Lo and Fengir stalked down the tunnel with her glow reflecting off the smooth black stone. She rested his hand on his back and ran it through the beasts shaggy fur, causing his tail to wag. She came to the opening and doubts filled her mind. Was she ready for this? Was she going to become the overlord, or whatever the female counter part was? Did she even want to become Overlord? She was going to rule anyway wasn't she? So what was the point of doing this? Your friend is in trouble, that should be enough. But was it?
The three men stood over Parcid in the dimly lit room, their rusted iron masks only half reflecting the dim candle light. They were brothers, not bound by blood, but by the tattoo that signified what they were. The skull with the serpent sliding into the right socket. The firsts mask was designed to look like that of a man with a beard and the mouth about to give a huff, his name was The Fisherman. The next was The Huntsman, his mask was made in the image of hound, but unlike the others his clothes were covered in mud. The final was The Guard, his mask was flat and unlike the other that wore the common furs that everyone wore in the city, he wore a set of thick armour made of soot blackened steel plates. The guard had been resting for a long time, encased in the black glacier as the world changed, waiting till he would be needed again, till the blood of the old lord returned. The others had arrived later, The Huntsman from Evernight forest and the Fisherman from wherever his travels took him.
"His outburst means everyone knows now." The Huntsman's voice reverberated through his mask.
"Will the people want him back?" The Fisherman asked.
The Guardsman merely dignified with a nod, the other two new he couldn't speak, it was a side effect of the ritual.
"From what I've seen the people hate the new lord, they'll see it as fate."
Another question entered the Fisherman's mind. "Will he want to rule?"
"He builds the house of the father, he seeks his legacy and the people shall follow him."
"We are assuming he wakes up, this is the succubus's work, and she isn't a normal one either."
"The power of royal blood is hard to judge, especially that of a queen."
Anise walked towards the build site, she shouldn't have walked off like that. She'd been in enough relationships to know that when someone said something stupid that the worst thing to do was to walk off. She looked over the stone building, the main wing was almost done, it would be possible to live there in a few weeks but the rest of the house was no where near finished.
"Parcid, are you in here?" There was no reply so she decided to move further into the house, she hadn't been in for a few weeks and she was massively impressed by the improvement. Instead of the wall less span it was last time, the area was now neatly divided with a large fireplace between the centre of two flights of stairs that gently curved to the upper level. She opened the door to the side and found what looked like a kitchen with several counter tops and a large stone oven at the end. There we're two doors leading off, one into the servants quarters, the other into a dining room. She carried on moving from room to room. She was actually incredibly impressed, the rooms were well set out and spacious and most had a fireplace to keep warm. He wasn't in the house, so Anise decided to search for him elsewhere.
Morg sat in Lot's room, she had left about an hour ago and he was currently drinking a fresh cup of tea. Lilith was sat opposite him, drinking her own. Neither of them spoke, both unwilling to break the awkward silence. She glanced at the time piece that rested on the large fireplace.
"The spell should be wearing off soon."
"Has anyone found the boy yet, he may get frostbite."
" I assume his little girlfriend will have found him, they share genuine affection for each other. It may help manipulate them the future."
"Then the plan may go ahead."
"I should be going now if I want an audience with the new Overlord."
Lo dug her hands into Fengir's fur to steady herself as the black stone platform drifted through the air above the lava. There was a loud thud as the stone fitted into the walkway the opening to the tower. As they walked Fengir's claws clicked against the obsidian floor. Statues of salamanders and faded green banners lined their way to the throne. Sitting on the chair was an elven woman. Her hair had faded to a coppery tone and small wrinkles has begun to form under her eyes.
"Gnarl, who is this?" She asked, her voice was filled with content that had developed over the years.
"She is the next Overlord." Gnarl walked out of the shadows and stood at Lo's side.
"But she's a girl, and an elf, the Overlord must be a man, not some fragile child."
"I am not a child, you old hag." Lo was tired of people assuming just because she was young that she was weaker than they were.
"How dare you." Fay shot a ball of light from her hand that Lo batted away without blinking. "I am Fay, mistress to the fourth Overlord, destroyer of the sanctuaries and you shall respect me."
Lo took her bow off her back and prepared a shot. "And I am Lo,daughter of the forth Overlord and Fay, future queen of man, the fifth overlord or whatever the female equivalent is, and a very good shot with a bow." Fay's eyes widened as Lo let go of the string, but simply deflected the arrow
"Gnarl you cretin, I told you to kill her fifteen years ago."
Gnarl school his head and smiled. "You told me to get rid of her, I thought abandoning her in the jungle would suffice, although I did leave her in the middle of a road that I knew a carriage would be going over."
Fay's face filled with anger, she would kill Gnarl later, she had a family reunion to deal with now. She launched a barrage of fire at her daughter who strolled through it as if nothing happened. Lo let out another few arrows, each one getting closer to Fay's chest. Her mother had weekend with age and unlike Lo, her magic was running out. Then Fengir moved, his paws pounding against the smooth floor before leaping, his jaws clamping shut on the back of Fay's leg and then pulling, tearing her hamstring out with one fluid movement. She fell backwards as all the weight on her leg was unsupported and starters trying to scramble away from the beast.
"Please I can help, don't trust Gnarl, he'll betray you, he betrays everyone." Lo moved so she was stood over Fay, her bow pointing down. "Please, don't kill me."
Lo swung her bow so it smashed into Fay's face, knocking her unconscious. 'By the gods I thought she'd never shut up." She stepped away from the unconscious woman and started walking towards the exit. "Lock her up, make sure she can't escape. Will Parcid wake up ?"
" Yes. Anyway we must begin planning how to reclaim your lands."
Lo carried on walking. "No."
"What? You have to, it's what the overlord does."
"I'm not the Overlord. I don't want to be the overlord."
"Then why come down here?"
"To help a friend."
Parcid woke up and looked at the three masked men sitting around him. "Where am I?Who are you? What do you want from me."
The Huntsman rolled us his sleeve to reveal the tattoo. "You are safe, and we wish to help, my name, is the Huntsman, specialist in tracking and removing high profile targets. This is the Guard, his name is self explanatory but he cannot speak."
"The Fisherman, specialist in guerilla warfare, particularly traps."
"You still haven't told me what you want."
"With your outburst we now want what the half of Nordberg that have heard about who are want, for you to take your rightful place."
"What about the other half?"
"They will hear soon."
"So the people actually want me back?"
"Sort of. The people want rid of the current lord and to return to the time of your father, he is gone, so you seem like the best choice."
Parcid gave a laugh. "So let me get this straight, you want me, a son of a lord turned bandit, to reclaim my fathers seat and rule this frozen hole."
"Yes."
"And what makes you think I want to rule?"
"You seek his legacy, you build his house, you want to take what your father left for you. The Guard has been watching you for a long time, and helping with the building. We will help you take your rightful place, even if it costs us our lives."
"No, if you force me into power then the people will suffer, I don't want that. If we do this, we do this their way."
"And what is their way?"
"We make it the people's choice."