The group stood staring at each other for a few seconds, then the wrinkled old dark elf shuffled back into the building, only returning a few minutes later with a heavy leather pouch in his hands. He pulled the leather straps at the top to reveal what was inside to the leader of the Beasts.
As soon as the leather top was opened, Leor felt a rush of natural power that nearly made him lightheaded. Gazing down into the leather pouch, he observed that it was filled with a herbal mixture of some kind.
The Beasts seemed to grow visibly excited at the sight of the herbs, quickly pushing Leor forward to exchange him for the leather pouch.
The old dark elf pressed the leather sack into the massive hands of the Beast leader, patting the side of the large Beast's arm as he did so.
"Thank you Bone, you've done very well this time. I will speak to you again later, don't use too much of the herbs at once. Even for you, they are a potent mix."
The ape-like Beast leader seemed to suddenly resemble a child who was anxious to go play, but had to finish listening to his parents lecture him about the rules first
"Okay, okay. I know you're all grown up now. You don't need me to tell you these things. Go on, go."
As soon as the old elfs words left his wrinkled lips, the group of Beasts disappeared like a gust of wind. Leaving just the three of them standing there. Then before anyone could speak, the female came rushing back, dropping Leor's initiates blade on the ground at his feet before leaving again just as swiftly.
"Okay, let's get you untied and cleaned up. You look like you've been through quite a lot, Leor" Alina pulled him inside through the ornate wooden door, and quickly cut his bindings with his own sword before sliding it into his sheath and stepping around to the front of him.
Then before he could even rub his aching wrists that had finally been freed, Alina plowed into his chest, hugging him tightly with all her strength.
"Thank the light! You're alive. I won't be alone anymore. It's been so long since I've seen another human, I thought I might never see one again."
Leor's brows furrowed as he glanced down at Alina, returning her embrace.
"What do you mean? It's only been a few days." he questioned softly.
"For YOU it's been a few days. For me it's been over three months!" She rebuked.
"H-how is that possible?" Leor responded, his brows deeply knit together.
"I'll tell you all about it soon, we have so much to discuss. First, go and get washed up. You smell like you slept in a cave with a half dozen Beasts."
With that, she led him up the stairs into the top floor of the large elven manner, helping pour a hot bath for him before taking his clothes to be washed. After cleaning the layers of filth and blood from his body, Leor got dressed in a fresh set of elven linens and headed down the stairs.
When he reached the main room, he saw Alina and the old elf sitting at a long table, there was a seat prepared for Leor with a plate of cooked meat and vegetables still steaming hot.
"I'm sure you're quite hungry, young human. I'm aware that the Beasts can be rather stingy when it comes to sharing their food." The old elf spoke, continuing as he watched Leor dig into the food with a smile. "My name is Drelk, I am all that remains of my people in this fallen realm. That Highblood Beast who escorted you here was Bone. Well, Bone for short. His actual name is Bonebreaker The Strong One. Beasts name themselves, you see, when they reach the Highblood realm. They aren't quite the greatest wordsmiths when they first learn to speak afterall."
Leor nodded in understanding, but a question seemed to rise to his mind as he did so. "I've been wondering about those Beasts since they first captured me, and witnessing the scenes around this fortress has just made my curiosity stronger. How is it that so many Beasts have all attained humanoid forms? Such a thing should not be possible."
A sad smile seemed to cover the old elfs face at the question, and it was Alina who spoke up in his place to answer.
"That's thanks to Drelk, and it's related to many things that we must discuss. Like how this realm came to be fallen, how this small community was able to survive, and what our futures have in store for us. But first I'd like to ask you a question. I can feel that your willpower has grown much stronger than the last time we met. That can only mean you've run into trouble and been forced to slay a number of strong Defiled. How did you fare so close to the ruins of Draemyr all on your own before Bone found you?"
An unpleasant expression filled Leor's face as he recalled the events that had transpired on that rocky hill beside the ruined city. "Well, I very nearly died. But shouldn't you have faced the same thing at some point? You said you've been here for months, how could such a thing have happened? Also, wouldn't that mean that you arrived on the same hill three months before me?"
Alina slowly shook her head as she gathered her thoughts to respond. "Not exactly. Something seems to have disrupted the portal that carried us to this place. I've no idea what could do such a thing, but it was so powerful that it was able to warp the very flow of time itself. Stepping into the portal just moments apart sent us into this realm entire months apart, and because so much time had passed, the exit location of the portal had drifted. We are lucky that we even arrived on solid ground. As for me, I stepped out of the portal three months ago, high up in the mountain above this fortress. I was found by a team of forragers and brought back here to Drelk." She explained.
