Aria did her best to breathe in Ether, despite the resistance from the collar on her neck. Anila watched her intently in the orange light of the cavern. She knew her mother was seeing with more than just her eyes.

  Anila’s eyes glowed as she both sensed and saw the Ether around them, gauging Aria’s ability to draw it into herself.

  “Good,” her mother said approvingly, “keep it up. You’ll need quite a bit to last this next session.”

  The progress was slow to the point of aggravation.

  If only I didn’t have this damned collar on!

  Outwardly, however, she kept a stoic mask. Anila had taught her to never show her emotions on her face. And she did her best to follow her teachings.

  After what felt like several minutes, Aria felt for a moment that she’d filled her Capacity. The feeling of fullness immediately started to fade as the collar forcefully expelled it at a fast rate.

  Aria gave a glance to her mother, who nodded.

  She burned the Ether within her, empowering her thin legs as she charged at Anila in a burst of speed.

  Her mother had been ready for her, of course. There was no catching the legendary Hunter, Anila Tufani, off guard.

  She threw a punch at her mother, who side stepped the blow and countered with a punch to the gut. Aria barely managed to catch the blow in her other hand, but hadn’t expected Anila to suddenly headbutt her.

  As she stumbled back, her eyes watering and her senses dazed from the blow, her mother pounced, and kicked out her legs from under her, dropping her to the ground.

  Leaving Aria no time to recover, Anila got on top of her, pinning her to the ground as she brought up her fists. Aria burned more Ether, this time, directing the resulting energy to her eyes. As she did, and as her eyesight was enhanced, she saw the Ether around and within her mother.

  Ether, to those who possessed the ability to see it, was a wondrous sight. In the air, it alternated between looking like glowing embers, the color of which was orange due to the abundance of Fire Ether, and glittering sparkles. Within a person, the power took the visual form of an aura within the them when unused. When used, they would have an aura surrounding the outside of their body as well. The color of which depended on the Affinity being used. The aura around Aria’s mother and coating her right fist was green.

  That indicated Wind Elemental Affinity.

  Aria dodged Anila’s right punch while blocking her left. The right fist that hit the floor beside her head cracked the ground while releasing a tiny burst of wind. She knew her mother was just testing her ability to read the flow of Ether in an opponent, but the force of the blow still made Aria break out in cold sweat.

  Her mother continued to throw punches, and Aria used her Ether-enhanced eyes to determine which fist her mother had enhanced with Ether. She made sure to dodge the empowered blows while trying to block the normal attacks. Eventually, Anila raised both hands, clasping them together to ready an overhead hammer blow.

  Aria saw her mother’s eyes turn green, as a large amount of the Ether within her shifted to her overhead fists and began to glow the same color.

  Reacting purely on instinct, Aria reached up, grabbed Anila’s ragged tunic by the collar, and headbutt her just as her mother had done to her earlier.

  As Anila was sent back flying through the air, Aria’s enhanced vision faded so that she could no longer see Ether. She hadn’t realized she’d burned so much of the power to enhance both her blow and her skull’s durability.

  Anila, after rolling on the ground for a bit, sprang back up to her feet. A large, swelling welt was forming on her forehead. Despite that, she grinned, “Not bad, Aria. Not bad at all.”

  Aria felt herself swell with pride. It wasn’t often her mother gave out praise in the middle of a sparring session like that.

  “But…” Anila muttered as her eyes began to glow again, this time their normal blue.

  Aria knew her mother was seeing that she had just burned through all the Ether she had left in that headbutt.

  Her mother frowned disapprovingly, “You panicked, didn’t you? You used up more Ether than was needed to get out of that situation and ended up burning all that you had.”

  Aria nodded, taking the criticism without a complaint.

  Anila continued, “Remember, Aria. As long as we have these collars on us, we need to be extra careful about how efficiently we use what little Ether we can gather. Especially if it’s in a moment’s notice. The more you improve in this regard, the better our odds of escaping will be when we finally make our move.”

  Aria nodded again, and asked, “Is there any way we can get these collars off us before then?”

  Anila remained silent for a moment before answering, “I’m working on it. I’m trying to find a way to do just that. However, I’m fairly certain that if we remove the collars too soon, they’ll sound an alarm to the humans. We can’t risk that before we try to escape, so just know that we’ll probably be cutting it close if we do find a way to remove them.”

  Aria sighed, but accepted what her mother said.

  “Now, before we end tonight’s session, let’s see how your skill with Arts is going. Breathe in some more Ether and try a healing Art,” Anila pointed at the red swelling welt on her forehead, “and see if you can get this down in one go.”

