"I am sorry," Will started, and Illicia Silenced him with another kiss.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Will. We were betrayed." Illicia said, poison dripping from her voice at that statement.
"Yes, and they were dealt with." Will said, proffering his arm to Illicia, who took it, "Now I must be a good guest and go see our host. I have things to say to him."
Even Illicia shivered at the notes in Will's tone as he said that, but she walked arm-in-arm with him nonetheless, knowing full well that there was no safer place for her than at his side. They walked down the hall, and Will pushed open the doors to the hall where Mardok waited, sitting on the ancient throne that once belonged to a demon lord.
"Welcome, Princess Illicia; thank you for continuing to be my guest. Who is your escort? He seems rather strange; I see notes of Human, Orc, and Elf? But he has to be more than that. You are a special kind of mutt, aren't you?" Mardok said with a smile at Will.
"Hello, Mardok, you must be the pretend King of the Thieves that I have heard so much about," Will said.
"Well, I don't know about pretend, but I am the King of the Thieves."
"Well, of the two or three that will be left after today, maybe." Will said, "But you were never a King and never will be now. I intend to deal with you. And my grandparents will ensure your men outside die."
"You are the grandson of someone outside?" Mardok asked, seemingly unconcerned. "Well, I do hope they can figure out how to get through the isolation barrier before you die, young man."
"Oh, I am not worried." Will stepped forward. "I heard that you were making Illicia fight."
"Oh, I was," Mardok laughed, "every day I gave the little tart a choice to fuck or fight. She chose to fight every day. I have to say she surprised me, winning more often than not."
Illicia could feel every muscle in Will's arm tense. Will smiled. "Well, it sounds like I need to give you a choice then."
"Oh really, boy?" Mardok was amused, and it showed that he did not understand what was happening. "And what choice would that be."
"The oldest choice. One that is hardcoded into humans. Fight or Flight. You can fight or run. I would suggest running, but I don't imagine that you can outrun me. I know that you can't outfight me, so I will give you a different choice instead," Will had stepped forward from Illicia, and mana was gathering around him and welling up from inside him, "Do you wish to die slowly, painfully, or quickly and in agony."
Mardok wanted to laugh, but he could feel the mana that this boy was gathering. "You are the one who arrived and broke the gates? It was all you? I thought it was a group of mages working together."
"I don't need help," Will said and then plodded forward, his mana growing denser with every passing moment.
Mardok chuckled when Will stuck an invisible barrier. "You see, the demon lord who ruled this place had a last-stand spell that I was able to trigger. It makes it so the keep is isolated from the rest of the fortress, and the throne is isolated from the rest of the keep. You think that..."
Mardok's voice trailed off, and he began to sweat when Will stuck out a hand, closed his eyes, and then began to pump insane amounts of mana into the barrier; the barrier and the building itself seemed to shudder. Mana seeped out of the building, and the defensive spells flowed into Will, who was compressing the mana more and more into himself.
Mardok panicked and pulled up the hidden trap door at the foot of the throne, jumping down the escape hatch and running along a familiar tunnel. Will watched this happen calmly. Illicia was distraught, "He's getting away!"
Will chuckled as he felt the defensive spells shatter and absorb into him along with the residuals of the magical wave he had ridden here. "If these buildings are in the way, then they should simply VANISH."
Will spoke, and the world seemed to freeze for everyone in the keep and the entire fortress; at that moment, the stones of the buildings vibrated and then vanished. Those on walls fell to the ground. The ancient fortress of Gor'An Wat ceased to be. True to Will's intent, no subterranean structures were harmed, and Will led Illicia into the hole that was all that remained of the plinth the throne had been on.
[Got'Ro & Yilan]
The fight was going well. Will had shattered the gates, opening a way for the Gob'Ran to take the fortress when Orcs had fought tooth and nail to slay the Demon Lord, who was mutating their people into monsters. They were working to break the defenses that had been activated on the inner keep when the spells shattered, and an incredible amount of mana had rushed inward toward where Yilan detected Will.
"Will is doing something," Yilan said to her husband.
"That boy is always doing something," Got'Ro said, punching through the shield of a thief that had picked the wrong Orc to attack.
"No, he is..."
Yilan froze as did everyone at the sight of the ancient fortress, and the only thing that could be heard was a single word spoken in Will's voice, and it held enough power that many trembled to behold it.
"VANISH."
That was all that was said, and the world responded, removing the fortress and all its above-ground structures in an instant. Got'Ro looked at his wife, "Should we be worried, my dear?"
Yilan was pale, "I choose to ignore what I can not understand."
"Understood," Got'Ro turned to yell at those under his command and began rounding up the thieves and bandits one by one.
Yilan saw Will and Illicia disappear into a tunnel and smiled, glad she had called in the favor she was owed.
[Will and Illicia]
Will walked with Illicia behind him down the tunnel. Two voices could be heard in the distance.
"What do you mean, you stupid dwarf!" Mardok screeched.
"I mean that you have angered the wrong people, stupid wanna-be king." A nighthammer dwarf replied. "The last of the Gilsheribrum has called in a favor. We are not to help you. I came to collect what was due from you and to terminate our agreement."
Will smiled as he listened while he walked, reminding himself to buy his grandmother something nice. Mardok spoke again, panic rising in his voice. "You fear this Gilsheribrum more than me?!"
"Infinitly so." The Dwarf said, "You might kill one of us; she would kill all of us. And to hear it said her grandson is a monster, unlike anything you have ever seen."
Will chose that moment to step out from the last corner of the tunnel. "Well, I don't know that I'm what I would call a monster."
The Nighthammer dwarf took one look at Will and Illicia, and his eyebrows shot up. "It's you, lass!"
"Hello again, Mr. Dwarf," Illicia said with a tired smile.
Mardok let out a frustrated scream. "Take me away from here this instant!"
The Dwarf looked at Mardok, and then looked at Will, and then turned his back on Mardok. Will moved and had his hand around the neck of the wanna-be King of Thieves. Mardok scratched at Will, but Will did not care.
Will smiled and squeezed tighter, "You lose."
The crack of bone signified the end of the Thief King. Will looked back at Illicia just in time to catch her as she collapsed. Her body finally let her fall into a deep, well-earned slumber.
Will turned back to the Dwarf. "Good day, sir."
"Stones be with you and the Lass; tell her to seek me out in Kolt." The Dwarf said, starting to go through the pockets of the dead king.
