Galactic High

“No, I don’t care what Izadora says.” Soren rolled his eyes at his brother after having quickly given orders to his troops. “We’re not going to just abandon our gains here. We’ll just order the ships to return on full burn once they’re done here. How many of us can you portal to the compound?”

“A portal of that distance? I can hold it for a minute at best once created, and it’ll take a few minutes to cast as well,” Kravel grudgingly admitted.

“That shall be enough to get us and our best troops over there much quicker.” Soren nodded. “Begin the ritual and call us the moment it’s completed.”

“I can assist you,” Svaartal offered, but Kravel scoffed and shook his head.

“No, focus on buffing us and our bodyguards; We’ll need to repel the attack with heavy force. Perhaps you can redeem yourself that way,” the House Wizard snapped at him.

“Don’t worry about him.” Soren patted him on the shoulder. “He’ll come around, certainly his new acquisitions will keep him busy." He then turned around to speak to one of the other Mal'Kar officers, a thin, lanky male in a brown hood, twin chakrams within easy reach at his waist. "Jizziel, you're in command when we're gone. I expect you to finish here promptly and return home to reinforce our troops from the skies. Do that, and I shall sponsor your ascension to the Inner Circle."

"Consider it done, Soren." The cocky acolyte grinned, fingering a religious symbol of one of the drow gods around his neck. "By Yochashi's grace, these scum will not delay us."

"See that they don't," Soren sternly told the officer.

"Alright, my mechs are all here," Dextra called out as the last of the hulking metal monsters lined up in formation.

"Good. Start casting," Soren ordered Svaartal, and the Nirah did so, conjuring some minor shield and divination spells on their strike force, prioritising the officers, though making sure Braska and Yixx weren't affected, only casting a complex enough arcane mark to act as a placebo.

"Kravel is nearly done, whatever happens, rush in and do not block the portal," Soren ordered the troops. "We shall get as many as we can though before the spell dissipates, using our mech troops as mobile cover. Be prepared to immediately engage hostile forces and eliminate them! Wrath and Ruin!"

"Wrath and Ruin!" the troops roared back, raring to go.

Svaartal didn't join in the battle cry. He had never even heard of anybody openly attacking House Mal'Kar before. How bad would this get? Would he have to get to Svaarti and flee?

"Move! Now!" Kravel yelled out, and as one the drow forces rushed forward. Svaartal slinked up Dextra's mech and held on as she followed the vanguard. One moment, Svaartal felt a cool breeze on his face, and the next he was battered by rain, drowned out by the roaring sound of gunfire.

They emerged into the main courtyard of the House Mal'Kar complex to a scene of chaos. Immediately, the acrid stench of ozone and melted flesh assailed their nostrils, and Svaartal could see drow soldiers on the battlements, desperately holding back a tide of…something.

“They’ve taken the outer bastion! Reinforce the walls while I find out what’s going on!” Soren ordered all of them, as he dashed off to find someone in charge.

Not being told anything more detailed than that, Svaartal blinked up to the wall and got into cover, summoning his crossbow as he saw a drow across from him take a plasma bolt to the face, ripping her skull in two as she was instantly taken down. Many, many more shots disappeared as they smacked into the magical barrier that covered the Mal’Kar compound, but as it weakened, more and more shots were getting through.

Svaartal summoned a small hand mirror using his dimensional rift and carefully held it out to take a look at their attackers. It did not look good. The mob of gangers that had been whipped up into a frenzy by Commander Cocaine was vast and clearly ready for action, as several brawls broke out among the crowd and white powder was liberally thrown into the air. As for the Commander himself, however, Svaartal couldn’t spot them, though he thought he could see a few distinct figures in the crowd that were out of range of his spells.

“Target the officers or anyone that looks like they’re in charge, and this mob of inferiors will run like the dregs they are!” Kravel snarled out at the remaining troops. “Guard me while I raise these failed excuses for drow!”

“Alright boyz!” a voice yelled out from the back of the mob, and Svaartal turned his mirror to spot the speaker, a huge, hulking green brute carrying some kind of gigantic club. He waited a moment for silence from the crowd, and upon obviously not getting it, bellowed “Oi! Da lot of ya, shaddup! HashBash iz talkin! We got some word-smithz 'ere to roast dese puny defendaz! Giv em a cheer!”

