《Liminal Radiance: Path Of Old Dreams》 1 - Creatures in the Fog

The forest of Wilhemspyre

A few hours from the capital.

¡°What kind of title is Godqueen anyways? I mean, really? She could have had Divine Envoy. Oh, wait!¡± The voice belonged to a young woman. Moonlight poured into the carriage and illuminated her skin. With a smile on her lips, Tharia rested her head against the cushions and snapped her fingers. ¡°Divine. Empress. That¡¯s a title with dignity. I would have taken that title and the people would have loved it. There are still people in the capital, aren¡¯t there? I mean, would be silly to go there with everyone dead... they¡¯ve got to be alright¡±, her voice took on a somber tone, yet the fake smile quickly crept back on her face by sheer habit. Her joviality was a tried and tested mask. She knew full well the others weren¡¯t listening. But she couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°So what do you think happened? In the capital I mean. Did they go from divine love to g?tterd?mmerung and eternal curses? How did that happen? Did the king cheat on the goddess? Wait, maybe she did?¡± A grumbling voice cut into her monologue. ¡°Lad, shut it¡± The gruff old man sitting opposite her shot the girl an angry glance. Tharia fell silent. Lad. Boy. Man. Despite all the years, the words still had a sting to it. She knew well herself, that at best she could be described as boyish looking. The short black hair didn¡¯t help and what little shape she had, she all too consciously hid underneath saggy clothes. She took a deep breath. It mattered little. Her voluptuous sister could have all the marriage proposals now and reap mind-numbing back pain later. Tharia felt a moment of guilt ¨C that was decidedly too much glee for her own taste but she couldn¡¯t help it. In the end, it wasn¡¯t her sister that deserved her ire. The sole reason she was waltzing head first into the fallen capital was her brother. He was the heir apparent to the noble Verholden House and a true demon at heart. Tomboy this, a human failure that. He had subjected her to a nonstop torrent of derision and abuse. The girl absentmindedly brushed a hand over her knees, as a thundering voice cut her self-pity short. ¡°Get out here, we¡¯ve got company¡± It belonged to a mountain of a woman. Even sitting, she would tower above everyone else and the normally massive horse underneath positively looked like a pony in comparison. That woman was the mercenary leader. Tharia still considered her overpaid but had little recourse in the matter. So far, the woman had been very professional. There was also the coachman with the villain goatee. He was alright as well. Just the old rifleman seemed to have it out for her. She quietly watched him climb out of the speeding carriage. He groaned and grunted all the way. A knock from the roof was followed by a grunt. ¡°Brat, hand me my rifle and then sit still. The second you cause us trouble, we¡¯ll classify you as cargo instead¡±, he growled from upside. Tharia quietly handed him the rifle but not without scratching the wooden handle with her nail. She could be properly petty at times. A strong winded tousled her short hair and she realized the door was still open, allowing her a closer look at their surroundings. The carriage thundered through the forest at a breakneck pace with thick fog chasing it. The weather itself seemed alive as if it were trying to grasp the vehicle with white tendrils. A clicking noise drew her attention back towards the roof. That shifty old bugger used the scope on the rifle to examine the fog. While the rifle looked primitive, the scope was anything but. It was a weird brass contraption with a wide arrangement of lenses that could be slotted in at will. Each of the lenses also had a strange resting place within a crown of vials. With sure motions that betrayed the expert, the rifleman slotted in another lens, followed by the familiar clicking sound. ¡°It¡¯s not Drudenfuss, I¡¯ll tell you that¡±, he said while butchering the pronunciation. Tharia only knew the basic principle of the scope. Otherseer, they called it, somehow coating the lenses with various herbs made it easier to see the fallen creatures. She thought it a superstition until the scope suddenly glowed a faint blue. ¡°Engelwurz. Hm, not quite but close. Boss, we might need to setup a perimeter¡±, he shouted. Another click followed. ¡°Bloody abyss! No, no, no. Damn it, Whiskerhushs! Yeah, definitely¡±, he shouted at the top of his lungs. Tharia¡¯s heart started to hammer in her chest, she had no idea what kind of creature it was, but the man¡¯s reaction scared her. She felt the sudden urge to talk, to say something. Her hands were restless and nestled with her shirt. ¡°Wouldn''t it be funny to die just miles off the capital? You¡¯re professionals. That won''t happen. You wouldn¡¯t leave me alone, right? Of course not, no. Absolutely not. Don¡¯t leave me alone¡±, she muttered and upon a glance from the giantess, she put a hand above her mouth to muffle her sounds but still kept on talking. Cursed nervous habits. Trying to distract herself, she quickly pulled the door shut and pressed herself into the cushions. Shhh, you¡¯re not a coward, she told herself. Hush, it¡¯ll just go away. Like all the times father screamed at her for things she didn¡¯t do and the person she wasn''t born as. The leader was shouting outside, ¡°Why ain¡¯t we stopping?¡± ¡°No can do, honey, the horses have gone wild¡±, replied the coachman from up front. ¡°Try anyway. Alright everyone, Whiskerhushs, remember your training. Aim for...¡± Tharia suddenly realized that complete and perfect silence had encompassed her. The giantess outside was still shouting, but no sound reached the girl. Her eyes started to itch and when she rubbed them, red blood ran down her fingers. Confused, she shook her head and was rewarded by a throbbing headache and more blood, this time dripping down her lips. She felt a slight disturbance of wind and whipped around, only to come face to face with a catlike creature. Behind it, the carriage door had simply disappeared halfway with the beast sitting on the rest of it. At first glance, the creature looked like an oversized kitten that has had a bad hair day. That impression was quickly lost when she saw the gnarly horns growing from the creatures head. A faint sense of motion made her stare at the two tails that were vibrating in a weird way. Right, Whiskerhush fit it well, although she would have called it Mister Fluffythorn. ¡°Easy there¡±, she mouthed with no sound coming out of her lips. The silence was unnerving. Panicking, she reached underneath the bench and pulled out a sheathed sword. Why wasn¡¯t the beast doing anything? Why did it just stare? The pain increased in intensity just as the creature in front of her suddenly unfurled. It was a grotesque sight, part of the fur just divided to make place for bony tendrils held together by a glistening membrane. With this, all semblances with a cat were gone. The creature hooked its sharp claws into the carriage and then simply stared at her. Intense bouts of nausea clouded her mind and her chest hurt more than before. Despite all that, this wasn¡¯t it. Not yet. These beasts weren¡¯t what send her spark into hysteria. The constant healing done by the spark had started to weaken as it distributed itself across her body. Almost instantly, intense mind numbing pain shut up from her legs. She pushed the issue aside and instead whacked the Whiskerhush upon its head. Glancing at the sheer ineffectiveness of the attack she wanted to punch herself. Alright, girl. Use your brain. Unsheathe weapon, poke monster. Celebrate success. With her entire body shivering she finally drew the sword free and then stabbed the Whiskerhush. Within the carriage, there was just no room for swings. The creature just sat there and allowed it to happen. Without providing any form of resistance, the blade drove into it until she just pulled it out again with seemingly no effect, safe for greenish looking blood on the monster¡¯s coat. The beast just titled the ugly head in curiosity. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡±, she tried to say with no success. More out of instinct than purpose, she stabbed it again and again, with no more success than before. Her grip on the sword faltered. Worthless girl. Look, father, you shall get your wish, she thought. This is why he had sent her out after all. It was a convenient way to get rid of her, with the remote chance to free her much more valuable brother. Sudden spite and anger welled up within her. She leaned back into the bench and lifted her legs. The divine spark within was busy healing the weird bleeding and a bit of pain seeped through her spine. Regardless, she just flat out kicked the Whiskerhush into its ugly face with all her might. Something audibly crunched! Confused she realized the sudden sound as the Whiskerhush toppled out of the carriage. Noises came rushing in like the fist of a titan. She closed her eyes for a bit. Just a second. The mercenary woman had warned her but she just had to. ¡°Shite, the girl is dead¡±, she suddenly heard a far too loud female voice. Tharia felt properly miserable. Every part of her body ached, most of it came rushing in from her lower half. The divine spark was in overdrive, desperately trying to repair damage in too many places. She forced her eyes open again and noticed the sky above her. The carriage had stopped and she seemingly had passed out. ¡°Nevermind, the client is still moving¡±, the warrior-lady with the mean looking tree-trunk of an axe gave her a nod and then shouted to the rifleman a few steps away ¡°Try hitting something. Preferably not the trees or another of the horses¡± "Had to stop them" "Sick puppy"This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The girl ignored her surroundings as she suddenly felt odd. Her belly felt like complete chaos with the energy bouncing everywhere, but there was more to it. The flame felt nervous. Somehow, her bloodred hands paled in comparison to that feeling of dread from within. ¡°Something is coming¡±, Tharia spoke with a hoarse voice. ¡°Yeah, more of those pests¡±, she giantess had seemingly heard her and replied with snark coating her words. Without breaking a sweat, she swung her oversized axe like a toy and simply splattered a Whiskerhush underneath it. But no matter, very quickly a second and a third of the beasts had shown up. They circled the woman and suddenly, the sound took on a weirdly squashed tone. That was the moment the gentle voice from the coachman reached her ears. He smiled in her direction. ¡°I told them you were more resilient than that¡± Everything about him was just her type but whenever she looked at him, the spark would get very agitated. No matter, he had a sudden look of concern on his face and pointed at her legs. They were bent in odd and unhealthy ways. ¡°Girl, that ain¡¯t right. They should not bend that way¡± ¡°Give me a minute, it will be fine¡± He raised his eyebrows as if to ask: How are you going to do that but was distracted by a sudden hiss. Weirdly muffled sounds introduced the appearance of more Whiskerhushs. The coachman lifted a finger, gave her an exasperated smile and then whirled around with a club in hand. In quick and trained motions, he batted away the Whiskerhush and then smashed the two tails with two smacks. Instantly, the sound returned to normal but by now the Coachman was distracted with more feline pests prowling out of the bushes. Tharia used the opportunity to look at her own legs. The man was correct. They didn¡¯t look the way they should. They hadn¡¯t in years but without the spark to bridge the spine, they rested in odd angles. That was her little secret too. She reached down with her hands and set them back the way they should be. Right direction too. It looked extremely painful but she didn¡¯t even grunt. This wasn¡¯t some form of stupid bravado, there was just no more feeling left in them. No more and not yet. Once she had set them right again, she send her mind inside of her belly. The divine spark was abuzz, a fluttering tiny flame that whizzed about. It was in distress, her body was in such disarray that it didn¡¯t know where to start and there was still the looming presence. Using her conscious mind, she guided the spark back towards her spine and then altered the shape into a sphere. Immediately, agonizing pain shot through her body. Her muscles spasmed and she hit her head against the bench, as her body contracted from pain. The feeling was back. Oh, bloody abyss was it back. Damn you, brother. Damn you straight to the halls of the abyss. Tharia hated the pain but welcomed it back. A goddess she had come to call friend had given her the spark years ago after her brother had broken her spine by ¡®accident¡¯. But she quickly realized it not only helped her back but allowed her to heal any damage inside and out within reason. Yet the more she used it, the weaker it got until lately it was little more than a flicker. Her family didn¡¯t care, they made her use it at every opportunity. Dear sister, my skin is bruised, my suitor can¡¯t see me this way. Dear daughter, be useful please and cure my cough. That was it, her trick, her saving grace. She stubbornly bit her own lip in an attempt to dull the pain with another source of it. Without warning, something landed next to her with a wet thud and brought her mind back to the battle. It was the dead body of a whiskerhush. ¡°Sorry ¡®bout that¡±, the other woman said with a smirk, ¡°Girl if you can, setup the barrier. You bragged about that, so get to it¡± Right, the barrier. Quickly nodding, she took two wobbly steps towards what remained of the back of the carriage. Luckily, the box was still there. Grabbing it with both hands, she stumbled out of the carriage and took a quick glance of her surroundings. The leader held the massive weapon with two hands. Her swings had little finesse but given the size of the implement, she didn¡¯t need it. Just sheer overwhelming force. And she swung with abandon, sending feline monsters flying. Most landed on the ground but occasionally, one of them smacked into a tree with a satisfying crunch. The rifleman didn¡¯t fare too well though. His rifle was ill-suited to close combat and he struggled to shoot the quick beasts. Several of them had circled them and the lack of sounds meant they were attacking him. During this, they were stationary but the man was already bleeding from most of his orifices. It was a weird thing to watch happen. The tails weren¡¯t just vibrating, they seemed to phase in and out of existence in weird circular patterns. Visible shockwaves echoed from them towards the rifleman. Shaking her head, she tried to run, but her legs wouldn¡¯t support it. Falling flat on her face, she cursed. The spark had given in. It too weak to heal all the damage and maintain the connection at the same time. So instead she crawled forward, dragging her lower half behind her. At least this meant the pain was gone again. She didn¡¯t need a lot of room, just enough to form a circle. She reached into the box and pulled out an eight-armed candelabra. Every part of it was covered in signs that hurt to look at and constantly slid out of view. Instead of candles though, this one sported chains attached to the arms. Tharia rammed the candelabra into the ground and then went about stretching each of the chains as taut as she could. A subtle hum started to echo. Once she had done that, she pulled out eight actual candles and then placed them at the end of the chains. A hefty sweat had formed on her forehead. With the adrenaline ebbing, she came close to her limit. It was a freaky sensation to feel the body shut down and then be kicked back into gear by a foreign little flame doing its best - but without rest, it would be a losing proposition. One by one, she placed the candles at the end of the chains until suddenly all eight of them burst into blue flames. The figure of a faceless woman in ceremonial robes shimmered in the air. "Holy Bethany, protective patron of the barrier", she said as if introducing someone. With that, a blueish dome sprung up around Tharia and not a moment too soon. Another Whiskerhush had sneaked past her companions. It stared at her and seconds later, she saw the tell-tale flicker of the tails but this time, the Whiskerhush crumpled and shrieked in pain instead. She was safe. The barrier was up. All she had to do was invite her companions into the circle. A simple phrase would be all it took. The barrier was smart in a primitive way. But she hesitated and slumped onto the ground. The young woman curled into a fetal position. Just say the words. Speak them, help them and let them in. Why aren¡¯t you helping them? They¡¯re dying! Her mind knew this all too well. She tried to get up and speak, but she couldn¡¯t. This wasn¡¯t her first barrier. As a child, she had used them to get away from her abusive family. No one could harm her unless she invited them in. Like her brother. With words of honey and the face of saints, he proved very convincing. And once he was in, he unloaded all his rage on her. That was the day she lost her ability to walk. Just an accident, as her father called it. Brood of demonic beasts, she growled with sudden anger. I will skin you alive, force-heal your rotten carcass and keep you dying for years, you little shit of a brother. Tharia punched the ground. Using the rage as fuel, she fought through her fear while part of her was scared of her own thoughts. She blinked. Mere seconds had passed. The rifleman was already dead. Something sharp had broken his skull in many places, she registered with a bit of confusion. She also saw a shadow disappear into the ground. The whiskerhushs held their feast shortly after. The rifleman quickly disappeared in a flurry of tails and viscera. She heard a sudden noise. The coachman looked at her from outside the barrier. When had he got there? Not important. Shivering and shuddering, she raised her voice: ¡°Holy Bethany, these are my guests. Let humans in¡± The robed figure swayed back and forth and the barrier changed color for a second. From outside, she could hear the wail of the coachman. ¡°Come on lass, let me in. Save me¡± He kept swinging his fists against the barrier. Tharia furrowed her eyebrows. This should have worked. Raising her voice once again, she said: ¡°Holy Bethany, I implore you, let humans in!¡± Nothing changed. The barrier just would not budge for the coachman. He looked utterly dejected. ¡°Let me in, I don¡¯t want to die!¡± he screamed at her. ¡°It won¡¯t work, something is wrong¡±, she screamed back. Suddenly there was a strange tugging sensation in her chest. Something was pulling on her divine spark with such strength, that she felt like her body might be dragged across the ground. The coachman looked at her with a weird expression on his face. ¡°Tsk, those legs¡±, the man suddenly sighed, ¡°They look good, tasty too. But right now I really hate them. Alright if you can¡¯t walk here, then crawl. Come here¡± Confused, Tharia stared at him and found herself looking at yellow eyes and a maw with sharp teeth. The creature still somewhat resembled the coachman, it certainly wore its clothes but the beast was anything but human. ¡°You know, woman. That little thing in your chest is a true delicacy. But you shouldn¡¯t flounce it so openly¡±, he said and grinned. She felt another tug at the spark but weirdly, it felt like it came from two directions at the same time. Tharia looked past the man and saw the giantess approaching. A wide ring of feline monsters lay defeated and she was visibly exhausted. The large warrior-woman was drenched in greenish blood and had murder upon her eyes. Holding the axe high above her head, she leaned in for a sneak attack on the coachman. ¡°Right, forgot about you¡±, the man suddenly said and rolled his shoulders. A black spike suddenly sprouted from his back and grew into a long needle that directly pierced the woman¡¯s skull. Out of sheer stubbornness, the large warrior took another two steps before she finally fell down. Tharia watched on in shock. Not in silence though. ¡°Why? I mean, you¡¯re a monster, yes you are. But she didn¡¯t do anything to you and is everyone like you in the capital? How did you get here? How long have you been this way? You¡¯re a shapeshifter, I heard about those, read about them. Sometimes I called my brother one of them. No man can be that evil¡± ¡°Ah, you sure love talking and you do so with a sweet voice too. But I recognize that scent. It¡¯s him, isn¡¯t it? He¡¯s the one that made you this way? That seems like his handiwork. Sadistic bastard. Not a man, you''re right about that but something worse¡±, he remarked and sat down with crossed legs. ¡°My brother?¡± she stuttered. ¡°Brother!?!¡± the man said and shuddered with a perverse look of pleasure on his face, ¡°Now I absolutely have to eat you. I insist. Girl, crawl out of there. I¡¯m hungry. I demand it. Let me feast! Out, now!¡± The tug on her spark intensified and she found herself crawling along the floor, despite not wanting to. The lure was too strong and her fingers had almost reached the barrier. In a flurry of irony, she was thankful for her broken body even if it bought but a few seconds. ¡°Tsk, there¡¯s always someone higher up on the food chain. Something about your flesh is simply fascinating. I must bite it, eat it and...¡± It was here! The flicker inside of her chest bounced erratically. It was the thing that had made the radiance nervous all evening. A sudden shadow encroached upon the man, confusion started to show on his face but it simply disappeared in a splotch of goo before he could do anything. His body lost all cohesion and crumpled onto the floor in a disgusting shower of black slimy liquid. From her vantage point so close to rock bottom, Tharia only saw a leather boot coming into view. It mercilessly crunched down on a lump of black ooze. A squeal came out of the slimy substance. ¡°Your Highness, most divine, queen of the eternal. You¡¯re back!¡± it blathered. Tharia saw the boot apply more pressure, but the lump of ooze simply dripped into the ground and disappeared. As if on cue, the fog suddenly cleared along with it. Tired and beaten but behind the barrier, the girl looked up. A lone figure stood in front of the dome. It was a woman with an almost sickly pale complexion. Her delicate face was framed by silvery blonde hair with obscene length. She was dressed in elegant garb: Simple trousers that blended into a white and expensive looking blouse, topped by a vest with floral patterns at the cuffs. The stranger held a simple scythe, not one of the fancy show toys of her brother but an actual farming implement with a dented handle and too many notches in the blade. Tharia gulped and looked back up at the face of the woman. Beautiful eyes stared back at her, but they lacked all emotion. ¡°You have got something of mine¡±, the Godqueen said with flat intonation. The flame within Tharias chest suddenly flickered in fear. That was, however, much in contrast to her own feelings. End: Creatures in the Fog | Coming up: Unlikely Allies 2 - Unlikely Allies

The forest of Wilhemspyre

A few hours from the capital.

¡°You¡¯ve got something of mine¡±, said Annabelle while staring down at the girl in the barrier. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. It was lackluster and empty, like something that should belong to someone else. She opened her hand again. There was no way around it. This was her vessel but it felt strange and alien since she had awoken from her deathlike stupor just mere hours ago. The frail thing on the ground pushed herself up with shaking arms and a body that would not listen. ¡°It¡¯s you! I¡¯m happy to see you again. I¡¯ve mi...¡± With those words, the human girl had reached her limit. Annabelle watched on in silence as she collapsed back onto the ground. Death came quick to humans ¨C and gods as well, she added with a bitter feeling in her throat. But the girl was not dead yet, her chest heaved with some difficulty. Annabelle felt nothing at that. Life or death, it mattered naught to her. Yet why did these memories come flooding in? Memories of days long gone. With seemingly listless demeanor, the goddess pressed a hand against the barrier. The many shaped letters in the cursed tongue of creation tried their best to hide from mortal eyes. As the symbols fluttered out of her view, she realized this now applied to her as well. This also meant she couldn¡¯t just dispel it out of hand. Shooting another glance at the human, she sat down on the ground. She could be patient. Death would come to this one and with it, the barrier would falter too. Hours had turned to days. She had spent long waking hours alone with her memories and conflicting impulses. It was a painful experience as she very slowly came to terms that those memories really were her own. The contrast with the lifeless thing she had become was stark. Next to her, the body of the girl had visibly weakened from lack of sustenance. Annabelle once again felt a weird mixture of feelings about this. From this close, the frantic busywork of her divine spark was obvious. The little thing had changed tremendously. Back when she had gifted the girl part of her essence, it was just something that was meant to bridge the damage but somewhere along the way, it had learned to actually heal. Again she felt the detached lull of her own memories. A shudder ran down her spine that was all too human. ¡°You look like something the cat dragged in half-eaten¡±, a faint voice suddenly rang out from behind the barrier. It was followed by a laugh that was more cough than anything else. Annabelle looked over her shoulder. The girl - Tharia, she remembered - looked like a ghost. The skin had a glistening sheen, the eyes were glazed over and sunken in. Even the lips were dry. By now the old blood looked even more revolting than before. ¡°Thank you for guarding me again¡±, the barely living woman whispered. Annabelle didn¡¯t correct her. It took all her concentration to push aside the fuzzy memories of when she had been vulnerable. ¡°Right, the barrier. I¡¯m sorry Annie. Holy Bethany, I unbind you from your guardian duty¡±, she spoke and the dome of light quickly faded away. The floating figure of the robed woman bowed deeply and dissipated into a shower of symbols and weirds that crept back onto the candelabra all on their own. ¡°You came for the spark, didn¡¯t you? It¡¯s alright. It has served me well but now it¡¯s time it returns home. I¡¯ll manage without it¡± Tharia moved into an upright position, pulling her lifeless legs after her and then carefully moving them to the side like they were objects. Not saying a word, Annabelle reached her pale hand towards the other woman and then suddenly grabbed her throat. Staring into the confused eyes of her former friend, the goddess beckoned the spark to return. As the flame dislodged itself from within Tharia¡¯s body, the girl groaned in pain. She looked at the goddess with a pleading look and found her uncaring. With eyes as cold as ice, she pulled on the essence but was stopped by something strange. The flame pushed back. Annabelle was suddenly flooded with intense feelings of revulsion and disdain. The little essence was appalled at what she had become and denied its former owner with all its might. The goddess furrowed her eyebrows and with a bit of concentration, she gathered what little energy she had left to increase the force. Once again the flame crawled upwards through Tharias body. The human girl had started to shiver during all this. But just as the flame was about to breach the lips, it once again sent a wave of hateful emotions her way. The fallen divine realized with quite a bit of confusion that the force she had to send out now also turned on her. Dumbfounded, the goddess let go of Tharia. ¡°You made it stronger for me¡±, she said and shot her a beaming smile, ¡°for a moment there I thought you were about to kill me. I¡¯m sorry for not trusting you. Thank you, thank you so much. It even eases the pain now ¨C although I¡¯m bloody hungry. Are you hungry Annie? I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re back. You¡¯re back, aren¡¯t you? When all that happened...¡± Annabelle had stopped listening. She simply stared at the woman and was flooded by another emotion. Guilt. It was the most exquisite of pain, one that clawed its way deep into her consciousness. Some part of her denied knowing why she had done that and another part was all too aware: hunger, betrayal, and hatred. Worst of all, she didn¡¯t trust herself either. The hunger still growled for the energy and she found no more trust left to give. Without a word, she suddenly stood up and started to walk away. ¡°Wait¡±, Tharia shouted after her, followed by the sounds of various equipment being collected. Quick steps closed in on her and even though she was out of breath, Tharia kept up the pace. The boyish femme looked overburdened by various boxes, pouches, and the weird Otherseer Rifle. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Annabelle didn¡¯t answer. ¡°It¡¯s the city, isn¡¯t it? It lures and calls broken things. You¡¯ve got business there and it¡¯s probably about why you¡¯re so... different now. Alright, I¡¯ve decided. Let¡¯s go together. Just like the old days. Little mad Tharia and her shining goddess on a jolly adventure¡± ¡°No.¡± Annabelle hated how easy the frail one read her emotions, even though she did her best to show none of them. Anger mixed into her already confusing thoughts. ¡°I said no. Stay back¡±, she exclaimed. Tharia tilted her head, shrugged her shoulders and then completely ignored the rejection by keeping up with the goddess. Groaning, Annabelle increased her speed but the other woman kept up with her, even though it caused her agony. The fallen deity held up an arm and forced the other woman to slow down. ¡°Stay here. This is not your fight¡± Once again Tharia tilted her head and suddenly showed a huge grin. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s so you. It¡¯s good to have you back¡± Tharia suddenly lunged forward and pulled her into a quick embrace but was quickly pushed away. ¡°No. I said stop¡± ¡°Aye aye¡± Annabelle suppressed a groan. Don¡¯t react to her. She¡¯ll go away on her own.

The outskirts of Valarn

A handful of hours from the capital.

She didn¡¯t. Hours had passed and the girl was still talking. Tharia knew no mercy. Annabelle had tried to stop listening but found it impossible. She had attempted curt answers but those only spurred her own. Simply listening wasn¡¯t helping either. At some point, she nearly screamed at her to shut up but couldn¡¯t bring herself to do so. Three things in total managed to shut her up. The first of which was what Tharia henceforth called the divine plunder of the rations box. The sheer amount of food the walking twig had swallowed baffled the divine hours later. Until they had to plan several stops along the way. Part of her realized she could have just left her then and there during those moments of vulnerability but that blasted guilt wouldn¡¯t let her. The second silence came when they had distributed the load amongst them. There was no point in having the girl carry all these things on her own and begrudgingly Annabelle had to admit that most of these things had a point. A point she never had to pay attention to before her fall. These things were just the bare necessities. A bedroll, some tools like a rope or two knives, rations and water. Some actual flowery soap. Maybe that one wasn¡¯t necessary but being picky about their scent was just one of their quirks and being clean helped with infections, as Tharia made very obvious when they argued about it. Third and most powerful was the silence once they reached the edge of the forest. Before them sprawled the outskirts of Valarn. In the golden days, the capital had spread from one end of the horizon to the other. The city was absolutely massive and had grown out of control with countless concessions made to keep everyone alive. This many people required a steady influx of nourishment, leading to the entire valley making room for various crops, farms and farmers equipment. Several guard towers were placed in regular intervals, intermixed with a complete collection of minor settlements: Hamlets and villages, divided into several parishes with their own local governance - but all subservient to the greater monster amongst them: Valarn. Massive roads encroached on the fields and connected not just the settlements but the outside world with the capital. Far off to the east flowed the river Wilhelmshine and forked into two directions. One led further south and the other branched away eastwards. This was the lifeblood of the capital, the random accident of nature that had made this place a prime candidate for living untold centuries ago: Water, roads, rivers, a thick forest and large fields to feed most of them.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Even from this far out, one could see the five rings making up the various fortress walls, as the city had to accommodate more and more growth. The two women stood in silence as they gazed upon all this. There was still a certain glow to it, it was once a beautiful place to live. At least it used to be. A foul odor overwhelmed their senses. ¡°I should not have eaten so much. What is this?!¡±, exclaimed Tharia and clutched a hand in front of her mouth. Annabelle sighed inwardly. There was no way around that girl. Somewhere along the way, she had accepted her fate of being tied to the quirky frail thing. But perchance frail was the wrong word. She had kept up with her, despite her condition. In reverent silence to the great nasal assault, they both kept quiet as they followed the road deeper into the field. A few more hours passed and sunlight beamed down on them. To their left and right, the crops were rotting. Some oddly mushy substance had covered the road in something that glistened and felt like mud but had traces of other unspeakable things mixed in. There was something very wrong with these fields and it wasn¡¯t just their complete and utter state of decay. It was quiet. An oppressive silence hung over them. It wasn¡¯t a perfect silence like with the Whiskerhushs but an odd sensation regardless. ¡°There¡¯s no wind¡±, Tharia suddenly commented. Annabelle didn¡¯t realize the importance of wind in this situation until it dawned on her: She was right. Not a single gust touched her skin but more importantly, the plants were swaying and dancing as if thrown about by a minor storm. Tharia brushed short hair out of her face. Given how short those were, to begin with, it was an obvious nervous gesture. ¡°This ain¡¯t right¡± No, it was not. She took a look over her shoulder and grumbled as the rucksack hindered her movement. Exerting a bit more effort, she looked back at the forest that was a few hours away now. Tharia tapped her on the shoulder and then pointed towards the outline of some buildings closer to the city. ¡°There¡¯s one of those hamlets. Let¡¯s go and ask them. They probably know more about this. I wonder how they¡¯ll welcome us. I mean, there used to be a lot of travelers back before the fall but now? Not a lot of people come here. Not anymore¡± Well, at least Tharia was back to her normal self by babbling on. Annabelle finally pulled the scythe out and extended both blades and handle from their stowing position. Using the arched end of the implement as a stick, she parted the crops next to the road. An even more acrid smell suddenly lingered in the air. Underneath the crops was a layer of glistening rotten flesh. Plants had dug their roots into it like thousands of parasites gnawing away at a humongous carcass. Something red and slimy pulsated within the roots and disappeared into the plants. ¡°Is that a human bone?¡± Tharia commented and pointed at something white sticking out of the mass. Annabelle couldn¡¯t answer as a sudden shock ran through the ground. The flesh started to stretch and shiver. An unearthly groan echoed all around them, followed by a deep and growling voice suddenly humming a merry old farmer melody with the echo of an entire landscape. No matter how far the two women tried to see, the fields swayed in accordance with those macabre sounds. ¡°What the blazes?¡± That wasn¡¯t Tharia speaking. That was actually her own mouth finally talking. They had to move. Now. Annabelle stowed her scythe by pulling in the blade and handle again. She then suddenly grabbed Tharia from behind and simply swept her off her feet. The human girl started to protest, in fact, she never actually stopped protesting but Annabelle simply ignored all of it. She quickly fell into a quick pace and as the hills started to reach the merry refrain ¨C just without singing, she accelerated into a mad dash. The girl on her arms slowed her down but there was no way she¡¯d be able to keep up otherwise. These fields weren¡¯t just wrong somehow, they were dangerous. Sudden smacking and popping noises agreed with that perception. Strange figures rose from the rotting fields of flesh and wheat where the two women had been just a few breaths earlier. They looked like everything at once. Odd shapes, sometimes made out of earth or meat, all connected to the ground via pulsating roots. Some wielded weapons without understanding, as proven by one of the fleshbeasts that had gotten close to the wide road. It took aim with a crossbow but then just threw the weapon instead. Annabelle dodged it easily but was nearly impaled by the bolt that cut loose upon impact. More and more of these creatures encroached upon the road but stopped just shy from crossing it. They were slow and lagged behind but with a quick look back, Annabelle saw a legion of flesh things lumber after them but never once touching the road. Yet all too soon the road was framed by nightmarish fleshbeasts standing just to the edge of it. Pulsating roots touched the stone and shied away every time. The things wielded various objects with which they tried to catch Annabelle and her wildly babbling cargo. With confusion, the former goddess suddenly realized that her body ached all over. The heart was thumping violently and her breath had gotten ragged. Each step forwards burned with the power of a sun. Being human sucked. She was exhausted and at her limit, but there was no way she could stop now. Tharia glanced up at her and let out a sudden yelp of pain. At the same time, Annabelle felt the presence of the divine flame. A second later, Annabelle¡¯s body washed over with a strange sensation. The pain in her legs subsided and her pulse slowed down. Even breathing became easier again. Confused, she looked at Tharia and noticed the human girl resting a faintly glowing hand against Annabelle¡¯s chest. The image of a tiny flame danced across the fingers. ¡°Thank you¡±, she said and only received a quiet nod from her human package. She pushed on and nearly stumbled when a pitchfork hit her square in her back. Just like before, the fleshbeast had no idea what it was doing and luckily had thrown it with the blunt end first. But the things were gaining on them just as the two closed in on the village. The houses had become more clearly visible, they were buildings of thick and sturdy stone but still a few minutes away. More than a few minutes with the path winding in nonsensical patterns. Above all that, the hills hummed and murmured with that merry song. It was unnerving. ¡°Tree!¡±, Tharia suddenly whispered with a hoarse voice. Tree? What bloody tree? Oh, what the abyss? She came to a sudden stop and jumped backward as a massive trunk crashed into the road. Leaves rustled in protest and pieces of stone came flying. Almost instantly, some of the Fleshbeasts took root in the ground underneath. The path was blocked by lumbering meat-creatures. Annabelle took another look back and saw more of them closing in. ¡°Let me¡±, Tharia spoke with a hoarse voice, ¡°Just be ready to bolt¡± The healing suddenly stopped and with that, all exhaustion came crushing back on Annabelle. A careful look towards the frail girl though set her mind straight. What she felt was nothing in comparison. Shivering, Tharia had reached for the rifle. Unsteady hands loaded the single shot weapon and then took aim. The thundering crash of the shot pushed them back a few steps but it had a marvelous effect on its target: A cloud of viscera and a writhing mass collapsing in on itself. ¡°Good enough¡± She once again started running. With the dead carcass-thing out of the way, she quickly scaled the trunk and then jumped over it. Tharia led out a yelp as they landed on the ground again but instead of healing herself, she once again focussed the flame on Annabelle. And like before, the exhaustion washed away in a feeling that was addicting. They were getting oh so close to the tiny settlement. Just a few more minutes at full pace! They could do it. It was a faint hope that there might be some form of shelter ¨C but it was also the only hope. Annabelle had pushed herself to the brink. Each step was once again liquid pain. Tharia had no more to give and just barely clung to her. The strangely joyous melody of the farmer song got on her nerves as well. Step by step she continued with her mind working itself into a feverish pitch. If she just dropped the girl, escaping this mess wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Yet she couldn¡¯t bring herself to do it. Worse still, she felt guilty for having even thought it. They could also try a last stand but given the sheer enormity of the entire crop having turned into a living beast, that too was doomed to fail. Soon her running turned into a brisk walk quickly followed by a slow jog. The close by appearance of a house rising above the wall of crops taunted her. These were good houses made out of stone. Judging by how the fleshbeasts seemingly needed ground to take root, this was their best bet. But instead of leading towards the house, the road had taken a turn pointing away from it. She finally came to a stop, wheezing, coughing with thick sweat on her pale skin. She poked the half-asleep woman and then gently set her down. ¡°You will need to walk¡±, she said. ¡°Uh huh¡±, the human girl said in an exhausted stupor. It was obvious she was barely holding together and simply had no more energy to even notice the state she was in. Leave her here, part of her mind whispered. Look at it. It can barely stand. Weak. Annabelle pushed all these thoughts aside. The one that was weak was herself. Annabelle bit her lips. Why did she even care what happened to her? The fallen divinity shook her head to drive away any distraction. She then once more readied the scythe and fixed her weary stare on the crops in front of her. The walking husks hadn¡¯t yet caught up but were quickly gaining on her and already she could see the flesh underneath the plants shudder in an attempt to create more of these things. The cursed song echoing all around them made sure of that. She suddenly straightened her shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s sing then. A merry jig of song, dance, joy and¡±, Annabelle pursed her lips and enunciated the last word letter for letter ¡°H.a.r.v.e.s.t.¡± A mad grin crawled on her face. This day, the reaper had come for a bunch of uppity crops. If gods, humans, and animals could die, so too could confused flora. Swinging into the crops with reckless abandon, pieces of wheat flew off in a random direction. Pulses of a weird liquid shot from the decapitated parasites but Annabelle didn¡¯t mind. It was all part of the music. ¡°Come! My beauty bring me some wine, sit with me and let us dine¡±, she suddenly sang and crunched the scythe deep into the wheat. More of the plants got cut off. ¡°Dance with me into the night, give me a kiss and make this right¡±, she continued. Her scythe got stuck on something she couldn¡¯t quite see. A strong pull on the handle and a weird screaming noise caused the hills themselves to shudder. ¡°Laying in the hay, cuddling in the wheat, hey foxy one jump on my seat. It¡¯s made of wood and... just what am I singing?¡± ¡°Something scary¡±, Tharia said from behind her, ¡°We need to talk about the company you keep¡± The frail one had followed in her footsteps and what confused Annabelle the most was her feeling of elation. Still, the way they both looked, perhaps soap really had been a good idea. Pushing for the last few steps, Annabelle grew quiet and simply slashed her implement into the wheat, much to the groaning protest of her surroundings. And then the fields suddenly peeled back revealing the battered wall of a house. Despite the marks of weapons and even tree trunks, the wall stood proudly. They had endured worse. A city as large as Valarn had many enemies. All of the weapons the flesh things wielded were a testament to just how many died in these fields along the centuries. Practicality had dictated stronger and sturdier buildings in time, simply to make it less of a fun activity to torch and raze the place every other war. With the last of her strength, she paced around the house, kicked open the door and then dragged the barely awake Tharia inside. ¡°Annie? Please never sing again¡± ¡°Oh stuff it¡± Sounds of laughter came from within the building. They were alive. But so were the hills and this wasn¡¯t the last they had seen of each other. End: Unlikely Allies | Coming up: And they were legion 3 - And they were legion

A small house in the middle of the hills.

Close vicinity of the capital.

Tharia had never much liked the scent of cooked flesh. No judgment there, just personal preference - but she had also never been happier than now about a room laden with the scent of smoked meat. Everything was better than rotten fleshcrops. Preserved sausages hung from hooks on the ceiling and the roof was black with soot. There were no individual rooms as such, but tanned hides and furniture were used to segment the house into different areas. That was the first thing she noticed. The lack of other people came later. The house had a few oddities. For starters, there was no chimney, just a firepit in the middle. The lack of windows also meant the smoke was well preserved but tiny cracks here and there allowed in just enough air to breathe. At first, Tharia coughed but then learned to deal with it in time. The second surprise was a water reservoir. In stark contrast with the rather primitive firepit, they had used a brass pipe to collect rainwater from the roof. The four walls were thick enough to pass for fortification and stubbornly kept the hills outside. After the first few hours, their constant noise started to drown into the background and once night came, it died off. All that time, the two women had been silent. Even Tharia. It was obvious to her that Annabelle needed a moment of privacy and Tharia had thoughts to sort through as well. The last days had been a mad rush. She had been hopped up on pain, adrenaline, spontaneous stupid ideas and euphoria. Now that there was a moment of calm, it all came crashing down. Tharia looked at her dirty arms and sighed. She picked up a bowl of water and shuffled over towards one of the walls. Using it as a rest for her back, she sat down on the wooden floor and took a series of deep breaths. When she coughed again, she wasn¡¯t sure whether it was because of the smell or rather because of that. She reached one of her hands up to her own throat. It still hurt. There was no need for a mirror to know that there were finger sized marks all around it. With a dull look, she automatically pulled up the collar of her shirt. Hide it and move on. Make it disappear and it¡¯ll be alright. Just push it to the side. But this didn¡¯t feel right. It never had - but now it really bothered her. With a swift pull, she made the marks visible again and let out a groan of anger. Tharia needed a moment of clarity, a chance to think without the constant dull ache from her lower body. There would be regret later, it always hurt like being doused in fire to bridge the connection between her lower spine and the rest but now she just decoupled the spark and let it roam free inside of her. This ache was a gentle one, just relaxation as the body finally calmed down. She thought back to a different time. Annabelle had been her friend once. That was a long time ago. Now she wasn¡¯t sure. The goddess was broken, perhaps more than herself. But after what had happened with her hired escort, it was also her only chance of going further. She once again touched her neck. Her lips curled into a beaming smile that did not reach her eyes. There was just the right amount of innocence in that look. It was a trained masterpiece of a mask. Always offer people a way out of their violent impulses. That was her personal disgusting wisdom, filled with just the right amount of sarcastic self-loathing. Right, girl. You look like shit. She shook off her sinister thoughts and dragged the bowl of water closer. Dipping a piece of cloth into it, she then started to wash her grime-covered hands. It had been a small wonder the rifle hadn¡¯t exploded in her hands. There was a marked difference in using the well-maintained show toys of her brother and firing an actual war-weapon. It was something she would need to learn. She suddenly realized the presence of the other woman closeby. That pale beauty sat down next to her and quietly pulled the cloth from her hands. Without saying a word, she too dipped it into the water, added a bit of soap and then started to wash Tharias hands and arms. Both women sat quietly, absorbed in the moment. Tharia did her best to not show her apprehension. That was another one of her private, messed up wisdoms. Most people who had hurt someone close to them didn¡¯t really mean to do it. But if you were scared, they¡¯d get angry at themselves - and then at you. Just be normal. Happy. Like nothing happened. Except she couldn¡¯t anymore. No longer. A shudder ran through her body and the beaming smile vanished into an ugly grimace. She pulled her hands back with force, spilling half the bowl in the process. Great, Tharia. She watched Annabelle sigh and braced herself for impact but nothing such came. Instead, the other woman had given her a bit of room and watched her with a pained expression. ¡°Let us talk before this festers¡±, Annabelle said. Tharia hid her discontent again. Excuses, groveling, promises to never do it again. Like all good fairytales tales, it was one best repeated many times. She remained silent and let Annabelle speak. ¡°But I don¡¯t know what to say. I¡¯m sorry for this¡± The silvery-blonde girl reached out and brushed her fingers over the choke marks. ¡°I can¡¯t make it undone and can¡¯t promise to never do it again. I¡¯m broken, little fairy¡±, Annabelle said and there was genuine sadness in those words. ''Fairy'' had been Tharia¡¯s nickname when she was younger. ¡°I¡¯m bad with words¡±, Annabelle continued after a bit of silence, ¡°When they stole my essence, I didn¡¯t come back quite right. You don¡¯t know how it feels when some part of you just breaks.¡± Tharia shot her a glance that amounted to: Are you fucking kidding me right now? Annabelle visibly went through various emotional stages: Confusion, realization and the sudden urge to bang her head against the floor, all accented by a wooden thud and instant regret because doing that actually hurt. Tharia instinctively reached out but quickly pulled her hand back. Annabelle looked up with a half-smirk. ¡°You¡¯re right. You do know. What I tried to do, uhm what I meant was, that I... I planned, intended uh¡±. Even fallen deities could stutter and stumble over their own words. Tharia simply remained silent. She didn¡¯t trust her trained reactions at all. If she were to talk now, she¡¯d just claim everything was going to be alright. There¡¯d be some humor, a quick way out that deflected any guilt and then they¡¯d be on their merry way. She didn¡¯t. Keeping quiet it was. Annabelle brushed a strand of silvery hair to the side. It was a cute looking gesture that Tharia subconsciously appreciated, although she would never admit to that. Certainly not now. After another quiet pause, Annabelle swallowed hard and continued with a barely audible volume. ¡°I¡¯ll start at the beginning. Gods feel when one of their Kin dies. We get their memories up to the moment of death, which includes all the fears, pains and their very last thought. Little fairy, I¡¯m the last one out of a pantheon of thousands¡± The voice started to break. Annabelle put her face into her hands and the next time she looked up again, tears had started to wash away some of the dirt. ¡°Their voices went from confusion to anger. The first dozen didn¡¯t know what was happening. The final hundred all died cursing my very name. They weren¡¯t wrong. It was my essence that killed them all, even if it wasn¡¯t my doing. When all was said and done and my husband tossed me aside - with the last of my strength I opened the gates to the golden temple and unleashed all of it¡± Great, Tharia thought. My friend started the apocalypse. That¡¯s certainly something. Annabelle continued. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m still alive. I awoke to a room full of dolls made in my image, somewhere out in those woods. I¡¯ve been wandering in a deathlike stupor since. That is until I felt the spark within you. Life or death, I wanted back what was mine. I was rejected, by myself. Your life is important to me and I¡¯m sorry for what I did¡± Tharia felt the sudden urge to laugh and suppressed it until it was a mere chuckle. The turmoil of emotions inside of her felt like a cage of demons rattling about. Pressing her lips together, she felt a sudden urge to figuratively throw the key into the pit. Grinning widely, she clapped her hands and finally replied. ¡°If it is honesty you want. Have it. I hate you. From the bottom of my heart, dear friend, I. hate. you.¡±, Tharia said without any trace of emotion on her face for a change. She saw the sudden hurt in her friend¡¯s eyes and felt a pang of actual glee about it. This was the worst of it all. Whenever Tharia looked at a mirror, she saw a smiling hypocrite - a true merchant of misery and lies. ¡°You knew. My brother. My family. You saw. When I needed you most, you had up and vanished, of to get married to your handsome prince. Can you imagine what it does to a little girl to have an actual live-sized goddess for a friend ¨C and then be left to rot?¡± By the end of it, Tharia was screaming. Somewhere along the words, rage had bubbled up. It was a seething white mess of emotions she could no longer tangle up and lock down. She reached for the bowl of water and in one quick motion, threw it towards Annabelle. Tharia''s next words came with a low tone to them. ¡°Yep. I¡¯m a selfish little shit now. I will use and abuse everything I can to get my way. So I¡¯ll cling to you. Yes, you started the end of the world, big deal. Get over it. We go into this city¡±, Tharia jabbed a finger against Annabelle¡¯s forehead. The goddess was simply stupified at the torrent of words. ¡°We get back your powers. Slam each and every one of those filthy fuckers into the ground and bring them a nightmare of our making. And yes, we''re weak. But when I can¡¯t walk, you¡¯ll carry me, when you''re wounded, I heal and when you can¡¯t go on anymore, I¡¯ll drag your sorry pasty arse straight back into the abyss again, because you¡¯re just plain not allowed to rest until you have done right by me¡± With that, Tharia finally ended her storm. Her breathing was ragged, she hadn¡¯t even noticed the fervor she had worked herself into until now. With the words out, she felt nothing. Just emptiness. As Tharia finally took notice of Annabelle again, she saw a dripping wet mess of a frail person. The silvery hair hid her face but not the slumped over shoulders. Sighing, Tharia crawled over to the shocked woman and simply pulled her into a gentle embrace. ¡°Worst of all¡±, Tharia said, ¡°I hate myself. Because know what? I also like you. You¡¯re still my friend. We¡¯ll do this together. We''ve got a legion of issues but we''ll kick their arse, make them our fluffy pet and then ride off into the sunset dressed in garishly fabulous dresses¡± What a sodding mess I am, Tharia thought. Tell her you hate her, then tell her you like her. Deep within she realized that it was all of these things, hate, and sympathy, guilt and blame intertwined in one chaotic mess of suppressed emotions.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Please. No dresses¡±, Annabelle whispered after a moment of awkward silence. ¡°Yes. Absolutely dresses¡± They rested for two days straight. It was a strangely merry affair where they shared careful smiles and occasional laughs. Annabelle took to plundering the preserved sausages while Tharia made an impact on their rations. Every few hours they would just ever so slightly open the door to get a bit of fresh air inside. Still, the atmosphere felt fake. Despite telling herself she forgave Annabelle for what had happened, whenever the other made a sudden gesture, Tharia couldn¡¯t help but shudder. There was no doubt Annabelle noticed this but with some form of unspoken contract, none of them spoke about it. Whenever they glanced outside, the flesh-things still stood outside. The hills were very patient, seemingly. But the girls had learned something valuable and it wasn¡¯t the power of a shitty friendship - but rather just how much even monster plants seemingly needed sunlight. Each night, the beasts slowed down until they just stood there. And so it came that upon the third day the two women prepared for their journey ahead. Their morning was spent sorting through their equipment. For example, there was no more need for horse snacks but Tharia didn¡¯t have time to sort them out earlier. She had also grabbed the sword from the carriage back then but Annabelle just looked at it and tossed it aside. ¡°It¡¯s trash¡±, she said. Tharia took another look at the thing and came to the conclusion it was more of a half-truth. While the blade was notched, the silly and impractical scythe of the goddess was in much worse shape. Yet there was no way around the fact that Tharia had absolutely zero training in martial weaponry. Thus, the Otherseer Rifle was a much better fit for her, plus it blended well with her barriers. It didn¡¯t need mobility and with medium range, it could be used by an amateur like her. Reloading was a problem, however. The weapon was one of those early front-loaded models and it was sheer luck that she had been able to load and fire it from when she was carried. The price for that one shot was that half her black powder had up and vanished due to her clumsiness. Annabelle took a quick look at the rifle and then shook her head. ¡°It¡¯ll do until we find better¡±, she said. Perhaps she was right. It wasn''t in the best of state either. The strange contraption looked half broken and it leaked some oily black liquid all over that was very hard to get out. Some of it had even gotten on Tharia''s skin and it had itched for hours until it was suddenly gone. Once they were done with their preparations, they had downsized to two rucksacks. Tharia carried part of the rations, the holy soap which none of them denied anymore, black powder, bandages, a small assortment of herbs, the barrier chain and of course the remaining shots for the rifle. They had also made a makeshift carry strap for the rifle. Annabelle on the other had the other part of the rations, a sturdy rope, a lump of pyrite for starting a fire or two and several layers of cloth along with an assortment of various things. She also brought along a frying pan and a pot. Their only bedroll was stuffed all around these things as some form of protection. Tharia stretched her arms and then fell back onto the wooden floor. For but a few seconds, she simply embraced the serene quiet of the late evening, but then snapped back up. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s talk action. It seems the beasts grow tired at night. Maybe it¡¯s some weird sun thing. I say we try and sneak our way past them. They¡¯re plenty stupid all things considered¡± Annabelle sat on the floor and listened without showing any reaction to what she heard. Not that a reaction would have helped. As was usual with Tharia, even getting a reaction wouldn¡¯t faze her storm of words in the slightest. ¡°From what I remember, there are two more villages like these on our road. So if everything fails, we bolt to the next village. Set up camp, repeat. Now that we¡¯re rested and sated, we¡¯re a force to reckon with¡±, she continued on. There was a sudden itch on her lower back, she scratched it and moved on. Still no reaction from Annabelle though. ¡°So sneak out at the peak of night. If it fails, we¡¯re both more rested and our new load distribution weighs less too. We can do this. So listen up! We started this as shivering dirty messes. Now we¡¯ve upgraded to worms that will bite a city-sized dragon. There will be...¡± ¡°Tharia!¡± Annie interjected. ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± Tharia suddenly shouted and raised both hands high above her head. Her face showed a playful act of surprise. Annabelle sighed deeply. ¡°Don¡¯t hold speeches. They¡¯re terrible¡± And down came the hands again. ¡°You¡¯re petty¡± For lack of a clock, it wasn¡¯t precisely midnight but close enough. The moon stood high and bathed the little village in a gentle light. The shadows made the flesh giants look even more grotesque in shape. Tharia watched Annabelle leave first. Her friend opened the door as quietly as she could. Just like herself, she wore a wet cloth above mouth and nose. The scent of flowers was all-powerful and had cost them the last of their soap. There now was another contract between the two women: Don¡¯t ask about where all the soap had gone in but three days. Tharia quietly followed her friend outside. The fleshbeasts really did stand still. None of them moved even a little bit and in a reverse of when they had first come here, a soft wind was blowing ¨C but none of the crops actually paid attention to it. Tharia shivered, staring at these things really felt as if something was crawling over her back. She shivered yet again a second time and then quietly followed in the footsteps of her friend. At night, she looked even more like something out of a painting. Elegant, graceful, like something precious. There was a bit of envy when Tharia took a quick glance at herself. But now was neither the time nor the place for that. The two girls weren¡¯t terribly fast. Every step was aimed at causing as little sound as possible. Quite soon, they reached the other end of the tiny village. The road here had seen better times. Somewhere in the last days, the hills had seemingly smashed up the stone. Annabelle gestured towards the remaining spots of stone and then nodded in the direction of the city. They carefully stepped on the still intact places and made their way forwards. To their left and right, like a guard of unearthly things, stood walls of glistening flesh. Now that they remained dormant, they looked even more gruesome. Tharia made the mistake of taking a closer look. It was like something out of a nightmare. There really were bones insides of these things. Inside and partially outside. But these bones were far too small, yet obviously human. No, just no. She pressed the perfumed cloth tightly against her face in an attempt to drown out what she had seen. It didn¡¯t work. She suddenly bumped into Annabelle but found her involuntary squeal muffled as the other woman too held a hand over her mouth. Her friend looked at her. It felt like she was staring into eternity. Yet Tharia couldn¡¯t help but glance at the wall of flesh again. Annabelle grabbed her chin and gently forced Tharia to look at her again. She then slowly shook her head and pointed towards the road ahead. She then gave Tharia a pat on the back and nudged her forwards. Falling back into their sneaky pace, Tharia now stubbornly looked at the road ahead. Without warning, a loud sound echoed throughout the valley, followed by a second and a third. Gunshots. Someone else was in these fields, although several kilometers away going by the flashes of light. Looking at each other, the two women quickened their pace with nervous glances to the side. The wall of meat had started to shiver and shudder. Clicking noises could be heard as various tools were dragged out from within their grotesque bodies. The things sluggishly swayed back and forth, just like the crop parasites had done but they still didn¡¯t attack. That is until a massive flash lightened up the fields. A huge explosion rocked the ground and even though it was a distance away, they still felt the shock. All of a sudden the hills started groaning and fell into their unnerving hum again. Spurred into action, the shapeless things resumed their squirming and writhing. Both girls looked on in horror as the fields themselves sprang to action. More and more of it awakened from slumber. Turns out, they didn¡¯t really need the sunlight. Annabelle took both Rucksacks over her shoulders and then started running, closely followed by Tharia. It cost her a lot of energy to concentrate on running and keeping the divine spark in place just to make her body function. It was still a nightmarish feeling and she slowed both of them down significantly. Yet with the uneven load distribution between the two, she somewhat managed to keep up. And like that, they ran for several minutes, never daring to look back. Just one foot in front of the other. Keep going. Don¡¯t think about breathing. Think about nice things. Annabelle¡¯s hair. Silky and soft to the touch. Tharia groaned. Other things. Green fields with flowers to frolick through. Another groan. Other, other things. Wheezing and out of breath they finally slowed down. They hadn¡¯t even made a dent in the distance to the capital, but while they caught their breath, nothing came flying their way. All around them was silence. The fleshbeasts were all gone. ¡°What?¡±, exclaimed Tharia in a bit of surprise and almost instantly, a shudder ran through the ground nearby - but no flesh-thing formed yet. Several loud explosions gave the answer where the things had gone. More flashes of light illuminated the field to reveal a hulking monstrosity. The very hills had piled up into a shivering and shuddering nightmare. Massive appendages slammed into the ground and were answered by gunshots. Even this far off, Tharia saw the tiny human-like shapes fly through the air as if they were toys, tossed aside by a bored nightmare. Tharia moved closer to her friend and whispered into her ear. ¡°Being quiet really was the right call¡± Annabelle nodded. As soon as they had regained enough breath, they continued on. Not running. Slow and methodical. It was hard to not look back though. The sounds increased in intensity before they suddenly died down. One, two more gunshots echoed throughout the field and the hills suddenly changed the tune of the humming to a more joyous one. It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine what had happened, but Tharia didn¡¯t dare to look anymore. That could have been them. True, they didn¡¯t start the noise but one mistake, perhaps a mishandling of the black powder and that humongous thing would have been after them instead. It was at this moment that Tharia finally realized why these songs seemed so familiar. They weren¡¯t farmer songs but lullabies and nursery rhymes. With their head held low, they continued on their path. The fields ended without warning. There was a sudden twist in the road and they found themselves in front of the gate. True, they had been seeing the massive walls for a while, but suddenly standing next to it drove home just how high up these walls reached. Made out of Blackstone, they were covered in countless symbols and runes ¨C only that these were inert. A huge archway marked the gate. Despite the fortifications, it was obvious that this was made in times of peace. There were several flying buttresses balancing the structural load outwards, allowing for the sharp angle of the gateway. Halfway up the gate, they had switched to a massive circular rose window and then let it flow out into the sharp edge above. The lower half held one intrinsically detailed door of the gate. Gold was used to paint various mythical beasts and images on it, telling the story of the cities founding. The other half of the door was actually right in front of Tharia on the ground. The massive piece of wood looked as if something had decided to use it as a chew toy. Large chunks of it were missing and scratch-marks could be seen all along the wood. She didn¡¯t want to think about the implications that something had actually made its way out of the city, instead of in. In front of the gate were the remains of a tollbooth. It was no surprise that with the fall of the city, these were in a state of complete destruction. Only tiny walls reminded of their presence. That and a crown of hanged officials, their dried up corpses dangled on thick ropes. ¡°It¡¯s not so bad¡±, Tharia suddenly said and rubbed her nose, ¡°I mean, no accounting for taste. This seems like a great place to live. Look, no taxes. Open door policy too. Free choice of transportation...¡± She lifted her hand and pointed towards a wide collection of abandoned carriages, wagons and carts. Some of them had their own collection of dried up bones around them. Animal and human alike. ¡°Oh, and the golden fields are to die for...¡± Tharia was babbling in a desperate attempt to hide her nervousness. Annabelle simply looked at her with that expressionless face of hers and then gave her a nudge forwards. Without even breaking her stride ¨C of words that is ¨C she stumbled forwards. With one woman talking and the other one silent, they approached the gate. As they got closer, Tharia looked over her shoulder. A shudder ran down her spine, even just looking at the living fields made her feel as if icy water ran down her spine. With another shrug, she continued on her way. Yet following a sudden itch, she scratched the skin above her collarbone. Then on her hands and her arms. Her forehead. It was then that she felt a weird sort of liquid on her skin. Annabelle turned around at her fidgeting. Her gaze instantly turned sour. "Tharia. Drop the weapon. NOW" Tharia looked up at her friend and then at her hand. Thick black streams of an oozy substance ran over them. The itching became unbearable. She let go of the rifle but it somehow stuck to her skin. Looking down at her hands once more, she saw a thick lump of ooze crawl out of the rifle and onto her hands. It mixed with the thousand icy tendrils and grew bigger within seconds. Tiny spear-like protrusions formed and pointed directly at her face. Perhaps most absurd, a miniature human face formed on the goo and spoke to her. It had a familiar sound to it. "Hello there, friend", the voice of the coachman said, "It''s time we talk" End: And they were legion | Coming up: At the gates of madness 4 - At the gates of madness

The Gate of the Waning Sun.

Southern District of Valarn, Fifth Ring.

"It''s time we talk", said the slimy creature. It nestled itself around Tharia von Verholden''s wrist and then pulled tight until her hand felt numb. "A delicious morsel such as yourself shouldn''t have come here. Now you''re forcing me into action. I really quite appreciated just siphoning off your energy passively" The voice came out of a tiny human-shaped face on the surface of a ball of goo sitting on her hand. The rifle suddenly snapped free and hung heavy in the carry strap: The last of the ooze had vacated its hideaway. Ouf of the corner of her eye, Tharia witnessed Annabelle and swallowed hard. The other woman had raised her scythe and took aim for her hand. The slime noticed it too. "Oh oh. Would you really cut of this delicate hand, just to spite me? We can''t have that!" The black lump suddenly scurried up Tharia''s arm. The young woman tried to brush it off but the slime was far too fast. It quickly made it''s way up her arm, slithered along her biceps before it traced her collarbone. There it lingered but for a quick breath and then suddenly leaped up. With a snap, it snuggled itself around Tharia''s throat. "Give me the divine spark, my lovelies", it said as it took on the shape of a collar and continued, "It''s the smart thing to do. Do that and two out of three people walk away from here" As if to accentuate its threat, the leather collar suddenly started to grow hundreds of tiny spikes around its edge. Each and everyone ever so slightly brushed against Tharia von Verholden''s throat. "And the third one, well morsel, you''ll live", it said. Tharia glanced sideways at Annabelle. Someone not familiar with the deity would have said she''d be dead as a doll. The young lady of the Verholden house knew her, however. She saw the barely noticeable movements of the lips as they turned into momentary frowns. There were the tiny eyes movements that betrayed a sea of emotions, all communicating one thing: Helplessness. The young lady Verholden took a deep breath and tried to blend out the spiked collar for a brief moment. There truly was a thin line between healing and poison, hope and despair. For a gift of health, the divine flame had truly given her endless suffering. She could walk - but it meant pain to do so. She could heal - but her family abused it as a parlor trick. It was a chain of hope that yanked her back into despair at every chance. Suddenly her pulse quickened. A sadistic idea had formed in her mind. Tharia put on the most diminutive of masks. She lowered her head and even shed a tear. With quivering lips, she whispered quietly. "There''s no other way. I will do it" She saw Annabelle frown. It was one of those rare moments when her divine friend had led slip her emotions. The collar however shivered in anticipation. "It will be a warm feeling as if all your weary wounds heal", Tharia managed to press out between her lips while exhaling deeply. She let her shoulders hang, the black collar somehow seemed amused by that. It wasn''t that it showed one way or another but Tharia just knew. She reached her hand up towards the slime and then wrapped her fingers around the collar. Much to the credit of the slime, it had pulled back the many spikes along the edge. Holding the hand to her neck, Tharia von Verholden walked over towards one of the toppled over carriages. She allowed herself a masterful gap of hesitation. She stopped just long enough for the ooze to become impatient, then quickly slumped down onto the footrest of the vehicle. One more brief hesitation. Don''t be too obvious, she warned herself. With a sigh, she then decoupled the divine flame from her spine and just like that, all feeling and control had left her lower half. The collar was abuzz with anticipation. "Delicious, tasty, give me, I must have it" Tharia willed the flame upwards and like before, she made a show out of her struggle. She let it dip back here and there and groaned. "I SAID GIVE IT TO ME", the ooze screamed at her with surprising volume. Upon hearing it, she knew just the right amount of meek attitude to smooth it over and then proceeded to push the flame further up her own body until it reached the base of her neck. Once there, she poured divine energy into the collar. A subtle blue glow appeared on her fingers, along with a tiny flame dancing on top of the knuckles. At that sight, Annabelle''s eyes grew wide with realization. "Aahhhhh", groaned the collar, "this is simply wonderful" Tharia von Verholden suddenly felt dirty as the creature''s noises sounded inappropriate. This however spurred her schadenfreude and with that, she intensified the energy. The blue flames ran over the liquid creature and wherever they went, there came a sudden sparkle and sheen in the collar. Warm but not hot flames passed into the ooze and the blue glow on Verholden''s hand intensified steadily. "More", the collar begged, "just hand it over. More. More. More" Still more light emitted from the hand until it was a stark blue aura that blinded the eye. As the slime gained health, it started to evaporate a slight fog but before it could manifest completely, it suddenly happened. It started with tiny pustules at first. The slime grew irregular with energy but the creature was too enraptured to notice. Tharia, however, felt how the thin membranes within the creature expanded. They grew strong - at first. Quickly the healing energy pushed them past their limit and still, they grew. The pustules turned into something that looked like warts and then quickly gestated into thick, misshapen tumors. "Wait, what are you doing?", the slime suddenly shouted. It tried to grow firm but the slimy body didn''t listen anymore. "No, no, stop this!", it demanded and Tharia took that as her signal. Without mercy, Tharia used the highest amount of healing she could project outwards. Within seconds, the collar grew out of control. A shrill shriek could be heard before it suddenly lost all cohesion. Exploding in a shower of black goo, it ran down her neck and onto her clothes. A tiny nucleus rolled out of the mass and cracked into uncounted pieces. "Healing really can be poison. Or is it the other way around?", Tharia said while the black liquid made her look like something out of a nightmare - again. A sudden and creepy smile found it''s way on her lips. She had just healed a living being to death. To her confused mind, this was utterly hilarious. An elated rush washed over her. Seeing her friend stare at her with that dumbfounded expression made it all the funnier. She burst into laughter. "I healed it dead!" The voice had a barely perceptible shiver to it. That was when Tharia von Verholden felt a sudden soft touch on her chin. It instantly froze her laughter. Annabelle stood in front of her with but the faintest trace of expression on her. It seemed like her friend wanted to look away as if to avoid her, the shoulders were slumped just a bit and the lips were pressed into a thin pencil line. Annabelle was visibly uncomfortable and that was a rarity in itself. "This isn''t you", Anna finally said. Concern coated her voice. Don''t look at me like that, I''m not broken, Tharia screamed inside her own head. Outwardly, however, she nodded meekly and replied with a simple: "You''re right, Annie" Just the simple touch calmed the young Lady Verholden down. Annabelle lifted her head up until she directly gazed into her eyes. "Little fairy, It''s alright to be hurting. I''m here for you, I promise" Tharia instinctively pulled back and looked off to the side. Here? As in when Annie had run off to marry her prince? Here, when she had choked her? But then her thoughts changed pace. Here, as in she was still here after those hurtful words. Here, when she was losing her mind before they had even entered Valarn. Tharia broke down and hid her face in her hands. "I don''t really hate you", Tharia whispered and earned a soft pat on the head for it. "I know Tharia, I know", Annabelle said and then pointed towards the many carts, "Let''s find you something else to wear" Was that last part actual snark? Tharia shot one final wary glance over her new clothes. She wore a weird red and gold uniform jacket with a low cut blouse underneath that revealed much of what little she had. The floral lines along the jacket all led to a symbol of wings with a stylized pillar of light at their center. The trousers were a much better fit, although they were just simply black. She sighed. "What even is this?", Tharia said with exasperation, "Some performer''s attire?" For once she was thankful for the stone calm visage of her friend. Annabelle shot her a glance and then nodded towards the gate. Annabelle spoke up. "I can feel one of the Betrayers. It''s past the outer district, I think" Tharia blinked and then kicked into word-overdrive.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "That''s a decent amount of time to get ready. Are you ready? You sure look like it, although you really need to try and get a better weapon. What kind of weapon is a scythe anyways? You know, my brother had one of those, all decorated with shiny symbols. But it was just a flat-out terrible thing. Impractical. Why didn''t you pick the sword instead? Yes, I couldn''t use it but you could, surely..." "Reach", was all Annabelle replied to the storm of words. As usual, it didn''t stop the tide either. Tharia''s nervous habit had kicked into full gear. Sentence after sentence left her mouth as they neared the outer gate. The other girl was circling around Annabelle and even bounced here and there. They finally reached the gate. Up close it was an even more impressive sight. The walls were domineering. A short assortment of stylized vault-ribs bridged the gap towards the inner gate. This one looked much sturdier with thick and practical walls. There were crannies atop with swivel pots for boiling oil and battlements that had been upgraded to accommodate the recent upgrade to muskets and rifles. Missing, however, was the actual wooden gate. Although missing wasn''t quite the right word, because the state of the inner gate wasn''t in doubt. It was simply gone. They had to climb over piles of wooden debris that vaguely looked like a former gate in a small sea of sawdust. An assortment of carriages and wagons formed a makeshift barrier in place of the gate. Their sides were singed and scorch marks littered the ground. Most unsettling of all: There was no soul in sight. They entered the capital in eery silence - even Tharia contributed to it.

Merkander''s Hofplatz

Near the Gate of the waning Sun, Fifth Ring.

Annabelle kept her eyes on Tharia while they walked through the gate. My little fairy is deeply troubled, the girl with the silvery hair thought. Perhaps, even unhinged. Annabelle would need to find a way to stabilize the girl''s mind before it went off course. Slay her. Flay hear. Devour. What were these thoughts? Where did they come from? Immediately behind the gate, the road abruptly widened into a circular Plaza. In the middle of it stood a fountain. The many beast statues on it had gained an unsightly extension: Seven dead bodies were propped up on puppet stands, with wires keeping their poses. Wings made out of rags had been stuck into their backs, they had quickly tainted red. A hunched over human figure scurried around between the seven grotesque statues and adjusted pieces of cloth and equipment here and there. "Muse! Oh, Muse, Let me back into your embrace", it shrieked with a voice that was neither male or female. It climbed off the fountain and then danced around it in a merry jig. "My art calls for you. I bet you, let me in", the figure shouted before collapsing onto the floor. Next came loud sobbing. Annabelle gave the weird thing a wide berth but was interrupted by an abrupt metallic clicking sound. She stared at Tharia and saw the girl aim through the scope of the Otherseer. Annabelle reached out and mouthed the word don''t with her lips. This was the moment the figure had noticed the two women. It suddenly sprang up on its legs again and directly stared at them. From this distance, it looked like the face of an animal. The head sniffed the air. Tharia groaned and Annabelle narrowed her eyes to try and make out why her friend looked so sickly pale all of a sudden. Was it the pain? The figure, on the other hand, perked up even more. It looked directly towards the two women. "You!And her too! Them! Yes", the voice sounded quite different to the one before, more like that of a rat given voice, "Must tell Master Verholden. Must also tell Muse. Must tell, who do I tell first? Muse will know. Muse must know" Shrieking loudly, it collapsed back on all fours and then ran away while chanting the word ''Muse''. Annabelle looked back at Tharia and saw the girl shiver with dread. Her finger repeatedly pressed the trigger but without any black powder in the ignition pan, nothing happened. Click. The young lady Verholden pulled back the hammer to load the spring and pressed it again. Click. By now the figure had been long gone. ¡°Tharia?¡± Annabelle rushed back to her friend while thinking she had finally snapped. Just as she came to stop in front of her, a sudden dark hunger welled up inside of her. Being this close to the divine spark set her nerves on edge. With conscious effort, the deity pushed all that aside and focussed on her friend. Tharia had wide open eyes and a creepy smile on her lips. Annie reached for Lady Verholden''s shoulders but found the other woman pushing her away. The rifle now hung loosely on the makeshift strap while Tharia pointed at the fountain and its company of seven corpses. ¡°The Verholden Family welcomes you to its very special kind of insanity¡±, the human woman spoke while suppressing a chuckle, ¡°I present to you most humbly: Our family crest¡± Tharia reached into the rucksack and pulled out a signet ring. She slipped it on her finger and then ever so slightly tilted her hand as if she were offering the ring for a servant to kiss. Annabelle examined the ring closer. It was a simple ring, safe for the sigil itself. Central to it was a well of light, framed by two creatures with wings. Seven human spirits with feathery wings circled the well. Annabelle took another look at the fountain and felt renewed revulsion. It really was a grotesque depiction of the family crest. ¡°I¡¯m done¡±, Tharia whispered, ¡°Done being scared. Done being naive and childish. Not anymore. Let¡¯s go. We have monsters to kill. Let me show them what a true Verholden really can do. Open wide the gates of madness and let slip this mad girl on a hunt¡± She watched Tharia break into a quick pace and much to Annabelle''s surprise, she could barely keep pace with the girl. That red uniform was a stark contrast in the moonlit plaza and it was accompanied by cheerful whistling. If it weren¡¯t for a sudden change in notes here and there when the pain visibly overwhelmed her friend, Annabelle would have sworn a changeling had replaced Tharia. Like this, they left the plaza and continued down the main road. The path ahead proved difficult. Here too, someone had set up various barriers. Even a crooked metal fence blocked the path. It too hadn''t stopped whatever it was that wanted through. Scaling several barriers, they came upon a sudden light. A massive pyre, several meters high, burned brightly. The stench in the air was vile and a strange fluttering noise echoed from it. Abruptly, a shadow fell onto the road and caused the two women to huddle behind a wardrobe turned barrier. The fluttering sound came from the shadow as it descended from up high. At first glance, it looked like a massively oversized moth with a shining white fur. But a single horn marked its ugly head and eight boneless two meter long appendages dangled from it. With these, the moth-like thing brushed over the ground while closing in on the fire. The fluttering noise intensified and a second and a third approached the fire. ¡°We need to get off this road¡±, Tharia whispered and then ran over towards a narrow alley. Annabelle cursed as all three of the moth monsters perked up and let their tendrils slither in their direction. She quickly gave chase and made it in just in time before something the size of a trunk smashed into the houses at both sides of the alley. Annabelle dodged pieces of brick wall flying her way, slid across the floor and then darted away at full speed. The oversized moths struggled to squeeze themselves into the alleyway but didn''t fit. Pretty soon, weird and loud sounds could be heard as they tore into each other in a sudden feeding frenzy. Annabelle quickened the pace and caught up with Tharia. Once there, she reached out and pushed herself in front of her friend. "Close combat first", Annabelle said and held up the scythe. "It''s too narrow to swing your toy in this alley", Tharia snapped back. A moment later the girl exhaled and the rage turned into the sweetest of smiles. ¡°Sure thing, Annie. You¡¯re right. Go first. I''m sorry¡±. Seeing Tharia change this abruptly, did something strange to Annabelle. It sparked the hunger to just simply kill the girl and steal back the essence. They had gone down several alleys before she realized just how dark her thoughts had gotten. With conscious effort, she pushed it aside and dug deep within her own mind. There were memories of a better time but looking at them in retrospect, Tharia seemed to be hurting back then too. Had she really been this oblivious to the suffering of her friend? These memories still felt a bit strange to her but at least they quelled the murderous hunger. Walking away from the central road meant tumbling down the social ladder in leaps. The first few rows of houses still had that sheen of care. Sure, the fall of the capital had done some damage to the facades and there were perhaps a few too many smashed in windows, but otherwise, the many archways and occasional buttresses reaching out from them still looked fine. The next few rows were in various degrees of disrepair. The narrow alleyway looked like a riot had passed through it and the occasional Gallows spoke volume about what had happened to the inhabitants. But it took until the pauper''s district to finally see actual life. Not in person but behind barricaded walls. The buildings here were only held together by good will and an ample amount of dirt, excrement, and trash. They heard whispers all around them and the various lights were quickly snuffed as they got closer. Annabelle tried to continuously steer her direction towards the fourth circle but the houses were built in a way that mostly led them the other way. As they turned a corner, they stumbled upon a woman with a child barely a few weeks old. The stranger looked to her sides and then realized she had company. She let out a terrified shriek and fell backward onto the ground. Instead of getting up, she placed her baby in front of her as if it were an offering. ¡°The muse protects me¡±, she muttered and then abruptly got up to dash away. Tharia let out a loud groan and forced herself past Annabelle to give chase but it was a pointless endeavor. She then picked up the baby and held it like it as something dirty. ¡°Take your damned child along! Will you!¡±, Tharia shouted after the fleeing mother. But the mother was gone and they were now equipped with a very loud and very irritated baby. Tharia hobbled back towards Annie and held the kid in her direction. ¡°Carry it¡± ¡°No¡±, Annabelle replied. It was then that they noticed the whispers around them getting harsher. They were loud enough to make out details. ¡°They took the baby¡± ¡°Monsters¡± ¡°Gonna eat the poor thing¡± ¡°We should do something¡± ¡°No chance, they¡¯re whole¡± Tharia listened on. With each whisper, her expression turned sourer. It changed from slightly miffed into one of open hostility. Finally, she held the baby high up above her head and shouted at the top of her lungs. ¡°If none of you fuck-nuggets takes this idiotic shit-flinger off my hands, I¡¯m going to see just how bloody far I can throw it" Annabelle stared at her friend and felt the hunger within spark again. Just kill her. She deserves it too. It¡¯s not your friend anymore. Surely she fell like all the other humans. Just look at her. Kill her, take what is yours. Loud metal thuds broke her dire train of thought. The bars on one of the doors were pushed aside and it opened with a creak. A pockmarked hand reached out of it and the word ¡®Muse¡¯ was repeated several times. But instead of just handing over the baby, Tharia clasped one hand around the wrist and snarled. ¡°Who is the mother?¡± The inhabitant gave a name Annabelle had never heard and going by the look on Tharia''s face, neither had she. But it seemed to satisfy her either way. ¡°Good. You will take this blasted thing and give it back. Don¡¯t hand out babies to strangers you bloody wankers¡±, the young woman said and finally lowered the baby into the waiting hand. She then let the hand go. With surprising speed, the baby was pulled into the house and the door was locked but a short breath later. The whispers around them finally died down. ¡°I get the feeling¡±, Tharia said breathlessly with a sudden sick pallor on her skin, ¡°We should find this Muse character and have a stern talk¡± Annabelle nodded quietly. Tharia once again took lead and she walked after the other woman, too lost in thought to bother. She had just misunderstood her friend. She wouldn''t throw an innocent child, would she? The uncertainty sparked more thoughts of murder and left Annabelle confused. Why did the mind of murder feel more comfortable than memories of joy? Annabelle shivered and noticed how her own expressionless face had momentarily shown a sneer. Break her. Kill her. Eat her. End: At the gates of madness | Coming up: The forlorn Muse 5 - The forlorn Muse

Romlan¡¯s Folly

District of the Undeserving, Fifth Ring.

Their path had led them even further away from the fourth ring. It felt as if the city itself guided them in another direction. Annabelle was still following after Tharia. The human girl pretended to not feel any exhaustion or pain and Annabelle obliged in that delusion. She was in no mood to argue anyway. Slash and bash, then watch her thrash. By now these impulses nauseated Annabelle. They came without warning and felt like spikes driven into her mind. She held onto the memories of their short time together and that made it somewhat easier to resist. It¡¯s just the complete lack of energy that is making me this way, she thought. The alley came to an abrupt end and opened up into a wider road. They reached what looked like a massive hole in the fortification wall. Somewhere in the last years, there had been an attempt to patch it up, although it also looked as if it had been abandoned for months. Decrepit wooden constructions towered high above but really didn¡¯t seem all that stable in the end. Tharia let out a snort and a laugh. ¡°I know this one. Romlan¡¯s Folly. He was some old crotchety alchemist on a contract to convert salt crystals into divine energy. My father actually paid for this idiocy. He caught a lot of anger when Romlan inevitably blew himself up ¨C and took half the wall along with him¡± Annabelle watched the scene quietly. She knew of events like these. Human¡¯s had long tried to replicate the gifts of the divine. This was one such case and going by how there wasn¡¯t even the slightest hint of the divine, this Romlan hadn¡¯t even gotten close. ¡°If we¡¯re here, that means we went quite the wrong way¡±, Tharia added and rubbed her nose, ¡°Annie, we¡¯re lost¡± Annabelle brushed a few silvery hair strands aside and then suddenly froze. Since when did she bother with vanity gestures? Tharia, as usual, didn¡¯t wait for a reaction to her words. She just babbled on. ¡°Every way deeper into the city is locked down, barricaded or blocked by collapsed buildings. The way out, however, is easy. I¡¯m sorry to say but I have no idea where we are even going at this point. Maybe we should head back and sneak past those moth things¡± As if on cue, a loud rumbling noise announced its presence. Annabelle spun around on the spot and saw just in time how a heavy cart crashed into a building behind them. It had naturally blocked the path they had come. Tharia sighed. ¡°Alright, that just happened. Let me guess...¡±, Tharia began and didn¡¯t even need to finish her sentences. Another path was quickly blocked by an onslaught of barrels and yet another one found itself locked down with a metal grate. They were stuck. Annabelle quickly unfurled the scythe and clutched her hands around the handle. There was something comforting about the touch of the wood on her skin. Tharia, on the other hand, had already loaded her unwieldy rifle and poured a bit of powder in the ignition pan. She had pressed the rifle butt against her shoulder and used the scope to search the nearby buildings. Her fingers struggled to click the various lenses in place until the scope suddenly showed a subtle glow. ¡°I have no idea what this means, other than that something is near¡± ¡°And the blocked paths didn¡¯t tell you?¡± Annabelle shot with thick sarcasm and then placed a hand in front of her mouth. What the ever loving blazes was happening to her? Since when had she been the one to snark? To maim, dismember and tear apart? She shook her head in an attempt to drive these thoughts away. ¡°Nay Annie, I¡¯m a dumb as a little fox in the chicken pen¡±, Tharia said with a flat expression, ¡°Now give me a minute here... ye... there¡± The rifle bellowed a loud crash of unnerving thunder and the immense recoil knocked the girl flat on her arse. A sizable chunk of wall exploded into debris. Annabelle saw a humanoid shape fall out of the smashed up building and then suddenly felt a presence behind her. Crush. Slice. Burn. She whirled around, scythe held high. Just as her eyes registered a humanoid shape, she put more force into the swipe. Only then did she register that it was some weird man/animal hybrid thing. The decapitated body flailed about with a rusty old knife in hand and then collapsed on the ground. She didn¡¯t have time to realize what she had done. Another hybrid thing stepped up with a pitchfork in hand. She angled her scythe and then hooked the long wooden handle into the forks, wrestling the weapon aside. One quick step forward and she hammered her elbow straight into the face of the thing. Bone cracked and flesh gave in, leaving the hybrid wailing as it stumbled back. Anna rotated the Scythe, unhooked it from the Pitchfork and then rammed the blunt edge full force against the hybrid¡¯s head. That ended the wailing in a gross gurgle. Just that moment echoed another thunder behind her as Tharia shot a hybrid into pieces. And like before, the sheer recoil knocked the girl off her feet and slid her across the cobblestone. ¡°Gods be cursed and drowned¡±, Tharia spat out. ¡°Ey!¡± Annabelle interjected. ¡°Sorry, Annie. Present company excluded¡± Tharia got back on her legs but Annabelle had no doubt about the state of the other girl: Misery, in one word. Annabelle took a look around. She had killed two and so had Tharia. But these were just the vanguard. More and more of these weird man hybrids appeared on the roofs of the buildings. Some crawled out of the doors and over the rubble. Most of them looked closer to the human side than the monster one but there were the rare exceptions. Dressed in rags and wielding simple makeshift weaponry, they were still a force to be reckoned with by sheer virtue of numbers. A group of seven hybrids took point and ran towards them while growling and shouting. The first one found itself in pieces at the behest of another loud roar. Annabelle looked towards Tharia and found her friend kneeling on the ground. That way she didn¡¯t somersault each shot, but it obviously still knocked her over. The other six beast-hybrids spread out and then attacked as one. Annabelle used the handle of the scythe to block a slash from a rusted sword in front and then by sheer instinct sidestepped a sneaky dagger jab towards her ribs from the side. That dodge, however, brought her straight into the range of a wooden club. Even though she saw it coming, she couldn¡¯t change direction anymore. The blunt pain knocked the air flat out of her chest. Tears shot into her eyes and she stumbled backward. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw her friend still alive. Good. But Tharia was bleeding and wielded the butt-end of the rifle like a club. One beast stepped into her range and found itself clobbered to a pulp by a small woman with a mad stare in her eyes. Annabelle felt adrenaline pump through her body. Sudden clarity reached her senses as the pain didn¡¯t so much disappear but was made insignificant with the raging fire in her veins. She growled and yanked the scythe up just in time to block the second swing of the club. The dagger wielder was nowhere to be seen, which told her it was probably in her back again. Simply out of instinct, she jabbed the blunt edge of the scythe backward and felt a sudden impact. Without wasting time, she then changed the angle and slashed the sharp edge of the weapon in front of her. She didn¡¯t really have to aim, the wide arc made sure she caught the leg of a hybrid but found her weapon stuck in the second one. The hybrid with the sword saw his chance and advanced, but hesitation made him pay dearly. Sudden shock showed on his face. Then his grimace literally evaporated into a cloud of red mist. It was then that Annabelle realized she barely heard anything anymore. Looking back, she saw Tharia kneel in a cloud of smoke. The frail girl showed a crazed grin. One end of the rifle was blood red and broken while the front end still glowed from the continued shooting. Somehow, her friend had managed to kill off her attackers as one very ugly mush on the floor attested. Annabelle went to get her scythe and then glared a challenge at the hundreds of hybrids all around them. She twirled it in a show of force. A sudden painful ringing announced the return of her hearing and what she heard left her dumbfounded. Music. Tinny, weird music she would have placed in an opera. ¡°Drama most delicate¡±, the beautiful voice of a man carried over and was met with a chant of a single word: Muse. It belonged to a strange man sitting on a wooden throne just a few meters away from them. When had he gotten there? He wore one of those fancy suits with a bowler hat on his head. A collection of three roses in various states of decay were wrapped into a red handkerchief on his chest. At his feet stood a gramophone and played that weird music. ¡°Now, don¡¯t stop on my accord. Please, go on¡±, he said. With the white beard and the stark blue eyes, he exuded charisma. As if on command, another group of six attackers detached from the mob and closed in on them. This had suddenly turned absurd. Annabelle couldn¡¯t help but notice the fear in their eyes. She wasn¡¯t quite sure what they feared more: The man or them. Annabelle heard a sudden angry groan coming from Tharia. With a sideglance she noticed her friend examine the rifle. The earlier assault had left the weapon all but broken. The shot that had saved Annabelle was its swansong. The entire barrel was bent and blasted open. And not just that, its wielder wasn¡¯t much better off. The hours of stubborn marching and ignoring of her bodies limits had left her feverish. Annabelle bit her lips. ¡°Barrier¡±, she then said, ¡°Lock us in. I¡¯ll keep them busy¡± Tharia nodded and placed down her rucksack to pull out the barrier chain from within. Annabelle, on the other hand, raised her scythe into a defensive posture and then stepped towards her attackers. The closest one stepped back and suddenly turned around. She made quick work of him before focussing her eyes on the other five, while her scythe dripped fresh blood. Impractical or not, it was still deadly. These new attackers, however, were warier. They had time to see their friends die at the hands of two crazed young women. That didn¡¯t help their morale much. Still, like before they split up and circled Annabelle. What idiocy, how was she meant to keep them busy? Annabelle straightened her back and brushed back her long hair behind her back. Sometimes, intimidation was half the battle. She then balanced the scythe on her shoulder and shot lifeless glares at her attackers. They circled their prey with careful steps. One of them stepped forward into a quick lunge with a spear. Annabelle had seen it coming. It was obvious he¡¯d try first. She simply sidestepped the weapon but then suddenly held onto the wooden part of the spear and pulled on it. The hybrid came stumbling after his weapon and found himself butting heads with a goddess. Literally. Intense pain exploded in Annabelle''s forehead and she felt something wet and warm on her skin but at least the spear-wielder let go of his weapon and stumbled back. With a snarl, she twisted the spear and threw it with all her might. The weapon slammed into its owner and impaled him on the floor. She needed more intimidation, this wasn¡¯t working yet. Annabelle hated bragging but maybe this wasn¡¯t the time for these delicacies. She once again brought her scythe up to her shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re fighting Annabelle¡±, she said loud and clear, then shook her head, ¡°That¡¯s the name your people gave me. I¡¯m the Godqueen, last of my kin, the revenant of a broken age¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. She made a step towards her attackers and found the remaining ones take a step back in return. ¡°As a child, the twins of war taught me weapons. As a toddler, I learned about death. As a teen, I learned just how despicable your kind is and as the bride of your once king, I know how to hurt, maim, betray and destroy. I¡¯ve had the best teachers¡± Tharia, get that damn barrier done, Annabelle thought as she tried to keep her ludicrous speech going. Deep within, she had to admit that Tharia always managed to put the Thunder into the words while her attempt sounded more like an angry fish flopping about on a beach. She shot another glance towards Tharia and found her crawling on the ground again. By the looks of it, she had sustained enough damage to make the spark detach itself. The human girl was out and the barrier wouldn¡¯t be coming anytime soon. To the abyss with it. She grabbed her scythe and then leaped forward without warning. The hybrid in front of her opened his eyes wide and tried to bring up his weapon to block, but Annabelle hammered the blade into his skull. Amateurs. Much to her luck. Not waiting for a second, she whirled about and used the long handle to knock the legs out from another one. A sudden sharp pain in her abdomen made her stumble. A rapier was stuck in there. She turned around, pulled out the rapier and threw it after the fleeing attacker. This wasn¡¯t smart but it was desperation. The hybrid simply sidestepped the weapon while Annabelle¡¯s strength faded fast. She growled in anger and with a bit of confusion, she realized she wasn¡¯t the only one. The man in the suit stood atop his throne and growled just like she had. ¡°Harold!¡± the man bellowed, ¡°You imbecile. What have I taught you about dramaturgy? It is necessary for the struggling damsel to have luck on her side. Think! How is the audience going to cheer her on, if she dies right there? Go on, chop chop. Fix it¡± Annabelle stood still and held her aching stomach. What unfolded next confused the everliving abyss out of her. The hybrid paced back with a defeated look on his face. It then picked up the rapier while everyone else watched. Without even hesitating for a second, he then put the blade to his chest and jabbed it straight through his heart, before falling to the ground as a writhing corpse. Loud chants followed the dramatic death of the man-animal creature. Muse, Muse, Muse. ¡°And you there, girl. Your attire pleases me but your weapon lacks all elegance¡±, the man said and stood up from his wooden throne. With everyone frozen in either reverence or sheer confusion, the man walked over towards Tharia with the grace of a cat. Standing in front of the half-erected barrier, he suddenly reached into his jacket and pulled out a double-barreled pistol. It came with a golden sheen and a weird firing mechanism. Instead of the hammer system, this came with a so-called wheel-lock that was operated by a detachable windup lever. The two ignition pans were also equipped with metal covers that made it possible to essentially pre-load two shots. ¡°Seeing your signet ring, my dear, I¡¯m sure you know how to handle this pre-loaded weapon, don¡¯t you?¡± the man said and held the grip of the pistol in Tharia¡¯s direction. Shivering and shaking, the frail girl reached for it. She then held the weapon in hand and winded up the wheel-lock with the attached lever. A three-quarter turn was all it took before the weapon clicked once. Then another three-quarter turn and a second click could be heard. ¡°I do. Jackass¡±, Tharia said, pointed the pistol at the man and then pressed both triggers at once. This weapon too had murderous recoil but the frail girl resting on the ground couldn¡¯t possibly fall anymore. The full brunt of the two simultaneous shots lifted the man off the ground and threw him several meters. His landing came with an odd crunching sound and stunned silence hung in the air. ¡°Magnificient!¡± the man suddenly said and as if pulled up by invisible wires, he got back into a standing position with not a single wound or mark on his body ¨C not even on his suit. ¡°This, you amateurs, is true Drama. Betrayal, confusion and wonderful violence all combined¡± He did a merry jig before bowing towards the two women. Suddenly much more serious in tone, he addressed the two women. ¡°Allow me to introduce myself. I¡¯m the forlorn Muse. You, my dear guests, are in need of my help. I will not harm you anymore, this I swear. Instead, I propose an agreement of sorts. But before that, let¡¯s go home. I will feed you and give you rest, I¡¯m a strong believer in equal trades and it wouldn¡¯t do to have you decide this way¡± Annabelle didn¡¯t have the strength to resist anymore. She felt dozens of hands reach for her and as her consciousness faded away, she saw Tharia being carried off.

Outside Time and Space

At the edge of reason.

Annabelle woke to a black and shapeless island resting in a sea of white light. The sky above showed not a single star but was colored in a brilliant gold. Yet neither source of light illuminated her body. She held up a pitch black hand and gazed at it. All around her were piles of discarded dolls. They had the size of humans or more exactly, they were her size. Their empty faces stared at her. Each of them brought the curses and voices of another dying god. ¡°Whore of the humans¡±, the former twins of war spat at her with her own face reflected on the doll, ¡°lusting after the touch of mankind¡± Then another doll started to move, it screamed ¡®Betrayer¡¯ at her, before collapsing as if all strings had been cut. ¡°Was the love of the divine not enough for you?¡± another doll spoke to her. It had the voice of her mother, the symbol of the earth. ¡°Let us consume through you¡±, the many-gods-made-one spoke. Annabelle shivered. The god named abyss was a peculiar nightmare. ¡°Be strong for us, please¡±, that one was one of her many sisters. All of a sudden, the voices ended and left her alone on the island made out of discarded dolls. Annabelle felt tears run down her cheeks as emotional pain forced its way to the fore. She knelt down within the dolls and reached for the wooden limbs. ¡°Please, come back¡±, she cried, ¡°Don¡¯t leave me behind¡± Brushing the lifeless limbs against her cheeks, she pleaded, she cried and she howled. There came no sound. Emotionally exhausted and all alone, she finally curled up into a fetal position. With broken movements, the dolls around her came back to life. They snapped their hands around Annabelle and pulled her into the ground. Somewhere not that far off, a weird and tinny melody permeated through the strange place.

House of the Inspired

District of the Undeserving, Fifth Ring.

Annabelle woke again. The pain in her bones told her it was the real world this time. The memories of that island faded quickly but left her emotionally drained. She felt the crusted tears on her cheek and a slight weight on her chest. Looking down, she saw Tharia sleeping. The girl¡¯s hands held Annabelle¡¯s stomach where she had been stabbed. She was still clothed but bandages were slung around her abdomen. Annabelle then looked at Tharia. Consume. Devour... consummate. The last thought came with an undeniable intensity. Besides herself, Annabelle reached for her friend. She had always loved Tharia¡¯s hair and couldn¡¯t resist brushing her delicate fingers through it. Following a sudden impulse, she brought her hands towards Tharia¡¯s cheeks and then ever so carefully pulled her sleepy friend into a kiss. The touch of warm skin on her lips drove Annabelle wild. It was that sweet scent, the subtle taste and the strong lure that came with it, that made her shiver. As Tharia started to shift, Annabelle suddenly realized what she was doing. She quickly pulled her hands back and broke the kiss. What the ever blasting abyss had she just done? That was just plain creepy on more than one level. Sure, they had played around with kisses when they were younger but that was then and this was now. It felt very different doing that as an adult. Tharia looked up at her and then placed a finger against her own lips. She knew! Annabelle fell into a stutter, trying to explain. ¡°Fairy, I¡¯m sorry... I don¡¯t, why... but... somehow¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright¡±, Tharia said and stretched her arms. ¡°Really, it¡¯s my fault. Seems like I used you as a pillow. Sorry about that. Does the wound still hurt? I used as much as I could but I was just exhausted. Have you seen this place? Our strange benefactor is quite the weird bird. I wonder if there¡¯s sunlight outside. Shall we see? How late or early is it anyways? A new day might bring some good news perhaps¡± Tharia was babbling and Annabelle rightly sorted it under very nervous habits. Since there was no threat around, this meant the situation made her uncomfortable. Didn¡¯t it? She didn¡¯t really know but wasn¡¯t of the mind to ask and make it potentially any more awkward. Annabelle patted Tharia¡¯s hair and then pushed herself upwards. Only now did she realize she lay down in an opulent bed. The ceiling above them was decorated with white stucco. Carefully crafted floral shapes gave accent to a dusted and unused chandelier. Heavy curtains made out of brocade kept light from coming inside, but a single candle on a nightstand gave enough light. Annabelle felt like she heard music but it was too fleeting an impression. The strange man and his group of beastman must have carried them here. ¡°Where?¡± asked Annabelle, her word trailing off before she ever got around to a sentence. ¡°Some old Opera thing. I didn¡¯t get too good a look. Look, Annie, I¡¯m sorry the barrier failed. I was stubborn and tried to press on when really, we should have been more careful. What are we even doing?¡± A sudden knock on the door interrupted their conversation. There came a meek female voice from outside. ¡°Master Muse invites you to dinner. You¡¯re kindly asked to attend¡± Tharia watched as Annabelle left first. She needed a moment to herself to clear her thoughts and quietly hummed the melody she had heard the day before. Once the door closed, she fell back onto the bed. Had Annie really just kissed her? She once again brushed a hand over her lips. ¡°I guess that happened¡±, she then said. But it wouldn¡¯t be her if she wasn¡¯t a master in burying things deep inside. Before even coming to a conclusion on how that made her feel, it was already locked away. She stretched her arms again and yawned. Following that, she rolled to the edge of the bed. With speed and agility, she got out of the bed, only to plop down face first into the floor. ¡°Right, right, you can be on top of the world and still play the moron¡± Sighing, she reached out to the divine flame and re-ignited her lower half. She thought she was prepared for what was to come. But no matter how often she had to do it, there was no way to brace for that. With a sudden rush, sensations forced their way into her brain. Her body convulsed on the floor while the cried out in agony. The next part she could do something about, however. As the spike of pain was done, she pushed the pain aside until it was background noise. She then got back on her feet and this time, she actually walked. She brushed the creases out of the uniform jacket and slipped back into her boots. Groggy from having just awoken, she actually did sneak a peek out of the curtains and found the window walled in. Now that was a bummer. She continued rummaging through the room until she found her new weapon. Much to Tharia¡¯s surprise, she found it pre-loaded again. Not that it helped much, she had shot the Muse point black and it hadn¡¯t exactly helped. Now finally clothed and armed, she slipped out of the room. The corridor was decorated with wooden panels and faded pictures. A thick red carpet rolled down in the middle and the ceiling too was decorated with stucco, but this one had been painted brown like the wood around it. She followed the corridor and passed rooms that had once belonged to various artists as made obvious by dusted musical instruments, large mirrors, note sheets that were strewn about and even painting utensils therein. The end of the corridor opened up into an inside balcony. It allowed the view down onto the entry hall. Large glass fronts made up a large part of the entrance. These weren¡¯t walled up and as such, the late evening sun made its way inside the building. Tharia realized that they must have slept at least a full day. She leaned onto the balcony and looked down, caught in contemplation for a moment. Yesterday had been a nightmare. Tharia now realized she had snapped upon seeing the fountain. She clutched her hand around the Sigil ring. Her mission was one of rescue, not retribution. Save the piece of a shit brother, not murder him. But going by how the people in the capital reacted to even just hearing her name, made it obvious that would not be easy. ¡°Ah, Miss Verholden. So nice of you to come¡±, the voice of the Muse came from below her. She looked down and saw the old man curtsy in her direction. He looked strangely human and noble in his mannerisms. If he were a bit younger, he might just have stepped out from her dreams. The Muse held one hand to the side and dropped a sudden bouquet of flowers. They were quite lovely really if all a bit dried up and dead. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared a bit of a show for you. I heard that one of mine has upset you¡± The Muse clapped his hands and a door behind Tharia opened. Out came a familiar creature. Sudden revulsion welled up within Tharia, cold bloody rage and hatred let her grip the pistol. It was the thing that had created the disgusting fountain crest. She bit her lips and nestled with the grip of the weapon. Could she risk setting off the strange Muse by shooting down one of his guests? The Muse chuckled and curtsied again. ¡°Now then, Miss Verholden, do you have questions for him?¡± Tharia just growled. The Muse took that as a signal. ¡°Tsk. Robert, Robert, you have gravely offended my guest with your art¡±, the old man said. He then clapped a second time. The creature abruptly dashed forward. It wasn¡¯t aiming for Tharia but rather for the edge of the balcony. She was dumbstruck as the hybrid climbed over it and threw itself to its death without giving it another thought. Shocked, she looked back down towards the Muse and saw the most sinister of smiles on his face. It looked familiar. She had sometimes seen something similarly unhinged in a mirror. ¡°There¡¯s no greater offense than badly made art¡±, the Muse said while keeping the smile up, ¡°Come down and let us dine. We¡¯ve got much to talk about, don¡¯t we, Miss Verholden?¡± End: The forlorn Muse | Coming up: House of the Inspired 6 - House of the Inspired

House of the Inspired

District of the Undeserving, Fifth Ring.

The stage at the heart of the Opera building had been turned into a dining hall for the Muse and his guests. A massive table occupied much of the Stage. It stood on an exquisite red carpet. All around the table, heavy curtains hid away the area behind the stage while the view to the seatings was wide open. A veritable crowd of hybrids sat in the orchestra pit. The clumsy-looking things handled their instruments with surprising care and provided a subtle background ambiance. This was very much the first time Tharia would eat accompanied by music. What she found unnerving, however, was the audience. There was nary a free spot in the seatings and even the balconies were filled up with viewers. Some of those things looked almost entirely human with minor feats of animal here and there: Whiskers instead of a mustache or mouse ears are hidden underneath a hood. The ones closer to the stage, however, looked less human. That said, they shared a common trait: Hunger. And Tharia was to sit still and eat the most opulent meal she had seen in months. All these impressions pressed down on the young woman but she just sat on her chair, with a proper regal pose, and ate what she was served: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and varieties of flesh she had never seen before. She wolfed it down with reckless abandon. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Annabelle just stare at the food. A nagging sensation tugged at her mind but she paid it no heed. This was, after all, a feast worth having. The Muse had suggested to her personally she should just dig in. ¡°Why are you hrmmpf...¡±, Tharia had trouble speaking with her mouth full, but alas, she just had to do it anyways, ¡°So why hmmrnng, are you helping hgrnmmng us?¡± The sudden laughter of the audience made her shudder. This was absurd. She wanted to throw away the cutlery, her stomach grumbled its disagreement with the meat but when she saw his smile and the strong scent of flowery sweet nectar, mixed with an odd musk, she couldn¡¯t help but smile as well. She quietly hummed a melody while her eyes were transfixed on the artist¡¯s fabulous visage. ¡°That¡¯s the wrong way to think my dear¡±, he said. Laughter. What the bloody blazes was funny about that? Well, Tharia realized she would have to ask herself as she was laughing too. Everyone but Annabelle was laughing. ¡°You see, all artists are selfish. We create because we want recognition and fame. It¡¯s a truth that must not be spoken. Well, to the abyss with it, I dared say I was no selfless pup and they cast me out¡±, the Muse tousled his grey hair and smirked. The moment he had ended that sentence, a hundred voices suddenly sighed in sympathy. There was only one person present that didn¡¯t quite fall into this spiel and that was Annabelle. Her friend sat stonefaced, didn¡¯t eat and didn¡¯t reply to anything. It was as if she wasn¡¯t entirely there. Tharia shook her head. ¡°Muse, friend. That didn¡¯t answer my question¡±, she said. Gods, the meat was so sumptuous and delicious. Her stomach rumbled in pure joy and even the flame inside of her was abuzz. ¡°Now my friend, you need to listen between the words. I help because you are to be my magnum opus¡±, the Muse said and stood up. He walked over towards Tharia with a mindnumbing elegance. Each gesture seemed custom tailored towards giving her a magnificent impression of him. ¡°You, my dear enigma, are the middle child of the Verholdens. The young one? A clever tyrant. The elder sibling? A ditzy siren with assets but no grace. But you? You¡¯re a scarred secret wrapped in a golden cage¡±, he said and whirled around towards the audience, ¡°And what is art if but a mystery of the mind and heart?¡± Applause was his answer. Much to her confusion, Tharia noticed various things being thrown onto the stage. Mostly flowers but also in one case expensive underwear. She didn¡¯t dare ask. Besides, the grumble in her stomach had grown louder. Why are you eating this, she thought for a moment. She hated it. Because he asked you to, of course. Silly girl. She loved it. She shot a glance towards Annabelle. Her friend was lethargic but whether it was because the Muse simply hadn''t asked her to eat or because of what happened earlier, Tharia couldn''t tell. Her stomach cramped in pain as she cut off another slice of meat and gulped it down. ¡°Your friend then is perhaps even more interesting¡±, the Muse said and spun around before he came to rest next to Tharia, elbows placed on the table. ¡°She is not quite complete, is she? Tell me, why do you think she carries that Scythe everywhere?¡± he said and pointed towards the weapon Tharia had failed to notice. That actually was a good question. Without waiting for an answer, the Muse now locked eyes with the lifeless Annabelle. Tharia felt a sudden surge of sorrow as she saw just how detached from everything her friend seemed. ¡°May I?¡± the Muse asked and reached for the blade end of the Scythe. Annabelle absent-mindedly handed him the weapon. ¡°Now this is a good tool, all things considered, is it not?¡± the Muse once again turned towards the audience. ¡°A tool of harvest, a tool for food. But this one has tasted blood¡± Without warning, the man suddenly threw the Scythe towards the seatings. It flew with absurd speed, but just as it was about to crash into three unlucky hybrids, the weapon suddenly started to glow. Golden flakes of light peeled off the weapon and disappeared into thin air. This happened in less than a second but when it had stopped, the weapon was gone. ¡°And it will always return to get more of it. Belle, be a dear and recall it¡± ¡°What?¡± was all Annabelle said. ¡°I forgot just how incomplete you are. Just lift your hand and imagine it in your hands¡± Annabelle raised one of her hands. It took a second, but then a golden line appeared right there. A wooden handle slipped out of it and once Annabelle wrapped her hand around it, a sudden golden flash materialized the Scythe. The viewers went loud with awe and soon started to clap in appreciation. Tharia was confused and the Muse grinned from ear to ear. ¡°It¡¯s part of her. She is, after all, what she is. But I see now, this act is premature. We need to get back to the origin. Now then, you two. I promised I¡¯d help you and this I will do. You will visit an old friend of mine by the name of Eleanor. Kindly invite her over to my place¡±, he clapped his hands and the hybrids burst into a loud cheer, ¡°No need to include anything but the head, really. Do that, and you will profit greatly¡± He then suddenly whirled around and climbed onto the table, before hopping down on the other side. He had gracefully dodged the various plates of food. ¡°Oh but that name sounds familiar, does it not, last of the gods? Eleanor, the noble-born maid of a certain goddess. Eleanor Zuresti, close companion to Annabelle with unsavory rumors more resilient than weeds¡±, he said with a wide grin, ¡°She was the first in many things. First to touch, first to betray and first to pilfer your essence, first to fall, first to be shunned and first to be exiled. Now as dramaturgy demands it, she too shall be first again. First to struggle, first to appease and first to face judgment¡± He leaned in close to Annabelle and whispered with a wide grin. ¡°Which shall it be, godspawn? To reconcile or to kill?¡± Tharia watched in shock as Annabelle¡¯s face showed a sudden influx of emotions. She was fletching her lips and showing her white teeth. The nose was wrinkled and the eyes sparked with bloodlust. Tharia shuddered as more intense cramps assailed her stomach. Yet still, she kept on eating the flesh. ¡°KILL IT IS!¡± the Muse screamed and so did the audience. A sudden dry cough, however, pulled his attention towards Tharia. She really wasn¡¯t feeling well. With a sudden leap, he jumped straight over the table and landed right next to Tharia. She felt a warm hand on her back. ¡°You look sickly pale and you¡¯re burning up¡±, he exclaimed loud enough, then suddenly grabbed her plate. ¡°Was this poisoned? Bring the cook, at once!¡± Tharia tried to protest. Deep down she knew why it hurt. She didn¡¯t just dislike the taste of meat but found it utterly vile. For some forsaken reason, she had eaten absurd amounts of it. When next Tharia looked up, a meek-looking elderly woman had been dragged to the stage. The Muse stood in front of her and it was only now that Tharia realized just how big he was. He towered over the cook and stared down at her. All while Annabelle still stared at the table. Tharia bit her lip and wondered about what had happened to Annabelle. Was it really just the strange suggestions? Was she affected at all? The Muse raised his voice. ¡°Tell me filth, have you poisoned my guest?¡± The cook quickly shook her head. She was in open panic, clutching to her apron while shivering and crying in fear. ¡°Then why is she in pain? Did she send you?¡± The Muse pressed on with seething rage twisting his beautiful visage. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Muse. I only used the best ingredients, even though we were out of so many things¡± The man called Muse threw the old woman to the ground and then faced the audience. ¡°Poison or accident?¡± he asked. Poison chanted the hybrids. The sheer amount of bloodlust Tharia felt from that was only making matters worse. She could barely keep it together as is but kept chanting poison subconsciously. The only one that didn''t was Annabelle. Weakly, Tharia held up a hand.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°It wasn¡¯t poison, I just can¡¯t deal with meat¡±, she whispered. More nausea flooded her senses. This was going to come out. Soon. Pretty soon. Bloody blazes. Tharia suddenly jumped up and dashed off the stage as fast as she could. Tharia felt utterly miserable, dirty and vile but the situation had cleared her senses entirely. She took a bit longer to return than was necessary and used it to sort her thoughts. The Muse was dangerous. He was just the right mixture of charisma, powerful suggestion and something else she couldn¡¯t quite put the finger on. She had eaten something her body couldn¡¯t take, simply because he had asked her to. Twice now, she had witnessed others die at the simple utterance of a suggestion from Muse. She shuddered. They needed to get out of here. When Tharia stepped back on the stage, the curtains had been lowered. The elderly cook stood still like a statue with Muse standing right behind her. He beamed a smile in her direction and Tharia answered it with one of her masterful fakes. It seemed to work, as there was no sudden urge to fulfill this man¡¯s wishes. ¡°Are you better, dear?¡± ¡°Very much so, thank you¡±, she replied. Upon hearing this, the Muse pushed the elderly woman away from him. ¡°Well then. Art is a tolerant mistress. Failures are part of our path if we reflect on them. Go now, reflect how you could have prevented this. You are hereby exiled¡±, the Muse told the elderly cook that suddenly burst into tears. Now that Tharia looked closer, she noticed the small patches of irregular fur on the old woman¡¯s hands. Tharia felt anger well up in her. The cook had no fault in this. It was her own mind falling to the strong suggestion. One strong enough to override her natural instincts. Yet if she allowed her rage to show now, the Muse would notice she had broken free of his lure. ¡°Thank you for looking out for us. We¡¯re sorry to impose upon you, friend Muse¡±, Tharia said instead with the sweetest of smiles she could muster. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much¡±, the old man said and curtsied with perhaps the first honest smile all evening. An awkward silence followed during which Tharia looked over towards Annabelle. Her friend still sat quietly at the table. Something was wrong with the girl. ¡°Now then, I think it¡¯s prudent that I urge you to expedite your encounter with Eleanor. It¡¯s, after all, a matter of the divine¡±, the man said. Anything to get out of his reach, Tharia thought in reply but offered a most proper curtsy of her own. ¡°Naturally. Thank you for your hospitality. We¡¯re in your debt¡±, she spoke while somehow scrounging together every modicum of etiquette she could remember. Part of being the Tomboy of the family was a certain leeway in behaving the proper way. No one was surprised when she had behaved oddly. Even something as a curtsy proved a challenge, but luckily the large man seemed to be distracted. He left with an odd look on his face. Tharia waited until he was gone and ran over towards the table. The food on it still had that scent of meat and almost immediately brought nausea back, but there was nothing left in her stomach that could vacate the premises. She tapped Annabelle on her shoulder. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go, shall we?¡± Tharia said. The former goddess stood up and without uttering a single word, left the room with a very concerned looking Tharia in tow. Had she been manipulated as well or why was she acting this weird, she wondered.

Falhorn Alley, leading to Old Henrietta''s Slight

Lower District of Seeking, Fifth Ring.

They were back on the road again. This time with just one Rucksack, they left most of it at the Opera House at Annebelle''s behest. The moon now stood high and drowned everything in a pale light that left plenty of shadows. They had quickly realized that the Opera House had been an anomaly. Somehow, in the middle of the slums, there was a tiny district of the Opera and a handful of assorted neighbors. These hadn¡¯t been popular living places and post end of all days, it had really fallen apart. Their target was a good while away and they had been going for a while. Tharia followed Annabelle closely and watched her friend with a sullen mood. Every attempt at conversation had been blocked or flat out ignored. The human girl let out an especially deep sigh. ¡°Alright then. If you won¡¯t talk, I will. It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll tell you about my day so far. Awakening next to my friend was nice and it came with a bit of a surprise. Now my friend hasn¡¯t talked to me since, after that initial all too cute apology, but I¡¯d love to tell her it really was alright and if she wants another, she just needs to ask¡±, Tharia said and accelerated her pace until she walked in front of Annabelle. Her body still felt as if it was aflame, despite having evacuated the food earlier, the spark was still working overtime to heal damages she didn''t notice she had. Paying it no more mind, she then turned around and tried to walk backwards. Annabelle kept her stoneface going on. ¡°Right, I can be on top of the world and still be a moron. Should be my motto¡±, she said as she stumbled constantly. Even with the spark, she lacked the bodily finesse to do something as simple as that. ¡°Now then, dinner was ''nice''. Powerful suggestive ability going on with that guy. I vote we don¡¯t trust him one bit. Can you be sure this is really your Eleanor we¡¯re about to meet? What did really happen between you and that woman? Did she betray you? Was she really your uh... extra-marital sweetheart? You didn¡¯t seem the type to be all polyamorous. I don¡¯t really like that, to be hone...¡± Tharia felt a sudden intense pressure on her shoulders. Before she could even think to react, Annabelle had slammed the human girl effortlessly against the wall. Tharia let out a yelp and suddenly found herself pinned to the cold stone. Annabelle¡¯s intense grey eyes stared down at her. Tharia wasn¡¯t much smaller than her friend but right now, she felt tiny. She wasn¡¯t quite sure what to expect, the emotions in Annabelle¡¯s face changed from ¡®give me more, please¡¯ to ¡®holy bloody mother of destruction¡¯ and back. ¡°You are impossible¡±, Annabelle said with clenched teeth, ¡°This is mine to sort through. Give me some time. I¡¯ll happily seek your help and company when I¡¯m ready, okay?¡± ¡°Sheesh¡±, Tharia said and exhaled the air in her lungs, ¡°Could have just asked me to stay quiet, you know?¡± ¡°Would it have helped?¡± Tharia placed a finger against her lips and thought long and hard with mischief on her mind. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. I probably would have just continued talking. You¡¯re right. Yeh, I guess. I¡¯d have asked about all the details. Like how you met this Eleanor girl, how it happened and why...¡± ¡°Tharia!¡± Annabelle growled. The slightly smaller girl closed her mouth with a smacking sound and nodded meekly. Message received. She hadn¡¯t seen such a temperamental Annabelle before. Part of her wanted to tease her but she ultimately decided to respect her wishes. The goddess finally let go and brushed a few of her hair strands behind her ears. Tharia still didn''t know whether the suggestive abilities of the Muse affected Annie, but at least she now had a better idea why her friend acted this weird. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡±, Annabelle then said and pointed down the alley. They quickly reached another district. The sheer difference in social stratum was immediately made obvious by the opulence of the buildings. These were built by people with money. Lots of it. Going by their weird mixture of various styles, this was a rather recent addition. There were still the tell-tale arched windows and occasional buttresses. Seeing how these houses didn¡¯t reach all that high, this was more decoration than purpose. However, mixed in with that were red bricks that had been painted with pictures of gold. The images were individual to each of the houses. One showed a forest of massive trees with tiny fairies in them. The tiny creatures were stylized with over exaggerated femininity that rubbed Tharia the wrong way. And that wasn¡¯t just because her nickname was ''Fairy''. Absolutely not. She tugged her loosely fitting blouse shut just because she felt like it. Either way, the next house over showed a completely different scene, merchants sat on a carriage and were engaged in trade with the Sky-People of the south. This was the odd picture out because it wasn¡¯t only painted in gold but kept the cerulean skin tone of the Asansi Sky-People intact. She noticed Annabelle suddenly getting slower and with a wink of her hand, golden light manifested into the familiar scythe. The walls here around them were still painted but it was hard to see them under a layer of glittering silver strings. These ended in massive moth cocoons and Tharia really only knew that, because one of those oversized creatures peeled itself out of one. She instinctively reached for the pistol, but Annie gave a quick sign to stand down and mouthed the word ¡®Quiet¡¯ to her. She nodded and watched her friend run towards the beast. Just in case, she kept her weapon aimed at the head of the moth thing. It was still half-stuck and struggling to break through. Annabelle used that chance to run up to it. One of the appendages broke free and tried to slam the attacker aside, but Annabelle was quicker. She batted the boneless tendril to the side and then used her speed to close in on it. There came a moment when she looked up at the massive moth and the beast stared back with a whole assortment of beady eyes. Not even a second later, the sharp edge of Annie¡¯s weapon came crashing down. It cut through the horn as if it was cloth and dove deep into the beast. The moth-thing shrieked in pain. Annabelle pulled on her weapon and when she found it stuck, she suddenly let go. Golden light emanated from the tool and a moment later, the scythe appeared anew in Annabelle¡¯s hands. She took aim for another swipe, this one more shallow but aimed at the entirety of the thing¡¯s neck. Tharia changed up her position in an attempt to maintain a clear shot. At the first sign of real danger to her friend, she¡¯d act but so far, the silver-haired woman had it under control. The second slash cut deep into the moth and silenced the shrieks. Yet, the beast was still not down. The first appendage thrashed about aimlessly, which distracted Annabelle just long enough for a sneaky second one to suddenly knock her off her feet. Moments later, the tendril shuddered. Without warning, a sharp talon appeared at the end of it. Annabelle rolled aside just in time as the thing smashed into the ground with peculiar accuracy. It was an odd sight, the massive moth was obviously dying or already dead, but the tendrils still kept active. They jabbed a second time. And a third before Annabelle got back on her feet. Tharia scanned the beast with her eyes in an attempt to figure it out, while Annabelle defended from the two tendrils. She looked the moth over, but the beast was obviously dead. It had stopped twitching and thick blood ran down the cocoon until it landed on... a strangely human face. The visage hung in the cocoon and was barely visible behind the silver but it was moving nonetheless. ¡°Annie, face, lower half cocoon¡±, she spoke. Annabelle smashed the two tendrils to the side, then hooked her blade underneath one of it and suddenly yanked her weapon back. The tendril was cut clean and a human cry for pain rang out. For a second Tharia thought it had been Annabelle, but the face in the cocoon grew more defined. It was clear enough for Annabelle to see and target. She could, however, not reach it with her swings as she really only had room for vertical attacks and the weird human-like face was rather in the middle of the large cocoon. Annie simply turned the scythe and then rammed the handle into the face. Again and then yet another time until the tendrils too stopped moving. Tharia then quickly closed up to her friend and placed both hands on her back. She let part of the divine flame flicker over to repair any small damage Annabelle might have incurred but Annabelle was physically alright, just out of breath. The human girl then knelt down next to the cocoon and took a closer look at the face. Upon second glance, it was nothing like a human. There were the rudimentary details but it mostly looked like something had painted a face without having any knowledge of anatomy. That was taking into account that Annabelle had restructured the whole thing with her weapon. ¡°I already hate these things¡±, Tharia whispered quietly and looked up at her friend. Annabelle directed her stoneface at the open road before them and the massive mansion behind it. This really was a much more affluent district yet money hadn¡¯t protected it from the infestation of monstermoths. ¡°Let¡¯s just pick a different route. Good thing we don¡¯t have to pass here¡±, Tharia finally said and wiped the sweat off her brow. Annabelle, however, didn¡¯t reply. She was once more openly showing her emotions and they were in complete chaos. Tharia looked back and forth between the mansion and her friend until she finally saw the golden plate marking the owner: ¡®Eleanor Zuresti¡¯. ¡°Oh, come on!¡± End: House of the Inspired | Coming up: Faint of heart 7 - Faint of heart

Falhorn Alley, leading to Old Henrietta''s Slight

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

¡°You¡¯re going to do what?, said Annabelle. She barely lifted both her eyebrows but for the silver-haired girl, this was essentially a full-on emotional explosion. Her friend, on the other hand, bounced an oiled pouch on her palm. ¡°I¡¯ll light up the night, Annie. It¡¯s not as insane as it sounds¡±, Tharia nodded, tossed the pouch into the air and caught it again, ¡°These moth things like fire. I¡¯m going to give them one while you slip in. Easy distraction¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious¡±, Annabelle said with a stern tone. When next she looked at Tharia, the human girl suddenly looked miserable. She shuffled her legs on the spot, wrenched the cord of the pouch in her fingers and her lower lip was quivering. It was such a look of utter dejection that Annabelle couldn¡¯t help but place a hand on Tharia¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Alright. Do it. I trust you¡±, Annabelle proclaimed. Tharia¡¯s mood switched instantly. The girl had just played her emotions like a fiddle but she found it hard to be mad at her for that. While it was pretend-play at being hurt, there was truth to the pain inside, Annabelle thought. Tharia had always struggled to appear dependable and this was her moment. ¡°You won¡¯t regret this Annie¡±, Tharia brushed a hand through her short hair and showed a cheeky grin. With a wave of her hand, she then disappeared down the alley, back the way they came. Annabelle didn¡¯t have to wait long: The ground suddenly shook under her feet. A massive fireball several houses wide lit up the night sky. Dozens of windows tore into tiny pieces and showered razor-sharp shards onto the ground. Annabelle pressed herself into a nearby doorway and watched as bits of stone and other assorted rubble rained down from above. She stared open-mouthed as the destruction unfolded half a district away. ¡°Girl, you¡¯re nuts¡±, she said and then forced her mouth shut. At least it had worked. The moth-creatures took off and headed for the light. The swarm was large enough to hide the night-sky behind hundreds of bodies. Out of all the moths, only two blocked the path ahead. One of them just flopped about on the ground. Upon closer examination, it seemed to be half-dead. Literally. The body of the moth itself didn¡¯t move anymore but the tendrils still thrashed about. The other one looked old with long white fur reaching the ground, where the monster pushed itself along with weary motions. Out of the two, she decided to go for the old one first. Even its tendrils looked sickly pale. Annabelle went straight for it. Dismember, disrupt, destroy. This time she would oblige. With a passing thought, she checked the bandage on her stomach. It held. Only occasional pains gave away that she had been stabbed the day before. She was within ten meters of the beast when it finally noticed her. It tilted the massive head and used its four eyes to focus the rapidly approaching goddess. Eight meters. She grabbed the scythe with both hands, twisted her torso and then tossed the weapon towards the beast. Two of the tendrils snatched it right out of the air and tore it like a toy. Seven meters. The beast was old and wary but still a threat. Annabelle simply recalled the Soul Scythe once more. Six meters. Glowing particles of light re-formed into the weapon and despite the usual dented visuals, it was whole again. One step after another, she moved closer. The old moth used the tendrils to wobble itself around. It looked ridiculous until the horn suddenly started to glow bright purple. Four meters. Annabelle let herself fall to the ground by instinct and escaped a purple beam of light by a hair¡¯s breadth. Now that was just plain cheating. Annabelle tumbled into a roll and without slowing momentum, got back up on her feet. Three meters. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the second set of purple light. She had miscalculated. The second moth wasn¡¯t dead after all! Annabelle took a page from Tharia¡¯s book of vile curses and screamed out her anger with enough profanity to make a sailor blush. The moth wasn¡¯t all that appreciative. Annabelle¡¯s vest went up in flames as the beam of light narrowly missed her. Two Meters. She dropped her scythe, threw the vest off while running and brought the weapon back into existence just in time to deal with the old moth. The old beast used four of its tendrils as a way to balance itself. The other four went on the attack. Annabelle weaved around three of them, mostly owed to just how slow the old thing had gotten. The fourth, she pushed aside with the weapon. The impact still was monstrous though and made her momentarily stumble. One meter! She was finally in range. Two quick steps and she found herself in the moth¡¯s dead angle. She stepped in for a coup de grace when the moth suddenly went up in flames. A slightly less bright beam cut right through it and burned straight into her shoulder. She yelped in pain and moved back out of range as the moth burned to a crisp within seconds. That was some literal friendly fire. The sharp pain drove tears to her eyes, which she brushed away with the cuff of her blouse. This wasn¡¯t the time for that. The raging adrenaline pumping through her veins agreed. The pain turned into a dull throb while her senses reached immense clarity. Annabelle stepped away from the burning moth and took aim for the killer. The second moth looked utterly ridiculous. It wasn¡¯t so much that it was still alive but rather that the tendrils more or less moved the larger beast like a puppet. The tendrils would then press onto the horn, followed by another burst of purplish light. By now she was ready for it and simply moved aside. It cut right past her. The tendrils flailed about in anger and tried to yank the beast around by the horn but this proved its undoing. The horn cracked into tiny pieces that evaporated into a puff of purple smoke. This didn¡¯t deter the tendrils in the slightest. They wobbled the moth onto its back and then crawled in Annabelle¡¯s direction. It was a pitiful sight but also one she didn¡¯t dare underestimate. Annabelle kept her distance. Calm and collected she hacked off the tendrils one after another just as they came in range until the beast was once again flopping about and shrieking. She then stepped in and hacked the sharp edge of the weapon into the weird face like thing. The beast died flailing its stumps about, shrieking horrible noises into the air while Annabelle caught her breath. Stomp, scrunch, crush, she felt the impulse and much to her own surprise, found herself jamming the blunt edge of the scythe down onto the dead beast. Again and again, until nothing was left but a disgusting paste. She whipped her head away from it and focussed on the massive metal gate leading towards the Zuresti Mansion. Annabelle pressed a hand against her aching shoulder and fletched her teeth. ¡°Eleanor¡±, she said and swung open the rusty gates.

