Rosalis prepared a feast for the killers and they sat at the long table, chatting and laughing. Crazy Eyes Jake tore off a leg from a roast chicken and showed it to the rest of the killers. He suddenly dug his jaws into it and tore all of the meat off, leaving just the bare bone. The killers cheered and some sat there, amazed at the impressive feat. Averill and Orion simultaneously grabbed their full tankards of beer and proceeded to gulp it down, racing one another. Orion smacked his empty tankard down and everyone cheered as he let out a thunderous burp. Jaxon chuckled and then looked at Rosalis solemnly.

“You are doing amazingly well, all things considered.” He told her gently. “Uliraf would be pleased.”

She smiled. “I know.” She raised her goblet and so did Jaxon. They smacked them together and took a single gulp of their wine.

The next morning, Rosalis stood up from the bed and stretched her back, clicked her neck both ways, groaning almost in pleasure. She changed into her armour and placed the crown onto her head, the position of queen still in her power. Suddenly, the door opened up and she looked at her custodian and herald.

“You must follow me, now.” He told her urgently. Without asking one question, she did so. He led her to a dungeon beneath the palace.

“What is happening?” She finally asked.

“The knights from Frinnor are after you.”

“It will be no problem, I have the killers.”

“The regent king has sent out all of the knights. We are outnumbered by one and a half times.”

“Then Wolfholde needs to be defended. It’s what Uliraf would have wanted. We will need to kill any enemy knight in our way.”

“But they were your friends.”

“Were my friends. They are not anymore. We are enemies now.”

“Are you still pursuing after your vendetta?”

“They killed my husband and are not going to get away with it.”

“So you will just go on with this mindless slaughter?”

“Yes, I will. If you will try and stop me, I shall have you executed for questioning my morals. Do I make myself clear?”

The custodian and herald inclined his head in a bow. “My queen.” He looked up at her once more. “Do you have a course of action?”

Rosalis sat down at a chair. “There is none. We will just have to wait for the rest to kill each other off, we will have to do nothing.”

“You would sacrifice the lives of your own knights?”

“Yes, I will.”

The custodian stood in place, his eyes looking around, himself questioning his own morals. He went to go outside, but Rosalis stopped him, blocking the doorway.

“Where do you think that you are going?”

“I will not sit by and do nothing as two cities slaughter each other over one stubborn, maniacal queen.”

Rosalis stood in place, not seeming fazed by the insult. Suddenly, there was the sound of ringing all through the kingdom, the alarm being signalled. “Speak of the devil.”

Doyeya sailed into view with an armada of carrack ships, ready to join the fight. One gigantic carrack ship led the armada, complete with four huge sails.

“You have completely lost it.” Rosalis’ custodian told her.

“Have I?” She asked.

“You have.”

Suddenly, Rosalis drew her sword out and the custodian held out his hand, stepping back.

“Stop!” He shouted. Rosalis managed to stop herself and held her sword by her sword, refusing to sheath it.

“What?”

“Think about what you are doing. I am your custodian, you need my help. Listen, I have seen battles like these, I know what happens. Trust me, if you decide to go on with this course of action that you have set now, you will fall. Believe me.”

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“I have been in charge of protecting a king for over half a decade, I know what I am capable of and I know what I must do to survive. Don’t tell me how to do my job for me. I have my own course of action planned, and I am going to follow it, so don’t you dare try to stop me from doing so.”

The custodian put his hand down. “Did you listen to a word I said? This will not be a battle, this will be a massacre. If you go out there, you are dead. What do you not understand about that? Remember, Uliraf faced them, and look at what happened to him. You do not have a chance against Frinnor.”

