Lizard Priest grunted as he used his good hand to hold back Half-Demon Thief who squirmed as she tried to break free to lunge for the Light Wizard before her.
"Damn you and your magic! You're the one responsible for all of this!" Half-Demon Thief continued to struggle, making sure not to cut Lizard Priest as she tried to break free. "Let me go!"
"Calm yourself Young Demoness. If you continue to act this way, it will be most problematic for our hosts." Lizard Priest smiled as he watched the young girl struggle then looked toward the elf. "Not since your little argument with the dog-faced padfoot have I been forced to intervene."
"That was a long time ago! Can't believe you'd bring up such an embarrassing memory." High Elf Archer snorted as she crossed her arms and turned her head to the side, mostly to hide her blushing face.
Priestess, at first concerned with seeing this wizard again, could not help but smile as she saw her comrades act more like how she remembered. Light Wizard had his staff ready to defend himself as he warily watched the group of four, unsure why they were blaming him or for what reason. The other four watched this unfold, they themselves confused by the antics of these adventurers and their reason for wanting to attack the human wizard.
"Enough of this!" The King was starting to grow impatient of this silliness. "Get your party member under control or I'll have you all thrown in the dungeon."
The party of four was quick to settle themselves, Lizard Priest releasing the now calm Half-Demon Thief.
"My apologies, I shall explain why we were so…enthusiastic upon seeing this man." Priestess bowed her head toward the king then allowed her eyes to gaze over the wizard.
The wizard's attire was completely different from what they had seen, as was his demeanor, but his face was exactly the same, one she would not forget.
"On a quest to rescue some abducted women, my comrade and I stumbled upon a ceremony led by this man."
"That is a complete lie your majesty! I have never seen these women before let alone aided any bandits in abducting women!" Light Wizard turned toward the king, a look of anger across his face as he heard them accuse him.
"Let them finish!" The king was calm in his response.
"Your Majesty!"
"I wish to hear what they have to say before I start passing any judgment. I would ask that you be patient, they seem to believe you guilty of something, so I would like to know of what and why."
Light Wizard growled in frustration, he did not like being accused of crimes he did not commit, but knew he was innocent and surely the king would realize these girls were trying to mislead him.
"As you wish your majesty."
"Please continue."
"We do not know the reasoning behind the ceremony, but it would seem that a blood sacrifice was needed to open a gate, not just between two places but between two different times." Priestess looked toward the wizard once again and noticed a slight look of surprise upon his face. "My comrade and I unintentionally entered the gate while trying to rescue the captive and were transported to a village, thought we did not know it at the time, we had been sent back in time and by saving this village from a goblin attack, we somehow affected the time."
"You say you were the ones who altered the past? So all these unfortunate events are due to your meddling in the past?" The king frowned as he looked toward the two young girls.
"We had no intention of deliberately altering the future! The only reason we ended up in the past was because this human was trying to open the gate himself, for what reason we don't know." Half-Demon Thief was quick to defend herself and Priestess, while trying her best to refraining from acting irrationally.
"Is that so?" The king remained neutral in his comment then looked back toward the wizard to hear his reply. "What have you to say?"
"My king, I have never engaged in such a ceremony before. All I've done since my days as an adventurer was teach at the school of magic…yet I know of what spell they are talking about." Light Wizard pondered to himself as how these girls had come to know of this spell.
"Well?" The King turned toward Sword Maiden and her attendant to determine what truth there was to these statements.
"My king…both parties are telling the truth. The person they saw was indeed the wizard here, but his claim to innocence is also true." The attendant was at a loss for how both statements, though contradictory, could be true.
The King and Sword Maiden were also shocked to hear this, they had both assumed that either group was possibly lying, Arc Mage on the other hand was delighted with this turn of events.
"Two different accounts but both are true, how interesting. This would definitely hint at the possibility of there being multiple realities…the gods and their games as it were." Arc Mage could only smile as her theories were seeming to be true after all.
"Then how has history changed so much from what you known? How did saving one village cause so much turmoil?" Sword Maiden was confused how a heroic action could lead to the forces of chaos running rampant.
"The village we saved was not meant to be saved, our interacting must have changed the gods design." Priestess could only theorize how their interactions affected time so.
"Then this village, did you save some kind of demon worshipper?" The King was curious just who they had saved in that village that affected time.