"I see. Then, what of Paul? He entered the portal first. Does that mean he's been here for six months already!?" Leor questioned.
A sad smile covered Alina's face as she hesitated a moment before responding. "I'm afraid so. When I got here the first thing I did was try to portal home. When that didn't work, I tried to locate the two of you, but for some reason tracking Paul's sacred torch had no effect. Either his tablet has been destroyed, or the worst has befallen him. It was only later, after many weeks, that I was able to use my talent to discover the truth. I traveled back to the exact spot where I entered this realm, injecting my willpower into the dirt where the portal that carried me here had stood. At that moment I witnessed the most detailed revelation of my life. First I saw Paul, stepping out of a portal in a place of absolute darkness, then, the sun and moon passed overhead many times, before I saw myself stepping out of the same portal. This time atop the mountain. Finally, I witnessed you, stepping out upon the great hill beside the city. Since I was able to see the exact location where you would land, I wanted to go there myself to collect you, but Drelk convinced me otherwise, insisting that I would only get myself killed and suggesting that we send the Beasts in my stead."
Leor sat in silence for a moment as he took in the information, rubbing his chin before he began to speak once more. "I see. So you couldn't discern Paul's location because of the darkness around him in the vision. Light protect him, he's been all alone in this cursed realm for six months." Leor let out a sad sigh for his lost friend before continuing with a bitter expression, "You know, it would have been nice if "Bone" and his crew could have come and collected me on the hill. First, I was nearly consumed by corruption the moment I stepped out of the portal, then I came within a hairs breadth of being slain and consumed by a horrific Twisted one only a short time later."
Alina's face seemed to turn pale as she heard the words, blinking rapidly as she hastened to reply, "What?! I didn't realize… It seems I've miscalculated. I'm sorry Leor. I mean, I knew about the corruption, but I was sure that you could handle it for a short time. The Beasts did not wish to leave the protection of the forest, the threat of the Elder dragon was too great. I assumed you would try to track myself and Paul right away, and since Paul's symbol cannot be tracked, you could only have been led into the forest, towards my location. The defiled dragon would not be offended by the presence of a simple initiate on the edge of its territory, but Bone might actually have drawn its wrath if he strayed too near. So we thought it was best to have them wait to collect you once you'd stepped into the forest. How on earth did you survive an encounter with a Twisted one, all on your own no less?"
Leor took a deep breath, nodding along to her explanation before slowly sharing the details of his encounter with the Twisted one upon the hill. He explained how he'd been forced into such a desperate situation that he'd gambled on awakening the consciousness inside of the Twisted monster in order to gain the upper hand.
Alina tapped her finger against the table as she pondered his words, her brows slowly drawing together as she listened to him finish his retelling of the events before responding.
"That's… Not possible, Leor." She shifted in her seat uncomfortably as she stared at him, "It's just not possible that you could dispel the defilement from a Twisted one with the potency and volume of your willpower, not even twenty of you together could do such a thing. Did you pay no attention to your training at all? To cleanse the defilement from a creature, it requires the willpower of someone at least two tiers above them in rank, at minimum! So to awaken the consciousness of a simple Defiled, it would require the potent willpower of a master."
Now it was Leor's turn to look confused as he responded. "I mean, I did know that, I am no fool Alina… I just… thought it might work for a few seconds. That was all the time I would need to gain the upper hand."
Alina slowly shook her head as she stared at him with disbelief, "Leor… If such a thing was possible, don't you think it would be common practice? Every initiate would be taught about such a useful tactic. Light above us! A way for an initiate to defeat a Twisted one? This would hardly remain a gambit for you to discover on your own! To dispel the corruption of a Defiled for even a moment requires you to completely overpower their corrupted will. Or at least the creature would need to be in such a weakened state that it was near death already. What you claim to have done just cannot be true, Leor. Take my word for it. Something is missing from this tale."
Now Leor began to grow confused, holding his hands out by his sides to gesture his own lack of understanding of the matter. "Well, it happened just as I've claimed. I don't know what else to say. Would you like to use your talent on me to check if I've spoken false?"
Alina smiled as she stood up from the table and stepped over toward Leor, "I do not believe you would lie to me, Leor, but I will use my talent to help us both understand what exactly happened on that hill. It is important that we get to the bottom of such a strange occurrence, don't you agree?"
With those words, Alina took Leor's hand in her own. A heartbeat later, he felt the gentle warmth of Alina's willpower, full to bursting with the nature of the realm of light, slowly flowing into his body.