Arthur slowly stirred the eggs in the frying pan, glancing back at Elwyn and Tina, who sat silently in the kitchen. They’d all had fitful sleep, none of them quite sure what to make of their mistress’s midnight meeting with one of the undead. With a sigh he spooned the scrambled eggs onto a series of plates, laying them next to sausages he’d prepared, then took the breakfasts to the table, laying them in front of the two elven apprentices, one for himself, and one for Tyrael, who had not yet appeared to join them.

The three of them almost jumped as the kitchen door opened, and Tyrael briskly walked in to join them. She yawned idly, seeming a little more tired than usual for this time of the morning, and where she usually had a grace about her, it was dispelled as plopped into her chair, wolfishly devouring her meal without even greeting them.

“M-Mistress?” Tina asked nervously.

Tyrael blinked, looking up as if seeing them all for the first time. She reached for a napkin, dabbing the grease from her face a moment before sighing. She still looked a little tired, but her familiar smile came over her face.

“My apologies,” she muttered, “I was up late with my… guest.”

“And what would a man like that have to say to you?” Arthur asked.

“Where did he even come from?” Elwyn asked.

“Lord Varnay’s history in these lands is longer even than the our own,” Tyrael said, “his presence in the Elven Realms has been something of an open secret to the higher levels of the magical community…” She sighed, “as far as our own historians can tell, he was one of the few humans who became a vampire on his own, rather than being turned by another.” She chuckled a moment, “it should tell you something of his magical knowledge that even the most ardently anti-human members of the Empress’s court fear to confront him.”

“And what exactly did you need from him?” Arthur asked quietly. “I don’t know how it is here in the Elven Realms, but such creatures are not highly regarded where I come from.”

“And with good reason,” Tyrael muttered, “but I had little choice. Finding the answers I needed could have taken me years, decades, of research.” She gently stirred her eggs a moment, “Elwyn, Tina, Arthur, prepare your things. We’re going on a journey…”

“A quest!?” Tina asked excitedly.

“Yes,” Tyrael said with a small smile.

“Aren’t all expeditions supposed to be approved by the Mage-General’s Council?” Elwyn asked uncertainly.

“If they question it, we’re merely going over the border into the Human lands, for… sightseeing,” Tyrael said. She looked at Arthur and grinned, “We’ve got a native guide after all.”

“So whatever you want is somewhere in the Empire?” Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow, “and what exactly is it that we are after?”

“I had seen portents of something wicked in the stars,” Tyrael explained. She sighed dramatically, “long ago, before the Human Empire, before the Elves endeavored to carve our own realms, there was a human sorcerer who had mastered life and death, in his dark kingdom he conquered the veil and became Uzzuq, the first Lich. None of that foul breed that has come since has ever been so powerful.”

“Uzzuq is spoken of in the Empire as well,” Arthur said hesitantly, “but he’s been gone for thousands of years, he’s little more than a bedtime story now, surely?”

“Before he died, he crafted an artifact,” Tyrael said softly, “a powerful iron crown with a ruby gem at the top which would allow any who held it to command his armies and his power. It couldn’t be destroyed, so it was sealed in a great tomb by the ancient sorcerers and knights of that time. In the millennia since it was forgotten by mankind and even the elves.”

“I wouldn’t say forgotten,” Arthur muttered, “everyone has heard legends of Uzzuq’s tomb, and every few years some noble with too much time and money sets out to find it. It makes decent reading, but never amounts to much.”

“The stars warned me that the Lich’s Crown would soon be claimed,” Tyrael said, glancing around the table, “I summoned Varnay because he is one of the few beings in the world who could tell me the location of the tomb.”

“Should we make contact with someone in the Empire?” Arthur asked. “Perhaps get permission for this… expedition?”

“Ha!” Tina laughed, “if you tell the round ears they’re going to try to get to it before us and use it against our army or something! They’re so short sighted,” she glanced at Arthur and blushed, “present company excluded of course.”

“She’s right unfortunately,” Tyrael said, “I don’t want either the humans or our own Empress to get their hands on the contents of that tomb. I’ll take the crown and dispose of it myself… somehow.”