"He is no Demon Lord Worshipper, but a future adventurer. The person we saved was to have endured a goblin attack." Half-Demon Thief corrected.
"Go…goblins." Sword Maiden gripped her staff tightly as she involuntarily shock.
"He is known as Goblin Slayer, one who hunts the little devils. He has devoted his life to their extermination, and was the one responsible for saving the future Hero's village from the goblins, in turn inspiring her to become an adventurer herself." Priestess thought about what she saying and about the tragedy he was supposed to have endured. "By saving him from that attack, he does not become the adventurer he was meant to be."
"So…he isn't even a hero, but a mere adventurer who will aid in shaping the future." The King remarked at the thought of such regular individual influencing so many and by doing nothing more than hunting goblins.
"Well now that we know about what changed, how does that help us? We can't change time…can we?" Sword Maiden's comment hung with an air of truth.
"If we were to repeat the same spell, we may yet go back and prevent our interference and may set things correctly." Priestess comment but then thought back to how happy he had been with his family. "I have to find a way to preserve that happiness for him."
"It is possible. In my library I have a magic tome that speaks of such dark and forbidden spells such as that one you speak of. It worries me though what my counterpart was thinking when he cast such a spell." Human Wizard was silent as he thought over the possible reasons summon would want to go back and change history. "What…what would cause me to do something like that? I have no family to worry about, I don't necessarily feel bad about my students being lost in battle, so what…no, don't tell me it was an act of pettiness?"
"So what must we do to recreate this spell?" The king had a light smile upon his face at the prospect of ending this battle with the Demon Lord and restoring peace. "What would you require from us?"
"Therein lies the problem, the site we appeared through was destroyed by demon lord worshippers. The only other spot that I know of is within the Lich Queen's castle to north." The Half-Demon Thief replied with a frown upon her face.
"The Lich Queen's castle?" The King remarked with a frown as well.
"Our compatriots told us the same as well, what we would be requiring would be assistance on a grand scale." Lizard Priest remarked as he thought back to what the two young women had suggested on the ride to Water Town.
"The Lich Queen's castle is heavily fortified, with forces numbering in the thousands. We need a big enough army to keep her preoccupied while we get to the altar and recreate the spell." High Elf Archer added.
The King, Sword Maiden and Arc Mage were silent as they looked toward one another as they heard this request. Their own army would have to number in the thousands, and trying to move it across the land with the dark gods more than likely aware of what they were planning, would be difficult enough on its own.
"We…cannot send forth so many troops to defeat the Lich Queen." The king was stern in his reply.
The four adventurers were all shocked to hear this, how could the king turn down their request when they had a potential way of stopping the demon lord and bringing peace to the land.
"How can you say that!" High Elf Archer growled in anger as she looked at the king.
"Surely you must reconsider." Lizard Priest too was confused by his decision.
"This task you have ahead of you, is there any guarantee that it will truly work?" Sword Maiden frowned as she looked toward the group.
Priestess and Half-Demon Thief wanted to answer, but even they had no definitive answer they could give him. What if this plan of theirs didn't work? What if there was no way of changing this timeline? The two girls could only stare at the ground silently as they thought over just how naïve their plan was.
"I can't risk the lives of thousands of men on a plan that may not work. I am truly sorry, but I cannot commit my men and those who side with us to such a haphazard plan." The king turned and started to walk away, but paused for a moment, keeping his back to the adventurers. "I can however ensure the Demon Lord's forces are too preoccupied to stop you."
This comment caused everyone to look toward the king with wide eyes.
"The dark gods no doubt are aware of your plan and will do what they can to stop, our forces can hold his armies at the capital reducing the number of enemies your group will have to face." The king smiled before continuing on his way to the council chambers. "I wish you the best of luck on your quest."
The remaining individuals in the hall were stunned by his comments, but soon those looks of shock turned to smiles.
"I apologize that we will not be of more use to you on your quest, but we shall do our best to stop them from moving any further." Sword Maiden smiled as she bowed her head toward the group.
"Oh please, there is no need for you to apologize, just knowing that you will be helping us in a different way is reassuring enough." Priestess was slightly panicked when she saw Sword Maiden bow toward them.
"If your plan is successful, none of us will know it. An odd feeling when you think about it, yet interesting to say the least." Arc Mage added with a smile.
