I saw Krall rising from the waters, as her song filled him with fear and anger.

The land was torn asunder.

And both friend and foe were shattered beneath his flailing, as the rivers were drunk with blood.

- Andanian Chronicles

“For Dagon and for Vaishya!” Aryan yelled. Three princes and two dozen knights lowered their lances and plowed straight into the approaching company of Saadian cavalry. The heavily armored Vaishyans scythed through their lightly equipped opponents like a hot knife through butter, and the surviving Saadians scattered hurriedly in an attempt to avoid their deadly charge. But the battle descended quickly into a wild swirling melee as the Saadians leveraged their vastly superior numbers to surround and hack at the Vaishyans from all sides. The outnumbered Vaishyans fought back courageously, but the Saadians attacked viciously with utter disregard for their own lives, and knight after knight fell beneath their blades.

Archdiviner Zinnridi crept through the battlefield and summoned a swarm of creepers to entangle a squad of Saadians that had flanked behind the princes. But the exhausted weasel was quickly forced back onto the defensive as he was assaulted by the dozens of Talented casters distributed throughout their forces. Aryan rallied his men and fought valiantly, but the Saadians poured through the ragged Vaishyan ranks and surged towards where their emperor had fallen.

“Enough! Piss off!” A loud angered shout thundered across the land as Phoebe rose to her feet. The shark gestured furiously and summoned a rain of watery blades that swathed through the approaching Saadians. Then she spurted towards her enemies and flung a wave of burning acid at the nearest mage before blasting the screaming man into his nearby comrade, and their bodies smoked as they fused together in a bloody puddle of gore. Her massive magical aura forced the Saadian Talented away from the harried Vaishyan forces and bought the weasel some relief. But the Saadian assault remained unabated as additional forces joined the fray against the divine enchantress. A team of well-trained archers spread out to avoid the worst of her magic while firing alternatingly at the wounded shark, and they forced her to weave and parry repeatedly.

Aryan deflected the curved scimitar swinging down towards his chest, their weapons collided fiercely with a defending clang of steel, and his hands were numbed from the impact. His larger Saadian opponent pressed the advantage as he attacked repeatedly and forced the less experienced prince onto the defensive. The prince parried repeatedly as he was pushed backwards, and he grimaced as his opponent’s blade scored several glancing blows against his body. And only the excellent quality of his training enabled him to eke out a tentative stalemate against his opponent.

But he never stood a chance. A Saadian horseman charged forward and rammed his steed straight into Aryan as he was occupied by his initial opponent. The flanking attacker lunged recklessly off his horse even as Aryan stabbed him through the gut, and his momentum slammed them both to the ground. And the lethally wounded Saadian smiled as he raised his dagger and buried it repeatedly into the prince’s body.

“Laura…” Pinned down beneath his dying opponent, the prince of Vaishya felt no pain, only hopeless regret as a deep shade of red stained the soil beneath him. He struggled to heave the man away, but a sudden weakness overcame his body as his vision clouded over into a sea of utter darkness.

…

“Super idiots.” Laura sighed as she reached clumsily for her zither before turning to face the sound of cavalry thundering towards her. “Doesn’t anyone know anything about Andanian magic anymore? Can’t they just let me die in peace, I’m already all out of magic, and even my vision is starting to fade away.” She muttered morosely to herself, “What would Lily think if she saw me in such a miserable state? Haha… that overly kind idiot sister would probably have smacked me and spent my entire last day lecturing me… Ugh… I guess they are close enough by now…” The wolf raised her head tiredly as the harsh noonday sun baked its rays on her skin, then her lips tightened with determination as she stretched out her ring over the Waters of Merom.

“Krall!” She shouted loudly with a clear crystal voice.

Unnoticed by the combatants, a single slender tentacle poked out inquisitively from the waters.

“Krall.” She called out with a sure steady voice.

The waters churned wildly as a mass of writhing appendages slithered swiftly to envelope the vast riverbed.

“Krall.” She whispered softly with a faint trembling voice.

The lands were cleaved in two as the Waters of Merom were torn apart and Krall rose up to circle the earth from as far as the east is from the west. And a large spray of saltish water showered over the lands as Krall wailed and gazed mournfully at the dying girl who had summoned him. A horrified silence fell upon the battlefield and weapons clattered from the hands of soldiers as the people froze and gaped at the monstrous beast who had appeared before them.

