New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Alexander and Kary landed on the balcony not long after departing from the private hospital on the northern shores of Montreal. He had flown as fast as he could, occasionally boosting himself with a bit of wind magic.

Using wind steps was still out of reach for his current level of mana, but he could form a small wind shield in front of himself, in a convex oval, to glide the wind currents away, thus reducing the resistance. Sadly, he wasn't capable enough to form a full bubble and was still a victim of drag forces.

Reaching his house, Alex trough open the balcony door, which he never locked, given how high up they were. Now that he thought about it, he guessed installing a lock on the patio door wouldn't be a loss, since he doubted he was the only one who would be flight-enabled in the future.

But he didn't have time to think more about this. His phone had kept buzzing with notifications, regularly, ever since the first one. They were in a hurry to log back in.

With him and Kary running up the stairs, Alex morphed back to normal, feeling the exhaustion already gnawing at his mind.

They both jumped into their open pods, hastily closing the tops.

"Log in!" both of them barked simultaneously.

Their bodies slumped back into the soft gel as an array of colours zoomed past them before being met with darkness.

Astaroth knew they were back inside New Eden, just by the thickness of the surrounding mana, but his eyes were covered, and he couldn't see.

"Well, look at that. The lovely couple is waking up! Hah!"

Following the words, which came from a familiar voice, Astaroth felt a sharp pain in his left side as something lacerated his skin.

"Mmh! What the hell is going on here?" he asked, after growling away the pain.

Something suddenly tugged away the fabric that covered his eyes, revealing the face of the guard that had threatened him at the gates. To his right, Kary lay on the ground, hands and feet bound, with nary any clothes left on her body.

Around her hovered three other Elves, with eagerness in their eyes.

Astaroth immediately felt his blood freeze. His gaze turned icy as he stared back at the Elven guard.

The red colour of his pupils was a strong giveaway to the corruption affecting his mind. But Astaroth could no longer care what the reasons for their actions were.

He heard Phoenix mumble through the cloth tied around her head and into her mouth.

"Yes. Yes! That's the look I want to see. Haha! Hahahaha! I knew you Ash Elves were all savages. I'll force you to show your true colours. Looks like pain isn't working. But maybe I'm inflicting it on the wrong person!"

The Elf had a look of madness in his eyes as he spat those words in Astaroth's face. As he finished his phrase, he turned his head toward Phoenix, a sick smile on his lips.

"If you lay your hands on her, I will murder you and all your friends."

Astaroth's voice trembled ever so slightly, seething with rage. But it only instigated the Elf further.

"Yes! Curse me! Get angry! Break free and kill! Show me what your race is truly about!" the Elf shouted, stepping toward Phoenix, staring at Astaroth as he did.

"Once everyone sees what you are like, they will side with me, and we can get revenge on your disgusting kind. I can finally avenge my brother's death!"

But the aggressors seemed to misjudge the situation. They wanted Astaroth to get angry, to lash out.

But they forgot the other person in the room.

Phoenix finally understood the situation they were in and wasn't letting them have it their way. She may be naked and unarmed, but that mattered little to her.

Her hair suddenly fluttered upward violently, catching fire. Her body followed suit, as the rope binding her burned to ash, as did the fabric over her eyes and in her mouth.

The Elves watched in confusion as the Human woman they thought barely was a threat, suddenly blazed into a menacing pyre, her skin itself turning to flames, her face losing most of its features.

Only two flickers of bright blue remained where her eyes had been. But her voice resonated inside the small, dark room.

"You should have killed us, instead of capturing us. I won't be as lenient."

The voice suddenly ringing in their heads caused them to tremble in fear, before their eyes flashed a bright red, and they lost themselves.

All four Elves started cackling crazily, their bodies contorting and snapping in unnatural positions. Astaroth knew at that moment, they were gone.

Phoenix did not give them time to do anything else than cackle, as her arms opened up, and a torrent of flames washed over the room, carefully avoiding Astaroth, but sweeping the rest of it with cleansing fire. Seconds later, the flames died down, revealing an empty room, charred black.

Nothing remained of the four guards, aside from their metal armour and weapons, now melted slag on the floor, slowly sizzling through the wooden planks.

Astaroth got to his feet, snapping the ropes that bound him.

He looked at Phoenix, who was now back to her naked Human form, rustling through the ashes. She pulled out a set of robes from a pile of cinders and smiled.

Turning to Astaroth, she snickered.

"Flameproof fabric. The rest of my equipment I had already stowed in my inventory before going to bed."

Astaroth was still incredibly angered and only forced himself to smile in response.

"I guess now we know what this stage is about. How about we join back with the others and clear this stupid floor?"

Phoenix nodded, before adding, "It's not a great thing to be playing again during the day, but I get a feeling we don't have a choice."

Astaroth looked around himself, locating the door. He kicked it open, half expecting there to be more people guarding outside, but found no one.

They seemed to be in a remote part of the small city that surrounded the large tree. And in the distance, he could see a pillar of smoke, with an orange hue under it.

"Let's go," he said, taking off running toward the smoke.

Phoenix re-equipped her robes and gear before launching behind him.