The trio broke into a sprint when they saw the castle just up ahead, the sun near her final descent and threatening to leave them running in the dark. "Lily! There you are!" Esther ran to them, panting as she grabbed Lily, yanking her into a tight hug. "Thank the Goddess you're here! Something terrible has happened…" She grabbed Lily's hand, leading the builder through the castle and to the Southern wall. Esther slowly stepped aside, letting Lily see what the bad news was.

Malroth stepped around Lily, eyes narrowing. "What's this? They're dead?"

Esther gave a tight nod, tears in her eyes as she glanced to Anessa who had covered her mouth. "Slain in the night and buried… they bear wounds from a sword. And… it isn't one of the monsters' – it's from one of our swords."

Zara stood from where she had been kneeling nearby, hands pressed tight to her chest. "Then it is true… a monster hides among us. A fiend disguised in human form."

Lily bit her lip, trying to fight back the tears, she looked over to the King who had been standing over his slain people. "But if so, how in creation can we hope to find the perpetrator? If only we had Ra's Mirror, we would be able to dispel the illusion." The King rubbed his hairy chin, trying to think of something. "Perhaps… we could send people out to hunt for it?"

"Your Highness." Anessa put a hand on Lily's shoulder, nodding to the builder. "You don't have to look far for that."

"No."

The people turned, staring at Lily in awe. Anessa's grip tightened on Lily's shoulder as she studied the smaller girl. "Lily, we have to find-"

"No!" Lily ripped away, her gut was churning, and her head started to spin, she knew they'd use this mirror against Malroth, she just knew it in her gut. "Bury your dead and go to bed! We'll discuss this as a whole… some other time!"

Malroth turned, watching as Lily disappeared back into the castle. He looked at the people of Moonbrooke, his deadly gaze landing on Anessa. "You've had your warning."

Anessa swallowed the lump that had grown at the back of her throat as she turned to her fellow people. "Tomorrow, then."


Malroth looked over his shoulder, the sun was nearing her highest peak as he and Lily went to scavenge magic crystals. She hadn't spoke a lick they had gotten back and found the bodies. He let out a sigh and easily took out a group of scavenger birds that had been following the duo. "Lils… you know they'll hound you until you do it. As much as I don't want to use the mirror." He walked up to her, cupping the side of her face. He didn't need the bond they shared to know the amount of anxiety and anger she was feeling about the whole thing. "C'mon… let's go back. We've been out here for hours."

"I could drop it in the ocean, Mal… they'd never find it again."

Malroth put his forehead against hers, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You could. And then they'd look right at you as the spy, Lils. I can try to talk some sense into them, both of us can. But in the end, all we can do is stand by and watch them destroy themselves."

Lily tipped her chin, catching Malroth's mouth with her own. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he cupped the back of her neck with one hand, the other moved down, gripping her hip and pulling her tighter against him-

Malroth surged back, eyes wide as he panted. He watched Lily collapse to her knees and threw up, then her magic surged around them, the ground closest to her began to disintegrate. He paced around the edge of the circle her magic created, snarling as he tried to find the easiest way to get her. Then she did something he hadn't seen her do before, her body bent and twisted, forcing her back into an awkward angle that shouldn't have been possible. A scream left her throat as she reached a hand out to him, tears burning down her cheeks.

Malroth closed his eyes, he steadied his breathing, calmed his anger as best he could. When he calmed down, he could feel Lily at the edge of his mind, her panic was all that he could feel, but he pushed against their bond. He opened his eyes and ran at Lily, jumping over the crater she had created. He wrapped his arms around her, effectively yanking her away from the middle of the crater. He ignored the pain her magic caused him as he wrapped himself around her, tucking her smaller frame into his. "Shhh, Lily. You're safe. I have you, okay? Breathe."


When Lily lifted her head, she was curled up against Malroth, but she was staring at a crater that looked like a rockbomb had gone off in the middle of. "Mal?" She trembled as she let herself sink into the safety that was him and him alone.

"Give me a minute." His voice was a deep growl, but he didn't loosen his grip on her so she couldn't turn to look up at him.

Lily sat patiently in his arms, her fingers brushing the backs of his hands. Something felt wrong and she looked down, seeing his skin was red and looked almost like it had been burned. "You're… healing. Mal, what happened?"

