Mockery Deathmatch Episode 8 - Dissolution
WARNING: This episode contains graphic elements and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.
Up in the Hollow Tree
Alessandra sat on her throne staring down at the woman kneeling before her in chains next to the Minotaur bandit, muscular and dark-skinned with a red wolf-cut mullet and piercings in her ears.
"You fought well," Alessandra said. "Better than my men, apparently."
Ella said nothing.
Alessandra leaned forward. "That's disappointing. I was so excited to meet the infamous beast woman my men spoke of."
She waited but was met with silence.
"Perhaps if I—"
"Let me go," Ella said flatly.
"Oh, let you go?" Alessandra laughed. "No. See, I have a problem. Tonight I somehow lost weapons, items, rations, human resources, and half my men didn't come back."
The room trembled with a low rumble that made dust fall from the ceiling.
Alessandra frowned but continued. "I should have your head for what you've done. But in my generosity, I'll let you live. It'd be a waste of assets to kill you."
Ella's jaw clenched.
"So here's the deal." Alessandra leaned forward. "You work for me, or you become an example for the others. Your choice."
Ella remained quiet, glaring up at the throne.
Three sharp knocks echoed from the door.
"Finah."
The small elven woman near the corner moved quickly to open the door just barely as a guard stood outside.
"Message for the Queen," he said. "Red."
"Her Majesty will review this after her current appointment." Finah's voice was soft and stoic as she produced a small sack from her robes and handed it through the gap while the guard waited, while behind him a scout was trying to see past both of them into the room.
She closed the door and walked back to Alessandra's side.
"One of the scouts witnessed a fire blast span across the east of the island. He claims it was magical in nature, possibly a mile-wide radius."
Alessandra's hands gripped the armrests. "A mile wide?"
"That's what he reported."
Another tremor shook the room, harder this time.
She leaned back in her seat and held both of her hands folded in front of her mouth with an annoyed expression on her face. Her thumbnail resting between her bottom lip and teeth.
Her gaze then shifted to her prisoner. "Finah, summon the guard."
Finah hesitated and looked up with a confused expression, one of her hazel eyes poking out from beneath the long silver bangs covering them.
"You heard me. Bring him in."
She nodded and flew to the door gracefully before opening it again. "Her Majesty wants to see you."
A pause from the other side. "Me? Are you sure?"
"..."
"This is gonna suuuuuck," the guard muttered under his breath before he walked in and the heavy door shut behind him.
He stood awkwardly near the entrance.
"Your Majesty." He bowed his head without making eye contact.
"What's your name?"
"Labbar, Your Majesty."
"Labbar." Alessandra stood from her throne and walked down the steps. "You were raised in the wild, weren't you? Wolves, if I remember correctly."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
She stopped in front of Ella and turned to the Minotaur bandit. "Keys."
The Minotaur fumbled at his belt before producing a ring of keys and handing them over.
Alessandra knelt beside Ella, working the locks. "According to Winger's men, you took on a large group of them. Impressive."
The heavy chains around Ella's wrists clattered to the floor.
Without hesitation, Ella launched a kick with tremendous force aimed directly at Alessandra's face.
Without flinching, she caught Ella's ankle mid-strike, absorbing the impact as if it were nothing.
"Labbar," Alessandra continued, still holding Ella's leg, "you're one of my strongest. I want to see if she's really as capable as they say."
Ella quickly yanked her leg back and jumped away, putting distance between them before settling into a defensive stance with her guard up.
Labbar sighed, then moved himself into position while Ella glared at him in anticipation. A crack appeared in the ground when he lunged with his fist coming in hard, aiming for her ribs, but Ella sidestepped in time.
Directly he feinted left before driving his shoulder forward, but she leaned back as his shoulder passed inches from her chest.
He came in faster, more aggressive on all fours using momentum meant to corner her, but she avoided all attacks, blocking or countering.
Alessandra's smile widened.
Labbar charged again, but this time he dropped low at the last second and swept her legs out from under her with a vicious kick.
Ella hit the ground hard enough for the impact to knock the wind from her lungs.
Before she could recover, Labbar was on her with his fist coming down. She rolled away just in time, seeing his knuckles crack the stone where her head had been. Right when that happened, a strong vibration in the earth shattered the ground and walls. A section of the ceiling collapsed near the far wall, sending debris crashing down. Smoke began filtering in from somewhere below.
"What?" Alessandra started.
The door burst open. A guard stumbled in, his face panicked. "Your Majesty! The prisoners, they're breaking out!"
Alessandra's eyes widened. "What!?"
