April 4, 9 ATC

Chanel Castle, Duchy of Leporin, Pollination-Crosshares Commonwealth

Inferno stood outside the doors of her castle, watching the battle unfold. The outer wall had been breached, and League soldiers poured in like water through a breach in a boat's hull. A few soldiers had made it over the inner wall, but she had dispatched Jay to deal with it.

Inferno's soldiers had not routed the invaders yet, and that was cause for concern. She would have to fight herself, if things did not improve.

"My sword, my sword," Inferno muttered to herself, and she turned back into the castle. "I must get my sword."

Inferno paced briskly through the palace halls. It did not befit a queen to run, especially not when threats to her life were so (relatively) far away. Still, time was of the essence, and for all she knew League assassins could be crawling the building as she walked.

When Inferno arrived in her throne room, she was greeted with a sight much more disturbing to her than assassins: Scion Zissman, Champion Jannis and six other men carrying crates of papers through the secret escape passage underneath her throne. Jannis saw her and drew his massive broadsword, leveling it at her.

"Come no closer, my lady," he commanded. There was a certain forced brusqueness to his voice, an attempt to intimidate her. It failed.

"Traitor!" she shrieked, and she began pacing toward them. Jannis put both hands on his sword, but Zissman stepped in front of him and waved him down.

"No need, Jannis," Zissman said coldly. "Even she's not so foolhardy as to charge you."

"Traitor!" Inferno yelped again. Zissman smirked.

"We're the ones who backstabbed you, huh?" Condescension and indignation crawled into his tone. "We're not stupid. I know what you were trying to accomplish by making us the state church. It didn't work."

"I should have you flayed!" Inferno hissed. "Guards! To me! Kill these heretics!"

"Heretics!" Zissman scoffed. "After all our time together, and you still think of us as nothing but foreigners. Disappointing, but not unexpected."

From both side doors of the throne room, troops flooded in: from the left door came soldiers clothed in black leather armor: Anti's private guard. On the other, soldiers with the flaming rose of Enabler on their armor charged in. They drew their weapons, but upon seeing the Church soldiers, awkwardly froze.

Jannis and Zissman squinted at this; they had not expected such an odd reaction. Inferno, in response, clenched her fists.

"I gave you an order," she growled. "Follow it."

"With due respect, your highness," the leader of the Enabler soldiers said. "We have orders from Triumvir Faker not to interfere in a conflict between you and the Church."

Inferno's mouth hung slightly open in disbelief. Faker had turned against her? She looked at the Ladybuggish soldiers, wondering if their reasoning was the same.

"Baroness Anti has given us similar orders," the Ladybug captain said. Inferno cast an even more piercing glare at the Church members.

"You did this!" she yelled. Zissman shook his head, but he could not hide a grin.

"I didn't have anything to do with this," he said smugly, "which makes it all the more amusing. It was a good run, Inferno, but our partnership is now dissolved. Good luck, farewell, and may Coronam let your death be swift."

"NO!" Inferno yelled, and she sprinted toward Zissman and Jannis. They disappeared down the steps of the secret tunnel beneath the throne. Inferno followed, but as she flew down the steps, she heard the metallic clunk of a portcullis.

Jannis had closed the portcullis in the tunnel, which had been meant to stop intruders from giving chase if she ever needed to use the escape passage. She grabbed the bars and pressed against it, to no avail. On the other side, Jannis laughed as Zissman and the others made off with their stolen crates.

"My lady, you have no idea how long I've waited for this." Jannis sneered at her. "Keeping secrets from us, plotting against us, ordering us about like we were your peons, when in reality, you were nothing but a pawn to us. It made me sick to play the part, but now I don't have to."

"You'll pay for this," Inferno said through gritted teeth and the rusted iron of the portcullis. "I'll gut you myself!" Jannis merely chuckled.

"My lady, if you make it out of this alive, I'll let you do it. But I doubt it will come to that." He waved at her, waggling his fingers mockingly. "Ta-ta for now."

Inferno held her tongue as she watched Jannis disappear down the dark passage. Instead of shouting back, she turned and went up the steps and back into the now-empty throne room. As she pushed her throne back over the escape tunnel, a servant ran into the hall.

"Queen Inferno!" he yelled, in a panic. "The enemy has breached the inner wall! Our barricades are still holding strong, but it won't be long until they're broken. What do we do?"

