The darkness enveloping the Island of Ikaatan that day was beyond natural. Though they could see the sun, it was darker than any night on the ground. The sun’s light did nothing to illuminate the darkness as it raised up over the eastern horizon to begin the day.

Within the palace, the mood was growing dim. Queen Janessa stared out the window of her bedroom, dressed in her full golden armour, wondering what was going wrong.

“It must be the necromancer,” she said to herself. “But what is her plan?”

The sound of rushing wind greeted her ears then and Janessa turned around... faced with the purple-skinned necromancer herself.

“Good morning, your majesty. Shall I endeavour to answer your questions?”

“Morrina! Guards! There’s an intruder!”

“Oh, your guards can’t help you now, my dear. Come. Let us me show you how your kingdom crumbles.”

Janessa only had time to gasp as dark clouds circled around her and Morrina and both of them disappeared from sight. As they did, a red aura cast itself around the castle and everyone had already been cast out of the palace, save for two people. Morrina didn’t know about the Royal Spymaster hiding in her midst though it didn’t take long to suss her out.

The necromancer resigned herself to having two captives now, locking one away downstairs somewhere while the other, the Queen herself, was sent to the highest tower, usually reserved for the powerful court mages. But on this night, Queen Janessa would be a sacrifice to the raising sun. As it slowly moved up the sky, toward its zenith at noon, Morrina planned to blot it out forever and rule a land of perpetual night, her undead creatures dominating the landscape. With her captive by her side, it was now only a matter of time.

...

“Taria! Wake up! Something is terribly wrong!”

Arys’ frantic voice startled the bandit leader and brought her out of a deep sleep. “Arys? What is it?”

Her mercenary friend stood over her bedroll inside her tent, her pale eyes filled with worry. “Didn’t you see? Come outside!”

Taria followed her friend and stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she saw her surroundings. “The sky... what’s happening?”

It was still darker than any night outside yet the sun was still visible, peeking up over the eastern horizon. “This is Morrina’s work, it has to be!” Arys said. “And it gets worse!”

“In what way?”

“I went into town early this morning before the sun was up and... Taria, the palace it’s... it’s cut off!”

“Cut off?”

“Some kind of magical barrier, I don’t know. Morrina did something to it! And the Queen and Celia are both still inside.”

Taria said nothing more, picking up her sword and attaching it to her belt. “Get Brina. We’re going in there. Make sure you bring your scythe. If she’s making her move, we make ours. Now.”

“Are you sure we’re ready?”

“Ready or not, there’s no more time. Go find Brina. I’ll meet you both in Disa.”

Arys simply nodded and ran off in search of the woman the bandits referred to as ‘The Strong.’ Taria made use of one of the horses and climbed into the saddle, finding her way to the road, and charging headlong into the city.

Their camp wasn’t far from Disa so it didn’t take her long to get there. Brina and Arys would be close behind but Taria didn’t wait around. She pushed on through the quiet streets, where people had shut themselves in. The emptiness of the place felt... off. Disa was such a bustling place on a morning like this but today Morrina seemed to have the entire world in thrall.

Reaching the castle gates, she climbed down from her horse and one of the Royal Guard approached her, still standing there and performing his duty.

“Sorry, miss. The Palace is off limits right now.”

“I have to get in there,” Taria said. “Whatever is happening, I’m here to stop it.”

“There’s no way in,” the guard replied, simply.

“I’ll find a way. I’m with the Order.”

The guard bowed his head when she said it and stepped aside. “Apologies, I didn’t realize. But even you should be careful. There’s no telling what kind of dangerous magic is being used here.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ve got two friends coming in behind me. Let them pass,” Taria said.

“Are they with the Order too?”

“They’re with me. We’re putting a stop to this.”

“I can only wish you luck, miss. Hang on... you’re the Sword Master, aren’t you?”

“Keep safe,” Taria said, walking past him. “And if any of those creatures show up on the street, get yourself indoors.”

