Eileen pulled the necklace and opened the locket. The arrow was still pointing south and was smaller than before.

The day had been chaotic with all that had happened. The sun finally went down and the night approached with an unusual cold wind blowing very strongly. Shutting windows and doors everywhere on the villa. Still, the Lionesses prepared with their servants for the feast to be served at the open ground.

The weather would not prevent the festivities.

Therese was looking after Leona in a room and Eileen knocked at the door.

“How is she?”

“She is a tough one… there are quite a few new scars but no recent wounds to be treated.”

“Did she say anything?”

“Nothing, she just stays there with eyes open… she closes them if I force them shut, but that’s it”

“Must be a very strong spell… what if we break the collar?”

“The person dies… the collar can’t be removed by normal means. It’s terrible fate and considered a taboo amongst the beastmen. It’s hard enough to face your brother's corpses fighting against you… when they are still living it is even worse. I will never forgive Zegrath for using it on her”

Eileen sighed saddened to see Leona like that “What do you think happened to her during this whole year?”

“With that sword in her hand, very few would be able to fight against her. Zegrath probably used her to erase his competition and guaranteed his support on the throne line.”

“This Zegrath… it’s strange to think a Lion would be like this”

Therese nodded “He wasn’t always this way, when he was younger he was quite an honorable man. But he changed over the years, especially after he found that sword and became a clan leader. They say the front has a nasty effect on the people. I’m starting to think that’s true.”

The Lioness suddenly raised her head and turned towards the window. Something was amiss in the wind. Such strange action startled Eileen that promptly recognized the concerned look in her master’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

“There is something in the wind... I’m not liking it. I feel many presences approaching, fast”

“An attack, here?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not liking it, we better prepare”

“I will warn Arthas and the girls.” Therese nodded “I will take Leona to a safer place and meet you then”

The princess found the group at the open gardens, the three were side by side looking in the same direction as Therese was. Their awareness was in high alert, they were preparing to fight.

“Did you sense it too?” asked Eileen, rushing to them.

“Just now, the smell… the wind is carrying it far away,” said Arthas

Attia nodded “Smells like Dark magic... bones and dry flesh.” Bellica quickly added “Undead”.

Bells rang and all guards and lions began to get ready to fight, Galan and Kasif rushed towards the central garden as well unaware of what was going on.

“Defiled Hounds approaching from the east!” one of the guards shouted from the top of the wall.

Diata came to the garden after hearing the sound of the alarm “Hounds? That can’t be… we are too deep into Beastmen territory.” But the bells were ringing and the guards were moving into position. “Everyone Listen! They will be coming for the young ones! Gather all the students and move them to the western training ground!”

Galan readied his bow and ran after everyone as they moved to the western part of the villa.

A dire silence followed as they waited, the young ones looked at each other, focused on their surroundings. It was broken by the sound of claws scratching the east wall. Several humanoid creatures appeared on top of the walls, jumping down and running on four limbs at great speed.

One after the other, they kept coming over the walls without end.

The enemy seemed humanoid in shape, but completely hairless, naked and with a reddish skin. Their mouths were larger than normal and filled with uneven sharp, pointy teeth, their hands were cut off and replaced by sharp bones or claws from some beast. Their eyes were bloodshot red and they moved and acted as if in a frenzy, very fast-moving and quick to attack.

The fight broke out, and the hounds were dying like flies against the superior ability of the lions.

“What are these things?” asked Eileen.

Arthas was unsure “I never saw an undead like these before, luckily they are weak”

“They are not just undead,” said Therese coming in their direction and joining the fight. “They are Argos’ defiled hounds, prisoners transformed by their rituals and dark magic. Created to ravage and weaken villages before the main force assault”

“Why are they so deep into the plains?” asked Arthas. “They shouldn’t be able to come this far”

“I don’t know, but if they are here, Bloodhunters are certainly to follow.”

“What are Bloodhunters?” asked Attia.

“Hunters specialized in taking live prisoners.”

“Bloodhunters! Several of them are incoming!” shouted the guards from the west watchtower while fending off some hounds.

Diata rushed to the center and commanded the guards and young lions “All younglings go inside now! Lock yourselves on the bunkers!”

“We will stay and fight!” shouted a young male cheered by the others.

Diata was quick to shut him down “Without a clan leader, I’m your superior and you will do as I say!” She let out a bloodlust that quickly set the young males in order. They quickly obey and moved inside.

“Guards! Protect them there! I want two veteran Lionesses with them as well! Everyone else, gather here and defend yourselves! This attack is far from over! But we will make them regret assaulting the lion's den!”

A buzzing could be heard from the sky, something was falling at great speed.

Looking up Arthas saw a ball of flame coming in their direction. “Move!” shouted Arthas as everyone ran away to the sides.

The flaming ball fell on the garden spreading fire all over it. From its crater and flames, a large monster with wings appeared. His head and arms and even wings were in constant fire as if it was part of him, horns, and a head made of a monster skull on top of a large bulky body. On its back, batlike wings attached to its long arms and fingers

“Flamebat!” shouted some of the clan as they took distance from the beast as the flame burned the ground around its landing.

Moments after it, Bloodhunters began to jump down the walls and into the open area in great numbers.

They were soldiers covered in spiked metal plates and leather armor. Attached to their bodies, many nets for capturing live prisoners. They were very agile and rushed towards the gardens joining the fight that intensified.

The older students that remained on the field were having trouble containing these new foes.

Galan was shooting arrows in between the gap of their plates, hindering their movements of as many as he could, one after the other with great precision while moving back. He was closing into Eileen that was fighting against quite a few of them already.

He turned and in a quick sequence of arrows hit 4 of them that stopped their attacks giving Eileen some time to act.

With her rapier, she was able to pierce through the wounded enemies with ease. Their leather armor was no match for her weapon and she quickly put them down.

Attia and Bellica were taking care of the flamebat, containing it, and putting out the fire around it so it would not set the Villa on fire. Arthas and Therese were protecting the young ones that were trying to get back and inside. The half lion and the great Lioness moved together and in great synchrony, as one defended the other attacked, taking down the enemy one after the other at great speed. They were able to help many of the students that didn’t manage to escape in time and were being captured by the blood hunters nets.

The nets were made of a strange material, spikes in the knots and were very hard to get rid of once it caught someone.

After a few moments, the blood hunter numbers seemed to dwindle and their bodies piled up everywhere together with the hounds.

