Isolda

Isolda had been relegated to her room by the council, a fate she accepted reluctantly. She didn't feel ill nor did she feel like her power was getting weaker it was quite the opposite. Her shadow magics had begun to seeth with power, she no longer shadow hopped she could teleport when the sun was low or it was night time. She did not need shadows just a lack of light in the area she wished to be. She could resurrect recently dead creatures and control them, vlad was no longer her way to reanimate the dead.

Her dreams were no longer torturous events where the creature called the great maw would cram itself down her throat, now she would hear its voice in her head while she was awake and it would appear to her as an old cloaked mage in her dreams. He would promise her power and often teach her new spells that felt far older than any spell she had ever used before or even read before. "My dear vassal, your powers have started to grow havn't they? The more you submit to me the more powerful you will become. Swear yourself to me and become my servant and you'll one day rule this world for me as i conquer all the realms." Its voice sounded inviting, as music to her ears. She no longer felt as if it was pressing her down giving her a sickening feeling in her stomach. Rather she felt herself soaking in it absorbing the power emanating from it. "What would i have to do? What would you use me for?" Isolda long since felt as if she were the weakest autumn witch ever born since the Magestrate had forgotten about her, and her time with the orcs who ignored her even she became a clan member had left her feeling like an outcast.

She begun to cling to the maws compliments as he had begun praising her for her abilities as they grew. Now this great deity wanted her to rule the world, the disappointment of the Magestrate.

" you must declare your loyalty to me, name me your lord and master and I will give you all the power you will ever need to conquer this world, then we will set free my brothers and open the gates of the realms and conquer them all until the whole of reality is ruled by me."

Isolda smiled, the first real smile she had managed in months. "There will be death my lord?" She said in a slight gleeful tone. " of course my vassal, and from that death you will create the greatest army seen in thre'a."

Isolda woke up to the bell that announces a visitor is asking for entrance. Isolda sat up and waved her hand lazily the candles in her room lit and light filled the room. " come in." She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she pulled her giant comforter around her just to shake the chill off. Being a city built in the tops of trees lent for some chilly nights, and since she wasn't a real orc her skin wasn't thick enough to ward off the breeze. Jani'dae floated into the room silently, her presence felt somber as if there had been a death in the night. "Isolda, my child it seems as if we are to journey to the coast of the orc lands." Jani'dae's feelings on the matter were very clear even behind a mask that she was not in favor of old mothers plan. The krakens were not as most other orcs they did not hold life sacred and used magics that emanated an ancient dark power. All other clans wove enchantments like a tapestry to fortify the lives around them, to heal and protect never to torture or kill. She did not want to go freely to their capitol, she feared the things she would see. "Where we are going Is very dangerous, you will stick to the shadows when your able and when your not you are to stay as close to me as you are able. The krakish are not known for there sincerity and if they decide to make an example of us you fair better to stay close where i can protect us. We won't be traveling with and our own warriors as a show of good faith, all we will have is you, a young one named Yoka and her liaison and myself. When we get there you are to remain with me unless i instruct you otherwise. Isolda this is a very important task we have before us, many things depend on our success."

Isolda thought for a moment, something wasn't sitting right with her. Why keep her in her quarters under guard just to give her a mission and why did Jani'dae exude fear as she spoke. " is my completing this mission have anything to do with me being aloud to stay here with the clan?" As much as she had felt like an outsider the orcs had taken her in and gave her a safe place to grow her magic, she wasn't ready to permanently leave her sanctuary she still had much more to learn. She feared her lessons with the maw would be interrupted if she had to find a new place to go and almost impossible to keep up with if she had to scrape for survival at the same time. "Do i have to complete this mission to stay?"

"No my dear you have to complete this mission so we all can stay."