Inferno exhaled and pursed her lips. They had done it. They had pierced the walls. It was only a matter of time until her castle was crawling with enemy soldiers.

A strange acceptance washed over Inferno. She knew her death was at hand. But damn it all, she would go down fighting.

"Fetch me my sword, servant," Inferno commanded. "If I die, then they're coming with me."

The battlefield was soaked in blood. Austin and Coronam danced through the battlefield, clashing sword and glaive with the weapons of Inferno's soldiers. Austin moved quickly and gracefully like a bird in flight, deflecting her opponent's attacks as she moved toward them before finally ending them quickly and cleanly, then moving on to the next. Coronam was far more aggressive: he swung his glaive around like a baton, butchering and maiming those he did not kill and leaving them for his soldiers to clean up as he moved to the next crowd. Eventually, Austin and Coronam met in the middle of the brawl.

"Coronam," Austin said. "Have we found a way into the castle?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid," Coronam said. "Unless we're going to circle around to the south end, which seems impossible, I guess we'll just thin the ranks and then climb the walls." He finished his sentence by impaling a soldier that had attempted to sneak up on him.

Austin nodded. "Well, we could—" She paused. "The portcullis just opened."

They turned to face the north gate of the inner wall, which was opening from the inside. They watched in astonishment as Kazehh and Jelo, both bruised and bloody, sprinted out from the gatehouse. Austin shrugged and turned to Coronam.

"As good as an opportunity as any," she remarked. Raising her sword in the air, she bellowed to her troops: "Men! Rally up and follow me! We'll have Inferno's head before nightfall!"

What soldiers were not stuck in the thick of battle, rallied behind Austin and Coronam as they ran to the open gate. As they ran through, though, a palace guardsman ran to the winch and sliced the chain, shutting the portcullis and sealing Coronam, Austin, and a half-dozen other soldiers on the inside of the inner wall. They were trapped.

"Shit!" Coronam cried, and he beheaded the soldier who cut the winch. He and Austin turned as a crowd of Inferno's soldiers exited the castle and charged toward them, swords and shields ready. In response, Coronam lifted his glaive and bellowed: "We'll gut them!"

Austin drew her sword and stepped in front of Coronam. "Now's not the time for theatrics, Coronam. Go. Find Inferno." She took a defensive stance. "We'll deal with the rubbish."

"You sure about that?"

"Inferno's a coward. She'll try to escape, if possible. We can't allow that. Go!"

Coronam didn't need to be told twice. As the guardsmen attacked Austin and her men, Coronam darted past them, running through the massive doorway into the palace foyer. He stopped to catch his breath, and heard the sound of palace guardsmen sprinting through the halls.

"The portcullis was opened!"

"We can't let them get in, men!"

"Let's slaughter them!"

The eager exclamations of the palace guardsmen came to a halt as they rushed into the room and saw that Coronam was standing there, his armor and weapons covered in blood. The guardsmen froze, knowing Coronam's reputation as a warrior, and then decided that there were enough of them to take one of him. The first one readied his spear.

"King Coronam!" he bellowed. "I command you—"

Coronam rammed his glaive into the man's throat, sending him to the ground with a sickening snap. In response, the other guards drew their swords and spears and moved to attack.

"I take commands from no one!" Coronam yelled, and he hacked off a guardsman's head. "Least of all Inferno's peons!"

Coronam twirled his glaive, deflecting the guardsmen's weapons and severing a few fingers. He ducked under an incoming sword and slashed the attacker in the abdomen, before ramming the point opposite the glaive's blade into another soldier standing behind him. Another series of twirls and slashes and three more fell down, leaving only an old man armed with a spear and a young woman who looked equally likely to faint as to attack. Coronam frowned.

"Look. I'm only looking for Inferno. Kindly tell me if she's still here and I'll leave you alive. Sound good?"

The older man switched his spear to his left hand, which still had all its fingers, and charged Coronam. Coronam easily sidestepped it and tripped the soldier before crushing his ribcage with the glaive. Coronam sighed and turned to the young woman, who was visibly shaking in her boots.

"So, little lady, how do you want to die? With my weapon in your chest, or in your own bed at a ripe old age?" He added a growl to his voice to frighten the girl more. She dropped her sword and raised her arms in surrender.

"Inferno's in the throne room! She says she's waiting for you!" The girl sank to her knees. "Please don't kill me!"

