Is it wrong to live with a Sorceress? Or: How Morathi Moved in and Ruined My Life!

Chapter Nineteen: Ruining the tea party

Eric's car barely fit everyone, and with Karl Franz in his armour, the three characters in the back seat pursed their lips as they sat together awkwardly.

Morathi, Alarielle, and Karl's heads each nearly touched the roof, and all three were in an uncomfortable pose, avoiding the touching of their legs together as much as possible. But Karl's feathery plume kept rubbing either woman's shoulders every time he turned his head. His cool, oily, thigh plates left greasy marks on both women's pants, and worst of all his pauldrons occasionally caught strands of their hair in the metal faulds.

"Ah! Keep yourself to the middle!" Alarielle shrieked, pulling her hair back and holding the tail of it up and away.

Karl, flustered, and somewhat frustrated, replied, "I am! I'm trying at least, this carriage is but fit for common folk. Now calm your ire maiden, it's just hair…"

Morathi chuckled till some of her own inky locks were caught in the steel and she hissed suddenly. Again, Karl apologised, but Morathi growled a curse under her breath.

Beside Eric in the passenger seat, Frankie nervously rocked back and forth between his sips of a green Gatorade. He offered a small laugh of his own, but after the outburst over the hair and seating arrangement, everyone had grown sterner, resolved and focused on what they were to do…

After they had left Frankie's apartment Eric stopped briefly for gas. While he was filling the car, Frankie ran into the servo and made sure to grab a selection of drinks, road snacks, and several small bottles of Five-hour-energy.

He happily joked with the trio of legendary lords that the 'drink' was one of the closest things to a potion there was on Earth, and gave one to Karl, Morathi, and Alarielle. Each eyed the diminutive bottles with suspicion.

Morathi had gotten hung up on the name, refusing to believe humans could condense five hours' worth of effort into a single draught. Frankie tried to explain it was just a name, and Eric interjected as well, till eventually the pair shook their heads and gave up as the elves argued amongst each other and Karl sat quietly grumbling.

Turning a few blocks and driving through several intersections the party eventually got stuck in some mid-town traffic. Eric eventually broke out from the city's core and the looming presence of the skyscrapers to begin driving alongside Le Breton Flats.

Already the traffic and effects of Musicfest were showing themselves.

Some streets were bumper to bumper, and upon seeing the size and mess of the roadways and sidewalks, the high-rises and so on, Karl began looking around and up through the windows in wonder. He mumbled to himself under his breath, remarking on their stout construction. Alarielle diplomatically shared his interest, reservedly, while Morathi merely pursed her lips. The novelty of the Human city had lost much of its glamour for her and in her hand, she twirled the bottle of Five-hour-energy around and around.

Then, to their right, was their prophesised destination.

Eric announced somewhat sombrely as he pointed, "There it is guys… The Imperial War Museum…"

Karl snapped to so quickly Alarielle exclaimed and smacked his pauldron in surprise. Morathi narrowed her eyes like a sentry. All of them looked outwards at the massive concrete building and the adjacent festival grounds.

The decorated parkland was filled with people ambling about, workers in yellow hi-res safety gear were checking all the stages, towers, and countless booths and tents. In addition to them the booth workers and technicians were also all about, moving gear on carts, carrying boxes of merch, readying stalls for customers and so on.

It looked like any large-scale multi-concert event, but Eric's heartbeat anxiously. What was truly planned here? What did those evil assholes who hitched a portal-ride here have in mind? And… more importantly, would they be able to stop them?

Morathi sat behind Eric on the driver's side and furrowed her brow as she pointed,

"That's the temple of glass and stone, no mistake… You were correct Eric."

Karl grunted in agreement beside her, tilting and peering around her head and voluminous hair. After a fashion he delivered his own assessment, a shiver punctuating his words,

"A cold and uncompromising place. Why does it rise so jaggedly? A temple oft shows the character of its patron god, and you say it's lord is War? Hmph."

Alarielle seemed to share his sentiment, though her voice lower and more solemn,

"It bears a heavy weight around it. I do not wish to look upon it long. For some reason, it… It makes my heart heavy."

