12 The Trios End?

"War? Child what nonsense are you saying, where are Durke and Aren? I need to hear the report for your mission, any chance of there being a lowered food supply is critical to the tribe, we already have to ration what little we have to be able to pay our taxes." Sternly spoke Eleanora's father, Chief Sebastian, while looking down at his daughter and noticing her thin body and the blood stains on her leather breastplate.

"Father" She spoke, looking up at him and maintaining eye contact, an act seen as challenging within their culture and could be seen as a sign of aggression. "Durke and Aren are dead, killed by the Fog of Death and his Ghost Minions... I am serious father, we need to summon to council and prepare for war, that monster is nothing like I have ever seen or even heard about in the whole of my life." Eleanora said, her hands shaking from the anger she felt at being so weak.

"WHAT?!" Screamed Chief Sebastian, shooting up from his chair to grab Eleanora by her shoulders, "Say that again child, Durke is one of the strongest warriors in our tribe, there is no way he could be killed by mere Ghosts." He questioned, wondering if his daughter has perhaps been mistaken.

Eleanora then recounted the whole experience to her father in great detail, especially making sure to mention how of the four ghosts, three were only minor variants and yet used a remarkable level of co-ordination with two even using magic, an act rarely seen from even one in a thousand ghosts.

As a species, ghosts are known to be spirits which wander the land where they were known to have died, not every death results in a ghost being born however, only the death of an expert with either a strong level of resentment or unfulfilled ambitions have a chance for a fragment of their soul to remain, bound to the world.

If you asked a child to describe what a ghost is, they would simply reply with either dumb, slow or food. They are known to have little to no intelligence and never form groups, so the implications of four ghosts coming together could lead to grave circumstances for the tribe if the trend continues, imagine a hunter going from having to deal with one Minor Ghost, to having to kill four or even more at once. Life would become harder and food scarcer.

However that isn't even the worst part, the most dangerous aspect is this 'Fog of Death', the black ghost which has never been seen before, the fact that it has the ability to command other ghosts and even get them to co-ordinate is remarkable, yet also a possible disaster in the making.

Chief Sebastian sat on his worn down wooden 'throne' in his chieftains hut, listening to his daughter narrate her experiences and story, his face growing visibly paler the more he heard. Once she had finished telling him of the situation he sighed, "I understand child, for now there are only four ghosts under its command, but there is nothing to stop it from gathering more, hopefully that scenario doesn't happen, but we cannot just wait and pray... go and summon the council of elders girl, and ask Tick to come to me, I have a task for him."

"Understood father." She bowed slightly before turning on her heel to summon the elders, when suddenly she heard her father speak out.

"Welcome home... Eleanora, I'm glad you made it back safely" He spoke quietly, as quiet as whisper.

Shuddering for a second, Eleanora nodded before leaving the tent to gather the council of elders, however her mind was elsewhere, since being born her father had never called her by name, no matter how excellent she was or how well her training went, he always called her child.

"Haha, who knew that all it would take to gain his approval would be to lose my childhood friend and my teacher." She cried out almost silently, wiping the tears from her face she continued on her way, 'I guess I still have tears to cry after all' she thought bitterly.

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While silently waiting for Tick to enter his tent, Chief Sebastian was currently ruminating over the various thoughts swirling within his head, no one who knew him would know what was currently going on in his head about the current situation, as It involved a secret passed down only from chieftain to chieftain for millennia.

"Chieftain." said Tick after silently entering the tent and arriving beside Sebastian, shaking him from his train of thought, "What do you require of me?" He asked before bowing before his master.

Looking down at his Imp Slave, Sebastian had a sad look to his face for a few seconds before suddenly gaining a sharp look to his eyes then speaking out, "Tick, Eleanora has given me grave news, news that could potentially result in the destruction of our very way of life if it were to get out, she is currently on route to gather the council of elders... Make sure she doesn't reach them." He declared with authority.

Hesitating for a few seconds to answer, wondering if this was a test from his master to see if he would harm his child, Tick glanced up but froze when he saw the murderous and cold look within his Masters eyes... 'He's serious, poor child' he thought inwardly while not showing any emotion on the outside. "Your will be done master." He bowed before leaving the the chieftains tent.

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The council of elders live secluded from the rest of the tribe, within a nearby mountain range filled with a plethora of fauna and flora, however these food sources and luxuries are only available to the oldest and strongest of the tribe. When a Seducter reaches their prime, the age of roughly 2000 years, they are forced to leave their families and travel to this mountain to live out the rest of their days in peace.

However a dark secret is passed down from Chieftain to Chieftain on the Plaga tribe about the true nature of this mountain range. It is one of the many feeding grounds for the Plaga tribes superior, the Kingdom of Libidine. Every time a Succubus or Incubus reaches their strongest, they are forced to come to the mountain range where they expect to live the rest of their life in luxury where they can relish the beautiful scenery of the wildlife, a sight vastly unknown to those living on the hinges of the Silent Desert.

Truthfully though, there exists a formation on the mountain range where those who don't know the activation key are sucked dry of all their life force, which is then dispersed across the area to support the growth of the fauna and flora which provide sustenance for the Kingdom of Libidine.

Eleanora is currently on route to this mountain range, the Eternal Mountains, to summon the so called 'council of elders'. The journey between the Plaga tribe and the Eternal mountains is a little over a week long by foot, or two days by air, knowing this Eleanora decided to travel by air to save as much time as possible, she must do all she can to resolve the threat to her home.

Meanwhile Tick, who also has wings due to being from the Imp race, is hot on her tail, he will wait until Eleanora has left the vicinity of the tribe before striking. As an Imp, Tick is of a smaller size to a Succubus or Incubus and can hide more effectively using the surroundings, he makes his way quickly in front of Eleanora using his vastly superior flight ability where he hides and awaits her arrival.

A few hours later he sights Eleanora flying rapidly towards to the Eternal Mountains, due to her rush and lack of rest upon reaching the tribe, she is exhausted, however she refuses to rest when he home is in danger, so pushing herself even harder she flies forward.

*Fwish*

"What?" Hearing the sound of something flying nearby Eleanora turned to the source, only to see a 'Fireball' flying toward her, quickly increasing in size. "NOO!" She managed to scream before the 'Fireball' landed squarely on her wings, reaching temperatures high enough to burn even air itself they quickly burned form her body, practically ceasing to exist.

Without her wings Eleanora quickly started to plunge towards the ground despairing at her current situation, "How could the ghosts find me here?" she thought before sighting a similar face not far from her. "Uncle Tick! You're here! Help me please, I've been attacked!" She screamed in joy at seeing help arrive, however all she got in response was the grotesque Impish face of Tick letting out a small smirk before turning around and leaving back towards the tribe.

Shocked at the sight she just witnessed, Eleanora suddenly knew... "Father... it was you" She cried, her last thoughts being that of an unbridled rage towards her father for betraying her, for betraying the tribe and putting it at risk, for never acknowledging h...

*Thud*