The Power of a Kiss - Part 4

The fighting was done, at least for now.

Both groups of elves—the paladins from the Cloud Dominion and the dark elf assassins who called no place home—stood staring at one another. The Noirites had managed a crafty, yet successful egress from the battlefield.

“Everyone needs to take a step back,” said Scott, throwing his arms up between the groups. He felt silly considering he was still small, not even half-size yet.

Although tempers were subsiding, it didn’t mean things couldn’t get heated again. From his own land, he knew skin color alone was enough to ignite a war.

“We have no quarrel with these . . . creatures,” said Maeve, sheathing her blade. The rest of the paladins relaxed at her voice.

“Then neither do we,” said Audra. “But we’re elves, just as you. Do not call us creatures.”

“You’re all despicable,” said Adelheid, nearly spitting the words. “You have done nothing but wage war against our people and—”

But then Scott was there, wrapping his arms around her leg as best he could. She stumbled back a step, her words lost to his touch.

Alicia pulled him away from the giantess, scooping him up in her arms. She knelt in front of him and kissed his lips, stealing a bit of his size. Her skin took on an otherworldly glow, body limned in golden light. With eyes fierce and scary, she stared at the group of dark elves as if daring them to make a move.

“We lost one of ours,” said Renalla, pointing to the lifeless body of Carina, stretched out on the dais by the cliff’s edge. “All we want to do is bury her. After that, we’ll go home.” A solemn murmur of agreement went between the dark elves.

Tayte nodded but there was something in her eyes, something dismissive. Grudgingly, she said, “Our mission is over, after all.”

She was correct. Carina only wanted to kill the bandits who murdered her family and destroyed her village. They’d done that and more. The elf may have been dead, but she died knowing her life’s goal had been achieved.

Hima stepped forward and said, “We’ll help you. Just show us where you’d like her to be.”

They picked a spot further down the mountain that allowed them to get closer to the water. The Cloud Dominion was so high in the air that it was difficult to reach seaside. Scott almost offered them the beach near the Whispering Caverns but thought this may have been too close to the paladins’ ancestral home. That may have been an awkward place to visit, should the dark elves ever return to Carina’s graveside.

Both Renalla and Nym conjured shovels for everyone. While the dark elves dug a hole—with the help of Alicia and the other paladins, Scott sat on a rock further afield and watched.

“You’re not helping?” said a voice behind him. He turned, just in time to see a massive Maeve plop down in the grass next to him. He was currently less than three feet tall—Alicia had siphoned some of his power to help dig the hole.

“I think I’ve helped enough,” he said. “If not for me, they wouldn’t have found the bandits so quickly and Carina would still be alive.”

“You can’t put all the blame on yourself,” she said, watching the others dig. Adelheid’s head rose above all the rest, her shovelfuls twice as deep.

“It’s hard not to. Ever since I fell into this world, it seems like it’s all come undone.”

Maeve laughed. “We were at war thousands of years before you showed up. We will be at war long after you’re gone.” She leaned in, her pinkish-violet eyes boring into him. “What matters is what you do while you’re here.”

And then, she kissed him on the lips. As his size bled away, he tried to pull back but she placed a hand on the back of his head and kept the kiss going much longer. Finally, she separated. He fell back on the rock and felt it stretching out beneath him.

“Sorry,” she said, her face going slack. But the rest of her didn’t share this stoicism. Her eyes burned with a fierce, purple glow. Her body was encased in a similar light and he could feel a subtle vibration under his feet. Maeve’s head dropped and she squeezed her hands into fists. A soft moan left her lips.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

After a moment, she nodded. The light, while remaining on her skin and in her eyes, dimmed. “Sorry. I forgot how intoxicating that can be.”

“Yeah,” he said, already knowing firsthand how the elves could lose themselves to the power. It made him wonder if there was a limit to what they could absorb.

Just then, Adelheid lumbered back. The half-golem, half-elf lady was already imposing to a normal-sized Scott. But now, with him dwindling back down to mere inches, she was a regular goddess.

She leaned on her spectral shovel and said, “They will be coming home with us to rest and resupply.”

“What?” said Maeve. “You can’t be serious. What does Alicia say about this?”

Adelheid pointed to Scott. “She thinks as long as he’s okay with it, then we should be, too.”

That took some of the fight out of Maeve. Reluctantly, she nodded. The purple light seemed to dim even further.

Once Carina was in the ground and the dark elves marked it with a few large, flat stones, they headed up the hill with sweat on their brows and somberness in their eyes. Alicia approached a tiny Scott and lifted him. He thought she was going to kiss him but then reconsidered. He was already so, so small.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

“I am. Are you?”

She nodded. “Let’s get home. We have lots of work to do.”

***

Empress Noire hated to lose.

As the Ryk Dragon carried them away from Cloud Dominion, she had ample time to vent her frustrations. Inside its jaws, her dark elves—and pair of newcomers from another realm—saw the brunt of her vengeance.

No one said a word, not even Gwynevere who often opened her mouth as if to provide some suggestion as to why they were thoroughly bested.

But Empress Noire knew. She also knew what would happen to the world if things continued this way.

The Ryk Dragon deposited them at the edge of the Revenant Sanctuary, the largest subterranean stronghold of the dark elves. Noire stepped out of its mouth and stood atop the basalt dust for the first time in months.

She bent low and scooped some into her hand, then felt it slip between her fingers like fine black sand. A dozen childhood memories floated into her brain. It was good to be home, but she couldn’t be content.

“This place smells of rotten eggs,” said Kamari, twirling her sword and then sheathing it. The nearby lava floes alighted her orangish hair.

“It’s too hot,” added Eir. She waved her hands and conjured up a tiny, spinning orb with a frosted surface. Cold air wafted off it.

Noire nodded toward the Ryk Dragon. “You’re free to wait there. Although we’re yet to pay him and he just might accept the blood price.”