The princess giggled as she sensed their stupefied shock, “Slaughter them all!” she commanded gloatingly as she gestured in the general direction of the Saadian army. The earth trembled as Krall wailed and shook his head with abject refusal, and all the people sighed with relief as they began edging silently away from the tentacle teeming shores.

“Ahh… I get it. This is the part where I have to sing to make you do my bidding.” Laura brightened as she strummed her zither, “Well here goes nothing...”

“Kill her, kill her now!” A Saadian cavalry officer yelled desperately as he pointed at the trembling unarmed princess perched lonesomely on the muddied hillside. Half a dozen of the bravest riders managed to goad their terrified mounts forward, and they readied their blades to engage the weakened wolf.

But Krall roared with possessive fury, the lands quivered as he slammed a massive dark tentacle onto the approaching Saadians and ground them into mincemeat. Then a countless sea of smaller appendages lashed out from the main branch and dragged the screaming Saadian officer and the remainder of his luckless horsemen beneath the red frothing waters. The surviving Saadian and Vaishyan forces abandoned any remaining pretense of orderly retreat as they broke formation and fled from the monstrous beast looming above them. And The Witch of Andania straightened up to sing as Krall circled possessively around her.

"Rising like a bloody sun from the east,

Proud with unbowed majesty,

Krall the oceans’ almighty beast,

Arise my tide of calamity.

Smite all my foes with your merciless fist,

Strike them with insanity,

And on a sea of corpses feast,

Till their domains ring with tragedy."

A great fear overcame Krall as the princess sang of death and destruction, and Krall wept and flailed about in terror. Massive tentacles surged up to blot out the skies before thundering down into the lands around him, and the earth shrieked from the violence as his appendages gorged deep twisted valleys into the plains and toppled the mountains. And neither the princes of the earth, the generals, the strong, the Talented, nor everyone else, both slave and free were spared from the fearful calamity of Krall.

…

Abandoned by their betters amidst the panic, an aged servant and a young slave cowered behind a ragged tent in the deserted Saadian encampment. The aged man limped painfully as he peeked at the silent princess lying motionlessly in the mud. “Psst! Is she dead? She hasn’t been moving for quite some time now…” He questioned nervously as he nudged at the slave crouching at his side.

The heavy iron chains binding the slave rattled loudly as she shrugged absently, “Can’t you see that magic arrow thingy poking from her chest, she must be as dead as a doornail. Nobody can survive a wound like that, right? What did she do to deserve a punishment like that? I heard many loud explosions, then everyone fled and abandoned us!”

“Shhh… you’re making far too much noise!” The servant moaned as he clutched at his head and rocked fearfully in the dirt, “She’s a bloody monster! What if she hears us!?”

“Aww you coward,” the slave sniggered dismissively, “as if anyone could still move after…” Her mocking tirade choked off with a horrified disbelieving gasp as they both stared at the twitching princess.

“Mother… sister Laura…” Lily groaned as she turned around to face the sky. She grimaced as she gripped at the glowing Spear of Calamity piercing through her chest, and tore the shrieking magical blade from her body. No visible wound remained on her flesh, and not a drop of blood stained her dress, as the weary princess eyed the weapon in her hand.

“Demon! Unholy fiend! We are all doomed…” The servant whimpered with strangled dread as he crawled desperately away from the recovering princess.

“Hello? Is anyone still there?” Lily called out hopefully as she glanced in the general direction of the sounds while resting the loudly sizzling weapon beside her.

The slave gasped as she staggered back in fright, but the loud rattle of chains gave her position away. She hung her head with dismayed resignation, as she shuffled slowly into the open to face the dreadful princess. “Ma’am, noble lady, I’m your washerwoman, I do your clothes... I mean please have mercy… I’m only twelve summers…” the child stuttered and stumbled over her words in her nervous haste.

Lily smiled kindly as she patted at the beaten grass next to her, “My name is Lily, come and sit with me over here, what’s your name?”

“Naomi!” The slave squeaked as she prostrated before the princess, “I wouldn’t dare… I’m just a slave, and you are someone really important, aren’t you? I heard some guards talking… No! I wasn’t spying or anything, I swear!”

