Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Millicent lay panting in a patch of lilies, staring at the bodies of two white-clad women and the scythe and twin swords that lay nearby. She coughed, spitting blood onto the ground and her own tunic. "Amy... Mary... I'm sorry. I... should have stayed. I could have... freed you from Father Gowry's... influence. Shown you... the way out." Heavy footsteps sounded, and she shakily turned her head to look. A solitary figure stood there, his full platemail gleaming silver and accented by blue cloth. He plunged the colossal hunk of iron that he called a greatsword into the earth and knelt by her side, removing his visored helm. The face of her friend and sometime traveling companion, a Tarnished warrior of little renown, regarded her with concerned golden eyes as she coughed blood again.

"The other two are slain as well," he said gently, brushing his clipped black hair out of his eyes and reaching for a flask at his belt. He pressed the gilded bottle to her lips, and she felt her breath steady as the cuts across her body knitted.

"Thank you for helping me release their spirits." She pushed herself into a sitting position. "It was the greatest kindness we could do them, the Rot having taken their reason." She stared at the layer of powdery soil below her.

"I know how you feel." He placed one gauntlet on her human shoulder. "Polly fought with me against Commander O'Neil and his battalion of ghosts when I went in search of your needle. It was no small thing for me to put down one so brave and selfless."

"Indeed," Millicent choked through the beginnings of a sob. "Which is why I have to do this."

"Do what? What are you planning, Millicent? You're still in no shape to fight. Let me help you."

"I have journeyed long, retracing the steps of Lady Malenia. Now my only living blood, be she mother, sister, or something else entirely. She surrendered herself to the Rot once before. If she yet lives, I would not watch my entire family succumb around me." With a deafening clank, she removed her prosthetic arm, letting it fall into the flowers. Unlacing her tunic to let it fall around her waist, she reached up to undo the straps that held the arm's attachment cuff in place and tossed the leather harness aside. Now bare from the waist up, she drew her wakizashi from her belt with her left hand and, trembling, held it over the scarred remains of her right shoulder. Her companion realized what she was about to do.

"Millicent, do not do this. If you excise the needle, you condemn yourself to death and madness. You know that." He indicated Mary's facedown body. Still shaking, the red-haired woman lowered the curved knife, pressing its blade against her ruined skin and drawing a sliver of blood. A metal gauntlet roughly grabbed her human wrist, pulling the arm away. Her hand shook furiously as she fought him.

"Release me." The edge in her voice was a stark contrast to her trembling body. "I intend to return to Malenia that which she lost at Aeonia. That which, by my birth, I stole. Her dignity, her reason, her needle."

"And who will do this if you die here?"

"I should have... enough time left to give it to her before I succumb. If not...", she inhaled shakily, "I would have to ask you to give it to her in my stead. By force, if her condition renders that necessary."

The knight shook his head gravely. "I will have no hand in this. I share your wish to help her. She is the only family you have left. But I will not help you give up your own life for hers." His gloved fingers tightened around her wrist. "Drop the knife, Millicent."

"I must-"

"DROP THE KNIFE, MILLICENT."

"By right and worth it is hers. I-"

"Millicent. Drop the fucking knife, now. " With his other hand, he lifted her face to meet her eyes. "You have survived so much. Your sisters gave their lives to the Rot. Do not subject yourself to the same fate. We're in the Haligtree, the birthplace of unalloyed gold. We can face Malenia together, and find something else here to help her. Something that doesn't end with you losing your mind in a miasma of Rot." He squeezed her wrist again. "Drop the knife, Millicent," he repeated gently. Tearfully she obeyed, opening her hand and letting the wakizashi fall into the flowers. "Thank you," the knight whispered, reaching down to gather the folds of her white tunic and drape them about her bare shoulders and chest. "Malenia may be an Empyrean. But your life has the same value as hers. Your birth, while unusual, is not cause for shame. And had she met you, I think she would have wanted you to have that needle. To accomplish all that you have." After fastening the uppermost clasp of her tunic, he reached down to pick up her knife, tossing it into his upturned helmet with a clatter. "We slayed a Magma Wyrm and fought our way through a poison-drowned castle full of Revenants, Depraved Perfumers, and knights of the Shattering to face Elemer of the Briar. And all with you one-armed and fighting with your nondominant hand. We found your prosthesis, and liberated a village from the Godskin Apostles. We fought militiamen and Black Blade Kindred all the way to the Mountaintops of the Giants. We walked the Consecrated Snowfield in a whiteout to make it here. You are strong, Millicent. Whatever is waiting for us at the Haligtree's roots, we can face it together."

Tears fell freely from her face now. The chittering of the Kindred of Rot grew louder. The knight stood, whipping his head around. "Pests. It isn't safe here." He looked down at her. "Can you make it to the drainage channel on your own? I will join you after securing a perimeter." She nodded, choking back a sob as she stood and hastily secured her harness over her tunic, pressing her golden arm into place with an ear-splitting click. She bent to pick up her shamshir as her companion hefted his colossal iron sword and balanced it on one shoulder. He picked up his helmet, and Millicent's wakizashi fell out. With a snort of laughter through her tears, the young woman caught it deftly and returned it to its sheath. He smiled and jammed on the silver knight's helm. "Go. I can handle six of the shrimp cultists."

She raced towards the chute that led to one of Elphael's many spillways. This one flowed through a large, secluded room that would make for a good campsite. As she began to lower herself onto the ladder, she caught site of the Tarnished warrior brandishing his massive sword at the Kindred of Rot, each swing of the weapon punctuated by a loud crash as its tip impacted the ground.

It was some time before he returned, sword stained with pest blood.

----

Sunlight gleamed through the spillway's outlet, heralding the break of day. The two warriors arose and set off from the ladder again, heading deeper into the core of the Haligtree. They had already made it most of the way through Elphael, and before long they emerged from a lift into a chamber at the very heart of the Tree. To one side was a mausoleum where butterflies perched on stone coffins carved with images of women in armor. Ahead of them, a great arch opened into a meadow.

The center of the meadow was shallow water, with flowers growing in and around it. The archway broke through a wall of tangled roots which spiraled higher towards the open air. To one side, the great trunk of the Haligtree stretched infinitely into the sky. Opposite the arch was a gap in the roots where branches twisted around empty air, as though something was missing. Next to these roots was a solitary wooden chair, and in it slept a red-haired woman.

She wore a long brown dress with metallic trim, and her right shoulder ended in a leather-and-gold cuff for a prosthesis. Her left arm, sewn with strips of golden wire, rested on the tree, and windblown flowers caressed two ornate golden feet. Her head slumped back, her mouth slightly agape. Her eyes and forehead were covered with rough, scarred skin. As Millicent stepped into the water, her eyes slowly opened, cracking the brittle scabs of scar tissue that had grown over her eyelids, and fierce golden eyes regarded them as she stood.

"I dreamt for so long." She took a few shaky steps forward and knelt in the flowers. "My flesh was dull gold...and my blood, rotted." Her hand found a golden winged helm and gently placed it over her head. "Corpse after corpse, left in my wake... as I awaited... his return." She picked up a golden arm and snapped it onto her shoulder with a clank. A panel sprung open and liquid gold dripped forth, solidifying and lengthening into a massive curving blade. She swung the weapon experimentally and turned to face them as she locked her arm into a ready stance. "Heed my words. I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat."

Before the pair knew what was happening, she had charged towards them, dancing over the water and spinning towards Millicent. She barely got her shamshir up in time to parry the blow. Rebounding, Malenia lunged towards the knight with a series of rapid flicks of her wrist that were strong enough to knock his massive sword about. As Millicent launched into a sequence of slashes, the demigod whirled, gripping the young woman by her throat and throwing her up into the air. Her sword arm drew back as if to strike, but a hunk of iron flew into view and Malenia spun to parry as Millicent landed unceremoniously in the water. Leaping into the air, Malenia executed a graceful spin that sent the knight's sword flying back as she plunged her blade along his side, the golden sword sawing a gash in his plate armor and drawing blood. Then, shockingly, she dropped and kicked him in the chin with one metal knee, staggering him. With a yell, Millicent charged, swinging her sword overhand. The demigod spun, spraying water through the air. Millicent's shamshir bounced off Malenia's metal forearm and her human arm reached around, pulling the young woman to the ground as she plunged her prosthetic blade into Millicent's gut. Blood sprayed as she wrenched the sword free. Gasping, Millicent looked up at her opponent. "Lady Malenia! I am your daughter!"

"I have no daughters," the demigod said coldly. Millicent saw Malenia raise her sword again, then abruptly drop to one knee as a colossal hunk of iron collided with her side, cutting through her cloth dress and drenching them both in her blood. Gritting her teeth, Millicent leapt to her feet and slashed at the demigod's torso and human arm. Malenia rolled backwards, launching into a series of one-footed slashing leaps. It was a technique that Millicent knew well. She had been able to perform that move, or at least a semblance of it, since she was old enough to hold a sword. A memory, perhaps.

The first leap broke the knight's guard, the second left a dozen jagged cuts on his body. The third flew towards Millicent, and she stepped backwards to evade. As she closed in for a counterattack, a follow-up of sharpened vacuum surrounded the demigod, slicing a wide gash into the young woman's midsection and one of her thighs. Millicent was shocked. She had only ever had the ability to perform two steps of the Waterfowl Dance, and hadn't known about this quality of the third step. Again the iron greatsword came down on Malenia, but this time she evaded to the side. As she spun to counter, Millicent plunged her shamshir into the other woman's back and violently tore it free, gouging out a chunk of flesh and cloth and flinging it to the ground. Malenia stumbled, and the knight's sword smashed into the side of her head with a resounding clang. The demigod's helmet was torn from her head and fell into the water, blood pouring from her eyes, mouth, ears, and forehead. Gripping her by the shoulder, Millicent stabbed her again before whirling around to slash across her front. The demigod fell forwards into the water.

