Come on Lo, you can do this. One quick cut, and a little bit of red falls to the floor. She held the knife in her hand, knowing that this was the most practical thing to do, it would make fighting much easier. She looked at the knife, the blade was plain steel sharpened till the light danced along the edge, the handle was just as simple, a piece of wood wrapped in a few strips of blackened leather. Stop procrastinating Lo, you have to do this, it won't hurt and soon enough, back to normal. Until you have to do it again. Stop it! Come on, just a single quick slice, that's all it is. Lo took a single deep breath, before starting to cut her hair. What she thought would be a single cut ended up more like a long, sawing action. When she was done her hair was down to her shoulders, whereas before it was down to her lower back, and quickly tied it into a ponytail with a piece of cloth.

"It suits you." Lilith said before passing her a hand mirror.

Lo looked at herself in the reflective surface, she had to admit, it did look nice, but she preferred her hair long, it just felt to light now. "I suppose. There's a man in the wasteland, he's called the Prophet, bring him here, and can you get me a sample of the dirt, and the strange blue liquid."

"I'll send out some browns."

"I wouldn't do that," Gnarl chided, "most are so dumb they'd fall into it and get mutated, and they'd probably attack the Prophet, or whatever he's called. It would make most sense for you to go while I give the new overlord a tour of the netherworld."

Lilith gave a hesitant smile. "Of course, I'll see to it now."

Lo watched as she walked to the balcony and leapt off the edge.

"When I asked who she was it was the wrong question, wasn't it? I should have asked what is she?"

"She is Lilith, queen of the succubi."

"Queen?"

"I'm not sure how it all works, all I know is that she's in charge."

"Then where are her people? Shouldn't she have a court or a land to rule?"

"Not all monarchies work like the humans, in elven culture a daughter is above a son in the line of inheritance for the throne. Her people are like leeches, they require others to feed on so it wouldn't be practical to have a land full of them that humans could easily avoid. Instead, her people have spread through your lands, taking refuge in 'houses of ill repute'. Anywhere there is a man who wants a woman, there's a succubus waiting."

"How many of them are there?"

"Only she knows for sure, from what I've gathered though, she owns," Gnarl took a slight pause, "seven brothels in Heaven's peak, another in Nordberg, four spread throughout the Mellow Hills, another three in the desert, and I believe she's started expanding into the dwarven market with some of her shorter girls."

"And that's at a minimum?"

"Yes."

"There must be hundreds, practically an army."

"The phrase , they're lovers, not fighters, seems rather appropriate."

"Hmm, what about as spies, they could send back information, they've been there for years so wouldn't look suspicious.'

"It's possible."

"Now we just need an army."

"You do realise that's what the minions are for, strong, near numberless, suicidally loyal. Anyway, time to give you the grand tour. This is the private quarters, after a long day of massecreing people, it's important for an overlord to unwind, and relax."

"Is there a bath?"

"There is a pool but it's been out of order for a few years."

"That's the first priority, get it working, I really need a bath, and some new clothes." Since Lo's clothes had been thrown out, she had been given one of Fay's old dresses. Gnarl had left out the part that it was her mother's and how similar they looked, he hadn't gotten around to telling her about her mother's disappearance either.

"I'll have some browns see to it, but why don't we go and see the rest of the tower?"

"Sure."

"Also in this area is the library, magic room and I believe you are rather familiar with the bedroom."

"What do you mean by that Gnarl?"

"That you've spent a lot of time sleeping in there. Why is there another meaning?"

"It doesn't matter, let's carry on then, where to next."

"I take it you remember the floating platforms."

"You mean the one without a rail."

"It's the main way of moving from area to area down here. Let's get going then."

Lo followed Gnarl to the floating obsidian, but just before stepping on she realised something. "Where's Fengir?"

"He's in the burrows, it's like the private quarters but for the minions, Lilith suggested that he might be good breeding stock."

"What do you mean 'good breeding stock'?"

"If a large wolf breeds, it will likely have large children, the larger the mounts for the browns, the more damage they'll deal."

"So you're using my friend, to give your people a boost."

"Don't worry, he seems to be rather enjoying himself."