Karl raised a brow, "I heard it said your fair race feels things with a greater intensity than we mortal men. Its power must be great indeed if you say your heart is heavy. War calls, and it is never a light song."

Alarielle made a noise of agreement while Morathi let slip a scoff and looked down to the notes in her lap. Then she teased,

"You'd be unable to rise from your emotional state should you ever see half the terrors Naggaroth has to offer you. I hope you'll have the stomach necessary for what we must do."

Alarielle pursed her lips and side-eyed the Druchii, but did not reply. Karl offered a false laugh.

Eric tilted his head oddly, he'd only positive associations with the museum before now. But then he supposed he hadn't really thought about it too much. It was just a museum. Next to the nature museum it was probably the coolest one in the city.

'No time for sentimentality though…' he thought, 'Now… if I were an evil wizard where would I hide? God… this is going to be harder than I thought… Maybe, I think… Oh, who am I kidding, of course it will be!'

Eric cringed and his mouth contorted as he turned from Albert Street onto Boothe.

Beside the museum laid a wide expanse of flatland, all that was left of the original 'undeveloped' Le Breton Flats. It had shrunk and changed drastically over the years, but it was still 'the' festival grounds for outdoor music events. Typically, it was an open oasis of green in a sea of grey concrete and black asphalt, but the stages were all set up now, with all the amenities necessary for a two-week-long musical extravaganza.

Alarielle's lips pursed as she saw the grass flattened and yellowed from all the foot traffic and cartwheels.

"Must it be so abrasive?" she wondered aloud, "I can hear the cries of the flowers and the trees. They ache in their songs…"

Karl opened his mouth, but instead pursed his lips and merely nodded solemnly.

Beside him Morathi mused, "So many souls. So many people…"

Eric nodded as they started driving alongside the barriers and fences,

"Opening day is even more packed. The streets are blocked and really this entire area becomes congested to all hell. These are all just the lookie-loos getting pre-peaks, and probably a bunch of people walking up to buy their tickets today, rather than day of…"

Karl scoffed, "What? You say it'll be even worse than this current traffic? There're carriages and people everywhere! How does the city guard maintain order? Surely your Burgher-meisters ought to make ordinances!"

Frankie laughed, "Well, we don't have a lot of the problems you might, uh, Emperor… And the streets operate twenty-four-seven, three-sixty-five, ha-ha."

Karl raised a brow, "Your nation does not sleep? Ye gods… No wonder."

Then he nodded, and pointed to a traffic light as they passed, "While utterly vexing to me, I do suppose these nifty devices and signal-fires are quite effective. Almost intuitive to a degree, I dare say I'd be able to helm your machine now, hah! I always wanted to drive one of the imperial steam tanks, but… my advisors have always stymied me."

Eric looked in the rearview mirror, "Psh! Now that'd be a sight. Imagine that as your mount! But… Wouldn't Deathclaw get jealous?"

Karl smirked, a broad and handsome smile, "Deathclaw is loyal and true, more so than the average knight! She understands far more than people give her credit. Ahah, she'd likely be more curious than offended."

Alarielle shook her head, her brow furrowing, "Such levity and distraction before our battle… It makes me even more melancholic. Eric, Frankie, you say that this is one of the largest events for music and merry making, yes? Why? Why do the ill-wishing always target such places of good humour for their evil?"

Morathi leant back, her voice somewhat low, "Exactly because it hurts Everqueen. It's the one-time people are to forget themselves. Their guard is low, their spirits are highest. Their energies most vulnerable to theft."

Alarielle and Karl nodded begrudgingly, and the car became quiet. An awkwardness began to fall till Karl's voice returned, rolling with confidence,

"Tis low cunning and a weak way to hobble one's enemy. They should strike at castles and armies! They should take up steel, make their expedition known, and fight in the true way, the old way! Like in the days of Sigmar. I pray, and every day, I endeavour on those unable to defend themselves. The wicked should suffer, not the peasantry. But then again, these are foes who care not to take the city intact. These are villains of the foulest, most black-hearted, sort."

