“Honorable Lord Walden,


    I will not mince words, I desire an end to this conflict. The war drags on and both our people suffer. I will not lie, Meltonian internal issues plague my homeland and I yearn to bring stability rather than conquest against a nation we once called brother. I have also heard of the incursions by the Traxians in your Southlands. I you are willing. I am, under the king’s orders, willing to provide assistance in that theater with a large band of mercenaries as recompense for the damage we have done. I know it will not be enough but I implore you to consider my words. Peace seems fickle to us now but with the struggles both our nations face, what more can we do besides become brothers once again. Take my offer enclosed below to your King, tell him the Marshal of Melton is willing to negotiate and sue for peace. Tell him we have found far greater threats, and only together can the North survive. ”


    - ??Grand Marshal Anson Skyes Letter to Grand Duke Walden, Marschall of Northern Carrador


    <hr><hr>


    One last door stood between the duo and a maelstrom of energy that pulsed out from the final floor. The sharp crackling of mana being transfused into raw primal energies became a deafening cacophony that stripped what little sanity Sophie had left. With little other choices left, Sophie threw open the door, the lemurach and herself bursting through, readying to bring an end to it all.


    A storm of chaos greeted the two, the wind howling madly, the unnatural clouds obscuring the top of the tower from the world, a realm of its own. A beam of ethereal dark blue, the pure crystalline colors tainted by something foul, cut through the storm clouds and into the sky, fueling what looked to be a tear in the very sky itself. Her heart pounded as loud as the energy that slashed its way through the sky. Her mind empty besides for the scene in front of her, her hand clammy on her blade.


    Almost a dozen heads turned to look at them, soldiers, aristocrats and prisoners. They stood at the doorway of the circular opening, the open skies screaming just above, the large ominous blue crystal singing it''s haunting melody. Two prisoners were chained under lock and key, Duke Haukr and the Prince. Surrounding them four Lionhunters, their purple sashes fluttering violently in the wind, beyond them at the platform, she found a face grinning with maniacal glee, Markus. Flanking him was another researcher, one whose face she couldn’t place but the uniform giving it all away, the traitor from the expedition. Then were the next two, one dressed like an adventurer, and her brain racked itself until the innocuous words were remembered, Godfrey, one of his compatriots. The other scowled at her in disgust, dressed in ornate armour and a gold sash, bastard. The last two were made up of a weaselly looking lord, hunched over a table and glaring at her with contempt, and an armouredbodyguard.


    Without warning the lemurach burst into action, flinging itself at the noble and his bodyguard with a screech that pierced the heavens. “AELDRED!”


    “I-huh? Arlessa? Rutley?! But you died! Stop her! Help me!” The man screamed in fright.


    His guard jumped in front of him, a ward hastily thrown up to fend off the lemurach’s vicious assault. Yet before the Lionhunters could join in, a flurry of stray shades poured forth from the doorway, the unceasing horde only barely held back by some quick spell-casting from the hunters. Taking advantage of the distraction, what Sophie had thought was some stray corpse rose back up and slammed his sword against Gold Sash. The Lionhunter scowling and throwing himself against the new opponent. Ah! The Prince’s bodyguard! Umm Thegn Carodin.


    The adventurer Godrey looked to Markus who only gestured back to the researcher, the traitor looking none too pleased with the development. Markus on the other hand met Sophie’s gaze and she felt a chill run down her spine. His eyes egged her on toward a fight that she saw no hope of victory. Sensing her hesitation, he frowned and began striding over towards her, every step bringing a sinking realisation that she had already lost.


    A shade lunged for him only for a quickly casted spell from the researcher to repulse the phantom, before he quickly uttered another incantation to shield himself and Godfrey.


    “This interruption is unacceptable, take care of it.” The clinical voice of the expedition leader snapped.


    Markus waved his hand back nonchalantly, observing Sophie with a keen eye before breaking out into a smile. One that Sophie did not return.


    “So you’ve made it this far…impressive…for a wannabe.” He drawled sarcastically.


