A day after Zadione''s hearing, Haleema gets word of Zadione leading an attack on Galfalian and Stoneglen. Ulrika and I are practicing different forms of hand-to-hand combat situations together in one of Thyrna''s private rooms in her school when we hear the news. I have one of Haleema''s portal rings so that when I''m ready, I can leave on my own accord. She says one of Oraya''s soldiers will be waiting for me in the library before making a prompt exit through a portal.


    "Sounds bad down there. Do you want to head there now?" Ulrika says. She''s sweaty, out of breath, and red in the face. Unless she takes an elixir, we are not going anywhere.


    "Once we''re rested," I say.


    "Very well." She grabs her boots next to the doorway before heading out. I grab my boots and follow after her. She stands in the middle of the hallway, looking at Hayden chatting with a female student. He''s putting all of his weight on leaning against the wall. Her arms are crossed, and her waist is shifted over her right hip. She''s actively engaging with whatever he is saying. When I pass them, I overhear him gloating battles against Nite.


    "Oh, hey guys!" Hayden says. "Remember the time when I was slaying cultists in Thaa Alora?" Ulrika rolls her eyes and continues walking. "Kaioson." He jumps in front of me. "Do you remember?"


    "Hayden," I say like I''m sighing. "What are you doing here?"


    "Fraternizing with any woman he finds!" Ulrika says


    "I am not," he says and tries his best to keep his cool in front of the student. "I''m not," he says softly to the student. I roll my eyes too and continue walking. "Kaioson, wait a sec!"


    "What do you want?"


    "I want to journey with you two down south."


    "Why didn''t you go with Haleema?"


    "I was," he says, looking over his shoulder to see where the student is. "Busy with work. Are you guys heading straight there?"


    "No," Ulrika says before I can open my mouth to say the same thing. "You go find a way there. My husband and I need to rest."


    "How long will that take?"


    "As long as I want it to be," she says in his face. "Leave us." She jabs four of her fingers into his chest. He walks back over to the woman to resume talking. "Darling," she says and then bumps my hip with her hip.


    "Yes?" I say.


    "Let''s bathe together."


    "Bathe?" I say, nearly gasping. "Ulrika, we can''t do that here. The men and women have separate rooms."


    "If I keep my voice low and cover my crotch, the men won''t notice," she whispers between giggles.


    "Ulrika..."


    "I''m just kidding!"


    "Gods," I say, holding my face with my hand over my eyes. "So, my home?"


    I set up all the things Ulrika and I need to relax in the tub. The water is hot the way she likes it. I add a Kromagian soap ball to make the water more soapy. The flowery fragrance fills the bathroom, the more it dissolves into bubbles. Once it is all gone, the white pedals inside of it float on top of the suds.


    Ulrika hopes in first and submerges herself in the water for a few seconds. Some of the pedals adhere to her skin. She then takes a sponge and immediately cleans herself. By the time I join her, she''s nearly done. The last part of her body she needs to clean is her back.


    "Kaio?" She says, turning her back to me. I''m so focused on how big her back has gotten that I don''t realize she''s trying to hand me the sponge.


    "Sorry. I was distracted."


    "Hmm?" I tell her she''s getting bigger again while I clean her back. Apart from her back, her arms, legs, chest, and ass has gotten more prominent.


    "We''ve been training hard, haven''t we?"


    "In war, you must be at tip top shape." She turns around while I''m trying to clear her back. Even though she isn''t flexing, her physique is immaculate. Her muscles are showing more. She''s beginning to favor a toned look like mine.


    "Is that a golden rule?"


    "Yes," she says and turns around. I continue scrubbing the last parts of her back. "Plus, I''m a woman. Naturally, I''m weak. I have to double my efforts in everything I do."


    "At this rate, you''ll surpass me, my love," I say, snickering a bit. "Don''t overexert yourself," I gently say. I sink my hands underwater and sterilize the water in an explosion of heat. The bubbles evaporate and the foggy water turns clear. She drops in another soap ball and takes the sponge from me.


