A wave of sand carried Janine along. Often the wave pletely submerged her, but the movement never paused; it persisted in carrying her in a single dire. The grains of sand gathered in tangled patterns, repying ses from her past, firming that there ark of life beating in her body. She didn’t try to resist or break free from the unsciousness, knowing full well the futility of su a. Nothing here was real.

  Bogdan. Ignacy. My soldiers. Are they alive?

  Had you been stronger, you’d know for sure. A shadow stepped onto the river of sand and walked effortlessly along the warlord. The creature resembled Terrific when she was alive, but there was a sense of falsehood about her. Her limbs were too thid inflexible; she walked on two short legs; her fur cked the lush darkness; and her eyes were dimmer than they should have been. It was not a ghost, but another aberration, and Janine didn’t see the point in arguing.

  The sand washed over her, painting another se from her memories. Predaig sat on a cliff with her back to the troag Wolfkins. Gray streaks were in her hair and mane, but not on her body. She wore an officer’s leather coat that had been stitched too many times. The fabled killing mae pyed curiously with three cups pced in front of her, carefully pg tea in each, adding sugar, p water, and then using a tiny spoon to stir it.

  “A tea, seriously?” Martyshkina asked instead of greeting.

  “Amazing, isn’t it? It was all but lost about fifty years ago.” Predaig tapped the spoon on the rim of the cup. They were alone on this mountain cliff, high above the sandstorm passing below. The honorable warlord brought no on and said nothing about Janine’s axe or Martyshkina’s revolvers. “Today we have many fvors. I decided we should try the stuff we helped to restore.”

  “I am more of a fan of alcohol.” Martyshkina sat while Jani standing at attention.

  “It helps tet,” agreed Predaig, and pushed a cup into Martyshkina’s paws. “At ease, Wolf Hag. No ranks tonight, just sisters.” She waited for Jao sit and gave her another cup. Jaook it carefully, more worried about the precious por of the pre-Extin era that belonged more in a museum than in the harsh wilderhe tribe lived in. “gratutions, Martyshkina. Hail to the new warlord!”

  “Cheers!” supported Janine, enjoying the sight of the blushing Marty.

  “That was more spur of the moment. The w… wolf hag kept pushing it,” Martyshkina grumbled, tasting the bck tea. “Hm, not the worst piss.”

  “As she should.” Predaig nodded. “Martyshkina, we must always be in flux, ready to ge and adopt new ideas. I see uainty in your eyes. Good. Let your caution help you navigate the right path for your pack. Listen to yut and pick what works. You think shardguns are the way to go? Then force you pack to practice with them. And don’t fret about your former leader holding a grudge.” She took a teakettle from a campfire, ready to prepare more tea. “No one should expect to stay on top forever. Soon, age will dull my reflexes and senses, and I will be defeated.”

  “Soon,” Janine ughed. “You were a when I was born!”

  “Heh. True,” Predaig agreed. “Speaking about spur of the moment.” She ied Janine’s axe and narrowed her eyes. “I know what you did. You disappoint me.”

  “It won’t happen again.” Janine hung her head in shame. “Never again will I disobey…’

  A violent sp knocked her to the side. There was still noise and stars in Janine’s eyes when Martyshkina was already standing; her paw grabbed the revolver and brought it up to aim at Predaig’s shoulder. Impossibly fast, the warlord’s paws grabbed Marty’s wrist and yahe barrel toward Janine. Martyshkiated, trying to break free, and received a blindingly fast elbow to the sor plexus that seumbling from the cliff’s edge.

  Janine lu Predaig, bringing up the Taleteller in a double grip. The elder warlord didn’t dodge, but grabbed Janine’s ankle and pulled her off her feet, headbutting Janine so hard that she flew away and rolled on the ground, fttening sharpened rocks. Jaopped at st and gasped for air, stubbornly standing up in challenge. How strong was that redaig treated them like cubs while sitting cross-legged!

