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  It was a misstep to mention the developers. "The saints are no more," I offered in concession.

  "Yet the crusaders and catechists fight on."

  "They were also directed by the saints, but no longer. They have free will now, just like me and you."

  Azzyrk surveyed his men as he pondered my words. "You are free to follow your own gods. The horde will follow theirs. Orik will make his way to us, and his will be a wild and mighty rage."

  The wild king cocked his head. Izzy stood with crossed arms. Dune muttered under his breath. Vagram's expression was openly hostile, but even he refrained from speaking. The success of this venture was hinging on me.

  I paced into the space before the lizard and casually drew my dragonspear. Murmurs spread throughout the onlooking goblins. Murmurs closely followed by spits and curses.

  "There was a time," I called out, voice cutting through the mire, "that I meant to use this on you." The general's eyes narrowed. "There was a time I used it on Orik."

  Goblins gnashed their teeth and beat the ground. "Titanslayer!"

  "Those times may come again," I continued undeterred. I deftly twirled the spear in my grip. "But I do not seek those moments." I faced Azzyrk straight on. "I'll defend myself against Orik again if I have to. If he comes for me."

  The general chortled. "That's likely to be sooner than later."

  I cocked my head. "I think you'd be surprised at his destination. Orik the Mighty isn't returning home to the Godsbog. Oh, he'll enter the holy ground all right, but only on the way to his master at Oakengard."

  "That's preposterous. Pagans can't enter—" The general's breath caught. He flinched backward ever so slightly and paused to mull it over. The pagan ban on entering cities only applied during saintly control. Hadrian possessing the Crystal Core nullified that protection.

  "Orik can enter Oakengard," I insisted. "He's already tried. The cyclops demolished the Pantheon after failing to access its fast travel." Whether that bit was true or not was impossible to know for sure, but it sure made my point. With as fast as word traveled, Azzyrk was sure to have heard of the Mighty One's destruction.

  The experienced general worked sharp teeth together. "Where is the Eye?" he demanded. "Who holds it?"

  My lips crooked in a modest show of advantage. "You mean... Hadrian didn't return it to the people after he stole it?"

  Azzyrk's eyes flared. His painted face grew even more red with rage. "The Whisperer holds the Eye?" He turned to Theoderic. "Is this true, king?"

  The ruler sighed before responding. "Know I only what mine eyes see, and see I only what mine heart knows."

  The general's lizard turned southward. Azzyrk fumed at the mountain range, as if his will was enough to bring the distant fortress into focus. "That scheming human conniver!"

  I pressed in his moment of anger. "What do you think will happen when Orik sets foot in Oakengard? Will the Whisperer kindly hand over the eye and bid the cyclops on his way? Will the Mighty One bend the knee to Hadrian's will, an endeavor even the boggart witches failed at? No, you're clever enough to work out the only shot Hadrian has of controlling a god. You can guess Orik's fate."

  "Hadrian means to infect him with the plague." The goblin general scowled at his people. "He means to take control of a god. Of our god."

  "There's a reason he styles himself a god emperor." I stepped close enough to feel the hot breath of the lizard mount. "We need to stop Orik from reaching Oakengard, or he won't be Orik anymore. He'll be an unstoppable weapon, aimed even at you."

  The general's lips curled. "So it is that humans enter a holy place for a holy cause. You mean to stop the titan at the Godsbog."

  "If that's what it takes. I come to you with no tricks, no lies. I don't fight for the titans, but I fight for the people." I produced the Squid's Tooth and held it in sight of the horde. "And in the name of the people, I mean to destroy these."

  "Would your cities not suffer?"

  "The world suffers with them. I don't worry about the loss of the soulstones. Saintly control is gone anyway. Our cities will prosper. We can all fend for ourselves."

  General Azzyrk looked over his horde and idly chattered his teeth. "And here I thought the pagans would enjoy a mighty charge this day."

  "You won't attack us then?"

  "Most of you are my kith. I don't seek war with the wildkins. And although I don't know how much faith to put in your words, I know how much Hadrian's are worth."

  The tension in my shoulders eased. "Will you fight with us?"