“Will do, miss,” the guard said.

Taria said nothing more and pressed on past the guard to the main gate, craning her neck to look up at the strange red aura that hung about the place. There was a smaller door that guards usually used to enter just to the left of the gate. When Taria walked to it and tried to open it... she couldn’t.

Her hand hit something that felt solid. It stopped dead in the air where the red aura surrounded the palace. She touched it again, placing her and flat against the ominous red glow and it felt... warm. It certainly wasn’t a comforting sort of warm touch. It felt, to Taria, like low burning embers still emitting heat about to flare up into raging flame.

So, without being able to open the door, Taria stepped back and assessed the situation for the moment.

“So...” she said, muttering to herself. “Can’t get is. The Queen is in trouble and I’m useless with magic... Maybe try digging underground? Look for a secret passage? What in hell am I going to do...”

A voice called her name and Taria turned around. Arys and Brina had both arrived together, the scythe seeming to radiate energy on Arys’ back.

“No way in,” Taria said when they reached her. “Not the traditional way, anyway.”

“Leave that to me,” Arys said, pulling the scythe, the Moon’s Blade, from her back.

“What is that thing going to do?”

“It can banish Morrina’s power, remember? Or at least, the power of a necromancer anyway. Now, just one hefty swing...”

Arys grunted when she practically hit the aura with the Moon’s Blade like it was a sledgehammer and Taria’s eyes widened when she saw it crack like glass. The cracks shot upward, all around the energy blocking them out, eventually surrounding the entirety of the red barrier. When the cracks finished forming, they heard it crackle and felt it shake like the ice on a frozen lake before the whole thing shattered to pieces and the red energy fell away, dissipating all around them.

Smiling and hefting the scythe over her shoulder, Arys met Taria’s stunned gaze.

“Looks like we brought the right weapon,” she said.

Taria just shook her head. “Let’s get inside. There’s work to be done, here.”

“We’ll follow your lead, boss,” Brina said.

...

The three women reached the courtyard and had not yet come across a single soul. All the lantern light had been put out and the windows were darkened save for one. Taria noticed it first, at the top of the tallest tower of the palace. It was usually where the court mages performed their experiments, she remembered, where they needed close access to the sun, the moon, and the stars to not only chart them but harness their power.

“Up there. That has to be where she’s holding the Queen. And be on the lookout for wherever she’s stored Celia. We need to get her out of here, too.”

“Right. So... how do we get up there?”

Taria’s eyes traced the tower downward to a mess of long hallways and stairs at the very back of the palace, to the right of the door that led to the throne room. She remembered it well, having been there with Elyn a few times to meet with a court mage friend of hers. And through the windows... were scores of Morrina’s creatures. Though these ones looked different. They didn’t snarl and growl in mindless rage and their movements seemed purposeful, intelligent even. Worse still, she noticed they were carrying weapons and seemed to be keeping an active patrol. Curiously, the weapons they carried didn’t look particularly deadly. Light clubs, batons sparking with electrical energy, and blow dart guns comprised most of the arsenal that Taria could see.

“Strange...” Taria said as she eyed them.

“You’re right,” Brina agreed. “It’s almost like she expected someone to get in here. And wants them alive.”

“She’s expecting me,” Taria said. “She has to be.”

“Then she’ll likely be expecting all of us,” Arys added. “Let’s hope this isn’t a repeat of last time we met her.”

“We’ll do what we can to make sure that won’t happen,” Taria said. “But they outnumber us in there. And she’s made these ones a lot smarter. So we’ll need to move carefully.”

“They’re probably guarding the door,” Brina said. “It’s what I would do. Any other way in?”

Taria peered up at the wall, spotting a second storey window and spotted no movement behind it.

“Maybe that’s our way in.”

“Doesn’t look like it opens from the outside,” Arys said.

“Then we break it,” Brina said. “Get in quick, and hide ourselves before those monsters in there come after us.”

