Shortly before Choul begins his attack, Daniel, Hekate, Vaergraes, and Illianna disembark the rover ahead of the first wave of the invading army’s forces; the contingent meant to establish a foothold for the siege itself.

“Wenlianna, stay focused on being safe. Slow is fast, alright?”

She nods, gripping the steering wheel. “R-Right!”

“You’ll do fine.”

She nods nervously, and Treia pokes her head into view from the back. “You better be safe, Daniel. I’d hate to have to use a revival potation on you so I can kill you.”

Daniel chuckles. “Joke’s on you. It wouldn’t work on me.”

“Do be safe, though, Daniel,” adds Gwenesphia. She teases playfully, “It’s not fair that the dragon empresses and goblin queens are the only ones.”

“Right?” replies Hekate.

Daniel rolls his eyes and nods his head for them to go, and Wenlianna nods softly. She drives the rover in an arc to return the way they came and begin poisoning wells and springs with soap. Ideally, they’ll route the invaders before they press far enough in for it to be necessary, but it’s part of a scorched earth response, which is an effective strategy for defeating invaders. It’s most effective in barren or winter-frozen areas, but the Citadel is surrounded by wide open plains and gently rolling hills, making it easy to maneuver troops, but lacking supplies for them to claim.

Daniel and his group walk until they come to the top of a small hill, and they can see the leading formations of the army as they are spreading out into wider ranks with a handful of riders coordinating. Hekate looks at Daniel, and he nods. “Go for it, sweetpea.”

She grins, “Thanks! I wi-... Wait a minute.. What does that mean? ‘Sweetpea’?”

“Hurry up. They’re getting closer.”

Illianna remarks, “I don’t think they’ve noticed us, yet.”

“Daniel, as your wife, you will tell me when this is over. I won’t forget. And you won’t distract me.”

“Sure sure. Now, let’s get started.”

She nods, casting the hologram spell. It’s modified from when she used it against the barrier of the Citadel, allowing her to form an illusion of herself that stands on its own, towering over them at fifty feet tall.

“Foolish invaders from the east! I am Hekate Fell Lawson, Empress of the Citadel and Ruler of the Fievegal! You dare to invade my territory once more? Send forth your emissary, or I shall commence my attack!”

Hekate waits for a moment as they watch the front lines, and Illianna points out, “They’re concentrating magic at their center.”

“Yes, I feel it too,” adds Vaergraes.

“Can you block it?” asks Daniel.

“Yes. But, be prepared for their forces to charge and try to surround us. Empress Hekate is on the field.”

“Right, makes sense.” Daniel approaches Hekate, “Hekate? Are you ready?”

She grins and nods. “Why yes, Darling!” Her hologram and projected voice also repeat this line, and she steps slightly to the side, allowing Daniel to step into the projection with her. Thanks to the illusion, they stand relatively close in height -perhaps intentionally by the fox-eared little empress-. Regardless, Daniel waves his hand over the field. He has his helmet off, revealing that he is a human, but most of these people wouldn’t know his face.

“Soldiers of the Allied Imperial Forces, I am Daniel Al-...” He sighs. “I am Daniel kos Lawson, and there has been a grave misunderstanding and delay in relayed information. I am not a hostage of the Citadel nor Hekate. I am…” Daniel struggles to say it not because he’s actually under duress, but because he has been denying it, and it feels far outside of ridiculous for him, a humble mechanic, to say. “Emperor of the Citadel, Lord of the dragons and the Fievegal. I was banished to the front lines and had to survive on my own. I stopped the dragons from rampaging on the east, I have removed the pressures on the Demon Covenant to invade, and I have spared all who have attacked my family, my friends, and my home. This is your final warning. Turn back now, or face the full wrath of my allies.”

A horse finally rides across the space between the invading army and Daniel’s group bearing a white flag with an emblem of a scroll on it; a messenger. Daniel nods at Vaergraes, and she allows the messenger to get close, but stops him when he’s in shouting range.

