Copyright © 2021 M.E. Thorne

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456

Cover design by: Andreea Sava
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Copyright

Author’s Note

The Story Thus Far

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Epilogue

Afterward

Books by M.E. Thorne

Author’s Note

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started my writing career.  My first book came out in October 2020, and it’s been a crazy ride since.  I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you, my readers, for supporting me and making this all possible.

I had a blast writing this book, and I can’t wait to bring you more of Mal’s adventures in 2022.  In the meantime, I’m hard at work on Dark Lord’s Commands 2, which should be out Dec/Jan, so you can look forward to that.

As always, you can sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates.  If you enjoyed this book please leave a positive review and spread the word!

Thank you again!

The Story Thus Far

Growing up in The City, Mal was told that it was a utopia, overseen by the benevolent Goddess.  She protected her children from the outside world, a dark wasteland ruled by the Demon Lord.

But even in a perfect world, Mal felt like an outcast and a freak.  He had the unique ability to see magic.  And any spell he could see, he could break, shattering hexes, bindings, and blessings as easily as he breathed.  Only his friend and lover, Sarah, believed in him and saw his value.

All of Mal’s illusions about the nature of his world were shattered when he turned eighteen.   Branded a Hero by the Goddess, he was brainwashed and exiled out into the outside world to slaughter and kill in her name.  Only a chance encounter with the demon knight Annowan and her dragonkin squire Gilly saved his life.

Becoming Annowan’s squire at the same time as the orc Thalie, Mal slowly learned about the world of Amalgam, and the empire ruled by Annowan’s grandmother, Lilith, the Immortal Empress and the ruler who sat upon the Throne. He also learned the truth about the Bitch Goddess, who had once attempted to conquer Amalgam along with her human, elven, and dwarven allies.

He resolved to defeat the Bitch Goddess and to save Sarah from her clutches.

Using knowledge implanted in Mal by the Bitch Goddess, Annowan resolved to find and kill the Four Generals, the legendary warriors who had led the Bitch’s army during the cataclysmic war between the empire and The City.  During this journey, they were joined by the goblin dragoon Krencha and her mighty mole-dog Scrapple.  The party braved ent haunted woods, cursed dwarven ruins, and abandoned cities full of mutant insects to reach the Red Mountain, the resting place of the first general.

Mal also became romantically entangled with Gilly, Thalie, and Krencha, coming to love the three women and their unique strengths.

Upon arriving at the Red Mountain, Mal was horrified to find that the Bitch Goddess had possessed Sarah and was using her to claim the general.  During the climactic battle, Mal used his spell-breaking ability to free the general, who in turn attacked The City’s troops and saved the party.

Revealing herself as Tarial, the Last Herald, she had volunteered to carry the party to Babylon, the demonic capital and the home of Lilith and the Throne.

Upon arriving in Babylon, the party met Lilith, who was the empress as well as Annowan’s grandmother.  They also learned that Tarial was Lilith’s wife and the last remaining member of the empress’s harem.

Lilith explained that Mal was a spellbreaker; the spellbreakers had been renegade humans who had broke with the Bitch Goddess during the war, siding with the Throne against their deity. Impressed by his deeds and by his ability, Lilith made Mal a ward of the Throne.

Next, the party was sent on a quest to find the second general, braving the inhospitable and spell-cursed Coldspite Basin.  There, they allied with Daggerdare, an elven treespeaker, who had come to break the curse of eternal winter over the valley.  Together, they faced corrupt blizzards, snow monsters, and undead wurms, as they pressed into the heart of the Basin and the general’s tomb.

During the journey, Gilly revealed that Mal’s paramours were planning on wedding him upon their return to Babylon.  They all shared the same goal, defeating the Bitch Goddess, and by creating a harem they’d become members of Lilith’s court.  Daggerdare, drawn in by Mal’s strength and resolve, joined their group as well, becoming Mal’s lover.

Finally, reaching the center of the Basin, the party was joined by Tarial, who revealed that the tomb was actually built by a group of angelic beings known as the Watchers.  The Watchers had been created by the same divine being as Tarial, but upon arriving in Amalgam they had been deceived and corrupted by the Bitch Goddess.

Fighting the tomb’s undead monstrosities, the party was ambushed by Sarah, still possessed by the Bitch Goddess.  She mind-controlled Mal and forced him to break the magic sealing the tomb.  Fighting back, Mal broke free and thwarted the Bitch’s plans by releasing the entombed general, Revekar, the necromantic king of the dwarves.  Revekar swore revenge on the Bitch Goddess and the Throne, before escaping.

Retreating to Daggerdare’s village, Annowan resolved to negotiate peace between the elves and the Throne, bringing them together against their mutual foe.  Mal wed Daggerdare, pledging that he and all his wives would work together to bring down the Bitch and save the world.

Chapter 1

“Congratulations,” Lilith said, “I now declare you husband and wives.”

I stood there, stunned.

“That’s it?” I asked. “Shouldn’t there be a formal ceremony, some eternal vows, maybe a small speech?” I spoke in a lower tone, “There’s not going to be an animal sacrifice, is there?”

“I’m the empress,” she responded casually before throwing herself down on the sofa next to Tarial, “I’m pretty sure what I say goes.”

The herald smiled, “Congratulations.”

Gilly sighed, “I told Mal that wedding ceremonies weren’t a huge affair, but I think we all were looking for something just a bit more formal, Lilith.” She twirled around, lifting her tail so her long, lacy dress frilled outward. The white gown contrasted beautifully with her draconic scales and sapphire blue skin.

Thalie, in a matching dress, looked a bit crestfallen as well. She had made a flower crown of daisies and lilies, the woven stems almost as green as her complexion. More flowers were twined around her wrist as a corsage.

I knew the two of them had spent the day before with the imperial tailors, getting their wedding gowns made. Thalie had used her magic to grow the flowers especially for that event.

I reached over and squeezed Thalie’s hand, “Don’t worry, despite our lackadaisical empress, I still think you,” I nodded to Krencha, “all of you, look beautiful. I’m the happiest man alive.”

The goblin dragoon had opted to wear her armor for the ceremony, but I knew she had spent the night before polishing it till it gleamed. She looked every bit the majestic dragoon errant.

Scrapple the mole-dog barked joyfully. Like his knight, he had been washed, cleaned, and brushed until his fur shone.

“Watch it, Mal,” Lilith warned, as she snuggled up with her wife, “you might be my ward, but that just means I can throw you into the dungeon without a trial.”

Tarial sighed, “My apologies. My wife has never taken marriage ceremonies particularly seriously.”

Lilith rolled over, placing her head on the herald’s lap. “Hey, I thought our ceremony was great! Remember, we were both naked, and you carried me to the top of Mount Trygan, where we spent four nights just --”

Tarial flapped her wings, nearly knocking Lilith off the sofa.

“Beloved,” the angel hissed, “I don’t think that’s an appropriate story for today.” She blushed further. “Or for any day, really.”

“Anyway,” Lilith sat up. “You’re now married. When you get a chance go find Grason and let him know, he can help you fill out all the paperwork needed to officially declare your harem. It might take a few weeks, but I’m sure he’ll fit you into the schedule sooner rather than later.”

“Schedule?” I puzzled.

Gilly laughed, hugging my arm. “Yeah, we need to present ourselves before the Throne so we can be formally introduced to the court. You’ll get a chance to declare our mission and goals to the entire empire.”

“To kill the Bitch Goddess,” I said.

She laughed and kissed me again.

“A worthy goal!” Krencha agreed. “But don’t forget, we want to save that woman Sarah as well!”

“Right,” I mumbled, blushing.

Sarah was my childhood sweetheart; she was beautiful, smart, and skilled, with golden yellow hair and a dazzling smile. We had lived together in The City, and until a few months ago I had fully expected to spend my entire life there.

But I could never have anticipated the crazy events of the past few months. Once I had turned eighteen, I was brainwashed and exiled from The City, the last bastion of humanity. I was sent on a one-way suicide mission by the Bitch Goddess to kill as many people as possible in the outside world.

But instead of getting myself and a lot of innocents killed, I met the demon knight Annowan and her squire Gilly.

And now I’m married to a dragonkin, an orc, an elf, and a goblin?

A lot of other stuff had happened beforehand; rescuing Tarial, breaking the curse over a land trapped in perpetual winter, and freeing the evil king of the dwarves from his magical slumber, but by that point, all my thoughts were jumbled together.

Thalie came over and hugged me, breaking me from my fugue and reminding me that I should be celebrating.

Lilith eyed the cast on my foot, “How much longer are you stuck wearing that?”

“At least another month,” I sighed.

During my adventure in Coldspite Basin, looking for the Bitch Goddess’s second missing general, I had been on the painful end of a bone-breaking foot stomp. I had also received a huge amount of magical healing to save my life. When we had returned to Babylon I had double-checked with the palace infirmary, but they told me the same thing Gilly and the elven healers had said. They all advised me that I needed to let my remaining injuries heal naturally lest I risk suffering some nasty magical side effects.

“Well, in that case then, I order you to take a break and recover until I need you.” Lilith waved breezily, resuming her spot on Tarial’s lap. “Use the Royal Quarters. Annowan and Daggerdare probably won’t be back for another week or two anyway, so take it easy and enjoy your honeymoon.”

At the mention of the word honeymoon, I blushed furiously, and Gilly got a mischievous look across her face.

I had barely just recovered from my first honeymoon with Daggerdare.

Before I could respond, I felt Gilly start dragging me away.

“Well, Empress Lilith, Mother of Demons and Immortal Ruler of the Empire has ordered that you need bed rest,” my dragonkin wife said slyly. “We need to listen to her orders.”

“Wait,” I sputtered, “I don’t think --”

“Yes, we all need to go to bed,” Krencha said, laughing.

Thalie, for her part, just smiled and grabbed my other arm, pulling me along.

Infernal Bloom Palace was massive. Hovering above the volcanic caldera that housed the demonic capital of Babylon, it easily held everything the imperial government needed to function; offices, ballrooms, meeting halls, courtrooms, teleportation chambers, and more. The senchal, Grason, had once told me it contained several thousand kilometers of hallways.

Walking down them, my new wives in tow, I could easily believe him. Even with conveniently placed teleportation pads, it still took a good amount of time to make it from the Skywatch Quarters, Lilith’s and Tarial’s private chambers, to our own.

As we walked, almost everyone gave us odd looks. Mostly because of me. Humans at large within the empire, let alone in the imperial palace, were unheard of.

A thousand years before, the Bitch Goddess had waged a bitter war with Lilith and her allies. Humanity had fought on the side of the Bitch, along with the elves and dwarves. After the war had ended, humanity had joined her in The City. They hid behind her magical shield, the Aurora, sealing themselves off from the outside world.

Humans hadn’t been seen since, outside the brainwashed Slayers sent to kill in the Bitch Goddess’s name.

Well, I corrected myself, until recently. From what Charlix says, the Bitch Goddess's forces have been spotted everywhere recently, still searching for her remaining two generals.

Most of the palace staff had the good graces not to stare, but I heard a wave of whispering in the halls as we passed. I had been publicly declared an ally to the Throne, squire to Lilith’s granddaughter, and a ward of the empress, but it seemed most people still couldn’t fully comprehend having a human in their midst.

Gilly turned and made a foul gesture at a group of demonic functionaries that had been staring at our procession a bit too long.

“Fuck off,” she yelled at them, sending them scattering to be anywhere but there.

“Harassing the office staff will not make you any friends,” Grason said, as he smoothly appeared from a side hallway, his stride matching our own.

Scrapple barked happily and let the older demon reach up and scratch him behind his ears.

“Congratulations on your marriages,” he said, before handing me a pile of paper. “You’ll need to fill out these forms at your earliest convenience.”

I groaned inwardly.

“Grason!” Gilly snapped playfully, “You do realize we were just married, why are you giving all of this junk to us now?”

The old man smiled. Lean and grey, he still possessed the energy of a man a quarter of his age. Not that I have any clue how old he is, or even how long the average demon lives for.

He leaned over and gave Gilly a big hug, only stepping back a moment later to wipe at his eyes. “I’m just so happy for you, my dear! I wanted to get the official material out of the way so I could admire you on your wedding day.”

Gilly smiled, before giving him a twirl, happily showing off her dress. “It’s great right?”

“Utterly fantastic,” he agreed, before turning to Thalie. “And you look charming as well, Miss Grashool.”

The orc smiled, adjusting the flowers pinned in her hair.

“And what about me?” Krencha challenged, still mounted on Scrapple’s back.

She had left her helmet hanging from the saddle, revealing her copper-hued skin and practically cut brown hair. Her features, with large green eyes and a wide, generous smile, would have seemed oversized on a human, but I found them incredibly endearing. She might have stood barely over a meter tall, but I knew she could fell foes thrice her height.

“Very martial,” the demon nodded. “I do believe you could go straight from your matrimonial vows to the battlefield, utterly annihilating your foes.”

She smiled, enjoying the compliment.

Grason’s expression became more serious as he turned back to Gilly, “I’m assuming you haven’t notified your parents yet?”

Gilly snorted, “No, and I don’t plan to either. The last thing I want is them whining that I married a human rather than some pre-screened moron whose family owns a navy, a shipping lane, or whatever crap my dad wants.”

I glanced at Gilly, but her expression clearly said she didn’t want to talk about the topic any further.

“Well then, I shall wish you a wonderful evening.” He nodded to Thalie and Krencha, “If you wish to send word to your relatives or friends, just let me know and I can arrange things with Lady Charlix.”

He disappeared back into the crowd.

Gilly gave a huff and hiked up her dress. “Come on, let’s hurry up and get this honeymoon started before the last of my good humor evaporates.”

We had barely returned to the Royal Quarter before Gilly pounced on me, pressing me against the wall and planting a long, salacious kiss on my lips. She ground her hips into mine, rubbing my crotch against the top of her thigh.

“Much better,” she gasped, as we finally broke contact. “For a second there I was afraid I’d have to fuck your brains out while I was in a bad mood.”

“Let’s go to my room,” I said, taking her hand and then reaching for Krencha and Thalie, who had watched the scene with barely concealed lust.

Seeing me and Gilly kicking off the festivities had clearly given them plenty of ideas on how they wanted to spend the night.

The goblin dragoon quickly dispatched her mount, sending the mole-dog off to visit the kitchen. The Royal Quarter’s staff had quickly fallen in love with the hound, and I figured he had put on an extra ten pounds from all the scrapple and snacks they had given him.

Giggling, groping, and kissing, we slowly made our way back to my room, Thalie almost knocking me off my feet as she pushed me through the door.

“Awfully bold of you,” I teased her as I ran my hand down her sides, loving the feel of the lace over her skin.

“What can I say?” she told me, her long arms draped over my shoulders. “I want to make this night one to remember, I don’t want to hold back.”

Gilly sashayed into the room and bumped me aside with her hip, sending me towards the bed. She grabbed Thalie and wrapped her hands around her chest from behind.

“Since Lilith didn’t give us a chance to show off our dresses, how about we do it now?” she suggested, her palms running across the orc’s breasts. She stood behind Thalie, her tail trailing around the other woman’s ankles.

Krencha joined me on the edge of the bed. I continued to watch Thalie and Gilly even as I helped the goblin out of her armor, my fingers fumbling at the buckles and straps that held it in place.

Gilly continued to grind against Thalie. The orc’s lacy dress billowed out as the dragonkin thrust her leg through the gap between her legs, allowing Thalie to grind her pussy against Gilly’s thigh. Gilly pinched and teased Thalie’s breasts, the white fabric bunching between her fingers as the orcish woman moaned and rolled her head against Gilly’s shoulders.

“Hey!” Krencha shed the last of her armor and stood up, across my lap. She slammed down, dragging herself against my rigid member.

“I’m here too,” she said, before locking her lips with mine.

“Sorry,” I smiled as I drew back, but just long enough to undo the laces that held her gambeson in place. My fingers crept up and under her clothes, finding her breasts. She kissed me again as she began to rub my crotch with hers.

Gilly had continued to assail Thalie, and the orcish maiden was lost in a world of pleasure. But the dragonkin never took her eyes off us as Krencha and I finally shed our clothes, my cock jabbing against the goblin’s stomach.

Slowly, the dragonkin reached down and began to ruck up Thalie’s dress, exposing the juices leaking down the orc’s thighs. She roughly shoved aside her underwear, dragging her nails against the orc’s netherlips.

Thalie groaned and leaned back further, letting the dragonkin support her; she jutted out her breasts as she wrapped her arms up and around the dragonkin’s neck.

Krencha, clearly at her limit, grabbed the base of my cock and held it in place, but just long enough to raise herself up and then impale herself along my length. I gave out a hissing cry as she sank, her passage squeezing me impossibly tight as her hips collided with mine.

‘Fuck,” I gasped, as I held her tight, just feeling the connection between us as my cock pressed into her innermost places.

“And just think,” the goblin whispered, “you get to enjoy this for the rest of our lives.”

“I’m blessed,” I said as I slowly began to move, bucking my hips and dragging my shaft in and out of her pussy.

Gilly wasn’t idle either. She took Thalie’s dress off, letting it pool by the orc’s feet, as she began to mercilessly attack the other woman’s snatch, her fingers rolling and pinching Thalie’s clit. She spread the orc’s lips wide, letting her nectar sluice out into her palm.

She made a show of bringing the maiden’s juices to her lips, licking the sticky girlcum off before slathering her fingers in spit. She then reached back down and sank her digits into Thalie’s honeypot.

The orc screamed in pleasure, her legs finally giving out. The two of them rolled onto the floor, where Thalie continued to bring her to higher and higher levels of ecstasy with her fingers as I watched.

Krencha and I were in the throes of passion as well. I had laid back on my elbows, allowing the goblin free reign over our pace. Her channel roughly ground my shaft as she bounced up and down. Each time she struck home, all I could hear was the meaty slap of sweat-slicked skin. She wore a furious expression, clearly trying to wring out every bit of ecstasy she could from our first night as husband and wife.

On the floor, I could hear Thalie and Gilly moaning and giggling as they continued their adventure. The sound of them, so lost in joy, sent me over the edge. I surged back upward and held Krencha in place as I came, my body shuddering at the explosive release.

Krencha twitched along with me, the cascade of my seed hitting her pussy triggering her first orgasm of the evening. She rode hers hard, her hips rolling, as she milked me for all I was worth.

Slowly, we came down from our sexual high, and sensation gradually returned to my tingling limbs. Krencha kissed me again, before rolling off the bed, padding over to the nearby nightstand to retrieve a pitcher of water.

“Got to keep hydrated,” she said, as she poured four glasses. “We need to keep this up till the sun comes up. It's a goblin tradition.”

“I’m glad my lessons as sexy teacher are paying off,” Gilly said, wiping Thalie’s girlcum off her chin.

The orc laid in a senseless heap below her, her head nestled in her wedding dress. Slowly, she came to, her eyes dazed. Still on all fours, she crawled over to me, placing her head in my lap, her tusks rubbing against my skin.

Almost instantly, my cock sprang back to half-mast.

Gilly, laughing, slowly began undoing the buttons to her dress, letting it drop and join Thalie’s gown. She sauntered forward before kneeling, running her fingers along my hips. “Get a drink, then get ready. As Krencha said, we have a tradition to maintain, and I don’t want you to run out of energy halfway through.”

Laughing, I ran my fingers through her hair, before guiding her lips towards the tip of my cock.

Chapter 2

We didn’t get out of bed the next day. We had kept to goblin traditions and the dawn had found us exhausted, raw, and utterly pleased with our adherence to the old ways.

The Royal Quarter’s staff, apparently aware of our circumstances, had left our meals by my door. We ate in bed, languidly laying about, occasionally fucking, till we fell asleep again.

I was as close to heaven as I could have ever hoped.

The day after, I awoke to hear the bed groaning as Scrapple climbed onto the mattress, huffing as he laid down and fell asleep by our feet.

“Had to let him in,” Krencha grumbled as she rolled back under the blankets. “He was just about to scratch a hole in the door.”

I smiled and kissed her brow. “It would be cruel to separate a mole-dog from his master for more than a day.” I glanced down at the crowded bed, “But I think I’m going to have to look into even  larger accommodations if the four of us are going to be sleeping in the same bed.”

“Five, maybe” she corrected me. “I’m guessing you and Daggerdare didn’t get a chance to discuss sleeping arrangements before she left.”

I shrugged; I couldn’t see Daggerdare sharing my bed with my other wives. She liked to keep me to herself, But I should have at least asked.

After our adventure in Coldspite Basin, we had gone to Daggerdare’s village, Holly’s Breath, to rest and recover. While there, Lilith had arrived and had finalized the peace treaty between the elves of Holly Breath and the empire. Afterward, Annowan had elected to accompany Daggerdare as the elven treespeaker went to meet with several outlying settlements. They wanted to get them to sign onto the nascent peace treaty and to join our alliance against The City.

“Stay firm on your path,” she had told me as we laid together in her bed the night before she departed. “Enjoy your wedding night, I am sure Gilly will make it a thrilling experience but don’t forget why you have married us.”

“Because I love you?” I had joked.

She had elbowed me in the ribs, but light enough to avoid breaking any bones.

“I don’t want to arrive at the demonic capital to find my husband having gone soft and lazy because he reveled too much in the joys of the flesh,” she had said seriously. “Even if your foot is broken, you can still train, still work, still reach towards the goal we all want to accomplish.”

With those words in mind, I finally managed to extract myself from my honeymoon bed. Krencha and Thalie were still asleep, but Gilly gave me a languid wave when I got up.

Quietly dressing, I then stepped outside. I was surprised when a sleepy Scrapple scrambled to follow me out into the hall.

“Hungry?” I asked him.

He softly barked in affirmation.

We made our way to the kitchen, where the staff was just getting breakfast ready. I asked one of the maids to deliver food to my room for my wives, then grabbed a few bites to eat myself before retreating to the Royal Quarter’s library.

One of the maids snuck Scrapple some of his namesake breakfast meat, which he joyfully gobbled down.

My wives. I was still in shock about that. I never expected I’d get married, let alone to four amazing women.

From what I understood, the Royal Quarter’s library was small compared to the one in the main palace, but it still managed to span several floors, with huge bookshelves that reached towards the distant ceiling. A small reading nook, a cluster of chairs, tables, and sofas sat in the middle of the room.

It was intimidating to me; I had only ever visited a library when forced to back when I was in school. Usually, that happened when I was unable to skip the class visit that day. That or the headmaster assigned me to copy some dull text as punishment for missing lessons.

At least I know how this works, I thought as I approached the card catalog, which was near the entrance. I slowly made my way through the drawers, picking and choosing a few books that would meet my needs.

Scrapple, for his part, snooped around the shelves, sniffing and huffing, before he found a sofa and flopped down on its seat. The poor piece of furniture groaned under his weight.

“Sorry, boy,” I said, as I used a nearby pad and pencil to write down the locations of the book I wanted. “My foot is still busted up, so I can’t really walk around too much. Mind keeping me company while I read for a while?”

He huffed again but made no move to leave.

On a lark, I checked the catalog to see if there were any books on spellbreakers. I was unsurprised when nothing came back.

My unique spellbreaker abilities allowed me to see magic in all its forms. And once I could see a spell, enchantment, or rune, I could understand it, and what I understood I could break. I could snap apart most spells as easily as breathing. Lilith had said that spellbreakers were a rarity, she’d only seen that talent amongst the humans who had rebelled against the Bitch’s rule during the war against The City.

In revenge, the Bitch Goddess had killed all the rebel spellbreakers; apparently, I was an anomaly, the sole survivor to their legacy.

I had hoped there was a journal, or notes, or anything about my forebears. My ability was growing at a rapid pace, but often I felt like I was grasping around on instinct. Even a few tips on how I can use my ability would be nice.

Slowly, I limped my way down the shelves, muddling through the ID numbers, sections, and aisles that delineated the library’s organization. Locating the few books that I wanted, I ambled back to the mole-dog, my busted foot already aching from the short distance I had traveled.

During our fight in the Panopticon, the tomb at the center of the Coldspite Basin, I had fought Sarah again. She was still possessed by the Bitch Goddess, which only augmented her already impressive fighting abilities. Despite this, I still managed to fight toe-to-toe with her for a few seconds.

At least till she smashed my foot. I pulled up a chair next to Scrapple and took out the first book I had grabbed.

Sighing in relief, I raised my foot and rested it on a coffee table. Relaxing, I opened the first book and slowly began to read about dwarven history.

I might not be able to use the training courtyard for a while, but Sarah always said that studying was just as important as sword practice.

I was still laboriously working my way through that book when Charlix found me.

Her voice echoed in my mind. “I’m surprised to find you here.” She slithered into the library, coming to a stop a few meters away. “Not to be rude, but I didn’t see you much as the studious type.”

I laughed, before waving for the imperial spymaster to have a seat. “It’s not rude at all, I suck at studying. I spent most of my school years skipping out of class and goofing off.” I squinted back at the tome and its dense text. “Guess I’m paying for that now.”

“Well, I do have some good news for you,” the revealer said, as she pulled back her hood, unveiling her single, huge eye and the wreath of tentacles that made up her hair.

Revealers were natural mind readers and telepaths. Charlix used those abilities to act as Lilith’s head of communication and spymaster; as far as I could tell the two of them had known each other for centuries.

“The Hall of Visions received a report from Annie,” she announced. “She confirmed that the first elven village has agreed to the peace treaty. She plans on visiting several more with Daggerdare, but they expect to return to Babylon within the next week.”

I grinned, “That’s great. I was afraid the elves wouldn’t be incredibly receptive to Annowan’s negotiations, even with a treespeaker accompanying her.”

Charlix waved a tentacle. “I had to read between the lines in her report, but Annie made it clear that the village was struggling, far more so than Holly’s Breath. Annie only had to make one concession to get their agreement.”

I put the book down, “One?”

“The villages request the privilege of joining Holly’s Breath in forming warbands to strike out against The City’s troops. It’ll take some work to get our military in line, but Lilith was greatly pleased by the idea. Not only will this peace treaty free up our forces stationed at Fort Rushwood and other bases near elven territory, but we’ll have our new allies in the field sooner than anticipated.”

I chewed the inside of my lip, thinking about that.

As far as I knew, all The City’s military forces, composed mostly of wardens and Slayers, were brainwashed pawns, tools used by the Bitch Goddess. They had no control over their actions, they were used as mindless puppets by their master.

The elves placed a high value on combat, they felt that bloodshed in honorable battle nourished their Mother Tree, binding them to their lost homeworld. I couldn’t see them sitting out a fight, especially against the Bitch Goddess, their most hated enemy. They had dubbed her the Betrayer for her actions.

Still, I ruminated, knowing that more people are going to die, all for the Bitch Goddess’s benefit pisses me off.

Charlix didn’t need to use her telepathy to sense my frustration. “I can see this doesn’t sit well with you, but --”

I shook my head, interrupting her. “It’s fine, really. I’m not naive enough to think there’s an alternative to violence when dealing with the Bitch. This just means I have to work harder to achieve my goal and take her out.”

I could almost feel Charlix’s sly smile, even though she had no lips or mouth.

Helping me change the topic, she pointed towards the book I had been reading. “Studying up on dwarves?”

I nodded. “After what happened in the Coldspite Basin, I want to learn as much as I can about them.” My shoulders sagged a bit. “King Revekar is free because of me, I need to take responsibility for that and stop him.”

“I read the reports. You were faced with two bad options,” Charlix consoled me. “Either you allowed the Bitch to reestablish control over him and gave her full access to his necromantic powers, or you broke her domination. Based upon his words, he is going to seek to avenge himself upon the Bitch first, which is far better than our forces fighting an endless tide of the dead.”

“Still, we’re going to have to deal with him eventually, and I plan on righting my wrong.”

I reopened the book across my lap, “Do you know if there are more books about dwarves in the palace’s main library? I was only able to find this one here, and as far as I can tell it’s just a recording of the battles fought against the dwarves during the war.”

Charlix got up from her seat. “The Royal Quarter’s library is drawn from the private collections of Lilith’s harem, so while there are many books, the topics tend to skew towards things that personally concerned or interested them. The palace’s library is much more extensive. Lilith has already ordered a search of the books and records to find everything we can about Revekar, to see if we can ascertain his plans.”

Her eyelid wrinkled, almost like she was frowning, “Sadly, I do not believe they will find much. If we are to investigate that man further, I believe we will need to look towards other resources.”

The rest of the day proceeded at a pleasant pace. Gilly, Thalie, and Krencha eventually emerged from my bedroom. The goblin dragoon busied herself in the practice courtyard, running drills with Scrapple, while Thalie went to check on the Royal Quarter’s flowerbeds.

Gilly found me in the library, sniffing her nose in disgust at my studious behavior. “Seriously, this is how you want to spend your honeymoon?”

“Well, I think you three managed to almost rub me raw yesterday,” I laughed, “I nearly asked for an ice pack this morning.”

“A clear sign of time well spent,” she said, before flopping down on the sofa Scrapple had vacated. “Still, what are you hoping to learn from here?”

I repeated the conversation I had with Charlix.

“She’s right,” Gilly responded, “you’re not going to find much here. Most of Lilith’s harem were warriors, sorcerers, runesmiths, and generals. If you’re looking for a historian, you’ll need to --”

She suddenly went very quiet.

“I’ll need to what?” I pressed her.

She shook her head. “Not my business, sorry. Anyway, if you want to cram your head full of knowledge, why don’t I show you to the palace library?”

I got up and put my book on a nearby cart marked for returns, “You know where it is?”

“Sure,” she said, “I used to love sleeping off hangovers in the stacks. It’s really quiet down there.”

Thalie elected to come with us.

“Supposedly, there are books in the library written by Rarew Grimefang, the first orcish gardener to have successfully cultivated a carnivorous tree,” she said, as she tucked a strand of orange vine into her hair. “If I’m lucky, I can glean some tips on how to magically cross-breed multiple plant strains together.”

I raised an eyebrow, “The kudzu?”

Orcs had a natural green thumb, and Thalie was a genius when it came to plant cultivation magic; she had already developed a species of creeping vine that ate magical corruption. While staying in Holly’s Breath, the locals had introduced Thalie to several rare plants, including an incredibly aggressive form of kudzu.

“Just to ask,” Gilly drawled, “but is it smart to cross-bred an already aggressive vine that shows a startling amount of sentience and an invasive species that smothers all other plant life to death?”

“Sure!” Thalie smiled happily, reaching up to let a vine tendril loop around her finger. “I’m sure it’ll work out fine! Besides, I feel like I’m close to a breakthrough. The vines are great at eating the magical corruption left by the Bitch Goddess, but they seem to struggle in more mundane environments, bereft of magic.”

I stopped in my tracks, “You want to make it easier for these things to spread?”

“Of course,” she turned back to look at me, “I think they have a real future beyond just cleaning up corrupted areas. Think about it, they could make great pets and companions, or ornamental plants to complement flower gardens.”

Gilly and I shared a look but said nothing.

I noticed the rolls of paper that the dragonkin had tucked into her jerkin. “What’s that?”

She smiled, then pulled out the paperwork that Grason had handed us earlier. “Listen, just because we spent the day yesterday having mind-rocking sex doesn’t mean we get to avoid doing our dull diligence and filling out our harem declaration.”

“You just want access to an official budget to help pay for those wedding dresses,” I accused her.

Forming my harem wasn’t just for show; officially recognized harems were part of Lilith’s court, each headed by an influential noble. By joining their ranks we’d gain powerful resources, including access to an official budget. We wouldn’t have to rely on our connection to Annowan to get what we needed to meet our goal, and we’d have a freer reign on determining how we achieved it.

“Hey,” Gilly ribbed me, “I seem to remember that you enjoyed those dresses quite a bit, especially when they hit the floor!”

Krencha eventually found us tucked into a small study room in the palace’s library, with a mountain of books sitting between us.

“Awful place,” she cursed as she took a seat. “Can you believe the librarians told me to leave Scrapple outside! Disgraceful.”

The palace’s main library was massive. Thanks to the spatial magic that made the palace larger on the inside than the outside, the library was the size of a small city. There were thousands and thousands of shelves, stocked full of books, scrolls, and other, more esoteric forms of record keeping. You could find everything from modern romance novels to clay tablets that recorded the earliest history of demonkind.

A veritable army of librarians worked around the clock to keep the place organized; one of them had informed me they added hundreds of new books each day.

I grunted, then shoved a pile of books out of my way before flopping my head onto the tabletop. “Damnit, why didn’t anyone tell me that studying was this hard?”

Thalie, nose deep in Grimefang’s journals, just snickered. Gilly continued to snore.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Krencha asked as she took a seat.

I held up the book I was reading. “Studying about dwarves.”

“Short, dead, like dead things,” she counted off those three things on her fingers. “What else is there to know?”

Charlix glided into the room. “We never discovered their capital or much about their history before the calamity that created Amalgam.”

Gilly snapped awake, “Aunty Charlix, what are you doing here?”

She pointed towards one of the books in my pile, “The librarian at the reference desk said that the book on dwarven history I was looking for had already been taken off the shelf.”

I handed it over to her. “There’s not much there, unfortunately, just a bit about some ruins a university team explored and the genealogical records they found.”

She flipped through the pages, “Any mention of Revekar?”

I shook my head.

“As I said, we’ll need to look for alternative sources of information.” The revealer handed the book back, before pointedly looking at Gilly.

The dragonkin looked away.

Frowning, I said, “Gilly, what aren’t you telling us? It’s clear something is going on here.”

Sighing, she got up and walked over to me, kissing the top of my head. “I would tell you if I could, honestly. But this is all tied to a promise I made to Annie years ago. I swore on the Throne itself and I’m pretty sure if I break this promise I’ll either be cursed or disintegrated.”

Charlix nodded, “Oaths made on the Throne are only broken in the most dire of circumstances.” She gestured towards Gilly, “But I believe Lilith will make an imperial decree about this once Annie returns.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, then waved towards the books. “So does anyone want to help me return all these things?”

Gilly smiled, “Sure, and then when we’re done, we can spend the rest of the day dealing with this harem paperwork.”

Groaning, I sunk my head back onto the table.

Chapter 3

I spent the next few days recuperating. Trying to avoid my lazy ways, I filled my time with studying, working my way through a multitude of books. When I wasn’t studying dwarves I decided to learn more about the empire and the history of Amalgam.

It’s funny, reading all these accounts of Lilith, I thought as I paged through a soldier’s journal. They make her sound like some dashing and heroic figure, but that just doesn’t mesh with the Lilith I know.

I also studied other subjects, like fieldcraft, first aid, and outdoor survival; I wanted to be a more well-rounded squire and adventurer, I wanted to contribute more. All my wives were amazingly skilled and I wanted to be their equal.

When I had a chance, I worked on my cooking skills by copying down some simple recipes and ideas I could try the next time we found ourselves adventuring. I even borrowed some time to practice in the Royal Quarter’s kitchen. The maids were aghast at first, nervous to have a human in their midst while working, but eventually, they warmed up to me. Some of them even gave me tips for ways I could further improve my culinary skill.

When I wasn’t in the library or the kitchen, I worked on recovering my strength by walking around the palace, slowly learning its byzantine layout. Gilly often acted as my tour guide, and Thalie or Krencha would often accompany us.

Most of the time my dragonkin wife would just show us places she’d gone drinking or tell us stories of her madcap adventures within the palace’s halls, but I found them immensely entertaining. I loved learning new things about my wives and the lives they led. It made me feel closer to them.

Daggerdare and Annowan returned the following week, appearing in Lilith’s private teleportation chamber. The treespeaker appeared a bit disoriented by the experience but she quickly righted herself.

Marching over, she gave me a quick, cold peck on the cheek. “It is good to see you again,” she said formally.

I smiled. Daggerdare was my wife, but she had little interest in the typical trappings of romance. I knew our relationship was built on a solid foundation of mutual admiration, trust, and respect. We shared a goal and a dream.

Plus she fucks like a warrior goddess.

Her skin was covered in dozens of scars, each of them a badge of honor, confirming her position as treespeaker for her people.

Before the creation of Amalgam, the elves had lived in some kind of eternal, carnage-filled paradise, living amongst the roots of the Mother Tree. They were free to fight and slay, only to have their dead rise at the next dawn. They fought and shed blood in honor of the Mother Tree, who shaded and nourished them.

But then the calamity happened, and like so many other people they found themselves trapped in the new world of Amalgam, far removed from the love of the Mother Tree. It was Daggerdare’s responsibility to guide her people and ensure that they returned to the Tree’s shade upon their deaths.

It was a path defined by bloodshed and honor.

I noticed she had buffed and cleaned her armor, the leather gleaming in the chamber’s light. Her hair, long and elaborately plated, also looked exquisite that morning. Her twin axes had been polished as well, their edges gleaming. Clearly she had come to impress.

Considering she’s the first elf to ever visit Babylon, that makes sense.

She looked over to Gilly, who gave her a thumbs up.

“He’s wed, bed, and officially married,” the dragonkin smiled before she pulled out some paperwork. “We will need your signature on a few things though before it all becomes official.”

Annowan, for her part, looked at us in a distant, cold manner.

Dressed in her black and bronze armor, she looked every inch the prideful, noble demon. Twin ram’s horns spiraled from her brow, pushing through her neatly braided blood-red hair. Her skin was only a fainter shade of crimson, and she had the kind of face that wouldn’t look out of place on a classic statue.

Or sitting upon the Throne.

“I heard the visits to the other elven villages went well,” I said to her.

Annowan curtly nodded. “Daggerdare is a very persuasive figure in the elven community. She was able to convince or cow any dissenters with a few choice words.”

“Threats also helped,” Daggerdare admitted. “If we are to survive, we must bury any lingering regrets or hatreds we have towards the empire. The war is long over, and there are great challenges that we must overcome. The Bitch Goddess will see us all dead or enslaved unless we work together to overthrow The City.”

Long ago, during the war, the elves had been allied with the Bitch Goddess, tricked into serving her via brainwashing and promises that service to her would mean they could be united with the Mother Tree again. Instead, they had found themselves defeated and abandoned, left to fend for themselves in a world that saw them little more than mindless killers.

The thousand years since had not been kind to them. The elves found themselves living in the most remote, inhospitable regions of Amalgam, forced to fight to survive. I knew that Daggerdare was concerned that the world would simply grind her people down and that they would fade away, dishonored and unable to join the Mother Tree in death.

But maybe things are different now? I wondered. The elves have a genuine chance to make a place for themselves in this world and to take revenge on the one that betrayed them.

Lilith, escorted by Tarial and Charlix, entered the room.

The empress, as per her habit in private, had forgone any ostentation, wearing a simple but comfortable shift dress and sandals. Her skin was a faded shade of pink, with a short pair of horns upon her brow. Though her appearance was youthful, her eyes carried the weight of a thousand years of rulership.

Tarial, standing protectively behind her, placed her hand on her shoulder. The herald, last of her kind, was a giant figure, even without her customary armor. Two angelic white wings hung off her shoulders, and I knew that if she extended them the wingtips would touch both sides of the room.

Once she had been the agent of some divine creator, their hand of justice in some perfect, orderly world. But when the calamity had happened, she had found herself lost in Amalgam, alone and bereft of purpose. I don’t know how she came to meet or marry Lilith. She had been brainwashed and enslaved by the Bitch Goddess during the war, forced to become one of her four infamous generals.

We had found her, entombed and asleep, in the distant Spinesaw Mountains, freeing her from the Bitch’s clutches. Returning to Babylon, she had quickly rejoined her wife and resumed her role as Protector of the Throne and First Consort.

I believed that reuniting her with Lilith had done much to mend both their hearts.

Annowan stiffly greeted her grandmother, while Daggerdare thanked the demon empress for her hospitality in welcoming her to Babylon.

“Annie,” Lilith smiled, “once again you have gone above and beyond the call of duty. I’ve been reading through your reports, and you have achieved monumental results. I was just briefing the military chiefs about the new allies coming to assist in our efforts to stymie The City.”

Daggerdare frowned, “Will your forces so readily agree to cooperate with someone they saw as enemies just a short while ago?”

The elves had taken to raiding imperial territory for food and supplies in order to survive. With the peace treaty in place, the Throne had agreed to help the elven communities until they were able to stand on their own.

Lilith gave a cold, calculated smile. “There were some disagreements, but in the end, I reminded my generals that this was a treaty that I helped personally negotiate. I reminded them that doubting the sincerity of the elves was the same as doubting me. And I don’t brook doubt.”

From what I knew, Lilith preferred to let the parliament and prime minister handle the day-to-day affairs of the empire, only interjecting herself when needed. Despite her cavalier attitude, she’s still the empress, and she expects people to listen when she speaks.

“If only our other efforts were going as well,” Charlix sighed.

Annowan marched off the teleportation pad. “No sign of the other two generals?”

“No,” Lilith confirmed. “Several members of the court have been leading the search, but so far their harems have only found abandoned cities, monster haunted moors, and mosquitos the size of mole-dogs. None of the other locations pulled from Mal’s mind have paid off yet.”

“Any sign that the Bitch has had better luck?” Annowan asked.

“No, but she continues to send her forces out,” the revealer said. “We’ve detected them across Amalgam, searching in the most unlikely of places. It’s impossible to make sense of her tactics, half the time we trail her forces to find them combing through empty ruins.”

“Well, the world hasn’t ended, so that’s a good sign that she hasn’t succeeded yet,” I answered.

The Bitch Goddess was searching for her missing generals, who had disappeared after the war. Nobody knew where they had gone, but we assumed the Bitch wanted to enslave them again so they might lead her forces in battle, lending her their tremendous strength.

“Unfortunately, there are still several sites from Mal’s memory that we can’t locate,” Charlix continued, “Nothing in our records match the images the Bitch fed him, meaning they’re either in remote, undiscovered locations, or the records for those locations were lost during the war.”

Though it had been a thousand years since the Bitch Goddess’s defeat, Amalgam was a massive world, likely tens of thousands of kilometers across. Much of it was unmapped, either due to distance, difficulty, or the huge swathes of arcane corruption left by the Bitch’s reckless use of magic. I’d seen maps, with huge areas completely unknown or unexplored.

“We’ve hit a dead end looking for information about Revekar as well,” I admitted.

“So what do we do then?” Thalie asked.

Gilly sighed, then looked towards Annowan. “Annie, I think we need to hit your mom’s --”

“No!” The demon interrupted. “I will not hear of it.”

Her vehemence took me back. The demon knight looked shocked and furious.

“But it’s the only option we have left,” Gilly said miserably. “I know you hate even the idea of it, and so do I, but if we need to look up information about mysterious, forgotten locations and ancient dwarven kings, then it’s our best bet.”

Annowan’s eyes burned red-hot. She was about to say something, but then Lilith spoke. “Granddaughter.”

The walls of the teleportation chamber trembled, and I could tell the empress was using magic to strengthen her words.

For a split second, I saw the image of the Throne, impossibly huge and alien, behind the petite, pink demon.

Annowan snapped her jaw shut.

“This is an imperial decree,” Lilith continued, her words as hard and implacable as death. “Annowan, you are to go to Dragon Port and reopen Velka’s Library. Search for any information you can regarding Revekar, King of the Dwarves, and the locations of the Bitch Goddess’s two remaining generals.”

The demon knight tried to speak, but Lilith stopped her.

“Would you question a direct order from me?” she snapped.

Annowan gritted her teeth and bowed her head. “It shall be done.”

And then, like a bubble popping, all the arcane energy left the room. Lilith sagged a bit, and Tarial moved so the empress could lean against her.

“I’m sorry, Annie,” Lilith said quietly. “But this is something that can’t be avoided. My daughter was the preeminent expert on all things ancient and lost in Amalgam. If the information we need exists, it’s in Velka’s Library.”

Gilly made to reach out for Annowan, but the demon knight swept out of the room before we could stop her.

We trailed Annowan back to the Royal Quarters. When we found her, she was in the practice courtyard, furiously swinging her sword and taking huge chunks out of a wooden dummy.

“Okay,” I groused, “can someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on?”

Gilly bit her lip, looking at the demon knight, “Annie?”

With a massive, overhead swing, Annowan nearly cleaved the dummy in twain, her blade becoming wedged in the splintered wood.

She huffed, before turning to face her draconic squire. “Nathra of the Giltscale, I hereby release you from your oath. There, happy?”

I felt some magical connection between the two of them fizzle and dissolve.

Gilly, sunk her shoulders. “I don’t think any of us are happy.”

Scrapple came over and nuzzled her leg, and Gilly absently scratched the mole-dog’s ears. I tried to get closer to her, but she waved me away.

Thalie and I moved some benches over. She took a sneak next to me, while Daggerdale and Gilly remained standing.

Krencha walked over and inspected the destroyed dummy. “Annowan, your form there was terrible. If I didn’t know any better, I would have confused you for a drunken lumberjack.”

“What?” the demon spat. “You never took your anger out on an inanimate object?”

“Of course not,” the goblin retorted, “if I was ever upset, I found a monster or villain to smash!”

Annowan’s expression went brittle, and unexpectedly she began to laugh.

“Has she gone mad?” Krencha whispered to me.

The demon pulled her sword loose, inspecting the damage she had inflicted. “Talking about my mother tends to bring out the worst in me. We did not have a good relationship.”

She took a seat on the other bench, “I’m sorry Gilly,” she paused, before continuing, “you’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”

“Apology accepted,'' Gilly dabbed at her eyes, before smiling.

The demon knight squared her shoulders and turned to face me. “My mother, Velka, was the empire’s premier archaeologist, explorer, and historian. She spent her life delving into the lost and forgotten, dredging up secrets thought destroyed by the catastrophe that created Amalgam. If there are any clues about Revekar’s past or the two remaining general’s tombs, they will likely be in her library.”

“Which is located in my hometown, Dragon Port,” Gilly added, speaking with a melancholy tone.

“Gilly’s family, and the other draconic houses, were my mother’s main patrons,” Annowan explained. “My mother only cared about the next big find, the next discovery, but much of what she found made the dragonkin houses rich, either with treasure or lost knowledge.”

Gilly nodded, “That’s how Annie and I first met. Velka brought her along one time when she came to meet my dad about an excavation that she was running for him.”

“And the Library?” Daggerdare asked.

“My mother built it to act as a repository for all her findings and knowledge,” Annowan answered. “It also acted as her private residence when she was working.”

“This doesn’t sound all that bad,” Thalie contributed.

“After my mother --” Annowan stopped, frowning.

Gilly picked up for her. “Annowan sealed Velka’s Library over fifteen years ago, forbidding anyone to go in or out of the place. It’s been sealed since. And well --”

“My mother was a hoarder,” Annowan said. “She never threw anything away, including all the incredibly dangerous magical artifacts she found, or the strange creatures she collected. The Library is likely one of the most singular dangerous places in the empire, and it’s been left to go feral. It’s possible that unsealing the place will release horrors upon this world not seen since the war.”

Krencha gave a cheer, “Then what are we waiting for, this sounds like the adventure of a lifetime! I insist we leave at this instant!”

Gilly groaned. “This is gonna suck.”

“Because of the otherworldly horrors?” Daggerdare asked.

“No,” the dragonkin shook her head. “Because now I have to go home and introduce Mal and you all to my family.”

Chapter 4

“Think of it as a chance to extend your honeymoon,” Lilith told me, “I wouldn’t send you anywhere I thought was really dangerous with your foot all busted up.”

We were meeting in the Imperial Gardens. Overhead, Tarial soared through the sky, which was perpetually set at the moment right before sunset. Thalie was a few plots over, meeting with the gardeners to discuss her latest ideas.

Daggerdare grunted, “Even though your granddaughter believes the library contains horrors beyond imagination?”

Lilith shrugged. “Annie has been known to be rather dramatic when it comes to the topic of her mother.”

Gilly had been giving Daggerdare a tour of the palace earlier, and I had tagged along since there was still much of the place I had yet to see. Plus the infirmary told me that regular exercise would help my foot to heal faster.

As before, we attracted a lot of stares, but thanks to Daggerdare’s belligerent attitude, the whispers were kept at a minimum.

“I dare any of them to look down upon me,” she had said, with a smirk. “These fools might think elves are nothing more than barbarians and madmen, but we have managed to retain our honor and pride in the face of a thousand years of adversity.”

“Just wait till the rest of the elvish negotiators show up,” Gilly laughed. “I can only imagine some of these paper pushers sitting across from someone like you.”

Gilly had been leading us down to the imperial wine cellar when a messenger found us, informing us that Empress Lilith desired our presence.

Making herself scarce, Gilly had run off, claiming that she had an errand to run, while I showed Daggerdare to the gardens.

“She probably wants to go and toad over the other squires,” Lilith had explained once we had arrived. “Marrying an imperial ward and becoming a member of a court-recognized harem is a huge triumph for her. She’ll be bullying them into drinks for months to come.”

“Good for her,” I smiled.

Daggerdare had immediately been impressed by the garden. The trees weren’t particularly large, but she claimed they contained an unusual vitality that she found invigorating.

“Whatever world they came from was truly magnificent,” the treespeaker said, as she ran her hand along the trunk of a willow, her dark skin serving as a wonderful contrast to its pale bark.

Lilith sat back on the bench. We were meeting in the same place we had before, below the weeping willow’s sheltering limbs. I was grateful for a chance to rest, my foot was killing me again, even with the improved crutch that Thalie had made for me.

I absently ran my fingers over the small flowers and vines she had carved into the wood. Smiling, I knew I had truly been blessed to have her become one of my wives.

“So what can I do for you, your majesty?” I finally asked once the niceties were out of the way.

She frowned, kicking at the grass with her bare feet. “I’m making a request of you, not as an empress, but as a grandmother. Please, help Annowan during your trip. I imagine this will be a difficult quest for her.”

Daggerdare sat against the base of the tree, her fingers tracing along its roots.

“Can I ask one question?” I requested.

Lilith nodded.

“What exactly happened to her mother?” I felt terrible asking, but I needed to know. Not just for my safety, but for Daggerdare and the others as well. I imagine only Gilly knows the truth.

Lilith kicked a small clod of grass before admitting, “I don’t know.”

She sat back, a small, sad breath escaping her lips. “Velka was born right after the war. Her father, Glacian, had died in that last, horrible battle. He was the last of my harem, so I raised her alone.”

The empress smiled to herself. “She was a smart girl, brilliant even, but I think she sensed the sadness in me, the pain brought about by my obligation to the Throne and the empire. As soon as she was old enough she took off, claiming that she just wanted her freedom, her own life.”

Daggerdare snorted. “So she ran from her responsibilities.”

The empress gave a weak smile, “My little gem is very good at evading her duties. She has spent her entire life running, speeding from adventure to adventure, discovery to discovery. Even from her own daughter --”

She stopped herself and just stared up into the boroughs of the tree.

I hesitated, before asking, “What happened to Velka, is she,” I paused, “dead?”

Lilith continued to look up at the tree. “We don’t know. She went out onto an expedition, one she financed and planned on her own, in secret. Annowan was nine when she left. Velka just never came back. There’s been no sign of her in over fifteen years.”

“So she is dead,” Daggerdare stated flatly.

“Annowan assumes her mother is dead, but I believe she is still alive.” Lilith glared at the elf, her eyes burning hard. “There are few things in this world that can evade my sight, especially when I use the power of the Throne. If she were truly dead, I’d know.” She sighed, the fire in her eyes dying. “More likely than not, Velka finally decided to run away, to find someplace she could be free of me, of the Throne, of the life she was born into.”

Daggerdare nodded, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Lilith gestured in appreciation. “I raised Annowan, or more accurately she raised herself, determined that she would be nothing like her mother,”

I sucked in a breath. I had grown up an orphan, and I knew I had spent many sleepless nights, wondering if my parents had died, or if they had simply abandoned me. To know for a fact that they did? That your mother gave you away?

“I’m sure we’ll all do what we can for her,” I finally said, haltingly. “But Annowan has spent so much time pushing away others, closing herself off, that I’m not sure she’ll allow us to shoulder this task.”

Though Annowan was surrounded by her squires and companions, she rarely let us know her inner thoughts, or allowed us to help her bear her burdens. She was often the one pushing us the hardest, and she always fought at the forefront of our battles. In my mind, she was incredibly strong, but it was a brittle strength, born out of loneliness and a fear of confiding or depending fully on others.

“In that respect, she is very much like her mother,” Lilith got up, kicked the dirt off her feet, and gave us a wide smile. “I think being shitty people might run in our family, but I have faith that you’ll be there when she needs you the most.”

“You’re not shitty,” Tarial insisted vehemently as she landed. She hugged the empress tight, enveloping her with her wings. “We all have our roles to play in this life, even the ones we do not always enjoy.”

“So what, because I’m the empress I can get away with being a stone-cold bitch?” Lilith laughed.

“Pretty sure that’s Daggerdare’s job,” I murmured.

“Damn right,” my elvish wife agreed.

Almost no one in our group was eager to leave. Gilly dreaded going home and dealing with her parents; I noticed she rarely spoke of her family, and when she did it was usually to complain. Thalie was deep in her botanical studies, working on cross-breeding her vines with various other species.