    "I''ll do what''s necessary for us."


    "That sounds... ominous, don''t you think?" She faintly smiles. "Don''t do anything crazy."


    "No promises, Kaioson. I love you too much to let anything bad happen to you."


    After our bath, we sit on my bed in our underwear, discussing a backup plan just in case the fight in the succubus land turns for the worst. If the worst is to come, I will use the portal ring to take us to my room. The current plan we have agreed upon is to minimize fighting alone. She wants me to stay close as much as possible. I feel like I''m a child being told to stay close to my mother.


    "Why must I do this again?" I say.


    "To ensure your survival." Before I can respond and breathe a response, she tells me to shut up with a stern point. I try to speak again, but I can''t get past her nonverbal commands. "I can''t leave you out of my sights again."


    "I was fine. She didn''t see through my design."


    "What if she did, hmm? They would have kept you a prisoner." My heart sinks in my stomach when I picture how she would react. All I can see is an endless worry for my safety and vengeful anger toward anyone causing me harm.


    "Yeah..."


    "We''ll join the front after I find someone to make improvements to our gear."


    "Why?" I say, glancing at them on the floor. She grabs my gear and spreads it out on the floor. Each set is placed as if someone is lying on the ground.


    "Look at the cracks and rips." I don''t have to look since I already know the condition of the leather and metal. "I''m not letting you go out there wearing this."


    "Fair enough. Let''s find an armorer."


    Ulrika wants to speak with Bearbolt in hopes she can point us in the right direction to the best armorer that can craft gear to our specific needs. We travel south near the southern gate to enter the garrison. She finds someone willing to do the work for free because of our Paladin affiliation. The armorer provides us with different outfits to choose from. His team hammers gauntlets, offers shin guards, and provides leather gloves and sturdy, lightweight boots for us.


    "This''ll do well for us," Ulrika says. "Thanks."


    The armorer''s assistant loads all of our equipment on a mule to take us back home. Ulrika rides in the back while I walk beside it.


    "Hey, Kaio." Ulrika says.


    "Hm?"


    "What if we had boys instead of girls?"


    "Will you be mad if we do?"


    "No," she says and sighs. "I''ll just ask you for more children." I chuckle at the idea of her trying to make children until she can bring forth daughters. I''m apprehensive she''ll harm herself. Births look taxing. I don''t know if the strongest woman I know can go through that if we don''t get our girls on the first attempt.


    "You are crazy, my love," I say.


    "Am I?"


    "What if it takes five tries?"


    "Then we''ll be a big family," she says and crosses her arms over her stomach. "I don''t mind having sons."


    "You don''t?" She shakes her head, no. "Why? I thought you only wanted daughters."


    "Because it isn''t a guarantee. You can''t always give me what I want."


    "Sure, I can. I have spoken it," I whisper.


    "Kaioson..."


    "Yes, my love?"


    "Can we leave a few days from now? I want us to enjoy our time together before going."


    "Yes."


    **


    Ulrika and I arrive in the south via a portal. I open it in front of the library. A succubus guarding the building alongside another guard jogs over to me. Ulrika grabs the handle of her sword but doesn''t reach over to pull it out.


    "Are you Kaioson?" The guard says.


    "I am," I say.


    "And you," she says, looking at Ulrika when her head is slightly tilted. "You''re Ulrika, yes?"


    "Mhmm," Ulrika says.


    "Excellent. Glysith is waiting inside. Follow me, please." The guard guides us inside a room filled with succubus conversing around a map table. Glysith is sitting on a chair in the corner of the room next to them.


    "You came!" Glysith says, jumping out of her seat. The succubus around the table ceases their chatter and looks at us. "Come." Glysith walks me to them with her on my back and the other on my arm. I stand near shoulder to shoulder with them. Ulrika quickly inserts herself between the one on my right. The circle moves over to fit us within the group. "Ladies, bring them up to speed."


