Tormacc looked ahead, squinting his eyes to try and make out exactly who was making the large dust cloud that was steadily approaching them. As the sounds of the group’s footsteps increased in volume he began to make out individuals through the dusty air. They were a ragged bunch, haggard looking even, with only a few exceptions. Connecting the dots, it wasn’t hard to guess that the group of people were part of Zedna’s gang. Spotting the member who had attacked them previously cemented his guess.

From what Zedna had said before, he intuited that she didn’t leave on amicable terms. But seeing the unruly mob thundering towards them he suspected he had underestimated the situation. All that was missing were pitchforks and torches to complete the picture. He was really hoping all her bravado wasn’t just bluster, as he had a feeling that if Zedna fell to her gang he and Athra would be next on the chopping block. But it was too late to run now, so all they could do was sit back and watch the show.

The group of people ended up stopping a fair bit away. Close enough that they could easily engage in battle, but, as if both sides agreed on it beforehand, they were far enough away they could talk without either side feeling immediately threatened. It was as if they were right before an imaginary line. Any farther, and Zedna would have attacked. But as they stopped short of the line, she seemed content to hear out her former gang members.

There were three main groups, each with around ten people for a grand total of thirty-one. Each group had their own leader and as one they all stepped forward, clearly illustrating the power dynamic and differentiating them from the rabble behind them, although the distinction was rather clear at first glance, as those three were the only ones with even a hint of cleanliness. Zedna look on calmly, seemingly not at all intimidated by the killing intent flooding her way. As if to drive home how at ease she was, she took some kind of nut out of her pocket before popping it into her mouth and chewing on it slowly, her languid stance oozing arrogance.

“Well, well,” she said, “I guess I’ll be getting my going away party after all.”

“You know why we’re here,” Henry said, the only one out of the three leaders not shooting Zedna a death stare. “You could have left quietly, but instead you chose to empty out the treasury before leaving. That loot belongs to the gang, not to you, and we’re here to retrieve it.”

“That’s right,” Nurmin, one of the other leaders, said. “You’ve been actin’ all high and mighty as of late, and Otto I thought we’d bring you down a peg. You’ve been takin’ advantage of us all for too long.”

Otto, the third leader, chose to stay silent, his pointed teeth arranged in what would have been a smile on anyone else, but on him just intensified the aura of slaughter he was radiating. His group was the mangiest of the lot, the others at least pretending to still be civilized folk, while those arrayed behind him had a stink about them that Tormacc could smell all the way over where he was standing, the smell of the group permeating the area with the stench of unwashed bodies and other more pungent smells.

“There’s no need for violence,” Henry said, taking the lead back from the Nurmin. “We’re all peaceful folk here. I’m sure we can resolve this without bloodshed. All you need to do is return with us to the base where we can discuss the distribution of the wealth like the reasonable people we are.”

Tormacc wasn’t sure who Henry thought he was fooling, but looking at the glint in his eye, it was obvious why he was doing the speaking, his intellect clearly on another level from the other two. After a few months Tormacc had a feeling that if Henry had his way there would once again be only a single leader of the gang, the other two suffering mysterious stab wounds in the night of underminable origin.

“Nurmin and Otto I can understand,” Zedna said, her voice calm and even, “but I expected more of you, Henry. I was hoping you especially would be smart enough to let bygones be bygones, but here you all are, a measly group of thirty-one people all seeking their death. I believe I mentioned quite a few times that if you ever wanted to kill me you would need to bring the whole gang. Yet another thing it seems I failed to teach you.”

She shook her head, a tsk tsk sound coming from her mouth, to all the world appearing like a mother lecturing her disobedient children, the aura she projected completely at odds with the reality of the situation. Tormacc wasn’t sure how she did it. Even if she was confident in her strength, being stared down by a group of bloodthirsty bandits should make anyone tense up, but somehow she seemed even more relaxed then when she was talking to them earlier, if that was even possible.

Truth be told, this wasn’t the first coupe Zedna had faced, only the most recent. The only difference this time was that she was alone in facing the opposition as opposed to being backed up by her loyal cadre of followers. But since most of them were dead now, she had decided to call it quits, exiting stage left and giving Henry, Nurmin, and Otto the chance to preserve their lives.

Nurmin and Otto were rather dim, or at least not capable of organizing a party to chase her down after the chaos she left the base in when she disappeared. Henry was the mastermind behind this little sortie, a guess backed up by Ravvik’s presence in his group of followers, his testimony the only link she had to her current location. At her level it would be laughable is she was able to be tracked, but the traces left by Athra and Tormacc were another story.

