Rose stepped out of the pool of water, miraculously dry, and looked at the diminutive goblin that greeted her with a stiff bow.
"Greetings Mistress, I trust you remember me?"
Rose glared at him and looked around at the Great Hall. It was much as she remembered it. The six stone warriors still lined the sides and at its head rested the great throne, flanked by the snarling visages of stone hell-hounds and chimeras. Behind the throne stood four stone demons, their faces warped in fury as they pulled against their stony prisons.
It was upon the throne however that Rose's eyes finally rested. Or more specifically upon the man that sat there in glistening durium armor as a pair of glowing silvery eyes looked out at her.
"Yes Gnarl," she said finally. "I remember you."
"I am glad to hear that your memory still serves you well Mistress." the Overlord's majordomo said cheerily as he turned and walked down the length of the red carpet that led to the Overlord's throne. "My Master has a request to make of you."
Rose followed Gnarl, her distaste for the beastly little goblin surpassed by her disdain for the armored figure watching her approach. She came to stand before the throne, placing a hand on her hip as she glared up at him.
"What do you want?"
The Overlord snorted slightly, the movement rocking his armored form.
"You are just as fiery as ever I see."
Rose glowered at him. "You had a request?"
He rose from the throne and stepped down from the dais.
"Come."
Rose felt her hackles rising at his dismissive manner of ordering her around, but she quickly curbed her temper, remembering that this man could end her existence with a wave of his hand. She followed him up the winding staircase that had once led to the chambers she'd shared with him until he'd rejected her and taken in her harlot of a sister.
"Hello Rose."
Speak of the devil, Rose mused as they reached the top of the stair's long and winding course to find Velvet waiting for them.
She said nothing to her sister as Velvet shrugged indifferently and hung onto the Overlord's armored shoulder.
"I told you she'd come my Lord...but are you sure you want to go through with it?"
The Overlord nodded silently as he led the way into his private chambers.
Rose stopped on the threshold, wondering if she really wanted to enter the place where her sister fornicated with her Master, but a glance from the Overlord's glowing eyes told her that disobedience at this juncture would not be tolerated.
With a curled lip, she stepped into the bedchamber and was greeted by a surprising sight. The Overlord and Velvet were standing over a cradle.
As she watched, the Overlord reached his hand into the crib and scooped up a bundled infant. It was impossible to see what emotion was writ behind the helmet and glowing eyes of the Overlord but Rose swore that he seemed tender as he handed the babe to Velvet who cradled what must be her baby tenderly in her arms.
Rose was so surprised to see her sister being a loving mother that she didn't hear what Velvet said next and had to shake herself clear of her startlement.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"We want you to take our child to safety." Velvet said, she hesitated a moment and then added. "Please."
Rose blinked and looked at the Overlord who nodded silently as Velvet came forwards and held out the bundled infant.
"I—no!" Rose said, pushing the child back towards her sister. "I'm not going to take your baby!"
"Please Rose," Velvet said. "He isn't safe here anymore."
Rose snorted. "And you think he'll be safe with me?" she nodded towards the Overlord. "He has the most powerful being in the realm as a father, how could he be any safer?"
"I am no longer that powerful." the Overlord said quietly. "There is a greater power rising in the West."
Rose frowned. "You speak of The Glorious Empire."
The Overlord nodded. "They seek to destroy the magic in the world...and they have heard of my dominion here. They wish to destroy it...and me, for good."
Rose's frown deepened. "You sound like you think they can do that."
"Already they have conquered the elves and dwarves both. I see no reason to believe they will not find their way here to the Tower and destroy it as well."
"And you want me to...what? Help sow the seed of your dominion elsewhere?"
"No." the Overlord said simply. "I want my son to survive my death."
Rose was quick to believe that the Overlord had other intentions but he seemed sincere in his concern for his child and when she looked back to Velvet her sister seemed just as distressed.
"Please Rose, protect my child."
"Why don't you take the child elsewhere?" Rose asked. "He's your son after all."
Velvet shook her head. "I will not leave my Lord."
Rose's frown deepened. Had being the lover of the Overlord and motherhood changed her sister so dramatically that she was actually loyal to him? It seemed impossible to believe, and yet it seemed to be so. She looked at the sleeping infant, seeing her sister in his features and perhaps some of the father...though she knew not what the Overlord looked like beneath his armor...only her sister and perhaps Gnarl knew that face.
"Very well," she said as she reached out her arms. "I will take him."
The Overlord inclined his head in thanks as Velvet smiled and handed Rose her child.
"Does he have a name?" Rose asked as she propped the infant in her arms.
"Darius." Velvet replied.
Rose's head jerked up. "Father?"
Velvet shrugged and gave her familiar overbearing smile.
"It is a good name."
Rose nodded and looked down at her nephew.
"It is, hello Darius...I'm your Aunt Rose."
