Leiea spins around to find the man right behind them, sitting in the same position on a metal chair. He scowls before waving his hand in a complex pattern. The air around them falls in waves and she's plunged into darkness.
The process was too fast to react to. She opens her eyes to find herself in front of a wooden wall. Looking up, the ceiling is carved in with pictures of leaves and vines. A throbbing headache pounds at her temples and a rope tying her hands behind her back chafes her wrists.
"Turn around you worthless peasant,"
Leiea stiffens but turns around slowly. Parallel to her is the man, standing in front of a throne crafted the same as the room. Extremely narrow, the wooden box only has enough room to house the two of them, with little space to spare. With the box so airtight, claustrophobia arises.
She clenches her fist but stands her ground. "You're from Karyk. Not much less of a peasant than me."
His eyes grow wild, A menacing grin gracing his face. "I'm not surprised you don't recognize me, other than a monster hunting you, but I'm still offended." He lowers himself into the throne and positions himself as he was before, crossing his legs in an effeminate manner.
"I'm not from Karyk," he spits the word out like a fish bone. " I stay there because I blend in. Does the name Firyah ring a bell?"
The name echoes in Leiea's mind, and she looks at the floor in thought. I can vaguely remember reading Firyah somewhere, years ago. It even feels like she's heard it in a passing conversation, certainly not the friendly kind. Her head shoots up. "You're more important than you look."
Firyah's smile grows wider, revealing blood-red gums. " I know I am. I chose to be seclusive in my reign as king of Kiira," Leiea's mouth hangs open in disbelief. What kind of king would use magic, which is rare beyond knowing, to torment a select few of his subjects? He continues his speech with a dazed look into the distance.
"Keeping a low profile lets me do as I please. If I stay in a castle in Florithe, I channel magic into creating hybrid creatures. The Ildful are my dearest," he giggles and shifts on his throne. "Fiery little beasts. Of course you would've known by now, but I keep all of them, all hundreds of dangerous crossbreeds, in that little forest by your beloved village.
"As the space is taken, I expand the forest a bit. Nothing to make a difference yet, but the more creatures I make, the more forest made, giving less need to have human civilization and its wake. That's why I let the birds burn down your adorable village. Why shouldn't they be dominant over humans?" He laughs like a maniac and waves his hand. A bronze goblet appears in it and he takes a swig. "Of course, that's where your emerald comes in to play. Your handsome friend and teach you this for some reason, but all gemstones, rocks, and other minerals hold a natural power. A natural magic that is seen nowhere else.
"As you know, all of those crystals and what not have a meaning, all of them got in some way. It's common for the wealthy and most people in Florithe to wear jewels to bring luck, love, friendship, what have you. They don't know that it's because of magic, because all of them are extremely dense, but knowing about the magic and harnessing it and bring much more than help in a meeting.
"The more colorful it is, the more powerful. The more flawless, the more powerful. The longer and wider it is, the more powerful it is. Certainly you've connected you're emerald to this by now,"
She has in all ways possible. The emerald from Sheyric the epitome of brightness, clarity, and size for power. Even that strange surge of emotion she experienced the first time she put it on makes sense now. This new and sudden understanding makes her drowsy. Newfound anger at Sheyric about not telling her any of this makes it worse.
He continues, looking pleased at her. "However, the perfections come with a price. The more power it holds the more misfortunate holds. Wearing it gives the good, natural attributes, but doom, death, and depression is to come. I personally don't hate this. Not just because I do not care about it, but because vain people that want to wear perfect jewels pay for more then the thousands of coins."
Leiea surprises herself by nodding in agreement, but stops instantly when she remembers she's one of the vain people that accepted the perfect gem and paid for it.
"Still, that only matters for those wearing it. Those simply channeling the magic out of it are unaffected."
Her anger unbridled, Leiea cuts in. "You've brought on this chase because my damn emerald would supply you enough to expand the forest and create more animals!"
Firyah begins smiling again. Leiea grinds her teeth together and lunges forward with a cry. Halfway to the throne- the king unflinching- she crashes up against something and is sent back flying. Her shoulder and backside begin throbbing. Confused, she looks up but still finds the space empty.
"Do you really think I'm just leaving that open for you to maul me?" He barks. "You're predictable to prepare for. A simple Barrier will hold back anything, including your obnoxious personality when you're angry."
She scowls and scoots backward to sit up next to the wall, unable to use her tied hands. After many similar falls all her life, she knows it'll be nigh impossible to walk for hours. Firyah slams the goblet onto the throne's armrest, waving his hand simultaneously.
