A blizzard of silence swept through the room. All noise stopped for a moment as the magic flowed through me and I saw the mages stumble over each other. The power that had come so easily to them just a moment ago now burned their hands and froze their mouths and they fell over one another to get away and found the far doors of the room sealed. I relaxed and, as the adrenalin began to wear off, felt the sharp pain in my shoulder that told me something was definitely not right. I looked around to find Kazumi behind me. She seemed to be healthy, having been mostly spared from the onslaught and the falling debris. 

The room we’d been in, which apparently had been a penthouse on top of the palace of sorts, had been utterly demolished. The roof was mostly gone and there were giant gaps where one might usually find walls and windows. The sun had set, it seemed, and from up on the palace, the entire city was visible. This did mean, of course, that everyone in the city had seen the fireworks display that had blown the roof of their queen’s castle. I hoped we had time to get out of here before the army of guards that was inevitably on their way got here. I was grateful now for how windy and difficult the path up to the palace would be for them to navigate; it would buy us some time.

“Liz,” Kazumi said, her voice soft. She sounded worried and I looked where she was pointing. Certainly there was nothing out there that could threaten or harm us? That’s when I saw it. Should have knocked on wood. Way in the distance, slowly marching across the hills surrounding the capital, was an army. Well, to call it an army was being gracious. It was disorganized, but what the mass of former indentured lacked in discipline, they made up for in sheer numbers. An army of thousands, visible largely because of the torches they carried, slowly advanced over the hills and dales in the surrounding countryside. 

“Heck,” Kazumi said. “We’re too late.”

I shook my head. “Maybe not. Sally’s on her way to Anastasia right now. If she can get her to safety, we might be able to set this right. I’m sure the Queen will listen if she sees just how close her kingdom is to collapse and ruin.”

Just as I said that, the doors behind us opened, slowly and carefully. If it’d been the guards, they would’ve thrown the doors open, so I assumed it was Sally here with Anastasia, making sure the coast was clear before risking the Queen’s life. As it turned out, I was half right. Anastasia was indeed the first through the door. She looked terrified, and I had a creeping feeling of dread it wasn’t because of the destruction in this room. Indeed, behind her Sally walked in and she looked much the worse for wear. There were cuts -- deep, bad ones -- all over her chest and arms. Blood ran in small rivulets down her arms and torso and she looked like she had trouble staying conscious, let alone upright. I wondered what had happened to her, but I didn’t have to wait long to find out. 

A laugh I hadn’t heard in a long time, and it hadn’t been nearly long enough, came from behind her. Like nails on a chalkboard it set my teeth on edge and made me want to crawl out of my skin, ideally to beat a rebellious Count to death. Snivelling moustache and quivering cheeks, the beady-eyed little bastard never should have fallen up that high, but apparently his sycophancy ran deep. 

“Otto,” Kazumi hissed. He walked into the room with a triumphant laugh, crowing at what he surely considered to be his greatest victory yet. I could imagine it, his disgraceful escape after banishment, traveling south incognito. Hells, maybe he even touted his injury as proof of his heroic fight against the Demon Queen. And when he’d finally arrived at the capital, he’d found that the queen he’d rebelled against had been usurped by men just as power-hungry as him, and he must’ve seen his chance. 

“I am sure,” Otto von Somethingsomething began, “that you are wondering why and how I have arrived here. It’s a long story, usurper, but I ca--”

“Oh shut up,” I said and, despite my shoulder killing me, I lunged towards him. I wasn’t in the mood for an overlong monologue from a third-tier villain. In that moment I hated him powerfully and deeply for having the absolute gall to make himself a part of my story. He was a footnote and I was going to turn him into one with my bare hands if I had to. But I couldn’t. I froze in place when I saw him raise the sword, the same or similar to the one he’d once threatened me with, to Sally’s neck. Where it touched her skin,, it hissed and I saw her twitch in pain. 

“No, you don’t,” he said. “On your knees, false queen.” I’d stopped in my tracks but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of obeying his commands. I saw his moustache tremble as I stared him down, trying not to let the fatigue, fear, anxiety get to me, show on my face. I felt the trepidation I’d always felt, but the rage at his audacity kept me upright. Not to mention the fact that he was threatening a dear friend of mine. 

“Anything you do to her,” I snarled, but he just pushed her forward to the ground and raised his sword to me. Sally immediately fell down and curled up, in too much pain, too hurt to do anything but protect herself. I wouldn’t have held any of that against her for a second. She was badly hurt. 

“You’ll do what, exactly?” he bellowed, emboldened by his magic weapon and his victory over Sally. “You’ll stand there? Maybe cry? I see no Orc woman here to assault me, imposter! Will you freeze up again?” 

I gritted my teeth at the accusations and, rather than waste any more words on the weasely little shit, raised my hands and projected a barrier between myself and him. That took him by surprise. Good. I wasn’t planning on just letting him get away with any of this. But then he squinted, raised his sword and swung down hard. It cut through the shield as if it wasn’t there, and it felt like he’d just cleaved through my chest. I cried out in pain, the anguish of losing a loved one burrowing into me unexpectedly and aggressively. 

I faintly heard him laugh again, that horrifying little scoff that made me want to invert him. And then he was there. The sword was in front of my face. I wasn’t even really aware I’d collapsed, but he stood over me, looking down at me past that big nose of his with a look of triumph. And then he simply pressed the blade against my neck. It was like being touched with a hot poker; the pain seared my skin and ran up and down my spine, sapping my energy and strength. My limbs grew heavy and suddenly it was hard to see and hard to think.