Rupert von Halen Weg

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

¡°Sweet mother of unholy fucking shit explosions. What in the many names of the abyss was that¡±, Tharia cursed. The human girl sat flat on her arse in what could only be described as the last vestige of intact road in a block-wide radius. Her barrier chain had worked overtime to protect the girl from what raged outside: A blistering inferno. Even now, the chain glowed in a bright blue as it absorbed the sheer heat of the fire. Tharia looked around in shock and awe. The first row of houses was simply gone. They just up and went away. In pieces. All over the district. And the rows after that looked as if a firebeast had used them as a scratching post for fleas. Some part of her realized she needed to move. Now. Yet she was stupefied. It had been a simple idea, really. Months of living the merry ¡®end of all days¡¯ had seen a sharp decline in sewage maintenance. She had found a deserted district not far off and simply brought a black powder match to a section of the sewers that smelled particularly vile. She was hoping it¡¯d give her fire a bit of a boost. First came the flash of light. Bright, quick. Her makeshift match had somehow penetrated into a pocket of methane gas and the rest was history. Fiery, burning history of wanton destruction.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Right. I should probably book it. Holy Bethany, I unbind you from your guardian duty¡±, Tharia said and then quickly snatched up the chain. Intense heat washed in on her and made her sweat almost instantly. That, however, was just discomfort. She focussed her divine spark on her spine and ran as fast as she could. She heard the beating of massive wings above her but didn¡¯t dare to stop. Only idiots tripped on things while running away. With the last of her breath, she finally reached an alley that wasn¡¯t ablaze. At least not yet. It was here that Tharia allowed herself a look back. The sky was black with hundreds of moths. Luckily none had paid attention to the human girl giving her best at legging it. They were transfixed by the inferno, some even put their tendrils into the flame and quickly exploded into bursts of fire. ¡°They sure are going to call this Tharia¡¯s folly¡±, she said to herself and exhaled audibly. An abrupt sound, however, let her heart sink in panic. It came with a strange scent too. ¡°I¡¯m more partial to calling it magnum opus, my dear¡± The Muse. She feathered about on the spot and saw the old man right next to her. Tharia¡¯s shivering hands brought up the pistol. She had precisely two shots left. They didn¡¯t do anything against him, but she still had to try. The Muse just smiled while Tharia supported her aim with the second hand. Two times, the trigger clicked, two flames bellowed from the gun and two shots hit the muse right in his chest. He merely lifted an eyebrow. ¡°So decisive. That¡¯s a good quality we shall grow¡±, he said with a smirk, ¡°Do tell, how much do you understand of dramaturgy?¡± Tharia felt miserable. She was the little girl again. Small, helpless, frail and broken. Her body slumped to the ground as her subconsciousness had pulled the tiny flame from her spine. There was little worth to her existence. Father hated her, mother rejected her and brother only saw her as a toy he could break at will. Her family was a den of uncaring monsters. The Sigil-Ring constricted around her finger and she clasped her hand around it. Well, so was she. With sudden defiance, she glared up at the Muse. ¡°It¡¯s about love, dead people and a washed-up director in the gutter¡±, she replied with a taunting smile. Her fingers caressed the ring. No more a little girl, no more a victim. She was a Verholden and that was pedigree of the vilest order: They were the monsters before monsters walked the capital. The Muse looked at her with one eye twitching. Her words had struck true. He kneaded his hands while staring at the flames behind her, before smiling again. A sudden burst of sickly sweet smell encompassed Tharia. ¡°You¡¯re so very remarkable. Lesson learned, do not tempt a mistress of the Verholden house¡±, the Muse praised her with a half snarl that seemed magical to her. She felt her defenses weaken as more of that scent overwhelmed her. She was safe now. ¡°Well, let¡¯s proceed. I quite look forward to a bit of remote fratricide¡±, the Muse said and lifted Tharia off the ground. She didn¡¯t object as she was carried off like a toy. After all, the Muse would know what to do.

Zuresti Residence

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Annabelle had taken a moment to bandage up her shoulders and check on her stomach wound from the day before. With a fresh layer of herb tinctures, the pain came down to a bearable level. She slung the Rucksack back over her shoulder and entered the gardens. The plants here had grown out of control months ago. Statues looked like they were slowly being eaten by overzealous flora. Annabelle got flashbacks to the golden fields and decided to check the bushes for flesh-beasts. All she found were hundreds of moth larvae scurrying about. A movement near the conservatory caught her attention. There suddenly stood a raven-haired beauty in a flowing white dress the same color as her skin. The stranger reached a delicate hand for one of the plants and plucked a flower bulb from it. ¡°Leave¡±, she said with a voice as sweet as honey, ¡°You are not welcome here¡± Annabelle clasped her hands around her scythe and snarled. Burn, char and torch the betrayer. Red anger swamped her senses. The hacked the plants apart while she made her way straight for the stranger. ¡°You¡¯re impertinent, peasant. Did my brother put you up to this?¡± the woman in white asked. She held the flower bulb to her face and watched it open into full blossom within seconds. ¡°He¡¯s a manipulative one. No matter what he said, I will neither embrace you nor create more of my young with you. Now shush, leave us alone¡± She waved her hand in dismissal. The pale moon accented the gentle curvature of her face. Not a single blemish marred the skin and when she opened her eyes, they glowed with a captivating blue. She walked with the grace of a social predator that was used to getting whatever she wanted ¨C and more. Except for one thing. Annabelle growled. ¡°Eleanor¡± Upon hearing the name from Annabelle¡¯s lips, the woman dropped the flower on the spot. She looked directly at the intruder. ¡°You live?!¡± Without warning or any sudden movements, Eleanor floated up into the air. The white dress fluttered in the wind and so did her obscenely long hair. Annabelle glowered at the woman in white and leaned to the side. Then with a sudden motion, she chucked the scythe at Eleanor. Unprepared for a sudden attack, the woman in white was hit square across her midsection. The impact sent her crashing down into an overgrown conservatory with a flock of moths ascending from the building like pillars of smoke. Annabelle suddenly heard Eleanor¡¯s voice right next to her ear. ¡°It¡¯s okay to hurt me. That¡¯s what friends do¡± In one quick motion, the woman in white peeled off Annabelle¡¯s rucksack. Within a short breath, Annabelle suddenly felt a warm body lean into her from behind. Delicate hands reached around and came to rest at the base of Annabelle¡¯s throat. It wasn¡¯t a threatening gesture but rather one that felt caring and intimate. ¡°You came back for me. Have you finally decided to love me back?¡± the woman in white whispered into her ears. When she felt a kiss on her neck, Annabelle snarled, lifted her right hand and resummoned the scythe. It was but a hunch but the weapon materialized with a golden sheen ¨C right through Eleanor¡¯s chest. The woman in white dispersed into a flock of moths. When next she saw Eleanor, she sat atop the overgrown conservatory with her legs dangling down. Annabelle realized in a passing notion that the woman was moving about barefoot. ¡°You¡¯re mean¡±, Eleanor said and brushed a finger over her lips, ¡°Why¡¯d you give me divine beauty, if not for love? Tell me, did you ever feel anything for me?¡± Annabelle took a deep breath. Eleanor had been the second one she gave a divine gift too. She still remembered the crying girl that had cursed her very existence. Amongst all these memories, a singular emotion ruled supreme. ¡°I did¡±, the goddess said aloud and started to walk towards the conservatory. Eleanor noticed the change in attitude and ever so gently floated down from the building until her bare feet touched the ground again. She looked hopeful with her eyes opened wide and lips slightly parted in anticipation. Her hands were folded in front of her flat belly and she lowered her head to the side while nervously shuffling on the spot. This side of her seemed more like the girl Annabelle had seen back then. ¡°I felt it strongly too¡±, Annabelle continued as she walked closer. Memories burned inside her mind. The mistress of the moths blushed in embarrassment. She rubbed two fingers against each other in a visible attempt to calm herself down. Annabelle saw all that and walked up to the other woman. She then leaned closer and pulled Eleanor into an embrace. The pale moth-queen shivered in delight and closed her eyes. Annabelle held her tight with the left arm and then raised her right hand so that it pointed directly at Eleanor¡¯s head. ¡°I still feel it. Want to know what it is?¡± Eleanor nodded with a surprisingly shy demeanor. ¡°Pity!¡± Annabelle spat, ¡°You duplicitous hag¡± With that, she willed the scythe back into existence. The blade manifested directly within Eleanor¡¯s head. The face distorted into a mixture of pure emotional hurt and shock from the pain. Once more, the shape lost form but this time, Annabelle was ready for it. She twisted the scythe and cut directly into the swarm. ¡°Pity it was! I gave you my friendship but it was not enough¡±, Annabelle screamed. All the memories that didn¡¯t seem like they were hers, suddenly felt right. It all clicked into place. ¡°Nothing but pity for a vain wretch like you. My gift made you the most beautiful of them all, but deep inside you were ugly¡± She twirled the scythe in quick motions, each time, they cut more of the moths before Eleanor even had a chance to manifest again. She suddenly paused, allowing the moth-mistress to manifest for but a second. ¡°There was one more emotion¡±, Annabelle said and waited until Eleanor beamed with hope. ¡°Hatred¡± The scythe cut straight through the head, leaving more dead moths on the ground. ¡°You jabbed a knife into my heart while begging for my attention¡±, Annabelle continued her onslaught until the moths finally gained enough distance to break free. The air exploded into the flutter of a hundred white wings that all rushed to the nearby mansion. Annabelle gripped her scythe with both hands. ¡°You''ve got my attention now. I¡¯m coming for you, Eleanor Zuresti. Prepare your lair, call your children, wail to the skies, beg for mercy, none shall stop my wrath¡± End: Faint of heart | Coming up: Ravaged paradise 8 - Ravaged paradise

Zuresti Residence, Conservatory

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Annabelle had always wondered why so many human legends contained a hero crashing through doors. The wooden implement leading out of the conservatory looked like someone had done just that. The poor plank of wood lay sprawling on the ground with an innocent and unused door handle sticking out like a sore thumb. Not letting it distract her, she stepped into the adjacent Study. The smell of dust and stale air welcomed her to the Zuresti Manor proper. Shelves heavy with books lined the walls, a thick layer of mold and dust betrayed their neglect. Most of the furniture had white cloth draped over it, giving the room a deserted feeling. Annabelle noticed a trail of bare feet in the dust. Holding her scythe at the ready, she followed it out of the room. A slight scent of black powder reminded her of the Rucksack over her shoulder. Tharia could be quite irresponsible with the stuff and her Rucksack had suffered as a result. She tugged it back up her shoulder and continued through the doorway. It led her into a corridor that didn¡¯t look any better than the Study. A dirt-blinded window to her left diffused the moonlight and the thick layer of dust covered the carpet from one end to another. Still, there it was: A trail of human feet in the dust. Annabelle¡¯s nerves were on edge. She checked each corner of the corridor, the floor, ceiling and even the paintings on the wall. Not a single moth was in sight and neither was Eleanor. Another step. Suddenly, wood groaned underneath her feet. She jumped by reflex and jabbed the wooden handle into the carpet, before even realizing that she had just been spooked. A disembodied laugh rang through the corridor. It made the quiet after more noticeable. The perfect silence made her in tune with the sounds of her own body. Babamm. Anna¡¯s heart paced. Shhhh. Her breath sounded like a gentle wind. One of her bones audibly popped back in place ¨C it happened even to young goddesses. There was, however, one sound that didn¡¯t belong to her. Flutter. Annabelle made another step. She wasn¡¯t so much seeing anymore as she was feeling the room with all her senses. Her primal instincts were keen to the finest nuances. Flutter, Flutter. There it was again. Close. One more step. A sudden chill in her back made her spin around. The door, pushed by a gust of wind, slammed shut. Her heart raced in shock, additional adrenaline flooded her entire being. It helped to push aside the constant throb of pain in her shoulder. Flutter. She whirled around again and continued her careful pace towards the door at the end of the corridor. The feet imprints clearly lead there, yet her instincts screamed danger. Annabelle reached a portrait of young Eleanor before she had met her. Even in painting, the woman looked ravishing. Anna made two more steps and then suddenly burst into motion. In one fell swoop, her scythe cut a wallcarpet in half. She grabbed it mid-air and then slammed it full force against the picture frame. Nothing happened. She started to feel proper silly for acting on her instincts. Really, it had just been a minor detail: The young Eleanor had been physically repugnant, yet the portrait showed her in her full adult splendor. She was about to give up when a sudden shiver ran through the thick carpet. Hundreds of fluttering things pushed back. The goddess leaned her entire body weight against the carpet and smashed her fist against it. Dozens of dead moths fell to the ground before the swarm finally broke free. She stepped back and held the carpet between herself and Eleanor¡¯s flock. The woman in white manifested a few steps down the corridor with an ugly glare on her face. She was floating, why would she even leave feet imprints on the ground? The silver-haired woman tossed the Carpet like a net and then immediately dashed after it. It blocked her from view and she used it to get her scythe ready for a surprise swipe at Eleanor. Yet before the carpet could hit, her instincts told her to fall back immediately. She perked up her weapon and came to a full stop. Something razor-sharp cut just past her face, a second attack glanced off her scythe. Six more tendrils had punched through the carpet, their talons in places she would have been. The goddess didn¡¯t waste time. She hooked the bladed edge around a tendril and then jerked back with surprising success. Eleanor let out a wail of pure terror that ended in loud fluttering. She exploded into thousands of moths that dispersed in random directions. Seven of the tendrils disappeared with her, yet the eighth fell to the floor and burst into flames. ¡°So you can be hurt after all¡±, Annabelle said with a grim smile. Admittedly, she barely moved her lips for it - but it was the feeling behind it, that counted. A sudden loud crash marked the end of yet another door. The swarm poured through the now opened corridor and disappeared deeper into the mansion. ¡°Girl, doors have handles!¡± Anna shouted after the fleeing Eleanor. She then touched the corners of her mouth in confusion as her smile had widened. Had she just made a snarky comment? She couldn¡¯t help but imagine her friend laughing at the mere thought. It filled her with a gentle warmth that made the smile even more intense. With renewed purpose, she gave pursuit. The Rucksack over her shoulder clanged as small vials inside brushed into each other.

Zuresti Residence, Bedroom upstairs

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Tharia found herself sitting on a rocking chair. A blanket had been placed over her knees. The room really rubbed her the wrong way. It smelt like dust in here. She saw tiny moth cocoons in the corners. Silken wallpaper with intense pink color dominated the walls. A miniature doll of Annabelle rested against a blinded mirror. Tharia found the complete lack of eyes most unnerving. Right next to the doll was the portrait of a raven-haired young girl arm in arm with a younger Annabelle. A cleft upper lip on the young girl drew all attention to itself, yet regardless of that, she seemed happy. ¡°My dear sister suffered greatly¡±, the Muse said. Tharia nearly jumped out of the rocking chair but found her lower half completely paralyzed. She reached into herself and found the divine flame inert. ¡°What did you do?¡± she growled. Her eyes found the Muse sitting on a massive canopy. The question faded when she saw the shape behind him. Someone lied down in the bed. It was a grotesque seeming adult woman, dressed in a childish pink sundress. The empty eyes stared at the ceiling. She had a skeletal body with skin sunken to the bone and thick strands of veins splayed out onto the bed in an odd silvery weave. Part of the skin looked molten. Tharia noticed a pair of decaying mothwings underneath the woman and eight bony tendrils that lay upon the floor. The woman was alive, yet also not. Muse reached for one of the skeletal hands and brushed it against his bearded cheek. ¡°Your spark will come back in time¡±, the Muse said. He sounded all alone, his charismatic voice cracked as she choked back tears. ¡°She, however, will not¡±, he pursed his lips and after one more longing look towards his sister, he got off the canopy bed and stretched out his arms. No way around it, the old man looked fabulous with his suit and hat. ¡°Let¡¯s set the stage. You are, quite disturbingly, inside Eleanor¡±, he said and pointed towards the thick veins leading away from the mummified body, ¡°The walls live and breathe as she still does. Within her realm, she is all-powerful, yet your friend can still beat her with wit and finesse¡± The Muse spun around and suddenly held out a decaying rose in his hand. He took a look at the flower, gave it a quick shake of his hand and then presented to her a quickly blooming flower instead. His other hand then placed the wheel-lock pistol in her lap. She saw with a quick glance that it had been loaded again. ¡°You, my dear Miss Verholden, will be the element of surprise. Kill the body and Eleanor dies, no questions asked¡±, he said and raised a finger, ¡°But in doing so, you bereave your friend of closure¡± A sudden loud sound echoed through the wooden floor, followed by a sharp shriek and sounds of fighting. Tharia bit her lip and reached for her pistol. The handle felt cold in her hand, yet she aimed it directly at the slowly heaving and wheezing body of Eleanor. ¡°Hm, wonderful reaction! Go ahead then, end it. Your friend doesn¡¯t deserve to heal, does she?¡±, he said with a mocking grin. Tharia removed her finger from the trigger but let the pistol hover in Eleanor''s direction. ¡°My dear sister sold her out. Without Eleanor...¡±, the Muse reached up both his arms in a theatrical gesture, ¡°... all of this would not have happened. No G?tterd?mmerung, no end of days¡± Tharia clutched a second hand around the handle. Another loud clang rang throughout the mansion. A moment of silence followed, quickly superseded by intense rumbling and the continued crashing of glass. ¡°Sometimes knowing why can allow the soul to heal. Or maybe they find peace and become lovers. Are you so petty as to deny her that bit of luck? My dear sister really loved her, you know?¡± Tharia ran a finger across the trigger without pressing it down. Should she intervene or let things run their course? She bit her lip and then smacked a hand against her forehead. ¡°Why are you doing this, you gods-cursed arse?¡± ¡°For one reason only¡±, the Muse leaned in Tharia¡¯s direction. She knew what he was going to say. ¡°Your stupid dramaturgy¡±, Tharia interjected, yet the Muse continued regardless. ¡°To make you grow. You are weak in mind and easily scared¡±, he tipped a finger against his forehead, ¡°So easily broken. I merely suggest and you obey. How will you face your demon like this?¡± Tharia reached up and brushed a hand through her hair, before clenching her teeth. The Muse continued. ¡°Your friend resisted my lure, yet you fell to it so easily. Don¡¯t you want to grow? This is your chance. Decide. Take initiative. Kill my sister, end it here. They get no chance to talk it over, but you can be sure your Annabelle is all yours. You take away her self-determination but it¡¯s okay to be selfish. OR let it play out, maybe your friend dies, or they elope in love. Either choice you make, you will grow stronger as a result¡± Tharia clenched her teeth, ¡°I hate you¡± ¡°Good start, my dear. That¡¯s the right way to think. Now enjoy the show, I must say it¡¯s an play most spectacular. That crunch really sounded like something big. And the yelp of pain, maybe she¡¯s already dying down there, wouldn¡¯t you want to know?¡±

Zuresti Residence, Kitchen

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Annabelle came flying through the kitchen door. Her back burst through the wood and sharp edges cut up parts of her blouse. The landing was even more unpleasant. It forced all air out of her lungs and send sharp pain through her chest. The insistent misuse of doors really wasn¡¯t to her liking.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A massively oversized moth crashed its body against the doorframe after her. The wall cracked with each push of the creature. Annabelle got back up on her feet, her left shoulder hurt like agony incarnate. It had opened up again with blood pulsing into the bandage. Her right arm hung limp and the scythe was nowhere to be seen. The kitchen around her had been deserted a long time ago as well. Metal pots were piled up into towers and cutlery sat around untended. A massive oven dominated most of the room with its scent of soot. She stumbled over towards the oven and fished out a charred piece of lumber. With clenched teeth, she slammed it down onto the kitchen table and then allowed the Rucksack to slide off her shoulder. It smelled off Black Powder, Tharia could be extremely careless when it came to explosive stuff. An assortment of vials rang out as well from inside of it. A sudden rumble marked the end of the wall. The moth-monster pushed its massive head through the hole and then wiggled the rest of its body into the kitchen. Once inside, it sprawled its wings to the full length. Contrary to the beasts outside, this one looked more like an average moth ¨C if a wee bit bigger than usual. A couple of meters, really. The massive creature stared the goddess down. Eleanor¡¯s laugh echoed through the kitchen without a distinct body to come from. She stopped laughing when Annabelle suddenly grabbed a piece of pyrite and stone from the Rucksack. She hammered them against each other. Once, twice even thrice. The log suddenly caught flame. As dry as it was, it lit right up. Annabelle took the burning lumber while keeping her eyes on the massive moth. The flames licked after her skin. She imagined it being burned off and could simply not hold onto the lumber any longer. It flew in a curved arc and smashed straight into the head of the beast. The fur caught fire immediately, the moth shrieked in pure terror, burning down in seconds. Out of the smoldering corpse came a smaller flock of moths and manifested into Eleanor¡¯s projection. The part of the beast that was already burning didn''t dissolve. ¡°You¡¯re too clever for your own good¡±, the woman in white snarled. She had visible trouble keeping her swarm in place as instincts proved stronger. Her face lacked all finer detail and sudden holes would appear in it when yet another moth gave in to the lure of the flame. ¡°We could have enjoyed peaceful days, you and me¡±, Eleanor said. Melancholy coated her voice. Annabelle, however, held her left hand outstretched towards the flame. When she summoned the scythe, it took quite a bit longer than usual to form. She kept the blade end within the flame until the metal started to glow bright yellow. Annabelle suddenly spoke with a lifeless tone. ¡°Why did you do it?¡± Eleanor spun around and landed on the ground. As the fire faded, her control over her countenance improved again. She once more looked the part of the ravishing beauty. Yet details here and there made it obvious that she too had taken considerable damage already. ¡°Do you really not know? You¡¯re hopelessly cruel¡±, Eleanor said and wrapped her arms around her own chest. She pushed her shoulders forward and lowered her head as if to hide from what was around her. The long hair played the part of a perfect curtain and hid her face behind it. ¡°My shiny goddess seeks broken people and takes them in. Once they¡¯re entranced by her spellbound kindness, she gets bored and moves on¡±, Eleanor brushed the hair out of her face. The eyes were brimming with a burning hatred. ¡°You did this to the Verholden Girl. Gave her legs, propped her up and then just left. As you did with me, cured my visage, propped me up and then threw me away. And the king himself, a heart many times broken and oh look, a goddess herself takes him as fancy¡± Annabelle balanced the scythe close to the moth-pyre. The metal had started to heat up, yet it did not change shape. The words gave her pause. This wasn¡¯t the first time she had been confronted by it. ¡°You inspire love, then crush it with glee¡±, Eleanor spat. The words struck a nerve deep within. She had done just that. Memories unlocked in her mind with rapid succession. Annabelle really had been that cruel. Those stranger thoughts really were hers. On the surface, she had the veneer of a kind and gentle goddess but her heart was a tyrant. She clasped the hand around the handle and then swung the glowing blade towards Eleanor with that telltale dead look on her face. Annabelle took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m not good with words, but I¡¯ll try anyway. What I did... harm was not... really I tried to¡±, she fell into a stutter. Eleanor quietly floated right next to the glowing hot blade. By now it had started to burn away part of the face, yet she did not move aside. ¡°Curses¡±, Annabelle said and groaned, ¡°I meant to say, I¡¯m sorry. For what I did. I can¡¯t make it undone and after what you did in return, there¡¯s no way back. For what it is worth, I forgive you, Eleanor and I hope you do the same¡± The woman in white let out an exasperated sigh and put up a pained smile. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I always will, my beloved celestial¡± The moment lingered. An odd mood had struck Annabelle, the chaos in her mind calmed down and made way for something else. Resignation. Acceptance. She looked up to see Eleanor reach for the wooden part of the scythe that had, oddly enough, not caught fire. The delicate hand clasped around it and the pained smile widened. ¡°Let¡¯s end it the only way it can¡±, Eleanor said with a tear on her cheek. She then forced the blade of the weapon through her neck. The blade sizzled as moths fell to the ground. Transfixed by the display, the silver-haired goddess didn¡¯t realize the danger she was in. A sudden impact lifted Annabelle of her feet and wrested the scythe from her fingers. A partially formed monster-moth had swatted her away with its wing. She smashed into a kitchen cabinet. Wasting no time, she rolled to the side and barely dodged a barrage of floating knives. The cupboard shuddered under their impact while Annabelle watched as dozens of pale hands let go of the kitchen implements. This just wasn¡¯t fair but neither had she been. The fallen deity dashed around the table and plucked a still burning wing out of the burned up moth from earlier. Intense flames bit into her skin and drove tears to her eyes. Ignoring the intense pain as best as she could, she made way for the table again. A muffled voice came through the ceiling, giving her a moment¡¯s pause. Was that Tharia? What was she doing here? Who was she arguing with? Damn, that girl could curse. No time for that. She continued her assault. Eleanor floated close to the ceiling. Her eyes kept everything in sight and her control over the swarm was without equal. The mistress of the moths completely ignored the still stuck scythe in her neck as if it wasn¡¯t even there. Annabelle leaped onto the table but found herself face to face with a massive moth. She knew it was just one more swarm-projection but still flinched. With the burning mothwing in hand, she clenched her teeth and smashed her limp shoulder straight into. It wasn¡¯t a door but this would do. Searing pain made her scream out. The beast-projection put up a confused resistance before it suddenly disappeared. Her own force carried Annabelle forwards, she stumbled and rolled off the table in a mad tumble. Something sharp scratched just past her leg. Another one of those floating knives. Annabelle¡¯s breath came wheezing. Her body had reached its limit. She wearily stumbled onto her feet, swaying back and forth. Her vision faded from loss of blood, yet adrenaline and pain kept her going beyond what was reasonable. Somewhere along the fight, her left hand had cramped around the burning wing. Out of the corner, she saw what she had looked for. A discarded Rucksack on the floor. She held her cramped up hand to her face, feeling the insane heat of the flames. Using her teeth to forcefully unclench her fingers, she finally got the wing free and let it slide towards the Rucksack. Eleanor tilted her head in confusion. She saw Annabelle leap back and behind a table, yet was transfixed on the large wing that floated towards the Rucksack. The still burning end reached the fabric and started to burn a hole into it. A sudden blaze flared up and torched the entire kitchen in a massive puff of flames. Annabelle sat on the floor and felt a wave of heat wash over her. Her back rested against the table that had protected her from the conflagration. This was it. The end of the road. She was out of tricks. Both her arms were unusable, her body was exhausted, the pain was overflowing her senses and the blood loss made her dizzy. Her breath came wheezing. She forced herself up and came face to face with the distorted grimace of Eleanor. The woman in white had suffered too. She could barely keep up cohesion. Yet she sat down on the table with her legs dangling over the edge. The woman in white reached for a knife and pressed it against Annabelle¡¯s hurt shoulder. The broken goddess was in no shape to avoid it anymore and simply looked up at the moth-queen. A sadistic grin appeared on that face and with slow agony, the knife found its way towards the open shoulder wound. ¡°It¡¯s a fitting end, is it not? You once more die by my hand and I go up in your flames¡±, Eleanor said with a dreamy expression and then suddenly forced the knife in. Annabelle wailed in agony but could do nothing to move away. It was then when a sudden twin-thunder echoed throughout the mansion.

Zuresti Residence, Bedroom

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Tharia could no longer stand it. She heard the sounds of fighting and the wails of agony. Her lips had been bitten bloody from nervousness and her eyes glistened with tears. The downside of an active imagination is the horror it can conjure just from sounds alone. She pulled up the pistol and unloaded both barrels of the gun. Loud thunder rang in her ears and clouds of smoke rose from the weapon. It belched out two flames and powerful projectiles found their target. The Muse was lifted off the ground and smashed into the wall. It still didn¡¯t do much against him, but she did not care. She fished for her pouch of black powder and found it empty. Right, she did have the minor accident that burned down an entire district earlier. The Muse got back off the ground in one elegant motion. Like before it had done nothing to him, except for shutting him up. That was all Tharia needed. Next, she threw the empty weapon in his direction. Not waiting for its effect, Tharia then pushed herself out of the rocking chair. It didn¡¯t matter if the spark was still inert or not. She would choke the everliving shit out of that bastard. Her body flopped to the ground. Using nothing but the strength of her arms, she crawled towards the Muse while gritting her teeth. He stood still and watched her with a strange expression on his face. Upon reaching him, Tharia slung her arms around his legs and started to pull herself up by sheer strength of the burning rage inside. It was stupid, she probably had wasted the last chance at saving Annabelle, but she has had it with the man. Her frail fingers clasped around his throat and she began choking him with all her might while hanging down his side. It was a futile effort. All too soon her strength left her and she collapsed back onto the floor. The Muse knelt down next to her and looked at her like an oddity. He rubbed a hand through his beard and smirked. ¡°Wonderful, Fr?ulein Verholden. You made your own path and while it was a stupid one, it signifies your growth. Next time though, you must forgo feelings and act decisively. There never was a reason to not shoot her right there¡±, he said and patted her on her head. Tharia clenched her teeth in rage but could do nothing. She had to watch as the Muse got up and paced over towards the canopy bed. He gave the mummified shape of Eleanor a look-over. His voice had a soft tone to it. ¡°Rest now dear. You¡¯ve played your role and earned your calm. Go ahead, I will soon follow¡±, he whispered and blew a kiss towards the body. Then, an ugly sounding crack rang out when he snapped Eleanor¡¯s neck in two. An inhuman scream pierced the air, followed by total silence. The body slumped back onto the canopy-bed. All of the veins stopped pulsing and life quickly left Eleanor until she did her last breath. The Muse suddenly grabbed the lower jaw and with a crunching sound, forced it wide open. A golden orb fell out of it. He snatched it up and threw it towards Tharia. ¡°Go. Help your friend. Give this to her once she walks again¡±, he said and then headed for the door. ¡°Who are you, really?¡± ¡°A charlatan and a liar, what good would my answer be?¡± there was melancholy in his voice. He waved towards her and then simply left. A sudden onslaught of pain and convulsions brought back the feeling in her legs. She clutched the gem in her hand, bit her lip and rushed downstairs.

Deserted Wanderlust Inn

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

It was raining now. It had been for three days straight. Tharia liked the sound of it against the windows. She had liked it as a child too because it meant she could go outside without any of her family bothering her. Who cared if she got sick, these were the moments she had been happy. All alone, dancing in a field with cold rain touching her skin. She had missed that most when her brother stole her ability to walk. Tharia lowered her head. Her back was resting against the wall and her feet lied lifeless on the floor. She gazed into the room. The soft light of the clouded night sky didn¡¯t reach far, but the glow of Holy Bethany¡¯s Barrier lit the room anyway. Annabelle was resting on an old bed. Her shape was sunken in and fever had tainted her pale skin with sweat. A pot of soup rested next to the bed. She would need to feed her again soon. A deep sigh rang out from within Tharia and she looked back up at the night sky. ¡°Once I have recovered a bit, I¡¯ll continue healing you. You took so much punishment, you know? Why did you do that? You have to dodge¡±, she said but her own babbling felt hollow to her ears. She sighed again and placed a finger against her nose. ¡°The Muse was right. We were weak. Worse, we were arrogant. We¡¯re not ready yet for what is to come. But we will be. That I promise¡± A sudden cough drew her attention to Annabelle. Tharia dragged herself over towards the bed and pulled herself up on it. She didn¡¯t dare use the spark, every last bit of the divine energy was meant to get Annabelle back on her feet. ¡°You¡¯re awake, that¡¯s good. Since you always ask the same questions, let me cut it short. I like you too. Yes, you¡¯re still alive. Absolutely, it¡¯s a miracle. Praise me¡±, Tharia said with a grin to the weary Annabelle, ¡°You¡¯ll walk in uhh... two days perhaps. In a week, you¡¯ll be driving me up the wall again. Now sleep you numbskull. Let me take care of you for once!¡± The weakened woman nodded and closed her eyes again. Tharia brushed the silvery hair aside and smiled. ¡°We¡¯re alive¡±, she said towards no one in particular and tuned her mind back towards the sound of falling rain. She hummed a quiet melody. It was a most peculiar one she had first heard from a tinny sounding gramophone. End: Ravaged Paradise | Coming up: Raindrops 9 - Raindrops

Deserted Wanderlust Inn

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

One second, Tharia was fast asleep and dreamed about running a leaf smuggling operation with squirrels. A sudden slap to her face brought her right out of it. With the patience of someone used to an active sleeper, she first pushed Annabelle¡¯s hand back to her side of the bed and freed herself from the entanglement of the silvery-hair menace. Now wide awake, the young woman sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She quietly watched her friend. It was a divine miracle in itself how one woman could occupy two beds at once and still not have enough room for all her limbs. Not that Tharia was complaining. She just enjoyed the warmth and occasional soft touch of her friend. Minus the slaps, hair-strangulation and somehow never having enough blanket for the two of them. Alas, the sight of her sleepy friend was too cute to be mad for long. Still, in a sleepy stupor, Tharia slipped out of the bed. The cold touch of the wooden floor underneath her feet brought her mind back into the present. It was night outside again. She felt drained, but with Annabelle still weakened, it was her call to run the show. The faded figure of the Holy Bethany floated just around the corner. Despite being an incorporeal spirit, even the barrier itself looked exhausted from being used for two weeks straight. Tharia quietly slipped out of the oversized nightgown and back into her day-cloths. She would need to scavenge for something else soon but food, necessities, and medicine had taken precedence so far. Her fingers reached for the newest party member: A long axe she had looted on her first night out. It was an unwieldy thing she could only really lift with both hands. She gave it a quick examination for notches and fissures. The tool was still in good condition ¨C certainly more useful than her empty pistol. She slipped into a simple overcoat and slung a leather bag over her shoulder. ¡°Tharia¡± the hoarse voice of Annabelle rang out. Tharia wasn¡¯t quite in the mood to hear another delirious confession from someone in a sleepy stupor. She quickly slipped past the barrier before her friend could continue.

Halmengassli

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Tharia hurried around the corner. A torrent of rain made it hard to see anything past an arm¡¯s length, but she didn¡¯t need to see to know it was chasing her. Her eyes caught sight of a scratch on the wall, her sign to jump now and lower her head at the same time. Something still clipped her short hair. The landing came with the usual assortment of ¡®jolly¡¯ pain, but Tharia was too hopped up on adrenaline to give a damn. She swirled around and brought up Mister Axe and waited. The thing walloped around the corner with too much speed for its own good. It was a hybrid, but it had grown out of proportion into something else. With a wobbly neck the size of an arm, it could have been a funny sight. The teeth as long as a hand ruined that image, however. ¡°Muse¡±, it growled, ¡°give back... Muse¡± Tharia refocused her grip on the handle. The beast sniffed the air, its eyes were blinded but it still could tell where the human girl was. And there, it had found her scent! She grimaced but kept as still as she could. Her body was cold, the clothes were drenched to the bone and still more of the rain poured down on the city. The hybrid suddenly dashed forward. It saw the rope on the ground level but then got its head stuck in the razor wire just above. Sheer momentum pulled it forward where it came to stop just before Tharia. The human girl allowed herself a mad grin as she simply pointed the axe and then let the world¡¯s pull do its job. With traps, she didn¡¯t need any finesse or talent. It was certainly something she¡¯d need to look into at some point. She dislodged the long axe and then gave the hybrid two more hits, just to make sure it was dead. And another one, because the sound was funny to her ear and a fourth because she just thought of her sadistic brother. When she finally stopped, the alley looked rather gruesome, despite the rain¡¯s best attempts to wash it all away. The girl rubbed the Sigil Ring and then knelt down next to the bloated body. Most of the clothes had given way for the grossly expanded body but the pockets were still intact. She found a small cylinder in the jacket and took a sniff of it. Alcohol. This would do, if not for taste then for disinfection. Stowing the cylinder in her leather bag, she continued. No food here, nothing there and empty pockets as well. Tharia sighed and got back up on her legs. She quickly checked her back ¨C it was habit born from feeling watched at all times. Here, it was pointless. The alley was safe with hundreds of traps making passage all but impossible unless you knew about them. She had found this place her second night out. Well, it wasn¡¯t a deserted alley by any means. No matter how many hybrids she lured into the traps, their corpses would be gone the next day over. Sometimes she saw something oddly shapeless move at the end of the alley but she and the thing had a silent agreement: Don¡¯t go looking where it¡¯s none of your business. She saluted the shadows and then went back out onto the street. The sound of breaking bones and gnashing teeth echoed from the alley. Her path took her further away from the Inn every day. The city had once been picked clean months after it collapsed. This new happy riot of hybrids had started the day the Muse left. She passed decrepit looking humanoids to both sides of the street and ignored their muttering. They only ever knew one word anyways. The way their food reserves had depleted, she¡¯d need to go to that place. A grim expression showed on her face. It was something she had found on her third day. A bakery that was unlooted. Not too bad a find, safe for the guard-dog that was the size of two houses and had a mane of fire. She lifted her left hand up and stared at her fingers. The metal ring glinted in the moonlight. Tharia then made a fist and nodded to herself. Angry Firepuppy it was. Tharia placed the empty bucket at the end of a plank. Water immediately started to collect in it and the plank started to tilt, so she quietly emptied the bucket, pushed the plank back a bit until it felt stable enough to hold, yet unstable enough for her purposes. Tharia then carefully climbed down the wooden scaffolding and back onto street level. To her left rested the monstrous dog. Whenever she looked at the thing, she discovered something new and utterly wrong about it. There were six legs. A mane of fire. Smaller heads growing out the side. A burning fur. Two tails. Grotesque flesh growths and a tiny nameplate just below its snout that said Fido. Tharia then suddenly slipped out of the overcoat and placed it on the ground. The sudden cold hit her like a carriage straight on, but this was part of her plan. She then darted full force for the nearby alley and took the long way around until she came back to the small plaza and the bakery from the other side. Fido still sniffed the air. Monsters should not be this damn big. Tharia leaned her shivering body against the cold wall behind her, so she was out of sight and prayed the wind wouldn¡¯t turn again. It didn¡¯t. Yet slow and agonizing seconds turned to minutes. Had her silly plan failed? She heard a sudden loud clang and rejoiced. With her head carefully peeking around the corner, she saw the scaffolding collapse once the bucket had gained enough water. It was mostly loud - but loud was her wish. The monstrous beast got up on its legs. It had a highly irregular walking pattern, despite the six legs, several of them seemed to limp. Tharia could certainly feel empathy for that. She waited until the burning dog had reached the scaffolding and then darted straight for the Bakery.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. The beast suddenly growled and an intense flash of heat washed over her back. Faster, worthless legs, run faster. She reached the large door and slipped inside. There was no time to select the goods, she just grabbed what she could and put it in her leather bags. She even found a sausage and put it in for Annabelle. All that had taken seconds, yet her heart fluttered. Back out the door, she saw the oversized guard-dog tear into her overcoat. Losing one piece of garment that stunk like skunk from too much hybrid blood, was a fair price to pay for a bag of food. She quickly made her way back into the alley and then headed home. Whatever home was.

Deserted Wanderlust Inn

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

She quietly stepped back into the barrier. By now, there was not a single dry spot on her left. She heard the sound of breathing and imagined Annabelle once again taking up the entire double-bed. A quick grin showed on her face. Tharia then placed down her leather bag and quickly sorted her loot. There was the cylinder of alcohol, various lumps of slightly stale bread and a sausage. She sorted the food, placed the stalest bread and the sausage aside, then stored the rest so it wouldn¡¯t get staler that fast. Tharia then stripped out of her clothes. It felt good to get rid of the wet fabric, even though the cold air on her skin made her shiver. For but a moment, she simply enjoyed the feeling of freedom it gave her to be in the nude until she realized that Annabelle might wake any second now. Feeling like a silly little girl, she quickly started to dry herself with a towel. ¡°Hello Fairy¡±, came the voice of Annabelle and Tharia suddenly wanted to disappear into the floor. She took a deep breath and then continued drying herself as if she hadn¡¯t heard Annabelle. Once she was done, she wrapped another towel around her nude frame and picked up the sausage and the piece of bread. She made a show out of walking over towards the bed, even though it hurt to do so. Right, one more for feeling silly. Annabelle sat upright, sleepy, weary and weak. ¡°Found something for you¡±, Tharia said and threw Annabelle the sausage. Her friend caught it out of the air and nodded. ¡°Thank you¡± ¡°Aye. Move over. I¡¯m exhausted¡±, Tharia said and slumped down right next to Annabelle, ¡°It¡¯s high time we get back on the road. It¡¯s getting ugly out there, won¡¯t be long until someone sees our room glow in the dark. How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Still a bit weak but look¡±, Annabelle said and raised her hand while wriggling each of the fingers, ¡°The feeling is back and I can move them again¡± Tharia showed a pained smile and tried to hide it by eating her bread. It was a miracle that her friend was alive and feeling well. It hadn¡¯t taken just a few days but weeks and every day, Tharia had worked herself to complete exhaustion. It was a steady rhythm of waking up, procuring new resources, then get back into bed and heal until she fell fast asleep right there. Speaking of which, she took another bite and then crawled behind Annabelle. Once there, she placed a leg to either side of her friend and then leaned close. For a bit, she simply siphoned off the warmth. There was nothing sexual about the gesture but it was an intimate moment. She then pushed herself back up again and finally reached her mind towards her tiny spark. With a simple command, all feeling vanished from her lower half. Tharia placed her hands on Annabelle¡¯s back and enjoyed the touch of the body underneath the thin nightgown her friend was wearing. There was nothing sexual about it. Well, maybe a little bit, going by how warm she started to feel. She shook her head clear and started to pour healing energy through her hands. Her wounded companion let out a groan as waves of healing washed over her. Like this, they remained quiet until Annabelle broke the silence. ¡°You¡¯ve become a quiet girl¡± Tharia raised her eyebrows and moved her hands in gentle circles to distribute the energy. It was half massage and half healing, both important parts in getting Annabelle back on her feet. ¡°Hm, is that so, Annie? Well, give me a compliment then¡± ¡°What would that do?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯d like it and it would make me nervous. I mostly talk when I¡¯m nervous¡±, Tharia said with a smile on her lips. It¡¯s not like she wasn¡¯t aware of it herself. Her incessant stream of words could drive people into fits of pure anger, which usually just made her habit even worse. But lately, she had grown silent. Something inside of her had simply broken. ¡°You look beautiful¡±, Annabelle said with her signature flat tone. Tharia couldn¡¯t help but burst into loud laughter. ¡°What?!¡± Annabelle barked. An ever so tiny bit of anger showed on her face, mostly visible by a slight frown and hectic eye movement. Tharia patted both her hands on Annabelle¡¯s shoulders in an attempt to disarm that ire. ¡°Relax, Annie. For starters, I know of mirrors. Tell me something to believe in. Furthermore, your tone is just too funny¡° Annabelle suddenly turned around. Tharia found herself at the center of attention as the grey eyes fixed her own. A weird mood took hold in her, she felt her muscles tense as her subconscious guessed what was about to happen. Annabelle suddenly put both hands on Tharia''s neck and pulled the smaller girl close. Tharia saw her friend close her eyes and the next second, she was drawn into a gentle kiss. At that moment an entire horde of cheeky butterflies exploded in her stomach. It took her a while to notice the two hands on her shoulders slowly inching downwards. It sent a jolt to her belly and made her shudder. Annabelle broke the kiss for a second, cold air touched Tharia¡¯s lips before they were once again locked with her friend. This really felt rather nice and that was part of the problem. With a sudden groan, Tharia pushed the hands aside and then broke the kiss. ¡°Annabelle, I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t know when and how you started to feel this way about me. But - I¡¯m a mess, Annie. This needs time to grow properly before I lose myself again¡± Annabelle turned around. Even someone unfamiliar with her sparse emotions could tell she felt rejected. With her lips ever so slightly quivering, the silver-haired girl spoke. ¡°I know that. It¡¯s just that, I had hoped but perhaps eventually and...¡± And here she was tripping over words again. Tharia gave her a gentle nudge but Annabelle freed herself from the touch. ¡°Allow me two questions and I want you to be brutally honest. Did you love me?¡±, the sulking girl asked. Tharia pulled her hands back and wrapped them around her slim chest. Bad memories boiled over. What she had felt up and until that day was intense longing the likes of which she had never found again. But come that day, love wasn¡¯t the right word for it. ¡°Yes¡±, Tharia finally replied, ¡°I did¡± ¡°And when I left?¡± The honest answer would hurt both of them but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to lie at this point either. Tharia took a deep breath, nervousness took over the part of her brain responsible for talking. ¡°From the bottom of my heart. It was hatred. I still hate you, you know? But I also want to love you. It¡¯s both of these things. When we met, you, well, that. But you stuck around and we survived together. As one. Yet I see your looks and they frighten me. At times, it¡¯s like you still want me dead and then suddenly, with hunger in your eyes, it¡¯s like you¡¯re looking for a different type of death¡± Silence fell upon them. It was a quiet, that was broken by the silent sobbing of Annabelle. Tharia felt awful for what she had said. Yet, these words had to be spoken. Pushing them aside would work for a gloriously lustful week or two, perhaps a month and then the lovey-dovey clouds would make for the mess underneath. She quietly moved closer to Annabelle with an awkward sideways crawl and found her friend pull away again. ¡°Tsk!¡± Tharia slung her arms around Annabelle and pulled herself close. Once there, she prevented further escape by locking her arms into Annabelle¡¯s. Tharia then rested her chin on Annabelle¡¯s shoulder. She leaned closer until her body touched the back of the crying girl. ¡°Stop running away and listen until the end, you numbskull. Listen to me", Tharia said and nudged the nape of Annabelle¡¯s neck with her nose. ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient. Let¡¯s build this together. I¡¯m not rejecting you, okay? Yes, I feel for you. Not the mad rush of true first love but it¡¯s a good feeling and one I want to build upon. It was a good kiss too, bypassed all my defenses. Now relax, heal up. I¡¯ve got something for you once you¡¯re better and...¡±, Tharia just didn¡¯t stop until many minutes later. Annabelle had fallen to silence and Tharia resumed the healing. Quiet minutes turned to hours and really, those were pleasant memories too. Just being close to her was a good thing indeed. Somewhere along the way, Annabelle had fallen asleep again. She carefully nudged her friend back onto the bed and continued working her magic for many hours yet to come. Only then did she allow herself to fall back down onto the bed. All strength had left her. Every moment came with a weary ache to it. Still, she reached under the bed and grabbed her nightgown. A small pouch fell out of it. She put the pouch aside, unwrapped the towel and then slipped into the Nightgown. Small luxuries went a long way to deal with her own exhaustion. Tomorrow she would give the gem to Annabelle. Tonight, she would sleep. But before that... she reached down and pushed Annabelle back onto her side of the bed. Then she reached for the blanket and pulled it to her side. Just as Tharia finally came to rest in the bed, a flat palm slapped down on her shoulder. ¡°Gods be cursed¡±, she murmured and huddled herself into her tiny corner of the bed. End: Raindrops | Coming up: Last Knight of the Rose 10 - Last Knight of the Rose

Deserted Wanderlust Inn

Lower District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Annabelle looked back at the room she had seen entirely too much of. Spending weeks within, she ached to get back on her feet again. Another one of her and Tharia¡¯s contracts of silence concerned the smell in the room. Being nursed back to health didn¡¯t leave the best of scents. She tried to ignore it and so did her nose as well as Tharia''s. Annabelle once more checked her fingers. She wriggled them, yet all that was left of her grievous injuries was some prickling. ¡°Remarkable healing¡± ¡°Hhhiif pfaanan mhhhhippff what¡¯s not hgmmphg gone¡±, Tharia replied. The small girl had stuffed her face with bread and tried to get some semblance of a sentence out. Annabelle noticed just how much her fairy had changed. It wasn¡¯t just the clothes either. Although Tharia¡¯s sleeveless shirt showed off the beginning muscle definition on her skinny arms. The main difference came with confidence. She wore the half-skirt ¨C Tharia lovingly called it a butt-cape - as if it was an extension of her. It was really rather alluring and distracting. When her friend suddenly poked her, she had finished eating her bread and gave her a knowing grin. ¡°The spark can heal what isn¡¯t gone¡±, the human girl repeated her earlier attempt at communication. She put on a black vest to cover her arms. Part of that was owed to the weather outside. It had finally let off a bit, but the clouds looked like they¡¯d be back with a vengeance. ¡°That¡¯s why your back can¡¯t heal?¡± ¡°Yep. Only thing I can do is let it heal constantly ¨Cbut it will also break constantly. That reminds me, I got something for you¡± The abrupt segue made it clear the short-haired girl wasn¡¯t all that interested in talking about her chronical pain. She watched Tharia stuff the rest of the bread into her mouth. The small woman then went and got something from the back of the room. Once her eyes met with the object in her hands, Annabelle¡¯s mood soured instantly. Wherever could her fairy have picked up that abomination? ¡°You need something to wear¡±, Tharia said and held out a fluffy and puffy ballgown. ¡°No¡± It wasn¡¯t just a simple word. Therein lay an entire system of belief that started with: Thou shall not wear ludicrous clothes and ended with, not even once. Even gods had to believe in something and hers was centered around an abject hatred of the fluffy inclination. ¡°Of course you should. While I appreciate the way you look, its cold outside¡±, Tharia intentionally misunderstood with a mischievous grin. Annabelle groaned and brought her hand to her face. ¡°No dresses¡±, she declared categorically. Tharia¡¯s laughter told her she had been the butt of a playful tease. The ballgown was quickly tossed aside to make way for a practical two-piece combination with weaved in abstract motifs. On top of it sat a small pouch. Annabelle wrapped her fingers around the pouch and fished out a golden gem. The strange mineral felt warm to the touch. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friend fidget in place. Its warmth was mesmerizing and it was something more. There was a strange allure coming from inside the gem. Just on impulse, Annabelle brought the gem up to her mouth and swallowed it whole. Tharia opened her eyes wide in response. ¡°Have you gone nuts?¡± At that moment, a subtle glow ran over Annabelle¡¯s skin. She felt it permeate her entire body from head to toe. Every time she breathed, it increased in intensity until golden floral patterns radiated away from her body. She saw the image of her friend Eleanor in her mind¡¯s eye and then felt a gentle warmth in her belly when a tiny speck of energy settled inside ¡°It¡¯s Eleanor¡±, Annabelle remarked and watched as the radiant patterns slowly disappeared from her skin. ¡°You can tell?¡± ¡°Divine Energy ¨C but changed¡± Annabelle saw Tharia rush over and then felt her hands on her arms. She really had gotten noticeably stronger. The half-skirt fluttered with the motion. Her friend looked up at her with narrowed eyebrows. ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°Uh?¡± Instead of an answer, Tharia reached out and gently gathered some of Annabelle¡¯s silvery hair strands. Except that they had turned pitch black ¨C yet were fading back to silver already. ¡°Can you turn them copper-red? Like rusted metal? I love that color. Once in autumn, one of my far-off relatives visited and that hair is perhaps the best thing to come out of my family tree. If, perhaps you could uhm no don¡¯t do that. But...¡± ¡°Tharia¡± ¡°... maybe we should head out soon. You are well, are you not? Maybe get you dressed and uh. Something to weather the rain. You mentioned you can feel where they are? How come you couldn¡¯t feel your friend? But you can feel something else?¡± ¡°Tharia!¡±, she interjected with a stern tone. ¡°I... okay?¡± Annabelle sighed. She had no idea what had set her friend off again. Sometimes a random tangent was all it took. The bubbly and ever so slightly unhinged girl claimed it to be nervous habits but she didn¡¯t seem nervous now. ¡°First, you¡¯re the best thing to come out of that family. Second, I can feel part of my essence near the fourth ring¡± Once the sentence was out, she noticed another change. At some point after the awkward half-rejection, she had gotten used to talking more than she did before. That was a weird thought to have. She pushed it aside and concentrated on getting ready.

Path to monetary enlightenment

Upper District of the Seeking, Fifth Ring.

Ready wasn¡¯t the right word for this. She hadn¡¯t been so out of breath in a long time. Something as simple as the winding staircase leading to the temple bridge had stolen her stamina away. ¡°408... 409...¡±, Tharia said and grinned, ¡°They call these the 500 steps of enlightenment. As you make your way up, hundreds of beggars lighten your purses. Once you reach the end, you¡¯d be poor as well and simply join their ranks. Some sort of symbolism I never got¡± At some point on their long way up, she had come to hate this so-called staircase. It wasn¡¯t even all that high, just a random blotch of a staircase winding up to a slightly raised hill. The steps were just needlessly flat and drawn out. She quietly cursed the architect even when they finally reached the platform above. Tharia balanced on her heels as if nothing could bother her. ¡°507. So either the builder lied or I miscounted. Oh well, let¡¯s go again, shall we¡± ¡°Fairy!¡± ¡°Well, leaving spontaneous murder of innocent girls aside. We¡¯re up. Quite the view. Gods be cursed, this city is one ugly pile of rubble. Who builds an entire capital to look as dreary and ominous as possible? Oh, what! Hey Annie, you seeing this?¡± Tharia gently nudged her shoulder. Right now, she wasn¡¯t seeing anything. Her heart was quite busy getting everything back under control. When she finally looked up, she saw the girl point at the faraway fortress wall. The fifth ring had a golden sheen to it and upon closer examination, thousands upon thousands of plants had somehow climbed up the fortifications. She recognized the parasitic wheat from the fields outside the city. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of nature reclaiming human spaces, but this is rather expeditious, don¡¯t you think?¡± Tharia said with a grim expression, ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ve got a hybrid that¡¯s been shambling over here for a while. You first?¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Annabelle nodded and turned around. The hybrid was a rather sorry sight. Its legs had grown out of proportion into those of an animal she had never seen before. The rest of the body was a disgusting sight too. It was simply unfinished. Whatever had happened to it, didn¡¯t quite make it through to the end. Still, this was it ¨C the first proper fight after her struggle weeks ago. Her eyes quickly examined her opponent. It had thick trunks instead of proper legs - slow but perhaps strong. The neck was protected by several layers of flesh ¨C no decapitation. The head still looked human, at least on one side of it. She would need to make good use of range to get to the head. Her body moved with a satisfying speed, yet her stamina already started to show its limit. No other way to get back into it but persevere. With her right hand stretched to the side, she called for her weapon. A golden light formed in her palm but then suddenly got stuck before it took shape. Her mind felt something different from the usual Scythe. That moment¡¯s hesitation was enough. The light rapidly expanded into two ludicrously heavy hand-fans with a rope at their end. What the? She was too close already. Instinctively, she tossed one of the fans to her left hand and then moved her grip from the handle down to the rope. Twisting her right wrist in circular motions, the fan quickly rotated along. She changed posture, moved one foot forward and let the heavy weight carry the fan forward. The blunt edge bit forward like a snake and smacked into the skull of the hybrid. It barely penetrated the skull, although the creature groaned and swayed. Its stubby arms were unable to do anything to her, it really was pitiful. She took a step back and then pulled in the rope of the left fan until she felt the handle in her palm. With but a simple push at the right spot, the fan opened up. The ribs themselves were made of wood, but the actual fan was sharp metal. She once more gave it a bit of rope and then started to rotate her left wrist. This time, the weapon sang with a curious high pitched tone. Again, like before, she changed her posture, regained a decent balance and then suddenly let go of the fan at the apex of its rotation. It shot forwards and cut straight through the hybrid¡¯s skull. The creature died instantly and Annabelle finally slowed down. Her stamina was in a bad state, but it had worked well enough for now. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her hair had remained silver this time. She brought the weapons back to her hands. Her fingers brushed over the wooden ribs. There was more to this weapon. It felt like it had a mind of its own. ¡°You can summon Turesai war-fans?¡± Tharia had made her way next to her. She bounced with glee and snatched one of the weapons from her hands. The second she tried to open it, a golden light snatched it out of her hand. ¡°Doesn¡¯t like me much. The Turesai love these though. Did you know they never quite liked calling you gods? It was something about how your folks just stumbled into power. Have you ever tasted Hramptcha? The sweetest drink ever made. They have this ritual for drinking it because it¡¯s much too sweet to drink in one go¡± Annabelle resigned herself to her fate. There she went again. One step ahead of her, stumbling because her lower half wasn¡¯t all in control but stubbornly telling her about Turesai culture in details she didn¡¯t quite care for. She quietly observed her friend while they made their way along the Temple-Bridge. Tharia had always been locked up in her estate, yet she talked of these things as if she knew them by heart. A while in, Annabelle was sure she had heard all about their culture, yet it was an hour before Tharia finally changed the topic. It was then when her friend turned around and suddenly ran towards the Balustrade. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed for a while, but it¡¯s insanity down there. It¡¯s one thing to sneak past hordes of monsters but seeing it from above really drives home just how broken everything is. There¡¯s barely anything human left, just mindless beasts on a rampage. That said we should be seeing the other bridges soon. Have you ever been on the Star of Guidance before?¡± Star of Guidance was the name for the many-armed bridge construction atop of the fifth ring. The Temple Bridge was in fact a series of bridges all closing in on a central platform. It was an alternate way through the fifth ring that skipped much of the streets below in favor of walking amidst various religious displays. Annabelle finally groaned. Those were memories she didn¡¯t want out in the open, so it had taken her a while to answer. ¡°During my marriage ceremony¡±, she replied curtly. Tharia pressed a finger against her lips and simply went, ¡°Oh¡±. It didn¡¯t last long. Two short breaths later, she simply continued her verbal stream of consciousness. ¡°You know, have you ever wondered why they wanted you dead? Look at the damage, that¡¯s not just vandalism but serious hatred¡± Tharia pointed towards some of the pillars to either side of the bridge. Not too long ago, they had been adorned by divine idols. She recognized the feathered mask of the Autumn Lord and the curvaceous figure of Spring¡¯s Envoy. The latter was curiously undamaged, safe for the head. Had she ever asked herself why it all happened? There was little else she thought about in those hours before she met Tharia again. ¡°Cathrion, no... the King said it was to start a new Era. He was obsessed with the idea that your kind was dying because our miracles gave you everything you needed¡± She found Tharia suddenly walk next to her. The small girl wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled herself close until Annabelle felt her warmth. ¡°Sorry for asking. I can be a bit of a jackass at times. Still, there¡¯s some truth to that argument. It makes you feel like a child when everything is taken care of for you. You kept us safe but also stagnant¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know you thought that way too¡± Tharia shook her head and continued, ¡°I¡¯m not sure what I think, Annie. After the incident, I was in a bad place. Those outside my family meant well but they thought because I couldn¡¯t walk properly, I would obviously be slow in the head too. So they spoke very slowly to me and spoonfed me, they read me children¡¯s stories when I was a grown woman¡± The gloom and doom had taken a toll on their mood. They quietly walked along the deserted Temple Bridge. Sounds of battle came from beneath them, sometimes a house would vanish in a cloud of debris, at other times the sounds were too hard to ignore. Imagination could be a curse at times. For that reason, they didn¡¯t notice it at first. Only when it grew more intense than everything else, did the loud screams for help get through. Annabelle squinted her eyes and saw a humanoid figure clad in plate-armor. The figure stood over something on the ground. She gave Tharia a quick look and upon her nod, they both rushed forwards. The scythe appeared in a flash of golden light. ¡°Help me¡±, the voice of a woman screamed from underneath the figure. Annabelle dashed forward. Up close it was obvious the figure was a man. He had short blond hair, although dirt had stained it. The helmet was strangely absent. He looked up at Annabelle, just as she hooked the weapon around his chest and yanked him back. A loud groan came from him, yet her weapon couldn¡¯t penetrate the armor. Still, the man was off balance now. Golden light poured into the form of a war-fan in her left hand, she gave it a bit of rope and then essentially used it as a morning star. She had aimed for his head, but the man deflected it in the last second by bringing up his gauntlet. The combined momentum of being pulled and then smashed, made him fall to the ground. Annabelle pinned the stranger to the ground by pressing her scythe down and then knelt down for a quick smash over the head with the war-fan. Tharia suddenly screamed stop. At this point, adrenaline pulsed through her veins. She barely stopped just before she hit the man. She then opened up the war-fan and allowed the sharp edge of it to rest next to the unprotected neck. He really should have worn a helmet. The markings on his plate-armor bore the symbol of the Rose Order, but this was no elite warrior. It was now that she got a closer look. The man underneath her looked like a boy at most. He was obviously scared of the silver-haired fury that kept him locked on the ground. ¡°Help... me¡±, the voice of the woman screamed. Annabelle turned around and saw what had caused it. The woman wasn¡¯t a woman at all. Pale blue skin marked him as one of the Skypeople. He was also thoroughly dead and had been for a pretty long time. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me, Francis. I love you¡±, the figure said. Yet it wasn¡¯t the dead person the sound came from. Instead, it originated in a white shawl slung around his neck. Tharia had closed in on it and was about to touch the shawl when the boy started shouting. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it, it will kill you¡± Tharia stopped and took a step back. The white ¡®cloth¡¯ suddenly shivered and in an odd display suddenly snaked its way around the neck. A singular eye opened up within. It first looked at Tharia, then at Annabelle. ¡°Help me¡±, the shawl spoke with a tiny human-shaped mouth right atop a massive maw with long teeth. It unwinded itself from the neck until it spread to its full length. All in all, it was almost two meters wide but barely a finger thick. The singular eye kept its eye on Annabelle. ¡°I love you, Francis. Please¡±, the mouth said with the voice of a woman unknown. The beast suddenly fluttered and then took flight. ¡°Oh mother¡¯s great fornication cabinet of horrors, that¡¯s just wrong¡±, Tharia cursed and let her long axe slide to the ground. Annabelle watched the shawl creature disappear into the clouds above. All the time, the eye had focussed on her and her alone. A cough underneath her brought her mind back to the present. ¡°Sorry about that¡±, Annabelle remarked. She let go of her weapons and they instantly disappeared into tiny flakes of golden light. When she got back up, she felt a sudden hand on her wrist. Tear, Thrash, smash. Instinct kicked in and made her wrap his hand in return. She then quickly raised up her other hand and jabbed it straight into his throat. Red fog clouded all judgment while she kept up her assault. ¡°Annie!¡± And another hit and another. ¡°I¡¯m going to knock you out, damn it¡± One more and then one more. Hammer, clobber, puncture. She wriggled her fingers and slammed down yet again. Something soft but heavy suddenly hit the back of her head and instantly shook off the rage. She noticed Tharia¡¯s leather bag to her side. Her vision was blurry and the knuckles hurt something wicked. She looked down onto a subtle blue glow and tiny flames flickering over a bloodied hand. Just in the nick of time, she noticed it was Tharia¡¯s and pulled her fist away before she could hit it. The hand covered the neck of the unconscious knight. Healing energy poured down and finally restored breathing to the man. Annabelle looked at Tharia¡¯s pained face. It¡¯d be nice to kiss those lips now. She wanted to tear off those clothes and do so much more. ¡°Will you please stop? What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± her friend asked with a panicked voice. Annabelle looked down. She had almost killed someone. Again. She fell back onto the ground and buried her face in her hands. What, indeed, was wrong with her? No matter how much she hid her face from view, she knew her friend was watching with concern. End: Last Knight of the Rose | Coming up: Tales of the Dreamreaper 11 - Tales of the Dreamreaper

Chambers of Detachment

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

The scent of herbs and perfumes lay heavy in the air. Tharia took a deep breath and tried to suppress the resulting cough. What an odd place this was. Annabelle stood outside the building. She had been quiet and withdrawn ever since the attack. The entrance to the building consisted of a massive room that had been filled to the brim with plants, milks, and soaps. Tharia recognized some of them, the Drudenfuss was meant to wash away evil spirits and the Hyssop protected against the spirits of winter. This was a so-called chamber of detachment, after liberating a lot of one¡¯s money, you¡¯d pick the choice of herbs and then wash your guilt away in the ritual baths in the back. She took another look around and chuckled. No way could she pay for all of them. She wasn¡¯t alone. The young knight stood in front of her, along with a group of people. ¡°We¡¯re survivors of various communities. Some here even survived the false star¡±, she heard the young man say. The thick Talaron Dialect was quite noticeable and marked him as a country boy. ¡°My name Is Ravid Liektensein¡±, the boy introduced himself and then pointed towards the others, giving names and purpose in turn. It was a sorry lot, mostly consisting of former stable hands, maids and servants. They looked starved and broken and most of them had barely reached adulthood. Even Ravid still had fluff for a beard. Tharia took another look at the neck of the boy. She felt bad for what had happened. Annabelle was her responsibility. The thought gave her pause, she had no idea when that had happened ¨C but it had. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±, she said and let her glance linger on a young boy that hid beneath a table with eyes wide from fear. ¡°It¡¯s alright. We¡¯ve all seen what happens to the blessed sooner or later¡±, Ravid said. There wasn¡¯t that big of an age difference between them, less than three years by her estimate, but the boy in armor seemed dreadfully naive. He led strangers into his home and one of which had tried to kill him too. Or perhaps it was something different from naive ¨C Desperation, perchance? ¡°What are the blessed? I¡¯ve never heard it used that way¡±, Tharia said while brushing a hand through her short hair. Ravid looked at her as if she had just declared that carriages were holy messenger pigeons. He blinked and then suddenly puffed himself up to appear bigger than he was. It was ridiculous how much pride he took out of knowing something she didn¡¯t. ¡°Those blessed by the Dreamreaper. Sometimes people who die come back in his employ. The price for their second chance at life is a slow descent into a murderous rampage¡±, Ravid said with a solemn expression that couldn¡¯t hide the pride underneath, ¡°Tell you what, you should probably part ways. You¡¯ll never know when she loses it completely. Come to us. We can always use more hands that can fight¡± Tharia raised her eyebrows and looked towards Annabelle standing outside. The silver-haired woman showed her expressionless face as rain once more poured down. She¡¯d been drenched by now and still did not come in. Tharia rubbed her nose. Standing for this long hurt a lot. After the intense healing earlier, her spark had weakened considerably. Still, she didn¡¯t trust the facade this boy put up. No one this naive survived until now. ¡°Dreamreaper, eh? Guess we got one more target on our list. Alright, we¡¯ve brought you safely home to your folks. It¡¯s about time we gain some distance¡± Tharia nodded towards Ravid and his people and then headed out. She had barely reached the door when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Now it was her turn to shoot an angry glare of her shoulder that had Ravid very quickly and abruptly pull back his hand. ¡°W-wait. We n-need help¡±, Ravid stuttered, then motioned towards the back of the room and said ¡°Open it. Show them¡± A small boy ran towards a door to the side. He had to jump to reach the doorknob but finally pulled it open. There were no bathing implements there but rather tools of war. Line by line there stood armors in various sizes, weapons, military-issue black powder pouches and so much more. The Crest of the Rose Order was on all of these. ¡°We¡¯re willing to trade with you. Everything inside our Zeughaus is yours. We just ask that you free some friends of ours or at least confirm... their... deaths¡±, Ravid said with his voice trailing off in the end. Tharia let her eyes wander once more. Desperation it was. It would be dreadfully easy to kill this boy right here and take everything anyway. None of the others were armed. Gods be cursed, half of them had wet themselves on their approach. She returned her gaze towards the rookie knight, a quiet music rang in her ears that she couldn¡¯t quite locate where it came from. She shook it off, then focussed on the knight. ¡°Ask your friends of the order. Unless you just stole that armor¡±, she remarked and pointed towards the stylized Rose on the chestpiece. ¡°It¡¯s not stolen¡±, the Boy suddenly said with intensity in his voice and a flame in his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m a knight of the order. The last one, really. Everyone else was killed or turned by Lord Farian¡± Tharia listened quietly and then turned around again, not bothering to answer. Sure, they both needed armor and she needed new black powder, but this was none of their business and she didn¡¯t care at all how many folks the boy had lost. She left the building and stepped out into the rain. Yet Annabelle signaled her with her left hand. ¡°Take it¡±, she whispered. Tharia raised her eyebrows in reply. ¡°Farian¡±, is all that Annabelle said after that. Tharia felt anger flare up inside of her. Sometimes her friend could be curt to the point of absurdity. Yet she had somehow gotten the gist of it. Farian, it was upon that name that Annabelle suddenly asked her to agree. So it stood to reason that her Annie had business with this man. ¡°One of those days I¡¯ll buy you a book with lots of words in it. You don¡¯t have to read it, but maybe you can gaze upon complete sentences and bask in their glory¡±, Tharia said with exasperation, then turned around yet again, ¡°Alright boy. We¡¯ll bite under one condition: We armor up before we head out¡± Ravid quickly nodded, ¡°That seems fair¡± Tharia couldn¡¯t believe how quickly he agreed and brought her hand to her face, ¡°You Talaron Country-Boys really are a guild of your own. What guarantee do you have that we won¡¯t just take your things and never show up again?¡± The boy in armor opened up his mouth, closed it again and then gave his best impression of a fish out of water by doing it a few more times. ¡°T-then... please give us a guarantee¡±, he said with a sudden shiver. This really was too much. Tharia sighed and then reached for her hand. She felt the cold metal of the Sigil Ring and pulled it off her finger. Almost immediately she felt strangely naked. Still, she wrapped her hands around the ring and handed it to Ravid. ¡°This will suffice. If you see what it is, you¡¯ll know I will come back for it¡± The blonde man quickly grabbed the ring and then held it up against the light. His face suddenly paled and he started to make various gestures to ward off evil spirits. Tharia leaned in with the most innocent of smiles, pursed her lips and then puffed a bit of air against his cheek. ¡°You¡¯ve got a deal with a Verholden¡±, she said and the young man suddenly collapsed onto a chair with sweat on his face and a look of pure terror. Tharia heard a cough behind her. ¡°That was uncalled for, Fairy¡± Tharia shrugged her shoulders and then headed for the Armory, Zeughaus, the boy had called it. Probably more of that Talaron rural dialect. ¡°It was too much fun, sorry. Besides, we do this and I¡¯ll have proven that my family isn¡¯t all demons¡± ¡°Yeah, no¡±, Annabelle said with a flat tone. A look towards the thoroughly shocked amateur knight confirmed the goddess¡¯ conjecture. Tharia shrugged her shoulders yet again with an apathetic ¡®Eh¡¯. The armory waited and with it more of her beloved black powder. The thunder would roar again.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

Path to cooperation

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

Annabelle couldn¡¯t help but frown at the irony of the road they were on. After their short encounter in the Chamber of Detachment, they were back on the temple bridge and soon reached the path to cooperation. It was once meant to symbolize how humans and the divine could work together. Now it was a monument to failure. Her short-haired friend had been talking for a while. She didn¡¯t need to hear all the details but simply having her near and hearing her voice wasn¡¯t too bad a feeling. Annabelle glanced over her friend. They had both opted for leather armor. Tharia¡¯s was a bit lighter while hers was more sturdy but also more cumbersome. Her limited stamina quickly reached its limits as a result but each break they took was shorter than the one before. She was getting there, even though her divine body shouldered most of that burden. Tharia still had the long axe but had also picked up a rapier. While lost in thought, she suddenly heard Tharia¡¯s voice, it was shrill and full of panic. ¡°Help me!¡± She took a quick look around and saw Tharia standing right next to her with a rather annoyed expression. ¡°I beg you, I love you¡±, the voice shouted, yet it didn¡¯t come from her friend. Not far off, a human body hung from a lantern. The rope of the lynch mob disappeared underneath a white shawl in the form of an executioners mask. Without much thought, Annabelle summoned one of the war fans, gave it a bit of rope and began rotating her wrist. Once she had gained enough speed, she twisted her torso to the side and then took aim. Like before, she simply let go of the weapon. The blunt end punched right through the shawl. It quickly burst into flames after, revealing a dried up corpse underneath. ¡°These things can fuck right off¡±, Tharia groaned as they both watched it burn down the body as well. Tharia then looked in her direction and planted a finger against her sternum. ¡°But it got your attention. Look, you don¡¯t have to talk to me. That¡¯s alright, I do enough of that for both of us. But we¡¯d be stupid to not clear these things up. So, two questions here. Who is this Farian and did you really die at some point?¡± Annabelle turned around. She didn¡¯t want those memories. Yet Tharia was right. Letting this simmer was about as stupid as can be. ¡°Escerchau Farian was one of the King¡¯s confidants. It¡¯s probably the essence I feel. And the Dreamreaper... exists. It¡¯s a locked away fragment of the old god Abyss, supposedly¡± ¡°So if this Dreamreaper exists, that means you actually died at some point?¡± The goddess shook her head, ¡°No one returns. It¡¯s more last second prevention¡± Tharia suddenly accelerated with her eyebrows raised, ¡°You opened the gates. It probably broke free and somehow brought you back from the edge of death ¨C as it did to others¡± Annabelle nodded. The thought was dreadful. Not just the part about being made a puppet, but even more she feared the emotions that came over her during those sudden outbursts. Especially how much they centered around the one thing that still held meaning for her. Part of her wondered if this was the reason the Muse hadn¡¯t been able to manipulate her as easily as he did with Tharia. Her friend suddenly accelerated and then stopped in front of her and held her arms aside. Standing like this, she waited until the goddess came into range and simply gave her a hug. The smile on her face was radiant and infectious her as well. She felt her own lips curl into a subtle smile. Tharia nodded. ¡°This is good, Annie. What¡¯s a little Dreamreaper in a city of monsters going to do? We stomp down this Farian, get you back into power. Then we make a small detour to this Dreamreaper and will have a discussion that ends with a dead monster¡± Annabelle''s mind wandered towards Lord Farian. Back before it had all gone bad, the man was a pompous schemer. She remembered a short and overly stout man that could barely move. Even before all of this, the man had been creepy but he had never been a fighter. She thought back to Tharia¡¯s words. It¡¯d be nice if things were that simple. Dismember, shatter and flail indeed. Sensing the surge of another outburst, she quickly pushed Tharia away from her. ¡°It¡¯s starting¡± Her friend gave her a confused look before realization dawned. She then nodded and took another step back. This time around, Annabelle concentrated on the feelings themselves. They felt like black tendrils reaching into her mind from a place deep within her subconscious. The Dreamreaper made sense to her. The detached memories had been caused by her mind already unraveling so close to death. It was only natural that they didn¡¯t feel like her own. She imagined herself tearing those tendrils apart, yet the thought of violence only resulted in a spike of adrenaline. Her body was roaring to go, drunken for battle. Annabelle focussed on Tharia, thought back to the good times they had ¨C some of which weren¡¯t more than a few days old. The concerned look brought her back down. In the end, she took a deep breath and Tharia immediately started talking without end. ¡°So why do you hate dresses? They look great and probably even better on you. I can imagine you in them and... probably shouldn¡¯t be doing that out here. So we¡¯re about to meet one of the betrayers? This time I¡¯m ready for him. Hm, know what I¡¯d love? Potato. Salad. Period. No, listen, this is the perfect meal right now. A hint of pepper to spice it up and...¡± So in the end, she had made her friend uncomfortable after all. Neither Tharia¡¯s expression nor posture gave it away. Her friend smiled at her with an intensity that made her weak ¨C but her babbling betrayed how she really felt inside: Nervous, scared. They continued along the full length of the temple bridge. The sun had set by the time the other temple bridges became visible. They came out of various other districts in the fifth ring and all winded up towards a platform up ahead. Several massive Templefronts were built into the fortification wall of the fourth district and marked one of two entrances to the fourth ring. The path below was usually reserved for the dregs and the workers. Anyone with enough coin to be considered enlightened could use the Temple Bridges instead. By now, she felt Lord Farian¡¯s flicker nearby. A few hundred steps or more and she¡¯d find another one of her torturers. Contrary to Eleanor, this one hadn¡¯t burned out his spark yet. She could feel the raw power but also that its wielder had no idea about how to properly wield it. ¡°Annie?¡± Tharia called out, ¡°Tell me that isn¡¯t moving¡± It took Annabelle a while to notice what she was talking about. The clouds had opened up to reveal a sphere of pure white light descending. It looked small at first, but that was because there was nothing to compare it to. Soon the air cooled down around them as the star blocked out the sun. With an unnatural scream, it suddenly unfolded like a flower in bloom. Each of the petals sported massive eyes, that darted back and forth. The middle section consisted of a strange egg-like shape with a giant humanoid inside. Annabelle had never seen anything like it. Just the sheer terror of something that big had frozen her in place. Sudden fluttering sounds distracted her long enough to see sheets of white cloth float up from the capital. They ascended in a cacophony of voices screaming for help. While most were as thin as a finger, others had fattened considerably into white balls that could barely stay afloat. All of them ascended towards the humongous thing in the sky above. There were enough of them to cover the egg in white. A gurgling scream shook from within the egg, a single hand punched through the shell, yet something from within pulled it back inside. The scream seemed desperate. With but a quick flash of light, the clothmonsters suddenly grew transparent and peeled off like dead skin. Their constant fake wailing for help ended that instant. They turned into dusty rain that quickly covered the capital in a layer of white. With another flash the thing was gone, leaving nothing but the dust as proof it had been here. ¡°Yeah, I really hate those things now¡±, Tharia said and scratched her head. She didn¡¯t look nearly as shaken as Annabelle had expected. Maybe the weeks alone out in the street had changed her more than she realized. As for Annabelle herself, she struggled a lot more with it than she let on. It just wasn¡¯t reasonable. The sphere had been brimming with divine essence. Her essence. At some point, she would need to deal with that. Her mind went blank and it took a while before she realized Tharia talked to her. ¡°I¡¯ve had weirder pets. Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ve got folks to free and foes to smack¡± Annabelle couldn¡¯t. She was frozen in place. ¡°Come on, love. Let¡¯s move on. Alright? Alright! Now stand proud, puff your chest and walk with pride. It¡¯s what you do. You¡¯re the strong one out of us¡± Tharia brushed some dust off Annabelle¡¯s armor, gave her a glance over and then smirked. Yet as Annabelle still couldn¡¯t find the will to move, Tharia walked around her and put both hands on her back. ¡°Come on, slowpoke. Let¡¯s go. No time to waste. Do I have to slap you? Necessity compels! And it might be fun, depending on ahem... where was I? Yes, there we go!¡± She felt Tharia lean into her from behind and couldn¡¯t help but stumble forwards. One step after another. ¡°You¡¯re a goddess, gods be cursed. Move. Snap out of it. Get to the walking part. You know when I met you, I thought I was the mess. Bottle it up. We got killing to do¡± Tharia suddenly stumbled and her face was a grimace of pain. She clung to Annabelle¡¯s waist, grit her teeth and got back up again. Then, as if nothing happened, she resumed pushing with the widest of smiles. Annabelle shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m alright¡±, she said with a weak voice, ¡°Can you stop cursing the gods, please? You¡¯re an insensitive ass.¡± Tharia suddenly grinned, ¡°Never claimed anything to the contrary. But you know, we both need to grow more resilient. It¡¯s only going to get worse from here on out. So I beg of you. Be yourself again. Take the lead. It¡¯s a heavy burden we¡¯re shouldering and we can¡¯t do it when the cripple has to do the lifting¡± The goddess couldn¡¯t help but smile. Yet Tharia seemed to misunderstand the gesture. Her friend lifted a finger and pointed at her with accusatory ¡®A ha!¡¯ ¡°Being amused about cripples, who¡¯s insensitive now?¡± she said. Annabelle suddenly opened her eyes wide. That¡¯s not what she had meant. She was just happy to see how much her friend cared for her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to...¡± ¡°Relax. I¡¯m just pulling your leg. Wait, is that a pout? Annie, you can pout? Hoh, this changes everything! Keep that expression while I... uh maybe take a bit of distance. No matter how little emotion you show, that glare can kill and I feel deathly wounded¡± Annabelle sighed and left Tharia to her own devices. The smaller girl circled around her like a pet that had far too much energy. She imagined her with a fluffy tail and gifted Tharia another premiere: She blushed. It was made so much worse by the human girl suddenly placing hands on both of her own cheeks and going ¡®aww¡¯ at the sight. One way or another, her cheerfulness was infectious. Even at the end of all days, Life wasn¡¯t so bad. She held her head up high and stuck out her chest. Lord Farian was in for a meeting with old acquaintances. End: Tales of the Dreamreaper | Coming up: Bring all your bones 12 - Bring all your bones

Precipice to the divine parish

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

Ever since they left the temple bridges and crossed over into the massive hall, Tharia felt watched. There was silence all around them and even their own steps were muffled by the dust the wind had carried inside. It mixed well with the abandoned temple gates and the broken statues that framed this place. Rows of tents blocked their path. Those they had passed so far, had all been devoid of human life. Tharia double checked her wheel-lock pistol. Both chambers were loaded and the fuse-lids were closed with black powder inside. She held the weapon at the ready. Annabelle walked in front. Tharia allowed herself a moment to observe the weave and bounce of the silver hair. Her friend looked more confident now, but to her it seemed a thin veneer. Maybe this Dreamreaper really had influence over the goddess. On the other hand, her brother had never needed a mythological beast to indulge in his violent compulsions. No monster lured her father into greed, no demon made her sister a lusty cushion plaything. In a way, they were like children to the true horror in their family: A cheerful woman that had learned all these things and became something rotten. When Tharia noticed Annabelle looking at her, she gave her friend the widest of smiles. Annie was the only one that got to see the honest ones. ¡°You¡¯re radiant¡±, Tharia said out loud and meant it. The goddess smirked and they both refocussed on the scene at hand. There was something creepy about perfectly fine tents being abandoned without a trace of struggle. These must have housed hundreds of people, yet none of them could be seen. The dust from the cloth creatures the false star had killed made it hard to gauge which dust was old and which was new, either way, this place was abandoned. ¡°Are you sure the essence is near?¡± Tharia asked. Her friend gave the answer by pointing towards the door at the end of the tent city. They continued in silence with Annabelle using the Scythe to open up the tents in their way and to check if something was lurking in the dark corners. She noticed that Annabelle had a weird twitchiness going on. Something at the far-off corner caught her attention before she could delve further into that. ¡°That¡¯s the same Sigil as the boy had. Reckon these are their tents over there?¡± she said and pointed towards the end where a bunch of red tents stood. A rose had been painted on their sides. Their positions around the massive door behind them gave the impression of guard posts. Once they were in reach, Annabelle raised her scythe and cut into the cloth. Several tents gave way until a metallic clang stopped the movement. Not even a breath later, a metal gauntlet the size of two heads punched through. Annabelle let go of her scythe and jumped back. Tharia moved to the side for a better shot, took aim and then let loose a single thunder. Even just one barrel of the pistol sent her to the floor from recoil, where she skittered across until she came to a stop. Tiny red letters glowed along the length of the weapon as heat dissipated from it. At least the impact was appropriate for the absurd amount of recoil. Pieces of armor were sent flying and revealed sickly skin underneath with pins sticking out of it. It was only when the knight stumbled back from the impact, that she realized it might have been a human. The knight tore the tent cloth in two. A swollen face pressed out of the closed helmet, its mouth was wide open with an impossibly long tongue strangling its own neck. The eyes bulged forward, they were bloodshot. Gargling sounds came out of its mouth. Even without a weapon in hand, this knight was an imposing figure. It lumbered forward with surprising speed. Why wasn¡¯t Annabelle attacking yet? The pale woman just stood there with her body frozen. With the knight this close, Tharia didn¡¯t have a clear shot anymore. ¡°Gods be fucking cursed¡±, Tharia screamed and scrambled back on her legs. She unwinded the firing mechanism to prevent accidental misfirings and then switched the pistol for the long axe. One step, two steps. Pain. Who cares. Faster. She slipped on a piece of cloth and caught her balance just in time. Intense pain. Who. Cares. About. Pain! She clenched her teeth. Another step ¨C then yet more steps. By now Annabelle was on the ground and staring up at the ceiling, while the Knightmonster hammered her with the gauntlet. Tharia knew she didn¡¯t have enough strength in her arms for anything like a decent slash. She jumped in an attempt to give her weapon more bite. Tears obstructed her vision. They were caused by the anguish in her lower half and made it hard to see, but she wouldn¡¯t need to. She felt the axe smash down into something metallic, it was but a moment¡¯s obstruction before the weapon bit into flesh. Her feathery weight and that of the weapon carried her forwards, driving it deeper into the knight. She blinked her vision free and saw the head of the knight split open. It toppled to the side and collapsed on the ground at roughly the same time that Tharia paid the price for her reckless actions. She tried to roll like she had seen Annabelle do but lacked the experience. Her body smacked on the ground and she once more skittered along it. This temple ground really was too slippery for her tastes. Annie was still frozen, so Tharia got back up again. The first couple of steps were wobbly. Unimportant. She stumbled towards her friend and double-checked her surroundings for other creatures. With her hand to the neck of her friend, she let part of the spark work its way towards her friend. ¡°Minimal damage... bruises, scrapes. You¡¯re going to be sore in the morning¡±, she said and then, while once more checking her surroundings, Annie grabbed her by the shoulders and started dragging her away from the tents. ¡°You know if your fainting and randomly dying continues, I¡¯m going to need to look into creating some form of carrying solution for you. Maybe a wheelbarrow. Maaaybeeee¡±, the sudden twinge in her stomach cut her sentence short. She felt Annabelle¡¯s hands on her wrist and looked down on her friend. ¡°I¡¯m alright¡± ¡°Gods be cursed you are!¡± Tharia snapped back, ¡°Shut up, I¡¯ll drag you someplace safe and we¡¯ll try again in the morning¡± Annabelle wrested her hands aside and then stood up on her own. She headed back towards the door. ¡°You don¡¯t get to blank out in the middle of combat and then just walk away from it. Annie, wait for crying out loud¡±

Inside the Precipice

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

¡°Avert not your eyes, Death comes to all. Be god, be king, be child ¨C you fall. Bring out your bones to ground, put dirt on them, they shall be found¡±, Tharia said with a low whisper. It was part of an old macabre lullaby from her childhood. The girl could do little else but follow in the path of destruction laid out before her. She didn¡¯t know whether five minutes had passed or hours. Her eyes witnessed a monster. At first glance, it seemed like a doll with a face too beautiful to be real. She had lifeless eyes, an expression without emotion, pale skin without a single blemish and all these were framed by silver hair that reached as far as the bottom. Specks of blood had reached the monster¡¯s face and the scythe dripped as well. The monster really quite looked like her Annabelle. The goddess swung the scythe to deflect the blow of a halberd, she then stepped in with the same motion and summoned a war-fan with the end directly appearing through the helmet of her assailer. The armored creature died right there. Annabelle tilted her head just a bit. Tharia had to watch while Annabelle quietly pulled the war-fan out of the helmet. It had gotten stuck and why her friend didn¡¯t just resummon it outside, she didn¡¯t know. While Annabelle was busy with her grisly display, Tharia kept her covered. The loaded pistol felt heavy in her hands by now, so she propped it up with her other arm. These hallways were supposed to be a sort of spiritual pilgrimage, yet she couldn¡¯t help but notice the many booths for memorabilia. Every purchase was marked as a donation to the gods, yet she had overheard her father mention these were essentially bribery booths. The relationships with the gods had already been strained before all this had happened. With a metallic clang, the armored knight fell to the ground. Tharia averted her eyes from what was left of the face. Part of her tried to rationalize this as them not being human anymore. She tried to accept that it was okay to do this to monsters. Yet they looked human enough to make her stomach rebel. Tharia was all ready to kill monsters at a moments notice, even the human ones ¨C but to do that? When she finally got her stomach back under control, Annabelle just vanished through one of the doors at the side. ¡°Annie¡±, she said. That single name carried with it an ocean of emotions. Most of them had the bitter taste of having lost something precious. She really didn¡¯t want to lose her again. Yet she had obviously lost control. She quietly followed after Annabelle and entered the staircase. It was one of the winding ones that led deeper underground. Every few steps, she had to climb over a dead body. Many of them looked like Annabelle wanted to make sure they¡¯d stay dead for generations of potential reincarnations. When she finally reached the end of the stairs, Annabelle held up an unarmored man. His mouth had been sewn shut and a badly stitched wound covered his stomach. This man too no longer was human. No human one could survive with several metal rods sticking out of their head. The silver-haired woman suddenly leaned in close and sank her teeth into the man¡¯s neck. At first, Tharia thought she had turned into a fabled bloodsucker, but really, she simply tore out the flesh and spit it aside. Annabelle then threw the quickly dying body aside and continued deeper into the room. Another guard walked up to them. This one had no more stomach to speak of. A strange web-like substance kept the knight standing upright. Its young face showed a frozen look of terror that would not move no matter what. Not even when Annabelle cleaved his head in two with the blade of the scythe.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Tharia followed with a queasy feeling in her stomach. The voice of a man came through a door at the end of a corridor. ¡°They say evil lies in the eyes. Yet even without them, your face is still so hateful. Oh well, another failure. Throw him to the others. Bring me that girl over there. The crying one. Make sure to collect the tears, they¡¯re precious expressions of honesty¡± Even just hearing about what transpired behind the door got Tharia in a mood not unlike what Annabelle looked like. There was no more time to feel human herself. She repressed the nauseating feeling, bottled up her sorrow for her friend, put aside her doubts and squashed the empathy she felt for things that had stopped being human. Her fingers touched the corners of her lips until she felt the sides start to curl up. A bit more, just a hint. Wonderful! That was a convincing smile. You¡¯re cheerful. Strong. Nothing can knock you down. Your family tried ¨C yet here you are. Tharia wrapped her fingers around the weapon and then closed up to the growling Annabelle. There was little human left about her friend, but any doubt found itself quickly tossed away. She was Tharia. Strong. Cheerful. Smile, girl. You should smile, they had said in the old days. Carefully keeping her distance, she waited until Annabelle opened the door and then quickly stepped inside. There was absolutely no reason for her stomach to protest at the side, her state of mind told her. Every temple cellar needed a pile of corpses. Or several dozens of them. Hundreds, really. As many as the tents had housed. Naturally, cages belonged there as well and look, some captives even lived although they looked a bit broken on the inside. Tharia gave them her widest smile and they recoiled in horror, safe for an old crone in the last of the cages. The crone replied with a toothy grin. What an odd sight she was, her coat looked like it had been made out of grass and bones. Tharia was cheerful. Powerful. She let her gaze wander and paid little mind to what Annabelle was doing. Probably killing the guards. There had been a few more just moments prior, so that was probably what had happened. The middle of the room belonged to a stage of sorts. An altar stood in the middle, but it had been turned into an operating table. A morbidly obese man in an elegant suit stood hunched atop it. A young girl, barely 10 years old, rested on the altar. She was crying while servants with frozen looks of terror on their face collected the tears with tiny vials. ¡°Tell me, where is the root of evil?¡± the man said. ¡°Lord Farian, I beg you!¡± screamed an older looking woman in the back. The man paid it no heed. His eyes stared down on the girl. ¡°Tell me!¡± ¡°The soul¡±, the girl said whimpering. ¡°The soul, the soul, how am I supposed to take out the soul? Are you mocking me?¡± Lord Farian punched a fist down onto the Altar, ¡°Stupid thing! I¡¯m helping you. Why do we remove the evil? So the goddess returns to us. She told me she¡¯d only meet me again if the evil inside of me was gone¡± The girl couldn¡¯t answer anymore, she was shivering and whining. Tharia had it with the act. She brought up the pistol, took careful aim so that the center of the shot didn¡¯t get too close to the child ¨C and then brought the thunder. Twice it roared in the small room and twice it just barely hit its mark. Lord Farian was still thrown aside from the power and little Tharia found herself on her bum again. She would need something to stabilize the firing process. Not least of all because she started to suspect the weapon had a bit more punch than was normal. Immediately after, she searched for Annabelle and found her friend soaked red in the middle of dead guards. She looked unharmed in body but broken in mind. Lord Farian got back on his feet. It was hard to gauge just how badly she had hit him. By his mannerism, not too much. Judging by the blood, quite a bit. His eyes locked onto Annabelle. ¡°Your divine mistress, you have returned! I¡¯ve succeeded!¡± he said with a relieved laugh. ¡°I¡¯ve worked for you! Humans are tainted with evil! After you told me my tongue holds evil, I realized you were right! Tongues! But not just them. The stomach, the eyes, teeth, and fingers - evil hides in many places. I tried taking them out, Mistress!¡± Annabelle closed in on the man. The greasy looking Lord got down on his knees and looked at the goddess with wide open eyes and a frozen laugh. ¡°Save us from evil¡±, he called out with a wavering voice. The goddess swung her weapon once. It cut straight through Lord Farian and ended his life right there. That was anticlimactic. Tharia just stood with her mouth open. She had expected something different. The battle with Eleanor had nearly cost Annie her life, but this? This was just ridiculous. One quick and swift execution for an immensely broken man. And then Tharia saw Annabelle focus her eyes on the child. The scythe hovered just above the kid, blood from the blade dripped down on the crying girl. No. No. Just no. No matter how much she tried to look away, this she could not tolerate. Her shaking hands brought up the pistol. She dropped one shot, then another into the barrels and pressed them down with a metallic stick. She could never shoot her friend but maybe it would scare her away. Even her own mind wasn¡¯t sure why she suddenly muttered the second verse of the lullaby. ¡°Don¡¯t close your ears, Death comes to all. By foe, by luck, by friend ¨C you fall. Bring out my bones into the ground, put dirt on them, they shall be found¡± Something got into her eyes. Tharia reached up to brush it out and suddenly found earth on her fingers. She blinked again. Her surroundings had taken a strangely grey taint. Nothing moved anymore, not even the candles dared to flicker. Time stood still. The raspy voice of an old woman reached her ears. ¡°A song not sung in many years¡±, the voice said, only to suddenly sound very young in the next moment, ¡°Has she yet learned its meaning?¡± Tharia tried to move, but her body wouldn¡¯t listen. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the old crone approaching. She had somehow gotten out of the cage on her own. Her coat really was made out of dirt with grass that had grown on it and bones sticking out. The voice changed yet again, this time it was a woman of adult age. The crone looked younger too like she was anywhere between thirty and fifty now. ¡°We know this one. That we do. She¡¯s important, that she is¡±, the woman with the earthly coat said and suddenly appeared right in front of Tharia. She felt like she had suddenly stepped into a wide forest, fresh after a rain. ¡°Let her move?¡± the young voice asked. The crone¡¯s face was now that of a child. ¡°She will need to, for what is to come¡±, the old one replied. Tharia felt an ache in her arms and lowered the gun. The room still stood still around her, but it had changed. All the dead bodies had rotten away to the bones. The living ones were transparent enough to see their bones underneath their skin. Even Tharia could look straight through her arm. ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked. It wasn¡¯t the most pressing one, but her mind was still trying to catch up to what was happening. ¡°I¡¯m the Grandmother of Bones¡±, the childish face of the crone said. ¡°I¡¯m Mother Bone¡±, the adult woman added on. Before the crone could speak, the earthen cloak shifted around her. It hugged closer to her shape. ¡°I¡¯m what you will have become ¨C many eons ago¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m Tharia. Nice to meet you and if you don¡¯t feel like making sense soon, you can piss right off¡±, Tharia replied with glowing hot anger in her stomach. That was the downside of setting aside all those important emotions. At some point, there was no more room to do so and it all just spilled out. ¡°Tsk¡±, the crone said and the young one continued, ¡°She has been listening to him, hasn¡¯t she?¡± Once the hag showed the face of the adult woman, Tharia observed more closely and a sinking feeling told her, she was looking at an older version of herself. The adult woman leaned in close until she could see every detail on her. A bony finger reached up and plunged into her ear. Tharia yelped out at the gross invasion and tried to pull back, but found herself unable to move again. Cold shivers ran down her spine as the bony finger was pulled out again and with it came something frigid and slimy. With the face of the crone now, the strange figure held out a tiny snail in front of Tharia. Oddly enough, quiet music came from the shell. It was the song of the muse. ¡°Naughty boy¡±, the young girl of Mother Bone said. ¡°We must deal with him¡±, the adult woman added. ¡°We will have done so, won¡¯t we?¡± Tharia glared at the snail. That melody did weird things with her mind. Now that it had become weaker, she noticed just how unbalanced her feelings had become. It felt like a layer of rage lifted itself from her and revealed the pure chaos underneath. She suddenly felt so very frail and when Mother Bone crunched the snail dead, Tharia fell to the ground with a shock of emotions washing over her. She felt strong arms tug her under the earthen coat. All around her was the calm scent of trees and a soft summer breeze with just a touch of rain. Tharia felt herself calm down immediately. All weariness drained from her bones. ¡°Now then, you have a question to ask of us, don¡¯t you?¡± the young girl said. ¡°She will have done so and it will hurt her greatly¡±, the old one replied. The adult face appeared with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s not pre-ordain what must be done. Tell yourself. What is it we need to know?¡± Tharia pulled herself out of the earthen coat. Part of her longed to be there, to just lie down and exist until she didn¡¯t live anymore. She was weary and so were her bones. Yet there were things she had to do. Tharia fixed her eyes on Annabelle. ¡°Can you help her?¡± she asked straight away. The hag suddenly disappeared from sight and emerged right next to the frozen Annabelle. The young face of this strange being looked directly at Tharia, however. ¡°We can not¡±, she said. ¡°But we can give her time¡±, the middle one added. ¡°We will have helped her in the end. If this is what we wished¡±, came the part of the crone. Tharia gulped and nodded. Part of her warned her to not ask strange things for help, yet on the other hand, she felt safe and comfortable in the vicinity of this strange thing. ¡°I can do that¡±, the young face of Mother Bone said. The creature in the earthen coat suddenly stretched itself ¨C it was only now that Tharia noticed she was a bit smaller than her friend. Soft lips planted a kiss on Annabelle¡¯s forehead. ¡°I can do that¡±, the adult version replied and planted a kiss on the left cheek. ¡°I can do that¡±, the crone added and planted a kiss on the right cheek. ¡°I can do that¡±, Tharia suddenly heard herself speak. She stood right in front of Annabelle with a heavy earthen coat on her shoulders. All around her was creation itself: Lush forests, rich fields of grass, ample life wherever her senses dwelled. Her lips found those of Annabelle. It was the kiss of a friend, a lover and so much more. Once the kiss was sealed, the earthen coat sealed tight around her body. It felt like a second skin ¨C and then it was suddenly gone again and she stood slightly off to the side of her friend. ¡°Seek the Dreamreaper soon¡±, the crone said with four voices, one of it was her own, ¡°Until then, a price must be paid and you shall hate us for it¡± Tharia once more stood frozen and alone. She watched the crone approach the child on the altar and hold a clawed hand to her throat. ¡°The price is the life of the young one. It shall distract the Dreamreaper until you can face him. It is a price most fair, but it is one that will weigh heavy on you¡± She looked at the child and closed her eyes. What a glorious bundle of hypocrisy she was. Moments ago, she had pointed her weapon at her friend to prevent her from killing the girl and now she stood there to be judge and executioner. Her mind burned every detail of the frozen child into her mind. The tears, the despair, the horror at being threatened with death. She saw the face of the mother, the pleading, the hope, oh how she wished to get her child back. ¡°Do it¡±, Tharia said. Why¡¯d you say that, her mind screamed at her. Because you love Annabelle and can¡¯t bear to lose her again, the subconscious replied. Hypocrite, years of repression and self-loathing snarled inside her mind, you¡¯d do so much worse than that and smile while doing it. Well. Smile, she did. It wasn¡¯t quite honest ¨C but the world needn¡¯t know. End: Bring all your bones | Coming up: Paths not taken 13 - Paths not taken

Inside the Precipice

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

Tharia closed off her own heart. The lips formed thin lines and the eyes had an uncaring expression on them. Annabelle could never learn what happened here. She couldn¡¯t know what it had taken to bring her back from the edge. Mother Bone opened up a hand with earth trickling out of it. The young girl on the altar jerked once and then closed her eyes. With time frozen, Tharia didn¡¯t know whether she breathed or not but at that moment she knew the girl would die. She felt her hands were bloody, yet when she looked at them, a thin layer of earth lay therein. Something pricked her fingers and she saw the earth permeate into her skin, vanishing inside of her. ¡°This is doing my head in¡±, Tharia said. ¡°We remember the confusion¡±, the young voice said. ¡°We will have remembered the illogical impulse to trust ourselves¡±, the crone added. The old woman in the coat made of earth and bone walked up to Annabelle. She placed a bony hand on the silver-haired head. The hand suddenly burst into blue flames that spread to the entirety of Mother Bone. The Pyre danced hither and fro. The spark inside Tharia reacted with frantic unrest. Sudden black feathers sprouted on Annabelle¡¯s skin. They grew out of her, then became oddly distorted as they grew beyond their limits. It¡¯s something that felt familiar to Tharia. For a second, she saw the long muzzle of a scaly creature hover beyond Annabelle before it vanished in a cloud of dirt. ¡°It is done. Bring her to the precipice of the third ring. You will find the Dreamreaper¡±, the adult face spoke. ¡°We will not have her remember¡±, the crone now spoke, ¡°You will not speak of this to her. It must not be her fault that the child will die. This guilt you must carry¡± ¡°Now we have three more questions for ourselves¡±, the young one said. With but a blink, the old woman stood right in front of Tharia and placed a bony finger on her chin. The human girl felt her face pushed to either side. Tharia stood quietly. Did she have questions? ¡°The first question she asks¡±, Grandmother Bone asked with the face of a girl, ¡°Is to wonder what we are. She knows the answer deep within. We are what was before the gods came. We are what still is, now that the gods have left. We are the roads not taken, we are the paths forbidden and the places forgotten. In time, you shall walk all these¡± The moment she heard those words, Tharia realized that this would have been her question. ¡°The second question is simpler still¡±, the adult woman now continued, ¡°She inquires what is to become of her and whether what we are, is what she will be. Thus, hear our answer. You are to become balance. If this world is to persist, you will be the shadow to the light. Your hands will drench blood, where hers will spring divine. Together, you are inbetween, not quite radiant, not quite rotten¡± Like before, the question manifested the moment Mother Bone talked about it. And with that, the third question came with the face of the crone. ¡°The third question is that of a selfish one¡±, the crone said and brushed a bony finger through Tharia¡¯s hair, ¡°You have not been chosen. You were not born special. You chose, you became. You trusted because you needed to. This path is twisted and we will remember it not being pretty. The choice is yours, you might become what we are or you might falter¡± Three questions and three answers. All of them left her more confused than ever before. The hunched figure with the heavy coat walked over towards the spliced open Lord Farian. A bony hand disappeared down the mess and suddenly pulled out a fist-sized golden gem. ¡°This we must keep until her radiance shines. We will meet two more times, once when your friend is freed and once, when we will have chosen to die¡±, the figure said with three voices at once. It pulled the essence-gem under her coat. A sudden gust of wind told Tharia her surroundings had changed again. Mother Bone was gone, or rather, she was back in the cage. Yet when she now looked at her, all she saw was a skeleton lying inside an old leather coat. Annabelle stumbled back. The Scythe clattered to the earth and she looked around with confusion. Tharia quickly looked at the girl and much to her surprise, she found the child still breathing. Remembering her duty, Tharia ran towards Annabelle. The smile she crafted, she didn¡¯t quite feel. ¡°We did it Annie¡±, she said and slung herself around her friend, ¡°We killed another one of your torturers. Are you feeling alright? Did that black light hurt you?¡± The lie was quickly woven. It was a task most bittersweet. She lied to prevent her friend from feeling more pain, yet the act of lying was pain itself. ¡°Black light?¡± Annabelle raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. It was obvious she was deeply confused by where she was. ¡°Yes, when you killed Lord Farian and tried to reach for his essence, some black light came and snatched up the gem. Don¡¯t you remember?¡± Tharia leaned in close and looked at the goddess with one eyebrow raised. ¡°I don¡¯t¡± Tharia pushed her lower lip outwards and then just shrugged. ¡°Oh well, maybe it¡¯s for the best. This was one messed up guy. Didn¡¯t you say he was a schemer? Seemed more like a complete nutjob to me. That reminds me, let¡¯s get the others out. I trust the child will want to return to her mother. You never know when life might end these days¡± Inside of her head, her mind raced. Why was the child still alive? Wasn¡¯t she the price? She noticed the girl coughing and when the small hand opened, there was earth inside. Tharia balanced on her toes to steal a cheeky peck from Annabelle and then went about freeing the others. She acted merry but deep inside, something had broken inside of Tharia. Annabelle also took a while to get moving, but when she did, it was like the Dreamreaper had never taken over to begin with.

Back at the Chambers of Detachment

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

¡°You brought them back! The descent of the false Star notwithstanding¡±, Ravid grabbed Tharia¡¯s hands with a hint too much force and caused her to wince. He didn¡¯t even notice and then did the same to Annabelle ¨C only this time around he found her squeeze back. Sometimes, her friend could be proper petty. ¡°As many as we could¡±, Tharia said and shot a glance towards the young girl. The cough had gotten worse. Ravid embraced his people before whirling around. The weight of the armor dragged him further and he stumbled, barely keeping his balance. He then handed Tharia the Family Ring back. ¡°Maybe you really aren¡¯t all bad. Come, stay for the rest of the night. We¡¯ll give you food, shelter and if you want, you can use the cleansing baths. We¡¯ve got some clean water left we¡¯d be willing to share¡± Tharia quickly shook her head. As tempting as the offer was, she wanted to be as far away from this place as possible. Whenever she looked at the oblivious mother, she felt a knot in her stomach grow tighter. ¡°Thanks for the offer but it is best we get back on the road. If you can give us a few rations that will be fine¡±, Tharia said. She turned around and headed back towards the fortification when she felt Annabelle¡¯s hand on her shoulder. ¡°We take it¡±, her friend said. Tharia wanted to scream but could only put on a fake smile. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes¡±, Annabelle insisted with a raised finger and then leaned in closer for a whisper, ¡°the bath?¡± Tharia felt her shoulders sag. ¡°But we should...¡± ¡°No denying. Let¡¯s stay. You need rest, it¡¯s obvious you¡¯re in pain¡±, Annabelle said. Tharia felt a gentle nudge back towards the Chambers of Detachment. A sullen mood took hold of her, but she pushed it aside for Annabelle. You better be strong, Tharia. Poisoner, a quiet part in her mind added. Get your mind into the right state. You¡¯re the ever happy, ever energetic little fairy.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Alright, my love drunk fornicorn. Let¡¯s take a rest¡±, she said with a grin on her lips and then playfully pressed a finger against Annabelle¡¯s nose. ¡°Fornicorn?¡± ¡°Well, one part rare unicorn¡±, Tharia once more got up close to Annabelle and leaned into her from the side. Her lips almost touched the ear. She felt the warmth of the other woman nearby and it filled the void she felt deep inside her stomach. The girl couldn¡¯t help but tease her a little. The voice took on a low rasp when Tharia whispered the words into Annabelle¡¯s ears. ¡°The second part is what you had in mind when you mentioned the bath¡± She accentuated it by blowing warm air along the earlobe. Annabelle blinked until Tharia mouthed the word ¡®fornicate¡¯. Much to the goddess¡¯ credit, not even that got her to crack her stonefaced mask by much. She didn¡¯t blush, but then again, they weren¡¯t little girls anymore. ¡°You said to wait¡±, Annabelle muttered. Instead of an answer, Tharia ran a finger along Annie¡¯s shoulder but then suddenly raised it high into the air. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen. I heard legends of a feast most luxurious. We¡¯d appreciate your hospitality. Allow us to become presentable and we shall join you at your table soon¡±

The cleansing baths

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

Tharia felt the surprisingly warm water touch her skin. She had her eyes closed and drank in the sensations around her. There was a distinct scent of roses in the air and the water moved ever so slightly of its own. Each ripple brushed gentle waves against her slim chest. A sudden touch on her shoulder made her shiver. She squinted her eyes open. The flickering light of the candles gave the room a warm atmosphere and their lights and shadows on Annabelle¡¯s bare skin proved intoxicating. She reached out for Annabelle¡¯s hands and observed how a flicker of light accented the slight sway of the pale bosom. Tharia didn¡¯t feel jealous of the size, there was just a simple appreciation for the form and a desire to run her fingers along their full curvature, a wish to brush against the perky tips and to make Annabelle shiver. She felt Annabelle squeeze her hand and looked up at her friend. Their eyes locked and with that one moment, they both smiled. The lust vanished just like that. No words were needed to postpone this. Annabelle sank down into the water and leaned her back against Tharia. The short-haired girl slung her arms around the waist and simply hugged her friend close. ¡°Truth be told, I¡¯m not really feeling like it either¡±, Tharia said, ¡°I know I denied you a few days ago and now I said the opposite. It''s not indecision. I have decided. In my mind, I know I love you and you love me¡± Tharia gave her friend a gentle squeeze and then started to brush her hands along Annabelle¡¯s arms in a gesture that wasn¡¯t sexual yet intimate in nature. ¡°So I thought with this, I¡¯d let you know. It¡¯s alright. Maybe it¡¯s stupid to dive head first into this but why not? Today I made a decision. Everything I do, I will do for you. I¡¯ll devote myself to you¡± The truth behind her words gnawed at her consciousness and sapped away all warmth from her body. This was a moment that was meant to give the foundation to their love - and it did, but it also gave ground for the darkness within her heart. It had been a stupid idea to try and fill it with physical lust. Sure, she¡¯d feel amazing for a bit but after each height and with each little agony at the top came a terrible fall after. Today, after what she had done, the fall would be deadly. ¡°I appreciate it, but I¡¯d appreciate silence too. Let¡¯s savor this¡± Annabelle said. ¡°Yeah sure I can do that. No problem. So is there a particular ¨C oh like right now? Sure¡± Tharia blinked as Annabelle leaned back. It felt good to feel her body on her skin and she thrived on the warmth it gave her. What didn¡¯t feel quite so great was the revenge of the silver hair-kraken. No matter how beautiful and silky Annabelle¡¯s hair was to look at and caress, in moments like this it always managed to nearly choke her with fine hair getting everywhere. Especially onto the tip of her nose and on her lips. Tharia quickly collected the strands and pulled them aside with routine. Just doing that filled her with a feeling of happiness. It had become routine ¨C but only because they had gotten so close that it could become one. With a sigh she then snatched up the lone rebellious hair that had broken free and put it along with the others. This was a good moment. They spend some time just enjoying each other¡¯s warmth without having done anything more than just holding each other. Tharia was happy. Until something heavy hammered against the door. Ravid¡¯s panicked voice could be heard from the outside. ¡°Miss Verholden, come quick. Something is wrong with the little girl. You must heal her!¡± Fate had a way to smash her back down onto the ground and rub her face against the pavement. She let go of Annabelle. Her friend stood up with a confused expression while Tharia quickly crawled out of the bath. Water dripped off her skin and she quickly brushed it off, then slipped into the vest and pants. She was in a hurry, so her clothes quickly soaked with water. The price to pay for this happiness had come knocking. Opening up the door, still mostly dripping wet, she stood in a way that the boy couldn¡¯t get a look at Annabelle. The blush in his face said enough about what he would fantasize about in the coming weeks. She simply pushed him aside and closed the door behind her. ¡°Where?¡± Ravid led her into a small room. The mother stood aside and was crying quietly. Tharia found the girl on a couch and knelt down beneath her. It was obvious it would be over soon. No one with such a deathly pale skin had long to live. Tharia tried regardless. She placed her hands on the head of the child and allowed her divine spark to decouple from her spine. Her lower half immediately slumped. Blue flames ran across her fingers with the same hue as that of the Mother Bone. She sensed inside of the frail body and felt a presence within. Black roots had manifested themselves everywhere. Tiny feathers sprouted around various organs and a black muzzle with reptilian eyes stared directly at the intruding spark. She felt feathers envelop her spark and drain it rapidly until she could do nothing but pull it back. The girl coughed up blood, some of it got on Tharia¡¯s hands. The short-haired woman finally stopped and fell to the ground. All strength had left her. This was her doing. She had sentenced the kid to death. Tharia felt tears run down her cheeks, they burned with the intensity of fire and guilt. Voices screamed and shouted all around her, yet she didn¡¯t hear them anymore. Strong arms lifted her off the ground and the silvery hair-kraken draped onto her face. She saw Annabelle¡¯s face and tried to give her a smile that failed miserably.

