“You would bring these… these malcontents with you to your surrender, Elmer,” Judy Brass accused, not bothering to hide her anger. The head of Legal Eagles wore a black robe that made her resemble a judge on the Supreme Court. The robe absorbed the sunlight and gave the woman an almost wraithlike presence. A judge’s gavel hung at her waist, and she wore a unique ring of each of her fingers. “You were always my most troublesome lawyer, but I didn’t realize you were foolish as well.”
“Fuck you too, Judy,” came Elmer’s simple reply. He clutched his axe at his side, not bothering with the pretense of civility.
They met on the beach at the eastern ocean’s edge, two lines of foes across from each other. The gentle rhythm of the waves belied the electric tension that arched between the three factions. Joseph, Stone’s second-in-command, and Edna Carthage stood to either side of the CEOs, weapons at the ready.
Either they didn’t have time to adjust to Cally and my appearance, or they are just that confident.
Judy started to return Elmer’s insult, until Jacob Stone held up his hand and interrupted the angry CEO.
“Now, Judy. We can be civilized, even if they won’t be. We are their bosses, after all. It falls to us to be the greater men. Plus, they have brought a guest, and I’d hate to leave a bad impression,” Stone said, his eyes fixed curiously on the elder fox.
Stone’s new equipment made him look like a medieval knight adorned in heavy armor of ivory from neck to toe. He carried a white helm with gold stripes under his arm, had a glowing broadsword at his waist, and tower shield strapped to his back.
“What should we deal with first, renegades? Your submission? The monster you bring into our midst? Or have you simply come to fight?” Stone asked with practiced confidence.
Calista stepped forward, spear in hand, as Milly placed her hand protectively on Lightpaw’s shoulder.
“There will be no submission,” declared Alison, leaning on her staff. “Your position isn’t as strong as it was this morning, Stone. You are not the only ones to complete an arena.”
Alison said we had to come in with a position of strength. I hope this works, or all hell might break loose. I wish Rain were here. She knows how to play these political games.
“You arrogant little shits,” spat Brass. “We gave you a chance to return to the fold, and you spit in our faces. Your colleagues die every day, but you choose to let them die instead of helping them live. All you selfish little twats can think about is how much you hate your bosses.”
“We have every reason to hate you. You locked us out of the tower, and our friends died at our feet,” Milly shouted, as her anger eclipsed her anxiety. Salem’s Fury bubbled beneath her skin, aching for release.
“Yes, we did,” Stone said, his voice cold and calculated. “Your little band of rebels were a threat – a greater threat than any monster that roamed the wilds. Remember that it was you who completed the first arena. You that triggered the next phase of the God Contest. We could have spent weeks building up our defenses and establishing a stable food supply before venturing further out into this game of death. We could have brought order to chaos. Instead, we had to scramble because you moved too fast – thinking only of yourselves.”
“Locking you out of the tower was the logical decision,” Brass added, her eyes fixed on Lightpaw. “If those monsters had entered the tower, it would have been a slaughter. Many of our employees – your coworkers – were still level one. They were scared, and they would have died where they cowered.”
“We saw the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and we took it,” finished Stone. “I don’t regret that decision. It was the right one to make, even if it did cost you a few friends.”
Elmer’s grip tightened on his axe as his face grew red with anger.
Our friends died. Slaughtered on the beach we now stand on. I don’t care if you believe your actions to be justified, Stone. Their blood is on your hands.
“Bullshit. You’ve been playing games with our lives since day one. You declared me an enemy of the tower long before any of that happened, ” Milly accused.
“You were a useful tool,” Stone said, without emotion. “A strangely dressed outcast that was too meek to fight back. You had little to offer but to be an object of fear that keep people together through mutual hate. It didn’t take long to turn you to that purpose – a whisper here and there. People thought you strange already. And my plan worked. The fear kept people united in those early days. I knew you would soon outlive your purpose, but I thought the game would take care of that loose end for me. I didn’t expect someone as pathetic as you to survive more than a few days, let alone…”
Stone abruptly stopped as the Spear of Pinga embedded in the sand between his legs. Its shaft quivered from the ferocity of Calista’s throw.
