Hell Forest, Aries Continent.
The party moved closer to the middle of the forest. The lower levelled beasts and animals avoided them at all costs. Their aura was so terrifying, even the lowest level, which was Jason.
In two hours they got to the middle of the forest. A wide clearing could be seen for miles and from three meters in front, the whole place was shrouded in a dark mist. The darkness was oppressing them even from a distance. They transformed back to their neutral forms and Maery passed them helmets.
"This will assist us in passing through the dark miasma. Do not for any reason lift your helmets until we get to the entrance of the small abyss. Ignore the pesky illusions. Let's go" Maery said and grabbed Jason's hand, leading him into the forest.
They navigated throughout the miasma that had devoured the life and vegetation there. The whole environment of the mist was creepy making all of them shudder. Jason felt an invisible hand brush his shoulder. He jumped a little but followed Maery.
They continued on their path for an hour before they came out of the mist. In front of them was the most beautiful forest he had ever seen. The plants and animals there that he could see looked beautiful. The forest looked like an ethereal painting.
"Welcome to the middle of Hell Forest. The mist isn't the reason why it's called Hell Forest, it's this place. Beautiful on the outside and rotten on the inside. Flora and Fauna alike are dangerous" Astara announced floating around a huge tree. The tree seemed to come alive and tried to bite Astara. She waved her hand and the tree disintegrated.
"Stupid fox tree. So, as I was saying, the mist is meant for those animals and plants who wish to advance to a higher plane. The mist is like a heavenly tribulation. Once they can successfully pass through the mist and get to the middle, they have become high levelled beasts and plants" She finished, flicking a giant mosquito perched on her arm.
"Xunia is in the northern part of the Abyss. She's still at the fringes so we have to hurry up to catch up to her before she goes deeper" Lorema said and they all rushed into the forest. They ran for about four miles before they saw a huge blue wolf coated in green blood. The wolf was sprawled on the floor, breathing faintly.
"Acecila!" The queens exclaimed and rushed to the collapsed wolf. Not far from her, was a silver wolf with white wings, one of them broken.
"Ganine!" They yelled again and Maery rushed to her side. Her white wings were coated with dark purple blood where they broke.
Jason stood rooted to the spot while the queens tended to their fellow queens. When they were done, they asked them for the location of the Alpha Queen.
"We were ambushed by a day stalker. She went after it and was sucked into a black vortex. We don't know where she is" Acecila answered, sipping the tea Maery gave her. The queens sighed and turned to Jason.
"We don't have a darkness type body here or it would have been easier to track her down. Fortunately, we're close to one of the seals so we can use Jason's light energy and mate bond to fish her out" Seriel said and they all nodded. They located the giant seal after and asked Jason to focus all his energy at the centre of the seal.
He did and a black vortex rose out of the centre of the seal. A figure was pushed out of the seal and was caught by Jason. He was surprised she was so light. Josephine brought out a bed from her formless void ring and Jason laid the queen on the bed.
"What's wrong with her?" He asked worriedly.
"She was attacked by a day stalker who was very experienced. Usually, day stalkers are at celestial levels and ambush is their forte. If they attack at the right moment, they can take even a Zenith supreme down. That one was lucky enough and captured Xunia as a nutrition source since she has an abundance of darkness energy" Lorema explained.
Jason shuddered and stared at Xunia's pale face. He lifted his hand to stroke her face but his hand was slapped away by Astara whose hand caught fire. She blew out the fire and glared at Jason. He blushed and mumbled an apology.
"Did anything I said earlier enter your brain at all? Don't touch her in that melancholic state or else you'll kill her!" She yelled and he flinched. The queens glared at her and returned to what they were doing.
Astara called herself and explained.
"If you touch her now, you'll flood her system with light energy which she doesn't need because she was paralysed by it when the day stalker struck. What we need now is dark energy". He nodded and refrained from touching her.
"Summon Paerish" Seriel commanded and they sent a mental signal to her. In a few minutes, a figure shrouded in darkness arrived on the spot and walked towards Seriel.
"You called?" the figure asked, indifferently. It was hard for Jason to guess if the figure was male or female. Seriel just pointed to where Xunia lay and the figure nodded.
The figure kneeled by her bed and began chanting. The other queens made a barrier around the bed while Paerish transferred dark energy into Xunia's body. The place was covered by dark mist for four hours till she was done.
The figure looked like it had shrunk after the hectic transfer. She bowed to Xunia's bed and dispersed. Jason was scared that she had died but Seriel reassured him that that was just a shadow clone that Paerish had prepared for the transfer.
Xunia's blinked a few times before opening her eyes. She sat up slowly, looked around and turned to puke in the corner of the bed. Jason stared at her worriedly but he didn't dare to go closer to her. Only after she was done and they had cleaned up did he go close to her.
"Haven't I warned you guys about using Paerish's clones to transfer energy to me? I hate the taste of demon dark energy" She scolded angrily. The queens lowered their heads not daring to look up.
"Hey, they just wanted to save you" he said softly. She glared at him in annoyance.
