They were coming.

Night had fallen, and King Dreamford watched the lake from a tall spire in his castle, flanked by his general and the princess. Cordelia had a disgusted look on her face. Upon the water, scores of moonlit shapes lined the horizon: the stolen ships. They bore no torches, and the crew seemed to exude darkness. At the walls, the king could see his men lining up and preparing their weapons while siege engines were being readied a ways behind the walls.

"They seem to be keeping their distance," said General Strait, "outranging our weapons. I imagine-"

Dreamford interjected, "You incompetent swine."

Strait was taken aback, "My lord?"

"This was your chance to earn the glory you sought," said Dreamford, "The enemy has managed to disable the barrier and reach our shore within the span of weeks. Your cautious approach has wasted our weaponry. You have failed me, Strait. Spectacularly."

Strait opened his mouth to speak, but Dreamford raised a hand to silence him, "There is no time for any dressings-down. I will personally oversee the defence of my city. My first order is to evacuate the walls. She is here."

"The walls...Who?"

"Go!" Dreamford snapped, "Get them off the walls. Now!"

Strait bowed curtly and rushed off to carry out his lord's orders. Dreamford put his hand on Cordelia's shoulder, "We'll get through this. Our city will endure."

"Qorrametz." Cordelia uttered, "That's her name, right?"

Dreamford slowly turned to Cordelia, and she could feel his hand shaking.

"Why do you blame Strait?" she asked, "To save face? You had the strength to end this yourself this whole time. And you have the gall to speak of wasting anything..."

"...What poison has she put in your ear?"

"We're doomed because of my foolishness and of your inaction," lamented Cordelia, "Now the dark ones have her allegiance. She is here, and she is going to murder us all."

Dreamford's fists were trembling. He took a deep breath, "The princess is tired."

He grabbed Cordelia's head and put a sleeping spell on her. She resisted at first but then fell limp. The king turned to leave, "Guards! Watch over her and bring her to safety should the need arise."

Out from the shadows, two humanoid figures made of steel and magick shambled forth to collect their charge. A third figure, wearing a dark cloak, came from the shadows to follow the king. A silver brooch of a hippocampus gleamed in the moonlight.

"She knows what I did. She's after me..." uttered the cloaked figure, "She must be. Lord Dreamford, am I safe here?"

"Even if that reason is you, Cyrus," replied Dreamford, "I intend to keep my promise of your safety. Doing so in this context will be...interesting."

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Plying the lake at night proved smoother than Stragor had anticipated. He sat mounted upon his umbrakamppos at the bow of The Night Hag, a merchant vessel chosen solely for its name, and he felt the night breeze through the streamers around his waist. He looked to the ship to his right, Atrocity, a war vessel commanded by Blacktalon. Those vessels that were not commanded by one of his lieutenants were given to the traitor marines, looking to inflict their spite upon the city they once called home.

Here, they would wait. Stragor had given the order to weigh anchor ways out from the city under the pretense of staying out of reach of Dreamford's defences. The truth would be much more terrifying for the men of Dreamford. He raised his horn and unleashed its heinous cry. There was a disturbance beneath the surface ahead of them, and a great wave rolled forth, buckling the ships but leaving them unharmed. Once the water calmed, Stragor reached to the sky and cupped his hand around the moon.

"Let the nightmare begin."

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Dreamford's soldiers were confused at the order to clear out of the walls, but they followed their leader's command regardless. They hurried off the walls in an organized manner until something ghastly occurred: the moon's light was snuffed out. The pale blue lights behind the walls held, but the lake was cloaked in pitch darkness. Murmurs began to spread amongst the soldiers, their pace slowing.

"Come on, then! Off the walls, you gits!" shouted Captain Jonns, "Do I have to pull you down here myself?!"

Jonns felt tremors in the ground and then the loud crashing of waves outside the walls, as if a gigantic ewer was taking the lake's water and pouring it back in. The soldiers started looking panicked, asking themselves if the enemy was at the shore. Cursing, Jonns forced himself past his men up and onto the walls to investigate the source of the noise.

"Blast it, I can't see a damned thing," grumbled Jonns. He shouted at the lake, "How long are you whoresons going to keep us waiting, eh?!"

Suddenly, Jonns was staring at nine massive orange eyes looming over him. He choked when two of them came toward him, the light from the nearby lamps revealing the giant fanged maw bearing down on him, threatening to eat him whole. Jonns yelped and nearly jumped from the wall the monster bit into it. It effortlessly crunched a chunk of the wall and pulled it away, the head swinging to toss it aside. The beast let out a ghastly howl, shaking the ground and rattling the hearts of Dreamford's soldiers. Above, the men could see the flame gathering in all five of the beast's mouths.

