“Hurry your ass up!” Thane raged as he kicked one of his men through a stone wall. It wasn’t the first time he’d sent one of his men flying and the man wasn’t the first to die from the misplaced anger. The angry and terrified looks of his men did not escape Thane’s notice.

“I said move!” he shouted forcing many to cover their ears or risk them bleeding. “With the gold I’m spending, there better not be a hand without a weapon!” Thane then spotted an unarmed man. He stomped over to him and pulled a wand from the bag he held. “You kill with it, it's yours,” he said forcing it into the man’s hand. “Three fireballs and one extra spell you can store yourself. Do you have a sword, dagger, anything else? Fuck it, take mine.” Thane pulled a three-foot short sword from his waistband, which for a jötunn , meant it was more of a dagger and handed it over. “Don’t cut yourself with it. The wound won’t heal for days.”

The man took the weapon with care not due to its enchantments, but by the extreme cost of such an item. This day, Thane gave out more wealth than he’d spent in his entire life. Any that fought for him, just for today, could keep what he handed them making the harsh and sometimes lethal treatment worth it. With a wand or magic sword imbued with a stable enchantment, one could live easy for some time or use the weapon to become a much greater threat. Most of Thane’s gold was tied up in the weapons he handed out, but now was not the day to care for such things.

The days came and went since the Phantoms declared their intention to kill Thane. During that time, he did everything he could to increase his chances of survival. He left the indefensible river town to take residence in an old abandoned fortress. Within a day, he reactivated its near impregnable magic defenses. By the next, he managed to find someone willing to control floating orbs meant to shoot down anyone that could fly with various spells. Now he armed every able-bodied jötunn he could bribe with anything worth giving.

“Is this really necessary?” said one of the few jötunn taller than Thane. He was one of the military officers Thane managed to hire, a major named Goth, or Gath, maybe Garth. Thane didn’t care, he simply called him major. “With us here and this fortress, it would take a small army to even put up a fight.”

“Not if we’re up against apex magic users,” Thane protested.

The Major rolled his eyes. “No apex mage or cultivator would be mucking about with you lot. The ten we have make up almost half our military strength. They’re beyond nobility, so why would one bother with you? I’m loath to be here, and I’m only gate sixth.”

“How else do you explain my broken sword!” Thane shouted defensively. “I know what I saw, what I felt.” Thane’s hands began to shake as he remembered the unyielding strength of the man who promised to kill him. “It was like striking an anvil with a branch. Only an apex cultivator can be that powerful.”

“Or maybe you’re overestimating yourself,” The Major mused eyeing Thane with mana infused eyes. “You might be ranked five, but your build is average at best if not a bit on the sloppy side. You’re strong amongst weaklings, that’s all.”

“I hope you’re right,” Thane said in a rare moment of honesty.

A sing-song voice suddenly boomed throughout the fortress. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Thane ran to the rampart with a sword in hand and dread filling his soul. He peered over the wall spotting a single fey floating a few feet off the ground. There was no need for him to adjust his eyes to get a better look, there was no mistaking who many were calling the Dark Fairy.

Although, other than her thin leather armor, there was not much dark about her. Her eyes were as happy as her smile clashing with the stark image of her fellow Phantoms. But the fact was, she stood side-by-side with Phantom Lord meaning if he was an apex magic user, she probably was one too.

Thane sheath his sword replacing it with a magic staff charged with its own mana pool. Along with his men, he pointed the bejeweled end of the staff towards the Dark Fairy.

“Take another step I will turn you to ash!” Thane shouted as loud as he could.

The dark fairy looked down at her feet that were swinging back-and-forth off the ground. “I don't step,” she said playfully.

“Boss, she's not in range,” said one of Thane’s men. “We'd be wasting magic if we attacked now. Once she gets closer, we can fire. And if she flies, she’ll be shot down by those orbs.”

Thane’s nerves calmed as he thought through the situation. “As long as I stayed in this fortress, I’m safe, at least for today. There was always a chance Phantom Lord himself could show. But even if he did, two high ranked military officers might be able to take him down.”

Thane’s hopes were dashed when a knife appeared in Dark Fairy’s hand. When she drew her hand back with the glove she wore glowing a faint blue, he ran from the ramparts without a second thought. When he heard an echoing boom followed by a wet squelch, his curiosity overcame his fear for an instance.

When he turned, Thane witnessed one of his men falling over with a small knife embedded in his skull. Before hitting the ground lifelessly, the Dark Fairy appeared out of nowhere teleporting within arm’s reach of her weapon and yanking it out with a savage twist. Thane didn't need to see any more. He turned with his mana throttling to run away as fast as he could.

*******

Astrid wrenched her knife free from the dead man's skull just in time to avoid a glowing sword aimed for her head. As it passed beneath her, she teleported her short sword into her free hand slashing the attacker’s arm clean through with little resistance. At the same time, she threw two throwing knives launching them with an explosion of kinetic energy from the glowing rune inscribed on the glove she wore. The knives surged into the tightly packed ranks of jötunn bursting holes through many before coming to a stop in someone's chest.