    "Kromagian," a succubus head of me says. "Your people are taking on a sec west from here in our most fertile lands." The succubus to my left points around the map where my people are. "Haleema and some of the Paladins out there too, so there isn''t much to worry about around there."


    "Good," I say. "What about your forces? Where are the majority of them located?"


    "North with our beloved, Oraya," the succubus standing to my right says to me. She points at Stoneglen. "It''s not looking too good there, sir." Her calling me sir catches me off guard. "We''re also hearing reports that Thubet is under attack too."


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    "You''ve got to be kidding me."


    "Does she have enough soldiers to open two fronts?" Ulrika says.


    "With the orc, drow, and fairy nations on her side, it''s possible," Glysith says. "I heard you were teleported to Orc lands. Did you see an army there?"


    "No," I say. "Just locals."


    "Okay," she says, sighing, and then stands behind me to look over my shoulder. "Haleema is north of Stoneglen." She shows me a portal ring on her finger and says, "Whenever you two are ready, we''ll be on the battlefield."


    "We''re ready."


    "May the gods protect you three," a succubus says. Every one of them wishes us well in their way. I hear three of them ask for Xanlos for protection. Another group bows their heads and mumbles something under their breath. One kisses her finger before touching our foreheads. I feel a cold shiver rush down my face. It reaches my chest and turns into a soothing warmth.


    "Why did you do to me?" Ulrika says.


    "It''s called a succulent farewell," Glysith says. "We''ve been enchanted with a boost to our mana, including our stamina."


    "Oh... wonderful."


    "Thank you," I say. "We will use this well."


    "Weild your weapons," Glysith says. I stand clear before pulling out my sword. She activates the ring in front of me. It puts behind a row of Paladins fighting the cultists. "No! They''ve pushed us back! This was a secured line the last time I was here!"


    "When was that?" Ulrika says.


    "Less than half an hour ago."


    "It sounds like a counterattack. Kaio, are you ready?"


    "Ready!" I say. She steps through with her sword raised. A man immediately tries attacking her. She backs away from the portal while deafening herself. I chase after them without checking the people around the portal. A man rams into me when I step out. He goes for a swing but I conjure my sword to pierce his chest. "Fuck," I say. "They are all over the place!" Soldiers rush me from all sides. I block, parry, retreat, and strike until none of them are standing. Two men and three women lay dead me. The battlefield wastes no time in sending more soldiers to kill. I can''t even get the chance to search where Ulrika is or see where most of the allies are.


    "Kaioson!" Glysith says and then throws me in the air with telekinesis. The tip of a cultist''s spiked mace grazes the fabric of my pants. I swing down at his head, splitting it in half down the neck.


    "Thanks for the assist!" I say.


    "I got you covered." We stand back to back with a few feet between us. Anyone approaching her gets violently tossed into people or the sky. "My people are getting slaughtered. There are too many of them."


    "Maybe I could drop their numbers."


    "How?"


    "With a spell." I shove all of my fingers into the ground. Lava streams underground. I reach as many cultists as I can. The lava erupts all around me. It burns an unusable amount of cultists close and far.


    "Amazing!"


    "I couldn''t reach the ones furthest away."


    "Let''s get closer so you can."


    The succubus army advances, pushing the battle line closer to the cultist. I drive my fingers into the ground for a second time. The eruption takes out the ones attacking the line and several forces behind them. Our line steadily advances on the retreating cultists. Glysith singles out a few of them with her power. Their bodies rip apart as she uses them as blunt objects against them. I can''t watch without feeling sick. The succubi cheer her on and tell her to continue slaughtering them.


    "I wish I could, sisters!" Glysith says and puts her arms down. "I don''t want to deplete all of my mana!"


    "You should stay out of the battlefield to preserve your energy, sister," a succubus says in front of her. "So should you, kromagian. I think we can keep them at bay."


