Lia sat on top of her red horse as the group continued to ride towards the village of the elves, they had started early. She looked at what would be the sun going up, but there wans no sun, it was pretty weird it was just a light.
The wasteland was now behind them and it started looking better, and even some sort of plant life started to appear. Mostly bushes and small flowers and grass, it wasn't as green as on terra but it was still good to see.
After yesterday's nights showcase of force against the prowler, Ryn had been strangely quiet, Lia could catch her sometimes trying to sneak a peak.
"Does it feel good coming away from the ashen wasteland?" Vaeris asked from in front of her.
She smiled as she thought about it, no more ash. "Better than you can imagine." The ash was driving her insane, this was a gift from heaven.
The elves were starting to warm up to the knight, she seemed to have gained the respect from them after last night. They had asked a couple questions during the morning and while riding. Lia didn't mind, it was mostly about if she had shot a bow, and how she killed the warlord, they seemed to be very interested about combat overall.
As they got closer to the village, the elder had sent forward scouts, apparently there was other clans who were hostile.
"Why are there different clans and not just one?" Lia asked Vaeris
Vaeris sighed. "Well, it happened a long time ago, but short story is that we all want to rule. So instead of making a big clan we made smaller ones."
Ah power struggle, they all had someone who wanted to rule. And when one didn't get to rule, that guy made a new clan so he could rule something.
"But why the hostility then, aren't they happy with what they have?" Vaeris shock his head to Lia's question.
Ryn joined into the conversation. "They are all very stubborn. Even my father here."
Lia chuckled.
After 5 more hours of riding, the first tree Lia had seen in hell emerged, it wasn't very pretty and it was dead. But it was still a tree.
Vaeris rode up next to her, "The elf ground start here. From now on its our land."
They kept riding, the trees increased in number. The trees even had leaves now, they were different, red, brown and even black leaves. 'Could this hell be any other color?' she thought as she sighed.
While riding in the start of the forest, Lia's senses scream, she held out her hand and caught an arrow that was heading towards the riding group. Vaeris and the others reacted immediately, they pulled out their weapons and looked in the direction of the arrow. Lia looked at the arrow and then in the direction of it, there stood another elf, he didn't wear the same a Vaeris clan.
"Who are they?" Lia asked.
Ryn held her bow aimed towards the elves who appeared in the forest. "One of the rival clans, the most annoying one at that."
"What is the meaning of this?!" Vaeris screamed out. "We had a truce!"
The words hung in the air for a moment, it echoed through the forest. And finally someone who seemed to be the leader stepped forward. "What do you mean, we didn't hurt anyone from your clan!" the elf said.
'Oh they are annoying' Lia thought.
They didn't consider her part of the clan, they are correct of course but that means I can also play dirty.
Lia stepped of her horse. She slowly walked towards the elves.
Behind her Ryn asked her father. "is this a good ide?" she was worried this might turn into something more.
Vaeris looked at the walking knight. "I don't know, they attacked her first. And she is correct, she isn't part of out clan." He smirked, he knew what Lia was planning and this could work out for him as well.
The elves in the forest stood their ground as the knight came closer and closer.
"As you said I'm not part of their clan, so this is all me" Lia said as she pulled out her dual swords. The elves got ready.
The supposed leader called out. "We don't need to this this lady knight, there is no need, only a little banter." She was starting to panic. She didn't expect for any retaliation against them.
Lia didn't listen, her chains unwrapped from her back and started waving in the air.
Then she disappeared, and the screams started. One after one the elfs were decimated, ripped in half, thrown into walls, sliced and even strangled. Cries for help could be heard, some of the elfs even tried to run towards Vaeris but got stopped as Lia's chains dragged them back towards her.
"Wa-wait! Please stop!" the leader elf called out as her whole group got wiped out, only she remained. She sat on her knees in the open for all of Vaeris clan to see.
In front of her stood a bloody knight, chains waving in the air waiting to strike, he blades dripped of blood. the elf was crying.
The eyes of the knight looked down of the elf, glowing gold. The shadow of the knight enveloped the elf. "Please show mercy." She sobbed. "I'm sorry"
Lia looked down on the elf, she did feel pity for her. But then she remembered the attitude she had before. Lia swung her sword faster than anyone could see, and soon after the elf's head feel to the ground. Her body still sitting on her knees. The forest was now silent, not a sound could be heard.
