Merchants of Death

Chapter 14



The High Mage of Silverymoon and Chosen of Mystra Alustriel Silverhand had been feeling unusually doubtful and uncertain.



Thanks to her vast powers and great experience the centuries old sorceress seldom felt ignorant or out of her depth very often anymore. But the presence of the universal travelers, the discovery of the Wolfram & Hart base, the mysteries of technology, and the threat of The Phoenix had made Alustriel all too aware that she was woefully ignorant in some areas.



An ignorance that the woman responsible for the people of Silverymoon could not afford.



The High Mage’s advisors, confidants, and trusted servants knew even less than she did. So Alustriel had appealed straight to her goddess for answers.



Most people would be surprised at how few times the Chosen of Mystra did such a thing. But it was not because Alustriel had fallen victim to hubris or indifference, it was simply the way that best served the goddess of magic.



The whole reason that Mystra had created her Chosen was so that she would have servants invested with a large measure of her power who were not mere extensions of herself. People like Alustriel with a large degree of creative thought and independence.





Nevertheless, the usually confident Alustriel still felt a bit nervous as she reached out to her goddess. It had been so long since she had talked directly to Mystra.



But the goddess responded immediately to her Chosen, answering the questions before they had even been fully thought (let alone verbalized), and then giving the ruler of Silverymoon visions of what she needed to see.



Science and technology had existed on Toril before. Civilizations long dead had used them to study the world, to heal, to build, and of course to make war. Such civilizations had become even more dependent on the products of technology than even Silverymoon was on magic.



Technology and magic were natural rivals, for magic bypassed and even sometimes violated the laws of physics and nature in order to work, while technology used such things to function. Moreover, technology had an inherent advantage over magic that tended to disrupt societies dependent on sorcery and the other mystic arts, mass production.



It took a long time to train a wizard to the point were he could cast a simple fireball, but virtually anyone could use a gun or grenade with little or no training, and with factories set up it was easy to build such machines in bulk. Spell-casting was by its nature dominated by highly gifted and/or trained professionals, but anyone could use the fruits of technology, even building machines was relatively simple once science had been used to work the details out.



The technology using societies on Toril had quickly risen to positions of dominance, their factories and war machines allowing them to physically or economically conquer all around them. Inspired by their example, their neighbors had also begun to study science and technology, eager to receive the advantages such things seemed to offer. For a brief period it appeared that magic might be reduced to nothing but a tool of certain elites and exotic curiosity.



But the gods of magic and nature and their many followers had struck back. Destroying the users of technology and their mighty machines with potent spells, powerful beasts, and sheer numbers. Not merely conquering the technological civilizations but destroying them, and doing their best to bury the knowledge of science and its child technology for all time.



The goddess of magic knew all this for she had been there (albeit in a very different form), but she also knew that science and technology were neither good nor evil. They were merely impersonal tools, much like magic itself sometimes was.



The goddess Mystra did not like machines or what they represented (a more rational and in many ways easier way of doing things than relying on magic) but she could tolerate it as long as the people of Toril did not begin to widely use technology or worse started to build their own machines.



However, The Phoenix and the organization known as Wolfram & Hart were not morally neutral. And the normally fearless and serene Lady Alustriel was unable to suppress a shudder as her goddess shared what she knew about them.



*****



When Emma Grace Frost had collapsed yesterday she had immediately been taken to a Spellguard sorcerer who specialized in healing magic. Once he had determined that there seemed to be nothing wrong with the blonde woman physically she had been brought to one of the many guest rooms in the High Palace.



The palace servants had gone out of their way to make Emma Frost comfortable, for not only was she clearly pregnant but appeared important to Lady Alustriel herself. Most of the servants assumed that Frost was some sort of powerful foreign noblewoman or sorceress based on what little they had seen of her and palace gossip.



Of course the former White Queen had not noticed since she had been unconscious for most of that time. Nor had she noticed the presence of her daughters Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe, who had been with her for the entire period.



However, Emma Frost was awake now, and she was anything but happy.



“Get out” Emma Frost harshly commanded Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe, having no desire to look at the daughters that had (in her opinion) sided with the hated Jean Grey against her.



“Mother we had to…she would have killed you” the three blonde sisters chorused in a pleading tone.



But their mother wasn’t in the mood to be reasoned with. Frost felt humiliated, betrayed, and worst of all, weak and vulnerable.



