The Ascension

Aila didn't know who this 'Great Ancestor' was, but she immediately felt a large amount of death elements coalesce, and approach. The gate guards smirked.

"Now you'll have to deal with the Great Ancestor. You'll soon realize that there are people you shouldn't offend." One of the guards said. Aila grinned, which confused him.

"You're about to learn the same lesson, just in a larger way." Aila said, but they didn't take her seriously. The gate opened, and a black robed man appeared. His skin was dried out, his cheeks sunken in, and his eyes looked dead, but he was obviously walking around.

"A lich." Aila said, and shook her head. "This is your trump card?" She held out her hand, and actively absorbing the death elements nearby. The lich stopped, and frowned heavily. He held out his own hand and began to radiate death elements, but that only made Aila smile.

She increased the absorption rate, which pulled the death element right out of his body.

"This isn't possible!" The lich said, and started to resist Aila's firm pressure.

"Of course it is." Aila said and grinned wildly. The lich began to groan, and grimaced as the pull increased. She didn't need to do it this way, but free elements were free elements. She vacuumed it up with a voracious appetite.

"Am I seeing things?" The guard said in shock.

"If you are, then so am I! She's overpowering the Great Ancestor that even the Magistrate fears!" In the eyes of the Black Guards of Underground Black, their Great Ancestor was a supreme existence that ruled over their area of Aros, and no one dared to oppose him.

The reason was simple.  No one had a life elemental affinity that would be on par with his power.  Death elements weakened all life, so he could run rampant throughout the kingdom, and no one was his opponent.  He could also released a dozen or more zombies that would turn Aros into a graveyard, and start a war the Silver King couldn't win.

"If you think that death is king, then you should know that death is only a part of life." Aila said and slowly walked forward. She continued to suck the death element out of the lich until it was severely weakened.

"When someone is dead, they should leave this world, and not hang on like a spoiled child." Aila extended her hands. Her eyes glowed green, as did her hands, and washed over the lich.

"Rrrrrrrraaaaarrrrrr!" The lich screamed as he was flooded with life elements that completely dissolved any remaining death element he possessed. Aila pointed two fingers at the chest of the lich, and swiftly plunged her hand into its chest. She pulled out a black core, and shook her head.

"So many people died to keep you in this state. You deserve your fate." Her hand glowed green again, and the black core turned to dust. She looked at the gate guards who now backed slowly away.

"Now. Where is the Black One?"

* * *

"You came for me?" The Black One said in surprise. Beside the Black One, her sister watched Aila.

"Sister, who is she? She feels strong." The Seer said quietly, and shyly. She stood a little bit behind, and to the right of her sister. Her sister smiled, as she knew that her sister could read people, and their abilities.

"She's the one who helped me before." She smiled, but that smile slowly fell from her lips. "I don't know her name." She turned. "What is your name? I forgot to ask." Aila smiled.

"Aila." She smiled, and held out her hand, palm out. The Black One sighed as more death elements were drawn out of her.

"This feels so comfortable. Wait, sister? Why is it coming out of you too?"

* * *

"She's like a force of nature." The Seer said as Aila went from room to room and sucked away the death elements that had saturated the building. She pounded through a wall and found the inner sanctum of the Great Ancestor, as well as several captive zombies he used for absorbing the elements.

The groups of zombies didn't fight her purification, which made Aila a bit concerned. Near the end, she flooded the area with enough light elements that their original appearance began to show.

"Women." Aila said in shock. Each woman looked young, and smiled at her. She heard a few whispered words of thanks before they turned to dust as they easily gave up their hold on their dead bodies. Aila walked out of the stone chamber, and glared at each of the guards she passed.

She found the Seer and the Black One in their room, and when she entered, they stood up to look at her in concern.

"She's okay, sister. Stop worrying now." The Seer said, which made Aila relax a little. She didn't want to tell them what she had witnessed until she could figure it out. Iron coffins in pairs. She had a suspicion that these two young women would have become the next sacrifices in the line of sacrifices to fuel the 'Great Ancestor' and his power.

Aila walked right up to the Black One and put her hand on her chest. Aila slowly began to smile. She didn't want to see these two women become victims to the ambition of others in the future.

"This might be easier than I thought."

* * *

"Patriarch, what will we do? Another fifty large silver is not a small amount, especially as our shops continue to lose business!" Elder A said. Gard stared hard at him.

"If you hadn't stolen her property, we wouldn't have to compensate her for it!" He said angrily.

"That's something we've all done before!" Elder A said and waved it away. "It's not like you haven't done it before either. How was I to know it was her property?" Another elder nodded.

"He's right, Gard. This is more to do with Liam's actions. I'm already aware that you made it clear not to attack someone with so much strength, but Liam is stupid." Elder B snorted. "We should pay for ourselves as the compensation, and let Liam handle his own business. If he can't come up with the coin, let them take his head!" Gard rolled his eyes.

"He's still my son, even if he's as dumb as a storm wolf." He closed his eyes. "Demote him to the side branch, and out of the heir's position. Do we have any promising young lads who are able to do business?"

The other elders looked around at each other, and each one slowly shook their heads.

"Unfortunately, Gard, we've spoiled our younger generation too much. No one believes they have to work for a living. They think they can just take it." Elder C said. "That is no attitude for a businessman. A proper businessman needs to work hard, make good deals, and consider all aspects, including timing, supply and demand, as well as purchase and sell price. They also need to keep track of expenses, and determine if the purchase of a tool will increase their profit, or cost profit. We just don't have those kinds of children."

"Then we need to develop the attitudes with harsh discipline! If we don't, each of us might as well start executing their children instead of letting them starve to death!" Gard said angrily.

Even though they knew the steps they needed to take to push the clan in the right direction, each and every elder thought it was up to someone else to make the changes.

Therefore, nothing changed.