To Ashley's surprise the atmosphere of confrontation evaporated quickly. Before long a table was set up, surrounded by rough chairs and stools, and some of the other guard Goblins outside had come to her to pay their respects. The seemed as awed by her as any normal Goblin, but her party stats never budged.

For whatever reason, they weren't hers yet.

It wasn't clear whether this was a parlay or a meal - Goblins kept coming out of the fort with piles of food that they set up on the table - and not just trail rations. There were big sizzling sausage links, and huge brown loaves of bread, along with the first new fruit she'd laid eyes upon other than the ubiquitous forest blueberries. These were strangers to her though; there were large red spheres that looked vaguely like apples but with something like a pineapple skin, and long tubular purple things that bulged, as well as a huge dish filled to the brim with golden yellow globes about the size of a grape. Not to mention jugs of something that foamed suspiciously like beer.

The Goblin servers kept sneaking glances at her with big wide eyes. She tried to speak to one but it scuttled away from her before she could say a word.

Ashley's mouth started watering at the sight of the sausages. She'd been gnawing on rewarmed venison slices for as long as she could remember now, washed down with stream water and a handful of blueberries. It took a real effort of will not to just sit down and start eating.

Business first.

She looked around to make sure her own warband was getting some of the goods - none of them looked entirely happy. The stood uncomfortably in their ranks, ready as ever under Ravi’s eye. A few of them had take the offered food, but by no means all. They were clearly just as suspicious of the situation as she was.

The Spectre hovered over the group watchfully. She'd had Sam order it to be vigilant for any kind of ambush.

Then she turned sadly away from the table and took Ravi and Sam to one side to confer, along with Gamgrak to keep the NPCs from getting restive.

"I can't detect anything," Sam said. "Something clearly has them bound, but whatever it is, it's tight. Not a trace that I can sense."

Ravi just shook his head.

"This is what I meant. Goblin mages are a creepy bunch."

"Not like this," Sam said. "This is unusual."

"Do you really think they could counteract the Night Queen's influence?" Ashley said.

"They clearly haven't, not entirely," Ravi said. "The regular Goblins are still in awe of you, but something is getting in the way. Maybe we'll have a better idea when we see one of the Mages."

Gamgrak looked deep in thought. He seemed as disturbed by the turn of events as any of them.

"Goblin mages are alone Goblins mostly. They get funny ideas. Need a strong Goblin telling them what to do."

"Once we see one of them, I'll just try commanding them to stop doing whatever it is they're doing."

Sam frowned.

"If that's all it is, then great. But none of this feels right."

"What about you, Rebus?" she said. "Please speak so the boys can hear."

"I just want to make the point that leaving is an option too," Rebus said.

She patted him on the head.

"We'll never get anywhere if we just give up," she said. "I want to see what we can do."

But his fur was puffed up, and he was obviously a very unhappy cat.

"I don't know what it is, but I don't like this place," he said.

Ravi nodded.

"Sensible animal. I tend to agree."

"Excuse me? You're the one who brought this place up."

"Only because I knew there was a big group. Now that I'm here I'm having second thoughts. We need to tread carefully."

Ashley pointed at Sam.

"What aren't you telling us?" she said.

"Not telling you? I'm just as in the dark here as any of you."

"There's always something you're not telling us, Sam. What is it now? Speak up."

Ravi looked at him with interest, and Gamgrak with dark suspicion.

He threw up his hands.

"I'm not lying. You want me to tell you everything that I'm worried it could be? Have a seat, this might take a while."

"Then just don't leave us out of the loop when you get a clue, okay?" she said. "That's an order Sam."

He rolled his eyes but gave her a brief nod of his head.

"Promise. Really."

"What's at the top of the list, just for interest's sake?" Ravi said.

Sam jumped at the opening to prove himself.

"Not enough evidence yet, but I'm definitely worried about something summoned during the battle. There are very high-level spells which are basically sentient. The hunter-seekers all should have run down by now, but with all the power that was swirling around who knows what might have happened?"