“Jean Grey raped my mind and did the same to Sophie’s body…she even turned her best friend Storm into her personal whore…how could you have attacked me to protect someone like that…didn’t you learn ANYTHING from me!” Frost fumed.



The girls quailed before their mother’s rage. They had never seen the normally sophisticated and cool Emma Frost so angry at anyone, let alone them.



“But mom we just…” Celeste began to weakly protest, only to be shouted down by Emma’s screeched “GET OUT!”



The three teenage telepaths fled the room and Emma Frost was virtually alone, for the servants had wisely left the as soon as Emma started to shout at her daughters.



Though the former White Queen could not truly be alone anymore.



~Mother…I’m sorry~ Sophie telepathically said from the depths of Emma Frost’s womb.



Ordinarily Frost would be the first to admit that trying to ignore someone inside your own body was both futile and pointless, but at the moment she was doing her best to ignore the little voice inside.



~Mom…mama…we didn’t want to hurt you…but we were afraid that if you attacked The Phoenix she would kill all of us…my sisters don’t want to die…I don’t want to die…and I certainly don’t want you to die…you are literally my world now mom~ Sophie softly sent.



Emma Frost sighed and put her face in her hands, for the first time in as long as she could remember she felt as weak and fragile as so many men thought she looked.



*****



As Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe left the guest room they passed two maids that appeared to be roughly their age, the servants girls tried to look busy cleaning, doing their best to pretend that they had not just been eavesdropping.



But the maids needn’t have bothered; Emma Frost’s daughters were so upset they wouldn’t have noticed if the servants had been juggling knives.



“WAIT!”



Mindee, Celeste, and Phoebe slowly turned around in response to their mother’s shouted command, to find Emma gazing at them intensely from the doorway to her room.



The maids continued to clean while listening with the ears of natural gossips, until they saw Frost (who had spent a lot more time worrying about eavesdroppers than her daughters) glowering at them.



“Don’t you peasants have something better to do than spy on us?” the telepath said with calculated contempt.



The maids muttered frightened apologies (hoping that Emma Frost would not complain to their superiors) and rushed off. Then the Frost family was alone.



There was a moment of tense and uncomfortable silence, broken by Emma Frost saying softly “you know that its hard for me to say things like this girls…at least when I really mean them…so I am only going to say this once…I forgive you…and I am glad that you tried to protect us all.”



The three blond telepaths rushed forward to embrace their mother, thinking that all was forgiven and hopefully forgotten, but Emma raised her hand warningly.



“I will forgive this once...but not a second time…do you understand girls?” Emma bluntly warned her daughters.



The three blonde girls all murmured heartfelt yeses at roughly the same time, while Sophie telepathically replied “of course mother.”



“I will hold you to that” Emma said ominously.



Then the elder Frost walked over to her daughters and pulled them into a huddle. Making sure that there was no one else around before saying “time for another lesson girls…what do you do when your enemy is nearby but they are too arrogant and careless to pay attention to you?”



“Intelligence gathering” Phoebe replied hopefully.



“That’s a good start” Emma answered with a wicked smile, as she began to form some rather interesting ideas regarding the High Palace and its inhabitants.



*****



It took Chrissy Lera, Marian Casta, Adara the Halfling, and the surviving members of the Crimson Legion very little time to pack their few belongings and leave the town of Sleepy Meadows. They had not had very long to grow attached to the ruined settlement, more importantly Chrissy wanted to leave immediately and the necromancer was not the sort of person to accept no for an answer.



So the vampires, Halfling, and dark elf hit the road, guided by Lera and her magic. Headed for Silverymoon and whatever vast power Chrissy had detected there.



*****



The power of the Phoenix Force was largely shaped, defined, and (to some extent) limited by the psychology of its host. Something Scott Summers was beginning to understand as he spent time with his wife Jean and their lover Ororo Munroe at the High Palace.



When Jean Grey had really lost control of the Phoenix Force the first time she had become the Dark Phoenix, a rampaging force of destruction that had killed billions and destroyed a star. But Jean Grey was far less naïve and much more sophisticated than she was then, so the power of the Phoenix Force was manifesting in a very different manner.



Like Emma Frost and her daughters Storm, Cyclops, and The Phoenix had been given a guest room at the palace. At the moment Jean and Ororo were using the bed to get intimately reacquainted.



Scott Summers watched as the two naked beautiful women passionately embraced each other. Tenderly kissing and roughly grasping one another’s soft flesh.



