"I had no idea!" Teofil shouted to Katriana Vincent over the communicator and pressed the trigger. Blood splattered across his bared face, but he ignored it, "I don’t know what’s going on! But I am stopping it."

He turned off communication and charged past the deceased guard, flanked by his bodyguards. This fool was one of three idiots who tried to stop him and his men, and now the idiot paid with his life for the betrayal. The other two were smart enough to drop their weapons the moment he told them that Yasen was running away.

And it was a betrayal. The commandant’s heart was beating like crazy in his chest, beneath the thick layer of armor and anti-heat suit. The moment he charged toward the door leading to one of the bunkers, he felt a needle-like explosion of pain in his heart. He pushed through the pain, ignoring the desire to grab his chest.

Madness. What had happened, what he had unknowingly allowed to happen, was pure madness. Teofil wasn’t without sin, during his service in Belaz City, he set up the previous mayor, Stehlikov, for a false charge of corruption and ensured that the man will be exiled along with his family. During his time as mayor, he sometimes wielded his power to silence the critics. He took bribes. He wasn’t a perfect man or ruler, but… Using civilians as hostages? Blowing up their own people? Killing fellow citizens? There was a line even for him.

He gathered the people whom he could trust, and they made a sweep, disarming Yasen’s goons across the palace. He no longer cared about either the Reclaimers or the Resistance, or even about his homeland. The people of this city were his responsibility, and he will not let them be used as sacrificial cusacks. Most of Yasen’s forces surrendered instantly, bolstering his troops, and now all around the palace, the guards were trying to break into the bunkers to release the civilians.

He stopped dead in his tracks when the floor before the last bunker cracked before his very eyes. He swallowed in fear when a mass of writhing flesh came from a crack in the floor, spreading wide in the corridor before the bunker door. For a second, Teofil was afraid that Chort had returned, but this right here was somewhat different. The sheer scale of ever shifting flesh, with bones protruding from a pulsating mass, was astonishing. The bones formed the wicked form of a flower that blossomed before their very eyes and spewed out a man in a stylish jacket and black leather pants.

"Greetings, dear ladies and gentlemen," The man smiled to the soldiers, blocking the patch to the bunker, "I noticed that you are trying to get to the civilians. Pray tell me, why?"

"Are you with the Reclaimers?" Teofil demanded to know, before shaking his head and grabbing the collar of his power armor, trying in vain to pry it and gasp more air, "It doesn’t really matter anymore. The fuckers in charge tried to use our civilians as hostages. I am the one in charge of this palace right now. If you want to kill someone, then kill me, just let us open the doors before…"

The man before him smiled, and Teofil heard the screeching sound of tearing metal. His eyes widened when he saw how the mass of flesh behind the man shifted, pushing forward and breaking through the door that was meant to withstand the explosion of a bunker bomb. Teofil personally planned to destroy the walls, Yasen refused to provide him with codes for the bunkers, and the palace, while heavily reinforced, was in the process of being remodeled when the war started.

The flesh lifted the torn door in the air and collapsed the metal in on itself, crumpling the steel to the size of a football ball, while thick ropes of flesh burrowed into the wall and slithered into the room, accompanied by screams of terrified people.

Without thinking, Teofil lifted his pistol, landing a bullet between the man’s eyes. The man kept his smile, while a hole appeared in his forehead for a brief second before skin flowed over the wound, restoring smoothness to the skin.

"Don’t worry, no one of worth is going to die here. I am merely removing the explosives. Our allies destroyed the remote, but life taught me one thing, and that is to never take any risks," The man shook his shoulders, walking toward the soldiers, "I am known as Lord Steward. The reclaimers will undoubtedly hang you for your unknowing aid in carrying out a massacre, but why indulge them in their misguided sense of retribution? Sin is not washed away with death, but rather with the waters of redemption. Since your leaders betrayed you, how about a new job?"

"I am done with all the fighting and killing." Teofil simply said, allowing his soldiers to choose for themselves, while he was fighting for each breath. He was done with life anyway. Redemption sounded nice, but the Sun God will simply burn him for his weaknesses and failures.

"Then you are in luck, for no such thing will be needed! Promise to serve the Oath and you all and your families will be safely evacuated from this city to a far more hospitable place."

The building shook and sank to his knees, only staying on his legs because his soldiers caught him. He moved his eyes to a barred window and saw how the world outside turned red. He could hear the shrill sound of working lasers, followed by a massive slam of something immense into the ground that made the entire structure shake again. His vision darkened when his heart speared him with another surge of pain. All of a sudden, the fingers of his hands turned ice cold.

