Border Control
Outward appearances were deceiving with Nalaea, unless you were an elf. To human eyes she seemed slightly strange, with her striking dual-coloured hair, and the rings in her irises. But to the Elves, the unmistakable stench of corruption poured off Nalaea, like the waves of an ocean lapping at a beach. There were stages to it, and some were less visible than others. The most obvious was the physical corruption, from the black streaks in her blonde hair, to the concentric black and golden irises, all the way down to her uniform, a pitch black mockery of the Royal Rangers, with the sigil of Vordea in place of the symbol of House Valmaris. Less obvious was the mental corruption, only spotted by those who knew her well. It took the form of the slavish worship of Vordea, and even Nalaea herself didn't understand the trance she fallen into, to her it felt perfectly natural, not realizing how deeply she's been ensnared in the grasp of the Great Destroyer.
However, the most insidious of all was the soul corruption. She was no longer an elf, that much was certain. But neither was she a demon, for she lacked the demonic runes on her heart. She was something far, far worse. But that's a story for another time, right now Nalaea was walking up the Queen's Highway toward Chillwatch, and the Rangers could already feel her presence from kilometres away.
"You feel it too?" One Ranger asked, as another held his head.
"Yeah. It's like something's coming up the Highway. I don't like it." He answered, closing an eye.
The other rangers gathered and as they discussed what to do about the ominous feeling coming up the road, Nalaea came into view. Overcoming his dread, the ranger Rolim intercepted her at the edge of town. Shaking with fear, Nalaea laughed wickedly at his pathetic display of cowardice in the face of overwhelming danger.
"Is this it?" Nalaea asked. "Is this all the Royal Rangers can muster in the face of little old me? You disappoint me."
"Let none say that we didn't die fighting." Rolim answered, his bow still shaking slightly.
Nalaea nodded approvingly. "That's the Ranger corps I remember. Come with me, Rolim. We're not doing border control on the road."
Rolim's face paled. Who was this woman? Seeing his reaction, Nalaea laughed again.
"How does she know my name? Is that it? I'm surprised you don't recognize me, Rolim. But I suppose the Great Destroyer's gifts have changed me."
Resuming her walk up the road, Nalaea was disappointed. Was Shaky Rolim really the extent of the resistance that the Elves would offer? She could easily corrupt them all if that was the case, and put them in the service of her Lady. What was so special about Elves anyway, did the genetic memory really make them so afraid of Vordea? She wondered for a moment why she never once felt afraid when she first met Vordea, but the answer came immediately.
"She saved my life." Nalaea said under her breath, and closed her eyes for a moment. "She was my one and only saviour."
Nalaea's thoughts were interrupted by arrows flying toward her, which she easily dodged by shifting out of reality for a split-second. Whirling in the direction they came from, she spotted the rangers who shot them and in the blink of an eye was upon them before they could even comprehend she dodged the arrows.
"I don't think so." Nalaea said as she slammed both of them to the ground from their tree perch. "Under ordinary circumstances I'd have just killed both of you, but I can feel the fear dripping off your soul. You're just as terrified as Rolim."
"W-who are you?" One of them asked, as she scrambled to her feet, looking like a frightened child.
"Finally somebody bothers to ask." Nalaea said, shaking her head. "I'm Void Sentinel Herydark, and I'm here to see Princess Valmaris."
"I think not! Lady Vordea will not claim her like she has claimed you!" The Ranger Captain shouted as he announced his presence by firing arrows at Nalaea.
"Only one mortal can go toe to toe with me, and she's in Itari!" Nalaea shouted as the arrows simply passed through her. "I must commend you on your lack of fear."
"I won't back down without a fight, monster!" The Captain shouted, running toward Nalaea, sword in hand.
Nalaea laughed darkly as she caught his sword with her hand, and the blade simply crumbled away. "The Goddess blesses me with the power of change. With the power of Carcosa."
As Nalaea expected, when she spoke the name of Vordea's home dimension, all the Rangers within earshot fell to the ground screaming as their genetic memory took hold, and showed them glimpses of the power of the Goddess of Creation. Nalaea laughed and laughed as some of them recovered, but not the Ranger Captain. Still grinning like a maniac, Nalaea tied him up with tendrils of her void before giving him a swift kick in the head to knock him out.
"Stay put, child of the Usurper. I'll be back for you."
"What was that? What did you do to the Captain?" Rolim asked, his voice shaking as he tried his best to confront Nalaea.
"He has the Usurper's bloodline. As you all know, Princess Valmaris has signed a death warrant for every last one." Nalaea replied, starting to walk again, this time toward the North.
Rolim glanced back at the Captain, and noticed he was foaming at the mouth. Deciding not to intervene, he followed Nalaea instead as she proceeded north into Elven lands.
As Nalaea stepped foot over the border into elven lands, she seemed to shimmer for a moment. She stopped walking so suddenly that Rolim walked straight into her back.
"Hey, why'd you stop?" He asked.
Nalaea said nothing, and resumed her walk after looking around. Soon enough she decided to just outright slip out of reality, vanishing before Rolim's eyes, and reappearing outside of the Princess's bunker in Ellren, much to the shock of the rangers there.
"Which one of you was it?" Nalaea shouted, grabbing the nearest Mage Ranger. "Which one of you tried to cast a fucking suggestion spell on me? Did you really think that would work? Did you really fucking think I wouldn't be immune to the most basic of magic?"
"Who the hell are you?" The Mage gasped, trying to pry her hand off his neck as she squeezed it.
"She stinks of the Great Destroyer!" Another Ranger yelled, pulling out his bow. "Back, foul demon!"
"Go ahead, try and banish me!" Nalaea yelled, taunting them. "I'm no demon!"
"Pagendama!" A mage ranger shouted, but much to his dismay, nothing happened.
"Hahahahaha!" Nalaea laughed, black smoke billowing from her mouth. "My turn! Lagunemine!"
The Mage Rangers all began screaming, black liquid pouring from their eyes. Nalaea ignored them and looked around for Syndra's residence, making her way over once she spotted it.