Alarielle nodded, her expression was uneasy and tense, but her eyes burned with agreement, with a transcendent dedication to justice.

"Oh, I cannot wait till I bring my sorcery upon them. To fell foes righteously? Mhmm, by the Mother Isha there are few things that show one's purpose in life."

Karl smiled and Morathi nodded,

"Our enemy. Pah, they wish only to grow their power for its own sake… They have long since passed reasonable goals, or comprehensible ones. But worse still, there is reason in their actions, I cannot deny it. Sacrifices beget power. Something offered, something gained. Something taken? Why, that catches the attention and boons of beings older, fouler, and viler than any of the spirits above, or the dragons below."

She sighed and brought her left hand to her mouth, touching her lips contemplatively. Everyone tacitly understood and agreed.

After a few minutes of searching Eric eventually found a space roadside and nearby, after some tense seconds, and with everyone 'helping' he paralleled parked his well-loved shit box of a car.

…

Mannfred von Carstein wiped a dribble of blood from his mouth and held still.

He began to hiss. He felt them. He felt magic, swirling, building, crackling. He turned and nodded to one of his risen beasts. An amalgamation of meat, bone, and spite. The ghoulish monstrosity loomed in the dark caverns and tunnels in which the vampire had made his lair.

His refuge was deep below the museum. And in his uninterrupted seclusion, he'd amassed all the pieces he needed to begin building an army.

First and most impressive of his newly born warriors was an eight-foot tall three-hundred-and-fifty-pound mass of corpses, stitched and woven into one great beast. It stared at him with glowing undead eyes. Once milky-white, they now glistened an icy blue, infused with Mannfred's burgeoning and ever-growing necromantic power.

Each day that had passed on this new plane he felt his knowledge grow and return, his abilities and strength build. Each thrall he made, each human he destroyed, each pint of blood consumed fed not only his strength but his ambition.

Dropping the corpse of another drained maintenance worker Mannfred looked to his hands, clenching them into fists. The ancient tendons were tight and responsive, his muscles pulsed with unnatural life and vitality. He was excited, poised, ready…

"They are here." He finally announced.

His voice echoed in the gloom, and he laughed before closing his eyes and sniffing at the air.

"Ah, they are so close now. Fools, come to die, attacking before they have their strengths. All the better to lay them low. Ha-ha."

He turned to the ghoul. It hissed and rasped with faux breaths, shaking and vibrating like a starved hellhound.

"Soon you shall feed. Go now and wait for them."

Then he looked towards a raised skeleton warrior, its weaponry shining copper gilt in the low firelight of the tunnel. It's empty, enchanted eye sockets saw all, but its mute ivory skull gave nothing else.

Mannfred nodded,

"The chattel arrives to my feast. Go to the surface, make yourself seen and bring them here."

The skeleton warrior, dressed in the fine bangles and jewellery of a Nehekharian nodded obedience and turned on his heel to begin his march, clinking and rattling with each step.

Pointing towards the tunnel that led to the surface Mannfred laughed, "Ensnare them! Draw them deeper! Bring them to me!"

Several reanimated corpses, puffing and swollen with rot began to shamble and slowly drag themselves after the skeleton, following it as if it were their officer.

Mannfred smirked before looking over to the now abandoned chessboard.

"As for you, my ally… I will show you the error of your lack of faith. I am the true Von Carstein! There are no others. Pah!"

The skeleton turned and twisted, knowing without understanding the way out. It had no senses, and needed none, it had its' task and Mannfred's magic told it the way.

Passing through broken metal doors, nearly wrenched from their hinges, it walked, clack-clack-clack, and behind it the zombies followed.

…

Sneaking around the side of the parkway and following a pedestrian walking path along to the waterfront, Eric, Frankie, Morathi, Alarielle, and Karl did their best to keep a good pace.

They were now alongside the river and each of them squinted, scanning and scrutinising the grounds as best they could.

"Ugh… if we keep going this way we'll eventually come to the barriers to the water-front stage. There's always at least one or two stages set up like on the other side of this slope, like… near the, yeah near the back sorta delivery access door to the museum. See it?"