Coronam sighed. For some reason, this girl had a way of tugging at his heartstrings. Maybe it was because she looked a bit like Opifexa. Perhaps he went a bit overboard with the intimidation, he thought. He patted the girl on the shoulder.

"There, there, little lady. Stay here. When soldiers come, tell them Coronam guaranteed your safety. Okay?" The girl nodded and stayed stationary. Coronam readied his glaive and walked down the halls to the throne room.

Coronam was surprised to find that Inferno was alone. She was not in the royal robes she often wore, but in light, leather armor that seemed out of place on her. She sat on her throne looking melancholy, staring not at Coronam but through him. For some reason, it unnerved him.

"Inferno," Coronam growled. He rested his glaive on his shoulder. "Are you willing to surrender?"

Inferno laughed, a single deep chuckle from the back of the throat that had no humor in it. She continued staring at Coronam with her blank, lifeless gaze.

"Why? So I can be strutted around your capital like a caged bird? Or executed in front of thousands? I will not die with such indignity."

Inferno's gaze focused, and now she looked at Coronam with deep hate in her eyes. She stood.

"If I am to die, then it will be here, in my abode, on my terms." From the table next to her throne, she plucked a gleaming falchion and pointed it at Coronam. "Maybe I'll take you with me."

Coronam grinned maliciously and unshouldered his weapon. "Don't count on it."

Inferno chuckled again, though there seemed to be genuine amusement in her voice this time. "Such hubris," she admonished him. "I see myself in you."

Coronam opted not to respond. Instead, he charged her. Inferno nimbly leapt away, just out of Coronam's range, and swiftly swung back. She landed a glancing blow on Coronam's chin, barely enough to draw blood, but it told Coronam that she was more able with a blade than he would've given her credit for.

"You know how to use a sword," Coronam observed. Inferno smirked wryly.

"You thought I would be a pushover?" she asked. Coronam shrugged insincerely. "Then I'm pleased to prove you wrong," Inferno said.

Coronam resumed the attack, dealing wide, arcing blows that Inferno adeptly dodged. Seeing that strength would do him no favors, he took to quicker, whirling blows. Inferno stopped dodging and started deflecting.

"Ah, Coronam. When will you learn that brute force isn't always the path to victory? Sometimes you just have to wait for the opportunity to strike."

She finished her sentence by seizing a pause in Coronam's relentless assault to deliver a slash to the shoulder. Coronam grunted as the blade cut through a space in his armor but blocked a followup from Inferno.

"You talk too much," he stated. Inferno stepped up her offensive, her blade flying gracefully through the air, thrashing back and forth as Coronam tried to block them all. Tired of being on the defensive, Coronam pulled the bottom end of his polearm up and hit Inferno in the nose, drawing blood. He swung the blade down at her, but she dodged by a fraction of a second. Strutting backwards, Inferno laughed.

"Too slow, boy," she mocked him. "You're tired. I see it in your face. You've been slicing through my soldiers for how long now? A few hours at least. You're sluggish. You're weak now. Just give up and die!"

Inferno unleashed a flurry of quick attacks, forcing Coronam back on the defensive. At last, she wore down his stamina, and a sideways swipe to his hand saw his glaive fall from it. Coronam fell back and struggled to get up.

"I will not die here," he defiantly spat. Inferno chuckled.

"It looks like you've made a liar of yourself," she chided. "Now shut up and I'll make it quick."

As Inferno raised her sword, the doors to the throne room burst open.

Nitesco and Gwydion ran through the halls of Inferno's castle and quickly got lost. The corridors and hallways twisted and turned, not unlike Celtic's castle all those years ago, though this castle was far better decorated.

"Hey, Nitesco?" Gwydion asked as they rounded another corner.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Uh, no," Nitesco said. "But think of it this way: if we don't know where we're going, they can't plan against us, right?"

"I don't think that's how it works," Gwydion grumbled. Nitesco frowned.

"Well, it's not like we have another option besides running around and hoping," he said. The pair turned yet another corner and saw that, on one side of the corridor, two oak doors sat wide open.

"You think that's the throne room?" Nitesco whispered. Gwydion shrugged.

"It seems likely."

Nitesco patted him on the shoulder. "What did I tell you! I knew it would work!" Gwydion grumbled again, but willingly followed Nitesco as he crept through the doors.

