Lily gave a jolt as her eyes snapped open and she looked around, seeing a barrier over her. Dracken stood in front of her and she was still curled against the bones of the God of Destruction. "D-Dracken?!"

"I'm sorry, I got here and saw he was half formed, the humans arrived shortly after I did so I couldn't do anything. I'm very glad to see that you and Lord Malroth have succeeded in your goals, but I require some help." Dracken spoke, not turning to see that Lily was struggling to get up. "I cannot attack them if I do-"

"No, you're right. Please, don't attack them." Lily flopped to her side and used her arms to crawl forward. "Stop!" She shouted, flinching when an arrow hit the barrier in front of her like it had been aimed for her. "Please!"

The men that stood just down the steps from the two glared up at the monstrous priest and the crippled builder. One man raised his hand, signaling to the others to cease fire. "Lily, what are you doing with a Priest of Hargon and the bones of a long dead beast?"

Lily felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as she looked to the man that stepped forward. She knew him, she couldn't quite remember his name, but she knew him. He was the admiral of Moonbrooke's army. "I can explain!" She kept crawling until she was out of the barrier, ignoring Dracken's shouts. "Leave them be and I'll explain everything to the Queen."

Dracken hissed, he couldn't let the soldiers take Lily, but he absolutely could not let them get Malroth's remains no matter what. "Lily, you better know what you're doing!"

Lily went limp when the admiral ordered two men to pick her up. She locked eyes with Dracken before looking to the admiral who watched her with a cool gaze. "And why shouldn't I take you in cuffs to the Queen while destroying these two monsters?" The man raised a brow at her, daring her to say the wrong thing.

Lily looked back to Dracken, seeing his scowl but small nod. "Because you can't." She watched as Dracken suddenly disappeared, as well as the large half reformed skeleton that lay behind him. "Take me in chains, I don't care. But you won't hurt them."


The Queen was frowning as she looked down at the girl on the ground with her wrists bound by shackles. Her dirty blond hair was a mess and her blue eyes were dull as she watched the Queen. "Lily… my admiral tells me that you were trying to give life back to the God of Destruction?"

"No. I was stopping him from being reborn. Luckily for all of us he didn't interrupt me and was stopped by a friend of mine." Lily lifted her chin, casting a glare towards the admiral. "High Priest Hargon was killed by the Scions of Erdrick, but then he trapped them in an illusionary world, which they escaped and succeeded in killing the God of Destruction the first time." She turned her gaze back to the Queen, trying to keep her face neutral as she watched the woman's reactions to her words. "Hargon had one of his priests come to this world and find builders to send to the illusion in orders to get the strength back to the God. It failed time and time again, until I was taken there. I grew as a builder, as my power grew, so did Malroth's. We defeated Hargon and stopped the end of the world before it even began! My Queen, I'm not a hero, but without that priest finding me, the world could have been destroyed-"

Lily cried out when the admiral lifted her up by her hair, a snarl leaving him as he glared at her. "A builder? You can't even walk!"

"Enough!" The Queen stood abruptly, casting the man a glare when he let Lily go, dropping her back to the ground. "From what you told me, Lily, the beginning of the end would have never happened without that priest finding you either. And your grandmother never spoke of your absence. She visited once or twice during these last few months, when I asked about you, she said you had fallen ill but it was nothing to worry about."

Lily swallowed the lump that began to form in her throat. She hadn't known that. Why would her grandmother lie to the Queen? "My Queen, I-"

"If you really are a Master Builder now, you will have no issue showing us?"

Lily froze, her breath caught in her throat at the womans words. "Y… you want me to do what?"

"Build something. If you can do that, then I'll believe your tale and you will stay here at the castle and be Moonbrooke's Master Builder." The Queen crossed her hands in front of her, watching Lily carefully.

"And if I don't?" Lily's frown deepened when the Queen only looked away from her, unwilling to speak the truth.


Lily heard the door to her room open, but she couldn't bring herself to look up from the floor. She felt like her heart was in a million pieces, she had built blueprint of a small room for the Queen, then she had built the room. All of it came to her with as much ease as it did for her to take a breath. When the current royal builder was called in, they messed up in a few places, leaving them to be relieved of their duties.

"Lily, my dear?" Her grandmother was suddenly in front of her, a hand on the girls' cheek. "My sweet girl, this will all be for the best, I promise."

"Gram… I can feel it, I'm no meant to be here. I have my friends and Malroth waiting for me back there. I have to figure out how to get back."

