Chapter 32: Crimson Day

“... Why must you make us suffer?”

***

Year of Wrath 1231, Season of Waiting D.53 Daylight

     “Get out of the City” Was the only mantra that Hob repeated through his head as he frantically searched for a way out. Heading for the Barracks on the west side of town, just outside the Forge Master’s workshop, over by the Dockside. “Surely, if I can sneak in with the Military, or at least while they go through wherever the hell they are going to get out, It’ll be enough time to warn her.” He didn’t even stop to hide anymore, not caring about the concerned cries of those that noticed he was a goblin as he sprinted through the cramped streets. He'd worry about stealth when he got closer. 

***

     The Garrison was already on the move, a mighty show of force. The rising sun glinting brightly off rifles and buttons, a long trail of sharpshooters and gatling gun crews. The Chancellor had decided against bringing artillery crews, he wasn’t expecting any real resistance from the vermin. Then again, he nor his Garrison had any real experience with dealing with the Raiders or how they fought. 

     Instead for his tactical advisory, he brought with him the senior staff of his City Guards. A choice he would enjoy as the moment their vanguard reached the forest, issues arose. He had the good sense to have that God’s Eye’s Odeza open a comms relay with him and the Captains to issue orders. The Arelion was already visible in the Bay of Swallows, making a show of it too, blaring on the klaxon getting a wild round of excitement from those on the Dockside. 

     It banked south toward where they knew the Goblins called home, it would anchor and point its main guns toward their caves. The Chancellor wouldn’t give them the option for escape if they wouldn’t surrender their “culprit”, “What a fool, showing them such an act from civilization.” Michèle thought to himself. If anything he was going to allow his men the chance to gun down more than a few. Give them a warning. 

     “Sir, the fog isn’t natural. The forest is swathed in the murk, we’ve seen this tactic before. That female leader of theirs was fond of using it as a distraction.” One of his vanguard Captains spoke over the relay. 

     “Seems they were expecting us then. Looks like we do have a guilty conscience.” Michèle responded, he had to give orders prior to the mission. The ranks had learned of what would be happening, thanks to the Scouts, the ranks needed reminding that they would follow orders despite their reservations about this new way of doing things by the Goblin clan. The unease was palpable in the air as the orders were given, even more so when they would be told that active combat should be expected. 

     Many of his Garrison had never fought them, but he was able to quickly come up with counter measures after he had listened to the Captains of the Guard and how these Raiders actually chose to fight. “Arc Lights on!” He barked out the legion, one by one the lights came on. The intense heat and illumination pierced through the fog at the frontline as if it had never been there. 

***

     “Where is Hob? He should have been back by now.” Ilgor paced back and forth as her forehead beaded with sweat despite the cold. She had been expending a great amount of effort to keep the entire forest cloaked in fog, buying the raiders time to set up their ambushes if they needed it. 

     She had given orders to leave messages pinned to nearly every noteworthy tree on the paths with one statement. “We want to talk, empty field just south of the main farmland.” She wanted to avoid putting her people at risk, but if the humans didn’t head that way after seeing all the notes. She anticipated that they would attack anyway. She had no way of knowing what the King had told his Chancellor. 

     “Hob said he would be the one to spy on the Palace, he said he’d be back by now…” Ilgor repeated. 

     “At least Cori and Ghet came back with enough time to give us a warning that the Garrison was coming today.” Caleb said solemnly, his workshop had turned into a pseudo command center for Ilgor, Cori, Ghet, and Knoll. As well as a few of the other Raiders, Til and Yvet sat by Caleb’s anvils just listening in. The village had been evacuated, having to cash in a favor with Sh’ril. All noncombatants had fled to the deepest reaches of the Ancient forest, under the protection of Sh’ril and his Broodmates. 

     The harpy sat perched on top of Caleb's roof listening to Ilgor panic. He managed to convince the Broodmother and a few of his siblings that protecting their on again off again enemy would only benefit them, at Ilgor’s request. “I could fly you to the city to find him? No?” He chirped out. 

     She looked up at him, a hopeful look in her eyes. “You’d risk being shot at by the humans for me like that?”

     “Of course.” 