"I didn't need it as I would've been fine either way.They were just being overprotective hens"
"No, they did it because of me. They knew you were going to be alright but it may take a long time so they tried a faster way to heal you to reassure me that you were alright. Don't blame them, it's my fault" he said and her eyes softened.
"Alright this time, you guys are off the hook but don't let this repeat itself. Seriel, you're on punishment" She ordered and the beta queen let out a cry.
"Why?"
"Cos I asked you to follow me and you refused. I got hurt because you weren't by my side. You get to take responsibility for this"
"So mean" Seriel grumbled but didn't say anything else.
"Let's just go home. This place gives me a major case of the creeps" Lorema said shivering. They all nodded and transformed into their original forms. Jason's original form still shocked them even those who had seen him like that before. For the ones who hadn't, you could see jaws on the ground.
"um, my Lord, you may want to hide that shiny coat of yours. You'll make every female in the continent go crazy if they see you like that" Acecila suggested meekly. Her poor eyes were being assaulted by this beautiful creature.
Jason stared at them in confusion. He thought he was the one who looked more ordinary out of all of them but clearly he was wrong. He pouted as Maery showed him how to disguise himself.
"How come I have to do this and you don't have to?" He whined. They all squealed except Xunia. He was too cute, even in this disguise.
"Well, we are always in disguise every time we're in the public eye. You're the first person in a hundred years that has seen us in this form" Xunia answered as they got nearer to the entrance of the centre of Hell Forest.
He blushed and looked away. She smirked and continued teasing him.
"Speaking of which, I think you have a lot of bad luck or you just generally suck the good luck all to yourself and dispel bad luck, like a magnetic field".
"I'm sorry" he said meekly.
"Oh, it's not your fault. The cause of that, if I could thrash her, trust me, I will. Let's go now" She said and they started their return journey.
Though they were slowed slightly by Jason, they were still moving quite fast. Far behind them, there was a rustle in the woods. An animal was seen following after them. As it got closer, Astara flipped and caused a spiky moss bed to grow out of the floor.
The animal thrashed around for a while before breaking out of it but that was enough to alert the queens. They all turned to look at their ambusher. It was a huge mammal, almost thrice the size of a mammoth with three twisted horns on the forehead, hair covering the eyes, ridiculously long fangs and claws.
"What is that?" Jason asked in horror.
"That my friend, is the second-best day stealth expert in this forest, the three-horned Ash Drakken" Savannah, the wildlife expert answered.
"It's not really dangerous but there's a lot of poison sacks in the horns, tip of the fangs and claws. The body can be used for different purposes. That animal is a walking pot of gold" Lorema added, grinning.
"Yeah, so let's capture it and go. Other than the day stalker and night stalker, this is one of the things we're after" Ganine said.
"Wait, these things always avoid us whenever we're here so why is it following us now?" Seriel asked, frowning. They all nodded and thought for a while before turning to look at Jason.
"Yup, they always target the weakest in the group" Savannah said, nodding solemnly.
"You guys don't have to bully me like that" he cried. They all rolled their eyes at him. Savannah and Astara subdued the animal and placed it in a cage in their formless void ring.
The party continued their advance out of the forest. However, many realms away from the Aries Continent, there was a meeting going on in a room. Different thrones were set in a circle formation with one looking like the head of the circle.
The people in this room were looking at a projection and the ones they were watching were none else than Jason's party. They watched with interest as the party advanced in the strange forest.
"Having a mate must be nice. How does that feel like?" one of the people in the room asked in a dreamy tone. It was a golden fairy with a shiny crown modelled like flowers. She is the Fairy high priestess, Ochanna.
"Well, you would know if you aren't so prickly all the time" Szessan, the king of dragons retorted. He was in his neutral form, leaning lethargically on his chair.
"Cut the woman some slack. Ochanna dear, the invitation to stay in our land is still open after you retire. After all, you have a frigid heart" Pinelias, the Grand Knight of the Cerna said with a smile. Ochanna scowled at them and turned her head away.
The people in that room were called The Supreme Council of the Faery Order. In the order you have:
-Judge Veneras; Grand Judge of the Angies.
-Ochanna; High Priestess of the Fairies.
-Hustein; The Vampire Emperor.
-Scoruse; King of the Saduls(Shape shifters).
-Kove; The Alpha Werie Emperor.
-Kslow; Grand Chief of the Giants.
-Pinelias; Grand Knight of the Cerna.
-Tintaras; Prime minister of the Dwarves, Elves and Goblins.
-Inchilos and Vraia; Demon King and Queen.
-Szessan; Dragon King.
-Zolox; Chief Beast Elder.
-Yagamana; Dark High Priestess of the Dark fae, dark fairies and Moolin.
-Xunia; Alpha Queen and Leader of the council. The only ones missing was the Druid Supreme of the Druids and Druidlins; Astara and the leaders of the siren.
"You must love your mate a lot, sending a high level incantation to protect him. He is very lucky" Yagamana teased sending a cheeky smile to Xunia.
"Are you guys done?" Xunia asked with a deadpan look. The other people in the room felt chilly including the blizzard king, the Grand Knight of the Cerna. That only meant one thing, Xunia was annoyed.
