The Moorlands
It was a dark, dreary place. The trees had demonic faces with an ugly grin. As the group moved, sounds of giggling echoed throughout the forest. Julius and Maverick shivered when they heard the laughter. The duo were like a very famous dog and man pair that liked eating.
"You're a barbarian, and you're scared of ghosts? Pathetic" Since Tenebrea made Julius her disciple, Scarlet has found a new hobby: making fun of Julius.
"I can handle something I can touch, but ghosts are intangible. How can you kill something you can't touch?" Julius asked.
"Don't worry. They aren't ghosts. It's just these pesky pixies." Tenebrea clicked her tongue.
The laughter increased, and Tenebrea could no longer take it. Waving her hands, she heard two thuds on the floor. The laughter had seized, and Julius was surprised to see the cause of the thuds.
Two dark-skinned females were on the floor. They had purple hair and purple irises, along with pitch black sclerae. They also had pointy ears and were clad in dark, dead leaves. They were extremely beautiful, but right now, the expression on their faces made them look hideous.
After Tenebrea ruined their fun, they instantly became pissed off. They stretched their hands in the direction of Julius, who immediately dodged. The tree behind him withered from the attack. Julius had cold sweats coming down his back as he wondered what would happen if the attack had hit him.
"Careful. The dark pixies use decaying ether energy. They don't live in such a dark place because they want to; instead, this place became like this because they live here." Anastasia warned Julius. "Your highness, should I dispose of them?"
"We are guests, Ana. Just knock them out." Tenebrea scoffed at the suggestion of her loyal aide.
"As you wish." Ana nodded and disappeared. She reappeared behind the two pixies and knocked them out. She joined the group as they continued onward.
"I didn't know that decay was an ether attribute." Julius said as he looked at Anastasia and waited for an answer.
"There are thousands of ether attributes, spanning from dust all the way to the sun in the sky. The decay ether attribute is a beta element of the death and wood ether attributes. So it is pretty rare to find, and only the dark species are blessed to have this rare attribute. But sometimes I wonder if it is a blessing or a curse." Tenebrea was the one who replied instead of Anastasia.
"Wow, that is pretty wild. I barely heard about the pixies back home. The barbarians are territorial and also like getting new territory. When they spoke about the pixies, they always said gaining their territory wasn't worth it. Now I understand why."
They finally arrived at a huge village. There were pixies at every corner—houses in the trees, on the mud, in the trees. It looked like they didn't mind where they lived. It looked like the slums, but they looked content.
"They have evolved to not need an abode. There are only houses around for aesthetics." Scarlet muttered.
They were still outside the village because several pixie guards pointed wooden spears at them like they would at intruders. The fact that there were two unconscious or dead pixies on the back of a giant boar also didn't help.
"Who are you, and why do you have two of our people with you?" One of the pixie guards asked aggressively.
Tenebrea walked forward "Oh, calm down; they are still alive. We are heading to Fallen Peak. We found it a bother to go around, so we chose to pass your moorlands. We'd be gone in less than a day if you just let us pass through your village."
"You think this village is a pathway anyone can just use whenever they feel like it? Return to where you came from, or you will feed the maggots." The guard captain threatened, and all the other guards propped up their spears, ready to attack.
Tenebrea was unimpressed and clearly unafraid. She was about to speak when the crowd that had gathered started to disperse. Several trees were pushed forward, and every pixie there knelt in respect.
Julius and Scarlet were wondering why they were all kneeling next to a couple of trees when the trees opened their eyes. Yes, two beans of purple light glowed from the trees. The scene was like fireflies flickering within the bark of the trees.
"The elders of the Moor" Anastasia had a grim look on her face as she looked at the dozen elders in her presence.
"Elders of the Moor? Miss Ana, what do you mean?" Julius was clearly curious, but before anyone could reply, a voice was heard.
"Someone knows who we are. As expected of the ones who follow the queen of darkness," The sound of several voices speaking at the same time resonated all around, but it didn't look like anyone spoke.
"It's been a while since I saw you old geezers. You've reduced in numbers over the years, which means some of you died fighting enemies and expanding." Tenebrea waved dismissively.
"Watch your mouth when you talk to the an--." He was pressed back down by a strong aura before he could finish talking.
"You are only still alive because you are ignorant of who she is. Now stay down, or you will be crushed by the weight of your foolishness." Their firefly-like eyes looked at the person pressed down and back at Tenebrea.
"Queen of Darkness, you will be granted passage," they replied.
"Great. Let's go."
"But only under one condition."
"Ohhhh, a condition? Do you think you can stop me if I don't accept your condition?" As she spoke, an invisible pressure was emitted from Anastasia behind her.
"We know of the one that was once called the Blood Rose, but even then, when she was at her peak, she could face at most a dozen of us before she would be overwhelmed." The voices all spoke with confidence.
"Yeah, but that would mean there would be less of you, and we still have Vlad the 'Dracula," so your entire race will be wiped out, but I will humor you. What is the condition?"
A girl was pushed forward; she looked no different from the other pixies. Tenebrea saw her and was surprised as she didn't have the aura of decay.
"Yes, like you guessed. She does not have the decay ether attribute." The trees moved like they were nodding.
"She was born with the curse attribute, which is extremely rare; even in our centuries of living, we haven't seen anyone but her. We have heard they existed within the tribe before we were born, but they died rather quickly. We want to prevent that from happening to her. We have taught her everything we know, but we feel you would know more, so our condition is for you to teach her," they said.
Ever since Tenebrea took Scarlet and Julius as her disciples, she had a dream that all her disciples would have the conqueror's potential, so getting one that did not have the potential left a bad taste in her mouth.
"I am not going to take her as my disciple." The elders were dismayed and felt they needed to explain that without her, there was no way they would pass, but Tenebrea continued
"But I can teach her. She can be like a student or whatever, but not my direct disciple. I will treat her the same, but there might be certain privileges she will not be entitled to. Don't worry, she will be safe with me."