Knight of the Duchess Part Three

Hello everyone and here we are again with another chapter of 'A New Crusade IF'! First off, a couple of apologies. For one, you're all aware that the holidays have a tendency to mess up writing schedules a bit and New Year's is no exception, which reminds me, Happy New Year's everyone! Secondly, I'd also like to apologize for being unintentionally misleading. I'd planned for this to be the last chapter of the current 'IF' story but found there was just too much to tell for a single chapter, at least in my opinion. So this time I'll say the current 'IF' story should be wrapping up with one or two more chapters, maybe, we'll have to see. Oh and a quick announcement for those who don't know but also in one or two more chapters I shall be putting Hailstorm Vol. 2 on hiatus once again, just until the new season of My Hero Academia comes out. Now I've rambled enough and since it seems we have no guest review questions this week, on to the story!

The Karnstein Estate

If there was one thing Ulric had become well-accustomed to, it was the sight of a war camp preparing for battle. It had been only a few days since the meeting of the Royal Selection had set things in motion with each candidate attending to their own projects in an attempt to prove their worth to lead the kingdom. Naturally Lady Crusch had her own informants keeping her updated on the movements of the others but that was not her primary concern. What was her primary concern was her own project of organizing an expedition in order to hunt down one of the three great mabeasts which had been terrorizing the world for four hundred years: the White Whale.

To that end, she'd assembled all the soldiers and fighters under her command while also sending out word to anyone seeking vengeance against the beast or the chance to do battle with it. The result of this call turned out to be a fair number of fighters ranging from young to old, including a few retired soldiers, who volunteered to join them in their efforts. Naturally they needed supplies, transportation, weapons, armor and tents for housing the overflow of soldiers and equipment they were gathering. Crusch Karnstein accomplished the gathering of supplies by enlisting the help of numerous merchants including a well-known one by the name of Russell Fellow, who was the treasurer of the Merchant Guild.

Were this a time of war, or rather a regular war, the Crusader might've been suspicious of his motives and whether or not he was selling to both sides. But this was a war against a beast who was an enemy to all, including traveling merchants and their caravans. So Ulric worked with him in logistics, lending his own experience for long expeditions in their preparations while also inspecting the weapons and armor to make sure they were of good quality. He also kept up his training with Felix and Wilhelm while simultaneously studying as many facts, myths, legends and rumors that he could find on the White Whale during his spare time.

To be honest, he was rather unfamiliar with the regular species of animal known as a whale having only heard the occasional story about them, half of which probably weren't even true. But one detail that was consistent with both fact and fiction, was that they were enormous creatures. And that's the part Ulric was having the most trouble with when it came to planning their battle strategy. He'd raided fortresses before and no doubt there were several among their current allies who'd done the same.

But what they'd be 'raiding' was in essence a gigantic, airborne, mobile fortress that could drop its entire mass down on them whenever it pleased and that wasn't even including its gigantic maw or the fog it was capable of producing. From what he could tell they had two options that might be capable of bringing the beast down: their long range weapons, some of which Ulric didn't entirely understand but were said to be very powerful, while the other option would be somehow getting on the whale itself and assaulting the beast with everything they had until it finally died. 'The problem is we don't know how much it'll take to accomplish that,' he mused while reading over the latest list of weapons, 'this beast hasn't survived for four hundred years just by being hard to find. According to Wilhelm, this monster we're after was even capable of besting his wife, Theresia Van Astrea, the previous sword saint.'

After having spared with Wilhelm so many times Ulric knew that such a warrior could not be defeated by any ordinary monster, so they'd need to take great care in how they approached this battle. But before he could think further on the matter the Crusader was shaken from his thoughts when a knock sounded on his door. "Ulric," came the voice of Crusch, "are you in there?"

"I am," replied the Knight as he set the report down before getting up and opening the door. The sight which greeted him was more than a little unexpected. Lady Crusch did indeed stand before him, but not in her usual military attire. This evening she'd chosen to don a long, reddish-black night dress with white frills with a pink cape of sorts that was draped around her neck and shoulders. It still wasn't enough to keep her cleavage from being exposed somewhat and this was the first time Ulric had ever seen her bare arms. He was honestly surprised at how slender they were.

"How does the latest report look?" Questioned Crusch, shaking the knight from his thoughts as he replied.

