Her hood up for concealment, Ashely crept backwards into the trees as fast as she could and quickly cast Sam's upgrade to her Dark Shield spell. She hated retreating but there didn’t seem to be a lot of options.

It looked like the surviving members of her Warband had done the same. Everyone had hidden themselves away as best they could for the moment. The was a thumping of wings from up in the dark sky.

HP -1x10 (Now 670)

She was too stunned to be sure of her but it looked like she'd lost eight or more already. Most of them lay dead in a gory splatter near the remains of the fire.

A third of my people. Shit.

Ashley didn't have any doubt about who had done it. Clearly it was the Sorcerer and the Paladin.

So much for honorable combat. Where the hell is Sam?

The Necromancer was nowhere to be seen either. So he was either dead, or else more likely hiding.

Or worse. What if he planned this all along?

There was no way to know what he’d been messaging them. Even the spells he had given her weren't going to be any use against level 50-something players. It was definitely possible she'd been set up.

"Sam!" she called out. "Answer me!"

But there was only silence.

She'd been seriously counting on the Necromancer's support to prevent a fight. He and the Spectre were the only two who had any real weight against the two Heroes.

There was a rustling in the undergrowth and Rebus crept up to her.

“I think we’re on our own,” he said.

She nodded, and momentarily her fingers rolled across the pocket where the talisman the mysterious stranger had given her lay. She could feel the shape of it under the cloth. It was her last option if everything else fell apart.

But Sam said I have enough power to be a threat to them. Properly managed.

She would keep it safe for now. If she was reduced to using that, it would be because there was nothing else left.

She grimaced and pulled out the scroll Sam had given her earlier, then tore it in half then pointed to cast the signal flare up into the night sky. It was invisible rising, but burst into a brilliant red shower of sparks high above the trees.

It was the signal for the Spectre to search for prey. If Sam was gone she may have already lost, but she could at least try to make them pay for their victory.

There was a sound of rushing air, and a woman settled down to the ground near the scattered bodies. She was riding a winged horse that wore shining silver armor. She was robed in dark grey, and had short dark hair. Her face was pretty, but serious.

And spoiled. She looks like she's used to getting her way.

The Sorcerer pointed directly at Ashely.

"You're hardly invisible. If I wanted you dead you'd already be dead. Come out and talk."

No point in pretending.

But as she rose to her feet she padded up the spell she'd had queued. A bright red zone appeared on the ground, and Ashely adjusted it with a few minor hand movements then cast it. It felt quite natural and she was pretty sure she had managed made it look like part of her natural movements before she swept the cowl back from her head.

"Meteor!" she barked.

The spell flared above the Sorcerer, who was suddenly directly beneath a bolt of dark red force that plummeted down from the sky and onto her with shocking speed. A fireball erupted where she and her mount had stood, sending flames, dirt, and rocks up into the air along with a mushroom cloud of dark smoke.

600

Health 7450

The letters faded away again at the same time as the flames, leaving the Sorcerer staring at her with contempt. The horse seemed to be deliberately ignoring the attack as well. The damage over time numbers that kept flowing up from the two of them were obviously insignificant.

"Did you get that out of your system?" she said. "I hope it's obvious there's no point in a fight. The outcome is already decided."

But the Goblin who had been creeping up on the woman chose that moment to attack. He growled deep in his throat and threw himself into the air, slashing with the obvious intent to decapitate her right there.

The woman flicked her hand and it was as if the Goblin had flown straight into a brick wall. There was an unpleasant cracking sound, and he dropped to the ground dead. She didn't even bother turning her head to look at it.

HP -1x10 (Now 660)

"There's no point in hunting down your little band of monsters," she said. "It's a waste of my time and yours."

She held out her hand.

"Let's go. It's over. Just get on the horse."

Ashley stood straight, trying to look proud for any members of her band who might be watching.

"Appraise," she said, pointing at the Sorcerer, who gave an exaggerated sigh.