     “You’ll come back to me, won’t you?” Yvet chirped up, getting a surprised look out of everyone.

     Illy, turning to him, finally gave in. Walking with her hips, she sauntered up to him. “For you, I'll come back from the dead.” Before reaching up to him and planting a kiss on his lips. The boy turned bright red at that, while Ghet and Til hooped. Not really thinking all his efforts would finally pay off.

     “Too bad Hob isn’t here to rub his face in it.” Ghet laughed. While Yvet returned the favor to her. 

     The ground coursed below them at a blinding speed, wind whipping her braid out behind her as Sh’ril carried her in his talons. The Garrison had reached the forest, a large force of about three-hundred by her estimate. They didn’t come as Caleb had guessed, a light weight group. She figured that would be much more maneuverable, but didn’t like the look of the few dozen rotary guns they had mounted on steam wagons. 

     Sh’ril made a few wider arcs in a holding pattern over the formation. Leaving no illusion to them that he was watching, observing. Ilgor already thickened the fog with her song, as the arc lights came on. She would have to hope they would go to the empty field like they asked them to. She wasn't naive enough to assume they wouldn’t attack them on-sight if they tried to send someone as an envoy. She wanted to speak to them from a distance. Amplifying her voice, figuring while she was skybound, it was a good enough time to try. 

     “Humans, please we mean you no harm. Please head to the empty field just to the south of the farmland. We wish to speak with you as to why you are here. I repeat we mean you no harm.” 

     Over the din of rushing air, she spoke to Sh’ril. “Think we can do a few passes to see if we can’t spot Hob anywhere? Let’s try and stay just outside where they could shoot at us though…” 

***

     “Well now, that's quite a surprise. I wasn’t expecting that.” Michèle said to his officers to either side of him. Debating how he wanted to respond, he watched as that harpy flew just outside their rifle range. “I suppose we know who our Caster is, at least.” 

     “Sir, the men have entered the forest. Reporting that there are notes stuck to many of the trees stating much the same thing that voice just said.” One of his Captains spoke over the comms relay. “The men are getting nervous being here. They say they can hear a lot of movement through the trees.” 

     “Try and keep your men in line, Captain. I don’t want any shots fired without my orders. While I’m more than happy to allow retaliatory fire, I don’t want us to be the ones to shoot first.” Michèle barked. He meant it too, while he wanted to give the troops a chance to hunt the goblins down, without a damn good reason, Lucas would have him hanged if he didn’t give the little creatures a chance to bring this guilty party forward. 

     “We will try. I know their tricks, they like to try and station themself above their targets in the canopy and drop down on them.” As if on que, gunshots rang out in the forest. 

     Followed by a round of returning shots, the Captain over the relay barked orders to his men without closing the line. Michèle pinched the bridge of his nose, vein throbbing in his forehead already. “For the love of the gods, tell me they shot at you first.”

     “I uh…”

     “Enough, that was all the answer I needed. We will speak of this after this is settled.” Turning to the line of soldiers behind him, he roared. “Lay down suppressive fire!” 

     The steam wagons with their rotary guns swung forward, opening fire into the tree line. “Let's move, gentlemen! Officers, with me, we go to their specified field! Gunners, cease response when the signal is given by the Captain!” 

***

     Hob saw them long before they saw him, he already heard the gunfire, thinking he might already be too late. Using the one spell he remembered while exhausted from trailing the Garrison for so long. A brilliant yellow flame shot from his finger tips skyward, to fizzle out as it reached the cloud line. They banked toward him when they saw it. 

     Her and that harpy friend of hers, he wanted to already be back where they were. He couldn’t move past the line of soldiers, too alert, too ready to open fire. He had tried earlier, only to have every gunner on those wagons swing in his direction, only to have to hunker down and stay hidden in the heavy snow drifts to keep from being spotted. 

     Heartbeat loud in his ears, breathing heavy as he sprinted toward an open area where they could spot him better. Sh’ril banked low, dropping Ilgor a few hundred feet in front of him. Rolling with a grace he had only ever seen while she was fighting. Hair in disarray, staff clutched in hand, one the few flintlocks they had in the other hand raised. Hammer already pulled back as she swept the area quickly before rushing up to him. 