Chambers of Detachment

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

¡°They don¡¯t blame you¡±, Annabelle said. She looked at Tharia sprawled on the makeshift bedroll. The small girl looked utterly miserable. Worst of all were the attempts to keep smiling, they made it so much worse. ¡°They should¡±, Tharia replied and pressed a hand against her eyes. ¡°Why? You gave it your all. I saw you heal until you collapsed. What more is there to give?¡± Annabelle said. Her words felt inadequate to herself. They were never her strength. When she was younger and when the divine words could cause storms and floods, she had learned to be quiet. She didn¡¯t need to anymore, but the effects remained: She was unable to console her love. She stood next to her with her hands opening and closing, her feet shuffling. Should she lie down next to her and stay close? Maybe it would be better to give her a bit of room. How did one go about these things? Annabelle didn¡¯t know. ¡°Let us leave¡±, Tharia said, ¡°Please. I know it¡¯s late, I know we are tired and drenched but I can¡¯t be here. Any place but here¡± Annabelle quickly gathered their belongings while Tharia remained on the bedroll. Once she was done, she gently picked her friend up. It was almost scary how light her friend was. If need be, she could carry her over her shoulder with one hand. She didn¡¯t. Somehow allowing her friend to snuggle against her chest seemed more appropriate. They had reached the main room when she heard steps behind them. Ravid had appeared, once more in full plate armor. He shouldered a large bag. ¡°The mother wanted to thank you that you tried. She knows it wasn¡¯t your fault¡±, he said. Annabelle felt Tharia¡¯s slim fingers dig into her arm until it hurt. ¡°If you will allow me, I¡¯ll show you one of the Sziethuses, uh secondary houses? It¡¯s not far from here, you can lock it down and take care of her, far away from here¡± Annabelle nodded in reply. When the knight took point, he looked much more reliable in her eyes than he had before. Something about him seemed to have matured. He led them along the temple bridge towards a small staircase at the side. All the way down Tharia didn¡¯t say a single thing. The promised house actually turned out to be part of the staircase. The lower end had a massive metal door leading towards a room. Ravid handed them the key and then held out the bundle towards them. ¡°Share of the food. Should keep you going for weeks. We insist you take it. No matter what happened in the end, you brought many of us back and we¡¯re grateful for that. Don¡¯t ever forget that, wherever you go¡±, the young boy said and placed the bundle on the ground. It had seemingly taken him a while to realize that neither of the two women was currently able to take it. ¡°You¡¯ve grown up a lot since we met¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°I had to. When you attacked me, it opened my eyes to what kind of world we live in. Until then I always thought there¡¯d be some knights in shining armor. In the end, I guess I will have to become one. You two were right, this armor is stolen. I was just a shitty stableboy. But it fits me now¡±, Ravid said and raised his fist up high. ¡°Thank you for everything. Take care¡±, he added and then left. Annabelle carefully placed Tharia down on a dusty looking bunk bed, when she tried to stand up again, Tharia grabbed her arm. ¡°Stay close, just for this night¡± ¡°I will if you set the barrier up. Otherwise, I need to guard us¡± Tharia looked up at Annabelle and fell back onto the bed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m such a mess. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll be strong again¡±, the short girl whispered. ¡°Shh, don¡¯t be stupid. You¡¯re strong now. No one can do what you can¡± Upon hearing her words, Tharia suddenly chuckled and brushed a hand along her cheeks. ¡°You¡¯re getting better with words¡±, she said and put up another smile. It still seemed fake to Annabelle. It wasn¡¯t a malicious kind of fake but rather the attempt to hold onto something, so she honored it with one of her own. Tharia pushed herself off the bed. She leaned forward and just as it looked like she would fall off, she paused a moment. Suddenly, Tharia yelped in pain with her legs convulsing in unhealthy directions. It hurt Annabelle just from watching. With wobbly legs, her little fairy started laying out the circular chain of the barrier. With a sideglance, Annabelle noticed that Tharia had cut her fingers from fiddling with the damned family ring. ¡°Let me call the holy Bethany then. This I can do. Tonight, we appreciate life. Tomorrow, we enter the fourth ring and bring thunder and fire to this damnable world¡± End: Paths not taken | Coming up: The domain of Ill-Luminance 14 - The domain of Ill-Luminance

Gate of Wisdom

District of Guidance, Fifth Ring

Annabelle eyed up her loved one with concern. Tharia had gone back to her happy demeanor. She somehow managed to keep a spring in her step that made her forget about the business that had happened with her back. The smile was just the thing Annabelle needed any time of the day but underneath it all, she sensed a deep sadness. Her behavior was a stark contrast with their surroundings. Row after row, the houses had a thick grime of dust on them. It had baked into a thick crust once the rain stopped and the sun came up. The morning after the false star had even scared of the monsters. They saw the occasional monstrous muzzle, snout, maw and other unspeakable things lurking in the dark. Yet it felt like a cease-fire. No one walked out onto the grey roads, nothing alive ventured between the grey facades. There were no birds to welcome the morning, no animals to speak of, not even any other humans around. How little of them there still might be. The capital felt truly dead to Annabelle. While Tharia¡¯s verbal barrage could be draining at times, today she found herself listening to every word. ¡°Talk about things that are just not meant for me. I have tried to walk with a sway of the hips once. Two breaths long and I was on the ground, cursing the... uh¡±, Tharia shot a glance in her direction with an apologetic grin, ¡°praying to the gods. That reminds me, do you hate dresses because of those demonic shoes they come with? Because in that case, I get it. Who thought pushing up the heels was a smart idea?¡± After yesterday night, they had opted to choose the lower gate. Just the idea of getting anywhere near that temple district had sent Tharia into shock, so they both agreed on walking the other path. With every monster scared senseless, there wasn¡¯t much difference between either. The houses around them were hard to make out under their dust cover. Some inns, a variety of shops along the main street. The sign of an orphanage had been used in a makeshift effigy that no one had gotten to burn yet. They found clothes strewn on the street, along with toppled over market stands. Everything of value was gone, everything else had been stamped to dust of its own in the riots. ¡°They probably were people with a fetish for long and slender legs. Hmmm¡±, Tharia suddenly grinned from ear to ear. Taking this as her cue to step in, Annabelle quickly raised a hand and chuckled. ¡°Can you get your mind back on the road please?¡± Annabelle suggested. Tharia pivoted on the spot and then shrugged her shoulders, ¡°It''s grey, smudgy and even more ugly than usual. My mind goes to silly places if I don¡¯t give it some leeway. I just thought how odd it would be if we could build a cage around the sun. Maybe build a tower and go visit it. Three thousand steps of... that reminds me, how are you feeling? Is your breath holding up?¡± Annabelle reached for her chest and nodded. She no longer was short of breath. A shiver made her refocus her attention on the road. Tharia could be dangerously infectious. The cold air was owed to the nearby gate. It reached up several dozen meters and was but the smallest part of the fortification wall. Far above their heads and just slightly to the side, she saw the curve of the temple bridge. Standing below it and gazing up the wall made it clear just how large this structure really was. Yet many marks in the stone itself told stories about how often the wall had been attacked in its prime. ¡°So this is a war-time wall? Quite the difference. I think the outer wall could fit in four or five times and still not reach up to the top. Why do you think they build them this high? It doesn¡¯t make sense. No siege weaponry could reach across the outer wall already, so why?¡± The gate itself stood ajar but one of the massive chains of the mechanism blocked the path. Each link of it was easily seven meters tall and made out of metal. Annabelle rested her hand against it. Her cursory attempts to push the chain aside were met with failure. She hadn¡¯t really expected it to work anyways. Tharia was still going on about the walls in the background. ¡°I wish I had read more about these things. Why are there arcane runes on a wall of this era? The arts have fallen out of favor centuries ago, besides these are just wrong. See that O shaped Symbol? It should have jagged edges, not rounded ones¡± Annabelle turned her head towards Tharia, ¡°Why do you know these things?¡± ¡°Passing interest?¡± the small woman said and shrugged her shoulders, ¡°I¡¯ve had too much time on my hands as a child. It¡¯s not like anyone has the aptitude anymore, so it¡¯s just conjecture anyway. So, we¡¯re stuck now, aren¡¯t we?¡± The goddess returned her attention to the chain. She ran her hand along the metal, looking for grooves she could use to climb but despite being out in the open for perhaps centuries, it was still in decent condition. Safe for the end that had been gnawed off. Annabelle held her hand to the side and willed the Scythe into existence. Golden light gathered into the shape of the wooden handle, and then the blade. She stepped back and then put a foot forth. Assuming a basic combat stance, she then quickly stepped forward and used the momentum to slash her scythe from above at the same time. She had aimed the bladed part at the metal and as expected, the weapon just bounced off. It hadn¡¯t even left a mark. ¡°I could kick myself for leaving the rope with the other Rucksack. You know, I tried looting it from the House of the Inspired but there were too many mad hybrids there. What else can we do... can you try summoning your weapon into it? I¡¯ve seen you do it a few times¡± Annabelle nodded and let the Scythe go with a simple wish. She then held it out in front and once more recalled the weapon into existence. The golden light poured into the chain and with a delayed effect, it appeared directly inside of the massive bulbs of metal. ¡°It¡¯s stuck¡± ¡°Of course it is. Unsummon it please¡±, Tharia said and moved closer to her. When the golden light flaked away, they saw a hole inside the chain. Still, she would need to do this many hundred times just to cut through it. ¡°Good start. Have you ever tried moving it while bringing it out?¡± Annabelle narrowed her eyebrows. She hadn¡¯t. There was little control over the light, it simply appeared when she willed the tool into existence. It was worth a try, however. This time, she moved her hands as if she were executing a swing and manifested the weapon mid-movement. The golden light followed and until it came into existence completely, the light simply cut a swath through the chain like it was. Yet even with that, they would need hours to cut through it. Tharia suddenly wrapped her arms around Annabelle and held her cheek up towards her. She pointed at it. ¡°Kiss me!¡± Not one to deny the invitation, she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the cheek. And following a sudden impulse, she placed another one on the neck too. Only then did it occur to her, that this was a rather odd turn of events. ¡°Any particular reason?¡± Annabelle asked afterward. ¡°Because I¡¯m a genius, silly. There¡¯s no need to cut all of it. We cut in regular intervals until we can just more or less climb up. Like a ladder¡± In retrospect, it seemed simple and obvious. Annabelle went about creating a variety of stepping grooves using the blade of the scythe. She still had to do a lot of weapon summoning and after about an hour, she noticed fine sweat on her skin. The difficult part was making the grooves large enough to step in, so she had to do many smaller cuts right next to each other. At some point, she started using the already made grooves to get further up. It was tiring but it worked. Getting over it proved easy now, albeit it also ended up demeaning for Tharia. Her lower half didn¡¯t quite agree with the large leg movements necessary to climb. After she fell down twice, because the pain got too strong, they started to use a system where Annabelle had to pull her up to the next groove. Going like this was dreadfully slow but it was only seven meters in the end. They repeated a variant of the process on the other side and had all in all lost about two hours for a blasted piece of chain. Half-way through it had become a matter of principle. Sure they could walk back and go through the other gate ¨C but that would mean losing to a damned piece of metal. Once they were down on the other side, they made their way inside. The difference to the temple district above was glaring. The passage was littered with cages hanging from the ceiling. Skeletons sat inside those cages and Annabelle had a sneaking suspicion they had died of hunger when the city fell. ¡°Everyone for themselves¡±, Tharia said. There was no need to react. Annabelle thought it a fitting statement for their surroundings. The passage itself was maybe fifty meters in length and the way was clear. With the cages dangling above, it took her a while to notice that it was strange how much light there was. She searched her surroundings until she found patches of white light growing on the wall. Tharia had noticed them too and moved closer until she was about two meters away from them. ¡°Fungus. It¡¯s a sort of Funghi from what I can tell. It¡¯s hard to see really but I¡¯m not about to rub my nose into it. Right? Only idiots would push their face into something potentially dangerous they¡¯ve never seen before. Glowing mushrooms. Sure, why not¡± Closer to the massive second gate, more of the mushrooms had grown. They formed a cover on the floor, the walls. The air had a weird scent, it was somewhat sweet mixed with a touch of seawater ¨C even though that combination made no sense. Especially the seawater part this deep inland. ¡°We probably shouldn¡¯t be inhaling this¡±, Tharia said and then placed down her bag. She reached for the bandages and then tore off a lengthy piece of them, one for Annabelle and one for herself. Annabelle quickly wrapped it around her mouth and nose and saw Tharia do the same. This quickly proved a smart idea as they had taken but a few steps when Tharia suddenly made a weird sound. She pointed directly at Annabelle¡¯s chest. The goddess looked down and saw that her clothes had started to give off a subtle glow where colonies of spores clung to.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Let¡¯s hope there aren¡¯t too many of those¡±, Tharia¡¯s voice came muffled through the bandage. More of their clothes had started to glow on their own. There was something absurd about how they both looked like walking lanterns now. Something of her amusement must have shown on her face since Tharia raised a finger ¨C it too was covered in glowing spores. ¡°Is this funny to you?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Good, it¡¯s funny to me too¡±, Tharia said and winked at her. They proceeded towards the gate at the end. This one still had all chains attached but white mold had started to grow through the cracks. Annabelle moved towards the massive lever construction that would move the gate when Tharia suddenly put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Before we proceed, let¡¯s make sure we can deal with the spores¡±, she said. Holding up her hand, it was now covered entirely in the white light. It was a subtle glow but the sheer amount of it made it difficult to look at either way. First Tharia started to brush off the spores. This had middling success. Mostly, the spores just got everywhere else but at least they could be brushed off. Annabelle then felt the spark within Tharia start to grow erratic. It buzzed about for a few breaths before calming down again. ¡°Some of it already got inside of us. This stuff is dangerous but I think I can out-heal the damage for us both. We really shouldn¡¯t be inhaling a lot of it however and perhaps prevent skin contact as much as possible¡± Next, she saw Tharia pour some of their precious water on her hands. This helped wonders in getting the spores off her skin. Tharia then quickly wrapped bandages around her hands until not one bit of skin could be seen. Annabelle examined her own leather gloves, in that regard, she had been lucky. ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea what this stuff does. It¡¯s probably not the greatest idea to proceed but it¡¯s not like we have any other choice. My brother is somewhere deeper in the city and you will need to find the Dreamreaper soon. Let¡¯s just be careful¡± Annabelle felt her lips sneak a smile. It was an odd feeling to have the muscles move that way but the warmth inside her chest and the accelerated pace of her heart, whenever she looked at her little fairy, were pleasant sensations. It¡¯s true, somewhere along the way her friend had become a dependable ally. It was a far cry from the frail girl that had forced herself into her company at the beginning. These days felt like ages ago, yet they were but a few weeks in the past. Annabelle shook her head and finally activated the gate mechanism. Loud rumbling thundered through the passage as ancient mechanisms clanked into place. The huge gate started to swing open when Tharia suddenly let out a groan. ¡°These gates make no bloody sense. Why would the mechanism be on this side? Congratulations invaders, you¡¯ve bested the outer gate, so here is the key to the inner? Which idiot build this? Maybe it was retrofitted¡± More metalling clanking and thumping came from underneath their feet. It felt like titans woken from their slumber to continue an ancient task most menial: To pull a chain. With loud creaking, the Gate finally swung open enough to allow a view into the fourth ring. A bright blinding light made it impossible to see anything. Annabelle held a hand in front of her face and squinted through her fingers. It took a while for her eyes to adjust. When they stepped through and into the fourth district, it was like they entered a different world. Sure there were still the usual houses. These had a mixture of styles, some were painted with images, others had buttresses, others offered roofs made of reed and all of this blended together to make for one chaotic entrance to the fourth. Other than that, everything was wrong. A massive lake had formed in the lower parts of the ring. Mushrooms almost as large as the fortification wall towered above the houses. It was an odd sensation to look at them as they too glowed ¨C but the sources of light were in motion. A patch of white light ran down a huge mushroom, only to be followed by a purple patch of light. The centerpiece to the weirdness was a dead creature. This beast had been ginormous in life. All that remained was a decaying corpse and an outstretched wing several kilometers long. In theory and practice, the wing completely blocked out the sun, but the glowing mushrooms had taken up the task to shine a merciless light on the part of the fourth ring they could see. ¡°It looks like a sort of dragon. Well, maybe not with the hundred legs this thing has. But otherwise, a slightly reptilian muzzle, huge wings and a thick body. The way it died, I bet the tail took out most of the third fortification wall¡± Annabelle let her gaze wander along the full length of the beast, it took entirely too long. Nothing should be this absurdly large. While the spread out wing was the largest part of it, the main body still blocked out large paces of land. An endless stream of spores rained out of dried up wounds larger than houses. The two girls paced deeper into the strange place. With the number of spores in the air, everything glittered in odd and constantly moving waves of light. ¡°This is doing my head in¡±, Tharia said and not even the cloth covering her mouth could hide the frown. Annabelle gently patted a hand on her back. A cloud of particles ejected from her friend, leaving behind a Tharia shaped impression in the air. This time Annabelle really couldn¡¯t help it. She started laughing. ¡°Annie? Are you alright?¡± Tharia asked with a look of confused concern. ¡°I¡¯m fine¡±, Annabelle said inbetween yelping for air and the laughing. ¡°You sure? Are you making fun of me?¡± Tharia asked with her head leaned to the side. Despite the bandage, it was obvious she had pushed her lower lip forward in a cute pout. This made Annabelle¡¯s laughing fit so much worse. Tharia was right: The pout changed everything.

Kraftsmin Road

District of Artisans, Fourth ring

For Annabelle, the Mushrooms had already outlived their novelty and now got on her nerves. A few minutes down the road and a regular forest of these things had started to grow on the houses to either side. Thin strands of something organic connected both sides and proved surprisingly hard. She had to use a lot of strength just to cut through with her scythe. Tharia too gave her best with her long axe but she had been tired out after a few swings already. Worst of all, she felt the spores creep underneath her clothes. They slipped into every place they could find and worked their way onto her skin, where they started to itch with a fierce vengeance. A strange sound made her stop. Something rumbled nearby and suddenly bounced into view with ludicrous speed. It looked roughly like a large wolf, maybe two meters in height, that was covered head to toe in glow mushrooms with the stuff growing out in odd angles. The beast shot them a passing glance and then smashed straight through the next house. Not even one breath later, something else rushed past it. This thing Annabelle hadn¡¯t seen properly, it was just a black blur that buzzed by far too fast. A loud yowl marked the wolf''s end. Shadowy limbs tore out gibs and pieces and send them flying in every direction. The goddess waved a hand towards Tharia and her little fairy nodded. She quickly closed up and together, they quietly made their way forward. This time around, they had moved to the side of the road and stuck to the few shadows left. The cover of mushrooms soaked up any step they could make. For a while, the gruesome sounds of the nearby feast sparked the imagination. Annabelle saw the glint of water in the not that far distance. A sidearm of the massive lake had flooded the houses up to their first level not too far ahead. Yet no matter how silent they thought they were, Annabelle suddenly became aware of being watched. A pair of flat eyes looked directly at her from a wall. It was just a painting. Except this one suddenly moved. As if struggling to break free from its bounds, the thing jumped out of the image. This beast was a mixture of a massive chicken with long claws and a serpentine tail. It looked at Annabelle and suddenly charged. Annabelle dodged sideways and felt the impact of wind push her aside. The weird bird creature smashed into the wall of another building, yet strangely did no damage to it, safe for a splotch of color. Even more curious, it had left traces of actual ink in its path. Something shapeless slithered along the wall until it found another painting. This one showed a reptile through and through, a lizard about a meter in size. Like before, the thing struggled with the wall as if it was bound and then suddenly broke free. This time around, it wore the painting of the lizard. It moved with purpose but luckily none of the speed from before. She saw Tharia point her pistol at it, yet her friend was hesitant. Annabelle understood why. One loud sound and whatever else was nearby would come snacking. So it was up to her. She grabbed the Scythe in her left and then brought out one of the war-fans. Annabelle left it closed and started swinging it like a morning star. Woosh, woosh. The lizard dripped ink with each step, it carefully observed the war-fan, ready for its attack. This is what Annabelle had counted on. She let go of the war-fan and it took off in a wide arc. The lizard lept after it by instinct, before it realized it had been fooled. Annabelle was already on the attack. One step forward, stable stance. She opted for a wide sideways slash for which she grabbed the weapon with both hands. The blade cut straight through the lizard as if it was made out of paper. Momentarily, she saw a black pearl at its core but then the thing simply disappeared in a splotch of ink on the mushroom covered ground. Like before, a formless shape slithered back and forth. ¡°The water¡±, Tharia suddenly said, ¡°Neither spore nor monster goes near the water¡± That either meant it was even more dangerous or that the beasts couldn¡¯t stand it. Annabelle had to make a decision and she had to make it fast. ¡°Water¡±, she said. They both took off towards the water with the shapeless thing in pursuit. Then the thing was gone. When next they saw it, it wielded the painting of a giant in heavy armor. With steps heavy enough to send tremors through the ground, it gave pursuit. It looked cumbersome and slow but due to the sheer size, it quickly gained on the two women. She shot a look to her side and saw that not that far away, the strange shadowy creature was still tearing into the wolf. While running, Annabelle brought out another war-fan and then came to a skittering stop, she used it as a sling, only letting go once it had sufficient speed. The fan darted off towards the giant but missed by more than an arm¡¯s length. The goddess was already running again. Just a few more meters. Hopefully, the water really was a sanctuary from the beasts. Yet before they got there, the giant had closed in on them. Annabelle whirled around and looked up at the monstrosity. Up close, it was a really odd sight. Like a painting, it had contours with thick lines on the body, yet the presence was quite real. There was no possible way to block or parry something this large. She tried to buy time for Tharia by making herself an obstacle. She constantly stayed in motion, a step here, a dash there. Two loud thunders suddenly tore apart the head of the inky giant, just as it was about to smash a fist into the ground. The fist came either way. Annabelle tried to jump back and narrowly dodged the fist, yet the sheer wind pressure sent her flying. She made contact with the ground just a few steps away from Tharia. A dull pain throbbed inside the goddesses body, some of which was from the day before. She didn¡¯t know how she got them, that black light Tharia mentioned must have done something with her memory. Annabelle looked at her fairy and then snapped. ¡°Are you insane? The noise will draw even more!¡± Annabelle was right about that. A large creature with a fur that was pitch-black and oddly free of spores smashed straight into the giant. While the earlier shot had weakened it, the black furred beast turned it into a mist of colors. The new creature looked like an oversized ape with horns on the head and ridges along the four arms. There was still blood from when it had torn apart the wolf-like thing. One of the four arms suddenly shot forwards and snatched a small marble out of the air. Something crunched and just like that, the remaining paint slushed to the ground, leaving behind a giant shaped smudge. With that, it changed attention towards Tharia an Annabelle. The water was close-by now. This was all or nothing. She got back onto her legs and darted off towards the edge of the water. A few steps away, Annabelle grabbed onto Tharia and simply dragged her along. The girl would never be fast enough on her own. She saw the pain this brought her friend and pushed aside the feeling of guilt. This was for both of them. Her foot touched the street where no spore dared to go and just like that, the large six-limbed monster stopped. It snarled but kept its distance. She let go of Tharia and pressed a hand against her chest. The heart thumped violently. There was little breath to go around. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, luring the second beast close was a good idea¡±, Annabelle said, ¡°and so was the water¡± It had gotten easier to talk with Tharia around. She quite appreciated that, although she still occasionally stumbled over her own words. Annabelle looked around. The water-edge ran straight through the houses nearby. Wherever the flood had come from, it was enough to fill this part of the fourth ring to this level. She heard a splash of water behind her. ¡°Are you okay, little fairy?¡± she asked and looked over her shoulder. All the silver-haired woman saw, was a Tharia shaped mess of spores on the water surface. "Tharia!?" End: The domain of Ill-Luminance | Coming up: Places beneath obsidian skies 15 - Places beneath obsidian skies

Beneath

District of Artisans, Fourth Ring

Tharia was utterly disoriented. One moment, she had stood on the edge of the water, then something snatched her up by her legs and pulled her underwater. The impact on the icy water came as a shock and made her muscles tense up in a self-destructive reflex. She felt water rush past her spiraling body. Even with the shape of submerged houses around her, it was hard to gauge where exactly up was. Panic had set in but Tharia forcefully relaxed her tensed up muscles. One of the upsides of dealing with convulsions on a daily basis was the calm of mind to deal with tensions and cramps. Good. She had stopped thrashing about. Her eyes didn¡¯t see much. It was dark around her, what little light reached this far down only amounted to shapes, blurs, and shadows. Tharia closed her fingers around the handle of the Axe. She quickly untied it and then moved it to the side for a swing down onto her attacker. Yet, she had barely moved her arm to the side, when the sheer drag of water wrested the weapon from her fingers. She felt the urge to breathe well up inside of her. Panic once more sneaked into her body and she tried hammering her fists into the thing around her legs but it wouldn¡¯t budge. Calm down. What would Annie do? Look badass and cut the beast into pieces. With the image of her friend as inspiration, she reached for her second lifeline: The rapier that hadn¡¯t seen too much action yet. Really it had just been a flight of fancy to move with the grace of a master swordswoman. This time, she acted smarter. Once more, she unsheathed the weapon, but she moved her body in a way that it caught the brunt of the water drag. The weapon came free. She still felt a strong tug on her fingers, but with the smaller blade, she could manage. Twisting her torso to the other side, she then thrust the rapier downward. Once, twice and thrice cursed stabs found their target until something glowing hot washed over her body. Tharia quickly closed her eyes as to not get the blood into her eyes. The creature finally let go. But the human girl continued spiraling through the water for a good bit longer. By now, her lungs were burning up with pain. She desperately needed air. Several moments ago. Worse still, the freezing cold water had started to drain her body temperature. It took a lot of concentration to prevent her body from reflexively breathing in. Subconsciously, she found her left hand clutching at her throat and chest. Despair started to sink in as her chest burned up with the desperate plea for air. This was it. The final moment of Tharia. Her mind became sarcastic and entertained thoughts about what her epitaph would read. ¡®She gave it her all, never amounted to much. A marked failure and abject example of human filth¡¯. She drifted in complete darkness, pressure weighed with a dull pain on her inner ear. Useless, you¡¯d like that, wouldn¡¯t you, Tharia thought to herself. Sudden anger burned brighter than any sun could hope to do. Stubborn as she was, the small woman started swimming. With no idea where to go, she still considered it a better option to go somewhere instead of nowhere at all. She felt drafts of water tug on her. They accelerated her towards a place she couldn¡¯t see. Tharia gave it her all but she had never been a good swimmer. The biggest reason was that her lower half was useless when it came to the necessary motions. This brought her a sudden desperate idea. She reached inside of her and firmly grasped the divine flame in her chest with her mind. A conscious thought removed it from her spine and her lower body went limp instantly. Instead, she set the spark to repair the damage caused by lack of air. This wouldn¡¯t last but it would buy her some time. She concentrated on her arms and made strong strokes with them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a faint light in the distance. Hope! The current dragged her along and when it came to change direction again, Tharia swam with all her might. The light belonged to one of those massive giant mushrooms. Didn¡¯t matter. Her body struggled for every meter. There¡¯s no part that didn¡¯t hurt. Her brain started to misfire with random thoughts. How often do people say to not go into the light? Would she need another pair of clothes after this? The sun up high had a funny scent, all things considered. With walls green and bottles yellow, was the cutlery liquid? Instinct overwhelmed her rationale, she suddenly swallowed water and her body started thrashing again. A painful impact brought her saving moment of clarity. There was a doorway in front of her. It was part of a massive tower that ended in the biggest mushroom she had ever seen, it¡¯s glowing trunk reached far above. A light came from within the doorframe. Light meant spores, spores meant air. Somehow, barely conscious, she pulled herself inside and then towards the light. Her head bumped against something slimy and utterly disgusting, it gave a bit of resistance before it popped. Water rushed along with her, she found herself catapulted out of the water and onto a hard cellar ground, a fountain of icy water followed before it suddenly stopped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a rapidly healing fungus membrane close and hold back the water where she had entered. She had done it! Alive! Poor joy flooded her body until she tried to breathe in properly. Water ran from her lips. Her mind went blank with pain and it was only thanks to the spark, that she somehow survived. When Tharia regained consciousness, a pool of water and less glamorous things had formed around her. The spark had unceremoniously purged everything. Her throat burned, but her lungs breathed sweet, ecstatic, impossibly delicious stale air. She crawled over towards a dry patch and flopped down with a defeated, ¡°Ouch¡±.

Istsmann Road

District of Artisans, Fourth Ring

Annabelle was in a state she hadn¡¯t known was possible. There was no physical sign of being wounded, but her chest hurt. Her mind was racing with despair and the open feeling of loss. It was a moment wrought with realization. Prince Cathrion, her later husband and part of the murder entourage, had never woken these feelings inside of her. What she had felt for him was rather a form of curiosity. Sure, on a physical level it had felt good to be desired and touched, but it was nothing more than that. Tharia, however, instilled her with a sense of longing that tied up her every waking moment. Even now, she was convinced she could feel the presence of her love. It was like a subtle flicker tugged on her mind, telling her that even though Tharia was weakened, she was still alive somewhere. She clung to that idea until another realization struck. Her little fairy would call her a Numbskulls for this. Of course, she felt Tharia. The ability to do this had guided their path since they entered the capital. She could feel and locate divine essence, after all. Annabelle carefully tuned in to the sensation and felt her friend nearby. By her estimates, it was underwater and inside one of the giant mushrooms sticking out of the lake. With a new goal in mind, she grabbed Tharia¡¯s bag from the ground. At least they hadn¡¯t lost the black powder again. That said, there was still some sunlight left today. That stuff was properly cursed and found the most curious of ways to disappear from their belongings. Sometimes in flames. Mostly in flames, actually. She combined her own supply bag with that of Tharia and then swung it over her shoulder. She tied it with a small piece of cloth for ease of transport, then turned around and stared at the six-limbed beast that stood just outside the line between water and mushroom covered city. ¡°Right, you¡¯re still here¡±, she commented and then locked eyes with the beast. It stared back with a dumb intelligence. After a while, the most curious thing happened. The six-limbed beast lowered its head and got down onto the ground. Annabelle kept the gaze locked and made her way back towards the mushroom covered roads. The moment her feet touched the strange mucus on the ground, the six-limbed beast perked up. That very moment, Annabelle brought out the glowing scythe. The weapon hadn¡¯t yet fully manifested when the beast was already disappearing around the corner with panicked yelps and groans. Annabelle didn¡¯t feel like arguing. Maybe she did have a rather murderous expression at times. It did scratch her ego a bit that it had sent a monster running. She turned around and kept as close to the water as she could, without getting too close to it. Whatever had snatched up Tharia, could always catch her as well. Annabelle made efforts to stay as quiet as possible while keeping special attention on the various paintings. None of them showed signs of intelligence or the urge to suddenly leap out. The mushrooms had completely conquered this part of the city. Tilted houses occasionally poked out from within thick webs of mucus and funghi. Nothing else really had any chance to grow or live here. She felt her eyes getting tired, the constant bright light was draining. At two times, she found another creature. One was another one of those six-limbed beasts. Like before, a simple stare proved surprisingly effective in making sure it never got close to her. The other was a rather long snake that crossed her path. She quietly stood by and waited several long breaths until it was gone.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Out of all the monsters in the capital, the snake looked curiously normal. That is until she saw it again on the nearby rooftop. The head suddenly split apart in four directions and peeled back to reveal a glistening skeleton held together by a thin mucous membrane. It then sprouted wings and flew off like it was nothing, the snake skin became its dangling tail. Perhaps normal was long gone. Whatever normal had been to begin with. Still, her senses were finely attuned to her lover and she felt joy at the mere suggestion that the spark had become normal again. After what felt like an eternity, she reached a point where there was no more land to traverse. Instead, several of the houses had toppled over, their debris had then become the breeding ground for the ever-present mushroom colonies. Strong bridges of filament connected the various houses with Mushrooms in the water and last but not least, the big one that seemed to be her target. The feeling of Tharia was strongest from that direction. Using the technique of summoning her soul weapons and carving edges out of stone, she created a makeshift climbing aid for herself and quickly made her way up the side of the building. This was made possible because really, the side had mostly become the new top. Once on top, she carefully tested the stability of the filaments. Some instantly gave in, yet others proved decidedly stable. Tharia would probably have a better idea, her girl was clever in ways she wasn¡¯t. Annabelle, however, lacked the ingenuity for bullshit ideas that should not reasonably work. So she just started running along the filaments, crossing from one sunken house onto a mushroom, further onto another mushroom, back to a sunken house and then continued on until she reached the penultimate obstacle. It was then that her weight proved too much. The house gave in underneath her feet, she quickly wrapped her hands around the filament but only managed to tear it out along with her. Wind soared past her as she swung over the water underneath. The end came quickly in sight and it wouldn¡¯t be pretty. She disappeared into a cloud of glowing spores, her body tore through the outer shell of the massive mushroom. When she reached solid ground inside, she found herself glowing from head to toe. The spark within Tharia had grown weaker again, however. Annabelle tried to brush off the spores as she made her way down the staircase inside this weird tower and mushroom symbiont.

Beyond

District of Artisans, Fourth Ring

Tharia was in constant motion. The pale blue lips and the chalk-white skin betrayed how far her body temperature had fallen. The woman was in a bit of a pickle. Her clothes were soaking wet. She was freezing up inside and out. The room she was in turned out to be some sort of entrance hall. The metal placards called it a historical monument called traversal tower. Tharia had never heard of such a thing, but it being a tower certainly explained the hole in the ceiling. Looking up, she saw an intricate wooden interior with various rooms leading away at fixed intervals. Spore colonies had reached up there, just as much as they had found their place down here. A slimy membrane, identical to the one she had passed through on her way inside, blocked the hole up top. That and the fact that the ladder was upstairs, just in sight of her eyes, along with the wardrobe that promised dry blankets. She saw the edge of it, but no matter how much she bounced and jumped, she just couldn¡¯t reach it. At least it got her blood pumping and served to warm her up. On the upside, with how wet her body was, not a single spore had any interest in getting near her. The few that did, dripped off to the ground. She felt woozy and had trouble keeping her mind focused. Perhaps she could start the fire. Naturally not with the black powder but perhaps the pyrite could serve in that function. She quickly pulled out her pistol and pushed the powder lid aside. The wet black powder ran out like an oozy smudge that gave her flashbacks to the early days of travel. She carefully spun up the firing mechanism to get to the pyrite, when she saw something that instantly soured her mood. The Pyrite had started to rust away not only itself but the metal around it as well. This wasn¡¯t a recent thing either. Worse, the firing mechanism was in such a sorry state that it was a wonder she had been able to use it at all recently. The general humidity owed to weeks of non-stop raining had gotten to the weapon. ¡°I should have read books on weapon maintenance¡±, Tharia spoke with a strange inflection to her voice. That tone was owed to her teeth clattering from the cold. She spun up the wheel mechanism until it snapped in place and pressed the trigger. It snapped back with a click but instead of sparks, pieces of metal came flying out of the lid. She threw the weapon away in a fit of anger. For the next minutes, the small woman was stomping about, screaming obscenities at the floor, the ceiling, the world itself and anyone. What little furniture the room once had, now lay in shambles. But she felt better already. Once she was done, she noticed that it had suddenly gotten brighter. ¡°You¡¯re loud¡±, a familiar voice echoed from above. Tharia looked up and had to close her eyes when a roughly humanoid shaped sun peaked down through the hole in the ceiling. ¡°You¡¯re radiant today, my love¡±, Tharia snarked. Annabelle rubbed away some spores and revealed her face. She still looked like a walking sun but one Tharia could come to terms with. ¡°How did you even find me?¡± Tharia asked while Annabelle hooked the ladder in place. The goddess didn¡¯t answer immediately. Instead, she lowered their supply bags down, followed by two blankets from the wardrobe upstairs. Only then did she follow. ¡°With the power of love¡±, Annabelle said. Tharia groaned in reply. She already regretted exposing Annabelle to all the sarcasm, banter and cheeky irony Tharia called her normal day procedure. The goddess had learned it with lightning fast speed and now she could no longer be sure whether she meant what she said or was pulling her leg instead. This was just plain unfair, Tharia considered playful irritation her domain. ¡°Actually, I followed the essence¡± Annabelle finally explained. She stepped closer to Tharia who still stood frozen with arms wrapped around her chest, hugging the light armor around it. The small human woman had trouble forming coherent thoughts. When Annabelle pushed a blanket into her hands, she gave it a strange look. Only once her love started to rub Tharia¡¯s arms and face did she understand. They worked together to get Tharia dry again, using the time to tell each other of their respective adventures. When it came to the fact that their way was now cut off, Tharia sighed. ¡°I guess that only leaves the way further down. There¡¯s another staircase. They tried to hide it with a rotten carpet but well, turns out this glowing fungus loves eating carpets¡± The friction of two people rubbing a blanket over her shape quickly brought warmth back to her body and with each passing moment, she felt her faculties return. She had said and thought some utterly ludicrous things when her brain was deprived of oxygen. The only reason she still existed was the spark inside of her. Following a sudden impulse, she slung herself at Annabelle and buried her face in her soft chest. ¡°Thank you for the divine essence¡±, Tharia said with a cough. The sentence ended in a coughing fit as her mouth filled with spores. When she moved away from her lover, a Tharia shaped face imprint showed on Annabelle¡¯s clothes. ¡°I¡¯m willing to forget this happened if you are¡±, Tharia said and pointed towards the imprint. Annabelle looked down and then back up at Tharia again. ¡°I¡¯m not¡± ¡°I hate you¡±, Tharia said with a pout and earned herself a playful pat from her love. ¡°Why, fairy, you¡¯re just positively beaming with love today¡± ¡°I really hate you¡±, the human woman said with a tone that made it obvious she didn¡¯t mean it. ¡°Aye aye¡±, Annabelle said and patted Tharia¡¯s hair. It had taken them a while but her clothes were mostly dry now. Much to Tharia¡¯s surprise, she found that she still had the rapier along with her. She didn¡¯t exactly question fate, especially not after she had lost her trusty pistol. They made their way down the staircase. Everything about this spelled clandestine, including a variety of fake walls along the way. The mushroom had made short work of them while also providing a source of light. The staircase itself seemed to be an extension of the tower, however, it led down instead of up. A moldy scent hung in the air and every few steps Annabelle had to use to the scythe to cut away filaments and membranes that for some weird screwed up mushroom reason grew straight across the stairs. After what felt like an eternity, they entered a larger room. A subtle blue hue illuminated the spherical hall. Primitive altars lingered in each cardinal direction. Tharia recognized neither symbol nor lettering on them and the devotionals had been withered by time until little remained but oddly shaped lumps of stone. Annabelle had walked outside and Tharia quickly followed her. Her eyes took a moment to adjust from the bright light of the mushroom to the subtle blue inside the massive cavern. Tharia suddenly snapped for air. ¡°Halrans pimply arse sticking out the window, what the shite is that?¡± The dome had opened up into a several kilometer long cavern. Down here the light also came from mushrooms, but these ones looked ancient. Their colorful luster had turned into the everpresent blue. Up above them, they saw a shimmering ceiling. Mushroom colonies in various places plugged up what seemed like holes in the ceiling. Tharia knelt down and picked up a piece of stone that had fallen from the ceiling. ¡°Obsidian, I think. Do you know it?¡± Tharia asked and Annabelle simply nodded. ¡°Why however is there a ceiling made of obsidian above us? More importantly, why, oh why is there a second bloody city down here with what looks like parts of the golden palace sticking out of it?¡± Three distinct structures had battled for dominance in this weird cavern. There was an initial construction that had used ancient and massive bones to build rickety hanging villages between them. They looked many centuries old with wood that had withered away and stone that was smooth from the endless dripping water. The second set of structures was part of the city above. The tell-tale sign of buttresses and vault ribs, along with ugly painted walls had smashed directly into the city below. Third and most confusing was the presence of the golden palace. It was just a singular wing of the once home of gods. Somehow, it hovered just a smidge above the city beneath but the sputtering lights said enough about how long this would last. Still, the black stone with glowing golden lights looked majestic, not least of all the circular dome above gave off a gentle golden glow. ¡°Are you feeling alright, love?¡± Tharia asked her friend. The goddess had a strange look on her face. ¡°Yes, It¡¯s just odd to something of it left standing¡± Tharia nodded. It was that moment when the last remnant of the golden palace came crashing down. Loud rumble and thunderous noise roared through the cave. Dust was thrown up as the black and golden walls dug their way into the two mixed cities underneath. The dome had cracked open from the impact and allowed a look deep inside the belly of the crashed palace. A giant statue of a winged serpent served as the central place inside the golden dome. ¡°Dreamreaper¡±, Tharia spoke with a whisper. ¡°How do you know?¡± Tharia bit her lower lip. Lies had a way to come back and quickly gestate out of control. She was once more at a crossroad. One path led her down a path of ever more complex lies, but Annabelle might be better off for it. The other was brutal honesty and threatened to not only damage her lover but also plunge the world further towards the end of all days. No pressure, really. End: Places beneath obsidian skies | Coming up: The Understadt (+Bonus) Bonus - Letters of Lore I Valarn is a city of many faces. During its rich history, countless people fought for the right to define history and create meaning. Many documents remain until this day and the package on the rustic table is no exception. A cord keeps together a variety of objects. First of many is a single page. It looks like it has been torn from a book. A handwritten note at the top marks which book it was from.
Ryckwat, Elrawn: Notes on Cleanliness
Published: 1187 pd, Greater Hall of Letterievalism. Excerpt on the triumvirate of rites.
[The letters are weathered with ink quickly fading away. Needless Serifs make it hard to read the document] such as the rites of cleaning. Alexey states ¡°There is no doubt in my mind that the rise of Valarn triveth [there¡¯s a dried out note on the side: Linked? Brought about?] the three rites¡± (Kalyminz 301 pd, pagarum 471). Six hundred years of scientific inquiry have seen this unchallenged until Saskia Alooren¡¯s thesis ¡®On the importance of hygiene¡¯ (Alooren 960 pd). She states, ¡°It¡¯s rather that the divinely mandated hygiene gave rise to the Dalman Theocracy. The divine insistence prevented diseases and infections while improving the quality of life¡± (Alooren 960 pd, pagarum 19). Saskia makes reference to the letters of the apostate Rimaldi, wherein he describes ¡°With filth comes provda [another note on the side reads: Power or Might] over the evil spirits. It can bring disease and sickness by malada [note says: Likely reference to the idea of bad air?], does it not stand to reason that we can achieve ways to surmount this by embracing filth?¡± (Rimaldi 300 pd). Today, we have a greater understanding and found truth in both perspectives. Hygiene allowed us to suppress many diseases (as evidenced by Ruttenmeier 1180 pd, pagarum 291 pd), but it is with filth that we learned to fight infections (see Kraszenlivisc 1022, Witt 1050 on Breadbreath [a translation note at the corner lists Breadbreath as bread grown stale with the grasp of green]. There is much ado about whether the divine decree has brought us a way to stem disease or prevented us from finding ways to cure it. The answer, this paper reckons, will say much about our relationship with the divine. [There¡¯s a short note scribbled at the bottom. It lists various names, amongst them Rimaldi, Elrawn, and Alooren. Each of them is crossed with a circle around the sentence ¡®executed for divine heresy¡¯]
The sheet ends there. Tugged underneath is a tattered map of a village with another torn out page glued to the back.
Talaron Region, 35 123 inhabitants, 3 491 in Alvesdorf (1009 census). Founded: 508 in Alvesdorf.
Excerpt from the Atlas Divinisia It is strongly advised to avoid traveling to the Talaron Region. The drab forests and fields offer little to the stimulant mind and only the three largest cities can offer a modicum of civility. The centerpiece to this region of barbaric traitors is the Von Alveshorn Burg at the top of Alvesdorf. Stolen by the Traitor Alveshorn during the unrests following the abdication of the Dalman Theocracy, this once summer-residence saw itself fortified into a minor fortress. During a short-lived period, the region declared itself independent and dared the mighty capital by taking the fields as threat. Valarn and the divine negotiated peacefully and Alveshorn saw the error of his way. He died in shame by jumping off the tallest tower. Those that helped the capital see through the transition, have been rewarded with nobility. [An insert leaflet tells a different story: The Theocracy, still clinging to power, burned the fields down and risked years of famine, simply to execute the traitor lord, his family, his friends, and their family. The torture instruments are still on display in the Von Alveshorn Burg hundreds of years later]. Despite the leniency of the wise capital, Talaron has never found it within themselves to fully embrace civilization, although they do keep to the faiths nowadays. Their inferior mind is made most obvious by their droll insistence on keeping the Jiesherzen language alive. Do not indulge these rebellious manners, if you must visit there.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Notable families from Talaron: Basrenminn, Ivel, Zuresti (the latter was naturalized into Valarn Aristocracy)
The notes on Talaron don''t end there. What follows is a register of various misdeeds owed to individuals. It''s an impressive number of crimes that suggests that Talaron people really are murderous brutes but when it is compared to the years, it''s obvious that some creative liberty in presenting the information has been taken. Propaganda is a Valarn pastime, after all. That''s something the next document can attest.
[This is a collection of handwritten notes that had been stuffed into an envelope. The envelope itself has been labeled Valarn Propaganda] Turesai People ¨C (spoken as Tu as in Tuesday, res and ai as in eye) - Turesai once lived in Hanressin [a map of the city is part of the notes - or so it says. It''s absent.] - City abandoned once Divine Faith grew prominent. - Turesai Women considered amicable and highly desirable. - Turesai Men said to be volatile and untrustworthy. - All Turesai are apostates by blood. [The inside of the envelope contains a set of notes expanding on the various findings. It marks the deliberate political nature of these assumptions and then offers an alternative explanation] The Turesai actually did live in Hanressin as a sort of rival city. Valarn threatened them with war and thanks to the support of the divine, they were invincible. The Turesai were forced into nomadic exile as a result. The people were often used as scapegoats for catastrophes due to their denial of the Valarn Gods. Ever since the abolishment of discrimination in 1097, they are once more considered people, but old resentments die hard. True peace is unlikely at this point in time [this is circled many times]
The next item is a book. It''s not that old, perhaps a dozen years at most. The cover has been burned out and the seal of banishment is placed on the lid of the book. Opening it up, the preamble speaks of the purpose this book once sought.
Leichtmeisterin Funjier, Marie: Lirum, larum, much arcanum
Published: 1190 pd, Greater Hall of Letterievalism. Old Men¡¯s Magecrafts. Preamble.
The book in front of you is testament to years of my work on the state of arcane magic in Valarn. Years ago, when I was but a fresh Scientis at the Academy of Applied Divine Mechanisms (henceforth ADM), I was obsessed with the era before the divine. When Prince Cathrion in divis Deliaster re-opened the vaults for the public, my colleagues at the ADM came to call me the dusty cellar cat. How could I resist digging up centuries of sealed knowledge? If the Dalman Theocracy had one saving grace, it was their urge to catalog everything. Every letter of correspondence, each banished book, even documents about judgments had been written down and sealed away in the royal vaults. While many historians sought to reconstruct the era of insanity, my purpose was a different one. What had caused the disappearance of magic? Pretty quickly, my enthusiasm infected my colleagues and together we proudly present to you this collaborative effort in bringing the knowledge of the arcane back into the modern days of the divine. Leichtmeisterin Injas will lead the way with a theory on magic constructs and the lasting effect of magical enchantments. It is her firm belief that many of the now dormant structures can be brought back with minimal effort. Leichtmeister Orenheimer picks up the feather in the second chapter. His work on merging divine with arcane magic has turned many heads in recent years. With the knowledge we found, he makes a proposal to resurface the aptitude tests. Third in this tome will be Grandmeister Romlan. He broke the mold in 1182 when he suggested that divine magic can be achieved with the use of alchemy. This inspiring colleague needs little introduction and we¡¯re grateful for his article on the transformation of alchemy. In collaboration with Grandmeisterin Ollienis, I will examine the close relationship of arcane with early male brotherhood cults and their fear of the divine in the fourth chapter. We will lay out for everyone to see that before the cults of filth, there was a balance between male and female magicians. The fifth chapter will be of historical purpose. It will explain the now debunked believe-system behind the god Abyss and the entropic loss of energy. Today we know energy is eternal, but even back then skeptics doubted the mandated truth. It¡¯s this chapters goal to bring this to light. The sixth paper establishes a theory on the diminished interest in magic. It works around the various cultural aspects ¨C including the Tharekter movement in 908. Grandmeister Layeres provides this and the next chapter, which will go into great detail on all manner of cultural phenomena. Dear scientis, it¡¯s our belief that this work will provide ample opportunity to further the needs of knowledge in face of divine tyranny. For this purpose, we have obtained the rights to print Supreme Grandmeisterin Gahars legendary lecture for the first time ever. Her work ¡®Why women didn¡¯t kill spellcasting but neither did men¡¯ earned her the ire of the Enlightenment Bureau, but with the opening of the vaults, we can now prove her suspicions and reveal the role of the divine in mortal matters. [The actual book has been censored to the point of complete uselessness. Entire pages are missing, others have so many words stricken out that little remains but the chapter titles and random words here and there. A selection of ''the, a, and, the, then'' is all that''s left]
16 - The Understadt

The forgotten Understadt

Places below, Fourth Ring

¡°How do you know?¡± Annabelle asked. One simple question peered straight into Tharia¡¯s construct of lies. It would be easy to come up with yet another lie. Just like that - at the snap of a finger. The house of lies would grow in strength and complexity. She had done these things in the past, those bruises existed because she fell down stairs and no, those weren¡¯t tears it¡¯s just some flower that got into the eye. Tharia felt a breeze of air on her skin. This city beneath the city was really quite curious. It was obvious were some of the houses had come from, they simply toppled down from above. But what manner of place was this? Why was there another settlement so far below and why was there a ceiling of obsidian atop it all? ¡°Tharia¡±, she heard Annabelle say. Right, couldn¡¯t let it go. A rush of anger pulsed through her. She had always operated her mind close to the edge. Not by choice but rather by necessity, you can only shove so many emotions aside until they come back with a vengeance. These days, it was mostly anger and confusion, no doubt spurred on by the manipulation of the Muse ¨C but enough of it was her own. ¡°Fairy!¡± ¡°Leave me the fuck alone¡±, Tharia snapped and instantly regretted it. She had done it again. Tharia gave her own cheek a slap. The pain brought clarity, so she did it again and again until Annabelle snatched her hand. Stupid. Idiotic. Immature. Annabelle¡¯s eyes burned with the intensity of a sun. There was so much clarity of emotion contained within just a look. She wrested her hand free and then held it up against the backdrop of the Undercity. The ring glinted in the blue hue of the mushrooms. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. The fact of the matter is that I¡¯m a lying snake. My very essence is selfish. When I made the decision to hide the truth from you, it wasn¡¯t to protect you ¨C it was so I could bind my fate to yours¡±, Tharia said in a hushed tone. ¡°What are you...¡±, Annabelle didn¡¯t even get four words out before Tharia raised her voice again. The human woman knew she had to get this out now before it festered any longer. So what if this ended the world. Her family threw her out to the wolves and yet this ring marked whose property she was. She had tried to escape her brother and here she was running back to him. The moment she thought herself stronger than her family, the Muse had toyed with her mind. Then, when finally she made a conscious decision to act on her own and protect her friend from herself, it too was based on lies and deceit. Worst of all it was at some odd creature¡¯s behest. She could do no right. This was all on her. She was weak and allowed others to do this to her. Everything she touched, she dragged down into a spiral of destruction. Tharia realized the irony of having reached these crossroads many times before. This time would be different is what she always thought and then brought it down in a spectacular mess. This, however, would be her magnum opus, another tantrum with the potential to do tremendous harm. Who better than her to be at fault for the destruction of the world? Words suddenly poured out of her. They brought with it a strange emotional buzz. ¡°You snapped, Annie. The Dreamreaper won. You killed indiscriminately. When a chance presented itself to bring you back, I took on the cost and lied to you about it. I wanted to be of importance to you¡± Annabelle took a deep breath and then simply leaned closer. This wasn¡¯t the reaction she had expected. She had an even more serious expression on her face as she got uncomfortably close. Tharia started to squirm, but strong hands held her in place until Annabelle¡¯s face was but a hair¡¯s breadth away. ¡°You stupid little idiot¡±, Annabelle said. Tharia blinked. Had she heard that right? ¡°Well Fairy, you¡¯re good at what you do¡±, the goddess continued with her breath brushing against Tharia¡¯s lips. ¡°I¡¯m the best at making others miserable¡±, Tharia said with a nod. She believed it. Right now she was willing to throw away the world on a whim. All her life she had been someone¡¯s plaything. ¡°No, idiot. You¡¯re the best at seeking fault with yourself. How can this possibly be your fault? I snapped, I killed, I forced you to sacrifice that child, my fragility forced you to lie for me¡±, Annabelle said and curiously enough, she managed several sentences without getting stuck on words. Tharia opened her eyes wide ¨C Annie knew about the child? Everything came crashing down. She wanted to reply, but Annabelle pressed a finger against her lips. ¡°No. Shut up. I¡¯ve prepared these words for a long time. You¡¯ve hurt me, yes. You did so when you told me everything was alright when you were in pain. You did so, when you pushed yourself to come onto me, when you weren¡¯t ready, just because you thought I wanted you to¡±, Annabelle said and ever so slightly brushed her lips along Tharia¡¯s. However, she wasn¡¯t finished yet. ¡°This is why you¡¯re stupid. I love you. End of Story. That includes all the lies, your temper, and troubles. It includes the moments when I can¡¯t fathom what¡¯s driving you forward and it also includes when you just can¡¯t shut up for one minute. Don¡¯t bend yourself for my sake. The Tharia you try to change into is not who I came to love in the first place¡± Tharia heard the words and had trouble accepting them. Part of her laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. Two old friends were stuck in the middle of a monster infested nightmare and they took time to sort out their feelings. How utterly ludicrous was this? ¡°Maybe we should keep going. We¡¯re kind of arguing in a monster infested city and well¡±, Tharia suggested and averted her eyes and with lower tone to her voice, she added, ¡°I wasn¡¯t pushing myself back then, however. That you must know¡± She felt fingers on her chin and found her face forced back to look at Annabelle again. ¡°You¡¯re not running away this time. As I said, I had a lot of time to prepare this. Tell me that you¡¯re not at fault for this¡±, Annabelle demanded. ¡°I¡¯m the one at the heart of the issue, how could I not be...¡± ¡°Tell me you¡¯re not at fault¡±, Annabelle insisted. Tharia tried to wrest away but Annabelle was simply stronger. ¡°I¡¯m not at fault¡±, she whispered. ¡°Louder¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t my fault, okay?¡± Tharia shouted. She didn¡¯t believe it. Years of being trained as a self-deprecating toy for her families whims and aggressions didn¡¯t allow it. Yet the fiery passion in Annabelle¡¯s usually so listless eyes made it obvious that Annabelle would not accept such thinking and it did something to Tharia deep within. ¡°Good. Now fairy, who do I love?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to be better for...¡±, Tharia whimpered under the gaze. ¡°You weren¡¯t listening. Who is the girl I fell in love with?¡± Answering that question was hard for the human girl. There was no way anyone could really love her. She was broken, flawed, at times vile and insufferable. Yet it was obvious which answer Annabelle wanted to hear. ¡°It¡¯s me¡±, Tharia said. ¡°Good. I know you don¡¯t believe it yet. I¡¯m stupid just like you. I know how we two think. But until you do, you will act like you believe it, until the day you do. With that, I won¡¯t inquire why you know how the Dreamreaper looks. You¡¯ll tell me when you¡¯re ready¡±, Annabelle said and then stopped talking. An awkward silence came over them. Tharia ran a finger along Annabelle¡¯s cheek and put up a weary smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m such a mess¡±, she whispered. ¡°Well, whose fault is that?¡± ¡°I know, I know¡±, Tharia said and smirked, ¡°Not mine, is what you want to hear. Uh, moving on, you know I¡¯ve never heard you speak so many sentences at once¡± Instead of an answer, Annabelle reached underneath her armor and pulled out a single sheet of paper. She quietly handed it to Tharia. It was an entire, overly elaborate document written by hand. It contained a multitude of options for how Tharia could have reacted and then countered with Annabelle¡¯s replies. She noticed some of the words on there as she had heard them just moments ago. Seeing her name circled with images of flowers made her laugh. ¡°This is the creepiest love letter I¡¯ve ever gotten¡±, she said and smiled, then took it for herself, ¡°It¡¯s the best¡± Annabelle wasn¡¯t so pale anymore. Actually, she had gotten a bit of red color on her cheeks. They weren¡¯t kids anymore but she could still blush and it was so adorably cute that Tharia just had to snuggle herself against her. Too late did she realize a new layer of spores had once more pasted onto her face. She tried to rub it off.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°I¡¯m willing to forget this happened if you are¡± she repeated the earlier phrase and looked up at her friend. ¡°No, I¡¯m not willing to forget that look¡±, Annabelle replied with an actual, honest to the lost gods, grin. ¡°I hate you¡±, Tharia whispered in the same playful tone as before, while her face glowed with the light of two thousand not quite suns. More like spores, really.

The forgotten Understadt

Ground level, Fourth Ring

The silence around Tharia reminded her of the Whiskerhushs. In the city above, there were always random noises. Some monster would bellow in the far-off reaches, something tripped over random objects, all manner of sounds signified life, however weird it had become. Down here reigned the quiet of death. She kept closer to Annabelle than was necessary. Being down here made her feel lonely and hopeless. They passed a row of massive bones to their left. Whichever animal or beast these had belonged to was now long dead. Hole in the ground revealed a massive underground lake beneath their feet. Tharia felt a pang of fear as she imagined that all that kept her standing was a crust of bone dust and century-old decay. She looked back up to distract herself. Above her, she saw what had once been a sort of village. The various houses were attached to a sort of net that reached from one bone to another. One detail caught her attention, these houses were upside down, caught in that strange net that kept them in place. Tharias imagination brought her the image of a several hundred meters long beast carrying an entire village around with it. She shook her head at the absurdity. ¡°Well it¡¯s not more insane than floating palaces¡±, she remarked ¡°What is?¡± ¡°Oh, I was just thinking these houses look like they were carried by these beasts. You know there¡¯s something else I¡¯ve been wondering. I¡¯m no expert on water, but wouldn¡¯t this be the groundwater of the capital?¡± Tharia said and carefully tapped a foot onto the ground. Annabelle lowered her gaze and nodded quietly. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that all these dying beasts polluted the drinking water? Uh, I¡¯m going to be wary of water now¡±, Tharia spoke with a shiver. Just speaking about it reminded her that her clothes were still somewhat wet. The two women then reached an obstacle in the form of a wall that had fallen down from the Fourth Ring. Annabelle tried to scale it a few times and once she was satisfied with her approach, she helped Tharia get over it. It still didn¡¯t feel great to essentially be dragged along but this was one matter where pride wouldn¡¯t get her anywhere. She couldn¡¯t climb. And that¡¯s just the way it was. When they got down on the other side, Tharia suddenly held her breath. They looked directly at a room the likes of which she had never seen before. A smooth marble floor, save for a few fresh cracks, served as the foundation for a style of furniture that seemed just odd. There were chairs but they looked like spirals of gold that had just accidentally taken on a functional shape. A chandelier hung from the golden ceiling, it itself had the form of a teardrop with actual flowers growing out of it. This was but half a room, the rest lay smashed underneath the Fourth Ring houses, which meant that the fragment of the golden palace had been down here for longer. Annabelle had already stepped inside the room, yet Tharia felt apprehensive. She stood in the presence of something divine. No, her Annie didn¡¯t count. This was a place that had never been touched by humans, it was a taboo millennia old and those that tried had been turned into cautionary tales for children. Annabelle must have felt her apprehension because she suddenly grabbed her arms and forced her to enter the room. When her feet touched down onto the marble, she felt a subtle vibration entering her body. It was an odd sensation that kept her uneasy. Her friend, on the other hand, continued towards the door at the end. Tharia followed with fearful steps, she was still afraid that lightning might strike her down. ¡°It¡¯s too weak to open¡±, Annabelle suddenly said and pressed her hand onto the door. Whenever she touched it, strange symbols and runes appeared as flowing letters. They actively resisted being read, hurrying away from her eyes. Tharia closed in and tried to focus on the symbols but it proved impossible. They wouldn¡¯t let her read them. She pursed her lips for a moment. ¡°Those look like my barrier¡± Her lovely goddess tilted her head to the side and then nodded. Was it just Tharia¡¯s impression or did her friend start to show more emotion than before? She didn¡¯t mind, trying to read something from a stone could be proper difficult. Still, when Annabelle held out her hand, Tharia instantly wished her love would try to communicate just a bit more. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The barrier¡± Still not following, Tharia simply reacted. She pulled the barrier chain from her supply bag and handed it to Annabelle. Her eyes then took a cheeky look at her friend from all direction before innocently focussing on the chain in hand. The silver-haired woman pressed the many armed chain against the door but nothing happened. She then handed the chain back. ¡°You try¡± Tharia took the chain and wrapped it around her arm. Her fingers touched the stone of the door, it felt strangely warm to the touch. Nothing happened either until she opened her mouth. ¡°Holy Bethany, I seek your help. Open this door?¡± Her voice trailed off into a question at the end. The chain around her arm started to glow. A miniature humanoid figure suddenly appeared. It headed straight for the door and a breath later, the heavy door parted in two, opening the way. ¡°What, how?¡± Tharia was dumbstruck. There was no way her trusty chain had opened a door of the gods. Yet it had done just that. ¡°I¡¯ve had my suspicions¡±, came Annabelle¡¯s voice with a ponderous tone, ¡°I think your barrier was once part of a golden palace¡± ¡°What? No, that can¡¯t be. Look, I got this long before the whole end of the world day happened. The palace was still above the clouds at the time. This thing was an old family heirloom. Wait, a golden palace? I thought there was only one?¡± Tharia examined the glowing chain closer. This didn¡¯t even look like what she saw of the palace. The structure around her, even more prominently the hallway they had opened up, was limitless opulence. Reliefs had been carved from stone, they told entire stories along the length of the hallway. Not a single speck of dust dared enter here and it was then that Tharia realized that neither she nor Annabelle had a single spore on her anymore. Tharia continued vocalizing her stream of thoughts. ¡°Well if this is a tool of the gods, it shouldn¡¯t work for me. The only divine spark I have is from you and I got that long after I learned to work the barrier¡± They walked past a number of rooms on either side of the hallway. Whenever they passed one, the barrier chain sent out a humanoid floating figure and as a result, the doors would slide open. No room was like the others and none looked as weird as the one they had used to enter. Annabelle suddenly stopped in front of her. She held up a hand. ¡°Careful, I heard something¡± Tharia nodded and reached for the rapier. The only weapon she still had was one ill-suited for her physique. Then again, most weapons were, as they relied on agility and strength, neither of which she had. Suddenly, Tharia heard something as well. It was a steady rhythm of a thumping noise. Yet the thumping sounded oddly wet. Tharia slowed down and lifted the Rapier up while Annabelle brought out the Scythe. It was always worth a look to see how the golden flakes of light came into being and then formed into a weapon all on their own. They slowly closed in on the sound when they reached another set of doors. Like before, the barrier chain activated them both and with a scratching sound, they both opened up. A revolting stench came from a room on the left, as came the wet thumping noises. She saw Annabelle clasp her hands around the handle. She held it between her and the door. They exchanged a glance and then ran inside. Tharia had barely crossed the door when she wanted to stumble back out, pull a blanket over her head and pretend a world like this didn¡¯t exist. The sound belonged to a nude man of indiscernible age. He was an adult, that was all Tharia could tell. Blood ran down his forehead, the skull had cracked open but right in front of her eyes, the wound was already closing again. Thunk. The man smashed the head against the wall again. Another ugly thunk could be heard, followed by a crunching sound. Tharia felt nauseous. It took her a while to notice that the man was, for all intents and purposes, tied to a strange plant-like apparatus. Thick flower trunks combined with his arms ¨C the other end disappeared into what looked like an oversized flower bulb. It pulsed in accordance with the same golden pulse that ran throughout the entire palace. Thunk. Crunch. This time she saw it clearly. As soon as the man hurt himself, the strange flower pumped something into him. Almost instantly, the wounds healed up again. Annabelle stood as frozen as she was herself. Too absurd was what they were seeing. Thunk. Crunch. Pulse. Annabelle suddenly stepped forwards and used the blunt side of the scythe to push the man away from the wall. He still slammed his head forward but this time, it didn¡¯t hit anything. Another pulse let the man jolt upright. He clutched his hand around his throat and started to choke himself. Gargling noises. Pulse. Repeat. Tharia stepped in as well, she reached for his arms and pulled them back behind his back. He gave surprisingly little resistance. That is until blood suddenly ran from this mouth. Pulse. More blood and a bit of tongue spit onto the floor. Pulse. More blood. Another piece. Curiously, the plant used tiny tendrils to snatch up the flesh. It disappeared into a golden mist and re-entered the flower bulb. ¡°Stop. It!¡± Tharia shouted and the man actually did stop. He turned his head and look at her with feverish eyes. All the blood on his skin was gone, falling off as golden flakes of light. His fingers suddenly snatched up her hand and he gazed directly at her sigil ring. ¡°Please¡±, he spoke with a broken voice and an accent thick and barely comprehensible. Tharia had serious trouble understanding his words and pieced most things together from books she had read. ¡°I¡¯m sorry mistress Dalman. I won¡¯t talk about the old ways anymore. Have I not suffered enough? If you can¡¯t kill me, can you at least tell me if my son did become king?¡± Tharia raised her eyebrows and pulled back her hand. Why had he called her Dalman? The theocracy died out many centuries ago with the active helping of a very violent and public revolt. Good riddance too. They were a tyrannical religious dynasty that spread fear and destruction for too long. Tharia glanced at her ring. She would need to look up old heraldic. Annabelle had snaked her scythe around his neck in the meantime. Much to her annoyance, the man leaned into the blade. One pull and the head would come off. Given the efforts of the plant, however, it probably wouldn¡¯t be for long. Tharia blinked and collected her thoughts, before addressing the man again. ¡°You¡¯re Cathrion¡¯s father?¡± she said and shot a quick glance towards Annabelle. The goddess shook her head. Her face could barely contain her emotion, it was odd to see that doll-like face twisted with open anguish. ¡°I don¡¯t know a man of that name¡±, he replied. ¡°Prince Cathrion in divis Deliaster. The man that married my divine friend over here¡±, she nodded towards Annabelle with an apologetic smile. It wasn¡¯t her intention to tear up old wounds, but something about this man seemed off. ¡°Deliaster?¡± the man said and furrowed his eyebrows ¡°That¡¯s the women we paid to finish the Second Ring. Did she finish it? How long have I been here? No, no the second wall was still decades away¡± That was one word for it. The second ring was finished more than a millennium ago. It happened during the several hundred years long reign of the Dalman Theocracy. Tharia felt a twisting knot in her stomach. ¡°I beg you¡±, the man now looked directly at Annabelle, his voice took on a haunting tone that was devoid of all hope, ¡°If you¡¯re really divine, can you kill me, please? I¡¯d like to die now. I think I¡¯ve been here for a while.¡± End: The Understadt | Coming up: To repay a favor 17 - To repay a favor

A palace beyond

Places below, Fourth Ring

Annabelle was struggling on the inside. She let Tharia continue the conversation while she was left to the whirling chaos of thoughts inside of her. She fought against the sensations the palace brought her. With each pulse, there came a curious clarity of mind. It was an euphoric rush she thirsted for. At first, the pulse healed her wounds, no matter how tiny. In time it brought back an aspect of understanding she had lost when she fell. The letters of the cursed tongue no longer escaped from her view and she let her gaze wander. The words on the door communicated the concept of a True Vessel while the plant itself had been inscribed with a concept of harvest. This was what the gods really were, what she had been at some point too: Cruel beyond measure. She understood it now as the energy surged through her and awakened fragments of her divine self. All that mattered back then was a carefully curated act. It was all to get close to humans, to instill them with hope and then harvest their emotions as they fell to despair. This was a part of her memory that hadn¡¯t made sense until now. Why did she have fond memories of suffering people? It was because her kind thrived on passions. Everything they did, they did to instill even stronger passions in people. Religious zeal, incomparable lust, elation over miracles, the gratefulness at having been healed ¨C it all served passion. With this clarity, there also came a realization. She had broken through. Those feelings inside of her were her own. She did love Tharia now, it wasn¡¯t just a parasitic make pretend. Yet what defined divinity? Absolute power over creation. The power to keep a man alive against his will for what amounted to centuries of suffering. ¡°We should fulfill his wish¡±, Annabelle said when the conversation reached a quiet point. The man quickly nodded. ¡°I would appreciate that very much¡±, he replied. Tharia looked at her and then nodded. In reaction, Annabelle moved her scythe to the side. Getting into a combat stance was second nature to her. She opted for a quick slash from her right and twisted her torso into it. Air sang as the blade cut through it, yet the delicacy of the sound was cut short by an ugly crunch as the weapon cut straight through his neck. It fell to the ground where it stared up at her with empty eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what my kind did to you¡±, Annabelle said and felt a sudden knot in her stomach as the body remained standing and the head dissolved into a golden light. Pulse after pulse soured into the corpse until the head reappeared on his neck. A shudder followed and he was alive once more. He looked at Annabelle with pleading eyes. ¡°We need to somehow cut him off from the palace¡± Tharia bit her lower lip and wrapped her arms around her own chest. Her nose had a cute wrinkle and her eyebrows were narrowed. She suddenly sucked in air through her lips and smiled. ¡°Can you take a step back, I think I know how to do this but for it to work, you can¡¯t be near¡±, Tharia said and while she spoke, she started to unwind the chain from her arm. The center piece she placed at the feet of the naked man while trying her best to not look at what was in front of her. Annabelle noticed a slight muscle tension in her own face and realized she was grinning. Shaking her head, she stepped outside of the ring her friend created with the chain. It didn¡¯t take long before Tharia knelt down inside the barrier chain and raised her voice. ¡°Holy Bethany, I seek your protection. Come forth and let none through. Pay special attention to the energy of the divine¡± A familiar dome sprang up from the arms of the chain. With the energy of the constant pulses, Annabelle could read the letters shaping around it. This chain really had been part of a palace at some point. Although it was dedicated to a god she had never heard of. Tharia was still chewing on her lower lip and Annabelle judged that without the spark inside of her, she would probably be bleeding all day long. Still, the two women looked at the plant. The barrier had cut clean through its tendrils and the flower had regenerated them already once the next pulse came. It tried to return to the man but couldn¡¯t get through the barrier. This was working. Tharia then got up from the ground and reached for the rapier. ¡°I really don¡¯t enjoy this. Are you sure death is what you seek?¡± she asked. The man just nodded and Tharia drove the rapier straight through his chest. She had aimed well as the man quickly died. A rest of golden energy sprang up from the detached plant tendrils still inside the barrier but it wasn¡¯t enough to bring the man back. The second he breathed his last, the palace suddenly shuddered. At the far end of the room, the flower bulb opened up and unleashed a torrent of tendrils against the barrier. Spurned by explosive growth, it quickly enveloped the entire barrier from all sides, even below as sudden bumps in the ground could attest. Annabelle made a quick forward step and used her momentum to strike her scythe against the plants. She cut off a whole swath of tendrils and momentarily saw into the barrier, yet more growth covered up the hole. ¡°Keep up the barrier¡±, Annabelle shouted, not knowing whether Tharia heard her, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with this unruly palace¡± She stumbled back and each step she gave was quickly conquered by an ever-growing plant. Soon, Annabelle stood outside the room and a thick web of plant matter pulled shut the door behind her. The goddess didn¡¯t have time to ponder this, as a spear suddenly buzzed past her face. She blinked and stepped back by instinct, only to be clipped by another spear. A sharp but unimportant pang of pain followed. Annabelle saw a construct out of the corner of her eyes and quickly gained distance. It was a curious thing that had attacked her. Three metallic cones formed the legs while overgrown, cancerous looking flesh coalesced into a knot in the middle. A sphere of golden light pulsed from within the constructs and three multi-jointed metal arms held onto a selection of long spears. Two of which had drawn blood already, the third suddenly stabbed forward. She hurriedly dodged to the side and just barely dodged a second spear. Uttering a curse she had picked up from Tharia, Annabelle weaved her way into the range of the spears and brought about her own Scythe. She twisted her torso for a horizontal cut and dislodged two of the arms and felt the blade bite into the golden sphere. The construct spasmed in place before falling to the ground. Another pulse washed over her and she felt the tiny wounds close up again. Yet the construct at her feet started to reassemble itself as well. Annabelle slammed the handle into the sphere and turned it into a fine paste before it could reform. She then ran towards the end of the corridor. There weren¡¯t many places the heart could be, especially with half of the place trashed. The door gave her a momentary pause, it was stuck in a position that was half open. Using her scythe for leverage, she forced it open all the way, yet that proved almost fatal. Three spears suddenly punched straight through her abdomen. She stumbled forward with extreme pain and slid off the weapons. The pain really was too much to go on. Yet with the next pulse, the wounds closed enough for her to get back up on her feet. She brought the scythe around and caught two of the spears while the third stabbed right past her. Her eyes focused on the core inside the flesh. It too had regenerated. Annabelle carefully moved back while checking the room around her. It was a long hallway with pillars in regular intervals. She saw hundreds of beds situated around a central path. Many of them were inclined half-way with flower bulbs attached to them. These flowers lay dormant at least. A grate ran underneath the beds and gave Annabelle a sudden idea. She once more focussed on the construct. It hobbled in her direction, seeing it walk on those metal legs was unsettling. It moved with jerking motions, one of the legs even dragged behind but despite all that, it had surprising speed. She waited for the golden pulse to heal the remaining damage and then dashed towards the construct. It used all three of the spears to cover its body by keeping them in constant motion. Annabelle didn¡¯t falter in her approach, she stormed directly for the core. One spear suddenly stabbed towards her but since she saw it coming, she sidestepped it easily. The second one stabbed towards her, she used the blunt side of her scythe to deflect it but the impact wrested the weapon from her hands. At no one¡¯s surprise, the third spear impaled her all the way through. The goddess let out a loud scream and pushed on, forcing the spear deeper into her. Once she was close up, she grit her teeth and then held a hand towards the core of the construct. A war-fan appeared in an eruption of golden light and materialized directly inside the construct-core. Like before the strange being fell to the ground. With the spear still inside her, she collapsed on the ground and forced open the fan. She then patiently awaited the next pulse. It sent renewed agony through her body as the light couldn¡¯t expel the spear in one go.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. It could, however, reshape the core of the construct. This time she flipped open the war-fan and cut it out of the flesh with the blade-side. Holding the pulsating sphere in her hands, she scrambled over towards the grates and while clenching her teeth, she jammed the sphere through the metal bars and into whatever was below. With fading strength, she then reached for the spear and forced it out of her body. It fell to the ground with a clang while another pulse finally healed the damage. A cheeky grin found its way on her lips as the sphere reformed into the construct. It was locked underneath the grate and slammed it¡¯s metal limbs against its prison. ¡°To quote a friend, fuck you, your family and the high horse you came in on¡±, Annabelle said and ran a finger along her lips. Cursing really felt strange to her but she couldn¡¯t deny a certain joy in doing so. Still, she would keep it to a limit. The goddess got back up and then made her way down the hallway. The beds were a depressing sight, many of them had stained sheets but only a few seemed to have been used recently at least. Her eyes saw metal clasps and name tags on many of these beds. She recognized some of the names. They belonged to children of nobility that had suddenly disappeared from public view. One bed still had an inhabitant and the view made Annabelle nauseous. Whatever had been in it, was now in eternal agony. The skin lay flat on the reclined bed. She only knew it had been a human once because the skeleton lay on the ground, beside the suffering creature. It looked like it had been expelled one bone at a time. She had to fight off the queasy feeling by focussing on the path ahead. Tharia had forced her eyes shut. She felt incomprehensible panic flood her senses and couldn¡¯t understand why. During her time in the capital, she had seen worse and suffered worse. A sudden touch on her skin made her jump back until her back brushed against the barrier. Her eyes flew open and looked straight at a featureless golden woman. Even without eyes or a mouth, it looked straight at her. ¡°The prodigal child returns¡±, the shape said. ¡°Holy Bethany, expel all that doesn¡¯t belong¡±, she shouted, but the shape of her trusty barrier sat on the ground, inactive. At least it kept the dome going. The golden figure swayed to the side and then suddenly leaped forward. Tharia suddenly felt glowing hands on her cheek. Within a breath, she found herself in a strange place. Someone dragged her along by her arm, she noticed how thin it was and how small her fingers had become. When she shook her head, long black hair flowed down her shoulders. She hadn¡¯t worn out her hair since she was a young teenager. The hand that dragged her along was filled with odd detail. She saw every pore and wrinkle in it, yet the rest of the body disappeared into a vague shape. Her ears heard a sudden distorted voice. ¡°Your cruelty seems inspired¡±, it said. She tried to make out who was talking but only saw a shape. Another voice answered and she felt her young teenage body shudder with fear. ¡°Of course it is. This thing here has no worth. It may further our purposes or perish, both are equally beneficial¡±, the voice said. ¡°Papa?¡± young Tharia spoke with a whimper and tears on her cheeks. ¡°Put that thing on the bed, let¡¯s begin with the ascension process¡±, her father said without paying her any further attention. Adult Tharia noticed that his face lacked all detail, safe for that mustache that had always intimidated her. Her young body was suddenly lifted off the ground and pushed into one of the reclined beds. Metal clasps forced it into place. ¡°Papa!?¡± young Tharia screamed. Another person suddenly stepped into view. It too was just a formless shape until it spoke with a voice adult Tharia had come to hate. ¡°This is not how this must go, Mister Verholden¡±, the Muse said. His figure suddenly became focussed. He looked like a younger version of himself. The hair still had color in it too. ¡°You know very well that the subject must agree to it, or failure is guaranteed. Unless you wish to sabotage this one for the sake of your cultivated neglect¡±, the Muse chastised her father. "She''s only here because that divine brat gave her a fragment of power", her father snarled but then sighed in exasperation. All that time, the young girl had struggled with her bindings. The wrists hurt and so did her legs. Yet when a sudden strong scent filled her nostrils, she held completely still. A face with a mustache appeared in front of her. It was featureless at first but then memory quickly pieced in the details. The saw the disdain on it, the hatred this man felt for her. How she had disappointed him, how useless she had always been to everyone around her. How vile her existence was, to be of no use to anyone. ¡°Very well then. Child. Your divine friend left you for dead. She couldn¡¯t stand your pathetic whining and your pitiable weakness. Me? I¡¯m a generous father but I¡¯ve got limits too. I offer you a chance to earn my affection and win back your friend you so dearly and foolishly love. Do you want to be strong? Do you seek a use in life?¡± Adult Tharia was disgusted at what she saw but her younger self agreed with hope flooding her senses. Both versions saw her father turn around with a smug expression. ¡°Happy now, Zuresti?¡± he said and walked away. Time passed. She had no idea how long. A golden figure suddenly appeared hovering above her. It floated down until it touched her skin and without even giving pause, the golden figure poured into her. Crushing agony pulsed through her every vein and made her small body thrash on the bed. In the midst of the pain, she felt someone force open her hand. Something ticklish was poured into it. Young Tharia stared with feverish eyes at the visage of the Muse. ¡°Consider this a favor repaid. Mother Bone, wake from your aeon slumber¡±, he said and forced her hand shut around the earth, ¡°Sing your lullaby for this girl, so that she may yet live. Cure her heart and help her mind, carry her through the coming storm¡± The face of the Muse disappeared into a vague shape and then dissolved entirely. She suddenly found herself in an ancient forest. The agony quickly faded away. Trees the size of mountains raised far above her. Majestic creatures snaked their way through the forest, everything was in motion with primal energy. She saw a lone crone sit on a slab of stone. Her coat was made of earth with bones woven into it. The old one looked up and her eyes stared directly through the teenage Tharia until it felt like they looked straight at the adult mind inside. Tharia was suddenly ejected from her younger self. When next she opened her eyes, she was back in the barrier. The plant was still trying to crush through it, but the golden figure cradled Tharia''s body as a mother would. Tharia quickly moved away from it. ¡°What did you show me?¡± ¡°Your memories. The old one locked them away. She did it to help you - I understand. But a mother does not accept strangers stealing her child¡±, the golden figure said with sudden anger. Tharia leaned back into the barrier and sorted her thoughts. All things considered, this was just another string pulling the puppet along. She grinned with bitter emotions overwhelming her. How had Mother Bone called it? You chose, you became? Yeah sure, that was one way to look at it, Tharia thought. Manipulative scumbags. She made a mental note to visit her father too - preferably with a long rifle and enough shots for a day or two. ¡°So what am I?¡± ¡°A true vessel and a failure. The first one to survive ascension during this era. Yet you were broken with no power of your own and then those thieves took you from me before I could nurture you¡±, the golden figure suddenly wrapped her arms around the neck of the Holy Bethany. ¡°It¡¯s time this ends¡±, the figure said and then started to choke the spirit of the barrier. Annabelle stepped into a large dome-like structure. This was without a doubt the heart of the palace. A living crystal formed the foundation inside a several meter long pool. It moved with a purpose of its own, a creature in constant motion and never-ending creation of new crystalline formations. In the center, the crystal formed a throne on which there sat a stark naked woman with flowing golden hair. Somehow, the hair covered all the clich¨¦ spots while golden pulses emanated from her. Chains attached to the throne locked the woman in place but they had some leeway that the stranger woman used to suddenly float towards the edge of the pool. She moved with a weightless grace until her face appeared in front of Annabelle. ¡°You¡¯re broken¡±, the woman said with a distorted voice. ¡°So are you. Your palace is in shambles¡±, Annabelle replied. ¡°True¡±, the core said with a smile, ¡°These days, few things aren¡¯t. Have you come to enjoy the last hours of this slave?¡± Annabelle shook her head, ¡°I¡¯ve come to help my love¡± The core suddenly floated up and then raced around the corner of the pool, always held by eight chains preventing her from going far. She flew a loop and then appeared before Annabelle again, this time she floated upside down. ¡°Really now?¡± the living crystal started to shape into sharp spears ¡°A goddess that feels for someone? What manner of a joke is this? This is the third time your kind has broken this world. Each time you come back, you piece together the shambles and then break it further. In all those aeons, none of your kind has ever had feelings of their own¡± ¡°I don¡¯t quite know myself¡±, Annabelle said and held out her hand. The scythe manifested itself in front of her eyes, ¡°I will however not leave without my friend. You will free her¡± The core floated back into the center of the room. Underneath her, the crystal reformed into a throne and she placed down in it. During all this, the hair never once allowed a look underneath the places it covered. The pulsing stopped. Golden energy collected within the nude frame of the woman and pretty soon, it lost all definition and detail to turn into a living pyre of divine energy. The floating humanoid fire tore on the chains and broke free one edge. The living crystal shuddered in response, it quickly grew upwards to snatch the end of the chain but the bright fire burned it away. ¡°So much death within my halls¡±, the core said and tore out a second arm of the chain. ¡°Children, adults, humans, pets¡±, she continued and let out a rumbling growl. ¡°I no longer care. None of my family live. I¡¯ve just killed the last one. Poor Bethany, a soul bewitched by the lies of thieving gods¡±, the core said and grinned - visible by a shadowy gap in the flames. Another pair of chains was pulled free. The remaining crystal started to peel away as the sprite tugged on the chains. The burning female figure stretched her arms and legs, flames dripped off her skin and scorched the earth underneath. With a metallic clang, the last of the anchors came undone. The spirit gracefully glided towards Annabelle. Her words took on a low rumbling tone. ¡°Have you ever faced the fury of an elemental?¡± End: To repay a favor | Coming up: The last dance of the firesprite. 18 - The last dance of the firesprite

A palace beyond

Places below, Fourth Ring

The palace died with one final rumble. Its stone walls groaned as the last of the golden pulses ran through it. Annabelle felt a strange sense of sadness. The core-spirit, however, showed her a mocking grin and went on the offense. Something metallic buzzed right past her face, she leaned back and barely dodged the sharp snap of a chain. A second already came flying, the spirit used it¡¯s former binding as weapons and Annabelle blocked the swipe with her Scythe. A faint trace of golden dust lingered wherever the chains passed. She paid no attention to it and concentrated on deflecting another quick blow. Her negligence cost the goddess dearly. After several swipes, the elemental suddenly floated into a sitting position two meters away and clapped her hands. That very second, the golden dust caught flame and exploded in the shape of snaking fire. The inferno scorched her Scythe into two and licked for her clothes. A sudden intense heat radiated from the core room that made it difficult to breathe. The sprite gave her no quarter. While Annabelle still reeled from the explosion, it floated back in range. The Scythe re-materialized just in time to block the next attack. Two metal chains wrapped around the handle and locked it down. The goddess was so focused on observing the body movements of the sprite, that she didn¡¯t see a third chain move on its own. With confusion, she felt a sharp pain on her left shin and hobbled away. She had to let go of her weapon again and dodged away from the spirit. She was fast enough to not be hit by the fourth metal-chain but not fast enough to avoid the dust spraying into her face. Annabelle felt panic rising up within, she quickly tried to rub the dust off with her sleeves. The sound of a finger snap rang out. Too slow. Annabelle saw stark flames scorch away her sleeves and felt fire singe her face. An ugly smell filled her nostrils. She yelled out in pain and stumbled further back. The elemental left her no quarter at all. The next strike of a chain clipped her already hurting cheek. Intense heat radiated all around her, the room was on fire and so was everything within a several meter radius. She heard the mocking voice of the elemental. ¡°I thought gods were stronger¡±, it said, ¡°This is pitiful. Fight back. Not once have you attacked me yet. Here, I¡¯ll allow you one free hit¡± Annabelle watched the pyre with the shape of a woman sit down on thin air. It crossed the legs in a provocative gesture and taunted Annabelle with a nudge of a finger. The elemental then pointed towards one of its cheeks and grinned. ¡°Just this second, your friend is dying to meet you again. Tell me, do you actually feel something at this... hah!¡± The rest of her sentence turned into a laugh as a suddenly headstrong Annabelle rushed straight into an attack. She used her right hand to swing the Scythe at the elemental. Cold anger twisted in her stomach. But emotions and wishes rarely translate into success and this time it didn¡¯t either. Her weapon was effortlessly blocked off by one of the chains and the grin on the spirits face widened. ¡°Got you¡±, it said. Seven more chains appeared from behind the floating woman. They whirled a web of golden dust around Annabelle, before moving in for a strike. Yet instead of flinching back, Annabelle too showed a slight grin. ¡°Same¡±, she said Annabelle snapped her left hand forward, she felt the rope tug on her fingers as she war-fan described a long arc and smashed straight into the head of the elemental. The flames sputtered out and the woman shrunk just a bit. The impact threw the spirit onto the ground. Annabelle took stock of her surroundings. A wall of gold dust blocked her path forward and to the sides. The only way out was to move back. She let go of both her weapons and hopped back. Another finger snap ignited the air where she had just been. Flames washed over her, thanks to her foresight they were mostly ineffectual but the sheer impact of displaced air wasn¡¯t. She tumbled several meters before her body hit the wall. Clenching her teeth and ignoring the pain, she got back on her feet. Her armor looked scorched in places but it had done well to protect her. Her breathing still came ragged. It was far too hot to breathe. The core-room was aflame. One very angry elemental walked towards her in a sea of sentient flames. They were like a nest of snakes that bit at everything they could. Even the walls of the palace melted away under the heat. Tharia had tears in her eyes. She hadn¡¯t realized just how much of a fixture the barrier had been in her life until she saw the blue figure sprawled on the floor with a golden figure sitting on top. There was no more life in her Bethany and at that moment the blue figure shrunk to the size of a hand. It revealed a tiny woman with delicate wings on her back. She was barely breathing anymore. ¡°This path ends¡±, the golden figure said and turned its nondescript face in her direction, ¡°Are you actually crying for one of my kind?¡± The short-haired woman got back up on her feet and felt her fingers lock in place around the rapier. The barrier started to falter and the first of the tendrils made their way in. The young Miss Verholden lunged forward and drove the tip of the weapon straight through the golden figure. ¡°Such an unruly child. Wasn¡¯t I like a mother to you?¡± the spirit said. Even without any facial features on her adversary, Tharia knew she was being mocked. The woman in gold floated upwards and the rapier simply slid back out. It had done absolutely no damage at all. If only she still had her pistol. All she had was the rapier and a dead barrier chain. Tharia had rarely felt hatred like this before. She clutched her hands around the barrier chain and got back up from the ground. If the rapier had too little range, maybe the chains would do. She took aim for the floating golden figure and saw that it was strangely floating still as if distracted. It rubbed its head too. Eight chains smashed into it and dissolved it into a cloud of gold light. Tharia had no idea why the barrier chain had hit when the rapier didn¡¯t, but she had other problems to take care off. Once she had picked up the chain, the rest of the barrier broke away. It was an odd sight to see letters pour onto the ground and drift away like water. No time for that. There was a murderous torture flower all around her. She kept the metal chains in motion to slash away at unruly plants reaching for her. The motion quickly tired her out but she had no choice but to keep going. Several cheeky tendrils had reached for her ankles but found themselves torn to pieces. The whole of the flower shivered and Tharia expected one of those golden pulses to heal it back again, but none came. That was some small solace, at least. With renewed vigor, she stepped forward and let her arm rotate along with the chain. Pieces of greenery were tossed aside like weed and she made a good way towards where she assumed the core to be. A sudden snap on her back let her tumble forward. A sneaky tendril had attacked from behind. The light armor took the brunt of the hit but the momentary distraction was enough to bring her off balance. More tendrils suddenly shot forth. Ropes slung themselves around her neck and pulled tight. Her consciousness was quickly fading and she was running out of ideas. She tried to cut away the plant fiber with her rapier but a thrusting weapon is ill-equipped for slashing. The spark kicked into overdrive and worked it¡¯s best to counter-act the crushing force on her throat. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that the body of the holy bethany was nowhere to be found. Annabelle ran as fast as she could. She had no qualms with cowardice when the situation demanded an expeditious retreat. Only idiots would run straight into a walking pillar of flame. And this pyre was proper angry. It flew after her, the shape of the woman swayed from side to side in a strange dance-like motion. They had ended up in the hallway. The beds to either side went up in flames and the flower bulbs withered from the heat. ¡°These were all my children¡±, the elemental screamed and suddenly lunged for Annabelle. The goddess felt an oddly physical impact as her body was thrown to the side. Gold dust stuck to her armor and the floating woman hovered just above her with self-serving smugness. Annabelle wouldn¡¯t get this off in time, no chance. Instead, she opted for the idiot option. The silver-haired woman stepped into the flames that surrounded the spirit. Almost immediately, heat danced across her skin and scorched the upper layer of her clothes and armor. She was sweating and aching but she could not allow her opponent to either clap or snap her fingers. Two War-Fans appeared in her outstretched hands and her wrists quickly accelerated them into a spin. One strike to the left side, a single chain was all it took to deflect the blow. Another strike on the right, quite predictable really and it was no surprise that the living core blocked this one off as well. But Annabelle wasn¡¯t waiting for the impact. She re-summoned the weapons as quickly as she let them go, always using them for precisely one strike on the sprite. One more attack! Another! Ignore the unbearable heat! Like this, she managed to lock down the sprite in a flurry of blows that quickly tired her out while the elemental looked more amused than threatened. This was the moment she had waited for! Instead of another War-Fan, she brought out the Scythe and slashed it directly for the neck of the sprite. It hit and cut into the flames. Feeling the impact of the strike all the way down to her own bones, Annabelle followed it up with another swipe of the war-fan. The spirit slumped to the ground with the flames once again sputtering out. It looked smaller still. Inside of the pyre, there was a human shell and deep within that shape, there was a smaller one still. A hand-sized figure rested at the center of the flaming body. Its tiny face was distorted with madness. Not wasting the opportunity, Annabelle stepped in and sunk her scythe into the arms of the outer shell. Almost immediately, the intense heat faded away until all that was left was a tiny ember.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Annabelle coughed as intense smoke burned in her lungs. The palace was burning as far as she could see and the heat had melted holes into the ceiling. The blue glow of the mushroom-colonies and their dance of glowing spores lighted their way inside. The fog around her grew in intensity, yet instead of leaving through the holes, it appeared to be rather heavy with some weirdly colored lightning within. The light was mostly golden but she also saw a trace of blue here and there. The goddess quickly brought up the Scythe again and hammered the handle towards the tiny elemental inside the outer body. She suddenly saw the broad grin on the fire sprite. It clicked its tongue. The gold shimmer within the smoke ignited into a cataclysmic explosion, just as a blue shimmer sprang up around her. Tharia was sweating profusely. Smoke had rolled in from somewhere deeper within the palace and the infernal sounds she heard, made it obvious a grim battle was taking place. She desperately clutched the plant fiber with her hands, the spark was growing weak and the air inside her chest was almost gone. This was the second time in a single day that she was about to suffocate. She tore at the fibers with all her might and was dumbstruck when they easily tore apart. Air rushed into her lungs, along with intense smoke that made her cough. She blinked her eyes several times until she could see more clearly. The flower withered under the heat, barely able to control its many tendrils anymore. Tharia collected enough air to bring about the vilest of curses. ¡°Crrrnkkk¡±, was all that came out. Bloody smoke had to ruin everything. She grinned and then picked her rapier up from the ground. Three quick steps forward and she plunged it deep into the flower bulb. The withering plant made no effort to defend itself and died with one final shiver. She cleared her throat. ¡°Maybe things can go my way for once¡± The regret came instantly. The palace suddenly shook as if hit by the fist of a titan. One second, she was inside the plant room. Yet a breath later, there was no more room left around her. She found herself on the floor and stared up at the mushroom covered ceiling of the cave. Somehow, she had survived whatever that was with little damage. Still, the cavern was on fire. Spores in the air were burning and they brought their spark to the mushroom colonies on the wall. Before long, the flames started to bite into the mucous membrane that kept the water away. Tharia was shocked at the destruction around her. Half the palace was gone in an instant. It took a lot of strength to get back up on her feet, the numb feeling inside of her wouldn¡¯t leave. What about Annabelle? Was she safe? She had to be. She better be safe or Tharia would drag her back to life and slap her silly. Tharia picked up what remained of the barrier chain and staggered in the direction where the fighting had taken place. With no more wall or door or really anything to block her path, she found a floating woman with golden hair. Flames licked over her nude shape and the hair still managed to cover the more interesting spots. ¡°You gods are fools¡±, the figure said and looked up at the cavern ceiling, ¡°but maybe, so am I¡± The burning woman then looked at Tharia ¡°Your friend is no more. I might have overdone it a little. It¡¯s been centuries since I danced free. What a rush this is¡± A rumble ran through the ceiling of the cavern. At first, there came a rivulet of water, then an entire river, it poured down into the Understadt as the membrane no longer kept the water above - the fire had burned it away. It felt like it was raining and the cold touch of the water brought with it a solemn mood. Tharia felt nothing anymore. She walked over towards the flame with unsteady steps. ¡°Today I¡¯ve killed one of my kind. I¡¯ve killed a goddess and I will kill one of my children. Tis a fitting end¡±. The elemental swiveled around until it completely faced Tharia. She was now within five meters of range and felt the heat wash against her cheeks. Thick smoke prevented her from seeing anything but the fiery figure. The barrier chain in her hand vibrated ever so slightly, so she wrapped her fingers around it and fixed her gaze on the floating foe. She saw the eight chains of the core snap into a star-shaped pattern. They shivered and shuddered as if hungering to strike out. This felt like a final stand, Tharia stared at a peak predator until a sudden sound changed everything. ¡°What does the fire care for a drop of water¡±, a strangely squeaky voice rang out. The smoke cleared out and revealed a blue dome with letters that vanished from the girl¡¯s sight. Tharia felt a lump in her throat at the sight. Inside of the tiny dome floated a hand-sized blue figure. It was terribly weak and barely afloat but it kept up the barrier even without a chain. ¡°Sorry boss, she needed the protection more than you did¡±, the squeaky voice said. Tharia saw a humanoid shape in the smoke with silvery-hair fluttering in the wind. More of the smoke cleared and revealed Annabelle kneeling on the ground. The blue barrier enveloped her and had protected the goddess from the blast. Tharia¡¯s heart leaped with joy. The fire spirit however showed an ugly snarl on her face as she looked down on what Tharia had once called the holy Bethany. ¡°I killed you¡±, the sprite said. ¡°And I was saved by the power of love and friendship¡±, the tiny blue girl said and stuck out a tongue, ¡°Nah, bullshit. To quote something my prot¨¦g¨¦ would say, you didn¡¯t finish the job you lumbering idiot uh, hive of ahem idiotic things¡± Tharia had never felt so proud to hear a tiny being try to curse. Admittedly, she had never experienced it before either. Bethany was alive? True, she had disappeared earlier but she thought it was because she died. So she had abandoned her to save her friend? Ouch. She''d have done the same. ¡°Hey, you! Girl with the nice chest, you ready to fight?¡± the blue-skinned spirit said towards Annabelle. Tharia felt a bit embarrassed by what her protector had picked up over the years. Was she really that crass? Annabelle stood up from within the barrier and nodded. She smiled towards Tharia and the short haired girl was too giddy to react properly. It wasn¡¯t romantic but it felt damn good to see her love again. Suddenly, the tables had turned. The squeaky voice rang out again. ¡°Good. Take care of her, because I¡¯m fu...¡±, the tiny figure said, its voice trailed off and suddenly sagged downwards. Blue dust peeled off Bethany until there was nothing left of her. The chain stopped vibrating and Tharia realized that her long-time silent companion had truly perished this time. A bitter smile crept onto Tharia¡¯s lips. ¡°Fucked. Yes¡±, Tharia said and directed her eyes towards the fire spirit in a way that made it clear the part referred to the elemental instead. A thundering rumble announced a new storm of water pouring down. It doused the flames of the fire spirit. Annabelle and Tharia exchanged a look and then both went on the offense. Annabelle fell into a running attack, the Scythe she brought out looked damaged but did the job either way. It struck the dumbfounded fire spirit in the side and threw it onto the ground. Gold dust puffed up and Annabelle jumped back that instant. Some of that dust reached Tharia. She had no idea what it did but reacted simply because her friend had done so. There came a clicking noise and a wall of fire blazed where the dust had gotten. The goddess was already on the attack again and Tharia had a sudden idea. She too approached the spirit with the chain in hand. But she kept quiet and headed for the back of the fire spirit. Annabelle pressured the spirit with a barrage of attacks, Tharia had never before seen her friend bring out this many war-fans one after another. The spirit struck back with her own chains and even managed to stab her friend two times. Tharia grit her teeth but kept silent as to not betray her intent. She felt blistering warmth wash over her as she got close. Annabelle scored a lucky hit with a war fan. It smacked the head of the spirit aside just enough that she could look into Tharia¡¯s eyes. Realization dawned but it was too late. Tharia suddenly lunged forward, pain in her back be damned and slung the barrier chain around the neck of the creature. She then pulled more and more chains around that neck and simply pulled with all her force. The outer shell shriveled under the assault, Tharia felt a creepy grin creep onto her face as she chocked the life out of the palace core. At some point, the chain fell to the ground as there was nothing left of the shell. All that remained was a tiny golden figure lying on the ground, looking pitiable and miserable. ¡°Do it¡±, the golden figure said with a squeak, ¡°End it¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t earned the right to die¡±, Tharia said and suddenly grabbed the spirit. In this form, there were no more flames to hurt her. She stuffed the struggling fire-sprite into the centerpiece of the core bindings and then locked her own barrier chain on top. Tharia felt a soft touch on her shoulders but a strange fever had overcome the short haired girl. She had seen something like this before. Her fingers flew along the chains and the candelabras in the center. Something clicked in place, more things followed. With blanked out determination she braided the chains into a spiral shape on both sides of the centerpiece and with another click, they stuck in place. Her mind remembered things. Details, sketches, ideas, things the old one had locked away along with all the nightmares of this place. More things clicked into place. The human girl wasn¡¯t aware of what she was doing, her hands worked on their own until a sudden blinding light concluded her efforts. A long metal staff sat on the floor. There was a central cage with a very frustrated looking golden figure inside. Both ends of the staff were made of spiraling chains that remained locked in place, they glowed with a subtle golden light. Tharia picked up the staff and ignored the squeaky protest of the fire spirit within. She slashed it to her right side and saw it leave behind a trail of golden dust. Tharia then flicked a finger against the cage. A very pouty spirit clapped her hands and a burst of flames ignited the dust in the air. ¡°If it is death you seek, spirit. Then you will accompany us while we seek it. Do that, and I promise you not only revenge but also peace¡±. Tharia flicked the cage again. The small spirit nodded with the cutest of pouts. The human girl then straightened herself and hobbled over towards Annabelle with a broad smile on her lips ¡°Look, my own magic staff¡±, she said and then shook the staff, sending the sprite bouncing about in the cage, ¡°it¡¯s got wings too!¡± Annabelle didn¡¯t need to say anything. The look on her face was enough silent judgment. Tharia grinned and then rested her weight on the staff. A squeaky voice from inside screamed at the top of her lungs but the human girl simply wrapped her fingers around the cage, muffling the sounds. ¡°Guess we need a good binding at night. Are you okay Annie? You look like shit¡± ¡°I love you too¡±, Annabelle said and sighed. The goddess turned to look at the remains of the palace. ¡°Guess we won¡¯t find anything about the Dreamreaper after all¡± Tharia, however, shook her head. She put a hand on Annie¡¯s shoulder and let a bit of healing magic flow into her. ¡°We learned more than enough. This was his palace and it was here that they were looking for ways to ascend children to gods. That¡¯s a lot to learn. I¡¯ll fill you in on the details later, there are things I remembered and things you should know¡± Silence came over them and Tharia ran a finger along the new weapon. It was a barrier no more. Bethany¡¯s sacrifice was a bitter blow. It was only now that she was gone that Tharia realized how much she had relied on her over the years without so much as a thank you. She had seen her as a tool not realizing the living being within. A sudden change in perspective let her yelp out. She felt one arm underneath her leg and another holding her chest: Annabelle had swept her off her feet. Tharia¡¯s complaint got stuck in her throat when she saw the ceiling of the cavern above. The world was coming down on them. In truth, it wasn¡¯t the whole world, but certainly enough water to drown out a city or two. The watery masses brought with them houses, temples, even entire streets. She saw a sogging wet teddy bear fall towards her in slow motion, it was followed by a flock of large aquatic beasts with very confused looks on their monstrous faces. They all were flushed down through the evergrowing hole above. Annabelle carried her along as she dashed towards the tower leading up. ¡°Our supply bags!¡±, Tharia protested but Annabelle was too busy to save them both from a watery grave. The short-haired girl sighed and made the best of the situation. She sneaked a peek at Annie¡¯s quickly heaving chest and then snuggled her face against it. Yeah, yeah, the city was coming down but that was no reason to not take the opportunities offered. ¡°One day I¡¯m going to paddle you¡±, Annabelle said while running. ¡°Promise?¡± ¡°Gods be cursed, Fairy! Not now!¡± Annabelle shouted with a strange tone in her voice. Tharia had noticed the inflection and chuckled, rubbing her cheek against the chest. It was only then that she realized the full extent of what exactly her friend had said. It killed the mood instantly. End: The last dance of the firesprite | Coming up: Drained 19 - Drained

Newborn Pit of Regret

Sunken District of Artisans, Fourth Ring

Annabelle finally put her back down onto the ground. Tharia gave her a quick kiss to thank her and then leaned onto a chest-high broken wall. This part had been underwater a few minutes ago and she shivered at the memory of nearly drowning earlier. The cityscape had changed drastically. In theory, they were back at the District of Artisans but in practice, a hole in the ground had swallowed up most of it. What was left was a weird mesh of mushroom fiber and a handful of towers sticking out of the ground. They had a black crown in the middle where they once were connected to the obsidian ceiling. The massive skeleton in the background still covered most of the district and gave it that eery feeling. Rays of sunlight tried to sneak past the carcass while her stomach growled with hunger. ¡°Annie, are we the bad guys?¡± A squeaky voice came out of her new staff, ¡°Yes, you hrnngnmmlppflll¡± Tharia wrapped her hand around the cage segment and look, no more squeaky voice. She balanced on her toes to get a better look at the carnage. ¡°What a mess¡±, Tharia said. She heard Annabelle approach and turned her head just in time to see a pale hand smack her bottom. Her body jolted up in response. Immediately after, the pain was replaced by a gentle caress as Annabelle snuck close to Tharia. ¡°It was a promise¡±, the goddess said and then focussed her eyes on the pit. Tharia gave up her thoughts of revenge and snuggled against Annabelle. She enjoyed the warm touch and gently traced her fingers along Annabelle¡¯s arms. Small flames of blue light danced on her knuckles. Healing magic worked its way into her friend. Her fingers left a trail of goosebumps and it wasn¡¯t until Annabelle gasped for air, that Tharia noticed it had been a bit more sensual than needed. ¡°Shush, I¡¯m healing¡±, Tharia said with a grin. The small woman resumed working, but this time, she was quite a bit more conscious ¨C and bold - about where she was touching. There was nothing quite like teasing a pouting goddess. At the same time, she kept up a casual conversation. ¡°This is beautiful. Paint me purple and call me Salacia, but ever since I was a child, I¡¯ve often dreamed about overgrown cities. It¡¯s this feeling of something forlorn, that¡¯s getting me all nostalgic for a place I¡¯ve rarely been and had even less good memories about¡± She noticed that Annabelle was lost in thought and stopped her ministrations in favor of just plain healing the wounds in one go. Tharia drank in the sounds and smells of the sunken district. The air was heavy with a musky stench that mixed with the odd scent of mold. There was a lot of sound around them. She heard water drip down from old ruin ceilings and noticed fish monsters flop about after their home more or less just up and left. In time, she heard something else. She looked back up at Annabelle and poked her chin from below. ¡°Voices, someone is coming. We should be prepared¡± Tharia stood off in an alley to the side. A rivulet of water dripped down on her, but she kept perfectly still. She had a good view of Annabelle. They had decided to let the goddess be visible. Tharia saw her lean against a wall with the scythe resting next to her. The goddess had her eyes closed but she still looked like something out of old myths with that silver-hair flowing in the wind. It hadn¡¯t taken long to prepare and so they were done before the voices had gotten close. ¡°Move up!¡± an old sounding woman said. Her tone of voice was gruff as if she was used to giving orders. Tharia heard the shuffling of steps on the mushroom mesh. ¡°We¡¯ve got company ma''am!¡± someone shouted from high above on the rooftops, ¡°Looks like a woman. Hot damn, it¡¯s like she¡¯s from a painting¡± ¡°Paintshaper?¡± the old woman inquired. ¡°No, more like actual living flesh. I think she noticed us¡±, the man from the roof replied. The steps got much closer to Tharia and soon she heard metallic clanking from above her. She pressed herself flat against the wall when a young man crossed the gap above. His jump dislodged a cloud of spores and dust. Gold dust. One down, Tharia counted in her mind. ¡°Alright everyone, move up¡±, the old woman ordered. More steps came rushing forward. Tharia counted four people in total. They closed in on Annabelle while keeping up the formation. Tharia felt like a master tactician when she saw all of them covered in a fine film of gold dust that had blended in with the spores. The man on the roof aimed his crossbow at Annabelle which made the short-haired girl bite her lower lip. She was tempted to ignite the dust right there but decided against it. Her attention wandered towards the leader. The old woman had an aura of dignity that was unfazed by grey hair and the wrinkles on her face. She wore the leather armor with pride and the casualness of someone that had done so for many years. Aside from the marksman on the roof, there were two more humans. One was a young girl that looked frailer than Tharia herself - with the exception of her arms. Those had considerable muscle, something the frail girl would need for the bow over her shoulder. The last person was a man of about fifty years. He was clad in heavy armor but his sun-weathered skin placed him as a farmer by trade. Their leader approached Annabelle. Her sword was sheathed and she showed two open palms in Annabelle¡¯s direction. ¡°Name¡¯s Mayleen¡±, the old woman said, ¡°We¡¯ve got you surrounded, but don¡¯t worry. We mean no harm to you¡± Annabelle opened her eyes and looked at each of the strangers in turn, before focussing on the one that had introduced herself as Mayleen. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°You look like you¡¯ve been through a lot. We¡¯ve got shelter and we can offer food if you¡¯re willing to work for it. Well, you need to pass tests first¡±, Mayleen put up a smile. Tharia had one word for this lot: Gullible. She listened as the old woman continued. ¡°Well, the first one you¡¯ve passed. You talk, so you¡¯re not a paintshaper. The second test is to see if you can bleed. Nothing much, just a single drop will be enough¡± Annabelle reached up for the Scythe and three people grabbed their weapons in response. Only Mayleen held up a hand and bid them halt. Everyone, even Tharia, watched the goddess run a finger along the edge of the weapon until a fine cut appeared on it. ¡°That enough?¡± ¡°Plenty. If you want, you¡¯re welcome to our enclave. We were just hunting for supplies. We¡¯ll keep an eye on you of course and you¡¯ll be living away from the others until you¡¯ve proven yourself. But food and shelter - we can guarantee¡±, Mayleen said and held out a hand towards Annabelle. The goddess, however, made no attempt at returning the gesture. The thought of food drove Tharia to the edge. Her body was hungry, no way around it and this was as good a point as any to intervene. She stepped out of the alley. The staff served as a walking stick, part in playful deception and part because her back ached from exhaustion. ¡°You¡¯ve got to excuse my friend. Not many are allowed to touch her¡±, Tharia said. Their reaction filled her with glee. Mayleen first stared at her and then shot a very angry glare at the marksman on the roof. No words were needed to scold him right then and there. The girl with the bow slid the weapon of her shoulders but without a sign from her leader, she didn¡¯t dare notch an arrow. Tharia shot them a pained smile, part of it was an elaborate mask and part of it was real. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m no threat to anyone. I can barely walk. She has protected me all this time¡±, she said with a nod to Annabelle, ¡°Sorry for the deception too. Can¡¯t be too careful in these times. To prove I¡¯m no monster...¡± Tharia brought up her left hand and then cut her finger with the sigil ring. A single drop of blood dripped out of it and onto the ground. Yet that gesture didn¡¯t have the intended effect. The old woman suddenly stomped over towards Tharia and grabbed her hand with an iron grip. She stared at the Sigil and her expression soured. ¡°Our invitation does not extend to the likes of your brood. This proves, without a doubt, that you¡¯re more monster than anything else in this city¡±, Mayleen said and then took a step back, ¡°This is called off. Everyone, be ready for anything. There¡¯s no trusting scum like this¡± Annabelle ever so slightly raised her eyebrows and reached her hand for the Scythe. The marksman on the roof raised the crossbow. He had a confused look on his face that the other strangers shared. Tharia looked at her ring and sighed. ¡°One does not choose their family¡±, she said, ¡°That¡¯s a reasonable stance to have with my family. Nonetheless, I¡¯ve got two requests I¡¯d like to ask for anyway. First, kindly part with one ration for each of us. We won¡¯t last long without it. Second, if you have information on the whereabouts of my brother, I¡¯d appreciate it. I¡¯m here to relieve you of this nightmare¡± Mayleen gnashed her teeth as she shot a look at her companions. No one made a move and Tharia started to feel uncomfortable from all the stares. The old woman kneaded the base of her nose and sighed. ¡°One night. In the stable¡±, Mayleen said, ¡°You¡¯ll get food and a place to rest up. Your brood might be monsters, but we¡¯re still humans. However, we insist you will accompany us blindfolded¡± Tharia shot a glance towards Annabelle and found the goddess nodding. Tharia then nodded in agreement while her eyes glanced over their dust-covered clothes. Even blindfolded, she¡¯d be in a position of power. She leaned her weight on the staff to signify she needed it to walk. That wasn¡¯t a lie at this point, Tharia was drained.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Survivor Enclave

District of Travellers, Fourth Ring

When it came to Tharia, this didn¡¯t qualify as a stable. It might have been one at some point but there wasn¡¯t a single trace of hay left. Two dirty mattresses laid on the cold stone floor with a flimsy blanket on them. The gate was locked and she heard voices from outside. For all intents and purposes, this felt like a prison cell instead. She didn¡¯t complain though and the reason for that was the soup and bread they had received. Each spoonful brought warmth into her bones and this instilled her with a buzzing happiness. She paced her eating but the soup was gone all too soon. Annabelle¡¯s wasn¡¯t, however. Tharia inched ever closed and when Annie was distracted, she snuck a spoonful of soup from her bowl. The goddess tried to ignore it at first but soon grew agitated. That¡¯s when the short-haired girl used her ultimate weapon, she slightly pursed her lips and opened her eyes wide. With her head tilted to the side and her eyebrows cocked, even a puppy would melt away. ¡°Come on, don¡¯t do that¡±, Annabelle said with a growl. Tharia kept the gaze up and offered her bread in exchange for the soup. Annie managed two more spoons. A bowl was exchanged for a loaf of bread and Tharia once more got to celebrate the joy of warmth filling her from deep within. They ate the rest of it in silence, so deep was her reverence for the warm meal. This was alright. Fighting monsters really brought out the beauty in small moments. She stole a glance towards Annabelle and saw her friend contemplative. With mischief in her eyes, she poked Annie¡¯s nose and then scurried away on the mattress. ¡°You¡¯re childish¡±, said Annabelle. It was hard as usual to read her facial expression. ¡°And you love it¡± ¡°Perhaps¡±, admitted Annabelle and gave her a soft smile. Tharia didn¡¯t know why she suddenly felt the urge to change the topic. A solemn mood had taken hold of her as if to sabotage the happiness. ¡°I¡¯ve decided Annie. If my brother is still alive, he won¡¯t be for long¡±, she declared. Odd sounds from outside the stable indicated she had listeners, but didn¡¯t care either way. ¡°He¡¯s going down¡±, she continued, ¡°It¡¯s not even some noble goal like saving the people around him. It¡¯s just cold-blooded murder. If it helps other people, that¡¯s nice but my motive is to see his light snuffed out for my own sake¡± The words felt right to herself. This wasn¡¯t a decision born from a momentary impulse, it had festered for many years and had roots in a time when she had still been whole. Her eyes searched for Annabelle. There were no reactions and Tharia realized that her friend was busy with something of her own. She nudged close again and playfully nibbled on Annie¡¯s earlobe until the silver-haired girl took notice. ¡°Annie? Can I ask you something?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Back in the cave, you cursed the gods. What was that about?¡± Tharia asked. Annabelle grew quiet and distant again. Her eyes fixed on a point far away before she spoke with a voice completely devoid of feelings. ¡°The gods were parasites. They lived on emotions, always scheming, manipulating and extracting feelings¡±, Annabelle said. A sudden squeaky voice interjected. It lacked all of its usual scorn and sarcasm. The firesprite sat inside the cage with arms wrapped around the tiny legs and wings fluttering behind her back. ¡°It¡¯s because your kind is broken. Of course, you¡¯re going for what you lack. It¡¯s not really your fault. Your long lost ancestors are the ones that broke creation in two. Everything else is just an aftershock of desperately trying to piece it back together¡± Tharia leaned forward and reached for the staff. Simply picking it up let the sprite tumble around and she felt a pang of guilt. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to¡±, she said. Somewhere along the way, her anger for the spirit had left. It too was but a tool, like she herself had been. The sprite shot her a threatening look that appeared cute, simply due to the small size. ¡°You know, if you could get me a cushion of sorts, it would help a lot¡±, the sprite said and then fixed her gaze on the two women, ¡°Well, broken creation and cursed tongue, one part divine, another part arcane. Both can lead to ascension but both are flawed. The divine lacks emotion and the arcane lacks mind. The result of the latter... well take a look around¡± Annabelle grew distracted once more. This couldn¡¯t be because she had been honest about her snapping and attacking blindly, could it? Tharia felt her stomach churn and her mouth suddenly started babbling. ¡°A proper stable should have horses and hay. Do horses eat hay? Maybe they eat, hm what do horses eat? Apples so why not a shelf with apples they can pick from when they¡¯re hungry and... I¡¯m doing it again¡±, Tharia said and took a deep breath, ¡°Sorry. You, spirit? Mind telling us your name?¡± ¡°Sisariliszimna¡±, it answered. ¡°Sisi¡±, Tharia said and smiled, ¡°thank you for the information. Do you know why the Dreamreaper wanted to ascend children?¡± The sprite showed a momentary pout at the abbreviation but then just shrugged its tiny shoulders and replied, ¡°You mean Antedescenta? The feathered one? He was convinced he could combine divine and arcane essences to create true vessels. Only one child survived and that kid cheated by contracting with an old one¡± The spirit meant her. She fell back onto the mattress and pulled her legs up. Her eyes stared holes into the nearby wall. There were shadows moving about outside, no doubt still listening on their conversation. Part of her felt like giving them a certain show that would make their ears blush, but neither of them was in the mood for anything. Not least of all they now had an onlooker in the form of Sisi. Annabelle laid down next to her and Tharia used the chance to sneak her head onto Annie¡¯s hip. Using it as a cushion, she got comfortable. Her mind faintly registered a verbal protest but she just held on and was fast asleep within seconds. Tharia woke up with the mother of all back pains. Annabelle¡¯s soft hip had been replaced by two stuffed cushions. She felt her legs stretch and realized she had forgot to detach the spark the night before. ¡°Grnnnng¡±, she tried to say. ¡°Love you too¡±, Annabelle said. Tharia blinked and saw her cross-legged on the edge of the mattress. The goddess was dressed in fresh clothes and her hands had discolorations from what looked like farmwork. Annie unfolded her legs and then massaged the limbs with a pained grimace. ¡°Ouch¡±, groaned Tharia, ¡°how many carriages did pass through here?¡± ¡°In the last two days? At least thirteen¡±, Annabelle said with a hint of a smile showing on her face. ¡°Two what?¡± Tharia was suddenly wide awake. ¡°You slept through the whole of yesterday¡±, Annabelle said and then paused to consider her next words, ¡°They let us stay. You were pretty clear in your hate for your brother. There will be more soup too¡± ¡°Harrrgnnnngg¡±, came Tharia¡¯s reply as she bit down on her wrist. She really didn¡¯t feel like getting up. Every single bone had a rebellious streak today. Without looking into a mirror, she could tell several hairstrands had decided to go for their best horn impression too. ¡°Fairy?¡± ¡°Hrmmmppff?¡± ¡°Can you teach me Epacia?¡± Annabelle suddenly asked. This woke the sleepy girl right up. Tharia pushed her weary body off the mattress and blinked. ¡°It¡¯s some card game¡±, Annabelle explained. ¡°I know what Epacia is. It¡¯s also known as the ender of families, because it always ends in arguments. Why do you want to learn it?¡± The goddess looked to the side. It looked too cute for Tharia¡¯s tastes and she couldn¡¯t help but pull herself over towards her. This looked more alluring in her mind than in practice. Really, she more or less flopped across the mattress and then groaned as more bones hurt. Annabelle was done being shy and answered. ¡°They invited me to play. It seemed fun¡± ¡°Yeah, okay sure. I can teach you. Do you have the cards and a board?¡± Annabelle placed a wooden plank on the bed. Someone had edged several rectangles into the wood - the playing field. Tharia smirked. An improvised board seemed perfect for this type of game. The goddess then produced a set of cards. Tharia gave them a quick glance over and nodded. This was a typical Valarn Cardset, in the days of old it had been used to lay out the path of destiny in some sort of cult. It quickly turned into a regular cardgame. Epacia was a variant thereof. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s fairly easy to play. The goal is to have as long a path of cards as you can manage. Each turn you place one card wherever you want. Well, there are rules as to where you can lay them down, we¡¯ll get there. Each turn, you also continue a story you invent¡±, Tharia said and smiled. ¡°Really, the story is the main focus of this. There are actually more rules to this, such as not being able to cross paths but we¡¯ll get there while playing. I¡¯ll start and explain what I do¡± Tharia picked up the deck of cards and drew an equal number for both of them. She then drew seven cards into her hand. ¡°First I place this Crossroad. It has more than two connections¡±, she nodded and then changed the pitch of her voice, ¡°Thus the story begins with little boy Hamriet entering the forest of despair in search of his sister¡± ¡°My turn?¡± Annabelle asked and when Tharia nodded, she put down a crossroad as well. An awkward silence came after. ¡°Annie?¡± Tharia said after a few more moments of this. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You need to come up with a story¡±, Tharia added and grinned. ¡°Oh. Uh. Ahem. Well, A boy left his farm to uh, fight evil¡±, Annabelle stuttered. Tharia struggled to contain her laughter. It was just too cute. ¡°Good! You did well¡±, she lied and then quickly put down a pathway, a card with only two connections, ¡°The forest was dark and the path was dreary. There was no end in sight¡± Annabelle listened quietly and then put down another crossroad, ¡°Ahem, the little boy uh searched for his enemies¡± Somehow, this silly little game helped with Tharia''s fatigue. They played turn after turn but no matter how long they played, Annabelle¡¯s stories didn¡¯t get any better. It still amused Tharia to see her try. ¡°He... found a cavern with... bloodthirsty ah¡±, Annabelle stuttered once more. The short haired girl suddenly leaned forward. ¡°Sheep!¡± ¡°Bloodthirsty sheep... what?¡± ¡°You said it, it¡¯s canon now¡±, Tharia spoke with a beaming smile on her lips. It lasted two breaths before she started laughing. ¡°You¡¯re mocking me¡±, Annabelle said with a pout on her lips. Tharia stretched her arms and then put down her cards. She shuffled over towards Annabelle¡¯s side and leaned into her. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to, Annie. Honestly, the point of Epacia is to come up with ever more ludicrous stories. Usually, it quickly devolves into adult topics. It¡¯s fun if you don¡¯t take it serious but as a game, it¡¯s pretty bad¡± Just by moving over, the mood had changed. Annabelle had a slightly unfocused look and her chest heaved with a quickened pace. Tharia was transfixed by the way the supple bosom played with the folds of the blouse. There was no skin to be seen but that made it all the more alluring to her. She noticed how the tiny creases and folds accented each movement of Annie¡¯s curve and fell victim to their hypnotic sway. Warmth spread in her belly. ¡°Annie?¡± she said with a breathless voice. Her friend turned around and - gods, the blouse was stretched taut. It left little to the imagination. She noticed two spots where something was perking through the fabric and felt her breath quicken in response. Tharia wanted to touch, to nibble, here and there and oh definitely there. Her body shivered as she imagined unbuttoning the blouse one by one. She could feel the sweet taste of Annebelle¡¯s skin as her lips found their way to her neck. Every detail poured in on her, she noticed the soft touch, the quickened breathing and even the rapid thump of the pulse. Her lips left a trail of quickly cooling saliva on her way to the earlobe. Annie had her eyes closed. This display of rare vulnerability made Tharia bold. She suddenly lunged forward, put her arms on those strong shoulders and applied gentle pressure. Nothing else mattered. She wanted this. Now. This moment. Her lips found the earlobe and she nibbled on it. She was gentle at first, but then with quickly growing need, she bit into it. A fine sweat formed on both their bodies and... something knocked on the door. ¡°Grub is ready¡±, shouted a male voice behind the door. Tharia exhaled sharply and struggled with momentary murderous impulses. End: Drained | Coming up: Determination 20 - Determination

Enclave of Survivors

District of Travellers, Fourth Ring

Not usually one to notice the finer social details, even Annabelle realized the awkward quietness in the dining room. The mood was shot already after their little moment had been disturbed before but the situation in the dining room of the enclave was something else. The large room housed several tables placed in a U-shape, a clich¨¦ bear rug laid on the ground and enough food to feed everyone stood on the table. About thirty pairs of eyes glared in their direction. The goddess didn¡¯t know what to do. She realized the hatred wasn¡¯t directed towards her but rather at Tharia. The smaller girl sat quietly on the table and ate the soup. The motions looked mechanical and her love never once looked up to take notice of the scene. Annabelle had lost all appetite but forced herself to eat regardless. This would be their last meal here, that much was obvious. No one spoke and it made the goddess damn conscious about every little sound she made. Clinking a spoon against a bowl had never been so nerve wrecking before. This continued for a while until Tharia put down her spoon and raised her head. The small woman met the stares head on. ¡°I thank you for the meal and your hospitality¡±, she said and put on a smile. Annabelle knew it was fake and so did probably everyone else. Still, Mayleen got up from the long table in the center and then walked over. ¡°You¡¯re welcome¡±, the old woman lied, ¡°We will prepare what we can spare, it should last you a week.¡± ¡°Again, my most sincere thanks¡±, Tharia said with her head bowed. Mayleen reached into a small pocket and pulled out a folded letter. ¡°Your demonic brood resides in the Second Ring. Just follow the trail of death¡±, the old woman said and waved the letter in Tharia¡¯s face, ¡°This letter is for him. It¡¯s a list of names he is not allowed to forget.¡± Tharia reached for the letter but Mayleen didn¡¯t let go at first. Instead, she leaned forward until her face nearly touched the smaller woman. ¡°You¡¯d be wise to hide that ring¡±, she said in a whispering voice and threw the letter onto the table, ¡°It will get you killed in the places ahead.¡± Annabelle opened her mouth to speak but Tharia stopped her with a wave of her hand. The short-haired girl kept her head bowed. Even though she gnashed her teeth, she kept her composure demure. Mayleen stepped aside and let a progression of people walk past her. Some spit on the ground, others just stared at the woman. Most were scared away after one look from Annabelle. Mayleen was the last one to leave the room. She paused just in front of the door and spoke over her shoulder. ¡°Everyone here lost something to your family. In times like these, people need an outlet. I¡¯m sorry it had to be you, but this helps them and that¡¯s all that matters to me. Call me selfish but my people come first¡± The door shut behind her and the two were left alone in the large dining hall. Tharia didn¡¯t say a single word. Her hands were clenched to fists and tiny rivulets of blood dripped out of her palms where the nails had dug in. Then, suddenly, as if nothing happened, Tharia jolted up. She brushed the blood off on a white tissue on the table and then threw it onto the bowl. There was a smile on her face but to Annabelle it seemed perverse. Tharia picked up the letter and some residual blood got on it. The goddess got an idea, it¡¯s not something she would have done in her past but the weeks with Tharia had changed her. She leaned back in her hair and closed her eyes. Those would betray her but her listless voice could carry her plan. ¡°Fairy, I don¡¯t think we can do this¡±, she said. Would Tharia bite, she wondered. The girl was great at beating herself up, but one of Tharia¡¯s key motivations was the urge to keep her friend going. ¡°This is just... insurmountable¡±, Annabelle added and allowed her shoulders to slump. This was just like that strange game they played. Lay out the cards and follow through. She heard soft steps on the parquet floor and felt two hands intertwine with hers. ¡°We can do it. I¡¯m determined, you know?¡± Tharia declared, ¡°This here? It¡¯s because of the people and things we hunt. I can carry their anger and hatred. It¡¯s nothing. You can¡¯t let the cripple be the strong one. Carry me out into the night. I will be at your side when you take back what¡¯s yours and you¡¯ll be with me when I face my own evil.¡± Annabelle finally opened her eyes and looked up at Tharia. The smile still seemed pained but there were a genuine spark and energy in it. But one look at her eyes was all it took for Tharia to realize what had happened. The slender girl frowned. ¡°You... just played me!¡± The frown then turned in an infectious smile that turned the corners of Annabelle¡¯s lips upward. ¡°I¡¯m flabbergasted, stupefied, boggled, sometimes ogled, dumbfounded and dazed. How did you do that? You did good, Annie. Truth be told, I deserved this too. I know, it¡¯s not my fault¡± What in the blazes did she feel guilty about now? Annabelle had no idea. There was something else she had learned from Tharia and it was that sometimes, bluffing and positive reinforcement were good enough. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault¡±, Annabelle echoed. Take the small victories if you can. Tharia sat down on the edge of the table and leaned forward. The slight angle of the hip accented her feminine form and Annie once more found herself enraptured by her friend. The short-haired girl held up a finger and then started talking. ¡°Alright, Annie. Let¡¯s lay out our plan. We¡¯ve got a number of targets. How many essences do you feel?¡± Annabelle closed her eyes and reached out to the world around her. She immediately felt the one right next to her. It was a small flame but also the most important of all. By far the biggest concentration was in the inner Rings. Three essences had found their way there. One of it would be her husband. Another essence was high up in the sky. ¡°Four of them, but six more people have stolen from me¡±, she replied after considering her words. ¡°Ten soon to be dead people then¡±, Tharia said and held up a second finger and then a third finger, ¡°Add in my brother and the Dreamreaper. Here¡¯s how we do it. Step one. Kick Dreamreaper arse. Step two, find the remaining targets. Three. We mop up the small fry. Four. Storm the inner two Rings and clean up the mess. Five. Sunset, sexy gowns and off we go!¡± Annabelle shivered at the idea of being made to worn a gown but had no qualms with the so-called plan. Truth be told, they had no real plan. But they had drive, purpose, and determination. Still, there was one major roadblock ahead. ¡°We don¡¯t know where to find the Dreamreaper¡±, Annabelle said. Tharia suddenly slumped her shoulders and showed quivering lips. ¡°Yeah about that... I need to be honest with you...¡± Tharia led her out of the room and into the stable. Once there, she filled her in on what had really happened to her. Everything. Her meeting with Mother Bone, her memories, her guilts and fears and the fact that she knew the Dreamreaper would be at the precipice of the Third Ring.