"Can you work on keeping your memory when you go into panic attacks? It would be real fucking helpful." He grumbled against her ear, his breathing was labored as he slowly pulled back, collapsing so he was laying back in the cold snow. "Sorry if you feel weak, I tried to… I don't know how to explain it… I could feel a lot of energy coming off of you, so I tried to use it to help heal myself faster."

"If you'd show me that fancy trick, I'll try to be better at remembering my panic attacks." Lily fell back so she was laying next to him. "We were just kissing, why… why did I have a panic attack?" She bit her lip, hoping the small pain would distract herself and push away the tears that threatened to cloud her eyes. "We should get back…"

"Just… just fucking lay here for a minute, would you? I'm not ready to face those idiots just yet."


Malroth was carrying Lily on his back as they made it back to the castle, he started to go around front, wanting to take the quicker route to get Lily back to their room. Then he saw the main core of Moonbrooke talking up by the ballista's up front. "Long way it is." He growled and started to head around back when a loud whistle stopped him.

"Malroth! Lily! You're back!" Anessa trotted up to them, giving them a knowing look. "We've all talked and have decided we'd like to use the mirror."

"Then use it. We won't stop you." Malroth snarled at the soldier.

"We would like you two to be there, if there are monsters, we'll need people to help fight them."

"Fucking hell." Malroth snarled as he glanced over his shoulder at Lily who had shut down again. She didn't protest, he wished she had. He didn't have a good enough excuse to not fight the monsters that might be hiding, especially since he had been stating how he'd knock any monster's head with good enough reason. And being around him was a good enough reason.

Malroth followed Anessa up the stairs, seeing she had taken a spot up next to Warwick. He grumbled and stood on her other side, closest to the King. "Lils, can you stand?" Lily slowly let herself slide from Malroth's back, testing her legs for a moment before nodding to him. He turned to the people of Moonbrooke, annoyance heavy in his voice. "You're seriously going through with this? What's wrong with you people? Don't any of you trust each other?"

Gerome crossed his arms as he glared up at Malroth. "You seem strangely opposed to finding the spy, Malroth… almost… suspiciously so." He flinched back when Malroth made a lunge towards the old man, the only thing keeping him from flying off the raised area was Lily's hand on his upper arm.

"Enough, you two. This is exactly what the enemy wants – to sow seeds of doubt and distrust among us. All must gaze into the mirror – including you, Malroth." Warwick's voice was soft as he spoke, glaring over at Malroth, if looks could kill, Warwick knew he'd be a dead man with the look Malroth was digging into him at that moment. "Come, Lily. Use Ra's Mirror, and let our true forms be revealed. You may begin with us, your closest allies… if that's alright with you, Anessa?"

Lily flinched, her grip on Malroth's arm getting tighter as everyone slowly looked to her. "No…" She could barely get that word out, her throat felt like it was going to cut off her breath again as tears began to well in her eyes once more.

Malroth let out a near crazed laugh, these idiots really thought Lily was going to use the mirror. Lily! Who had a panic attack just thinking about using it!

"Achoo!" The entirety of Moonbrooke flinched at the loudness of the sneeze from someone in their ranks

"Gesundheit." Anessa tipped her head to whoever had sneezed.

Malroth felt dread fill his body, his breath catching his throat as something snapped. No, not just something. His bond with Lily was suddenly… gone. He looked to her, seeing she had dropped her hand from his arm and relaxed, that stupid grin she used to wear all the time was back in full swing. "L-Lils? Hey…"

Lily pulled the mirror out, staring down into it. Malroth watched as the mirror seemed to move like water, and then a girl that looked similar to Lily appeared, her hair wasn't as vibrant as Lily's and her eyes were duller. He looked up at his builder, her eyes seemed to dull but everything else stayed the same, watching as she trotted over to Warwick, holding the mirror up to him.

"I see… my own face." Warwick gave Lily a tight nod. "I suppose that means I'm not a monster. What a relief!" He let out a chuckle, grinning when Lily grinned even more at him.

Anessa was the next to stare into the mirror, a sigh leaving her. "It shows nothing but a reflection of myself. I think that should be enough to clear me of any suspicion."

Malroth felt his body grow cold when Lily turned to him. "Lils. What the fuck?" He bit his tongue, watching as she walked by him and pointed the mirror to the King.

The old man laughed, rubbing his chin as he watched Lily with knowing eyes. "All I see is a dashing King staring back at me. But to doubt even me – what dark thoughts lie behind that innocent smile of yours, dear builder?"