Both elves shuddered and followed her up the incline.

They weren’t near the Citadel, but she didn’t think they would be—egress wasn’t an exact formula. The creature deposited them in their homeworld, as agreed upon.

Within the hour, they could see the jutting spires of the Revenant Sanctuary. It was to them what Hilltop was to the paladins. Dark elves were a deeply spiritual people, as reflected in their architecture. They believed in gods, but also believed those same gods abandoned them long ago. Empress Noire had carved herself into that image and now she was struggling to maintain it.

The Sanctuary was quiet, but it was near morning on the surface. That was the time for sleeping, for recharging. When the Cloud Dominion was in their beds, that’s when the dark elves toiled.

“I never knew such places existed,” said Kamari, walking in circles so she could gaze up at the ornately carved buildings. “It’s beautiful in a sad way.”

Empress Noire smirked. “Of course you couldn’t appreciate its beauty. Where are you from? A surface world, I assume?”

“That’s right. With rolling forests and snowcapped mountains. Do you have any of those around here?”

Maza grunted. “Sure. And one day we’ll put the torch to all of it.”

That quieted both newcomers.

Once the group reached the gates of the Citadel, a contingent of guards stepped forward to assess them. But as soon as they saw Empress Noire in the company, they quickly dropped their heads and gave the signal for the drawbridge to lower.

Once it settled, Kiva switched to her wolf form—accessible anytime in the subterranean world—and darted into the keep.

Many dark elves rushed to greet them, some genuinely concerned for their wellbeing, others just wanting a bit of gossip. For many dark elves, the surface world was just as mythic as the afterlife. Empress Noire waved her hand in dismissal at all these requests and headed straight for her throne room.

“We will convene in the war room in an hour,” she told them, then turned to Maza. “Find our guests suitable chambers.” And then, Noire disappeared up the steps to her own personal suite. A trio of guards waited outside—they’d been guarding an empty bed for months.

Inside, she drew a bath and soaked in the blistering water to clear her mind. She knew she’d gone to the surface with high hopes and had returned a failure. Would her people turn on her? It was a possibility. Dark elves, unlike their surface counterparts, were ambitious and cunning. If any of them thought she wasn’t fit to be a leader, they would challenge her.

After the bath, she donned her ceremonial robes and took her scepter and left her chambers. The others were already assembled in the war room. Kamari and Eir were wearing robes of crimson, neither looking very comfortable. They stood at the edges of the room, watching as Maza Remoire put pieces on the massive granite slab in the center of the room.

This represented the surface world, as every dark elf growing up in the Revenant Sanctuary already knew their own homeworld front and back. At least this could be considered a small victory, thought Noire. There were so many black spots on the map. They’d filled in a few chunks of mystery during their quick occupation of Hilltop.

“We are faced with a problem,” she started.

“Yeah,” Kiva said. “The paladins kicked our arses.”

Empress Noire shot her a venomous look. “No. That’s not the problem. The problem is that they possess an Echo Auger. Do we know what that means for our society? And for theirs?”

Gwynevere said, “It means that whoever possesses him can tap into an unlimited fount of power.” She turned to Eir and Kamari. “You should’ve seen me. I had him for a little while. I grew so, so big.”

“She did,” said Kiva. “Naked and all.”

“That’s not the only thing!” Empress Noire shouted, banging her fists on the war table. When the room settled to an awkward hush, she continued. “Does anyone know how the gods came to be?”

“There are no gods,” said Maza.

“And you’re a fool if you believe that,” Noire said, then to the rest of the room: “Anyone?”

Gwynevere said, “They made themselves?”

Noire shook her head. “They did not make themselves. They had help . . . from Echo Augers.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Maza said. “Long ago, there were enough Echo Augers for every paladin. If that were the case, the world would have an entire pantheon of deities.”

“And at one time, it did,” said Noire. “But not just any paladin could rise to godhood. Not just any Echo Auger could take her there. It required a special bond between the two. This was rare back then and it’s doubly rare now.”

“Then why are you so worried?” Kamari asked. She was leaned against the doorway, arms folded over. She seemed barely part of the conversation. When she noticed all eyes were on here, she shrugged and added, “What? I don’t get it.”

“Because,” said Noire, “this particular Echo Auger isn’t from our world. This one came here from the Earthrealm. We do not know what rules apply to him. Nor the rules that apply to a merging of a human Echo Auger and an elf.”

“Then what do you plan to do about it?” Eir said, still hovering the frost orb above her fingertips. “We’re onboard no matter what, but it would be nice to have a plan.”

“The plan is to go back to Hilltop,” said Noire.

Maza chuckled. “And get beat again? We’re already going to have to explain to our people why we’re back. Why our conquest failed.”

“We are back to resupply,” she said. “Tell them that. But we will return to Hilltop using the same passageways from before.”

“That may work,” said Gwynevere. “They would never think us brave enough to assault so soon.”

“Or stupid enough,” said Kamari, and she shrugged.

Kiva said, “What’s the plan, boss? Are we stealing the Echo Auger from them?”

“Maybe,” said Noire. “But you have to understand the important thing now isn’t to take his power. It’s to stop the paladins from exploiting it. We cannot allow them to form a strong bond. And if there’s peace, then there’s ample time to do it.”

“What are you saying?” Gwynevere asked.

“Abduct the Echo Auger if possible. And if not, kill him.”

***

The paladins of Hilltop were known to be caring. And just like Empress Noire thought hours ago, Alicia knew the high elves would soon be waking. It was morning, the brilliant sun unfiltered to the east. It painted the roads and buildings in a soft, golden light.

“Keep your hoods drawn,” whispered Alicia to the group of assassins. They were in the middle of the paladins, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. But it was difficult given every inch of the girls was a dark, almost purplish hue. Hands, throats, oddly-colored hair—it was all difficult to hide.

