared, that my glamour was broken and she was seeing my form as I truly was right now.

  “Eren, I’m sorry.”

  “You’re dead.” She said, no question in her words.

  “.... Yes.”

  “And she is my Daughter.” She said as if she were only just now realizing it, eyes tearing up again as she turned back towards Naravie.

  I nodded and as Callax trudged over to us he handed me a crystal. It was large, roughly the size of my chest, and it had a fist sized hole through its center.

  “Found that behind its face. As soon as I pulled it out it stopped twitching.”

  “That is a matter for later. For now, I think we need to have a long talk.” I said quietly as I placed a hand on both of their shoulders.