  “What was the big idea?” Martyshkina roared, climbing back. “You called us here for a meeting of sisters, and you dare betray our trust…”

  “It is you who are betraying the trust! The trust of the tribe!” Predaig roared, holding the tea cups from falling. “How dare you not ence your friend iime of need? And you!” She locked eyes with Janine. “How dare you show submission over a correct judgment? If I ever dare to break a w, I expect my pack to tear me apart. Terrific taught you well; don’t you dare betray her teags!” She ran a paw through her mane and motioned for them to sit. “Martyshkina, Janine, my sisters, you do not yet uand; you ot uand because you are young. I do not bme you; I was the same decades ago. Listen and learn.”

  She resumed preparing the tea, her aggression gone as suddenly as it had appeared, and the warlord approached her warily. Predaig didn’t bother to see if they might team up against her.

  “Every geion is shaped by its times. We are no exception. The First Geion gs to their grievances and sticks to the methods that worked in the past, wearing them proudly like medals and bristling at those who try t forth ge.” Predaig hahem the tea, smiling cordially. “Ravager was wise to ence ge. The world does not stand still, and to survive, we must adapt. Listen to tradition, but do not adhere to it blindly, sisters. We are the past; you are the future. One must not domihe other; bance is needed. Your task is to ehe tribe’s survival by using your own talents.”

  The image broke apart, and sands of memories rushed past the immobilized warlord. That night, she decided to never again hold bad listen to her dedication.

  Ah, Predaig, ever shteous, never wavering in her morality. The shadow crouched, patting Janine’s forehead. Much good did it do to her in the end. She had the experience, but she let you lead.

  The sands closed around, swallowing her answer, p dowhroat. There was no fear. The past had already happened; it could no longer hurt her. There was a new pattern in the grains that filled her vision, and she reized herself, sitting ient, bandaged against her will, her paws shaking. A gathering of the wolf hags and scouts prostrated before her, baring their necks in acceptance.

  “Every injured into the infirmary at ohe Janine of the past snarled.

  “Warlord.” Winced Melina. “It isn’t necessary…”

  Her paw grabbed the woman and dragged her closer to bite her neck, fangs sinking deep. Melina whimpered, rexing her body as streaks of blood soaked her fur. Janine shoved her away, stoppitempt to get to her knees with a snap.

  “You lead by example ahat there is nothing scary in a medical den, Wolf Hag.” Janine smiled at the pure hatred in Melina’s eyes. She didn’t want to break the woman. “Have a nice, long sleep; read a book or something. All soldiers in my pack, female or not, are to properly eat and sleep.” She pced a paw on the ground, weakened by her wounds. “Yes, it includes the weakest and the cubs in training. Feed them milk from your tits, if you must; coddle to their quirks, but they are to stay healthy. There will be no more decimation in Pack Jahere was no challenge, and she relented, surprised that no oed her for what she did. “, equipment. Ours are in desperate need of an upgrade.” She stopped, gng at Anissa. “You are still a scout.”

  “Yes, Warlord,” her daughter replied.

  “Correct it.”

  What have I done? Her paws trembled.

  There was much to decide then, and she refused to take a sed’s rest. Their armaments were sent to repair, and thinking back, it robably how Anissa met Chak since Janine had given the assigo her and Ignacy, but only Ignacy was seen in the armory. Reports to petitier rations, demands for increasing firearm training, requests for instructors from the Normies’ ranks, reviewing the extent of injuries of her troops... the tasks kept piling up, and the warlord shook her head feebly when she heard stomping footsteps entering the tent.

  “You are the one who took her from us.” It was Eled. “How long do you pn to hide in this den?”

  “Long enough to solve my pack’s problems,” Janine said. “About Terrific. I am sorry.”

  Eled didn’t respond and walked around the tent, sniffing the st marks. She halted when she reached for the former warlord’s jacket and poked it with a finger.