Scott wished that he could just lose himself in the moment the way that his wife and his lover were. The former X-Men team leader wished that he could focus on the sensual sights of Jean’s pale hand cupping Ororo’s dark brown breast or his view of Jean’s face lost in the thick tresses of Storm’s white hair.



But Scott Summers was too troubled to be overcome by lust.



Because he knew that Storm’s desire for himself and Jean was artificial. An awful knowledge that had tainted the experience every time Cyclops and the wind rider had made love.



Storm was a strong and attractive woman in many ways. She was more than just a powerful mutant; her courage under fire had saved her comrades numerous times, and Ororo had even beaten Cyclops once in a duel for leadership of the X-Men without the benefit of her powers.



However, the chains Jean Grey had placed on Storm’s spirit had altered her in ways beyond the obvious.





Scott had tried to break up with Ororo roughly five months ago, feeling that his relationship with Storm wasn’t real due to Jean’s influence over the whole thing. The brown skinned woman had responded by trying to commit suicide, only calming down when Scott assured her that he had been joking and that he would never really leave her.



Cyclops was convinced that Storm would not have done such a thing before The Phoenix had altered her mind, that she had a weakness and neediness that had not been there before.



The fact that his wife would do that a friend disturbed Scott greatly. Although far less destructive, it seemed so much more cold blooded and calculating than any of the Dark Phoenix’s violent acts of passion. It also made Cyclops wonder how long it would be before his wife decided to ‘improve’ him in some way too.



Jean pulled away from Ororo for a moment and gazed at her husband with eyes full of passion and power, purring the words “come to bed Scott.”



Scott Summers considered refusing, then he went to join Storm and The Phoenix anyway. If only because he couldn’t stand the thought that she might make him do it if he didn’t join in voluntarily.



*****



The Five-in-One watched the ménage a trios with keen interest, using their combined telepathic power to monitor the threesome in the most passive manner possible, wary of attracting the attention of The Phoenix. Fortunately for the five blondes, Jean Grey Summers was far too preoccupied by her lovers and what they were doing to her to notice anything so subtle.



“All right girls…what have we learned?” Emma Frost asked her daughters and former students.



~That Jean Grey gives great head~ Sophie irrelevantly answered, making all her sisters blush and her mother spit out the fruit juice she had begun to drink.



~You minx Sophie…perhaps I HAVE been a bit of a bad influence on you after all…still…better to learn such things from family than strangers~ Emma thought as she wiped her mouth.



“Yes…but more importantly that Scott is not as devoted to Jean as he once was…he appears to have doubts about her and we may be able to use those feelings to get him on our side if The Phoenix becomes violent” Emma stated with a cold smile. Knowing that there was perhaps no one better qualified to catch Jean Grey off guard and slip past her defenses than her husband.



*****



For the first time since The Phoenix had appeared in her city Alustriel Silverhand had a moment to just sit and reflect on all that had occurred.



The High Mage had just finished negotiating the terms of Wolfram & Hart’s withdrawal from Silverymoon with Safi Greenway. A process that had been surprisingly quick and easy, due to the fact that Safi and his people simply wanted to get far away from The Phoenix as soon as possible.



Alustriel herself was preoccupied by what Safi had told her about the universal travelers and the arms supplier Imperious Industries as part of his firm’s deal for peacefully withdrawing from Silverymoon. If Safi was telling the truth (and the High Mage would have known if he was lying) the situation in the Silver Marches was even more dire and unstable than she had thought.



Silverhand felt the need to talk to someone with firsthand experience concerning these creatures, so she told a servant to ask Drizzt Do’Urden to come see her in her private chambers.



Many of the Lady of Silverymoon’s close confidants, friends, and advisors would have assumed that Alustriel had something more intimate and pleasurable in mind than a dry discussion of intelligence on potential enemies if they were suddenly summoned to her bedroom. But Alustriel knew that she did not have to worry about that with Drizzt, the drow ranger was too straight-laced and naïve regarding sexual matters to make such an assumption. Drizzt also seemed to have a rather idealized and sterile mental image of the High Mage herself.





Alustriel had considered enlightening him several times, but there was just something so trusting, earnest, and innocent about the dark elf that she didn’t have the heart to disillusion him. Besides Alustriel found it strangely endearing that Drizzt thought she was beyond concerns like sex and physical companionship.



~Perhaps growing up surrounded by dominant and perverse females gave Drizzt an aversion to sex in general~ Alustriel thought as the male dark elf entered the room, an idea that had occurred to her many times before.