Suddenly the Tower shook, Velvet stumbled and was caught by the Overlord who held her in a surprisingly protective fashion while Rose held Darius close as the infant burbled and moaned at the disruption.
"What was that?"
"They're here." the Overlord said simply. "Come, I will send you away."
Rose nodded, hurriedly following her sister and the Overlord back down to the Great Hall and the well. She turned as she reached the lip of the magical waters.
"What will you do?" she asked of the Overlord.
"I will fight, and I will die." he replied simply as the Tower shook again. "Go."
Rose swallowed and looked down at the child in her arms. A part of her wished that it was her son and not her sister's.
The Overlord seemed to sense her thoughts for his next words answered the question and doubt that had always lingered in the back of her mind.
"You were always too gentle for this role Rose. You could never have stayed by my side for the times when I did what I must."
She looked up at him and swallowed with a tight nod.
"Send me away." she said simply, turning and stepping into the water.
Velvet watched as her sister vanished in a flash of light and took a deep breath as she turned to the Overlord.
"It's done my Lord."
He nodded. "Yes...you could follow her."
Velvet shook her head, her dark hair falling over her shoulders as she reached up and removed the Overlord's helmet, looking up into his features as she stood on her toes and kissed him. He reached down and lifted her supple form in his arms as she deepened the kiss.
"Ahem."
The Overlord released Velvet and looked down at Gnarl as the Tower shook again.
"Pardon me my Lord, but they're here."
The Overlord nodded, turning to Velvet as she placed his helmet back on his head and walked away, her hips swaying temptingly as she strode up the stairs.
"I'll be waiting for you my Lord."
The Overlord watched until Velvet vanished up the stairway before turning to Gnarl and nodding towards the well.
"Go, follow the child and keep him safe."
Gnarl frowned, wringing his hands.
"My Lord, I feel rather rotten—which I normally don't mind—leaving you here to die...permanently."
The Overlord glowered at him.
"You are my servant, serve me. Take Hister, Giblet and some of the others and obey my command. Protect your next Overlord."
Gnarl stiffened and bowed jerkily as the Overlord's command forced his compliance. He and several other minions—including Hister the Jester—entered the well and vanished in a flash.
Satisfied that there was no more for him to do but wait, the Overlord returned to his throne and sat down as the Tower shook yet again. He sat upon the great throne, his sword at his hip, a great mace and battleaxe crossed over his back. He waited patiently as the sound of armored soldiers echoed throughout the lower portions of the Tower as the forces of The Glorious Empire came for him.
He watched impassively as the centurions and legionnaires of the Empire poured into the Great Hall and arrayed against him.
"Do not waste any more lives magic-user! You have no chance!" declared a particularly pompous and gilded individual.
The Overlord chuckled darkly, standing and drawing his sword.
"Nor do you." he replied as he turned the blade to face the floor and struck the stone.
The sound of the blade connecting with stone echoed throughout the hall. The pressure from the spell that the Overlord had just cast was palpable as it spread around the assembled soldiers.
"Take him!" shouted the General.
Before the leading elements of the formation could close on the Overlord however there was a cracking groan. The Empire's soldiers froze and looked around at the great stone statues flanking them. The Overlord smiled behind his helmet as one of those statues cracked and raised its sword in an almost lethargic manner before swinging it and cleaving two of the legionnaires in twain. It was joined by its five brothers as the Empire's soldiers shouted and cried out in terror at the assault by the golems as they stepped from their pedestals and waded amidst the armored humans.
On either side of the throne, the paired statues of the hell-hounds and chimeras had awakened as well. Their red and gold eyes glowing menacingly as they cracked to life and leapt upon their foes.
Perhaps most terrifying of all were the four demons behind the Overlord's dais. They weren't true demons of course, merely the bound essences of them sealed within golems. Still, their shrieking wails were enough to make even the Overlord shiver as their stone forms leapt past him and set upon the humans.
The Overlord watched as the slaughter commenced. Within minutes the Great Hall was splattered red with blood as running rivers of crimson flowed down the stairs and seeped into the well spring, turning its crystalline waters ruddy and dark.
Amidst the carnage however strode the golden form of the Glorious Empire's General as he came for the Overlord who raised his sword to meet his challenger.
"You will fall heretic! The Emperor wills it!" the man declared as his sword swept from its scabbard.
"Your Emperor means nothing to me." the Overlord replied as their blades clashed.
Thus began a deadly duel of titanic proportions as the Overlord and the General fought around the dais amidst the shrieking clamor of golem and man locked in fatal struggle that ended in shattered armor and stone. The General was soon joined by several Centurions and Legionnaires that tried to force the Overlord into a corner. Upon one strike the Overlord's great sword shattered, snapping in half with a sharp report that echoed over the din of battle.