Annelyn of Soren Free State; Sorcerer [Elemental Master]; Level 52

Undaunted, Elemental Purity, Chymical Assayist, Dutybound, Beastfriend, Master of Lightning; Company of Heroes

She's got better titles than Sam, I have to give her that.

"It's too bad," she said. "I thought your friend was reasonable. I admit I didn't expect a sneak attack."

The woman looked away.

"I left him behind. It's not like I needed help subduing you. You're still weak and we won’t let you get any stronger. He's probably not happy with me but we can't allow the Night Queen to roam free and raise an army to threaten us all again."

Was she speaking for the NPCs now? It seemed possible. Ashley decided to play along.

"All my children ask is the freedom to return to their own lands. To their homes. The Demon King forced them to attack you. With me in their lead, we will return where we belong and threaten you no more."

The Sorcerer made a scoffing noise.

"With you as their Queen? We will never be safe. You cannot be allowed to continue. Come with me now, and we will remove the Crown. You will be returned to a normal woman, and allowed to live your life as you choose. We have no wish to harm you. You’re a victim of the Crown, that’s all."

You mean you'll pry it off my head and be back in a few weeks to lead them yourself.

"Abandon my children to be hunted down? I would rather die."

The Sorcerer gave her an incredulous look.

"This is stupid. You don't have a choice."

She held up one hand, and said a few convoluted syllables. A misty yellow band appeared, twisting and snaking around itself.

She pointed at Ashely.

"Now come with me."

But before she could flick the spell towards her, a dark shadow flitted out of the woods and sped towards her almost faster than the eye could track it.

The Sorcerer went "urk", and toppled over the side of the horse, crashing to the ground with the Spectre wrapped around her. The spell she had been casting popped and disappeared.

Then she screamed. It was a throat-searing scream of real fear. The Spectre actually seemed enraged - it twisted and tangled around her, hissing and growling.

A red flow of HP loss was floating up from her form as she twisted on the ground with it.

"Aramaskis! Holy dispel!" she shrieked.

Something sleek, golden, and animal-shaped popped into the air beside them and launched itself at the Spectre, slashing and cutting. Simultaneously a pulse of brilliant blue-white light surrounded the woman's figure. The Spectre hissed and started throwing out its own damage numbers. But the defense only seemed to make it madder. The two of them writhed across the ground together. Annelyn occasionally managed to call out another spell, but nothing seemed to be reducing the ferocity of the Spectre as it tore at her.

"Summon Warrior!" Ashley yelled.

With a hissing thump the bedraggled spirit-form of a tall warrior covered in rotting armor and carrying a wicked-looking sword popped into place beside her.

"You!"

She pointed at the Sorcerer's beautiful winged horse mount.

"Kill that horse! Kill it dead!"

The Warrior turned and briefly stared at the mount. Then it raised its sword and charged, and began slashing at it mercilessly. The horse screamed in fear, and battered back at the creature with its hooves, but it was obvious the Warrior was doing much more damage, much faster. With a whoosh of its huge wings it tried to get airborne, but the Warrior leapt onto it, locked its legs on the creature and started hacking brutally.

That dealt with, Ashley stalked up to the struggling forms of the woman and the Spectre.

Once in a while an HP total would scroll through the cloud of damage numbers. The spook was over 15,000 while the Sorcerer was already down to 6,000.

A little bit longer.

But she stayed nearby so she could stop the creature before it actually killed her. The woman's screaming was annoying though.

Is there a muffle spell? I should find out.

"My children!" she said as loud as she could manage. "Come forward and witness this! This woman thought she could take me prisoner. She has killed many of you already tonight."

The Paladin was bound to show up, but she was nearly out of options. She had one finger resting near the pocket where the Spear of the Sun talisman rested.

The first to stumble out of the woods was Gravmok, her original alpha Goblin. He was grinning a huge toothy grin.

"Mistress," he rasped. "I wish there were more of her to kill."

The rest of the Goblins - and, to her relief, both Gnolls - came out of the forest with swords and axes held ready. Many of them were bleeding, and they were all muttering angrily. Even her old doubter Gamgrak gave her a respectful nod.