    "I''m," I say before the ground explodes in front of the line. Everyone flies several feet back. I lose my sword in the explosion. A succubus near the front line hurls into me. I catch her with my body. "What the hell was that?" I say, writhing in pain. I try to sit up, but she won''t move. "Hey, can you get up?" She doesn''t say a word. She''s quiet and motionless. I look over her shoulder to see her face. There''s blood coming out of her eyes, nose, and mouth.


    More explosions take out our forces. I roll away from the deceased succubus to get a better look at the carnage. The cultists aren''t moving. I can''t tell what''s hitting our forces. No one stands out to me. I can''t sense any impulse of magic.


    "What''s going on?" I say. "Who is hitting us?" The explosions get closer to me. It zig zags, blowing up the succubi into pieces. Moments before it reaches me, I try to use my sword to get out of its path, but something teleports me in a flash of light away from it. I see it again out of the corner of my eye. Ulrika suddenly shows up in a flash of lightning with Glysith beside me, seconds after an explosion goes.


    "Ulrika?" Glysith says. Ulrika sits on the ground, pantining.


    "Just in time," Ulrika says. The explosions stop. The cultist split their line to allow someone to walk between them. They''re too far away from me to get a good look at them.


    "Who''s that?" I say.


    "Let me check," Glysith says. Her pupils dilate and then constrict back to normal. "It''s a woman with red eyes and white hair. Is that... her?"


    "Yes."


    "Xanlos, protect us," she whispers with her head down and eyes closed.


    "What is she doing?" Ulrika says. Glysith''s eyes dilate again.


    Glysith says Zadione is walking up to our line. She doesn''t look happy or angry. Her eyes are focused on the succubi closest to her. She''s not armed nor clothed in armor. Her hair is tied behind her head. Glysith says an archer can take Zadione out, but no one dares enough to attack her.


    "Let''s kill her," Ulrika says. "She''s right there. We should all attack her."


    "I don''t think that would be wise," I say.


    "No, we should," Glysih says. "She''s getting more and more isolated from her demons." Moments after her statement, two succubi runs at Zadione. She points to the sky and the ground underneath one of the succubi explodes. It almost kills the second succubus. She continues running towards her. Zadione pulls out her golden sword from nothing and merely flicks her hand out to the succubus. The sword flies through her, into five other succubi, and narrowly misses Glysith. It vanishes in thin air a second later.


    "By the gods," Ulrika says under her breath. Glysith trembles. She puts her hand over her mouth and starts crying.


    "Glysith, are you all right?" I say. She clears her tears, swallows her mucus, and nods once.


    "What is Zadione doing now?"


    "She..." Glysith says and gets cut off by Zadione speaking telepathically.


    "Hello, my disobedient children," Zadione says. "Where is Oraya?" No one speaks a word. I look around to see if I can find her. "Oraya! Stand before me, now! Or I''ll level this field!"


    "I''m here!" Oraya says somewhere to my left. I hear a commotion. Succubi, a distance away from the disturbance, ran over to it.


    "What''s going on?" Ulrika says.


    "Glysith?" I say.


    Glysith''s ears focus in on the crowd. Zadione looks at them, then walks towards them. The succubi form a circle around someone. Glysith runs over there with her sword in hand. Ulrika and I run together behind Glysith. Once I get closer, I realize what''s going on. Oraya is wounded. There''s a makeshift bandage wrapped around her right leg. She wants to confront Zadione, but her people refuse to get out of her way. They beg her to sit down. Some say flee back to Galfalian.


    "Oraya!" Zadione says. "Get on your feet, girl, and come before me!"


    "How dare she say that," a succubus says and then snarls, showing her fangs.


    "Control yourself," Oraya says. "All of you. Now, somebody help me over to her." With the hold of two succubi, she stumbles over to Zadione. The protective circle around her goes around Zadione. I get close to them, but I stay out of sight of Zadione. "What do you want?"


    "You know exactly what I want. Surrender before I tear your stratocracy asunder." Out of the corner of my right eye, I see Glysith slowly back away. She swirls her fingers. I can see transparent magic build around her hair like a heat vapor. "For the sake of your people, pick wisely, child. I am not in a forgiving mood at the moment."