Luckily, the attention was on Adelheid. With the battle of Hilltop and the chase across the westlands, most of the citizens never saw her until now. They were relegated to rumors that she’d survived the occupation. Alicia didn’t think her own people would turn on the ‘guest elves,’ not when victory was so fresh in their minds, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

If they’d been smart, they would’ve entered the keep through the secret tunnels—an oversight they would regret before long.

Once inside the castle, drawbridge drawn, Adelheid’s guard summoned, the dark elves withdrew their hoods and stared at the large foyer with sparkling eyes. There was probably little grandeur where they came from.

The moment of the reveal, several high elves drew steel, sure that these creatures had tricked their way into the keep.

“Stand down,” said Adelheid. “These are our guests. They mean us no harm and they have just suffered a grave loss.”

Those words didn’t stick at first and Alicia was certain they were about to have a battle, right there in the castle’s foyer. Her eyes nervously darted toward her companions—Maeve, Nym, Shizare, Hima and even a half-sized Scott—they were all poised and ready to act.

But eventually, Adelheid’s kind eyes won out and the guards took a step back and nodded reverently. The dark elves had lost all sense of haughtiness. They’d just buried their sister and were in no mood for fighting.

The rest of the day was spent acclimating them to the keep. Adelheid had strict rules for where they could go and where they could not. First and foremost—they weren’t allowed to leave the castle. The paladins couldn’t risk citywide turmoil if someone lashed out based on the color of skin. She even recommended they stay away from the windows.

Alicia and her group lived in a wing of the castle called Hero’s Hall. It was a silly name, given many years before she was born. Hilltop’s greatest soldiers stayed there, as it was the closest to the queen’s bedroom. On the opposite end of the same hallway would be the dark elves’ quarters. Just as stately, but on the other side of a long gauntlet of soldiers should they ever live up to their ancestry.

Food was brought to the rooms during the day but that evening, Adelheid summoned the castle and its court to the banquet hall.

“I guess we’re dining with the dark elves,” said Alicia, dressing in her finest ceremonial robes. Scott exited the bathing chamber wearing the suit that Gentry, their world-class seamstress, had made especially for him.

“I feel ridiculous,” he said. “Like I’m Harry Potter or something.”
 “Harry Potter?” she asked. “A friend?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “No, not a friend.”

As he came near, she forgot just how tall he was by default. A head higher so that she had to look up to meet his crystal blue eyes. How could a human possess such rich colors?

She rose on her tiptoes to kiss him but he stepped back and snatched her wrists playfully.

“Your tailor would be quite upset if I shrank out of the clothes she worked so hard to create.”

Alicia rolled her eyes. “True.” She crept close and whispered in his ear, “But tonight, I’m taking all of your power.”

The way he grinned filled her with excitement. It made her nipples hard, made her weak in the knees. She supposed this was the way life would be now—that she would share her bed with the Echo Auger. There could be worse things in life.

Hilltop Keep’s architecture was a wonder of the world. Its spires were visible from miles away. As the name suggested, Hilltop sat at the highest elevation in the Cloud Dominion. The nave of its temple was made up of thousands of glittering yellow and red glass crystals. When the sun hung high in the sky, it looked like a great candle burning. That had been the founders’ promise—that Hilltop would be a light for the world, and that no matter where someone lived, they could always find the light.

But now, not so much.

The banquet hall was three stories high. Frescos depicting battles won long before Alicia’s birth adorned the ceiling. In the center of the room, a massive oak table laden with sparkling dishes, utensils, and goblets. Above it, a gilded chandelier with so many twinkling lights that it could only be lit by magic.

At the head of the room, a giant statue of Dinnin, the paladin god. To the left and right, several female elves, all regal and important. Alicia couldn’t remember their names even though it was required in primary school.

The high elves sat on one side of the table with the dark elves on the other. No one spoke as a flurry of servants entered to serve food and drink. It made Alicia feel embarrassed, if only for a moment. The way the dark elves watched in amazement as delicacy after delicacy arrived at the table made her realize how good life had become. The high elves wanted for nothing—and this was even a day after the city had been occupied.

“We welcome you,” said Adelheid, sitting at the head of the table. Because of her ancestry, her seat was nothing short of a throne. It was large and imposing, the woodwork masterful.

The dark elves watched and listened. It was obvious they weren’t used to such formal events. Renalla and Tayte looked especially uncomfortable as they drummed their fingers on the table or played with glassware.

Adelheid cleared her throat and said, “We give thanks to Dinnin for providing us this meal and new friends.”

“And our Echo Auger,” added Alicia. “who will ensure these things are provided forevermore.”

That seemed to catch everyone off-guard, even Adelheid. As everyone began to eat, Alicia’s eyes drifted up to the state of Dinnin, then to the lady standing to his right.

She was beautiful, partly because of her looks but also because of the expert craftsmanship. Her robes, although made of stone, seemed as thin as silk and conveyed movement. But as many times as Alicia had been in this room, she always failed to note one detail of the statue . . .

On the ground, nestled within the billowing of her robe, stood a tiny man.

He was around eighteen inches high, dressed in a robe similar to the one his giantess wore. His hands were outstretched—in one he held a sword. But the way his fingers curved on the other hand made her think he was casting a spell.

“You’ve never noticed him before, have you?” said Adelheid, stuffing chicken into her mouth. Alicia shook her head. The other elves, either engaged with each other or with those across the table, weren’t listening.

“Who is he? And who is she?”

Adelheid made a look of mock offense because Alicia should’ve known a little more about high elf culture. She said, “That’s Arabeth and her Echo Auger, Sam.”

“Should I know them?”

“Most certainly,” said Maeve from across the table. “Arabeth was one of the gods who ruled alongside Dinnin.”

“She looks like an elf,” said Scott, eyeing her pointy ears and chiseled jawline.

