Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Author's note: Chapter 11 done.

I'm fairly bad when it comes to explainign body shapes, so I decided to show an example of what Neleh will roughly look like when she gets to the age around 14-16. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

So this except with black hair and elf ears: /art/Queen-of-the-Wild-s-514338093

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It only took a few days until Gabriel got a word of what happened at the party Neleh had attended. Unfortunately the celestial representative at the party was, in short, a dummy. Their official representative, a celestial named Sariel was a sharp woman, but she had been visiting her family at the celestial capital. That was the official story anyway, but Gabriel knew she had been there to report to the Chosen of Alarae the protector goddess of the celestials. The ambassador was a personal friend of the Chosen, and didnt like sharing her reports with the other factions.

Celestials didnt have internal struggle in the form of civil wars, unlike the other races. In return the celestials were divided into factions that vied for position in the political arena. Gabriel had gained the help of a couple of factions, but the faction led by the Chosen wasnt too enthusiastic about her presence on this world. Thus she had no access to the information provided by Sariel, and now that information wouldve come really handy. On the other hand, it might have been good that Sariel wasnt in the elven lands, or Gabriel might not have gotten any word of what had happened in the royal palace.

There were two useful things that she did learn from the reports though. The first thing was that there had been a young girl that had wowed the whole crowd in the party, which made Gabriel realize that she had completely ignored the possibility of HIM being reincarnated as a girl. That in itself would have been only a curiosity, since the idea seemed very unlikely, except the second thing she learned was that Michael had been very excited and tried to find the girl. Gabriel was never sure what Michael was thinking, but he wouldnt be that excited without reason. Clearly he knew something she didnt. And that strange girl was involved.

She wasnt in too much of a hurry though. She knew all she really had to do was to wait for HIS awakening ceremony, and it would become obvious where HE was. That would only take a few more years. In the meantime though

I think its time I paid a visit to the elven lands.

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-----Ashearas POV-----

Neleh and Asheara were on the carriage traveling away from Rhianon. They had planned to stay a few more days in the capital, but Neleh had thundered back into Alduins manor and they had made a hasty exit from the city. It was obvious to everyone that Neleh was worried. Alduin and Maylin clearly wanted to ask questions, but Neleh simply informed them that she wasnt allowed to tell them what had happened, and just to let them leave as quickly as possible. She apologized heartily for the trouble she caused, and said that shed be happy to visit again. Alduin was oozing curiosity, but Maylin was just sad to see them go and made them swear to come back someday.

On the carriage Asheara was worried, but knew better than to break her daughters concentration, while she was working things out. She would tell her what was going on when she was ready. They had traveled for almost a day, and they were getting closer to their first layover town when Neleh finally started talking. The bond radiated calmness and a slight bit of worry. There was also a little bit of something Asheara almost didnt recognize, because it was an emotion she had felt from Neleh only once or twice before. She was feeling remorse.

I have to talk to you about something serious. There are things I cant tell you about, and I shouldnt be telling you most of this anyway. Nevertheless, this affects you too, especially because of the bond we share. Before I start though, I want you to understand that I love you, and you will always be my darling mother.(Neleh)

Asheara was getting worried. The last time they had a discussion this serious, was when Neleh had told her about her dreams. This seemed even more important. I know honey. And whatever you have to say I will love you.

This might seem like an odd question, but have you considered what happens to you after death? Neleh asked after a moment of thinking.

Well the temples teach us that Elune will take care of our souls. From your question though, I get the impression you have other information. (Asheara)

Indeed. I can tell you with complete certainty that the temples are wrong. The dreams I talked about are in fact my own memories from my previous life. The souls of the dead are reincarnated into a new life according to the karma they have gathered during their life. Neleh stated this so matter-of-factly that Asheara didnt doubt her words for a second. She did however have a few questions.

If a big portion of people born are reincarnated, then why dont people have memories of their previous lives like you? (Asheara)

He walked to the rack of practice weapons, tossed a practice spear to her and pulled out a slightly curved hand-and-a-half sword from the rack. They got into the middle of the grounds. Neleh drew heavily on the power of the Ignasia, letting the power run through her body and the Ignasia were all glowing. Weirdly he couldnt feel any power from her, despite the evidence to the contrary. He got a second shock when Neleh took hold of the spear squarely in the middle with a wide grip. The spear fighting techniques of the elves highlighted using the reach of the spear to the fighters advantage, and attacking mostly with lunges and stabs trying to pierce the enemys defense from out of reach of shorter weapons. Neleh was holding her weapon almost like a quarterstaff. Used like that the weapon would have no more reach than his sword.

He gave the signal to start. Suddenly there was a cracking sound with the ground breaking where Neleh had stood and the girl disappeared. On instinct he turned around while dodging full strength to his left. Her spear pierced the air at the place where his neck had just been, with Neleh giving a casual thrust, really meant more as a warning than a serious attempt to end the fight. He ran his full internal strength through his body, and strengthened his touki to full power trying to get a bit of distance from her. He had clearly underestimated her.