“It’ll be noisy... but it looks like our best option. Would either of you happen to have...” Taria trailed off when she saw Brina reach to her belt and a coil of rope, with a four pronged hook on the end of it.

“What do you take me for? I always come prepared,” Brina said, whipping the grappling hook around a few times before tossing it gracefully through the air and hitting the window ledge, catching two of the hooks solidly between two stone bricks, pulling on it tight to test it.

“Feels solid,” she said, walking to the wall. She hoisted herself off the ground, holding on to the rope for a few seconds, and nothing broke or came loose.

“Holds my weight. Should hold you two just fine.”

“All right. I’ll go first,” Taria said.

“I’ve got another idea...” Brina said. “Why don’t I climb in there, break the window to get those weird little buggers’ attention, then you two sneak in the door. We’ll meet up by the stairs once those things stop looking for me.”

“I never like splitting up,” Taria said. “But distracting those things might be a good idea... fine. But we find each other as quick as possible.”

“Understood. Be careful in there,” Brina said.

“That goes double for you,” Taria replied.

Taria and Arys crouched by the door, keeping out of sight of the door while Brina began scaling the wall. She had a cloth wrapped around one hand and when she reached the top, she punched the glass as hard as she could, shattering the window with a loud crash. She broke the rest of the glass and hauled herself up onto the window ledge, climbing up and sliding her body through into the second floor, dropping deftly onto the floor below.

Her plan seemed to work as the creatures on the lower floor began shuffling toward the stairs and left the door unguarded. But none of them had seen that Morrina had creatures patrolling the second floor as well and Brina was surrounded by five of them right away.

“Crap... should have expected that.”

Faced with only one option, Brina drew her sword and got one hand on her shield, bringing it forward just in time to hear a blow dart clank off it and fall harmlessly to the floor.

“Not having that...” Brina said. She barged through two of them to the one with the dart gun and ran the creature through with her sword, quickly lopping its head off, its lifeless body slumping to the floor.

She had to turn quickly as one of the creatures swung a strange baton that sparked and crackled with some kind of electrical energy. Brina’s shield acted a bit as a conductor and she felt a light tingle in her arm as the weapon struck her shield, deflected to one side. Brina countered by stabbing her sword right through the creature’s forehead.

The remaining three closed a tight circle around her but they couldn’t touch her. Brina used one of her boots, with strong metal heels, to pierce another creature’s skull with a high kick that sent the creature to the floor before it could get up.

While Brina battled, Taria and Arys both crept inside, entering the silent first floor and heading for the stairs, seeing the creatures still filing their way up... and heard the sound of clashing metal.

“Damn it... she’s in a fight,” Taria whispered.

“We should help her!” Arys said.

“There’s about fifteen of those things between us and her. We’d have to fight through them to even have a chance to help her out,” Taria said.

“We could. They’re not that fast. Not as fast as you, anyway. Maybe not even me.”

“We don’t have time to waste on fights like this!” Taria massaged her temples and closed her eyes.

“She would do it for you, wouldn’t she?”

Taria sighed. “In fact, she has. Brought the whole clan to rescue me from Lila... fine. Just... just be careful.”

Arys smirked and grabbed the scythe from her back. “Always.”

As Taria and Arys prepared to climb the stairs and fight their way to Brina, the bandit was dealing a finishing blow to the last of the creatures that had surrounded her. With it on the floor, scrabbling toward her, Brina stomped on its head, crushing its skull beneath her heavy heel. She smirked, revelling in her victory for the moment.

But before she could enjoy it too much, an all-too-familiar face appeared before her, smiling wide.

“Morrina!”

“Hello, friend of the Warrior,” Morrina said. “Lovely to see you again.”

Brina lashed out with her sword but Morrina just disappeared in a flash of red mist and appeared again behind her, grabbing her with such surprising strength that Brina gasped as her weapons were wrenched from her grasp and her arms pinned to her sides.

“Come with me... You will help me break the Warrior’s will and witness the coming of a new age for Ikaatan.”

