Edina, Kara, and Theena rode on the back of an undead dragon. Their destination, the ancient monastery called Buhar. The plan? Jailbreak. Kanae was trapped down there somewhere, and it was up to no other than Edina and her undead minions to break her friend out.

Too bad she had to babysit two kids while at it. Kara and Theena insisted on coming along since they also had a friend there. Seven. What was his real name again? Nawan? Whatever. Hopefully, Archbishop Patrice and the others were fine back in Elusis, not that she could do anything about it now.

"C-Couldn't we have taken something more… safe? Like a carriage!" Theena clung onto a spine for dear life, face buried in her arms and avoiding looking down.

"You said we gotta hurry. This is the fastest way to get from place to place," Edina said from the head of her dragon.

"Ughh. I feel nauseous. Kara, how are you so calm?" she turned to her friend and asked.

"I rode on it before when we were dealing with the Unbreakable Dervish. It's not that scary after the first time!" Kara explained.

The desert didn't stretch on forever. Vegetation sparsely dotted the barren landscape. They were mostly low shrubs in dense clusters and patches of dry desert grass. It was only from the sky could Edina have seen the wall of trees far into the distance. A long ridge served as the barrier between the desert and verdant expanse behind it.

Edina winced. Her stomach grumbled in protest. She was running out of mana again. She reached into her bag and fished out a couple of mana potions to drink, then tossed the empty vials over her shoulders. Upkeeping a dragon and some death knights wasn't the problem. The problem was Ujit.

How in three hells did that shaman crone consume so much mana? Just who was she? Letting her die wasn't an option anymore. Edina had become her life support.

"Hey, Theena! You live in Bravost, right?" Edina asked, wiping the liquid from her chin. "Why doesn't anyone live out there in the forest? Past the ridge? It's got a bunch of greenery. You could start farms and shit. There's a lot more water than the desert."

"It's not that easy… People have tried making settlements out there before. But they get wiped away by floods whenever it rains. There's also a lot of dangerous monsters. Adventurers don't go to take care of them because no one puts up quests to go all the way out there. Between braving the wilds or staying under the safety of Elusis… the choice is easy for most citizens like my folks," Theena explained.

"Speaking of family, are your parents okay?" Kara piped up.

"Mom and dad still live in the under-city, better now. I can only hope the Harpy King is too busy with war to make them pay for my betrayal. But it won't matter if the flood comes to pass." She sighed.

A ball of fire roared past them. The undead dragon barely had enough time to dodge the second one.

"What's happening?!" Kara cried.

"We're under attack from below! Hang on tight, you two!" Edina ordered her dragon into evasive maneuvers.

They had unwittingly flown over an outpost below, and now harpy soldiers were on their asses like flies to a carcass. But she wasn't going to lose them at this rate. The three of them might have to fight their way out of this.

Edina leaped off.

"Edina?!" Kara and Theena shouted.

"Stay there and let me deal with them! You guys want to see your pal Seven again, don't you?" Edina rocketed to the surface, drawing both the Pillar of the Damned and Scythe of Soul Reaping. A pair of harpies in the lead lobbed a volley of spells, but she summoned a death knight to hide behind. Just as they crossed paths, she jumped out and sliced the two.

The death knight hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of sand and dust. Elusis soldiers poured out in a swarm from an outpost hidden behind a canyon outcrop. No wonder Edina didn't see them. Seeing harpies flying circles over her head stoked a very primal fear in her, but the sound knowledge that she was stronger calmed her down.

"Bring it on, you bird brained fucks! Legion of the Dead, arise and serve your necromancer!" Edina breathed life into the brazier atop her staff, opening abyssal portals from which an undead army marched out of.

Skeletal archers blanketed the sky in projectiles. The undead warriors and beasts hunted them down as they touched ground. Meanwhile, Edina's death knights guarded her in a ring. A brief moment of wooziness turned a horde of undead into piles of bones. Her right flank was exposed now, but she quickly reinforced it by sending one death knight to do battle.

Two undead brought a terrified harpy man up to Edina and threw him at her feet.

"Normally, this is the part where I kill you and raise you as my undead minion. But you're going to serve me in another way." Edina snapped her fingers, and her undead got to work stripping him naked and holding him down.

"No, please! Don't hurt me!" the harpy cried.

Edina slipped her underwear off and sat on top of his waist. She reached down to grab his flaccid dick, which slowly grew erect in her grasp. When it was hard enough, she guided it into her pussy.

