Neldor’s eyes widened when Becky got Kuro on her feet, and the two of them ran for the throne. “Stop them! They will save the Queen!”
Alvin pulled the trigger on the Type 56 when the five guards started to move. Overlapping shields sprang up in front of the guards as his gun started to fire. “Get her away, then come back for me,” Alvin shouted, summoning a portal to the base behind the throne, a good thirty feet from where the Queen was writhing on the floor.
Becky’s feet faltered, her collar warning her that it was an order. She ran after Kuro, who had already snatched the Queen up, and they ran for the glowing portal. “You better not die, Hero!”
“We’ll see,” Alvin said. His gun ran empty and it vanished into his glove. He was suddenly holding two bulky, awkwardly shaped containers in his hands. Triggering the buttons on them with his thumbs, Alvin tossed them up and over the shields as the guards rushed at him. Triggering his own shield, he hunkered down next to Skyfall and Wintersbreath. “Boom, motherfuckers!”
Both improvised flaming claymores went off. The ball bearings ripped into all the unprotected flesh and the napalm stuck to everything it touched. Thunderrise, Stormheart, and Neldor were burning, shredded husks, as both explosives had gone off next to them.
Neldor’s death triggered another wave of energy over the room, and Alvin began screaming in pain when he got caught in it. A brief thought of hope that the girls had made it away from the radius of the curse was torn from his mind by the intense pain.
A cool wave of relief washed over him an unknown time later. Gasping, Alvin was pulled to his feet by Becky, who crushed him to her for a brief moment. “Dammit, Hero, stop trying to die!”
“The Queen?” Alvin asked, taking in the carnage his two explosives had wrought on one side of the room.
“I’m alive,” the Queen’s voice answered from beside him. “Can you save them?”
“Mousie, go get as many panaceas as you can,” Alvin said.
Kuro stood up from where she had been kneeling next to Wintersbreath. “They will all rise in a moment,” she told him as she ran for the portal to the base.
The screams began to drop off quickly, and the Queen looked at her people with horror written on her features. “We can’t save them all, can we?”
Alvin looked at the side of the room spared from the explosives. “None of them, I fear,” Alvin said. “I can end them quickly, instead of letting them be undead.”
“Please,” the Queen choked on the word as tears fell from her eyes.
Kuro came sprinting out of the base with a panacea in hand, splashing it on Skyfall, who gasped as the pain left her. “Hero, I have more, but there isn’t time.”
The first of the dead began to climb to their feet and Alvin sighed. “Fuck.” Quickly summoning the last key for the base he could, he handed it to the Queen, “Go with them.” Alvin turned to Skyfall. “Raise your shield; I’m going to kill them.”
“Hero,” Becky growled.
“Get into the base with the others,” Alvin told her firmly. “I’m going to throw my last party favor, duck into the base, and hope I can expand it for Skyfall to join us in safety until we can deal with the undead.”
“Fine,” Becky said as she ushered the Queen toward the portal, Kuro and Wintersbreath helping her.
Stopping near the portal, Alvin looked at Skyfall. “Hold out for a minute or two. That’s all it will take.”
“The Queen is safe. I’ll be fine,” Skyfall said tersely.
“Shield,” Alvin snapped as he tossed the last explosive into the growing mob of undead. Without waiting to see if she did, Alvin stepped into the base.
Chapter Fifty-five
Once he was in, Alvin summoned a pad. It was already on the page he wanted, so it only took him a few seconds to tap on the expand personnel option and make the purchase. Dropping the pad, he summoned a key for the base and went to step through the portal.
Becky snatched it from him and pushed him back, dashing through the portal before he could react. A moment later, both she and Skyfall were back in the base. Alvin stared at Becky, who met his gaze unwaveringly.
“Stop taking all the risks yourself,” Becky said softly, her lips trembling.
Letting out a breath, Alvin pulled her to him and squeezed her tightly. “I know it’s not fair, Gothy. It’s hard to stand aside and let you take the risks at times. I do the best I can with it, which is why I drive and let you gun. It’s more dangerous than driving.”
“Asshole,” Becky sniffled against his shirt.
Kuro hugged Becky from behind, wanting to help her Matriarch find peace. “If anyone should be facing danger, it is me, Gothy. I’m the extra one here.”
As the lovers spoke softly, Skyfall reported to the Queen. “There are at least a dozen undead still in the room. The guards outside the hall were just responding when I came here. They should be mopped up in a few moments.”
Stone-faced, the Queen nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Thank you, Bemere. This is a day we shall live with for a very long time.”
“Majesty, we can’t hope to oppose the King without their aid,” Wintersbreath said softly.
“I’m well aware, Amara, as are they, I’m sure.”
Looking at the Queen, Alvin nodded, “We won’t be holding you hostage behind price. What happened today was horrible. I wonder how Neldor made it into the throne room, cloaked as he was?”