    Sophie scowled but did not reply, only tightening her grip on the sabre.


    “But I know you better than you know yourself. I can see it in your eyes, your face. You know more than you did before, don’t you? And a little bit of something else hanging over your head, a piece of knowledge that you can’t quite comprehend.” He chuckled.


    Sophie watched his footing, her focus directed at trying to predict the man’s action. Herself dropping into a combat stance ready to go.


    “Enjoying the show?” He beamed, “Oh! Perhaps the little present after your…relaxing bath.” He finished with a wink.


    It was him! That means he saw me naked! The bastard! With renewed vigor Sophie stepped forward with fury, her doubts forgotten as her mind geared itself for battle.


    “Figured you’d relax a bit too much, spiced things up didn’t I? Shame too, the crystal below, the weak imitation, protected the people pretty well. Damn shame it shattered…you could''ve probably just waltzed right up here if you didn''t panic. But I’m sure you had nothing to do with it, right?”


    “Die.” She muttered under her breath, her throat still recovering.


    Filled with anger, she lunged at him, her blade nearly pricking his armour only for him to deflect her blow and counterattack. Leaning into her strike, she barely sidestepped his blade only to be clipped across the head with a vicious backhand. Reeling, she managed to snag his right leg between her as she almost fell, using him to right herself whilst keeping him off balance. Ignoring the pain, she quickly launched a flurry of blows, slashing in his general direction to keep him pressured.


    To her dismay he parried all of her blows, the sharp clangs of steel echoing in between violent thunder cracks. Recovering from her offensive, she found him seizing the initiative as he rushed her undefended right flank. Harrowingly side stepping a cut, she felt the wind explode out of her as she suffered a heavy blow into her stomach, his fists a deadly weapon of their own. Wordlessly, she absorbed the pain and jumped away, taking a moment to reorientate when once again he flew into an attack.


    Sophie ducked his initial blow, throwing a half hearted jab to force him to block. She backed up towards the dias, the blue crytalian light coating her sabre in a pale blue glow. With a silent roar, she pushed off the dias, flinging herself through the air at Markus who seemed ready for the assault. The two clashed once more, their blades masking the sounds of the dead and dying nearby. But for Sophie, she could feel her muscles strain, the aches and wounds compounding. Another few blows and she would falter. What would Eva do? What would Aurelia do?


    Eva was a roguish duelist, Aurelia a hero of legend. Yet both would do anything to win, and though in her novels Aurelia was a noble, just warrior, there were times when honor mattered little. Gritting her teeth Sophie let out a final flurry of blows, striking aimlessly to delay her opponent. Markus grinned, the upper hand clear from the beginning even clearer now. But she spotted her one chance, a gap in his defense as he parried her overhead swing. Seizing her chance, she launched a vicious kick between the man’s legs even as her blade was pushed aside.


    The gold ranked adventurer staggered from the unexpected blow, Sophie pressing the advantage by performing another overhead slash. Her move was obvious enough that he raised his own blade to block despite the inconvenience, but her target was never his head. The slash angled sideways and reentered to deliver a savage cut to his arm, the man howling in pain before throwing himself into a reckless counterattack. Despite the injury, Sophie found herself the one backed into a corner.


    “Enough games.” He hissed, the glee from earlier all but gone.


    Stepping left and right, Markus danced as Sophie honed in on him, watching his every move until he charged. In a flash, she gasped in pain as steel pierced through her sides, her ribs cracking from the force. He had dashed to the left, Sophie anticipating the attack only for him to use his hand to hold back her sabre, pressing forward whilst her blade cut through his hand. But it worked, and as she staggered backwards she could feel the pain roaring through her body, her hands stubbornly still clinging onto the sabre.


    With no care or kindness left, he kicked at her blade, knocking it aside before stomping onto her hand. She felt the sickening cracking of bones, the searing pain bursting throughout every nerve in her body. Letting out a soft gasp, she found herself airborne as the man lifted her up and spun her around. Before she could react, she found herself being pressed against the crystal, her blood pouring from the wound, smearing a sheen of red against the blue.