  She did as her mother commanded. It took far too long to breathe in the necessary Ether to refill her Capacity, but once she did, she put a hand just over her mother’s forehead and Invoked a healing Art, “Oh winds. Take the power within me and use it to restore that which was harmed. Healing Breeze.”

  A barely discernible, greenish colored breeze went from Aria’s arm to her mother’s forehead. Anila sighed in relaxation as the healing Art went to work. Aria removed her hand, and frowned. The bump had gone down considerably, but was still very much present.

  Aria swore under her breath. Her mother responded with a frown, a painful flick to her forehead, and a chastising rebuke, “Watch your language, young lady.”

  Aria rubbed her own forehead, and muttered, “I’m sorry, Mom…”

  Anila brought her into a hug, “I know how frustrating it is to know… to FEEL how effective your Arts should be, but aren’t because of these collars. Believe me, Aria. I know more than anyone else. But you must never let your frustrations control you.”

  Her mother pulled back and gave her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder, “Try again. And again. And as many times as you need to. Remember, this is also training to increase both your Output and your Efficiency. If you can do well with that collar on, imagine what you’ll be able to do once it’s off.”

  IF it’s ever off… Aria thought pessimistically.

  She didn’t voice that thought, however. She instead tried to be as optimistic as her mother, even if that was very hard to do at times. After maybe another half hour or so later, the mother-daughter duo were healed enough to not arouse any suspicion from their slavers. They began to head back to the slave quarters to get some much needed sleep, even if it wouldn’t be much.

  They thankfully made it back without incident, and snuggled together in the tattered, worn out blankets that was their beds. Aria fell asleep in the comforting embrace of her mother.

  ***

  Aria jerked awake at the loud ringing of the morning bells. She buried her head further into her mother’s chest. She could feel Anila stroking her long, tangled, dirty hair.

  “Come on, Aria. Wake up,” her mother whispered to her ear.

  But I’m so tired… Aria thought. She wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep.

  The loud snapping and cracking of whips made Aria spring up with alert anxiety. Her back tingled, expecting to be struck.

  “Come on! Wake up already you lazy, good for nothing tree huggers!” yelled one of the female slavers.

  She was followed by three more slavers, who were also armed with whips and were just as eagerly cracking them about. The elf slaves were quick to scramble out of the ruined buildings.

  Another slaver, this one a man, yelled, “Go get your breakfast and then remain waiting until we give the announcement. You disgusting sap drinkers will be transferred to a new area to work at starting today!”

  Aria shot her mother a glance. Though Anila’s face remained stoic, Aria knew her mother enough to see the worry in her eyes.

  She couldn’t blame her. Aria herself felt the same fear. The location they had been using for her training had truly been a blessing by the Maker. It had been the best area they had used yet, and provided the best privacy with the fewest risks of being found out.

  Aria wasn’t happy that she would be getting transferred out of this area. However, she wasn’t surprised either. The blasted humes constantly kept their slaves working in rotations, frequently transferring them to work in different areas as they saw fit.

  At least my sanctuary will still be there if we get transferred back… Aria thought.

  Following her mother and the other slaves, Aria kept her head down to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention.

  They went to where the slavers were serving their breakfast, which was the usual gray, disgusting slop they usually fed them. They were given meals only twice a day, and only on specific times. If it so happened that their taskmasters worked them past one of the mealtimes… oh well. No food for them.

  Aria grimaced as she choked down the barely edible food. It was made worse by the fact she couldn’t sit beside her mother despite wanting to so badly. During the day, whenever they were under the degrading gazes of their slavers, Anila and Aria made sure to give each other space and not stick together like glue. The reason being that the slavers might notice Aria’s growing resemblance to her mother, and would begin to suspect that they were blood related.

  If they ever found out their blood relation, they would separate the two, and make sure they wouldn’t see each other again. Despite separating relatives being a rule in how to handle their slaves, Aria was certain the monsters would do it anyway just to increase their misery.

  As if the way they were treated every day wasn’t bad enough.

  None of Aria’s fellow slaves spoke to one another as they ate. None of them wanted to risk even whispered conversation while they were actively being watched. That might risk drawing ire and/or offense from their slavers.

  I hate humes… Aria found herself growling in her mind.

  She didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, one of the slavers bellowed out, “On your knees, knife-ears! It’s time for the announcement.”

  They obeyed. Most did so fearfully. There were a few, like Aria and Anila, who did so begrudgingly.

