“‘Your Majesty.’

‘You may rise.’

‘Thank you, sire.’

‘Get to your questions, fool. I don’t have much time.’

‘Yes, Your Majesty. Do you wield all five of the world’s energies, as is told by legend?’

‘I do. I am the only one who holds Note in this world, in fact. Continue.’

‘What are each of the energies, sire?’

‘Dominion. Voice. Note. Will. And the last, unnamed and broken. I have no time to spend expounding on their uses.’

‘Can anyone in the world defeat you, as ordained by the prophe-’

‘No. Prophecies are useless. Besides, there’s on that states I will be the victor. Neither prophecy was made by anyone who can see Fate. Rather, random people made them to hope for a savior.’

‘Will there be one?’

‘No.’

‘Thank you, sire. I have no further questions.’

‘Kill the spy.’

Screams could be heard as Lord Grimm exited the room. Fallen Angels descended on the man and sucked his life force out of him. As he did, they turned to me, an offer in their eyes. I shook my head and they continued feeding. Immediately after, I wrote all of this in my report to the king’s advisor. Only now do I understand the evil that this man has within his bones. Legend says he wears a hood because he sacrificed his eyes for power. I now know this not to be true. Lord Grimm is not a person to sell anything he owns, or trade with anyone. If he wants something, he TAKES it.”

-Sight, one of the leaders of Sanctuary, on an audience with Lord Grimm, of the Family of Crowe, Spreader of Rot, Resurrector of the Fallen Angels, Destroyer of the Songstresses of Trance, Enslaver of the Forgotten Dragons.

Liv stared off into the distance. “Is that it?”

“Yeah,” came her tired response, as Durn struggled up the steep incline after her. “We’re nearly there. We just need to get up this road.

Liv nodded and continued walking, pretending not to notice how Durn was struggling. She was motivation for him to go faster and stop slowing the two of them down. He would keep walking as long as she was.

The road seemed to go on forever, stretching up into the mountains. They kept on slogging up the slope, never stopping, yet never moving much past a crawl. Snow started to appear, first as a light dusting, then quickly covering the road. “We’re getting close,” Liv huffed out between breaths.

And then they saw Maanterin. Wind gusted noisily as they stared at the city, resting atop a mountain peak close to this one. A final path led there, a cobbled bridge with massive stone supports reaching into the void below.

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“The Songstresses made this. The bridge,” Durn commented.

“They did?”

Durn nodded. “They created Maanterin in the first place. With a few notes, the bridge rose out of this mountain and connected it to the next. Then with more, the city rose out of the ground. At least that’s what they say.”

“What else do they say?”

Durn turned to gaze upon the city. “They also say the Songstresses were peaceful. Peaceful enough that other people wanted Maanterin and thought they could get it. The Songstresses proved them wrong. They rebuffed many, many attacks on Maanterin.”

“Why are they dead now, with a city like this?”

Durn turned to her. “One of their own betrayed them. One of their own caused the destruction of a society, and destroyed all knowledge on how to Sing.”

“Now, how about you hand us all your money?”

Liv turned to the new speaker, who stood next to the bridge. She opened her mouth, about to let out a note, before Durn stepped in front of her. Shadows swirled around him. “Don’t,” he whispered to Liv.

She stepped back as the man’s own shadow grabbed him, holding him in the air in front of Durn. “So. Who are you?,” she asked, stepping up next to Durn.

“I work for Vera Pim. You can’t touch me.”

Liv ignored the message. “Durn?”

The shadows formed into a spike, pointed straight at the man’s eye. Somehow, he remained calm.

“Let go of my man, will you?,” came a voice right behind them.

A tall woman stood, hands on her hips, watching them. She wore a cloak which covered her entire body, though the hood was down. Durn continued to hold the man captive as Liv grabbed her Note, readying herself to Sing. “Who are you?”

“Weren’t you listening? I’m Vera Pim, as the man said. I control this city.”

Durn turned to look at her, still holding the man. He gave Liv a significant look. If they messed with her, their new life in the city wouldn’t work out. “What do you want?”

Vera Pim twiddled with her hair before replying. “Everyone in the city pays a tax to me. You will be subject to that tax. My man here asked for all of your money, but people going in and out only need to pay a small amount. And your friend there, the Spiritist-” she smiled, which revealed fangs “-needs to come and join me, as all who use any of the five energies must.”

Liv replied before Durn could open his mouth. “No.”

Vera Pim shook her head. “I’m sorry. This isn’t an offer you get to refuse.”

Multitudes of red-cloaked, masked, and armed people faded into view around them. Durn turned to look at Liv. “You want to take them out and then leave Maanterin?”

Liv nodded. “Sure.”

She let loose her Note, and lightning started crackling around her. She shot off bolts of electricity, instinctively knowing how. Durn was equally impressive, teleporting around the battlefield while spikes of shadow stabbed straight through people. Vera Pim stared at her people slowly being eradicated, seeming to not care. Once the field was clear, Liv spoke once again. “We do not accept your offer.”

Vera Pim sighed. “I hoped I didn’t need to use this.”

She slowly rose into the air as her cloak fell to the ground. Tattered wings rose behind her as a long red dress was revealed. Her skin paled, though it still had color, as her fangs grew, reaching slightly out of her mouth. “So, will you donate your lives, or will I have to take them?”

Liv summoned a lightning bolt straight down from the sky. Vera Pim ignored it, the lightning doing absolutely nothing to even ruin her dress. Wait. Vera. Pim. V-e-r-a-p-i-m. Vampire.

“You’re a vampire,” Liv stated, as Wind started to swirl around her, airy notes adding themselves to her Song.

“And you’re a Songstress. Why, Grimmy is going to be sooo happy when I deliver you to him!”

Vera Pim giggled for a brief moment before focusing on Durn. “And this blood bag will be nice to have. Nonmagical blood always tastes so bland.”

Liv opened her mouth, and then closed it, unable to think of any witty replies as the vampire started flying at them.