She looked over at the Sorcerer again.

Still too high.

"Where is Sam, the Necromancer?" she said.

There was angry muttering. Obviously nobody knew.

"I had made him my Magister Militum," she said as loudly as he could. "I was going to announce it tonight. Unless he is gravely wounded somewhere, then he should be here fighting along side us, yes?"

There was a chorus of angry agreement from her children.

She spared another glance at the Sorcerer.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Oh shit. It sped up.

The damage was accelerating frighteningly fast. The woman was already barely over 2,000. As Ashley watched she dropped to 1500.

"Spectre!" she bellowed. "Halt! Do not kill her!"

A final stream of damage numbers left the woman at 300 HP.

Acceptable.

"Keep her under control. Don't let her go."

At that moment the terrified neighing of the woman's mount cut short, and it dropped to the ground, quite dead. Its once magnificent wings were a bloody ruin.

Ashley walked up to the bound woman, who was staring up at her with rage through bloodshot eyes. She was panting and very obviously in mortal distress.

"You don't have the title," Ashley said. "Slayer of Innocents. So you've never done it."

"No," the woman rasped.

"It's amazing. Seriously, it's a thousand times better than regular XP. You just have no idea."

"You fucking psycho," the Sorcerer said. "I wasn't going to kill you."

Ashely shrugged.

"You killed Rogmor," she said.

"What?"

"He was a good Goblin. Really tough guy. You killed him. That's why I killed your mount."

She pointed over at the dead creature.

The woman looked, and her eyes went wide when she finally saw it.

"You're nuts," she said. Then whispered harshly, "We both want the same thing here."

"I don't think so," Ashley said. She pointed her finger at the Sorcerer, in a very obvious spell-casting gesture.

"Fine," the woman hissed. "Keep the crown. But this is too much. Andrew will hunt you to the end of the earth if you do it."

"All I want is for my children to walk home, with me in the lead."

The woman boggled at her for a moment.

"You really are nuts. This is going too far."

"I am the Night Queen. I will decide what's too far, and what's just far enough. Now if I have the Spectre unbind you, it would be unwise of you to give in to any spiteful urges for revenge. You'll die for real if you do it, I promise."

The woman stared at her with blind hate for a moment.

"Fine," she said. "I give you my word. The word of a sane woman."

As soon as the Spectre released her, it whirled itself into the darkness of the trees nearby.

Which must have been what the Paladin had been waiting for. Instantly a streak of light whipped out of the night sky at Ashley.

"Shit!"

Her shield spell shimmered around her as the bolt slashed across her torso.

-150

Health 510

The force of the impact sent her flying backwards into the dirt. She scrambled back up, having no doubt about what had just happened.

The Sorcerer woman got unsteadily to her feet and smirked.

When the Spectre began drifting out of the trees towards them again, Ashley held up her hand for it to stop.

"Your girlfriend is in no shape for a fight!" she shouted up into the night. "One word from me and she dies!"

The Paladin floated down from the sky on his own winged mount, which landed delicately with a single hoof on the ground. He jumped off with a flashing of bright silver armor and held up a hand.

"I only wanted you away from her. No harm intended."

"Appraise."

Andrew of Highwater Fold; Paladin [Loremaster]; Level 54

Undaunted, Elemental Purity, Shriven; Absolute Focus, Dual Spirit, Ascended Scholar (Chivalric); Company of Heroes

At least he looked the role. He was tall, with long golden hair, and a face that was chiseled perfection. He might as well have walked straight out of a fairy tale.

But his eyes were ice cold as he walked towards her, sword drawn.

She did her best not to shrink back, and instead brushed some of the dirt off her robe and stepped forward to meet him halfway. The crowd of creatures behind her growled menacingly and started to advance with her. She held up a hand for them to halt, which to their credit they understood. But they waited with weapons drawn.

The Paladin glanced at the corpse of Annelyn's mount and shook his head. When he got to Ashely he looked her up and down frankly.