The Flamebat was about to be downed as well by the two half Lionesses when another fireball hit the gardens bringing forth two even bigger Flamebats. They divided the battlefield with their fire in a moment’s notice.

Attia and Bellica tried to contain them in the center so the fire wouldn’t catch in the main house. Arthas focused on finishing the remainder of the blood hunters with Therese that were trying to force their way towards the west wing of the house, where most of the younger ones were.

Eileen and Galan were trapped on the other side of the fire, away from the group. On that side, some Blood Hunters were also trying to break through one of the doors to get inside.

Noticing it, Eileen and Galan rushed to stop their attempt to raid inside the villa complex.

But as everyone’s attention was taken by the action, something else sneaked into the gardens, it moved towards Eileen and Galan who were fighting the blood hunters by the door.

Therese suddenly raised her head and looked at its direction, she was the only one to sense the strange presence creeping about.

She pointed to the enemy that had appeared with her sword “Arthas!” the half-lion looked and widened his eyes.

“Argonian Lich!” shouted Galan, as he finally noticed the strange entity dangerously close to him.

A woman-like figure, wearing a tattered dark mage’s robe, floating close to the ground. It was all covered by its mantle, just some strings of black hair could be seen coming out from the shadows of the hood.

She pointed her bony finger at Galan and Eileen.

“Attia! Bellica! Protect the Queen!” shouted Arthas as Attia and Bellica quickly left all they were doing to intercept the enemy close to Eileen.

But the strange entity quickly acted as she noticed the approach, waves of violet energy began to form around it and quickly dispersed in all directions from it.

The two lionesses and Eileen quickly put up barriers to protect themselves, but as the waves ceased, three portals began to open around the Lich that was now holding three gate stones.

From the portals a new foe appeared.

“Argonian Clerics!” shouted one of the lions, the Argonians stepped out of the portals that closed behind them. The three new enemies walked towards the lions with intent. They were tall men in full plate armors with spiked maces in hand.

The guards and students were not a match to any of them, one cleric could deal with them in a few swings of its mace. Its skill and power were on another level. Even the veteran Lionesses had to gather up in groups to try to deal with one of them.

The lich wasn’t done yet, she raised her hand. At that moment, all of the hounds and blood hunters that were slain began to raise up once again, their eyes burned with a violet flame.

The lions were overwhelmed with enemies, if they all attacked, the loss would be inevitable.

Diata urged “Master Arthas, please save everyone! We can’t let them get a single one of our own!”

Arthas looked back to see the Lions and guards losing position, all doors that led inside were being taken down. The Veteran Lioness barely contained one of the Clerics while the other 2 rampaged and were quickly dealing with the guards.

Therese rushed to one of the doors that was about to be broken and stopped the undead Blood hunters' advance. But now she was facing an endless wave of enemies that stood up once again after being taken down. Even cut limbs were easily reattached by the clever undead with violet eyes and they resumed the attack. The other doors needed immediate help as well.

Arthas then looked at Eileen, Attia and Bellica were still quite far away, moving through the mob of undead to reach her. The lich was still dangerously close to her.

“Damn! Attia, Bellica! Forget the restrictions! Just move to the Queen at once!” shouted Arthas.

Immediately the two half lionesses looked at each other and smiled. Bellica pierced her sword on the ground, a cold ice formed, and began to move in all directions from her sword, freezing the enemies instantly caught on its ice. Attia immediately swung her sword creating a shockwave that shattered the undead in small ice pieces. They quickly opened a path to reach Eileen.

Arthas began to focus, he stood still for a moment. Diata, Therese an all other beastmen were quickly drawn to him and by the massive power he was gathering.

“Sunbeam!” he said opening his eyes and looking at the enemies in front.

From the sky covered in dark gray clouds, a breach suddenly opened in the night sky. A very shiny sunbeam came down from it, cutting through the darkness and descending like a hammer upon the yard illuminating everything in a bright light.

The undead touched by it combusted into a fire and fell down to the ground in a black crisp almost instantly.

The Lions, Lionesses and Diata, swallowed hard by the sight of such an unheard and magnificent spell. It was so powerful and so beautiful that instantly put the legends of old to shame.

Arthas then turned to the bats that were still alive but severely damaged, “Ethereal prison!” a barrier formed around the monsters, they froze in place as if time stopped for them. They were locked into another plane and were unable to move or damage the surroundings any more.

Diata was out of words, such an outstanding display of magic coming from a lion that was unheard of. And someone that was capable of easily beating Zegrath in a physical fight. Someone to be able to understand and use both styles of magic on such a scale was beyond her comprehension.

Diata was now certain, Arthas had to become their leader, and eventually the king once her son became too old to continue to fight. She had to break him free from any shackles he might have so he can stay and lead the beastmen into a new future, because someone like him would certainly change the course of the war.

Therese just smiled at the sight, she was very impressed, but already knew where that kind of power came from.

All that remained standing were the clerics now and the lions were free to engage them. The 20 veterans surrounded one of the clerics, Therese got the second one and Arthas went for the third one.

At the east, the sorcerer was standing still, just looking as if pondering what to do next as it observed Attia and Bellica behind her and Eileen and Galan to her front.

Attia was the first to act, she shot a large fireball at the lich, burning some pieces of its cloth and revealing the bones within the Lich.

As it was distracted, The princess’ rapier and Galan’s arrows were quick to move, hitting its body with precision. But both attacks were completely ineffective against it, for the bones were too tough and were not damaged.

After the attack, the Lich turned to them and conjured a violet fog that began to spread and cover everything around the Lich.

“Shit, we can’t stay inside of this thing!” said Galan to Eileen that nodded. Both ran in the direction of the partially broken door, escaping the strange fog.

Attia swung her sword, dispelling the fog away, but Eileen was gone. “Queen! Where are you?” Shouted Bellica without a response, she looked concerned at Attia.

The lioness nodded “I will take care of this thing, you find her!”

Bellica nodded.

As they went through the door, Galan hit some mirrored barrier that shattered around them, revealing that they were not inside the Villa anymore. Only the full moon illuminated their surroundings. Turning back, far in the distance, they could see the walls of the Clan villa. They were very far into the wilderness. The doorway was nowhere to be seen anymore.

“What the… how are we outside? Did we just run through a gateway?” said Galan.

Eileen sensed danger and turned towards it. Out of nowhere, a heavily armored man was stepping out of another mirrored barrier, out of nowhere, clad in thick, black steel armor.