Vaeris rode up to Lia. "Terrifying, but good work." He said as he gave the leach to her horse.
Lia grabbed the elf's bow and dagger, this could be used later in case they tried to blame it on Vaeris clan. She put them into her dimensional bracelet and got back onto her horse. 'What do you think?' she asked Erythos about the situation.
'They deserved it, and it's probably a good thing you did that. If you really want to conquer this hell you will need governors. And Vaeris seems like the best fit for the elfs.' Erythos meant that I should make Vaeris leader over the elfs making it easier for me to handle the whole race. It was a good plan, taking out the other leaders would take time but it was doable.
Ryn strode up beside her father. "Learn from their mistake Ryn" she nodded to her fathers' words. Don't take fights without thinking. Especially against a knight.
The group left shortly after, the forest grew in density and the variation in plantation grew. Lia was stunned at the sight of a whole forest in hell, when she entered here, she thought the only thing she would she was the ash wasteland. She never expected a forest. A hell forest but still a forest.
After a couple hours they saw another elf in a tree, sitting on a thick branch. They had the same clothing that Vaeris clan had, they are close now.
Soon after they came across more elfs, farms and some training. They all hade this confused look as Lia rode past, some came up to the other elfs in the group. Shortly after a village started to appear, a big wooden wall surrounded it. the big trees had outposts on them. Lia had expected them to live in tree houses, but no it looked almost like a normal village.
'This seems like a very well of village.' Erythos said. 'They had well developed roads, houses, even schools and medic centers. This Vaeris seems to be very caring of his people.' This wasn't just something to say, every elf they saw as they rode through looked healthy, trained and had good gear.
The smithy's they strode past were all working hard making armor and weapons.
All buildings were made of wood, with the exception of smithies that were made of stone. The air smelled of newly baked bread and grilled meat. This made Lia's mouth watered as she just remembered she hadn't eaten since she came here, and the grilled meat looked amazing.
"You'll get food soon, Lia" Ryn said teasingly. "out cooks love feeding guests."
"Good." Lia muttered "I could eat a whole warlord right now." Not that she was hungry, she just felt like eating food, a weird thing about being a knight.
Vaeris chuckled as they passed through the wide wooden gate, guarded by two elves in deep green armor. They bowed briefly to their leader but cast a curious and wary glance towards the knight in white armor.
The house now in front of them was big, a mansion made from dark wood and black stone.
Lia dismounted, landing heavily on the packed dirt ground. Her red horse snorted and shook its mane, the creatures' eyes glowing faintly of ember. A few elves stepped back at the sight of the Knight.
"Don't mind them." Vaeris said. "Most have never seen a knight nor a human at that, its not exactly common sight in hell."
Lia stroked her horses back.
Ryn stood and looked. "He likes you. How about you keep him as your horse?"
Lia wasn't about to say no to a free horse. "Thanks, gladly." She patted the horse more.
the big doors of the mansion opened up. The entrance hall was beautiful, two staircases leading up to the upper floor on each side. The doorway between the stairs led to a big feast hall. Lia looked at the painting and artwork around the entrance. Most paintings were of what was probably family members, old and new.
"Now, Ryn take Lia here to one of the guest rooms, she should take a bath before we eat. No offense but you smell like a demon." He said with a chuckle
Ryn waved her hand as to follow. They walked upstairs, the hallways on the second floor were long, painting decorating the walls, beautiful rugs laid on the floor, big flowers here and there.
The room she had gotten was big, 'This is bigger than my room on terra' she thought as she walked into the room. The room had a queen-sized bed, couches, a desk, even a balcony. A door led to the rooms own bedroom with a massive bath in it.
Lia wanted to get in directly, the water was already prepared. Her armor disappeared, and she now stood, naked. She was a bit confused, but soon remembered that the clothes she wore probably got destroyed.
She then noticed Ryn still standing, her eyes glued on Lia's nude body. Her mouth open with a shocked expression. "Can I borrow some clothes? It seems mine got destroyed." Lia said while looking at Ryn's expression.
Ryn's face became a red color, flushed and shocked she shook her head. "O-of course!" she said and turned to the door with hurried steps.