    “Could’ve done this pleasantly.” He growled, “But now…heh…Herr Direketor! Behold! The blood of the Myndiri!” He roared triumphantly.


    Sophie’s head lolled sideways, her breathing growing ragged whilst her sanity fought for control amidst the pain. But from the corner of the vision she spied the expedition leader, looking at her with eyes brimming with wonder, the earlier impassiveness nowhere to be found.


    “My knight!” A shaken voice screeched.


    “Stop her!”


    “Now!”


    “Look out!”


    “Gah!”


    The clattering of armour as the Lionhunters fell were followed by their terrified screams, the momentary distraction of an angry lemurach breaking their wards. The flood of shades tore apart their insides with a fury. Sophie felt Markus’s grip on her lessen, before she slammed against the stone floor, the man having tossed her aside. Lilian let loose a baleful wail, her features now no longer human at all, the lemurach launched itself at Markus, the man quickly retreating under the new onslaught.


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    Sophie felt wet again, but this time she grew weaker with every passing second. Mustering what lingering strength she had, she pushed herself upright, one hand feebly pressing against the oozing wound. To her right, Duke Haukr and Prince Alvin had freed themselves, their blades clashing against gold sash; Thegn Carodin had not been as lucky; his head had suffered a piercing wound, his brain matter spilling out. She stepped forward to help and lurched forward, the singular effort proving too great for her weak body to sustain.


    Her eyes turned to the crystal, once blue now slowly glowing red. It was like a festering infection, a plague that spread from where her blood had touched, turning the radiant blue into a sanguine red. Far above the tower, in the skies torn asunder by magic, a rift ripped itself open in the space between the clouds. Dark, flesh covered tendrils snaked through, each hundreds of meters long, flailing aimlessly in the sky like some undersea leviathan trying to swim. With every sweep of the gargantuan tentacles, Sophie noticed more and more of the shades around them being sucked up, the appendages devouring the lost souls.


    “So it is foretold!” The Direktor bellowed, his eyes tainted with madness, “At the dawn of the solstice, so shall the light of the false stars be erased. So it shall be that the truth will eclipse the stars! The dawn of the solstice of souls! All hail Arantos! God of the Dark Beyond! Our savior and bane of the Demon King!”


    Shades screamed and cried, in fear and distress, their fury dwarfed by the darkness above as countless pitiful wails echoed around the tower. Lilian too seemed afflicted, the lemurach screeching uncontrollably whilst cradling its head as if in immense pain.


    Her opponents didn’t fare much better, the bodyguard laid in a few separate chunks and the weaselly looking noble had a deep gash across his chest but managed to retreat to where the Direktor stood. Markus having also backed away.


    “By the spirits, is this…this…this is heresy! This is insane!” Gold sash cried out, his eyes darting between the scene above and the Direktor.


    “You reap what you sow, Eadric.” Duke Haukr grumbled, but still equally shocked as he kept Prince Alvin safe behind him, “This…this is why you never consort with cultists.”


    “You all fail to understand. This is not heresy nay! This is birth! Rebirth! Renewal and hope! I was in the northlands when the Goddess had forsaken us all, too weak and powerless to stop the Dark Tide. But Arantos will! He will save humanity!” The Direktor rambled on, “You have made your choice! But you can make it again! To watch your people perish, or to use up and save humanity with your own hands!”


    The remaining combatants eyed each other warily, the Meltonians had all ceased fighting among themselves, turning their eyes towards the cultists and the monster. But no one wanted to make the first move, no one wanted to be the first to catch the attention of the horror above. To her dismay she spotted Eadric eyeing her, the Lionhunter zeroing in on her as the cause of this disaster.


    Sophie’s mind pushed into overdrive, in her heart, she knew the crystal had to be purified or destroyed. In her limited experience, she seemed to shatter or activate such things rather unintentionally. Yet, as the Lionhunter edged closer, she knew she had to act fast.


    “Get me to the crystal!” Sophie hissed, trying to garner Lilian’s attention.