Alarielle stepped ahead of Eric and easily spotted the landmarks, despite the trees, foliage, fences, and the army of workers moving to and fro.

She nodded, "I see it yes, two stages… Their banners say 'Canal-brigade' and 'Watery Grooves'. What is this expression?"

Eric chuckled, "You know like, just cool vibes, you know?"

Alarielle raised a brow and nodded slowly. Beside her Morathi had narrowed her eyes and was scanning from side to side, looking past the stages. Frankie and Karl squinted too, but from where they were both were having great difficulty discerning details.

Morathi grumbled, "I see nothing ill… But there's a foulness, it's subtle, but I do smell… something."

Karl let out a grumble, "Why do we not approach and enlist the local wardens? The guardsmen here must know their betters, by Ghal Maraz I should be able to press their service!"

Eric cringed, and Frankie made a pained expression. Then Eric shrugged diplomatically,

"Uh… Well… Emperor, they're definitely not polite. Nor would they recognise… I mean, they, uh… We're on our own, let's just put it that way. And besides, if they saw you approaching with an actual honest-to-god Warhammer decked out in gold and your armour, this little quest of ours would definitely be ending in a paddy wagon, or a psych ward…"

Karl nodded, his expression reluctant, "This is true… And besides, I hadn't Ghal Maraz upon me whence I was taken! Thank the gods I did have the Reikfang."

Karl brought a gauntleted hand to his rune blade and patted the hilt of the sheathed weapon.

Eric's face reddened, "Yeah it is good but, uh… if maybe… just use your cape to make it less obvious? Like, we're gonna get spotted by the security if we get too close, so…"

Morathi nodded, touching her chest before boasting happily, "Then I shall approach closer. Of course, for I am the most adjusted to this realm!"

Alarielle narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. She took a breath and exhaled steadily, calming herself before speaking,

"There'll be no need of that. The boys shall lead. I think it'd be most safe for us to wait here, alongside the waters. Then receive their signal. Of course, you and I are the only ones blessed with true sight."

Morathi tilted her head reluctantly, but then a mischievous smirk came across her lips and she agreed, "This is so… hmm, very well."

Eric turned to Frankie, the two shared a look and shrugged, "Well I think we should at least get a little more out of the way…"

Down the path some people were approaching, clearly intent on watching through the fences at the festival workers. Even though they were at a distance, they'd seen Karl, and even the tall elves were somewhat odd to the average passerby.

Eric felt a burst of adrenaline and nodded, "Okay. There's a little bit of a look out down the hill here, right by the water's edge, if I remember correctly… Last time I came to Musicfest me and my friends, ha, we all met there and smoked a little, heh."

Frankie raised a brow incredulously, "Eric? I thought you only liked cigarettes?"

He cringed, "It was one time! And kind of fun… this was before legalisation of course… ha-ha. But anyways, I uh, I think it's away from prying eyes enough."

The group began to amble off the path and down the sloping grass. Bushes and trees provided cover around them and quickly a worn dirt trail began to form up from under the growth.

The five eventually made it down to the secluded area and Morathi clicked her tongue happily, her smirk growing into a genuine smile.

"This will be perfect… The waters… the sky above. We're so close now, actually… But do you…"

She sniffed at the air and turned to Alarielle. The Everqueen had straightened her back and narrowed her expression, she was focused. Her whimsy, earlier levity, and mood was totally gone; replaced with determination. She met Morathi's eye and gave a slight tilt of her head,

"I smell it most acutely now. The foulness of which you spoke. It's… the winds of magic are like a tempest beneath a thin sheet of ice. I feel it now… It's cold, it's… hmm."

Morathi playfully nodded, "Good. I'm glad you've more sense than I thought… Perhaps I was wrong about you Everqueen."

Alarielle ignored the Druchii while Karl looked from the elves to Frankie and Eric.

The Emperor grumbled, "Even I notice it. There's something foul, but… it's not upon the wind. It's below it, as if."

Morathi all but danced as she walked around the overlook area. She let her voice lilt and she nearly teased, "It's the ley. Something is pulling them."

