Chapter 32 : Mid-Morning

Fiona grunted angrily as she dropped her arms in fatigue. Winded, she took several deep, frustrated breaths as she watched the ring of glowing, green light disappear from around her sister.

Kianna blew a heavy sigh out of her mouth in relief.

“Hey! Don’t get comfortable over there!” declared Fiona as she pointed her ears straight back and glared at her sister “I’m not done yet!”

Kianna grimaced as her shoulders slumped.

The two dark elves were in the central area of the dungeon, just in front of the classroom. This section had most of its implements moved out of the way to leave a large open space that had now been converted into a training area where they could practice preforming their magical abilities.

Kianna currently stood in the center of this space. Although she didn’t know it, she was at the moment currently facing her sister.

In accordance with the idea of “training” she was dressed in form fitting athletic garb that consisted of a tank top and tight fitting shorts that hugged her hips. Both items matched each other and were colored black with pink-colored stripes along their stitching.

She stood freely with her legs barely spread and her arms hanging loose at her sides. A thick black-colored, leather blindfold was placed over her eyes and had been buckled tightly around her head. This blindfold prevented her from either reacting to or resisting her sister’s efforts to entrap her with a binding ring.

Fiona stood about four meters away from her sister. She was dressed in almost identical clothing, save for the fact that her’s were colored a solid white.

Behind and off to the side of them sat Anton. He was in one of the high-backed chairs and was casually sipping from a mug of coffee as he watched them practice. Sitting on one of the bedside tables that had been placed next to him, was a ticking egg timer that would signal a change in turns once it went off.

“Why is this so hard now!?” exclaimed Fiona as she tried to shake the tension out of her shoulders “It wasn’t this hard yesterday ... What am I doing wrong?”

“It’s the exact same ability.” said Anton with a chuckle “So there’s no reason it should be any easier or harder than it was before.”

“It feels like it was easier though.” stated Fiona as she held her hands out in front of herself and flexed her fingers.

“Well, the only thing that’s changed is your target ... When you were targeting me it was easy, right?” reasoned Anton “But now that it’s Kianna it’s hard, so I’m guessing you wanted to target me, but don’t feel the same way about your sister?”

“Aw! You actually do love me!” cried Kianna as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards and gave her a “happy” look “That’s so sweet!”

“Nah. That doesn’t make any sense either...” reasoned Fiona “After what she did to me, I definitely want to chain this bitch up.”

Kianna’s jaw became set as her ears shifted themselves straight back in irritation.

“Hm ... Well if that’s not the issue...” mused Anton “It doesn’t feel like your mana pool has been spent already ... Which it shouldn’t be. You haven’t even done anything yet...”

Fiona absently ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth as she stared at her sister.

“It could be that you’re just trying too hard...” said Anton as he took another sip from his mug “Maybe you should try to practice a different ability for now. See if that helps to get things flowing again. You could try making an aura field, or manifesting one of the new items you learned this morning. Like one of the whips.”

Kianna’s head immediately swiveled towards the sound of his voice as her features scrunched up in worry.

“Wait! What did you just say!?” she cried as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards in panic “Don’t tell her she can do that!”

“Oh! Okay!” cried Fiona as a wicked smile spread across her face “Yeah, I think I can do that!”

“W-what! No! Wait!” cried Kianna as her head turned back to face her sister and she raised her hands in a effort to stop the situation “Hold on a second!”

“One whip! Coming right up!” smiled Fiona as her eyes began to glow with excitement.

Raising her right hand, Fiona willed her aura to concentrate itself towards the center of her palm and forced it into the shape a ball as she brought it into near existence. Using a drop of her mana as a spark, she ignited the concentrated aura and burnt it into reality. The moment the ball of aura shifted into the physical world she took control of its form and immediately began to mold it into the shape that she desired. In a flash of ethereal light, the long leather-bound handle of a bullwhip took shape in the air in front of Fiona’s hand. The handle was made of green, glowing light and appeared to be semi-transparent until she reached forward and took hold of it. In the instant she touched the handle, it made a direct link to her mana pool and took a solid form. Still green in color, the handle began to glow brighter as Fiona filled it with more of her power.