Lily dropped from the raised area, holding the mirror up to Haydin. The bard let out a hum that turned into a small song. "In the mirror I can see, a guy with killer looks – it's me! But one of the others is a wolf in sheep's clothing! Killing their brothers and spreading fear and loathing!" He laughed and shrugged. "Guess you were wrong when you said it could be me, Lily."

Next was Gerome, then Zara and Jeremiah. Esther let out a sigh of relief, as if she had doubted herself. "Goddess praise, it is just me. You know, I think Malroth's right. Doubting each other like this is such a ghastly thing to do. But maybe we really haven't any other option."

Lily went to go to one of the townsfolk behind Esther when Warwick cleared his throat. "Lily. You are forgetting one up here."

When Lily looked to Malroth, there were tears running down her cheeks. They looked so odd on her face while that smile was there. "Lily… don't do this. If we don't trust each other, then we might as well give up now…"

"You used the mirror on us, Lily. He led our people to their deaths and tried to kill me." Warwick warned softly. "Or are you our spy?" He saw her flinch, but the smile never faltered. "If it is true, what you say about him, then Malroth has nothing to worry about."

"Lily." Malroth warned, a desperate anger to his voice as he took a step back from Lily as she approached him. He watched as the tears spilled down her cheeks harder, she should be sobbing but she was relaxed and fluid in her movements. "Lily. Snap out of it!" He glared into the mirror when she held it up, his chest becoming tight when he and Lily looked into the mirror. They stared at each other for a moment. Nothing had happened. "What…? Isn't this thing supposed to show your true form? It's not showing anything at all." He couldn't stop the snarl that left him as he glared at Lily. "But more to the point… why did you do that? Do you really not trust me?" He let out a defeated chuckle as he turned away from her. He was hurt, he wanted nothing more than to rip that stupid mirror away from Lily and break it. "First… you act like nothing happened… then you use the mirror on me? I thought we were friends, Lily."

"Ra's Mirror has shown us the truth! These three are who they claim! Though quite what Malroth's lack of reflection heralds I know not…" The King announced to his people, his eyes locked on Lily as she stood staring at Malroth's back. "Would you use it on the other citizens?" His eyes followed her as she turned to the crowd, pausing to stare back at the King. In that fleeting moment, he saw something… predatory in her dull eyes.

Lily turned to the crowd, staring at one of the men that had been there since day one, the farmer. Her voice rumbled as she put the mirror on her hip. "Damned be those who look upon this mirror. Come show yourself." Her voice sounded wrong, it was enough to make even Malroth turn and stare at her.

The man looked around nervously, like he was surprised that Lily was singling him out. "M-me?" He slowly stepped forward, eyes narrowing on the mirror. It shimmered for a moment as it stared into it, he grinned up at Lily. "All I see… it looks like…" Steam started to roll off his skin as he started to change form. "Like a horrible, scary monster! Keh-" A scream left the deadnaught when Lily lashed out, her hand locking on that decaying skull of his. "W-Wait!"

"Coward." Lily watched as the skeleton turned to dust in her hold. "There are two more." As she spoke, two more changed, howling with dreadful laughter.

The townspeople around them jumped away, eyes wide. Before they could react though, Malroth and Lily were on the monsters. And just like that, they were gone. The two friends turned to each other, bright red eyes locking with now dazzling blue eyes. "And that's that." Malroth growled as he watched the grin fade from Lily's face, only to be replaced with a neutral face.

"Thank you, Lily. No longer shall we be forced to suffer from the monsters' malicious machinations." The King looked to the builder and her destructive friend. "It's chilling to think that the fiends have been living among us for so long, unnoticed."

"I trained with them… worked with them… ate with them… and they were plotting against us all the while!" Zara gasped out, hugging herself as shock rolled through her being.

"Whatever their wicked schemes, the saboteurs have been dealt with. Now, we can rest easily – for a time." The King let out a sigh as he looked around, taking in his people with one sweeping glance.

"Your Majesty…" Warwick stepped forward, a sullen look on his face. "I would urge us to remain vigilant. It was not only the shadows of monsters that were glimpsed in the dead of night, but of men meeting with them…"

"Warwick is right. I think it would be wise to conduct periodic checks on the citizenry. To that end, Lily-" Anessa looked around, searching for the builder, but the girl was gone. She looked to where Lily had last been seen, seeing she had left Ra's Mirror behind. "Alright… Once a week, I ask that the citizens come see me and look into the mirror."