Ritual
Far east in a grotto behind a waterfall,
On top of a stone monument was a man tied by his arms and legs, sat on a fiery pentagram on black sand. Wielding a sword, a tall purple demon with a flaming tail and a long black braid hanging from his back, heated his sword with fire and aimed at the man's chest when a small cloud of dust and sand fell from the ceiling.
He stopped what he was doing, looking up for a while in silence, and looked to the water, filled with ripples. Quickly he turned around, headed for the waterfall on the opposite side of the grotto. Each vase of fire snuffed as he walked by it, leaving the entire place dark when stepping through the waterfall.
Outside, the jungle was engulfed in flames. Trees stood ablaze but their trunks did not collapse, animals ran through the inferno with their fur and skin on fire, roaring as they ran, often transforming into something that could have only been interpreted as their true form.
Steam erupted from cracks in the earth. Geysers of boiling water shot fifty feet into the air before raining back down as mist. The ground crumbled in waves, entire sections of jungle sliding into newly formed chasms that opened with grinding roars. Trees were torn from their roots and toppled into the gaps, dropping down in the abyss.
The massive scar carved across the island glowed orange in the night with residual heat, and from its depths, people, horrific monstrosities, and demons were climbing out. Hundreds of them, some armored or carrying weaponry. Greater demons with horned heads and armored emerged, and immediately they attacked what was in front of them, tearing into flesh, some feeding while others just killed and delighted in it.
The sky was filled with bat wing, talon, and feathered creatures, and bodies fell like rain.
The purple demon remained stoic and walked back through the waterfall.
In the darkness, the bound man whimpered when the vases started igniting again.
"Please..."
"Ahh... no..."
The demon walked past without acknowledging him, returned to the monument to pick up his sword, and prepared to continue.
"My apologies, please... Let's continue."
"Ahh god no! Please!"
The pentagram flared to life again in the black sand when a massive fireball hit the side of the grotto with immense force that tore through the waterfall entrance, incinerating the curtain of water instantly. The shockwave was headed for the demon before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke just seconds before the walls cracked under pressure, the vases shattered, and two enormous demons crashed through the walls, one covered in scales and spines, the other wreathed in black flame. They grappled mid-air, tearing at each other with claws and teeth.
Nothing remained of the site but ruins.
Just a moment passed and the purple demon reappeared. He watched as the two other demons disappeared into the blazing jungle beyond.
He looked at the moons for a while and let out a sigh.
When suddenly a sizzling hiss whistled by his blazing tail, the pitch increasingly higher and his face increasingly more agitated, then all of it stopped abruptly. He combed his hair back with his hand, closed his eyes, and let out a deep sigh. Then he vanished in a dark cloud that bent the air like a vortex, accompanied by a sharp sucking sound.
In the ablaze jungle below, the two enormous demons crashed through burning trees, still locked in combat. The scaled one drove its claws into the flame-wreathed demon's chest while the other bit down on its opponent's shoulder.
A dark shape dropped from above like a meteor.
The impact carved twin trails into the scorched ground as the purple demon slammed both demons down, each of their faces caught between his palms. His braid whipped wildly behind him as he skidded to a stop, the demons' bodies plowing through earth and ash for 50 feet.
He let out a small exhale, blowing a rogue strand of hair from his forehead, while looking down on them.
Back at the village
Lyra and Korvash stood at the edge of the village after digging a deep pit in the only bit of mud not mixed in blood. Lyra knelt in the dirt to catch her breath with scorched thread hanging from her smoking fist.
"... I think that's deep enough." She sighed while she took a step away from the pit.
"Should we say something?" Korvash asked.
Lyra wiped her eyes with her forearms. "He would've made a comment about honoring the dead by focusing on the living... hehe." Korvash managed a weak smile. "Probably. He'd tell us to stop being dramatic and get somewhere safe."
Both of them had a brief chuckle leading to silence.
A warm wind puffed dust along, prompting them to lower Gavren into the ground and to cover him with the sound of cicadas, crickets, and dirt hitting cloth in the background. Lyra placed her hand on the heap of earth.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."
Korvash placed his hand on her shoulder for a moment.
Nearby, Marigold leaned on a sturdy wooden stick with red thread wrapped around her knee to keep it in place.
"Nice meeting you, Sir Gavren," she said as she looked down at the grave.
After a long silence, Lyra launched herself onto her feet and brushed dirt from her knees. "We need water."
Korvash looked around. "Everything here has blood in it, and looking for water on the island now would get us killed."
"You're a storm caller." Lyra met his eyes. "Can't you make rain? Just a little? Enough to fill a flask?"
Korvash hesitated. "I... don't know, Lyra-lei... maybe that's a bad idea. I haven't tried anything small like that in a while and-"
"We need water, Korvash. And we need to figure out what that earthquake was. Where Cori went. How to help Marigold." Lyra nearly raised her voice but caught herself and took a deep breath. "We need a plan."