  “Your lousy crybabies were running around as if they were whipped…”

  Janine sprang into a, swinging a paw at the sful snout. Eled caught her blow, grunted in approval, ahe warlord at bay. She jerked her head, dodging the bite, and embers e fshed in the yellow eyes as the ers of Eled’s lips curled up, baring fangs.

  “Insult my pack ever again, and I’ll see yuts on the ground,” Janine promised her.

  Eled smiled. She let go of Janine and raised her paws up, calling for a truce, then pointed a fi the warlord.

  “That’s it!” Eled said. “That’s what I want to see. You are a warlord now, sister; act like it! Don’t sit in your tent; e out and procim your rank for every ear iribe to hear.”

  “But…” Janine faltered. “I thought you hated me.”

  “Hated? Why?”

  “I… I killed her. Took Terrific away from us. Betrayed my...”

  A warm embrace was around her, and Eled pressed Janine against her chest, unafraid of any bite. She deliberately exposed her ned said nothing for several long minutes, and the two simply stood, Janine leaning mainst Eled and rexing, letting go of the tension and exhaustion the wounds had brought her, while the other woman held her steady.

  “No one here hates you, Janine,” Eled said softly. “No oerrific’s soul including, thinks you are a traitor. She was the one who went overboard, not you.” She let go of her and knocked lightly at Janine’s sternum. “But you ’t sit here and brood. Go. Your sisters are waiting to tend to your wound. The Blessed Mother is waiting for a fession. Don’t be a sed Terrific; be the first Janine and don’t ge. You are sad; I see that. It’s normal. Let us mourn and send her o jourogether and then celebrate together.”

  “Thank you.” It was as if the weight of a mountain fell from Janine’s shoulders. “I will.”

  She wasn’t shunned or despised; there ce for her iribe. The warlords, those of them who were on duty in the Iable, had waited outside the tent, but it was Eled who had entered and almost dragged her out by the ear.

  But I broke the promise. I ged and showed less mercy, trying to fit into Terrific’s boots, mixiyle with my own to preserve her legacy. I lived in her shadow. Janine realized.

  Eled. Be it war or peace, she was always too emotional, proo losing trol. It was her strength and her fw. Tsk, tsk, it also is the reason for her failure. The shadow said, watg the past unfold.

  “You judge them too much.” Janine ed her neck, fag Terrific. Or was it her, wearing Terrific’s hide? “If you are so much better than them, how e you died first?”

  How should I know? The shadow shrugged. I am you, the part you locked away, disgusted at how weak… The shadhtehe darkness vanished, and a Janine appeared, cradling a silver metallic body and whispering words of reassurance. Or how strong you be. The darkness returned, hiding the woman f the lost and desperate child. In her pce came a warrior, pushing the fallirails bato her body and swinging her axe, murdering Blood Graf’s minions by the score. This is you. Good and bad, fwed and fwless. The shadows swirled again, reshaping themselves into Terrific’s form. Feelings are not weakness; the ck of trol over them is. It is time to wake up. We have a job to do.

  “Yes,” Janine agreed.

  ****

  An o of paied her in the real world, and she found herself strapped to a metal harness suspended in mid-air. A metal beam pressed tightly against her spine, denying her any ce to shift her position. Her arms and legs were bent back to the point of breaking and secured with s. Solidified steel held her fingers and toes in inescapable vices. Meat hooks pierced the skiween her ribs and her exoskeleton, threatening to scrape against her lungs if she tried to escape.

  She blinked, realizing that she was in a vast, dark hall. Blood and tears still seeped from her eyes, answerihat she hadn’t been unscious for too long. Twisting her neck as far as she could, Janine mao get a quick look at her body before the suffog colrs around her neck forced her to look away.

  The armor was gone from her body, torn aiece by piece along with ks of hide. Cuts, dark purple bruises, swolles marred her body, and there were several broken bones. Nothing life-threatening. Her neck pulsated from agony, but the swelling subsided, and she breathed easily. A few of her impnts had been repced by gaping holes in her chest, and she felt at least two more such wounds at the base of her ned under one shoulder bde. The blood coaguted, stopping the bleeding, and a soft membrane grew over the wounds, proteg them from iion. Her muscles itched uhe skin, growing back little by little, and her body burhrough its internal reserves to heal the most severe damage.

