The Misadventures of Elena Ch. 11

"Was it you?" Shanks demands.

Suddenly they see lion feet in front of the man and a massive scorpion tail appears behind him. Their eyes widen in absolute horror for the man was no man at all. Only in face, the rest was the body of a lion and a scorpion tail.

"It's a manticore!" Thantor screams.

"Holy shit I thought they were extinct!" Ko screams as well.

The manticore roars and charges at them.

Nesa fires an arrow but it only aggravates the manticore. Ko slashes into its leg but is hit by the tail which sends him flying into a building.

"Stay with me, Sis, stay with me! Jetkins!"

"I..I'm sorry...being a...pain."

"Save your energy, don't speak!"

"Brother...it's up...king...you."

"No, no, you're going to be just fine, you will be queen!"

Jerkins arrives. "Hang on, it's gonna be alright!"

"Your Majesty, run!" Malek screams.

"Not without my sister!"

Gavin throws a spear at the manticore and it roars in pain. Nesa gets behind it and climbs. The manticore was on Gavin and Thantor but Shanks throws a spear of his own. This bought them a little time. Nesa speeds across its body and leaps to its head. She fires three arrows and it roars in pain once again and then shakes Nesa off and then pounces to the right and quickly grabs Shanks before he had a chance to react.

Shanks' screaming awakens Nesa who could only watch in horror as he gets devoured by the manticore. Suddenly the Princess enters her mind. She runs to her aid only to see the Prince crying and Jetkins putting away his medical supplies. "No!" She reaches them. "No please! No! Princess, Princess! Maxine!"

"Your Majesty you must flee!" Malek insists.

"No I will not, I'll kill that manticore if it's the last thing I do!"

"No! You're the sole heir of Hyperia, you must not fail here!"

"Jetkins let's go!" Nesa barks and two charge at the manticore.

"The horses have ran away, even the wolf and I don't think fleeing on foot would do me much good. We only have one choice, to battle!"

****

Elena enters the mountain. She stops and yanks the arrow out. She stumbles against the mountain wall and breaths heavily. "That manticore drove the dwarfs and goblins out but that was a long time ago, years apart from each other. I don't know the life span of it or maybe there's more than one. Anyway this wasn't some random hunt, it's guarding the place," she concludes. "Thantor I hope you survive because we still have our score to settle."

She ventures deeper into the mountain. It was quiet too quiet and getting darker. But she has her star sword which provides light. She starts panting and sweating, her wound was serious but she has no choice but to press on. "Maybe among the treasure is something that heals," she thought.

"Elf."

"Huh?" She thought she heard another voice.

"Elf."

She looks behind her but there was nothing. She continues on. "Elf!" She froze and shines her sword but there was nothing there. "Who are you she elf?"

"My name is Elena from the land of Elftoria."

"Come Elf Elena, seeker of the power to defeat the Dark Lady."

"How do you know that?!" Elena exclaims.

"I read your heart, why else would an elf tarry in a mountain least this place."

Elena just stood there unsure of what to say but she grunts in pain.

"Your wound is starting to take its toll. You won't last too much longer."

"I won't die here, I can't afford to die till I've finished my mission."

"I shall help you, elf. Go foward."

Elena follows the voice until she reaches the center of the mountain. "Where do I go now?"

"Down."

"Down?" She looks and sees a pool of black liquid. She was hesitant.

"Don't worry, it's not lava, that has long been gone. Now dive."

She was still hesitant.

"She elf, this pool has been here since the first age so it won't look glamorous."

She nods, takes a deep breath and swan dives into the black pool.

****

Thantor throws a stone at the manticore and flees. The creature was hot on him and once it was near a building spears rain down on it. The manticore looks up and sees them. "Oh no he's spotted us, retreat!" Prince Maximus barks. He and Malek head back down. Galvin throws another spear and leaps off the building but the manticore launches its scorpion tail forward and impales him.

The manticore swipes away an arrow that was aimed for its eye. "Damn it that was my last arrow!" Nesa screams.

"What now?" Jetkins asks.

"I..I don't know."

"We can't give up," Thantor declares.

"I don't need you to tell me that! This is your fault anyway!" Nesa snaps.

"My fault?!"

"Yes if you would've been just a good guide we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Who was it that shot Elena huh?!"