Korvash looked at Lyra's eyes with a pained expression, then turned to Marigold, who plucked a feather from her duster and put it right up in the dirt heap by Gavren.
He sighed and nodded. "Alright. I'll try."
"Both of you, give me some space."
He closed his eyes and raised both hands.
Lyra helped Marigold limp off to the side, 20 ft away.
A small gust of wind swept the streets before swirling back in a circle.
His arms spread out, creating a small shockwave before he closed his arms, bringing his hands together as if kneading a ball of dough.
Marigold looked with her mouth slightly open, while Lyra held on to her hat.
A big force of wind shrank into a controlled mini cloud, rippling in Korvash's hands.
He let out a deep controlled breath and opened his eyes.
Lyra and Marigold witnessed Korvash holding a miniature cloud between his palms.
"Korvash, you did it!"
"Please go get a vase..."
Lyra quickly ran to the house, picked up one of the vases and looked under it to confirm it had no holes or damage, then returned.
Marigold watched Korvash with a calm attention while he strained to keep his spell under control.
Lyra returned, and held the vase out, ready to catch the water.
"Alright, good to go," Lyra said as she stepped back next to Marigold.
Korvash's brow furrowed while his hands trembled as if carrying a heavy weight above him.
"Almost... there..." he muttered through gritted teeth.
The miniature cloud expanded a little more before Korvash dropped it down in the vase with a soft hiss.
"You did it!" Lyra held the vase triumphantly while smiling at Marigold, but her smile disappeared quickly when she turned to where Marigold pointed and saw Korvash hunched over the ground with a sickened expression, holding his stomach.
"Woah... Are you okay, Korvash?"
She quickly put the vase down to check on him.
He fell to his knees while his eyes teared and he vomited foam all over the ground.
"Korvash!" She knelt by his side, trying to get him to drink a sip of water, but half missed his mouth. His eyes squeezed shut and he breathed in short, sharp bursts.
"No," he whispered. "Not again. Please not—"
Lyra then watched his eyes snap open and roll back into his head before glowing a blue-white.
"No, Korvash!"
Wind blew Lyra off to the side.
Korvash's expression blanked, and while Lyra slowly picked herself up off the ground, Korvash looked down at his hands, turning them over slowly, flexed his fingers, and rolled his shoulder.
"Korvash?"
But like he didn't hear her, he examined his legs, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Then he looked up at the dark sky, scanning the area.
"Hey!" Lyra moved closer. "What are you doing?"
Korvash turned his head to her with a demeaning expression, then turned back.
"Adequate," he said in a calm tone.
Lyra's eyes widened, then her fists clenched. "Who are you?"
He looked past her, back toward the ruined shrine behind them. Then he tilted his head.
"It appears that I'm early."
"What are you talking about? Early for wha—"
"SILENCE." The entity's gaze shifted back to Lyra while booming thunder filled the air.
Lyra's voice rose. "Y-You again!? What do you want with his body?"
He turned in a slow circle, scanning the area, and landed his gaze on the bloodied ground and stared at it, then knelt and brought his fingers close to his face.
But just before he got up, Marigold stepped in front of him.
"It appears you seek the Jester..."
He got on both legs while looking down on Marigold. "You encountered the Herald?"
"Yes. A girl. Dressed like a jester. She attacked us in a cave." Marigold's voice was steady.
"It appears that she went south to the coast for a performance of sorts..."
The entity didn't break eye contact, assessing her.
Lyra looked at Marigold, confused, waiting for a bomb to drop.
But instead, he walked off with wind gathering around him.
Lyra took a step forward. "Wait, please—"
Korvash's body shot upward, air and lightning launching him into the sky.
The force knocked Lyra backward. Marigold shielded her face as debris scattered everywhere.
"I can't..." Lyra's voice broke. "I can't keep doing this. I can't keep losing people."
Marigold was quiet for a long moment.
"I'm sorry," she said finally. "I don't know if I helped or made things worse."
"You bought us time..." Lyra wiped her eyes. "That thing would've killed us."
"But Korvash—"
"Is still alive," said Lyra while crawling over to where Marigold sat and leaned against the wall beside her. "And we're going to find him."
They sat together in silence for several minutes before Marigold reached for the leather-bound book they'd been carrying and opened it.
"What are you doing?" Lyra asked.
"Explaining," Marigold said quietly. "While you and Korvash were digging, I read through this. I wanted to help."
She turned a few pages. "I mentioned the south because I saw it marked here that the sleeper's servants usually live near the waters. I thought... if I sent that thing somewhere far away, we'd have time."
Lyra leaned closer.
