“What the hell?” Ronin muttered as he watched the stone castle trembling. He wondered if the phenomenon was relegated to the castle, or if the entire city was shaking. With a mental command, the view zoomed way out, so he could see the city from above.

The initial impression he got, thanks to Elyria pointing it out, was that the stone city was a perfect square. A stone square that was vibrating, uniformly. Thanks to his vantage, he was able to witness the batlins and hobats, who all screeched as one, and gathered for a long flight around the city. Ronin watched speechlessly as they all left the field and returned to the ceiling. His people left alone, to pick up the pieces of the battle.

“How theatrical,” Jade said, throwing itself up on its hindmost legs, and waving its two forward sets of limbs around. Before it fell back to the ground, with the sound of stones scraping on glass. “The entire city was built on a single, solid foundation of stone. You can easily tell from this angle that the entire thing is moving up and down a fraction of an inch. Just enough to cause this show, and from the batlin’s display, it must be the signal that a new ruler has been chosen… zoom back in already, I wanna seeeee.”

Ronin did just that, moving the view back to the throne room. Where the brilliant white light was still emanating from the throne, Hunter was sitting on. They watched anxiously, as the lead scout screamed. Her muscles were writhing under her skin, and it looked like she was growing… Something was happening to her, something remarkably like what had happened to Guts and the K brothers when they’d been injected with the nanites, Ronin had brought for the express purpose of improving a body.

“There’s a conduit of power under the throne,” Jade said, pointing with a forelimb. “Here, let me just…” Control of the screen left Ronin’s mind as the view shot away through the stone floor. Following some trail visible only to the beetle. When the footage came to rest again, it was centered over the ship, that was hangered far below the undercity.

“Oh my,” Jade said, staggering back dramatically and clutching at its thorax. “That’s a lizard ship… but, how… wait a minute…” Ronin took the opportunity to engrave the ship into his mind. He had only been able to see a small section of it before, thanks to Owl Two’s drones, and the one in the party’s video had been grainy.

The ship looked like a pyramid of square boxes. The base layer was constructed of nine boxes, with another four boxes stacked on top of them. It looked like there were connections and mounts for another box to sit on top of the second layer to make a three-row pyramid, but it was missing. What’s more, many of the lower boxes looked damaged. Ronin didn’t have long to look at the ship, since Jade panned the view around the hanger, then moved it back up the tunnel Owl Two had found.

“Oh my,” it said again once it reached the trog nest. “How did we miss this? The lizards made it to this planet first, but it looks like they had sustained damage, an asteroid maybe?... Before hiding their ship and leaving in their command module… hold on,” the view shifted again. To another earth, this one covered in crystal trees from pole to pole. Jade moved around until she found a mountain very much like the one they were in, except Ronin hadn’t scooped huge chunks of this one away to build his valley kingdom.

“Holy moly, there’s one in my stasis stone too… no wonder they’re here now. Oh boy, oh boy…” It had zoomed into the mountain, and sure enough, an exact copy of the ship was there, lying deep below the surface.

“What is going on?” Elyria asked, resting her hand on the agitated beetle’s green crystallin carapace. “What does that ship being there mean?” Ronin thought Elyria already had a good idea, but it was smart to figure it out from the beetle itself.

“It was here when we did our scan, some ninety million of your years ago. I don’t know how we missed it… if we hadn’t been conquered by your race, deprived of bodies and locked in our stasis stones unless we agreed to help you humans… we’d have been caught completely off guard when the lizards arrived… not like what actually happened was much better, now that I think about it… anyway, the lizards are actually a genetically engineered race, created by a race that was called the $&#@$... Gahh, well, the elder race I guess is a close enough translation, anyway they needed a race of warriors to…”

“Sorry to interrupt Jade,” Ronin said trying to stay polite. “I really want to know what you are about to tell us, and I realize that it will be important soon, but can we go back to the throne room now? I need to know what is happening to my scout.”