“I am Baron Olganieth kos Deiorloden, second of my name, and I have a message from the united army of the Grand Zenkon Empire, the only sovereign Empire recognized on these lands. Our terms are simple. We shall withdraw if the demon-kin hand over Daniel peacefully.”

Daniel sighs. “Of course. Gonna explicitly say it right to our faces, huh? Very well. Know this, soldiers of the east, the Fievegal is sovereign. We have conquered what we have, and we will conquer what we desire. You have made enemies of the strongest power in this world. And, I tried to warn you.” Daniel gestures at the sky, and his image does the same. He whispers, “Xyreko, signal Choul to begin.”

She can’t reply to him because he’s not wearing his helmet, but he can see the glow in the clouds as a massive shadow descends. Choul begins his attack, and the messenger whirls as his buckrokh panics.

Hekate ends the illusion spell, asking, “Now what? Do we capture the messenger?”

“No. He’s a baron, which is pretty low on the totem pole for nobles, who likely make up many of their officers on the field. Depending on what Choul does on step two, we’ll respond to their reactions for now. Lady Vaergraes, Lady Illianna, Hekate, please keep your bombardments as clean as possible. If they continue to charge,...”

“I know, I know!” whines Hekate. “Try not to kill anyone.”

Vaergraes looks at the army with seriousness. “Believe it or not, Daniel, I can’t remember the last time I fought on the front lines against easterners.” She looks at him. “N-Not because I wanted to take the easy way out, mind you.”

“Because you were empathizing with them. I understand. That’s also why I don’t want to kill soldiers just following orders. There are good people in their ranks. Some of them will be fools, but most of them are just guys who were drafted, people with family and kids back home to take care of, and loyalty to their sworn allegiances. Ironically enough, no one here had me swear allegiance, or I might have been in those ranks myself.”

“Really?” asks Vaergraes softly.

Hekate immediately springs in front of him, pointing up at him. “Daniel! Swear your allegiance to me immediately! Repeat after me, ‘I, Daniel, swear to honor and obey, love and behold, cherish, obey, and give many children to-...” Daniel bops her on top of her helmet, and she whines, “Hey!”

He crouches down to her level, saying softly, “Hekate, I pledge my undying allegiance, love, and respect to you and the rest of our family. To my very last breath, I will love and protect you and all we hold dear. On my very life, my soul, and all I have to give, this I solemnly swear.”

She squirms for a moment, no doubt blushing under her helmet. She hugs him, murmuring, “D-Daniel, I love you, too. And, I swear my undying allegiance to you and our family, too. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you with us forever.”

Vaergraes smiles, but Illianna cuts in, “I hate to crush this moment, but the enemy is charging. Incoming spells.”

Both Illianna and Vaergraes face the incoming fire, and Daniel takes a drink from his water skin, once more courtesy of Geirahoel. Just before he puts it away, Hekate says, “Give me that. I need some, too.”

She is surprised by the taste, but immediately recognizes it. She shoots a brief scowl at Daniel, but drinks a fair amount of the milk inside, sighing. “Daniel, I want it to be my turn.” She hands it back to him, saying sheepishly, “It… It always makes me feel so calm and refreshed.”

He chuckles, putting it back into his bag. “It’s good, but I think it’s going to give me diabetes, if your cuteness doesn’t first.” She flinches, and Daniel watches Choul make another attack run. The charge is being led by horses, and Daniel approaches Baron Olganieth. “Baron. I have another message for the east. Peace through superior firepower.”

The baron scowls at him, but notices the three behind him who are far more powerful than he could ever hope to be. “You are a traitor to your own kind, Daniel! You will not easily be forgiven!”

“All kings, queens, and Emperors descend from upstarts and conquerors, or are so themselves.”

The buckrokh is still panicking, and Baron Olganieth is barely able to keep it under control. Vaergraes approaches, and the baron draws his sword, though the buckrokh pacing in circles will make it extraordinarily difficult for him to fight.

