Kaitlin tore across the field to where her friends were gathered around a massive Grove tended Iron Oak Treant that had long grown so large it hadn’t moved in over two hundred years. The gentle being watched the little girl plop into the grass next to her friends, shifting one of its roots slightly to provide her a comfortable place to sit.

“Are we playing again!?” She asked with barely contained excitement.

Janus fixed her with a grin, revealing a pair of slightly elongated incisors, betraying his Beastman heritage, “YES! We’re picking up at the end of the Battle of Phoenix.”

Henderson leapt from a high branch to land next to her, peering down on her with bright green eyes that indicated he had some relation to the big treants' own people, “This is one of the most pivotal battles in the history of the Empire. This is where the Warlord’s Reaper made its first appearance.”

Janus busied himself by drawing out the game board while Henderson lectured them on the importance of the moment, already a devout student of history.

“Bogrosh, you were alive during this time, weren’t you?” he asked, placing a hand on the treants' rough bark.

“YEAH! You’re like three thousand years old, aren’t you?” Kaitlin asked, looking up to where the sentient plants' large eyes looked back down on the children.

His massive branches shook his canopy of leaves as he chuckled at their youthful exuberance, “Alas, I was but a wee sapling. One of the first planted in the Grove. I believe I was placed in the Earth just before the Warlord’s own children.”

“Ok, Mr. History Nerd, it’s on you then to tell us how it went.” Kaitlin teased her bookish friend with the tip of her tongue sticking out from smiling lips. Henderson tensed at the childish insult, then relaxed and began to launch into a long winded dissertation on one of his favorite subjects.

Unfortunately Janus stole his thunder which irritated him more than the pretty girl calling him a nerd. “They already told us this story in class! The Reaper emerges and vaporizes King James, then single handedly tears the Eldritch Horror into pieces and turns its hide into a coat!”

Janus punctuated his declaration by drawing out the Manifestation figurine and placing it on the center of the game board, then smacking the figure of the Reaper into it several times. Henderson just stared at him in confusion while Kaitlin attempted to correct him.

“That’s not how it happened. They told us about it in school last week. No wonder you can’t earn better than a C! Everyone knows the great Paladin of Mork, Keeg, annihilated it with a holy lightning attack!”

Henderson shook his head slowly at both of them, “No guys, both of you are wrong. According to one of my history books, the Mana Saturation Administrator finished the Manifestation off with several kinetic penetrators. That’s why there’s still a crater where the Last Fort of Litchfield Park stood. Then Karl hacked King James to pieces with his dark steel axes.”

“Nuh-uh! It was all the Reaper!”

“No, it was the Paladin!”

“Guys. The books say it was the Administrator.”

The trio launched into one of their infamous arguments that nobody ever seemed to win. Bogrosh had been witness to many such an event, and he had never seen them come to a consensus. Ever.

“Ahem.” They all went silent and looked at the unexpected visitor who had managed to creep up on their gathering. “Kaitlin, dear, what are you guys arguing about now?”

Flakes of snow drifted around an ethereal beauty that caused Kaitlin to flinch, “Momma. Hi. We were about to play the Game.”

Despite being wreathed in cold it never reached the three friends, not unless she wanted it to. Long white hair descended to half way down her back, shimmering in the spring sunshine. Ice blue eyes shown with the power of mana as she looked down on her daughter, Kaitlin Sumpter.

“Oh? And what is the setting this time?”

Janus spoke quickly, cutting off Kaitlin’s response, “We were going to play out the Battle of Phoenix, Miss Sumpter. Where the Reaper single-handedly defeated both the King of Litchfield Park and the Old God Manifestation.”

Carly chuckled at the boy’s youthful exuberance, “Is that how you think it happened?”

Janus, not wanting to be outdone, interjected, “No, ma’am. Based on the books I’ve read we know it was the Administrator that dealt the final blow to the Horror, while the King surrendered to the Warlord and became his slave.”

She swung her crystal clear eyes on the young dryad, fixing him with a cold smile, “Oh, that’s your theory? What of you, daughter, what do you believe happened?”

Kaitlin looked at her two friends, then hesitantly up at her mother, all confidence and conviction fleeing her. By the look on her mother’s face, she knew that they all had it wrong.

