Many thanks to BeaconHill and GlassGirlCeci for betareading.

Glory 10.3

The afternoon sun was waning in the western sky. I had to squint into it as I looked down over the town of Ellisburg from my perch high on one of Dragon's tinkertech dropships. Lake Ontario sparkled bright behind it.

"It's smaller than I expected," I said. The dropship's transparent door was closed, and the tinkertech soundproofing kept the sound of the engines from filtering into the cabin, so I didn't even have to raise my voice to be heard.

"People forget it was just a little town before Nilbog," Dragon agreed, her voice coming in through the dropship's speakers. "Population under 4,000. The exclusion zone doesn't help, since it's far bigger than the town ever was."

That much was true. The wall surrounding the town stretched miles around the edges of the actual hamlet. Miles of territory, arable land, people's livelihood, just abandoned to the whims of a madman. "How many concessions have we made?" I asked, half to myself. "To him and to others, just because we're afraid of a fight?"

"There's reason for people to be afraid of a straight fight," Dragon said. "But you know that, of course."

I nodded. "Yes. Plenty of reason for other people to be afraid." I smiled. "We've got a few advantages. Speaking of which, it's about time for our last check with Coil."

"I'll call him," Dragon said.

The chiming dial tone filled the cabin, and then Coil's voice was speaking. "Annatar. I assume you're calling about my other timeline?"

"Yes. Has it turned anything up?"

"Yes," Coil said. "I'm dead."

In Coil's other timeline, we had nuked Ellisburg. That was the scenario which Protectorate thinkers deemed most likely to have terrible repercussions.

It had been three days since that alternative operation had launched. At first, nothing had happened. Yesterday, Coil had reported a vague illness, felt by both himself and others.

"In your sleep?" I asked.

"Oh, I didn't sleep," Coil said. "I needed to observe, to be sure I didn't miss anything. Around two in the morning, my respiratory system started to fail. After that, my fever shot up, and I was too delirious to be reliable. But it didn't appear to be any natural illness, though my doctor confirmed it appeared to be bacterial."

"That sounds right," said Dragon slowly, through my earpiece. "Nilbog can create organisms; who's to say he can't create microorganisms, too?"

"Have you consulted your precognitive?" I asked.

"Not yet," he said. "I wouldn't supersede your authority like that."

I chuckled at the silken flattery. My voice came out as a sarcastic drawl. "Right. Ask her."

"Very well. Shall I call you back?"

"If you please." I signaled Dragon to hang up, and the faint static of the call cut out.

"A plague," Dragon said, a hollow note to her voice. "What a mess. We can't fight that head on."

"No," I agreed. "But perhaps we don't need to."

"You have an idea?"

I smiled. "I'm… beginning to. Can you pull up Nilbog's psych profile?"

"This is insane," Aegis muttered as he fiddled with his armguards, his voice barely audible over the hum of the dropship's engines.

All of the Wards had volunteered when I announced my planned assault on Ellisburg. I had no intention of taking all of them, however. Brockton Bay was my city, and watching over the home front was arguably more important than this little excursion, even if I had to oversee the excursion in person.

In the end, I had brought Aegis, Vista, and Kid Win. Clockblocker was in command back home, and each of the other Wards were given their own assignment.

"A bit, yeah," Kid Win agreed, his eyes wandering over the workings of his hoverboard. He glanced up at me. "You're really sure this is a good idea?"

I nodded. "Quite sure." It was a lie, but I had Coil standing by with another timeline at the ready in case this plan failed.

"Really, though?" Aegis asked, cracking his knuckles one at a time and shuffling on his feet. "Just… kill minions? As many as we can?"

"Without making any effort to get in towards Nilbog's court," I confirmed. "Exactly."

"And… how is that going to help?" he asked.

I smiled. "Leave that to me. When he emerges, let me do the talking."

"Oh, don't worry," Vista said with a grimace from her seat in a corner. "We all know better than to try to do your job."

