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An elf woman sat cross legged in the woods, spinning nature magic with her fingertips, shaping a flower as it bloomed at hundreds of times its normal speed. Kesira, the otachie, sat at her side, preening her wings and watching intently. The river flowed gently, its peaceful murmur enhancing the concentration of the druid.

Allora pushed her blonde hair out of her face with her left hand, her green eyes still focused on the growth of her flower. Her fingers twisted and spun as the rose glowed brighter and brighter. Finally, it was covered in a blinding white light. Kesira covered her eyes with her wing.

Allora's eyes glowed the same color white, and suddenly, the light was gone. She lowered her hands, finished. The stem of the rose was a beautiful spiral pattern. The thorns were a wondrous blue color, and the flower itself was a shimmering gold. She smiled to herself.

"Finally," she said to Kesira. "I've created the blonde rose!" She looked over her creation in awe. The center of the rose was a deeper, nearly brown color, which faded into the gold at the tips. It truly was a remarkable creation. "I shall name it... Everes."

"What are you going to do with it?" asked Kesira, admiring the flower.

"It should enhance the agility and flexibility of yourself and the others. Come on!" She held her hands out, and carefully levitated the flower from the dirt. Dirt still clung to its roots, so she dipped it gently in the river. The water caressed the roots and washed it clean of the earth. Allora carried it back to her tree home.

Her other creatu were enjoying a nice lunch when she arrived. Zionah and Travion greeted her first.

"We didn't see anyone," Zionah declared. "I could see for miles from my perch." Electricity crackled along his spines as he gave his report. "No darkness today. The soldiers I saw last night have moved on. Your concealment spells really work."

"It's good for those soldiers that they do," huffed Travion. "Otherwise they'd be getting some seriously enhanced Malal horns to the face." She tossed her head and grinned mischeviously.

Allora laughed. "Come on you guys. We're safe today." She looked at Kesira. "Let's go check on the others."

She walked up the staircase that wound around the tree and into the branches. The wooden deck shrouded by leaves was home to her creatu. She smiled as she watched them enjoying their meal. She smiled, relieved that they were safe.

All of the druids of the Night Kingdom had been wiped out. All except her. When the evil mage Secrets took over. His obsession with darkness plunged the land into chaos. He rounded up any who could oppose him and locked them up. Only Allora was able to escape, and only because of where she lived. She had never been a people person, and her private personality had paid off when they couldn't find her. In record timing she managed to perfect her concealment spells, and hide away in the woods.

It had been two years, and over those years she had purchased many creatu eggs in the dark market to train so she could rescue her fellow druids. But the Night Kingdom was so twisted that it was nearly impossible to get in with regular creatu. So she altered her magic. She colored her soldiers of different special forces similarly so she could provide a sense of unity. Her own blonde hair inspired her to dye her top soldiers blonde. They each ran separate sections of her nearly complete army.

She blinked away her thoughts and continued through the deck and to the trunk. She opened the door, and descended down into the roots.

Her underground cavern of a home was buzzing with activity. Three triplet mutant meragon had just been born, and their mother Cassandrada, her stardusted blond mera, was beaming with pride. They were being shown off to the rest of the admiring pets.

She made her way past them all and into the lab. She finally lowered the flower down into a pot.

"Watcha doin'?" a voice said behind her. She jumped, held her hands out, and spun. but it was only Annalise, the baby ahea.

"I'm busy, Anna, now run along and gather berries or something."

"Oh come on Allora, please can I help!" she begged. She smiled her big prize-winning smile.

"No! Now don't touch this. Run along!" Anna frowned and sulked away. Allora turned back to her work. "Now, how can I make this into a potion enough for my Elites to drink?" She thought, and had an idea. "I'll crush it up first. Now, where's that knife..." She fished around in some drawers, but finally retired to the kitchen to find one.

Little Anna waited until she was gone, and then bounced up on the counter to get a better look at the golden flower. She stared in awe, the gold entrancing her. The flower was sitting in an old sink filled with dirt, so the bud was right at eye level with the ahea.

She could see the differing color on the interior of the bloom, and she wanted a closer look. Anna climbed up onto a shelf just above the flower and looked down. A morphing potion bottle was right in her way. With her little arms, she tried to push the bottle out of the way. It barely budged. So she put her back into it, taking a running start. She rammed into it, hoping only to move it down the shelf.

She hit it at the wrong angle, however, and the whole bottle tipped over, dumping the contents of the morphing potion into the flower pot.

"Uh oh," she said, watching the flower. The stem immediately straightened, and the flower started to pulse and bulge. Anna backed away, eyes wide.

"Allora, I found you a knife. I heard you- what happened!" Kesira let the knife fall from her mouth as she watched the flower growing in size. She began to back away, but saw little Anna still next to it, staring. A paw reached out of the gooey mass that was the rose and clawed the countertop, leaving long claw marks.

"Anna!" she roared. Spreading her wings, she soared over the other countertops in the lab, grabbed Anna in her jaws, and leaped over the mutating flower pot. She zipped out of the lab in search of Allora.

The crashing had made known the chaos happening in the lab. "Get out of the cavern!" yelled Kesira at the other creatu. "Evacuate now! You too Anna," she ordered. "But-" Anna started.

"Now!" roared Kesira. Without another word, she took flight again and headed right for the kitchen.

Allora was running down the hall from the room, knife in hand. "What's all the noise? I heard-"

"No time! Come on!" Allora jumbed on Kesira's back and the two headed for the lab. The lights were off when they got there, the lobby deserted. She dismounted, and the two carefully edged into the room.

Only the dim light from the incubator shone, illuminating the room in a dim blue glow. The sink was covered in a shimmering goo that bubbled and hissed. They tiptoed, alert, over to where the flower once was.

A glass rattled near the entrance, now behind them. They whirled around, but saw nothing.

"Wh-who are y-y-you?" stammered Allora.A yellow paw edged into the light from the lobby. Kesira bared her fangs as they watched. A narrow, snake-like head with elvish ears and a long tongue was first, followed by a lengthy snake like body, and a winding, flicking tail that seemed to never end was last.

"I am Everes," hissed the creature, bowing its head.