The triumph of his foes was short lived however as the Overlord drew his mace and clubbed aside his foes with ease, once again closing on the General as he broke the bones of the Empire's soldiers with sickening impacts. Once more the two leaders clashed and battled, their weapons coming together to crack the air about them from the force of their connections. It seemed as if the battle might endure indefinitely, even as the soldiers strove against the stone menaces weaving death in their ranks, more soldiers poured in to overwhelm the golems by sheer weight of numbers.
The Overlord however fought on even as his creations were forced back. There would be no surrender for him, he would not accept any defeat besides his own demise and it was to that end that he fought. Let these humans vanquish their great evil once and for all. He was safe in the knowledge that his legacy and the next Overlord would be born in safety to rise and avenge himself upon his sire's slayers.
The General delivered a ferocious kick to the Overlord's arm, knocking aside his mace as he lunged forwards. The last thing the Overlord saw was the point of his foe's blade driving towards his helmet.
The General smiled triumphantly as the Overlord slumped against his blade, black blood oozing down the length of the silvery weapon. He pulled the blade out, letting the corpse slump to the stone floor. The body refused to fall entirely, instead kneeling with its arms against its knees as if the Overlord still refused to yield even in death. His defiance hardly mattered though, as the General turned to his soldiers who stood amidst the broken and bloodied bodies of their comrades as the stone monstrosities crumbled to dust, their magic no more now that their master had been defeated.
"Soldiers of the Empire! You are victorious!" the General shouted, raising his sword in triumphant exultation. "Let nothing remain of this foul place! Tear the very foundations apart and set fire to the remnants!"
His men cheered and set upon the Tower with a vengeance, hacking apart the stone edifice and ransacking its vaults for whatever they could carry away with them. The General for his part ascended the stairway leading to the top of the tower with a small entourage, curious to see what lay upon its summit. When he surmounted the final step he found himself in what must have been the Overlord's private chambers. He and his party spread out to explore and found a vast treasure vault as well as a considerable library that rivaled anything that was held within the Glorious Empire.
"These treasures shall anoint the Empire with their wealth!" declared the General. "See that they are carried away in safety."
Turning from the trove of riches, he entered what appeared to be an antechamber. Pushing aside the great doors, he found himself in the private quarters of the Overlord. He turned and stopped at the sight before him. A luscious woman lay sprawled across the great bed, her sensual form clad in red and black lace and leather as she smiled at him enticingly.
"Have you defeated him my Lord?" she inquired in a silken voice.
The General nodded, his voice failing him under the siren's gaze as she slid from the bed and came to him.
"Then I am your reward great hero." she purred as she leaned into him and pressed her red lips to his.
The General embraced the woman, realizing that this was the Overlord's mistress and the final conquest of his great triumph. He had taken the Overlord's life, lands, and now his woman. His victory was complete.
Velvet had known what staying would mean.
It meant bearing witness to the Overlord's death.
He had offered her the chance to flee, and she could have taken it. Either with their child or even on her own, starting anew with another great man. However in the years since she had first taken the Overlord to bed Velvet had realized something that had at first terrified her: she had fallen in love with the man she'd sought to seduce and use for her own ambitions. She had even borne him a child that she'd loved even more. Her black heart hadn't truly melted, as she had still reveled in the agonies the Overlord inflicted upon those that disobeyed him, but she had grown truly attached to him...and he to her.
Seeing his killer stride triumphantly into the bedchamber that she had shared with her lover and husband all these years was the ultimate act of sacrilege to her. It helped not that seeing him confirmed the death of her Lord either.
And so she had resorted to her old wiles and charms, relying as ever on the weakness of men to allow herself to slip close to the General to which she know pressed herself to wantonly. For the first time in her life, she felt truly disgusted with herself as she wielded her beauty to force herself upon a man...even one she despised as much as this.
It was with great relief that she ended the kiss, punctuating its close with the long dagger that she plunged into the General's armpit where his armor shielded him not.
He jerked, staggering away from her as realization spread to his eyes.
"Wi—witch!" he stammered through blood flecked lips as he staggered to the floor.
Velvet smiled wickedly at him. "Even if my blade has not pierced your heart, which I am quite certain it has, it bears the poison of an adder great lord. You will die upon the summit of your triumph."
Velvet smiled as the General collapsed to the floor and lay there in his own blood to die. When his soldiers entered the chamber moments later and ran her through she did not resist and went happily to the embrace of death and her lover both.
The Overlord's Tower was torn to pieces, its magics annihilated or confiscated and its wealth taken in the name of the Emperor and the Glorious Empire which celebrated its triumph over the great evil and mourned the loss of its General.
None in the Empire suspected that the Overlord had seen to the future, and ensured that there would be no glorious sunset for the Emperor or his Empire. The seed of destruction for both had been sewn in the north, and it was from there that the Overlord's vengeance would sweep down upon his enemies and annihilate them with a fury that none could stand against.