She reached a hand upwards and began to touch at the air, twirling it slowly and moving it as if she were wrapping her hand around a cable for purchase. Suddenly Alarielle let slip a gasp and everyone turned. The Everqueen's eyes widened, and she swore in pain, "By the Mother!"

Falling to her knee Karl all but leapt to her side, his voice suddenly that of a gentleman, "Are you alright, majesty?"

Morathi furrowed her brow, genuinely surprised, while Eric looked around warily, "W-what the fuck?"

Alarielle slowly, uneasily stood, and waved Karl's help away, protesting emphatically, "I'm alright, I'm fine, I ju- argh! Ah! By Isha!"

She fell to her knees again and clutched at her heart. Morathi's expression was pale, and she blinked a moment before too moving forwards in concern, hissing: "Everqueen, get up!"

Alarielle shook her head and let out another small cry of pain, "My heart!" She let out a strangled noise before gasping again, "My chest feels cold! It… I, ahgh!"

"Morathi, what's happening!?" Eric cried, "What do we do?"

She looked at him and opened her mouth, but did not have an answer. Beside Eric, throwing his hands in the air and beginning to panic, Frankie looked around frantically.

"Oh my god, is she okay? Wh-what, what do I do?"

Karl furrowed his brow and leapt into charge as he had a hundred times before,

"Listen to me Frankie! Take her other side! We shall lead the lady to the edge there and help her to the bench by the rock!"

Frankie nodded, coming out of his panic with purpose, "R-right!"

Eric repeated himself, "Morathi!"

The Druchii queen growled, and her lips contorted in a scowl, she reached both hands above and did the same motion she had done earlier, wrapping her fingers around unseen threads… As if taking hold of invisible cables or ropes of some kind.

"What are you doing?!"

Morathi shook her head and as she pulled, growling with all her might, "Shut up for the moment, I will, help, her! Rahhh!"

Blue tendrils of light, mixed with purple, began to form around her hands. The energy whipped and crackled like live wires, while Morathi took another step backwards, continuing to pull.

Karl, Eric, and Frankie each watched on, spellbound, as Alarielle nodded, "Keep going! M-Morathi… it… Argh!"

Morathi nodded and re-adjusted her stance, the tendrils were wild, growing, becoming vast and more visible, the more she pulled the longer and higher it appeared the tendrils soared. Wrapping the coiling, snake-like, ley-lines around her left arm, Morathi reached her right to Alarielle.

Her voice cracked and she cried to the Asurian queen, "I need your help!"

Even though she was doubled over in pain and Karl and Frankie were helping her stand, Alarielle nodded and growled, extending her right hand to connect with Morathi's.

The two elves cried in unison and laughed, then Alarielle straightened back up, she shrugged off her helpers and Morathi ordered, "Get back humans!"

Karl, Eric, and Frankie each jumped away as the two elves joined efforts and screamed now, pulling together on the blue energies seeping downwards. With their right hands joined they each pulled with their lefts at the mass of tentacle-like ley-lines. The half-visible entities whipped and screeched in disobedience, they burned and flashed with energy and the water below began to surge and slosh.

The breadth of the river began to flow faster, the waves becoming choppier as if in response to Morathi and Alarielle's wrestling of the ley. And the world began to react as the two spoke words of power. Their elvish voices joined as they sang and screeched the growing magic tempest down, attempting to calm, cower, or brutalise it.

With each attempt of theirs, the mass of tendrils seemed to screech back, and more than that it was if it had intelligence, and it protested, it thrashed, and it quailed, fighting a losing battle against the elves' efforts.

Then Morathi cried, "It's weakening, and it seeks to feed! Ye gods, what foolishness! It has been purposefully corrupted! Flee back, back above the trees!"

Alarielle shook her head, "They are too close, they are within it's grasp, they shan't make it, Morathi, they cannot leave! They'll be torn apart!"

The Druchii Sorceress let out a pained noise, she dared not look behind her, but Eric saw her shoulders and body shake with emotion…

Then, Karl bellowed above the roar of the magical storm, "My armour is rune-forged, my cloak spell-woven, if we cannot retreat then we shall endure! Fey-kin, harness the magic or dispel it! I shall protect them!"

