King Lemings had just taken a bite of food when news of [his] successful raid reached his ears. He slowly let his fork drop down to the plate, deciding whether to chew the food or spit it out. “They impersonated our soldiers?” he asked.

“Not quite,” the advisor said. “The raid was conducted by our soldiers. Yet when we identified their corpses, their families had disappeared. It’s likely they were bought out.”

“Buying out men, impersonating kingdoms….” King Lemings trembled, taking short, shallow breaths, telling himself to keep calm—knowing that he wouldn’t. “What have we learned about Lady Reece?” he asked.

“We have confirmed that she is the acting monarch….”

“And?”

The advisor looked at the dinner guests warily. King Lemings’ got the message, slammed the table with his palm, and waved his arm in a grand arc toward the door. His startled guests jumped and then got the message, getting up and slinking off. “This better be good,” King Lemings said. “Because if she doesn’t have merit to act so brazenly….”

The advisor winced and turned away, looking at a glass of wine with longing.

“Drink it,” King Lemings ordered.

“W-What?” the advisor said.

King Lemings grabbed the wine glass, shoved it into the advisor’s hand (spilling wine everywhere), and leaned in, “Drin~k it.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.” The advisor drank the glass with shakey hands and then coughed at the end, leaning back.

“Now spe~eak,” King Lemings said. “Lady Reece. Go~oh.”

The advisor nodded multiple times and then spoke. “Many see Lady Reece….” He swallowed. “As a god.”

King Lemings gripped the tablecloth and prepared to tear it back but reined himself in. “Why?”

“According to accounts of the rebellion, Lady Reece single-handedly wiped out a hundred soldiers in one strike.”

“An exaggeration.”

“Yes… and no.”

“How can something be ‘yes’ and ‘no?’”

“The strike was real. Our informants investigated and found that Lady Reece left a three-hundred-foot crack in the Noble District from a single strike. It’s at least 20 feet deep, and the walls are made of molten glass. The only exaggeration was the number of lives claimed, which was minimal since she let people move out of the way.”

King Lemings felt his throat bob, and a cool sensation washed over his hot emotions. If just anyone impersonated him, he would squash them like a bug, but his year would be ruined by such insolence. Yet, knowing that he was facing a real enemy, in a way, provided a degree of comfort—as well as deep anxiety.

“Is there an explanation for this power?” he asked.

The advisor nodded. “Accounts say that she is wielding a sword that matches the description of Rinus Kemot’s God Slayer.”

King Lemings gripped the tablecloth harder. “If it is?”

“No one knows, but the results speak for itself.”

“I see.” King Lemings pondered the situation. “Reach out to Quell. Inform Prenth as well. If this woman has as much power as we believe, we will encircle the kingdom. She can’t be everywhere at once.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The advisor bowed and left, leaving King Lemings at the table, gripping the tablecloth harder than ever. He didn’t even notice how tight he was pulling until he released his hands, and plates and glasses crashed down all around him. [No mistakes,] he thought. [No mercy.]

Lady Reece gave King Lemings an eerie feeling, and the more he learned about her, the more that feeling grew within him. Something was telling him to go all in. So, he would surround the Escaran Kingdom on all sides and end her, even if it humiliated him.

2

Sara strode before the leadership of the Escaran Military with Alecov and Edico in tow. She turned to them with a grave expression. “Soldiers of the Great Escaran Kingdom,” she said. “We are in a state of emergency! Our once greatest blood ally has turned against us, showing their true intentions from their false alliance!”

The rebel military leaders jeered, but almost half of the military leaders were stone silent.

“And some of us have leaked military intel about our rebellion to them.” Sara looked at a man whose stern poker face turned pale and trembling under her glare. “The border with Lemings was sealed a week ago, General Liket. Can you explain why you sent troops via silver glider over the border yesterday?”

He swallowed. “I have no idea—“

“It was to warn King Lemings of my strength, wasn’t it?” Sara asked. “Do you understand what you’ve done?”

He looked between the others in the room, frozen in place, uncertain how to proceed.

“Seize him.”

The general tried to flee, but Raul shot out from the crowd, grabbing him from under the arms and squeezing. The man’s body cracked as his shoulder broke, leaving the man screaming into the silent room.

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“This is a state of emergency!” Sara repeated, yelled. “King Lemings is marching on Lemora and will soon build alliances with other countries. To aid him is to betray your people! To give him information is to condemn our women and children to death!” She walked down the stairs until she was standing in front of the screaming man. Raul dropped him. She kicked him across the room. “It’s appalling that someone so trusted would betray his people so effortlessly, but it’s a warning…..”

Sara circled the room with a ruthless expression. “If General Liket could betray us… anyone can.” The tension in the room became crushing. “So until you’ve proved yourself loyal, those who have already proved themselves worthy shall lead us. Rise!”

The rebel soldiers from her rebellion walked in unison to the stage. “These are your new leaders for the time being. Listen to them! Follow their orders. Do not complain….” She circled the room. “If you are loyal to your people and your future king, you will regain your positions and take your place at the head of the greatest army in the existence of the world. You will walk with gods on the way to Drantal, where we will reclaim Reemada for humanity. But until then, you will be watched. Your communications will be monitored. Your performance and decisions under scrutiny. Do [not] follow in General Liket’s footsteps, or you will share his fate!”

Sara walked back up to the stage in dead silence. When she stood next to Edico, he sighed.

“The clock’s ticking,” she said. “Do you have a better strategy?”

“No,” Edico said. “That’s what bothers me.”

“Well? Then play your part.”