Lily giggled, “Since you know that I’m an important person, shouldn’t you be obeying me then?”

The child gulped as she sneaked a cautious glace at the amused princess before burying her face back into the grassy hillside, “Me, slave… you, important lady… Saadian law, no sitting together! Execution!”

“Naomi, so what does Saadian law say about disobeying important people?” Lily chided gently.

The girl blanched in horror but remained motionless before the sighing princess, “Death by a thousand, thousand cuts! Oh, dear gods please have mercy on my soul!”

“Come sit over here and I promise that you won’t be executed.” Lily incentivized encouragingly. The slave shuffled forward doubtfully before plopping down with a noisy crackle of irons next to the princess. Lily drooled happily as she tugged the trembling girl headfirst into her lap and fondled at her curly brown hair, “I finally figured out what’s really wrong with that boring Saadian palace! There just isn’t anyone around my age, where do they keep all the other children anyway?”

“Please… don’t eat me…” Naomi looked up to the princess with wide fearful eyes, “I’m sure that I don’t taste very good at all.”

“Oh com’on! What do you think I am?”

“Evil hell spirit?” Naomi spluttered out before she could stop herself, and her eyes were filled with horror as she pressed her hands against her lips and shook her head fanatically.

“Hehe… hahaha…” Lily chortled, then she finally sobered up and gazed at the chaotic wreckage strewn around her. “Grr… I guess that this is mostly my fault after all. Don’t worry, I won’t eat you.” Lily sighed, “I’m the princess witch of Andania. You know, the one that Xerxes brought back from his escapades?”

“Xerxes!” Naomi screeched as she attempted to bolt upright and prostrate herself yet again, “I mean… Great Immortal Emperor Xerxes, Ruler of Saadian and of the Southern Realms, Master of the Burning Formations… err… Legions, Slayer of the Thousands? Oh yes, flying dragons...” Her voice trailed off with mumbled horror as she failed to recall the remainder of his innumerable titles, “Oh gods have mercy, I don’t wanna die!” she wailed desperately.

“Oh please, that idiot doesn’t deserve any of those stuffy titles. Stupid idiot Xerxes! Yes, that’s what we will call him from now on!” Lily grumbled to the horrified girl lying on her lap.

“Never! They will feed us feet first to the piranhas!” Naomi protested as her addled mind struggled to process the remaining information, “And you are princess!” Tears of fright trickled down her cheeks as the child struggled and flipped around in an attempt to bury her face back into the dirt before Lily, “Princess equals very, very, very important person! Sitting with princess equals many, many executions!”

“Hey that tickles!” Lily gasped as the desperate child rubbed her face repeatedly against her tummy. Then she brightened mischievously, “Revenge!” she crowed as she retaliated by tickling Naomi relentlessly and the helpless laughing, crying child squirmed in the princess’ lap as she panted for breath. “Idiot Naomi, how can they even execute you more than once? And besides, do you actually think that anyone will dare to harm you while you’re with me?” Lily giggled.

“Me only slave. Not worth any protection. Execution confirmed.” Naomi sighed darkly as she snuggled with comfortable resignation in the princess’ lap.

“Do you actually prefer life as a slave?” Lily questioned. “Why don’t you be my cuddly puppy… Ahh yes! Apprentice! You can be my apprentice, and I’ll teach you all about magic and stuffs.”

“But I don’t have any Talent. Everyone gets checked when they are seven, and all the Talented slaves are sent off somewhere…” Naomi muttered moodily.

“Blah blah. Talent is completely overrated, I realized that after studying Xerxes’ tattoos. I just need to experiment a little…” The princess coughed as she quickly noticed Naomi’s horrified expression, “I mean, I have a theory on how you can use magic… No, I’m actually almost sure it will work out actually.” She added in a hopefully convincing tone.

“Will it be painful? Like death by a thousand cuts?” The slave narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Lily mused thoughtfully for a moment, “Hmm… probably not. And I’m quite sure that you will survive, so how about it? Be my apprentice and nobody will ever be able to harm you again!”

“No executions… apprentice, good…” Naomi mumbled hopefully. And she blushed with embarrassment as Lily cooed triumphantly while fondling at her undeveloped body.