The Emperor turned his back to the elves and leapt towards Eric and Frankie, pushing them to the ground and covering them with his body and cape as much as he could.

Around them the blue light the elves wrestled intensified, it burned and scorched at the stone, ripping forwards and hungrily searching for souls to consume, but was rebuffed. Instead, it sapped the life from all the nearby foliage; the grass yellowed and blackened, shrubs withered, and a nearby tree began to shed it's leaves and bend towards the centre of the garbled mess of ley-lines.

Underneath Karl and his thick cape, Frankie howled in fear and shook violently, covering his face with his hands. Beside him Eric's eyes had widened, and he lay there biting his lip and shivering. Karl loomed over them and sternly kept his eyes and mouth shut, he too vibrated, shaking at each impact and probing attempt of the tendrils.

But to his word, his rune-imbued plate glowed in defiance, his cape, spun with blessed golden thread, rebuked the evil magic, singing at its edges but staying true.

Around them the world darkened, and Morathi and Alarielle were screeching against the overwhelming wild magic as the weather turned ill. What was once a clear blue sky greyed rapidly; and a darkness began to blow southwards… A pall of smoky clouds grew and began advancing from the white caps and cliffs of the Laurentians on the other side of the river.

Though beginning miles away, the sudden cloud front advanced without restraint, till a torrent of rain could be seen approaching from across the water. Making the river turn and flow with rage. When it reached them, it was bitter cold, each icy droplet hit with such force that it stung.

Despite the pouring water, Morathi and Alarielle still wrestled the energies, till finally the two cried in unison and there sounded an implosion and a joint noise of triumph. They laughed and looked at one another with broad smiles.

As Karl slowly rolled off the boys. The three males poked their heads out from his billowing cape and there Morathi and Alarielle stood, panting and soaked. They then seemed to realise the situation, and both turned to the others.

"We must find our foe now!" Morathi croaked, "We cannot delay, and the guards must not hinder us!"

Clearing her throat, she nodded for emphasis, then Alarielle pointed back the way they'd come,

"Morathi is right, ye gods what a day it is that I dare say that! We've no time now for subtlety or subterfuge, we must find this evil spellcaster and bring him to an end!"

Above, back towards the grounds people screamed at the rain and sudden storm.

Eric jumped to his feet and helped Frankie rise, everyone was soaked now, and the water made lyrical clinking off Karl's armour.

Exasperated and shivering, Eric's teeth clattered as he struggled towards Morathi. His voice wavered and he struggled with fear at the terrifying and sudden turn of all that was around him.

"What the fuck was that Morathi? A-are you two alright? Wh-what's happening?!"

The elves nodded, both were practically glowing, their skin and expressions vibrant. Their eyes wild and gazes powerful.

"I am alright, better than. But it was the ley-lines themselves… tangled and molested, manipulated by our foe to enhance their spells! But aha… How foolish of them."

Alarielle smirked, "I knew there was something else off on this plane! We've restored the lines for now… But how long they shall be at peace, I… I know not. This realm is old, the winds and ways of magic, even older. They are not used to this kind of abuse! This… this foul and rapine pillaging of their wonders!"

Morathi nodded, "We've stayed their ire for now, but we must injunct this sorcerer swiftly! Lest this whole area be destroyed! Nature wishes always to re-right the balance!"

Alarielle groaned, "But… It sought me out! It… it sought to entrap me, me! I am Isha reborn! I am the avatar of the Mother! How dare they!"

Now Karl spoke, and his expression had soured to become one of pure malice as he drew his sword,

"I hate so the smell of this foul, chaos-tainted, magick… I know it too well. Since you ladies freed it, I'd know this stench anywhere! It's the work of a Sylvanian! Worse, it has the smattering of a thrice-damned Carstein upon it! Chaos!"

Karl spoke a curse, he spat upon the ground, and his hands trembled with righteous fury. All together the group bounded back up the hill to see that pandemonium had descended. People were running to and fro, and a checkpoint to the waterfront stages in the fence was unmanned. In the distance sirens blared and radios crackled, cars honked, and people were yelling unintelligibly.