Before anyone else had time to attack, Astrid flew beneath anyone’s reach. She slithered inches off the ground slicing ankles as she moved. When someone tried crushing her skull with a powerful stomp, Astrid surged upwards striking the man with a mana infused kick.

Feeling and hearing the sound of the man's neck snapping brought a smile to Astrid’s face along with a fit of laughter she couldn't control, but it didn't slow her bloody work. Before her last victim fell, Astrid flew like an arrow stabbing into another of Thane's soldiers. The man next to him sliced at her with a poorly enchanted weapon seeming to miss by miles as Astrid weaved through the air. After dodging several attacks, her knee shot upwards sending several of the man's teeth flying before her dainty little hands gripped his head and twisted.

This time the man’s neck didn't just snap. Astrid spun his head with such force it continued to twist until skin and muscle tore ending in a gruesome decapitation. Men backed away in fear and disgust as a shower of blood soaked the ramparts. By the time blood stopped oozing from the headless corpse, enemies surrounded Astrid in a perfect circle and she couldn't be happier.

Brand and Uhtred were tired of sitting idle under Brunhild’s command but at least they had hobbies. Regardless of how poorly Brand considered North Bastion’s magic, he still had something to do. He could always find something to research and experiment with magic like his recent obsession with god magic. Uhtred, on the other hand would steal for his goddess If not employed. Unfortunately, Astrid couldn't go around picking random fights just for entertainment.

She did enjoy enchanting items like her daggers and gloves. With Brand supplying the enneagrams she could easily weave magic into any number of things using a harmonizing spell song. But nothing compared to the rush she felt with knives in her hands while staring down someone that needed a good stabbing. These jötunn were especially fun. Astrid couldn't have asked for bigger more exposed targets.

Astrid met the eyes of every jötunn she saw until finding one that turned to run. As soon as he did, she planted a knife in the back of his head. “We're not done playing.” Two more ran, each receiving the same and as the first. “If you didn't want to play, you should have picked our side.” All the childish wonder suddenly drained from Astrid's voice. “Or at the very least you shouldn't have joined Thane’s.”

“Fuck this!” one of the soldiers shouted as he brandished a wand and fired a mage bolt.

Astrid simply swatted it aside with a glowing fist sending blood and body parts flying as the bolt struck unsuspecting soldiers. As gore evaporated off her blood shield, Astrid moved with a sudden burst of speed delivering an uppercut on the nearest jötunn . He was sent flying into the air, but not for long. About 20 feet up, the floating orbs around the fortress came alive vaporizing him with a torrent of various spells. That's when Astrid had a wondrous idea.

She danced her way through the jötunn not bothering to slice any exposed flesh. Every few feet the fey stabbed knives into the ground, each the exact same distance from the last. When Astrid clear the group, she uttered a spell Brand crafted for her.

“Gravitas.”

Everyone standing within a few feet of Astrid’s knives shot upwards as gravity reversed. In mere seconds, the floating orbs above reacted as if an army were swooping in from Above. The pink sky suddenly grew a misty red as men popped like balloons before being scorched or vaporized by a variety of magics.

Astrid nodded her head knowingly. “And that's why maintaining your roots to the world is important.” She suddenly face palmed remembering an important detail. “Shit, Brand wanted the corpses.” She sidestepped avoiding the charred remains of someone’s torso. “I hope he's ok with pieces.”

*******

Thane dashed deeper into the bowls of the fortress shutting the door behind him. Before it closed, a powerful hand forced it ajar then open with a powerful heave.

“Why did you run!” The Major shouted as he barged in with his lieutenant.

“Why the hells didn't you stay and kill that girl?!”

“Because she may not the only enemy.”

"Sir,” the lieutenant said speaking with a timid whisper. “The fey is the only attacker.” She paused as if not believing her own words. “Because she’s the only one left alive I can sense. And she’s close.” The lieutenant pointed her staff towards the door. “Very close.”

Thane turned to assume his run anew but found there was no were left to go. This chamber was one of the largest in the fortress. Unfortunately, it was also the farthest one could go. With only one entrance and exit, this would be Thane’s last stand if the Dark Fairy managed to break through five inches of magically compressed steel.

“Are you serious?” the Major said now sounding almost as worried as Thane. “All those men in the few minutes we’ve been here.”

'DING'

Everyone looked to the door as the sound of metal striking it met them. They all expected it to be basted open or torn off. What no one predicted was for it to vanish entirely, repairing several passes outside. Without its frame, the door fell in short order revealing the Dark Fairy floating behind it with an overly joyous smile.

******

Without much effort, Astrid found Thane’s hiding spot. It was behind a rather impressive looking door that she could not possibly breakthrough. Unlike Brand, she couldn't muscle her way through a problem like this. And for Uhtred, doors weren't really a problem to begin with, but Astrid’s focus could solve plenty of problems.