Ravi whistled.

"Something from the Demon King himself? That would be bad."

"He was basically casting God-tier at the end, so yeah. Maybe there's something looking for a particular target, and keeping itself safe until it finds it."

"If he was that powerful," Ashley said, "Then how did he manage to lose?"

"Harald was bearing three kingdoms worth of artefacts," Ravi said. "It was still a near thing, and he looked likely to lose until whatever it was that detonated between the two of them."

"Big weird explosion," Gamgrak said. "Killed a lot of guys."

"Some kind of multiplanar detonation," Sam said. "It was a suicide bomb from the look of things, which is probably why he got away with it. Nobody would have expected Harald to be that selfless."

Ravi snorted.

"Unless someone misled him, I suppose."

Sam's eyebrows waggled.

"It's a thought."

"So what do we do? Just sit down and eat?" Ashley said.

Gamgrak nodded.

"We do that, their top guys come out to eat and talk too."

"This is a normal Goblin parlay?

"Pretty much. So far doesn't seem too different."

She had to trust somebody, and she did trust the Goblin to tell her if something was off. Clearly this was all going to standard protocol so far.

She shrugged.

"Let's eat then. See what happens. Frankly I'm starved."

"Keep one eye on the Spectre," Sam said to them. "They're very sensitive to mana buildups. It's still our best early warning system."

On cue, soon after the four of them sat down at the table, Remrag came back out of the keep and found a chair for himself.

Ravi was already on his second huge sausage link and had taken an entire jug of beer as his own. Sam on the other hand surprised her by grabbing two of the huge bulging purple things.

"Gromfruit," he said in response to her look. "Try it. They're sweet and creamy. Bit of surprise to find them all the way out here, but I can't sense any threat."

She contented herself with a sausage and bread, and moved a jug of beer over to her spot with no intention of drinking the whole thing. Gamgrak went to form, ignoring everything else and just grabbing five of the huge brown links for himself, and started chewing while casting suspicious glances all around. On the other hand Rebus, to her surprise, sat beside her on the table eating nothing.

"Not hungry," he said. "Food seems fine but I can't relax."

She took a moment to check the Spectre which seemed to be lurking uneventfully over everyone.

"Suit yourself," she said. "But we're probably back to venison again soon."

"Mistress," Remrag said, ignoring the feast and clearly starting in on business. "I wish we could serve you, but we can't leave here. We will give you anything you need though. There is plenty of food. We will give you as much as you can carry."

She nodded.

"I appreciate it. I understand that you can't choose freely right now. I don't hold it against you, but I've heard there are Goblin mages here too. Is the strongest of them going to join us?"

Remrag frowned.

"He is coming. He's pretty old. Moves slow."

"Is it Goblin magic, or something else that's holding you here?" Ravi said.

Remrag shook his head.

"Even Goblin mages would follow the Night Queen. Not their doing."

Out of the broken doorway of the keep came the oldest Goblin Ashley had ever seen. He leaned on a gnarled black staff, and shuffled along carefully while a young one moved along behind him, looking like he was ready to catch the old guy if he toppled over. The Mage's skin was wrinkled and sagging, and his ears were thick with rings of all kinds of metal - enough so that they actually bowed down under the weight. One of his eyes was foggy white, but the other was bright orange and sharp. He wore a bedraggled robe that looked like black leather.

Gamgrak made a surprised noise.

"That's Achmaglach. The Arbrachit. He's older than any Goblin alive. Really thought he'd die."

Sam looked interested.

"That's him all right." He looked at Ashley. "He's basically the Goblin prophet. Very powerful mage, but more than that too - he's the closest thing they have to a spiritual leader."

"He's the one who said I was coming?" Ashley said.

This might be someone who has actual answers for me.

Remrag nodded.

"That's true Mistress. He stood in the middle of ten thousand of us, and humans all fighting and running away and he yelled."

The Goblin looked like he was thinking back on an important memory, and Gamgrak nodded as well.

