'What is the meaning of this?!!'
Shocked, confused, and angry, my gaze shifted to Sylvana, who was now smiling like a cat that had just caught a canary.
Aeli was wearing a white bridal-like gown that hid her face and figure, but I could recognize her no matter what, my blood mark still on her neck.
'Grrr.... Demons'
I growled, watching five figures emerging from the portal behind Aeli. They were elves, but I could tell that it was a mere illusion.
'Eir... be ready.'
'Yes, mother'
Sylvana's smile widened, slow and venomous, the kind of smile that promised pain dressed up as pleasure.
"Ahhh, there she is," she purred, lowering the cup of mixed essence. "My beautiful daughter."
'WHAT!' I exclaimed inwardly. 'Aeli is her daughter?! A princess!'
The revelation hit me harder than the hippogriff's rut. My brain stalled, the gears grinding as I stared at the veiled figure in white.
'Wow, I deflowered the princess? Hehe, I can't wait to tell that to Vespera,' I thought, my mood instantly shifting.
Aeli stepped forward, her movements hesitant, graceful even in her fear. The five figures behind her glided forward as well, their movements too smooth, too silent to be elven guards. They were like puppets on invisible strings, and the one in the middle gave me the chills.
He took the appearance of an old male elf with gray hair, but I could see that he was an old demon with a hunched back and scars all over his body.
Aeli ascended the platform, her veil hiding her face, but I could feel her trembling.
"Mother..." Aeli whispered, the word sounding like it was being dragged through broken glass.
"Shhh, my treasure," Sylvana cooed, stroking Aeli's cheek from under her veil. Her touch lingered, proprietorial. "This is your coronation day. Your wedding day. A union that will save our people."
'What the fuck is she talking about?!!!!'
Frankly, I was losing my mind. What wedding?! What coronation?! Union up your fucking ass!
Aeli is mine! MINE! I took her virginity! I filled her womb with my seed! She carries my child! She belongs to me!
'Should I act now and kill everyone?' I asked myself. The thought of ripping Sylvana's head off was very tempting.
I gave her the chance to live. I thought that the queen was cool since she was as horny and depraved as I, but now? NOW?!
She is dead meat. I will shove her up my ass and devour her as I did to that elf slave back in the ascension trial.
I will break her. I will make her beg for death.
'No... not yet,' I decided, my mind racing. 'Let her play her little game. Let her think she has won. I will enjoy the look on her face when I tear her world apart.'
I'll let her have her fun, her little ceremony.
"Queen, it is time," that old demon in disguise approached and whispered to Sylvana.
Sylvana nodded, her emerald eyes gleaming with triumph. She turned to face the crowd, her arm wrapped around Aeli's waist.
"My people!" she declared, her voice ringing through the clearing. "The Purification is complete! The vessel is prepared!"
She then raised the golden cup high above her head.
"And now, the final act. The union of purity and power."
The crowd erupted in a deafening roar, their faces twisted in ecstasy and madness.
"The bride will drink the elixir. She will become the vessel for our new god. The god that will lead us to victory!"
'As I thought, it's all about the Proto-Elf.'
The 'demon' pulled out a black staff and, using it, he drew a triangle on the wooden platform. Each edge of the triangle was a round magical circle.
Sylvana guided Aeli to the circle at the apex of the triangle. The old demon stood at the left, while the queen stood at the right after placing the golden cup in the middle.
"The union will be consummated. The new god will be born. Our enemies will fall. Our race will endure. FOREVER!"
The old demon started chanting in a demonic language, the words guttural and harsh, making the very air vibrate.
Each syllable the old demon uttered seemed to peel another layer of reality away. The red-glowing stones dimmed, then flared violently violet. Shadows stretched too long across the platform, crawling up legs and thighs like eager hands.
Aeli stood frozen at the apex of the triangle, her veil trembling with every shallow breath. She was scared; I could feel it.
I was ready to act at any moment, my muscles coiled, my mind sharp, and my magic thrumming like a caged beast.
Bizz!
Suddenly, a weird sound came from the magical circle under Aeli. The sound was like a spark, a small, insignificant pop in the grand, chaotic symphony of the ritual.
Then another.
Bizz! Bizz!
"Hmm?... this is strange?" The old 'demon' paused his chanting. He swiftly approached Aeli and placed a hand on her stomach.
Two seconds later.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!!" he roared, his illusion of an old elf momentarily shattering, almost revealing his true demonic form. "SYLVANA ANSWER ME?!"
"Watch your tone!" Sylvana's calm veneer cracked.
"THE VESSEL IS TAINTED!" The demon pointed a clawed finger at Aeli's stomach. "She is pregnant!"
"..."
The silence was so absolute it felt like the forest itself had stopped breathing.
Every naked elf, every cum-smeared noble, every wide-eyed servant—frozen. Mouths open. Eyes bulging. The orgy-fueled religious fervor evaporated, replaced by a sudden, icy dread.