“Get... get off me!”

“To the tower with you,” Morrina said, waving her hand, both her and Brina disappearing in that same red mist.

At the bottom of the stairs, Taria and Arys were faring as well as Arys had predicted. The creatures were nowhere near as fast as either of them and Arys found she barely even had to use the scythe. It was difficult for her to even touch the creatures but, when she did, they would hiss and snarl and explode into light, crumbling to a pile of ash on the floor.

Taria jumped between them like a dart, severing their heads or piercing straight through their skulls to put the creatures on the floor. Eventually, they were all dead on the floor and no longer a threat.

“Maybe we should have done this from the beginning,” Arys said.

“There’s no time to waste. I didn’t want to have to do this. But... wait. Do you hear anything?”

Taria and Arys stood still and listened... and nothing hit their ears.

“Wait... Brina was fighting, wasn’t she?”

“Unless she’s hiding... but she must have heard us fighting too,” Taria said.

“Something’s happened. We should-ahhh!”

Taria whirled around, sword in hand, when Arys shrieked and saw Morrina behind Arys, with a firm hold on her, forcing her to drop the scythe. On instinct, to keep it from Morrina’s reach, Taria dove for it and held it in both hands. The weapon’s sheen did not fade and just felt... right in her hand.

Morrina scowled and held a curved knife to Arys’ throat. “It has chosen you to defend its master... and you will give the Moon’s Blade to me.”

“Don’t do it, Taria! You can’t let her win!” Arys said.

Taria said nothing and just kept both her hands in a tight grip on the scythe’s handle. She met Morrina’s eyes and the two said nothing for the longest time.

“I see. I will make you surrender, Warrior. One way or another. Sooner or later. It need not be at this moment.”

“Don’t you dare hurt her...” Taria said.

“Who? Her? I will, if you do not relinquish the Moon’s Blade, Taria. But... a proposal, perhaps. Come to the highest tower of the palace with the blade. I will give you one chance to give the blade unto me and surrender yourself when you arrive. Until then, Warrior... I hear a little bird calling your name. Hurry. The mindless may well be sniffing her out.”

“Celia...” Taria said. She grimaced, growling under her breath, and taking a swipe at Morrina with the scythe but the necromancer just disappeared into the red mist she seemed to always leave behind.

Fury raging within her heart, Taria charged down the corridor in search of Celia, hoping beyond all hope she wouldn’t be too late...

...

“Hllmmp! Hllmmp mm, plmmmpph!” The muffled cries came from within a darkened bedroom where the small brunette lay tied up and tightly gagged on the bed, unable to move much from her current position.

Her wrists were crossed behind her back and tied with strong rope. Further rope pinned her elbows together while still more rope held her arms tight to her back, framing her chest, and keeping her totally restricted.

Her bound wrists were connected to her ankles, also crossed and tied to each other, while her knees were held together by a rope tying her legs together on her thighs. Pulled into this tight hogtie position, Celia also had a tight ball gag like a harness, fastened into her mouth with straps winding under her chin, either side of her nose, and around her forehead. The rubber ball held in her mouth was bright red, practically glowing, and held her jaw partially open, filling her mouth and making her speech unintelligible.

The worst part for Celia was that she had to fight to avoid enjoying herself. The tight ropes and gag excited her but she knew it was only a matter of time before Morrina would want to do away with her. Worse still, if Taria showed up, Celia feared she would be used as bait. So now, with hopes fading, she was calling out for help to anyone who might still be left in the palace.

“Hhghhmmm! Ghhmm ghhnn hggghhmmrrrr! Hllmmpp!”

Her gag stifled her speech and made her very quiet so, even if anyone was still in the palace somewhere, they wouldn’t be likely to hear her.