“If I ever – ever – hear you speak like that to Milly again, your fancy armor won’t stop me from thrusting my spear into your heart,” Calista said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, I think you’d find this armor more than a match for this pitiful spear,” Stone said, flicking the spear’s shaft with his finger. “But you’ve made your point, huntress. Your little witch lost her usefulness in that regard the moment you defeated the Arena of Choice anyways.”
“Their surrender, Stone?” whispered Brass impatiently, her hand on her gavel. “They refused our generous offer.”
Joseph and Edna tensed. Joseph readied his weapon as Edna’s hands began to glow.
“In a moment, my dear,” soothed Stone. “You are always so impatient. There is another matter we must inquire about before we decide what to do about their refusal. Tell me, Ms. Gale. Before we force your submission, why did you bring a monster into our midst?”
Shufflebottom perked up. He hadn’t said a word since they’d arrived. He stared at the cresting ocean waves, distracted and bored with their tense encounter.
The EnergyWave CEO had been eclectic before the contest. The high-energy CEO dressed in neon clothing as if he’d stopped evolving his wardrobe in the early 1990s and had positioned himself as his company’s mascot as if he were Colonel Sanders.
Now, after the Arena of Domination, Shufflebottom resembled a hybrid of a court jester and an elderly hippie. He had a ring of flowers in his hair and wore a motley purple and pink jester costume. He shuffled a deck of cards between his palms absentmindedly as he listened to their exchange. He turned from the waves and fixed his eyes on Lightpaw.
“Yes, I wish to know about the monster,” Shufflebottom replied. “A pet? Or perhaps a familiar, as Edna’s sister has obtained? A curiosity, to say the least.”
Milly tensed anxiously as Lightpaw stepped forward to Calista’s side.
“I am Lightpaw, the Chief Elder of the collective clans of the Fairies,” Lightpaw began tactfully. “We are not monsters. Our people have roamed these lands for generations. But we were attacked by true monsters this morning. The Wolves of the Silver Lakes. Ms. Gale, Ms. Brown, Ms. Desjarlais, and a young man helped us repel their attack. But my people are decimated. Injured. Scared. We need a place to rebuild and live in peace, where the wolves will not find us and finish what they started.”
“That place is the Castle of Glass,” Calista jumped in, recalling her spear from between Stone’s legs. “We promised them safety, and we intend to deliver on that promise.”
“Oh? I didn’t realize the Castle of Glass was yours to offer?” Shufflebottom said curiously as he knelt to look Lightpaw in the eye. “This world is so curious. Talking animals. Fascinating.”
“The Castle of Glass is as much ours as it is yours,” insisted Calista.
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“Yours?” Brass laughed cruelly, her eyes darting between Calista and Lightpaw with intense loathing. “We paid the rent. We employed all of you. Legally, we are the closest thing to owners in this world. You’re just some poorly educated office skank who earned minimum wage and was stuck at the bottom of society with the other riffraff, where you properly belong.”
This time, it was Milly’s turn to snap. A tiny lightning bolt from Milly’s hands struck the ground at Brass’s feet and melted the sand beneath her shoes. A thunderous boom reverberated down the beach, a warning of the strength contained within the witch.
Joseph stepped forward, his mace ready to strike. Stone waved him down.
“I’ll consider your… unusual request, Chief Elder, after we deal with the issue at hand. So what will it be, Alison?” he asked expectedly. “It would be better for all if you simply rejoined us and united our employees under our leadership.”
“We won’t submit to you, Stone,” Alison answered. “And you don’t have the ability to overwhelm us in a fight anymore. Not with the witch and the huntress at our side.”
Stone considered her words carefully, and then grinned at his former ally.
“No, we don’t,” Stone admitted. He shrugged, as if the whole conversation had been nothing more than a business deal gone awry. “So that leaves us three options. We can kill each other, return to our cold war, or… perhaps there is a deal to be made.”
“A deal? You must be joking. You killed our friends,” Elmer hissed. “How about you leave us the fuck alone, and I won’t…”
Alison laid a calming hand on his arm.
