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THE SCHAUHOF OF THE VERHOLDEN MANOR

EDGE OF THE THIRD RING

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Annabelle clenched her fists. The body in her arms felt frail and vulnerable. Tharia had curled up and entered an unresponsive stupor that left the goddess helpless. Layers of snow had piled up on top of them. She felt people pull on her chains but even three strong soldiers could not get her off the ground and away from her. This battlefield was no place for someone as gentle as her fairy. Divine energy reshaped reality around her into a small room with a soft bed. She placed the catatonic Tharia in her domain and only then paid attention to the chains that pulled on her.

A shadow loomed over her. Four soldiers carried a wooden throne with a large man on top. Shal-rin rubbed his grubby hands and leaned forward. Groaning came from underneath his throne where the people struggled to keep him afloat.

“Do not test my patience, pretender”, he said.

Annabelle just stood still. Her lifeless face fixated upon Shal-rin while the wind played on her long hair. Something about her cold demeanor made the mage shudder. He quickly dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

“Oh, it matters not. He saw the bait, with that he’ll come. Do with that demon child what you will. If you do my bidding, she’ll live. I really like her.”

When the goddess looked at the man, she saw a dead man walking. An upright flapping stack of meat that kept on yapping, believing itself to be in total control. She turned around. If insanity was what he wanted, that’s what she’d give him. Her eyes locked on the gate of the Verholden Manor. Strange metallic creatures had poured out. Each several times the size of a normal human, the snow hitting them evaporated instantly. They seemed like a mixture between knights and dances with limbs stretched beyond reason. Sleek armor design blended and bent in ways that were anatomically impossible for humans.

Annabelle stretched her fingers around the Scythe the humans had lent her. All around her were animals waiting to die. They shivered in anticipation, nervously clutching their weapons. At the corner of her mind, she realized Tharia would chastise her for these thoughts but if they wanted to die, why should she stop them. Anger seeped out of her. With her teeth fletched, her bloodlust jumped over onto the humans.

“Dance in madness”, she said and snapped a finger. Dance, run, be torn to pieces, keep running, beg, pray, hope, have your life smashed into pieces. The people around her leaped into action as Annabelle ran for the frontline. Shal-rin let out a loud curse and then gave the signal to attack. She felt the chains tug on her body as four people in total were dragged along with her. More people joined her assault and soon, a front of animals howling guttural screams and swinging cheap weapons dashed to their death. And death they got.

The blonde Verholden man held up an arm. Annabelle took it as a signal that something was afoot. She stopped and the four holding her chains were smacked on the ground from the rebound. Twelve figures appeared on the walls. Their large rifles bellowed out flames that held deadly harvest. Annabelle watched unmoved as bodies were torn apart just a few steps in front of her. Soon, the rifle fire lend a cadence to the battle. Twelve shots, up to twelve people not going home, a period of reloading. Twelve more shots. Shal-rins angry shouting whipped the army forwards into doom and they hadn’t yet reached the metal creatures.

“Press on, follow the god creature into battle!” he shouted.

His gaze towards her was heavy with meaning. She was to do his bidding or Tharia and her would die. Annabelle growled and waited out another deathly rhythm. Shots, screams of death. Now.

She lurched forward and when four chains delayed her, she mercilessly swung her weapon towards her captors. The blade cut into flesh and a rather surprised-looking head flew past her. Loud shouts erupted and were cut short, as the path of the weapon cut down the second chain wielder. The remaining two got the message and let her go. Vaguely, at the back of her mind, she realized their terrified faces as they watched her dash towards the enemy. Tharia wouldn’t like that.

Large steps carried her across the battlefield with ease. Twelve claps of thunder, ten more people died and crumbled in front of her. She leaped over them, her bridal gown died blood red by now – and so was her pale skin. Soon she overtook the frontline. By instinct, the next beat of the death drum would ring soon, Annabelle dodged pre-emptively and avoided twelve shots all aimed at her. They kicked up a lot of snow which gave her an idea she could use.