“He came in with Thunderrise,” Skyfall spat. “I watched them enter and step into the crowd, but they were not hooded until later. I didn’t recognize him…” Turning, she knelt before the Queen. “I failed you, Your Majesty.”
“I’ve lost enough family today, Bemere. You will work hard enough over the next few months when we extract our vengeance for what happened today.”
Standing, Skyfall kept her head bowed, “I shall be your spear.”
“As you always are,” the Queen said. A single tear fell from her eye, only to be quickly scrubbed away. Clearing her throat, she looked at Alvin, “Hero is what Matriarch Gothy calls you, and today, you were indeed such. I owe you for ending the threat of the necromancers, the Death Wood, and for saving my life. What boons would you have of me?”
“The best gear you have for the three of us,” Alvin said. “Let us each pick from your most powerful items. I’ll connect your kiosks from the capital all the way back to Alinaholt with mine on Earth. That will allow you to buy tools from my world to grind your husband into the dirt.”
“That is all you wish? You don’t ask for the hand of one of my Champions or even my own?” the Queen asked, seeming a little stunned at his request.
“I have all the women I need. We’ll be leaving soon, as well,” Alvin said, dismissing the Queen.
“I told you,” Wintersbreath said softly.
“I still find it hard to believe,” the Queen said. “I shall have the vaults opened to you. You may each take a single item. Is that the only boon you seek from me?”
“Upgrade your kiosk so it can send and receive items in the network. A lot of my settlements will want the stuff from this world and vice versa. The more trade that flows between our worlds, the better.”
“That is two. What of the third?”
“Bring Olmera and Istel from Alinaholt to the capital; they are crafters. Guide them and boost them as much as you can so they can become the best crafters that your city has. They will be very popular once they start selling their wares.”
“I did not expect such a request, but I will make sure it is done,” the Queen said. “I need to go make sure the vaults are ready for you. Excuse us.”
Queen bowed her head fractionally to them and the two Champions bowed their heads lower. Wintersbreath gave the trio a wistful, longing look as she went past.
“I think she was hoping to stay with us,” Becky murmured.
“She’ll be needed by the Queen,” Kuro said.
“We have a Mousie. There’s no need for another Elf,” Alvin sai
d. “She was fun, but she didn’t listen when she should have. In the long run, it never would have worked out.”
“I know,” Becky sighed. “We’ll just have to boost Mousie up to be Wintersbreath’s superior in every way.”
“As you desire, Gothy,” Kuro murmured.
“Sir,” Jarvis said, coming out of the kitchen. “I didn’t want to intrude or interfere while you had the Queen here. Are you going to stay in, or go back out right now?”
“We need to loot and go visit the vaults. We’ll spend the day in the capital tomorrow, then we’ll head out the next day.”
“Are you going to wish anything when you return tonight?” Jarvis asked.
“No. Feel free to retire for the night, Jarvis,” Alvin said. “We’ll also be sleeping in late tomorrow. Keep that in mind for breakfast.”
“I shall plan for something easy and quick. Enjoy the vaults. You might also want to get your keys back.”
“Good point,” Alvin said. “Ladies, ready to go look over the treasure of the Queendom?”
“I wonder what they have,” Becky said, walking toward the portal.
“There are many rumors, but nothing has ever been confirmed,” Kuro replied as she followed Becky.
Alvin trailed behind them, enjoying the view and wondering if he had made a mistake by asking for items. He shrugged and stepped through the portal.
The Queen and her two Champions were discussing the situation with a handful of guards, while the male Elf from the front doors was slowly looting the bodies. “We’ll set aside part of the loot for you,” Wintersbreath said when she saw them watching. “Are there specific items you wanted?”
“Glyphs,” Alvin replied. “That’s an item that doesn’t exist on Earth. Also, any runes above common grade.”
“I’m placing two kiosks,” the Queen said. “One will be in my private rooms, and the other in the main square. You will link them both to your network?”
“Yeah,” Alvin said. “I’ll get them both linked tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” the Queen said, turning back to the guards she was talking to.
“Follow me,” Skyfall said as she left the group. “I’m to take you to the vaults.”
It was a bit of a walk through the castle and down a number of floors, but they were eventually led to a set of dark metal doors. Taking a set of keys from her bags, Skyfall unlocked the four locks, each using a different key, and pushed the doors open.
Alvin’s breath caught for a moment; he had never seen so many bars of gold, silver, and other metals all stacked in one place before. Arranged along the walls were chests, their lids closed to hide their contents. Other items were on pedestals or hanging from the walls. “Damn.”
“That’s a lot of coin, but it’s all fairly useless now,” Becky said as she pulled her eyes off the metals, searching for something interesting among the items.
Kuro went to a bow that hung on the wall. “It exists after all.”
