Six hours later, Rina awoke to find the rest of the girls still asleep, and Bast looked as if he had tossed and turned all night. Rina summoned Volvagia again, who curled around her neck for a moment as if to sit in her cloak hood. She then saw Bast laying in the bed and flew over to him. She cuddled up against him, and he instinctively held her tightly in his arms.
Rina saw the Folktales of Kay'Lend book that she had given to Bast sitting on a desk near him, apparently he had been holding it when they found him. So she opened it up and wrote him one last note on the inside:
“My sweet Bast. Volvagia is staying here to protect you and keep you company. Just like the heroes in this book, I have to go fight the bad guys and help make the world a better place. Be strong for me, Kid, because all heroes need someone to come home to. I love you.
Your grandmother,
Rina Michaelis”
Drops of tears scattered the page - she closed the book, and immediately went to speak with Enoch. Usually, she only needed to speak within her mind to communicate with him, but he had never been so silent. Even the weeks before the Everbleed Bowl were not so quiet in her head.
Then she thought of the universal sending stone. “If Enoch is on this side… a sending might actually work.”
She cast the spell with the stone: “I need to see you - make it happen, please… or tell me how. It's crunch time now. I need to believe in you.
Yours, Rina.”
Shortly after, she got a response in her head from a voice she did not know, “Ah… So this is Enoch's little pet. Well, I'm sure we'll meet soon, then. Sorry, he's not home right now.”
Rina stared at the stone, shocked, “How could someone else answer a sending…”
Just as she finished, the rest of The Bound exited their tent, and she updated them on what was going on.
Phillipia had some knowledge from her days studying in the palace, “Sending works by connecting to the person’s mind - it senses their mind’s presence on this plane and puts the thoughts into their head. That means… someone else is in Enoch’s mind. Or maybe he is in someone else’s.”
“That explains why that guy looked like him, but… not like him at the same time,” Rina thought out loud.
“I mean, I think that I would assume that the man you saw could be the oldest brother,” said Alice, “Enoch has always been held back from you.”
Outside of the coven’s magical dome, the world was being ripped to pieces. The great wall of Vorovni had fallen into the mud, the town of Mistbrook - where Alice and Rina met all those weeks ago - was little more than burning rubble. Cracks in the sky stayed open now, even after a living person swapped with something from the other side. Even Pradhana could not close them all now. The entire sky was now a portal to the other world, to the reaping. The worlds were beginning to fully meld together.
One, small crack in the world could be seen within the coven, one they seemed to be protecting and keeping open. Bright, falling dust seemed to be surrounding it with a pink glow. Those who stood near it looked as if they were standing in a pink snowfall.
Valentine approached The Bound to discuss what she’d learned since they had been gone. She was very slow in her approach, her hands folded together. Now that she was one of The Queen’s council as a coven leader, she had found much more confidence, and spoke in a knowing tone, “Is Sebastian Jr. doing okay? I have been told he is your grandson. My healers tell me that he is going to be alright, but I wanted to know how you were both feeling.”
“He is as good as he can be.” Rina answered slowly, “He just watched both his parents die... And he's only nine.”
“Yes,” Valentine look over toward his tent, “that will be a scar he'll carry for the rest of his life. Unless we wipe his memory…”
Rina looked horrified.
“...Which I'm not saying we do,” Valentine continued, “because sometimes our trauma defines us. But he is so young. Sleep on it.”
Rina did not need to sleep on it, she grabbed Valentine hard by her upper arm, “Never.” Tears began to pour from her eyes, once again, “I raised a kind, strong, courageous man - and we will BOTH remember who he really was.”
Rina let go of Valentine, who simply nodded at Rina’s demand, “Okay. Come, I have something to show you all.”
As they walked through the woods, Valentine explained more, “We weren't making any progress bringing back the Fey for the longest time. Our magic felt like it was falling on deaf ears, you could say. We couldn't tune into where we assumed the fey realm was. That's because we were always wrong. We assumed that the Fey realm would be its own place - like this world. But it wasn't until we spoke to one of your party members that we discovered and learned more.”
They came to an opening where there was a small hallowed place. In a circle sat 5 people: Kin, Blanke, Lloyd, and a Shepherd of Niktalia. The Shepherd was quiet and still, with his crook across his lap and a few birds resting on his long, spiraled horns.
“Kin!” Rina yelled as she ran to hug him, “You never should have left us! I’ve been so depraved without you!”
Alice ran up to join the group hug, “How dare you leave us without a cleric for so long?!”
Kin avoided this intimacy like the plague, “We just need to talk about the gods, sit down.”
“Haazahh! It is I, Lloyd the champion, here to help The Bound, once again, with my cunning spark!”
“Hi Lloyd,” the girls all said in unison.
“Good to see you, cousin!” Phillipia hugged Lloyd.
“Do my eyes deceive me?! My little cousin, niece of the Queen, comes to grace my presence!?”
Blanke stood up and shook her hand, “Didn’t get to know you on that mountain top, but I’m Blanke! You have a sandwich, by chance?”
“Uh… actually… Rina?”
Rina rolled her eyes and pulled out a sandwich from the Queen’s ball - still well preserved - and handed it to Blanke.”
“Charles, nice to see you,” Rina said to the Shepherd.
“He told you his name? I thought they didn’t have names,” Valentine remarked.
“I named him when I passed through Niktalia one time,” Rina responded.
Valentine looked stunned, “You just… passed through it? On your own?”
“A devil pulled me through it, then sent me back.”
Valentine paused, “Perhaps one day we will have a chance to talk more about that in detail. For now, let us discuss the end of the world.”
Alice hugged Blanke and Lloyd, Rina sat down.
Valentine continued, “The Shepherds and Kin told us all about Niktalia - this other, middle place - and it sounded incredibly dreary, nothing like what we imagined the fey realm was. But that's because no one had actually been there, we only heard of the shepherds and the place they protected. We now know that this particular world is just like ours - a reflection of this one, all the geography is the same, just inverted. The woman you saved, Gabrielle - she was trapped in what she thought was a desolate landscape, but that’s because she never made it very far. Here on this end of the world, near Vorovni, it's much closer to what we imagined the fey wild was.”
“Are there… Any elves in there?” Rina asked hesitantly. She had not seen another elf in almost 2 centuries.
Valentine smiled gently, “Yes. There are others of your kind there. And the shepherds reside there, as well, as its peaceful caretakers. The shepherds are, from what we have learned, very religious about their duties. We thought that they were more mechanical, more bestial than they are. For the longest time, a shepherd was trapped in this world, frozen in time, enduring eternal pain. But once we learned about this middle place, we could tune in and begin opening up another door. And it wasn't until very recently that we got something more permanent to stick around.”
She gestured to the pink crack in the air behind them.
The shepherd sitting with them joined the conversation - not talking, but just impressing feelings into their bodies. The feelings it conveyed through its vibrations were so specific, that everyone around him could feel exactly what he was thinking:
“People were upset and terrified when one of our own was kidnapped for 100 years. He was pulled across the dimensions and stuck in this one. For eternal beings that just shepherd souls, it was nerve wracking and very dangerous for us. We began gathering things together when we first noticed the world beginning to end. We could feel it from both sides. We could tell the souls were being ferried quicker than they normally would. When a soul dies in this world, they have to pass through Niktalia. This is the middle ground. When you die in this world, you go very quickly to the next one. When you die in that world, you are reborn in this one. The problem began when we noticed that this was happening out of order. It was sometimes reversed, in different orders, or simply out of sync. That's when we knew the cycle was coming to its end. This is not something that would normally affect Niktalia - it doesn't exist within the two cycles, but outside of it. A third place, a place where everyone must gather.”