Its eyes glowed with bright green color beneath a metallic skull mask. His helmet had metal horns and a metal mask. The armor was full of spikes and he had blades on the shoulders, arms, and gauntlets.

“An Immortal? This can’t be right… I never heard of an Immortal leaving the fortress before” Said Galan, in fright “That’s it, we are dead, we are really dead now”

“What do you know about this immortal?” she asked, readying herself to fight.

“Just the stories from the front… The immortals are the reason why the Beastmen can’t take down the Argonian Fortress city. Even if all undead are taken care of, one or two of these guys is enough to hold off any attack. A high Argonian battlemage that is impervious to all attacks. Physical or magical while being capable of very powerful spells”

The immortal stepped forwards in their direction raising both his arms towards them. Galan immediately shot an arrow at his mask. The metal sound of the arrow hitting it and ricocheting off was loud but didn’t even scratch nor bothered the enemy that continued moving forward.

Eileen stepped back, a magical barrier began to form behind them. It was clear that the Immortal would not let them escape.

The enemy was facing Eileen, Galan stepped in front of her and shot a precise arrow in the eye socket of the mask.

The arrow was precise, it hit and got stuck inside the mask.

But the immortal just flickered his hand to the side and a green energy quickly formed by Galan’s body and exploded, throwing him away. The hunter hit the ground and rolled over before finally stopping farther away.

The immortal then grabbed the arrow and pulled it off without any concern. No blood, no damage, the green eye remained glowing beneath the mask.

Eileen glanced at Galan at the ground without moving and prepared herself to attack, she moved forward aiming for the gaps of his armor near his arm.

But the large immortal was even quicker than her. Even before she managed to close the gap between them, the immortal gripped the air with his hand while looking at her.

Immediately a dark green light formed below her.

The spell moved quickly and like a silky cloth it went upwards towards her body, wrapping around her legs, arms, and torso, limiting her movements while slowly continuing and spreading over all her body, thickening and eventually completely stopping and holding her in place.

The black wyrm armor was still damaged from the fight with Zegrath, but it was able to fight over the spell, allowing the Princess to have some limited movement.

On her chest, she could feel the necklace pulsing on its own, increasing in strength as if desperately wanting to be released.

“I can do this…” She told herself as she managed to move her arm out of the spell and point her hand at the Immortal, she didn’t have time to chant and just shot a fire spell at the immortal face hoping the fire would break his concentration and the spell holding her.

The fire hit him and burned the metal mask, helmet, and parts of his chest armor for a few moments. But the constricting spell was not undone nor the Immortal seemed phased by the attack.

Noticing her resistance to his magic, the immortal raised his other hand, bringing forth another layer of the spell from the ground and wrapped around her body, constraining, even more, the princess. She was completely immobilized.

She felt her necklace heating up while Eileen continued to struggle against the spell.

The immortal walked forward and raised his fist, showing to the trapped princess, the sharp spikes and blades on his metal gauntlets.

Clang an arrow hit him in the head once again.

“Hey, it isn’t that easy to get rid of me… come on, or that’s all you can do?,” said Galan barely standing, blood dripping from his head to his face as he pointed another arrow at the Immortal.

The moment the immortal turned his head to face him...

“Arrow Break,” said Galan as he released his arrow imbued with mana, the shot hit the immortal mask. The arrow burst into a flash and an explosion that made the tall, armored man lose his balance for a moment and step back, finally releasing the princess from the spell.

He got back up straight and looked at Galan, but not a single scratch could be seen on his armor.

The Immortal stepped towards him leaving Eileen alone. With his right hand he quickly gripped the air towards Galan, the spell emerged from the ground and wrapped around the hunter and constricted him completely instantly.

The princess quickly tried to sneak attack the heavily armored enemy from behind with her Rapier. But without even looking at her, the moment she approached, half of a mana circle appeared and blasted everything on his back.

She was caught off guard and thrown back by the blast. She hit the ground hard and even before she recovered from the impact, the Immortal pointed his other arm towards her and quickly grasped her in the spell.

Now, with one in each hand, he then gently brought both closer in front of him. Galan and Eileen were trapped, side by side.

Eileen could feel the pressure of the spell increasing. Differently than before, the spell was much stronger and as time passed it was getting worse as it expanded.

Galan, without any magical protection, was already losing consciousness to the pressure.

Eileen tried to reinforce her body to the best of her ability to break through it. She released all the spells she could from her hands in an attempt to break free. But nothing seemed to affect the ground where the spell was coming from.

Galan passed out from the pressure and with a flick of a finger, the Immortal tossed the hunter to the ground with great force just to raise him again in the next moment.

Noticing his intentions Eileen shouted at him “He's already unconscious! Have you no honor?” The immortal turned his head at The princess, quite impressed by her ability to even talk at that position.

He then flicked his finger once more, making Galan hit the hard ground, but this time, leaving him there.

The princess was getting desperate, she had released all the mana she could, and yet there was no sign of the spell breaking.

The immortal approached her and showed his fist with black blades on it once again.

Her necklace started to glow beneath her armor.

The immortal then slowly raised her up with the spell and in a single attack, pierced her stomach with it.

The enchantments on the armor completely stopped and the pressure of the spell increased exponentially. She was barely able to breathe.

Blood ran from her wounds, drenching her armor.

The immortal pulled his gauntlet back and was looking at her bleeding body as if choosing where to stab her next.

It was getting harder to draw breath, Eileen was completely unable to fight back. Desperation began to set in as she realized she wouldn’t last long now.

She couldn’t feel her necklace anymore, with the pressure and her thoughts shifting away… her mind quickly went to the image of Riou.

The thought of him made her get a grip on herself once more. She knew he wouldn’t give up in any situation, he would definitely find a way to fight. She couldn’t just give up.

The necklace was beaming with a bright white light that even shined through the thick black wyrm armor.

The Immortal noticed it and moved his hand holding her with the spell.

The dark green cloth began spreading over her body once again. Covering now even her eyes and mouth.

The immortal approached his head to the strange light beneath her armor...

Eileen felt a hand laying on her shoulder. A Sudden blast shoved the heavy armored man away from her dispelling the spell completely and freeing Eileen.that fell to the ground breathing heavily.

The immortal looked at his hand, unsure as to why his spell ceased its effects. He walked towards her once again and grabbed Eileen on the ground by her armor and with a single hand he raised her up.