Adelheid nodded. “She was an elf before she ascended.”

Scott said, “God is a little different in my world.”

“I would imagine so,” said Adelheid. “But do you know what made her so powerful? What elevated her to godhood?”

When no one answered, Maeve said, “Her Echo Auger.”

“That’s right,” Adelheid said.

Maeve continued. “It is said that long ago, the bond between elf and Echo Auger could become so strong that she could transcend mortality.”

Adelheid nodded. “That’s how we got these.” She waved her hand around the room, indicating the many statues of elven women—or, as Alicia realized, goddesses.

The conversation turned light, as both groups fell into a routine of pleasantries. Although the dark elves wanted to get home, they were thankful for such a luxurious stop along the way. It was also a form of good will, as Adelheid often appeared rigid to the masses. It would be a delicate political statement to let the city know Hilltop housed dark elves, but only the good ones.

Scott, who’d been sitting between Alicia and Maeve, noticed the pink-haired leader couldn’t pull her eyes from the statues for most of the evening.

“Is it really that captivating?” he whispered to Maeve.

She seemed to shake from her reverie. For a moment, she looked around the room, glassy-eyed and lost, before finally settling on Scott. “Sorry. I was just . . . reminiscing.”

“Oh yeah? About what?”

But she didn’t answer. She drained the last of her wine, pushed her seat out, and left the room. Her pink dress trailed up the stairs behind her. Scott looked around as if waiting for someone to explain her flighty behavior, to explain if he’d said something bad, but no one even noticed she left.

A little while later when they were finishing up dessert, she stood on the balcony overlooking the dining hall. Her eyes were fixed on the statue of Arabeth and Sam. No one saw her watching and no one saw her leave, phantom blades circling her body, whipping at the air . . .

***

“Are there usually so many guards out there?” asked Scott, leaning out the doorway of Alicia’s room. Each doorway on the Hero’s Hallway was flanked by two elven warriors, still as statues. At the far end at Adelheid’s chambers stood at least six.

“It’s just a precaution,” said Alicia, turning down the bed. She’d slipped into a white, silk robe that ended at her knees. Her skin was pale beneath, but not like anything Scott was used to seeing back home—this wasn’t the pale of low iron in the blood. This was healthy, porcelain skin of a beautiful, otherworldly creature.

“They’re harmless, I assure you,” said Scott. “And even if they weren’t, they’re too broken down right now to start a fight.”

Alicia raised an eyebrow. “You’ve learned quite a bit about them, eh?”

He rolled his eyes, to which she only laughed and slithered into bed. There was a thick tome on the table next to her. She started to pick it up but decided against it. Her eyes told him all he needed to know—she didn’t want to read tonight. She wanted to play with him.

After dinner, he’d been given ‘lounge clothes’ that were little more than boxers and a t-shirt. Already Alicia could see the mounting hard-on through the thin material and it made his face turn red. As he came close, she snatched his arm and pulled him toward her.

He flicked the covers back and got on top of her, parting her legs around his body. Gently, she eased her fingertips into the top of the shorts and pulled them out.

“My, he’s ready, isn’t he?” she said.

He leaned in to kiss her but she playfully moved to the side, offering her neck instead. He kissed along it, feeling their attraction grow. “You don’t want to kiss me?” he asked by her ear.

“I want to feel your cock before I do.”

Straight to the point, he thought. He could appreciate that. Scott used one hand to brace himself by her head and the other to yank down the shorts until he could secure them beneath his balls.

Alicia pulled up her gown and he pushed in, for once feeling that his size worked for him rather than against him. Alicia’s eyes fluttered as he pushed until he could go no further. Then, her legs came up and he held them by the ankles.

Alicia was truly a beautiful girl—no, not a girl. Elf. He was going to have to get used to that if he planned to stay in this world. There were no girls. He was the only human in all the land.

He thrust in and out, Alicia’s moans growing so chaotic that he worried the guards were going to burst through the door and arrest him. But they weren’t stupid—they could clearly hear what was happening and yet they remained at their post.

Finally, she could take no more, so she lashed out, wrapped her arm around his neck, and pulled him down. When they kissed, he felt his essence seeping into her body. She shivered, then moaned into his ear, and that’s when he felt his cock shrinking inside her.

He managed a few more thrusts before it was obvious on her face that it wasn’t nearly as satisfying. After that, he lifted her gown and burrowed up it until he was at her breast. He’d already lost nearly half his size and he continued to shrink after he popped her nipple into his mouth. It swelled against his tongue, growing longer and thicker by the second.

She sat up, holding him in place with a giant hand, then pulled off her gown. Now, he was standing on her thigh, no more than two feet tall. Her skin had taken on a lustrous golden glow, giving her already otherworldly appearance an even odder tint. Long white hair hung down to her lap. Scott gathered up a handful of it and tugged, loving the way it felt so thick and coarse in his hands. This, of course, was only because of his small stature. Normally, her hair was silky and smooth.

She placed her index fingers on his cheeks to keep him steady, then leaned in for another kiss. There was no way her tongue could adequately fit in his mouth, so she simply licked along his lips, ending at his cheek. Her golden glow intensified, then dimmed. Scott could feel his feet contracting on her thigh. The world was getting bigger around him, most of all the lady in front.

Twelve inches small, then, nine, eight, and then seven. He reached his hands up to play with her breasts but they were too high for him to reach. Alicia took him in her hand and leaned back on the bed, then draped him over her face. He felt like he was falling into her mouth but her tongue was there to keep him balanced. He splayed himself across her nose and cheek and let her work.

The shrinking slowed and Scott was glad for it—he could’ve stayed here all day. She lapped at his cock until finally his body seized and he felt himself pumping cum into her mouth. It was such a tiny, negligible amount that she giggled, warm, sweet breath wafting over him.

