Kalma? Here? What is she doing on this side of the Alps? Isn’t she supposed to be oblivious to the mermineae escape?

Did she find out? Is that why she’s here now? But that can’t be right. She would be cutting her way through the mermineae rather than wiping out our command post if that were the case.

Nobody here had a chance, did they? Fuck. Did Remus at least get out before she arrived? Plenty of time should have passed while I was crawling through the earth, so he must have, right?

Kalma takes a step forward, and as much as I scream at my body to run, it won’t move. An unyielding physical fear stops me from what would be senseless resistance. If she wanted me dead, I’d be dead. If there’s something she wants from me, she’ll get it. I’ve never been so sure of something in my life.

The grey skinned monster tilts her head back, closes her eyes and breathes deep. “Ah. That explains it; you reek of Anatla. The Void truly had its way with you, huh?”

Thankfully, she gives me my space again, and I clench my jaw to stop myself crying out in relief.

How did I ever think Hund was bad? The mere slither of her presence is enough to have my flames break down, losing the energy that holds them together. No matter how hard I try to control myself, my flames burn bright into the surroundings. Like a child once more, I cannot keep myself contained.

Kalma’s eyes sting like humid air as they watch me. I’m too slow to hold back my relieved breath when she finally turns away. She pays me no mind. With tails swaying lazily behind her, she looks over the city… or at least what’s left of it. I feel a heat signature growing from off to our side, but as I turn to look, it disappears. Kalma doesn’t react at all.

“You know, it’s nice to be back in a proper civilisation again,” she says. “No matter how much benevolent guidance I give them, the mermineae simply never change their ways. I do so much for them, and they want to run away from me. Like children that don’t realise how good they have it.”

Another approaching heat source vanishes.

“I’m so good to them. How could they?”

Kalma lets out a snicker before it morphs into loud cackles. She turns back to me with a grin full of sharp teeth. Her long protruding fangs are knives amongst rows of razors. “Nah, that’s titan-shit. I’m an absolute bitch to them.” She chuckles again.

Yet another approaching person loses their heat signature. She stands here, having just wiped out an entire block with hundreds inside, killing any who come close, and now admitting to her cruelty toward the mermineae. Why am I not dead yet?

“Don’t worry kid, I won’t kill you. You’re touched by Anatla; the curse you’ve got coming your way is so much worse than anything I can do to you.” She smirks, only her four fangs peeking through her lips this time. “Enjoyed your quick rise to power, did you? Kept that mind of yours intact? Well, enjoy the time you have before the Void regains sentience.”

What does that mean? What does she mean? I thought I beat the Fog’s curse when I broke free of the knot. It isn’t going to come back now, is it?

“What will happen?” I muster up the courage to speak through her presence.

She ignores my question. “You know, I was really pissed when I found out the outsiders I’d let into my lands interfered with my plan and put the centzon in the mermineae's path. I’d put a lot of effort into balancing things and that threw it all off. But the nations over here aren’t nearly as unified as I’d assumed, so even without every merminea, it still worked out.”

“You wanted them to invade?” I ask, stunned at the implications. “Then why not just order them? They’d be terrified to oppose you.”

Kalma melts into dust before my eyes, only to reform behind me. She wraps an arm over my shoulder and a tail around my torso, pulling me in close. “Now where’s the fun in that?” she snickers in my ear.

I jolt, but her grip is tight. Even as my flames drop into intangibility, I can’t escape Kalma’s grasp.

“Sending the mermineae across would be too easy. The battle would end with a simple fight between my Viisin and the elite over here. Now that isn’t a war. A war should be fought by everyone. Every single being that makes up the whole, not simply those with the most strength. It’s boring and quick otherwise. It wouldn’t truly bring out the sheer desperation of those involved.”

Uncomfortable in her claws, I struggle to free myself, but she clamps down on me, making each point of contact sting in agony. As if she coated her body in water before touching me.

“So, I sent an invitation to those Beiths. Took many out of the picture while I enjoyed the vain squabbling of the mermineae. I don’t think I could state how amusing it is to watch a collective splinter over two impossible goals. My only regret is I didn’t get to watch the same happen over here.”

I don’t understand. She has the power to simply walk through any of the nations and take what she wants. It is unlikely the pact nations have any warriors or mages greater than Hund, and definitely none that could come close to stopping her.

I calm the churning flames within my chest. She’s already said she won’t kill me and I might as well take advantage of her suspicious willingness to talk. “But what do you hope to achieve?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Kalma’s face goes blank, devoid of emotion for the first time since I’ve met her. “World domination.” Her eyes lock on mine for a long moment before her facade cracks. She snorts, then breaks out in laughter.

Kalma grins, the expression still unsettling no matter how many times it rests on her face. “No, no. I’m messing with ya. It’s simply for my amusement. There’s nothing quite like an all out, multi-faction war. What better way to spend the last days before the end of our world?”

“The end of the world?” I ask, doubtful. Considering she’s started wars and killed thousands apparently because she considers it amusing, means she’s either insane or a liar. A claim like that is ludicrous.

“Yeah,” she says with a sigh, no longer joking. “The barrier will not last much longer.”

Finally, Kalma lets me go, her attention somewhere else. What does she mean? What barrier? Why won’t it last? I want to believe she’s delusional, but should I assume that?

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Kalma ignores my question and asks her own. “Are you familiar with a certain dohrni that holds gauntlets beneath each of his tentacles?”