"'The Jester cannot do the will of The Sleeper, for if left to their own will, gluttony will surely corrupt it.
"Herald and Jester are rarely one and the same, for a Jester is a unity of madness performing for Restrain, only when summoned to the stage will it..."
She paused, tracing faded text with her finger.
"Will it what?" Lyra asked.
"I don't know, it fades out."
A distant squealing sound made them both look up. A flock of smoking birds flew in their direction from the east, and behind them revealed a wall of black smoke in the far distance, made visible by the moonlight.
Lyra stood and looked at the ruined house nearby. "We can't stay here."
"The cave," Marigold said.
Lyra nodded and helped her to her feet. "Let's go."
At the White Cloaks Hideout
A green magical dome shielded the hideout.
Monstrosities and undead surrounded the place, trying to break in.
"Everyone stay calm!" A white-cloaked guard raised his hands as the cavern shook again. Dust rained from the ceiling. "We're safe here, just move away from the walls!"
Helen pulled Chase and Lilly closer as Harold coughed into his sleeve, his breathing labored from the mud lake. Martha rubbed his back gently. Jenny crouched near the small fire they'd built, adding kindling while lost in thought.
Nearly 80 people pressed together in the tunnels beneath the mountains now.
"Should we evacuate?" a female guard called from near the entrance.
"And go where?" another shot back. "Those tunnels haven't been mapped yet. We could get lost or—"
Another quake cut him off. Several civilians cried out as debris fell. Everyone ducked and covered. Several able-bodied survivors helped the white cloaks keep the civilians safe with their tools and abilities.
Lilly tugged on Helen's sleeve urgently. "Mommy, I really need to go."
"Go where, sweetie?"
"The bathroom!"
Helen looked around helplessly at the packed cave. She spotted one of the guards. "Excuse me, is there somewhere my daughter can—"
The guard gestured toward a side tunnel. "Yes ma'am, we got a designated area down there. I'll show you, but let's be quick."
"Yes of course, thank you." Helen stood, then looked back at her group. "Jenny? Can you watch Chase for just a minute?"
Jenny looked up from the fire, her hands dirty with ash. "Yeah, of course."
"Stay close to her, okay Chase?" Helen squeezed his shoulder before following the guard and Lilly toward the tunnel.
Chase immediately looked around the cave with the curiosity of a bored eight-year-old. His eyes landed on a girl with pink pigtails.
"Jenny, look." He pointed. "That girl's all by herself."
Jenny glanced over briefly while stacking more wood. She saw a small child, maybe ten, wrapped in a blanket. Alone. "Oh yeah, that's so sad."
"Can she sit with us?"
"Hmm, sure, go ahead and invite her, but come back right away." Jenny reached for another piece of wood. "Be nice."
Chase ran over, while Jenny half-watched while organizing the firewood, making sure the pieces were dry enough to burn properly. Martha and Harold were deep in conversation about the guards' argument, not paying attention.
Chase returned a moment later with the girl trailing behind him. "This is GiGi!"
"Hi GiGi, nice to meet you." Jenny gave her a quick smile before turning back to the fire. "You can sit here where it's warm."
"Thank you," the girl said softly.
Chase sat down beside GiGi, excited to have someone to talk to. Jenny smiled, half-listening to Chase's enthusiastic chatter.
Back at the Hollow Tree
"The earthquake—it damaged the cells! They're escaping!"
"How many?"
"Dozens! Maybe more! They've overwhelmed the lower guards and—"
Fire erupted somewhere below, collapsing the very ground under the guard.
Another section of ceiling gave way, prompting Alessandra to spread her wings to avoid the debris, and in that moment, she looked over to the side, witnessing Ella by the window.
"No! You fools!" Alessandra growled at the two bandits finding their footing.
She launched herself forward, but Ella grabbed the window frame, and her other hand shot out, seizing Finah by the throat as the small elven woman tried to move out of her path.
Finah gasped.
"Don't," Ella said quietly, pulling Finah against her in a chokehold. "Fly. Now!"
Finah's feet lifted off the ground as they leapt out the tower window.
Labbar and the Minotaur both had their eyes fixated on the window when a dark, polluted wave of dread came over them that shivered their spines.
"Borgamel... Labbar..." Alessandra commanded.
She pointed at the Minotaur. "Deal with the prisoners. Kill anyone who resists. I want order restored immediately."
The Minotaur nodded and ran.
Alessandra turned to Labbar. "Find Winger and his men. Gadav, Roy, all of them. I don't care if they're dead or alive. Bring them back. Prove to me that someone in this organization is actually useful."
Labbar bowed his head. "Yes, Your Majesty."
He left immediately.
