General Maraxus and Jinx are playing Overlord chess in the Minion burrows

Jinx: And my Minion Pawn takes your Soldier Pawn.

General: You may have ruined my Pawn formation but I bring out my Sentinel Bishop and take your Wolf Castle.

Jinx: Then my Spider Knight will take your Gargantuan Castle.

General: No so fast my dear, I bring out my Marius Queen to take your Mistress Queen.

Jinx: Why did they make Marius the Empire's Queen piece?

General: No idea. Probably because he's the highest ranked person besides Solarius.

Jinx: How come I don't get a piece?

General: Well this chess set was made before you came along. The white pieces are supposed to be the good guys, the Empire. Soldiers are Pawns, Gargantuans are Castles/Rooks, Sentinels are Bishops, Centurions are Knights, Solarius is King, and that leaves Marius as Queen.

Jinx: Sounds like a fun game for him.

General: Then the black pieces are the evil group, Overlord is the King, his Mistress is Queen, Minions are Pawns, Wolves are Castles/Rooks, Spiders are Knights, and Salamanders are Bishops.

Jinx: Happy birthday by the way.

General: Thanks. That's kinda why I uploaded this chapter today, as part of the Birthday Bash celebrations. Hope you enjoy, I do not own this story or characters. It all belongs to Sunjinjo on deviantart.

Everlight's Dark Side

Screams echoed through the deepest vaults of the Tower. The bars of the dungeon trembled with it, but that didn´t make the screamer stop. The voice was raw and hoarse by now, but the owner was clearly in so much pain he couldn´t silence himself.

"No more!" the young elf shrieked. "No more!"

The dark shadow towering over him grinned a terrible grin. "But you haven´t helped me at all!"

The elf screeched again as Sayron twisted another pin in his flesh. He fell away in a sobbing silence. His back was covered in whip marks, his arms and legs were broken, brands in the shape of claws and eyes had been pressed to his body and his face was beyond black and blue. And still, he hadn´t talked yet.

His sobbing echoed through the torture room, but he stopped as a strange sound drifted in. It sounded like the slapping of wet fish to rock. A moment later a blue Minion came down the stairs. Sayron smiled at him. "Hello, Miko. I hoped you´d join us." He turned back to the elf. "Blue Minions – exceptional clan. They can fully heal any injury and even bring people back from the dead." He raised his eyebrows in suggestion.

The elf shivered, paled and nearly fainted – not because of the pain, for he could clearly bear much of that. It was the idea of even more pain, far longer, which almost broke him.

"I can lengthen this, kid. I don´t care. I will get that information."

Miko stepped forward and healed a broad stroke of skin on his back with a single touch.

Sayron immediately pressed a brand on it. "Where is she?"

The elf screamed. "Everlight!"

"Ah!" Sayron´s eyes lit up. "And where on that hellish island, pray tell?"

The elf inhaled, fast and trembling. He knew where his Queen was. The only place they had left. "Orntal," he whispered, his eyes shut tightly.

"Good boy."

"The location of Orntal," Gnarl spoke excitedly, later that day. Sayron had personally tortured every detail from the elf´s lips. "It is far from the nearest Tower Gate, I´m afraid. You´ll have to stretch your legs like in the old days."

"No problem," Sayron shrugged. "I´ve been to that jungle earlier."

"Yes, I know, and I don´t doubt your abilities, Sire," Gnarl spoke, his yellow eyes still on the map. "But you haven´t seen this part yet. I´ve been hearing stories, Sire..."

"Stories I´ll prove right or wrong with pleasure," the Overlord laughed. He was all cheered up now he had a way of tracking down Fay. He didn´t doubt the fact he´d be able to fully convert her this time – she´d been strong enough in the Sanctuary, and the light had kept him out long enough to protect her mind, but this time... This time he´d have her. "How long will we be travelling?"

"Two weeks, maybe three."

Sayron frowned lightly. Longer than he´d thought.