The sound of a dozen bodies falling onto the top of the dome interrupted them. Angel creatures were pouring into the woods from the outside. They smashed into it with their fists, some even trying to bite their way in. Still, none of them could penetrate the dome.
The Shepherd continued:
“We shepherds on the other side began making contact with Valentine and these witches some time ago, and I believe now we all have come to an agreement. We want the cycle to end. We don't want this thing - this apocalypse - to happen. It causes such pain every time it does. And every time we see the souls ferried through over and over, back and forth, ripped between the worlds, we see the damage of our flock… it breaks our hearts.”
Alice sat in the center of the circle, smoking one of the joints from Darrian and Felicity.
“Can I have a few of those?” Rina asked, beginning to cry again. Alice handed her a bag full, then lit up a few more for those in the circle - except Kin, who always refused such things as a holy man.
Valentine spoke up, “Alice, Pradhana, we want you to fix this cycle. You have the power… or, at least, the Shepherds believe you will have that power soon. Usually the World Ender simply resets everything… All of the souls get sent around again and again. Every ten thousand years it’s the same. We believe there’s a way for it all to work without this apocalyptic cycle. The shepherds know the cycle, and are outside of the rules of this world. Now that the veil is broken, the information is free to share. Right now you do not have what you need to fix it, no one has. But that’s because it has only been attempted from this side. If you were to travel to the other side and gather just a little bit more power, you wouldn't have to reset it. You would be able to make it right - to fix it. The problem is... In order to exact this power, you would have to bust another dam. There are only two gods in hell, Bolgroth and Luminus.”
“We’re gonna have to kill Rina’s guy before Bolgroth.” said Alice, “Maybe we just kill Luminus and be done with it.”
“I’m going after him…” Rina said, “I signed a contract, promising I would kill the Right Hand Man of the True King of Bolgroth. And now I know… it’s that man in the desert. Whether we kill Luminus or not, that man will die before the end. It will be him… or me.”
Valentine spoke again, “With Kin’s knowledge and Blanke’s experience on the other side, we gathered enough information that we needed to get things going. Additionally, we have all been kept very up to date on all of your exploits. You may not know it, but it is very common for reporters to follow your wake and get interviews from people whose lives you’ve touched. Everything we know is what we have pieced together. Alice, when the time comes, you will be granted a Wish. It is the most powerful magic in the universe, and Pradhana is the only one known to be able to gain it on their own.”
Valentine seemed to get slightly angry at her own thoughts, then continued, “Every time before, when the world was ending… Pradhana wished for it all over again. ‘Let's recycle it all. Send everyone back. We'll do another ten thousand years. It'll get a little bit worse. It'll get a little bit more broken down. But it's someone else's problem, not ours.’ I beg you, fix this so that the world may be truly whole again.”
A tear ran down her cheek, and the Shepherd impressed his thoughts on them, again, “The swapping of souls from here to the Reaping is allowing a nearly infinite number of soldiers to be created for each army - Luminus and Bolgroth. If we were to catch and hold the souls that are moving through Niktalia, even for just a little while, we could slow the growth of their armies just long enough for you to take your shot. We do not care which dam from the Reaping falls, Luminus or Bolgroth, we only care that it happens soon. When one of them falls, the magic will flow through Pradhana - only she can choose our next path.”
“So… Because I’m Pradhana I will get a wish. I could wish for anything?”
Valentine answered, “From what we know of history, the Pradhana’s wish is usually slightly constricted. Its intended purpose is to reset the cycle. However, we believe that - with the right parameters, you can change that. You would just need that extra magic.”
“Or… I could just wish for everyone to eternally be in paradise like Luminus wants. That sounds like it would fix more, right?”
“Under that circumstance..” Valentine paused, “this world would entirely cease to exist. Niktalia would, too. Every person everywhere would die immediately. Then, yes, they would all be in Paradise - what we currently call the Reaping.”
“That would remove choice, though,” said Alice, “I don’t want that.”
Valentine pressed, "The dams of magic that build up in gods, the ones that you destroyed in order to flow them into Pradhana, what's giving you this ability right now also exists on the other side. If one of the titans of hell, Luminous or Bolgroth, is killed. All of that power, all of their magic, the stuff that makes everything sing, would flow into you and through you... and it would give you the ability to cast an unchecked wish! A true, world altering, full dominance wish. It could rewrite everything - just once. But you'd have to break that dam first."
"So, the options are... 1) Recycle everything as it has been before. 2) End everything to bring everyone to paradise, but this world ends. Or 3) fix the cycle and everyone will pick up from here and move forward. The dead will stay dead until their souls can properly move through the afterlife, and the living will pick of the pieces and continue forward."
"As someone who followed Luminus my whole life, I feel conflicted," said Phillipia, "He wants us to just... end everything? And we would become immortals in the afterlife? What if some people here don't want that?"
"What do you want to do, Alice? Where are you leaning?" Rina asked.
"Well, I'm not just going to restart the cycle again. That's been done so many times. Trying it again would be insanity."
"I agree," said Neely, "It feels like all of our souls have been through enough."
"And I'm not going to just end it all, either," Alice said as she stared at her two medallions. "I want to be the one to fix it. I want to break the cycle."
"And I want to kill Bolgroth," said Rina. "After we kill... Enoch's body."
"Something of him is on this plane, right? It got through to him." said Alice, she could tell some things with the Blending connection.
"Yes... I sent it to someone and it was a different voice, a different person, someone I've never met before. Someone who knew who I was, had heard of me, knows Enoch... And presumably, is Enoch, somehow."
"The few times that you have gathered with Enoch and his brothers," Alice started, "when those meetings have ended, it is often because someone is coming. Someone was approaching. He'd then disappear in a white light. When you saw him walk through that portal, was it the same light?"
Rina then thought for a moment. The only time she had spoken to them together was when they were in a liminal void space. Otherwise, the brothers always showed up on this side individually, never two at once.
"The reason his communication was fraught, why sometimes it didn't go through or sometimes he was totally unavailable... all the times when he would just have a moment or two to steal away to say something, almost like he had no control over it. Because he didn't. He's not the one in control of the body all the time. Enoch is... his brothers."
"So, you have to kill your own patron? No way!" Alice said, "I'm not having you lose your magic right before we kill a god."
"Is he the Lord of the beasts plains?" Neely asked, "Is this contract with... him? Or just with Enoch? How does that work?"
"I... don't know. I get the feeling it's with all of them."
Alice interjected, "Do you lose your abilities if he's dead?
"Probably. I have no idea."
"So luminous it is." Responded Alice, "Let's go."
Valentine stopped Alice, "You must know... all of the armies have gathered at Castle Frey. It seems that there is where the gods of hell will clash."
"What about... Drake?" Rina asked slowly.
"The thrones of hell are flooded with hundreds of thousands of troops," Phillipia started, "angels, demons, beasts covering the landscape - an impossible army to overcome. Even a quick strike force would never be able to get there before being burned down."
"There is a way through," Valentine interrupted, "Natalia Eternal - a third, secret, hidden space that can get you anywhere you need to go. And if you were to open it back up, you could throw yourself right into the dungeon of Castle Frey. Right into one last, desperate battle. However, there is a caveat. In order to reduce the armies and stop the spreading infection of Basta'Thrope'... citizens being killed and rising again as warriors in order to stop the angels of Luminus from descending upon the believers of Luminus. Making a net to keep the souls from coming back here is the only way to stop it. We would need a powerful soulmancer mage or..."
