Departing the next day fully rested, our mood was slightly lifted having mourned and shared our stories. The pain Eliara and Fionna were going through was neither diminished nor gone, but was managed for the moment. I knew from experience that the loss of someone you love is a scar so deep it will never heal fully. It still felt like a funeral procession as we made our way home.

Even upon arriving to our settlement, the two ladies were joined at the hip. Eliara decided that Fionna would be staying with her for now and escorted her to her apartment. I bid them farewell and led the rest of the group to Frank. The settlement was in awe at the procession of armored Dwarves. This was the first time they had seen a sentient race that was clearly fantasy. Us Vampires and Eliara were close enough to human that it didn't really impact them after a while.

"Heya, Frank," I greeted. The older man was seated next to his wife who was crocheting while he sipped on sweet tea and read some papers.

He nodded and stood with a groan and replied, "Good ta' see ya', Victor. Who are these folks?"

"These are the Rock Drakes, an elite squad of warriors from Mithra'Vheen. This is their leader, Captain Bogerd and his sergeant, Stalder."

"The name's Frank and this is my wife, Luanne. Good ta' meet y'all. So, what brings y'all out this way?" asked Frank. He shook hands with the two warriors.

"Poor tidings I'm afraid," replied Bogerd, "Treachery of the highest order has struck Mithra'Vheen. The Bishop has joined hands with those of the Void and slain the Duke and her husband in her own home."

Luanne, who had paused her work to join Frank gasped, "That's horrible!"

We proceeded to relay what had occurred over the past couple of days. Starting from my successful formation of my Pillars, to our short lived victory over the Gnolls, and ending with the fall of the Duke. "Silver lining," Bogerd announced upon completing the recap, "is you now have a squad of powerful and experienced warriors to help defend your home."

Frank nodded with a troubled look, "I agree, y'all look mighty impressive, but food is already tight. We have just enough surplus to feed our folks if something bad happens. With this many extra mouths to feed..."

Smiling kindly, the captain replied, "Worry not, my friend. We would not be so rude as to impose on our host. If you would point us where we can set up camp, we shall take care of ourselves. You are taking us in, so we will pull our own weight."

Frank sighed in relief, "Well, that's good to hear. You and yours can shack up in any of the buildings along that street." He pointed down a street that had less people loitering around it. He then turned to me and asked, "So, what's the plan Victor?"

I scratched my chin and looked to the mountain, "I'm not sure to be honest. That asshole through my plans out the window with his coup. The Bishop was strong before hand, but now that he's enhanced by whatever power Vacuolentia uses, who knows where his strength is now. To make matters worse, holy magic is my kryptonite. I don't want to assume he can't cast it anymore just because he used some black lasers to kill the Duke."

Looking to the mountain Frank grumbled, "Gotta say, not a fan of being so close to a hostile force."

I agreed, "Neither am I. It should take him a while to consolidate power. From what I understand, not everyone is completely in his party. Unfortunately, our guys are likely the only survivors who witnessed the truth and the Bishop can spin any lie about the death of the Duke. The smart play would be to blame us and claim we assassinated the Duke and he was too late to stop it. That would push the Duke's supporters on his side with a common enemy."

Bogerd nodded, "Aye, that may be his play. He may even paint us as traitors or some nonsense."

I turned to Frank, "For now, we need to stop expanding and focus solely on defense. How many Foundational mages do we have?"

"Fifteen I think?"

"Good, any with abilities that can help construct defenses?"

He scratched his growing beard and shrugged, "I'll have to check."

Speaking up, Bogerd added, "We have some soldiers with fitting spells. I'll have them help make this place a fortress."

I grinned and clapped his back, "Nice! Thank you Captain. Gather those cultivators, Frank, same to you. Figure out who can help, including any who can make traps. We'll have a meeting to discuss the structure of our defenses. In the meantime, I'm going to grab Maya and Rue. I'm sure they'll have some crazy ideas. We'll reconvene in the meeting room."

Frank scratched his head, "Ah, before that. We have a guest who showed up yesterday who was wanting to meet ya. They weren't fixin' to hang around too long before heading to that mountain city. Seems like fortune favored you both in that regard. They showed up in rough shape having fought some nasty beasties and were just staying until they could handle the journey to the Dwarf city."

I cocked my head at the prospect of additional allies, "Oh? Who are they? I suppose I can talk to them before our meeting. Can't have them walk into Mithra'Vheen as it is now."

Frank opened his mouth to reply before spotting something behind us. He smiled and replied, "Speak of the devil. Here she is. Kinda like you Eliara, she's an Elf."

We turned around and I froze mid smile along with Asha. I recognized this woman. It was none other than the Elven inquisitor that killed my first life, Liara M'yee Na'taal. The inquisitor had approached and had bowed slightly, likely realizing who I was as I had a pretty unique appearance. She was very beautiful, an unnatural beauty radiated from her. She was tall and slender at nearly seven feet. She wore silver and gold plate armor with religious symbols engraved. I could tell that was not merely aesthetic as they radiated power like an enchanted item. Her golden hair was tied in a neat braided bun and her very long pointed ears were slightly splayed out. She had eerie golden irises that almost flowed like molten gold.