"That´s mainly because you´ll be travelling through these mountains, Lord..." Gnarl pointed at a mountain range on the island, taking in most of the north side. "Orntal is on the other side. But if you depart for Ignavopolis today I´m sure you´ll make it there quickly."

Sayron rose from the throne and stretched out. "We´ll leave today. Get me some spider riders."

"Certainly, Sire."

(MINION BURROWS)

"Ready spider riders!" it resounded through the barracks, sometime later. A brown messenger ran across the bridges and shouted himself hoarse. "Assemble hordes! Leaving for Everlight today!"

In her barrack Jinx bumped her head on the low ceiling as she shot up. The home started swaying. "Everlight!" She was wide awake immediately, her eyes bright with excitement.

Next to her Kniff rubbed his eyes, and wiped the tip of his new hat from his face – the headgear had belonged to the elf they´d taken from the Sanctuary. He didn´t seem to be satisfied with it, though.

"Everlight?" he yawned.

Jinx swiftly buckled on her breastplate and knee protectors. "I was hoping Fay went there! Oh, Kniff, we´re going to see the jungle again! Blue sky!" She thought for a moment and realized the last time she´d seen blue sky had been on Everlight – a short break just before the battle for Nordberg. She couldn´t wait to go back!

Not that much later, in Ignavopolis, the town on the Everlightian coast, that desire had cooled slightly.

Jinx had forgotten winter started setting in. And in the tropics, winter meant rainy season. As they´d come to the island for the first time, it´d been spring and Kniff and her had only experienced the tail of it, a monstrous thunderstorm which had lasted all night. This was just like that, but slightly more enthusiastic.

Ignavopolis was a series of canals now, descending to the ocean, and all of them were filled with churning water. The reds had been sent back immediately. Sayron was practically wading through the streets, and the Minions had to try their best not to be flushed away.
It took a while, but eventually the Overlord was spotted from within the white houses, and people came out with their arms over their heads or with improvised umbrellas. They were overjoyed to see him, laughing and jumping in the rain. "Lord Sayron!" "Master!"

"Hello," the Overlord grinned. "I heard about an attack by the Empire, I´m sorry I couldn´t be there – but I also heard you put up quite a show."

"With help from your Minions, Sire," one of the men grinned. He wore a centurion´s helmet, but the red feathers had been taken out and replaced with brightly coloured parrot feathers, now ruffled and sticky with water.

"Marcus Cassius," Sayron laughed. "You´ve held your ground here." He looked around, and despite the rain he felt cheerful and proud – this city would never be taken from him, not by the Empire and not by the elves. This city fought for him, just like he´d always hoped. And all that under command of a man who´d once been a centurion himself – Marcus, the lap dog of governess Cardea before he´d killed her and claimed him.

In the meantime Jinx inspected the town´s Minions, led by Rasp and Nails. She was glad to see them again – she remembered the good old days when they´d fought side by side in Nordberg, and she´d begged Mortis to bring the both of them back from the Well. Now they exchanged stories of their adventures while apart and Jinx told them how Stripe had met his end.

Eventually Sayron called them back together and they left Ignavopolis behind. They strode upwards, against the wild water, and turned their backs to the wildly churning sea. After a last glance at the rainy white city they left the path, and eventually, finally, stepped back into the great green maw of the Everlightian jungle.

(NETHERWORLD)

Kelda sat on one of the sculptures in the top of the Tower, staring ahead in rage. Sayron hadn´t even said goodbye as he left – not to her and not to Juno. He wanted to pursue his new love that badly – Queen Fay! An elf, of all beings! He didn´t have just one, but two women who loved him in their own ways, supported him, and he left them just like that!
She cast a smouldering look back to the Tower Heart, half charged and thus abandoned. It could be instable, so Sayron had left it here, where it´d hopefully be safe.

Filled with her magic – everything had started because of this. Kelda gnashed her teeth. She outstretched her foot and kicked the pearl, not hard enough to damage the relic, but it did give a satisfying thud.