"This plan won't be going any further if we don't find more allies to help us though." High Elf Archer was concerned that everyone was celebrating far too early when there was still a large problem ahead of them.
Priestess knew that High Elf Archer was right, but also knew that with the forces of chaos spread all over the land, rounding up an army of elves, dwarves or humans would be an almost impossible task. Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind, an almost impossible and highly improbable thought, but there was an army nearby, especially if the timeline had been altered from what she remembered.
"But how to convince him?"
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Sword Maiden asked as she struggled to hear the young priestess.
"Sorry, just a thinking aloud of a crazy idea that came to mind. There does exist an army, but how to get the leader to join us is another matter, perhaps even more difficult that reaching the Lich Queen's castle."
"Another army? Where? Who?" Half-Demon Thief was anxious to know.
"It would require us to seek out the help of the enemy, a past enemy for me." Priestess sighed as she placed a hand over her stomach then looked back toward the Sword Maiden with a frown. "The army I'm thinking of is made up the worst kind of creature that you can imagine."
"The worst…no, you couldn't possibly mean…" Sword Maiden paled slightly as she thought about what the Priestess was suggesting, now not so sorry that she would not be assaulting the Lich Queen's castle.
"Seven days travel from here is the town of Mountain Pass correct?"
"Yes…it was there."
"Then the leader of the attack should still be there as well. I don't much care for the idea of using goblins to fight for us, but he is the only human who can control them." Priestess frowned as she too gripped her sounding staff tightly.
"You want to use an army of goblins? How would they fight for us? Who would command them?" Half-Demon Thief was not exactly sure where Priestess was going with this crazy idea.
"The Beast Master."
"I shall find that tome that speaks of the time spell and research it. When you return, I shall accompany you to fix this mess in the timeline." Light Wizard replied as he sternly looked toward the group of adventurers. "If…if I am truly responsible for this, then I shall make amends and rectify the mistakes."
xxxx
Farmer wiped the sweat from his brow as the sun started to set and he moved the last of the cows into the barn. He looked back toward the house to see the smoke rising from the fireplace and stove, happy to know that dinner would soon be ready. He then turned toward his right to see the large black dire wolf casually walk over toward him, tail wagging happily.
"Alright boy, time to head in."
Wolf gave a quick bark and followed Farmer up the hill toward the house, but soon stopped as his ears twitched at the unusual sound behind him. Wolf turned and looked out over the field, this then made Farmer stop and turn as well.
"What is it Wolf?" Farmer gripped his pitchfork tightly as he looked out over the field for anything.
Wolf took in the smells around him and immediately started to growl at the unfamiliar smells drawing near the house. Farmer quickly raised his pitchfork, ready to defend the moment he caught sight of the intruder, but his eyes saw nothing.
"Dinner's ready, come and eat!" Cow Girl stepped out of the house to call out to her husband and Wolf.
"Stay in the house! Bar the door!" Farmer turned back toward the house to warn his wife, but this moment of distraction was all the enemy needed.
An object flew forward, and an instant after his warning, an arrow hit the left side of Farmer's stomach. Farmer grunted and he took hold of the arrow and as he looked up saw more than a dozen robed men charging forward with knives in hand toward the house, before them was one of the robed men armed with a bow and arrow. Cow Girl screamed as she wanted to run toward her husband, but suddenly felt something grab her leg tightly, she looked down to see the worried expression on her daughter's face.
"Stay back! Get in the house now!" Farmer grunted as he tore out the arrow from his stomach.
The archer took aim and fired once again, this time the arrow hitting Farmer in the right side of his chest. Farmer grunted as he took a step back but steadied himself as he then charged forward and hurled his pitchfork toward the archer. The archer was in shock as the tool hit him in the chest, easily piercing his body before he collapsed to the floor.
"Wolf, go to the house! Protect them!" Farmer grunted through the pain as he rushed as fast as he could toward his shed to gather his weapons.
Wolf barked as he turned and ran back toward the house, Cow Girl followed her husband's instructions and quickly shut the door and barred it as she moved her daughter back away and armed herself with a knife. Farmer had nearly reached his shed when a robed man rushed forward and tackled him to the ground, he yelled as he plunged his knife into Farmer's stomach. Farmer cough as blood now stained his mouth as he before punching the robed man across the jaw. As the robed man fell, Farmer then took the knife still stuck in his stomach and tore it free before stabbing the robed man in the throat. The pain was overwhelming, and before he could get up he was struck across the head by another robed man wielding a club. Farmer hit the ground where the robed man struck him on the head again and again and again before rushing to join the others.