Edico stepped forward, back straight, waiting until he obtained absolute silence. Then he spoke. “I know everyone in this room,” he said. “So there’s no need to introduce myself. Instead, I will offer you my vision.” He made eye contact with everyone. “Before I die, I will see Agronus and the demon army eradicated from this world. Before I die, the Escaran Kingdom will be this world’s greatest superpower. Before I die, I will ensure that the rightful heir, King Alecov Escar, passes our legacy to his future generations!”

The petrified soldiers eased up, drawn in by their trusted general’s words. Edico Sullsburg was the type of person that made tyranny feel like an act of honor and rebellion feel like loyalty. It was magnetic, bringing people in until even those stripped of their current titles were drawn into his war effort.

“I know my men,” Edico said. “I know my women. There are many people in here that I would trust with my life. Come tomorrow, you will reclaim your posts and join me in our pursuit to bring the Escaran Kingdom the glory it’s been long deprived! So act with prudence! Prove your loyalty, and we will stand together as we finally bring peace to this world!”

Sara made eye contact with Raul, who looked morally distraught after breaking General Liket’s arms, but was now relieved after watching Edico take control. She liked that expression on him. She hoped it would never disappear completely.

Edico’s speech came and went, and soon, she was back in front of the audience, awarding rebel leaders with titles and medals, giving them the glory that all military personnel yearned for. With any luck, everyone in the room—save one—would obtain a war medal. With any luck… with any luck.

3

Tara poked the fruit on her plate with an absent-minded expression. It honestly felt like she was fighting for so long that she forgot why she was fighting until she suddenly [couldn’t] fight anymore. In retrospect, it was all really stupid, wasn’t it? Or was it? She couldn’t tell. Jason tried to kill someone. That was a fact. He became unstable. He changed. And later, Raul killed him after he started using people as shields. That was the story, and while she said she didn’t believe it, she did. Raul wasn’t a liar. He was acting on Sara’s orders, sure. But he wasn’t a liar. He had this [way]… of expressing what he thought even when he didn’t. This unintrusive way of just saying, [This is what I believe,] without telling anyone they were wrong. It was clear as day, and so everyone knew that he was wrapped around Sara’s finger, and yet…. He wasn’t a liar. That look in his eyes when he recounted what Jason did in the battle was so dark and saddening that she couldn’t deny it as truth. Yeah, arguing on behalf of Jason Newborn and even Mary felt like a stupid cause. Yet….

Sara. Sara Reece wasn’t a conspiracy. She walked into class with a carry-on of sanitary supplies on the day of the summoning, and she hadn’t proved less sketchy since. It was all but confirmed later on that she was from the future, and the fact that she betrayed King Escar from the moment that she was summoned was now a historical fact. And after watching an entire kingdom toppling, it was clear that the people that Sara met swift ends. She was the bad guy, right? Was she just going crazy? According to… everyone, Sara killed a ton of people. She didn’t just attack a proctor—she killed a lot of people. She technically killed Jason, and Mary went missing in the middle of the night and hadn’t resurfaced. No one even knew where she was. That was some nazi shit. Wasn’t it?

Still, as she looked at the people at the dinner table in the grand hall, she realized that no one was questioning her right now. They were afraid. Lemings was attacking and Sara couldn’t be everywhere. That meant people had to fight, and fighting meant fighting with Sara. The bad guy. It was practical. It was a necessity. But now… it was strange. It felt like Sara suddenly wasn’t a bad guy. Now that people had to fight with her, they stopped thinking of her that way. [Tara] stopped thinking of her that way. In an afternoon, she became this… better-than-nothing savior figure.

Tara couldn’t get more confused.

Suddenly, the door to the grand hall opened, and Sara walked in, taking her place at the elevated table. Tara and the others held their breath as Sara poured a massive glass of wine. It was something that her friends sneered at the night before but now felt like a bad omen or something else… that was unexplainable.

Sara downed three gulps and then stood.

“Lemings is attacking, and we will soon need to defend ourselves,” she said. “Many of you will wish to fight and protect your friends and loved ones. You are welcome to. If you are afraid, you do not have to. Our summoning was unjust, and I would never force my own to fight.”

Her quiet words spread a net of electricity between the table, making the hairs on Tara’s skin stand up.

“But if you wish to fight for your people,” Sara said, staring at her closest supporters and fixing on the men. “If you wish to prove yourself in battle. If you honestly [want] to be a hero and save this world from Agronus and inequities of evil men….” Her eyes steeled. “I will train you.”

The atmosphere shifted in an instant, with fear and anxiety turning to hope and, in some cases, [elation].

“I will build you up without restraint,” Sara said. “I will bring out your true potential! I will give you the strength that you need to fight for what you believe in and carve your own destiny!”

Some of the heroes started cheering. Actually cheering. It felt wrong, but Tara couldn’t help but have her own heart flutter a bit.

“Dedicate your life to me, and you will thrive,” Sara claimed. “Dedicate your life to your king, and you will be remembered for all of history. Meet me tomorrow at dawn, and we will begin our true training. It’s open to all. But before then, enjoy your last meal of peace, eat well, dream, and prepare. For tomorrow, we face our first trial as heroes—and only you can protect us!”

Tara felt icy pangs of anxiety stabbing her heart as she watched the “heroes” riled up like cult members before the war. But what made her most uneasy of all was how she was dragged into it, considering joining the war effort [willingly]. Sara… was a manipulator. A mass manipulator. A tyrant of the first class, and even though Tara knew that she couldn’t help but be allured. Something was going to happen—and happen soon—and for the second time since that afternoon, she felt true fear of the future.

4

The next morning before dawn, Sara stood in the training grounds where it all began. Only half of the heroes showed up, but these were the people who would be her loyal subjects. These were the people who would fight and die for her. And after the hell she would soon put them through, each of them would be able to crush any army or hero dissenters. She’d make sure of it.