Immediately a dark red glow flared within the pearl. A deep growl resounded through the room – low, and just within hearing range. As it died away Kelda wondered if it had really been there.

Then a voice rang out, just as deep and dark. We have only one heart, Nordbergian. Watch your feet.

Kelda´s breathing came rapidly. With wide green eyes she stared at the Tower Heart as the glow dimmed and died away.

"I will," she said with a small voice.

(EVERLIGHT)
Crawler gnashed his teeth. As the spider tender, he couldn´t appreciate the recent events.
Fire and sparks ascended with the trembling air at the red Hive. Dozens of large glowing forms flitted across the rock walls, and those weren´t the reds themselves.

All surviving salamanders from the Sanctuary had been welcomed into the Netherworld, and they seemed to like it better than their leafy first hideout. They basked in the lava flows, made their burrows in the many holes in the basalt walls and rapidly became familiar with their red riders. No, the reds didn´t need to be jealous of the spider riders any longer.

Actually Crawler felt incensed – it had taken the greens far longer to get the spiders to get used to them. Except that one special case with Ramul and Letho, that was.

It was, in a way, good that the rainy season had started on Everlight – now the reds had more time to get used to their mounts. They did so above the lava flows, and the normally quiet clan was exceptionally loud now, cheering and shouting whenever an acrobatic manoeuvre succeeded and also when rider, mount or both fell into the lava. Hoarse and his mount, a large lizard with dark patterns above his golden eyes, looked down on the clan from atop a higher rock peak, like stone guardians. A little higher, Fever was clinging on, with a strange look in his eyes – almost pained, as if he´d just been kicked.

Crawler spat. They could play nicely, but they knew almost nothing of the animals and would never become perfectly adjusted to them if they didn´t know as much as he knew about the spiders.

Beneath the canopies of the jungle, however thick and dark they were, it was no dryer than in the open. The water slid down via the leaves, to the forest floor and the travellers striding across it.

For the travellers, it was almost like they were walking underwater – warm, white water. The rain came down, but it was so hot it immediately came back up as well, as mist clouds swirling up from the soil and filling the space below the canopy entirely. Sometimes it was difficult to breathe and it felt more like drowning instead.

In the beginning, Jinx had thought it´d be impossible to enter the trees now, but she´d discovered that idea was just a product of her lack of practise lately. She´d been unable to climb trees the last few weeks, and she underestimated herself. The trunks might be slippery and the branches might be moving in the wind, but she still had it in her, and she was slowly starting to remember everything she´d learned as she´d travelled across Everlight alone. She´d be Sayron´s eyes and ears during this journey, and scout ahead when he could not.

They walked the entire day, and as they went the rain diminished to a spray and then a thin fog. The land had been flat thus far, but Jinx knew they´d soon end up in the mountains – their journey would become harder then.

As the rains finally stopped and the clouds were torn open the last sunlight bathed the jungle in a fiery glow. The rising mist caught and reflected the reddish light, so the air seemed to be on fire again. Both Jinx and Sayron thought back to the Salamander King.
They travelled on that night, until a few hours after sunset. The Overlord and the horde leader combined their strengths to catch two large deer, and Sayron lit a fire with his lightning to cook the meat. Then they finally made camp and slept around the weakening fire, as all around them nocturnal animals whistled, reflecting eyes looked down on them from the dark treetops and the bright Everlightian stars winked above them.

Jinx lay awake for some time, bone splinters of the deer added to her bandana. She looked up at the stars between the leaves, overjoyed, and breathed in the heavy jungle air. Here she was home. She fiercely hoped she´d have the chance to return here often during her life.

The next morning they were awakened early, for the rain had started again. As the leaves started to let the water through, Jinx instantly was both awake and soaked. It was still dark, but it wasn´t clear if the sun hadn´t yet risen or the clouds once again covered the entire sky.