  A scratg noise of a nail scraping against metal forced Jao raise her head. There were figures in the dark. She reized Mad Hatter straight away, even though the woman had sed her fur robes for a white tunid pin green pants with silver trim. She was sitting on a sb of gold, carved in the shape of a throne and inid with simple gems. A mask of a weeping maiden adorhe khatun’s upper face; five feathers streaked from the top of the mask. White and brown battled on her skin, creating an unusual coloration—a web of visible arteries ran from her eyes to under her mask and then down her neck, where they disappeared into the thick skin. Breathing heavily like an exhausted animal, she sat nontly, one leg dangling. But her sharp eyes opped trag everything in the hall. The warmonger feigned iion.

  Two colred servants in pin gray robes stood by her legs, dwarves pared to the seated giant. One had to use a chair to reach the Khatun’s face with a broom to wipe away trickles of blood to prevent them from staining her garment. Another, a woman wearing the insignia of a Recmation Army officer, held up a pte with disgust and self-loathing on her face. Fruits, drinks, a were oe, but what drew a growl from Janine’s lips were two halves of Predaig’s head in the ter of this feast.

  Mad Hatter tore an ear from Predaig and tossed it into her mouth.

  “I take it you are awake,” she said in a rexed voice; her words came in like a soothing breeze. “ you speak? Anything overly hurts?”

  “You are a dead woman,” Janine promised her.

  “Because of this?” The Khatun pulled out Predaig’s eye. “Silly child…”

  “I am older than you.”

  “Perhaps,” Mad Hatter ceded, patting the officer. “The гармаа had told me of your rejuvenation teology. Don’t bme her. She had agreed to fifty years of loyal servitude to save the rest of her unit from death.”

  “It was the wise decision.” Janine plimehe officer, ign Mad Hatter to infuriate her.

  “Petty, careless, moronic. What if your p forces me te on my deal?” the khatun inquired.

  “Are you this childish?”

  “No.” Mad Hatter smiled, and her joy reached her eyes. “I already love you, Janine. My word is the word of God; I will sooner break than lie. But back to the topic. Age is a poor indicator of maturity, girl. you tell the schematics of a psma engine or biological reasons for the Troll’s inability to form emotional expressions?” She waited. “What I see, I uand. What I uand, I replicate. In terms of intelligence, I am superior. Your indignation over my evening cuisine amuses me. Your tribe eats their enemies, so what’s the harm in me h your fallen in the same mahough I admit, uncooked meat no longer appeals to me.”

  “Why do it, then?” Janine asked. “To make a point?”

  “Oh, please, you sound as Brood Lord now.” Mad Hatter ughed, and her eyes opened wide, spshing drops of blood for her sve to catch. “The parison insults you. My apologies; it wasn’t my iion. I have moved beyond statements and embraced theatrics.” She ran a finger over the corpse. “This one is special. As I ended her, my muscles clicked. It’s been years since I’ve grown stronger from a victory, and to see it happen again was ecstatic.” She ched her fist. “I’m still not at my upper limit. If a daughter gave it to me, rize awaits me from her mother?”

  “Annihition,” Janine assured her. “You speak of intelligence, but all I see is an idiot. The Recmation Army has many great champions who smite me. The Blessed Mother, Wyrm Lord, Devourer. Stand against them not, if you want to live. But there is one who is an absolute end, whose might surpass yours in every ceivable way. And you have angered him. It doesn’t matter if you run; it won’t matter if you stand. Your existence is over, done.”

  “More bravado,” Mad Hatter yawned.

  “Observation,” Janine corrected her. “You cim intelligence, but all I see is stupidity. How many soldiers had your Brood Lrinded down in vain? How many rounds of ammunition have been wasted for the sake of self-indulgence?”

