Lady Evadne Klariana

"If you want something done right, I guess you need to do it yourself." The dark gray smoke collected together, forming an elegant arm. The fingers were tipped with black claws that dug into Gurrul's neck. 

"I never should've trusted you dirty little rats." The voice spat, the countless gold and silver bangles on her wrist making a musical, jingling noise. The remaining smoke formed together.

Standing there, was a tall slender woman, with dull gray skin. She wore a deep blue evening dress, and tall heels. 

Anyone who saw her clothing would think her outfit was madness in the wilderness, right until they noticed the pair of wings folded at her back, and felt the terrifying energy that radiated off of her. 

Long black hair flowed down her back, half hiding the short shining black horns that grew close to her head, sweeping back. Countless ornaments ringed her horns, causing them to resemble a crown or tiara. 

Gurrul stared up at her beautiful face, but no attraction or appreciation was in his eyes, only a look of pure fear. A pair of deep blue eyes, with no pupils, only faint spots of white light, like an evening sky, stared back at him. 

"Miss Evadne. We, we didn't mean to lose the girl. You see, he called for a Bloodletting." Gurrul mumbled, his bottom lip shaking, the fierce and proud High Orc reduced to a mere scared child. 

"Have you forgotten who you're talking to, dirt?" The woman spat, shaking her head, a tinkling noise coming from the countless fine chains that hung from the rings that pierced her long pointed ears and nose. 

"Forgive me. Lady Evadne. No. Lady Klariana. The Bloodletting, it must be honored." The other orcs had fallen to their knees, stealing fearful glances at Lady Klariana. But even as Gurrul spoke, he knew it was pointless, he was speaking to a demon, and not an ordinary one. 

"You think your primitive orc customs matter to me?" Lady Klariana's fingers tightened, the claws digging in deeper, Gurrul starting to gasp for breath. She pulled him closer to her, scrunching up her nose at his stink. 

"Tsk, tsk. You idiots have left me quite the mess." Lady Klariana scoffed at the orcs kneeling all around her. 

"Let me take a little look." Her voice was now quieter, almost seductive, as she half closed her eyes, giving Gurrul a slight smile, his face now only a few centimeters from hers. Lady Klariana opened her deep black lips, revealing a set of bright white teeth, with long almost fanglike canines. Her tongue flicked out, like a snake. 

Whooosh

There was a rushing noise, as Lady Klariana inhaled, and all the other orcs all flinched as they heard Gurrul's screams grow louder and louder, and then suddenly stop. 

"What a boring, pathetic life. You, dear. Tasted completely terrible." Gurrul's limp body fell to the ground, his eyes glazed over and empty.

Standing over the High Orc, Lady Klariana closed her eyes, and stood still for a moment, from the slit in the side of her dress, a pointed tail twitched as she focused. 

"We're done here." Her sinister voice rung out, and the orcs all closed their eyes, shaking and trembling. The knew that this was the end. 

"Interesting, very interesting indeed. Well, a little rat, is always going to run back to its hole." She smiled widely, looking in the direction of Coppervein. 

-----

"David. Stop." David looked back at Cherie, confused. They had only travelled a few hundred meters towards Coppervein, if they stopped here, then the orcs would surely soon catch up.

"I can't go back to Coppervein, it'll put everyone there in danger. You go on ahead."

"My mum will explain everything." Cherie's eyes were filled with sadness, and her voice trembled. 

"What? No, I'm not leaving you!" David protested, but Cherie had already pulled away, turning north, away from Coppervein in the west. 

"Fine, if you're going, then I'm coming to." David sighed, and started to run after Cherie, who had started running. 

It took a few moments for Cherie to realize David was running by her side, and her heart sunk as she noticed. 

"Please David. Go back to Coppervein. You don't know the danger you're putting yourself in right now." Cherie looked over to him, starting to realize how different he looked.

But David's transformation was the last thing she needed to worry about, she needed for him to get away safely, back with the others. 

"Fine. Tell me what's going on, and I'll decide if I'm leaving then. I've had enough of mysteries today." There was a hint of anger in David's voice, he needed to know why Xavier had betrayed them, and more than that, he needed to know why Brogan had died. 

Cherie looked David in the eye, as they ran alongside each other. Though the color of the pupils she was looking at was different, the same determination and stubbornness she knew so well was reflected back at her. 

"It'll only put you in more danger." She sighed, but she knew that there was no way David was leaving, after all his persistence was one of her favorite things about him.

"Okay. Everyone at Coppervein thinks my dad died in the wilderness, protecting me and my mother. But that was a lie."

"My dad's alive, he left me here to protect me from his enemies." Cherie's voice shook, this was a secret that she had guarded her whole life, her mother had made it clear what might happen if it got out. 

"Huh?" David pictured the red cheeked, round smiling woman that was Cherie's mother. Mrs. Nora had been keeping a secret from the entire settlement this whole time? The woman who baked the most delicious apple pies and always had a herd of little children running around her flour covered dress.

"Why Coppervein of all places? What's so safe about it? It's well protected from magical beasts, but that's all. There's no powerful deity or hero that protects it." The confusion in David's voice was clear.

"That's exactly it. Nobody cares about Coppervein, they just think it's a city of scavengers. And's that why it's safe." Cherie gave David a weak smile, but her face was hidden by her helmet.

"Right. So who on earth is this powerful father of yours?" David asked, as the lush green grasses below them now turned to pale yellow, drier grasses. Ahead of them, stretched an endless plain, spotted with only a few trees. 

Cherie stayed quiet, meanwhile, David's eyes scanned the distance.

Even though the plains looked empty, they were home to countless creatures. After the transformation, David was surprised by how his eyesight had improved, he could now easily see twice the distance he could before.

Out of reflex, David looked down to his CoreScanner, shaking his head slightly when he noticed the cracked screen. 

[User, I can provide a similar function to the CoreScanner, if required.]

'You. And why on earth would I trust you.' So wrapped up in his conversation with Cherie, David almost forgotten about the strange voice that had invaded him, the artifact that called itself the System.

[User, your survival is of utmost importance. I would never jeopardize it.]

'Fine.' Though he didn't trust the voice at all, David needed to know what it was capable of. It seemed to even know his thoughts. He had to find out the extent of the hold it had over him.

[Please note User, the sensing capabilities will be limited by your mana sensing capabilities. Even as you have been transformed, innate human sensing is severely limited. ]

The cold voice announced, as a replica of a CoreScanner appeared in the corner of David's vision. 

[Additionally, keep in mind, that higher core existences, and beings with advanced mana control capacity can conceal their mana.]

'I already know that. It's one of the first things we were taught, by Brogan. Never be too dependent on the CoreScanner' There was a sharp twinge of pain in David's heart as he remembered Brogan.

[Of course, my most sincere apologies.] 

Though the voice had changed its tone, David knew deep in heart that it was not apologetic in the slightest, this thing had to be pure evil.

"Don't think any differently of me please David." Cherie finally spoke, one gloved hand nervously twisting a strand of hair that had escaped from under her helmet.