The water poured down from the sky again. Jinx hoisted herself up from the soaked forest floor with dripping clothes, wiped her dripping hair from her eyes and looked up at the dripping leaves. Now she understood why everything on Everlight had that waxy sheen. "Is it going to be like this every day?" she groaned, shivering and resisting the useless urge to wring the water from her clothes. Fortunately, it wasn´t cold – she was shivering with disgust at her sticky clothes.

"I think so," Sayron muttered darkly, pouring the water from his boots and trying to keep them empty as he put them back on. The water streamed and splashed off his armour and granted him a strange, misty appearance. Fortunately arcanium couldn´t rust.

The Minions didn´t have better luck. The browns and greens had flattened their ears, even Scabies. The browns, with their soaked rat fur, looked smaller than normal. The blues, of course, couldn´t believe their luck.

"Well, now we´re awake, let´s start walking," the Overlord spoke. "It´s a long way to the mountains."

Fay seemed to be further away than ever. Still, he picked up a steady pace – straight into the west.

In the days that followed they grew more used to the weather. It was the same every day. In the early morning the clouds rolled across the entire sky and the rain came pouring down. In the afternoons that subsided and in the evenings it often disappeared entirely – save for the rising mist. As the days passed, the moment it stopped raining came increasingly early, though it could also be unpredictable at times. And so the travellers were forced to adapt to the rain. Mainly Jinx was in her element; she added enormous smooth leaves to her clothing, so the water rolled off her. Every day she improved her creation further, just as she once did with her ropes. The vines were still usable after all those months, and her raincoat was of the same good craftsmanship. She also added material to her bandana so the water rolled past her eyes and she had clear sight once more.

The Minions followed her example, but not all did so with leaves. Minc, for example, used the coat feathers of birds once he´d seen the water rolled off those just as easily. They fitted with his cassowary skull, and he started to resemble a strange, dangerous flightless bird, with four claws and pointy ears.

The clouds concentrated above the low plains of Everlight. At clear moments, they could see the mountains in the misty distance, and those pierced the clouds with their summits – up there it probably was foggy, but dry.

Despite the moisture no one fell ill, but there were fungi appearing on the Minions´ clothing. In some cases it was bad enough for the fungus to win, forcing the owner to dispose of the clothes. Even Jinx´ leaves weren´t safe, despite their water tightness, and she had to replace them every once in a while.

During all that, Sayron was safe in his metal casing. The arcanium once again proved immune to rust, and as long as he kept the hinges well covered, no water leaked inside either. He´d ordered Ramul to let his spider weave a cloth, which he wore around his neck to prevent water from leaking into his helmet. The silk was as least as watertight as the other materials, and many greens had taken to it to protect themselves. Sometimes, as Kniff wrung out his soaking hat, he jealously glanced at the new garments of the other clan.

The hopelessness of the first few days had passed, and they moved quickly. The mountains came ever closer, and nothing could divert them from their course.

Not yet.

Further to the west, but not as far away as it once was, a slender woman lay beneath a protecting canopy. She seemed calm, but an observing viewer might see her hands and ankles were bound with thin ropes. Her eyes were closed most of the time, but as they opened they were often green – sometimes even with a glimpse of yellow.

"She´s not well," a soft voice spoke in an even softer tone. "The darkness´ hold is a firm one."

"Can´t we pull that magic out, like the Scourge did with her original light?" a second asked. In this voice, sorrow and powerlessness shone through.

"I´m afraid not. None of us is strong enough to replace that magic – it´s simply too much. And if we don´t replace it we run the risk of her weakening and dying. Our Queen is depending on very much magic to support her, and she´d collapse without that power."

"Then we can only wait," the second speaker stated bitterly. "And hope that maybe, one way or another, light may still win."

"Yes."

Silence descended, there in the light wooden shelter in the rain, high above the forest floor. One of the elves turned his eyes east. There a massive mountain range rose up, silhouettes in the mist. He hoped with all his heart the shades living there wouldn´t be joined by the darkest shadow of them all.