“Oh, right, sure… just giving you primitive humans an inside look at the galaxy you were too ignorant to even know existed. A history that’s older than the very planet our colony ship now orbits, but ok… we’ll go back to watching your %$&*%(#... computer… generated underlings… no problem.” As it spoke, the beetle had returned control of the viewing device back to Ronin, who’d refocused on the throne room even before it finished its tirade.

“Great, thank you Jade.” Ronin said absently, as he caught sight of Hunter on the throne. She’d grown at least a foot, and looked even more deadly than before, if that were possible. She was draped over the throne, and Stone was tending to her, while K3 held a rapidly withering hobgoblin king up by his armor. It looked like they had returned just in time to catch the end of another monologue.

“… hope you’re happy, little one.” He said, the strong features of his face slowly being replaced by deep wrinkles. His yellow orange hair was turning white, as his body lost mass. He was clearly aging before their eyes. “For, although I was the king for centuries, gifted with eternal youth and strength above my peers… it was more like a prison for me. Forever bound to this room. Forever knowing, that should I stray too far from my throne, another of my brethren would sit upon it and become king… What will you do, little goblin? When your master comes to… collect the city, you’ve won for him?... Because giving it over… means your… death…”

“I’ll die.” Hunter said simply, looking down with disgust at the now ancient looking hobgoblin. “Where he goes, we’ll be there to pave the way… with our bodies if we have too. Because that’s what White flame scouts do.” The former king had died before Hunter finished her speech. Something Ronin wished he could do right then because the embarrassment of being talked about with so much reverence was more than he could handle just then.

“Huh…” Jade said, swiveling their body around to look sideways at Ronin. “Are you like, super handsome for a human… because I don’t see it. Or did you drug that poor creature?” Ronin frowned, not sure what to say when.

“Ha-Ha-ha” Elyria burst into laughter, slapping her thigh, and pointing at Ronin. “She has a point White flame.” She said, wiping away tears of mirth from her brilliantly blue eyes. “No, Jade. He’s not bad for a human, but he’s certainly no prince charming… He is good to his people though.” She said, then added “oh don’t give me that look five. I said he wasn’t bad for a human, ok?” Before bursting into laughter again.

Ronin, face flushed red with embarrassment all the way to his ears, risked a quick glance over to Brie. She was also flushing, but glaring daggers at Elyria. Ronin’s sense of embarrassment grew, but he resolved to do something about the half goblin woman. He wanted her on his team but keeping her so close to him wasn’t good for her mental health.

“Thank you, ladies.” Ronin said, when Elyria’s laughter started to die down. “But we have more important things to worry about right now.” He motioned back to the screen, where he’d left the throne room behind, returning to the barracks cellar, where he found the aftermath of a bloody struggle.

“Guts,” Gunner gasped, when the camera focused in on Ronin’s goblin friend. The big goblin’s own guts were spilled halfway across the room. He was still alive, thanks only to the nanites and the extra enhancements Jade had given his people in exchange for the prize he offered it. One of the food corps was busy helping to push them back into his abdomen through the cut that had split it in the first place. Tearing his eyes away from his friend, who looked like he would be fine, Ronin glanced at Brie. She’d reacted similarly on prior occasions when Guts had been hurt.

Thankfully, most of the goblins who’d been left in the cellar were still alive. Judging from the pile of bodies on the stairs, and where Guts was laying, Ronin guessed they’d been trapped in the basement before they’d been able to escape, and his friend had held them off at the base of the stairs while the scouts shot over his shoulders. A few of the scouts and food corps members who were in better shape than the rest were dragging the bodies off the steps. Trying to make a path for them to leave from.

Moving outside, Ronin found Staz. The giant was just as bloody and covered in lacerations as the last time Ronin had seen him. The oni was moving slowly, but steadily through the battlefield, storing every body he came across in Ronin’s storage ring. It looked like the weight was beginning to affect even the massively powerful Staz, but he kept at it. A guilty part of Ronin’s mind was grateful for that. Since many, if not all, of the batlin pelts would be beyond saving if they weren’t stored away until they could be properly processed.