Shadow of the Aqueduct

Parish of Accents, Fourth Ring

The world looked so much brighter now. Tharia wasn¡¯t sure whether it was because she had just spent the last hour blindfolded. Deep within, she attributed it to her confession earlier. The others had left them in a wide plaza a long way away from their enclave. No more mushrooms covered the houses and the massive wings of the carcass were off in the distance. There was paranoia and then there was leading people so far out, that they had passed several districts at least.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I¡¯m grateful to them for the food¡±, Tharia suddenly said and rubbed her hands. There were bruises there. The enclave had been rougher with her than necessary. She considered healing it in secret but that would mean she¡¯d be back to lying to Annie already. ¡°Are you angry with me?¡± she said and walked up to her friend, ¡°because you should be.¡± Annabelle looked her over, put up a smile and shook her head. Tharia needed closure. This little lie had driven her for days and just like that, it ended with a bit of honesty and a smile. These things should not be this easy. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you angry with me?¡± she said and bounced on her heels, ¡°Please. I don¡¯t know how to deal with this. You can¡¯t be kind and understanding, it makes no sense to me." The human girl looked at her lover and sucked in her own upper lip. Annabelle seemed to mull over the words. Impatience started to gnaw at Tharia, but she patiently waited for the reply. ¡°Why can¡¯t I? I¡¯m in love with you. Why wouldn¡¯t I be understanding?¡± It was like talking to a dried painting, convincing it to change the motive just with words alone. Tharia blew out air and then sighed. She felt the sudden warmth of another body press against her. Annabelle snaked her arms around Tharia and rested the chin on her shoulder. Soft-spoken words reached Tharia¡¯s ears. ¡°Being honest with people should not be met with punishment!¡± This went against everything she had grown up with. Frustration welled inside her but for the first time in her life, she found no one to take it out on. Usually, the target would be herself but Annabelle wouldn¡¯t allow that. She tried to bottle it up but it wouldn¡¯t take. This was a new world for her and it upset her deeply. ¡°Let¡¯s continue¡±, Tharia said and pointed to the road ahead, ¡°We¡¯ve got a few hours of light left.¡± She unwound from Annabelle¡¯s embrace, even though she appreciated the soft touch of hands on her and then set a brisk pace. It didn¡¯t take long for her friend to close up. The city around them looked normal again and after that weird fungus place, normal was the new strange. Tharia didn¡¯t know this building style and seeing it, quickly told her why. It was ugly. There wasn¡¯t a single straight line to be seen, walls were skewed in odd angles and even the doors and windows had distorted proportions. The street they were in looked like it was in the process of melting but this wasn¡¯t damaged, it was deliberate construction. ¡°Funny thing is¡±, Tharia began, ¡°I¡¯d expect some critter to attack us just about now.¡± She stretched her back and ignored the shot of pain it brought her. There was but one threat and it entailed being offended by just how ugly these houses were. Some of the skewed walls reached all the way across the street. Practicality had forced nudges in their underbelly to allow the passage of people and goods but if anything, this made the houses even uglier. They closed in on the ancient wall ahead. It loomed high above them. Tharia remembered stories about the third Wall. It withstood the last assault of the Turesai and the attack had brought down the Aqueduct. The marvel of the ages had been reduced to short pieces along the wall. Somehow the wooden waterwheels had managed to survive the centuries while the walls had fallen away. They littered the fortification, starting about twenty meters up and reached all the way to the top. Something large moved up above and Tharia gently touched Annabelle with the tip of her staff to draw her attention. ¡°Is that a...¡±, Tharia began, only for Annabelle to finish the sentence. ¡°Bug?¡± Annabelle said. It certainly looked like one. It was a hunchbacked bug that had the wings of a butterfly but had lost them to rot, spindly muscles stuck out of its back. They fluttered, but the broken wings gave no lift. Six legs kept the bug against the wall. A long spike at the end of the head poked into one of the aqueduct holes in the wall. Gruesome noises could be heard. The head then jerked back and dragged out a lengthy rotten carcass. The spike slipped inside of the carcass and sucked it dry within seconds. At the same time, the butterfly wings wobbled and distorted until they snapped back into place, whole once more. ¡°Well that was an affront to the senses but it¡¯s still no beast attacking us¡±, Tharia said as the bug simply flew away. It did leave a carcass in view that was in an advanced state of decay. It came with a foul odor. They quickly hurried along the third wall until the stench faded away. Tharia waved a hand in front of her face and made gagging noises. ¡°So Annie¡±, she said after taking a deep breath, ¡°if you become a full goddess again, can you just create the domain of soap and rinse this place clean?¡± ¡°Can I practice on you?¡± Annabelle replied with her emotionless look. ¡°What? I¡¯m not dirty!¡± ¡°You are¡±, the goddess said with the same dry expression. ¡°No, I¡¯m not... Oh! Oh, wait. Girl, was that a deadpan joke? Where did you learn this?¡± Tharia felt like the carpet had been pulled from under her feet. Annabelle had joked and not just any joke but one that suited her quite well. Now that she took a closer look, Tharia noticed the fine wrinkles around the eyes and the mischief therein. Annabelle pursed her lips. Another detail Tharia hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°From bloodthirsty sheep¡±, the woman said and pulled her silver-hair to the side. It looked so adorable that it broke Tharia¡¯s brain. The human girl was dumbfounded by what she had heard and seen. She stood still with her mouth open in bewilderment. Annabelle suddenly leaned down and kissed her on the lips. Not even the slightly naughty touch of a tongue broke her moment. Only when Annabelle finally leaned back, did Tharia snap out of it. She started her sentence twice before it got out. ¡°No more games for you¡±, she exclaimed to her grinning beauty of a lover. Bloody blazes, this was dangerous. She might fall in love all over again. Sometimes the calm before a storm could lead to carelessness. In Tharia¡¯s case, it made her restless. By now her senses were attuned to every little detail. A stone crunched under her shoes? Be prepared for an attack. Some resilient rat scurried in the dark? Maybe it was a Whiskerhush. Every wall-painting they passed? Tharia scorched them with her staff. That one had an ulterior motive, many of them were so ugly that she was convinced they had started the end of all days. The air had gotten cold and the last sounds of the district had died away minutes ago. Annabelle looked self-assured but there were few things that could trouble her divine friend. Tharia looked at the graceful sway of her movements and became momentarily distracted by it. That should be the stuff of pictures, true art in motion and stillness too. A loud clang made her freeze in place. It was just a window shut by the wind but it brought her attention back. Each step felt like they walked into the belly of a beast. She knew it was just another road in the capital. No monster blocked their path and not even humans were near. When the last sounds except for their own disappeared, Tharia knew something was wrong. She set down her foot and the echo rang through the street and bounced back from the looming wall above. Another step came and this sound too carried far and wide. ¡°Careful, something isn¡¯t quite right¡±, she said. Annabelle nodded in reply. While her taller friend didn¡¯t show any hesitation, she had brought out the Scythe and slowed her pace. Something icy ran along Tharia¡¯s skin. Goosebumps sprung up and her heart leapt in her chest. Her breath condensed into a fine fog and the temperature was still falling. Cold water splashed onto her cheek, she rubbed it aside and noticed a blank smudge on her fingers. More drops hit her skin until tiny rivers of black color ran down her body. Don¡¯t look up, she told herself. Just don¡¯t look up! She looked up but there was nothing but clear blue sky and a massive wall that soaked up most of it. It¡¯s just dirt from above, she thought. The buildings around her all had a black taint to them. It made sense. Old aqueduct, no more maintenance, of course, it would start dripping dirt. She suddenly realized how absurdly loud their steps had become. Even just the sound of moving clothes seemed like an invasion in this place. Tharia became aware of her own breathing, had it always sounded this ragged? Annabelle too. The breathing of the goddess was quick, with a steady thump of her strong heart. Her eyes focused on the walls of a nearby building. It was the workshop of a puppet maker. Dozens of creepy dolls looked out of the window. Their empty listless eyes reminded them of her own living doll. And so did their white-silvery hair and the overall shape too. Tharia suddenly sucked in air. Each of the dolls was the spitting image of Annabelle. All of them looked at her. She blinked and shook her head. That was just a trick of the mind, wasn¡¯t it? None of them looked in her direction. They didn¡¯t even have silver hair. She turned around and saw that the wall had grown black feathers. ¡°Annie?¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m seeing it too¡±, came the reply, ¡°We¡¯re in his domain. I can feel his anger.¡± Buildings suddenly fell away like cardboard imitations. This wasn¡¯t the capital anymore. Not even the ground remained the way it was. Her feet suddenly touched soft dirt. She found herself standing on a floating island with more of them hovering against an ambient sky. Massive chains connected them. There was neither light nor warmth, only contours. She blinked as Annabelle suddenly fell to the ground. She curled up, rocking her body back and forth while sobbing with heart-wrenching pain in her voice. ¡°Don¡¯t leave me behind¡±, Annabelle whimpered and pulled the hand of a doll out of the ground, ¡°Please come back for me. Please!¡± The sound of the voice broke Tharia¡¯s heart. She knelt down next to Annabelle and began to gently caress her head. Her voice was soft when she spoke. ¡°I¡¯m here Annie. I won¡¯t leave you alone. Never¡±, she said to the quietly crying woman. Annabelle continued caressing the detached limb of the doll. Without warning, a golden light sprung up from Tharia¡¯s staff and forced away the layer of darkness around them. ¡°You can¡¯t help her here¡±, a squeaky voice from within the staff said, ¡°Her mind is fighting Antescedante.¡± ¡°I should fight for her sake as well then¡±, Tharia said but the fire sprite shook its tiny head. ¡°Gods can¡¯t physically hurt each other - but he can hurt you¡±, Sisi said and flew a circle in her cage, ¡°If your friend is strong, she¡¯ll survive this. Right now, the one you call Dreamreaper doesn¡¯t consider you much of a threat.¡± ¡°That just means I get first strike¡±, Tharia said with a grin towards the staff. Sisi giggled and clapped her hands, ¡°Good answer. Let¡¯s hunt us a god.¡± End: Determination | Coming up: The shape of dreams. 21 - The shape of dreams

Between the Realms

The domain of the Dreamreaper

Tharia didn¡¯t quite trust the fire sprite. The suggestion to hunt a god seemed sensible if a bit farfetched. While the current state of affairs was a potent proof of concept, she didn¡¯t know to go about it. To make matters worse, this was essentially Sisi¡¯s former owner and she wasn¡¯t exactly friends with the elemental. The human girl kept her eyes on the staff. It was the only source of actual light in this strange demi-world. A sphere of golden light emanated from the sprite. It peeled away the darkness and revealed something else entirely. Tharia knelt down and ran her hand along the ground. What at first had seemed like the contours of broken dolls, the light had turned into simple cobblestone. It felt cold and slightly wet to the touch. She took two steps to the side and suddenly saw the facade of a building with a large window. ¡°A god¡¯s domain is a trick of un-light¡±, Sisi said and snapped a finger, ¡°I¡¯m lifting the curtains. The center of this domain is to your left and straight ahead.¡± Tharia looked over her shoulder. The body of Annabelle was curled up just inside the sphere but oddly enough, the darkness did not peel away around her. ¡°She¡¯s safe for now. Her body can¡¯t be hurt¡±, Sisi said. Kill a god. Alright then. All in a day¡¯s work. She took careful steps forward. Her stomach twisted. Even though she could see about one and a half meter in front of her, this felt like walking blind. This was exemplified when a lantern suddenly appeared directly in her path. Tharia dodged by instinct but the motion carried her straight into a wall she hadn¡¯t seen before the light unveiled it. Sisi giggled in response. ¡°Oh, should I have mentioned that?¡± the sprite said with obvious glee. Tharia gave it no answer. She rubbed her shoulder and resumed walking. The strange sensation of walking in two places at once befuddled her. In the realm of the Dreamreaper, she was closing in on the edge of a floating island. Yet when the light touched it, cobblestone sprang up like before. Her stomach fluttered as she inched closer to the edge. She could feel the drop. This was so high above, there would be nothing left of her by the time she reached the ground. Yet her mind also told her it was safe to continue. ¡°The island has come to an end¡±, she said. ¡°Keep walking. As long as you have my light, his realm will not influence you¡±, Sisi said and crossed its legs underneath itself. The tiny body sank down on the miniature cushion. The elemental managed to appear regal by posture alone. Tharia glared at it and then tried to put authority in her voice. ¡°So I¡¯ve got to trust you?¡± Sisi grinned in her direction, ¡°Yep. It¡¯s a delight, really.¡± As soon as the elemental ended the sentence, it closed its eyes and at that very instant, the sphere collapsed in on itself. Tharia suddenly stood at the edge of a floating island. Her right foot was above the bottomless pit and her movement carried her forward. She panicked. By instinct, she tried to throw herself around but it only accelerated her fall. The foot sank below where the cobblestone would have been, she was really going to fall to her death. ¡°Sisi!¡± she screamed. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± the spirit replied. Tharia toppled over the edge, the wind took hold of her short hair as she plummeted down. Her stomach churned in panic, her breathing was erratic. The heart in her chest threatened to burst. ¡°Sisariliszimna¡±, Tharia said. The next second her body slumped onto solid cobblestone ground. The sphere of light was back. She bruised her elbows and hands with the impact but the pain was comparatively minor. ¡°That¡¯s better, child. You can also call me mother. I¡¯d like that¡±, the elemental said with schadenfreude dripping from her every word. ¡°Then I would have to kill you after all¡±, Tharia replied with gnashing teeth. ¡°Is that why your family never came to visit you anymore?¡± Sisi continued provoking her. It was working. Tharia¡¯s struggled with the rage inside of her. No, her family was alive. They had sent her out. She didn¡¯t kill them. Little Tharia was a good girl. And good girls take care of their friends. Feeling her pulse slow down again, she scrambled onto her legs and continued as if nothing had happened. Soon she stood on a circular patch of cobblestone that moved as she did. Sometimes a street-lantern would enter her vision. This time she was prepared for it. She simply sidestepped it and continued. The elemental in the staff got close to the edge of the cage and let its legs dangle outside of it. ¡°Ah if only you could see what I¡¯m seeing¡±, it said. The situation got to Tharia. She could not stand having to rely on someone else. There was but one person that was allowed to see her weak. Sisi wasn¡¯t one of it. Yet she had to swallow her pride and act merry while her mind told her she was really just walking on air in a realm beyond her comprehension. She had started babbling before she realized it. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re seeing all the wonders of the world. There will be bugs on blue wings of light that embrace the last rays of the sun. Maybe the wall just blinked and said hello, wouldn¡¯t surprise me. Or I¡¯m really riding on a pig and just don¡¯t know it yet.¡± ¡°Oh, that too. I¡¯m just savoring how majestic this is and you¡¯re walking straight for it. You¡¯re brave, child¡±, Sisi said and chuckled, ¡°In your place, I would have gone the other way. Not many dare to face that thing head on¡± Tharia snapped, ¡°Face what?¡± No answer was necessary. A strange doglike creature entered the sphere. Six eyes sat on its muzzle and long horns adorned its head. With it came the scent of decay and the reason for that was nauseating. Its organs grew on the outside. They were covered by fur that had gotten slimy. Tharia averted her eyes but the sounds were worse still. Wet, slick sounds of something slapping onto the ground with each step the creature took. Sisi spoke to her with a quiet voice. The spirit had an air of seriousness about her. ¡°Keep walking. Don¡¯t provoke it¡±, it said. Tharia tried to forget what she heard and saw. Her mind focussed on the task ahead. She had seen worse. This was nothing. The creature walked past her in a range where she could almost touch it. All six of the eyes were fixed on Tharia and the beast took a momentary pause to observe her every movement. The woman felt as if something slithery crawled up her back, yet she didn¡¯t dare to look back. She just kept walking. ¡°You did well. This one is gone¡±, the elemental said. The miniature being stood up and pressed its face against the cage. ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t make any threatening gestures. They don¡¯t seem to be interested in you. Are those cats they¡¯re eating? Since when do cats have two tails and look so mangy and angry?¡± ¡°Whiskerhushs¡±, Tharia said. ¡°Cute¡±, Sisi replied and chuckled, ¡°I want one.¡± Tharia had to admit. Despite her distrust of the spirit and the earlier show of force, hearing its voice made this march through relative darkness much more bearable. Another creature came into view, this one was even more disgusting than the first. It looked more like a horse. One that walked sideways like a crab and had talons for legs. Thin skin like parchment covered it with strands of something alive clinging to it. When Tharia got close to the creature, she realized it was hundreds of wheat parasites like those in the fields outside. They bit into this poor thing with tiny mouths and sucked it dry. A massive head got close to her and nauseated her with its smell. Dead eyes stared straight into her mind but this moment too did pass, as did her memories of it. Two steps later, she wasn¡¯t sure what she had really seen. Her mind patched in gaps and pieces until it became nothing but a strange looking horse. A cold shiver ran down her spine. More and more creatures got into her view. Her brain tried to make sense of these things but it proved impossible for her. With each look, her pulse quickened and her unease grew. She didn¡¯t dare to look but had to. It was like something called out to her and forced her to witness these impossible beings in all their details. They changed their shape as she watched. A new head grew out of the neck, it opened its maw and tore off the old one. Grotesquely human looking lips showed Tharia a brought grin. She held her breath until it hurt. Intense pain filled her chest and a faint voice reached her ears. Her feet suddenly lost contact with the ground. She saw ambient light all around her and plummeted down again. Her mind instantly snapped back, she took a sharp breath of air. Sisi¡¯s voice finally managed to penetrate her daze. ¡°Good, finally. Now, relax. Don¡¯t move a muscle. You¡¯re not really falling. Listen closely. These things don¡¯t want to be understood, so don¡¯t try to. Consider them like the cursed tongue. Now, are you ready? Because they¡¯re getting awfully interested in you right about now.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Tharia nodded and the golden sphere popped back into existence. Six of the creature stood around her and examined every detail of her body. One tiny doglike creature gnawed on her boot. ¡°Now walk¡±, Sisi commanded. She listened. With purpose, she set one foot in front of the other. Soon, the six creatures lost all interest in her and trotted out of the sphere again. Yet more entered it as well. Their talons scratched along the cobblestone. These were even bigger than the ones before and forced themselves to be acknowledged. One beast had a thumping heart on its tongue, things that should be inside living beings were outside and it nourished two creatures walking side by side. Tharia had stopped walking. More eyes fixed on her. Sisi sighed audibly. ¡°I see we¡¯re working with a very limited mental capacity here. Alright then. Whatever you do, don¡¯t even think about a purple fluffy bunny with fairy wings.¡± Now that was all Tharia could think about. She tried to distract herself but the more she forced the image out of her mind, the clearer it became. The girl understood what Sisi had done. Tell someone to not think about something and that¡¯s all they would do. More creatures entered the sphere of light but they didn¡¯t faze her anymore. She was too busy not thinking how Annabelle best fit into the odd fantasy of winged bunnies. ¡°Now, hard right¡±, Sisi said, ¡°Hug the wall. This is the last one.¡± Tharia immediately changed direction and headed to the side. Soon a massive brick wall came into view. It filled nearly half of the sphere and she did what she had been told to. With her body flat against the stone, she waited. Rumbling from the ground announced the presence of something massive. ¡°Cover your head!¡± Tharia held both arms above herself. Stone rained down on her frail body. She felt her skin tear open and groaned under the impact. The spark healed these wounds but they hurt nonetheless. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something truly massive enter the sphere. It was a single talon but it was absurdly large. Between this and the wall, Tharia had to hold her breath, just to make her frame even smaller. More stone hailed down and she realized it was rubble. Whatever this thing was, it effortlessly smashed the buildings it walked past. The strong wind tugged on her body as the talon left the sphere again. She simply stood still until the rumbling ended. ¡°Do you need a moment?¡± the fire spirit sounded like it felt actual concern for her. The cuts and bruises from the stones were minor and already being healed but her mind didn¡¯t look too well. It showed her flashes and images of the creatures that were gone. Each time, her heart leaped with pain bursting through her chest. She couldn¡¯t get her breathing back under control. The fear of suffocation made it so much worse as well. ¡°Tharia¡±, Sisi suddenly said with a calm voice and strange cadence, ¡°Listen, child. Purse your lips. Breathe out through them. Do it. I¡¯m proud of you. You did well. What you¡¯re feeling is normal. Breathe in. These things don¡¯t belong to this world, they came here anyway. Exhale. In time, the three of us will drag these things back. Now though, your love needs you.¡± The elemental leaned against the cage and kept the soothing tone in its voice. ¡°So please Tharia. Fairy. Inhale¡±, it said, ¡°Now turn left. Continue walking. Start with one step¡± It felt odd to be called Fairy by anyone but Annie. It was a crack in her insanity, one she clung to. She did as she was told, she turned and made a single step. ¡°Wonderful. Breathe out. Another step.¡± She made her second step. Soon, she was walking at a normal pace again, yet Sisi still kept giving her very simple instructions that were easy to follow. ¡°Good. In. Do exactly was my voice says. Keep it in. Now exhale. Very well done. Two more steps, child¡±, Sisi said. It took a while but her breathing returned to normal, as did her pulse. Weakness washed over her and her cheeks were stained with crusted tears. The elemental crossed its legs in mid-air and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re a handful¡±, the sprite said, ¡°Human minds are such fragile things. Sometimes, your bodies get so excited, they forget how to breathe.¡± Tharia cleared her throat. It burned with a dull pain. ¡°Sisi, thank you.¡± ¡°Aye, aye. Now get back on the road, we¡¯ve got ourselves a god to kill and another to rescue, I suppose.¡± Tharia didn¡¯t get used to the strange light situation, but she learned to deal with it. They made good inroads working in tandem. She trusted the spirit in guiding her path and in turn, it even warned her about non-living obstacles. ¡°This about sums it up¡±, Sisi snarked and brought a hand to its forehead, ¡°Of course it would be a gaudy place like this.¡± The human girl had no idea what she referred to until the sphere of light illuminated a large showcase. A large doll stood inside of it. It looked exactly like Annabelle, safe for the obvious wooden nature of the body. Luscious silver hair hung down on a beautiful gown that the real Annie would never even consider wearing. Lifeless eyes, almost too close to her lover, stared ahead. Tharia circled around the showcase and continued on. Another came into view. This too showed a puppet of Annabelle. The doll was dressed in a gown made of black feathers. A longsword decorated with thorns hung at her side. ¡°This is beyond creepy¡±, Tharia said. ¡°That¡¯s a relatively new obsession¡±, Sisi mused, ¡°their wood still cries in agony. Turn right. We¡¯re almost there¡± They came upon small stairs leading up to a large double door. The wood looked expensive and so did the golden letters on the sign above. ¡°Glassless Mirror¡±, Tharia raid and earned a chuckle from Sisi for it. ¡°You can read, I¡¯m impressed.¡± Tharia paid it no mind. She opened the double door to the sound of loud creaking. The floor inside consisted of marble with a carpet serving as a sort of guidance. Immediately upon entering, she became aware of a presence looming down on her. ¡°Child, be careful. He¡¯s here. But I can¡¯t see him... Staff down, right to left, now¡±, the squeaky voice screamed the rest of the sentence. Tharia listened by instinct. She swung the staff in a quick arc. There was nothing to hit but gold dust sprayed from the weapon. ¡°Step back¡±, Sisi commanded. It didn¡¯t wait for her to comply. A barely audible clap rang out. The sphere of light collapsed and Tharia found herself suddenly back in the realm of the Dreamreaper. Her feet stood on top of a crypt. Even without seeing the details, she noticed the images of a feathered reptile snaking its way around two pillars to either side of it. This lasted less than a second. The sphere sprung up again and Tharia suddenly saw the lower half of a doll stand in front of her. Everything from the abdomen up was gone. She noticed the scorch marks where her staff had trailed moments earlier. Sisi had a serious expression on its face. ¡°If you are to survive this, do exactly as I say. Continue walking along the carpet. No quick movements yet.¡± Her feet sank into the overly soft carpet, it muffled her every sound. This made all the other sounds much more obvious, her breathing, the beat of her heart and even the rustling of clothes. ¡°Left side. Hard swing, wide arc.¡± She quickly brought the staff into a horizontal position and put all her strength into a wide arcing slash. A wooden doll suddenly stormed into the sphere of light. The dead eyes still managed to transport the murderous intent. It wielded an oversized halberd and swung it in Tharia¡¯s direction, but the human girl was faster. The staff arced up and smacked the doll against its head. Pieces of wood flew off, but the doll continued onward. Something organic wiggled underneath the surface. ¡°Lights out¡±, Sisi said and snapped a finger. The sphere vanished and she suddenly tumbled to the ground underneath. Remembering what the sprite had said earlier, she tried her best to not move a muscle. The ground shook under her feet and the crypt next to her tilted to the side. Golden light poured out from her staff again and it revealed another exploded doll. Yet two more were already close by. ¡°Step forward¡±, the sprite commanded. Tharia¡¯s instincts told her to go back, however. She struggled for but a second and felt a blunt impact knock the air out of her lungs. Her body flew through the air and smashed against a showcase that cracked but didn¡¯t break. Pain flooded her senses but the elemental was relentless. ¡°On your feet. Now. Staff, vertical, hold out in front.¡± She used the staff to scramble onto her feet and then held it out, a halberd came swinging from outside the sphere and locked itself with the staff. The sheer impact dragged Tharia along with the weapon. Tears shot to her eyes as her right shoulder popped out of its socket - and then instantly popped back in thanks to the spark. ¡°You need body strength¡±, Sisi said, the sprite whirled around in its cage, ¡°I¡¯m gonna try something and you need to listen precisely this time. No more hesitation, no matter what I say.¡± Tharia nodded. She still felt the impact her moment of doubt had brought her. ¡°Hold out the staff to your left, start running straight ahead¡± Tharia brought up the weapon and ran forward as fast as she could. The staff trailed golden dust behind her. ¡°One meter left.¡± She stepped to the side and passed a showcase that suddenly popped into the radius of the light. ¡°Duck, now.¡± Her momentum carried her onwards but she lowered her upper body. Something large passed right above her head. She glanced directly into the face of a doll. It looked so much like Annabelle, that it did give her pause. Then she remembered the urgency of Sisi¡¯s words and continued running while crouched, no matter how much it hurt her lower half. ¡°Back up, turn hard right.¡± The human girl changed direction in accordance. She felt and saw all manner of things pass her bubble. There was a momentary silver lock of hair that barely graced the edge of the light. A throwing knife passed where she had been earlier. The mangled upper body of a doll laid on the ground. Wriggling organic tendrils stuck out from it, the head moved on its own. Murderous eyes followed her every movement. ¡°Now child, JUMP!¡± Yeah. About that. Tharia tried her best but with that several-year-old back-injury, this was just impossible. She pushed herself off the floor but only managed to hurt herself in the process. A meager hop later, she smacked directly into a sudden showcase. Her vision blurred and she bounced back. ¡°Useless pile of muscle¡±, Sisi cursed, ¡°Drop on the floor, now. Cover yourself.¡± Tharia did as she was tasked. Her body was still reeling from the impact as she pressed herself flat to the floor. A snapping sound rang out. The sphere collapsed around her and she lied down in a pitch-black grave of dolls in the realm of the Dreamreaper. Hands reached up for her. The crypt a few feet away suddenly shuddered as vibrations ran through it. More hands snaked up from the grave underneath her. At least a dozen dolls started to pull her underground when the light sprang back into place and washed them away. Her body was once more on the marble. Intense heat pulsed around her. A raging fire had taken hold. She saw a mannequin step into the light, it was burning and still, the figure lumbered towards Tharia but collapsed into a pile of ash just a few steps away. ¡°Stand up again¡±, the elemental said. Not in the mood to argue, she scrambled back onto her feet. There were minor burns on her back but the light leather armor had soaked up most of it. Destruction was all around her. Not a single showcase had survived, nor had any of the angry living dolls. There was a distinct scent of burned flesh in the air. ¡°Tharia? Pull up your right hand.¡± She did as asked. ¡°A bit more to the right, good. Now punch as hard as you can.¡± Tharia put all her strength into it until she realized the target was her own face. She stopped at the last second and glowered at the sprite in the staff. ¡°Worth a try¡±, the elemental said with a shrug, ¡°A large door leads to the back and I can feel the draft of an underground complex. Knowing him, that¡¯s where he will be. Not to hasten you or anything, but this place is coming down and from what I can tell, your friend is losing. Badly.¡± End: The shape of dreams. | Coming up: Nightmare''s Thorn 22 - Nightmares Thorn

Dreams of Torment

The domain of the Dreamreaper

Annabelle stood in a field of ice. Her bare feet sunk in the snow and wind tugged on her stark white negligee. Tharia would have liked the see-through gown. Tharia. This wasn¡¯t right. The moment her mind realized that the scene was odd, stark frost spread inside her body. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in the wind. Rumbling echoed through the ground and something pitch-black pushed through the snow. Feathered wings spread out, followed by a sleek reptile body three times her size. The Dreamreaper. A voice came from the world around her. ¡°Welcome, Godslayer¡± The serpent coiled itself around Annabelle. Intense warmth emanated from the creature and intelligent eyes looked directly at the half-naked goddess. ¡°Why show me this shape?¡± Annabelle inquired. The world rumbled with a laugh from the serpent. Its answer came with a chuckle. ¡°Because it¡¯s honest! Why hide your true nature? Bring it out¡± She held her hand to the side and concentrated on the Scythe. Yet no gold light manifested into her hand. Her body was nigh naked and she was unarmed. The feeling of helplessness spread throughout. With a hand against her chest, she looked back up at the serpent. ¡°This is my true nature¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°Regretable.¡± Faster than her eyes could see, the reptile had lunged towards her. Sharp teeth bit into her stomach and tore at her arms. Intense pain spread throughout her. She hammered her fists against the massive muzzle without effect. Her vision whipped about as the serpent threw her into the air. She felt the cold wind rush past her and the teeth bit down once more. Annabelle screamed in agony, her head hung out of the maw while the rest of her body was enveloped by a rough tongue. Her stomach lurched. The Dreamreapers wings easily lifted them off the ground. It soared towards the sky until the clouds parted around them. There, the creature twisted its body and leaned into a dive. Half-way down, it snapped it¡¯s neck to the side and then send Annabelle flying at ludicrous speed. She had barely enough time to process her fall when her body broke through the snow and cracked into the earth below. There was no time to scream, every bone broke inside of her and the Dreamreaper was back in range. It slammed a large claw down on her. The sharp end pierced right through her abdomen and nailed her to the ground. ¡°Sneaky liar¡±, the Dreamreaper said and then lifted her back off the ground. It flicked her away like a toy. Her broken body sailed through the air and smacked back first into a tree. She fell down, impaling herself on several of the branches until her body looked like a porcupine with blood dripping from it. ¡°Just admit it¡±, the world echoed. Unimaginable pain pulsed through her, she crawled away from the reptile. One bit at a time. She had barely managed a hand¡¯s width when something snatched her ankles and dangled her up into the air. Her broken body flailed about helplessly. With her vision blurry and her senses dulled, she swiped her empty hand at the serpent. Something large and white appeared out of nowhere and slapped the serpent from the side. The pressure on her ankles stopped and she plummeted into the snow. ¡°Yes! Embrace our primal self. We¡¯re a force of nature, not meat sacks playing pretend human¡±, the serpent roared into the sky. Annabelle got back on her feet. Her vision now easily towered the trees around her. Hot breath broke from her muzzle and melted the snow underneath. Her vision had expanded in ways she didn¡¯t think possible. She had the body of a large white fox. Crystals stuck out of her spine and folded into spirals reaching up. Strands of silver hair hung from her muzzle. Her head carried a crown made out of golden crystals, they shimmered with lightning circling within. Two of her eyes were fixed on the serpent but the other two scanned over her own body. It was sleek, primal and primitive. White fur, bordering on gold, glinted with barely concealed power. Muscles rippled with every motion. She lunged forward, her jaw effortlessly snatched up the neck of the serpent. The taste of blood was divine and send warm shivers through her new body. Anticipation, bloodlust and perverse joy were her primal emotions. She snapped her jaw shut and felt the neck of the serpent break under her strong jaw. The Dreamreaper was tiny in comparison to her. Her paw pressed down on it, she let go of the tattered neck and suddenly spread the crystals on her back into a circular formation. Energy ran from one part of her spine to another, until it jumped up into the crown. Golden lightning rained down from the heavens high. It hesitated just above the ground before it jumped into the Dreamreaper and burned it to a crisp. She relished the joy of this brutal destruction and roared out her bloodlust into the world. Yet a breath later, she sat in a wooden throne next to a fireplace. She was once more dressed in a thin white negligee. It barely concealed her bosom or legs. A second throne was placed right next to her, but the man sitting inside wasn¡¯t tied down like she was. Annabelle was breathless, she still felt the scent of blood on her lips but smacking them, there was nothing on them but a bit of her own saliva. She looked at the man. He seemed unremarkable. It was just an average old man with a short stubble beard and greying hair. In his hands, he held a tiny doll that looked like herself. ¡°What was that?¡± Annabelle said. Her heart trembled. Now that it was over, she felt that this thing she had become was part of herself and that scared her. There was a mindless lust for violence in that thing. The man sitting next to her raised up the doll, ¡°We gods are grown in stages. Our first life matters not. Nothing of it will be left once we come into contact with the ascension.¡± ¡°And then?¡± Annabelle said. She tried her bindings and found them more than reasonable. The true bondage was her own body not listening to what she wanted to do. The goddess could muster no strength of her own for anything but frail and slow motions. He cleared his throat and continued. ¡°We are what comes out of gestation, a mindless beast of hunger. Reach into you, your true self is the source of your impulses. Everything else is a convenient lie, we drive a skin of meat like a... doll¡± His hand pointed toward the doll on the ground. The small thing stood up on its own and wobbled up Annabelle¡¯s bare legs. She felt small wooden hands reach around it and then the thing crawled up, sending shivers of disgust through her. ¡°Why show me this?¡± Annabelle asked. She squirmed and struggled her leg from side to side, but the doll sound reached her lap. It then sat down with crossed legs and stared up at her. The dreamreaper¡¯s voice came from the side. ¡°Experience. So many of us have forgotten what it means to be alive. We¡¯re not parasites, we¡¯re the apex predators. The first step of breaking your will to live is to show you what you really are. We¡¯re not devoid of emotion, leeches that steal from humans, we¡¯re creatures in denial of our true self¡± ¡°Why bring me back then?¡± When her words left her mouth, the Dreamreaper suddenly stopped his motion. His eyes narrowed to a slit and his forehead wrinkled. ¡°You did that yourself, I only did you the courtesy of waking you from your dream¡±, he said. ¡°Then those urges?¡± ¡°All yours. Let us proceed, shall we?¡± It was a warm summer day. Annabelle came home from a long hunt. Her body was weary with exhaustion. She stretched her sunkissed arms and marveled at the soft tan on her skin. It felt good to be alive and even better to come home. A comfy wood cabin stood in a lush forest. She dismounted from her horse and enjoyed the thigh-high grass on her hands. The door swung open and a beautiful woman walked out of the cabin. She was smaller and of an unusual beauty that Annabelle found ravishing. When Tharia smiled, so did Annabelle.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°You look stunning with long hair¡±, said the goddess and ran her fingers through the long black locks. The first hint of grey showed therein and she loved every detail of it. Fine wrinkles had recently started showing on the face of her lover and they reminded her of the difference between their kinds. ¡°Have you hunted again? Did you bring me back a human to cook?¡± said Tharia with an innocent look on her face. Annabelle suddenly felt strange in her stomach. She turned around and dragged a large bag down from the horse. It slumped onto the ground and opened up to the face of a young boy. His eyes bulged white open and he pleaded through the gag. ¡°He¡¯s still alive? Delicious. Fear always tenderizes the meat just right¡±, Tharia said and licked her lips. This was just wrong. Annabelle watched as her lover walked over towards the boy on the ground. Somehow, the Scythe had appeared in her hands. She took a step back, her mind clouded with emotions. The goddess swung her weapon with expertise, it easily cut into Tharia¡¯s neck and tore off the head in one quick motion. Her body then knelt down next to the boy in the bag. She removed the gag from his mouth. He stammered words in panic. ¡°Goddess, you¡¯re cruel¡± Annabelle heard herself answer, ¡°Obviously. But tell me, lustful one, if you were allowed to touch this body for twenty years, would you not accept an outcome such as this?¡± ¡°I wish for it¡±, the boy stuttered. Her mind reeled from what she saw. On some level, she recognized that these were not her actions. The heart trembled with pain at having killed her only love, even though she knew it wasn¡¯t real. Everything around her froze in motion. ¡°A clean cut¡±, the Dreamreaper suddenly said right next to her. He had appeared from out of nowhere. His hands gestured towards the boy that was frozen in a look of near orgasmic rapture at the sheer idea of getting to touch Annabelle. ¡°What you see in his eyes, is what gives you your strength. Did you know that in the entire history of our kind, there were but two gods that found a way to bypass the ultimate rule to not kill their own?¡± the Dreamreaper said. ¡°The first was a minor god of dreams by the name of Antescedante. I grew to be the Dreamreaper by driving gods into suicide with hand-crafted masterwork dreams¡±, the man said and walked around Annabelle. He then leaned close and tasted a whiff of her scent. ¡°Second was a minor goddess of need and lust by the name of Annabelle. This beautiful silver fox grew up to be the Godslayer, by unconsciously tempting humans to do her bidding. You made it so the gods could not retaliate for fear of hitting your body instead. You became their shield while they slaughtered the rest of us. This ended the entire pantheon save for you and me¡± Annabelle listened to the words. They were a twisted version of what had really occurred. In the end, it still described the gist of it. The whole reason the gods died was that they could not strike back. Annabelle¡¯s presence made sure of that. Sure, at the time she was nigh-dead but that mattered not. The humans could hack and slash the divine to their heart¡¯s content. Was she really a goddess of lust? She had strong urges and people around her reacted to them too. There was more than one time when Tharia had suddenly sprung into lustful motion, even if it was highly inopportune. ¡°Why don¡¯t I know these things?¡± Annabelle said with a shake of her head. The Dreamreaper reached for her chin. His eyes momentarily sparked with lust. Her influence really seemed to be based on carnal desire. ¡°Why indeed. You, out of many hundreds of gods, have become the first new old one in millennia. In the throes of death, you pieced together the arcane and divine. You¡¯ve ascended twice¡± Simmering range bubbled in her chest. She quickly lunged forward and punched her hand towards the Dreamreaper. Shortly before the impact, golden weapons appeared out of thin air. This time, however, she noticed an additional detail. They did not just appear, their shape came from thin strands of crystal coming from her back. The impression disappeared just as fast as they appeared. All the weapons simultaneously drove deep into the Dreamreaper. He scowled and jumped back. The world around her fell apart. The carcass of Tharia turned into a doll and so did the lust-crazed boy. She stood on floating black islands inside a world of ambient skies. Chains locked the world together and despite the light, nothing showed more than its contours. The Dreamreaper lunged forward. His old man persona had withered visibly, it looked sickly and pale as it wrapped two hands around Annabelle. With eyes that had vertical pupils, he snarled a forked tongue at her. ¡°Back to the dream with you, a pupil does not best her master¡± ¡°Thirty-four¡±, the Dreamreaper said with a self-satisfied smirk. He sat on a chair floating in the sky. Annabelle stood on a mountain of corpses. Her insides were all but burned away from emotion. In what felt like four hundred days, she had experienced lifetimes of joy with Tharia and each and every time, she had slaughtered her like an animal. The deaths had become increasingly more brutal too. This time, a skinned and flayed body dropped to the ground, Annabelle snarled up at the floating god in the sky. ¡°I will tear you from limb to limb¡±, she said. It sounded more like a growl than a voice. ¡°You can stop this any time you want. Either tell me how you ascended twice or chose to kill yourself. But instead, you relish the sensation of tearing the poor girl apart. You enjoy watching the life drain from those half-crazed eyes, it really gets you going.¡± Annabelle shivered. Her body dripped with blood and viscera. She glared up at the Dreamreaper with murder in her eyes. He suddenly held up a hand. ¡°That number earlier, it¡¯s the number of times you yourself have chosen to kill her. Sometimes for as little as denying fornication with you. Do you realize your true nature now? Embrace it. Rampage. Destroy. Break apart and show me¡± The goddess heard a familiar voice behind her. Tharia again. The smaller girl walked up to her. This version looked quite a bit more rounded than the real one. Without even waiting for what she had to say, Annabelle turned around and punched her hand straight through the throat of the smaller girl. ¡°Thirty-five. Wrong time, wrong place this round of death, eh? Your mind is growing thinner every time.¡± There was something deeply scary about the situation to Annabelle. That silver-fox savored every moment of carnage. As did she. This was the truth of the matter, the crux at the core of her being. Not even Tharia had trusted her with the truth. She had tasted bloodlust before. The one person Annabelle wanted most to be there for her - had lied out of fear.

The basement of the Dolls

The domain of the Dreamreaper

¡°Tharia, you¡¯ll want to hurry¡±, the staff in the small woman¡¯s hand said, ¡°I can feel Annabelle¡¯s spirit fading. She¡¯s counting numbers now. Two-hundred-something. Her mind is barely there anymore. We might even be too late¡± Tharia nodded. She pushed open the double doors with both her hands. Intense heat made her sweat but a gust of cold air rushed past her. The fire nearly doubled in intensity as a result, luckily the air blew away from her. She pushed forward, using the staff to light her path ahead. The small sphere of the room she could see made it look like another exhibition room. Unfinished dolls were propped on tables within glass-shaped showcases. Their insides showed a complex construct of wooden gears and levers. ¡°To your left, you¡¯ll find a large showcase. Move it aside¡±, Sisi recommended. Tharia headed towards the showcase. It was easily twice as large as she was. Strange petrified organs were on display inside of it. Using her whole body weight, she pushed against it. Pain shot up from her lower half and with a sudden snap, the showcase moved on tiny rails. It rattled aside, opening up into a staircase below. Tharia blinked and leaned back in the last second. ¡°Hurry down¡± There was no need to wait for that suggestion. The raging fire in her back left her little another choice. She stormed down the stairs as fast as her body allowed her. Soon all she saw was an eternal set of stairs only held in place by a sphere of light. It was crowned by the sight of hundreds of floating islands against a nondescript sky. ¡°We¡¯re reaching the end of the staircase. I¡¯m sorry, I think your friend has lost the battle¡±, Sisi said. Tharia clutched her hand around the staff and increased her speed. Each step was accompanied by throbbing spikes of pain in muscle and tissue. The end of the stairs came suddenly, yet Tharia didn¡¯t stop. A wooden door blocked her path and was easily dislodged by the good old method of just ramming it open, after actually using the door handle first. The small sphere of the basement she saw, reminded her of a torture chamber. Wooden dolls were propped up on metal stands. Dead human bodies hung above them and her mind blanked out the rest of the details. Fighting down her nausea, she walked deeper into the room. ¡°He is here. On a bed, just a few more steps ahead. Prepare to strike¡± Tharia nodded. She brought up the staff and then continued forward. Each step was muffled by an old carpet underneath. Her pulse quickened. Could it really be this easy to kill a god? ¡°Halt, go back, now!¡± Sisi suddenly shouted, ¡°He knew! It¡¯s a...¡± Something batted the staff from her hands. The sphere disappeared and she found herself on a large plain in the middle of nowhere. She saw the Dreamreaper lie on the ground, the black feathered serpent snapped its maw into the neck of a majestic looking creature. The large winged-serpent suddenly let go of the silver-fox and sneered with rows of crooked teeth showing in its muzzle. ¡°Two hundred and twenty-one", the creature said. The large fox-like creature lifted its head. Four eyes all fixed on Tharia. Frozen in place, she found herself unable to move. The girl was awestruck at the sheer size of these beasts. True, the false star was bigger but these had an air of primal royalty on them. ¡°Your tricks have grown stale¡±, the silver-fox said with a weary voice that vaguely sounded like Annabelle. ¡°I agree. This is the last one. What¡¯s one more?¡± the serpent said with a mocking voice. It coiled itself around the silver-fox. Black feather wings wrapped around the strange crystal protrusions from the fox¡¯s back. She wanted to run away but without Sisi, there was no way out of this realm. Tharia didn¡¯t have time to consider other options. With a motion so fast her eyes couldn¡¯t follow it at all, the giant fox lunged and suddenly appeared in front of her. Wind pressure forced Tharia to stumble back, she felt disgusting saliva drench down on her when two rows of razor-sharp teeth snapped shut. End: Nightmare''s Thorn| Coming up: All paths end 23 - All paths end

Basement of Dolls

The domain of the Dreamreaper

Loss comes fast, without warning and mercy. In legends, love is a force that conquers all. Failing that, the heroes will trump insurmountable odds by discipline alone. These were the thoughts that passed through Tharia¡¯s mind as the monstrous teeth bore into her left side. She blinked in horror as everything from her shoulder on disappeared between those teeth. Shock numbed the pain as the human girl stumbled back, her eyes locked with the giant creature towering above her. The large maw of the fox punted her aside like a broken doll. Tharia sailed through the air and crashed against a wall that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She felt a rib crack, followed by sharp pain in her lower chest. A shrill voice reached her ears. ¡°Found you!¡± Sisi said and let out a sigh of relief. Tharia noticed the edge of a golden sphere touching her body. She was half inside of it. Her eyes were locked at her shoulder where once an arm had been. A gory mess remained, blood had dripped onto her clothes. The fox in the distance had lost interest and resumed its primal battle with the serpent. Something about the sight was immensely funny to her. Just like that, snap, it was gone. After that first impact, she didn¡¯t even feel pain anymore but a cold numbness crept into her body. The spark inside ignored the bloody mess and instead concentrated on the rib. To her, these were odd priorities. At this rate, she would bleed out soon. Already she felt a cold numbness creep into her bones. Her skin looked more pale than usual. The sphere moved closer towards her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Sisi rolled the staff along the floor by throwing itself against the cage of its prison. Soon the sphere enveloped more of her body and she lost sight of the giant fox as the sphere replaced it with a creepy basement littered with dolls. They looked cute. Like her Annabelle. Hard shell, all squishy and mushy inside. She should collect them and maybe build a house of Annie Puppets in the summer. Maybe two summers, she had only one arm left after all. This was funny but it was the concerned look on Sisi¡¯s face that pushed her over the edge. This wasn¡¯t funny. It was hilarious. No one laughed but her, but she in turn just plain lost it. Her unhinged laughter brought pain to her chest. She flopped to the ground and rolled around in a hysterical laughing fit until searing, crippling pain sprang up inside her chest. Here it was. Payday.

Dreams of Torment

The domain of the Dreamreaper

Annabelle once more found her body bound to a chair. It stood on the roof of a large mansion. A single moon stood high above them, drops of white light poured down from it. Their touch changed the lush lands into nightmarish shapes right in front of her eyes. She tested her bounds, much to the amusement of the Dreamreaper that stood next to her. ¡°Two hundred and twenty-two times. That last one, how did it taste?¡± he asked with raised eyebrows. Annabelle couldn¡¯t deny the rush of blood on her lips. It stained her chin and was intoxicating. Jolts of energy ran through her when she licked it up. ¡°Different, special¡±, she replied honestly. The doll in her lap suddenly looked up at her with a look of mock disgust on its wooden face. The man next to her chuckled. ¡°It should. She was special after all. To you that is. The last one was real and you tore the poor little girl apart. Should have asked her if you could take a bite, none could ever resist the urges you exude. I¡¯m sure they would even indulge in cannibalistic joys if only you¡¯d ask.¡± Seething rage cooked up inside of her. She strained against her bounds with fletched teeth. The Dreamreaper leaned down towards her and offered his neck to her. ¡°Do you think I would taste better? Go ahead, have a bite¡±, he said smugly. Annabelle arched forward and sank her teeth into the neck. Feeling fresh blood on her lips, she tore the jugular open in blind rage. Yet the man just laughed in her face as the scene became ever more gruesome. The next second, she was even more tightly bound to the chair and the Dreamreaper once more stood next to her. ¡°My, you¡¯re a feral one. You could end this, you know? Maybe if you tell me how you ascended twice, you could go out there and stop her bleeding. Sure, she ain¡¯t whole anymore but she doesn¡¯t need to die just because you lost it¡± She would have long told him if she knew. The feral goddess growled through clenched teeth, these were barely words anymore but their meaning was clear as day. ¡°When this is done, there will be nothing left of you¡±, Annabelle groaned. The Dreamreaper stepped forward and then whirled around. He brushed the dust off his shoulders and then lifted up his fingers. Thin strands led from them to her own body. She felt her finger lift up as the strings pulled on them. The puppeteering god kept on pulling until they strained against their natural bonds and then, with glee, pulled them further. ¡°Let¡¯s proceed to the next stage. It shall be our last¡±, he said and let go of the strings. Darkness encroached on her until it was all that was left. There came no sound, no air, she was even deprived of the sensations of her body. At first, she appreciated the calm that came with it, until memories came to live inside her own head. Prisoner to her own thoughts, her mind began to torment herself.

Root of the World

Domain of None

Tharia suddenly regained consciousness. She jolted up as the strong scent of an ancient forest pushed down on her senses. A cold tingle ran over her bare naked skin as the earthen coat slid down her shape. She quickly snatched it up again and covered herself with her fingers accidentally brushing along her left arm. With confusion, she realized that her body was unblemished. Her fingers ran along the entirety of her left side until she confirmed everything was without harm. A soft hum reached her ears. She tilted her head and for the first time realized where she was. Her body sat on a bed of moss at the root of a tree so large, one could hide small villages inside of it. Several more of these true titan trees formed an endless forest around her. Primal screams echoed throughout this wilderness and strong energies pulsed through the very earth itself. She shook her head and concentrated on the hum. It came from a figure several meters away. Without the earthen cloak, Mother Bone looked downright fragile. That strange entity was hunched over a cauldron that couldn¡¯t be any more of a clich¨¦ if she tried. Her hands held a ladle and with it, Mother Bone brought the cauldron to live. Intense energies swirled within. Bubbles popped and odd odors emenated out of it. ¡°So that¡¯s how you chose to see me¡±, the crone suddenly said and stopped. The cauldron turned into a gnarled web of roots that sunk back down into the ground. Soft ripples of visible energy ran along those roots and Tharia followed them trace back into the ancient trees around her. ¡°The other two will not see you. They wish for your punishment. Your Annabelle is free but it¡¯s a different kind of free from what we wanted¡±, Mother Bone spoke and sat down next to the confused human woman. Crooked fingers reached for the coat and tugged it higher to cover everything but Tharia¡¯s head. Despite her nakedness, she didn¡¯t feel embarrassed, she felt at home and this strange entity seemed more like family than her real family had ever been. ¡°Alas, hasty judgments wake old scars¡±, the crone said and waved her bony hand. She appeared matronly but there was also a hidden threat in her demeanor. The crone leaned down and looked deep into Tharia¡¯s eyes. ¡°Why did you not keep your end of the bargain?¡± There was only one situation the question could pertain to. It was the reason why she could not lie to Annabelle anymore. Those eyes burned into the depths of Tharia¡¯s soul. ¡°I love her¡±, Tharia said but the crone suddenly slapped her across her cheek. It was a quick motion that hurt more on an emotional level. ¡°Those words come too easily to you¡±, the crone said, ¡°Take away the desire and what¡¯s left will tell you about your real feelings.¡± A sharp finger plunged against Tharia¡¯s forehead. Of course, she loved Annabelle. What was not to love about that beautiful pale skin, the perfect shape made out of countless feverish dreams. Who could resist those curves and the lure of the flesh? Tharia felt the flinger slip into her forehead. She blanked out for a few seconds as Mother Bone seemed to search for something inside. The feeling of a finger wiggling around in there was nauseating. Suddenly, the finger was pulled out again and with it came a silvery strand of softly glowing energy. Tharia realized that these were part of her lustful emotions. What was left inside of her was a mess of chaotic feelings that all circled around Annabelle. ¡°I hate her¡±, she heard herself say. It was the truth but only part of it. Words sprung up from the depths of herself. ¡°She twirls and the world holds its breath. Annabelle makes me realize I¡¯m a petty and vain goblin that has always been envious of her. How could I not?¡± Tharia said and brushed her right hand through her hair, ¡°I fear her. If she were to ask, I would jump to my death. If she begged, I¡¯d kill for her. I¡¯m afraid of her. Twice now she tried to kill me and twice I was okay with it. For I¡¯m nothing but her crazed slave, unable to remove my bonds¡± The crone nodded once. She kept the string of silver floating in the air. Now that the aspect of lust was gone, Tharia realized just how deeply she had been affected by Annabelle. This was more than just lust, it was an unhealthy obsession, a compulsion to the point of idiocy. Yet it was also something else. ¡°But there is more. Those memories we made are the best of my life. I wake up in the morning and I wonder about her. Being close to her fills me with joy and it¡¯s not just sexual. I want to be with her, see her smile, make her smile¡±, Tharia suddenly pushed her jaw forward. Muscles tensed in her face while the crone watched her every move. ¡°Making her happy makes me happy. So yes, I do love her¡±, Tharia said and raised her right arm to shake it in front of the crone ¡°I also hate her but things are never easy and if you can¡¯t deal with that, then I¡¯ll shove your bony fingers up your... uh.¡± Words eluded her. For the first time in her life, she didn¡¯t know what to say anymore. Instead, she snatched the silvery strand from Mother Bone¡¯s finger and felt a strong rush of desire wash back into her mind. Yes, it was an obsession. Yes, it was sexual. It was neither healthy nor sane but this was hers and she never let go of what was hers. ¡°There are two types of love¡±, Tharia whispered with quickly rising voice, ¡°One is the mad craze at first sight that fizzles out. Like this, I¡¯ve loved her once. The other type is insanity that accepts all flaws and grows stronger for them. Like this, I love her now. So if you don¡¯t like that, shove it up your bony arse and poke for treasures.¡± The crone suddenly laughed. And it wasn¡¯t just the crone. Suddenly a young voice blended in, followed by an adult one. The old hag reached up her bony hands to either side of Tharia¡¯s head. ¡°We will have accepted this¡±, the young voice said and with it came the face of a young girl on a creepy old body.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°This was deemed enough once the price was paid¡±, the adult woman said. ¡°She may wonder about the price still. It¡¯s but a contract renewed¡±, the crone said. The strange entity picked up the earthen coat, revealing Tharia¡¯s slim shape to the forest. She felt a sudden rush of shame at this and covered her flat bosom with her right arm. Mother Bone stood up and spread her arms. With all three voices in unison, she spoke. Tharia suddenly felt as if she stood at the center of a force of nature. ¡°We will take your suffering in your place like we did years before¡±, the crone said and suddenly leaned forward. Four fingers reached directly into her left arm. Where before there had been no feeling, she suddenly felt prickling sensations. The crone pulled her hand back out and what she held in her fingers was a white glowing shadow of her arm. Only this one looked like something out of a nightmare. The white energy flowed into Mother Bone and the strange entity shook in place. The ancient trees groaned in agony and the ground itself wound up with roots lashing out at thin air. With an unceremonious pop, something gnarly fell to the ground. It was a branch with a bone inside of it. The bone was old and withered and when Tharia looked closer, it seemed like an arm to her. A shadowy white light shivered inside and then died instantly. ¡°After all, a god can¡¯t hurt a god. A technicality we claim of the world. You are not of the divine, yet you are not quite human¡±, the voices continued. These mundane sounding words had a strange power. The ancient forest twisted into an odd dome above her. Tharia felt like she was witnessing the birth of a world or something similarly ludicrous. Energies swirled into a ginormous whirling sphere in the sky. The young woman gazed in awe at the interplay of power in front of her. These things she had called gods all her life long, they were nothing in comparison to this old one. Her dear Annie was a sham and so were the rest of her kind. An odd protrusion suddenly reached down from the swirling sphere. It snaked it¡¯s way around ancient trees and towards the right hand of Mother Bone. With that energy at the tip, the crone leaned down and suddenly stabbed Tharia¡¯s abdomen. Searing pain lit the young woman on fire while the hag scratched and burned strange symbols into her. ¡°The mark of a contract you will not break. We will meet once more when we chose to die. Then you will take up our mantle¡±, the crone said and then stood up again. The pain ebbed away, but an intricate layer of letters spread from her stomach to her entire body. They emitted a subtle glow and then suddenly shaped into the images of florals. Tharia watched in confusion as her body became adorned with masterful pictures. It was beautiful but also invasive. Pastel flowers circled her small bosom, the edge of a rose danced around her navel. Amidst the flowery impressions, there were also more sinister illustrations. There was a skull pierced by roses that appeared on her lower thigh. The ivy running up from her toes weaved around figures of bones. When all was said and done, her body had been turned into the canvas for a pastel painting of nature. This nature, however, took nourishment from the macabre. Tharia lifted her fingers and glanced at the intricate floral patterns running along her knuckles. ¡°This marks you as ours¡±, the crone said, ¡°Remember this oath. It binds you with words as powerful as the world itself. Your path is now preordained.¡± Tharia noticed that the forest started to fade around her.

Basement of the Dolls

The domain of the Dreamreaper

Soft warmth reached Tharia¡¯s body and she felt the touch of clothes on her skin once more. She looked into the tiny face of Sisi. The spirit had a shocked look on its face. ¡°You just started sprouting floral tattoos ... just what is going on?¡± it stammered. The young woman shook her head and felt a sharp sting of pain inside of her. Her spark mended the broken rib but it would take days to heal fully. The entirety of her left side prickled with numb sensations, it didn¡¯t listen to her commands yet. This too would take time. She finally replied to the elemental. ¡°The old one intervened. Let¡¯s end this.¡± Tharia shuffled along the floor until her right hand touched the staff made of chains with Sisi in it. She used it to push her weary body off the floor. When the broken rib moved, she winced in pain and her fingers cramped around the staff. ¡°As much as I enjoy your suffering, are you sure you can do this?¡± Sisi inquired. Instead of an answer, Tharia started walking. It hurt at first and then it got worse. She liked to think that discipline kept her going but really, it was just stubbornness. That stupid goddess was hers and hers alone to mess with. The elemental stood on its toes inside the cage and examined the world around them. ¡°He seems to ignore you for now. As do his little doll soldiers. Do you trust me, Tharia?¡± ¡°Not at all!¡± ¡°Good¡±, the elemental said with a gleeful grin on it. The sphere of light suddenly shrank until it tightly wrapped around Tharia. She saw nothing anymore, neither the real world nor the dreamworld. ¡°I¡¯m hiding us from sight¡±, the elemental said, ¡°Walk two steps forward.¡± Tharia stepped into the darkness, her feet touched a soft carpet and that was the full extent of what her senses felt. That and fear inside of her. She walked precisely two steps and then stopped. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do so earlier?¡± she asked. ¡°Everyone¡¯s a critic. Domains have weird rules and I¡¯m skirting them by being awesome. Alright, wait for another two breaths... one, two... now continue forward.¡± Worst about walking blindly through a basement infested with enemies was the feeling of vulnerability. Even if she saw nothing, she knew they were all watching her. Those lifeless eyes examined each and every single one of her motions. It was irrational, but she just knew. ¡°Stop¡±, Sisi commanded and she listened. ¡°Wait. Wait longer. Good. Now run.¡± Tharia changed pace and started running. Pretty soon she became all too conscious about how poor her stamina really was. Especially since her own body was pretty much all she could physically feel. That and pain from the rib. ¡°Left now.¡± Like a puppet, the young woman with the magical flower tattoos was dragged along by Sisi¡¯s verbal strings. The elemental commented with obvious surprise. ¡°This is actually working, Tharia. You¡¯re close. Prepare a thrust attack.¡± With her entire body tensing up, she carefully lifted the staff to her side and changed her stance. She had no formal combat training but with an inquisitive mind, a lot can be learned by imitation. With her left foot in front, she now walked slightly sideways while her right arm held the staff close to her side. ¡°Thrust. Direct ahead!¡± Sisi shouted and on command, the sphere suddenly expanded all around her. The sudden rush of sensory input befuddled Tharia but her body snapped forward without conscious thought. She leaned her body into the thrust and even switched onto the other foot to increase her range. A strange man suddenly came into view. He looked confused as the sphere enveloped his body. That confusion only increased when the tip of the chain-staff punched through his chest. He raised his eyebrows while looking at Tharia. ¡°You¡¯re a god too? Curious, a flower one by the looks of it? Did you just awaken? No, you¡¯re not complete, it¡¯s something else¡±, he said and then shrugged his shoulders. He effortlessly removed the staff from his chest again. ¡°Do you mind, fledgling? I¡¯ve got important things to do¡±, he said and then pushed the staff aside. With just one hand, Tharia couldn¡¯t resist the strength. It made her lose her balance and the Dreamreaper used this moment. He stepped into range and punched her flat in her face. Tharia stumbled back and caught an immediate second strike to her stomach. Both momentarily hurt but left no permanent damage. Neither had her staff on the Dreamreaper. A third punch came towards her and she finally reacted in time. She sidestepped it and then brought her staff in with a wide swing from the right. It smacked right into the god of dreams but like before, she couldn¡¯t bring in the full extent of force with just one hand. Especially since she was off balance and in pain from the broken rib. ¡°Tharia. Your staff has a second attack mode¡±, the fire spirit suddenly said, ¡°Slightly twist the top half, then thrust as far into him as you can, no matter the cost. Trust me.¡± The young woman nodded and stepped away from the Dreamreaper. He looked at her weapon and then raised his eyebrows. ¡°You know you can¡¯t hurt me?¡± he said. Tharia, however, did as Sisi recommended. She reached up to the upper half of her staff and twisted until she heard a quiet click. Nothing else changed. ¡°Oh well, go ahead, give it a try then¡±, the Dreamreaper said and laughed. He spread his arms and pointed at his chest, ¡°I like it when they struggle and it will pass the time until your friend breaks!¡± The human woman looked at the god and couldn¡¯t help but come to one conclusion: Arrogant idiot. She once again took up a balanced stance and then quickly lunged into a thrust of her weapon. The staff once more pierced into the laughing Dreamreaper. At the moment of impact, Tharia felt the weapon start to collapse in her hands. She pulled back but only half of the staff came back out and it quickly lost cohesion. The human girl jumped back with a single barrier-chain in hand, the second one fell down on the other side. There was no trace of the sprite left. Trust me, the sprite had said. Tharia let out a bitter laugh. ¡°Even your lent power decided to abandon you. She had always been loyal to me. I think she loved me dearly, why else would she do the things she did?¡± the man said with a smirk. Tharia stepped back and started whirling the chain like a whip. She didn¡¯t quite understand Sisis plan, she didn¡¯t even know if the spiteful sprite could still be considered her ally. None of that mattered, she would not give up Annabelle. Tharia stepped forward and let the chain-whip snap at the Dreamreaper¡¯s cheek. It smacked his face to the side. ¡°I¡¯m talking!¡± he said with consternation. A precious moment of time was spent on him complaining, it cost him as the chain struck him again. ¡°You lousy...¡± Smack. The whip crashed a third time into his face and then a fourth. He stumbled back as Tharia kept up her assault. She knew it was pointless but damn, did it feel good. Her right hand changed direction slightly. This was a low blow and she would enjoy it. Following a sudden surge of sadism, she aimed the whip directly at his crotch. The god of dreams glared at her and raised up his hands. ¡°No, you don¡¯t!¡± he exclaimed, ¡°I shall not suffer mockery in my domain!¡± Yet nothing happened. With confusion, he took a look around himself. The golden sphere was still there and like it had done for Tharia, it bridged the real with his domain. With his powers canceled out, he suddenly let out a roar of rage. The man stormed directly for Tharia. The human girl let the whip snap and smash into his thigh. He stumbled momentarily but this only increased his rage. ¡°You will suffer worse than she did¡±, the god snarled. His face was a grotesque mask of pure hatred with pursed lips showing crooked teeth and bloodshot eyes trying to kill Tharia by look alone. While she gained distance on him, she suddenly noticed an odd little detail. The god of dreams had started to show a subtle golden light inside of him. ¡°When I¡¯m done with you, there will be nothing left of...¡± He never had it in him to finish the sentence. Or rather, he had too much in him. The golden sphere collapsed around him and Tharia momentarily stood inside of his domain. She looked up at the large feathered serpent. Even in this beast form, the god looked stupefied. Tharia had the presence of mind to throw herself to the ground. Not a moment too soon. The sphere collapsed and so did the domain of the god. Chunks of flesh and red mist had turned the basement of dolls into a butchery. Where the good had stood, there now floated a human-sized woman with fiery golden hair. ¡°There will be nothing left of you, Antescedante. Your slave knew no loyalty in the end¡±, it said. Tharia blinked up at the burning elemental and stuttered, ¡°D-don¡¯t tell me you were...¡± ¡°Inside, yep. I realized only I could end it, when you broke your rib due to my intervention.¡± The elemental floated over towards Tharia and then leaned down on her until all she could feel was intense heat. ¡°I¡¯m next?¡± came Tharia¡¯s whispered guess but the fire sprite shook its head. ¡°Even I won¡¯t mess with whatever has claimed you, child. Get your friend. When his domain collapsed, she was brought here. Let¡¯s go now and talk later¡± Annabelle sat in a sea of vast nothingness with an obsidian sky above and an empty void beneath. None of her senses felt anything at all. Despite all that, it took her a while to notice a strange old woman stand next to her. The old hag wore a mosscloak, while a large animal skull with horns covered her face. ¡°This is how you see us, curious¡±, the person said and then continued with a second voice, ¡°You¡¯re pitiful but your presence is needed. You¡¯ve slept enough¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Annabelle whispered. She didn¡¯t know what to think and feel anymore. This was the first human-like contact in what had felt like centuries of solitude. The hag suddenly stood in front of her. Two bony fingers locked her face in place. A golden sphere appeared inside of the crooked palm. Without warning, Annabelle suddenly felt the golden sphere pressed against her lips. She struggled for breath as the crone mercilessly forced the orb into her mouth. Annabelle gagged and coughed, yet once it had entered her completely, the pressure disappeared and so did the hag. Energy seeped out from the sphere and into her throat. Divine essence poured out in dizzying amounts and collected inside her chest. While she still got used to the renewed strength inside of her, the darkness peeled away to reveal a library of sorts. She was resting on a bed with limbs that hurt. She felt chaffing pain and realized she had a strong scent of ointments and herbs. Annabelle looked into the weary face of Tharia and felt tears well up. ¡°Are you real?¡± the goddess said with a weak voice. ¡°Real contender for the smartest question of the day¡±, Tharia snapped back with snark, ¡°Of course I¡¯m real you numbskull¡± Annabelle blinked and closely examined her friend. The small girl balanced herself on that staff, she looked weary. Sweat stained her clothes and her skin was feverishly pale. Annabelle noticed the flower images underneath the clothes. ¡°You seem intact. Mostly. You¡¯ve blossomed well¡±. Her own dry lips made talking difficult. Tharia showed her a pained grin in response. ¡°A horribly painful pun¡±, the human girl said, ¡°I¡¯m happy to have you back. If you don¡¯t mind, I need to... lay down... now¡± She watched as the short-haired girl blew her a kiss and shambled over towards a couch in the room. There were no external wounds but that didn¡¯t mean Tharia wasn¡¯t hurt. The girl just flopped down onto a couch and let out a sarcastic ¡°ouch.¡± Moments later, she heard the other woman snore. A sudden hot wind made Annabelle gasp for air. The striking figure of a woman with gold hair appeared out of thin air. The fire elemental crossed its legs while floating in front of her. ¡°Give her some rest. She¡¯s battered and bruised. It¡¯s been a while since you went under and that stupid girl pushed herself despite a broken rib. Something is broken with her healing too, can¡¯t do it as strongly as before. Day in, day out, she went out and brought back food and amenities for you. Even flowers¡±, the elemental said and leaned forward, ¡°You don¡¯t deserve them. Either way, Is your mind well?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s a mess. I don¡¯t dare close my eyes for fear of what my mind will show me¡±, Annabelle replied truthfully. ¡°Figured as much. Death might have been a favor. Things got a whole lot worse while you slept the weeks away¡±, the woman with the golden hair puffed a ring of fire in Annabelle¡¯s direction. It evaporated just a hair¡¯s width before it hit the goddess. ¡°Remember Ascension? The creatures before were failures that couldn¡¯t gestate. Others did and time is up. I¡¯m afraid we haven¡¯t seen the sun in weeks. Welcome to the world of hungry godbeasts.¡± End: Book 1 - Curses old and debts anew. All Paths End. | Coming Up: Book 2 24 - Yet new doors open

Boarding House: Kiss of the Traveller

District of Commerce, Third Ring

Annabelle punched the sandbag with all her might. She noticed the pain shooting up through her knuckles and it made her feel alive. Another punch. Her heavy grunting filled the tiny room. A distinct and sour scent of sweat lingered around her. The windows were boarded up and Tharia wouldn¡¯t let her out for her own safety. Yet idleness lured the demons in her mind. She had to do something. The silver-haired and sweaty woman suddenly stopped punching the sandbag. She held up both her hands and wrapped them to fists. Intense light flaked into existence and wrapped tightly around her hands. Serpentine scales covered her delicate fingers like a second skin. This was the golden vanity glove she had gotten from being made to absorb Lord Farian. Yet they were anything but an ugly fashion accessory. A single punch carried her fist straight through the sandbag and partially through the wall behind it. She grabbed the stone and saw the wall crumple around her fingers. Suddenly, the door flew open and a confused Tharia stumbled into the room. The small woman looked dangerously cute with bedraggled hair. She saw Tharia blink twice and then rub the sleep out of her eyes. Intricate plant patterns covered her body as far as Annabelle could see ¨C and the nightgown left little to her imagination. ¡°Enough already¡±, Tharia said with a sleep laden voice, ¡°I get your frustration but let me bloody sleep. You¡¯re not healthy yet.¡± Annabelle felt a surge of anger. She held up her right hand and punched it straight through the wall. Rubble exploded and covered both of them in a layer of dust. Tharia screamed in panic and stumbled away from her. An unspoken fear had festered between them. ¡°I¡¯m ready. Stronger than I ever was¡±, Annabelle insisted. This was the truth. Energy surged through her body and brought with it a small part of her powers. She was faster, stronger and further amplified by the gloves. Better still, she felt the remaining essences. All ten of them. One of them was a few kilometers away and the proximity drove her up the wall. ¡°Annie, please¡±, the small girl started speaking. Annabelle raised her hands in frustration and saw Tharia flinch away. ¡°Gods cursed, I¡¯m not going to hurt you¡±, the goddess said. Tharia nodded and suddenly walked closer. The small woman wrapped her arms around Annabelle and pulled herself close. ¡°I know. It wasn¡¯t you. This is just instinct, like a mouse that flinches in front of the cat. But listen, Annie, you¡¯re not well enough yet and these outbursts of yours are precisely why. Healing wounds takes time. You must rest¡± Annabelle showed the hint of a frown on her face. She pushed Tharia back and then put a single hand underneath Tharia¡¯s flat bosom. While keeping eye contact, she applied a bit of pressure. Her love winced and stepped away from her. ¡°For a while now you¡¯ve been walking around with a broken rib¡±, Annabelle said and turned away from Tharia. Her sentences took time to come out but they lacked stuttering, ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me about rest. Tomorrow, we set out and get the nearby essence¡± ¡°Fine Annie. Tomorrow. You didn¡¯t have to be so gods-cursed rough about it¡± She hadn¡¯t been rough though, had she? Annabelle looked at her hands and realized she had never dismissed the strengthening gloves. Yet before she could apologize, the short-haired woman had disappeared from the room and the goddess flopped down on the bed in frustration and gloom. An invisible barrier had formed between them.

Ervald Masenheim Street

District of Commerce, Third Ring

Cold. That was Annabelle¡¯s first impression as they neared the end of the staircase. Tharia walked in front, she held her staff in front of her with the fire sprite inside. Somehow, Sisi had agreed to go back in on her own. Every step down the stairs, Tharia had winced and grimaced, it was obvious she wasn¡¯t on top of it yet. ¡°Fairy, I am...¡± Annabelle began but Tharia stopped her with a gesture. ¡°Nothing happened¡±, the small woman said. ¡°Tharia...¡± Instead of an answer, Tharia opened the heavy wooden door. Loud creaking echoed throughout the hallway. The city outside had changed indeed. Several layers of snow covered the street and buildings. ¡°Don¡¯t mind the Observer¡±, Tharia said and gestured towards an odd sight in this freezing mess. It looked like a half-naked man that stood hunched over. His bald head was aimed at something in the sky. The torso moved with raspy breath but the body showed no action otherwise. ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± ¡°Step out of the building love, you might just look the same¡±, Tharia said with an ominous tone. Annabelle felt the cold breeze on her skin and tugged deeper into her clothes. Her shoes sank into the fresh snow and already she felt a thin layer of its form on her. The clouds hung impossibly low, making it seem like she could reach out and touch them. Not that it would be a smart thing to do. Lightning and thunder rumbled within. The weather felt otherworldly. At the center of it all floated a ginormous sphere. Spirals of energy were drawn towards it and faint light pulsated out in turn. She saw a massive human-like shape at the center of the sphere while the object itself was covered in dozens of impossibly large eyes. ¡°The Observers all just look at it¡±, Tharia said, ¡°Hundreds of them the city over¡± ¡°Won¡¯t they die?¡± Annabelle asked. She certainly felt the cold but the half-naked man didn¡¯t even shiver. Instead of a verbal answer, Tharia walked over towards the man and then suddenly pulled out a knife. She ran the blade along the man¡¯s arm yet no blood came out. What Annabelle saw instead made her happy her breakfast had been some time ago. White worms crawled out of the wound, they wriggled in the cold air and then suddenly slithered back inside. The skin was patched up by hundreds of tiny appendages. ¡°They can¡¯t. These things just build them back up together¡±, Tharia said and spread her arms, ¡°So which way do we go?¡± Annabelle listened in on the essences. There they were, ten spots of energy at the edge of her consciousness. One of them, a particularly weak one, rested maybe an hour or two away. She pointed towards a collection of towers some distance away. ¡°The old church district? Alright. Let me grab some things first then¡±, Tharia said and headed back into the house. Annabelle waited outside. The surroundings looked different from the buildings in the fourth ring. These had intricate wood panels worked into them and even the smaller houses were twice as large as usual ones. Each building even came with a small garden in front, locked away by heavy metal fences. She noticed the roads were broad enough to allow horse carriages through on either side and the snow-covered lanterns had a brassy sheen. This didn¡¯t look anything like the Fourth Ring. She heard Tharia¡¯s return, mostly by her faint steps and occasional grunts. ¡°We¡¯re not in the fourth anymore, are we?¡± Annabelle inquired. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s the third and quite a bit in as well. We had to change locations a few times. Remember the fields from before the city? They really love us. If you squint, you can see them storm the third wall¡±, Tharia said and handed her an overly long scarf. When Annabelle reached for the scarf, her hands brushed along Tharia¡¯s and the smaller girl suddenly jumped back with a wide-eyed expression on her face. It quickly disappeared but the quickly heaving chest was a testimony to how the touch had unsettled her love. ¡°Fairy?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just jumpy. These creep me out, you know?¡± she said with a half smile and then put a hand on Annabelle¡¯s hand. The goddess couldn¡¯t help but notice the touch of hesitation. Annabelle then glanced at the scarf. She half expected it to jump to live and attack but it was just an average fashion accessory in the end. The smaller woman snapped a finger to get her attention and then started wrapping the scarf around her own head, painfully covering up mouth, nose, and ears. Tharia spoke with a muffled voice. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to cover ourselves. Doesn¡¯t have to be tight but there must be no way inside. You really don¡¯t want to let them inside. Trust me. Just don¡¯t. You¡¯ll see¡± Tharia shuddered and pulled the scarf back down. ¡°Be ready for it. Remember, cover everything.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. There was something deeply disturbing about seeing normal looking people stand half-naked in the snow. Tharia took a deep breath and kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. This was the thirteenth observer they passed. All of them had the tell-tale blank stare towards the false star in the sky. Out of the corner of her eye, she also kept looking at Annabelle with a touch of fear. There was no helping it, even though it came with an unhealthy dose of self-loathing. The fingers in her left arm were still slightly numb and the living plant tattoo on her body was enough proof that she had reason to fear her. Yet her heart told her she could trust her as well. She was a mess. The situation was a mess and the whole damn world would be a mess once she was done with it. Following the sudden urge of defiance, she accelerated and grabbed one of Annabelle¡¯s hands. Like little lovebirds, she then just plain didn¡¯t let go anymore. ¡°Hey girl, what you doing this evening?¡± Tharia said with a playful tone and put on a smile. ¡°Hunting monsters¡±, came Annabelle¡¯s flat reply. ¡°Aye, me too. You know I¡¯ve been meaning to ask something and this might seem a bit random but out in the fields, you were singing a raunchy tavern song¡±, Tharia began. It was the first thing that came to her mind. ¡°Who taught you that?¡± Tharia continued. ¡°Foreign dignitary¡± ¡°Alright, Annie. Next question, could I get that as a complete sentence please?¡± Tharia carefully observed her friend. She still felt fearful of the goddess. That was a matter of fact. The tingling in her left hand hadn¡¯t stopped either. Yet she couldn¡¯t let this get between them. The only way she knew to cope with it was to create better memories than the broken mess they had. While walking, she tipped a finger against the cage of the staff and then momentarily sought eye contact with the sprite. She winked at it and then nodded towards something at the corner of the road. The elemental sighed quietly and then squeezed out of the cage of its own. She had learned weeks ago that it had never really been able to hold it in the first place. ¡°Annie? Can you sing it again?¡± That got a reaction out of her friend. She gently pushed Tharia to the side and shook her head. ¡°You don¡¯t have the ear to appreciate music¡± Hearing that reply, Tharia leaned in closer and batted her eyes, ¡°Well I can try and make you squeal some other way.¡± ¡°Fairy!¡± ¡°Aye?¡± Annabelle groaned in frustration and gave her another shove. This time, Tharia played along and let herself tumble into the snow. The elemental came flying back and Tharia gestured it to wait. When Annabelle came to help her back up, she instead pulled her down onto herself. The gesture was wrought with instant regret as the unhealed rib made her wince. She quickly played over it and tugged her love close. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tharia said with a broad grin. She then held her hand out and took what she had sent the sprite to get. Tharia quickly brought it to the fore and held it out towards Annabelle. It was a beautiful snow white flower. ¡°I love you, no matter what¡±, the woman said while struggling for breath. Stupid rib. ¡°See, Annie? I can make you squeal! Ouch, ouch, stop, my chest hurts¡± When Annabelle pushed herself off to give her room, they both stared at the indignant face of a human-sized elemental floating above the snow. Its sheer presence was enough to melt it away underneath them until they both came to rest on a rather dirty road. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think you two are a fluke of nature. Two lifeforms too stupid to live. Can I remind you, that you¡¯re in monster-infested Valarn, out to slay some nightmarish horror and you¡¯re rolling around on the ground like a pair of rabbits¡± ¡°We ain¡¯t doing anything¡±, Tharia protested. Sisi snapped a finger in a rather sassy gesture. ¡°Uh huh. Sure. Cheek coloration, quickened pulse, dilated pupils and slightly parted lips. Just look at her.¡± The human girl turned her head and looked directly at Annabelle¡¯s face. She saw the goddess quickly snap her mouth shut. The blush was adorable as was the reality that the beautiful girl looked like she had been caught with her hands in the cookie jar. ¡°Oh huh¡±, Tharia said, ¡°uhm, okay. Anyways, please accept the gift of my love¡± Tharia placed the white flower in front of Annabelle and then got up from the ground. Truth be told, she had done this intentionally. While Sisi was right and doing this out in the open was insanity, this little stunt had lessened the barrier between her and Annabelle. This would become a good memory, just like many others she intended to plant. In time, it might wash away their mental scars. But for now, it had significantly improved their morale. ¡°For real though, that foreign dignitary taught you something really funny. Did he teach you the last verses too?¡± Tharia said as Annabelle got back up from the ground too. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Complete sentence?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Tharia continued on her path, her feet compacting snow under her every step. She watched the elemental nestle back into the cage. Now that they had put in miniature doll carpentry, it really looked like a cozy room and it turned out that the sprite was quite the heavy sleeper. ¡°So, do you want to know the last verses?¡± Tharia asked with a tone of innocence that all things considered, should have warned Annabelle. ¡°Are they perverted?¡± Annie asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. ¡°Nothing perverse about a wild free for all orgy with a flood of pregnancies leading to the abolishment of the churches¡±, Tharia answered matter of factly. Annabelle seemed skeptical. It was obvious by how she raised her left eyebrow just a hint more than the right one. The edges of the lips curled as well. ¡°It¡¯s true. Although the original verses were locked away in the royal vault for centuries. I¡¯ve read some of them and you know, our ancestors mostly thought about two things. How to get into skirts and stir them up as well as how to plan out their next conquest. Did you know that the oldest wall in Valarn has a written note on it? It¡¯s about this guy Kuliverious and the things he did with his boy-lover, for example...¡± ¡°Fairy!¡± Annabelle said with an exasperated sigh. Tharia kept up the pace with her friend. Several blocks passed during their back and forth and the mood had improved significantly. ¡°Come on, for a goddess of lust you¡¯re a prude¡±, she retorted with a broad grin. The groan she heard had just the right amount of frustration to it. It was too much of a temptation to tease her. It was a pity that Annabelle was already nearing her limit, one or two more teases would round off the mood. Yet her next ideas might push it too far. Still, she had to try. ¡°You seem surprised that I know about your domain? Two reasons, really. One. Sisi told me. Two. You were my personal sexual awakening back in the day. Late at night, when no one was awake, soft gentle wind brushed over my...¡± ¡°For crying out loud, Tharia!¡± Annabelle suddenly roared. Too far. She quickly accelerated her pace to get out of range, ignored the pain in her lower half and whistled innocently while Annabelle followed with a sour expression. ¡°Sorry¡±, Tharia whispered and even meant it. Somewhat.

Church of the apostate faith

District of Profaners, Third Ring

This was it, Tharia thought. They were back in action. Annabelle had taken point and she followed. Nothing much had changed about their surroundings but they both felt the urge to be careful. The cold wind brushed up snowdrifts. The old church district was right in front of them. An area several kilometers in size had been depressed into the ground and this trend to build downwards hadn¡¯t stopped there. Most of the churches were built underground, only their towers reached up high into the sky. White stone bridges connected them. A single, absurdly large bell, hung at the center of four of the towers. ¡°It¡¯s interesting that in all the years of the Theocracy, no one actually tore down these apostate churches¡±, Tharia commented to the nod of Annabelle. When they reached the edge of the stairs, Tharia pulled up the scarf and then wrapped it around her face until only her eyes could be seen. She then watched Annabelle do the same and paid close attention that every part really was covered up. ¡°Which direction do we go now?¡± ¡°Below¡± Tharia heard the single word from Annabelle and then kept waiting, staring at her until Annabelle suddenly raised her shoulders. ¡°What?¡± the goddess asked ¡°Oh, I thought you wanted to finish your sentences¡± A tease too soon. Annabelle was still pissed. Tharia quickly walked down the steps. Her staff clanged each step of the way until they reached the lowered ground level. Curiously, there was neither snow nor ice near the apostate churches and she felt a faint warmth come from underneath. The church plaza was mostly just large empty spaces, save for the small entrance buildings and the towers. Strange humming and singing reached Tharia¡¯s ears and she saw Annabelle freeze as well. The source of the sounds soon came into view. Priests, made unrecognizable by their gold and black robes, walked in groups of three. The one in the front held up the symbol of a vase. He had a face of sorts. It only missed the entire lower jar and a lengthy tongue drooled all the way down to the ground. The humming came out of the priest. His companions looked similar, each was missing their jar and each of them had a strangely long tongue. ¡°Alright, let me demonstrate why we cover up¡±, Tharia said and then suddenly pulled down the scarf just a hint. The effect was immediate. The three priests suddenly fell to the ground. Their limbs stood off in awkward and frankly nauseating ways as they quickly shuffled towards Tharia on all fours. Bloodshot human eyes stared directly at the single nostril she had freed. The tongues suddenly raised up, quivering and shivering like a snake about to strike. Yet when Tharia covered her nose again, the priests stopped. They pushed themselves off the ground and continued on with their singing sermon. ¡°Lovely, ain¡¯t it? Their tongues have tiny hooks with poison on them. First time I came across them, Sisi had to burn them out of my skin. It¡¯s really... not fun. Alas, they were one of the few places that still had food left.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been here?¡± Annabelle asked. Tharia put her hands against her waist and puffed up her cheeks. Somehow, the question gave her the impression of being criticized. ¡°Sure, what else was I supposed to do? The way back is overgrown with carnivorous plants and most houses look plundered from several hundred steps away. I figured something like this with active monsters had the best chance at something to eat¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to attack you. I¡¯m impressed¡± Tharia shot her a wary glance. This was the prime moment for her rib to suddenly ache with piercing intensity. It had been surprisingly stubborn, only healing a little bit at a time. Although she was at fault for this, because she just could not sit still. Annabelle suddenly tensed up. ¡°We were noticed¡±, the goddess said and pointed towards another group of priests. These looked directly at them, even though they had covered up every orifice. A terribly gargling voice came from the leading priest. ¡°Annabelle. Crimes. Heretic being. Improper Behavior. Punishment - death¡±, it said, then looked to Tharia. ¡°Tharia von Verholden. Crimes. Cursed being. Whore. Pervert. Tempter of gods. Thief. Murderer. Familicide. Liar. Fornicator. Indecency. Punishment - death¡± She listened to the verdicts and could only disagree with one. She had never done it for money. Still, she looked at Annabelle and raised her eyebrows to tease her some more. She couldn¡¯t stop herself. ¡°My sweet luscious profanity, Annie what did you do?¡± Annabelle blinked and a bright light suddenly covered the hands of the goddess. Golden gloves, made of serpentine scales covered them. She crunched them together and then continued bringing out the trusted Scythe. Tharia, however, dismissed the priests with a wave of her hand. ¡°Relax, they¡¯re not going to attack. They do this every... aye, they¡¯re actually attacking, would you look at that¡± End: Yet new doors open | Coming up: Church of the apostate faith 25 - Church of the apostate faith

Near the church of apostate faiths

District of Profaners, Third Ring

If there ever was a contest for fanatic zeal, the priest-creatures had it covered. When it came to Annabelle, that was all they had going for them. Although she felt unease when she saw their limbs bend beyond any reasonable leeway. She checked the scarf around her face and moved it slightly to the side to get a better view of these things. The three priest creatures had fallen to the ground in the meantime. With an audible crunch, they bend their arms and legs back and then used them as legs. Annabelle saw Tharia come closer until there was just enough space between them to swing their weapons. The lead priest suddenly crunched back his own head. The tongue stretched up to the sky and started shivering. The other two beasts spread out to the side, circling the two women. ¡°It¡¯s screaming for help¡±, Sisi remarked with a bored tone. ¡°Let¡¯s take it down first then! Annie?¡± The goddess nodded. One moment she was observing calming, the next she lunged forward with increased speed. Her movements approached the peak of human ability as she took long strides towards the lead priest. The scythe dragged along the ground, leaving scratch marks on the ground. Pure energy pulsed in her veins, prepping her up for a storm of destruction. All that force gathered in the golden gloves and from there spread throughout her arms and legs. Her strides grew longer and icy wind rushed past her. Its tongue started to quiver like a spring pulled to its maximum. When it finally struck, Annabelle had read its movement. She moved the Scythe to block the whipping tongue and then wrested it aside with a twisting motion that both caught the leathery organ and deflected it. Holding the tongue by using the Scythe onehanded, Annabelle closed in on the head priest and punched her golden glove straight through his skull. A red mist was all that remained. A loud explosion drew her attention back to Tharia. Walls of fire had sprung up around the woman and a puff of fire evaporated into the air. One of the priests was a burning pyre on the ground. Loud screeches came out of it while the tongue lashed out aimlessly. The second one danced around the barrier of fire and waited for an opportunity that never came. While Tharia kept it distracted with the staff, the glow inside had vanished. Golden light suddenly came from within the priest and a moment later, Sisi floated where the creature once had been. Giving them a nod of acknowledgment, Annabelle turned around to examine their surroundings. None of the other priest groups had paid any attention to them. ¡°Annie!¡± Tharia suddenly shouted. Just that second something sharp cut through some of Annabelle¡¯s silver hair. She blinked and realized the hook covered tongue around her Scythe had struck her. A numbing sensation spread from the cuts on her cheek. With a motion almost too fast to be seen with the eye, the tongue unwrapped from the weapon. It then wrapped around the body of the headless priest and dragged it off towards an ornate staircase in the ground. Feeling the thrill of the hunt, the goddess gave chase. Her mind clouded by the sensation of pain and an urge for destruction. She closed in with three large strides and then used her motion to kick the main body of the priest of the ground. It lifted up a meter and came crashing down. The tongue whipped around but suddenly found itself in the grasp of golden gloves. It wriggled helplessly as the goddess crushed it one finger at a time. Soon, all life faded from the organ. Motion at the periphery drew her attention. Groups of the priests had formed a shield made of bodies around the staircase leading down. Excitement took hold of Annabelle as she let go of the tongue. She cleaned the blood of her Scythe with a quick flick of her wrist and then fletched her teeth. Her body leaped forward and excitement turned to euphoria as she came crashing down in the group of priests, her Scythe crunching through flesh. Tharia had trouble following what happened. All she saw was a mass of robed bodies and occasional glimpses of a white-haired human monster in between. The blade of the Scythe cut three of the priests down in one swift motion, the momentary hole in the wall of bodies revealed an untainted Annabelle dancing from one body to the next, bringing swift death with a punch, strike or slash. ¡°That puts the blood in bloodlust, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Sisi said while puffing a ring of fire from its small mouth. The sprite slipped back into the staff and flopped down on a miniature doll bed. Tharia shook her head and made haste for the wall of priests. An arm flew past her face and underlined the absurdity of the situation. The barrier of bodies suddenly broke and Annabelle casually stepped out of it. Not a single priest without an unclipped tongue remained. They writhed and clawed at their cracked throats before collapsing onto the ground. Tharia fought down her panic. The last time Annie had flipped this badly, she got lost to the Dreamreaper moments later. Yet this time, the goddess looked lucid, if a bit disheveled. Something of her expression must have leaked out since Annabelle stopped. ¡°I¡¯m still me¡±, Annie said and pointed a thumb to her chest, ¡°More of me.¡± The human girl gulped and put up a smile that could not be seen because of the scarf. She moved towards Annabelle and then started pulling her along towards the staircase. ¡°Aye, of course, you are you¡±, Tharia said and then lied, ¡°That was never in question¡± A momentary pause followed before Tharia continued, ¡°Let¡¯s go, I don¡¯t like standing in a mountain of monster corpses. So the tongues are their thing, eh? You know I kinda don¡¯t like tongues. Bad memories of my first kiss. The essence is down there and we...¡± ¡°You¡¯re nervous¡±, Annabelle said and sounded hurt. ¡°Nah, Annie. I¡¯m just happy to have you with me again. If you wanted nervous, you should have seen me sneak around a bunch of judgemental priest types. I¡¯m not even sure how they know all this stuff. Is there some sort of moral register floating about? But listen, can we please turn around? There are bound to be hundreds more down there¡± Annabelle shook her head and freed herself from Tharia¡¯s grip. The beauty with the Scythe was first to enter the underground church. Tharia quietly followed in Annabelle¡¯s footsteps. They hadn¡¯t seen another priest in several minutes now. Their path took them past the entrance hall that looked like Tharia would expect from an underground church. Large grates to siphon off excess rainwater from above. Comfy chairs, a pit for the orchestra of course and the large communal bathing pool near the altar. Many smaller rooms followed with amenities for guests and monks alike. Now they were on a slope leading further down below with Sisi offering both of them enough light to see. ¡°Annie, are we getting close? This is creeping me out. Let¡¯s turn around and find a better way of dealing with this¡± Annabelle nodded in reply just as the slope described a gentle twist ahead. Tharia suddenly heard a sound. It was a strange burbling that increased in intensity. Her feet started to feel cold and when she looked down, she saw a faint trace of water run past her shoes. ¡°Hold on to something¡±, Tharia shouted but it was too late. The burbling turned into a flood of water. She felt a heavy impact dislodge her legs and the pain was bad, but it was nothing compared to what her chest felt when the water threw her against the wall and then dragged her along with it. Tharia got flashbacks of drowning and started to kick and scream, only to get more water into her mouth. Without warning, she felt oddly weightless. Her surroundings had opened up into a large cistern. She came crashing down along with the water, another impact cracked the rib further and pain overwhelmed her. When next she came to, only a few seconds must have passed. The water had drained further down. A grate had filtered out her, Annabelle and luckily the staff with Sisi as well. Tharia felt the spark try its best to heal the rib but her stubbornness had re-broken it so often, that the essence was becoming faint. She would need to tell Annabelle about this but there was no time yet, not while the goddess herself struggled with her inner demons. The human woman noticed figures on a bridge up above and stood up with the help of the staff. They wore black and golden robes and had their tongues outstretched. The organs formed a sort of throne and upon the throne sat a strange creature that looked like an oversized human baby. Tharia had gotten so used to seeing strange things that she had expected something even more outlandish. A look into the adult face of the baby proved her right in the end. Judging by how Annabelle stared daggers directly into the thing, this was related to her essence. The creature held up a black scepter and grinned triumphantly. Around it, the priests got to the ground and started praying to the overfed something they carried. Annabelle suddenly brought out the Scythe. She then snapped the weapon in two. Tharia could barely follow the speed of the motion as the broken off handle flew off with the speed of lightning. It impaled the blob of flesh and hammered it to the wall like a proclamation of war. Silence fell over the congregation and even Tharia held her breath. ¡°No sense in hiding. I know who he is¡±, Annabelle shouted up to the priests. They suddenly hunched together and then huddled off, dragging the dead creature along with them. ¡°You do?¡± ¡°Luciano, priest of the apostate profaners. This was just a fragment of his¡± Tharia sighed and pulled down the wet scarf. There was no more need for it anyway. She mulled over what she heard and then wrinkled her forehead in contemplation. ¡°The profaners hate your kind. Why would one of their priests accept divine essence?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Annabelle gave no answer and left up the scarf that hid away her expression further. Tharia sighed at the clear sign that the conversation was over and shrugged her shoulder. She spun around and took a closer look at her surroundings. The cistern was of a circular build. Massive round pillars of stone held up the ceiling while the grate they stood on served as a sort of filter for anything larger than a small finger. The only light in the room came from the bridge above and from Sisi in the staff. Seeing as Annabelle had grown quiet, Tharia walked towards the edge of the cistern and then traced her hands along the wall. It was just a hunch. The grate was in a rather unusual place with no obvious way to reach it for maintenance. One option might have been the bridge above but it was quite a drop. Following that instinct, she walked the room once until she suddenly felt a patch of rough stone. Going by the way it looked, it was identical to the rest of the wall but the touch was quite different. She heard Annabelle¡¯s voice from behind. ¡°Have you found something?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. This patch of wall is different from the others. Could be a walled-up section or could just be a coincidence. No way to be sure¡±, Tharia answered and then suddenly jumped back as the golden light appeared directly above her right shoulder. A weapon manifested right next to her face, most of it disappeared inside the wall. ¡°Are you trying to scare me to death?¡± Tharia snapped but Annabelle actually chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. A bit of payback for your teasing¡± That took the anger right out of her. She had pushed her a bit too far earlier. Her eyes saw the weapon disappear into thin air again. Tharia then gently covered the cage of the staff until Sisi¡¯s light was dimmed to a subtle glow. A strong flicker came out of the hole the weapon had left. ¡°Walled up it is. Sisi?¡± Tharia said and tapped against the staff. The sprite opened one of its eyes and sighed. ¡°Slavedriver¡± ¡°Always¡± With that, Tharia took a step back and then traced the staff along the wall. Golden dust came out of it while she traced a rectangle that ended just above the grate. After they both took cover behind one of the large pillars, Sisi rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. A bright flash momentarily blinded them and then revealed the place behind the wall. Tharia walked closer to the edge and looked through the hole. ¡°Uhm, let me guess, the essence is all the way down there?¡± Down there meant the several kilometer large caves that had opened up in front of them. Even though Sisi could only light a short way, just by the way sound traveled, it was obvious this place was large. A stone bridge with no handlebars on either side led away from the hole, indicating that it really had been walled up. Tharia took a careful step onto the bridge and tested it with the staff first. ¡°Looks stable enough to... okay why don¡¯t you just walk ahead. That works too¡± Her grumbling reached the back of Annabelle that had simply stepped out onto the bridge. Tharia quickly followed while fighting down the slight panic in her stomach. The cistern they had come from was part of a larger underground catacomb. Snaking pathways lead up and down, they winded around large pillars. When they got close to one, Tharia lighted the staff close and saw rows upon rows of skulls neatly placed in long rows. ¡°Do you think Valarn has a fetish for burying things? First an entire part of the city, now just about everyone from however long ago they died. If all these pillars have skulls, the sheer amount of dead people must have... I can¡¯t count that high¡± ¡°Lots of secrets¡±, Annabelle said in reply and Tharia nodded in confirmation. Their steps echoed throughout the large catacomb. Occasional drips of water and far away sounds indicated they weren¡¯t alone. This far up though, there was no one else. Not even the monks and their dead baby monster. They approached what looked like a large bowl held up by four pairs of hands. Each of the fingers was several meters in width. ¡°You know Annie, this looks like the perfect place for hideous traps. Swing blade, pits with spikes, explosive...¡± For the first time, Sisi and Annabelle both told her in quite clear words, ¡°Shut up, don¡¯t jinx it.¡± Tharia closed her mouth shut and put on a pouting expression. It really did. If she were to build a large building like this, there¡¯d be traps everywhere. For example, stepping into the bowl would need a complicated balance of weight to not trigger a flame trap. Tharia glanced up with a skeptical look. There was nothing in range. So it wasn¡¯t a flame trap. Perhaps it opened up underground ¨C but the ground looked solid. Even when they had reached the center of the stone bowl, Tharia still expected traps. A massive ball of stone would crush them right about now. Worse, when she heard a clicking noise underneath her foot, she jumped back in instinct. Annabelle, however, grabbed her by the collar and dragged her along. ¡°I¡¯m just saying I would put traps here. It¡¯s perfect. We can¡¯t really run away and with how dark it is, they could be heading up on some archery towers and pelt away.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing here but dust¡±, Annabelle said and pointed towards the stone below. Tharia nodded and then knelt down to pick up a handful of dust. This felt quite familiar. She let the dust run through her hand and suddenly froze. ¡°Annie¡±, she said. ¡°No more talk about traps!¡± Annabelle demanded. Tharia spoke anyway. ¡°Don¡¯t cause any sparks. This ain¡¯t dust. We¡¯re standing in a bowl of black powder. And listen¡± When they both fell silent, they hurt a silent trickling sound. More and more black powder collected in the bowls. Loud shouts suddenly echoed through the catacomb and three nearby structures suddenly lit up by the light of torches. Priests stood on wooden archery towers. At the same time, the bridge to either side of the bowl suddenly turned away as if moved by giants. They were trapped. She looked up at the priests and saw them use the weirdest bow technique where they drew back the string of a burning arrow with their tongue. Burning. Arrow. ¡°Annie, deflect any and all fire. If even one hits the bowl, we¡¯re done. Sisi, can you get out and take them down?¡± The sprite yawned, then looked down and suddenly opened its eyes wide. ¡°You jinxed it!¡± ¡°Not now!¡± Tharia shouted and gave the staff a shake. The sprite quickly left and with it disappeared what little light they had. After but a few meters, the fire elemental dimmed its flames further until it was barely visible. The only thing they saw were the lit up towers and the priests with their fire arrows. Anticipation took hold of Tharia. How in the god cursed world would they deflect burning arrows in a field of black powder? One priest suddenly raised the bow and let loose just one such arrow. It described a perfect arc to splash directly at the center where they stood. ¡°Oh damn it¡±, Tharia said, dumbstruck. Should she try to bat it away? This might cause sparks too, besides, the arrow would just fall down a few meters to the side and still send them flying in gibs. She saw the shadow of Annabelle leap up, no summoned weapon was in her hands, safe for those golden gloves and something Tharia could only make out once the arrow was closer. It was the scarf. The goddess somehow caught the arrow with the overly large cloth and then proceeded to suffocate the flame from oxygen deprivation. A brave act and a one in a million chance to pull off. Still, trying was better than just holding still and dying. Tharia unwound the scarf and then held it like a net. Her eyes darted back and forth between the three archery towers. What was Sisi doing? She should be acting by now. Yet the sprite was nowhere to be seen. Two priests pulled up their arrows and took aim. One arrow, they had managed to stop by sheer stubborn idiocy. Two would spell their doom. Flames licked along their shafts and with a singing ping, the two arrows were let loose. Tharia held her breath. Not good. Panic. She dashed towards one of the arrows and opened her scarf wide. Imagining it like a butterfly she wanted to catch in a net, she waved the scarf towards the arrow and felt something impact the cloth. The arrow was remarkably stopped before it could hit the ground. Those were the good news. The bad one was that it took a detour through her shoulder, because really, a normal human is too slow to catch an arrow otherwise. Annabelle, on the other hand, batted away the second arrow with an inhumanly fast swing of the Scythe. Still, this merely altered the course of the arrow and it got stuck in a bit of stone not too far away. The Blackpowder hadn¡¯t filled up that far yet, but it was getting dangerously close. ¡°I¡¯ve got this¡±, Tharia shouted and ran towards the arrow. She blinked for a moment and suddenly saw Annabelle throw the arrow over the edge. Tharia¡¯s vision was strangely tilted. A loud explosion came from below and all three towers collapsed at the same time. Sisi¡¯s triumphant scream echoed up from where the makeshift towers had been. Tharia blinked again. Why was she lying on the ground? The arrow. Aye, best pull it out. ¡°One shouldn¡¯t pull the arrow out. It could lead to a bleed out¡±, Tharia heard someone say. It sounded quite a bit like herself. Of course, she wouldn¡¯t listen to such a person. Her hands reached for the back of the arrow and pulled until sudden blackness swallowed up her consciousness. Annabelle knelt on the ground with a fire elemental hovering several meters above. She barely heard the fire elemental chastise her. Tharia lay down on the ground in a pool of blood. Her face was deathly pale, even though the spark had finally closed the arrow wound after the idiot pulled out the arrow herself. The goddess rested a hand on Tharia¡¯s forehead. Intense heat radiated out from her. ¡°That¡¯s on you¡±, the fire elemental said and then shrunk down to hand-size, ¡°She¡¯s alive for now. But she really, absolutely needs rest. Yet it¡¯s your stubborn arse that forced her out on this adventure. The girl is madly in love with you to the point she is obsessed with doing right by you. So it¡¯s your responsibility to see whether she can actually keep up.¡± Annabelle let her shoulders hang. The sprite had a point. It was easy to forget just how frail Tharia could be. Especially after weeks of pushing on. They should have rested a bit longer. ¡°We can¡¯t get back up from here¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°So now you¡¯re willing to listen? There indeed is no way out but forward and she can¡¯t keep going the way she is. You can leave her behind and she¡¯ll die soon. Or you carry her along and you both die in some ambush¡±, the sprite said with a matter of fact tone to her voice. It then floated down and sat on Tharia¡¯s shoulder. Annabelle grit her teeth. Her insides hurt, she had killed her love again. This time through neglect. ¡°Oh can you stop moping already? You will do two things¡±, the sprite said and then floated close to Annabelle¡¯s face. The tiny eyes fixed her gaze. ¡°You will ask me for help. You will give me part of your essence¡± ¡°And then?¡± Annabelle asked. ¡°We merge. It will bring very ugly memories for both of us, your fairy and me. But I¡¯ve done it before, I know her body inside out. I can consciously repair it with the essence you give me, much more efficiently than the spark. In the meantime, her body will follow you but it will be me inside. Don¡¯t expect any fighting from me either¡± Annabelle took a closer look at the sprite and then nodded. However, the elemental did nothing. ¡°Yes I agree¡±, Annabelle emphasized. ¡°Uh-uh. I want to see you beg for it¡± ¡°Tharia is dying, gods be cursed¡±, Annabelle growled. She pulled back her lips into a snarl. ¡°And so is my pride. I¡¯m risking everything for this, including what makes me myself. So the only thing I ask is that you bloody beg for it¡± The goddess stared at the sprite and then got down on all fours. She lowered her head to the ground and spoke the words with an unusual clarity for her. ¡°Please save my Tharia, I beg of you¡± In response, the elemental clapped its hands. ¡°Ain¡¯t that grand? Good enough. It¡¯ll be interesting to have a living body again¡± Somehow, this sounded ominous to Annabelle, but at that moment, she only cared about getting Tharia back on her feet. The process of essence extraction was quick, even though it included a kiss with what was for all intents and purposes a living flame. It made Annabelle feel dirty inside. Moments later, the elemental started hovering just above Tharia and then vanished inside of the human girl. The body suddenly shot up. ¡°Why are you kissing other girls?¡± the body of Tharia said with wide open eyes, yet the tone sounded strange. It was as if someone had no idea how to operate vocal cords. Annabelle frowned as she realized it was Sisi talking through the mouth of her beloved fairy. ¡°Oh man, your face. This was so worth it already¡±, Sisi made Tharia say and then grinned. Annabelle clenched her fists. She only stopped when she realized sparks emitted from her gloves. Needs must, but this was a situation she struggled to come to terms with. Her eyes burned holes through Tharia, yet the human girl stood up easily and brushed off her clothes. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with. Oh hoh, let me just say, your aura of lust is quite something else. It¡¯s like I¡¯m basking in an ocean of impulses and urges¡±, the sprite commented and Tharia¡¯s body shuddered. ¡°Shut it.¡± ¡°This is going to be fun¡±, Sisi said and rubbed the hands of the possessed body. End: Church of the apostate faith | Coming up: Matters of faith 26 - Matters of faith

Apostate Catacombs

District of Profaners, Third Ring

Annabelle stood at the edge of the massive stone bowl. The problems kept piling on but she had no way to immediately solve them. One of the prime issues was Tharia. Her body wasn¡¯t in good condition at the best of days. Sure, the human girl kept fit despite her disability but her range of motion was limited. Now, with a slightly deranged elemental in control, every movement looked awkward. ¡°Do you think she¡¯ll need her liver? It¡¯s kinda in the way¡±, Sisi said, using Tharia''s mouth. The goddess didn¡¯t react. Everything the elemental did was meant to demean, provoke and taunt. It was best to not feed into it. The current state of the elemental, however, brought her to their second problem. Light. Sisi had been their light source. Without it, the remaining illumination came from the burning archery towers and there wasn¡¯t much left of them. Her third problem was the lack of a way forward. Which is why she now stood at the edge of the bowl. Before the trap had sprung, two ways had led to and away from the bowl. Both had spiraled away with an unseen mechanism. She could probably make the jump. Barely. But Tharia was out and it would have to be a jump into darkness. Annabelle sighed. ¡°Can you scout for the mechanism?¡± ¡°No can do. I had to supplement some organs with divine energy. This body is a mess throughout. How often does one person normally break their bones?¡± Sisi said. It still felt strange to hear Tharia¡¯s voice without it actually being her. The strange intonation and different inflection made the difference obvious. Annabelle looked back at the ledge. Tharia would know a way. It would be something utterly insane like just jumping over the edge and then finding the mechanism. The goddess took a deep breath, paced back a couple of steps and then pushed herself forward with all her strength. One step, two steps ¨C and she leaped forward. Kinetic momentum launched her over the edge. Her body described a graceful arc over the pit, with a not so graceful landing. She had misjudged her target in the dark. Her right foot landed safely on the stone but her left foot treaded air. Tumbling forward in complete darkness, she could do nothing but try and hold onto something. Anything. Her fingers caught the edge of stone in the nick of time. She quivered under the impact and suddenly realized she had another source of light. Energy pulsed into the gloves and emitted as tiny golden sparks. It wasn¡¯t a lot of light, just enough to see the ugly grimace of a priest just above her. It somehow managed to grin, despite having no lower jaw. Something long lashed out of the dark and struck her across her arm. Luckily, her armor prevented deeper damage. The tongue quivered back up. She quickly grabbed onto the ledge with her other hand and used the imbued strength to climb up while the priest recovered. However, it was only when she reached the top, that she realized it was another trap. The priest suddenly lashed his tongue again. Annabelle risked it by taking the hit on her gloved hand. She wrapped her fingers around the tongue and held on. ¡°Got you¡±, Annabelle said. The sudden laughter of Sisi, using Tharia''s voice, rang up from the bowl some distance away. ¡°I know that one!¡± In confusion, the goddess locked her gaze on the priest and suddenly noticed a collection of small pots wrapped around his robe. A fuse was merrily burning away. She quickly crushed the tip of the tongue and then stepped into a medium-high kick against the priest. He had a manic look on his face as he prayed to whatever of his made up apostate gods would listen. The priest disappeared over the edge, yet just as Annabelle considered herself safe, the midsection of the tongue wrapped around her leg. She smacked onto the stone and found herself dragged closer to the edge. Her golden gloves dug into the stone, crunching it underneath her amplified strength but sheer weight and momentum dragged her ever closer. A sudden explosion shook the foundation and the drag on her leg stopped. When the goddess pulled herself back up, nothing of the priest remained but a charred tongue. ¡°He missed some comedic timing there¡±, Sisi commented. The sprite had made Tharia sit down with crossed legs. It looked like it was really enjoying the show. ¡°Well if you¡¯re lucky the mechanism still works. Just saw it right about there. Oh right, pointing won''t help since you can¡¯t see in the dark¡± Cheeky laughter followed. ¡°It¡¯s close by, you¡¯ll find it, love¡± Annabelle took another deep breath. Sisi had a way to get under her skin. Tharia would probably joke about how literal that was. She already missed her little insane daredevil. With a pang of melancholy, the goddess turned around and then concentrated on summoning the Scythe. As was usual, a golden eruption of light appeared out of thin air. It gave her a bit of light at best, much less than the charged gloves did. So the only thing she could do was to crouch down close enough to the ground, then focus energy into her gloves and light the path. All while probably dozens of mad exploding priests lingered around her. She paced along the stone in a crouched manner, keeping her eyes open. This side had started with a bridge connection too but quickly widened into a platform. There were pedestals without anything on them and a pile of rucksacks. They smelled like Tharia''s bags had smelled early on in their travels, so Annabelle just assumed they were more black powder. She continued with nothing but her gloves to light the way when she suddenly found a staircase leading up and down. It had actual handlebars this time too. ¡°Getting warmer¡±, Sisi shouted. Somehow, using Tharia''s voice with a squeaking inflection drove the goddess mad with anger. Still, she told herself, this would give her love a much needed break. Annabelle then walked down the stairs until she felt oddly warm. ¡°Much warmer¡±, Sisi screamed, followed by a chuckle. Getting a sudden sinking feeling, Annabelle looked over the edge and gazed directly into a blazing inferno below. She clenched her fists. The sprite had played another trick on her. Somehow, the elemental must have seen her from the distance away as she rolled around laughing. The goddess could do nothing but endure the ridicule. ¡°Oh, you meant the mechanism. It¡¯s the other way¡± Pushing air out of her lungs and counting up to twenty-three, Annabelle turned around and walked back upstairs. She passed the platform a second time and continued just a small bit until she entered a room that was closed off on all sides. The subtle glow from her gloves gifted her just enough light to make out the various shapes inside. It looked like an assortment of levers, gears and metallic chains. She also noticed something else, there was no way the sprite had seen this during the short explosion. Gritting her teeth, Annabelle looked for a central lever of sorts. She found one near a window and then, all or nothing, she jammed it forward. Rumbling ran through the ground underneath as the platform below suddenly started turning. It did so a for a good while until it suddenly locked in place with a strong vibration underneath her feet. When Annabelle turned around, she nearly struck out in reflex. Tharia stood there with crossed arms and a smug grin. ¡°Hey. Looking to kill your love again, aren¡¯t you?¡± Sisi said, ¡°Your girl is struggling splendidly with her fear¡± ¡°I know¡±, was all that Annabelle could say. How could she not? She had seen her shy away and noticed the fear in the eyes. Worse, whenever she gave her mind a moment to linger, she saw hundreds of faces twisted in agony and despair. She shook her head, then prodded Tharia.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°You will keep her safe or... ¡°Or what?¡± Sisi snapped and then showed an even broader grin, ¡°The best part about seeking death is that nothing can threaten you. But fret not, this girl will be alive in the end. Wanna know why?¡± Not waiting for an answer, the body of Tharia held up an arm and pulled back the light armor there, showing Annabelle a bit of skin. Plant images had wrapped their way around the wrist and the part of the forearm that the goddess could see. ¡°She¡¯s marked. You will lose the current her, you know? This contract can never be broken, only shaped. I¡¯m not as good at prediction as dearest Mother Bone, but it¡¯s obvious to see, that unless you two fix your mess... well, she¡¯ll be good at her job at least.¡± Annabelle pursed her lips in a gesture she had learned to mimic from Tharia. She didn¡¯t know all the implications of it, but at the moment it communicated her frustration and restlessness perfectly. At least in her mind. Annabelle realized a certain irony in that she imitated Tharia which was now controlled by Sisi that imitated Tharia. ¡°And what is that?¡± Annabelle said to get the conversation back on track. ¡°Knowing might damage your relationship forever¡±, Sisi said with a sudden bout of seriousness. ¡°Tell me!¡± Sisi shrugged the shoulders, it almost looked like the real gesture, before grinning. ¡°Nah, not telling. You might tell Tharia and we both know how unstable that girl is. Besides, you¡¯ve got other problems. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s getting warmer? Maybe a wee bit of inferno down below, yeah?¡± Annabelle grabbed Tharia''s hand and then rushed down the stairs. With how angry she currently was, it was better to not speak at all. Any word might show Sisi just how much the sprite had gotten under her skin already. When she reached the platform, she hesitated. The discarded bags of black powder would go up and take half the structure with them. Time took away her choice. Another rumble ran through the ground and everything suddenly tilted. The entire stone construction shifted to the side and Annabelle found herself flat on her bum, racing towards the black pit. Tharia''s body, naturally, squealed in joy. The goddess tried to twist her body to the side and then clenched her fist into the stone. Divine empowered strength made it easy to hold onto the flat surface by crunching a hole into it. With her other hand, she snatched up the sliding Tharia and then could do nothing but wait. The surface tilted further until everything toppled down. First, she felt no weight at all. It came back a second later. She held on for dear life, one hand clawed into the stone that had now swiveled above her and the other hand held onto Tharia''s body. The whimpering made it obvious she used too much strength, as did the crunching of bones. Yet there was no nuance with these gloves. It was either that or falling to their death. A sudden impact marked the end of the fall, she noticed a faint light of fire underneath, a whole pyramid structure was laid out with several kilometers in length. The platform she hung onto was part of a stone archway that had now lodged straight into the pyramid. ¡°You know¡±, Sisi began talking, ¡°You really hate her left arm, don¡¯t you? First, you bite it off at the shoulder, then you crush the bones to dust. Do you have any idea how much it will take to heal what you¡¯ve done?¡± That was it. Too much. Annabelle, while holding on for dear life, felt tears run down her cheeks. It was rare for her to show emotions this openly, but she couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. Subconsciously, she simply clamped down on her hold. The divine essence made sure there was enough strength to do it safely. Still, she was stuck up here with all of her failings crashing down on her. ¡°Oh crap¡±, the sprite then said, ¡°look I was pulling your leg. See, I can do it, literally¡± Annabelle felt something pull on her leg. It wasn¡¯t helping her mood. ¡°You¡¯re not having a breakdown while hanging on a ledge of certain doom, are you? Listen, the hand is alright, just slightly fractured. Oh come on you broken girls of self-destructive doom, gods cursed idiots. Pull me up to your waist. I¡¯ll hold on and you move us to the pyramid. Stop whining, start acting¡± The goddess looked down through tear-blurred eyes and saw Sisi use the seemingly broken hand to wave at her. She clenched her teeth in response. The elemental had gotten her. ¡°When we survive this, I¡¯m going to drag you out and torture you¡±, she said with a snarl. Sisi let the face of Tharia show a beaming smile. ¡°So you do know my kinks. The part of Tharia that¡¯s here actually agrees as well. I think, or is that... nope, not agreeing. Uh, please move forward, I think she wants me to let go.¡± Annabelle, fed up with the elemental, pulled Tharia¡¯s body up to her waist and then felt two arms lock around her. She then used her second hand to punch a hole into the stone above. Using her magically enhanced grabbing power, she then moved towards the ominous pyramid, one hole at a time. All that time, Sisi remained silent, while Annabelle forced down the tumult inside. Another perk picked up from her love. Yet each punch forward, she saw another one of her fairy¡¯s masks of death in front of her mind¡¯s eye. The Dreamreaper had been rather creative in his visions of death and they all were burned into her thoughts. When she finally reached the slope of the giant pyramid, she first let down Tharia¡¯s body and then jumped down as well. She was mentally exhausted. Once down and with a moment of respite, Annabelle hid her face behind her hands and grew quiet. ¡°Alright, there¡¯s no enemy around as far as I can feel, so I¡¯ll tell you¡±, the sprite said, ¡°About Mother Bone. Each god has a domain, right? Well, so do old ones. You can attest to that. But while the power of a god is mostly mimicry, the old ones are forces of nature itself.¡± The goddess kept her face hidden away. This wasn¡¯t who she wanted to be. She needed to be strong for her love but right now, all those images of constant death in her mind had worn down her defenses. Sisi continued the monologue in the meantime. ¡°The way you live and feel shapes how these concepts manifest in the world. Once you¡¯re at the top, Annabelle, when you lust after this sweet body, the world over will need to feed a lot of new mouths nine months later. Yet when you decide to abstain, mankind might die out from lack of children. Following me so far?¡± Annabelle sighed, ¡°I¡¯ve got a whole lot of creepy stalkers that screw around when I do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one way of looking at it. Quite apt really. Do you like being watched... damn it¡±, Sisi began and cut her sentence off in the middle, before shifting her tone. ¡°She has a strong urge to tease you. It¡¯s too close to my kink for sadism. Talking about which, Mother Bone is the embodiment of all things that end¡±, Sisi said with a shiver to its voice. The sprite ran a hand through the hair just like Tharia often did. ¡°This merge is quicker than I thought. Alright. Short notes, if we can fix her mind by the time she picks up the role, this world will join a healthy cycle of birth and rebirth with you two doing it like rabbits, but if you fail, Mother Bone will come for all. Including you. And trust me. A force as old as that can¡¯t be beaten.¡± Annabelle took a deep breath and then uttered a single sentence, ¡°The power of love then?¡± ¡°No, you blasted idiot. Nothing like that. It¡¯s about healing scars as old as she is and as old as you are. Don¡¯t you realize? You¡¯re life, she is death, you¡¯re light, she is darkness. Wanna know why I¡¯m helping you ditzy prude sex maniacs?¡± The goddess lifted her head and pulled aside her silvery hair. She locked gaze with the sprite. ¡°Why is that?¡± Annabelle asked. ¡°Because you might just break this aeon long fixation on putting things back together. Accept, Heal, move on, let the past be gone. All things must end, you two must make them end the right way. Well, others could do it as well but they¡¯re busy powertripping¡±, the sprite said. They grew silent as they watched the rest of the burning platform tumble away into the darkness. Soon, they were sitting in near complete darkness. A subtle glow circled around Tharia, giving her an otherworldly appearance. ¡°You¡¯ll get her back¡±, Sisi said after a sideglance in Annabelle¡¯s direction. There was no mockery in that voice and the goddess nodded in appreciation. They remained like this for a while longer. After what felt like a small eternity, Tharia¡¯s body got up from the ground and stretched. ¡°So, are you good now? Did you stop crying? Because it¡¯s hard to resist the urge to punch myself. Tharia is fuming inside but these things needed to be said. Yes, they did, stop trying to punch yourself when I¡¯m healing you. Gods below and buried six feet under, Annabelle, can you hold the hands while I go and talk to this idiot inside?¡± Annabelle shook her head and left the sprite to its struggle with Tharia. She turned around and let her eyes wander. Now that they had spent a while in complete darkness, she started to make out shadowy shapes. What she first assumed to be a simple pyramid, had more distinct forms now. The top ended in a wide-open platform with massive hands reaching up towards something in the dark. On the other hand, the ground below showed a garden of statues. Various statues of beasts threatened the pyramid itself while a single statue of an imposing figure stood with a shield and a hooked staff. ¡°Ouch, stop it you damned...¡± Realizing Sisi was still busy, Annabelle sighed again. She was feeling better now. Not good, but better. All this talk about duty, world this and end of days that had made her realize that at the end of days, she didn¡¯t give a single fuck about any of this. All that mattered to her was the girl that was currently punching herself - or the sprite within, maybe both. Yeah, she was an odd one but that made her special to Annabelle. ¡°The world can fuck right off¡±, Annabelle said out loud. ¡°Uh, Tharia agrees¡±, Sisi added, seemingly out of breath. Annabelle watched her for a bit, then showed a subtle smile, ¡°If you two are done, can we get back to killing Luciano and his cult of naysayers please?¡± End: Matters of faith | Coming up: Hold your tongue! 27 - Hold your tongue!