The crowd immediately roared and turned around, even as the freshly rallied drow unloaded on the mob below them. Svaartal didn’t even think to try and shoot HashBash with his sniper rifle, partly knowing that it would expose him, but also partly because he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

On a rooftop in the opposing district, several ‘Cocaine Crusaders’ held out some torches as two individuals Svaartal couldn’t make out too well stepped into the light. They seemed to be wearing some kind of pink accessories, and looked to be grey, furry mammalians of some kind.

“Yo! Listen!” one of them yelled out.

“Whazzup drow pussies? You’re the Master Race? The Cocaine Crusaders will fuck up your space!” the other rapped, and Svaartal felt a buzz of energy over the area. He had heard of magically enchanted music, but he had rarely seen it in action. Though the crappy lyrics of the bardic mockery had no effect on him, he could see a few of the drow shake their heads, clearly demoralised.

“OOOOOOH!” the crowd cheered, as the rappers continued.

“The Cocaine Crusaders are the kings of the street! We’re gonna wreck your shit and hand you defeat!”

The crowd jeered again and started returning fire at the drow on the walls, who took more casualties as the soldiers were affected by the bardic performance.

“This ugly ass fortress smells like Zorn saliva! Oh, wait, that’s Izadora’s va-”

“Kill them!” Izadora yelled in rage as she marched out onto the battlefield, Soren hurrying after her, with a squad of soldiers having been quickly brought together. “Artillery, take aim at that building! Blast it to the ground!”

Several crews on the secondary walls shook themselves out of their stupor as they worked to obey their mistress, before the air was filled with an ear-splitting cacophony of high-pitched whines as the Mal’Kar Void Cannons ripped into the building the rappers had been performing on, who wisely stopped their performance and ran for their lives, even as the drugged up mob intensified their attack.

The magical barrier, strong as it was, began to show more dire signs of strain. Arcane sigils, acting as the barrier's anchors, started to flicker and wane. The pulsating rhythm of the shield grew more erratic, matching the wild intensity of the gangers' onslaught, before suddenly, with a sound like breaking glass, the barrier shattered into millions of ethereal fragments. An eerie silence, lasting no more than a heartbeat, blanketed the battlefield, before their attackers gave a triumphant and deafening roar.

“Alrighty y’all!” Svaartal spotted an avian with the shiniest white feathers he had ever seen yell out to the excited mob. “To be the boss, you gotta beat the boss, so seek and destroy! First one to get in there and take out the Matriarch gets a lifetime supply of cocaine! WOOOOOOOO!”

“WOOOOOO!” the crowd echoed back as they surged forward.

“This does not bode well, master,” Carrow told him, stating the obvious.

“The compound still has a sizable force - they’re likely mustering now, but they’re being slow about it. We've just got to stall our attackers for now while our Patrons get their shit together!” Svaartal reasoned, before, without warning, a series of loud booms rocked the wall, causing the Nirah to stagger as massive chunks of metal and chrome were blown apart, sending plumes of dust and debris into the sky.

Coughing through the dust, he looked around. The explosions had created a massive breach in the wall, large enough for two mechs to march through side by side. Through the smoke and haze, crazed gangers poured into the compound, their war cries signalling the compound's imminent doom.

“Fuck…” Svaartal groaned as he straightened up. “Cover me while I cast!”

Carrow did so, flying high and cast a spell of his own, summoning several orbs of flame that slowly orbited around him, an effect that was copied onto Svaartal due to their familiar bond. The Nirah recognised the spell, and knew that he could send the fiery missiles towards a target at will. A weak spell, but still useful.

‘Naszhevah!’ Svaartal growled, quickly breaking cover to point his wand at the mob below, shooting out a ball of greyish-brown mist that detonated and quickly expanded, causing many of the gangsters to scream in agony as the horrific wilting gas ripped the moisture from anything it touched.

Though he had cast one of his most powerful spells and had bought the defenders some time, Svaartal groaned as he saw it dissipate as quickly as it had arrived, confirming the presence of enemy wizards, as the mob simply climbed over the bodies his spell had left behind.

Suddenly, a wall of darkness shot out in front of him, heavily obscuring his vision as the same wall extended all along the primary wall. He could still perceive well enough through his natural darkvision, but he could barely make out anything distinct.

“Gunners to the walls!” Izadora snarled, as Svaartal realised the Drow had better darksight than he did. “You can see through the cover, use it and thin their ranks!”

