Teyva crossed her arms impatiently. She was standing at the dead center of the narrow courtyard between the outer walls and the tower itself. At the base of the fortress was a single pair of large heavy doors that looked remarkably like those at the entrance to Osan. Teyva glanced over her shoulder when she heard two sets of feet running across the ice to catch up with her. Sari was the first to appear from around the wall and step over the fallen draw bridge. She stared down at the ruined defensive fixture in wonder before looking back up at Teyva who shrugged and put her hands on her hips. Conrad was the next to show, hurrying to Teyva’s side.

“Since when…” He trailed off, looking back at the damage.

“Well, let’s be honest, I actually haven’t had to throw my weight around in a while, physically. You know, army of monsters? So I’ve probably been like this for some time,” Teyva said scratching at her neck and peering up at the walkway wrapping around the first tier of the tower. “Hello? I’m getting pissed off down here!” Teyva shouted, “I’ll kick down the inner doors next!”

There was a pause and then a loud creak as the inner doors began to swing inward, opening and revealing the dark-stone interior of the tower. Teyva squinted to try to get a good look inside but the clash of white snow versus black stone made it all the harder to make out details. A pair of figures stepped out of the gloom, both of them wearing dark robes with elaborate trimming on them. Teyva clicked her tongue and crossed her arms, “And who are you supposed to be?”

The one on the left stepped forward and threw his hood back. He was a regal-looking elf, with a hard jaw and clear blue-white eyes. His golden hair was cut short and styled off to one side. He crossed his arms behind his back and puffed his chest out. “I am Priest Nivan, a servant of the Dark Priestess!”

The one on the right followed suit, throwing back their hood and revealing a soft-faced female elf with eyes that looked like pools of ink in a sea of white. Her hair hung down over her shoulders bound up in tassels. She mimicked Nivan’s posture, “I am Priestess Vetoi, a servant of the Dark Priestess!”

Teyva rubbed the bridge of her nose, “I don’t understand why it’s so hard for you guys to do as you’re asked,” Teyva sighed, “I asked for the Dark Priestess! I’m not interested in intermediaries!” Teyva shouted. When the two of them did not so much as flinch at her demand she glanced at Conrad and Sari, “Take care of this, please,” She grumbled and flicked her wrist. She cast [Create Wall] and drew a tiny slab of stone up out of the ground before sitting on it and crossing her legs with an annoyed grunt.

Conrad inclined his head, “Thank you for the opportunity, Majesty,” He said, stepping forward and raising his head high, “I am Conrad Akos! I serve the Queen of the Akurai!” He bellowed, his wightlings leaping off his shoulders. The creatures shrieked with delight at the prospect of bloodshed. He himself reared his head back and extended his arms, black oil beginning to drip off his limbs as they grew and distorted, his fingers becoming long, blade-like claws. A skull mask sprouted like ooze over his face and he grew nearly two feet in height before letting out a horrible roar. “Get out of the way or become my prey!” He roared, his voice coming out with a rasp.

The two priests looked between themselves before the woman stepped out and raised her hands up, both of her arms glowing before turning into what looked like hammers. Teyva blinked and leaned forward, “[Simple Shift]?” She muttered. She glanced up at Conrad whose fingers twitched. 

Sari stepped forward next, drawing her knife and tossing it up into the air before catching it, “I am Sari Troud! I serve the Queen of the Akurai!” She shouted.

“No, you don’t,” Teyva corrected her.

“Sh-shut up!” Sari hissed, pointing her knife at the man who strode forward and extended his hands which began to glow with pale white light. 

Teyva chewed on her thumb-talon, “[Pale Dawn],” She growled, “Now I’m getting annoyed. Sari, Conrad, leave them alive, but barely.”

“Yes, Majesty,” Conrad growled and lunged at Vetoi, his wightlings following him. The woman danced back several paces, dodging a glob of dark spit that one of the wightlings fired off in her direction. Conrad landed just where the woman had been standing and raised his head high; “Kneel!” He bellowed, power rippling from his voice. Teyva hadn’t seen him use such an ability before but if she had to guess it was from his [Order] aspect. The woman stumbled but kept standing as she spun and struck one of the wightlings on the side of the head, turning it into a foul splatter of ink on the snow.