Even after having adjusted to her constant pressure, my body goes stiff. “What?”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed. I’ve been killing anyone that gets close to us. You’ve ignored their deaths easily, which is rather cold for an áed.” She chuckles before continuing. “But I wonder how you’ll react to the same happening to someone you are actually close to?”

My eyes widen and I turn to the growing heat signature rushing toward us. Quickly, Remus enters my range. It can be no one else. Unless there’s some Beith that was hiding in the area, Remus is the only dohrni that can run that fast.

Kalma raises her hand, and before she has the chance to hurt him, I engulf her in as much white hot fire as I can manipulate. I’m not sure what I plan to do, but I need to stop her from hurting him.

“Huh, that was easier than expected,” Kalma says before an orb the size of my head appears in her hand.

The sphere has an incredibly dense array of inscriptions lining it, and I feel them trying to exert control over my flames. I ignore its attempts and incinerate both the orb along with its holder.

An intense, overwhelming agony washes through my inner flames, and I tug them back, pulling myself back into safety. My inner flame recedes back into me, but I watch as white fire circles the orb. It spins around the metal sphere in Kalma’s hand.

They are my flames, but I no longer control them. I don’t want to feel that pain again, and I’m sure Kalma will have no qualms about repeating the decay she inflicted upon me if I tried to reinsert my flames.

“You asked why I told you everything?” Kalma, holding the orb and flames surrounding it, smirks at me. “It doesn’t matter what you know; nobody will believe a word.”

She raises the orb above her head, and the flames spread out. A white inferno covers the buildings bordering the crater Kalma left. I feel Remus stop, thankfully unharmed by Kalma, but he backs away from the heat.

“I said this before: I’m a bitch. When someone gets in my way, I pay them back. While things turned out even better than I’d expected, you still put the centzon in my way. Normally, I’d settle for extended torture, but you already have a cursed future ahead of you, and I wouldn’t want to impede that.”

The orb disintegrates within her hands as it pushes the fire to spread through the rest of the city.

“So, good luck convincing your allies. You’ll need it. You did burn down their command centre, after all.” With one last toothy grin, she vanishes into dust.

I can do nothing but stand there watching the inferno greater than I’d be able to create myself burn across the city. Remus has moved well out of the range of my sense again, but I’m hesitant to push my control into the fire. I don’t want to feel that pain again. Kalma could be around, just waiting for me to try.

The flames don’t die out, though; they continue to grow and if I don’t do something, they are bound to burn further than I can stop. Just like what happened in Morne.

Hesitantly, I spread my inner flame into the surrounding fire, prepared to pull back at a moment of pain, but it doesn’t come, so I force my influence through every part of the inferno. Buildings collapse around me, their supports no obstacle to the unbelievable heat of my hottest fire. I can feel the melting bones of those who couldn’t escape in time. Anything the flames touch, does not exist for long.

It takes a full minute to bring the blaze under control. Even as I do, I can feel the eyes on me. The heat signatures approaching and watching on as the flames pull into myself. The amount of energy in the fire is insane. An order of magnitude greater than I can put out. I’m momentarily awed by the sheer energy Kalma must have to achieve this until I truly realise the situation she’s thrown me in.

I’m the only one to see Kalma here. Anyone who even knows her name thinks she’s a thousand leagues across the Titan Alps.

How much of what she said was true? Did she truly orchestrate this all from the start, or was that a bluff? Is the world truly ending? Has the Void Fog affected me more than I thought? Kalma knows so much about me. She knows I am close to Remus. How? It’s not like we’ve met before. How long has she known about the nations on this side of the Alps?

As I extinguish the last of the fire, a familiar thermal presence approaches from behind, and I struggle to think of a way to explain. I’m not stupid enough to not realise how bad this looks. Maybe I could have feigned ignorance if I pretended I wasn’t here, but I couldn’t let my fire go out of control like that again. Not after Morne.

“Solvei… what…”

I turn to Remus. The dohrni looks pained. Worse even than when I found him in the hands of the mermineae. It hurts to see him jumping to the obvious conclusion, but I can’t blame him for it. My chest aches at the betrayal his eyes express.

More people close in around us. Mercenaries, most likely. Those willing to approach the source of disaster after it has happened, and likely only the strongest around. Remus straightens himself, standing tall above me as he wipes the emotion from his eyes.

“Solvei, tell me, did you do it? Was this intentional?”

What else can I do but say the truth? “No.”

“Then leave. We’ll meet at the team’s cabin and you can explain yourself there. Until then, stay out of sight and don’t bring attention to yourself.” His voice is quiet, only loud enough for me to hear, and not the counting observers.

He believes me? No, he might not know what to think, but he wants to give me the benefit of the doubt. A mix of gratitude and guilt engulfs me. He is willing to believe me and I’d assumed he wouldn’t even give me a chance.

“Leave. Now.” Remus’ tone is uncharacteristically curt. His eyes twirl to the growing number of mercenaries closing in.

I understand it won’t be long until there’s a mercenary group either capable or willing to fight me, and there’s already been too much death today. With the excess energy from Kalma’s fuelled flames, I rocket into the air, putting as much space as I can between myself and the mercenaries before my form fully changes.

No longer can I fight on the battlefield alongside the Mercenary Order. With Kalma watching over this war so it will end in the worst possible way for all parties involved, I have no clue what I’m supposed to do. Is there even a chance things won’t end horribly?