Apostate Catacombs

District of Profaners, Third Ring

Annabelle carefully stabilized her posture on the pyramid slope and squinted her eyes. Realistically, she saw three entrances into the pyramid. One was on top, bound to be filled with mad cultists in an easily defensible position and they would need to scale the odd hand construction as well. The bottom entrance was a fair way off and by the time they got down, it would also swarm with tongue monks. That only left the third option: A hole in the pyramid. I looked conspicuously like an entire staircase had fallen through just moments prior. Just when she approached the impromptu entrance, she felt a sudden shiver run down her spine. Hunger. Intense, unreasonable hunger. The sensation confused her since she was clearly satiated. She turned to look at Sisi in the body of Tharia. ¡°You¡¯re feeling it too?¡± Annabelle asked. ¡°Feels like a godbeast. Something that starved for a long time¡±, Sisi said and then suddenly rubbed the nose, followed by a loud sneeze. ¡°Health and longevity¡±, Annabelle said in reflex, ¡°Wait, Tharia shouldn¡¯t be able to catch a cold.¡± ¡°Aye, right you are¡±, Sisi replied and raised a hand, ¡°But let me tell you, noses are surprisingly complex to repair. When did she get her nose broken again? We need to get this girl some books on self-preservation but she¡¯d probably use them to hit herself again¡± Annabelle sighed in response. The sprite was pulling her leg again. She spun around on the spot and felt her long hair sway with delayed motion. Her feet scaled up the flat slope and then brought her to the edge of the hole. Nothing much remained of the staircase, it had punched clean through several interior levels and had by now dissipated into random piles of rubble and dust. They would need to jump the remaining bit but luckily it was a distance even a child could manage. Still, Annabelle gave Tharia and Sisi a sign and then hopped inside. While falling down, she summoned the Scythe. She landed with a quiet thud, feathered her fall and immediately went on the attack. Her weapon struck out into the darkness on sheer instinct alone. The blade whirred forward with a metallic sing but all it cut was air. That was odd, she could have sworn something had been there. An uncomfortable sensation of being watched took hold of her and when she heard another thud behind her, she whirled around ready to strike, only to see Sisi hold up hands in defense. ¡°This is really becoming a habit¡±, Sisi began with a grin. The goddess raised a hand, ¡°It¡¯s okay to prank and tease me, but I beg of you, don¡¯t keep on opening scars that haven¡¯t all healed yet.¡± ¡°Understood. Everything else is fine then? Do you know just how much you¡¯re a menace while asleep? I had no idea¡±, Sisi said with the mouth of Tharia. A short moment of silence followed in which Annabelle once more examined her surroundings. Her eyes noticed subtle light coming from deeper inside. It was enough light to make out the collection of sleeping quarters to either side. The rooms closest to her looked quite poor. A row of beds with chests in front of them. She heard a sudden whimper from behind. More nonsense from Sisi. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Won¡¯t happen again. I will neither tell nor tease about your desire to... ouch¡±, Sisi began talking and when Annabelle looked over her shoulder, a new hand-sized imprint started to glow on Tharia¡¯s cheek. ¡°Internal monologue?¡± Sisi said with an apologetic shrug of her shoulders. This was becoming absurd and Annabelle would have none of it. She grabbed the handle of her Scythe and focussed on the light ahead. She hadn¡¯t gone two steps when the weapon suddenly cracked underneath her fingers. With confusion, she realized the golden glow of the gloves. Bloody absurd. Sighing, she resummoned the weapon intact while dismissing the gloves. After their mad power rush, she felt weak and exhausted, but maybe this would ground her again. She followed the corridor towards the light while using the Scythe as a way to keep distance between herself and anything that might jump her from the dark. Only eerie quietness was around her. She had expected the hustle and buzz of a temple or signs of living. For all purposes, this was the underground living space for the profaners. Yet all she got was quiet and a strange mixture between her lover and an insane sprite that were in a constant argument with each other. This was made worse by only hearing one side of it. Once again, she felt watched. Scratching noises came from within the wall. For a second, part of the wall in front of her moved on its own. Annabelle hacked the blade of the scythe into it without hesitation ¨C yet only ended up scratching stone. To her ear, the scratching noises sounded like laughter. On edge, Annabelle had to struggle with her jumpy instincts. In the end, Tharia had been right. She had needed more time to recover. The body had healed but her mind was cracked. The corridor opened up into a large space that stretched all the way from the bottom to the top. Inside, the pyramid was actually hollow. Annabelle counted twelve levels in total, clusters of living quarters like the one she had passed, were built into the walls while a central black spiral connected all of it. Her first big surprise was at the bottom. She saw an actual fungus field filled with neglected farm animals. Down below seemed to be the realm of the weird over-sized baby creatures. Once Annabelle looked into their pitch black eyes, she stopped referring to them as babies and instead went for whys. Mostly from her impulse to shout why do these exist? It was little consolation that they were far below them and even if they would run on their stubble legs, they would not get up to them in a long while. Annabelle shook her head and stepped onto the spiral. Sudden pangs of intense hunger made her stumble. The goddess groaned and held her stomach while the world twisted and spun around her. Then, it all stopped. Annabelle reached inside and attuned to the essences. There was one very close, just a bit above her. Yet that second, something odd happened. Fluctuations of energy reached out to her and then, one of the essences disappeared entirely. Competition. Annabelle took a deep breath and then quickened her pace. She heard a groan up ahead and focussed her attention. Her heartbeat quickened and her senses grew sharp. She stepped around the bend and saw a monk stand in the middle of the spiral. Yet before she could strike, the body suddenly lifted off the ground. The long tongue had wrapped around the neck of the priest and then strung him up to the ceiling. Kicking and thrashing, the body quickly lost strength. Right before her eyes, she saw the inside of the body sucked out through the tongue and fed into the spiral itself. Feeling a sudden and renewed disgust for the spiral, she now focussed her weapon on the stairs. The ground shuddered and the spiral suddenly curled underneath her. She noticed the various levels of the pyramid buzz by as she was dragged up. What she had assumed to be a staircase turned out to be a massive tongue. One that had just sucked dry a monster. Her ears picked up a crunching sound, the remains of the monk before her were smashed by two folds of the leathery spiral. When the ground underneath her started to curl up as well, she quickly grabbed Tharia and then took in her surroundings. They had passed the highest platform, there was Luciano. It would be a nasty plunge, still better than being swallowed or crushed. She dashed over the edge and smacked onto the ground. All in all, the fall had proven less bad than expected. She had pulled a muscle while covering Tharia¡¯s body during the impact. ¡°Lucky you can heal¡±, Annabelle said, breathless. Sisi rolled off Annabelle and then shrugged the shoulders. Using the staff, the sprite got the girl back on the legs. ¡°About that. All hands on deck, neither healing nor fighting before this girl is in any shape functional again¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind¡±, Annabelle said flatly. She wasn¡¯t angry or disappointed. This was a good reason and she had become too reliant on the healing magic. Getting onto her legs proved challenging with the limited range of motion but the pain was nothing in comparison to what she had suffered in the past. Just power through. Once back on her feet, she examined her surroundings. Not much time had passed. The writhing appendage disappeared into an amorphous shape of writhing flesh. One tongue hung down from it and was connected to the neck of a man some distance away.

Pinnacle of Profanity

District of Profaners, Third Ring

This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Luciano¡±, Annabelle said. The man opened his eyes. While his lower half was covered up in a several meter large cone of clothes, his torso was bare. Scars ran along his skin, some devotional, most punishment. In contrast with his flock, the man still had his jaw. ¡°The demon approaches¡±, he answered with a low baritone voice and spread his arms, ¡°The world has begun its decline since last we met. How has your near-death treated you?¡± Annabelle clenched her fist around the weapon and quickened her pace. The man made no attempt to move. He just remained in the center of the platform, eyeing her motions with a self-satisfied smugness. ¡°Such perverted bloodlust I feel from you¡±, the man said and licked his lips, ¡°Ah how I have missed it. Glorious bliss. Did you know that only you were supposed to fall, demon? Yet you infected us with a burning hatred that would not stop until all were dead.¡± The goddess had quickened her pace. Not a single emotion showed on her face and her voice was flat. ¡°Why did you do it? Why convince the others to kill me?¡± ¡°Because your kind is an abomination many centuries old! Be honored, you were to be the first and you aided us in getting rid of the evil that plagues this world! Now, finish it! You made me into yet another demon. Let¡¯s fight, one way or another, a demon dies tonight¡± Annabelle had reached the cone of clothing. Ruffle fabric reached up in waves of beautiful and intrinsic motives. She¡¯d find this beautiful if not for the half-naked man in the middle. Rage pulsed out of her and when she looked back to Tharia, the small girl was hunched over and held her head. Her lust had indeed reached out. Yet this wasn¡¯t supposed to be a fest of rage and murder but a conscious decision. She gathered her senses, calmed her pulse and felt the essence in front of her flicker and dance with anticipation. ¡°Death, you shall have¡±, Annabelle declared. This was the right mindset. Not emotion would govern her but a rational choice. Clarity of mind led to purpose. Mortality was underlined as the stepped forward and whirled her Scythe into his body in a motion almost too quick to see. ¡°Even now, you...¡±, the head of the profaner cult began to taunt her ¨C yet the words never finished. His body convulsed and Annabelle pulled out the blade with an abrupt motion of her hands. Instincts told her this wasn¡¯t the end however and it was right to doubt it. Luciano suddenly popped back up but there was no life within him anymore. A writhing mess of meat unfurled within him. His body lifted up and revealed a whole nest of them. He had no legs anymore, his body was nothing but a puppet for the creature above. Another pang of hunger made Annabelle¡¯s vision blur. She felt the essence drain from Luciano. It spread along the creature above her. Getting a sinking feeling, Annabelle slowly turned around and looked at an oversized ball of shivering skin and meat. The creature floated in the air and unfurled twelve of its fleshy appendages. They spread out like a fan and then smashed down onto the platform below. She only dodged it by a hair¡¯s breadth. She ran alongside the tongue and dragged her scythe through the leathery skin. The massive creature shivered in response but didn¡¯t seem too fazed when a second and a third slashed after Annabelle. She jumped onto the first and failing to maintain her balance, got struck by the third. It punted her through the air. While flying, Annabelle quickly let go of the scythe. The impact was much softer than expected when she landed on another patch of flesh. This was a curse and a blessing, as the ground under her curled up around and quickly worked to wrap her inside. Annabelle summoned the gloves and war-fans in quick succession. She then whirled on the spot while holding out both arms. The razor sharp blades of the weapons were amplified by the strength of the gloves and cut the tongue-folds apart. Yet that was all the punishment the summoned weapons could take. Both war-fans cracked under the pressure of the gloves. It mattered little, Annabelle grabbed onto the leathery surface and tore apart the hole her attack had opened. She stepped out of the tongue-folds to a curious sight. The beast looked weak, it wasn¡¯t floating but rather resting on the strange hand statues of the pyramid. ¡°The Godbeast is not quite awake yet¡±, Sisi commented. It took Annabelle a while to realize that the sprite had moved the human girl as far away as possible. She was grateful for it. With her attention back on the Godbeast, she decided to do as much damage as she could before it woke up entirely. She resummoned one of the war-fans, pushed together the arms and then began spinning the weapon with her wrist. The drag gained from using the gloves for this made her stumble and when she finally let go, the weapon was wildly off course. It still punched through two layers of skin. The Godbeast started to stir and Annabelle made a quick and ever so slightly insane decision. She jumped onto the biggest tongue and darted along its length. While running, she brought out both of the war-fans again. They had the biggest success so far. Soon, the tongue lifted off the ground and Annabelle was raised along with them. The folds started to curl in another attempt to crush her, this time, she was prepared. A half spin later and one of the war-fans let out a metallic sing as air and flesh were cut apart. Annabelle forced herself through the fold and once she was through, she whirled around again and let the second war-fan cut along the entire length. This got the attention of the Godbeast. The leathery organ bucked and the goddess lost her footing. She fell on her bum and had to scurry back on her feet just in time to be struck by a whipping attack she hadn¡¯t seen coming. Again, she was sent flying. So much worse than just pulling a muscle, she thought as she skittered across the cold stone floor. More tongues lashed out and crashed into the places she had been seconds before. This was enough motivation to get on her feet. Exhaustion started to set in. She made a quick check of herself. Some contusions and bruises, a pulled muscle that barely hurt anymore because everything else did. Nothing serious yet but that could change quickly. One last moment of focus, she sidestepped another massive tongue lashing out at the platform below her feet. Stone crumbled away underneath her, giving her a sudden idea. Instead of aiming for the beast, she ran for one of the statue hands that held the creature. Each step of the way she had to dodge more of the swishing attacks. Whether it was her aura of bloodlust that made the thing frenzy or it was naturally enraged, its movements got less coordinated and more rampant. Another impact took away the floor in front of her. Annabelle was too fast to stop, so she lowered herself for a jump. Yet when she pushed herself off, the pulled muscle came back with a vengeance. Unable to fully utilize it, the jump fell short and she found herself tumbling down through the hole. She moved her shoulders to affect her trajectory directly into the tip of the tongue. It feathered her impact with the added bonus that she had something to hold onto. Her golden gloves crunched down on the skin, the flesh convulsed and she suddenly found herself back up again, high above the platform without any ground under her feet. This time, the impact would be gnarly. Panic set in as the ground rushed closer. No time to think. She brought the war-fans back into her hands and swung them in an act of desperation. The first one buzzed past the hand pedestal and the second clipped one of the tongues without doing much damage. Annabelle cursed. This would be the perfect time for last-second rescues and ideas. She had none. The impact smashed her flat on the ground and let her skitter along the stone. It took the wind out of her lungs, her vision was momentarily blurred. She had felt worse, her mind had seen worse but knowing these things didn¡¯t make it any better. Annabelle had to move, now. Yet her body was sluggish and reeling from the impact. She got on her knees but the world would just spin around her. Nothing seemed broken at least. Yet it was too much. Struggling, she reached for the essence inside of herself and tried to pull power from within. Anything would do. She noticed the shadow of a tongue approach. It hovered above her and then moved in for the kill. Just a moment was all she needed. Dying here was not acceptable, she had so many things to do, so many desires to fulfil. Yet that moment of letting her mind wander brought about a sudden change. One second, she had collapsed back onto the stone, the next she fell into a soft cushioned bed. She was in what looked like a quarter of a room, lavish in fluffy cushions and soft colors. This strange cutout from reality frayed at the edges, where it connected with the real world beyond it. ¡°What in the fallen skies?¡± Annabelle groaned. She rolled around on the bed to try and dodge the impact by rolling away. Too late, it was right above her and ¨C disappeared once it touched the edges of the small room. It wasn¡¯t really gone, just in a different pocket of reality. Something had disjointed reality and put a projection on top of it, her whim rewrote it according to her whim. That whim somehow manifested as an overly comfy room that only missed a fluffy stuffed toy. All around: Absurdity. It took a brief second to set in and then she used a skill she gained from Tharia. Ignore it and move on. ¡°Well that changes things¡±, the goddess said. Her body recovered enough for her to get back up. Her weariness washed away. It didn¡¯t help with her pain but mended her spirits enough to get back into the fray. She then rolled her shoulders, took aim for the hand statue and ran back out of her domain. Her mouth was shaped into a beastly snarl, her teeth were shown to the world. Bloodlust pulsed through her veins as did the urge to destroy. She popped out of her domain and felt the cold world crush back on her shoulders. The hand statue was close and she was finally within range to punch her gloves straight through the stone. It crumbled to dust under her assault, the big creature did not dare strike her in this position, out of fear it would hit the statue itself. With a loud crack, the statue broke apart and the Godbeast smacked onto the already cracking platform. It let out a loud scream as the cracks widened. The beast desperately held onto the other hand statues for support. Annabelle intensified the grin on her face. Oddly enough, this overexerted her facial musculature and added to the ambient ache. Absurd. Bloody absolutely absurd. ¡°Let¡¯s play then¡±, she said and turned her attention towards the next hand statue. End: Hold your Tongue! | Coming up: Pinnacle of a Cult. 28 - Pinnacle of a Cult

Pinnacle of Profanity

District of Profaners, Third Ring

Annabelle came to a skittering stop just inches away from the oversized tongue laying down destruction on the ground. The top of the pyramid had taken a considerable beating. Large cracks ran through the platform, one of the hand statues was smashed to pieces and the ball of writhing tongues looked more like a half-molten slab of meat as it clung to the remaining three statues. She took in her surroundings, locked eyes with the second hand statue and then cheekily sprinted over the tongue. Having been hit from the side before, she was now much smarter about avoiding attacks from out of view. She suddenly ducked and slid across the floor as a large writhing mass of flesh zoomed past where her head had been. Just as she passed it, two things happened at once: Golden light settled into gloves on her hands and the long scythe appeared out of nowhere. With the blade pointing up, she hooked into the flesh and used it as an anchor to pivot her back up onto her feet. The goddess felt exhilarated. Somehow, this wasn¡¯t battle anymore, it was pleasure. Once her feet touched the ground, she let go of the scythe and continued on her path. She gained a good bit of distance when the writhing tongue nest suddenly slammed down several long shivering obstacles in her path. This put her at a disadvantage. No matter which statue she attacked, the beast would block off her path. So realistically, her only way was around it. Or through. Driven by a bloodlust that overwrote sanity, she dashed straight for the leathery obstacle. With her power, she summoned a war-fan and began spinning it up to speed. The blade made the first cut through the flesh, her gloves did the rest. She tore the tongue apart and stepped through the bloody mess, only to be faced with a second layer ahead. Her hands punched into the flesh but without a prior cut, it was too much work to split like that. Stepping back, the scythe re-appeared in her hand with the bulk of the weapon appearing directly through the flesh ahead of her. She even gave it a swing as it appeared. The tongues around her coiled and curled but with muscles cut, they couldn¡¯t do much. After sufficient damage was done, Annabelle easily passed the second flesh barrier. Yet when she went for the third and last, something strange happened. The sensation of hunger came back and Annabelle suddenly remembered a scene she had witnessed before. Sharp white teeth chomping down on a fragile human shoulder. She remembered the look of pure shock on Tharia¡¯s face when she tore off her arm in that strange dreamworld. Worse, she recalled the exact taste, slightly salty and bitter with a strong scent of blood and familiarity. She shuddered. All around her was blood. Of course, there would be, she was cutting through monster tongues the size of buildings. Yet her mind struggled with this reality. Annabelle collapsed on the ground and as the sensation of hunger wailed on her, she struggled to keep down the bile. Another pang of hunger coursed through her. This was more than a simple feeling, Annabelle realized. The Godbeast was fully awakening and his domain would be hunger. With the disgusting taste of human flesh on her mind, she got back up, swallowed and went for the last barrier. How many times had she killed Tharia in that dreamland? The number didn¡¯t matter. Mad fury pumped through her heart. That third barrier wasn¡¯t cut. It was torn apart bit by bit and when Annabelle walked through, she barely looked like herself anymore. She was covered in things her mind tried to ignore and let out an animalistic growl. This mindless carnage manifested itself as... joy. She stretched her arms and legs and then started throwing punches against the statue. The Godbeast tried to smack her away with another one of the long appendages but Annabelle sidestepped it by instinct and instead watched it smash the statue for her. With a loud thud, the beast smacked onto the platform. The cracks widened considerably and the beast suddenly started to float. Yet it obviously took far more strength than it had. It could barely lift off the ground and then flapped back on it. While the platform could have survived the earlier impact, this proved too much. Suddenly, the cracks were no more. A massive hole had opened in the platform. Tongues tried to latch onto something, anything as the main body fell through. Annabelle didn¡¯t wait for her breath to calm down. There was little rational thought left. She wanted more destruction. Now. She dashed towards the edge and leaped after the Godbeast without looking. Her body fell several levels before she got close enough to the main tongue that still held onto something up above. She summoned the scythe and hammered it into the long tongue. Only by using the strength of the gloves, could she hold on. The blade easily cut into the flesh and it was enough resistance to slow her fall. Loud whining came from the flailing beast below. Its body had splattered onto the fields. Spores filled the air and the Whys had disappeared underneath the creature. On her way down, the scythe broke several times and each time, she accelerated her fall again until she resummoned her weapon and sunk it back into the flesh. The whole of the monster tongue was split open when her feet finally touched the ground. Pure rapture showed on her face, accompanied by a weird smile and a crazed look in her eyes. This wasn¡¯t nearly enough carnage. She stepped to the side and looked at the half-broken Godbeast. The fall had done a number on it. It was no longer a ball of tongues but looked more like a flat and split open flower. Curiously, there was a crystal at the center of it and within swum the shape of a human body. It hammered against the crystal in an attempt to get out. ¡°Let your first view in this world be your last¡±, Annabelle said and let out a mad laugh.

Depths of Depravity

District of Profaners, Third Ring

Nothing was more dangerous than a cornered beast, especially in the face of a predator out for its blood. The body of the Godbeast wailed massive tongues like limbs, smashing through stone pillars and walls in a blind attempt to hit Annabelle. The goddess dodged and weaved her way through the onslaught. Yet she was at an impasse. She couldn¡¯t get close enough to smash the crystal and with every passing moment, the sensation of unbearable hunger continued. An opening! Annabelle lunged towards it. Like before, she skittered through underneath one of the massive tongues. Only this time her trick didn¡¯t work anymore. Countless smaller tongues hung from the big one and they hooked into her armor. She quickly found herself caught and overwhelmed by a dozen small hooks biting into her armor and the flesh that was exposed. Maybe she could bring back the domain. She tried to blend out the hundreds of new cuts and concentrated on the room. Nothing happened and more cuts tore up her beautiful exterior. Something had to trigger it. Surely it couldn¡¯t be something as simple as desires. She saw a momentary and highly inappropriate image of Tharia in her mind and suddenly found herself back on the soft bed. ¡°This is just wrong¡±, she exclaimed, breathless. The hundreds of tongues shriveled back into the larger one and it moved away again. Annabelle used this moment to get back outside. Like before, the domain disappeared behind her. She would need to find other ways to activate it and it would have to be faster too. Blood ran down her cheeks as she refocussed her gaze on the beast ahead. The smaller tongues complicated things. She suddenly saw a human in front of her, the eyes were rolled back and the jaw was missing. The tongue writhed into the neck and the priest clasped his hands around Annabelle''s face. She instinctively reached up and punched the priests face but that did nothing. Only when she crushed the tongue controlling the body, did the grip on her face loosen. Confusion took hold of her as dozens of priests appeared in front of her. She glanced up and saw several large tongues hover over her. It used the dead priests and monks like marionettes. All the while, the long tongues continued their destruction of the pyramid around her.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Just wonderful¡±, Annabelle said, ¡°More things to kill¡± There was a part of her that was a slight bit scared about just how much she enjoyed this battle. It was raw and pure carnage, full of pain and agony along with an unsung thrill as her life was on the line. If Tharia were here, she would kiss her right there. Definitely, not a healthy mindset for battle and this small distraction cost her already. She felt her legs give in as a slow sweeping tongue stuck her. Once more, the pulled muscle acted up when she tried to stand. The limited motion made it hard to move and it was no longer a case of being able to force through. All the small damages she had taken accumulated to a lot of fatigue. Still, she held up the long scythe in her left hand and a war-fan in the right. Both were gripped by the absurdly strong gloves and the grin on her face widened. The first monk came for her. Without any weapon of its own, Annabelle simply cut the tongue with her Scythe and then hobbled towards the next row of enemies. Four of them at once. Two, after her spinning war-fan cut through two tongues in quick succession. The other two fell to the wayside after a sweeping cut of her Scythe. Yet more obstacles blocked her path. Normally she¡¯d run but the muscles didn¡¯t play along. No matter. More things to kill and destroy. She lost track of time when finally she stepped onto the central mass of flesh. Behind her lay a field of mindless carnage. There were torn and cut off tongues, dead priests, a pool of blood and other gross details. She was out of breath, her gait had a limp and the weapons in her hands looked broken many times over. At some point, she had stopped resummoning them and just bashed in monsters with nothing but broken weaponry. The best part, there was so much blood on her that she couldn¡¯t taste Tharia anymore. That vile memory faded away as she walked closer to the crystal. Not a lot of life remained in the Godbeast anymore. Most of it coalesced into the crystal. Some tongues still moved but they too were fatigued. Annabelle looked into the crystal and saw what looked like Luciano, only much more physically fit than before. His nude body appeared like the work of an artist as it swiveled around inside the crystal, wide awake and looking for a way out. Annabelle let out a sigh, after a quick glance around, she piled up folds of the dead tongue to form a seat for her. Like that, she sat down next to the crystal-egg at a specific spot, dismissed her weapons and simply waited. Soon, the shell showed cracks and an azure glowing liquid ran out of the egg. All around her, pieces of the temple fell down. Their battle had damaged it significantly. Annabelle just crossed her legs and leaned back. More minutes passed as the crystal finally opened up completely. A shivering mess of a man lay in that glowing liquid, sputtering for air. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. His voice sounded like Luciano, only much more perfected in tone. ¡°You... pretty¡±, the voice said and the sculptured man stood up, ¡°Want touch, want feel.¡± ¡°Of course you do¡±, came the reply from Annabelle. She slightly turned her right wrist. Golden light sprung from her hand and the Scythe manifested with the blade just behind the man¡¯s neck. He stared at her with wide open eyes as she effortlessly cut off his neck. ¡°Now we wait a bit longer, Luciano. I¡¯m not done with you yet.¡± Indeed, a moment later, the head regrew on his body. ¡°Not feel good. Want feel good¡±, Luciano said and grunted. Annabelle unfurled her legs and gestured towards the man. She then pointed at a spot in front of her and beckoned him with one of her fingers. The newborn god was befuddled, his mind not yet all there and his judgement clouded by her influence. ¡°Come here, I¡¯ve got something for you¡±, she said and watched the naked man approach. Once he reached a certain spot, her grin widened. ¡°Now stay there, you horny rabbit. Stay and wait.¡± Like that, she kept still and watched the reaction of the man in front of her. Her influence had him completely enthralled. ¡°You don¡¯t remember, but in your previous life, you did me great harm¡±, Annabelle began. She used the trick she had learned while playing that stupid card game. Just lay out words and concepts one sentence at a time. ¡°You were always one to want more. Your people worshipped you like a god but it wasn¡¯t enough. You wanted to be one. Not for the betterment of your people but rather for...¡± Annabelle raised her hand and then pressed it down on her chest. She let her finger describe the curvature. ¡°All of that so you could lure your flock to fornicate with you, always hungering for more. You sleazy speck of dust¡± The goddess stopped teasing the freshly born god. No matter how weak he was with his interrupted incubation cycle, there still was the matter of an unfortunate rule. ¡°Alas, I can¡¯t kill you myself. But you¡¯re a patient one, aren¡¯t you? Want your reward?¡± Annabelle said with a sultry tone while slightly leaning back, accentuating the whole length of her body by stretching her long legs and inclining her feet. No matter the mess she looked like, for the freshly born god, this was pure allure. He didn¡¯t even react to the dust trickling down on him, so enraptured was he with what he saw. ¡°Yes, want¡±, Luciano said with glazed over eyes. He reached out towards her but Annabelle held up a finger. ¡°Now...¡± she said with a drawn-out voice. ¡°Yes? Yes? Now!?¡± It happened very quickly. A tremor ran through the ground. Small stones hailed down and just as Luciano looked up, an absolutely massive chunk of wall smashed straight through him and turned him into a paste. That was something she had learned from the humans and the Dreamreaper. Gods can¡¯t kill gods, but they can compromise each other so that something else can. She knelt down to the gruesome sight and picked up a glowing sphere of energy. Her stomach revolted at the idea of swallowing this thing, but in the fights ahead, she would need all energy she could get. Without paying it any more mind, she swallowed the sphere whole and felt it mix and blend with her divine essence. She let it settle and then concentrated on the energy. Holding up her hands, she allowed the new energy to manifest. A small sparkle appeared and the result was a golden ring on her finger. ¡°Eh? What?¡± Not all summoned ¡®weapons¡¯ could be keepers, she realized. It might have a supplementary effect like the gloves. She¡¯d experiment with it later. Now it was time to get Tharia back and then find a way back topside. When Annabelle closed her eyes to search for Tharia¡¯s divine essence, she felt a faint one on the outside of the pyramid. It seems like Sisi had navigated the body down the outer slope. Clever girl. Yet something else gave her pause. The day had started with ten sources of the essence. One she had snuffed out and consumed. Another blinked out earlier for reasons unknown. Yet for some reason, there were only seven targets remaining. Someone else was out there hunting the same prey. ¡°You know, I¡¯m going to give both of you books on self-preservation¡±, Sisi said. The sprite was still inside of Tharia, which irked Annabelle quite a bit. They had met up outside. The human girl looked much more healthy already, although the staff was still used as a walking implement instead of as a weapon. The elemental was really doing its job. Annabelle glanced over Tharia and felt warmth in her chest. If only there weren¡¯t the dark images in the back of her mind. She shook her head and then tapped Tharia¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What?¡± Sisi instead said, ¡°alright. Yes, your girl is fine if that¡¯s what you¡¯re wondering. I haven¡¯t been all idle, you know? There¡¯s another way up. Remember the staircase with the ceiling of obsidian? Same thing here. It¡¯s like something covered the world in burning stone. Let¡¯s hope that something isn¡¯t out to play, eh, Annie?¡± Annabelle took a deep breath, ¡°Only Tharia gets to call me that.¡± ¡°What do you mean, of course, I¡¯ll call you... oh crap¡±, Sisi answered and suddenly put a hand in front of her mouth. Then, the sprite grew silent while Tharia¡¯s body showed a very pale complexion. ¡°Sisi? What¡¯s the matter?¡± No answer came. Instead, the human body shuddered once and then returned to normal. An unexpected light emanated from within Tharia¡¯s body and with little ceremony, a human-sized and very weary looking elemental detached from within. Sisi didn¡¯t float, it just flopped flat onto the ground. Just as Annabelle caught the feathery light sprite, Tharia collapsed onto the ground as well. Annabelle¡¯s heart missed a beat. The goddess placed down the sprite and then hurried towards her love. She picked up the frail body and felt raging inside of it. Her lips placed a quick kiss on the forehead and she then wrapped her arms around Tharia. The goddess felt utterly helpless. ¡°Your gods-cursed hair-Kraken is choking me¡±, a faint voice came from her love, ¡°and you stink.¡± ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± ¡°Not for long if you don''t let me go¡±, Tharia complained. Annabelle felt small hands on her chest push her away and she obliged. The human girl still looked extremely weak and weary but she was well off. Tharia then nodded towards the faintly glowing sprite on the ground. It had shrunk to hand-size and was barely moving. ¡°Something happened at the end. Our memories became one but then something threw her out¡± As Tharia was speaking, Annabelle couldn¡¯t help but notice the plants move into a new pattern. The image of a skull, pierced by flowers, seemed to grin at Annabelle from a position on Tharia¡¯s neck. End: Pinnacle of a Cult | Coming up: Something in the Walls 29 - Something in the walls

Ancient Catacombs

District of Profaners, Third Ring

Tharia looked at the small sprite on the ground and felt guilty. In that final moment, when their memories had started to blend, something inside of her had thrown the elemental out with brute force. She scooped up the small creature and placed it inside the staff. The tiny curtain around the cage had been stolen from some dollhouse and they looked just as cute on Sisis makeshift home. Conflicting emotions raged within the girl. There was gratitude for what the sprite had done. She stretched her lower back and tested the range of motion in her legs. It was still limited as it had been for years but a key difference remained: No more pain when the spark was at work. Yet she also felt envy. In that short moment, some of Sisis memories had imprinted on her. Now it felt like she herself had once lived in cities built beneath the canopy of trees and she remembered the feelings of pure joy from racing up mountains on wings of flame. She was envious of the childish joy the sprite could feel at the simplest of things. An indeterminate amount of time passed until Tharia realized she had zoned out. Annabelle stared at her with her doll-expression and feeling like teasing the girl, Tharia walked towards her with a wobble. Just as she was about to reach her love, she faked a stumble and then fell into her arms by sheer, totally planned, accident. Once Annabelle caught her fall with a look of panic on that pale perfect face, Tharia quickly stood on her toes and pressed her mouth on those inviting lips. It wasn¡¯t sexual. Honest, the only reason she did it was to give back the essence that Sisi had taken. Not even her own subconscious believed her as she made up the lie in her mind. It didn¡¯t matter. The kiss did. A soft warmth ran up her body and then poured out of her in the form of divine energy. It was over in seconds, much too fast for her tastes. When she felt Annabelle pull back, she instead clung closer. Her arms tightly wrapped around her and for a split second, Tharia could have sworn she saw a large fluffy bed appear out of nowhere. She blinked in confusion and concentrated on the by now literally breathtaking beauty. Only when she felt the air in her lungs grow painful, did she allow for the kiss to break. A fine trace of saliva hung from their lips that Tharia quickly gathered up with an apologetic smile. Annabelle was just plain irresistible. It didn¡¯t matter that they stood in a nearly lightless catacomb and that something was dying a few meters away. She didn¡¯t care that it was most likely the aura of the goddess that increased the intensity. It was a slightly weird and convoluted proof that they had chemistry. When she put both her hands on Annabelle¡¯s shoulders to invoke a touch of healing magic, Annabelle shivered and then pushed her away. ¡°The cuts will heal easy. Don¡¯t exert yourself¡± Tharia answered with a broad grin and stepped away from Annabelle. She had insisted enough on being close already. The lightness of her steps still amazed her and she was half tempted to do a little jig when she heard a scratching noise come from directly under her. ¡°There¡¯s something else¡±, Tharia said and tapped a foot on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s been there since the temple¡±, Annabelle replied and suddenly placed the wooden sight of the Scythe onto the ground. ¡°It¡¯s not one of them is it, Annie? They were creepy enough, I¡¯m never going to look at tongues the same way. Gross, creepy, disgusting. Of all the things in this gods-cursed capital. Let¡¯s head back and find a place to rest. I¡¯ve had enough monsters and lunatics for one day.¡± ¡°Fairy¡±, Annabelle said while turning around, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m a demon?¡± Tharia followed in her footsteps while observing her gait. She couldn¡¯t help a small appreciative glance along the edges, although a deep bath was necessary before appreciation could turn into anything more. Annabelle looked like a bloody mess. ¡°You¡¯re dripping in viscera and I still get tempted. There¡¯s some truth to it, isn¡¯t it?¡± Tharia began and saw the shadow of an emotion on Annie¡¯s face. It was one of those signs that were only visible when you knew a person really well. ¡°You know Annie, it¡¯s an odd question¡±, the human girl changed her tone and accelerated her pace to walk next to the goddess. ¡°Demons are an odd concept. It¡¯s just a way to shift blame and look away¡±, Tharia began her monologue with another interesting difference. Usually, Annabelle tended to only half-listen, this time she was all there. ¡°If something horrifying happens, it¡¯s just easier to claim demonic possession. My brother certainly didn¡¯t need demons to break me. He did it with a flourish, a smile and a perverse pride in his work. Look, I know why you¡¯re asking. No, I¡¯m perfectly fine of lusting for you on my own. Don¡¯t take away my agency by thinking it¡¯s all just mind magic¡± Once silence fell upon them, Tharia switched her attention to their surroundings. They reached the central mess with the dead Godbeast. Their path led out the other way and this was just the quickest approach. With a coldness that surprised herself, Tharia disrobed several of the priests on their way out and then picked up planks of wood. Wrapping the robes around the wood, she created makeshift torches that gave them enough light to safely navigate the catacombs without stumbling around in the darkness. The catacombs struck Tharia as eerie. With rows of strange looking statues assaulting the central pyramid, it seemed like a depiction of a last stand. The artwork was quite intricate and in some cases, she was convinced they were petrified monsters and Godbeasts, instead of just statues. At their heart, the Profaners had a simple believe-system that was based on three tenets. First, their cult had existed since the dawn of creation. Two, demons broke creation and declared themselves god. Three, this had happened many times over. In a way, these fit with what they had learned about the world. Creation was broken and gods weren¡¯t all they were made out to be. Cities underneath cities, hidden by a layer of obsidian did hint at it happening before. But Tharia was at an impasse in understanding how they went from denial of gods to outright cultish murder and doctrine. Her mind wandered back to the snippet of memory she had gotten from Sisi. In the world today, there existed no city in the trees. Valarn dominated existence from one end to another. Every city was in servitude to Valarn and only a few pockets of stubborn Turesai and some Skypeople enclaves denied subjugation. Her wandering mind was dragged back when a skittering sound drew her attention. Something was crawling underneath the floor. Like before it sounded like it was close by. Annabelle seemed to have heard it too, the goddess had ever so slightly narrowed her eyebrows. ¡°It hasn¡¯t done anything yet, maybe it¡¯s just observing what we do?¡± Tharia suggested and Annabelle nodded. She still kept the blunt side of the scythe close to the ground while her arm muscles were taut, ready to strike at a moment¡¯s notice. With tense anticipation, they finally reached the large tower connecting the underground with the world above. Just like in the Understadt, it showed a variety of symbols Tharia had never seen. One, in particular, was the image of the Dreamreaper and Tharia felt tempted to mark it with a scratch. What a wretched thing that god had been. With a shrug, she followed Annabelle into the tower. For the first time ever, she enjoyed walking stairs. It was exhausting and the goddess in front of her got more grumpy with every step but for Tharia, just the sensation of not feeling pain was intoxicating. She noticed a spring to her step and immediately corrected it to walk in a normal fashion. Just a few steps after, she was back to basically bouncing up the stairs. Not even the noise of something scratching along the walls from outside the tower could stop her.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Mashed potatoes. With a cover of Xonro Herbs, just to add that bittersweet note. Give me that and you could roll me down a hill like a cannonball. Oh, wait, wait! Hoh, Fungfel Garn with sea star grass. I would lose it, Annie. Right there¡± Annabelle let out a sigh and replied, ¡°You already have¡± ¡°Sweet girl, was that cynicism? ¡° ¡°A bit¡±, Annabelle said and gifted her the smile of the day. Now Tharia really had a spring to her step as she pranced after Annabelle in, particularly high spirits. Uninhibited by any obstacles, they soon reached the top of the tower. Just as Tharia glanced back down the staircase, the sound from the walls intensified. Everything happened so far. One moment, she gazed down at the tower beneath her. Then loud rumbling was all that remained of it. A gigantic creature had swallowed up the whole of the tower. Hundreds of tiny eyes looked up at the hole in the ceiling but instead of giving pursuit, the creature melded with the ground far below until only the skittering sound remained. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way of saying fuck off¡±, Tharia said with a flat tone. The odd sound stopped moments after but where once had been a path, there now was a hole in the floor with a tumble several hundred meters down. The two girls exchanged glances with each other when a sudden sound made her heart miss a beat. ¡°Oi wai there¡¯s something here¡±, a male voice shouted from upstairs. Moments later, the ceiling opened up and a bright light blinded her. She held a hand in front of her face when something sharp touched her fingers. As her eyes accustomed to the light, she realized it was the tip of a spear that pointed directly at her skull. ¡°Don¡¯t move, you¡±, the voice said, ¡°let¡¯s trade eyes, mai?¡± Tharia gulped. The tiny ring in her back pocket felt like it had started to burn a hole through her. She kept perfectly still and so did Annabelle. Soon, intense warmth washed over her as a lantern was guided down. ¡°Two strati femani¡±, he said and grinned towards someone else up above, ¡°Oi la Ravid. Come help. They look shit¡± Another second voice with a thick Thalaron accent reached her ears, ¡°Your accent is gruselbar, just terrible¡± The second man that stepped to the ledge was a muscular young man in a dirt-covered armor. The symbol of a rose had withered underneath specks of blood and other monster remains. He leaned down and suddenly beamed a wide smile. ¡°Well would you look at that, you¡¯re alive!¡± the young man said and let out a laugh. Ravid Liektensein, Tharia recognized. She looked up at him and even felt a bit of joy at seeing him again. Joy and insurmountable guilt at having been the cause of death for the girl. ¡°Relax¡±, Ravid said to the other man, ¡°I know these two. Annabelle and Tharia Linde. Sweet and slightly insane mercenary couple. They helped us out with Farian a few weeks ago. They¡¯re good people. Let¡¯s give them a hand. Aren¡¯t many left of us these days.¡± Tharia raised an eyebrow but didn¡¯t correct Ravid. The young man would have a reason to lie so blatantly. She exchanged another glance with Annabelle, but her lover had put on her best doll expression. It looked so cute but also so very teasable. When they put down a ladder, Annabelle gave her a gentle push and then helped her up the ladder. Even without the pain, her limited range of motion made it difficult to climb otherwise. They were in a storehouse of sorts. The sigil of the Verholden family was beveled into the large wooden pillars that held up the ceiling. Ravid walked next to her and gently patter her on the shoulder. ¡°A family of monsters, those are, right Frau Linde?¡± he said and once he spoke the last name, he gave her a subtle squeeze with his hand. ¡°You remembered us¡±, Tharia began and Ravid grinned. ¡°I could never forget the name of two beauties such as you. Skilled too. Look, if you want to, we¡¯re gathering supplies for our camp up ahead. We¡¯ve got much to talk about¡± Tharia pursed her lips and saw the subtle nod from Annabelle. She then shrugged her shoulders and smirked. ¡°Boy, if you¡¯ve got a way for us to clean up ourselves, we¡¯ll do almost anything for you¡±, Tharia said. Ravid looked them both over and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Then kindly grab those crates and help us load them on the carriage¡±, the young knight said.

Verholden Storehouse

Wanderland Constructions, Third Ring

A few hours had passed. All things considered, Tharia was too exhausted to be much of a help and so was Annabelle. None of the two-man asked why they were covered in dried blood or where they had come from. At the end of all days, details such as these mattered little. Soon though they had piled plenty of crates on an old carriage. It creaked under the weight and the poor horses in front looked just as old as the vehicle seemed. Ravid suddenly pulled her aside. With a smile towards Annabelle, he spoke. ¡°Can I kidnap your wife for a bit? There¡¯s one last crate I want to get¡± Annabelle reacted with a nod and that left Tharia with little choice in the matter. She handed Annabelle her staff and Ravid then pulled her back into the building. Once they were out of hearing distance, he leaned in closer than was comfortable for her. His pitch of voice changed and he whispered into her ear. ¡°Listen to me. Forget who you really are. You¡¯re Linde now. Sorry for the lie but the truth would have cost your life. Hide the Sigil Ring, better yet, lose it if you haven¡¯t already. Trust me on this. You do not want to be recognized¡± She narrowed her eyebrows but the young boy was dead serious about it. He fixed her with his gaze until she nodded in agreement. A voice echoed from outside. ¡°Horlarma deos! Are you two done in there?¡± shouted the second man with an annoyed tone in this voice. ¡°Almost¡±, Ravid answered. He grabbed a random crate at the corner and then nodded towards Tharia. She, however, walked close to the edge they had come up through. With a heavy heart, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the Sigil Ring. It burned in her fingers, like a cursed object. Twice she tried to throw it away and twice she couldn¡¯t do it. Only when Ravid suddenly snatched the ring from her palm and then tossed it down the hole, could she get rid of it. ¡°There Miss Linde¡±, he said and put special emphasis on the name, ¡°Now help me please?¡± A strange mood had taken over Tharia. That old woman from the enclave, Mayleen, had warned her too about getting rid of the ring. She had found herself unable to do it and now that it was gone, she felt naked and vulnerable, yet also strangely free. The crate was surprisingly heavy and she struggled in keeping up with Ravid. When they finally reached the carriage, she needed Annabelle¡¯s help to keep standing. ¡°Make yourself at home, let¡¯s meet the neighbors¡±, Ravid said and made a gesture towards the other man, ¡°Not everyone is as grumpy as he is.¡± ¡°Oi wai cheeky bint¡±, the man replied and held out a hand towards Annabelle. The goddess took it and found herself pulled up onto the carriage. She had to snuggle between various crates and moments later, Tharia was simply lifted off the ground by four pairs of hands and then placed on top of Annabelle¡¯s lap. ¡°It¡¯s not far ahead. Sorry for the inconvenience¡±, Ravid said. He stepped onto the entry ladder of the carriage and then held onto the ceiling. He gave a signal to the man in front and with a crack of the whip, the carriage started moving. ¡°Marriage, huh?¡± Annabelle said and prodded Tharia¡¯s neck with her nose. The human girl smiled. ¡°Something I could get used to¡±, Tharia replied. ¡°Me too¡± The idea of spending the rest of her days with Annabelle didn¡¯t scare her. That said the way it was going it wouldn¡¯t be a terribly long time all things considered. Still, she liked to think they would spend their days together. ¡°Have you ever wondered what kind of life we would build for ourselves?¡± Tharia said and poked Annie¡¯s nose. ¡°Personally, I want my own tavern. We¡¯d grab one of those monster skulls we killed and put it above the bar¡±, Tharia added with a grin. ¡°A tavern?¡± ¡°Could I get that with a complete sentence, Annie?¡± ¡°No.¡±, came the curt reply of the goddess. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t have it any other way. Well, mostly I¡¯d like to see you in the uniform. I think you¡¯d fill it... ouch¡± Tharia rubbed her head. It had been a gentle smack from Annabelle but the glint in those eyes told her to shut it. Of course, she complied, it was in her nature to never tease Annabelle further than was good for anyone involved. ¡°You know with a sexy miniskirt, maybe a garter belt and...¡± ¡°Fairy¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Tharia said with the most innocent of smiles. Instead of words, Annabelle simply kissed her. That was one surefire way to shut her up. Outside, they passed what remained of the third district. Several blocks were burned down rubble. As far as Tharia could see, these were ruins caused by humans, not monsters. Annabelle grunted angrily. They had been kissing for a while, really it was mostly just brushing close and savoring their proximity. However, the impression of human-made slaughter was confirmed when they reached their destination. Loud drums echoed into the dark sky. A handful of observers stood around and gazed up at the false star but what really caught Tharia¡¯s attention were rows of impaled corpses. She recognized many of them. That old man with the bloated stomach had been her family butler. A young maid had doubled as a gardener, she had been a sweet young thing but a gnarly Verholden Sigil had been brandished into her forehead with enough force to kill her. All of them had signs of affiliation with her family and they all died gruesome deaths. They had not been granted modesty or respect. As they got closer, she started to make out details of a song that accompanied the drums of the nearby war camp. Annabelle stubbornly pulled her back into the kiss and then placed those pale hands over Tharia¡¯s ears. She still heard just which family the camp had it out for. Hers, naturally. End: Something in the Walls | Coming up: Calm before the slaughter 30 - Calm before the slaughter

Warcamp

Park Square, Third Ring

If Tharia were a goddess, her domain would be repression. Just a few minutes into the warcamp, she was already happily humming along with songs of bloody murder targeting amongst other things, her. Annabelle shot her a glance with a raised eyebrow. ¡°What? They¡¯re catchy songs, Annie¡± Tharia resumed humming after her outburst. She hadn¡¯t seen this many people in a long time. The warcamp filled out a Park of roughly two kilometers diameter. The snow had piled up in random corners. Long rows of tents formed avenues of their own and even here, there was a strict hierarchy to things. The edge of the camp had the expected group of people - a lot of somewhat nude folks, desperately clinging to a bit of fur and huddling around firepits, going about the oldest business. After that came various craftsmen and quartermasters. It all led to a circle of large tents in the middle. Which is where they were headed after dropping off their crates. Ravid slinked into the carriage and took seat opposite of them. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, even if one of you looks quite different¡±, he said and then spread out his arms, ¡°Quite the nonsense, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Are they really preparing for war?¡± Tharia inquired with raised eyebrows. She had trouble believing that so many people would rather fight each other than to try and survive. ¡°Somewhat? Eh, what do I know? Some of those folks have hated the Verholdens for generations. Here, let me show you something¡±, while speaking, Ravid pulled out a notebook from a satchel and threw it towards Tharia. ¡°You¡¯re gonna love this¡±, he said. Tharia caught the notebook and opened it. It started with a list of names, some of which she recognized from history books. She turned several pages and the list went on and on. ¡°A list of people the Verholden have wronged throughout history¡±, Ravid explained and then pointed to the middle part of the book, ¡°There¡¯s a kill list too. Everyone that has ever worked for y-... their family is on it¡± The human woman browsed through the notebook and reached a part with especially large letters. These were the names of her immediate family. There was her father, Augustus and her elder sister Celestine. Of course, brother was there too but they only gave one of his two names: Frederick. She leaned back. He did have another name, didn¡¯t he? Somehow, the memory eluded her and she just shrugged. It didn¡¯t matter. He would not be getting a grave from her, although she¡¯d help him into it. What surprised her, however, was that her own name was lacking from the notebook. She raised her eyebrows and then shot Ravid a questioning glance. ¡°Hm?¡± Tharia pointed towards the name of her family. Ravid took a look at the page and offered an apologetic smile. ¡°Oh that. Interesting, isn¡¯t it? There¡¯s some rumbling about a younger sister but she has been struck from all records. No, but what I wanted you to see was the end. Someone got really creative there.¡± She skipped the pages while Annabelle watched with a passing interest. Soon, the pages were filled with descriptions of herbs. Some of which she knew for their healing property, back when she had thought she could be some sort of miracle healer. Tharia felt the spark pulse in her chest and suppressed a smile. With Annie¡¯s gift, she was. After the herbs came instructions for torture, carefully and meticulously planned out to keep the agony going for a pretty long time. ¡°This is something they make every new recruit copy by hand¡±, he added and then averted his eyes. ¡°People hate the Verholdens¡±, Tharia said and shrugged her shoulders, ¡°So do I. When I get my hands on my brother, there¡¯ll be little left of him. Admittedly, it won¡¯t be as colorful as this. Still, why show me this?¡± ¡°Well Fraulein Linde, if I ever come across a Verholden, you now know what I will have to do¡±, Ravid added while pursing his lips. Quite the way to tell her to hide who she was. She had gotten the message the first time and it was made all the clearer by seeing those people strung up. If she hadn¡¯t understood it by the time colourful songs sang about their dismemberment, this warning wouldn¡¯t help either. Annabelle suddenly leaned closer and whispered three words into her ear. ¡°He wants forgiveness¡±, she said. Forgiveness? What for? Tharia exchanged glances between her love and the young boy that had played knight and was now a soldier. Suddenly, realization dawned upon her. It had nothing to do with the notebook, that was just a way to incite negative emotions from her. He wanted to be hated, something she understood on a deeper level. And now forgiveness? What manner of convoluted thinking was this? In a way it made sense to her on a remote level, mostly by applying her own twisted logic to it. Something had made the boy hate himself, thus he now worked to get others to hate him as well but what he really wanted was someone to tell him he was alright. She had been in that position in the past. ¡°Where are the others?¡± Tharia asked on a hunch. Bullseye. The young boy locked up and wrapped his arms around his chest. He remained silent. ¡°Tell me what happened to you¡±, she insisted and the boy finally relented. His shoulders sagged and he sighed. ¡°Got them all killed. I fancied myself a leader, propped everyone up in armor and promises of glory¡±, his voice cracked, ¡°the fields ate three of us. More died to the Hybrids before they became observers.¡± Tharia was in a predicament. Truth be told, she found herself uncaring. Everyone had been through a bad time and the suffering of a young boy wasn¡¯t relevant to her. At the same time, she found herself unable to not care. He had helped them and even lied for her. She moved over towards him and pulled him into a friendly embrace. The world was a shit place and she was a shitty person, but sometimes that¡¯s all there was available. ¡°Shh, it¡¯s okay. You did what you could¡±, Tharia said and patted his head. She shot an apologetic sideglance towards Annabelle but the goddess showed her a weak smile. ¡°Ja, I did the best I could. Got the rest killed in a clash with survivors in the fourth Ring¡±, he said, ¡°It was a stupid misunderstanding. We found this huge hole in the ground with creepy sounds coming out of it. Some young girl shot an arrow at us, I think it was supposed to be a warning but we struck back. When that old lady died, it became a massacre.¡± He hid his face in his hands. Sobbing could be heard from within. Tharia simply kept patting his head and softly rocked his body as one would do with a child. In a manner of ways, he still was a young teenager. It was just easy to forget with how quickly he had to age. She mulled what she heard over in her head and came to a simple conclusion: that old lady had been Mayleen and her not so merry band of survivors. ¡°And so you joined these folks?¡± Tharia inquired while pointing towards the warcamp rushing by outside. ¡°They aren¡¯t good people, but I didn¡¯t want to be alone anymore¡±, he sobbed in reply, ¡°Since then I¡¯ve killed a dozen or so.¡± She got the meaning he wasn¡¯t talking about monsters. Still, what was she supposed to do now? None of her societal masks was prepared for any of this. In the end, all she could do was to be herself. She gave him a friendly hug and then pulled back. ¡°You know Ravid, I could tell you everything is going to be alright and that it wasn¡¯t your fault. It¡¯s what everyone always does in these moments, isn¡¯t it? But let¡¯s be real, it¡¯s just a different word for leave me alone with this, deal with it yourself. I¡¯m not going to do that.¡± ¡°No?¡± he said, his voice filled with confusion. ¡°Nah. I¡¯m a cynical piece of shit that lucked out with the girl of my dreams. Truth is there¡¯s no easy way. You could bottle it up inside, bad way, I tried¡±, she offered a shrug along with her words, ¡°Or maybe you¡¯re a death seeker. If you ask me, that¡¯s stupid. Well you are asking me, so here¡¯s my three-point plan to deal with messes¡± Tharia got up and switched back to Annabelle¡¯s side. She then wrapped an arm around her lover and leaned her head against the shoulder. Too late she realized it wasn¡¯t exactly clean but who was, at this point in time? She then held up a hand and counted on her fingers while explaining. ¡°Step one. Find the root of the problem. Realize where you went wrong. Step two. Try to be better. Avoid your mistakes. Step three. Create good memories, for you, for others.¡± She wouldn¡¯t win any prizes for that speech. Others would have filled it with pathos and hopeful messages. Well, it was the end of days and the boy Ravid would have to deal with his problems on his own. In the end, she wasn¡¯t sure the way was working for her either. ¡°Thank you Tharia¡±, Ravid said after a while, ¡°I¡¯m not sure I get it, but you tried¡± A consolation price. She showed him a wide smile and saw him blush in response. It didn¡¯t take much to recognize he was developing a crush on her, so to cut it short, she quickly kissed Annabelle and then said. ¡°I love you. You¡¯re the only thing in my world¡±, in the direction of the silver-haired beauty. What had started as a way to discourage a young man¡¯s blossoming emotions, soon turned into an obsession as she couldn¡¯t stop smiling. If the price of her dream coming true was the end of the world, for her that was a fair trade to make. ** The carriage stopped in the center of the park. It had moved at a snail¡¯s pace in the end as more and more people blocked the path ahead. Tharia reached for her staff and then gave Sisi a quick examination. The sprite was still out cold and before Ravid could get any more interested, she quickly covered up the cage and then stepped outside. Annabelle was already standing there. She had dismissed all of her weapons, save for a single Warfan and a ring on her finger that Tharia hadn¡¯t seen before. It glinted golden, so she automatically assumed it was something divine. Those divine weapons and items made no sense to her. With each measure of power Annabelle absorbed, a new kind of item manifested. Yet what gave them their shape? It had seemingly nothing to do with the essence Annabelle took. To her knowledge, that Eleanor woman had never had contact with Turesai, yet one of the most exotic weapons of their culture found their way into Annabelle¡¯s hands. Similarly, nothing about the slimy Lord Farian had suggested strength like those gloves did. A short phantom pain reminded her of the time the goddess had tried to gently push her with those things on. Allowing her mind to wander got her into bad water. Literally. She suddenly found herself covered head to toe in muddy snow as the carriage moved on without them. Ravid looked her over and suddenly laughed. At least one person was getting something out of this. No, Annabelle laughed too. Two people were happy and the more grumpy she looked, the more they laughed. ¡°Can we got somewhere warm before I discover my violent urges¡±, she said and wrapped her hands around the staff in a mock threat. ¡°Ja, let¡¯s meet the big guy. He should be in¡±, Ravid said and gestured towards a large tent. Red and golden in color, it easily dwarved the other tents around it. A constant stream of people entered and left. She even saw a handful of Turesai, although she only recognized them thanks to their family tattoos. Not that she was one to talk with her living plant thing. Ravid led them inside and even from quite some distance away, she heard the loud voice of a man drown out everyone else. She liked the tone. It had a good-natured tone to it and was often interspersed with laughter and a joke. It was quite a different atmosphere from the realities of a warcamp outside. The owner of the voice was a bear of a man. He stood on top of a rug that looked like some of the monsters Tharia had seen in the outer districts. His size was what stood out most to Tharia. If she were to stand on her toes, she might be lucky to reach up to his belly. She had always been a bit on the small side, all things considered, thank you very much. But this was something else. ¡°You will be well rewarded, Captain¡±, the large man said, ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯m seeing another reason to keep this war going¡± The large man focussed his eyes on Tharia and Annabelle and with him, the rest of the camp did as well. One shady looking bugger to the side suddenly wolf-whistles at the sight of Annabelle. Truly, not even blood and gore in her clothes could take away from her otherworldly looks. Yet the large man did something that baffled Tharia. He stepped off the monster rug and then knocked the shady bugger out with a punch straight to the face. That went a bit too far, in her opinion. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s no way to treat guests¡±, he bellowed and then grinned towards the two women and Ravid ¡°You brought us new friends. We always like friends. Come, let¡¯s talk.¡± Tharia found herself in a chair that must have been made for the large man. She looked like a child in comparison and half-disappeared on it. The other two didn¡¯t fare much better though, which was a small consolation. They had been led to a sequestered part of the tent. It even helped in keeping the noise of the camp outside. ¡°Name is Shal-rin¡±, the large man said. A set of scars ran along his face and now that she looked closer, she recognized that they had roughly the same trace as Turesai family tattoos. Shal-rin fixed his gaze on Annabelle, looking her over with mild but not sexual interest and then did the same with her as well. ¡°What do you say your name was?¡± he said in Tharia¡¯s direction. ¡°Tharia Linde¡±, she quickly lied. ¡°Smart girl. Why are you here?¡± he further inquired. ¡°To kill what¡¯s left of the Verholden family¡±, Tharia said without hesitation. The large man suddenly leaned towards her, his presence dwarved her so easily, that she suddenly felt insignificant in comparison. One of his hands could easily crush her in two. ¡°I like people with brains. Ravid, friend, you¡¯ve only been with us for a short time, but you¡¯ve given me a wonderful gift already. Can you introduce them to me, please?¡± Shal-rins jovial manner set Tharia on edge. He snipped a finger and young Ravid shuddered as if woken from deep slumber. Something about Shal-rin seemed familiar to her, like a distant memory that slipped out of her grasp. A sudden fear rose in her chest. ¡°T-they are Annabelle and Th-tharia L-L-inde¡±, Ravid stuttered during his lie but got more self-assured when he stuck closer to the truth, ¡°They helped me with Lord Farian.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Shal-rin let out a sigh and leaned back in his large chair. The poor wood groaned under his massive weight and his fingers tapped onto the table. He let out a frustrated groan and clicked his tongue. ¡°Try again, Ravid. I like smart people. Be smart¡±, he said. ¡°Annabelle and Tharia¡±, Ravid began again, ¡°They helped with Farian. It¡¯s the truth.¡± ¡°Loyalty is a good as well - although I¡¯m always envious of when people are loyal to others and not me. Let me introduce them to you instead then, dear Ravid. May it educate you¡±, Shal-rin said and stood up. He walked over towards Annabelle and placed his massive hands on her chair. His fingers dug into the wood and it cracked underneath his pressure. ¡°Annabelle. The last remaining goddess on this whole wide world. And what a goddess she is, don¡¯t you feel her lure, little boy? She is obsession personified. But this one is more interesting to me¡±, the large man said and walked over towards Tharia. Her heart rate jumped to erratic levels. She had to calm her breath. He only needed to slap her once and she¡¯d be dead. His hands dug down into the chair she sat in. ¡°This one, dear Ravid. Let me ask you one more time. Be smart, boy. Who is she?¡± he said and looked at Ravid. ¡°She is my good friend Tharia Lin...¡±, the young man replied but was interrupted by Tharia. ¡°He knows, Ravid. He does. I¡¯m Tharia von Verholden. The unwanted child with evil blood in her veins. A tomboy and troublemaker, broken toy of Frederickus von Verholden, I¡¯m the cripple in the golden cage and the murderous cunt that will murder her own brother for the joy of it. Now, the question is, who are you, Shal-rin?¡± The large man suddenly let go of the chair and walked back to his side. His facial expression didn¡¯t tell Tharia anything. Fine sweat had formed on her forehead. Any chances of keeping this hush-hush were gone in a moment of glorious Tharia self-sabotage. Yet, he really did know so keeping the lie going would have just angered him. Probably. She felt like she was walking on the edge of a blade and that blade had the most winning smile she had ever seen. ¡°Oi wai, good question there. When you were born, some said I was the father¡±, he said grinning, ¡°Your mother had a taste for infidelity. But, well, let¡¯s just say one look at us and we can conclude we¡¯re not family.¡± He was right about that. Yet she wasn¡¯t quite sure what the large man was getting at. His grin widened even further. ¡°Go ahead, be honest with us. Continue your introduction, your claim to fame is rather... peculiar¡±, the man said. Tharia narrowed her eyebrows. What precisely was he getting at? She had been locked up and shunned all her youth. Shal-rin placed all his fingers together and the grin disappeared. His voice took on a low tone. ¡°She¡¯s an inspiration to us all. The first in centuries to successfully kill a Verholden. Tharia, the bastard child that killed her mother.¡± No, no, no. She hadn¡¯t. Absolutely not. Her mother was on a diplomatic mission, wasn¡¯t she? Hadn¡¯t she been gone for a long time? Surely her mother was alive but why couldn¡¯t she remember her face anymore. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside. ¡°What will you do with us now?¡± she said and Shal-rin started to laugh. ¡°Not so fast, little one. If you don¡¯t tell them, I will¡±, he said and cracked his knuckles, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t kill you. You¡¯re our patron saint after all. So go ahead, tell them. They don¡¯t seem to know this side of you.¡± She had not killed anyone. There was no way. Except she had killed already. The first time she took care of Annabelle in the fifth district, there had been human survivors she had stolen from. It was a question of who got to eat and she much preferred to eat something herself. While they had not been harmed directly, they would have to deal with hunger in a place where barely anything was left. She held up her hand and saw an ivy circle around her outstretched fingers as if it was constricting them. Suddenly, she felt like a child again. One that had been broken. She was all alone with no one that cared for her. Her only friend had given her the divine spark and then left her to die. One night, she heard her brother come for her. With the memory and pain of her shattered spine fresh in memory, she had grabbed a dull kitchen knife and waited behind the door. When a figure walked in, she stabbed the dull blade into the person with a shrill scream. Not once, not twice. She could count up to ten back then and she had far exceeded that. She remembered years of being beaten up, years of being abused, years of having no worth, being left alone, with no one to give her warmth. All those repressed emotions, the cries for help, the bitter tears she cried at night, the pain she suffered, the agony she woke up with every morning, they pushed to the fore as she kept stabbing the knife into the body. It was the reality of being blamed for what had happened to her, the truth of seeing her brother praised for his accomplishments when he had stolen from her, it was envy of being the ugly one, the suffering of being called a boy because her figure wouldn¡¯t grow womanly, all the that pushed her over the edge. Bit by bit, an eternity of repression opened up at once. Large hands had picked her up from the floor back then, she remembered a face adorned with family tattoos. An exceptionally large man took the knife from her hands and then smeared the blood on his clothes. She remembered the mess of flesh on the ground. It wasn¡¯t her brother. Yet worst of all, in her mind they all deserved a familiar fate. None of her brood had ever treated her as anything but garbage. ¡°You were there¡±, she said with a hollow voice, ¡°You¡¯re right. When I tried to defend myself from my brother, I¡¯ve killed her instead. I remember you now, you looked different back then. That night, you left and I remember the hounds and riders going on a manhunt.¡± Shal-rin finally leaned back in his large chair and wrapped his arms around his chest. He grunted and then spoke, ¡°So you do remember me. I took the fall for you. In a way, you woke me up. Day in, day out I had seen what those beasts did to you and all the others. It¡¯s a shame to me and my people that never once I dared stop them. That night, I saw the chance to do right and took it. Since then I¡¯ve sworn to end your dynasty.¡± Not a single feeling was inside of her. She was just empty. Familicide, the priest creature had said. It hadn¡¯t been wrong. She really was a murderer and had managed to repress it all. Now that it had come back out, all that was there was emptiness and apathy. Annabelle had a look on her face that could also be found on a statue. Ravid, however, was utterly dumbstruck, his face was pale and he looked like he had not just seen a ghost but also made a pact with it. ¡°Do you regret what you did?¡± Shal-rin suddenly asked. Tharia mulled the question over in her mind. He could have asked if she was a good person and her answer would be the same. ¡°No. Maybe I did back then but now I¡¯m here to end it all. They threw me out to die and in turn I became Death¡±, Tharia said and wrapped her hand into a fist. In the meantime, a blue corpse flower had bloomed on the back of her hand. It was curious how the movement only happened when no one looked at it. She felt a soft hand touch hers and when she looked up, she noticed Annabelle¡¯s face show concern for her. Tharia pushed her lower lips forward and let out a sigh of exasperation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯re right Annie. Truth be told, I don¡¯t really know. Back then I snapped. All things considered, it was self-defense from my abusive family. But today, I¡¯m here for two reasons. To help my love and to end my brother. I¡¯d like to say I¡¯m a good girl but I¡¯m really not.¡± Shal-rin rested his massive had on the back of his hands. He kept his gaze on Tharia with slightly raised eyebrows and wrinkles on his forehead. ¡°In this camp, you¡¯re Tharia Linde¡±, he finally said, ¡°And I¡¯m happy you¡¯re here. Your presence has rekindled my purpose.¡± ¡°So you will kill us now?¡± she asked. Shul-rin shook his head. ¡°This war is a stupid thing. When the fall came, I tried to rally people to fight back against the monsters. Too many died to petty arguments and bickering¡±, he said and scratched his chin, ¡°There¡¯s one thing only that unites humans. It¡¯s war against other humans. I don¡¯t really want those people to die but take a look around, they¡¯ve got a purpose now. There¡¯s food for everyone, shelter, many of them haven¡¯t had a life this good in long months of fear.¡± ¡°But those notebooks?¡± Ravid interjected. ¡°It¡¯s imperative for a war that people consider themselves the good ones and the others the bad ones. Little boy, I really like you, so let me tell you something. Those folks we string up every day, they¡¯re as innocent as you and me. Well not me. It¡¯s what war does to people, they need a target for their impulses. My notebook does that. Half those names are made up too. It¡¯s just that this insanity is better than the insanity of a slow decline at insurmountable odds.¡± Congratulations, Tharia thought by herself. They had found the one nutjob left on the world that was more messed up in the head than she was herself. Tharia fell back on her hollow emotions. There was a curiosity that had taken root inside of her. She saw a clear line of guilt starting from her having lost it, directly to this war that swallowed up innocent people. Her mind recognized it but for the first time in a long time, she couldn¡¯t see herself as the one guilty for it. This wasn¡¯t her fault. Shal-rin stretched his arms and yawned, ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you girl. If those people out there realize who you are, it won¡¯t be pretty. So here¡¯s my offer. You¡¯ll stay here until you¡¯re rested and I¡¯ll keep them away from you. Should you wish to strike down your brother, we¡¯ll give you a diversion in two days earliest. I¡¯m sorry for not stepping in back then. No child should suffer as you did.¡± Hours had passed but Tharia still didn¡¯t feel a single thing. There was nothing when they had been given a warm meal and no reaction at all during her shower. She was now sitting next to a sleeping Annabelle and was still filled with apathy. Her eyes lingered on Annabelle¡¯s shape and she soaked in how parts of Annie¡¯s pale skin peeked out from under the blanket. She barely noticed the thick tent around them. It worked surprisingly well to keep the noise outside and it was their own personal space in this camp. Tharia averted her gaze and looked once more at her own hands. They looked delicate, small and if it weren¡¯t for the living plant tattoo, she¡¯d call them normal. Yet those were the hands of a murderer. Once on impulse, whatever consolation that was, but soon it would be premeditated killing - cold and uncaring murder of an illness upon the world. Who was she to begrudge the warcamp around her, when her own path was one of bloodshed? Yet whenever she played the scenario through in her head, she couldn¡¯t do it. There was a difference still between acting on blind instinct and doing it with intention. What would happen if she were to meet him again? She suddenly wrapped her arms around her naked chest and shivered. It had been cold for a while but this chill came from deep within. Meeting him would break her. She knew that much. With the chill came other emotions: Vulnerability and solitude. For all her bluster, she really was just a frail young woman. Tharia rested herself next to Annabelle and then, with a quiet chuckle, snuggled herself underneath the hair-kraken. She really loved the silky touch of it on her skin, even if it occasionally strangled her or woke her from her slumber. Being this close to her love brought a bit of warmth to her but it wasn¡¯t anywhere near enough. She snaked an arm under the blanket and traced her cold fingers along the skin of an arm. The warmth grew inside of her, fascination became an obsession and urge. Tharia realized her hands had started to wander from the arm to the chest and it¡¯s here where she stopped herself for now. ¡°Annie¡±, she whispered into Annabelle¡¯s ear and barely resisted the urge to nibble on it. ¡°Hmmm?¡± came a sleepy reply. ¡°Can I ask you something?¡± Tharia said. ¡°You¡¯re already doing just that¡±, Annabelle replied with a touch of grumpiness. She turned her head and slapped Tharia with a silvery curtain of hair in the process. A shiver ran through Tharia. Now that her love was awake, the warmth had spread like wildfire. ¡°Let me touch you¡±, Tharia whispered and finally leaned in to wrap her soft lips around the earlobe. Annabelle blinked in surprise. ¡°What?¡± came her sleepy reply. Impatience took hold of her, she wanted more and she was fairly sure so did the picture of perfection right next to her. ¡°I want you¡±, she tried again but kept her approaches to a minimum. The fire was everywhere inside of her. She had become sensitive to the smallest touch of wind and just feeling the soft touch of the ear was enjoyable already. ¡°For what?¡± Annabelle said with a flat expression. ¡°Oh, gods cursed bullshit. I want to screw your brains out you numbskull¡±, Tharia suddenly shouted. Moments later, she realized it was probably loud enough that anyone outside the tent could hear it too. ¡°What with?¡± the goddess continued with that same expression. Tharia groaned in reply and pulled her hand back. She turned around but before she could snatch up her own blanket, she felt a warm hand slide over her bare stomach. It traipsed soft fingers around her navel, causing Tharia to bite her lower lip. Soon, a second hand joined the first, this one traced her shoulders and merged with the sudden touch of lips on her neck. She heard a series of short sucking sounds but could do nothing but surrender. The hand on her shoulder left a sudden wet trail, that made it all the more noticeable just where exactly it was headed. She felt the fine hair on her arms stand up, her breathing became ragged as the fingers circled in on her left breast. Tharia was frozen with anticipation. Touch it already. Please, she thought and closed her eyes. The touches came ever closer and when Annabelle shifted behind her, she felt two large pillows of soft flesh press against her back. Her voice cracked into a quiet moan, yet still, the fingers would not touch her breast. Just as she was getting antsy, Annabelle pressed her hand down on her body. Just... it wasn¡¯t on her small breast - it was the other hand that had made sudden contact with her lower lips. A strong urge pulsed from her nether regions and blanked her mind momentarily, she didn¡¯t even notice she was biting down on her own hand until the subtle pain told her a second later. This was too much. She forced herself free from Annabelle¡¯s probing hands and then quickly turned around. The way her lover gazed at her with slightly parted lips drove her bold. With no patience at all, she shoved Annabelle on her back. The pale beauty looked at her with wide eyes that Tharia could not resist. She quickly inched closer and straddled her. They locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Annabelle was on the floor, her quick breathing moved her breasts in intoxicatingly small circles. Tharia wasn¡¯t looking at them directly, but she noticed. With sudden greed, she pressed her right hand down on Annabelle¡¯s curves, her index finger ever so casually brushed along the tip. Seeing Annabelle shudder from the touch, she just had to tease her again. She teased the nipple a second and a third time but when the reactions grew more subtle, Tharia lifted her bottom and slid down along that wonderfully pale flesh. Teasing was wonderful, but she wanted to taste and to consume. Her lips sucked in the other nipple. Annabelle arched her back with such force, that it nearly threw Tharia off. Just the sight of her reaction made her shiver as well. With renewed vigor, she firmly re-wrapped her lips around the tip and then teased it with the tip of her tongue. Annabelle¡¯s fragrance was quite subtle but it was a taste that was so quintessentially her, that Tharia couldn¡¯t help but taste the sweetness of it in her mouth. She let go with a loud pop but her tongue still touched the flesh. Like that, she ran her right hand along Annabelle¡¯s belly and pushed her flat palm between the legs she had spent hours fantasizing about. With a trail of kisses, during which she never once allowed the tongue to leave the skin, she had soon reached Annabelle¡¯s abdomen. The sounds that came out of her lover had taken on a needy tone that pushed her to action. She lowered her head further and let her tongue reach the edge of where she was headed. There she stopped with a teasing smirk on her lips. That, however, was a tease too far as two strong hands grabbed her short hair and pushed her head further down with urgent need. When Tharia woke up the next morning, she had no idea just how long they had been at it. Her voice was hoarse and so was Annabelle¡¯s. She felt a numb feeling in her jaw and when she stretched her arms to yawn, she noticed an adorable trail of fingernails along her naked chest. A sudden squeaky voice from a place at the edge of the tent drew her attention. ¡°You fucking rabbits¡±, Sisi said and let out a long and exasperated sigh. Tharia shuffled over and lifted the curtain of the cage to see a groggy and very disheveled looking sprite. ¡°I hope we didn¡¯t keep you up¡±, Tharia said with a smirk that signaled she only half meant the apology. ¡°Me and the whole bloody camp. We¡¯re going to see a lot of odd faces today.¡± This finally got Tharia to feel a bit of guilty conscience. She looked back at the nude and snoring body of her lover and forgot all about it that second. Screw guilty conscience. She¡¯d do it again right this second if Annabelle was awake. She shook her head. Maybe that really was the Lust aura talking. Returning her attention to the spirit, she tilted her head and looked at it. ¡°Are you alright? I¡¯m sorry for what happened and... I¡¯m really thankful for what you did to me¡±, Tharia said and bowed her head in appreciation. This time, she really meant it. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m fine. Just got zapped by a bunch of very ugly memories. Your mother, she...¡± Tharia nodded, ¡°I killed her. I know. I¡¯m sorry you had to see that.¡± Well, that was one way to spoil the mood. Tharia sighed and sat down on her heels. She looked up at the ceiling of the tent and breathed in deep. Deep within, she had hoped to have more time to prepare for her confrontation with her brother, maybe face a few more nightmarish monsters to be ready to take on the worst of them all. Yet everything suddenly came crashing down on her. Memories, old sins and the ties that bind. ¡°I hope I can go through with this¡±, Tharia said and formed a fist. ¡°You can¡¯t. I¡¯ve been inside of you and I yes, I do realize after what I had to hear last night, your mind instantly went there ¨C but girl, this will eat you alive and spit you out to rot. You¡¯re not ready. I will tell Annabelle you¡¯re not ready and if you insist on going, I will sabotage you every step of the way.¡± ¡°Sisi, am I just a puppet?¡± she said in reply to the sprite. ¡°What? No¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t treat me like one. All my life I¡¯ve tried to walk my own path and every single time it turned out I was still someone¡¯s plaything¡±, Tharia explained with a raised finger. A small part of her felt silly for talking to a small fairytale creature inside of a staff. ¡°I know full well myself I¡¯m not ready for this, but look Sisi - you saw how broken my body is. Tell me, Sisi, was I ever ready for that?¡± The elemental grew quiet and then shook its tiny head. Tharia continued. ¡°No one ever is. I appreciate that you¡¯re looking out for me but this I must do. Either I find a way in time, or I will fail ¨C but both options happen on my accord, my rules, and my decision. Okay?¡± This time Sisi replied with a curt, ¡°Okay.¡± And after another moment of silence, the squeaky voice rang out again, ¡°Oh, do you reckon she still has her brains?¡± Tharia held her breath. Sisi couldn¡¯t have been awake for that, could she? ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you...¡± ¡°Fucking rabbits¡±, the elemental said and tugged close the curtain. Annoyed grumbling came out of the small cage. Maybe no one else had heard it. A loud cough from outside drew her attention. She quickly wrapped a blanket around her chest, checked to see if Annabelle was covered and then hurried towards the entrance. Ravid stood outside with bright red ears. He handed her a tablet with two cups of tea. ¡°For the voice¡±, he said while trying to hide his embarrassment. Gods be cursed. End: Calm before the slaughter | Coming up: Into the fog, once more 31 - Into the fog, once more

Warcamp

Park Square, Third Ring

Annabelle stood out in the cold. A heavy fog had rolled into the warcamp and soured the mood of the people. That and the all present snow. This early, no one was singing and the goddess appreciated that. Not least of all, because those songs were also aimed at her lover. She stretched her arms and legs, testing the range of motions when a sudden wash of divine energy struck her from out of nowhere. Stumbling forward, she attuned to the divine essence and realized with bafflement that there was only a handful of them left. Obviously, the one in the sky was still there, it stared down on them even through the heavy fog. Three more remained in the center and one more was in the Third Ring but in the rapid transition towards the Second Ring. Something was out there, hunting the same prey she was after. Seeing as she herself was a source of it as well, it stood to reason she¡¯d soon come face to face with whatever did it. A cough drew her mind back to the real world. Shal-rin stood next to her. She had to take a step back, just to see all of him. Along with him, there were several dozen men and women in armor, wielding a variety of weapons that seemed scavenged in their haphazardness. Immediately, she felt threatened. She spread her fingers, ready to summon her weapon at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Relax¡±, Shal-rin said and laughed, ¡°We¡¯re not here for trouble. Rather, we¡¯d like to learn from you. Do us the honor and spar with my most promising soldiers, if you will.¡± Annabelle looked them over and allowed her eyebrow to rise just a bit. She then nodded. ¡°Thank you. What¡¯s your choice of weapon then?¡± Shal-rin said. ¡°A scythe.¡± The large man let out another laugh, ¡°We don¡¯t have a practice weapon for that.¡± ¡°Bind two sticks together¡±, Annabelle suggested. Leaving the large man to get things sorted, she refocussed her attention on her surroundings. Off in the corner, she could see Tharia and gave her a small smile. The small girl waved and then resumed talking with some person Annabelle hadn¡¯t seen before. A touch of cold air brushed against her skin and she looked back up at the sky. What an ominous fog this was. It completely drowned out everything past a few meters with a strange red glow that came from the false star above. She held out her hand towards the false star and then clasped it shut. While it had appeared impossible just a few weeks ago, after all, she had seen and done she was now convinced she¡¯d find a way to deal with it and all the other things. Especially a certain truth she had repressed just like Tharia had taught her. In time, she would need to face her former husband. She wasn¡¯t sure whether she wanted him to be an unrecognizable monster or enough of himself that she could get clarity from his death. Most of all, she wanted to know why it had all happened. Another man suddenly walked up to her. He had cheap looking armor on and held an identical set out to her. Without much ado, she slipped it over her clothes and then took up the makeshift scythe. It really was just two sticks of wood tied together. Just to make sure, she tested the bindings and found them satisfactory for a bit of sparring. The first to step up was a man of about forty years. His scruffy beard gave him a mature look but his pudgy body betrayed him as someone that had spent most of his life inside. He introduced himself as a captain of the Anti-Verholden alliance and then held up his practice sword and shield. Almost immediately Annabelle judged him an amateur. Both his legs were too close to each other and he held his shield in a way that it blocked his own sword. ¡°Well then, the first match begins... now!¡± Shal-rin said. Immediately, the man with the shield shuddered. He gritted his teeth and puffed up his chest. Ridiculous. Annabelle decided to end it quickly. Two steps were enough to bring her into range. She had set her feet apart with one step forward to balance herself. The wood-scythe came up for a high swing, she twirled it with just enough speed for him to notice and defend himself from it. With a panicked look, he hid his sword behind his shield and then tried to block. Annabelle leaned her weight into the strike and enforced it with a quick step forward. The shield was easily pushed in and smacked the man against his head. Befuddled from the strike, all Annabelle had to do was to kick away his legs, sending him down into the thin layer of snow. He grunted and smacked his own practice sword against his nose. An ugly crunch rang out when it broke from the impact. She grimaced upon seeing it, but Shal-rin laughed and then dragged the poor man back on his feet. He patted him on his back while Annabelle watched quietly. Shal-rin then turned around and raised his voice. ¡°Take in what you saw. That¡¯s the difference between training and having been out there for months. You know better than to neglect your footing¡±, he said and then waved towards a young woman wielding two wooden swords. She heard Tharia¡¯s voice nearby. ¡°Did she read one too many novels? Are you fine with your people being beaten bloody?¡± the young girl asked the giant man. ¡°They¡¯ll survive. Right now, it¡¯s imperative that they realize the brutality of combat¡±, Shal-rin replied and followed it with a loud shout to start the mock-battle. Yet before it could start, the sky suddenly darkened. A huge shape flowed through the fog, leaving behind a mess of screaming and panicked people. ¡°Fogeater!¡± the soldier with the broken nose screamed. Upon his shout, all the warriors suddenly threw themselves onto the ground. Annabelle slowly turned around and saw that everyone, save for her and Tharia were lying flat on the ground. She also noticed a marked absence of Shal-rin. ¡°You need to lie down, it will pick what it can get first!¡± the man with the broken nose whispered up at her. Annabelle shook her head and then glanced towards Tharia. They had never once met a monster laying down and they wouldn¡¯t start now. A large grimace suddenly formed out of the fog. On first glance, it appeared like a human female if not for the size and the strangely elongated features. Black eyes stared down on the ground. The fogeater opened the mouth and revealed a row of pin-shaped black teeth. It instantly fixed on her and Tharia. The mouth formed into a grin. ¡°Eat¡±, it said with a strangely high pitched voice. A moment later, large hands pushed against the fog as if trying to pierce a veil. They scratched at it until a clawed finger broke through. Soon, the veil of the fog tore open and allowed a large and plump body to slip out of it. It still had a feminine shape but was covered head to toe in white feathers, except for the face. The thing also had wings, although these seemed to be made out of the fog. Another squeaky voice suddenly drew her attention. It came from the direction of Tharia¡¯s staff. ¡°Anna, Tharia, careful. It¡¯s an elemental projection, not the true body.¡± Annabelle took another look at the fogeater and tried to recall if Sisi had looked this grotesque and misshapen when in her full form. A sudden swell of fog right next to them made her jump to the side and drag Tharia long. The fog suddenly manifested into a chitinous claw where they had been. ¡°Eaaaaat¡±, the fogeater growled and flopped over onto the ground, sending shockwaves through it. Going by the crunching sound, some unlucky sap died right there. As if it were throwing a tantrum, the monster stomped it¡¯s chubby legs onto the ground, each time sending out another tremor. Suddenly it looked up and grinned with its weirdly human face. It smashed the head directly into the ground and from one moment to another, it shrank down to human size until a woman floated in the air, carried by a beautiful feather gown, with her head in the ground. ¡°Hunger¡±, the ground around them said. The figure leaped up into the sky. Its attack came not even a breath later. Lightning fast, the white bird-woman creature slammed directly into Annabelle. She blinked and suppressed her shout of pain. The bird-creature dragged her up until they could see the ground no more. It then unfurled its wings and let Annabelle go with a mad cackle. The goddess reacted in an instant. She held up her right hand and summoned both, gloves and Scythe at once. The weapon hooked directly into the flesh of the bird-woman and got stuck while her gloves gave her strength to hold on. The fogeater sagged from the sudden added weight. It flapped the white wings while the fog around her started to manifest into sharp edges but they were falling too fast for them to be of any use to it.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. While on the way down, Annabelle wasn¡¯t idle. She tried to swing herself up and felt the ring loosen from her finger. It sailed off into the sky. She gazed after it and grunted. ¡°What a useless piece of trash.¡± Unimportant. She scrunched her hand directly into the face of the creature. Bone snapped under her fingers and the beast let out a broken scream. No matter how much it spread its wings and tried to stay stable, soon they both reached the ground. When Annabelle saw a tent underneath, she let go. It broke her fall, the same couldn¡¯t be said for the bird-creature, it carried on with momentum, impaling itself on a tent pole. Just as Annabelle got up, another face showed up in the fog. This one looked older and less feminine. Like the first, it was born from the weather around her, quickly manifesting into another bird creature. It spread its wings and stared at her with its black eyes. The goddess slid down the side of the tent and got ready to fight when a strange glint caught her attention. It was the bloody ring falling from the sky. When it fell directly towards the monster, Annabelle had to suppress a laugh. What was that going to do? Her laugh froze when the ring passed directly through the creature, leaving a finger-sized hole where it had been. She lost all intention to be amused when the ring kept falling through the ground as well. It passed everything it touched, leaving nothing behind. Not so useless after all. Annabelle resummoned it onto her hands while the bird creature shuddered in pain. It was still alive but bled profusely from a centimeter thick tube of nothing through its body. The goddess took aim and then threw the ring with a force augmented by the gloves. It glinted through the air and then pierced straight through the skull with ease, leaving another coin-shaped wound. This time, the bird-creature collapsed on the ground. Annabelle quickly dismissed the ring before it could continue its path of absolute destruction. ¡°Annie!¡± came Tharia¡¯s voice from not that far. Following her instinct, she headed for the direction of the sound and soon found Tharia fighting two of those bird creatures. She was somewhat outmatched but kept those things on their toes. Golden dust glittering in the air would toast them the second they lifted off the ground. Yet these things seemed to be aware of that. Fog mixed in with the dust and suddenly shaped into a long spike. It shot directly for Tharia, but when the staff squeaked, the small girl instantly moved to the side. Her fairy dodged the spike but came into range of a bird-creature. Annabelle stepped into range and resummoned her scythe into her hands. She didn¡¯t give her opponent time to think, her weapon just plain cut off the head while it was distracted by Tharia. In the meantime, the small girl had tripped the other opponent and was in the process of hammering the staff through its skull. Much to the protest of Sisi. ¡°These are a bit easy¡±, Tharia said, breathless. ¡°Not for the others.¡± The goddess pointed to the people on the ground. They were deathly afraid. She noticed a man stare on in horror as the person next to him was snatched off the ground by another bird creature. He still had the same gaze, when the body smacked back down moments later. Sounds of eating reached her ears and when she squinted, she saw some of the bird-creatures snacked on humans, while their comrades remained quiet on the ground. ¡°Why don¡¯t they fight back?¡± Annabelle asked in confusion. ¡°Shock, Annie. When something so far beyond your comprehension comes for you, you can only hold still and hope it passes by. I know. My brother is one such horror.¡± Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another bird-creature manifest out of the fog and she suddenly remembered something. The first of them had blown fog underground and then hundreds of smaller ones had appeared. ¡°Sisi, you said it¡¯s a projection¡± ¡°Aye¡± ¡°Then the small ones?¡± ¡°Manifestations, like my fire. I¡¯m sorry, but she should be dead. This isn¡¯t possible¡±, Sisi said. Tharia chimed in on their conversation, ¡°So no matter how many of the bird-things we kill, there will be hundreds more?¡± ¡°Unless we find the source¡±, Annabelle suggested. When she witnessed another one plop out of the fog, she punched her left hand into its face before it was done forming. A pile of blood collapsed onto the ground. All around them, loud screams echoed throughout the camp, screams of pain and panic mixed in with loud pleas for survival. In the middle of all that, a loud voice boomed out and easily drowned all the sounds. ¡°Fear not, for we are righteous. Stand up, my brothers and sisters. We shall bring the fight to them!¡± it was the voice of Shal-rin. As if pulled up by invisible strings, all around her men and women stood up from the ground. They scurried for any type of weapon they could get their hands on. Annabelle blinked in Tharia¡¯s direction and the smaller girl shrugged her shoulders. Tharia looked just as confused as Annabelle was. The attacks let up almost instantly and the bird-monsters appeared seemed sluggish. They made weak attempts at attacking someone while stumbling directly into the path of weapons. Before long, the slaughter had turned into a triumphant victory. ¡°What did we just see here?¡± Tharia asked, ¡°What in the gods cursed abyss did just happen?¡± Annabelle and Tharia followed the stream of people while the fog slowly lifted from the camp. What had sounded like a complete loss, turned out to be mostly structural damage to various tends and equipment. Soon, the fog was replaced by the usual low hanging stormclouds. They passed happy faces and dancing people when they reached Shal-rin. He stood on a large pedestal and held a bloodied halberd in his hands. ¡°Sisters, brothers! We have survived!¡± the large man shouted and the camp echoed with a likewise scream. ¡°You, dear, you¡¯re a brave soul¡±, Shal-rin said and pointed towards a woman in the front, ¡°and you, brother, you¡¯re a brave soul too. The world would be a better place if all were as brave as those that I call my family. That¡¯s what you are to me. Family.¡± He earned loud cheering while Annabelle felt a strange anger nestling inside of her. She took a look at Tharia and saw the small girl narrow her eyebrows. Fairy¡¯s left hand wrapped tightly around the staff. Tharia caught her gaze and then quickly shook her head in a gesture to be quiet. ¡°Do you know who is not brave?¡± Shal-rin spoke. While his speech was bad, the sheer charisma in his voice made it an event in itself. ¡°Do you know which brood is so heinous, that it would send monsters and nightmares against their own species?¡± The large man slammed his halberd into the ground, sending loud tremors through it. He was surprisingly strong. Waiting for just the right timing, he whispered a single word. ¡°Verholden¡± The crowd heard him regardless. Soon, everyone was chanting the family name like a curse until Shal-rin clicked his tongue. He held up a flag with the Verholden family sigil on it as proof, even though it could have come from any and all manner of courses. Not least of all the storehouse they had been in yesterday. ¡°Brothers, sisters, I feel your rage. This can¡¯t stand. What say you, we bring them to their knees?¡± Loud and thunderous cheers drowned out every other noise. Annabelle walked closer towards Tharia and then pulled her close. The small girl showed no expression on her face, yet she kept her fingers wrapped around the cage of the staff. Why was she doing that? In the meantime, Shal-rin had quieted the crowd once more. ¡°My family!¡± the large man screamed at the top of his lungs. From somewhere, large drums thumped, ¡°Tomorrow, we go to war!¡± It had taken them a while to find a place that wasn¡¯t flooded with dancing and drinking people. Tharia felt her feet hurt from all the walking and socially enforced dancing she had to endure on the way back to their tent. On one side, she understood the need for joy in these grim times and surprisingly, only a handful of people had died to the fogeater. Still, the situation didn¡¯t sit right with her, not after what Sisi had whispered. Tharia sighed. ¡°Annie, listen. Those weren¡¯t Godbeasts or monsters¡±, Tharia began, ¡°They were elementals. A single one, to be precise.¡± ¡°I thought as much¡±, Annabelle answered and sat down on the floor of their tent. Tharia quickly followed and leaned her back against her. She was exhausted, physically and mentally. ¡°So what do we do about it, Annie? The way this looks, it seems like it was all planned out. Could be my family but why would they suddenly stop? Unless it wasn¡¯t them. But why would the alliance attack itself? That¡¯s even dumber¡± Annabelle shook her head and send her silver hair flying. Tharia couldn¡¯t resist giving her a quick kiss on the neck that she answered with a smile. ¡°It makes sense¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°It does? Can you give me that in a complete sentence?¡± Tharia asked. ¡°Uh¡±, Annie began. Tharia quickly put a finger on the lips of the goddess. ¡°Please try. I love your voice, it¡¯s captivating.¡± ¡°Okay I mean uh, what I say is¡±, Annabelle began again and then swallowed. This time, with a much slower speaking pace, she struggled to put together a sentence. Tharia listened closely. ¡°I meant it¡¯s not dumb if you consider that someone might be in control of the Fogeater. They¡¯ve lost a dozen people but gained morale and determination that¡¯s worth much more. These people are now lusting for their war. Remember, he said it¡¯d be in two days. This was preplanned.¡± That single sentence had taken much longer than it should have, but Tharia was proud that Annabelle had gotten it out in mostly one go. She quickly wrapped her arms around her and smiled. Yet their moment was ruined when the tent was opened and a shivering pale mess of a young boy stumbled inside. ¡°I s-screwed up, I messed up¡±, Ravid stuttered. He held something in his hand. The boy stumbled over towards them and then fell down to the ground, where he tried to regain his ragged breath. Wordlessly, he pushed the object towards Tharia. It had the size of a head and was wrapped in a piece of cloth. Tharia carefully removed the cover until she saw a white glow come out of it. Quickly continuing, she suddenly realized what she held in her hands. A tiny white sprite covered in feathers. ¡°After I saw what he did with her, I stole her from him¡±, Ravid said and snatched back the sprite, ¡°He forced her to do magic for him with needles ending... in... chains with strange words that run away when you look at them... that makes no sense, does it? Please help me!¡± Tharia looked at Annabelle and smacked a hand against her own forehead. ¡°Yeah, sure we help¡±, Tharia said and sighed, ¡°It''s kinda our thing to walk in on messes and leave drenched in blood. Usually, it¡¯s monster-blood but I¡¯ve got a feeling we won¡¯t have that luxury this time.¡± End: Into the fog, once more | Coming up: Scary monsters 32 - Scary Monsters

Still in the warcamp

Park Square, Third Ring

Tharia carefully put the white sprite down on the ground. Little puffs of glowing fog rose up from it. She had prematurely agreed to help but how would they even go about it? She sunk back on her heels and stretched her arms. Something warm sat down on her shoulder and when she looked, it was a tiny fire sprite. ¡°I had feared something like this¡±, Sisi said with its squeaky voice. Ravid suddenly opened his eyes wide. He stumbled back and fell on his bum. ¡°You¡¯ve got another one of those?¡± he stuttered. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. We became best friends after we tried to kill each other¡±, Tharia explained with a smirk. Ravid looked at her as if she were a ghost. Annabelle remained quiet in the background. She was fiddling with that strange ring again. Sisi cleared its throat and then raised an arm. ¡°Aye! We haven¡¯t yet decided on the killing part¡±, Sisi added and crossed its legs. It then pointed to the faint white sprite. ¡°Poisoned. Like tea that withers if you put in salt instead of sugar, this one has been pumped full on arcane energy¡±, Sisi dangled its legs over Tharia¡¯s shoulder. Seeing the confused look of Ravid, she decided to fill in a bit. ¡°Welcome to the world Ravid. Turns out, there are two major sources of magic energy, one is the divine and the other is arcane. They used to be the same once but something...¡± Tharia¡¯s speech was interrupted by Sisi. ¡°Someone. Those the gods were born from did it¡±, Sisi exclaimed loudly. ¡°Okay, right. But the point is, both these energies can do magic but have different effects on people. Something about the heart and the mind. Did I forget something?¡± ¡°Too much of one energy turns you into a monster, too much of the wrong kills you. Both at the same time kills you faster unless you find the mythical second ascension and become an old one¡±, Sisi continued. ¡°I don¡¯t understand a thing¡±, Ravid said with a defeated look on his face, ¡°what kind of world have you been living in?¡± Upon hearing those words, Tharia suddenly felt like a stranger. Out of all the people, she should have been able to empathize with a fellow human. Yet the only one that really got her was her personal goddess, hands off pretty please, and a grumpy mischievous sprite. Tharia suddenly leaned forward, causing Sisi to nearly topple off her shoulders. It held on and shot her angry glances. ¡°We¡¯ve really come a long way, haven¡¯t we?¡± Tharia said and brushed along her arms. Like before, the living plant tattoo had found a way to shift and chance when no one looked. Was she even human anymore? An old one had marked her, she had seen things no human should see and survived odds with borrowed power that would have killed many others. Her mind had stared into insane horrors and survived the intense pain. Somehow, somewhere along the way, she had changed. She realized Ravid was staring at her and decided to put up a smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve become a bit rusty interacting with people. Let¡¯s get things in motion. It¡¯s what we do. There are three problems¡±, Tharia leaned forward. She had no idea what those three things were but all things came in patterns of three so she let intuition take over. ¡°First, how can we help the sprite and if we can¡¯t, how can we ease the suffering. Second, we should get out of here, alive and fast. Third, uh... the third one is... I¡¯m hungry?¡± Wonderful intuition. Tharia smacked her head and chuckled. This brought her another angry shout from Sisi and a tiny but powerful punch against her chin. The sprite was in a particularly sour mood. ¡°Your two options are at opposite ends. We need binding chains. In theory, my sister could free herself but is choked up on arcane energy. That reminds me¡±, Sisi said and stretched its legs, ¡°You do realize that something is actively poisoning her with the arcane? We¡¯re potentially looking at a genuine mage here.¡± Tharia narrowed her eyebrows. A mage. There hadn¡¯t been one in many centuries. They were only ever talked about in myths and legends and even those had fallen out of favor. Yet, in a world dominated by the divine, filled with monsters ¨C and while knowing arcane energy existed ¨C she couldn¡¯t outright deny their existence. Tharia felt something soft touch her right shoulder and reached up to caress Annabelle¡¯s head. The goddess spoke a single name. ¡°Shal-rin?¡± Sisi narrowed its eyebrows, ¡°With that size and the scars, he could be old Turesai. They never went through with the divine decree to kill all children with arcane tendencies. It¡¯s a good chance, yes. Especially now that the floodgates have been opened and there¡¯s more energy to go around.¡± Tharia wrinkled her nose. There was still one aspect she didn¡¯t fully understand. From what she remembered of her time as a child, children infused with the arcane would turn to creatures that were irrecoverably insane. How could anyone survive that? ¡°Why don¡¯t these mages turn into monsters?¡± she asked out loud. Sisi turned around on the spot and fluttered the fiery wings once. ¡°Because like you, they found a substitute¡±, Sisi then pointed towards the sprite, ¡°If it really is Shal-rin, he keeps pumping arcane energy into my sibling. If it is him, it would also explain his curious size. Seriously though, we can¡¯t go up against an entire camp. Just no way.¡± Tharia heard a sudden sound near the entrance and looked up to see the back of Ravid disappear. She let out a sigh. ¡°Please tell me that idiot isn¡¯t rushing to get the chains this second? Gods be cursed!¡±, Tharia bit her lip and gentle pushed Annabelle off her shoulder, then looked at the fire elemental, ¡°Sisi, supplement your sister, brother, I don¡¯t even know what applies. Hide her inside your place until we figure this out¡± She then turned around to look at Annabelle. The goddess had already stood up and brushed over her clothes. It looked like words weren¡¯t necessary between them. She offered Annie a smile and a hand and was quickly pulled up onto her feet. In the meantime, Sisi had dragged the white sprite into the staff. A moment later, a subtle glow pulsed through the weapon, indicating that the elemental was ready for action. Mage or no mage, this would be difficult. The moment Tharia exited the tent, a cloud of sensations came crashing in on her. She smelled the scent of cooked food. Her mouth watered instantly and a rumbling in her stomach reminded her that she hadn¡¯t eaten since this morning. By now it was already afternoon. Not that it was easy to tell with the swirling chaos-clouds above. The false star hung above them like the angry eye of a forgotten god. She felt the cold air crawl under her armor. A lot of people were up on their feet and getting through them proved difficult. In their short time, they had made a few acquaintances and there were always some folks that felt lucky and asked for a dance or invited them to dinner. This slowed them down, especially as the boy had a headstart on them. In a passing impulse, Tharia suddenly stopped walking. This didn¡¯t have to be their problem. If only they would walk away now, they¡¯d get out without any trouble. Yet as much as she wanted to, when she looked at her Annabelle, she realized she could never become that person. Running away would mean to betray Sisi and Ravid. She didn¡¯t much care for anyone but Annie in this world yet Sisi was a friend and Ravid felt like a pet she had to protect. The young woman quickly accelerated her pace to close up with Annabelle. She came just in time to rescue the beauty from a flock of dance offers. A demonstrative kiss on those beautiful lips was all it took to scatter the crowd and give them some space. ¡°Now let¡¯s find the boy before he does something really stupid. That¡¯s usually our domain¡±, Tharia said with a smirk. She was baffled by the number of people out and about. There was barely a corner without some sort of music playing. Strange scents reached her nose, some of them were familiar, others were exotic and intriguing. Their sheer quantity of sensations drove tears to her eyes. The music took on another note when an artist started playing on an instrument Tharia had never seen before. With a large vase-like protrusion at the bottom and a long stick reaching up, it really looked like a potted plant to her. Something like a curtain of metal strings hung from the top and when the artist brushed his hands through the chains, he draped them across the stick in the middle. Strangely haunting sounds came out of the vase end. Tharia felt melancholy in her heart. Maybe she could convince Annabelle to travel the world with her when they were done. If she was still there, Tharia added in her mind and shot a mournful glance at the living plant tattoo. Her fate was sealed. The girl¡¯s self-pity was cut short when she felt a soft nudge on her shoulder. Annabelle pointed forward. There he was, Ravid was running through the camp at full throttle. Thanks to the armor, it wasn¡¯t all that fast. They quickly gave chase but didn¡¯t reach him until he entered the main tent. There was no choice but to follow him inside.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Tharia stepped into the tent, expecting it to be as full as it was the day before. Yet all she saw was a long table filled with a wide selection of food. Shal-rin sat at the edge of a table and stared at a long sword pointed directly towards him. Strangely, not a single other person was inside the tent. ¡°Ah the guests of honor have arrived¡±, Shal-rin said and calmly cleaned his mouth with a handkerchief, ¡°You¡¯re such lovely beauties, both of you, that you¡¯ve really befuddled this young boy right there. Ravid, friend. Come and sit.¡± Ravid was shuddering with fear. He aimed the sword towards Shal-rin but the large man didn¡¯t seem to be too impressed by it. Shal-rin carefully adjusted his shirt and vest instead and raised his voice ever so slightly. ¡°Sit¡± It was a single word but it crashed into Tharia with the power of a storm. Before she realized it, Ravid had sat down on a chair and even she felt inclined to take a seat. Shal-rin smiled. ¡°Oi wai, that¡¯s much better, isn¡¯t it? Now place that sword aside and let us talk. All of us.¡± Tharia felt the compulsion in his words. This was different from the Muse, easier to resist and less subversive. Yet the only reason she even recognized it was because the Muse had done it before. She quietly placed her staff by the entrance and tapped her finger twice against the cage. Then, locking arms with Annabelle, they moved closer towards the giant of a man. Tharia felt his eyes rest on her. He nodded when he saw her put away the weapon. ¡°I can see you¡¯re still a smart girl. You¡¯ve got something of your mother in you. She was pragmatic too. You Verholden women do understand necessity so very well.¡± She took place and when she heard the rumble of her stomach, she just shrugged her shoulders. Under the scrutiny of everyone present and regardless of the tense situation, Tharia piled salad leaves and mashed potatoes on her plate. Even when Ravid was still pointing the sword at Shal-rin, Tharia calmly salted her food, added a bit of dressing and then started eating. ¡°Prrgmffft what? This is obviously going to¡±, she began and quickly wolfed down some food, ¡°take some time.¡± Shal-rin let out roaring laughter. ¡°See Ravid, they really are pragmatic¡±, he said while rubbing his belly, ¡°Everyone, eat. This was prepared for my trusted soldiers but I¡¯d rather share it with you fine folks instead. Well, most of my soldiers are drop dead drunk or busy creating the next generation. Hopeful bunch oi?¡± Yet except for Tharia and Shal-rin, no one was in the mood to eat. Ravid suddenly burst out. ¡°How can you monster eat after what you did?¡± The large man leaned back when the edge of the sword nicked the skin on his neck. He then reached up, grabbed the sword with his hands and then softly pushed it aside. ¡°You lack table manners¡±, he said and once more ignoring the sword in Ravids shivering hands, he picked up a still frying cheeseball with his bare fingers. The oil still sizzled on his fingers, yet he didn¡¯t show any pain when he first took a bite out of it and then let the glowing hot cheese drip into his open mouth. Tharia could feel the painful burn from this far away, yet Shal-rin seemed unfazed. She looked towards the staff near the entrance of the tent and saw it vibrate ever so slightly. Annabelle had finally started eating as well. No matter what was coming, they would need sustenance. ¡°You¡¯ve killed your own people¡±, exclaimed Ravid. The young boy was shaking in anger and fear. An unhealthy combination at the best of times. ¡°So what?¡± was all that Shal-rin said. The large man seemingly felt no need to explain himself. He simply smiled while eating. Tharia observed him carefully. Something about him was more off than earlier this day. He seemed even larger than before and the clothes were taut on his large body. The scary thing to her was that she could guess his arguments. Fewer people, in general, meant fewer people to feed. The supplies would last longer as a result. It had also, like they surmised before, significantly improved morale. Yet there was something else. She wrinkled her nose. Tharia had known prideful men like him all her life. They wielded an act of outward kindness like an icon of dominance. It was time to put on one of her social masks, play up his pride, lure, tempt, smile and act. She just hoped the others wouldn¡¯t hate her for it. ¡°Aye, aye, can I interrupt your play for a bit? How are we going to do this tomorrow?¡± she said. The young boy turned around to stare at her in disbelief. Tharia winced for but a moment. For this, she would need to be ugly. It would require the right amount of bottled up emotions. When she finally opened her mouth, she realized with a glimpse that the plants on her skin had started moving even when someone was watching. It gave her an odd sense of strength. ¡°What? Wake up Ravid. He¡¯s right. Necessity demands. Let¡¯s say you kill him. Tomorrow, the army will be without a leader. Many more will die, just so you could play hero. It won¡¯t bring back the dead either¡±, she said and smiled towards Annabelle. The look on her lover¡¯s face told her that even the goddess hadn¡¯t seen through the mask yet. Just that simple fact hurt her immensely but also added fuel to her fire. ¡°You promised us a diversion tomorrow. How are you going to distract my brother? Just with this many people? Doubtful¡±, she added. This was all bluffing on her part. She hadn¡¯t the faintest idea just how many people her brother had in his employ. ¡°Oh you Verholden girls, I might have a fetish for your type¡±, Shal-rin said and laughed again, ¡°Quick on your feet. You¡¯re right, we can¡¯t do it with just this. But that¡¯s not why you¡¯re asking, is it?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. You can control the fog and the creature within. Well this dumb boy stole the mechanism and I¡¯m willing to give it back to you, as a token of my appreciation for saving me back then¡±, Tharia said. She steeled her resolve for what was to come. Annabelle had suddenly sprung up from the table. Tharia had never seen the goddess this furious. Was Annabelle acting along? It wasn''t her way to react with that much visible emotion, yet she was doing something quite outrageous. Ravid had spun around. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious¡±, he said. ¡°Fairy, what are you saying?¡± ¡°Things that make sense. What will it be, Shal-rin? I figure you need the sprite and you need it for more than just the fog, is it? You¡¯re looking a bit puffy and chubby today¡±, she said with a grin on her face. Gods, that look from Annabelle hurt but she could not stop now. ¡°That¡¯s what people that can think are capable of doing¡±, Shal-rin said and pointed towards Tharia. The look on his face was proud. For some very weird reason, she got the feeling he had fatherly feelings for her in that very moment, that and something else. Yep, he truly was the one nutjob more insane than her. ¡°Yes, Tharia. I need her for more than that. Are you aware of caster sickness?¡± Shal-rin said. By now, the young girl had connected the dots. ¡°Under the term of Ascension, yes. It¡¯s what happens when the body is swelled with either divine or arcane energy. The result is gestation and madness. Depending on energy it¡¯s temporary or permanent. Unless you use a... substitute. Like, let¡¯s say an elemental, right?¡± Shal-rin beamed a wonderful smile. The large man rubbed his hands together. The pride could barely be concealed. ¡°Would you like to be adopted?¡± he said in a jovial manner. Tharia laughed while Ravid turned his sword on her instead. ¡°Not a smart idea. I¡¯ve got a tendency to kill my family, remember? But I¡¯m right, ain¡¯t I? You use the sprite as a substitute. What I don¡¯t understand is why you released it on your own camp. I lack a piece of the puzzle. Help me become smarter¡±, the tone in her voice had taken on a demure note. Tharia had moved over towards the staff and ran a hand along the staff while waving for Shal-rin to come over. The large man lumbered towards her. He easily passed Annabelle that was by now fletching her teeth. Hopefully, she was playing along with Tharia and wasn¡¯t really that angry. Ravid, on the other hand, followed the large man with his sword pointing at him. ¡°She was a gift from a strange man¡±, Shal-rin suddenly said, ¡°I was suffering from caster-sickness when he came to me. He gave me a block of ice with the sprite inside. She would suffer for me and in turn, I would feed her people. A dozen dead people a month was enough. Most we could grab off the streets and homes and sometimes, the Fogeater came.¡± Tharia pursed her lips and placed her hands against her waist. She then held up a finger. ¡°Good enough. Your life is more valuable anyway. You¡¯re what keeps these people together¡±, the human girl said with the most uncaring of smiles. ¡°I hate you¡±, Ravid uttered. His sword swayed back and forth between Shal-rin and herself. Tharia recognized that look. He was about to lose it. It¡¯s the same look her brother had shortly before he tortured her. A shudder ran down her spine. Her game was dangerous in more ways than one. Yet a strange calm came from within. Her nose suddenly picked up the scent of fresh earth and she felt far away winds brush along leaves as if she were part of it. She shook her head to dismiss the thought and then gestured towards the staff. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure whether you were a valuable asset. But I deem it better to have you on my side. Shal-rin, if you want, it''s inside of the staff¡±, Tharia said and with that, she stepped aside, revealing the faintly glowing weapon. The large man suddenly stepped forward and reached for the staff, yet before he touched it, he suddenly stopped, doubt visible on his face. Tharia bit her lip in response. She had one gamble left. Her hands gently brushed along his arms. ¡°You¡¯ve got such a strong scent¡±, she said with a purring voice that made Annabelle growl behind her. Please, Annie, be patient, Tharia begged inside. It was a gamble and it was one that revolted her from the very core. This gamble was based on a simple fact: She looked like her mother and this man had once lusted for her mother. When the man shivered, she realized it was the correct assumption. He stepped forward and then touched the staff. At the same time, Tharia suddenly lunged forward. Ravid raised his sword to strike her. She watched it in panic but couldn¡¯t stop her momentum anymore. While tumbling, she screamed a single name, ¡°Sisi!¡± A moment later, golden light sprang up around her as the corner was covered in thick and glowing dust. A squeaky voice rang out from within the staff. ¡°My sibling says fuck you and Sisariliszimna sends her regards¡±, it said. With a click of its tongue, the fire elemental brought the thunder. The resulting explosion lifted Tharia off her feet. She sailed directly at the sword and stared at the young boy whose expression changed from hatred to confusion. In the very last moment, he pulled the weapon aside but served as the cushion for her impact. They both skittered along the floor as a several hundred meter high pyre of flame and destruction licked the clouds above. Tharia felt a strong hand clasp her arm and stop their tumbling. She looked up to Annabelle who was once more smiling. ¡°You¡¯re far too good at playing evil¡±, Annabelle said while she watched the flame pillar where Shal-rin had once stood. The human girl didn¡¯t feel like answering out of fear, that part of the truth might leak out. She really was that despicable a creature. ¡°You did a good angry impression too¡±, Tharia said and finally got off the befuddled young man in his armor. ¡°Oh, that wasn¡¯t played. Seeing you like that made me stark raving mad.¡± A pained growl drew her attention. She looked towards the inferno and saw a large figure stumble out of it. Shal-rin stretched his arms and legs, casually brushing off the flames on his clothes. With a glint of light, he suddenly wore a large black coat over his body. His right hand held her staff and the left was in constant motions. Little symbols floated above his palm. They were in constant flux, circles, rectangles, pyramids, strange shapes in an unerring neverending struggle to never once be like they were before. ¡°What a fiery temperament¡±, the last of the mages said and cleared his throat, ¡°I like it. Intelligent, beautiful, pragmatic, fiery, not afraid to play coy and backstab. You¡¯re more like your mother than you know. Let me introduce you.¡± End: Scary Monsters | Coming up: Meet the Verholdens 33 - Meet the Verholdens

Shal-Rin''s Tent

Park Square, Third Ring

Tharia blinked. A man walking out of a pillar of fire shouldn¡¯t look that healthy. Yet here he was, not only holding her weapon but the fingers on his left hand were doing an odd sort of dance with glowing symbols appearing above them. ¡°Introduce me to my mother?¡± Tharia echoed before her brain had caught up with her mouth. Don¡¯t poke the insane bear, she thought. Well, there she poked it. Shal-rin stepped forward and casually brushed off the last of the flames. He didn¡¯t give an immediate reply so Tharia looked to her side and behind her. Ravid was frozen by shock. The young boy had his mind blown out by what he saw. Annabelle, on the other hand, was also coming her way. She hadn¡¯t yet summoned a weapon. There was a good chance Shal-rin didn¡¯t know about that. Maybe Annabelle could salvage the situation. Ideally before the rest of the camp came looking why the sky had just been on fire. Tharia turned around again, put her arms against her waist again and puffed out her flat chest to appear bigger. ¡°My mother is dead¡±, she said with a wrinkle of her nose, ¡°You know that. Unless you mean you¡¯re going to... oh, right. Can we talk about this? Can¡¯t blame a girl for trying, right?¡± None of her social masks worked. Shal-rin suddenly opened his eyes wide. A violet flash of energy shimmered like swirling lights inside them. The next moment, Tharia found herself on the ground, glowing lines of silver had wrapped her body up into an uncomfortable position. The lines turned into ropes as the spell cooled down. Hands, wrist, legs and even her neck were all bound together in a most demeaning fashion. ¡°I¡¯m not into that kind of play, you know?¡± Tharia tried to snark. ¡°Fairy, stop¡±, came Annabelle¡¯s voice. Her voice sounded heavy like something was constricting her as well. Tharia tried to turn around but the ropes wouldn¡¯t let her. She could only lie on the ground and watch up at Shal-rin. ¡°You¡¯ve made my life easier, little Verholden girl¡±, the man said and brushed a hand along his chin, ¡°Do you know the power behind a name?¡± Tharia pulled on her ropes but they didn¡¯t budge an inch. Shal-rin knelt down beside her. ¡°It¡¯s the kind of power that compels parents, to send away their daughters to die. When I came here, each week a black carriage would appear. Those frail girls would form a line. Short girls, modest of the chest or starved to look like it, their hair cut and dyed black¡±, Shal-rin let out a sigh and shook his head, ¡°Each week, one girl would enter the carriage in tears and no one would speak her name henceforth.¡± Shal-rin stood back up again and turned around. Those girls he had described, that same description could apply to her as well. Tharia saw movement outside of the tent - people were coming. The mage continued his monologue in the meantime. ¡°I went and asked, fathers, don¡¯t you love your children? Mothers, how can you give them away? They looked at me like I was mad and spoke one word only¡±, he turned around and looked at Tharia. ¡°Verholden¡±, Tharia finished for him and he smiled in response. ¡°Absolutely. Ah, girl I just can¡¯t stay mad at you. Let me apologize for my outburst earlier.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ll let us go?¡± Tharia asked with a hopeful tone but the mage shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re such a funny woman. Of course not. It was naive of you to believe me yesterday, to begin with. But I¡¯m grateful to you. Before your attack, I wasn¡¯t sure whether I could go through with the plan¡±, he said with a raised finger, ¡°Your backstab put my mind at ease. We two, we think alike. So you won¡¯t begrudge me when I use you as bait. You and your mother are the two things your brother really wants to get back.¡± Tharia saw the front of the tent open and within seconds, several armed men and women had entered. They held their sharp weapons towards her and the other two. Shal-rin put weight on her staff as if he needed the support to stand. She realized not a single visible trace of magic remained on him. Seems like he was hiding his talent from them. That was something she could use, yet just as she opened her mouth, Shal-rin spoke with a loud voice. ¡°She¡¯s a Verholden witch, quick, stuff her mouth before she can bewitch you as she tried with me!¡±

In front of the Main Tent

Park Square, Third Ring

Tharia was in a particularly bad mood. She hadn¡¯t slept all night. The ropes were so tight that even the slightest motion would cut into her skin and even though the spark inside healed those cuts, it also prevented her from finding a comfortable position. Not that there was any place to lie down anyway. The cage she was in was just large enough to hold her while standing. So all night, she had been on her feet. Her situation was particularly bleak. Sisi was in the hands of that cursed mage. Ravid had been beaten nigh death. His only luck was that the people thought he had come under a spell from the wicked Verholden witch. The worst of it all was that she had no idea where her love was. When morning finally came, she was fuming, angry, exhausted, tired and in pain. She heard movement behind her. Judging by how heavy those steps were, Shal-rin was on the move again and indeed, the large figure came into view. He shot her an angry glance and continued on his path. She noticed that the man looked much smaller than before. Almost human. That meant he had found a way to substitute more of the arcane. Tharia wanted to scream at the people to notice these details, but they were too busy celebrating him as a hero. He stepped on a crate some way away and then held a large horn to his lips. The loud sound shook Tharia on the inside. She saw a small glint of light and realized the man was using some sort of magic to amplify the sounds. ¡°Hear ye, hear ye! Wake up, my family. The day has come to make this a better world¡±, he shouted as loud as he could and with that little spell, his voice carried far and wide. A smart girl would have listened to what he had to say, it might include some sort of information she could use. After a night on her feet, she wasn¡¯t smart. She was angry. Her mind raced as strong hands suddenly picked up the cage with her inside. She was easily carried over towards the pedestal where Shal-rin stood. By now, the entirety of the camp was up on their legs. They had formed long lines in front of the mage. She found herself pushed up and got a better view of just how many people he had. By her estimate, several hundred. Most of them too old, all of them untrained. A disorderly bunch. ¡°By now you¡¯ve heard rumors about the wicked witch. It¡¯s true, she wormed her way into our place and infested us from within. This woman¡±, Shal-rin said and pointed at her cage, ¡°Brought us the Fogeater. Did you lose friends and family? Look no further, for she is guilty.¡± Tharia didn¡¯t even bother reacting. Her mouth was still gagged, her limbs tied up. She could do nothing but glare ¨C but she put her best angry woman impression into that glare. ¡°Gaze upon her, should you require proof, here it is!¡± Shal-rin said and then reached into the cage. He grabbed her arm and then pulled up her sleeve. She tried to pull away from him but couldn¡¯t. ¡°Look at it! Her skin, it moves with living demons!¡± The crowd burst into panicked shouts as they looked at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Tharia saw that the images of the plants and skulls were indeed in motion. They hadn¡¯t done that before. Either it was Shal-rin¡¯s doing or it meant that her time was up. She hoped for the latter, her first act as a cosmic force would be to kill a certain man, even if it meant losing herself in the process. The young woman suddenly realized the one thing that was odd about the situation - apart from all the lying and having an entire army out for her blood of course. She was calm. Unnaturally calm.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°If you need further proof the Verholdens are the root of all evil in this world, look no further than her cohort. How many of you have dreamed of her since she came here?¡± Shal-rin leaned forward and showed a grimace, ¡°Her lovely friend. She¡¯s no human but a thing so brazen, it walked without a mask. Gaze upon who she really is!¡± Annabelle. Tharia knew even before they put up the second cage. The woman inside the cage was dressed in an excessive white bridal gown. Her obscenely long silver-hair was open and flowed down her perfect shoulders, covering her in a silky curtain that reached all the way down to her bottom. ¡°Her name is Annabelle, also known as the Godqueen. The one lying demon that wooed our king and brought about the end of our world! This thing is the travel and bed companion ¨C as you¡¯ve all no doubt witnessed - of the wicked witch!¡± Shal-rin basked in the reaction of the crowd. They were out for blood. People that had asked them to dance and dine with them now showed grimaces of utter hatred and contempt. Something foul hit her head from the side. She could neither dodge it nor see what it really was. The mage held up a hand again. ¡°What shall we do with them?¡± he said, his voice so quiet that no one should have heard it. Yet the crowd quickly picked up a chant. ¡°Kill them!¡± the crowd shouted with maniacal fervor. The large man let the crowd work itself into a frenzy, Tharia couldn¡¯t help but admire the cold cruelty of the man. He paced back and forth before suddenly holding up a hand again. ¡°People, I hear you. I do. But what say you - we use them in the coming battle? Let¡¯s pit the wicked witch and the nightmare whore against the spawn of evil himself.¡± The crowd erupted into applause and Tharia felt nauseous on the inside. A woman she hadn¡¯t seen before brought Shal-rin a tablet with two glasses. A white liquid was in them. Shal-rin picked up one of the glasses and then walked over towards Tharia. He reached into the cage and pulled down the gag on her mouth. ¡°This is a serum of my people¡±, he shouted to the crowd, ¡°The Turesai always had a way to ensure loyalty. It will make these beasts unable to rebel against our just cause!¡± With a much lower voice and without amplification, he fixed her gaze and brought the glass up to her lips. It seemed like water, safe for the hundreds of white glowing dust particles in it. In a way, they looked like the golden dust Sisi used for combustion. When Shal-rin made her swallow the liquid, she understood fully well that her death was now a simple gesture away. She had been poisoned with the white dust of the half-dead sprite. ¡°You will die miserably¡±, she said into the grinning face of Shal-rin. ¡°So I hope, but I will end your family curse before I do. Only the death of every single one of your brood can stop centuries of madness. Your family has festered at the heart of the capital. Your blood brought my people to extinction. It¡¯s time I return the favor¡±, he wrapped his arms around his waist and then raised his voice again, ¡°Now this evil creature will vow undying allegiance to me ¨C or die right here!¡± He motioned for her to speak. She had a choice to make now. Silence and stubbornness would mean her body would instantly tear apart from the inside. Her pride was a small price to pay. Tharia¡¯s shout was amplified by Shal-rin. ¡°This cursed sorceress pledges allegiance to the master known as Shal-rin.¡± Why not play along with his nonsense. She was out of options anyway. One look into his eyes told her that he didn¡¯t believe her either but the lie was good enough to convince the crowd. Shal-rin raised both his hands and bowed towards the crowd. No longer paying Tharia any attention, he then walked over towards Annabelle. She tried to catch her attention but the goddess was stubbornly staring straight ahead. Despite the situation, the human girl couldn¡¯t help but admire how the gown brought out all the provocatively delicious details of her lover. Annabelle stood completely still as Shal-rin removed her gag as well. She might as well not have been there when he poured the liquid into her mouth and forced her to drink all of it. When it was the turn of the goddess to speak, she instead turned towards Tharia. ¡°I will never lower myself to the level of a human¡±, Annabelle said with pride in her voice, ¡°But I will follow my love wherever she goes.¡± This time, the crowd didn¡¯t know how to react. Well, Tharia did. She shouted as loud as she could. ¡°I love you too!¡± That simple gesture took a lot of wind out of Shal-rin''s show. His anger visibly flared as his jaw clenched and his fingers formed to fists. After a moment, he turned around towards his army. ¡°With this, we can finally stomp out the sickness at the heart of the world. Now, we go to war!¡± he shouted.