"Or the Maker... Beth," Alice said with a smirk, "And I have a shortcut to her front door."
The angels outside banged against the walls, and The Bound realized that the same thing is happening in every realm. Angels turning believers into more angels. Therianthropes turning their own into slaves... An endless, infected wave of two opposing cancers.
The shepherd put an image into their heads of a giant, magical net that would catch all the souls passing through - something to block them in Niktalia.
"It does not need to hold for very long, but if you had a powerful soulmancer, and you got them into Niktalia, you could stop the souls from regenerating. Make their armies crippled and weak. Poise them alone and choose one to fight."
End session
Just then, Phillipia got a sending in her head from Queen Loanna Staffon, her aunt: "Niece of mine! Would you be so kind as to accompany me here within my keep. I have much to discuss with you.
A 2nd sending, "And I was wondering if you would help me fight back this devilry. The keep is quite overrun by handsome enemies to kill!"
Phillipia relayed the information to the group, and Valentine answered, "We have a teleportation circle directly into the keep from here - it was set up once we were able to Get Sprite Light legitimized."
"So, your aunt is actively fighting people right now?" asked Neely.
"Yeah, sounds like the castle might be overrun," answered Phillipia, "But we could really use someone like her on our side... maybe I can just go talk to her and get her to help."
Phillipia responded to both of her Aunt's sendings: "I will use the teleportation circle to get to you, and I'll make sure my halberd is ready. See you soon."
"Your aunt is terrifying," said Alice.
"Yeah, she really likes to wrestle people and beat them up," responded Neely.
"Naked!" Rina exclaimed, "And she stabbed poor Neely in the shoulder after I saved her life at the Everbleed Bowl!"
"Yeah, she does that. Makes family reunions really awkward," Phillipia glanced at Lloyd who was shaking due to a - seemingly related - bad memory.
Rina then got a sending, it was Alejandro: "Rina! Good to know you're okay! The other Salt Slayers and I... well, we have Gunther and Marie, but we are sort of trapped. Help!"
Rina turned to Valentine, "You got Bast out... can you also get them out?"
"It depends on where and how they are trapped, but if we know where to go, I can make sure we have enough Teleportation spells to get them."
"Where are you, Alejandro? The Sprite Light coven can take me to you to get you out."
He sent again, "We're in the top most tower of the capitol of Cofamoso - in Que Puertos. Better hurry we... we don't have much time!"
"I can't go with either of you," said Alice, "Right now, we need to get Beth on board. I can treestride directly to her, then back here. But that will take time that we don't have for freaking Alejandro."
"We can send a few witches with each of you, wherever you go. Just say the word," Valentine reassured.
"I think I might also have something that will help..." Neely said quietly. "I do have a very... small... army who would be willing to do... well, literally anything I command them to."
"The Kobolds!" Phillipia said in excitement as she pulled her - now deceased - kobold from her bag. "Oh... they really can't breathe in there. Oops."
"Then it's settled," said Valentine, "Rina, I'm going take you to Cofomoso to get your friends out. Alice, you're going to The Maker to get her to help with the net. Phillipia, you're helping The Queen to hopefully get her to fight with us. And, Neely, you're getting the Kobold army."
They all nodded now they knew what they assignments were, and got to it.
Kin volunteered to go with Neely, Blanke went with Alice, Lloyd went with Phillipia, and Valentine was teleporting Rina.
Phillipia stood in the Teleportation Circle to Everhelm's Cavebear Castle, Neely held her hand as Phillipia was about to teleport away.
"So... do you need to hold my hand?" Phillipia asked shyly.
"Well, I mean... It's just what you have to do for the spell. That's all." Neely blushed.
"Then should I hold their hands, too?" she gestured to Lloyd and the other witches traveling with them.
Lloyd held her other hand, "Hazahh! It is good to be connected to those you love!"
The circle pulled Phillipia, Lloyd, and the witches through, Neely's hand was soon empty.
"I guess I'd better make my way up to the stupid, sandy, salty, snowy desert again..." she groaned.
Valentine got a few witches together and cast Fly on them all, then teleported them to Cofomoso.
As they hovered in the air, they could see a country full of horrors. The once beautiful Amber City was overrun with Quasits - billions of them. These tiny, bug-like devils were overtaking everyone in their path, leaving only fire and blood in the streets and sands.
The witches could see that the castle of Que Puertos was crawling with them - up the walls and into the windows, every inch of the palace was nearly coated in a layer or two of these small devil creatures.
In the highest tower, Rina could see with her dragonfly eyes 5 figures slashing away at the Quasits to make an opening.
"They're in there!" Rina pointed.
"If you can get me there, I can get us all out," said Valentine, "But I have to be able to touch them."
Rina smiled, grabbed Valentine's hand, and Dimension Doored her directly into the amber-colored room.
"Oh, thank the gods!" Alejandro sighed in relief. Gunther was alive, but now had a bad scar across his chest and up to his neck - it looked as if he'd been struck by lightning, the toll that death takes on the body is permanent sometimes, even after a revivify.
"I need time to cast the spell," Valentine said as three of the little devils began tearing at hear clothes.
Rina used some frosty Scorching Rays on 6 of the little devils, then hit three more with eldritch blasts. "I can hold them off, you all get near Valentine!"
In the center of the world, Alice and her group stepped out of the tree to find Beth and the Evergrub completely overrun by swarms of angels. Gewain and a small group of soldiers were holding many of them back, but slowly falling, one by one.
"Gewain!" Alice yelled, "Just hold on a little longer, then we will get you all out of here!"
She rushed on her broom to Beth, who was now complete with a large, bulbus body that had arms and legs sticking out in every direction. Each one had the ability to punch or kick, and was helping to keep the angel creepers from overtaking her.
"Alice!" Beth exclaimed when she saw the halfling on her broom coming toward her, "You came back! You truly are one of my best friends!"
"Beth, we need you to do something, we need you to come with us to Niktalia and make a soul net!"
"A net for souls? That sounds exquisite!" Another one of her arm-legs kicked a creature off of her, "But I cannot do that now, I have to protect the evergrub! They're trying to wake it up! If it awakens, it could kill everyone! It could destroy the world!"
The angels were crawling onto and biting the evergrub. Another one of Gewains soldiers fell, and the evergrub rustled.
Phillipia appeared in the throne room of the inner castle, Loanna and her husband, Edmond Staffon, were back to back fighting off the angel creatures. Many soldiers were just outside of the inner castle holding off as many as possible. There was a rocking against the castle walls, angels were swarming into the keep, the box shell that enclosed the second castle was breaking down. All of the Queen's Knights, all of the Royal Guard, were just barely keeping the waves back as they are pouring in into the center.
Loanna ran up to Phillipia, she was heavily bruised and bloodied - much of the blood on her was clearly not hears, "I'm so grateful you are finally here! Come, Phillipia! Let us fight them together!"
She began quickly looking through weapons in the room for one good enough to hand to Phillipia. A few clerics followed her and healed her as she shuffled around.
"I'm so glad to see you, oh my God - what's going on here?" Phillipia asked in shock of the situation.
The queen paused, processing the question, "Yes. So basically, I believe that all of the angels from some other place are here. Um, they're all terrible evil fucks."
"What's happening in the rest of the world, though?"