"Leg it, boys!!!" Jonns shouted, sprinting away from the walls. The soldiers were all too happy to obey.

The beast unleashed four rays of pure flame upon the walls, blasting them to ruin and creating insurmountable breaches. The last head of the beast turned its one-eyed gaze to Castle Dreamford and fired a ray at it. The ray cleaved through white stone, turning the once fairytale castle into a smouldering ruin cleft in twain.

As the ships landed on the isle's shores around her, Qorrametz the Beast laughed darkly. Her body flashed white and seemingly vanished.

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The streets of Dreamford quickly descended into chaos. Buildings began to catch fire. The effect of the mass of refugees on the city's population became apparent, as hordes of civilians pushed and shoved past one another to get away from the fighting. The city guardsmen clashed with hobgoblins, greatsword meeting greatsword with a cacophony of ringing steel. While the guardsmen were more than a match for hobgoblins, the latter outnumbered their foe. Teams of hobgoblins were tasked with smashing the lamps, spreading pitch darkness further into the streets. Caught in such conditions, the guardsmen stood no chance and had no option but to defend the lamps or risk giving ground.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

At the heart of this fighting was King Dreamford, surrounded by an entourage of new, mechanical soldiers that hummed with magickal energy. The movements of these machines were awkward and clumsy, but the threat of their unwavering strength and lack of fear was not to be ignored. This would be the vanguard pushing into the darkness, accompanied by small, flying machines that shined arcane spotlights, driving away goblinoids with their light and covering Dreamford's flanks. With every hobgoblin that he expertly felled with his smallsword, he pushed closer to where Qorrametz had appeared. His demeanour was grim.

"I'll make her pay," he seethed, "I'll destroy her for attacking my city."

"Will you, now?"

Stragor, upon his wicked mount, manifested in the darkness before Dreamford. He raised his blade, "To think I had your life in my hands, and not killing you over an assumption of rank. Tonight, that embarrassment is repaid."

Dreamford grit his teeth. His eyes flaring blue, he shouted with a draconic undertone in his voice, "Worthless scum!"

King Dreamford charged Lord Stragor with unnatural speed, and the two kings clashed.

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Amidst the flames and the terror around her, Quora calmly strode. She barely recognized the slums of the Dreamford, flames spreading through the run-down buildings and cloaking the sky in smoke. A small group of goblins followed in her wake, though she paid them no mind.

She passed the inn where she had pressed Eramus into her service. With a dismissive flick of her wrist, she blasted the inn with a ray of flame. The pulverized wood caught fire immediately, and the people hiding inside were driven out, leaping from the windows only to be chased by opportunistic goblins. A smile crawled across her lips.

Quora heard a young voice calling for help. Her head snapped in the voice's direction and saw a young girl trapped beneath splintered wood, her mother struggling to free her. Quora approached the scene and saw the flames crawling closer to the wood, keeping the girl pinned. The flames came within feet of the girl, and Quora watched the mother's panic grow. Quora sighed.

She shoved the mother aside and effortlessly lifted the wood pinning the girl, freeing her. The two gave Quora a look of gratitude before fleeing, directly toward the goblins following Quora. The creatures raised their blades. Quora's eyes flared orange, and her face twisted into a horrific visage as she hissed at the creatures, scattering them in terror. She watched the mother and child flee to safety.

Quora looked up to the damage she had caused to Castle Dreamford and grinned. She pressed on to the castle through the crowds of panicked citizens.

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The flames within the castle had grown by the time Quora came to the steps leading to its gates. A great pillar of smoke rose from the rift her draconic breath had created. In front of the gates was a line of royal guardsmen, with a crowd of civilians keeping their distance before them.

"The castle is off limits!" a guardsman shouted, "We must complete evacuation and control the fire!"

"Where else are we supposed to go?!" screamed someone in the crowd. They received no reply.

Quora shoved past the crowd and into the space between them and the guardsmen. The latter raised their magickally-charged greatswords, "The castle is off-limits! Stand back!"

