From the black a slobbering snarl came. It rolled along Nystri's skin as fear gripped her. Before Nystri could say anything Amorastra was sprinting forward, sending Nystri tumbling backwards off of Amorastra's shoulder. Nystri landed on smooth stone tiles unharmed. She began to scramble to her feet as she heard the crack of a whip and the whimper of a hound. The snarl came again along with barks and the sound of snapping wet jaws.

Nystri closed her eyes and extended her arms out. She whispered to the motes in the air. She whispered to the walls and floors and ceiling. Luxmoss bloomed and emitted a low but vibrant red light. With that light Nystri was able to take in the expansive chamber in front of her. It was a large circular room with a domed ceiling. Dark pillars were arranged throughout the room. The smallest were just a few feet tall, with the largest being more than 30 feet high, with the central pillar being as wide as it was tall.

Between the pillars Nystri saw Amorastra and the hound circling each other. The hound was massive. Its shoulder nearly came up to the demoness' rib cage. Amorastra held a whip in her right hand and curled her left like a claw, needle tipped nails ready to strike. Movement above revealed people beginning to stand on top of the central pillar, their bows had arrows knocked and they drew in unison.

A roar erupted from Nystri and her face contorted. Her eyes shone brilliant green and a torrent pounded against the figures on the pillar, sending them tumbling backwards. 

Nystri turned her focus to the hound, but before she could unleash another blast a pair of hands wrapped around her. She released a pulse of air out from her body, then sent a gale behind her knocking her assailant back. She whirled around to see Yu'trellum slumped against the wall, the breath knocked from his lungs. He gasped and wheezed but managed to stay on his feet.

"Yu! Stop this madness. I command it!" Nystri heard barking and more whip cracks behind her, but she did not take her eyes from him.

"My Queen," he managed between ragged breaths, "you must come to your senses. You have been bewitched."

Nystri gritted her teeth, "I have told you a thousand times that I wanted another life. That I wanted to leave! And you never once believed me. You never once considered how I felt. I left, and I am not going back. Not with you. Not until I'm good and ready!"

Yu'Trellum jerked his armor back into place as he stood to his full height. "You leave me no choice, my Queen. Now!"

A group of three gnomes came from behind pillars and surrounded Nystri. They were each nearly double her height. She buffeted them with wind. Their capes and hats fluttered, but they were not carried away. Nystri could see the silver embroidery in their clothing glowing faintly. They formed a circle around her and began chanting in unison. Each unfurled a scroll with intricate circles inscribed on them, then placed them on the ground.

Nystri looked for an opening to run past them, but then realized what sort of magic they were weaving. She huffed a sigh and crossed her arms as she turned to face Yu'Trellum. "You are so sure of yourself it blinds you."

The scrolls began to glow with a fierce yellow light. They lifted the scrolls and stood, then turned the scrolls to face Nystri. She shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Get on with it, then." 

A firm but subtle smile molded itself into Yu'trellum's face. His brow relaxed and he took a deep breath. "You'll soon be released, Your Iridescence. Just a little longer." 

Nystri was nonplussed and raised an eyebrow at him. The gnomes chanted faster and took a step towards Nystri. She shrugged again and tapped her foot.

His mouth loosened and hung slack. His cheeks became the pallid color of unrisen dough.

"Are you finally satisfied? Leave Brise, Yu. I promise you—"

A deep red overtook Yu'Trellum's face. His brow compressed and he bared his teeth as he snarled. "I cannot leave you here! Not with … not with that!"

As if in answer, a sonorous voice echoed through the pillars. "Your hound is a threat no more, Yu'trellum. And your bowmen are in a heap on the floor. Give it up. You are no match for a princess of the circles, let alone your own queen."

Nystri wheeled around. Amorastra strode forward, hips swaying as one foot lined up with the other. Over her shoulder she seemed to be carrying a limp body of one of the guard. As she reached the closet pillar to Nystri she dropped the body with a thud, then she cracked her whip. Her smile was as much so as a snarl.

"How dare you harm Piroline!" Yu'trellum yelled.

Nystri looked from the body to Amorastra and back. There's nothing there.