"He yelled.” Gamgrak spoke up. Remrag didn’t look bothered by it. “His voice was thunder. He say, 'Demon King has fallen, we are free. The Night Queen will return to us now. All of you watch for her. Protect her. She is hope for all the children of night."

"Whole battlefield went quiet. Strangest thing I ever see. Everyone staring at the Arbrachit, watching like something was going to happen. But he just turn and walk away. Then all the fighting start again. Never saw where he go."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Sam put down his Gromfruit.

"Everyone heard it. Even though I was far off by then " - he ignored Ravi's snort - "his voice carried. But it didn't stop the slaughter, and that was when the Highfield armies turned on the Princes. Most of our forces melted away in the chaos."

As Achmaglach neared them both Remrag and Gamgrak jumped up to ready the Mage's chair, but he ignored both of them and kept shuffling along until he was face to face with Ashley. Her appraise was a surprise, showing him at level 38.

That's likely pretty high level for disposable cannon fodder.

His one good eye met hers searchingly for a moment, then he dropped to both knees in front of her.

"Mistress," he said in a weak and gravelly voice. It was hard to imagine him capable of speaking loudly enough to hear for miles. "I am shamed. I had hoped to go with you, but we must die here."

"Rise, Arbrachit," she said carefully.

They all respect this one. Won't do to be rude.

He clambered painfully up to his feet again.

"I've heard a lot about you," she said. "They say you are the strongest Goblin mage, and the wisest."

He nodded. Goblins were matter of fact about things like that.

"I have returned, as you foretold," she said. "And I have one thing for your ears only."

To his obvious surprise she leaned in close, until their cheeks were nearly touching, with her lips almost inside his great drooping ears.

"Do you know where I came from and how I got here? I can't remember now. I can't remember anything. I will be the Night Queen, but I require answers about this," she whispered into his ear.

Now we see if he just gets pissed at me.

But instead, when he pulled his head back to look at her his bright single eye met hers with something that might have been humor. Then he leaned forward.

She bent her head to meet his.

He whispered back, "When you meet it, it might have answers for you. I do not."

She was expecting more, but he was obviously finished. He gave her a deep bow, and turned to shuffle over to his seat. Sam and Ravi were giving her quizzical looks, but all the Goblins appeared ready to ignore whatever had just happened.

When he was finally settled in she looked around the table at everyone.

I guess I outrank everyone here.

She took a last draught of the thick, dark beer, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, and stood up.

"Arbrachit?," she said. "Remrag tells us that you can't leave this place. Personally I wish you and every one of my children here to join me. Is there anything you can tell us that will make this happen?"

She spoke loudly enough that the various creatures guarding walls of the fort could hear as well. She wanted them all to know that they could join her.

But Achmaglach only shook his head.

"Everyone here, everyone, we would all follow the Night Queen if we could. But we are bound and most of us will die here. The Arbrachit will die here for sure. He cannot leave this place."

Sam spoke up.

"Tell us what binds you. Maybe there's something I can do. I'm not entirely powerless. But whatever it is, I can't detect anything."

"None of you are strong enough," Remrag said.

"Is it something the Demon King summoned?" Ravi asked.

There was no answer.

"We will give you food," Remrag said. "This is what we can do for the Night Queen. We wish it was more."

"What happens if we try to enter the keep?" Ashely said.

Remrag frowned.

"Then we will fight the Night Queen. It is a terrible thing. We all deserve death."

"So whatever it is, it's inside the keep," Ashely said.

"How many of you are there?" Ravi said. "Can you tell us your strength?"

Achmaglach spoke up right away.

"Four Goblin Mage, including the Arbrachit", he said. "Forty-five Goblin. Ten Kobold. Thirty Wildman. Two Shade, and one Troll."

"Plus one more," Sam said.

Achmaglach smirked and looked down at the table.

"The Arbrachit will attack the Night Queen," he said. "He deserves death for this. He begs her to give it to him quickly."

"I don't want to kill you," she said.

But Achmaglach only stared back at her.

"One who attacks our Mistress deserves death," he said firmly.