Finally, the sated princess rose to her feet, “Here take this spear.” The weapon glowed brightly and shrieked angrily as Lily picked it up and thrust it towards Naomi.

The child let out a small horrified scream and leapt back in terror, but Lily forced the weapon into her hands before she could refuse. The spear dulled to a steel grey and fell silent as Naomi clutched it tentatively in her hands, “No more sound? Bad magic screaming gone?” She inquired cautiously.

“This is the Spear of Calamity, one of the ancient treasures of Andania. It doesn’t inflict only physical damage, it also sucks out all the magic from any Talented it touches. Hold on to it please, it makes such an irritating noise whenever I come into contact with it. I think that it’s mostly useful for eliminating monsters and stuff.”

“But you’re alive!? And your magic isn’t gone? Not monster, demon?” Naomi groaned.

“Of course not!” Lily pouted as she fluffed out her sparkling fiery hair and flashed her crystal blue eyes. “I have two hands and two legs and… Ugh… how the Krall did you even arrive at that crazy conclusion?”

“Succubus demon!?” Naomi squeaked, “You were stabbed right through the heart! And don’t normal people die when all their magic gets sucked out?”

“Ahh…” Lily nodded empathetically, “I’m a witch. A heart wound isn’t particularly incapacitating for someone like me. Besides this is an Andanian weapon and my predecessors weren’t stupid. We already have more than enough enemies, why would we ever craft a weapon that could be used against one of us? This spear was designed primarily to enable even mundane heroes to overcome foreign Talented, monsters, and divinities. Some hidden safety mechanism must have kicked in, since it didn’t inflict any lasting physical damage when it hit me, and my powers were just temporarily suppressed for several minutes.”

“What are the witches then?” Naomi questioned skeptically.

The princess frowned as she mused thoughtfully, “Hmm, good question. No one really knows for sure, but several dubious legends actually suggest that we are descendants of Krall or insist that we are somehow related to him. That’s just completely implausible, right?”

“Krall?” The child quizzed, “Who on earth is that, was he a prince of Andania?”

Lily’s amused laughter echoed across ravaged hillside, “A prince? No way! That timid little crybaby? He’s the adorable and mostly harmless pet mascot of the Andanian royal family…” Her cheerful voice trailed off as a dark wailing mass of writhing shadow rose up from the Waters of Merom and showered them with a heavy spray of salted water, “Again? That’s not funny, Krall!” Lily complained as her soaked dress clung tightly against her slender curves.

“That hideous thing is Krall!?” Naomi gulped out, “That creature is worse than a horde of demons! We must flee immediately or that humongous monster will devour us all!”

“Oh com’on, there’s no need to be afraid. Krall is just a big harmless crybaby…” Lily’s kind attempt to comfort the trembling girl cowering behind her back was foiled as a massive tentacle slammed down into the already battered Saadian encampment and swept away half the surviving tents. The unprepared princess squeaked as they were both blown off their feet by the massive shockwave, “Oops, ugh what happened… why are you so afraid again?” She grumbled as she rose back to her feet and rubbed at the spots of dirt in her soggy dress.

“Please! You’re a powerful sorceress. Aren’t you, noble lady? Help me flee from that demon! It’s, it’s…” Her chains clattered loudly as her mouth foamed with fear, “It’s eating everyone!” Naomi begged. The child clung fiercely to Lily’s waist as Krall thrashed about randomly and dragged both the Saadians and Vaishyans to their watery graves.

“Hey! Krall, I’m right here! So, don’t be afraid!” Lily shouted enthusiastically. And Krall turned slowly to eye the eagerly waving princess perched on the distant hillside. A dozen massive tentacles slithered out to encase the hill within an impenetrable sea of squirming appendages. And Krall’s mighty body rose up to cast a large shadow across them as he opened his maw to wail with terrified distress.

Naomi blanched and a puddle of steaming piss pooled beneath her quivering feet. And she stared numbly at the countless rows of glistening razor sharp fangs lining Krall’s massive maw and spied the multitude of half-munched chunks of men, women, and beasts lodged between the gaps in his teeth. “Oh, Lords have mercy, receive my soul…” she squeaked out as she fainted.