“No. I am correcting an inaccuracy that was a result of humility. That Amelia rules here is undisputed and without question. You all live at her discretion.” Hunter said, her eyes laughing. “Yet, you rule here. At her mercy. That is the next part of her story.”

“Hunter. What are you doing?” Amelia wanted to know. She couldn’t help it, she was getting mad. Victoria was watching with interest but hadn’t interrupted yet.

“Victoria is dead, as are her people. You rule here.” Hunter replied, and slowly her face turned away from Amelia. Her eyes were hard. Amelia was a little surprised. Hunter had been going along with them all with an easy smile and demeanor, but could it be she was actually really worried?

Silence fell once more upon the grand hall, and Amelia could practically feel the hatred of those gathered. Victoria was not angry though. Instead, she was looking thoughtful. “This is what you meant by a Kingdom of Corpses? Yet, it was said that was a past statement you would not take back, implying you no longer feel the same but do not regret your words. What has changed?”

“You have taken a step toward life,” Hunter replied for Amelia. “Empress Amelia has granted you life. She has cast powerful magic to bring us back, hoping to save the Half. When we arrived we were happy, but as we stayed our dismay grew. We saw nothing but death. Yet, when we provoked you we finally saw the Hero Queen for the first time.”

“Why do you not cast this magic to strike down Void?” Victoria wanted to know, turning to Amelia.

“My magic could only bring us here. It is the story, passed down for over a thousand years, that had the power to create this moment in time.” Amelia answered. “I know nothing of Void or his true past. I could only bring with me this many, these 25.”

Victoria stood, at last, turning her back on them and staring at the mural on the wall. Amelia hadn’t really noticed it because it was more of a coat of arms than a mural. It probably told of her long heritage.

Erd Griner spoke then, using Victoria’s silence to intercede. “This is a lie. The dragon to which these fiends refer was slain by our very own Hero Queen Victoria.” Well, he was quick to suck up.

Amelia saw Victoria stiffen, and took the initiative. “Of course. We have brought with us a means to resurrect him. We must still convince him to fight for us.”

Erd Griner replied again, and Amelia wondered why he hadn’t stepped forward when they had first arrived. He seemed pretty sharp. “My queen, you must not believe these fools!”

“Indeed, they tell lies.” Victoria turned at last. “I did not slay Keristrazly. Their idea that he might be resurrected is a lie meant to protect my honor.”

“That’s… but that’s impossible. You reported to your father!” Erd Griner sputtered with disbelief.

“General Erd Griner. What do the Half call me?” Victoria asked him.

“Grendel Slayer, the incarnation of the sword.” He replied obediently, head immediately bowing.

“Why is this? It is because my patrols never lose members. Did you not ever wonder why? I have watched your eyes upon me when I set out, General Erd Griner. How you were jealous of my excursions to adventure and battle. Duty binds you so that you could not join us. I have always yearned for your experienced sword to fight at my side.” Victoria sighed then, acknowledging his grateful and respectful gaze. “Yet the truth is that I am no incarnation of the sword. My friend, the red dragon Keristrazly, watches my patrol from the sky and thins the Grendel that my valiant friends and I are about to encounter. They did not know, of course, but I have often seen them looking around curiously. Why do we encounter the Grendel amidst scorched earth in these places where we fight them? They never ask for I fear they have guessed and were trying to protect me. I reported to my father that the dragon was no longer a threat, nothing more.” Victoria revealed. “The truth is he was never a threat. He is a fish eater who would no more have anything to do with us than a bird desires the company of Grendel. He is a friend to the Half and I feared I could not convince my father as such.”

“Then, you are not a dragon slayer?” The General was having a hard time with this.

“No.” Raven finally spoke up. “If she wanted to kill a dragon she could.” Everyone turned to stare at her and she shrugged. “What? That’s some mad wicked sword skill she’s got. I thought I was gonna die every time she swung. Nearly died before I made it out the door and our plan was just for me to make her mad and chase us outside.” Raven sighed. “I really wanted to be Hero Queen too. Everyone is like, oh no Raven, don’t actually KILL Victoria. Well you jerks, I didn’t stand a chance. You should have been telling me to go all out from the start so I wouldn’t get murdered in the face.”

“Yes. I should like to speak to you about those provoking words at some point.” Victoria glowered. She seemed less angry after Raven had admitted that Victoria had outclassed her in combat by a wide margin.

“Yeah. Hey, don’t hit me. I was just following Aidan’s script.” Raven complained. She fidgeted like she was really regretting being this close to Victoria.

“How will Void strike in your history?” Victoria said, suddenly ignoring Raven.

“We don’t know,” Amelia admitted.

“Yet it is a part of history?” Victoria looked doubtful. “How can this be?”

“Well,” Amelia struggled for a moment. “You all died. There was no one to ask.”

“Yes,” Victoria finally conceded. “So if we do not, as you so eloquently put it, all die. Do we join your kingdom?”

“Yes,” Amelia said simply. As far as she was concerned that was set in stone. It had happened to the greatest effect and murmuring once more resumed in the hall. Amelia had no choice but to think that the Half would be forced to join the kingdoms that had suddenly taken up residence in Elysium.

“So I should bow to you?” Victoria asked, eyebrow-raising.