"We're coming in," Dragon's voice said over the radio. "Touching down inside the exclusion zone in thirty seconds."

"Last call, boys and girls," I said, looking around at my three Wards. "Anyone feeling particularly cowardly today? Think Nilbog is scarier than Leviathan was?"

"Nope," Vista said, getting to her feet and stretching. "Ready when you are, Annatar."

I rolled my shoulders as the door slid open to the sound of shrieking monsters. "Then let's hop to it."

I stepped out onto the dirt road and faced the swarm. Some of them looked almost human, but ruined and twisted, as pale a reflection of modern Man as Man was of the ancient line of Númenor. Others bore no resemblance to humanity, but looked more like lizards, birds, bats, or other beasts. Still others bore no strong resemblance to any creature of the natural world. Yet there was a commonality to every face, in the rage and hate which twisted their lips into a snarl. My own tugged up into a smile.

There we stood, facing down the horde in perfect stillness. The mass of beasts undulated like a single living thing composed of hundreds of parts as claws scraped at the earth and growls and shrieks mingled into an unearthly din. I twirled Búrzashdurb in my fingers, and it sang a low war-song as it whistled through the air. There was no fear—not in me, nor in Dragon or the Wards. All the shrieking and frenzied writhing in the world could not have dissuaded us now.

Nilbog's creatures—or, perhaps, Nilbog himself behind them—seemed to realize as much. As if at some unseen cue, the monsters charged in unison. Their screeching became a roar, a battle cry, saliva dribbling from their slavering maws. With a cry of my own, or perhaps a laugh, I rushed to meet them, the others falling in behind me. My mace connected with the head of the pack leader with a sound like rolling thunder, and its skull crumpled like paper, spraying blood and grey matter.

In a moment, the monsters were all around us. In a moment more, they filled my world. I laughed high and free as I crushed swathe after swathe of the beasts with great swings of Búrzashdurb. Scores fell before me in a churning mess of crimson gore, their bodies falling apart before Heir of Grond, and scores more came forward to replace them. Soon I saw faces filled with terror more than hate, and then with despair, and my laughter only grew louder.

Above me, Aegis, Kid Win, and several of Dragon's suits were laying waste to the enemy in their own ways. Vista hung back, and I felt her influence in the form of enemies seemingly unable to escape my blows. But I paid little heed to them. I had missed this, and I was going to enjoy it. I might be a commander and a lord, but there was nothing quite like the heady rush of wading through a sea of the enemy in person and watching it part before me.

Their claws struck me, their teeth bit me, their bodies threw themselves upon me, but I stood strong and tall in my dark armor, unhurt and unyielding as they fell away like so much chaff. I was Annatar, Lord of the Rings, and no numberless horde of goblins, elves, men, or any other nameless thing could bring me down.

And numberless though this tide might seem, I knew Nilbog cared for his creations. He would not—could not—allow them to die like this for long.

As expected, after a few minutes, the enemy fell back, clambering away from us in a sudden rush of frenzied motion. I caught one with a blow that shattered its hips as it turned away, sending it flying.

They turned back to face us once they were about thirty feet away, forming a ring around us, snarling and shrieking, their red and yellow eyes wild with fury, hate, and terror.

Aegis hovered over to me, blood dripping from a gash in his side which was slowly closing. "Do we attack?" he asked, his voice rough with pain and overuse.

I shook my head. "No. He's coming."

"Well, I hope he hurries up," said Vista dryly. "I'm getting bored here."

"Bored, you say?" It was a bass drum of a voice. Deep, resonant, and powerful, with a rasping, growling undertone. "You are bored? You have killed hundreds of my children here today, and you say you are bored?"

We turned. Nilbog was coming. A paper mask covered his face, and he sat in a great throne made of what looked like old wooden furniture cobbled together, borne by four great bear-like beasts. He was fat in the same way that the ocean was wet; rolls of flesh seemed to ripple down his rotund form, leaving him looking more like a mountain than a man.