Lo rolled her eyes. "You could have just said he was fine, you didn't have to be so vulgar."

"Sorry, you may not want to peek into the brown hive then."

Lo stepped onto the platform before crouching when it started to move, the ride was a lot smoother than the carriages when she was little, but the lack of something to hold onto made her feel unstable.

"I want something to hold onto, that's new priority number one, the bath is number two."

"Of course mistress."

"Gnarl.

"What is it?"

"When I was little a friend gave me a book about the overlord. It said that mistresses was what the overlord's female, companions, were called."

"Yes, and?" Gnarl was slightly concerned, he was certain all knowledge of his kind had been expunged, along with any detailed records of the Overlord's powers and traditions.

"But I'm the Overlord so isn't there another title?"

"Well, this has never happened before so we aren't really sure what to do."

"Was there a title before overlord?"

"There was the Black Baron."

"The Black Baroness, it doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

Gnarl bit his lip. He should have seen this coming. Where the girl came from title was everything, at the top where the lords and ladies, then the barons, then the counts, and of course, the king on top.

"What about the overlady."

"It just doesn't sound right."

"Does this really matter?"

Lo gave a sigh before pulling out the black missive. "You have a point, as soon as I've dealt with this, I'm leaving. So it's probably a good idea I don't go shouting that I'm the person that leads the monsters out of hell, best to keep my actual position quiet."

Parcid took a deep breath, on top of planning the wedding was difficult, he was tired, and stressed. Then the news Anise sent had pushed him over the edge. He had looked after the girl from the age of eight to fifteen, then she'd been sent away and captured by the overlord. He wasn't as naive as the other lords, he knew the leader of the minions could be negotiate with, his father was proof of that. It all depended on how Lo reacted, she was strong enough to resist him, but would she want to?

He shook his head, there were other things. The abom..., no The Infused was the name they preferred, and it was the one he preferred as well. The three that had helped him were departing, gathering the others. They wanted to stop running, they wanted to stop fighting, they wanted to live in peace. And they were willing to work for it. The return of the overlord presented a, unique, employment opportunity.

But now he had something to do now. The Huntsman had given him the address of someone specialising in the more outlandish items who was lacking funding. Apparently he was one of the people that helped research the ritual to create the infused. A genius, slightly insane with a strange obsession of making the perfect toast, but a genius none the less.

It took Parcid about half an hour to reach the workshop, and he instantly felt uneasy. The fact that he heard a loud bang, then saw a few roof tiles fall off, then saw a shutter fly away from a window. He gulped slightly, then knocked.

"Just a minute." He heard a voice yell, then followed by some swearing that he wasn't meant to hear.

After five minutes he was tempted to walk away but then the door opened. The man standing there, strange, very strange. The only visible hair was a large, half singed beard that had been black end with soot along with his eyebrows. Most peculiar, was the device that rested over his eyes. There was a leather visor with a prong to the side either eye, and on each of those was some metal rods each ending in a small glass circle.

"I was so close this time, then bang, swoosh, all gone."

"Um, sorry about that, but a friend said you had some good ideas to help the city but you were running out of funding."

"Come on in then." The man gave a slight gesture before walking inside, and Parcid, against his better judgement, followed.

The inside of the house, was stranger than its occupant. Vials that looked like they were made when the glassblower had hiccups lined a small shelf, next to them was a pile of thick, alabaster dishes with a few pestles, and after that was possibly the only normal thing in the room, a small sink.

"I was so close this time, it just needs to burn a lot slower."

"What were you trying to do?"

"I was trying to make a fuel that would burn at a certain temperature for a certain time, but instead I just created something that has the same power as a mage's fireball."

"So, you created a substance that removes the divide between people and mages, by accident?"

"Total and utter accident, I just wanted it to be golden and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside."

"Can you show me what you used and how much?"

The man lifted a small barrel and removed a cork on the side, causing a black powder to pour out. He then took a small piece of white cloth, made a small pouch, and filled it with the powder.

"That little? To cause one of the shutters not the windows to fall off?"

"The hinge was rusted and the nails were falling out anyway."