Switching direction, she resumed her dash for the metal-creatures. Her scythe dragged along the ground. Soon, as the next hail of death was upon her, she used the flat of the Scythe to toss up a cover of snow. When her body disappeared from view, she stopped running that second. There came the thunder and when nothing hit her, she allowed a maniacal grin to show on her face. Two steps and she was out of the snow. Her heart thumped with a bloodthirsty rhythm, demanding carnage. There was but one target for her. Him. The brother. The monster. The first of the dead men walking.

Just a few more steps, the first metal-creatures noticed her approach. They groaned when they turned her way. This time, the pace was off. One shot rang out and narrowly missed her, the others came delayed as well. Without a rhythm to warn her, she could no longer dodge and soon, something clipped her left leg. She barely felt it.

A large creature crashed down in front of her. Wheezed breathing came out of the sleek metal armor. It pushed up on two halberds when Annabelle was already in range. Not slowing down for even a second, she brought her Scythe up for an attack. Her first cut just grazed the metal armor. The thing let out a stretched scream and Annabelle caught a glimpse of a young woman behind the visor. Her face had been pasted onto a crystal framed by gears and was locked in a state of constant despair.

Annabelle lifted the Scythe to her right side and the took aim for the other leg. She struck out but found herself blocked by a halberd that slammed down into the ground. Her scythe bounced off and she lost her balance. A mistake that was nearly fatal! The second halberd approached fast in a high arc. She grunted as she dove for the snowy ground. The halberd clipped through her bridal gown, taking off large amounts of fluff but doing no damage otherwise.

She snarled and scrambled back on her feet. The creature had one weapon stuck in the ground and the second was still in motion. Her own scythe was also on the rebound. This called for one of her little tricks. She dropped the Scythe mid-motion and stumbled forwards. With a loud thunk, the first halberd tore out of the ground. The armor in front of her creaked. Annabelle had gotten close enough to touch, gloves formed around her hands and in one quick motion, she tore open the metal while growling. A strange mess of clockwork and melded flesh awaited her.

She saw a shadow approaching. The left halberd was still mid swing but the right one could be close. If the creature was suicidal, it could decide to strike her despite how close she was. Annabelle weaved around to the side and narrowly escaped the weapon. It crashed directly into the chest of the clockwork-monster. It didn’t even slow the thing down. Annabelle lunged forward, the second halberd would come any second now. There it was. She fell down on her knees and powerslided through the gap in its legs. With a terrible crunch, the second halberd dug into the chest cavity.

Not missing a beat, Annabelle clawed her gloves into the armor and used the speed to get back up. She held on with her left and momentum carried her around until she could punch her right hand straight through the metal. One short breath! Then she scurried up the monster. Once on top, her hands hooked into the helmet and tore open the metal. The beast underneath creaked and groaned as it tried to grab her. Hissing like a beast, Annabelle stopped and held two flat palms against the side of the visor. She gazed directly into the human face underneath it. The frozen terror visible on it made her skin crawl. Especially as the thing looked like Tharia. Golden light rained into existence as two War-Fans manifested straight through its head.

For a moment, the large metal-knight bucked under her and then stopped moving. With clarity, Annabelle saw the carnage around her. The army had met the golems as well but they fared much worse. For every metal-creature, at least two dozen people died in taking it down. There were no wounded when the beast struck, it killed. Annabelle jumped off its back and felt a sudden surge of heat pouring out.

The clockwork inside of the carcass was still ticking. She picked up the human-made scythe and stumbled away from the thing, just in time to see it go up in flames. Her breathing was ragged but her lust for battle was stoked. A second golem was just in time to satiate her desire for destruction. She threw herself around and headed directly for it. The large creature seemed to hesitate upon seeing her run directly at it.

Again, a halberd came swinging her way. Annabelle judged the distance and then leaped off the ground. Her feet landed directly on the metal arm. Not all clichés work out though, as she quickly lost her footing and slid off again. On the way down, she crunched her right into the arm and let the Scythe swing for the head above. The blade passed straight through the visor. A lucky hit, nothing more.