"Trust me. As scary as the boys and girls out there are, there is only one true horror in this city. And he is standing before you," Teofil’s eyes failed to catch the moment Lord Steward moved, but now the strange man was among them, wrapping arms around the regulators’ shoulders. Around the shoulders of all twelve of them. Teofil was afraid to look at him and see from where exactly the new arms were coming from, "Ain’t it good that we are all good pals now?" Lord Steward turned to look at Teofil, and the fingers of the arm that he had wrapped around the commandant’s shoulders extended and elongated, sliding into the opening between the collar of his armor and his neck. Teofil felt something crawl onto his chest, burrowing into his skin without causing any discomfort. He jerked desperately when he felt how his heart was wrapped by some worm-like tendril, "Don't be a scaredy cat, it will only take a moment. Now, about the work that you will do for me while you are still in the city…"

****

"I don’t know who you are, missy, but you made me angry…" Chort said, standing up. The mercenary made a step forward, before some unseen force jerked him by the legs, throwing him face down on the stone ground. He landed on his arms, trying to stand up and received a hit across the back, the one that created cracks beneath his body and popped the eyes on his back.

"And now I will make you dead." Javenika simply said, pointing at the ground with her right hand. The inspector stood a dozen steps away from Chort, making no move to attack him. The mercenary, still laying face down on the ground, threw his arm forward, creating tubes in his fingers. The deadly bones were unleashed and crossed the distance between the two fighters almost in an instant, crashing against something in front of Javenika’s face.

Aranea strained her eye, trying to see what exactly blocked the attack. She could see nothing, in front of the inspector was only air, filled with minor streaks of smoke and steam that were moving up. Javenika moved a finger up, and Chort fled toward the palace wall, crashing the stone. The wall fell, but Chort himself was left sprawling in the air, his limbs slowly turning to the side. New and new muscles were created under his skin before the very eyes of Aranea, thick ropes meant to hold his limbs in place, to prevent the snapping of his head that was forcibly moved to the left. Inch by inch, his body moved, locked in the air, a few centimeters away from the ground.

King noticed the troubles of his allies and threw his arm forward, sending a beam of crimson at Javenika. The inspector stood unbothered, both Ice Fangs by Aranea’s side were busy looking at anywhere on the battlefield, safe for Javenika. The wolf hag wanted to scream a warning, but her shout came way too late. The beam bent in the air near Javenika, flying high in the skies.

"Wolf hag, inspector Javenika keeps the situation under full control," Zeke said to Aranea, with respect in his voice. He continued, with a hint of pride, "Before she was moved to the position of the inspector, the lady served as a captain in the Second Army. Her battle prowess is equal to that of my grand grandfather."

"Greater," Keyl corrected, his voice steely, "Only truth, knight. Always speak the truth, let go of the prejudices."

"Of course, sir." Zeke bowed his head.

Aranea connected to the Army’s net and summoned the personal file of the inspector. Javenika, a new breed, eighty-two years old, subject to three rejuvenation shots. She was taken in by Devourer sixty-seven years ago after she gave up to the state and confessed to being guilty of the crimes of battery, assault, thievery, and murder. The court cleared her of charges of murder but gave her a prison sentence in the rehabilitation wing of the Torment for the rest of her crimes. After spending five years in the Torment, she was released early under the personal responsibility of Devourer and served in the penal battalion for seventeen years, where Javenika finally earned full pardon for her crimes. She later took the surname Prinsloo and served with a crystal-clear service record in the Second Army, rising all the way to the rank of captain. Her power was the control over gravity in a local area.

Gravity! Aranea finally saw how streams of smoke and steam twisted unnaturally around the inspector, pointing at the sky. If this woman could bend gravity to her will, then even a laser was no longer a threat to her. In fact, heavier projectiles like Chort's bones would have a far better chance of breaking through this woman's gravity manipulation, whereas energy weapons like lasers will be completely helpless to stay on course.

Javenika moved her arm and King’s body slammed into the ground. With the sound of a cracking stone, he began to sink deeper and deeper, while Javenika’s power created an ever-expanding crater around the fallen enemy leader. Ivar flapped his wings, creating a torrent of water that hit King from above, enveloping the immobilized foe.

Shit. Aranea thought the moment the water around the King’s body evaporated and flashes of red came into being.

"Get out of the splash zone now!" She snarled, grabbing both knights and pulling them after herself.

"You dare presume that you can take my life?" King roared and from his armored body spilled forth the black energy, licking the nearby buildings, "My life is far too great for someone of your worth to claim!" The energy that gathered around his body exploded, sending even Javenika back and forcing her to release her hold on Chort briefly.

All three of them were thrown off their feet when the surface of the square exploded, sending truck-sized pieces of stone into the air and sending the trio flying into the ruins. Aranea broke the wall with her body before Olesya caught her by the pauldron, stopping her fall. Both Ice Fangs were less lucky, each of them landed face down and slid across the ruined apartments before finally stopping in a pile of rubble.