"I think your research is very promising, could you make more?"

"Certainly, it's rather simple to make, but I'll need some time to change the formula for the perfect slice."

"Keep it the same, I think this is the beginning of a great relationship. What's your name by the way?"

"Leo, Leo of Spree."

Lo was actual finding the netherworld to her liking, it was warm, reasonable bright, and it was quiet in her own quarters, something she'd not experienced since she was eight. When she'd arrived at the burrows she'd found Fengir surrounded by other wolfs, some of them with fresh bites and scratch marks, but it was obvious that he had ended up as the , what was it Parcid had called it again, Alpha. Either way, when the other wolfs had started growling at her, her wolf had put them in their place with his own.

She was at the forge now, molten steel boiled I'm the large forge and Giblet was happy to be working again, he may have disliked making the chainmail armour that Lilith requested be made, it wasn't bulky enough and not enough metal spikes, but it was work none the less. He finished just as the platform landed, placing it on an armour rack that was slightly out of sight as Gnarl had told him to do a couple of hours before the Girl had woken up.

"And this is the foundations, where armour and weapons are made." Gnarl said, leading Lo to the other minion and introducing them before directing Lo to the two sets of armour. Just as he was about to speak, there was a flap of leathery wings as Lilith landed next to Gnarl.

"The Prophet is waiting for you in the throne room and says he has some explaining to do." The succubus took a pause for a second and started looking around.

"As I was saying before you were interrupted. We also managed to retrieve the Overlord's armour if you would like."

Lo leant to the side slightly and put her hand on her waist. "I'm not wearing that."

"But mistress, it was worn by your father, it is part of your legacy."

Lo tilted her head and a look of annoyance appeared on her. "Gnarl, am I a man?"

"No, mistress."

"Do men and women have exactly the same physical characteristics? "

"No, mistress."

"Another question Gnarl, did my father have breasts?"

Gnarl's jaw dropped slightly before he regained his composure. "No, mistress."

"So, what are the chances that I'd be able to wear it comfortably?"

"Very low, mistress."

"So, why would you make me wear it."

Gnarl gave a slight sigh, one thought kept on going through his head, do not mention how much like her mother she is. He then looked to Lilith who was trying to hide a smug smile, but when she opened her mouth it would be impossible to not notice it in her tone. "He's a traditionalist, you've never been very good at change, have you Gnarl? Unlike him, I understand that you wouldn't want to wear something so, crude."

Giblet gave a screech that was half muffled by his helmet before charging at Lilith with his hammer raised, making a series of other noises that sounded like hisses and growls. Lo tapped her foot and the stone in front of the charging brown formed into a small wall, making him fall back with a slight thud. He gave a rude gesture to Lilith before walking back towards the anvil.

"I'm sorry Giblet, I was talking about the design, not the craftsminionship." Giblet seemed happy at this, Lo could swear he was smiling beneath the metal mask. "I had him craft some armour that is more suited to your needs. Now Giblet, where did you hide the armour so the new overlord would think she only had one option?"

Giblet moved to the armour rack and dragged it in front of Lo. The only words she could use to describe it was perfect for her. Most of it was a silvery chainmail, metal plates were laid upon the outside of the arm and bound with leather straps, a similar treatment was given to the front and side of her legs, further up was a skirt made out of metal scales that stopped just above the knee.

Next was the chest piece, it was similar to the skirt, small overlapping scales covered her stomach but a more solid metal plate covered the upper half of her abdomen. "That, is much, much better."

Giblet started bouncing on his toes slightly. "Chainmail, metal it made from very light, but soft as well, not very good at blocking arrows but should deal with glancing blows, the plates made of same metal but mixed with a few others, not as light, but much tougher. Helmet not finished yet, bat lady say it should be special."

"I took some measurements while you were resting so it should be a perfect fit, what do you think, your ladyship?"

"It's beautiful, but being called your ladyship by a queen seems slightly off."

"You always had trouble keeping your mouth shut, didn't you Gnarl?"

"Have the armour sent to the private quarters, I'll go speak to our new guest."

Longer chapter than usual, the next few should start to explain a few things explain a few things.