“I believe a deal would be in everyone’s best interest,” Alison prompted, her eyes as calculating as Stone’s. “What did you have in mind?”
I hate to admit it, but Alison is right. We can’t survive this contest while watching for a knife in our back. And Lightpaw and his people need peace. Real peace. Not a false truce that might break down at any moment.
“Milly, you’re up,” whispered Calista softly, so only Milly could hear. Milly focused intently on Stone and willed her Ceaseless Skepticism to the forefront of his mind. They knew a bargain was a possibility, and her talent gave them an edge.
“I’ll make you a generous offer. More generous than rebels such as yourselves deserve,” Stone started. “You may think me as a dictator – shoddy employees such as you often consider their boss to be an evil dictator – but my only goal is to do what is necessary to secure the safety of our staff.”
Milly felt the telltale tingle in her spine.
Lie. He’s out for himself. He always has been.
“We stand a better chance of surviving as a single group. But since that no longer seems possible, we must find a way to work together, despite our rather intense dislike for each other.”
Truth. He knows he lost his bargaining chip when we returned, and a war between us would only weaken him.
“So here is what I offer. We shall allow you to operate as independent factions, under certain conditions. You shall accept no more members into your ranks. You will proportionally share the bounty of the farm so that we shall not starve. And you will build the wall and the other projects that we need to fortify the Castle of Glass.”
Truth. He knows he needs the food and security those projects offer.
“Do you think I am a fool, Stone?” interrupted Alison. “You’d have the Freelancers and the Farmers work the tower, while your people venture into the wilds and grow strong. How long until you outpace us? How long before we are back on this beach, with your foot against our necks. We will share in the bounty, but you will commit your people to work on the farm and the projects as well. We’ll form a joint committee to govern building and food supply, with equal representation from all three factions.”
“Two factions,” Brass jumped in. “You and Elmer may not have an official alliance, but you haven’t left each other’s side since the bureaucrats fractured away. No doubt you’re sharing each other’s beds as well, given how close you two have become.”
“We’re doing no such thing, Brass,” Alison denied.
Lie.
Milly couldn’t help but glance at Elmer with a little smile.
Good for you, Elmer. She seems like a good woman. I’m glad you’ve found a piece of happiness in this world.
“Two factions then, but equal representation from both. And we all help build and protect the Castle of Glass,” Alison compromised. The CEOs agreed to the compromise, and for a moment Milly felt the tug of hope inside her.
“And what about you denying membership to those who wish to join you?” Stone prompted. “This is not negotiable. If you do not agree to this, there will be no deal.”
Truth. He’ll go to war over this.
“Our coworkers are not slaves, Stone,” Calista said.
“Nor is this our world, huntress. Our employees can’t simply give two weeks notice and join another company. It would destabilize everything we have built and put our alliance at risk with every defection. And that… that would put everyone’s lives at risk.”
… Truth, but not the full truth. He’s hiding something.
Elmer and Alison whispered to each other for a long time, locked in a quiet but heated debate.
“Five. We each get five people we can allow into our ranks from the other side,” Elmer finally said. “That’s less than one percent of your players, Stone. If you cannot deal with such a small number, your hold on your people must be weak.”
Stone beamed in delight.
“Deal,” he said, before Brass and Shufflebottom could protest. “This is a concession I’m more than happy to give.”
Truth. Truth? Why? He said this condition was non-negotiable. How does…
Milly saw it, the mistake they had made, and the opportunity Stone had seized.
Shit. In Stone’s proposal, the CEOs would have been the bad guy. They’d have to tell people they couldn’t leave. But now that’s been flipped on its head. The Freelancers and the Farmers are the ones who have to tell people they can’t join. That they are not good enough to be one of the five. That’s… that’s such a fucking management move! Delegating down the blame while taking all the credit.
“We can work out the finer details in that committee,” Stone said with a false smile. “In return for this agreement, neither side shall initiate hostilities against the other. We’ll put on a brave public face and work together, and we can go about hating each other behind the privacy of closed doors.”
