The Ascension

Up to chapter 45 for first tier patrons.

"Hey, Toril!" Aila called out.

"Oh, young lady! That fur is not quite done. It just needs another scraping, and stretching before it's finished." He said after he came out of the forge room.

"I figured as much. I have a few projects I'd like you to take on." She put something on his counter. "This is a wheel for a chair I made. You'll notice that the wooden axle and frame holds the wooden wheel, but those pieces are too weak. Can you make them out of metal for me?" He picked up the pieces, fit them together, and nodded.

"Yeah. I can do that. What is this for?"

"A chair I'm making. With these wheels, the chair can roll, turn, and make the worker more comfortable while they sit at a table. Also, I need a workstation made. I have multiple rolls of fabric. I want to mount them on a stand on one end of a table." She gave him a plank with a drawing on it. "I'm using these dowels to hold the rolls. The worker will pull the fabric across a table, and cut the fabric with either a pair of scissors, or a really sharp blade. I need the blade, or a mechanism to clamp the fabric down along it's length, and draw a blade across it." She showed him by putting a board down and drawing her finger across.

"I think I get what you mean. It is a lot of iron. However, if you make the uprights with wood, I can make fittings to mount to the wood. I can also make hinges, and a blade. Maybe a guard for the wood clamp." He rubbed his chin. "Yeah, if you can make the upright, and the table, I can make the fittings, and we'll assemble it here. It can be adjusted, or added to so that it works properly."

"Great. Take your time. She can make do with what we have, but I'd like to add this to her workstation to make it easier for her to work. I also need hinges for heavy doors, and a holder so that I can fit a bar and reinforce the main door. And heavy hinges for a main gate. The ones I have are old and wearing away due to its age." She said.

"Just grease it up, young lady. No matter how old it is, if it's not rusted away, it will wear away unless it's oiled or greased. A little bear fat is what most folks use around here." Toril grinned as she groaned.

"Ugh, no wonder dad was always lightly oiling the hinges. Dad used to do all those things around the house, so I never learned." She rolled her eyes.

"There is no time like the present, young lady. If he's not around anymore, someone has to do it, right?"

* * *

Once Aila returned home, she sat on the outer wall, and closed her eyes. She detected no signs of life around her wall, but six people within. All were weak signals, and she was able to easily recognize them.

"Alright, as far as I can tell, people form a core after a long amount of time being exposed to their elements. What happens if I gather a large amount of light elements in one place? Will a core form?" She thought it might as that is what happened to zombies.

Over time, a zombie generated enough death elements that a death core was formed, and they could become a stronger variant of unthinking zombie. They would attack all living beings, but were without any form of reason. They were basically robots that followed the basic instincts of their former life, but guided by death. Eat, and procreate. To procreate, they needed to kill other living people, and saturate them with death elements. That is why zombies traveled together. A pack instinct.

Aila gathered light elements on top of her palm, and pushed them to a certain point. With the sun overhead, light elements continued to gather from all over the forest, and the nearby wasteland. If she could have found a creature with a light core, she wouldn't bother to do this, but the Seer needed a light core.

After several hours, a small light core the size of a pebble formed. Aila smiled as it took just as much light element as what she had already absorbed passively for the last week.

"A rank one elemental core. Over the next few days, I will strengthen it, and hopefully, it will be ready when I go to give them the fur." When Aila went inside, Nuri called out to her.

"Master, we've looked all over for you! Kaala said breakfast is ready, so we waited for you." Aila groaned at Nuri's words.

"New orders! If I'm not here, and it's time for the meal, don't wait for hours. Wait up to half an hour, but no more than that." She sighed softly. "I am not someone who would deprive you girls of food like that. I can eat when I get back from all the things I need to do." She went into the kitchen.

"I mean it." She said firmly. "No more waiting for me. I'm always going to be busy, gathering wood, stone, or metals. Your bodies can't wait." Kaala looked at her carefully.

"Okay, Master. If that is your order, we'll be obedient." However, the next few seconds, a slight grin floated to her lips. "However, if you're not here, we may not eat properly, or make a proper amount of food. We were slaves for a long time. We can only assume that we shouldn't eat so much, like the last masters told us." Aila's mouth fell open, and she pointed.