"Um, no, I don't think it concerns me now. We are under siege Phillipia! This is our chance To die as warriors!
"I love your energy but I don't really want that right now. I'm... too young to die like this. I need to discuss this with you."
"Is there no nobler death, Philippa? If you wish to speak to me, come! Follow me into hell!" The queen then jumped off of the balcony of her inner castle, slashing through angels as she fell.
Phillipia shrugged and sighed, then ran off the balcony after her aunt, summoning BustAMoves to land on smoothly.
Inside the tall, Amber tower, Valentine was casting her teleport spell while Rina held back the swarm of Quasits. Bex and Rivo were unconscious, Gronk was nowhere to be found. Gunther and Alejandro healed Rivo and Bex, Marie used the last of her arrows to keep back some of the little devils.
Alice and The Maker were debating how to prevent the Evergrub from awakening.
"We cannot hold them all back!" said Beth, "But I'm going to keep fighting! We can't let it awaken!"
"Wait! Beth! What are all of the options? We are just wasting time and resources keeping the angels back."
"If we can't keep it asleep it will kill everything! It's too big!"
Alice thought for a moment, "What if it was... smaller?"
Beth smiled as Alice zoomed toward the mouth of the big grub.
She flew past Gewain and straight toward the belly of the beast. He and his small militia were being pushed back into the mouth.
Alice pulled out her Potion of True Polymorph - something she had been holding onto for months now. "What's something that wouldn't hurt if it fell..." she thought out loud.
"Alice! What do we do?!" Gewain yelled as more angels began to attack them.
Alice remembered one creature who she'd studied that could fall from a nearly infinite distance and still live. "Naked mole rat!" she yelled as the popped the bottle and poured it down the throat of the evergrub.
The creature began the shiver, then shake - it was waking up.
"Run!" Alice yelled as she zoomed by on her broom, Gewain and the rest of his men made it out just in time.
In an instant, the evergrub shrunk in size - from the size of a mountain, to the size of a mouse. Beth hovered below it and caught it in one of her many hands.
"Rufus! You're ok!" Beth seemed relieved, "I did not want you to die, or kill everyone! My sweet little friend!"
Beth began to run, wading through bodies of angels and the bodies of the Arachnakin people who were once her followers. They made it to Alice's tree, she opened it, and they were all back in the grove.
Phillipia and BustAMoves were fighting next to Loanna and her husband.
"Aunt! Please, we need you to come with us to help in Castle Frey!"
"We are defending our own keep, Phillipia! We have no reason to defend anything anywhere else!"
Phillipia thought of what might make her want to help, even if it meant manipulation. "Wouldn't you prefer to be the savior of the world, instead of this single castle? It's falling in - if you save the kings of Castle Frey, it will be like you are the queen of both countries!"
Loanna paused for a moment, "Yes... Yes, Phillipia! That is the mindset I need, such a strong mindset! Let us go to save these... lesser kings! Ones who can't even hold their own keep! Come, husband! I quite like you, You've lasted much longer than the others." She grabbed his hand and Phillipia's, and they all ran back to the throne room of the inner castle, and teleported out.
Phillipia and her team arrived back at the coven first, just in time to see Alice and her possie pour in from a tree.
"Phillipia!" Neely yelled as she ran up to hug her, "I got the Kobolds here! Well, the witches did it, but look!"
Muk and all of the Kobolds were gathered, all chanting "Expendable! Expendable! We are Expendable! Yaayyyy!"
"No Rina yet?" Phillipia asked.
"Not yet."
Valentine had almost completed the spell, when Rina looked out upon the space which used to be the city of Que Puertos. Devils and chained Therianthropes ran rampant in the streets. Suddenly, from behind a burning building, the radiantly glowing devil in a well pressed suit looked directly up at her. The energy and light that comes off of him looked dangerous and eerie. He held a heavy chain that ethereally extended all throughout the entire army, controlling all of the Therianthrope Souls.
Valentine looked at Rina, "Okay, are we ready to go?"
Rina thought for a moment - this was the man she now knew she needed to kill. And right now, right here - she had a chance at him.
"Rina?!" Valentine yelled. She grabbed Rina's hand, and Rina grabbed everyone else's, but still could only focus on the devil staring at her from hundreds of feet away. Her body began to stiffen with fear, and then she realized the chain wrapping itself around her limbs. This spiritual chain began circling around her, then a bright, ice-blue flash of magic pulsed from him and nearly blinded her. She opened her eyes to see, for just a moment, a blue tinged head appeared out of the devil, and a blue arm punched himself in the face. He snapped his head to the side, the chain went slack. Then she's teleported away.
Upon arriving back in the Sprite Light Coven, both Rina and Marie began breaking down into uncontrollable tears. Marie had been traumatized by watching her husband-to-be die, then her best friend Longneck. Though Gunther was alive, the pain of watching him die was overwhelming. Rina cried for her son and daughter-in-law. The two women wailed together for some time, Gunther and the Salt Slayers also joined them in their tears. Alejandro's family had been killed in front of him, Rivo and Bex's friend Gronk had died keeping Quasits away. Darrian was Gunther's best friend, too. Not to mention the entire country of Basta'Thrope' now being turned into slaves of Bolgroth.
Hours later they reconvened. Elizabeth the maker went over to the shepherd was instantly fascinated by him. The witches were freaked out by Elizabeth.
"They're technically not biological!" The maker said, "It's like an entirely different kind of life form!"
"Valentine," Rina approached her, "Is this hell happening everywhere? Or is Niktalia still unaffected?"
"They all seem to be unaffected. All of the Shepherds - the Charleses - and the Elves."
"You... actually have contact with them?"
"Yes, they are actually kind of a problem for us at the moment."
"Surprise, surprise - and elf being trouble" Alice said, teasing Rina.
"You see, in order for the shepherds to complete the net, they need to all align - all around the world. One of the places we need to set up in on Elven soil - and they won't want to let us build it there."
"Do you think another elf could convince them?" Rina smirked.
"Let's hope so," Valentine smiled as she led them to the pink portal in the air.
Valentine continued to explain more information they had gathered: "The landscape of Niktalia is different than this world. It is, in a sense, the fey wild, it is still unpredictable. So you will need to have your wits about you. You will need to be at your fullest strength before going in. Hopefully it will be a peaceful journey - walking through this wonderful liminal world. Then after, getting to a position and setting up a net, come back through to gather your troops. You would then need to lead your troops through Niktalia a second time, in a different direction. This is how you will make your surprise attack into the final battle. Getting to the underside of Castle Frey will be easier from there."
Abagail added more details from a report from the witches in the field, "Castle Frey has been fully taken over. Devils have enslaved the Druse people, and enslaved Therianthropes are killing people as they go. Bolgroth is occupying Castle Frey."
Alice could feel her counterpart, Gabrielle, was also within the heart of Castle Frey, "The Abbott is there, too, I think. I don't know what the Eyeless Kindness want, but it's something other than what Luminus wants. And something other than what I want."
Rina spoke softly, looking at the universal sending stone, "Somewhere within the depths of Castle Frey is where Drake and Godfrey would be. I tried to send him another sending, and it didn't go through. He is... still unconscious, somehow. Like he is there but is unable to respond to it."
"I can also confirm the report that Luminus is heading directly to Pennislovica as we speak," Abagail added.