    Whether too frightened or unresponsive, the lemurach continued to cower. Godfrey had stepped closer to the Meltonians, Markus readied his weapon whilst the Direktor rambled on. Prince Alvin and Duke Haukr took up positions to counter the cultists. The Lionhunter however, seemed the first to be ready to strike; a swift lunge would put him in range of her, and with her wounds she wasn’t certain what she could do.


    “The crystal, please!” She pleaded.


    Lilian flinched, and hope swelled in her heart.


    “Get me to the crystal now!“ She rasped with what energy she had left.


    Lilian turned to face her and everything sparked off at once. The Crows leapt forward, their attacks barely intercepted by the Prince and the Duke. Gold Sash, having sensed the sudden shift in Sophie’s stance lunged at her, his blade flying across the air.


    “STOP THEM!” The Direktor roared.


    But before his blade impacted, Sophie saw her world filled with a bright, white light. Her eyes opened to find Gold Sash’s enchanted blade half frozen by the lemurach. Despite Lilian’s life energies physically depleting, Sophie watched in horror as the lemurach fended off the Lionhunter’s blows. Amongst the chaos, she felt the frigid hands lift her up once more, the searing pain almost familiar to her as Eadric launched another assault. Enchanted steel cleaved deep into Lilian’s flesh, but she pushed through and Sophie felt herself being practically heaved onto the crystal.


    As her hands wrapped themselves around the crystal, she turned back to see the lemurach’s form growing more translucent. The image of a young girl not unlike herself looking back at her with a sad smile but a twinkle in her eye. “My knight, may you be victorious in your quest.” Lilian whispered softly, “Abomination that I may be, I thank thee. And with that, my debt is paid. What little time we spent, I thank you for your kindness. Now be free of my burdens, and farewell, my lily knight.” Sophie gasped as the girl fell, a wispy mote of light, bones and ash all that remained. Gold sash seemed equally surprised, but as her eyes met his, the world faded from her grasp.


    <hr><hr>


    Sophie started choking, the lack of oxygen squeezing at the very fibers of her being when it appeared. Arantos, in the guise of a feline-like humanoid, stood in front of her, with jet black furry tendrils protruding from its back, surrounded by a thunderous aura.


    “So the puppet shows itself. What a pathetic sight.” Its voice bellowed throughout her skull, her fleshy vessel threatening to pop under divine pressure. The voidstorm crashing all around with increasing intensity.


    “Can’t speak? Think? A weakling serving a puppeteer whose time has long faded from relevance.” It scowled, anger building up in its telepathic voice, “To think that you would try to stop me, how…preposterous. You are but a gnat, a grain of sand smaller than the most insignificant whelp in your world. An insignificant droplet of rain under the wings of my storms.”


    Sophie felt faint, her face and veins growing blue, the blood now freely suspended in the void as the entirety of her being grew cold. Around them countless stars and planets roamed free, the beauty and majesty of the stars on full display.


    “I am the God of Dark, of Death, of Rebirth, of the Thunder and Light, of the storm eternal! And you! I have judged you unfit for the salvation I will bring.” It roared.


    Go fuck yourself, Sophie managed to scowl in her mind when she suddenly felt one of its tendrils coil around her, squeezing with such force she was sure she would simply pop. Yet, as the pain numbed all her senses, she felt an odd sensation seize her chest. Without knowing how, she sucked in a breath. The God too, recoiled, looking confused and surprised, its tendril being forced away from her. Her weakened body limpy ragdolled at the sudden release, but, while she recovered, she breathed, one breath, then another. Her eyes widened in surprise, under her chin, the necklace given by Elaria hummed with radiant starlight.


    An ethereal warmth strengthened her being, the chill of the dark no longer dancing throughout her veins. The very light of the stars winked out of existence as death, true death, visited them. Bright stars exploded into supernovae before churning into a dark nothing. Discs of light orbiting some stellar phenomena like a black hole pulsed rapidly, before they too vanished into nothing.