He was clearly curious, analyzing cautiously her armor looking for any remaining enchantment on it.

The immortal realized her wounds were healed and the light on her chest was the only source of mana remaining. So he went for it with his other hand.

Eileen had recovered her senses and with her rapier in her hand, she immediately pierced him under the shoulder as his arm was holding her up.

But the rapier was not able to pierce through the second set of armor beneath the plates.

The immortal ignored her attempts to fight and remained Intrigued by the light.

His hand was about to touch it over her armor.

Suddenly a huge blue lightning emerged from the white light and went forward, engulfing the Immortal completely in its blue light and sending him flying backward, hurdled away like a doll.

As he hit the ground far away, he managed to put his hand down as an anchor to stop himself. The immortal quickly stood up once again, his armor was smoking all over, some parts were red with the high heat and some of the spikes even melted away.

Eileen looked down to see the necklace still shining. She put her hand on top of it and felt its warm light. The sensation began to grow from her hand and chest, spreading throughout her whole body, healing and recovering her fatigue completely.

The princess smiled looking at it, finally relaxing after seeing the necklace in action. There was no reason to fear it, after all, it was just protecting her as Riou said it would do.

But the Immortal wasn’t done yet, he began to move forward once again, walking towards Eileen with deadly intent.

Realizing she was no match for it… she looked at the necklace. And once again she felt a hand laying on her shoulder. But this time it remained there… Eileen looked to her side and noticed a white human silhouette forming right beside her.

The white fog took shape and became an exact copy of Eileen, but instead of the armor, it was just wearing a light, short white dress.

The image suddenly took a deep breath and opened her eyes, she turned to Eileen smiling. Its eyes were of a crystal blue, just like hers. The image moved slowly, without any hurry, and as it turned forward once again its eyes left behind an eerie crystal blue trace in the air that quickly disappeared.

The white image of Eileen turned and faced the immortal with a serious expression.

The immortal looked at the strange image that appeared and raised his arms at it. Silently, the image of Eileen began to walk towards the Immortal, moving with the elegance and authority of a goddess, uncaring to anything else around her.

The Argonian battlemage once again gripped the air, the green spell erupted from the ground and went after Eileen’s copy and tried to constrict her.

But she just moved over it, like someone walking through a gust of wind, ripping the spell in pieces as if it was nothing.

The immortal was clearly taken by surprise and was without reaction for a moment. The one in white then imitated his motion. She raised her delicate hand and calmly gripped the air just like he did.

Instantly, from beneath him, a blue light emerged and wrapped itself around him.

She raised her hand a bit more, and the blue strings of the spell followed her motion, the immortal was effortlessly pulled from the ground despite his weight and size.

The spell began to constrict him more and more.

It was so powerful that Eileen could hear the metal armor cracking and moving under the pressure, the immortal was being crushed by it.

He struggled, his armor began to light up in a green light. Runes began to appear on the metal plates all over his armor. He was taken by the green light as all his armor had enchantments.

Suddenly a barrier began to form around his armor and expand, forcing the spell away from his body and giving him space to breathe.

With a quick movement of his arms, green daggers formed around him and were shot at the one in white.

The daggers hit it and bounced off, not even scratching her skin. The daggers immediately exploded as soon as they bounced in a green dust that covered everything near them.

But a clenched hand emerged from the green smoke, the blue light that was still wrapped around the barrier began constricting once again, shattering the barrier and binding his body with the full power of the spell. The backlash of the spell hitting his body after shattering the barrier was so loud, that Eileen was sure it had broken a couple of bones of his body.

Such was the pressure now that the mighty armor of the immortal began to fold and twist wherever the spell was gripping, the green runes began to lose its light under the broken and twisted metal and began to cease to function.

The princess could see the immortal desperately trying to escape that deadly grasp.

As the green smoke finally vanished, the one in white appeared unscathed while all the ground and grass touched by the smoke was completely dried out and dead.

A yellow rune began to shine on his shoulder, shining a violet light over Eileen momentarily.

The princess coverer her eyes because of its intensity, but when she looked again. The immortal was free from the binding and was quickly moving away from the one in white that remained standing still, unmoved by the events.

Eileen sees him turning and changing his focus towards her once again, completely ignoring the guardian.

And to her surprise, even the guardian seem not bothered by him either, she just remained in the same place with the same position, with her hand gripping the air.

The immortal raised his hands to the air and began gathering a huge quantity of mana. He was conjuring a massive ball of energy that began to burn with a green flame. The princess got concerned and looked once again at her unmoving image.

The immortal launched the energy ball, Eileen put up a barrier to the best of her abilities… the energy ball hit the ground close to her, engulfing everything. She could see the ground around her been pulverized and completely destroyed.

But to her surprise, when she opened her eyes again, she noticed her barrier was still standing. It wasn’t even hit by any spell. And despite all the damage around her, she somehow was completely fine.

Suddenly she heard another loud crack. The destroyed ground flickered and was suddenly back to normal. She turned to where the Immortal was but he was slowly vanishing in the air.

Eillen then turned to the one in white. She was still there, in the same position.

And to Eileen surprise, she saw the enemy wrapped in the blue spell, completely disfigured now. The immortal was completely broken now.

She released the spell and the immortal fell down to the ground, his armor and his body were completely twisted in disturbing ways. Every limb on his body was broken in several places and blood gushed from within his armor holes. Nonetheless, the immortal was still alive within the armor.

The white image approached him even closer now, she looked from above at the broken enemy with cold and emotionless eyes.

The green glow was still there, inside the mask there were eyes of anger and hate.

The one in white pointed her finger at him, and with a flick, she ripped a piece of his armor from his body. Piece by piece, the black metal plates were thrown away, removed without any care or caution, until nothing but a broken man could be seen inside that dark metal shell.

He was drenched in his own blood, wearing an army uniform. Eileen walked towards him and saw how much damage the white guardian had caused to his body. She could not believe that the man was still alive like that.

Blood gushed from the multiple exposed fractures. He breathed with difficulty and a bubbling sound could be heard from his chest. But without his armor, the light of his eyes was slowly fading away, still, he made sure to look at Eileen’s copy with hate and contempt.

The crystal blue eyes of the image show him no emotion as she watched him die. It stood still in front of the broken Immortal and observed him quietly, as if waiting for something.

The immortal tried to move one of his arms, the pain was excruciating. Withstanding it forcing himself through an indescribable resolve, he manages to raise his broken arm a bit, in his hand Eileen could see a transparent crystal.