Her grandmother leaned up and kissed her forehead. "I know, but I do not know how to get you back there. I'm sure we can find a way, but it will take time. It's getting late, why don't you lay down and then in the morning we can figure something out?"


When Lily opened her eyes, she was in that dark area, water pooled around the chair she was sitting in. She looked down, seeing she had her muscular body back. She listened to the noises around her, but she only heard the water lapping at the walls that surrounded her. The silence lasted for a moment before she heard someone scoff and growl, the sound familiar enough to bring a smile to her face as she closed her eyes and waited for the annoyed person to come out from wherever he was hiding.

"This again? Where the hell am I at now?" Malroth growled as he crossed his arms and walked around for a moment, he went still though when he saw Lily sitting in the middle of the room with her eyes closed. "Lils?"

"Hey Mal." Lily slowly opened her eyes, grinning at him as she stood and took a step towards him. A surprised noise ripped from her throat when Malroth wrapped himself around her, tackling her to the ground. "Mal!"

"Lily, fuck… where have you been?"

"You act like it's been forever since you last saw me, Mal."

"It's been almost a month, Lily." Malroth pulled back, holding himself up over her. "How long has it been for you?"

"Almost a week." Lily reached up, cupping his face gently. She could see the desperation in his eyes as she pulled him into a kiss. She entangled herself with him, feeling the cool water almost transform but she refused to open her eyes to find out where they were now. Her nails slid over his bare back as they lost themselves in each other, she sang at every soft touch and every cruel thrust.

Malroth flopped to his back and pulled her tight against his side, a sigh leaving him as he relaxed into the plush bed. A grin was spread wide across his lips as he tucked his free arm behind his head. He started to say something when Lily sat up, causing him to grumpily open an eye to see what she was doing. "What?"

"Khrumbul-Dun?" She looked back at him, raising a brow when his hand roamed her bare skin, goosebumps following the way his nails slid easily over her taut muscle.

"Yeah. What can I say? It was my favorite place." Malroth chuckled when Lily was suddenly in that stupid little bunny outfit, he licked his lips as he sat up, drinking in the way as she scooted away from him nervously. "Oh yeah, it was my favorite."

"Hey!" Lily put her foot on his chest, forcing him to a stop when he tried to advance on her. "Mal, how are things back home?"

Malroth grabbed her ankle, yanking her into his lap. He put his face in the crook of her neck so he could breathe her in. "Horrible. Lulu is annoying the hell out of me, Babs keeps going to Khrumbul-Dun to visit Goldie and I swear… if you don't come take care of Bonanzo, I will take care of him and he will be six feet-"

Lily kissed him, cutting his words off. "He will not end up six feet below. What is he doing?"

"Deciding that since you aren't here that he's in charge."

"Mmm, you're grumpy that he just skips over you?"

"I couldn't give two shits if he looks to me. But Lulu tries to give orders and Bonanzo says something louder than she does and then she comes and bitches my ear off. Also, Hermit is fine. He's back. And annoying as all get out."

Lily couldn't help the giggle that left her as Malroth vented to her about what she was missing out on. She missed all of it, she really did. She pressed her face against Malroth's hair as her throat tightened and her eyes burned with the threat of tears. She missed everyone so much. Especially Malroth. It felt so good to be in his arms, but this didn't feel the same, it felt like he would disappear from her hold at any moment.

"Shhh…" Malroth whispered as he pulled her down against his chest, keeping her tight against him as she crumbled. "Get it out, I know. I miss you too, Lils." He purred against her temple, his arms squeezing her until she gave a small squeak. He held her there, gently rocking her as she hid against him. "I know…"


Lily opened her eyes, frowning when she was staring at the stone wall of her room in Moonbrooke Castle. A week had passed since she saw Malroth in that dark place, she had seen him twice since that night. The Queen had Lily doing small tasks, none of which were actually related to building. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and managed to get herself from her bed to her chair with ease before getting herself ready for another mind-numbing day.

The Queen looked up from her breakfast when Lily rolled in, exhaustion written on her face. "Lily, I meant to tell you yesterday, but your grandmother will be visiting today. She said she has some old journals that belonged to your great grandmother from back when she was younger."

Lily looked up and did her best to give a warm smile. "She must be extremely bored back home if she's going through all that old junk again. Why is she bringing that here?"

"Hm?" The Queen smiled and shrugged. "Royal records, we don't have much from those times. And it's an excuse to come see you, though she knows she doesn't need one. I did invite her to come live here but she refused for some reason."


Lily watched her grandmother come up the steps to the small garden where the builder waited. "Good afternoon my sweet child."