"Wait, how about a— oohh… It's tight… I-I mean, I don't want to die!" he screamed.

"I already told you, I ain't gonna kill you. Now start pumping those hips!" Edina started bouncing.

They fucked even as a battle raged around them. Soon, the harpy climaxed and blew his load. Edina shivered from her orgasm, even more intensely as she drained his mana from him. When she got off, a thick deluge of cum slipped from her cunt.

"Whew. That was refreshing!" Edina stretched her arms.

"H-Help!" someone cried from afar.

Edina whirled around, only to find none other than the Exalted Mystic, Ujit, getting overwhelmed by a spellcaster's magic. She was lying on the ground, channeling a watery shield to defend herself from a beam of fire.

"What the fuck?" Edina quickly got dressed and summoned an undead sand troll. She sent the monster barreling towards the harpy mage, shoulder-checking him across the canyon.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was about to be cooked…" Ujit dispelled her boiling shield of water.

"You followed us? It was safer for you back in Elusis!" she groaned.

"I've stayed idle for much too long. I must go back to Buhar to correct my mistake. If I can close the veil and pass on afterwards, I'll be taking all that I know to the grave. For good. No one should come to learn how to infuse an elemental lord to the body. I… I also wish to see my grandson, Nawan. I beg of you, necromancer. Take me there with you. It is the only way I can atone," the mystic pleaded.

Edina threw her hands in the air. Things just got a whole lot more complicated for no reason. She ordered her undead horde army to march on the outpost, then unsummoned her death knights. The sounds of fighting grew more intense as the harpies were fought back to their garrison.

The dragon returned and landed gingerly next to them.

"What happened?" Theena jumped off, looking like she had every intention to help fight.

"We got an extra tagging along. Get back up. We're hitting the road again." Edina flew onto her undead beast.

"Sh… Should we be worried about what's going on over there?" Kara pointed to the outpost.

"They made their beds when they wanted a war." She shrugged.

The group finally crossed the ridge into the untamed wilderness beyond. According to Ujit, this was all still part of the Harpy King's domain. Unfortunately, the only existing settlement was Buhar.

Lush green trees, coursing rivers, and teeming with game, Edina found it hard to believe Elusis didn't make a push to settle here, choosing to instead remain in their desert. The Commonwealth had its fair share of forests and woodlands, but seeing how endlessly vast it was from a dragon's eye view was breathtaking.

"Sheesh. How much farther are we from here?" Edina asked.

"It would have been a two-day ride by wagon. By flight, I think we should reach Buhar in a few hours. When you see what can only be described as an enormous boulder, we've arrived," Ujit explained.

"Keep an eye out for a big fucking rock. Got it." She squinted into the distance.

A few kilometers into the wilderness, they descended into the forests below to refill their flasks and drink some water. Edina landed her dragon next to a large clear stream. Fresh water flowed readily, cool and refreshing.

Edina kneeled by the bank, cupped a handful of water, and splashed her face. It was practically ice cold. In a forest so close to the desert? Where in three hells did all this water even come from?

A few paces away, the Exalted Mystic stared at the stream with worry in her eyes. Or maybe she was looking at her own reflection. The harpy woman heaved a sigh and walked away. Edina was about to follow her until someone came up from behind.

"Edina, right?" Theena got down on one knee and dipped her flask into the water. "Kanae and Arenade told me a little bit about you when we met in Kandis. You three are really good friends."

"Did they also tell you that I am undisputedly the greatest necromancer in the world?" Edina straightened her back to look taller.

"They must have left that part out." The girl laughed into the back of her hand.

One after another, Theena pulled her boots off and dipped her feet into the water. They steamed going in. It was then that Edina remembered this chick had been infused with an elemental.

"Have you ever… done something really stupid to help your friends?" Theena asked reluctantly.

"Course I have. A bunch of times, actually. Had to get bailed out for being stupid, too. But I mean, who hasn't? Arenade's done her fair share of stupid shit. One time, she got herself killed! Oh, and Kanae's the queen of doing stupid shit! What matters is having friends to get you outta trouble. Why do you think we're headed to Buhar?" Edina grinned.

"I guess that's true." She giggled again, then rose to her feet. "Thanks. I feel a lot better now. I just hope… Seven can forgive me, too."

The squirreling gave her a hard pat on the back. "If I know my friends, you've got nothing to worry about. Alrighty, guys. Time to get moving. Those buckos of ours ain't gonna save themselves."

Theena went to fetch Kara, who was waist-deep in the stream catching fish. The feline beastman's ears twitched, and she shot a frightened look at them.

