CRACK! The void cracked as Aella broke in, glaring at Zephyr with emerald flames burning in her eyes.

“KNEEL!” Aella’s voice boomed across the void, sending a spark of magic that struck Zephyr’s heart, shaking her to the bones. She could feel her skin shudder, her knees growing weaker as her magic quaked like clouds.

“The dominating presence of a spirit master. Powerful indeed,” Zephyr smiled, “But you’re still nowhere near your mother. You’re not as deep or cruel.”

Zephyr crossed her fingers, smiling.

Arad glared at Aella. ^I should dispel the void. Less Aella gets crushed.^ But he noticed something, Aella’s body was covered with air like Zephyr. ^Wait, it isn’t similar. It’s the same magic!^

Thud! Zephyr put her hands together, looking at Aella with a crazed smile. “Already sucking my magic. We don’t even have a pact yet.”

Zephyr’s magic spiked and raised beyond what Arad expected from her. She wasn’t going all out before, something big was coming, and Arad feared his stomach might rip open.

“Crumble! Weight of the world!” Zephyr shouted, the air around her body expanding rapidly as her hand clapped.

Arad could feel a painful lump in his stomach. It was filling with air.

CRACK! The void started cracking. It wasn’t just from the inside. The whole weight of the atmosphere crushed his domain.

“Don’t let her break it!” Aella shouted, flying toward Zephyr with a blast of wind. “Keep her here as long as you can!” She clashed with the wind barrier around her, pushing as hard as she could.

“Don’t worry about me. This bee ain’t going nowhere.” Arad wasn’t going to let a meal that entered his stomach out unless it was a friend. It didn’t matter how hard it was to digest. Food is food.

Zephyr smiled, staring at Aella’s eyes, “You’re trying to dominate my magic, but you aren’t as delicate as your mother.” She lifted her, Wind Blast Blasting Aella into Arad’s infinite abyss.

“Wind flow to the places with the lowest pressure, resistance. This is a tug-of-war, seeing who can grip the weakest onto the wind without letting go.” Zephyr is the spirit of the wind. She’s already relaxed to the magic, letting it fly through her body freely. But Aella wasn’t. She was hesitant, fearing it might.

Aella flew down into the darkness. The further she got from the spirit, the weaker the magic protecting her got. “Arad!” She shouted, and he smiled.

“Got you!” He smiled, opening his palm with a grin. Void Step ZON! Aella appeared in front of him, flying directly toward the spirit.

^As long as she’s in my void, I can move her freely with magic.^ Arad pointed his palm at the spirit, “Can I suck your magic as well?”

Zephyr glared at him with a grin, “Come on, dragon! You’re rough, hard, and violent. Wind magic would never grovel to someone like you.”

“It won’t be called grovel if I didn’t force it,” Arad grunted, pulling Aella to sit on his back, “Hold tight, and release all the wind you can!”

CLANG! The stars flashed in the dark, chasing after Arad as he flew with Aella toward Zephyr.

“You two can’t do anything to me,” Zephyr smiled, blasting them away with ease, “Not like how she is now,”

Aella closed her eyes, trusting Arad to fly while she concentrated on the wind magic. ^It’s flowing out of my fingers. Untameable forces of nature, the only way to command them is if it allowed it.^ She could feel it flowing from her toward Zephyr, following the path of the least resistance.

^Hoi! Aella, do you hear me?^ Doma’s voice boomed in Aella’s head, causing her to flinch, “Who? How did you get in my head?”

^Does it matter now? I don’t want my concubine to die,^

^You’re the concubine!^ Aella growled inside.

^Told you it doesn’t matter. I can be the pet if you want. Listen for now. You can’t stop a tornado. Your only choice is to let it pick you up and try navigating to the core where the wind isn’t that violent.^ Doma giggled. ^I can kill her if you want, but that means you won’t be getting any drop of her power. That’s a force of nature, and you must tame it.^

“Arad! Let me go!” Aella said, standing on top of Arad with a smile, blood dripping from her nose and eyes. Zephyr’s previous kick damage didn’t disappear. She would die soon if not healed.

“What do you want to do?” Arad glared back at her as he flew around Zephyr, slashing at her with his claws and attempting to use the knife, but she kept dodging those attacks.

“I need to get closer to her, absorb more of her magic into me.” BAM! Aella jumped from above Arad, flying with her wind and getting swept in Zephyr’s raging tempest.

“You!” Zephyr growled as she saw Aella flying toward her with a smile, “Do you wish to die?”