Millicent and her companion stepped towards the hollow in the tree. "I'm sorry, Millicent. She was too far gone. Her Great Rune should be manifesting soon," the Tarnished said solemnly. Behind them, something splashed.

"Wait."

Malenia, still dripping blood from almost her entire body, stood. Ghostly red petal-like wings unfolded at her back, the light blinding them as her dress disintegrated as if burnt off by fire. Her wounds began to fade away. Countless butterflies appeared from thin air, surrounding her like a hurricane and massing at the demigod's back. She slowly rose up into the air as the light faded. "The scarlet bloom flowers once more." The red light was gone now, revealing two massive wings composed of red and grey butterflies clustered together on a framework made of strands of Malenia's hair. Butterflies constantly streamed off of the wings, yet they never seemed to lose volume. "You will witness true horror." She leveled her prosthetic blade. "Now, rot!" Instantly the red wings flared to life, and the demigod shot forwards, driving her sword into the ground and creating a shock wave that knocked them both off their feet. Her wings coiled into a bud around her naked body before erupting into a massive flowerlike formation. The familiar feeling of the Scarlet Rot stung Millicent's eyes. Behind her, she saw her companion lift his helmet to consume some red boluses and a physick flask, presumably measures to stave off the onset of Rot.

Malenia stood in the heart of the fading flower, the edge of her sword now glowing with a crimson light. She assumed the opening stance of the Waterfowl Dance and surged forwards, even the arcs of compressed air left behind by the attack stained a brilliant red. Millicent barely managed to parry the first sequence and evade the others, this time avoiding the follow-up as well. The demigod turned, executing a rising slash that trailed butterflies into the Tarnished's chin. He coughed, staggering backwards as Malenia landed from her flight. The ground spewed butterflies and Rot where her sword fell. Millicent strode forwards to face her, and Malenia rose into the air again. Beside her, six clouds of butterflies appeared and formed human figures, perfectly matching Malenia's shape, wings, and weapon. One by one, the butterfly clones dove at the young woman, their blades trailing red light. She avoided the first three, deflected the fourth, but the fifth clone plunged its sword into her belly beside her earlier stab wound. The sixth dove at her companion, the Tarnished knight managing to roll out of the way and ready his greatsword. Tucking her wings like a diving falcon, Malenia shot to earth, skewering Millicent just below her ribcage. The demigod placed her human arm on Millicent's right shoulder and pulled hard, ripping the prosthesis free in a shower of clockwork mechanisms and metal fragments. Pieces of the arm's casing and drive shaft still clung to the young woman's harness as Malenia tossed the rest of it to the floor and kicked Millicent off of her blade. Gasping and clutching her belly with her remaining hand, she fell into the water.

A roar split the air. The Tarnished's colossal sword hit Malenia's metal left thigh like a charging bull, the sound of iron on gold causing Millicent's ears to ring. The demigod stumbled, and the knight hefted his sword again, driving her to the ground. With a beat of her wings. she flew back towards Millicent. Two butterfly clones swept the Tarnished warrior's legs out from under him, and Malenia dove at his prone form, the red wings of the Scarlet Aeonia filling the young woman's vision. He rolled to his knees and plunged his blade into the earth, its broad iron face shielding his head and torso from the worst of the blast while flowery tendrils of Rot licked at his extremities. Millicent hoped her friend's physick would be enough to protect him from the Scarlet Rot until they could recuperate. Staggering to her feet, the young woman's remaining hand wrapped around the hilt of her wakizashi and drew it from its sheath with a faint rush of air. The demigod was moving towards her companion. Silently, Millicent raced towards her, leaping upon the tall woman's back and plunging her knife into her left shoulder. As Malenia went into a shoulder throw that hurled Millicent to the earth again, the knight's greatsword was thrust straight-on at her torso. Ribs cracked under the hunk of iron's force as the demigod fell to her knees. Recovering, Millicent ran behind her and sliced at her sides, spraying the Empyrean's blood across the flowers. With a beat of her wings, Malenia spun, her metal foot striking Millicent's cheek and launching her into the water while her knife remained stuck in the demigod's hip. Malenia tore the wakizashi free with a gush of blood and tossed it across the meadow, where it disappeared in the flowers. As Malenia rushed towards the Tarnished in the throes of another Waterfowl Dance, Millicent crawled towards her mangled prosthesis and pried her shamshir from its fingers.

Recovering from being knocked back by the Dance, the knight made an upward cut with his sword, the heavy blade hitting the demigod's chin with a sickening crack. She flew forwards, tearing off his helmet and seizing his neck in her human hand. As she prepared to puncture his heart, the Tarnished's eyes, bright with the grace of gold, widened at something over the Empyrean's shoulder.

Millicent flew through the air, clutching her shamshir in her left hand. It was unmistakably the Waterfowl Dance. She collided with Malenia's back, scattering butterflies and tearing great gouges in the demigod's skin that drenched Millicent's sword arm in her blood. Falling forwards, Malenia attempted to prop herself up with her sword, but the followup from Millicent's third step shredded the flesh on her back even more, and she collapsed further forwards. Recovering from being dropped, the knight let his colossal sword fall into the water, instead removing a weathered straight sword from his belt and plunging it between the Empyrean's ribs. Malenia spat blood onto his armored shoulder as a gasp escaped her lips. "Your strength, extraordinary... the mark...of a true Lord. O, dear Miquella... O, dearest Miquella, my brother... I'm sorry. I finally met my match..."

As Malenia's bloodsoaked body pitched face-first into the water, her wings of butterflies evaporated and the strands of hair that had bolstered them shrank back into her scarlet mane. She lay still. In the air above her, a ring of light with a singular line through it appeared, with red starbursts appearing like a flowering vine along its silvery-gold edge. The Tarnished stepped forward to embrace it before turning to face Millicent. She stepped towards him, and then they both fell breathlessly to the ground. As they took turns partaking of the Flask of Crimson Tears, Millicent gestured wordlessly to the demigod's body.

In the middle of her spine, just below her shoulder blades, a tiny red blossom bloomed, like a waterlily on a pond of blood.

----

The next day came, and both warriors were refreshed. During the night, the blossom had grown to encompass Malenia's entire body and was now easily the size of a small house. Sifting through the translucent petals, Millicent made out a shape at the heart of the flower. Malenia's naked body, curled into a fetal position and tied to the flower by stemlike strands that grew up from the bloom's roots. Occasionally a stem would swell as if pumping some kind of fluid into the demigod's body.

"What will you do now?" The knight's voice echoed from within his silver helm. He had noticed Millicent deep in thought all night and all morning.

"I will climb the Haligtree again, and meet again with the knight Loretta. I will inform her of our deeds and attempt to lay claim to the throne of Elphael as Princess Regent. I shall then search the Tree for some way to help Mal- my mother." A slight red tinge crept into her cheeks at the words. "And you?"

"I intend to return to the Lands Between proper. I must hunt down one more shardbearer before I am ready to turn the Flame of the Fell God upon the Erdtree and journey to release Destined Death."

"I had thought as much. Still," she smiled, "know that you are welcome in the City of Lights anytime. I do hope you will return, my friend, even if only to avail yourself of the blacksmiths." The Tarnished knight stepped forwards to embrace the young woman, a task made somewhat awkward by his armor and the colossal iron sword balanced on his right shoulder. They walked together to the lift from Lower Elphael to the Canopy Plaza, where Millicent sat on a bench while the knight headed towards the lift that would eventually lead to the waygate back to the Consecrated Snowfield. With a stoic nod from the Tarnished warrior and a friendly wave from the young woman, the two parted ways.

Millicent's pondering was interrupted by metallic footsteps. A figure in extravagant silver-brass armor and a blue cloak approached, carrying a beautiful glaive of silver and ebony and a curved shield of silver and gold. The newcomer stopped in front of Millicent's bench and removed her crested helm. A white-skinned face and piercing blue eyes regarded the young woman as Loretta's silver-grey pixie cut spilled over her forehead and temples. "What news, young Millicent? And what happened to your arm?"

"Sir Loretta! I am glad to see you." She gestured to her arm. "This was lost in combat with Lady Malenia. I thought her slain, but presently her corpse has been embraced by a scarlet bloom. It seems to be restoring her somehow."

"I have witnessed such a thing before. She was in such a state when the late Commander Finlay returned with her from Caelid. She will recover. In the interim, I as garrison commander will naturally assume regency of Elphael.' The Albinauric smiled, her blue eyes twinkling. "Unless..."

"Sir Loretta-"

"Loretta, please. i know where this is going."

"Loretta, I understand my pedigree as Lady Malenia's daughter is unsubstantiated-"

"Bah," the knight spat. "You have her hair, her face, even her disease and her confounding resistance to it. You had one of her old arms," she said condescendingly, "and I saw you employ her signature technique -which she taught to no one- when we fought. If you're not her daughter, girl, I'll fuck a basilisk and drink what remains." Millicent burst out laughing, and Loretta banged her glaive on the marble bench.

"Fine then," said Millicent, attempting to regain her composure. "As Malenia's daughter, I seek to claim the title of Princess Regent of Elphael during my mother's convalescence." The Albinauric woman nodded approvingly. "However, might I ask a favor?"

"Shoot, kid."

"I have... little experience with regards to ruling cities, and learning on the fly seems inadvisable. I also wish to attend to other matters. Would you be willing to take day-to-day command of Elphael? I intend to devote myself to aiding my mother's recovery. I fear she may emerge in a similar irrational state to the one I fought her in, and I would like to find a way to belay that if I can."