After Drizzt had entered Alustriel’s richly furnished yet tastefully decorated bedroom the ruler and the ranger exchanged the usual pleasantries. Then Alustriel Silverhand got to the heart of the matter.



“What do you think of our visitors from another world Drizzt?”



The ranger paused for thought as he considered the question, pacing in front of the High Mage’s bed (where Alustriel was seated) as he tried to put his thoughts into words.



“I do not know them well enough to guess at the nature of their hearts…but from what I have seen they are goodly folk.”



“Does that apply to the woman known as The Phoenix as well?” Alustriel asked.



“No…I know virtually nothing about her beyond the fact that she is apparently quite powerful” Drizzt replied quietly.



“I have recently learned a great deal about The Phoenix…none of it good I am afraid” Alustriel said ominously.



Most people would have demanded (or at least insistently asked for) answers when someone else said something like that, but not Drizzt Do’Urden, the experienced ranger was too patient and polite for that. He simply waited quietly for Alustriel to continue.



“The Phoenix has been to our world before…it is a being of passion and power with strength to rival a god…when it came to Toril millennia ago it destroyed everything in its path including a major demon and a minor goddess.”



“How was it defeated?” Drizzt replied.



“It was not…the Phoenix Force left this plane of its own volition…seemingly out of boredom” Alustriel grimly answered.



“Jean Grey Summers does not seem that old” Drizzt added, as he considered just what they may have welcomed into the High Palace.



“Jean Grey is younger than you or I…but the creature that empowers her is as ancient as any of our gods…it has little personality or intelligence of its own and selects a mortal host such as Jean Grey to give it direction and use its power” the sorceress slowly explained, though she was not sure that she fully understood it herself.



“Is The Phoenix entity evil?” Drizzt asked, which for the idealistic drow was the most important question.



“I do not know…I am not sure that anyone on this plane of existence knows…but it is clearly dangerous and a threat to all around it…we must avoid battle with it if we can…it has power to rival Mystra herself and a conflict with it would cause grievous harm to the goodly folk of Silverymoon and perhaps even the Silver Marches as a whole” Alustriel warned.



“What should we do then?”



“Everything we can to encourage The Phoenix to leave peacefully and quietly…we must remove the danger she represents from our realm” the High Mage imperially stated.



“And if she does not leave voluntarily?” Drizzt said quietly.



“Then we may have to vanquish the beast ourselves” the Chosen of Mystra answered firmly.



*****



After wandering through the High Palace for a long time She-Hulk and Mystique had eventually ended up in the royal bath. Normally Mystique would have objected to the green woman following her around everywhere (as she had been doing since they got to Silverymoon) but the female mutant was feeling unusually vulnerable and lonely, so she tolerated the metahuman’s presence.



The royal baths were an opulent affair and even Mystique was a little impressed when she got there. It was a large enclosed chamber with decorated walls, swimming pools, and even finely crafted metal tubs full of water that were magically heated (much like the Jacuzzis that Mystique and She-Hulk had known on their own worlds). Numerous residents of the palace were already there, swimming, lounging about, and in a few cases making love in the water.



Mystique was surprised that the other people in the royal baths were reacting so mildly to lovers in their midst. She had not expected such a liberal attitude towards sex from members of an apparently medieval society.



~But the people in the palace are part of the upper class or at least associate with the elite on a daily basis…the peasants and workers are probably much more backwards~ the blue shapeshifter thought condescendingly.



“These people don’t seem to have a problem with us Blue” the She-Hulk said positively, almost echoing Mystique’s own thoughts.



“These are jaded elites…the common people would probably call us demons and throw stones at us” the blue skinned and yellow eyed woman said dismissively.



She-Hulk sighed and leaned back heavily, the movement making the pseudo-Jacuzzi the blue and green women were in shake.



“Damn it Mystique…why do you always have to be so God damn cynical” She-Hulk replied wearily.



Mystique looked closely at her companion, trying to see past the impressive muscles, lush curves, and pretty face. Searching for what was really bothering her. It didn’t take the cunning and experienced shapeshifter long to figure it out.



~I’m getting rusty…she’s worried, lonely, perhaps more than a little horny and reaching out to me…I am not in the mood myself…but I could certainly use a real ally in this crazy group of ours~ Mystique told herself.



With little conscious thought on her part Mystique made her breasts slightly bigger and firmer, her body as a whole more toned, and her ass shapelier. The difference was subtle enough that you would probably have to be looking for it to notice, but the overall effect was to make the female mutant more attractive.



