Pierce caught sight of a form in the doorway leading in from the antechamber. It looked like a woman in dark robes, with the jet-black skin of a supra-gen. She wasn't moving, but Pierce kept an eye on her.
"We've let him speak enough," said Ess. "It is time to claim your revenge, Scythia."
Pierce put a hand on his sword.
"Oh you've never liked me, have you, little witch?" Kash laughed. "Do it then, I'm getting tired of waiting."
"Why would she harbor any like of you?" Agrathor asked. "Why would anyone from Overland care for the Underlord?"
"Well she is supra-gen, for one thing," said Kash, "so she is not of Overland, not really. But no, her dislike of me is far more personal than you know."
"Kill him, Scythia," said Ess.
Pierce wondered at this. Ess already had Kash locked in place. Why wouldn't she do it? She was so fixated on Scythia doing it... He loosed his sword in its scabbard.
"She's never liked the fact that her sister married me," Kash said, smirking.
The supra-gen woman Pierce had seen in the doorway couldn't stand it anymore and rushed forward to Kash's side. Her eyes were wide. She was exceedingly beautiful, and she looked familiar.
"Ugrata!" Kash howled. "Go back!"
"Sister," she cried to Ess. "Please don't do this. If you would just speak with him calmly, honestly, you would understa-"
Her words were cut short as Ess drew a finger sharply across the air. A dark line appeared across Ugrata's throat, and it began to ooze thick purple blood. She clutched at the wound and fell to her knees. Kash roared. He strained at the enchantment that bound him.
"He may find a way out of it, Scythia," Ess hissed. "Do it now."
"Why did you..." Scythia stammered. "Was that really your sister?"
"I do not have a sister," Ess said, "any more than I retain my old name."
Pierce reflexively slid his sword partway out of its scabbard. He had the unmistakable intuition that he should strike Ess down now when she would not expect it. He could close the distance in a mere few seconds. She was not facing him and would not know to fold. It was irrational and surprising, and it contradicted everything his body felt about her. He studied her face and doubted. She must have had a reason for what she'd done.
Then why this intuition?
Scythia hesitated to strike Kash down, and in that moment, he broke free and sent her flying with an explosion of invisible force.
Pierce rushed Kash before anyone else could beat him to it. There was no forethought, just instinct and the release of a passion for justice that had been building since Pierce had learned of Kash's plans.
"Pierce!" Scythia and Agrathor called out. But they let him have the initiative for fear of friendly fire.
Pierce was in range and struck. Kash did not react to the bright flash of blue. A blade of leaf green light that had not been in his hand before parried the strike.
"Such passion!" Kash laughed. "Do you have grievances as well?"
Pierce wouldn't dignify torturers like this. He thrust, was parried, and countered. Kash's movements were effortless. He'd been doing this for at least five of Pierce's lifetimes.
Kash nearly killed him on the next strike. Only training and blessing pivoted him away from the bright green blade. It scored his chest plate deeply but did not reach his heart. Lightning ripped toward Kash from Pierce's right, but the Underlord casually deflected it into the floor with a bloom of green power in his offhand.
The distraction was still a help. Pierce struck, a blur of speed, and cut open Kash's shoulder. All of Ess's orbs spun into view nearby, buzzing around Pierce, but didn't strike Kash.
The Underlord said, "Enough," and gestured with his offhand.
The release of his power was a palpable thing, filling the room with an insubstantial thickness like gelatin. Pierce couldn't move. Everyone else seemed to be frozen as well, even Ess and her orbs.
Kash dissolved his wicked green blade into points of light at the tips of his long fingers, and he watched the power condense with a grin. Then he looked over at Ugrata. She had fallen on her side, blood still trickling out of her throat. Her eyes were dim. Kash's dark eyes flashed.
"It would have been nice to have Gorgonbane around for what is coming," he said. "I am truly disappointed that it came to this. It will be a quick death."
He raised his hand, fingers pointed at each of the others in the room. He released the thin points of green light and they shot through the air, but they dissolved into the aether before they could strike any of their targets.
"No," came a hearty, tenor voice. The room had grown lighter, whiter.
Pierce regained his movement and took a deep breath. The others followed suit. Kash was petrified again.
"About much, you are correct, Underlord," said the voice. A form materialized in front of Gorgonbane. It looked familiar. It was big.
"Yet you believe you may meet your goals by any means. You do your talents a disservice."
The voice belonged to a tall, burly man. He had clear skin and a wild shock of fiery red hair that flowed down into an equally wild beard. He was dressed in loose white clothes like military fatigues, cinched with a golden belt at the waist. An amulet of white stone hung around his neck, with a word written on it in a language Pierce couldn't read.
"Axebourne!" Scythia cried, and ran to him, wrapping him in her arms "You vagabond! You trickster! I thought I buried you!"
Axebourne laughed with real joy. "That would have been some prank, my love. You did bury me. I have returned."
Scythia stood back from him and eyed him suspiciously, almost playfully.
"How I've missed looks like that, my darling," he said. "I do not jest, though. I have walked the
