A mixture of apprehension and anticipation fills my chest as Gilly raises her arms to cast the spell.

“Hope you know what you’re doing, Reece.”

Gilly smiles supportively when she says it, but the slight edge in her voice says she’s probably as concerned as I am. Part of me is almost hoping it doesn’t work, but as the golden light surrounds the human sized corpse at the base of the Wayfaring Stone, I see the result confirmed right before my eyes.

Gilly casts Great Miracle II

Zanthea is Fully restored!

The Goblin Queen’s blackened skin reverts to a pale green and the beauty that was once there returns as well, albeit in a much closer to human size now. Her attire changes as well. Gone are the dangling corpses and rusted chainmail, instead replaced by white silk with chain links that looks to be made from silver or platinum. As the transformation completes, I check her description through my HUD.

High Goblin Queen Zanthea

Legendary Monster

Level: ???

Once known as Dark Zanthea, the Legendary Goblin Queen was reborn a monster under the control of an unknown Outer God. Slain twice by the same great hero, her soul was freed and her body restored in full by a high priestess of light. As the only of her race to be blessed with such favor, she is now regarded as the High Queen of all Goblins.

Affinity: Light

Holy crap. Its like Karlis is writing the lore right before my eyes.

Perhaps she always was.

The Goblin Queen rises to her feet slowly with a glare of malevolence in her deep jade eyes. I honestly don’t know how she’s going to react, but my worse fear was that she would immediately attack us again, initiating a second boss phase. But to my relief that doesn’t seem to be the case. She’s a queen dethroned and surrounded by her enemies, but she at least has enough sense to hold herself still as she waits for us to make the first move.

After scanning the host of people around her, the Queen’s eyes finally fall on me and while there is a glare of disdain in her gaze, there is a fierce intelligence there as well.

An intelligence I want to tap into now.

“You ready, Aiko?” I say to the elf who is standing by my side. Gilly is standing with me as well and behind us is the entire team: Maxis and Val, Rembrandt, Becky and Blacktop. The team from New London stand with Lady Diana and General Lyons, who has also summoned a platoon of soldiers to stand at the ready just in case the worst happens.

“As I’ll ever be,” Aiko says in a dead-pan tone. “I trust you know where you’re going with this?”

“We’ll see,” I say. “There’s more that needs to be rebuilt here than just Brookrun and Stormwall.”

I clear my throat and tap into what I hope is my oratory ability, although I’m not sure how much it will work through translation.

“Greetings High Queen, Zanthea. I am King Reece of Stormwall. I wish to discuss terms with you.”

Aiko turns to the Goblin Queen and repeats what I said in a coarse and guttural tongue. “Vi Giith Zanthea. Shu Gooth Reece ulf Stormwall. Shu ult nghus eil deg.”

The Goblin Queen huffs out a quick snort. “Ulgoh sho neg…nieve vulgoth eil sho hellu.”

I wait for the translation from Aiko.

“She says, ‘What more do you want? Haven’t you taken everything from me already?’ She said if kind of sarcastically too.”

“Yeah, I got that from her smirk,” I say before looking directly at the Queen. “You still have your life. Let’s start there.”

I saw it with a smirk of my own and the Goblin Queen lets out a laugh when she responds back. “Your arrogance is boundless, Shard Walker. Do you expect me to kneel before you now that you have restored my life?”

“Shard Walker,” I say, trying to disarm her with a smile. “I haven’t been called that since New London. I guess all of you LMs must refer to us as that.”

The Goblin Queen stares back at me incomprehensibly when Aiko translates, but it would probably take too much time to explain what New London is and who the Gun Queen was who first referred to us with that title.

“Nevermind,” I say instead. “I like the sound of it anyway. But to answer your question, no. I wouldn’t expect you to bow to me. You clearly have too much pride for that. But there is something else I wish from you. A way we can settle our debts between us.”

When Aiko relays the message, the Queen pinches her slender brows together with a furrow of skepticism. “What is it you that you speak of?”

“When I first fought you, I was new to this world and your kind. As a Shard Walker, as you call it, I thought of you only as a mindless enemy to be slain. If was only when you spoke to me, that I realized you were a being with thought and reasoning of you own.”

Her brows lower into a deeper glare of disdain. “Yes, I cried out for the gods to punish you for your sins.”

“And your prayer was answered,” I say. “But not by a god of this world.”

The Goblin Queen blinks quizzically when Aiko translates the message.

Skill Up!

Your orator skill increases by 0.3!

A new message then appears on my HUD.

New Quest Available: Dark Secrets

Uncover the hidden nature of the Dark force which resurrected the Goblin Queen.

Reward: +500,000 XP

I chuckle inwardly. It seems Karlis is as eager to uncover the truth about these Others as I am. Her confirmation via the quest is all I need to press on. If the Queen was being directly controlled by an Other, then perhaps there was something I could learn about it from her.

