Freya hadn’t quite managed to understand the man’s words. Still stunned from her previous experience in the fringes of the astral realm, her ears were ringing and her head was spinning. Still, she could feel a power emanating from within. Something that had never been there before.
“I’m not going to ask again. How did you do this?”, the man insisted. “Are you the new guardian?”
‘New guardian. What?’ were the words running through her head. Those certainly woke her up. She felt a bit naive for not connecting the dots earlier. Yes, that was likely what had happened. The tower retreated into the murky waters below due to the absence of a guardian. Like a lock, deeply embedded in the Baile. There was no evidence that something of the sort might have happened in the past, but a voice deep within told her this was true. Whose voice, however? Not hers. It felt like a million voices at once, speaking in unison. An overwhelming feeling, to be sure.
A few seconds later, with her thoughts less jumbled, the princess managed a reply. “Maybe? I could be.” Her next thoughts made no sense, however, and she decided to question them aloud. “Why is that a bad thing?”
The noble standing before her made no effort to hide his disgust. “Madain Nym has been peaceful since the last guardian’s death. We intend to keep things that way.” He said, motioning with one hand for his men to close in. They did so unflinchingly, pointing their varied weapons at the young woman as they approached her in that semicircle formation.
The last thing on the lady’s mind at that moment was violence. There was too much going on. So many voices. They told her to do things, and she was barely fighting back the urge to follow those commands.
They inched ever closer, Freya only taking a few steps back towards the spire. It was too much to handle.
The oppression was cut short when a pained scream could be heard from behind the line of guards. It was the nobleman, who was suddenly hovering half a meter above the ground, his chest impaled by two bloody and extremely sharp claws. Pounding at the palm of one of those claws was the man’s heart, ripped out clean.
The men shuddered in terror, and one frightened whimper could be heard among them. The figure behind the vizier was better described as a dire wolf that walked on two legs. Its ebony fur and glowing blue eyes were an intimidating and terrifying sight.
More terrifying, however, was what happened next. The vizier gave out one last whimper before being ripped in half by the wolf-creature’s arms in one swift motion that bathed it in its victim’s blood, guts splayed on the ground before it.
Freya could barely tell what was happening due to the wall of armoured men standing before her. The sounds were a good enough giveaway, but morbid curiosity urged her to see the grisly picture with her own eyes. She grabbed a glance between the ranks and saw that which instilled so much terror in these pitiful guardsmen. Her eyes widened as she realized who’d been behind such an act.
“I recommend you all flee.” Said the princess, calmly. “She will not hesitate to do the same to any of you.”
“S-she?” Replied one of the soldiers. “Such a beast?”
“The most ravenous of all. ‘Daughter of the Queen Wolf’, she’s called. Surely you’ve heard a tale or two?” She continued with a smug look on her face, exercising confidence bordering on an act. Even having spent so long in isolation, she’d picked up on a few bardic songs that extolled the pure awe and terror inflicted by this ‘beast’.
The name made the poor guardsmen shudder. They slowly backed away to the sides, completely ignoring Freya and shying away from their duty to protect the vizier. He was dead beyond salvation, in the best of circumstances.
When gaining sufficient distance from the beast - which just stood in place, glaring at them with those vicious yellow eyes - the fighters turned their tails and ran. As fast and as far as they could, some even shouting in despair.
“That wasn’t necessary, but thank you nevertheless.” Spouted Freya with a tone of familiarity.
“He had to die. I’d been waiting for a chance to get him outside the palace.” The creature’s low growling voice still had the faintest hint of its original tone. The princess was already sure, but this was further confirmation. Her friend was strangely absent when she’d returned from her astral voyage, so it was easy enough to make the connection.
“The whole ‘guardians are bad’ routine was a tad bit strange. Is that related to your motives?” The princess inquired, the answer to which was a simple nod. Freya cupped an elbow on the palm of her hand and touched her delicate chin with the tip of her fingers in the other hand, pensive. “I feel the need to investigate further, and yet something tells me it would be fruitless. Maybe it would be best to leave for now and come back once I have something concrete.”