Mystique inched over to She-Hulk’s side of the metal tub, ‘accidentally’ brushing her hand against a large green breast in the process. Repressing a smile at how the bigger woman leaned into her hand.



“I’m sorry Jen…I can’t help distrusting humans after all I have been through but I appreciate how…” Mystique started to say in her sweetest most persuasive voice.



“Don’t” She-Hulk said angrily as she pushed Mystique away with enough force to hurt.



“I’m not stupid Mystique…I have seen how you operate…seducing anyone you have to…to get what you want…BUT IT WON’T WORK ON ME.” She-Hulk spat out.



Mystique tried to reply, only to be rudely interrupted by She-Hulk again.



“Its not that I don’t find you attractive Blue…I do…but if I made love to you I would want it to be because you actually care about me…or at least are genuinely attracted to me and want to have a good time…not because you’re trying to manipulate me” the green woman said bitterly.



For reasons that she could not explain even to herself She-Hulk’s words made Mystique very angry. The shapeshifter knew enough about the former Avenger’s weaknesses and insecurities to say something truly devastating to her, and was just about to when a feminine and all too charismatic voice derailed her train of thought.



“Am I interrupting something?”



Mystique and She-Hulk turned to face the speaker, and the sight of Lady Alustriel Silverhand’s naked body hit the blue and green women with almost physical force.



The High Mage had slender yet toned arms and legs, large firm breasts with tiny pink nipples, a small waist gracefully leading to wide hips and shapely buttocks, and elegant shoulders and a graceful neck directly beneath her beautiful head. Alustriel’s gorgeous form was framed and partially covered by her long silver hair, making the ageless sorceress look even more unearthly and exotic.



But more than mere appearance contributed to Alustriel’s beauty. The divine energies coursing through the mighty Chosen drew all but the most disciplined or hardened to her like moths to a flame, a power of attraction that even those who hated the High Mage often found difficult to resist.



“No…I was just leaving” She-Hulk said as she shook off the effect of Alustriel’s charisma. Deliberately not looking at the High Mage or Mystique as she got out of the heated tub.



Alustriel cast an admiring glance at the tall green woman’s nude form as She-Hulk left the royal baths, and then she turned to Mystique and smiled mischievously.



“Do you mind if I join you?”



The shapeshifter simply shook her head. The Lady of Silverymoon made Mystique nervous, not least because her potent charisma reminded the blue mutant of The Phoenix’s virtually tangible aura of power.



The ruler of Silverymoon lowered herself into the tub, her movements graceful and aura of power undiminished despite her nudity and apparent vulnerability.



Then to Mystique’s utter surprise Lady Alustriel leaned forward and gently kissed her.



The Chosen of Mystra tasted like goodness (of a certain kind) and power, the sensation of Alustriel’s lips on Mystique’s own sending a pleasant tingling feeling throughout the mutant’s body.



When Alustriel pulled away Mystique found herself uncharacteristically breathless and at a loss for words. Something that made the much older and more powerful woman grin and murmurs “not what you were expecting from the ruler of a backward medieval society?”



“You read my mind” Mystique said through clenched teeth.



“Yes…just as your companions have been freely peering into the minds of my subjects since they entered Silverymoon’s territory” Alustriel confessed, somehow suddenly seeming far more dignified and formal despite the fact that she was bathing naked with the other woman.



“Your group and the people of Silverymoon have treated each other with suspicion since meeting…but we must be honest with one another now…if we stay on this treacherous course it can only lead to embarrassment and tragic misunderstandings” Alustriel stated, her charisma and confidence making the words seem more like self evident truth than mere opinion.



Then the Lady of Silverymoon turned her head to stare at an apparently bare stretch of wall. Saying in a calm clear voice “wouldn’t you agree Emma Frost?”



*****



~Wouldn’t you agree Emma Frost~ the Five-in-One all heard in their heads, a verbal and telepathic message aimed directly at them.



Emma Frost and her daughters had been standing on the other side of one of the royal baths’ walls, in a room full of cooking supplies near the palace kitchens. Using their telepathic powers to eavesdrop on Lady Alustriel and her servants, not to mention their own comrades She-Hulk and Mystique.



But now their eavesdropping had been discovered, for they had underestimated the power and skill of the Lady of Silverymoon.