In an elegant voice she rose from her bow and announced, "Greetings. You must be the leader of this village. I've heard wonderous things about... you..." She trailed off as she stared at Asha, I could see the cogs cranking as she worked out where she remembered Asha from. Finally it clicked and her hand went to the pommel of the large sword at her slender waist.

She narrowed her eyes and spoke, "I know you. It took a moment as you somehow lack the stink of Hel, but it is no doubt that you are the wretched succubus slave of that failed lich. What was it? Ah, Asha. I see you found a new master. You there, lord of this village, do you know what this creature is? I was under the impression that you are from Earth, so you may not know what manner of evil you hold companionship with."

She met my eyes and once again went speechless before I could reply, this time her jaw dropped. In a tight voice she said, "It may take a moment to remember that demoness, but I will never forget that symbol. So, you survived lich. I should have realized it, how foolish of me. If that wench lives, then of course her soul bound master would be alive as well. How far you have fallen, Maxwell. After all these centuries I can finally have my vengeance."

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

She drew her blade, a golden flame wrapping around the claymore. It was an impressive blade and only her height allowed such a sword to be stored at her hip. Even from several feet away, my skin tingled at the dangerous holy energy those flames radiated. I held my hands up placatingly, "Hold up now. I ain't who you think I am. I won't insult your intelligence or the memory of your fallen comrades and say I'm not related, but I ain't Maxwell. Please, let me explain. Fighting here isn't a good idea."

"You think I fear your seat of power? I killed you in your greatest fortress once before and this pales in comparison lich," she spat.

"No, the people here are innocent, especially in regards to Maxwell. A fight here will result in civilian casualties."

She snarled, "So low as to use living shields."

I sighed, "Great, you're one of those."

"What idiocy do you speak?"

"I mean, no matter what I say, your bias will spin it into the worst version. Listen, I am not Lucien Maxwell. My name is Victor Gale."

Crouching low she replied icily, "I care not what moniker you wield these days, this time I shall not fail my Goddess. I will discover whether these humans are innocent mortals that you led by falsehood or willing servants after I slay you."

My eyes widened as I felt a surge of powerful mana. I shouted, "Shit, evacuate everyone!" In a blink the Elven inquisitor disappeared and I barely managed to form a gauntlet around my arm to block the blow. She had reappeared behind me. It felt like I blocked a hit from a wrecking ball as I flew through the air and crashed through one of the watchtowers. Unfortunately, there was someone manning it. He screamed as the ten foot tall structure collapsed on top of me.

I emerged from the rubble with my armor fully formed and helped the groaning man to his feet. He was scratched up, but managed to avoid any bad injuries. Though I didn't like the way he was holding his wrist. I sent him away, nodding at his thanks as I glared at the inquisitor. "Damn it, woman! Are you so bone headed that you won't even do your due diligence?" I cursed and summoned a wall of blood that barely managed to block a blast of golden flame. The blood fizzed and spat at the head.

I used the opening to summon my scythe and nearly swung as two figures appeared at my side. It was Eliara and Asha. "Forget about me. Help the others get to safety, I'll keep her busy."

"Don't be stupid, she was at the late Pavilion stage when she fought Maxwell and that was hundreds of years ago. I doubt a hardass like her just lazed around," shouted Asha.

"Goddammit Asha, I gave you an order. Go evacuate the civilians. The sooner they're safe, the sooner you can— SHIT!" A vortex of silver blades shot out and I blasted my two friends out of the way. The blades were copies of the blade that Liara wielded except they where a translucent silver. They sliced through my armor like butter but didn't manage to cut me too deep. Unfortunately, death by a thousand cuts was equally unappealing. I turned to mist and flowed flat to the ground. I reappeared several feet outside of the attack.

I quickly locked on to Liara's position. She now wore a matching helmet that was in an abstract image of a heron's head. The crest on the top of the head swept back into a plume of silvery golden flame. The holy knight was as intimidating as she was beautiful. Another curse tore from my throat as I saw her soldiers were fighting the Rock Drakes. Thankfully, it didn't seem like they were trying to kill each other so much as they were trying to join their leader while the Rock Drakes prevented them from doing so.

I couldn't take my attention away from the Elf for long as she flickered from my sight only to appear in front of me, crossing a few dozen feet in an instant. My helmet cracked, much to my shock, from a simple backhand. I tumbled end over end before colliding with a nearby building. Dazed, I struggled to extract myself from being embedded in the wall. Once again she was in front of me. She thrust her claymore into my stomach and I spat up blood. "Pathetic. So many centuries passed and you've barely managed to regain a fraction of your strength. I am nearly disappointed, Maxwell. It is less glorious to fell a crippled opponent."