The knight knelt. "It would be my honor, Princess. I shall issue a proclamation that you have come to claim the throne. I should like you to be present for that, and then you can attend to Lady Malenia."

"Thank you." Millicent grinned. "Just don't go declaring war on anyone or anything drastic like that without consulting me. Though I have for the moment entrusted you with my duties as regent to be with my mother, I am the Princess." She said that more as an affirmation to herself than a directive to Loretta, which the Albinauric picked up on.

"Before I forget, kid. Once we're sorted as far as crowning you Regent, you might want to start looking in Miquella's old workshop."

Millicent blinked. "Malenia's brother... my uncle?"

"Yes. Though he disappeared many years ago, it was he who made the medicines and golden needles that treated Lady Malenia's condition, and he who built and maintained her prosthetic limbs. His workshop has sat abandoned since he was taken, and so you might be able to find something there that will help. Assuming you can make sense of his notes, that is."

"Thank you, Loretta."

Hours later, Millicent made her way up a branch that led to a small marble hut suspended in the Haligtree's canopy. Outwardly, this building looked like every other structure in the Canopy District, but Loretta said that this had been Miquella's workshop, and still contained his tools, ingredients, concoctions, and notes, plus a few prototypes of the demigod's inventions. Millicent stepped through the door, and immediately kicked up a cloud of dust. She sneezed.

The workshop was a mess. The floor was covered in books, boxes, and odd bits of machinery, and every wall was a workstation, bookshelf, or chest of drawers. A human-sized chair sat facing a cluttered desk. "Destined Death take me," the young woman complained aloud. "Where do I even begin with this stuff?"

She began with the nearest stack of books. "A Treatise on Dragon Communion... 101 Land Octopus Ovary Recipes..." she shuddered. "An Introduction to Comets... Crucible Genealogy... The Liurnian Fisherman's Primer..." Clearly this Miquella was an eccentric man. At this point Millicent decided that her long-lost uncle's library was not likely to bear fruit and moved on to a box of glass bottles. She removed one and shook it, and a burgundy liquid danced within. Uncorking the bottle, the princess inhaled sharply. It smelled awful, and she almost dropped it. Replacing the bottle, she noticed a stamp on the side of the wooden crate that read 'Slug venom-formic rock solution. DO NOT EAT.' "Oh." The box under that was full of cogs and gyroscopes with no discernible function, the one under that contained a spare set of glintstone craftsman's tools and a smaller version of the gold-and-white tuning chamber that sat on the least paperclad of Miquella's workstations. With a sigh, Millicent approached a heavy cabinet. A rush of cold air and a frosty blue mist hit her face, and she noticed that the entire interior, even the backs of the doors, was lined with ice-infused glintstones. Every shelf was packed back-to-front with fluid-filled bottles, each one marked with a small paper label bearing messy calligraphy. After trying to decipher the first of these for nearly two minutes, the young woman shut the cabinet and turned her attention to the main desk.

She sifted through open books and hastily-scrawled notes for a while. One book, a bulging leather tome with loose papers shoved in at random between pages, proved to be Miquella's medical journal. Placing that aside for further inspection, Millicent brushed past several diagrams of prosthetic limbs to find a rectangular black leather case with gilded corners. Removing the lid, she saw a fabric-lined interior with five long recesses. One was empty, but the other four contained thin golden helices that tapered to sharp points. Unalloyed golden needles. Millicent inhaled sharply and hurriedly closed the case. Clutching the case and the massive journal to her chest, she raced back down the Haligtree.

She came to a halt in the root-meadow where Malenia's bloom remained. Placing Miquella's journal on a dry patch of earth, she approached the flower. "Hey kid!"

Millicent turned. Loretta had entered. "I've arranged quarters for you. As Regent and as a scion of the royal house, Malenia and Miquella's estate is yours to use, however I've also had the pages prepare a small vacant townhouse across from the lift for your occupation. I thought you might like to be closer to the roots while your mother slumbers."

"Thank you, Loretta." The nearby lodging was a welcome blessing, and also made Millicent happy that she'd be spared the shame of having to ask where the royal estate was for some time yet.

"I also brought you this." From behind her back, the Albinauric produced a gleaming gold prosthesis and a new leather harness. "New arm. And a new cuff, because your old one still has pieces of the old arm stuck to it." Amid a flurry of half-comprehensible statements of gratitude, Millicent strapped on the harness over her tunic before accepting the prosthesis and clamping it into place.

"Don't thank me yet," Loretta scoffed. "This is built to the same specifications as your mother's arm. Now that it's attached to you, you should feel a tense spot in your forearm when you make a fist." Millicent nodded. "Imagine releasing it. Like you're pulling a crossbow trigger." The young woman concentrated for a moment, then jumped as a panel opened and liquid gold surged out to form a massive katana blade. The end of the blade locked into a socket on the hinged panel. It was in every respect identical to the demigod's prosthetic blade, just scaled to match Millicent's human frame. Retracting the blade, Millicent ran forwards to embrace a startled Loretta, who began awkwardly petting the princess's back.

Once the Albinauric knight had gone, Millicent returned her attention to the translucent flower that dominated the meadow. Selecting a needle from the case, she cautiously approached the bloom again. Leafing through the silky petals, she was once again facing the flower's core and the sleeping demigod within.

"I hope this doesn't hurt too much, Mother." Millicent inserted the needle into the core, pressing her metal arm in after it as her human hand spread the puncture wide to allow her to place the needle. The inside of the core was cold and gelatinous, and the young woman shivered. Finally she reached Malenia. Though her senses with the gold arm were dimmer than those of her flesh hand, she could feel the heat radiating from the demigod's skin. Perhaps the cold gel surrounding her was an attempt to keep her cool amid the heat generated by the Rot and the healing process. As she had once done with her own ruined shoulder, Millicent gingerly lined up the needle with Malenia's left arm and pressed down on a spot between her shoulder and elbow. She gently began to force the needle in, waiting for it to disappear beneath the Empyrean's skin. As she withdrew her arm from the core, the gelatinous material sealed itself again behind her, and even the hole in the outer surface of the flower core closed behind her. She repeated the process with the demigod's right thigh and a second needle, and then waited.

Millicent was bored. She had been sitting in the meadow for hours now. She had dug through the flowers until she found her wakizashi, she had picked up every piece of her shattered arm and put them in a box in her new house, she had ran fifty laps around the garden, she had brushed past the petals to check on her mother and wound up counting every individual rot scab on the demigod's entire body, twice. She was now so thoroughly bored that she was reading her uncle's sloppily-penned medical journal front to back. As she made it to the end of an overly long entry on Albinauric reproduction and midwifery, she noticed that the only light in the meadow was her mother's blossom and the distant lamps outside the mausoleum. Yawning, she set off for the lift, journal and needle-case in tow.

The house Loretta had prepared had obviously been vacant for some time. Someone had dusted, but traces remained in some hard-to-reach spots. There was a kitchen with a firepit and a small sitting area nearest the front door, and a door at the back led to a small bathhouse. A spiral staircase led to the second floor, which was part study and part bedroom. A newly made silk bed and carved wooden dressing-table dominated one side of this room, while the other side had a desk and two bare bookshelves. Millicent set Miquella's book on one of the shelves, which somehow made the whole scene sadder, and climbed into bed. Sleep took her swiftly that night.

The next few days were a blur. Millicent woke up, spent a few hours getting to know Elphael and its citizens with Loretta as her guide, and then retired to the meadow with Miquella's book to observe Malenia until the sun set, at which point she took a small meal in her townhouse and went to bed. On the fifth day, she awoke with a strange feeling in her chest. As had become her routine, she dressed, ate a simple breakfast of bread and berries, and left her house, but instead of seeking Loretta she went straight for the lift across the avenue and descended to the meadow. The scarlet bloom still stood proudly in the water, but its petals were fluttering strangely despite the absence of a breeze. As Millicent looked on, the petals drooped to the ground and the bared core of the flower split open like a nutshell. The tall, glistening body of Malenia forced itself through the opening, took a few steps forward, and pitched towards the ground.

Millicent darted forwards to catch the falling demigod. Malenia's skin was cool and damp to the touch, and chunks of the flower gel still clung to her in places. None of her wounds from their battle a week prior remained. "What... is happening?" The demigod's voice was hoarse and throaty from disuse, her breath cold against Millicent's neck.

"You're okay. You're alive. You're awake." Millicent eased the other woman into a seated position. Malenia raised her head to look at her.

"Who... are you?"

"I am Millicent. I think- no. I am your daughter, Malenia."

"I never bore any children," the Empyrean said warily, brushing the chunks of gel off of herself.

"I know. I was born from a bloom in the Swamp of Aeonia, in Caelid."

"Caelid... oh gods, what happened in Caelid? I remember my half-brother's sword carving up my shoulder, and then..."

"Your needle failed. Radahn's sword must have broken it. You bloomed." Malenia's face was a mask of horror. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she buried her face in her hands. "Caelid is overrun by Scarlet Rot. There were very few survivors of the battle, and few live there now. Radahn lived, mad and limbless, all through the Shattering until a party of warriors at his castellan's behest ended his suffering. They hope that he will be free of the Rot when he comes back to life."

"I... I couldn't protect Miquella," the demigod said huskily. "I couldn't find him. And Caelid... I burned an entire province. I killed everyone. My allies, my enemies, civilians..." She slumped over and began to sob in earnest. "And you. If you are who you say you are... and I stabbed you so many times... I remember crushing your arm under my fist... twisting my blade in your gut... Miquella, I have failed you. Where are you, Miquella?" Her voice shifted from anguish to rage as she leapt forwards. "And YOU! You show up here claiming to be my daughter, claiming to have crawled from the wound on the world that I made! Leave my sight!" She began to pound her fists on Millicent's shoulders, but not hard enough to truly hurt her. Millicent wrapped her arms around her mother and guided her gently to the waters before pulling them both down to lay there.