Lia shrugged and stepped into the bath, the relief was instant. She sunk down into the warm water. Grim and dirt came loose and dirtied the water.
She leaned back against the edge of the bath, the warmth enveloped her body. There were sounds coming from the bed room, maybe Ryn or someone leaving clothes. 'I could spend all day here' she thought.
The mansions started smelling like food, it smelled wonderful. Once out of the bath, she took a moment to look herself in the mirror. She hadn't really gotten to see herself since before coming to hell. She had plenty of muscle as she flexed her arm and abs. 'Why did my boobs grow this much? I look like one of those muscle mommys on insta.' She chuckled a little as she thought about it.
On the bed laid a pair of clothes, she unfolded them to reveal a simple shirt and pants.
'shirt is a bit tight but it's ok.'
Lia walked down towards the dinner room, Ryn and Vaeris were already there, Ryn met Lia's gaze and blushed.
"Must have been nice with a bath I assume?" He asked as Lia sat down into on of the chairs around the table.
She nodded. "Feel like a new woman." As she said that a plate of food was place in front of her. It looked like beef but unsure, 'Maybe they have hell cows" she thought as she started cutting the meat. It was tender, and smelled exactly like normal beef. As she took a bite, it became clear, the have hell cows.
On the rest of the plate were some sort of vegetables and maybe potatoes, she didn't think much and just ate it. she didn't even notice that Ryn and Vaeris looked at her as she shoveled down her food.
Vaeris waved over one of the servants. "Please get another plate for Lia." He looked at her as she finished her plate. "Must be different from terra?"
Lia shrugged, "Its different but still plenty of similarities." She took a drink of the cup in front of her, it tasted weird. "What is this?" she asked as she held the cup.
Ryn answered, "It's wine."
She drank the whole cup and didn't think about it. she never had wine but it tasted good. There was a weird aftertaste, almost like it was hot or warm.
"Lia, what do you plan to do now?" Vaeris asked.
She hadn't thought about it, she really had just gone with the flow until now.
'Help him' the voice in her head said. 'He wants help with something, and it's only going to help you getting on his side.'
'Well, best case is if we kill some demons or some annoying elves.' She thought to him.
She smiled, "I feel like you are about to tell me."
Vaeris smiled back, she had read him like a book, or Erythos did but she took credit. "as you now know, the other clans have started getting bold with their aggression. And with your help, I feel that we could finally start doing something about it." the words hung in the air for a moment before Lia asked.
"Which of the clans are the biggest, give me the order, bottom to top."
"there are 5 other clans, the lowest is the Clan Sylthraen, harmless really. then is the Clan Draz'quar they are a bit trouble. My plan is to take them first, as our clan now lay in the middle." Absorbing them would boost power fast.
Then he spoke about the other clans, Clan Tharnoss 3rd lowest, Vaeris's clan Vaerynthal was 4th from the lowest with two above. Clan Elareth second, and Clan Mor'vathil was first.
The real threat was the Elareth clan as they had very good trained soldiers and a lot of gold and such, the Mor'vathil were many in numbers that's why they were on first place. "What sort of plan do you have then?" Lia asked.
"I was hoping the lowest two would like to join without bloodshed, not likely but I want to try." Vaeris said, he meant the stubbornness the elves had, they wouldn't join if it meant them losing their position as leaders.
"The clan I elves I killed, which clan do they belong to?" she asked.
Ryn joined in "They were from the Draz'quar, they always do more than they have the power to do."
"I have a reason to have aggression towards them then, so if I just go in there kill some of them and put you in charge." Lia said casually.
Vaeris sighed. "It could work, it's a efficient way to do it, but I would probably be strongly hated if they found out you are here with us."
Lia thought for a while, but what if she went there and threatened the leader to join Vaeris, they did try to kill her. So either join or I would just wipe them out. Lia told Vaeris and Ryn about what she thought about.
"It's not a bad idea, its better then just all out war. It could be worth trying." Ryn said as she leaned back in her chair after eating her meal.
Vaeris turned back to Lia, "I will trust what you do with the Draz'quar clan, they did try to fight you. So I see no reason why you shouldn't get to handle it. we will work on the sylthraen clan."
"That can wait a couple of days father, we just returned." Ryn said. "Tomorrow, I will show you the village Lia." She said happily.