The sounds of footsteps and swishing fabric moved through the royal bedroom, reaching Galvin’s ears as he slowly awoke. He sat up in bed, looking at his hands as though he hadn’t seen them in months. His mind was racing, like his thoughts were trying to make up for lost time. Seeing him rise, the maid rushed over. Young, pretty, and sweet, she spoke with concern.
“Your Majesty, you’ve finally awoken! Please, is there anything I can get you? Food? Drink?” He looked at her, her beautiful face the image of kindness and innocence. He wanted to see it twisted in despair. With a crazed grin stretching across his face, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her onto the bed. “Your Majesty, what—” Her words then became a fearful scream as he began ripping away her clothes. “No! Please!” He silenced her with a smack across the face, just the first of many.
Up in her tower, Ziradith was going over paperwork as part of her official/unofficial duties. Berholm and a few of the royal court, now made aware of her presence and power over them, were trying to keep the wheels of governance turning, even if she was the one controlling them, and were doing their job of running everything through her. Most of her subjects had no idea they were her subjects and simply believed that the royal court was operating things while Galvin was indisposed.
As the duchess of the Herald territory, paperwork and bureaucracy were nothing new to her. The scale certainly increased, but she was more than up to the task. Being the puppet master behind the scenes of Uther left her very busy, especially with her spawn pawn lying uselessly in bed for the last few days. However, that changed when she felt a fluctuation in her manacle. As her greatest defense against usurpation, she wore it at all times, as did Galvin. It kept her cued to the Wassengel and her control over him. She could sense that he had woken up, yet when she tried to reach out and reaffirm control, he defied her like a bucking bronco.
She left the tower and everyone she passed was shocked to see her. She arrived at the royal bedchamber to find knights and soldiers standing outside the shut door, likewise bewildered at her arrival. None of them had seen her in over a year, not since the Knight’s Sheath incident. However, they had more pressing concerns. Inside, they could hear the maid screaming as Galvin raped her, and all had looks of uncertainty, wanting to intervene but too afraid to.
“What are you all doing just standing there?!” Ziradith barked.
“Uh… uh… Duchess Herald, your son, um… His Majesty announced that he wasn’t to be disturbed, and anyone who opened the door would be put to death,” one guard stammered.
“Useless shits, all of you! Hurry up and go prepare his tea.”
Ziradith shoved past them and opened the door, seeing her son slamming away at the beaten maid. She strode over and slapped him hard enough to knock him to the floor. “Disgusting little wretch, always embarrassing me.” She glanced at the sobbing maid, curled up and trying to conceal her naked body, covered in welts from Galvin’s beating. Tears soaked her bruised face, and a mixture of blood and semen oozed from between her legs. Ziradith scoffed in disdain and turned back to the knights and guards. “Get her out of here. I don’t want to see her in this castle or city again. Not one of you says a word about this, or you’ll find yourselves rotting in the dungeon.”
“Mother,” Galvin growled with a sneer.
“Shut your mouth. Pathetic failures have no right to speak.”
He bolted to his feet. “I’m the king! You can’t talk to me like that anymore!”
“Your father, for all of his failings, he was a king. You? You’re not even fit to be a jester. Every day, you make me regret giving birth to you. Now, hold your tongue before I cut it out.” As the maid was carried away, a guard arrived with a cup of fragrant tea. “Hurry up and take your medicine. It’s been too long since you last drank it.”
“No, I’m done! I’m done with you and your rules! I’m in charge now!”
“That tea is going in you one way or another. You think it feels hot on your tongue? It’ll feel like molten lead when you take it the other way.”
Galvin scowled and grabbed the tea, staring for several moments before forcing it down. The effects were quick, weakening his mental defenses and making him more susceptible to Ziradith’s control. She extended her influence with the manacle, and Galvin spasmed as he tried to resist, before finally calming and standing with upright posture.
“My apologies, Mother. I won’t disappoint you again.”
“You’re right, because I’m not going to let you.” She spoke the words, but with uncertainty. Though she had regained control over him, her hold felt weak, like she had him on a rope, but it was frayed and tattered. Was this because of how long he had gone without the tea? Or was he developing a resistance?
She turned to the guards. “Spread the word that the king is going to address the public this afternoon. The citizens need reassurance that the kingdom and its rule are secure. Go now, and remember that nothing awaits but pain and death for anyone who speaks a word of this to anyone else.”
----------
Following Seraph’s speech, rumors about Noah spread like wildfire. The knighthood and royal court tried to keep what happened at the castle secret, but all it took was a few soldiers and knights, their lips loosened by booze, to let slip all the juicy details about his stroll into the palace. They spoke of his manifestation of the basilisk in awe and terror, believing it to be the long-mysterious art of summoning magic that populated the world with life. They were half-right, and its sudden disappearance was just as bewildering as its arrival.
With nothing but its scream, it subdued every single soldier and knight in front of it. The basilisk unleashed in Welindar had been too deformed to utilize its voice in such a way, proving just how lucky Lupin and his men had been. To have such a mighty beast at his beck and call led to speculation that if Noah wished it, he could have destroyed the entire city. After all, the knighthood and military were clearly no threat to him, especially considering how he had shrugged off all their attacks.
More details then began to emerge about how he dealt with the royal guard, cutting them down without spilling their blood. A warrior capable of such a mysterious feat was what legends were made of. It was the kind of tall tale that people loved, cementing Noah’s status as a sword master of equal or even greater standing than Valia Zodiac. Galvin’s bedridden condition also confirmed that Noah had managed to strike deep into the kingdom’s defenses, and the only way he could have done that was if he somehow managed to get past the legendary Adwith Tarnas. Whether he defeated him in battle or simply snuck behind him didn’t matter. The country’s greatest paladin was bested.