With her smile growing broader the dark elf raised the handle into the air and with the flair of a eager hand she swung the handle forwards and down. This motion caused the concentrated energy within the handle to snake outwards and form into a long, sinuous whip with two tiny flairs at its end. Fiona then quickly twisted her wrist around and brought the whip back in on itself. This quick motion caused the whip to snap back in an instant, creating its iconic sound as its now physical form sliced its way through the air.

Kianna jumped at the crack of the whip and immediately began to back away from the source of the terrifying sound.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” she cried as she reached up and desperately tried to force the blindfold up and off of her eyes.

“Hey! How dare you!” growled Fiona “You aren’t going anywhere!”

Fueled by the delicious taste of fear that was now hanging heavy in the air. Fiona raised her left hand and sent a stream of her power to flow outwards toward her sister turned prey.

Kianna jerked as she felt the sensation of two glowing, rings of green light suddenly winking into existence both around her shoulders and at her knees. Thin, vine-like glowing chains snaked their way out from the edges of both circles and immediately began to coil themselves around the dark elf trapped between them.

“Wait! Fiona! Stop it!” cried Kianna as she began to twist and struggle against the chains that were quickly wrapping themselves around her body. The poor blind dark elf became more and more frantic as she desperately tried to pull and yank the thin chains off and away from her limbs. Her struggles quickly proved to be useless as she was almost instantly overcome. Whimpering in fear, she thrashed her head and feet wildly as the rest of her body was stretched taunt and held in place by the relentless and ensnaring chains.

Smiling viciously, Fiona raised the whip and angled it to the side as she took aim at her sister. Just as she was about to strike, a shrill buzzing sound filled the air.

“Times up!” called Anton as he tapped the large shut off button on top of the egg timer.

“ ... Seriously!?” snarled Fiona as she looked from him to her sister and back “C’mon! Just one more minute!”

“Nope. You’re done.” said Anton as he shook his head “Better luck next time.”

Kianna let loose a heavy sigh as she slumped in relief.

Irritation clear on her face, Fiona held her whip poised for a moment as she eyed her sister. She groaned in frustration as an orange glowing light bubble suddenly winked into existence around the entrapped dark elf and shielded her from the whip.

“Well this is some bullshit!” snapped Fiona as she tossed her whip away and let it melt into nothing.

“Damn right it is!” cried Kianna as her head snapped back up “I can’t believe you were really gonna whip me!”

“What? Why is that hard to believe?” asked Fiona as she cocked her hip and folded her arms over her chest.

“ ... It’s- I’m your fucking sister you bitch!” cried Kianna as she pointed her ears straight back behind her head “How could you even think about doing that to me!?”

“Meh, it’s not like you’d die from it.” shrugged Fiona as she turned away from her sister and dispelled the chains that were holding her in place “Might get a few welts out of it at worst ... Hell, you might even look kinda cute with a few stripes across your ass!”

Chuckling, Anton let the bubble around Kianna vanish as he took a sip from his mug.

“Well I guess we’re gonna find out how you look with stripes first!” raged Kianna as she reached behind her head and struggled to unbuckle the blindfold “ ... I’ll show you some welts!”

“ ... Uh. Hey, wait! No!” exclaimed Fiona as she turned to Anton “She can’t whip me!”

“Why not?” asked Anton as he cocked an eyebrow “You were just about to whip her. So I don’t see how it’s fair that she can’t whip you.”

“But, but you! You were the one who told me to do it!” cried Fiona.

“I never told you to do anything.” said Anton as he shook his head “I suggested that you try making a whip. But I never told you to use it. You were the one who took it to that point.”

“ ... No! You! But!” stammered Fiona as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards in panic “ ... Oh shit!”

“Oh, yeah! You are gonna get it good!” growled Kianna as she continued to fight with the blindfold “I am gonna welt your ass up until you look like a fucking tiger!”

Anton chuckled again as he watched Fiona’s eyes widen with fear.

“Wait, Kianna, just hold on! You-!” cried Fiona before she and Kianna both suddenly went completely still.

