System Change

Minutes later, Edward’s entire squad had crossed through the teleporter and made it to Clayton. It was still staggering for Edward at how long the enemy team had actually lasted before retreating once Derek’s bonded companion made her move. The fight couldn’t have gone on for more than a couple of minutes at most before Crown Prince Titus called for a retreat.

While sitting on the steps to the teleportation building and feeling sorry for himself, multiple scenes flashed through his head. First was the scene of the blood spattering everywhere from behind the ice wall, then the elven prince mysteriously vanishing. Then, there was the weird lightning bolt Silvi launched, and delayed reaction that occurred in those that it hit.

Overall, it seemed like Derek’s companion only had a few moves in her arsenal, but the combination of them and her small size made her exceptionally difficult to target, much less hit. Then, there was the fact that she had actually been hit dead on by Crown Prince Titus once he figured out her movements and patterns, and the hit had done next to nothing to her. If anything, it angered her because of the hole he put in her cloak.

After that hit, she had become even more unpredictable and deadly, which is what led to the retreat. That, and the fact that Orion’s barrier was down and reinforcements were beginning to arrive. Edward shook his head, then stared intently at the stump on the end of his arm where his hand used to be.

Unless they were hidden, he couldn’t think of a single healer in the kingdom that could restore and regrow a limb that had been healed. Edward clinched his remaining fist until his knuckles turned white and vowed to get revenge on the Crown Prince of Astrus. The man was just cruel.

On top of that, Edward was feeling more useless than ever. In fact, his current thoughts were that he should have led the raid team instead of Edgar. At least his brother would have been able to do something against the ambush.

Finally, a question that hadn’t really crossed his mind during all the chaos hit him. Why had Derek’s companion been the one to come and save him? Was she answering a request from my father? No… there’s no way anyone knew of the kind of power she has. Especially the power to teleport into an area controlled by one of the Elras’s blocking barriers.

Those thoughts led him to another thing he was currently avoiding. He needed to contact his father and let him know what had happened. The communication crystals in his storage rings were constantly buzzing as it was. I really should answer one of them, he thought, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Surely, someone else had already done so.

Edward slumped further down on the step and sighed. Then, all the sudden, he staggered back in a panic. The small bunny had suddenly appeared just underneath him out of nowhere, her purple-ish fur covered in dried blood.

“Where is she?” the child-like feminine voice chimed from the blood covered crystal placed on Silvi’s collar.

“Where is who?” Edward managed to get his senses back and asked.

“The elf. The one I killed with my Void Lightning. Where is she? She’s gone. Did you take her?” Silvi asked. “My kill.”

Edward saw something dangerous flash through the eyes of the small beast and he shivered. This was someone he couldn’t afford to offend. Of course, he knew exactly who she was talking about. When his soldiers came through, after making sure the area was secure, they began cleanup, which included the bodies of the fallen.

“I… I’m not sure,” he began, but shortly after, a bit of an aura leaked out of Silvi, and he hurriedly continued. “One of my men must have moved the body for cleanup. I’ll find it. Just stay right there. I’ll be back in just a second.”

“’Kay!” The aura disappeared just like that, and the voice chimed once again, this time with a delighted tone, as if she hadn’t just about made Edward wet himself.

Yeah… father can wait. I have to find where that body went immediately, before everyone dies. Edward jumped up and rushed around the area, inquiring about the corpse of the female elf. It took him a good five minutes, but he finally found the soldier who had all the bodies stored set up inside the teleportation building. With a quick command, he had the soldier to transfer the corpse to his storage ring. He also made sure to find the storage ring that she was wearing when she died. That took a bit longer.

Quickly, he rushed out of the building and placed the corpse in front of the now completely clean Silvi, who was sitting patiently on the step. As soon as the body hit the ground, it disappeared once again. Then he held the ring out for Silvi. She would surely want that, as well.

Surprisingly, an extremely agile Mage Hand snatched up the ring and stored it in what seemed to be a pocket on the inner side of her cloak. He heard a slight clang, showing that it wasn’t the only storage ring being kept in the pocket.

“You can do it, too,” the voice chimed again.

“Do what?” he asked, confused. What else did this killing machine want with him?

“Get Mage Hand,” she said.

Edward gave her a questioning look. “Mage Hand?” he asked. He had just seen her use the skill, but other than surprising him a bit, he didn’t understand what she was getting at.

“To replace your lost thum… hand. You can get Mage Hand. Then you can cook just as good as before.”

Edward could have sworn he saw a smug look cross the face of the bunny, like she had just given him sagely advice. She was proud of herself. Edward opened his mouth once, then twice, but he couldn’t form any words.

