Jaina couldn’t stop looking at her hands. Because her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Maybe if she stared at them... Focused on them... Concentrated on them... Maybe she could…

But she couldn’t.

You’re a strong woman, remember? You’re a capable woman. You can handle this.

But those were all lies and she couldn’t.

Lilly, on the other hand, was a force of nature. Just a few hours ago, Jaina had considered them peers. Was there a small amount of resentment towards the High Elder’s daughter? Maybe. Or perhaps, if she were being honest, that resentment was really jealousy. Everything Lilly had was handed to her, while everything Jaina had came from hard work. Lilly had been born with all the advantages.

But now she saw how things really were. No matter how hard Jaina tried, she couldn’t pull herself together for more than a minute at a time. Meanwhile, Lilly was excelling. She seemed born for this moment.

It had been Lilly who recognized the danger they had been in while watching the Godknight fighting the giant monster. Moments after they fled the stable, it had been crushed by flying debris. Her father and her friend Windham had never let up—and still hadn’t let up—on their insistence that they leave the city, that hanging around was madness. Jaina didn’t disagree, but also didn’t have the will to join in the arguing. It all just seemed so pointless.

So they continued to follow Lilly’s lead, who insisted there still might be a way to help. But help who? The people were mostly gone now, the only reminder they had ever been there being the corpses strewn haphazardly about. And the fight between the monster and the Godknight? Well, that was a fight between gods. The only thing the five of them could accomplish was to become further collateral damage.

And the man—a kid, really—who had saved her life? Kal? He had reassured her a hundred times already that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. But hadn’t Stegran made that same promise? And Camdyn Caskbrew? Their sentiment had been sincere, she knew. But, nevertheless, neither had been able to fulfill those promises. And now they were both gone.

Still, the kid seemed capable enough so far, having handled two soldiers on his own and managed to keep her alive. And the way he looked at her… With such sincere, dumb love. It was sweet, and she found it hard not to find him endearing.

At Lilly’s insistence, they had made their way closer to what she had deduced was some kind of central command center, a tower on wheels made of metal and wood. Perhaps the invaders’ leadership were in that tower. “If we could just get up there...” Lilly had started. But soldiers had begun to return to the battlefield, gathering around the tower to watch the Godknight fighting the monster, and they had been forced to retreat once again.

“Lilliana,” the High Elder called, as she weaved her way around fallen debris and moved them a little deeper into the city. “I swear, if you do not start moving out of this city right now, I will drag you myself.”

Lilly stopped short, the rest of the group practically bumping into her and each other. She walked towards her father, quickly and deliberately, then stopped in front of his face. Jaina was stunned when he actually shrunk away from her.

“You are not in charge anymore, Father,” Lilly spat, waving her finger in his face. “Look at what happened with you in charge.” She held her arms out at the carnage and death.

“You can’t seriously blame me for this?” the High Elder pleaded, his reaction more closely resembling a wounded child than a two thousand year old immortal.

“Guys, can we not do this now?” Kal said. “It’s nothing but dumb luck we haven’t been killed already. We need to keep moving.”

Lilly turned on him. “I thought you were some kind of hero, farmboy? We need to help—”

“There’s no one left to help!” Jaina screamed, surprising even herself. She was shaking violently now and seeing double. “You fucking idiot! I am so sick of this stupid fucking arguing and scurrying around pointlessly while the city falls apart around us. We need to go!”

Lilly put her hands on her hips and tilted her head, glaring at Jaina. But the flush of red on Lilly’s face signaled that she had no arguments left to make. Jaina’s uncharacteristic explosion had jarred Lilly out of her obsessions and back into the realm of common sense. But judging by the look on her face, Lilly wasn’t used to being chastised and questioned. And didn’t like it much, either.

“She’s right,” Kal said, rather softly. “I think we should stay together. But if you guys aren’t going to leave…”

He spoke directly at Jaina now. “Come on. I’ll get you out of here.”

Jaina’s heart melted a little bit. Not out of love; she didn’t think she would ever love someone again after today. And after Stegran. But he was so damn sincere that she couldn’t help but trust him.

They were interrupted by a tremendous noise coming from the battlefield, a squishing sound like flesh being ripped open. Jaina looked up in time to see the blood and guts and innards of the monster shooting into the sky, before beginning to fall down towards them. Kal pushed her to the ground and covered her with his body as the detritus showered down around them.

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They looked at each other in shock.

“Is that the monster?” Windham asked.

“Come on,” Lilly said, and was running back towards the battlefield before Kal and Jaina had even gotten to their feet. Windham and the High Elder called after her, but when she didn’t stop, they followed her, as they had been doing all day.

Kal helped Jaina to her feet. “We can go,” he said. “We don’t need to see any more. I can get you out of here.”