Despite all the support Galvin had cultivated since the fiend army’s annihilation, these rebellious acts won the hearts and minds of countless people. The Wandering Spirit, both hero and outlaw, a gold-rank knight and an unstoppable terrorist; he naturally captured the imagination. His message also garnered a great deal of attention, his message of unity among the races and sympathy for the poor souls of Welindar, which ran contrary to Galvin’s position. As it had been since his enrollment in the knight academy, his name was being passed around throughout the city, with facts and fiction blending together into whatever would make the best story. And, of course, his sudden disappearance just added fuel to the flames of speculation.
At the Knight’s Sheath, business was booming. It seemed that whenever Noah did something outrageous, people would come flooding in, seeking confirmation if the stories they heard were true. Today was no different, and Cyrilo had decided to capitalize on the excitement by naming a drink after him. People were lining up for a glass of Wandering Spirits. Noah’s fame at the Knight’s Sheath and his message would hopefully continue protecting them, but there was no telling what the future held.
“Have you heard? Galvin’s awake,” said Sophia, standing in the doorway to Cyrilo’s study.
“Wonderful, just wonderful,” Cyrilo sighed while rubbing her forehead.
“They say he’s going to give a speech this afternoon. Should we go?”
“As much as I hate every word that comes out of his mouth, we should. Since we’re aware of what’s really going on, we have a responsibility to remain informed and aware of how things progress. I want to make sure he and Ziradith follow Noah’s rules.”
That afternoon, Cyrilo set out with Sophia and Alexis. Alexis was garbed in her blue battle dress and openly carried her sword and bow as a warning to anyone who might give them trouble. She was wise to do so, as Cyrilo’s feline ears drew indignant glares from many people in the street, which Alexis would always return, ensuring that potential troublemakers knew that only pain awaited if they acted foolishly.
They arrived at the palace, where crowds had swarmed below Galvin’s perch. His fans were chanting his name, and though he was under Ziradith’s control, Alexis and Sophia felt like they could see his true self hidden within. It was his smile, shaped by Ziradith for maximum charisma, but there was the undeniable hint of a self-indulgent smirk. That smarmy gleam in his eyes made them both shudder.
“Presenting His Majesty, King Galvin of Uther!” Berholm announced. The audience cheered while the three women tried to ignore the bitter taste suddenly filling their mouths.
“Ladies and gentlemen of Uther! My citizens! My friends! So much has happened these past few months. We’ve all been exhausted by the highs and lows, left drained by these heart-racing spectacles and heartbreaking tragedies. It is time…” Galvin paused, blinking and contorting his face as though suffering from a migraine before continuing. “It is time for us to all get on the same page, to unite under a shared goal and common belief. While I was indisposed on Knight’s Day, my brother stood where I stand now, taking on my responsibilities to address you all. For that, he has my gratitude. His message of unity and forgiveness, of embracing the beastmen and working together….”
He again stopped, slowly turning his head back and forth and twisting his face. This silence confused the crowd and the knights, with hushed whispers bouncing back and forth. In the back, Cyrilo, Sophia, and Alexis felt a knot forming in their stomach. Something was wrong. Observing the speech from a castle window where she wouldn’t be spotted, Ziradith scowled and cursed as she channeled more and more energy into her manacle, yet no matter what she did, she felt like she was hanging on by a thread.
“Say it, you little shit.”
As much as she hated Noah, she wasn’t foolish enough to break his rules. Though scapegoating the beastmen was originally a crucial part of her plan, keeping Noah from coming after her was far more important. She needed Galvin to recant all of his earlier anti-beastman rhetoric, but keeping his mind under her control felt like wrangling a greased pig, and as hard as she gripped him, he slipped free.
“He was dead wrong!” Galvin then boomed, drawing cheers from the crowd. “My father, King Leonard, was killed by a crazed beastman whore wielding Profane might! My oldest brother, Prince Lupin, was killed by an army of unholy beastmen! And Seraph, my older brother and greatest friend, was humiliated by a beastman in the arena and then spread that humiliation to the rest of our family and nation by taking their side! I am not like them; I will not be defeated and shamed by these savages who seek to undermine and destroy us for their Profane masters!
The beastmen hate you! They hate us all! They want us to wallow in the mud like they do, to live like filthy animals because they’re too inferior to build anything of their own! Our strength! Our freedom! Our nobility! They are jealous of all that we’ve worked so hard to accomplish, and in their jealousy, they sold their souls to the Profane! Lupin, may he rest in peace. He foolishly tried to civilize them, thinking that they could be redeemed and live like us. He suffered for that mistake! He died because he put his faith in them! They are fit to be our slaves and nothing else! Take their collars off, and they’ll do nothing but ravage and destroy!
I used to think that my brother Seraph was blessed by the gods and would lead us to salvation, but he has shown his true colors! His weakness, his cowardice, his willingness to submit, his eagerness to abandon us! Once again, he has fled this city, forsaking his duties to save his own skin! He has betrayed us, choosing to submit to the beastmen and their ally, our country’s greatest enemy: Noah, the Wandering Spirit! The man who attacked his fellow knights, who tried to assassinate me, who has sabotaged and humiliated this country over and over again! He is a terrorist and a false idol, worshipped by heathens and traitors to our country, including my brother!
Now I know the truth, I am the one who is truly blessed. The Wassengel, the power of the gods, bows to me, answers to me! Where everyone else in my family has failed, I have succeeded! I am the one with divine protection! I am your savior, your protector! I am the one who has been chosen by the gods to deliver you all to the promised future! Uther is our holy land, a land blessed for mankind, and we will not let it be tainted by these filthy beasts and heretics! This is not just a war for our lives; it is a war for our souls! My loyal subject, my proud patriots, which side are you on?”
“GALVIN! GALVIN! GALVIN!” the audience chanted.
“We need to get out of here, now,” said Alexis.
“There’s one!” a man shouted, pointing at Cyrilo. “Kill her! String her up!”