But then, standing still, near the fallen awning of the security post, was a skeleton. It bore a shining, ill made, bronze khopesh, glistening with blood. It stood silent in the rain, unphased.

Eric and Frankie balked, freezing in place as soon as they saw it. Then, shambling into view on either side of the skeleton were zombies, actual, reanimated, dead corpses… Rotten, fell, and groaning.

Frankie chittered and laughed in disbelief before his legs faltered and he fell to the ground, Eric tried helping him, but the two were rapt by fear.

Karl stepped forwards, his voice low as he tilted his visor down, "Boys… leave them to me."

Morathi shook her head, her fingers crackling with purple light, and she began to laugh, "Oh no my dear Emperor, you shan't have all the glory."

She began to sing, "Come to me… Come to me now! I call upon you! Wherever you are, you shall know your master. Come to me! Heart-render!"

With a powerful clap, Morathi brought her hands together. Her palms glowed, and as she pulled them apart a burst of purple smoke and magick brought forth her weapon, this time without error.

As the long Druchii halberd materialised in her hands, Morathi began a low excited chuckle, "We shall not be denied, we shall not be hindered, and we shall not fail."

Karl nodded, and beside Morathi, Alarielle reached into her pocket, her expression narrowed and resolute, "On that Druchii, we can agree most whole-heartedly."

Then she pulled out her staff, she'd glamoured and miniaturised it so that it appeared an inch in size. She pulled the top and bottom outwards till it lengthened, and her enchanted stave grew to its true form. Its golden heft shone with power, and she planted it into the dirt with a decisive thud.

Chaos reigned around them, and the cries and panic of the fairgrounds were suppressed by the crack of lightning and the rumble of thunder… The ground itself seemed to shake.

Across from them the skeleton merely stared, while its cadre of zombies groaned. Then the three lords looked at one another, as Eric and Frankie backed up, mute and shivering in the rain.

Morathi looked over her shoulder and smiled, "Fear not Eric."

Then the skeleton's jaw unhinged, and it shrieked, raising its' khopesh and pointing to them.

At once the zombies began their advance, shuffling and growling, till they began to pick up speed and run towards them. Their rotting ligaments were spurred unnaturally, and they began to close the distance.

Frankie screamed and clutched at Eric, while the two continued to back up.

Karl held his rune blade aloft and cried, "I am Sigmar's heir! I shall not let this realm fall to death and entropy!"

Alarielle held her stave high and sang in elvish, the bejewelled head glowed with power and so too did Karl's blade. The runes along it's tang became imbued with light and purity, and it glowed warmly against the darkening world.

Morathi too whispered and cried in an ancient tongue, and the ground ahead of them heaved under the zombies, causing some to stumble and trip. Alarielle made a claw like motion with her left hand and vines and roots burst up from the splitting ground to ensnare those that fell. There was a dozen in total, over half had faltered, but a few still leapt towards Karl.

Then, with anticipation built to a crescendo, it all came out in a gory release of violence as Karl Franz leapt forwards, yelling and swinging his weapon high.

The moment played out in slow motion and Eric and Frankie watched on as Karl cleaved the first undead beast in half. The blade passed through the fetid body with ease, and it shrieked as the pure blade forced it to split in two. Without error, Karl swung to the next, keeping his momentum and focus. His sword shone with light, and he beheaded the second zombie in one swing.

Morathi readied Heart-render; and after choosing her own quarry she leapt forwards to join Karl in the fray, laughing and yelling aloud, "I bring your doom!"

Closing her eyes and opening her free hand to the sky Alarielle made a pulling motion and sang, her eyes and staff glowed, crackling with green and white light. Then she cried aloud in elvish before too jumping into battle.

The three moved as one, cleaving, upsetting, tripping, and obliterating the zombies one after the other, gaining ground and moving forwards with every fallen foe. The melee was a dazzling affair, and the legendary lords moved just as their in-game counterparts did. Dancing and swinging and turning.

Each had smiles upon their features, and each relished the violence. When there were but two zombies left their skeleton commander turned as if to flee. Running with unnatural speed through the checkpoint and onto the fairgrounds.