A chunk of the wall next to the throne opens like a door, although everything in the room is seamless and smooth. A giant orange figure walks through it confidently. It pads over to Firyah and barks like a dog. The king nods in response, almost reminiscent of a pet owner, and points to Leiea. The animal turns to her and growls.
It's not a wolf or dog, but much larger than one and muscular. It has the obvious colors and figure of a fox, with sinister fangs and small eyes. Leiea crawls into the nearest corner and curls up as tight as possible. The fox walks up slowly with its nose trained on the floor. Suddenly, it barks playful and bounds up to her. It steps all over her legs and stomach with heavy feet and sharp claws, But it doesn't appear to be attacking. Leiea releases her breath but doesn't touch the creature or look at it too closely. She wonders how it walked through the area with the Barrier.
"Blast you, girl," Firyah grumbles. "I was an idiot to bring in such a nice creature of mine for you first. Play with it, it's not like I care,"
She blinks and looks at the fox. It yips and nudges her in the cheek. It's easy to tell Firyah was just mad and wasn't serious about her playing with it, but it's impossible to pass up petting such a big, fuzzy beast. She rests her cheek on its head and it's tail twitches, in another doglike behavior.
The king growls again and raises from his seat. "I hope you have a good time with your friends out there," he says eerily, "Lucky of you to have that worthless fox by your side. Why don't you have this... as a preview of sorts." He slashes both his hands in the air and he disappears at the same moment, his coat fluttering. Then, the noise of a heavy animal walking catches Leiea's attention.
Out of the trapdoor in the wall, a wolf emerges. It's bigger than the fox, and a ghostly gray color. It's tail is more like that of a cat with a fluffy tip, and the fur on its neck is similar to a mane. It turns to them without a noise and lunges forward. Leiea gasps and curls up to hide her head from a blow.
The fox jumps from her legs and barks at the new attacker with wild abandon. Leiea decides to peek out to watch the canines fight.
The wolf roars and rears up. It brings a massive paw down on the fox's neck, but the creature darts out of the way. The fox winds around the wolf in a blur of orange, confusing it. Finally, it stops running and chomps down on the wolf's thin tail.
Leiea winces at the crunch of bones before the beast's screaming begins. In the tight chambers, it echos off the walls and the fox's ears lower against its head. Despite it, it rushes forward and bites onto the wolf's back leg with even more force. The beast wails more and falls, thrashing on the floor with blood pooling around it.
The fox rushes up to it and jumps on the wolf repeatedly. Leiea almost smiles at the memories of watching foxes dive into snow banks to get prey the same way. The wolf cries out once more before completely ceasing movement. The fox sniffs the beast all over before looking at Leiea and barks, it's fluffy tail lashing. She smiles and gets out of her balled up position
Suddenly, the room lurches and wakes flash before her eyes like how they did being transported. Darkness engulfs her, but the fox's barking stays just as loud.
The darkness subsides and she opens her eyes. She appears to be in the same spot she was before, the empty fields just outside the encampment, now dusted with snow. Looking up, tiny flakes fall onto her face. She tries to lift her hands to wipe it off, but she finds them still tied back with rope. Right of her is the ruins of the encampment.
It's a complete waste land of black ash and smoke now, much worse than the village ruins looked. At least it's reassuring to know most people escaped it. She resists the urge to run forwards and search it.
A small yip meets her ears, coming from behind her. She spins to find the fox sitting a few yards away, white speckles on its coat. It barks louder this time and runs up to her, jumping on its hind legs. Leiea laughs and bends down. This guy must be smart, considering Firyah crafted all these creatures, she thinks.
"Hi!" She says to the creature, using her best baby-talking voice. "Can you help me here?" Its ears perk up and it's tail thumps on the frozen soil. She nods with a smile and turns around on her knees. She move her tied hands around and tries to point at the rope at her wrists. The fox yips and she feels it's wet nose touching her fingers.
"Yeah! Can you bite it off?" She taps as close to the rope as she can. After a few minutes of trial and error, the fox gets its front teeth around the rope.
"That's it! Bite it, pull it off. Something."
She feels the fox stand up and begin to tug on it, using all of its strength. It must know what it's doing is right, it's attention unwavering and incredible amounts of force given. Finally, it's snaps and hits her thumb, stinging it. She pulls her hands apart and the rope breaks again, this time completely. Her arms fly out and she has to stretch them for a few seconds.
"Thank you!" She says to the fox, scratching its furry neck. Content, it closes its eyes and relaxes.
She stops and stands up, rubbing her irritated wrists. "Alright, come on. We have to find some people."