“They’ve got wizards employing countermagic!” Svaartal yelled out, as the Matriarch used her dark clerical powers to summon shadowy tentacles from the ground to lash out at the attackers

“Damn! They’re disrupting my undead!” Kravel snarled. “Still, they can’t counter everything!”

“No, they can’t,” Svaartal agreed, as he summoned the staff of Devil’s Daughter, channelling hellfire to scorch the ground in front of the breach. He couldn’t see how effective it was, but as long as he could sort-of see the ground, he had a target.

“WE’RE ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN! YEAH!” he heard the loud, booming voice of Commander Cocaine from somewhere beyond, which was met by more cheers from the crowd. Still, they were able to hold the breach, as Svaartal saw several of the drow mechs unload into the bottleneck, stalling the attack, with Soren organising disciplined firing lines that held back the screaming horde.

“To the breach! We shall massacre this filth!” he heard a voice cry out. It was one of the house females but not Izadora. Peering through the smoke, Svaartal spotted Vaetrix and Ull leading several heavily armoured veteran drow to the front lines. “Prepare to counterattack!”

“This is much more like it,” Carrow quipped to Svaartal, noting that both of the senior drow were ready for battle in the finest drow-forged heavy plate armour. “Ready, master?”

“Always,” the Nirah replied with a determined nod, before blinking down to ground level as Vaetrix gave orders to nearby officers while more squads piled into the courtyard, before Izadora conjured a platform of solid shadowstuff to stand on and address the troops.

“The ignorant and the blind have dared to trespass on our sacred domain!” The Matriarch snarled “They seek to challenge the might of the drow, of House Mal’Kar! They think to try to desecrate our halls, and to question the superiority of our race!”

Izadora’s voice, dripping with scorn, echoed over the chaotic sounds of the mob outside, obviously enhanced by the drow’s magic. The atmosphere grew heavy, charged with the raw power of anticipation. “Are we not the Master Race that is destined to rule the galaxy? Do they not fear our power? Their foolish audacity stems from their ignorance! They know not the depths of our cunning, the strength of our resolve, or the potency of our vengeance!”

The drow and their allies gripped their weapons tighter, rearing for the order to charge out and bring retribution to Commander Cocaine.

“They may have numbers, but we possess the skill, the strategy, and the power to see our will be done! All shall remember the fury of House Mal’Kar, and all shall whisper our name in fear for generations to come! Charge! Leave none alive!”

As Izadora’s words cascaded like thunder across the compound, a deafening roar erupted from the throats of thousands of drow, their voices melding into a singular battle cry that promised doom to any who dared oppose them, as the gates opened, and the soldiers rushed out to bring the fight to the mob outside.

Recognising Dextra’s mech by the custom parts, Svaartal blinked up to behind the cockpit to avoid getting caught up in the charge of the bipedal drow, taking the opportunity to rest behind some mobile cover.

“Credit where it’s due, Izadora can make an effective speech.” Dextra sighed, knowing it was Svaartal who had just hitched a ride without turning in her seat. “Though she still didn’t see this coming. Stay on my back and cover my blind spots!”

“Of course she didn’t see it coming, our attackers are high on cocaine!” Svaartal snorted in amusement as Dextra piloted her mech through the breach. “And copy that!”

“Target officers and enemy mages,” Vaetrix called out to the troops, as she led the spearhead, clashing with the mob that was determined to bring them down. “They’re the ones organising these scum, but I want the leader for myself!”

“Better her than me,” Dextra quipped as she spun up her mech’s Arc Spitter. “My mech’s hooked up to less-lethal weaponry from the raid and I can’t exactly change it like a new set of clothes!”

“As long as they’re out of the fight, I suspect it won’t matter,” Svaartal pointed out, as he could see Kravel in the distance engage a group of Cocaine Crusaders that attempted to surround the House Wizard, before they quickly summoned the spectre of a dark skull that shot out and exploded in between them, blasting the attackers with waves of negative energy, while the necromancer used his black flames to incinerate any left standing. Elsewhere on the battlefield, he spotted Soren engaging a trio of witches, lashing out at one that had begun casting with his whip, taking a massive chunk of her jaw off before she collapsed to the ground, drowning in her own blood.

“They’re either super brave or super stupid, I don’t think they’re gonna break that easily,” Dextra retorted as she spun up her Force Maul in her mech’s other fist and lashed out with a horizontal swipe, sending several fleeing gangers to smack into the district wall, motivating the rest to scatter and flee. “Look there!”