"First of all she's not my girlfriend,” he said very quietly, “and secondly has nobody taught you about binding your spells? There's no reason for you to cast appraise like that."

"I'm still working some things out," she stammered under his fierce gaze. "That's not important now.”

She spoke louder for the crowd, “I want you to know that I had no plan to kill her. Neither of you are any use to me dead."

His serious countenance seemed to almost crack with amusement for a moment at her belligerence.

"Spectres are pretty dangerous, it's true. But I guarantee you I'm queued up with some things that would give me a decent shot."

"Against three of them at once?" she said. "I understand they have impressive AOE skills. I'd like to see that."

His face froze while he worked out whether he believed her.

"I'm the Night Queen. They are all my children, and you might notice my titles. They love me just as much as I love them. Even the big bads. That's not a lie."

Suddenly there was a sizzling CRACK that split the air, and a cry of fear from the wounded Sorcerer. She was surrounded by a blazing red dome of light.

Sam walked out of the trees, frowning. The Necromancer didn't seem injured at all, but there was something strange about his bearing. He looked unusually cautious.

"Don't try to force the spell," he said to the woman as he walked past her. "You should focus on heals right now. Just touching the barrier could kill you."

The Paladin sighed.

"I heard you survived the fall of the Demon King. I expect you chose an appropriate moment to abandon him?"

"And why in hell would I not do that? Were they worth dying for?"

Andrew the Paladin shook his head.

"You belonged with him. He was your kind of people. But I'm not here to argue."

He faced Ashley again.

"I want Annelyn back, unhurt. The setup here, the Spectre plus this one" - he pointed at Sam - "plus maybe some other assets. That's a poor situation for us. Well done. What do you want?"

He gave her another one of his smoldering looks. She couldn't tell if he hated her or if he was playing a game with her.

But she got the sense it was a cue for her to continue the show for the NPCs.

"I already told the Sorcerer. I want you take take this message to the kingdoms of Men. I will gather my children who were scattered by the fall of the Demon King. We will leave your lands. We will walk north and return to our homes. If were are not attacked, we will attack no one."

"You will regather the army that almost defeated us, right in the middle of our own lands while we watch and do nothing?" he said, his voice growing to thunder.

"I've given you my word. My children will obey me!" she said, matching him with a shout of her own.

The creatures behind her stirred angrily.

He held up his hand.

"That’s what they're going to say if I bring them your proposal."

“You want my children gone from your lands. I’m giving you an offer to accomplish that at no cost. My price is only that we be allowed to leave without harassment.”

“No cost? They razed cities and burned the lands. They killed tens of thousands.”

“The Demon King paid the price for that. They are not his anymore, they are mine now.” She glared over at the Sorcerer. “I’m sure you can find a way to convince them.”

The Paladin shrugged.

“I can take it to the ruling council as a proposal. It’s guaranteed that some of them will want to send everything they have at you though.”

“I don’t know the details of course, but draining their forces to attack me sounds like it could be a problem for them right now.”

“I’m just telling you what the outcome will be. Your offer won’t be enough to bring them around.”

"A show of good faith then," Sam said.

Ashely looked at him sharply. She hadn't given him permission to speak, and his late appearance and feeble effort at helping her needed some serious thought.

Andrew waggled one eyebrow at her. What are you going to do?

She sighed.

"Do you have a suggestion, Necromancer?"

"The Fortress of Amiran," Sam said smoothly. "Forgive me, Mistress. I had not thought to mention it yet because it is fully three weeks march from here."

The Paladin nodded.

"It's an interesting thought," he said.

This is on me. I should have been grilling him more about the big picture from the start. On the other hand he's obviously deciding what's useful to him for me to know. But it's still my fault as leader.

She didn't have a choice.

"Obviously I'm not up to speed,” she said sourly. “Please, do tell."

Before Sam could say anything, Andrew spoke up.

"It's a large fortress at an important mountain pass. Without that route, armies have to spend an extra month travelling to get from the coast to the plains of Amora. Very well defended and well provisioned castle. Some of the Demon King's forces managed to overrun the place and have held it ever since, despite being under constant siege."