“You can’t kill me, can you?” Aella blasted herself forward with wind magic, touching Zephyr’s shoulder. “Come back here!” The moment they touched, Zephyr’s magic flew to Aella’s body at a blinding speed.

Thud! Zephyr flew away, and Aella started floating in her place, giggling, “I didn’t stand without a reason. The moment you kicked me, some of your magic seeped into my body. Is this the pact’s ritual? Why didn’t I absorb anything when you carried me earlier?” She stared at Zephyr’s eyes.

“The cat is out of the bag,” Zephyr smiled, “I decide when the ritual starts.” She glared at Aella with a smile, “Show me if you have the potential of your mother,”

SWOSH! Aella and Zephyr flew at each other as fast as they could, clashing in the middle and causing Arad’s void to crack. His magic is waning from keeping the spell for a long time and from the powerful spirit going crazy inside.

As Aella pushed against Zephyr’s magic, her vision went black for a second.

DING! She opened her eyes, standing at a desk, writing a letter under the candlelight.

***

To Arcanum Magic Guild: A registration demand for Aella Deianira.

Guild branch, Spirit magic.

…

***

The letter had more written, but Aella didn’t get the chance to read it as her body shivered, sending a wave of dreadful magic falling from the sky.

“NO!” She screamed, standing up and rushing toward the window, staring at the night sky.

ROAR! From the darkness of the night, a purple dragon emerged from the clouds, opening its jaw as it sent a purple beam of death.

She lifted her hand, “Wind Dome!” She cried, creating a massive barrier over the city and blocking the dragon’s breath.

BOOM! The breath exploded, waking the wolf city in a quaking blast of heat.

“Mother! What is happening?” She heard a strange voice behind her, she turned, to see herself standing at the door, panting.

“Aella, hide in the basement and don’t come out,” Aella said, speaking to herself that stood before her and then flew away.

She flew to the clouds, keeping an eye on the dragon. “Zephyr, spirit assimilation.” She said, and her vision went black again.

BAM! The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, burning.

“Mother! Mother!” From her bloodied vision, she could see herself rushing in, “I told you to hide,” She growled…^Zephyr, protect her…^ Her vision went black again.

Aella then found herself feeling light, floating to the clouds as she looked down at the city.

A tiny fairy emerged from a coal-charred corpse, glaring at the massive dragon with red eyes.

A massive tornado emerged over the city, picking the flames from the rubble and turning into an infernal tempest of brimstones and lighting.

The purple dragon got picked like a ragdoll.

The elves tried their best to protect their capital, but their magic was no match for the wrath of the raging, palm-sized creature.

****

CRACK! CRACK! Arad’s void cracked, exploding into a blast of air as he fell to the ground, rolling in his draconic form, and puking everyone out.

“DISGUSTING!” Cerilla cried, rolling on the grass with tears in her eyes.

“That was,” Eris scratched her eye, looking at the shaking Isdis, “An experience to say the least.”

Lydia instantly picked up her sword, ready to strike anything that move.

CLACK! Jack stood up, giggling, “Eaten by a dragon and survived, now that is what I can an adventure,”

Thud! Dalla stood up, unfazed as she wiped the goopy liquid from her face and looked around, “No monsters and the ground looks destroyed.”

“You aren’t disgusted at all?” Cerilla stared at her, crying.

“I was eaten by multiple monsters before. This was a pleasant experience compared to that.” She looked away, “His insides were soft and warm, without any acid.”

Jack looked at her, “What ate you?”

“Multiple giant toads, mountain drakes, and large Kondas.” Dalla scratched her head, “The worst was when a titan ate and shat me several hours later. Probably shouldn’t have tried to slap a fifty-meter-tall humanoid monster.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Lydia shouted, lifting her sword up, Rally

“Get ready for a fight. Everyone searches for Arad and Aella and kills anything else that moves.” She took the front, leading the party under a holy flag, bolstering their health, morals, and magic in a single buff.

A golden shimmer covered everyone except Cerilla.

As everyone ran across the garden, searching, Jack looked at Lydia, “An impressive spell, why didn’t you use it before?”

“It can only buff the people I command, nothing else,” Lydia replied.

“Ah! So as long as Arad was the leader, it’s a useless spell.” Jack understood, “But I don’t consider you as a leader.”

“You do, she doesn’t,” Lydia pointed at Cerilla, who had no glowing golden light on her.

BAM! Suddenly, they got shifted back to their original size, seeing Aella standing in the middle of the garden, a green butterfly symbol glowed on her back beneath her armor.

Arad handed on a three, upside down from his legs.