  “Plenty,” Mad Hatter said, not angered in the slightest. “And irrelevant at the same time. The efforts of the Recmation Army have provoked the wrath of vast armies of scum who long for the days of yore. As we speak, svers, bandits, and crushed tyrants are rushing uhe Sky’s banner, hoping to feast on what will soon be a corpse. More armies stream from the steppes, reinforced on every kilometer of the way. Our vassals send their own to impress and join in on the quest.”

  “How unfortunate,” Janine remarked. “It will be a bother to bury them afterwards.”

  Mad Hatter stood, and Janine expected herself to be smashed, but no strike came. The khatuured for her servants to stay and circled around the prisoner, running her finger over the wounds and edges of the impnts, not increasing the damage, not tearing or ripping. There was a st of curiosity and fidence about her.

  “You uand then. It is the era of demigods, a wondrous time when champions of gods meet in battle to decide who will rule the p. We live in the era of individuals,” the khatun said. “In the past, a leader had to tread carefully around their followers, w about the possibility of dying from poison, being overthrown, or being assassinated. But when an individual turide of war by themselves, what need is there for politics or intrigue? I take what I want when I want, and it just so happens that I desire to rule the world, and so I shall.”

  “And ensve ordinary people.” Janine looked at the captives.

  “Why should I care about the lives of mortals?” Mad Hatter asked sincerely. She tilted her head, listening. “I hear the mentations of the locals, their words whispered. Tears roll down their cheeks. Do you know why they are g? Not because they have lost you, but because their precious protectors are gohe lesser, the weak—they don’t value us for our personalities; they don’t care about that. To them, we are not people. There was a time when no one said as much as a word to me, except i to show off their sharp tongue. All that ged the moment I ripped the skin off one of their faces. Suddenly I had friends, panions, drinking buddies... I didn’t let it fuse me. I was valued for my strength and the threat I posed, so they sought to get in my good graces, hoping to use me. But there are those who treat you equally, regardless of your differences. Once I solved this drum, life became simple.”

  Her fiouched Janine’s shoulders, rubbing into the stiffened muscles, easing the tension and sending a fresh wave of rexation. Mad Hatter’s head he warlord’s ear and whispered:

  “I teach you the same lessons, Janine. You are an individual, not my equal, but a pureblood heless. I appreciate you as a perso you off your leash. How many times have these gnats you call allies e to che you in your hour of hey don’t value your personality, don’t care about your suffering, but crave your strength.” She moved in front of Janine and poi a barely cealed hatred and hope in the eyes of the ensved officer. “See this? She is praying for you to aplish what is impossible for her. Such dependence is toxiworthy. You do so much better. Join me. Gain freedom and take back trol over your destiny.”

  Janine ughed in her face, unafraid to die. There was no punishment, no rebuke, no demand for her to stop. Mad Hatter waited for her to finish, then took a gss of an unusually smelling liquid and offered it to the warlord. She drank hungrily, and the khatun refilled the gss, the strange mixture of milk, honey, and alcohol again. Janine accepted the small grace.

  “Of course they don’t care about me.” Jaried t and frow the pain in her ribs. The khatun fiapped her on the forehead, warnio be careful. “I don’t even think about every single person iate; why should I ask the others to? It’s idiocy.”

  “Why serve, then?” Mad Hatter pulled her throne closer and joined in the drinking.

  “Because we live in this world together,” Janine answered pinly. “As life improves for ordinary citizens, it improves for us. My tribe no loarves.”

  “You could achieve the same result by raiding,” Mad Hatter pointed out.

  “Are you retarded?” Janine asked. “Look what the Recmation Army has already aplished by cooperating. Our nds are being terraformed, our factories produce valuable and soulless augmentations, and medical plexes heal the wounded and sick. Poverty has taken a backseat. I’ve seen nobility, not born of lineage, but real nobility, as citizens who never khe hardships of the Outer Lands mourned a aid to those who live there. Is it bad that so many cubs hunger no lohat diseases no longer cim settlements? Or what New Breeds and Normies don’t oppress each other? Yeah, we are not perfect, but why harm this process? Everyone bes from it.” She spat blood and licked her lips.