"The land is starting to slope upwards," Jinx reported as she let herself slide from the tall tree she´d climbed to see across the land. It was a forest giant, at least seventy meters tall and covered in vines and epiphytes up from about five meters, so it was almost invisible from ground level.

"Just hills at first, but it changes rapidly after that. Two more days, then we´ll reach the first mountain passes."

"We´re making good progress," Sayron nodded in satisfaction. "Anything else that strikes your eye?"

"Not as far as I can see from that tree," Jinx grinned. "The world below is invisible from up there. I saw a huge mountain condor – I didn´t know birds could grow that large."

"Jinx."

"I´m sorry," the horde leader chuckled. "The wildlife doesn´t interest you, of course. But it was really huge, it…"

"Jinx," Sayron hissed. "The wildlife does interest me, very much in fact – turn around real slow." Behind him the Minions were backing away, Jinx realized, and her grin froze. Very slowly, she looked back over her shoulder.

Barely ten meters away, a gigantic scraggly mountain of fur sharpened even more gigantic horns on a mossy tree trunk. The horns were sharper than swords, and broader than Sayron´s spread arms. The animal they were attached to was just a bit higher than the Overlord was tall, had hooves larger than Jinx´ head, and, this was the most fearsome, it wasn´t alone. Behind him in the mist an entire herd travelled past them. The hornbeasts were soaking wet and the water was rising from their rough fur in billowing clouds of steam.
Jinx fervently hoped they wouldn´t smell them and view them as a threat. But even as the thought passed her mind, the frontmost bull raised his massive head and snorted, a deep, resonating sound terrifying her even more than his appearance.

The dark eyes on the sides of the gigantic head widened. The white was visible. Then the hornbeast let out a deafening roar, and the rest of the herd turned.

The split second before he started running, Sayron saw the frontmost bull was larger, more muscular and more murderous than the rest of the hornbeasts put together. And he knew without any doubt, with the certainty of a man about to die, this was the same bull that´d chased him into the elven temple, during his first voyage across this terrible island.

And then the entire herd stampeded towards them.

Sayron´s heartbeat thundered in his chest. For a moment the Overlord saw his life flash before his eyes, but a part of him kept telling him he´d faced more dangerous foes – these were just big cows, nothing compared to for example the Salamander King. Large, dangerous cows. Dangerous cows who´d skewer everything and everyone on their horns at the smallest of provocations.

Well. They were smaller than some of the things he´d killed, but ten times as aggressive.

And this for herbivores!

He realized he was just as fascinated and drawn in as he was terrified.

And then and there, as his whole being came up against it screaming, Lord Sayron of the Netherworld made a decision.

"Jinx!"

"Lord?" Jinx bounced through the treetops as fast as she could. That way was faster than running. She was panting, but other than that she sounded deceptively calm.

"We´re going to catch that bull."

"That bull, Lord?" The horde leader pointed behind her, and the bull she meant was so large she hadn´t possibly been able to point at anything else.

"That bull."

"Do you want to die, Lord?"

"Absolutely not, Jinx."

"I´ll do my best, Lord." Jinx still sounded calm, and Sayron realized she was slightly in shock.

The Overlord grinned wildly. "Thanks."

Then he turned, planted his feet onto the forest floor, spread his arms and surrounded himself with the brightest, most fear-inducing orb of lightning he could manage. White-hot tendrils outstretched to all directions as he turned into a blinding, crackling column of light.

The reaction of the hornbeasts was immediate. Some of the weaker members of the herd changed course and thundered by next to Sayron or ran off the other way, but the stronger members proved to be exactly as fearless as the Overlord had thought. And the very largest bull headed straight at him, not startled by the lightning, but even more enraged and determined to skewer the Overlord on his horns.

It was at that moment Jinx let herself fall onto his neck and flung her ropes around his hooves. The bull tripped, and caused some other hornbeasts to fall as well. The herd slowed down. That was what Sayron had been waiting for. He let the column of lightning fade out and outstretched his left hand. Blue light crackled in the palm of his hand – the same kind which had subdued the yeti so he executed only Sayron´s will.