"I'm sorry, Mother. I truly am. None of this was your fault. Your needle broke. You were in pain. It was out of your control."

"NO! I am strong. I could have- should have-"

"Shhhh." Millicent dipped her hands in the water and poured handfuls of the cool liquid over Malenia's face and breast. Slowly, the demigod's ragged breathing eased. She pulled herself up to a seated position using Millicent as support. Suddenly, she extended one arm weakly and conjured an arc of light, a small fragment of the Great Rune that Millicent's companion had transcribed.

"Touch it." Millicent did as Malenia commanded, resting her human hand gingerly in the curve of the arc. Red flowers bloomed along its length. Malenia stared at her. "It's true. It's all true. You are my daughter." She blinked. "And I- when we met, I- oh gods no-"

Millicent pulled her mother into a hug. "You weren't yourself. I don't blame you." A single tear landed on her shoulder before the demigod pulled away, holding her daughter's hands.

"How do I have my mind back?"

"I found two of Miquella's spare needles and placed them in your flesh." At Malenia's quizzical expression, she added, "Loretta showed me. With her support, I have been nominally ruling Elphael as Princess Regent."

"That's my girl," the demigod blurted. Millicent blushed. "I'm sorry, Millicent. As I'm sure you've realized, I make a fairly terrible mother."

"I will hear none of that. Get this straight, it was not. Your. Fault." Malenia put her prosthetic arm around Millicent's shoulders.

"How could something so wonderful arise from such carnage?" She shook herself. "My own parents were... not exactly sterling examples of care and affection. I fear I won't live up to any expectations you may have of me."

"Mother, the closest thing I've ever had to a parental figure was a creepy old swamp hermit who turned into a shrimp when we misbehaved. You're perfect."

Malenia blinked again. "I- I feel we have much to discuss."

Millicent helped her to her feet. "Come. Let's get you something to wear, and then we'll go find Loretta. She'll be glad to have you back."

----

Malenia and Millicent were sitting on one of the Haligtree's upper branches, swinging their legs, the demigod's human hand wrapped around her daughter's metal one. It had been a few days since she had awakened. Millicent had since abdicated as regent, and the pair had spent their days together. Malenia still wasn't fully over the memories of her missing brother and the revelations about Caelid and Millicent, but she found that she could be vulnerable with her daughter in a way that she hadn't with anyone else save Miquella. Presently, the pair were making plans to spar in the gardens, for Malenia was anxious for some sort of exercise, when the waygate roared to life and a bloodsoaked knight stumbled through, dragging a massive iron sword. He almost fell off the branch before Malenia leapt to her feet and caught him.

"Oh gods..." Millicent ran to the Tarnished warrior's side, helping him to his feet. Malenia squinted.

"Is this..."

"Yes, he's the one I told you about. Where's the nearest infirmary?"

Some time had passed. Stripped of his blood-encrusted armor, the Tarnished knight lay on a low bed open to the air as Malenia and Millicent stood over him. He awoke, his eyes widening in terror at Malenia. She tried to smile warmly, which seemed to agitate him even more. "It's okay. I brought her back," Millicent said. "Now what happened to you? By the Crucible, it was like your entire body was torn open. There wasn't a single wound that was causing all that, and I don't think most of that blood was even yours, unless your blood combusts on contact with human skin and you just never said anything."

"Mohgwyn."

"Mohgwyn?"

"Mohgwyn. My search... for the Great Runes brought me to the Siofra River. One of... Queen Marika's Omen sons, Mohg, holds court there. I've fought a shade of him before, in the Leyndell Catacombs, but this... this was something else. He wields a power over blood. I barely fought him to a standstill and claimed his Great Rune. I don't remember how I even got out of Mohgwyn Palace. But I remember trying to get here."

"Why here? The Haligtree is far from Siofra River."

"Not... as far as you might think." He coughed. "I came because of Miquella." Both women gasped. "When I... defeated Mohg, he started... rambling incoherently about someone named Miquella. 'Miquella is mine and mine alone,' he kept saying. And there was some kind of... cocoon... there that he seemed very fond of. I remembered... that Miquella was an Empyrean. Your brother," he said to Malenia. "I heard you talk about him. So I came here to tell you... Mohg has him."

Malenia's face was a terrifying mask of determination. "What is the quickest way to Mohg's domain? I intend to go there at once."

"I remember now. At the edge of the Consecrated Snowfield, there is... a waygate. It leads to the region of the underground river where Mohgwyn Palace stands. But... I must warn you. At the center of his domain of blood, at the closest point to the Formless Mother, Mohg is at his strongest. If not for the resistance and gradual healing of Grace, I would have died down there. I failed to finish him off. Surrounded by his element, he should recover quickly. He's probably back at full strength by now."

"I'm going after him," Malenia said defiantly. Millicent stood.

"I'm coming with you." The demigod looked down. "Miquella is my family too. I wish to assist you in freeing him."

----

They came to a snowy wood at the snowfield's edge. "The waygate should be around here somewhere," Malenia said. "You take the southern half of these woods. I'll go north." Before either woman made much headway in her respective direction, a black-robed figure using a cane emerged from the stand of trees.

"Ah, Malenia the Severed. And... what is this? Some bastard spawn? I didn't think you would abandon your brother to fornicate with some commoner, Empyrean."

"Who are you to speak so?" Malenia strode forwards and unsheathed her sword, her daughter doing the same.

"I am a nobleman of the Mohgwyn Dynasty." Malenia rolled her eyes. How delusional is my half-brother now? "Luminary Mohg is using his wisdom, strength, and love to build a better world for us all. With your runt of a brother's help." The demigod darted forwards, but the Sanguine Noble raised his cane, revealing it to be a gilded helical sword drenched with blood. From his robes came a bloody bone dagger, and he crossed his weapons to parry Malenia's slash. "Long live the Mohgwyn Dynasty!" The noble licked his lips and then quickstepped sideways, thrusting his sword at Millicent. The young woman dodged backwards and countered with her sword, meeting the noble's blade. A flick of the dagger sent an arc of blood flying at Malenia, who skirted around it to attack him from behind. As the noble parried, Millicent flicked her wrist, cutting open his thigh. He cackled with glee as his blood poured onto the ground. Suddenly the noble spun backwards before lunging at the young woman, his sword grazing her shoulder but drawing far more blood than a nick of that size should have. She hissed, jumping backwards as Malenia's blade flew into the noble's neck, sending his hooded head flying.

At the edge of a cliff, they found the waygate. It had been smashed beyond repair. A message was written in blood across the snow. "You are unworthy of an audience with Luminary Mohg, rot goddess."

----

"Figures Mohg would have upped his security," the Tarnished grumbled. He was on his feet in partial armor now, pacing the infirmary building. "I used that waygate to get in and out of Mohgwyn Palace. Once I made it out alive and started heading for the Haligtree, he probably knew that you would come and sent that Sanguine Noble on a one-way mission to smash it as a delaying action. There's still a direct route to Mohg's turf, but it's much harder to navigate."

"Tell me," Malenia said grimly.

"I don't actually know the way. But I know someone who does. Someone who can both guide you to Mohgwyn Palace and help you gain a fighting chance against the Lord of Blood." Both women leaned forward, interested. "Go to the Altus Plateau. The ruins of the Second Church of Marika. A friend lives there. She'll probably attack you to keep up appearances. Show her this." He offered Millicent a talisman from his belt, a weighty crest with beautiful opaline slivers embedded in its face. "The sign of the pearldrake. She'll recognize this."

"Keep up appearances..? What do you mean?" Millicent gingerly accepted the talisman.

"Her name is Eleonora. For some time, she has infiltrated the ranks of Mohg's Bloody Fingers to try to bring his Dynasty down from within. When we met, she was working on a physick that she thinks can resist Mohg's blood rituals. She can bring you to Mohgwyn Palace."

"We will depart at once," Malenia growled. "I'm getting my brother back."

"What about you?" Millicent turned to her friend.

"I will recuperate here. Then I leave for the Mountaintops of the Giants to approach the Fell God's Flame."

"Be safe." She squeezed his right hand.

"You too." The knight sat down heavily on his bed as the two women strode purposefully out of the infirmary.

----

The journey to Altus had been cold and uneventful. The Lift of Rold was much safer now that the Black Blade Kindred who lurked there had been dealt with, and once they hit the temperate, snowdrift-free Plateau their pace had picked up a good bit. It took mother and daughter two days to cross the Snowfield, but just one to reach the Church of Marika as the sun fell. Malenia followed Millicent inside, the young woman holding the pearldrake emblem in her human hand.

A lone figure stood within. A crimson double-bladed katana was stuck in the soft earth, and the figure wore a very oddly shaped suit of armor. When she stepped forward, Malenia saw that her chainmail tunic and black iron plate armor were dotted with draconic horns and adorned with a feathered dragonwing mantle. Pulling her blade from the ground, the woman dropped low and began spinning the twinblade, its red blades trailing phantom blood as they spun.

"Eleonora! Wait!" Millicent hoisted the sign of the pearldrake. The woman paused, returning her sword to the ground. Cautiously, she removed her helmet. Malenia bit her lip to stifle a gasp.

By the gods, she was beautiful. Her eyes shone like blue glintstones, and flowing brown hair framed a soft, pale face with a pointed chin. "And just who are you supposed to- is that Lady Malenia?" Eleonora craned her neck. "It's dark. Come, I'll make a fire."

The fire roared, and the spit-roasting meat and wild herbs smelled delicious. The three women regarded each other across the flames. Their conversation had lulled while they helped themselves to food, but now Eleonora spoke again. "I'm sorry, Lady Malenia. Of course I knew of your brother's location, but I could not act on that information without blowing my cover. I have my doubts about facing Mohg alone even now, let alone years ago."