One of the gnomes shouted, "It's an illusion, Captain!"

Amorastra looked down. "Gnomes!" she hissed. 

Yu'trellum's contorted face began to loosen once more. "No. It is you who have lost, demon, as you have yet to face the masters of Reffleton and myself. Whatever foul fate you had planned for our matriarch is as good as foiled. Give up and I shall kill you quickly. This blade happens to have been forged for your kind." He drew a long slender sword of glowing silver. He looked at the gnomes and said, "Keep her safe."

He ran at Amorastra and thrust his sword half a dozen times. Amorastra stood unmoving, unflinching, and unharmed. With each piercing strike the gold inlaid throughout her skin let off a brilliant light and the silver foil was pushed aside.

"It seems my gold beats your silver," Amorastra said. Her voice was cold. "You should listen to your queen. Look past her crown. Look past her duties. See the woman beneath. See her wishes and let her go."

"No. You've corrupted her. You've taken her away from her rightful place. I shall see my duty done and I shall see her returned." He reversed his grip on his rapier and took up a pugilist's stance, the guard covering his knuckles. He pulled a knife from his belt, which he also held in a reverse grip.

Meanwhile, the gnomes rushed at Nystri. She leapt over them towards Amorastra and Yu'trellum, but they threw ceramic pots where she landed, which burst open. A green slime covered the floor and Nystri's legs, holding her fast. Nystri pulled at her legs to no avail.

Amorastra's whip lashed out, but Yu'trellum dodged to the right. They began to circle each other.

Nystri called out, "Don't kill him."

Amorastra did not look away and said, "Do not worry, my Queen. A whip is not a weapon for killing. It is a tool to put one in one's place."

Yu'trellum's jaw clenched and he rushed forward punching and slicing, but Amorastra easily dodged, then managed to trip him, sending him onto the stone tiles of the temple. A crack of the whip ruptured the relative quiet of their scuffle as the whip found his posterior. His body clenched and writhed in pain and he rolled to the side away from Amorastra. 

As he carefully got to his feet with gritted teeth, Amorastra seemed to be looking at the nails on her left hand. The index finger of the right flew over the skin of her palm. She suddenly looked up at him as all five nails from her right hand pierced the perimeter of her palm and she spun her hands in opposing directions, releasing a splatter of blood upon the floor.

She ran her bleeding hand along the length of her whip. As she did, a frost, tinged with red, formed over it. A fog seemed to emanate from the icy whip. She flicked it out again towards Yu'trellum, this time the crack burst with shards of ice. She stepped slowly towards Yu'trellum, her whip lashing out. Each move he made was met with another crack of the whip. He was driven back until he was pressed against the wall, guarding himself as best he could.

Nystri struggled still against the green slime. She accidentally pressed her hand into it, but managed to pull it free and looked at it closely. Her eyes went wide.

The gnomes had slowly surrounded Nystri once more, this time closer. They each held silvery rope. "Forgive us, Majesty," one said, "The Captain is right. We must see you safely home."

As they pulled their ropes back to throw them around her she whispered to the lichen and molds. The green slime snapped onto her, like a second skin and she caught the ropes in it, pulling them from the gnomes as they gasped in surprise. She threw globs of it at the feet of the gnomes, then let the rest of the slime fall away as she sprinted towards Amorastra's side. To her right she could see movement through the pillars. 

Eight arrows sprouted from Amorastra's right arm, shoulder, leg, and side of her chest. She roared, but it sounded as annoyed as it did pained. She leapt backwards.

Yu'trellum moved to give chase, but stopped as she suddenly vanished from sight.

A fresh gale pushed him back against the wall, then shifted directions and surged to the tearing wind of a storm, sending Yu'Trellum onto the floor and skidding between the pillars.

"Enough! Piroline! Bring the others." Her voice boomed against the temple walls and amongst the pillars. "Leave your weapons and do not even think of loosing another arrow, or you shall be next."

 "I told you not to turn me invisible again," Amorastra chided, still invisible and standing next to Nystri. 

"Were we not in dire need?" Nystri released the invisibility.