The Schauhof of the Verholden Manor

Edge of the Third Ring

When a bad morning turns worse, it might have something to do with a frail girl walking at the front of an army, accompanied by the beat of drums. Tharia couldn¡¯t help but suppress a laugh. Out of all things to wear into battle, Shal-rin had insisted she wore thin purple robes that reached all the way down to just below her knees. There was a wide-rim hat on her head and it looked absolutely ridiculous with its many symbols. Her bare feet touched the snow and only the spark inside of her kept her from freezing. The result was a subtle blue glow that everyone could see and that only added to her otherworldly appearance. And if not for her, the woman dressed in white right next to her made the battle even more surreal. Whenever Tharia tried to get close to Annabelle, the chain around her neck was yanked and she found herself thrown to the ground by the force of it. The one to wield the chain was none other than Ravid. One look was all it took to realize the young boy was broken. His face was beaten black and blue, he had been scribbled with words that were supposed to protect from possession and his clothes were adorned with charms and talismans. At first glance, it seemed odd that he was allowed to be up front as well. But on second glance it was obvious he was here to die. He had neither an armor nor a weapon of his own. By the look on his face, he was fine with that outcome. She just wished he wouldn¡¯t yank the chain so hard. It actually hurt a lot when he did that. Annabelle too was chained up at the neck. Like her, she couldn¡¯t get close and they exchanged occasional pained glances, whispering words of love towards each other. When the drums suddenly stopped, Tharia took in her surroundings and sighed. This was the Schauhof of her family. At the height of Valarn, thousands of foreign merchants and local craftsmen would meet and greet under the large glass dome. It had been a beautiful sight once with flowers growing up the hundreds of pillars that held up the construction. The end of days had made short work of the glass and all that remained was an absurdly large place of rubble in the middle of the capital. It was large enough to fit several thousand people. Tharia just hoped the snow was thick enough that she wouldn¡¯t step into shards. She cringed at the thought. It took a considerable while until the last of the soldiers had reached the Schauhof and it was then that Shal-rin appeared on the battlefield. His body was widely visible, as he had people carry him to the front. A strange rumbling in the distance drew her attention away from him. The large gates of the Verholden Manor opened on their own. When she was little, she had always been afraid of the manor. In her eyes, no single building should ever be considered a city of its own but their manor was. It had everything, from their own water supply and fields, down to a small clinic in which she had spent many years before she was locked away in the country-side estate. As the black metal gate opened with loud screeching, a single person stood between the gates. Her body flared up in pain at the sheer sight of him. She knew that man. His face was the perfect mask of innocence, framed by golden locks and clear blue eyes. He was well grown and managed to look both elegant yet also strong. Tharia bit her lip until blood ran down her chin and when she noticed it drop on her robes, she bit harder. The pain kept her mind focussed. Everything else around her had become unimportant. She soon noticed she was shivering all over, the blood had mixed with something else: Tears. Tharia tried to recall what the man was called that had broken her body and mind. She couldn¡¯t remember it at all, just like the rest of her family names had disappeared from her memory. Every single one was repressed deep down below. The only reason she was still standing and not on the ground, drooling, crying, begging, was because she stopped seeing him as a human. He was an abstract object. Her brother. Tormentor. Monster, all these things. But not something that needed a name. He looked directly at her from all the hundreds of meters away and Tharia suddenly fell to the ground. Her knees had given in. She was a shivering mess that couldn¡¯t help but dry-heave. Her reaction was so intense, that even Shal-rin signaled his carriers to stop. All of the details suddenly came crashing down on Tharia. She saw all those eyes judging her. Trash. Tomboy. Worthless piece of shit. Can¡¯t even stand. Serves her right. Garbage. Tharia pressed her hands against her ears and those words still inched their way into her mind. She should just die. Ridiculous. Who could love something like that? ¡°Fairy¡±, a voice rang out between all of that. Dreg. That¡¯s what she was. Her entire body burned in pain from long-repressed memories. Most of all burned the shame at what she was. A helpless heave of flesh. She had been every chance in the world as part of the strongest family squandered it all. Everything she touched, she broke apart. ¡°Let her go¡±, the voice of Shal-rin rang out and a moment later, Tharia felt soft hands wrap around her body moments later. She realized Annabelle was holding onto her but Tharia''s mind was too far gone. She stared directly ahead, her eyes were fixated on a lone figure in the distance. If she was the wicked witch, then her brother was what the nightmares were afraid of. He too only had eyes for her. His unwavering gaze was framed by a sadistic grin. End: Meet the Verholdens | Coming up: A facade cracking 34 - A facade cracking

The Schauhof of the Verholden Manor

Edge of the Third Ring

Annabelle clenched her fists. The body in her arms felt frail and vulnerable. Tharia had curled up and entered an unresponsive stupor that left the goddess helpless. Layers of snow had piled up on top of them. She felt people pull on her chains but even three strong soldiers could not get her off the ground and away from her. This battlefield was no place for someone as gentle as her fairy. Divine energy reshaped reality around her into a small room with a soft bed. She placed the catatonic Tharia in her domain and only then paid attention to the chains that pulled on her. A shadow loomed over her. Four soldiers carried a wooden throne with a large man on top. Shal-rin rubbed his grubby hands and leaned forward. Groaning came from underneath his throne where the people struggled to keep him afloat. ¡°Do not test my patience, pretender¡±, he said. Annabelle just stood still. Her lifeless face fixated upon Shal-rin while the wind played on her long hair. Something about her cold demeanor made the mage shudder. He quickly dismissed her with a wave of his hand. ¡°Oh, it matters not. He saw the bait, with that he¡¯ll come. Do with that demon child what you will. If you do my bidding, she¡¯ll live. I really like her.¡± When the goddess looked at the man, she saw a dead man walking. An upright flapping stack of meat that kept on yapping, believing itself to be in total control. She turned around. If insanity was what he wanted, that¡¯s what she¡¯d give him. Her eyes locked on the gate of the Verholden Manor. Strange metallic creatures had poured out. Each several times the size of a normal human, the snow hitting them evaporated instantly. They seemed like a mixture between knights and dances with limbs stretched beyond reason. Sleek armor design blended and bent in ways that were anatomically impossible for humans. Annabelle stretched her fingers around the Scythe the humans had lent her. All around her were animals waiting to die. They shivered in anticipation, nervously clutching their weapons. At the corner of her mind, she realized Tharia would chastise her for these thoughts but if they wanted to die, why should she stop them. Anger seeped out of her. With her teeth fletched, her bloodlust jumped over onto the humans. ¡°Dance in madness¡±, she said and snapped a finger. Dance, run, be torn to pieces, keep running, beg, pray, hope, have your life smashed into pieces. The people around her leaped into action as Annabelle ran for the frontline. Shal-rin let out a loud curse and then gave the signal to attack. She felt the chains tug on her body as four people in total were dragged along with her. More people joined her assault and soon, a front of animals howling guttural screams and swinging cheap weapons dashed to their death. And death they got. The blonde Verholden man held up an arm. Annabelle took it as a signal that something was afoot. She stopped and the four holding her chains were smacked on the ground from the rebound. Twelve figures appeared on the walls. Their large rifles bellowed out flames that held deadly harvest. Annabelle watched unmoved as bodies were torn apart just a few steps in front of her. Soon, the rifle fire lend a cadence to the battle. Twelve shots, up to twelve people not going home, a period of reloading. Twelve more shots. Shal-rins angry shouting whipped the army forwards into doom and they hadn¡¯t yet reached the metal creatures. ¡°Press on, follow the god creature into battle!¡± he shouted. His gaze towards her was heavy with meaning. She was to do his bidding or Tharia and her would die. Annabelle growled and waited out another deathly rhythm. Shots, screams of death. Now. She lurched forward and when four chains delayed her, she mercilessly swung her weapon towards her captors. The blade cut into flesh and a rather surprised-looking head flew past her. Loud shouts erupted and were cut short, as the path of the weapon cut down the second chain wielder. The remaining two got the message and let her go. Vaguely, at the back of her mind, she realized their terrified faces as they watched her dash towards the enemy. Tharia wouldn¡¯t like that. Large steps carried her across the battlefield with ease. Twelve claps of thunder, ten more people died and crumbled in front of her. She leaped over them, her bridal gown died blood red by now ¨C and so was her pale skin. Soon she overtook the frontline. By instinct, the next beat of the death drum would ring soon, Annabelle dodged pre-emptively and avoided twelve shots all aimed at her. They kicked up a lot of snow which gave her an idea she could use. Switching direction, she resumed her dash for the metal-creatures. Her scythe dragged along the ground. Soon, as the next hail of death was upon her, she used the flat of the Scythe to toss up a cover of snow. When her body disappeared from view, she stopped running that second. There came the thunder and when nothing hit her, she allowed a maniacal grin to show on her face. Two steps and she was out of the snow. Her heart thumped with a bloodthirsty rhythm, demanding carnage. There was but one target for her. Him. The brother. The monster. The first of the dead men walking. Just a few more steps, the first metal-creatures noticed her approach. They groaned when they turned her way. This time, the pace was off. One shot rang out and narrowly missed her, the others came delayed as well. Without a rhythm to warn her, she could no longer dodge and soon, something clipped her left leg. She barely felt it. A large creature crashed down in front of her. Wheezed breathing came out of the sleek metal armor. It pushed up on two halberds when Annabelle was already in range. Not slowing down for even a second, she brought her Scythe up for an attack. Her first cut just grazed the metal armor. The thing let out a stretched scream and Annabelle caught a glimpse of a young woman behind the visor. Her face had been pasted onto a crystal framed by gears and was locked in a state of constant despair. Annabelle lifted the Scythe to her right side and the took aim for the other leg. She struck out but found herself blocked by a halberd that slammed down into the ground. Her scythe bounced off and she lost her balance. A mistake that was nearly fatal! The second halberd approached fast in a high arc. She grunted as she dove for the snowy ground. The halberd clipped through her bridal gown, taking off large amounts of fluff but doing no damage otherwise. She snarled and scrambled back on her feet. The creature had one weapon stuck in the ground and the second was still in motion. Her own scythe was also on the rebound. This called for one of her little tricks. She dropped the Scythe mid-motion and stumbled forwards. With a loud thunk, the first halberd tore out of the ground. The armor in front of her creaked. Annabelle had gotten close enough to touch, gloves formed around her hands and in one quick motion, she tore open the metal while growling. A strange mess of clockwork and melded flesh awaited her. She saw a shadow approaching. The left halberd was still mid swing but the right one could be close. If the creature was suicidal, it could decide to strike her despite how close she was. Annabelle weaved around to the side and narrowly escaped the weapon. It crashed directly into the chest of the clockwork-monster. It didn¡¯t even slow the thing down. Annabelle lunged forward, the second halberd would come any second now. There it was. She fell down on her knees and powerslided through the gap in its legs. With a terrible crunch, the second halberd dug into the chest cavity. Not missing a beat, Annabelle clawed her gloves into the armor and used the speed to get back up. She held on with her left and momentum carried her around until she could punch her right hand straight through the metal. One short breath! Then she scurried up the monster. Once on top, her hands hooked into the helmet and tore open the metal. The beast underneath creaked and groaned as it tried to grab her. Hissing like a beast, Annabelle stopped and held two flat palms against the side of the visor. She gazed directly into the human face underneath it. The frozen terror visible on it made her skin crawl. Especially as the thing looked like Tharia. Golden light rained into existence as two War-Fans manifested straight through its head. For a moment, the large metal-knight bucked under her and then stopped moving. With clarity, Annabelle saw the carnage around her. The army had met the golems as well but they fared much worse. For every metal-creature, at least two dozen people died in taking it down. There were no wounded when the beast struck, it killed. Annabelle jumped off its back and felt a sudden surge of heat pouring out. The clockwork inside of the carcass was still ticking. She picked up the human-made scythe and stumbled away from the thing, just in time to see it go up in flames. Her breathing was ragged but her lust for battle was stoked. A second golem was just in time to satiate her desire for destruction. She threw herself around and headed directly for it. The large creature seemed to hesitate upon seeing her run directly at it. Again, a halberd came swinging her way. Annabelle judged the distance and then leaped off the ground. Her feet landed directly on the metal arm. Not all clich¨¦s work out though, as she quickly lost her footing and slid off again. On the way down, she crunched her right into the arm and let the Scythe swing for the head above. The blade passed straight through the visor. A lucky hit, nothing more. Like before, the clock-golem bucked and then stopped moving. Flames pulsed out as Annabelle jumped away from it. The sheer heat of two beasts dying this close to each other melted the snow away and it¡¯s then that she finally noticed the oddity underneath. Translucent skin covered the ground underneath the snow. It was folded into endless lamella with tiny purple veins pulsing life through it. It was the Godbeast she had felt earlier. The entire Schauhof had already stepped into its maw! The translucent skin snaked up the pillars and onto the glass ceiling above. By her estimate, the main mass of it was directly atop the blonde man. She looked at him and saw Tharia¡¯s brother sip a cup of tea. He returned her gaze with a gentle smile and then bowed his hand in a gesture of mock invitation. Annabelle looked around. While Shal-rins army took insane losses, they had the numbers advantage. One by one the golems were overwhelmed and the rifle-soldiers had slowed down their shooting. On first glance, Shal-rin was winning and she saw the large sack of meat press on.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. She sighed. What would Tharia do? Probably find a way to save the people, no matter how much they wronged her. She remembered the time with Mayleen when they had spit on her and forced her to endure the suffering. Annabelle recalled all the moments when the small girl had forgiven her as well. There was the time she had nearly choked her to death or the time she had taken a bite out of her in the dream domain. Annabelle let out another long sigh. Her bloodlust was ruined, she wasn¡¯t in the mood for slaughter anymore. Which version of Annie, would the girl love more? The murderous rampant beast that left thousands to die or the compassionate light that would save as many as she could? She¡¯d love both equally, Annabelle realized, but one would make her little fairy suffer from self-inflicted guilt. With a decision made, she turned around and headed for Shal-rin. It was time to pay the dues. When Annabelle was barely fifty steps away from Shal-rin, the large man looked at her and then pointed Tharia¡¯s staff in her direction. He leaned forward in his wooden throne and snarled with anger. ¡°Why are you here, creature? You were to help my army¡± She slammed the bent and half-broken Scythe into the ground. Blood dripped from it, partially from the monsters and also from occasional humans that had attacked her in mad bloodlust. Her aura was pulsing and it infected the people around her. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m doing. A Godbeast lies dormant beneath our feet¡± she said. Her eyes locked with the man she hated from the depths of her very being. ¡°I¡¯m fully aware. Yet we¡¯ve never been this close to the man. It¡¯s the price we pay to quell this disease¡±, he shouted. The soldiers nearest to him were gazing at him with confused looks on their faces. Annabelle fletched her teeth and gathered all the hatred in her stomach into one strong push of her aura. Shal-rin suddenly stumbled back and glared at her. ¡°What¡¯s this... you¡¯re more powerful than I thought¡±, he began and let out an angry grunt. Something odd happened. The soldiers nearest to him turned around and aimed their weapons at him. Shal-rin raised his large hands. ¡°Stay away, all of you. You¡¯re under her spell, wake up!¡± he screamed. ¡°So many are already dead¡±, one older woman said, she suddenly lunged forward, her short sword swinging for the large man. Before she reached him, he smacked her with a strange whip-like weapon. Upon second glance, Annabelle recognized them as Turesai War-Fans. These looked different from hers but familiar enough. The weapon broke her skull, sending her convulsing dead body onto the ground. ¡°Why did you kill her?¡± shouted another man and threw his spear after the mage. Annabelle stood still, she had no eyes for what the others did. Murder was on her mind and it seeped out of her every pore as an obsession to slaughter. More and more soldiers turned on him while she walked closer. Defending from the constant attacks, he couldn¡¯t activate the white sprite dust. Suddenly, white fog spread out from him and out of it crawled bird-like creatures. That was the last proof the army needed. More of the army fell into disarray as even people further away realized something was up. This hadn¡¯t been her plan, yet there was no way out of it anymore. The second the feathered sprite clicked its tongue, it would be over for her and Tharia. It was kill or be killed. She accelerated when men and women around her fell to the ground, bound by glowing ropes. A badly wounded Shal-rin stepped out of the fog while bird-creatures feasted on the humans he had killed. His eyes burned with hatred while his fingers formed constant geometric symbols. Strong ropes snapped around Annabelle. They cut into her flesh and she could do nothing but fall over into the snow, helpless to the binding. All she could do was wiggle her hands just a bit. Her teeth were clenched as Shal-rin walked up to her. ¡°I underestimated you¡±, Shal-rin said, breathless, ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be willing to risk your lives. You must have learned from that lass.¡± He had an insufferable grin on his face. The madness within was barely concealed. With large circular motions, he started swinging his War-Fan in preparation for the fatal strike. All Annabelle could do was to move her hands. Yet that was all it took. Something tiny slipped off her finger and fell into her palm. She twisted and stretched her hand until she could balance the object on her fingernail. ¡°To quote Tharia¡±, Annabelle began, ¡°Fuck. You.¡± She flicked her finger. A small shiny object shot through the air and punched directly through Shal-rin¡¯s forehead. He had a dumbfounded look on his face as the object instantly carved a finger-wide hole through his skull. The ring didn¡¯t stop for anything. The binding disappeared instantly and so did the fog. As it lifted, Annabelle got back on her feet while the dead Shal-rin stood upright. His body hadn¡¯t gotten the message yet. Annabelle saw something slimy crawl out of his ears. It was a tiny slug that was humming and singing a weird melody she had heard before. The small thing fell to the ground and shriveled up instantly. Her bloodlust faded and left her exhausted. She walked towards the large man and pushed him aside with a slight touch. He finally toppled over and made room for the goddess. She sat down on his throne and crossed her legs. The bloodstained bridal gown made her look like a nightmare. And a nightmare is what she saw. The Schauhof was died red with death and destruction. No more golems were around and the rifle-men had stopped shooting. The gate of the manor was shut again and by all means, it was a victory. Yet none of the people felt like celebrating. Empty eyes looked up at her, few seemed to be really surprised to see her sit on the throne. Annabelle held out her right hand and golden light sprung up as her own Scythe formed within it. She also held out her left hand and with a glitter, the ring reappeared on her hand. There was something else she had to do. She had realized it the moment Shal-rin died. Using her scythe, she cut into Shal-rins throat and picked up a blue pearl. Under the eyes of everyone present, she swallowed it whole. Strange energies spread out within her, she felt the hair on her arms stand on edge. Arcane energy blended with divine energy and made her into something else. Something more. The golden gloves expanded into gauntlets of silver. Her Scythe suddenly reshaped itself into another version of the weapon, this one faintly glowing. She looked down and felt her feet slip into new boots. Shoes of metal had formed out of silver and golden light, the same color as her gauntlets. Tiny wings on them fluttered in constant motion. She felt divine. More than divine. Leaning back into the throne, she let her gaze wander over the Schauhof. Hundreds of eyes were staring at her. With a voice that was too quiet to be understood by all, yet reached them easily, Annabelle spoke. ¡°I¡¯m Annabelle. Goddess of obsession and desire¡±, her voice rumbled over the Schauhof. Her speech was slow, each word was a battle won. It also lent her words gravitas. ¡°You will take the wounded and leave¡±, she commanded and then leaned forward, ¡°None shall come to harm. Except for those that dared to hurt the one person that holds meaning to me. To those I say, no distance will be far enough ¨C but if you run now, you may live a few days still¡± Her eyes locked with a variety of people she recognized from the crowd the day earlier. They shuddered and averted their eyes. Others still looked at her, too confused to act. One particular pair of eyes caught her attention. Young boy Ravid was staring in shock. She remembered the innocent young man that had once thought he could lead people to safety. Now, it was a broken shell. One that betrayed Tharia. It didn¡¯t matter to her whether he had his reasons. ¡°Pray to whoever may listen that we do not meet again¡±, she said out loud. Ravid shuddered as if struck by a weapon. Annabelle paid it no more mind. She meant it. Tharia might be forgiving. She was not. She watched quietly as the army dispersed into random groups of people. After the nightmare they had been through, there weren¡¯t many still clamoring for a fight. Her hand picked up Tharia¡¯s staff from the ground. ¡°You¡¯re ice cold, sister¡±, came Sisi¡¯s voice out of it. The small sprite sounded sick. ¡°I¡¯m obsession personified¡±, she replied and opened the small cage on the weapon. The staff shuddered and then fell apart into two barrier chains. Sisi floated in the air with a tiny and unconscious white sprite in its hands. ¡°I suggest you take your kin out of the city¡±, Annabelle spoke slowly. Sisi carefully dropped the white sprite on the snow and then floated up towards Annabelle¡¯s face. A moment later the goddess stared at the human-sized full manifestation of the sprite. Fire-read hair framed a perfect face that was showing a frown. ¡°I will, but I¡¯ll be back. You two idiots would burn down the world, just because it looked fluffy.¡± Annabelle stared at the elemental and noticed Ravid approaching from the background. He knelt down in front of her. ¡°I¡¯ve hurt Tharia and I¡¯m sorry for it. No excuse can make up for that¡±, the young boy said. Under the eyes of Sisi, Annabelle stood up from the throne and moved her Scythe towards Ravid. She touched his chin with the blade and looked down on him. ¡°You¡¯re neither deaf nor slow, thus I deem you a seeker of death¡±, she said without emotion. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to do it, they made me do it¡±, he said. ¡°And you complied. Tharia would suffer before hurting her friends¡±, Annabelle replied. She twisted her scythe until the blade started cutting into his neck. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡±, he stammered. Annabelle tensed her muscles for the coup de grace but a raspy voice made her halt. ¡°Let him go, Annie¡±, Tharia said. Annabelle looked over her shoulder to see a shivering mess of a girl seemingly step into existence out of nowhere. Once Tharia was out of her domain it collapsed behind her. ¡°He hurt you¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°So did you and I don¡¯t see you hurting yourself. It¡¯s what makes us alive. We all hurt each other. It¡¯s alright¡±, the human girl said and then walked up to Ravid. She knelt down in front of him. Annabelle couldn¡¯t help but think the poor girl was broken inside. Yet here she was, acting strong for others. She saw Tharia trace a finger along the cut the Scythe had left and subtle blue light healed the cut. The small girl then leaned close and placed a kiss on his forehead. ¡°I¡¯m sorry too for what happened. Don¡¯t beat yourself up over it. We all do what we have to do, to survive. I¡¯m also aware that you¡¯ve fallen for me, silly boy. This I will never be able to answer ¨C my heart belongs to Annabelle and I hold little interest in men¡±, Tharia said and leaned back on her heels. She was still dressed in those silly purple robes with her bare feet touching the snow. Annabelle wanted to say something, but Tharia shut her up with a gesture. ¡°Make this a breaking point in your life. Your old self died when Annabelle cut your neck. You¡¯re now no longer Ravid. Find out who you really are, go out into the world, do good, do evil, just do what you want to do. If you feel some obligation to me, you will help Sisi on the way out of the city. One day we might meet again, but young boy Ravid you won¡¯t be anymore.¡± Annabelle watched quietly as the young man got up from the ground. He bowed in their direction and then looked at Sisi. The fire-haired sprite put its hands against the waist and sighed. ¡°Do I have to?¡± it said. ¡°You do¡±, Tharia replied with a gentle smile. ¡°I supposed it might be useful to have someone carry us around. Oi boy, pick up those two chains. We¡¯re going to need them¡±, the sprite commanded and Ravid listened. He shot both Annabelle and Tharia one last coy look, then ran off. Soon, they were alone on the Schauhof with the dead and those close to it. The battle was over and a gruesome scene of suffering unfolded in front of her. ¡°Are you alright, Fairy?¡± ¡°Not at all¡±, Tharia said with a low whisper, ¡°Not even in the slightest.¡± The young woman sounded hurt and weary. Annabelle removed her gloves and then pulled the girl close to her chest. She then softly nudged Tharia¡¯s face into her bosom and held her close. Soon, she felt something wet touch her skin as tears soaked through the silly gown. The goddess caressed her hand over that soft and short hair, her eyes locked on the Verholden manor. A strange shudder ran through the Schauhof as large translucent layers of skin suddenly lifted up from underneath the snow. They wrapped around the dead and soon blood pulsed through the see-through skin as the corpses were sucked dry. Moments later, the skin compressed into a humanoid shape. It looked odd as layer upon layer of skin shrunk and then wrapped around it to form a beautiful blonde woman standing a good distance away from them. Annabelle realized this woman was the Godbeast. Worse, the face looked like Tharia somehow. She waved towards them and then pointed towards the manor. Another invitation. Soon. End: A facade cracking | Coming up: Behind the veneer 35 - Behind the veneer

Entrance of the Verholden Manor

Edge of the Third Ring

He was there. A few more steps of her bare feet through the snow and she would meet the nightmare that defined her life. Bring him back, her father had said. Kill him dead, was what her heart said. She felt Annabelle nearby and while she wanted her close, she was also repulsed by the torn and bloodied bridal gown she wore. Tharia¡¯s eyes wandered towards the monstrous woman a few meters away. The closer they got to her, the more she seemed like a perfectly normal human. Her layers of translucent skin had the knack to form into a seductive figure, clothes and even the intricate details of golden locks on her head. She knew that face very well - it was just close enough in looks to hers to spell family. ¡°She¡¯s Celestine¡±, Tharia said with a solemn voice, ¡°my elder sister.¡± Even as a monster, her sister was every bit the social temptress. When the thing moved in their direction, the sway of the hips and that inviting come-hither smile revolted Tharia. This was the stick she had been measured with all her life. She had been a voluptuous, insatiable predator even before the end of the world had turned her. One last shiver ran through her form and the final layers of skin placed down on her bosom. Of course, they made her chest bigger still. Tharia gnashed her teeth as Celestine spread her arms and smiled. ¡°Well, look what the cat dragged in. It¡¯s so good to see you alive!¡± her sister exclaimed and ran towards her. Annabelle quickly held the Scythe between them, but Celestine casually pushed it aside. ¡°Relax, I¡¯m just family¡±, she said. ¡°Precisely¡±, Annabelle replied but after a wave of Tharia¡¯s hand, she allowed the woman to pass. The human woman found herself lifted off the ground easily, Celestine whirled her around like a little child. That blonde poison was breathtaking. If Annabelle was the goddess of lust and obsession, well, her dear sister was the crass carnal manifestation thereof. Her elder sister put her back down and patted her on the head as if she was the insignificant tomboy again. ¡°You¡¯ve inked your entire body, maybe you really do enjoy the pain. It suits you well and father will be furious. I love it¡± Tharia swallowed her pride, she realized her voice was shaking as she spoke, ¡°Hello sister.¡± Celestine, however, had already moved on to her next target. Tharia bit her lip in anger as she saw that carnal pleasure thing brush her hands along Annabelle. ¡°And you, my ravishing little thing, must be Annabelle. Brother told me that Celestine never was into women, so I¡¯m sorry to say we won¡¯t spend the night together¡±, her elder sister said as if that was a foregone conclusion. When that blonde thing started to sniff Annabelle¡¯s neck, the goddess pushed her away with force. Not even fazed by the rejection, Celestine twirled around in the snow. ¡°Annabelle. Tharia. You absolutely must meet brother. The things he has done to those poor girls because he didn¡¯t have you¡±, Celestine put a hand to her forehead, ¡°Ugh, even a perverse creature like me has her limits, you know?¡± Just as Tharia wanted to say something, her elder sister suddenly pushed against her. She looked up at the towering woman and swallowed hard. This close, the extreme allure of her was obvious and it made her feel small and insignificant in comparison. Glowing how breath exhaled onto her nose as the creature ignored all definitions of personal space. ¡°You¡¯re here to kill him. That¡¯s a good smell you¡¯ve got on you¡±, Celestine said and licked her lips in an obscene gesture, ¡°Fine by me. I call dibs on his decrepit little body after you¡¯re done murdering him.¡± And then, just as if nothing had happened, the blonde monster stepped away again. It leaped into the air and then landed in the snow a few meters away. Twirling to the song of an unhearable waltz, she quickly danced along the Schauhof towards the entrance of the manor. ¡°Fairy¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°My family is fucked, I know.¡± This wasn¡¯t how she had imagined this to go, at all. There was no grand battle nor clash with her brother. She hadn¡¯t even seen him yet. For hours now she had endured the flock of servants pestering her with their ministrations. First, they had bathed her with scalding water. Then, they dragged her into this room and placed her down in a chair. Her face hadn¡¯t been touched by this much powder and tinctures in untold months. Now that they were done, she couldn¡¯t recognize the person looking back at her from the mirror. Breathtaking. Regal. Really not quite herself. Without a single say in it, Tharia was made to stand up. Uninvited hands felt her up, took measurements and pushed and prodded at her body. Despite having spent starving weeks in the wasteland of a dying city, these servants still miraculously found tiny reservoirs of body fat they deemed unsightly. Her ears picked up the quiet tssk and huh and humphs they made. They were silent judgments cast with a burning iron. There really was nothing she could do but endure. The robe was stripped from her body and more silent haarrumphs and pahs rang out. Too many hands forced her into pants ¨C of course, they gave her pants instead of a skirt - and they dressed her up in a frilly blouse too. Naturally, it faked out a bit of substance up top. She was suddenly very conscious of every little flaw. And still, they prodded her, one particularly grumpy looking maid pushed Tharia¡¯s breast in and snapped a finger. Moments later, a younger servant returned with two small cushions, a needle, and yarn. That was it. Tharia pushed them away with a murderous glare and stomped out of the room. Fucking vultures. As her bare feet touched the soft carpet, she once more realized she didn¡¯t have shoes yet. Why did no one ever bother giving her boots, gods be cursed. It mattered not. This was to be her statement then. You can dress me up like a puppet but I¡¯ll be me in the end. She hurried through the corridors of the mansion with an entourage of squealing maids. It really felt like she had gone back in time. Her eyes wandered towards a window. The view of the capital she got quickly pulled her back to the now. This wasn¡¯t back then, this was now. She passed one of those old knight statues and in passing, she snatched up the sword from it. This got her servants to take some distance. Good, they still knew that Verholdens were unstable fucked up monsters. Voices lured her to the entrance hall where she finally found him. Her brother looked like a hero of legends. His babyface seemed innocent and was framed by fitting locks. He towered over Celestine with his foot on her back. ¡°You touched her?¡± he screamed and kicked down on her elder sister. ¡°Celestine does not touch other people. She¡¯s a temptress, not a whore!¡± he continued and kicked the blonde monster-woman a second time. Tharia accelerated her pace. When he turned to look at her, she pointed the sword directly at his throat. ¡°You look good, little sister. I¡¯m sorry you had to see this, she hasn¡¯t been quite the same since she came back¡±, he said with an apologetic smile and a shrug of his shoulders, ¡°Celestine wasn¡¯t a whore. She was a proper lady.¡± Tharia looked down on the monster-woman and then back up at her personal nightmare. The way he looked was dangerously disarming. ¡°She humped every man she could find. Except for the one that begged her for it, you sick incestuous fuck¡±, she snarled. She knew he had never once lusted for his family, but Tharia knew very well how to hurt him too. He had always been concerned about libido. She had struck true. Sudden anger flared up in him. He scrunched his beautiful face into a hateful grimace. ¡°Tharia!¡± his voice thundered. It hit Tharia like a punch to the gut. She lowered the sword as her body started shuddering uncontrollably. Not now. Please not now. Her lips bled when her teeth dug into them. He has no more power over you, she told herself. ¡°Tharia¡±, he echoed with a much softer tone this time, ¡°You always were a foul mouth. It really is what makes you so special. Come, let us take a walk.¡± She felt his hands lock around her. He didn¡¯t even seem to mind the sword and when she looked down at the floor, she realized why. She had let go of it at some point. Her brother casually pulled her along towards the large door. Servants hurried to open it up. Sudden cold air poured inside. Strong hands swept her off her feet. She tried to protest but Frederickus carried her outside. ¡°You really should have worn shoes, sister. You always were the rebellious one. Tell me, did you paint your body to anger father some more?¡± he asked and didn¡¯t even wait for a reply from her. ¡°Let me go¡±, she whispered. ¡°That¡¯s something I can¡¯t do. You¡¯re mine, Tharia. Only with your help can I enter the room and save this world from oblivion.¡± Tharia reached up her hands and wrapped them around his neck. She only needed to push. Lock her fingers around it and crush his throat. After such a long time in the capital of monsters, this should be easy. Just kill him.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Nuh uh, Tharia¡±, he said and stretched his neck. She instantly let go of it, his gestures and words were commands that she had to obey ¨C or else. Her body shivered and her mind called back the many times he had tortured her. ¡°Where are you taking me?¡± she asked with a whimper. ¡°There¡¯s something you need to see. It will help you understand. I¡¯ve always looked out for you¡±, he replied. ¡°Oh yes, you¡¯ve loved me so very much. You sick shitstain. Want to show me your collection of dead servants again? Or what you did to my dog? That¡¯s what gets you off, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Her stomach lurched as her body suddenly sacked downwards. A moment later she smacked onto the ground, her fall only softened by the deep snow underneath. Before she could fully recover, iron-hard hands clutched her arm and dragged her along the ground like a piece of rubbish. ¡°You must not tempt me, foul beast¡±, he growled as he dragged her through the snow. Annabelle felt a strange sensation in her chest. She had been subjected to the torture of maids. That was a while ago. There was no one around anymore and the only reason she still waited was that she was told that Tharia would soon be there. Just as she was about to lose patience, the door opened up and her love walked inside with a confident smile on her lips. ¡°There you are¡±, Tharia said and ran a finger along her own lips. Annabelle blinked in confusion. This wasn¡¯t her doing. The young woman approached with a sway on her hips that spread soft warmth in the goddess. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to confront your brother?¡± Annabelle interjected as the young woman sat down on her lap. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to be no longer beholden to him¡±, Tharia said. Soft lips locked with hers and Annabelle felt hands slide over her chest. Her little fairy was aggressive today. A moment later, the small woman let go of her lips. ¡°What is going on, Fairy?¡± Annabelle asked, slightly breathless. ¡°Tell me, Annabelle, what does it mean to feel?¡± the frail girl said and sit up straight, ¡°Why do you love this type of body? You smell so much like I do but you¡¯re different. There are emotions within you.¡± The goddess froze in place. This wasn¡¯t Tharia, even though it looked like her. Again, she had been tricked into kissing someone else. With sudden anger, she grabbed the short black hair, digging her fingers into it. With a flash of golden light, the Scythe manifested directly inside of the small girl, impaling her on the long weapon. With a guttural growl, she then kicked the body away from her and let out a loud scream. Laughter was her answer as the body of the girl unfurled into transparent layers of skin. ¡°Why are you so angry? Would you have done even more with me, if I persisted?¡± a voice came from out of nowhere, ¡°Why do you feel? I want to feel too but I only catch glimpses of it when brother shouts at me.¡± Annabelle wiped her mouth and stared down on Celestine. The woman had turned into a loosely held together creature of floating skin layers. ¡°You¡¯re a newly born god¡±, Annabelle said and then shook her head while carefully planning her words, ¡°No, we are demons. We cause misery to fester emotions that we can steal. In turn, humans pray to us and call us divine. ¡°I¡¯m getting emotions from you, you feel for me¡±, Celestine spoke with a questioning tone and then shivered, ¡°It¡¯s unpleasant. Why?¡± ¡°Because you used the face of my love to try and tempt me, you repulse me. I hate you¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°This love, is it important? Brother says he loves me, but it feels like what you feel towards me. Do you love me?¡± the monster-being asked with a childish inflection. Annabelle quickly shook her head. ¡°Then, brother hates me as you hate me. I do not like being hated¡±, Celestine said and curled into a tightly wound ball. ¡°When I play with the servants, they feel lust for me and then, when they¡¯re done, they feel hate. Why? When brother puts those girls in his world engine, why do they feel hate when he says it¡¯s out of love? Hate does not feel good. This does not feel nice. I want to feel nice¡±, the creature said from within the ball. It pulsed with red liquid running through it. Suddenly, it began unfurling. ¡°When I kissed you, it felt nice. When they touched me, it felt nice. But brother says Celestine wasn¡¯t a whore, she wouldn¡¯t give in to niceness and pleasure. Why? When I killed the others and ate them, it felt nice¡±, the Godbeast continued. Soon, the fleshy mass filled out the entrance of the small room. The walls started to crack from the pressure. ¡°I think you will taste nice. You¡¯re riper than they were, maybe the taste will be richer too? I¡¯m so hungry. Maybe you can fear me while I eat you, that would smell nice¡± Annabelle summoned her scythe and then entered a combat stance. She was unsure whether she could even kill the thing in front of her. Celestine was neither fully awoken nor a Godbeast anymore. When the layers of skin suddenly formed into giant white hands and punched her through the walls, the intense pain in her body gave her the answer. Tharia ached all over. Frederickus pulled her on her legs again and then began brushing off the snow. It didn¡¯t help much. The beautiful clothes she had been given were dirty once more. Her brother had a strange expression on his face. ¡°You always liked dirtying yourself. When you did it with the chambermaid, I saw. That was the first time you seemed happy¡±, he said and Tharia grew red from embarrassment. The chambermaid had been her first many years ago. ¡°You really are lusting after your siblings¡±, she said with disgust in her tone. Frederickus stopped and smacked her hard across the jaw. ¡°Stupid cunt. I care for your purity, not your body. This is all your gods cursed fault!¡± he shouted and then kicked open the door to the nearby large building. He dragged her inside while babbling on with barely concealed anger. ¡°You are my gate to the room of wisdom. Only by hurting you can I embrace the forgotten knowledge locked within! Don¡¯t you see what it offers us?¡± Her brother pulled her deeper into the building. No matter how much she struggled, he was stronger. He had always been, even when he wasn¡¯t ¨C years of being his broken plaything had made her unable to defend herself. Decades of being tortured made her pliable and worthless. She sobbed as he threw her into a large room. The sound of giant hammers smashing down on metal shook her to the very bone. Tharia pulled herself up from the metal floor and gazed directly at something not even her wildest nightmares knew existed. It was a machine that worked in a steady rhythm. Gears clicked into place, metal groaned and strange crystals pulsed with an odd light. This wasn¡¯t the nightmare part. That honor belonged to the giant glistening heart at the core of it. It pulsed with pained life, blood shooting out from it and into long tubes. Each pulse pushed more blood into the hundreds of capsules lined up along the sides. Tharia saw people inside of them, their mouths sewn shut and their bodies in a state of death ¨C yet the machine-blood kept them alive. She felt nauseous. It was this point she realized a fundamental truth. Killing him would be a kindness. ¡°That¡¯s the genius of the room Tharia. Do you see now?¡± he said and laughed with a joyous look on his face. ¡°You¡¯re beyond fucked up¡±, Tharia answered with a whisper. ¡°Sister, you don¡¯t understand. What you see is the heart of the world, once it starts beating proper, we can make the world whole again. You can finally love me like you always wanted to!¡± Frederickus said and ran down the path. His hands brushed along the metal bar that framed the pathway. ¡°Someone needs to put you down¡±, the words left her mouth without a conscious thought. She wobbled after him in a strange stupor. ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that. You¡¯re the key beloved sister. That night when I first hurt you, my dreams took me to the room. It was there that I gazed upon the secrets of creation itself. I¡¯ve only hurt you so I could go back there. You must understand, your suffering opens the gates of creation!¡± He reached a smaller room in the middle of it. When he opened it up, Tharia gazed upon piles of dead women. They all vaguely looked like her. Some of the bodies had been hooked up to strange glowing crystals and metal armors filled with gears, their faces were distorted from the pain of their final moments. ¡°See? Only you will do. It¡¯s why I had you dressed up. This is mandatory. The others don¡¯t work. I tried, they break too easily. But sister, when I broke your back, the room gave me wisdom eons old. It made me build the world engine that will bring a new era. I only need another glance, I know that the domain of gods is the final component, but I don¡¯t know where. Come Tharia, let us usher in a new world¡± Frederickus picked up a whip with studded nails in it. Tharia winced upon seeing it, but her feet slowly walked towards him. ¡°You understand me, right?¡± he shouted, eyes glazed over with madness as he wrapped the whip around his hand. ¡°Come, let your suffering open the gates again¡± When Tharia finally stood in front of him, she realized a simple truth. Finally knowing why he had tortured her all those years had broken something inside of her. The answer was as absurd as it was insane. A smile crept onto her face. She looked up at him and took in the rapture of pure bliss on his grimace. ¡°You must not survive¡±, she said. Her younger brother was shivering with anticipation, he caressed the whip like a dear lover, while she was unarmed as she always had been. Helpless. Insignificant. Really fucking pissed. Her lightning-fast punch cracked teeth from his maw. While he keeled over in shock, her foot stomped down on his crotch. Frederickus crawled away from her while holding his lower region. ¡°See, your dick is more important to you than your teeth you shithumping piece of gunk, so much for purity¡± The utter confusion in his face amused Tharia. Guess what, Frederick. You aren¡¯t invincible after all. Tharia saw that his first instinct was to get back on his feet. She kicked his legs out from under him, watching him flop back down. ¡°Tharia, why are you doing this? I need you¡±, he said with a whimper. Now that she looked at him properly, she forgot why she had ever feared him. She stretched her arms and rotated them slightly, loosening her muscles for what was to come. Something popped in her lower back. That¡¯s why she had feared him. Well, not anymore. Yeah, he could hurt her, but only if she let him. She was done holding still. ¡°If killing you is kindness, I¡¯m sorry to say I¡¯m not a kind person¡±, she said and picked up a notched and rusted knife from a table nearby. Her steps accelerated until she was on top of him. With her feet, she pushed him to the ground and then straddled him. Her younger brother looked at her, still in shock that she even dared strike back. He seemed unable to process that she had grown teeth in the time apart. She leaned closer until she could feel his breath on her. ¡°Every time you broke me and the spark had to heal me again, I learned more about how the body works¡±, her voice whispered. The shock wouldn¡¯t last forever. Already he was adapting. She saw it in his eyes that he was looking for chinks in her mental armor. Tharia acted before he could regain his senses properly. She picked up his left hand and then suddenly jammed the rusted knife straight through it. He bucked up in agony, tears shooting into his eyes. ¡°Why, you can¡¯t, how¡±, he stammered. The man had poked the bear for years. Years of her passive suffering had made him bold, gave him that rush of power that made him feel on top. He wasn¡¯t. ¡°When you do this, you cut the nerves and part of the central muscles. The hand becomes useless but the pain is really exquisite, isn¡¯t it?¡± she said and picked up the other hand. He still looked at her, unable to respond as she poked the knife at his second hand. Instead of jabbing it in, she slowly bore the blade through. Her mind filtered out his screams and seeing him flail and cry without any sound whatsoever made it really rather funny to her. Years of repressed pure hatred seeped up. ¡°I¡¯m a deeply broken woman¡±, she said and got up. With another kick into his groin, she put up a fake smile. ¡°I remember now. You loved this little game of hide and seek. What do you say we play again? This time, you run, you piss yourself, you slip on your entrails, your heart will stop, you will feel and pray for death ¨C and then I¡¯ll heal you back up, just so we can keep playing.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t do this¡±, he whimpered and quickly crawled away from her, his hands limp at his side. ¡°See, you do remember what I used to say¡±, she said while her smile turned ugly. End: Behind the Veneer | Coming up: Enough. Bonus - Letters of Lore II As epochs moved on in Valarn, history was rewritten time and time again. Things that had once been truths became distant memories, as new narratives took shape. Written, changed and told again, one such example were the elementals. A few moments in time highlight the changing role of these enigmatic creatures.
Case 19981-2990-SIN Filed 08/12/01/530 Page 3 of 7
Valarn Glorias Eternal. Case: Arthur Halmen versus the just and proper society.
Failure to rescind heretic retelling. Knowledge of this document is punishable by death
In accordance with ¡ì378.19a of general human decency law, the accused Arthur Halmen, born of the Halmen family of bakers, was offered a chance to recant their testimony of uncouth interaction with evil elements. Instead, the accused issued the following statement. ¡°It¡¯s no secret to you and me, that this verdict started at guilty and is merely judging how high I will be strung up. Have at it. The words I will speak will damn all of you to die along with me. The reason we¡¯re fighting the elementals is called knowledge. When the gods broke their covenant and shattered creation, they doomed us all. Each year, more of the known world is lost to the void. Have you not eyes to see? Travel to the edge of the world and gaze into that which devours all. Ask the astronomers and listen when they tell you the stars come closer, put an ear to the ground and recognize the failing heart of our world. That¡¯s the truth for which the elementals had to die. The gods fear we might learn of the ailment of our world and act upon it.
Case 19981-2990-SIN Filed 08/12/01/530 Page 7 of 7
Valarn Glorias Eternal. Case: Arthur Halmen versus the just and proper society.
List of casualties associated with the case. Arthur Halmen ¨C Accused. Guilty of high treason. Punishment of death. High Judge Erin Astalar. Guilty of high treason. Punishment of death. Aciendo-Judge Maro Hinvesteen. Guilty of high treason. Punishment of death. Aciendo-Judge Rowen Kilis. Guilty of high treason. Punishment of death. Listener Hundsran. Secondary act of vile listening. Punishment of death. Listener Bower. Secondary act of vile listening. Punishment of death. Listener...
The court document goes on like this. All in all, thirty-three people were found guilty of high treason. There is only one name not on the list of the dead and that¡¯s the guard that carried out the verdict. However, one additional court document lists the guard and his crime of killing thirty-three people. The punishment was death. Like this, Valarn has always been vigilant about what it can tell and what must be unknown. Sometimes, the two worlds of truth and fiction blend together in weird ways as one lecture protocol can attest.
Lecture Protocol. On fairy anatomy and the prospect of love.
Protocol Bearer: Inka Vindi Lecture held by Leichtmeister Postaliscz.
The Leichtmeister is seen pacing the desk. His lecture has yet to begin but fellow scientis are found giggling at the image of a nude sprite on the board. Loud music marks the beginning of the lecture. Leichtmeister Postaliscz reminds us to fulfill our duties of attendance and hands out the rite of acknowledgment for this session.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. His lecture begins with a review of last sessions material. The Leichtmeister points back to the naive literature on the possibilities of intercourse with the sprites themselves. He makes obvious the poetry nature of many writs on elementals. ¡°Elementals are incapable of reciprocating feelings of love on anything but an emotional level¡± It¡¯s the central claim of the session posted at the beginning. Leichtmeister describes sprite anatomy and introduces the many shapes they can take. ¡°These creatures have three distinct shapes, all feminine in appearance. The sprite is their natural shape. They¡¯re about as large as a hand and have tiny wings that keep them afloat.¡± Leichtmeister shows pencil sketches of tiny and very delicate looking female winged creatures. Some of the boys take a special interest in the nudity of these creatures. ¡°Their second shape is the elemental. Here, they¡¯re human-sized and can float, carried by their strange magic alone. In this shape, their dominant elemental nature breaks through, manifesting in details such as burning hair or watery skin.¡± Now the Leichtmeister hands out pencil sketches of grown women with extensive detail. One scientis, male, I must add, notes the absence of secondary sexual characteristics. To quote: ¡°They have tits but no nipples!? This is merely artistic license, right?¡± The Leichtmeister explains. ¡°It¡¯s not. As you have so astutely noticed, sprites, elementals, fairies, however you may call them, have neither primary nor secondary sexual characteristics. While their shape appears female at first glance, they¡¯re anything but.¡± Now another scientis, female this time, I must add with indignation, feels the need to interrupt. ¡°What about the stories of inter-species procreation then?¡± ¡°Hogwash¡±, the Leichtmeister states, ¡°Simply impossible. Do not be deceived by centuries of poetry.¡± ¡°But the third shape?¡± I recognize that the Leichtmeister grows agitated at the interruptions. He has every right to be. These fellow scientis are the lowest of the low harung, barely worth to receive sustenance. ¡°Yes, the third shape. It¡¯s their combat form. Here they project their magic outside to wages battle in various forms. They can mold and adapt this form to serve many needs.¡± The Leichtmeister is once more seen pacing around the desk when another scientis interrupts him again. Any needs? That could potentially include procreation, right?¡± To which, and here I quote Leichtmeister Postaliscz, states, ¡°If you want to stick your dick into a living thunderstorm, be my guest.¡±
It must be noted that this was Leichtmeister Postaliscz last lecture. He had quit shortly after with the by now legendary words that he couldn¡¯t teach a bunch of horny teenagers to not fuck their benches on lunch break. This became a popular saying for people that refused to learn when it came to relationships that were doomed. However, when it came to the fairies, the obsession with them wasn¡¯t always sexual and curious. Following the collapse of the Dalman Theocracy at the end of a rebellion and the twenty-year war with the fairies, many orders sprung up in Valarn.
Pledge of Allegiance to the Order of the Rose.
I henceforth recognize the evil of religious bigotry and the lure of evil spirits. No magic nor sprite shall tempt me from my path, no promises of eternal wellbeing may lure me. My sword is for the greater good of Valarn and my body belongs to the noble family Saskin. I hereby swear fealty to the houses and the king or queen. My blade will slay elementals, it will stay monsters and I shall pray for the weak. My heart sings true with the valor of a thousand good deeds, with noble justice I shall earn my name and the right to brandish myself a knight of the order. Through the storm, through famine, through death and disease, I will ride to banish the evil from this world. Hear now my vow and pledge. With this cut, my old life ends. With these sacred words, I become a knight of the rose.
Pledges like these were frequent as many nobles build up their own paramilitary troops. To avoid political issues, guilt was cast on all sides: Sprites just as much as the established religion. This naturally led to the war of knights about a century later. Where there is power, there is an abuse of it. 36 - Enough.

Verholden Manor

Edge of the Third Ring

Annabelle was smashed straight through the wall. Momentary pain numbed her senses. She had exited through the other side and found herself in free fall. Her eyes caught sight of the monster. It flowed out of the mansion. Hundreds of see-through layers gave it the impression of a river flowing upstream. The strands coalesced into a floating human shape that watched the goddess smack into the ground. Annabelle grunted from the impact. There was a short lull in combat. Celestine observed her from her vantage point up above and Annabelle quickly checked her surroundings for anything she could use in battle. There were a couple of golems around and if she were lucky, maybe the half-awoken Godbeast would impale herself on the glass ceiling of the Schauhof or the spikes on the wall. By now, with the way her pain and injuries had disappeared, it was obvious to her that Celestine was close enough to full godhood that they could no longer kill each other. She had to try either way. With her scythe in hand, she summoned the gloves onto her hands and realized a likewise pair of winged boots had formed on her feet. Light glinted above. By instinct, she dodged to the side as a several meter long shadow cut straight through the ground. Annabelle realized two things. One, Celestine had formed a titanic blade made out of bone structure. Two, the goddess was still up in the air, as her augmented jump had carried her much further than expected. Moving in the air meant she couldn¡¯t dodge. Celestine suddenly snaked out of the ground right next to her. She stared into a face that looked far too close to Tharia for comfort. Pale hands snatched Annabelle straight out of the air and then held her by her throat. She kicked and struggled by instinct before she realized that despite the pain, there was no damage. The monster-woman suddenly split open. Glistening muscle tissue appeared, mixed in with bones and nightmarish organs that no normal human should have. The ribcage split apart into a long row of teeth, they casually chomped down on Annabelle. The goddess blacked out from pain ¨C if but for a second. When she came to again, she was still held by the throat, yet her scythe had fallen down. Celestine looked perfectly human again. ¡°Prghharghl¡±, Celestine tried to speak. The jaw wouldn¡¯t move properly and the sounds came out garbled. The face of the monster woman split open once more with smacking sounds. Muscles shivered out in the open. Something inside cracked audibly, crunched and like that, the jaw suddenly shifted back in place. ¡°I don¡¯t like food that disappears from my mouth¡±, the creature said with a sickly sweet voice. Annabelle found herself dragged closer to the beast in human form. She waited until she was close enough and then quickly moved her hand to the side of Celestine. The goddess called her scythe and the golden light flashed in place, yet an intense searing pain ran up her arm instead. Her weapon dispersed and instead, a sharp and thin blade was stuck right through her arm. ¡°Why do you look so glum, Annabelle?¡± Celestine said with the face and haircut of Tharia but the shivering liquid body of a monster, ¡°I thought I¡¯d show you mine too¡± The blade belonged to a golden rapier that Celestine held with a human hand. A moment later, her chest exploded with agony as something long and sharp manifested inside of her body. Tears momentarily blinded her side. ¡°This one too!¡± Celestine said and pulled the giant axe out from Annabelle. Again, the goddess momentarily blacked out ¨C and was brought right back again. The monster let go of the goddess and the moment she plunged into the snow, loud thunder bellowed out and her leg disappeared in a cloud of blood. It re-appeared a second later as if nothing happened. ¡°Oh, sorry, missed your head¡±, Celestine said with a wolfish grin on her face. She floated up above, held in place by a barely visible limb of flesh underneath her human form. Her hands held onto an absurdly long rifle with lines of golden energy pulsing through it. Just as the goddess got back up on her feet, soft hands touched her shoulders. The monster had appeared right beside her. ¡°Well this is funny, looks like I can¡¯t kill you at all¡±, the creature said. Annabelle weaved out of her grasp and summoned a War-Fan at full length while in motion. The blunt side of her weapon swung around and cracked open Celestines skull. It was frustrating to see the damage disappear instantly. ¡°Gods can¡¯t kill each other¡±, Annabelle said, breathless. This was a messed up situation. Tharia was probably in danger somewhere and she was not only matched with an opponent that was several times stronger than her, but also one she couldn¡¯t kill. At all. Celestine looked at her with an oddly childish expression, one finger touched her lips and the monster-woman then shook her head. A moment later, snow blew aside and a table sprang up from the translucent tissue. As it gained color, two comfy chairs appeared out of Celestine as well. A moment later, Annabelle was forced to sit down, opposite to the monster that once more showed her blonde hair. It leaned forward with a wide smile and snatched up a piece of cake that had formed from the translucent muscle mass. This was absurd. In an act of auto-cannibalism, the monster started eating the cake made from itself. ¡°You should try it, it¡¯s delicious¡±, it said while continuing. ¡°I¡¯m not eating you¡±, Annabelle replied resolutely. ¡°It¡¯s your loss¡±, the creature said and ate another bite of the cake. The goddess struggled in her chair. She needed to find Tharia. Something was going on. ¡°Do you really want to fight this out?¡± came Celestine¡¯s question as the monster looked at her struggling. ¡°Tharia¡±, was Annabelle¡¯s reply. ¡°What of her? Those two have got history. Let them deal with their problems¡±, the monster said, ¡°For the sacrifice, it matters not which of them dies.¡± Sacrifice. Just what was going on. Annabelle renewed her struggles and when the chair suddenly snapped, she lunged forward. Her feet touched the ground and energy pulsed into her boots. Again, her body was catapulted much further than she had intended. She crashed directly into the human body of Celestine and their momentum dragged them several meters along the snow. Half-way into the flight, Annabelle kicked off Celestine and then ran directly for the mansion. She needed to find her fairy. Without warning, the snow rose up in front of her. She saw translucent skin compress into pitch-black teeth. Her momentum carried her directly into the maw of the monster.

The Worldengine

Edge of the Third Ring

Tharia had given up all pretense of being human. The thing that paced these dark corridors was a monster. A creepy grin had crept on her face. There was just enough light to see the faint trace of blood on the ground. Pitter, patter, came the sound of her delicate feet brushing onto the metal floor. There was a door at the end of the corridor and the trace led her there. To her left thumped and groaned the strange machine, operated by a flesh-heart at its core. She saw Frederickus lean against a door at the end of the hallway. He breathed heavily and his eyes were filled with panic. ¡°You don¡¯t understand Tharia, please don¡¯t do this! I can still save the world¡±, he stammered while he tried to open the door with his elbows. Poor little brother was afraid. Maybe she should hum him a lullaby. The first melody that came to her mind put her into a particularly foul mood. Somehow, singing to Mother Bone while she killed her brother seemed wrong. She twisted the knife and then scratched it along the metal wall. The bone-chilling screech overshadowed his pleading. ¡°You¡¯re my kind and sweet sister. I love you Tharia. Never would I do these things ¨C but I have to! He led me to the room, the room births the secrets of creation. Please, beloved sister, don¡¯t do this¡± her brother kept yapping. On some level, she wanted to forgive him. She yearned for the love of a family, to be accepted for who she was and to be part of something larger than just her own little world. She realized it. This fueled the contradiction at the heart of her passionate, pure hatred. Hearing him say words like love elated her. They also made her go mad with murderous rage. Growling, she punched her fist against the metal wall. Baring her teeth, she suddenly accelerated. Her brother squeaked in panic and kept throwing himself against the door that wouldn¡¯t budge. Upon reaching him, she slammed her shoulder into his chest and then pressed the rusted knife against his throat. One cut and she could end it right here. Her fingers cramped around the handle, she grinned up at him in cold blood and cut. Frederickus suddenly bucked and jerked his knee into her stomach. Tharia stumbled back. Such exquisite pain. She spat out. Some strands of hair got into her view. Her gaze fixed on her brother. He pressed an arm against his neck in an attempt to still the bleeding. ¡°It¡¯s a shallow cut. You won¡¯t die from it¡±, she commented with a jovial tone, ¡°But keep rubbing in the rust. It helps with the sepsis.¡± He looked at her, his breath ragged. His jaw suddenly clenched as he ran directly for her. Tharia immediately stood up to attention and put her feet into a proper combat stance. One of the tricks she had nicked from Annabelle. Her brother quickly approached, his entire strength and mass bundled into a frontal assault with his shoulder. All she had to do was step aside and then hold the rusted knife in place. Frederickus impaled himself on the blade. Still, he was a man and had much more strength and mass than she did. The impact wrested the knife from her hands. She danced aside with two quick steps. Something she would have never been capable of if the pain her lower back was still there. Just as he turned around, she raised her leg for a low kick and struck with all her limited might. Tharia didn¡¯t need the strength. He supplied it. Her brother turned around with too much force and twisted directly into her foot at the apex of the kick. His knees gave out with an ugly crack from their combined force. Still, it brought Tharia off balance and when she stepped back down, she felt some of the pain return to her lower back. She couldn¡¯t allow herself anymore maneuvers like this ¨C or she¡¯d be in constant pain again. The girl locked eyes with her brother. He was furious, screaming bloody murder while wallowing in pain on the ground. Somehow, the knife was still stuck in his chest, although it had worked itself out during their short fight. Tharia ran up to him and then pressed her naked heel down on the handle of the weapon. ¡°This will help you feel alive,¡± she said with a wide grin. His screams filled the room and chilled her to the bone. He clutched his stomach with his broken hands, desperately trying to get them to hold onto the weapon. She had none of it. With her foot, she kept pressing it back in while smiling. ¡°No, no dear sister, the knife must stay in. You¡¯ll bleed out otherwise¡±, she said. Frederickus stared up at her with confusion. ¡°What are you even talking about¡±, he groaned, his face deathly pale. ¡°Just quoting back all the things you said to me¡±, she replied and smirked. He looked at her and something suddenly changed. He averted his eyes to the side. ¡°I really did, didn¡¯t I? Please forgive me. This world is so verily fucked, sister mine. Something sweet and kind like you, it had to be broken before the world did. That¡¯s why I need the room, only by hurting you can I repair the world and make it a place where beautiful things like you can live without suffering! You must trust me!¡± When next she met his eyes with hers, there was no more emotion inside of her. The murderous rage had made room for complete and utter darkness. When she looked at him, there was no more fairy left. She suddenly leaned down and pulled the knife from his chest. Again, he bucked in pain but it brought her no joy. With soft traces of her fingers, she healed the cut just enough so he wouldn¡¯t bleed out. She then moved towards his legs. He looked at her with pure panic in his eyes. His hands tried to grab her, but they were too broken to hold on. She felt their touch on her body as she casually cut his tendons with expert proficiency. Her mind filtered out everything he said. She just saw this squirming, shouting mass on the ground. Once done, she locked her hands into his hair and then started dragging him along the floor. At the corner of her mind, with a last bit of sanity left, she wondered where a small thing like her had gotten the strength to drag a fully grown man. One that was kicking and flailing helplessly with broken limbs as well. A gentle melody came from her lips. She hummed him Mother Bone¡¯s lullaby as she dragged him deeper into the compound.

Verholden Manor

Edge of the Third Ring

Annabelle felt teeth bore into her. Her stomach lurched as the maw thrashed her around. It took her a moment to regain her bearings. Grunting, she used the gloves to tear apart the first bit of flesh she could grab. The next moment, the maw spit her out. Her body smacked into the glass. Her eyes immediately found Celestine. Truth be told, it¡¯d be hard to miss the several hundred meters long translucent worm that had found its way on top of the glass ceiling. ¡°Soon, Annabelle¡±, the worm spoke with a low rumbling voice, ¡°Be a bit more patient, when one of the siblings die, that¡¯s when our time will come to join the Worldengine. Let¡¯s sit down, enjoy our last moments in this dying world. There¡¯s no need to fight.¡± The goddess glared up at the worm. There was at least one reason. This thing was bloody ugly. She quickly held out both hands and then began swinging them in circles. Half-way into the motion, two War-Fans manifested in a flash of golden light. She accelerated them with the help of the gloves. By the time they were let go, they sang strange songs as they zoomed into the worm. At the same time, Annabelle jumped up and then focussed energy into her boots. She crashed straight through the glass ceiling and fell to the ground below. Her fall was slowed at the last moment by thick layers of snow. It still hurt. She had felt worse. Her first steps were stumbles before she got into a proper rhythm. Walking with boots amplifying her steps made for a very weird gait. She half-jumped and half-ran towards the mansion. Celestine had mentioned something about an engine. The manor was too small for something like that. That only left one of the several servant houses or the large building to the side. She switched direction towards the latter.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Icy cold wind zoomed past her as she ran at full speed, each step a jump of at least two meters. She gained quite a bit of distance when without warning the air in front of her suddenly flipped. What had seemed like nothing, turned out to be the semi-invisible limbs of Celestine. The monster¡¯s body mass flowed down from the roof like a waterfall and compressed into a human shape. Annabelle brought out the Scythe and swung it mid-manifestation. With an ugly clang, it got stuck on the handle of a giant axe wielded by a human hand sticking out of the waterfall. A face appeared shortly after, it showed a wide grin. ¡°You anger me¡±, Celestine said, ¡°You must not reach the engine before the ritual has started. I¡¯ve offered you peace as we wait for a new world to be born, but you chose combat instead.¡± When it came to Annabelle, monsters that talked ticked her off. She stepped closer and threw a punch directly towards the face. The impact tore apart that beautiful face and revealed a shivering collection of meat, blood, and sinew. Yet immediately, the strange layers of skin suddenly wrapped around her arm. The rest of Celestine emerged out of the constantly flowing body-mass. While Annabelle tried to get her arm free again, the monster-woman stepped up with a casual pace. She then tilted her head and struck Annabelle with the back of her hand in a perfect ladylike manner. The goddess didn¡¯t quite appreciate it. Sheer forced impacted her head and threw her aside. She felt her arm tear apart and cried out in pain, yet by the time she smashed into the ground, it was whole again. ¡°You were told to sit down¡±, Celestine said. With speed too fast for Annabelle to catch, the monster appeared right next to her. An additional pair of hands lifted the goddess off the ground and like before, she back-hand slapped the shit out of her. Each punch snapped her neck with an ugly crack. No matter how quickly she healed, her mind remembered the constant suffering. She punched her fist into Celestine¡¯s body and caught a strange pulsating something inside of her. ¡°Oww, you got my heart!¡± the monster said and then suddenly grinned, ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t have one. Go ahead, see what you found.¡± Annabelle pulled her hand out with the pulsating thing in hand. Out of the gory mess, came a human head simulacrum. Tharia. She fletched her teeth as bloodlust started to take over. Celestine laughed. ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this. I suddenly feel good, like I want to kill and crush, destroy and... this is amazing. How do you do it.¡± ¡°You jam a hand so deep your chest, it comes out the other side¡±, Annabelle snapped with a growl. Celestine tilted her head and let the goddess go. She then looked at her own hand and without losing another breath, the monster punched it straight through her own chest. ¡°No, I¡¯m not feeling anything. Are you sure it¡¯s done like this?¡± The goddess watched in disbelief. There was no way this monster was really that dumb. Yet it was worth a try. ¡°It will awaken when there¡¯s nothing left¡±, she said with an unsteady voice. Surely this wouldn¡¯t work. Yet she could only watch as Celestine suddenly started tearing open her own body. Large clawlike hands dug out gory bits and threw them aside. ¡°Not yet, maybe here... oh that¡¯s a heart no one needs. Perhaps... hah, well that¡¯s none of mine. I thought it would have digested by now. Should have seen his face when I tore it off¡±, Celestine said with a jovial tone to her voice. Soon, Annabelle couldn¡¯t bear to look anymore. This was gruesome and disturbing. The goddess felt nauseous from the display. Celestine suddenly stopped and nodded her bloodied head, ¡°Are you entertained? You don¡¯t seem to run away anymore.¡± When Annabelle looked again, all the gore had gone completely and what was left were thin layers of skin floating back into the main body. Of course it couldn¡¯t have been that easy. She took a deep breath. She was all out of options. Something told her that Celestine hadn¡¯t even started to get serious. Annabelle was no match for her. ¡°Do you give up now?¡± Celestine said and snaked down onto the ground, where she sat down in a wooden throne just like the one Shal-rin had. ¡°That was so badass when you killed that man. When the new world comes, do you think we can be friends, you and me?¡± Annabelle swallowed. Her body was unhurt but her mind still told her she ached all over. With a shake of her head, she finally answered. ¡°Not unless you let me see Tharia¡± ¡°As I said, can¡¯t have you do that yet. One of them must... oh, nevermind. He''s dead. Let¡¯s go.¡± Immediately after her words, the strange monster wrapped her arms around the heavily breathing Annabelle and lifted her off the ground. Like a pet, she was dragged along towards the large building off to the side.

The Worldengine

Edge of the Third Ring

Tharia was breathless. Even now, she felt nothing. The body of her brother hung high above his strange machine. There were patches in her memory. She didn¡¯t remember stringing him up. Certainly not using parts of him. Tharia seriously doubted she had the strength to break open a ribcage either. That was the work of a beast, a deranged nightmare. Or a young girl that had finally let loose the demons inside. She stared at her hands: Drenched in blood. Her arms: Red. The clothes: in tatters and filthy. She found a bloodied lever to the side that explained some things to her but not all. There had been a knife once. Somewhere. Certainly not on her, although the handle sticking out of his skull cavity told her all she needed to know. What had she done? Something that needed doing, she told herself. Tharia suddenly noticed the people around her. They stood in long lines with their bodies bowed in her direction. Servants, maids, soldiers, even riflemen. All of them looked in her direction. ¡°Let the new world be born from the dreams of old¡±, one of them said. ¡°Uhm, guys? You¡¯re not some crazy doomsday cult, are you? Listen, my brother was a bit crazy and I realize this is rich coming from a girl covered in his blood but... there¡¯s no new world to be born here¡±, Tharia said while waving her hands, ¡°This is no Worldengine and there is no room of knowledge. It¡¯s bullshit. Right? You get that. Good, so since you get that, can you kindly stop singing?¡± ¡°No?¡± she added. ¡°Please?¡± ¡°Fuck you?¡± was her final attempt to convince them with arguments. Surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t all that effective. The words they sang made sense initially but as her mind tried to grasp them, they eluded her just like the tongue of creation did. Behind her, the large organic heart in a metallic basin increased the rhythm. She turned around and stared at it. The strange organ looked much more healthy, now that the blood of her brother dripped on it. Gods be cursed, how had she even got him up there? She picked up the lever and then took measure of the oversized heart. The frail young woman had no idea what this thing was, only that it was important to her brother and that she had suffered for it. With a loud scream, she dashed forward and hammered the blunt edge of the lever directly into the flesh of the engine. Whatever she had expected to happen, it wasn¡¯t this. The world blacked out around her. She was suddenly floating in some strange syrupy substance. The entire cosmos had a heartbeat of its own. Spirals of light emerged around her, they formed into spheres that exploded into further lights. A moment later, she was back in the cellar with the machine. What the fuck. She stumbled back and looked at the thumping heart. With a loud rumble, the ceiling suddenly opened up and a human shape smacked into the ground right next to her. Annabelle?! What the everloving fuck? Soon, a stream of water followed her lover inside. Tharia stood with an open mouth as the water turned out to be long limbs made of translucent skin. They wrapped around the heart and then formed into her elder sister standing on top of it. What the... you know, nope. A normal weekend in apocalypse city. Tharia shook her head, dismissed what she saw and prioritized Annabelle. The goddess looked like crap ¨C still sexy ¨C but crap. Those weary eyes suddenly showed a spark of life and warm hands wrapped around Tharia. ¡°You stink¡±, the goddess said. Their reunion was cut short as Celestine raised her voice. The small human girl turned around to look up at her sister. ¡°It¡¯s time we finalize the ritual. The blood of the original cursed bloodline has been spilled, the sacrifice is made and the heart wakens. It needs but one more component. I consent. Do it!¡± Distributed amongst the cultists were the riflemen. They suddenly lifted their weapons and aimed directly at Celestine. Twelve shots rang out and tore her elder sister apart. The heart dyed pitch black in an instant. Suddenly, the air around them took on a strangely metallic scent. Up above the heart, the shape of Celestine re-emerged. Weaker than before. Already the riflemen were reloading their weapons while the rest of the cultists plastered themselves on the ground for prayer. ¡°Kill them first¡±, Annabelle said breathlessly, ¡°They must not kill her.¡± She watched the goddess get back on her feet. It was obvious she was at the end of her strength, maybe she should give her some more strength using the spark. Yet before she could do so, Annabelle had already run off towards the first rifleman. The Scythe blinked into existence and a moment later, following a high swing, a read rolled to the ground. This didn¡¯t deter the other shooters in the slightest. Eleven shots. Ten hits. Celestine was once more torn to pieces. Tharia looked back and forth between Annabelle killing the riflemen and the odd heart that rapidly accelerated in pace. The machinery moved along with it. Everything was made for this strange organ, so it stood to reason that smashing it was a legitimate way of ending business. The young woman stepped towards it and jabbed the lever deep inside of it. Something hit her with the force of a hammer. Like before, she had vanished from the world and gone to a strange place. Her feet stood on clouds of cotton, the sky had a distinct purple and the ugliest owl-man she had ever seen looked directly at her. She flipped him off and re-appeared back in front of the heart. Except the world was now angled at 45¡ã. The girl held onto the slimy heart and the lever stuck inside of it. Behind her, the cultists and Annabelle were tumbling down the floor. Wall. Whatever it now was. Maybe it¡¯d fix itself if she hit it again. She clenched her teeth and hammered the lever deeper into the heart. With a loud crash, everything returned to normal. Except for the smell of sulfur. Up above, Celestine barely looked like a human anymore. Absurdly large appendages of semi-invisible limbs flailed around her like a flower gone mad. Suddenly, eight shots tore holes into the blonde woman. The final one came with a delay ¨C and when it hit, Celestine shuddered. Her shape flowed onto the heart, gold light suddenly sprung up from within her body ¨C just as the strong scent of earth filled her nostrils. She slowly turned around as the room had grown dark. It was filled with immobile skeletons, their grotesque grin still mostly covered by the last vestiges of skin. Please don¡¯t be her. ¡°She will not make it in time¡±, an old sounding voice rang out. Fuck this day. Not now. Not ever, go away, Tharia¡¯s mind pleaded. Bony hands placed a heavy cloak made of earth on her shoulders and she realized a debt was about to be collected. ¡°Thus it is time that we will have decided to die in your stead¡±, a young voice spoke. She suddenly felt constricted as hundreds of tiny plants wrapped around her body. They withered along her skin and pierced her with thousands of cuts. She felt the slithering flora rearrange her body from the inside, sinew for sinew, muscle by muscle. ¡°All worlds are born from a dream¡±, the third voice rang out. She couldn¡¯t turn around anymore. Arms wrapped around her, a frail-looking crone hugged her from behind. ¡°All worlds are given a heart to persist and a mind to give shape¡±, the crone said with all three of the voices. She pointed her bony finger towards the strange machine. ¡°Yet no world shall ever have two hearts, no matter how sick it is. This knowledge is forbidden, yet he lured and tempted¡±, the voices continued and then split into three again. Under her gaze, the crone casually paced through the room. With the cloak on her shoulders, the entity was buck naked ¨C not a particularly nice view. Mother Bone snatched up pouches of black powder from the riflemen and smiled towards the also frozen Annabelle. ¡°To promise a girl with the hope of her mind healed, the Muse gave you my song¡±, the old crone said. ¡°To promise a boy a place to heal the world, the Muse gave him the forbidden room¡±, the young mother bone added. ¡°To promise a man a chance to heal mankind, the Muse gave him the sprite¡±, the final voice rang out. Tharia was speechless for once. She quietly watched as the naked old crone walked over towards the machine. Once there, she placed down the pouch and then sat on the machine itself. ¡°Tharia, my dear girl¡±, this time, only the old one spoke, ¡°We¡¯re sorry to place this burden on you. The Muse has made one more promise. To a king, so that he could kill the gods, he gave a cheeky brat with a mind for lust.¡± Mother Bone lifted her hand and one of the rifles flew towards her. Tharia could still do nothing but watch. The strange entity held the ignition chamber of the weapon towards the pouches of blackpowder and smiled. ¡°Hear now our prophecy. This you must do. When the time comes, you must still the ailing heart of the world and end all cycles. You must vanquish the places born from dreams, for you are the end of all things, the mother of bones.¡° ¡°Oh, Fuck off¡± Tharia snapped but Mother Bone raised a bony arm. ¡°In time, you will agree. You need but take a look around. Stretch your senses, feel how much of the world is left. How can you rebuild a world this broken? This is the way of things, everything ends.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you do it then?¡± Tharia asked. ¡°Because we don¡¯t have her. We once had, but the ones you call gods broke the covenant and stopped the proper end. Worlds are born from the dying dreams of the old. You will end the world. She will dream the new one. Then too, you both will fade as all things must end. Go now, Tharia, Death of all.¡± The crone waved to her in a rather childish manner and then triggered the rifle. A spark flew from the weapon onto the pouch. She saw it spark into a flame and when the world suddenly started moving again, there suddenly sat an ancient skeleton on the heart. Held between its hands was a burning leather pouch. ¡°Well, fuck you and your prophecy shit, I ain¡¯t doing jack!¡± Tharia screamed as the blackpowder ignited. A massive pillar of fire rose up and the explosion lifted the young woman off the ground. At that moment, the heart screamed. It actually screamed and with the scream came a flood of impressions too intense and manifold, that she had to forget all of it the second she saw it. Hours must have passed when Tharia regained consciousness. Snow had piled up on top of her. The building was burned down and a vile stench came from her. She needed a bath. Many baths. All around her were things not of this world. Rainbow colored fishes had died in the snow, a ship made of metal was stuck in the roof of the building. She lifted her hands and realized there were no more tattoos on them. Her eyes hurt, everything was so bright and strange lights danced in the piles of snow around her. The brightest one drew her attention. She got on her feet and realized she was naked, except for the heavy earthen coat on her shoulders. Long strands of black hair clouded her vision. Her fingers pulled them aside and she recognized them as her own. ¡°Yep, just another day at the end of the world¡±, she said sarcastically and shuffled over towards the biggest pile of snow. Using her hands like shovels, she quickly dug towards the bright flame and finally found an unconscious Annabelle and a golden sphere next to her. She picked up the sphere and then wrapped her arms around the goddess. Tharia lifted her love of the ground with surprising ease. ¡°Well, hello sleeping one. Be careful when you do that, people might write songs about you¡±, Tharia said and then carried her out of the burned down building. The world was different now. There once had been a small and scared girl. That girl went on a voyage that was meant to kill her. It did. She died when she slaughtered her brother. ¡°No, I don¡¯t make sense for me either¡±, she replied to no one in particular. Her feet felt the cold snow underneath. She enjoyed the sensation of feeling it melt under her every step, there was a simple pleasure in experiencing their dance on the way down to the ground. ¡°Where do you think we¡¯ll go now?¡± Tharia asked the sleeping goddess and continued her monologue, ¡°Aye, you¡¯re right. We¡¯ll hunt down your husband. No, well yes, I¡¯m babbling and talking to myself. It¡¯s a neat technique, it stops you from realizing just what it is I¡¯ve done. See, now you¡¯ve got me thinking about it.¡± The world seemed dead to her. Her senses picked up flickers of tiny flames in the distance. They were the last vestiges of actual life in this cursed wasteland. Maybe her new Mother Boney senses didn¡¯t reach that far ¨C Or there really was nothing else left out there. She shook her head and had to blow long strands of raven hair from her face. ¡°I¡¯ll grow them out this time. Actually, I look so much better with long hair, I bet you won¡¯t be able to keep your fingers away from me. What do you say, shall we see if there¡¯s some warm water left in my family home? We may need to kill a few servants to get in, but I¡¯d do anything for a warm bath now.¡± Her feet continued on through the snow. She had long since passed the mansion, yet she kept going. Standing still would mean to allow the memories to catch up. The body in her arms started to stir and she felt the first thing in hours. Happiness. It washed away the pitch-black abyss in her heart and she just had to pull Annabelle closer. ¡°You look different¡±, Annabelle said with a hoarse voice. ¡°Of course I do. Tharia is dead, Annie¡±, she replied. ¡°You look alive to me¡±, the goddess said with a confused look. ¡°No, I¡¯m just what came out the other side. Look, the young girl went out to kill her brother. She did. That''s not something heroes do. This is the way the story must end. It just won¡¯t do when the murderess gets a hot sexy goddess as a reward. Oh and super powers.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got super powers?¡± ¡°Seems like I can grow my hair out, look¡±, Tharia said with a grin and shook her long mane. Damn, it felt good to see Annabelle laugh and smile. "The sudden growth is weird", Annabelle admitted, "but kinda nice too" Tharia placed her down and like that, they joked, as they walked towards the Second Ring. Soon, they would need to think about the usual necessities. Like clothes. For now, a bit of joking and silliness was fine too though. Tharia looked over her shoulder. She lifted her hand and pretended to wrap her fingers around the mansion. From here, it looked so tiny. It was a symbol for everything that had dominated her entire existence. Now it fit into the palm of her hand. End: Enough. | Coming up: Book 3. Listen to the music. 37 - Those that stand still

Vindasvelt Apothecary

Near the Gate of the Second Ring

Tharia reclined in the wooden chair. Her new set of clothes rustled because they hadn¡¯t been worn in a long time. She wore simple pants, a shirt for men and a coarse leather jacket. Copious amounts of snow had buried the roof she was on. The girl watched the chimney spit smoke into the cloud-laden sky. Her eyes locked with the False Star. It amused her just how quickly that nightmare had become the new normal to her. All it did was float in the sky and give ominous stares. The girl leaned forward and looked over the edge of the roof. Well, and there were its followers. Observers. About a dozen human figures stood half-naked in the snow and stared up at the monster. They had seen many, many more of them doing nothing but stare back into the eyes of that creature. Tharia stretched her new found senses, tiny flames appeared around her. The brightest of them came up the stairs. ¡°Hello Annie¡±, she said, a moment before the door opened. The goddess walked out with a smile. In her arms, she held two cups with a sweet aroma. ¡°Brought you some tea¡±, Annabelle commented. Back when they had started their journey, Tharia reckoned, she wouldn¡¯t have used that many words to describe something that was kinda self-explaining. Yet here she was. Tharia picked one of the cups and wrapped her cold hands around it. ¡°Thank you¡±, she said. For a while, she simply appreciated the presence of her love. It was the simple things in life that really made it worth living. Sure, the high notes were amazing, especially now that no one would ever complain about noise in the morning, but really, just a cup of tea and a few quiet moments was where it was really at. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering some things¡±, she finally said while turning her head towards Annabelle. The goddess sipped from her tea and nodded as a sign to continue. ¡°Well, a couple of things really. First off, can you kindly cut my finger with this knife?¡± Tharia said and held out a clean kitchen implement to Annabelle. Without missing a beat, her love picked it up and made a shallow cut. ¡°Ouch, no hesitation at all, eh?¡± Tharia said and watched her finger. The moment the knife was lifted back up, the cut was already gone without any intervention of the spark inside. ¡°Guess that means I join the club now¡±, she added and licked off the traces of blood while looking up at Annabelle. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can do this¡±, Annabelle mentioned with a downcast gaze. ¡°That battle with my sister really took the wind out of you, didn¡¯t it?¡± Tharia said while brushing her hand over Annabelle¡¯s back. ¡°Completely outmatched¡±, the goddess said. ¡°Can I get that as a complete sentence please?¡± Tharia playfully shot back, but when nothing but silence came back, her mood turned glum. She took a sip from the tea and enjoyed the feeling of warmth spreading out in her body. ¡°Well, we were bound to lose at some point. We¡¯ll just have to get stronger somehow. Did you swallow Celestine¡¯s sphere yet?¡± Annabelle shook her head in response. ¡°Why not? Look, if you¡¯ve got any reservations because it was my sister, don¡¯t. Before her turn, she was as nasty and vapid as can be. She just forgot in the process. Swallow that pill, get stronger still¡±, Tharia said and with a sudden smirk, she got up from the chair and lifted a finger towards Annabelle. ¡°Listen to your healing slut, girl. The doctor orders you to...¡± she stopped mid-sentence when she saw that her love wasn¡¯t reacting to it. Tharia sighed and softly leaned into her instead. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Annie?¡± ¡°Why are you doing this? You don¡¯t have to pretend to be fine¡±, Annabelle replied. Tharia sighed and walked two steps towards the edge of the roof. She leaned onto it and let her gaze wander over the city. The truth was, she was neither fine nor in a bad state. She just was. Currently, the only emotion inside of her was the love she felt for Annabelle. Everything else was blanketed out by a pitch-black abyss of apathy. Her fingers traced patterns into the snow. ¡°Annabelle¡±, she said and consciously used the full name, ¡°Right now, I¡¯m not pretending. Yeah, I know I should feel something about what happened but I don¡¯t. Maybe this whole Mother Bone thing cut me off from my old self. All I know is that it¡¯s better this way. So don¡¯t poke it.¡± Tharia shivered as gentle arms snaked their way around her chest. She felt a head on her shoulder and warm breath tickling her neck. ¡°You¡¯re pretending to yourself as well¡±, her love said and then carefully laid out the words in a sentence that took nearly a minute when it should have taken a few seconds. ¡°What you¡¯re doing is like holding back a river. You can uh, what so you do... no, let me try again. Like a river. It will flood if you try to stop it. Y-you have paused uh halted yes stopped it for years. Am I making sense?¡± Annabelle raised her voice at that point but then quickly went back to her half-coherent rambling, ¡°You stopped the river for years! And then it broke out and you did... things. Now you¡¯ve got flooded plains and you¡¯re holding it back again without repairing the damage.¡± Tharia blinked in confusion. On some level, she got the message. Her repression had boiled over. True. And now that she was repressing things again, it would boil over again. What was she supposed to do though? Her mind didn¡¯t give her the choice. It just put it all away and left her with apathy. ¡°Alright, yeah I¡¯m absolutely not fine but it¡¯s beyond my control. I¡¯d like for you to help me with it, but I¡¯m afraid it will end up hurting you too¡±, Tharia turned around to look at Annabelle, ¡°In turn though, I will help you as well and that means unpacking a lot of things going on in that beautiful head of yours.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine¡±, came Annabelle¡¯s reply. Tharia couldn¡¯t help but laugh in response. She poked her pet goddess in the sides and grinned. ¡°After all you just said to me?¡± her voice took on a questioning inflection before resuming her laughter. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not fine. You¡¯re right. I¡¯m sorry. Let¡¯s do that then. Talk, I mean¡±, Annabelle answered with a grim frown, ¡°I¡¯m really bad at it.¡± ¡°Relax, not laughing about you. It just was funny how we both walk into the same trap¡±, Tharia added and then turned to look at the snow covered city. It looked outright peaceful. Sure, the nearby fortification wall dwarfed everything around. Especially since it was framed by a moat. ¡°Let¡¯s make a plan we can stick to. How¡¯s our kill list coming?¡± ¡°Four are left. One above, three more in the two Rings ahead¡±, Annabelle answered. ¡°Let me add two more things to that. The Muse, obviously. We haven¡¯t seen the last of that one. He¡¯ll come to use or I swear I will find a way to find him. Then, the golden fields need to be burned down. Those things have been chasing us, so either we keep running or we face it. If you ask me, I¡¯m done running¡±, Tharia said and grinned. ¡°Next. We have two large hurdles. One, find out how we can hurt each other physically. With me turning into this thing, we¡¯re fresh out of humans to kill ascended fucks with. Second, I don¡¯t see us getting much stronger ¨C but we can always get smarter. No more improvisation and haphazard plans. We go cold as ice, premeditated monster murder.¡± Tharia stretched her arms and legs, then leaned her body into the soft flesh of her love, paying special attention to let her head rest on Annie¡¯s bosom. Sheer accident, of course. ¡°Third and finally!¡± Tharia added, ¡°Uh... I¡¯m bad at lists. Let¡¯s stick with our murder list and problem-solving. Actually, I¡¯ve got an idea but it¡¯ll require some copious kissing.¡± Tharia sat on the floor inside the apothecary. She blinked, slightly befuddled. The room had a particular scent that reminded her of the sudden and unexpected outburst of physical activity earlier. Annabelle was opposite of her. The goddess hadn¡¯t looked this disheveled in a long time. Tharia herself was out of breath as well, her hair hanging down her face in fine black strands.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Alright¡±, Tharia said with a stretched tone, ¡°that I did not see coming. No regrets though. Just a bit sudden. What I actually meant by kissing was a transfer of energy rather than that.¡± Annabelle spoke with a breathless voice, ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You did it anyway, eh?¡± Tharia chuckled. She brushed her hair out of her view and then wrapped her arms around her bare chest. The chimney was burning brightly and had turned the room snugly warm. ¡°Back to business. Our earlier cutting test means I¡¯m now like you. However there¡¯s one key difference, I haven¡¯t lost my memory. It¡¯s really not that different from before. What if the only change is how well the essence is integrated?¡± Following her words, Tharia tapped a finger against her bare belly and smirked towards Annabelle. ¡°I want you to draw it all out of me¡±, Tharia said and suddenly blushed, ¡°Uh, not like before, just the essence. Draw it out until there is nothing left. Then I will prick you with a needle and we¡¯ll see if it still heals.¡± ¡°It could work. Giving up power wouldn¡¯t be something a god would ever do¡±, Annabelle said and then moved close again. Tharia had to actively blend out the intoxicating scent from her love. Don¡¯t think about what you just did earlier. Don¡¯t think about it. A sudden shudder ran down her spine. She looked up at Annabelle and saw she too was still caught in the moment. ¡°Maybe some other time¡±, Tharia said when Annabelle quickly lunged forward. Their lips locked together but Annabelle made sure to not touch more of Tharia than was necessary. At the same time, the young woman let the divine essence flow out of her. It felt different this time like a black abyss opened up inside of her. Bit by bit, she transferred it all over to Annabelle until there was absolutely nothing of it left. When their kiss broke, she collapsed on the ground. ¡°Ouch¡±, her voice had a particularly sarcastic tone. There was one fact she had actually managed to forget. Without the spark, her lower half was about as useful as a bent fork. She groaned as she flopped on her stomach. Annabelle offered her a hand and together they moved her broken body into a sitting position again. ¡°I might be the first god of cripples¡±, Tharia said with a sarcastic grin, ¡°Sorry, inappropriate. Now, where¡¯s that needle... ah, there.¡± She took another look at the naked frame of her love and drank in all the details and curves and right, back to business. Tharia shook her head and put up another smile. ¡°You¡¯re too distracting¡±, she said and then quickly pricked one of Annabelle¡¯s fingers. There was a subtle and curious shiver, that she saw on Annie¡¯s body a moment after. And the way the goddess bit her lip made her mischievous. Still, they both held their breath as a drop of blood appeared. ¡°It¡¯s not healing¡±, Tharia said and then pricked a second finger. Annabelle shot her an angry glare, but the human girl just grinned in response. ¡°Don¡¯t even lie about it. I saw your shiver and I can still see two arguments that suddenly stand to attention¡± ¡°It¡¯s cold¡±, Annabelle said with a cute pout. ¡°Of course it is, girl¡±, Tharia mocked playfully before getting serious, ¡°Problem solved. By expelling essence, we come close enough to being human again, that the protection no longer works. That¡¯ll be inconvenient in battle but it¡¯s better than nothing.¡± While looking at Annie, she felt a sensation of joy. This was the first time in her life that she could actually really appreciate someone being there with her. Here, she could be herself. Even if it included being just a little bit cheeky. She quickly leaned forward and pricked Annabelle a third time. Alas, the frail girl was not ready for the payback. Not at all.

Henrietta''s Fall - Main Avenue

Near the Gate of the Second Ring

¡°Ow¡±, Tharia groaned for perhaps the hundredth time that morning. They were back on the road, their bellies full with food and their bodies had gotten a good night¡¯s rest. Tharia had gotten back part of the essence, that didn¡¯t explain her groan though. While the spark was really good at repairing cuts, it was awful when it came to smaller injuries. ¡°I won¡¯t be sitting for weeks¡±, her complaining echoed through the streets. ¡°You tempted fate¡±, Annabelle shot back. ¡°Girl, you look like perfection made flesh. How was I supposed to know just how much of a closet pervert you are?¡± Tharia grumbled. ¡°You liked it and you started it.¡± ¡°No denying that. It was fun for a change but let¡¯s not do that too often though¡±, the young girl said, rubbed her aching bottom and then offered a smile to her love. Despite the resident pain, the day and night in the apothecary would become a good memory as well. She pulled the heavy earthen coat closer around her shoulders and focussed on the road ahead. This was the main road towards the Second Ring Gate. It was wide enough to allow several siege engines at the same time. That or merchants of greed on the warpath. Both were scary in their own right. They passed an increasing number of observers. Tharia only mustered them with a passing interest. These things weren¡¯t a problem yet and they seemed to be happy. In a broken and rather strange sort of way. Soon the buildings on either side of the road spelled mostly one thing: Filthy rich. Their style was particularly gaudy with houses that had actual miniature towers on them. Naturally, the roofs had been covered in rare metals and even rarer gems. The street-lights actually still worked. They hissed and spread an odd stench as the flames burned. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something terribly sad about our machinations still working, while we as people have long since moved on?¡± Tharia said and pointed towards the lamp. As if it heard her, the light suddenly sputtered out and in quick succession, so did the others. ¡°Of course, the moment I say something. Dear cosmic forces, did I ever do something to you? Can you fuck off now?¡± the added and felt Annie¡¯s hand on her shoulder, ¡°Yeah, okay right. Let¡¯s not provoke anything else. We¡¯ve got enough enemies.¡± While the flames had gone out, the loud hissing prevailed. She started to feel lightheaded and suddenly stopped. ¡°Annie. Different way. Now¡± The goddess looked at her with a confused look. Tharia pointed towards the lamps. ¡°Gas-powered. Something killed the flames but not the gas. One, we¡¯ll keel over if we inhale too much. Two, one spark and this entire city block goes up in flame. Trust me, I¡¯ve got experience there.¡± The young woman then raised her head and shouted at the clouds, ¡°Oi cosmic forces, for once I¡¯d love to leave behind something intact for a change!¡± A motion at the corner of her eye caught her attention. There was a cute caterpillar. Three meters in size with strange pipes sticking out of its body. It shuffled along the street and the concentration of gas suddenly lifted as the thing sucked it inside. ¡°I take it back. This is fine¡±, Tharia said as the feeling of lightheadedness lifted. They both just watched as the caterpillar shuffled forward and soaked up the gas. ¡°You know, we said we¡¯d be smart about this. The smart thing is to gain distance to that¡±, Tharia added and with a nod from Annabelle, they quickly reversed direction. While gaining distance on the odd creature, they took care to neither appear threatening nor like something that was fleeing. In the time they had moved back a hundred meters, the caterpillar finally crossed the road. Once there, it suddenly sprung a series of sharp legs from its body. A roar bellowed out from it. With a hiss, liquid flames poured out of its mouth and into the building at the end of the street. Half fire, half-acid, the facade melted away in seconds with a once more cute caterpillar moving on straight through the building. ¡°Think it¡¯s one of those moth things from your Eleanor friend?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather not meet those again¡± ¡°Good point¡±, Tharia agreed. With sudden sparks, the lamps suddenly ignited again. One by one, the street was once more filled with light. Tharia tugged the coat close and then they once more turned direction. When they passed the melted building, they found the massive caterpillar dead in a puddle of molten stone. ¡°So it can spew fire but not take the heat? Yeah, the world is fucked¡±, she said and shook her head. That was something that had irked her for a while. All those monsters seemed like attempts to create something new. Some were successful and turned into nightmares, others helplessly went about their short lives and died in a ditch somewhere. There was just no method to the madness. ¡°Madness, right, did you swallow the golden sphere yet?¡± Annabelle sighed and pulled it out from a small pouch. ¡°It¡¯s your sister, maybe you should have it¡±, Annabelle said, ¡°You need essence too now.¡± ¡°Annie, gods be cursed, swallow the bloody sphere already, what''s the matter with you?¡± With a defeated look on her face, the goddess finally moved the sphere to her lips. It took a while to shove it down because of the sheer size. Annabelle suddenly started sweating and shuddering. ¡°Yeah I get it, my sister is toxic¡±, Tharia said in an attempt of humor. ¡°Not now¡±, Annabelle said. Golden lights sprang from her body and formed into complicated patterns glowing out from her body. Tharia watched quietly when she suddenly realized the complete absence of sound. She blinked and felt the blood run down her chin. Turning around, she stared directly at the ugliest two-tailed cat she had ever seen. Its tail shivered and shuddered. Not now, indeed, Tharia cursed silently. Without a weapon, facing a Whiskerhush would be a real nightmare. But with Annabelle temporarily unable to fight, Tharia was all they had. She cracked her knuckles and got ready to fight. But then she saw sudden movement. A pasty white human walked through the snow, the half-naked limbs looked like frostbite but squiggling little white worms sewed it back shot. An Observer. A mobile one. It reached the Whiskerhush and in one fluent motion without missing a step, it snatched up the catlike monster by the tail. The observer let out a blood-curdling scream that pierced through the veil of silence. For a moment, the cat-monster looked stunned. It was the last time it had a chance to react to anything. The deathly white arm smashed it into the ground, through the snow and pasted it into an ugly mush on the cobblestone beneath. Then, as if nothing happened, the Observer stood up again and continued shuffling towards the Second Ring, ignoring everything around it. ¡°Annie...¡± Tharia said as she took a look around. There were hundreds of them and they all shuffled down the road in the same direction. She turned around to see the goddess still stunned from taking in the sphere. ¡°Back inside, now¡±, the commanded, grabbed Annabelle by the hand and dragged her towards the nearest building. The door suddenly opened in front of her. Another Observer walked down the stairs. Tharia quickly pulled Annie aside and made way for the creature. It walked past without seeing her. The eyes of the human-like thing turned to always look at the False Star. This started getting creepy when the Observer turned to walk towards the Second Ring. With an ugly scratching sound, the eyes kept turning inwards until blood trickled down the eyesockets. ¡°Just another day, eh?¡± Tharia snarked and quickly led the dazed Annabelle into an alley. Everything to get away from those strange bodies driven by wormcolonies with a godhood complex. End: Those that stand still | Coming up: Those that move 38 - Those that move

Backalley

Near the Gate of the Second Ring

Tharia held her breath. She was nearly submerged in a pile of snow with an observer walking past barely a step away. The thing let out skittering noises from inside its body. Right in front of her, it suddenly stopped. Its maw opened up to reveal a row of sharpened teeth while growling. Annabelle closed in with the Scythe readied for a vertical strike but Tharia slowly shook her head. She stared at the empty eyes of the Observer. The maw snapped shut and it resumed walking. Tharia held still until the pallid creature turned the corner at the end of the alley. Her heart raced inside her chest. Nothing had happened between them and these things yet, but the memory of the smushed Whiskerhush was still fresh in her mind. Block their paths, be torn to pieces. ¡°We need to get out of the way¡±, Tharia said breathlessly to Annabelle, ¡°They¡¯re all heading for the Second Ring. It¡¯s too crowded for us on that bridge leading to the gate.¡± She stepped out of the snow and let Annabelle brush off the snow while her mind reached out. It felt like second nature by now to touch the many tiny flames in her mind. Each represented a living being. Five of the flames were coming their way and Tharia sighed. ¡°Another group is coming¡±, Tharia mused with a finger tapping against her nose, ¡°No hiding in the houses, they¡¯ve all been on lockdown so far. Fortified too. Hmm.¡± Tharia examined her surroundings more closely. The houses didn¡¯t look to well, more like what one expects of an unsavory part of the capital. Tattered remains of wanted posters covered the walls. Perhaps they had locked everything down because of thieves. But these doors looked unreasonably sturdy like they were made to withstand a battering ram. She suddenly stopped. ¡°Annie, have you seen any windows on the ground level lately?¡± ¡°Annie? Hello?¡± The goddess snapped out of a daze and then looked back down the alley, before shaking her head. Tharia sighed. Great, that was proper helpful. Something was gnawing on her love. At least she had stopped glowing. No time for that now. If her hunch was correct, the massive doors and lack of windows weren¡¯t just an architectural fancy. ¡°Can you lift me up? I need to check something¡±, Tharia said towards Annabelle and smiled in her direction. The doll-like beauty just stared directly through her. ¡°Annabelle, please¡± ¡°What? Oh, right¡±, Annabelle finally answered and then placed her hands on Tharia¡¯s waist. With one hand against the wall for support, the frail girl was lifted up. Her new vantage point made her grin from ear to ear. Each of the roofs had a strange wooden construction on top of them. Her hunch had been correct. She signaled her love to put her back down again and then knelt down in the snow. ¡°Help me search for a small metal lever on the wall. Should be around chest height, I think¡±, Tharia said and dug into the snow. Her hands shoveled away layer after layer onto the dazed Annabelle. ¡°Come on¡±, Tharia groaned but her friend just didn¡¯t snap out of it. It reminded her of when Annabelle had been tainted by the Dreamreaper but this felt different. More human, more natural, more problems. She shook off her thoughts and focussed her attention on finding the lever. Her fingers felt frozen by the time she got to it. With a strong pull, the house suddenly started rumbling. Mechanisms clicked into place. A moment later, an avalanche of snow came down on them. That, she had not accounted for. Tharia sputtered and stepped aside. High above, a complex mechanism of wooden scaffolding had unfurled from atop the roof. She stretched as far as she could and held onto the lower end of a ladder. It clicked and then slid down to ground level. ¡°Can you imagine hating the rabble so much, that you build flood-streets, just so you can flush excess water down their roads every autumn and spring?¡± Tharia said with a grin and then pointed towards the ladder. ¡°Help me up, please. Annie? Oh, gods be cursed, what¡¯s the matter with you? We don¡¯t have time for you to zone out. Get us up there before those Observers come ¡®round the corner. They¡¯re pretty close by now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not zoning out¡±, Annabelle mumbled. ¡°Yeah okay, then you¡¯re stroking Dream-Cats. Help us up¡±, Tharia had put anger into her voice. That anger really came from a place of concern. There was always a time to deal with personal issues. They were both wrecks. Yet that time wasn¡¯t now, right here. Annabelle still wasn¡¯t moving, so the frail girl moved behind her and started pushing her towards the ladder. ¡°Stop it¡±, the goddess grunted. ¡°Not happening. We stay down here, we die¡±, Tharia insisted. Once in front of the ladder, she put her hands against her waist and nodded up. ¡°Are you going to make me beg? Yeah, I¡¯m a fucking cripple, can¡¯t even climb a ladder...¡± Tharia started. ¡°I¡¯m not...¡±, Annabelle began but Tharia cut her off again. ¡°Then. Help. Us. Up. The. Ladder¡±, she put emphasize on every word. That finally sunk in. Annabelle once more grabbed her and Tharia pulled herself up on Annie¡¯s back. She hated being so dependent on others when it came to things like this. Sure, she could kick someone¡¯s legs out but anything higher than that and her limited motion made it difficult. Climbing was out of the question. Annabelle finally climbed the ladder and brought them up onto the wooden scaffolding. Once they were on top, Tharia slipped off and then sat down on the wet wood. It quickly soaked into her clothes and this really wasn¡¯t the place but an intervention was necessary. ¡°First, I¡¯m sorry for flipping out on you. I hate it when I¡¯m a burden to others¡±, she said and then pointed to the ground next to her, ¡°Sit down.¡± ¡°I..¡± Annabelle began but was cut off again. Not by words this time but by an angry glare from the frail girl on the ground. They spent several moments in silence while a large group of Observers passed them by below. It was an odd spectacle watching them. They were in a state of constant fighting when another of their kind got too close. Like humans, only more visceral. When the silence got awkward and her butt was starting to freeze off, Tharia let out a long sigh and locked her gaze with Annabelle. ¡°Spit it out. What¡¯s the matter?¡± she asked with raised eyebrows. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±, Annabelle replied. ¡°Good, you admit there¡¯s a problem. Next, do you really not know or don¡¯t you know how to communicate it to me?¡± the young woman continued. She blinked as long strands of black hair clouded her vision. While she had always loved long hair, on men and women both, she had never missed how it always got in the way. ¡°Both¡±, was the answer she got. Tharia looked at the miserable little pile of divine. Her anger evaporated in an instant and she moved next to her, reached for the silver-hair and started brushing her fingers through it. Intervention it was. Two broken little dolls they were. ¡°That¡¯s alright¡±, Tharia spoke towards her friend with a quiet voice, ¡°These little quirks are also part of what I love about you. But this can¡¯t go on. First, you ignore the sphere, then you use it in a bad situation, admittedly at my pushing and then you zone out in the midst of danger.¡± Upon hearing her words, Annabelle pressed her lips together. Tharia recognized the gesture and leaned back for a moment. She would need to control her own emotions. That sentence earlier had been her anger flaring up again. There was nothing constructive about blame. At least she could feel anger again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Let¡¯s try this again. If you can¡¯t speak about it, that¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll make guesses and you can just agree or disagree. Let¡¯s go with this first. Is it that time of the month, are you having cramps?¡± That outraged look told her the answer immediately. It was a resounding maybe, but Annabelle wouldn¡¯t talk about it and Tharia dropped it immediately as a result. She also made a mental note to prepare a stomach-calming tea later from supplies they had pillaged from the apothecary. It amused her how the heroes in stories never had to deal with these things. Refocussing her attention on her perfect little beauty, she leaned forward until her black hair covered most of the face. ¡°Girl, hair just gets in the way¡±, she said and groaned. ¡°You looked fine with short hair too¡±, Annabelle suggested with a slight smile. ¡°I know, but here¡¯s the funny thing. I tried cutting it and it came back like that. Amazing superpowers, I tell you¡±, Tharia added while smiling back. She hadn¡¯t cut the new hair but it was a silly attempt at humor. That cracked the ice. Annabelle was finally letting down her guard a bit. ¡°So what¡¯s the problem related to? Something from before?¡± Tharia inquired while taking special care to comb the silvery hair into beautiful and smooth lines. ¡°Yes but no¡±, Annabelle hesitatingly answered. Gods be cursed, her love really was bad with words but she loved the beautiful doll anyways. Warts and all. ¡°Not just past experiences but the future as well then¡±, Tharia mused. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s about the future but also the past. I, so uh yes ahem¡±, the goddess started but Tharia placed a soft finger on her lips and shut her up that way. ¡°It¡¯s alright. We¡¯re getting there. Seeing how you were mostly functional when we reached the warcamp, it had to be something after¡±, Tharia rubbed her own nose. Of course, the hair-kraken had struck when she least expected it. Somehow, silvery strands had wrapped around Tharia¡¯s neck and even intermingled with her own black hair. She was half convinced they could move on their own accord. ¡°From there I see three potential causes. First, what Shal-rin did¡±, Tharia said with a hand lifted up and a finger stretched out. Annabelle nodded faintly. ¡°You broke, it hurt me. But pushing all these people felt too good¡±, the goddess said and Tharia translated the words in her mind. It was true that she had broken down upon seeing her brother and Annabelle had really let loose as a result.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You¡¯re concerned that it made you do dark things and that you liked power too much¡±, Tharia guessed and Annabelle quickly nodded. ¡°But that¡¯s not all is it, Annie? Thought so. Alright, moreover, you fought against Celestine and lost... that¡¯s not it? Okay. I¡¯m happy to hear that. The final part would be my brother and...¡± Annabelle locked up upon hearing the word brother. So that was it. She started adding things up: Experiences made her afraid of the future, Annabelle was scared of letting loose the demons inside. The key point was her murder of her brother. There was only one conclusion left to Tharia. ¡°Your husband. The king. Spawn of it all. The last one we will kill. Are you afraid it¡¯ll turn out like with my brother? No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it, you wouldn¡¯t be scared to tell me about it, unless... oh¡± she made her guess known. Annie¡¯s lips quivered and she suddenly sprang up while pushing Tharia aside. ¡°Let¡¯s go¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°Annie¡± ¡°I said let¡¯s go¡± ¡°No can do, Annie¡±, Tharia spoke with a soft tone, ¡°You can¡¯t run away from this. Whenever you run from problems, they get stronger.¡± ¡°I¡¯m running towards them¡±, Annabelle exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re bloody not. You¡¯re pushing on with stupid bravado. Come here, girl. Please¡±, Tharia said and stood up as well. She brushed the snow off her clothes and looked towards her love. ¡°We need to keep going¡±, Annabelle insisted. ¡°We also need to do this right. Smarter, not stronger. So, come here. There¡¯s more to it, something you don¡¯t want to talk to me about¡±, the frail woman tried again. She stood her ground while puffing out her flat chest to appear bigger. Step by step Annabelle finally came back. ¡°Thank you¡±, Tharia said, ¡°Now listen closely. If I were to hazard a guess, you still feel for him. He is, after all, your husband still¡± Annabelle froze, she closed her beautiful eyes with tears running down those pale cheeks. When the goddess finally spoke, it was a barely comprehensible mess of words. ¡°Not afraid to kill him, afraid I won¡¯t kill him. Why do I feel this, I hate him, why how.¡± Tharia listened and kept up a smile. On some level, it really hurt to know that there were still some feelings left. That is when looked at from the point of view of a human. Realization set in. The situation was so absurdly specific that Tharia couldn¡¯t help but laugh suddenly. Seeing the hurt in Annabelle¡¯s eyes, she quickly waved her hand. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just... look. Okay. I¡¯ve figured it out. Now you¡¯ll listen to me good. We know that gods can¡¯t feel emotions of their own, they steal them from others. Agreed?¡± Tharia began. Annabelle nodded meekly. ¡°Good, keep that in your mind. You, my love, you can feel emotions. Agreed?¡± the human girl continued. Another nod from her friend was the answer. ¡°I love you too¡±, Tharia said with a smile, ¡°The truth of the matter is that you¡¯re a dumbass. You don¡¯t still love him, you never did. It¡¯s a lifelong addiction making you feel that way. Besides, if he even looks at you funny, I¡¯ll stab him out of jealousy.¡± She wouldn¡¯t kill him for jealous. While yes, she was a spring of envy, she wasn¡¯t that petty. She was, however, petty enough to stab him dead for his attempt to kill Annabelle. Her friend still looked frozen, so Tharia suddenly opened up her own blouse. That at least got some reaction and when she softly pulled on Annabelle¡¯s head, the goddess started whispering incomprehensible things. This wasn¡¯t sexual though. The frail girl shivered when Annie¡¯s cold ear touched her bare chest. ¡°This is actual love, not the aftermath of emotional addiction¡±, Tharia began while nuzzling Annabelle close to her bosom, ¡°All our journey we¡¯ve joked about love conquering all. This is one time where it will be true. Listen to my heart. It beats only for you.¡± Her hands gently brushed through silky soft hair and the warmth from her love made sure it didn¡¯t get too cold. ¡°This is actual love. Not infatuation, intoxication or stolen emotions from a horny power-hungry bastard. It¡¯s what¡¯s there in the wild moments, and the mild ones. When we argue ¨C even when we swim through shit-valley creek. I¡¯m the one that¡¯ll bitch about a bath, but I¡¯ll love you anyways.¡± Tharia ran her hands through Annabelle¡¯s hair and felt something wet touch her bare skin. Tears. She let Annabelle stay like that for a bit while suppressing her urge to shiver. It was bloody freezing. Stupid idea. Yet Annabelle needed it. Still stupid. When Annie finally lifted her head, Tharia quickly closed her blouse again and rubbed her chest for a bit. ¡°Well Annie, what, if anything, has he got on that? A big castle? Pffft, my family is loaded, I tell you. And I¡¯ve got it on good authority that right now, I¡¯m the sole heir. So don¡¯t you worry your pretty head, I¡¯ll take care of it. Everything. We will end this. What you feel for him is a lingering effect of your godhood, not something real. What you feel for me is the real deal.¡± She held Annabelle close for a while longer. While those emotions had never been born from Annabelle, they still must have felt real for the goddess. Tharia had no idea about the whole emotion vampirism thing, but if it lingered on, no wonder the gods had always wanted more of everything. Annabelle had sabotaged herself to draw out the confrontation with her husband. What Tharia had done to her brother was the catalyst for all of this. It made it obvious to her love that she too would have to do something like that at the end of the road. As the moment faded, Annabelle looked a lot better than before. Obviously, words wouldn¡¯t fix it immediately, but this was a good start. Tharia brushed her hands over Annabelle¡¯s head one more time and then pointed towards the scaffolding. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving. We should reach a vantage point, plan our route of attack. Do you see that belfry over there? A tower like that could work¡±, Tharia said and pointed towards something a few houses away. From up here, it was obvious most of the houses had a second layer on their roofs that could unfold into scaffolding to make impromptu walkways when the streets were flooded. ¡°You¡¯re the one that¡¯s good at throwing, right? If you can throw one of the ropes around that black lever over there¡±, Tharia pointed towards the next roof over, ¡°we can pull down the next walkway. Like this, we can pass the horde of idiots down below.¡± She shot a glance down. A steady stream of Observers flooded the streets. All with a singular mission somewhere in the Second Ring. While Annabelle got to work, Tharia mused their situation. There were those that stood still. Like the people in Shal-rins army. Waiting for others to make the move for them. Then there were those that moved. Like her and her love. Even young boy Ravid was a mover. Even if he was a shy scaredy-cat with a crush. With a loud rumble, the scaffolding unfolded into walkways. More avalanches poured down on the Observers and sent them in a frenzy against piles of snow. Needless to say, the Observers won. Tharia couldn¡¯t help laughing at the sight. The two girls walked along walkways high above the streets. Several more scaffoldings rumbled on their path but they were all in a surprisingly good state. When finally they reached the belfry, Tharia realized it was part of a school-house. When she was younger, she had always wanted to visit one. Yet, a Verholden was far too high a risk to be placed there. Social norms would dictate any kidnapping would have to be paid by her family. For Tharia, they just couldn¡¯t spare the single cent she was worth to them. She softly tapped Annabelle on the shoulder and pointed up the tower. The ascent was quick and without issue and once they were up, they had a splendid view over the capital. As far as the eye could see, thick layers of snow made it look peaceful. The serenity was only disturbed by a handful of problems. The fortification walls. They were ugly as sin. A false star above. Also ugly. And the golden fields. During a summer rain, those were lovely. During an apocalypse, walking plants meant they were... ugly. ¡°Annie, can you feel out the essences, maybe give us a rough direction where we¡¯re headed?¡± Tharia said with a smile. The goddess closed her eyes and then started pointing out directions towards the inner rings. The first place she pointed out was a large dome with strange machines built on top of it. ¡°That looks like the direction of the observatory¡±, Tharia mused, ¡°any of your detractors an astronomist or uh, astrologist? One of the two? What¡¯s the difference anyway?¡± ¡°Viktor von Halsenstien¡±, Annabelle said, ¡°Obsessed with the world beyond the clouds. He begged me to give him wings before all this started.¡± ¡°Maybe he got his wish¡±, Tharia remarked, shrugged her shoulders and looked to the second place, a wide collection of chimneys interspersed with large areas of nothing, ¡°Artificer¡¯s guild. Out of a hunch, Marja Alriaman?¡± Annabelle nodded in reply, ¡°Obsessed with artificial life. How do you know her?¡± Tharia sighed and spread her fingers in a wing-like gesture, ¡°Meet the Verholdens. Sorry. Those armored things at the manor had her sigil. It¡¯s also where I learned about the barrier chains. She¡¯s a crazy broad. Old acquaintance. Let¡¯s hope her ascension took out her evil genius smarts.¡± Annabelle nodded. Tharia let her eyes wander and found an oddity. A small forest of white trees had sprouted in the middle of the Second Ring. Tharia blinked, ¡°Used to be the beggar¡¯s enclave but there never was this much greenery.¡± ¡°Beggar? That day, they caught a woman sneaking around. Looked like a beggar, didn¡¯t smell like one¡±, Annabelle said with long pauses between the words. ¡°Maybe the Concubine of the Dregs? What¡¯s her name, Kristalia something? I honestly don¡¯t know much about her, just that father always cursed her name. Seems like she ran most of the criminal syndicates in Valarn¡±, Tharia speculated and then scratched her chin. ¡°I¡¯d bet money that¡¯s where the Observers are headed¡±, Tharia added after a moment of contemplation ¡°The final one is obvious¡±, the human girl spoke while nodding, ¡°The palace of course. I suggest we take on the Observatory first. We might be able to loot some magnification eyes.¡± ¡°Binoculars¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Complete sentence please, Fairy¡±, the goddess added with a reprimanding tone ¨C yet showed a grin. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Tharia played along and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s what we call magnification eyes.¡± ¡°What kind of nonsense name is that? Bino coolers? What¡¯s a bino? Nevermind. Let¡¯s go there. For that we need to cross into the second Ring¡±, Tharia mused and pointed towards one section of the large wall, ¡°The bridge is swarmed with Observers. If you ask me, I¡¯ve had enough of pasty white worm containers. That leaves Imnir¡¯s Balustrade.¡± Now it was Annabelle¡¯s turn to raise her eyebrows in slight confusion, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Complete sentence please?¡± Tharia echoed. ¡°Not happening¡±, the goddess said and stuck out her tongue. That, if anything, struck Tharia like thunder. She stood with an open mouth until Annabelle forced it shut with a finger. ¡°Right, uh... where was I?¡± Tharia resumed speaking. That gesture had been so cute and sweet that she almost got sugar poisoning. She shook her head and then pointed towards a part of the wall that had an odd outgrowth on the side. ¡°Part of the wall was damaged when Imnir had the aqueducts torn down. They put flowers on it and called it a day. It should still be open.¡± A sudden flash of light drew Tharia¡¯s attention. She whirled around and looked at Annabelle. The goddess was suddenly clad in full plate mail. Lines of energy ran through the golden metal and pulsed blue. Annabelle lifted her hands, they were still clad in the strange scale gloves she had gotten from the Dreamreaper. The boots were also part of the armor. If anything, this looked like the complete set, minus the helmet. ¡°Figured I should try the essence of Celestine. Odd it isn¡¯t one of her soulweapons instead.¡± Tharia watched the goddess clench her fists. She moved from side to side and despite how sturdy and functional this looked, the motions came with ease. ¡°They blend in with the gloves and boots. It¡¯s like they melded. Their strength isn¡¯t gone but rather distributed evenly.¡± The human girl listened to an Annabelle that finished a couple of sentences without stumbling. Of course, when it came to weaponry instead of feelings, she could suddenly talk. That quirk made her smile. She really loved the ugly and impractical parts of her as well. That armor looked sleek and powerful. It was perfectly fitting Annabelle¡¯s body with no artistic flourishes. Her friend suddenly held out an armored hand. The light vanished the armor and Annabelle then grabbed Tharia. ¡°What did I do?¡± Tharia inquired with raised eyebrows but the goddess just pulled Tharia¡¯s hand on top of her own. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± the young woman added and pushed her black strands of hair to the side to get a better look at Annabelle. The goddess then suddenly leaned down and bit into both their hands. Tharia jerked her hand back and glared at her. ¡°Damn it, what are you doing?¡± she said while waving her aching hand with teeth marks in it. ¡°It¡¯s a vow between gods to vanquish our foes¡±, Annabelle declared ceremoniously. Already, the teeth marks disappeared entirely, yet the painful memory remained in Tharia¡¯s mind. ¡°Annie? Your customs suck. This is how you do this properly¡±, the human girl said and turned around to glare at the large wall, ¡°The mountains are proud and bow to neither god nor kings. Yet they will budge for the smallest of things. They...¡± ¡°No rhyming. It hurts, fairy¡± Tharia sighed, all wind gone from her sails, she mumbled another attempt, ¡°Well, fuck this then. We¡¯re about to go over there, drag them out their houses, kick their arses and steal their stuff. They¡¯ll never see it coming because they set their eyes on the stars, unable to see the two wicked girls coming out to play.¡± ¡°Maybe don¡¯t hold speeches either¡±, Annabelle suggested. ¡°Oh, will you shut up!¡± Tharia snapped, only to heer a slightly irritating sound from Annabelle. Laughter. She glared at her but then couldn¡¯t resist it any longer. Maybe just plain laughing was fine too. From here on out, it was all or nothing. Not that it had been different before, but this felt like the final stretch to Tharia. She kept her eyes on the observatory. That Viktor figure would be the first of the last. End: Those that move | Coming up: Imnir''s Balustrade 39 - Imnirs Balustrade