Svaartal looked towards where Dextra had indicated with a nod of the mech’s head, spotting Vaetrix engaging a particularly dense portion of the mob, flanked by Ull. Despite facing two of House Mal’Kar’s most powerful combatants, the mob kept on coming, spurred on by the bright white avian spokesman, who appeared to be spurring on the gangers with some kind of clerical power. Ull stepped forward and did…something that Svaartal could not identify, that instantly caused most of the mob to immediately flee, with the exception of the avian, who resisted the effect and quickly pulled some white powder out of his pale robe, burying his face and giving it a good sniff before mockingly strutting up to the two drow.

“WE’RE IN TOWN FOR A PARTY BITCH! WOOOOOOO!” the avian bellowed, before Vaetrix stepped forward, her spiked black plate armour and billowing midnight cloak taking on a strikingly dark purple hue as she channelled an aura of Graviton power, lifting up the white bird by his neck, causing them to choke pathetically for a moment, before they were telekinetically pulled forward to impale himself on the drow’s now glowing indigo blade.

But she wasn’t done.

Muttering some words under her breath, Vaetrix then raised her offhand and clenched it into a fist as she channelled the power of a black hole, manipulating the local gravity to pull the panicking mob of screaming attackers to her. Flourishing her blade in a practised stance, she began slicing, chopping and decimating all of the unfortunates caught in the maelstrom of graviton power, until none stood before her. Quickly making a motion with her arms, Vaetrix’s aura of indigo light shifted to a blazing, burning neon orange as she led her troops out of sight.

“Well damn,” Dextra commented. “Guess we’d better catch up! My scanners are showing the mob blanketing at least a radius of five districts out, it’s huge!”

“You had better get moving then.” Svaartal shrugged in jest, getting comfortable from his position on Dextra’s mech, with Carrow perched on his shoulder. “You should really install a chair for this thing.”

“An ejector seat maybe…” the drow scoffed.

*****

“There he is! Straight ahead!” Carrow informed his master from the skies, as they emerged into a wide open field with little cover.

“STEP INTO THE DANGER ZONE! YEAH!” Commander Cocaine yelled, as the drow forces converged on his position from multiple angles, setting up portable cover as firing lines immediately engaged them. Much of the mob had been encouraged to redirect themselves away from House Mal’Kar to cause trouble elsewhere in the city, though Izadora had given explicit orders to eliminate Commander Cocaine, his top officers and any foolish enough to stand in their way.

Credit where credit was due, Commander Cocaine had given them hell, setting up an effective fighting retreat, to the point where the question was raised to allow the Cocaine Crusaders to flee the area, but was denied by the majority. They had taken losses, but the loss of face could not be tolerated when there were powerful rivals making plays in the city.

Commander Cocaine looked every bit ready for battle, the hulking aquatic warrior in highly durable, high-tech power armour, without a helmet, instead donning his usual pair of oversized goggles and a bandanna. At his side he held what looked like a heavy-duty halberd, and a massive long-gun attached to his armour with brackets for support.

“Charge! Bring him down! Make him suffer!” Izadora yelled, as the drow troops surged forward, though Svaartal could see signs of protest here and there, most notably from Ull and Vaetrix, though Dextra had no such reservations.

Suddenly, the booming voice of HashBash could be heard over the chaos.

“Thought ya haz us, did ya?” the brute taunted. “Thought we wuz runnin? Come out boyz! Hit 'em hard, Hit 'em fast and give 'em plenty of Dakka!”

Suddenly from the walls of the district behind the retreating mob, several squads of outfitted gangers revealed themselves and set up firing lines, quickly unloading into the charging drow.

“Damn, we’re committed now!” Dextra lamented. “All mech units! Advance carefully and give our troops some cover! Deploy nanowalls!”

“Shit,” Svaartal grumbled under his breath as he rapidly cast several protection spells in quick succession to cover them both from the ‘dakka’, as Commander Cocaine suddenly charged forward and leapt high in the air, before slamming into the closest mech and knocking it down, finishing it with a powerful strike from his halberd.

“That’s not good!” Dextra gasped in panic. “I’ve gotta engage him, can you try and thin out the shooters closest to us? Dropships are nearly back, and I’ve marked their targets!”