She was stashed away in a small guest room on the palace’s second floor, not far from the mage tower she could guess since she could see where she was by the sight of the courtyard out the window. But there had been no sign of anyone but her anywhere nearby and she knew Queen Janessa was being held in the tower, possibly just as badly tied up and gagged as Celia herself. So her hopes of anyone coming to her rescue were fading fast and, worse, she still couldn’t fight the rising excitement as she struggled with ropes and tried to free herself.

Celia’s distracted mind prevented her from making any meaningful progress on her bonds. She knew she wasn’t exactly an expert at escaping and cursed herself for not volunteering for Artema’s escape training more often. But Artema had never made it mandatory for Celia, even though she considered the spy one of the group. Perhaps that was to do with Jonas or the fact that she was also a spy sometimes but, whatever the case, Celia realized she should have practiced escaping more.

The more she struggled, the more her excitement grew, and the harder it became to escape the ropes. Celia felt herself wasting time but she was helpless to stop it. Her eyes went wide when she heard a frightening sound from the corridor outside the door to the bedroom.

“Mmpphhh! Nghhmm!!”

Her struggles grew more frantic, more desperate, as she heard the snarling of the mindless beasts outside the door, now scratching at it. She saw it shake on its hinges as several of the creatures swarmed around it and pressed into it.

“MMMMPPPHHH!!” she squealed in fright, seeing the hinges beginning to buckle, the door jamb begin to come loose, and the wood of the door bend inward as they pressed hard against it.

Closer and closer they came to breaking into the room and tearing her to shreds so Celia closed her eyes and waited... opening her eyes again when she heard a dull thud outside the door.

Thick blood seeped in from the beneath the door and the creatures outside it stopped scrabbling at the door, their snarls of rage directed elsewhere. But Celia listened and thought she could hear something slicing into them as they snarled but the creatures frightening growled grew less and less in number until they stopped entirely. Laying there in silence, Celia’s frightened eyes moved to the door again when someone began turning the knob and pushed it open.

“Tghhrrghhmmm!!” she said, delighted at the sight of her pretty friend.

The blood of the creatures stained the sword in her hand as she approached the bed, some of it even on her clothing and armour, and she knelt down and unbuckled the gag in Celia’s mouth.

“Are you all right?” Taria asked, her intense eyes boring deep int Celia’s soft, pale blue ones.

“Well... it could be better. Got a little freaked out there but things seem pretty good now. Thank you.”

Before she knew what she was doing, Taria reached forward and stroked Celia’s hair, running it through her fingers. “You’ve done it for me. Twice. I still owe you another one.”

“Uh... Taria? You feeling all right?”

“I’m just... I’m happy to see you. But we don’t have time to waste.”

Taria took a few minutes cutting the ropes off of Celia’s body, finally sheathing her sword and helping her get free and stand up, stretching her muscles.

They stood up and their eyes met again, Celia having to look up just a little bit to meet the beautiful eyes of the lithe warrior in front of her.

“Taria... I, um... I don’t really know how to say this. I’m not sure there will be a better time but um...”

“Don’t,” Taria said. “No need to say anything.” To Celia’s shock, Taria reached forward and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek, pulling back and brushing her hair aside.

“Take this,” Taria said, handing Celia her silver sword, pulling the Moon’s Blade from her back. “We may need to fight our way into the tower.”

“Taria I... thanks. We need to have a good talk later.”

“We do. But right now, there’s something we need to attend to,” Taria said.

Celia nodded. “Right. Of course. Let’s go then.”

...

The glass skylight in the ceiling shattered and tiny shards of glass rained down on the necromancer, who stood in the centre of the room with her eyes closed and hands raised to the sky. The bright sunlight, shining in from the unnatural darkness, was nearly right on top of her. It was nearly noon. The time to banish the sun was almost upon her.

Her attention was briefly grasped by the desperate, muffled pleas of the three captives that surrounded her.

Two of them were side by side, on wooden chairs, struggling away against restrictive rope while the other was standing upright against a pole just behind her, having just shut her eyes to avoid the tiny shards of glass that Morrina had brought upon them from the ceiling.