Alessandra stood alone in her burning throne room, watching through the window as Finah's small form descended into the jungle below, Ella still holding her hostage.
She then spread her wings and launched herself through the window, diving after them into the smoke and chaos below.
Ella clung to Finah as they flew through the burning jungle, her arm locked around the small elven woman's throat.
"Keep going," Ella growled. "Don't slow down."
Finah's wings beat frantically, struggling to carry both their weight. Her breathing was labored. "I can't... much longer..."
"You can and you will."
They flew northeast, deeper into the jungle. The further they went, the worse it became.
Explosions lit up the night. Massive creatures tore through the trees below. Ella saw a beast ripping apart a human.
Fire erupted from multiple points across the island.
"What is happening?" Ella muttered.
Finah gasped for breath. "I don't know..."
A massive worm-like creature launched itself towards them in their peripheral vision. Ella turned her head just as it opened a mouth full of jagged teeth.
Finah screamed as she tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough. The creature tore part of her wing off.
Ella tightened her grip.
Finah's flight became erratic. She lost altitude when she saw the creature circle back for another pass.
"Let me go!" Finah's voice was desperate. "You're too heavy! We'll both die!"
"I can't!"
Finah's head pulled her neck back, her mouth opened, revealing elongated fangs—almost vampiric. She sank them into Ella's forearm.
Ella roared in pain and loosened her grip, plummeting and hitting the ground hard.
Above, Finah struggled to stay airborne with her damaged wing. But others had noticed her, diving right for her.
Ella started running.
Behind her, she heard Finah scream as the monsters descended.
Then... a fire lit the entire jungle.
When Ella turned around, the sky rained fireballs, streaking through the air, incinerating various creatures instantly.
With a bewildered look, Alessandra's eyes met Ella's, before she continued running.
"Finah! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Your Majesty." Finah's voice was weak but steady. "She went northeast."
"Return to base. Get that wing treated."
"But—"
"Now."
"...As you wish."
Ella moved through the dark jungle, eyes wide, analyzing her surroundings at top speed, while dodging undead and collapsing structures.
Then a fireball exploded against a tree to her left. Burning bark rained down. Ella didn't slow. She vaulted over a fallen log and kept going.
"Stop running!" Alessandra's voice echoed through the jungle.
Another fireball hit closer.
When Ella burst into a clearing, she immediately realized her mistake.
There was a crater. Scorched black, the ground still smoldering in places. And beyond it, water.
Behind her, Alessandra landed with her arms crossed. Her dark wings spread wide.
"Nowhere left to run," Alessandra said.
Ella turned to face her, catching her breath.
"You could've taken my offer," Alessandra continued, walking forward slowly. "Could've had power, protection, a position of respect."
Ella said nothing.
"But instead, you destroyed half my operation in one night. Do you have any idea what you've cost me?"
Ella slowly lifted her fists, while wind violently blew her hair and clothes.
"Very well..." Alessandra's gaze intensified. "Ungrateful dog."
Before Ella could blink, Alessandra appeared in front of her and kicked her backward. Ella flew through hundreds of trees, each one shattering on impact. She struggled to catch her breath and tried to shake off the dizziness ringing in her head, but Alessandra's hand was already lifting her up and hurling her fifty feet into the air. Ella's arms flailed helplessly. Then a clone-like creature made of fire—resembling Alessandra—drove a heel into her ribs before fizzling away.
Ella laid in the debris, bloodied and bruised, coughing through the dust with one eye swollen shut. Footsteps approached her, then stopped. Alessandra looked down.
"Dogs need to be disciplined."
Ella's eyes teared up. "What the fuck mate... just leave me alone..!"
Alessandra conjured a whip of fire in her hands and lashed it across Ella's body again and again until she stopped moving. Hair wild, sweat streaming down her forehead, a manic grin stretching across her face, Alessandra finally stopped. Breathing hard, she realized she'd gotten way too heated. She pressed both hands to her head and let out an awkward, disbelieving chuckle.
She got up, spread her wing and flew away, leaving the area.
White glimmering particles passed her while flying, increasingly more, all going the opposite direction.
She stopped abruptly. "What the—" She spun around and saw a steady stream of white glowing light, clustered in lumps, flying toward Ella's location. Fuming, she quickly flew towards her and witnessed the source.
The air around Ella shimmered. A green aura began to coat her body, pulsing with raw energy, lifting her rag-dolling body off the ground.
Alessandra hesitated. "How—"
Ella's eyes snapped open, glowing pure white as her muscles bulked up and her hair whipped wild around her face. The green aura intensified, and she roared before charging forward.
Alessandra tried to conjure fire, but Ella grabbed her wrist and twisted before landing another punch, then another, the queen's wings flailing uselessly as Ella beat her down with bestial fury.