Like before, the clock-golem bucked and then stopped moving. Flames pulsed out as Annabelle jumped away from it. The sheer heat of two beasts dying this close to each other melted the snow away and it’s then that she finally noticed the oddity underneath. Translucent skin covered the ground underneath the snow. It was folded into endless lamella with tiny purple veins pulsing life through it. It was the Godbeast she had felt earlier. The entire Schauhof had already stepped into its maw!

The translucent skin snaked up the pillars and onto the glass ceiling above. By her estimate, the main mass of it was directly atop the blonde man. She looked at him and saw Tharia’s brother sip a cup of tea. He returned her gaze with a gentle smile and then bowed his hand in a gesture of mock invitation. Annabelle looked around. While Shal-rins army took insane losses, they had the numbers advantage. One by one the golems were overwhelmed and the rifle-soldiers had slowed down their shooting. On first glance, Shal-rin was winning and she saw the large sack of meat press on.

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She sighed. What would Tharia do? Probably find a way to save the people, no matter how much they wronged her. She remembered the time with Mayleen when they had spit on her and forced her to endure the suffering. Annabelle recalled all the moments when the small girl had forgiven her as well. There was the time she had nearly choked her to death or the time she had taken a bite out of her in the dream domain. Annabelle let out another long sigh. Her bloodlust was ruined, she wasn’t in the mood for slaughter anymore.

Which version of Annie, would the girl love more? The murderous rampant beast that left thousands to die or the compassionate light that would save as many as she could? She’d love both equally, Annabelle realized, but one would make her little fairy suffer from self-inflicted guilt. With a decision made, she turned around and headed for Shal-rin. It was time to pay the dues.

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When Annabelle was barely fifty steps away from Shal-rin, the large man looked at her and then pointed Tharia’s staff in her direction. He leaned forward in his wooden throne and snarled with anger.

“Why are you here, creature? You were to help my army”

She slammed the bent and half-broken Scythe into the ground. Blood dripped from it, partially from the monsters and also from occasional humans that had attacked her in mad bloodlust. Her aura was pulsing and it infected the people around her.

“That’s what I’m doing. A Godbeast lies dormant beneath our feet” she said. Her eyes locked with the man she hated from the depths of her very being.

“I’m fully aware. Yet we’ve never been this close to the man. It’s the price we pay to quell this disease”, he shouted. The soldiers nearest to him were gazing at him with confused looks on their faces. Annabelle fletched her teeth and gathered all the hatred in her stomach into one strong push of her aura. Shal-rin suddenly stumbled back and glared at her.

“What’s this... you’re more powerful than I thought”, he began and let out an angry grunt. Something odd happened. The soldiers nearest to him turned around and aimed their weapons at him. Shal-rin raised his large hands.

“Stay away, all of you. You’re under her spell, wake up!” he screamed.

“So many are already dead”, one older woman said, she suddenly lunged forward, her short sword swinging for the large man. Before she reached him, he smacked her with a strange whip-like weapon. Upon second glance, Annabelle recognized them as Turesai War-Fans. These looked different from hers but familiar enough. The weapon broke her skull, sending her convulsing dead body onto the ground.

“Why did you kill her?” shouted another man and threw his spear after the mage. Annabelle stood still, she had no eyes for what the others did. Murder was on her mind and it seeped out of her every pore as an obsession to slaughter. More and more soldiers turned on him while she walked closer. Defending from the constant attacks, he couldn’t activate the white sprite dust. Suddenly, white fog spread out from him and out of it crawled bird-like creatures.

That was the last proof the army needed. More of the army fell into disarray as even people further away realized something was up. This hadn’t been her plan, yet there was no way out of it anymore. The second the feathered sprite clicked its tongue, it would be over for her and Tharia. It was kill or be killed. She accelerated when men and women around her fell to the ground, bound by glowing ropes.

A badly wounded Shal-rin stepped out of the fog while bird-creatures feasted on the humans he had killed. His eyes burned with hatred while his fingers formed constant geometric symbols. Strong ropes snapped around Annabelle. They cut into her flesh and she could do nothing but fall over into the snow, helpless to the binding. All she could do was wiggle her hands just a bit. Her teeth were clenched as Shal-rin walked up to her.

