With the death of Amara, any hope that Eirlys was alive was crushed inside Claudia. Like her tears, all the kindness and desire to resolve the conflict as peacefully as possible had run dry. All that remained was a hollow void brimming with hate, a perfect nest for Aurelia's serpentine lies.

For three days, she cried herself to sleep, each night battling the weight of losing everyone dear to her, only so she could shoulder the burden of a princess during the day. Claudia loved her people, selflessly devoting herself to serving them, like her mother and father had done before her. But that love became malformed, now serving as fuel for her wrath. She finally came to believe that which Aurelia preached since the moment she arrived in Vatur: "Only with the extermination of the otherworlders can the safety of the elven people be assured."

"War is never a clean cut." Claudia's father would always say, long before sickness chained him to the bed.

The King believed that war should only be used as a last resort, for even with the guidance of the Highborn, no battle was ever won without a sacrifice of some sort, usually the lives of those fighting. And no ruler who truly loved their people would send them to a needless death.

Those words, once engrained in Claudia's mind, like a mantra that guided her every decision as a ruler, now lost their meaning. The Princess believed they were no longer applicable, for the Vatur elves had never before faced a foe such as this. A mess had to be made, for the greater good. Sacrifices of the few, in the name of saving many. Had she only seen this truth sooner, perhaps Eirlys would've still been alive.

They already took her legs; now Claudia was prepared to give the rest of herself to the effort of killing the otherworlders down to the last.

She sat atop her mother's throne, with the company of no one but her thoughts. The servants had begun to avoid her, the look in her eyes striking fear into even her brother Lymlok. The Prince had never seen his sister so single-mindedly devoted to a goal before, and frankly, the dullness in her eyes terrified him.

Claudia noticed when he entered the throne room, but her gaze remained fixed on something in the distance. Lymlok walked quietly and without a word, a stark contrast to the usual way he would strut with his head held high and announce his presence by speaking the very moment he entered a room. He moved as if entering a beast's lair and not the throne room of the palace he grew up in.

Even from afar, his trained eyes could see the heavy circles under Claudia's eyes, a sign of a row of sleepless nights. But her gaze was steel, her expression unchanging, the look of a woman unswerving in her decision.

The cold eyes at last fell upon him as he approached the throne, followed by words equally as hollow. "Good to see you, brother."

It sounded like his sister, her voice the same as always, but the gentle melody it once carried was now gone entirely. The sight of her like that enraged Lymlok; his dear sister now a shell of her former self, driven only by grief and loss.

Subtly, he cleared his throat and adjusted his posture, trying to appear unshaken. "Sister, Lady Aurelia sent me to let you know the call to arms has been sent. Soon, every Free Mage will join us in bringing an end to the infestation plaguing our land."

Claudia gave no reaction. No smile on her face or glint in her eye. All she said before dismissing him was: "Good."

***

Queen Kyara Marbella couldn't believe the bind she found herself in. Following Aurelia's last visit and the grim news she shared with Kyara and her brother, letters were sent immediately to every noble in the kingdom. Yet, even under the threat of the gallows, only a little more than half of them actually replied by saying they would send their soldiers to help bolster the kingdom's main force in the upcoming war. The rest of them replied with various excuses, saying that they are preoccupied defending their territories from bandits, wild monsters that seemed to have been stirred up all over the region by arrival of the otherworlders or lying about the number of soldiers under their command and saying that if they send aid no one will be left to defend their land from aforementioned bandits and beasts.

Kyara did expect insubordination from some of them, but not to this degree. The ones that refused to answer the call were the ones with the largest territories and the largest number of soldiers in active service. The Queen knew many nobles shared Perriman's ambitions and belief that the kingdom was overdue for a new dynasty to take over. All the nobles who rejected the call most likely hoped the royal army would suffer major losses in the upcoming war against the otherworlders and that those remaining wouldn't be sufficient in number to defend the throne.

"Like Hell I'd let that happen." The Queen thought to herself, tossing the papers on the desk in front of her and leaning back in her seat, sighing deeply.

She thought about her husband while running her fingers through her hair. It was almost the end of the second year that he was gone, taking the majority of the kingdom's forces with him to assist in the defence of the Adain-Mar kingdom in the far Northeast.

