Master Of Myths

Of the five teams that set out at the same time Mia and Zero were the first to arrive at their destination, reason being the close proximity of their target

"So this is the Fairy Forest?"

"I believe so mother"

"It looks nothing out of the norm"

Hundred meter tall trees, colorful flowers all about and a plethora of small creatures dotting the place, a common sight in the Infidome

Unamused with this sight the two sped through the land in search of the tallest tree

"Shouldn't it be visible from the outside if it's the tallest?"

Zero questioned, curious why they couldn't spot it by jumping up

"I'm told those who live inside it cast an illusion barrier over the place, unless you have seeker eyes or are super sensitive to energy like Master then your best bet is walking into it"

"So we shall be scanning the place for any unseen barrier"

"Oh dear no, that would take ages, we will just cause some ruckus and the residents will come fetch us"

Speaking of ruckus Mia smiled as she thought they delved far enough into the forest, her eyes wandering mischievously at the shade filled tree topes before settling on Zero with a playful smile

"Zero dear, mind giving me a hand?"

Zero nodded and looked at her for instructions

"Fetch that tree for me"

"..?"

Instructions were unclear, fetch a tree? Why would she want an entire tree…her mother was becoming more and more like her father, and not in the best of ways

Seeing as Mia did not bother to explain anymore Zero walked over to the nearest tree and hugged it to get a good grip, then with her fingers digging into the bark she yanked the entire thing out of its soil, roots and all

"Good, now use it to break everything you see"

Now things were becoming clearer, so this was the ruckus she was talking about? She could have said so from the beginning and Zero would have pummeled everything nearby without the need for this stupidly huge log in her hands

Still, that's what Mia wanted, so Zero swung the big log around, toppling over every tree in close proximity

"Ahhh!"

During her swings Zero swore she heard a faint scream, an arrow shot by her legs affirmed that belief, she must have accidentally hurt an unsuspecting victim

"Oh there you are, I thought I sensed someone peeking at us, don't you know it's rude to not welcome your visitors?"

Mia spoke toward the place where the arrow had come, not in human however, instead a language like the whisper of wind and rustling of leaves

Wish!

A hail of green arrows came as an answer, so quick was their momentum she had to jump up to avoid, something the hidden archers wanted her to do as they shot the airborne intruder thinking she had nowhere else to run

Thus one could imagine their surprise when Mia transformed into a bat and flew over, shapeshifting mid her descent so she could drop kick the assailant

Two energy slashes came from her side to block the attack but a large tree thrown over smashed them and the attack as well as providing a foothold for Mia to reposition

"Quite quick on their feet these ones are, too much for mere scouts, I see why Master wants to ally ourselves with them"

Her complements took her nowhere since the nimble enemy still didn't seem willing to talk, shooting at her while on the move so Zero couldn't send more flying trees toward them

"We might have to scare them a bit if we want them to listen, break a few bones Zero but make sure its nothing they can't recover from"

With the order to engage given the white haired vampire shot from her place with matching speed to that of the nimble foe, and much greater strength to follow

Meanwhile, Mia melded with the shadows, unseen and unheard she made way toward the quickest archers and chopped at their necks, rendering the few unconscious

By the time she was done taking around fifteen of them Zero had already pounded twenty such enemies to the ground, no more could they join the fight, in fact the poor sods wouldn't walk for quite some time

Once the two proved their prowess the lean figures with ears pointing to the sky and olive skin cloaked in green cloth stopped attacking, instead taking a more cautious approach while waiting for reinforcements

Seeing as she had their full undivided and not as aggressive attention Mia raised her hands up and spoke in her most friendly tone

"We come in peace"

"...."

The onlookers stared in awkwardness between her and the bodies littering the grass, questioning in their mind whether she had any misconception about peace

None asked her however, waiting for another similarly dressed group to come, leading which was a person with an adorned quiver at their back, along with the long intricate bow in their hands they stood out among this similar bunch

"Intruders, speak of your reason for arriving at our lands or begone lest we use force to send you out"

Spoke the leading person whom she couldn't tell the gender of

"That is not a way to speak to your soon to be ally"

"Humph, we've no allies in this land, and even if we did we wouldn't side with a bunch of blood sucking maniacs"

"Oh come now, wouldn't you listen to what we have to say at the very least?"