Once it was clear she’d satisfied him, she took him by the legs and dragged him down her body. Down her chin, across her neck, between her breasts, over her stomach, and finally across her labia. He needed no coaxing, nor did he have any trouble fitting. The work she’d done on his cock had stripped him of another two inches. That may have been her plan all along, he mused.

He pushed inside her as she tried to relax. It was difficult whenever a tiny man was plumbing your most intimate area. Alicia howled in pleasure, hands gripping the sheets. Legs spread, she didn’t help Scott at all. She let him do what he wanted to her body.

By then, he was so deep that he couldn’t hear her garbled moans. There was no evidence of a little man doing somersaults inside her, save for the goosebumps and the red splotches from the incoming orgasm.

Scott was completely facing the other direction when she finally gushed across him. Her hand came up and blocked him from firing across the bed. He kissed her fingers and then allowed her to safely pull him away.

She was almost asleep by the time he settled on her stomach and caught her breath. It was like being on an amusement park ride. There’s no way Alicia could understand that reference but he would explain it to her one day. If he stayed around.

As gently as possible, he climbed up her body, over her breasts and hopped onto the pillow next to her. The golden light had begun to fade but when he kissed her lips, soft and quick, it renewed.

“Goodnight,” he said, and started to shrink a little. He moved over to the center spot on the other half of the bed and pulled the gargantuan sheet over his body.

***

Hilltop was quiet.

From a distance, the candle atop the temple’s nave was a dark amber color. The dark elves didn’t know its significance but had Empress Noire known when she sat the throne, she would’ve had her elves topple it. There could still be a chance for that, though. She wasn’t beaten—not yet.

In the distance, smoke still rose from the walls. They had spent the day rebuilding but it would take time to undo all that the dark elves had done. Hilltop was so vulnerable right now, yet she only spotted a few sentries walking what remained of the walls.

Her entire army had emptied out of the Revenant Sanctuary. It was a testament to her persuasion—not many were willing to return to the place where so many of their kin were wounded or killed. She tapped into their need for revenge. That was a prominent trait in dark elves, after all.

But she also told them all about the Echo Auger. She told them that if he formed a bond with the high elves then there would be no place to hide. Dark elves would be sought where they lived, pulled from their homes, and killed in the streets like animals. True, it may not have been that dramatic but Noire would never let good hysteria go to waste.

“So how are we going to do this?” Gwynevere asked, stepping up to the bluff next to her leader. “I don’t know why you insisted in bringing our whole army. Surely the paladins will do to us what they did before.”

Empress Noire stared out at the legions—there were hundreds of them, the sounds of metal and leather gently creaking and croaking. Otherwise, they were quiet, like a sea of dark faces. It was a cloudy night, which was good.

“They’re a diversion,” said Noire. “While we sneak inside.”

“So we are going to put our sisters in harm’s way just to distract the high elves?” Gwynevere shook her head and shifted from one foot to the other.

Kiva and Maza snorted in agreement. Empress Noire didn’t care about any of them. She certainly didn’t care about the masses who made the conscious choice to become a soldier for the Citadel. Everyone who took up arms to protect their way of life knew that death was always a possibility, especially on a battlefield far from home.

She said, “I am. For the Echo Auger. Would you be any different?”

Gwynevere looked toward the army again. Noire grinned. Of course the elf would do the same. She’d been there on the beach with the Echo Auger in her mouth. The tiny man had made her grow—she felt that power and became addicted like everyone else. If anything, Noire may have to fight Gwynevere for supremacy once the Echo Auger was in their possession.

She turned to her group—Gwynevere, Kiva, Maza, and newcomers Eir and Kamari. This was her elite group, the ones who would either retrieve the Echo Auger or die trying.

“Maza will show us the back way in. Securing the Echo Auger is our priority. If you can gut a few high elves on the way out, then do it.”

The others bowed their heads in reverence. Kiva transformed into a wolf and rose up on her haunches. Then, she ran alongside Maza and the two slipped into the shadows down in the valley.

As Empress Noire followed, she looked back on the hill, to the silent, black snake creeping closer to Hilltop. The army would remain hidden. And like a snake, it would be ready to strike from the shadows when the time came.

***

When Scott first woke, he thought he was on fire.

He sat up and the smoke dissipated. Was it a dream? He looked at his hands and saw nothing. Beside him, the backside of a large sleeping Alicia. He was still small, roughly two feet tall.

Just as he was about to settle back to sleep, wafts of smoke appeared at his fingertips. He shook it away, as if he’d spontaneously caught fire. There was no heat, no pain. But the smoke remained and it traveled up his arms and spread across his chest. A part of him thought he should scream out but the rest of him was calm, as if he expected it.

The strange smoke made him think of Carina.

But this made sense because it was of Carina. The way it billowed, the way it took on a slightly purple hue, made him realize it was indicative of her power. What did this mean for Scott? Had she somehow, in death, imparted a little of her essence to him?

He thought about jumping off the bed and onto the floor but knew he was too small to make it without hurting himself. But the moment he saw the spot on the floor in his mind, the shadows gathered around him and carried him there. In one moment, he was on the bed, in the next, on the floor.

“Holy shit!” he whispered. Could he make it happen again? He did a full circle around the room and settled his eyes on the nightstand across the bed. With just a thought, he was standing on Alicia’s book. She was still sleeping, the hair in her eyes.

Again and again, he played this game, gathering shadows across his body and using it to move from one spot to another. As he sat on the bed, noting that he was completely breathless, he wondered just how limitless this power could be.

At the door, he pressed his face against a tiny crack running up and down. Through it, he could see the dusty floor and movement—one of the guards walked past. Scott concentrated and the next moment he was blowing through the crack. He stood in the hallway next to the giant boot of the elf guarding Alicia’s door.