They all stood before the pink break in the world, then step forward. Elizabeth and the shepherd walked through with them. It was a very different feeling, as if walking through a bubblegum bubble. This area of Niktalia was very different from that Rina had seen. Instead of a dull, lifeless landscape, they found themselves standing in a small, beautiful forest pocket. There was a beautiful valley filled with steaming waterfalls on all sides around them. They felt as if they were inside a beautiful bowl on a cosmic island. There were no stars, no sun, and no moon. But there was still light, as if it was always twilight here.
"What are those moving lights?" Phillipia asked as she looked up.
"Souls..." Beth said slowly. "The souls move through this place, like slow moving stars."
The shepherd impressed upon The Bound the image of this elven community. It was on a hill over the bowl they were in, about as far away as Vorovni is from the coven. This area, however, was the inverse of Kay'Lend - the Elven village was up on a hill, instead of in a muddy bog like Vorovni.
Alice turned into a giant eagle to carry a few people, Beth and the Shepherd could both fly on their own. Rina used Alice's broom.
In a few short hours they were coming into view of the Elven city.
Mossy hills began growing up like beautiful, perfect spheres that woul begin inside the ground at different like sizes and shapes. Some of them are at odd angles, jutting out and over a circle of land of clouding and bubbling up from the area. This created a long mountain range, and dozens of shepherds were spread out - each protecting their tiny little flocks of souls. A few souls were bouncing behind them, and the Shepherds held them back with their crooks before they begin getting pulled up and away into the endless starry night.
The city of elves was beautifully made. The gate was carved out of a single crystal in a perfect geometric shape. Crystalline pieces of furniture - a bed, a table, a couch - started littering the landscape around the hilly areas. There were no walls, no roofs, and a few figures begin to walk around. There was a village path that lead up a hill up to the tallest part of the mountain.
Approaching them at this gate, the most Elvish looking elves greeted them. Their ears were so long they nearly extended above their heads. Their faces were angular and they were sharp in all of their features, they were taller than most elves, and incredibly thin.
An elven man spoke, " Why do you wish to enter?"
Phillipia pushed Rina forward, "We... We are trying to save the souls of those on each side of you, but we need your help to do it."
"Ah," the Elf responded, "No, thank you."
"Drake was right when he said all Elves are assholes," Alice remarked.
Rina stepped closer to the elf on the other side of the gate, "I'll rephrase my sentiment: we are going to be trying to save souls, and we would like to come to an agreement about it that we can both be happy with."
"This isn't going to be all day, isn't it?"
"You have forever. So I'm not really sure what you're complaining about," Rina responded.
The elf man sighed and opened the gate.
On the other side, wispy elves were living casually and comfortably. Some were draped across different couches, others were gazing out to the open fields. There were no boundary lines between properties - just a group of elven people all living communally.
Another elf man gently floated down to them, he was even more well-dressed, and seemingly the man in charge of the city.
"An elf from the other side? Why you are bringing your friends here?
Tina explained to him why they needed onto their hill, "...it would only be something temporary, but we need to save souls that are flowing through here, and we just need a small space up on the hill here.
"I assume one of you, then, is Pradhana. Which one?"
Rina turned back to Alice, who was halfling size after dropping her eagle form.
"The last Pradhana was much taller than this one. So, why don't you just reset the world again? It's what you do every time."
"Because it has been getting worse every time it happens, we'd rather fix it."
"But why are we to care?"
"Because eventually it could be you," said Rina.
The elf man chuckled, "Oh. Probably not. We live forever."
"Not if somebody kills you," Phillipia added.
"Yeah!" Alice repeated, "Not if devils start tearing holes in the sky and coming in like we did.
"We have never been breached before. We shall not be breached now."
"You already have been," said Rina, "We are here. The hole we came through - that's the breach."
"Yes, but you come every ten thousand years and then Pradhana resets it."
"Well, we're not doing that this time," Alice yelled, "We're doing something else because it hasn't worked so far. for tens of thousands of years."
"You know what they say," Rina started, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I think we're good on the insanity. I think we'd like to try something else."
"Why do you fight so hard to defend your world of death? Why can't you just end it?"
"Because it's too beautiful to end," Rina answered. "I've seen more of that world than I think any individual creature. Yes, and it is more beautiful than even here. And there's a lot of people that are so different and so interesting."
The elf glanced over at Beth and her horrific body, then to the others of the group.
"Another example is my grandson... He is a cat person with elf blood."
He he looked Rina up and down, "Yes, I could tell you were one of our distant relatives. Shame to see yourself given so over to mortality."
Rina almost reacted in anger, but reacted in a way an Elf may understand, "Do you remember what you did four days ago?"
He thought about it, then answered, "No. I... do not differentiate one moment from another. Few things ever happen here."
Speaker 15: Wouldn't you like to remember? Maybe if something different happened once in a while, you'd actually have pleasant memories."
"It has been so long since I have felt anything. I don't know exactly what I would feel good."
"Do you remember feeling anything at all?"
He thought about Rina's words, "I remember... the succulent bite of an apple. I remember the wondrous kiss upon a cheek."
"I feel like we're wasting time" Alice rolled her eyes, "These people have no idea how good they have it. They're people who have never hurt, who have never slept on the ground or have never had pain. If nothing matters to them, then I'll just plow my way through them."
Alice stepped forward with confidence, the Shepherds hesitated - unsure what to do.
Other elves picked themselves up off their chairs and benches, and stood like a wall between Alice and the remainder of the city.
"Get out of my way or I will kill you! You will know what pain is-"
"Alice..." Rina gently put her hand on her shoulder.
Rina took a breath and used some minor magic on the elf man, briefly giving him the feeling of having an upset stomach.
"Oh... ow! What is... oh..." his pain subsided and he looked shocked.
"Isn't it nice to not have that anymore?" asked Rina
He answered with his eyes wide, "Yes!"
"Wouldn't you love if everybody felt that kind of relief?"
He looked up at them, "Please... please pass through. Make sure you enlighten every elf you see along the way!"
"You mean I finally get to punch an elf?!" Alice yelled excitedly.
"Hey! I thought we were friends!" said Rina.
"We are, that's why I haven't punched you."
A trail of bruised and queasy elves behind them, they headed toward the top of the mossy hill. The shepherds began floating up to the edge of this tall mountain. Elizabeth and the shepherds had already devised some sort of spell, and hey start carving. Through the moss, across the heavy stones, they created intricate little patterns that began sparking and spiraling.
Elizabeth flew over to The Bound, "Thank you so much for the opportunity to do something so exciting. Me and Rufus are happy to be a part of something so special and new!" The naked mole rat now weaved in and out of her skin suit and cuddled her. "When we set this up, it will not last forever. There's no way to contain the souls, but it will stop them temporarily. Clock is ticking, friends. Clock is always ticking, but I think myself and Charles and Charles and Charles and Charles and Rufus and Charles and all the other Charleses can all make this work together! And when it fails and falls apart, maybe I'll come visit again. Hopefully you save the day by then!"
"Let's hope," said Phillipia.
"Let's find out and let's get going," said Alice.
"Thank you all, my friends!" Beth waved goodbye as she took her place amongst the Shepherds.
She put her hands across theirs, and they joined in a chain. The crooks of the shepherds rose up in front of them, holding the net high up in the air. As Beth joined the chain, the net began to light up with beautiful pink light. All of the souls imparted into Beth's body, all of the hundreds of fragments of souls, poured out at the edges of the limbs. They rushed up toward the net, like they were drawn to it. Even small pieces of the souls of The Bound were now incorporated into this net.
As the small, soaring souls got caught in the net, they slowly stopped - like snowflakes gently piling on one another.