This body was no human. No human could have survived that kind of gorging and still been capable. This was another creation—a Wizard of Oz, an avatar for the man behind the curtain.

His fists were balled on the arms of his seat, and his jaw and very small neck were tight and contorted in rage. He looked like nothing so much as an oversized baby throwing a tantrum. "What do you want here?" he boomed. "Why have you come?"

I stepped forward. Dragon and the Wards assembled behind me. "I am Annatar," I introduced. "And I understand you, Goblin King."

His beasts of burden stopped. He watched me for a moment before speaking. "Understand me?" he asked, his voice tight with hate. "Lies. You would not destroy my creatures, lay waste to my garden, if you understood me."

I smiled. "No—you merely do not understand me. Not yet." I gestured around. "You see, Goblin King, this town, this territory, this land? It is not yours. It never was, save by right of conquest. It is mine. And I have come to reclaim it."

"Yours!" Nilbog barked, and Dragon shifted beside me at his loud fury. I put a gentle hand on her arm to settle her. "By what right do you claim it? By what authority?"

"By the authority of the human race which calls this world its home, and which rules all of its land and sea," I intoned. Nilbog styled himself a king, and liked to play pretend with his creations. He imagined himself as a feudal lord of a fiefdom. I, on the other hand, was a lord, and I could match his games blow for blow. "And by the authority of the government which claims this as its sovereign territory, of which I am an agent. You are an invader, Goblin King, and I shall cast you out or drive you into the deep places where man has not yet delved."

He snarled at me. "You will never force my people out of this place!" he screamed. "We are without number! I can build an army faster than you can destroy one! You will be overrun!"

"I disagree," I said, with a faint smile. Now to bait the hook. "But even if you speak the truth… that would involve the deaths of thousands of your subjects. You would be throwing them into the fire to die in the vain hope that one would, eventually, strike me down."

He flinched. "If that is the price we must pay for our freedom," he hissed. "Then it is one we shall pay, and gladly!"

"Perhaps there is another way?" My voice was slow and thoughtful, almost languid.

"If you want my surrender, you shall never have it!"

I sighed and shrugged. "Well, if you insist." I nodded back at my Wards. "Purge them."

For a moment they blinked at me in surprise. Dragon, however, recovered so quickly I barely noticed her hesitation, and then her weapons were up. As they charged, the others fell into line, Kid Win rising up again on his hoverboard as Aegis put up his fists and Vista cracked her knuckles.

"Wait!" Nilbog cried as Dragon took aim, his voice cracking. I held up my hand, and Dragon froze, her gun aimed and whirring. "What is your offer, Annatar?"

He wasn't looking at me. He was looking down at Dragon's target, which was staring up at him with a look of supplication. It was female, and its features were reptilian, but its blue skin was smooth and humanlike. Its hair was white, and it wore clothes like a toddler's.

I considered this creature. "What is your name?" I asked. It startled, staring at me with wide, fearful eyes.

"Polka," Nilbog said, his voice hard and cold—but also afraid. "She is Polka."

"You care for this one," I said, looking back at him. "You care for all of them."

"Yes," he said. "As a King should, for his subjects."

"Indeed," I said. Now, the line. "It is the duty of the King to protect his subjects from those that mean them harm. That is the duty and privilege of the lord."

"Yes," he agreed, his voice softening slightly. "That is my role."

"I offer you a chance to fulfill that compact," I said.

There was silence.

"How?" The word was delivered without inflection.

"Your life, for theirs. This generation of beasts I will allow to live in peace, and then when they have lived their full lives and passed away, I shall reclaim the land for my kingdom without further bloodshed."

Nilbog stared around at his creations. They were all watching him. Some of them looked almost emotional. I wondered if, as with Dragon, some of them had clung to stray sparks of the Secret Fire.