“On it.” Svaartal sighed, knowing better than to argue as he quickly cast an invisibility spell on himself, summoned his jetpack, and took to the skies, shooting towards the roof of the closest building before anyone had any idea he was on his way. He looked back towards the main battle as the mob suddenly lurched forward again, inspired by their leader as the lines clashed, invigorated by a second wind.

Svaartal got higher and higher, as he saw Commander Cocaine make his stand against House Mal’Kar’s forces. He didn’t see a way out for the crazy drugged-up warrior, though he did respect them for having the balls to attack the drow that were now circling around the aquatic leader. He saw Braska at the forefront advancing towards the kill, waiting for the right opportunity to-

“YEAH!”

Commander Cocaine suddenly yelled out, sending Braska and the nearby drow flying back violently into their comrades with a blast of unrelenting telekinetic force! What was that? Their intel reports did not suggest that Commander Cocaine was a mage, it was like he just…shouted.

Reinvigorated by the stand of their Commander, more of his loyal troops rallied to protect him, even as Svaartal saw Vaetrix advancing his way.

“You will suffer for trespassing in our territory, fool!” Vaetrix snarled as drow troops parted to allow their Mistress to lead from the front.

“YOU CAN’T TAKE ME BITCH! BECAUSE I’M WILD! YEAH!” Commander Cocaine retorted, as he laid down a spread of heavy fire with his turbocharged plasma sprayer, forcing Vaetrix to summon a glowing wall of heat that absorbed the impacts, but prevented anyone from advancing.

“Master! Look out!” Carrow warned, and the Nirah quickly ducked from a blue ray of arcane power sent his way, though curiously, it didn’t appear to have been shot from the ground….

“So…we meet at last, Svaartal,” a voice snarled in the sky. Svaartal expended his magical senses to get a rough idea of where the attacker was, turning around to where he thought they were. “Did you really think you could escape punishment for your crimes?”

Svaartal thought for a moment. The voice was male and a little nasally, and he did think he recognised it from somewhere, but who was it? One of the Red Legion aspirants that wanted to work for him? Surely not…

“It is clear you have the advantage,” Svaartal replied, as he silently directed Carrow to flank the mystery man. “For I haven’t a clue who you are.”

“But you will, Serpent!” the voice snarled, before several magic missiles were shot his way.

Location found.

“Skaalp!” Svaartal yelled, sending a disruptor knife flying out towards the source of the magic missiles, and was rewarded with a high-pitched yelp of pain as the form of his invisible attacker was revealed. It was a medium-sized, overweight-looking being with pinkish-brown fur, a long cone-like trunk, huge grey bulbous eyes and thin, spindly arms, not looking too different from the last time Svaartal had seen them, though now wearing a set of poorly fitted black robes, a dark staff with a few minor enchantments, and an intricate wooden mask, shaped into that of a Devilspawn’s face.

“HAH!” Svaartal snorted in amusement. “I know who you are now, I saw your video! Am I supposed to call you ‘DevilLover69’ or ‘The Supreme Gentleman’”?

“My name is unimportant!” The mage snarled. “You defeated Devil’s Daughter, and honour demands that you die for it! I told you I’d see you on the streets punk, but I’ll settle for the skies!”

“You think you can do better than she did?” Svaartal deadpanned to the terrified-looking fan. “Flee. I don’t have the time for you.”

“Never! I trained for you!” the mage yelled through his fear as he quickly cast a spell, shooting out a dazzling array of flashing, coloured lights from his hands in an attempt to temporarily blind the Nirah, who was able to shield his eyes from the attempt. The mage, who looked like he was struggling from staying in the air, moved back as he began drawing on his power for another spell, casting a flaming sphere that he shot out towards the Nirah, before it exploded in a fireball, causing Svaartal to quickly summon a shield that absorbed the worst of it, though it sent him spinning through the air.

Quickly righting himself, Svaartal could see the enemy mage fly after him as quickly as possible, perceiving an opening. Swiftly thrusting his hands forward, the Nirah placed an invisible Wall of Force right in front of him, which the mage smashed into like a bug on a windshield, before he then fell from the sky and slammed down on one of the rooftops overlooking the battle. Several gangsters who were firing down on the battlefield immediately noticed the development and moved to support ‘DevilLover69’.

"Terralika!" Svaartal growled, pointing his wand down on the roof, blasting a green globe of acid which detonated and showered the unfortunate gangers in a corrosive torrent, though their shielding mostly held up.