Swash

His entire arm was severed in an instant and sent flying without a thought or remorse by the image.

The man shouted in anger and pain, cursing in the Argonian tongue.

But the one in white just stood there, observing the enemy while it agonized and bled out.

The immortal smiled and began to laugh as a rune carved in his chest began to glow in a red color, right beneath his blood-drenched clothes.

Without delay, the guardian immediately raised her palm at him and swiped it to the side, removing all mana from within his body and shutting down the runes completely. The man cursed her one last time before finally losing all the green light on his eyes and falling to the side.

Galan that had regained his consciousness moments ago was just watching the final moments of the battle, smiling from ear to ear, he looked at Eileen with great surprise.

The princess sighed in relief now the enemy was finally taken care of. She approached her image to take a better look at her.

She was exactly like her in every aspect of her body.

“Arthas was right… you are way too powerful” She said not believe Riou was able to create something like that. “But why do you look like me?”

The one in white just smiled.

But Eileen’s relief lasted but a moment, her image turned suddenly and stared at Galan with a serious look before starting to walk towards him.

“Eileen? What is happening?” he said standing up and then limping back, trying to move away from the approaching white one.

“I don’t know,” said Eileen, moving after her. “Wait, what are you doing?” asked the princess, but there was no response from it. She just continued walking towards Galan.

She was getting dangerously close.

“A little help here?” he urged as Eileen tried to use the necklace to stop it somehow.

Galan picked up his bow and readied an arrow. “Tell it to go back!”

Suddenly a bow appeared on the image’s hand. She prepared an arrow and quickly shot it at Galan. Piercing the hunter’s shoulder and then vanishing leaving behind the open wound.

She readied another arrow aiming at the other shoulder.

“Arrghhh… shit! This thing is gonna kill me! Do something please!”

“I’m trying! But it’s not working!”

Therese, Arthas, Attia, and Bellica were approaching them at that moment, but Arthas suddenly stopped everyone as he noticed the one in white.

Eileen looked relieved at them, “Arthas!? How do I stop it?”

Arthas walked forward slowly, he looked at the deformed body of the Immortal at the ground and then at the image of Eileen in her light white dress.

“What is that thing?” Asked Therese already with her sword in hand. “Why does it look like Eileen?”

Arthas noticing her intent became very concerned “No sudden moves please… its a guardian spell that Eileen activated”

The one in white put down the bow as she turned her head towards the group that just arrived.

Arthas swallowed hard “Everyone, lower your weapons, slowly” commanded Arthas as the image looked at them, one by one.

“Are you sure?” Asked Therese.

“Now!” he urged.

Therese squinted her eyes but complied, putting down her sword.

The princess image smiled at them and slowly turned towards Galan once again. She raised the bow and readied the arrow with him in her aim very quickly.

“It’s not helping!!!! Someone do something!” shouted Galan.

“Stop it!” Shouted Eileen with authority.

Suddenly the image seemed to react to her command, she eased her grip of the bow and turned to Eileen confused.

“Enough! You’ve done enough already! We can take on from here” said Eileen to her other-self.

The guardian nodded at her, the bow and arrow vanished from her hand and the white princess began to fade away into the air turning into white smoke.

Arthas sighed in great relief.

With the guardian gone, the necklace lighted up again showing a sudden dark blue glow. Eileen immediately felt exhausted, as if all mana from her body was consumed at once. The glow stopped and the necklace returned to normal.

Attia, Bellica, and Therese immediately went to help her. “What happened?” asked the great Lioness, noticing the exhaustion of the princess.

“I’m just... tired. My mana was consumed too fast, that’s all”

“You shouldn’t use that necklace then, it’s too dangerous to run out of mana like that” advised Therese.

“I’m just tired, that’s all” said Eileen smiling.

“But what was that thing?” Asked Galan sitting down on the ground with his hand on his bleeding shoulder. “And why did it attack me?”

Arthas moved towards him and looked at his wound. “Regen” the hunter’s wounds slowly began to heal themselves. “It is a guardian spell, it saw you as a threat”

“But why? I was helping!”

“I don’t know, but the guardian saw something that it didn’t like”

Therese looked at him “Maybe it's the greed and lust in your eyes, especially when you look at the girls”

“Lust? Come on, I have nothing but innocent and harmless love, a pure love for beautiful things one could say!” Galan smirked and winked at Eileen. He moved his shoulder not believing it was recovering already.

“You should have let her shoot him,” said Attia looking with disapproval at Galan that was standing up again.

The hunter was feeling better and better at every passing moment “Incredible, you also can do healing magi? You are awesome Arthas! No wonder they made you clan leader so quickly”

“I’m not the clan leader. And do us all a favor, and don’t mention this incident to anyone” advised Arthas.

“Sure, my lips are sealed, after all, who would believe me anyway?” joked Galan already back to his natural good mood.

Therese looked around, they were far away from the Villa “It can’t be a coincidence that Eileen ended up this far away against the most powerful enemy. She must have been their target from the start”

“She? But what Argos would want with her?” asked Galan butting in.

“I don’t know, but I’m not liking it” Added Arthas.

Bellica helped the princess, very impressed by her power on using the necklace “That was amazing, queen! The mana you emanated was tremendous! We felt it from the Villa and came as fast as we could when we sensed it!”

Attia approached her as well “It felt just like master’s power!”

Eileen looked at them, tired and very unsure “I don’t know, I’m not sure if I even did anything in the end.”

“Let’s return… Eileen needs to rest” ordered the Half lion.

Riou suddenly felt dizzy.

“What happened? You seem tired all of a sudden” asked Umbra, she was sitting down on a stone slab, shape-shifted into a not so good human form. Scales and horns could still be seen in her head and face.

Like Lucian, she had black hair and pale white skin, her eyes had a reddish copper tone to them, an elegant woman in her early thirties.

“Something is wrong,” said Riou to himself before turning to Umbra “I have to go back, I need to check what is going on”

“But we are not done yet, my shape doesn't seem quite right” she touched her horns.

Riou forced a smile “You know enough to improve on your own… and to tell you the truth, you do look better than most humans already” Riou looked at her horns “Just wear a hat and don’t eat anyone and you will be fine”

Umbra smiled at the joke.

“So, can you send me back now? Like you did when you brought me here?”