Finally, Alessandra collapsed, barely conscious with Ella catching her breath, standing over her. Her fists bloody, then the aura faded and her eyes turned normal.
For a moment, she considered finishing it, but then Alessandra saw her freeze when a magic conjured blue music note flew by.
Then she heard it too—singing, beautiful yet haunting, coming from the lake, and both women froze.
The music began to grow louder, enveloping both their ears before Ella felt her feet begin to move, walking toward the water as she tried to stop but couldn't, the compulsion overwhelming.
Beside her, Alessandra was also walking. Both of them moving toward the lake like puppets on strings. Around them, hundreds of others marched alongside them. Ella reached the water's edge, then kept walking.
The water closed over her head.
Everything went dark.
Back in the East
Holding a demon in each palm, the purple demon got up.
"Why are you interrupting my ritual offering to our prince?" he asked with a sense of authority.
"W-we just woke up and got started as soon as possible..."
"What are you talking about, and why is the island tearing itself apart?"
The scaled demon coughed black blood. "The... the Cycle... it's begun..."
"Explain."
"You don't know the cycle?"
Both demons looked at each other.
"So...are you...not from the island?...
"Like the mortals?—"
His grip tightened.
"EE— OKAY OKAY— I'll talk! Every so many years the island resets. The dead rise, old powers awaken. It's the island's nature!"
"The dragon's breath provoked everything to happen early! This scar opened the prisons beneath the earth and now factions are scrambling for territory before—"
"Who commands this?"
"No one commands the Cycle but many use it. The strong survive and the weak become fuel."
He released his grip and let the head drop to the scorched ground while the demon gasped for air.
"You serve someone."
The flame-wreathed demon stirred and coughed. "Lord Azrathar, the Scorched King. He's been preparing for this Cycle for decades."
"Where?"
The scaled demon pointed east. "The Scorched Plateau beyond the scar. He's completing his own ritual while the others fight like animals."
"What makes him confident he'll win this time?"
Both demons exchanged glances before the flame-wreathed one spoke. "The prophecy. The Sleeper walks again."
He stopped walking. "What does that mean?"
"When blood rains from the sky and the beast rises from the water, the one who erases will judge the dead." The scaled demon's voice dropped to a whisper. "Azrathar believes he can bind it to his will."
Silence held for a long moment before grey flames ignited in his palms.
Both demons scrambled backward but the scaled one was too slow. The grey fire consumed it instantly along with its essence until nothing remained when the flames died.
The flame-wreathed demon stared in horror.
"Go. Tell your master that someone is coming for him."
It fled into the burning jungle without waiting for more.
He looked down at his hands. His ritual had been interrupted, his offering destroyed, his work ruined by the chaos of this island's endless war.
Someone would answer for that.
He looked toward the Scorched Plateau where distant flames painted the sky before vanishing in a dark cloud again.
Back at the White Cloaks Hide Out
Chase sat down beside GiGi, excited to have someone to talk to. "Do you like adventures? We've been on so many!"
"I love adventures!" GiGi said excitedly.
"We fought monsters and everything! Jenny's really brave. She shot one with a crossbow!"
"That sounds amazing," GiGi said, smiling. "Your friend is very kind."
Jenny continued organizing the firewood, rolling her eyes at Chase's enthusiastic chatter while smiling. It was good to see him acting like a normal kid again after everything they'd been through.
Helen and Lilly returned from the tunnel, the guard nodding to them before heading back to his post.
"Everything okay?" Helen asked, settling back down beside Martha and Harold.
"Yeah! Mom, this is GiGi!" Chase gestured excitedly. "She's sitting with us!"
Helen looked at the small elven girl wrapped in a blanket and smiled warmly. "Oh—Hi GiGi! It's so nice to meet you. Are you here all by yourself?"
"Yes, ma'am," GiGi said quietly.
"Oh, you poor thing." Helen's expression softened with concern. "Where are your parents, sweetie?"
"They're... around," GiGi said vaguely. "They told me to wait here."
"Well, you're welcome to stay with us in our... little tent space... until they come back," Helen said. "Are you hungry? We have a little soup if you like."
"No thank you. You're very nice," she smiled.
Lilly sat down on Chase's other side. "I like your pigtails! They're so pink!"
"Thank you," GiGi said with a small smile.
Jenny reached for another piece of wood, testing its weight to see if it was dry enough. The conversation behind her became a pleasant background noise—Chase and Lilly chattering away, Helen asking gentle questions, GiGi responding in soft, simple answers.
"My daddy says I'm lucky to have met such nice people..."
Jenny froze.
What was that voice...
Her face shot up, looking at the scene in front of her, but nothing.