"My thought, Mistress," Sam said, "Was that we make a show of good faith and of your leadership. We arrive, and end the siege peacefully. Give them back their castle."

He was a little too obvious about wanting to get back in her good graces. She waved him to silence and faced Andrew again.

"I will need some time to plan this out properly in any case, so you may go to them with my proposal. You I will trust," she said. "But not the Sorcerer. If I see her again you'll find out whether I was bluffing about my other children."

She glared at Annelyn, who was staring daggers at her from behind Sam's prison spell.

Andrew looked down at her commandingly. She didn't let a muscle in her face twitch, but her stomach quailed. He was obviously no joke and if she was on her own there was less than no contest between them.

Then a smile flitted across his face for just a microsecond. It happened so quickly that she might have been imagining it.

"Very well," he said seriously. "We will take this back to the Company, and discuss it further. Perhaps they will take it to the Council. The decision isn't mine to make alone. But I will return with word."

“Good enough,” she said. “I’m offering to remove a problem for them. More than one now in fact. And all that's needed from them is to let me do it.”

He gave her a small bow.

"May I ask you to command your Necromancer to release my companion?" he said, never once looking at Sam.

She favored him with a half-smile that only he could see.

"Sam," she said harshly. "End your spell."

"Mistress," the Necromancer said, and with a wave of his hand the barrier disappeared.

Annelyn staggered forward and stared around her. Her mount's remains lay to one side, and Ashley and Sam stood together near the Paladin, watching her carefully. The Spectre lurked in the open now, not far from her at all, and looking like it wanted to finish her off. Behind Ashley, all of the remaining warband brandished their weapons, growling and muttering.

A strange muscular contortion warped across her face for a moment. It was a flash of rage mixed with near-collapse into tears. Then she straightened up and walked up to the three of them with slow and careful steps.

"No hard feelings," Ashley said. "But you did start this."

"I misjudged your resources," Annelyn said. "That's all. It was a stupid mistake. If it hadn't been for that thing" - she motioned at the Spectre - "none of this would have happened. On your own you're nothing."

"Well, that's not for me to say," Ashley said.

She turned around and looked at her followers.

"Am I nothing?" she said. "That is for my children to decide."

"The Night Queen is our Mistress!" roared Gravmok. "Only stupid woman with dead horse is nothing!"

There was an explosion of shrieks and growls that split the night as the survivors bellowed with all their might. To Ashley's surprise, the Spectre drifted up and over the group, hanging silently and menacingly in the air.

Sam's face was a mask. He was blatantly poker-faced.

She turned back to the two Heroes.

"My children appear to disagree. When we meet again, there will be even more with us. Do remember how they feel about me. Even the big guys."

The Paladin sighed.

"You might want to roll the belligerence back a bit. Otherwise they'll feel obligated to try to wipe you out."

Sam nodded.

"As your Magister Militum I have to agree. If we tear across human lands like a conquering army, that's how they will treat us."

Ashley shrugged.

"Forgive me,” she said for the Paladin's ears only. “It's been an intense evening and I'm running on adrenaline right now."

To her surprise Andrew offered her his hand.

"We will take your word back to the Company, as I said. I will return - alone - with word from them."

She shook his hand tentatively, and it took all of her self control to casually palm the small, hard thing that he passed to her at the same time.

He nodded, looking like he approved of her composure.

"If you will allow it," he said. "We will both leave."

"Of course," she said. "Don't let us delay you. There's no threat to you now."

He gave her a brief bow, and a look that lingered very slightly too long.

Ashley was tempted to laugh out loud at the tingle that ran through her when his eyes locked with hers.

He's your mortal enemy, get a grip.

The two of them mounted Andrew's flying horse, which shot rapidly into the night sky. It was only seconds before they were both lost in the dark.

She turned to her Magister Militum.

"You were late, Sam. Waiting to see how the dice were going to land?"

He shook his head.