"Don't come any closer!" Kara yelled.

A giant snake snatched Kara up from beneath her, its jaws clamped down on the lower half of her body. They watched in horror as it rose almost ten feet high, and the girl struggled to keep herself out of its mouth.

"Kara, no!" Theena cried.

The serpent splashed back into the stream, and the two of them chased after the silhouette. Ujit quickly incanted a spell. Tree roots from both sides of the bank grew fast, intertwining over the water and forming a sort of dam. It slammed into the barricade repeatedly to break free.

Theena climbed onto the root-made dam and drew her bow. Calloused fingers frosted over, and when she tugged on the bowstring, an arrow of ice formed. She loosed several into the water. Her arrows plunged into the snake's body and froze sections of it.

Edina whistled for her undead dragon. It dipped its head into the water and flung the snake onto land. With the Scythe of Soul Reaping in hand, she sliced into the length of the body. The snake let out a shrill hiss before letting Kara go and curling over dead.

"Are you okay?" Theena wrenched her friend free from the beast's jaws.

"Yeah… thank you… What was that?" Kara panted.

"That's a piyas serpent," Ujit began with a grimace, "a species of giant water snakes. They are native to the frozen mountain lakes far south of Elusis."

"Why the fuck is it doing here?" Edina yelled.

"If we've seen one this far north, that means the water levels have risen enough to support them. It means Elusis is running out of time," she explained.

Everyone climbed back onto the dragon, but not before Edina claimed the giant snake's corpse as one of her minions. They didn't make any more stops on the way to Buhar. Having Ujit lead the way made the journey much easier, and it wasn't long before the giant fucking rock came into sight.

Less like a small mountain and more like a mesa, Buhar was surrounded by trees from all sides and locked in its own little island by a coursing river. Tall totem poles were erected all over the rock, and a series of monastery buildings stood clustered together near the top. Two towers, one at the northeast and second at the southwest, buzzed with activity.

"Looks like they rolled out a welcoming party," Edina said after spotting specks flying towards them from the temple.

"The Elusis army's presence in Buhar is already unusual enough. If they are scrambled outside, then I suspect something has happened within. But… this many?" Ujit furrowed her brows.

"Well, we ain't getting in without a fight. I got an idea. I'll hold 'em off. You guys get inside. Give you a death knight to help bash your way in, too." She whipped out her Pillar of the Damned.

"I've been through Buhar before, so I know exactly where to go and where they might be holding Kanae and Seven. But how are we getting through all those harpies in the first place?" Theena asked.

Edina smirked.

"Uhm… Edina, how are we getting through?" Kara echoed her friend's question.

The brazier atop Edina's staff ignited. She summoned an undead flock of carrions. Using large talons, they lifted Theena and Kara up by their shoulders. Ujit was perfectly fine to fly on her own.

"Now for the opening!" Edina directed her undead dragon to barrel roll through the legion of harpy soldiers. Its skeletal wings knocked scores of them out of the sky, but the rest broke off in every direction to avoid more casualties. She expended a large amount of mana to call forth a second undead dragon, giving the Elusis soldiers pause. Only for a moment though, before they rallied together for a united attack.

However, Edina and the others were right above the monastery now. The undead carrions began their hasty descent, much to the two girls' fright.

"Look after them, Cantu!" Edina summoned forth one more undead.

"As you command, my—" Cantu looked beneath him and panicked as he began to plummet. "WHY DO YOU KEEP SUMMONING ME MID-AIR?!"

The monastery shuddered. It felt like the entire ceiling might come down on Kanae, Red, and Seven at any moment. One thing was certain. They couldn't stay here much longer. The others back in Elusis were waiting for them.

"Okay, everyone. We're going to have a fight on our hands. They want to stop us. But we're getting back to Elusis one way or another!" Kanae boomed.

The Knight of Red and Seven readied their weapons.

Kanae knocked on the door and threatened to shove Cockcalibur into the stone elemental's hole again. She obediently opened, and the three of them charged out— only to run into Kara, Theena, Ujit, and Death Knight Cantu finishing up a fight against the Buhar's forces.

"What's going on here?!" Kanae gasped.

"I-I can ask you the same thing!" Theena exclaimed in surprise. "We came with Edina to rescue you. Ujit suggested we come down this corridor to fetch something important first, and…"

The girl's eyes turned to Seven, who stared right back. Tension filled the air until Kara rushed past Theena and hugged him.