  One of the taskmasters stepped forward, a bald man with a long brown beard, a fair complexion, and cruel, green eyes.

  Aria internally frowned. She’d never seen this hume before, but that was hardly surprising given how many slavers and taskmasters there were in the Dominion.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  One could tell the difference between the slavers and taskmasters by their clothing and demeanor. Most of the slavers looked like brutes with the red leather armor they wore. The taskmasters, in contrast, wore fine looking robes and typically put on the airs of being dignified.

  This new taskmaster who had stepped forward was no exception.

  He regarded Aria and her people with a look of disgust, as though he were inspecting his polished shoe and found that he had stepped on something foul.

  He cleared his throat and unfurled a scroll with a decree, the bottom of which was signed and stamped with the Eye of Athanasius in approval.

  “I’ll only say this once, so listen up! That shouldn’t be a problem with you knife-ears, since I know you elf abominations have good hearing,” the taskmaster paused for dramatic effect, “I am taskmaster Arawn! I have been recently transferred myself to work here as the new head of this group. As you all have heard, you’re all being transferred to a new area. It has come to our attention that there was an undiscovered cavern filled with Ether infused ores and crystals in one of our mines.”

  Aria’s heart skipped a beat. She began to break out in cold sweat, despite the blistering heat.

  No…. No! NO! she thought with panic, not that place! Please no!

  Arawn pointed at the very mine in which Aria’s sanctuary was located…

  Aria felt her heart break.

  “You will all be transferred to working at that mine. You will be guided to where the cavern is located and will mine out the Ether infused ores and crystals found there,” Arawn commanded.

  He paused, and then a cruel smile spread on his lips, “Now, normally I’d leave it at that. However, I will grace you cretins with a bit more information. In regards to how we found the cavern…”

  Arawn gestured to one of the nearby tents. One of the other taskmasters called out, and two slavers carrying a shirtless, bloodied and beaten elf came out. They roughly threw the slave on the ground, in between Arawn and the rest of them. Aria could see the elf was covered in bleeding lacerations.

  She clenched her teeth, her hands balling into fists at her lap at the sight. She recognized the elf. It was one of the older ones from their group. One who was friends with her mother. Fury bloomed within her, but she did her best to keep it in check.

  “This one,” Arawn continued with mirth, “was to be punished for defying his taskmaster’s orders. After some… coercion, he was kind enough to inform us of the cavern’s existence. I had some of my men investigate and they came back with proof of this thing’s claims. However…”

  The bald, bearded taskmaster swept his eyes over them all, letting the silence hang for a moment before he continued, “My men found evidence that there had been people present in the cavern already. This pathetic liar…”

  Arawn kicked the elf slave so hard in the ribs that a sickening crack could be heard. The slave let out a silent, breathless scream of agony.

  The taskmaster continued as if nothing happened, “...tried to claim that those tracks were caused by him after he discovered the cavern’s existence. My men say otherwise. And I trust the word of my men far, far, far more than I will ever trust a single word that comes out of you sap drinkers. Know that there will be punishment for you all. You will work day and night for the next three days in that mine with no food!”

  Arawn then smiled wickedly, “However, I am not without mercy. I recognize that this slave still did the Dominion a service in revealing to us the cavern’s existence. Our lord and god Athanasius is merciful, and it is only right that I extend some mercy to this one as well. In recognition for his service to my lord.”

  Then, in a flash, the slave’s head went flying from his body.

  Aria’s jaw dropped, and several slaves let out gasps and cries of terror. The head rolled along the ground, finally coming to a stop in front of Aria. The poor slave’s face was frozen in a look of pain and terror. His lifeless eyes stared at her, almost accusingly, as if demaning why she didn’t step in to save him.

  She felt sick. She snapped her jaw shut and tore her gaze away from the slave’s severed head. She nearly threw up the slop she’d eaten, but managed to keep it down. Other slaves hadn’t been so lucky.

  Arawn flicked the blood off the scimitar he used to behead the elf and bellowed out, “Now, to work! The lot of you! And you two!”

  He pointed to two slavers, “Get some slaves and have them dispose of this thing’s corpse. I must be off to attend another matter.”

  The last thing Aria saw Arawn do before leaving was glance at the headless corpse of the elf he had just murdered with a look of absolute disgust.

  She began to see red. She might have charged at the taskmaster in an attempt to kill him right then and there, heedless of the consequences, had her mother not put a hand to her shoulder and squeezed it uncomfortably tight.