    "What shall it be, sisters?"


    "No surrender!" All of the succubi scream in a thunderous war cry.


    "Have it your way!" Zadione says.


    Oraya attacks Zadione without warning when she takes one of her soldiers'' weapons. With every gnarl, she tries to power through the pain. Zadione blocks every swing like it is nothing. Oraya falls to the ground when Zadione sidesteps away from a jab. She kicks Oraya''s sword out of her hands, puts an arm around her, and stands her up facing us.


    "Witness a new beginning, my children!" Zadione says and plows her sword through Oraya''s stomach.


    All of the succubi wildly rush Zadione. No one stands a chance. One by one and sometimes simultaneously, they die. Glysith begins to walk towards the carnage. I want to join her, but Ulrika intervenes. She grabs my belt to hold me in place.


    "Ulrika, don''t," I say. When I push her away, she yanks me to the ground. "Ulrika? What are you doing?"


    "Can''t you see we''ve lost?" Ulrika says. An explosion goes off. She hits the ground, protecting her head with her arms. "Fuck! We need to get out of here!"


    "We need to help!"


    "No! We''ll die here! She''s too powerful!" I don''t fully see that. Zadione is skillful with a sword. She seems to be using explosives at a distance. If Glysith and Ulrika overwhelm her with magic, we can kill her.


    "We can take her."


    "No, we can''t!"


    "We must try!" She tries to grab me when I take off, but misses.


    "Kaioson, no!"


    "Glysith, toss her around!" Glysith throws Zadione into the air before she can strike the soldiers. She slams her into the ground hard enough to loosen the band holding her hair back. She goes for a second slam, but Zadione suddenly breaks the telekinetic tether by slicing it with a sword. "Oh, crap! She can see it just like you can."


    "You!" Zadione says, pointing at Glysith. The second she lets go of her sword, it aims for Glysith. I conjure my sword to intercept. They collide tip-first. Sparks fly as they rub against each other. Her sword goes over Glysith''s head. It pierces the ground and disappears. I conjure my sword immediately into my hand. "It''s you," Zadione says with her eyes flushed open. Her sword blips into her hand. She blows away the succubi in her way with force magic, making a clearing. "You seem to be everywhere," she says, chuckling.


    "I''ll go anywhere to stop you," I say.


    "Dedicated," she says and snickers. "I must admit, Kromagian, that disguise was good. I had no idea you weren''t a drow." A succubus attempts to attack her. She turns the succubus''s head to face the other direction without looking or touching her. Glysith screams and then tries to use her powers on her. "Not so fast." She negates Glysith''s magic. I sweep my hand to blast her away before she can attempt a sudden fatal move. "Is that the best you can unleash?"


    "I know things that would rip you apart."


    "Me too." She hits me with the same force. It kicks up dirt in my face. A second force slams me to the ground as if someone yanked me from my shoulders. She leaps into the air with her sword over her head. Ulrika twirls her in the air. I use my sword to leap in the air to get an easy kill. Zadione notices me coming. Her eyes hawk me down at every turn. She parries my sword without looking and grabs me by the throat.


    "Oh, no!" Ulrika screams.


    "I could kill right now faster than the blink of an eye." I quickly pull out my dagger and aim for her stomach. "Not so fast, boy!" She grabs the bend of my arm before I fully straighten it. I struggle to move my arm. It feels like she''s two times strong as me. I don''t sense any force being applied. "Wanna hear something weird?" She says, straining.


    "I rather not," I say, straining too.


    "Let him go!" Ulrika says. She appears above our heads in a flash of lightning. Zadione shocks her out of the sky with purple lightning. The lightning electrocutes me. I lose all feeling within my body and awareness for a moment. When I regain it, she has me in a headlock.


    "Let me go!" I get a good elbow shot to her stomach, but it''s not enough to break her grip.