She didnt allow him to retreat safely. She rained several blows towards him using both ends of the spear to attack, using the point to drive his sword out of position and harrying him with quick blows with the other end. He managed to block and dodge the attacks, but her relentless barrage kept him off balance, not allowing for time to recover. Importantly he was only defending, and you dont win fights by defending.

When she drove his sword low, he tried to perform a desperate slash towards her feet only aimed to force her into dodging backwards. She instead jumped into the air twisting her body in the air for almost a full rotation, adding the force of the rotation into her powerful overhead slash down toward his head. She had used her weapon almost like an axe or a halberd, but the force of the blow caused the ground under his feet to crack and blew him away backwards.

She waited politely while he picked himself up from the ground, spinning her spear in the air testing for any damage from the full strength blow. He shuddered to think how much strength that blow wouldve had if she was using a heavier weapon or was holding the spear from its far end, increasing the momentum. Apparently satisfied that her spear was still in one piece, she one again took her stance, and made a come hither motion with the point.

Finally getting a chance to attack he immediately launched into his best offensive combination, which aimed at driving her spear too wide to one side opening a path for him to land a blow into her torso. She disrupted the attack slightly, using only the most minimal movements of the spear to guide his attacks off target. This forced him into larger swings than he wanted and wasted his strength, but he was still on track and decided to bet on his success. At the critical point, instead of deflecting normally, she let the strength of his blow slide her spear through her hand, forcing him off balance. She immediately switched her grip with the point of the spear being just in front of her right hand, and used her left to grab behind her back, and swung the other end of the spear in a wide arc around her, using her back as a fulcrum. The butt of the spear crashed into his open flank with her wide swing gathering a lot of strength. She had also twisted her whole body into the blow adding her own strength and weight into it. He was once again thrown off cleanly, after being lead into a trap.

She once again politely waited for him to get up. More? She asked grinning.

One more time. He said stubbornly, and charged at her. This time though she didnt just politely wait for him to start his attack, but instead launched a veritable storm of attacks, now spinning the spear around throwing in a lot of standard thrusting attacks to vary her pattern, and often spinning the spear around her body using her body as a fulcrum. All he could do was to defend to the best of his ability. She suddenly pulled back a bit, and he felt her inner power running along the spear. He only had time for a quick panicked thought of uh-oh before the air around him seemed to freeze. Her sudden attack had the tip of the spear making a circular motion, and suddenly there were six spear points making a slashing attack against him from all sides, not allowing escape or defense. He managed to deflect one strike and felt pain as five others struck onto his body in places that wouldve all been fatal, had she been using anything other than a practice weapon. Even now he knew hed be spending the next few weeks in bed nursing bruises and broken bones.

When the heck did someone teach you outer Ki attacks? And such a high level one no less He mumbled to himself, not really expecting an answer, while Neleh was frowning at the remains of her spear that was now in million splinters. Her sharp ears picked it up anyway.

They didnt. She answered while grinning. Do you need help getting up? I know I broke at least three bones.

Ah, leave some dignity to an old man. Send some of the guards to carry me away though. They should be around somewhere. He waved her off, while she left laughing in a voice that clearly showed her enjoyment of his suffering.

After she was gone, her parents appeared beside the injured captain. Well that was something else. What do you think of something more like a glaive while still retaining the spear point? Elluin asked.

Definitely. She used the spear more for slashing that thrusting. You should have extra weight at the ends the way she was twirling the spear around. Would give it some extra oomph. Captain Gloridas answered while groaning.

You might want to make especially sure the thing is made of the strongest materials you can get your hands on. Some enchantments to that effect too. Did you see how her power shattered that spear when she used that last attack? You made those practice weapons and they shouldnt break that easily. Imagine the effect when shes older. Asheara added.

True. And it would be a problem if it weighed too much with such heavy materials. (Elluin)

Shes still growing so it would be beneficial if she could adjust the weapons size to match her. Would be great, if you could make it one of those things that she could shrink down and use as a hair ornament or something while not in use. The captains latest input caused Elluin to groan.

You add those with the standard enchantments for not needing sharpening or repair, and increased sharpness and penetration. I have my work cut out for me. Well I did promise to make it my best work. Elluin continued. Do you imagine she really did get serious?

No. Asheara and captain Gloridas said at the same time. The captain continued. That last attack maybe. Aside from that, she seemed to be testing things out.

Asheara just shook her head. She knew better. She had learned quite a few things about her daughter in the last two years. She may have shown a glimpse of her strength, but Neleh herself had said that she had a habit of pacing herself to her opponents, just to make things more fun. She wanted to win due to her skill, not because she was stronger or possessed knowledge beyond this world. Thats why she wanted to learn the limits considered normal in this world and study under the best teachers the world could offer.