"Fine," Ravi said. "We promise to kill you if you attack us. But can we move on, please? I know of four more large groups, probably totalling two hundred or so, plus a few small bands. We need to grow to serve the Night Queen."

Remrag nodded firmly.

"That's good," he said, and waved at a Goblin standing nearby. The creature trotted over to him obediently, while casting glances at Ashley out of the corner of its eye.

Remrag took a folded parchment from its hands.

"Here is map," he said. "Before we... came here I was drawing it. There is a big cave not far away, maybe a dozen Ogre and a Troll and a hundred Goblin from Argbag's and Rogmor's regmach. Plus some more Kobold and some others like Witches, Hags, Dark Wizards, Necromancers."

"Necromancers? Wizards?" Ashely said, looking at Sam.

He frowned and shook his head.

"Not our kind. Natives."

So NPC casters. I guess they would be useful too.

"Big group," Ravi said. "Why didn't you bring them with you?"

"Too many mouths to feed. Plan was to get them again once we found good supplies."

"Which you did," Sam said. "But then you got stuck."

Remrag shrugged.

"I draw three more places on here too, should get you a good group. Maybe another two hundred more."

Ashley peered over the table at the map. It made no sense to her at all. She hoped the others could read it.

Without any warning, Rebus jumped up and hissed. His fur was puffed up and his claws dug into the table.

"Look at the Spectre!" he said.

Ashley whipped around to see. The creature looked like it was in a gale-force wind. Its spectral robes flew out in a shuddering tangle behind it, and it seemed like it was slowly drifting backwards away from its position over the crowd.

"What's going on?" she said.

"It's moving," Rebus said. "Wherever it is, it's coming."

Ravi pushed back from the table and drew his sword in a flurry of movement so fast it was almost hard to track. Simultaneously Sam threw his arms back and shouted a string of syllables. Instantly he was enveloped in a shimmering cloak of protective power. At the same time, the three rotting casters were summoned into place beside him.

I guess I can't be the odd one out.

Ashely twitched up her shield spell and felt it wrapping around her. She stood up from the table and summoned her staff as well, which appeared in her hand with a flash.

Gamgrak had already launched himself towards his troops and was shouting orders. The creatures all formed up into battle ranks, with the biggest ones lined up at the front, bristling with their weaponry.

Remrag and the Arbrachit both stood up from the table more slowly, and the Arbrachit gave a distinctly un-goblinlike sigh.

"Remember the things we told you, Mistress," he said, and turned back towards the keep. Remrag followed along beside him. Neither of them looked like they were hurrying to battle.

Which was very different from the rest of the creatures in the keep. The wall was suddenly lined with Goblin and Kobold warriors, bristling with bows, and from the gaping broken door of the ruin a swarm of huge men with long, bedraggled hair poured forth. They were dressed in little more than rags, and they carried a random assortment of rusty swords, pikes, and axes.

"Wildmen," Ravi said. "Watch out for them, they attack in groups. They're sneaky."

At the top of the keep the huge, bulging form of a Troll appeared, carrying a boulder on it shoulders. It didn't take a lot of imagination to see what that was for.

"I just had a very bad thought," Sam said.

"Form up ahead of the Night Queen!" Ravi yelled at Gamgrak. "Protect your mistress!"

With a rumble the formation moved up and swarmed around Ashely, surrounding her on all sides. Most of the Ogres were arranged in a semicircle in front of her.

"What bad thought?" she said. Sam was on the outside of the wall of monster flesh that surrounded her, but not so far away that he couldn't hear.

"Hopefully nothing. Ravi, does anything feel familiar here?"

Ravi cast a dark glance back at the Necromancer.

"The Demon King is dead," he said. "I saw him die. I saw the body."

"I really hope you're right," Sam said. "Or we have a problem."

The Spectre was attempting to stay in place above them, but it looked like a losing battle. It kept drifting further and further back away from the crowd.

What's powerful enough to push one of those things away?"

For the first time Ashely felt a real thrill of fear in her guts.