Only Krencha seemed excited to go, but she managed to pass her time by either sparring with the Knights of the Throne or by touring the various armories and display halls that filled the palace.

We spent a whole afternoon together, just the two of us, touring one of the halls, which was full of suits of armor. Most of them were rent and battered, clearly having given their all to protect their wearers. Krencha knew the stories behind each and every one of them, and while I didn’t find the displays particularly interesting, I was captivated by her knowledge and enthusiasm.

Daggerdare spent most of her time with the elvish envoys, who had arrived to cement various treaties with the empire. The elves had little experience with trade outside of their communities, so Charlix took it upon herself to educate them. I ended up sitting in on most of the conversations, doing my best to learn more about how the Empire of Amalgam functioned.

The evening afterward, as Daggerdare and I laid in bed, our bodies wrung out from the marathon sex session we had just finished, I asked her, “Do you think this will all work?”

She rolled over, laying her chest across my own, “What do you mean?”

“Peace,” I said.

I had asked about the elves, but I was thinking about my people. I admitted as much.

“It might be possible to save them,” I said, my fingers stroking up and down her back. “I don’t feel like I owe them anything, the only person I care about is Sarah, in all honesty. But just the same, I feel like I can’t completely abandon them.”

Daggerdare grinned, “Your sense of responsibility is growing.”

She closed her eyes, thinking. “It might be possible, but my people have a great advantage over yours. We know the Betrayer’s true nature, and we can see through her lies. Humanity though? They’re still trapped under her sway, and I believe it will take a heroic effort to get them to see the truth.”

I thought about that. I have no love for The City or its people. As a kid, only Sarah gave a shit about me. Everyone else saw me as a freak and a loser. But just the same --

“Husband,” Daggerdare spoke firmly, and she shifted her hips, rubbing herself against my cock. “Introspection is a noble quality, but not at the cost of ignoring what is right in front of you.”

I grabbed her shoulders and rolled her over, my mind once again focused on the right thing.

The next day, Annowan ordered me to join her in visiting the Knights of the Throne’s armory.

She had been incredibly scarce since her return. The few times I had seen her she had been busy in the Royal Quarter’s practice courtyard, savaging dummies or honing her bale magic techniques. She wasn’t rude or standoffish when I talked to her, but it was clear she wanted to be left alone.

“We need to replace the weapons you lost in Coldspite Basin,” she told me, as we walked deeper into the palace. “As befitting your station as a member of my grandmother’s court, you should be equipped with the best gear the order can provide.”

I thought about this, “What about Gilly and Thalie then, are they getting the same treatment?”

Annowan smirked, “Gilly has had access to the order’s armory since becoming my squire. Thalie is satisfied with her weapon, though I do believe she is going to request some additional gear before we leave for Dragon Port.”

The Knights of the Throne were the largest and most powerful chivalric order in the empire, and they answered directly to Empress Lilith. From what Grason had told me, they had several areas of responsibility across the empire, including hunting down Slayers, keeping guard over The City’s borders, and protecting the citizens against the myriad of dangers that filled the world. They also acted as the palace’s primary guards, ensuring the safety of the empress and the government.

Most of the knights and squires I met were surprisingly friendly, considering they spent most of their time hunting down Slayers. Gilly, Thalie, and I had visited their barracks several times, and even though I was a human, their traditional enemy, they had treated me like their own.

They maintained their headquarters in the palace, not far from the teleportation pad that served as the building’s main entrance.

“Mal!” one of the squires waved a greeting, and I waved back.

Several other squires came up, congratulating me on my marriages.

“You seem awfully popular,” Annowan commented drily afterward.

I shrugged. “It was a bit rocky the first time I came here. But once the shock of me being a human wore off, I think they were genuinely impressed with me.”

“For your martial prowess and spellbreaker abilities?”

“No,” I laughed, “for the fact I was crazy enough to marry Gilly.” I leaned in, whispering, “Did you know there were rumors that she was immortal? That she had stolen the secret of eternal life from Lilith.”

Annowan chuckled. “That’s probably the only way they can explain her still being alive, even after her epic nights of drunken debauchery. Supposedly, she once drank an entire squad of knights under the table and then forced them to run through the city in their armor.”

That didn’t seem so bad to me. “Their armor?”

“Only their armor,” Annowan shook her head. “I can’t imagine it was a pleasant experience, with no padding underneath to protect them from bruising or chafing.”

I could only imagine it. “You seem surprisingly okay with that, considering your usual attitude towards all things fun.”

“Why?” she growled, “Because you think I have a stick up my ass?”

I didn’t comment back.

Annowan paused. “While I might not condone such behavior, I think it’s a natural part of Gilly’s personality. She wouldn’t be Gilly if she wasn’t so brash and uninhibited.”

I was tempted to say more but held back. Every time we push Annowan to talk, she just withdraws into her shell.

The order’s armorer was a hulking revealer named Adrian. They eschewed Charlix’s preference for humanoid clothing or form, taking up most of the armory as a mass of tentacles and eyes. Still, they knew the place like the back of their tendrils, and after taking my measurements they were able to place an order for a replacement warpick and shield.

“They didn’t have to make that comment about my oversized hands,” I said, absently flexing my fingers.

“Don’t blame Adrian for your need for custom hand grips,” Annowan said. She was in a far better mood than I’d seen her in weeks.

“Are you sure about the armor?” I looked enviously at her set of full plate, “I know I’d feel a lot better behind a couple of layers of steel.”

She shook her head, “Thalie said the same thing, but wearing too much armor is just as bad as wearing too little. Both you and she are wonderful skirmishers and close-range fighters, the armor you should wear should be light and not drain your stamina.”

“As opposed to what you wear?” I joked.

She nodded, serious. “My magic acts as a lightning rod, attracting everyone’s attention. Foes will single me out, and I need to be able to shrug off blows while standing at the front line, creating openings for you, Gilly, and the others.”

That part was true. Annowan’s bale magic was as visually impressive as it was destructive; the eerie, black light created by her balefire and balethunder techniques was startling to behold. And she never held herself back in battle, throwing herself into the heart of every conflict.

If only she could be that brave when it came to herself.

“A hardened leather breastplate, similar to what Daggerdare wears, should be good,” Annowan noted. “Train with it and get used to its weight, you should be fit enough to use it now. But if you find it too cumbersome we can always trim it down. For you, not getting hit is far more valuable than any protection armor could provide.”

I was looking forward to the new equipment. Adrian had sifted through some of my recent memories of combat, and they had made several suggestions on how my new weapons could be improved over the ones I had lost.

Preparations were made for us to leave for Dragon Port. Not only did we need gear and supplies to unseal and explore Velka’s Library, but we needed to schedule time with the city’s ruling council.

“The balance of power in Dragon Port is unstable, even in peaceful times,” Grason explained. “The city is run by what is essentially a ruling council made up of the most powerful dragonkin families.”

“The most powerful?” I asked.

“Dragonkin society typically measures one’s power based on wealth and influence,” Gilly said dourly. “The more cash you have, the more people that work for you, and the nicer your estate is, the more power you wield.”

Thalie looked towards Gilly, “How nice was your house growing up?”

“Too nice,” she grumbled.

“The ruling council is essentially an oligarchy,” Grason supplied.

Daggerdare, Thalie, Gilly, and I were seated in Grason’s office, receiving an unofficial crash course in dragonkin culture. Krencha, having visited Dragon Port multiple times, instead went to the Hall of Visions to contact the Stoutshatter caravan and to see if any of her kin were in that area.

“Oligarchy,” I stumbled over the unfamiliar word.

“Rule by the rich,” Grason explained. “They mercilessly exploit the system, reaping the benefits for themselves.”

“Doesn’t sound like something Lilith would tolerate,” I commented.

He nodded. “Quite correct, she’s actually made several efforts to reform Dragon Port’s government over the centuries, but it always failed. The people themselves prefer the oligarchy, constantly rebuilding and re-establishing it despite her best efforts. Now, we simply tolerate them while making sure that the ruling council doesn’t completely trample over the rights of the common people.”

“Sounds miserable,” Daggerdare commented.

Grason didn’t argue.

“That leaves the Throne on shaky terms with Dragon Port’s elite,” he lectured. “They control a vast amount of influence, not just in their city, but across the empire. Many of the shipping interests, commercial endeavors, and businesses of Amalgam are at least in part sponsored by those dragonkin families.”

“My ancestors thought it was a real feather in their cap when they managed to hire Velka, the daughter of the empress, as their private employee,” Gilly added. “It locked in their position as the most powerful family on the ruling council.”

“And your family is still in charge?” I asked.

She nodded.

Shit, I thought, that could make things awfully complicated, especially since Gilly has made every indication they won’t approve of me or our marriage.

“Annowan is well versed in dealing with dragonkin high society,” Grason said. “I would defer to her judgment, and treat everything the city council or its members tell you as either a veiled threat or an attempt to bribe you to their cause.”

“I think I prefer when we were freezing to death and fighting snow monsters,” Thalie said, her complexion gone pale.

“Snow monsters were easier,” Daggerdare added grumpily, “At least you could split their skulls open with an ax when they got in your way.”

The day before we were set to leave, Lilith ordered a procession through the city. On the surface, it was a chance for the elvish delegations to see Babylon and the already several preliminary trade agreements had been discussed. Several organizations, including those backed by the dragonkin, were eager to begin trade with the elves.

“They are very interested in our leather goods and agriculture,” Daggerdare said, a sour look upon her face.

Thalie nodded. “I noticed you raised several crops completely unknown to the rest of the empire. There is usually a high demand for new foodstuffs, either as a novelty or as a staple.”

“And high-quality leatherwork can be hard to find,” Gilly traced a seam down her jerkin. She had obtained the clothing in Holly’s Breath, and it had quickly become a popular fashion topic around the palace.

“Though I am eager for change, and the opportunity, I do not know how I feel about so much happening so fast,” the treespeaker grumbled.

“Just don’t let them exploit you,” Gilly told her. “Stick firm to your points, and don’t let them talk you down. If one trader passes up your demands because they think they’re too expensive, someone else will be more than happy to pay what you want.” She laughed, “Worse comes to worst, play upon their expectations of your vaunted elvish savagery, make them underestimate you, then take them for all their worth.”

“You really are the daughter of merchants,” Krencha laughed as we piled into the magicart.

Daggerdare waved, “I’m riding with the elvish delegation and the empress in the front cart.”

Three of the magically propelled vehicles made up the procession. Lilith and the elves were in the front cart, Gilly, Krencha, Scrapple, and Thalie were with me in the middle one, and the rear magicart was occupied by Annowan and a detachment of knights.

They were supposed to act as security, but I guessed Lilith wanted a chance for the city’s population to see her granddaughter and the heir to the Throne. Naturally, Annowan insisted on wearing a full helmet for the event, completely hiding her face.

“Spoilsport,” Lilith had muttered, upon seeing her granddaughter.

The empress had taken up a miniaturized version of her court form. Normally, while attending court she used magic to make herself into a towering figure, able to properly sit upon the Throne. For the procession she once again sported four sets of curling horns which framed the burning crown set on her head; she completed the ensemble with a gown of blazing red and orange silks and a pair of cloven feet.

When I had asked where Tarial was, the empress had demurred, “She doesn’t like being in crowds, so she’ll be flying overhead.”

Loading onto our cart, I knew I was accompanying the procession in conjunction with my recent elevation as an imperial ward. The suit coat I wore once again had the sigil of the Throne sewn into the breast, matching the banner draped over the sides of the magicart.

She’s still working on getting people comfortable seeing a human, I thought, as I watched Lilith quietly chat with Arne in the front cart. Elves as well now, I guess. Yesterday’s enemy becomes today’s ally in the fight against the Bitch.

“Are you alright with all of this?” Thalie whispered to me. She must have noticed that I kept fingering the embroidery on my coat.

I shrugged, “I know Lilith is doing this for my benefit, and for the elves too, but I guess I’m not super comfortable being a part of this pageantry.”

Gilly gave a dark, mirthless laugh. “That’s just something you need to get used to if you’re going to be dealing with demons. Lilith might love me like a daughter, but she has no problems leaning on me if it helps her meet her goals.”

“How’s that different from any other relationship?” Krencha said bluntly. “Friends, family, lovers, we all depend on and trust that those we love and care about will have our backs when we need them.”

“You told me something similar once,” I replied, “when I was thinking about serving Annowan as a squire. I know your feelings when it comes to her are complicated, but I don’t see much of a difference here either. When you love someone, you lean on them, and they lean on you in turn.”

Gilly went quiet, thinking about that.

I wish Annowan was here for this conversation.

“Anyway,” Krencha grinned broadly, “now’s not the time to be morose and introspective. We’re finally getting the parade I demanded the first time we entered Babylon!” She hugged her mole-dog, who was frantically wagging his tail. “Now everyone will get to see the majestic Krencha, hero of the empire, and her loyal companion, Scrapple, get the recognition we deserve!”

Chapter 5

I sacked out and fell asleep as soon as we got back to the Royal Quarters.

The procession had been a long, drawn-out affair since Lilith insisted it go down every major thoroughfare in the city, so the elves could get a full tour. People had lined up on the streets and stared down from their windows, cheering as we passed.

Krencha and Scrapple had drunk it up.

For my part, I tried to smile and look non-threatening. Thalie and I took turns shielding each other when the exposure became too much and the other just needed to sit back and breathe. Gilly, for her part, took it all in stride.

“Lilith rarely makes public appearances,” she had explained. “Normally people only get to hear the results of petitions or read about her in the news. So having a big parade, to make the signing of a peace treaty, is a big deal for Babylon. Throw in a human and some elves, and you get the ingredients for a national holiday.”

“You’re just using that as an excuse to go drinking afterward,” I accused her.

She hadn’t responded.

Tarial had flown far overhead, swooping through the plumes of volcanic smoke, soaring on huge geothermal updrafts before diving down to hover protectively over Lilith. The empress sat sedately, rarely doing much beyond raising her hand to occasionally wave to the crowds.

Finally, when the event was over, Thalie and I had wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Gilly had invited Krencha and Scrapple to join her on an outing with several squires. The goblin dragoon pledged to spend the evening telling them her heroic tales and teaching them the drinking song the court bard had written about her legends.

Annowan had said nothing to anyone as she disappeared deep into the palace, wanting to be left alone. Even wearing her full armor and helmet, she had seemed deeply uncomfortable receiving so many cheers from the crowd.

Muzzily, I woke up a few hours after falling asleep, feeling a warm weight laying across my legs.

“Scrapple?” I muttered.

Gilly grunted, “Are you calling your wife a mole-dog?”

The dragonkin was naked, her clothes scattered in a trail from the door to where she had passed out. She was laying near my feet, her tail dragging off the edge of the bed.

“Are you drunk?” I groaned.

“I was,” she said tiredly, “but that was hours ago. I’ve since passed through hung-over to just achy and sleepy.”

Slowly, she rearranged herself, crawling up to the top of the bed to join me under the covers. She pressed her face against my chest, curling around me.

I began slowly stroking her hair, my fingers trailing along the row of ridges and spikes that ran across the top of her head. “You okay?”

“Not really,” she admitted, her voice muffled. “I really don’t want to go home.”

I didn’t say anything, I just let her wrap her arms around me.

“I don’t get along well with my parents,” she continued after I was afraid she had fallen asleep again. “I’m the youngest of seven children. My mom and my dad always just saw me as a bargaining chip, something they could trade in for value when the time came.”

I thought about that. “Your mom and dad, are they in a harem, like us?”

“No,” Gilly answered. “I just have one mom and one dad. Though polygamy and harems are legal in the empire, dragonkin tend to look down on that kind of marriage arrangement. They think it waters down a family’s financial value. To them, the most important thing is maintaining their business and their wealth.”

She laughed weakly. “I agreed to become Annowan’s squire in part to get away from them and to have some say in my fate. They tried to arrange a marriage partner for me once when I was a kid. It fell through before either of us were old enough to actually get married, but after that, I decided I would determine my future, and that I would marry who I wanted. Someone that I loved.”

I bent down to kiss her forehead. “I love you too.”

Slowly, she released her hold on my shoulders. She reached down and began to stroke my cock through the fabric of my pajamas.

“But you know me,” she looked up, giving me a sharp-fanged grin. “Am I the kind of person to stay morose for long?”

“No, you’re not.” I cupped my hand under her chin and angled her up so I could kiss her, my tongue running over her double-row of teeth.

We rolled over, so she was positioned on top of me. I quickly kicked off my clothes, throwing them to join Gilly’s garments on the floor. Pulling the blankets over our heads, I grabbed her and burrowed further under the sheets.

It was dark and warm, and all I could feel was the delicious texture of Gilly’s scales against my skin, and all I could smell was the sweat rising off her body. She began shimmying her hips, her crotch rubbing against my cock and dragging against my stomach, leaving the air trapped under the blanket even hotter.

She moaned as she reached a hand between us to flick at her clit. “Never let it be said that sex isn’t a good distraction from what worries you.”

Grinning, I put my hands under her hips, lifting her just enough to position her above my rigid shaft. The blankets rose, catching on Gilly’s horns, forming a small tent above us.

I could only make out her silhouette against the cloth, but I still watched her with rapt attention as she positioned my cock at her entrance. I groaned in ecstasy as her slick pussy lips slid around my cockhead.

She paused there, planting her hands against my chest before she began her downward trip. Even though Gilly and I had slept together many times, even before our marriage, I still marveled at how impossibly hot and tight she was, her muscles clenching and twitching as she slid to my base.

She began to ride me, moving languidly up and down my length, her cunt grinding wickedly against my mass as she set a slow, steady rhythm. Each time she drew herself down, I could feel each bump, wrinkle, and ridge of her passage, their familiar pattern soothing but also incredibly arousing.

Sweat beaded along our bodies, soaking the bed sheets, but neither of us even thought of removing them. We were in our own little world, just the two of us, where the only thing that mattered was the bond between us and the pleasure we were sharing.

Reaching up, I untangled the sheet from her horns, then turned us over, twisting so that my cock never left her sweet pussy. The feeling of her flesh grinding and rubbing against me as we moved was almost too much, I pushed back against the colossal pressure building in my core.

Bunching the sheets and blankets around my shoulders, I decided I would set a more determined, uptempo pace. Gilly moaned, spreading her legs wide to give me better access. I leaned into her, resting my elbows by the side of her head, as I dragged my cock in and out of her pussy.

“Mal,” she groaned, body as tense as a spring, “Mal!”

“Gilly!” I kissed her, my shoulders arched, my hips slamming ferociously into hers.

She finally came, her body twitching as her feet kicked at the footboard, her tail twisting against the mattress. Her pussy clenched, and I could feel each of my nerve endings dragging against her constricting flesh. Her fingers were locked in my hair; I felt her nails scratching at my scalp as she tried desperately to hold onto her senses. Gilly was awash in pleasure as if it was our first time having sex again.

Feeling so close, so in love, so perfectly happy, I decided I couldn’t hold back any longer. My lips never leaving hers, I smashed myself to the hilt, burying my cock in her, and then I came. Rather than a singular burst, I felt a string of shuddering ripples tear out of me. Gilly held me close, as I rode that thrill, her body eagerly draining me dry.

Only then, when we had wrung everything we could out of each other, did I peel the blankets back. The cold, crisp air of my bedroom hit us, and all I could do was sigh and bask in the magnificent afterglow.

“We really do need to get a bigger bed,” Gilly said.

I laughed. “I talked to Grason about that a bit earlier today. He’s still sorting through the paperwork, but he said once we return from Dragon Port he can arrange for some changes, up to and including new furniture and renovations.” I felt my happiness sour a bit, “Though Annowan will have to sign off on it since the Royal Quarters belong to her.”

She turned over to look at me, “And what kind of perverted things were you thinking of asking for?”

“Only a few perverted things,” I laughed, placing my hand along her side and drawing her closer. “I want a bigger bed, obviously, but it should be easier for all of us to live together too. Maybe connecting rooms and a shared commons. And we’ll need a private garden or courtyard, I’m sure Thalie would love somewhere to grow some plants. Scrapple will need somewhere to run around too. Maybe we can ask for a teleporter directly to the Imperial Gardens?”

“Sounds nice,” she yawned, resting her head against my chest. “Daggerdare would like that too. I’m not sure she’s cut out for being stuck in a big city.”

“All these plans.” I silently reached down and began stroking her hair again. “That just means we need to succeed in our mission, get what we need out of Velka’s Library, and make it back here. Back home.”

The next day saw us gathered at one of the palace’s largest teleportation pads; Grason explained that it was typically used to ship furniture and large crates into the palace, but it could be used for the opposite as well.

Since we weren’t expecting to have to carry all of our supplies, we could afford to bring a surplus of equipment with us. I saw three crates, apparently carrying extra suits of armor for Annowan, being added to the already impressive pile.

“I can see why we’re bringing preserved food, medical supplies, and the rest of these boxes with us,” I said, pointing to a pile of gear, “but what’s with the gift baskets, jewelry boxes, and ceremonial swords?”

It was early, and the empress was already clearly agitated, and not just by the cost of our expedition. Grason had come and gone several times, each time having the empress sign off on an additional expense or luxury we would need to bring.

“Cause Dragon Port is a world that revolves around pomp, extravagance, and bribes,” Lilith answered, looking scornfully at the small mountain being built on the pad. “I hate that stinking place, but I’m not dumb enough to send my granddaughter into that shithole without everything she’ll need to succeed.”

“Gee, Lilith, tell us how you really feel,” Gilly commented darkly.

“I would lock the entire ruling council in chains if I could,” she declared, “and they know it. But they toe the line, they don’t openly break any laws I can punish them for, and for better or for worse their businesses are the economic heart of the empire.”

She gave a small huff, “Sometimes, being the most powerful being in existence is rather restrictive.”

Daggerdare seemed to share the empress’s mindset. “I have never heard of this place before, but already three delegations from the ruling council’s families are asking for permission to visit Holly’s Breath. They claim that our natural resources are going to waste and that they want to help us maximize profits.”

“They’ll clearcut your forests and strip-mine your hills, if you let them,” Gilly warned. “As I said, don’t let them push you around. Scare them, belittle them, and negotiate till you finalize a contract that makes you happy. They won’t respect you otherwise.”

I glanced towards the dragonkin, “How did you end up so different from the rest of your family?”

She shrugged. “Guess I was just lucky and I was born with a soul rather than an empty, aching void that can only be filled with cash and trashy, expensive garbage.”

The more I heard, the less and less I was looking forward to our trip. Annowan, helping supervise our growing inventory, looked even less thrilled than I was.

“Don’t worry about it,“ Krencha consoled us. “We show up, we do some gladhanding, and then we get about adventuring. I’m sure once we kill our first eldritch horror we’ll all feel a lot better about ourselves.”

“Don’t forget the goal of your mission,” Lilith reminded us, “Unseal the Library and find out everything you can about Revekar and the last two missing locations.”

Amongst our supplies was a crystal, provided by Charlix. It contained two images pulled from my mind. They depicted a lost city, half-buried in bone-white sand, and a crypt sinking into a fetid jungle swamp; they were our only potential clues to the final two generals.

Thalie added her pile of boxes to the pad, wiping the sweat from her brow after she gently placed them down.

“What’s in there?” I asked, coming over.

“Charlix mentioned that Velka’s Library likely contains plants from her expeditions,” she said. “The palace gardeners were kind enough to lend me some equipment that I can use to take samples. Who knows what kind of useful, unique species we could find!”

I rose on my tiptoes to kiss her brow. “You have a one-track mind sometimes, but I love it.”

Thalie’s plant magic might have seemed simple, but I had seen her destroy undead wurms and strangle belligerent monsters with just a few shoots and vines.

Eventually, all of our cargo was teleported to Dragon Port. Lilith, Tarial, and Charlix came in to give their goodbyes. The empress gave me a knowing look, and I nodded my head, remembering my promise to help Annowan as best I could.

Finally, we were left alone in the chamber.

Annowan looked at all of us. “Gilly, Thalie, Malory, you three are my squires, and I expect you to be vigilant. Though the ruling council of Dragon Port has been loyal to the empire, don’t mistake them for allies in this endeavor. My decision to seal my mother’s library was incredibly unpopular at the time, and now that we are returning to open it again I am sure there will be plenty of people looking to gain access.”

She turned to look at Daggerdare and Krencha, “I trust you as my valuable companions and those that share our common goal. Though I cannot dictate your actions, I suggest you maintain the same level of wariness in Dragon Port that you had in Coldspite Basin. The dangers there might be different, but the results could still be just as deadly.”

I was wondering if the demon knight was going overboard with her warnings, but Gilly nodded. “Assassination, extortion, murder, theft, and bribery aren’t considered crimes in my hometown, they’re just the logical steps needed to succeed.”

“Nobody actually dies in Dragon Port,” Krencha said, “they just mysteriously disappear at the most opportune time for their rivals.”

Annowan nodded. “Keep your guard up and your weapons close. Dragon Port might seem like gold and silver on the surface, but it’s blood and backstabbing all the way to its core.”

For all their dire warnings, my first thoughts upon seeing Dragon Port from the top of the teleportation tower were, Damn this place is fancy.

We were perched at the edge of the city and directly below us stretched a huge sprawl of buildings, likely shops, apartments, homes, and businesses. Further out, towards the heart of the metropolis, were huge skyscrapers, cleverly built with runic magic. Their exteriors practically sparkled and shone with magic. Their huge, glass windows reflecting the light of the midday sun.

Behind them was a massive series of harbors and docks, stretching from horizon to horizon. Countless ships were pulling in and out of port, all of them laden with cargo.

The air was crisp and salty, and I marveled at the sheer size of the sea.

“I’ve never actually seen the ocean before,” Daggerdare said, standing at my side.

I put my arm around her waist, “Me neither. It’s so freaking huge!”

“Excuse us.”

Turning around, we found a squad of dragonkin guards had arrived at the edge of the teleportation pad. They were manicured, styled, and dressed to a centimeter of their lives; I could see their scales had been polished, and their uniforms were so crisp that they had likely been ironed within the hour.

Their leader stepped forward, a dragonkin with bright red scales and flame-hued hair. He bowed deeply to Annowan. “I am Therondore, guard captain to the honorable Giltscale family. We are overjoyed to see you once again, Lady Annowan. The head of the household bade me welcome you and invite you to stay at the family’s estate.”

Annowan looked at him like he was something she’d scraped off her shoes.

I noticed the guard captain was pointedly ignoring Gilly, his eyes never even straying her direction.

“That is very kind of the Giltscale family,” the demon knight responded. “I assume my squires and companions are also invited?”

He responded smoothly. “Of course, Treespeaker Daggerdare and Dragoon Errant Krencha are also invited inside. The rest are more than welcome to accompany you as far as the front gate.” He finally looked at Gilly, sneering. “They can wait outside while the head of the household entertains you.”

My hand reached towards the new warpick belted to my side. I had a distinct urge to test it out on the bastard’s face.

But before I could, Annowan’s sword was free from its sheath and pressed against the young man’s throat.

“I take your invite as an insult, toadie,” she said, her voice harsh. “Try that again and I’ll see your head swept from your shoulders.”

“A thousand apologies,” he said. Despite the razor-sharp steel at this throat, he seemed unnaturally calm. “I must have misspoken. Of course, you are all welcome as honored guests of the family.”

Annowan drew back, but she didn’t put her sword away. “Our luggage proceeded us, make sure it arrives unmolested.”

Therondore gave a bow and retreated towards the stairs. “Take your time to comport yourself, Lady Annowan. We shall await you by the tower’s entrance.”

The dragonkin guards retreated, leaving us alone.

“Motherfucking prick,” Gilly cursed.

I came over and took her hand. “Guessing you know him?”

She nodded. “He’s a very distant cousin. Apparently, my family is now using him to test us.”

“Test?” Daggerdare frowned. “That fool was mere seconds from being chopped to pieces.”

“And then the Giltscale family would have reason to then sue the Throne for compensation,” Gilly sighed. “Our mission would have been sidetracked and my family could extort Lilith for the cost of Therondore’s death.”

Thalie pressed a hand to her mouth. “How awful.”

Annowan slowly put her weapon away. “This will not be the last time they purposefully provoke us. For now, don’t hurt them unless you are defending yourselves or one another.”

“That rule doesn’t apply to you?” Krencha grumbled.

“I am afforded some leeway, given that I am the heir to the Throne,” the demon answered. “But even then, there are limits.” She grimaced at the dragoon, “If you had finished freeing your mace and taken that swing, I’m sure your caravan masters would be stuck in court for the next thirty years, dealing with the lawsuits.”

Krencha climbed onto her saddle. “I hate this place.”

“Same,” Annowan answered wearily. “Now let’s go and get this horrendous adventure started.”

Chapter 6

The streets below were bustling with activity. The wide boulevards were crowded with carts and pack beasts, while dense crowds pushed along the sidewalks. Most of the pedestrians were dragonkin, but I saw orcs, demons, and goblins, walking shoulder to shoulder with their peers.

Therondore was waiting with a number of carriages, each drawn by a pair of hulking, scaled beasts that Gilly would later inform me were called chimerics.

He tried to get Annowan to ride in the nicest vehicle, along with him, but she pointedly turned him down, opting to ride with us in a much more rickety, rundown carriage instead.

“This might be my fault,” Gilly said, once the doors were closed and we were on the move. “I didn’t exactly tell my parents when I left for Babylon, and I haven’t put much effort into staying in touch since. They’re probably furious at this point for me marrying Mal, so they’re taking it out on all of us, trying to provoke us into doing something they can take advantage of.”

“An insult against you is an insult to all of us,” Daggerdare responded.

“Agreed,” Thalie placed a hand on Gilly’s shoulder. “They might be your mother and father, but we’re your family, and we’ll always stand by you!”

My heart swelled with pride.

“So what’s the plan?” Krencha asked Annowan. “Why are we putting up with these jackasses, shouldn’t we be heading directly to your mother’s library?”

“Unfortunately we have to play along with them for the time being,” Annowan informed her. “The Giltscale financed the construction of the Library and paid for the land it sits upon. The interior belongs to me and me alone, but to gain access to the grounds I’ll need to provide notice to them.”

I thought about all the expensive, excessive items included in our luggage. “So we’ve got to bribe them?”

“Essentially,” the demon knight answered. “I imagine they’ll force us to spend the next few days at their estate while they process my request. They’ll use the time to threaten us, badger us, and generally be insufferable. But they won’t directly harm us. As Therondore said, we are going to be treated as honored guests.”

Gilly picked up the thread, “That means if something bad happens to us, it’s their fault, and Lilith will come down on them like hell incarnate if anything happens to us.”

“This all sounds incredibly terrible,” Thalie said weakly.

I could only nod in agreement.

I made the most of the trip by staring out the carriage’s windows. While I was not a fan of how the city was run, it was still beautiful to look at. The various families of the ruling council had gone to great lengths to show off their wealth by sponsoring a number of civic improvements. I saw massive aqueducts that carried fresh water into the city, public parks, museums, art galleries, concert halls, botanical gardens, and libraries. Each of them was more grandiose and elegant than the last.

“Therondore is taking us down the scenic route,” Gilly commented, pointing to a nearby group of buildings. “That’s the university my great grandfather built. You can see a statue of him over there on that corner.”

“Why is he doing that?” I asked.

“To show off how rich and powerful the Giltscale family is,” Annowan answered, “and to remind us how much good they have done for the empire. Grandmother could come in today and put the entire ruling council to the sword, but the cost of doing so would be calamitous.”

“She did just that once,” Gilly commented. “A couple of hundred years ago the ruling council got too big, too corrupt, and started killing imperial officials. Lilith took it personally, so she summoned her most powerful nobles, and came down here and started executing the bastards by the bushel.”

“The Great Culling of Dragon Port,” Annowan nodded. “Grandmother told me about it.”

“Sadly, it didn’t take,” Gilly continued. “Once everyone was dead, the city’s economy imploded and it, in turn, dragged the entire empire into a huge economic depression. Millions lost their jobs, and entire industries collapsed. Trade ground to a halt. Supposedly Lilith spent half the imperial treasury to keep the people from starving.”

“And within twenty years, another ruling council had risen from the young, upstart families, starting the cycle anew,” Annowan said. “Lilith told me that story as a lesson. No matter how powerful you might be, there are limits on what you can and can’t change.”

“Just killing everyone isn’t always an answer,” Daggerdare observed.

“It makes me just think dragonkin are inherently broken in some way,” Gilly sighed. “We inherited a lot of good traits from our draconic ancestors, but compassion, empathy, and moderation were not amongst them.”

It was getting late in the afternoon by the time the carriages arrived at the Giltscale estate. It was located in the outskirts of the city, on a series of seaside cliffs that gave the occupants a majestic view of the ocean and the cityscape below.

The estate itself was massive. More than just a single building, it was an entire complex of mansions, luxury accommodations, gardens, business offices, warehouses, and outbuildings. The whole place was wrapped by a huge stone wall that made the exterior look like a fortress in hostile territory. Guard towers were everywhere, and Therondore had to lead us through several checkpoints before we disembarked at the main gate.

“Your luggage arrived ahead of you and has been sent to the guest house,” he told Annowan. He was back to ignoring the rest of us, which suited us just fine.

Gilly eyed the huge, armored gate with a look of complete disdain.

“I need to speak with the head of the household,” Annowan told the guard captain. “We are here on urgent business for the Throne. I can brook no delays.”

“Of course,” the young man answered smoothly, “once you have a chance to wash and refresh yourself, a dinner will be held in your honor. During the meal, I’m sure the head of the household will want to speak to you on a great many matters.”

For a moment, it looked like Annowan was going to pull out her sword again, but she managed to temper her impatience. With a resigned sigh, she gestured for the dragonkin to lead us inside.

The estate was even more impressive once you were able to step beyond the intimidating walls. I felt almost like I was stepping into a storybook. Each building was meticulously constructed from the finest stone and sweeping, graceful curves of wood. The roofs were made from red clay tiles, which reflected the warm sunlight onto the tree-sheltered walkways.  Marble statues were artfully placed every few meters. Thalie’s eyes grew huge at the sight of all the flowerbeds, ornamental gardens, and vine tresses that artfully made up the landscape.

“Still a beautiful, gilded cage,” Gilly sighed.

I stepped closer to her, taking her hand into my own. “You going to be okay?”

She kissed me on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I already escaped here once, and I have no intention of ever allowing myself to be trapped here again.”

“It sure is pretty though,” Thalie said, as she stopped to inspect a huge bed of tropical-looking flowers.

“All the better to hide the shit beneath,” Gilly told her.

“We have several orcish gardeners on staff,” Therondore surprised us all by turning and addressing the orcish maiden. “I’d be happy to arrange a chat with them. I’m sure they’d be happy to share their secrets with you.”

She looked caught out for a second, but Thalie quickly mastered her expression. “Thank you for the offer, but as my knight said, we are on urgent business. More pleasant conversations will need to wait.”

Annowan gave a grim smile, pleased by her squire’s response. Therondore just let it drop, escorting us to a huge, four-story building at the edge of the estate.

Unlike the other structures we had seen, this one was mostly constructed from wood, the timbers polished till they gleamed. It appeared there were multiple rooms per floor, each one possessing a large balcony that ran around the exterior.

“The estate staff has already turned out the chambers, and a manservant will be positioned in the lobby to await any request you might have, Lady Annowan,” Therondore said. “You are staying on the top floor, the nicest accommodations. Your party is stationed on the floor below.”

He turned and gave me an ugly look. “I must state though, the head of the house has expressed some discomfort with having a human on the premises. If you are interested, we can have it kept off site, in a more secure environment.”

The treespeaker approached him with deadly swiftness; one moment she was next to me, the next she was a green blur, stepping behind the dragonkin. She made no move to touch him or the other guards, but she made her point clear.

“Your masters seem terribly careless with your life,” she said, speaking into his ear. “Where I come from, insulting my husband like that would see you thrown into the arena, forced to fight till the offense was forgiven or you were dead.”

Gilly snickered, “Don’t forget, Therondore, House Giltscale is one of the dragonkin houses reaching out to the elves, asking to establish trade. I don’t think upsetting their treespeaker, one of the most revered members of their community is a good way to get in with them.”

He blanched. “I didn’t ask for your opinion --”

I was on him in a heartbeat. Barely remembering Annowan’s warning, I stopped myself before touching him, but I was centimeters from his face, my fists clenched.

“Say one more thing about me or any of my wives, and I will make you regret being born,” I hissed. “I know I can’t touch you now, but I feel like I can be patient in this matter. Just give me a few weeks, maybe a few months, and when I get the chance, I’ll come back here and cave in your skull.”

The young dragonkin gulped. He was pinned between me and Daggerdare, and none of his guards made a move to help him.

Annowan sighed, then made a dismissive gesture. “Go back to your master, Therondore. Tell the head of the household that such blatant insults will not be tolerated. We are your honored guests, by your own words, and the Throne will not forgive any further inhospitable actions.”

Daggerdare and I slowly backed up, still staring at the dragonkin with open hatred.

“You have no right,” Therondore sputtered, still trying to master himself.

I felt the snap of bale magic around Annowan, the air suddenly growing harsh and cold.

“I am the heir to the Throne,” the demon said, “any egregious insult against me, or my trusted companions, will be considered an affront to the empress and her rule. Try these petty tests again and I will drag you before her court for a trial by combat.”

“You can’t,” he laughed, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his words.

The cold around Annowan got worse, and I could see black frost gathering at her feet. “By the old pacts and pledges, I can. I invoke the Treaty of Unification, signed by your ancestors. You might flaunt your power and wealth, Giltscale, but you are still a citizen of the empire. You fall under my domain, and I will have you dead before the Throne if you keep up this garbage.”

He backed up, then spoke in a rush. “I apologize for any improper words I might have spoken. Dinner is in two hours, the manservant will escort you to the main house when it is time.”

We watched him quickly retreat before Gilly burst out laughing.

She jumped over and hugged Annowan. “Annie, that was great!”

Krencha frowned, “Is what you said true?”

Annowan disengaged from the jubilant dragonkin and nodded. “Yes, before we left, grandmother had some of her legal scholars go through the oldest, most obscure treaties signed by the original ruling council of Dragon Port, back when they joined the empire. Most people don’t know it, but there’s a clause in the original document, the Treaty of Unification, allowing the Throne to invoke trial by combat to settle insults and disputes.”

Krencha chuckled, “That sounds like something Lilith would slip into the fine print.”

“You should have told us sooner,” Daggerdare snorted.

Annowan shrugged. “I didn’t think they’d push the point so hard, so early. I was hoping to reserve that option as a trump card.”

I thought about it for a moment. “Just to ask, can any of us invoke that pledge?”

Annowan gave a dark, demonic smile. “You can. Feel free to use it as you see fit. These bastards thought they could drag us around by the noses and insult us to our faces, but we have now turned the tables on them. While you can’t outright attack them, feel free to offer them a duel if they start yapping off again. I assume most of them are like Therondore, cowards at heart, and they’ll back down once word spreads.”

“I still want to bleed that worm dry,” Daggerdare cursed.

I felt myself relax a bit. “Maybe you can add that to the trade treaty? I’m sure they’ll be happy to throw you some concessions, like that bastard’s head, if you demand harshly enough.”

Despite our treatment thus far, the staff managing the guest house were all incredibly polite. The manservant assigned to the lobby showed us all the rooms and instructed that servants would be on call day and night for anything we might need.

The guest rooms were luxurious beyond measure. Gold, mother of pearl, silk, and precious gems were used with abandon to decorate everything. I thought of the Royal Quarters back in the palace; they were opulent, but comfortable, clearly designed for the occupants' enjoyment and habitation.

These rooms, though, went into excess. Everything was over-stuffed, overly heavy, and I couldn’t find a single chair that was actually comfortable to sit in. Images of bronze-scaled dragons were everywhere, clearly reminding the room’s occupants under whose hospitality they were staying.

After the tour, we all gathered in a sitting room on the second floor.

I bounced on the seat’s cushion again, my foot throbbing for a rest, but I felt like I was sitting on an overly spongy toadstool.

Daggerdare had the wise idea to sit on the floor. Scrapple came up and flopped down next to her, and the elf began to absently scratch his head.

“Would our hosts feel insulted if I slept outside?” she said. “I checked the bed assigned to my room, and it’s about as comfortable as sleeping on a slab of stone. The trees outside at least look alive and welcoming.”

“The guest house isn’t meant to be comfortable,’ Gilly informed us, “it’s meant to impress, to show how much money my family can throw at their guests. Expect dinner to be over the top as well, lots of food, lots of drink, lots of people begging you to come with them for a private word or a quick tryst in the garden.”

Thalie blushed at that. “Can I slap anyone who suggests that?”

“Just point them out to me, and I’ll give them a trip to the garden they’ll never forget,” Krencha laughed, slapping her palm against her mace. “The second we step outside, I’ll bash in their head and then have Scrapple dig a hole to bury them. Nobody will even find the body until well after we leave.”

Gilly joined Daggerdare in scratching the mole-dog, who out of all of us seemed happy. “He is a master hole digger.”

Annowan got up and headed towards the stairs. “Check your luggage, make sure nothing was removed, or added. I wouldn’t put it above our hosts to slip some trinket or bauble into our bags, then accuse us of stealing it.”

When we came down to the lobby later that evening for dinner, we created a small pile of items that had somehow accidentally ended up in our luggage. The manservant was very apologetic about the misunderstanding and he swore that he would speak to the staff to be more mindful about the household’s belongings.

For dinner, Annowan had suggested we wear clothes that we found functional and comfortable.

“Feel free to wear your armor and weapons,” she had said. “I want to make it clear to the Giltscale household that this isn't some pleasure trip. We’re here to gain access to the Library, anything else is just a delay or a distraction on their part.”

Marching across the estate’s ground, Annowan led the way while wearing her ebon-black armor and with her sword slung across her back.

Thalie, her halberd blade polished and all its pennants in pristine shape came next, followed by Krencha in her full battlefield regalia. Scrapple, miming his dragoon, was fully armored and walked with a predatory swagger.

I carried my new warpick and buckler strapped to my belt. Adrian had modified the shield with a sharpened rim after seeing my earlier fights, and the warpick featured a customized grip. Their weight was almost as welcoming as the presence of my wives.

Daggerdare kept on her leather breastplate, her hair swept back into an elaborate braid that kept any loose strands from covering her face or getting in the way of her axes, which were belted by her hips.

Only Gilly had dressed up, wearing a conservative-looking black gown that looked like something a strict school teacher would wear.

“Got to keep them on their toes,” she had said when I had helped her button up the back. “I ran away from this place when I was a kid. They always thought I was a punk and that I didn’t have the cutthroat mindset to be a part of the family business. But now, I’m a respectfully married woman and part of a court harem. I’ve got to dress like it, right?”

I had laughed and kissed the back of her neck. “And let me guess, after dinner is over we’re going to sneak off so we can have sex in every vacant room we can find?”

She had turned around, grinning, “I want to fuck your brains out in my dad’s office, on top of his desk.”

As we were escorted towards the main house, I noticed there was a huge, stone-paved courtyard that wasn’t in use.

“What is that?” I pointed, asking Gilly.

She glanced over. “It’s a dragon landing pad,” she explained. “Back in the day, when our draconic ancestors were more active, they would sometimes come and visit the estates of their descendants. They’ve grown lazier over the years; I don’t think a dragon has been spotted in Dragon Port for almost a century.”

“Where are they all now?”

Gilly gestured towards the east. “There’s a low range of mountains a few kilometers that way, just beyond the horizon. Most of the remaining dragons have huge palaces, filled with all the treasure and wealth they’ve been hoarding before Amalgam was even created.” She paused, thinking. “My great grandfather, several dozen times removed, lives out there, supposedly, though I’ve never seen him. Natharion of the Gilt-Scale. I’m named after him.”

I thought about that. “Would you ever like to meet him?”

“No,” she answered dismissively, “I’ve always heard he was a dickhead.”

Several of the servants glared at her in open shock, but she just turned up her chin at them and kept walking.

Chapter 7

If I had thought the guest house and estate grounds were impressive, I wasn’t ready for the main house. It was so extravagant as to be trashy and crass.

No expense had been spared in its construction. Everything was made from marble, lustrously dark wood, gold, or burnished bronze. Every surface had been cleaned and polished till they shone. The whole effect made me feel like the place was a set piece, rather than a home where people lived.

Huge, bronze statues meant to depict Natharion and various famous members of his bloodline were everywhere. They were imposing and majestic, and likely completely inaccurate. I guessed that the artists commissioned for those works had been paid handsomely to exaggerate the positive features of their subjects.

That or Gilly is descendent from a long line of perfect, draconic demigods.

“That’s my Great Aunt Joan,” Gilly pointed towards a nearby statue, which depicted a fantastically beautiful dragonkin woman.

Gilly smirked as if reading my thoughts. “The statue is actually fairly accurate. Too bad that it doesn’t convey her smell.”

Thalie paused, confused. “Smell?”

“Yeah, Aunty Joan had this weird funk about her,” Gilly explained, “something between the smell of an old boot and jam that’s been left out in the sun for way too long.”

We were escorted through the house and into the main hall, which had been laid out for a feast. White silk tablecloths were joined by solid gold plates and pure silver cups. A thousand magical lights hovered overhead, giving the impression that we were surrounded by a swarm of fireflies. Huge, elaborate tapestries hung on the walls, depicting various family achievements and milestones over the centuries. At the far end of the room was a massive set of double doors, an image of a great, bronze dragon carved into the metal.

“I’ve been wondering,” I whispered to Gilly, “but nobody in your family seems to share the same coloration. Is that normal?”

Gilly was sapphire blue, while her asshole cousin was flammable red. The few family members I’d seen about, differentiated from the staff by their rich and well-tailored outfits, were also wildly opposing shades, none of them matching another.

“Yeah, supposedly Natharion is a big, brass-colored dragon,” Gilly nodded towards the doors. “The other ancestor dragons were colors like black, red, green, and blue, which were meant to be reflected by their descendants. But thanks to dragonkins’ love of fucking everything that moves, the color schemes have become muddled and mixed over the generations.”

She gestured towards a crowd of folks, who were standing at the far end of the room, watching us with wry amusement.

“My family, mostly distant relatives I think, though I might see a niece or nephew mixed in there somewhere,” she said. “Notice that while everyone’s scales are different colors, they all have brass accents on their clothes.”

And it was true. I noticed brass threads had been woven into the hems of women’s dresses, and that brass buckles adorned men’s coats, shoes, and belts.

I checked and didn’t see a hint of brass, or even metal, in Gilly’s outfit. She turned and haughtily sneered at the assembled dragonkin before a gong rang at the far end of the room.

From the double doors emerged the largest dragonkin I had ever seen, he was well over two meters tall, his skin and scales a deep, rich shade of bronze. His clothing matched his complexion, they were expertly tailored to show off his stature and strength. As soon as he stepped into the hall his eyes searched out mine, and he gave me a clear I’m going to kill you and eat you stare.

“Meet your new father-in-law,” Gilly snickered into my ear.

From behind Gilly’s father emerged a slight, beautiful dragonkin woman, her coloration was a dim shade of purple, verging on grey. Her hair was silvery white, corralled by a jeweled net covered in diamonds. I imagined the rest of the jewelry she wore was more valuable than the estate and its contents combined.

She saw the focus of her husband’s gaze, giving me a disdainful sniff once she spotted me.

“This is going to suck,” I muttered.

Even though Cresis Giltscale, Gilly’s father, had picked me out for annihilation, he made no motion to acknowledge me or Gilly once our party approached the end of the hall, to make our introduction and petition.

Annowan led the way, the crowd murmuring even louder as the demon knight marched forward, acting like the grandeur and wealth around her was gutter trash.

“Cresis of the Gilt-Scale,” she announced, coming to a halt. “The Throne has come to demand access to Velka’s Library. By the pacts and obligations signed by your ancestors, you are bound to honor our request.”

The dragonkin tilted his head, eying Annowan up like she was an interesting bit of prey. “That is awfully bold of you, knight. Coming into my home and demanding my aid.”

Annowan’s expression remained flat and humorless. “Your ancestor, Arcadel Giltscale, wrote the original contracts for my mother’s employment and the construction of her Library. As part of the agreement, he swore that Velka or her heirs would have access to it for perpetuity, to be provided upon demand.”

Everyone went quiet, the whispers died behind us.

“And,” Annowan added in a quiet voice that unnervingly echoed across the quiet hall, “if you make any insinuations that I am not my mother’s daughter, I will burn down this house and everyone inside of it.”

Gilly’s mother gave a small, surprised gasp. Cresis stood stoic.

“Your request will be granted,” he answered unflappably, “though it will not be until the day after tomorrow at the earliest. There have been security issues around the Library, and it's currently on lockdown. It will take our runesmiths some time to remove the protective runes they placed around the property.”

He knew we were coming, I thought, and he knew that we need to access the Library. If he really wanted to help us, he would have begun removing the lockdown days ago.

I’m sure Annowan realized the same thing, but instead, she impatiently tapped a hand against her hip. “Security issues?”

Cresis waved towards the tables. “Let us sit and begin our meal, and I will explain the difficulties we’ve been facing, honoring our word to your mother.”

A servant came and guided us to a table set aside just for us, while Cresis drew Annowan towards his table, which was set on a raised platform.

Scrapple flopped down next to Krencha, sighing heartily. Krencha waved down a waiter and demanded that he find the biggest steak the kitchen had and sear it up for her mount.

“At least the mole-dog is going to eat well,” I said as I watched the servants bring out bread, cheese, and snacks as appetizers.

Most of the other guests were served right away, they animatedly talked and laughed amongst themselves as we waited for our food to arrive. Our table was tucked away at the edge of the room, not far from the kitchens. Annowan was seated several meters away. I saw her animatedly speaking to Cresis and pointing to our table, but the dragonkin just shook his head and made a dismissive gesture.

“If you haven’t picked up on it yet,” Gilly told us, “my dad is kind of a dick.”

“I thought Annowan said they would stop openly insulting us,” Daggerdare said, a dangerous edge in her voice.

“This is nothing,” Gilly told her. “Be happy they’re just ignoring us, rather than trying to piss us off. As Annowan said, they won’t do anything to actively hurt us, and they won’t sic Therondore on us again to try and goad us, but they’ll still do their best to act like we don’t exist.”

“Remind me to share this experience with our elders and the leaders conducting the trade negotiations,” Daggerdare swore.

“Seems kind of self-defeating to me,” Thalie said, her finger running along the edge of her empty plate.

“If nothing else, my family members are experts at biting off their nose to spite their faces when it comes to matters of pride,” Gilly groaned. “My dad will happily sink a trade deal if it means making his runaway daughter and new son-in-law feel like shit.”

Gilly’s mother, who I learned was named Amaretha, was quietly directing the servants, issuing orders through a maid that hovered behind her seat. She apparently delighted in pushing the limits of being a good host, making sure we were only served after everyone else. By that point the bread had gone cold, the cheese waxy, and the fruit somewhat soggy. It was petty to the extreme; Cresis seemed aware of his wife’s efforts, but ignored them and continued to focus on Annowan.

“At least it tastes good,” I said, as I took a bite of bread and cheese.

Scrapple had finally been given a steak, though I was sure it wasn’t the largest the kitchen could have provided. He gulped it down, then made his way around the table so we could all sneak him bits of our appetizers.

Gilly craned her neck, looking around the room. She gave a small, vicious smile. “It looks like my brother is here, but he left his family at home.”

Following her gaze, I saw there was a lone dragonkin eating at a table towards the middle of the room. He seemed like a slight, somber fellow, with pale scales and grey hair. His clothing was conservatively cut and without the ornamentations that the other guests had. He wasn’t eating any of the food, but instead, he was focused on a huge stack of paperwork piled in front of him.

“Garlin,” Gilly explained, “my youngest brother, only a few years older than me.”

“You said you were the youngest of seven,” I said, realizing I knew little about Gilly’s family. She had never spoken much about them before.

She sighed, “Yup, I had six older brothers, but I only see Garlin around tonight. My other brothers were all cut from the same cloth as Dad. Garlin though took more after mom. Dad kind of overlooked him early on, causing him to double down on showing up our siblings by becoming the damn smartest dragonkin to ever live.”

I frowned, “Damn smartest?”

“His words, not mine,” she laughed. “I think he’s up to six or seven university degrees, and he oversees a number of businesses for the family. I actually got along with him fine growing up, since he mostly ignored me to study and read.” She grinned at our group. “How about we go over and join him for dinner, and I introduce him to my delightful new family?”

The dinner guests all seemed slightly shocked when we got up, brazenly walked across the room, and took a seat at Garlin’s table. Gilly and I sat to his left while Daggerdare took the one to his right.

The dragonkin snapped up from his work, looking at all of us in surprise.

“Hey, Peanut,” Gilly smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “I saw you were eating by yourself, so I figured we’d come over and keep you company.”

“Nathra,” he hissed, eyes narrowing in suspicion, “I told you to never call me by that nickname.”

She patted him again, harder this time, “And I told you to call me by mine, so we’re even.” She gestured over to me, affectionately wrapping her arm over my shoulders. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Mom and Dad yet, so I figured I’d give you the first opportunity to meet my husband, Mal!”

