April 4, 9 ATC

Chanel Castle, Duchy of Leporin, Pollination-Crosshares Commonwealth

The banners of the Badaz League rippled majestically in the wind as they marched down the road toward Inferno's stronghold. At the head of the army were the five commanders, hands on their weapons, ready to spearhead the final invasion. Their men had miraculously suffered no losses marching through Inferno's territory, and were prepared for anything. Today, Inferno would die.

They marched past a few scant trees into a large, rocky clearing. Inferno's stronghold sat on top of the Crossharish highlands, with a magnificent view of the surrounding lands. The stronghold itself was massive, as large as a small town, and armed to the teeth. Within the thick outer wall lied an equally thick inner wall, and within that sat Inferno's private castle, overlooking everything.

As the commanders marched up to the gate, a tall, armored man stared down from the gatehouse. Austin noticed his analyzing gaze and marked him as a potential threat.

"Ah, the League finally arrives!" The man called down. "I've been looking forward to this."

"Where is Inferno?" Coronam yelled. "We would very much like to see her."

"She doesn't have the time to deal with upstarts like you," the man shot back. "Even if you do pierce our walls, I will not allow you access to her."

"And who are you to make such bold promises?" Nitesco asked with a sinister tone.

The man scoffed. "I am Jay, Captain of her majesty's Honor Guard, and I promise that I will die before I let you lay a finger on her!"

"That can be arranged," Austin retorted. Jay smiled.

"Such ardor. Do you know what today is?" Jay asked. When he received no answer, he continued. "Today is the ninth anniversary of the demise of King Celtic. Nitesco, I think it's fitting that the date of your greatest victory shall be the date of your greatest defeat."

"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched, Jay," Nitesco shot back. "Celtic did that, and you know what I did to him."

"If your memoirs are true, then Celtic did more to you than you to he." Jay shook his head. "Who knows? Maybe when this is over, you'll have a second fake leg. If we leave you alive, that is."

"If Inferno had half the wit you have, we wouldn't be in this mess," Austin spoke up. "Unfortunately, she's dragged you and the rest of her soldiers down with her." She patted Nitesco on the shoulder. "We're done here."

They marched back to their lines, ignoring the insults that Jay threw at them as they left. Once safely out of the archers' range, they dismounted and beckoned for Gwydion and Vulpix to come over.

"Alright, boys, this is it!" Austin exclaimed with youthful eagerness. "We've got some scouts on this, right? How many entrances are there?"

"Only one," Coronam replied. "But there are other potential weak spots in the walls. On the other side of the compound is a large guard tower overlooking the southern highlands. That could provide a suitable distraction were we to blow it to smithereens." A more bloodthirsty eagerness crept into his voice as he chuckled maliciously.

"I can handle the south tower," Nitesco said. "I'll take the Gunnian soldiers and some artillery and breach it there. Gwydion, are you with me?"

"Always," he said confidently. "It'll be just like old times. We can take the Mask's mercenaries too, just to wreak a little extra chaos there." Gwydion rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"I'll stay back with the artillery and my soldiers in case they try a counterattack," Vulpix said. "Which leaves Coronam and Austin for the frontal assault."

"Breach the walls and we'll bring them down," Austin said. "Our soldiers will steamroll them."

"It's decided, then?" Coronam spoke up. "Good. The day is young, and I aim to be sleeping in a proper bed tonight. That is, if we leave any in that castle intact." Another malicious chuckle.

"There's no time to lose, then," Vulpix said, and he turned to his chief artilleryman. "Soldier, let the first round loose! I want to see their walls filled with iron!"

The artillery chief obeyed, and the countryside erupted in smoke and iron. The siege began.

Zissman stood in the mezzanine of Queen Inferno's throne room, watching with some amusement as soldiers, servants, and castle guardsmen bustled in the chamber below. The League had begun their assault, as the sounds of cannon fire and explosions told him, and his window to act had opened.

"Scion." Jannis' voice shook him from his distraction. "The League has begun their siege."

The sound of a cannonball exploding nearby startled Zissman, who nearly fell over the railing. "I heard," he deadpanned. "Did you bring some men?"

"Half a dozen of our finest," Jannis confirmed, "in case things go awry." Zissman looked behind Jannis and saw six men dressed in the traditional red armor of the Church Crusaders. He smiled.

"Very good. Now, follow me. There is much to do and little time to do it." Zissman waved for the soldiers to follow him. Jannis took his place at the front, next to Zissman.

