Written September 10th, 2020 4:50 PM

“Fools. Long love the King.” Xiv’s rasp echoed throughout the room, leaving no time to react before the room erupted with webs, trapping Ailith and Ace. Ailith’s bowl of chowder fell to the floor, shattering at her feet.

She immediately started to struggle against the webs, but it was all for naught – the glowing glyphs on the walls burst, drenching the room in acid. Ailith screamed through clenched teeth, acid burning her flesh. With wild eyes she saw Talus bearing the pain with a bellow, hands reaching to grasp his sword. Ace didn’t last long before slumping amongst the webs unconscious, her small body covered in burns. Ailith turned her gaze to Feyra, watching in helpless horror as she too went unconscious, falling limp to the floor.

Ailith thrashed against the webs frantically, ripping herself from them and starting towards Feyra without thinking. She needed to get to Feyra. She had to – Ailith stopped. If worst came to worst, Ace could bring Feyra back… but no one could bring Ace back. Tearing her gaze from Feyra, Ailith ran to Ace. The webs tripped her up, ensnaring her once more, but not before she managed to pour a healing potion down Ace’s throat. Ailith watched Talus do the same to Feyra and breathed a sigh of relief when Feyra’s eyes snapped open.

The four of them cut and fought their way through the webs, stopping briefly to deal with the worst of the burns before heading to the castle, resolved in their goal – find Xiv.

---

Ailith wasn’t registering the voices in the room. She was aware that Ace was exchanging words with Prescott Leon – a traitor and all around dickhead – but the only thing running through her mind were all the soft, vulnerable spots on Prescott’s body and which ones she wanted to target first. She was steadfastly staring at him, pointedly averting her gaze from where Xiv’s body lay, crumpled where the soldiers dumped them.

Beside her, Feyra had her bow trained on Prescott, contributing a few words here or there, but for the most part she and Ailith were twin pillars of silence. Ailith’s vision of crushing Prescott’s windpipe was interrupted as Feyra leaned in to murmur in her ear. “Can I shoot him now?”

Ailith’s face cracked into a feral grin. “Oh, I think so,” she said softly and took off running, knowing Feyra understood the plan. Two of Prescott’s men slashed at Ailith as she ran between them but she ignored the pain, too focused on her target. She used the momentum of her sprint to deal a vicious blow to Prescott’s kneecap with her cane. As he stumbled she followed up with a stunning strike to his neck.

Ailith heard the whistle of two of Feyra’s arrows flying towards her. She ducked out the way, watching as they sunk into Prescott’s shoulder and thigh. Jumping to her feet, Ailith punched the arrows further into Prescott’s body, feeling a sick sense of pleasure at the screams of pain that echoed through the room.

She wanted to kill him. She wanted him to pay for his betrayal, suffer for what he did to Xiv. As she went to deal the fatal blow, she heard Ace’s voice in her head, telling her to keep him alive, that he needed to face the Council for his crimes.

“Count yourself lucky,” she gritted out, uppercutting Prescott in the jaw. She watched impassively as he crumpled to the floor unconscious. The various knights and mages he had brought with him scattered; their lack of loyalty would have been amusing in a scenario where Xiv wasn’t dead.

Ailith ran to where Xiv lay, their body still hidden beneath their armour and helmet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friends moving to join her, frantic in their haste. Quickly, a plan was made to take both Xiv and Prescott back to Kaskaden via teleportation.

---

Once back in the capital Prescott was hauled off to answer before the Council, leaving them to deal with Xiv. Ace set up in a corner of the teleportation room with Xiv’s body, gathering her diamond and materials. They circled around her, Talus placing a hand on one of Ace’s shoulders. Feyra put a hand on Talus’s elbow, the other finding Ailith’s arm. Ailith took one of Xiv’s hands, and they all knelt, connected – watching and waiting for life to return to Xiv together.

Written September 5th, 2020 1:05 PM

Bringing Gregor back to life – or at least some facsimile of life – was unsettling to say the least. They had spent some time washing him and using Ailith’s disguise kit to make him look more like himself, but it didn’t do much to lessen the unease in the air.

His head was resting in Ace’s lap, one of his hands griped gently in her small one. Talus and Feyra crouched nearby, faces down turned and solemn. Xiv and Ailith stood back, taking their usual places on the outskirts of moments like this.

“Hi, Gregor,” Ace murmured, head bowed. “I’m really sorry this happened to you. Do you want us to bring you back… or would you like to rest in peace?”

Gregor’s body remained still, only his mouth moving. “Let me rest.” Ailith saw Feyra’s shoulders hunched, eyes clenched shut. She laid a hand on Feyra’s shoulder, a gentle reminder that Feyra was not alone in this.

Gregor gave his final wishes – bury him in Dragontower and find someone to look after the town. The group sat in silence once Gregor’s body lay still once more, the loss weighing heavily on them.