The decision felt somehow important. A pivotal moment, perhaps, with hidden consequences. But with the monster destroyed… did that mean the Godknight had won? Was the fight over? Would he finally start taking back the city from these murderous savages?

“I… I want to see,” she said, almost apologetically. Kal didn’t argue, just nodded his head. They followed the others.

Lilly had stopped at the nearly intact Mirthsong Playhouse, an amphitheater located a block outside of City Center. Everything that should have been between them and the battlefield was gone, nothing but smoke, flames, and debris remaining. It created an open space twice the size of City Center. Only Godknight Tower stood, in the center of it all.

“Look!” Lilly cried, and pointed towards a figure leaping from the tower they had earlier designated the command center. Jaina’s jaw dropped; other than the fantastical feats of the Godknight, she had never seen someone move the way this man did. He was leaping… but not falling. He looked like he was gliding along an invisible current, taking him closer to the Godknight.

He landed softly in front of the Godknight, who was down on one knee in the middle of it all. The surrounding area was covered not just in smoking debris, but now the grisly remains of the monster.

The new figure said something to the Godknight. “What did he say?” Windham asked anxiously. Lilly shushed him frantically.

“If you shut up, maybe we can hear,” she said.

“Enekis?” the Godknight said to the man. “Is that you?”

“It is Enek’Chok now, old friend,” the man replied. “Enekis is gone. And I am much more than the man you once knew.”

“How?” the Godknight asked him. He tried to get to his feet and couldn’t, falling back down to his knees. To Jaina’s shock, this Enek’Chok offered the Godknight his hand. The Godknight looked at the hand for a long moment before taking it and accepting the help.

“What is all this, Enekis?” the Godknight asked him. “Who are these people? Why are you doing this?”

“This is the Order of the Holy Ascension, my friend. A lot has changed since you left us. The Order now rules all of the known world. And that includes, after today… Brightholme.”

Jaina exchanged glances with the rest of the group. ‘The Order of the Holy Ascension.’ At least now they had a name to place on these murderers.

“I… I don’t understand,” the Godknight stammered. Jaina was struck by how pathetic he sounded. How lost. He sounded the way she felt.

It was hard to tell who had won this battle.

“I’m afraid I won’t have time to explain it. Just know that Lord Malphor is a great and powerful leader who rules with strength and order, but also benevolence and compassion. The people of Brightholme will be treated fairly and welcomed into his empire.”

“Lord Malphor?” the Godknight asked, his voice cracking with heartbreaking devastation. “No. That can’t be. It can’t! Malphor would never—”

“You’re right,” Enek’Chok continued. The two were still standing amidst the destruction, looking like nothing more than two old friends catching up. “The Malphor you knew would never do what he has done. But everything changed when the Great Kingdoms united and invaded his homeland. They took his land and they killed his people.”

“The Great Kingdoms… united?”

Enek’Chok laughed, a cruel and mocking cackle that shattered any illusion that these two remained friends. “Ironic, isn’t it? You spent centuries trying to do just that. And failed time and time again. All it took was for you to abandon them for them to create an alliance.”

The Godknight shook his head. “No. This makes no sense. How did Malphor—”

Enek’Chok held up his hand. “I am afraid that’s all we have time for. It’s sad to see you like this, old friend. But it can get worse. It is up to you. If you surrender now, I promise to make what happens next easy on you.”

This Enek’Chok terrified Jaina to her core. There was something about him and the way he carried himself. With the most supreme of confidence, without any hint of condescension. The Godknight, even so clearly weak and wounded, still stood a full foot higher than Enek’Chok. And other than the mysterious way he had leaped across the battlefield, he seemed to have about as much strength in him as someone like Kal. Stout and well-built, but fluid and elegant at the same time. Certainly no match for even a weakened Godknight.

Jaina found she was fascinated by his words, and what they suggested about the world outside. About these “Great Kingdoms,” “Lord Malphor” and an entire world beyond Brightholme. But mostly, she was fascinated by him.

All of her plans and ambitions, hopes and dreams, had revolved around Safehaven and Brightholme. She had never been much of a dreamer, wondering about some world outside that might not even exist. There had been plenty for her right here in Brightholme.

But that world did exist. And for the first time, Jaina thought she might like to live long enough to see some of it.

“You’re insane,” the Godknight was saying to Enek’Chok. “If you think I would ever surrender. I beat the Maelstrom—”

“You killed the Maelstrom,” Enek’Chok corrected. The Godknight grimaced as if slapped.

“Enekis… don’t do this. Don’t make me…”

“What? Kill me too?”

The Godknight opened his mouth but had no more words.

“Surrender, then?” Enek’Chok asked.

“Never,” the Godknight responded.

Enek’Chok smiled. “Good.” Then he punched the Godknight in the face.