Rosalis swung her sword at him with the intent of taking his life. The custodian jumped back and then drew his sword realising that he had no choice. He swung his blade and deflected the second attack. They both began to fight each other, their swords clashing. The custodian thrust out his sword, piercing it into Rosalis’ arm and she cried out. Stepping backwards, she drew the blade out of herself and continued to fight. She parried an attack that was sent at her and slashed her sword at him, slicing his throat open. Suddenly, blood sprayed out onto her face, covering it. The custodian’s corpse collapsed to the floor. Rosalis looked at her blade and then licked some of the blood from it, swallowing it with great satisfaction. She grinned, chuckled and then laughed maniacally. The doors suddenly burst open and she spun round, seeing a small group of Frinnor knights in front of her. They looked at her in shock, seeing her blood covered face and the blood covering her blade. They looked down at the dead custodian. Without waiting for anything else, they proceeded to converge on her, no hesitation in their minds at all in killing her. Rosalis proceeded to parry the attacks that were sent at her and dispatched them all quite easily. She stepped over their corpses and went upstairs, opened the door at the top. The throne room was in complete chaos. Corpses were strewn about everywhere and blood covered the place like a horror show. The huge battle raged like a wildfire, there seeming to be no end. Squinting, Rosalis spotted the killers of Bellburn fighting in the huge mess. Rosalis joined in the fight, easily cutting down the knights. One Frinnor knight aimed a hand cannon at his target and the fuse was lit. The cannon suddenly exploded in a ball of flame and the arrows shot for their target. One Wolfholde knight dropped to the ground, turned into a pin cushion. Rosalis made her way to a window and saw that the armada was putting away their sails, slowing to a stop outside the kingdom. Two knights on one ship stepped over to a large pump and grabbed one end each. They proceeded to work the pump and suddenly, Greek fire spewed out from the ship’s figurehead, setting the city aflame. The other ships also proceeded to send streams of fire towards Frinnor, scorching the roads, burning down the houses. A defensive tower suddenly crumbled and collapsed, killing the archer instantly. Rosalis realised that there was nothing that she could do about the armada and had to watch as Wolfholde burnt to the ground. The pyromancer, having survived the attack on Frinnor, sent out two large bursts of flame to the ground, propelling himself towards the armada. He landed onto the main carrack ship and rolled as he hit the deck. Getting up, he proceeded to release two endless streams of fire in both directions, burning the armada. One ship creaked and cracked as it was scorched and then disappeared into the sea. The captain walked up to the pyromancer, brandishing a longsword. He stepped down from the top deck and then made his way to the main deck, climbing down the small flight of stairs. The pyromancer caught sight of his enemy and quickly picked up a fallen longsword. The captain swung at him and they fought each other. The captain suddenly deflected an attack and planted his sole to the pyromancer’s chest. The pyromancer fell back and collapsed to the ground. Without giving him a chance to recover the captain stabbed his sword down onto the fallen pyromancer’s chest. He gurgled, some blood coming out from his mouth. Suddenly, he smiled and the captain frowned. The pyromancer exploded in a large, furious flame and the ship sank to the depths of the abyss within mere moments. The war still raged on. Averill swung his sword, but was suddenly overwhelmed as the knights converged on him, stabbing him to death with their swords. Jake killed two knights with his axes when suddenly, a sword protruded itself into his heart, bursting it open. He dropped to the ground. Russel clamped his jaws down onto a knight’s face, tearing out a significant portion and spat out the chunk onto the ground. The faceless knight collapsed to the ground, blood overflowing onto the floor. Russel roared at the rest of the knights, urging them to come forward and face him. A group ran forward, swords out and plunged their blades into his chest. Russel collapsed to the ground, bleeding out from the magnitude of stab wounds that he had sustained. Orion swung his sword, killing multiple knights. A knight ran at him from behind, but suddenly collapsed to the floor as an arrow went into his face. Orion snapped his head towards Jaxon who nodded to him. Orion nodded back to him just as an arrow went through the archer’s neck. He collapsed to the ground and Orion looked on in horror as a knight of Frinnor got down onto his knees and grabbed the arrow, tearing it out of his throat, along with the skin and veins. Jaxon laid on the ground, bleeding out profusely. Orion looked around at the dead prisoners and then roared in fury. He swung his sword, proceeding to take out multiple knights. A group converged on him and brought him to the floor, stabbing him to death. One by one, the knights of Wolfholde were easily killed, until only Rosalis was the sole survivor. The knights of Frinnor surrounded her and she turned, seeing the regent king once more. He looked at her in complete shock, staring at the dried blood that covered her face.

“What have you become?” He asked her with great sorrow and disappointment. “I am offering you one last chance to turn back to the light side and lead Frinnor.”

“I do not want to.” She said, the manic grin still present, an insanity gleaming in her eyes. “I like ruling Wolfholde. I like the power.”

He sighed sadly. “Then you leave me with no choice.”

They both walked up to each other and proceeded to fight, their swords clashing. The regent king suddenly stabbed Rosalis in the arm and she cried out. Retaliating, she stabbed him in the leg. He cried out, but quickly shook off the wound. They continued to fight when suddenly, they both thrust out their swords, one stabbing the other in the chest. They both drew their swords out and continued to fight, despite being heavily wounded and bleeding. The fatigue finally got to them both and they each had barely enough strength to parry the other’s attacks. Rosalis lazily parried an attack and got a fist to the face for her troubles. She groaned loudly, suppressing the yell and chewed on something. She spat out a bloody tooth and punched her enemy in the face. The regent king’s lips burst and she punched him once more. He spat blood onto the floor. They both backed away from each other and panted, gaining their strength back. Rosalis suddenly threw her sword down. The regent king also did so. Rosalis then took off her gauntlets, throwing them down. The regent king also did so. They suddenly ran at each other and proceeded to trade more blows. The regent was brought to the floor. Rosalis picked up her sword and got down onto her knees, ready to finish him off. She lifted the blade above her, the point aimed at his neck. She roared as she went to end his life when suddenly, the regent grabbed his sword and stabbed her through the neck. She gasped as blood began to pour out from her throat. Her sword fell from her numbing fingers, clattering to the floor. The regent king stood up and pushed the blade in deeper, mortally wounding her. He then released the sword, panting. Rosalis’ legs buckled beneath her and she collapsed to the floor, bleeding out everywhere. She looked up at her killer and smiled. She tried to laugh, but all that came out were splutters of blood. A couple of seconds later, she died with a smile on her face. The regent king drew his sword out from her neck and looked down at his vanquished foe’s corpse, panting. He dropped his sword to the floor and then, a couple of seconds later, he screamed and collapsed to his knees. With no mercy, he proceeded to punch Rosalis’ face, rage beyond belief. Blood splashed all over the place as the skull splintered. Two knights quickly ran up to him and grabbed him, forcing him off of her. He tried to wriggle free, but their grasp was too strong for him. He looked at Rosalis’ corpse, screaming as he was dragged away. “Curse you, Rosalis!” He roared, his voice booming through the hall like a mighty hammer. “Cursed be the day on which you were born!” He roared once more, his face reddening, his eyes in an unholy fury. Rosalis’ corpse looked up at the ceiling. Her face was bloody and deformed, almost unrecognisable, but her dead smile still remained, grinning even in death.