“Shoot ‘im outta da sky, boyz!” one of the gangers yelled in warning, before Svartal cast a fireball that blew the gangers apart, even blasting several off the building to crash onto the battlefield below. Seeing that there were still some left alive, Svaartal deactivated his jetpack to fall to the ground, using his Ring of Featherfall to land safely, before summoning the staff of Devil’s Daughter as Carrow comfortably landed on his shoulder. Using the power of the staff to split-cast a Scorching Ray, he dispatched the remaining gangers, leaving only the mage who had just enough fight left to cast a basic elemental shield.

“For someone that’s never been in combat before, you’ve done surprisingly well,” Svaartal complimented the mage, despite the situation. “If it’s any consolation for you, she’s probably still alive. I took the staff, but I cannot confirm if I took her life. Now get out of here.”

“No! Fuck you!” The mage shakily pulled themselves to their feet. “Devil’s Daughter fought to try and make this city a better place! I’ve come to pick up the torch even if it kills me! All the time people mock me for following her and spreading the word, but the Emerald King showed me the way! I CAN stand up to evil, just like she did! Myranzi!”

“Shri’ak!” Svaartal retorted, having been ready for it, obliterating the misguided mage.

He sighed in relief as he saw the fleet of drow ships arriving and opening fire on the enemy positions, causing the squads to break and run away. He slithered to the edge of the rooftop, looking for anything else he needed to do, but saw nothing, except the battle ending.

He had known that Commander Cocaine had ordered a general retreat, and despite the tenacity of the drow counterattack, he had managed to preserve the bulk of his forces as the drow focused on him. Despite that, however, Commander Cocaine and his elite troops had managed to hold their ground as he saw Vaetrix and Ull engaged in fierce combat with the man, who grinned widely at seeing that his troops had made it out.

“I’M TOO HOT TO HANDLE! YEAH!” Commander Cocaine yelled, as an explosion detonated at his feet, blasting his drow adversaries away, before he turned around and ran away at high speed.

“Catch him! I want him dead!” Izadora yelled, but it was not to be, as Svaartal sat on the edge of the building and observed the madness below.

Svaartal was amused to see the form of Braska be attended to by drow medics, the Balnath having been completely rekt by Commander Cocaine. He swore he could even hear her groans of pain all the way from the roof he was on! It almost brought a damn tear to his eye, until his mind went back to what Braska had done earlier that night…

*****

“Overall things went well, but Kravel’s probably gonna bitch to Izadora about what happened with Braska, as you technically did interfere with her revenge, so it has jeopardised the deal she made with us,” Dextra told Svaartal as they lounged in the Mal’Kar armoury, staying out of the way while drow troops busied themselves with dealing with repairs, wounded and newly captured slaves. “Why did you even get so heated up?”

“Why? She gunned down the fucking children!” Svaartal snarled. “They weren’t combatants! They were captured civilians!”

“So?” Dextra shrugged nonchalantly. “We lose a little bit of cash on selling them to a rich pervert, but it’s not like we can’t afford the loss even if we just took a massive attack. We’re still coming out of this with a decent payoff, and Braska’s proven herself as a wrecking ball! You think a couple of shitty ganger kids of no consequence stand up in worth to a powerful juggernaut like Braska? Relax!”

Svaartal just stood there in silence, carefully regulating his breathing, and not dignifying what Dextra was saying with a response. Even if he did, he knew it wouldn’t end well for him.

“Aww come on, you haven’t gone soft on us, have you?” Dextra asked teasingly, wrapping both of her arms around the Nirah. “Sure, I get that you‘re a bit of a perfectionist and achieve the best results you can, but you don’t exactly need to worry about any reprisal from the Inner Circle, so don’t worry! Maybe you should come relax with me instead…”

“I…” Svaartal began. “No, I need to clear my mind, and Izadora has requested my presence tonight, once her…arrangements have been settled.”

“Yeah, I guess she’ll probably run you ragged.” Dextra chuckled. “Come on, you can stay with me for a bit, we can have some fun before-”

Both Svaartal and Dextra suddenly snapped their heads around in shock as the door they were leaning next to opened, and the figure standing in the doorway looked at them with a very confused expression, leaning on their staff for support.

“Svaartal?” Svaarti asked, eyes wide in shock as she staggered into the room. “What’s going on? Where am I?”