"Thank the Many, you're okay!" Kara cried.

Both of them shared a tearful reunion in each other's arms. Kanae, Red, and Ujit didn't want to interrupt, but things got awkward again when Kara and Seven separated. Kanae shoved him forward, while Kara did the same to Theena. The pair stood within a few feet of the other, unable to avoid their confrontation at last.

But Seven was never afraid to show his emotions to begin with. With tears streaming down his face, he threw his arms and wings around Theena.

"You stupid idiot! I can't believe you left us in Bravost! Friends are supposed to stick together!" Seven wailed.

"I know. There's not enough sorrys in the world to make it up to you and Kara. But Seven… I'm so glad you're okay…" Theena returned to embrace and sobbed.

Kanae spared them a few moments to catch up. She joined Cantu who kept an eye on the tunnel for more harpies.

"So, Edina's here?" Kanae asked.

"Outside doing battle right now. It's fierce. You would think two undead dragons would have easily decimated an army of soldiers, but no. Them being imbued with elemental powers… it's giving her quite the fight," Cantu explained.

"Kanae." Ujit beckoned to her from within the Old Archives. "Have you seen an oil lamp in here? It's missing."

"You mean this?" She fished it out of her bag to show the Exalted Mystic.

Ujit's eyes widened.

"How are… you able to hold that?" Ujit trembled.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that you know what's inside this. The elemental lord, Elirashj. I made a deal with her to help us beat the Harpy King. She wanted a few things in return. And she also wants a vessel, so I volunteered. Which leads me to what I'm about to ask you: can you infuse her to me?" Kanae asked.

"I can," she answered after a pause, "but you must understand that it may spell your doom. Even if you survive this, years will be shaved off your lifespan. It is no easy thing, taking in the violent force of nature that is an elemental lord," she said.

Kanae nodded.

"Very well. Fortunately, we do not need to open the way into the Primal Planes. Elirashj taking residence within her oil lamp in our world makes this easier. But we cannot do it here. There's too much going on. Much too loud! We need to go to the ritual chamber," Ujit instructed.

They made their way back down the corridor where Kanae had originally fought Nasiri in. As one big group, they were able to more easily face Buhar's forces. Ujit stepped into the shallow waters that flooded the chamber. Her face was awash with nostalgia. A smile formed on her lips that quickly waned upon noticing some broken stone monoliths.

The large ice crystal remained, still floating in place. Ujit walked up to it and frowned.

"Nasiri?" Ujit turned to Kanae and asked, her voice cracking at the name.

"Gone. I'm sorry. We stopped her as she managed to open the rift into the Primal Planes alone," Kanae explained.

"Did she? I always knew she was capable of great things, but… that ambition of hers. No. No sense in thinking about it now. I've grown too old to regret the choices I've made. It is time to see what fate has in store for me. Hold the oil lamp, and I will begin the ritual," she said.

Kanae did as told. Ujit, holding nothing but an effigy of Glentir, muttered an incantation that breathed magical energies into the stone pillars around them. One by one, their symbols and etchings lit up again.

Just like Nasiri, Ujit weaved the elements in the air into her fingers, molded them with words, and beseeched their aid. Silence fell over the chamber. It was so quiet, Kanae heard only Seven's gulp.

"Elirashj, hear my plea. I present to you a vessel!" Ujit fired a spell into Kanae's chest, tethering her to the effigy with threads of magic.

Gale winds coursed through the chamber as the mighty form of Elirashj emerged from the oil lamp. She was much larger than when they met inside. The elemental lord towered over them all. Cantu's eyes glowed briefly, and Edina's voice came through from his mouth.

"What the fuck is going on in there? Hey, whatever Ujit is doing, she's taking up a lot of my mana. A lot. At this rate, my connection to her is going to snap! She'll die for real!" Edina shouted.

"Wait, what?" Kanae gasped.

"Let me do this! My time has come, and war is no old woman's business. Allow me to make one last sacrifice with what little borrowed time I have left!" Ujit pleaded.

"But…" She glanced at Seven. "Your grandson!"

"Grand… son?" Seven's eyes snapped open.

A burst of wind knocked everyone except Kanae and Ujit away.

"Knowing that Nawan has such good friends is good enough for me. To see him alive and well is proof enough for me. The hatchling has grown to become a fine man. Now, open yourself to Elirashj, Kanae!" Ujit exclaimed.

The visage of Elirashj dissipated into a gaseous cloud, sucked in by the magic tendrils that connected Kanae to Ujit's effigy which started cracking and splitting. Her very existence entered like a tornado ripping through the countryside.