Ronin was grateful that the city shaking seemed to result in an immediate halt to the fighting. The hobats and their smaller kin returned to the ceiling, and the hobgoblins laid down their arms and surrendered. The battle for undercity had been hard fought, but it was over, and Ronin’s people had won.

* * *

Lily

Lily had been walking laps around the cave, since shortly after she and Owl Two had been returned. It was a lot harder to focus on the contact lens when she was moving about, but she couldn’t bring herself to sit still. The battle had ended several hours ago, and she just wanted Ronin to call them back to that strange white place, with the giant tree. She knew he’d said twelve hours, but that seemed like an eternity to her just then.

She’d tried spending the time with Owl Two, to pick his brain about what he thought was happening below them. The odd man wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence. He had been focused on the metal man in scout armor he’d been building for the last week or more. Lily still didn’t know why he was wasting so much of his time building a statue of himself, with Owl One written on the chest plate, but he refused to do anything else.

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“Come on, husband.” She chanted, knowing the time had to be almost up. She rubbed her belly, unsure whether she was going to tell Ronin about the baby. They had entered a contractual marriage on her own insistence, and apart from one night together, one she’d insisted upon, he’d not shown any romantic interest in her at all. She knew there was respect between them, but not love. So, she wasn’t sure if him knowing about the baby, before he left on a yearlong campaign, would be beneficial for him or not. Between one step and the next, Lily disappeared from the cave, and reappeared in the empty white place that housed the giant tree.

Lily’s arrival was once more accompanied by screams of pain. Not as many as the last time she’d been called away unexpectedly, but they were still there. Just like last time, everyone who’d come injured, was cured. Looking around, Lily spotted Vasylia and rushed to her side.

“Sister, how are you feeling?” She asked upon reaching the larger woman. She’d done everything she could think of to convince the White flame’s second wife not to go back into combat. Not when they didn’t know if she was pregnant or not. Vasylia had insisted, however. She’d been there, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Harken, when her former father-in-law had been killed. She wouldn’t leave the rest of her people to die.

“I’m fine, lady Lily.” Vasylia said, with a dip of her head. Lily sighed at the subservient attitude. Vasylia might have been the wife of White mane’s former leader, but she wasn’t inclined to leadership. She was a fighter, and a smith. Politics didn’t interest her; in fact, they intimidated the powerful woman. So, she’d been happily deferring to Lily in all matters as the White flame’s first wife.

“Very well,” Lily said at last, changing the subject to the battle, as the huge crowd settled in. There were far more people called to this meeting than the last, and once her husband began gathering the councilors together, she made her fair wells to Vasylia and moved to join them.

“Thank you all for your hard work.” The White flame said, opening the discussion. He paused then, to look around at everyone who’d gathered. Benjamin, Samantha, Guts, Owl Five, Unyielding oak, Hunter, Elyria, Owl Two, and… Owl Two? Lily stared in incomprehension. How could there be two of them, did it have something to do with this strange place?

“I see you were able to finish on time,” the White flame said, with a nod to his researcher. “Good, we aren’t going to have anymore time given to us. Jade is already pushing the bounds of what they’re comfortable with by gathering everyone here like this…” He trailed off, turning to Hunter and giving her a deep nod of respect.

“My lord,” Hunter said before he could continue, slamming her fist into her chest in the owl team salute. She’d grown considerably but was still over a foot shorter than Lily herself. “I am prepared to relinquish the throne to your rightful rule.” A look of pain passed across her husband’s face, there and gone so swiftly she almost thought she’d imagined it.

“That won’t be necessary, Queen Hunter.” He said with a dip of his head. “When I first met your people… a few things happened that I deeply regret. Yet, after that, I resolved to create a goblin town. Well, the undercity is a little larger than I’d originally anticipated, but it fits perfectly. And who better to lead the goblin people, than a goblin queen? I’m entrusting the city and my people to your care.” He finished with a smile, that he turned to encompass both Guts and Owl Five as well. “Apart from Benjamin, Unyielding oak and Lily, along with the other racial leaders, you will also have Brie Gunner, Our Owl Five, and Guts, our resident chef to assist in getting the city up and running again smoothly.”