In her hands, the necromancer gripped a curved knife and her thoughts turned to the Queen of Ikaatan, the one who would help her bring about the end of Ikaatan’s sunlight.

Queen Janessa had not stopped trying to fight the tight, glowing ropes that hugged tight to her body and held her against the wooden pole in the middle of the room. They glowed with an ominous red light and coiled around her legs at the ankles, calves and thighs, keeping them fused together and bound to the pole. Another coil of rope wrapped around her waist and held her bound wrists tight to the back of the pole. The final ropes bound her arms and torso just above her elbows and just below her shoulders. Janessa was also tightly gagged with a glowing leather panel, strapped on tight over her mouth.

The other two captives, meanwhile, were tied identically to the wooden chairs they were sitting in.

Both women would have appeared to be casually sitting, arms gently perched on the arm rests, if it weren’t for the ropes binding them there. One thick coil of rope wrapped around both Brina’s and Arys’ arms, binding them tight to their sides but also to the back of the chair.

Arys pulled on each wrist, trying to wrench them free from the arm rests. Each arm was tied down to the arm rests so they were resting out in front of her. Brina, of course, was tied the same way.

Finalizing their bonds was a tight rope binding each woman’s thighs together just above the knees and then each ankle secured to one chair leg, spreading them outward. Finally, Arys and Brina were gagged with thick cloths stuffed into their mouths and further cloths tied on behind their heads that covered over their mouths.

Morrina finally opened her eyes and cast her glance upward to the sun, steadily rising upward and a wicked smile crossed her lips.

“Nothing to say? Any of you?”

Her taunts only served to infuriate Brina, who struggled and thrashed wildly in her bonds, glaring daggers at her captor.

“Mmnnghrpphmmphmnngrrrpphhh!” she ranted, not even managing to spout words into her gag.

Morrina chuckled slightly. “Worry not, bandit. Your Warrior is coming. I know she is.”

Brina continued to just glare at the necromancer, still battling against the tight ropes that held her. Arys, on the other hand, tried to ignore their captor and continue trying to find a weakness in her ropes.

The door burst open then and the three captive women all jumped and their eyes shot over to the door where Taria and Celia stood side by side, weapons covered in the blood of many creatures, standing before the necromancer.

“Speaking of the Warrior...” Morrina said. “Here she is.”

“You let them go right now and I’ll consider not gutting you with this scythe,” Taria said, her voice dark, her intense eyes burning.

“It cannot kill me. Nothing can, dear Warrior. The only one who can truly kill me is the one who gave me the power of resurrection in the first place.”

“What?”

Morrina turned to finally face her opponent, smiling. “But there is no need for such trifling details. Is there?”

“Let them go. I won’t tell you again,” Taria said.

Morrina chuckled again, though she did keep a wary eye on the scythe. “That’s right. You won’t.”

With a wave of her hands, the same oddly glowing, red ropes binding the Queen started swirling around both women in the doorway.

“My power is at its peak, Warrior. You cannot hope to stop me.”

In an instant, Taria’s arms were pinned tight to her sides and her legs fused together by the rope. It coiled around her upper arms and chest, lower arms and stomach, pinned her wrists to her upper thighs, and tied her legs together at the thighs, calves, and ankles. A coil even wrapped around her mouth, filling it in a tight cleave gag.

Celia, unfortunately, received the same treatment and they both fell to the floor in a squirming, struggling pile, their weapons falling uselessly to the floor. Morrina strode across the room and picked up the silver sword first, tossing it to one side before leering down at the Moon’s Blade.

“I see... Such a weapon cannot be allowed to exist in my new world. The only thing to do... is destroy it.”

“NMMMM!!” Arys screamed, thrashing around wildly against her bonds.

“Grrmmmppfff!” Taria growled, struggling just as wildly on the floor but she was helplessly bound. There was nothing she could do. All the while, the sun continued steadily rising and was ever nearing the highest point in the sky at the strike of noon.