  "We'll fight for the Mighty One," he stressed. "And the All Mother. And the Lurking Deep. If your people will do the same, we'll allow them passage."

  "That's great!" I said, honestly completely surprised. Azzyrk was harsh and grumpy and his lizard was really disgusting to be around, but the encounter was turning into a breath of fresh air. "We'll need an alliance," I said. "Another armistice isn't enough. We need to ensure mutual support. Just as with all cooperating factions."

  The general studied the leaders present and gave a sharp nod. "You'll have your alliance."

  I was stupefied silent. After a moment, I fumbled into my faction controls to request it.

  "Not so fast," barked the general. Azzyrk put one leg over the other and slid off his saddle. "The moment you stuck that titanslayer into Orik's eye, I swore a blood feud with you." He drew a jagged scimitar from the lizard's saddle bag and squared with me. "The Black Hats can have an alliance after I've extracted my pound of flesh."

  2060 Combat

  The mass of goblins chittered and jumped and jawed as the circle surrounding us constricted. Ogres pushed forward to act as enforcers. Theoderic reverently backed away with his people.

  "Uh," muttered Izzy, "what does everyone think they're doing right now?"

  I gripped the dragonspear tight, eyes on the perimeter. "Tell me you're not serious about this, Azzyrk."

  "Dead serious. And so you'll be. This is a duel to the death."

  Vagram and the clerics held weapons forward as the pagan horde converged. Dune's bow was nocked.

  I threw my hand up to appease the catechists. "Wait." The goblins moved in hungrily, beady eyes on me. I again appealed to the general. "What does this accomplish? We mean to fight together. Our people need us."

  Azzyrk shrugged. "Can't be helped."

  "This is exactly what Hadrian wants."

  "This is what I want," he spat. "And what you want. An alliance, right? These are my terms." The goblin general scraped a hand across the flat of the scimitar, applying some type of poison. He pulled the lizard's reins around and slapped its hindquarters. The beast lumbered to the sidelines.

  "Does it need to be to the death?" I hedged. "A respawn doesn't help either of us right now."

  "It'll be you who respawns. And it can't be helped. You need to fight if you want peace. A few drops of blood will avoid a bath."

  I groaned in defiance to the logic. But I wasn't blind. The horde was hungry. I imagined their endless marches, their lengthy sieges and struggles at Stronghold's massive walls, their panicked scrambling from a flying dragon. They finally had an enemy right in front of them. I scanned the crowd of priests. I wondered where the wildkins would fall in.

  "And you'll agree to the alliance after the duel? Just you and me, and everyone else marches together?"

  The general impatiently tested the weight of his weapon. "That's what I said, didn't I?"

  "We're not letting you fight alone," stressed Izzy.

  Dune nodded. "It's risky. He's a red mob."

  I considered the general. Mob colors were consistently accurate indicators of strength. Azzyrk was red when I'd first encountered him. It was impressive that, as much as I'd leveled since then, he was still red. But I'd killed reds before, and the dragonspear had a 15% damage bonus against pagans.

  The circle around us had tightened to fifty feet, lined mostly by goblins and ogres. The wildkins had backed out behind the line. The adamant priests stood their ground on
the outskirts and served as a portion of the wall. Izzy and Dune stood with me.

  I squared up to Azzyrk. "I agree," I said.

  "Not a chance," snapped Izzy. "If you fight, I fight."

  "Then you'll resign everyone here to picking a side and fighting to the death."

  "We could take them."

  I stepped close and rested a comforting hand on her arm. "It's not about who would win. We need these soldiers—both sides. We need to set an example of what we're willing to lay on the line to make things right." My gaze strayed from her and fixed on Vagram in the distance. "We will stand together."

  "Come on, Izzy," said Dune. "We'll be right here." He moved toward the crowd. "For the Black Hats."

  She swallowed, angry eyes fixed on me. "For the Black Hats."

  The ranger pointed at my weapon with a smile. "Dibs on the dragonspear if you go down."

  I rolled my eyes and pointed the spear at Azzyrk. Its reach overpowered that of his curved sword by a ridiculous margin. "Have at me then," I said plainly.