Her hands stopped moving. She didn't turn around, just stared at the piece of wood in her hands.
"I wish I had friends like that," the voice continued, and there it was again—that voice....
Jenny's heart began to hammer. She glanced over her shoulder.
Child. Just a child sitting with Chase and Lilly, talking and smiling.
She looked back at the firewood.
The raspy adult voice continued, mimicking childish inflection. "Do you think we'll be safe here?"
Jenny had enough. She looked up directly at Gigi and saw a woman that towered over Chase—seven, maybe eight feet tall. Pale, naked, with nothing but a brown blanket draped across its shoulders.
On her face was a clown's mask.
White and cracked. Half-broken, revealing the jaw beneath with needle-sharp teeth.
Harold noticed her gasp and turned to her when her shaking hands knocked the entire stack of firewood over. The pieces clattered loudly across the stone floor.
"Jenny?" Harold looked at her with a concerned face.
Helen turned. "What happened?"
Jenny looked up at Gigi.
And saw a little child again.
For a moment, she tuned out.
"Jenny!?"
Jenny gasped and looked away. Martha, Harold, and several others were staring at her. She was on the ground, the firewood scattered around her.
"I—" Her voice cracked. "I tripped." She cleared her throat.
"Are you hurt, dear?" Martha knelt beside her.
"Just... just a splinter." Jenny forced a smile and returned back to what she was doing.
Harold put his hand on her back gently, but she jittered.
He took his hand back. "You've done enough. Please have some rest, alright?"
Not daring to look in the direction of the children, she nodded at Harold and quickly vanished in a tent.
The Sleeper's Council
The world sounded muffled and a persistent ringing filled Dulcis's ears while his heartbeat drummed against his ribcage.
"What do I do... do I like... tell them? Do I pretend?"
Fifty skeletal faces stared at him in anticipation.
"Yep, I can't do this after all— I can't— I can't!" he thought to himself behind a blank face.
His hands were pressed flat against the stone table, holding himself steady.
"The Cycle has begun," Haggarath announced. His voice cut through the ringing. "All major powers are resurrecting, desperate to get the upper hand early. But this cycle, we shall take the island by storm with something they aren't ready for."
He clenched his fist, then opened it and gestured to Dulcis.
Dulcis slowly inhaled and exhaled through his nose to calm the anxiety.
"Knowing the vicious tactics of some of our common enemies, we know we must move quickly," Haggarath continued. "What is our strategy this Cycle? Make your voices heard."
Durnil, a big skeleton with a spiked spine and green eyes, walked to the front and pointed at the map with a sharp finger bone. "The Bone Tyrant will resurrect at the Colosseum within hours. If he rises to full strength, he'll rally the Eastern Factions against us."
Another skeleton with pink eyes and light samurai armor crossed his arms. "In recent Cycles, the Tyrant has grown untouchable. We've tried your direct assaults before, boy, but they always end in stalemate."
Durnil lifted his frame as he watched the samurai menacingly. "But this time we have the Sleeper. Obviously, if we strike before he's fully awakened, we catch him vulnerable."
A section of the skeletons rallied and grunted among themselves in approval.
"And after?" the samurai skeleton asked. "Word will spread, Durnil, and every faction on the island will know what we've done." He moved his face closer.
"I say let them know," Durnil said. "Let them fear us while we pry our rightful throne from their weak, puny frames."
The skeletons began arguing among themselves with voices overlapping. Some wanted to announce their power immediately. Others wanted to strike multiple targets at once.
"Stop," Dulcis said quietly.
The skeletons kept talking.
"I said stop," he said again, louder.
The chamber went silent. All eyes turned to him.
Dulcis closed his eyes and took another breath through his nostrils before he straightened. "Men, you're thinking like barbarians."
Durnil's eyes flared brighter. "My lord?"
"You want to announce yourselves. Make noise before taking any steps and let everyone know the Sleeper walks once again." Dulcis looked at the map. "That's why you'll never become victorious."
Haggarath stepped closer. "Hmm... Explain."
"If you eliminate the Bone Tyrant and everyone knows it was you, what happens?" Dulcis gestured to the map. "Every other S-rank on this island turns their attention here, then forms temporary alliances to wipe you out. They coordinate while you in your pride become the main target."
The skeletons looked at each other.
"But," Dulcis continued, "if the Bone Tyrant simply... disappears. If there's no announcement, no declaration... No witnesses, what then?"
Durnil tilted his head. "They wouldn't know who did it."
"Exactly. Confusion would beget paranoia, and in that paranoia, they'd start suspecting each other." Dulcis traced his finger across the map. "You move silently. Erase targets one by one. By the time anyone realizes what's happening, you've already eliminated half the competition."