Another one was patrolling the hall, her eyes forward, pike in hand. He conjured shadows and figured it would be just as strange as seeing a shrunken man in the hallway. But whatever magic made the shadows, also rendered him invisible. The big lady walked right by without ever seeing him. He made sure to stay out of the middle of the hallway. While the shadows protected him from sight, he didn’t think they would protect him from being stepped on or kicked.

There was an opened door down the hallway, just before Adelheid’s room. Soft candlelight flickered in the hall just in front of it. Scott conjured the shadows and tried to teleport beneath the lantern hanging on the wall by the door but couldn’t. It was as if something were blocking his power—some anti-magic.

Frustration mounting, he tried again and again. He shifted with the shadows but they never carried him more than a few inches. But then, he realized why—it wasn’t that something was blocking his power. It was because he could only step into and out of shadows. Where there was light, he had no power. Scott tried for the spot on the opposite side of the hall, away from the lantern. He landed there with no problems.

In the room across the hall, he detected movement. There were no guards here. Perhaps they’d been asked to patrol elsewhere.  Scott ventured closer, first seeing the stacks of books piled around the bed and on the nearest table, then seeing the back of a hunched elf in the corner.

Maeve.

She was reading at her desk and it looked as if she’d been searching for something. Large, dusty tomes lay all over the place. Some with notes attached, others with bindings so frayed that they must have been ancient.

The moment he stepped into her room, a flurry of blades was at his throat. He staggered back but the blades followed—there was no wielder—they were phantoms dancing in the air.

“It’s not smart to sneak into the room of the Phantom Blade,” said Maeve without turning around.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I . . . have discovered something. A power.”

She turned around and eyed him skeptically. She was a far different creature than the one he’d seen at dinner. Was she tired? Upset? Large rings surrounded her eyes as if she’d been crying.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Fine. What power? Is it to clothe yourself?”

He looked down, embarrassed to be naked in her company, but it wasn’t the first time, for sure. Maeve laughed, breaking the tension. She stood, then came over to the bed and sat at the edge of it. Her large feet were in front of him, bare, with the nails painted a brilliant shade of purple.

Scott turned to shadow and teleported to the bed, just next to her. She didn’t seem anywhere near as surprised as he would’ve guessed. After that, he bounced to her nightstand, to the floor, and then to the top of a bookshelf. He tried to move to her desk but the candlestick’s light swallowed all the shadows. So, he returned to the floor, just by her feet.

“Impressive,” she said. “I assume you’ve leeched a little power from the fallen dark elf. What was her name again? Catherine?”

“Carina. And that’s what I’m guessing,” he said. “I didn’t know it worked that way.”

“There’s lots we don’t understand. But I’m trying, nonetheless.” Her eyes drifted across the mounds of books.

“What are you doing in here? Are you okay? You left dinner rather quickly.”

Scott was subtly growing back. When he first entered the room, he was level with her knees. Now, he was high enough that he could climb onto her lap if he wanted.

She stood, making him feel small all over again, then returned to her desk.

“I am trying to learn all I can about you. If we had an Echo Auger when I was a girl, I’d still have a family.”

“Oh,” he said. “I don’t . . . I don’t . . .”

She held up a hand and smiled sweetly. It was probably the first time he’d ever seen her appear so vulnerable. Maeve exuded power. It was nice to know the girl had layers.

“It’s fine. I’m not the only elf with a traumatic childhood. We’ve all been borne of some sort of grief. What matters is how we right the past.”

“That’s what Carina did,” he said. “She found the men who murdered her family and killed them before . . . before . . .”

“Before she passed a taste of her power onto you.”

He nodded.

She leaned back in her chair and stared at the wall so intently that he almost followed her gaze. But she was simply lost in her mind, digging around in her well of memories.

“I grew up penniless and unimportant. My family was sheepherders. My father couldn’t even build a proper fence to keep out the wolves so we made little money and were the laughingstock of the village. But I learned early on that I could fight.”

“I can see that,” he said, eyeing the phantom blades above his head. They were attached to her mind, ready to skewer him if he put one toe out of line.

“I was appointed to the Queen’s Guard and was given many missions of my own. I made my family proud and earned a little coin for the trouble.”

“But . . .?”

“But my family disowned me. They couldn’t stand that I was putting my life at risk for nobles wouldn’t do the same for me. I chose my swords over my family. I’ve always had a need to feel powerful. And I need it now more than ever.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I failed to keep the dark elves out of Hilltop. I am no longer the warrior I was before. I am weak. I cannot protect my family and friends. It is a miracle they didn’t just outright kill Adelheid when they had her.”

“You’re a strong warrior,” he said, but felt this platitude wasn’t at all what she wanted. She barely seemed to register his words at all.

“I need you, Scott,” she said. “Let’s . . . work on us.”

“I don’t know how Alicia would feel about that.”

“Who cares? You had no trouble playing with Carina while in her care. All I ask is the same chance.”

He couldn’t deny her this technicality.

In the next moment she was on the floor, on all-fours. The way her ass rose in the air made him think she was some kind of jungle cat, ready to pounce. Scott’s fight or flight response was nearly triggered and he started to back into the hallway.

“What’s the matter, little man? Don’t like me?”

“It’s not that,” he said. “You just don’t seem like yourself right now.”

“You don’t know me well enough to determine that,” she said. A wicked gleam had entered her eyes.

He was about to agree with her when she wrapped her hands around his thighs and pulled him closer. She sniffed him and closed her eyes as if she could suck his power in without even a touch. Scott felt odd right now but his body relaxed.

There were worse things than a giant, beautiful woman about to play with you . . .

She started at his chest, dragging her tongue up his body until she was looking into his eyes. It was so intense that he started to turn away but she used a single finger to pull his face back around. When their eyes met, she went in for the kiss.

It was different depending on the girl. He couldn’t explain how his power was siphoned but it was slow for some, quick for others. Perhaps it was his own ability to control the flow. With Maeve, his power trickled into her at a snail’s pace and he could almost feel the tension, disappointment, and impatience inside her.

