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Chapter 7 - The Awakening

Adi was head servant, not a member of the guard. All the servants should have escaped to the underground tunnel leading out of the kingdom to the south. If Elric completed the wall, the temperature drop would not only affect the ogres, but would also kill Adi.

As a member of the fair folk, Adi could not resist cold temperatures and would freeze to death if exposed to temperatures below the freezing point of water. Even after the temperature were returned to normal, there would be no way to revive Adi.

"Prince Elric, stop!" She screamed, as she reached out to grab his arm, in the hopes of diverting his attack. Xerxes had been observing her and managed to hold her back just before she reached him.

"You mustn't touch him, Princess. He'll freeze your entire body in his current state."

"But Adi! She'll freeze! I have to save her!" Tears streamed down her eyes.

Being so close to Elric, tiny ice crystals were forming wherever the tears flowed down her face. Xerxes willed warmth to flow through her and melt them. Then he removed his mask and looked out to the field to look for the person she wanted to save. But other than the ogres, he only saw knights and mages on the field. Though they were of the human race and cold temperatures would normally be a problem, these were humans that had acquired the necessary magical powers to protect themselves from the elements so they were in no imminent danger from Elric's attack. He had to get on to the battlefield to have a proper look at those in combat.

"I'll save her, Princess, just wait for me here."

He let go of Damia and a black flash of lightning struck the location where he had been standing, startling Damia and making her take a step back.

The black lightning struck again, this time, inside the barrier.

A fire now burned where Xerxes appeared, and he manipulated the flames to carry him. Riding on the wave of flames, Damia could see him moving through the ground forces, searching.

But he would never find her where he was. Adi was flying in the air, providing aerial support to the ground troops. Damia tried to call out to him, "She's in the air, above the ogre with the tree for a club!" But it was no use. He was too far away and she was too soft spoken for her voice to reach him.

Unable to locate Adi, Xerxes flashed back to Damia's side. "I saw no females on the battle ground. Are you sure your friend is there?"

"Yes, there," Damia directed Xerxes' attention towards the fairy calling forth another vine to strangle two of the ogres.

"That's Adi?" Xerxes asked confused.

"Yes, that's Adi. Please bring her out of there. We're running out of time, and I know she won't leave on her own. She should not have been out there to begin with."

"Alright."

Xerxes flashed back to the field, but before reappearing, one of the ogres broke free of Adi's vines and hurled a boulder at her. She didn't have time to react and was crushed between the boulder and the frozen barrier.

"Adi, no!"

An immense darkness consumed the sky as Damia's wails echoed across the battlefield. A pressure so intense started emanating from her that Elric couldn't focus his powers and had to stop. He turned to look at her and she was no longer the same fair beauty from earlier.

No, this was far different from anything he had ever witnessed. Damia's skin had turned a ghastly shade of grey. Her hair and the skirt of her dress swirled all around in the wind that came from her rising power, blowing debris all around and ripping her mask off.

Her screams continued as she dropped to the ground clutching her heart, until finally, it all stopped. She fell silent and stopped moving.

Elric approached her slowly, but before reaching her, she snapped her head up and looked at him. Scales had appeared, framing her face, and small fangs were protruding from her mouth. But the most shocking part of all were her eyes. Black, soulless eyes stared back at Elric and he found that he no longer had the ability to move, stricken with fear. Was this still Damia?

Before he could regain his composure, she flashed to the battlefield, much like Xerxes had done, leaving the mask on the ground where she had just been standing.

Xerxes had seen what transpired with Damia and assumed she would come to Adi's aid so he was waiting for her when she flashed inside. He thought to grab her as soon as she appeared on this side of the barrier and siphon off some of her power, enough for her to calm down, but she didn't appear where he expected.

Instead, Damia appeared on the head of the ogre that had thrown the boulder. The ogre tried to rip her off of him, but before he could lay a hand on her, Damia emitted black flames from her hand, engulfing the ogre and reducing him to ash in an instant. She then moved on to the next ogre who had witnessed her actions, but having no way to defend himself, was doomed to the same fate. She continued moving through the battlefield, taking out each of the enemies one by one.

Xerxes didn't know what action Damia would take after taking out all of the ogres so he called a mage over to Adi.

"Heal this fairy, and do it quickly. Damia is on our side for now, but if this fairy stays in this state, we may become her next targets."

The mage healed Adi as Xerxes demanded and Adi clumsily rose from the ground moments later.

"Thank you for healing me. And thank you for coming to my aid, Sir."

Adi could not fully stand, but sitting up, the demon fighting the ogres caught his attention.

"How... how is this possible? The demons went into hiding at the end of great war after losing their leader. Another Demon Lord has not yet come to power. What... what is a demon doing here?"

"Your friend is a shifter, is she not?" Xerxes inquired.

"Sir, surely you aren't implying that milady has transformed herself into this monster? She's never been able to complete a full transformation like this."

"You'd be surprised the kind of power a person can unlock when a loved one's life is involved. Damia saw the ogre hurt you. The way that boulder hit you, I imagine she thinks you're dead right now."

"Well, I thought I was dead too. Why is that not the case?"

"I used my control over fire to heat up the barrier behind you before you came into contact with it. As for the boulder, I assumed being an earth fairy, that you would have some resistance to an earth-based attack and a mage's healing would be enough to undue whatever damage you took on. Though, Damia had given me plenty of time to look for you and take you out of here before that attack occurred. But she had me looking for a female. Why do you suppose that to be the case?"

Adi blushed and looked away from Xerxes, "That's a pretty complicated story, but we can leave that for another day." Adi's attention returned to Damia, and he forced himself to a standing position. "Right now, milady needs assistance. She's never wielded so much power, especially not this kind of dark power."

In agreement, Adi and Xerxes moved towards Damia as she took down the last ogre and started looking around the field for another target.