The wolf-creature nodded again. They both stood in silence amid the pungent smell of iron before the Daughter decided to pronounce her thoughts again. “Mind if I come with?”
Taken aback by the question, Freya squinted and held her mouth slightly open. An awkward silence followed before the Daughter broke it once more. “I-if you’d be okay with that, I’d like to go. The road must be lonely, I guess? No?”
Freya quickly answered, flustered, her face reddened: “Y-yes! I would love that. Please come with me?” She followed the question up with a smile, intertwining the fingers on both hands together, pointing at the ground.
The pose and the smile were too adorable. Orchidea ended her transformation, her body still caked with blood. She used a very simple and familiar spell to clean herself and her clothing of the awful substance, which seemed to be darker than a regular man’s blood. That much, however, she seemed to already know, making no remarks of that fact.
“Since you’re asking so nicely, I feel I should oblige.” Orchidea answered with a warm giggle at the end of her sentence. They both stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds, as neither really understood what they felt at that point in time. It was certainly different from what they felt as children, however. Maybe their experiences changed how they felt towards having true friends, Freya pondered. If only it were so simple.
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They both felt a rumbling beneath their feet and instinctively turned towards the tower. Their first assumption was wrong, as the spire stood immobile - but in fact, glowing more brightly than it had been before - and started looking around for the source of such a disturbance. The moment they heard a surge of water coming from the west, they knew the Baile was likely the epicentre. They both ran in that direction without properly thinking the situation through, and upon approaching the edge of the earth mound that surrounded Baile I Bhfolach, stopped abruptly as they recognized the next threat. Today was a day without rest, it seemed.
What they saw at first made them weary, and as the threat intensified, made them shiver. Arising from the depths was a multitude of humanoids covered in crusty full-plated armour, each covered in different patterns by different algae and parasitic creatures that lived in the lake. Behind this veritable army of heavily armoured individuals, however, was a far more frightening sight. A creature of unmatched size arose from the depths, making visible what both women watching in terror assumed to be only a fraction of its form. Its multitude of tentacles, mouths and eyes made them both queasy as anxiety took full hold of their bodies.
Freya, however, had another feeling to accompany that terror. A sense of déjà vu. The palm of her hands tingled with power, and she had no idea what it meant until she looked down to observe her hands and began to receive a great many visions. Memories. Not her own, that much she was sure of, as she had seldom been to Madain Nym, much less with such a terrible sight before her. While at first, she had no idea what any of it meant, she slowly started to follow the pictures that formed a very concise plan in her head.
She turned her head to the side and held her friend’s hand. “Will you hold them here? I… I think I have an idea.”
Orchidea barely had time to answer with a very confused “What? What do you mean? Get back here!”, as her friend was already swiftly making her way towards the entrance of the spire. The Daughter sighed and turned towards her inevitable fate, standing upright and trying to muster the courage she needed. “Alright. I guess I’ll just fight them all, then, by my gods-damned self.” She spouted in frustration before dropping down on all fours, quickly transforming into another, even greater beast. It, too, had the same ebony fur and blue eyes but was far greater in its overall bulk. She stood at attention and growled at her would-be foes while awaiting their approach.
The young princess rushed to the top of the spire as quickly as she could. The stairs were a massive obstacle, as she believed it would take her far too long to climb even with her augmented speed. ‘If only I could get up there faster…’ She thought to herself, at which point she felt as if she was going to trip. She braced herself for a nasty fall but realized what had happened is she had started hovering a half meter above the diagonal structure, her body propelling itself along the path with no aid of her muscles. It took her a second to understand what was happening, but when she did, she leaned into that very convenient new power and used it to its full extent. Within a few seconds, she flew up to the top of the spire, which seemed to glow even more brightly with a golden light now. She had to squint slightly to avoid hurting her eyes as she rushed to the balcony adjacent to the massive room that sat at the top of the tower.
