“Why do you want me to wield that thing so much? Why are you trying to help me?”
She could feel Death’s gaze on her for a moment.
I have done things for you. One of those, I will have to undo for the sake of the balance of the world. However, if you do something for me, then I will not have to reverse it so soon. The balance will be restored in another manner.
Lilith opened her eyes to look at the woman.
“What are you talking about?”
Death smiled.
You will find out soon. I will come to you again once you have completed your tasks. Whatever you do, do not give up.
With those words, Death disappeared, and reality caught up with Lilith. The Hellfire Naginata vibrated in her hand, stronger, wilder. She felt drained.
“I do not want to hurt anyone,” Lilith whispered to herself. Tears proved those words to be true. “I do not want to destroy anything!”
She repeated those phrases over and over, like an incantation. Slowly she drifted down to the ground as she continued to whisper those words. The weapon calmed, until it ceased vibrating entirely. She had done it. She let go of the artifact, and it vanished before it hit the ground. It didn’t worry Lilith. She knew she could summon it anytime, anywhere. She knew how to handle it, now that she had gotten over the first part. Slowly, she walked toward the crater her attack had left. It was half-filled with water and rubble. She was shaking when she saw the extent of the destruction up close. At the water’s edge, she dropped to her knees and cradled herself, crying freely.
Death had said that no one in the town had died, but what about her friends? Her dear friends who had accompanied her the entire way, who had waited patiently for her, who had watched her grab the cursed weapon?
Before she could process the degree of agony she was feeling, an emerald dragon and a giant hawk landed beside her. Grief, fear, guilt, and sudden euphoria combined; Lilith could not take it anymore. Everything went black.
Death had lied to be kind. There had, in fact, been one casualty. And she had come to him when the time had arrived.
I am here to take your pain away. She said, smiling gently at the minotaur laying there with a blanket. His tired eyes recognized her immediately.
“Finally,” he said.
Balthasar could not believe it. Last night, right after he had given his report, Colm had sent word to all villages and to the training soldiers, telling them to be prepared for an attack, and already the messengers from the outposts had arrived to bring the news of advancing troops. Colm would not reveal how he had known.
It annoyed Balthasar that Colm didn’t tell him anything about interesting things. Often, the man simply stood there, smiling, and nobody knew why. It was infuriating. And yet, Balthasar still had a deep respect for him.
“He’s a sleepin’ drag’n if eva I saw one,” he grumbled quietly to Ryo, as they watched Colm speaking to some of the trainees about the oncoming confrontation. Ryo nodded lightly in agreement but could not hide his grin.
“You two really aren’t all that different. How about you, him and Ference form a club together?” Ryo suggested.
Balthasar shot him an angry glance, but Ryo wasn’t bothered by it.
“Oy, Griffin,” he shouted instead, waving his young friend over to them. Griffin looked concerned, and Balthasar would not have been surprised to hear him make distressed teakettle sounds.
“What is it?” Griffin asked gingerly.
“Ye’re a smart one t’be afraid o’war,” Balthasar noted.
The young man shifted uneasily.
“I’m not afraid,” he declared, meeting neither Balthasar’s nor Ryo’s gaze.
Ryo slapped his friend on the back, laughing.
“Don’t you worry, bud, it won’t be all that different to what we’ve done before! It’ll be over before you know it!”
“I suppose… But I hope that Selene and the others are doing alright,” Griffin said.
Balthasar narrowed his eyes. Over the time he had spent with them, the young man seemed to have developed a growing infatuation with their captain. Balthasar disapproved of it. While Griffin was certainly a fine, intelligent young man, he disliked the idea of Griffin being any closer to his Selene.
Balthasar knew better than to voice his objections to either one of them, since, after all, Selene could choose whomever she wanted, and he had no say in the matter. He didn’t really think Selene would ever go for someone as innocent as Griffin anyway. It was simply against her nature. Pure people made her uncomfortable.
Even so, he agreed with Griffin. He hoped his girl and the others were doing alright, too.
“Dun’cha worry about them, boy,” he said, slapping Griffin on the back hard enough to make him cough. “Just make sure yer inventions work ‘n we’ll be fine, too.”
Balthasar had taken a larger interest in Griffin’s ideas and joined him for his tests on occasion. The young man had cooked up some things that should really work, including his small flying boats. He had actually found a way to make them fly without the Klabautermann’s help.
Balthasar even got the impression that Griffin had become a little less scrawny over the past few weeks. He wondered if he could put that down to the young man’s work in the smithy. How Griffin found the time to invent his machines and help out there, Balthasar couldn’t imagine. It was the same with Ryo – he trained and drilled the recruits almost all the time, but he still found the time to make friends with everyone in the Highlands, especially the ladies. It seemed like everyone knew him, and he knew everyone. Meanwhile Balthasar had his hands full checking in on everyone and discussing plans with Colm. He put it down to the difference in age.
Colm had finished debriefing the recruits Ryo had nominated as team leaders and headed over to Balthasar now.
“We should expect the first attack just before dusk,” he said.