As they walked in, their excitement disappeared: the room, though large and well-decorated, was not the throne room but instead the ballroom. Nitesco huffed and was about to leave when he heard two people talking.

"We're backed into a corner," a man said. "Our manpower is low, we're under siege, Inferno's probably lost her head and the Church has fucked off to who knows where. I say we cut our losses and flee."

"Then what?" A female voice, stained with irritation, responded. "Theoretically, we could book it west, but what happens next? We've aligned our nations with Inferno, and unless some support rises from the mists, we're pretty fucked after that if we don't leave the Subreddit borders."

Nitesco crept down the right set of stairs, motioning for Gwydion to go down the left. He looked at the two, and upon seeing them, recognized them as Anti of Ladybug and Triumvir Faker.

"I have contacts downriver," Faker proposed, "in the basin outside the borders. We could always head there until things cool down. It's as good an option as any."

"I suppose," Anti agreed. "Better some slimy river marsh than the League's prison."

Nitesco stood, taking the opportunity to reveal himself. "I disagree," he stated loudly, startling Anti and Faker. He laughed as Faker drew his rapier and Anti's hands went to the hilts of her daggers.

"Now, now, now. Let's not be hasty," Nitesco admonished them. "Prison is a far better option than death."

"Is it?" Anti asked. "You may be a war veteran, Nitesco, but you don't know what prison is like. I spent four years wallowing in a dungeon, and I'll die before I rot in there for forty more."

"I'll die before I ever see the inside of a Gunnian prison, Nitesco," Faker said defiantly, shaking his rapier at him. "Or before you ship me off to Contramundi's. Can you imagine the things he has in store for me? I'll not suffer it."

Nitesco, seeing that Gwydion had crept up behind them, smiled and quietly beckoned for him to subdue them. "I'm not Gunnian; I'm Rosian," Nitesco admonished Faker.

"What's the fucking-" Faker stopped as he felt Gwydion's swordpoint in his back. Anti froze too, feeling the barrel of Gwydion's infamous hand cannon pressed against the back of her head.

"Clever, Nitesco." Anti scowled. "But you should've just killed us."

Instantly, Anti had a dagger in her hand. The blade arced through the air and slicing Gwydion under his left eye. After staggering backward, Gwydion holstered his hand cannon and readied his sword. As Anti drew her second dagger and charged him, Nitesco vaulted over the stair railing to take on Faker.

Nitesco took the offensive on Faker, parrying his rapier's thrusts and making several swipes of his own. Faker rapidly backpedaled, deflecting Nitesco's swipes and slashes, planning to keep up the defensive until Nitesco inevitably tired, and an opportunity to riposte afforded itself.

"Careful there, buddy," Faker taunted. "You'll run out of energy."

Nitesco, in response, delivered a kick square in Faker's stomach before delivering an overhand slash. The slash was deflected, but Faker stumbled backward anyway.

"I may not be as young as I once was, but I'm still fit." Two more thrusts from Faker, who was attempting to shift back to the offensive. Nitesco sidestepped a stab and took a chunk out of Faker's cheek in his riposte. Faker scowled.

"You ought to watch your energy too, my friend," Nitesco taunted. "You can't stay on the defensive forever." Faker grimaced and met Nitesco's blade with his.

In the middle of the ballroom, Gwydion was faring worse. Anti was a quick hitter, slicing and dicing with her two daggers, but her reach was short enough for Gwydion to avoid or deflect most of her strikes, and the blows she did land were glancing. Still, he was on the defensive, and he didn't like that.

Anti shouted and charged him again, but Gwydion shouldered her. Anti noticed that he didn't fight like a normal soldier, like Nitesco. He relied on hand-to-hand maneuvers just as much as swordplay, boldly attacking Anti with jabs and punches from his off hand and interrupting her assaults with a well-placed shoulder or elbow. It was a mercenary's style.

Gwydion tried to take off Anti's head, but missed and sliced off only a stray strand of her hair. She chuckled.

"Poor Gwydion. Never the strongest. Never the fastest. Never the most skilled. It's a wonder you're still standing." She laced her words with condescension, hoping that venom would wear down his defenses faster than exhaustion.

"Maybe I'm not," Gwydion said. "But I'm the cleverest, and that counts for something."