“ ... What is that!?” exclaimed Kianna as looked off towards the front of the house “ ... Are you doing that, Fiona!?”

“No?” said Fiona as she turned to face the same direction as her sister “ ... That’s not me.”

“ ... Master?” questioned Kianna as her ears twitched in uncertainty “ ... Is that you?”

“Nope, it’s not me either.” mumbled Anton as he downed the last of his coffee and set the mug aside “Hm ... Well, it looks like you’re going to get lucky again, Fiona. As usual...”

“Huh? Why?” questioned Fiona as Anton rose from his seat and went to help Kianna with the blindfold “What’s happening!?”

“What’s happening.” said Anton as he took hold of Kianna’s shoulders and turned her around to face away from him “Is that it looks like we’re going to be taking a quick recess.”

“Why!?” snapped Kianna as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards “What’s going on!?”

“Hold on, calm down.” said Anton as Kianna twisted her head back and forth “Just think about it for one second. What could it possibly be that would suddenly start triggering alarm bells in your heads?”

The dark elves were silent for a moment before as one they both gasped in understanding.

“The ward!” they cried out in unison.

“Exactly.” smiled Anton as he glanced over at the stone totem still sitting on his desk.

“Somebodies coming!” cried Kianna as her ears trained themselves in the direction she now knew the trespassers were coming from.

“There’s 2 of them!” exclaimed Fiona as she stared off towards the disturbance “ ... And they’re coming closer!”

“Yes. It looks like we have some guests about to come down the driveway...” explained Anton as he worked to unbuckled the blindfold “And since we don’t want to be rude to anyone who’s going to make the trip all the way out here ... Let’s be quick, get upstairs, and go see what it is that they want...”

Anton, Kianna and Fiona all stepped out onto the front porch just as a sleek, silver limousine came to a stop in the circular driveway. Making their way down to stand at the head of the walkway that lead to the drive, they watched as the driver side door opened and a massive being rose up to tower over the top of the vehicle. It was unmistakably clear by just the sight of him that this impressive being was a large, male sasquatch.

Simian-like in appearance, with facial features that were a blend of a human and an ape, the sasquatch had an almost cone shaped head with a sloping brow, small human-like ears and dark, deep set eyes. He had very little neck to speak of, as his head sat almost directly atop his broad four foot wide shoulders. This however, took nothing away from the fact that he was still quite the giant, as he stood at just under eight and a half feet tall at his full height. The general shape of his body was similar to that of an over-sized human, though his limbs were off in their proportions; as his arms were exceptionally longer than a humans would be and hung down low enough to reach his knees. Also unlike a human, the vast majority of his body, save for around his face, ears and the palms and soles of his feet, was covered in a layer of hair that was colored a ruddy, reddish brown and had thin bands of silver at the tips. Very little of this hair could be seen at the moment though, due to the formfitting black-colored suit and massive, polished dress shoes that he wore as his chauffeurs uniform.

Making his way around the front of the limo, the sasquatch quickly and covertly glanced at the waiting group as he made a beeline for the back passenger door. Though he was moving at a quick pace, his size alone was enough to give him the ability to cover the distance between the front of the long vehicle and his destination in a mere stride and a half.

Standing at attention just before the door, he swung a long arm forward and hooked a single finger into the latch before gently swinging it outwards and holding it open.

From within the dark recess of the limo slipped out a long, feminine leg clad in dark purple slacks and wearing a short heeled, dress boot. And this was quickly followed by the rest of an adult female dark elf, as she stepped out of the vehicle and stood tall and opposing before Anton and the sisters.

“Fuck...” whispered Fiona in a tone that was leaking with irritation “It’s Mom...”

Standing as tall as Anton, Olivia Vale stood nearly a full head above both Fiona and Kianna in height. As a dark elf, she was similar to them in appearance, though she did seem to be all around larger than them in size. This was due in part to her hair which, although the same bright white in color, was far longer than either of her daughters. And as it cascaded down to her lower back, it greatly accentuated her height. Her figure was far more pronounced and developed than theirs as well; as even hidden beneath the dark purple dress suit and white undershirt she was wearing, her fuller bust and wider hips were more than obvious. Her piercing, ruby-colored eyes radiated with annoyance as they slowly shifted from one daughter to the other and then landed on Anton.