“I underestimated you”, Shal-rin said, breathless, “I didn’t think you’d be willing to risk your lives. You must have learned from that lass.”

He had an insufferable grin on his face. The madness within was barely concealed. With large circular motions, he started swinging his War-Fan in preparation for the fatal strike. All Annabelle could do was to move her hands. Yet that was all it took. Something tiny slipped off her finger and fell into her palm. She twisted and stretched her hand until she could balance the object on her fingernail.

“To quote Tharia”, Annabelle began, “Fuck. You.”

She flicked her finger. A small shiny object shot through the air and punched directly through Shal-rin’s forehead. He had a dumbfounded look on his face as the object instantly carved a finger-wide hole through his skull. The ring didn’t stop for anything. The binding disappeared instantly and so did the fog. As it lifted, Annabelle got back on her feet while the dead Shal-rin stood upright. His body hadn’t gotten the message yet.

Annabelle saw something slimy crawl out of his ears. It was a tiny slug that was humming and singing a weird melody she had heard before. The small thing fell to the ground and shriveled up instantly. Her bloodlust faded and left her exhausted. She walked towards the large man and pushed him aside with a slight touch. He finally toppled over and made room for the goddess. She sat down on his throne and crossed her legs. The bloodstained bridal gown made her look like a nightmare. And a nightmare is what she saw.

The Schauhof was died red with death and destruction. No more golems were around and the rifle-men had stopped shooting. The gate of the manor was shut again and by all means, it was a victory. Yet none of the people felt like celebrating. Empty eyes looked up at her, few seemed to be really surprised to see her sit on the throne. Annabelle held out her right hand and golden light sprung up as her own Scythe formed within it. She also held out her left hand and with a glitter, the ring reappeared on her hand.

There was something else she had to do. She had realized it the moment Shal-rin died. Using her scythe, she cut into Shal-rins throat and picked up a blue pearl. Under the eyes of everyone present, she swallowed it whole. Strange energies spread out within her, she felt the hair on her arms stand on edge. Arcane energy blended with divine energy and made her into something else. Something more. The golden gloves expanded into gauntlets of silver. Her Scythe suddenly reshaped itself into another version of the weapon, this one faintly glowing. She looked down and felt her feet slip into new boots. Shoes of metal had formed out of silver and golden light, the same color as her gauntlets. Tiny wings on them fluttered in constant motion.

She felt divine. More than divine. Leaning back into the throne, she let her gaze wander over the Schauhof. Hundreds of eyes were staring at her. With a voice that was too quiet to be understood by all, yet reached them easily, Annabelle spoke.

“I’m Annabelle. Goddess of obsession and desire”, her voice rumbled over the Schauhof. Her speech was slow, each word was a battle won. It also lent her words gravitas.

“You will take the wounded and leave”, she commanded and then leaned forward, “None shall come to harm. Except for those that dared to hurt the one person that holds meaning to me. To those I say, no distance will be far enough – but if you run now, you may live a few days still”

Her eyes locked with a variety of people she recognized from the crowd the day earlier. They shuddered and averted their eyes. Others still looked at her, too confused to act. One particular pair of eyes caught her attention. Young boy Ravid was staring in shock. She remembered the innocent young man that had once thought he could lead people to safety. Now, it was a broken shell. One that betrayed Tharia. It didn’t matter to her whether he had his reasons.

“Pray to whoever may listen that we do not meet again”, she said out loud. Ravid shuddered as if struck by a weapon. Annabelle paid it no more mind. She meant it. Tharia might be forgiving. She was not. She watched quietly as the army dispersed into random groups of people. After the nightmare they had been through, there weren’t many still clamoring for a fight. Her hand picked up Tharia’s staff from the ground.

“You’re ice cold, sister”, came Sisi’s voice out of it. The small sprite sounded sick.

“I’m obsession personified”, she replied and opened the small cage on the weapon. The staff shuddered and then fell apart into two barrier chains. Sisi floated in the air with a tiny and unconscious white sprite in its hands.