Imnir''s Balustrade

Breach in the Second Ring Wall

Tharia¡¯s lithe form struggled with the strong winds near the edge of the roof. Her earthen coat danced on the gusts. Imnir¡¯s Balustrade was across the street. It was an artful crash between ancient debris and the work of artists. The result was a freak collection of arches, structures and statues of naked women. To Tharia, art was always one of two things: What the fuck or want to fuck. The Balustrade didn¡¯t help with that impression. ¡°A bug nest in the breach and our old friends the observers in the streets, how do we get across?¡± Tharia mused. She held onto a rod of cold metal for stability. Her shoulders were covered in the thick coat she had picked up from Mother Bone. Why exactly she dragged this thing around, she didn¡¯t know herself. Warmth, she kept telling herself. She suddenly picked up an odd buzzing sound. ¡°Dodge left!¡± Annabelle screamed. The shrill warning jumpstarted Tharia¡¯s reaction, her body already moved before her mind could intervene. It wasn¡¯t fast enough. Something hit her body with the force of an angry titan. She was punted off the roof. Everything suddenly slowed down around her as her senses sharpened into an unreal clarity. An oversized bug stared at her. Large butterfly wings stuck out from its hunched back, along with two antennae from the front. She also saw Annabelle run towards it in painfully slow motion. For the first time, she saw all the details of the weapon summoning. Tiny rifts opened up in the air and the light danced out of it as if it were alive. They formed into a Scythe just as the goddess lunged into a horizontal slash. The moment of calm didn¡¯t last long. Annabelle slammed her weapon against the thick chitin legs of the bug just as it changed direction. Sparks flew off but no damage was done. Tharia reached the apex of her motion, the pain hadn¡¯t yet settled in and the bug already jumped towards her with the horn aimed at her center of mass. If that thing hit her, she was dead. Quick. Solution. Now. Annabelle screamed at the bug in frustration. Not helpful. Tharia¡¯s idea was one of desperation. If presented with the opportunity, it might pick the bigger target. She unclasped the cloak and let the wind drag it away. The bug suddenly changed course. Its horn narrowly missed Tharia but she got hit by the body instead. With tears of pain in her eyes, she held onto the first thing she could grab. Rotting carpet. That¡¯s what it felt like to her. The bug let out a harrowing cry and suddenly bucked to the side. All around, the environments zoomed past Tharia. She caught glimpses of rooms inside buildings, saw scaffoldings fly past with absurd speed. Somehow she was alive. Somehow, she was also stuck on an angry bug taking off. Gritting her teeth, she pulled on her hold and noticed the creature suddenly leaning to the side again. It suddenly leaned into a tight spiral. With little warning, the roof seemed to jump up at her. Tharia let go. Her body drove into the snow like an arrow let loose ¨C but it suitably softened her impact. Still, she felt beaten black and blue and the spark was working overtime to take the edge of things. She got up on her knees and sputtered dirty snow when she saw the bug up ahead. It had plowed a path through the snow and the roof underneath and was half-stuck in the building. A small figure appeared from a nearby structure. Annabelle was doing a mad dance along rickety constructions, balancing on wooden beams as she dashed with her armor glistening in the light. She jumped off and brought the Scythe down mid-jump. This time, the blade cut into the beast with ease. Tharia held out her hand and concentrated. Technically, she too was now a sort of goddess. Thing. Some kind of creature at least. She needed a weapon now. Maybe she could bring out one as well. With her eyes closed, tuning out the spectacle of Annie¡¯s fight with the bug, she focussed on equipment. Finally, she clasped her hands shut. Something cold touched her hands and she opened her eyes wide with anticipation, what kind of weapon would she get? The human girl looked squarely at a bent pipe. Disappointment turned to anger as she saw a bunch of others scattered on the roof. Of course, she didn¡¯t get the nice perks. Grumbling, she held onto the pipe she had accidentally picked up in her failed summoning and dashed for the bug too. Annabelle had jumped off the bug in the meantime. She was like a mad mouse that had beef with a scared cat. Her strikes nipped at parts of the bug armor until it finally gained the strength to pull itself out of the hole. It spread its large wings and whirled around, using the long horn for a sweep. Her beloved Annie dodged underneath it and kicked her feet into the large eye of the hunchback-monster. Now Tharia was close too. With reckless abandon, she hammered her bent pipe against the other eye. The bug stared at her with what she interpreted as: Are you serious right now? It didn¡¯t deter her. A nick in the chitin caught her attention, she changed her next attack and aimed the edge directly at the damaged beast armor. Her pipe drove straight through and then broke off. The bug cried out in anger and tried to lift off the ground. Annabelle used that moment to dismiss and resummon her Scythe while swinging directly for the eye. The bladed scythe manifested directly inside of it, bypassing any and all forms of armor. The large bug crashed back down, flipping onto its back. It helplessly skittered towards the edge of the roof and got stuck on the scaffolding again. Tharia exchanged a look with Annabelle and gave her the thumbs up. She was okay and Annie¡¯s smile told her that her love was okay as well. As they both ran for the rampaging bug, Tharia noticed her coat and picked it up mid-motion. She swung it back over her shoulders just in time to see Annabelle hold onto the bug, her left hand had grasped into the broken eye. Tharia shuddered as she imagined the pain this would bring. She shivered again when golden light poured out of the eye and the scythe manifested from inside the organ. The bug screamed out in pure rage. Large legs in abject panic tore the scaffolding apart and a veritable ramp of debris had formed on the ground. Breathlessly, Tharia took a step back. ¡°It picked the wrong food¡±, she said. Annabelle nodded, carefully observing the throes of the hunchback. Tharia looked at the struggling insect and the way its antennae stuck up. The beast was utterly helpless. She blinked as she suddenly remembered something from her childhood. A sudden grin crept onto her face. ¡°Annie? I know how we cross the street¡±, she said. ¡°How so?¡± Tharia grinned from ear to ear. She knelt on the stomach of the bug and tightly held onto one of the legs. One of Annabelle¡¯s War-Fans was stuck in the stomach too. Tharia had wrapped her hand around the rope part for further stability. ¡°Worst idea ever¡±, Annabelle cursed. Hush, Tharia thought. Like her, the goddess knelt on the stomach of the bug. She shot Tharia a skeptical glance. ¡°You¡¯re insane¡±, the goddess said with a huff. She then took aim and hurled the second War-Fan directly into the wooden scaffolding. With loud rumbling, it all came undone. ¡°Love you too!¡± Tharia shouted over the noise. With a sudden jolt, the bug started moving underneath them. Both girls held on tight as the bug skittered towards the edge along with half the roof, parts of the building and everything else that wanted to be part of this idiocy. The insect quickly shot over the edge and crashed down onto the ramp made of debris. Sliding down the snow-covered ramp accelerated the creature to ludicrous speed.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Bug-sleigh, yeaahaaaw!¡± Tharia screamed. There was a jolt when their living vehicle transitioned to the road and a bunch more of them as sheer momentum crashed it directly through lanterns, carriages, observers, whatever else was unfortunate enough to get into the path of their involuntary vehicle. She caught a momentary whiff of something she hadn¡¯t accounted for. Gas. From the lanterns. Pillars of flames sprouted behind them, the moat appeared before them - and their vehicle screeched in panic. To Tharia, it was the best Idea ever. The bug hit the water and skipped across it like a thrown stone. Sheer momentum carried it up the first part of the aqueduct on the other side. It was just enough of a ramp to give it lift. Tharia looked at Annie, a smug grin on her face when she saw the inferno on the street. That couldn¡¯t be good. One second, she still saw the buildings, part of the road, the bridge they had so callously ignored in favor of insanity ¨C and then there was nothing but a huge fireball. The sheer brunt of the explosion hammered into the bug and accelerated it. ¡°I hate you!¡± Annabelle screamed as the bug lifted off the ground. Not as a flying creature but rather as a burning, helplessly flailing chitin projectile that trailed flames several meters long. They were half-way up the aqueduct when finally, the momentum was used up. The bug crashed down into part of the aqueduct and the two girls took the chance to get off. Annabelle held onto Tharia as they tumbled off the creature. ¡°Let¡¯s do it again¡±, Tharia said, her fingers nearly frozen off from the icy wind. She knew she looked unhinged but she hadn¡¯t felt this alive since... since before she killed her brother in cold blood. Annabelle suddenly grunted. ¡°This!¡± the goddess said with anger in her voice and pointed back. What had survived centuries, had met their ultimate calamity: Two girls on a mission. Several dozen houses were just plain gone with the explosion. There was a large hole in the road with Observers piling into it. Somehow, the bridge crossing the moat had been dislodged by about a kilometer. Or two. Maybe four to be fair. The Balustrade below them had packed up and left for greener pastures while debris had ruined a several kilometer section of the city. ¡°If anyone asks, we¡¯ve never been here¡±, Tharia said nonchalantly and rubbed her slightly singed nose. An entire house just tilted and fell over as the ground gave out beneath it. Annabelle was still furious at Tharia. The idea had been stupid from the start. Worst of all, it had worked. That was one way to reinforce idiocy. She looked at Tharia and saw the small woman still grin from ear to ear. ¡°In the future, I¡¯ll get to veto all ideas¡±, the goddess said and earned a thumbs up from her beloved fairy. The gods be cursed grin just wouldn¡¯t go. She shook her head and focussed her attention on the path ahead. The Balustrade was really just a collection of aqueduct parts that were held together by additional structures. Each part of the original building as connected to the next with overly decorated walkways and beautiful statues. To Annabelle, Art was mostly two things: Something to appreciate and understand. When she looked at those statues of the naked women, she appreciated their form and understood the desire behind them. It wasn¡¯t just sexual, it was the sheer essence of the shape itself. The artists had struggled with their obsession. ¡°Annie, the bug is back¡±, Tharia said and caught the goddess in one of her rare moments of being distracted. She examined their surroundings and saw it stuck some way up. Annabelle leaned onto a chest-high wall and looked at the creature blocking their path ahead. With a chitin shell that was half burned, it seemed barely alive to her. There were no more wings on it, safe for two stumps that fluttered about helplessly. The fat bug was splayed across the main aqueduct. Normally they could use one of the sideways but they had broken off. Quite some time ago, if the statues of naked women in their place were an indicator. The cherry on top was that the fat backend of the bug blocked the archway leading into the breach in the wall. She looked back at Tharia and saw the girl lift her empty hands. ¡°You did this¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°Well, don¡¯t have weapons of my own. I need to get creative¡±, Tharia answered. Annabelle turned around and stepped onto the decorated bridge connecting their part of the Balustrade with that of the bug. The moment her feet touched the ground, the bug suddenly jerked up. The flexible horn stretched in her direction and the beast let out a harrowing cry. With her hand opening, the Scythe manifested itself. She sized up the bug one last time and then clutched her hands around the handle, falling into a quick dash up the aqueduct. The hunchback bug struggled to get onto its legs. Pieces of rubble fell off to either side of the structure. That was the main challenge: To kill the bug without smashing their only way inside. Annabelle held her scythe to her lower left and closed in on the bug. Predictably, the horn was used as a blunt instrument. It swung in her direction, but Annabelle used both their momentum to slash her scythe upward. With her angle, the blade cut directly into the horn. Despite her slightly increased strength, the weapon was wrested from her hands and she was thrown off balance. She skittered to the ground. Her weapon clanged a couple of meters away and the horn jabbed directly in her direction. The goddess leaped back on her feet and narrowly dodged the attack with a jump forward. Now she was within the minimal striking distance of the horn. She looked directly into the blind eye of the bug. They locked gaze for what seemed like an eternity. Hot and stinking breath washed over Annabelle. The moment broke with the sound of breaking stone. The bug suddenly lurched against Annabelle and punted her off her feet. She flew two meters but landed with an elegant roll. Cracks spread throughout the aqueduct. The hunchback bug dragged itself towards her with stilted motions. It cried out and then jabbed the horn in her direction. Like before, Annabelle was prepared for an attack with that. She moved her hands in a strike and then summoned her Scythe midswing. The golden light followed her motion, the Scythe left a trail of particles and soon chitin. Annabelle saw with shock that the bug suddenly jumped up and down, each time bringing its considerable weight down on the ancient structure. The stubborn thing was willing to take them down with it, out of spite. Personally, Annabelle couldn¡¯t blame it. She launched into another attack when she saw a human figure to the side. Annabelle was gesturing wildly while pointing towards the breach in the wall. Each time the bug plunged down, more of the aqueduct came down with it. The goddess exchanged looks between the bug and Tharia and with a grunt, she finally decided to follow the girl instead. They dodged and weaved underneath the rampaging bug and then headed straight for the breach. A sudden pause in sound made Annabelle look over her shoulder. The bug looked her directly in the eye, as the aqueduct fell in slow motion. Stumpy wings fluttered as the creature disappeared along with most of what had remained of Imnir¡¯s Balustrade. ¡°I guess I can cause destruction too¡±, Annabelle said breathlessly as they stumbled through the breach into the interior of the wall. ¡°Fairy?¡± Annabelle said as she noticed the odd quiet of her friend. Tharia pointed towards what lay ahead. At first glance, it was an entire colony of larvae, mixed in with human skeletons inside of a primitive stone structure. Everything about this said ancient aqueduct to her. There were stairs leading further up and they would have to fight smaller bugs all the way. Yet that wasn¡¯t where Tharia was pointing. Behind the veneer of primitive stone was a large gap in the wall. It must have broken away in the days after it all came down. ¡°That can¡¯t be¡±, Annabelle said. She stared at endless smooth black walls, interspersed by lines of golden energy pulsing within them. The actual interior of the fortification walls, that which had been hidden away behind newer walls, looked like a temple of the gods. Thousands upon thousands of strange podlike chambers hung on the walls with floating walkways connecting them. Tharia had walked over towards the edge and looked down. ¡°Annie, I think this goes down to the core of the world¡±, she said with a faint voice, ¡°It¡¯s like one massive god palace.¡± Annabelle quickly walked up to the edge and immediately agreed with her lover. The walls were all hollowed out and going by the pulsing light alone, it reached down several dozens of kilometers. ¡°These structures look ancient¡±, the goddess said while feeling a strange lump in her throat. ¡°Do you also get the feeling that we¡¯re not seeing the whole picture?¡± Tharia suddenly said with a strange tone to her voice. Sudden angry buzzing reminded Annabelle that they weren¡¯t alone. She turned around and saw a small army of bugs pushing and pulling a larger bug into the chamber. Then, they proceeded to poke it with their tiny horns until it woke up from its slumber. ¡°Hah, I just remembered something funny about insects. Did you know that some species have variants in them? Like, some are born for working and gathering others are...¡± Annabelle watched the ginormous bug get on its legs. Unlike its brethren, this one had four pairs of scythes and a massive body without wings. It balanced on its legs, every motion screamed excessive power and strength. ¡°Others are born for battle¡±, the goddess finished the sentence. End: Imnir''s Balustrade | Coming up: Inside the Breach 40 - Inside the Breach

Inside the Breach

Second Fortification Wall

Annabelle calmed her heart with controlled breathing. This six-legged warrior-bug wasn¡¯t Celestine. She would not lose again. Still, the situation looked bad. A veritable flock of tiny hunchback bugs was swarming Tharia while the large one trampled towards Annabelle. She felt the touch of the weightless armor on her skin and the two weapons in her hands: One Scythe, one War-fan. The goddess relaxed her mind as well. Be careful! Examine weaknesses. Be smarter, not stronger. The smaller bugs Tharia would have to deal with. Her foe had four scythes that covered multiple attack vectors. On top of that, it was absurdly strong. Annabelle paced forward, observing the details. She noticed the thick carapace. Her weapon summoning would pierce through - but it was awkward to use. The goddess felt a bit of salt on her lips and then jumped into action. Three targets for the first assault. Her feet carried her forward. She ran to a spot just outside the reach of the four scythes and then changed direction. The bug moved around but Annabelle kept her distance steady. She circled the creature faster than it could turn. Once in the blind spot, she went for the attack. Her left hand hurled the War-Fan towards the large eyes of the creature. It would bounce off without effect but perhaps serve as a further distraction. With both hands now on her Scythe, she pulled left and then struck with a wide arc in the opposite direction. Sparks flew off as it clanged against the chitin. All her assault had achieved was a small scratch. The insect leg kicked out and this was what she had really aimed for. She unhooked the Scythe in one quick motion, spun it around and then cut straight through the unarmored muscle near the joint. Next target. Not stopping for one second, her fluid motion carried her past the collapsing leg towards a spot on the main body. Her Scythe disappeared in a flash and reappeared when her hands were imitating a hard swing. The particles cut straight through the thick carapace as the weapon manifested inside. She left the Scythe in the wound, turned and hammered her slightly stronger fists against the handle. Like a lever, the weapon cracked the wound open. The warrior-bug was pissed. It started flailing around and Annabelle had to dance away from him with light feet. Her weapon, however, worked itself deeper into the body with each motion. That left the third target: Another leg. If she could get it broken, the bug was immobile with its weak flank towards her. In short, it would be her win. She weaved between the wildly flailing legs and headed towards the rear one. The bug had smartened up. As she approached, it pressed its leg tight to protect the weak points. ¡°Sorry to say, this goddess cheats¡±, Annabelle taunted ¨C quite to her own surprise as well. She jumped onto the leg and scurried up with momentum. At the top, her armored fists hammered against the joint. If only she still had just her gloves. The bug locked up the leg further and tried to toss her off with motions of the body. Both her hands suddenly held onto either side of the joint. Golden particles spiked out on both sides and cut off the leg entirely. She jumped off and broke her fall with a quick roll. Behind her, the bug crashed onto its side, cracks appearing in the stone below. Annabelle took another deep breath. Done. She had won. Her eyes locked with Tharia and saw the poor girl stand in a sea of smushed tiny bugs. ¡°I hate insects¡±, the small girl screamed as she snatched one from her neck and threw it down, ¡°You don¡¯t get to touch me, you perverted, horned, ugly, insufferable, tiny, uh... ugly... ehm bug. Question mark¡± Annabelle smiled when Tharia actually pronounced the end of the sentence directly. This was her fairy. Deranged, foul-mouthed, all perfect. An odd sound drew her attention back towards the warrior-bug. She refocussed her attention, brought out both of her War-Fans and went back for another attack. Tharia¡¯s breath was raspy and her heart ached from exertion. Those tiny cursed bugs got everywhere. They did no damage but gods be cursed, they were aggravating. At this point in time, she was just about ready to switch with Annabelle. Unarmed wrestling with an armored monster-bug ¨C sure, she¡¯d sign up if it meant no more tiny, invading - bloody abyss how¡¯d it even get there! Her eyes locked onto Annabelle, she was well into her second attack and it was a beauty to behold. That silver-hair followed those elegant motions with just a hint of a delay, further accentuating how graceful of a monster-murderer her love was. Annie was so cute, drenched in bug-blood. ¡°Right, priorities. Don¡¯t think I missed you crawling up my belly you blasted pest¡±, she screamed and pulled another bug from under her blouse. The small creature got crushed between her fingers. Her eyes wandered back to Annabelle again. She absolutely obliterated the warrior bug. It didn¡¯t even have a life-flame anymore. That was certainly strange because it was still moving effortlessly. Tharia narrowed her eyebrows. Now that she looked closer, none of the things had a life-flame of their own. Not the small ones, nor the big ones. She twirled on the spot. Their surroundings had changed without them noticing it. There were no more exits, just solid walls in all directions. ¡°Annie¡±, she began shouting, ¡°this is a prrfggmm¡± Just as she was about to scream domain, several bugs used the chance to dive for her mouth. She spat out the disgusting creatures, smacked them out of the air and tried again. ¡°Do¡ªarghh¡± An entire swarm of them dove for her lips. She instantly shut it and pressed against it to make sure. Seemingly all the bugs of the world had decided to appear in a cloud before her. Angrily buzzing, waiting for an opening to choke her to death. With her hand in front of her mouth, she tried to shout as loud as she could. ¡°Annie, God domain!¡± she finally got out but half-way through, her surroundings changed. Not by much, just enough to tell her she was back in the real world. An empty breach awaited her. There was no monster-bug and no Annabelle either. A few rotten nests plastered the walls. She saw human skeletons on the ground in places she hadn¡¯t noticed before and a strange pulsing light in the background indicated the hole to the wall interior was back as well. ¡°Annie?¡± she asked, her voice echoing in the empty room. There was nothing. The small woman was all alone. Her heart suddenly accelerated and she felt the walls creep in on her. They didn¡¯t, it was all in her head. She knew that much, but she realized her breath got out of control, yet the more she tried to fight it, the worse it got. ¡°Breath in¡±, she said, imitating what Sisi had once taught her. This was no moment for mindless panic. Get yourself under control, girl. Repress everything until a more opportune moment, she reminded herself. Sudden lack of oxygen made her instinctively breathe out and then suck in the air. And more. More. Until her vision started spinning. ¡°Not¡±, she said in between rapid breathes, ¡°the... time.¡± With her breathing completely gone down the drain and the last bit of conscious thought, she held out her hand. Every god had a domain. She knew that much. Mother Bone had done something to her and in her youth, she had somewhat been ascended once. Maybe she could project out her own domain and save Annie. Her hyper-breathing soon pushed these thoughts aside. It obviously had to happen now of all times. She collapsed onto the ground, her fists pounding the ground before she keeled over and clutched at her throat. No matter how fast she breathed in, it felt like she was suffocating. ¡°Push... aside¡±, she whispered. ¡°Domain. Establish¡±, her voice added several dozen breaths later. Nothing happened. She held out her and, tried a variety of silly gestures to somehow nudge out the domain but it was all in vain. With that, she allowed the panic to win. Her mind was a collection of pure self-destruction. She was alone again. All alone. Worthless. You deserve this, Tharia. Your lies brought you here. If only you had any worth at all. She¡¯s out there, fighting, you¡¯re here, breathing yourself to death. Miserable, ugly tomboy. Weak. It felt like a well had opened up deep inside of her. Years of repressed emotions wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer anymore. Pathetic. Waste of flesh. She wanted it to stop. Her lips begged her own mind to stop the onslaught. Tharia rocked back and forth on the ground until she suddenly felt soft earth underneath her body. It was neither warm nor cold, it just was. Trees, thousands of years old, reached up into a sky so far beyond her vision, she wasn¡¯t even sure if they ever ended. She was in an ancient primordial forest, a place she had been in before, with Mother Bone. The trees pulsed with abundant life and the scent of fresh grass reached her nostrils. This was the domain of Mother Bone. Her domain. Her hand reached up to the sky and a pitch-black amalgamation of energy appeared out of the bark of the trees. ¡°I have found the domain¡±, she said, her heart calm. ¡°We will have used it¡¯s true meaning soon¡±, her voice added, her breath relaxed. ¡°All things shall end¡±, Tharia finalized the triad of sentences. Her mind was numb and empty. Apathy had taken hold of her. The pitch-black whirl of energy descended from the sky and when it touched her body, she knew the resentment of the world itself. This was a primordial fury tempered in the hearts of many worlds before. Clarity had taken hold of her mind. All things have to end. She turned around and lifted her right arm. The bare skin looked odd to her, her flesh had melded with her skeleton in a way that made her stomach churn. Her bony finger hooked into what felt like the fabric of reality itself. Calm, collected with no haste, Mother Bone walked through the layers of domains. Like a blooming flower, three realities unfolded before her. There was the physical world, the bug-trap where Annabelle had dismantled the large bug but was faced with several more, and on top, there was a third layer.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. She strolled into it without a care in the world. Her naked feet touched a ground made from the chitin of dead insect husks. In a passing moment, she realized that all she wore was a cloak that hid her meager body well. It mattered naught. A strange crystal chrysalis sat in the center of the world. Inside was an amalgamation of human bodies melded together. Distorted faces were stuck in their moment of painful death, limbs had grown together, hearts had linked up to beat in unison. As Tharia watched, the creature was in constant change. The chrysalis tried a variety of changes. Three arms then four arms and back to two arms. It all changed in a moment¡¯s notice with bone and flesh breaking apart and reforming again a moment later. One of the faces seemed more lucid, it swam towards the edge of the crystal and pressed a flat face against it. The silent pleading look would have struck a chord in Tharia. That which she had become however cared not. Her granting the wish of death was incidental. ¡°All things end¡±, she said and ran a finger along the crystal. ¡°All things will have ended¡±, she added as her hand easily passed into the chrysalis. Mutagenic arcane energies pressed down onto her hands but they found no purchase with her leathery skin. ¡°As all things have died before¡±, Tharia concluded. All it took to snuff out a life was a touch of her finger. She brushed it against the singular bright flame inside the chrysalis. The creature faltered and collapsed in sudden death throes. All around her, the world came undone until she was back in the breach. Annabelle was frozen in a moment of motion, her beautiful body twisted as her Scythe was about to cut a bug that was no longer there. Tharia realized that it was now the domain of Mother Bone that had superimposed itself on the world. Her domain. The domain of that which kills all. The being in front of her had been the lover of her human host, her flame burned so brightly that it hurt to look at. It drew Tharia in until she stood right next to Annabelle. She reached up her finger until her hand passed into the body of the time-frozen Annabelle. The edge of her fingernail reached for the bright flame. ¡°This world must end with her.¡± ¡°It will not be reborn.¡± Tharia felt the pure fury of what felt like an infinite universe of resentment and hate boil inside of her. At the side of it, a tiny speck of dust stood between it and the will of the cosmos itself. She realized that tiny speck was her. The figure in front of her wasn¡¯t just a bright flame. It was the one thing worth living for. She closed her hand and pulled it back when pain flared up in her lithe frame. The smallest creature dared to defy the will of everything. ¡°This is not me¡±, she forced out, ¡°This is the one creature I will never allow us to hurt¡± With a whisk, everything came to an end. At first, Tharia thought the resentment had struck out, but when she felt soft hands on her body, she suddenly began crying. ¡°Fairy? What¡¯s going on?¡± Annabelle asked. Tharia didn¡¯t answer. ¡°You¡¯re naked. Girl, are you some closet exhibitionist?¡± the goddess attempted a bit of humor. Tharia tried to put on a smile she wasn¡¯t feeling ¨C and just as she did, she felt the heritage of mother bone gain in strength again. ¡°We were locked in the domain of a Godbeast¡±, Tharia said with a cracking voice, ¡°I found us a way out but... so did something else.¡± She hid her head in her own arms and curled up. Where before, there had been cold numbness inside, there now was everything. Memories, emotions, each of them as burning hot as a raging inferno. She felt intense jealousy of Annie¡¯s good looks, anger over having been abandoned, frustration over just how much of a mess she had become, sadness at having killed her family ¨C but also righteous fury. Yet when she tried to lock the emotions away, the numbness woke again. ¡°Annie, how do you deal with bad emotions?¡± she said with a whimper. ¡°You learn to accept them¡±, Annabelle answered. ¡°Good times¡±, Tharia raised a thumb while her voice dripped with sarcasm. Annie looked irritated by the reaction. Off to a good start then, Tharia thought. Sometimes, a bit of luck comes at the worst of times. One of the order Zeughaus buildings waited for them just beyond the gate of the Second Ring. On the outside, it looked like any other storeroom but Tharia recognized the symbol Ravid had been so proud about. The inside felt like a different world. Annabelle had disappeared into the armory section while Tharia took care of supplies. A lot of food had gone stale. The potatoes had grown into a thicket and any bread left had formed colonies. There were some stores of smoked meat that had been kept cool. To her nose, they smelled horrible but Annie might be in luck. The sound of steps announced Annabelle¡¯s arrival. The goddess held a selection of armor, clothes, and weaponry. ¡°Clothes first. You¡¯re distracting me¡±, Annie said and smiled. Yeah right, hide my ugly horror, her chaotic mind dashed forward with a rational thought in close proximity ¨C no, Tharia had to tell herself. That was absolutely not what Annabelle meant. Like this, it was a constant back and forth. Annabelle looked amazing ¨C Tharia was proud she was hers and envious she didn¡¯t look as good. She loved Annie and at the same time doubted she could be loved back. ¡°Fairy? You¡¯re different since the breach¡±, Annabelle said and placed down a pair of simple pants and a men¡¯s shirt. Of course, it had to be for men, Tharia¡¯s mind snarked and like before, she immediately reined her thoughts in. This was an order Zeughaus. They were kinda big on male-only participants so of course there were no fancy girl clothes. ¡°Thank you¡±, she said. Suddenly, she felt the numbness inside grow and it took her a moment to realize why. Her patterns had been so well-trained, she didn¡¯t even notice that she dodged the question entirely. ¡°Sorry. You¡¯re right. Back then, I despaired. You know I¡¯m great at repressing emotions¡±, Tharia said and slipped into the shirt. Truth be told, it did kinda look sexy on her, she had to admit with a weird self-satisfied grin. Was this something she had to rein in or was it okay to appreciate oneself? There was no numbness coming, so she took it as a small victory. ¡°It came all out at once. This... broke me. For a moment I became Mother Bone and was ready to kill everything¡±, Tharia put special emphasis on the last word and showed Annie an apologetic smile. The goddess listened and suddenly frowned. ¡°See, that¡¯s why I swallow it all up, now you¡¯re angry!¡± the human girl shouted and then immediately slapped herself. ¡°Gods be cursed. I¡¯m sorry. Of course, you¡¯d be angry. Look, this is all on me. I¡¯m a bad girl, broken, jealous, envious, prideful, lustful and an occasional glutton. For years I¡¯ve acted the nice and kind girl but if I keep doing that...¡± Tharia left the rest of the sentence hanging. It took her considerable effort to slip into her pants. Her legs just plain didn¡¯t move well enough for this. ¡°I¡¯m so bloody petty that I¡¯m now simultaneously pissed because you didn¡¯t help me right now since I obviously struggled ¨C but if you had helped me, I¡¯d be pissed because obviously, I couldn¡¯t do it alone. I don¡¯t blame you if you hate me.¡± That¡¯s the moment Annabelle stepped forward. She placed a finger on Tharia¡¯s lips, sealing her mouth. ¡°You know I don¡¯t hate you¡±, the goddess said and added, ¡°If you¡¯re in a storm, I¡¯ll be your bedrock. Like you say, let¡¯s talk before it becomes a problem.¡± ¡°Before is kinda several years too late¡±, Tharia mused and finally leaned over the weapons Annabelle had dragged in. Most of them were ranged. A few different types of rifles, a pistol, and a crossbow. Tharia ran her fingers along them and finally picked up the crossbow. ¡°I expected you to pick the guns, to be honest¡±, Annie said. ¡°Yeah and then we get the powder wet, lose it, use it to blow up a city section, the usual. I¡¯m a slow girl, but at some point even I have to accept I¡¯m a walking safety hazard¡±, Tharia replied with a smirk and weighed the crossbow in her hands. It was much heavier than anything she had used before. Her fingers traced along the wood and found a second mechanism strapped to the crossbow. ¡°It¡¯s a windup-cocker¡±, Annabelle explained, ¡°It¡¯ll allow uh... less strong people to...ehem¡± It was perfect for weaklings like Tharia. She ran her fingers along the cranks on either side of the cocker. With a sudden grin, she spoke. ¡°Men and their toys, eh?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Cocker¡±, Tharia said with special enunciation of the first four letters. Annabelle stared at her and suddenly groaned as if she were in pain. ¡°Goddamnit Fairy!¡± ¡°That look of yours was worth it¡±, the human woman explained and then reached for the bolts. They were heavy too, obviously made of metal. ¡°These won¡¯t fly as far¡±, Tharia said, ¡°but they don¡¯t bend easily, so we might be able to recover them. Good choice. I¡¯ll take the crossbow and as many bolts as I can realistically carry. Next, a melee weapon.¡± This time, she noticed they were mostly bladed weapons. Knives, daggers, short swords, long swords, a rapier and for some very odd reason a Zweihander that was as large as Tharia herself. ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± ¡°Something long and hefty¡±, Annie replied. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re trying innuendo too?¡± The way Annabelle blushed, made it obvious she hadn¡¯t quite thought that way. Tharia smirked and then reached for a short sword. It was simple but sturdy. Once things got close, it was too late for the crippled girl anyway. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±, Tharia finally said, ¡°I¡¯ve always been a terrible tease. When I look at people, my mind sees tiny weaknesses and can¡¯t help but strike at them. It¡¯s something else I¡¯ve hidden away. Your weakness, Annie, is that you¡¯re terribly shy and a bit prude. Especially for a goddess of lust.¡± Once Tharia was done with the short-sword, she finally grabbed the first set of armor Annabelle had brought. On this, she trusted the other girl. ¡°Let¡¯s get me dressed and then we¡¯re back on the road, that alright with you? Or would you like to get those dirty thoughts out of your mind first?¡± Tharia asked with an innocent expression. ¡°You¡¯re bloody intense this way¡±, the goddess replied and turned around. She didn¡¯t seem hurt to Tharia, just overwhelmed. Yet when the young woman slipped into the light leather armor, she realized something else. The contradictions in her mind had stopped once she had started interacting with her better half. She moved up and softly patted the other woman on the back. ¡°Let¡¯s get going. There¡¯s something I want to do in the observatory. We kill the beast and then, we spend a night watching the stars¡±, Tharia said and then grunted, ¡°Alright, we might need to punch the false star so we can see them but let¡¯s try anyway, shall we?¡± Without waiting for her reply, she walked towards the Zeughaus door and stepped outside. First! Gods, she really was a petty creature. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the goddess exit after her, carrying a crossbow, bolts, packs of supply and sporting a particularly grumpy look on her face. ¡°Right, sorry about that¡±, Tharia said and quickly snatched up her new stuff. She then took a look at their new surroundings. ¡°These buildings look old. Like, ancient old. What¡¯s that technique even called where you pile up different stones and then plaster them together?¡± Tharia said and ran towards one of the large buildings. The windows looked decidedly modern but the walls were at least a few hundred years old. ¡°Building, fairy. That¡¯s what it¡¯s called¡± ¡°Uh, you can snark too. No, I meant this particular style where you leave the gaps visible so that the walls look like cobblestone. Obviously, the roofs aren¡¯t original but the walls just might be¡±, Tharia said and knocked a finger against it. To her confusion, it sounded hollow. ¡°Oi, it¡¯s all fake!¡± ¡°Get away from that house¡±, Annabelle suddenly snapped. Tharia reacted by instinct, jumped away while glaring at the building ¨C but nothing happened. ¡°Uhm, Annie?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that I remembered an old story¡±, the goddess said with her lower lip sucked into her mouth. ¡°That story? Don¡¯t tell me you believed the fairytale about King Raselbart and the living house? You did? No, come on, surely you jest? How could a house just get up and walk away? Why this particular house? Oh right, because of the hollow wall thing¡±, Tharia said while the two girls walked down the road towards the observatory in the distance. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Annie, it¡¯s just fake walls to look different. No buried brother inside. It¡¯s like makeup, but for houses. Oh gods, did that house just move? I¡¯m kidding, it didn¡¯t. Did it? Ouch, stop hitting me!¡± End: Inside the Breach | Coming up: Per Aspera Ad Astra 41 - Per Aspera Ad Astra

Grandmeister Karum Road

Within the Second Ring

Annabelle felt drained. Her feet hurt from trudging through the snow and her lips chaffed from the cold wind. She had also suffered through the short-lived idea to get used to her armor by wearing it constantly ¨C it lasted all off five minutes. Metal in direct contact with skin had been a remarkably stupid idea in the apocalyptic frost. Her fingers hurt immensely from the cold. In short, she was miserable. At her side was Tharia and the girl hadn¡¯t shut up in hours either and as much as she loved her, sometimes enough was enough. Pass a dress shop ¨C learn all about cuts and sizes. Walk by a cartographer guild, learn more about the world than during a lifetime of flying above it in a god palace. While her lover was off in her own world of monologues, Annabelle felt herself drift into darker places. While Tharia dealt with her emotional mess in her own way, there was dark abyss deep inside of the goddess. Lately, the Dreamreaper torture had come back with a vengeance. She opened and closed her fingers, in her mind, blood dripped from them. ¡°I will never hurt you¡±, Annabelle said out loud and Tharia paused her monologue for once. The smaller girl snuggled up from the side and smiled towards her. ¡°Can¡¯t promise the same, but I¡¯ll try¡±, Tharia replied. As they walked up to an inclined road, she kept looking at her hands. They were clean again but her mind still saw the images of Tharia dying in hundreds of variations. Tharia suddenly jumped and let out a loud squeal. She pointed at a nearby wall. By instinct, Annabelle had brought out her scythe and dashed in for an attack, only to realize that the girl had painted at a poster. ¡°A Track-Carriage!¡± the girl said as if that was an explanation, ¡°This changes everything. Says here they completed the iron road.¡± The thing Tharia pointed at looked like a stylized painting for a strange metal monster. It looked like a black worm with an iron carapace, bound to a road made of iron. In the front, a barrel spewed forth white hot breath from a cylindrical muzzle on top while the thing bared the teeth up front. Most curious of all were the depictions of happy people seemingly half stuck in this nightmare machine. Annabelle wasn¡¯t a fan. ¡°How is this thing going to help us?¡± Annabelle inquired. ¡°You¡¯ll see. It¡¯s not far from here¡± Without waiting for a reaction, Tharia ran towards Annabelle and grabbed her hands. Sudden warmth spread into the bones of the goddess and she let out a contempt sigh before frowning. This wasn¡¯t just normal warmth but healing magic woven into it. She looked down and saw blue light seep into her aching hands. ¡°The spark isn¡¯t a fireplace¡±, Annabelle said with a flat tone. ¡°No, but warmth heals the cold. This cold? It kills¡±, Tharia said with a sudden sternness. The goddess tried to pull her hands away but her fairy held on tight. ¡°Hush. I¡¯m working¡±, the small woman snapped and brushed her delicate fingers along hers until the frostbite receded. Annabelle had to admit, her fingers hadn¡¯t just been cold but hurt as well. As the warmth removed the discomfort, she looked up at Tharia and saw her with a concentrated look on her face. Black choke marks suddenly appeared on the neck ¨C but only for a second before they were gone again. The goddess quickly pulled her hands back. ¡°You¡¯re awfully touch shy today, Annie¡± ¡°Just focussing on the task ahead. Let¡¯s find your track thing¡± She didn¡¯t mean to brush Tharia off. Her mind had deduced the root cause of the problem. These things the Dreamreaper had made her do ¨C and that she had done willingly in the end, she had never confronted them. Tharia needed to be part of the solution but Annabelle lacked the words to communicate this well. This wasn¡¯t the time, Annabelle decided and put it off to later. She would bear the flashbacks for now. She had to.

Avenue of Greater Halls

Second Ring

Tharia was giddy with anticipation. The Greater Halls of Knowledge and the Track-Carriage! She had a spring to her step as she followed Annabelle up the road. It soon spread into a wide avenue with a central strip of now dead greenery. The broad streets on either side were large enough to deal with three carriages at once while the middle-strip featured large pagodas in shrill colors, crowned by large trees to either side. She accelerated her step and almost immediately was swamped with hundreds of life flames in the buildings to either side of the avenue. ¡°We¡¯ve got company. The buildings are swarming with things. Maybe humans, maybe monsters¡±, Tharia said and closed in on Annabelle again. Her eyes caught the glimpse of motion in one of the larger windows. She saw Scientis ¨C students ¨C walk through the halls, dressed in the gowns of their profession. This wouldn¡¯t be a problem if they hadn¡¯t walked on the walls and dragged past them the carcass of an unknown monster. ¡°Decision time¡±, Tharia said, ¡°The Track-Carriage will get us to the observatory in two maybe three very comfortable hours of calm. That sure beats days in the blistering cold. However, we¡¯ll need to cross these monster-infested halls. Plus, it might not even be there anymore or work at all. Either way, we can use the iron roads.¡± ¡°The alternative?¡± Annabelle asked. ¡°Saint Ilina¡¯s ward. An entire section of the city dedicated to healing. Good place, great people, really. Yet all the sick and injured will have been brought there when this all started. Lots of people mean...¡± ¡°Lots of monsters¡±, Annabelle finished the sentence. ¡°Precisely. It also means sickness and disease¡±, Tharia added, ¡°Truth be told, we should skip the ward. Monsters we can deal with but if some disease decides to go Godbeast on us, we¡¯re dead.¡± Tharia waited quietly. She couldn¡¯t fend off the feeling of being watched. The flames of those creatures inside the halls of knowledge moved in steady patterns as if drawn by invisible chains. None ever took a moment to stop and look at the two girls outside. ¡°Let¡¯s not get sick¡±, Annabelle finally answered. That was the answer she wanted to hear and not just because the idea of riding the Track-Carriage excited her. She rubbed her hands and then spun around to examine the nearby buildings. Her eyes finally locked with a particularly large one a bit off. The letters Greater Hall of Letterievalism weren¡¯t just put on a banner but engraved into the very stone itself. ¡°We¡¯ll find the iron road there. We should prepare some torches too, the first part of the iron road will be a tunnel before it goes back up¡±, Tharia added.

Greater Hall of Letterievalism

Second Ring

What a proper mess this place was. There wasn¡¯t a single soul nearby aside from her and Annie. Up close, the legendary building looked like ruins barely held together by spite. The large double-winged door had been broken with an actual battering ram. Tharia had to hold in her last meal when they walked past a half-decayed human corpse nailed to the wall with a dozen arrows. The entry hall was a battlefield. Not a single piece of furniture was still standing. The wooden stairs leading up had been burned down. Unarmed men and women were strewn about in broken poses that looked like they had fled from something. Most of them had long cuts on their back. No matter where Tharia looked, there were dead humans.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like monsters¡±, Tharia said. ¡°Not that type of monster¡±, Annabelle added. It felt eerie to walk past long dead people. Some of them had been killed while eating, others while reading. Several humans had been hammered to the table with iron rods. This had been an act of unleashed humanity showing its ugly side with glee. Tharia suddenly perked up. At the very edge of her perception, she suddenly noticed a handful of life-flames. She waved towards Annabelle to stop for a moment. Whatever it was, it was just at the edge of her extrasensory perception. ¡°We¡¯ve got company¡±, Tharia said, ¡°Let¡¯s keep going. The Track-Carriage will be near the auditorium, most likely.¡± The human girl unslung the crossbow from her shoulder as they paced the long hallways of the former Halls of Learning. At the best of times, this would have been an impressive sight. The long hallways were decorated with images of the press, that one invention which gave the Dalman Theocracy its power but also brought it to its knees. Now all that remained were corpse filled halls in the dark. ¡°They¡¯re keeping their distance. Small group, might be humans¡±, Tharia tried to relay what her senses picked up. All she had to go on was the movement of tiny flames in her perception. By the time they passed the third hallway, Tharia had become numb to the scenery around her. It no longer disturbed her to walk on bones. The suffering became background noise when the hallway opened up into a large dome structure. Snow had drifted in from two large holes on either side of the auditorium. There were circular rows of seats that pointed toward a central podium. One side of the dome was curiously snow free. A large brass tank creaked under the pressure. Intense heat radiated away from it and melted the snow. ¡°Is that your machine?¡± Annabelle asked and pointed towards one of the two holes in the dome. It had frozen over with a thick layer of ice. The Track-Carriage was stuck inside of it. ¡°Says here it¡¯s a train¡±, the goddess added and pointed towards a brochure on one of the benches. Tharia bit her lip and shrugged her shoulders. A train it was then. She quickly made her way to the machine, while Annabelle followed with a lot more skepticism and reluctance visible in her gestures. The human girl placed her hands on the large boiler. To her surprise, it felt slightly warm. Tharia ran her hands along the metal. There was no doubt about it. This machine was still alive. Barely, but the train breathed and groaned as she touched it. The large section up front looked like one of the warm-water boilers her family had in their houses, except much larger and painted black. Large and strange appendages jutted out from it and when she held her hands close to these, they were glowing hot. Soon, Tharia had moved to the frozen in section. The machine was cold here as well but it stood to reason that if they could rejuvenate the train, it would move again. She rubbed her hands in anticipation. ¡°Fairy? I found this¡±, Annabelle shouted and lifted up a strange collection of metal rings that held a leathery tube and ended in metal teeth. ¡°Great, bring it here¡±, she answered and looked back the machine. Her knowledge of it was limited, mostly related to stories she had picked up as a child. The principle was simple enough. Build up the pressure, use the pressure to move a machine. It stood to reason that there were various ways to go about it. ¡°One way would be to put it under pressure in special stations¡±, she said and looked at the strange tube Annabelle had brought over and then towards the large brass tank. ¡°That would do the trick. Annie, this is amazing, we¡¯re going to drive a Track-Carriage¡± ¡°Train¡± ¡°Whatever. Let us...¡±, Tharia began but changed her tone instantly a moment later, ¡°Company. They¡¯re here.¡± For a moment she considered the option that they might be humans. After Shal-Rin, her brother, Mayleen and so many in her life, all this realization did was to speed her up. She put down the crossbow and then placed a bolt into it. Using the crank of the oddly named windup-cocker, even she could get it ready in no time. She used one of the benches for stability and then took aim for the central door. No matter what walked through it, she would put a bolt through its head. The grim expression on her face turned into one of hatred as her emotional turmoil swamped her with all the abuse she had been subjected to in her life. She noticed Annabelle walking up the side of the dome. The golden light had escaped her attention but the armor she wore made it obvious that her love too was ready for combat. ¡°We mean no harm¡±, shouted a voice from outside. ¡°Neither do we¡±, came Annabelle¡¯s answer. The goddess stood right next to the large door. With her scythe, she pushed the door shut, while Tharia covered her with the crossbow. The flames approached the large door. They were five in total, one of which flickered as if it were sick or weak. ¡°We just want some food¡±, the same voice added. ¡°Nothing to share¡±, was Annie¡¯s reply. Tharia gave a grim nod. No food here for anyone but themselves. Her senses picked up a slight change in the flames. The four in front suddenly started glowing just a hint brighter. At a guess, they were getting excited about something. ¡°Then let¡¯s just talk. Barely any humans left, are there?¡± the stranger kept going, ¡°We¡¯ll just open the door and come in.¡± The flames were absolutely bursting with energy now but nothing happened yet. Tharia suddenly noticed the fifth flame circle around outside and growled. She gestured her hands in Annabelle¡¯s direction and pointed towards it. Annie nodded and refocussed on the door. ¡°Go away. Now¡±, Annabelle insisted. The goddess held the weapon to the side, ready to strike it directly at anyone entering the auditorium. ¡°Woman, we¡¯re not going away¡±, the man outside shouted, ¡°Give us food, if you don¡¯t have any, no problem. We¡¯ll just eat you instead. So, open up, give us your supplies and we¡¯ll be on your way. What can two women do against all twenty of us?¡± Tharia answered Annabelle¡¯s look with a shake of her head. She didn¡¯t feel any more of them. Yet the smaller flame outside had started to move up. It would soon reach one of the windows up top. Tharia turned along with the crossbow and then used the flame to pre-aim where her target would show up. ¡°Last warning!¡± the man outside shouted. Then everything happened at once. The shape of a young woman in wide clothes appeared behind the window. Tharia saw her lift the butt of a rifle to smack the window. ¡°Fucking monsters. All of them¡±, the human girl snarled. She crooked one of her fingers. The crossbow bucked and hurled its projectile through the window. It got stuck on their attacker and easily lifted the body a couple of meters into the air. The scream echoed all the way until it ended in a gutwrenching sound of broken bone and flesh. At the same time, the main-door crashed open. Annabelle leaped into motion. Her Scythe cut a horizontal swathe but got stuck on a table that had been used as a shield. The impact got her off balance and their attackers used the moment to strike. A rusty sword was pushed past the table and aimed directly at Annie¡¯s chest. The goddess twisted to the side and the weapon just scratched over the armor instead. In the meantime, Tharia had loaded up the crossbow again. She heaved it onto the bench again. By instinct, she aimed for the flames behind the table. One of them was particularly close to it. Tharia decided to risk it. Once more, the force stored in her crossbow threw the bolt towards the table. With a loud thud, it pierced through. A gargling scream confirmed her hit. The flame started flickering but didn¡¯t go out. A slow and painful death then, she assumed and shrugged her shoulders. Up above, Annabelle had regained her balance. She used the superior reach of her weapon to bat away the next attack from the sword, whirled the weapon around in one swift motion and hammered the blunt end through the gap. Some man grunted but this obviously wasn¡¯t enough to kill. That was the job of the War-Fan Annabelle summoned that moment. While it still formed, the goddess rotated her hand and then let go. Like a lance of golden light, it dove straight through the table and whisked out two lights at once. ¡°Where are your twenty men?¡± Tharia shouted. Her voice tinged with seething anger. How dare they attack them. Pieces of flesh. There was no reply. The flame of the one nailed to the table still hadn¡¯t gone out but the last one had turned tail and was running away. Tharia grunted. ¡°Not today¡± She got up and ran towards the table. With another bolt nocked on the crossbow, she pushed Annabelle aside and then stuck her weapon into the hole made by the War-Fan earlier. She took aim for the flickering flame and let loose her bolt. There was the familiar punch from the weapon. A woman screamed her last down the hallway and that was that. ¡°Four dead, one slightly alive¡±, Tharia said and nodded towards the table that had turned out to be a deathtrap instead. She moved towards the bolt still stuck in the wood. ¡°I know you can hear me¡±, she said, ¡°Who are you really?¡± ¡°Fuck you¡±, a weak voice croaked. Tharia shrugged her shoulder and then tugged on the bolt until the flame went out and the screams stopped. Annabelle stared at her with a pale face. ¡°What? We¡¯ve killed monsters before¡±, the human girl said. ¡°But they were...¡± ¡°Cannibals, brigands, thieves and murderers¡±, Tharia finished the sentence, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? I know for a fact you¡¯ve killed humans in cold blood too.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you do it¡±, the goddess said, ¡°you¡¯re kinda scary sometimes.¡± Tharia gave her an odd look. What was Annabelle on about? It wasn¡¯t until she noticed that her emotional chaos had made room for a cold and uncaring numbness, that she realized she had inched closer to the merry end of all things. She exhaled and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re right. This was wrong. You know what¡¯s most confusing about all of this? It felt good. I enjoyed doing this¡±, Tharia said and put down her crossbow. She turned around and looked at the train. At least they¡¯d be out of here in no time. That so-called period of no time at all turned out to be a couple of hours. Tharia stood inside the main-cabin of the train and stared at a scale that slowly inched forward. It was marked with colors and made in a way that even a numbskull like her could grasp it without problems. Those colors told her it would be a way still until the boiler had enough pressure. She leaned out and looked towards Annabelle. The goddess was busy cutting out bits and pieces of ice while the sheer heat of the train melted the rest. The human girl leaned back in the comfy chair again and resumed her stare. ¡°How am I ever going to get my chaos under control¡±, she whispered and put a hand against her chest, ¡°Looking back is easy but at the moment... I just lose it. It¡¯s not fair¡± ¡°What would you do, Tharia?¡± the human girl asked herself with a chuckle, ¡°We would have ended it like we end all things.¡± The scale kept climbing until the boiler started groaning. It wouldn¡¯t be long now. Already, the train was hissing and bucking with the power stowed in its large metal body. ¡°All things will have ended. It¡¯s a solace in itself¡±, she added with a smirk. ¡°It¡¯s bullshit is what it is¡±, Annabelle said from right next to her. Tharia shrieked by instinct - she hadn¡¯t noticed her coming. ¡°Don¡¯t show me that self-indulgent grin¡±, Tharia said with a pout, ¡°You just surprised me.¡± ¡°Yes, while you were talking idiocy¡±, Annabelle said and rubbed sweat off her face, ¡°How far along are we?¡± ¡°Just about ready¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go now. There¡¯s a nasty storm coming on the horizon¡±, Annabelle added. Tharia leaned out the window and looked to the back of the train. It was true. The sky had turned pitch black. Lightning cracked in the distance at the pace of a heartbeat. Trouble was brewing. ¡°Good thing we¡¯re on our way to the stars then¡±, Tharia said with a faint smile. End: Per Aspera Ad Astra | Coming up: On the iron road 42 - On the iron road

On the iron road

Second Ring

With her hand on the lever, Tharia felt hesitation. Given her track record, everything that could explode tended to do so when she was near. The goddess next to her had folded her arms and put on the usual stone-face expression. The human girl made one last check of the controls. They really had been made for numbskulls like her. All she had to do was to regulate the pressure flow, uncouple the brakes, keep the temperature steady, maintain a proper speed, manage steam influx, keep about a dozen scales in mind and deal with more levers, valves, and mechanisms that she had ever heard about. ¡°There¡¯s a slight chance this might explode¡±, Tharia said. Her mouth had twisted into a slight frown. Maybe it was stupid to do this after all. While her mind was hesitant, her hand suddenly jammed the lever forward. ¡°Explode?!¡± Annie called out. ¡°Maybe?¡± No turning back now. With the lever in full, the scale suddenly jumped up all the way from the white part into the red. The boiler started hissing like an angry beast about to attack. Intense heat radiated into the cabin. Something was missing. Pressure control! With a yelp, Tharia reached for a valve off to the side. It had been marked as important, after all. Two turns and the train suddenly bucked in place. ¡°Fairy...¡± Tharia bit her lip and pulled the lever back until it throttled back down into the white part of the scale. With that, she further opened the valve and this time, the train jerked into motion. Slow at first, it quickly gained speed. The main engine dragged them into the auditorium. She saw the room fly by outside and the machine still kept accelerating. Annabelle held onto a small metal bar, her hands white from clutching at it with all her strength. ¡°Early models had the idea to drive on literal explosions¡±, Tharia mused about something she had read in a book. Annabelle paled. Slowly, Tharia inched the lever forward and watched the needle approach the green part of the scale. With each second, the train seemed to move smoother. More gentle. That is until it smashed straight into the ice wall on the other side of the auditorium. Chunks of ice flew past them on both sides of the train. ¡°Humans are insane¡±, Annabelle declared then and there. ¡°Well I love it and I¡¯m fresh out of humanity¡±, Tharia said and grinned. Centrifugal forces tugged on her stomach as the train leaned into the various turns of the iron road. It bucked once more and then everything went dark around them. The darkness lasted for an entire minute during which the sound of the engine and Annabelle¡¯s quiet cursing were the only sounds to be heard. A sudden plume of snow marked the end of the tunnel. The large machine trailed a minor snowstorm. Tharia pressed her nose against the window. Shapes and blurs were all that remained of the houses near the iron road. With a steady pace, the train raced along the tracks and soon followed it above the rooftops onto a high-road of iron. The observatory stood proudly in the distance. It consisted of three metal domes on a movable platform. Gears and mechanisms almost as large as the observatory encapsulated the hill the building stood on. Looking back, she saw the storm Annabelle had talked about. To Tharia it looked like a burial veil had been draped over the capital. Thick clouds reached all the way down to the ground. ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll kill the golden fields for us, eh?¡± Tharia said. With no reply, she turned around and saw Annabelle fast asleep in a corner of the train. The human girl smiled for a bit and then went back to watching the capital race by. With the steady rhythm of the train, she had to fight the urge to sleep as well. Tharia suddenly jerked up. So much for that. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes when she took a look out the window. If she had seen the largest of monsters, it wouldn¡¯t have shocked her as much as the darkness around them. Barely any light reached into the train. She hurried to the window, careful to not stumble over the sleeping Annabelle and pressed her nose against it. There was about a meter of sight and it was filled with hail, snow, and rain all at once. It hammered against the metal shell of the train while gusts of wind threw themselves against their vehicle. All of a sudden she was very glad that they weren¡¯t out in that nightmare. As if on cue, the train groaned and Tharia got the feeling they were losing speed. ¡°Oh, come on, I didn¡¯t even speak it out loud!¡± she grumbled and ran towards the instruments and levers. Her eyes could barely make them out in the twilight of the weather. Tharia didn¡¯t need eyes for this, the heat radiating out from the boiler had dropped significantly. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± came Annie¡¯s sleepy voice, ¡°We¡¯re going to explode, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me this shit... sorry. The engine is choking on the weather¡±, Tharia grumbled and hammered her hand against the metal in abject frustration. With a stutter, the engine hissed a swansong. It lasted but a few seconds, before it all gave out. When the train stopped, Tharia locked the brakes and then fell down on the ground. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re going to need your brains on deck for this¡±, she said to Annabelle with a smirk the girl probably couldn¡¯t even see in the dark, ¡°Now that the engine is out, this will freeze out quickly. We need a decision. One of them is to hold out as long as we can. The weather might pass us by¡± Tharia shuffled over towards the silent Annabelle and nudged against her before she continued laying down the options. ¡°With our luck, we¡¯re looking at weeks of this weather soup. Alternatively, we go out there and continue on foot. We¡¯ll be freezing in no time. I can heal most of the damage but it would be a slow drain, plus you would have to carry me¡±, Tharia continued and sighed. ¡°We could hide in my domain¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°That¡¯s another option. Aye. How long can you keep it active?¡± ¡°I... don¡¯t know¡±, came Annie¡¯s answer. ¡°So for all intents and purposes, we have to assume it¡¯s the same as holding out here¡±, Tharia rubbed her nose, ¡°With Sisi here, we¡¯d just stuff her into the boiler and watch her go. I kinda miss the little cranky thing¡± Already, the cabin started to become cold. Tharia closed her eyes and let her mind wander. There were tiny flames in the storm. Creatures that zipped around in this weather were decidedly on her list of things to avoid. If only she still had that cloak. Tharia had no idea when or where she had lost it. Last she remembered, it had happened just after she went over the edge and she hadn¡¯t been in her best mind then. It most likely was still in that Zeughaus. ¡°We go out¡±, Annabelle suddenly said and stood up. The human girl found herself pulled onto her legs as well. ¡°We¡¯ll freeze out there¡±, she pointed out. ¡°Inside as well. I¡¯ll die running, not sleeping¡±, Annabelle said with a grunt. That was a thought the human girl could get behind. She nodded and then gave a confirmative sound. It didn¡¯t take long to collect their things. For the last time, Tharia placed her hands against the metal up front in an attempt to soak up a bit of warmth. ¡°First part of the trek, I¡¯ll try walking on my own. But when either of us needs healing, the best I can do is an awkward stand, so past that, I¡¯ll have to burden you¡±, Tharia declared. Her hands touched the metal door leading outside. She took one last breath and then tried to open it. A moment later, she leaned her entire weight into it but the sheer force of the wind pressed it shut. Only when Annabelle too kept pushing against it, did it open a hint. Painful frost reached through her clothes. They both pressed their weight against the door until the wind suddenly took care of the rest. It tore it from their hands and smashed it into the metal. Outside, a cacophony of noise assaulted her senses. The hail caused an endless drumming sound while distant thundercracks rumbled without end. Tharia suddenly smacked her head. ¡°We need to move fast¡±, she shouted over the infernal sound, ¡°When lightning comes, the elevated lightning bridge will mate with the storm ¨C and us in-between¡± When the girl stepped out of the train, the sheer brunt of the weather hammered down on her lithe body. The hail felt like punches, the rain got through everything and the snow seemed to freeze on contact. She used the orientation of the train to pick a direction and then leaned her body weight into the storm. Annabelle followed close by. It took all her strength just to move a few meters. Each gust of wind threatened to throw her off the tracks. There were times when Annabelle had to hold her to prevent her from falling. Her senses started to numb.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Dear fate, I¡¯m happily tempting you now. It would be an absolute nightmare to have a warm summer day right about now. That would be the worst!¡± Tharia whispered into the chaotic weather. She noticed one of the flames dance around in the wind near them. By her estimate, it was about three or four meters out but she couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°Company. Something is moving out there¡±, she screamed into the weather. Annabelle nodded in reply. That¡¯s why it was particularly odd to hear the voice of Annie come out of the storm. ¡°Save me, help me¡±, it screamed, ¡°they¡¯re killing me. Fairy, help me!¡± She whirled around and stared at Annabelle. The goddess shook her head and golden light manifested into a Scythe. Tharia squinted her eyes but there was no way they could see in the storm. The young woman moved right next to Annabelle and then lowered her voice somewhat. ¡°It¡¯s those cloth-like things. I¡¯m sure of it. Let me be your eyes¡±, Tharia said and Annabelle nodded. She gave her love enough space to assume a combat stance and then searched the sky for more of the tiny flames. Sure, she could knock them out with a lucky shot from her crossbow. No way one would reach its target in this chaos. One of the flames darted for a spot just ahead. Tharia nodded forward and together, they approached it. The thing creature had hidden by wrapping around part of the iron road. It really was one of those things from the False-Star. At the best of times, this was a stupid idea for a predator. No one would mistake iron tracks for a person. At the current time, it was even worse an idea. The wind pulled the creature from the iron road. That¡¯s when Tharia got a sudden and extraordinarily stupid idea. She gave Annabelle a sign to wait and then unsheathed her short-sword. ¡°Are you alright?¡± she mock-acted into the storm. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here¡±, the cloth-like answered, ¡°Help me, quick.¡± This was a game of hunting the hunter. Tharia walked close while giving her best impression to appear gullible and harmless. The cloth-like wrapped around the ground trying to do the same. Once Tharia was close, she instantly stuck her knife through where she assumed the eye to be. Her first stab missed, the creature suddenly unfurled and she stared directly at a singular eye with a mouth nearby. Her second stab went straight through it. She waited until the flame went out and then picked up the creature. In the meantime, several more of the creatures had placed traps before and behind them. Several voices started to call out to both Tharia and Annabelle. Painful cries for help, begging for mercy with heart-wrenching intensity. How she hated those things. Tharia picked up the dead one and rolled it up, then stowed it in her bag. ¡°What the...¡±, Annabelle began but shut up when Tharia placed a finger against her lips. The goddess narrowed her eyebrows and then finally nodded. She probably didn¡¯t understand her plant but she couldn¡¯t very well speak it out in front of their prey. Tharia held up both hands and then held up nine fingers. That was her best estimate for what they would need. The best part about being drenched in monster-blood was the warmth it momentarily gave. The worst part was everything else. Tharia looked like the stuff of nightmares, even though the weather managed to wash most of it off instantly. Over her back, she carried a total of fifteen cloth-like corpses. It hadn¡¯t even been a battle. Annabelle stared holes into her back as Tharia headed back to the train. ¡°Keep any more of them away from me. Let me work, I¡¯m getting us out of here¡±, Tharia exclaimed. She moved next to the frozen train and then placed down the dead monster-bodies. Her fingers were too frozen to move but a bit of healing magic took care of that. With swift motions, she tied the creature around the plow of the train and then knotted it to the next one. ¡°What in the blazes are you doing¡±, came Annabelle¡¯s question but Tharia dismissed her with a wave of her hand. Not now. Soon, she had knotted ten of the creatures into a white blanket of dead bodies. She spent a moment contemplating the life-choices that led her to this moment, knee deep in monster-guts, knotting together corpses. ¡°Good times¡±, Tharia snarked. She looked up at the boiler. This would be the hard part. There wasn¡¯t really any spot she could tie it to. Unless... Tharia slung the crossbow from her back and then gestured towards Annabelle. ¡°Lift me up the train¡±, she commanded. The goddess shook her head but helped her up regardless. Up above, she was once more fully exposed to the force of the weather. Only by pressing herself flat on the long engine, could she inch forward. One hand dragged the blanket of corpses, the other aimed the crossbow at the still slightly warm boiler. With a loud thunk, the bolt burrowed itself into the metal. ¡°Almost, get ready¡±, she screamed towards Annabelle. Her fingers knotted the last end of the monster-corpse blanket to the bolt. She then locked it down with two more bolts. It wouldn¡¯t be forever but it was good enough. With one look back, she saw the white blanket draped over the front of the train. Good enough. Satisfied with her deranged plan, she slid off the boiler and plunged into the snow below. It broke her fall but she felt the pain anyway. The goddess had closed up. Tharia heard a single word whispered into her ear: Insane. She wasn¡¯t in a position to argue. Annabelle lifted Tharia off the ground and pushed her into the train cabin. In the same motion, she used the Scythe to lift up the blanket just enough for the wind to dig under it. As if hit by the fist of a titan, the train jerked. Metal groaned around them. Tharia shuffled onto her feet and dashed for the brake. The moment she unclasped it, the train lurched forward. Half-frozen, Tharia leaned against the wall and caught her breath as the vehicle accelerated again. ¡°I present to you, the first track-carriage-sailing-ship¡±, she said with a cough. All of Tharia¡¯s plans ended like this. It started with a whimper. The train rocked in the tracks as the winds finally caught full purchase of the makeshift sail. It raced with a speed the vehicle wasn¡¯t made for. Each curve saw the vehicle lean further into it. During one of those curves, Tharia saw a large shadow up ahead. It looked like a monster had made the iron tracks their home. And with that, the whimper soon became a trail of destruction. The train cleaved the beast in two. Bits and pieces of dead monster rained past on either side. The vehicle turned into a projectile as it was further accelerated by the downward slope. Loud screeching from the large wheels and then unsteady rumbling made clear that something had gotten stuck. The train shifted to the side and then the moment of truth was there. The place all her plans went to die. Total, irresponsible disaster. Tharia felt a moment of clarity as the train lost contact with the ground. That brief respite allowed her to realize they had just passed the iron road to the right while their train crashed straight ahead. Strong hands picked Tharia up before she could protest. Annabelle dashed for the open door and jumped, moments before the train impacted the ground. The human girl got a front-row seat to the destruction the train caused. It bore straight through a four-story building, crashed into a street, buried carriages underneath it and then kept going for several hundred meters more. Fate gave Tharia just enough time to burn it into her mind before the dreadful impact announced itself with the creaking of bones, a plume of snow and blanking out. She was alive. Somehow. Tharia coughed out a vile-tasting liquid from her mouth. There was something stuck in her throat, she reached for it and pulled out a bent metal tube. A cold shiver ran down her spine when her fingers touched the soft feather-blanket over her entire body. In a hurry, she pulled it away. A small white room awaited her. Flowers had been placed on a desk next to her bed. Images of prancing ponies decorated the walls. Frail, she turned towards the edge of the bed and lowered her legs. She pushed herself off and smacked into the ground. ¡°How many years and I still keep doing this¡±, she grumbled. Instinctively, she reached for the familiar spark and found nothing. No matter what she did, her legs wouldn¡¯t move either. With gritted teeth, she then dragged herself along the floor. A place this clean, she hadn¡¯t seen since this mess started. She pushed the door open and found herself in a long corridor. Her heart skipped a beat. Not because she saw actual humans in the distance, but because of a few letters on the wall. Saint Ilinas ward. She rolled onto her back and started laughing hysterically. Now ain¡¯t that funny. It wasn¡¯t, she still laughed. Look, the ponies on the walls are looking concerned. They come to dance. It took Tharia a moment to realize what was going on. The complete lack of pain and a strange floating sensation. ¡°Oh dear, that won¡¯t do¡±, she heard a voice nearby. It belonged to a man in a white coat. He knelt down and picked her up. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be moving yet. Don¡¯t worry, everything will be fine. We¡¯ve cleaned the corruption out of you, while you were out¡±, he said with a large smile. In Tharia¡¯s mind, the smile kept going all the way around the head and went dancing with the ponies. Whatever they had given her, it was strong. ¡°Annabelle¡±, she tried to speak. ¡°Your friend is still being cured. We realized that what was causing humans to monsterize was an infection caused by exposure to divinity. Her corruption had progressed much further than yours. It¡¯s remarkable to find two young women still alive out there ¨C only to nearly lose them to that blight.¡± Tharia pushed her hands against the man. ¡°Bring me to her¡±, she slurred with a heavy tongue. ¡°Give it another day, woman. Then she will need your help. People, as corrupted as her, will have trouble adjusting to being normal people again¡± Anger fired up the rage in her heart. They were harming Annabelle. Gritting her teeth, she once more placed her hands against the chest of the man and pushed with all her might. He simply put her down into the bed. Despite being high on sedatives, she pieced together some things. Their talk of corruption most likely referred to the divine spark. It was gone from her body and they said it had struck Annabelle much worse. Naturally - she was a goddess. Tharia once again pushed up. ¡°Man. Listen to me¡±, she said with clenched teeth, fighting through the sedatives, ¡°The last time someone drained all essence from Annie, she murdered the entire Pantheon.¡± The man tilted his head to the side and gestured for her to continue. ¡°She is Annabelle. Godqueen. The last of the old divine¡±, she forced out. It was difficult to speak when the flowers told the best jokes about melting walls. ¡°You¡¯re just delirious¡±, the man said, ¡°The gods are gone.¡± Tharia groaned. This wasn¡¯t going anywhere. She closed her eyes and listened in on the tiny flames around her. ¡°Four people in the room next over¡±, she said with a flat tone and pointed to the wall, ¡°One of them sick, nearly dead. Two more next to that person. The fourth is sick as well... correction, the fourth just died¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± the man asked. Tharia opened her eyes again and stared into his eyes. The drugs gave her that extra deranged look. Loud shouts suddenly echoed from the next room over. She noticed that the man in front of her started to panic. It was visible in the way he slightly opened his eyes and by how the flame inside of him grew in intensity. ¡°I¡¯m Mother Bone, the end of all things¡±, she said and stretched her arms. The man suddenly stumbled back when an earthen coat laced with bones appeared on her shoulders. It kinda surprised herself when it did. She quietly hoped she at least kept her clothes on this time. ¡°We appreciate what you have done for these people¡±, she said. ¡°We will have taken back what is ours¡±, she added and stretched out a hand. ¡°This was solved amicably by leading me to my Annabelle¡±, she finalized her sentences and touched one of her fingers against his chin. The flame sputtered and he clutched his chest. One look into his eyes and Tharia quickly pulled her hand back. He looked at her as if he was gazing at death itself. Had she done that, or was it a result of his nervousness? Quietly, the man pulled a wheelchair from a nearby closet. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±, she whispered and burst out laughing. That joke about the fox and the cow had been amazing. Out of all the jokesters around, the blanket had just won the competition. Now that she calmed down again and her Mother Bone part was shushed out, she realized just how drugged she really was. End: On the iron road | Coming up: Plans and Monsters 43 - Plans and Monsters

Saint Ilina''s Ward

Second Ring

She had gone out again, hadn¡¯t she? Tharia woke to the feeling of dull ache all over. The groaning girl pushed the blanket aside and stared at the cartoonish pony on the wall. Back again. Two guards were in the room with her. One had fallen asleep on a chair and the other was yawning so hard, that Tharia was willing to take bets when his jaw would pop. ¡°Fuck me¡±, she groaned and shuffled to the front of the bed. There was pain in places she hadn¡¯t even known could ache. Her arms felt like she had rowed a boat for hours, the stomach was sure a carriage had hit it dead on and her feet hurt like they had been frozen off. The girl paused and wriggled her toes. Motion. The divine essence was back and busy healing her from the inside. ¡°Yo, guards¡±, she said with a louder voice, ¡°if you bring me something to eat, I¡¯ll be happy to ignore you just both fell asleep.¡± The man standing shuddered as if lightning had struck him. He stared at her with the same scared expression as cattle in front of a carriage. Without a single word, he then ran out of the room, came back a moment later and dragged his companion out as well. ¡°Good times¡±, Tharia said sarcastically and swung her legs out of the bed. She was halfway down when she decided to check her leg motion again. They moved. This time she wouldn¡¯t plummet. Her slim body slid out of the bed and the moment she put pressure on her legs, they gave in. Cursing profanities the world wasn¡¯t ready to hear for another two centuries, she held onto the bed until she could finally stand. ¡°So we really did invite monsters¡±, the voice of a woman rang from the door. Tharia turned to look and saw a figure almost as small as herself. She wore a white robe and moved with authority. ¡°I¡¯m usually better after breakfast¡±, was Tharia¡¯s answer. She didn¡¯t know what to make of the stranger in the robe. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be able to walk¡±, the woman said, ¡°Yet you do¡± ¡°That¡¯s what set you off?¡± Her reply had been sharper than intended. The disability was a sore point for the girl. Anyone traipsing around that topic was in for a bad time. Sometimes justified, at times just bad luck. For the longest time, she had shoved these feelings aside. Grin and smile, people don¡¯t mean harm. Fuck them. Tharia took a deep breath and glared at the smaller woman. The stranger cut her off with a gesture. ¡°You¡¯re fuming. My colleague said you¡¯d have a temper¡±, the small woman added and examined her from the distance. ¡°If you¡¯re looking to provoke me, let me help you with that. Where is Annabelle?¡± Tharia snapped and turned to walk towards the stranger. ¡°Ground Rules first. I¡¯m Doctor Awitel. This house is my kingdom and you¡¯re a guest. You will not scare my colleagues, nor my patients. I don¡¯t care who you are or what you do. You were broken, we healed you, you¡¯re welcome¡±, Awitel put her arms against her waist and puffed out her chest to appear bigger. Tharia felt her intense stare burn holes into her mind. Defiance flared up in her and her first impulse was to lash out. ¡°You can...¡±, she started but then stopped herself. With her eyes closed, she forced herself to contemplate. It was true. They had taken care of her and she had repaid it with hostility. The issue with the spark had been cleaned up and could be attributed to a misunderstanding. Why exactly was she angry and ready to go on a murder spree? That wasn¡¯t who she wanted to be, but out there, it had been all too easy a role to fall into. ¡°I mean no harm¡±, Tharia finally said with a faint voice, ¡°Our encounters with other humans made us paranoid and angry. Please let me see my friend. In return, my magic will help your patients mend. Whether you believe me or not, I used to be a healer before all this started.¡± Doctor Awitel gestured for Tharia to follow her. The frail girl felt like a stranger in a foreign land. That person looked like Annabelle but to Tharia, it felt like she was gazing at the radiant sun. The room was filled with laughing children and her love playfully danced with a young boy while balancing an even younger child on her arm. The goddess laughed and joked with the kids and even told them sanitized stories about their adventures outside. To see her actually tell coherent if a bit slow stories stunned her to the bone. She had watched for a while when Awitel tapped her shoulder. ¡°She¡¯s your beau, isn¡¯t she?¡± Tharia nodded. ¡°You¡¯re like day and night¡±, the pesky doctor added with the accuracy of a scalpel. Tharia swallowed her sharp answer. Like before, it wasn¡¯t exactly a wrong statement. Where Annabelle was light, she had become the counterpart. ¡°That isn¡¯t wrong. I¡¯m jealous of her too. She seems to be happier now than she had been in months¡±, Tharia spoke with a quiet voice. ¡°It¡¯s not too late for you to join. Just take a step forward. You can be like her¡±, the doctor said. She wanted to. Just dance along, be merry and enjoy life for what it was. All it took was one step - and for the demons inside to be quiet. Pressing her lips together, she turned away and looked at Awitel. ¡°Lead me those that have no more chance¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± the doctor asked with raised eyebrows. ¡°Make up for some of the shit I¡¯ve done.¡± ¡°You can start with the child there. He¡¯s got a week at most. Lost a lung when his mother turned into a monster and now an infection threatens to take the other¡±, the doctor said and pointed towards a pale young boy at the corner of the room. He had a longing gaze but his movements were frail. ¡°Not in there, not in in front of all the others¡±, Tharia declared. Awitel however stubbornly pushed her inside. ¡°It¡¯s not enough to heal the body¡±, the doctor said, ¡°you need to heal the mind too. Give them hope, let the others see.¡± Upon hearing those words, Tharia forced herself to enter the room. There was a momentary pause during which she noticed all eyes on her. Annabelle paused and smiled in her direction. They didn¡¯t need words, one look and they had confirmed the other was alright. The goddess blew her a kiss and Tharia answered with one as well. Soon, the room was back to playing while the young woman with black hair sat down on the floor, next to the kid. ¡°No one sits with me¡±, the boy stated, his voice barely audible, broken by coughs and heavy breathing. ¡°Don¡¯t care¡±, was Tharia¡¯s answer. She easily slipped into a social mask. It was play pretend to be another, better person. All of a sudden, the young woman smiled and pointed towards the others. ¡°Want to dance with me?¡± she asked. ¡°You are ugly¡±, the boy answered and Tharia had to suppress a twitch of her eye. Bloody Kids. Brutal murderers by words. ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re not used to seeing fairy-kind. We look a bit different¡±, she replied. The young boy looked at her skeptically. He then shook his head. Even that small motion seemed to cost him a lot of strength. ¡°You¡¯re no fairy¡±, he declared categorically. Tharia rubbed a finger against her nose. Annabelle was whirling around with a kid on either of her arms. ¡°Hey Annie¡±, she shouted over to the goddess. Annabelle stopped for a moment. ¡°Yes, Fairy?¡± came her answer and Tharia smirked. She blew another kiss towards Annabelle and then focussed her attention on the boy again. ¡°See?¡± She then held out a hand and used one of her fingers to scratch her skin open. The boy looked at the drop of blood, a heavy coughing fit shaking his frail body. Tharia waited patiently for him to calm down and then finally allowed the spark inside of her to get to work. It danced towards her hand. Blue flames appeared within her palm and knitted the skin back together. The sick child¡¯s eyes went wide.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°I¡¯m a fairy. Tricks like this are simple. Now, you¡¯re rather impolite are you not?¡± the human girl added with a stern expression, ¡°Let me ask you again. Do you want to dance with me?¡± ¡°I suppose¡± ¡°Really, now?¡± Tharia snapped before remembering her role. She held out a hand and waited for the young boy to grab it. It felt sweaty and cold. There was barely a trace of life left within him. Tharia didn¡¯t need to look at his life-flame to know that. She placed her legs to the side so that she had a stable sitting position and then decoupled her spark from her back. Immediately, all feeling left her lower half. Awitel to the side tilted her head and suddenly started taking notes. Tharia ignored it. Her spark traced over towards the connection she had made with the sick kid. It easily permeated through his skin. The damage inside of him was far worse than she had expected ¨C he really was on the edge of death. It was also better than she had hoped, for she could do something about it. First, she traced the essence over the lungs. One of them was sick and the other had collapsed. She couldn¡¯t replace what was gone but she could heal that which was still there. With a sudden smile on her lips, she poured all her divine essence into the spark. Blue flames erupted out of her hands. At the corner of her mind, she noticed the sudden silence around her but paid it no mind. Her magic enveloped the broken lung. The young boy started coughing as the essence went about healing the damage. Soon, he bucked in his chair and Tharia felt a strong hand bore into her shoulders. She shot her angriest glare towards Awitel and saw the doctor stumble back. With no more distraction, she gave it her all. The previously lung suddenly filled up with air as the young boy took in a deep breath. She switched her attention to the other. Infections were much more trouble for her magic. All she could do was heal the damage it had caused. Still, with the second lung back in business, his chances had improved significantly. When she finally let go of his hand, her body was sweaty. She had expanded nearly all of her energy but it was all worth it to see the kid get drunk on fresh air in his lungs. ¡°Listen to my breathing¡±, she said to the kid, ¡°You breathe in when I do and breathe out, when I do.¡± She then made a show out of taking a breath and waited for the kid to mimic her. Once done, she breathed out again and let the child follow suit. Like this, she had him finally calmed down and adjusted to having his full lung capacity again. She pulled back her spark and the flames died out. Her legs convulsed and it cost her a lot to not flop about on the floor, yet she had a mask to maintain. With the last of her strength, she pushed herself up on her feet and then lifted the young boy off his chair. He weighed nearly nothing. Her feet carried her to the center of the room where Annabelle waited. The goddess smiled. Did she look proud? Why did her love look so gods cursed proud now? Tharia grunted and then started to dance with him in a childish way. It didn¡¯t matter that it looked embarrassing. His face went from apathy to laughing. Even if most of the humor was at her expense, thanks to her stilted motions. Minutes later, Awitel appeared and shooed the children out of the room. She placed a hand on Tharia¡¯s back. ¡°How did this happen?¡± ¡°My brother did this to me¡±, was Tharia¡¯s answer. Awitel narrowed her eyebrows, ¡°You¡¯re her, aren¡¯t you? Few days ago we got a stream of people talking about the wicked Verholden witch and her concubine, the silver-goddess. Nasty rumors about how the crippled demon witch killed her own brother.¡± Tharia shook her head, ¡°Don¡¯t believe them. I¡¯m just a random girl and her beau ¨C as you put it. What accent is that by the way?¡± Awitel gave no answer. The doctor wrapped her arms around herself. ¡°I¡¯d rather believe them¡±, Awitel said and directed her intense stare towards Tharia¡¯s eyes, ¡°His passing will not be mourned. That¡¯s all I¡¯m willing to say. Welcome to my house, you¡¯re both guests of honor. Feel free to stay, even though you probably won¡¯t. Before you go, come talk to me again. We might be able to help each other some more.¡± With that Awitel left the room and the kids followed. Tharia could finally focus her attention on Annabelle. The goddess immediately pulled her close. ¡°You are so wonderful¡±, Annabelle said and overwhelmed Tharia with a storm of tiny kisses, ¡°What you did for that kid... that¡¯s the fairy I¡¯ve fallen in love with.¡± ¡°Annie I...¡± ¡°Shut up, fairy. This kindness is what I love most about you¡±, Annabelle spoke surprisingly clearly, ¡°It¡¯s the girl that can be energetic and strong in the face of a cruel world, reminds me each day why we should press on.¡± ¡°Annie...¡± ¡°Stuff it. I¡¯m talking. You need to realize that your cruelty is a mask too. You¡¯re not an unfeeling monster, nor are you Mother Bone. It¡¯s okay to be hurting. I¡¯m hurting too. There¡¯s no day where I don¡¯t remember what the Dreamreaper had me do.¡± ¡°What did he...¡±, Tharia tried for the third time to get a word in, but Annabelle simply muffled her with a hand over her mouth. She blinked in response and the goddess continued. ¡°He made me kill you. In the beginning, I tried to resist. At some point, I accepted it. In the end, I enjoyed it¡±, came Annabelle¡¯s words, ¡°You trust me and you know I won¡¯t ever do it. Well, you know more than I do. But seeing your belief gave me strength. You know me better than I do. Well, Fairy, I trust you too and I know you¡¯re not really a cold and uncaring murderer. You¡¯re my magical little woman with a sassy and sexy attitude. I know you better than you do.¡± Now that Annabelle was finished, Tharia was at a loss for words. When Annabelle pulled her back into a gentle embrace, words weren¡¯t needed anyway. After what felt like a beautiful eternity, Tharia pulled back a bit. ¡°Annie? There¡¯s a thing I¡¯ve wondered about, how did we survive that crash?¡± ¡°Something soft broke our fall¡± ¡°What did?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to know¡±, Annabelle answered. ¡°No, but really, what was it?¡± Annabelle shook her head, ¡°You don¡¯t need to know and you never will. Trust me, this is one memory you don¡¯t want to be stuck in your head.¡± Tharia pouted. Now she really needed to know. Tharia leaned against a marble pillar in the foyer of the hospital. The thick cloak covered most of her figure. It had become something of a calling sign for her. People nodded and greeted her when she wore it. Without it, she had social invisibility. She let her eyes wander. Down here, the place looked like a fortress. The entrance was a selection of traps and they even had a couple of wartime cannons on the ready. She had no eyes for the many guards, instead, she gazed directly into a dozen large eyes pressed against the glass doors up front. Cloth-like creatures tried to gnaw through the glass. Behind them, mountains of ice had piled up and swallowed everything else as far as she girl could see. ¡°You¡¯re ready to leave, aren¡¯t you?¡± the doctor said to her. Awitel offered a cup of warm water to Tharia and she took it with a slight smile. ¡°We have to. It really feels like the whole world is dying out there¡±, Tharia said and savored the warmth seeping through the cup, ¡°There¡¯s a remote chance we might be able to change something about it. Wouldn¡¯t that be worth it? For the kids?¡± Tharia paused the moment the sentence had left her mouth. She actually meant it. For as bad as it had become out there, there were still good people left. ¡°For the kids would be a good reason indeed¡±, the doctor agreed with a grim tone, ¡°Your friend thinks the same way?¡± The lithe woman stretched her arms and let the words linger. Inside of her body, the spark sat idle, just working its magic to keep the connection to her legs going. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure how Annabelle really felt. That beautiful perfect doll had been happier in the last two days than many weeks before that. ¡°I don¡¯t really know how my Annie feels about it. Tell you what, I¡¯ll ask her and then we¡¯ll seek you out, does that sound good?¡± The doctor nodded and left her without another word. Tharia grumbled. For a professional, that old hag had no idea about bedside manner. Then again, she wasn¡¯t exactly a patient and the last doctor that had treated her, she had scared half to death. She pushed herself away from the pillar and headed back inside. Tharia sat opposite to her love and smiled in her direction. She shoved a cup of tea towards her and then wrapped her arms around her chest. Annabelle answered her gaze with a slight smile as well but raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. ¡°Why I wanted to talk to you alone? There¡¯s something we should decide before we head back out there¡±, Tharia began and leaned back. She crossed her legs by pulling them up with her arms. Once comfortable, she locked gaze with the goddess. ¡°What¡¯s our end goal? Revenge?¡± she asked of the silver-haired beauty. Annabelle frowned and then hid her face in her hands. Her voice was quiet. ¡°I¡¯m really not sure¡±, was the answer. Annie looked up again and Tharia saw the doubt in those eyes. ¡°That makes two of us. Listen, Annie, I¡¯ve been thinking. We¡¯re pretty shitty people, aren¡¯t we? I mean, we had the chance to do so much good but we were always stuck on our course. Kill my brother, kill your husband. Kill this, murder that.¡± Tharia grew quiet and waited for Annabelle¡¯s answer. It took a while before she simply nodded and gestured for her to continue. ¡°Every legend has these goody two-show heroes, people with honest and beautiful hearts. Well, I¡¯ve come to realize something in the last few days. When I healed those kids and people, the way they looked at me... Annie, I¡¯m their hero. This broken fucked up piece of shit is something they look up to¡±, Tharia said and grew quiet. The silence lingered for a whole minute during which Tharia stared at the ground. She mulled thousands of ideas before finally speaking again. ¡°Annie?¡± she whispered, ¡°I kinda like the feeling. What do you say we go out there, do our thing and maybe try and see if we can¡¯t fix this mess? With you, I¡¯ll even take on the world itself¡± When Tharia looked up again, Annabelle was clad in full armor with a weapon in each hand. Words weren¡¯t necessary after all. Tharia choked up and hid her face between her hands. Tears had never felt this good. Hours later, the armor and weapons were long gone, she glanced at the pale skin of Annabelle and traced a finger along her cheeks. A loud sound intruded upon their moment of quiet company. The goddess tilted her head and then gently nudged Tharia off her lap. ¡°We should go and see what¡¯s happening¡±, she said. ¡°Trouble, most likely. Well, it seeks company so let¡¯s give it some¡±, Tharia replied with a smirk. The loud sounds mixed in with shouts. An icy wind started to waft through the corridors, spurning her into greater speed. She hastily picked up her crossbow and then followed after Annabelle. Despite the noises, everything happened with trained routine. Doctors and nurses alike ferried patients deeper into the hospital on one side of the hallway, the other was free for guards to swarm downstairs. Tharia and Annabelle went along with them. A murderous frost had taken over the foyer, save for a small spot in the middle. Something made entirely of fire hovered above a body on the floor. Golden dust had spread out and glowed from within. ¡°Stop pointing your sticks at me you imbeciles and help the man¡±, a rather ludicrous squeaky voice came from the living flame. The flames wrapped around the man on the ground and lifted him up. Tharia blinked. ¡°Ravid? Sisi?!¡± End: Plans and Monsters | Coming up: Departure 44 - Departure

Saint Ilina''s Ward

Second Ring

Tharia hastened in front of the perplexed guards with Annabelle in tow. The elemental swayed in place, a human-like face formed out of the fire and then gazed at the two women. Around it, there was a multitude of charred clothes-likes. The thing looked like Sisi but Tharia kept her guard up. This might be something else that just pretended to be the snarky sprite and the boy she dragged around. ¡°Wonderful. The moaning calamity and her silver kitten¡±, the flame said with a dramatic sigh. Nope, that was one hundred percent genuine flavor Sisi snark ¨C bitter up front, really acidic in the aftertaste. ¡°Happy to see you too, grumpy¡±, Tharia said to the elemental and then pointed at the unconscious and terribly thin Ravid, ¡°Just put him down.¡± At that moment, Annabelle suddenly leaped forward. A golden light sparked and revealed the long Scythe in her hands. The goddess dashed directly towards Ravid, her beautiful eyes promising bloody murder. Tharia smacked her lips and then grabbed Annie¡¯s wrist. ¡°On the ground¡±, the human woman added in Sisi¡¯s direction while trying to calm Annabelle with her eyes. It took a bit but her love finally relented. The scythe disappeared into thin air, leaving a collection of rather dumbstruck guards staring at the spectacle. She returned her gaze to the man and pressed her lips until they were a fine line. Ravid was a symbol of humiliation to her. She had been debased and paraded around like a toy. ¡°You were meant to bring him away¡±, said Annabelle, glowering at Sisi. The living flame momentarily flared up but calmed down almost the same moment. ¡°Didn¡¯t know you¡¯d be here. Should have known when we saw the train jump off the tracks¡±, she sprite answered. It sounded weary. Tharia stumbled as strong hands pushed her aside with little regard. The resolute Awitel forced her way through the crowd, handed out a broad collection of angry glares to everyone present and then started barking orders to her staff. Not for the first time, did Tharia wonder whether that lady had military training. She returned her attention to Sisi. ¡°The white sprite?¡± Tharia asked. ¡°Dead¡±, Sisi replied in a flat tone. In the background, strong people carefully approached Sisi and the boy. They were apprehensive of the flame but a small tyrannical woman shooed them inside of it. Tharia blinked, these men and women would rather walk into flames than face the wrath of that woman. The flames wouldn¡¯t hurt them, not until Sisi wanted, it was still impressive to see them walk into it. Especially since Sisi¡¯s sadistic streak kept taunting them with puffs of flame. ¡°That¡¯s a bit low, don¡¯t you think?¡± Tharia said with a sigh. The elemental looked at her and then shrunk in size, before sitting down on the two barrier chains on the ground. ¡°Just getting on your level. So what did you destroy this time?¡± Tharia felt small again. That wasn¡¯t just because the desk was absolutely massive. It was rather the presence of Awitel. She leaned on the desk, exuding power and dominance with just her posture alone. Hundreds of paper sheets were strewn about amidst strange mechanisms the lithe girl had never seen before. ¡°The boy¡±, Awitel began and pointed a finger at Tharia, ¡°Tell me, is he going to be trouble?¡± She pondered on the answer and shot a glance towards Annabelle. The goddess kept silent, although she could see the jaw tense. Annie really didn¡¯t like Ravid all that much. Maybe it was because of what he had done, or maybe it was a bit of needless jealousy. Either way, Tharia had no plans to feed into it either. ¡°We¡¯re leaving before it comes to that¡±, Tharia said but Awitel cut her off. ¡°Don¡¯t care about your history, only if he will be trouble for me.¡± Tharia breathed in deep. Would he be trouble? He was the kind of ally so idiotic in his naivety, that she wished him upon her enemies. Awitel wasn¡¯t an enemy. ¡°Is that such a difficult question?¡± the doctor asked while leaning forward. Tharia felt smaller still. ¡°No, I mean, no. It¡¯s not. Without giving you the long run, he is a decent lad. Well-meaning and happy to help. Just keep him away from dangerous girls and open fire¡±, she answered. The doctor tapped a finger on the desk before nodding. ¡°Your opinion as well?¡± this time, the doctor¡¯s gaze landed on Annabelle. ¡°He¡¯s a pest¡±, was the reply of the goddess. ¡°Good enough for me. Half of my guards were former bandits and criminals¡±, the resolute woman said and leaned back. Her voice had a matter of fact tone to it as she continued. ¡°You¡¯re leaving. That means I¡¯ve got a message to relay.¡± The doctor reached into her desk and pulled out a wooden cube with intricate decorations. She placed it on the desk in front of Tharia and the goddess but kept her hand on it. ¡°This is from a man I respect. When things looked bad, he discovered a way to remove the corruption from humans. Without him, we¡¯d be dead. Color me purple, but when he just packed up and left a few days before you came with instructions to pick you up and give this to you, I was intrigued.¡± She finally let go of it and pushed it towards the two girls. Tharia took one look at Annabelle and saw the subtle shake of her head. They were in agreement then. She reached for the cube when her hands touched the cube, she felt subtle vibrations inside of it. There was no need to open it. Only one man was gaudy enough to gift something like this ¨C and look, he ¡®accidentally¡¯ found a way to remove essence. Obviously. ¡°Thank you, but no¡±, she said and pushed it back towards Awitel, ¡°Tell him to get lost.¡± Having said that, she then stood up and smiled towards Annie. They hugged each other and then nodded towards the Doctor. ¡°Thank you for your hospitality. You¡¯ve had a profound impact and it has been great to finally help people. But it is best we get back on the road¡±, she said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re not even going to open it?¡± the doctor said and flipped open the box. A metallic cylinder with nubs on it jumped up. From the side, a metallic comb pressed against it and while the cylinder turned, music came out of it. ¡°No interest. I know you don¡¯t care for the history of people. But a saint he ain¡¯t.¡± They were back in the basement. Tharia felt the cold air on her skin, despite the thick clothes she was wearing. Annabelle too had a large coat on that only left the upper half of her face. Her snub nose was just too cute. She just had to tap a finger against it and grin. ¡°Smile, Annie. We get to freeze our asses off out there, that¡¯s gotta count for something, right?¡± Instead of an answer, her love rubbed her nose, smirked and then pushed a large bag towards her. The message was obvious, it was time to divide the load again. With a sigh, she slung it over her shoulder and then turned towards the door. She was ready to leave when a squeaky voice reached her ear.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll help you morons¡±, said Sisi. The elemental came out from behind a pillar. It was in the small sprite form and pushed itself off the ground to fly up towards Tharia. ¡°Everything is better than being stuck with a teenager. I tell you, the moment he saw my full shape, he started courting me¡±, the sprite added and then pointed towards two chains on the ground. ¡°Move it, pony¡±, it commanded while taking a seat on Tharia¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m not a...¡± ¡°Well, Annie says it¡¯s good to ride you, so a pony you are.¡± Annabelle showed the broadest of grins on her face and gave her the thumbs up. Amazing, now the goddess was in on it. Tharia sighed and picked up the two chains. She absentmindedly began assembling them into the tell-tale staff. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good to have you back. A portable fireplace sure has advantages¡±, Tharia shot back. Now it was Sisi¡¯s turn to put its hands against the tiny waist. ¡°I¡¯m not a...¡±, Sisi said and stopped. It actually grinned. ¡°Yeehaw¡±, the sprite then added and smacked her neck with a tiny hand. ¡°Onwards, to the horizon and beyond.¡± Tharia heard Annabelle grumble into her wool-scarf. It sounded something like bloody absurd. Aye, that she could agree with. With one look towards the people present, she set foot outside the building with Annabelle in tow. Stepping out of the cozy warmth into the frozen nightmare, was a punch into the gut. Despite the thickness of her clothes, freezing air found ways inside of it. It was a type of temperature that felt like it could cut the skin on contact. Sisi slid off her shoulder and then took shelter within the staff. A moment later, strong warmth radiated out of it, creating a bubble of roughly five steps in either direction. This didn¡¯t make it warm, but it made it bearable. It had the advantage that Annabelle moved a lot closer. Tharia glanced a look at her love for no particular reason. She was just happy to have her. With a soft press of her hand, they headed into the frozen wasteland of a once city. The snow and constant ice had done a number on Valarn. Towers of ice had formed around the buildings and locked them off from the outside. Tharia found the image strangely beautiful. Snowdrifts had frozen mid-air to create stunning bridges of glittering ice in the air. With an elegant ease, the sky above them was filled with abstract ice sculptures amidst a pitch black, star-heavy sky. She blinked. The sky. ¡°You missed it? The storm crashed the false star. Gave us back the sky. Although that only makes obvious the complete lack of a sun¡±, Sisi commented from the staff. The sprite sat on a couch, one hand held the tiniest of books and the other pulsed a small flame with great effect. ¡°The star is still there¡±, Annabelle interjected, ¡°only grounded. I can feel it pulse.¡± Tharia nodded. She didn¡¯t feel it. There wasn¡¯t much left to feel either way. She had attuned into her mother bone sight. There was a bright light for Annabelle, a tiny but red flame for Sisi and a whole lot of nothing in the frozen wastes around them. She set her sight on the observatory. Even down in the streets of Saint Ilinas ward, the structure loomed above. As good a reminder as any to get moving. There was something incredibly mind-numbing about pacing through a city made of ice. Each corner looked the same. A tower of frost, some snow-drifts, and beautiful but dull ice sculptures ¨C turn a corner, repeat. As with anything, the routine killed the appeal for Tharia. She stubbornly set one foot in front of the other. ¡°And by what I¡¯ve heard, they actually had a child together¡±, she said. Sisi groaned. Annabelle growled. Tharia kept on babbling. ¡°That child grew up to be the first empress of the sky-people. The oddest thing was her pale skin, that¡¯s because they had to import special water for her from the Turesai, she didn¡¯t get the blue coloration of the sky-people. That¡¯s how they found out it¡¯s not some curse but rather just the water that dyes them funny. To think they waged war about it, right?¡± Tharia sighed. It had gone on like this for hours. She needed something to do, anything. Just remaining silent allowed the chaos in her mind to brew. So they wanted to try and reverse the mess around them. Some would call that heroism, Tharia realized it was just pure selfishness. The best part about helping others wasn¡¯t some fuzzy feeling in the stomach but the looks of gratitude and praise. While she saw the icy mess around her, she found another reason as well. This was no way to live. ¡°Oh right, Sisi. We decided to fix the world between breakfast and apocalypse. Do you have any idea how we could do that? Because, honestly, the sheer notion is just so absurd that I¡¯ve got to try it. Tharia, goddess of the world itself. Right, Annabelle too. You too if you want, Sisi.¡± The sprite didn¡¯t join into her jovial mood. Rather, she was quite solemn in her reply and lacked the usual snark. ¡°Each cycle, the world ends and is reborn when someone believes they can make a better one. The early millennium leads to a golden age ¨C and then it all falls down. Tharia von Verholden, Annabelle, listen to me. You can¡¯t unbreak a world that wishes to die.¡± Tharia mulled the words in her mind. She knew very well of the resentment born from untold eons. It lurked within her, waiting to be unleashed in one final blaze of murderous glory. ¡°We won¡¯t save it¡±, Annabelle said and brushed her silvery hair out of sight, ¡°I h-had no time to... prepare these... words but...¡± ¡°Come on, Annie. You did so well a few days ago¡±, Tharia tried to encourage her. Annabelle, however, pulled out a notebook from her clothes and handed it to Tharia. It encompassed detailed notes about how the conversation could have gone. There even was an option that included a wild night that hadn¡¯t happened. With a grin, the human girl pointed towards it. ¡°That could have been?¡± ¡°L-let me speak¡±, Annabelle said and threw her hands up in frustration, ¡°I mean to s-say. We lack knowledge. What if... I well, let¡¯s say a world having a heart is wrong? Do we know?¡± Tharia translated the fragments of words into something that made some kind of sense to her. She was proud of Annie for managing that many words without preparation. It was still a mess to piece together. Annabelle had posed a good question. No one really knew how the world was really supposed to be and maybe that was part of the problem. It could be that worlds weren¡¯t meant to have actual hearts and minds. She was about to nod in confirmation when her special sight picked up a small flame. It moved slowly but steadily through the cold. ¡°Later. You made a good point Annie, but we¡¯ve got potential hostiles.¡± They spread out. Annabelle moved forward in the direction Tharia had pointed. With quick gestures, the goddess armored up. The sprite had sneaked out of the barrier-staff and gained height. Frost immediately reached for Tharia but she pushed the discomfort aside. It was better to survive in the cold than to be dead in the warmth. She put a bolt on her crossbow and then used the lever crank to make it ready. Her feet hurried her towards a snow-drift where she placed down and used the terrain as support for the heavy weapon. With Annabelle in front, Sisi up in the air and herself in position, they were ready for whatever was coming. The flame approached steadily in a weird zig-zag pattern. It lingered here and there but always pressed on in the end. Her mind imagined all manner of monstrosities. It did a much better job than reality. Tharia burst out laughing when a single rat scurried out of a building and then gazed at all of them. ¡°Really, now?¡± Annabelle said and joined the laugh. Only Sisi remained silent. The sprite suddenly darted towards the ground, a thick cloud of golden dust enveloped the rat and just as Sisi pulled back up, intense fire swallowed up the tiny creature. ¡°I take it you hate rats?¡± joked Tharia. Her humor died when the rat walked out of the flame unharmed. Beady eyes had locked onto the sprite in the air. It stretched onto its hind legs and suddenly jumped into the air. Sisi squeaked as sharp teeth bit down on her. The rat landed back down in the snow and spat out the elemental. With tiny paws, it pressed down on Sisi and snarled. ¡°FOUND. YOU¡±, the rat growled with a tone too deep for an animal that small. Tharia cursed and aimed the crossbow at the rat, yet considered it too great a risk with Sisi that close. Annabelle was in a better position. The goddess approached quickly, like a silver-wraith her shape dashed through the snow before using the blunt side of the scythe to punt away the rat. Except that¡¯s not what happened. The moment the scythe came into contact with the monster, the weapon evaporated, leaving the goddess to stumble forward with momentum. ¡°PESKY. FRIENDS. FOUND¡±, the rat growled. It locked its gaze on Annabelle, then back down on Sisi. Risk or not, she had to do something. She closed her eyes and focussed on the flame, instead of the body of the creature. Everything became a blur of shapes until the flame of the beast stood out clearly. Her finger curled around the trigger. Please don¡¯t hit Sisi. The weapon bucked under her hands. With a thunk, the bolt pierced through the rat and nailed it to a wall. ¡°FIND. AGAIN¡±, the rat said with a final growl before the body broke in two. Instead of blood, it exploded into a patch of living wheat seeds. They burrowed into the ground, digging through the snow and stone with sharp teeth until they took root in the earth below. All that remained was a bleached skeleton, barely held together by leathery skin. Tharia didn¡¯t know whether plants could hold a grudge, but that patch of wheat growing in the middle of a frozen wasteland looked a lot like it. ¡°The golden fields?¡± said Annabelle and picked up Sisi. The small sprite looked shaken with visible rows of teeth marks on the tiny body. ¡°It¡¯s been hunting me¡±, Sisi said breathlessly, ¡°Ever since I torched a spot.¡± The human girl watched Annie cover the sprite from the frost until it recovered. Well, the golden fields had been on their kill-list for a while. After they got rid of the observatory, it might be a good idea to take a detour and burn down some uppity plants. ¡°It dispelled my scythe¡± ¡°And my fire. Seems like magic won¡¯t do it any harm¡± Tharia put on her crazy firestarter grin and raised both thumbs. For some reason, both Sisi and Annabelle shuddered. End: Departure | Coming up: Trick of Light 45 - Trick of Light

The Observatory Outskirts

Middle of the Second Ring

¡°No, I¡¯m not mocking you, Annie. If you want a bakery, then a bakery we will build, when this is over. It¡¯s just a bit unexpected. You¡¯ve got a surprisingly homely side to you¡±, said Tharia and slipped closer to Annabelle to give her a gentle nudge. She kept one eye on the path ahead ¨C it was a long-winded spiral leading around the hill. The three domes of the observatory looked like bubbles in a soap bath. ¡°Personally, I¡¯m happy with most things. As long as there is a large, totally over-sized bath with warm water and scented soaps¡±, Tharia kept musing. ¡°What do you want to do, Sisi?¡± ¡°Not play into your delusions. This world is done. No point in fantasizing about what¡¯s to come¡±, the sprite answered and pulled close the curtains of her small home in the barrier-staff. ¡°Well, excuse me¡±, Tharia snapped. Anger flared up. She felt the urge to throw away the staff and bury the sprite under layers of snow. Her fingers wrapped hard enough around the staff until they grew numb. A soft touch on her shoulder calmed her down again. Annabelle smiled. ¡°I liked it. Yes, maybe I¡¯m homely¡±, the goddess said and got a distant stare, ¡°waking up in the morning with sweet bread and the scent of tea. Comfort¡± That¡¯s a word Tharia hadn¡¯t heard in a long time. Her eyes wandered over the capital. From up here, there was little of it left. The once proud city was buried under piles of snow, ice and stubborn golden fields that encircled what was left. Comfort, Tharia mused and returned her attention to Annabelle. They would get out of bed together, Annie would wear a cute apron, embroidered with images of sheep. There¡¯d be bed-hair and the dopey look of just having woken up. Tharia smiled. ¡°They say you fall in love with a person at their prime. But you know it¡¯s love if you stick around after the low¡±, she said with quiet words. ¡°Where is that coming from, Fairy?¡± ¡°My heart, you pink fluffy cushion. What I¡¯m saying is, our relationship is backward¡±, Tharia explained while running a hand over the icy handrail to her side. The surface melted under her short touch ¨C and the magic of Sisi. Mostly the magic. ¡°Think about it. Normal couples inch closer by getting to know each other. We skipped that and went straight for the deep end. But really, Annie, we¡¯ve seen our worst and we¡¯re still there for each other. I didn¡¯t even know I could find the idea of a bakery endearing ¨C but with you, I¡¯d be there every morning.¡° Tharia was fully aware that she had started to babble again. The long way up to the observatory had reached its end and that meant they would soon be fighting again. She brushed her hair behind her ears. It still felt strange to have long hair again, thanks to some errant magic. It¡¯s like she came to terms with being seen as a woman by Annabelle. Right, now her thoughts started to drift from the matter at hand as well. ¡°We¡¯re here¡±, she said in an attempt to focus her mind. Like with the city, a lot of it was buried under smothering layers of white. The three metal domes housed the telescopes. It wasn¡¯t so much a building as it was a large scale mechanism. Each dome was seated on its own metal disk that could be turned with the machine hidden away in the hill. Parts of it protruded out of the snow: Brass gears, long and complicated looking springs ¨C all were exposed to the elements in what looked like the aftermath of an explosion. ¡°I can feel my essence inside¡±, said Annabelle and pointed to the largest dome. The dome was stuck in a half-rotation with part of the telescope sticking out of a thick cover of ice. Icicles hung off it. To Tharia they looked like the beard of a monster. Maybe she had a beard trauma. Her father had loved them. With surprise, the human girl realized her fingernails had dug into her hand. Runaway emotions again. ¡°Yeah, the large one is in that big dome alright. There are lots of smaller ones around him too. Movement is erratic¡±, Tharia added her personal insight, ¡°They¡¯re all around the big one, with some stragglers.¡± She glanced at Annabelle and grew quiet. The goddess was examining the observatory while pressing her lips together. ¡°Entry, easy. We should capture a straggler, see what we¡¯re dealing with¡±, she suggested. Tharia on the other side tapped a finger against the barrier-staff. ¡°Good idea¡±, she answered to Annabelle and then gently opened the curtain, ¡°Sisi, would you mind having a look through the ice on top?¡± The sprite spoke no word. It just shot an angry glare towards Tharia and then took off. The human girl gasped for air as the temperature got so cold, she could barely breathe anymore. ¡°Sisi is hurting¡±, whispered Annabelle once the sprite was out of earshot. Tharia nodded in agreement. That much was obvious. ¡°It¡¯s the second time she lost what she thought was the last of her kind. We¡¯ll be there if she needs help but Sisi strikes me as the type to chew through it on her own.¡± The rest of her words was cut off when the sprite returned. It sat down on Tharia¡¯s shoulder and dangled the legs while swaying back and forth. The warmth quickly returned with each of the words. She realized that without the sprite, this would be a whole lot harder. ¡°Not a lot to see from the outside, it¡¯s entirely too dark. That said the big one is obviously a god-beast. Your luck, he¡¯s too big to move around much. Couldn¡¯t get a good look at the smaller ones.¡± ¡°We rest¡±, began Annabelle, ¡°Couple of minutes at most. Then we kill one of the stragglers, test out what we¡¯re up against. We do additional scouting inside.¡± Seeing Annabelle take charge gave the walking pervert encyclopedia a momentary shiver. It was an alluring fantasy that blended in with the idea of Annie in an apron. As time went by, her idea of it magically lost more pieces of clothing. With a sneeze, she shoved the dirty thoughts aside and showed the world an innocent grin.