As one, the crowd turned on the three women, and Alexis drew her bow. “Get back! All of you! We are knights of Uther, and anyone who—” A man came charging towards her with a knife, and she put an arrow in his leg. Killing would only worsen things, but the man’s cry of pain angered the crowd further. “Run! Now!” Alexis shouted.
Cyrilo and Sophia took off sprinting, fleeing the castle grounds with Alexis taking up the rear. The mob didn’t need orders; they swarmed after the three women. As they raced through the portcullis, Alexis turned to the oncoming horde and loaded another arrow. “Chain Shot,” she cast.
She released the arrow to the side, away from the mob, with a series of mana bolts flying after it. She swung her bow like it was a machine gun, scattering the bolts and mowing down the first wave of the mob. She kept the power low, each bolt hitting like a thrown punch rather than a piercing arrow, but it knocked down everyone she hit, causing them to fall and trip everyone behind them. This was her magical dissertation from the academy, the technique she cultivated to earn Elyot’s approval to enter the knighthood. It was the perfect technique for dealing with multiple opponents in formation, and she’d always wanted a chance to use it, but not like this, not against her fellow citizens.
Cyrilo, Sophia, and Alexis climbed into the first taxi carriage they saw, paying the driver extra to get them home as fast as he could. He cracked the reins and set the horses off, racing through the streets. Now, they had a moment to catch their breath.
“This can’t be happening. This can’t really be happening,” Sophia gasped.
“Ziradith’s betrayed us, that witch,” Cyrilo cursed.
“No, Ziradith wouldn’t do that, at least not now, not after Noah paid her a visit,” said Alexis. “That was Galvin. He’s off his leash.”
“But even he has to realize that Noah is going to come back and kill him for this,” said Sophia.
“Galvin is crazy; he always has been, you know that. He’s incapable of considering the consequences of his actions or anticipating things not going his way. Now he’s somehow gotten even worse, if that’s even possible.”
“This isn’t going to simply blow over,” said Cyrilo. “Galvin has declared a holy war against beastmen. Now, just about everyone who attended that rally is going to want us and everyone at the Knight’s Sheath dead. What happened with Melinda is going to keep happening. The church, for all the trouble it gave us, at least they had some notion of keeping things covert, but this? This is going to be loud and bloody. We should expect a lot of trouble tonight.”
----------
Berholm stormed down the castle corridors, every breath a growl of fury. He arrived at Ziradith’s tower and forced open the doors.
“What in the world are you doing?” he barked, finding her fiddling with her manacle.
“Watch your tone, you stumpy little shit,” she shot back. “You forget, I’m still in charge.”
“Oh really? You’re in charge? Tell your son that. Noah warned you that this would not be tolerated, that punishment would come swift and brutal if you didn’t reverse the country’s beastman stance. Now Galvin is shouting for them to be burned at the stake.”
“He slipped free of my control, but I’m working on getting it back.”
“Oh, so you’re not betraying Noah; you’re simply incapable of controlling your child! Even with brainwashing magic, you can’t keep Galvin in check! What kind of mother are you?!”
“It was working fine until the bastard strolled in here!”
“Because of YOU! What YOU did! I passed along Noah’s warning of retaliation, but neither you nor your son listened! I tell you now, Ziradith, I will not participate in Galvin’s slaughter of the beastmen. I will not be a pawn in your sick game!”
“Then you relinquish your title and your authority.” Ziradith got up and strode towards Berholm. “Go ahead, you won’t be missed. The Royal Adjudicator? Ha! You were nothing but Leonard’s dog. He only kept you around because you were at the perfect height to kiss his ass. The church operated in the knighthood under your nose for years, and I orchestrated Galvin’s rise to the throne without you ever knowing. You couldn’t even save the king when he needed you. Your career is nothing but a charade of ineptitude. Face it, you’re just a banished dwarf who got lucky one time and has been riding that single accomplishment for decades.”
“This coming from the conniving bitch who sucked and fucked her way up to the rank of duchess. Tell me, how many men did you screw for political gain before Noah showed your true colors to the world? How many people did you bribe and blackmail to get what you wanted? How many innocent lives were secretly snuffed out because they happened to be in your way? How much money did you pump into the Profane operation, betraying your country and your people, just so you could rule over them? You’re full of nothing but greed and bile, just like your son. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree, especially when both are rotten.”
“Get out, and don’t ever stand in my presence again.”
“Gladly.” Berholm turned and left, but stopped when he reached the doorway. “Just know this, Ziradith. You’ll inevitably get what’s coming to you, and when you do, the only tears will be your own. I want to be there to see them fall, but let’s face it, I doubt you’re even capable of crying.”
----------
“So Galvin slipped off his leash, huh?” Noah asked, sitting in Cyrilo’s study. Technically, it was just his clone projected through the harkonen gem, but he was able to see, hear, and speak through it from all the way in the countryside. This was all part of his experiment to test the jewel’s range.
“The speech he gave chilled my blood. He’s completely lost it. I can’t help but wonder if it’s all for political gain, or if he truly does hate my kind. I wish you had killed him when you had the chance and put Seraph on the throne right then and there.”
“If I did, my alliance with Uther would be terminated forever, and no pardon could undo it. Even if the knights feared me, they’d never follow me. Besides, the Wassengel is likely to annihilate the city if Galvin dies.”
“True. Ironic that the thing that saved our lives is now our greatest threat.”
“Perhaps we should turn around and come back.”
“No. Seraph has been completely demonized as a traitor and beastman sympathizer. If you return him without his powers, he’s likely to be killed. The public already loves Galvin, and now that he’s proclaimed himself chosen by the gods, he’s injected religious fervor into the situation. Seraph needs to become Light’s Emissary once more to compete with that.”
“That certainly puts a lot of pressure on me. Let’s hope that Lumestada delivers. So what’s your plan?”
“Hunker down, that’s all we can do. For now, we’ve sent all the customers home. I know things will get violent tonight, and I don’t want any of my patrons caught in the middle. I’m not abandoning the Knight’s Sheath. We’ll just have to wait it out until either you return with Seraph restored, or Galvin does something to lose the public’s support. It’s days like this that I’m glad you sent Alexis and Sophia my way.”