Isolda crept out of bed dropping her blanket to the floor. She went to her chest of drawers and began pulling out clothes to wear for the day. " when are we leaving?" She asked as she struggled to put on some traveling robes. " i would suggest you not wear robes to traverse these wilds, something light and a rucksack of some sort should be sufficient. And be quick about it my dear, we are set to leave in an hour."

"An hour to pack for a long journey! I have no idea what ill even need! Orcs have no concept of human needs." Isolda whined outloud as she put on some light trousers and a tank top. She kept vlad in her locket alot more since the maw began to teach her, his powers had begun to regress and he was no longer able to hold a form outside of the locket. His voice became whispers only she could hear and added to the great maws. She spoke to vlad out loud and answered him( which no one found odd, oddly) but the maw had told her speaking to it outloud wasn't a good idea. Its presence must remain hidden, the mages of Thre'a would stop his as ascension and certainly kill Isolda.

Isolda rushed to finish getting ready, filling her travel bag with a set of warmer clothes and some

Dry bread and nuts. She also took a small dagger from a drawer just in case, orcs skin was resistant to most magics but not impervious to physical damage even if they were physically stronger and larger she may be able to use her speed and teleportation abilities to save herself if need be. Jani'dae had left the room to let Isolda properly pack and Isolda had just finished packing when she came back to collect her. Even Jani'dae had changed her wardrobe, she no longer was wearing the white and red robes she always adorned, instead she was now wearing garments colored in multiple shades of dark green that were closer fitted than the flowing length of her normal attire.

She still wore her mask but even it seemed darker, as if it were camouflaged as well. More of the orcs flesh showed than before as well, all four of her arms showed, revealing her massive muscles and dark green skin. She too carried a bag which was of course larger than Isoldas, and felt as if it had a ton of builders brick in it when isolda tried to pick it up. She noticed many multicolored ropes at the top where it tied off, each seemed to close off the top of the bag but each looked to close a different opening even though she only saw one opening at the top. The bag itself was made of canvas made from tree fibers but felt smooth like leather and was just as malleable. It towered over Isolda by at least half a meter.

Jani'dae escorted isolda from her quarters town a long wooden path that seemed to spiral downward towards the ground. The owl clan rarely left the safety of their tree fortress and Isolda herself had only seen it once and that was when she first arrived. They blind folded her when she came to the base of the city and escorted her inside not removing it until she was in the heart of the city.

The wind began to become less and less aggressive and the air grew warmer, she was starting to really appreciate Jani'dae's suggestion. When they reached the bottom of the path Isolda could smell the earth that was now under her feet and wobbled a bit as she tried to walk on it. Months of living on a giant tree-city gets a body used to walking with the wind swaying the ground beneath your feet, the ground was slippery from fallen leaves and did not move as you tried to walk across it. It was something Isolda didn't even realized she missed. Waiting for them at the bottom was a smaller female orc to which Isolda guessed was Yoka due to the extravagence of her traveling robes, they were made of a much finer material and looked brand new as if they had been crafted just before she took for this journey. She was accompanied by a larger male orc that Isolda had recognized as the guard by her own door earlier during her separation.

"Isolda you must dawn your mask for this trip, do not take it off, your life may depend on it. You are an outsider to these orcs and they would love nothing more than to disembowel you on the spot just for being human. With your mask on you become an envoy for the clan. That may keep you alive, if it seems like things are going badly you must immediately escape." Her warning played over in Isolda's mind sending lightning like waves of fear threw her veins.

"Relax my vassal, put your faith in me and you shall be my hand in this realm." The dark voice of the maw echoed in her mind. " put your faith in my power and you will be as a goddess to this world."

A warmth took over her body blanketing her in a reassurance she couldn't explain. " i'll do what ever you wish me too my lord."

Isolda answered her master silently in her mind knowing the maw could hear her thoughts. " good my child, these orcs are just a leftover experiment from before the elves left all the continents of thre'a. Mere children of my brother Haalgar the trenchmaw. Bound to align with an ancient by blood. You will command them all."