Maeve’s tongue started across his neck and over his cheek and finally into his mouth. This was the second woman he’d played with this evening and he wondered if he even had the strength for it. With Alicia, it was merely fun. With Maeve—there was a purpose. She had a hunger in her eyes that was both frightening and arousing.

And then, he started to shrink.

“That’s it,” she whispered between kisses. “Shrink. Shrink for me.”

Her tongue parted his lips until it could no longer fit, then she lashed it down his body. She took his cock in her mouth and he crashed against her hair, burying his face in her sweet-smelling scalp. It was always fun to feel hair spread out under his fingers, so he grabbed two handfuls of it and let her play. She moaned against his gentle tugging.

His inches vanished. Maeve reduced him to ten inches, then nine, then eight. When he was a mere six inches tall and her lips were pressed against his whole face, he felt as if she was going too far.

“Okay, that’s probably enough,” he said, panic creeping into his voice.

But she wasn’t there—she was lost to some kind of euphoria. Her eyes were like molten circles of purple light. She shuddered, then pushed her lips even harder against him . . .

Still, he dwindled.

At four inches tall, the panic rose in him. He willed himself to turn into smoke and in the next moment, he was on Maeve’s bedside table. She sprang to her feet and twirled around, a vicious look on her face. Purple eyes burned like fireballs. Her phantom blades found him first and she whirled to face him.

“This isn’t the way!” he said. “You can’t force a bond!”

“No, but you can make me powerful enough to seek out the dark elves! I may not be a goddess, but I’ll be close!”

Her hand wrapped around him—or at least tried. The moment he felt her fingers closing on his still-shrinking body, he turned to smoke and traveled to the top of her bookshelf.

Maeve roared in frustration. She put her hands in the air, fingers rigid like claws. Purple energy crackled off her, blowing the pages of all the books in the room. He was so busy looking at her feet and the way she’d lifted off the ground to notice the phantom blades had found him yet again.

She snatched him but before he could move through the shadows, she tossed him to her desk. The impact rattled his head and he tasted blood in his mouth. He sat up just as her hand pushed down on him.

When he tried to teleport, the candlelight prevented him. It didn’t matter, anyway. He was so delirious from the impact that his mind couldn’t even wrap around his power. Maeve didn’t seem to be bothered that his head was spinning, so she scooped him up and gave him another kiss.

He looked at her glowing purple eyes and had trouble seeing her through the haze of shadow. In his addled brain, he made the connection—she wasn’t only amplifying her own innate power. She was also taking the shadow magic.

His power fled in such strong waves that he wondered if she could take it permanently. Somewhere through the veil, he could see her smiling. Maeve was gone, at least for the moment.

The room filled with dozens of sharp, menacing blades, all swirling around like a vortex. Swords, daggers, halberds, deadly-looking double axes. He was afraid to move a muscle, afraid of being sliced into bits. The blades answered to Maeve—they all came within inches of touching her but never made contact.

By now he was a mere two inches tall. She pinched his legs between her thick fingers and dragged him away. After giving him a final kiss, she shoved him between her legs. It was wet—this burst of power was exciting for her in more ways than one. As Scott struggled to find purchase on her labia, he felt the room around him shuddering.

Voices screamed out, wood splintered, stone crumbled. Somewhere high above, gunshots—but that wasn’t right. There were no guns in this world. It was the crack of thunder. Scott couldn’t see what was happening. He was so, so small and in such a compromising place.

But his other senses told him the world was falling apart.

***

Half an hour earlier, Audra decided she couldn’t sleep. This was an unfamiliar place surrounded by enemies. Coupled with the grief she felt, it made for an unending night of twisting and turning.

She and Tayte had been given a large bunkroom on the opposite end of Hero’s Hallway. As Tayte snored into her pillow, Audra found herself at the nearby table, drinking water that didn’t taste quite right, reading a book of poetry that sounded awful to her prose-challenged mind. The high elves had given them clothes in which to sleep. Audra and Tayte’s gear was on a desk in the corner.

She rummaged through her things, hoping to find a morsel of her favorite figs from back home, but they’d eaten it all on the last day before Carina’s death. But when Audra lifted her shirt, a ring fell out and rolled across the floor, stopping at the bedpost.

It was her shrinking ring, the one that Renalla conjured with the help of Scott. She picked it up and listened at the door. There were elf guards crawling all over the place. But Audra was curious about this place. What could be the harm of taking a miniature tour?

Giving a final look to Tayte, she slipped the ring on her finger. Audra waited by the door as she shrunk down, happy that her nightgown changed with her. Once she was no more than six inches tall, she discovered it wasn’t small enough to slip under the door.

She dropped to her stomach and looked beneath the door—there was a giant pair of feet standing in front of her, facing away. The large, round hilt of the guard’s pike rested on the ground.

“Dammit,” she said, and slipped off the ring.

As her inches trickled back, she went to return the ring to her stash and that’s when she realized Tayte had one, as well. Audra knew nothing of this kind of magic, but she was resourceful, so she had an idea.

First, she dressed. She would need pockets for this.

After clipping on her swordbelt, she stood by the door and slipped both rings on her finger.

The tug in her stomach was stronger and she wondered if she’d just crossed some kind of magical line, all with the intent of wanting to explore.

She reached the six-inch mark and continued down until the gap beneath the door was five times her height. Beyond, a blurry line of golden light.

The distance to the crack was far greater than she would’ve imagined. She didn’t even want to consider how small she’d become—less than an inch. Less than half an inch, more likely. The thought of bugs—termites, ants, spiders. It made her skin crawl. She drew her blade, not sure what she’d even do if she encountered such a hulking creature.

The nail heads on the floor were so wide she could’ve laid across them without touching the edges. It took five whole minutes but once she was outside the room, standing between the gargantuan feet of the lady elf guard, she removed one of her rings and slipped it into her pocket.