Immediately it was evident that this cut off of recycling souls was slowing the regeneration of the armies. Now, the dead could not be repurposed into new enemies.
"So, I guess we better hightail it out of here," said Alice. They all agreed, then rode her eagle form out toward the exit at the coven.
As they all flew out over the expanse of Niktalia, they could see all the many souls getting caught in Beth's big net that extended over the horizon.
Upon arriving at the coven, the kobolds were happy to see her queen, once again. They jumped up and down, Neely was immediately swarmed.
"They have taken over the entire like area of the woods!" Valentine was wading through them. "We have some other visitors."
A herd of pat giants lumbered out from the forest - the free giants, now.
"It's time for us to repay our debts to The Bound. We are pleased to be your friend."
"We're pleased to be your friends!" Rina said as the hugged them all.
As an eagle, Alice rummaged through her pouch, and ate the Hag Eyeball, "Because as an eagle, it's gonna be less gross."
"All of our allies coming together," Rina smiled.
As the eyeball hit Alice's stomach, a moon appeared where there shouldn't be a moon. Appearing from behind trees, some flying in on brooms - the witches of the Sunblight coven kept their promise to fight for Alice. More witches appear as if they are the trees, and twisted to transform into a witch. All the hags, witches from all over the endless expanse of the sunblight coven - the terrifying witches in the night who have all known how this apocalypse goes - all pour themselves out from the expanse.
"Grandma!" Alice yelled as she ran up to the leader of the coven.
"Hee hee! Yes dearie, you may call me grandma. You did help me all those weeks ago, so today I am here to help you."
Mayoay then buzzed over to the girls, all her like bees gently letting her down.
"I got more honey for your bees!" Rina shouted, all of the bees flew toward her - including the little frosty hornets that she had used to help rebuild Mayoay's arm at the end of the Everbleed Bowl.
"Rina, you have to stop bringing them so much honey. They're going to leave me behind. You are so sweet to them."
"Some of these are my babies, I have to feed them, too." Rina joked, "At least let me contribute. Okay? I haven't been paying child support."
Mayoay chuckled, "I have to be wearing two robes now because they are so freezing on me. But it has made my ice magic very important, so I do appreciate it. Thank you all. Everyone come here."
The bees gave everyone a strange, humming hug by swarming them. Rina loved it, everyone else would have rather gone without.
Mayoay stood in the middle of everyone, "The Great Pyre has done what it was always meant to do - it has burned to the ground. Now is the time, all witches will fight."
end session
The Bound and their allies began their plan to move. They had to go quickly. Alice cast a protection spell on Bast so that fire would not harm him.
“I can’t believe he’s still not awake…” Rina said quietly. She took off her cloak of protection and wrapped him in it, Volvagia still at his side. Rina fed her little dragon some deer jerky left over from Boggy Roger’s visit. “I wish I could do more,” she began to cry again. She turned to the witch who was watching him, “You, what’s your name?”
“Justine, ma’am.”
“Justine, I’m giving you a job – the most important job of your life. If this magical dome falls, and you feel like death is certain… I want you to pick him up and run him into that pink portal.”
“But, there’s almost nothing over there. We would be trapped over there.”
“There are elves, there are shepherds… there’s a life. Only do this if there is no other way – do you understand?”
The girl nodded.
Rina kissed her grandson on the forehead one last time.
The kobolds, the Fearsome 5, the Salt Slayers, witches of all covens, the king and queen of Asmery, Gewain, and The Bound all stepped through the pink portal. Slowly making their way to the underbelly of Castle Frey.
A gap appeared midway through the path – likely the crossing of the River Nives on the other side of the world. The witches used their magic to bend the trees and plants of this world to make a bridge. As soon as The Bound and the other leaders crested the end of the hill, a young man stood before them. He wore a wolf's head, as a hat, and no shirt. He wore what looked like a thick, leather kilt.
He pointed into the crowd, “It is I, Rina, the youngest of the brothers five. You must defeat me in a challenge, or I will not work with you in the battle to come. Choose any game and I shall defeat you - any game.”
Rina thought a moment, “I feel like chess. It’s been a while since someone gave be a good game.”
“Yes! Yes, a game of chess shall determine whether or not you are worthy of killing me.” He began to gather things from the woods and shape them into chess pieces. He then carved squares on the ground with a stick and set up the chess board.
“Impressive,” Rina remarked as she looked at the quickly-made pieces. “So, am I white or black?”
The burly devil smirked, “You may be white.”
Rina was set to go first,
“He's very good at chess…” Rina heard Enoch’s voice in her head.
They took each other’s pieces at an even pace.
The devil would occasionally take a few more, then Rina would bounce back.
The Pat Giants and the adventuring parties all gathered to watch the game, some even taking bets on who would win,
Eventually, the devil gets the upper hand. It began to be clear that Rina would lose this game if she was not careful. Either that, or he would have to make a mistake.
Rina felt nervous, for a moment she thought, ‘I wish I had Enoch's wit.’
The devil seemed to faze out for a second. For a moment, a blue tinge fell upon his skin. He misplays a hand.
The Giants were dabbing each other like their foreheads with tiny handkerchiefs. As they're looking down.
Rina moved one final piece - checkmate.
The devil slapped his knee, “I like that, good game! Yes, you shall slay me as you have slayed me here. I am so very tired of sitting around waiting for my turn to come out. I want to be free again. Rina, please kill that motherfucker.”
“What's your name?”
“Bulken. But you can call me Ken.”
He begins to fade as magic swirls around him, “Well, I lost it fair and square. She's yours.”
In a moment, he turned around and was now Enoch. “Hello, The bound - and Rina. Let's walk and talk.”
Rina hugged him a moment and they started walking.
“Rina, I’m sorry about lying to you. It wasn’t what I wanted. But… he knew we were up to something. He could see everything. Your letters, your sendings… They were getting to me, but they were also getting to him.”
“That explains a lot. I… I want you to know I always believed in you. I wasn’t going to let them phase me.”
“I appreciate that. I’ve… wished that I could spend more time with you. I thought I would be able to. But he’s always looming, always keeping us all under his thumb.”
“I don’t understand how all of this is working. The five of you all share a body? What happens after I… kill you? What happens with the magic? What happens to you?”
“My father put together five people, five individual souls, and crammed them all into one eternal body. The King of wrath… his child was turned into a god on the other side. Bolgroth has been grooming his son to take over when he passes. The oldest son… Me. If Bolgroth is killed, all of his magic goes to Xerendesh. That's why Xerendesh must die. Xeran, Raz, me, Nicky, and Ken. It's been a terrible, terrible time. Everyone's been stuck inside a single body, sharing it only when we have just enough strength to claw it back from him - it's not been the most pleasant life.
“It sounds terrible,” Rina said, trying to empathize, “So, you’re not actually all siblings?”
“Well, he was my dad's grandfather. We're different generations of Bolgrothian leaders crammed up into one body. Every time one of us dies on your side, the soul is trapped within this body. And, maybe it's because we're a little bit more progressive than our captor, but we don't think that anyone should, you know, own people. Or, you know, enslave people's souls.”
“I don't really like that either,” Rina responded, “I want to free you, and I want to be able to take Bolgroth down afterwards.”
“We're here to fight back when you are fighting it. Now keep in mind, he is crafty. He is clever. He is the worst of all of us combined. He has our strengths and none of the weaknesses. But he must fall. He is also controlling your loved ones. I know he has them by the chains. If they are to be freed, you could have stronger allies in the final fight to come.