The Demon Archpriestess casts a simple hypnosis spell, calming the beast immediately, and it begins trotting back towards the invading army. The baron tries to keep his eyes on them, suspecting them of attack, but she waves with a smile. “His grace gave you a message. Do try not to forget it.”

Suddenly, a magic barrier hardens before them as summoned fireballs, ice shards, rocks, and lightning bolts explode against it; a large scale barrage trying to take out the group of four while they have the chance.

Daniel withdraws a void bag full of teargas grenades. He dumps them out, saying, “Ladies, pull these pins here, and begin launching these into the enemy lines. It’ll disrupt their formation. Illianna, for the moment, we’ll leave defense to you.”

She nods, continuing to intercept all manner of ranged attacks with ease. “Please do assist if I am unable to hold alone.”

“Of course. Don’t hesitate to tell us.”

Daniel begins pulling pins with Hekate and Vaergraes as the latter two also use wind magic to launch the relatively small canisters towards the charging cavalry. When the cavalry are a little closer, they’ll use an intimidation attack between Vaergraes and Hekate to startle them and hopefully remove them from the fight.

The teargas grenades begin billowing smoke in the various areas where they land, engulfing some of the cavalry soldiers or the foot soldiers further behind. As far as Daniel knows, this world doesn’t have anything like it, and he knows from experience that, while it doesn’t necessarily feel life-threatening the very first time, it’s certainly not enjoyable and extremely difficult to focus.

Daniel instructs as they continue going through the canisters, “Remember to keep them spread out. It doesn’t take much of this stuff to get the effect.”

“Right!” “Of course,” reply Hekate and Vaergraes, continuing to pull pins and launch theirs and Daniel’s into the distance.

The cavalry is getting close, and Daniel says, “Alright, you’re up. The scarier the better.”

Vaergraes nods. “Hekate, I’m going to summon a Death Knight. Channel your magic into it as I’m summoning. The more magic, the stronger it’ll be.”

They both begin casting together, channelling their mystical power into the same magic circle Vaergraes created to summon the Death Knight, which Daniel has yet to see in this world. In fictions of Earth, they were usually demonic or undead soldiers of massive size and strength.

In this case, it definitely doesn’t match what he envisioned. If he had to compare it to anything, it would be a queen alien from a sci-fi movie made before he was even born, but still very much worth watching. It has four legs under a large, insect-like torso, powerful, claw-like hands, and a terrifying, monstrous visage. Even Daniel is a little uncomfortable seeing it, and it grows larger and more grotesque the more mana they put into it.

Once satisfied, Vaergraes calls, “Go, my Death Knight! Bring terror and send these invaders fleeing!” The Death Knight roars, reminding Daniel of a lion, with a powerful, throaty rumble. It charges forward on its four legs, stopping as the cavalry reaches 100 yards from them. It flares a magic aura around itself, and when it roars, it creates a faintly visible shockwave as the volume splits the air.

Instantly, the cavalry charge crumbles. Buckrokhs buck and launch their riders. Others try to turn and ram into each other. Some trip. Others skitter to a stop and immediately back away. All of them bellow, snort and low in panic, trying desperately to get away from the newcomer.

Vaergraes sinks to a kneel as she catches her breath, and Daniel jogs to her. “Vaergraes?”

“I’m alright.” She pants softly, and Hekate replies, “I feel fine.”

“You have much more mana than me, your Grace. That is one of my most powerful spells. Especially if I give the Death Knight enough strength to withstand dragon attacks.”

Daniel chuckles. “I see. Well, let me just say this;” Daniel looks at the monster that is giving chase to the buckrokhs and their dislodged riders, who are now all sprinting back the way they came. “We can’t be friends anymore.”

Vaergraes is shocked, and she looks at him with horror on her face. He jokes softly, “That thing is terrifying.” He chuckles, “Seriously, though. I’m glad I never had to fight you myself.”

“Me? Same to you, y-your Grace! Not even my Death Knight could withstand your weapons, I fear.”