"You had things in hand, and you were never in any real danger. I was keeping an eye out for the Paladin. If he'd shown up at the wrong moment it could have gone very differently."

"I yelled for you. You never responded."

"And I was right to do so. You thought I was gone. So did the Sorcerer. There are several ways the Paladin could have been observing. Breaking cover would have been foolish. I was ready to let loose there at the end."

"Whatever. You know damn well it's not a good look."

He grimaced and spread his hands wide.

"I do what I judge to be best for victory. That's my role as your commander of armies."

"You didn't command our troops to do anything."

He snorted.

"You saw what happened. You promised to keep them alive if you could. I'm following your lead. The best they could have done is distract her for a moment before she slaughtered them all."

He glanced at the angry mob that was watching them.

"But I accept the Night Queen's judgment," he said loudly. "I've explained my reasoning. I will await her decision."

He dropped to both knees in front of her.

What am I supposed to do? Punish him? We won. And he provided useful information. But obviously only once he saw which way the wind was blowing.

Which was on par for the way this whole thing was shaping up. He was probably only reliable as long as she kept winning. If that much. But nobody had asked her permission before throwing her into this and nobody was holding her hand and keeping her safe. So whatever she did that ended up with her on top was justified, if only by the fact that nobody was going to catch her if she fell.

All the same, suppose she was able to kill him? That low-level human she'd killed before had bumped her up quite a few levels. What would the benefits be from taking out a level 53 Necromancer?

It's something to consider, if we ever do need to put an end to this relationship.

Once again something was a little off about that thought. It felt almost like her own mental patterns, but something was pushing them in that direction as well.

Get out of my head, crown. I'll ask for your help if I need it.

As usual there was no response.

"Sam," she said gravely. "I appointed you Magister Militum. All my children should hear this now. I permit you to keep your position, but you need to communicate with me better from now on. No making command decisions without my input. Clear?"

The Necromancer dropped his head.

"Your word is law, Mistress," he said clearly for the rest of them to hear.

"Very well, then stand up. Let's clean up this mess and then get some rest." She looked over the remains of her Warband. "There's nothing for you to feel ashamed about tonight. We were attacked by humans way above your level, and we only lost a few in spite of that. I know you were willing to fight for me, but I don't expect you to throw your lives away pointlessly either."

She pointed at the unholy black form that floated above the crowd.

"Come to me, my child," she said.

She did her best to look like she wanted it near her.

The Spectre came to a stop just inches from her face. Its filmy gray eyes may have been looking into hers - it was hard to tell. Its ragged mouth hung open, and something dark moved inside. She didn't look too closely at that.

"You did well," she said loudly so that everyone could hear. "I know you wanted to kill that woman, but it served my purposes for her to live for now. You obeyed when I commanded you. I ask no more than that. You've earned the trust of the Night Queen, and you will be an honored part of my court."

Just so long as I can keep you and your friends comfortably far away from me most of the time.

The creature's rattling buzz penetrated her skull once more and make her feel slightly nauseous. But this time she understood it very slightly.

"... serve the Queen..."

I guess that's the bump in Dark Tongues. Hooray.

She nodded gravely.

"You serve well," she said.

The creature bobbed in something like a bow before her.

"Now I ask you to patrol for the rest of the night," she said. "Keep all of my children safe while they rest."

It turned and floated away without another word.

She dismissed the rest of them as well, and while they moved to strip the dead she finally turned to Sam.

"Dude, I am seriously tired right now," she said as quietly as she could. The noise of Gravmok shouting orders – now that he was suddenly senior goblin again – helped to conceal her words.

He grimaced and nodded.

"I'm not kidding," he said. "You did good. You're still here instead of heading for a prison cell in the Company's keep. That's a victory state."

"No more hiding things. Tell me about the castle we need to take, and tell me everything else you've been holding back. Oh, and I want UI lessons. How do I bind my appraise spell?"

"Certainly. The binds are a bit non-intuitive. What you need to..."

She held up her hand.

"Tomorrow. Right now I plan to sleep."

At least she could trust The Damned to have her back.