Her body started to expand so she pressed her back against the door and slid to the side. At six inches tall, it would be easy for the keen eyes of a high elf to find her. Lucky for her, the door was at the far end of Hero’s Hall, away from most of the keep’s security.

At the end of the hall, she dropped down the first step and rolled aside. The impact made her wince, so she decided the steps were too steep for a six-inch elf. She pulled off her second ring and waited to expand enough to make it to the bottom. Once there, she shrank down again.

There wasn’t a lot of activity this late at night. Most of the soldiers were upstairs, guarding her and her sisters. They would probably be furious if they knew she had the power to sneak out. But, Audra had no ill will toward the paladins. She was merely curious about this place. She’d never seen such lavishness.

On the bottom floor, opposite the hallway holding the dining hall, was an expansive sitting area. Beyond that, another hallway.

She walked aimlessly through the castle, only encountering guards twice. These were easy to circumvent because people rarely looked for enemies along the floor. When she turned into the next room—the throne room—she failed to appreciate its grandeur because there was a body lying on the floor.

Audra approached the elf and smelled blood.

Oh, this was bad.

Her first thought was to get back upstairs—the paladins would most certainly blame her kind for this. But then she realized that whoever did it was probably still here, and that the whole castle—including her friends—was in danger.

Just when she was about to slide off her ring, she heard a terrible boom from above. It sounded like thunder but there was no pain in her back—years of injuries had made her in-tune with the weather. Another crack and the walls began to shudder.

Just then, a great horn bellowed in the distance. It made her shiver, although she’d never heard anything so ominous in all her life. But she recognized the instrument—it was the deep, throaty groan from a Basalt Crab’s shell. Those were only found down below, in the subterranean world of the dark elves.

They were back, she noted. Those awful Noirites had come for revenge.

Or was it something else?

“Leave her!” said a voice to the left. A curtain next to the throne flew open and in came two elf guards. One of them was ready to check the body on the floor but the other one pulled her toward the door where Audra had first come.

“How is she dead?” asked the struggling elf. “They’re still at the walls!”

“Right, and that’s where we need to be. Come on, love. We’ll mourn later!” And then, they were gone.

The dark elves brought an army, she thought. The horn sounded again. She didn’t like the stillness of the throne room so she left, pulling off her ring in the process. By the time she reached the first step to the Hero’s Hallway, she was back to half her size.

***

Alicia woke to the noise. There was so much of it that she couldn’t pinpoint which source was the most troubling. Scott wasn’t in her bed—also a problem, but she got on her hands and knees and looked closely at the linens. Maybe he got carried away and kissed himself to bug size while she slept. But no, he wasn’t foolish enough for that.

Quickly she dressed and stepped out into the hall just as a pair of guards threw up their pikes.

“I’m not here to cause a problem!” said Audra, raising her hands. She’d been coming up the steps. Why did she leave her room? Alicia wondered.

“What’s happening?” she asked, and stepped in front of the guards. They lowered their pikes immediately. Somewhere down the hall behind Alicia, a colossal boom.

Audra flinched and said, “I don’t know, but you have a dead guard in the throne room. I have to wake my sisters.”

And then, Audra blew past her.

The guards who’d been stationed in the Hero’s Hallway abandoned their posts when they heard the horn. Alicia threw herself against the wall just as several doors flew open and out stepped elves. Hima, Nym, Tayte—they all looked back and forth, questioning the source of the two distinct noises.

Alicia drew her sword and ran up the hallway toward Adelheid’s room. The cacophony was coming from Maeve’s suite to the left. She stepped up to the threshold as some supernatural wind whipped her hair back and forth. Inside she could see a spinning dervish of blades. On the other side was Maeve, eyes burning purple, hair blowing ferociously. Books fluttered on the ground and on her bed.

This was power lent to her by Scott, but where was he? Alicia couldn’t see much beyond the maddening vortex of blades.

“Maeve, stop this at once!” she screamed, feeling her voice lost to the cacophony.

She took a step into the room, feeling the raw power of the Phantom Blade. The swords encircling her head began to taper off—some aimed at Alicia as if she were a threat.

“You have to stop! Something is happening outside the castle!”

“Then I will deal with it,” she said in a voice that was not her own. It was so powerful, so primal. It made Alicia take a step back.

But her resolve returned in a heartbeat. She swung her sword, batting two of the phantom blades out of the way. Three more drove toward her head but she sidestepped and they sank into the wall behind her.

Inside the room, the wind blew her hair aside. It was so strong that she was almost expelled to the hallway.

“Maeve, you’re not in control! I am your friend, please!”

“I’m not giving up this power!” she screamed. Her eyes flashed purple.

“Where is Scott?”

“He’s near,” she promised.

“I’m sorry, Maeve. I can’t let you do this to yourself, to us, and to Scott.”

She drew her sword and rushed in, looking for an opening between the spinning blades. Her sword came up and down, batting them aside long enough to change their orbit and allow her to slip inside.

Once there, she dropped her blade and grabbed Maeve by the cheeks. They were hot. Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at Alicia—and didn’t see her.

“Come back to us!” said Alicia. “We need you!”

And for a moment, she thought the Phantom Blade would do just that. Maeve’s face began to break down. More tears streamed down her cheeks. Alicia smiled, hoping the storm would subside.

But then, the grimace returned. She said, “You can’t have him. He’s mine!”

A blast of cold air shot Alicia back into the hallway. She felt the sting of a dozen blades on her back as they knicked her on the way out. She hit the wall and slid down, partially in a stupor.

Her eyes turned to the left, to the far end of the Hero’s Hallway. And there, marching toward her was Empress Noire and her legion of followers. The wolf padded faster, its snout turned up in a grin.

Alicia reached to the right and with shaky fingers, dragged her sword toward her . . .