"Seorlin was certain of his impending victory: even with his death, his enemies would have no escape. In truth, he was merely an opening pawn in that grand game of death and destruction. He thought of the marks he had carved into his body the night before, of the blood that had stained the inner lining of his robes, and of the pain that had made him grit his teeth. That thought brought a cruel smile to his face: he could already feel the flesh of one of the two women being torn apart by his dagger, he could already savor their terror and hear their screams. They were, however, all fantasies of a single moment, because before he could get near them, a branch pierced through his stomach, lifting him off the ground. It was so sudden that no sound escaped his lips.
Alex stopped, turning her eyes to the Queen of Arran, who avoided her gaze. The Archmage furrowed her brow and gritted her teeth: something unexpected had happened, something that even she didn't understand. There was no time to talk, because the fight wasn't over yet. The Empress, along with Iza and Derek, disposed of the last guards to arrive on the scene, and it was in that moment that Scarlett stepped out of the shadows, joining the group.
Before speaking, she began checking the bodies of the corpses: the soldiers had no marks carved into their skin, not even Fromm Kersink, but when she approached Askmon's body, she cursed. The man bore the same symbols as the other sacrifices.
Scarlett turned to the dying Seorlin and grabbed him by the collar, ripping his shirt open: she uncovered a black stone embedded in the flesh of his chest and saw the marks of the devil.
"He will come..." the man whispered faintly. "My death is the beginning... Golujef is arriv—" he spat blood, and the crazed but lively gleam in his eyes faded away.
Scarlett knew his death would trigger far worse damage, so she turned to the Empress and the Archmage, who were watching her with eyes full of knowing dread. "His death will unleash more tremors, and we don't know how strong they will be or if something else is coming."
"When it comes to demonic rituals, we must expect the worst of the worst," Grimilde stated confidently, observing Seorlin's corpse. That man wasn't like the others: it was likely he had offered his spirit and body to Golujef. The Queen had a bad feeling, horrific actually, telling her to watch her back: she turned to the princess, pulling her into her arms so she wouldn't have to look at the man's corpse. Snow White's eyes were glossy with fear, but she gathered her strength, thanks to the Queen's comforting embrace, which reminded her that neither of them was injured.
"What do we do now?"
"What do you sense?" she whispered in her beloved's ear.
Snow White closed her eyes and trembled. "Something... is coming."
"We have to get out of here. Arran is in as much danger as Umgard right now."
"Arran will become a crater if we don't stop Golujef before it's too late." Astrael's demonic voice reached the ears of the Queen and the princess, then, out of nowhere, the lust demon's body materialized as well, looking at the people present and greeting them with a nod.
"What on earth is going on?" Enrico, despite his wound, was still standing, and with the help of the Order's soldiers, who had arrived with Scarlett, he had immobilized his sister and was receiving medical attention for his injury. Adelina and William, on the other hand, were as pale as ghosts and staring at Astrael as if he were the most terrifying monster they had ever seen. The Empress remained impassive, even though she was tense about the situation.
Astrael approached Seorlin's body, grabbed it by the neck, and turned to Grimilde: "You already know, don't you?"
The demon pulled the corpse off the thick branch that had impaled him and shook his body, inspecting it with an annoyed look: "Yes... it's going to happen..." he muttered to himself, before dropping the lifeless lump of flesh to the ground.
The Queen's eyes were tormented as she held tightly onto the princess's hand. She knew her family would try to hurt her, kill her, and destroy her kingdom. Arran was in danger only because Grimilde was its Queen, but she was tired of being afraid, tired of having to worry about her past. For years she had anticipated their moves and dealt with the assassins they sent, but apparently, it hadn't been enough.
Grimilde had spent years trying to ignore the agonizing thoughts that plagued her mind: the conflict she relived in her nightmares always featured her original family, and scenes of blood were never lacking, just as the pale faces of her oppressors constantly reappeared. Deep down, she hid horrific truths that she wished she could forget and cast into oblivion. Astrael knew her darkest secrets, he knew what she had gone through when her family had chosen to disown their bond. He knew that... she had tried to take her own life years ago. Before meeting Snow White, she hadn't realized she was breathing, that she was made of flesh and bone, that she could feel emotions other than emptiness, than pain... Snow White had changed her in ways she couldn't possibly understand.
"Do with him what you will." The Queen of Arran's icy words, directed at Astrael, her confidant and ally, stunned many of those present. It was the best choice: they had to dispose of the body as quickly as possible, one way or another.
"What is going on?" The Empress marched toward the demon and shot a quick glance at the Queen, silently asking her not to make any false moves. "We need to get rid of Seorlin's body before Golujef takes possession of it. Demons who claim a human body are able to interact with our world more easily."
"There are no demons loyal to humans. There are only demons who lie. Where has your faithful lapdog been until now?" Scarlett said, drawing her sword.
"Scarlet." The Empress stopped her with a wave of her hand, forcing her to back down. "They are our allies until proven otherwise. If you respect my decisions, you will not defy my orders."
At those words, Scarlet lowered her weapon, hiding a disgruntled expression, then turned to her companions, ordering them to secure the area, stopping the Umgard soldiers should they try to reach them.
The crowd that had fled the arena during the collapse had scattered when they saw the Umgard soldiers attacking some nobles. The citizens were trying to run for cover, but they didn't know that if the earthquake returned, their homes would collapse on their heads. There was no shelter from what was happening.
"What can we do now?" Grimilde asked Astrael, waiting for some advice, instructions to follow, or a warning. She couldn't move forward in doubt, in the fear born from uncertainty, from that unknown future.
Astrael continued to stare at Seorlin's body with an enigmatic gaze and a smile not as bold and mischievous as it once was: "His body belongs to Golujef, and there is nothing I can do to possess it. We can hack it to pieces, but it wouldn't change anything. The only way to stop him would be to trap him somewhere."
Grimilde knew exactly what he was talking about: the tribe that had trained her knew of a very powerful ritual capable of chaining demons and locking them away in a dimension where they couldn't hurt humans or interact with their world. Grimilde, however, lacked the knowledge that would allow her to perform the ritual: the only way to save everyone and their continent would be to find the tribe and the hersir. Their existence was a secret, but the situation was far too dangerous to care about the constraints Grimilde was supposed to respect. In that moment, she made a quick decision and reached for the mirror shard she always carried with her, hidden beneath the skirt of her dress.
When Grimilde held the piece of mirror, she looked at her reflection, noticing her tired, tormented eyes: she didn't feel entirely herself, almost as if the shard awakened a part of her she had wished to keep hidden until then. In truth, ever since she got to know Snow White better and fell in love with her, she had felt normal, inadequate as that word might be. She had felt like an ordinary person, in love and happy because of it, despite the difficulties encountered every day. Snow White had given her back a human side she thought she had lost, and for this, she was grateful, but the emergency required her to wake up from that sweet human warmth.
She softly recited a spell in a language that not even Alex could understand. The witch, startled from the surprise of moments before, took a step toward Grimilde, directing her attention to her. Snow White saw her and stiffened, but didn't move from her position beside the Queen of Arran.
The witch wanted to understand what she was doing, what her goal was, but mostly, how she had obtained that mirror. It was the oldest and most powerful artifact on the continent! She only knew this information thanks to the rare, ancient tomes she had found during her exploratory journeys for the Empire of Atenarte.
"How do you possess such an artifact? Speilet av sannheten (mirror of truth)..." The witch couldn't bite her tongue and gave in to curiosity, grabbing Grimilde's arm and turning her around. "Who are you really?"