Anti danced away from another of Gwydion's offhand punches, and she resumed the offensive. She repositioned the dagger in her right hand into a reverse grip and swung, hoping to take one of Gwydion's eyes. Unfortunately, Gwydion's incoming swing knocked the dagger out of her hand and onto the floor. Anti quickly responded by slicing Gwydion's sword hand with her remaining dagger, leading him to scream and drop his blade.

"Smart move," Gwydion commented. He unholstered his hand cannon, attempting to fire a shot into Anti to end the fight at last, but she grabbed his hand as he pulled the trigger and forced his arm up. The shot went up into the chandelier, shattering it and spreading glass over the pristine blue carpet.

Faker, who was still fighting Nitesco, flinched in surprise as the hand cannon fired; Nitesco took the opportunity to duck under Faker's incoming swipe and slash him in the hip. Faker somersaulted up, striking Nitesco on the chin, and backed away with his sword held in front of him. With one more slash and a kick, Nitesco knocked Faker's sword from his hand and forced Faker to the ground. He held his sword to Faker's throat, then took the opportunity to check up on Gwydion and Anti, only to see that Gwydion was now held at both gun and knifepoint.

"Nitesco!" Anti roared. She dug the dagger she held across Gwydion's throat in a little deeper, causing him to flinch. "Let Faker go, or Gwydion gets it." She pressed the hand cannon into the flesh underneath Gwydion's right eye, and he scoffed.

"You don't know how to use that thing," he chided, "and even if you did, it's unloaded."

"Both fair points," Anti conceded, "but I still have a knife to your throat, so shut up."

"Shit," Gwydion muttered to himself, barely audible. "Fair enough. Shutting up."

"Let him go, Anti," Nitesco said. "This won't end well for you if you don't."

"And why would I let him go?" Anti asked, more irritated. "So you can attack again? Not a chance."

"He's my friend and my advisor," Nitesco said. "I must guarantee his safety."

"Faker is the same to me," Anti said. "I must do the same."

"You're a merchant, aren't you, Anti?" Nitesco asked pointedly. "You're a negotiator at heart. The fact that you didn't slit Gwydion's throat when you had the chance means that you think you can negotiate with me."

"Am I right?" Anti asked, digging her dagger into Gwydion's neck to make sure Nitesco answered correctly. Nitesco nodded.

"You are. I propose an arrangement: you let Gwydion go, and I don't kill Faker or you. I'll let you go, and then you two can wander off to wherever you please. You avoid dying. You avoid prison. Sound fair?"

"Why bother negotiating, Anti?" Faker asked, still pinned by Nitesco's sword. He ignored the burning pain in his side and the blade at his throat. "I can get out of this. I say you slit that one's throat, and then we just kill this fool and be done with it!"

"I trust you've negotiated a hostage case at least once before, Anti," Nitesco said. Anti nodded. "Good. Then you know that you are at a disadvantage, because the moment your hostage dies, your leverage is gone and you are vulnerable.

"If you do kill him, then what? You charge me and kill me. Well, maybe if you had more training, or if Faker was in better shape, you could do it, but right now he's not in a position to help you."

"Fuck you, Nitesco," Faker spat, but he remained stationary. Nitesco ignored him.

"What say you, Anti? Do you really think you could take me on alone? And even if you could, why? It serves no purpose. You both clearly don't care about Inferno, so what's the point in killing either of us?"

"You attacked us!" Anti hissed. Nitesco sighed.

"Not entirely true. We wanted to take you alive. But what's done is done. I say you let Gwydion go, and we let you two go. No more bloodshed. No imprisonment. He walks, then you two walk. Sound like a plan?"

Anti grit her teeth and mulled it over for a few seconds, letting her grip on Gwydion's throat ease a little.

"Fine," she said. Anti kicked Gwydion in the back to create some distance between them and beckoned for Faker to follow her. At the same time Nitesco stepped away from Faker, allowing him to stand and retreat. Anti raised the hand cannon at Nitesco. "I'm keeping this," she declared, and she and Faker hurried out the door at the opposite end of the ballroom.

Nitesco walked over to Gwydion, who was on his hands and knees, panting.

"You alright?" Nitesco asked.

Gwydion fell back to a sitting position and winced. "Bitch took my hand cannon," he said.

Nitesco chuckled with relief. "We can replace the hand cannon, but we can't replace you." He offered his partner a hand and lifted him up. "Let's head back and check on the battle outside. We can come back in with reinforcements and search for Inferno later if the others haven't already found her."