Umbra shook her head “Not yet, my mana hasn't recovered enough for that, the Beastmen capital it’s just too far away”

Riou nodded. “Just out of curiosity, how far are we from it?”

“We are at the Dragon’s Nest, a mountain chain far to the southwest of the great desert. Away from all humans”

“Did you just say we are even farther south than the desert?”

“Yes” said Umbra nonchalantly.

“That’s some spell you have, to travel that far away so quickly”

“But still, it’s nowhere close to what he can do. So, can you wait until I’ve recovered the ability?”

Riou shook his head “That damn dragon, Noctis! Come back and give me a ride home! Don’t just ignore me again!” But there was no response, “I swear, next time I see him…”

“You seem to have quite a good relationship with my father, I wonder how that was even possible.”

“Good? This isn’t good. He never listens to me”

“Well, he never listens to anyone”

Riou focused for a moment “The Nemesis Guardian was activated, something bad must have happened. I really have to go back”

Umbra dragon eyes shined in red briefly “You just lost a lot of your mana, this spell... it is using your own power to operate? You managed to send mana over this great distance?”

Riou smiled “Took me a while to figure out a way to do it though. But still, it takes a lot for it to work”

“I can see that… You must value this person very much to have given such a gift”

“I do”

Umbra nodded “So even the humans have this sense of protecting the kin.”

“That’s why I need to go back to check on them… Why don’t you teach me how to step through the shadows? Maybe I can go back on my own”

Umbra pondered for a moment “I don’t know if a human can learn it… the black dragons came from the abyss, our connection to the realm of darkness is strong, that’s why we can manipulate the shadows like that. And even if you could, it wouldn’t be quick to learn it.”

“Shit, then maybe if I leave now...”

“I have a proposition, I can take you back faster than you can run there and if we leave now we should arrive by dawn at the plains. But I’d like to ask for another favor”

“What is it?”

Umbra squinted her eyes “I’d like you to take me to some human villages and cities… and I’d like to go see his place too”

Riou pondered “Noctis? Ah that invitation… I can do it if you tell me everything you know about the Abyss, spirit world and how to do that shadow step”

“But I warn you, that’s a skill only the black dragons can use… so I don’t mind telling you about it, but you might never be able to use it.”

Riou nodded “There is no harm in trying then”

She nodded with a smirk. “It’s a deal”

“Ok, let’s go then… how will you get me there?”

She began to transform back into a dragon “Flying, of course”

“Gadora, do you have a report for me? ”

“Yes master. My agents confirmed that the artifact is indeed with the princess and it is amazingly powerful. It’s a necklace that holds a living guardian spirit made of pure mana. It was capable of dealing with an immortal of Argos very easily.”

The master shadow flickered “No wonder Argos wants it so badly. Something that powerful must have a very complex enchantment. So tell me Gadora, how will you take such a powerful artifact from her?”

“It won’t be simple. The extent of the artifact's power is still unknown, this guardian spirit seems to have a will of its own while protecting her. And if that alone wasn’t enough, she is with a mercenary group, 3 extremely strong half beastmen. One of them beat the Clan leader of the lions the one with the Jaw of Havoc. They were the ones that dealt with all the Argonian troops sent with the immortal”

“The clerics and the firebats died as well? Did you waste all the resources and just managed to gather that little information? Argos won’t be pleased… they will expect retribution for their help, soon!” said the remaining shadow with them.

“They are of no consequence if we deliver the artifact, that’s how powerful it is. The Magus and the princess must have definitely used it to stop our plans”

“Do not forget they killed Tessai and Astos”

“I will not make the same mistake” said Gadora.

The master shadow nodded “We can’t afford any mistakes nor lose any more time. For that reason, you two will work together on this. I’m sure you two will accomplish this ordeal.”

“Yes, master” both said in unison and glancing at each other.

Eileen slept throughout the whole morning of the next day, the usage of the necklace was too much for her. She woke up in her bedroom inside the Lion’s clan and began to search for the others.

Attia and Bellica were guarding her room and promptly came inside to see how she was feeling.

“I’m better now, thanks.” She looked around “Isn’t Riou back yet?” She pulled the necklace from the pocket and looked at it. The arrow was now bigger than before but he was still far away.

They shook their heads.

“Where could he have gone? Why isn’t he back yet?”

Attia seemed quite saddened “Well, we did receive news from him while you were sleeping. He said he was delayed and still needed to complete his mission.”

“How? How did you communicate?”

Attia pointed her finger up and three magic circles appeared. “Through signals in the sky, for instance, the first plain circle means all is good, the second with the vertical line means trouble incoming in our direction. The third with 3 smaller circles inside means that he is delayed and will take longer to return. There are other symbols, but these are the most common ones.”

“It's a long-distance communication that master created, we draw these lines very high on the sky and it can be seen from far away. Only we know what it means, so it's not a problem even if the enemy sees it”

Eileen was saddened to hear Riou would still not be coming back. “He might be escorting the Northman back… that means he might take a few days to return”

“One of us should have gone with him… Master always gets into trouble when we are not around” said Bellica as Attia nodded “That’s why we need to be with him, he gets distracted very easily when we are not together.”

“Should we go after him then?” asked Eileen.

Bellica sighed quite sadly “No, when we get separated like this, we are supposed to wait for him to come back.”

Eileen didn’t like that and was growing concerned. “Where is Arthas and Therese? I want to check with them too”

“Probably discussing something with the matriarch, they talked the whole morning”

“Let’s find them and decide what to do next”

Eileen, Attia, and Bellica found Diata watching a duel in the training area. They all got surprised when they saw Arthas sparring with Therese. Both were using regular training garments, a white cloth wrapped around their bodies.

Wooden swords instead of the real ones but still, they were not taking it easy. Arthas seemed to be having trouble against the great Lioness. Her sword skill was truly something else and was pushing the half-lion.

Eileen watched with attention as her master displayed her ability to the fullest.

“Is Arthas losing? I can’t believe that” said Bellica, watching it amazed by Therese’s skill.

Eileen chuckled when she saw the way he was fighting. Escaping her attacks on the last moment while having trouble moving about. “Well they sure are similar… Arthas won’t win this one” added Eileen as Attia looked at her confused on the confidence Eileen had on that response.

Therese was smiling brightly while she fought against Arthas, the half-lion was able to fend for himself, but was clearly having trouble keeping up.

Suddenly Arthas overextended his arm and Therese’s easily disarmed him. He sighed and chuckled “I lost focus, it’s your win,” he said, getting out of breath and smiling.