Wolf snapped at the men as they drew closer, keeping his back toward the house before charging toward the nearest man. He sank his teeth into the robed man's neck and began to shake violently from side to side, but while this was happening other men rushed forward with knives in hand and proceeded to stab the dire wolf repeatedly.
"Don't you worry, I won't let them hurt you!" Cow Girl hugged her daughter tightly as she heard the robed men break windows and bang repeatedly upon the door.
"Where…where's daddy?"
"He's okay honey? He'll be here soon!"
The robed men continued to shout and hit the door in an effort to break it, but soon stopped as the demon priest drew near and looked over his followers.
"Master, there are still two left in the house, but the door is barred."
Demon priest looked over the house, the wood structure and the thatched roof that covered it and smiled.
"Burn it."
All was silent for a few moments as Cow Girl continued to hold her daughter tightly when she started to smell something. She looked up and could see the flames spreading as they consumed the roof above them then saw smoke coming from the other rooms, in a few short minutes the kitchen would be choked with it.
"Mommy I'm scared! It's so hot in here!" The young daughter cried she tightened her grip around her mother.
"I…I know sweetheart. You…you just hold onto me, it will be over soon." Cow Girl dropped her knife and cried as she held her daughter, close the flames dancing around them.
Farmer grunted as he felt something touching him, he slowly opened his eyes to see Wolf licking the side of his head.
"W…Wolf." His response was weak, the pain throbbing through his body.
Slowly he turned himself over and pushed himself up to his hands and knees, he grunted as he paused to look back toward Wolf, only for his eyes to open wide. Wolf whined as he looked toward Farmer, various knives sticking out of his body.
"Wolf." Farmer questioned as he reached out to touch his injured dire wolf only to have the massive beast fall over. "No. Come on boy, you need to get up!"
Farmer pushed on Wolf's side, taking care not to touch any of his injuries as he struggled to wake up the dire wolf. After a few moments, Farmer stopped with pushing and gently went about petting his beloved animal atop it head.
"I'm…I'm sorry boy." Farmer, tears running down his face looked upward to see the robed men chanting as they surrounded his house, but now his house was ablaze. "No…my family…"
Farmer clenched his fist before he slowly stood despite the pain and walked toward the shed. As he passed the barn he found all the animals dead inside, but right now that didn't matter to him. He gave the door a swift kick, inside were the various weapons he kept from his days as an adventurer, but at that moment all that mattered to him was his sword and dagger.
"My loyal followers, the blood we spill here tonight brings joy to our master! Let this act show those who oppose…"
Before the demon priest could finish a blade flew forward, piercing his throat, the demon priest gargled on his own blood holding his injured neck to the shock of his robed followers. As the demon priest fell over, the robed men turned around to see the injured farmer standing there with sword in hand, his red eyes ablaze in the night.
"You…you are no better than the goblins who tried to attack my village. Just like the vile monsters you are, I will slay every last one of you!"
The robed men charged forward to attack, though they outnumbered the injured man, this was a fight they could not win. After a few minutes, the men lay dead, the ground soaked in blood, as Farmer dropped his sword and rushed toward the house and proceeded to smash his shoulder into the door. He repeated the motion twice more, before it finally gave in and as he looked around, there in the kitchen he saw them. They lay motionless, his wife covering his daughter, their bodies blacked from the smoke. He quickly moved and picked up their bodies throwing them over each shoulder before running back outside. Once outside he gently laid each body down on the grass, far away from the carnage, before dropping to his hands and knees. One look at both of them told him everything he needed to know…he was too late, in the end he couldn't save any of them.
"Why! Why do they have to be taken?" Hot tears ran down his face as he glared up at the sky. "Damn you! Why must you take them from me!"
Up above, two gods watched all of this with saddened expressions. Illusion found she was not able to look at the game and turned her head away from it. Earth Mother covered her mouth, she was on the verge of crying as she reached out toward the board game, then stopped herself, what could she do at this point? The only thing that could help was the plan the Priestess and Half-Demon Thief had come up with.
xxxx
That morning, Elder Sister rode up to Frontier Town in her wagon, she was running late to the school and did not get the chance to stop by and see her brother and his family. A smile crossed her face as she saw Guild Girl outside the guild hall looking her way.