  She winced as she turned to her mother. She could see in her eyes that Anila was just as furious, if not more so, than Aria herself was at this atrocity. However, unlike her, Anila had far more self control.

  “Calm yourself, Aria,” Anila whispered harshly in her ear, “I know how you feel, but now is not the time!”

  Aria was too angry to hold back the words that came out, “And when will it be time?! When will the ashborn suffer for what they have done to us?! For what they continue to do?!”

  “I don’t know,” her mother answered back honestly, “but I do know for certain that now isn’t that time. Now, keep your head down, and let’s go.”

  The plea that left Anila’s lips placated Aria’s anger, “Please. I already lost another friend today. I can’t risk losing you too…”

  Aria took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay… Fine… but I swear to you, the humes will pay. They will all pay for what they have done to us.”

  Anila said nothing as she pulled Aria along with the rest of them to work for the next three days non-stop in that mine. What was once her sanctuary would now be a source of pain and agony for a full seventy two hours.

  The life of being a slave to the humes and the Athanasian Dominion was a cruel one. They tormented Aria and her kin until they were ready to betray each other’s secrets in the vain hope of attaining some kind of mercy. And in the case of her mother’s friend, even when they cooperated, they still suffered and died.

  Those same monsters had just taken one of the few comforts Aria had left… The hatred she had in her heart for them grew in its intensity.

  ***

  Galen awoke feeling groggy. The first thing he noticed was that he could now breathe again. The next thing he noticed was that the nausea, itching, and feelings of being on fire were all gone.

  The next thing he noticed as he slowly turned his head around was that he was in a different room. It reminded him of an infirmary from Earth. He tried to remember why he was here…

  Then it all came rushing back. After successfully burning Ether and using the resulting energy to strengthen himself, he’d begun suffering the aforementioned symptoms and promptly passed out.

  “Lad, you’re awake!”

  He turned to see his mentor, Aleksi, sitting on a chair next to his bed. The man looked a little worse for wear. He seemed to be exhausted from worry.

  Galen tried to speak, but found his mouth was incredibly dry. His mentor handed him a water-skin.

  H2O had never before tasted so good and refreshing as it had in that moment.

  “How are you feeling, lad?” Aleksi asked as he pulled the empty water-skin away.

  “You remember our first sparring session with the sword? When you gave me a lesson in humility?”

  Aleksi nodded, “After you asked for it, yes.”

  “Well, I feel about as bad as I did that day after you beat me senseless. Actually… maybe a bit worse…” Galen pushed himself up a bit, and was alarmed at how hard that was to do, “how long was I out?”

  “Almost a full twenty four hours.”

  Galen’s eyes widened, “That long? What happened to me?!”

  It wasn’t Aleksi who answered him, but rather a new voice, “It seems your body had an averse reaction to using Ether.”

  Galen turned to see the bald, scarred, long bearded, green eyed man he had seen the first day he was summoned, wearing the same robes he had back then. If he recalled correctly, this man could also speak English.

  Aleksi seemed less than happy to see him.

  “Arawn,” Aleksi greeted curtly.

  “Aleksi,” the man, Arawn, greeted back, “it is nice to see you too, I suppose.”

  This was the first time Galen heard the bearded man’s name. He frowned at the robed man and asked, “Who exactly are you, and what are you doing here?”

  Arawn smiled. There was no warmth or humor in it, “I am simply a member of the clergy of Athurai. Nothing more.”

  “You seem more like a warrior monk than a clergyman,” Galen noted.

  “You’re not too far off the mark, actually,” Arawn chuckled, “as for what I’m doing here, well, I happen to have knowledge about what happened to you. Quite a shame, really.”

  “What are you talking about?” Galen asked.

  “Lad, be careful asking questions you may not be ready to-” Aleksi began before Arawn cut him off.

  “I’m talking about the averse reaction you suffered after trying to use Ether. It’s not unheard of, for such a thing to happen. Though your case… was a particular violent one. We figured it might be a possibility. The writings of the First Champion stated that his, and by extension your, original world had no Ether whatsoever. It was for this reason why we were so evasive in teaching you about the power. It is a shame to see our new Champion suffer from this affliction.”

  Galen began to sweat nervously, “What affliction? Am I sick?”

  “Less of an illness and more of a condition,” Arawn answered, “I’m afraid you have Ether Intolerance, Champion.”

  “Arawn! Must you be so blunt?!” Aleksi reprimanded.

  “The boy will learn of it eventually, anyway. Unlike you, I don’t like to waste time,” Arawn sneered.

  “Ether Intolerance…” Galen echoed.

