and into the evening

“We must smell them,” Delta purred innocently. Julius just ran his hands over them, shaking his head with a large smile on his square face.

“Good evening,” Julius started after opening the door. “Hello, Jolen and Talen, no Elves today?” he asked looking over the rest of the group with the Archduke. 

“No, they didn’t finish their tasks,” Jolen answered with a sleepy smile on her long, silver face. Her amber Demon eyes were slightly frightening while a bit alluring. She pulled her large wings inside since it was a normal thing for the Knights to do when entering a building.

“We do have an Elf,” Talen pointed out, pulling his long, black horns in to appear more human like. He did it on remote but realized after there was no need to. His sharp, oval, light brown face with undertones of cream contrasted his dark brown Demon eyes. Add blond hair and he was such a unique male that so many just stopped to stare at.

“Oh, hello Captain Elizabeth,” Julius waved with a relaxed stance. “Don’t mind them. They are not going to bite but have been tasked with sniffing you. We had a run in with a Death Seed and want to make sure that you are alright.”

“Thanks?” Archduke Dristen sighed, walking past Delta after stroking his large, black head. “Oh, could you just call me captain tonight. I am so sick of hearing… well anyways.” He sighed, rubbing his blue eyes with his strong, tan hands.

“No problem,” Trenton responded motioning them inside with a kind gesture. He was wandering the room trying to calm himself. He had no idea why the fact that Rus was set up so easily bothered him so. He pointed to Londra, “the four of them are working on a new spell. Alden will pull them away when you are ready. But I see questions and sorrow in your eyes.”

“Wow, your voice is so… and your skin is such a unique color. Like the center of a golden pecan tree...” a tall female Elf with long ears, a sharp oval, ivory face, honey eyes, and long platinum hair rambled, reaching back to grab Elizabeth’s golden hand.

“Yea, and that is toned down,” Fern sighed. This is when they noticed the small, yet beautiful Fairy sitting on his shoulder with lovely pink butterfly wings. “When he forgets or gets a bit angry there is more allure and a killer accent. But that is mine,” This caused them both to smile.

“I am good with just Liz,” Captain Elizabeth started with a partial smile and a nod. “This is my partner in life, Este. Behind me is my vice-captain Markus and his wife Melanie.”

“Great,” Peter responded, with a wave of his white, rabbit ear which caused Markus to smile largely. “Let me introduce you all. I am Peter, beside me is Belle. Trenton is the tall one with the voice while Fern is the Fairy on his shoulder. Julius is the one that let you in.” He smiled because the four were truly paying attention. “Our other tall beauty is Mara,” he pointed and she waved. “Beside her is Zerina, then Sasha with Fenten riding on her shoulder for the moment. Rus is the one pouting and bald, Calla is the lovely blond with a light green complexion while beside her, made of muscle is Zeke. Alex has one arm, his other was a bit sweaty, and he doesn’t wear it all the time. Behind the four huddled together is Alden, he can’t talk… it is a long horrible story. Then the red head is Anna, the Elf is Helen, finishing up with Londra and Robbie. That is us,” he smiled. “For the time being, anyways.”

“Wow,” Este started blinking her honey-colored eyes, “Liz said you were a unique group but…”

“There is no fighting?” Melanie wondered, her green eyes surveying the group as her nervous, cognac hands pulled her short, blue and green hair away from her round face.

“Not really,” Alpha stated with a slight purr that sounded more like a roar since he was still the size of a tiger. “You forgot us, rabbit.”

“Oh,” Peter blushed, darkening his dark pink eyes. “Sorry, our saviors: Alpha the tuxedo Feline Drake, Delta the black Feline Drake, Beta the grey Feline Drake, and Theda the yellow, fluffy Feline Drake.”

“Better,” Alpha stated curtly. “None smell.” Now that they were all studding him, he pranced showing his black back, white chest, white cheeks, black mask, and white feet. The returned to his cat size, pulling out his black wings and flew to the cat stands on the far wall.

“I assume the… Death Seed is why you took on a second? Ar… Captain told us you were doing one camp today,” Markus wondered, his violet eyes watching the cats decide on where they were going to settle while there was a smile on his square, brown face. He tossed his head slightly to move his fluffy, blond hair out of his face.