     “Hob! What’s going on? We need…” She began, the worry and panic more than obvious in her voice.

     He cut her off, breathless. “We need to give them Yorm. Their king gave the Garrison and his Commander direct orders to give us a chance to give them the guilty party. He said that he didn’t want any fighting before that chance was at least given.” 

     Her eyes spoke for her, a despair. She flagged Sh’ril back down from the skies, grabbing him by the wrist. Quickly tucking the staff and flintlock back into her sash, tying it rapidly while the harpy banked low. Pulling him tightly to her, gripping her sash with an iron fist while the harpies talons descended on them. 

     The world moved with a jolt as they were suddenly skybound. The air roaring past their ears, Hob, deep in his bones knew something had gone horribly wrong, the fighting wasn’t supposed to start… they were supposed to be given a chance… 

     “Cori and Knoll already had a back up plan to lure the Garrison into the open field we requested, there should have been only a few Raiders to lure them there, the rest of the Raiders are waiting there to ambush the humans. Hopefully they can buy just enough time.” Her voice was clear to him, despite the roaring air. 

     Sh’ril pumped his wings in great gusts to increase speed. He would just have to hope they could get there before too many died. His exhaustion fading as he realized Ilgor was not controlling her power at all, eyes like a scared deer. Her magic healing him without her even noticing. He assumed the same thing was happening to the damned bird too as he just kept flying faster and faster. The world below them nothing more than a blur. 

***

     “Damnit! Captains! Control your men, now! I will have every last one of you Court Marshalled and executed if this doesn’t stop now!” Michèle bellowed over the comms, already ordering the rotary gun silenced. 

     The Garrison had devolved into chaos during the first engagement. The soldiers followed deeper into the forest as one by one they were picked off and led forward. It was clearly meant to be an ambush, though as the Brass followed the trail of bodies, they spotted a few of the goblins among the dead. 

     “Son of a bitch, this is going to be a lecture I’m not looking forward to when we get back.” The Commander to his left piped up. The Chancellor couldn’t have agreed more, though he had his own saber and revolver out, scanning the canopy and treeline for any movement, gun raised to down anything that moved without his notice.

     “I am going to want a full explanation when we get to this damned field." Michèle sighed, the vein in his forehead bulging dangerously. His own heartbeat hammering away in his chest. It had been quite some time since he felt that way, his adrenaline pulsing, he couldn’t help but find himself back on the fields in the desert. Wary of any hostile popping out from behind the dunes. 

     The Brass as well as Michèle were fully aware they should have been taking on constant gunfire from the Goblins. Or at least being rained down on by bolts and arrows, they were not being assaulted like they were anticipating. They had come to the conclusion quickly that the vermin were either retreating or luring them to this field they had spoken of. Though, he couldn’t blame them for doing so, woe be upon whatever sorry fool shot at them first. 

     If that soldier was still alive by the end of all this, the Chancellor would have him hanged in the market square for this. Time moved one far too quickly for his comfort as shots continued to ring out from the forest. As the Commanders followed the trail of corpses, staining the snow crimson. The image of the blood red wine in Lucas’ glass flashed in his mind, he wondered if it would be his blood in that glass next. 

     The gunners in the wagons had already taken a defensive position in the field, offering a much needed sanctuary as they deployed the heavy iron shields to protect the munitions stored in the cargo holds of each of them. Michèle ran a hand through his hair as he and the other Commanders witnessed what was happening in their field that was meant to be a place for a diplomatic solution. 

     What he wasn’t expecting was a multitude of things, the first being that the Dwarves had stationed their Warboars here already. They were in reserve, they were meant to be blockading the forest to the north, disallowing the goblins an easy way out if it came to this. Michèle already saw both the Kings mounted atop their Boars like grim presiders over a crows feast. The second was the disordered firefight that was taking place. Any soldier that took cover under the trees as being downed one by one as the goblins dropped from them. The glint of steel in the dismal sunlight was his give away.