Astrid teleported a knife into her palm filling it to the brim with mana as she did. When it was on the verge of exploding, she whipped it towards the door piercing the condensed medal by an inch. She then spread her consciousness out searching for her mana. Her magic now permeated the door making it no different than the daggers she threw.

Using her focus, Astrid teleported the door from its frame making it come to a stop just within arm’s reach. With a gentle push, it came crashing down revealing Thane and two military jötunn who were no doubt powerful.

“Thank the Gods,” Astrid smiled to herself. “The corpses of those two will make up for me being a bit overzealous.”

Floating into the open chamber, Astrid sized up her enemies. One was an obvious cultivator who didn't bother to bring a weapon. Hopefully, that made him a decent fighter and not just a fool. The woman accompanying him was a mage of some sort, but determining her specialty was impossible thanks to her nondescript uniform, not that it really mattered. Her being a healer, long-ranged attacker, or supporter wouldn't catch Astrid off guard. Such scenarios were commonplace during her striker training.

“Whatever business you have with Thane has nothing to do with us,” The Major declared. “He’s all yours.”

“You gods damned traitor!” Thane half cried half-shouted.

By the frown on Astrid’s face, she was also not pleased. “You’re not making this very fun.” Her mana began swirling around her as she slowly built up its throttling speed. “Thankfully, I need your corpses, so you have no choice but to play.”

“Lieutenant!” The Major shouted not taking his eyes off Astrid.

His subordinate acted immediately sending a tendril of mana into him. Like Astrid, his mana throttled, but thrice as fast thanks to the influence of another. At the same time, The Major infused his fist with mana causing them to glow and crackle with several destructive elements.

Astrid moved in a blur, flying straight for the lieutenant with a dagger ready to cut through whatever mana shield was brought to bear. The Major intercepted her with a flurry of punches tearing the ground apart with his speed. Astrid dodged them all, but failed to slice at his wrist when a blast of magic slammed into her side scorching her right arm and forcing her back. she clutched her wound with pain written across her features. Seeing an opening The Major rushed in hoping to end the battle quickly.

“Fell for it,” Astrid thought as she redoubled her mana throttling and speed in an instant.

She dodged The Major's fist that now seemed to be moving in slow motion and thrust her blade forward aiming for his neck. Surprisingly, the blade bounced off the jötunn ’s flesh as his entire body was covered in another of his subordinate's support spells. The green aura surrounding him now meant simple attacks would be worthless, so Astrid flew into the air and across the room getting some much-needed distance.

“If I don't get rid of that supporter, I might actually be in trouble.”

Astrid threw a knife over The Major’s head nowhere near his supporter. She then teleported to the knife grabbing it in midair with another appearing in a free hand. Both were sent flying, one in a completely random direction and the other with a booming explosion of kinetic force headed directly for the lieutenant. Before either blade landed, Astrid teleported repeating the process three more times leaving no escape for the support mage.

To everyone’s surprise, it was Thane who saved her life. He slammed his body into her sending both tumbling across the floor, but they managed to avoid the explosive impact of Astrid throwing knives. They both got to their feet quickly with Thane standing in front of the lieutenant as a guardian with a trembling sword in hand.

“If you die, I die,” he explained. “Now hurry up and kill that bitch!”

The lieutenant nodded and released a burst of energy that sent shivers down Astrid's spine. “Dimensional lock.”

Astrid knew that accursed spell all too well. It was used against her constantly in her striker training. Teleporting and moving through adjacent dimensions would now have more than double the mana cost and in some cases impossible. Her last flying dagger attack would now leave her with barely enough mana to fly.

“Formation Alpha,” the major ordered then charged after Astrid.

As he did, his support mage raised her staff conjuring a gigantic sphere of swirling blue above her head that grew larger with every passing second. Astrid was too busy to interrupt the spell. The major made sure to attack relentlessly while forcing her farther away, so the fey decided it was finally time to start singing.

A wordless melody escaped Astrid's lips one that couldn't be sung by any other race. Mana clung to each note making the beautiful music louder and traveled farther with greater effect. Being indoors made the effect stronger once more as the sound bounced off the walls.

The major was the first to notice as his mana throttling even though it was not his own noticeably slowed down. Thane never felt the change in himself thanks to him not using magic at the time, but deathly realization came to lieutenant as she realized too late what was about to happen.

“Major I can't-” Her words were cut off as the gigantic sphere of mana above her head leaped from her control and exploded.

Moments later, when the dust finally settled enough to see through, Astrid stood over the Major who had a gaping hole in his head from shrapnel sent his way from the explosion. Unlike Astrid, he was not prepared for such a devastating attack. Actually, he was but, his control over his defenses was greatly diminished by Astrid’s spell song. He planned to continuously engage her until they both were hit by the massive spell. He would survive thanks to his impressive constitution, but Astrid would have certainly perished. Thankfully, her spell song, Lullaby, made them all lose control of their spells and would have put them to sleep if given enough time.

Walking over to the other corpses in the room, Astrid gave a sigh of relief. They were still intact if not very pretty. But no one expected a draugr to look anything but monstrous.