Silas leaned against a worktable, his hands around his back and pushing against its edges with his thumbs on its surface. “How quickly do you reckon you can reapply the manastone finish?”

Damon glanced at the sword, then placed it aside. “Don’t worry, I figured you’d be back soon, so I’ve prepared one in advance. But would you rather have a spear?”

With one curious eyebrow curling, Silas frowned. “I mean, yeah, but it’ll be annoying to carry around two spears.”

“What if you only needed one?” the barrel-chested blacksmith asked. His grin looked strange on his bulldog face, almost discomforting.

Silas maintained his frown until he realised what was being suggested, at which time his features bounced into good-natured surprise. “You’ve made a coating that’ll last?”

Raising his hands so that they were parallel with the ground, Damon wobbled them up and down and gave a soft moan. “Kind of. It goes a bit deeper than just a coating, which is why it lasts. Let me show you.” He circled the workstation and crouched, pulling something out from a compartment with a clatter as other items tried to escape with it. With some cursing, the blacksmith pushed them back in, then rose to show off the spear.

Sleek and dark, Silas softly took the spear off the blacksmith’s hands and felt at its shaft, its grain easy to grip but also easy to slide past with some force. The spear’s butt was pointed with a winged spike, meanwhile its head was slim and positively gleaming with menace. The blade had a metallic sheen with a neon blue undertone, nothing as eye-catching as his sword had been. But as Silas ran a gentle finger down its edge, he felt his skin give way without resistance, his blood drooling down its faces. “And how long do you think this would last?”

Damon was grinning again, nodding softly as Silas assessed his work. “Well, I made a similar spear last week and had a lad constantly use it. It took him four days to wear out its edge, but in that time he also rose by twenty levels with the power boost it gave him.”

Silas hummed thoughtfully, testing the weight of the spear in his hands and moving through the motions of thrust, sweep, and chop. “Sounds good, but get me a shortsword as well, would you? I don’t want to lose this or have it fail on me midway through a fight, only to then find myself totally unarmed.”

“Of course,” Damon said, “I’ll get to it immediately. You’ll have it in your hands in…” he looked up and chewed at his lip “…six hours, I’d say.”

“Perfect. We’re only leaving tomorrow, anyway,” Silas replied.

****

Returning home, Silas was greeted by the rich scent of a stew and noise of shouting and a piercing hoot. He had to give way as a very energetic owl zipped through the doorway, before soaring into the skies with something shiny in its claws. Ethan and Chloe came after it, glancing at Silas before gawking into the sky.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I got promoted to captain,” Chloe said with a hint of pride. “Vivienne had personally given me that badge, and I was showing it to Ethan when Bandit decided he wanted it.”

Silas smirked, then contained it and awkwardly coughed. “Well, I’m sure he’ll come down, eventually. Maybe he thought it was pretty and wanted to study it.”

Chloe groaned and stalked back inside while the brothers exchanged a look.

“So how many people are you in charge of now?” Silas conversationally asked after her.

“Two hundred,” she said, then as an afterthought, “but still nowhere near as much as you. I’ll get there, though.”

“I’m sure you will,” he said. “Besides, chances are you’ve already beaten me. Might be that I get assigned no troops in the coming fight. Depends on how it plays out, I suppose.” He headed for the kitchen while asking behind him, “What did you do to get promoted? Must have been something big since you were only leading twenty before.”

“Mostly just being related to you,” she said, “but when I went to Jinzhou, my team also crushed through the defenders.”

“So did you fight with a mecha?” Ethan asked. “I heard about them from Jo. He was saying that they’re just like from a cartoon, and that they can fire missiles out of their backs.”

At this point Silas stopped paying attention to their conversation and crossed the kitchen to hug Mia from behind. She rubbed herself against him while he leaned over her shoulder and sniffed. “Mmm. I thought we were going to order again for lunch today, but I guess not.”

“What’s wrong with eating healthy once in a while?” she asked, giggling as his hands tip-toed down her dress. She turned around and pushed him back after a moment, though. “Go back in there and let me cook in peace. I can’t focus with you pawing away.”

He grinned and considered advancing, but raised his hands in defence and slowly backed out as she threateningly swung her wooden spatula. Returning to the living room, he dumped himself onto the couch and joined his siblings. “So, I’m assuming you’re both coming tomorrow then?”

“Well, duh,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes. “Why else do you think I got promoted so close to it?”

“Yep,” answered Ethan. “I’ll be in Lina’s battalion with Olivia.”

Silas raised his eyebrows on hearing of Olivia. Ever since she had left their house to live by herself, he hadn’t heard much from her, mostly because he was always away. “How’s she doing nowadays? Have you outlevelled her yet?”

“No,” Ethan said with a smile, “but I’m close. She’s level 59, and I’m only two off. But yeah, she’s doing well; in fact, she’ll be joining us for lunch soon.”

“Oh, really?” Silas asked. He had gone with Ajit and Aengus to Hyderabad yesterday as the Warlock readied his forces, and because of this he had missed out on any plans for today. “Is anyone else joining us as well, or is it just her?”

“Hopefully Bandit,” Chloe chimed in.

Ethan chuckled. “Possibly Bandit, but with his busy schedule of swiping badges, who knows. Other than him, Iris, Josh, Dom, and Elise. Mia wanted to have this gathering before the fight. Oh, Natalie and Rolf, too. I think that’s it.” He looked questioningly at Chloe.

She shrugged. “How would I know?”