Balthasar noted with some satisfaction that there was finally a hint of unsettledness visible in the mage’s expression. He was scanning the skies, as if he was hoping or expecting his daughter and the other pirates to appear any moment.
“How long do you think we can hold out?” Griffin asked.
Colm turned his gaze on the young man.
“A little while. They will try to take over without killing. The army is only meant for intimidation and to fight the Pbec, once they arrive. We only need to keep them from claiming the land until either Pbecrah’s army shows up, or Lilith returns with the Hellfire Naginata.”
So, it’s a race against time, Balthasar thought grimly. They had received news of the Pbec army approaching earlier today, but it could take several days before the troops had mastered the mountains.
“Dere’s gonna ha’t’be a spokesperson,” Balthasar noted. Both Griffin and Ryo looked at him in confusion, but Colm nodded.
“Yes. We will have to send people to meet with the ambassador of Quintz to relay our determination to them,” he explained.
“Who?” Balthasar only asked.
“Three people. You, me, and Mildred,” Colm said.
Ryo almost fell from the log he had been sitting on.
“Milly,” he yelled. “You want to send the little girl to speak with the enemy? Are you crazy? She’s gonna get killed!”
Colm shook his head.
“Not while I’m around,” he promised.
*****
Milly was excited as could be when she received the news that she would be allowed to speak to a foreign ambassador. Balthasar watched her bouncing around, telling Ryo, Griffin, and James over and over about the fantastic news. It never even occurred to her to ask why she had been asked to come with them. Balthasar could have asked, but he chose not to. Considering how Colm had been teaching the girl over the past few weeks, he was quite certain that this had been the plan from the beginning.
The Klabautermann had come over and was now giving Milly a pep talk on how to look fierce even though s
he was small. It was rather amusing to watch. Not only because Milly lacked the razor-sharp sets of teeth the Klabautermann presented whenever he opened his mouth, but also because instead of daggers and pistols, the little girl carried a stuffed piglet and flowers. As far as Balthasar understood, it was Griffin who had made the stuffed pig for her, in return for her help in coming up with ideas to help the villagers fight.
“Until we hear more, we should rest,” Colm announced. “There is no point in waiting out here.”
They followed him inside his cottage, where he put some water on the stove like usual.
“How did th’recruits take th’news’?” Balthasar asked Ryo, who was once more rubbing one of Joe’s ointments over his leg’s stump.
“They’re doing fine,” Ryo grinned up to Balthasar and tapped his leg. “They have the training they need to deal with this. Which is more than I can say for me. I keep thinking I can feel my leg and then I use it for things it… well, things it can’t do anymore.”
Irritated he looked down at the wooden peg which lay unstrapped on the floor. After a moment, he glanced back at Balthasar.
“But yeah, they will always need more training. They’re far from a cohesive army, believe you me, but they’re on their way. We should avoid making them fight if we can, but if the storm blows up the river, they’ll do alright.”
Balthasar nodded, knowing that if anyone could make a judgement on the recruits, it was Ryo, having been a military officer in his past.
They spent a few hours in the hut, avoiding speaking about the imminent battle, while still sharing their thoughts about the progress made, until they could hear the thundering sound of approaching hooves.
When Colm and Balthasar left the hut to greet the messenger, they found themselves face to face with a woman from the one of the farther villages. She didn’t bother to get down from her mountain horse, but merely reigned in next to Colm.
“They sent a messenger,” she informed him. “They want to meet our spokesperson on Myara Hill at dusk.”
Colm nodded, and she turned her horse and rode back the way she had come from. Then the mage turned to Balthasar.
“Time to get going,” he said gravely, before going inside to fetch Milly. Balthasar looked after him for a moment. Then he turned his gaze to the sky.
“By Rum,” he muttered. “Ye better come back soon.”
*****
Myara Hill was located in the central western Highlands, close to the mountains that reached up into the sky. Colm had borrowed horses to get them there and back quicker.
The hill itself was green, with massive stone slabs on the top. The villagers believed that whenever a God came to visit the Highlands, it was here they would arrive and depart. In a way, it was sacred ground. Nobody would actually call it that, but they nevertheless treated it with the same reverence and respect.
Colm had explained this to Balthasar on the ride there, and he couldn’t help but think that Quintz could not have chosen more wisely. The fact that it was sacred ground meant that nobody would dare abuse it. It was an unspoken sign for a peaceful meeting.
Three Quintz soldiers and a man in a dark cloak were already there, waiting for them. The soldiers were in uniform, but not armed. Balthasar suspected they didn’t need weapons. He could not imagine that they would come to a meeting unprepared.
“Well, well! The ambassador for Quintz is a member of the Khenoris Clan, what an interesting turnout,” Colm shouted his greeting.
The Quintz remained unphased. The cloaked man merely held his hand in a straight line over his entire nose, his fingers extending over his forehead and the ball of his thumb over his mouth, thereby splitting his face in two halves.
“That’s the Quintz form of a polite greeting,” Milly whispered to Balthasar as they dismounted and walked the rest of the way up the hill. “Master Colm taught me that.”