"Everything's accounted for in the latest shipment," Ulric replied, almost too quickly, "and the quality's good. Wilhelm and I checked it ourselves."

"Yes, you've both been working quite hard recently," acknowledged Crusch, "Wilhelm has already declined my offer, saying he wishes to turn in early. I haven't been able to find Felix yet as he's been running around all over the place trying to keep the medical supplies in order. By now he's likely passed out somewhere. So would you care to join me on the balcony for a drink?" Ulric wanted to answer that he still had work to do but in all honesty it had come down to just the final checks, all of which could be done tomorrow when they were planning to launch the expedition.

"I suppose it would be rude of me to deprive her ladyship of some company," said Ulric, "at least not when I lack a valid reason."

"If there ever was a time to step back and breath a bit, this would be it," said Crusch as she signaled for him to follow her. The two made their way out to a large balcony where a table was set up. Expectedly there was already wine waiting for them, and a much less alcoholic option for the Crusader.

"I must admit I feel somewhat underdressed for this," commented Ulric as he sat down on one end of the table while Crusch sat at the other. He was currently out of his armor and in a blue tunic, a rather casual one he wore when there was no pressing business to attend too or battles to be fought.

"I'm not exactly dressed for a ball myself," replied Crusch as she indicated her own attire, "this is my nightdress, you know."

"And yet you wouldn't look at all out of place if you went to one right now," said Ulric, "even in your night clothes you appear as royalty."

"Such flattery, Sir Ulric," replied Crusch with a light smirk as she poured herself a drink, "but don't feel the need to speak well of me simply because you are in my service. Speak freely to me as you would a friend right now."

"As you wish," replied Ulric as he poured his own drink out of a different bottle, "though your divine protection of wind reading should tell you that I meant every word of that. This is the first time I've seen you out of your uniform since I began my service with you. I honestly didn't know what to expect."

"While it takes up most of my life, even I must step out of the role of duchess from time to time," said Crusch, "just as you should step out of the role of being a knight on occasion. That's why I've made it a little habit of mine to come up here from time to time and relax, usually while drinking with Felix. No doubt you understand the occasional difficulty of finding a quiet moment to breath every once in a while?"

"Rest is something you take at every opportunity when in war," said Ulric with a nod, "and finding a quiet moment to think and breathe is a blessing that is best not to be wasted."

"Indeed," said Crusch as she turned towards the city, gazing at the radiance it gave off. "I also chose this location because it offers this wonderful view of the city."

"I'm afraid such beauty is lost on me," replied Ulric, "or rather, I can admire the beauty of it. But after spending so many nights on a defensive wall staring out at enemy campfires, I find I can think of little else when I look out at the city's lights."

"Then we can both content ourselves with gazing up at the night sky," said Crusch with a glance upward towards said sky. "Tell me, Ulric, does your homeland also have a starry night sky?"

"When it's not blotted out by clouds or storms," replied Ulric, "it was actually a fascination of mine, seeing the different positions of the stars as I ventured from my homeland down to Jerusalem."

"No doubt you were taught to navigate by them," said Crusch, "I still find it fascinating the numerous similarities and differences between our lands."

"God blesses us all with what we need," said Ulric, "he blessed those of us in my land with fire and steel so that we may fight those who stand against his word. And he blessed this land with magic so that you could fight the horrid creatures who prowl in the shadows. Undoubtedly this quest shall be difficult, but songs are not written about those accomplish simple tasks."

"Well said," replied Crusch with a small smile as she held up her glass, "and while I need no songs to speak of my accomplishments, I do still intend to accomplish great things. So, will you pray for our success, Sir Knight?"

"I've prayed for it every day since you declared your intentions," said Ulric as he clinked his glass against hers, "a toast then, to the destruction of a great beast."

"And to a prosperous future," agreed Crusch as they both downed the contents of their glasses. Ulric would look back fondly on this night as one of the last peaceful ones for some time.

Night of the Next Day: Out on the Road

The sound of rolling wagon wheels and thumping feet filled the air as a long convoy of soldiers and supply wagons moved down the dirt road. At the head of the procession was Crusch Karnstein herself, now adorned in silver knight's armor and a red cape with her still exposed hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way of the rest of her combat attire. She rode atop a large, lizard-like creature with short arms that stood on its hind legs. Ulric had learned that they were called 'ground dragons' or at least one of a number of species of ground dragons.