The next few moments seemed to blur together. A trance of sorts took over her, and the choice of position and action seemed both a mechanical response and a deeply considered option.
Palms facing up at her waist’s height, Freya struggled as if lifting an invisible box far too heavy for even her well-built arms. Previously golden-glowing eyes erupted in equally golden streams of aether that splashed outwards. The frightful creature that flailed its tentacles and devoured panicked bystanders in close proximity to the Baile seemed to lose its bearings for a brief moment, noticing its gentle grip on the soil below loosen. Realizing its predicament, the creature clung to the rocks and any sufficiently strong support below to keep from being raised from its comfortable position.
Freya grit her teeth. The muscles in her exposed arms tensed, as the power of the spell she subconsciously cast required an equal measure of physical and magical exertion. The enormous weight was almost too much to bear, but she pressed on. The creature still clung to the depths with colossal strength, but the grip loosened further with every passing second.
The princess let out a grunt as she made a final effort to lift the creature from its resting place just above the water. Whatever tentacles were still bound to something beneath the muddy waters were ripped apart, oozing out a vile black substance from whence they extended. The creature screamed in clear agony, half in a sort of stupor from the pain of such rapid dismemberment.
Slowly raised in its entirety a dozen meters above the Baile as an example for all to see, the creature was nevertheless a maddening sight for the people of Madain Nym. Freya, in turn, switched her stance from lifting to squeezing from either side. There was no room for thought, her full focus devoted to the destructive act that followed.
She squeezed with her fingers, as if trying to rip a loaf of bread in half. The abomination below screamed in agony, rendering all nearby paralyzed in fear and madness. Freya was unaffected, feeling the resistance as if a miniature of the beast lay gripped between her fingers. Her muscles bulged from the strain and the sweat from her face and body evaporated into aggressively-protruding steam. As the last push of effort came through, she screamed at the top of her lungs with a diabolical sound that echoed through the entire city.
The screaming, enormous beast was ripped clean in half. Its carcass flying in both directions to crush nearby buildings in its path - at least ten or more houses crushed flat. The beast’s entrails and vital fluids bathed the surrounding area in an explosive manner, adding to the chaos. The waters of the Baile were tainted with that foul, viscous black goo.
Resting from the effort, and fully back to her regular self, Freya slumped to the ground, exhausted. Rest was not to be, however, as the lack of awareness that followed that extraneous act was naught but calm before the storm. A veritable maelstrom of soul-crushing madness followed, flooding her already overwhelmed senses with the intent to drown.
Death, pain and destruction were everywhere. Whichever way she looked, there were normal folks in unbearable pain. The more she looked, the more she realized that her own actions were equally to blame for the pain as was the rampage wrought by the creature and its lackeys. The mob that followed the creature had seemingly gone limp upon its death, but its presence in the minutes that came before had been enough to significantly damage the city.
The creature’s death, however, was not the end of it. The creature’s blood, splattered all around, seemed to be toxic and acid in nature, and a few anguished citizens suffered its painful touch. It had also been an impossibly large creature, and the ejection of its bissected carcass had left dozens - nay, hundreds of deaths in its wake. While the young princess had no way of knowing the full extent of damages, she could regardless feel it in the pit of her stomach. A painful feeling that overcame her already exhausted self.
Broken, she could do naught but contemplate her success, her failure, and everything in between. She hadn’t felt in control for any of it. Rather, it was as if she instinctively knew this was the only solution, and executed on a set of actions she never knew she was even remotely capable of. That knowledge was not enough to dissuade the thoughts of self-hatred that permeated her entire being.
Was that abominable outcome unavoidable? Do the means justify the ends? Was she to blame for it all? - All questions that she couldn’t help but ask. Near the end of her wits, her empathy and interminable insight begged the question: Was this how he felt?
Just as that question came into her mind, she felt a warm grip upon her shoulder. She turned around to see her childhood friend with a pitying look on her eyes, partially covered in blood not entirely her own. The princess collapsed into her friend’s accepting embrace and began soaking both of them in tears.