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A massive barrage of magic attacks hits the monster as it stomps after the fleeing cavalry, but it is completely unfazed, marching ever forward towards the front lines. In the grand scheme of things, much of the front lines will simply go past it when it reaches them, but it’ll definitely cause chaos.

Hekate twitches, and she says, “Daniel! Um… Choul just said that the enemies are using mithril weapons. They know the dragons are in the fight.”

Daniel nods, “They’d be fools not to prepare for everything. Will that be a problem?”

Vaergraes shakes her head. “Not to the Death Knight. It may take damage, but it is incapable of fear. It’ll only retreat if I order it to.”

“Is it a person in there?”

“Hmm? Oh! No, not quite. It can prioritize targets, but it’s not a trapped soul, or anything of the sort. It is closer to a monster that follows orders.”

Daniel nods. “Don’t let it be wasted. Our goal is to destroy their supplies for now. We’ll push harder to drive them back later.”

She nods, and the Death Knight roars again, toppling a swath of the soldiers as it and the front lines reach each other. It begins launching bodies with broad sweeps, though it’s likely most, if not all, of the people it’s striking will survive, given how relatively low the impacts seem to be.

“Xyreko, have Choul block escape from the main encampment. If word reaches them, I don’t want the officers to escape.”

He watches as Choul, looking like a proper hellfire dragon in the glow of the destruction he has caused, shifts, glancing in Daniel’s direction. The dragon nods, ascending into the sky and heading further eastward.

“Alright, we need to buy some time for Choul. Illianna, Hekate, how much water can you summon?”

“Water?”

“I doubt you don’t already know, mud is hell to march through.”

They all smile, and Vaergraes tries to stand up. “I can…”

“Rest, my Lady,” urges Illianna. “I can do this much. Your Grace Hekate, shall I take the left?”

Hekate nods with a sharp-toothed grin. “Yep! I’ll handle the rest!” She hops forward, puffing her chest up as big as she can get it. “Rain, rain, come and stay! Hahahahaha!” She channels her vast magical power into a massive jet of water, spraying it far as Illianna weaves her own magic in a more elegant, dance-like motion. Rather than spraying water down range, as Hekate is, Illianna seems to be summoning water above the advancing soldiers.

“It’ll take time to soak in, ladies. Make sure to douse the areas between us and them heavily.”

Hekate cackles, “With this, I might actually run out of mana for once since we met, sweetpea! Heeheeheehee!”

Daniel laughs. “I’ll allow it this time, but I sincerely doubt you want to call me ‘sweetpea’, Sweetpea.”

Hekate glares at him, still channelling her magic successfully. “And why not!? What does it mean?”

Daniel crouches close to her, speaking into her ear. “It’s a term of affection on Earth, usually reserved for cute girls.”

She stammers, “I-I… I didn’t know!”

“I know.” He pats her shoulder, saying, “Keep up the good work, but don’t push past your limits. We don’t have to win today. Everyone we care about, including our villagers, are safe for now.”

She nods. “R-Right!” She squirms giddily, trying not to bounce too much in elation as she continues spraying water. In fact, it almost seems like even more water is rushing out of the spell she’s casting, arcing up and then back down in a large spray, flooding the area and drenching the soldiers.

Illianna seamlessly switches back to defense, cutting off her spell briefly to intercept a lightning attack aimed for them.

While it causes no apparent harm, it does give Daniel an idea. Electricity is possible, but not ideal, since it can very easily kill as it can cause no harm, depending on various factors.

With that in mind, something that is merciless to even the most prepared is something he long ago tried to get away from when he moved from northern USA to southern USA; Ice.

Daniel unclips Hekate’s ice rifle from her back, and she whines, “Hey! What are you doing!? That’s mine!”

Daniel chuckles, teasing, “What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine. Isn’t that a married thing?”

“Hrk…! Y-Yeah, but…”

“Don’t worry. I need you to keep adding water.”