“Yes,” Belle answered, motioning to the book. Her deep blue eyes were trying to figure out what the group was doing to the spell but her oval, light beige face never wavered from Liz’s face. “Captain, this is what they look like. They convince the infected to bring a group to a high level camp to be eaten. They smell like musty, moldy water.”

“She says as only an Elf can,” Jolen smiled moving towards Mara wondering why so many of the party were wondering around lost in thought. Mara smiled and brought her wings and thin horns inside, so Jolen didn't feel to out of place. 

“I take it, Purifying Flames to destroy unless in the body,” Dristen sighed running a strong hand through his short, thick, fluffy, dirty blond hair with strands of silver. His blue eyes and tan, square face showed his mental exhaustion. “Then hope Londra or Anna is near if it makes it inside.”

“That sums it up,” Alex stated, rolling his shoulders debating on leaving his arm off. “Ran into them quite a while ago. Wasn’t sure they were here. That is one reason Rus is sour looking.”

“I can understand that,” he sighed, closing his eyes for a while. So much in a day… then again, they certainly crammed a lot in a day too.  “We found some in my grandson’s room. It took quite a bit to destroy them. I am sorry, but that doesn't help anyone...”

“Well, that connects the dots,” Fenten stated, using magic to make his small voice sound normal. He loved riding on Shasa’s shoulder… being so close to her…

“Alden, could you get their attention,” Dristen mumbled, sitting down at the table. He watched as they all decided who was going to fill the eighteen chairs around the table.

Alden smiled simply touching Londra’s shoulder. She turned around quickly, taking in the situation she bowed slightly to the Archduke. Alden’s voice entered her mind, introducing her to the other three and letting her know that the Archduke wanted to be called captain. “Sorry, we got involved. Did they tell you about the Death Seeds?” she wondered moving to sit down beside him since that is where everyone was motioning her to go. “Hi, Liz, and company. Welcome to our little abode.”

Liz smiled, “yes, but one question, other than smell is there a way to detect a Death Seed?”

Helen sat down next to Anna who was on the other side of Londra. “Yes, using a truth circle you ask what his or her name is. The circle causes the seed to answer. It can find memories, but it doesn’t assimilate, thus it doesn’t have a name.”

“Another Elf answer,” Jolen whispered with a chuckle as Mara, Trenton, and Talen nodded choosing to lean against the wall where the dumbwaiter was. Not that they were expecting food, but it was close enough to be part of the conversation yet let them lean since none wanted to sit.

“That was good information,” Dristen mumbled. “Now… your idea that Helen relayed worked great. We used the other parties to preserve food and my six Demons to take it around. They continued until they were exhausted. These two won the drawing to come, not that any of the others are awake right now. None of us know how to do the preservation spell for food. I think I might have figured it out but using the other parties was beneficial for us all. It gave the newer three a moral boost and let us know more about them. There are a few villages that don’t have adventurers, they may be a good fit with a bit more confidence.”

“That is great to hear,” Calla smiled warmly causing the captain to blush. “There are so many hungry, and that is what we have noticed just escorting trade wagons.”

“Yes,” Talon started, “it was great to give it to the hungry, but it will not go far. So many fields have been ravaged by the Gr… M-Ms. This continent didn’t need to rely on outside trade for food but we have for several years. But I don’t understand how, since most of our tradable items aren’t being made anymore because it isn’t safe outside the villages or towns.” This caused many to nod, understanding a bit more about the uniqueness of the continent.

“The next thing?” Londra wondered, seeing the sadness hiding in the back of Dristen’s blue eyes. “What is bothering you?”

He took a deep breath, leaning back in the chair, “as of noon… all those who actually seen and spoke with Bishop Hood, on the whole continent, are dead…”

“Wait, what about Master Oscar and Elaine?” Peter asked quickly, his rabbit ears and dark pink eyes showing his concern. Others also faced Dristen hoping to hear they were alright.

“They are fine. They never wanted to see his face or have anything to do with the Challenge,” he answered softly. “The three that set up the Challenge… all are dead, with the family or servants that wanted to be directly involved.”