"I... would not have been in a place to receive you anyways," the demigod said softly. "I commend your courage. Spending all these years infiltrating the Bloody Fingers cannot have been easy."

"How did you hide that you haven't partaken of cursed blood?", Millicent asked through a mouthful of meat. "The Bloody Fingers and the Sanguine Noble we fought all have red eyes and a trident branded on their foreheads. You don't."

"Ha, that," she snorted. "I made up some bullshit about Drake Knights not being allowed to remove our helmets except on our wedding night. Surprisingly, the egotistical buffoon actually bought it. Probably helps that we're basically extinct and nobody knows what our actual customs are." She took a swig of fresh water. "Of course then every time I visited the palace there were blood-drunk tools trying to get in my pants or making up stories about what my face looks like. Extra incentive not to actually go down there too often, besides the fact that I'm not actually a Bloody Finger."

Malenia coughed slightly. "Our... mutual friend mentioned a physick?"

"Yes. I've been fine-tuning a physick concoction for some time now. I think it can give the drinker temporary protection against Mohg's hexes. All my research and testing was done by stroking Mohg's ego until he gave us a demonstration of the blessings of the Formless Mother and then either bottling up some blood to analyze or drinking my latest iteration of the physick and standing under the spray."

"That place sounds disgusting," Millicent shuddered.

"Oh, it's fucking awful. Don't ever go there." The Drake Knight snorted again as Millicent began to stutter something about that being their destination. Eleonora leaned towards Malenia. "Cute kid, Blade," she whispered conspiratorially. The demigod flushed slighty as the knight rose from her seat. "Let's leave in the morning. You two can make yourselves at home around here somewhere. Don't mind the mess, I wasn't expecting houseguests." Millicent walked to one corner of the ruined church, finding it full of battered perfumer's tools and brewing equipment. Presumably this was where the Drake Knight had perfected her physick. The young woman settled on a clear patch of ground for her bedroll and lay staring up at the moon and stars.

Malenia had just finished setting up her bedroll off to the south side of the church when Eleonora stepped past her and collapsed into a mound of animal pelts just inches from the demigod's head. "My apologies," she began. "I didn't know you slept here. I can move if you-"

"Nah, don't bother." Pieces of black steel were ejected from the furs, landing next to the bloody poleblade. There was a sound like bells as Eleonora slid out of her chainmail tunic and likewise tossed it aside before kicking off her boots and resettling herself amidst the pelts. They lay in the darkness for some time, listening to the wind and the crickets and each other's breathing. Millicent rolled over at the other end of the church and her foot struck a brass convector with a deafening noise. She yelled an apology, which Malenia barely heard over the Drake Knight guffawing. "Oh, I should have company more often. I haven't laughed like this in years!"

They lay in silence awhile longer before Eleonora propped herself up on her elbows. "I can feel you staring at me, Blade," she teased. A sudden rotation of the shadowy form opposite her told her she'd guessed correctly. "What? I take off my shirt and everyone forgets how to behave? You're worse than the Sanguine Nobles, Lady." Malenia was blushing furiously.

"You have very beautiful eyes," the demigod murmured. The knight snorted.

"I was just teasing. I can't see shit and I don't think you can either." Malenia rolled over again.

"So are you actually a Drake Knight? I thought they had all died out. I've heard the stories, though."

"Yes. I was born into one of the last Sanctuaries in the Lands Between. I'd just earned my wings when the Confessors found us. This was during your mother's 'purge the heretics' phase."

"I'm sorry." She swallowed. "I don't much care for her either."

"I know. Happy families don't split up to make their own divine tree somewhere else."

"Have you... partaken?" The question was vague, but the knight picked up on her meaning.

"Yes, I've eaten a dragon heart. Frost dragon, to be precise. Most people think Dragon Communion turns your eyes yellow, but that's actually just for your run-of-the-mill fire dragons. Frost makes an icy blue, glintstone makes this funny teal color, and legend has it that the hearts of Ancient Dragons turn them Crucible bronze. I've heard of the rot-corrupted dragons in Caelid. No idea what that will do. Probably just kill you." She laughed, then caught herself. "Sorry. That's probably a sore subject."

"It's alright," Malenia murmured. "Well, it is a bit of a sore subject. I took it pretty badly when Millicent told me about Caelid. She has helped me process some of it."

"I like her," Eleonora said. "When did you have her? I thought you were comatose since Aeonia. Were those rumors incorrect?"

"No. Apparently she was birthed from a bloom in the Aeonian swamp. She is biologically related to me, however I was never pregnant with her. I did not even know she existed until she showed up at the Haligtree a week or so ago."

The Drake Knight snorted. "Fascinating. Who raised her, then? Or did she emerge fully grown?"

"You won't believe me."

"Shoot."

"A slightly perverted Sellian man who worships the Scarlet Rot and shapeshifts into a crustacean to discipline his adopted children." Eleonora's laughter echoed through the entire church.

"Shit, Caelid sounds wild. I should get down there sometime." She paused. "So she was born from the Rot. Have you ever-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"As you wish, my lady," the knight said. Though the words were sarcastic, Malenia sensed a sincere respect from the other woman. By the way Eleonora had responded to her mentioning her difficulty with moving past Caelid and setting boundaries, she suspected that the Drake Knight had some demons of her own, but it would be rude to pry when she had extended the demigod so much courtesy. Her contemplation was interrupted by the other woman's voice.

"I'm sorry. I feel like such a bad person right now. All my conversation topics are just me making fun of your shitty parents and your unresolved trauma and the disaster you blame yourself for and the creep who knew your daughter longer than you did. I'm so fucking bad at this."

"It's alright." Malenia raised her human arm over her head, laying her hand to rest on the edge of the heap of pelts. A soft, warm hand gingerly grasped her own. "Will you... turn if you overuse your dragon aspect?"

"I used to feel my humanity slipping away every time I called upon the strength of dragons," she said softly. "Like a piece of my heart disappeared. Like my chest was hollowing out from within. But... not anymore." She sensed Malenia's curiosity and squeezed the demigod's hand tighter. "I had to briefly partake of blood to join the Bloody Fingers. Never again. Never." Her voice wavered. "It was awful. The voices, the rush... it's addicting, Malenia. If I hadn't had an early version of my physick prepared and waiting for me, I would have slipped. I would be one of them, killing at every chance and devouring my victims' blood. The taste, the call of the Formless Mother... it's orgasmic. It's insane. It's fucking terrifying is what it is. She swallowed noisily. "But ever since I drank that blood... whenever I've used my dragon aspect I haven't felt it eating away at my humanity. I don't know exactly why. Dragon Communion is a ritual mixing of blood, the aspect of dragons is channeled through the bloodstream. Maybe the interaction between the two made me resistant to the negative effects of my dragon blood. Sometimes I wonder if I'd rather have never tasted human blood and feel myself eaten away with every use of my draconic powers, or live the way I do now. I don't know." Malenia wasn't quite sure what to say. She settled for returning the other woman's squeeze, and the Drake Knight hummed contentedly in the dark.

"We should rest now," Eleonora whispered. "We'll need our strength for the journey to Mohgwyn Palace."

----

"It just keeps going down," Millicent panted. The trio had entered a cave system not far from the church ruins that Eleonora said tied into the Deeproot Depths and eventually continued on to Mohg's side of the Siofra River. In the waygate's absence and with the inability of the Drake Knight's Pureblood Medal to teleport a group, this route was the only known way down. The wells and caves on the Limgrave and Caelid side all led to the river main, which was separated from Mohg's realm by a vast ravine. They had been walking uneventfully for a few hours now when Eleonora held up a hand.

"Shhhh," she hissed. "Something's coming." Malenia concentrated. She heard the scurrying of many legs. The demigod mouthed the word 'ants', and the knight nodded slightly. As they rounded a bend, a wide cave containing six of the giant subterranean ants came into view. One of them had the reinforced shieldlike head of a soldier ant. And judging by the chittering noises, raised mouthparts, and turns in their direction, they'd been spotted.

The soldier ant charged the three women. Eleonora vaulted over it, and it hit the wall with enough force to crack the stone. She landed behind the ant and grazed its abdomen with her poleblade. Malenia squared off with two ants, her sword dancing from target to target as she parried snapping mandibles and countered with delicate thrusts. A fourth ant advanced on Millicent, and with a low sweep the young woman cut off part of one of its front legs. It chittered in rage, and the two ants at the back of the cave bore down on her as well. The soldier ant's stinger dinged off of the runed steel shoulder of Eleonora's armor. The Drake Knight spun her twinblade in a mesmerizing bloody dance, leaping into the air and carving several gashes into the ant's head and thorax. Its armored head slammed into her blade, pushing her down. She rolled backwards and readied her weapon for the next attack. One of Malenia's ants missed a lunge, and the demigod seized the moment, bringing her sword down on its thin neck and severing its head cleanly. The other ant's pincers closed around her metal leg. The ant seemed confused for a moment before she whirled around and removed one of its antennae with the edge her blade. It hissed and released her. Millicent rose up, performing her two-step Waterfowl Dance to deter the three insects surrounding her. With the second movement, she closed in on the ant she'd already wounded, managing to get past its tough mandibles to carve up its body. She landed from her leap, spinning around to force the other two back with her sword.