Sari twirled her knife between her fingers and vanished in front of Nivan, her body seeming to rip through the air here and there, reappearing and disappearing as she darted left and right over the battlefield. It kicked up a lot of snow. Nivan whipped his hands out in a fan shape and a wave of pale light burst forward, cutting vertically through the air. Sari leaped over it, somersaulting before driving her knife into the spot where Nivan had been standing. The man’s left arm had turned into some kind of rope and he was pulling himself toward a barren tree in the courtyard. Teyva’s temples throbbed, this was becoming insulting.

“I know you two are strong! Stop showing off! You can play later!” Teyva roared, “I want this done, now!”

Conrad and Sari winced. Sari kicked her foot against the snow and glowered at Nivan who had righted himself, grinning. Vetoi on the other hand rolled her shoulders and prepared for Conrad’s next series of attacks. Conrad hunched forward and his body began to glow faintly. “[Paragon of Humanity],” Conrad growled and his muscles grew denser and more defined. He let out another bellow and his eyes glowed brightly. Vetoi stumbled back as it seemed like something invisible struck her in the head. She staggered and grunted, Conrad threw himself forward, drops of oil flying off of his skin and creating more wightlings wherever they landed. Vetoi’s eyes went wide and she spun on her heel before moving to flee. Conrad snarled and threw one arm out, the limb stretching in an unsettling way and growing into a massive black arm. He grabbed her around the torso and pulled her back into the center of a ring of his wightlings. “I told you to kneel!”

He raised her up over his head and threw her to the ground, the wightlings scrambling over her. She let out a scream of terror as they pinned her down. “You are fortunate my Queen wants you alive!” Her screams faded after a few moments, dying down like the cultists had when they’d been subjected to Conrad’s [Lord of Horror] abilities.

“Vetoi!” Nivan shouted, kicking off the ground at the base of the tree only to skid to a stop as a mote of blue-white light took shape in front of his face. He stumbled backwards just as the mote exploded, light ripping through the air, melting the snow and sending him hurtling backward. He slid across the packed snow and stopped at Sari’s feet. The deadly woman knelt down and whipped her weapon once to her left, an invisible force carving a divet in the dirt and earth next to her. She nodded to him, wide-eyed, and offered him a cold smile before placing her knife at his throat. “Move and there will be nothing left.”

Teyva uncrossed her legs, “Better,” she breathed, walking toward Sari and crouching down next to her. “Those are some interesting abilities that you have, would you mind explaining to me where you got them?”

Nivan spat up at her face and Teyva titled her head, wiping it off her cheek. Teyva let out a calming breath began to push down with her Mana, “I’ll ask your soul then,” Teyva growled, pressing harder and harder. Nivan choked and gagged before nodding and flailing his hands.

“T-the priestess gave us Aspect Stones of the Priest! We get our powers from someone with an A-aspect stone of the High Priest! They are a reflection of that stone’s abilities!” He babbled, his skin turning pale.

“And how does the High Priest stone work?” Teyva asked, growing impatient.

“The High Priest gets it’s power from an aspect being that they worship! It is a reflection of that Aspect Being’s power!” He managed, coughing a few times only for Sari to push him back into the snow and dirt.

Teyva got to her feet, “Do either of you know about this kind of thing?” She asked Sari and Conrad.

Conrad nodded, “Katal’s chief priests are capable of creating High Priest and Priest stones, I’m familiar with their function. I have worked with a priest before. He is correct.”

Teyva let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, “So Katal’s Chief Priests are Aspect Beings, good to know,” She said and stepped over Nivan. “Knock him out, please. I don’t want him interfering when I deal with the priestess.”

Sari exhaled and Nivan coughed, struggled, and fell to sleep, his chest slowly rising and falling. Teyva looked at Sari, “Scary trick.”

Sari held up a small vial and grinned, “Breath of Sleep, activates with saliva.”

Teyva nodded and turned back to Conrad who had reverted to his human shape. The wightlings were still watching Vetoi but the woman was well and truly out like a light. “Question, how would a High Priest get powers from an Aspect Being that is unaware of them?”

“Worship, majesty,” He said, his voice also returning to normal. “Do you notice every ant that you step over?”

Teyva raised her eyebrows, “And what happens if that Aspect Being doesn’t feel like sharing anymore?”

“I’ve only heard of it happening once, a High Priest was excommunicated directly by the Chief Priest who spoke with a different voice. I imagine he spoke with the voice of that entity,” Conrad explained.

Teyva tilted her head thoughtfully, “Got it, thank you dearie,” She hummed and stepped past the small battlefield before striding right through the doors and into the tower.