Mia tried to look as cute as she could while saying that, which earned a reaction from the person, in the form of a notched arrow that is

"So inhospitable, I'm not sure if it's due to our reputation or your stubborn attitude"

Mia was told that these people wouldn't be nice, more so since she was a vampire, the bane of all races, especially nature loving ones, so she came prepared

"How about this, we are willing to be cuffed with Thorn Vines Of Encumbrance, all we want from you is an opportunity to talk to the leader of this place"

"What foul plans are you playing at?"

"None, we truly do want to form an alliance, ah but it's not with the vampires that you will be siding, instead it's more of those tree huggers, or well, tree friends of yours"

"...."

The person thought for some time before motioning for one of the people standing by the side to go fetch two of the special cuffed for the two uninvited guests

It didn't take more than a few minutes for the restrains to be brought over, all that time the bow was constantly aiming at Mia, never leaving her out of its wooden sight

"One of the people came before Mia and Zerom a little shaky, especially when they started cuffing the two, it was only when the restrains were activated did they heave a breath of relief, then looked at these two prisoners with a mighty air about them

"Boo!"

"Ah!"

"Hehe"

Scaring the haughtiness out of this person Mia giggled and walked slowly along the vigilant bunch, heading toward their land with trudging steps, mostly due to the heaviness the restrain put on her

Zero by the side didn't feel over encumbered at all but matched Mia's pace so nobody would be alarmed by her strength

The group walked all the way into a bush filled area of the woods, a place that transformed upon one's entrance of it into the residence of many more similar folk, living atop the treetops that surrounded one giant tree, or relatively big if one took Hortus and the Gacha race's towers into thought

Under the curious but mostly hostile gazes of the people, the to were led up the roots of the giant tree and into it through a huge dugout entrance

They walked past lavish halls and arrived before a cascading cover of leaves

"You shall now see her highness, keep your coquettish talk to a minimum"

Spoke the bow wielder before flinging open the cover, presenting the two with the wonderful view of a garden within the tree itself, one flourishing with flowers of many colors and trees bearing splendid fruit unseen to their eyes

They couldn't admire it however as they were pushed forward to the front of the high thrown sitting amid this beauty, upon which sat a luxuriously dressed woman with luminescent hair draped over the arm sets and into the clear water surrounding her seat

"What an eyesore to witness your horrid race once more, creatures of the night"

Spoke the woman to which Mia smiled and open her mouth to speak, yet a spear came slamming on her shoulder with might

"Kneel before her highness you mongrel"

Yelled loudly one of the guards, clearly unamused as well by their presence, even more so unpleased when they noticed that she wasn't lowering herself in the least

"I kneel to no one but my Master, I would appreciate your understanding"

This popped a vein on the guard's forehead, erupting him in anger as lifted the spear and smashed down with greater might

Snap! Crack!

Out of nowhere the quiet Zero snapped apart her bindings like they were nothing and clutched the offending spear, crushing it in hand while giving the guard a death stare

Instantly the entire hall was alarmed, arrows were notched and swords were drawn, yet Mia only raised her hand in a harmless manner, to which the woman seated at the throne raised a brow at, lifting her hand as well to stop her guards from attacking

"I see you have some strength to back your claims for an alliance, that wouldn't help you however as we truly despise your race"

"As I said to your subordinate, we won't be your immediate allies, its others who demanded that we send you a message, ones similar to yourselves"

The woman gave an unbelieving look

"If they truly wanted to befriend us then why not send one of their own, a more friendly kind than your wretched bunch"

Taking no offense at the constant insults Mia quickly made a logical reply

"They are not the type that likes coming out of their tower, and I was the only one available who understood your race's language, Elvish is not so spoken around here after all"

The hint dropped to this Elven Queen was more than enough for her to quite the aggressive attitude, taking a more neutral way of speaking instead

"Hmm, you may tell me more of this alliance, but bear in mind that we serve to be no goons, if that is what you seek then make your way out now and bother us not"