The soldier ant charged at Eleonora again, and she dodged to the side and brought the upwards-pointing blade of her weapon down on its abdomen. The ant kept going, plowing into Millicent and knocking her down. A stinger grazed the young woman's side and she cried out as the Drake Knight performed a side flip, landing next to the stinging insect and eviscerating it with a windmill-like motion of her poleblade. Turning to Millicent, she conjured a ball of dragonice in her left hand and sprayed a cooling mist on the wound to soothe the burning of the ant venom and purge it from her veins. Her breathing relaxed, but she choked out a yell as she saw the soldier ant bearing down on them. Raising her left hand, Eleonora felt the chill of dragon's blood pumping through her body. As she jumped, her left arm thickened and twisted, growing into a massive white-scaled limb ending in a clawed hand wreathed in freezing mist. The dragon claw slammed into the ant's shieldlike head, crushing the exoskeleton into the ground in a spray of juices. The knight panted as her arm exploded in a shower of blue blood, leaving her armored human limb behind. Malenia had finished off her ant and had now plunged her sword between the last one's eyes, ripping it free and kicking the dying creature aside. Sheathing her sword, she spun on her heel and fell to her knees next to Millicent. Eleonora leaned in to properly inspect the wound as well.

"It looks like your ice got the venom out," the demigod said. "Do we have anything to bandage it?"

"There's bandages... in my pack," Millicent grunted. While her mother began rifling through the pack's pockets, the Drake Knight gingerly tapped the wound with one finger. Millicent hissed and flinched.

"It still burned a little," Eleonora told her. "Bandaging this won't be fun." Malenia returned with the bandages. "Let me ice it," the knight ordered, spraying dragonice mist from her palms onto the cloth that the demigod unrolled. She took the bandages from Malenia's hand and started the end on Millicent's good side. "Ready?" Millicent nodded. Malenia moved opposite Eleonora and held her daughter's human hand between both of her own. As the Drake Knight rapidly wound the chilled cloth around her midriff, the young woman cried out briefly and squeezed Malenia's hands. The second and third passes over the already covered wound were easier, and before long the bandage had been tied off and all three of them were on their feet and walking.

The rest of the day passed without incident, save for a solitary basilisk that had ambushed them in a dark tunnel. Millicent's prosthetic blade had kept it and its deathblight at a safe distance while Eleonora picked it off with shards of dragonice. Though the tunnels of Deeproot had no real day or night, the three eventually felt themselves tiring and resolved to make camp at the next opportunity that presented itself. Finally, they came to a cave off the main tunnel. It was up a ledge from the tunnel and dead-ended almost immediately around a short L-shaped bend. They piled in and Millicent arranged a pile of volcanic stones for warmth and light while the Drake Knight made use of a concealing incantation to cover the cave entrance with an illusory tunnel wall. The wall blocked all light from seeping back out into the tunnels and had the added benefit of a muffling enchantment woven in, as well as a loud noise and an outward pulse of lightning should it be breached. The Drake Knights, who had long had to hide their Sanctuaries from the Inquisition, had perfected incantations of concealment and defense.

With the rock pile taking a wide berth in the middle of the rear wall, the cave was rather small. Millicent, after struggling to make herself comfortable around her venom burn, decided to take the far end around the corner to herself so as not to disturb the others if she spent the night tossing and turning. That left Malenia and Eleonora to attempt to space themselves out on the other side, since neither wanted to sleep next to the illusory wall. After removing her armor for the night, the knight found that the floor space taken up by her discarded gear forced her closer to an oblivious Malenia.

The demigod, for her part, lay facing the wall until a noise from beside her roused her to turn over. Eleonora lay staring at the ceiling, her face red and streaked with tears. Her hands shook as they squeezed the edge of her blanket. A choking sob seized her throat. Malenia rolled fully over to face her, offering her hands. The knight took them. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, my lady. It's just..." She choked on another sob. "Caves make me think of my first taste of blood."

"You were underground?", the demigod asked softly.

"In a cave on a beach. And... it wasn't just random fucking blood they had laying around. The White Mask- the priest of the Dynasty- who initiated me, he oversaw my first kill." She took a shaky breath. "I had to kill someone. Someone innocent."

"I had expected as much," Malenia whispered. "You know I won't think less of you for that. I, of all people."

"But..." She swallowed hard. "He was an escaped prisoner. He'd been working in Godrick's mines. Too old for military service. He'd escaped, but the White Mask caught him. Made me kill him and drink his blood." She shuddered at the memory, squeezing the other woman's hands tighter. "He talked about wanting to see his grandchildren again the whole time. I wanted so fucking badly to just stab the White Mask in his stupid smiling white face and be done with it, but I'd waited years for this opportunity. And if I killed him I wouldn't get it again." Her jaw set. "A squire from my Sanctuary had tasted of blood and became a Bloody Finger. The elders excommunicated him. He went to Leyndell and led the Confessors to our home. And every man, woman, and child they killed, he drank. The grin on his face, the blood of one victim dripping into the wounds of another... it was pure evil, Malenia. I vowed to eradicate that. The evil that led him to betray his oath for ecstasy, to feast on the people who had raised him, lived with him, fought with him, played with him... I had to destroy it. I had to get in so I could work towards bringing down Mohg. I had to kill that old man." Her whole body shook. The demigod pulled her close, almost into an embrace.

"And then... I had to keep up appearances. I had to keep killing. The Formless Mother knows if you don't. I tried where I could to stick to evildoers and wandering nobles, but... there were times where to keep up my charade I had to pick off a traveling monk or a new enlistee in the Leyndell army or... or..." She broke down in tears. Malenia pulled her closer still.

"Eleonora... I have the blood of an entire province on my hands. I am the last person who is going to judge you for your actions. I know you made mistakes. So did I. I made so many mistakes. But you never lost your purpose. You never shook the pain. And as callous as I sound, Eleonora, the pain means that you aren't becoming the evil you fight. A Bloody Finger would tell your story with laughter, not with anguish. Just think. This time tomorrow, we will have brought the Dynasty to its knees. You will be free." The Drake Knight rose, turning to bury her face in Malenia's chest. The demigod jolted backwards before leaning in again.

"Are you alright?" came a muffled voice.

"Yes. No. Yes."

"You don't have to talk about it."

"I will. You told me your story." Malenia inhaled sharply. "I've said all I need to about Caelid and Miquella and Millicent," she whispered. "This is something all my own." The demigod took a nervous breath and wrapped her arms tighter around Eleonora and the blanket the knight was wrapped in. "When we came of age many centuries ago, Mother wanted both of us, but especially me, out of her sight and out of her mind. Tensions were rising again with Liurnia, despite the political marriage of Mother and Father. Mother saw a chance to kill two birds with one lightning bolt." She paused to take a deep breath and let it out. "She attempted to marry me off to a Liurnian noble. He owned a shipping company and two of his brothers were Provosts at Raya Lucaria. I had no say. To Mother, my rot-tainted form was her greatest failure. She wanted me gone, and so she had the marriage signed off on and sent me off with no fanfare. That was the worst year of my life." Her body tensed up, her golden eyes going glassy. "He agreed to it in order to get a steady flow of silver and lucrative shipping contracts out of the Leyndell nobility. He had no use for a nineteen-year-old girl whose body was eating her alive."

"Every day, he woke up and told me how hideous I was, how I was so... so disgusting, such an affront to nature. Every day he'd pick out a different patch of scarring on my body to focus his ridicule on. He'd wax poetic about how horrible it was to him that Queen Marika the Eternal would bear a child like me." Tears fell onto Eleonora's blanket. Then he'd leave for the entire day. He'd come back late at night, drunk out of his mind. He'd blame all his business failings on the sense of disgust I clouded him with, and if it had been a good day he ranted about the previous day's disappointments. We'd dress for bed, and he made sure to tell me what a festering, disgusting slab of meat I was. We lay down for the night. He refused to... consummate with me because he thought my Rot would spread to him, but he made sure to lay his hands on every inch of my body. He would remove my arm and legs so he could touch the ends of my flesh. He'd scratch and press at my scars, and then he'd fall asleep and just leave me there. I didn't get my legs back until he woke up to berate me. On a few occasions, his depriving me of my legs led to me..." she trailed off. "He made those mornings the most painful. And he told me he knew I couldn't fight back because Mother arranged our marriage and I wouldn't dare hurt Mother's scheming."

"Eventually, Miquella managed to persuade Mother that I had to get out. I don't know how he did it, but he did. I was back in Leyndell. I told him some of this. Not all of it. But we knew we had to leave. We raided Father's library and the Erdtree Sanctuary vaults and left one night for Ordina."

There was a long silence between them, punctuated only by one of the two's crying reaching a crescendo. Eventually Eleonora, panting and sweating from being under a blanket next to the demigod's warm body, pulled her glistening body free of her bedding and pulled Malenia closer. "I... I don't know what to say, Mal. Please tell me that bastard is fucking dead now." She nodded. "I'm... so sorry. Thank you for trusting me." Eleonora touched the other woman's chin softly with one hand. "Hey. I know this is a bad time, but... ever since I first heard of you when I was a girl, I admired you. One swordswoman to another. And last night, at the church... You're several centuries older than me and this is probably all kinds of weird, but I saw you for the first time and holy shit Mal, you're beautiful." Malenia opened her stinging eyes, her soft lips slightly parted for a sharp intake of breath. She looked the knight up and down and bent her head, allowing their foreheads to touch.

"I felt the same," she whispered hoarsely. "I felt the same... 'Nora." The other woman smiled and, after a second of eye contact, began to run her slick palms up and down the demigod's arms, tracing every contour of her mechanical limb and gently rubbing around every scar on her flesh one.

"Gods, you're lovely," Eleonora gasped. "These scars tell a story, Mal. I wish I had your strength."

"You do."

"No, your inner strength."

"You do." Malenia reached up, her prosthetic fingers tracing the knight's muscled midriff while her human hand began playing amongst the wiry brown hairs on Eleonora's back. Nora wrapped her arms around the demigod's neck, pulling her closer and meeting her lips. Her eyes searched for permission and, finding it, her hands continued to work their way down Malenia's back and around to her breasts, feeling every beautiful way in which her scars bloomed across her skin. She gasped as the demigod returned the favor. After what felt like an eternity of exploring each other, Malenia suddenly lay back down, pulling the knight with her.