Karl panted and furrowed his brow in disbelief, "The foe retreats?! I have never known the undead to move thus! Onwards my friends! Beat feet, we have them routed!"

Morathi laughed and Alarielle turned to beckon Eric and Frankie, "The foul ones flee, stay close! I sense traps and stratagem!"

Reluctantly, Eric and Frankie followed.

Karl thundered forwards through the breach, Morathi behind him, and Alarielle trailed with the boys. They entered the fairgrounds to see chaos all around. And in the distance, near a concrete maintenance shed, the skeleton hissed and disappeared.

They followed, and saw before them an unnatural tunnel, descending at an angle deep into darkness.

Karl snarled, "The foe seeks refuge in the deep."

Morathi held her hand out and stopped Karl, "This is it's aim… Beware, the air is foul and the portents fouler."

Alarielle shook her head, and agreed, "A great beast awaits us."

Her staff head glowed like a torch, and without any further words, the party began their descent into the bowels of the earth. Eric and Frankie noticed they were still clutching one another and awkwardly let go.

Karl readied his blade and turned to look over his shoulder, "Alarielle, Morathi, if you could light our way, then I shall have naught to fear."

The elves nodded and both women wiggled their long weapons, the blade of Heart-render glowed a moment before igniting and Alarielle's great Averlorn stave too followed suit. Both weapons acted as torches and Karl nodded before taking point more confidently. His armour clinked, and his wet cape swayed heavily from side to side.

Eric's mouth was dry, words could not and would not come, but then meekly, Frankie's voice croaked out, "Maybe they should d-drink th-their potions?"

They all stopped, and Eric looked at his friend with surprise before giving him a smile. Nodding he patted Frankie on the arm,

"Good idea… Hey? If there's going to be more down here, and well, if there's even worse things down here, then, we… well you know, yeah maybe you all should?"

The three legendary lords paused and then pulled their diminutive plastic bottles up and into view. Each cracked the lids, discarding the caps and plastic safety wrap. None was bold enough to be first till Morathi chuckled and held hers up.

"To victory."

Karl and Alarielle looked at one another and scoffed in disbelief before repeating the toast. Each downed their drink and cringed, hissing and laughing at the vile brew.

Morathi shook her head from side to side, "By Khaine's rage, that's awful!"

Alarielle choked and blinked her eyes rapidly, "But… I feel. I feel renewed! As if I'd been at peace in Averlorn's heart glade! What devilry is this, mortals?"

Karl gagged and choked on his tongue, "It tastes like… Like a Dwarven liquor, but with none of the satisfaction…"

Each then discarded their bottles, dropping or throwing them to their feet. Frankie and Eric chuckled as much as they could at the sudden levity. But then each lord looked at one another and began standing straighter, their chests nearly puffing out, their arms vibrating with readiness.

Then Morathi smirked, her fangs showing and glinting in the gloomy light, "Let us hunt this foe, and all else his minions."

Karl roared and set forth, Alarielle followed him, a heft of lightning growing in her free hand. Then Morathi turned to Eric and Frankie, her face more sober, her eyes heavy with a strange emotion.

"Stay farther behind, but not so far as to be taken without my notice… Do not be slain whilst we are engaged with these husks, I swear by all the Cytharai."

Her free hand moved upwards as if to touch Eric's shoulder, but she stopped. Instead letting her words echo.

Then she made snort and growled, "Heed me boys. Heed me well. Do you understand?"

Frankie nodded emphatically and slowly shuffled forwards, but Eric saw that same glint in her eye she had when she'd taken his blood, when she had attempted to make her portal, and even…

Eric stopped and furrowed his brow, Morathi averted her eyes a moment and her expression changed, cooling. Her lips were pursed, and she gave no ground.

He nodded, "I understand Morathi…"

Her shoulders seemed to lighten a fraction; her lip curled ever so subtly at the corner, "Good, now… Ahead. Perhaps before the moons rise, I shall put at least one Druchii sin to right."

Eric nodded again and together the five companions disappeared into the Earth.