TBATE - Havaca Rises

Chapter 50 - No Contest

Alea's POV

"I'm going to have you screaming and begging for mercy," he said as I felt a mana fluctuation beneath me. "Oh? you manage to dodge that? I guess this might just be fun after all," Uto said preparing to conjure several dozen more spikes.

"I guess intelligence was right; you really are nothing more than a one-trick pony," Alea smirked as she efforted danced around the constant barrage of spikes.

"You slippery bitch! When I'm done with you, you're going to wish you were never born!" Uto screamed in declaration, amplifying the speed of his attack.

"Pfft, seriously? You would swear that we're in some sort of generic power fantasy," Alea laughed, hardly focusing on the fight. "I'm Dicathen's best sensor. I see your attacks coming before they are even formed!" Alea announced twirling in and out of Uto's deadly spikes.

"The FUCK!?" Uto screamed. Vines. Several vines have begun wrapping around his leg. Slithering up to thighs. Crawling, creeping, slowly, the thorns dug trenches into Uto's now crimson flesh. "Why? Why, can't I cut this?" the retainer asked in a voice drowned in pain and worry. His eyes bulged, his breath breathe was rapid as he desperately clawed and futilely slashed at the blood-soaked greenery. "Strength... my strength i-it's gone," Uto whispered, hands gripping the sides of his shaking head, in an attempt to wake up from this nightmare. "How, how could I l-lose?" Uto asked in a faint voice riddled with disbelief. "How? How, how, how, how?" he frantically asked, fading in and out of consciousness.

"Knowledge is power," Alea recited, gaining the defeated retainer's attention. "That is something our leaders strongly believe in. Deception can be quite a powerful tool, however, the difference between Alacrya and Dicathen is that we have the firepower, firepower that would make you sovereign drool. Don't feel too bad, the lances are meant to signal-handedly kill asuras."

"Bullshit!" Uto spat somehow managing to gather strength. "...But wait... how do you lessers know about the asuras?" Uto asked finally taking in all the information given to him.

"Well, you see, there are several people who are very dissatisfied with the Agrona goes about things. So naturally, they reached out to us in hopes of thwarting all his plans," Alea said in a sing-song voice, acting as if she's letting her guard down. "Not only did they supply information, but they also gifted us some nifty devices such as this handy dandy Tempus Warp," she said, revealing the anchor-shaped device.

Flabbergasted. It was the only word to describe Uto's expression. His eyes were wide open, mouth agape and he seemingly forgot how to breathe. Walking stiffly, well more like Alea's vines were walking and Uto was just along for the one-way ride as both highly revered members of their nations stepped through the portal into hanger bay 5. "Lance Alea," Alonso the gate master greeted. "The council meeting started 5 minutes ago," he informed.

"Just like those dwarves, calling a meeting, demanding everyone be present, taking us away from our missions," the lance grumbled, thinking of a variety of reasons that the dwarves would want to disrupt their progress and none of them were for the good of the continent. "Take this to the deepest part of the dungeon," the lance ordered, casually plucking his horns, and muffling his pained cries with her vines.

"You're late," King Dawsid spat as I entered the council room at the floating castle. "Honestly, it's as if you elves have no sense of time nor urgency" he sighed. "Alduin! If I were you, I'd..."

"Dawsid" King Alduin silenced the dwarven king with a near whisper. After learning the truth about the future, their Majesties not only began studying various strategy books, but they also ensured to include a training session in their day. Their aura, overall vibe, and presence have changed. From the once overly pacifistic nature to apex predators just waiting to strike while maintaining a genuinely kind aura when dealing with their subjects.

Looking my way, his Majesty nodded his head, signaling for me to start my report. "Greetings, I do apologize for my tardiness in regard to this meeting, however, I had another matter that needed attending to," I said giving a slight bow.

"What could possibly be more important than the council!?" the queen of the dwarves asked.

"The capture and subsequent imprisonment of a high-class A threat," I replied, catching most of the council members off guard. This class system was something that had long been established amongst the tree races since the end of the beast age. A time when mages could have finally studied and classified the various mana beast, but this ranking has been tweaked over the centuries and now means a beast capable of varying levels of mass destruction. It was more of an ambiguous system that leaves the foe's power level up to the individual in hopes that mystery and fear of the unknown push the future generation to continuously grow, innovate, and seek new sources of strength.

"Tell us in detail," Her Majesty said with eyes filled with hope that we truly have a fighting chance against insurmountable odds.

"During the joint mission to rid the Beast Glades of the many mutants, I came across a group of people fighting the Hades' serpent that I was tracking."

"So? Some adventures found it first, nothing out of the ordinary," Dawsid remarked.

"Yes, usually this would be the case, but before jumping in to aid the party I overheard some members cursing the beast. Not just typical poor luck-based curses used by adventures, no, these people were cursing that the beast for not following orders," I reported, as a deafening silence filled the room as they began pondering the possibilities. Except for the dwarves, everyone else had an idea of what was really going on and was faking their concern, though I must say, King Blaine's acting is suspiciously good.

"Before the snake could have finished his prey, I jumped in and saved them. Of course, I took the appropriate measures to ensure they won't be able to escape but my efforts were for naught. Whilst slaying the beast a man who later identified himself as Uto Vritra appeared and killed them. After fighting the assailant, I was able to defeat and capture him."

"Where is he now?" Blaine asked.

"Within the dungeon's depths, being interrogated by some of our best," Alea reported.

"I see, but what made you so sure that this assailant as you called him is really worth the time and effort of keeping him alive?" Dawsid asked, choosing his words with the most delicate of care.

"His appearance, his unique magic, and the use of strange phrases such as 'by the Vritra.' Of course, a more detailed report will be provided after the completion of our current mission," she said, nodding to the human lances who were both equally peeved at having to halt their mission.

"Now that Alea's update is finished, let's get into the real reason you called this meeting," King Alduin said, narrowing his eyes at Dawsid. Understandable, as most things could be discussed using phones, but again the dwarven representatives heavily insisted on this meeting being in person.

"Yes, I for one would love to know why I had to put off my prior arrangements," Blaine said turning towards the dwarves.

"Arthur Leywin," Dawsid said, earning a collective sigh.

"Haven't we been through this already?" Priscilla asked, trying her absolute best not to insult Dawsid's pitiful attempt at monopolizing Arthur's technology and fortune.

"He's a menace and a flight risk!!!" both dwarven representatives yelled, slamming their fists down mimicking a judge. 'Bloody hell, this is going to be a long day...' everyone thought with a weary, defeated sigh.

An: I read some stuff on how to improve my writing. Though the change doesn't seem to make all that much of a difference, at least to me that is. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to vote.