  The general showed his teeth and advanced. His approach was cautious, at an angle to my driving arm. The arena was spacious enough that I could backtrack and spin away from his steps, keeping him firmly at my head.

  He tested me with a slash. The jagged teeth off his blade raked off the smooth spear. He readied a counter but I didn't bite, choosing instead to plant my feet as he did.

  "What's the matter with you?" he growled in annoyance. "Don't you want blood?"

  "Not why I'm here," I told him.

  "It's the only way this ends."

  I hiked a shoulder playfully. "Maybe you'll get tired."

  His scimitar struck my weapon again. This time the goblin ducked the spear and drove it up with his free hand while he charged under my guard. I flipped the dragonspear overhead, planted it in the ground behind me, and vaulted clear over the short leader. I landed in the mud fifteen feet from him, spinning and resuming the standoff.

  Azzyrk snorted. "You're a slippery one."

  My spider boots squished on the spongy moss. "This is a slippery place."

  The general smiled. "That it is."

  He charged me again with the same move. Slash, weapon control, charge. This time my boot got stuck in the backpedal. The moss of the Godsbog gave way more than before. By contrast, the goblin's steps were lighter than ever as his diminutive body pittered over the terrain. I did get my vault off but Azzyrk managed to graze my leg with his blade. I deftly landed and scanned for sturdier ground when I noticed the damage report.

  DoT: 150 dmg/15 secs

  My eyes widened at the unusually high damage affliction. I was facing fighting at half health if I didn't stop it. Caduceus raised her bone pick from the sideline.

  "No support!" snarled the general.

  I waved her off and popped a health vial. The smaller potion didn't heal as much, but it cured the poison and came with a much shorter cooldown time. Either way, I wouldn't be able to heal again during this duel. I soaked in the feeling as my health ticked back to max.

  "That's your one," he said drily.

  I clenched my jaw. "That's okay. I learn from my mistakes." Even if I did get hit again, I was hoping the poison didn't hit so hard on subsequent uses. Sometimes that was the way of things.

  Azzyrk and I continued our slow dance. This time I reserved extra attention to the terrain. Darkvision sharpened my night sight. A combination of my exploration and navigation skills assisted in choosing the sturdier portions of the bog. I could see it now. General Azzyrk wasn't just circling me, he was angling me onto softer ground. He was a more tactical fighter than I would've guessed. I supposed, at the very least, it showed he respected me as an opponent.

  As I backed nearer a marsh, I took my eyes off him for a second to scan my surroundings. Azzyrk batted my spear aside and charged. I readied the crossblock and triggered the skill as the scimitar came down. The blade clanged against my legendary weapon. The general reversed into a spin and I activated dash, shooting past him in the other direction. Azzyrk slashed empty air and growled as he fixed on me.

  "Fight me, you coward!" he demanded. "I'll not be toyed with."

  "I'm trying to prove my intentions here."

  "That you're an annoying brat?"

  "That I don't want to fight you."

  He grunted. "It doesn't matter what you want!"

  Azzyrk pressed a wild series of strikes. The dragonspear met each as I backed away. When he tried to slip underneath, I put my weight on the weapon and pushed his arm to the ground, plunging half the scimitar into the wet moss. We were stuck there a full second. It was enough time to reset my guard and hit him dead on, but I wasn't looking for that. I braced the spear downward, trying to force him to release the sword.

  Azzyrk fell forward to the ground, swinging on my spear with his free hand. From the lowered stance, he pulled his sword free, slashing through the soft ground. The jagged edge came up with strings of moss. As I attempted to yank my spear back, he used his weight on it to pull to his feet and lunge forward. With him behind the guard of my weapon, I triggered spinshield. An immediate whirlwind swept me around and deflected him away.

  The rebuffed goblin wiped his weapon clean and sneered. I wasn't really waiting for him to get tired, of course. I wasn't a coward, I wasn't toying with him, and even though he was growing angrier with every dodge, that wasn't my intention either. It was only when the pagan aurochs horns sounded that my strategy became clear.

  The horde chittered excitedly and the general's sharp brow creased. He pointed his sword at me. "You were stalling. You've sent for reinforcements."