~I would appreciate it if you and your daughters joined us in the bathing chamber madam Frost.~



The follow up message made the five females even more nervous, and Mindee anxiously asked “what do we do mother?” Celeste, Phoebe, and Sophie said nothing, but Emma had no trouble sensing their own unease.



Emma Frost knew that if Alustriel wanted to punish them for their spying the prudent thing to do would probably be to flee and regroup with the rest of the universal travelers. But while Frost was certainly not above a strategic withdrawal in the face of overwhelming odds, she hated to show weakness or fear to enemies or rivals (or even allies most of time) and avoided it if at all possible.



~Besides we have nowhere to run…this is her kingdom her world~ Emma thought, doing her best to shield the unpleasant mental musings from the rest of the Five-in-One.



“Hold your heads high girls and follow me…remember that you’re Frosts” the Frost family matriarch said firmly, making sure that all her daughters understood before starting to walk to the royal baths.



Emma and her daughters calmly entered the royal baths, imperiously ignoring everyone else as they made their way to Mystique and Lady Alustriel, looking distinctly overdressed amongst all the naked people.



The blue shapeshifter was sitting across from Alustriel in the ornate metal tub, and Emma could tell that they had been deep in conversation when she entered the room. It was hard for the telepath to read Mystique’s azure features, but it appeared to her that Silverhand had said something that caused the mutant to blush.



~That’s odd…I didn’t think Mystique had any shame left to lose…I wonder what I missed~ Emma thought somewhat irrelevantly.



“I believe we have a great deal to discuss Frost.”



Though Emma Frost knew relatively little about Lady Alustriel Silverhand or her realm as a whole, the former White Queen knew a great about how powerful people dealt with each diplomatically thanks to her experiences at the Hellfire Club, and she recognized an invitation to begin negotiations when she heard one.



“I could not agree more madam Silverhand” Emma Frost replied graciously.



*****



Safi Greenway and his people had finished evacuating the Wolfram & Hart facility that had been his command and were almost done loading all of the equipment and personnel onto wagons. Though some things in the firm’s research laboratory were simply too big and heavy to take with them.



“Are you sure about this sir?...the Senior Partners invested a lot into this place” the head of Safi’s security detail said quietly as he approached the former lich.



Many managers would be angry to hear an underling openly questioning one of their decisions like this, but not Safi. The wizard was too pragmatic and level-headed to be so petty, besides he had doubts too.



“They will not be happy…but aside from the fact that Lady Alustriel made it clear that we are not welcome here there is little point to maintaining a secret research laboratory that is no longer secret or secure…as for myself and our colleagues...I don’t believe any of us want to remain within a city that contains The Phoenix” Safi explained in an academic way.



The security guard nodded fervently, he could certainly agree with that sentiment.





One of the Wolfram & Hart wizards gestured to Safi, telling the human administrator that it was time to leave.



~Now all I have to do is explain this fiasco to the Senior Partners and hope that they do not literally give me Hell for losing this facility~ the formerly undead wizard worried, afraid that his disappointed superiors might put his newly regained ability to feel pleasure and pain to the test.



*****



The Phoenix was snuggled up to Scott Summers and Ororo Munroe, waking up slowly as she felt a foreign presence at the edge of her own consciousness. Gently disentangling herself from her lovers as she focused on it.



Jean Grey was certain that it was not someone she knew, nevertheless something about the presence gave her a distinct feeling of déjà vu, making the host of the Phoenix Force curious enough to want to see the man or woman’s face.



Thought became reality as Jean Grey disappeared in a burst of Phoenix fire.



*****



The necromancer Chrissy Lera had been focusing hard on the great power that had attracted her attention over a day ago. Trying to figure out exactly what it was and where it was, knowing little beyond its rough location and that it was a huge concentration of mystical energies.



~What…that cannot be right~ the dark elf thought as her mystical senses suddenly told her that the great power she was searching for was right on top of her.



Before the former ruler of Iberia had time to fully process the feeling she caught a flash of light out of the corner of her eye, turning her head to gaze at a beautiful naked redhead.



Chrissy Lera, Marian Casta, Adara the Halfling, and all the remaining members of the Crimson Legion simply gaped at the woman. Too shocked and caught off guard to react in any meaningful way immediately.



“You’re all sick” The Phoenix said in an inhumanly deep voice, her eyes filled with fiery power.



Then the vampires were all engulfed in Phoenix fire.



“NOOO!” Chrissy cried out in horror as her beloved Marian and all her remaining loyal followers were apparently burned alive.