I waved, “Nice to meet you.”

He looked even more distressed, “Nathra, I can’t believe you married --”

Gilly cut him off, “And these are his other wives. Thalie is a squire like me and Mal.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Thalie said with a straight face, though I could tell she was doing everything she could to suppress a giggling fit.

“And this is Krencha, she’s a goblin dragoon,” Gilly continued, ignoring Garlin’s sputtering.

“Waiter!” Krencha practically grabbed a passing servant. “I believe there is still a very large steak in the kitchen, the one I ordered for my mount. Can you please go and fetch it for us? I’m afraid if he doesn’t eat soon, he might start gnawing on the furniture.”

As prompted, Scrapple began worrying his fangs against the nearest table leg.

“These tables are a family heirloom, ordered by our great grandmother!” Garlin objected.

“You better hurry then,” Krencha told the waiter.

“Anyway,” Gilly nodded towards Garlin’s other side, “This is Daggerdare, treespeaker for Holly Breath.” She leaned forward, looking at Garlin’s paperwork. “Going by the stuff you have here, you’ll want to be nice to her if you want the family’s trade offer to go through.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Daggerdare said gruffly.

“I don’t know what kind of stunt you’re pulling,” Garlin managed to say, finally composing himself, “but you should know Father is furious with you for your insubordinate actions.”

“Too bad for him, I don’t give a crap,” Gilly answered evenly.

More waitstaff emerged from the kitchen, taking orders for the main course. One of them carried over a huge steak, which they carefully put down near Scrapple. The mole-dog let go of the table leg he had been battering with his claws and began eating with gusto.

The waitstaff circulated around our table, unsure of what to do. They seemed torn between their mistress’s commands or potentially aggravating us to greater acts of disorder.

“It’d be really shitty of Mom,” Gilly said in a false whisper to Garlin, “if she decided to starve her favorite son in order to spite her least favorite daughter.”

Garlin looked stunned, “I’m her favorite?”

“Of course,” Gilly told him with a stunningly serious tone, “What, you think she still thinks Junior is the best, after what happened at Uncle Marth’s last birthday party?”

“How did you know about that?” he gasped.

“I might not be welcome around here, but I keep tabs on things,” Gilly answered airily. “It helps that the empire’s spymaster thinks of me as a lovable niece.”

Amaretha, who looked utterly furious, called over her maid, who in turn relayed her surrender. Soon, the waitstaff came over to our table, and in short order, we had a delicious spread of food before us.

Garlin might have known that Gilly was flattering him, but he was enjoying the opportunity to be the center of attention. I saw several other dragonkin, who I assumed were Gilly’s relatives, staring at the youngest brother with thinly veiled jealousy.

Competition in this family must be intense, I thought, as I enjoyed the best roast beef I’d ever had in my life. I’m glad Gilly came out of this place intact and with her spirit unbroken.

Annowan, on the other hand, looked furious. She had hardly touched her food and instead had spent most of the meal arguing with Cresis. A small mound of treasure, retrieved from our luggage, sat on a nearby table as a show of Annowan’s goodwill and a begrudging sign of respect for the Giltscale family.

But Cresis remained unmoved by the Throne’s generosity. He remained as expressionless as before, answering the demon’s demands with brief comments of his own.

“Annie might end up killing Dad at this rate,” Gilly said as she observed the head table.

“Can you blame him?” Garlin said. “You come waltzing in here, married to a human, and your knight is poking at his biggest headache.”

“He mentioned something about the Library being under attack?” I said.

He frowned, but I was surprised when he answered me. “Not directly. The defenses around the Library are impressive, we have a garrison of the household’s private army stationed nearby, to protect it.”

“Why so many soldiers?” Krencha asked, being drawn into our conversation.

“Outside our commitment to Velka?” Garlin straightened his papers. “The estimated value of her work is in the billions. Some of her earliest discoveries provided key resources for our family’s empire, as well as lost technology that we were quickly able to monopolize. Stationing a few soldiers close by is a small price to pay to ensure nobody else gains access to Velka’s information before we do.”

“So what’s been happening?” I pressed him.

He glowered further. “Someone has been sneaking onto the grounds, probing at the seal Lady Annowan placed on the Library’s door. We haven’t been able to catch them, or even observe how they are getting past our security, but Father has been furious.”

“He must be afraid that a snitch on the inside is selling you out,” Gilly observed. “That would be my first thought; someone is telling them how to bypass the security measures.”

“We thought of that,” Garlin argued, “we even switched out the guards and completely changed up the security procedures, but it kept happening. Father ordered the whole thing locked down until he gets to the bottom of the problem.”

“You seem pretty talkative about all this,” Krencha said, pushing back her empty plate.

“Do you know how much it costs to maintain a constant lockdown?” He pointed to a sheet of paper, which was some kind of an expense form. “The overtime pay alone is staggering. The sooner Father rescinds the lockdown, the faster I can try to fix this month’s budget.” He eyed Annowan, “Besides, Lady Annowan might not only figure out who the intruder is, but she might grant us access to the Library after her business is concluded. I suspect that’s what Father is trying to negotiate just this minute.”

“Yeah, that’s about as likely to occur as Natharion himself landing on the roof at this very moment,” Gilly growled.

Garlin shrugged, “Either way, little sister, I would watch your step around here. Father heard what your group did to Therondore, and while he ordered everyone to watch their tone when speaking to your group, I doubt he has any forgiveness in his heart for you.”

“Peanut,” she gasped, “is that a bit of brotherly advice?” She got up and hugged him, “I never knew you cared!”

It was late, past midnight, by the time dinner ended. We had all stuffed ourselves, taking full advantage of the Giltscale’s kitchen and larder. Scrapple wobbled as he walked, and I felt my distended gut pushing against my belt as we headed back towards the guest house.

“That was super shitty,” Gilly slurred, as I helped her along.

It had taken a few more antics, mostly us terrorizing the few dragonkin brave enough to approach us with business offers or meeting requests, but Amaretha had finally grown tired of her wayward daughter and retired early to her chambers.

That left the waitstaff without orders and in disarray, a state that Gilly quickly took advantage of. She got them to open up the wine cellar, and she happily indulged in everything she could convince them to bring over. I wasn’t a fan of Gilly drinking herself silly, but I knew it was her way of relieving all the stress she had been under.

“Yeah, it was. But you did great.” I smiled, letting her lean into me as she staggered along.

Her extra weight hurt my injured foot, but I didn’t mind.

“Really?” she burped.

“It was very impressive,” Krencha agreed. “I’ve never seen someone so efficiently intimidate a dinner party before.”

“Have you been to many dinner parties?” Daggerdare asked.

“No,” the goblin laughed, “but that doesn’t mean she didn’t put on a master act.”

If Annowan was upset about Gilly’s sodden state, she didn’t show it. Instead, she was clearly still outraged by Cresis and his delaying tactics.

“Pompous ass,” she cursed.

“I could challenge him to an honor duel,” I said, “I’m guessing I have that right, as your squire.”

She eyed me, “Do you think you could beat him?”

The man probably weighed three times what I did, and he towered over me. Plus he can breathe fire on command.

“Probably,” I said.

Daggerdare nodded, “He cuts an impressive figure, but that man has never been in a true life or death fight.” She gestured towards me. “And Mal is no green warrior, he has faced death and dealt it when needed. I could only see him prevailing if the two were to fight.”

I leaned over and kissed her, “You always say the nicest things about me.”

Annowan gave my idea serious contemplation before she shook her head. “It’d be nice, but it would take too long. We need to gain access to the Library as soon as possible.”

“We heard about the break-in attempts,” Thalie said.

Annowan balled her fists, “Cresis thinks it’s another dragonkin house, maybe another family from the ruling council, trying to steal my mother’s secrets. But that won’t work, I sealed the Library years ago, and only I can open it.”

“When does it look like we’ll gain access to the grounds?” I asked.

“The day after tomorrow,” she responded. “That’s the soonest Cresis is willing to budge.”

“What are we going to do until then?” Thalie wondered.

Chapter 8

It turned out that we were going to spar and exercise.

I had put Gilly to bed the night before, and I was happy to see her none the worse the next morning as Annowan called us outside.

“That was nothing,” she told me with a bit of false bravado. “I really need to talk you into joining me when I go on a serious bender.”

We were summoned to the huge, empty courtyard that was meant for dragon visits. Several of the groundskeepers scurried out and tried to tell Annowan that the area was off-limits, but she brushed them off.

“If Natharion comes in for a visit, we’ll be sure to step aside for him,” she said curtly.

I could tell what little patience she still possessed was fraying, and she was looking to take out some of her frustration via her favorite method; rigorous training.

We started by going through some of the very first drills Annowan had taught us. Thalie and I carefully moved through the familiar steps while Gilly went and set up a target dummy she could use for archery practice.

Daggerdare, obviously impatient for some action, invited Krencha to spar with her.

“Scrapple and I will happily rise to the challenge,” the dragoon declared.

The pair of them coerced a nearby servant into fetching them practice weapons, since wrapping Krencha’s mace in burlap would do nothing to blunt its deadly potential.

Soon the three of them were fighting in the middle of the courtyard. Daggerdare used her magic to boost her speed and reaction time, putting her on even footing with Scrapple’s agility; the mole-dog might have been huge but he moved with shocking celerity. She dodged and weaved through the pair’s attacks, swinging her practice axes at the goblin, who was doing her best to bash the elf with the padded cudgel she had been provided.

“Those two are something else,” I said, watching their movements with admiration.

“I’m going to be busy healing bruises and cuts after this,” Gilly said as we watched Daggerdare recover from a blow to her arm.

The two of them might have been using wooden and padded weapons, but they were fighting with deadly sincerity. I doubted either of them would have escaped intact if they had been fighting for keeps with their normal weapons.

“They’re a good example to the two of you,” Annowan announced to me and Thalie, having fully resumed the drill-instructor-like attitude she had during our initial training sessions. “Malory, your foot might be injured, but you can still practice your swings. Thalie, join me over here, I want to see what you have learned during the last few weeks.”

Soon, a small crowd had gathered to watch us exercise. Not just the servants and groundskeepers, but several members of the household guard. They all wore the same uniforms Therondore had worn, making them look more dapper than intimidating.

After a few minutes, I was surprised to see Garlin appear, a small crowd of servants with him. He had them set up a chair and desk, and he sat down and began pulling paperwork from his satchel. Setting up an inkwell, he began to work while also keeping an eye on us.

After an hour we took a short break. I figured Annowan was putting on a display for a reason, so I was glad when she didn’t push us too hard.

“How’s the foot,” she asked, as she waved for a servant to bring another pitcher of water.

“Hurts,” I admitted, “but I’m glad for the exercise. I was afraid my skills would start getting rusty if I didn’t get a chance to get out and do something.”

She nodded. “Why don’t you practice with Thalie after this? I know you can’t move around much, but she could use some more practice with her halberd thrusts.”

“So I’ll be her training dummy?” I grinned.

Annowan glanced over her shoulder at Garlin and the crowd, “I would offer to coach, but I’m afraid I’ll be preoccupied.”

As Thalie and I began practicing, I noticed Cresis approaching the edge of the crowd, Therondore in tow. Once again I felt the dragonkin elder’s murderous intent, but it seems Annowan was the greatest source of his ire at that moment. He gave a brief command to his guard captain, who approached.

Garlin stopped his work to watch his father with great interest. Just by his demeanor, I could tell there was little love lost between the two.

Annowan had put on a show recruiting Daggerdare, and the of them were sparring as the head of the household approached. The demon and the elf had fought multiple times back in Daggerdare’s home village, and their matches had quickly become the thing of local legends.

Not that I could blame them, I reflected, as I watched the two fight. They were both masterful warriors.

“Lady Annowan,” Therondore called as he approached, “might I have a word with you?”

Using a large, wooden blade, which resembled an overgrown oar more than anything else, Annowan made a flat, horizon slice towards Daggerdare’s head. Green magic surged along the elf’s limbs as she dodged back, only to push off on her back foot as she lunged at the demon’s midsection.

“I’m busy,” Annowan said as she twisted to avoid the blow.

“There is a perfectly good training area on the other side of the compound, as you are aware,” he called, pointing towards the other end of the estate. “Can I ask you to relocate there?”

“Really? I must have forgotten,” she shot back, as she hacked at Daggerdare’s legs.

The treespeaker nimbly sidestepped the attack, then went in for her own.  The two continued to strike back and forth until Therondore loudly cleared his throat.

Annowan held up a hand, pausing the duel. “We were not given a tour of the area upon our arrival, which I understand is usually customary when having company.”

The dragonkin captain looked troubled, “I’m sure Nathra --”

“Gilly!” my wife insisted, “Get it right, Stooge!”

“Stooge?” I asked.

“That’s what I used to call him as a kid,” Gilly answered, speaking loudly, “since he always ratted me out to my dad when he caught me sneaking out or doing something against the rules.“

Turning, she then sank an arrow deep into the target she had been using. “Apparently, not only is everyone around here done ignoring me, they now expect me to give you a tour of the place. That seems kind of rude, doesn’t it?”

“Extremely,” Thalie agreed, as she leaned on her halberd. “I might just be a simple, country orc, but I think my family could teach yours a bit about hospitality and common courtesy.”

I kissed her, “Don’t worry, there’s nothing simple about you. You have an elegance and grace these clods could never copy.”

“I’m right here,” Therondore insisted, his face going a shade of red even deeper than his scales.

“Could have fooled me,” I told him, before turning back to Thalie. “Can we take that from the top again? I think I noticed a better way I can use my buckler to block your attacks.”

Thalie smiled, taking up a thrusting stance.

“You need to move,” Therondore insisted, regaining his equilibrium. “This courtyard is reserved for Natharion’s personal use. If he hears about you using it --”

“He can go to the Throne and complain,” Annowan answered. “I seem to remember Grandmother petitioning him for assistance when we were trapped on the Red Mountain and facing an assault from The City. If I recall, he failed to heed her summons. I’m sure if he goes to Babylon now, to protest our presence, he’ll receive a warm welcome.”

The dragonkin guard sputtered.

“Let me offer you this, Captain.” She planted her wooden sword’s point into the courtyard’s stones. “Have a friendly duel with me, think of it as a precursor for the real one we’ll have in front of the Throne. If you beat me, I’ll listen and remove myself and my companions from this area.”

“And if you win?” he asked.

She smiled thinly. “Then I take your head.”

Therondore turned, trying to catch his employer’s eyes, but Cresis had already left, marching off in a huff.

Facing back towards the courtyard, he gave Annowan a foul, angry look. “I will not forget the cruelty you have visited upon me, Lady Annowan. I had hoped the heir of the Throne would be better able to hold her temper. Your behavior has me worried for the future of this empire.”

Annowan laughed at him.

At his desk, Garlin was doing his best to seem busy with his work, but I couldn’t help but notice the thin smile he was trying to conceal.

“Sack off,” Annowan told him, dismissively waving her wooden sword. “The path to royalty is paved by the crushed bodies of your enemies. Those too afraid to lift their blades are left as forgotten graves on the wayside.”

“Pretty sure Lilith would have killed you by now,” Gilly informed him. “You’re lucky, Annie is much more restrained than her grandmother.”

Feeling malicious, I asked Annowan, “Would you mind if I offer to duel him instead?” I tapped my broken foot, “I think I offer him a better handicap than you. It still wouldn’t be a fair fight, but at least he’d have a chance.”

We were still laughing by the time he left.

We only practiced a bit longer after that. Annowan felt that she had hammered her point home. They tried to bully us with petty insults and empty threats; we retaliated with the real offer of violence, backed by the might of the Throne.

Maybe there are some fringe benefits to serving as Annowan’s squire, I laughed to myself. If that punk says anything else about Gilly or the others, I’ll demand a chance to face him in the dueling ring.

Garlin left afterward, the servants coming to take his desk away. Before he left though, he pulled Gilly aside and spoke to her earnestly. My dragonkin wife seemed pleasantly surprised by his words, and she had a skip in her step as we returned to the guest house.

“Everything okay?” I asked her.

‘Fine,” she smiled. “It’s just that Peanut might have more of a backbone, and a sense of humor, than I expected.”

After washing up, Annowan declared that she would be visiting the rest of the city’s ruling council.

“Do you want us to escort you, Your Ladyship?” Thalie asked.

“No,” she answered, “it will likely be a tedious and unpleasant business, one that I would prefer to spare you from.”

I frowned, knowing Annowan was once again taking on a burden without giving us the choice to help. We were only able to get her to relent a bit by helping her select and load the gifts and graft she would be handing out during her trip.

Annowan told us to rest and take it easy the rest of the day. “We should have access to the Library by late tomorrow afternoon. Be ready,” she glanced at Gilly, “and I don’t want any antics like last night.”

Gilly responded with a sloppy, mocking salute, but I could tell she was as troubled as I was by Annowan’s decision to once again do everything herself.

Trying to shake off the negative thoughts, she offered to give us a tour of the city. “It’s a nice place, outside the backstabbing assholes who run it. You deserve a chance to see it with a local guide.”

Krencha declined. “I’m going to head out, there’s a goblin settlement not far from the city’s borders. It was founded by folks from Stoutshatter caravan, and I want to check in with them to see if they need any heroics or valiant deeds.”

“Can I go with you?” Daggerdare asked.

I was surprised that she was interested.

“I don’t like this city,” she confessed, before turning to Gilly, “no insult intended. But it’s just too built up, too unnatural. At least with Babylon, they live in uneasy harmony with their environment. But Dragon Port feels like an overwrought contest between rich fools, each trying to outbuild the other.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Gilly admitted.

Kissing my two wives goodbye, I wished them a safe trip. “Not that I’m worried about you two having problems overcoming monsters,” I confessed, before giving a meaningful look to the estate guards, who were standing nearby.

The pair confirmed they would likely return early the next morning.

“What tales we shall tell,” Krencha cheered. “Slaying abominations is always a heroic feat!”

“Only if there are challenges to overcome,” Daggerdare reminded her. “For the sake of your kin, I hope the settlement is quiet and peaceful.”

“Quiet and peaceful?” Krencha gasped. “What kind of life is that for a goblin? Ibb himself would drop dead from such preposterous words!”

Gilly, Thalie, and I spent the rest of the day touring the city of Dragon Port.

It was spread along a large, deep bay to the far southwest of Babylon. No one knew the true extent of the sea, how far it stretched out over the horizon. Some had tried to chart its size, but none had ever successfully navigated its depths and come back alive

There were hundreds of cities, island communities, and settlements strung along the coast. Combined with the proximity of the Imperial Highway and its five teleportation towers, Dragon Port served as the major shipping and commercial hub in the empire.

“Along this city’s docks, you can find just about anything; rare crystals, magical artifacts, forbidden drugs, stolen artwork, or living souls.”

I gave her a long, hard look.

“Okay, the last one was a bit of a fib,” she admitted, “but, if there’s something you want, you can find it here.”

I could almost imagine a young Gilly, running wild through the streets, exploring and having grand adventures.

But when I told her this, she just shook her head. “That’s pretty far from reality,” she said as she guided us down a bustling street, the sidewalks lined by booths, streetside restaurants, and market stalls.

“When I was a kid, I spent most of my time locked up at my family’s estate,” she continued. “My dad saw me as a bargaining chip; up until that point he’d only had sons, who could help him with his business, but he wanted a daughter, someone he could marry into another household for a hefty price.”

I thought about what she had said before, about her past. “Like a powerful navy.”

She kissed me on the cheek, “For someone who claimed to have never studied, you sure are good at remembering facts.”

“Just when it comes to us,” Thalie giggled.

“But yeah, that was the original plan, bargained when I turned seven,” she said. “I only got to see the city when I snuck out, but even then I was afraid to do too much more than sneak into the markets or one of the popular attractions. I wouldn’t have dared to head to one of the shadier parts of the city. I didn’t do that till much later, after I had become Annie’s squire.”

She gave a sad, melancholy smile. “She might not think it, but Annie was my key to a whole new life. One I could have never dreamed of, trapped behind my family’s walls.”

We spent some time touring around a small market. I got nothing but concerned stares and people pointing me out to their friends, but after having spent time in the imperial palace, getting the same treatment, it didn’t bother me. Outside of that, nobody hassled us.

Passing a newsstand, I saw my picture, a pretty good hand-drawn likeness, on the front cover of a recent newspaper. Human Becomes Imperial Ward -- Declared Hero by Empress Lilith.

“We’re married to a popular guy,” Gilly laughed, wrapping her arm around Thalie’s shoulders.

“A hero too!” the orcish maiden agreed.

I felt myself blush. I never had any intention of being a Hero, but I guess I got dragged into being one anyway.

“How did you meet Annowan?” I asked Gilly. “I don’t think we ever heard the story.”

“We met when we were kids,” she pressed a finger to her chin, “I think I was like five, and Annie was like seven or eight. Lilith had somehow convinced Velka to spend some time with her, to drag her to Dragon Port. I think it was her attempt to get the two of them to bond, but it backfired. Velka showed up at my parent’s estate to discuss her most recent job, and then she ditched Annie and took off.”

She smiled, apparently thinking back on the memory. “I found her in one of the gardens, practicing with a decorative sword she had snagged off some wall. She was swinging it around, though the stupid thing must have weighed nearly as much as she did.”

“And you two became fast friends,” Thalie clapped.

Gilly snorted, “Hardly. She saw me as some quiet, shrimpy kid that just kept following her around. But Velka ended up leaving her for the entire summer, so eventually, she got used to having me around.”

We went down a series of alleys before emerging near the docks.

“I showed her where the best spots were to hide from the servants,” Gilly continued, “or how to sneak into the kitchen to swipe snacks. I even let her into my father’s private armory so she could steal a better sword to practice with.”

I was still using the crutch, my foot was sore from that morning’s exercise. The air was fresh and crisp, reinvigorating me. I pushed myself harder, to keep up with the others.

Since neither Thalie nor I had ever seen the ocean before, Gilly took us around the docks, pointing out all the different trading fleets and describing where they had come from or where they were going.

“The next year, my dad took me to Babylon,” Gilly continued her story. “I think he wanted to show me off, to see if he could attract the eye of another dragonkin family looking to marry off an important son.” She gave a fang-filled smile. “That was the first time I ever directly disobeyed him. He ordered me to stay in my room, but as soon as he was gone I snuck out of our hotel and went to Infernal Bloom palace.”

“I marched right up to the knights guarding the entrance and told them I was Annie’s friend, and I wanted to go and see her,” she laughed. “They were flummoxed, they had no idea what to do with a pushy six-year-old.”

“But they let you in?” I asked.

“Eventually. Apparently, Lilith heard about the commotion and had me brought up to the Throne room. She was still sitting in court, listening to petitions, so when I first saw her she was in her court form.”

“That must have scared the crap out of you,” I said.

She shook her head, “I thought it was really cool, actually. Once court was over, I explained to her that I had snuck out to see Annie. She thought I was a hoot, so she brought me back to the Skyward Quarters, where Annie was staying.”

Thalie grinned. “And how did Her Ladyship feel about that?”

“Just as you would expect,” Gilly chuckled. “But the whole affair brought me to Lilith’s attention. She saw the two of us were very much alike, and I guess she decided to stick us together. And of course, my dad, being who he was, was more than happy to arrange playdates and get-togethers with his only daughter and the presumptive heir to the Throne.”

We stopped to inspect the wares offered by a seaside merchant that specialized in unusual snacks; we ended up picking up some kind of savory meat skewers. They had a disturbing amount of chitin on the outside, but once we peeled off the shell the meat underneath was delicious.

“I learned a lot from Annie, even as she learned to tolerate, then enjoy my company,” Gilly tore a huge chunk from the skewer. “I learned how to stand up for myself, to fight for what I wanted, not just to be carried along by the demands of my family.”

“Her Ladyship would say you started to learn the path to royalty,” Thalie said.

“Maybe,” Gilly tossed the skewer stick into a nearby trash can. “I just wish we could teach Annie a lesson or two as well, like how to accept the love of others.”

Chapter 9

“How’s that feel?” Gilly asked.

I wiggled my toes through the cast. “Much better, thanks!”

It was late evening by that point, the sun had gone down hours earlier.

She sat back on her haunches, resting on her tail. “I double-checked with the palace infirmary before we left, to make sure you would be okay with receiving a small amount of healing. They said it’s been long enough that you should be fine, but to keep an eye on you for any side effects”

Carefully, I got up and took an experimental walk along the length of my room in the guest house. My foot felt much better, and I could almost move at a normal speed.

Leaning over, I kissed her on the brow, “You’re a lifesaver.”

She angled her head up, to kiss me across the lips. “I saw you were limping pretty badly by the end of our walk today, so I’m glad I can do something for you.”

She got up, dusting off her palms. “Besides, if we’re going into Velka’s Library tomorrow, we all need to be in our best shape.”

“Is it really that dangerous?” I asked skeptically. “Velka took you and Annowan there as kids, right?”

My dragonkin wife shrugged. “That was years and years ago. Think of it like it's a humongous zoo full of deadly creatures, and nobody has been around to feed them in a long, long time. And that’s not even considering all the dangerous magical crap that’s been haphazardly stored away. I’d feel a lot better knowing that my husband can run just as fast as I can when the need arises.”

Gilly, Thalie, and I had spent most of that afternoon visiting the city’s famous museums. I had never been to one before and I had been awestruck by some of the artwork and sculptures they had on display.

Back in The City, all art had been bent towards worship of the Bitch Goddess. You couldn’t move down a street without tripping over some deific statue or passing some divinely inspired mural. All of them depicted the Bitch as a featureless, heavenly being since the scriptures stated her appearance was perfect and unknowable.

But that day I discovered that art could depict so much more than just religious propaganda. There were statues and portraits dedicated to famous writers, musicians, poets, and politicians, all from different eras and done in different styles. They were so much more interesting than the narcissistic sculptures I had seen at the Giltscale estate, or the likeness of heroes and former empresses that filled the Infernal Bloom palace.

There were also still lifes and landscape paintings, not dedicated to a personage, but rather they contained stunning pieces of scenery or a collection of everyday objects that somehow looked much more stunning than the sum of their parts.

I spent a good ten minutes just looking at a painting that depicted some strange, surreal dream-like world that had only existed before the cataclysm. Blue hills had rolled beneath a set of green and orange suns, while in the distance a herd of uncanny animals had gathered around a quicksilver watering hole.

“We’ll have to ask Lilith for permission to check out her private collection when we get home,” Gilly had told me, as we headed back outside. “She’s got a huge gallery of paintings and pieces done for her by famous artists over the centuries. They’re way more interesting than the jingoistic stuff that decorates the public areas of the palace.”

“And how many of them are lewd?” I asked, laughing.

She didn’t say anything, but the mirthful glint in her eyes was enough of an answer for me.

It had grown late by the time Gilly finished healing me and had headed back towards her guest room. She had applied a few more runes, and I was feeling almost human again. I didn’t sprout any extra heads either, so I guess I’m lucky.

Laying back in bed, I was unsurprised when I heard a small knock on the door a few minutes later. Leveraging myself up onto my elbows, I watched as Thalie entered the room.

“Hey,” I called huskily, beckoning her over.

She was wearing a babydoll nightie, all lace and sheer fabrics. She crossed her long arms over her chest, but by the blush rising in her cheeks, I knew exactly why she had picked out that outfit for the night.

Wordlessly, I sat up and onto the edge of the bed, reaching out and taking her hands into mine as she drew close.

“You look lovely,” I murmured, pressing myself between her breasts.

She ran a hand through my hair, “I love --”

The loud boom of a gong, the sound of shattering glass, and screams of alarm interrupted us.

Stepping out into the hall, I finished tightening the buckler straps on my left arm. Thalie, wrapped in a spare robe, had dashed across the hall to her room and emerged a moment later with her halberd.

I glanced up and down the corridor but saw no one else. The sounds of commotion became louder, and I could hear the distant ring of metal striking metal and the wail of injured men.

I peered at Thalie. “Is Annowan upstairs?”

I hadn’t seen her since she had left to visit the ruling council, but I had heard her return a few hours earlier.

Where is everyone?

Thalie started towards the stairs, “We need to find her and Gilly first.”

Dashing towards the stairs, we were greeted by a wave of heat and smoke. Looking down, I saw the stairwell was engulfed in flames, which ran up the building’s timbers.

Instinctually reaching out with my spellbreaker abilities, I found nothing to latch onto. The flames were natural, not magical, so I couldn’t just extinguish them with my power.

“Gilly!” I called around the corner, towards her room.

No response.

“She might be upstairs already,” Thalie said.

Heading upwards, we made for Annowan’s quarters, which occupied the entire top floor of the guest house. As we hurried, I heard someone scream and I felt a rush of bale magic tear through the air.

“She’s in trouble!” I yelled, ramming through the door at the top of the stairs.

We found two dead dragonkin in the penthouse lobby. They were both wearing black clothing and black masks; each also carried a sword and an offhand dagger. I tried to stop and inspect them, but as I crouched down a third attacker leapt out of the shadows.

I barely managed to dodge back. The assailant's blade missed my shoulders by centimeters. As I moved, Thalie charged, her halberd held low.

She swept the polearm upward in a cleaving strike, which caught the dragonkin across the side. The orc’s weapon sliced him apart, from hip to shoulder. He didn’t even scream as he fell, bleeding across the expensive carpets.

“Are you okay?” Thalie asked.

I nodded, getting up. “Let’s keep moving.”

In the living room were two more corpses. The walls of the room had been disintegrated by balefire. To our right, I heard Annowan give a cry of pain.

Barreling towards her voice, we burst into the master bedroom.

The mattress and sheets were on fire, the orange flames making the scene look like something out of hell. Annowan was pressed up against a wall, one attacker dead by her feet while another skewered a dagger into her shoulder, pinning her sword arm in place.

She grunted in pain but continued to struggle. The remaining assailant awkwardly swung her sword, slashing Annowan across the hand as she raised it to defend herself.

Thalie and I attacked together, leaping to our knight’s defense.

But the assassin was much faster than we could have anticipated. Before we could reach her, she pivoted back towards the bedroom window. She pulled down her mask and hissed out a concentrated jet of dragon flame, creating a burning barrier between us.

As I watched, she carefully wiped her bloodied blade on a cloth, tucked the stained handkerchief into a pocket, and then turned. Before we could stop her she was gone, jumping out a window.

“Your Ladyship!” Thalie rushed towards Annowan.

The demon looked to be in a great deal of pain; her sword arm hung limply at her side.

I came over and crouched by her side. “Can you move? We need to get out of here before we’re overcome by the smoke and the heat.”

The penthouse had become suffocatingly hot, and my throat ached from the ash and smoke I had inhaled.

“I can make it,” Annowan answered, teeth gritted. “The blade is probably poisoned, so you’ll need to pull it out of me!”

Grabbing a bit of an unscorched blanket, I raised it to her chest, then gingerly took a hold of the knife.

“Pull it in one swift motion, then press that against the wound,” Annowan said.

Remembering what I had read about first aid, I copied her instructions. She hissed in pain as the blade slid free, and I quickly jammed the cloth against the cut, which bled freely.

I tossed the poisoned dagger away, then helped the demon to her feet. Thalie took her other arm and we moved towards the living room. Annowan kept the makeshift bandage pressed tightly against her shoulder.

The orc left me with Annowan while she dashed off towards the bathroom. She returned a second later with two wet towels, which we wrapped around our mouths and over our heads. They provided some protection against the heat and flames, which were spreading at an alarming rate.

Demons might be fire-resistant, but none of us will survive if this place collapses.

Moving towards the stairs, I checked for more assassins, while Thalie helped Annowan. The demon was sweating profusely, and her skin had the complexion of grey clay. The bandage was already completely sodden, and blood was leaking between her fingers.

“We need to find Gilly and get out of here!” I yelled.

I was worried beyond reason for the dragonkin; we had seen no sign of her. Where is she, did she go outside before the attack started?

The flames became more intense the lower we tried to go. My eyes watered, and my unprotected skin felt like it was burning to a crisp.

We made it back down to the third story landing but could go no further. The fire had almost completely engulfed the first and second floors, and the remainder of the stairs were impassable.

Annowan, leaning heavily on Thalie, waved for me to move out of her way. “I’ve got an idea, but it might bring the building down on us.”

“You’re going to blow out the wall?” I guessed, moving back.

She raised her hand, “As soon as the hole is clear, jump.”

Balethunder coursed along her fingers. In a single, blinding bolt of concentrated black energy, she blasted away the wood and plaster of the stairwell wall.

We were momentarily blinded by the cloud of debris, but I grabbed Thalie and Annowan and rushed towards the cold, night air. I didn’t even bother to look down, to see where we would land, before we all jumped.

“We’ve got you!” Krencha roared as she caught us mid-air.

The four of us crashed to earth, stretched across Scrapple’s back, as the mole-dog turned and ran a safe distance away from the blazing inferno.

“How did you do that?” I asked, more shocked by her sudden appearance than anything else.

She helped me off Scrapple’s back, pulling the towel from around my head.

“Kind of hard to miss a giant bolt of black lightning blasting a hole in a building,” she answered, giving me a quick kiss. “We were running around the outside of the building, trying to find a way in. Thankfully, we were in the right place at the right time.”

Scrapple licked me across my face, happily barking at our survival.

Annowan groaned and collapsed onto her knees. Her clothing was soaked with blood, and she looked to be burning up with an unnatural fever.

I saw the estate’s grounds were alive with activity. Guards were dashing about, trying to secure the place, while servants were running to throw water onto the fire. The entire guest house was engulfed in flames.

I waved towards a nearby cluster of guards. “We need a medic!” I yelled.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw Gilly emerge from the smoke, running towards us. I wanted to wrap her in a hug, but I knew her healing skills were likely the only thing that could save Annowan’s life at that moment.

She ran over and crouched by Annowan’s side. “What happened?”

“Assassins,” Annowan gasped. “Poison, it burns like acid in my veins.”

“What can we do?” Thalie asked.

“Just watch my back,” Gilly answered. “I’d feel awfully stupid if some assassins stabbed me while I was busy saving Annie’s life.”

Brow furrowed, Gilly began forming healing runes, running them over Annowan’s wound.  She asked a few questions, trying to understand what had happened.  Our answers caused her to scowl fiercely.

From the main house, I saw Cresis, escorted by Captain Theronedore and a squad of guards, appear.

“What has happened here?” he demanded, his voice barely carrying over the commotion.

“Kinless assassins,” Gilly spat. She stopped working on Annowan to issue a command to Therondore. “She’s been stabbed by a greenrot coated dagger. Go to the main house’s infirmary and get me a bottle of vortex clover extract and a tincture of siren’s tears.”

Therondore sputtered, clearly rebuffing the order.

“Go,” Cresis said, not even looking at him. “And make it fast.” He glared at the rest of the guards. “Make sure our perimeter is secure, I want the remaining assassins dead or captured.”

“It’ll have to be dead.” Daggerdare approached out of the gloom.

Her armor was splattered with blood, and her axes were wet with gore.

I ran over to her, glad that she was alright.

“Krencha and I decided to return early,” she explained, “on our way to the main gate we saw a group of masked figures fighting with the guards. Krencha went ahead to warn you, while I went to deal with the assassins.”

“Did you get all of them?” Cresis demanded.

Daggerdare sneered at him. “All I could find, though I don’t know how poor the security of your estate is overall. Some might have slipped out during the commotion.”

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Even a minor scratch could be deadly if the assassins were using poisoned blades.

The treespeaker held up her left hand, showing a narrow, bloody cut across her knuckles.

“Don’t worry,” she said, seeing my concern. “The Mother Tree’s sap protects me from poisons. I won’t be laid low by such underhanded and cowardly tactics.”

Green magic glowed along her arm, and I could see the remaining traces of the toxin being burned away.

I kissed her, relieved we were all safe.

Except for Annowan.

Gilly was still working on the demon, doing what she could to treat the blood loss while also counteracting the poison.

Cresis came closer, crouching by Gilly’s side. “Can you save her?”

“As long as that Stooge hurries,” she said, her brow slick with perspiration. “Right now, I’m doing all I can to counteract the poison before it can shut down her heart.”

Annowan kept her eyes closed, leaning against Scrapple’s flank as Gilly continued to treat her.

Therondore was back a moment later, carrying a small box. “I brought the entire anti-poison kit,” he said, putting it down next to her.

Gilly immediately reached inside and pulled out a small pot, sealed by wax. Removing the lid, she sniffed the contents once, then turned to Annowan. “I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.”

Before the demon could respond, Gilly dumped the entire pot onto the puncture wound. It immediately began to sizzle and hiss, and Annowan bit her lip to keep from screaming. Green ooze bubbled out of Annowan's injury.

“That should neutralize the poison in the wound itself,” Gilly said, as she reached back into the box and produced a small, glass vial. Removing the stopper, she tilted Annowan’s head back, then had her drink the entire thing.

“And that should deal with the greenrot that was in your veins.” Gilly began to form another healing rune, right over the stab wound. Slowly, the demon’s skin knit shut, till there wasn’t even a blemish left across her crimson skin. She repeated the spell for the cut on the demon’s palm.

Slowly, Annowan opened her eyes. She glared at Cresis, who had stood back up.

“Someone find me a new set of clothes to wear,” she said wearily. “Then I believe I’m going to spend a fair amount of time screaming until I get some answers.”

Chapter 10

The early dawn hours found us in Cresis’s private office. Annowan was seated in a plush chair, while Gilly, Thalie, and I had fallen asleep on a nearby sofa. We had simply crashed as soon as the family’s private doctor had finished attending Annowan, confirming that there would be no adverse effects from the poison.

Daggerdare and Krencha took turns guarding the doors, even though Cresis had insisted we would be perfectly safe since the estate was on high alert and extra guards had been posted.

I felt better with the dragoon and treespeaker watching out for our safety.

As I blinked awake, I asked the two how they had managed to return just in time to help save us.

“We had found the goblin settlement far too peaceful for my liking,” Krencha explained, as Scrapple patrolled along the room’s perimeter. “It turns out they’re leading perfectly boring and safe lives, with not an ent or mutant abomination in sight.”

“They were very hospitable though,” Daggerdare amended. “They saw a visit by an elf as a high honor.”

“Indeed, your people’s fighting prowess and tenacity are legendary,” the goblin agreed. “They might be farmers and traders now, but I imagine most of those former caravaneers would have been able to hold their own in a brawl during their youths.”

“Seeing as how there was no adventure or glory to be had,” Krencha continued, “we decided to come back early, so we could be rested and ready for the glorious carnage awaiting us in the Library.”

“Arne would say that the Mother Tree’s roots manipulate fate in curious ways and that there is no such thing as coincidence,” Daggerdare said, looking at Annowan, “but I am glad we came back when we did.”

“So am I.” I felt like crap, I had only managed to eke out a few hours of sleep; even sandwiched between two of my wives and guarded by two more, I had felt like there was a threat in every shadow.

Annowan roused herself to wakefulness as Cresis entered the room. Like us, she had passed out, utterly exhausted, once the healer had finished with her.

“We’ve confirmed all the assassins are dead or fled,” he said as he moved to sit behind the massive desk that anchored the rear of the room. “We’re still counting the bodies, but several of my staff members are dead, there are at least a dozen assassins in the rubble, and the elf killed a half-score more outside.”

“You think some escaped?” I asked.

I was surprised when he answered. “My guards spotted three of them fleeing over the southern wall.”

Annowan sat up gingerly, evidently still sore. “Who were they?”

“Kinless assassins,” Gilly answered. She gave her father a stern look. “They’re a group of dragonkin that have either been disowned by their relatives, or their family was destroyed and kicked out of Dragon Port.”

“Destroyed?” Thalie asked.

“Dragon Port is not a place for the weak,” Cresis responded, hands spread across his desk. “Those in the ruling council, or aspiring for our positions, must be willing to risk everything to climb to the top.”

“Except there is no such thing as the top,” Gilly said quietly. “Just a constant climb over the mountain of corpses left in your wake.” She got up and stretched. “The kinless are often employed as spies, saboteurs, and assassins since they’re seen as utterly disposable. Greenrot poison is their signature method of taking out their targets, either stabbing someone with a poisoned blade or by tricking their target into eating or drinking it. It’ll stop a person’s heart in minutes if not correctly treated.”

“Glad we had the antidote on hand then,” Thalie said.

“I’m not surprised,” Gilly growled. “My father has hired the kinless on many occasions, so he knows how they operate.”

“But not this night,” he insisted, speaking to Annowan. “I am not foolish enough to kill the heir to the Throne, in my own house, even with a catspaw. Besides, if you die, we lose all access to the Library and the wealth it contains.”

The demon eyed him critically, before nodding.

“I believe you,” Annowan said. “Who do you suspect was behind the attack?”

“It could be one of several different factions within Dragon Port,” he answered. “I can’t see anyone in the ruling council being foolish enough to launch such an endeavor, but one of the upstarts might try it. There’s a very good chance that if you died while here as my guest, your grandmother would have killed me and destroyed my family in retaliation.”

“More than likely,” Gilly agreed.

Cresis sighed, before inspecting his daughter. “Though I see that my own family is more than skilled enough at tearing down what we’ve built.”

I got up and stood next to Gilly, wrapping my arm around her waist. “Father or not, I won’t let you keep attacking my wife. Gilly is a wonderful, brilliant woman, and you’re too fucking blind to see that.”

He kept looking at me with a flat expression, before leaning back in his seat. “I can see that she at least found herself a brave man, even if he is a human.”

“I think that’s as good as we’re going to get out of him,” Gilly said begrudgingly.

He waved a hand. “Fine, fine. Just as I instructed Theronedore to stop his prodding, I will do the same. We have bigger --”

“Sir!” A guard rushed in.

Daggerdare paused her swing, only a hair's breadth away from decapitating the man as he came to a stop.

Cresis rose from his seat. “What is it?”

“The Library,” the man gasped, “it’s under attack!”

Velka’s Library was located outside of the city, east of the Giltscale estate. Cresis, Therondore, and a group of guards organized an armed convoy. Garlin, hastily dressed, insisted on joining them. They rode in the first wagon, and we rode in the second.

All the gear and supplies for our expedition were still intact; they had been stored in a separate building. Annowan, still weak and injured, didn’t issue a single word of complaint as we pulled one of her spare suits of armor and helped her dress in the back of the creaking wagon.

“We need to be ready for anything,” she said, as I handed Gilly the suit’s gorget.

“Annie, are you up for this?” the dragonkin said, as she secured the armored collar’s pin.

We all looked rough for wear, streaked with soot, blood, and grime. Most of us had only managed a few winks of sleep if any.

Annowan gave a savage grin, “I believe we could get up and assault the gates of The City at this very moment if needed.”

I put on my new armor, awkwardly buckling the breastplate into place before I helped Thalie into hers. She had been given a similar design to my own; thick leather panels reinforced by metal rivets and patches of black scales.

“Volcano skink,” Gilly explained. “They live in the caldera. Catching them is a bitch for non-demons, but their hides make great armor.”

“How did you avoid the attack on the guest house last night?” I asked her as I adjusted my armor so it fit more comfortably.

“I was actually visiting Peanut,” she admitted. “He wanted to talk, mostly to apologize, actually. I think our visit has him thinking about his future, and where he really fits in my father’s plans. As I said, he has more of a backbone than I anticipated.”

We only had a few more minutes to prepare before we heard the first wagon come to a stop. Jumping out, I saw we were on a narrow, mountainous road. There were only a few other buildings in sight, most looked like warehouses, tanneries, and butcheries, the kind of businesses nobody wanted in town due to the smell.

Ahead was a large, walled compound. Several dragonkin, all heavily armed and armored, were standing outside. In the road, I could see several corpses, some dressed in Giltscale livery.

“Looks like we missed all the good stuff,” Krencha sighed as Scrapple padded forward.

Garlin looked sick at the sight of the bodies, but he kept pace with his father.

“What happened here?” Cresis demanded.

A dragonkin, somehow even taller than the Giltscale patriarch, came over.

“We were attacked before dawn,” the young man responded. “We had just received word of the assassination attempt on Lady Annowan, so I had ordered the guards to be on high alert. Thank Natharion for that.”

His scales were a similar shade to Cresis’s, and his armor was adorned in patterns that gave it the appearance of brass scales. In his hands, he easily carried a sword that was taller than me and almost as wide.

“Nice work, Junior,” Gilly said as she used her boot to nudge one of the dead assassins.

The dragonkin’s eyes went wide, and I saw Cresis give a small nod of his head.

“It’s nice to see you as well, Nathra,” Junior responded stiffly.

“Gilly,” she reminded him. She gestured towards us. “This is the Lady Annowan in question, my husband, Mal, and his other wives.” She went down the line and introduced them one by one.

If he seemed bothered by our marriage, like the rest of his family was, he didn’t show it. He bowed to Annowan and then gave all of us a polite nod.

“Were they able to breach the Library?” Annowan asked as Junior escorted us inside the compound.

“No, but they tried.” He reached into a belt pouch and produced a bloodstained handkerchief.

I recognized it immediately as the one the assassin had wiped Annowan’s blood onto during the attack on the guest house. Bits of strange magic clung to the cloth.

“One of them was carrying this,” Junior explained. “As the others attacked the barracks she went towards the main entrance and tried to enact some kind of ritual.”

Annowan took the cloth, inspected it for a moment, then destroyed it with a blaze of balefire. “Did she get away?”

“Sadly.” Junior seemed honestly dismayed by the fact.

“Junior is the best fighter out of all my siblings,” Gilly said. “He’s won the Dragon Port Invitational Arms Competition for three years running.”

He gave a serrated grin, “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.”

“He also has a habit of getting drunk and taking a shit in the garden,” she continued blithely.

For a split second, I was afraid Cresis was going to have a stroke. Garlin dryly chuckled.

Junior just laughed. “You do something twice --”

“Three times,” Gilly countered. “I heard about Uncle Marth’s birthday party.”

He smiled, before turning towards me. “I think you’re a good influence on her. She’s way more fun and insufferable than before she ran away.”

“I think you just took too many blows to the heads during the last competition,” Gilly said affectionately. “I remember you being a lot meaner when we were kids.”

He paused, a fleeting expression running across his features. “Maybe some of us have come to regret our past mistakes.”

Garlin looked away, rubbing on the sleeve of his jacket. He looked like he was about to say something but then shook his head.

“This is all lovely,” Annowan said loudly, “but let’s make sure nobody has broken into my mother’s library and stolen some doomsday weapon she had left, forgotten, tucked into a broom closet.”

Velka’s Library was much less impressive on the outside than I had anticipated. For some reason, I had been expecting some kind of massive, sweeping building constructed from obsidian or black marble. Instead, it was a small, single-story building composed of unevenly cut grey blocks. A small set of stairs led up to the single wooden door set into the exterior; there were no windows.

The walled compound around it featured several barracks and outbuildings, constructed more in the local style than the simple, brutal lines of the Library. I could also see where additional guard posts and defensive positions had been hastily thrown up in the last few weeks.

The Library radiated with an intense, magical aura as if its stone walls could barely contain the power sealed within.

“We still have no idea how they’ve been getting into the compound,” Junior said, as a group of dragonkin runesmiths sealed the gate behind us. “The walls of this place are so heavily reinforced that I imagine this is the most secure place in Amalgam outside the empress’s private quarters.”

I looked around, but the air was filled with a chaotic mess of magic. I could detect runes set by the Giltscale guards, the haze left by magical combat, and shattered bits of other magics.

Focusing on these broken pieces of spellcraft, I felt my stomach clench. “There’s City magic here.”

Annowan spun to face me. “Where?”

I gestured around us. “All over the place, bits of City combat magic.” Concentrating, I pointed towards the Library door, “There’s a bunch over there too.”

Quickly, we marched up to the Library’s door. The stone steps were slick with blood, and I could see more had been smeared on the doorframe. The door itself was suffused with arcane energy, tinted with the familiar darkness of Annowan’s magic. It blocked the entrance, like a cork in a bottle. I could sense more of The City’s magic, it was mixed in with the blood on the doorframe.

“This blood is yours,” I told Annowan, gesturing towards the stained woodwork. “I think someone was using it as a catalyst for City Magic, to break whatever seal you placed over the Library. There's a bit of Open, Release, and Shatter spells jumbled in, kind of like they were just throwing spell components into the mix, trying to break your magic.”

I had discovered that there were multiple magic systems in the world. Lilith and the empire practiced runic magic, which created discrete, self-contained spells. The elves practiced enhancement magic, strengthening themselves and their equipment with the energy of their Mother Tree. Dwarves were craftsmen, creating undead constructs by engraving their spells into their necrotic servants.

The City did things differently. Their magic was incredibly complex, built by stringing various components together to create huge, elaborate spells. Why just cast Fireball when you could add in extra effects with Death, Suffering, or Choking components?

These huge spells tended to fall apart though, shedding components once the main effect was complete. These errant bits of magic were deadly; they could either sink into the location, polluting the earth with arcane energy. Or worse, they could contaminate living beings and twist them into abominations, like ents and snow monsters.

I pointed out the various broken spell remnants hanging around the Library’s entrance.

“The seal feels intact,” Annowan stated.

I peered closer, then nodded my head. The seal was crude compared to the spellcraft I had seen Annowan perform; the rune she had used was plain but powerful, suffused with the magic of the Throne.

“I sealed the Library fifteen years ago when I was little more than a child,” she said as if talking to herself. “My mother had just disappeared, and I was inundated with nothing but petty fools wanting to steal her secrets. So I decided to spite them all by sealing it shut.”

I approached Annowan and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and surprisingly the demon knight allowed it.

“I remember that day,” Gilly said, speaking quietly. “We had been staying with my folks, dealing with the fallout of your mom’s disappearance.”

“You showed me how to sneak out, using that hole in the wall,” a hint of a smile played along Annowan’s lips.

Gilly laughed. “Yup, we came straight here, and you said, and I quote, ‘Fuck those assholes.’ You then sealed the whole thing shut.” She stepped back, still smiling. “That’s when I decided to run away. We snuck back into Dragon Port, and you commandeered a teleportation pad to take us to Babylon.”

“Grandmother thought it was the funniest thing in the world,” Annowan recalled.

The two of them stood together, caught in some melancholy but important memory before the demon knight shook herself loose. She turned towards Cresis, Garlin, and Junior.

“I am going to unseal the Library temporarily, so we can go inside,” she told the older dragonkin. “Once we're in, scrying magic will not work, so we won’t be able to communicate with the outside world. We’ll seek out the Curator, confirm the situation inside the Library, then decide the best course of action.”

Cresis looked unhappy with her decision, but given the scale of attacks against the Library, I couldn’t see a logical counterargument for Annowan’s decision.

“I’ll contact the capital,” he answered, after thinking for a moment. “My household guard can hold this position for now, but if The City is behind the kinless attacks, we have a more serious problem on our hands than anticipated. We’ll need support from the Throne and the military.”

Annowan nodded, “A wise decision. Continue to stand watch here until our return.”

Junior smiled, “Don’t worry, Lady Annowan, if those bastards come back, we’ll give them hell.”

She ushered them all back, before addressing our group. “Are we prepared?”

“Just point us towards the closest danger!” Krencha said, raising her mace. Scrapple barked in agreement.

“Remember our main goal,” Daggerdare told her. “We are here to outrace the Bitch by finding everything we can about the last two burial spots for her generals.”

“And King Revekar,” Thalie added.

Annowan nodded approvingly before addressing Krencha. “I feel you will have many chances to die a heroic death in the Library. My mother collected everything, including live samples of all the beasts, mutants, and horrors she encountered during her hundreds of years of adventuring.”

I leaned over and kissed the goblin, “Try not to die, please.”

She lowered the visor on her helm. “My love for you might hold me back, but if I see a glorious demise awaiting me, I can make no promises.”

As we prepared to leave, I was surprised when Junior and Garlin approached Gilly. The three of them spoke quietly amongst themselves, both of her brothers looking contrite. Gilly smiled broadly at the two and even hugged them before she came back to join us.

Cresis, for his part, stood stoic and alone. Gilly didn’t even spare him a second glance.

Annowan removed a gauntlet and placed her bare hand against the door. I watched closely as she let her magic flow into the rune, modifying its structure.

Before, the rune had been crude but powerful. I could have seen it as the work of a young Annowan, barely out of her childhood.

But the Annowan before us was far more powerful and skilled. She modified the rune, its blocky lines becoming clear and crisp. As I watched, I understood what the rune was.

It was authority, the power of rule.

As she finished her modifications, the demon knight waved us forward. “Hurry, I will only keep it open for a moment. I don’t want to risk anyone, including the Giltscale, following us inside.”

Slowly, the magical seal split in half, and Annowan ushering us all inside.

Chapter 11

Beyond the door was a simple, undecorated chamber, which I assumed acted as a mudroom. There was a cubby for shoes, a coat rack, and a small rod with hangers. All of them were empty. A staircase at the other end of the room led below.

I felt slightly disoriented upon entry; the amount of magic in the air was almost overwhelming.

“How much spatial magic did your mother use to build this place?” I asked as Thalie rubbed a comforting hand across the back of my neck.