"She would have lived, she just needed to put in her place!"

"Um in case you all have forgotten we have a bigger problem! Literally!" Jetkins reminds them. "And speaking of Elena where is she?"

"You're right I haven't seen her since this abomination appeared."

The Earth starts rumbling and the manticore flees. The mountain explodes and there was blinding light. A second later a figure emerges and flies pass them. All of them could feel a cold cruel killing energy emitting from the figure.

"I see now, it wasn't the manticore that drove out the dwarfs and goblins it was whatever that was inside of the mountain," Jetkins notes.

"Yes but what was it?" Prince Maximus asks.

"That was Elena," Thantor answers.

"What?!" Nesa exclaims.

"Yes I am sure of it, I could even see the star sword."

"What now?" Prince Maximus asks.

"We head back to Dabauchea and get steeds for Elftoria. Now that Elena has this power there's only one thing on her mind."

"Wait, we don't know for sure if that's her," Jetkins protests.

"I'm telling you that's her."

"It going to take us four hours or possibly more since we don't have horses."

"Well we better start moving."

"I'm not going," Prince Maximus says. "Not until I buried my sister, I won't leave her for carrion."

"We don't have time."

"I will make time!" He screams angrily.

"Well I'm not waiting."

****

Fort Felicia

It was evening now and the guests began to arrive. Mera takes a deep breath as she enters the palace. "Relax, everything will be just fine," Bsran assures.

"That's easy for you to say, you remember what happened to the last two right? One had the exact same dress as the Dark Lady and the other didn't have the proper attire."

"The Dark Lady sent out her code of attire weeks in advance, remember?"

"That doesn't mean she wouldn't change her mind."

"She's got more important things to worry about than this."

"I hope you're right."

"She won't!" Bsran assures and rubs Mera's stomach. "She won't."

Queen Shantora arrives and one of the Dark Lady's servants takes her gift to where the others were. Along with her were the body doubles of the Prince and Princess, she had been none the wiser of them nor the doubles of Captain Nesa and Jetkins. The Hyperian Royals gave gifts and were expected to pledge their loyalty to the Dark Lady.

****

"My Dark Lady, everyone is waiting for you," Minister Borg announces.

She'd been looking out window for some time now, concerned and then she turns toward him and nods. "That earthquake, there was a familiar and yet ominous feeling about it," she thought.

The horns start blowing and everyone stood up as the Dark Lady Felicia enters the throne room. She smiles upon seeing the HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARK LADY FELICIA sign. She had done it, she conquered the Western Land and now she would turn East, North and South. She makes her way across the red carpet and up the stairs, she turns around and sits on her throne. "Be seated everyone." The guests take their seats and a servant approaches Felicia with a golden chalice. "Thank you." She raises her glass, "A toast to..."

The palace wall suddenly burst open and a figure appears. "Felicia! Your rein of terror ends now!"

The people started backing away slowly.

The Dark Lady just sat there on her throne making her throne pose.

"You can either can get up and fight or I'll drag you off your throne by your hair!"

The Dark Lady still didn't move, her eyes just stare at the interloper.

"That does it!" The figure unsheathes her star sword and charges at the Dark Lady. Once she was in striking range she's hurled away by a wave of pure dark energy.

She lands on the princess body double. The elven guards surround her. "Stay back Your Highness," the Nesa body double says. The figure opens her eyes and hurls the guards away with her own wave of energy. She leaps to her feet and then her eyes met with Queen Shantora. "Ah, Shantora how good it is to see you!" Queen Shantora shrinks back in fear. "What's the matter? Don't you recognize your Big Sis?"

Queen Shantora's eyes widen in horror. "No! It's not possible, you're dead!"

"Oh no, I'm alive so very alive!"

"But, but, look at you, you're different! What happened to you!" Elena's skin was gray, her hair was white and her irises were a glowing pink.

The Dark Lady grins and tells everyone to leave. "My Dark Lady, we can't just leave you!" Bsran protests.

"Bsran I'll be fine, go on, protect your wife, you are responsible for taking care of two lives now, not yourself and certainly not mine." The Dark Lady gets off her throne. "Queen Shantora, she's Elena but not the Elena you once knew. Oh no, she's gone over to the darkness. She's what the people in my world refer to as a Dark Elf."

"A what?"