"Enough?" A quick nod.

"I'm sorry," she breathed.

"I'm so proud of you," Eleonora murmured. They lay there, wrapped in each other's arms, whispering gentle words to each other until sleep took them.

----

Malenia opened her eyes, aware of an odd weight on top of her. Slowly the events of the previous night came back to her. She placed her hands on Eleonora's shoulder blades, gently rubbing them in circles and savoring the way the hairs on the other woman's back stood up when her hands moved against them and smoothed down again on the return pass. Eleonora arched her back to meet her gaze, yawning before smiling at the way Malenia's eyes fell to her chest. "Good morning to you too, Mal." After a short kiss, she lightly rolled off of the demigod and began to don her armor.

A half-day's walk and two more dens of ants later, the passage opened wide into an impossibly vast cavern. The sky above them glimmered with false starlight. The land before them stretched out, impossibly green grass rushing down to meet a viscous red liquid at the shores. Millicent extended her sword and gingerly prodded the swamp. "Is that... blood?"

"Yes," the Drake Knight replied. "Lord of Blood and all that."

"This can't be natural," the young woman breathed.

"Very little about this place is." Eleonora gestured with her poleblade towards a grove of trees further along the coast. "Beyond that thicket is one of the paths up Mohgwyn Palace." She indicated the massive sandstone spire before them. Spots on the stone glowed a fiery orange, and ruined columns dotted the ledges along the plateau's side. "Mohg holds court at the summit. Miquella is there." That was all Malenia had to hear, and the demigod set off at a run towards the trees. "Mal, wait!"

As Millicent and Eleonora caught up, two Sanguine Nobles emerged from the woods. "Well well," the first sneered. "Eleonora, a traitor? Luminary Mohg had such high hopes for you."

"Perhaps your gift of a demigod and her spawn will persuade him to spare your life," oozed the second noble. "In his wisdom and great love for us all, Lord Mohg is known to grant second chances. Incapacitate the Severed, and we shall implore him to let you off with minimal torture."

The Drake Knight poked her twinblade into the dirt and removed her helmet. The nobles gasped.

"Her face! She does not bear Lord Mohg's hallowed sign!"

"Her eyes! They're... blue!"

"You were never one of us? I rescind my offer. We shall make you all bleed, and with his love and strength Luminary Mohg shall personally see to your demise." Faster than the eye could follow, Eleonora dropped her helmet to the grass and seized her poleblade. Leaping into the air, she sliced the first noble into several pieces with a dance of blood-infused slashes. The other noble howled in rage. "You dare slay one of Luminary Mohg's faithful with a weapon bestowed to you by the Lord of Blood himself? Foul, foul creature!" He raised his rapier and dagger, but before he could attack the Drake Knight's face became shrouded in the head of a spectral dragon. A geyser of frost roared from the dragon's mouth, freezing the noble solid. After a few moments, Millicent gently tipped him over, and he shattered into countless frozen, bleeding pieces. The young woman flinched.

Eleonora picked up her helmet. "We need to go. We'll have to fight our way to Mohg."

Malenia danced up the stairs, her blade whirling like a hurricane as she cut down countless Sanguine Nobles and Bloody Fingers. A man in the garb of a Ravenmount Assassin leapt from a ledge, but Millicent speared him with her sword as he attempted the signature plunging attacks of Ravenmount. A White Mask clutching a dagger rushed at her, and Millicent spun, slicing his legs out from under him. A Sanguine Noble's rapier grazed Malenia's ribs before the demigod's blade tore through his body. Eleonora ran up alongside, plunging one end of her twinblade through the throat of a Bloody Finger wearing the armor of a Cuckoo Knight. Wrenching the weapon free, the Drake Knight's blood-blade dance tore through several Sanguine Nobles before guiding her through the air to land in front of a chain-clad foe, ripping him apart. A Bloody Finger clad in the robes of a Depraved Perfumer and the helmet of an All-Knowing Knight swung a wrought-iron cleaver at Malenia, only to be deprived of his weapon and then his body by her sword. Millicent rushed past her mother to block a blood blade fired from a Sanguine Noble's dagger as Eleonora's poleblade erupted from his chest.

By the time they reached the lift to Mohg's throne room, they were exhausted and drenched in blood, both from wounds and their enemies' blood-infused attacks. Conjuring two dragon claws, Eleonora collapsed a statue of the Omen lord behind them, blocking the pursuit of the few surviving nobles. Between them and the lift stood a lone White Mask, brandishing a grave scythe. "Ah, Eleonora. My lambkin. You did so well on that beach. It pains me to see you like this."

"How? Free? Not a blood-drunk murderer? You disgust me, Aramis," the knight scowled.

"A shame, little one," the priest of blood drawled. "A shame indeed. You could have been the best of us. Luminary Mohg knew your potential when he gifted you that beautiful sword."

"My blades shall be his undoing." She rushed him, the priest straining to get his scythe in the way of her flurry of slashes. The scythe's blade ignited with bloodflame, carving a gash in her chainmail and causing her to recoil. A blast of dragonice turned to hissing steam as it met the burning scythe. The White Mask swung his weapon in an arc, and it struck her left shoulder and snagged on her horned pauldron. A grim smile on her face, the knight plunged her twinblade into his heart. Blood oozed from behind his mask as he slid down the blade to the floor. "That was for the old man." Eleonora turned, looking years younger. "Drink your flasks. We have arrived at our audience with the Lord of Blood."

The lift rose up into the open-air sanctum of Mohgwyn Palace. At the far end of the room on a large dais sat a grey, twisted cocoon. A pale, clawed arm poked through a small crack. Between them and the cocoon stood a massive black Omen clad in gilded robes and leaning on an ornate trident. Horns sprouted from his head at every angle, one curving back to plunge into his left eye socket. A horrible fanged maw smiled at them. "Ah, my honored guests at last. Hello, sister."

"You are no brother of mine," Malenia spat. "Return Miquella to us, and we can make this painless."

The Omen laughed, a terrible, malevolent sound. "A good joke, Rotting One. You challenge me in the heart of my Dynasty, at the height of my strength. I offer you one chance to recognize your folly and recant. Leave us to plan our new age."

"Us? All I see is you and a comatose child that you kidnapped," Eleonora yelled.

"Stay thy tongue, traitor." Mohg waved a hand dismissively. "Miquella is a child no more. My glorious cursed blood has broken his curse. He is fit to take the Elden Throne, with myself as his consort."

"You are a truly loathsome being," Malenia growled.

"My blood can cleanse you too, sister," the Omen bellowed. "All you must do is swear your service to Miquella and I as our eternal guardian, and seal it with the blood of your daughter. You can be free of the Rot and live forever with your beloved brothers, and all it will take is the life of that worm." He lifted his spear and a ring of blood fountains burst from the tile floor around Millicent.

"You really are delusional if you think I'm going to sacrifice her to join your service." The Empyrean's arm snapped into a ready position. Mohg's eye widened slightly for just an instant. Then he turned to the Drake Knight.

"Eleonora, dear! Haven't we had some good times? I will spare your life, grant you communion of my own cursed blood, make you my Violet Bloody Finger. All you must do is assist me in slaying the Severed. Prove your love for your Luminary!"

Eleonora leveled her blade. "A Luminary is one who lights the way to a better future," she said evenly. "Malenia is my love and my luminary, and I will gladly lay down my life fighting for her." The demigod's lips parted slightly. Mohg stiffened as if struck, but turned his beady eye on the similarly dumbfounded Millicent.

"And you, girl! Born from the explosion of your plaguebringer mother's power, yet possessing none of it. Slay your mother and her knight, and you may drink of her blood as well as mine. You shall be a more fearsome Empyrean than she could ever be, and rule as my general when the Dynasty rises!"

Is that even how Empyreans work? "Never," the young woman shouted. "I fought so much to get my mother back. I will never betray her for the likes of you!" A low growl escaped the Omen's throat.

"So you all have chosen death. Very well. Your blood spilled here will fuel the flames of my Dynasty! MOOOOHGWYNNN!!!"

Mohg lifted his hand into the air and a fountain of blood encircled it. "Taste of the Formless Mother's very flesh!" He flung a wave of blood through the air at them, which hissed and burned everywhere it landed. Millicent leapt over the ring of blood geysers to join her family.

With surprising speed, the Omen crossed the hall to face them. Malenia and Millicent swung their swords, and Mohg held his trident horizontally to deflect Millicent's blade with the butt while using the pointed head to pin Malenia in place. He removed one hand and began to conjure another shower of blood, but a bolt of dragonice hit his wrist, freezing the limb. Mohg howled, dousing his left arm in bloodflame to clear the ice and giving Malenia an opening to free herself and deliver a spinning strike to his back. He roared and slashed the air around him, his hands leaving orange streaks of light that exploded in flashes of bloodflame. As the flames dissipated, Millicent plunged her sword into the Omen's knee, and he responded by backhanding her into a pillar. Malenia sliced along his right forearm, and Mohg sniffed the bloody air gleefully as he thrust his trident at his half-sister, a bolt of bloodflame forcing her to dodge back. The Lord of Blood turned towards the recovering Millicent, but Eleonora's dragon claw slapped him across the face, leaving frozen clawmarks in his shoulder. As the Omen staggered, the Drake Knight spun her twinblade over and around herself like a leaf in the wind, carving slice after slice into Mohg's flesh. Mohg regained his footing and sent her sprawling with a series of thrusts, but Millicent threw herself into his path and sheared off the tip of a horn with her sword as Malenia's blade raked across the Omen's back. Mohg howled, conjuring a shower of burning blood that forced them back. Lunging, he caught Malenia by the waist and pulled her under the rain of blood. With an unearthly roar, Eleonora leapt through the burning rain to plunge her blade into the side of Mohg's neck. Dropping the demigod, he shook himself and tossed the knight to the floor before turning and plunging his trident into her gut. Eleonora howled as her draconic arm manifested and tried to tear the spear free. A vacuum slice from Millicent staggered the Omen, but still he remained, twisting his spear in the Drake Knight's belly. "Yes, yes! Twist and bleed, shortsighted traitor! Twist and die!"