Colm copied the Quintz gesture when they arrived at the top and sat down on one of the stone slabs. Milly did the same and let her feet dangle from it, while playing with a loose tooth in her mouth with her tongue. Balthasar followed the example.
“Let us get right to business,” the cloaked man said. His hood was pulled so far over his head that it was next to impossible to see his face. “In the past, the Highlands were a part of our beautiful nation. It was taken from us by the Pbec by force. We would like to reintegrate the Highlands into the proud nation of Quintz. If you comply peacefully, no one has to get hurt and we will protect you from the Pbec soldiers. You will be able to continue your lives just as before, with only marginal differences. We will send a Quintz official up here to govern the Highlands and you will belong to our nation and live under our laws.”
His tone was harsh and severe. There was a distinct accent to it, likely because he was speaking Pbec and not his native tongue. Colm nodded solemnly at his pronouncement, listening carefully to each word. Balthasar watched silently.
“Well, those are very reasonable conditions,” Colm replied after a moment of clearly theatrical thinking. “It’s a very tempting offer. What do you think about it, Mildred?”
The little girl regarded the foreign man critically, the way only a child could.
“Will I have to speak your language?” she asked.
The hooded man jerked his head in surprise, similar to a bird.
“Of course,” he exclaimed. “It is only natural to speak the language of the country of whom you are a subject!”
Milly pouted and clicked her heels together.
“I don’t like Quintz though,” she said sulkily. “The grammar is complicated and it sounds so angry all the time.”
The ambassador’s hood slipped back a little, so Balthasar could see his face. He was a middle-aged man, thin lipped, with turquoise eyes and blonde hair. His skin was darker than Balthasar’s, but not quite as dark as Lilith’s. The man looked with incredulous uncertainty between Balthasar and Colm. His thoughts were clearly written in his face. He wondered whether they would seriously consider listening to the petty opinion of a child. Balthasar didn’t even need to check Colm’s expression to know the answer.
The ambassador came to the same conclusion. He coughed politely, and with a nervous little laugh, he held up his open hands as if to beseech them.
“Well, I’m sure we can find a compromise in which you can simply speak a simpler dialect, perhaps? This is all just a formality for a peaceful takeover.” He turned back to Colm. “What is your answer?”
Colm looked at Milly.
“Yes Mildred, what is our answer?”
Before Milly could say anything, the ambassador cut in again.
“Surely you’re not letting a child make such an important choice? This decision will affect everyone in the Highlands, it is absolutely irresponsible to let someone like her,” he gestured wildly toward the girl, “choose for all your people!”
The soldiers behind him didn’t move, but Balthasar noticed them tensing. He suspected they did not actually understand Pbec but were acting upon the visible distress of their superior.
Colm remained calm. Placidly, he looked directly into the eyes of the ambassador and said quietly, “Who would be better to decide their future than someone they have known all her life, someone they have raised, someone they love? They trust her and they appreciate her. They will accept and support any decision she will make. Besides, she is part of the future generation who will have to live with today’s choice. So, yes. I am letting her make that choice.”
Balthasar smiled to himself. Colm was absolutely right. He had seen how the villagers treated Milly. They spoke to her almost like they did each other. They respected her because the girl was sincere, clever, and Colm’s student. There was no doubt that they would listen to her if the girl ever chose to exert some level of authority, just like the crew of the Bat had listened to the nine-year old Selene.
Balthasar thought back to that windy day eight years ago. The girl had picked up her
father’s sword, tears streaming endlessly over her face as she gave a moving speech to the entire crew about not giving up, never giving up, fighting for what they believed in, in memory of those they had lost and those they might lose in the future. She had restored their hope, given them a future. She had led them from that day and forever more.
Disregarding their backgrounds, Milly was similar, though perhaps it was slightly too early for her just yet.
The ambassador was left open-mouthed.
“Mildred?” Colm repeated.
The girl took a moment to think. Both Balthasar and Colm already knew her decision. Her pause was merely for effect, a habit she might well have picked up from Colm himself. She enjoyed seeing the other men tense up and nervously await her decision. Balthasar fought his urge to grin. He was enjoying the situation just as much as she and Colm were.
“Will you give me presents if I say it’s okay?” Milly asked pensively.
The ambassador began trembling.
“I… well… I cannot promise anything… but I could see what could be arranged,” he stuttered.
Milly frowned.
“I don’t like vague promises,” she pouted. “It’s too easy to go back on them.”
Exasperatedly, the ambassador turned to Balthasar.
“Please, talk some sense into the girl! We shall give you until tomorrow morning to consider, but please give us a straight answer,” he cried.
Balthasar exchanged a glance with Colm and nodded.
“Meet ye here a’ noon, a’right?”
The Quintz nodded sharply and so it was decided. As they parted, Balthasar and the others could not hold back their grins. They had stalled for more time. The more time they had, the more chances there were for their girls and their company to come back with the Hellfire Naginata. The less fighting they would have to do, the better.
Balthasar now realized that had been Milly and Colm’s intention all along, but they had played it out perfectly. Even so, he didn’t doubt for even a moment that Colm really was intending to leave the final say up to the girl. What he had said about the people respecting and loving her had been the truth.
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