     Both goblin and human bodies lie in the snow, the snow below them drinking in their blood like a grotesque vampire. Michèle almost felt sick, his Commanders not looking too much better. This wasn’t going according to plan at all, he would only hope that this news wouldn’t make it back to the city before they could do some damage control. 

     Michèle gave one order to all present. One he wouldn’t relish, one he knew he would have to answer for later. “Men, cease all fighting. Execute any dissents, you have ten minutes to put a stop to this fire firefight. I want all of you to note, this will become a historic moment. Should we be remembered as monsters or no, that is for time to tell.” He leveled his revolver at one of the soldiers taking cover behind a fallen tree. “Soldier! Lay down your rifle!" 

     The soldier in question shot his eyes up to see his General pointing a gun at him. Instantly letting his gun fall to the snow. But, things would turn from bad to worse as the shadow of wings cast themselves over the group, darting his eyes up he saw the harpy now had two goblins in its clutches. It banked low over the battle field, goring one of his soldiers as it dropped the two into the snow. 

     Both bolted toward cover, already dragging the bodies of their fallen with them as they ran for cover. “Damnit! I need this firefight done now! That is our one and only high value VIP right now, she cannot be killed!” 

***

     “Gjorn, this wasn’t supposed to happen according to you.” Halgier pulled a flash out of his belt, war-axe slung across his back as his Boar huffed a great puff of steam into the chill midday air. 

     “Aye, I’m going to need to ask you a favor, Halgier. I need you to trust me.” Gjorn said as he darkly strummed his zitar. 

     Both of the Kings knew that the Galcian forces hadn’t seen battle in many years. They were hired by Berthelot to help train their Commanders to stop something exactly like this. But this,  this was disgraceful to watch as the soldiers disobeyed order after order from their Commanding Officers. Already watching as some of the Soldiers were executed on the spot. “Why do I feel like you are about to pull us into another international issue?” Halgier sighed, handing Gjorn the flask.  

     “If I ask you to charge their line, will you do it?” The absoluteness in his request was a shock. 

     “The goblins or the Galcian forces?” Halgier stroked his beard. Looking back over his shoulder to his four or five hundred Clansmen. 

     “If this doesn’t stop soon, I will be forced to remind everyone here why I am called the End Song. I know you know that I won’t talk about many things, but know that I have a rather vested interest in keeping as many of the goblins alive. I cannot risk their priestess’ life for much longer.” One of the strings of the Zitar broke as he strummed, though he didn’t seem to notice. 

     “Wasn’t I the one with a fancy for that girl?” He tried to add some levity to this request, but Gjorn only shot daggers at him. “Fine, what’s a war on two fronts? If you ask, I’ll give the command. I would hope that our girl there will be able to make some good out of this.” 

     Gjorn said something under his breath, he could have sworn he heard the name “Odeza” Though it could have just been his imagination as his Kinsmen called over one of their snipers. The soldier and his massive gun sauntered forward, looking up at The Fourth king for orders. “Assist the Galcian forces with their executions. I want you to down as many trigger happy humans as possible. One sniper will be missed in all this commotion, your shots will not be heard in this disastrous symphony.” 

     “Aye, Sir.” The Dwarf laid prone just in front of the two Kings, pulling back the bolt on his rifle. Halgier gave Gjorn a quizzical look, but did not intervene. 

***

Ilgor:

     I landed hard, rolling as I felt a shot land where I had just been. The scream of the man quickly silenced by Sh’ril as his talons worked their way into his chest, dropping him from the sky to land in a cloud of snow, offering just barely enough cover to grab Tyrk’s body. The boy still had his knife clutched in his hand, eyes lifeless as I sprinted with him back to the treeline. 

     Channeling power into my voice I called out to every Raider on the battlefield. “Retreat, grab those you can reach, if you can’t your life is still a flame burning, save it.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw several dozen Raiders use the cover they had and beelined it toward the forest. A sharp pain lashed up my leg, falling hard to one knee. 

     All that training with the Sorcerer paying dividends as I reflexively healed the bullet wound, the slug popping out of my thigh to land bloody in the snow. Using Kari’s staff as a lever to pull Tyrk behind cover, immediately seeking a new target. Lessons flooded my mind as I began to hum several songs all at once. 