“D-Do you think such a thing is possible?” Elwyn stammered, “it’s said that the ancients couldn’t-“

“Spells and weapons have come a long way,” Tyrael said with a smile, “if all else fails, I’ll toss it in a volcano.”

“It seems risky to try to take something so powerful that’s in Imperial territory,” Arthur muttered.

She looked at him a moment, and he shifted uncomfortably as the archmage spoke again, “Trust me, the stakes of this particular mission are worth any risk… Arthur,” she said his name softly, her voice almost trailing off.

The four of them were silent a moment, and Arthur found himself suddenly excited, a quest… a real quest, me! he chuckled, and here I thought I’d live and die selling candles-

“These eggs are delightful,” Tyrael said suddenly, interrupting his train of thought, “but they could use something… else.”

“More salt?” he offered, “pepper sauce perhaps?”

Tyrael’s mouth just quirked in a smug smile, and his eyes filled with a white flash as the spell hit him. He saw his clothing billowing up around him, fluttering away and leaving him naked across the massive plain of the kitchen’s tile as the Elven archmage stood up. The ground shook with slight tremors as she approached, and he peered up in awe, she’d made him no more than an inch tall this time, and the tips of her fingers were larger than his entire body as she delicately pinched him, lifting him up to her face.

“It occurred to me when you described my… aroma, the other day,” Tyrael said with a smirk, “I don’t know if I’ve ever described to you the particular flavor that reduced humans seem to pick up…”

“Almonds,” Elwyn piped up.

“Definitely something nutty,” Tina agreed, “maybe just a little spicy?”

“Regardless of how you’d describe it,” the massive archmage thundered, gently releasing him over her plate, “I think it would go wonderfully with eggs.”

Arthur screamed as he flailed through the air, landing on the soft mountain of pale yellow eggs he’d cooked up for the elf’s breakfast. He sputtered as they filled his mouth, and he tried to climb his way through the fluffy surroundings and get his bearings. His stomach lurched as he was pulled into the air, several of the pillowy egg pieces falling around him as the fork underneath him lifted high.

He found himself face to face with a pair of luscious pink elven lips, Tyrael’s soft tongue slowly licking them as she anticipated the bite sized morsel of eggs he was mired in.

“I think I’ll keep Arthur to myself for the morning while you girls pack our things,” Tyrael said, playfully tilting the fork and watching Arthur struggle to stay on. “Once we get over the Human border, he’ll probably need to stay full sized, for most of the time at least.”

The massive cavern of the elf’s mouth opened, and the fork lurched forward, tipping slightly and letting Arthur tumble off with the chunks of scrambled egg onto Tyrael’s waiting tongue. The world went dark as her lips sealed behind him, and warm sticky saliva dripped from the roof of her mouth, quickly coating him as her tongue parsed the eggs for his tiny body. A rumbling groan of pleasure sent tremors through his world as her soft, wet, tongue pinned him against her cheek, eagerly lapping at him.

Tyrael took another few moments to savor her treat, letting her mouth slowly fill with spit as she leaned back in her chair. Finally, casually she slowly leaned her head back, swallowing with a loud gulp that echoed through the kitchen, allowing her shocked apprentices to watch her throat bulge ever so slightly for a moment before the tiny human slid down her throat.

Arthur felt the walls of the world compress around him as he was sent rocketing down her throat, landing in her stomach with a splash. He coughed as he swam to the surface, fighting the current as he was sloshed about with the rest of the elf’s breakfast. A faint blue glow illuminated him suddenly, allowing him to look around at the towering glistening walls as they slowly churned the meal.

She gave me a light just so I could see this, he realized, blinking in a mix of wonder, surprise, and just a little fear. He’d been in Tyrael’s mouth plenty of times of course, but this was the first time she’d ever swallowed him.

“That should keep Arthur busy for a few hours,” Tyrael said with a teasing smile as she gently patted her stomach.

“Uh, Mistress Tyrael,” Elwyn said uncertainly, “D-Didn’t you say that we were not allowed to swallow Arthur?”

Tyrael raised an eyebrow and smiled, “I did say you two weren’t allowed to, yes.” She reached for a napkin, dabbing at the bits of grease at the corner of her mouth as she stood up. “Now then, we’ll be leaving no later than noon, so ready your things!”