“Do you have any other allies you can call on?”
“A few knights are here to protect us like Holmes and Frigga, and they say that there are several more that oppose this… what did you call it? An ethnic cleansing? But they also say that most of the knighthood is taking Galvin’s side against the beastmen. We also have plenty of loyal customers and those who took your message to heart, but we are severely outmatched and outnumbered.”
“Madam Cyrilo!” Sophia burst into the study. “There is a mob approaching!” She looked at Noah, partially relieved to see him, but also disheartened that it was simply an illusion. “Noah,” she merely whispered.
“I’m sorry, Sophia. I wish I could be there for you, but—”
Cyrilo stood up. “Noah can’t help us, dear. He’s already done enough for us. This is a problem that we have to solve ourselves. Come on, let’s go greet our neighbors.”
Noah’s clone vanished as they left the study, going outside where Alexis, Holmes, and Frigga were waiting. Down the street, an angry mob could be seen approaching with torches and pitchforks, all shouting in unison, “Kill the beasts! Kill the beasts! Kill the beasts!”
Holmes stepped forward. “Citizens of Colbrand! You are out after curfew! Disperse and return to your homes, or you will be arrested!”
“Traitor!”
“Beastman lover!”
“Coward!”
The indignant citizens shouted their insults and hurled rocks and garbage without slowing their approach. “Shit, this is not good, they called my bluff,” said Holmes.
“Daniel, get out here!” Alexis shouted.
Daniel emerged, and seeing the mob, he was understandably nervous. The last time he tried to stand up for what was right, he took a rock to the skull. Still, he gathered his courage and began to play his nameless song from the Red Revelry two years prior. As his mana swept over the crowd, dulling their hatred, they slowed to a stop. However, that changed when a handful of male and female paladins filled the air with holy light, countering Daniel’s music and negating its effects. When exposed to it for the first time, paladins and their magic were susceptible to the power of his music, but once they were aware of it and prepared to counter, their magic could fight back against the melody.
“Your heathen magic won’t work on us!” an old woman sneered.
“There is more coming!” a courtesan shouted from a window up above. Down at the other end of the street, a second mob was converging on the Knight’s Sheath. The noose was tightening around them, and at the head of the mobs, knights could be seen emerging to lead. They formed a perimeter around the building and brought the crowds to a halt.
A gold-rank knight stepped forward, a man with dark hair. “Stand aside. We’re going to rip apart this house of degeneracy and godlessness.”
“We can’t do that, Sir Rall! These are good people, your people! You should be defending them, not hunting them like animals!” Frigga shouted.
“They are animals! One of them killed our king, remember? After she slaughtered countless members of the knighthood, our brothers and sisters! Now you stand there, defending them!”
“She was infected by the Profane! She turned against us because the darkness stole her sanity!” Alexis shot back.
“Beastmen, Profane, there is no difference! They’re all monsters that deserve to be enslaved or put down! Now, you can either do your duty as knights or die as traitors!”
Alexis nocked an arrow and aimed it at Sir Rall. “My duty is to protect the people of Uther, not take part in their slaughter. I’m ready to die for that cause. Are you ready to die for your loathing?”
Rall drew a claymore. “I’m ready to kill for it.”
At that moment, an arrow, wrapped in lightning, struck the ground in front of him and set off an explosion, shocking everyone and drawing their eyes up to a nearby building where Aithorn stood with another arrow loaded. “You would die before your sword fell!”
“Typical, an elf standing up for his fellow nonhumans. Of course, you would have no loyalty to our race or country.”
“Enough of this! Kill them all!” a knight from the second mob shouted. They were about to charge, but a wall of fire surged up and blocked their path.
From a nearby alley, Elyot emerged. “I’m loyal to both, but I, too, cannot stand for this injustice.”
“Traitors! Both of you! You’ll be stripped of your rank, if not executed for this!” Rall shouted. Then the sky lit up, with a brilliant beacon of radiance floating above the Knight’s Sheath. Adwith Tarnas descended, held aloft by his wings of light, and landed in the center of the mess. “Look, a true hero has come!” Rall laughed. “Uther’s most powerful and loyal knight is going to deliver the punishment you monsters and traitors deserve!”
Tarnas turned to Rall with a scowl and fired a nameless blast of light, knocking him off his feet and shocking everyone. “Enough of this, all of you! I will not tolerate bloodshed happening in city streets! There has already been so much death and suffering, yet you fools demand more! Well, the next person to throw a rock or a curse will feel the might of divine radiance!
Now listen, if the Wandering Spirit has a single merit, it’s that everything he told us on Knight’s Day was the truth. This is the horror he was warning us about! This is the pointless violence he was trying to prevent! The demons of wrath have seized control of your minds and turned you into their slaves! I did not fight for this country to see it become this! I don’t care what the king says; I will not let this mindless violence take place! So go, all of you! Leave this place and go home! Behave like this again, and I will personally burn the darkness from your hearts. I guarantee you, it will be painful.”
He then released an omnidirectional blast of light, swallowing up the entire area. It was like his Divine Sanctuary spell, but instead of calming peace and security, it seared everyone for a moment, just painful enough to let the mob know he meant business. After only a second, the light faded, leaving everyone rubbing their eyes and panting from the full-body burning sensation they just experienced.
“All of you, get out of my sight.”
Fearful of more pain, the crowds dispersed, retreating back into the night. Tarnas, Elyot, and Aithorn all joined up with Cyrilo and the other knights.
“I can’t thank you enough for coming to our aid. If not for you, we’d probably all be dead by dawn,” said Cyrilo.
“Before leaving, Lord Noah revealed the details of the situation with Galvin and Ziradith,” said Aithorn. “He warned us that mass violence and civil unrest would likely happen in his absence and that the Knight’s Sheath would be a prime target. Though I very much did not appreciate his actions against his fellow knights, especially since I was among them, considering what he was trying to prevent, I can see why he abstained from pulling his punches.”