“You and I both know that giant undead creature I defeated was not truly you,” I say. “But you were a part of it. What I seek to know from you, is do you recall anything from that experience? Can you tell me anything about the demon that was possessing you?”

The Goblin Queen squints her eyes at me again before looking away. “I do not wish to speak of such things…”

“Looks like that hit a nerve,” Aiko says with a chuckle.

“What are you even trying to do, Bro?” Maxis asks looking confused.

“Just trying to get some info on our true enemy here,” I say. “And I think she knows something.”

I nod empathetically as I address the Queen again. “I can understand your hesitance. I know of the beings who possessed you. They are foreign to this world.”

“As are you,” Zanthea quips with a smirk.

“Touché,” I say, hoping there is some equivalent for that in Goblin. “But our motives are different. It’s those motives that I want you to explain to me if you can. Why are they here? What do they want? If it was a part of you, did you sense any of that from it?”

Her emerald eyes grow steely with conviction. “Is this all you want from me?”

I get the sense that I might be on the edge of a deal, so I lay on the sugar.

“If you have the knowledge, I will repay you by giving you back your mine. You can rule your kingdom in peace and rebuild your tribe. I will provide support in the form of trade if you agree to a pact with us.”

Skill Up!

Your barter skill increases by 0.7!

You offer an Alliance to High Goblin Queen Zanthea

“Whoa, what did you just do?” Gilly says, viewing the deal through her HUD.

“Trust me,” I say. “She’s still a powerful LM and it would be better to have her as an ally than an enemy.”

I look to her again. “What say you, High Queen? Form an alliance with my Kingdom as I prepare us for a war against these great outer gods. You have seen their power. What havoc they can wreak. Only together can we become strong enough to defeat them.”

I get another Oratory skill up as the Queen looks away contemplatively.

“And for this, you want only what I experienced?”

“If you would be so honest as to do so, yes. I need to know our common enemy if I wish to defeat them and the more information I can gain the better.”

She pauses a moment more before huffing out a sigh. “My kind does honor strength. And you have bested me twice now. As such, I will honor this pact, Shard Walker. Our Kingdoms shall wage war against this common foe together.”

High Goblin Queen Zanthea accepts your Alliance!

Brookrun Mines is now under the control of Ally: High Goblin Queen Zanthea.

“I will tell you what I know,” Zanthea says. “The demon who possessed me has a name which mirrors my own. It is Xantheus. Whether it assumed my name or I assumed its own, I do not know, for I do not recall having this name in my past.”

Holy Crap. That instantly reminds me of the two twins I raced against in New London, Zulia and Zenji. It seemed their true names were forced into the matrix of the AI’s governing, spitting out a phonetic equivalent, replacing X’s for Z’s. Almost like an auto-translate function, converting the Outers into something we could comprehend.

“It is high of thought,” the Queen continues. “Ancient. It hungers constantly. For the spirits of humans. It craves you most of all Shard Walker, but not to consume.”

“Oh?”

“It wishes to…” She pauses. “I cannon explain in words. It is… like a fire which must be feed. They seek to feed you to the fire which gives them eternal life.”

My heart jumps a little at the sound of that.

“You are special to them. And they are many. A host even greater than my horde whom you have just fought.”

It’s my turn to pause before responding now. I recall the glimpses of my experience within those orbs. The battle with these things firsthand in that pseudo virtual realm where anything seemed possible. I know they have my father there. Is that what they are doing to him? Using him as a fuel for their longevity?

“Their desire for you is absolute. They will not… no… can not survive without you. They will hunt you to the bitter end or perish trying.”

The thought causes a burning in my gut.

This is about more than even saving Citadel now.

This is personal.

About my family.

About me.

“This is all I know, Shard Walker. I do not envy you, for their strength is great. But if they fear you as much, perhaps you posses the power to defeat them. The same which you used to defeated me. As they call you… the Kono Zemsu.”

With that she bows her head and give me a sort of salute, touching two fingers to her chest. Emotions stir within me, as my path shifts yet again. A new goal far beyond the one we have just obtained. We don’t just need to save Citadel, we need to protect this entre ream from these creatures…whatever they truly are.

A notification appears.

Congratulations! You have completed the Quest: Dark Secrets

You gain 500,000 XP!

“I thank you Queen Zanthea for your alliance. I will do my best to protect you and everyone else. But there is one last request I have of you.”

She cocks a brow.

“As these mines once again belong to you, I seek your permission to pass through the lower depths and break into the underworld below. Our true home is beyond there and its the place I need to save before I can defeat these creatures.”

“I know of what you speak,” Zanthea says. “I have glimpsed this lower world myself. I will do more than just grant you permission, King Reece, I will aid you with access.”

It’s my turn to raise a brow now.

The Queen chuckles. “Perhaps you have forgotten. Any wound which breaches the barrier will heal quickly. And once through, it is a very swift journey to the ground far below.”