"A Dark Elf, a new breed of elf has been born. Now I suggest you leave for things will get hectic and I cannot guarantee your safety." Queen Shantora nods and leaves the room. "Elena, I thought you learn your lesson the last time we fought."

"I wasn't strong back then."

"We shall see."

They both unleash a wave of energy but cancel each other out. The Dark Lady unsheathes Erector I and leaps at Elena and the two clash.

"You should have never come back! At least you could have lived!" She kicks Elena in the chest.

"This won't go over like the last time!" Elena declares.

"Of course! This time I'll make sure you're dead. But first that sword, may I inquire its origins?"

"It's called the star sword for it was forged from the star that fell."

The Dark Lord winces. "So you were up north, I guess that means you're Jewels who fought the Frost Giants?"

Elena nods.

"It sounded like something you would be involved in, I forgot about you when the Hyperian Army attacked but I will correct that mistake. Erector II failed against Erector I and is lost forever so let's see how your star sword will fair."

The two resume clashing.

****

Queen Shantora was running as fast she could but then there was a quake and some debris fall but before it could hit her it was stopped by a figure.

"No need to thank me. But can you kindly point me to the throne room where the battle is taking place?"

"To the right. Why are you heading there? As you can see it's dangerous here!"

"Danger means naught to me."

"Wait! Whom do you serve?"

"I serve no one but myself."

"Then why are you going?"

"To watch the battle the play out."

"What?!"

"Oh come on like you aren't curious. Don't you want to know who wins?"

"The Dark Lady will win."

"You really think everything is set in stone," the figure chuckles. "I figured you would what your friend to win."

"She's not my friend! I hate her! I don't know why she came back but if she wins I'll kill her myself no matter how many times it takes!"

"Your hatred is misguided like all the others."

"What do you know!?" Queen Shantora snaps.

"I know the reasons why they fight. Let me show you the secrets."

****

First Age

The elven counsel meets: "The humans make good allies but we cannot excuse their violent behavior," a male elf states.

"It's because of them the war began in the first place," a female elf adds.

"Something must be done about this," another male elf declares.

"Yes and quickly, a few they were at first but they grow at an alarming rate, soon they will outnumber us and the balance of power will shift if they figure that out."

"Hear me my fellow elves I have a solution to this problem," the Elftoria ruler says.

"A solution?"

"Yes, the humans can be easily manipulated. What I am proposing is a series of contests between them, fighting contests. We will sow seed of discord between them and perhaps many will be killed for they do not think rationally when angry. They lust for treasure, we will give them that, we will take their women under our wing and make them fair, not fair like us but enough for their feeble minds to die for. The treasures we gave to them will be back in our hands in no time for we shall convince them to build a grand coliseum and have one of their own manage it so they may feel important. This is the best way to avoid another war for if they were to war we would be dragged in."

The other elves cheered.

And so the elves began to deceive the human males with wealth, women and positions of renown and power. The dwarfs, despite never knowing the truth profit from the gladiatorial combat for the men would purchase weapons and armor from them for they were the first to make known the many medals that existed and were the finest craftsmen in the world.

As time went by the elves took many human women under their wing and many of the he elves grew lustful.

A group of twenty women were led into a room and there a group of he elves made their intentions known, the women refused but the he elves would not take no for an answer and came at them. The women try to escape or fight back but the males easily overwhelm them. One woman is forced down on her knees and is roughly faced fucked by a he elf. Another woman was held face down and fucked vigorously. Another was taken in the ass and pussy.

The incident was never reported but the high ranking she elves soon became aware of lustful gazes the he elves displayed but rather than reprimand them they saw the women as a threat to their beauty and way of life so the female gladiators came to be.

Soon there were less willing gladiators due to the high death rate so the Elven counsel paid unsavory men to kidnap people and force them to become gladiators, this is how the brigands and slavery came to be. Many of the Elven counsel members went as far as to secretly entice orcs into doing the kidnappings with promises of elf booty and elf booty in order to quell any human links to them. The orcs were killed with nobody being the wiser.

****

Queen Shantora's eyes grew wide in horror as things progress. Her dad was apart of this as well, attending the gladiatorial games and taking many women willing and unwilling. What horrified her the most was the fact that many of the women became pregnant with half human half elven babes but as soon as they were born they were slaughtered along with the mothers. Many were her dad's children. Siblings she would never know.