Malroth sat on top of the gates, watching the activity of building down below. Lily had up and disappeared after the monsters, he couldn't sense her, not even her scent. He stared at the two large green drums; she had built her tornado widgets at least. He sat back, then he heard it, the echoes of cliffs crumbling. He shot up and took off towards the cliffs where they had first found Warwick. He looked around, his jaw dropping when he saw that she had completely destroyed the cliffs to the left. "Holy… shit."

Malroth looked over, seeing Lily snacking on a roll with her feet dangling off the new cliffs she had created. He slowly walked over, seeing she was barely containing herself, her shoulders stiff as she tried to quiet her sobs. "Lily… I…" He stood behind her, looking out at the ocean. "I shouldn't have snapped at you… I didn't… I really didn't think there were monsters among us. I didn't… my nose isn't always right, I guess." He gave a defeated shrug as he looked down at his hands. "I didn't even sense them."

Lily's hands fell limp into her lap as she took a shaky breath. She turned to look at Malroth, but he was already turning and walking away from her. She wanted to say something, anything. But she couldn't find the words to say as he walked away.

She got up after a little while and made her way back to the castle. She made the last few pieces they would need to finish this new blueprint that she had made up. Once she had the pieces, she carried them outside, seeing Warwick and Anessa talking quietly as the others ran around, doing their best to finish the blueprint. "That's not very team player of you two." Lily shocked even herself by how much of a growl her words came out in.

"Lily…" Warwick stayed where he was as Anessa stepped closer to the builder. "I'm afraid we still have a traitor-"

"That is a concern, but my concern is Malroth. Why did Ra's mirror reveal no reflection of him whatsoever?" Anessa urged, her eyes pleading with Lily.

Lily threw down what she was carrying, magic burning off her skin. "He is not yours to worry about, Anessa."

"I know he's your friend, Lily, but there is something… inhuman about that man. I cannot help but feel unsettled in his presence-"

"Oh?! Say what?" Lily's voice turned into a crazed laugh as she slapped her leg, ending her laughter much too soon. The sudden fear that crossed Anessa's eyes excited Lily. "You don't say. There's something inhuman about him? What the fuck gave that away? His red eyes?! His pointed ears?! His strength?!" Lily hadn't realized she was advancing on Anessa until they were nose to nose. "He. Is. Not. Yours. Don't worry about him."

"I know what unsettles me." Warwick chimed in quickly, hoping to bring Lily down off Anessa. "The thought of the people of Moonbrooke doubting and distrusting one another. Questioning the townsfolk's loyalties would do exactly that. If there is a spy among us, we may have no choice but to wait-" He froze when Lily turned on him, feeling the weight of her rage turn to him.

"You… what?" She went lax, eyes wide as she tried to get a read on the male in front of her. "You… you do realize… that you encouraged the use of Ra's Mirror. Right? That was you. Both of you." She turned on her toes to leave them when the ground shook, sending her to her knees. "What… now?!"

Malroth ran out onto the battlefield, his eyes gleaming as he looked to Lily. "Air Force is coming. Are you ready?"

"Do I have an option?" Lily growled as she took the hand that he held out to her. She gasped when he pulled her tight against him, his eyes clouded as he looked down at her. "Mal? What are you doing?"

"I just want you to know… when you used that mirror, it hurt. But now's not the time to be talking about feelings and shit. We'll talk once we've clobbered those monsters." His grasp had moved to her wrist, pinning it against her lower back so she couldn't pull away from him. "Just remember, Lily. Anessa and Warwick might be pretty tough, but if you want some suckers smashed to smithereens, I'm your man. Don't forget who your friends are, eh?" He leaned down, his mouth on hers.

Lily couldn't help herself as she put her free hand on his bare chest and kissed him back, a small noise leaving her when his tongue pushed by her lips. Her eyes fluttered open when his kiss calmed, his eyes were open, but he wasn't looking at her. He was challenging someone behind her, and there were only two people there, one that he had no real problem with, the other… he had plenty of problems with. "Mal…" She felt cold and empty when he pulled away from her after a moment, his club out and ready. Lily had to step back for a moment to calm her racing heart as she slowly pulled her blade out.

"Lily!" The King came up, handing her another vial of the clear liquid. "Take this!"

Lily took the vial, raising a brow to the King. "I just assumed this was a healing potion, is that-"

"Yes, made from the Yggdrasil leaves."