“But you are the leader of the syndicate.” Hunter said at the same time as, both Guts and Owl five spoke up.

“No, I am on your guard detail,” from Owl Five.

“Why does it sound like you’re planning on leaving us for good?” Came from Guts, and it was a sentiment Lily could sympathize with. The look on his face, the way he was speaking, it looked more like a goodbye meeting than a, ‘I’ll be gone for a while’ meeting.

“Relax, please.” He said, patting the air with his palms. “I will remain the leader of the syndicate, but the syndicate can be mobile. We need a leader for the city we just conquered, and who better than the goblin scout queen who seized the throne, and ended the war?” The White flame spoke softly, but Lily sensed no give to his words at all. It made Lily frown with displeasure; she was his first wife. Someone who’d already been responsible for leading the people in his absence, why was he offering the throne to a scout with no political experience at all?

“You heard, didn’t you, my lord?” Hunter said, quietly. “It doesn’t matter, I, along with every other scout under your command, have given our lives over to you. So, what if giving you the throne causes my death? I could die at any time, in any future battle. Either way, my death will be for you, my lord.” Ah, of course. Her husband would never take the throne away from one of his own, not if it meant their death.

“Thank you, Hunter.” Ronin said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “That means more to me than I can put into words… But that is only part of the reason… War is coming. To this world, and to the world I come from. I must leave for my own world within the hour, and I might very likely die there. What’s more, this world could end if I fail to prevent it… Owl Two will fill you in later, so let it go for now please.” He said to quiet the mutters of his councilors who didn’t know what he was talking about. Lily included among them.

“Yet, even if everything goes perfectly in my home world. War will still come to this world; from mistakes I made in the past. In just two years, we’ll be open to invasion. To say nothing of the locust threat that would have swept the Mountain’s embrace kingdom already if it wasn’t for the brave men and women standing before me, working tirelessly to defend the wall, along with our Moon elf ally’s, who’ve been at it a lot longer.” A line Lily clearly saw was added to placate the openly agitated Elyria.

“Oh golly, look at the time…” The jade green beetle said, tapping its ‘wrist’ with its other forelimb for some reason.

“Sorry, Jade.” The White flame said, with a sad smile. “The point is, even if I live through my world’s war. I won’t be able to come back here and live happily ever after. I have so many messes to clean up, worldwide… So, no this isn’t goodbye, Guts.” Ronin said, clapping his friend’s shoulder. “Just the reality of the situation. Because even when I come back, it will be to gather my strength for the next battle. Strength I am counting on all of you, who aren’t becoming full residents of the city, to have prepared for me… Now, I don’t have much time. So, I’d like to ask the following people to accompany me into war. Also, there are a few things that I really need you to focus on in my absence.”

Lily waited, while her husband gathered a small group of fighters. Far fewer than she expected him to take, based on the conversation they’d had twelve hours ago. Yet, considering how many people had died in the battle for undercity, it wasn’t surprising that he’d chosen not to strip the best fighters from who was left.

Next, there was almost a fight, as he told Owl Five that she wasn’t going with him. Lily didn’t follow every aspect of the conversation, but he got Owl Two involved, who did… nothing… that Lily could see, but after that, Owl Five and Guts started looking at each other differently than before, and the argument stopped.

“Are you upset?” Lily asked Staz as she joined the warrior to watch the argument. “I would have thought our lord would have taken you with him, at least. Your strength is undeniable, and I can’t believe that K3, as strong as he is, will do a better job watching my husband’s back.” Lily had ideas, but she phrased the question like that deliberately, to draw the giant out on the topic.

“Oh?” Staz asked, looking down at her. “I spoke with my lord, briefly, about the situation already. There are mass restrictions that prohibit my inclusion. But I have a strong feeling I would have been left behind regardless.”