Inside her belly the waves of her stomach rolled Arthur about as he clung to a bit of sausage like a life raft, wondering how long he’d be trapped within the elf. 

…

The sun was high in the sky as Tina led four packhorses out to the front of the mansion, loaded with their things. Arthur’s own possessions were reduced to tiny size, kept in a simple leather pouch on the archmage’s belt as she mounted her own horse.

As the party set out she paused, feeling Arthur’s small form drifting listlessly inside her belly, with a smirk she held out her palm, and a blue shimmer of sparks appeared in the center. There was a small *pop* as the teleportation spell brought Arthur from her stomach into her hand, and she giggled at his disheveled look, soaked in the grime of her stomach, bits of half digested food sticking to his hair as he blinked in the sudden sunlight.

“T-That was new,” he stammered, smiling weakly.

“Yes, you had a lovely aftertaste that stayed with me all morning,” Tyrael said, “it wasn’t too traumatic, I hope?”

“No,” he laughed, “it was…” he chewed his lip a moment, searching for the words, and Tyrael fought a smirk as she saw the naked human’s excitement between his legs.

“Exciting?” she inquired, “you truly are a unique human…” She leaned her face in close, letting his vision be filled by her smug grin, “You know Arthur… back when reduced humans were more common in the elven realms, there were recipes involving tiny men like you…”

Arthur felt a sense of uneasiness, a sudden sense that like a quivering mouse before a hawk, he was in the grip of his natural predator… and then he saw Tyrael’s eyes, and the feeling was gone. He forced himself to his feet, balancing himself in her palm as the mixed gunk of her stomach dried on his skin.

“We’ll have to test some of them,” he said, crossing his arms almost defiantly.

Tyrael giggled, “You are one of a kind Arthur.” She flicked her wrist, and he shimmered again, a fresh floral smell coming over him as the magic swept away the filth that had coated him. She glanced back at the fourth horse, “Now, as you know, humans are still frowned upon in the elven realms, so until we reach your homeland, I’ll have to keep you hidden.”

Arthur grinned, he had an idea he knew exactly where Tyrael would “hide” him, and his suspicions were confirmed a moment later when she began unbutton the front of her shirt. Tyrael’s cleavage welcomed him in, and he let the soft orbs mold around him as the gigantic elf’s fingers gently slipped him between her breasts. It was like being pushed below the surface of a warm sea as her finger tapped the top of his head, forcing him lower until his body was consumed and completely out of sight. The light faded as she buttoned up the front of her shirt, sealing Arthur in the prison of the elf’s chest, far away from the rest of the world.

The muffled sounds of hoofbeats and the elves voices reached him distantly, and as they set out the fleshy walls pinning him on either side jiggled slightly. The day was hot, and though no sunlight reached him Arthur felt himself growing warm, and the lilac scented sweat of the elven Archmage began to well around him, dampening his hair as the droplets lazily rolled across the smooth skin of her breasts before splashing apart on his face, stinging his eyes and nose with the salty texture.

The lazy heat of the elf’s body, along with the gentle swaying of the flesh around him, quickly made Arthur drowsy, and as he felt himself sliding lower and lower into the elf’s cleavage, he fought sleep less and less, until it finally took him. Before he drifted off he reflected that this wasn’t a bad way to travel at all.

Tyrael’s estate was only a few days from the Human Empire’s border, and Gustavsberg, Arthur’s own hometown. Most of the roads in the area would naturally lead there, and the trio of elves even passed a handful of merchants headed for the recently reopened human border.

“It’s good to see that more elves are trading with the humans,” Tyrael mused, as they passed another small caravan, “I’m hoping that our peoples might become closer.”

“Are we going to Gustavsberg as well mistress?” Tina asked.

“No, we’re going to swing North of it,” Tyrael said, “through the old forests… the place we’re going is on the far Imperial coast, but I don’t want to bring us close to any of their larger cities… As much as I’d like to see Inquisitor Shelby again, a trio of elven mages is going to arouse some suspicion. I doubt they’d flat out refuse us entry, but they’d give us an escort at the least.”