The first jolting tendrils reached for the bull´s broad forehead, between the horns.

The beast´s eyes widened. He threw his head aside, so the magic ricocheted off a horn. He straightened out, and Jinx´ ropes snapped one by one. The horde leader swore wildly as she saw her favourite tools give way.

The bull thundered on and threw Sayron over. With a wild snort he ran on, straight through the horde. Then he and the rest of the herd disappeared into the mist again.

"Damn!" Sayron punched his fist into the moist forest floor and pushed himself up. The entire front of this armour was caked in mud and rotting leaves. A small distance away Jinx sat on her knees. Her hair obscured her face, but the Overlord could see the remains of her ropes lay frayed and limp across her lap.

He awkwardly approached her. "I´m sorry, Jinx."

She sniffed and wiped the mud off her face. "Doesn´t matter. The arcanium´s still here. I´ll make new ones." She looked up and managed a lopsided smile. "Well, we´ve lost them."

"Not forever," Sayron answered. "I think they won´t leave us be until we´re done here. And besides…" He looked back to the horde, and his eyes lingered on the spider riders. "All clans have mounts now, except the blues. It seems useful to have one myself."

Jinx smiled. "Indeed. You wouldn´t be able to ride a wolf like the browns… and me."

(NORDBERG)

Yelps, short growls and the howling of wolves resounded through Nordberg.

The brown Minions had recently succeeded into getting their shy mounts back into the city. The people had no trouble with it – the wolves were on their side now, or the other way around in fact. And at night the town was safer than ever, because ´their´ pack kept other predators at bay, and even the sporadic rat plagues were history.

This night, however, was different. No matter the size of the pack, this night Nordberg was far from safe.

A soft growling resounded in various parts of the city, and it didn´t come from the wolves. It came from a number of houses.

Then the growling changed to screams, soon ending in gurgling. In various places lights blinked on as lanterns were lit. Somewhere a woman ran outside, half her face covered in blood. Once on the streets she bent double and started convulsing as if she was epileptic. As she straightened out, her eyes were white and her skin grey. Behind her, her husband came outside, mutated as well, and they growled at each other like animals.

In two more places in the city the same thing happened. Five men, four women, three children – the remaining survivors from the Wasteland.

Seffec shot up straight in his hard bed as there was a wild pounding on his door. He´d buckled his weapons in place very swiftly, and he immediately saw he´d done right. A few people were at his door, but Minions too, and none of them seemed at ease. A little further he saw some men running through the streets, weapons in hand, and peering into every alley as if they were on the hunt for something.

"Mutants?" the Ruborian leader groaned.

One of the men at his door nodded silently. "They´ve hidden. But we hear screaming from time to time."

"And by then it´s too late," Seffec added as he stepped outside. "We need armed men everywhere before they get to the women and children." He cursed himself – he never should have let the survivors into the city! But he´d been blinded by their helplessness – there´d been children. He ran into an ally and hoped he´d run into one of the mutants. He had to end this as fast as he could.

He pressed himself against a brick wall and gestured to the others they had to join him. For a moment memories shot through his head, images of white plaster walls beneath a burning sun. Straw rooftops and winding alleys, where one could shake off pursuers so very easily…

But he wasn´t in Napata anymore. And he was the hunter now.

They crept through the dark ally, as Seffec´s men showed him the way to the spot where the mutants had been seen last.

Before they were there the leader heard a sniff above his head. He looked up. Straight into the round white eyes of a mutant child, his head bald save for a few rough stubbles, his skin grey and his nails elongated into claws already dripping with blood. The child clung to the wall upside down, like an exotic insect. It giggled with a gurgle, showing blunt black teeth.

Then it shot away, with a speed one would expect from an insect.

"After it," Seffec roared, and he drew his sword. "He´s on the roofs!"