She sees Felicia being kidnapped and forced to become a gladiator. She sees her escaping then she sees Arthur, Felicia's lover taking many arrows defending her. Felicia was weeping and wounded but still carried on. She sees a few more images and then they disappear. Queen Shantora was crushed.

"So now you know why Felicia does what she does. Now you see her point of view. Elena knows very little of the truth. She never attended the gladiatorial games for she was busy honing her skills and protecting you. Well I've lingered too long here."

"Wait I'm coming too, I must see this through to the end."

The figure nods.

****

"What's the matter, tired already?" Felicia laughs.

"I've just begun to fight!" Elena expertly dodges Felicia's sword trusts and counterattacks. The Dark Lady was now on the defensive. "Looks like you're the tired one." They strike again and Erector I breaks.

The Dark Lady was shocked. "It's was one of the finest swords ever created," Felicia says grimly. Elena thrusts the star sword through her. The Dark Lady screams in agony. "It's over, you win." She falls to her knees with the sword still in her. She strives to speak. "Psych!" She pulls the star sword out of her and tosses it to the side. Elena was in total shock.

The Dark Lady raises her hand and launches a yellow beam. Elena who comes back to her senses, counterattacks with a green beam. Both beams hit and both struggle. Elena uses both hands. The Dark Lady pushes forward. Sweat was popping from Elena but she was still going strong. "Looks like someone's one starting to losing it. Very well I shall put some effort into this." She raises her other hand.

Elena was getting pushed back. The Dark Lady chuckles and Elena was pushed to one knee. The images of her friends once again enter her mind. "I won't lose! I won't lose! By the blood of my people I will kill you!" She finds new strength and pushes forward.

"What?!" The Dark Lady exclaims as her yellow beam was being pushed back by the green beam. She couldn't stop it, her beam was consumed and she's hit by the green beam. She screams and is shattered into nothingness.

Elena was breathing hard but was smiling.

"Elena is that really you?" A familiar voice asks. She looks up to see Jetkins.

"You did it, Elena, you did it!" Thantor cheers.

"You!" She screams and speeds to her star sword. "Such perfect timing!" She charges at him but he blocks her attack. She could sense a vile power coming from it. "I see you got a magic sword from Dwarfense."

"Actually this is an orc blade on loan from the warden."

"So he brought you all here?"

"Yes and I couldn't be outdone by the others."

"So they found magical weapons as well." He nods. "Well no matter, this won't go over like the last time!"

"We'll see."

"You fool do you not see what I am now?! I've embraced the darkness! I am a dark elf and there's no going back!"

"Dark elf?!" Both Jetkins and Nesa exclaim in unison.

She ignores them and resumes her attack on Thantor. "What's the matter Thantor? I thought you were better than this. I'm going put you back at the bottom where you belong! As for me I shall return to my proper position at the top! I started out as a young warrior and rose through the ranks and became a calvary captain and then Eftoria's black ops captain. Whole nations once feared and respected me but not you, Thantor. And it was by your hands, your filthy orcist hands that everything I stood for came crashing down. You beat me in a spar and commanded me to lay with you, taking my virginity and then it went from bad to worst, six red orcs, the orc warden, banished into the dessert and still after all this time I am still humiliated. But no more, I am done being saved by you, being so weak. Every piece of breath you take in is foul. I am going gut you open the same way you've gutted me!"

"Oh boohoo, you can stop with the whining and crocodile tears!" A familiar voice booms. They couldn't believe it. Her body came back together.

"Took you long enough," the figure says who'd been watching the entire time.

"Who are you?" Felicia demands.

The figure removes the hood. Both Elena and Felicia were in shock and took a knee.

"It's good to see the both of you," Madam Discobra says.

"But that's impossible, you're supposed to be..."

"Dead I know but I was awoken by a familiar presence," she points to Elena. "Back in the first age the Light and Dark Entities fought each other and during the final battle a piece of the Dark Entity fell inside Dwarfense. It fell into the lava and that should have been the end of it but its oder affected the dwarves so they fled and then the goblins moved in but it attracted the Manticore who made Dwarfense its home. And now you're a dark elf, congrats." She starts to walk away. "Don't mind me I just came to watch the show."