“I remember him telling me that he’s the man nobody listens to until it’s too late. Now I understand what he meant,” said Tarnas.
“Regardless, we will not allow this city to become a bloodbath,” said Elyot, “not when we need to cooperate now more than ever. However, I do find it amusing how often your brothel seems to become the center of attention and controversy.”
“With the backing of three gold-rank knights, we should be safe from another massive swarm,” said Alexis, “and I can handle individual threats and small groups. Still, the streets are going to fill with carnage, and it’s going to wash over us with the relentlessness of the tide.”
“There is the possibility that you all will be stripped of your rank for this,” said Cyrilo.
“We’re too valuable to this country’s defense for Galvin to do away with,” Tarnas assured her. “Sir Elyot’s expertise, Sir Aithorn’s link to our elven allies, and my power and reputation make us untouchable. If he tries to arrest, discharge, or execute any knights for opposing this madness, he’ll receive my resignation, and his public support will plummet.”
“With how spiteful Galvin is, I think you’re overestimating your protection from him,” said Alexis.
“Hopefully, he’s at least smart enough not to make an enemy of us gold-rank knights,” said Elyot, adjusting his glasses.
Cyrilo sighed. “Either way, the rules of this new game are still being written. All we can do is play along and try not to lose.”
As the situation in the streets unraveled, back in the castle, things were continuing to escalate. Ziradith was in her tower, continuing to fiddle with the manacle. Galvin remained free of her control, and she had to regain it soon. The way things were going, Colbrand would rip itself apart, and the kingdom she worked so hard to seize would turn to ash. The pillars of smoke from burning buildings confirmed her fears.
She needed to use Galvin to pacify the mob before things worsened. However, her work was interrupted by rushed footsteps made with heavy boots. She knew that sound, having been anticipating its approach for twenty years, the sound of the consequences of her schemes. However, she wouldn’t go without a fight. She got to her feet just as the door was busted open, and soldiers streamed in.
“So, the little bastard is finally making his move?! Go ahead, try it!” Ziradith shouted.
She raised her fist to the soldiers, pointing at them with the sapphire ring on her finger. A sphere of water, the size of an acorn, gathered on the gem, before launching with the strength of a bullet. It struck one soldier in the chest, punching through his armor and ribcage. He went down, struggling to breathe and stay conscious. She shot the next soldier in the same manner, bringing him down. A third soldier came from the side and grabbed her, but was thrown back as if jabbed with a cattle prod, courtesy of another jeweled ring on her finger, protecting her with an unseen veil of lightning. These rings were expensive, but well worth the cost.
A fourth soldier charged with a sword, and she aimed a ruby ring at him and released a jet of fire, setting him ablaze. Screaming in agony, he threw himself around the room, trying to extinguish the flames, before falling out the nearby window. The royal guards in their enchanted gear entered, with Ziradith’s water and fire attacks bouncing off their magical shields. She lunged for the manacle on the nearby table, but the guards seized her arms. Though the lightning ring unleashed its charge, their gloves protected them, and they managed to remove her rings and lock her in shackles. They were enchanted to negate all of her magical traps and defenses, something they couldn’t have done without inside knowledge.
“Just kill me and get it over with!” She thrust her stomach forward. “Here, stab me in the womb that bore him!”
At that moment, Galvin entered the room with a cold glare. He looked down at the dying soldiers. “Leave us. And get them out of here. Their blood is making a mess.” He then picked up the Wassengel manacle on the table. “Take this and destroy it. There’s no need for two.” The wounded troops were carried away, and Galvin turned to Ziradith. “Finally, after months of suffering from your overbearing tyranny in my head, I am free to be my true self once again.”
“Free to be the failure you’ve always been. I might as well have birthed a goblin. At least then, your stupidity and violence could be explained.”
“You’re one to talk, Mother. How many years have you schemed to steal the throne? All your plans, all your manipulations, all your little pawns cast off into the rubbish bin, just to get you close to your dream of ultimate control, and now, you’re farther than you’ve ever been. You call me a failure, but the only failure is you.”
“And what does a silly little puppet like you think he’ll do when I’m not pulling the strings? All I’ve done is cover up for your degenerate crimes and pitiful inadequacies. Without me, everyone is going to see what a sad little child you are, hating everyone in the world, yet desperate for their worship. The Wassengel, that’s all you have. All. You. Have.”
“It’s all I need. As long as I offer the people protection, they’ll flock to me, and I’ll welcome them into my loving arms,” he said with deranged mania.
“Inevitably, you’ll ruin it, just like you ruin everything else in your life. You’ll drive them all away, the people forsaking the Wassengel’s protection because they just can’t stand to be around you anymore. Just like everyone you’ve ever met, they’ll be disgusted by your childishness, insecurity, and depravity. They’ll abandon you, just as I should have done when you came out of me. I didn’t give birth to you, I shit you out, and shit is all you’ve ever been and will ever be!” Galvin backhanded her across the face, and she fell onto the bed, her hair askew. “Go ahead and kill me, you pathetic little wretch. Death is preferable to the shame of having you as a son.”
“You think you’re in any place to judge me?! You?! The exhibitionist harlot who bared herself at the Knight’s Sheath?! It’s time I knocked you off your mental throne and put you in your place!” He then grabbed her dress and ripped it open, exposing her melon tits.
“What are you doing?!”
“Everyone knows you’re a disgusting whore, so now I’m going to treat you like one!” With a crazed grin, he grabbed her breasts, gripping and squeezing them with painful intensity. Ziradith rolled her head from side to side, groaning in disgust and anguish as he sadistically dug his nails into her skin.
“Get your filthy hands off me, you disgusting rat!”