“I suggest you take your kin out of the city”, Annabelle spoke slowly.

Sisi carefully dropped the white sprite on the snow and then floated up towards Annabelle’s face. A moment later the goddess stared at the human-sized full manifestation of the sprite. Fire-read hair framed a perfect face that was showing a frown.

“I will, but I’ll be back. You two idiots would burn down the world, just because it looked fluffy.”

Annabelle stared at the elemental and noticed Ravid approaching from the background. He knelt down in front of her.

“I’ve hurt Tharia and I’m sorry for it. No excuse can make up for that”, the young boy said. Under the eyes of Sisi, Annabelle stood up from the throne and moved her Scythe towards Ravid. She touched his chin with the blade and looked down on him.

“You’re neither deaf nor slow, thus I deem you a seeker of death”, she said without emotion.

“I didn’t mean to do it, they made me do it”, he said.

“And you complied. Tharia would suffer before hurting her friends”, Annabelle replied. She twisted her scythe until the blade started cutting into his neck.

“I’m so sorry”, he stammered. Annabelle tensed her muscles for the coup de grace but a raspy voice made her halt.

“Let him go, Annie”, Tharia said. Annabelle looked over her shoulder to see a shivering mess of a girl seemingly step into existence out of nowhere. Once Tharia was out of her domain it collapsed behind her.

“He hurt you”, Annabelle said.

“So did you and I don’t see you hurting yourself. It’s what makes us alive. We all hurt each other. It’s alright”, the human girl said and then walked up to Ravid. She knelt down in front of him. Annabelle couldn’t help but think the poor girl was broken inside. Yet here she was, acting strong for others. She saw Tharia trace a finger along the cut the Scythe had left and subtle blue light healed the cut. The small girl then leaned close and placed a kiss on his forehead.

“I’m sorry too for what happened. Don’t beat yourself up over it. We all do what we have to do, to survive. I’m also aware that you’ve fallen for me, silly boy. This I will never be able to answer – my heart belongs to Annabelle and I hold little interest in men”, Tharia said and leaned back on her heels. She was still dressed in those silly purple robes with her bare feet touching the snow. Annabelle wanted to say something, but Tharia shut her up with a gesture.

“Make this a breaking point in your life. Your old self died when Annabelle cut your neck. You’re now no longer Ravid. Find out who you really are, go out into the world, do good, do evil, just do what you want to do. If you feel some obligation to me, you will help Sisi on the way out of the city. One day we might meet again, but young boy Ravid you won’t be anymore.”

Annabelle watched quietly as the young man got up from the ground. He bowed in their direction and then looked at Sisi. The fire-haired sprite put its hands against the waist and sighed.

“Do I have to?” it said.

“You do”, Tharia replied with a gentle smile.

“I supposed it might be useful to have someone carry us around. Oi boy, pick up those two chains. We’re going to need them”, the sprite commanded and Ravid listened. He shot both Annabelle and Tharia one last coy look, then ran off. Soon, they were alone on the Schauhof with the dead and those close to it. The battle was over and a gruesome scene of suffering unfolded in front of her.

“Are you alright, Fairy?”

“Not at all”, Tharia said with a low whisper, “Not even in the slightest.”

The young woman sounded hurt and weary. Annabelle removed her gloves and then pulled the girl close to her chest. She then softly nudged Tharia’s face into her bosom and held her close. Soon, she felt something wet touch her skin as tears soaked through the silly gown. The goddess caressed her hand over that soft and short hair, her eyes locked on the Verholden manor.

A strange shudder ran through the Schauhof as large translucent layers of skin suddenly lifted up from underneath the snow. They wrapped around the dead and soon blood pulsed through the see-through skin as the corpses were sucked dry. Moments later, the skin compressed into a humanoid shape. It looked odd as layer upon layer of skin shrunk and then wrapped around it to form a beautiful blonde woman standing a good distance away from them. Annabelle realized this woman was the Godbeast. Worse, the face looked like Tharia somehow. She waved towards them and then pointed towards the manor. Another invitation.

Soon.

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End: A facade cracking | Coming up: Behind the veneer