“Too much, likely,” Annowan answered as she closed the door behind us. “She might have rejected the Throne and the power it grants, but she was brilliant at runecraft in her own right. It was said that she memorized over twenty different runes.”

“I’m pretty sure this place might be bigger than Infernal Bloom palace,” Gilly added. “Velka took us on a tour once, and the place was massive beyond comprehension.”

Daggerdare frowned, glaring down the stairs. “I can feel the Mother Tree’s presence, somewhere from below.”

“There may be a sacred holly here,” Annowan said haltingly, “as I said, my mother collected everything, even things she had no right to take. There’s the botanical wing, which is dedicated to all the strange and unusual plants she brought back here.” She took a deep breath, then spoke more calmly. “I can’t apologize for her sacrilege, but if there is a sacred holly here I’ll do everything in my power to make that wrong right.”

The treespeaker nodded. “Once again, you go and prove yourself to be a worthy ally.” She gestured towards the stairs. “Let’s go, there’s no reason to delay.”

Krencha and Scrapple bounded after her, while Annowan turned to face the door, making sure that the runic seal was firmly back in place.

“So I finally figured out what your seventh rune is,” I said, watching her work.

Runes were incredibly powerful, but they required the caster to memorize their form and engrave them into their minds. Most people could only learn two or three at most; Gilly knew one and Thalie knew two.

“Bale ice, fire, and thunder,” I counted them on my finger, “light, scrying, and whatever spell you use for these things,” I held up the runic bracelet, which marked me as Annowan’s squire, “and then this. Authority.”

“It is the first rune all heirs to the Throne must learn, upon being accepted by it,” she stood back, inspecting her work. “It is the first step on the path of royalty. The bale magic comes later, once you understand the power and responsibility the Throne grants.”

She kept talking as we walked to catch up with the others. “The runic power all Knights of the Throne learn, as part of the squire ritual, is a derivative of it.” She gave a small chuckle. “If you bothered to look more closely at all that paperwork you filled out for your harem, you would have seen an image of that rune. It’s the same one Grandmother uses as her signature on official documents.”

Downstairs, we were in a lobby of some sort. Dusty benches lined the walls, and ahead of us was a massive relief cast out of bronze. It depicted impossible figures, with the bodies of dragons, the wings of birds, and the faces of men. They were fighting, trying to drive back some eldritch shape that was descending from the sky. It seemed like the tentacle monster was winning.

I tried to read the inscription, which ran along the bottom of the image, but even the translation magic that had been shoehorned into my brain by the Bitch wasn’t able to make anything out of it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Annowan said, waving dismissively at the image. “It’s just something my mother recovered from an archeological dig and found interesting, so she dragged it back here. Supposedly it depicts some long-forgotten gods battling against the forces of evil.”

“Well, then we know they lost then,” Gilly mocked, “since evil is alive and well.”

“My mother loved to collect things like this, we’ll find them all over the Library,” Annowan gave the image a scornful look.

Scrapple sniffed around the outside of the room, but he found nothing of interest, huffing in a bored manner.

“There’s a bunch of strange smells in the air,” Krencha said dejectedly, “but he’s only found dust bunnies to slay.”

“There’s supposed to be a group of golems and magical constructs dedicated to keeping this place tidy and organized,” Annowan explained. “My mother was a hoarder, but she had her own bizarre system to store her little prizes.”

She directed us down another set of stairs, which descended to our left. As we moved further into the Library, I kept getting hit by waves of mild dizziness. We were repeatedly moving through different zones and pocket dimensions, a jumble of tiny realities that were all joined together by fine spellcraft. No one else seemed to notice, but the transitions were clear to my abilities, making me feel like the Library was tilting underneath my feet.

“We need to find the Curator,” Annowan said. “It’s a magical construct left behind by my mother, it acts as an overseer for the Library and its crew of maintenance golems.”

“It’ll still be running after all this time?” Krencha asked.

Annowan nodded. “The Curator can run forever, as far as I know. The Library is self-sustaining, powered by some awful artifact my mother found and installed here.”

“The Lament of Heaven. Velka said it was the remnants of a dead god,” Gilly shivered. “I don’t know what it really is, but it scared the crap out of me as a kid.”

“How well do you know the layout of this place?” Daggerdare paused, running a hand over the stone walls, which had been built using the same materials as the building’s exterior.

“Not very well,” Annowan admitted. “The Library isn’t stable, it moves and shifts as it needs, rearranging itself constantly, which is why we need to find the Curator. It can hopefully tell us where to find the information we seek.”

After descending for what seemed like an hour, we emerged onto a broad landing. Before us was an impossible sight.

The room below us was massive, beyond a scale of anything I had seen before, even in the cyclopean depths of the Panopticon. I imagined the chamber was kilometers across, its perimeter dotted by stairs and passages which did not line up in any logical fashion I could comprehend. Any attempt I made to trace their zig-zagging route quickly gave me a headache, as their layout constantly shifted and changed just at the periphery of my vision.

“This is an unnatural place,” Daggerdare growled as she suffered a bout of the same vertigo that was affecting me.

“If reality said things had to be one way, and my mother wanted them another, she’d twist things around till she got what she wanted,” Annowan said as she surveyed the scene.

Gigantic bookshelves lined the walls and stood in crooked rows, stacked one atop the other. Between the rows huddled strange figures, which were the golems Annowan had mentioned. They went from aisle to aisle, seemingly picking up and moving books at random.

I noticed there were large, disorganized piles of books at the end of each row. Several times I watched a golem wander by, toss a book onto the jumble, grab another, and hurry off to shelve it.

“Annie, aren’t the golems supposed to organize things and keep them neat?” Gilly asked, concerned.

Annowan scowled, “It seems in the absence of living intervention, the constructs have developed their own system.”

“Though none of them seem to agree on what that system is,” Daggerdare observed.

She pointed to where two golems were patiently working on a shelf. One golem would arrange the books, then the other would reach up and reorganize them. They continued to alternate back and forth, the two of them caught in some never-ending cycle.

Krencha suggested, “Bashing them to pieces would technically fix the problem.”

Annowan moved down a nearby staircase. “Let’s see if we can find the Curator and find out what kind of anarchy has infected this place.”

“You okay?” I asked Thalie, as we trailed the group.

“It’s just so weird and creepy down here,” she said quietly, hands wrapped around the haft of her halberd.

I put my arm around her shoulders. “Worse than the dwarven city filled with undead horrors, or the tomb of dead angels?”

“At least they made sense, in a way,” she said, leaning into me. “But this place feels like it’s just been left to spiral off into madness.”

As we made our way down the chamber’s floor we saw more golems engaged in senseless, repetitive tasks. One had been watering empty flower pots, while another tried to dust an empty display case with a handful of dirty, crumpled paper.

The diminutive figures were short, all-around a meter tall, with vaguely humanoid proportions and blank bodies seemingly formed from grey clay and pale wood. Many of them were badly damaged, their arms and legs patched and repaired by whatever was available. Several had torn up books, straw, and bits of scrap paper tucked into the holes and cracks that ran along their heads and torsos, making them look like nests for demented birds.

Thalie is right, this place is creepy.

It was all made worse by the complete lack of noise. There was nothing except the echo of our footsteps and the occasional patter of golems running on some meaningless task. The light didn’t come from a single source, like magical lanterns or ceiling panels, but instead, there was just a universal, diffused light that seemingly came from everywhere, making the world look flat and unreal.

“Just to ask,” I called to Gilly, “but after touring this place, for how long did you have nightmares about it”

She drifted back, so I put my other arm around her.

“For way too long,” she answered, drawing closer.

We found that the golems pretty much ignored us.

Krencha made a show of approaching one and smashing its head with her mace. The thing tumbled over from the blow, but then got up, headless, and went back to work.

She looked nonplussed. “We were promised terror and horrors. There’d better be some decent monsters below, or this is going to be the most boring adventure ever.”

I stopped to look over the books, but a vast majority of them were textbooks on subjects like history, economics, literature, and geography. Most appeared to be mass-produced, likely coming from some university print shop.

“My mother sometimes worked for universities as a professor, usually when they were sponsoring one of her expeditions,” Annowan explained, as she flipped through a book and then tossed it aside. “As I said, she collected everything, including these relics.”

Looking more closely, I saw all the books were decades, sometimes centuries out of date. Many of them had begun to yellow and crumple, and I didn’t see any magic in place to help preserve them.

Annowan explained that the Library was laid out around the central hub, which we were walking through. Attached to it were various wings, all dedicated to topics that Velka had been interested in, including biology, literature, and the ancient history of Amalgam’s intelligent species.

“There is a wing dedicated to just dwarven history,” she continued, “if we’re looking for information on Revekar, that is likely the best place to start. For the two remaining generals though, that information could be almost anywhere.”

“Is there a card catalog or something?” I asked.

Annowan nodded. “The Curator should be able to help us with our search, its room acts as the Library’s reference desk. If I remember correctly, it’s usually not located too far from this area.”

As we went, I noticed there were statues, bits of art, and display cases spread amongst the shelves. Most of the artifacts were in terrible shape, reduced to little more than shattered bits of masonry, faded canvas, splinters of wood, and shaped stone.

Annowan stalked through it all, her complexion still sallow and grey. If we suggested she slow down, she would just redouble her pace.

Checking several side rooms we saw they were display galleries, study rooms, or repositories for unsorted books. Most appeared to be completely unused, even the golems left them alone.

“Come see this!” Krencha called from ahead.

She was standing in front of an alcove that contained an enormous corpse. The creature had only died a short while ago, and the smell coming off its rotting frame was nauseating.

“Was it some kind of giant lizard? Thalie asked. She covered her mouth and nose with a piece of cloth before approaching, tapping the body with the butt of her weapon. “Where did it come from, did it sneak inside somehow?”

“No,” Annowan looked even more grim. “I remember seeing one of these before, specimens from a particularly corrupt region of the Endless Dunes.”

Looking more closely with my ability, I saw there was corrupt magic clinging to the body. A series of lumpy tumors ran along the remains of its spine, and its tail ended in a calcified, cancerous lump of bone.

Annowan formed a balefire rune and moved to incinerate the creature. “The biological wing contained a menagerie of animals my mother captured for study. They should have been kept in stasis, but it appears some of the monsters have escaped.”

Krencha looked overjoyed. “So not everything was locked up properly?”

“It should have been,” Annowan said, clearly vexed. “My mother’s stasis magic could lock a lifeform in place for centuries. The Curator should have been able to maintain those runes, but it seems that capability failed during my absence.”

“How come you left all these creatures here?” I asked.

She shrugged, “I was in no mood to deal with my mother’s effects. I locked the entire place down and resolved to deal with it at an appropriate point.”

“Which was never?” I guessed.

Annowan’s glare was answer enough.

“It’s not like she could have just released everything,” Gilly said, coming to Annowan’s defense, “if we let all the beast out, there’s a good chance they would have just rampaged and destroyed Dragon Port. There are a lot of nasty critters locked away around here.”

Krencha looked renewed. “Then we must hurry. If this Curator has truly failed at its duty, then it’s up to us to make sure these beasts do not escape!”

“One-track mind,” I muttered.

I was starting to think Annowan was lost until she pointed out a specific statue and directed us down a narrow passage.

“I recognize that thing from our last time here,” Gilly whispered, gesturing towards the sculpture. “I think Velka used it as a landmark. The reference desk should be just ahead.”

We emerged from the passage into an unexpectedly comfy-looking room, built from pale, wood paneling and lit by magical sconces meant to imitate oil lanterns. Unlike the other parts of the Library, the contents of the room were meticulously maintained, the furniture was pristine and the tapestries hanging on the walls were vivid and beautiful.

The middle of the room was dominated by a huge art installation, some kind of weird construct with too many metallic limbs attached to an oversize torso that resembled a scaly dragon.

Annowan marched up to the thing. “Curator.”

A hiss of steam escaped from the thing’s base, and I sensed runic machinery, hidden under the floorboards, grinding to life. A low, regular hum echoed from below, and Scrapple growled in surprise.

The Curator rose. Its head was shaped like a dragon, but the jaws were open wide, revealing a demon’s face locked between its jaws. As the mechanism came to life the eyes flared open.

“Owner Annowan,” a monotone, emotionless voice rumbled up from the thing’s chest cavity. “It has been five thousand, seven hundred and ninety-eight days since your last visit. I have one hundred and seven critical notifications for you, two thousand important notifications, and forty-seven --”

“I need the current status of the Library,” the demon replied in a clipped voice.

“There have been multiple, critical failures since your last visit,” the Curator replied. “Stasis runes have failed in fifty-six wings due to outside interference. An estimated seventy-three percent of all exhibits have broken confinement. The maintenance golems are also malfunctioning and are not responding to my orders. I fear the Library’s self-destruct will trigger if conditions are not brought within acceptable operational thresholds.”

“That sounds bad,” Thalie said.

Daggerdare paced around the Curator, just outside of its reach. “What does it mean, outside interference?”

The Curator completely ignored her question, but it responded when Annowan repeated it.

“There have been at least one hundred, sixty-one attacks against the spatial magic that define the boundaries of the Library,” the Curator answered. “I have limited information, but I believe these are attempts to breach the premises. These attacks have greatly damaged a number of Library functions.”

Annowan went still. “When did these attacks start?”

“The exact date is difficult to pinpoint, due to the nature of these attacks,” the Curator droned on. “But I estimate they have been occurring sporadically for ninety-seven days, nineteen hours, and forty-six minutes.”

I thought about what the thing had said. “There’s a self-destruct?”

Gilly sat down on one of the chairs, resting her head against the cushioned back. “If you could believe it, Lilith wasn’t super thrilled that her daughter was hoarding all kinds of powerful, mysterious, and dangerous things under one roof. She insisted that Velka add some kind of failsafe, so in case the worst happened and the Library went completely out of control, it would destroy itself before it could destroy the world.”

“What kind of self-destruct are we talking about here?” Krencha asked.

“The Library is powered by an artifact known as the Lament of Heaven. Once the self-destruct timer hits zero, the protective shell around the artifact will trigger an implosion,” The Curator answered, once Annowan had repeated the question. “The resulting reaction will annihilate the contents of the Library, and all occupants, at the atomic level.” It paused, a jet of steam shooting from its back before it continued. “Based on current conditions, I estimate the self-destruct will trigger in sixty-seven hours and thirty-six minutes unless action is taken.”

“Which is?” Annowan pressed.

“By addressing the most critical notifications so that normal function can be restored,” it answered.

“So no pressure,” I sighed, sinking into the chair next to Gilly. “We’re all assuming these outside attacks are from The City and the Bitch Goddess, right?”

“She could be after the same thing we are,” Daggerdare mused.

“Worse,” Annowan said. “This Library contains all sorts of magical artifacts and weapons that she could use against us. I do not want the Bitch Goddess to get her hands on anything here.” She asked the Curator, “Have any of the assaults breached the Library?”

“Negative,” the Curator answered. “As of this point, all attacks have failed and there have been zero security breaches since your last visit.”

“So we get a small reprieve at least,” Thalie sighed, sitting on the arm of my chair.

I looked towards Annowan, “Couldn’t we just do a smash and grab? We get the Curator to tell us where the information we need is located, and then we let this place explode?”

“Negative,” the Curator said, once she had forwarded my suggestion. “The Library’s catalog is offline. Until normal functionality is restored, I will be unable to assist you in your search.”

“Which would be looking for a needle in a haystack, based on what we’ve seen of this place,” Daggerdare concluded.

“Guess we’re doing this the hard way,” Gilly groused.

Krencha was practically shaking with excitement. “Annowan, I must thank you for bringing us here. This might be the best wedding present in history!”

Chapter 12

“The Library is based around multiple wings, each of them connected to this central hub,” the Curator explained. “Each wing was dedicated to a specific area of study as designed by Owner Velka.”

“The sacred holly you sensed is likely in the botany wing,” Annowan told the elf.

“We will be sure to go there then,” the treespeaker replied. “The holly is a conduit to the Mother Tree, and she extends her protection through it.”

She reached for the pouch around her neck.  All treespeakers carried preserved holly with them, in part to act as anchors with the Mother Tree. “I have some holly with me, but a fresh sprig’s protection would be most welcome here.”

“Like the safehouses we used in Coldpsite Basin,” Thalie reasoned.

Daggerdare nodded. “It would be a welcome blessing to have a safe haven in this place, secure from whatever evil lurks.”

“That should be our first goal then,” Annowan said, thinking. “We need to secure this area, then strike out and deal with the worst of the problems. The Curator has provided a list of the most critical issues that need to be addressed before it can reestablish control and we can go and deactivate the self-destruct.”

“We can’t shut it down from here?” Thalie asked.

“No, we’ll have to approach the Lament of Heaven and restart the failsafe mechanism,” the demon answered.

“We have to assume the Bitch will keep trying to break in as well,” I added, “is there any way we can stop it?”

Asking that of the Curator, the thing responded. “The magic that maintains this facility is enhanced by the presence of one or more Owners. Now that Owner Annowan is present, I have already detected a twenty-three percent increase in the spatial magic’s stability.”

Most of us were very happy to hear that, but Annowan seemed stricken. She quickly organized our party to search the area and make sure it was secure.

“We’ll need to rest afterward,” Gilly said

Annowan protested, but the dragonkin countered. “You’ve been stabbed, poisoned, and nearly immolated in the past day. If we’re going to fix what’s wrong with this place and find the information we need, we all need to be ready.”

The demon frowned but then nodded in reluctant agreement.

If Annowan is agreeing to rest, she must be in much worse shape than she’s letting on. The demon normally pushed us relentlessly while on adventures, but she looked utterly wrung out.

Not that I would complain about a chance to recover. We had several days to help stabilize the library, and I was dog-tired by that point. My foot was aching again, and the minor injuries I had picked up escaping the burning guest house were dragging me down as well.

We split up to secure the area, Annowan, Thalie, and Gilly heading one direction, while Krencha, Scrapple, Daggerdare, and I headed the other.

We spent the next few hours searching the area around the Curator. It informed Annowan that the rooms around it were stable and unlikely to change, but we checked to be sure none of the exhibits had taken up residence.

Most of the rooms around the reception desk were quarters designed for when Velka had guests. From what Annowan had said, they had rarely been used.

I checked under a bed that looked like no one had ever slept on it, but the narrow room was empty, identical to the other rooms I had searched that far. They were set up like tiny hotel rooms, each meant for a single guest.

“Looking for monsters under the bed?” Krencha joked as Scrapple sniffed around the door frame.

Daggerdare was loitering outside.

“Lost luggage, actually,” I admitted, limping back out in the hall. “There are dozens of these rooms, but it’s kind of creepy, nobody has ever used them. I feel like I’m walking through a hotel for the damned.”

We reached a junction of hallways, each passage appearing the same as the other.

I kicked a toe at the worn, drab carpet. “Are you both doing okay?”

“Fine,” Krencha growled unconvincingly, before relaxing a bit in her saddle. “I understand why Annowan agreed to stop and rest, but the idea of trying to sleep while a triumphant battle is waiting for us with the dawn?” She shivered a bit. “I might need you to tucker me out a bit before we retire for the night.”

I laughed and scratched Scrapple’s ears. “I have no problem with that, but check with Thalie first. She had the same idea last night, just before the assassin’s struck.”

“If Mal is preoccupied, I’d be happy to spar with you instead,” Dagggerdare volunteered. “It doesn’t have the same relaxing quality as having sex with him, but it will at least alleviate some of that pent-up energy of yours.”

“Fat chance,” I laughed, “Krencha has enough energy for all of us to spare.” I took Daggerdare’s hand for a second, squeezing it. “You didn’t answer my question, by the way.”

“I must admit to feeling a bit,” she paused, thinking, “adrift, lost? I never expected any of this to happen, and it feels like my entire world has been upended in a matter of a few weeks. I’m married and a part of some madcap family --”

“I would say we’re more heroic than madcap,” Krencha interrupted.

I tapped my chin, thinking. “See, I’d argue we’re more amazing than heroic.”

“Regardless,” the treespeaker huffed, “though I regret none of my decisions, it is still a great deal to handle, especially now that we find ourselves once again working to foil the Betrayer’s plans.”

I kissed her on the cheek. “I can truly sympathize with your feelings. If you ever want to talk, just let me know.”

Krencha gave a fleeting look but insisted upon continuing our search when I quietly asked her what was really on her mind.

We checked a few more rooms but found nothing.

“I’m kind of wondering though, what is the Bitch Goddess here for?” I said. “From what the Curator told us, she’s been trying to get into this place for months, long before Revekar escaped from Coldspite Basin.” I thought about it, “I think it must have begun right around the time I broke loose from the Bitch’s control.”

“That’s around the same time she started deploying her forces outside The City, searching for the generals,” Krencha agreed.

I felt a sense of dread. “Is she searching for clues about the hiding spots for the generals, or is she here for something else?”

Finding the area monster-free, we met up back in the Curator’s room. We decided to sleep in the closest set of guest quarters. There was a small kitchenette, complete with a stove and cold-storage box, and a communal dining room we could use.

“My mother would stay here, sometimes weeks or months at a time,” Annowan said, “particularly when she was consumed by some riddle or mystery she had uncovered. She’d lock herself away in here, not emerging until she had the answer she wanted.”

At her command, the Curator’s arms came alive. They began seemingly moving at random as small, magical portals opened around its body. Reaching inside them, it began piling up supplies, which had been left in storage since Velka’s last stay.

I hesitantly unwrapped and sniffed something that looked like an oatmeal bar, “Are these things still good?”

“They probably taste like crap,” Gilly said as she searched through a box, “but the Curator said the stasis on them is still working, so they’re probably fine. Velka just tended to focus on function over flavor, especially when she was obsessed with her latest research project.”

Working with her, we took what looked most appetizing into the kitchenette and began cooking up a simple meal. Annowan had decided to bust out her mother’s supplies rather than using the food we had carried in with us.

I had a feeling she wouldn’t even think of leaving until everything in the Library had been settled, which could take weeks if not months. Provided the place doesn’t blow up first.

After dinner, Annowan sat with the Curator, going over the list of priority concerns we needed to address before we could deactivate the self-destruct. Several wings had gone completely out of control, triggering the failsafe protocol. The most pressing of matters were in the botanical and biological wings, where stasis had failed and most of the specimens had escaped confinement.

“Let us go to the botanical wing first,” Daggerdare said. “With Thalie’s assistance, we can deal with the most immediate dangers and find the sacred holly.”

“If we can get a holly sprig, we can use it to ward this area. Not having to post a watch each night while we’re camped here would be good,” I agreed.

“That’s because you like sleeping in,” Gilly accused me.

“I think we all do,” I laughed.

“Once we’ve ensured the self-destruct won’t go off, we can search for the information we came here for,” Annowan said, before addressing the Curator, “Alert me if there are any further attacks on the Library.”

She then gave a small sigh, letting her shoulders sink, before she turned to us. “It seems I must ask you to help address the mess my mother left.”

“Why are you acting like this is some onerous burden to us?” Krencha asked. “As I said, this might end up being the best wedding gift ever!”

“I agree with Krencha,” Daggerdare said. “You have stood firm with me, even at your own peril. Without you, my people would be homeless and maybe even hopeless. It is my honor to stand beside you, and the others, in facing this trial.” She grinned, “Besides, doing so will spite the Betrayer, and that is more than enough reason to act.”

“Annie,” Gilly sounded pained, “you know you don’t even need to ask, right? Thalie, Mal, and I are your squires, we’ve pledged to follow you and support you. And Daggerdare and Krencha have proven their friendship and dedication time and time again.”

Annowan spun away from us, “This is a personal matter, beyond the scope and scale of anything we’ve done before.”

The dragonkin slowly rubbed her face, her frustration almost overwhelming. I came closer and put my hand on her shoulder, steadying her.

“Let’s figure out watch for tonight, then retire for the evening,” the demon said, ending the discussion.

I saw Thalie and Krencha talking quietly amongst themselves; afterward, the goblin went off to spar with Daggerdare, the two of them clearing space outside of the Curator’s room so they could fight to their heart’s content.

Grinning to myself, I spent a bit of time trying to cheer up Gilly, playing a board game with her, before I retired to my room. I washed up and relaxed onto the hard, narrow bed.

I didn’t have long to wait. Thalie knocked, then let herself in, finding me grinning up at her from my pillow.

“I’m afraid that nightie got ruined,” she said, as she leaned up against the closed door.

“Shame,” I answered, resting my hands under my head. “I would have loved to take that off of you.”

She blushed furiously, “I still can’t get used to this.”

I sat up. “You do know that’s part of what I love about you, right?”

“That I’m a bashful bride?”

“That despite all the horrible shit we’ve seen, monsters we faced, and things we’ve done, you’re still innocent at heart.” I reached out and took her hand. “I don’t think I could have survived any of it without you by my side. Your honesty and openness saved me more times than I can count.”

She leaned into me, pressing her flank against my head. “How did you learn to say such sweet things?”

“Natural talent,” I said, reaching up to put my arm around her hip. I guided her around to my other side, seating her on the bed. “Now, I think we were rudely interrupted the last time we tried to do this, but I think we’ll be free of assassins this evening.”

We rolled onto the bed, with me on top, as I showered my orcish wife with kisses. She was giggling and laughing at first, but as my actions grew more wanton, so did hers. I released the buckles of her armor, then I hoisted it over her head before my fingers found their way under her shirt.

I kissed and tickled her emerald flesh, loving each time her legs kicked or twitched as I hit just the right spot. Slowly but surely I worked my way down, rucking up her shirt and then unbuttoning her pants. I peeled them back, revealing long, immaculate legs. Starting at her ankles, I kissed my way up her calves, knees, and then thighs, before I made it back to her panties.

Even with a cursory glance, I could tell she was wet.

That entire time she had been watching me, her patience slowly unraveling as I got closer and closer to her pussy. She had been playing her fingers through my hair, but her grip became more insistent the closer I got to her netherlips.

Which made me want to tease her all the more.

I nibbled the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, letting my teeth drag against her flesh. Slowly, I licked and kissed her, till my nose was only centimeters away from her white panties. I reached up and ran a fingertip under the waistband, but I held off on simply pulling the garment loose. Instead, I languidly tugged at the fabric, loving how the material went taunt and wedged between her swollen pussy lips.

I leaned even closer, breathing small puffs of air onto her delicate folds. The smell of her musk was almost overwhelming, and the sight of the white fabric so firmly lodged against her drooling cunt was almost too much for me to bear.

I pulled at the fabric again, then carefully flicked my tongue out, licking her bud through her panties.

She almost exploded off the bed, her whole body shaking.

With careful reverence I finally removed her panties, tossing the sodden material onto the floor. It was joined by her breast wrap, fully exposing her wonderful figure.

“Mal,” she licked her lips, watching me as I stripped. “Can we try something different this time?”

She rolled onto her hands and knees and thrust her plump ass towards me, her slit eager and ready.

Before our marriage, Thalie had only been adventurous in bed when we were joined by Gilly or Krencha. But seeing her wanting to try something new, even if it was just a new position or a bit of lingerie, was heartening.

I ran a fingertip along the curve of her spine, using just enough pressure that I could feel the bones beneath her skin. She practically purred with joy, swaying, as I got onto my knees and leaned over her, my hands trailing around her neck.

We kissed, my chest pressed against her back before I sat up straight. Guiding her hips with one hand, I used my other to grab the base of my shaft and lined my cockhead up with her pussy.

She whimpered, body rigid, as I pushed inside of her, my mass easily slipping into her moist slit. I groaned in satisfaction even as her shoulder blades pressed together.

I withdrew from her, then slammed back home, loving the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. She shivered each time I slid back, our new position hitting places she wasn’t even aware of. My cock ground against her, driving her further and further into sexual ecstasy.

The gyration of her hips, the undulation in her spine, and the image of her hair, sweat-slicked and disheveled, was hypnotic. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, but I felt my pace steadily increasing, rising to match her wild abandon. Each time my hips crashed into her backside I felt my control slip a little bit further.

She buried her face into the sheets, her screams of pleasure muffled by the bed’s meager pillow. Her pussy constricted tightly around me, and I knew my next thrust would be my last.

My entire back went rigid and my head bowed back as I came. My seed hammered out of me, and Thalie broke, her cries echoing loudly in the small room as she came and came again.

Senseless, I felt on top of her, both of us struggling to fit onto the narrow mattress.

“This reminds me,” she giggled. “When we get back, we need to talk to Grason about getting a bigger bed.”

I completely agreed.

When we emerged from my room the next morning, we found everyone gathered in front of the Curator.

“Register Krencha Bloodheart as an administrator,” Annowan commanded.

The goblin stood stock still a few meters from the construct. As I watched, a strange, magical aura projected out from the machine, enveloped Krencha, and then disappeared.

“Confirmed, Administrator Krencha has been registered,” the Curator intoned.

Thalie asked, “What’s going on?”

“Access to the Library and its functions are granted on a per-person basis,” Annowan explained, as she sagged back into a chair. She looked better than she had the evening before, but there were still bags under her eyes.

I had stood watch for a short stint during the midnight hours after Thalie had fallen asleep. Annowan had still been up, even after Daggerdare came to relieve me.

“Before my mother vanished, she registered me as an owner, meaning I have full control over everything, including locking and unlocking doors, and the ability to access the catalog.” She waved towards Krencha, “I can grant a lower level of privilege to other people, allowing them some of the same rights I have. I want to be sure you can at least move around without me, in the event we need to separate and search different parts of the Library.”

The goblin squinted up at the Curator, “Can I also gain access to the supplies you have in storage?”

“Affirmative, Administrator Krencha,” the thing replied.

“Then get me a tin of armor polish,” she told it, “I want to look my best for today’s adventure.”

I was surprised when the Curator summoned a portal and retrieved a small metal tin, which it handed to the goblin.

She opened the lid and took a sniff, “Looks like your mom only bought the good stuff.” She waved to Scrapple, who had been lounging nearby. “Come on, I saw some mud had gotten onto your armor. Don’t think I’ll forgive you looking mussy before going into bloody conflict.”

“She does realize she’s probably going to be covered in sap and plant matter before the end of the day?” Gilly asked, watching the pair march off.

“I think it’s more about the preparation than anything else,” I told her. “It gets her into the right headspace for the things to come.”

Annowan had us all repeat the process, allowing the Curator to scan us and then register us as administrators.

When my turn came, I used my abilities to sense the Curator’s magic, but it was completely unfamiliar to me. It felt harsh and mechanical, like I was being poked and tested by some kind of cog work watchdog.

“Get ready,” Annowan told us, once we were all registered. “I don’t know what kind of madness awaits us in the botanical wing, but unless we put things to right, this quest is doomed.”

Chapter 13

I felt the Library shift around us as we left the reference desk, heading back into its twisting corridors.

“The Curator only has limited control over the Library’s layout,” Annowan told me. “It can ensure a smooth path towards the wings we need to investigate, but that’s about it.”

The hallways were empty as we walked, but I kept a wary eye out just the same. We spotted several animals, other escapees from the biological wing. All of them were dead.

“Why was your mom so obsessed with collecting all these poor things?” Thalie asked as she knelt next to the remains of an unidentifiable beast.

“She collected them because she could,” the demon knight sighed. “I don’t think she had a better reason for taking them.”

Annowan obliterated the corpse.

“Velka was obsessed with information, with solving mysteries,” Gilly contributed. “She wanted to know everything about everything. The second she heard about some mysterious location or an ancient riddle, she’d shoot off like an arrow to dig up the truth. My parents bankrolled a lot of her adventures since in the process of finding her answers Velka usually uncovered something valuable.”

“Once my mother found what she was looking for, she usually lost interest in the topic,” Annowan pointed towards a chamber at the other end of the hall. “But for some reason, she couldn't bear to throw out all her research material, all the samples, and items she’d collected during her quests, so she stuck them here.”

“Sounds more like the nest of a thieving magpie than anything else,” Daggerdare complained.

“Once this is all over,” Thalie said, “I would like to release all the animals and plants kept here, at least the ones that are safe to release back into the wild.”

Annowan nodded, but I could see a lingering pain, like a cloak of despair, settling around her shoulders.

The large room turned out to be a lift station. Dozens of metallic cages, attached to huge, thick chains, ran up and down the shaft. Looking up, and then down, I couldn’t see anything except shifting shadows; and the only sound I heard was the creak of whatever mechanisms kept the lifts running.

“There aren’t any teleporter pads?” I asked.

“Nope,” Gilly said. “Strangely, teleportation wasn’t one of the runes Velka mastered.”

“She rarely used teleportation, even when traveling across the empire,” Annowan went over to a nearby contraption and pulled a lever, summoning a lift. “I think she preferred to travel on foot. She always said that you missed all the details, the joy of the trip, just by teleporting everywhere.”

“It is nice to see the scenery,” I thought out loud, “but I don’t think that evens out the blisters, sore backs, or sunburn you get by walking. Not to mention the random monster attacks.”

“I think that might be my favorite part of traveling,” Krencha laughed.

Annowan quietly, almost to herself, said, “I think she just liked it because it gave her more time away from home and her responsibilities.”

Before I could talk to her further the lift arrived, and she hurriedly climbed inside.

The ride down to the botanical wing was a nerve-wracking experience. The lift cage was little more than a metal box, there were no railings to hang onto, and it moved at an alarming speed. Other lifts, seemingly running at random, flew past, sending gusts of wind whipping into our faces.

Scrapple cowered in the corner the whole ride, and even Krencha looked a bit dizzy by the time the lift slowed down and came to a stop.

“Are there stairs?” Daggerdare demanded. She had summoned her magic during the trip, evidently to combat the motion sickness she had suffered.

“Yes,” Annowan pointed towards a nearby door. “Be aware that it’s likely a long climb.”

The elf looked towards me. “We are taking them when we are done here.”

“You’ll get no arguments from me,” I agreed.

The door to the botanical wing was just as plain and serviceable as the rest of the Library. It looked like little more than a wooden barn door, resting on a sliding rail that hung from the top of the doorframe. A nearby service lift hung askew, the chair and cog works at the top of the cage had become tangled and inoperable.

The lift was huge, I imagined it could easily have held an entire dragon.

“There’s only one door into the Library, right?” I asked, “How did your mom get all this stuff inside, especially without teleporters?”

“The external door shrinks or expands as needed,” Annowan marched up the barn door. “My mother could connect it to multiple parts of the Library, not just the lobby we saw. If she had a particularly large artifact she was trying to bring inside, she’d widen the door, get it to the general area she wanted, then move it to its final resting place using these service lifts.”

“The golems did most of the heavy lifting,” Gilly joined the knight by the door. “She’d get whole armies of those things to cart her prizes around.”

We’d seen a few more of the magical automatons. Most seemed to be locked into repetitive tasks; washing the same stretch of hallway with empty buckets and no mops, dusting nonexistent display cases, or moving empty boxes between unorganized storerooms.

“I’d almost feel bad for them,” Gilly whispered, “except they’re way too fucking creepy.”

Instead of just yanking the door open, Annowan placed her hands against the metal latch that held it shut. “Curator, open the botanical wing.”

The Curator’s voice echoed from a nearby metallic box, which was attached to the wall. “The door will be unlocked for the next five minutes, Owner Annowan.”

The door opened by itself; despite its rustic construction, it slid to the side without a single squeak. As it moved out of the way, we were hit by a blast of damp, humid air.

Blinking, we entered the botanical wing.

The ceiling was made of glass, and yellow, warm beams of sunlight flooded down, illuminating the entire space. Pipes ran everywhere, attached to a complex-looking sprinkler system that rained water onto the plants below.

The floor was covered in disorganized rows of planters, tubs, and pottery. I saw trees, shrubbery, flowerbeds, and bushes stuck into containers far too small to hold them. Thalie physically winced in pain, seeing the floral chaos.

Several of the trees had grown far too large for their vessels, their roots had spilled out over the floor, knocking other plants over and tearing up the stone floor.

Daggerdare looked mad enough to spit. “This is unforgivable.”

She approached one of the overgrown trees, which stood crookedly, and placed a hand against its trunk. Thalie came over and joined her, using her magic to help move its roots into a more stable position. The old thing groaned as its trunk righted itself.

“Thank you,” the elf told her reverently before she turned to face the demon. “if I ever meet your mother, she will pay for this wasteful and uncaring display.”

Annowan looked tired. “I will be more than willing to back your claim for retribution, but I’m afraid there will be a line of other contenders ahead of you.”

“This place is a mess,” I commented, stepping over a stagnant puddle.

“It was supposed to be locked in stasis, like the biological wing, but that has failed here as well,” Annowan said tiredly. “Everything has grown chaotic during my absence, and now we have a veritable jungle to contend with.”

“We need to secure the sacred holly, then deal with the problems that are triggering the self-destruct, right?” Thalie peered around, but the greenhouse seemed to stretch for kilometers, with huge, vaulted chambers spreading out before us.

Daggerdare pointed to the left. “The holly is that way. Its vitality is weak, sickly, but I can still feel it.”

“Let’s go.” Annowan started walking, like a condemned prisoner being marched towards the gallows.

The botanical bedlam only got worse the deeper we moved into the wing. We found that a huge number of trees and plants had died, leaving swampy areas full of rotting wood and decaying plant matter. The sprinkler system didn’t seem to care, and it dumped even more water onto the already muddy soil.

Some plants had thrived in the turmoil, growing to monstrous proportions. I sensed corrupt magic radiating from their cores; wherever Velka had harvested them from had been heavily polluted by the Bitch Goddess’s magic.

“I’m surprised none of these things have changed into ents yet,” Gilly complained, as we passed a truly mutated tree.

Despite its sickly looking appearance, it had crushed its nearest neighbors with a thick spread of roots, and its branches scratched towards the glass ceiling.

“Where is that sunlight coming from anyway?” I shielded my eyes and looked up.

It was difficult to see past the glass panes, they were thick and wavy, distorting the view of the sky beyond. Whatever the source was, it didn’t seem to be magical itself, though I could see the greenhouse struts were laced with runic inscriptions.

“The botanical wing is likely located, at least in part, in a different reality,” Annowan theorized. “If you are skilled enough with spatial magic, you can stitch together fragments of worlds to create something new, as Grandmother did with the imperial gardens.”

“I’m afraid I found Lilith’s gardens much more pleasant than this nightmare,” Daggerdare said.

I knew elves viewed all trees as sacred, to a degree. They only harvested or fell them when they needed to, and they always thanked the trees before reaping their bounty of fruit or lumber. Often this came in the form of blood, freely given to those that would nurture the elves.

Moving closer to her, I placed a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. Thalie followed suit.

“We’ll do everything we can to make this right,” the orc told her.

Annowan nodded stiffly.

The elf sighed, then straightened her shoulders. She walked forward, pushing through a curtain of vines. “Follow me, we’re close.”

The plants and trees grew together, forming a tight canopy that blocked out all sight of the sun. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were out in some crazy jungle, not indoors.

The air had only grown more humid, and I was sweating profusely. I passed my canteen to Thalie, and my orcish wife eagerly drank. She had been stopping during our trip regularly, either to heal some badly treated plant or to take samples to stick into her seed bag.

Scrapple roamed up near Daggerdare, sniffing out the trail, while Krencha walked behind. We were often forced to crouch or crawl forward, making it impossible for her to stay in the saddle. She scrubbed at her armor, brushing off decaying bark and mud, clearly unhappy with our circumstances.

“I didn’t know you were so fastidious,” I joked, as I pulled away a vine that had gotten tangled in her helmet.

“I’m a dragoon errant now,” she said. “I’m a shining example for not just my people, but for the entire empire.” I felt some uneasy emotion underneath her words.

Pausing, I let the others trail ahead before I stopped her. “Are you really okay? You’ve been acting more bombastic than usual. I know you’re eager to prove yourself and claim glory, but I’m worried.”

She sighed and leaned into me, her armor clanking.

“I’m not the kind of person to stop and think,” she said quietly, “I’ve always charged ahead, looking for the next challenge, the next fight. But I actually had a chance to reflect during the last few weeks, about our goal and the obstacles in our path.”

I knew Krencha wasn’t the type to doubt herself. She had always shown supreme confidence, to the point of self-destruction.

“Do you know how Ibb died?” she asked quietly.

Ibb was the greatest goblin hero to have ever lived, a dragoon of legendary proportions. I had heard many tales of his heroics, but never how he had died.

“The Bitch killed him,” she told me. “It was during the final battle. She had killed all his friends, all the knights and warriors that had sworn themselves to his banner. With a suicidal, vengeful charge, he rode alone against her. She cut him down with a single spell, a bright, terrible beam of light that destroyed him and his mount utterly.”

I could almost hear her heart shuttering against her breastplate.

“But everyone knows his name,” I told her, thinking about all the stories about Ibb. “He died a hero, as a figure that everyone can aspire to. No matter what may come, people will remember him, and be inspired to take up his cause.”

I leveraged up the visor on her helmet, so I could look her in the eye. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to us. I hope we win, that we beat the Bitch and save the world, but there’s no guarantee any of us will live that far. We just have to do the best we can, so that those that follow us can carry on if we can’t.”

“And you think I’m good enough for that?” she asked. Despite her words, I heard some of her old confidence coming back into her voice.

I kissed her. “I think, when you die, it will be atop a mound of worthy foes, and Ibb himself will greet you on the other side.”

Smiling, she slapped down her helm’s visor, then brushed past me.

“We better hurry then,” she said, tugging me along. “Whatever challenges come ahead, we’ll crush them flat! If I’m going to earn a spot next to Ibb in the afterlife, I’m going to make sure you and the others do as well.”

I chuckled, telling myself to forget the tears I had seen in my wife’s eyes.

As we climbed through the tunnel, we passed Annowan. Krencha paid her no heed, but I paused to see if she was alright. She had a troubled look on her face.

“I accidentally overheard what you were talking about,” she admitted, her face turned away from me.

I glanced up the tunnel, but Krencha had already caught up with Scrapple and the pair were clearing a path forward.

“We all have moments of doubt and worry,” I told her, “even the boldest and bravest need someone there to support them in their time of need. There’s no shame or weakness in that.”

The demon said nothing in reply.

The narrow, tree-formed passage gave way to a huge greenhouse, the ceiling easily three or four times as high as the one we’d seen by the entrance. The corrupt, mutated trees simply stopped, as if a line had been drawn and they were unable to cross.

“It’s the power of the holly,” Daggerdare said, surveying the scene. “It pushes back on the unnatural, preserving what it can in this foul place.”

“The Curator provided a list of the most critical items that need to be fixed in the botanical wing,” Annowan pulled out a sheet of paper, filled with handwritten notes. “These corrupted plants are part of the problem, they’ve escaped their designated areas and have grown out of control, threatening to break the spatial magic holding this area together.”

I peered at the trees, allowing my ability to spread out. “I can sense a lot of lingering magical corruption in them, which likely triggered their initial growth. I can try to break it, but they’ve grown massive from all the sunlight, water, and nutrients they’ve stolen from their neighbors.”

Gilly glanced at Daggerdare before suggesting, “We could always try fire.”

“Fire wouldn’t work, we’d be more likely to kill all the plants, maybe even ourselves,” the treespeaker objected. She frowned, looking at the trees. “I think there might be a way yet to save them, but it will require some cooperation. Thalie, Mal, will you lend me your strength?”

“Of course,” the orcish maiden volunteered.

I nodded, “Whatever you need me to do.”

We moved through the greenhouse. There were mostly small, orderly rows of flowers, all of which looked tired and forlorn. There were a few golems, but they had been infested by whatever corrupt magic was battling the holly. Thick wet roots broke through their clay bodies, and many of them moved on limbs of wood or bone.

“Why do I have a very bad feeling about all this?” Gilly said as she booted a golem out of her path.

They might have looked sinister, but the golems moved in the same pointless, repetitive tasks we had seen with their other brethren.

“They’re likely stuck trying to carry out whatever command they last received from the Curator,” Annowan speculated.

“I’m more concerned about where the bones came from,” I said, watching one of the automatons carrying around an empty pot with skeletal limbs.

“There were animals here once,” Gilly kicked another golem out of her way. “Mostly small critters like squirrels, hares, and all kinds of insects. Velka kept them here because they naturally kept the pests under control, thus saving her work.”

The center of the greenhouse gave way to a grove; the trees, all different species, spread out to form a protective ring. I could feel steady pulses of magic, like a repelling wave pushing back the corruption, coming from its center.

Moving between the trees, I saw there was a huge holly, gnarled and bent, growing from the middle of the grove. Daggerdare approached, then knelt by its roots, running her hands over its twisted bark.

“This tree is old,” she said, her tone full of awe, “far older than any I have encountered before. It remembers my people when we were first thrown into this world, and its roots run deep into our past.”

Daggerdare used a knife to prick one of her fingers, then let the blood well and drop onto the holly’s roots. The powerful, verdant magic that flared out nearly sent me staggering.

Smiling, the treespeaker gave the holly more of her blood, letting the tree drink deep. As the magic continued to erupt, I felt the tree’s strength return; its branches uncurled, and its trunk groaned as it straightened itself.

I cautiously approached Daggerdare, then held out my hand. “May I?”

She smiled warmly, extending her knife. “Husband, you do us all a great honor.”

I winced as I pricked my finger, but I let my blood join Daggerdare’s, the tree gratefully drinking it.

“Amazing,” Thalie whispered, as new leaves sprouted, replacing the withered and dead ones.

Daggerdare stood, placing a hand against the tree’s trunk. “It has been a long, long time since this one was able to drink on freely given blood. Centuries, likely.”

The tree pulsed with returning life. I could feel the waves of vitality pushing against the malignant corruption that lurked at the edge of its influence.

Annowan approached warily before Daggerdare waved her closer.

“I apologize for my earlier outburst,” the treespeaker told her. “Like her people, the Mother Tree does not judge children for the actions of their parents.”

“That, I am grateful for,” the demon knight responded, before coming to stop a respectful distance away.

Daggerdare gestured for me and Thalie to join her by the tree. “Now that it is restored, I believe we can clear the taint of corruption from this place, but I will need your help.”

“Just tell us what to do,” Thalie said.

Before my exile from The City, I had always thought my abilities were purely destructive in nature; once I understood a spell, I could break it apart. I could snap hexes, enchantments, and wards as easy as breathing.

But my ability could grant me so much more.

I had only truly begun to this concept once I had wed Daggerdare. We had given both blood to the Mother Tree during our marriage oaths, and for a moment I felt the same kind of connection Daggerdare experienced when venerating her.

I had done something similar with Thalie when we slew an undead wurm in Coldspite Basin. We had somehow twinned our efforts to destroy the creature, combining her magic and my ability.

When working in conjunction with the others, I could see their magic flowing, each an individual effort. But if I can see it, maybe there’s a way I can join them together?

Or at least, that’s what I reasoned when discussing my ideas with my elvish wife.

Thalie, Daggerdare, and I approached the edge of the holly’s range of influence. The treespeaker quietly explained to the orcish maiden what she thought we needed to do.

Ahead of us, the corrupted plants throbbed and twitched. There was no intelligence, no intent in their actions, but the broken magic in them had reacted to the holly’s resurgence. It was fighting back, as all living things did.

I felt Daggerdare’s magic seep into her limbs; it flowed like green sap, rising out of her heart and into her arms and legs, filling them with strength. Slowly, I saw a wisp of this energy trail away from her, reaching back towards the holly. She gritted her teeth as the connection was made, the magic practically bursting from her body.

As she did that, I reached my ability towards the corrupted trees, sensing the foul magic that had long ago seeped into the cores. Most of it was broken beyond comprehension, the original spells having long ago lost cohesion and meaning. They ached, like old, badly healed wounds.

Thalie took my hand, and she reached towards the trees, trying to find some bit of their natural lifeforce, the parts of them that still remembered sunshine, fresh water, and good soil.

The runes she formed spread out, forming lines of arcane energy, that tried to touch these things, but she couldn’t get a hold of them; the corruption blocked her path.

I had no idea how exactly how I could help her; I saw her efforts as clear as I as saw Daggerdare’s, but we were acting apart, three individuals each groping around in the dark.

The corrupted trees shuddered, and I saw their limbs move and their roots tear themselves from the ground. The magic within them was calling them to violence, to fight and slay those that threatened them.

I began to panic. Distantly, I heard Gilly call out a warning as Scrapple barked furiously.

But then, just before I broke off our efforts and called for arms, I felt a fourth power well up behind us. A bridge was formed, and I felt some unifying force pulling all our efforts together.

Authority, cooperation, and control.

Invigorated, I could reach out and touch Thalie’s magic. But not to break it, but to direct it. I showed her where the tree’s lifeforce was strongest, where her magic resonated the most.  While she did that, I tore at the dark hearts of the trees, where the rot was deepest. I tugged and pulled at them, ripping at the tumors and knots of corruption. Daggerdare’s magic surged around us, lending her the strength we needed.

The trees groaned as the broken magic was torn from their bodies.

Once freed, it was the simplest thing in the world for me to reach out and snap the corrupted bits of magic, reducing them to nothing.

Slowly, one by one, we purified each tree, cutting away their diseased hearts. The holly’s magic flowed around us all. Only once it was done, and I felt no more corruption, did it retreat, leaving us breathless and exhausted.

Thalie had slumped to the ground, resting on her knees. I collapsed and leaned into her, my arms and legs feeling like jelly. Daggerdare remained upright, though barely, as she surveyed the greenhouse.

The corrupted trees had gone grey and lifeless. Already their bark was brittly falling away, revealing the dead wood underneath.

For a moment I was disappointed that we had failed to save them, but Daggerdare countermanded me when I said this out loud.

“Death is a natural part of life,” she said. “Had we not done what we did, they would have sprung to life as ents and abominations. But instead, we gave them a chance to return to the cycle. Their deaths will feed new life, and nature will continue.”

Thalie reached for her bag, and I knew she’d be tempted to sow seeds in the mulch and soil left by their passing.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Annowan standing behind us, looking uncertainly at her hands, which were still outstretched. I doubted Daggerdare and Thalie had sensed her actions or the sudden upwelling of power that had made our efforts possible. But I had; Annowan had witnessed us failing, and she had somehow rushed in to help.

Which left me with far more questions than answers.

Chapter 14

We spent the rest of the day clearing out the rest of the botanical wing.

Our efforts near the holly grove had dealt with a majority of the corrupted trees, but we still had several other problematic plants to deal with.

We spent nearly three hours hacking through overgrown vines and thorns, trying to contain some virulent strain of roses that had taken over one of the growing houses. Gilly eventually beat it back by spraying it down with her fire breath till it retreated into its exhibit area. Annowan had the Curator restore stasis over it afterward, safely locking it away.

There was also the field of man-eating flytraps, which had mutated to the size of houses, and the pitcher plants that liked to hide in shadowy areas, waiting for someone to come by so they could snag them in their vines.

Thalie was thrilled by the whole experience and she took multiple samples and cuttings to study once we returned home. For my part, I was just glad I didn’t get eaten; that would have been terminally embarrassing.

We had to do more mundane tasks as well, like rerouting water lines, repairing broken pipes, and fixing broken machinery.

“I feel more like a handyman than a squire,” Gilly complained as we took a short rest.

We were in some kind of storage depot, which was stacked with broken bags of potting soil, old tools, and empty pots and planters.

Krencha, her armor streaked with dirt, looked the most miserable out of all of us. I knew she felt better after having spoken to me earlier, but I imagined by that point she was craving some foe she could smash to pieces.

Annowan communicated with the Curator through one of the metallic speaking boxes, which acted as a communication relay. It confirmed the botanical wing had been restored to enough functionality that it was once again within the failsafe thresholds.

“If we can get the biological and dwarven history wings under control tomorrow, we should be able to deactivate the self-destruct afterward,” she told us, wiping some grime from her gauntlets.

I desperately wanted to ask her about what had happened in the holly grove. She had somehow used her powers to augment our own, but I got a feeling that if I asked what she had done she’d just stonewall me, claiming there was still work to be done.

We headed back to the holly grove at the end of the day. After dealing with savage plants and hauling bags of mulch, I found its protective aura invigorating. Resting under its shade for a few minutes made all my aches and pains fade away.

Daggerdare once again bled for it, and the tree happily drank. I was surprised when Annowan came forward, removing her armored gauntlets. Daggerdare said nothing as the demon knelt and used a knife to cut her finger.

Annowan patiently let her blood drip onto the roots, and the holly accepted it. Distantly, I could feel the Mother Tree thrum, as if pleased.

Daggerdare nodded, “She appreciates your intent, Annowan, and she knows that even though you carry no guilt for your mother’s transgressions, you are willing to make amends for the past.”

She stood, dusting off her knees, before offering a hand to the demon.

“I don’t know if there is a way to return this tree to its rightful place,” Annowan looked up at its boroughs, “but I will find some way to make this right.”

The treespeaker nodded, “Thank you.”

I felt an unnatural breeze and heard a snap. A small branch, covered in leaves, fell from the tree and onto the demon’s pauldron.

Daggerdare reached over and carefully took the sprig, smiling. “It seems the Mother Tree has decided to bless you. She will keep a watchful eye on you during our quest here so that your pledge might come true.”