“Noah said he sucked on your tits more than I ever did, and he’s right. I wonder how they taste.” He lowered his head and began licking and biting her breasts, attacking them with degenerate malice. His teeth left marks on her soft skin, soaked in spit, and every pull of her nipples made her wince. “They are delicious. Perfect tits for a whore.” He continued ripping off her clothes, stripping her naked with Ziradith helpless to do anything to stop him. She lay exposed on the bed, with Galvin running his eyes up every inch. Despite her flat belly, she had luscious proportions and an hourglass figure with a big round ass. “Are you ready, Mother? I won’t be gentle.”
“You’re sick!”
“Don’t pretend you aren’t enjoying this! You love it rough, don’t you?”
He dragged her to the end of the bed and forced her legs apart, then sent his fingers inside her. She tried rolling from side to side, desperate to pull away and free herself of her son’s violating touch. “You’re so tight, Mother! I’d never think that for a filthy slut like you!”
“Get away from me!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re nice and wet!” He aggressively worked his fingers around inside Ziradith, trying to coax her body into reciprocating. He had none of Noah’s grace or technique, but at the moment, his lack of finesse was simply the insult to this injury. Eventually, Galvin pulled his fingers free and licked them clean. “So sweet. Now I’m going to put you in your rightful place.” He stripped off his clothes, revealing his erect member, bobbing with each beat of his heart.
“Galvin, if you have even a shred of decency in your soul, you’ll stop right now. If you do this, you’ll forever be the lowest of the low, the most disgusting, repulsive excuse for man.”
“Remember, Mother, you’re speaking to the king of Uther. I get whatever I want!”
He then forced himself inside her, Ziradith screaming as her son’s cock penetrated her womanhood. It felt like a poisoned blade piercing her heart, leaving a toxic filth inside her that would never be washed away. Galvin thrust into her again and again with perverse cruelty, going as hard and fast as he could, all to compound her suffering. Every time he entered her, she was forced to acknowledge this disgusting sin that would make even the gods shudder in revulsion.
“You like that, Mother? This is what you deserve as a whore, a good fuck!” Ziradith didn’t respond, trying to shut everything out. Angered by her silence, Galvin upped the cruelty, smacking her tits again and again, making her cry out in pain. “How does it feel to be your true self, Mother? A pathetic slab of meat for me to wrap around my cock!”
Then his breathing and movements began to change, and terror filled Ziradith. “No, don’t you dare!” Then Galvin stopped and shuddered, with Ziradith recoiling as she felt him ejaculate. Jet after jet of her son’s semen was pumped inside her, feeling so hot and thick that it made her want to throw up, scream in humiliation, and bathe in molten lead to burn away every last sperm Galvin had deposited in her slit.
“Your pussy is so greedy, Mother. It’s sucking me dry.”
“You’re despicable. Noah was right; I should have strangled you with your own cord,” she muttered.
Angered, Galvin got on the bed and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head over so he could jam his cock in her mouth. She tried to resist, but he held her still, orally sodomizing her. The taste of her son’s manhood on her tongue, of his seed rolling down her throat, made her want to scream in misery and disgust. If the gods were to strike her dead, it would be a mercy. She tried to go limp, refusing to service him, not wanting to devote a single iota of strength to pleasuring her son. Angered by her passive resistance, Galvin grabbed one of her tits, squeezing and twisting to make her scream. Unable to bear the pain, she gave in, bobbing her head and sucking him off obediently.
“That’s right, suck it like a good cum slut. Sucking cocks is what you’re best at, isn’t it? That’s how you kept climbing the ladder. Come on, get it nice and hard.”
Once he was back to full mast, he pulled out of her mouth and flipped her onto her stomach, then spread her cheeks.
“No, get away from there! Don’t do it!”
“Come on, I know how much you enjoy taking it up the ass. You’ll enjoy this.”
He pressed the head of his cock against her tight ring, and Ziradith tried to get away, but with her wrists bound behind her back, there was nothing she could do. Galvin forced himself inside her, centimeter by centimeter, with Ziradith screaming in disgust and agony. Soon enough, he was balls-deep inside her, buried in her back door up to the base.
“Get out of my ass, you sick bastard!”
“Don’t act like you aren’t loving this, Mother!”
He then grabbed Ziradith by the hair and once again began thrusting into her, quickly and brutally. At least when Noah sodomized her, he used lube, but the only protection from the friction this time was her spit on her son’s cock. She screamed in pain, feeling like her ass was going to rip open, but Galvin showed her no mercy. He raped his mother relentlessly, laughing at her anguish. As he drove into her, he smacked her ass again and again, bruising her cheeks the way he had her tits. Ziradith receded into herself, diving into the depths of her mind, trying to escape this nightmare, but no matter how hard she worked to block it out, the violation broke through every mental barrier she put up. She was being anally raped by her son, and there seemed to be no end in sight. This was the madness she had unleashed upon the world.
----------
The next day, things continued to worsen in the city, as the rioters that Tarnas had scared off awoke with renewed vigor for violence. The sound of breaking glass and fearful screams filled the streets as the beastman-owned homes and businesses were vandalized. Windows were smashed, graffiti scrawled, and garbage thrown. Countless citizens with animal traits were savagely beaten in the streets, if not murdered in broad daylight and put on display. Fights were constantly breaking out and turning into brawls. Those who supported the persecution of the beastmen clashed with those following Noah’s teachings and warnings. Words would evolve into shouts, which would evolve into punches, which would grow further into blades sliding between ribs and hammers cracking skulls.
The knights in the city rushed to stop the violence, and cultivate it. The Loyalist faction and the Noah faction, this distinction had split the Order in two. Those in the Loyalist faction would look the other way when beastmen were being beaten and killed and their properties damaged. When fights broke out, those who stood up for the beastmen were always arrested. The Noah faction, led by Tarnas, Aithorn, Elyot, and several other knights, fought to extinguish the flames and end the bloodshed. They’d arrest troublemakers and rioters, but whether they’d remain in the dungeon or get released to cause more havoc depended on the biases of whoever held the keys.