“Only minutes remain, Warrior,” Morrina said. “But now... first watch your only salvation fall to dust.”

Taria stopped struggling and watched Morrina, noticing she did not bend down to pick up the scythe. It seemed like she didn’t even want to step near it, squinting down at it as though it blinded her. She realized it then. Morrina couldn’t get near to it. She simply raised her hands and lightning sprung forth from her fingers, striking the weapon in a bid to turn it to dust... but it reflected back at her and forced her back, recoiling from the sudden pain.

“Agghh! What is this cursed blade!? Can it not be destroyed?” A wicked grin crossed her face then and her eyes then turned to Arys. “Ah. I see. You are one with the blade? Destroy its master... and the blade will fade away.”

Arys struggled as hard as she could, shuffling her chair inch by inch toward the door, eyes widening in fright, as the necromancer approached her with her knife in hand.

“A simple task, then. Spill your lifeblood and the cursed weapon is no more.”

Taria screamed and struggled, bucking and thrashing about on the floor in her tight bonds, practically snarling into her gag to stop Morrina but, once again, she couldn’t do anything... except reach the scythe.

It was her one chance. The blade had chosen her to wield it for one purpose: rescue its master. And Taria wouldn’t fail in that task. She refused to.

Having set out to put an end to the bandits and unscrupulous mercenaries plaguing the Island of Ikaatan, Taria had already pledged herself to the land’s protection. Stopping Morrina was no exception to that and, further still, protecting her friends from harm fell under that as well. For all that she had done in her past, first as a bandit, then a mercenary, joining with Artema and all of their adventures, finally leading to this moment... her moment of redemption when the Moon’s Blade entrusted her with Arys’ life.

Shuffling her way across the floor, Taria put a hand to the blade and, with its power, the strange magical bonds Morrina had used on her lost their red hue and fell to the floor as a pile of rope. Taria then grasped the scythe, the Moon’s Blade, in both hands.

Arys hadn’t seen any of Taria’s escape and was still desperately struggling, whimpering into her gag, and doing everything she could to get away from Morrina’s knife. As the necromancer finally reached her, putting her arm forward to slice into the mercenary’s neck... a blur of movement flashed before her eyes and the knife was knocked from her hand, clear over her head, and clattered to the floor behind her.

“What!?”

Taria stood before her, pushing Morrina back, with the Moon’s Blade in hand. She now stood between her and Arys.

“This ends now,” she said.

“You will not stop me!”

Morrina raised her hands as Taria swung her scythe overhead, stopping it in the air with a glowing, green ward. But the magic itself began to crack as the scythe connected with it, seeming to bury itself into the very essence that was protecting Morrina.

“What!? No!”

Taria pressed down harder, cutting in deeper, widening the cracks and causing more to appear while Morrina grimaced and pushed back, trying her best to hold the spell. They pressed back and forth, paying no mind to the sun, now dangerously close to the sky and ready to provide Morrina with her full power...

Finally, the ward gave way and Taria sliced right through it with the Moon’s Blade, shattering the magic and cutting into Morrina.... though the blade did not wound her. Instead, the strange red aura that she always seemed to emit shattered as well and Morrina shrieked in pain, holding her face and reeling backward.

“My power! What have you done!?”

“I’m not finished,” Taria said. She kept on the necromancer, holding the scythe out and ready to cut her to pieces... before stopping herself. She flipped the blade instead, cracking Morrina in the head with the blunt end and taking her to the floor, unconscious.

That’s when everything around them brightened. The darkness lifted. The undead creatures, those that remained, fell to dust on the ground. And Taria stood over Morrina, sorely tempted to end her life...

“That’s not me anymore...” she reminded herself. “That’s not who I am.”

Having been bound and gagged by Morrina’s magic, the four captives in the room were freed and stood tall around Taria.

“Maateni?” Brina said.

“No,” Taria said. “Don’t call me that. I’m not that person anymore.”

“You didn’t kill her.”