"Those are pretty rare to just be giving me for free."

"You're rebuilding Moonbrooke, my dear. That is worth more than a few vials of this." The King tipped his head to her before retreating to the castle to wait out the fight.

The fight went faster than Lily thought it would have, seeing as how the only person in their ranks that knew how to use a bow was fumbling to hit her targets. Though the tornado widgets worked against the Air Force just fine. From there, Lily and Malroth did the most damage, easily smashing their foes to smithereens.

Lily and Malroth grinned at each other from across the battlefield once the Cosmic Chimera was down and out, leaving only the Scare Force left to be dealt with. Though, just like the Air Force had done, a few monsters' from the Scare Force stood just beyond in the clearing. Four robots that were slowly advancing. "Mal… nothing I've built will stop those."

Malroth gave a sharp nod and rushed out to them, Lily at his side. The two were joined by the other fighters, the robots barely flinched as they attacked. The fighters had to chase the robots down, barely finishing them off before they got to the gates. Malroth and Lily were panting, blood and dirt covering them as they looked to the others. "If… the Scare Force came now… we'd be fucked." Malroth snarled as he led the way inside, taking Lily to the wash room she had built.


"Mwaha, hah. You have a gift for me, I see. Once again, you prove your usefulness."

"Thank you, Father…"

"But two of Hargon's Heroes lie slain, their Forces scattered to the winds. Verily, the two you spoke of are irritations indeed. The accursed Builder, and Malroth. Still, it is as you say. No matter how hard they fight it, the humans cannot escape their fate. When Doom's Day comes, death awaits them all…"

"Please, Father… Spare me from this fate… let me live!"

"Lord Atlas makes his way here as we speak. Should your efforts continue to yield results, he shall surely grant your wish…"


"Awoooo-ooo"

Lily shot up; her eyes wide as she looked around the darkened room. Her sudden movement hadn't stirred Malroth who was still sound asleep. She slid out of their bed and yanked on her boots, not worrying about trying to find her dress as she ran out of the room in just her shorts and undershirt. She shut the door quietly, only to jump from her skin when Warwick was staring at her as he shut the door to the outside of the castle nearby. "Warwick?"

"Lily?" Warwick looked pale, but Lily looked frantic as she looked around. "Is something wrong?" She seemed to be listening for something. He took a deep breath, bringing himself back to center. "Did you hear… something?"

"Yes. Did you?"

"…Yes, I went investigating, but I haven't heard it again… until just now."

"Awoo-oooo!"

Lily took off towards the armory, slamming the door open as she broke out of the castle at a dead sprint. Warwick did his best to keep up. "Lily! Slow down! Malroth will kill me if you get hurt! You're unarmed!" He followed her through the snow and over the rubble of the natural bridge that the builder had destroyed just before Moonahan. He dropped down from the rubble, seeing Lily sprinting up the path to the cliffs that looked out over the ocean. "Lily!"

He took off after her again, lunging to grab her before she ran off the cliff. He stumbled, but he stared in awe at the builder, seeing that there was a small bridge beneath Lily as she ran out over the churning ocean. "What in the hell?" He got up, watching as Lily threw her head back, a howl of sorts leaving her throat. Then a sound echoed her, something joined in her howls, the sound was haunting and sent chills through Warwick.

The soldier tiptoed to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the hungry waters beneath them. "Can… can you come back to safety now?" Fear locked him in place as he stared down into the water, something was staring at him, he could feel the intent focused on him. He felt like a mouse just before the cat pounced. Warwick slowly turned his attention to Lily, seeing she had relaxed, defeat in the way her shoulders slumped. "Lily?"

"Sorry… I just… I don't know what got into me." She turned back, slowly making her way back towards the castle. "I keep hearing this… howling, it usually only happens at night and something inside of me… something calls me to the water." There was a sad smile on her face as she glanced back at him. "It feels like… someone I know, like they have something they need to tell me, but I can never get close enough to hear what they have to say."

Warwick watched as she turned and headed back to the castle. He could still feel a hungry intent focused on him. He let out a shaky breath as he looked over his shoulder, lightning crashing somewhere in the distance over those rough waters. His jaw dropped; the lightning outlined a large beast bursting from the dark waters. It was too far away for him to tell what it was, but he could feel the predator singling him out. He backed away, slow at first, then turned and sprinted after Lily. "You don't say? Hah, hah. That's so… odd. But, I think… I think I understand what you mean."