"Sounds good," Gwydion breathed. He shook his head. "If we do get to Inferno, you're taking her. I am done fighting these people. Celtic's people were assholes, but at least you knew what you were getting. But these fools? Bonkers."

Slowly and steadily, the commanders went back the way they came, hoping their allies were having better fortunes.

"Stop!" someone yelled. Inferno flinched and turned, giving Coronam an opportunity. He reared up and punched Inferno in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. As she staggered backwards, Coronam pushed himself forward with his legs, ramming his head into Inferno and knocking her down. Moving along the ground, he scrambled for his glaive. Once he had it in his hands, he turned, kneeling, to see who had saved him from an untimely demise.

Austin stood in the archway of the throne room, bruised and bloody from her skirmish with the guards, but still standing. She smiled approvingly at Coronam and pointed a bloody sword at Inferno.

"Austin?" Inferno asked, still reeling. "Why have you come to save this sorry man? He's no better than I am. Frankly, you'd be better off with both of us dead."

"Maybe," Austin admitted, earning a disappointed glare from Coronam. With eyes on Inferno, she walked over to where Coronam rested on one knee. "But he's honest," she said, "and he's brave, and if nothing else, he's not nearly as much of a tyrant as you are."

"He's a sorry duelist," Inferno commented.

Austin looked down at Coronam's bloodstained face and worn-down, heavily breathing body. She reached out to him with her right hand.

"No one wins alone," she said.

Coronam smiled softly, grabbed her hand, and pulled himself up. Together, they turned to see Inferno getting back to her feet. Inferno's hands shook ever so slightly as she steadied herself.

Coronam set himself in a combat stance. "Keep your eyes on her," he advised. "She's fast. She'll catch you off guard if you give her the chance."

"Understood," Austin replied, readying herself. "Make sure you don't overextend. If you get too confident just because there's two of us, we could both pay the price."

Coronam nodded. "Understood."

Inferno's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Instinctively, she took a step back. They took a step forward, eyeing her with killing intent. Inferno braced herself and raised her sword. She fought down her fear and found, deep within herself, the will to fight.

"You were both dead the moment you got here," she declared.

In unison, Austin and Coronam attacked. The real fight began.

Austin was a much different fighter than Coronam. Coronam was irregular; his polearm allowed him long range and a diverse fighting style, but the awkwardness of the weapon hampered his ability to survive on the defensive. Austin, though, fought like a regular soldier, countering and swinging and stabbing, yet Inferno could not find a way to break through her guard.

Inferno howled and swiped at Austin, missing her eye by mere inches. Austin attempted a stab in response, leading Inferno to leap out of the way, only to narrowly dodge a sweep by Coronam. She grumbled and stepped back, parrying another few swings from Austin.

"Why have you done this?" Austin demanded. "Why cause all this pointless death?" Austin hoped that, on the off chance that Inferno had a conscience, she could pull on it a little bit and make her more vulnerable.

Inferno scoffed. Coronam took advantage of her brief lull to try and sweep her again, but Inferno stepped back. Austin charged her, and they locked swords.

"You were the ones that started this," Inferno said. She grit her teeth as she struggled against Austin. "You burned Enabler. You have no right to judge me."

Coronam struck again. This time his blow connected and drove a deep cut through Inferno's arm. She screamed in pain and fell backwards, but rolled just in time to escape Austin's lunge.

"You know what I'm talking about," Austin said, and she swung again at Inferno. Her swing was countered, and Inferno would've had the opportunity to stab her had not Coronam charged her. She blocked his swings and began railing on Coronam, giving Austin time to recover.

"Why else?" Inferno asked as she lunged at Coronam. "Power. I'm not so stupid as to wage a war on principle." Coronam hit her in the eye with the staff of his glaive, and Austin attacked. She managed to get Inferno in the hip, the tip of her sword plunging through Inferno's leather armor. The queen backed away and threw up a defensive stance.

"You are a treacherous, greedy swine," Coronam sneered, "and I will butcher you like one!"

"Give up, Inferno," Austin said. "You don't have to die today."

"We're all going to die," Inferno said listlessly.

"Very well." Austin and Coronam spoke in unison, unnerving Inferno. Realizing she could not win against the two of them, Inferno sheathed her falchion and ran.