As we walked back towards the entrance, past where the corrupted trees had stood, I could see fresh sprouts and vines popping through the soil, encouraged by Thalie’s gentle magic. Annowan had the Curator lockdown the wing, re-establishing the stasis runes on most of the area, though she left the holly grove alone.

“Once this is over, we can work together to sort out this place,” Thalie said, her words thrumming with excitement.

Most of us had seen the day’s work as dull tedium, but orcs were natural gardeners. I had rarely seen Thalie so excited except when working in a garden; she had been overjoyed by a day spent hauling dirt and fixing sprinklers.

I brushed some leaves from her hair, “You saw some things to help with your project?

She nodded, grinning. Her bag bulged with new samples. “I know those roses were a bit problematic, but once we get them contained in a secure environment I’m sure I could learn so much by observing them.”

“Just make sure I’m nearby, so I can burn them back if needed,” Gilly laughed.

As we approached the exit I felt some strange form of magic snap through the air. It was like the lash of a whip, all greed and domination.  My ability flared, and I instinctively protected us from its covetous grasp

Everyone came to a stop. They had felt the magic wash over and past us. I warned them of what had just transpired.

Annowan unsheathed her sword, “Where did it come from?”

I pointed towards the barn door, “Below, it felt like it came up through the lift shaft.”

Distantly, I could still sense the source, a burning core of need and want, far below us. Echoes of its power rang around the botanical wing, commanding those that would listen.

Small feet, made from clay, wood, and bone, marched towards us from the shadows. Behind them came larger footfalls, which shook the floor.

Golems, hundreds of them, emerged from every direction, crawling out of openings or dropping down from the ceiling. Before they had been mindless and nonthreatening, but at that moment I could feel their artificial bodies filling with deadly intent.

“They’re hungry,” I said.

“For what?” Annowan grunted, sliding her helmet into place.

One of the golems craned back its head, the clay shattering as a toothy maw ripped across its blank face.

“Everything,” I said, raising my shield and pick; they were new, but Adrian had done a fantastic job, and they felt natural and well balanced in my hand.

The automatons charged. Behind them, larger golems, meant for heavy lifting, smashed forward, carelessly crushing their lesser kin as they ran.

Though they had mouths, the golems made no sounds as they attacked, silently screaming with an unnatural hunger. I could feel the corrupt magic in them seething and thrashing, driving them to a mania of violence.

Krencha and Scrapple launched themselves into the fray, smashing into their ranks like a meteor. The mole-dog rampaged, battering the tiny golems with his huge paws, while Krencha shattered the bigger ones with her mace.

“For the caravans, for the Throne!” the goblin dragoon cried, overjoyed to finally have a foe and a target to vent her frustrations onto.

Annowan swung her sword violently, chopping through the clay golems like they were nothing. She fought even more savagely than the dragoon, pressing into the enemy to deliver devastation. Black magic flew wildly as she lost herself in the battle.

Gilly watched her back, using her bow to pick off any automaton who tried to flank the demon.

Thalie, Daggerdare, and I fought together. It took a moment for us to find our rhythm, but once we were in unison, we tore through the golems. Individually they were small and weak, but they attacked like a starving horde and they outnumbered us by the hundreds.

They swarmed up and over us. I constantly had to keep moving, less they latch onto my legs and bite me with their ragged fangs. Thalie smashed and swept, keeping the ground clear, while Daggerdare and I smashed into their ranks. She tried to summon plants to our aid, but the vines and creepers were only able to pluck at the edge of the horde, yanking unlucky golems away from the fray.

I raised my buckler, blocking a spray of sharp, clay shards, as Daggerdare chopped into one of the larger golems. The thing had a torso like a brick, with a set of thick, square arms and stubby legs. Despite their hulking appearance they moved with a surprising amount of speed. The one she was fighting had slammed out of a nearby doorway, almost catching us by surprise.

Daggerdare hacked off its arm. I covered Thalie from reprisal as she swept behind it and smashed its leg.

The thing buckled, trapping the halberd’s blade in the wound. Thalie struggled to pull it free, while three smaller golems jumped onto her back. They scratched at her with bony fingers and tried to bite into her neck.

The magical summons resounded again.

Roaring, I swatted one of the golems away with my buckler. I used my ability to lash out at the other two, savagely destroying the magic that animated them.

“Are you okay?” I said as I moved to cover her again.

She pulled her weapon loose, toppling the larger golem. “I’m fine!”

We destroyed the corrupted automatons by the dozens, but I saw more golems streaming in through the barn door, being drawn towards the conflict by whatever malevolent force had usurped them. Slowly we were being pushed back, further and further away from the exit.

Scrapple, blood seeping from a dozen shallow wounds, fought at the forefront, trying to shove his way forward. Krencha hung from the saddle, her weapon and armor grey with shattered clay and dust.

“Annie! We need to get out of here!” Gilly yelled.

Annowan had been pulled away from our group and was in a swarming sea of golems. She fought with nearly reckless abandon, the air around her thick with dust and arcane sparks. Gilly called her name again, apparently snapping the demon from her daze. She threw a wave of balethunder into the enemy before retreating closer to us.

“Mal!” she called, “get over here!”

I smashed a group of golems out of my way to reach the demon. As I did, I felt something hammer into my back, my armor barely protecting me from the blow.

Daggerdare struck out, chopping apart the golem that had tried to jump onto me.

Reaching Annowan, I stomped down with my good foot, crushing a golem that was trying to claw into her leg.

“I’m going to blast an opening to the door,” she yelled.

As she said that, even more golems streamed inside. Whatever was calling them, its magic summons echoed throughout the whole Library. The command was so powerful that we could all feel it, demanding that we obey, that we hunger as it did.

The golems surged, driven by the domineering magic.

Annowan said, “Can you shut that thing up?”

I nodded, “Cover me!”

Daggerdare moved closer to protect me, while Thalie tried to summon more plants to distract our foes. Krencha went on a rampage, doing everything she and Scrapple could to draw the horde off me. Gilly snapped off arrow after arrow, taking out the automatons that were trying to drop on me from the ceiling.

When the next command snapped out, I latched onto it with my ability. The magic was powerful but rigid. It demanded obedience, that all that heard its call should suffer from the same overwhelming hunger, the same need, as it did.

I grabbed onto it, tearing and ripping at its magic. The thing thrashed and fought, so desperate to satiate its hunger, its need for total control.

As the thing struggled, I could almost feel something familiar at its core, which was located deep in the heart of the Library. But before I could trace it, the spell dissolved, its source lacking the strength to maintain its cohesion.

The golems reeled and stumbled.

“Close your eyes!” Annowan commanded as she formed a massive balefire rune in her hand.

Ducking, I grabbed Gilly and huddled down as Annowan let the spell loose.

The gout of balefire utterly annihilated everything in its path. The golems were vaporized, along with a huge chunk of the atrium floor.

“Run!” Annowan pushed us forward. “Get to the lift!”

We ran. The golems were no longer being directly commanded, but they were still filled with ravenous hunger. Screaming soundlessly, they hurried after us, snapping their maws.

The lift came into view, the shaft looming just beyond it. We jumped inside and Gilly slammed the gate shut. The automatons crashed into it, sending the car swinging wildly.

“Go!” Daggerdare yelled as she used her axes to hew off the outstretched arms of the golems as they tried to reach into the car.

Annowan slammed the control panel, and we rocketed upward.

We only stopped running once we reached the safety of the reference desk and the Curator. Annowan ordered the thing to lock all the doors leading to the area, and I could hear them slamming shut behind us.

“That won’t keep the big ones for long,” Thalie said, as she placed a hand against the stitch in her side.

“Is there a hearth around here?” Daggerdare asked. “Preferably one that’s been regularly used?”

“Follow me,” Annowan said.

We went past the Curator and through a concealed door I hadn’t noticed before. Beyond was a suite, set out like a large apartment. It was overcrowded and disorganized. The main room featured dozens of shelves full of knick-knacks and souvenirs, with more junk piled on the floor. There was also a fireplace, the bricks around it stained black by ash and flames.

Daggerdare pulled an iron nail from her supplies and began hammering the sprig to the mantle. Each blow from the hammer she used echoed with bursts of the Mother Tree’s power. As she did that we built a hasty fire in the hearth, grabbing wood from a nearby stand. Once the treespeaker was done she ignited the flames, which sparked white and green.

I felt the power of the sacred holly enveloping us, creating a sphere of safety.

Sinking to the floor, I was grateful that we were safe for the time being. Everyone was covered in bite marks, bruises, and scrapes. Gilly got busy healing our injuries while I went to check out the suite’s kitchenette with Thalie. Thankfully the water was still running. After ransacking the cabinets we returned with several pitchers of water, cups, and a large bowl.

“See, I told you staying hydrated was important,” Gilly laughed weakly as she healed a cut across Annowan’s scalp.

The demon had once again lost her helmet, and her braids were unwound and in disarray.

“I thought that only applied to sex marathons?” Thalie said.

“Good sex tips can be applied to any part of your life,” the dragonkin responded with surety.

Scrapple eagerly lapped at the bowl that Thalie had set for him. I ruffled his ears, then helped Krencha treat the worst of his wounds.

“What happened down there?” Thalie asked once Gilly had patched the bite on her leg. “I felt something awful flood into the room, and then all the golems went berserk.”

I did my best to explain what I had seen through my spellbreaker abilities, describing the lash of magic that had commanded the automatons to attack us.

Annowan removed one of her vambraces, which had been dented in the melee. “You couldn’t identify the source?”

“It was too far away,” I told her, “but whatever it was, it came from within the Library. And whatever it was, it was hungry, ravenously so.”

Daggerdare sat next to me, “Hungry for what?”

I shrugged. “Anything and everything. It was just a force for pure consumption, the need to devour.”

“Besides the botanical and biological wing, there are numerous other areas in the Library dedicated to my mother’s research on strange and dangerous artifacts,” Annowan said. “It’s possible one of them activated, triggering that mindless spell.”

“I don’t think it was completely mindless,” I told her. “I felt something familiar in its bite, similar to the magic used in The City, but different. More primal, more basic.”

“Is it possible The City was able to infiltrate the Library?” Thalie gasped.

Annowan used a speaking box to check with the Curator, but it confirmed the spatial magic around the Library was still intact.

“So it was already here,” the demon mused. “It could be some artifact or spell my mother discovered, a leftover from the war. Regardless, we’ll find it and have Malory break it, for our safety and the safety of the empire.”

“Add it to the list then,” I groaned.

Chapter 15

After healing up, we did a quick sweep of the reference desk and the immediate area. We confirmed all the golems, not just the ones by the botanical wing, had been affected by the spell, driving them into a feeding frenzy.

Thankfully, without the lash of magic commanding them, they senselessly ate and destroyed the things around them rather than trying to hunt us down.

I found one golem gnawing at an old textbook, worrying it like a dog at a bone. Another kept trying to eat a banister, its clay fangs dulled from chomping at the wood.

Scrapple found chasing down and destroying the things to be great sport, so I teamed up with him and Krencha to hunt down as many of them as possible. In the meantime Annowan worked with Daggerdare to determine exactly how far the holly sprig’s protection radiated, setting up the perimeter of our camp.

Annowan didn’t fight like herself down there, I worried. Normally she was at the forefront of our group but always fought in a controlled manner, guiding the tides of battle. But today she waded in there like she just wanted to smash something.

We had decided that we needed to abandon the guest rooms we had been using since they were too far from the holly to ensure our safety as we slept. Gilly and Thalie moved our supplies to the suite, along with the beds.

“This was my mother’s private quarters, while she stayed here,” Annowan explained, as she jabbed the flames with a poker. “I have no idea why she wanted a fireplace, I guess she thought it was romantic, but for once I am glad for her eccentricities.”

After returning from our golem hunt, we hunkered down by the hearth, grateful for its warmth and the protection provided by the holly spig.

I glanced at the shelves. Unlike the items we had seen in the display cases, these seemed to be more personal. Journals and diaries, rows upon rows of worn stones and rocks, bundles of dried flowers and feathers. I felt like I was in a bird’s nest.

Looking more closely, I saw that there were no images of Annowan or Lilith, nothing to indicate the previous resident had any family or attachments outside their work and their adventures.

Annowan stabbed the burning logs harder, sending out a shower of sparks. She had been morose since the battle.

Looking for a distraction, I asked, “Was the Curator able to tell you anything about that weird magic, or what may have caused it?”

“No,” Annowan put the poker down. “With the catalog offline, it can’t bring up any information about the contents of the Library. We’ll need to clear the problems in the biological and dwarven history wings, then it should be able to restore most of its functions and we can shut down the self-destruct.”

“I’m all for a glorious death, but I have no interest in being blown to pieces by this place,” Krencha said from where she sat, leaning up against a snoring Scrapple.

“We’d evacuate before that happens,” Annowan said stubbornly.

I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that I believed her at that point.

Once we were sure the suite was secure, we decided to rest for the evening. Annowan declared she would stay out by the reference desk, which essentially acted as the only route that could be used to reach the suit and our safe spot.

Daggerdare told her it was pointless since the golems couldn’t approach the holly sprig once it was empowered by the hearth, but I honestly think the demon just wanted to be out of her mother’s chambers.

We ended up camping out in a larger room that had been meant for storage. Moving out the boxes and piles of junk, we set up the beds Gilly and Thalie had hauled over. We ended up pushing a couple of them next to one another so we could all sleep together, with Scrapple at the foot of the shared bed. Daggerdare, as was her custom, slept by herself, but close by.

We were all so tired that we passed out as soon as I turned off the lights.

In the morning, I rose first, padding out to the main room to rekindle the coals in the fireplace. Krencha had hauled back some of the old textbooks from the nearby shelves, and I tossed them onto the flames. I wasn’t a fan of book burning, but I doubted that anyone would mind using eighty-year-old math manuals to keep the flames going.

Moving out to the Curator’s room, I found Annowan asleep in a chair. She had removed her armor, but she kept her sword. It was leaning on her shoulder, with her head resting against its sheath.

Asleep, she looked so much more peaceful than her waking self. The lines of stress were gone from her forehead, and she wasn’t scowling or looking upset. I sighed, remembering Lilith’s request for me to do everything I could to aid her granddaughter.

We all want to help her, but she’s determined to keep the entire burden on herself.

Retrieving the eggs and bacon the Curator had pulled out of storage, I went to the suite’s kitchenette, which was a copy of the one outside, and began cooking breakfast. The smell of sizzling meat quickly drew Scrapple from his slumber, and I fed the mole-dog a few strips as I worked.

Before my exile, I had never really done any type of cooking.

Growing up, I had lived in the school dorms and eaten whatever the staff had seen fit. As Annowan’s squire, I had been given my fair share of duties, including cooking, while we were adventuring. I had hated it at first, but as I got used to it, I actually found cooking very enjoyable. There was some strange, meditative quality to it, and I began to volunteer for the task.

Gilly was the next to wake up. She nuzzled up next to me.

“Did I ever tell you how sexy I find a man who can cook?” she whispered, as she kissed my neck.

I kissed her back. “I don’t know if I’d count scrambled eggs and bacon as cooking, but I’m glad to know my skills are appreciated.”

Once everyone was up, we ate in front of the fire, hauling a table in from a nearby room. It was cramped quarters with all six of us, along with Scrapple, but I enjoyed it. Having all my wives, people that loved me, so close, gave me strength.

Annowan had found some scrap paper and was busy jotting down what needed to be fixed in the biological wing to bring it back into order. Based on what I had overheard the Curator saying to her, I figured it would be much more dangerous than the tasks we had completed the day before.

And that’s not factoring in all the ravenous golems we’ll have to deal with.

“The main problem is that the stasis runes that kept all the animals and beasts contained have failed,” Annowan told us after we had cleared our plates. “The Curator can’t pinpoint when it happened, but it was likely weeks ago. Since then, the more dangerous exhibits have likely eaten the rest.”

“And those that could escape made their way out to the wider Library,” I surmised, thinking of the bodies we’d found earlier.

She nodded. “I don’t have a listing of what was contained in the biological wing, but we’re likely dealing with exotic and vicious lifeforms, those that were tough enough to survive the initial slaughter.”

Thalie sighed, “I am hoping we can just cage them up again until we can release them into the wild, but now that sounds like an impossible task.”

I took her hand, under the table, and squeezed it.

Annowan looked unhappy as well. “We’ll do what we can, but our priority is to make sure none of the monsters contained in that wing can escape the Library. Once everything there is secure, we’ll have to visit the dwarven history wing next.”

I scraped at my plate with my fork. “You think there’s anything about Revekar there?”

“My mother had a rather eclectic way of organizing things,” Annowan said.

“That’s the understatement of the century,” Krencha growled.

“Information about Revekar might be there,” the demon continued, “or it could be locked in another area. It’s impossible to say without exploring first.”

Thalie got up and began clearing the plates. “Anyone want coffee? The Curator pulled some from storage, I’m going to try brewing it up.”

“Is it a Babylon blend?” Gilly asked.

Thalie shook her head, “I think it’s something local.”

The dragonkin made a sour face, but she still asked for two cups.

“In general, my mother sorted things into two broad categories,” Annowan explained “Things that were important and things that were useless. Important things would be categorized and stored so she could retrieve them later. Everything else she’d just toss wherever she felt like.”

“She’d still know where it was, sort of, if she needed it,” Gilly supplied, “but not its exact location. The catalog is more like a rough treasure map than anything else. I once saw her spend days digging through a set of rooms, tearing apart shelves, and excavating junk piles looking for some scrap of information she had previously deemed useless.”

“Like old textbooks, weird bits of pottery, or old pieces of art,” I said, thinking of all the things we’d seen strewn about the days before.

Annowan nodded. “She never threw anything away, but that doesn’t mean she valued everything either.”

She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out the crystal Charlix had provided, bringing the images it contained to life. “Once the catalog is online, we’ll use the Curator to cross-reference these images, and hopefully we’ll get some hits. Otherwise, we’ll probably need to bring in Charlix and her researchers to start digging through this place, pile by pile.”

“So an adventure that leads to another adventure?” Thalie came back in, carrying a tray of cups.

“That’s how it always works,” Krencha said, taking a cup for herself. “The reward for work well done is more work.”

“How’s your foot?”

“Much better,” I told Daggerdare.

After breakfast, I had bribed Gilly with a third cup of coffee, asking for a bit more healing. She was worried I was still pushing my body too hard, too fast, but the last thing I wanted was to be gnawed to death by a bunch of golems because I tripped and fell.

My foot still ached, but I felt like I could at least outrun a pack of the runty automatons if needed.

The path to the biological wing was the same as the route we’d taken to the botanical wing, at least as far as the lift shaft. Despite her earlier declaration, Daggerdare rode with us in the lift, though she looked deeply uncomfortable during the trip.

I was surprised when our ride took us up, not down. I’ll have to keep reminding myself this place’s layout isn’t limited by things like the laws of physics or common sense.

Rising, we passed several other tiers and landings, most of which were swamped by ravenous automatons. Several golems jumped towards our car, either falling well short or rebounding off the bars.

“Glad I grabbed more arrows,” Gilly said, as she nervously plucked at her quiver.

“I’m still trying to figure out why Velka had so many in her storage,” I puzzled.

“Probably the same reason she had bacon, coffee, armor polish, and dog treats,” Krencha said. “She squirreled away anything she might have needed. And why not? It’s not like she was going to run out of storage space.” She waved her arms, encompassing the entire Library.

The lift car slowed to a stop, and we found ourselves on an abandoned landing. There were no golems, but I saw several paintings that had been torn off the wall and chewed to shreds.

“They were ugly anyway,” Gilly concluded, tossing the torn canvas back onto the floor.

There were several animal corpses nearby, most in an advanced state of decay.

“Shade tigers,” Daggerdare declared, as she knelt by the nearest one. “Seems like a larger predator got to them.”

I could see the sign of huge claw marks, which had ranked down the tiger’s flanks. Blood and bits of fur were splattered everywhere, and the carpets were torn to pieces.

“Be on guard,” Annowan warned us. “Like the botanical wing, we are likely to encounter magically corrupted and mutated specimens. Do not stay your hand, put them down as quickly as possible.”

Thalie paled, but stood resolute, “As you say, Your Ladyship.”

Daggerdare unslung her axes, her demeanor grim. I double-checked my buckler, then adjusted my grip on my pick.

The door to the wing was practically identical to the one to the biological wing, a barn door on a sliding rail. Just as Annowan reached for the lock, a nearby speaking box squealed to life.

“Warning!” the Curator said in a thunderously loud voice. I could hear it echo from other boxes nearby. “Spatial barriers have been breached, Library cohesion is at fifty-nine percent and dropping. Intruders have breached the Library.”

The door in front of us rippled, like a sheet in the breeze. I felt the magic of the Library shutter and shake, like a dying thing, as its underpinnings were rent asunder.

From down the lift shaft, something roared and screamed. It was hungry and greedy, demanding everything and anything. It lashed out, and it took all my strength to protect us from its covetous grasp.

“Curator!” Annowan screamed, holding onto the speaking box like a sailor on a sea-tossed deck. “What’s happening!”

“The biological wing has been breached, the spatial magic has failed, and the wing has lost cohesion,” the thing responded calmly.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Gilly hollered.

We all got our answer as the barn door splintered and broke, pulled into the great, chaotic roil beyond.

I had no idea what the biological wing had looked like before, but the scene I was gazing out at was one of pure madness. Bits of floors and walls hung askew above endless pits of nothingness. The void had no color, no shape, no meaning. It hurt to look at, to try and comprehend it. My spellbreaker ability kept trying to grasp onto it, feeling some underpinning magic, but doing so strained my sanity.

Animal pens, feeding troughs, cages, and chains were flung about, flickering in and out of existence. There were screams, the sounds of animals panicking and dying, but I couldn’t see a single one of them.

All I could see was a vortex at the far end of the space, hovering above an intact section of flooring. The void was pushed back by that opening, creating a space for the kinless forces to land and muster. If they were dismayed by the chaos their breach had created, they did not show it.

They spread out, forming a cordon. As they did, more figures emerged from the portal; wardens, angels, and Slayers, the forces of The City.

“The Betrayer is here!” Daggerdare cursed.

The last person stepped through the rippling opening. Sarah, her face hidden by a skeletal mask, and her head covered by a thin stubble of golden hair, waved at me from across the sea of madness.

“Hello, Malory,” she called nonchalantly. “I’ve decided to crash the party. Velka stole something that belongs to me, and I’ve come to take it back.”

Chapter 16

I clawed out with my ability, trying to reach Sarah and to break the Bitch’s control over her. But as my senses reached out across that terrible void I felt agonizing pain, like someone was grabbing me and twisting me in half. I recoiled, my power failing.

“You’ve got to be careful,” Sarah laughed, gesturing around her. “Seems like my grand entrance came with some collateral damage. Guess they don’t make pocket dimensions like they used to.”

Annowan let loose a volley of balefire, but just like my ability, the shattered void twisted and dispersed the spell, sending black flames everywhere but her target.

“You’ve never fought in an interdimensional void before, have you?” Sarah tutted. “You should have asked Lilith for lessons.”

She raised her hands, and the broken bits of the biological wing flickered out of existence, reappearing as a cobbled bridge, spanning the seething chaos between the vortex and the door.

“Kinless,” Sarah’s voice echoed oddly, repeating endlessly in the boiling nothingness. “Prove your worth. Kill everyone but the spellbreaker.” She paused, tapping a finger against her mask. “Actually, just go ahead and kill him too.”

She leered at me, eyes blazing from behind her mask.  The last time we had fought, she had taken a direct blast of Annowan’s balefire to the face; her magic had barely saved her life that time, and apparently, she wasn’t taking the same chance twice.

“I think I’ve grown bored with you, Malory,” she said casually. “I thought we could have fun together, that you could be reunited with your long-lost love. Instead, I find myself tired of you. You’ve got to give me something new to play with.”

I readied myself, not rising to her bait.

Sighing, she looked back towards the vortex, working some kind of elaborate spell.

The black-clad dragonkin charged forward, heedless of the madness around them. They carried shortswords and parrying daggers, meant for close-quarters combat.

Annowan tried to strike them with magic, but again she failed. She growled in frustration as her spells scattered into burning vapor.

The kinless ran recklessly through the churning clouds of balefire, leaping at us with deadly malice.

Annowan raised her sword and met their charge head-on, her face contorted in rage.

I raised my shield to block an overhead blow from one of the assassins, while two more ducked low, trying to stab at my abdomen and legs. Thalie caught one in the arm, sending him pinwheeling back.

Daggerdare counter charged the other, ramming him hard with her shoulder. Knocking him back, she hacked off his arm, blood splattering everywhere. The dragonkin choked back a scream but kept trying to fight with his remaining blade.

She kicked him in the chest. He finally screamed as he fell over the edge and into the void. His cry echoed long after he disappeared.

I was glad for my armor when a parrying blade skimmed across my ribs, the tough leather absorbing the blow. Slashing my buckler forward, I took advantage of the sharpened edge to cut my assailant's throat. It was a shallow wound, but it was enough to distract her for the moment I needed to finish her off with a blow to the head.

Krencha and Scrapple stood behind us, preventing any of the assassins from flanking us. Several had managed to swarm through the door, but the mole-dog used his bulk to pin them in place, making them easy pickings for his rider.

Daggerdare, moving as a green blur, hacked a kinless assassin in the neck before he could throw a blade at the goblin.

“Watch your back, sister,” she called.

“I thought we weren’t using sister,” Thalie grunted, as she used the haft of her weapon to deflect a blow.

“Now’s not the time!” Annowan angrily flung another spell, but I saw it go wild.

Giving up on magic, she brought her blade into the fight, trying to push through the assassins and onto the bridge. Her eyes were locked on the Bitch Goddess.

Sarah had turned to face the portal. I could see she was holding a familiar-looking kinless blade in her hand.

“It’s a lot easier to puncture spatial barriers when you have a focus,” she said as she tapped the blade against her shoulder.

I realized it was the same blade the kinless assassin had slashed Annowan with during the assassination attempt. It had been made into a powerful tool for breaking through the Library’s barrier; it frothed with City sorcery, somehow attuning it to Annowan and her mother’s magic.

“Remember our deal, kinless,” Sarah called as she waved the sword at the portal, waving the weapon like a conductor’s baton. “Dragon Port and the ruling council, all those bastards who used you, demeaned you, and made you their tools, shall be burned and crushed, but only if you follow my orders.”

As she said this, I noticed small, almost translucent halos circling the assassins’ heads. The spellcraft was so fine, so subtle, that I wouldn’t have noticed it if the Bitch hadn’t tugged on their reins.

“Good help is hard to find,” Sarah taunted me over her shoulder, as she yanked on her puppet strings, “but it’s not too hard to make, as long as you know what weaknesses to leverage.”

“She’s brainwashed them!” I yelled to the others.

“More like indoctrinated,” Sarah corrected me, still manipulating the vortex. “They aren’t as obedient, or useful, as a Slayer or a warden, but they make delightful fodder for situations like this.”

She made a dismissive gesture with her free hand.

At the end of the bridge, three dragonkin went rigid, their eyes bugging from their skulls. In unison they reared back, sucking in huge lungfuls of air.

“Get back!” Gilly screamed, grabbing Annowan by the cape and forcefully hauling the demon away.

We scrambled as the three kinless let loose jets of deadly flames. Several of their kin, too slow or too wounded to get out of the way, were caught in the blast. They screamed as they were incinerated.

I tripped back, using my buckler to protect myself from the intense heat. Daggerdrag grabbed me and threw me behind her. The Mother Tree’s magic ran along her skin, protecting her from the attack as she got Thalie out of the way.

I helped the orcish maiden beat out the smoldering parts of her clothing, which had been blackened and burned by the attack.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

She nodded, touching her withered crown of flowers.

We both turned to Daggerdare, nodding our thanks.

Sarah watched all this, before turning back to the vortex. It shimmered and rippled, like a pond of tar, before it solidified, showing some other room on the other side of the aperture.

“This has been fun,” Sarah laughed, as she ushered the remaining kinless and her troops through the opening, ‘but I’ve got work to do. See you later,” she chuckled, “maybe.”

As she stepped through, the portal exploded, the unreality of the void rippling and sloshing towards us, like some impossible wave of pure anarchy.

“Back to the lift!” Annowan yelled.

Scrambling to my feet, I ran with Daggerdare, who was looking wane after saving our lives. Half carrying her, I ran as the stones behind us dissolved, the void expanding as it consumed the entrance hall. The stones fell away, tumbling into some endless abyss that yawned from below, or they simply ceased to exist, dissolving into nothingness.

I did not want any of us to experience the same fate.

We slammed into the lift car and Annowan got it moving. As we dropped, I saw the shaft’s walls waver, the unreality of the void eating away at their substance.

“Curator!” Annowan called, “we need to stop this!”

“Spatial stability is at twenty percent and dropping,” the Curator responded through the lift’s speaking box. “Permission to jettison compromised areas?”

“Granted,” she yelled.

The walls groaned and shifted around us. The top of the shaft was suddenly gone, a huge slab of stone moving over the gap, sealing it shut.

The chain that held the lift was suddenly severed.

Gilly, eyes wide, managed to give a startled gasp before we began to fall.

“Annie!” she screamed, “do something!”

The car tilted, and we were slammed against the bars.

The Library continued to shift and change around us, attempting to staunch the wounds the Bitch Goddess had inflicted. As we fell I saw other cars tumble down the shaft, even as new chains shot out to catch them.

“Curator!” Annowan screamed.

“Sixty percent complete,” it responded patiently.

Scrapple howled while Krencha did her best to hold onto her saddle.

And then we were slammed into the floor of the lift as a chain shot out and latched onto the top of the car.

“Eighty percent,” the Curator reported.

Groaning, I pushed Annowan’s armored bulk off my chest. “Everyone alive?”

Gilly coughed, “I think so.”

“I’m never going on a lift again,” Thalie declared.

Scrapple barked in agreement.

We paused after exiting the lift, to treat our wounds. I was happy to find that none of us had been poisoned.

The entire Library had shifted after the Bitch’s attack, the layout moving and changing as the Curator had sealed off the bleeding hole left by the infiltration. Nothing looked remotely familiar, and I felt like we were lost in some insane funhouse.

“So she’s mind-controlling them?” Annowan asked as Scrapple sniffed around a five-way intersection, trying to sort out which way we needed to go.

“Not exactly,” I answered, still thinking about what I had seen. “At least, not like she did to me, or Sarah. I think they can see the world around them for what it is, but she’s manipulating them, driving their thoughts the direction she wants them to go.”

“Sending a bunch of assassins on murderous rampages?” Krencha scoffed, “ That can’t be that hard.”

“She clearly promised revenge on the ruling council and the people of Dragon Port, for crimes either real or imagined,” Annowan said.

“The ruling council has used them as disposable tools and mindless weapons for centuries,” Gilly agreed dourly. “I doubt any of them have considered what would happen if their hired killers rose up against them. I bet the Bitch Goddess only had to whisper a few prime words into their ears and they leapt at the chance for revenge.”

We hadn’t heard a word from the Curator since it declared the Library’s spatial boundaries had been re-established. The speaking boxes returned nothing but hissing static.

Though it had said things were stable, I could still feel the Library’s magic shifting and settling around us, like a pile of debris at the bottom of a landslide.

“We need to find out what exactly happened,” Annowan kept insisting, though I noticed her usual bluster was gone, replaced by a brittle, broken attitude that insisted she hide the shaking in her hands. “Let’s find the reference desk and plan our next move.”

It was not an easy trip. As we tried to make our way back to the Curator, the hallways and rooms around us kept changing. We’d walk a few meters down a straight hall, then turn around to find an unknown staircase looming in our wake.

We’d also encounter passages that bent at a ninety-degree angle upwards or that twisted and looped like pieces of string. The air would be comfortable one second, then freezing cold or boiling hot the next, and the lights kept changing as well. The area would be brightly lit one second, and then completely dark the next. Or worse, and some strange shade would fall over the illumination, casting everything in otherworldly colors that left us disturbed and unsettled.

“I’m really starting to hate this place,” Gilly complained, as some indescribable color was cast over our surroundings.

“You okay?” I whispered to her, allowing the others to get a bit ahead.

“Would it be weird to say I’m actually worried about my family?” She shook her head. “At least about Junior and Peanut. If the kinless have betrayed the empire, they could be in danger.”

I hugged her, unable to think of any words of reassurance.

“This way,” Krencha called. Scrapple howled in agreement.

Daggerdare followed, eyes closed in concentration. “It’s difficult to tell, things are still moving, but it feels like the holly sprig is in this direction.” She pulled out her pouch of holly, which glowed with divine light. “I am glad I always have this with me. The contents of this pouch resonate with the holly sprig we nailed above the hearth.  It will help guide us true.”

I smiled. I’m so fortunate to have so many brilliant women in my life.

It took hours, with lots of back-tracking, climbing, and crawling, before we were finally able to return to the reference desk. The Curator was unresponsive; its arms were hanging limp and its head was sagging. Annowan issued several terse commands, but the thing refused to respond.

Looking at it with my ability, I informed her that the magic inside the thing was inert. “I could try plucking at it, to see if I can force it to restart, but the power driving it is so weak I’m afraid the whole spell would just snap.”

We discussed our options, but with the Library still shifting and changing around us, and with the Bitch on the loose somewhere in its confines, we agreed we needed the Curator’s aid.

“We’ll never find our way around this place without its help,” Thalie argued, as we tried to convince Annowan that we needed to wait.

The demon wanted to resupply and strike out immediately, but even Krencha said we needed to be patient.

“I’m as eager as you are to go out and crush some foes, but getting lost and starving to death in some stupid building seems like an awful end to our epic,” she said.

I noticed whatever was powering the Curator was slowly recharging, and I hoped that in a few hours it would be strong enough to start working again. Annowan finally relented, agreeing to wait for the next morning, before retreating to her mother’s suite. She went into what had once been Velka’s bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind her.

I shared a worried look with Gilly, but the dragonkin just shook her head. We had no idea what we could do or say to bring the demon back to her usual self.

With the holly sprig to protect us, we decided to all rest for the evening; there was nothing we could do until the Curator recharged. Filled with nervous energy and anxiety, I decided to cook dinner; I was surprised when Daggerdare offered to help.

“Not to be mean,” I told her, “but my understanding is that your cooking skills went as far as throwing things in a pot and calling it a stew.”

She gave me a vicious smile, “Considering your abilities, husband, are you sure you should be throwing around insults?”

Laughing, I asked Thalie to join us. Out of our group, she was the most skilled at cooking, so I watched and learned from her as the three of us prepared a large but simple meal using the supplies we had on hand. Scrapple was our official taste tester, and he happily approved our results.

It feels strange, just cooking a nice meal with the women I love, while the Bitch Goddess is nearby, likely plotting to destroy us, I thought as I simmered some broth. But at the same time, it's not like this is a unique situation for us. We’re constantly risking our lives, fighting to survive just one more day. We should take these opportunities when they arise and simply enjoy them for what they are.

Since we have no clue what tomorrow will bring.

The echoing grinding of stone rubbing against stone, and the groan of wooden beams and supports growing, changing, and rearranging themselves accompanied our meal.

“I wonder how long this is going to last?” I asked as I dipped a loaf of conjured bread into my soup.

Thalie formed a rune and another loaf of magical bread appeared, which she passed down the table. “It’s kind of like when we were in Coldspite Basin, waiting out the blizzard.”

“Except this is a storm of magic and building materials,” Gilly agreed sullenly. She glanced at the door to Velka’s bedroom, but it remained shut.

It remained unsaid, but we hoped the Bitch Goddess was just as hampered by the chaos as we were. Using the assassins’ blade as a focus, she could seemingly puncture any of the spatial barriers in the Library, giving her access to almost anywhere.

And there’s nothing we can do about it but be patient. Running in blind will just get us killed.

Reaching into my bags, I procured the board game that Thalie had carved during our last adventure. “I’m glad that we decided to bring this with us.”

Krencha was petting a sleepy Scrapple. “Mal, you’ve been on enough quests to know it’s separated into two parts. Long stretches of monotony and quiet interspersed with brief periods of glorious combat.”

“I’m surprised to hear you say something like that,” I admitted.

She shrugged, before reaching for the board. “I live for those fights, but I must admit, spending some quiet time with my family does have its appeal. Now pass me the black stones and let’s start a game.”

It was difficult to tell the time in the confines of the Library, there were no windows, no way to keep in touch with the outside world. Gilly had a watch on her, but when she told us the hour, I found it difficult to believe her. Time seemed to go by in uneven starts and stops.

Thalie was the first to retire, heading off to bed, while Krencha and Gilly stayed by the game board. The two had come up with some new rules for the game and they were on their fifth rematch.

Daggerdare retreated to one of the outer rooms, and I followed her, still feeling some shock at having seen Sarah again.

The Bitch likes taunting me by constantly putting her in my path. I knew I might have to kill her if it came to it, but I had no idea if I could carry that resolution through when the time came. I still loved her, despite everything that had happened.

I found the treespeaker in the Curator’s room, gazing down the hallway that connected to the rest of the Library. As she watched, the walls and floors continued to shift and change, bending and twisting like a living thing.

“I hate this place,” she said as I sat on the carpet next to her.

I leaned into her, suddenly needing her strength, her solidness. “I’m not a big fan either. The magic of it makes me feel like I’m on a ship in a storm.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Have you ever been on a ship?”

“No,” I admitted, “but I read about it in school. I wasn’t big on lessons or learning, but I always enjoyed hearing a new story or tale.”

“Can you tell me about it?” she asked. “Your life, growing up? I’ve heard you speak of it to Gilly and the others, but I want to know more about your life.”

I reached out and took her hand into my own, twinning my fingers around hers. Then I began to talk, just telling her about growing up in The City. As I talked, I couldn’t help but tell her about Sarah; she had been my only friend, the only person who had cared about me and believed that I had some value. So I told Daggerdare about our lives together, and the day we had been drawn apart.

My mouth felt like dust when I finally finished. I didn’t repeat the tale of what had happened once I had been dragged to the Bitch’s palace or my horrifying transformation into a Slayer. She hadn’t heard that part yet, but I didn’t think I had the heart to tell it at that point.

She sat in silence for a bit as we watched the floorboards shift and move, like stiff waves lapping at the shore.

Finally, she said, “When you told me before, that you had aspired to be lazy and do nothing, I thought you were mad.”

“And now?”

“I cannot say I would have taken the same path as you, but I can understand your decision. Growing up, I knew I would be a treespeaker, that I would be destined to be a leader and a warrior for my people. My family encouraged me, helped me, and supported me when I stumbled. I cannot imagine achieving anything I have done without them.” She gave a low laugh. “There is a saying amongst the elders of my village, that even the mightiest oak can only grow when its roots can sink deep and hold its weight.”

I pondered this for a bit, “Seems kind of trite, honestly.”

“Maybe,” she agreed, “but I think it’s still true.”

She got up, dragging me with her.

“Heading off to bed?” I asked her.

She smiled again, winding a hand around my hip. “I think not yet. You once again managed to impress me, and you know how that affects me.”

“Hot and horney?” I laughed.

She tugged me towards the nearest guest room. “It takes a strong person to see the dismal conditions of their life and resolve to change them. You only had one soul who supported you, and she was torn away by the cruel machinations of the Betrayer. Most would have simply given up and died. You could have let Annowan kill you when you first met her, but instead, you have gone on to defy your origins and done amazing things.”

“Only because of you and the others,” I told her.

She pinched my hip, her fingers digging into my skin. “Did you even listen? As I said, it's only with the support of others that greatness can be achieved.” She opened the door and confirmed the room was under the protection of the holly.  Better, the bed was still there.

“Now let us do some amazing things,” she said as she pushed me onto the bed.

I ran my hands over her leathers; I could never get enough of the feeling of her muscles under the thick, flexible material. Removing her armor, I took my time caressing her leather-clad figure, loving the sensation. Running up the outside of her thighs, I pulled her onto my lap as I traced up and over her spine and to the nape of her neck.

She bent her head down to kiss me, her tongue darting into my mouth as she draped her hands over my shoulders. As we kissed, she tugged off my armor, then pulled at my undershirt.

“I'm glad you have not gone soft during your recovery,” she said wickedly, as she undressed me.

Carefully, she ran her palms over my chest and arms, admiring my still-developing muscles.

I thumped my cast against the floor. “I wouldn’t let something like a crippling injury slow me down?”

“You might have grown up lazy, but the crucible of life has revealed the hardwood at your core,” she murmured, as she reached up and ran her fingers through my hair.

The press of her body and the warmth of her breath quickly got another part of me hard. I reached down and fumbled with my trousers, pulling them away to reveal my straining member.

Daggerdare rolled forward, sandwiching my cock between us, rubbing it against the leather of her pants. Each stroke was heavenly, and she drank in my hissed breaths.

She continued to repeat this motion as we kissed again, my hands slipping under her top to tug at the scars that covered her shoulders and back.

Growing more insistent, I pulled off her top, marveling at her toned, feminine form. Resting my hands on her hips, I then tugged down her pants, revealing the slick beauty hidden underneath. Resuming her position, Daggerdare continued to grind against my cock, taunting me with her moist lips, while I began licking, nibbling, and tugging at her nipples.

She groaned in satisfaction as I took one tit into my mouth, rolling it along my teeth.

I continued to venerate her breasts as Daggerdare took my cock in hand, lining it up with her entrance. She shifted her hips, dragging my glans against her swollen lips, before finally allowing me entrance. She moved slowly, taking her time and enjoying the sensation as much as I did.

Only when she bottomed out did she draw my mouth away from her chest, tugging my chin so I could look her in the eye.

“You have come so far,” she whispered, flexing her abominable muscles, causing me to wince in pleasure. “But we have so far yet to go. We will destroy the Betrayer and rescue that girl. Together, you and I, Gilly, Thalie, Krencha,” she smiled, “and maybe even Annowan, we will join together to reshape this world.’

She ground her hips into mine, and all words were lost. All that remained were our bodies, moving in wonderful unison towards a singular, perfect goal. She writhed against me, my cock pressed tight by her passage. Each time she shifted her hips upward I was dragged against her channel, delighting in her every contour and wrinkle. She’d then slam down, hammering each of those details into my eager flesh. The flared end of my cock caught on each one of them, sending jolts of ecstasy through my entire body.

My head swam with it, and all I could do was drink in her taste, breathe in her scent, and fill my world with her beauty. Her skin was covered with sweat as she rode me as hard as possible.

I reached up and ran my fingers through her braids, which slapped against her skin each time she struck home.

“Daggerdare,” I whispered, holding onto her tight, repeating her name over and over again as my world became only her.

“Yes, husband,” she said, grinning, even as she twisted her hips, sending another bolt of pleasure directly into my brain.

“If we keep this up, I think you might make a hero out of me yet,” I panted, my cock buried in her core, twitching and eager for release.

“All in good time,” she said, as she placed her hands upon my shoulder. “For now, let us simply enjoy what the Mother Tree has granted us. We make love tonight, for tomorrow we water Her roots with the Betrayer’s blood.”

“Bloodshed and sex,” I laughed, “I should have seen this coming when I married you.”

She kissed me roughly, her teeth biting my lips, as she pushed me back to lay against the narrow bed.

She sat back up, putting my hands over hers; she led my hand across her stomach and over her magnificent breasts, till my fingertips rested against her heart, which was beating fiercely against her ribs.

Keeping my hands there, she began to ride me again. Her heartbeat matched each rise and fall of her hips, and I felt my own heart take up the rhythm as the two of us truly became one.

“Amazing things,” she repeated, as her head rolled back, her first orgasms shivering up her spine.

I gave her two more as I struggled to hold myself together, to keep our heartbeats in sync, to stay in that blessed moment. But it was simply too much, too perfect, to last forever. With a snarled gasp, I came, Daggerdare grinding and pressing herself into me as I reached the summit and fell off its edge.

She milked me for all I was worth, riding her way down the mountain we had ascended. Only when we were both at the base, broken and exhausted, did she release me, my cock slipping free of her pussy. She sat up against the wall and stroked the skin along my chest, her fingers tapping out the staccato beat of my heart.

Chapter 17

We found Annowan standing in front of the Curator the next morning. The thing was twitching and shaking, and small hisses of steam were escaping from the seams along its metallic body.

“I think it's trying to wake up,” I murmured, watching its machine-like magic sluggishly come to life.

The steam bursts built up, and under the floorboards, we could hear the groan of gears, pulleys, and flywheels starting to move. The Curator raised its head slowly as if waking from a bad dream.

“What is the status of the Library?” Annowan demanded.

“Library spatial magic compromised,” the thing stuttered, its words coming out at an uneven chop. “Several wings have been jettisoned; the biological, gemological, petrological, and paleontological wings have been confirmed destroyed, their areas collapsed by the intrusion.”

“What about the botanical wing?” the elf asked.

“Intact, Administrator Daggerdare,” the Curator responded. “The wings dedicated to magical artifacts, human history, demon history, dwarven history, dragonkin --”

“Where are the intruders?” the demon knight interrupted.

“Unknown. I was able to detect their initial breach of the Library’s borders, but since then they have not appeared in any areas where I currently maintain oversight.”

Gilly huffed. “And how many areas are you able to see right now?”

“Twenty-two percent,” it answered. “Almost all my functions, including golem management, catalog management, and stasis control are offline.”

“What about the self-destruct?” I asked.

“Unknown,” it responded. “Before the breach, I detected several unusual power spikes coming from the Lament of Heaven. Likely, the failsafe is still locked into its original countdown and preparing to implode.”

I groaned, “Which gives us --”

“Thirty-two hours, seventeen minutes, based upon early estimates,” it replied. “Though it is possible, with the most recent instability, that the countdown has sped up.”

Thalie looked wan. “Can’t we stop it from here?”

“Negative,” the Curator said. “The failsafe can only be reset in the artifact’s chamber.”

“Guess we know where we need to go next then,” I rubbed my face with my hands. “How do we get there?”

The Library’s layout seemed to have stabilized, at least around the reference desk. As we cautiously made our way out towards the central hub, I was relieved to see that the rooms and hallways were not moving or changing around us.

But the metamorphosis the Library had undergone was drastic. Before, the place had been convoluted and difficult to navigate. But after the Bitch’s intrusion and the madness it had unleashed, the architecture had become surreal. Walls curved and bent at impossible angles, and sections of the floor would suddenly give way, dropping into lower chambers or vertical shafts. Balconies hung lopsidedly, blocking hallways, while doors periodically appeared, opening into blank voids.

“This is really fucking weird,” I said as I leaned on a doorframe, waving my hands into the impossible nothingness beyond.

“Mal, would you stop messing with the primordial sea of chaos that underpins all of reality?” Gilly groused. “If you fall in, we’re not fishing you out.”

Sighing, I shut the door. “If I had known marriage would be this restrictive, I’d still be living that sweet bachelor life.”

Laughing, she kissed me on the brow, “Liar.”

“If you two are done being cute,” Annowan hissed, “we need to find the stairwell with the magenta railings.”

The Curator’s directions had been less than stellar, mainly because north or south had no meaning in the Library. Neither did up or down, left or right, after the catastrophic events of the day before. Space inside the building had been warped and buckled. Often, we found ourselves exiting one room and re-entering it again at the opposite side, or walking down a hall and taking a corkscrew turn to find ourselves back in the same intersection we had crossed minutes before.

We could only hope to find the route to the Lament of Heaven by looking for landmarks. Thus far we had passed the statue of the demon orator Pheryn Gax, a library room of nothing but recipe books, and a huge chandelier made out of sea monster’s teeth.

There had been no sign of the Bitch or her forces, but we knew they were out there. We watched every looming shadow and checked around every corner.

Thalie was just calling out that she had found the magenta stairwell when we heard a loud cry from below. As we rushed to join her, a wave of golems crashed up from below. They were being chased by some horrifying creature.

Pushing her back, I raised my buckler and took the brunt of the hit as the automatons slammed into us. Even as they were fleeing the crazed things still tried to take a chunk out of us, nibbling and clawing as they swarmed over and past us.

Krencha stopped their retreat, using Scrapple’s immense bulk and the cramped confines of the passage to smash and trample them.

Daggerdare and Annowan drew up to the top of the stairs with me while Gilly ran to the railing and drew her bow.

The thing below was all black tentacles and white teeth, like some kind of horror that you’d only glimpse in nightmares. Corrupted magic poured from its mouths, which instantly began to rot the wood and blacken the stone of the stairwell.

It thrashed about, smashing the few golems not fast enough to escape it. The tendrils fed a few into its mouths, but it found the clay unappetizing. Angrily, it hurled their corpses aside and slithered up the treads towards us.

We were forced to retreat when the monstrosity surged upwards, snapping its fangs. Annowan hurled a black fireball into the thing’s gullet, buying us a moment to position ourselves. But as we tried to get ready, more tentacles slammed up through the floorboards.

The whole building heaved, and I could almost sense the thing’s mass, seething up from below.

“What the fuck is this thing?” I yelled as I battered away from one of its mouths, which had gone nipping at my head.

“Does it matter?” Annowan slashed with her blade, which was infused with balefire.

The thing screamed in agony and yanked back the burnt nubs left in the demon’s wake.

Gilly sunk arrows into the countless maws while Daggerdare and Thalie hacked and chopped at its limbs, leaving the floor slick with odious slime.

Pushing myself up next to Scrapple, I asked him and Krencha to watch my back as I focused on my ability. Reaching out, I grabbed at the befouled magic rushing from the creature’s mouths, seizing it and brutally pulling it apart as it left its throats.

The thing squealed again, a chorus of agony, and it retreated, slipping back under the floorboards. We only had a small warning, the wood cracking and breaking, before the entire stairwell and landing gave way.

Scrapple bit into my collar and dragged me out of the way just as the whole area collapsed.

“Everyone okay?” Annowan called.

I kicked up to my feet, peering at the hole. Several stories down I caught the last of the tentacle’s bulk as it slithered away, disappearing down a shadowy passage.

Thalie looked distastefully at the slime and black gore staining the pennants on her halberd. She took out a piece of cloth and began cleaning them. “Did that thing escape the biological wing?”

“Maybe,” Annowan gazed down the hole.

Daggerdare said darkly, “Or the Betrayer released it to harry us.”

“Whatever it was, it was full of her corrupted magic,” I told the others.

Gilly went around treating our minor injuries while Scrapple and Krencha bounded down the ruined stairwell, trying to find an alternate path.

“Think I see a vertical hallway over here,” she called. “Tie up some rope and you should be able to climb down.”

“Once this is over, I am going to spend a long, long time outdoors,” the dragonkin said, “preferably somewhere tropical and warm, with plenty of sunshine, sandy beaches, and drinks.”

“And a nice garden,” Thalie added.

Daggerdare snorted, “if it has some trees and some fresh air, I would welcome such an excursion.”

“It’s official,” I told Annowan, “we’re going to need a vacation after this.”

The demon did not laugh at our joke.

Climbing down, we found the halls had been devastated by the tentacled horror. The carpets were soggy with its slimy residue, and the thing had torn up walls and floors while hunting the golem pack. We quickly gave up on the landmarks the Curator had told us to look for since everything around us had been befouled or destroyed.

“Malory,” Annowan called, “can you try and find the Lament of Heaven with your ability? Based on our route so far we should be close. Point us towards the largest source of magic you can sense.”

The magic of the Library laid in broken heaps around me. I could feel the spatial barriers straining to hold together, even as its contents twisted and melded into unstable formations. Pushing past this noise, I focused on the strongest source of magic I could sense.

It throbbed, like a festering, aching wound, like the grinding pain of starvation. I knew it would eat everything and anything it could just to end its pain for a mere moment.

“I got it,” I said, feeling slightly nauseous from even brushing my senses against the thing. “But whatever it is, it has nothing to do with heaven, or even anything good. Whatever it is, it’s hungry.”

Annowan frowned. “Do you think it's the source of the magic that sent the golems on their rampage?”

“It has the same feel,” I nodded. “You said it was part of a dead god? What kind of god?”

“I’m afraid we’ll find out,” the demon said. “Malory, take the lead. We all need to be on guard, so proceed carefully.”

As we sunk deeper and deeper into the Library’s winding guts, I felt like we were slowly making our way down the digestive tract of some horrible beast. The place groaned and shook around us, like a living thing, and steadily I could feel the Lament of Heaven getting closer, like we were approaching some terrible, beating heart.

“Mal, are you okay?” Krencha reached out and handed me a canteen.

I took a sip, then handed it back. “Yeah, just feeling a bit sick. Whatever we’re approaching, it's screwing with my ability.”

We were resting in some kind of warped ballroom, the floor and ceiling having switched places. Crystal chandeliers lay in regularly spaced heaps, and the lanterns on the wall all had their glowing wicks pointed downward. We had quickly learned to avoid looking too closely at the mirrors hanging on the walls; peering at them too long convinced us that shadowy figures were dancing on the parquet floor.

The dragoon frowned, then reached down to pet a whining Scrapple. The mole-dog looked about as good as I did; he had his muzzle buried under his paws.