“Uh, well, I remember in class Miss Trevor speaking of how the Paladin of Mork, Keeg, summoned a mighty holy lightning bolt to slay the monster.”

Carly stared at her daughter for a long moment, a sad smile crossing her face as she remembered the man she spoke of. One of the kindest and most understanding men she’d ever met. “I remember Keeg, and I miss him, but he didn’t slay the beast. Though, he did deliver a decisive strike against it. Of course, it was all for naught in the end, another came down and finished it off with a single touch.”

Henderson and Janus looked at Kaitlin’s mother in disbelief. Bogrosh only chuckled lightly, knowing all too well how this story ended. “No way!” They said in unison.

“Indeed, have you ever heard of the Forgotten God?”

All three of the children shook their heads in suspicion.

“Well, let me tell you how the Battle of Phoenix really ended.” She said with a cold smile spreading across her face.

Junipher clung to Kaia’s side as the ground heaved and shifted beneath her. The rest of the watchers had evacuated the area, even Eli and Alyssa cleared out when the System flashed them the Localized Destabilization warning. Surprisingly, Irene remained amongst her own floating island of concrete and plaster, glaring hatred at the pair of fighters at the center of the disturbance.

Neither Karl, nor James, hesitated to resume fighting when the destabilization event occurred. They merely shrugged at the monstrosity below them and recommenced their attempts to end each other violently.

While James was clearly the more agile of the two, Karl’s perception gave him an edge in spatial awareness, allowing him to oftentimes gain a more favorable position over the other. And with the battlefield constantly shifting beneath their feet, positioning became more important than pure combat ability. Which both had in abundance, they were concerningly even footed in that department.

Even more concerning was the fact the rules of the Challenge were still in place, yet anyone could interfere. To which the System warned anyone of doing, but looking over to where Irene crouched with a long barrelled lever action rifle trained on the two men, she was certain at least one person had no shits to give about what the System wanted. Even with all the death and destruction around them, the woman’s grief and despair was overwhelming to Junipher’s senses.

“The daft woman is going to pay a price she isn’t ready for. Let’s go Kaia.”

She swung up on Kaia’s back who whimpered as his soulbound companion and James clashed in a flurry of opposing energy flares, then he began carrying her across the sea of floating islands navigating a way to get close to the grief stricken woman. The great coyote maybe knew better than any of his sapient counterparts the controls the System placed on a being.

The pair bounded from platform to platform closing in on the woman clearly bent on revenge at all costs. Junipher looked about to see if anyone else remained within the influence of the Manifestation caused disturbance. She saw Captain Devers several hundred meters back, holding his aggrieved and exhausted daughter back from joining Irene in her quest for vengeance. As well, it seemed the bulk of the Winslow forces had managed to pull back.

Soon Kaia landed on the platform alongside Irene. The woman glared back over her shoulder then resumed lining up her shot, intent on ending the perceived source of her overwhelming pain.

“IRENE! STOP!” Junipher yelled over the sound of battle and rushing winds.

The middle aged woman didn’t bother acknowledging her plea, her only response was to thumb the hammer back in preparation for her shot.

“IRENE! YOU CANNOT! THIS IS WHAT KARL CAME TO DO AND THE SYSTEM HAS DECREED THERE CAN BE NO INTERFERENCE!” Junipher yelled again, slipping off the back of Kaia and slowly approaching the prone woman.

Irene turned an eye towards her and spat, “FUCK THE SYSTEM! FUCK KARL! IT TOOK MY HUSBAND! IT TOOK MY CITY! IT TOOK MY SON! I WILL BE THE ONE TO END THIS FUCKER! DAMN THE CONSEQUENCES!”

The intensity of the woman’s emotions momentarily stunned Junipher into silence. She could feel the mountains of hate and pain radiating off the woman. As she searched the emotions she realized that the woman truly didn’t care of the repercussions the System may impose for disregarding one of its sacred decrees. More worryingly was the fact she couldn’t be certain she wasn’t actually aiming that rifle at Karl. She could feel that a lot of the blame was directed at her mate.

She began to consider that she might have to incapacitate the woman when a massive flare of energy drew her attention to Karls fight. What she saw filled her with equal amounts of apprehension and glee.

“WHAT THE HELL IS HE!?!?” Irene gasped through tear filled eyes.