The timing of the otherworlders couldn't have been worse. They arrived when neither the Marbella kingdom, with its king and majority of forces away, nor the Vatur kingdom, with its king and queen stricken by a deadly disease, was at its full strength. Had they broken through the gates just a year earlier, they never would've been able to establish any foothold in the world.

"Still, we outnumber them by far. And the elves will not be sitting idly either." Kyara mumbled and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Fifteen thousand soldiers will have to be enough."

She thought back on the conversation with the men while they were still prisoners. Jeremy's words replayed in her mind. "If there is one thing that was true, in all the information Perriman has given you, it's that the weapons you see on this world are a mere fragment of what sits ready on the other side of those gates. Waiting."

The Iron Fortress. That weapon alone put the fear of Gods in the Vatur elves. The otherworlders called it obsolete, perhaps in an attempt to frighten her and make themselves seem more powerful than they are. Lies or not, Kyara could not afford to call their bluff, not with so much on the line. She had to approach this as if every threat they said was an irrefutable truth. Winning this war was a priority; dealing with the insubordinate nobility would have to wait, because if the otherworlders won, Kyara feared there wouldn't be much of a kingdom left for the nobles to rule over.

***

Since early in the morning, the entire outpost was buzzing with movement. The preparations for the mission were in full swing, with the otherworlders doing everything from equipment and weapons checks to working to get the Iron Fortress powered on. Even in such a commotion, they were incredibly organised.

Elisia sat on one of the crates outside of her quarters, just watching everyone go about their duties, while Layla was nowhere to be seen. The mage's ravenous curiosity finally took over her, and as soon as the otherworlders began their preparations, she had been buzzing around them, writing and drawing everything she could.

Worry gnawed at her, thoughts of her mother and brother back home refusing to leave her mind. She prayed to the Gods way before the sun rose, that Filtz does not find himself anywhere near the battle that would soon take place. Elisia hoped, as foul and horrible as it may be for a sister to do, that Filtz hadn't yet fully worked through his trauma and that it would keep him as far away from the battlefield as possible.

Lost in thought, Elisia didn't even notice one of the men approach her until he spoke. "Lady Elisia, it is unusual to see you alone. I must say, though, that uniform fits you nicely."

"That voice." The knight thought as she spun around, her blonde hair swishing over her right shoulder. The man standing to the right of her, dressed in uniform belonging work by Anita's men, black boots, dark grey baggy pants, a dark grey long-sleeved shirt and a large jacket with a fuzzy hood, was none other than the man partially responsible for everything that happened to Elisia, Layla and the cat. The man who rushed to embrace death several times, but was always denied.

"Perriman," Elisia growled, angrily glaring at the former duke.

Albrecht smiled warmly despite the expression on Elisia's face and the way she looked at him. He clapped his hands together before putting them in the front pockets of the jacket. "Not the warmest greeting I have ever gotten, but I shouldn't be surprised."

"Indeed, you shouldn't, traitor. I cannot believe the nerve of you, showing your face before me after everything you've done." The knight said, her right hand slowly gripping the handle of her sheathed sword.

"Whoa now," Perriman said, raising both of his hands defensively and taking a wide step back. "No need for that."

"No need?" Elisia asked, hopping off the crate she was sitting on and turning to face the man fully. "I am still a knight in the service of her Majesty, and you are still a wanted criminal with a hefty sum on your head. What's to say I shouldn't fulfil my duty and cut you down, here and now?"

"Well, for one, I think our new friends wouldn't take kindly to bloodshed interrupting their important preparations," Albrecht replied, taking yet another step back.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "That aside, you are fully within your rights to execute me."

"You say that, yet you keep inching away from me." She continued, slowly taking her hand off the sword's handle. "But you're right. This is neither the time nor the place for something like that."

Perriman let out a sigh of relief, slowly lowering his hands and putting them back in his pockets. Elisia cut him off before he could say anything. "Doesn't mean I will forget what you're owed. You will get yours; the payment is only postponed."

The duke gulped and nodded. "I will, uh, keep that in mind."

The two stared at each other for a moment, Perriman keeping his guard up in case Elisia suddenly changed her mind. Once she sat back on the crate, he finally relaxed. "So, pardon my curiosity, but how have you and Layla ended up here?"

"That is the furthest thing from your business." The knight shot back.

"Right, understood." Albrecht agreed immediately.