Felix rode on Crusch's right side on his own ground dragon while Wilhelm did the same on her left. The cat-eared knight was wearing his uniform for this particular venture, though Wilhelm had opted to remain in his usual suit attire, save for the collection of swords hanging on both sides of his hips. And just behind them was Ulric in his now familiar feeling blue and white Knight armor. But instead of a ground dragon he was riding a large, wolf-like animal known as a liger. They, like the ground dragons, were both mounts and beasts of burden that came in many different colors.

In the case of his mount, whose name he'd learned was Spiegel, the liger was black and grey. Russell Fellow had introduced him to ligers and ground dragons alike, though he had to purchase the ligers from the Hoshin Trading Company very discreetly. But that was hardly a concern for Ulric as long as he had a good mount to carry him into battle. He'd ultimately chosen a liger because while they were physically weaker than a ground dragon their endurance was greater. Given the size of their prey having a slightly stronger mount would do little for them, so he opted for one that could go farther and for longer periods.

"What does our most recent intel say about the White Whale's location?" Questioned Crusch loudly over the noise of the wagons as they rode along.

"Last we heard," replied Wilhelm, "a great fog was spotted several miles from the capital. The known movements so far suggest it should appear somewhere along this roadway."

"What are we basing our assumptions on at the moment?" Asked Crusch.

"Mostly the words of frightened merchants who just managed to escape it," replied Ulric, "though I'm also going off of a theory."

"What sort of theory?" Questioned Crusch as she glanced back at the Crusader.

"During my research of the White Whale I noticed a peculiarity," said Ulric, "the beast is said to be an incarnation of gluttony who appears wherever it pleases and that it only avoids entire cities because it knows it could not win such a fight. But quite often there is something that seems to precede its appearances: the Witch's Cult."

"Those bunch of bozos," said Felix with a tilt of his head back towards Ulric, "those guys are all over the place. How can you be sure it's not just a coincidence?"

"The Witch's Cult is said to be secretive," replied Ulric, "so whenever they appear in a large group it usually means something diabolical is a foot. So I began matching dates of Witch Cult sightings with the sightings of the White Whale, and the latter almost always followed the former. It would not surprise me in the slightest if worshippers of black magic had found a way to summon a beast who was conjured by one of the witches."

"It isn't entirely farfetched," agreed Wilhelm, "we know so little of what guides the White Whale itself. What we know for sure is that monster devours all in its vicinity when it appears. If that cult of madmen and women really are controlling it somehow, then all the more reason to bring it down."

"We still need to find it first," said Crusch, "we have enough supplies for two weeks but not much longer than that. If this expedition goes over that amount of time, we'll need to start getting creative."

"I don't think we'll nya-eed to worry," said Felix as a strange smell entered his nostrils and he saw movement up ahead, "because we've already found something." Crusch gave the signal to halt as they all looked upon what he was talking about: a mass of fog which seemed to have appeared suddenly on the road.

"Spread out, defensive formation," ordered their green-haired leader, "all mages begin charging the necessary mana to attack. The rest of you, weapons at the ready!" Her orders were met with several quick acknowledgements as all the mounted knights drew their weapons and spread out in a circle around the wagons. The mages also leapt out, conjuring different forms of elemental magic as they did so while moving around on foot.

Ulric himself didn't stray far from Crusch and the others but did put enough distance between them so that he could maneuver Spiegel freely. His eyes swept across the foggy area, noting very quickly where it stopped as he avoided going into it entirely. The fog was the whale's territory and it was typically unwise to engage a relatively unknown enemy in their territory unless you were absolutely certain you had an advantage. 'The whale is supposed to fly,' he reminded himself as he directed his gaze up even higher, 'it should only come down once it determines there's food to eat.'

He caught sight of a large shape then which was protruding above the fog and was partially illuminated by the moonlight. They'd gotten lucky that the night was clear because it was only thanks to the moonlight that he was able to determine that the massive shape wasn't the White Whale but rather a tree taller and wider than any tower he'd ever laid eyes on. 'The tree planted by the wise man, Flugel,' recalled Ulric, 'said to be one of the biggest trees in all of Lugnica and probably even the world. God only knows how it managed to grow so enormous.'