“That’s cool. It’ll be good to see them all, anyway,” Silas said. He then turned towards Chloe and bobbed his head. “What’s up? Looks like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“Yeah, well, I just remembered Ethan told me you didn’t let him or Olivia participate in that war against the ratkin here. But you haven’t said anything about them going tomorrow, though. Or me.”

Silas gave her a strained smile, offering the same to Ethan. “It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if we’d lost there, so I would have been relieved even if I had died there since at least they get to live on. But let’s be real - that’s not the case anymore. If we lose tomorrow, then there certainly won’t be any place for us in Kuraim’s world, and I can’t see Lucian sparing anyone close to me afterwards, either.” He paused. “Besides, he and she are much stronger now. I no longer have to worry that they’ll trip over a rock and die.”

“That was never the case!” Ethan shouted, eyes widening, while Chloe rocked herself back in laughter.

****

The curtains were drawn with heated air circulating in and out of the room. Although lavishly furnished, the room was still mostly empty because of its ridiculous size, not that any of the furniture could be clearly seen with the night’s veil drawn over them. To the far end, there was a massive bed, comfortable beyond imagination, and on it slept Fiona D’Alaesa. Even under the covers, she was lightly armoured with several weapons in arm’s reach, and this was all despite the countless guards patrolling her castle’s lengths at all times.

In truth, the only people who could harm her these days were other Sovereigns, and all this protection was overkill even then considering she could accurately sense their locations if need be. As such, she was in no danger, and yet she still refused to let her guard down. Not that this would count for anything as Katerina stepped through the wall, her presence masked such that her bare feet refused to even clap against the tiled floor.

The Hidden Blade slid forwards, daggers silently slipping down her dark sleeves. Fiona’s heavy breathing dominated the room, and the princess mumbled something indecipherable under her breath as the assassin neared. Without the least of hesitation, Katerina positioned the blades above Fiona’s neck and thrust down, her flat grey eyes apathetic as purple blood spurted out.

Fiona gave a throaty gurgle and roused, immediately jumping off her bed and peering around in panic. Katerina stood perfectly still beside her, her shoulders slumped and face sagged as if she was drained. Or bored. Whatever Fiona saw in the darkness must have confused her as she immediately picked a bedside mace and made for the door instead of confronting the adjacent assassin. The moment she turned away, Katerina slipped two more daggers from her sleeve and dug into the shaerd’s back, earning another high-pitched shriek.

Fiona swung behind with frightening force, clearly expecting to swat the assassin to death as a heartbeat later she instead stood in astounded horror when her mace sliced through air, thin air. In a sudden turn, she sprinted for the door, her feet thumping as she made for the light.

Unfortunately, Katerina stood in her path, lightly jumping from the floor as the shaerd neared. While one arm hung low, the other arched high with a blade in its grip, stabbing down. The exact moment she became visible was obvious as her abrupt outline in the darkness caused Fiona to stop and thrust with a defiant scream. This was cut short as a dagger jammed down her throat, and her mace merely bashed against the assassin’s free hand, rending its flesh and cracking its bones but all the same achieving nothing.

Before Fiona could follow up, Katerina disappeared and bolted for the windows, her injured arm flailing uselessly behind her. Just as the alarmed guards tore open the door to see their princess kneeling, retching mouthfuls of blood, they simultaneously saw the curtains on the far side rip open and the windows shatter out. The moonlight illuminated a faint outline for a brief second before it was no longer.

Although the shaerds would give their princess the best treatment available, this wouldn’t include healing magic as unfortunately Castle D’Alaesa had no Healers. The only shaerds talented at magic - the cracked - hadn’t enjoyed good conditions at the castle, and as such many had left and those who had remained were stuck to the pits of society. For this reason, Katerina’s poison would tick away at the last of Fiona’s prodigious health some two hours after the attack.

Katerina Ivanov (human), the Hidden Blade, has killed Fiona D’Alaesa (shaerd), the Bulwark

29 Sovereigns remaining.

Meanwhile, Katerina made her way back to the hamlet with only a broken arm to speak of the attack. She would be back in Riverside before noon the next day, and shortly after she would leave there too as the start of the end began.

____

Autocracy (for Lucian): Lucian Grimes (human, Warlord), Sophie Chandler (human, Demolitionist), Astor (stingtail, unknown), Sandip Mand (human, Windwalker), Stefan Sommer (human, Chronicler) - 5

Autocracy (for Kuraim): Kuraim Jaffer (human, Necromancer), Zafeera Bazzi (human, Blood Ripper), Dahlia Howe (human, Abomination) - 3

Meritocracy: Silas Wycliffe (human, Duellist), Aengus Abercrombie (human, Master of War), Ajit Ghost (human, Warlock), Vivienne Durant (human, Beastmaster), Emmanuel Baasch (human, Alchemist), Katerina Ivanov (human, Hidden Blade), Elisha Luna (human, Primal Healer), Hou Yu (human, Artificer)

Ferer Greencare (mycelia), Bobby (pygmy troll, Sorcerer), Hokul Ironboot (dwarf, Adventurer), Zitu (Eyeborn, unknown), Fayiure (phoenix), Shamu (blue whale), Dlyo (stingtail, Aeromancer)

Baerl of Time (drakkar, Chronomancer), Peryn of Dragonfire (drakkar, Pyromancer) Klope of Rain (drakkar, Hydromancer), Broken Scale (drakkar, Barbarian), Folding Winds (drakkar, Inquisitor), Dying Light (drakkar, Devastator) - 21