"Good morning." She pulled back on the reigns to stop the wagon.
"Oh hello, on your way to the school?" Guild Girl smiled though she seemed to be looking for someone else.
"Yes, running a bit late unfortunately, haven't had a chance to see my brother yet, did he already stop by with his deliveries?"
"That's the thing, he and his family haven't arrived yet. We thought they have been here quite some time ago, but nothing."
"That's…that's not like him." Elder Sister suddenly frowned as a sense of worry washed over her.
Spearman, Heavy Warrior and Female Knight were about to enter the guild hall when Female Knight saw something that caught her attention.
"Hey, what's that?" Female Knight pointed at something off in the distance.
Everyone turned to look in the direction she was pointing and saw dark plumes of smoke in the distance. The initial thought from the others was perhaps a fire in the forest, but for Elder Sister she quickly realized that the smoke was in the same direction as her brother's house.
"That's…that's coming from where he lives." Elder Sister was now panicked as the worst possible scenarios flashed through her mind.
"Your brother?" Guild Girl too had a worried expression on her face as she wondered if her friends were alright.
"I need to get back to the house." Elder Sister pulled back on the reigns to get the horse to back up to where she could ride out more easily.
"Just a moment, we'll go with you. Not sure what we'll find out there." Spearman replied, though his friend had retired far too young, he had respect for the man who raised a fine family.
The three adventurers and Guild Girl piled into the small wagon and rode off towards his farm, determined to help in every way they could. It was a tense and bumpy ride down to the farm, but in a short amount of time they had finally reached the source of the smoke. To their shock and horror, they found the house and barn burned to the ground, now just smoldering piles of rubble. There he sat on the remains of the stairs that would have led to the porch of the house, close beside him were more than a dozen severed heads planted upon wooden stakes, their bodies were further off in the distance still burning. He turned toward the group as they dismounted the wagon, his eyes cold and emotionless, before staring back out towards the field.
"Are…are you alright?" Elder Sister slowly approached him, not sure of his current state of being.
"I'll live." His response was cold, not even the slightest hint of inflection in his voice.
Tears started to form in her eyes as she wasn't even sure how to help him. The adventurers looked toward the severed heads, nearly all of them were human save one demon head in the center of the group.
"Who…who were these people?" Female Knight asked as she looked back toward the man she knew as Farmer.
"Don't know. They attacked the farm last night."
"And…your family?" Guild Girl cautiously approached him as she looked around the ruins of the farm.
"There." He pointed straight ahead.
Everyone looked forward toward the field as saw them, three large dirt mounds side by side, behind the mounds were piles of stones to act as grave markers.
"No." Guild Girl covered her mouth as tears ran down her face. "That poor mother and child."
"Wolf too?" Elder Sister asked as she noticed the third dirt mound.
Farmer said nothing as he stared out at the dirt mounds for a few moments more before he finally stood.
"You're hurt, let's get you…"
"The blood has stopped flowing already, it won't be a problem anymore." He stepped off the porch, grunting from the pain and walked down the road sword hanging from his belt.
"Where are you going?" Spearman asked as he watched him walk down the road.
"To town…need to get some new armor…and a helmet." He walked past his sister and Guild Girl, continuing down the dirt road. "Need to reregister with the guild…I have a lot of work ahead of me."
"What work?" Heavy Warrior was confused by his comment.
"These minions of the Demon Lord…they need to be slain…and I intend to kill every last one I meet."
xxxx
For seven days, Priestess and her party rode by wagon to reach Mountain Pass, or rather what remained of it. The town had all but been completely destroyed, not a single person could be seen in the town or on the ruined farms they passed by. For Priestess it was almost too much to bear, far worse than what she remembered, and it also meant to young adventurers she met here were more than likely lost under the Beast Master's attacks.
"Do you truly think this plan will work?" Lizard Priest turned toward Priestess with a concerned expression across his face.
"I…I don't know, but all we can do is try. That is why we made sure to arrive by daylight, goblins are usually asleep during the day, so that should give us some advantage." Priestess replied with a weak smile.
"Tell me again about this Beast Master." High Elf Archer looked toward Priestess.