“I am sorry,” Londra whispered, reaching to hold his strong hand for a moment. “I know that I didn’t get to meet them at their best but from the stories the staff told to keep their spirits up... they were both fair men until…”

“They weren’t,” he finished, rubbing his face and sighing. “Could you indulge me, I need to… Do you know about our continental hierarchy?”

“Not a lot,” Londra responded, noticing his hand was shaking and there was moisture in his blue eyes. “Most of us are not from here… go ahead.”

He tried to smile but only a corner of his mouth moved. “I just need a short… okay. King Augustan is the leader of course. He has advisers and such that aren’t always honest but always tell him what he wants to hear. The continent is divided into five regions overseen by roaming Archdukes and Archduchess. I have a small home but only use it occasionally… even when the children were young, we moved around a lot. Oh, I was given the position when I was around... thirty, I think. The King picks them and can change them whenever. He isn't anything like he was back then...

 We report directly to the king, but we have authority to make any decision about the regions. This is a recent change that I didn’t know affected all the areas… Each region has three dukes, it was five at one point, usually our family or those we trust. I changed ours to three around twenty-five years ago because of corruption. The number went down continent wide because of the M-Ms destroying so many. Anyways, the dukes oversee their own town and three to five lords. Each lord oversees his, her, or their town with another and two to four villages. Now towns are more the size of villages, and some villages have been destroyed. It is hard to keep up with all the constant changing,” he nodded to them. “I have been around to see but I can’t see it all in a quick visit… obviously, I missed the Challenge. It was strangely comforting to hear the others did as well but just not as long...”

“I understand… thanks for the small lesson,” Londra smiled with compassion in her hazel eyes that soften her round, light beige face.

“Thanks,” he cleared his throat and sat a bit taller in the chair. “One reason I wanted to speak to you is I have a request. Tomorrow could you, Anna, Alden, and Mara meet me at the Manor? Before nine? I want you to meet the new Duke and Duchess with all the Lords, Ladies, and their children of my Archdukedom. My Demons will move you around to the towns they reside in before taking you to meet my fellow Archdukes and Archduchesses. They will have you meet just their dukes and or duchesses but not take you places, at least that is what they told me. They might take you to a few middle points.”

“You want us to have teleportation points,” Anna mumbled, her light tan, heart-shaped face and deep green eyes showing how handy it would be. “Clever…”

“That and I want you to speak with them about the Learning Room and make sure that none would abuse the power. Not that we have long. Nobles get two hours every year,” he answered. “They shouldn’t keep you longer than an hour each. Warren will be the only one you meet from the capital and his children. It will probably be in a northern section.”

“We can understand that,” Londra nodded. “I don’t think us wandering around the capital would be appreciated since we are such a unique group.”

Dristen nodded with a slight smile this time. He looked to Liz and she nodded. “The other reason is I brought a M-M map,” he started, pulling it out of his vault and rolling it out on the table. This brought everyone around them. “All of our Demons and Elves have been working on it for the last week. As you can see, there is a triangle that was formed by… Hood in each of the four outer regions. We have no information about the center region. Archduke Warren doesn’t even know where the camps are. He has been banned from watching them. The only ones that have that information are the Templars and they get it just before an assignment.”

“True,” Liz continued, “but we just have which routes to take and when we must take them.”

“That is suspicious,” Zeke mumbled, rubbing his green chin. “I like that this continent has well maintained paths and roads. But to tell you which ones you can take at what time means that they know when the M-Ms move around.”

“Exactly,” Markus nodded. “When we heard about the Challenges… well we could imagine the king or his advisors working to create Gre… M-Ms to ship to our enemies or allies that don’t give the king the price he wants. We have all watched him change over the years and not for the better.”

“Much like some of the prestigious towns,” Este started, “the villages in the capital give citizens to the king as payment. Many don’t end up in the slave system…” she paused blinking away tears while fisting her hand.

“I was with a different platoon at the time,” Melanie started, holding Este’s other hand since Liz had her right hand. “We were escorting a trade caravan and watched the king’s men shove six people from a cart into the forest. Someone messed up our route information, that is why our paths crossed. We were always told never to interfere and to stay on the path at all times. But they left and the screams were… Este fought until she made it to the path. We could save her now since the M-Ms following would be dangerous to the cargo. We don’t engage. Just use holy barriers to push them back. Your group… not only fought them off once but got more information and went right back. That is either crazy or brave.”