Daniel takes aim with the ice rifle, estimating a good spot to test it out on. He fires, and the bright glowing whitish blue star races downrange towards the invaders, who are still trying to slog ahead through the rapidly softening ground, the deepening puddles, and the slippery footing.

The ice-shot impacts, exploding the mystical energy outwards in a misty-looking blast of fog.

And, to Daniel’s pleasant surprise, it rapidly freezes an even larger area of the ground in an instant. Some of the soldiers are frozen to the ground. Others managed to defend with magic, including fire or barriers, only to lose their footing and fall.

Hekate laughs, taunting, “Dummies! You’re no match for us!”

“Ice, your Grace?” asks Vaergraes.

Daniel nods. “Yes ma’am. The only thing worse for traction than ice is wet ice. Mud’s better for stopping vehicles and mounts, by far. But, ice will play havoc on a bunch of soldiers in heavy, unbalanced gear. Plus, there will still be mud as well.”

Hekate cackles, cheering, “Fire again! Fire again! I want to watch more of them fall down! Hahahaha!”

Daniel obliges, firing the ice rifle in succession, causing large sections of the battlefield to freeze over in seconds. He has to reload the mana crystals with a fresh rig, but he is able to use the weapon to great effect, thanks to Hekate’s water magic. Some of the mages try to counteract either by using fire -which leaves the army with mud, still- or ice of their own, which doesn’t help their comrades who are still unable to walk, especially as moisture from Hekate’s magic coats their ice as well.

“I almost feel bad for them,” remarks Vaergraes gently. “Such valiant and brave soldiers, being made fools of because their commanders don’t recognize when they’re beaten.”

“Their commanders haven’t gotten word, yet, most likely. They think they prepared. The east uses a metric of about seven thousand troops to one dragon to be able to take on dragons. They know of at least five or six, meaning the advancing force alone is enough to take on six dragons… in theory. However, Choul is not fighting them face to face. He’s using guerilla tactics, like I asked him; hit and run, so that they don’t have the time to mount a proper counterattack against him.”

“And, the dragons under the Red Lord favored direct confrontation,” replies Illianna. “Proving their prowess by withstanding enemy attacks head on and defeating the enemy mercilessly.”

Hekate murmurs, “He wasn’t afraid to cull the weak himself, let alone if they died in battle with easterners.” She looks at Daniel. “Daniel, I know easterners… humans, can be strong. It’s a different strength.”

“I’ve never once felt like you look down on me, Hekate, even after you learned the truth. Individuals are strong or weak. Individuals are brave or cowardly. Individuals are good or evil. That’s why I don’t have a ‘kind’, I have a family. They can call me a traitor all they want, but they did nothing to give me any reason to be loyal.”

“Quite the opposite, in fact,” teases Vaergraes. “All the better for me, of course.”

“My lady, tell him you wish to be his wife as well, already,” retorts Illianna coldly.

She smirks and says, “You can’t rush these things, Illianna. Daniel and I are both very busy people. And… Hekate’s right here.”

Hekate scoffs. “Never stops those other three.”

Daniel adds gently to Hekate, “Hekate, in addition to what I was saying, you were one of the bravest little fools I’ve ever met when we met. You were taking on things bigger than you with no strength left. I’d rather be someone important to that person than important to a million of these guys.” He gestures generally at the army being slowed down by the combined magic spells.

Hekate nods. “Thanks, Daniel. You’re even braver than me, though. And, I’m happy to have met you.” She says in the draconic language, “{Thank you for staying with me. I love you. I’ll never leave your side. Please don’t leave mine.}”

Daniel smirks. “I love you, too, Hekate.”

She hums with a happy tone, focusing on her magic once more.

Once the battlefield has become a chaotic hellscape of impaired marching, Daniel checks on the three. “How do you feel Hekate?”

She takes her helmet off briefly to wipe sweat away, saying, “I’m fine. I definitely could feel it, like the old days. I guess I’m not a goddess after all.”

Daniel chuckles. “Who wants that noise, anyways? Heathens are everywhere.”