Another moment of silence, as he mustered up the courage to say what he came to say. "I've come to ask if you would like to join me in the unit's morning training. It might help you take your mind off whatever has you so troubled."

Elisia clenched her fists, inhaling the cold air and preparing to tell the man off, but she restrained herself. She has been consumed by negativity for a while now, and the fact that Perriman noticed meant that her sour mood was not as concealed as she tried to make it. She sighed audibly and got up from her seat, patting down her pants. "Alright, I suppose it's better than sitting here doing nothing."

Perriman smiled, and Elisia frowned in response. The fact that he even had the gall to smile and seem happy in her presence pissed her off. The two of them walked, keeping a distance from one another. Albrecht tried to ease the tension with some small talk.

"I haven't seen Layla or the cat around yet. Do you know where they are?" He asked, slowing down so Elisia could get closer, not wanting to shout.

"Layla is entranced by the otherworlders and their devices. She's been running around, writing about and drawing everything she sees." The knight replied, walking a few steps behind the duke. "She spent the entire first day just drawing these boxes the otherwolders use for lodging."

"Oh, well. She always was very inquisitive." Said Albrecht. He pointed with his thumb to one of the boxes to their left. "They're called QAs. Quick Assemblies. Place and secure the frame, then attach a panel to one side, unfurl it towards the other side, and you get a wall. One panel, one wall. They are sturdier than tents and protect better from the elements, while assembling one takes mere minutes. Everything just seems to slide into its own place. Amazing!"

Elisia looked at one of the cubes, nodding while listening to Perriman's explanation. "That does sound pretty impressive."

It didn't take them long to reach Anita's unit, nor were they hard to spot. A band of about 10 individuals that did basic exercises off to the side, in front of a long box that Elisia assumed were their barracks. They all wore the uniform as Perriman.

To her surprise, the group, consisting entirely of men, greeted Albrecht quite warmly. Much like Anita, her unit seemed to have taken a liking to the former duke, with the only difference being that their opinions about Perriman were actually genuine. None of the soldiers viewed him as some sort of clown or showed any interest in bullying the man.

"This is Elisia. She wants my head." Said the former duke.

The men greeted her with the same welcoming warmth as they did Perriman, while laughing at what he said. Elisia immediately noticed the absence of translator stones and quickly turned to Albrecht, staring at the man with wide eyes. "You speak their language?"

"A little. I've been trying to learn as much as I could ever since I got here." Perriman replied, pulling out a translator stone from his pocket. "I still carry this around, because I can't understand them all too well yet."

"She come to watch us get our reps in?" One of the men asked Albrecht.

Albrecht shook his head. "No, I invited her to join us."

"I thought you would be doing combat training," Elisia added.

"Well, we weren't, but now we sure will be." The soldier said. "Actually, Perriman, this would be a great chance for you to test your homework."

The duke stared at the man in disbelief before quickly shaking his head. "No, no, no, I couldn't possibly. Besides, it is rude to fight a lady, especially with clenched fists as if fighting a man."

The men all erupted in laughter. "C'mon, P. You can take her. It's not even fighting, just a light spar."

The group moved, creating an open circle for Perriman and Elisia to spar in. While Albrecht tried to dissuade them from the idea, while they slowly corralled him into the circle, Elisia found this to be a great opportunity to vent her frustrations and give Perriman at least some chunk of punishment he deserved. She quickly unfastened her sword belt from her waist and dropped it into the snow. The sound caught Perriman's ear, and he turned around just in time to duck as Elisia swung at him wildly.

"Lady Elisia, this is entirely unnecessary." Albrecht cried out, keeping his distance and trying to reason with her.

Elisia grinned, enjoying the situation much more than she thought she would. "Be a man for once, Albrecht. Raise your hands, protect your face at least!"

With a defeated sigh, Perriman raised his hands and took a stance, realising the futility of trying to argue further.

"Strange stance. Must be another thing he picked up from the otherworlders." She thought as she charged at him again.

Elisia's swordsmanship had no equal among the knights in the service of her Majesty; however, unlike Perriman, she never had any actual military training. Albrecht spent decades as a soldier, climbing through the ranks and knew how to get down and dirty if needed. What little otherworlder hand-to-hand combat he learned, in the short time he was there, stuck to him much quicker. His guard was up, his feet evenly spaced, while the knight threw punch after punch, with defence not even being an afterthought.