She scoffed, "Of course not."

Nystri scoffed back, "Well, I'm no damsel, and I'll not have you saving me alone. Are you alright? There are still several arrows sticking out of you."

"These?" Amorastra mirthlessly chuckled and pulled an arrow from her leg. It had no arrowhead, but the wooden shaft looked to have been hastily sharpened. "I'll be fine." She removed the rest and tossed them to the ground.

Nystri frowned at Amorastra, but forced herself to put her worry away.

The eight members of the Royal Guard came sheepishly before their queen, lead by Piroline. Nystri was seething, but as she saw their faces awash in a mix of confusion, sadness, failure, shame, and remorse, she could not keep the flame of her anger stoked. 

She rubbed her temples, then looked up. Her gaze passed over each of their faces. Finally, she said, "Go back to Loks'navia. Take the gnomes. Take the stream hound. And take Yu'Trellum. Bind him if you have to."

"Yes, my Queen," they said together.

Piroline said, "Majesty?" Nystri nodded. "What are we to tell everyone? The nobles, the people. You've been gone almost a month. Your absence has surely been noticed by now.

"Tell them I've gone on vacation. A sabbatical. It doesn't matter. Just, tell them I'll be back in a few decades. Maybe I'll come to visit. But probably not." Nystri grumbled to herself as she thought of Yu'Trellum. "Piroline, I'm making you captain."

Piroline was quick to recover from her surprise. "Majesty, if I'm to be the captain of your guard, then let me accompany you! How else can I know you are safe?" The rest of the guard voiced their agreement.

"Absolutely not! I need to—I need to know …" She looked up at Amorastra, then to her guard. "I need to know what it's like to not be your queen. I need to know what it's like to just be me. I don't know that I can explain it better than that. Just trust me. I can care for myself."

Piroline bit her lip, worry plastered on her face. "I do, my Queen. But I cannot trust this— new companion of yours." She looked at Amorastra, then quickly looked away blushing. "No offense."

Amorastra smiled wide, baring the teeth of a predator, "None taken."

"Stop teasing my guard," Nystri said.

"Very well." Amorastra shrugged.

"Piroline, I don't need you to trust her. I just need you to understand that I do. And you needn't tell anyone back home about her, either. Understood?" 

I do trust her, right? I do.

"As you will it, my Queen," Piroline said, and the whole guard knelt before her.

Out of the corner of Nystri's eye she caught the glimpse of a light. It was blue-white and impossibly bright. Yu'trellum was standing among the pillars. Lightning crackled around him. He pushed his hands forward towards Amorastra.

Nystri eyes went wide. She spread her wings and flew up. As the bolt shot from Yu'trellum's hands she caught and deflected it into a pillar, which cracked and crumbled to the ground.

She felt a sickening lurch of her stomach before she felt her wing tearing apart. She lost her balance and fell, the pain nearly making her lose consciousness. Amorastra caught her with both hands.

"Nys! Are you alright?" Amorastra said. 

Nystri nodded, "Better than you, pin cushion." She managed a weak smile.

"No!" Yu'trellum bellowed, "You may not have my Nys'ai!" His left arm was in ruins, charred and hanging limply by his side, but he began chanting again all the same.

Amorastra whistled, then yelled to him, "Remember when I said that a whip is not a weapon for killing?" The sound of bounding paws and claws could be felt through the tiles of the temple. The enormous hound leapt out and latched his jaws onto Yu'Trellum's leg bringing him to the floor, then looked to Amorastra. Yu'Trellum let out a scream of agony.

"Good boy! Hold him very still." Amorastra walked over to Yu'Trellum, carrying Nystri. As she got closer she said, "I simply taught your hound his true place. Don't move and you'll get to keep your leg. Probably."

Nystri gave Amorastra a look. She knelt down, letting Nystri onto the floor. Nystri was pale, but steady. She walked until she was next to his head. She bent down and looked into his scared pained eyes. She smacked his cheekbone hard. "How dare you. I am not yours. Nor shall I ever." She stood and turned to the rest of the guard.

"Take the wounded and leave Brise. Do not return."

"As you will it, your Radiance."