  I kept my spear ready. "Haven't you been paying attention? We're in the middle of a war. You've surrounded the wildkins and catechists, but have you considered the rest of my army?"

  A goblin on the sideline wailed. "Tricksies human!" The mass of the horde shuffled and reoriented themselves. "They ambushes us!" cried another.

  In the distance, the banners of the Black Hat army caught the moonlight. The formations were haphazard in the uneven Godsbog, but my support was unflinchingly bearing down.

  "So your claims of peace were a ruse," spat Azzyrk. "A show of force won't sway us."

  As cunning as the general was, he wasn't very smart. I gritted my teeth. "The army's not here for the horde. We've been marching to Oakengard for two days. At worst I plan on passing through unmolested, but my intention is and always has been to recruit you."

  "And my intention is to satisfy the blood feud."

  He turned his back on me to assess the situation. I wondered if his guard was lowered enough for me to attempt my subdue skill. Then again, a submission hardly seemed an appropriate way to end a blood feud. He snapped his attention back to me, ending my deliberation.

  "Nothing changes then," he announced aloud. "If you're true to your word, I'll be true to mine. The horde will allow you safe passage." The general wiped the dirt from his blade on a fur leg guard. "But only once our business is done."

  The general rushed me again. Very reckless. All around us, soldiers were shuffling with panic and excitement and itching for a fight, and Azzyrk had decided to charge with blood in his eyes. He bashed my spear aside with hand and blade. I couldn't believe he was doubling down in the presence of a greater army. The surprise amounted to just enough indecision that he caught me flat on my feet. Instead of a graceful parry, I stumbled backward and activated crossblock.

  Only the general's wild swing was a feint. Without an actual weapon to deflect, my defensive stance did nothing but limit my reach. Azzyrk hopped to the side and struck his real blow low, once again slicing my leg.

  DoT: 45 dmg/15 secs

  Thankfully, forcing the scimitar through the muddy water had wiped most of the poison away. Azzyrk's lips pressed tight as he realized he wasn't gonna take me down with a DoT. Before he could react, I pulled my spear close and activated tornado spin.

  Unlike spinshield, this skill dealt damage. For once I was thankful it h
ad been nerfed. I hit the general with a series of painful slashes but the damage was minimal. Azzyrk glared at me and roared.

  That was okay. I was getting a little mad myself.

  "Apa! Apa!"

  A goblin girl broke through the circle. She had reddish-blonde hair, wore crude hide, and had a stone hammer slung over her back. It was Jixa, and she was yelling at General Azzyrk.

  "Apa! Yous no hurtses hims."

  The fierce general's scowl evaporated. "Luluberry? What are you doing here?"

  "Hereses is Black Hats. Jixa is Black Hats."

  "What?" The scimitar waved my way. "This is the Protector of the white city. I'm here to kill him."

  The girl slapped the chieftain in the face. "Talon giveses Jixa work. Giveses Jixa home. Jixa buildses the white city."

  Azzyrk and I blinked in disbelief, but for entirely different reasons. "Wait, wait, wait," I said. "Time out. Are you two related?"

  The goblin builder turned to me with a proud smile. "Jixa is the great General Azzyrk's daughter."

  Azzyrk massaged his cheek with a palm. "One of many daughters."

  She upturned her chin. "His favoriteses."

  Baz and the other Black Hat pagans pushed into the arena. The ogre's eyes lit up when he found Jixa again.

  "Uh," I started, unsure where to go from here. "Does this mean we should cancel the blood feud?"

  Jixa's face blanched. "Blood feud? Apa, youses embarrassing me in fronts of boss man. Blood feudses old fashioned. Only country goblinses make blood feuds. Jixa city goblin."

  "Kids these days," he chided. "No respect for the people or traditions that got you here. I can't just cancel a blood feud."

  "Sures you can! Talon willses give you blood gift. You callses off feud."

  "A gift?" I stammered.

  "Now, dear," noted the general in a fatherly tone, "a blood gift must be a meaningful expression of a kindred cause, as well as something the recipient greatly desires. There's no way the Protector of the white city knows what I want."