“I like to think both,” Fenten chuckled, hovering over the map with Fern. “If I am reading this right… there is one nest in the center of each of the triangles created by the challenges. Around the nests are between twelve to fourteen camps. Then there are splattering of camps around the whole continent that don’t seem to be connected to a nest. Also, there are two hives… one on the northeastern side and one on the southwestern side.”

“Yes, you are reading it correctly,” Dristen sighed, blinking his dry blue eyes. “They are where the challenges lasted the longest. Ideas?”

“I am not taking on M-Ms every blasted day!” Fern started, still hovering about them with her hands on her hips. “Yes, we are that good. Rus showed us that in a backwards way. But, I need an eye break! Do you know what those females do? Nope, not doing every day!”

“Agreed,” Calla and Zerina said in unison then smiled at each other.

“Nope,” Julius sighed, rubbing his square, light tan face and rubbing his green eyes. He thought of his sister then all the rest of them. “That is just too much. I am sure Londra could make a memory stone for you all to see just what we had to put up with.”

“I agree,” Anna mumbled, rubbing her light tan hands on her legs. “Maybe three times a week? But we need to observe them for more than one day…”

“That is a good idea… but we may not have time to be that slow,” Helen started pointing to the hive that wasn’t too far from the northeastern cliffs of the continent. From what she was told, the party wasn’t too far away from it when they were trapped and forced to battle the M-Ms for the first time. “This hive is on top of water mountains… or cliffs, it isn’t approachable from the water… it will be hard to purify. Not only that, but it will also be easy for the M-Ms to have several layers even if there are only fifty in a layer. There has to be at least four teams, six would be recommended, more welcomed, otherwise none will survive. Hives, once purified don’t regenerate.”

“I don’t understand,” Liz mumbled, with concern on her golden, oval face and worry in her blue eyes. “I mean I know that you will need help. I now have a team that trusts each other completely. We want to learn… I thought that once you finished a camp it was purified?”

“It is and isn’t,” Alex began with a sigh, leaning back in his chair. “For some reason the land will bow down to the power of the M-Ms... any time they come back. The nest will send out groups to repopulate and recreate the camps and… hate to say it, but a camp where there is a nest close by can repopulate in three days. Now the camps farther away will use the negativity around them, like starvation and fear. Much like the creation of a tainted animal the M-Ms can be created through a group of negative energy. Then they can repopulate in eight to ten days in a desolate area.”

“But taking out camps near by pulls M-Ms from the nest,” Trenton started, hoping what he remembered was right. He and Mara were using their eyes so they didn’t have to move and what he seen… well it wasn’t good. His long, golden pecan colored face showed much but not like his watering deep green Demon eyes. “M-Ms are also pulled from the hive to repopulate the nest… a horrible circle but if we could time it just right…”

“Yes,” Alex nodded, looking at Helen’s worried face. “We have done that before but…”

“We may not have time,” Helen repeated studying the map. “These notes are current right?” She pointed to hive again. Now Alex was worried.

Dristen moved toward the map to see that near each camp, nest, and hive there were notes written so tiny, he missed them. He looked over at Talon, who nodded. “Yes.”

“We have a month at most before the hive implodes,” Helen sighed loudly. This caused Alex to stare up at the ceiling, shaking his head in disbelief.

“That is bad?” Sasha wondered. Then realized it was by the way Helen’s left ear drooped.

“Yes, when a hive is overpopulated… this much it destroys itself but not the M-Ms. They simply leave until the land is stable again. It is not good… even with the barrier machines these two villages and this town will be destroyed since the M-Ms will need extra energy to rebuild. Not only that, but the fields and forest around will be tainted worse than being in a black mist cloud,” Helen explained pointing. “We seen it happen… waited too long because we didn’t have enough back up. It was a mad scramble to protect the villages but in the end two parties died, one village was completely destroyed, and the new hive took ten parties to tackle, and it was still extreme.”

“Yea,” Alex whispered. “Thought I was going to lose you… heck, I didn’t think we would get out of there alive. It was a miracle we pulled it off without any deaths.”