Tarnas used his magic to put down riots like he had before, but his words of burning the darkness from people’s hearts rang hollow, for their hatred seemed endless. Though he could intimidate them into fleeing and burn the guilty with his light, he knew from their glares and curses that they’d get right back to it the next chance they had. After decades of service, all of his hard-won respect seemed to suddenly go up in smoke.
It didn’t matter what good he had done in the past for the country. The people had been given an enemy, someone to vent their anger and negativity on, someone to hate, condemn, and look down upon with a smug sense of superiority, and he was the man trying to take that wonderful gift away from them. He shamed them for their acts when Galvin and his followers encouraged pride in their citizens standing up for what they decided was right.
At the very least, the knights were avoiding direct combat with each other. Former friends and allies argued at the scenes of riots and murders, but both sides knew that once they started killing each other, the chaos in the streets would grow into an all-out civil war. However, it seemed like if things didn’t change, then such escalation was inevitable. Aware of this fact, Berholm stormed through the palace, forcing his way through every door and past every guard until he reached Galvin. The young king was standing shirtless in his father’s study, now littered with shredded books and destroyed furniture. A large portrait hung up on the far wall, which Galvin was splattering with ink and wine.
“Are you proud of me now, Father? Are you proud of me NOW?! I’m the king! I’m the king! I’m the king!” he sang with crazed mania.
“Control yourself, Galvin!” Berholm thundered.
Galvin turned to him. “Oh, Berholm! My father’s favorite errand boy. Are you here to kiss my ring?”
“I’m here to shake some sense into you! Your city is in flames, and you’re in here, tarnishing your father’s memory! Put an end to this madness!”
“Why would I stop it when I’m having so much fun? I open the window, and I hear the screams as those savages are beaten and killed, and it makes me so fucking hard!”
“You’ve completely lost it! Where is she? Where is Ziradith?!”
“Oh, Mother isn’t in control anymore. She’s been put away. Now I’m finally free to be my true self!”
“Galvin, if there is a single spark of good in you, you’ll address the public and tell them to end this violence! Nothing good can come from this.”
“Oh, Berholm, you stupid little dwarf. Don’t you know that before you can create, you first have to destroy? I’m laying the groundwork for a dynasty that will last forever. The gods have chosen me to save Uther from all of its enemies, and I’m going to do just that! My orders aren’t just royal decree; they are divine will!”
Berholm sighed and rolled up his sleeve. At the moment, he no longer cared about the possibility of annihilation by the Wassengel. He was willing to take the risk. “Then you truly are a lost cause, and in your father’s memory, I will do what I must to save this kingdom from your evil.”
“What’s that? You’re going to kill me? Don’t forget that I’m the only one who can control the Wassengel.”
“No, you aren’t, and the rightful wielder of that manacle will soon return. I simply must clear the throne for him. What I do now, I do for the sake of your family and this country.”
Galvin began to laugh. “Do you like what I did to my father’s portrait? I left the face untouched because I wanted him to see everything. Go ahead, do it. Kill me. Kill Leonard’s son right here in this room, under his watchful eyes. Let him observe your ultimate betrayal!”
Berholm clenched his fists so tightly that blood dripped from his fingers, but he ultimately let go. He turned away, unable to face Galvin. “To think that a man like him would sire a monster like you. His blood would be better spent feeding the ground than in your veins, but I can’t—”
Berholm was silenced by Galvin striking him in the back of the head with a candleholder. When next he woke up, he found himself in a familiar room. Small, dark, and made of cold brick walls, with an uneven chair and splintery table in front of him; this was one of the interrogation rooms. He was tied to his chair, something he’d usually be able to break out of easily, but these rooms sealed magic and mana, depriving him of his monk strength. A lone candle burned in front of him, flickering in the darkness. How strange to finally see the candle burn from the other side of the table.
The door then opened, and Galvin entered with two soldiers. “You have a nice sleep, old man?”
Berholm spit on the table. “Consider that my resignation.” One of the soldiers grabbed Berholm and smashed his face against the table where his spit had landed, adding blood to the mix.
“Please, I terminated your authority while you were out. You’re now just a common prisoner. Oh wait, that’s not true. After all, you did try to kill Uther’s king. I guess that makes you an enemy of the country, and you, of all people, should know how enemies of the country get treated down here.”
Berholm spat out some blood and began to laugh. “I always knew you were a rotten little shit, knew it from the moment you could walk and talk. Every word that came out of your mouth was a lie or an insult. You cheated at everything you tried and threw a tantrum whenever things didn’t go your way. The only difference now is that you’re bigger.”
The second soldier punched Berholm in the face as punishment.
“Oh, how the tables have turned,” said Galvin. “And quite literally, too. How many secrets have you extracted from people sitting in that very chair? Now it’s your turn to talk.”
“You know nothing about the stubbornness of dwarves. You’ll get nothing out of me.”
“You should know better than anyone how often those words are said in here, only to become a lie.” Galvin nodded to one of the soldiers who grabbed Berholm in a choke hold and forced his mouth open. Galvin then revealed a glass vial and emptied the contents into Berholm’s mouth, with the soldier not letting him go until he swallowed it.
“Truth serum! How?” Berholm cursed.
“Did you really think you were holding the last bottle in existence? My mother made it a habit of buying up stuff like this at every opportunity, just for moments like this. Now, you’re going to tell me what I want to know, and I want to know where the Wandering Spirit took my traitorous brother.”
----------
Laughing in crazed glee, Bella rocketed towards Tysinger, slashing with her forearm blades with monstrous speed. Tysinger fended her off and countered with a horizontal slash across the stomach. Bella let his sword cut through her, slicing her in half, but the wound healed just as fast as it was inflicted. She then jumped up and kicked him in the side of the head, breaking his neck with the force and slashing his face with the talon on her ankle. Continuing to laugh, Bella pounced on him, trying to inflict a finishing blow, but though his head was twisted all the way around, Tysinger parried her attack with his sword and then punched her, knocking her across the chamber.