Anton returned her gaze for a moment before glancing to his left to check on Fiona. The dark elf was clearly making an effort to keep the hatred out of her eyes as she stared unblinkingly at Olivia. Although still resting at their relaxed positions, her ears had a slight twitch to them that made it clear that she wanted to point them straight back. Her balled up fists dried up any more lingering doubts that she was far from happy to see her mother.

Grinning to himself, Anton shifted his eyes to Kianna and blinked as he found her standing rigidly and nearly trembling. With her jaw clenched tight and her eyes wide and locked onto her mother, the poor dark elf’s nervousness was more than obvious.

With the grin quickly fading from his face, Anton’s expression became stoic as he flared his aura out towards her and wrapped her within its calming embrace.

Kianna blinked as she immediately recognized the soothing warmth that suddenly surrounded her. Turning to Anton she found him staring directly at her mother with a look of fearlessness in his eyes. Gazing at him for a moment, she couldn’t help but to let a thin smile spread across her face. Without a word, she took a sideways step and let the tension in her shoulders melt away as she stood closer to him.

“Good morning.” greeted Anton as he kept his eyes locked to Olivia’s “A bit of a surprise to get a visitor this far out in the middle of nowhere. Is there something I can help you with?”

Olivia said nothing as she continued to stare in silence. After a moment of stillness, she shifted her gaze back to first one daughter and then the other as she let her eyes linger on the collars wrapped around their necks.

“ ... You’re a newer one, aren’t you?” she asked as she tilted her head towards the sasquatch “ ... What was your name again?”

“Uh, Joel, Ma’am!” answered the sasquatch “Joel Slawken.”

“Well, “Joel’” said Olivia as she focused back on Anton and tightened her eyes “I need to have a conversation with my daughters. So I’d like you to go ahead and put them in the car for me. And while you’re doing that, I would appreciate it if you went over there and smashed in that man’s head as well.”

“ ... Eh, excuse me!?” questioned Joel as he blinked down at her.

“ ... I said, be a dear. Gather my daughters. And smash that man’s head for me.” repeated Olivia with a sigh “And do try to be quick about it.”

“ ... I, uh, I!” stammered Joel as he blinked in incomprehension.

Olivia’s eyes tightened further as she glanced up at him.

“Is there a problem, Joel?” she asked as her voice became lanced with annoyance “This is not a complicated request, Joel.”

“ ... It’s! Uh, Ma’am! With all due respect. Violence is not something I was contracted for.” stammered Joel.

“Oh, is that so.” said Olivia “So are you saying you weren’t contracted to follow my orders as they were given to you?”

“ ... I, ... well?” said Joel “ ... That’s, different!”

“How so?” asked Olivia.

“ ... Look, I’m sorry, Ma’am, but I’m afraid I’m just not comfortable with this request.” stated Joel.

“ ... And?” asked Olivia “ ... Is that supposed to matter?”

The sasquatch blinked as she stared him down.

“Because it doesn’t.” stated Olivia as she shifted her gaze back to Anton “Do it, now, or you won’t have a job by the end of the day.”

Joel stared at her for a moment before following her gaze to Anton.

“ ... Alright then.” he mumbled softly as he moved away from the limo “I understand.”

Anton cocked his head as the sasquatch took one long stride after another as he started towards him.

“Listen, Buddy.” said Joel as he put his hands up in a bid for understanding “I’m not sure what exactly is going on here between you all. But, unfortunately, it looks like I’m gong to have to get involved...”

“Ah, I see.” nodded Anton as the sasquatch came to a stop a few giant steps away “That’s unfortunate.”

“It is. And this is nothing personal. I really have no idea what’s going on.” stated Joel as he cracked his knuckles “Orders are orders though, friend. And I got mouths to feed.”