The Observatory

Middle of the Second Ring

Tharia could hardly believe it. They had actually used the main entrance like normal people! She stepped into the observatory with a huge grin on her lips. Her first impression was one of pomp. The floor was made of dark parquet. Carpets covered most of it and were laid out in an attempt to guide visitors down certain paths. Around them, the walls were covered by red fabric that gradually darkened into the pitch black of the ceiling. The inset gems shimmered like stars. ¡°No one here ¨C but one down that corridor¡±, Tharia said. Her vision picked up a flame a good distance away. ¡°We ready?¡± asked Annabelle. The human girl nodded her reply. With a golden flash of light, the goddess had donned the armor and brought out her tell-tale scythe. Tharia, on the other hand, loaded her crossbow. She had bound the staff to her bag ¨C with Sisi once more out in the open, there was no point to wielding it.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Ready as can be¡±, she finally said. Annabelle quickly took charge. She stepped through the door and into the corridor with Tharia close by. Sisi was floating above them, quiet and grumpy. The sprite had dimmed the light ¨C which also meant more of the cold had an effect on the girls. Once they got closer to the singular small flame, Tharia waved towards Annabelle and the goddess acknowledged it and then gestured to be quiet. The thick carpet swallowed the sounds of her their steps. If it weren¡¯t for the heavy bags on their back, they¡¯d be completely silent. Given past experiences, she was no longer willing to leave their supplies behind though. Her heart drummed in her chest. A few steps and another door separated them from the monster. Annabelle leaned against the frame of the door and waited for Tharia to get into position. The human girl moved into a slightly offset spot and raised the crossbow. She aimed it directly at the slowly moving flame. Thumbs up. Everything started moving at once. Annabelle bashed open the door with her Scythe and stormed inside. Sisi followed and sparked intense light to drown out the shadows. Tharia was the last one to duck into the room. In the bright light, nothing could hide from her view. Yet there was nothing there to threaten them. ¡°What the...¡±, started Tharia. It was a room like any other in the observatory. There was a row of furniture to the side, couches with soft cushions for the visitors. She saw a large globe in the center of the room. A smaller bubble covered the top quarter of it. Tharia nodded. That was one of the recent scientific ideas: The world was really a sphere and it was just that the livable space was limited to a small bubble on top. Still, no monster. She concentrated on the flame and sure enough, it was just five steps in front of them. The flame flickered with anticipation. It couldn¡¯t be, could it? ¡°Sisi, increase the light¡±, she shouted up. ¡°The only kind of enlightenment you¡¯ll get¡±, it snapped back. A moment later, the small room was as bright as day. Tharia started to sweat from the intense heat of the living flame, but she had no eyes for that. She saw her own shadow and that of Annabelle, they overlapped some distance away. Sisi above had no shadow on the floor since it was the source of light. ¡°It¡¯s there, I can feel it but...¡±, Tharia said and shifted her weight onto the other foot. Her shadow followed along, yet it remained connected to Annabelle. That was odd. Following her instinct, she hopped to the side until their shadows couldn¡¯t possibly connect anymore. That¡¯s when the creature leaped at her. It moved through her shadow with absurd speed. She tried to swivel her crossbow but it was too fast ¨C until Sisi above changed position. The sprite moved so that Tharia¡¯s shadow pointed in one direction and the creature in the other. It smacked into the barrier of light and for the first time, she saw their opponent. The beast was a gelatinous black sludge in a state of constant change. Maws formed inside of it with long rows of teeth, milky eyes stared at Tharia before collapsing into long fangs. It reminded her of the shapeshifter from when they had set out. That is until the creature propped up two large claws from within the shadow and then pulled itself out. Its true body was a quadrupedal creature. Strong legs held up a sturdy torso, the shapeshifting sludge was merely one of its eyes. She had seen enough and so had Annabelle. The goddess was so fast, she looked like she was flying. Her shape came to a stop with one foot in front, the Scythe angled to the side and then cut upwards. The long blade pierced through the joint of one leg. Tharia, on the other hand, aimed her crossbow directly at the flame again. She let loose the bolt and watched it hammer into the thick outer layer of the creature. Neither attack had any considerable effect. The moment Annabelle stepped back for another swipe, the cut in the limb had already healed again. Undeterred, Tharia loaded the next bolt. The beast roared and stretched in Annie¡¯s direction. Two of the legs lifted up and then jabbed towards the goddess. She deflected the main thrust of the first limb with her scythe, dodged the other and regained her balance in one fluid motion. While Annabelle defended herself, Tharia noticed an oddity. The lower half of the monster was still connected to the shadow. ¡°Sisi? Fly lower please¡±, she suddenly commanded. The sprite answered with a barrage of obscenities that centered around how she wasn¡¯t a lamp. She obliged though. With it, the light composition in the room changed. The shadows grew longer. With it, the beast accelerated in speed. The front end was still cumbersome but the back end, bathed in shadows, moved with absurd speed. More of the muscle trunk slipped out of the shadow and the beast lurched forward. Annabelle was on her toes though. She danced back with two steps and then countered with a wide swipe of her Scythe. When the beast deflected that hit, she used the long wooden part to create an opening. With her hands flat against the limb, golden light penetrated straight through and manifested into a war-fan. More of the beast slipped out of the shadow. This thing was surprisingly long and all-ugly. The sight of glistening bare muscle was an odd sight. Once they split apart to reveal the inner workings, Tharia choked. Ugh. Disgusting. By sheer instinct, she shot a bold straight through it. The shadow creature thrashed about, sending vibrations through the floor as the long body flopped hard onto the parquet. Annabelle barely dodged another of the limbs. The goddess changed her approach. Now that the beast had stretched so much, she went for the weird black smudge instead. First, Annie jammed her Scythe between two limbs and then spun the weapon to lock up the legs. Tharia winced. That looked bloody painful, she thought in a moment of empathy for the monster. It quickly stopped the moment Tharia had loaded the next bolt. She was starting to feel the drain of constantly winding up the weapon. The small girl aimed the crossbow at the muscle stalk and waited for Annabelle¡¯s next move. With her silver-hair flowing, Annabelle jumped back and then began rotating both arms. Golden light gave form in the shape of two war-fans that were quickly spun up to speed. First, she let loose the right one by allowing her upper body to follow the motion just a bit ¨C and then in one fluid step, she moved forward the other foot and turned her body around to throw the second one as well. Both found their mark. With an ugly squelch, they dove into the black smudge. The shadow-creature reared up ¨C Tharia had waited for this moment. Her bolt dove straight through the muscles and pierced the very core of the monster. The ground started to shudder in response and a moment later, as the shadow-beast died with some last convulsions, the ground suddenly spit out the rest of the monster. Tharia had a premonition the smell would be horrible but no amount of panicked foresight could have prepared just for how much like rotten eggs and decaying flesh this seemed. All of that had hidden in the shadows. Curiously, the parquet was intact, safe for the battle damage. Seems like more beasts were learning to use domains for their purposes. With her hand in front of her mouth, Tharia quickly stumbled out of the room, closely followed by Annabelle and Sisi. ¡°Gods be cursed, that stench¡±, Tharia groaned. They had walked fifty meters but in her mind, everything now smelled like that thing. ¡°I suggest we call it the shadow-stinker, silent but deadly¡±, Tharia snarked and then sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s check for damage.¡± The small girl sat down on the fluffy carpet and patted a spot next to her. Annabelle quickly walked over. Her armor momentarily disappeared as she sat down next to Tharia. The human girl placed her soft hands on the body of her love and allowed her magic to flow into her. ¡°Looking good. That armor is a gift¡±, Tharia said and poured a bit of healing essence into her friend. A shiver ran down her spine. Being close to Annie and touching her was always an intimate moment, but exchanging magical essence ¨C even if for the purpose of healing ¨C was a whole different aspect. Yet, when she saw Sisi¡¯s grumpy tiny face, Tharia quickly pushed those thoughts aside. ¡°Alright, what have we learned?¡± asked Tharia while letting her magic work. ¡°It lives in the shadows¡±, said Annie. ¡°The shadow-stinker visibly slows down outside of it, I agree¡±, added Sisi, ¡°I¡¯m not looking forward to playing the lamp.¡± Tharia rubbed her nose and then once more concentrated on transferring a bit more energy into Annabelle. She washed away some of the exhaustion so that their front-line fighter was in peak condition for the upcoming fights. ¡°Let¡¯s cut it down to the core. Any damage we do up top is more or less pointless. It just heals instantly¡±, mused Tharia, ¡°We can constrict and steer its motion with light. That¡¯s the main advantage for us. One well-aimed shot at the core can end it instantly. Hm, Sisi?¡± ¡°What?¡± came Sisi¡¯s reply. It sounded so quintessentially like Annie, that Tharia replied by instinct. ¡°Complete sentences please!¡± ¡°Nope, not happening¡±, came the answer of Annabelle. All three looked at each other in a moment of confusion. A second later, laughter broke the awkwardness. ¡°Yeah that was a failure of a sentence¡±, Tharia finally said with a grin, ¡°Let me try again. Sisi, can you imbue my bolts with the golden dust? That way, we can increase our chances to take them out. We use your light to constrict them, Annie lures them out, I shoot the bolt into the core and you explode it.¡± ¡°Admit it, you just love watching stuff explode¡±, said Annabelle with a sigh. ¡°Yes, Annie. Obviously. But, I mean that plan could work, no?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me¡±, added Sisi with a squeaky voice. Tharia nodded. That would be their plan then until they met the big one in the large dome. In the meantime, she would keep her eyes out for something else. For a while now, she had felt subtle vibrations in the floor. That could mean the large machine was still working. Something powerful enough to essentially turn around the top of a hill ¨C well it might just be another half-cocked, bloody insane and stupid but awesome trick up their sleeve in the upcoming battle against the big one. End: Trick of Light | Coming up: Eppur Si Muove 46 - Eppur Si Muove

The Observatory

Second Ring

The light from SIsi transformed the dome into a world of stark contrasts. Hard shadows turned the large telescope into a domineering presence while the light dragged the decrepit gears and levers into the open. This wasn¡¯t the big dome yet, Tharia was well aware of that, but it was an impressive structure either way. It was also a nest for the Shadow-stinkers. She watched Annabelle clash with the first of them. It was directly in their path. Using her Scythe as a lever, the goddess stemmed the Stinker out of its hiding place. The quadrupedal creature flopped onto the ground with an angry hiss, two of the legs kicked after Annabelle but the goddess had already weaved to the side. Tharia pressed her lips together. Ignore the distractions, concentrate on the one thing important. She nudged the crossbow until it pointed towards the flame and corrected it just a bit upwards. Tharia was neither strong nor especially enduring ¨C but she had decent reflexes. Annabelle in the meantime had provoked the Shadow-stinker into an all-out rage by poking the eye mold on top. The creature suddenly stretched out of the hole. This was it. Tharia breathed in and kept the breath in her lungs. Her eyes focussed on the core, she stabilized the crossbow and then with a thunk, the bolt was let loose. It pierced through muscle tissue and into the core, followed by a loud explosion that rocked the dome. ¡°Here comes the stink¡±, groaned Tharia and refocussed her attention on the other monsters. They hovered at the edge of the light, like a particularly nasty fish swarm that had discovered a new source of meals outside the water. Her eyes saw the flame flicker out and she made a hand gesture towards Annabelle. The goddess nodded and stepped away from the beast. Tharia shuddered under the look the goddess gave the beasts. It wasn¡¯t a threat, just a clear message she wasn¡¯t even recognizing them as an obstacle anymore. Tharia placed another bolt into the crossbow and winded it up. Only then did she close in on Annabelle. Together, they walked past the carcass that was still spilling out of the very floor. The human girl pressed her hand against her mouth, while the other beasts got even more restless. Last to follow was Sisi, the sprite quickly hovered towards Tharia and sat down on her shoulder. That moment, the remaining Shadow-stinkers enjoyed a feeding frenzy. By the time the two girls were about to leave the doom, nothing was left of the dead beast. ¡°Remind me to not die to them¡±, said Tharia with a slight grin. ¡°Given your penchant for self-destruction, the humane thing would be to tell you nothing. You obviously enjoy it enough to keep doing it¡±, said Sisi with a lackadaisical tone in her voice. ¡°Your cynism turned into plain old mean.¡± ¡°You think so? Oh shit, quick dodge to the right, now!¡± shouted Sisi. Tharia reacted by instinct. Something she regretted immediately as her head bumped into a low hanging pipe. ¡°Case in point, I didn¡¯t get meaner, you just got dumber¡±, added the sprite with a gleeful Schadenfreude in its voice. The human girl rubbed her head and felt a bump coming. Sisi had always been a sadist in all manner of ways, but this was turning into open hostility. Annabelle glared at both of them. ¡°Shut up, both of you¡± Without waiting for a reaction, the goddess turned around and headed through the door. Tharia followed grumbling and shut the door behind them. Only now did Sisi lower the light to more bearable levels. The space between the domes was even more of a mechanical marvel. This obviously wasn¡¯t a place for visitors as it allowed an unfettered view deep into the hearts of the observatory hill. They stepped onto metal walkways hanging high above an assortment of enormous gears, chains, pendulums, and weights. She heard the construction hiss and groan in a way similar to the train. Tharia glared at Sisi which once more used her shoulder as a couch. Following a sudden petty impulse, she flipped it away. Sisi had a look of pure betrayal on the tiny face. A moment of fall later, it floated back up. ¡°What the fuck, Tharia?¡± ¡°Oh, I thought we were just randomly hurting each other¡±, said Tharia. Instead of an answer, the sprite glowered and sat back down on the shoulder. It made sure to take on a regal pose while Tharia followed Annabelle along the walkway. ¡°This one forgives its steed. It was not properly house-broken after all¡±, the sprite answered. Being treated like a tool ticked the human girl off. Especially by a flying insect whose only purposes were to make light and to make things go boom. Tharia stopped before she could mouth off. Sure enough, her emotional state was a pure mess again. She clenched her teeth. The anger was misplaced. Just as much as she didn¡¯t like to be a tool, Tharia had treated Sisi as just that. She spoke with clenched teeth, ¡°That timing on the last bolt was amazing. We couldn¡¯t do this without you, you know?¡± ¡°Tell me something new¡±, replied Sisi. The tiny face moved the lips into a pout and turned up the nose. It looked like an arrogant but cute pout. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you¡±, added Tharia after a moment of silence. From the corner of her eye, she saw Annabelle show a slight smile and nod. ¡°She missed you too!¡± was Tharia¡¯s second addendum. Their pace had been slow but steady. Tharia still felt the exhaustion creep up on her with her arms aching and her body becoming slower. Each room and corridor was the same. Open it up, spread light, make it stink and move on. ¡°Wait, Annie... we¡¯re moving in on the big one¡±, she said with ragged breath, ¡°Let us rest up a bit.¡± The goddess hesitated for a moment but one look at Tharia¡¯s story state and she turned around. Tharia had to bite back a sharp comment. As much as it hurt her pride to admit that she was the weakest link, it was a simple truth. She had been from the start and no matter the growth, Annie was an existence she could never catch up to. Not even after she had stopped being human. That¡¯s something she had to deal with. She blinked in confusion when she felt soft hands make their way under her shoulders. They wrapped around her and then pulled Tharia close to her love. Annabelle¡¯s voice was quiet. ¡°I sometimes wish I had your strength¡± ¡°Stop mocking me¡±, snapped Tharia and tried to push herself away. Annabelle didn¡¯t let her go, however. So much for strength. ¡°Life has been easy for me but not for you¡±, the goddess said and tilted her head with a ponderous look, ¡°but you are here with me. You are stronger.¡± Tharia sighed. She felt that Annabelle meant well but it was obvious which of the two needed support to even stand and which of them slowed them down. Annie looked into her eyes and as if she suddenly got the ability to read minds, she continued talking. ¡°When I got hurt, you mended me for weeks¡±, the beginning of the sentence had been nearly fluid, rest of it not so much, ¡°b-but when you uhm pain ¨C in pain ¨C uh, when you are in pain you stand t-tall like a statue.¡± ¡°Stop reading my mind¡±, said Tharia with a quiet pout. ¡°How do you know I can do that?!¡± shot Annie with raised eyebrows. Wait, what? Tharia suddenly pushed her back. ¡°You¡¯ve been reading my mind? Since when? What am I thinking about now?¡± Tharia concentrated on an orange riding on a sleigh. She kept adding little silly details like two beards growing from the eyebrows and feelers on the eyes. Right, naturally the orange had to have a face first for these to work. So a face it got. The absurdity made her grin. Annabelle gave her an intense stare and then answered. ¡°Me. In a gown and peeling out of it. Black lingerie underneath¡±, said Annabelle with steadfast conviction. Tharia blinked and tried to not blend both of these ideas. It failed horribly in an unnatural mind-experiment that gave her laughing fits for several minutes ¨C because she kept adding details to it. Like a face on there too and... right. Monsters. ¡°I¡¯m good now¡±, said Tharia and pressed a hand against her own neck. She really was. The short rest had done wonders for her exhaustion. Just a handful of corridors were left before they would enter the last dome. Tharia stepped way from Annie and began massaging her own arms. Her eyes were locked on the door that would lead back out onto the walkways. The final dome was waiting just a few meters away. With it, the next big thing on their kill-list.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The small girl was full of anticipation but also apprehension. Each new encounter was a bag of unknowns where a random fluke could mean the death of them all. This had been easier when she could just push the fear into her dark little abyss and pretend to be happy go lucky. She stared at her shivering hands. ¡°Fear is normal¡±, she said out loud, ¡°Only an idiot would feel no despair ¨C and I swore to be better than that. Let¡¯s do this, ladies.¡± Her hands wrapped around the crossbow with grim determination. One thing would end this night. She was ready to make sure it wasn¡¯t them. Sisi fluttered on the spot, sprinkling a bit of the dust into the air without igniting it. ¡°Ready¡±, the sprite said. ¡°Always¡±, added Annabelle. In a golden flash, she was back in her combat garb, filling Tharia with envy. If she were to have that superpower, she¡¯d keep an entire wardrobe of gowns, dresses and... right. Monsters. Not in the wardrobe but at the focus of her mind. They stepped through the door and out into space between the domes. The first few meters were the normal metal walkway with the machinery down below. Tharia noticed a cover of snow, which meant the outer shell of the domes had been broken at some point. Soon, however, she realized the ground was weird. It had started to deform like she was walking on a mattress. Except it was metal. ¡°Domain?¡± she asked in the direction of Sisi, but the sprite shook the head. ¡°Worse. Void.¡± ¡°As in those things from when we fought the Dreamreaper?¡± Tharia shuddered. Something about those things had been very wrong. Not just because they were monsters but because looking at them felt like her mind was ready to twist inwards. That same influence had warped the large dome. The machine below bent in on itself, gears had been folded like paper and their metal screeched with each tick of the metal core below. Soon it took all of her concentration just to not stumble. The walkway had twisted into random wave patterns with sudden hand-sized holes in it. It firmly held in place, even though it was no longer attached to its structural support. A strange chill not born from the cold took hold of Tharia. Together with Annabelle, their steps in subconscious lock, they reached for the large door ¨C but their hands touched a formless darkness instead. The human girl blinked ¨C there was no more door, just this strange patch of darkness. She stretched her hand inside of it, the material felt like mud without the dirt. Suddenly, in the middle of it, she felt something metallic. Wrapping her hands around it, she pushed on the metal bar. As if her touch confirmed the reality of it, the door suddenly appeared as the darkness rescinded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not weird at all, not...¡± Tharia¡¯s voice faded before she could finish the sentence. A strong force tore the door from her hands and ripped it straight out of the hinges. They stared directly into a human eye the size of a small building. ¡°Viktor¡±, mumbled Annie. The eye peered out of an elongated human face twice as long as usual. It was framed by thick white hair and a beard that covered the entire lower levels of the dome. Tharia stumbled back yet Annabelle stepped forward. The goddess hastened into the building and with a curse, Tharia finally forced herself to follow. In her heart, she was a proper coward without madness to push the envelope. She had felt dozens of smaller flames but they might not be enemies. Tharia saw the Shadow-stinkers strung up on the walls of the observatory. Those same chains also bound the unnatural looking giant in the middle. Chains kept the pale and leathery torso afloat, a massive telescope was stuck right through the center and a mesh of veins had grown onto it. What had developed out of Viktor von Halsenstien let out a pained groan. The body of the uneven giant fell forward, impaling itself further on the telescope. A squalid pair of hands grabbed one of the Shadow-stinkers. Then, reality tilted, not unlike what her brother¡¯s Worldengine had done ¨C only more limited. A tear opened in reality, like a crack in the glass. Viktor slammed one of the hands through it and dragged out a writhing mess of flesh. Tharia suddenly felt something burrow into her deepest subconscious. It was whispering to her, begging to be let in, to be let go, to run away and to come back. With one quick motion, Viktor slammed the otherworldly flesh against the Shadow-stinker. Blood dripped through his giant fingers and when he let go, the Shadow-stinker floated for a brief moment on rotten wings that had sprouted, before it fell to the ground. Its flame gave out instantly. The human girl put a hand to her forehead. How could they fight this thing? The movement seemed slow and deliberate, no surprise given the sheer size of it. Tharia let her eyes wander around the observatory, she could not find the legs of this thing if it had any. The good news: Chains and impaled telescope kept Viktor in place, he couldn¡¯t even properly turn. Bad news: There was no more walkway behind it. She swallowed. Alternatively, they could crack the ground, let it smash down into the machine below, yet unlike the underground temple where Annie had fought the cultist leader, this seemed a sturdier build. Her thoughts were cut short when the giant stared at her and Annabelle. The goddess growled. ¡°Your plan, fairy! Any second now!¡± She was waiting on her? Doom and gloom. Tharia bit her tongue by accident. She suppressed the pain. Don¡¯t be overwhelmed - compartmentalize. One of the large hands approached slow but with force. Annabelle darted to the left and Tharia followed. Sure enough, the hand slammed down where they had been but far too slow to be a real threat. They could use that. ¡°Lure the hand, wear it down¡±, she shouted to Annie. The goddess looked at her and then nodded with a thumbs up. Both refocussed their attention on the giant. ¡°Sisi, can you scout in his back? See if there is any weak point¡±, Tharia commanded and to her surprise, the elemental flew away without complaint. A moment later, the hand smacked down again. Foundation solid, was her judgment, as barely a ripple vibrated through the dome upon it. Annabelle was rapidly approaching the hand. Instead of her trusty scythe, the goddess wielded both of her war-fans with an opened blade. They sang and whirred as she spun them against the hand. Chunks of flesh were cut off, but it was little more than the bite of a pesky mosquito. They needed something bigger. The giant suddenly turned his hand sideways, he stretched and then began sweeping the entirety of the walkway. Annabelle stared and suddenly blinked out of existence. Tharia, on the other hand, ran towards the outer shell of the dome. It would be awfully close. The two longest fingers scratched along the outer shell, but the smaller ones didn¡¯t quite reach there. Tharia slid the rest of the way and then curled into the fetal position just in time for the hand to pass over her. Sheer wind force dragged her along for a couple of meters. Annabelle re-appeared, looking slightly flustered. Right, her domain of obsession and the weird activation for it. With a chuckle, she gave a thumbs up to Annabelle and got back on her feet. Tharia stared up at the eyes. Given a bit of luck, her heavy bolts could reach that high. However she wasn¡¯t sure if a giant aimlessly thrashing about couldn¡¯t end up more dangerous than one so slow, they could predict it at all times. Suddenly, Sisi returned. The sprite smacked into Tharia¡¯s shoulder and mouthed the word: ¡°Below.¡± The elemental looked exhausted. Whatever it had seen, it had taken the wind out of it. Tharia nodded and then gestured towards Tharia, then in the direction of stairs leading down ¨C and into his beard. They both darted towards it when reality suddenly cracked once more. The ground in front of her twisted into surreal patterns and a moment later, a shuddering mess of flesh smacked onto the ground. Disgusted, the human girl watched as the pile of flesh struggled to maintain some form of the exterior, before settling on what looked like half an animal ¨C if only by rough shape. This thing was between them and the stairs. Worse, as Tharia tried to make sense of it, she could feel something touch her thoughts and then siphon off concepts and ideas to make flesh this thing. ¡°You take it, I watch for him¡±, Tharia shouted to Annabelle. Without a moment of hesitation, the goddess started running. It filled the human girl with pride. This was her Annie. The trust between them was nearly perfect. Her eyes locked onto the giant. He was currently reeling from the pain of having impaled the telescope further into his chest, yet already, the mesh of veins once more pulled it back into place. That could be useful, Tharia noted. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Annabelle dance hither and thither in an attempt to dodge the many unspeakable appendages of the shuffling flesh horror. Even just acknowledging it meant to rationalize its existence. Tharia could feel that her thoughts gave it strength and shape. Annie had this. Trust the beauty with the martial training. She forcefully focussed her attention on the giant again. Sisi had a point, the flame indicating life was sitting below, not up here. Viktor clamped a hand into one of the walkways. He growled and with a shudder, the metal was easily torn from the walls. The giant then balanced it in his hand, making sounds that were somewhere between the innocent sounds of a child and the guttural grumblings of a several meters large murderous giant. ¡°Be prepared, he¡¯s got a weapon now¡±, she informed her love. There were obvious sounds of fighting but she didn¡¯t dare look. The giant once more locked his large eyes on Tharia. By the sounds of the combat nearby, Annie wasn¡¯t ready yet and they couldn¡¯t just run past it. They needed time. With a grunt, she heaved up the heavy crossbow. Immediately, her muscles protested. This was fine, she didn¡¯t need perfect accuracy with a target that large. The frail girl pointed the weapon at the left eye of the giant. With a growl, Viktor moved his hand in front of it. Curious, the bugger had some semblance of intelligence in it. Tharia immediately shifted aim to the other eye and watched Viktor stop his windup for the swing, to once more protect his second eye. Tharia chuckled as the situation turned absurd. Every time Viktor tried to wind up an attack, she switched her target to the other side. Turns out, he wasn¡¯t that smart after all. The sudden crunch of metal cutting through flesh was accented by Annie¡¯s breathless shout. ¡°Clear.¡± She nodded and then turned to look at... she didn¡¯t look at it. Nope, not looking. The shape disappeared from her memories the moment she looked away. All she knew was that every time she stole a glance, a part of her mind ended up gone. With a hand in front of her face to shield her from the view, she closed up to Annabelle and they ran down the stairs together. ¡°Sisi, everything alright?¡± Tharia said while trying to catch her breath. ¡°Yes, just... dangerous - but an only chance¡±, the sprite answered, ¡°Other place ¨C void but core there.¡± Tharia didn¡¯t understand half of it, only that they needed to go into the beard. Well, that was a thought she never knew she would have. They soon reached the lower level and from up close, the beard looked like the roots of large trees. Worse, it moved with a mind of its own. ¡°Are you absolutely sure?¡± ¡°Yes, Tharia¡±, came Sisi¡¯s squeaky voice. She looked up at the giant and saw him stretch his arms. There was one advantage already, the Viktor Godbeast couldn¡¯t reach down this far. Annabelle tugged on her hand and then led them into the beard. The bloody beard of all things! Somehow, her vivid thoughts painted her intricate pictures of what they would find. They weren¡¯t nearly as weird as what waited for them. End: Eppur Si Muove | Coming up: Enter the Beard 47 - Enter the beard

Observatory Inner Dome

Second Ring

¡°Beard puns are horrible, they just never grew on me¡±, said Tharia with a chuckle. She eyed her love and enjoyed the short-lived wince with a bit of glee. ¡°Oh shave it off¡±, came Annie¡¯s reply. The goddess was busy cutting a path with her Scythe. Tharia leaned forward until her head was on the same level as Annabelle. The motions paused long enough for Tharia to whisper in a sultry tone. ¡°You¡¯d like to watch me do that? Kinky girl¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± started Annabelle. The tone significantly changed the meaning, until her love finally got just what exactly she was referring to. ¡°Oh, for fucks sake, Fairy!¡± Maybe it was time to let go for a bit. Tharia suppressed her chuckle in an attempt to not antagonize Annabelle further and fell back to give her breathing room. The human girl felt a pair of beautiful eyes burn holes into her and shrugged her shoulders with a disarming grin. ¡°I love you, honey.¡± ¡°When this is done¡±, Annabelle said while turning around, ¡°the world is gonna have a new moon.¡± The goddess lifted the Scythe and cut into the next layer of thick beard hair. It took a surprisingly short time for her to continue her sentence. ¡°That moon is going to be striped red and glow for all the world to see. And then, each morning, I¡¯d spank your ass some more, so it can continue glowing the next night over.¡± Tharia blinked and sorted the image in her mind when it finally dawned on her what that moon would be made off, she squealed once and recoiled in mock horror. ¡°Damn girl, that¡¯s graphic¡±, Tharia said with a grin before that facial expression died off. Several sentences - no stuttering. Annie had prepared for this. Her innocent, beautiful, doll-like goddess had fantasized enough about to form coherent sentences. The small woman¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise. ¡°Oh... uhm...¡± ¡°Yes, fairy? Want to add anything?¡± Annabelle said with a happy tone that belied the expressionless face. ¡°No Madam, I¡¯m good¡±, Tharia said and perhaps for the first time in all their travels, she finally shut up. Annabelle turned around while winking at her, then resumed cutting a way through the beard. It was difficult to get any bearings in the endless curtain of gray hair. The only hint was a red glow that permeated from up front, still, they had already spent much longer than seemed possible just trying to get closer. She checked on Sisi. The small elemental was fast asleep in one of the shirt pockets. It was odd for Tharia to see the sadistic sprite so vulnerable. Her first instinct was to blame Ravid for the sorry state of her friend. He had spent with Sisi and now the little thing was extra cynical and exhausted. Tharia¡¯s second guess was to blame herself for it. In the end, she had to accept that Sisi too had been scarred by the state of the world. Annie¡¯s voice roused Tharia from her contemplation. ¡°Fairy, can you check ahead? I¡¯ve got a weird feeling.¡± Instead of an answer, she reached out her mind¡¯s eye. She felt the presence indicating Annie¡¯s flame right next to her and off to the not that far distance, there was another presence. Several of them. She locked concentration on them and suddenly felt sharp pain pierce through her temple. With confusion she felt something in her throat, gagging, she spit out black blood. It swirled and clawed into the ground, then looked at her with comically large eyes. Her special sense still reached out and dove deeper towards the weird presence. Next, she woke up on the ground, her body was convulsing while Annabelle shook her shoulders, screaming at her to wake up. Tharia reached her hand up and saw scratch marks on them. The one to inflict those injuries was herself, her own fingers were blood red. ¡°What is it I saw¡± she whispered with a broken voice, ¡°But echoes of obsidian skies pregnant with the fortress of concepts in a forlorn age, shapes untold in seven cosmic waves, mirrors to blot out the suns and drink the wisdom of the first touch.¡± ¡°It is nothing to be scared of¡±, Tharia added, her mind reeling from the memories she could no longer put into words. ¡°We will have gotten over the shock¡±, her voice took on a slightly different intonation. Before she could utter the third of the sentences, the human girl pressed a hand against her mouth. She put a hand against Annabelle¡¯s shoulder to indicate she was fine and then forced herself back on her feet. ¡°Fuck¡±, she said and then repeated it, only a whole bloody lot louder. ¡°Yeah, something bad is up ahead. Definitely. My mind has just been used as a chewing toy.¡± ¡°Viktor?¡± inquired Annie, but Tharia shook her head. This hadn¡¯t felt like a Godbeast. At the corner of her mind, she remembered a similar instance. Back when they had gone to confront the Dreamreaper. ¡°Sisi would call it void. Let¡¯s kill it, Annie. No more live and let live. Kill it. If this thing takes root, it won¡¯t matter if we can steer this world away from collapse, it¡¯ll be fucked ten ways to new dawn¡¯s day.¡± Tharia was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace that robbed her of the ability to breathe. Annabelle had wrapped her hands around her body and she felt fingers painfully dig into her skin. When she felt the touch of tears raining down on her, she reached up to softly brush over Annie¡¯s head. With some strength, she pushed her away enough to breathe. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±, Tharia said, ¡°Let it out. No need to remain bottled up all the time, trust me, I know. I¡¯m happy to know you care for me. That feeling you have, are you ready to unleash it on those that did this to us?¡± She looked up at Annie and showed her a smile. The taller woman appeared fragile like a filigree porcelain doll. With a soft smile, Tharia brushed a hand over the cheeks, collecting the tears from her otherwise so invincible lover. It might have been a wee bit more romantic if her fingers didn¡¯t look like she had just murdered someone. At least the scratch marks had been healed off by the spark. ¡°Did I really scratch myself?¡± she asked in a curious tone. ¡°You shouted gibberish and tried to get something out of you¡±, answered Annabelle. ¡°Great. Just another day in the apocalypse¡±, mused Tharia and refocussed her attention on Annabelle, ¡°I¡¯d caress you more but I need a bath first. Well, let¡¯s get going. Not sure we¡¯ll have time to plan with whatever it is that awaits us. We improvise. Against the void, there¡¯s just no way to scout ahead.¡± She watched Annabelle snuffle one last time. Then, her love seemed to grow as she straightened her shoulders. Arrogance and pride found their way onto that beautiful face, followed by a grim determination as the goddess spun around and resummoned the Scythe for a quick slash through the beard curtains. They accelerated their pace. Annabelle in the lead and Tharia in the back. Up front, the red light increased in intensity, as did the feeling of walking into the wrong place. Voices reached her ear, they spoke gibberish in hushed tones. The ground under her feet shuddered in a dissonant rhythm. Tharia narrowed her eyes as a ghostly specter phased through the layers of white hair that surrounded them. The creature made of nothing but clothes and a skull stared at the girls. Tharia took aim with the crossbow, but Annabelle was already in engagement range. The goddess whirled into an elegant arc with the Scythe following after her. Sharp metal cut off swathes of white hair and then effortlessly split the specter in two. Cackling laughter rang out, the rest of the clothes dropped to the ground and revealed a creature, not unlike Sisi at the core of it all. The hostile sprite bared black teeth and stared at them with scratched out eye sockets. On wings of blood, it let go of the shell. Her mind couldn¡¯t help but acknowledge the thing. Using that connection as an anchor, the sprite suddenly started shuddering. It popped open like a ripe fruit with fleshy tendrils rapidly rearranging the body into a grotesque shape. She noticed two front legs and a third leg in the back. There were also fleshy sleeves that looked like two more legs ¨C only the thing had run out of bones to fill them with. It was another one of those void things.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Annabelle stepped forward and made a horizontal cut with her weapon. It went straight through the shivering mess and cut off the lower half. Yet undeterred, a black carapace sprouted in response to the assault. Thick bones poked out of it and gestated into knives right in front of their eyes. Annie¡¯s motion continued, the other hand struck downwards and with golden glitter, the war-fan manifested just as she was about to hit the creature. It vanished in a rain of half-changed flesh. ¡°Just once I¡¯d like to keep my last meal when facing new monsters¡±, said Tharia. Annabelle just smirked as a reply. Together, they continued towards the center. By now it was glaringly obvious that some fuckery was afoot with the way distance worked within the beard. So when they finally cut the last layer of it and found what they were looking for, it came as a surprise. The place looked like an unholy grove of sorts. At the center was a beating living heart the size of a small house. It had melded with a tree made out of a bone structure that sprouted from a pile of dead creatures that all had wings of sorts. The thing that spelled grove to Tharia was the collection of bloodred flowers that sprouted from the equally colored grass on the ground. There were hedges that could look beautiful if they didn¡¯t glisten in the strange light. A flock of void-sprites danced around the central premise. They hadn¡¯t noticed the girls yet and Tharia averted her gaze in an attempt to not acknowledge them. ¡°We could shoot the heart from here¡±, said Annabelle and Tharia nodded. It meant looking at the sprites but given the distance, she could easily make the shot. Maybe they could avoid that confrontation. Just be a cheeky bint and snipe out the core from under their thumbs. She plonked down the rucksack to use it as a foundation for the crossbow. Resting the full weight of the weapon on something, made it easier for her to aim. It took her a moment to wind up the loading mechanism while Annabelle took up a defensive position. ¡°Ready?¡± ¡°Kill it, Fairy¡± Tharia took a deep breath and then concentrated on the weapon in her hands. Keeping the breath in her lungs, she swiveled the weapon around and took aim. Hold steady, fire. She flicked the firing mechanism and watched the bolt drive into the heart. A loud scream pierced through the canopy above. Viktor¡¯s scream gurgled as the giant thrashed about in mindless rage. Bits and pieces of observatory showered down through the thick layers of hair that had created this microcosm. ¡°That was easy¡±, said Tharia and immediately put a hand in front of her mouth, ¡°Nope I didn¡¯t just jinx it.¡± They waited a few more minutes for the shudders to fade but that had really been the end of the Godbeast Viktor. Tharia stood up and blinked. ¡°That can¡¯t have been it, right? This has to be a trick of sorts¡±, Tharia said while scratching her nose, a moment later, she laughed, ¡°See, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about.¡± The heart was dead and so was the Godbeast. From its dead body rolled a golden sphere the size of a small hand. It pulsed with divine energy. Annabelle stepped forward but stopped immediately when the tiny void lights suddenly all took interest in it. The dozen hostile sprites zoomed for the sphere and before either of the girls could do anything, they penetrated the outer shell. It instantly changed color to pitch-black but the process didn¡¯t stop there. Black ink dripped out of the sphere and where it hit the ground, reality began to unravel. Hushed voices echoed out of rifts in the floor, pieces of the observatory ground twisted and turned, before breaking loose. They floated around the sphere, building a makeshift barrier from any further ranged assaults. Nausea took hold of Tharia and by the looks of it Annie as well. The blink ink reached the beard and with the power of a conflagration, it burst into black fire until nothing of it was left ¨C yet the fire continued, eating up the corpse of Viktor in less than five seconds. Annabelle grabbed the Scythe while Tharia was loading up another bolt. This was bad. Just looking at it intensified the urge to empty her stomach ¨C and it wasn¡¯t even done bringing out the ugly stuff. Soon, all that remained was a large black sphere, pulsing with energy in a broken observatory. Without further warning, a strand of flesh emanated from the sphere and shot out as the mimicry of a massive human arm. Tharia felt Annie¡¯s strong hands grab her and a moment later, the goddess had thrown her to the ground a distance away. The massive hand slammed down where she had been a moment before. ¡°The crossbow... the supplies!¡± Tharia couldn¡¯t help but let out a bitter laugh as yet another of her weapons was smashed to pieces. The moment of levity died when the hand split apart, gestating right in front of their eyes. Lesser arms sprouted from the fingers and further split into even more arms at the fingertips. A wall of hundred hands reached for them. Tharia scrambled back on her feet and together with Annabelle, she decided to gain more distance it. A massive human head split from the sphere itself, it had the face of Viktor. The eyes were wide open in terror. ¡°Drink from the chalice of unsung tears¡±, the large mouth screamed, ¡°embrace the pillars of unending finality. I fly on wings of broken dreams.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not getting anywhere. Get behind me¡±, said Annabelle. In one fluent motion, the goddess switched directions from running away towards directly running into the hands. Both hands spun war-fans in frenzied circles, they cut the strange hands with ease ¨C splatters of black ink were proof of that. The black sphere changed its approach instantly. The large arm snapped back inside and the face of Viktor was pulled along with it. ¡°Dance with the stars ablaze, embrace me my dear mistress of the comet¡± were his last words before the void had swallowed him up whole again. In a momentary lull, Annabelle dashed directly for the sphere while Tharia tried to keep up. In a direct confrontation, she was useless. Her only abilities were scouting, which this thing blocked, healing, which wasn¡¯t of much use right now and whatever weapon she had. The human girl glimpsed at the short-sword and sighed. Alternatively, there was the barrier-staff but with Sisi out of commision, it wasn¡¯t an option either. That left her brain, filled to the brim with stupid plans that usually ended in calamities. She fell back and allowed Annabelle to take over the brunt of fighting for a bit, while she tried to come up with a half-cocked idea. Once Annabelle had reached within five meters of the sphere, the battle resumed proper. Two shapes protruded out of the sphere. They looked like the eyeless sprites, only their bodies were stretched beyond reason. The bones cracked audibly when the sphere melded them into a horrible facsimile of her war-fans, made of flesh and broken bones. Annabelle accelerated her assault to strike twice in quick succession, the first sunk into the sphere and peeled away several layers of black ink. The other, however, was deflected by the facsimile fan. It flung away her weapon and forced her body into a turning motion. Using the best of the situation, she let go of the second weapon and summoned the large scythe mid-turn. At the apex of it, the blade of the weapon cut straight into the sphere. Once the weapon got stuck, she forcefully disengaged from the enemy. Her feet danced back a couple of steps and she brought her breathing back under control. Safe your stamina. Watch it, learn. With a flick of her wrist, the scythe reappeared in her hand and she began circling around the enemy. A ripple in the surface announced another attack. She instinctively brought up her weapon to block the coming onslaught. A giant shadow crashed against her weapon and flicked her off the ground like a lousy flea. While she was mid-air, she saw the giant body of Viktor collapse out of the sphere. Thick hands shot up and swatted after Annabelle. She could do little but bring the weapon up for another feeble block. Not even her god-weapon could survive the impact. It broke like a toy as Annabelle was smacked into the ground with enough force to skitter her over the ground for several more meters. ¡°The second coming has been brought by the fourth day of the lesser known calendar¡±, the giant screamed. It struggled to get out of the sphere, but the black mass pulled it back inside with little effort. Annabelle, on the other hand, got back on her feet. She hurt in places she didn¡¯t even know could hurt. Her vision was cloudy and she noticed the taste of blood on her lips. It was a miracle she was even standing at all. ¡°Annie!¡± pierced a loud scream that immediately brought her mind back to focus. Her vision sharpened instantly, only to see the last hand of Viktor disappear into the sphere. In his hands, he held the frail body of Tharia. The girl¡¯s screams were cut off as she disappeared into the sphere. Annabelle let her shoulders sag. She stared in disbelief. Her mind was unable to process what she had seen, but her body reacted already. In full sprint, her feet carried her towards the sphere. A feral scream filled the remnants of the observatory ¨C it was hers. Where her feet touched the ground, wooden paneling spread out in all directions. Her domain forced the world to adhere to her whims. From one moment to another, the observatory disappeared and made way for the entrance hall of a cozy mansion. Six statues marked her way to the sphere, they all showed Tharia in various tasteful nudes. Pictures hung from the walls, hundreds of them, all of her love in everyday moments. The domain had even taken on the characteristic scent of her. Annabelle locked her eyes on the shivering sphere and bared her teeth. ¡°The goddess of obsession invites you to her realm¡±, she said with an animalistic growl. Her eyes locked with the sphere again. Shudders and ripples wandered over it. With an unceremonious plop, a humanoid body fell out of it. The body soon crawled out from under the enemy and stood up. It coughed and then beamed a smile in Annie¡¯s direction. ¡°You¡¯ve convinced it¡±, she said, ¡°It let me go. Come let us leave from here in peace.¡± Instead of a verbal answer, Annabelle snarled. With a flick of her hand, one of the war-fans flew towards Tharia and directly struck her head. ¡°That wasn¡¯t nice¡±, Tharia said while her head dangled on a string of black ink, ¡°Not nice. It will make me fight you if you don¡¯t leave. You couldn¡¯t stand to hurt...¡± Before the sentence was finished, Annabelle had chucked a second war-fan. It cut off the rest of the string. There was a time when this would have tricked her. Not anymore. It only served to piss her off. She clutched the Scythe until her finger hurt. Her steps were unusually calm. There was no turmoil in her mind. These images she had seen in her dreams since the Dreamreaper, they had come back and taken shape in front of her. Her face no longer showed any emotion when her Scythe jerked up in a vertical slash, splitting the rest of the fake body in two. When Annabelle looked up again, the sphere shuddered. A storm raged within it and with disgusting sounds, seven more bodies popped out of it. Seven times, Tharia lay on the floor. Seven bodies stirred simultaneously. Only one of them was cussing like a drunk sailor that had found a thesaurus for insults. With a grin on her lips, Annabelle went for the other six. She didn¡¯t know how Tharia had gotten out ¨C and now wasn¡¯t the time. The sphere was angry and so was she. End: Enter the beard | Coming up: Full Circle 48 - Full Circle

Observatory Inner Dome

Second Ring

Battles are a menagerie of chaos, an absurd celebration of limbs and weapons in a merry round dance of murder. Annabelle wrapped her hands around her Scythe. Now that her love was back, the heart rate calmed down and cold determination took over. She was faced with six targets. They were simulacrums of her loved one. Their movements were clumsy and inexperienced. The first of the copies shambled towards the goddess. Annabelle put one foot in front and turned her upper body to provide a smaller profile, her armor clanged with each movement. She stepped forward for a horizontal slash. The blade sang as it passed through air and foe uncontested. Part of the simulacrum melted away in black ink but the other half took on increasingly absurd shapes. The sound of a voice momentarily distracted her. ¡°Yo girl, catch¡± Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something tiny and glittery flying her way. Just in time, Annabelle realized what Tharia had thrown her way. The unconscious sprite landed in the palm of her hand. Annabelle had little time to take care of it because two simulacra had encroached on her position. A human looking arm reached for her but she smacked it aside. However, to her surprise, the arm suddenly entangled around her wrist. With her arm in lockdown, Annabelle had to act fast. She brought about the scythe in another quick swipe, yet her opponent was faster. A copy of Tharia stepped closer and then simply slapped her face. Both the goddess and her opponent seemed dumbstruck at the complete lack of effect. ¡°Human body, ineffective¡±, the simulacrum said with a perfectly imitated voice, ¡°Experimentation: New shape suggested¡± Annabelle instinctively leaned back ¨C and just in time! The hand suddenly sprung into a collection of sharp needles that narrowly missed her face. She was still stuck by the grip on her wrist and no matter how much she pulled, it just didn¡¯t give. Her only option was a risky move or help from Tharia. ¡°I¡¯m going to show you fucked up, you stupid piece of shit¡±, the frail girl shouted at the sphere. A moment later, Tharia suddenly ran towards the floating ball of void and dove straight into it. Annabelle watched in quiet doubt as she saw her love crawl back inside. ¡°Yeah, okay. No. Maybe we should have a talk sometime¡±, she said with a dry tone and caught a direct strike against her abdomen for being distracted. The sharp needles poked into her armor but were caught before they could do any real damage. ¡°Adaptation ineffective¡±, the simulacrum said, ¡°Experimentation: Increased length¡± Risky move it was then. Annabelle tensed her muscles for a quick motion and then momentarily dispelled her armor. She instantly dodged aside as the gold light dissipated and finally pulled her wrist free. In one quick motion, she whirled around, put the sleeping Sisi from her palm into a pocket on her shirt and then finished the whirl with the prolonged edge of the scythe cutting a swath through her opponent. The second simulacrum split in two with half of it falling away and the rest convulsing in strange mutations. ¡°Hold partially effective¡±, a third simulacrum spoke, ¡°Experimentation: Coordinated attack of both¡± Annabelle had little qualms with her opponent announcing every move. It made it easier for her to counter. Not giving them the chance to coordinate, the goddess lunged forward. Golden light encapsulated her slim form and manifested into her armor once more. With her full body weight, she slammed a shoulder into the simulacrum that had just spoken. Using the butt-end of her Scythe, she bashed in the head and then moved in on the next target. Three more to go. The goddess ran right past it and let the hooked blade of her weapon along with her momentum decapitate the fourth target. This was easier than she thought. Ironically, it was that idea that made her fall back. Too easy. She whirled around in time to block a massive several meter long spear of black ink that had root in three convulsing simulacra. As her scythe touched the protrusion, it split apart and wrapped around her weapon, pulling it from her hands. ¡°Holding effective¡±, the strange spear said and suddenly looked at her with eyes growing out of the weapon. ¡°This human form, however, is ineffective. Limited motor function. Adaptation¡±, her opponent continued. While the thing crunched down on her weapon, Annabelle danced a couple of steps out of range. The black ink of the simulacra combined into a singular shape. It didn¡¯t take long for the goddess to notice that her opponent was now imitating her, down to the smallest of details. Like before, it reset to clumsy motions but quickly learned through imitation. The goddess used the moment to catch her breath. A single enemy was easier to deal with than a whole selection of them. However, she kept an eye on the strangely idle sphere. Ever since Tharia had crawled back inside, it did nothing but shudder occasionally. Just what was that girl doing? ¡°Why do you struggle?¡± asked her copy with a curious tone. It was an odd feeling to circle around herself, ready to strike at what looked like her own body, yet Annabelle held her weapon ready and took careful measure of her opponent. She didn¡¯t grace it with an answer, however. That wasn¡¯t her style. ¡°We are the solution to your problem¡±, the copy said, ¡°Your world is poisoned with two kinds of magic. These woes are our food. Surrender, let us eat and save you¡± The goddess shook her head, ¡°You are madness incarnate. No word you speak holds merit¡± As if her reply were the signal, her copy leaped into action. A long leap took it right in front of Annabelle and before she could react, an armored fist took the wind out of her. Stumbling back in momentary shock, her copy held out one of the arms. It changed into a spear what nigh instantly pierced the same spot the fist had hit. Searing hot pain overwhelmed the goddess. Pain, however, meant she was still alive. Gritting her teeth, she jabbed one of her hands towards the black spear and manifested a war-fan mid-attack. It easily cut through and the black ink flowed out of her wound. She was rapidly losing blood and her vision started to swim. This was unusual, she had taken far worst punishment than this and came out on top, yet that one attack caused her to stagger. Her copy showed a wide grin. ¡°Tasty¡±, it said in a mock tone that sounded more like something Tharia would say. A blue string of light circled around one of the fingers. Her simulacrum licked it off while keeping that unnerving expression. ¡°More¡± And with that, the opponent once more leaped into action. This time, Annabelle was prepared. She resummoned her main weapon for a block, but the impact easily threw her off her feet. When she landed on the floor, she was winded and her vision had nearly faded. There was nary any essence left in her as two strands protruded from the wound in her abdomen. One string was nearly gone, the other pulsed but lost strength rapidly. Around her, the armor crumbled away as she could no longer maintain it. Annabelle gasped for breath. She would not be drained again. Scrambling back on her feet, she focussed her vision on her copy. Her opponent was stronger, more adaptable and she was losing her tools one by one. Already, her scythe fell into pieces in her hands. Soon, all that remained of her summoned weapons collection was one tiny and insignificant piece. Frankly, it hadn¡¯t seen a lot of battles at all. She wrapped her hands around it and then took measure. ¡°Bring it¡±, she said with a raspy voice and lunged for her mirror foe. The doppelganger tilted the head to the side and then morphed its hand into a copy of Annabelle¡¯s scythe. In a motion that seemed more bored than threatened, the creature tried to slash her. Her defense objectively made no sense, crouching down, Annabelle suddenly held out her hand. Within it rested a tiny ring, yet when the Scythe came into contact with it, the doppelganger screamed out in pain.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Instead of cutting open Annabelle, the morphed hand split apart like a piece of paper. Grunting, Annabelle got back on her feet and used the moment of confusion to close the distance. While on the approach, she flicked the ring towards her foe and watched it erase a straight line of ink. By the time she was up close and personal, the ring re-appeared on her finger just in time for her jab to connect with the neck of her enemy. The hand did little damage but the ring cut through with tremendous effect. With a limb cut off and the head dislodged, the doppelganger fell back on the rapid swirling chaos of randomly generating limbs. Annabelle growled a guttural tone and punched her fist directly into the middle of it. ¡°Go ahead. Work for me¡±, she pressed through her teeth as the everchanging nature of her foe worked against it. No matter how much it tried to rearrange, it only served to further swirl around the destructive ring until there was nothing left but a small blue and yellow sphere. She had won. ¡°Hah. Fuck me¡±, Annabelle said before collapsing on the floor. Tharia stood in a barren wasteland with a ground made of metal. Bizarre iron flower-towers reached for the sky with weird flesh clusters growing on them like ivy. This was the domain of the sphere, of this she had no doubt. Around her feet was a small diameter of influence. Her very presence brought change upon this place in a cascade of catastrophic permutations. The metal turned to grass, quickly changed into limbs and formed into tiny creatures that died from lack of proper organs. Her presence here was a perpetual cycle of creation and death at once in a perfect mirror of what the void did in her world. A humongous sphere lowered from the sky and came to rest in front of her. The presence dwarved her like the mountain towers over a grain of dust and for a moment she considered whether she was witnessing a capital letter g type of god. Its surface rippled and with little more warning, tendrils pierced her forehead. There was no pain, just a sudden onslaught of concepts and ideas that forced their way into her mind. She watched her body convulse and bloat as it began to rearrange according to the will of the sphere. However, Tharia also noticed that the connection went both ways. Her mind touched upon a place deep within her psyche. It was a memory of a dark night. She remembered little details of it like random parts of furniture that stood out with clarity or the sound of rain against the window. The noise of feet on the ground was clearest, however. He was coming to break her and nothing she could do would stop him. Hers was a despair pure and unfiltered and wielding it like a weapon, she went on the attack. She dredged it up into her mind and then forced that emotion through the connection. The onslaught of concepts from the sphere became jumbled. Larger ripples went through it as it recoiled from her impressions. Not letting up one moment, she reached for the next emotion. It was from the moment she realized her great love had left her behind. She remembered the look of Annabelle¡¯s back as the goddess visited her younger self for the last time. Tharia waited for that feeling of love turning to petty hate and then pierced it straight through the sphere¡¯s defenses. With that, the connection ended abruptly, the tendrils withdrew from her mind but Tharia wasn¡¯t having any of it. She followed after the tendrils and then jammed her hand into the body of the large sphere. Hundreds of sensations threatened to overwhelm her, but she wasn¡¯t the queen of repression for nothing. She simply accepted the chaos and change as is and poured more of her memories into her enemy. Soon, Tharia realized it was not just her anger but that of the world itself. The mother bone part of her was having a say as well. Around her, the strange world came undone. The structures collapsed and the sky split open to make way for brimstone floating above. She saw the sphere shrink until a frail-looking girl collapsed on the ground in front of her. With the short hair and the legs standing off in odd angles, it was obvious the void creature had stuck to a mirror image of Tharia. ¡°Help me¡±, her reflection stuttered with a breaking voice. Tharia heard the tears in it. Those had once been hers. ¡°Shhh, it¡¯s alright. You don¡¯t need to enter this world. I¡¯m sorry to say, but what you¡¯ve seen is but a fraction of the things we do in our world. Imagine what it would do to an existence many times more complex than ours¡± she said and knelt down in front of herself. She pulled the creature made of black ink into a tight embrace. ¡°Here, let me heal you,¡± Tharia said. In all her onslaught, she had kept back one emotion on purpose: Betrayal. She softly touched her mirror reflection and reached for the divine essence inside of her. Healing energy poured into the void creature, causing it to glow from within. Tharia showed a fake smile on her face that was equal parts pity and a shitty personality. ¡°When my journey started, we met someone just like you¡±, she explained while brushing a hand over the fake¡¯s gooey hair. While speaking, Tharia kept sending more energy into her enemy. At first, it noticeably enriched her enemy while draining Tharia¡¯s strength in turn. But as the human girl grew weaker, the copy suddenly started shuddering. ¡°Weird¡±, it said, the voice cracking. Ugly growths of flesh suddenly sprouted out of it. The human girl tried to stomach the view of her own body being twisted apart by uncontrolled growths from within. In disgust, she instinctively pushed more of her energy inside the sphere ¨C and then kept going further. Only when her legs gave out underneath her, did she finally stop. ¡°A bit too much, aye?¡± she said with a sarcastic tone. The sphere shuddered and then exploded, expelling everything it had soaked up before. Tharia found herself pushed along the floor by a wall of expanding dead flesh. Tharia crawled through the remains of the observatory. The essence inside was too exhausted to keep her walking, but that couldn¡¯t stop a tenacious little demon like her. There was very little left of the structure. A half-shell of metal still stood up and curiously enough, a thin layer of ice served as a sort of roof. All around her was destruction. Remains of the overgrown sphere lay strewn about, there were even parts of Viktor that had somehow found their way back. A horrible stench lay all over it and somewhere in this mess, there was Annabelle. In short, just another day in the apocalypse. She called upon her special vision to search for the life-flame of her love but was swarmed by bright light all around here. Reaching down to one of the flames at her feet, she picked up a golden pearl filled with the divine essence. The corpses strewn about were littered with them. Her first impulse was to search for the strongest flame. Yet when she reached it, this turned out to be the remains of Viktor. Tharia sighed and reached her hand deep into things she would never tell anyone about and pulled out the sphere. With a shrug, she put it into a small bag and went for the next smaller one. Little by little, she started to look like a butcher and had a pouch filled with hundreds of spheres, but still no trace of her love. It wasn¡¯t until she reached the two weakest, that she found Annabelle on the ground, clutching an unconscious sprite in her hands. ¡°You can¡¯t just go and lose¡±, Tharia said with a sigh and plopped down next to Annabelle. ¡°I didn¡¯t lose¡±, came the faint voice of the goddess. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it¡± ¡°Should see the loser¡±, Annabelle joked with a grin, followed by a cough. Tharia reached her hand over and once more called on her essence even though it had little left to give. ¡°It¡¯s scary¡±, she said to her goddess with a faint smile, ¡°This has become normal. We wake up each day and go to bed drenched in viscera and with a bag full of divine energy. Oh, by the way, got some candy for you¡± Her hands placed the bloodied pouch on Annabelle. ¡°There¡¯s a part of me that¡¯s enjoying this, Annie. We go up against ludicrous creatures that should not be and then tear it apart. Stealing what we think is ours. The end of the world isn¡¯t about humanity seeing another day, it¡¯s about us. You and me. Sure, I¡¯ll be happy to help those kids¡±, Tharia said and let out a loud sigh, ¡°But between you and me, it¡¯s only because I want the attention and praise¡± An odd sound caused Tharia to pause. She pushed herself onto her hands and gazed upon Annabelle. The poor goddess was laughing hysterically. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± ¡°You¡¯re neither good nor bad, just melodramatic¡±, Annabelle said during bouts of laughter. ¡°That was kinda mean¡± ¡°True, it¡¯s also something you needed to hear, fairy. Look at us, we¡¯re long past any point of ethical behavior¡±, the goddess said, carefully laying out her words one by one, ¡°we murder by the hundreds, we steal every day, we destroy wherever we go. None of that matters. There are only two persons in a position to judge anymore ¨C you and me¡± Tharia leaned back and gazed up at the sky above. A grin crept onto her face. Annie¡¯s words had something to them. She mulled them over and then added quietly. ¡°When we rebuild the world, we get to write new history¡±, Tharia said, ¡°Damn straight we¡¯ll leave out the toilet breaks, the time of the months, we won¡¯t tell anyone we might have accidentally torched an entire district or flooded another.¡± It felt good to joke again. While it was true, she did enjoy the battles too much, there was something else she enjoyed even more: The moments of exhausted banter after. The next hours were spent in a steady pace of cleaning up, resting up and gearing up until the two girls finally walked out of the ruins. ¡°There¡¯s just no way forward without Sisi¡±, said Annabelle. Tharia nodded and rubbed her nose. The sprite was still unconscious and without the heat, there was no getting past the cold and harsh weather. ¡°We must go either way¡±, answered Tharia and momentarily leaned in on Annabelle. Her hand pointed towards the horizon where the world had taken a turn for the worse. In a place not too far away, the sky and the ground had connected with a strange pillar half made out of flesh and half out of plants. ¡°No way around it¡±, Annabelle said with a sigh. ¡°Only two broken girls left¡±, Tharia added and rubbed her hands together to keep them warm. ¡°Shall we?¡± ¡°Aye, Annie. Let¡¯s kick down the sky and trample the earth¡± End: Full Circle | Coming Up: Already!? 49 - Already!?

Ruins of what remains

Second Ring

The outside world had become a peculiar place. Snowdrifts whipped up by the wind had become frozen mid-air, giving the ruins of the city a crystal-like flair. Light sparkled and reflected off the white snow that covered everything. Tharia quietly walked through the legs of a giant creature that had been frozen in place. The rows of six eyes on the maw still looked alive but she had checked ¨C there was no flame of life left. The girl kept her head low, only disturbed by the occasional sound from Annabelle up ahead. Golden light flashed in rapid succession. After the goddess had swallowed the collection of spheres, she now sported a regular arsenal, from swords to axes to just about everything in various minor variations. Tharia glanced at her short sword and the inactive barrier staff. She suppressed a bitter chuckle. Envy, her? No way. ¡°Well, killing this pillar will be fun? Personally, I vote for letting them freeze to death¡±, said Tharia with one eye on the large pillar. Now that they were closer, it turned out to be a weird mixture of pale, cloth-like flesh above and open muscle below, both covered by golden fields. The large sphere on top was covered in eyes that seemed to observe everything. ¡°It seems insurmountable¡±, answered Annabelle. ¡°So did every enemy we faced so far ¨C and then we went and killed them anyway¡±, said Tharia. Annabelle nodded and continued towards the intertwined creatures. Truth be told, the human girl saw no way that they could even harm a creature with these proportions. A fire could do the trick, but they had no way to start one without Sisi and the sprite was still out of action. Her feets dragged through the layers of snow. This was to be one of their final battles, but it felt like a funeral march to her. Despair had soaked in. The icy winds did their part in sapping the strength from them. A couple of kilometers wasn¡¯t usually a big march for them anymore, not even for Tharia ¨C despite her disability. Yet she felt like she couldn¡¯t walk another step. One step after another, she would sink into the thick snow and have to fight her way out of it, just to sink in again. Soon, the feeling changed, however. It felt like she was walking on a swamp and whenever her feet touched the ground ¨C or rather compacted enough snow to hold her, it seemed as if a shudder ran through the snow up ahead. They were getting close. She realized hundreds of flames had appeared in her vision. It was a regular battlefield, clothes-like fought with fleshy horrors. Observers stood in the streets and served as food for both. If the golden fields got to them, they exploded into clouds of parasitic wheat that quickly burrowed through the snow. In case the clothes-like got it, the observers were sucked dry and then turned into nests for dozens of new floating creatures. A strange looking rat suddenly took notice of Tharia. It scurried towards her and got on its hind legs. ¡°FOUND. YOU¡±, it scowled. A quick jab of her short-sword killed it before it could finish speaking. ¡°Aye, we¡¯re there. We ready to kill this thing?¡± she asked of the goddess. Annabelle¡¯s response was silence at first until she shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s the kind of confidence I want to see¡±, joked Tharia and sighed. It was a slightly unfair match: Two girls with puny weapons against towering existences, each with their own army of monsters. What could they possibly do to win? It¡¯s not like they could just waltz straight to the heart, poke it and then move on. Could they? Tharia suddenly slapped her forehead and started laughing. Annabelle gave her an odd look in response which only made it worse. ¡°Gosh Annie, we¡¯re dumbasses¡±, the girl finally said while gasping for air, ¡°You¡¯re a goddess, Annie and I¡¯m a monster that seeks life. It¡¯s kinda the whole point. We don¡¯t fight like humans anymore. We cheat. Here¡¯s what we do!¡± She walked up to Annabelle and wrapped her arms around Annabelle. Despite the snow, regardless of the creatures locked in battle around them, Tharia suddenly placed a kiss on Annie¡¯s neck. A strange air unfolded around them. ¡°Let it out. Open your domain¡±, Tharia commanded and kept up the slight pecks. A moment later, they suddenly stood on the wooden floor. The domain wasn¡¯t large but it formed a protective bubble around them, yet it also disconnected them from reality. Stuck in this half-world, they were more or less blind to what happened around them. Annabelle looked at her with a confused and slightly excited look. ¡°Not now¡±, Tharia said with a wink and leaned away from Annie, ¡°Now you will concentrate on keeping this domain active. That¡¯s all you need to do. Leave the rest to me.¡± With that, she closed her eyes and focussed on the largest two of the flames. One was on the ground level, the other was high up in the sky. A grin formed on her lips. She was a fucking genius. Reveling in her own adoration, she opened her eyes again and then pointed forward. Together, they used the domain as a sort of tunnel. Every few steps, Tharia would get their bearings and then point them in the right direction. A sudden noise made Tharia stop, she gave a sign to Annabelle to wait and then pulled out her short-sword. Tiny feet scratched over the wooden floor, by the time the rat popped around the corner, Tharia was already in place to drive the sword straight through it. ¡°Yeah we get it, you found us¡±, she said with a sigh and returned to Annabelle, ¡°Let¡¯s go that way¡± A god¡¯s domain really felt like cheating. Not only didn¡¯t they have to exhaust themselves by waltzing through snow, but they also skipped all the small fry on the way. They literally walked past beautiful rooms, decorated with luxurious splendor, instead of pacing through a snow-choked apocalypse. Soon, Tharia had started humming and Annabelle chimed in with a beautiful singing voice. ¡°Little Tammy danced, yeah she danced in the night, danced in the night til the ring gave her fright. It was the old king¡¯s gift that had made her run, yeah it had made her run into the morning sun. Dancing, dancing in the light, watch Little Tammy burn up bright ¨C because the morning sun, when you get there, yeah when you get there, it will burn your hair...¡± Tharia suddenly burst out laughing, ¡°What the fuck kind of song is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the song about Little Tammy¡±, answered Annabelle with a confused look. ¡°Girl, Little Tammy finds her true love in far-off lands. She doesn¡¯t get burned by literally running into the bloody sun. Uh, wait a second¡±, said Tharia. She once more held up her short-sword and dashed towards a wall covered in lush carpets. A tiny flame crept through the walls. It didn¡¯t for much longer as the short sword punched through the carpet and the paneling behind it to kill whatever it was that had sneaked its way into the domain. ¡°Where did you learn that song? Let me guess, that one guy? He was pulling your leg, hard¡±, Tharia said with a grin, followed by a kiss on the cheek. ¡°Your voice is actually quite nice. This is the second time I¡¯ve heard you sing. You should do it more often¡±, the human girl added, yet Annabelle stopped walking. ¡°You forbade me from doing it¡±, the goddess snapped. That doll-like face showed turned down lips with a furrowed forehead and wrinkled nose. Annabelle looked pissed. ¡°What? No? Wait, I did, didn¡¯t I? It was in jest, surely you didn¡¯t... oh bloody abyss¡±, Tharia stumbled over her own words. Had she done something like that? Maybe? Just as Tharia was about to plunge into a crisis, Annabelle couldn¡¯t hold her laughter anymore. The goddess laughed and it was then that the human girl realized, she had been teased. ¡°I guess there comes a time when the master is beat by her student¡±, she finally said and then chimed in. It felt good to laugh again. Even though it was laced with nervousness. The tunnel would get them to the heart of the golden fields. What awaited them there, was a different question altogether. They were no longer laughing and joking. Solemn quietness accompanied them as they inched closer to the largest flame Tharia had ever felt. Around them, the domain started to crack. Parts of it broke away to reveal living walls made of flesh and strange shapes. With the increased temperature, Tharia quietly mused they had to be inside of the golden fields by now. No words were needed for them to get ready. Tharia simply used a handsign and then lifted her short-sword. Annabelle, on the other hand, brought out her equipment. There really was a pang of envy in Tharia as the doll-like beauty armored up in a split second, including a golden shield and helmet now. One last nod and the domain fell away. A nasty smell immediately assaulted Tharia. Decay, mixed in with unspeakable other odors. There was an odd ambient light around them that gave the flesh-walls a special kind of ambiance. ¡°Any enemies?¡± whispered Annabelle. The goddess was walking in front. Quick motions of her head betrayed her tension. Tharia reached out with her special vision but recoiled immediately. Flashes of light danced in front of her eyes. ¡°Too many. Like staring into the sun. Eyes and ears only¡±, she said and rubbed the base of her nose. The flashes faded away but it took another few steps before her vision returned to normal. They quietly paced through corridors made of flesh. Strange ligaments hung from the ceiling and their steps left wet smudges on the ground. ¡°I¡¯m not sure it knows we¡¯re here yet¡±, whispered Tharia. Annabelle nodded in acknowledgment. A loud thumping noise came from up ahead and the corridor opened up into a large chamber. The golden fields had swallowed up an entire village. Remains of walls stuck out of the ceiling, along with toppled over roofs and parts of the road still plastered into the ground. The architecture didn¡¯t look like anything from the city and was more reminiscent of the places outside. Central to the room was a well on the floor. A cluster of human bodies grew out of it, hoisted up by strings of flesh. It didn¡¯t take an expert for Tharia to know that many of these had been dead for a long time. There were bloated bodies that hinted at being drowned in the well, some had wounds from weaponry. These were the source of the stench. ¡°This is it, right? Can you feel any of your essence in it?¡± asked Tharia. Annabelle closed her eyes and shook her head. ¡°None close by, fairy. Just the star above¡± The human girl quietly walked closer to the cluster of corpses. She had to put a hand in front of her mouth to bear the stench. Pulses of life ran through the bodies but it was the pulse of something much larger. ¡°One of these contains the god-beast. Yet the second we attack, we¡¯ll be swarmed by thousands of enemies at once¡±, said Tharia and glanced at the dead. She was looking for signs of the crystal chrysalis. Each godbeast so far had one of these somewhere, a core from which the nightmare tested new forms. ¡°No luck. How do we figure out the right one?¡± mused Tharia, when she suddenly noticed a motion to the side. It was small, insignificant and she had really gotten used to killing them by now. The rat got on its hind legs.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°FOUND. YOU¡±, it squeaked and then it all broke down. The cluster of bodies pulsed in response and then pulled back into the well. Fleshy walls around them shivered and an odd hum ran through the main body of the golden fields. Suddenly, it seemed as if the world itself was singing low-pitched nursery rhymes. Annabelle suddenly leaped towards Tharia and gave her a push. Confused and dazed, the smaller girl didn¡¯t defend. Her body hit the well. With two more steps, Annabelle closed in and gave her a kiss. ¡°Find the right one. I¡¯ll buy you time¡±, the goddess said and then pushed Tharia down the well, after the cluster of dead bodies. Tharia¡¯s shock and the sheer anger at the supposed betrayal lasted all the way to the ground, where she impacted hard on something her mind would not dare to describe. She stared directly into the empty eyes of a dead body. As the ambient light kicked in, Tharia saw thousands of bodies all stuffed into the chamber below the well. Some of them were ancient, rotten away bones, some even older. The sound of fighting reached down from up above. Tharia shot an angry glance and perhaps for the first time in a pretty long time, she was furiously angry at her love. What had that been? The anger in her heart clouded her mind with rage. She wrapped her fingers around the short-sword and began stabbing the dead bodies in search of the chrysalis. Admittedly, it also helped in venting her rage. Annabelle stared at her hands. Why had she done that? Deep within, she knew why. It was for the same reason why she had also lied about only sensing the false star above. There was one more source nearby. Something only she could deal with. The goddess turned around with her heart thumping violently in her chest. Two rows of flesh beast stood to either side of the chamber, they looked ready to go but something kept them in check. That something walked down one of the corridors on steps of golden light. Trails of energy-flowers faded behind him. His young face was serene and he carried himself with authority. Nothing in his posture symbolized threat but Annabelle was shivering with fear. Her head was bursting with strange emotions. ¡°Cathrion¡±, she whispered. ¡°My dear wife¡±, the man answered and put up a smile. At no point did he open his eyes. She was grateful for it. Those eyes were haunting and had always been her weak point. The turmoil inside of herself was filled with a sense of guilt. No matter how much she denied the feelings, she still longed for this man. Yet, she had steeled her resolve a long time ago. Her love was for Tharia alone. A quiet voice in her head whispered that it was the same Tharia she had just pushed down the well so she wouldn¡¯t get to see this. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯ve often imagined what it would be like to see you again¡±, the king said as he walked closer. There was no crown on his head but he still exuded authority. ¡°Here you are. As beautiful as you¡¯ve always been. I¡¯m saying this for the love that once used to be between you and me. Can¡¯t you just turn around and leave? This is something that must happen¡±, the King said and bowed his upper body. ¡°I beg of you. Leave. This must run its course. The gods must fall and the demons must run free, when thus the sky meets the earth and chaos is born from the eternal struggle, then a better world shall be born from the heart and mind.¡± His voice had taken on a zealous tone. Annabelle was still frozen in place. Why, why, why was she feeling something for this piece of shit? It had betrayed her, stabbed her, abused her for his plans and then cast her aside. Yet here he was and she still felt some sort of connection to the man. ¡°Why did you do this?¡± she asked with a quiet whisper. ¡°Curiosity at first. Which boy wouldn¡¯t dream of marrying a beauty like you? You were perfect in all ways but one¡±, he said and closed the distance between them. Annabelle started shivering. Whether it was rage, anticipation or fear, she did not know. ¡°Annabelle, my dear Annabelle, you were cold as ice. To you, I was a toy. A superior being had come down from the heavens to decorate herself with the pitiful king of the humans. When a friend of mine told me of a way to not only fix you but make the world a better place? What else was I supposed to do?¡± Pretty soon, Cathrion stood right in front of Annabelle. There was an undeniable connection between them. She felt excited, despite standing in a torn up village swallowed up by walls of flesh. Annabelle swallowed. ¡°So it was pride, Cathrion? That¡¯s all I was to you?¡± ¡°At some point, yes. I wanted to break you so you could become better. Never did I dream you¡¯d unleash the horrors upon the world. But listen to me Annabelle, this has been set in motion ¨C so it must be seen through. Which is why I can¡¯t allow you to destroy this magnificent beast.¡± Somewhere along his words, something inside of Annabelle broke. She grew calm and determined. A smile crept on her face. Her hands wrapped tightly around the handle of the scythe. ¡°How will you stop me?¡± she asked in an innocent tone. Instead of a verbal answer, golden light sprung up around the king. He wore an armor, not unlike the one Annabelle had. His hands held a shield and a sword. ¡°By force, if need be¡±, he finally said with a glum expression, before closing his helmet. Without warning, Annabelle leaped into an attack. Three quick steps closed the remaining distance. She swung her scythe for a mid-waist slash ¨C but changed the weapon mid-motion into that of a large-scale hammer. Her opponent brought up the shield and took the full brunt of the attack. His body barely moved. ¡°Curious trick. I guess you really are a goddess after all, while I¡¯m just a beast¡±, he said with mockery in her voice, ¡°or was it the other way around? You sure were feral at times.¡± His words were followed by an attack from him. He stabbed his long sword towards her legs. Annabelle caught the blade with the lower end of her shield and deflected it just in time. In that same motion, she lifted the hammer above her head and swung it down. While Cathrion was off balance, the full force of the hammer bore down on his helmet. Metal collided and the king fell to the ground with an ugly crack. Yet moments later, he pulled back up as if nothing had happened. He grunted. ¡°Immortality is nice but it sure does hurt¡±, he said, ¡°What¡¯s the matter my little night-time screamer? You used to be so lou...¡± Cathrion didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence. Annabelle had already figured out he was a freshly born god and thus immune to her attacks. That didn¡¯t stop her from killing him again anyways. Her hammer formed into an axe and effortlessly cut his neck off before he could finish his taunting. While his head reformed, Annabelle whirled around and exchanged the shield for a war-fan. Whirling it up to full speed, it cut straight through the neck again, just as the head came back. ¡°Let me...¡± The goddess knew no mercy. Just as the war-fan slowed down, she closed in on the decapitated but still standing body. She held her fist next to the neck and waited until the youthful face of her former husband formed again. ¡°... finish my...¡± A dagger manifested straight through his head. This wasn¡¯t a person she could love. At best, it was obsession and infatuation. His allure was undeniable but his character was awful. Annabelle hated herself for even daring to doubt what she really felt. ¡°Three hundred and twenty¡±, Tharia said breathlessly, ¡°Stupid bitch, gods be cursed, why¡¯d she push me down here? How am I supposed to get back up? Huh? Oh, don¡¯t grin at me you idiotic skeleton.¡± Her short-sword drove through the ribcage of another dead body. As decomposed innards spilled out, Tharia was already moving on. No chrysalis either. This was going nowhere. She needed to calm down. ¡°Fucking idiot¡±, she howled and punched a fist through bones old enough to easily break on impact ¡°Three hundred and twenty-two. Be smarter, fairy. Calm down. She has her reasons, surely.¡± That blasted melody was getting on her nerves as well. Just the all-around oddly merry tune in her ears drove her closer to the edge. A small rat got in her way before the thing could even scream out that it noticed her, she stomped it flat. ¡°Shut the fuck up¡±, she screamed at the animal and then plunged her notched sword into the next dead body. No chrysalis either. That left several hundred more while Annabelle was fighting for her life up top. ¡°Act like an adult, stupid cunt¡±, Tharia said and this time, she meant herself. She punched her own stomach with full force, driving the air out of her lungs. The pain soothed over the rage in her head. Be smarter, she told herself. Think. With a finger against her forehead, she narrowed her eyebrows. ¡°The flesh-beasts were like puppets to a child. They wore sword and shield but had no idea how to use them. This music hints at a child as well¡± Looking grim, Tharia spun around in place, carefully observing her surroundings. When she didn¡¯t find a child in the room, she was relieved. ¡°That¡¯s not it then. Stunted growth perhaps. How does immature even look like?¡± Grumbling, she once more searched her surroundings until her eyes fell upon a large man with shorts, a simple shirt, and a bow tie. The clothes were much too small and the dent in the head would fit with the stunted mental growth. Surely this wasn¡¯t it, she mused as she walked towards the dead body. There was only one way to find out. She hammered her worn-out sword against the body but the blade suddenly splintered. With confusion, she realized she had finally found her target. And the target had found her. The large man opened his eyes. There was no life within them, but that didn¡¯t seem to matter one bit to it. Using the large hands, it touched the open chest and pressed against the shimmering crystal within. Tharia quietly mouthed a silent plea: Please don¡¯t awaken, please don¡¯t awaken. The large man reached out his trunk-like arms for her but she stepped out of range. With a target this slow, even she could fight it. Perhaps owing to nostalgia, she put the sword away and then reached for the barrier staff. Even without Sisi, it was still a weapon. She took measure of the large man and then put one foot for. Exhaustion made her movements sluggish, all exercise aside, she was still a crippled girl without all the magic pumping her up. Well, this magical girl was pissed. She hammered the barrier staff against his knees and when they cracked with a satisfying sound, she twisted the weapon and then let the other side snap upwards. It threw her foe on the ground. ¡°I¡¯d like to play with you, but I¡¯ve got an angry date up top¡±, she said with a puff of anger and then rammed her barrier staff down on the crystal. This time, the weapon pierced straight through it. The large man shuddered and then broke away like a dropped vase, skin cracked open and the crystal underneath turned to ash. In the end, all that remained was a blue sphere. ¡°That was... what?¡± Tharia began and looked up through the well. Annabelle¡¯s voice reached down. ¡°There¡¯s something you need to see, dear husband¡±, the goddess shouted. Husband? Tharia echoed. A moment later, a slim body fell down the well and landed on the same spot Tharia had landed before. It was Annabelle. Tharia glared at her. ¡°Husband?¡± Instead of an answer, the goddess rushed over towards Tharia. ¡°No time to explain, I love you. Please trust me¡±, she said and then forced her lips onto the frail girl. A moment later, she felt the energy drain from her body until her legs gave out and there was nothing left. The goddess held her upright by strength alone and Tharia could do little else but cling on. Her mind was in a state of permanent confusion now. Why had Annie drained her? What was wrong with her? The figure of a man floated down the well. It was a young man she had only ever seen in pictures. King Cathrion, indeed, Annie¡¯s husband. ¡°Is that what you wanted me to see?¡± the man shouted, ¡°you making out with a servant girl? You¡¯re childish, Annabelle.¡± The angry look in his eyes betrayed the hurt in his voice. Seeing Annabelle kiss Tharia really seemed to hurt him. Enough that the slowly collapsing walls of flesh eluded him. He suddenly growled and stormed towards them and still, Annabelle didn¡¯t let go of Tharia. ¡°Fine, have it your way, whore¡±, he shouted. Tharia tried to get Annabelle to let go, but the goddess just locked eyes with her. When the sword drove into Annie, the goddess twisted her body around and then tossed Tharia towards Cathrion. She had no choice but to fly like a lifeless doll. The king caught her by instinct and looked at her in confusion. It was then that Tharia finally understood at least a fraction of what was happening. Acting frail and helpless, she twisted around in his grasp. Without a trace of her spark, she couldn¡¯t move her legs, no matter how much she tried. ¡°A cripple?¡± the king shouted, ¡°you love a cripple more than the king, nay god of the world?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to...¡±, he added and suddenly stopped as blood ran from his lips. In confusion, he stared down at Tharia. The frail girl had a heartwarming smile on her lips. It was all fake but worked really well to hide the murderous intent in them. Her left hand held the handle of a broken sword. It fit nicely between two ribs and straight into the chest of the awoken god cathrion. That¡¯s why she had drained the essence from her so that the human part of her could kill him. The man suddenly stumbled and then collapsed on the ground, with Tharia on top of him. She rolled off his dead body and shut an angry glare towards Annabelle. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Fairy. I thought it was something I had to do alone, I wanted to protect you from this, but I couldn¡¯t. In the end, you had to clean up my mess.¡± Seeing the heartbroken Annie on the edge of tears washed away all her anger. She could be furious at her some other time, now the goddess needed someone strong. ¡°Can I get a complete sentence?¡± Tharia said with a smile. Annabelle blinked in confusion. ¡°That was a complete sentence?¡± ¡°I know, just pulling your leg. Help me get up, love¡±, the young girl said. Almost casually, she reached into the open mouth of Cathrion and cracked aside the jaw. With no regard at all for the former king, she pulled out a golden sphere. ¡°Right, nearly forgot. Now we¡¯re ready to leave. Carry me, please? Ideally, before it, all comes crashing down? That kinda means today?¡± ¡°Fairy, I¡¯m so sorry for what I...¡± ¡°The walls are coming down, not now!¡± ¡°Oh, right, yeah sure¡± The domain came up just in time to avoid the complete collapse of the golden fields. Safely spirited away into the pseudo-realm of Annabelle, Tharia finally allowed herself to fall down on the ground. Her back hit a soft bed instead. ¡°I just killed a city sized monster by murdering a grown man in child''s clothing and then divorced my love by killing her husband. How is this for a Tuesday? Is it Tuesday? Maybe it¡¯s Wednesday¡±, Tharia mused and let out a sigh. When she looked towards Annabelle, she saw the goddess on the ground, crying. No longer in the mood to joke, the frail girl crawled over and then nuzzled against Annie. ¡°Shh, I love you too¡±, she said. That did not stem the tide of tears. Tharia kept saying it anyway. Now was a moment to recuperate but pretty soon they would need to deal with a second monster with the size of the city. She had a hunch it wouldn¡¯t be as easy as with the golden fields. They had lucked out today. End: Already!? | Coming up: Twinkle, twinkle, bloody star 50 - Twinkle, twinkle, bloody star

The false star

At the edge of the world

Tharia leaned back on the edge of the bed. There was a certain irony in Annie¡¯s domain. The queen of hating fluffy things brought about a place that couldn¡¯t be any more comfy if she tried. Buried in long silver hair, the object of her desire had curled up and hidden her face. Tharia had tried talking to her but only gotten silence, so she rested her head on Annabelle¡¯s shoulder and stared at the ceiling, swept up in her own thoughts. She noticed a subtle motion. Tiny letters moved along the walls and floors. The cursed tongue of creation had stopped running away, no longer afraid to be seen by her. She derived words and meanings from them that each whispered inane nonsense to her. What had once been an element of intrigue to her, really was about as mundane as it could get. They were magic words, so what? Still, Tharia had to satiate her curiosity. Would the cursed tongue word for bread have a sense of taste? When one of her fingers touched a moving letter, it evaporated into thin air and like a pouting toddler, it took part of the domain along with it. One of the cushions vanished into a thin trail of smoke. Annabelle was still shutting her out and it made her angry. Nothing much she could do about it but give her time though. Her mind drifted towards the path ahead. This was it, wasn¡¯t it? Just a handful of targets left. They had rampaged through the end of all days. Not in a quest of glory for the betterment of mankind, but rather to be selfish cunts that took what they wanted. The only difference between them and brigands was the sheer cheek of daring to go up against even the largest monsters. She opened and closed her hand in front of her. Yet here they were, the last chance of this rotten world. Whether that was a good thing, she didn¡¯t know. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for shutting you out¡±, croaked the voice of Annabelle. She looked every bit as drained as she sounded, with dark rings under her eyes and sunken in skin. For a moment, a memory forced itself on the human girl. Annabelle had once been a physically perfect beauty ¨C but the months in the capital had seen her blemished with hundreds of tiny scars. Tharia brushed a hand over some of them and smiled. They didn¡¯t make her any less beautiful to her. ¡°Shhh. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not angry at you¡±, Tharia said. It was one of those social mask moments and she bit her tongue in sudden anger. Letting out a grunt, she continued speaking. ¡°No, I¡¯m pissed. But I also get why you did what you did. Look, Annie. There are two paths in front of me, one sees me stomping down a course of self-righteous anger.¡± As if to accent her words, she pressed her head against Annabelle and then kept pushing until the goddess had to lean back a bit. ¡°My thick skull would really love to take that path, to scream and shout, to throw a tantrum and be a miserable proper cunt about it¡±, Tharia continued and then relaxed again, ¡°It¡¯s so stupid, isn¡¯t it? The other path has always been there, but I¡¯ve been too angry and self-centered to see it. So often I picked the option to just scream at the world and hate everything.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the other path?¡± asked the broken looking Annabelle with a whisper. ¡°Eh, don¡¯t know yet. I¡¯ll tell you when I get through it. So far it¡¯s to tell you that I forgive you¡±, Tharia said with a grin, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look at me like that, I didn¡¯t say I was done growing up.¡± Two eyes stared at her through the fine silver hair and the frown turned into a hint of a smile. Annabelle stretched her shoulders and sat up straight. Now the trails of tears on her cheeks became even more pronounced. Tharia quietly collected them with a handkerchief from Annie¡¯s domain. Of course, it was pink. Naturally, it also was extremely soft. ¡°You¡¯re silly¡±, Annabelle said. ¡°Should have seen me when I found that fake mustache¡± Sudden gagging noises sawed straight through the romantic mood. Tharia sighed and fished a small sprite out of her shirt pocket. Sisi looked at them and put a finger in its mouth to simulate the gurgling sounds. ¡°Gods, I hate you so much¡±, it said after pulling it back out again. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯ve got love for you too¡±, Tharia said and put a finger on the tiny head. A puff of flame singed her finger, but she kept it in place anyway. ¡°That¡¯s what makes it worse¡±, the sprite continued with an indignant tone, ¡°So you¡¯re going to see this through, no matter the cost?¡± Tharia shrugged her shoulders and shot a questioning look towards Annabelle, only to earn the very same reaction back. ¡°Nothing else to do, Sisariliszimna¡±, she finally said. The sprite sagged its shoulders and drew a deep breath. ¡°Then do me a favor. Whatever comes, don¡¯t bring me back. My path ends with this world. Allow me to go out in a blaze of glory¡±, the sprite said and then, without looking at either of them, it moved towards the barrier staff. Tharia opened her mouth but with an angry look from Annabelle, she decided to remain silent. ¡°Well then, Annie. For perhaps the last time, are we ready to do this?¡± ¡°As ready as can be. Should this fail...¡± ¡°It won¡¯t. You know us, we¡¯ve beaten everything¡± ¡°True, fairy, that¡¯s true. Still, I want you to know I really love you¡± Tharia listened to the words and put a hand against Annie¡¯s chest. ¡°And I love you¡± Quietly, she added something else: For you, my dearest, I would do anything and sacrifice everything. There¡¯s nothing greater or more important than you. Tharia held the staff in hand. A gentle hum from within indicated Sisi was at work and just as ready as they were. With one last look to her, Annabelle dismissed the domain. The sheer shock of the cold made the human girl gasp for air. Her heart physically ached as her body started to work at full capacity, just to keep her upright. They stood at the bottom of a short staircase that started mid-air. To her left, Tharia saw the truly unfathomable stalk of the false star. Up close it looked like a mountain made out of flesh. The same organic substance that also formed the stairs that led them up. Worse was the look down, one wrong step and she¡¯d have a minute to lament her impact on the ground. The capital of Valarn, that cursed place that had kept them for months, now looked like a toy. A big one, sure ¨C but a toy nonetheless. ¡°It looks like we¡¯re being invited¡±, mused Tharia. The stairs conveniently had been exactly where Annie¡¯s domain ended. Someone knew. Soft and musical sounds reached her ears. ¡°Muse¡±, Tharia said. Annabelle raised her eyebrows, yet a moment later, the goddess was fully armored and held a summoned scythe in her hand. In all their journeys, the human girl had to admit, these were the weirdest stairs she had experienced. The moment they had both stepped on them, they suddenly rolled up. Fleshy muscles pulled the entire staircase towards the large main-body of the star above. Every few seconds, a strange shockwave ran through their footing and it took Tharia a while to realize this was supposed to be a pulse. Apprehension took hold of her as the music grew in intensity. The living staircase led them around the side of the star and then placed them down in front of a grey building. This too shuddered with a slow but steady pulse. The second Tharia took a step forward, thunderous applause reached her ears. She recoiled and brought up her staff in defense. ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you hear it?¡± Without warning, the annoying sound increased in intensity. She let go of her staff to press the hands against her ears. Go away, she pleaded but the sound just kept coming. Applause turned to music and when she refocussed her vision, the featureless building had expanded into a grand theatre. Golden light poured down on it. Literally, bathed out of pitch-black darkness, streams of light rained down like waterfalls. Tharia instinctively reached for the one thing that meant safety ¨C but Annabelle was nowhere around. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the return of the prodigal black lamb¡±, the voice of the Muse echoed from inside the building. ¡°Let us invite the star of the show. Come here, Miss Verholden, welcome your audience of millions¡± The lull of the voice was immense. She was in no mood to follow when she realized her body had already been moving towards the large door. Tharia bit her tongue and channeled the deepest pits of her anger to regain control of her body. Shaking and shuddering, she raised her head in defiance. ¡°Not a lot of critics alive, Eric Zuresti, but this is your most foul play yet¡±, she screamed at the building. Laughter followed her exclamation. Her surroundings changed rapidly until she stood on a stage. Rows of seats reached from here to infinity and on each of them, there sat a small flame of life. ¡°This lady invokes a name as important as the vest you discard after one evening¡±, the Muse said from right next to her. There he was, the old man dressed in an impeccable suit. He looked every bit the showman but Tharia could no longer believe the gentle smile he showed. ¡°You¡¯ve made it, Lady Verholden¡±, the old man said, ¡°So much has happened since last we met. Once, a frail and weak girl stumbled into my realm. She bore the markings that set her up for this play, but to imagine the role she would turn out to play was inconceivable¡± Tharia blinked once, then again and flat out punched his ugly mug. The old man sank to the ground and looked at her with pretended shock. ¡°Her temper is born from the temple of burning mountains¡±, he said towards a non-existent audience. ¡°Give me a stick so I can shove it up your arse and plug your mouth in one go¡±, Tharia growled. She leaned over the old man and glared down at him. At the back of her mind, she realized the crowd was enjoying everything it saw. The Muse didn¡¯t leave them any choice. ¡°That¡¯s quite enough now, Miss Verholden. Contrary to what you think, I¡¯m not your enemy¡±, he said and stood up from the ground. ¡°At every part of this journey, there was one strange man that handed out calamity and misery like candy. I remember you from the days of my childhood. You and Mother Bone both played tricks and games on me. You even tried to mind control me, you sick fuck¡±, Tharia spat back and jerked her knee into his groin. He took the hit without even flinching. The audience had disappeared. The Muse stretched his back and stared down at her. ¡°Admittedly, I may have attempted to expedite matters a bit. Lady Verholden, you¡¯re here because of an idiotic bet ten thousand years old. You¡¯ve got a choice to make, my child. Before you do, it is best if you see what is at stake¡± Behind him, a curtain lifted up and a white door appeared in its stead. The Muse grabbed her arm and dragged her through behind him. When her feet next touched the ground, she stood in what was without a doubt a temple of the gods. The black floor was covered by golden lines. She felt magic all around her, it permeated through her skin and filled her with an unusual vitality. The Muse led her through well-lit corridors and into a large room. A golden octahedron floated in the center and behind it, she gazed upon pitch black emptiness, divided and conquered by seven suns. ¡°The place of our birth, we were a curiosity born from improbable coincidence. Seven beings of the cosmos¡±, the Muse said and in short order, each sun grew in focus and then shrunk into a small human shape. Five of them, she had never seen before, two though, she recognized. One was a small crone that stood in a patch of greenery. The other was a younger looking version of the Muse that exuded elegance and pride. ¡°For a couple of years far beyond your understanding, we played with the cosmos itself until we came to a simple realization¡±, now the suns vanished until a barren rock in the shape of a sphere appeared, ¡°We were alone. There was no life but us seven. Estranged from one another, we grew lonely and each coped in their own way.¡± The barren rock grew in size until a small part of it looked like a cliff. Tharia swallowed down her angry remarks when she saw Mother Bone walk across the barren rock. Behind the crone, plants sprouted out of the ground. Tiny beings on wings of light followed after her. She recognized the shape of tiny sprites. ¡°One of us had the right idea. If there was no one else, all we had to do was seed life¡±, the Muse said and then showed another person. This one joined Mother Bone on the barren rock and soon, water covered parts of the surface. One by one, more beings joined in, until a world had taken shape and with it, came the first humans. To Tharia, this was all just nonsense. So the Muse had a creator complex, thinking himself the capital g God of it all, she would kill him anyways. Her fingers formed into fists. If this uppity god considered himself the father of all, well, she had a proven thing for familicide. She watched the humans spread out, centuries were condensed to mere glimpses. Empires rose and fell until a strange fire engulfed the world and killed every living thing on it. ¡°That¡¯s the first time it happened. Our creation killed itself. After this, we all came together to setup the world as you know it¡±, the Muse continued. His gestures looked grandiose but the man himself seemed miserable. In front of her eyes, she saw a lump of flesh float above the barren rock. It started beating and as if it was the most natural idea, she realized it was the heart of the world itself. Seven beings formed around the heart and their bodies were soon consumed. Once more, an entire world sprouted from the heart and like before, Tharia watched empires rise and fall, until one day, there was no more human left. Only the heart remained ¨C it gathered the living energy of all beings, swallowed it and started anew. Again and again. Once she had seen it a hundred times, Tharia was bloody sick of it. She looked at the Muse, but the old man kept her in place. He forced her to watch many more cycles. It was the same every time, life grew, life destroyed itself. ¡°Stop already¡±, she pleaded after what must have been thousands of cycles. Only now did the Muse relent. ¡°Precisely to the core of the problem, Miss Verholden. You, all of you, are the attempt to create beings like ourselves. We failed ¨C but we can no longer stop the cycle¡±, the old man said with a quiet voice. Once more, the image changed in front of her. One of the seven left the heart. She saw an old looking being that limped into the darkness. With each step, it lost shape and cohesion until the body broke down into a strange mess that was all things at once, yet none at all. ¡°Void¡±, the Muse said. Soon after another of the now six left. It dispersed into blue energy. ¡°The arcane and now, the divine too¡±, he said as yet another left. Like this, more gave up until there were only two left. The Muse and Mother Bone. ¡°That¡¯s the truth of the matter. The last hundred cycles, she and I have prepared this world for a choice. A bet if you will. Would our creation even want to reach our level, or would they seek destruction? It was the ultimate answer. For it, we broke creation, divided the energies, gave you power. Yet the cycle kept going, more fierce and brutal than ever. It was you, that created the monsters and the nightmares, it was you, that invited the insane seventh of us and dubbed it the void. Now we have reached the perhaps last cycle ¨C or the first of the new order¡±, the Muse spoke with a somber tone. He whirled around and stared Tharia in the eye. ¡°Yeah I got none of that¡±, she said and planted a satisfying and crunchy fist straight into his mug. The Muse reeled from the hit and had the graces to play along, Tharia realized. It was just an impulse of violence, a learned reflex to cope with things she did not understand. ¡°This is the final choice. Mother Bone has given you the keys to ending our influence on this world. The heart would beat one last time and then you¡¯d be on your own. Trust me, your kind would die in misery¡±, the old man said and held out a hand with the palm facing up. ¡°My choice is much easier to make. You and me both, we know you¡¯re a selfish little puppy. What I offer is what you wish: Eternal life in peace for you and your beautiful friend.¡± Tharia put a finger to her lips, she didn¡¯t spend long to ponder about it, ¡°Option A, you die?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be absurd, Lady Verholden. What¡¯s there to reject? This is how you are, at every point of this journey, you¡¯ve picked the option that most pleased your inner demons. You¡¯re selfish, jealous, nasty, monstrous, petty, filled with envy and greed¡± She closed her eyes for a moment. There was no doubt about it. All these descriptions fit her and its true, all throughout her journey she acted on these impulses. Faced with the easy way out, she didn¡¯t quite understand herself why she wasn¡¯t jumping at the chance. ¡°You know, the funny thing about people making promises¡±, Tharia finally said, ¡°What¡¯s there really to think about? You¡¯ve shown it to me yourself! Your guidance has seen an infinite number of attempts and never once you¡¯ve managed to succeed. That¡¯s all I need to know. You fucked it up¡±, she said with an angry snarl, ¡°Who cares if this is the last time, none of us ever expected more than that. Really, no one should have this kind of power. Furthermore, you¡¯re not just inept, you¡¯re bloody stupid too.¡± She stopped choking him with a sigh. It was getting nowhere and really was just a release valve for her anger. This man or god or whatever it was, wasn¡¯t worthy of her anger. She didn¡¯t even have pity for him. ¡°You and I, we can talk, can¡¯t we? Doesn¡¯t that mean you aren¡¯t alone anymore? Worse, when my brother made the world engine, it showed me many alternate worlds like this. Mother Bone knew, so how come you didn¡¯t? I¡¯ll tell you something¡± Following her words, she stretched herself as good as she could and raised a finger in front of his face. ¡°Deep within, you knew as well. But you¡¯re too proud a motherfucker to admit it. You wanted to be special, to be praised. Now there¡¯s no one else but you to claim you¡¯re the actual God of all things. Want to know why I know this so well?¡± she said and sighed, ¡°Because you and me, we really are alike. We¡¯re so good at faking, that we become what we pretend to be. Look at me, I faked being a hero and now I¡¯m sitting here, talking to a pompous arse about the fate of the world¡± Tharia stumbled a few steps back and glanced around the strange room. There was no doubt this was a domain as well. She reached her hand out towards the large octahedron in the center. Something about it was odd to her senses. ¡°You want a simple answer, here it is!¡± She held up her hand in his direction and put up the middle finger. ¡°No more gods, arsewipe¡± With that, she punched the octahedron. Once wasn¡¯t enough. With each of her punches, more cracks started to show in it. The Muse stood with an evergrowing grimace. ¡°You stupid child. Do you know what you¡¯ve chosen to go up against?¡±, he growled at her. Another punch cracked shards out of the floating object. ¡°Are you not aware that only you are needed? You really wish to lose your friend for this childish tantrum of yours?!¡± Tharia paused for but a moment. There were tiny words flowing out of the Octahedron, perhaps that¡¯s why she had felt that this was the cornerstone. ¡°Bring it¡±, she said and then ran her fingers over each of the words. Bit by bit, the domain of the Muse vanished and left behind a grey looking building with the Muse nowhere to be seen. Annabelle came running towards her. ¡°Where have you been?¡± Tharia remained silent at first. She picked up the barrier staff and then focussed her eyes on Annie. ¡°I¡¯ve had the chance to give us an eternity of peace and quiet¡±, she said towards Annabelle, ¡°Instead, I have declared war¡± ¡°Uh?¡± ¡°Would you enjoy an eternity in servitude to the Muse?¡± Tharia said with a solemn tone. ¡°Are you stupid?¡± ¡°For you, yes¡±, the human girl added with a grin. She closed her eyes and send out her senses. It proved one fact to her: the false star really was some type of ark. The sheer amount of life all around her was dizzying and she had to pull back her senses. Annabelle suddenly stiffened and then took up a combat stance. ¡°Something is coming¡±, the goddess said with tightly pressed lips, ¡°It¡¯s one of two things with my energy in them¡± Tharia had just enough time to turn around when the wall just plain vanished. A human figure came flying through the smoke. Clad in a weird dress that was part leather and part bronze, there was little doubt left this was Marja, the mad tinkerer. Annabelle stormed forward and held up her left hand. Golden particles formed into a massive shield whereas the tinkerer woman held up a strange elongated staff. Sparks of electricity ran along the weapon and then, with a crack of lightning, a black lance shot from the weapon. Annabelle caught it with the shield. An ugly sound rang out as the black lance pierced straight through, heaved the goddess off her feet and then nailed her against the wall in the back that still remained. Tharia growled. Part of her wanted to storm to her love and the other half wanted to bludgeon and murder the stranger woman. Seeing Annabelle groan and pull herself off the lance, she picked the second option. Circling around Marja, she closed in with the staff held to the side. Golden dust followed her every step. Marja watched her through thick glasses. That strange woman suddenly showed a smirk. Her other hand reached for a holster and pulled out a pistol. Tharia tried to dodge to the side but soon a bullet hit her chest ¨C then a second, a third and several dozen more. Crumbling to the floor in sheer pain broke her advance. She sputtered blood ¨C but then all pain vanished from her body. Naturally, a god couldn¡¯t harm another god and for whatever forsaken reason, this applied to all three of them. What even was the point of this then? ¡°The Master bids you to wait for when the time is right¡±, Marja said and sat down on the rubble. Without a care in the world, the stranger woman reloaded her weapon and trained it on Tharia again. ¡°Don¡¯t move¡±, the tinkerer growled. Behind her, part of the scenery became obvious. Tharia saw weird shapes and otherworldly figures. The surface of the false star was every bit the nightmare she imagined. In the far off distance, there was something big. ¡°We¡¯ve killed many like you before. You were supposed to be smart, a genius really. So you should be aware that we have the means to kill the gods¡±, Tharia replied. ¡°Don¡¯t care. I take it from your stiff lip that you¡¯re the Verholden girl?¡±, Marja said and looked at Tharia, ¡°Your friend over there is in deep pain. Maybe you want to help her off? I¡¯ll allow it¡± The young woman looked between the tinkerer and the goddess. It hurt to see Annabelle suffer. While it was true that no god could kill another one, hurting was a different thing altogether. Feeling a sudden vibration in her hands, she put the barrier staff down to the ground and then walked over towards her love. Under the watchful eyes of the artificer, she helped Annie off the lance and to the ground where the wound finally disappeared. ¡°Good girl. Well, do you want something to drink? Tea? Turesai coffee?¡± the tinkerer asked with a bored tone. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve admired your rampage through the city and the trickery. One foe after another, you¡¯ve beaten by acting as if you¡¯ve lost, lulling them into a fake sense of security and then... poof¡±, Marja said and suddenly slapped her hand to the side. The elongated barrel of the pistol smacked straight into a tiny sprite and send it flying.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Maneuvers like putting down the staff, so that your fire elemental can creep up on me. I appreciate these details. Smart thinking, it¡¯s great. Had we met earlier, we might have even become friends and worked together¡±, Marja said with a faint smile. ¡°But now, I¡¯m just here to delay. Its poisoned fate, isn¡¯t it? The greatest mind of this century and all I¡¯m good for is to waste your time and then die for my master. Uh uh, down girl, sit!¡± Tharia bit her lip. She hadn¡¯t even started to move and the pistol already pointed at her again. The memory of the pain kept her still. ¡°Why do you stall for time?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know soon enough¡±, Marja said and looked over her shoulder. A long sigh escaped her lips. ¡°Alright then. Shall we get to it then?¡± the stranger woman said and then pointed the pistol at both Tharia and Annabelle. Flames bellowed in quick succession and Tharia once more found herself riddled with dozens of tiny holes. While she flailed around on the ground, trying to bear the pain, the rest of the building vanished. For the first time, she got a good look at their surroundings. The surface of the false star consisted of hundreds of grey looking muscles. They were in constant motion, forming the shapes of buildings, roads, and even statues before falling away again. A series of grey hells reached up in concentric circles around the entirety of it. When one of the hills blinked, Tharia realized these were actually humongous eyes. It was easy to forget with something this large, that they were standing on a living being. As the pain subsided, Tharia pressed herself back up. Marja was gone but not for long. Just as she got back on her legs, she felt something pierce her midsection. Grunting in frustration, she was carried along with a large black lance and hammered into the ground. Intense pain numbed her every sense until she only felt anger and agony. It wasn¡¯t until Annabelle lifted her off the weapon, that it normalized. She looked at the lance and followed the trajectory to see the tinkerer stand on a hill in the far off distance. The lance thrower in her hands was already reloaded. ¡°How do we beat this, firearms are just plain unfair¡±, groaned Tharia. She glared daggers at the far away enemy. There was something at the back of her mind that kept begging for attention. A tiny little memory of an event many days in the past. The false star was more than just a surface, it had once given birth to a... Tharia cursed. A hand the size of a city district lifted out of the ground. Six fingers, each the length of a road, clawed into the grey flesh of the ground. A second hand raised up and hammered down. The impact sent shockwaves towards them, even though they were several kilometers away. She stared with her mouth agape, at a humongous humanoid raising above the false star. It was featureless, except for six eyes on the head and a crystal in the chest, yet even from this distance, Tharia knew that this was where the heart of the world rested. The giant let out a howl and reached for something far below. When his massive hand pulled back up, it held the large of a temple. Letting out another howl, it flung the building towards them. Completely in shock, Tharia could do nothing but stare at the building buried into the fleshy ground not even fifty meters away from them. ¡°Did it just throw the church at us?¡± she mused, her voice drenched in emergency sarcasm. It was the last vestige of a mind bordering on the breaking point. A thick plume of dust washed over them like a storm of snow. She felt a hand grab her arm. Annabelle dragged her deeper into the dust. Of course, it blocked the vision of Marja. Tharia fell into pace and followed after her love. They aimed for the spot the tinkerer had been and stumbling over her barrier staff meant they were on the right way. She picked it up and recognized the tiny sprite within. ¡°Are you okay Sisi?¡± The sprite gave no answer. Damn it all. She gritted her teeth and quickened her pace to the breaking point. Her body had gained a lot of strength and endurance. The disability of her legs made her run look silly, but she wasn¡¯t here to win beauty pageants. She needed speed. A strange humanoid figure suddenly blocked her path, it was too quick to change direction and she bumped shoulder first into the obstacle. Strong hands grabbed her arms and pulled at them. It felt like her limbs were being torn from her body. With little warning, splats of worms smacked against her chest. She fell to the ground as the observer wailed. Annabelle stood above her and helped her off the ground. Where had that thing come from? When the dust lifted, the answer was obvious. Everywhere. Thousands of observers grew out of the grey flesh. They all stared up at the large humanoid monster in the center of it all. Even Marja was transfixed by the massive presence. While running forward, she brushed off the last of the worms and cursed when one of them bit her. Smacking her hand harder, the worm suddenly unfolded into a paper-thin creature. A clothes-like sprung from the creature and flew upwards while screaming. ¡°I love you, honey, come with me¡±, in an unknown voice. ¡°Wonderful. A hostile goddess, this massive godbeast titan, the observers are here and angry and the Muse wants to end the world. All that¡¯s missing is... oh come on!¡± Tharia stomped in frustration as something golden crawled up the edge of the false star. Fields of plants rapidly spread along the grey surface like an infection. Where they met with the observers, strangle struggles began between masses of rotting muscle, parasites and human worm colonies. She shuddered. ¡°End of all days?¡± she asked of Annabelle. ¡°End of all days!¡± They dodged and weaved between observers, carefully making sure to not get too close to them. Somewhere along the way, Tharia noticed that Marja had stopped shooting them. She glanced up at the hill and saw her strung up by an odd flesh-tree, using roots like a gallow. ¡°Which do we kill first!?¡± ¡°Tinkerer¡±, grunted Annabelle and changed course for the hill. Tharia nodded and followed, she, however, kept an eye on the giant. So far it was relatively passive, but that wouldn¡¯t necessarily stick. A flock of clotheslikes flew back and forth between the titan and the many observers. Tharia allowed herself a moment of special vision to see that they were ferrying living energy into the monster. The giant suddenly turned its head. It was a slow and cumbersome motion, confirming the sheer mass of the creature. It twisted the Torso and Tharia suddenly gulped. She nudged Annabelle and screamed a single word. ¡°Domain!¡± She was proud when Annabelle reacted with neither doubt nor hesitation. Just in time, their surroundings change to a comfy small house made of wood. Outside and through a window, she saw the massive hand of the giant swat down where they stood. The earthquake was felt even within the domain and the shockwaves threw both of the girls to the ground. They scrambled back on their feet. ¡°How do we do this?¡± ¡°Little by little. No other way. Sisi, are you up for some fire?¡± Tharia asked and got an answer in the form of a middle finger from the sprite. ¡°Well then, here¡¯s what we do. The big one wants to play first. Sisi, please put down enough dust to rival the great library. We¡¯re going to lure this thing to hurt itself.¡± When the hand lifted up, Annie dismissed her realm and Tharia started whirling her staff. Large amounts of golden dust spread out in a wide area while Annabelle stood still, eyes locked with the hand. Tharia scanned the horizon for Marja, but the tinkerer was nowhere to be seen. Sisi pumped out more and more of the dust until there was barely any vision left. The approach of the hand was more a feeling than certainty, still, she gave Annie the signal and like before, the domain swallowed them up. ¡°Twinkle goes the star¡±, said Sisi and clicked the tongue. Two strong impacts carried through to the domain. One was the hand smacking down onto the ground, the second was the explosion burning away everything in a wide radius, at least several hundred meters far. Insane heat washed over both of the girls, enough to singe her hair. Annabelle grunted and fell to the ground, this time the domain collapsed instead of being dismissed. Tharia held her breath. The world was burning. The fire had burned away of the grey ground what the explosion hadn¡¯t torn apart. The giant was screaming loud enough to send shivers through the air. It looked at the massive hole in his hand. But that wasn¡¯t the only effect. The ground they stood on had peeled away to reveal an infection of rotten flesh with parasitic plant growths sprouting out of it. ¡°We killed it, how can it still be here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s dying. Something of this size just takes a while¡±, the sprite said with a weary voice, ¡°I should know, I¡¯m dying too. Listen to me, numbskulls. I¡¯m out. There¡¯s not much to give any more. One more explosion of that size and I¡¯m gone¡± ¡°Then we should use it well¡±, Tharia said and reached a finger towards the barrier staff, ¡°Thank you for everything. I¡¯m not sure we were friends ¨C but in the end, you were something much more valuable than that¡± ¡°Gods, you¡¯re making me sick. Shut up already, don¡¯t piss on my heroic sacrifice with your feely stuffy fluffy bullshit.¡± ¡°We can do this Annie. It can be hurt, we just have to reach one of its feet and then explode it away. Once this thing is on the ground, we chop it to pieces¡±, Tharia said and patted Annie on the back. She wasn¡¯t feeling what she said. This was all utter insanity. There was just no way they could beat a creature this large, let alone one working together with a hostile god, a townsized calamity, fields with a vengeance and general nightmares on a stick. The sky suddenly darkened again. This time, it was the head of the giant that bore down on them. It bared its teeth and spoke in a tongue she had no idea of. Each word felt like a storm in itself. Tharia grinned when she saw Annabelle act. The goddess materialized an oversized bow and kicked one end of it into the fleshy ground. Using the floor for stability, she nocked a large arrow the size of a small tree. With a thud that sounded like a carriage hit a wall, Annie let loose the arrow. Tharia followed the trajectory with her eyes. However before it could hit, a flock of clothes-likes dove into the way. The arrow pierced several of them but ultimately fell down without doing damage to the big one. That giant, even more pissed than before, focussed all six eyes on them. Around them, the air started to warm up. Tharia began to sweat. She saw the domain unfold but it collapsed immediately. ¡°Anti-magic¡±, screamed Annabelle and pointed to the sprouts of the golden field that had reached them. A moment later, she was easily lifted off the ground. With Tharia in her arms, the goddess dashed out of the fields and then some. The human girl could do little but cling close and pump energy into her love. Together, they barely made it out of the fields. All six eyes were glowing in a strange light. The domain unfolded once more, yet it was only half-successful. Annabelle threw her into the corner and then dove on top of her. Just an inch away from them, everything vanished in bright light. A beam of pure energy cut away the parts of the domain that hadn¡¯t fully established yet. Tharia screamed in pain from the fire but realizing Annie had it worse, she concentrated her healing on her love. They were being cooked alive and only the gift of magic kept them standing ¨C or rather crawling. The domain fell away as plants poked into it. Whereas the explosion from Sisi had left a hole, this beam had cut all the way through. Past everything. Literally. She gazed past the small patch they stood on and saw the city far underneath. Her eyes reached the sewers, the bedrock, deeper still until her vision wasn¡¯t good enough to go further. The monster had no more intention of holding back. It started walking, each step sending shivers through the remains of the ground. Annabelle grunted and picked her up a second time. She dashed for the edge and then jumped onto the part of the star that was still intact. ¡°How do we kill this!¡± Annie shouted. ¡°Can¡¯t we do it like with the fields? Go straight to the core?¡± Tharia mused and then tugged on her shirt. Annabelle blinked in response and then put the girl down on the ground. ¡°Those plant parasites sap away my domain¡± Tharia sighed and rubbed her nose, ¡°Then we do like lumberjacks. Cut off the feet like we planned to. Let¡¯s go¡± Tharia ran forward as fast as she could and Annabelle quickly fell into the same pace. Together, they headed for the legs of the beast. A large roar from the giant was all the warning they got before its next attack. It lifted a mountain-sized rock into the air and then crushed it between the hands. With one relatively fast motion ¨C which still looked slow, he rained down a shower of boulders. Behind them, the fields raced closer as if they were in pursuit. Before them, what rained down was nothing less than a mountain divided into boulders. Annabelle knelt down. She brought out a shield that looked more like a barricade wall. It was a strange construction Tharia had never seen before. Metal supports anchored into the ground and Annie shifted it above their heads. Soon, boulders hammered down on them. Every time the shield got hit, it echoed with strange waves of lights. ¡°What even is that?¡± asked Tharia, breathlessly. ¡°My mind tells me it was once used for dragon hunting¡±, answered Annabelle. Tharia shook her head. The selection of equipment had never made sense to her, even less now that Annabelle seemingly had gotten the whole collection. She kept an eye on the golden fields. Regardless of the rocks hammering down, they kept spreading closer and closer. Soon, she felt the ground soften under her feet and when a plant touched Annie¡¯s armor, it evaporated as if it were made of air. ¡°We need to go¡±, grunted Annabelle just as the barricade vanished as well. Most of the stone had come down, but there was enough left to ruin anyone¡¯s day. A hail of smaller ones cut open Tharia¡¯s skin and Annabelle too looked bloodied by the time they had sprinted a couple of meters. While running, the goddess shielded her eyes with her left hand and searched the sky. A sudden shove threw Tharia to the side. Just a breath later, a massive shadow bore down on where they had been. It tore straight through the flesh of the star. It was the last of them. Whether by sheer luck or idiotic determination, they had finally reached the legs of the giant. Tharia got back on her feet and gasped for air. This was beyond measure. Up close, even a single toe was the size of the fortification walls. ¡°We can¡¯t do this¡±, Annabelle exhaled. ¡°Shut up, we can and we will¡±, answered Tharia. She didn¡¯t know why there was still strength left inside of her. There was a constant whisper telling her she would fail and that there was no way they could beat this. ¡°Listen to me Annie, when we started, we were convinced we¡¯d die in a day or two, yet here we are. At no point did we ever think this was going to be easy. It only got worse but we persevered. Believe in me, we can do this!¡± Tharia turned around. If Annabelle wouldn¡¯t move, she would. Grabbing the staff, she walked towards the giant and began spreading clouds of golden dust. A moment later, the goddess closed up ¨C she was once more wearing her armor and the summoned weapons were out again. They quietly went to work while the giant above tiptoed in a ridiculous dance and effort to look down on them. It would have been comical if that thing hadn¡¯t been a humongous titan. ¡°This is it¡±, squeaked Sisi. The voice was barely audible anymore. ¡°I hate to say this, but I¡¯ve actually liked you in the end¡±, said the sprite. It held up a tiny hand and as Tharia gazed at the small elemental, she felt a tear on her cheek. ¡°Make it count¡± ¡°We will, we promise you that. Thank you for everything¡±, Tharia answered with a raspy voice. Annabelle just nodded quietly. Like many times before, the domain unfolded around them, much slower than it had before ¨C but it only needed to withstand one more blast. ¡°Ah fuck, I forgot to tell you...¡± Sisi said with a sadistic grin and then clicked the tongue. Like before, a large flame evaporated everything outside of the domain. This time, however, the elemental burst into flames and then faded away into hundreds of tiny sparks. ¡°Man, I hate everything¡±, grunted Tharia. She tried to downplay the loss with sarcasm. It wasn¡¯t working and the world tilting quickly sorted their priorities. A rumble sent everything to the ground. Tharia rolled along soft cushions until her back hit a wooden wall. Then, silence. This time, the domain faded away and the exhaustion on Annie¡¯s face told her it would be the last in a long time. ¡°We felled the giant¡±, whispered Annie. ¡°Sisi did. She was one damn fine elemental¡±, answered Tharia. It was true. The giant laid on the floor of the false star. It was unmoving, parts of the large body had broken away and the shape Tharia saw in the distance was actually an arm that had broken off. Something with a scent of cinnamon and ancient bread poured out of a dozen cracks. Tharia smiled towards Annabelle and walked towards her love. They had done it. The impossible had been achieved. Her hand reached out to touch that cheek she had touched so often. She wanted to part the hair and to just kiss her, if but for a moment. One last respite before mopping up the small fry. Just as she touched Annabelle, the goddess suddenly vanished from her sight. She blinked. ¡°What?¡± A piercing wail echoed out from the left. Annabelle was once more impaled on a black lance. That gods-cursed tinkerer. Tharia whirled around and like before, she stormed for the lone woman clad in brass and bronze. Marja casually raised that rapid fire pistol and mowed her down. Just as Tharia stopped feeling pain, a new barrage once more pinned her to the floor. ¡°Kindly stay where you are¡±, Marja said with a crooked voice. There were choke marks on it and she had suffered significant damage. The scorch marks on her leather and bronze armor told a story of how she had gotten away from the fields. ¡°Let me help her down!¡± Tharia pleaded. The tinkerer¡¯s answer was to reload the pistol and aim straight for her head. ¡°Eh, no. Not in the mood anymore. Let her wail, it¡¯s a good sound.¡± It was another lockdown. Tharia gritted her teeth in seething anger. She no longer paid any heed to the numb feeling that spread in her stomach. After weeks of carefully tempering her emotions, the hatred she felt for that woman made her ignore all of it. ¡°Tharia¡±, Annie gasped in between wails, ¡°Do. Not¡± The human girl was shaking and then suddenly stopped. Calm had taken hold of her. She knew that feeling well, just another step and the world would fall to ruin. With an ugly thud, she heard something hit the ground. Annabelle had dislodged herself from the lance and gotten on her feet. Severely weakened from the battle with the giant, that doll-like girl stumbled forward. The scythe in her hand looked strangely frail but the determination in Annie¡¯s eyes was enough to perhaps burn a hole. As Annabelle gained speed, Tharia started to cheer. There was no reason to despair, her beloved goddess had always been there to save her. She watched the beauty bellow in rage and fall into a quick pace. Marja raised up her pistol to unload a hail of shots at the approaching goddess, but Annie was too fast for the eye to behold. When Tharia next saw her love, she was mid-swing. The scythe cut a path straight through the tinkerer. Not missing a beat, the scythe switched into a hooked axe for the return trip. It got stuck on the ribcage and the goddess kept it precisely there while staring into the eyes of Marja. ¡°Return to sender¡±, the goddess growled and Tharia cheered with pride. Sure it was still a deadlock, but this was their deadlock now. She got onto her feet and stumbled towards the two. The tinkerer woman was sputtering blood and no matter how often the wound healed, the presence of the hook in the chest made it hard to close down. ¡°Fairy, can you give me a kiss?¡± said Annie with a faint grin. Beaming with joy, the human girl quickened her pace while the tinkerer struggled, impaled on a nasty looking hooked axe. But as Tharia ran, something else was faster. Plants sprouted to either side of her. The last remnants of the golden field raced towards Annabelle. ¡°No, no, no!¡± shouted Tharia but it helped naught. Soon, she stared at rows of plants. Those closest to her were already dead but that thing just kept moving. With one last effort of the ginormous plant monster, trees made of flesh sprouted around Annabelle and Marja. Annie¡¯s weapon dissolved, the wound closed immediately and Marja used the chance to punch the goddess to the ground. The two embroiled in a flurry of blows as the flesh-trees died around them. With an especially gnarly kick into the abdomen, Annabelle gained the upper hand and pinned Marja to the ground. Both of them were breathing heavily while Tharia got closer. Was it her imagination or had the distance not gotten smaller? She took a breath and suddenly realized she moved away from the two with ridiculous speed. Her eyes opened wide. Marja started laughing and in between the laughing, she just kept shouting, ¡°You were worthless too!¡± The tinkerer woman suddenly wrapped her arms around Annabelle and locked her down. All around, the ground started moving on its own as the false star ferried Tharia away from the combatants. She screamed and cursed but was helpless to do anything about it. For a brief moment of clarity, it all stopped. As if time had slowed down, the giant raised a single hand and pulled back one of the fingers with the thumb. ¡°No, please no!¡± begged Tharia. She stomped the ground and let out wails that were barely human anymore. Even from several hundred meters away, she heard the impact. A single finger the size of a tower flicked away Annabelle and Marja both. Their bodies shot into the sky in impossible angles. Tharia crashed down onto the ground. She dug her fingers into the grey flash and then closed her eyes. Intense brightness from the life all around her blinded her, but she cared naught for it. She needed to know. Her mind reached out to the direction the two had been thrown. It was far beyond the confines of the false star. Even if she had somehow survived the impact, she¡¯d die from the fall. ¡°Can¡¯t think like that. Annie survives everything¡±, she whimpered and forced her vision further out. There was a tiny spark, up in the air. It flickered and puffed out. Tharia fell back on the ground. No. Just. No. In some corner of her mind, she realized the state she was in was called catatonic. Something dragged Tharia¡¯s limp body across a surreal nightmare landscape. A male voice was talking down to her, she heard the words and understood the meaning but they had no impact on her. ¡°It¡¯s been your folly from day one. Hubris, I mean¡±, said the Muse as he dragged her through a rough corridor made of stone. Somehow, they had entered what looked like a building, even though the perspective was tilted. ¡°Time and time again you played dead to fool your enemies. It worked ¨C but never once did you imagine someone could play the trick on you, didn¡¯t you?¡± He sounded so smug about the death of the one thing that had meaning to Tharia. Pain ran through her bruised body. She realized the spark was no longer healing her ¨C she didn¡¯t care. Step by step, the old man dragged her up a flight of stairs. They had wanted to go to so many places and now she was dead. Now ain¡¯t that funny? There was still no feeling in her heart. It had been brutal and quick, just a flick of a finger and the one thing keeping her alive was just gone. The next time she realized her surroundings, she was in a strange chamber. In front of her was the heart of the world. It was neatly covered by a crystal wall. Seven thrones stood in the room but only one of them was taken and on it sat the Muse. The old man clapped his hands while showing the broadest of grins. ¡°What a fitting end for this charade, Lady Verholden. You struggled most valiantly and lost it all. The choice was never yours to make. Your bet has not paid off, neither has the bet of Mother Bone¡±, the old man said and leaned back in his throne again. ¡°I¡¯m a god of mercy. Let me extend my help to you¡±, the Muse said as he stood up from the ground and walked over towards Tharia, ¡°Open the heart of the world. Unlock it and I shall end you. Never again will you be reminded of what you have lost. There will be no more suffering. Refuse and I drag your soul into the next work, to let you simmer for eternity.¡± Tharia felt a boot press down on her head. She suddenly laughed and laughed, her small body rocking from uncontrolled gasps for air. The pressure on her head increased and the Muse leaned down to stare into her mad eyes. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?!¡± he grunted. ¡°Nothing¡±, answered Tharia, ¡°Just realized something, someone told me a long time ago¡± The Muse kicked her in the groin to roll her onto her back. She couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Without the spark, there was no way to get up anymore. Yet still, she laughed into his face. It was just hilarious. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°A friend told me I would be the one to end all things. Ludicrous, right? Why and how would I kill the world?¡± she said and grew quiet. The old man knelt down next to her and put a hand on her forehead. ¡°You¡¯re delirious. Tell me your answer, let¡¯s get this over with¡± Tharia reached up to touch his chin with a soft smile forming on her tearstained face. ¡°Right you are¡±, she said with a faint voice. ¡°He will have assumed correctly¡±, she said in a different tone. ¡°All things shall end¡±, the third tone added. With sudden realization, she old man shot up and jumped away from Tharia but her hand had locked onto his ankle. She held on for dear life as the mad grin on her face widened. ¡°Fuck you, says I¡±, Tharia said with her own voice and let go of everything. Darkness enveloped her very core and color drained from her surroundings. The look of sheer terror on his face would have amused her if she still had feelings to care for anything at all. With simple ease, Tharia got off the ground. Her body was without any weight and lacked all substance. Black roots oozed away from her feet. They sprouted into trees that pierced through the roof of the room and pierced the skies themselves. The only thing of his that moved were his eyes. Pure terror was in them as Tharia walked towards him with a seductive sway of her hips. She whirled around with simple ease and brushed a finger over his chin. ¡°Let me hear what you have to say¡±, Tharia said and snapped a finger. ¡°Mother Bone you lying cunt¡±, he grunted. Tharia smiled and opened her arms wide, ¡°That¡¯s not my name¡± ¡°Who are you then?¡± She reached one of her fingers into his chest. His body convulsed, even though it was locked in place. His face turned into a pained grimace as she leaned in close and let her lips whisper into his ear. ¡°Death.¡± An hour or an eternity had passed, these things held no more meaning to Tharia. She walked a lonesome place all on her own. The ground her feet touched withered away, people she saw fell to the ground and breathed their last. All things considered, it was a beautiful world. The capital was dressed in white snow and now that nothing moved anymore, it was a beautiful still-life. Another eternity passed when she found her way back to the heart. It was held in suspension, waiting for an answer from gods that could no longer reply. She walked with an elegant dance to her steps and swung down on top of it, where she sat while crossing her legs. ¡°It has all been for naught, hasn¡¯t it?¡± she asked the dead world around her. This had always been her path. Death comes to all, even the gods. With a faint smile, she reached one hand into the heart and the other one into her own chest. Just one flick and this would be the end of all. Simple enough, really. Click and be done. ¡°...¡± She tightened the grip around her heart and squeezed down on it. Really, it was for the best. This world had brought only misery to those around it. Cycle after cycle, it had been a place of nightmares dancing to the tune of mad gods and even more insane humans. Just let it vanish. Her hand opened up and she pulled it out. An odd expression on her face, she glanced at her own hands. What was it Mother Bone had said? It was mandatory that Annabelle reached the end? Well, she had failed. Had she? Her eyes beheld a swarm of uncounted flames all around her. This was a sea of memories many centuries long, a manuscript of all those that had lived. A sudden grim expression on her face, she reached her left hand up into the sky and the first of the light touched her body. She saw brief glimpse of someone¡¯s life. A farmer. It was gone the second it moved past her fingers. The second life touched her hand, some soldier. Gone. A librarian. Gone. A couple dozen mothers and fathers. Gone. Hundreds of small villages vanished. Soon, the flames streamed through her hands, each and everyone she touched disappeared the moment it passed her. All that remained was simple energy. Kings, erased. Thousands of animals, no longer part of it all. Hours passed and untold lives stopped existing while she sifted through memories, beholding each and every single one of them, yet discarding them like broken toys. Until she felt a familiar touch. She immediately clamped down and caught the very soul of Annabelle in her hands. Her fingers clutched tight in an effort to not let a single memory of hers go. Now holding up her right hand, she once more resumed the stream of life. She guided it in circular whirls and forced it towards her left hand. More and more energy pulsed into it until Annabelle¡¯s soul beamed with the strength of a tiny sun. The sheer energy shone through Tharia¡¯s bony skin. ¡°2.018.098. That¡¯s how many lives you¡¯re worth to me. There would be more but I found you first¡±, she whispered to the ball of light in her hand. Carefully holding the essence of Annabelle, she placed it inside of the heart. The heart pulsed in response. ¡°As for everyone else. Do what you want¡±, she said and dismissed them with a wave of her hand. Tharia laid down on the heart and watched the lights stream into the heart of the world as well until there was nothing left but her. ¡°Of course I¡¯m going to cheat, anyone that thought differently, hasn¡¯t been paying attention¡±, she said with a grin and allowed herself to sink into the heart as well.

Beautiful plains, as named by the goddess Tharia

- a smaller note with much better handwriting notes due protest.

Soft grass under her feet, the touch of sun on her skin, there was little else she could ask for - except for the woman at her side. Tharia glanced at the beautiful Annabelle and leaned in for a gentle kiss. She led the beautiful girl with the silver hair to the edge of the cliff. Below them, the land spread out in all directions. Tiny settlements were sprinkled like dots in the landscape. Some had taken to the beautiful vistas she had made for them. There was a small town next to a waterfall and their artistry in blending in with her landscape had filled her with pride and joy. In a moment where her Annabelle wasn¡¯t looking, she had placed a few ore deposits in the mountains nearby. Soft lips touched her neck and she shivered in response. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t play favorites, my little fairy¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know? Don¡¯t tell me, it¡¯s on my face again, isn¡¯t it?¡± Tharia sighed. There was just no hiding away from Annie¡¯s eyes. ¡°After the puppy incident, I¡¯m prone to double check what you do¡±, said Annabelle and put her head on Tharia¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Are you ever going to let that one go?¡± Soft laughter reached her ears and it filled her with a feeling of joy. Her stomach was aflutter with the sensation of a thousand butterflies until her memories brought back scenes from the observers. She shuddered. ¡°Look Annie, I did my best¡± ¡°He asked for a puppy!¡± ¡°Yeah and I gave him one¡±, said Tharia while waving her right hand in dismissal. Annabelle grunted and hid her face in the palm of her hand. The voice that came out of it was muffled. ¡°You gave him a fucking Whiskerhush!¡± ¡°Well they¡¯re cute¡±, protested Tharia. ¡°And murderous!¡± ¡°Which makes them doubly cute. Like me!¡± Instead of an answer, Annabelle let out a guttural grunt. Tharia felt a touch on her back and suddenly found herself in free fall. Her body zoomed to the ground and cratered in an explosion of dust that could be seen for miles. The bones cracked as she climbed out of the newly made hole. An elder woman holding a basket stood there with a rather aghast expression on her face. ¡°Heya¡±, said Tharia while casually brushing off crumbs of earth. ¡°Uh, greetings? How... how are you alive?¡± said the old woman, visibly shaken. ¡°Can we agree I fell on a pile of leaves or hay?¡± ¡°That would not break a fall of that magnitude¡±, the elderly woman stated matter of factly. ¡°It probably wouldn¡¯t, would it?¡± said Tharia with a sigh. Well, as long as this didn¡¯t start another suicidal death cult, this would be fine. She still felt the spanking Annie had given her for that one. End of the world, end of the story.