[High Ruler Enor’s Palace]
Commander, the High Grade Ethisian who lost his partner to a Blood Mutant a long time ago, personally dragged his two trophies and an extra into the Ethisian Palace.
Once there, he was welcomed by High Ruler Enor, his mate, and other High Grades like him.
The look on their faces when they saw two humans was priceless. They were pleased, pleased to see two of the four Granians’ Mutants that had killed hundreds of their kind and taken two strong Ethisian soldiers, Elyssara and Enoris.
A few were disgusted by the sight of the humans and desired nothing more than to end them there and then. Others were happy now that the Granians were left with two Blood Mutants, and they now had four. Even though the Ethisian Blood Mutants wanted no part in the war, it was good that they halved the Granians’ Blood Mutants.
What was going to happen to Jim and Anya? Were they going to die for their crimes? Or was High Ruler Enor going to find some way of convincing the two humans to fight for him?
That was what they were going to find out, but the majority suspected the latter was the most likely outcome, given their Ruler’s temperament.
"My Lord," Commander bowed before Enor and everyone else in the room. He then gently nodded to his fellow High Grades before presenting the humans and the female Granian. "Just as you predicted, the Granians attacked the Rayans. My attempts to capture Grim were futile, but I got the Blood Mutants just as you said. And also brought a little insurance to fish out Grim."
High Ruler Enor smiled and stood from his throne. The Ethisian walked up to Commander and took the chains from his hand while saying;
"This is good work. You don’t need to worry about Grim; he’ll almost certainly return for his mate and unborn child. As for the humans, Commander, you didn’t have to batter them so harshly. I understand your frustrations; they’re justifiable but...look at them. They’re so young, soft, and fragile."
"I’m sorry, my Lord," he spoke calmly, "but I had to. I couldn’t let them kill more Rayans than they already did. They’re our allies, and I wished to have zero casualties in my presence. But you’re correct, I did take out my frustrations on them."
"Yes yes, I understand," Enor continued as he observed the humans. Their swollen, reddish-pink skin, half-healed fractures, and terribly wounded bodies stirred Enor’s soft heart.
Enor was an understanding, somewhat compassionate, and caring Ethisian. To him, he’d always first resort to finding peace or getting to a compromise before resorting to war or other unconventional methods.
And that’s just what he wanted to do with the humans.
"Humans," he called out, "welcome to Planet Edenia, home to Ethisians whose blood you’ve spilled blindly. I am High Ruler Enor. I’m sort of the equivalent of Lord Grania if that’s an easier way for you to understand.
"My friend here seems to have gone a little overboard with... subduing you. You must be in pain. Since you are my guests, allow me to replenish you."
Enor snapped his fingers, and in a few minutes, two barrels of blood were delivered. The blood wasn’t Ethisian or Rayan. It was Granian blood collected from the captured Granian prisoners.
"Please, feed and replenish your lost strengths. I cannot stand by and watch my guests continue to suffer, not when I can do something about it."
Jim and Anya weren’t buying it, not anymore. This was like Commander all over again. If they consumed the blood, they feared that it was either poisoned or the Ethisian Ruler would fight, batter, and kill them, just as Commander said he would.
"We... we’re not... falling for that..." Anya refused. "No...not ag-"
"Oh, nonsense," Enor held Jim and Anya by their necks and showed their heads into the barrels. "Please, eat. I insist."
The Ethisian High Ruler held Jim and Anya’s heads in the barrels, drowning them until they consumed. The two had no strength to fight back, so they had no choice but to consume.
"Excellent. Keep going," Enor smiled as he and everyone else watching noticed the wounds on their bodies heal, "drink up and heal, Mutants."
Eventually, Enor let Jim and Anya feed on their own and stood in front of them. Commander remained by his side, ready to strike the Mutants down if they attempted to cause any form of trouble.
The rest of the High Grades inched closer and remained on standby, each ready to jump into action the very second the Mutants showed hostility.
As soon as they healed, the Blood Acolytes transformed and menacingly peered over everyone surrounding them. With their monstrous, somewhat bulky, freaky forms, they attempted to frighten the Ethisians, thinking most had never seen a Blood Mutant eye-to-eye.
But that didn’t do anything to deter the Ethisians. If anything, it made them want to attack the humans even more.
"We’re not going to do anything," Anya slowly raised her hands and went to her knees while reverting to her human form.
Wisely, she surrendered. She knew damn well that her strength and Jim’s would do nothing to these High Grades, let alone the Ethisian Ruler himself.
"Wise choice," Enor smirked and motioned for the High Grades to stand down, "stand up and follow me. Like I said, you’re my guests, and as a host, I must make your stay here comfortable. Before we proceed with anything else, I must get you better clothing. You look homeless with those rags on..."
Anya abruptly interrupted the Ethisian Ruler and asked, "Wouldn’t it be better to kill us here and then rather than buttering us up with whatever it is you’re doing?"
The Ethisian stopped in his tracks, looked back at the humans with a face that showed the offense he took to Anya’s words.
Disgusted, Enor glared and said, "Better to kill you? As I said, I am your host, and you are my guests. Why would a good host kill their guests?" Official source ıs 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩
"You’re an Ethisian," Jim answered, "we’re Blood Mutants, the Granians’ Blood Mutants to be precise..."
"Well, that’s where you’re wrong, human," Enor smiled, "from this day on, you have no choice but to fight for us. It’s either that, or you find a way of escaping. And trust me, my High Grades won’t let you leave with your lives...."
Anya and Jim glanced around, noticing the hostility oozing from every other Ethisian in the room, all except for Enor.
"... it’s not like you have a choice, humans. I’m the only reason you’re still breathing at this point. So I suggest you stop with all these questions and be hospitable guests. Now, please follow me."