The other three chuckle, and she gestures at him, “Gimme please.”

“Give you what? I have tons of stuff on me.”

“Th-The drink! M-Milk, please.”

“Ah. Alright.” Daniel withdraws his water skin again, handing it over, and Hekate drinks from it greedily as she relaxes to the sweet taste. Daniel then asks Vaergraes, “Lady Vaergraes?”

“I am well enough. The Death Knight is still defending, though it has taken some damage.”

“Withdraw it back to us. If nothing else, it can give you a ride out of here in an emergency.”

She nods, and she makes a fairly simple hand gesture. At once, the large insectoid alien monster pivots and begins plodding back towards them with haste, barely fazed by the ice thanks to its large footprint and sharp-pointed feet. It struggles a little more with mud due to its weight, but it is able to make more progress than many of the soldiers, who are stumbling to regroup.

“Lady Illianna?”

“I have plenty of mana left, though I would be unable to defend as effectively if I use any more. I’d like to conserve for defense, if that is alright.”

Daniel looks to the east, where Choul should have been igniting a line of fire to block the retreat.

“Hekate, can you check on Choul?”

She nods as she continues drinking from Daniel’s water skin. She gasps when she finishes it off, wiping her face. “This is why Geira is my favorite.” She then looks up at Daniel. “Choul says he was just about to form the first wall.”

Within seconds, a flicker draws their attention to the east. As if summoned by magic -and in fact, that’s 100% what happened- a massive stone wall appears, towering nearly 100 feet in the air and spanning miles across, forming a new horizon for all intents and purposes.

“Ahhh. I see what he did,” remarks Vaergraes, and Illianna nods in agreement. “Indeed.”

“Th-That’s a huge wall? What did he do?” asks Daniel.

“He used summoning magic. It is likely he has spent this time flying to multiple points to place anchor glyph circles, and then linked them to summon the wall you see now.”

“Summon?”

“It’s very similar to the water spell Her Grace was just using, but with solid rock and in a more synthetic-looking smooth form.”

“I thought summoning that much matter would use an immense amount of energy.”

“Yes. It is likely Choul used his mana crystals as the sources for each anchor circle, and depleted his remaining magic performing the summoning. I no longer sense his aura in that direction.”

Daniel looks concerned, and Vaergraes quickly adds, “Do not worry. A dragon is still formidable without mana.”

“He doesn’t have my permission to die anyways. I still have to kick his butt for attacking us,” replies Hekate sternly. She shouts, “Here that Choul!? I still have to kick your butt, so you aren’t allowed to die!”

Daniel sighs. “Please check in with Xyreko to find out the others’ statuses. We’ll need the rover before long.”

“Ryuogriar and Geirahoel are done,” answers Hekate. “They’re on their way to regroup with us. Gwen, Treia, and Wenlianna are almost at the last village.”

“Good.” Daniel looks up at the monstrous Death Knight as it finally approaches the four of them, and he says warmly, though its appearance still intimidates him a bit, “Good work, Death Knight. If you'll allow, I'll call you Arachne.”

Daniel doesn't quite notice that Vaergraes and Illianna glance at each other, and Hekate asks, “Is that the name of another goddess of Earth?”

“Not quite. She was a mythological figure who challenged a goddess to a weaving contest and won, and was punished for comparing herself to the goddess.”

“What!? But she won!”

Daniel chuckles. “A lot of the gods in Earth mythology were very… human. To put it nicely. They aren’t all as gracious and patient as the ones we’ve bumped into.”

“Hmph! Speak for yourself.”

“Th-Thank y-you…” wavers a strange voice that definitely doesn’t belong to any of the four present. It sounds like a voice struggling to form words for the first time.

Daniel looks at Vaergraes and Illianna, who both shake their heads. He looks at Hekate, who replies, “That wasn’t me.”

“Everyone heard it, then…” He looks up at Arachne again. “Was… Was that you, Arachne?”

The giant Death Knight nods. “Y-Yes…” murmurs the soft, semi-deep voice. Daniel looks at Vaergraes, who is equally surprised.