Rebus was nowhere to be seen, but she trusted his survival instincts. He'd be hiding somewhere relatively safe.

There was movement in the keep. At first she thought it was the shadow of something inside, coming to the entrance. But after a few moments of confusion she realized that whatever it was, it was already standing right there. She hadn't seen it move, but she'd been aware of motion. Now it stood fully in the doorway, watching them all.

It wasn't exactly black - it was more like a movement of shadow in the air. Her eyes couldn't focus on it. Anywhere she looked, there was nothing but fleeting blurs, but in her peripheral vision something stood there. She had no doubt about that at all.

Fuck this.

She pushed her way to the front of the line, telling her children to stand still. When she broke out into the open she was probably only fifty feet away from the thing in the door. She was also fully exposed to arrows from the walls, or to the boulder the troll up above was swaying back and forth.

She flicked her appraise, not bothering to try to conceal the gesture.

Voidborne; ???

???; Level 733?

"Sam," she said carefully. "I'm getting Voidborne, with a maybe level 733. Can you elaborate any further?"

There was a moment of silence. Nothing in the courtyard moved. The Arbrachit and Remrag were both near the door, in front of the shadow.

"Can't be much help I'm afraid," Sam said. His voice sounded constricted. "That's what I'm getting too. But we have our answer. Abandon all hope of fighting it. This is too big."

So it can swat us all like flies.

Like that was anything new. Every step she'd taken had been against things that outleveled her completely. The only thing that had saved her was refusing to stop in the face of overwhelming force.

Which probably only worked because of the crown.

To this thing her crown was likely a toy. But what was she supposed to do, just give up? The Arbrachit had outright said he was going to attack her and deserved to die. Was that a hint? It might mean the Voidborne shadow didn't plan to just squish her.

She stomped forward a few more feet, and raised her hand in greeting.

"I am the Night Queen," she said. "You're clearly more powerful than any of us. But all I want to do is to take my children home. Will you allow them to come with me?"

Nothing happened.

She hoped it would be willing to...

LIAR

BUT THIS DOES NOT CONCERN US

The voice formed words of steel deep inside her brain. There was no sound, only the awareness that it had spoken.

"What do you want?" she said.

ONLY TO CREATE VECTORS OF NECESSITY

NOTHING HERE IS WORTH A THOUGHT BEYOND THAT

The memory of a voice echoed in her mind.

She decided to try something. She thought plainly and clearly.

I want to go home. I want out of this thing I am trapped in. Tell me how to do that.

NO

Sudden anger flared, hot enough to surprise her.

Fuck you. I didn't choose this. This is a game. None of it is real. I know I've played games like this before even if I can't remember them. I want to message the admins. I'm being held against my will and...

The memory of the creature having spoken overwrote her own thoughts.

IF SUCH THINGS WERE TRUE THEY WOULD ALTER NOTHING

How about I fuck up your narrative then? I build my army and lay waste to the human lands. I kill every player and leave this world a smoking ruin. Then when I've done that I command every one of my children to kill each other. Maybe that's what I'll do if there's no way to escape.

YOUR DESOLATION WOULD BE COMPLETE

YOU WOULD BE ALONE WANDERING A WASTELAND

I think whoever controls you is the only real enemy we have.

YOU MAY THINK WHAT YOU WISH

Someone told me they would try to take the crown, and reduce me to nothing. Will you help me?

NO

She snorted, abruptly disgusted by the creature.

So there's nothing you can or will give me. I guess you are no use at all.

ONLY THIS

MAKE OF IT WHAT YOU ARE ABLE

With that the presence of the creature vanished. She had no doubt it was gone. It was as if something had been sitting on her chest, but she only realized it once the weight was removed.

"Well, that was useless," she muttered.

But whatever was going on, it wasn’t over yet. Her vision flickered, and went entirely dark.

“Can you hear me?” said a voice. It sounded young. Probably male.

“What?”

“Nice. I’ll take that as a yes. I need to do this fast. Please listen.”

“Who are you? I can’t see anything.”