“No, no I understand. It is what it is.” said Anton as he nodded up at the giant standing before him and raised his left hand while shrugging “And same to you by the way ... Nothing personal.”

Joel couldn’t help but to grin as he took in the smugness on Anton’s face.

“Look. I don’t want to do this. So do me a favor, friend.” mumbled Joel as he took another step forward “When you go down, I’d appreciate it if you’d just stay down.”

“Mm...” smiled Anton as he readied the fingers on his left hand and made as if he was about to snap them “Likewise, friend...”

Both men froze where they stood and locked eyes as a sudden heaviness filled the air around them.

“How dare you...” came an angry whisper from behind Anton “How dare you threaten my Master!”

Joel’s eyes instantly jumped to Kianna and went wide as he took in the sight of her glowing irises.

“Get the Hell away from him!” growled Kianna as she stepped forward to stand in front of Anton.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Anton leaned back a bit as the dark elf took a protective stance in front of him.

Unsure of what to do or how to react to this situation, Joel merely stared at Kianna for a moment before turning back to Anton.

“Okay ... So, uh. You just gonna let her fight for ya then?” he asked as he pointed down at Kianna.

“ ... You know what?” mused Anton as he lowered his hand “ ... I think I just might.”

“Wait, seriously!?” said Joel as he shook his head “C’mon! This is already a nightmare! I really don’t want to deal with this!”

“Then walk away!” growled Kianna as she pointed her ears straight back and set her jaw “While you still can!”

“ ... Alright. Listen, lady. You do realize you’re not even half my size, right?” mumbled Joel as he crossed his arms and looked down his nose at the much smaller dark elf “I can literally just reach over your head and punch that guy behind you.”

“Try it!” snarled Kianna as she let her aura thicken and fill with even more power.

Seemingly unfazed by her display of power, Joel stared at her for another moment before twisting at the waist and turning back to look at Olivia.

“Ma’am!” he called as he indicated Kianna “I’m not sure how you want me to handle this?”

“I want you to handle it quickly. If she’s going to be an idiot, then treat her like any other idiot!” muttered Olivia “Just slap her to sleep, throw her in the trunk and be done with it!”

“Try that!” threatened Fiona as she pointed her ears straight back and let her own aura flare out to join with her sister’s “And see what happens!”

Stiffening from the sensation of the now two swirling auras, Joel turned to Anton as if asking for help but found him seemingly preoccupied as he looked from one dark elf to the other.

“ ... Hm, no influence in the auras ... Not even any malice ... We’ll have to work on that.” muttered Anton to himself as he continued to gaze at the dark elves “Can’t expect a warning to come across right if there’s no weight behind it...”

“Alright! You know what! Fine!” declared Joel as he let his arms fall to his sides “I’m done with this!”

Taking the last step forward, the sasquatch balled his hand into a fist and swung his long right arm right over Kianna’s head.

Lifting his eyes up from where he had been looking at Fiona, Anton was just in time to see a massive fist come flying in towards his face. Before he could react himself however, a pink bubble erupted into existence around him.

“Whoa!” cried Joel as he was thrown backwards by the bubble taking shape “What in the name of Hell!?”

Catching his balance he glowered down at Kianna as she stared back up at him in challenge from the other side of her bubble. Registering the ferocity in her eyes, Joel set his jaw and pulled his arm back before slamming his fist into the bubble.

Kianna didn’t even blink as her bubble was rocked by the impact. His irritation getting the better of him, Joel reeled back and began to punch the bubble again and again until finally a crack suddenly appeared across its surface. Spurred on by this, he redoubled his efforts and caused the crack to grow in size until the bubble seemed to be about to shatter. Pulling his arm back for one final punch, he was shocked when his fist slammed into a suddenly fully reformed shield.

Anton blinked in surprise as he looked up at the new, and much larger bubble that had taken shape around him. Unlike the thin, smooth surface of its predecessor, this bubble had become a sort of reinforced dome made up of hexagonal plates that fit together in a honeycomb-like pattern. Although this was of course unexpected, what really caused Anton to pause was the fact that unlike every other aura field he had ever seen, this dome was not a single solid color.