The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

“They could… If she didn’t block the magic. She was once a goddess of the harvest, of plenty. Now she uses her power to prevent her children from having the plenty she once gave them to punish them for failing her when she fought with the Great Father.” Risavis explained. “Gods all have elements of the world that they can control. They can choose to give, or to take, that which is theirs. The Betrayer once gave food in plenty, no god could stop her from giving her children all that they required, not even the Great Father. It’s not one of the elements he controls.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Why do they follow her then?” I demanded. That sounded like one shitty god to worship.

“Oh, some tried to leave her, but others, those who remembered the plenty she once gave, pulled them back and punished them, blaming them for the hardships the shadow elves faced. Once no shadow elves tried to escape any more, the story changed. Now they blamed us. Believing that because we have plenty, it was clearly stolen from them. They blame us. They blame the Great Father and the gods they betrayed. They are full of hate now, and little else.” Risavis explained.

“Wait… Until the great massacre, the shadow elves lived underground and Tavorwen made it seem like everyone forgot they existed, or thought they had died. How do you know all this?” I wondered.

“You are correct. We had forgotten about them. They were a myth. A story to tell children to make them behave.” Risavis confessed. “But once they returned, the clerics spoke to the gods and learned what had happened. The Betrayer hid her children from the other gods, making them appear to have died in the depths of the earth. Only once they had returned to the surface could she hide them no longer.”

I had to sit back and think with this new information. I couldn’t help but think about other stories of when leaders had blamed the suffering and misery of their people on others and used that to justify genocide. This was just on a larger scale and over a longer period of time.

“Do the shadow elves know the deception that has been worked on them?” I pressed, “Surely some of them know.”

“Oh, most of the clerical order knows.” Risavis admitted. “Some few of the weakest and most ignorant might be unaware. But the understanding of the limits of divinity is the most basic study a cleric must understand, and that would reveal the lie that they then preach. They may willfully ignore the truth, but even the simplest of thoughts could reveal to them the truth.”

“Then why do they still follow…” I grasped at the straws.

“Because it is easier to believe and follow than to abandon everything you know. What generations before suffered for. The Betrayer has carefully molded her children into obedient and willful tools. They value their devotion to their goddess more than they value the truth.” Risavis shrugged.

“I’ve got it!” Narusil called. “Everyone gather round!”

We all crowded in.

“Can you bring Irsivir in a little tighter, I’d hate to only bring half of him along… that’s better. Alright, everyone hold as still as you can.” She began her incantation and her fingers began to move, light trailing her fingers.

I tried to figure out what all she was doing, but not being able to hear her thoughts all I could do was wildly speculate. Was she drawing a map? Imagining linking a network of magic? Using diagrams of magic to tie together everyone and everything that would come along? Who knew? I would, one day.

Then that sensation like my gut dropping out, like I’d been dropped, but instead of falling, the world blended together into a swirl then reformed in a gully between the ridges of two hills.

The lush green of the edge of the forest and the coast was gone. Replacing it was dry grass and stone. Mountains, larger then the range I’d crossed with Tavorwen, loomed to the north, getting taller and more imposing as they stretched to the west.

“Welcome to the lands of the shadow elves.” Narusil declared dryly.

I kept low and moved to the top of the ridge. Looking out into the valley down below, it was gut wrenching. Dominating the central valley was an imposing fortress city. A central tower of black stone rose with spikes like a crown of black stones high in the sky. High thick walls surrounded the compound. The valley was in ruins. The grass was torn apart and trampled. Pulling out my sniper and looking through the viewing crystal over the scope I realized the tower was larger than I’d first believed and the city around its base was even larger than Ealphamir, but looked to be more densely built.

“Can you reach them from here?” Nauveir asked incredulously.

“No, just trying to get a better view.” I explained, sweeping my view over the surrounding ground.

I found a few knolls and hills that could be used for cover. If only we had known to prepare for the dirt browns and rocky grays instead of the leaf greens and tree bark browns of the forest. I pulled off my scope and noticed the paint on my rifle had shifted, now matching the dead grass and soil underneath it.