“Did you know that would happen?”

“N-No… I don’t know if anyone has tried, though.”

“Just a name, though?”

“A name is identity,” replies Illianna. “Identity defines a soul, and this Death Knight has been created with more combined magic than anyone else before it.”

“Death Knight, do you know who you are?” asks Vaergraes.

The Death Knight looks at her. Its soft voice wavers as it forms words, “A-A-Arach…ne…”

The Uhl’tall Archpriestess fidgets with her hands, unsure how to proceed.

Daniel asks, “Arachne, are you hurt?”

“Yes…” replies the summoned being. Daniel glances at the invaders, who are trying to form paths for the siege weapons. They still have time. He looks at Illianna. “Can you heal her?”

“H-Her?” asks Illianna, unsure as well.

“Yep. We’re committed now. Arachne, do you resent any of us?”

Arachne shakes her head slowly. “N-No,” wavers her voice.

“Do you have anything you want?”

“To… protect.”

“Protect what?”

“M-... M-...” She struggles to form the word, and she points at Vaergraes.

“Mother?” asks Hekate curiously.

Arachne nods. “M-Mother. Yes.”

Vaergraes blushes. “I… I’m sorry. I had no idea. None of the Death Knights before could speak.”

“Arachne… serve… Mother. Arachne… do… g-good?”

“Y-Yes. Arachne did very good. Thank you.”

“Arachne… happy.”

Hekate calls out, “Daniel! Incoming!” She points, and the rover is driving up.

He notices Xyreko is driving, and he asks as she rolls to a stop nearby, “Xyreko? What happened to…?”

“Fret not, Daniel. I commandeered. The Grand Duchess Aramellianna asked me to ensure her daughter has a child before I let her do anything too dangerous, such as returning to an active battlefield.”

Daniel sighs, and Hekate laughs. She taunts Daniel, “Try that on me, I dare you. Go on. Try it.”

Daniel looks her square in the eyes, and he replies as calmly and plainly as he can -doing his best not to ruin it with a smirk-; “Wenlianna is old enough for children already.”

Hekate’s smug smirk dissolves as she stares at him in disgust, and he chuckles. “You of all people should know better, Hekate. The Hekate game is undefeated.”

Hekate whines furiously as she darts to him, bopping his chest with tiny fists. “Graaaahhhh! Daniel! You’re a butt! A big stinky butt!”

“Alright, let’s commence the next phase. Choul’s wall will slow them down, at least. Xyreko, good work. Please continue to watch over everyone.”

“As you wish, your Grace. Oh, and I should warn you.” Just as she was about to teleport, she halts, and Daniel, now seated in the driver’s seat of the rover, asks, “What is it?”

“I told Ladies Wenlianna, Gwenesphia, and Treia that it was your order to forcibly return them. Good luck!” She raises her tone brightly as she vanishes, and Daniel sighs once more. Hekate laughs as she points at him, “HA! Serves you right!”

The others chuckle, and just as he’s about to leave, Daniel notices Arachne standing by. “Um… Vaergraes, what do we do with her?”

The addressed Death Knight cocks her head, awaiting orders.

“There are two options, Daniel. I can recall her, or we can send her back to the Citadel, if you don’t want her to continue to fight.”

“What does recalling her do? Will she cease to exist?”

“No. She’ll be stored… mm… in my soul is probably the best way to put it. I’ll be able to summon her at any time.”

“I see… Arachne, please return to the Citadel and guard our non-combatants.”

She glances at Vaergraes, who nods, “Obey Daniel’s commands as well, Arachne.”

“As you wish, Mother. Arachne will obey.” She turns and begins plodding off.

After that is resolved, Daniel begins driving in a wide arc around the invading forces and the treacherous terrain they’re still struggling with, avoiding magic attacks and ranged weapons with ease thanks to the rover’s speed, allowing Illianna to relax and rest as she and Vaergraes drink mana restorative potations.

***