    Reality bent itself asunder and Sophie found herself completely overwhelmed at the sight of a God quaking in fear.


    Free or a puppet? Perhaps thy words are true, but the little one is mine, that is certain.


    From beyond the most distant light an ancient voice enveloped them, the space around them exploding into violet explosions of chaotic energy, the familiar leathery pus covered tentacles pulling themselves into existence. The countless eye stalks once observant and curious were now arranged like a vast array of weapons. The giant planet-sized eye loomed over them, its blackened veins pulsating more than she ever had seen them react, no longer as a lackadaisical overseer, but as a being that emanated only malice and hatred. Its overwhelming presence shattering every conceivable notion she had of what power felt like.


    The entity shifted into existence, flattening countless worlds in its wake. The tendrils of the Death God now seemed like but a pathetic imitation as thousands of opposing tentacles raised themselves from seemingly nowhere. Each capable of swallowing entire cities in but a flick.


    “You..” The feline God hissed, only to be immediately cowed by a flash of anger, the aura so strong that even Sophie wilted into a ball.


    Run.


    Wasting no time, Arantos, so called God of Death, ripped open a portal in a panic and fled, but not before leaving a flattering message for the shaken half elf. “I will see you suffer, half blooded puppet!”


    Aghast at the mighty display of strength, Sophie could only wordlessly still her trembling body, slowly turning her gaze to one of the nearby eyestalks. It tensed for but a moment, recoiling at the sight of her before the hostility was replaced by an almost cordial but curious bobbing that she was used to.


    Little one.


    She shivered, the voice less invasive but just as overwhelming as the imposter. She nodded, but raised a weak hand to examine the necklace. A simple sapphire was all it was, or so she had thought.


    A gift, a fine one at that.


    It chuckled ominously, at least, she thought it chuckled.


    The imposter would always haven acted, but to be so brazen is a cause for concern of its own. Its power must not be underestimated, little one.


    Sophie coughed an agreement, still weakened, but slightly healed by the ethereal presence. Her wounds which were once bloodied, now filled themselves with the sickly tar like slime that dripped from the entity. Hah! But who else could say they saw a God run?


    For now that will do, with time they could’ve been restored, but our time grows short. The other Gods of your realm will have sensed the disturbance quickly enough, and we must not be found, little one, not yet.


    One of its tentacles wrapped itself around her and for once she felt a small sense of relief despite the scenario being how her nightmares always ended. It was almost comforting in a strange way. She sighed and let the appendage coil around her, offering one last nod of appreciation at her unlikely savior.


    Fortunately, this lair will no longer belong to that imposter. But, it had a firm grip on the powers of void, a troubling revelation. Thou should be wary of more such incursions near your any such crystalline artefacts, though I suspect the imposter''s followers will be silent for a while. The stones themselves flow heavy with ancient magics, hence why our presence draws no ire. But its reckless ritual…a fool’s errand that will bring forth the Gods, utter hubris.


    It trilled dismissively, its eye stalk jittering with every syllable. Satisfied, it lifted her up to eye level, leaving her tiny body to be dwarfed by the massive eye that looked down at her.


    Seek the stolen dawn, return that power back to the stars and banish the imposter and its foul machinations.


    She understood, for once. The ancient Myndiri crystals utilized similar powers to what had sent her astray into the void. They were part void energy, though what they did still remained a mystery, something she doubted the entity would freely explain. Using what little mental capacity she had remaining, she committed this information to memory. And Arantos, the name of the Death God.


    With what felt like a chuckle from a nearby leathery looking eyestalk, she felt the piercing of tentacles as they speared through her body, the pain from thousand such nightmares finally spilling into reality. Or at least what she presumed to be reality. Even though she expected it, the pain still stung.


    Go now, avoid the wrath of the Gods, for they will be watching.


    Her eyes clenched themselves shut, the pain growing more unbearable when a flash of light erupted. The glow was so blinding even she could see the darkness behind her eyelids illuminated.


    And...your sister misses you, little one.


    Huh?! Did it just-


    All was dark, once again.