Skyfall came up behind her. “Night’s Fury, the Queen’s bow.”
“Is it true that it generates arrows when the string is pulled back?” Kuro asked gently, touching the ornately carved bow.
“I’ve seen her practice with it a few times. The arrows it makes are as dark as the Queen’s skin,” Skyfall said. “They punch clean through the targets they hit, then vanish as if they were never there.”
Alvin came over to look at the bow, his jaw dropping when he looked at the information that appeared before him.
Night’s Fury (Legendary)
Damage: 3+Nimbleness
Durability: Unbreakable
Generates arrows when string is pulled back.
Arrows ignore all resistances.
Runes: 0/20
“That is a weapon of power,” Alvin finally managed to say.
“I would ask that you leave her bow, blades, and armor,” Skyfall said tightly, motioning to the items displayed on the wall before her. “The Queen will need them soon.”
Alvin chuckled, “We’ll see what we find.”
“Hero,” Becky called out to him from the other side of the room, “come look at these.”
Going to her, Alvin looked at the rings she was examining. “What do you have?”
“Each of these rings are a bit much,” Becky said.
Alvin looked over the rings and whistled. “Fire immunity, poison immunity, mental immunity? What the fucking hell?”
“The Rings of Power,” Skyfall said, having followed Kuro and Alvin. “It is said they have existed since the world was born.”
Alvin pointed to the two missing spots. “What were these two and who has them?”
“The Queen, but I don’t know what for. She has never told me what they do,” Skyfall replied.
“If we had the fire immunity ring, that would negate dragon breath,” Becky said. “The mental immunity would make whoever wore it immune to the Fey and who knows what else is going to show up.”
“Keep them in mind, but let’s make sure we aren’t missing anything better,” Alvin said.
Kuro went to a pair of blades nearby, “The Blades of Night and Day. Why are they here and not in Wintersbreath’s hands?”
“She can’t wield them,” Skyfall sighed. “They resist most wielders.”
Alvin looked at them, then laughed, “Look at them again and question why that would be.”
Skyfall looked doubtful, but a moment later, her eyes widened. “Ah, that would be why.”
“I will take these as my item,” Kuro said.
“You’re going to be a fucking killing machine,” Alvin chuckled.
“What did she find?” Becky asked, looking up from the item she’d been examining.
“A pair of legendary blades that can only be wielded by one of equal descent from the two courts,” Alvin chuckled. “She’s going to do more damage than the damn fifty cal.”
Becky blinked. “Okay. I doubt we’ll find anything on par with that.”
“Let’s make sure about that,” Alvin said.
They took two hours to check everything in the room, skipping past the Queen’s gear. When they finished, Kuro had the Dancer’s Soul blades Day and Night, Becky took the mental immunity ring, and Alvin picked up the ring of fire immunity.
Thanking Skyfall for her time, the group left the vault. Skyfall locked up and walked them out to the gates of the castle, where Wintersbreath was waiting for them. Leaving them with the other Champion, Skyfall returned to the castle.
“Here are all the glyphs and runes that were looted from the bodies,” Wintersbreath said, handing over a stack of glyphs and a handful of runes. “I won’t see you again before you go, but I did wish to say goodbye.” Hugging and kissing each of them in turn, she stepped back. “Thank you for what you did. The Queen would be dead today if not for you, as would I. I know I’m not a fit for your group, but if you do come back this way in the future, please find me... for a night, if nothing else.”
“We will,” Becky said, stepping forward to grab her for another kiss.
“If we do, may we spar so I might test myself?” Kuro asked once the kiss was done.
“I would be glad to teach you, Kuro,” Wintersbreath said with a tight smile.
“I’m sorry about your friend... she mentioned her daughter—”
Cutting Alvin off, Wintersbreath spoke over him, “I already retrieved her. I will raise her as my own daughter.”
“She’s that young?” Alvin asked.
“Barely a year old,” Wintersbreath said softly. “I’ve already changed her name to match her mother’s. She will be the first child I raise. I’ve never taken the time to find a man worthy of being with me.”
“You’ll do fine,” Becky said. “Just remember to temper the job of teaching with love.”
“I shall raise her as my mother raised me,” Wintersbreath replied. “It is the only way I know.”
With a final goodbye, they left Wintersbreath standing at the gates and headed for the inn. Alvin lo
oked back one last time, looking at the bones of the dragon that had been worked into the castle architecture.
“Do we stay here all day tomorrow or head out to Alinaholt?” Alvin asked as they walked to the inn.
“We should head to Alinaholt, in case the crafters need to adjust anything,” Becky said.
“It would be best. It will remove us from the area so the Queen can focus on all the things she has before her,” Kuro added.
“Works. We’ll have breakfast, set up the kiosks, then leave,” Alvin said. “Let’s go get cleaned up before we go to bed.”
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