“A month? Thirty days?” Dristen whispered. “How many teams do you think?”

“At least six, like I said more would be welcome,” Helen answered. “Caverns can be difficult. There are no camps near any cliffs for practice either.”

“Damn,” Rus sighed. “But…” he looked closer at the map. “We don’t have enough Demon Spider Silk and can’t get any more right now… that is a concern?”

“One of the many things,” Dristen grumbled, rubbing his large hands over his tan, square face and blinking his blue eyes. “I am sorry for wasting tomorrow but having the teleportation points will help… I know the other two quests will be ready the day after tomorrow… I also know that Master Yevhen is moving the other two here. But a month…”

“This village,” Rus continued, “it is a Lizard Village. They don’t need any clothing unless they have evolved to the non-human, top of the line. I don’t need clothing but holding my warrior form or mage form for that long would be impossible now. I haven’t used them enough, didn't know I needed to.”

“We give our off-white ones to Liz’s team and take our colored ones,” Mara commented. “We deserve the color… and they can be altered easily, since the ladies of Three C’s and their workers are remarkable. Helen and Alex have two sets also that can be repurposed since they are getting color. I think our new members should have color if we have time.”

“Yes,” Londra and Anna agreed with smiles. “Then after our four newest members are healed up, we start chipping away at the camps around the nest. Try two if our recon proves that it is doable. But not every day… I think three times a week is still more than enough.”

“The other hive?” Dristen wondered, looking at Helen.

Helen moved to look at the notes, “it is young… it won’t exceed compacity for fifteen months… but if we start taking down the camps around that area we might have more time. If the nest near it is taken out, it can be monitored and purified before it gets too large, giving more time until the hive would need to be purified. It isn’t on the cliffs but farther in… not too far from a lake. But it doesn’t look to be affecting the nearby towns and villages any more than normal. Both are strange, they usually enjoy caverns instead of layers under the ground and they usually poison nearby water sources. Not enough to kill but to make them sick, more negativity. I guess it doesn’t matter too much.”

“Time to find a way to speak with the Queen Mother,” Talon mumbled. “Yet, who is going to be crazy enough to help take down camps on a weekly basis. Rolling Flames and Orchid Blossom have the ability but I don’t think they have the will to tackle it yet…”

“Liz,” Anna started, “don’t go into the Learning Room yet. We think there is a better way to use the Impenetrable Skin spell. Give us a few days. Also, what Rus says is a way to gather more teams, even if it is just for this corner of the Archdukedom…” she ended with a sigh.

“That is an idea…” Jolen began, pushing off the wall with the other Demons to looking over shoulders. “The three in trouble… Verde a village down near the ocean that contains mostly Lizardpeople, Lunshine a town that contains proud Ogres on top of the cliffs, and Milton a town of Beastpeople. Verde and Milton are part of the eastern section now controlled by the once head steward Kono and her husband Jin. Lunshine is the closest to the hive… and in the northern section.”

“My granddaughter Dedra and her husband Yohan, a High Elf…” Dristen finished. “While I get to help my grandson Francis and his wife Sandra settled into the role of Duke and Duchess. He is already stressing while she is just relaxed… the way she is strangely enough. What a great first month…”

“Do they fight the M-Ms at night? The towns?” Zeke wondered. “Being that close they would be attacked daily. Their barrier generators must be working overtime.”

“They are,” Jolen and Talen sighed.

“We took food to them today; it might be a daily occurrence…” Talen added slowly.

“Oh,” Londra mumbled, her hazel eyes going wide. “I assume these would help,” she started as a pile of soul crystals appeared before the Archduke.

“There are fourteen there,” Jolen yelled while laughing. “What creatures did you fight to give you that many!?”

“We haven’t received any from tainted creatures,” Belle stated in her crisp way. “These are from some of the black M-Ms we fought while our minds were completely pure.”

Dristen picked up one to look at the clarity. He used his appraisal skill then sighed. “I can’t keep paying you for fixing everything. Plus, it would be wrong to keep all of these, since the others have helped with everything too. What to do…”

“We don’t require money,” Londra decided. “You are helping us, so we are helping you. But I agree that you should distribute them. Nobody needs to know where you found them… like in a secret place in the manor that you forgot about?” she finished with a smile.