"Where are we going, Scion?" he asked. Zissman led them down the painted corridors of Inferno's castle, listening to the muffled rumbles of the castle defenses collapsing.

"You see, Champion Jannis, Inferno has had significant political clout in the Subreddit for some time, even before we came here. And do you know why?"

Jannis shook his head. The party went down a staircase and turned down a well-furnished hall.

"Blackmail. Blackmail is the answer. It's Inferno's most well-guarded secret. Since we began working with her, I've had my spies scurrying about, trying to figure out why Inferno, despite her country's obvious weakness after Celtic's Revolt, hadn't been invaded or deposed. The answer was blackmail."

The party turned into the last room on the left: Inferno's private study. Inside, it was nothing special: bookshelves lining the walls, a few small windows and paintings, a nondescript black desk with a black rug to match, and a couple small statues of Kings and Queens Inferno past. The soldiers entered the room and began scanning it for anything out of place.

"I puzzled on it for years, Jannis. First, the question was what it was. Then, the question was where to find it." Zissman walked over to Inferno's desk and took a seat on the edge. "But it turns out, my dear Jannis, that the answer was under our noses the entire time."

Zissman stooped down and pried up the carpet, revealing a large trapdoor underneath. Jannis grabbed the handle and flung it up, revealing a set of stairs leading down into a secret passage. Zissman grinned like a child receiving a birthday present.

"I was talking to Inferno in here a few weeks back and I felt the hollowness in the floor under the carpet. Quite amusing, really. All these spies for all this time and it was right here." Zissman began his descent down the stairs, followed closely by his men. At the bottom was a large room, five times the size of Inferno's study, filled from end to end with bookshelves containing scrapbooks of documents. Zissman approached one with the label 'Duke McDouggal - Milk and Cereal" and ran his finger along it. Jannis looked around the stone cellar, confused.

"This is it?" he asked. "This is what you brought me here to see?"

"Not just see. Collect." Zissman found a small, empty crate in the corner and tossed it to Jannis. "This, Jannis, is the key to our ascent. Inferno could get by with the existence of blackmail, but we are foreigners, Jannis. They will not trust us. We will need to provide them proof."

"What's so important about it?"

"Jannis, in this room is a gold mine of information. Intercepted letters, stolen documents, and records of every misdeed, murder, bastard child and backdoor agreement that's gone on in this Subreddit. This, right here, is more valuable than all the gold in Inferno's vaults."

"Why all this beating around the bush?" Jannis asked. "Can we not rely on the authority Inferno's given us?"

Zissman sighed. "Why waste resources convincing these lords to heel when we can force them to with less effort? Why spend gold and iron when parchment will do the trick? This way, we can gain control and spread our message in a tenth of the time we might otherwise."

Jannis sighed and nodded. "Fine. I'll collect your documents. But I don't like subterfuge like this."

"It's for the greater good. It's for the Goddess."

Jannis frowned. Perhaps Zissman had a point. He turned to the six soldiers he had brought with him. "Alright, soldiers. Grab a crate and stuff as much paper as you can into it. We'll be in and out within the hour."

When the first cannonball went through the north portcullis, Kazehh and Jelo were among the first to spew forth from the breach, into the battlefield. They felt eager, knowing that someday they would tell tales of how they were the first to attack Inferno's fortress.

The future would have to wait, unfortunately, because things were getting dicey in the now.

Jelo swung his morning star upward, knocking several teeth, along with a significant amount of jawbone, out of the soldier he was fighting. With his weapon in the air, he brought it down onto an unaware spearman's head, shattering his skull like a cheap ceramic cup. Kazehh wound up his crescent axe, charging and swinging it in a wide arc in front of him, beheading, or at least disfiguring, many of the soldiers in front of him at once. He swiftly turned around and embedded the axe blade in the shoulder of a Crossharish soldier creeping up behind Jelo, and Jelo returned the favor by swinging his morning star into the stomach of a soldier about to swing at Kazehh's head.

"That was close," Kazehh said. Jelo nodded.

"I know. Where do we go from here?"

An arrow flew past them, skimming Kazehh's cheek and ending its trail in the skull of the Arkosian soldier behind them. As the man spasmed and collapsed on the ground, Kazehh and Jelo met each other's now startled gaze.

"Let's get to cover, holy shit," Kazehh said. The pair dashed off and ducked behind a large pile of rubble, then began scanning the battlefield.