     That wind wall would keep the bullets away from me. Instantly a whirlwind whipping into life, a few shots already being deflected. Spotting Cori as she was dragging an injured Ghet behind line of sight with a tree. Song pitching higher, my movements launched me forward to assist her in moving Ghet. He to his credit was using that far too big gun to its maximum effectiveness while being dragged. 

     Even in his old age, he still had a good show of his marksmanship. Shells clutched in his teeth as he shot he let loose downed another human shooting at them, still nimble fingers shoving round after round in as they were ejected from each shot. We made it to the tree line with three more soldiers dead at Ghet’s hands. His leg needed healing badly, but Cori shoved me away, pulling a ribbon from her hair. “Go, get more, you are more likely to survive this than us.” 

     I didn't need to be told, dashing out with the grace of the wind to propel me forward. Til was taking shots akimbo with the two revolvers he had, desperately trying to lay down some suppressive fire at the small Squad that was closing in on him. I dashed behind them, saber already moving in wide arcs hamstringing three of them before they could even scream. Another quick movement slit two of their throats while Til shot the third between the eyes. 

     As I turned back to him, the fourth soldier. Rifle raised, time moved slowly as the gout of fire played out in my eyes. That bullet found Til, a shot straight through his heart, dropping heavy in the snow. His eyes already growing lifeless looking at me, like he had somehow failed me instead of the other way around. The sonic blast from the scream that tore my throat burst the soldier’s eardrums. 

     Blood seeped from them as he staggered and just jolted forward as he was shot from somewhere behind him. Dead before he hit the snow, tears burned my eyes as I rushed to grab Til. The heat from the magic I poured into him melting the snow as it washed around him. Healing would do nothing for a corpse…

     Kari Flashed through my mind as I was helpless to save him, I could only drag him back to the treeline. I grabbed his revolvers and emptied their chambers into another group of soldiers. The stinging salty tears not letting me have a good shot at any of them, pretty sure most of my shots missed. But, it forced them behind cover long enough for me to grab his body. 

     There were only a few Raiders left in the field, dropping Til’s body behind a tree. Two other raiders already picked him up and booked him deeper into the forest. Running back into the field, the wind wall amplified the sound of the ricocheting bullets against it. My legs already starting to burn from the exertion, I was starting to flag as another sharp pain in my shoulder told me even the wind wall wasn’t keeping everything away from me. 

     I fell hard in the shot as the ground below stained crimson from my blood. Though, my magic already healing the damage without even noticing. Didn’t even notice as the slug that popped out of the wound got tangled in my hair as I rushed the soldier who had just shot me. But, I stopped as one of the Officers gave him an order from behind him. The soldier whipped around not realizing who he had just pointed his rifle at, the Officer shot him. Not even sparing a second glance at me as he moved onto the next group of soldiers barking orders at them. 

     That group had listened, except for one. As he took aim my eyes followed what he was aiming at. My heart turned to ice as I saw Yvet fall. Icy waves washed over my skin, time stopped as I watched him crash into the snow. Everything else around me went blank, it didn’t matter, nothing else mattered. My saber moved on its own as I decapitated the soldier who had killed him. Another quick spin and the Officer and the three other soldiers lay dead around me. 

     Reaching a hand down, gently as the wind wall roared to life around us. I pushed just the smallest amount of warmth into him, wanting desperately to feel his heartbeat. Only to be greeted with nothing, my magic swam around him melting the snow enough to see the grass below him. 

     I thought back to all the little things he would do for me, staying by my side. Keeping me company after my ceremony, finding any reason to spend time with me. I remembered his touch as we snuggled together under the blanket as I tried to heal Kari. The little blue gem stone he had given me. He had wanted to become more, he had wanted to become more with me. 

     The four stones that the Sorcerer had intertwined into Kari’s staff melted into it, as I thought about the family that could have been. It pulsed into my hand and crept under my skin as the stones filled me with an incomprehensible feeling. The hot tears that fell from my eyes landed on his back, melding into his heavy winter cloak. The world around me went silent, a deathly stillness that ceased all sound for miles. 