He swallowed. "You swear to leave them be?" he asked, a hoarse edge to his voice, as though he was near to tears. I wasn't convinced that his avatar could actually cry. "You swear to let them live out the remainder of their days in peace?"

And sinker.

"No!" Polka cried. Its voice, too, was feminine, and childlike.

"I swear," I said solemnly.

He turned back to face me. "Then I accept," he said.

"You must disable your countermeasures," I cautioned him. "The things which would retaliate, should you be killed."

"They are being disabled as we speak." Slowly, ponderously, he rose from his seat and dropped to the ground. He waddled slowly over to me. "Come," he said. "Take the life of this King, and let his subjects live."

I smiled pityingly at him. "My dear Goblin King," I said softly. "This body of yours would not suffice."

He froze. Then he looked away.

"I require not only the life of the Goblin King," I told him. "Give me the life of James Rinke."

Nilbog was silent for a moment. "Very well," he said at last. "He is coming."

Then the Goblin King sat down. Its head dipped down onto its chest. It let out a sigh, and then moved no more.

In the distance, a mound rose in the earth. It burst like a small volcano, spewing streams of dirt, and eventually a fleshy pod was expelled. It broke open, and out stepped a man. He was naked and totally hairless, and his arms and legs were thin and weak from lack of use. A couple of creatures approached him with heads bowed, as supplicants to their god, and gingerly he leaned upon them, hobbling slowly toward us.

I smiled at him as he came close, allowing a touch of sorrow to color the expression. "Goblin King."

He smiled back. There were tears in his eyes. "Yes," he said, and his thin, reedy voice was hoarse. "I am the Goblin King. And, as befits a good King, I shall die for my subjects."

I bowed my head. "Just so."

He stopped short, and knelt before me. "You will spare my people," he said. "You swore an oath."

"And a lord never breaks her oath," I confirmed. "My word is my bond, King of Ellisburg. You have that word—no harm shall come to your creatures from outside these walls."

He looked down. "Then… finish the deed."

I swung Búrzashdurb. His head splattered across the field.

The creatures began to wail as his body crumpled to the ground. I allowed the solemn lines of my face to fade as I turned to my team.

"Dragon?" I said.

"Yes?"

"Purge them."

The creatures stopped wailing. The sudden silence was ghastly.

Dragon hesitated. "But…"

I sighed. "You're right." I turned back to the horde. With a scrap of Song, fire engulfed my left hand. "I should finish this myself."

The fire burst forth, a jet of flame hot enough to melt flesh. The beasts began to scream.

Polka dived for me, hatred and loss burning in its eyes, but I caught its clothes and it began to burn. It squealed and stumbled, rolling around in agony on the ground at my feet.

Rinke's corpse was already burning away, the exposed bone blackening rapidly. The beasts were scattering now, fleeing rather than face me, but it wouldn't help them. The fire was spreading, faster than any ordinary fire. Soon it would consume all of the exclusion zone, reclaiming the town of Ellisburg for whatever use I saw fit to put it to.

Polka screamed, clawing at the air as it burned. "Annatar—agh!" it wailed. "Annatar promised!"

I smiled coldly down at it. "Annatar lied." I turned away, leaving it writhing, and walked between my Wards back towards the Dragoncraft. "Let's go," I said. "We're finished here."

"I've got to say, Annatar," said Piggot, a genuine smile on her face, "When you said you were going after Nilbog, I wasn't sure it was a good idea. People have been worried about him for over a decade now. It seemed like a recipe for disaster. Gotta say, I've never been happier to be wrong." She raised her champagne glass, the first alcohol she'd have drunk in ten years. "Here's to you."

"I'll drink to that," said Assault, lifting a much larger mug. "Hear, hear!"

I smiled around at the group. Not everyone was here—understandable, since it was a little after two in the morning. Piggot was here, of course, as were Assault, Miss Militia, and all my Wards. Dragon, too, was in attendance in her gynoid body.