“I know. There’s no time, please shut up. I can see you’re with Silira of New Highwater. Whatever you do, don’t tell the Silira about this! The Occulatum can’t know we talked to you. You shouldn’t tell the other two just to be safe. You need to find Simon of The Trees. I wish there was more time. Simon of The Trees. He lives near the South Ford Crossing. Find a way to talk to him alone.”

“Simon of The Trees,” she said. “Who are you? Are you with the Voidborne?”

“What? No, that’s just an item drop. Call me Artifex,” said the voice. “Good luck.”

Without any obvious transition, she was staring at the keep again, with her mouth hanging open. Ravi had somehow come up next to her. She hadn't sensed his approach at all.

"Look," he said, pointing. His voice was flat.

Ashley shook her head. It was full of cobwebs. Whatever had just happened had taken more out of her than she realized.

When her eyes finally landed on the ruined entrance of the keep, she saw that something was on the ground, framed by the ragged stones.

It shimmered like gold.

"What is it," she said muzzily.

Ravi cast a quick glance in her direction.

"Focus. You need to stay sharp," he said. "Especially now."

There was muttering behind her. It was her children. They sounded worried.

She shook her head, trying to get her senses in order.

"You!" Ravi bellowed at something. "If I see you make a move for it I will put you down, right here!"

There was no response, only the sound of worried voices.

"We have to take it. There' no choice," Ravi said. "We can’t have someone else getting hold of it."

"I'm sorry," she said. "That thing messed with my head. I'm trying to..."

Something was shoved roughly into her hand. It was glass vial.

"Drink it," Ravi said roughly. "Hurry. Now."

She felt too stupid to object, and he clearly sounded like he knew what he was doing. She upended the vial and swallowed it. The fluid shot down her throat heavily, painfully cold.

Potion of Grand Stimulus

Health +2500

Stamina +1700

Greater Cleanse

Greater Curse Removal

Within a moment her head swirled and she almost fell over, but he caught her and held her up. The stats scrolling past showed she was as healthy as she could get, and then some.

Her mind was clear.

"Thanks," she muttered and stood up straight.

The world was back in focus again. She looked at the door to the keep. There was a crown lying on the stones.

"Is that what I think it is?" she said.

"Crown of the Demon King," Ravi said.

She saw him take another look to the side. Now she realized what was happening.

Sam was doing nothing, only standing very still and pointedly not looking at the crown. He clearly knew her gaze was on him though.

"On your word, Mistress," he said. "I'm ready."

She looked back at her little army, and waved the Spectre up to join them. The creature floated forward and settled beside her. Whatever kind of force had been pushing it away was gone now.

The Arbrachit and Remrag were standing with their own people. The courtyard was silent, waiting.

"This is your show," she said to Ravi. "It's what I hired you for."

He grinned.

"Sam," he said. "I want you to focus on the Troll up there first. Put it out of commission if you can."

"Can do."

"Take out their archers and casters when you have a chance. Tell the spook to go for whatever is highest level.” He looked at Gamgrak. “Everyone else in two wedges as we go for the door, okay? I think you know what our objective is."

"You got it boss," the Goblin said, and he started moving among them, quietly muttering orders.

"One thing," Ashley said.

Ravi frowned at her.

"Mistress?"

"The Spectre will come with me. We need to kill the Arbrachit. We need to do it as fast as we can."

"You really think so?" Ravi said.

"I do. I might be wrong. But I think so."

He considered her for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay then, you and the spook do that. The Gobs and Ogres will try to keep you safe."

He looked around again and seemed satisfied.

"Get ready then."

"What about the Voidborne? Do we have to fight that thing?"

He barked a short laugh.

"If that happens we die in about two seconds flat. So we'll know right away."

"Sounds good," she said dizzily. "I'm excited to see how this works out."

He smiled and gave her one last look.

She nodded. Ravi did something, and a ripple of light coursed across his muscles. She flicked up her double health spell.

"Let's go," she said.

"Attack!" Ravi roared.