"What? Coward!" Coronam began yelling incoherently as Inferno ran down a long hallway. He quickly gave chase, Austin following close behind.

The pair advanced up a tight stone spiral staircase, Austin followed silently as Coronam yelled profanities up the stairs. After what felt like hundreds of stairs, they emerged on the roof of Inferno's castle. The outdoor wind was blowing hard, and the sky above was tinged orange by the setting sun. Several opaque glass peaks rose from the flat stone of the roof, concealing Inferno's location from them.

"Shit," Austin muttered. "Coronam, you go left. I'll go right." Coronam nodded, and they split up.

Austin crept around a corner, sword drawn, on edge at the prospect of being ambushed. She prowled across the roof, scanning every possible hiding space: behind the crates of arrows, a large coil of rope, the platforms the ballistas on the roof rested on. As she inspected behind a group of stacked crates, Austin heard footsteps behind her, and barely had time to duck out of the way before Inferno brought her falchion down onto the ground.

"Coronam!" Austin called. She stumbled to her feet and locked swords with Inferno as, in her peripheral vision, she saw Coronam running to her aid.

"Pathetic!" Inferno spat, and she backed away. Coronam arrived and stood with Austin, watching Inferno slink back slowly. Her face was bruised and bloody from their confrontation downstairs, and her arrogant demeanor had given way to desperation. Austin looked at Coronam; he did not seem to be enjoying himself, much to her surprise. He seemed almost sad. Austin supposed she did too.

"You can't even defeat me alone!" Inferno said. "You're all rats. You should've drowned in my glory."

"You built a house out of rotting wood," Coronam said. The malice in his voice had disappeared, replaced by disappointment. "Of course rats got in."

Inferno said nothing. She leaped at Coronam, flailing wildly with her sword, but even Coronam, tired though he was, managed to defend against it. Inferno, seeing her assaults were useless, punched Coronam in the stomach. As Coronam stumbled backwards, Inferno lunged at Austin. Austin parried the blow and, grabbing Inferno's wrist, rammed her into the roof railing. Inferno dropped her falchion off the edge and collapsed, defeated and unarmed.

Austin leveled her sword at Inferno. "So, you still won't surrender?"

Defiance returned to Inferno's expression, and she grabbed the railing and heaved herself up. With a hateful glare, she spat on Austin.

"Never."

"Then you've brought this on yourself!" Coronam said. He brandished his glaive menacingly and walked over to her. "Any last words?"

Inferno, instead of offering more threats, balled her fists and sneered at Coronam. "This Subreddit will burn," she said. "You've brought this on yourselves. It will not be me who casts your bodies into the river, but you will die. Retribution is coming, and you will all pay for this."

Coronam sighed. "I've heard enough," he stated, and he rammed his glaive into Inferno's stomach.

She gasped in pain and sank to her knees, blood flowing from the open wound. Inferno grabbed the staff of Coronam's weapon and brought her face as close to his as she could.

"This… isn't over!" she sputtered. Austin, with a final, understanding nod, put her hand on Inferno's shoulder and her sword through Inferno's lung.

"Yes," Austin said softly. "It is."

She and Coronam pulled their weapons out of Inferno at the same time, watching impassively as she gurgled and clutched at her wounds before falling down to her hands and knees. Inferno spat up a glob of blood and stared hatefully up at the two of them.

"You don't… understand," she choked out. "They… killed me. They… will kill… you too…" At last, Inferno slumped to the ground, gurgling and gasping, until she finally went silent.

Coronam, in lieu of any witty comments or laughter, merely sat down on a crate of arrows. He steepled his fingers, deep in thought.

"You know," he said to Austin. "I'd hoped that I would feel better than this. Inferno was my rival. A thorn in my side for quite some time. I had hoped this would make me feel happy, or vindicated, or at least smug. But now? I just feel tired."

"Not too tired, I hope," Austin said, peering over the edge. "There's still a whole battle to win down there."

Coronam sighed. "Of course there is." He walked over to Austin and peered over the edge with her. He grumbled.

"Now what?" Coronam asked, irritated. Austin turned to Inferno's bloody, lifeless body, then to a coil of rope sitting out next to a ballista. She turned to Coronam, a grim idea in her mind.

"I have an idea."