Sylvana's face had gone the color of an old bone.
"Pregnant?" Sylvana whispered, the word sounding like a death sentence. "That's impossible. She was under constant surveillance. She has been... untouched."
"DON'T MESS WITH ME!" The demon's roar was a physical thing, a shockwave that made the trees shudder. "The vessel must be pure! Untouched! Untainted! Its womb must be a clean slate for the god's birthing!... that was our own deal."
'Oops... my bad,' I thought, a sly grin spreading across my face.
"Aeliana!" Sylvana's voice cracked like a whip as she grabbed the front of Aeli's dress, yanking her close. "Tell me! Who dared to defile you?! WHOSE SEED SULLIES YOUR WOMB?!"
The veil was ripped away.
Aeli's face was pale, tear-streaked, her eyes wide with terror. But she didn't answer.
"How could you do this to me, Aeliana?" Sylvana's eyes were burning with a fury so hot it seemed to scorch the very air. "This was your duty! Your purpose! To save our people!"
"You mean to sacrifice myself for our people, mother," Aeli whispered, her trembling hands clenching into fists. "To die for those who never cared if I lived."
For the first time, I saw a flicker of something more than rage in the queen's eyes. A flash of pain. Of betrayal.
But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by an even colder, more dangerous fire.
"Tell me whose child you carry," Sylvana commanded, her voice dropping to a low, deadly purr. "Or I will rip it out of you myself."
Aeli flinched, her arms instinctively wrapping around her stomach. Her gaze darted through the crowd, desperate, searching.
But she couldn't spot me since I was still hiding in the back.
"Answer me!" Sylvana roared.
"No!" Aeli screamed, a sudden, shocking surge of defiance in her voice. "I will not let you use my child or me for your mad schemes!"
"..."
Sylvana took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling. She then looked at the demon, her expression unreadable.
"This will be a slight delay," she said, her voice cold and steady. "We can simply use another vessel."
"Another vessel?! DO YOU THINK I CAN FIND ANOTHER SUITABLE ONE SO EASILY?!" the demon snarled, his patience completely gone. He then gazed at Aeli with a hungry, predatory look.
"I will simply remove the child, purify the vessel, and proceed as planned," he said, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "At least she can last for a few years, allowing us to prepare another vessel."
'Fucking demon!!'
"NO!" Aeli screamed, her eyes wide with terror.
"Do it," Sylvana commanded, her voice devoid of any emotion. "I don't care what you do with her as long as she is ready for the ritual."
The demon nodded, a greedy glint in his eyes. He raised a hand, a swirling vortex of black energy forming in his palm.
"No... no please, mother..." Aeli begged, tears streaming down her face. "Leave my child alone."
"You should have thought of that before you spread your legs for some random cock," Sylvana sneered, her voice dripping with contempt.
"NOOOO!!!" Aeli screamed, her hands covering her stomach as the demon's energy crackled towards her. "Help me... Morgan-"
Wooosh!
"Eh?" the demon tilted his head in confusion. His attack should have reached Aeli by now, but it didn't. Instead, it hit... nothing.
Aeli was nowhere to be found.
"Tsk... Tsk." A clucking sound came from the front. "You should learn how to treat pregnant women with respect."
Me.
I was standing a few meters away from the wooden platform with Aeli safe and sound in my arms.
"..."
The entire clearing was frozen, their eyes wide with shock.
Aeli kept staring at my face, unable to speak, her hands still trembling, her lips parted in disbelief. Tears welled in her eyes, not of terror now, but of overwhelming, fragile relief.
"M... Morgana?" she finally stammered, her voice a fragile thread. "You... you came for me."
"Hehe... of course I did, little rose," I purred, tightening my grip around her. "Did you think I would let my little bride marry some ugly demon?"
"MORGANA!" The queen's roar was a raw, wounded thing. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!"
"What's wrong? I just came to collect my property," I said, my smile widening. "She is mine. Her womb is mine. Her child is mine... that means we are family."
"Should I call you mother-in-law?" I added with a sly smile.
"You..." Sylvana's face contorted with a mixture of rage and disbelief, her knuckles white around the World Tree staff. "You... the moon elf... YOU!"
"Silence!" The word came from the depths of my soul. I didn't say them loudly. I didn't have to.
The world went silent.
The wind stopped. The leaves on the trees froze mid-air. The glowing stones sputtered and died.
"You dared to harm what's mine," I said, my voice a low, dangerous purr that vibrated through the very fabric of existence. "You dared to threaten my child."
FUSSHH!
Behind me, a massive portal opened. Not the small one Sylvana used earlier. This one was big enough to swallow the entire clearing. It was a swirling vortex of crimson and black energy.
"Everyone, open your arms wide for the sweet loving embrace of... Death."