He was about to shift his gaze elsewhere when he noticed something odd about the tree. Some parts of it were brighter than others as if a shadow was being cast on it. Upon closer inspection the Crusader saw that it was indeed a shadow, a massive shadow that was moving. Ulric whipped his head around towards the moon and that's when he saw it, a large dark spot that seemed to be growing larger and larger.

"Look to the moon!" Said one of the soldiers as everyone else turned to see the approaching figure, or rather mass. As it approached, the light from the moon shifted and shone on it, revealing its pale white skin and its gargantuan size, as big as a mansion. They'd found it, one of the three great mabeasts which had brought fear and pain to the world for four hundred years, the White Whale.

"God in Heaven," whispered Ulric as he put the flat of his blade against his forehead, trying to control his anxiety, "grant us the strength to fell this foul beast." He worked to steady his breathing as he looked around at the other knights and soldiers, noting that they too were held in place by fear. Even Crusch and Felix seemed hesitant to make the first move while Wilhelm drew one of his sabers, assessing where to attack first. 'This is just another battle,' Ulric repeated to himself, 'the objective is the same, fight the enemy until you are victorious.'

He glanced back to see the mages were still working to put up the weapons known as 'cannons'. They'd need time and waiting for the White Whale to plow into their formation and the wagons was out of the question. So, with a final shaky breath, Ulric snapped the reins and signaled Spiegel to charge forward as he recited Psalm 27 Verse 1. "'The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?'!" he declared, "'The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?'! DEUS VULT!"

He raised his sword above his head while summoning the power of light magic through his body. "Nya-ow he's lost it," said Felix as he and the others watched this display, "charging out there on his own."

"Yes he is charging," said Crusch, snapping back into reality as she pointed her sword towards the whale, "so follow him already! CHAAAAAAARGE!" This seemed to be the spur that the rest of the knights needed as they also snapped out of their stupors and raced forward, all yelling their own battle cries as they went. 'This is potentially the stupidest thing I've ever done,' thought Ulric as he readied to leap off of Spiegel, 'but we'll never know if we can kill this beast if we don't try!' He veered to the right of the massive beast as it flew lower to the ground at a surprisingly fast pace despite its size.

Then, timing it as best he could, Ulric leapt up and stabbed his sword into its large fin, using it as an anchor point before pulling it back out and jumping up onto its back. He didn't know what he needed to do other than to cut and slash at here he read the spine on a whale might be. Thankfully, he wasn't alone long in his struggle as Sir Wilhelm leapt up with an agility that belied his age or even that of a regular human being before tearing into the monster with the fury of at least a hundred men, spouting a mass of blood into the air with each swing of his blades. 'With all of that blood, the entire plains will be red by night's end,' thought Ulric off-handedly as they continued to assault their target.

The White Whale groaned in actual pain as what knights that could reach it added their own blades to the attack, tearing into its underside. The Beast's howls were echoing, seeming high-pitched but also rumbling at the same time. Before long it grew tired of the repeated blows while also being unable to devour any of the fast moving cavalry knights, so it flew back upwards into the air while rolling its body. Ulric and Wilhelm were forced to abandon their attack on the whale and drop back towards the ground, with the Crusader praying that the light magic reinforcing his body would be enough to dull the impact on his legs.

Fortunately, the Lord heard his prayers as his mount, Spiegel, ran in and caught him on his back. "I knew you were a loyal stead," complimented Ulric as he righted himself in the saddle. He looked back towards the sky then as the White Whale circled, deciding on its next form of attack when it was suddenly bombarded by the largest blasts of light Ulric had ever seen. 'They have the cannons set up,' he realized while in awe of their power, 'and they're far stronger than even I thought possible.' Adding to his amazement was a light being sent up into the air like a shooting star returning to the night sky before it exploded outwards, illuminating the entire area as if it was another, smaller sun.

'Just like the time God extended the day for the Israelites,' thought Ulric, 'truly amazing.' The White Whale was obviously less impressed as it writhed in pain temporarily from the sudden illumination. "Continue the bombardment," ordered Crusch, "do not let up until the White Whale is beached and dead!" A chorus of acknowledgements answered her command as the cannons continued to fire.