Coughing I smirked from the new hole in my helmet, "How 'bout you let me go, then? We'll put a pin in this fight and circle back when I'm stronger."

I screamed as she twisted the blade, the flames scorching me much worse than normal flames could, "I am afraid not. I failed one and I shall not allow my desire for a strong opponent stray me from my Goddess's path. I'll not let evil such as you walk any world whether it be Veru or this new one we find ourselves on." With that she withdrew her blade, grabbed me by the neck and plucked me from the wall as easily as one would a grape from a vine.

Okay, time for talk is gone. Behind her, I summoned my Pestilence clone that shoved an inflicted blade into a gap where her arm met her shoulder. She yelped more in surprise than pain. I felt the affliction take hold in her and grinned as Blood Fever began to muddle her thoughts. She didn't let me go, but the wound was on the arm she was holding me with. I cast Blood Burst and that did it.

This time she screamed in pain as blood splattered from the seams in her armor and I fell to the ground. I used Crimson Revival, a single-use spell that completely healed me. In order to use it again, I would need to refill it's reservoir. I needed to distract her so I used my second spell in the Deluge Pillar, Sanguine Swarm. This caused a portal of swirling blood to appear in the air. From it, bats made of blood flew out in a torrent. As the name promised, they swarmed the inquisitor blocking her view from me. The bats gnawed at any bit of exposed flesh they could reach and began to suck. Since they were made of blood, it was easier to slip inside her armor where they would latch on as firmly as leeches. I had tested this spell earlier and held one of the bats. They were the shape and size of vampire bats, so pretty small. However, instead of a fanged jaw, their mouths were that of lampreys.

I couldn't kill her, she was too powerful. Even my debuffs weren't as effective on her. Even if I could manage it, we need someone like her to fight against the Void cult. I cast Bloody Mire and a quagmire of thick blood caused her to sink to her knees, tentacles of bloody sinew pulled at her. I also cast Chains that Bind and the binding spell secured her to the floor. For good measure, I cast Hemorrhage to drain her strength. I could barely make her out beneath the squirming bats but she stopped struggling. "Okay, are you finally ready to listen? I don't give a fuck what quarrels you had with Maxwell. There is a bigger threat than Maxwell ever presented. I'm trying my best to help these people survive and these people are fucking that up. We need to work to—"

My words were cut off as a blast of pure gold vaporized all of my spells and sent me flying. I braced for impact, trying not to dwell on the scent of cooked meat. However, I never made it to the ground. Liara caught me one handed by the chest plate and pulled me into her knee. Metal met whatever metal-like material my Regalia was made of and her metal won. Air fled from my lungs and my armor shattered from the impact. In a burst of anger I decided, fuck it. We can always heal her. I shoved my clawed hands towards her neck.

I froze and stared into her cold and triumphant eyes before I looked down. Her burning fist was plunged in my chest nearly to her elbow. Strength failed and I stumbled, weak kneed. I vaguely heard a pair of voices cry out my name as I fell to the ground when Liara ripped her arm free from my chest. Weird, I thought having someone elbow deep in your chest would hurt more. I felt claustrophobic so I banished my armor, enjoying the breeze. I coughed and felt something wet splatter from my mouth. A helmet covered face looked at the blood coating her arm before golden flames burned it away.

In a flash of gold, a four foot long blade was in Liara's hand and she raised it, positioned where a neat horizontal slice would free my head from my shoulders. I opened my mouth to speak but only blood came out. My vision was going blurry but I was coherent enough to see someone come into view and spread her arms wide in defiance. At first I thought it was Eli or Asha and gratitude warred with annoyance. If I couldn't kill her what could they do? Asha was just a little stronger than me. But no, this girl was too short to be either of them. It wasn't until I heard a cry of fear and anguish call out, "Ashley!" that I realized who was in front of me.

It was the little girl Ashley. Despite barely coming up to the tall Elf's knees, the child was bravely blocking her from killing me. To her credit, Liara froze, unwilling to cut down the child along with me. "Move child," she ordered."

"Don't hurt Uncle Vicky! I thought you were nice and pretty, like an Elf princess, but you're just a big meanie!" Not even a quiver of fear was in her voice. Adding to both our shock, she summoned the spellform of a cantrip and a baseball sized orange flame shot out and splashed harmlessly across Liara's chest.

Mild surprise could be seen through the eye slits of Liara's helmet and I somehow managed to find the strength to get in front of Ashley, barely. I was a sorry sight with a weeping hole in my chest. It was hard to breath with only one lung. I glared defiantly at the inquisitor and wheezed out, "Don't...hurt...her."

For the first time, hesitation flashed over Liara's expression. Unfortunately, this was only for a moment before a steely resolve hardened her gaze. "I won't." She promised as she readied her final strike. I closed my eyes, sorry that I wouldn't be there to protect the others. My biggest regret was not being able to explore the budding relationship I had with Eliara.