     My teeth cracked and healed in sharp snaps of arcane lightning, the scream that I made sent a shockwave out in all directions. Blowing away the snow from the field, every last living thing clutching their ears as they bled from the force of it. From the snow a corpse I recognized rose from the earth. 

     From her once frozen lips, life returned to her desiccated form. Her skin glowing back to life shifting with constellations, dark as the night sky. “Daughter of my blood alone, untouched by Shadow, I will not see my children torn asunder yet again.” She appeared before me, a metallic and multicolored flower in her hair. She was just as I remembered from my dream, flicking her tail out. Wrapping it around my waist in a now all too familiar feeling. 

     I slowly met her gaze, her eyes burning with an inferno that echoed out into the infinite. My mouth fell open in a soundless scream. Her features clicking in my mind, pieces falling perfectly into place. This woman, this kind stranger in my nightmares during the Ceremony, the corpse woman that haunted my waking dreams. Stood in front of me now. “You… You”

     “Ilgor, we don’t have time right now, this isn’t the time or place…” The weight of her sadness in her eyes hit me like a wall. She wanted to say so much more, but a quick look around me told me she was holding time in places as the world around me froze in place like a horrifying diorama. 

     She slowly wrapped her hand around mine closed around my saber. “Grief, I know it well. In time you will learn more. Your friend, your lover here, he will be at peace. But, I will not allow any more of my Children to fall here. Let us show that this little gust of wind is a storm. Let them hear your cries as the symphony they are.” She disappeared again like dust blown in the wind. 

     As she disappeared I felt her enter my mind, my entire body screamed in pain. Every inch of my skin burned, every muscle twitching uncontrollably. My nerves set a flame in their entirety, as I hear her voice in my mind, “I’m sorry, please just wait. It’s been eons since I last touched the mind of one of my children, I, please wait, Illy.” Her voice was frantic, the magic arcing through me shifting. Understanding pulsing through me as it continued to fall into place. This woman, this thing from my dreams was one of my people. Long forgotten, familiar, I opened my heart to her and she to me. 

     In the span of a heart beat, it shifted completely. The pain ceasing, the bliss of it almost overwhelming. I hadn’t realized I screamed again in a shockwave that downed a few dozen of the Galus soldiers, their eardrums ruptured and bleeding as they held their heads in their hands. Otherwise unharmed, she spoke to me again. “I’m sorry Moon Bourne Flower, It’s been a long time, please you have to guild my blood in the stones through your own veins. I can help, but hold in your mind an image of wind swirling across your skin. My, you remind me so much of Rythia.”

     That name rang familiar in my ears, though, I did as she said, desperately trying to focus on the image. Slowly, at least to me, I felt that power transfer from inside my body to begin arcing across my skin instead. Swaddling me in a power and comfort I didn’t understand, the amount of control I had over it was astonishing. “Who are you?” I gasped, trying to stay on my feet.

     “Someone you have always known, yet have never met. Please, we have a time limit. A few suggestions, first. My control over time is limited, I cannot slow it down for long for this explanation. We shouldn’t enrage the City much, keep all casualties to an absolute minimum, paralyze them, freeze them in place, anything that lets us save the rest of the Children.”

     The hum in my voice changed pitch, rhythmic in tempo complex and hidden. Time felt slow compared to me as I pushed out, grabbing the first of my fallen family, Yvet. Knocking the soldier back as he went to slash at the next one, the few Goblins left on the battlefield fled as they saw me. 

     I grabbed at the humidity in the air, forming a cloud above myself. Feeling the energy gather in my grasp, called down a bolt of lightning to my outstretched hand. The deafening sound of the thunder crack deaf to my ears unconsciously protecting my own hearing. The energy condensed into a ball in my palm, arcing it across the ground toward the Garrison. 

     The bolt spread wide, enrapturing the soldiers as they fell to their knees. Streaks of electricity pinning them to the ground, immobilized. I sang, soft and quiet. The snow reaching up and freezing the downed soldiers to the ground, they wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. The next salvo of Lightning rained brown on those damned rotary guns, igniting them like a match to a haystack. Melting their munitions instantly, sparing them the colossal boom from the explosions as I held the concussive blast from my position in the field. Condensing them back into the ground like little earthquakes. 