"What do we do now?" Jelo asked. Kazehh stroked his chin.

"Well," Kazehh said, "if Austin and Coronam are going to get inside the castle, they need the portcullis opened. But the walls over here look intact. Wait! There!" He pointed at one of the taller towers on the inner wall. At its base was a small wooden door, which had gone unnoticed by the rest of the League forces. Jelo saw it and nodded reluctantly.

"Okay. So we go in the tower and climb the wall. Then what?"

"Then we find the portcullis and open it, our soldiers ride through and kill Inferno. Easy!"

"Easy?" Jelo asked. "You're insane!"

"Likely," Kazehh admitted with a childish gleam in his eye, "but do you have a better idea?"

Jelo sighed, resigned. "No. It seems that death is just as likely up there as down here. At least up there we might die with a view."

"As good an argument as any I've heard," Kazehh said. He looked out at the battlefield swarming with soldiers and swallowed. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be!" Jelo exclaimed. They vaulted over the rubble they used for cover and booked it toward the tower, ignoring the clamor of battle around them. Once they arrived, Jelo ran into the door with all his might, shattering it and startling the two men behind it.

"Hey!" One of them yelled, but Jelo cracked his skull open with little delay. The other reached for his spear, but Kazehh swiftly deprived him of his head. The pair stopped to catch their breaths as they looked up a spiral stone staircase, which would lead them up to the wall proper.

"After you," Kazehh said. Jelo and shook his head.

"No, none of that. I busted down this door, you get to go in first this time."

"But there was barely anyone in here!" Kazehh exclaimed.

"We didn't know that. For all I knew, there could've been a dozen men behind this door."

Kazehh sighed. "Alright, fine. But stay close!"

Jelo obeyed, following Kazehh up the stairs. They emerged from the tower and took stock of their surroundings: the walls had been smashed by cannon shot, and the men on the wall ignored them, preferring to focus on the battlefield below.

"There!" Kazehh pointed at the north gate: the portcullis was closed, and the winch operating it sat in plain sight, undefended. "There it is!"

"Hey!" An archer turned to them, noticing their lack of uniform. "Are you—"

Jelo howled and hit him square across the jaw with his morning star, sending the archer off the edge of the wall. Some of the other men manning it turned and noticed.

"Oh, shit," Kazehh grumbled. He charged at the first one, grabbing him by the collar of his armor and swinging him in front of him as a second archer fired an arrow at him. Letting the first archer's body collapse, he stuck his axe's blade in the sternum of the second one. Jelo rushed ahead and took the last archer that had taken notice out.

As a cannonball stuck an adjacent section of the inner wall, the pair charged down the stairs towards the portcullis. Jelo stopped to catch his breath while Kazehh got his hands on the winch.

"Jelo, would you like to help?" he asked pointedly. "This thing is heavy." Jelo waved him off.

"No," Jelo said, and he turned around slightly. "I'll stay here and keep— holy shit!" Jelo cut off as he ducked under the sword of an ambusher. He attempted to strike back, but the attacker knocked the morning star away with his scimitar and kicked Jelo back. Kazehh let go of the winch and readied his axe, while Jelo stood up and recuperated.

"Peasants," the man spat. Judging by his armor, he was of high rank. "You should've stayed with the artillery, hauling the shot. It's where you belong."

"And who the fuck are you?" Jelo asked, anger in his voice. The man angled his scimitar at the two of them and smiled.

"I am Jay, Captain of her majesty's Honor Guard. I must admit, I am impressed you two managed to make it all the way over here. And pleasantly surprised; I was afraid I would have no worthy opponents today."

"Then go to the grave on a happy note, you bastard halfwit!" Kazehh shouted. Jay merely laughed.

"Such vulgarity. It shows your true station." Jay scoffed. "You two made a valiant attempt, but it ends here. Any last words?"

Kazehh and Jelo said nothing and raised their weapons.

Jay smiled. "Good. Let's begin!"

Nitesco and Gwydion stood outside the castle walls, watching as the Arkosian artillery battered it with iron and marveling at both the amount of stone being blown out of the walls and the fact that they were still standing after so much abuse. Gwydion stroked his chin.

"Whatever that wall is made of, we need to make the walls of Guns N' Roses out of that too."

Nitesco shook his head. "If there's enough left of it to take home, then we'll salvage the materials."

Another cannonball struck the wall, sending another plume of rubble up into the air. The wall was breaking. It was only a matter of time until they could storm the fortress.

