Chapter 20 Bayn
BAYN
I wanted to ask Saldrea who this Izzy person was — other than some upstart half-elf — but I suspected the princess wouldn’t answer me, she was too worked up, lost in her own world, probably plotting vengeance. One thing was certain, once we were away from prying eyes, she’d take her fury out on me.
For now, I could only guess who Izzy might be.
I was one of the strongest earth magic users among the titans. Hell, even among elves there were few who could match me. Saldrea and her mother were among those few… now there was one more.
I’d felt the final clash of the half-breed’s magic against Saldrea’s and Golana’s. It should have been no contest, no way for her to win against them… but she had. The raw strength Izzy possessed was on a scale I hadn’t seen since… Queen Leastrine.
Absolutely stunning!
Which meant…
If I recalled correctly, Leastrine had had an even more powerful daughter who’d married a nymph and been exiled to the human realm. And this Izzy was half-elf and half-nymph… who’d come from the human realm. It seemed only logical to assume she was the child of that lost princess.
And Saldrea had no idea.
If she’d known, she’d not have gone through the pretense of a dominion match, she’d have killed Izzy outright and been done with it.
I had to smile. The Tyrianel family — Saldrea and her mother — seemed to have a blind spot when it came to royals, so certain they’d killed every last one of them. Saldrea couldn’t see what was right in front of her.
I considered — for half a heartbeat — telling Saldrea who Izzy was in exchange for freeing my sister, but that wouldn’t work.
Once I’d told her, she’d kill Izzy and not free my sister.
And saying I knew of some “secret royal” and would only tell her who it was after she freed my sister was a longshot.
She had no reason to believe there were any secret royals and wouldn’t free my sister without proof, which I didn’t have without giving Izzy’s identity away.
I decided then and there, I’d never tell Saldrea the truth about Izzy.
Which meant… there was an old human realm saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
But trusting an elf, even a half-breed who was clearly against Saldrea and her mother, was not something I was comfortable with.
Hell, I didn’t trust anyone, not fully. Trust only led to betrayal, as my parents and the woman I’d once loved had shown me.
But maybe I could forge some sort of alliance with this Izzy? One where I got everything I wanted. Anything less and it wouldn’t be worth it.
We’d see.
Saldrea turned to me the instant we were safely inside her residence.
“Defenses down, titan scum.”
I ground my teeth and obeyed… to a point. I’d never fully submit to this woman, but I could play the roll of her punching bag, make it seem like she was hurting me. If I didn’t, my sister would take the beating instead and I couldn’t allow that.
I nodded, then knelt, lowering my physical durability somewhat, so the princess would draw blood, elicit a few groans and cries from me, that’s what she really wanted.
And she laid into me hard that afternoon, venting all her pent-up fury at Izzy in a prolonged beating. Saldrea had stamina for days when it came to hurting others.
I took it all, making all the right reactions and noises, till I truly was a bleeding mess, face and body swollen from bruises on top of bruises. I could heal myself quick enough, but I’d wait till Saldrea was finished and had moved on to other things.
And as I took that beating, my fury rose.
How could my parents have allied with this madwoman and her mother?
How could they have handed Wensuria — their own daughter — over to them?
Saldrea was truly mad, insane. I needed to get myself and my sister away from her, but my friends still hadn’t found Saldrea’s secret dungeon.
They’d searched everywhere on campus, using their earth-sense to feel through the ground for any hidden rooms, and found nothing.
That told me Wensuria had to be off campus somewhere, but where?
Once I found her, I’d free her and escape this hellish place. If I got a chance to repay Saldrea’s debt of pain, I would, but if I couldn’t, I’d just flee, my sister’s safety more important than my own vengeance.
Yet… where could we go?
I couldn’t take Wensuria back to our family.
They’d already betrayed her, betrayed us.
And we wouldn’t be safe anywhere in elf-controlled lands.
There was the Deepwilds, but that wasn’t safe for anyone, and building a new life there would be hard as hell.
The human realm was a possibility, if I could get some rogue dragon to take us, but my sister and I would stand out.
From everything I’d heard, our size — I was over seven and a half feet tall and Wensuria was just under seven feet — even in these miniaturized bodies, would make us giants in that world, towering over others.