A crack and flying straw a block away told him that wasn´t true any longer. They sprinted around the corner and Seffec yanked open the door of the suspected house. At the same moment there was a scream, a gruesome cracking sound, a gurgle… and even as the Ruborian ran forward, the body of a woman came rolling down the stairs, to come to a halt before his feet.

Her neck had been broken. From the top of the stairs came the giggle of the child.

Seffec rushed up the stairs and flung the dagger from his belt to the window. The weapon struck the child as it was about to jump outside, and it fell down into the bedroom where the woman had come from. Her husband stood pressed against the wall in shock.

Seffec stepped forward, and the child´s milky white eyes followed him as he stood above it. A moment later his scimitar separated the deformed head from the frail torso.

"That´s one," he called out.

"Seffec," panted Sethos, a man with straight black hair falling into his eyes in thin, messy bangs, "if people get bitten…"

The leader swore. "Search everywhere! No mercy this time!" He cursed his own naivety – he never should have let those people live.

What followed was an almost hysteric hunt through Nordberg. Everywhere they went they woke the people, but they were too late so many times – the mutants were far faster than the shuffling zombies that had been formed thus far with the human victims of the magical plague. As the first child had crawled across the walls like a fly, there was also a girl running and jumping across the roofs with inhuman speed, hiding in the straw and behind chimneys as the men came closer. She slipped into every window and made dozens of victims before Masud finally shot her from the streets.

The women were less agile, but far more ferocious. They hissed and shrieked, and as the Ruborians and Nordbergers formed a tight circle around one of them many were bitten with long, needle-sharp teeth. Seffec gave the order to execute every one of them before they mutated themselves. His blue eyes were hard as ice, and a bitter line formed around his mouth. His men didn´t resist, but lowered their eyes as the blade fell.

And the mutated men…

The men had become roaring, milling beasts. All five of them were the centre of a whirlwind of destruction. Their eyes had been grotesquely enlarged or shrunken, sometimes both. Their bodies sprouted appendages and claws where none should be. It took nearly the entire Ruborian force to take them down, and many men were bitten, wounded or ingested the flying blue blood of the mutants. Seffec resisted the urge to turn away and assisted in doing what had to be done. He swore never to make such a mistake again.

The Minions had helped just as much as the humans. A few of them had also been bitten or wounded, but they had mutated immediately and killed off soon after. It had a stronger hold on magical creatures, or so it seemed.

Seffec wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and forced himself to control his breathing. Masud joined him. "God, tell me you haven´t been caught," Seffec said, almost pleadingly. Masud shook his head, and the young leader managed a trembling smile.

"Don´t smile."

Seffec looked down, into the sulphury glowing eyes of a brown Minion. The rest of his face was dark, and so was his expression. "Master will be furious."

A heavy hand came down upon his shoulder. One of the men who´d fought with him stepped before Seffec and placed his crossbow across his shoulder. It was Kivner. "Boy, I advise you not to tell him yet. That also goes for you," he spoke to the Minion. "Lord Sayron won´t be pleased, but maybe his mood will have improved once he´s found what he´s looking for now."

"Queen Fay," Seffec understood. He swallowed and tried not to look around – to the massacre he´d caused. "You´re right."

"Master will still be furious," the Minion repeated ominously. He spat on the ground before Seffec´s feet. "Stupid boy."

Seffec clenched his jaws. He knew he was in for a rough future.

He accepted his fate. No matter how cruel the Overlord would be, he knew he´d deserved it.

(EVERLIGHT)

A day later they reached the base of the mountains and a series of passes and slopes led them up. Sayron was content – they´d got here one day earlier than Jinx had predicted.
He´d never been here before, but Jinx had travelled through the Everlightian mountains. And now, like then, they entered a cloud forest – everything was covered in moss, from the forest floor up to the highest branches, and a constant, milky white fog even thicker than in the lowlands floated beneath the canopy. Sound didn´t reach far here, but every now and then they still heard a growl or a whistling call, startlingly close, without ever seeing the source. Once a few Minions saw a huge panther, seemingly grey thanks to the mist – colour didn´t reach far either. But the inhabitants of the cloud forest didn't bother them.