“How did you know!” asked Attia to Eileen, very impressed by her knowledge and foresight.

Therese nodded and approached him, still with the weapon in hand “How long have you known the boy?”

Arthas chuckled “Since he was a young boy”

“He was? Is he not one anymore?”

“He is a grown man now”

“A grown man?” she glanced at Eileen with a faint smile before looking at Arthas again “The time you spent with him shows. I could see the bond you two share through your fighting, you have a lot of his style in your movements”

Arthas nodded “It was my honor and privilege to have met him and learned all this”

Therese then approached him very closely and whispered to him “But you seem to forget that I too know your master well. I know the way he thinks... and I’ve seen through these cheap tactics before… you can’t deceive me, Arthas”

Arthas forced a smile “I was not deceiving anyone… I just…”

She looked into Arthas’ eyes, whispering even closer to his ear “I want to see the real you, no hiding, no holding back… Show me everything” she let the sword go and raised her hands, slowly and delicately touching his face with them.

Both their eyes flared immediately, showing the vertical pupils and the golden glow, and Therese smiled at him.

Arthas seemed very surprised at first, but his expression slowly changed, his eyes moved to meet hers and he finally smiled back at her.

Diata watched that scene and was getting flustered, waving her hand at her face, fanning herself.

Before their eyes returned to normal Therese approached his face with hers and almost touching his skin with her nose she took a deep breath, smelling him very close to his neck and ear.

Diata was instantly shocked seeing that and turned to the younger lionesses nearby that were watching “Close your eyes! This isn’t something for you to see! Shoo! Get going!”

Therese leaned back a bit gazing intensely at him, Arthas just swallowed hard, completely captivated by her.

She then nodded at him, slowly letting go of his face. Both exchanged one last look and then Therese just turned away and walked to Eileen and the two half lionesses. Leaving Arthas behind, he was standing still and his eyes refused to move away from Therese.

As she reached the girls, she smiled “That’s how a lioness claim a mate”

Eileen looked with widened eyes at her and then glanced at Arthas, who was still completely bewitched by what happened.

Attia and Bellica looked at each other with widened eyes of revelation “So that’s how the queen did it?!” Bellica turned to Eileen and Therese filled with curiosity.

Therese was confused by the way Eileen was being addressed by them, but just let it be “No, Eileen took her time. She was younger than now and didn’t have much experience in the subject… so it suffices to say that she was failing at it, miserably at first.”

“No way! The queen was failing?! I can’t believe it” said Attia quite shocked.

Eileen shook her head “I was not failing… I didn’t even… you know… but I was definitely not failing”

Therese smiled “She was failing so badly that the boy even tried to escape her the first chance he got”

“That’s not true… he didn’t escape, he told me where he was going. And you were there too… and we found him quickly after…I don’t need to explain, but it was not like that!”

“So it was really that difficult for her too?” asked Bellica to Therese that nodded.

Therese looked at Eileen and shook her head “Very difficult… Humans are very different from us. But in the end, after a few weeks of traveling with him, she managed to get his attention… and then she finally gets his heart.”

“How did she do? Do you know?” Attia and Bellica were very interested.

“Yes, I was there when it happened”

“You were?” Attia and Bellica approached Therese more closely, they didn’t even breathe with the anticipation to hear about it. Even Eileen seemed a bit curious to know that as well. She wondered about it herself, when was the moment that she finally realized her feelings.

Memories of the time they spend together came back to her mind, hours of practice, chatting, traveling together.

She smiled brightly as she remembered the moment he accepted to be her suitor. She also reminisced the weight in her heart before she heard his response. At that time she didn’t understand those feelings she was having towards him. It was only later that she finally realized how deep they really were.

With him gone like that she was devastated.

She remembers the mage taking pity of her and opening up about Riou to try to ease her mind. Eileen recalled one time, when he was sitting beside Eleanor in his main room and looking at Eileen with a smirk.

She could still hear his voice, saying those words in her head, “My dear… you don’t have to worry about that fool. He will be back before you know it”

“Even if he is powerful as you said… how can you be so sure Maximilian? What if he never returns? What if it takes many decades for him to come back?”

She remembers the laugh and warm smile that the old mage gave her “Because you are here! Why do you think he accepted to be your suitor in the first place? He wouldn’t stand the thought of you being with anyone else. I have pity for the realm he was tossed in… he will rip it apart if that allows him to find his way back to you faster.”

Eileen remembers the surprise she felt by hearing those words. Then Eleanor sighed and looked very tenderly “The boy is madly in love with you my dear, everyone can see how he lights up every time he sees you. So please, ease your heart and trust in this old fool. If he says the boy will be back, he will be back”

Suddenly the memory of a boy gazing into the moonlight on the top balcony of the castle came to her mind. She remembers his eyes to this day, somehow she knew they didn’t belong to a boy.

They were too deep for someone so young. She remembered the sensation of the wind, the calmness, and easiness of mind when talking to him for the first time. The way he spoke, the way he looked at her. She wondered how he felt at that moment towards her.

Therese began to speak “We were resting at Maximilian’s home in Thanes, we had just left the bath and…”

Eileen’s romantic dreams were quickly shattered when she heard those words, she quickly interrupted her “I don’t think that’s accurate Therese… That was definitely not the moment” she forced a smile shaking her head at Therese.

But the lioness clearly disagreed “Oh no, it was most definitely it. We all were wearing those night galls that Eleanor got us, they were quite small and very revealing. The boy then appeared at our room by surprise and ended up seeing us in them… well, seen Eileen. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was making a quite an endearing pose and managed to captivate his gaze very intensely”

“I was not posing, I didn’t know he was there… I was just drying my hair that was wet!”

Attia and Bellica nodded vehemently, wanting to know more.

Therese looked at Eileen and smiled faintly “She had her breasts forward and her head back, the white cloth was a bit wet and stuck to her skin. The boy was completely taken by her. He lost his ability to speak and could do nothing but be bewitched by Eileen. And even with me and Leona in the same clothes, his eyes wouldn’t dare leave her body. He was clearly burning that image in his mind and at that very moment, Everyone there knew he was taken for good after a long time wasted and having these useless conversations, that’s how she finally managed to do it”

“That’s not it Therese… it’s not that simple” Said Eileen quite flustered remembering the moment. But Attia and Bellica seemed to be already taking mental notes of it. They nodded with glints of realization on their eyes “So that’s how you get a human male!”