When the time came to make camp Tyrael withdrew Arthur from his hiding place, setting him on the ground and using her magic to restore his size in the blink of an eye. He quickly set about gathering firewood, and after he’d prepared a stone circle, Elwyn caused it to instantly light with a flick of her finger. Soon the entire party was laughing and talking over bowls of stew Arthur had prepared for them, discussing the future of their travels.

“So if we must have Arthur at full size in the human Empire, could he be… short?” Elwyn asked uncertainly.

“What do you think Arthur?” Tyrael asked, sipping a spoonful of broth, “would a… smaller human arouse suspicion?”

“Given that I’m in the company of three elves, absolutely,” he chuckled. “Still, I doubt anyone in the countryside will care overmuch, so long as you don’t stick your pointy ears into their business.”

“Please,” Elwyn laughed, “Humans naturally love serving elves, as soon as we show up in those small towns without the anti-elf propaganda, they’ll probably love us!”

“Er…” Arthur met eyes with Tyrael a moment, “M-Maybe I should do the talking,” he said finally.

“Enough!” Tina declared, “Arthur, I’m tired from a long day of travel, attend to my feet!” she kicked her shoes off, crossing her arms imperiously. She caught his look and rolled her eyes, “Please?”

He set his bowl down walking around the fire to her, but as soon as he was within arm’s reach the elf reached out with a grin, blasting him with magic and quickly cutting his size down to no more than a foot tall. He grunted as an elven foot now over half the length of his body slammed into him roughly.

“There’s no better way to relax after a long day on the road,” Tina sighed, letting herself flop backwards as Arthur’s miniscule fingers began working his toes.

As the last of the sun disappeared and their fire waned, Arthur found himself scooped up by Tyrael, carrying him away from the other two elves towards her bedroll. Although the night grew cool, he felt himself snuggled against her chest as she lay down to sleep, hugged like a favored teddy bear.

…

Tyrael’s eyes opened as she felt another creature nearby using magic, a familiar creature at that. With a scowl she slowly slid out of her bedroll, taking great care not to disturb the foot tall human she’d been holding while she slumbered.

Be still Arthur, she thought, silently casting a spell as he shivered, making sure he wouldn’t wake while she was gone.

“I told you to mask yourself,” she said bitterly.

Varnay chuckled, his red eyes appearing the dark as he stood on a tree branch, easily balancing on one toe as he deftly hopped down to the ground. The vampire glanced at Arthur, smirking and rolling his eyes.

“I kept your apprentices from feeling my presence, isn’t that enough?” he drawled. “I didn’t trigger any of those wards you put around your campsite either. He tilted his head with a fanged smile, “Why not simply let me join you around the fire? Are you worried that if your apprentices knew the extent of our partnership they might ask more questions?”

“I’d prefer if no one knows of your presence,” Tyrael remarked flatly, “In fact I’d like it best of all if you would return to your castle and await my return.”

“And trust your good nature to deliver on my half of our bargain?” Varnay hissed, “I think not elf…” he smiled, showing his fangs a moment, letting them glint in the moonlight. “If you wish to cut this whole quest short though… you know I can give you and Arthur there what you’re really after… We could do it right here, in this very clearing, he would accept my gift if you asked him to.”

“I’m not sending him down that path,” Tyrael muttered, “let alone taking it myself!”

“Suit yourself Mage of Starlight,” Varnay said, looking up at the twinkling points of light in the dark sky, “but I think the night would suit you both. I’ll be watching.”

There was a gust of wind, and then the vampire was gone, though Tyrael could still feel him, like a trail of needles poking at the back of her neck. She scowled, glancing back at her camp to see that neither of her apprentices had stirred. Satisfied that Varnay’s presence was still her own secret, she walked back to her bedroll, sliding into it and embracing the still snoozing shrunken human again.

Everything’s going to be fine, she thought, stroking his hair a moment, causing him to stir in spite of the sleeping spell. She looked up at the stars for a moment, those celestial bodies that had always guided her since she’d began studying the ways of magic. Will everything be fine? She wondered, watching them twinkle.

They did not answer.