“Well, are you safe now?” Silvi asked out of nowhere.

“Am I safe?” Edward looked around at his men, most patrolling the area, but a few gathered close, just in case they were needed. “I… Yes, I am safe now. Thank you very much for saving me.” He nodded gravely. He was, after all, extremely thankful that this small savior appeared out of and saved him and what was left of his squad.

“Good. I’ll go now,” she said, then hopped to an open area.

“Hold on one second,” Edward ran to her and shouted. “What happened to the rest of them? Did they escape?”

Silvi tilted her head in the weird way once again, then her voice sounded from her crystal. “I got one more. The rest got away. It got boring.”

“Oh… uh… good job. Was it the ice one that you got?” Edward asked. He didn’t know what answer he wanted to hear. If she said yes, that would take a powerful person off the board, but if she said no, he would be able to get revenge later on.

“Pointy nose? No. Another elf,” she answered, then straightened her head. “Back up.”

She didn’t have to tell Edward twice. He backed away. Then, that same dreadful feeling began to put pressure on his psyche as he watched a huge rip appear in space and Silvi hop inside. The feeling continued on until the rip closed. Edward shuddered. That was another skill that worried him.

Edward stared intently at the spot where Silvi disappeared from with a frown on his face. The longer he stood there, the deeper his frown was. I think she only killed elves. He thought about everything he saw. I’m sure of it. She only killed three people, but they were all elves. Was that a coincidence? Does she have something against elves?

***

Silvi closed the tunnel behind her and concentrated on her gains. She had managed to get an extra elf after all her efforts, so she was in a pretty good mood. She also got three storage rings that she vowed to look through later. She wanted to see what kind of treats elves liked to eat. It would be like a treasure hunt.

She hadn’t had such a draining in a long time. She was a little disappointed that she was only able to take out three of the enemy, and she wasn’t able to kill the pointy nosed human like she wanted to either. Inwardly, she sighed, then focused on her next task. With a few hops, she appeared close to the place she needed to go next and willed the void open.

***

Cydarian Capital…

Great Hall…

Edwin sat on his throne, surrounded by his most trusted guards and advisors. He needed to figure out his next actions after learning not long ago that the two princes who had been leading the combined forces of Astrus and Indria had ambushed his son and planned on kidnapping him. He was still reeling that the only reason Edward got away was because of the bonded companion of that man, Derek Hunt.

The king doubted he would ever like the arrogant man, but it seemed he and the kingdom would always be indebted to the man, no matter what. He’d saved Edward, revealed the truth about Gerald Torith, took on a raid dungeon with Edgar, and now his companion had saved Edward. Edwin had to begrudgingly admit that he had respect for the man, if nothing else.

He needed to speak with Alanah and Natalie. Apparently, the elven prince, Orion, had been killed in the ambush. There may be an opportunity for them to counterattack while the combined enemy forces were still feeling the loss of such a figure. Also, Edwin knew that both Ryven and Osian would be angered just as he would have had their plan to capture Edward succeeded. Actually, they would be even more angered by the fact that Orion had died in the attack.

They also had a new piece on the board that the combined enemy forces would have to be warry of. That piece was, of course, Silvi. Edwin doubted he would ever be able to make her do anything she didn’t want to, but his enemies didn’t know that. In fact, after such a loss, this could be the perfect…

While he was thinking about everything, he was hit by a pressure unlike anything he’d felt before. Not only him, it seemed, as two of his guards were even forced to their knees while holding their heads in pain. His remaining guards drew their weapons and looked around on guard. Edwin felt he would have been in the same position as the two kneeling guards if not for his wisdom. Other than the dreadful feeling that appeared with it, it also had some of the same feeling as he would feel when talking with Alanah.

Edwin stood from his throne, drew his sword, and began channeling his element. If someone was ambushing him, he would make them pay for it.

But suddenly, the space in front of him in the middle of the Great Hall began to open. The tear in the space continued on until it stretched to ten feet or wider. Then Edwin noticed the figure sitting in the middle of the odd portal. It was a small bunny with purple fur, wearing a purple cape with a hole in the side, and a collar with two crystals on the front, acting as studs, and a ring in the middle.

The figure took one hop and gracefully landed on the rug in front of him. The odd portal slowly closed behind it, and the pressure lessened until it completely disappeared, allowing everyone to take a breath and the two straining guards to stand. So… this is Silvi. Derek Hunt’s bonded companion. The beast who saved my son.

“Stand down,” Edwin ordered his guards, and took a seat himself after storing his weapon. “We have a guest.”