The square behind them was annihilated, buildings all around the public square were collapsing from a shockwave released by King. Beneath the square, Aranea could see countless broken pipes that created whole new fountains around the square. The enemies’ reinforcements were nowhere to be seen. According to the data from the packs, the hover tanks retreated soon after the first explosion in the palace. Cracks, the size of withered trees in the Wastes, ran across the palace’s walls.

There was no sign of either Chort or King, but Aranea could see a black oval of pure darkness that was dying in front of the ruined main gates of the palace.

"Help the wounded and report to me the number of dead at once." Aranea weakly commanded, forcing herself to stand upright. They lived for another day.

****

In the next half an hour, the packs of Annie, Aranea, and Olesya assembled before the palace, taking refuge in a ruined building to the west. The warlord was sent back to the rear, the wound in her chest, left by the King’s beam, refused to close, and soon the wound started smelling horribly. Shortly after this, the edges of her wound were covered with green pus, Svetlana contacted medics in the rear, reporting that the warlord’s wound was starting to rot rapidly. Most of the wounded and dead were sent back with the warlord, but Annie stubbornly stayed on the front, frowning from pain while her sister treated the ruined pelvis of the wolf hag. Annie could limp around, but Aranea could see that standing up caused the wolf hag an immense amount of pain.

Belaz had fallen. In the absence of the leaders, the commandant of the city contacted Ivar, surrendering the city completely. The negotiations were still underway, and the reclaimers were forbidden from entering the palace for a while, but meanwhile, all forces of the Resistance in the city were either laying down their arms or retreating in order.

"A…" Aranea almost jumped on Tiny, pressing both paws to her snout, keeping the scout silent. She threw a side glance at the Ice Fang, who were sitting nearby.

Keyl took off his helmet and was busy polishing his blade, checking for any signs of dirt. He still had the same overly big eyes from the years ago, two gigantic crimson orbs that almost filled his whites. Not a single scar marked his perfect white fur, his hair was cut short. He kept a respectful distance from the wolfkins, refusing to return any snarls calling for dominance, and even bared his neck once to calm down Sonya. Aranea forbade Sonya from taking a bite, but now the scout constantly burrowed him with her eyes. Sly was sitting next to him, unbothered by the Ice Fang. He was cursing loudly in several languages, trying to fix the damaged rail gun. Keyl looked at the smaller wolfkin, either wanting to make a reprimand or asking him to be silent, and Sonya growled once more, making the knight captain drop the issue.

Zeke was sitting between Carty and Leila. The blue-furred wolfkin regained some control over her arms and was busy hissing at any attempts to help her. While she was busy trying to reach for a flask of water with trembling fingers, Annie limped over to her, grabbing Carty by the neck and emptying the flask into her mouth, against the protests of the scout. Zeke, meanwhile, was busy chatting with Leila, eagerly answering all her questions while the scout was writing down the answers. His long yellow hair, with a few strands of green, was tied in a knot behind his back, a single scar ran over his nose. His head looked slightly small for the size of his power armor.

"I don’t want them to know my name," Aranea said out loud, looking at the Ice Fangs, "They are cursed." She lied.

"No, we are not!" Zeke protested.

"You shut up, liar!" Annie snapped at him, frowning while Svetlana was working on her injury, "You already set me up once, you bastard!"

"That wasn’t me!" Zeke almost shouted, trying to stand up. Keyl looked at him, and Zeke sat back with a loud sound, "I would have never…"

"Liar." Annie hissed to him.

"Nice to see you, Zeke." Svetlana chuckled, and the knight made a half-bow to her.

"Cursed?" Kate said, hiding behind Kaleb’s back, "You stay away from me, freaks!" Several other wolfkins stepped back, retreating to the safety of the ruins. Sonya still burrowed Keyl with her eyes, annoyed that none of the wolf hags present were busy challenging the Ice Fang for dominance.

"Can you tell me more about this curse?" Leila asked.

"Might wanna to postpone that…" Tiny scratched behind her neck, "Wolf hag, Leila, the captain wants to see you both."

"Care to explain to me when exactly you met the wolf hag and what has happened between you two?" Aranea heard Keyl’s question when she and Leila walked toward the blue wyrm, "Zeke, I swear, if this is another of your broken love affairs…"

"I will massacre you if you don’t shut up." Annie said, and Svetlana laughed. Aranea heard how Annie hissed for a moment before joining her sister along with Carty and others, leaving both Ice Fangs confused. Even Olesya chuckled in her steel fist.

We live. Aranea smiled and walked faster to the blue wyrm, who sat on a ruined stone, watching the palace like a predator waiting for prey to make a mistake. Javenika stood by his side, her hands behind her back.