“Scrapple doesn’t like it either,” she said in a low voice. “He’s saying the same thing you are. I have half a mind to just smash the cursed thing once we find it.”

“Probably not a terrible idea,” I agreed.

Annowan paced near the entrance to the room. She looked haggard, and a disturbing determination burned in her eyes. Thalie tried to approach her, to convince her to sit down and rest, but the demon just shook off the suggestion.

Retreating, the orc took a seat next to us. “I’m really worried about Her Ladyship,” she confessed. “She’s not acting like herself.”

“I would argue she’s acting far too much like herself,” Krencha sighed. “That stick up her ass has sprouted into an entire forest. She’s determined to fix whatever is wrong with this place, and by her own hand.”

“Responsibility is a heavy burden,” Daggerdare intoned, “especially for those who feel it too keenly.”

Gilly said nothing.

Reaching over, I squeezed her hand. “After this is all over, let’s try talking to her, all of us, together. We need to get her to see that we’re all here to support her --”

“I’m just here for glory,” Krencha snorted.

I rolled my eyes, “Okay, we’re here for glory and to help Annowan. She knows we all share the same goal, we all want the same thing, but I still think she places the entire weight of that on herself.”

“This place is bad for her,” the dragonkin whispered. “Surrounded by her mother’s failures, I think it’s just compounding whatever darkness has taken up residence in her head, making it worse.”

Nodding, I continued to hold her. “I’m starting to think we should just kick off the self-destruct again, once we’re done with this place.”

“Cathartic healing via arcane annihilation,” she laughed, squeezing my hand back, “I like it.”

Leaving the ballroom, we continued downward, the floors sloping and drooping at points. Several times we had to navigate stairwells that would have been impossible under the normal rules of physics; they spiraled on uneven treads, sometimes splitting, sometimes merging in nonsensical layouts.

“Whatever is wrong with this place, it’s getting worse the closer we get to the center,” Krencha said as she coached Scrapple down a series of steps that were nearly a meter tall each.

“I think the Lament of Heaven is leaking,” I confirmed, as I refocused my senses. “Its magic has only been getting stronger since the attack on the botanical wing. It’s hungry, and it’s getting hungrier.”

I began to notice this power affecting our surroundings. The stones became grimy and brittle. They tended to chip and break at the slightest bump. Corners became sharper, ceilings lower, and more and more I felt the Lament’s power press on us, drawing us forward.

The few magical artifacts we found were completely drained, rendered into nothing but inert bits of stone, wood, ivory, and dun gems. I could only sense the barest wisps of magic stuck to their surfaces. The Lament of Heaven had lashed out and sucked them dry, their power consumed to feed its unending hunger.

We were forced to crawl on our hands and knees, the bulk of the Library pressed tight against us as we finally reached our goal and broke into the heart of the place.

Emerging from the crawlspace, we found ourselves in a huge, egg-shaped room. The Library warped and bled around us; wooden floorboards, carved banisters, stone statuary, rotten tapestries, and glass display cases had all blended together to form the oval chamber. The floor bowed around us, while the walls swept up to form a narrow, domed ceiling.

As I stumbled to my feet, I gazed up at the brown, sandstone object hovering in the center of the room.

It was some kind of puzzle, built from interlocking shapes that clasped onto one another, forming a protective shell. The fit between the pieces wasn’t perfect, and a terrible, overwhelming bright, white light leaked out from within.

Magic, burning and consuming, swirled out of the cracks, demanding attention, worship, and praise.

As before, I spread out my ability, breaking the magic as it got close to us, shielding us from the worst of its effects. Just the same, I felt a burning need to kneel, to prostrate myself before that terrible thing.

“What is it?” Thalie breathed, using her hands to shield her eyes as she squinted upward.

“Greed,” I breathed, pushing back against it. “It simply wants.”

“The Lament of Heaven is the light we’re seeing, the outer stone shell is part of the failsafe my mother constructed to contain it and siphon off its power,” the demon explained. “As for the artifact itself? As Malory said, it wants everything. It demands obedience, it wants all of us to worship it, to feed it, to belong to it, body and soul.”

“You can feel it too?” I asked.

She frowned as she gazed upon it. “The Throne is similar, it is authority made manifest. But it never makes demands. You have to volunteer, to freely take the burden of its power.”

Before I could ask what she meant, she started marching towards the bottom of the room. “There should be a control panel nearby. Once we restart the system, hopefully, that should contain its power.”

There was a brass contraption at the bottom of the room. Approaching it, I saw there were a bunch of valves, buttons, and levers strewn across its surface.

Reaching into her belt, Annowan produced a piece of paper covered in her scrawled notes. “The Curator gave me the sequence needed to restart the failsafe, which should also deactivate the self-destruct system. Watch my back while I run through it, I can’t afford to stop once I start.”

We watched as she ran through the note again, then began manipulating the controls. Above, the stones surrounding the Lament of Heaven rocked and swayed, exposing even more of the terrible light.

“We’ve got trouble!”

Turning, I saw Gilly point towards a distant part of the room. Something was hammering at the other side of the wall, splintering the wood and breaking the weak stone. I saw several huge, sawtoothed cleavers smash through the material, before a group of heavily armed figures swarmed through the opening.

“Slayers!” Gilly strung her bow and launched an arrow.

She caught the lead Slayer in the gut. He doubled over in pain, but then I saw brutal magic whip at his mind. Screaming, he straightened up and charged, heedless of his bleeding wound.

“Go, kill!” Sarah called, as she goaded them from behind. “Get them away from the fragment!”

Shifting, we formed a defensive perimeter around Annowan. She turned to look over her shoulder, clearly eager to join us, but I waved to her. “Finish it!”

The Slayers, sent into a mindless frenzy, charged into us, screaming and frothing at the mouth.

I raised my buckler and blocked the blow the first Slayer sent my way, catching his blade on the edge of my shield. Twisting, I knocked him off balance long enough for Daggerdare to sweep in from his left and bury her axes into his side, shearing through his armor. He gurgled as he fell, and I kicked his body out of the way to make room to fight.

I can’t reach them, I fumed, as I used my ability to pluck at the Bitch’s control, but she was too close. Her proximity gave her supreme control over her puppets, leaving me no gaps to exploit.

With a gesture, she sent five more Slayers my way, all of them screaming her unholy prayers.

Thalie stepped toward, swinging her halberd in a low sweep that tripped two of them, leaving them as easy prey. She spun with the movement, raising the blade high, before cleaving it down.

She slashed through the third Slayer, blood splashing across the mismatched floor.

The two remaining madmen hammered into me. I felt a blow rake across my ribs, the leather armor shredding at the strike. I did what I could to roll with the impact even as I brought the face of my buckler across the man’s head.

Spinning, I nearly stumbled on my broken foot, but Daggerdare caught me. She struck down the dazed Slayer I had checked with my buckler. Gilly’s arrows caught the last one, hammering arrows through the gaps in her armor.

“It’s hard to get good Slayers anymore,” Sarah lamented as she stood at the breach.“I’ve already used up all the criminals, malcontents, and rabble-rousers the City had to offer. Now they’re just bringing me regular people, it’s kind of sad.”

“They’re not yours to play with!” I screamed at her. “None of us are!”

She just laughed. I noticed the assassin’s sword she’d turned into a magical focus was slung across her back, while her silver rapier was sheathed at her hip.

“Malory, you just refuse to see the truth,” she said with utter conviction.

More Slayers, backed by wardens, necrotic angels, and kinless assassins entered the room. They formed up, and I knew we were outnumbered ten to one.

Krencha rose in her stirrups, her mace held high. “You want this stupid thing? Then come, try and take it, you’ll find only death waiting for you!”

Chapter 18

The Slayers and wardens ran towards us; the Slayers raised their butcher’s blades while the wardens charged in orderly ranks behind, spears and shields in hand. Necrotic angels swept overhead.

Raising my buckler, I sprinted into their ranks.

Scrapple and Krencha were our vanguards. The mole-dog’s heavy armor protected him from the worst of the blows, and his dragoon took full advantage of this, using him as a living battering ram.

I was right behind them, exploiting the gap they’d left in the enemy’s formation. My pick smashed down, breaking bones and cracking skulls, doing everything I could to incapacitate the Slayers and wardens before they could recover. But the Bitch drove them relentlessly, commanding them to keep fighting even through mortal wounds.

I found myself in a duel against her, doing what I could to ward off her mind control. Threads of barbed, golden magic few above the melee, trying to snatch my wives. Twice I threw off her spells before she could dominate Thalie or Gilly.

“I won’t let you do that!” I screamed at her.

But I knew her mental attacks were nothing more than distractions, feints meant to keep me busy, to give her more time to reach her main goal.

Abandoning her role as puppet master, the Bitch sprinted past the front line of the fight and ran towards Annowan, who was still feverishly trying to bring the Lament of Heaven under control. The stone shell spun and whirled, finding new configurations as the demon tried to restart the failsafe.

Daggerdare, roaring in fury, slaughtered her way towards Sarah, hacking apart anyone foolish enough to get in her path. Sarah dispatched more wardens to block her, but the treespeaker was unstoppable.

“Betrayer!” She leapt through the air, bringing both her axes down in a lethal arc.

Sarah’s silver sword appeared from its sheath like magic, blocking the blow at the last moment.

“I’m busy,” she spat, as she parried the attack, forcing Daggerdare back.

But the elf was relentless. She came at her again, attacking like a whirlwind as she used the Mother Tree’s magic to give her unnatural speed. Sarah reposed, dodged, or countered each attack, swaying like a willow tree in a storm.

Moving low, Daggerdare swung upward, trying to catch Sarah across the chest. But the Bitch moved out of the way at just the right moment, leaving Daggerdare exposed and off-balance.

“Daggerdare!” I screamed as I tried to fight my way to them.

Smiling sweetly, Sarah jabbed her blade forward, aiming at Daggerdare’s heart.

And then Annowan completed her task and the shell around the Lament snapped shut, sending the entire room into utter darkness. Sarah shouted in pain and frustration.

Kicking a disoriented warden out of my way, I ran towards Daggerdare.

As I did, the light from the core reignited, flooding the room with unstable magic. The floors and walls of the chamber groaned as they began to swirl and change, moving into some new, unstable formation.

The floor gave way underneath me before I could reach Daggerdare. Distantly, I heard Annowan yelling and Thalie screaming.

A dark opening yawned beneath me and I fell.

I was falling.

I was flying.

A sky of stone and wood soared close by, looming in and out of the darkness. The wind whipped by my face, and magic crashed against my senses till I was dizzy. There was no way to tell which way was up or down. I could have been plummeting up to heaven or soaring down into hell.

When the ground finally arrived, it slipped under me softly, like I was landing on a cloud.

Peering around, I could see nothing, not even my hand in front of my face or what I was standing on. But I could hear whispers, like a million voices spread throughout the darkness. They prayed, they screamed, they wept, and they laughed, their voices all mixed into a senseless cacophony.

“Daggerdare!” I shouted, “Gilly, Thalie, Krencha! Where are you?”

“Mal?”

Spinning around, I saw Sarah, standing like she was under a spotlight. She was wearing the same simple set of white robes I had last seen her in, on that fateful night we had spent together before my exile. Her hair had grown back, and her face was unmarred.

I took a step back, “You won’t trick me again, you bitch.”

“Mal?” Fear and worry spread across her innocent face. “Where are we, what’s going on?”

I held my breath, unsure of what to say, what to think. It’s probably just a trick again, or the Bitch is just temporarily giving Sarah control back to taunt me.

“Mal?” she stepped closer, her small footsteps somehow bounding the vast gulf between us. “What happened? I don’t know where I am. The Goddess rides me harder and harder, and each time I open my eyes, I find myself in some new, terrible place.”

She cried, tears glimmering in her eyes. “I love her, I’d do anything for her, but I don’t know how I can keep this up! Please, tell me what’s happening?”

“They always get this way, in the end,” the Bitch sighed, as she stepped into view, appearing out of the darkness. “At first they welcome my blessing, freely giving themselves to be my vessel, so I might walk the world free once more.”

“Goddess!” Sarah threw herself down at the Bitch’s feet.

She was still wearing Sarah’s body, as I had seen her in the Library, complete with the shorn hair and mask. Seeing the two of them together, an impossible sight, was almost too much.

“What the fuck?” I uttered.

The Bitch turned her head, looking at the impenetrable gloom around us, listening to the multitude of voices. She then grinned at me. “Looks like we somehow got pulled into the same headspace.” She held out her arms, “Welcome, Malory, to the inner workings of a god!”

As she spread her arms, the gloom pulled back, and I saw there was more than just the three of us present. Countless souls filled the air, screaming and wailing as they melted and merged into an endless sea of spirits.

Sarah cried out and began praying even louder.

I thought I was going to be sick. “What is all this?”

“The souls of all those who believed in me, worshipped me, and sacrificed themselves for my glory,” the Bitch smiled. “Each of them willingly gave their lives to me, and they nourish me and give me power in this traitorous world.”

Sarah, openly weeping, crawled to the Bitch’s feet, rubbing her face against her boots. “I’m sorry, Goddess, I’m sorry. It’s all too much!”

“Sarah!” I dashed forward and grabbed her, pulling her away.

Lashing out, I tried to use my ability on the spirits, trying to find some way to free them. But nothing happened, my spellbreaker power refused to respond.

The Bitch rolled her eyes. “Give it a rest, Malory, she’s not really here. Neither are you. Something in the Library is causing our wires to cross, giving us this fun little chance to talk.”

“Talk?” I spat, “you're trying to kill me and the women I love!”

“Well, that’s your own damn fault,” she countered easily. “My rules are simple. Everything belongs to me. This world, the people in it, they’re all mine. If you break the rules, if you refuse to be mine, you must be destroyed.” She gave me a razor-sharp smile, “If you just surrender yourself, mind, body, and soul to me, all will be forgiven.”

I held Sarah, still weeping, against my side, “Never!”

The sea around us became turbulent, and I could feel a tremble running through the ground.

“Looks like our pleasant chat is ending,” the Bitch said.

“Sarah!” I called out to her, even as she began to fade. “Hold on, I will come and save you, I promise!”

“Mal?” She looked at me with blank, empty eyes. “Mal, where are you? The Goddess is always here, always inside of me. It hurts, Mal, why won’t it --”

I was startled awake, shooting up from the hard, marble floor I had been lying on.

Looking about in confusion, I saw I was on some kind of balcony above a shadowy atrium. Rising from the ground floor was a huge fruit tree, with bark of black, glittering glass. Crystalline apples, the color of dull jade, hung from its leafless branches.

“Funny seeing you again so soon.”

Looking across the way, at the opposite balcony, I saw the Bitch leaning against the railing, leering at me from behind her mask.

She gestured towards the tree. “Velka really did have some weird stuff hidden away in here. I had no idea these kinds of things still existed anymore.”

“What is it?” I said, my hand already reaching down for my pick and shield, which laid at my feet.

“It’s a spirit fruit tree,” she answered. She spoke in an easy, casual tone, but her eyes were trained on me like a viper’s. “They grew on some remote world, before the catastrophic event that created Amalgam. They were used in religious ceremonies by that world’s denizens. Supposedly, the people getting married would shatter one the night before the ceremony, creating a spiritual bond between them.”

“And how do you know this?” I asked as my hand found the grip of the pick.

“Cause I’m a god,” she laughed.

Surging back up, I looked towards my left and my right, to see if there was a way to cross the atrium and reach her. I saw nothing.

I heard the Bitch chanting under her breath. Focusing back on her, I acted just in time to snap off the Lightning Bolt spell she was sending my way.

“Figured I’d try,” she said as she leaned against the baluster again. “I’m not going to lie, I’m not actually sure I want to kill you yet, Malory. Every time I get bored with you, you do something to pique my interest again.”

I growled in frustration; I snapped my ability at her. I knew I couldn’t destroy her control over Sarah, but I could put a dent in her plans.

She danced back from the attack, thinking I was striking towards her. I took that opening to seize upon the assassin’s sword strapped to her back, snapping the foul magic that had allowed her to breach the library.

She laughed as she regained her balance. Slowly, she pulled the sword off, the metal left corroded and blackened by my assault. “I don’t really need this anymore, you know? Still, good effort.”

Cursing, I watched her toss the ruined weapon away.

“See, this is why I’m tempted to keep you around for a bit longer. Sure you fuck up my plans and generally act like a self-righteous prick, but you do manage to entertain me once and a while.”

“I don’t live for your amusement,” I countered.

“Sure you do,” she waved languidly. “Everything exists for me.” She stood up straight with a groan, stretched her shoulders and neck, and then surveyed the area. “I should be going then. I still need to kill that poor excuse for a demon you follow, maybe I’ll torture the others first. That elf seems awfully sure of herself, and I’m afraid she’s a bad influence on you.”

“We will stop you!” I yelled.

“Sure, whatever you want to tell yourself.” The Bitch reached for the tree and plucked one of the fruits. She breathed into it, exhaling magic across its stony surface before she tossed it towards me.

Fumbling, I barely managed to reach out and catch it.

“Consider that a gift,” she said, laughing, “once again proving how benevolent I truly am. It’ll allow you to talk to me whenever you want.”

I was tempted to just throw it as far away as possible.

“Remember, Sarah is part of me as well,” the Bitch said, as she stepped through a nearby doorway. “If you really want to talk to her again, keep that safe.”

Chuckling, she left me alone in the gloomy atrium, with only my anger to keep me company.

Tucking the stone spirit fruit into my pocket, I explored my side of the room, discovering several doorways. Some were locked and refused to open, even with my administrative privilege. Others opened into blank walls, yawning chasms, or in one instance an upside-down bathroom.

By that point, I was sick with dread. I had no idea where Annowan or my wives were, or if they were even alright. The Library had shifted so suddenly and so violently again, I had no idea where any of them could have ended up.

I passed a couple of the speaking boxes, but when I tried to raise the Curator all I got back was a looping message. “System failure, the Goddess has risen. System failure, the Goddess has risen, System failure --”

Frustrated, I kept walking, but the atrium seemed to go on forever. Looking down, I saw the ground below was covered in strange-looking shrubberies that had rubbery red leaves and orange sap that pooled by their roots. The air reeked of cinnamon and sulfur.

Am I back in the botanical wing? I wondered as I searched. But this doesn’t look anything like the wing we saw before.

Closing my eyes, I raised my ability again, sending my senses spiraling outward, looking for any signs of familiar magic. Distantly, on the other side of the atrium, I felt the harsh pull of the Bitch’s magic, demanding obedience and control.

Searching further, I tried to feel for signs of Daggerdare’s green, vital magic, the pulse of her Mother Tree. I also tried to detect Thalie’s plant magic or Gilly’s healing runes, but I came up blank. There was so much interference, so much arcane chaos from the Library’s unsteady configuration, that it was like looking for a few grains of sand on an entire beach.

I was about to give up when my senses flinched back from a huge burst of unearthly power.

It burned with superheated flames that left no ashes and shook with thunder that flashed black instead of white. Behind it, was the terrifying shape of power and authority made manifest.

“Annowan!” I called, turning and dashing towards the source of magic.

I kept my ability focused on the surges of balemagic snapping off ahead of me as I ran. I couldn’t tell how far away they were, but I could at least sense Annowan was in danger. She was casting spells at a furious pace, indicating she was beset by many foes.

Barely keeping my balance through hallways that twisted like a corkscrew, I slammed through a door and found myself in another book room. Most of the shelves had collapsed, bringing each other down till they all laid in heaps. Annowan was at the top of the wreckage, balefire streaming around her as she hacked away at a pack of shadowy creatures.

“Annowan!” I was on a balcony above the room. Seeing no good way down, I hurtled over the railing and rolled as I hit, doing everything I could to keep from landing on my broken foot.

It hurt like hell anyway.

Limping to my feet, I ran towards her, even as I snapped out at her opponents with my ability. Their magic was ephemeral and weak, like shadows stretched over moonlight, but there were a lot of them.

“Mal?” The demon knight sent a wave of balethunder across the room, the shadowy creatures bursting from the slightest contact, exploding into motes of darkness. But for each one she slew, even more winked into shadowy existence.

“They’re not real!” I panted, as I joined her, raising my weapons to help guard her back. “They’re not real, they’re some kind of spirits, they don’t have bodies.”

Annowan raised her arm, revealing a brace covered in frost. “They might not be real, but their bite still hurts, like they’re trying to pull all the warmth out of you.”

I lashed out at the nearest shadow beast, which had made itself resemble a spider cobbled together from cobwebs and darkness. The magic holding it together was simple; the things were meant to hunt heat and warmth, extinguishing them.

Reaching out, I snapped the spell, and the black monster dissolved. But even as I did, I felt something below react. As I watched, something buried under the shelves pulled at the shadows in the room, tugging them to life. A creature the size of a wolf, with bat wings and a scorpion's tail appeared and scuttled towards us.

“There’s something buried in the books that’s causing this,” I called to Annowan, who was raining down balefire. “Give me a second and I’ll try and stop it.”

“Hurry!” Annowan said. She looked drained, and I could tell her injured arm could barely support the weight of her blade.

But despite her injury, she raised both hands high, forming a gigantic balefire rune. The shadow creatures were drawn towards it. Just as they got close, the demon swung her hands down, covering us with a halo of burning blackness.

The creatures that weren’t annihilated instantly scrambled back, hiding in the gloom. I knew Annowan couldn’t keep the barrier up for long, so I reached downward with my ability, seeking the source of the shadow beasts.

Down, at the very bottom of the book heap, I detected a singular tome, its bindings made from flesh and its pages inked with blood. I couldn’t read the contents, but the spells scribbled inside were plain enough, speaking of eternal darkness and the end of warmth and life.

Reaching through my ability, I grabbed the book and pulled, snapping the pages from their bindings and tearing the whole thing to pieces.

The shadow beasts flickered and died, silently as they had lived, leaving Annowan and me by ourselves.

Drained, I slumped down, falling onto the book pile. Annowan, swaying, finally did the same, collapsing onto the heap next to me.

“You okay?” I asked her, once I had gathered my wits.

She was quiet for a long time, hand rubbing at her injured arm, before she admitted, “No, not even a little bit.”

We retreated to a neighboring room, which must have once been a study. Annowan heavily slumped over as I set her in a chair, her shoulders shivering. Slowly, I removed the vambrace from her injured arm. The flesh underneath was bruised and cold, her red skin going brown with signs of frostbite.

“We need to warm you up,” I told her, fishing for a blanket from my supplies.

“We need to find the others,” she insisted.

I paused, my hand going to the runic bracelet around my wrist. “Are they alright?”

She concentrated for a second, forming a small rune in her palm before she nodded. “They’re alive, though that’s all I can confirm. There’s too much interference, I can’t track their location.” She lowered her head. “And I can’t track Daggerdare, Krencha, or Scrapple at all.”

“If Gilly and Thalie are alive, then I’m sure the others are as well.” Smiling, I nodded my thanks, “My wives are too tough and too smart to let something like this take them down.”

Annowan snorted in disbelief but didn’t say anything more. She’s probably just as relieved as I am about Gilly and Thalie being alive.

Returning to the destroyed library, I grabbed several pieces of wood from the broken shelves along with a couple of the more heavily damaged books. Glancing through their pages, almost all of them seemed to be spellbooks from bygone ages, written before the creation of Amalgam. I couldn’t understand the contents well, and I certainly couldn’t use the spell knowledge they contained, but I figured they’d make fine kindling.

Returning to Annowan, I saw her condition had only gotten worse. The frostbite had spread on her arm, and her lips had turned grey. Her head kept drooping like she wanted to sleep but she knew she shouldn’t.

Quickly I built a small fire in a nearby brazier, using torn and crumpled pages as kindling. As soon as the flames caught, Annowan instinctually moved closer, practically holding her hands into the flames.

“We need to get you warmed up,” I told her. “Whatever that thing was, I can still see the after-effects of its bite, draining your strength and vitality.”

I was surprised that she didn’t fight me as I removed her armor, carefully unpinning and unbuckling the heavy, cold plates and removing her ringmail. Underneath she was wearing a black gambeson and a pair of padded tights.

Pulling out all our blankets, I bundled them around her. Then, I sat down and leaned up against her, drawing the blankets around us.

She tried to scoot away, but she was too weak. I held her close.

“What are you doing?” she said through shivering lips.

“Don’t get any crazy ideas,” I told her, “I’m just doing what I can to warm you up with my body heat.”

“If you try anything,” she sputtered, “amoral, I will gut you.”

“Yes, boss,” I nodded, before sighing, “but you know, you don’t need to keep pushing me, or Gilly, or everyone else out of your life.”

“I’m not pushing anyone away,” she insisted.

“Sure feels that way from this side,” I told her.

I didn’t have Gilly’s skills at healing, but I had learned what I could while recovering in Babylon. Pulling out my first aid kit, I began treating Annowan’s injured arm. The shadow beast’s fangs had passed right through her armor, striking directly at her flesh, leaving a jagged bite mark.

As I worked, I began to talk, as if just speaking to myself. “We all know you aren’t one to open up easily, that you feel like you need to take on the full burden of your role, of your decisions, of the things life throws at you.”

“That’s my duty, as a knight, as the heir to the Throne,” she objected.

“Is it?”

I saw her wince as I cleaned a particularly ragged gash, her blood oozing from the wound.

“You know, I used to be worried that I wouldn’t be good enough for you, or the others,” I wiped away the blood, then began applying a salve to the wounds. “That I would be a bad squire, that I wouldn’t be able to grasp my abilities enough to be useful, that eventually I would be forgotten and left behind.”

She was about to say something, but I kept speaking.

“Remember, I’d spent a lifetime, before meeting you, being told I was a loser, a freak, a weakling, that I wasn’t good enough.” I looked back at those memories. “It's hard to find your value when you feel inferior to everyone around you,” I glanced at her, “or those that came before.”

Reaching into the kit, I got a roll of gauze and began bandaging the bitemark. “Sometimes I even worried that I’d fail at a critical moment, that I’d do something wrong or not be strong enough to do what must be done, and then you, Gilly, Thalie, Krencha, or Daggerdare would suffer for my weakness.”

Annowan continued to be silent, but I could feel her eyes focusing on me as she listened.

“But I came to a realization, over time. That even if I fail, if I make a mistake, as I did in the Panopticon, I still have all of you behind me, supporting me, and helping me make up for my shortcomings.” I tucked the bandage around her arm. “And Gilly, Thalie, Krencha, and Daggerdare all love me and care about me, and they won’t see me as any less just because I fall, because they know I’ll get back up again and keep going.”

Shifting, I pulled myself further under the blankets, so we were touching shoulder to shoulder, but I made no further move to get closer to her. As the room warmed up, her shivering went away, but she remained quiet, lost in thought.

Huddled together, we fell asleep.

Chapter 19

When I awoke, I was surprised that Annowan hadn’t pushed me aside or gotten up early. Instead, I found her right next to me, her head leaning against my shoulder.

In the dim light of the coals, she looked utterly diabolical and beautiful. Her horns glinted darkly, and her hair, completely undone from her braids, hung down her back in a crimson, cascading wave.

Asleep, all the worry, frustration, resentment, and stress that had been her defining expression were smoothed away, leaving her looking almost peaceful.

I had always thought that Annowan looked like some perfect statue, placed high on some plinth or podium, so it could be admired and worshipped. But having her next to me, her breath tickling my leg, I was struck by how soft and mortal she looked.

I longed to put my arm around her, to smooth the hair at her brow, to tell her everything would be alright, that’d we rescued the others, vanquish the Bitch, and save the day. But I knew if I tried that she’d carry through on her threat to gut me.

We all cared for her so much, but she was just too scared to let us in. Her walls were high and sharply guarded, but they were brittle too. One hole, one breach, and they would all come tumbling down, maybe taking Annowan with them.

So instead of waking her, I threw a few more bits of wood and paper into the brazier, then I focused on my ability, letting my senses drift out, to see what magic was nearby.

“Malory?”

Annowan jostled me, knocking me out of my search.

Groaning, I opened my eyes to find the fire had gone out, and that my knees, shoulders, and elbows had gone stiff from sitting still for too long.

Glancing over, I saw Annowan had risen, keeping the blankets wrapped around her shoulders. She looked better than she had before, but those familiar signs of stress and worry were etched onto her features again.

Getting up, I stretched out my sore joints. “Are you alright?”

She looked at me as if trying to find the right words, before simply nodding. Holding out her arm, I checked her wound; I was pleased to see her normal, ruby complexion had come back, and there wasn’t any sign of frostbite or infection.

“You did a good job,” she complimented me, rolling her sleeve over the bandage.

“Just something I studied while recuperating in Babylon,” I told her. “My skills aren’t equal to Gilly’s, but I figured having two people in our group with some knowledge of healing would be a smart move.

Annowan called forth the runic magic she used to bind and track her squires. I saw it hover in the air, but unlike before, when she had used it under Coldspite Basin, nothing appeared.

“I still can’t locate the others,” she said, dismissing the magic. “All I can confirm is that they’re alive.”

“That’s good,” I reached into my pack and produced some field rations, which I split with her. “If they’re alive, we can hope they’re together, and that we’re the only ones who got separated.”

“When the chamber around the Lament of Heaven shifted, I found myself only a few rooms over,” Annowan explained as she ate. “I tried to call out, to locate any of you, but instead I blundered into those blasted shadow beasts.”

A flicker of self-resentment, of anger at herself, flashed behind her eyes.

“Well, I was there, so it's okay,” I told her, thinking of my words the night before. “As I said --”

“I can’t always depend on you or someone else to save me.” Her voice ached with self-loathing. “I have to be strong enough to stand on my own, to defeat any obstacle that stands in my path. If I can’t, then I’m not good enough.”

“Good enough for what?” I asked.

She refused to answer and instead began to put on her armor.

Sighing out of frustration, I finished my meal and got up to help her.

“I was checking the area, to see if I could see any signs of Gilly, Thalie, or Daggerdare’s magic,” I told her as I worked.

“And?”

“I didn’t find any sign of them,” I squinted, focusing on a buckle along her hip. “But I did pick up something, at the very edge of my senses. The cold of the grave.”

“Dwarves?” She frowned.

“Possibly, or at least artifacts suffused with their magic.”

She looked nonplus. “How did we get close to the dwarven history wing?”

“I think whatever happened when you restarted the failsafe on the Lament of Heaven, it broke this place even worse than before. Everything is mixed up and scattered about like the Library was snapped into pieces and then reassembled in a random order.”

“That shouldn’t have happened,” Annowan insisted.

“Well, it did,” I tugged the buckle into place. “I think the Bitch is somehow responsible. The Lament of Heaven was reacting to her, and she certainly seemed obsessed with capturing it. She called it the fragment.”

Annowan twisted about, testing her armor’s fit, “A fragment of what?”

I put the lid on the brazier, extinguishing it, “Let’s not find out.”

Left with no other landmarks, signposts, or hints on where to go, we decided to strike for the source of the dwarven magic.

Returning to the ruined book room, Annowan paused to dig through a pile.

“Forbidden books of magic,” she cursed, kicking a pile over.

I was surprised, “Forbidden? I kind of got the impression, from my time in the empire, that there’s no such thing as forbidden magic, provided it’s built using runes.”

Annowan dug through the heap and then picked up a tome and held it up. “What does your ability tell you about this thing?”

Looking at it, I was surprised to see it wasn’t a book, not in the traditional sense. Rather, it was more like a self-contained spell, complete with all the runes and commands necessary to cast the magic it contained.

Annowan tossed the book into the air, then sliced it in half with her sword.

“There are a few taboo areas of magical research, like necromancy,” she explained, “but that’s a different issue. As you likely saw, these books are self-contained spells, they only require the holder to channel sufficient willpower into them to activate them. The problem is, as we discovered, is that they can become unstable over time, accidentally casting their spells when a source of magic triggers them.  Creation of such objects has been illegal for centuries.”

I glanced down over the ruined books, feeling their volatile magic; I felt like I was standing next to a pile of unstable explosives.

“We should go,” I said, suddenly speaking quietly.

Navigating the Library proved to be a difficult task, even more so than before. While the layout before might have just been treacherous or nonsensical, Annowan and I found it to be downright malicious.

We’d turn a corner and find a pitfall trap full of sharp stakes made from broken furniture. Or we’d enter a room only to have the doors seal shut and water begin pouring in from the ceiling. Several times we were ambushed by monsters let loose from the biological wing; whatever magic was corrupting the place had twisted them as well.

“I’m starting to hate spiders,” I admitted as Annowan used balefire to burn away the last of the nest we’d stumbled into.

The creatures had fought fiercely, biting and snapping with poisonous fangs even as they tried to lure us into silken traps. I defended Annowan, keeping the things at bay while she used her magic to vaporize them.

The demon knight surveyed the hallway, making sure she had destroyed them all. “They’ve gone berserk.”

“They’re full of corrupted magic, just like that tentacle creature we saw,” I told her, using my ability to sense the lingering residue of arcane pollution. “I think it’s the Bitch’s doing, whatever magic she’s working is making this place even worse, driving the escaped creatures insane.”

Even more spiders appeared, bursting out of a nearby air shaft.

They were horribly mutated, with far too many eyes and too many limbs. Moving at an unstable gait, they tried to swarm up and sink their fangs into our skin.

Cursing, Annowan coated her blade in balefire and began sweeping her sword through their numbers. I covered her flanks. My pick easily punctured their flimsy carapaces, and the floorboards quickly became slick with purple ichor.

One of the things leapt from a rafter, trying to tangle itself in Annowan’s hair. I reached up and battered the thing away with my buckler, knocking it to the ground. The demon stomped down, crushing it with her armored foot.

“Disgusting,” she spat as she kicked the corpse away.

We fought together well, a natural rhythm born from the countless fights and training sessions we’d shared. The demon would destroy the spiders by the dozen while I worked to protect her and keep the things from overrunning us.

Eventually, the tide turned, as we fought our way out of their nest, running up a crooked set of stairs before slamming the door at the top shut.

I pushed over a nearby bookshelf, forming a barricade. I could hear the creatures ramming themselves against the door, but they were too weak to break it down.

Annowan and I were covered with bits of web and spider gore. The demon used her cloak to wipe the worst of the muck off her face and hands, while I used a nearby tapestry to clean up.

“Want me to find a bathroom, preferably with a bathtub and a selection of soaps and shampoos?” I laughed as I plucked a bit of web out of my hair.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” she shot back, a crack of anger in her voice.

“It’s a joke,” I told her, holding up my hands.

“I’m not Gilly,” she growled, “this isn’t all fun and games. We need to find the others and stop the Bitch, no matter what.”

I shook my head, “I know that, and so does Gilly. But you can’t just hold all that in, you’ll go crazy eventually.”

“All of what?” she snarled.

“The anger, the fear, the frustration, the pain,” I told her, speaking earnestly. “It’s not just about watching each other’s backs while fighting, or offering a word of encouragement when the trail becomes rocky. Gilly, Thalie, Krencha, and Daggerdare, we all support one another, we listen to each other when things get hard.”

“What, is this your pitch to marry you?” she said, her eyes blazing.

I shook my head and started walking. “No, but I wouldn’t mind it honestly.”

She rocked as if struck. “Malory!”

I laughed, “Come on, let’s find a bathroom or a sink or something. We both stink, and I could use a chance to refill my canteen.”

We found a washroom in the next hallway over; it wasn’t upside down, filled with acidic vapors, or crawling with man-eating spiders. I quickly got cleaned up and refilled my water supply, then gave Annowan a few minutes to wash. As she did so, I focused on my ability, trying to sense the magic in our surroundings.

Annowan eventually emerged. Her armor was still streaked with grime, but she had made an effort to wipe away the worst of it. She had cleaned up her face and braided up her hair.

As I glanced over, she huffed, “I don’t just do this for glamor or out of some sort of narcissism. A Knight of the Throne, especially one of the imperial bloodline, must always be presentable. I’m not just a person, I’m a symbol of royalty and hope for those who need my aid.”

I gave a harumph, “Now you’re just feeling guilty for all the times you made Gilly, Thalie, and I fetch you washing water while we were questing.” Getting up, I pointed down a nearby hallway, “The dwarven magic I felt is that way. I’m not sure how far, distances work strangely around here, but I’d say we’ll find it soon.”

As we began to walk, I quietly said, “You know, you don’t always have to be a knight or the heir to the Throne. It’s okay to just be Annowan once and a while.”

She huffed, “You’re feeling awfully talkative, aren’t you?”

“It’s a good distraction from my fears. Despite what I said earlier, I’m still scared shitless something bad has happened to Gilly and the others,” I admitted.

To my surprise, Annowan looked away before saying, “So am I. We need to hurry.”

As we made our way, I told Annowan about what had happened to me after we were separated. For a moment I had been tempted to keep my encounter a secret, but then I realized I didn’t want to be that kind of man, squire, or husband. I didn’t want to be someone who kept secrets from those I cared about.

As I finished my tale, I showed Annowan the stone spirit fruit.

“You should smash it,” she said bluntly.

“I thought about that, but the Bitch said smashing it was part of the ceremony,” I shivered, thinking of the moaning sea of souls trapped within the Bitch. “The last thing I want is to form some kind of spiritual connection with her.”

Tucking the fruit away, I thought about what I had seen.

“Why is she hoarding the dead like that?” I wondered as we crossed a room made up of nothing but stairs. We jumped from landing to landing, looking for the exit we hoped was at the other end of the area. “I know she uses them to power her necrotic angels, but I saw more souls trapped inside her than she could ever use for something like that. It felt like everyone who had ever lived in The City was there, bound to her.”

“Souls are a source of power, for those vile enough to use them,” Annowan said as she helped me across a gap.

I thought about my short stint as a Slayer. I had been commanded to kill as many people as possible, to draw power from their deaths to expand The City’s borders, increasing the size of the Aurora, its magical boundary. Repeating this out loud, I asked, “Could she be trying to claim more territory?”

Annowan shook her head, “The City’s borders have grown, but by the count you gave me, The Bitch has enough souls hoarded to take over everything up to the Spinesaw Mountains. No, I think she’s keeping them for some other purpose.”

I shivered, “We need to stop her.”

“On that,” Annowan grunted, “we agree.”

Pushing past an oversized door somehow jammed into a mismatched frame, we tumbled into the area where I had detected the necrotic magic coming from. Waving away the dust we had kicked up, I saw we were in a dwarven ruin.

The chamber spanned far to our left and right, and we couldn’t see the far wall. The grey, stone ceiling was held up by countless numbers of pillars, each of them covered in dwarven cuneiform.

The air was cold and dry, with the tang of ancient decay and rusting metal.

“They’re genealogical records,” I said, using the translation magic the Bitch had buried in my brain, “just like we saw in Natzuka’Shav.”

“Mother must have transported the entire hall to her Library,” Annowan said, dispersing runic orbs of light to illuminate the space.

Advancing towards the center of the hall, I realized there were thousands of years worth of history inscribed on those pillars. The records went back much, much further than the ones we had seen in Natzuka’Shav.

Several times we saw the remains of zombies and undead servants, their bodies reduced to little more than dust. The engraved plates that had once given them unnatural life were rusted or broken, ensuring they wouldn’t rise again.

“They’re not the source of what I’ve been sensing,” I said, wiping off my hands after inspecting one of the bodies. Concentrating, I pointed to the right. “It’s coming from that way.”

WIth Annowan’s lights leading the way, we walked towards the end of the hall. The columns became older and more ornate, the stone often decorated with precious metals, gems, and bones.

“Ferzon The Great begot Frezon The 2nd, Who was Greater Still,” I read from one column. “I think these are from dwarven nobility or something.”

“Or at least those who could afford to pay for great prominence,” Annowan said. She had her sword out and she was looking warily towards the shadows.

Considering the last time we were somewhere like this we almost got killed by an undead dragon, I don’t mind her keeping up an extra level of vigilance.

At the very end of the room was a raised dais. Each step was held up by hundreds of dwarven skulls.

Climbing to the top, we found the final column. It was layered with gilded bones and skulls, and only a few lines were carved into its surface.

“Gritzon begot Revekar,” I read the cuneiform carving, “and no more came after him, for he was our beginning and our end. We all live for him, we all die for him. From the immortal halls of Hursh’Drol he shall reign forever.”

“Hursh’Drol?” Annowan repeated it a couple of times, each time the name sounding harsher and darker. “We never discovered the dwarven capital, the seat of their power from their original world. That could be it.”

Crouching down, I saw someone had scratched a bit of graffiti onto the base of the pillar. “That bastard damned us all.”

“Sounds like he wasn’t very popular with his people,” Annowan huffed. “The true path to royalty is built with service and responsibility. To rule is a burden, not a prize.”

“Sounds lonely,” I said.

Standing, I still felt the pull of undead magic.

Moving around the pillar, I found there was some kind of reliquary set into the back of the column. It was made from gold-gilded finger bones, which were fused together to look like they were reaching inwards, towards the object behind the glass.

Rubbing away the dust, I was expecting to see a mummified hand, a chattering skull, or a crown made from bone. Instead, sitting on a velvet cushion, was a small scalpel. It was surprisingly plain, made from cheap metal and with a bit of dried leather wrapped around the handle.

Annowan scowled, “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

We both knew it wasn’t just a knife. The chill of necrotic energy flowed off the thing, causing my skin to crawl.

“My mother left it here for a reason,” Annowan said. “Either she thought it was too dangerous to remove from its case, or not important enough to bother.”

Cleaning the glass further, I saw there was a small plaque. “The First Tool.”

She frowned further. “The First Tool?”

“It does kind of remind me of the tools we saw in the dwarven workshops, where they were making their zombies,” I said, considering the reliquary. “The real question is, do we leave it here or do we take it with us?”

“It could be nothing or could be an important clue to finding and defeating Revekar,” she concluded.

“I was thinking the same thing,” I admitted. “I don’t think it’s dangerous to us, as far as I can tell. There are dwarven cuneiforms on the handle, under the leather; Death, Obedience, Service, and Kingship. They’re all bent towards making and controlling undead servants.”

“Kingship?” Annowan reached for her sword, then smashed apart the reliquary with the pommel. Reaching between the shards of broken glass, she picked up the scalpel. “If this is tied to dwarven kingship, then it’s the closest lead we’ve gotten about Revekar so far.”

“An old surgical tool and a name, Hursh’Drol.” I smiled, “It sounds like we're at least on the trail, which I’ll count as a win.”

Annowan tore off a bit of her cape and used it to bundle away the scalpel. “It’s only a win if we all get home safely.”

“Then let’s hurry and find the others,” I said, once again reaching out with my spellbreaker senses.

Chapter 20

Now that I was more familiar with the magical enchantment on the scalpel, I was able to zone it out. Doing so, I felt several sources of magic at the far end of my perception.

Concentrating, I picked up the few remaining unique magical signatures, the ones that hadn’t yet been consumed by the Lament of Heaven. I could eliminate most of them since they felt nothing like Thalie, Gilly’s, or Daggerdare’s magic.

“One is some kind of fire magic,” I said, almost feeling the unnatural heat coming off it, “and the other is dark, corrupt, mad.” I almost heard it’s gibbering in my mind, like a lunatic talking to themselves. “It’s probably that tentacle monster we ran into earlier.”

Annowan and I had left the dwarven chamber, finding it too eerie. We had retreated and found a small, cramped room to use while I searched for the others. Annowan stood by the door, her whole body radiating tension, while I did my best to focus on my abilities.

The Library was still a mess of magic, and the more time passed, the more I could feel the burning radiance of the Lament of Heaven. We might have reset the failsafe, but the thing was still burning with a powerful, covetous need. The Library bent and distorted around it, the whole place warping to meet its desires.

Pushing that aside, I concentrated on any other sources of magic I could sense.

Distantly, I felt the magic of the Mother Tree ring out, verdant and pure against the corruption festering in the Library’s corridors.

I shot up, “I found them!”

Carefully, I described what I had sensed and pointed out the general direction. I had no idea how long it would take to find Daggerdare and the others, but we had a lead, and that was all I needed.

I’d march through hell and back for any of them because I knew they’d do the same for me.

Annowan, eager as I was to find them, let me take the lead as we moved back into the distorted bowels of the Library.

The hallways stretched and warped like taffy; the stones and floorboards were contorted nearly beyond recognition. Moving through these areas was treacherous, since the very magic that was distorting the Library worked on us as well, trying to bend us to its will. Gritting my teeth, Annowan and I pushed onward.

“It’s getting worse,” I panted, my head aching from the strain of pushing off the Lament’s unnatural influence.

We had taken refuge in an empty cloakroom, which was thankfully free from the artifact’s hateful influence.

“It must be the Bitch’s doing,” Annowan agreed. “Her mere presence empowers it.”

Suddenly, a terrifying thought occurred to me. “Annowan, didn’t Gilly say that the Lament of Heaven was a remnant of a dead god?”

The demon went deathly still. “That’s what my mother said, but I thought she was just teasing us.”

“What if she wasn’t,” I said, a terrible conviction rising in me, “and what if the god -- or goddess -- in question isn’t actually dead.”

“You think my mother powered this place with a fragment of the Bitch Goddess?” she asked incredulously.

“Maybe not knowingly,” I said, “but that could explain why the Bitch here and why she’s so dead set on taking it for herself. Maybe it’s a part of her, lost or abandoned, that she wants to take back. It certainly feels like part of her, the more I’m exposed to it.”

“We must hurry then,” Annowan began moving. “We need to destroy it before she can take it back. If we have to, we can activate the self-destruct --”

“We’ll all die,” I objected.

“It’s worth the price if we can’t keep her hands --”

I grabbed her arm. “I don’t care what kind of death wish you have, but I won’t let you kill the ones I love.”

I had sworn to support Annowan in her goal to defeat the Bitch Goddess, but I wouldn’t throw our lives away so cheaply.

And I told her that.

Annowan scowled, yanking her arm back, “So you would take back your promise, deny your vows to me?”

“I said I would support you,” I shot back, “that includes stopping you when you’re thinking about something rash and stupid. Even if you destroy the Library and the Lament of Heaven, the Bitch would survive. Killing us all to spite her would be pointless.”

Rage, pure and unadulterated, flashed in Annowan’s eyes. “How dare you!”

“Gilly isn’t here to slap some sense into you, so as her husband I’m working in her stead,” I took a deep, calming breath. “Annowan, you’ve always pushed yourself hard, far harder than you need to, taking all the responsibility onto yourself. But it’s only gotten worse since Lilith ordered us to come here.”

I lowered my grip, taking her armored hand into my own.

“Annowan,” I tried to get her to look me in the eyes. “I can only imagine how hard it is for you to be here. But you don’t need to carry that pain all by yourself. Gilly, Thalie, and I are your squires, and Krencha and Daggerdare are your sworn companions. Please, talk to us, trust us.”

All the anger drained from her expression, leaving something frail and broken in its wake.

Annowan snatched her hand away. “Let’s keep going, we need to find the others if we’re going to confront the Bitch and thwart her plans to seize the Lament of Heaven.”

Before I could stop her, she was already out the door, her back as rigid and unassailable as the face of a mountain.

We spent hours pushing up and through the Library. I felt like we were walking through a picture of the Bitch’s psyche. We passed exhibit halls full of nothing but statues and artifacts dedicated to the Bitch Goddess. I saw hundreds of featureless statues, their blank faces raised upward in praise. There were galleries full of weapons and armor captured from The City, the equipment mounted on mannequins and display stands. We saw huge murals, lifted from abandoned cities, that were covered in litanies of devotion for the true goddess of Amalgam.

We also caught the occasional signs of other things trapped in the Library’s labyrinthine corridors. We’d hear marching footsteps in the distance, or spot vivid pools of blood and gore splattered along a wall. We even saw traces of the tentacled horror that had attacked us earlier, the carpets still damp with its slime.

I kept trying to track Daggerdare’s location, but all I could sense were muted flares of her magical power, fleeting and indistinct. Eventually, we ended up in some sort of armory hall.

I paused to catch my breath, resting next to a mannequin brandishing the arms and armor of a Slayer, complete with the serrated butcher’s blade and ugly, piecemeal armor covered in the goddess’s heretical glyphs.

There were dozens more, all dressed in the same way.

“Where did your mother get all this crap?” I huffed, glancing around, “and why is it displayed like this?”

“As I said, she collected everything,” Annowan said sourly. “As for this particular display I suspect it wasn’t set up this way originally,”

She pointed towards a pile of cloth dumped in the corner.

Looking more closely, I saw it was a collection of beautiful, bright gowns, all torn and thrown away. Peering at the mannequins, I could see there were matching tufts of fabric and thread pinched in their joints.

“Okay, that’s creepy,” I admitted.

“The Library is constantly rebuilding itself, trying to please its new Owner,” Annowan cursed.

“I thought you were the Owner,” I objected.

“It seems like I’ve been usurped,” she fumed, kicking over one of the displays. “The Lament of Heaven is the heart of the Library, providing all the power for its contents, the Curator, and the spatial magic that maintains this place. If the Lament is part of the Bitch, then she’s overtaking the system just by being here.”

“Thankfully the Lament of Heaven’s failsafe is out of the Curator’s purview,” I nodded.

“One small grace,” the demon agreed, before going quiet. “We’ll find the others, then assault the core, destroy it, and then escape. There are no alternatives.”

I grinned, “So you’ve decided --”

A group of Slayers burst through a row of mannequins. They were utterly silent, not saying a word as they smashed aside the dummies and came at us with huge, chopping swings.

Tumbling out of their way, I caught myself on my bad foot, wincing as I came up to block the Slayer hacking at my face. His lips were pressed firmly shut, but I could see the brainwashed madness gleaming in his eyes. He pressed his advantage relentlessly, forcing me to retreat as I tried to find an opening.

Annowan was contending with three of the madmen, all of whom were welding massive pig iron blades larger than they were. The glyphs on their cobbled armor gleamed brightly, the same maddening shine I’d seen from the Lament of Heaven. Annowan’s balemagic burned and sparked around them, but the glyphs and the Bitch Goddess’s power protected them.

“Mal!” she cried, as she parried a blow and then staggered back as another caught her on the shoulder.

Ducking a swing, I broke off from my attacker and came to her aid. I charged into the nearest Slayer and threw him off balance. This gave Annowan the opening she needed to hew him from neck to navel, her blade finding a gap in the Slayer’s armor.

Facing better odds, I turned back to my first opponent, coming up just in time to avoid getting decapitated. Annowan threw a burst of balefire at his face; the magic did not injure him, but he still blinked as the black light flashed directly in his eyes. I hooked my warpick into his side, just below his armpit, and viciously yanked upward. He gave a shocked cry before toppling over, blood spurting from the deadly wound.

The odds evened, Annowan and I launched ourselves at the remaining two Slayers. We fought in deadly unison. The demon knight continued to use her spells to distract and disengage, her armor absorbing their punishing blows, while I slipped into their blindspots and used my buckler and pick to pummel and puncture them.

Catching one of the Slayers in the neck, I grabbed my pick and pulled him downward, right in the way of Annowan’s overhead slice. His headless body fell, fouling the footing of the last Slayer. True to his brainwashing, the man never even considered retreating, but instead fumbled towards us, still swinging his blade.

Annowan parried the blow, throwing him completely off balance. She then sliced back across his chest, her blade sundering his armor, the glyphs dying as he fell to join the others.

Stepping away from the carnage, I fought to catch my breath; spots were dancing in my vision.

Annowan kept a watchful eye on the rest of the gallery, sure that more foes would appear. “We need to get out of here.”

She was right to be wary. A dozen more Slayers emerged from behind the mannequins.

I pointed towards a nearby doorway. “That way!”

We ran, hearing footsteps behind us. I relied on my ability to direct us as we ran as fast as we could, pushing us towards Daggerdare’s last known location while also avoiding the brainwashing magic that enveloped the Slayers.

The walls and layout of the Library continued to shift around us, which worked to our benefit. Our foes would be hot on our heels one moment, only for the passage behind us to suddenly slam shut, or for a staircase to appear, sending them tumbling downward.

Of course, we had to contend with the same issues. I’d be leading us down a hallway, and suddenly the walls would start pressing in, forcing us to either divert down a side passage or run even faster to avoid being crushed. Stairs and pits yawned ahead of us as well, and at one point I barely avoided a nasty fall, Annowan grabbing me and pulling me to safety at the last second.

Finally, the sounds of pursuit died away, and we ended up in a more stable region of the Library.

Unable to stand, I collapsed, glad to find that I had landed on a soft, plush carpet.

Straining, I rolled over, my chest heaving, as I tried desperately to get enough air.

Annowan looked just as bad; she had run just as hard as I had with the additional weight of her armor dragging her down. She tumbled to sit.

“Are you okay?” I gasped.

She nodded. “Bruised and bloodied, but I’ll live. You?”

I patted myself down. The shock of the fight and flight was dying down, and my body was starting to tell me just how tired and beat up I was. My entire foot, up to my knee, screamed in pain.

Reaching for my first aid kit, I fished out some painkillers, washing them down with my entire canteen. “I’ll live but I really wish Gilly was here.”

“Me too.”