***

     The Sorcerer watched the bloodbath, waiting. He wanted to see if his suspicions were correct, he was duly proud that his teaching to the girl had been paying off. Watching as her magic became far more complex, far more potent, far more useful to her as she broke Bhal’s chains on her own. 

     She might not have known it, but chains indeed, broken as she was able to summon more and more power to be what she was born to be. What she was always meant to be, more and more like her fallen brethren that rested beneath those caves they called home. A brood of skulls indeed, he laughed darkly to himself as his influence for balance forced the Officers to execute more of the soldiers to even the playing field. 

     He watched as her lover fell, a sick smile creeping across his lips as the Archon Stones burned brightly as she absorbed them. He knew what would happen next, braced for the shockwave as it raced out and actually damaged him. He knew too that power would call the others, he suppressed the presence so that he could keep this hidden for the time being. 

     Only then did he take off his mask once more, his Shadows reaching out in all directions as he tried to settle himself down. All his eyes fixed solely on the woman who appeared before Ilgor, every fiber of his being wanted to launch into an attack. “Control yourself, boy. I need her alive if this will all go according to plan.” 

     But, he couldn’t help himself as he watched The Great Mother meld herself to Ilgor. Her Tether becoming so much stronger. “I see you now, Prey…”

***

     Michèle was speechless as he watched the scene play out, not just one, but four Archon Stones in the goblin’s possession. He was not ready for the impact of the shockwave or the intense pain as his eardrums burst. Dazed he staggered, dimly aware of the chaos going on around him, his Rotary guns reduced to slag heaps, his soldiers pinned down in icy coffins. His Officers pinned to trees held there by innumerable needles of ice, each pin missing their flesh by the breadth of a hair. 

     He felt his body warm up uncomfortably as his hearing suddenly returned. Whipping his head up he saw that Priestess with eyes a flame like the gods of this world, raise her saber to point at him. The magic coming from her like an immense weight, as if the ocean itself was pressing down on him. 

     The next instant she was in front of him, fury and sadness filling the sockets of fire. He knelt before her, getting to her eye level, fear pinning him to the spot. His body shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm, he supposed if he was going to die… this would be the way to do it. 

     The tip of her saber was under his chin in an instant. He didn’t even see her move, it just existed there. “Your King told you to give us a chance.” 

     “I don’t know how you know that, but…” He stammered out as his teeth clattered together. 

     “You were told to not attack unless we refused to give you the guilty. I will release you and all your men on one condition. You will wait here until I return with the one who killed your ambassadors. I wanted nothing more than to speak with you, I wanted to avoid all this blood, I wanted peace. I was so close to changing the perception of my people to yours. Now I fear, no. I am afraid of you humans, we did not provoke you here.” She said, though her words were absolute. The humming coming from her backlit by her words, like she was the only real thing that had ever existed. Arcane energy arcing from her to the ground and back again. 

     “I gave no orders, I commanded them to stop. I tried to stop them.” He retorted, testing his luck. 

     “So I saw. In time, I will expect answers. Though, for now, I want to speak with the King when I come back with your guilty suspect. Singular, might I add. I should mention, I warned him about the Delegation, and he didn’t listen to me. I suppose you and I have that in common.” With that the saber tip left his chin, turning away she walked away back to the forest. Stopping only a moment to pick up one final body, carrying it like a child.

*** 

     “Change of plans, Halgier.” Gjorn said, wide eyed. He was speaking that strange language to someone he couldn’t hear, presumably giving some report. 

     “I see that, my my my, what a powder keg we came across. What’s this change in plans?”

     “We need to start spreading some dissonance in the City, tell the people of Galus of the crimes that were committed here. We need the people angry with their King and Military if this is going to work out.” He belted out quickly. 

     “I’m going to trust that you will tell me this plan eventually.” Halgier sighed, though in this case he just saw a potential problem with the girl he had taken a fancy too. Seems her heart belonged to someone else at the moment. Whatever plans Gjorn had, it at least gave him a chance to get closer to her, maybe even offer protection to the goblins from any further retaliatory action.