We sat in one of the larger lounges in the PRT building. There was food, there was drink—and no one was particularly bothered when a couple of the Wards and I took small glasses of the champagne for ourselves. None of us had any intention of really indulging.

"So, Nilbog's really gone?" Clockblocker asked. "Just—poof?"

"Him and all his horde," I confirmed. "We can start resettling Ellisburg tomorrow, if we want."

"And it's just the beginning," said Dragon, slipping into the seat on the couch beside me and putting her arm around me. "The first of many."

I smiled at her. "Too right," I agreed. "I won't tolerate marauding killers or dominating tribal chiefs anymore, not while I can do something about it. Things are going to start changing now."

"Not a moment too soon," Miss Militia said from across the room, and I heard a harsh satisfaction in the words.

Before I could respond, Dragon leaned in and murmured in my ear. "I'm sorry," she said.

"What for?" I asked in a similar pitch.

"For doubting. Hesitating." She smiled sadly at me. "When you turned back around on Nilbog's creatures. I… lost sight of the goal."

I put a hand on her knee and squeezed it gently. "It's fine," I told her. "It went against instinct, I know. But you know why we had to do it?"

"I know. The whole point was to neutralize Ellisburg." She sighed, but whether in sadness, grief, or shame I wasn't sure. "If we let the horde stay, it would barely be better than not having gone at all."

"Worse, from a PR stance," I corrected. "Because then we'd have left a headless horde, with no way to guarantee they didn't lash out. It had to be done."

She nodded. "I know. I'm just… I'm sorry for hesitating, for making you do it alone."

I nudged her with my shoulder. "No harm done," I said. "I killed him; it was my fight to finish."

A hand landed on my other shoulder and squeezed gently. I turned to find Aegis standing behind the couch, looking down at us. "You don't have to do it all alone," he said. "We're with you, Annatar. To the end of the line."

"No need to be so dramatic," I chastised. "The end of the line won't be coming for a long while."

"All the better," he said, but there was something distant in his eyes, as though he was thinking about something else.

"What's wrong?" I asked, shifting to face him more fully. "Something bothering you?"

He considered me. "Do you ever wonder about what it's costing you?"

"What what's costing me?" I asked, a faint chuckle lining my voice.

"Things like Ellisburg, killing all those things. Doing the right thing, even when it feels wrong."

"Do you?"

"A little," he admitted. "It wasn't long ago I wouldn't have dreamed of doing something like that. Baiting Nilbog into a deal, and then backing out of it. Even if I could have convinced him, which I couldn't, it just… wouldn't have occurred to me."

"Attacking Nilbog in the first place wasn't something you'd have considered either," I noted.

"I think that's the point," he said, nodding. He wasn't smiling, but there was a proud set to his features. "Something was lost, maybe, but look at what we've gained." He gestured around the room with the glass in his hand. "Heartbreaker, Valefor, Nilbog. The Empire and ABB are in hiding, and Coil's working with us." He smiled slightly. It was a bittersweet expression. "The old Aegis wouldn't have done some of the things I've done, but he'd also never have seen this."

"Exactly," agreed Browbeat, speaking up from an armchair across from us. "We've changed, definitely. But when I ask myself, 'was it worth it?' the answer's yes. I don't even have to think about it." He looked like he was thinking about it, however, staring down into his fluted glass pensively. "I used to think being a hero was about being an example," he said slowly. "About being a better person, being the ideal that people could aspire to."

Being a hero isn't about beating up bad guys, Sophia. It's about making the world better.

"But that's not it at all," said Browbeat, oblivious to my minute flinch. "It's about… about making the sacrifices, about being the martyr, so other people don't have to. It's about being the one who compromises, so that other people can sleep easily."

I put a smile on my face. "After all," I said, "if we don't do it, who will?"