“No. You should join us. Meet the other races, learn, grow. I’m not really a ruler per se. I mean I have control over the continent but I would happily renounce my power if I were able.” Amelia smiled. “My condolences on all the bowing, by the way.”

“Bowing?” Victoria frowned. “What speech is this?”

“Everywhere you go people are going to drop to a knee. It’s hard.” Amelia said tiredly.

“Why do you not raise your cowl?” Victoria asked, still perplexed.

“Cowl?” Amelia’s turn to not know what was going on.

“Do you not know? When your cowl is raised you are saying that you are no longer the ruler. You are just a person passing through. Your people will not have to recognize you as sovereign.” Victoria explained, and then she looked surprised. Almost even a little like she was going to laugh. “You did not know. I am sorry, friend Amelia. It must have been very difficult.”

Back to friend Amelia. That was a good start. “Well, I just thought they didn’t know who I was so that’s why they weren’t bowing. Like I was disguised.” Amelia whined.

“Your people are not deceived,” Victoria said, suddenly laughing. “You are skulking around as a thief and they are politely ignoring you. Such a scene I should like to see.”

That… made far more sense than Amelia was comfortable admitting. They were computer-generated people. The hood should not have fooled them, yet when she was hiding her face they all carried on as if she weren’t there. Hunter and Raven were snickering on either side of her, almost forcing Amelia to tell them to shut up. It also explained why there was such a dramatic tension when she lowered her hood in public. She had basically been telling everyone that something important was about to happen and they should all be looking at her.

“Then, Shadow Fall. Individuals who move with one purpose but are beholden to no sovereign. Why have you come?” Victoria finally asked.

“To save the Hero Queen Victoria,” Hunter said.

“To save the Half.” Amelia countered.

“To kick Void’s butt,” Raven replied happily.

“I can see now, what you mean when you say you are not of one mind but one purpose. You all have a different reason for seeing through your venture yet they do not always perfectly align.” Victoria frowned. “Why was the red dragon on the mountain? Surely he would not stay a thousand years?”

“If I may.” Gilduirn surprised Amelia then, stepping forward. She had thought he had tired of the spotlight, but maybe she had been wrong.

“You may, approach,” Victoria said. She was eyeing the growing throng in front of her carefully like she wondered what the point was in keeping them all at bay if they were just going to step forward.

“I was foolish. I took a large group of my guild to fight the Visage lord, for glory.” Gilduirn admitted, surprising Amelia further. “Amelia accompanied us because she is a Chronicler. One who writes stories and shares them with others. I told her, that by no means, was she welcome to join us in our battle.”

“Yet you fell? How do you stand before me?” Victoria wanted to know.

“We are Transients. In our time we can come back to life in Cathedrals or Temples at the grace of the land gods.” Gilduirn explained, eliciting excited conversation once more. There were no longer just guards. People had filtered in at some point. With most of the gates open and off their hinge and the doors destroyed there wasn’t much point in trying to keep the milling onlookers out.

“You cannot truly die?” Victoria’s face pinched together in disbelief.

“Here, we probably can. It is one of the disadvantages of this place. Raven was truly risking her life to fight you.” Gilduirn replied, and Victoria grudgingly cast an admiring look at Raven. Amelia thought it was wise to omit the part where Raven would have just popped out in the correct timeline. The only real danger was she would have to sit the adventure out.

“Very well. Explain.” Victoria sat down once more, looking far more comfortable and relaxed now.

“We were defeated soundly, yet the enemy mage did not attack Amelia. It is because she was not allowed to fight. Regrettably, I might add.” Gilduirn snuck a sheepish smile at Amelia. “Nowadays I won’t make a mistake. I’ll ask Amelia how she wants to fight before I go get myself killed.”

“I meant to explain the dragon.” Victoria pressed, and Amelia had to admire the way she remembered her initial inquiry and redirected Gilduirn.

“I shall. When we fell, Amelia engaged the mage in a discussion about his motivations. I don’t know if she was buying time to formulate a plan or just gathering information.” His gaze fell on her questioningly but Amelia didn’t feel like answering. Truthfully, she didn’t really remember. “The Lord said that he was a survivor of your era who had decided that the only way to fight Void when he returned was to convert the entire population to Grendel. He spoke of how Void was terrible and bad and the like and offered her a chance to join him. She refused, and then used magic to turn the dragon, who was stone, back to life.”

“Why was he stone?” Victoria leaped with nervous energy back to her feet. “Did he die?”

“No,” Amelia decided to answer. Gilduirn might be hazy on these details. “When you… When the legendary Half Queen fell, he was very distraught. He laid down at the sight of her death and slept a long sleep and refused to move. During this sleep, he turned to stone in preparation for his next life cycle after High Dragon. I woke him early, and to say he was displeased is not inaccurate. I may have shamed him into fighting with me, and then during the battle, he evolved to Imperial Dragon. Through our combined effort the dark mage was slain.”

“Wait, was he a High Dragon when he woke up or did you… how did he get to Imperial Dragon if you woke him up early?” Gilduirn suddenly asked, looking confused.

Amelia shrugged. “I guess I didn’t wake him up that early.”

“You are storymaker. Will you show me?” Victoria stopped trying to follow the exchange and interrupted.