That admission caught me completely off guard. I looked over to Annowan, and the demon was clearly distressed. She reached up and pulled a sweat-slicked tendril of hair away from her face.

“Do you really think I’m trying to kill myself?” she asked softly, not looking my way.

The Library was deathly quiet around us.

At one time, the room we were in might have been a comfy study or reading room, but Velka had stuffed it to the rafters with bits of junk, none of which seemed to have any value. The shelves groaned under their weight, and stacks of boxes rose in every corner.

“I think you’re self-destructive to a fault and call it duty,” I told her bluntly, after thinking over my words carefully.

“You wouldn’t say that about Krencha,” she accused me, her voice harsh.

“Krencha knows exactly who she is, and she makes no excuses,” I answered calmly. “She’s a glory seeker, and she’ll always throw herself in the fray. But she’d never throw away her life, or Scrapple’s, cheaply. You have been acting like you’re just waiting to die.” A terrible, mean thought came to mind. “You and your mother have that in common, you are both happy to run away from your responsibilities when you become scared.”

She was on me before I could react. She shoved her knee into my chest while she raised a gauntleted fist above my face, ready to strike.

“I have never run from my duty,” she spat. “You don’t know what I’ve sacrificed, what I’ve given up, to be a knight, to live up to the responsibility of the Throne!”

I grinned back at her. “Sure, but you did that by turning your back on what scared you, like Gilly.”

Reaching up, I put a hand on her shoulder. “You know how much she cares for you, but you ignored it, rejected it. Thalie, Krencha, even Daggerdare, we’ve done what we can to reach out to you, to offer to help you with your burden, but you’re so damn scared you keep turning us away. And that will kill you eventually.”

She released her grip, “You don’t know anything.”

“I know your first thought was to blow us up, throwing away not just your life, but mine and everyone else’s,” I told her, before speaking more gently. “This place is bad for you, I can only imagine that everywhere you look you see reminders of your mother, of what the Throne has cost you and your family. But we’re all here to support you, to help you if you’d just let us.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” she sat back, drawing up onto herself. A tremble ran through her.

I sat up and considered her. Her brittle exterior had fallen away, revealing a frightened, unsure young woman, someone trying to confront the pent-up emotions and fears that she’d spent a lifetime denying.

“Just talk to me,” I encouraged her, “what are you feeling right now?”

“Do we even have time for this?” she asked.

“We’ll make time,” I said firmly. “Going into battle with a poor spirit is just as bad as going in with a broken weapon and sundered armor.”

She gave a weak smirk, “Some of Daggerdare’s wisdom?”

“My own, I just made it up on the spot.” I thought for a moment, before speaking. “I’m scared right now, so scared, and not just for myself or for you. I love Gilly, Thalie, Krencha, and Daggerdare so much. I can’t think of what I’d do if anything happened to any of them. I can’t bear to lose them.”

I glanced at her.

“I hate this place,” she said in a hushed tone. “I hate my mom, I hate that everything I see around here just reminds me of her.” She swallowed, then blinked. “She abandoned me, abandoned Lilith, and just ran.”

She gave a small hiccup. “You know, the few times I was here was because Lilith forced her to bring me along. You need to spend time with her, she’s your fucking daughter.”

I didn’t say anything; I just let her vent, bleeding the venom that had built up for so long.

“But she wanted nothing to do with me, I’d just trail after her, like an unwanted shadow.” Annowan wiped at her face. “Gilly was the only person who actually was happy to see me when I visited Dragon Port. My mom’s bosses would just treat me like another pawn on their board, something to be plied with gifts and sweets in hopes of winning me over to their side.”

Scooting over, I sat by her side.

“Lilith did her best, really.” Tears began trickling down her cheeks, digging furrows in the grime caked onto her face. “And Gilly,” she gasped, “I think I would have gone mad a thousand times without her being there. And you’re right, I pushed her away, kept her out, because --”

She broke down into sobbing tears. Carefully, I reached over and put an arm over her shoulder, comforting her. She didn’t push me away.

“You kept people out because you were afraid they’d make you weak?” I asked, probing at her pain.

“No,” she insisted, “not really. I just wanted to prove I could do it by myself. I didn’t want to look like I was leaning on others, or using my position to make up for my shortcomings.” She ducked her head down low. “I love my grandmother, I really do, but living in Lilith’s shadow, especially after my mom ran away, felt crushing. Lilith is so powerful, so commanding, even when she is alone. I felt I had to do the same, if I was ever going to be better than her, be the best.”

She wiped her face. “I actually didn’t want to take Gilly on as a squire originally, but Lilith commanded it.” She hiccuped again, “I think that’s the only thing that kept me from going mad all these years, having her by my side.”

“You never told her that, did you?” I guessed.

She sobbed and shook her head. “How she didn’t come to hate me, I’ll never know.”

“Love is stubborn,” I told her.

Snot was dripping out of her nose, her hair was a mess, and her face was streaked with tears and grime, but Annowan looked stunning. All the pain she had been carrying for so long was finally being let go, slowly yet surely, revealing the beauty underneath.

Carefully, I pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket and passed it over; she used it to hastily clean her face, wiping up the worst of the mess.

“You must all think I’m some kind of stuck-up ice bitch,” she said mournfully, as she folded the cloth back up.

“True,” I admitted, “but the fact that we’ve stuck by you and supported you despite that should tell you how much we care about you.” I leaned in closer into her. “You are the most stubborn person I know. You never give a bit, because you’re afraid it’ll make you look unworthy of the responsibility you bear. But that’s also something we all admire about you; we know that you’ll stand with us, no matter what.”

“Still doesn’t sound like a compliment,” she said, a small, tentative grin spreading across her lips.

I rested my head against her armored shoulder. “I mean, you also drive us crazy, but I think that’s true about everyone. Nobody is perfect, we all have our flaws and defects. But that’s why it’s important to have others close to you.” I glanced at her. “And not just as an extra ally in the heat of battle, but afterward too. Daggerdare told me that betrayal is a wound that festers in the heart, slowly killing you. But I think that can apply to other pains as well.”

Annowan reached up and placed a hand against her chest. “I’m starting to see the wisdom of such words.” I was surprised when she rested her weight more heavily against me. “Would it be strange to hear that I feel better now? We are still in a deadly situation, facing unlikely odds, but things don’t seem as bleak now.”

I smiled. “It’s a good first step.”

She lowered her head. “But --”

I waited patiently for her to find her courage.

“I don’t know how to change any of that,” she finally said, her head still bowed. “I am who I am, who I need to be.” She gave a bitter laugh. “You can’t expect me to just start being as honest and forthright as Gilly.”

“No,” I thought about it, “but you could at least stop denying how much you care for all of us. You can tell us what you are thinking, what you are feeling, at least a little bit. Just try opening up and talking to us, not as a knight to her squires, but as people who care about each other. It won’t make you unworthy, and it certainly won’t make us think any less of you.”

“So what,” she gave a hollow laugh, “you think I should just be more honest?”

“At least with yourself,” I nodded.

She shifted against me. “Then I’ll start. I’m jealous of you.”

I looked at her in surprise, “What?”

She locked her eyes with me. “Everything you just said, about being open and honest. You make it look so easy. Gilly, Thalie, Krencha, and Daggerdare, they all love you, and you are so happy to express that, even in the littlest and simplest of ways.”

I shrugged, not knowing how to respond, “I guess it just takes a little courage and a few rash decisions.”

“Courage,” she mused over the word.

Suddenly, she shifted, moving to crouch in front of me. “I want to do something rash too.”

Her eyes burned like dampened coals. Taking a deep breath, she lunged forward, kissing me on the lips.

It was a sweet, brief contact.

She sat back, in a daze, before stating, “That was --”

I reached forward and placed my hand behind her neck. Drawing her forward, I kissed her, fiercely, passionately. All my suppressed emotions went into it, and as my tongue slipped inside her mouth, I felt a damn break inside of her. She growled and shifted towards me, wrapping her hands around my shoulders.

We fell into a heap, her heavy armor bearing down on me as we shamelessly continued to embrace, our denied feelings welling up and out in uncontrolled lust.

Finally, Annowan pushed me away, her face flush. “This is foolish, we need to hurry.”

“Maybe,” I reached up and unsnapped the familiar series of buckles along the side of her breastplate. “But sometimes being a fool is important too.”

I kissed her again, more slowly that time, as I pushed her up into a sitting position. I kept one hand in her hair, fingers tickling along her scalp and around the edges of her horns, while I focused on removing her armor with my other. It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, but I was surprised when Annowan reached down to help me, loosening pins and undoing buckles.

Piece by piece, we stacked the black and bronze plates and ringmail, till she was only wearing her gambeson. She unclasped her cape, and I laid it down on the carpet, making a soft bed for us.

She looked at me hesitantly; hunger, doubt, fear, and joy all washing across her features. “I want this, but at the same time, I’m terrified of it. I don’t know what it means to love someone, to rely on them completely.”

I gave her a small kiss on the forehead. “I don’t think anyone does, really. It’s not like I’m an expert or anything. But that’s why I’m so lucky to have people like you, Gilly, and the others in my life. Because alone we might be weak, uncertain, and flawed, but together we are unstoppable.”

Carefully, I pushed her back onto her cape, cupping her jaw and kissing her. She helped me remove my armor before tentatively began exploring my body, letting her hands play across my shoulders. Her touch was light and inquisitive.

Laying next to her, I ran a palm down her stomach, before rucking it up. Her crimson skin felt molten hot, and she moaned as I ran a fingernail around her navel and towards the waistband of her pants.

“Malory,” she whispered into my ear.

“Mal,” I reminded her, “just call me Mal.”

She gave me a smoldering glance. “You start calling me Annie, and I will cut your head off.”

“Yes, boss.” I chuckled.

I moved to the bottom of our makeshift bed and reached up for the top of her pants, unbuttoning them with adroit skill. She writhed against the cloak, watching me as I slowly pulled them off, revealing her toned thighs and calves.

Starting at her ankles, I kissed my way upward, my lips praising every part of her perfect anatomy. I stopped just above her panties, breathing in her aroma.

“What are you waiting for?” she huffed with false bravado, her tough exterior cracking, as I delicately ran my fingers around her hips.

Smiling wickedly, I pulled her panties away. Her lips were a deep shade of red, and I was delighted to find a small strip of hair, the same shade as her locks, right above her bud. Relishing every moment, I took in another deep breath as my fingers combed through her thatch and my nose brushed against her clit.

She covered her mouth as she moaned. “Wait, that’s embarrassing!”

Her juices were already seeping between her netherlips.

Before she could offer another word, I slipped my tongue between her folds. Her nectar was sweet and spicy, like a heady mix of pepper and citrus over the hazy musk of sex, and as soon as I tasted it I knew I would never get enough.

She blushed furiously and tried to squeeze her legs, but I braced myself and took another long, languid lick, my tongue starting at the base of her pussy before rising to flick and taunt her pearl.

Her knees shook and her grasp loosened.

“Do you want me to stop?” I asked her, peering up between the valley of her breasts.

She bit her lip, then shook her head.

Resuming my work, I felt my pulse quicken with each of her moans and quivers, my cock pressing hard against the confines of my trousers.

I ran my fingers along her abdomen, feeling her muscles twitch and flex at the unfamiliar sensations running through her. My thumb lightly stroked her clit with each curl of my tongue. She roughly ran her fingers through my hair as her heels kicked at the bottom of the cape.

My heart pounding, I reared up, her juices dripping off my chin. Annowan looked at me, her chest heaving. Carefully, I pulled off my trousers, my cock snapping to attention. Grabbing its base, I lined up with her slick passage.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

She nodded firmly, once.

I sank into her velvety depths, my cockhead struggling for each centimeter of purchase.

Annowan bunched the cape’s material in her fists, growling and rolling her hips as I slid inside of her. Her channel was tight, squeezing and constricting around me as I continued to enter her.

She cried wordlessly in bliss as I plowed into her core.

I felt lightheaded from the exhilaration and pleasure. Annowan looked demonic and perfect below me, her shirt pushed up over her breasts to reveal her miraculous figure.

I would have liked to say we made slow, passionate love, our bodies finding perfect union through a steady rhythm and joined spirits.

But no, we fucked like animals, rutting hard and fast, all reason and inhibition thrown to the wind. I plowed into her as she jerked her hips with each impact, twisting and turning in order to give me even deeper access to her honeypot.

We locked eyes, and I felt something primeval and savage well up in me; a burning need to fuck, to cast off all our inhibitions and fears, and to simply act on everything we had denied for so long. Annowan growled something as she drew her heels to my backside, locking me to my task.

Drawing out slowly, I slammed back into her. I placed my hands under her thighs and lifted them, giving me a better angle into her pussy. Each time I rammed into her cunt I felt the heat and pressuring building. Her juices were slicking and splashing everywhere.

Annowan curled her shoulders, her elbows bracing her up, as she roared in ecstasy, her sharp, white teeth in stark relief to her blood-red skin. Her eyes burned like two pyres, urging me to go faster, to fuck her harder.

Grunting, I slammed into her, over and over, her muscles contracting and squeezing me each time I thrust inside. It was like heaven, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay there long.

With a gritted cry, I hunched over her, my hips moving at a heavy, uneven pace as I buried my cock as deep as I could. Kissing her one last time, I felt myself detonate, a huge blast of cum tearing itself out of me. Annowan cried out with me, her inhibitions abandoned in the maddening tide of ecstasy we were both lost in.

Spent, exhausted, and rapturous, I fell into her arms. She held me close as our bodies cooled, the silence of the Library enveloping us in its tender embrace.

Chapter 21

We got up an hour later.

I had enjoyed just laying together with her, basking in the afterglow, but even with the padding provided by Annowan’s cape and the carpeting, the stone floor beneath us had grown cold and uncomfortable. Getting up, we both got dressed, neither of us speaking.

Snapping Annowan’s armor in place, I slipped forward and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

She blushed again, but I was overjoyed when she didn’t push me away or make a biting comment.

“I have no idea what comes next,” I told her, “but I’ll be by your side, we all will.”

Her hand found mine, and I gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Just as we emerged back out into the hallway, I once again sensed a flash of Daggerdare’s magic. It was close.

“Follow me!” I yelled as I ran towards the source.

As we got closer, the scenery became more familiar. The bronze relief depicting the fight between the gods of good and evil was cracked in half, the bottom having been shattered to pieces, leaving just the tentacled horror descending onto a field of ruin.

We passed the gigantic room full of old textbooks. Most of the shelves had fallen over, and somebody had set fire to the books, leaving a smoldering mountain of ash.  Smoke hung heavy in the air. Display cases had been smashed and their contents trampled upon by uncaring feet.

Ahead, I heard Scrapple bray, his voice echoing.

“Over here!” I cried, detecting a new, powerful source of magic. One that reeked of steam and oil.

Crashing through a door, I found we were back by the reference desk, though the room had warped and grown to bizarre dimensions. The Curator rose impossibly above us, its metallic body bloated and glistening, its metal plates stretched thin over its distorted frame.

“There is only one Owner,” it chanted in its monotone voice, “The Goddess has come, the savior has come. All belongs to her!”

I heard Scrapple bark again, somewhere behind the malformed automaton.

“What the fuck happened to it?” I asked as I brought up my weapons.

Annowan readied her sword. “The same thing that happened to the rest of this place. The Bitch Goddess has infected it through the Lament of Heaven, spreading her corrupting touch to every corner of the Library.”

Reaching out with my spellbreaker senses, I could almost see the Bitch’s covetous desire reaching up and through the Curator’s mechanisms, like grime between the gears. There wasn’t a formal spell involved, just unbridled greed and the need for absolute control.

The Curator reared its draconic head upward. The demonic face perched between its jaws shattered, breaking into long, serrated fangs as it gave a steam-filled roar.

“All belongs to Her!”

Annowan lashed out with her balethunder, the black bolts sizzling along its body. As she did, the Curator attacked with its multitude of arms. The spindly limbs smashed through the floorboards as she dodged to the right, throwing balefire at them as she ran.

I dashed towards its base. The Curator reached out, creating inky portals to summon some horror, but I snapped the magic. The portals collapsed, severing the limbs, which spilled black, clotted oil everywhere.

Swinging my pick, I cracked a seam in its side. Wrenching the bolts that held it in place, I tore it loose, revealing the Curator’s corrupted, mechanical heart. Gears, belts, shafts, and springs snapped and hummed as more of the oily slops dripped off their surfaces. Battering through them with my ability, I reached towards the Curator’s connection to the Library, trying to sever it.

The Curator’s jaws lunged at me and I was forced to abandon my attack, raising my buckler to protect myself from its hideous fangs.

Annowan sprinted forward and swung her baleice infused blade into the thing’s neck. It squealed, almost as if it were in pain, as it reared back, black ice crystals punching through its hide.

Golems, dozens of them, burst through the door we had used to enter the room. They came swarming at us, called to protect their master.

“I got this,” I told Annowan, as I turned to face the horde. “Shut it down!”

Grinning like a madwoman, the demon knight summoned more baleice, the air in the room becoming harsh and cold, as she assailed the mutant machine. I was happy to see that she fought with a purpose, different from the self-destructive recklessness I had seen in her before.

In the meantime, I lashed out at the golems with my spellbreaker ability, tearing and shattering their magic even before they could advance. But they were endless, and fresh golems spilled forward, climbing over the bodies of their comrades.

One of the hulks crashed towards me, its clay fists raised overhead. Ducking into the swing, I used my shield as a battering ram, hitting it hard in the chest as my warpick’s hammerhead came down and shattered its knee. I broke its magic, and the thing toppled; I climbed onto its chest, using its remains to get above the fray.

A group of golems was crushed by a huge chunk of ice-encrusted metal, torn from the Curator’s body. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Annowan was decimating the mechanical abomination, each blow of her blade leaving huge, ice-filled wounds.

Her face was locked in a bloodthirsty scowl, and flames licked from her eyes, giving her an unholy visage. I had never seen her so happy in battle, she whooped in joy as she smashed an icicle through the Curator’s face, the thing howling as it fell.

She looked like she was truly alive, maybe for the first time I had known her.

Turning, I smashed the golems, battering and breaking their bodies as they tried to climb up to reach me. My arms burned with exhaustion, but fighting together with Annowan was exhilarating.

“Leave some for us!”

Another hulking golem was thrown through a nearby wall, landing in a shattered heap. Through the hole Daggerdare emerged, her shoulders heaving with exertion, her limbs shining with the Mother Tree’s magic.

Thalie and a weave of orange vines came through the breach next, the orc’s green skin dusted with grey clay. Gilly took up position by the hole, using her arrows to plunk off the golems dumb enough to attack my other wives.

“Gilly, Thalie, Daggerdare!” I cheered in joy, but then saw someone was missing. “Wait, where’s Krencha!”

The ceiling exploded. Scrapple, roaring like a beast, a hulk trapped in his paws, fell with a rain of broken timber and stone. Krencha, howling with joy, was on his back.

My wives crashed into the remaining golems, the air thick with the dust and dirt they kicked up.

Coughing, I fell back towards the Curator, just in time to watch Annowan smash the last of the machine to pieces. She had given up using magic and was swinging her sword like a butcher’s blade, hacking and chopping the gear works and sputtering mechanics. Her hair was completely undone, her armor was splattered with oily gore, and she looked utterly thrilled. Her lips were pulled back into a fierce snarl as the Curator finally died.

The demon fell back, her shoulders heaving as she tried to steady herself.

“Wonderful!” Krencha came ambling out of the cloudy debris and slapped Annowan across the back. “For once, it really looks like you enjoyed a battle. Tell me, what happened to suddenly pull that stick out of your ass?”

Scrapple, covered in plaster and splinters, shook himself off then came over. He sniffed at the demon inquisitively, before giving a happy bark.

Krencha’s eyes lit up, “You don’t say, boy!”

Before the goblin could utter another word, I swept her up in a big hug. “Krencha, you’re okay!”

“Of course I am,” she beamed, thankfully distracted. She kissed me. “But you missed a thrilling adventure.” She smirked, “Though not as thrilling as --”

Still holding her, I greeted my other wives in a flurry of hugs and kisses, just overjoyed to be reunited and for them to be safe.

“Annie!” Gilly raced over and hugged the demon, once I had let her go.

To her credit, Annowan hugged her back, relief plain across her features.

“What happened to you?” Thalie asked as she held onto my arm. “When we woke up, both you and Her Ladyship were gone and we couldn’t find you.”

They explained how they had found themselves in some remote wing of the Library, full of ancient stone carvings and statues. Seeing no sign of us or the Bitch’s forces, they had explored outward, trying to find a familiar landmark. Stumbling close to the Curator, they had been ambushed by the golems, forcing them to fight their way to the reference room.

“I really hate this place,” Daggerdare groaned, describing the same egomaniacal changes we had seen overcome the Library, with images and tributes to the Bitch appearing everywhere.

“We did make a pretty awesome discovery, though,” Gilly cheered. She reached into her jerkin and pulled out a piece of parchment.

She had made a trace of a carved stone slab they had found during their journey. It showed an abandoned island, its surface covered in bogs and jungles, with ancient crypts slowly sinking beneath the fetid waters.

Pulling out the crystal Charlix had provided, we compared the two images.

“It’s the same as my vision,” I murmured, feeling a sense of deja vu just looking at it.

“And it gets better,” she crowed, pulling out several sheets of torn paper.

They were full of Velka’s handwritten notes. Annowan’s mother had discovered the stone slab in some lost human city, which had sunk off the coast of Amalgam centuries ago. Apparently, the remote island was the burial ground for their greatest champions; more interestingly, she had found hints about some great warlord that was supposedly interred there.

She had noted the location of the tomb and detailed her plans to eventually go and investigate the place for herself.

“Fantastic job,” Annowan breathed as she looked over my shoulder.

Gilly smiled brilliantly, “What can I say, we’re amazing.”

Reaching into her belt, Annowan took out the First Tool and described how we had located it in the ancient dwarven chamber.

“Two clues!” Krencha cheered. “Now we just need to keep the Bitch from capturing the Lament of Heaven, and I’ll consider this a tale good enough to add to my epic!”

To my surprise, it was Annowan who suggested we take a moment to rest and recover.

“Mal, we need you to locate the Lament of Heaven,” she said, as Daggerdare guided us back towards the hearth and the holly sprig.

We were relieved to see Velka’s suite was safe, unchanged by the turmoil around us.

“More to the point,” she continued, “we need to recover our strength, if we charge in now the Bitch will maul us and just take the prize.”

Everyone seemed shocked by Annowan’s sudden change in attitude.  Gilly looked at us with a speculative gleam in her eye.

Reaching out, I tried to at least sense the general direction of the Lament of Heaven. I felt it at the very edge of my perception; its burning hunger was still confined, still hidden behind the rocky shell of the failsafe. More interestingly, I could feel a hint of anger, of frustration, from the thing. It longed to be reunited with the Bitch, but Velka’s failsafe was keeping her at bay.

I relayed this information to the group.

Annowan nodded, “Then we have time.” She addressed the rest of us. “Let’s rest for three hours.”

“What’s the plan then once we find the Lament of Heaven?” Daggerdare asked.

The demon looked pensive, before asking me, “Can you destroy it?”

“Maybe?” I wasn’t sure, I had barely had any time to study the thing. “If it’s a fragment of the Bitch Goddess like we suspect, then I might not be able to do anything about it.”

Annowan thought for a moment. “If that fails, we’ll figure something else out. We’re all going to get out of this place, I swear.”

Gilly smiled, “Together, right?”

Annowan looked grim, but she nodded. “Of course. Together.”

Returning to the main room, the demon knight gave all the trinkets and nicknacks that lined the shelves a quick, dismissive look. She then grabbed a handful of the more flammable ones and tossed them onto the hearth. Grinning, Gilly ignited them with a bit of fire breath, smiling around the smoke leaking through her lips.

“Nice and toasty,” she said.

Without the Curator, we were left with the supplies we had stashed away.

“At least the water still works,” Thalie said, as she came out of the bathroom.

She pulled some gear from her bag, then added the water to a sectioned tray full of dirt. As I watched, a few green sprouts came to life.

“Are those from the biological wing?” I said, standing behind her.

She smiled, “I couldn’t help but try planting some of the samples; this tray has stasis runes built-in, so I can bring them home safely. I think I can use Grimefang’s notes to crossbreed them with the elven kudzu.”

Krencha came over as we were talking about the orc’s experiments.

“So,” she whispered, “why are you keeping the big news to yourself?”

“Big news?” Thalie asked quietly.

The goblin grinned ear to ear.

Glancing over, I saw Annowan staring at us. She blushed deeply, then declared she was going to double-check the wreckage of the Curator and then sweep the perimeter. Before we could stop her she was out the door.

I sighed, “You do realize I was trying to give her a chance to tell you on her own, right?”

“Subtlety is not her strong suit,” Daggerdare deadpanned from her spot by the hearth.

Thalie looked utterly confused; out of all my wives, she was the only one who hadn’t recognized what had transpired between me and the demon.

Gilly laughed, wrapping me in a hug, “Hey, one step at a time! I’m so proud of you though, you finally got Annie to open up.”

“In more ways than one,” the goblin added.

Thalie went beet red, “Really?”

“Yes,” I felt my face go red as well. “It was just a tense moment, and I encouraged her to talk, to vent her frustration and stress.”

“Well, great job!” The dragonkin hung around my neck, giving me another kiss. “Now, did you convince her to marry you?”

We ended up crashing for a few hours. Krencha and Daggerdare fell asleep by the fire, along with Scrapple, while Thalie and Gilly dozed off in a nearby corner.

I tried to wait for Annowan to return, but I was so tired by the day’s events that I fell asleep before she came back.

Drifting, I found my dreams were dark and foggy, and I felt like I was lost.

“Mal!”

Stumbling, I saw a shadow moving through the mist. Pushing forward, I found Sarah.

She looked just like she had in the Bitch’s mind; fearful and disoriented.

“Sarah?” I paused, careful that I wasn’t about to walk into another trap barbed with mind control magic.

She stopped and gazed about, as if she could hear my voice, but not see me, “Mal, where are you?”

“I’m here,” I called, waving fanatically.

She glanced my way, squinting, “I can’t see you clearly, can you come closer?”

“I think that’s close enough.”

Annowan stepped through the fog, her sword in hand. Power radiated off her, dispelling the mist, leaving us standing in an inky void.

“A demon!” Sarah screamed and fell, scrambling back on all fours.

“Annowan?” I was confounded, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m not even sure where here is,” the demon spat before her cheeks grew red. “I came back and found everyone asleep. I decided --” she grimaced, “to sit down next to you and rest my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was here.”

“You’re totally asleep and drooling on my shoulder right now, aren’t you?” I suggested.

“I don’t drool!” she insisted.

“Mal?” Sarah had crawled as far away as the dream allowed and she was staring at me in horror. “You’re still enslaved by this demon?”

“No, no,” I shook my head, holding out my palms, “I’m with her, as are the others because we want to be here. To save you and to stop the Bitch Goddess.”

Sarah’s mouth was agape in shock.

Taking a deep breath, I mustered my thoughts. “Sarah, you said the Goddess --”

“Bitch Goddess,” Annowan interrupted.

“Not helping,” I murmured, before speaking again to Sarah, “You said the Goddess was riding you too hard, using you too much, right?”

“It’s my fault,” she whispered, shrinking further into herself. “If I was stronger, if I believed in her more, then it wouldn’t hurt as much.”

I felt my rage suddenly boil. Not at Sarah, but at the cruel Bitch who had hurt her, then blamed her for the pain.

“Sarah,” I crouched down so we were at eye level, but kept my distance. “This is very important. The Goddess has been lying to you, she’s not a good person. The outside world isn’t some dark and terrible place, it’s actually pretty nice.”

“But it’s ruled by demons!” Sarah objected, pointing at Annowan.

The demon knight huffed, “My grandmother is a fantastic and capable ruler.”

“And you would only say that when she’s out of earshot,” I said to her.

“What’s with you two?” Sarah looked even more uncomfortable, “Mal, she’s a demon, she’s evil!”

Standing back up, I reached out and wrapped my hand around Annowan’s. “No, she’s not, and I love her, just like I love you.”

Her eyes went wide. “Blasphemy!”

Annowan lowered her blade, her voice dripping with scorn. “Mal always talks about how smart and talented you are, but I can see that you’re just another idiot zealot who only believes what the Bitch tells her!”

“Annowan,” I hissed.

The demon pointed her sword tip at Sarah, “I know the Bitch clouds your mind and dampens your will, but you’ve started to see through it, haven’t you? I doubt any true, pious believer would harbor the doubts you do.”

Sarah shook her head and covered her ears, “Lies!”

Annowan laughed darkly, “That’s the thing about the truth. Once it starts to seep in, it’s impossible to ignore. You might deny my words, but you are beginning to see the Bitch for who she truly is, just as Mal did.”

“Sarah,” I yelled, feeling the world around us fade and grow insubstantial, “We will save you, I promise! But you need to see the truth for yourself. The Bitch is a monster, and she will kill us all if we --”

I awoke with a start.

“That was strange.”

Looking to my left, I saw Annowan sitting up, wiping some drool from her chin.

Feeling a strange stirring of magic, I reached towards my belt and pulled out the stone spirit fruit. It radiated with some kind of arcane power, speaking of connections and harmony.

“What is that?” Daggerdare asked, looking up at us from the fire.

Thalie and Gilly stirred, so I waited for everyone to wake up before explaining my encounter with the Bitch Goddess the day before.

“You should smash it,” Krencha said firmly.

“I don’t want to risk establishing some kind of spiritual connection with the Bitch.” I shivered, remembering the experience.

“You should show it to Aunty Charlix,” Gilly suggested, yawning and stretching. “If anyone knows what that thing is and how to safely dispose of it, it’s her.”

I tucked the fruit away, “Sounds smart to me.”

The dragonkin moved closer, “You’ll just need to make sure one of us is with you when you go to sleep at night, to help guard your dreams.”

“I’d like to meet Sarah too,” Thalie volunteered, “I mean, when she’s not possessed.”

“You two have a lot in common,” I admitted, thinking about it.

Annowan, who had backed away from the discussion, cleared her throat. “If we’re all ready, we need to get moving. Mal, do you have a fix on the Lament of Heaven?”

Closing my eyes, I reached out again, trying to locate any signs of the Bitch’s magic or the artifact’s covetous urges. I felt something, far below us, roar with rage.

“I got it,” I said, opening my eyes. “I have no clue how we’ll get there, but I at least have the general direction.”

“Let’s go then!” Krencha demanded.

Gilly looked at Annowan, and I knew she wanted to talk about everything that had happened and the drastic change in our relationship, but I knew pushing the demon would not get us anywhere. Annowan had just started opening up, and I was afraid pushing her harder would cause her to clam up again, just as she had before with Gilly.

We shared a glance, and she sighed, moving off to check her gear before we departed.

Navigating the shifting and corrupted Library proved to be as difficult as I had feared. Eventually, Daggerdare, Scrapple, and I found a method that allowed us to blunder forward.

Daggerdare could still sense the holly sprig nailed above the mantel in Velka’s quarters, and I could sense the Lament of Heaven, essentially giving us two points to navigate against. We could roughly estimate the distance traveled when we moved further from one and closer to the other. At the same time, Scrapple sniffed the air, which came gusting up and down the halls as the Library’s layout changed. He’d pick up the scent of various Slayers and wardens, and then direct us the right way.

‘He didn't get a chance to catch Sarah’s scent when we confronted them earlier, sorry,” Krencha said, as she patted the mole-dog.

“It’s okay, he’s doing a great job,” I gave him a rub under his jaw. He thumped his back leg happily.

“You sure it’s a good idea to leave Annowan alone with her thoughts at the moment?” she whispered.

Looking over my shoulder, the demon knight stood alone, looking over a banister at a huge, flooded chamber. Bits of books and loose sheets of paper floated on top of the brackish water. After the night before, Annowan had been unusually quiet that morning, keeping her thoughts to herself again.

“I encouraged her to open up and talk, but at the same time I don’t want to push her too hard,” I told her quietly. “She’s already made one momentous breakthrough, or so I hope.”

“I’m still surprised she talked to you at all, let alone slept with you,” Daggerdare commented.

“This isn’t a group chat,” I hissed.

But if Annowan minded us discussing the events, she didn’t seem to show it. Instead, she just hitched her shoulders and studiously ignored us.

“I can’t believe I’m the one saying this, but let’s just focus on killing the bad guys and saving the day,” Gilly told us. “Annie won’t be able to focus on anything else before then, that’s just how she is.”

“I think we need to go this way,” the demon called, gesturing towards a narrow, rickety-looking balcony that ran above the water.

The flooded room bubbled menacingly as we advanced, with bits of junk floating up from the bottom.

“Where did all this water come from?” Thalie wondered.

The walkway we were on seemed to be constructed from random bits of wood, including floorboards, wall paneling, and parts of furniture. Its width was random as well, sometimes we’d be able to walk three abreast, other times it was single file. The flooded chamber was huge, shaped like a giant, rounded well, and it was almost impossible to see the other side. Mist hung heavy over the middle of the room.

I estimated we were about half way across when a wide opening suddenly appeared in the wall next to us. Before we could even raise our weapons, the kinless assassins were upon us, striking with their poisoned blades.

One caught me across the chest, slicing my armor. Grabbing my assailant by his sword arm, I pinned his paring dagger against his chest. Using his momentum, I swung him around, heaving him towards the water.

The spindly railing gave way, and he fell towards the depths. But before he splashed in, a black tentacle broke the surface, snapping the man out of the air.

“It’s back!” I yelled as I raised my buckler and defended myself against another one of its limbs as the tentacle monster slammed onto the balcony.

Its mouths began screaming, like a chorus of the damned.

The pool frothed as its incomprehensible mass swam up from below.

Annowan sent out a shocking wave of balethunder through the assassins. Several fell dead, while the rest were left stunned by the shock. The tentacle monster took advantage of this, snapping the stunned dragonkin up and dragging them into the water before they could save themselves.

That thing doesn’t care what side we’re on, I thought as I kicked a tentacle off my leg.

Krencha and Scrapple battered through the assassins while Daggerdare guarded their backs, keeping the tentacle monster occupied. Her axes grew slick with the beast’s slimy ichor, but it only pressed us harder, trying to pull us to a watery grave.

I grabbed Gilly, pulling her back from the brawl, giving her a chance to unsling her bow and get off a few shots.

“Thalie!” I cried, upon spotting the orc.

She was hard-pressed by multiple foes, the cramped confines of the balcony giving her no chance to use her halberd. Two assassins attacked her from the front, while she tried to duck swings from the tentacle beast’s limbs.

Grabbing my warpick, I waded into the fight, brutally bashing and puncturing anyone or anything who got in my way. The kinless fought with determination, the barbs of the Bitch’s mind control pushing them onward, making them fight to the death. The tentacle beast roared in mindless hunger.

Grunting, I felt something pierce into my back. Krencha yelled a warning, and Scrapple’s huge paw lashed out, mauling whoever had hit me. Pushing forward, I reached Thalie, slamming my pick into the face of the nearest kinless attacker.

“Thalie!” I repeated, just then feeling a burning pain in my shoulder.

Squaring her shoulders, she grabbed me and dragged me back towards Gilly using the path I had cleared. The dragonkin took out the remaining assassins blocking her way.

I stumbled to my feet. My veins felt like they were burning, and I was dizzy and nauseous. Blood trickled down my back; a poisoned blade had found a gap in my armor, striking shallowly across my shoulder.

Blearily, I watched as Annowan and the others finished off the remaining assassins. The doorway vanished, trapping those that remained with us on the balcony. Despite their doomed odds, they fought on like lunatics.

Scrapple bashed through their ranks and Krencha pulled me onto his broad back.

“Move!” she yelled as the mole-dog ran, heading towards the far end of the balcony.

Thankfully, the tentacle monster seemed satisfied with the feast we had left for it. It made some half-hearted attempts to grab us, but it mostly seemed preoccupied with pulling the kinless corpses into the water.

Running hard, our party reached the end of the balcony, bursting into an unoccupied room.

Thalie laid me down on my side, pulling my armor away from the wound.

“I have an antidote kit,” Gilly said, as she pulled a pouch from her belt. “Give me a second and I’ll prepare it.”

I gasped in pain; my heart felt like it was burning.

“Move,” Daggerdare commanded, kneeling by my side, “I can take care of this.”

The Mother’s sap burst from her heart, flowing out into her palm, which she placed against my wound. As she did, I felt the Mother Tree’s magic flow into my body, bright, clear, and pure. It only touched me lightly, but it was more than enough to cure the poison. I sighed in relief as the spell faded.

Carefully, the treespeaker helped me to stand, giving me a self-satisfied grin.

A startled Gilly put away the anti-poison kit and formed a healing rune, quickly treating the wound.

“How did you do that?” I stuttered, my vision clearing.

“I told you, the Mother Tree blessed our union.” The treespeaker smirked savagely. “Did you think that was just a trite saying?”

I rolled my shoulder, confirming it was fully healed, and then I kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you, and the Mother Tree, for her care.”

She nodded, turning solemn. “Mind that I can only offer you so much, so don’t think you can go and get yourself gutted or immolated and have me waltz in to put you back together as Gilly does.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, before checking with everyone else to make sure I was the only one who had been seriously injured.

In the flooded chamber, I distinctly heard the crunch of bone, followed by a disturbing amount of splashing.

“We should get moving,” I said; the nausea I felt had nothing to do with poison.

Chapter 22

The power leaking from the Lament of Heaven became easier to detect the closer we got. With the Library’s shifting layout, it was hard to exactly gauge our progress, but I sensed waves of its burning energy rippling through the air, rearranging things to suit its will.

Either we’re getting pretty close now, I thought a few hours into our search, or the Bitch Goddess is making progress on ripping away the failsafe housing and exposing the artifact.

The distortions and changes to the Library only grew worse the closer we got; more and more I felt like we were walking through some grand tribute to the Bitch Goddess. Statues and images of her were ever-present, like everything had been warped to be some grand homage to her.

“Where did these things come from?” Gilly complained as she knocked over another faceless bust.

“I think the Library is just making them,” I answered, feeling some spatial magic coming off the bits of broken stone.

“The Library is designed to express the will and desires of its Owner,” Annowan said, her voice tense. “Since the Bitch Goddess is trying to take over, she’s exerting her will through the Lament of Heaven, changing this place to suit her twisted sense of decoration.”

We found murals made from bits of books, colored paper, and smashed-up pottery, each one of them depicting the divine love of the Bitch and the evil threat posed by the demon lord.

“Lilith would get a thrill out of this,” Gilly laughed, passing by a fresco that showed the demon lord as a giant horned monster that could spit clouds of burning flame.

“Tarial would smash it out of a sense of righteousness,” I argued.

“This is just weird,” Thalie said, as she peeked through a nearby doorway.

Beyond was a hewn-out room; I could see the remains of wood, plaster, and stone where walls had been torn down or the floors above demolished to make more space. Hundreds of mannequins and statues, all of them dressed in various costumes, were arranged to re-enact some forgotten battle.

To our left, the figures were all wearing black armor and sable cloaks much like the ones Annowan typically wore. Spikes and sticks had been driven or attached to their heads in a crude effort to give them horns. Most appeared to be cowering or running away.

The mannequins to the right were a more motley mix. Some were dressed as Slayers or wardens and they were given heroic-looking poses. Several statues were wearing leather armor and carrying axes reminiscent of Daggerdare’s. Others had been truncated, their arms and legs cut off at the elbows and knees; they also had elaborately braided bits of cloth hanging around their chins, reminiscent of beards.

“I think they’re supposed to be dwarves,” Gilly said.

If the diorama was meant to depict some ancient battlefield, it was clear The City’s forces had won. Several of the Slayers were standing over fallen demons, their blades poised mid-chop as they slaughtered their downed foes.

“This is just insulting,” Annowan growled.

“I do not feel any better about it.” Daggerdare went over and kicked over one of the mannequins that was dressed like an elf.

To our shock, the thing got up and righted itself, restoring its original pose, its wooden joints clicking loudly as it raised its axes back into position.

Several mannequins turned their heads towards us in unison, and I felt waves of malignant magic welling up around them.

“We should go,” I said, quickly hustling everyone back outside and closing the door. “I’m pretty sure we could take them in a fight, but I don’t think we have that kind of time to waste.”

Sometimes it felt like we were climbing some impossibly huge tower, while other times it was like we were delving down into some forgotten depths. The Library spiraled around us, the entire place wrapping itself around the Lament of Heaven as the Bitch Goddess’s influence became more and more powerful.

“We’re close now,” I warned everyone as we finished climbing a slanting set of stairs.

The air was charged with arcane energy. Just beyond the landing was a huge promenade, similar to the dragon landing courtyard we had seen at the Giltscale estate. Statues of the Bitch Goddess were arranged in strange, circular patterns, the air between them supercharged with corrupt magic.

there was no sky overhead, just the endless nothingness of an interdimensional void.

“Give me the fresh air and blue skies of the great outdoors any day,” Gilly said.

“With a decent bar or restaurant nearby, right?” I joked.

The demon knight directed us towards a large, wooden double door that rested at the edge of the courtyard. The doors hung unsupported, framed only by the vast nothing beyond.

They were locked; since none of the administrative functions worked anymore. Annowan just blasted them apart with balefire.

Stepping over the splintered wreckage, we found ourselves in some immense hall. The floor was shod in bronze. Matching pillars held up the ceiling, which was made of veined black marble. The walls were decorated with whirls of gold and silver, which had been molded into strange patterns that made you think of nothing but greed and hunger.

The air was cold and stank of ozone and blood.

I almost had a panic attack. I’m back in the Bitch Goddess’s Palace!

Thalie put a concerned hand on my shoulder, “Mal?”

I took a deep breath, then nodded to her. “I’m okay. This place just really reminds me of the Bitch’s palace back in The City. It’s her so-called heaven on earth.”

Looking more closely, I saw it was an imperfect copy. The pillars were made from bits of bronze and metal stolen from other parts of the Library, all sloppily melded together; I could pick out doorknobs, hinges, and bits of weapons sticking out of their sides. The floor mostly appeared to be made from melted shields and plates of ancient armor.

The filigrees were a crude copy of the ones I’d seen in the Bitch’s palace, and I noticed the ceiling was cracked in a dozen places, allowing the hungry light from the Lament of Heaven to leak through.

Annowan stepped forward and took a disdainful huff. “I’m not surprised the Bitch decorates her home in such a shallow, ostentatious manner.”

“You live in a flying palace above a lake of lava,” Daggerdare reminded her.

“But tastefully,” Gilly kicked over a nearby statue.

At that point, there was no question on which way we needed to go. We could all feel the heat and light of the Lament of Heaven, like a miniature sun, burning ahead of us. Moving quickly, we began to cross the hall, our footsteps muted and dull.

“Where is everyone?” Gilly asked, her bow strung and an arrow knocked. “I can’t imagine all the troops the Bitch brought with her are dead.”

“They’re probably lying in wait just ahead,” Daggerdare replied, squinting.

The light only got brighter the closer we got to it, shimmering and gold. I raised my ability protecting us from the lash of its magic, full of spells laden obedience and control.

“WHO DARES TREAD INTO MY HALL!”

The voice tore through the air like a bolt of lightning.

I raised my ability, blunting the worst of its force, but I saw Thalie wince, holding herself steady with her halberd. Scrapple went low and snarled.

Annowan, undaunted, strode forward, a blazing sigil of the Throne erupting in the air before her.

“I am Annowan, heir to the Throne, Knight of the Throne, and sworn defender of the empire!” Her voice wasn’t as loud as the Bitch’s but it rang with authority. “You are the trespasser, entering into my mother’s library!”

“TRESPASSER?” The Bitch Goddess laughed. “I AM A GODDESS, I GO WHERE I PLEASE. HOW CAN I TRESPASS IN A PLACE THAT I OWN. THIS WORLD, AND EVERYTHING IN IT, IS MINE!”

“Lies,” spat Daggerdare. “You are nothing more than a broken pretender.”

Thalie, who had been wilting, stood up straight, emulating Annowan’s posture. “I don’t belong to you! None of us do!”

Scrapple barked and Krencha cheered. “Damn right! I write my own destiny!”

Smiling, I felt my heart swell in pride for my wives. I pushed back on the Bitch, nipping at the magic she was using to project her presence.

“Damnit, Malory, you know it makes it a lot harder to display my divinity when you go screwing up my magic,” the Bitch yelled from the far end of the hall.

She strode out in the open, still wearing Sarah’s body. I could see the corrupt possession filling her like a blazing torch.

“Let Sarah go,” I demanded.

“You never know when to play along, do you?” she huffed. “Fine, if you are going to make this difficult, I’ll rise to the occasion.”

From out of the bright light marched a veritable company of Slayers, wardens, and kinless assassins. Necrotic angels flew above them, their scything blades gleaming against the shadowy terror of their wings.

“Got the whole crew here, just for you.” The Bitch smirked beneath her mask.

We raised our weapons.

“Cut through them and secure the Lament of Heaven,” Annowan barked.

The necrotic angels swooped down on us, the air whistling over the edges of their blades. Annowan threw out orbs of balefire while I snapped out with my ability, breaking the magic that animated three of them.

Scrapple leapt up and snapped another one out of the air. The mole-dog took several hits dragging the thing to the ground, but he kept fighting. Krencha smashed it repeatedly as the undead construct thrashed and tried to fly free.

“We’ll not go down that easy!” she screamed as she crushed the necrotic angel’s skull.

The wardens were advancing down the middle of the room while the Slayers spread out to the left and the kinless ran towards our right. They still greatly outnumbered us, and they were planning on fencing us in and crushing us under their superior numbers.

Daggerdare rushed towards the kinless, trying to stop them from coming around our flanks. Her arms and legs glowing with the Mother Tree’s sap, she struck like a deadly tempest. Her axes hacked and chopped in swift, bloody blurs that left the dragonkin killers reeling, unable to coordinate against her.

Thalie and I engaged the wardens, hoping to push them back and break the envelopment. They fought in small groups, their spears raised behind their large, square shields. Thalie let loose a tangle of predatory vines. They slipped between their ankles, winding their way through their ranks before pulling taut. This scattered their formations and pinned the wardens in place.

We tore through the openings in their defenses, slashing, cutting, and killing as quickly as we could.

Annowan took on the Slayers by herself. Knowing her bale magic would be blunted by their glyphed armor, supercharged by the Bitch’s close proximity, she instead relied on her strength and skill with the blade.

The demon knight cut down the first attacker but was forced back as several more jumped at her, hacking at her with their sawtoothed blades. She grunted in pain as one of them slipped past her guard and struck her on the arm. The Slayer’s blade rent through her armor, leaving a bloody gash.

“Annowan!” Gilly slammed an arrow into the man’s throat.

The demon took the opening to lash out with baleice. Rather than striking at the Slayers, she aimed at the floor, turning it into a deadly field of frozen spikes. Several of her assailants fell, impaling themselves on the deadly ice or leaving themselves wide open for Annowan’s finishing blow.

Thalie and I fought through the wardens, but we became separated when a fresh wave of reinforcements appeared. Our group was hemmed in, our foes attacking from all sides. For a moment I was battling with Daggerdare, the two of us fighting savagely for just a few meters of space.

A flight of necrotic angels dived down at us. I snapped off my ability, temporarily shredding their undead wings. The constructs lost control and crashed straight into a squad of wardens, killing them all.

Then I felt Scrapple’s bulk behind me, and together with the dragoon, we hammered at a fresh wave of Slayers who had appeared as if from nowhere.

The sound of combat was deafening. For every one of the Bitch’s forces we cut down, two more lined up from the end of the hall.

The Bitch just stood there, watching us, occasionally bellowing out terse commands. But there didn’t seem to be any strategy involved in her methods, she simply seemed to be throwing wave after wave of soldiers at us, not caring if they lived or died.

I found Gilly crouched down next to Scrapple, quickly treating the worst of his wounds during a pause in the fighting. “You’ll be okay, boy.”

“Keep it up,” the Bitch laughed, “I can do this all day!”

“What, get your forces slaughtered?” Annowan replied from somewhere to our right.

The Bitch shrugged. “My generals, bless their hearts, were the real geniuses behind my military victories. You should have seen how Tarial led her forces, she slaughtered all your filthy nonbelievers at an astonishing rate. It was utterly majestic.”

Annowan launched a retaliatory blast of balethunder, and Scrapple got back up, a growl rising from his throat.

“While I am perfect at a great many things,” the Bitch said, “my tactics in battle are pretty simple. I’ll just keep throwing things at you till I win via attrition.”

Another company of wardens raised their spearheads and beat them against their shields, raising a peel of metallic thunder. Golden, barbed halos rose to hover above each of their heads.

“Go,” the Bitch commanded. “Slay in my --”

The wall to our right exploded, the metal buckling and cracking as a huge black tentacle, its rubbery flesh festooned with hundreds of screaming mouths, burst through.

The Bitch stared up in wonder, “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” She pointed to a squad of wardens. “Go get --”

The thing shot a limb out, seizing her round the waist. Before she could issue another command she was pulled violently into the air.

“Sarah!” I screamed.

The whole room lurched, and more tentacles punched through the floor. The opulent hall groaned, and several of the pillars cracked and snapped. I almost tripped as the floor tilted. With a horrendous cry of shattering stone and breaking timber, the entire structure began to tilt. The floor leaned towards the light from the Lament of Heaven, which blasted upwards like a searchlight.

The Slayers and wardens, still obeying the Bitch’s last order, stubbornly began climbing towards us, even as we slid downward.

“Stick together,” Annowan yelled. She tried to grab onto a column, but the floor beneath it broke apart, sending her falling.

“Annie!” Gilly screamed.

The demon skidded along the floor, crashed into a group of wardens, and then disappeared into the light.

I braced myself, grabbing a crack that had opened in the floor.

Scrapple launched himself towards the light, even as the goblin dragoon shouted, “For the Throne!”

I reached towards Daggerdare, but the treespeaker slipped as well. Turning, she gave a fierce cry, axes raised as she slammed into a pack of Slayers. Together they all fell.

“Gilly, Thalie!” I saw they were clinging together, the orc using her halberd to fend off a group of Slayers that were determinedly trying to claw up to them.

I tried to jump and reach them, but just as I was about to leap I heard a familiar voice.

“Mal! Mal! Help!”

Looking towards the ruined wall, I saw Sarah was still in the monster’s clutches. The Bitch’s control had slipped, and she sounded like herself again. Her sword was still sheathed and pinned to her side; her mask was askew and blood was running down her neck.

“Mal!” she cried again. “Please, save me!”

She feebly beat at the tentacle holding her, her hands bouncing off its rubbery flesh.

Before I could react, the beast retreated through the wall, Sarah’s shrill screams echoing through the hole it had left. “Mal! Please!”

“Mal!”

Looking back, I saw one of the Slayers had grabbed Thalie’s weapon and was using it to pull the two of them into the light. They screamed, and Gilly reached out for me.

I couldn’t get to them in time.

They were gone.

The hall’s remaining supports groaned, and I knew I only had seconds to act before the whole place collapsed.

Sarah screamed again, her voice full of terror.

I had two choices. I could go after Sarah and the tentacle beast, hoping that I could beat it back and save her. Or I could let go and fall with the others.

Below, the light burned brightly, and I could hear the sounds of battle. The women I loved were fighting for their lives.

I felt my heart tear. Going for Sarah meant leaving Annowan and my wives to fend for themselves. But I knew if I didn’t act, Sarah would be killed.

What do I do! I had resigned myself to fighting Sarah, maybe even killing her if forced to, But could I just abandon her to die?

Somewhere below I faintly heard Thalie yell in pain.

I hesitated, but only for a moment. Deafening myself to Sarah’s increasingly hysteric and fearful cries, I let go of my handhold and dropped into the heavenly light.

Chapter 23

The walls of the gilded hall gave way to the blinding, consuming light. I skidded along the bronze floor, letting the back of my armor take the brunt of the punishment as I plummeted towards the Lament of Heaven.

The hall’s floor ended in a ragged tear. Beyond, I could barely make out the Lament of Heaven, its light burning through the stone shell that strained to hold it in place. Golems crawled over its surface like ants.

Trying to stop my slide, I jammed the edge of my buckler into the scrap floor. Hanging there by its straps, I only had a second to analyze the scene below.

I saw Annowan and the others were fighting in a tight cluster, the surviving City troops pressing in on all sides. Thalie was injured, her hand held tightly against a wound in her leg as Daggerdare fought to protect her.

I couldn’t see Gilly, but to my right, I saw a flare of dragon breath and hoped it was her.

My buckler arm was screaming in pain and blood was slicking down my wrist from where the straps were cutting into my skin. The curved floor of the chamber was several meters down, the fighting happening almost right below me.

I gripped onto the buckler’s straps and jerked it free.

Screaming, I fell into a group of wardens, practically landing on top of one of them. We both tumbled into a heap, his body breaking my fall. Before he could recover I savagely smashed my pick into his neck and then jerked it free. Blood sprayed everywhere.

The other wardens were stunned by my sudden appearance. They had been focusing on Daggerdare and Thalie.