Dragon nudged me. I glanced over at her. Her hand was at her ear, as though listening. She gave me a meaningful look. "Sorry," she apologized to the Wards. "Annatar and I should take this."

"Of course," I said, standing. "We'll be right back."

I followed her out of the party and into a private room before speaking. "Coil?"

She nodded at me, pulling a small tinkertech speaker out of her pocket. "You're on speaker," she said, setting it down on the table in the middle of the room as I pulled up a chair.

"Thank you, Dragon," came Coil's voice. "Annatar—no sign of subterfuge on Nilbog's part so far. My precog agrees with that assessment."

"What did you ask her, exactly?" I probed.

"I asked for the probability that Nilbog would directly cause any significant loss of life in the future, after you finished killing both him and his horde," he said. "She gave a probability of 0.0043%. I assumed two significant figures was sufficient."

"It was," I agreed. I allowed the last vestiges of tension to drain from my frame. "Then it's done. We're safe. The plan worked."

"It certainly appears so."

"Good. We'll plan our next move tomorrow—for now, I'm going back to the party. Drop your other timeline, and we'll talk again tomorrow."

"As you say. And can I just say—congratulations on a successful operation."

I grinned. "Your contributions were appreciated. I look forward to working with you again."

As he hung up, Dragon and I both stood. "Sorry about pulling you away from the party," she said.

"You're doing an awful lot of apologizing for someone who hasn't done anything wrong," I said, offering her my arm. She took it. "Come, let's get back to it."

Panacea was waiting for us at the door as we reentered the room. "Hey, boss," she said. "I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Oh, yes," I said, leading her over to the couch and sitting back down, gesturing to a vacant seat nearby. She sat down in it, crossing her legs to accommodate her skirt. "How did your attack on Shadow Stalker and Armsmaster's group go?"

"Not perfectly," she admitted, though she didn't seem particularly bothered. "Shadow Stalker's gotten to be a hell of a fighter. Took one prisoner, though."

"That's not nothing," I allowed. "And it's not as though it was urgent. We'll have more chances. Who did you capture?"

"Shielder," she said. "I was wondering if you wanted to talk to him. He's downstairs, in the dungeon."

Dragon coughed.

"Sorry," Panacea corrected, without a hint of shame. "Holding cells."

I rolled my eyes at her. "I'll talk to him in the morning," I said. "I'm curious what made him turn. I wonder who recruited him, and what they said to make him turn against the rest of New Wave?"

"Dunno," said Panacea, but there was a noncommittal edge to her voice, and she was looking away from me now. "You should talk to him. I'm gonna get a drink and some food."

I nodded. "Later, Panacea."

"Later, boss."

I leaned back in the couch, my eyes drifting shut as I sank into the cushions. Dragon's hand patted my thigh. "Tired?" she asked.

"Long day," I said. "I might turn in soon."

"You've earned it."

"I have, haven't I?"

"So, Annatar!" Vista flopped down on the couch on my other side. "What's next? The Slaughterhouse Nine? The Blasphemies? Sleeper?"

"No idea," I said without opening my eyes. "Any requests?"

She chuckled. "So long as we keep making a difference, I'm happy," she said. "You just keep telling me who we're hitting, and I'm happy to hit them."

I smiled, still with closed eyes. I could feel the specter of sleep on the edge of my consciousness, and slowly I was coaxing it nearer. "A girl after my own heart, you are," I told her. "Don't you worry—there's plenty more S-Class threats for us to—"

Dragon's hand tensed suddenly on my leg. I sat up, looking at her. Her eyes were wide, and her head was whipping around to stare at me. "Dragon?" I asked sharply. "What is it?"

For a moment she was silent, blinking at me. "Coil," she said. "He just hit his panic button."

And just like that, I wasn't tired anymore. Now I was angry.

"What? Now?" Vista asked, staring at Dragon. "But who—"

"We know who," I growled through clenched teeth, my eyes burning. "Sophia."