"You're teasing me!" She walked forward, and hugged Kaala, and started to laugh. "You naughty girl!" She laughed, hugged her tightly, and lifted her off the ground.

"This is what it means to be a family! I love it!" She lightly kissed Kaala's cheek. "Thank you, Kaala." She said softly at her ear.

"I don't feel so alone now."

* * *

Aila walked through the gates of Underground Black with guards that looked at her fearfully. It was just after lunch, and she had run from her home right to Ivadra's place while ignoring everyone who was insignificant in her eyes.

Once she got inside their private room, Ivadra looked at her sadly.

"Aila!" Ivadra said, and pouted. "You left us alone for several days...what is that?" Her eyes went wide when she held something out.

"A light core. For your sister, Alara." The Seer's mouth fell open, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I thought you forgot me." She said softly.

"I could never forget you. I just couldn't find a light core, so I made one." Aila pushed Alara down to a chair. "Now be good. This will hurt just a small bit." She reached up under Alara's shirt, but blushed as her hand brushed her slightly more ample chest. "Sorry." Alara smiled.

"Why are you sorry? It didn't hurt." Aila rolled her eyes at Alara's teasing, and put her hand flat on her chest. Immediately, she began to vacuum Alara's body clean of any waste elemental residues, and flooded her with life and light elements. She lifted her palm, and put the small light core on her skin. Slowly, she pushed it through the skin and into her breast bone.

With her life and light elements as a guide, she moved the core to the other side of her heart, and tried to ignore the grimace on her face. She was quite proud of these two women for overcoming the pain associated with implanting a core into their bodies.

"Alara." She said with a voice that vibrated, and reverberated all around the town of Aros. While Aila had her eyes closed, Ivadra was able to see the ecstasy that she herself had felt when she was given her own name, and the dark elemental core. Alara reached out and took her sister's hand. She pulled her down to the bench on her left.

"Ivadra." Aila put her hand up under Ivadra's shirt and onto her skin. "You both belong to me. If anyone should bring you harm, I will destroy the entire kingdom in my rage." With her hands on the middle of each of their chests, a band of elemental essence wrapped around their bodies, and covered their nipples.  The band was about an inch wide, anchored at the breast bone, over each nipple and around their back to connect again at the spine.  Alara's band was yellow, while Ivadra's was black.

The band looked like a fabric ribbon sold at the market, but the essence was directly woven into their skin.  She learned how to do while making the core.

"Master, my sister brings me comfort at night." Ivadra said softly. Aila smiled.

"I know. You two are not just twins. You're connected twins. Two sides of the same soul, parted at birth, and born wrapped in the arms of the other." Aila smiled and sighed. "Only your sister can move the band so she can touch your skin underneath. If anyone else tries to touch your bare skin, I will know about it." In other words, what Aila just wove was a security system made of elemental essence. Unless it was her sister, who wore the other band, the band would vibrate in a way that Aila could hear from a great distance.

It was an experiment, but she had already proven that it worked. When she inserted the dark core into Ivadra's chest, it vibrated every time Alara touched her sister. Now that Alara had a light core, the two sisters could be connected in a deeper way.

The bands were a visual decoration, connected to their cores, which would vibrate if anyone other than her sister dared to touch her. Both Alara and Ivadra were now marked by her, and it made Aila feel warm inside.

"You knew!" Ivadra said in shock. The secret of Underground Black was simple.

"Did you think I wouldn't?" Aila snorted. "They are lucky they never tried! If they ever tried to take you, or your sister, I would raze this place to the ground!" Her eyes turned into molten red orbs as her temper flared.

"How else were there sets of sisters caged in the ancestor's lair? They waited for one to die, raped the other, and had her bare the next set!" The ground began to shake.

"Then why haven't you taken us out of here?" Ivadra asked in a sad tone. "Why do we have to wait with these men around us?" Aila sighed softly.

"Because my manor is not ready yet." Aila said simply, and put her left hand on Alara's head, and her right on Ivadra's. "I just took six slaves home, and I am still remodeling the manor so that it can keep them safe." Aila said, kissed their foreheads gently before she pulled them in and held them to her.

"When it's time, I will take you home."