"Good afternoon, Gram."

"You're frowning at me, child. Your face will be stuck like that if you keep that frown for long."

"Why did you refuse to move here?"

The old woman stopped and looked up at her flesh and blood. "The Queen tell you that? Very well. Because I will not sit in a castle after my only reason for being here has returned to her home." She smiled when Lily straightened up. "I have not figured out a way for you to do so, don't look so eager. Though Dracken kept talking about my mother, I believe he's going insane, he was babbling last time I saw him. I figured I could at least bring these to you, the handwriting is too small for these old eyes."

Lily took the two old books that were held out to her, frowning at how fragile they were. "You've seen him?"

"Only three times. He told me that you've seen Malroth a few times since coming here?"

"Yeah, only when I sleep though. I miss him, Gram." Lily leaned into her gram when she hugged her.


The oddest thing happened today. I remember dying, the monsters swarmed my home and they killed everyone. But today… I awoke to a voice in a cave. The voice claims to be a powerful being, I feel like I've heard her voice before when I've prayed before. She says the world has been plunged into darkness and it's up to me to bring back the light.

But I'm no hero. I was just a farmer's daughter before I died.


Lily propped herself up in the pillows on her bed, her candle burned next to her as she read the small script. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when someone had knocked on her door, but she set the book down and rubbed her eyes. "Come in."

The Queen poked her head in, a brow raised at the builder. "Have you been reading this whole time? Is it interesting?" She came in, easily crossing the room in a few strides and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"It's… something, I feel like I'm reading a little kids story. If I hadn't gone through what I did… I don't know that I'd believe half of this." Lily covered her mouth to try to block the yawn that bubbled out.

"Is that so? I've heard that even Sir Erdrick had interesting things happen to him on his journeys."

"I thought Erdrick was a title… they were a person?" Lily pushed herself forward, eyes wide with wonder.

"Was it just a title? Perhaps it was, my father had some silly stories he used to tell me when I was younger." The Queen gave a small laugh as she shrugged. "Well, I only saw your candle light still going so I thought I would check on you. I should get to bed myself."

Lily watched the Queen walk out, leaving her alone with her great grandmother once more. A girl named Pippa found me after I fixed up this small village, she's rather demanding, shouts a lot too.

The village has grown some, I'm off to go find more people, though I'm worried about Pippa and the others. They're strong, but… who knows. I thought being brought back felt awful, but that was nothing compared to what traveling through a portal feels like. I am not excited to feel that again.


Babs had a hand on her hip, eyes narrowed as her other hand fell to her side, the pitcher of beer in her hand was now suddenly empty as Malroth was drenched in it. "We get it, Mal! We miss 'er too! But ya can't jus' go off shoutin' Lulu's 'ead off like that!"

Lulu was sprawled on the floor, dark brown eyes wide as she stared up in disbelief at Malroth who had his back turned to her now. "I didn't… I didn't mean to upset you, Malroth… I just… I wanted to know when she'd be back…"

"I don't know! I don't know if she can even come back!" Malroth snarled, licking his lips and hissing at the hard bite from the beer. He shook himself, flinging droplets of the alcohol across the bar. With each passing day that Lily wasn't with them, he slowly lost more and more control of his anger. He hadn't meant to snap at Lulu, but that was the fifth time that hour she had mentioned Lily.

The door opened and everyone but Babs and Malroth seemed to calm down, they knew Dracken couldn't help Malroth completely control the monster left inside himself, but the old priest seemed to help take the edge away. Dracken turned his mask covered face to Babs, giving her a small nod. "I apologize, Lulu, I'm still working on a way to help Lily get back here. Now that this world is real, she can't just… fall asleep like she could before."

"I understand… I think…" Lulu used Digby's extended hand to pull herself back up, hiding behind the muscled bloke as Malroth turned and stalked out of the bar, twisting himself away from Dracken when the priest went to grab his arm. "Dracken… you said you can go in between our two worlds, have you heard from Lily?"

"Sadly not. She's somewhere that I cannot safely get into at the moment, though her grandmother has been able to go see her, she's doing fine and misses everyone." Dracken bowed his head before turning and following after Malroth. "Young Master-"

"I told you…" Malroth slammed his heel into the ground, whirling on Dracken so his face was pressed to the mask. "Do not call me Master!"

"Hard habit to break, Malroth. Have you talked to her recently?"

"It's been a few weeks." Malroth plopped down on the ground with his hands tucked under his arms as he looked out at the oasis Lily had built some time ago. That felt like eons to Malroth, but it hadn't really been that long since they'd returned from Khrumbul-Dun. Close to a year and a half ago, at least for him.