Bella skidded to a halt and then launched herself forward, dismounting with such force that the floor broke beneath her. She reached out with one of her blades, and Tysinger, his head on straight, blocked with his sword, snapping the length of bone. However, Bella still clipped him with the broken blade. She touched the ground behind him and dodged Tysinger’s swing, then pounced on him like a lioness. Tysinger carved her from shoulder to hip with his sword, but still, she slammed into him, clawing at him with talons on her hands and feet and biting him over and over.
“Get off me!” Tysinger roared, grabbing her and tossing her aside.
She landed nearby with his severed arm between her teeth. She spat it out and once more went at him, continuing her deranged cackle while aiming to rob him of the rest of his limbs. This fight had been going on for quite a while, and though Tysinger was gasping for air and his regeneration had significantly slowed, Bella seemed to have no limit to her stamina, and she refused to stop laughing as her crazed eyes rolled around independently of each other.
On the catwalk overhead, Curcio and Scyler watched the fight progress. Contrary to the scalped dwarf at his side, Scyler was a tall, muscular man wearing dark clothes. His complexion was gray like all ghouls, with glowing red eyes. His head was shaved, revealing the countless scars that crisscrossed his skin. He watched Bella fight with an amused smile.
“My, my, she’s even more powerful than I imagined. No wonder she was able to kill the king.”
“She’s a very unique specimen,” said Curcio behind her. “I scanned her to try and understand where her strength comes from and found something fascinating: she doesn’t have a venom gland.”
“You mean like the hosts?”
“Not quite. The hosts lack venom glands because they aren’t true Profane, but she is completely genuine. All us true Profane, our strength isn’t determined by how much venom we have, but our capacity for it, which depends on how much we received when we were turned, and we pass that venom onto our peerage. She, however, is the exception. According to her, she consumed the venom instead of having it properly injected. My guess is that the venom bonded with her differently than it did with us, and she has none left to give because all of it was used to enhance her own strength. She can’t have peerage, but in exchange, her latent potential is incomparable to any of us. With discipline and training, I’m sure she could surpass you.”
“Fascinating! She will make a wonderful addition to our ranks.”
“Yes, though her mental state concerns me. She tried to kill me three times during the testing, and she seems to be obsessed with the Wandering Spirit. She’s an asset, most assuredly, but an ally? I’d put no more faith in her than I would a rabid dog. We’d best keep her on a leash, and when we need her, we let her off and make sure to stay out of her way.”
“Send her to Andromeda. I’m sure she’ll train her into something we can use.”
A ghoul approached them with his eyes, nose, and lips sewn shut, and bowed. “Lord Scyler, Lord Curcio, the Liege requests an audience,” he gurgled, speaking through a toothy mouth in the center of his chest.
“Very well, let’s see what he has to say.”
The three traveled to the communications room, where Strauss waited for them in smoke form. “I bring news. Prince Seraph and the Wandering Spirit have departed from Colbrand and are now traveling the countryside, away from the safety of Colbrand and the knights.”
“Where are they headed?” Scyler asked.
“Rorik. According to the church, there is a source of divine light near there, which they hope to use to restore the prince’s powers.”
“This could be troublesome. We got lucky when the prince lost his powers, but the last thing we need is another Adwith Tarnas in our way,” said Curcio as he stroked his beard.
“I’d say we’re lucky again. The prince is vulnerable, and once we deal with him, that’s one less possible user of the Wassengel,” Scyler countered.
“I would hardly call being guarded by the Wandering Spirit vulnerable. I’m all for taking two birds with one stone, but it’ll need to be a very big stone.”
“Didn’t you say you were working on something new? A new kind of parasite for a specific breed of host?”
Curcio hummed in deep thought. “Yes, that could work. I can think of no better field test. However, Rorik is deep in Uther’s territory. Even if we use winged fiends to transfer just the parasites and recruit local hosts, it’ll take several days to intercept the prince’s group. But if we rush, we can meet them just before they reach their destination. I’ll begin making the preparations. However, we can’t send these test subjects out unsupervised, and we underestimate the Wandering Spirit at our peril. Lord Scyler, I’ll leave the ***********ion of chaperones to you.”
“I think it’s time I met this supposed spirit myself, face-to-face. You’ve done well in getting us this information, Liege. If this works out, you can expect to be well-rewarded.”
“My only reward is the destruction of Uther, but your sentiment is appreciated.”
The meeting ended, and Strauss stepped out of the closet, where Galvin was waiting.
“Did they listen?”
“Yes, they will send a force to deal with Noah and Seraph.”
“Excellent. You’ve served my mother faithfully for years, and I’m sure you’ll do the same for me. After all, it’s in your best interest.”
“Um… Your Majesty, are you sure that this is what you want? I mean, Prince Seraph is your brother.”
“Come here,” said Galvin with a smile.
“Excuse me?”
“Come here and kneel before your king.”
“Ugh, Your Majesty….”
“I won’t say it again, Strauss. Get over here and kneel.”
Hesitant in his movements, Strauss approached Galvin and kneeled before him. However, the moment his knees touched the floor, Galvin’s knee smashed his nose. Strauss fell back, groaning in pain with blood streaming from his face.
“My mother respected your counsel, Strauss. I don’t. You do what I tell you to do, and you do it quietly. When I want your advice, I’ll ask for it. Understand?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
Galvin left Strauss’s quarters and wandered the halls. The hour was growing late, but before he could retire for the evening, he had to relieve some stress. He made his way up to the northwest tower, where the door had been repaired and affixed with a new lock. He unlocked the door, which swung open, revealing Ziradith, who was still deprived of clothing and locked in shackles. Seeing him, her eyes filled with fear and disgust.
“Hello, Mother. I need some comfort.”
He closed the door behind him, and moaning and screaming began.