Oh, right. Camouflaging paint. I checked my cloak and it too had shifted.

Damn, magic didn’t fix every problem, but there were a few places it got to be very convenient. Looking over the elves who were gathered with me, all the soldiers’ cloaks were now shifted to match their environment. Narusil’s robe was white, and would stand out like a sore thumb among the browns and grays.

“Narusil, can you change the color of your robe, or could we rub dirt into it to make it stand out less?” I checked.

“Well, I could cast a glamor on it. Let’s see.” Narusil pulled up her tome, leafing through the pages to find what she was looking for. “Sorry, illusions aren’t my speciality.”

After a minute Narusil found what she was looking for, spent a few minutes reviewing the entry in her tome, she slowly and carefully and slowly went through a series of sweeping motions as she slowly and carefully enunciated the words for her tome. When she finished, her robe shimmered as if paint had been dropped on top of her, but only affected the robe. When the color completely covered the dress, it matched the cloaks around her.

“How long will that spell last?” I asked.

“Several hours.” Narusil assured me. “It is an Apprentice level spell, so nothing I can’t do again. But two castings should get me through the day.”

I nodded, that would work. It was less frequent then I’d had to reapply field camouflage on many of my missions. I pulled the hood of my cloak up over my head, and all the elves with cloaks followed suit. The shadow of the hood fully concealed their faces in shadow, despite the angle of the sun. I’d take that over the grease and slime I’d had to use to hide my face in the past.

“Alright, I want to move slowly, cover to cover. It’s going to take us several hours to get in place, but my goal is to reach that knoll down there without drawing attention.” I explained, indicating my ideal strike location.

My maidens and matrons nodded.

“Alright, follow me.” I instructed.

I sprawled out, my sniper still in hand. I began to slowly inch down toward my next ridge. It was a slow process. It was better to be slow and steady than quick and get caught. Luckily, as long lived as the elves were, patience was something they had in spades and they accepted my orders and tactics without question.

The lack of patrols was eerie. I couldn’t look to check on my maidens and matrons until I reached the first cover. Glancing back, I couldn’t see any of them, not even Narusil, until they joined me in cover. I finally found Narusil as she reached my side, and I realized the magic that covered her robe could be extended to her face, hair, and hands as well, when she wished it.

“Do they really not have patrols?” I breathed.

“They aren’t necessary.” Tavorwen guessed. “What fool would attack them?”

“Narusil, are they watching the area using scrying?” I asked.

Narusil whispered a magic phrase, too quiet for me to hear. She closed her eyes and concentrated. “No, I can’t find any signs of scrying.”

“Then we can move a little faster until we get closer.” I gauged. “Everyone keep your eyes and ears peeled. If you see anything make sure you aren’t going to be seen.”

It almost felt blasphemous, moving in slow, crouching steps with my cloak wrapped around me and my rifles, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If my enemy was going to be so arrogant as to not patrol while actively at war, and wasn’t even using the best surveillance tools available, I was going to get in with my team, and wreak havoc before we could get caught.

It still took us two hours, sneaking across the destroyed hills leading to what must have once been a lush grassland. To my disappointment, the scale of El’Muth’Ran had made me misjudge the distance between the nearest suitable hill and the city itself. I was still probably a half-mile beyond the range of my farthest successful kill back on earth, and a mile beyond where I wanted to be.

“Alright.” I whispered. “I need all of you to stay hidden here. I’m going to creep forward and do my thing. Do not engage unless I reveal my position.”

Silent nods acknowledged the orders.

Again, I sprawled out, using a subdued army crawl to inch my way forward. Every sniper had to carefully balance speed and stealth, and being in a strange new place, I was leaning toward stealth. It took me at least two hours to move the mile to a rut where I settled. The sun was beginning its descent. Now roughly a mile from the outer wall of El’Muth’Ran, and that would give me a good range to hit targets on the wall, and anything coming out the gate or over the walls. I anticipated wyverns, gruthir, and other strange beasts in addition to shadow elves.