Each punch she threw, he managed to dodge or block, but Elisia, driven by pent-up anger, attacked like her stamina was inexhaustible. Perriman quickly realised that just ducking and weaving wouldn't be enough to avoid getting a busted lip or broken nose.

She pressed her right foot into the ground, twisting her entire body as she threw a wild left hook his way. Too slow. Perriman, pushed up against the edge of the circle, had no choice but to counter. Two jabs, left fist, right fist, connected with Elisia's face before she could even finish her swing. Left hook straight to her right cheek was what came next, but since Perriman was pulling his punches, Elisia managed to recover from the first two hits in time to back off before the hook landed. The crowd that formed a circle erupted in cheers when the first two hits landed.

"I am so sorry, Lady Elisia. I hope I didn't hit you too hard." Albrecht said, arms still raised in a guard, but the concern in his tone was genuine. "We can call it a day; I'm sure the guys won't mind."

"Call it a day? Hopes he didn't hit me too hard? Is he fucking goading me?" Elisia thought, mistaking Perriman's words for taunts.

The cheering of the soldiers only added fuel to the fire, making the knight see red. Mana began coursing through her body as she silently activated the spells that increased her speed and strength.

Elisia closed the gap between them in an instant, sending a vicious uppercut directly aimed at Albrecht's chin. Perriman noticed the abrupt increase in Elisia's speed and made a wise decision to dodge the blow instead of trying to block or counter it.

Albrecht took a wide step to the left, trying to get some distance between himself and the knight, but Elisia was too quick. She spun around, hitting him with the back of her right fist. Perriman blocked the blow, but it didn't matter, as the force of the strike still sent him flying across the circle and falling into the crowd.

"On your feet, Albrecht!" Elisia growled, storming over to the man, ready to give him what he was owed regardless of whether he fought back or not.

Perriman wasn't even fully standing when she swung at him from above, an overhead punch that would've struck him right at the top of his head if he didn't manage to roll away in time. Elisia struck the cold dirt with such unrestrained force that her arm was plunged into the soil up to her elbow.

The soldiers watching no longer cheered, realising that things had started going south. One of the men rushed over, placing himself between the furious knight and the former duke, trying to tell Elisia that the match was over. "Alright, sugar, that's enough. He's thrown in the towel. Now give it a rest before you kill him."

She understood the man just fine, but was too caught up in blowing off steam to care what he was saying. Elisia went to shove the man with her right arm, knowing she was probably faster and stronger. The men were just regular soldiers after all.

The soldier read her like a book, and what followed snapped Elisia from her angered state in an instant. Her feet were swept from under her, and the ground and sky seemed to have switched places. She was looking at the soldier's legs when it finally clicked that she was upside down. The knight went from trying to push the man to lying flat on her back in the snow, with the soldier holding her right arm still, but applying no pressure to it.

Snowflakes gently fell onto her face as she looked at the clouds, blinking in bewilderment. "What was that?"

Seeing that she calmed down, the soldier quickly moved to help her onto her feet and dusted the snow off her back. He looked her in the face, his big brown eyes capturing her attention immediately when he asked: "Are you alright?"

Elisia nodded, receiving a pat on the shoulder from the soldier before he walked back to the others, letting them know the show's over.

"They call it Judo. I think." Perriman said, slowly walking over to Elisia, cautious in case she might want to resume their fight.

"Never seen anything like it."

"It is one of their many martial arts. Designed to subdue and disarm an opponent. Self-defence." Albrecht explained some more while pointing at the man. "They use it mostly for sports. Theo there is a brown belt, whatever that means."

"Sports? Like arena fights?" Elisia asked.

"Kind of." The ex-duke replied.

Elisia's mind was still stuck on the move itself. She never experienced something like it. A single fluid motion, executed so flawlessly. Even when she landed on the ground, it felt gentle. It got her curious to know more.

Perriman slipped away while she was deep in thought, joining the group that went back to doing their basic exercises. Elisia decided to join them by sitting on a nearby crate and watching silently. After all, Layla left Elisia alone while she went to learn as much as she could about the otherworlders, so why should the knight sit by herself and do nothing? She wouldn't mind learning a thing or two about the humans from the other side of the gates, too, especially if there was nothing better to do.

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