"I called a very serious meeting and the first thing Ochanna here did was bring out a spy cam planted on my mate without my consent and show everyone what is going on in my realm. That simply means you snuck into my realm to spy on my mate. That's offence number one" she started, glaring at the Fairy High Priestess.
"Second offence was these idiots insulting Ochanna without letting me talk. That shows insubordination and is a clear insult to me. You still want to be on this council, don't you?"
They lowered their heads while she scolded them. Normally when they do this, she doesn't speak and allows them but when she was serious and they play around, she unleashes her aura.
The Alpha Queen may appear docile and harmless but when she's activated, she becomes something else. A monster is a mild way of describing it. Fully expected of the goddaughter of the Abyss Queen.
"Evil is advancing to our realm as we speak and the only thing you're doing is joking around. He may only be after me now and you all get the illusion that you're safe. Then he offers you tempting rewards for you to betray me. But in the end, you will all fall. Not only will you die, but you will also lose your soul" She warned, staring specifically at Veneras and Ochanna.
"Evil is not a fictional character that has some good in him. Even if the Judges have the ability to create other emotions for themselves, they will still stay true to their nature. Evil will only give you a false sense of security when he sees an opening in your heart.
Unfortunately, two of our light faction leaders have fallen victim to Evil's plot" She announced and everyone knew who she was talking about.
The Council was divided into three factions namely the light faction, neutral faction and dark faction. The Angies, Fairies, Cerna and Giants belong to the Light faction.
The Weries, Vampires, Sirens, Saduls, Elves, Goblins, Dwarves, Druids and Druidlins belong to the neutral faction.
The Dark fae, dark fairies, Moolin, Demons, Dragons and Beasts are the Dark faction.
"Can we please proceed to the reason why we are gathered here?" None of them could refute so they nodded.
"Alright" she said and retracted her aura, turning into the docile looking sleepy queen.
"As I said, Evil is approaching and I plan to all out for this. The leaders of the protectors are going to be called out of isolation. The Druid Supreme will reveal her other sleeping half when they awaken.
Our only hope, the child of the heavens will be sent back to the neutral realm for his own protection when the time comes. However, for some reason, I have not been able to contact the Dimension protector of Earth. Oliphilis is not answering my summons for some reason" she said worriedly.
The leaders all frowned especially Kove. Then Xunia stared at the latter.
"What did you do, you fool!" she yelled angrily. The Council were surprised at her sudden outburst. Then they tried to analyse the situation and came to the conclusion that she froze time and did a probing at all of them. Kove was apparently guilty.
"Where is Kien?" She demanded coldly, floating above her chair and staring at him dangerously. He then realised that he had been isolated from the rest of the council and had become a prime target in front of the enraged queen.
"I don't know where he is. Kiera took him from us and hid him in a neutral realm" He answers in frustration. He wasn't like how he was in the conference. He was scared of Xunia and he knew she was more powerful than him by a wide margin.
"You went against the rules of the universal mating system and maltreated the empress causing her to escape your clutches and impose travelling to a neutral realm. However, for this kind of forced travelling, only one passenger can travel. You know want you did right?" She said slowly, causing goosebumps to erupt on the body of Kove.
She analysed what happened perfectly.
"You broke two rules. All three of you will be punished" she declared in an otherworldly voice. She hummed and her aura started to rise. The thrones of the council members there all disintegrated and they were separated from the three who were to be punished by a veil of light.
She closed her eyes and a black book appeared in her outstretched arm. The Council members had a look of terror on their faces when they saw the book. The book opened on its own and her eyes opened also.
"{Kse sereve shaa menra}{Heed my voice}
{Gortha verin le ne} {Oh book of judgement}
{Vesta sheen ne gatti hannor la sadet gaw farer} {Judge those who defile me and punish them}
{Avrit ven xent} {According to their sins}
{Jen Venda} {Life Judgement}" She chanted and a pillar of light and darkness energy descended from the sky towards the three members namely Ochanna, Veneras and Kove.
The moment the pillar touched them, they started howling in intense pain.
"That book has never been controlled by any of the Queens for three thousand years because none of them possessed the energy to do so. But she can wield its power effortlessly" Inchilos exclaimed, inching away from the veil of light.
"The chronicles of the light judge, Book of Judgement. The inheritance of the Queens of the Werie clans. Most powerful book in the whole realm. Yet she bounded it to her soul. She is a scary being" Yagamana added with a wry smile.
They watched as she judged the other erring leaders. They couldn't leave as she locked the space around the realm they were in. The screaming continued for an hour before the book disappeared and the light in her eyes faded.
The three leaders crashed to the ground, kneeling before her.
"I will not ask nicely again. Help me or I will forcefully take control of your bodies. Our realm is in danger and I will not hesitate to take the steps needed to protect it even if that means annihilating all of you. This is your last chance, join me or die" She announced.
They all agreed with grim expressions. She then imposed an oath on them, making all of them swear and throwing all of them out of the realm after. She then picked up the projection, smiled and disappeared.