“He has… who? Darrian is dead… Drake is the only…”
Enoch nodded at Drake’s name, “But when Xerendesh falls, I do not know if you will keep your magic. I have never done this before. No one has. No one has written a contract to kill the person who made the contract. Does it create an infinite loop of magic? Does a contract turn itself null and void? Who would do that? Devils are mostly selfish, so this is a first for everyone.”
Rina looked shocked as she took in all of the information.
Enoch spoke again, “didn't you promise to give 100% to this?”
“Yeah. I said I was willing to do anything. Give anything.”
“I guess that includes that… the magic.”
“Then what would I be doing? Is there anything that we can do that you know of to make that more concrete?”
Enoch thought for a moment, “That's a very good question. Yes. Yes, I believe there is. But it's not the best solution. In fact, I didn’t want to bring it up because I don't want to put the idea in your head. But technically, with the veil so thin, the contract is voided… you could take the place as the contract giver if you were to swap into the other world… And become the devil.”
Enoch stood in front of her, “Become the devil, you would be given your magic. But you would take his place, and when the veil and the walls are thickened again, you will be left on the other side.”
Rina looked into Enoch’s blue eyes as she thought about everything he had said. “I have kept every vow I have made, Enoch. I vowed to live this life to his fullest, and not rot in a painless place like the other elves. I vowed to be loyal to Sebastian until death do us part. I vowed to never be with anyone that my son was uncomfortable with after his father died. And I vowed, Enoch, to kill your captor. I’m going to keep that promise.”
He smiled and gently stroked the blue streak in her hair.
Gewain walked up to Philippia, "Cousin, I missed you. I thought that maybe you had been killed... And I am grateful to see you have not."
"Oh my gosh. No, never," Phillipia answered.
"I mean, you know, I know you're tough as nails, but still, it's a dangerous world. So, what's going on? Are we going to kill God? Are we going to go kill... our God?"
Phillipia paused a moment before answering, "There's a chance..."
"I'm not doing great with that," Gewain sighed.
"I understand. Neither am I."
"What do we do? Do we not kill him? Should we?"
"I mean, I feel like we have to do... for the world."
"Yes, but what is the world?"
"I don't know if I know, but... I just have a gut instinct that this is the right thing."
"You would put the fate of our God into a gut instinct?"
Rina chimed in, "He trusts her, she's his most loyal night. He said so himself."
Gewain thought in silence for a while as he looked up over the horizon. Just before a tear fell, he shrugged and said, "Well, fuck it. I knew you would get me killed eventually!"
"It's BOUND to happen," Phillipia joked.
He nodded, "It's bound to happen. Let's go kill God."
"For what it's worth. Luminus gave me this huge lance."
"Holy shit. Um, know you bought a massive lance."
"So I must be in his favor."
"Didn't he kiss your hand or something?" asked Neely.
"Yeah, he did kiss my hand. It was kind of crazy."
Rina turned to Enoch, "You're not living up to standards."
Enoch got a little flustered, they all laughed a little bit.
As the armies marched through Niktalia, they could see huge, floating, sphere islands dot around the landscape. Sometimes it was a desolate, rocky landscape - like Rina had seen when Enoch pulled her through. Then sometimes they were huge and organic looking, with trees or waterfalls or prairies.
Eventually they arrived at very flat expanse in front of them, and in the center of it was an inverted pyramid.
The Shepherd impressed upon the leaders of the armies that this is the reflection of Castle Frey, "If you were to go to the bottom of the pyramid and go through to the other side there, you might be able to appear in the dungeon holding your friends."
The were currently on the outskirts of where Castle Frey would be, near Kin's prayer tree that they often used for treestriding. The Shepherd opened the view in a crack to see the other side. Castle Frey was being overrun - an onslaught from all angles.
"Bolgroth has set up in Castle Frey," Valentine began to explain, "For some reason, this particular place holds enough meaning for him. This is the place where he's decided to set up his base."
"Freyscar is in The Kingdom of Bolgroth," Rina remarked, "Maybe a personal vendetta."
On all sides, waves of angels and demons were trying to take back the city. They broke through walls, houses fell down. The city was falling. It would have been burning if not for the perpetual rainstorm held there by magic.
Everyone was quiet, Rina then spoke, "I remember Sullivan telling us what his blinding vision was. He said that he envisioned that his mother became a mountain, and then slowly crumbled over a thousand years. It just feels like we're here."
"Look!" said Alice, "The net is really working!" Alice pointed at the dead angels and demons - instead of rising again, they stayed dead.
"They can't just pull souls out of the Reaping to revive now," said Valentine.
"But... look..." Rina gestured to the top of the royal inner castle.
A large red-skinned, bestial devil man with a thick beard. He had heavy, dark eyes, a terrible pig's snout. "...Bolgroth."
Dangling from a singular chain being held by this giant red devil was Sullivan Frey. He swung the ancient vampire upside down like a pendulum, occasionally swinging him hard against those who angered him - using him as a weapon.
Thousands of Therianthropes in chains flooded the city, and the Druce people were enslaved and forced to fight against the angels - many dying every minute.
"Bolgroth and Luminus have their own forces defending them," Valentine noted, "Luminus has the remainder of his Paladins, and Bolgroth is likely protected by some powerful devils at his command."
"... like Xerendesh?"
"Um, yep - that's where my body is, right there," Enoch pointed to the center castle, "somewhere inside the castle, probably in a place where he could attack anyone who comes near him."
"Did Bulken give you anything that would help?" Alice asked Rina.
"Feels like its force damage. So... If I need to I can make a wall of force, I suppose."
Phillipia stood up and started sketching a plan in the dirt, "There are two different armies that will be an issue: Luminus' and Bolgroth's. We need to decide who is going to be working on keeping those forces away from the castle, so that we can go in from the bottom and surprise them."
"You want to go that way immediately?" Rina asked.
"We gotta get your man," Phillipia smiled, "The universe has messed with you enough, you deserve to have someone to go home to when this is all over."
Phillipia continued with battle planning, "Someone has got hold off Bolgroth, himself, too. A giant devil lord swinging around Sullivan on a chain... he needs to be dealt with, and not be able to fight our armies."
"Enoch said if we get Drake and Godfrey that they may be able to help us with everything in the upper floors... it's hard to find your way around this place, but they would know these halls better than anyone."
"I'm on team 'Save Godfrey and Drake'!" said Alice.
"That's where I'm going," said Phillipia.
"Anywhere my dear niece is going, that is where I shall go! Lead the way - future queen of Asmery!"
Phillipia looked shocked.
"What? You didn't think I was going to have kids, did you? Please! Of course I intend to pass the crown to you once I become the hero of the world! I'll have much more to do once that time comes, anyway."
Neely's eyes widened at the thought - she never wanted to be important, but importance was thrust upon her.
"Well, then I'm more than happy to be on that team," Rina smiled.
"Well, on that note," Enoch began to step away, "I unfortunately have to go. I'm only able to project myself to you because we're on different planes. Once you're over there... well, I hope you have everything you need."
She hugged him, and - just as she pulled away - he disappeared in a puff of frost.
Gewain and the King Consort also agreed to storm the castle through its dungeon.
Phillipia continued, "Neely, I think your Kobolds would do better against Angels than they would devils. And I think the Fearsome 5 should be in that group. The Pat giants and the witches - you all go after demons and devils."