…

The journey through the elven countryside was uneventful, and when they crossed the border into the human empire at a secluded point of overgrown forest, there were no guards, dignitaries, or fanfare. This of course also meant there were no inns, merchants, or taverns, and the journey into the Human Empire continued on in much the same way as the trek through the Elven Realms had, with one exception.

Arthur sat in the saddle, glancing back at his elven companions as he took point, a musket across his back and a sword on his belt. With the bad feelings between humans and elves it only made sense that he would ride first. Most of the lands bordering the Elven realms were settled by those humans that the late Emperor Gustav had “liberated” from Elven conquest, accordingly most had a “shoot first” position regarding elves.

Hopefully it doesn’t extend to a man riding in their company, he thought, eyeing the treeline.

Plenty of Summer Court elves did wander into the Empire on all manner of business of course, but they rarely lingered near the borderlines, preferring the southern reaches where the tensions between men and elves were less intense. Most of those elves weren’t Archmages like his own mistress though, from what he understood Tyrael’s last foray into the Empire had attracted the attention of the Diplomatic Corps and even Emperor Sarmatian himself.

I should tell Tyrael to go by a fake name when we get to a town, he decided.

“Halt!” a gruff woman’s voice called.

Arthur held up his hand, causing the three elves to bring their mounts to a stop. With a growl he unslung his musket, cocking it in one smooth motion the militia in Gustavsberg had taught him. Elwyn and Tina saw his reaction, and instantly a trio of fireballs manifested around each, rotating slowly as the elves came to his side, ready to do battle.

“We’re violating no laws!” Arthur called, desperately scanning the brush for movement, “I’m just taking some elven… cousins, on a sightseeing tour of the Northern Empire!” An uncomfortable amount of laughter rang out from all sides, causing Arthur’s heart to sink, we’re surrounded…

“A humie with Elven cousins?” the woman’s voice returned, “Sounds like a load of dung to me! Knife Ears don’t respect nobody, least of all their own who decide to lay with decent folk!”

A towering green skinned orc woman stepped out from behind one of the old growth trees, grinning as she hefted a large axe. She was muscular, with visible biceps beneath the brown cotton tunic she wore, and jet-black hair that shone as she tossed it over her shoulder, walking to them.

“Look out Arthur!” Elwyn called, “It’s an orc bandit!”

“Bandit!?” The woman snarled, “Now see here-“

“Orcs are allowed to live in the Empire,” Arthur said quickly, raising a hand, “so long as they keep our laws…”

“Which I have,” she said angrily, “name’s Naz, and I love humies and I’m super loyal to the humie Emperor Salutation!”

“Sarmatian,” Arthur corrected.

“Yeah, him too,” Naz said, “Now what I see is a single humie, three elves, obviously mages, out here in the boonies?” She smirked, “You’re spies!”

Arthur’s eyes went wide, “N-No, just tourists, honestly-“

“OPEN FIRE!” Naz shouted.

Tyrael sighed, “Do not retaliate.” She lifted a single finger, mentally casting a series of spells.

Gunfire rang out, causing Arthur to flinch as lead balls stopped inches from his face. A handful of arrows and crossbow bolts followed, all bouncing harmlessly off a glittering invisible barrier. A second later a mixed group of humans, orcs, and at least one dwarf that Arthur saw, shouted battle cries, rushing out of the forest and raising swords, hammers, axes, and chained flails. There was a steely clang as the weapons banged helplessly against the shell Tyrael had placed around them, Naz herself screamed angrily, raising her axe over Arthur and bringing it down.

I hope you know what you’re doing Tyrael, he thought, squeezing his eyes shut.

There was a feeling like a harsh shove, and he was pushed out of his saddle and into the dirt as the towering orc woman screamed again, lifting her axe high. The axe had harmlessly bounced off a shield the mage had projected onto him, and from the way the air shimmered it probably would again.

“Enough!” Tyrael boomed, her voice amplified enough to cause all the combatants to pause. “If you attack us again, I will personally report you all to the Imperial authorities! Perhaps we’ll even file a lawsuit!”