"Are you ready?" Gwydion asked, drawing his sword. Nitesco grinned.

"When have I not been?"

Another volley of cannon shot finally opened a hole in the wall large enough for their forces to charge through. Nitesco grinned and raised his sword.

"Men! Rally up! Today, we take Inferno's head!"

The soldiers bellowed a war cry and followed Nitesco and Gwydion as they charged the castle. Within moments, they were in the thick of the action, having led their troops into the courtyard connected to the south gate. Nitesco vaulted over a heap of rubble and killed an unsuspecting shieldbearer before turning to Gwydion.

"There," Nitesco said, pointing to the inner wall. The south gate was closed, and on the other side lied Inferno's castle. "That's our target."

"How do we get in?" Gwydion asked. Nitesco shrugged.

"I don't know. But we might as well fight while I figure it out."

"Fair enough." Gwydion readied his hand cannon and hopped over the rubble into the thick of battle, followed by Nitesco. Soon, they were back at the front, hewing soldiers aside and barking orders to their men.

"So," Gwydion yelled above the din of battle. An enemy soldier swung a sword at him, and managed to chip Gwydion just below the nose. The soldier received Gwydion's sword in the stomach for his efforts. "Any ideas yet?"

"Not exactly!" Nitesco exclaimed. An enemy skirmisher dove toward him, narrowly missing his tackle, and hit the ground hard. Another soldier charged Nitesco, but was quickly disarmed. Nitesco shoved the soldier's sword in the prone skirmisher's back before beheading the soldier.

"Well, an idea would be nice!" Gwydion yelled. They slowly migrated through the crowd of warriors, swinging madly in an attempt to save themselves. Nitesco grunted.

"Well, if you need an idea so badly, come up with one yourself!" He noticed a soldier about to spear Gwydion in the back, and quickly slashed him across the chest. "And for God's sake, watch your back!"

"I'm trying, Nitesco!" Gwydion said, and he shot an attacking soldier in the head with his hand cannon.

"Have you got anything?"

"No," Gwydion said sheepishly. Nitesco groaned.

"Well, we can't just—"

A stray projectile flew over the outer wall and struck the inner wall, sending a shower of dust and rock over the battling soldiers. The rubble collapsed in a small pile at the foot of the inner wall and left an opening from where it had fallen.

"Oh," Gwydion said.

"That was unexpected," Nitesco commented. He turned to the handful of soldiers that were still behind them and had not gone off to fight Inferno's garrison. "But not unwelcome. Come on men! Through the breach!"

Nitesco, Gwydion and the men under them clambered up the ruined wall, taking advantage of the enemy soldiers' surprise. Nitesco grabbed one by the collar and threw him off the wall as his soldiers pressed forward.

"Fan out, boys! Take the rest of the defenders! Gwydion and I will take the castle!"

The soldiers obeyed, rushing off to take on the other defenders manning the inner wall. Gwydion frowned as he watched them scurry off.

"Do you think we have enough to disarm the defenses?"

"More than enough," Nitesco said. "Inferno's dedicated most of her defenses to the outer wall and the courtyards."

Gwydion nodded slowly and pointed at the castle. It had no defenses on it, save for a few palace guardsmen standing on the towers or running along the walls. He smiled.

"All the better for us," Gwydion said. "Shall we go in?"

"Yes," Nitesco said. "I think we shall."

Jay was an opponent unlike any Kazehh or Jelo had faced before. His defense was impeccable; neither Jelo nor Kazehh were able to break his guard, and he was quick to roll out of the way if there was an incoming strike he could not deflect. However, Jay was also aggressive, and even when they were on the offensive, both Kazehh and Jelo felt like they were struggling.

"Do you even know why you're here?" Jay asked. Jelo tried an underhand swing, but Jay blocked it and severed a spike from the morning star with his scimitar. Jelo countered Jay's riposte with a punch to the chest, stiffening Jay but not stopping him.

"Shut the fuck up," Jelo said. Another swing, and another spike gone in the deflection. Soon, Jelo thought, he'd just be swinging around a hammer.

Kazehh twirled his crescent axe menacingly, unleashing a flurry of spinning blows. Jay grunted and stepped back, but his guard held.

"You are weak," Jay sneered, and he struck at Kazehh. Kazehh deflected the first strike, but the second one caught him in the ear, taking a chunk of it with it.

