For the first time since we arrived, me and Rina stood side by side, Ryan, Callum and Violet were with us, and Tyler stayed back with Laura, both of them ready to run as soon as the bubble dropped, they were both as close to the gate as possible. We marched onwards, towards The Raging Pony. Huginn announced the danger that was present, I nodded to him as thanks, I'll feed him in the celebration of victory. "Hey, look" Callum exclaimed, staring upwards, I looked up, to see the familiar grey clouds, snow trickling down through a gap in the bubble, sunlight beginning to appear. "We need to find the girl, quickly," Rina commented hastily, picking up the pace. Shit, if Duke Elden Tauren comes now... Our march became a jog, a jog became a run. The more that bubble falls, the closer my neck gets to the headsman's axe. Rounding corner after corner we got closer to our goal... until we rounded the corner to the street of the Raging Pony, we'd been running for twenty minutes, and the bubble had nearly dissipated entirely. The Duke's army comes knocking at the gates soon. But there is one slight problem. An army of initiates stands between us and the Pony. On a balcony, watching, was him. The Archon. "Butcher. Slaughterer. Murderer. You, Endyarr, have struck down my followers. My children. And for what? Some girl who didn't know better than to be in the woods, alone with her sweetheart. Poor little girl lost and afraid. Do you think You will be enough? You may have slaughtered the Vice-Archons and the Seers, but you and your petty blessing from the Gods isn't enough-" I cut him off "Does it scare you that I have done so much damage without the blessing of Gods?" he freezes, "I came here with hundreds strong and you. You have reduced my little kingdom to... to This." He gestures to the remaining initiates, there must be thirty. Anger rises in his voice, "You bastard. I will make you pay. No, better, I will break you, make you bend the knee and renounce your False Gods! Kill them, Save him for me! He shall be reborn in the great majesty of God!" Seven of the thirty cheered and charged, only to be burnt in a fiery inferno by Rina, the remaining twenty-three shuffled, looking around at each other. Cracks began to appear in The Archon's powerbase. "You, You idiots. Kill them! Kill them in the name of God!"

"Do this for God, Do that for 'im. When's 'e gonnae do something fer us? With the Seven, there were good 'arvests, good fortune. What's yer God done fer us? Given us death, death and more death. Damn yer God. Damn 'im to the Nine Hells." he removed the mask, revealing a disgruntled young man underneath. It was just like Greenwood all over again. In small batches, the cultists dropped their masks, following the actions of that one man, all of them were young women and men, unhappy with the Governance of the Empire, looking for something different, for a change. Manipulated into working for that madman either for the promise of power and riches or through threats. Eventually, it was just him and us. Using the Portal Spell, he teleported away, into the Pony, Violet took the lead, she knew where the basement was. Like the rest of the town, the Pony was abandoned, with no sign of life living there for months. No ale in barrels, no cups on tables, and the chairs were all on the tables as if the place was closed. Passing through the empty tavern, we entered the backroom, the smell of blood was in the air, it was so pungent you could taste it. Dust laced the whole backroom save for one rectangle on the floor, "Poorly hidden, disappointing." Rina spoke, trying to distract herself from the smell. The wooden walls of the Tavern gave way to stone in the basement. Stains of blood and... other... liquids stained the walls and floor, "Depraved little fucks" Rina exclaimed in Norse, I replied in kind "damned people said they'd make me their plaything, almost vomited." A new voice entered the conversation, in Norse like me and Rina were speaking, "Personally, I wouldn't mind... you... shit, no wait-" I and Rina turned in surprise from looking at each other to looking at Violet, she had snapped her head away from us, her cheeks red, "I mean, you're... shit. I mean, I wouldn't mind if-" I cut her off "You aren't my type." I admit, the reply was cold, but I almost slit my own throat thinking about the two of us together in a room, fucking disgusting - [It's a psychological response from Mage Morph, at the time It did not affect me as much and I believed myself to have a chance at a regular relationship. The thought was short-lived.] -. The hallway seemed to stretch forever, thankfully torches were lighting the way or we wouldn't know where we would be going. Down the hallway seemed to be some doors, at the very end another door, three in total. Passing the first door, I heard some familiar groaning.Snapping to the door and kicking it down, my senses were overwhelmed with the instinct to gag and look away, but I didn't. I watched on in horror as I witnessed six living humans being bonded to one another forcefully, all of them conglomerating into a familiar bloated mass. One of those armoured beasts. "Rina. If you would." Violet went to stop her, but it was too late. Rina had already let out a small storm of fire, a fire that engulfed the creature and all inside, the tools strewn around the room glowed and shattered. "We could've-" Violet began to protest, Rina stood between us "No, we couldn't have saved them, they were too far gone and we don't know how to reverse it." She spoke, anger laced in her voice, "We could've checked, to look and find a way to reverse it, keep them alive and-" "Prolong their suffering. You're worse than them. The most you Mages would do is poke prod and dissect." Violet became silent, and Rina continued down the hall. Kicking down the other door, I could see the surprise in her eyes, I ran to check, to see what she was. "No..." was the only word that escaped my mouth. A room full of Elven slaves, beaten and abused. Tied to the ceiling of their cell by their hands. Males and Females, ten of them, an equal split between male and female. I approached one, She didn't react, the little clothing that she had was torn and bloody, the same for all of the others. I prepare my tongue to speak Elven, I haven't spoken it in so long, and I hope I don't mess it up. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?" None of them reacted, they weren't dead, they were just... The words of the Archon surfaced in my mind. They're broken. My anger boiled up over the edge. "Bastard, I'll rip him apart!" I left the room and the Elves in the care of Rina, I kicked down the last door, and there stood the Girl, wearing an elaborate white dress, she was bound and gagged. The Archon sat in a chair as the girl was sprawled onto his desk. I took a step forward, grasping my sword and a Throwing knife I had concealed. "Another Step and she dies." despite the situation, he was calm. Before he knew it, my knife was in his hand, causing him to drop his dagger, and the girl escaped, rolling off of the desk and onto the floor. He raised his arm to kill me with a spell. I cut his arm down the middle, splitting his hand and the spell about to be cast was dissipated, blue blood poured from his wounds. He was a Mage. His expression shifted to one of disappointment, I grabbed hold of my sword and hit him in the forehead with the pommel of my sword for good measure. He stared unblinkingly at me. "you intend to keep me alive, do you?" he asked hatred burned in my heart, but most of all I was furious about the fact that he didn't seem to be reacting to the pain at all. "It's not fair. You're getting all the fun." Rina walked in as Callum rushed to help the girl. "I'll remember your faces and names, you will pay for ruining my plans." He jolted after finishing the sentence, his veins became more prominent, turning black as they travelled up his face. Foam emerged from the corners of his mouth and he slumped over, dead. Me and Rina exchanged worried looks but decided to forget about it. He's dead, what more can he do? After the inspection concluded, we both turned to the Girl. Miss Evangelina Tauren, Heir to the Duke of Tauren City.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"That was a bit more violent than I expected. I take it you two are of the SpellSwords my Father sent? Nonetheless, you have my thanks" she bowed, she had the qualities of a princess. "Are you harmed, Lady Tauren?" My sister asked diplomatically, she always was better at this stuff, and all this talking around in circles annoys me. I don't know how politicians and Envoys do it. I returned to the room of Elves, they weren't tied up anymore. They were still unresponsive but it was an improvement. Soon after recovering the girl and the Elves, we took them outside, where the Duke was waiting. A tall man in military garb, Light Plate armour, more decorative than practical. Gazing upon his daughter again, his unreadable face became full of joy.