Truth. Until it no longer suits them. We’ll still need to keep up with them, or they’ll end this deal the moment our collective strength falls too far behind them.
“I’ll have one of my lawyers draw up the documents and…” Brass concluded as she started to walk towards the Castle of Glass, anxious to leave their company.
“We don’t have an agreement yet, Brass,” Calista said, jumping in despite Elmer and Alison’s protests. “We still have the matter of Lightpaw’s people.”
“Ah, yes, your fairies,” considered Stone. “I believe…”
Brass twisted her head towards the fairy, her face a mask of fury.
“I will not share my home with a bunch of filthy monsters,” Brass spat with sudden venom, interrupting Stone.
Stone looked at the CEO, and, for a brief moment, Milly caught a glimpse of anger behind his calculating expression. Except this time, Stone’s anger was directed at his fellow CEO, not at his rivals across the sand.
Brass did not notice. Her eyes shot daggers at Lightpaw, reflecting an intense hatred for the fairy.
“Yes, well, I suppose having these creatures live at the Castle of Glass would be too much for… some people. You must understand, Elder, that our employees have been slain by creatures from the wilds since we arrived here. Goblins. Ogres. All manner of mythical creatures that existed only in our stories. However, I believe I have a proposal that would be beneficial for both of us.”
Truth.
Milly was shocked. She’d thought Stone would be adamantly opposed to the fairies, yet Stone’s demeanor reflected not the hatred found in Brass, but the promise of unexpected opportunity.
“You cannot be serious, Stone. They’ll kill us in our sleep,” Brass protested, losing all remaining sense of composure and comradery with her fellow CEOs. “They’ll ally with these rebels and try to overwhelm us.”
“My people are peaceful folk,” the Chief Elder said calmly, his head slightly bowed. “We would do nothing to jeopardize the peace you have agreed to here, and we shall take no sides. We are resourceful and can hunt and forage for ourselves, so we will not be a burden. We have magic that may help you – healing and earth and wind – and stories of our journeys throughout the wilds, passed down since the first generations.”
“A potential treasure-trove of information,” whispered Shufflebottom to Stone, just loud enough for Milly to hear. “And a source of labour. Plus, they’re just so darn cute.”
“Indeed, Shufflebottom,” agreed Stone. “Very well, Chief Elder. We will allow your people to live near the Castle of Glass, though your people shall not enter its walls without the permission of all faction leaders. In return, you will contribute fifty percent of all your foraging and hunting production to the Castle of Glass – a tithe to compensate us for our generosity and protection – to be distributed proportionally to the factions. This is our offer if your people wish to settle here.”
“That’s highway robbery!” shouted Calista, outraged. “Half of everything? They are just trying to survive.”
“So are we, Ms. Gale,” Stone answered. “And we protect our own people first.”
“I… agree with Mr. Stone,” Alison chimed in. Calista looked like she’d been stabbed in the heart. “Huntress, as loathed as I am to admit it, the CEO of Acicentre is right. We’re all just trying to survive in a world designed to kill us one-by-one. We need every advantage we can get, and the food that the Fairies would bring in grants us time we need to grow stronger. It is a fair offer.”
“It is… acceptable,” the Chief Elder decided, and he bowed to each of them. “You have given my people a chance, and I thank you for it. We will do our part to help both our people survive in these troubled times.”
“Then we have an accord,” Stone announced, clapping his hands together with finality. “We shall hold a joint announcement tonight after our people return from the wilds. A celebration of peace, and of victories in the arenas that bought us three months to prepare.”
Stone strode into the middle of the sand, extending his arm. Elmer and Alison glanced at each other and reluctantly joined him, their deal sealed in a handshake.
A temporary peace was reached, though the hatreds that had formed between the factions lay just under the surface.
As each faction leader departed to prepare for the evening’s announcement, Milly couldn’t shake the anxiety that had settled in her stomach.
It had been too easy, and easy things, in her experience, rarely came without an unexpected price.
“Come on, beautiful,” Calista urged, her hand wrapped within Milly’s. “Let’s bring the fairies to their new home.”