"So… a few days for her. We'll find a way to bring her back, Malroth, just give us some time."


Monsters. I'm so sick and tired of them attacking this town I have built. Rollo keeps talking about a battle brewing with the monsters, but he told me about a shield I can build… but the how on that is still a mystery. I have a new teleporter so I will be heading off to a new land soon. One day I will take on that Golem… he will darken Cantlin no more.


Lily rubbed her eyes, frowning at how bright the world was around her, but then she smiled. Khrumbul-Dun really was her favorite memory, but here and now it was quiet. She turned in a slow circle, a knowing smile on her lips as the sun warmed her skin. She was in that tiny red swimsuit that Malroth drooled over. She walked through the quiet town, a nervous excitement making her heart race as she ran up the stairs leading to the silver bar.

The builder came to a hard stop though when she saw the large green monster sprawled out in the pool. A large golden eye slowly opened so the beast could see the builder. "Lily…"

"Malroth… no offense meant, but I was expecting Mal to be waiting for me…"

"Mmmm… a little offense taken, girl. He's preoccupied with trying to stay calm currently. Come join me, the water is nice." The beast rolled over, water sloshing out of the pool when he moved, the bright yellow scales of his underbelly seemed to glitter in the sun as Lily walked over to the beast. He shifted so his large head was next to the builder, grumbling when she nervously reached out and touched his thick maw. "Worry not, I have no desire to eat you, girl."

"You're being mellow… why is that?"

"I know your strength, and your… Mal is still in charge, I can already tell that it will take quite a bit for him to lose enough control for me to gain a true upper hand on him." The beast let out a heavy sigh when Lily carefully stroked his face. "You smell of fear… but you're not acting afraid."

"I want to be used to this form, Malroth already thinks he's a monster. If he sees I'm afraid of you then he'll never be one with you."

"You want us to be one?"

"Why wouldn't I? If you two can become one, then you'll be stronger. But first we'll have to get you to agree to be good."

"And why would I do that?"

Lily leaned down, her eyes sparkling with a similar hunger as to what was in the monsters eyes. "Because I said so."

"Mmmm… very true." The ground rumbled with the monsters laughter as he sat up, his large head in front of Lily, his tongue hot as it slid across her bare belly. "I can see why my counterpart dreams of outfits like this."

Lily gasped and hit the nose in front of her. "Excuse you!"

"Excuse me? What's his is mine, builder." The monster shifted and suddenly a form very similar to the Malroth she was used to was standing in front of her, but his skin was several shades darker and his long black hair was in a thick braid that went all he way to the ground. He lashed out, cupping her jaw between his index finger and thumb, squeezing hard enough to make her cheeks smoosh up. "You look nervous, Lily."

Lily smacked him away as she backed away from him. "Let me see Mal." She crossed her arms, glaring up at him until he finally rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, leaving a very confused Mal in his place. He looked to Lily, blinking a few times. "Hey you."

"What the hell was that? I feel like… my head is really foggy." He wrapped his arms around Lily when she stepped into him, squeezing her against him. "Were you talking to someone?"

"Your counterpart. He didn't try to eat me this time." Lily laughed as Malroth pulled her into a slow circling dance. "How are you holding up?"

"Not good, I snapped at Lulu the other day. She keeps asking about when you'll come back and I don't have any damn answers, Lils. I don't… I don't know what to tell the others." He pressed his face to her hair, breathing in her sweet scent.

"I know, Mal… we'll figure it out soon." She let her fingers intertwine with his as they moved around the pool to a music only they could hear. "My gram brought me my great grandmothers journals from when she defeated the DragonLord, from what I've read, she talked about teleportals and moving around to different lands, maybe I can read up on those more to see if I can find a way home."

"A teleportal?"

"Yeah, from what she described in her journal it's a pedestal of sorts with a glowing center, she was able to step into it and then she would wake up in a new land."

"Could you make one that connects to the one we have here?"

"We have one on the isle?" Lily pulled back, stopping Malroth in his tracks as she stared up at him.

Malroth's eyes gleamed as he smiled at her. "You don't remember it? Where we fought those rats on the first night on the isle."

Lily's jaw dropped and she grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling with a new idea. "You bloody genius." She dug her nails into his hair, pulling him into a sloppy kiss before pulling back. She gave him a mischievous grin as she pushed him back to the bar, her grin growing when he let out a growl. His eyes clouded over when she slid down, her nails gliding over the hard muscle of his hips. "Woman…"