"What about the Eyeless Kindness?" asked Alice, "I know they're in there and they want to mess us up. I have a bone to pick with the Abbott. He made sure that I suffered, while making sure Gabrielle was pampered. He groomed me to be Pradhana... and maybe I am that, I have that soul, but I could have had a good life."
"Hopefully Gabrielle has some sense," said Rina, "We saved her in Mt. Ivatim and got her promoted after the Everbleed Bowl."
"Well, the Abbott has been manipulating her this whole time, her whole life! Just like he manipulated my life to make me think I was cursed."
The team storming the castle was comprised of Alice, Rina, Phillipia, Loanna, Edmund, and Gewain. All were taken down by the shepherd to the bottom of the pyramid shape in the ground. He began tearing through the veil, getting them directly into the basement. The portal closed, and they found themselves deep in the dark cave expanse under Castle Frey. Dripping water could be heard in the nearly silent caved, aside from the echoing of voices above.
"Now, time to go save some other royals!" said Loanna, "Perhaps they will finally understand why I was going to tax them so much on their imported goods now."
They found a climb up to an old broken staircase, and began ascending the castle. As they got higher, more crashing and thundering could be heard outside.
The group of them sneaked through thanks to Alice's Pass Without a Trace spell, slaying little devils and demons along the way. A small Quasit surprised them, but the Queen finished it off in one blow. A larger devil imprisoning Druse people was seen first by Rina, who threw her eldritch blasts, and her Shadowspawn slashed through him. Phillipia's new lance struck it in the heart as a final blow.
They rose many levels until they arrived in a large auditorium area, with cages and jail cells filled with Druse people yelling that they're innocent.
Before they even entered the room, Rina could sense that the strongest of the devils was there - waiting for her.
Not in a cage, walking around with eyes closed and slumped over - Drake and Godfrey were wrapped up in ethereal chains with a stake through their hearts - barely being kept alive. A strange machine was attached to them both holding the stake in place, and preventing them from fighting back or regenerating.
In the corner, idly picking at his fingernails Xerendesh stood in wait.
"Blast his ass," Alice whispered.
Rina already had a withersalt arrow from Drake in her bow, her Shadow was already half way across the room.
As the shadow struck its first blow onto Xerendesh, he pulled on a chain. In front of the shadow of Rina appeared Darrian - dangling by a chain, taking the striking damage from the shadow. Her shadow stepped back, and the planes flickered. He was not of this world, and he was struggling against it.
Rina did not falter. She focused in on Xerendesh and let her arrow fly. He threw another chain in the way lazily, and it missed the arrow. It sunk into the side of his head, burning the flesh of his ear. He reached up and broke it off as the wither salt started burning through his head.
"Well, this is where we draw the line then, friends. Unfortunately, my throne is soon to be inherited, and father would not take kindly on letting pests in."
Phillipia ran at him, trying to strike, but he whipped a chain in the way of her Halberd.
He smirked then began attacking them with his chains. He hit Alice and Phillipia, Rina was able to dodge him as she ran toward him.
He smirked and aimed at Rina yet again, but Phillipia jumped in to take the hit for her. The chain that hit her began wrapping around her, and she was unable to move, as was Alice.
The Queen and King Consort ran over to break the chain Phillipia was in, and Gewain tried the same for Alice. Before the chains could be broken, though, Xerendesh used his chain to control them both. Phillipia was forced to hit her aunt, Alice was forced to swipe at Gewain.
Rina continued dodging chains and bodies, but there was one she could not. Xerendesh moved Drake directly in her path, using his puppet chains to slash at her with his long, vampiric nails. She nearly fell to the ground, but her shadow kept her from falling and faced Drake to protect her against future puppeteering.
Rina shot another two arrows at the devil, one hit him in the arm - searing through him.
The Queen freed Phillipia, then they all headed toward the devil.
Godfrey then joined the fray, blocking and attacking the Queen, and stopping the King.
Xerendesh mocked them, "You really think a few mortals have any chance against me? And immortal being with the greatest army in the universe at my command?"
Gewain finally freed Alice from the chain, and Alice decided she'd had enough, "Moonbeam!"
The moon of the witches answered her call. It radiated through the rocky pillars of Castle Frey, directly down onto Xerendesh, himself. As he began to move his arm to grab Rina with a chain, his arm vanished under the light. He stood a moment, shocked. Then Rina hit him.
With the bag of Wither she had gotten in Vorovni in case she ever had to kill her patron went straight into the hole where his arm once was. It seared into him.
Phillipia and the Royalty freed Drake and Godfrey, the Shadowspawn was felled protecting them.
Rina pressed the devil between the wither and the moonbeam, she could feel her magic waning as Xerendesh got more injured.
"You think... you mortals... are truly about to end me? I am the heir to the magic - ALL of the magic!"
As Rina used her freezing hands on the neck of this devil, another set of freezing hands appeared out of his body and began to choke him.
"What? No! Enoch, get bac-" before he could finish, his tongue caught fire from the inside. Long, thin, salt-white hands emerged to slice him open, and a barbaric-looking leg appeared to push him farther into the moonbeam.
Rina had no magic left, but she still had more withersalt. She pulled one of Beth's withersalt cookies out of the bag of Colding and shoved it into his mouth
"See you in hell!" she screamed as this devil was ripped apart from all corners. From the inside, and the outside, until he was gone.
The chains fell away. Darrian's body was limp and hanging - soulless like it should have been. Drake and Godfrey were regenerating and waking up.
Rina kneeled on the ground, motionless. Devoid of magic. From the ashes of the devil, 5 souls appeared and scattered to the wind... but one came back. An ice blue soul, like a little fairy, floated next to Rina's head for a moment before she noticed.
"...Enoch?"
The little, icy soul clung to her ear line an earring, imbuing her body with Agronoch's Frost-Flame once again.
"Thank you, Enoch. I'm ready."
The others went about freeing Godfrey and Drake from their stake contraptions. As soon as the stakes were out, they began pulling the odd contraptions off their bodies.
Godfrey finally regained consciousness, "Wow... that fucking sucks every time he does this."
"EVERY time?" Alice asked a little shocked.
"Yeah, sometimes Sullivan gets mad and uh... you know - this," Godfrey picked up the stake contraption.
As soon as Drake was freed, Rina ran to him and hugged him in relief, "I'm so glad you're okay..."
"You, too, Rina," he responded as she sad down on the floor with him.
"Drake..." she started as she began to cry, "My baby is dead."
He held her as she cried, and looked up to see Darrian's soulless body hanging from puppet strings.
"We should all rest," said Phillipia, "I know it's hard to rest in situations like this, but we are useless without regaining some magic and healing."
The party agreed. They found what used to be the waiting room to get into Sullivan Frey's meeting hall. It was broken and crumbling in some places, but it was the safest place they could find to rest.
Through the cracks in the wall, the group could see the sunblight witches and the Pat Giants against Bolgroth. The witches were flying around cackling. Bolgroth tuned into their movements, then threw a fireball. Dozens of witches went from crackling to burning up into smoke and ash. The giants, though, threw the remains of the buildings at Bolgroth. One boulder smashed through the devi's wing, and he fell down into the castle to fight with them.
The kobolds and the other adventuring parties teamed up with Neely and the sprite light witches to battle Luminus and keep his forces back. They finally began beating back the wave of angel creatures which was even easier now that the Therianthrope Souls were not regenerating bodies. Xerendesh's death allowed all therianthrope souls to enter Niktalia where they were all being held by Beth's soul net.
Next: Day 79 (S65)