When Inferno's soldiers looked up, they saw their defeat. They saw their queen's bloodied body hanging from the parapets like that of a common criminal. They saw Austin and Coronam, two of the three faces of their nemesis, the Badaz League, standing over it, and they knew they had lost. Their resolve shattered, and what soldiers were unable to escape in the chaotic retreat simply surrendered, unwilling to fight any longer. The day was won.

It was evening when Austin and Coronam met the others in the throne room, which still bore scrapes and bloodstains from their duel with the queen. Nitesco and Austin were reviewing the rosters of their supplies and men, while Coronam and Vulpix surveyed a map of the region and planned further strikes.

"So, am I right to assume your confrontation went well?" Nitesco asked offhandedly. Austin and Coronam exchanged glances and shrugged.

"It was pretty straightforward," Coronam said. "We fought, we won, we hung her from the parapets. How about you?"

"It got a little hairy," Nitesco confessed. "Gwydion was held hostage for a moment."

"Is he alright?" Vulpix asked. Nitesco nodded.

"A little shaken and a little bruised, but the only thing he lost was his hand cannon. It could've been much worse."

Gwydion and Jelo walked back from the wings of Inferno's castle, carrying a large chest. They lowered it down in front of the commanders and opened it, revealing a large pile of gold.

"It's curious," Gwydion noted. "In Inferno's study, we found two things: a large, secret wall safe, and an underground vault."

"What's so important about that?" Austin asked.

"Nothing, I think. Just odd what I found in there. In the wall safe, there were huge chests of gold and silver and whatnot. It wasn't very convincingly hidden either. The underground vault was locked and hidden under a carpet. It led down to a large room filled with empty bookshelves."

"What kind of looters go for books instead of gold?" Jelo wondered aloud.

"And who did it anyways?" Nitesco asked. "Not our men."

"We can figure that out later," Vulpix said. "Right now, we have—"

"Coronam!" Kazehh exclaimed. He walked into the throne room, holding a scared young woman by the arm. Coronam instantly knew who it was.

"The other men found her sitting near a bunch of dead guards," Kazehh explained. "She says—"

"I know what she says, thank you," Coronam said. "She's telling the truth. Let her go." Kazehh nodded and let go of the young woman, who nodded awkwardly to Coronam and quickly walked out. Austin cast a knowing smile in his direction.

"What was that about?" Jelo asked. Coronam merely shrugged, a mischievous smile on his face.

"It's not important," Vulpix said. "Right now, we should focus on our next offensives."

"'Zealander,'" Austin said. "We just won. Inferno is dead. Her castle is ours. I'll admit, we lost a good portion of our men, but we have more than enough in reserve, and reinforcements are arriving soon, along with most of our junior officials. Whatever tomorrow has to offer, we can take it. But we can take it tomorrow. Right now, I want to sleep in a bed with sheets and a mattress, not on a cot in a tent. Sound reasonable?"

Vulpix scanned the faces of those around him, and seeing that they all agreed with Austin, he relented.

"Very well. We can plan in the morning. I guess I'd like some rest too."

"I killed Inferno," Coronam said, and he began walking away. "I get the master bedroom."

"Oh, like hell you did!" Austin called after him, but she laughed.

"I opened the gates," Kazehh said. "Whatever the next-best room is, I get it."

"You?" Jelo asked. "I saved your ass from Jay! You wouldn't have been alive to open them if I hadn't been there!"

"Yeah, but it was my idea in the first place," Kazehh shot back. Their bickering continued as they walked off into the wrong wing of the palace.

"They've got to have diplomat's quarters somewhere," Gwydion pondered aloud, following Coronam. Vulpix shook his head and did the same.

Austin and Nitesco found themselves alone in the throne room. Nitesco turned to Austin and gave her a wry smile.

"How's it feel to be a hero?" he asked. Austin looked down with a bittersweet smile.

"I didn't expect there to be this much death," she admitted. "But I'm glad I did this. I feel… I feel like I did something." She turned away from Nitesco, getting a little teary-eyed, and Nitesco laughed warmly.

"Oh, Austin." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know your father would be proud."

"You think so?" Austin asked. Nitesco nodded.

"I know so. I'm proud of you. He would be too."

"Thank you, Nitesco," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "Now, come on. I don't want to get stuck sleeping in the servant's quarters."

Nitesco laughed with her, and they walked off into the palace together. With their enemy defeated, they took an evening to enjoy their victory and appreciate being alive.