The White Whale roared in fury at the pain it was being caused, releasing a blast of wind with its cries that kicked up a mass amount of dust, obscuring the vision of the combatants momentarily as they were forced to stop and take better assessment of their surroundings. 'So it has more than fog,' thought Ulric as he tried to find any movement within the dust that seemed unusual. It didn't take long as a massive shadow suddenly bared down on him and his mount, far faster than he anticipated. Just as he was about to spur Spiegel on, a slash of wind impacted against the whale's face, causing it to recoil and miss the Crusader completely.

"I'll have to thank her ladyship for that," Ulric thought aloud as he rode after the whale. While he'd never seen it at such a scale, he recognized Crusch's Phantom Sword Art from a demonstration she'd given some time back. It was capable of dealing quite a lot of damage even if the target was far away. Wilhelm came riding in then and leapt onto the Whale's back from his ground dragon, carving massive cuts into it with his swords as their quarry yelled and writhed in agony in the air. Eventually the monster was able to throw the sword master off where he landed back on his ground dragon and sped away.

"Aim for its flank!" Ordered Crusch as the magic cannons continued their bombardment, this time with aid from fireballs shot by the gathered mages. The attack was powerful and brutal, creating a more than healthy amount of smoke as the mabeast continued to wail and howl in agony. 'This surely is a mighty beast,' thought Ulric, 'is it really still in the air after taking so much punishment?' The unfortunate answer to this question was 'yes' as the mabeast roared and finally released its fog.

The area was shrouded very quickly and worse, large portions of what appeared to be white scales were raining down in certain areas. It was like trying to avoid several small waterfalls as Ulric maneuvered Spiegel around the fogged plains. "Fall back and regroup!" Ordered Crusch as she swung her sword multiple times, the wind magic behind each swing succeeding in clearing out the fog little by little. Ulric did as instructed, moving back with several of the soldiers to where the wagons were located.

As he did so, however, another wail sounded across the battlefield, this one incredibly loud as the knight reflexively tried to cover his ears. But however bad it was for him, it was several times worse for many other soldiers as they fell down crying in pain with some holding their ears while others seemed to be going mad and clawing at their faces. "What's going on," Ulric thought aloud as he looked upon the strange phenomenon.

"The White Whale is projecting its voice through the fog," said Crusch as she came riding up next to Ulric, "its affected the minds of many of our comrades. The spell might settle shortly but the problem still remains that we are extremely vulnerable right now."

"We have healers but will they be enough to get to everyone in time?" Questioned Ulric.

"Even directing the majority of our forces to help evacuate the wounded might not be enough," said Crusch, "as said, we're incredibly vulnerable right now." The Crusader took a moment to consider their options. Given time they could reorganize and use the remaining able-bodied troops to continue bombarding the White Whale with as much firepower as they could muster while he and Wilhelm continued to attack at close range. They could also attempt to mount a full-frontal assault with anyone left who was still capable of fighting, but that was likely to end in disaster if they merely charged into the fog.

Ulric could try to help with the evacuation and care of the other troops as well but then only Crusch would be aiding Wilhelm and he needed all the help he could get. It all really came down to the fact that they might not have enough time. "Your ladyship," said Ulric as he turned Spiegel back towards the fog, "you see to reorganizing the troops as quickly as possible."

"What is it you plan on doing?" Questioned Crusch, already suspecting she knew where this was headed.

"I'm going to try and get the White Whale's attention," replied Ulric, "you're right when you say we're in a vulnerable position. But given enough time we should be able to organize something. They'll need your leadership for that."

"Don't speak as if I'd be content to simply throw your life away," said Crusch, "you're not an expendable mercenary I hired just yesterday. You're someone who Felix and Wilhelm have grown quite fond of despite your short time with us. More to the point, you swore you'd help me become the ruler of this nation and that's not something you can do if you're dead!"

"Even if I can't see you become the ruler with my own eyes," said Ulric, "so long as my actions help lead you to the throne, that is enough for me." He spurred Spiegel back towards the fog then. "May God light the way for both of us, DEUS VULT!" The sound of Crusch's protests were quickly drowned out by the noise of the White Whale's roar as it emerged and lunged at the Crusader and his mount.