That didn’t seem like the best place to hide… but that might be our best option.
It wasn’t like this world was going to change and accept titans anytime soon. Especially not after Saldrea and her mother’s plan to have us wreak havoc amongst the population after we’d been accepted into elven society as “friends.”
“Ah… mistress?” The tiny voice of Fini, Saldrea’s mouse-shifter servant, only just managed to reach us. Saldrea paused her beating.
“What?” Saldrea snapped and Fini flinched.
“There is a wolf shifter here to see you—”
“Not now!”
“—with information on the woman you fought today,” Fini rushed to finish, voice just a squeak.
Saldrea’s head snapped around. “Say that again?”
“He says he knows something about the woman you fought today, something… juicy?”
“Show him in!” Saldrea snapped. She spun to me, “Get up.”
I healed myself and rose as her attention turned to the wolf shifter being shown into the room.
Long ago, therianthropes had been minions of the titans.
We’d created the beastfolk through years of experimentation with animals, mixing them with our own blood, to create a strong and adaptable front line fighting force.
They’d served us well, till the day the titans had surrendered to the elves after The Great War.
The elves had taken the beastfolk and made them their minions, but the lowest of the low.
The elves brutally pitted the shifters against each other with little care for who lived, so that only the strong survived to “protect the realm.” But we all knew it was a farce.
The dragons were the true protectors of Seial.
The shifters’ entire existence was an object lesson for all to see.
The message was clear: side against us and we won’t just kill off your race, we’ll have you kill yourselves.
And this idiot of a wolf-shifter didn’t seem to understand he was nothing but a pawn.
It had been so long since The Great War that the shifters, with their short lives, had forgotten what they represented.
This one probably thought he was getting ahead by giving Saldrea something she wanted, and that might be true, but he wouldn’t gain any real power and Saldrea would dispose of him eventually. She, like most elves, hated shifters.
Yet she put on a bright smile to greet this one.
“Yes, welcome,” she purred. “Come in and sit. Tell us what you know of the half-breed whore.”
The wolf didn’t sit, he stood respectfully and gave his tale.
“I’m in a cohort with a bat shifter.”
“Bats!” Hana hissed. “Disgusting!”
“Exactly,” the wolf agreed. “And today I learned something interesting. He was desperate to go see your match. He seemed… worried. Now, meaning no disrespect, but I don’t think he was worried for you. So… maybe he was worried for your opponent, the half-breed.”
I could see the wolf was losing Saldrea. A shifter worried for Izzy wasn’t all that interesting.
“Now that on its own isn’t much…” the wolf said, perhaps sensing he was losing his audience. So, when he spoke next it was in a softer, conspiratorial tone. “But… I’ve also noticed this bat shifter has had a new smell on him recently. Ever since that half-breed arrived here.”
Saldrea perked up at this.
The wolf smiled. “The bat is close to her somehow. I don’t know exactly how, and I have yet to confirm the scent I’ve caught on him—”
“Hana, get that item we took from Izzy’s room!” Saldrea ordered.
The sylph shot out of the room and was back in a flash holding a small cloth item… Was that underwear?
“I thought this might come in handy, if we ever needed to track that bitch,” Saldrea gloated as Hana handed the item over to the wolf, who gave it a good sniff.
“Ah, yes! That’s what I’ve smelled on the bat! He’s definitely been close to her… perhaps… traitorously close?” The wolf winked.
Shifters mating with anyone outside of their type of beast was cause for their deaths.
Saldrea smiled that vicious cat-like grin of hers.
“Thank you, so much,” Saldrea said with delight. “What is your name again?”
“Artol, mistress.”
“Artol, you shall be greatly rewarded for this.”
The wolf grinned and was shown out.
Saldrea laughed, a light and airy thing, which to anyone else might have sounded mirthful, but I knew it was filled with hatred and spite.
“Oh… Izzy. What have you done? You’ve given me the perfect toy to play with.” She couldn’t have been happier.
Then she and her minions began planning what they’d do to this bat-shifter. And knowing exactly how it felt to have Saldrea hurt someone you loved…
I pitied this Izzy… even if she was an elf.