I drove my warpick into a woman’s shoulder, pulling her towards me. I used her as a human shield as another warden tried to impale me with a spear. She screamed in agony as her partner stabbed her; I spun her away with the spear still pinned in her back.

Unarmed, the warden was shocked at what he had done. I hammered him in the face, blood squelching and bones breaking under his helmet.

The last warden jabbed at me while I was still busy. The head of his spear ripped along my leg, leaving a wide but shallow wound. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed and pinned the shaft of the weapon and swung over his shield. I struck his neck, which cracked at the impact.

Hobbling a few steps, I saw Thalie was close.

“Thalie!” I grabbed the first aid kit from my belt. Pulling out a bandage, I pressed it against the deep cut that ran up the outside of her thigh.

“I’m okay,” she lied, eyes screwed shut against the pain. It was clear she couldn’t stand.

I took a second to patch my wound, which was superficial compared to hers.

Daggerdare chopped down a Slayer who had been closing in. “Mal, find Gilly! I’ll protect Thalie!”

The orc nodded, “Hurry!”

Annowan was nearby, fighting up against Scrapple’s side as a group of wardens tried to overwhelm them. Dragon’s breath flared to my right, and I heard Gilly cough out a curse.

Turning, I saw that a mass of wardens were trying to reach her. She was barely keeping them at bay with her flames.

Running towards her, I snapped out with my ability. The wardens paused and blinked; I didn’t have the time or concentration to break the brainwashing over them, but I could stun them for a second.

That’s all the time I needed to hurl myself into their backs. I knocked several down, using my shield as a bludgeon, as I swung at the others with my pick.

“Mal!” Gilly coughed. “Duck!”

Listening, I rolled and ducked as Gilly let out one last burst of dragon’s breath. The wardens shrieked as they caught alight, their arms flailing as they tried to put out the flames.

I caught her in my arms as her strength gave out.

Looking across the chamber, I saw Annowan and Krencha were pushing back The City’s remaining soldiers. The demon knight knocked a necrotic angel out of the air with a blast of baleice, and the dragoon quickly ran in to finish the thing off.

The floor of the chamber was covered in blood, broken weapons, and dead bodies. The few remaining kinless assassins were wounded or dying; whatever fervent lies the Bitch Goddess had whispered in their ears hadn’t been worth the price they had paid.

I almost felt bad for them, but they had willingly sold themselves to the Bitch and tried to kill the women I love. Regardless of what happened, none of them would be getting out of the Library alive.

“Annowan!” I called, pointing towards the Lament. “We need to stop them!”

The golems were clawing and tearing away at the shell around the Lament of Heaven, using their teeth and fingers to try and destroy the stone. Already several huge chunks had been torn away, and more cracks were forming. If we didn’t hurry, the fragment of the Bitch Goddess would escape its housing.

The demon knight threw out a blast of baleice, which formed into a torrent of black icicles. She knocked several golems off, but the remaining automatons redoubled their efforts. Annowan kept at it, but I noticed she was aiming just to the side of the artifact, trying to knock off the golems without striking the shell itself in fear that she’d break it.

Helping Gilly to her feet, I got her over to the others. Thalie was breathing heavily, and her pant leg was soaked with blood. The dragonkin was still weak from repeatedly using her breath attack, but she still managed to heal the worst of the orc’s injury.

“Thank you,” Thalie sighed, some of the strain leaving her face.

“Now what?” Daggerdare asked, glaring up at the Lament.

It was far too high for us to reach. Annowan continued to try to swat the golems off, but already the remaining City troops were regrouping at the other end of the chamber, preparing to attack us again. We’d only have moments before they were on us.

Focusing on my ability, I tried to reach for the golems, trying to untangle their magic from the overwhelming energy the Lament of Heaven was giving off. It was like trying to stare into the sun, but I was slowly able to start picking out their unique magical signatures.

Just as I was about to reach out and start pulling them off, the floor trembled.

Annowan’s spell went wide as she lurched, and a swath of black ice tore into the chamber’s wall.

It erupted a second later, a huge swath of black tentacles pushing into the room.

“Damnit, Malory, I am so fucking disappointed in you.”

Walking like she didn’t have a care in the world, the Bitch Goddess tread along the thickest of the tentacles, looking down at us.

“Sarah?” I gasped.

“Do you know how hard I worked to pull this trick off?” She reached out and began to pet a nearby tendril. “It took me a while to bend and break this thing’s will, but once I did, I knew I could use it as part of my plan to really screw with your head.”

A blast of balefire flew through the air, aimed directly at her. A tentacle snapped out, blocking the blow.

“Really?” The Bitch huffed. “I’m in the middle of explaining my brilliant idea, and you decide to throw a fireball at me?”

Annowan prepared another spell.

“Anyway,” the Bitch sighed dramatically. “I wanted to fuck with you, Malory. I ordered this lovely little pet of mine to pretend to attack and then haul me away.” She cleared her throat and then began screaming in Sarah’s voice. “Save me, Mal, save me!”

“Vile creature,” Daggerdare cursed.

Sarah pointed towards me. “And you know what? I was sure you’d abandon them, that your love from Sarah would blind your judgment and that you’d go chasing after me.”

I stared up at her, rage churning in my head. “I love Sarah, but I know I might have to give her up to save her from you,” I spat. Reaching out, I took Thalie’s hand, her fingers feeling warm and reassuring.

“I love these women,” I declared, not a shred of doubt in my mind. “I would never abandon them.”

“Here here!” Krencha cheered.

Annowan looked flustered, but she didn’t turn away when I met her eyes.

“Anyway,” the Bitch Goddess continued as if we hadn’t spoken. “Once I had lured you away, I would have slaughtered these idiots, then revealed the shocking twist!”

Reaching up, she removed her mask, letting it drop to the floor.

The face that stared back at me was that of a stranger. Though she had Sarah’s build and body type, her face was completely different than the girl I loved. She was in her early twenties, with a dash of freckles along her cheeks.

She grinned madly as if she had pulled off some great feat.

“Who the fuck are you?” Gilly asked, wiping the soot from her lips. “Where’s Sarah?”

“Nobody appreciates a good body-double,” the Bitch groaned. “Do you know how long it took to find someone that looked like my vessel? Seriously, I put a ton of planning into all of this, and none of you appreciate it.” She glared at Annowan, “I know Lilith would have found it funny. She at least got my brilliance.”

“Where is Sarah?” I repeated.

“Fine, fine,” gesturing wearily, the Bitch pointed towards the Lament of Heaven. “I assume you’ve figured out that this thing is a fragment of my divine form?”

Our hateful stares were answer enough for her.

She nodded. “At least you’re not as dense as you look. But do you think this is the only lost fragment of me in this world?”

Annowan gasped in shock. “What?”

The Bitch rolled her eyes. “When I created this world, I was shattered in the process. I assume my perfect, divine form was too much for this crude little reality. Bits and pieces of me were scattered everywhere. Lilith and her meddlesome resistance kept me from doing large-scale searches. I was able to locate a few fragments, but most were squirreled away, taken as artifacts, totems of power, or even worshipped as gods themselves. The war ended before I could retrieve them all.”

“Most of the fragments are tiny, little more than slivers of divinity. This one though?” She smiled at the Lament of Heaven, which radiated even more brightly in response.

Turning, she looked at me. “My vessel is on a critical mission, out supervising the retrieval of another fragment as we speak.” She gave all of us her maddening grin. “What? Did you think my Slayers and soldiers were mindlessly searching the world just for my generals? I admit I do want to find them, but they’re not my primary goal at this point.”

“Liar,” Annowan spat.

“Believe what you want,” the Bitch replied. “I changed my plans once Malory slipped my reins since I knew he’d give you a lead on my generals. While you were busy chasing after them, I’ve had my followers out retrieving my fragments, gathering the power I’ll need.”

“Power for what?” Thalie balled her fists, speaking courageously.

“Why, to destroy and then remake this world,” the Bitch answered. “I’ll admit, I didn’t do a very good job when I first created Amalgam. There’s way too much riff-raff and gutter trash, like you,” she pointed vaguely at us. “I will recreate the world, and in my image. Everyone will worship me, praise me, belong to me. Body and soul, you will all be mine.”

“We won’t let you!” Daggerdare yelled. “We’ll resist you to the bitter end!”

“Won’t let me?” The Bitch laughed. “You think trash like you will have a place in my perfect world? I’ll cast your souls into the void and let you rot there for an eternity. It’s a fitting punishment for nonbelievers.”

She turned her eyes on me, madness swimming in their depths. “But you, Malory? I’ve decided that I’ll remake you too. I’ll change you into what you should have been. A perfect, loyal believer. Only words of love for me will cross your lips.”

“I’ll die before I let that happen,” I replied.

She laughed again. “That’s fine. I’m a goddess, remember? I’ll bring you back and remake you over and over again till your soul breaks and your mind shatters. Everything, living and dead, shall be as I demand it.”

The room shook as a large chunk of the stone shell around the Lament of Heaven fell, exposing the fragment’s blistering light.

“Anyway, it was fun chatting,” the Bitch directed her tentacle towards the light, “but I do need to get this show on the road.”

“I won’t let you get away with this!” Annowan roared, her face red with rage. “Strike her down!” she commanded, turning to us.

Scrapple howled with her, and Krencha leaned over her saddle. Daggerdare let the Mother’s sap flow into her limbs, filling her with bright green light. Gilly and Thalie leaned on each other, but I knew they would give everything they could in the fight.

Gripping my weapon, I looked at the Bitch

As one, we ran towards the base of the tentacles, which poured through the hole in the wall. Scrapple bounded onto the lowest one, his claws tearing into its flesh as he found purchase. The mouths screamed in pain as we used its wounds as footholds to climb higher.

“Don’t just stand there!” The Bitch yelled at her remaining troops.

As one they lurched forward, their eyes blank as the golden halos above their heads blazed to life.

“We’ll hold them off!” Thalie cried as she leveled her weapon. Next to her, Gilly slapped herself to wakefulness, then readied her bow.

I climbed up onto the main tentacle behind Daggerdare. The thing lurched and twisted beneath us. But with the Bitch still standing on the far end of the limb, it couldn’t afford to just buck us off. Instead, it sent its other tendrils against us, threshing through the air in an attempt to knock us back to the floor.

Annowan took the lead, her baleice enchanted blade rendering through the blubbery flesh. Tentacles exploded around us, torn apart by the veins of black ice that exploded from within.

I fought with Daggerdare, hacking and chopping our way through the storm of disgusting limbs while Kencha and Scrapple tore at the thing’s base. The mouths continued to scream and moan beneath us. It was difficult to keep our balance while also avoiding stepping into one of its toothy maws. The beast kept snapping its teeth at us, trying to take a bite.

I savagely kicked down with my cast, knocking several of the beast’s teeth out. “Knew this thing was good for something!”

“Focus!” Annowan called, as she broke through another wave of tentacles.

As she did, the Bitch turned away from the Lament of Heaven. With a wave of her hand, the tentacle we were standing on suddenly went rigid, becoming flat and unmoving.

From her sheath, the Bitch produced her single-edged silver sword, which she flourished with practiced ease. “Come, and let me show you all the ways you are inferior to your grandmother, little demon.”

Even as the tentacle we were standing on came to a stop, the thing’s other limbs reached out for the Lament of Heaven. It wound around the stone shell, dislodging some of the golems and sending them falling to their doom. With a crackling cry, it began to rip apart stone.

Annowan raised her sword. Rather than rising to the Bitch’s bait and rushing in, she advanced carefully, wary of a trap.

“Stop the beast, I’ll handle her!” she called to us.

I tried to join her, to fight the Bitch together, but a wall of black, rubbery flesh slammed down, blocking our path.

“Don’t worry, Malory!” The Bitch’s mocking voice carried over the din of battle. “I’ll be sure to return her corpse to you when I’m done. You and Lilith can have a nice funeral for her!”

Daggerdare grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “Come.”

Joining the treespeaker, we lept off the main trunk. We landed on one of the limbs reaching for the Lament. I snapped my ability out, yanking the corrupt magic from the tentacles around us. That sent them into spasms of pain. Daggerdare began chopping into them, her arms moving at superhuman speed as she filled herself with more of the Mother Tree’s magic.

Above, I heard Scrapple bark and Krencha cheer. “I shall mount this beast’s heart above my bed!”

Pushing aside that nauseating thought, I looked down.

Thalie and Gilly were holding off The City’s troops, who continued to attack in a disorganized manner.

The orcish maiden kept them back using the superior range and weight of her halberd, her weapon often breaking and shattering the lighter spears used by the wardens. Gilly aimed to slow and cripple her foes, placing arrows into unprotected knees and eye slits. Several Slayers were down, arrows puncturing their limbs, as they desperately crawled after the two.

Breaking my concentration for a moment, I attacked the mind control magic wrapped around the warden’s minds. They stumbled and slowed momentarily, giving Thalie and Gilly a few seconds to thin their ranks and gain some breathing space.

“Thanks!” Gilly smiled. She drew back her bowstring and sent an arrow into the face of a Slayer.

Turning back towards the tentacle beast, we found our footing becoming more treacherous as we drew closer to the Lament of Heaven. The thing bucked and heaved, trying to shake us loose. But as it did, it lost its grip on the fragment’s stone shell, buying us some more time.

Above us, Annowan fought against the Bitch. Their swords never stopped moving. The demon knight would constantly press in, using her larger sword to push the other woman back. The Bitch Goddess would retreat a step, but then simply counter the demon’s last attack and force Annowan onto the defensive. They went back and forth, the Bitch grinning and laughing as she easily shrugged off Annowan’s attacks.

“Really?” She taunted the demon. “That’s the best you got?”

A bolt of balethunder cracked through the air, but it deflected around the Bitch, ripping into the far wall.

“Accursed thing!” Daggerdare groaned after a tentacle had walloped her across the head. Blood ran down her face, blinding her in one eye.

I threw myself at the beast, my pick finding purchase as I tore into its limb. “Can you get up?”

“Who do you think I am?” the elf challenged as she got unsteadily to her feet, wiping the blood from her face.

Together we ripped and tore through the tentacle beast. But for every limb we mauled or amputated, another crashed through the wall.

The thing’s bulk must be massive, I could practically feel its corrupted heart beating from some great distance away, even as it shoved its limbs toward its master’s goal.

“Krencha! Daggerdare!” I yelled, “Follow me!”

Hoping the goblin dragoon had heard me, I turned away from the Lament and ran towards the hole in the wall. I shoved my way towards the hole left by the mass of tentacles.

Daggerdare was right behind me, her axes creating an ichor-stained path. Higher up, I heard Scrapple’s growls and Daggerdare’s war cries, letting me know they were following me.

“Let’s go get you that heart!” I yelled to her as we pressed into the breach.

Beyond was a world of inky darkness. Huge walls of befouled flesh pressed in against us and the churn of corrupt magic was constant. It took everything I had to push up deeper, to fight towards its vile source.

Krencha and Scrapple appeared out of a shower of torn flesh and black blood. The two of them were ecstatic at the heroic opportunity before them.

Daggerdare and the mounted pair pushed us forward, constantly hacking and chopping a path through the beast’s flesh. I used my ability to push back on its embrace, creating a small bubble in a world of insanity.

The mouths howled and jibbered around us, snapping when we got too close to their horrid lips. It sang a song of madness, all sibilant whispers, unearthly moans, and horrid words that made no sense but burned into our brains.

Even as my wives carved through its body, the thing pressed on us, mentally and physically, trying to break us, to crush us. The pressure was immense. I could feel my blood pounding in my head as I did everything I could to get us closer to the thing’s heart.

Ahead, I could hear some huge and awful organ beat at a thunderous, uneven rhythm.

Daggerdare suddenly slipped and went to her knees, and I saw Scrapple press down onto his haunches. The song had become louder, almost deafening, and there was barely enough room for the four of us to breathe. I knew we could go no further.

Reaching out with my ability, I attacked the tentacle beast’s core. Its terrible heart flowed with filth and broken magic. But the beast was far bigger than I could have imagined.

We had never seen the horror’s true shape, it was a leviathan invading in from the void. It was only able to shove its smallest limbs into the confines of the Library. We had exited from the world of reason and entered its domain, one defined by undulating flesh and unending madness.

Even with all the limbs that we had hacked off and all the ichor we had shed, we had only managed to inflict a minor wound to the thing. They were more than a papercut to its insane perspective.

I felt like an ant trying to destroy a god.

Slowly, I fell to my knees, my ability pushed back by the sheer improbability, the insanity around me. A gibbering, cackling sob pushed up my throat, and I knew if I started laughing I’d never be able to stop.

And then I felt it. A powerful, unifying presence behind me, like a lighthouse shining out across the darkness.

Its light pushed back the madness and darkness, and I suddenly felt the strength of the others around me. Daggerdare’s vitality pulsed into my limbs, strengthening my resolve and my spellbreaker ability. And I could almost feel Krencha’s impossible bravery and heroic spirit embolden me, pushing me to fight harder, to win against impossible odds.

And behind all this I felt Annowan, binding us together, uniting us as one against an unbeatable foe.

Reaching out, I felt all of us assault the beast’s heart as one. Our strength was combined, becoming a thousand times stronger than any of us acting alone.

The mouths cried out as I honed our will into a single piercing blow, which tore through the thing’s core.

Chapter 24

Like a body ejecting a splinter, the tentacle beast forced us out of its bulk, its death spasms sending us tumbling back towards the Library.

We emerged in a spray of ichor and gore, landing heavily on one of its thrashing limbs before crashing to the chamber’s floor in a heap.

“That was amazing,” Krencha huffed as she pulled herself upright. She was a hideous mess, with bits of blubbery skin hanging off her armor. Still, when she lifted her visor to smile, her expression was radiant.

“Mother Tree be praised,” Daggerdare agreed, her hand pressed against her side.

I painfully climbed to my feet, glad to see I had managed to avoid breaking any new bones. Wiping my face, I saw Thalie and Gilly were nearby.

When the beast had died, it had almost destroyed the chamber in its final frenzy. Most of the floors and walls were battered and broken, and I could see where more holes had been punched into the room, revealing the decaying and broken remains of the Library.

The thing had crushed and killed the remaining wardens and necrotic angels. I could see several limbs and broken bodies crushed under its still twitching mass. If there were any kinless assassins left alive beforehand, they were definitely dead. Thankfully, Gilly and Thalie had avoided that fate, though they looked as exhausted as we were.

Gilly limped over, holding her nose. “Damn, you stink!”

Resisting the urge to embrace her, I instead suddenly remembered that one of us was missing.

“Annowan!” I hollered.

“I think she’s over there,” Thalie pointed.

We got up and worked together to push through the tangle of dead tentacles, which was still spasming and twitching. Thankfully, its mouths were silent, and we could hear two people speaking.

Breaking through, we emerged into the center of the chamber. Ahead, Annowan was crouched down, blood streaming from a dozen different wounds.

The Bitch was standing unevenly in the middle of the chamber, right below the Lament of Heaven. Annowan’s sword was spiked through her gut and into the floor. I could tell she was leaning on the blade, which was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Not too shabby,” she admitted, blood trickling down her chin. “You actually know a few moves Lilith doesn’t.”

Annowan grinned. “I will surpass her and then destroy you.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself!” The Bitch was impaled and dying, but her words still thrummed with power. “I acknowledge that you won our duel, but I believe that I still won the day.” She glanced upward. “And here comes my prize now.”

The last of the failsafe around the Lament of Heaven fell away, the remaining golems falling with it. A resounding crash filled the air, and we were blinded by a blast of air and dust as the rocky shell hit the floor.

“Stop her!” Annowan yelled as she tried and failed to get back onto her feet.

“Follow me!” Krencha grabbed my arm and pulled me along as Scrapple charged towards the center of the impact.

The mole-dog easily leapt over the rocky wreckage, revealing the Bitch still standing in the middle of the room. Streams of bright, terrible magic poured off the fragment and into her. Her eyes were lit up like two pyres, and her mouth was open in a constant, unending howl of joy. Her chest was lit up from within like a blazing lantern.

I could see more magic leaking through the wounds in her body, and coils of black, greasy smoke were coming from under her armor. Her vessel was burning alive as she consumed the fragment’s power.

We tried to get close to her, to stop her, but the light and heat were too much. I could feel Scrapple’s fur singe as he tried to muscle us closer.

I felt weak, my ability sputtered and responded sluggishly when I called upon it.

I can’t stop her from being reunited with her fragment, I realized.

But I could keep her from devouring all of its power.

Covetous, hungry magic poured out of the fragment, anchored to the Bitch’s dying vessel. Reaching out, I felt my mind burn as I got closer to the terrible connection, searching for its weak point.

“Mal!” I heard Krencha scream, but her voice was distant, faint. All I could see, hear, or feel was the fragment’s power being channeled before me.

And just like that, I snapped the connection apart.

In one humongous burst, the Lament of Heaven exploded, directing all its remaining power upward. The beam tore through the remains of the ceiling, vaporizing it. Beyond, the hungry void devoured and dispersed the magic, scattering it to eternity.

Dimly, I came back to myself. I was cradled on Scrapple’s back; the three of us had tumbled down into the center of the room. The Bitch’s vessel was nearby; it was little more than a charred bit of flesh still impaled on Annowan’s blade.

Impossibly, its head turned to look at me with empty, leering sockets.

“Spoilsport,” it muttered before the whole thing crumbled into a pile of ash.

It took us nearly three days to escape the Library after that.

Evacuating the now empty artifact chamber, we found shelter in a nearby room that was miraculously still intact. We nursed our wounds and regained our strength. Few words were uttered, and only when necessary. All of us were still in a state of shock from the day’s insane events.

Before falling asleep, I made sure to place the stone spirit fruit as far away from us as possible.

After a short, uneasy rest, we began climbing.

The Library had ceased shifting and changing after the destruction of its power source, but thankfully the spatial magic that maintained its structure didn’t immediately collapse.

“Spatial magic is something my grandmother and mother were experts in,” Annowan said during a break between ascents. “I know very little about it. But from what I’ve seen, pocket dimensions tend to remain for a bit, even after their cores are destroyed. If we’re lucky, we can try and anchor this place after we escape, to keep it from disappearing entirely.”

Most of the next few days were spent climbing and trudging through the ruined remains of the jumbled structure, using my ability to trace the elusive signature of Annowan’s seal on the front door.

The remaining wings had been torn apart and rearranged based on the Bitch’s desires. Their contents; all the artifacts, books, scrolls, and artwork had been rendered down and torn apart to build the vainglorious monuments to her perceived greatness.

I was glad that we had found the few clues we had regarding Revekar and one of the remaining general’s tombs. Annowan was hoping Charlix could find more information about the last general by sifting through the wreckage, but I wasn’t sure.

I was of the mind that we should just grab what we could and blow the place to smithereens.

We dug upwards, pushing through the wreckage and often detouring around impassable areas. Scrapple would help me, lending his nose to finding trails and passages that lead towards the exit. We only stopped when we had to, resting for a few hours before pushing on.

The whole place felt haunted, like some desecrated tomb. Darkness and shadows loomed everywhere, with the lights out, leaving Annowan to illuminate the way with her magic. She had been healed after her battle with the Bitch Goddess’s vessel, but she was still weak, drained from the fight.

Surprisingly, she allowed us to help and support her as we continued to push towards freedom.

The only respite we had was when we stumbled onto the botanical wing at the end of the second day. Its door was open and thankfully its greenhouses and atriums were mostly untouched. Beyond the glass ceiling, the sunny sky was gone, replaced by the colorless, shapeless, chaotic vista of the void.

Stumbling, we made our way to the holly grove. I once again tucked away the stone spirit fruit before we all collapsed and slept under the tree’s protective shade.

The next morning we finished off the last of our supplies and resolved to escape. We refilled our canteens from a watering hose, then made our way back into the remnants of Velka’s Library.

We were in better spirits, the peace brought by the holly having let us rest and actually sleep well for the first time in days.

“We need to inform grandmother about the Bitch’s plans as soon as possible,” Annowan said as we climbed. “If the Bitch was telling the truth, and she is sending her agents out to retrieve her fragments, then our search teams are looking for the wrong thing.”

I thought of Charlix’s report, and the searchers finding nothing but empty ruins and ransacked cities. “I imagined the search teams were looking for tombs and burial chambers, they could have easily passed by where the real prize had been.”

“Distressing,” she sighed, “but if we act quickly, we can do our best to stymie the damage.”

“Plus we know where another general likely is,” Thalie added. “If we can keep a third out of her grasp, that will slow down her plans.” She frowned, “Whatever they really are.”

The Bitch said she wanted the power to remake the world, but she spoke nothing of her methods. I thought about the storm of souls she had consumed over the centuries, slowly rebuilding her power, till she was strong enough to strike out at the world at large. Even without her generals, will she be able to do what she says and remake Amalgam?

Krencha slapped me hard on the back, breaking me from those disturbing thoughts.

“Thanks,” I kissed her, before grinning at Gilly. “Just like you asked, it sounds like we’re going to a warm, tropical island.”

“Me and my big mouth,” the dragonkin groused.

It was getting late in the day by the time we located the exit. Annowan barely had the strength to wave away the seal, destroying it with a bit of her blood.

When we stumbled outside, we were greeted by an entire dragonkin army, fronted by Cresis and Cresis Junior. Garlin was there as well, doing his best to hide his concern for his younger sister. The three Giltscale members were shocked by our sudden appearance, and we were quickly rushed to the privacy of a nearby tent. Inside, we found Charlix.

“Annie, Gilly!” The revealer rushed over and grabbed the two in a tight hug. “We were so worried about you!”

We relayed what we knew of the Bitch’s objectives right away, and Charlix immediately scryed to Babylon, sending new orders to the search teams. She also called in a group of specialists to try and stabilize the remains of the Library.

It took us a few hours to convey our tale and the events that had unfolded. Krencha spoke often, and I found she had no need to embellish our story. After the fact, it seemed like an insane nightmare, but we had somehow made our way through.

Annowan subtly reached out and gave me and placed her hand on my shoulder when I was faltering through a later part of the story. I smiled and found the strength to finish.

Garlin and Junior occasionally peeked in, checking to see if Gilly was alright. The revealer kept shooing them out since she was preoccupied with our report.

Finally, exhausted, filthy, and at our wits ends, we were escorted back to the Giltscale estate. Charlix had co-opted one of the wings for her stay, turning it into a mini headquarters. She quickly cleared one of the larger rooms and had mattresses and portable bathtubs brought in.

I barely remembered washing up, let alone dragging all the mattresses together. I crashed into the middle of the bed, then felt Gilly, Thalie, and Krencha snuggle up next to me. I was just falling asleep when I felt Annowan curl up beside me while Daggerdare laid down nearby.

Surrounded by those I loved, I slept peacefully, in dark dreams.

Our departure from Dragon Port was fairly calm.

The city was on lockdown as imperial troops, augmented by the private security forces employed by the ruling council scoured the area for any remaining kinless holdouts.

While we had been in the Library, the assassins had struck not only against the ruling council, killing several key leaders, but they had attacked imperial facilities as well. Junior had been busy most of the time, defending his family’s assets, while Garlin did what he could to manage the chaos.

Smoke hung heavy over the city as we packed to leave, but Gilly assured me that business would resume as soon as the blood was mopped off the street.

“Dragon Port isn’t the kind of place to let a little bit of treason and murder get in the way of business,” she said.

Raids had been launched, but the kinless had avoided the dragnet, seemingly fleeing the city once it was clear the Bitch’s plan had failed. I doubted that would be the last we saw of them.

The streets were clear when we left the Giltscale estate. Cresis Junior and Garlin were coming along to see us off. Cresis Senior was absent. Garlin provided a note from him that stated he was busy overseeing the safety of the city and couldn’t be bothered to say goodbye. Gilly wrote a message back telling him to go fuck himself.

“I promise I’ll give it to him,” Garlin said with a sly smile.

Hugging my arm, we had ridden through the city together, my dragonkin wife content with the new family she had built for herself.

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out as expected,” Cresis Junior offered, as we arrived at the teleportation tower. He sighed, “Hell, I think I’m sorry for a lot of things.”

Gilly stopped to consider him for a moment, then patted him on the arm. “Tell you what. When you get a chance, why don’t you come and visit us in Babylon, maybe when this whole end of the world mess is settled?” She glanced at a morose Garlin, “You too, Peanut.”

The larger dragonkin smiled, “I think I’d like that.”

“Just be sure to call me Gilly,” she warned him, “otherwise, I’m throwing you into the volcano.”

“So much valuable information, and priceless relics, destroyed,” the smaller man moped again, his tail drooping.

Charlix’s teams were working on anchoring the Library, but news of its destruction had apparently sent Garlin into a fatalistic funk. Currently, only imperial forces were allowed in the building, but I knew he was angling to get his teams in, to see if anything of value could be salvaged.

Gilly looked at her brother critically, “Is that all you can think about?”

He shrugged, “Gilly, all of us found a way to cope with being a part of this family, or in your case to escape it. This is my way, okay?”

She considered him for a moment, then nodded. “Fair enough. But don’t let this get you too down.” She gazed out at the city, “Things are changing, and quickly, not just here, but all across Amalgam. There’s plenty of opportunities for someone to strike out on their own and build their own lives, find their own meaning.”

He gazed at her, “You think so?”

She elbowed him, knocking him into Cresis Junior. “Hey, I think the two of you would make a great team if you decided to set out on your own. The family’s strongest and smartest sons, working together, without dad being an overbearing dick.”

Unexpectedly, it was Annowan who spoke up next. “I know what it’s like to live in the shadow of greatness. “ She reached out and put her hand on my shoulder. “But I’m starting to learn what it means to also let that go, and to find your own path in life.”

The two brothers were quiet as we climbed onto the teleportation pad, but before we left they promised to think about what we’d said, and that they’d keep in touch with their younger sister. Smiling, Gilly waved goodbye before the magic whisked us home.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” I asked Lilith.

She stood at the edge of the imperial gardens, a wild grin on her face. “Trust me, this will be fine.”

Next to me, Daggerdare stood stock still, her entire body tense. A group of elvish elders was behind her, and I could tell they were as anxious as she was.

We had returned to Babylon only the day prior, and Daggerdare and I were still a bit on edge after everything that had occurred.

The Imperial Gardens were only a shattered fragment of a lost world, a bit of botanical beauty cast away into the void with the destruction of its original reality and the formation of Amalgam. Lilith had somehow found them and anchored them to Infernal Bloom Palace.

As such, their edges were little more than rugged cliffs of stone, where the flowered terraces ended and the endless evening sky stretched out over a broad and bottomless horizon.

Lilith stood at the edge of the cliff, her arms held wide. Huge, complicated runes danced around her; they were all meant to bend space and distort distances.

As we watched, she filled them with the power of the Throne and called out across the void between realities. A pinprick of black light flared, and then suddenly the broken remains of a greenhouse were hovering in the air.

It looked like it had been cut out of some greater structure, with sheared-off struts and bits of broken glass hanging off its edges. I sighed with relief when I saw the holly grove within was still intact.

The empress directed the greenhouse slowly, moving it with the power of her magic until it came to rest just adjacent to the cliffs. As she did, other mages came forward to secure the structure, anchoring it in place.

Turning, she smiled at me, “I told you we could do it.” She then nodded to the crowd of elves. “When my granddaughter informed me of what Velka had done, I joined her resolve to correct my daughter’s mistake.”

She spoke with a regal bearing, completely unlike the woman I had come to know. “I know our past is full of pain and regret. But now we have an opportunity to move forward, together, towards a brighter tomorrow.”

She gave a sly, flippant smile. “And we shall ensure our prosperity someday by watering this sacred holly with the lifeblood of the one you know as the Betrayer. Only death and glory await us!”

The elves, Daggerdare included, gave a mighty cheer at this.

“See,” Lilith sauntered over, clearly proud of herself, “this is why I always liked elves, even when they were trying to kill me. We all agreed that there are few things that can’t be settled with the appropriate application of force and violence.”

“I kind of find that idea terrifying, especially coming from the most powerful person in existence,” I uttered.

“And I find it very reassuring,” Daggerdare countered.

Lilith sidled up next to me. “Besides, I might not be the most powerful for much longer.” She elbowed me in the side.

I felt a chill run up my spine. “What do you mean by that?”

The elves began to walk into the remains of the greenhouse, each of them vowing to water the holly with their blood, sealing their pact with the Throne against the Betrayer.

Lilith smiled even wider. “Come on, I’ve noticed that new pep in Annowan’s step, and the way she’s been looking at you. She’ll be settling down and taking my place as empress in no time.” Her expression dimmed, becoming soberer. “Thank you, for honoring your promise. I hope together you two can succeed where I have failed.”

I nodded as I escorted Daggerdare inside. “I hope we can too.”

Epilogue

The weeks after our return to Babylon were busy beyond measure. We had several dozen meetings with various nobles, military staff members, and others, explaining what we had discovered. All the search sites that had been checked before had to be scoured again, to ensure that no fragments of the Bitch Goddess had been overlooked. We also double-checked all the areas where City troops had been spotted since we now knew almost any ruin or abandoned site could potentially house their targets.

We had no way of knowing how many fragments had already been recovered, but we could try and prevent the Bitch from finding any more.

Additionally, we began planning our excursion to the south and the tomb island we had discovered. There was no way to be sure if there was a general there, but it was our best bet.

Charlix took possession of the stone spirit fruit and the Last Tool so her specialists could study them. She promised us that she would inform us of anything she learned about either object.

There were no records of anything like the stone spirit fruit in the imperial library, so she was calling in experts from across the empire to learn more about the object. I longed to use it to talk to Sarah again, but I knew I couldn’t afford to do so until we all knew the risks that entailed.

Paperwork for my harem’s official debut also took up a fair amount of time. Grason confirmed our appearance date in front of the court, and I knew that when that day came the entire empire would know of our ambition.

The cast on my foot was finally removed, though after our adventure there wasn’t much left of it outside some soggy and shredded gauze and plaster. Gilly administered one last round of healing, and I then spent several days walking around our rooms barefoot, just enjoying the freedom of it.

Finally, my wives and I also oversaw the renovations to our part of the Royal Quarters, once Annowan had signed off on the changes. They were simple enough to carry out thanks to the spatial magic used in the palace. We decided to change the layout for our rooms, opting for a series of suites joined to a central, communal space.

Everyone got their own room, which they further customized. Thalie’s featured a small garden, while Krencha’s had an armory and an exercise yard for Scrapple. As expected, Daggerdare requested a small teleportation pad to the imperial gardens and the new holly grove, which Grason was happy to arrange.

I privately offered Annowan her own set of rooms, but she declined.

Gilly insisted we build them for her anyway, keeping them empty until the demon finally overcame her remaining stubbornness and embarrassment.

Despite our earlier breakthrough, Annowan had once again clammed up once we had returned to Babylon. She was still more open when speaking to the group, and she didn’t seem to hide her affection for me, but when any of us tried to breach the topic she would claim to be too busy to think about it.

Sighing contently, I flopped down into my new, oversized bed.

That was one of the changes we had all demanded since it was likely that my room would be hosting several of my wives at once. It was fantastic to be able to sleep together with them in the same bed; it left me feeling secure and loved.

They rotated in and out based upon their needs and whims; sometimes Daggerdare would request a night alone with me, or Thalie would be off in her room, studying her plants or conducting experiments late into the night. Gilly came and went as she pleased, sometimes retreating to her room when she wanted some time alone. I didn’t demand any of them stay with me, and they in turn were sensitive to the needs of each other.

It had been three weeks since our return and despite our busy lives, it had been nothing but matrimonial bliss. I hoped things would go so smoothly forever.

That particular evening found me alone in my room. Thalie had joined Daggerdare and Gilly on a trip to a remote elvish colony; the Throne had sent a relief shipment to the beleaguered village, and Thalie wanted to offer help to the elves by sharing the knowledge she’d gained on agriculture from Holly’s Breath.

Krencha was off on some crazy adventure. Supposedly a goblin caravan had run afoul of a group of Slayers, and she had rushed to the nearest teleportation pad to go to their aid. I had offered to go as well, but she had declined, stating that I had better things to do.

When someone softly knocked on my chamber door late that night, I realized what she was talking about.

Annowan carefully opened the door. “Before she left, Krencha said you’d be alone for a bit. She strongly recommended I come and visit you.”

I laughed quietly. “I told you, she’s more than just some crazy glory junkie.”

Annowan sighed, “The exact words she used were go and talk to Mal before you drive us all crazy and I have to beat you to death with that tree planted up your asshole.”

I wanted to crack a joke, but I pushed down that instinct. Instead, I sat up and calmly regarded her.

She stood there, hesitating, biting her lip, before asking. “Why does this have to be so hard?”

“Because it’s hard to let go of who you were,” I said, before sliding my feet to the floor. “People don’t like to change, not really. Because changing sounds like they’re admitting defeat, that they were wrong, and nobody likes feeling wrong.”

I patted the edge of the bed next to me. Slowly, Annowan came over and sat. She was dressed in a loose-fitting black blouse and pants, and her hair was pinned back into a conservative bun.

“You’re talking like you’re an expert on change,” she said quietly.

“I should be, by now,” I laughed a little at myself.

She laughed with me before becoming more melancholy. “I don’t think I was wrong, not really. But after what happened in the Library, and feeling the strength of all us, united, I’m starting to wonder if opening up and admitting what I want will make me stronger still.”

I reached out and took her hand, her ruby red skin looking lustrous and bright against my own.

“How did you do that?” I asked her, as I squeezed her fingers, loving the feel of her nails against my fingertips. “I felt it twice. You somehow brought us together when we needed it the most.”

She sat, head bowed, thinking.

“It’s the power of the Throne,” she finally said, “the power of authority. You need to understand that being empowered by the Throne means more than slinging balefire or eventually ruling the empire. It possesses the power to bring people together, to unite them in a single purpose, a single goal. It can multiply their powers to achieve what would be impossible alone.”

She ran her thumb along the back of my hand. “That’s how grandmother defeated the Bitch Goddess during the war. Sure, she’s strong, beyond all logic and reason, but one person alone cannot win a war, no matter how much power they possess. But by coordinating with her husbands, wives, spouses, allies, and loved ones, she could bring together a force capable of beating a false god.”

I thought about this, before asking, “Why didn’t you use this power before? I can think of plenty of times where we were seconds from death.”

She gave a bitter laugh, “Because I couldn’t.”

Annowan slumped over. She was taller than me, her head easily resting atop of mine.

“Grandmother tried to teach me how to fully use the power of authority, many times, but I could never get it right. She kept saying it was because my heart was closed off, that I refused to truly share the burden of that power. I could only use it for small, selfish things, like sealing my mother’s library shut.”

“That day though, in the botanical wing, I just felt something, like the warm beating of a heart, calling me, asking me to truly trust you for once.” She released my hand, but only to wrap an arm around my back. “I think it was you, and Gilly, and all the others, finally breaking down my resolve.”

I placed my hand on her knee, my fingertips kneading into the fabric. “And now?”

She pulled me closer. “I don’t know, honestly. As you said, change is hard. I want to open up, I want to tell you all how I feel, how lonely I’ve been, how dumb I’ve felt, but at the same time --”

Getting up, I crouched down in front of her, taking both her hands in mine. I locked my eyes with hers. I tried to think of something to say, to break her last doubts, but all I could do was be there for her.

And Annowan took the last step for herself.

“I love you,” she admitted, a tear streaming down her cheek. “I love you, Mal.”

She bowed her head. “Gilly, she’s always been there, whenever I needed her, even when I was a bitch. And Thalie, every time I see her I’m just so damn proud of how much she’s grown. Hell, even Krencha and Daggerdare have become some of the best, truest companions I could have ever hoped for. All of you are so important to me, and I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

I grabbed her chin, raised her face, and then I kissed her.

Her eyes opened wide in shock but then closed in blissful joy. She wrapped her arms around me and drew me to her chest, hugging us together tightly. I felt as if we would melt together. Her lips were sealed against mine, her tongue hungrily pushing into my mouth even as her fingernails dragged along my shoulders.

My fingers trailed along her spine, lingering on each vertebra. I felt her tremble and shake as I worked my way downward, tracing the gentle curve of her body.

Breaking contact, I drew us up to sit in the middle of the bed.

Kneeling on the sheets, across her lap, I gently pulled off her blouse and wrap, revealing the vermillion glory of her bare skin. I hadn’t noticed before, but her nipples were dark, almost black against her ample flesh. Carefully, I palmed one of the orbs, lowering my head to gently lick around her teat.

She purred in pleasure, her lips moving against the back of my ear.

“Mal,” she moaned huskily, “Mal.”

I pushed her flat onto the mattress, laying her out as I continued my exploration of her body. My teeth tenderly worried at her breasts while my fingers reached up to stroke her neck and collar bone, occasionally playing up to the hollow of her throat.

Her pulse, fast and strong, thrummed under my touch.

Annowan’s heels kicked against the bottom of the bed as I found new areas of sensitivity. I lowered a hand to play along her ribs, my fingertips stroking along her side.

She shivered and bucked, giggling as I tickled her. “Mal, what are you doing?”

“Sex should be fun,” I grinned up at her, loving the expression she wore.

For once in her life, she looked like a young, carefree woman. One without a worry in the world.

I tickled her again, sending her into a fit, even as I latched my mouth back onto her breast. The wild wave of sensations sent her in a paroxysm of pleasure, her body shaking even as she rolled her head against the pillow.

Her chest heaving, I abated my attack, but only to remove my clothes. The demon stared hungrily at my cock, her eyes glowing with fiery lust.

She reached down and ran a finger along my length, sending me into a series of ecstatic shivers.

Losing no more time, I thumbed her waistband and drew off her pants and underwear, revealing her glistening slit. Her sweet nectar left a glistening trail as I threw them aside, and I was struck by the heady aroma of her spicy musk.

Spreading out her thighs, I licked along her folds, sending her into another fit of shivering. My tongue burned, and my cock throbbed, demanding the sweet embrace of her pussy.

I gave her a few more tentative licks, but I couldn’t resist my urges any longer. Maneuvering between her legs, I angled my cock just above her slit, dragging my shaft through her thatch and across her clit.

Annowan bucked her hips, desperately trying to line my head up with her entrance. Her eyes glowed brightly and sweat-slicked her brow. Her horns reflected darkly in the room’s dim lights, making her appear as a truly demonic, lustful figure.

And I could not deny her any more than I could deny myself.

Pushing her up against the headboard, I grabbed her wrists and drew them behind her head. Annowan grinned and I pinned them behind her, giving me free rein to her fantastic, inhuman figure.

Bracing myself, I slowly began grinding my cock into her. She gave a short yelp at my entry, but then her eyes flared. She bit her lip, expression utterly ecstatic, as I pushed myself fully into her. Her insides were hellishly hot and tight, and it took all my resolve to simply hold myself unmoving inside of her. My body yearned for release, but I didn’t want things to simply end there.

I wanted to make her scream my name, to break her chains in one final, climactic act.

Grabbing her ass, I lifted it and slid a pillow underneath her. As I drew my cock out, I dragged it against the top of her channel. Her hips were angled so my cockhead ground right across her G-spot.

The demon quivered, then screamed, as I thrust back into her with the same unrelenting force.

Focusing on her, and repressing the shuddering explosion building in my loins, I placed a hand on her abdomen. I started running my thumb across her clit, strumming her with each stroke.

She went wild with this, her whole body shaking as her first orgasm ripped through her. Her pussy clenched down on me, and I had to pause for a second lest the whole show end. Girding my mental resolve, I placed a hand on her chest and pushed her back against the headboard as she tried to sit up.

She growled, angry for a second, but I silenced her with a kiss, my cock still buried to the hilt inside of her.

“Let me do this for you,” I pleaded, my mouth against her jaw, my cheek against hers.

I could feel her heartbeat hammering in her chest, and her skin burned, the sweat sizzling.

Finally, she settled back against the headboard, her arms still pinned behind her.

I kissed her again, my heart bursting with love and gratitude.

“I’ll make it worth it,” I promised.

She opened her lips as if to argue, but I whipsawed out of her at that very moment, sending her into a wordless shiver.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, I began to fuck her in earnest, drawing back memories of our first time together. The bed creaked, getting its first true workout. My hips began to ache from the effort, but I pushed myself harder.

The image of Annowan finally shedding her inhibitions and moaning my name was worth all the effort in the world. “Mal, Mal!”

“Annowan,” I said through gritted teeth, my entire world focusing down onto the sight of her and the thrill of trust and love running between us.

With one last thrust, I let go of all my restraint, the connection between us becoming a white-hot blast of pure sexual energy. Annowan and I cried out in unison as we both came, a cataclysmic peak that left me lightheaded and ecstatic.

Collapsing onto the sheets, I propped her head on my chest, my fingers idly tracing the whorls and ridges on her horns.

“Thank you,” she said, after regaining her composure.

I grinned, before leaning over to kiss her. “Now you just need to say the same things you were saying to me before, to the others.”

She looked hesitant for a moment, before nodding.

I wound my hand around hers, and together we drifted off into peaceful dreams.

The busy days continued to blur by, and our appearance in front of the imperial court drew closer.

Annowan, true to her word, did speak to the others, in private, when they returned to the palace. Gilly was so ecstatic that she thought she would die, while Thalie spent the entire day blushing furiously, so happy to have finally heard that the knight she admired and cared for so much acknowledged her in kind.

Krencha just grinned and said, “Knew it.”

The night before my wives and I were set to appear before the Throne, I went up to the Skywatch Quarter to speak in private with Lilith and Tarial.

The two of them were thrilled by my idea. The empress suggested only one slight change, and she quickly hurried to her bedroom to find the item I would need. Afterward, I did my best not to smile madly as I headed back to our rooms, a small box hidden in my pocket.

We woke up early the day of the announcement, spending our time together, getting dressed, and in my case psyching myself up for the event. I had only appeared before the imperial court once when Lilith had made me her ward. It had been a nerve-wracking experience.

But with all my wives around me, I knew I could stand tall. We’d officially present ourselves before the Throne and the empress, and announce our goal of toppling The City and slaying the Bitch Goddess.

The days before, we had debated about dressing up again, as we had when we had been wed by Lilith, but Daggerdare argued that with needed to present ourselves not as a happy groom and his brides, but as warriors; we needed to show the court that we had the strength of arms and the will to achieve our goal.

Adrian, the Knight of the Throne’s armorer, had done a wonderful job repairing the armor we had worn during our adventuring in Velka’s Library. Under Krencha’s scrutiny, we had buffed and shined them till every piece of leather looked lustrous and every buckle and metal plate shone brightly.

Thus, when Grason arrived to usher us to the Throne room, we were dressed for war.

Thalie had braided bright orange flowers in her hair, while her magic-eating vine nestled along her arm. All the pennants on her halberd had been cleaned and mended, and she carried the weapon with distinct pride.

Krencha and Scrapple looked battle-ready. The goblin had repaired all the dents and scrapes her armor had just earned, and the mole dog proudly displayed all the recently healed wounds that ran along his flanks.

Daggerdare, wearing her customary leather armor, had spent hours waxing and braiding her hair, till it rode high on her head like an ebony crown. Silver beads and bone charms were woven into the braids that hung down her back, each one of them a gift from a warrior back home.

Finally, Gilly wore her leather jerkin and pants, her bow strung and hung over her shoulder along with her quiver. She had bathed and buffed her scales till each one shimmered even more brightly than my armor’s buckles.

As we left the Royal Quarters, escorted by Grason, she leaned over to adjust an armor strap on my back before she planted a small kiss on my cheek. “We’re going to knock them dead.”

The people crowding the palace halls parted like a tide as we marched through the building. I kept my eyes forward and my thoughts on Annowan, Gilly, Thalie, Krencha, and Daggerdare. I could feel the small box tucked in my pocket.

The imperial senchal took us onto one last teleporter pad, and then we found ourselves once again in the Throne room.

Hundreds of people filled the chamber, not just nobles and their harems, but I also saw a delegation of goblin dragoons, their mounts standing shoulder-to-shoulder. I also spotted a group of familiar-looking orcs; Thalie resisted the urge to wave at her family who had come in for the ceremony. A group of elves, including Arne, the elder from Holly’s Breath, stood together, watching us closely.

At the end of the room, Lilith watched us intently from her seat upon the Throne. I did my best to look away from the uncanny object; to an outside observer, the Throne looked like a giant, ugly chair carved from cold, grey stone. But to my spellbreaker abilities, it appeared as cosmic power, as pure authority; it was an abstract concept distilled down and forced to exist in our reality.

It hurt to look at it.

Lilith, wearing her titanic court form, complete with the glowing diadem hovering between her four massive horns, perched on the Throne. She was so large she even dwarfed Tarial, who stood to her side. The herald, in her role as Protector of the Realm, wore her golden armor and had her lightning sword sheathed at her side.

And to Lilith’s other side stood Annowan, wearing heavy, ornamental armor and a sable cape. I was happy to see she was carrying her favorite heirloom sword, which had belonged to her grandfather Glacien, across her back.

My wives and I approached the throne. Gilly, Thalie, and I bowed, while Krencha dismounted and copied our action. Daggerdare nodded respectfully, but kept her shoulders squared; the elves were allies to the Throne, but they would not swear fealty to its ruler.

There was some angry muttering from this, but Lilith silenced it with a stern glance.

Grason announced us, calling us each by our name and title, listing the acclaims we had earned.

Lilith then looked down at us, “Rise.”

We returned to our feet.

Grason came forward. “We have come here today to see the investiture of Malory Spellbreaker, Ward of the Throne, and his harem as members of this court. Their achievements have been listed, and the empress has no doubts on their worthiness.” He looked out over the crowd. “Are there any objections?”

I knew this was part of the ceremony, but I was nervous someone would unexpectedly speak up.

Annowan, watching from her post, matched her grandmother’s glare as the nobles remained silent.

The old demon nodded, before bowing and gesturing towards Lilith.

“Malory, you and your harem members have time and time again proved your worth to the empire. We are personally grateful for the service you have done for us,” Lilith glanced down at her granddaughter, before continuing. “We are pleased to see you rising to take a place in our court, and we invite you to announce your intentions before this assembled host of champions.”

I felt Gilly give me a small shove as I climbed the lower steps of the dais that the Throne occupied. Turning, I cleared my throat and spoke to the crowd.

“Our goal is simple,” I said, repeating the words I had practiced with Thalie and Dagggerdare. “We will see the end of The City.”

The crowd broke out into a loud murmur.

Lilith stomped a cloven hoof, and the chamber went silent again.

“I imagine that goal has been declared before, likely by people in this very room,” I continued. “If so, I invite you to join your quest with ours. Now is the time to strike, before the Bitch Goddess can gain the power she covets and she enacts her vile plans for our world.”

I bowed my head. “We know this road will be long and hard, and we will suffer hardship and losses along the way, but we will see it done.”

My wives turned to face the crowd, their resolve joining my own.

I raised my head. “We pledge that when the time comes, we will tear down the Aurora and march into The City. We will liberate those we can, and slay those we must. The walls of the Bitch’s palace will be torn down, her mountain will be crushed, and she will pay for all her misdeeds.”

I didn’t expect any wild cheers or applause when I finished my speech, and I got none. Instead, I felt a thousand eyes on us, judging us and our determination. We did not cower or back down.

“Well said,” Lilith declared as we returned to our original positions. She gestured towards Grason, “Let Malory Spellbreaker and his harem be added to this court, and let us all see their mission come to fruition.” She looked down at me, a smile creeping across her lips. “Is there anything else you would like to declare?”

I took a deep breath, then nodded.

Once again, I climbed up the dais. But rather than approaching Lilith, I walked up to Annowan. She stared at me in surprise.

Carefully, I reached into my pocket and produced the jewelry box. Opening the lid, I took out the small, silver bracelet; Glacian had given it to Lilith on the night before their wedding.

She gave a small gasp. Annowan had recognized it immediately.

“Annowan, I love you,” I said, not caring if the rest of the hall could hear me.

Gilly could though, and she gave a small cheer. Scrapple barked happily with her.

I knelt and took the demon knight’s hand. “Will you marry me?”

Her expression broke into a radiant smile, and she let me clasp the bracelet around her wrist.

“Yes,” she answered as she drew me up into a kiss.

Afterward

As always, I wanted to take a moment to thank all my friends, who helped make this possible; Chris, Heather, Neff, Trick, Steve, Pat, Johnny the K, and Mary!  I’d also like to thank you, my readers, who helped make this year utterly fantastic.  I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings!

Thanks again to all the folks at the Harem Gamerlit Facebook group!

I hope you enjoyed the story!  Join my newsletter, follow me on Facebook or Twitter, or leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

Books by M.E. Thorne

El Finito

El Finito Book 1: Welcome to the Stacks

El Finito Book 2: Finished Business

El Finito Book 3: Dea Ex Machina

El Finito Book 4: War Dames

I Don’t Want to Be the Hero

I Don’t Want to Be the Hero Vol 1

I Don’t Want to Be the Hero Vol 2

I Don’t Want to Be the Hero Vol 3

Dark Lord’s Commands

Dark Lord’s Commands