"Over here!" Yelled Ulric as he steered Spiegel away, narrowly avoiding the beast's massive jaws and the plowed-up earth as it actually ate an entire section of the ground. The Knight continued taunting the monster in hopes that it would follow him. And his efforts were rewarded, far more quickly than he expected as the White Whale was once again bearing down on his right side. 'How did it turn and circle so quickly,' he thought as the pair just barely leapt out of the way of the mabeast's jaw. Ulric turned and tried to circle around behind the White Whale, hoping that their foe might be unwise enough to try chasing its own tail for a bit.

And yet just as they were rounding their turn, the face of the mabeast came into view yet again, its once yellow eyes now blood red. 'How is it possible that it got faster,' thought the Crusader somewhat frantically as he spurred his mount on in a daring maneuver. This time they actually ran up onto the ground which was being torn up by the whale's jaw before quickly leaping out sideways the moment it began to close on them. It succeeded save for one slight and very literal snag.

Spiegel's foot hit one of the White Whale's massive teeth as they leapt out, causing him to let out a yelp as he tumbled end over end. The motion was enough to through the knight out of his saddle where he impacted painfully on the ground and rolled for several feet before stopping. "That was…a bad idea," coughed Ulric as he got to his hands and knees before looking up. And that's when he noticed it, the presence of a second shadow in the air.

'It can't be,' thought Ulric in shock, 'there was only supposed to be one, so where did this one come from?' The sound of the Whale's growl reached his ears again, but this one was much closer as he realized another giant maw was bearing down on him. 'There wasn't just one whale,' he thought in horror as the darkness closed around him, 'there were three.' And then everything went black as he felt his body slowly and surely reduced to nothingness with the jaws of the White Whale.

The Mansion of Crusch Karnstein

Ulric awoke with a start. 'What, where am I,' he thought frantically as he looked around, noting very quickly that he was somehow back in his room at the Karnstein estate. The books and other written materials were out in front of him denoting the information on the White Whale, their war preparations and notes that Ulric had written for his magic. 'How did I get back here,' he mused as he slowly stood up from the desk, checking to see if anything was amiss. When nothing jumped out at him immediately, he decided to slowly venture out into the rest of the mansion, his eyes roaming for any detail out of place.

Felix had spoken to him of illusion magic on a couple of occasions though he'd said it was something that wasn't encountered too terribly often. And speaking of Felix, the feline boy came around the corner and nearly yelped as Ulric suddenly gripped his sword reflexively. "Ah, Ulric," said Felix, "I was just coming to get you. The nya-ext shipment of weapons is here."

"The-uh, next shipment of weapons," Ulric repeated as he removed his hand from his sword and rubbed his head, "are we still planning on using them to slay the White Whale?"

"Well of course silly," said Felix with his hands on his hips, "that's what all the weapons we've been gathering are for. We'll need every last one we can get if we're gonna take down a mabeast like that."

"Remind me again," said Ulric, "what's our projected time to depart for the expedition?"

"What, it's just another couple of days nya-ow," said Felix with a tilt of his head before feeling Ulric's forehead, "are you sure you're feeling alright? Haven't been burning the midnight oil to many evenings in a row, have you?"

"Perhaps I have," said Ulric, "but I'll be fine in a moment. You go on ahead and I'll be there in a minute to help you check the weapons."

"Well just remember nya-ot to overdo it," said Felix, "I fix enough of your injuries from training already."

"Of course, I'll take that into consideration," replied Ulric with a nod. This seemed to satisfy the cat boy for now as he turned and headed back down the stairs. As for the Crusader, his mind was already going crazy trying to process everything he'd just learned. 'How can this be,' he thought, 'we were assaulting the White Whale not even an hour ago and now we're back at the mansion doing the same preparations as before.'

He turned over one theory after another as he tried to piece together everything which had led up to this point. And that's when he remembered it, the White Whale and its two apparent brethren, as well as his untimely demise. Strange as it was to think, he had either dreamt the whole battle with the whale, somehow saw the future, or had died and been sent back here. 'But what does it all mean,' he thought as he glanced at his hand, 'Dear Heavenly Father, what does it mean?' He'd soon find the answer to that question, was far more complicated than he'd ever imagined.

Whew, things have really started moving now. Again, sorry if everyone thought this was the last chapter of the 'IF' story, that one's on me. Turns out there was a lot more to tell and not enough time to tell it in, at least in my opinion. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed the story and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future 'IF' stories. Be sure to stop in next time as Ulric traverses the lines of life and death repeatedly to achieve his goals. 'Til then.