“I would never have guessed,” said Attia.

Eileen sighed and looked at Attia and Bellica, she could easily see through them, both were having the craziest ideas already.

“That’s not how you do it, Therese is just playing a joke… It’s not that simple”

“I’m certain of what I saw, and I agree, the enticing pose is an important part of the process, if you want I can show it to you”

“Yes! Please” said both half lionesses instantly.

Eileen sighed “You are not helping Therese! And I’m watching you two closely from now on.”

Therese smiled, finding the whole interaction quite funny “Let them have fun, they need to grow up if they hope to find a male for themselves.” she patted Eileen on the shoulder. “I will be with Leona for now, let me know when you have any news.”

Eileen nodded to her. “We have a problem… Riou may take a while to return. Maybe it would be good to take Leona to Maximilian after all”

Therese pondered a bit “I fear what could happen if we take her too far away from Zegrath… we don’t know what other order he might have given her. Can’t we bring the Magus here?”

Eileen looked at Attia and Bellica “We can send word back to the jumping point to move the crystal here, then we can order some scouts to go get him with the other part” said Attia.

“That would be great! Can we do it?” said Eileen to them.

Attia nodded “Let’s see Arthas and make the preparations”

Diata was still recovering from the events of that late morning as she found Eileen and Attia waiting on the gardens “Oh Eileen, my dear. I hope the events of this morning haven’t affected you too much.”

Eileen was confused “Events? What happened?”

“Well, it seems like you have a heavy competition ahead of you, but fret not. I’m sure Therese won’t mind sharing, especially with a disciple of hers.”

The princess was immediately shocked and shook her head “No, she can keep him all to herself, I have no interest in Arthas. I told you I’m engaged already” The matriarch just smiled “I know… the trader. I’m just an old matriarch talking to herself here. But you are a lioness now, you could abide by our rules if you want to”

Attia quickly nodded, agreeing with that remark, looking piercingly at Eileen as if that was a good idea for her to abide upon.

“Even if I’m accepted here, I’m still human and by our customs that’s not something we do” replied the princess, forcing a smile at Attia.

“I know, I know… don’t mind me. You must forgive if I pry too much. It’s an old mother’s habit”

Eileen smiled “There is nothing to forgive Diata, you are very kind”

“You are a good girl Eileen. And I’d like to meet this trader. I hope he had the time to finish his business and will be able to attend our postponed party today?”

Eileen wasn’t sure.

“In any way, I hope I can have you all to stay here for a long time”

“It’s a great honor to be here Matriarch, but there are many things that you don’t know about us… we have other duties we have to fulfill and we can’t stay here for much longer” said Eileen as Attia nodded.

“I know, I’m just voicing this old elder’s wish… but rest my dears and do let me meet the human when he arrives. I’m curious to see what kind of man he is” she nodded and went away, there was still a lot of cleaning and repairing to coordinate.

The princess promptly took the necklace once again, the arrow was now much bigger than before.

“Look Attia, he is closer now! Maybe he is coming back earlier!?”

“Are you sure? I could stop by wherever this human is and let her know the message” Umbra was flying high above the clouds in her dragon form with Riou holding himself on her large head.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea… and we are close enough now for me to send some messages out. Can we go below the clouds for a brief moment? I will shoot a spell” Riou pointed his hand to the north.

Umbra flew down, crossing the clouds for him. Riou pointed his finger and a spell was shot of it. A dark line made of a black smoke that moved in a straight line very fast, quickly traveling a long way forward.

Suddenly it exploded, forming a dark circle with a black dot in its center. The line continued forwards doing the same image every now and then, covering the whole plains before disappearing.

“What’s the intention of this spell?”

“It's a way of communication, watch for the reply…”

A few moments later a similar spell was coming his way, a circle made of blue smoke.

Riou sighed in relief “They are all fine…”

“Interesting… do these symbols mean whole sentences?”

“Yes… The necklace was activated and deactivated shortly after, but now that I confirmed they are fine, I can focus on my task once again.” Riou pointed forward and shot another black smoke spell. This one was a circle with two smaller circles inside of it.

“Can You go above the clouds again and take me to that direction close to that mountain, please?”

Umbra turned and flew over it.

“This is fine… I will see you later!”

“I will be waiting for your call, a couple of days more and my mana will be fully back, I will be able to go to you wherever you are in an instant”

“Our deal stands, see you then!”

Riou looked at the camp from above and aimed at the top of the mountain it was located. He then jumped from the large dragon, falling silently at the top of the mountain.

“I will finally be able to see the whole camp from this height”.

Riou quickly jumped down the top and found a cliff with a perfect view of the camp below. Looking down, he got confused.

There were barely any guards, just a couple of undead standing still, doing nothing. The gates were open and the prisoners were just working by themselves.

Riou observed with more care, there was an Argonian building close to the walls but it wasn’t very big, it couldn’t hold many soldiers.

“This is strange… something must be going on here. Time to take a closer look”

Riou jumped down and fell on top of one of the few undead guards, shattering its bones completely. The noise caught the attention of two more undead guards that moved to see what happened. Like a lightning strike, Riou brought them down instantly.

With no more guards nearby, Riou went to a prisoner. An old Beastman in rags, he smelled bad and was covered in dirty, beard, and hair.

“Hey, what's going on here? Why don’t you flee?”

The beastmen turned slowly to Riou, his eyes were aimed at him, but his mind was far away. He just turned back and continued on his way.

“Ok then… that was interesting” Riou closed his eyes and began to sense his surroundings, a high mana activity was found nearby and caught his attention. It was coming from inside the Argonian building.

As he approached it, he began to feel a small headache that was increasing the more he got near to it. “This isn’t good… I’m not wearing my armor. Will have to improvise” he cast a protective spell against mind effects on himself and the pain instantly vanished.

He entered the strange building with caution, it was a laboratory, filled with tools to carve stones and crystals. He hears movement nearby, a mage was crafting on a table, a large portal crystal was being made.

Riou smiled to himself and looked better inside.

He noticed something at the ceiling, hanging by four chains was a massive white stone pulsing slowly with a glowing light.

He nodded to himself understanding what that stone was doing. Riou then left his hiding spot and entered the room with the mage “So, how do you want to do this? The easy way or the hard way?”

The mage spoke in Argonian tongue rather aggressively by his expression and tone.

“Fine by me, the hard way it is”