"He and his partner, had lost everything to the goblins, they blamed others for constantly underestimating the goblin threat, so they would take the one creature most would not consider a threat and turn them into a force to be reckoned with." Priestess remembered her conversation with Fallen Magician that morning before the attack and how close a parallel their lives could have been. "He ended up being defeated by our party, due the fact that Goblin Slayer could think like him and had requested assistance from the Sword Maiden."
"And you think this man well help us fight the Lich Queen's forces?" Half-Demon Thief was skeptical that they would be able to convince him.
"Again, I'm not sure. Let us hope that the Gods are with us."
The wagon provided by the Sword Maiden rode up toward the ruined Earth Mother temple, Priestess and her party disembarked, telling the driver to be prepared to run if things turned for the worse. The group of adventurers walked toward the entrance, not able to see the eyes that were watching them, but could feel their presence.
"O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, by the power of the land grant safety to we who are weak…Protection!" Priestess would not take any chances as she knew how well trained these two were. "Beast Master, we've come to speak with you."
There was silence as the group waited for a reply, behind Priestess the other three adventurers readied their weapons to attack if need be.
"Disintegrate!"
A bolt of light exploded from the entrance and headed directly for the protection spell, the moment it hit there was an explosion that knocked the group of four to the ground. In the chaos of the attack, a large figure rushed forward and stood before the group snarling as they tried to rise. The group froze as they looked up to see, not a dire wolf, but a mangy looking warg snarling at them.
"If you value your lives, you will not move."
The group then looked back toward the entrance to see a silver-haired man in dirty brown leather armor and a woman with long bluish hair and a black gown over her ample figure emerge from the temple. The man held a sword in his left hand and a black whip in his right while the woman pointed her magic rod at the group.
"Beast Master and Fallen Magician." Priestess trembled slightly as she looked back at these figures, this time she would not have Goblin Slayer there by her side.
"I see that our reputation proceeds us. Now, would you care to explain why you so foolishly sought my wife and I out? Take care with your answer, Scar has not had a chance to eat yet."
"We've come to request your army to help us." Priestess was direct with her request.
"I don't know if asking him that right away was the best of ideas." Half-Demon Thief looked at her friend as if she was crazy.
"My help?" Beast Master was slightly caught off guard by this comment. "Why should I help you?"
"We need to change to change events in the past to save the future."
Beast Master and Fallen Magician were confused by this, both had puzzled looks on their faces as they looked back at the group of four.
"You're not making any sense. If this is some kind of trick it won't work on us." Fallen Magician's eyes narrowed as she looked back at the group.
"Well said my dear." Beast Master smiled as he looked at his wife, but that quickly changed to a frown as he looked back at the group of adventurers. "You'd best explain what you mean before I kill you."
"In…in our time you were defeated before you could rightfully punish the people of Mountain Pass. We need your help to fix that!" Priestess did her best to come up with some kind of excuse to convince him.
Beast Master looked toward the young girl carefully, studying her body posture and watched her eyes before smiling.
"You're not used to lying, are you? Had it been the young demon there I might have believed her. Now, what is the real reason you're here."
"I'm sorry. The truth is we need your help, we request your army of goblins to help us get through the Lich Queen's forces."
"The Lich Queen…the one commanding the army of the dead to the far north?" Fallen Magician was stunned by this request.
"That's correct. I and the Thief are from a different timeline, due to our interference with a wizard's spell, much of what we knew has changed, primarily the Demon Lord has been successfully revived and the Lich Queen's forces roam unchallenged."
"And I've been defeated too, correct? I could sense that your comment about me losing had some ring of truth to it." Beast Master was rather neutral in his response.
"…yes." Priestess was hesitant to answer, but as he said she could not lie.
Beast Master was silent as he looked over the group, Fallen Magician looked toward her husband wondering what he would do knowing he had lost in a different timeline, and this group wanted him to go back fix that.
"Scar…heel." Beast Master smiled as he sheathed his sword and placed his whip along the right side of his belt. "Come with me inside, tell me what you know."
Author's Note: I'm not going to lie, this was a bit of a hard chapter to write. I felt really bad writing the part about the attack on Farmer's family, but we are at least moving closer to getting an army to fight against the Lich Queen. I know I've been a bit slow with the updates, but I haven't given up on this story, I'm going to get through this darker timeline and back to what we are used to. The next chapter will focus on preparing for the assault on the Lich Queen's castle and a important discussion between Elder Sister, Priestess and Half-Demon Thief.