She took a deep breath and readied her magicks. She blew a wind as strong as a hurricane at the guardsmen, sending them scattering like ragdolls. Those who were still standing raised their swords and charged at Quora. She conjured a great blade and caught an overhead strike upon it. A guardsman came charging at her flank. She let the shape of her free hand slip and shoved the clawed hand beneath the guardsman's helmet, and tore out his throat. Quora took her blade in both hands and pushed the guardsman she had been clashing with. Then, she landed a great swing that tore his armour open. With a backswing, she nearly cleaved the man in half. The civilians backed away, horrified and screaming at the sight. Before the rest of the guardsmen could rise, Quora magicked her legs to carry her faster and sped into the veil of smoke past the castle gates.

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Quora happily took the smoke of the burning castle into her lungs; it was the essence of King Dreamford's carefully laid legacy falling to ruin. She could hear fighting in the castle halls and saw the black shapes of goblins creeping about through the smoke. She went to the castle gardens, which had been spared from the flames. Quora nearly tripped over the pieces of mechanical soldiers, pulled apart and left discarded.

Quora smelled Cordelia's fear in the garden.

She saw the princess cornered by goblins advancing on her with tiny blades raised. Cordelia choked on her scream for help, and the goblins saw Quora. They scampered away save one, who saw their helmed head be caved in by Quora's foot. Cordelia had tears of relief.

"I-I'm so glad..." Cordelia stammered.

Quora took the blade from the goblin she killed and twirled it in her hand, keeping her eyes on Cordelia. The princess was confused and terrified. She tried to back away, but there was nowhere to run. Quora embraced the princess and pushed her head into her chest. The princess's screams of protest were muffled, fighting against Quora's grasp fruitlessly.

"Here is how they will think you died," whispered Quora, "The goblins killed you here. They will blame Stragor. One can only guess at the devastation Dremfrrdon will visit upon the Shadowsteppes...Farewell."

Quora slipped the blade into the base of Princess Cordelia's neck, killing her instantly. The princess's last breath left as a choked hiss. Quora pulled the blade out and let Cordelia fall limp. Quora drove the blade into Cordelia's dead heart and left her body in the garden. Quora struggled to hold back a tear as she went into the castle.

She would understand if she knew the truths I do...

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Quora came to the throne room, which she had hit directly with her ray of flame. It was utterly caved-in, and ruined stone was still falling into the massive rift where the throne once sat. Quora peered down and saw a passage that led beneath the castle, farther down than the dungeons would be. She saw there had once been a secret entrance to the passage, but that was rendered useless. Quora leapt into the darkness of the rift.

She leapt from stone to stone, deeper and deeper until she found the passage had been blocked by rubble. She focused her power and blasted a clean hole through the rubble, restoring access further down. Through the smouldering hole she created, she calmly proceeded down the stairway. The passage seemed endless, making Quora wonder how far beneath the surface it led. A short tunnel at the end of the stairway led to a great, reinforced door. Quora cursed her luck until she noticed the lamps flanking the door; magickal lamps, but their pale light had since died out, as had the wards on the door. Quora let her human shape slip and felt strength fill her muscles and scales appear on her skin. With her powerful body, she rammed the door, doing more damage to the surrounding tunnel than the door, which caved slightly to her strength. The tunnel walls rumbled and groaned with shifting stone. She raised a gnarled fist and smashed into the door, and then again, and again. The door eventually flew open off its hinges, and Quora felt a wave of power emanating through the doorway. She felt a presence behind her as she took in the power in this place.

Stragor had manifested in the darkness, and he gasped to catch his breath, "Dreamford...He's no pushover..." he raised his faceless gaze to Quora, "So...this must be the place."

Quora, still in her brutish form, stared at him wordlessly. She slammed her fists on the ground, causing the tunnel to collapse.

"Quora, what are you-!" Stragor was buried in stone with his protestations.

She felt herself shrink back to her human form, and there it was; the room was completely dark, save for the red glow of a jagged clear white stone with a bloody core: the Bloodstar, the thing that had driven Fafnir mad, the thing that had filled his mind with visions of the end times. The thing that caused Dreamford to turn on his brother.

And now it was here, alone with Quora. The power and the truth to burn this world to ash was hers to take. It seemed like such a small thing as she cupped her hands around it. As she lifted it, she found it had been affixed to a burnished copper staff. She held the Bloodstar staff in her hands, and her smile became a mad grin.

"Come with me, you wretched thing," breathed Quora, "Together, we will devour life and salt the earth."

Dбη'π ζεαυε жε бεΗζηδ...

"What?!"

The Bloodstar flared with an alien energy, something wholly different to magick, and consumed Quora in its bloody light. The Bloodstar staff clattered to the ground.

Quora was gone.