  His blood ran cold, as he began to piece together what his “condition” was from the name alone.

  Arawn seemed to notice him realizing the truth. The bald man gave a smug smile, “See? The boy is figuring it out. Unfortunately, Champion, what you are thinking is probably correct. It seems your body views Ether as a foreign object. When you try to use it, you suffer an extreme allergic reaction as your body tries to stupidly fight off the power. In layman’s terms, you are allergic to Ether. Or perhaps we can say that Ether is like a poison to you.”

  Galen felt himself go numb at having his fears realized.

  “It’ll be alright, lad,” Aleksi said, trying to reassure him.

  His numbness gave way to anger, “How?! How can you say that?! Don’t forget, Aleksi, that my goal is to return to my world! I’m going to need the power of Ether to play the role of Champion in order to make it back! And now I just learned that I can’t use Ether!!! Some Champion I’m turning out to be!”

  “Quite,” Arawn agreed, “thankfully, Ether is not completely a poison to you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?!” Galen snapped.

  “It means there’s hope, lad,” Aleksi said with a patient smile, “your body doesn’t seem to completely view Ether as a foreign object or pathogen. If it did, then you’d have died moments after being summoned since Ether is present in the very air we breathe. But you didn’t perish. Your body only has an adverse reaction, it seems, when you burn the power. That means your body is adjusting to it.”

  Aleksi leaned back a bit, and sighed, “And that means that we were too hasty in teaching you how to use it when we did.”

  “Perhaps not…” Arawn stroked his beard, “now that we know for certain that the Champion has Ether Intolerance, we can go about treating and eventually curing him of it.”

  “You can cure it?!” Galen asked, eyes wide with surprise.

  “Of course,” Arawn answered with pride, “you aren’t the only one who’s suffered from this condition, Champion. I believe the writings of your predecessor, the previous Champion, chronicle that he too needed time to adjust to this world before he could use Ether. While he didn’t suffer the level of severe reactions you did, he did eventually adjust and go on to become the most powerful warrior of the Empire.”

  Arawn smiled wide as he leaned forward, looking Galen in the eye, “We have medication for Ether Intolerance. I will be sure to speak to our doctors to make the medicine. When you take it, and while it is in your system, you should be able to use Ether without suffering any adverse reactions. Just like anyone else.”

  Galen felt a weight taken off his shoulders at that news. For a moment, he had thought that he would never be able to return home. He couldn’t see how it would be possible without being able to use Ether. He’d caught glimpses of, and even experienced for himself for a moment, what could be done with the power. He didn’t think he’d live very long if he had to play his role as “Champion” without being able to use it.

  Aleksi, however, frowned with suspicion, “How long will he need to take the medicine for? And how frequently?”

  Arawn, for a split second, seemed annoyed that Aleksi had voiced the questions. But his mask of calm returned, and he answered, “How long? Just until his body adjusts to using Ether. Then the Champion will no longer suffer any allergic reactions to burning it. As for how frequently, we’ll keep an eye on how effective the medication is and how long its effects last. From there, he’ll take it either whenever he’s to train with Ether, or when he’s to see combat.”

  Galen nodded in understanding. Aleksi nodded as well, but begrudgingly.

  Arawn stood, “Now, I must be going. I’ll need to speak to the doctors to make some of that medication. And then, I have other matters to attend to. May Lord Athanasius bless you both.”

  The clergyman/warrior monk left, leaving Aleksi and Galen alone in the room.

  He was about to whisper to Aleksi, but his mentor raised a hand to indicate silence.

  After a few moments of tense, awkward silence, Aleksi walked to the door, peeked out, and closed the door as he came back in.

  When he spoke, he did so in English, “I’m sorry for all this, lad. I should have been more cautious to the possibility of you having Ether Intolerance.”

  “It’s alright. It seems I’ll only have the condition for a time, so that’s great. And they apparently have medication I can take in the meantime that’ll allow me to keep training with Ether!” he responded in the same tongue.

  Aleksi still seemed tense, but Galen couldn’t place why. Eventually, however, his mentor gave him a forced smile, “Well, I must be going as well, lad. I, too, have some matters to attend to. Once the doctors do some last check ups, you’ll be free to leave this infirmary. Then, I recommend you head back to your room and continue your studies. You’re a day behind, now, after all.”

  Galen groaned at that, and Aleksi simply chuckled at his reaction.

  After his mentor left, he lied back down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling. While he was glad that there would be a way to work around his Ether Intolerance, he had to admit…

  Being allergic to the powers of the world he was in sucked…