“Seems like the divine magic still works on you, doesn’t it?” he said with malicious glee as he, almost experimentally, slid it several inches into my shoulder. I suppressed a scream, partly from exhaustion, and largely because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. “I knew it would, you know. It was the first thing I made sure to tell them about. How your armor had blackened at the touch of it.” He knelt down and let the sword rest on my arm. It felt like it was burning a hole straight through me. “I heard we got one of you when you were crossing the Dergow, imposter. A divine arrow, hitting a woman that did magic. See, that sounds very familiar, doesn’t it?” He grinned and I wanted to punch his stupid moustache right through his stupid teeth. He stood up again and casually drew a line of searing pain across my chest with the tip of his sword. He spoke softly, almost as if he was sharing a secret. “Did I get her, imposter? Did I get that Lich bi--”

And suddenly Otto was gone, in a flash of green scales. With a sound like a missile streaking past, Kazumi had tackled him in a single leap, knocking him off his feet. Clearly she’d been listening this entire time, and she was as angry as I was. I had trouble keeping my eyes open, but without the horrible steel that had sapped my strength I slowly felt my limbs again. Kazumi and Otto had rolled across the ground and both had gotten back up again. For his age and physique, Otto was on his feet surprisingly quickly. And he hadn’t released his sword, the bastard. 

In turn, Kazumi brandished a long dagger. Goodness knew where she kept all of those hidden. She slithered left and right as he circled her, trying to gauge each other. He slashed. She parried. They locked eyes and waited again. Neither of them were very experienced fighters, but that didn’t make their blades any less sharp or their fight any less dangerous, their intentions any less lethal. Again he struck down hard and she coiled, recoiled and deflected the sword with her blade. 

I heard him talk to her, mumbling softly. Probably trying to goad her into attacking him, making a mistake. With everything one could hold against Otto, you couldn’t accuse him of not knowing just how utterly annoying he was. I saw Kazumi lash out once or twice, attacks he easily deflected with his sword. She was getting unbalanced, but also faster and more dangerous with every attack. She slowly drove him back with a look of rage on her face, and I was starting to have an easier time understanding what they were saying.

“You do not talk about her that way!” she hissed loudly, and I heard Otto scoff his scoff again. 

“Why not?” he asked nonchalantly. He could tell he had the upper hand in the fight, even as he stepped back, one hand behind his back. “Don’t tell me, pfah,” scoff scoff, “don’t tell me you love her?” He looked over to me and then laughed, actually laughed, threw his head in his neck and bellowed out ‘HA’s as if it was going out of style. “Priceless. Two weak monsters in love. Don’t worry, snake, I’ll reunite you all soon.”

That sent Kazumi over the edge. With a primal scream, she threw her whole weight at him. He’d seen this coming, of course, and I wished I had the strength to warn her, that he’d been trying to goad her in doing this exact thing. I barely had the strength to lift my head, so all I could do was watch as he triumphantly lifted his sword. 

He’d clearly underestimated the strength with which she’d launch herself at him, however, and he was knocked back slightly when her whole body hit him. He scrambled to his feet quickly, and saw that he had all the time in the world. When she’d hit him, his sword had burrowed itself into her abdomen. I looked at her with horror. She could barely move, barely lifting her torso off of the floor as he approached her and looked down at her. All she had to show for it was a small scratch on Otto’s face as she’d clearly tried to go for his head. He crowed again in victory as he reached down, grabbed his sword by the hilt and drew it out of her in a single fluid motion. 

“You know, I have to give you credit, imposter,” he said to me. “Your servant is more capable than she looks. And you managed to last a whole second longer than last time.” He scoffed again. I had no glib remarks; Kazumi had a hand on her stomach and she looked like she could barely move as he raised the sword to tilt up her head with his sword. “You can say goodbye to her now, if you want.” He grinned wide. And kept grinning. Then Kazumi smiled. And raised herself up tall. “But… I stabbed you right in the guts,” he mumbled through his grinning teeth.

“That’s not where my intestines are, Otto,” Kazumi said gleefully and slowly began to circle him. He simply stood there, frozen, his sword raised and that stupid grin on his face as his eyes tried to follow her. 

“Wh-Why can’t I move??” He was shaking now as a little droplet of blood and black venom slowly ran down his jowls. 

Kazumi smiled sweetly and out of nowhere she produced another dagger. Gently, she wrested the sword out of his hands and threw it out of reach. Then, slowly, she coiled around him as he quivered in terror, her long body constricting around him. I could hear his old joints creak as she tightened her grip until, finally, she towered over him. Her words dripped with venom as she looked him in the eyes. 

“Take a wild guess, Otto.”

Elamimax

Comeuppance!!!

Now, I've noticed that a lot of people feel that, since the media surrounding it has quieted down, but the protests are still going strong, and the fight against injustice isn't over. Feel free to donate to my Patreon, but the link I'm putting up today goes to a cause that, right now, is much more important. The rise of authoritarianism in the US is a reflection of the rise of fascism everywhere, and of the lax attitude with which reparations and racism has been approached. So please, donate to 

one
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these 
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Black Lives Matter. 

I also want to point people at the discord server of the ever-prolific QuietValerie (right here) where you can find other authors' works, and talk about them with fellow fans, and even the authors themselves! I heartily recommend joining it and reading their works! 

Thank you all for still being here. <3