“I didn’t. I’m done taking lives. You know that, Brina.”

Brina sighed and put a hand to her shoulder. “I know. But you know what this means.”

“What?”

Brina smirked. “I get my clan back. This was the deal. Beat Morrina and then you’re done with your bandit ways. Unless you’re looking to stay on?”

Taria shook her head. “No. But make me a promise.”

“Sure.”

“Stick with what I’ve taught you. Help people. And stay out of the Order’s way.”

Brina nodded. “You got it. So... back to your bandit hunting ways then?”

“I suppose I am.”

“You’ve already done pretty well,” Arys said. “Brina’s clan isn’t a threat anymore and Lila’s mercenaries are in prison. There’s not much left to deal with.”

“There’s still work to do,” Taria said. “And you all should get some rest.”

She handed the scythe back to Arys. “Here. It’s been practically telling me to give it back to you.”

Arys chuckled. “Really?”

“Really. Now... I’m going.”

“Wait, Taria!” Janessa said. “You deserve a commendation for this! I... the kingdom of Ikaatan is in your debt.”

“Have a ceremony or something,” Taria said. “I still have work to do.”

“Taria...” Celia said. “You deserve a break.”

“I hate ceremonies,” Taria said. “But I plan on a bit of rest. Back at headquarters.” A wide smile crossed Taria’s lips. “Care to join me?”

“Um... you know what? Yeah. I’d like that,” Celia said.

“Good. My lady,” Taria said, bowing her head to the Queen. “Do what you must but I’m afraid I must decline any invitation. I have important business to attend to.”

“As you wish, Sword Master. But you will be heralded for generations to come. I will see to it. I can only think of one title for one such as you.”

“And what is that?” Taria asked.

“The Heroine of Disa. In the hour of need, you appeared in our dear capital city and saved us all from the brink of doom. If you ever need a thing, anything at all, then the entire Island of Ikaatan and its Queen are at your service.”

“I appreciate the gesture, my lady. I recommend you, and everyone else, get some much needed rest. As I and Celia are about to. Take care. We will see each other again.”

Janessa nodded. “My heart is gladdened by that.”

...

It took around two weeks to organize the official naming ceremony for Taria. As expected, the woman of the hour was absent. Instead, she was deep within the Dasi forest, tracking one of the larger bandit clans.

It seemed Fa’rah had a mole in the clan sneak a knife to her and she escaped her bonds, leaving Brina bound and gagged in her place. Now Brina was after her as well but, unfortunately, Fa’rah had united several smaller clans into a larger clan of bandits. They were nowhere as strong as Brina’s clan but they were still a threat. And Taria intended to take them all down, no matter what it took.

But as she hunted down Fa’rah, the ceremony went on. Queen Janessa unveiled a golden statue in the courtyard built in the image of the great Sword Master of the Order of Ikaatan. But she was no longer just the Sword Master. Now, as an official title, she was named The Heroine of Disa, a protector of the entire realm of Ikaatan, and given the oldest castle in the land as her new home; Castle Kaatan, a place said to have given the island its name. It was once the seat of a great empire that ruled an archipelago of islands that were said to have mysteriously vanished into the sea. But the place had been maintained ever since, with no true owner to call it home until someone was deemed worthy of it. Queen Janessa decided that no one was more deserving of such a prestigious home as Taria.

Celia would have to tell her the good news when next they met. But, of course, that would have to wait. After all, the Bandit Hunter’s job was not finished yet because, despite it all, she refused to feel redeemed. Even her budding relationship with Celia, saving Arys, Brina, Queen Janessa, even the entire Island... it wasn’t enough. To fill the hole. To put her demons to rest. Taria suspected nothing would ever be enough to do that. So she would just have to keep doing right to battle all those inner demons. As long as she would to do that, Taria felt that she would be worthy of redemption. But not a moment sooner. Until then... she would just keep fighting.

Story Theme Song: Boga- We All Got Our Demons