Zedna’s speech about giving them a chance wasn’t just for show. Because of how she laid out the base it would have been easy for her to cause a massacre before she left, cleaning up the loose ends. But she chose not to, some small amount of sentimental feeling holding her back. Of course, the fact that Henry and the others interpreted her mercy for weakness meant her compassion was for naught. She didn’t mind leaving them alive once, but twice was more than they deserved for plotting to kill her.

Henry started speaking again, his malice barely hidden behind flowery words, but Zedna tuned him out. She didn’t need to listen to the words of a dead man. It truly was a shame though. She had high hopes for Henry and had been grooming him for one of the positions of vice-captain before she uncovered his true nature. Not only did he betray her trust once, but he also had the gall to chase after her, underestimating her strength, although he couldn’t really be blamed for that. She had been very careful to always keep her true strength a secret.

His was truly a tragic tale; he could have been the leader of the gang. She knew Nurmin and Otto’s limits, and it would only be a matter of time for him to take over and replace her. But it was too late for that, and, noticing a slight shift in the stance of her former gang, she knew it was time to end this farce. Absentmindedly she took out a large piece of crystal from her storage item before activating a skill.

Watching on, Tormacc could feel the tension building, the bandits clearly about to launch an attack. He prepared himself to run or fight, knowing either action was futile if Zedna were to fall. Even Athra would be helpless before a group that size, although she might have better luck running away. But just as he felt the tension peak, Henry’s speech reaching the climax, he went blind, his eyes burned out from a light multiple times brighter than the sun.

His first reaction was panic. Then the screams came, and he realized it was his side that made the first move. Falling into a light meditation, he focused his healing on his eyes, repairing the damage that had been done by the sudden burst of light. The screams only intensified, and in the few short seconds it took for him to get his vision back the fight was over.

When Tormacc opened his healed eyes he was greeted by the sight of Zedna executing the last few members of the rebels, her body almost teleporting as she finished off the few survivors from her opening attack. When she launched her initial attack, he had been caught off guard, his attention on the now deceased bandits instead of Zenda, so he missed what she did. He now regretted that. It wasn’t every day you could witness an expert in action, and since he was caught gaping, his vision was gone for all the good parts.

Athra had been able to see more clearly, her vision not reliant on squishy sight organs like eyes. But still, even she had missed most of the action, Zedna’s moves just too quick for her to properly catch.

Zedna had activated one of her most powerful skills, one which called down a beam of light from the sky to fry her enemies. It was a powerful attack, with both a large area of effect, a decent range, and, the most important aspect, zero charge up time. But with so many upsides, there were bound to be some downsides. Normally the skill was weak, only useful for killing enemies that were weak to sunlight and fire. But that was where the crystal came in.

This was a shithole Shard, and Zedna was powerful enough that she had other options when choosing a portal to enter. But it just so happened that she actually wanted to enter this Shard, and the reason for that was the crystal she had just used to superpower her skill.

The crystal was called Sun Stone, and she had heard tales that it could be found in this Shard. Zedna was a close ranged assassin type fighter, but she had specced down a single path in the left side of her Fate Wheel, one that gave her access to powerful light-element attacks. With a supply of Sun Stone, she could drastically increase the power of her magic abilities, giving her access to powerful AOE abilities that she normally lacked. Her trip into the Shard was a success, with her securing a decent haul of Sun Stone, but the trouble came after that: she couldn’t get to the exit portal.

As the years went by she was forced to start a gang to gather food and make sure she could survive until she found a way to leave the Shard. As many members of her gang were the scum of The Tower there had been many times gang members had attempted a coupe. But because of both her close ranged combat skills and access to Sun Stone all their attempts ended similar to the most recent one: with failure.

This was the last and final coupe, Athra the key Zedna needed to cross the mountains and leave the Shard. Actually, it was rather convenient that she was followed, the dirty traitors perfect for her to awe Tormacc and Athra with her might. Once she finished off the few survivors from her attack she glanced back at her hopefully soon-to-be party members.

Athra was rather stoic, but Zedna wasn’t sure if that was just because she couldn’t read her rocky visage or if Athra really wasn’t affect by the battle. Tormacc was looking on, mouth agape, somehow having recovered his sight rather quickly. That was a decent surprise. Zedna only really needed Athra for her Stonebending abilities, but it would be in bad taste to refuse her party member, so any evidence that he wouldn’t be just extra baggage for her to keep track of was a welcome surprise. It would look bad if she allowed party members to die under her protection after all. Unless it was intentional of course, but that was a different story entirely.

Satisfied with her display of strength, Zedna quickly looted the corpses before making her way back over, ready to resume negotiations, this time almost assured of her success.