“What makes you say that?” Lily asked, not having been aware of any restrictions, mentally factoring them into her view of Ronin’s choices.

“Several things,” Staz said, fingering the tricolored ring he wore. “One of them is this ring. With it, and my strength, I can act as a mule to whatever team I’m a part of, when we take the fight to the locusts. My strength and regeneration abilities being a second. Not to mention my DNA, the android seems so interested in. But the main reason, I believe, is because I get along well with you, Lady Lily. My lord is your husband, and why wouldn’t he wish for you… or someone close to you, to be protected as well?” Lily blinked, did that mean her husband already knew she was with child and leaving the baby a guard, or was he worried about her alone, and Staz had suspected something?

“I see,” Lily said, dipping her head to the oni. “In either case, I for one am happy with your continued presents.” She walked away from the too smart giant, as he chuckled behind her. She chalked a point into his column after the verbal bout, extremely happy that he was on their side.

“So, what’s up with the guy dressed like you?” Lily asked Owl Two, a few moments later, when she joined him, and motioned towards the second person in the room dressed identically to him, standing with her husband’s chosen group.

“Knowing this was coming, I created a copy of myself. Lady Lily, you are aware of this, you saw me working on it for several days now.”

“The metal man you’ve been tinkering with. Sure, I saw it, but what of it, not like something made from metal and strings can become a person, right?” Lily said with a light chuckle.

“My lady… I believe there has been a misunderstanding, on your part.” Owl Two said, turning to face her directly. “I am an android. An artificial intelligence, housed in a body of metal and wire or strings as you said. I can, and did, create a copy of myself out of the advanced materials Owl Five acquired for me. Well, I suppose she goes by Gunner now, but I digress.” Lily just stared at her conversation partner.

“Hold on,” she said, the pieces starting to click into place for her. “You aren’t a person at all, you are a metal creation who can walk and talk and think?” So many things made sense now if her husband’s researcher wasn’t really human. His behavior, the strange voice, how he never removed his armor or even his helmet.

“One could argue that being able to walk, and talk, and think, made one a person, couldn’t they?” The metal creation asked her in response. “But I understand your confusion. Your civilization is so primitive compared to the one I was designed in, that to you it must seem like a magic trick, or a lie… To answer your original question, however. My lord needs me to assist in his mission, with technical details he is ill equipped to understand. At the same time, to unravel the mysteries of the ship under the undercity. He also, whether he knows it or not, needs me to continue breeding him an army. Because when the inevitable happens, we are going to need troops. And all the doubts being cast my way at my methods will be justly responded to then. So, I copied myself to perform both duties for him.”

As much as Lily wanted to argue that last statement, she couldn’t. Not when she looked around to see just how few fighters they had left. Between Eric, who’d died with all his men, and the batlin swarms, they’d lost well over half their fighting numbers. The hobgoblins and the hobats would go a long way to make up for the deficit, but not enough, if constant war was in their future.

“Very well,” Lily said, looking at the ‘android’ with understanding for the first time. It, he, really had been working in her husband’s best interests. Even when he’d been purposely neglecting the other syndicate members, she suspected. What better way to get a caring man like the White flame, to step up and get involved, than to show him people who were suffering. “I wasn’t made my husband’s queen, but you will have my full support in the year he will be gone, preparing for what comes next.”

“Thank you, my lady.” Owl Two said with a shallow dip of his head. “Though, I am afraid our lord will be gone for somewhat more than a year.” Lily looked at the android, but decided now wasn’t the time to ask. Not when her husband was preparing to leave.

They watched, as lord Ronin the White flame winked out of existence, together with his hand selected troops, off to parts unknown. Lily sighed, it felt like the end of an era. Despite all the work they had before them, and knowing he would return to them someday. She couldn’t help but feel that this was the last time Ronin would be one of their people. He’d saved them all and given them a home. Now, he was moving on to the next adventure. That thought made Lily smile at last, Because, regardless of how the man called Ronin saw himself. To all the people he’d saved, he was a true hero.