Kersinta paused.<br/><br/>"Yes!" she said eventually, looking less certain under Talion's gaze. "I...will go to see him. I ask you to take me to the temple, to be....prepared. But when the time comes, seven days from now.....would you accompany me? So that you may see for yourself how just and merciful he is, nothing more!"<br/><br/>The uncertainty in her voice suggested that request might not have been entirely for Talion's sake.<br/><br/><br/>......<br/><br/><br/>Lilan looked from one woman to the other where she reclined, and let out a shaky laugh.<br/><br/>"Shit....right now, I don't know if I should be pissed that you go me into this situation, or thanking you for getting me out of it. Fine, I'll drop everyone ashore wherever you say once we're able to get out of the shadowland. After that....well, I don't know what you've got planned, but we were gonna go into Hacre proper to drop off our cargo. Assuming it hasn't spoiled just from being in this blighted place....."<br/><br/>She paused<br/><br/>"Look, I'd be dead right now if it weren't for you. So don't tell the crew I said this, but....pay whatever you want. And remember us fondly when you're running this joint, yeah?"<br/><br/>She laughed, seeming to believe it was just a joke.<br/><br/>Outside the boat, the sun began to rise, and the former captives crowded to the portholes, overjoyed to to see the end of a night which had seemed like it would never end. Thanks to their mysterious saviours, the dark forces of the world had heard a word they had not heard often in recent years.<br/><br/><strong>No.</strong><br/><br/><br/>.....<br/><br/><br/><em>In a sunken place in a drowned city, a dead queen howled in rage. Sweeps of her long limbs smashed the furniture, pieces cartwheeling away in slow motion through the water. The other denizens of the Drowned City had learned to stay well clear of her when she was in a dark mood. The ghost strung up by soulsteel chains attached to his arms flinched and cringed, expecting every gesture to culminate in a blast of black sorcery that would see him flung to Oblivion.<br/><br/>"Blasphemers! They came to a sacred place and defiled it! How dare they defy my authority! How could you let them do this? How could you fail me when you had one of my most powerful weapons at your hands? I should tear you apart and remake you just to do it again--"<br/><br/>"My Queen, forgive me! They were not like anything else I have ever seen! They bore the light of the Sun, and struck with the power of--"<br/><br/>"Excuses! Excuses! All I care about is what I was promised!" she snapped back, her tone changing to one that was almost whiny. "I want what I lost! I want what was taken from me by....by who? I don't remember? Why can't I remember? Why are you still here? Why haven't I destroyed you yet, you filthy, wretched failure--"<br/><br/>"Wait."<br/><br/>The Queen spun around, squinting at the two figures that had just appeared in the entrance to the throne room, obscured by the filfthy water.<br/><br/>"Punish this infidel as you see fit, my Queen." said the taller of the two, his voice fair, sweet and completely at odds with the imposing figure he presented. "But first, we humbly ask you that we may hear his account in more detail. Who he fought....and what he fought."<br/><br/>And they both stepped forwards, becoming fully visible.</em><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/bwQaP8Wl.jpg)(https://i.imgur.com/MzuN2IQl.jpg)</div></div></div><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">End of Part 1.</span></div>