"Didn't you hear Jelo?" Kazehh asked sardonically. He felt a hard metal boot behind his knee and his legs collapsed from under him. As Jay brought his scimitar down for a killing blow, Jelo stuck his morning star in front of it, blocking the strike but denting his weapon.

"Nobody hurts my friends!" Jelo roared, and he swung at Jay. the spikes on his morning star pierced him in the chest and tore off part of his breastplate, but Jay staggered backwards and readied himself again.

"You two will die worthless deaths," Jay taunted. "Inferno's victory is already assured."

"Not if we can help it!" Kazehh exclaimed. He swung at Jay, but Jay ducked under it and struck the long handle, splitting the axe in two and slicing a shallow cut across Kazehh's chest. Jay hit Kazehh with a swift kick to the stomach, sending him to the ground with a pained yelp.

"She will escape and regroup elsewhere. Then she will return and destroy this pithy attempt to end her reign, and you will die with it."

Jelo howled again, attacking Jay with a speed and ferocity that he'd never had before. Jay raised his scimitar and blocked the strike as best he could, taking a few slices to his forearms as he did so. Unfortunately, Jelo had broken off all the spikes on his hammer and was now swinging around a misshapen ball of metal on a stick.

"Just die already!" Jelo grunted. He wound up and struck Jay as hard as he could, hitting him in his left hand. Jay screamed in pain as his hand made an unpleasant crunch, and he dropped his sword. Jelo charged him again, but Jay sidestepped it and, grabbing the back of Jelo's head, rammed it into the portcullis as hard as he could.

Jelo fell to the ground, bleeding from his head. He tried to stand up, but Jay grabbed him by the throat and pressed him against the portcullis.

"When I wring the life out of you," Jay said, "after I'm done with your friend, I want you to remember something. Inferno's victory is inevitable. This is only a setback. And in a hundred years, when this battle is written in the annals of history, nobody will ever remember you were here. You will have died for nothing!" He bashed Jelo's against the gate once more for good measure and watched as he slumped to the ground.

Kazehh bellowed a war cry and ran at Jay, who dove to the side at the last second. He saw that Kazehh had armed himself with the upper half of his broken axe, and backpedaled as Kazehh swung wildly with it. At last, Kazehh managed to strike Jay in the shoulder, lodging his weapon there, and wrenched it in.

"How's that feel, fucker? Eh? No more big talk, huh?" Kazehh spat on him as Jay groaned. Jay, in response, punched Kazehh in the groin. As Kazehh stepped back in pain, Jay wrenched the axe out of his shoulder and armed himself with it.

"Goddamn peasant!" Jay shrieked, and he swung at Kazehh. Kazehh stumbled backward, leading Jay to fall on top of him and try to push the axe head into Kazehh's throat, as Kazehh tried to hold him back. Even with only one hand available to him, Jay was exceptionally strong.

"You should've stayed in the gutters, where you belong!" Jay exclaimed. He pressed harder, and the edge of the axe met Kazehh's throat.

"Jay!" Someone exclaimed. Jay turned to see who had said his name.

Jelo, head bruised and bloody, stood in front of the gate with his morning star in hand. He charged at Jay who, entangled with Kazehh, was unable to evade. Jelo put the full force of his charge into a swing of his morning star, connecting with Jay's forehead. Jay was lifted into the air by the force of Jelo's strike and landed several feet away. He lay limp on the ground, blood gushing out of the fracture in his skull.

Jelo stumbled to the ground, still dizzy from being mashed into the portcullis. Kazehh rushed to his side, pulled him up, and propped him up next to the winch.

"You alright, bud?" Kazehh asked. Jelo winced and nodded.

"I think so. My head hurts like hell, but I'm alive," Jelo said. He turned to the slumped body of Jay. "Is he getting up again?"

"Not anytime soon. You busted his head wide open." Kazehh got a grip on the winch and began pushing. "Hey, we won, didn't we?" he asked as he pushed the winch with difficulty. Jelo gave him a thumbs up and coughed a little more.

Once the portcullis was open, Kazehh grabbed Jelo by the arm and helped him stand. Jelo was still dizzy, but lucid enough for Kazehh.

"Alright, Jelo," he said. "It's a clean shot to the exit. I say we book it, duck behind our lines and rest there. Sound like a plan?"

"As good a plan as you ever came up with," Jelo sarcastically remarked. He grinned. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Kazehh said. They laughed and ran as fast as they could out of the fortress and back to friendly lines.