Naz gasped, and the mixed orcs and humans stepped back, fingering their weapons uncertainly. Arthur’s brow furrowed, glancing over the hesitating attackers. They were all… fit, that was the best way to describe it, the men, the women, the orcs, the humans, all had defined muscles, not the type one had from fieldwork, but from deliberate cultivation. At the same time it was clear they weren’t soldiers, not regular ones anyway, they wore mismatched outfits, laborer’s clothing mostly, and while they knew how to use their weapons, there wasn’t a sense of discipline about them.

Not bandits either, he thought, or Tyrael’s bizarre legal threat wouldn’t have phased them.

“Now let’s not get started on judges and courts and whatnot,” Naz said hesitantly, “T-This being so close to the elven border, we’re all a little on edge!” The group behind her nodded. She chewed her lip a moment, “Humie, are you sure you don’t need rescuing from these knife ears?”

“No,” Arthur said, fighting a laugh at how the orc’s tone had changed.

“Okay then,” Naz muttered, “I guess if you were bad elves you’d have tried to hurt us… But I still think you should come speak with our leader, Rok, he can figure out what to do with you lot.”

“I’ve love a bed,” Elwyn muttered, “even if just for a night.”

The three of them looked to Tyrael, who shrugged, “Very well,” she said neutrally.

“Great, follow us!” Naz said, waving eagerly.

…

The four of them followed Naz and her war party through the ancient forest, which eventually gave way to cleared fields, dominated by a brick walled fortress in the center with a fluttering clenched bicep flag… or at least that’s what Arthur supposed it was, from a certain angle it looked uncomfortably phallic… but he would not voice those concerns to their hosts.

As they entered the sloped fortress the heavy *clanks* of lifting and shifting metal rang out. The horses were led through a great open yard where humans, orcs, and dwarves pulled heavy weighted bars up, performing a number of positions as they sought to grow their muscles. Across the grand courtyard skillets sizzled, readying bacon, eggs, and steaks as the participants tired and drifted towards them.

I’ve never heard anything about a fortress or an imperial post out here, Arthur though, his brow furrowed. These people can’t have been here long.

As if reading his thoughts Naz grinned as she led them through the fortress’s halls, “we live out here, isolated from society so that we can improve ourselves!”

“Improve yourselves?” Tina asked, “Like studying, meditation perhaps?”

“No!” Naz said, flexing her green arms with a grin, “becoming stronger, worshipping our great god Zyzzrac, he who lifts the sun and the moon!”

A cult of some kind, Arthur thought nervously. There were cheers from the courtyard, and a group of men and women were gathered around a dwarf, who grunted loudly as he set one of the weighted bars to the ground.

“A new personal record!” the dwarf roared, causing the crowd to cheer.

Naz nodded approvingly as they moved past the window, “Our leader Rok, he said we needed to come out here to avoid distractions, unhealthy foods, and all the other things that keep us from being our best!”

She opened the door to a large throne room, where an aged and sinewy muscled orc slumped in a chair, glancing up at them as they entered. He had a withered white beard, but sharp eyes that studied them as they entered.

“Naz, why do you disturb my rest day?” the orc muttered, stepping up to take them in. “Hmm… A human and three elves, a curious party.”

“We’re visiting friends and family in the Empire,” Tyrael said calmly, “we have no quarrel with you.”

Rok stroked his beard a moment, then grinned, “I do not believe you,” he said simply, “but perhaps you have a good reason to keep your true goals secret… in any case, we will put the matter before the gods.”

Naz laughed, “Before the gods Rok? Look at these scrawny creatures,” she said, gesturing to the elves, “does their god even lift?”

“Now Naz,” Rok said sternly, “is it not written that some work out at the gymnasium, while others choose to work out at the library? True virtue is found in re-racking the books when one is done exercising the mind.”

“It is,” Naz protested, “but-“

“Rest travelers,” the aged orc said with a smile, “for tomorrow morning you will complete a series of tasks to test your fortitude…” He gestured around, “if you succeed, the gods have clearly blessed your endeavor.”

“And if we fail?” Arthur asked.

Rok chuckled, sinking back into his chair, “then we will send for an Imperial inquisitor and let them sort this matter out with worldly laws.”

Arthur swallowed nervously, looking back his companions and wondering what sort of “tasks” the orc had in mind.