The black energy that had been powering Karls attacks and abilities had finally emerged into its truest form. His Reaper had shown itself, and all who stared upon it quivered in fear, even the arrogant King James. The Reaper rose in a cloak of black smoke from between Karl’s shoulder blades, casting a yellow eyed glance across the entirety of the shifting battlefield. Large clawed hands flexed for the first time as it focused finally on its opponent. James recoiled at the sight, blood pouring from several wounds, yet somehow staving off the exhaustion he surely felt.

“He is many things, Irene, today he is the Merciless Reaper of the Foolish. You would be wise to put away your weapon and let this play out.”

The woman looked up at her with red, wet eyes, then looked back at the Warlord and the Reaper, “Yeah, maybe I can wait.”

The black man ran to the edge of his platform and leapt to one that put him in striking distance of Karl. The Reaper paid the man little attention as the clash against the Eldritch Horror below caught its attention. Suddenly its shadowy arms stretched below to grab a trio of eye stalks. It’s mouth moved in a silent incantation, then the eyes unleashed a beam attack directed at the rapidly moving form of James.

He was about to leap for Karl when some sense of the danger he was in crossed the expression on his face. He redirected his momentum at the last minute as three intense beams of light flashed through the space he had occupied, vaporizing everything in their path. From Junipher’s vantage point the man simply disappeared.

However, when the light ceased obscuring her vision she noted he had managed to lose his legs in the blast, just below the knee, though not his life. Blood poured from the stumps as he stared around stunned at the sudden turn of events. Until the Reaper revealed itself, the fate of the battle could have gone either way, now, the man was realizing he had no chance.

Karl glided towards the platform the man had landed on assisted by the form changing nature of the Reaper. When he had gotten to within a few feet, the man shifted his right arm up to aim an attack. His gauntlet flashed across the space faster than the eye could track. Karl deftly avoided the attack, moving faster than he had ever done before. Before the man’s gauntlet had flown past Karl his arm below the bicep had been severed, flopping useless to the ground beside him.

Karl’s followup attack halted just as it reached the soft tissue of his neck, drawing a thin line of dark blood. He looked up with a curious look on his face, then the reason for the confusion was announced to everyone in the region.

James ‘King’ Wakefield has surrendered to Karl Brunette…

Challenge of Destiny is complete, Karl Brunette has won and claimed James ‘King’ Wakefield as a permanent servant…

Attention! The Battle of Phoenix has been won by the Phoenix Federation! All enemy combatants have been defeated, surrendered, or fled the field of battle!

Attention! Litchfield Park has fallen. Litchfield Park city core is now available to claim! Marking core location now…

Irene calmly stood, looking down on the pair of fighters a couple hundred meters away, “So, that mean the Challenge is over?”

Junipher nodded her head, before she could speak Irene brought her rifle up in one swift, smooth motion and pulled the trigger. Karl didn’t even flinch as the rifle round practically exploded James’ head. He and the Reaper did immediately fix her with a dangerous glare, to which Junipher caught the first whiff of fear from the woman in a long time. The woman simply sighed and began turning to walk away when the sky suddenly opened up in holy energy.

Irene stared up in confusion while Junipher was already snatching her up by her collar and dragging her to an anxious Kaia. Without saying a word she jumped into his saddle, tossing the petulant woman over his back in front of her. Then the Coyote dashed away from the quickly building holy energy that was beginning to tear open the sky above them. Somehow they managed to barely clear the strike zone by way of a series of lightning fast leaps and bounds.

The deafening explosion behind them was accompanied by an overwhelming blast wave that tossed the trio precariously across a narrow platform. Junipher struck out with her own roots to anchor herself while grasping Kaia and Irene’s scrambling, flailing form.

When the danger seemed to have passed, Irene gasped, “What in the hell was that!”

Junipher creeped to the edge of the platform they floated on and leaned over. Below the Manifestation had lost a third of its body mass, revealing a void where its internal organs should have been. The sight threatened to cause an uncontrollable madness if one stared upon it too long. Unsurprisingly to her, it was fighting even harder now that a true threat to its existence had emerged. In turn the many gathered races of Winslow, to include the Council Reaper with her mercenaries, were locked in a battle to the finish.

“The beginning of the end, I hope.” Junipher responded.