He laughed, how could he not. This group just wanted to stay together and use their power to help. Plus, they loved to meddle with everything. “I do have to clean everything out.” He nodded, his laughing subsiding as the soul crystals disappeared into his vault. “But this feels so one sided now. The day after tomorrow when you leave on your quests, I have a request. Could you purify the herb beds close to the town and village?”

“That isn’t a problem,” Anna smiled. “Now could you be nice and leave so we could work on this spell. We will see you tomorrow,” she finished happily.

“Fair enough, shall we?” He asked his knights and they were gone. Instantly the four were working on the spell again while the others sat digesting the information.

“Londra?” Fenten started, growing to sit at the table across from them. “What quests are we going on the day after tomorrow?”

“Anna is taking half and going to Oak… a village in the southwest that is under the control of… Vulkan’s family to meet up with the slave trader there to purchase… a Kaijin survivor from Green Cleanse. His name was…”

“Tomas,” Alex supplied with a chuckle since nobody had looked up. “From our intel he changed his name to Marrow. I am sure there is a story there. Helen will be going with Anna’s group because she can motivate him easier.”

“It is interesting,” Mara started watching the four trying not to laugh at how intense they all looked. She was hoping to get their attention so she continued her thought in hopes of that. “How Master Oscar just up and gave us a map with town and village names yet everyone here still calls this place Manor Town. Actually, I haven’t heard many call it by name.”

“Agreed,” Robbie smiled without looking away which caused Mara to sigh. Her plan wasn’t successful yet Robbie did continued, “I think it is because we are actively transporting. Like this one is Dahlia Haven. Anyways, the first to live here loved them, I looked it up when we found out. They grew planted them all around the town. They still grow in places… but we were always told it was just Duke Eldwin’s Manor Town. Something about the king didn’t like the names or something…”

“Makes sense why people are slowly accepting the names again,” Fern stated following what Mara was trying to accomplish. But she doubted they would look away from the spell. “The ones in control of creating all the negative are dead and thus their names don’t have to be used for everything anymore. Plus, there isn’t much love for the king right now so…”

“Wait,” Zeke mumbled, oblivious to what the ladies were trying to do. “I have been to Oak, and Fern is right. Everything had a name before being locked into the challenge. So many things point to the king having a hand in it. Anyways, if I remember right, they have a groomed forest and large tree mill. They grew trees like others grow tomatoes! It was only around two miles out from their village. They also had a large building for wood artisans.”

“Yep, that is the one,” Helen confirmed. “But there is quite a bit of M-M activity that way. I am sure the Archduke will ask for us to purify at least one of the forests farms and the closest building for artisans so they can create again. Thus, they have money to trade.”

“Okay, the other half is going?” Sasha asked, slowly wandering around digesting everything.

“My team is going to Whitesands Inlet,” Londra answered still concentrating on the spell before them. “It is the Manor Town of Lord… what was Othniel’s father’s name… his mother’s was Orchidea. Oh, Oberon. I think he has two younger sisters too. It is a medium size trading port with a beach containing white sand. I can’t wait! I don’t remember if I have ever been to a beach!” She looked up to smile at Sasha before going back to the spell. Sasha almost started to laugh but continued to wander around the living area.

Once again Alex filled in the questions. “I am with her group. We are going to pick up Rayjenna, a Feline Beastwoman who is also part Demon with the most beautiful silver-violet eyes. I think her new name is… Ryan? Or something like that.”

“Why would they need new names?” Rus wondered before sighing. “Right, so the King doesn’t find them. Probably not looking though.”

“Also true,” Alex nodded. “Master Yevhen is moving the other two we found here. I never thought to look at the names on my Lacrama. But once Helen’s mind was healed she did. All were deceased except us and those four. Then it became a game of listening to clues about new community members owning slaves that were unique.”

“Yes,” Londra answered. “They are supposed to be here the day after tomorrow by late afternoon. So, I figure we leave after our morning workout and breakfast... say around nine?”

“At least we know now,” Trenton chuckled. “Tomorrow will be quiet for us, sounds good.”