A few times they passed through fields of tallgrass, but they left them as fast and silently as possible. Sayron had no intent of seeing grass bears ever again, not even to get his hands on their fur.

They travelled through the mountains at high speed, careful not to attract unwanted attention, not even as Jinx, Sayron or the Minions were on the hunt. No one felt at ease in this foggy world – even the greens felt like they were being watched.

Mountain passes and gorges passed them by. Now and then they spent whole days shuffling along a ravine path barely a meter across, and if it turned out to be a dead end, they had to climb or descend along dangerous cliffs. By that time Jinx had already fabricated rough new ropes from the vines of the cloud forest, but she was still perfecting them and she had to get used to the new material as well. Fortunately, she had been able to save the arcanium spikes and attach them to her new creations, so she could still use her favourite weapon.

It was on one such day, on the edge of a ravine but on a slightly broader path, when Jinx stared over the edge and suddenly held her breath. She halted, and Kniff bumped into her back. He looked up.

"What´s wrong?"

Jinx didn´t answer, but kept staring down. Kniff followed her gaze. The ravine was filled with mist, reaching up high against the mountainsides, so almost nothing was visible below.

Or was there…

The Minion swallowed as he suddenly saw a shadow moving in the fog. His yellow eyes widened. He pulled on Jinx´ sleeve. "Jinxie. Don´t want to know what that is."

Jinx let herself be pulled along, but kept looking down. She seemed frozen, and her jaws were clenched tightly. Then, all at once, she yelled one word.

"Wings!"

The shout echoed away into the mist. For a moment everything was still like a painting: Sayron at the head of the horde, the Minions walking along the ravine in a long line, Jinx, Kniff, the mist itself.

Then a second cry ripped the silence apart. It was a high screech, making the air tremble and paining some Minions so severely they yanked their ears down. Kniff looked up at Jinx with panic in his eyes; the horde leader had clasped her hands to her mouth and stared down with even wider eyes.

Then something ripped itself from the milky clouds below them. It started as an enormous grey shade, growing and shrinking with the beat of gigantic wings. It quickly became more clear, and Sayron gasped for breath as the large head with the high ears came into sight, then the hairy body, the leathery wings…

Then the bat suddenly was above them, and the Minions staggered back beneath the savage beating of his wings. The huge flyer screeched again, directly at the group this time, and the misty light gleamed on teeth able to bite through the toughest leather or even metal.

Sayron raised a hand and started readying his lightning. The bat was too fast for him, however, and a stroke of a hind leg with claws like daggers scythed him off his feet. It was at that moment that Jinx´ staring eyes found the scars on the beast´s flat snout. Her eyes widened as she realized this wasn´t the first time she saw this bat…

The yellowy-brown eyes of the beast turned to her. For the briefest moment they stared at each other. Then the bat swooped towards her and his hind claw closed around her waist.

"Jinxie!"

The horde leader freed her arms and outstretched them to the group. Kniff leaped and grasped her hand, but couldn´t do anything to prevent what came next and was dragged off himself.

As Sayron scrambled up, the bat was already gone, vanished into the fog. His horde leader and one of his Minions were gone, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

The Overlord ran to the edge and screamed in frustration, but quickly stopped as he realized he might attract more bats. He swore and pounded his fists against the rock face until he had no rage left.

Maraxus: JINX!

Gnarl: Oh dear

Maraxus: Why do the good, or evil, always die so young?

Gnarl: Pull yourself together. Weren't you going to inspect Nordberg?

Maraxus: Ah yes I was… if you hear anything about Jinx-

Gnarl: Yes yes I'll let you know. Now shoo, get out of here.

Maraxus vanishes through the portal

Gnarl: JINX!