Jack walked out of his tent, stretching his arms with a grunt. "My ankle still hurts," He wiggled his leg, "I don't think it's broken, but it should recover,"
CLAP! Lydia smacked the back of his head, "Say that earlier!" She dragged him back to the tent, "We need you in top shape, I will cast a healing spell on you,"
"Let me go, it will fix itself," Jack growled.
"Right now, you're the only one who managed to match Arad when fighting the Medusa, without you, he might have lost," Lydia growled as she dragged him back into the tent.
Arad looked at them, and then turned back to Aella, "How are you feeling? Any remnants of the petrification?"
Aella shook her head, "No, I'm fine." She smiled, "But, My magic is flowing better than before."
"[Mother made you compress so much magic into the arrow you fired at Arad, that might have cleared your magic circuit,]" A woman's voice came out of Arad's chest.
"Can you stop speaking?" Aella glared at Arad's chest, "Why are you inside him again?"
"[To teach him about the void, and use him to get a body]" Doma replied, "[If you compressed the void and relaxed it rapidly, you can create vibration through the air, and that is sound. With enough skill, you can tune it to mimic anyone you like.]"
Arad sighed, "I guess it's what you're using to speak now?"
"[Of course, I can increase the waves' strength. Enough to rip eardrums off. You should be able to do it, but you must muster the skill.]"
Arad looked at his palm, focusing.
SIIIIIIIIIII! The best he could make was a monotonous whine like that of tree branches.
"Aella, Arad, can I enter?" Isdis called from outside the tent.
"What is it?" Aella replied, and Isdis moved the curtain and crawled inside, "How is Arad doing?"
"I'm here, ask me directly," Arad looked at her.
"I don't know if it's you or that woman speaking," Isdis stared back at him, "The curse witch, I read about her in the royal library,"
"[Really? What do human books say about me?]"
"A really horrible witch who caused several plages killed thousands of people and cursed both the human and elf armies to death when they were about to fight near her hut. No one was able to kill you until you died of old age at 245 years." Isdis stared at Arad, "You were as feared as Nina the berserker is now,"
Aella scratched her head, "Someone of her strength should have lived longer, how could she have died of old age? And wasn't she an elf? She should have reached at least 800 years,"
"[It's true that I died of old age. Some of my powerful curses eat away at my lifespan, those have reduced my life quite a bit. Without them, I might have lived well over two thousand years,]" Doma replied with a giggle, "[You humans always prayed to the gods that I would die. So don't complain,]"
"Who is complaining?" Isdis growled.
Arad looked at his chest, "I don't think you had a reason to kill all those people, or did you?"
"[Of course I do, they attacked first. The fear of my power drove them to seek my life, and I won't die without a fight,]" Doma laughed, "[I guess they learned their lesson if they aren't attacking the woman called Nina.]"
Isdis looked down, "She's right. There has been a passed will in the royal family to never mess with people considered strong enough. Like Nina, or the crimson blood Scarlett. Fighting them will cause more damage than it could fix,"
"[You heard her, Arad. Your goal should be to become strong enough that they wouldn't dare mess with you.]"
Aella stared at Arad, "There is something I wanted to ask you about. Your mother was a Deianira, just like me."
"[You're right, your bloodline was cursed and blessed after us, wasn't it?]" Doma replied, shaking her hand inside Arad's head, "[The blessing is the grace of Zephyr, and the curse is something I placed on my aunt.]"
"I know it! You had a hand in it!" Aella growled, almost reaching for her bow.
"[Your curse prevents your bloodline from awakening their full power. Since they can turn into a snake monsters like my mother, Medusa. Sadly, that also prevents you from using the wind blessing.]"
"I will turn into a snake?" Aella gasped, "That couldn't be true,"
"[You might be right. I didn't check on Deianira while dead. But I would advise against removing my curse at least until it's been confirmed that you won't transform]" Doma replied in a calm voice, "[You might even be able to mix poison, petrification, and wind with your archery. Imagine a city-sized could of poison, followed by a rain of petrification arrows. You can be as much a monster as me if you mastered your full power.]"
"That's harder said than done. How could we even confirm such a thing?" Aella sighed, looking at the tent's ceiling.
"[I should be able to figure it out with enough power. So, we need to have Arad gather more curses for me. Like hunting vampires, werewolves, and other cursed monsters.]"
"We all need to grow stronger," Arad looked at Aella and Isdis, "I will find a way to deal with her," He pointed at his chest.
"[It's me Doma. Not her,]" Doma grunted with a sad voice.
Arad stood, walking out of the tent, "We should get going. We still didn't make it to the elve's kingdom,"
"[Elves,]" Doma sighed
"[Elves,]" Doma sighed. "[Thbe at stupid queen should be alive, shouldn't her,]"
"What queen?" Arad gasped, "Won't it be helpful if you know the elvish queen?"
"She's the one who kicked Mother out of the Elvish capital. When I grew up and realized what she did, I returned to the elvish capital and hanged the queen naked in the middle of the plaza for a weak,]"
Arad grunted, "They won't like you coming back,"
"[The queen sent an army to subjugate me, so I hanged everyone naked in the capital like laundry. It was known as the great stripping, and the elves see the incident as more insulting than some massacres,]" Arad could see Doma staring down with dead eyes, "[I only meant to teleport them back to the capital and be annoying, I didn't know my magic won't be enough, and that I will send them without their clothes.]"
"We will have a hard time," Arad sighed.
"[If they dared attack you, you can always let me take over your body. I will draw the full power of your void and crush them to dust. You can trust me,]" Doma gave Arad a thumbs up.
"No, thank you,"
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