    "No," Zadione says through her teeth and wraps her legs around my stomach. Her arm gets tighter. "You will witness my power." A green book appears floating to my right. It scrolls through pages and lands on one. It is written in the Kromagian and Elven languages. She reads the elven lines while I read ahead with the Kromagian words. It''s an Earth-bending spell. The ground swallows and buries the dead bodies. The living succubi get trapped underneath, too.


    "Glysith! Get Ulrika and Portal out of here!" I say. Ulrika is unconscious behind me. It looks like wherever Zadione is looking, the terraforming consumes all of the soldiers. Glysith brings Ulrika''s body to her and opens a portal behind her moments before she catches her. They safely exit the field with moments to spare.


    "That is a taste of what I can do!" Zadione says. Her spell consumes everyone. There is nothing left. All that remains is tilled soil. "There is no one who can stop me."


    "We will stop you."


    "With what, hmm?" She says, and partly chokes me with her arm. "My Paragons will take Thubet''s kingdom, the succubi are done for, and my people will overtake the lands that remain." Her arm softened. "What is your name?" she whispers.


    "I''m not telling you."


    "If you don''t tell me, I will shove my sword through your back and let you bleed out."


    "It''s Kaioson."


    "See you around, Kaioson. I have a job to finish." She tries to strangle me. The more I struggle and resist, the harder she squeezes. "Fine then," she says, giggling. "I''ll do this."


    She tells me to sleep. Her voice echoes. My body goes limp, and my eyelids drop over my eyes. Everything goes dark. I can''t breathe. When I try to gasp for air, I wake up to the moon out in the sky. I can barely see where I am. The ground feels soft. I set up several fire orbs to light up the ground.


    I''m on the battlefield?


    Ulrika''s safety immediately comes to mind. I look around to see if I can find the city, but it''s too dark to tell which direction I''m facing.


    "Point me to Galfalian," I say to my sword. For some odd reason, I can''t feel its presence. I reach behind my back to find it not in the scabbard. "Who took my sword?!" I hold my palm flat out so when I call my sword, the direction of the handle will show me where it is. It warps instead of traveling because of the huge distance it has to cover to reach me instantaneously. The handle is pointing to the right.


    So, that''s where you were, huh?


    The second I take a step to see where my sword is, I hear a thud to my right. I grab my sword and face the noise. It''s a portal. I can''t see who''s inside, but judging by the dark silhouettes and multitude of voices, I fight might occur.


    "Who goes there?" I say.


    "By the gods, he''s alive?" Hayden says.


    "Ulrika! We found him!" Glysith says.


    "Kaioson!" Ulrika says, sprinting out of portal. She screams my name again. I can''t tell if she''s happy, sad, or pissed to see me. "Kaioson, you fucking idiot!" She slows down moments before tackling me to the ground, sits in my lap, and grabs me by the shirt to keep me close to her. Her eyes are flooded with tears, and some of them fly on my face.


    "Easy," I say. "You''re going to rip my shirt off."


    "I don''t fucking care! I''m so pissed with you right now!"


    "I''m sorry."


    "Guys!" Glysith says. "Get inside before something bad happens."


    Ulrika stands me to my feet and demands I run into the portal. She runs close behind with one hand always touching. The portal closes when we make it through. Glysith is the first person to praise my safety. She hugs me and then ends up weeping. I look around to see where I am. We''re in a well-lit room with chairs and a square table in the middle of the room. Haleema is sitting in a chair next to a door. She''s bloody, but I don''t see any bandages on her.


    "What''s wrong?" I say.


    "Zadione won. Her army overwhelmed our entire military," Glysith says.


    "What about the Kromagians and the Paladins?"


    "We were outnumbered," Haleema says. "She used her new Paragons, drows, orcs, and her fucking cultist to destroy us."


    "She didn''t pull any punches," Hayden says. "While you were believed to be dead, we got word that Thubet''s kingdom was taken within hours."


    "Gods," I say. "What are we going to do now?"


    "Pray for a miracle," Haleema says.