A scream pierced the air. Malenia's Waterfowl Dance hit Mohg like a cannonball from behind, forcing him to rip the spear free and sidestep. As he prepared to guard, Millicent's Waterfowl began slicing up his other side, pinning him. Clutching her gaping wound with her left arm, Eleonora staggered to her feet, shifting her twinblade to a one-handed grip before running in and spearing Mohg's kneecap with its red blade. Mohg's trident glowed red, and he performed a series of spinning slashes to free himself before gripping the spear with both hands. Although surrounded, the twisted demigod began to laugh as he repeatedly thrust the spear into the air, each pump turning the air redder with burning blood.

Tres!

Duo!

Unus!

NIHIL!!

NIHIL!!

NIHIIIIIL!!

Millicent could feel her blood rebelling, fighting to rupture every artery and organ. Only the faint glowing barrier created by the physick kept her lifeblood from exploding across the room and tearing her skin from her muscles. As the sanguine haze cleared, Mohg stood triumphant. Two massive black feathered wings now rose from his back. The Omen was laughing.

"What trickery is this, heretics? You yet live? No matter. Rejoice! For you have been blessed to witness the full splendor of Mohgwyn before meeting your doom." He lumbered closer to them, spear still aglow. Millicent rose to meet him, and a flick of the Lord of Blood's wrist sent a tidal wave of cursed blood slamming into the young woman. Malenia lunged for him in the Waterfowl Dance, but a beat of the Omen's wings lifted him over her for a plunging attack that sent the demigod sprawling. Eleonora, spinning her poleblade wildly, flew through the air towards him, stabbing one end of her blade into Mohg's left shoulder. Right arm dripping cursed blood, he caught her midair with his other hand around her weapon's hilt and the hand that grasped it. "Foolish, Eleonora," Mohg growled. "What the Luminary gives so generously, he can take back with equal prejudice." There was a scream and a sickening crunch as Mohg snapped the beautiful weapon in two. The Drake Knight fell, clutching her obviously broken right arm. One half of the poleblade's handle and one of its blades landed at her feet, while the other remained lodged in the Omen's shoulder. Mohg pulled it free and ground it to powder in his fist. Millicent flew towards him, slicing once through his right forearm, once across his left thigh, and then a bloodflame fist hit her chest, cracking several ribs and throwing her down. As the Lord of Blood strode towards her, Millicent heard her mother's voice.

"Leave them, Mohg. Face me on equal footing." Malenia's red phantom wings bloomed at her back. She made a hand sign, and eight butterfly clones appeared at her side. Mohg bellowed a challenge, flapping and whirling to avoid or take down the oncoming clones. He took to the air to avoid Malenia's rush, but the other demigod too spread her wings and rose to meet him, her blade easily outmatching his spear and her petals granting her lithe form much more mobility than the two massive wings that flapped madly to hold the gigantic Omen aloft. With one final rush and the last surviving clone rising to stab Mohg's back, Malenia impaled her half-brother on her imbued sword, flicking him to the floor with a crash. She landed gently facing him. "Heed my words, Mohg. I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat." As the demigod strode closer, wings fading away, Mohg weakly tried to heft his spear to pull himself to his feet. In an instant, a ferocious winged form landed on his back. Eleonora plunged the remaining half of her poleblade into the back of the Omen's skull. Mohg's body began to evaporate in a cloud of silver dust.

"Ah, I can see it. As clear as day... the coming of the Mohgwyn Dynasty! Ahhh, dearest Miquella..."

Ignoring him, Malenia ran to catch the Drake Knight as she fell forwards. She'd used her broken arm to finish Mohg off. Gripping the shattered limb with her prosthetic hand, the demigod pressed the broken bones back into some semblance of alignment before forcing a Flask of Crimson Tears down Eleonora's throat. As the knight lay panting, Millicent offered her a hand. Eleonora took it with her left arm and the pair followed Malenia to the cocoon. The Blade of Miquella pressed her human palm to its surface, and the entire cocoon began to glow red gold before evaporating like the Omen had. Laying on the dais now was a man as tall as Malenia, his skin a pale grey and his hair platinum blond. Two damp lepidopteran wings with golden swirls on the membranes were folded at his back, and from his mane of hair extended two feathery moth antennae and two pointed ears. His fingers and toes ended in pointed claws. He looked up at them, and his eyes found Malenia. Miquella rushed forwards, pulling his sister into a silent embrace.

----

Malenia sat on a stool in her chambers. Miquella was recovering in the root-meadow, and Millicent had refused to leave his side. The demigod feared that her daughter's incessant questions would cause Miquella to disappear again, this time voluntarily, but her brother seemed to be taking them, as well as the fact that Malenia had a daughter, in stride, and the days since their return from Mohgwyn had been happy. The sun was setting now, and someone was knocking at Malenia's door. "Come in," she called, dreading the response.

Eleonora strode silently in, clad in the gold and black satin gown the infirmary had given her. Malenia had wanted to see her there, but on their first day back the Drake Knight had insisted that the demigod attend to her brother, even going so far as to threaten her with her lunch fork. But she was here now, the person Malenia had spent the past three days both wanting to see most and dreading an encounter with more than anything. "Evening, Mal." She climbed onto the foot of Malenia's bed and knelt to face her. They sat in silence for a while before the demigod joined her on the bed, sitting opposite the knight near the headboard. Finally, Malenia broke the silence.

"Nora... what you said back there..."

"Ah, that. If it suits you, you can tell yourself I only said that to get on Mohg's nerves." She cracked her fingers anxiously.

"Did you?"

"Up to you, Blade."

"What if I want to tell myself you meant it?"

"You certainly can. Who the fuck am I to stop you?"

"Did you?"

"...Yes", the knight said softly. Malenia inched closer on the bed and rested her human arm on Eleonora's shoulder. "I don't want to force you into anything you don't want, Mal. We dumped all our woes on each other and then an instant later we were feeling each other up and I know you have hangups about that because that's what we talked about and I know I talked about admiring you when I was little which makes this whole thing so fucking strange and-"

"Hush." Malenia pressed a finger to the other woman's lips. "You didn't force me into anything, 'Nora. I wanted that, nothing more, nothing less. I needed that. I think we both did." Her voice was a throaty whisper.

"Are you sure? Because I understand if you don't want to-"

"Shhh."

"We can just call that a one-night fling and go our separate ways. I'll go-"

"Shhh, 'Nora. Neither of us wants that," the demigod murmured. "I don't want it to be just one night."

Eleonora met her gaze for the first time. "You mean..?"

"Let's just see where this path takes us, hmm?", Malenia purred, pulling the Drake Knight into an embrace.

"Mal, I don't know what to say."

"You've babbled on quite enough, love." Malenia felt Nora shake with the snorting laugh that had been her light in the caves of the Dynasty. Her luminary.

"Which reminds me," the demigod said, rising from the bed. "I have something for you." The knight rose curiously. "Did I ever tell you that before the Shattering, I took up blacksmithing?"

"No, you did not," Nora replied curiously. From behind her wardrobe, Malenia drew a long weapon. Half of it was the Drake Knight's poleblade. Seamlessly joined to the splintered wooden handle was a matching shaft of unalloyed gold, culminating in a blade that mirrored the red one. It was an exact duplicate of the weapon's shattered half, with one small difference: The blood blade's crossguard was in the shape of a bloodrose. The golden blade had a taller crosspiece shaped like some sort of lily. The Scarlet Aeonia. "Mal, this is- this is amazing!" She flung her arms around the demigod, then jumped back in mock anger. "Well, now I feel bad! I was laying around with a broken arm and you made me a fucking sword? We just agreed to see each other more and I'm already playing catch-up." She smiled, grabbing her love again and forcing Malenia to drop the poleblade and fall with her onto the bed. She laughed, and she heard Malenia's soft chuckle, muted from disuse, begin to issue from the other pillow. Nora reached across to embrace her. "I love your laugh, Blade. I hope I will get to hear it more often in the days to come." She planted a kiss on the demigod's flushed cheek.

Someone knocked at the door. The voice of Loretta issued. "Lady Malenia? Lord Miquella is doing well. He and Millicent are insisting on spending the night stargazing in the root-meadow." Malenia smiled, a look that in her chambers, only Nora was graced with. "Shall I prepare quarters for Miss Eleonora? Speaking of, have you seen her recently?"

Nora burst out laughing, slapping the pillow with her right hand while her left intertwined with Malenia's golden fingers. Her laughter was contagious, and the demigod began to chuckle again as she leaned in to touch their foreheads together.

"Lady Malenia?"

"That won't be necessary, Loretta. Thank you. Tell Millicent not to let her uncle stay out too late. He needs rest."

"As you wish." Loretta's footsteps receded, and the two women rolled over to look at each other, both of their faces wearing wide smiles. Wordlessly, Malenia reached for the clasp of Nora's dress as the knight did the same with hers.

Not far from the royal estate, in a hollow at the base of the Haligtree, two figures lay among the lilies. A young woman in white, her red hair spread about her like a halo, and a towering grey figure who lay on top of two spread silver-gold wings. The winged figure raised a clawed arm and pointed, and the woman followed his gaze and smiled.