The samurai skeleton leaned forward. "Hmmm... And the factions without leaders would be vulnerable."
"Some might even seek alliance with us," Haggarath said slowly. "Believing we can offer protection from whatever is eliminating the S-ranks."
"They'd be right," Dulcis said. "You'd offer protection to those who serve. You end those who don't. Quietly. Efficiently, without grand battles or declarations. Just silent erasure."
The chamber fell quiet.
Dulcis gulped.
Then Haggarath knelt. "Men... Truly, The Sleeper's wisdom exceeds our own. We march in silence. We strike without warning. And we leave no trace until it's our time!"
On each side of the long table, 25 skeletons rose up and knelt.
Dulcis looked at them while one of his eyes felt the urge to twitch.
"How many will we lose at the Colosseum?" Dulcis asked.
"Losses are irrelevant," Haggarath said.
"Well then, march," Dulcis said almost as a reflex that sent a shiver down his own spine the moment the words left his lips.
The skeletons began to rise when a faint howling song drifted through the chamber, eerie yet beautiful.
Dulcis's body moved on its own, his eyes glazed over as the melody wrapped around his mind.
A heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder, stopping him in place.
Durnil held him firm. "My lord."
The other skeletons had frozen as well, all of them looking around them toward the source of the sound.
"The Siren Queen," said the samurai skeleton.
"Hmm... She's too early," said Haggarath.
"Make it our second stop," Dulcis said, his voice steadier now as the compulsion faded with Durnil's grip anchoring him.
Haggarath nodded slowly. "As you command."
"The Sleeper has spoken," Haggarath announced. "We march at once."
Power Shift
In a cave, Winger woke up with his head pounding and body aching, the last thing he remembered being Roy healing him after the disaster with Dulcis.
He sat up slowly in the small dark cave lit only by blue glowing mushrooms in the dark and a campfire in the center. Winger then spotted Roy standing near the entrance watching him while wearing Winger's boots, his goggles pushed up on his forehead, and even his belt.
"What happened?" Winger asked. "Where are we?"
"I saved you," Roy said.
Winger rubbed his head. "Right. Thanks. We need to—" He stopped when he noticed something different in Roy's voice. "We need to find the others and regroup."
Roy didn't respond, he just stood there watching in the darker shadows further from the fire. Winger's brows lowered.
"Did you hear me?"
"I heard you."
A long pause lingered.
"So?"
"So what?"
"So we should move. We're vulnerable here."
Roy finally moved but slowly, like he was thinking about it.
"Roy?"
"I'm just wondering," Roy said quietly, "why I should follow your orders."
Winger stared at him. "What?"
"You heard me. Why should I follow you? You're weak. You got us captured. You got us beaten. You keep making mistakes."
"Roy, what are you—"
"I'm the one with power now." Roy held up his hand where the skin rippled and reality bent around it. "I'm the one who saved you. I'm the one who's keeping you alive."
"The fuck did you say to me?" Winger clarified. "You out of your damn mind?"
"Never felt clearer," Roy said while smiling. "It's showing me the truth."
He walked closer to Winger, while he tried to stand but his left leg wouldn't respond. Forcing him to look down at the skin along his thigh that had withered and aged decades in seconds with the muscle beneath atrophied and weak.
"AH FUCK!.... You-...What did you—"
Roy knelt in front of him still smiling. "You need me, boss. But do I need you?"
"Of course you—"
"No." Roy's smile widened. "But you know, just think about it for a while."
He stood up and walked back to the entrance while adjusting Winger's goggles on his head, leaving Winger sitting there to process what just happened.
He stepped outside for a moment and stretched his back, a big smile on his face, when a wet boot squeak caught his attention. He turned to find himself face to face with Lyra and Marigold. For a moment, they all just stared at one another.
EPISODE 8 END
POST-CREDIT SCENE
Underwater, a lake was filled with the bodies of dozens of men who'd heard a gorgeous voice and walked into the water to meet their demise.
But as men of all kinds drowned to that surreal tune of death, among them floated Ella, who sank with her eyes closed as the compulsion pulled her down.
Her necklace flared bright green.
Light exploded through the water and her eyes snapped open, glowing the same emerald color as her body jolted awake. She kicked hard until she launched herself through the water like a torpedo. But instead of finding herself above water, she crashed through a submerged stone archway and broke the surface in an air pocket, crawling onto ancient stone in a coughing fit, gasping for air.
The necklace's glow faded, then she sat up to look around.
Not wasting any time, Ella was about to turn back to the water she came from when Alessandra emerged soaked with her dark wings dragging and eyes wild.
Both stared at each other.
When a lullaby howled through the halls once again.
"Bloody hell, just fuck off!" said Ella.