Pain unlike anything Kanae had ever experienced before threatened to tear her apart from the inside. The oil lamp slipped from her grasp, and she dropped to her knees.

"Fuck… it hurts so much I want to turn on Masochist… ahhhhhhh!" Kanae howled in pain as the maelstrom raged within her.

It was too much. It felt like she was being cut up from the inside. At this rate—

A hand fell atop Kanae's shoulder. Sivvy Brenhallow braved the gale. Her body had been nicked all over from the slicing winds. This might have been a fatal mistake…

"Let me, Amethyst! You promised to hold up one end of the bargain. I'll hold up the other," Red said.

"But…" Kanae winced, unable to speak through the pain.

"A long time ago, the Harpy King recognized that I had what it took to contain an elemental lord. I refused to do it for him. But for a fellow Knight of Color? We haven't known each other long, Amethyst, but I know damn well you're a good succubus. I'll do it for you. Shaman, put Elirashj in me!" the Knight of Red exclaimed full of resolve.

Ujit severed the connection between Kanae and the effigy, and remade a new one that connected Kanae to Sivvy. The winds strengthened. The storm inside her subsided, and now Sivvy was hunched over bearing it instead.

The effigy exploded, showering them with splinters. Calm returned to the chamber, and the winds softened to a light breeze. Elirashj appeared behind the Knight of Red's back and rested on her as if being given a piggyback ride.

"I thought my former pet would be my vessel, but this… this will do, yes. My gales are yours, harpy. Feel them against your wings. Together, we will bring Uzazzsa to heel. And Kanae, I look forward to you expanding my collection." Elirashj smiled before vanishing into her new vessel's body.

"Ugh…" Sivvy fell to all fours, and Kanae went down to give her a hand just to be shooed back. "Not me. Check on the old woman."

Ujit was lying on the ground, struggling to breathe. Kanae held her frail hands, which had no strength to squeeze back. Seven came flying over and landed on her other side.

"Is it true? That you're my grandma? How is this fair? We just met, and you're going to croak already?" Seven bit back tears.

"Just met?" Ujit tried to lift her hand to stroke his cheek but couldn't. "Oh, Nawan. We met when you were but a hatchling. I thought you were dead all this time… like your brothers and sisters. I'm glad to know that isn't true. You have good friends. Cherish them, or you may lose them for good like I did. Now… will you both do this old woman one last favor? Bring me to the core at the center of the island. Nasiri isn't with us any more, but I wish to feel her presence. She was like a daughter to me."

Kanae picked Ujit up and carried her over to the floating crystal that Nasiri had been sucked into. She laid her down, and the old harpy woman gazed into the elemental core. As if searching for her former disciple. But those weary eyes didn't search for much longer. They closed, her breathing ceased, and Ujit quietly passed. Both Kara and Theena comforted Seven while he mourned the family he just lost.

After saying their farewells to Ujit, they left the body to the peace of the ritual cavern and didn't look back.

Kaseem awoke with a pounding headache. The fiery cage was empty. Sivvy Brenhallow had escaped. He looked to the space above the well, where the watery prison once contained the succubus prisoner. Kanae Toyomi… had escaped.

The harpy cursed his luck. Hopefully Nasiri had luck capturing them. Otherwise, the Harpy King wasn't going to be very happy with them. He picked himself up and wandered down the corridor. His face turned white, seeing how many Buhar soldiers littered the ground.

"Useless!" Kaseem kicked a fallen guard.

Nasiri should be in the ritual chamber working on the Harpy King's son, Nawan. Kaseem made his way there, only to find more defeated soldiers. It wasn't looking good. Goosebumps crept across his skin the deeper into the cavern he went.

The place was unusually quiet and empty. Some stone pillars had been destroyed. A fight had transpired here, that was certain. Kaseem noticed a body lying in front of the crystal at the cavern's central island. He flew across and gasped.

"Exalted Mystic?" Kaseem recognized the face of the Harpy King's mother. "Gods… What happened here? Where is Nasiri?"

Something cracked. Kaseem looked up. It was the crystal. Another crack. This time larger and split down the middle. He thought to run too late, and the core of the elemental lord exploded. A screeching rift tore open.

Two hands pried itself out of the portal, pushing it wide open. Sharp talons dragged across the ground like nails on chalkboard. A burst of scorching flames and frigid gales swept through the chamber as a figure stepped out.

"N-Nasiri?" Kaseem gulped.