  “Peace is an illusion and stagnation. The Old World fermented in its peace, and our species nearly died to the first fomented flict.”

  “I deal in facts,” Janine said stubbornly. “You deal in delusions. My destiny is aligned with the dreams of my tribe and the wills of the Dynast and the Blessed Mother. We suffer so others don’t have to. I will never betray His Excellency’s ideal.”

  “There is nuing with indoated.” Mad Hatter shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix your people. Since you spurned my offer, your fate is almost sealed. Tell me…” Her fiouched the ic area around the impnts fabricated by Janine’s firstborn. “These crude toys. They harm you. Why keep them?”

  Janine didn’t respond. There romise of death in Mad Hatter’s words, but not at her hands. Something worse or better awaited her, and she saw no reason to divulge details of her personal life to this maniac. The khatun’s pupils dited, filling the entire white of her eyes, theuro their normal size as she exhaled wearily and picked another slieat from the pte.

  “Seal,” she said, and Janine blinked in surprise. “Made by your family.” The warlord experienced a cold sweat. “Son. Your son did it.” Mad Hatter smiled in her face. “Good. I learned you. Answer my question or your pack will be fyed alive and dragged through a salt field.”

  “Where are they…” Mad Hatter thrust a finger into Janine’s mouth, ign the futile attempts to bite through her skin and scrape her tongue.

  “No questions. You have lost that privilege. Be an obedient doggy, and answer me this: Do you know God?” She removed the finger, wiping it against the floor.

  “Whie? Spirits, P, Champion…”

  “The sort who whispers lies to you.” Mad Hatter paced bad forth, pressing a trembling hand to her face. “He ys out poisoned gifts, begging and pretending, unrivaled power in exge for acceptance. His lies op, never end, robbing you of your sleep.” She swung an arm through the air, knog the sves off their feet with the sheer force of the wind. “Crimson-eyed, white devil, whose very form is allure.”

  “Never heard of yod,” Janine replied holy.

  “Not mihe woman screeched; her voice broke uedly, returning to the rough and angered warrior tone. “Look at me! I am the Sky’s daughter, elevated above any living being. And that filth denies me sleep to ensnare me in his servitude? Ha! I will never bow to a my father, never honor a my mother. I’ll scour this world, overthrow every nation, and drag the lying demon into the light. And then I will sleep.” Her lips twisted into a dreamy scowl.

  Shaken from the healing of her body, twisted from the hooks that had bitten deep into her, and still suffering from the cussion, Janine imagihat she could see two new figures. One was very familiar. Terrific lurked in the darkness, her mangled body creaking as shattered bones scratched inside. Dim, pale eyes looked past Janine.

  The sed figure was new. A white mist floated in the air, roughly the proportions of a human body. Ephemeral arms ed around Mad Hatter’s too-thieck, pale lips whispering intimate words into her ears. Crimson dots fshed through the mist, focused on the captive, tw portals to the depths of the Abyss itself. She had seen her share of psychos and lunatics. This thing surpassed them all; the boundless cruelty and glee in its eyes were unmatched even by the khatun. It derived pleasure from the very act of her suffering.

  You are afraid. It spoke in a sublime, angelic voice, and time ceased. Mad Hatter stopped iracks, frozen as she offhandedly helped her sves to their feet. The fabric of the clothes, the wind in the hall, trickles of blood and motes of dust were frozen in pce, and every color was sucked into the white form, filling Janine’s vision with gray. But Terrific remained in that sea of gray, walking behind the figure as if unaware of her presence. Loss. The figure tinued. Since you have graced reality with your first cry, all you knew was loss. Your mother. Children. Future.

  It floated closer, sending a jolt of strength through Janine. Her muscles flexed, ready to burst from the prison of her body; her heart pounded, sending rivers of blood in a fierce flood through her body.

  Then she saw her soulmates. Colt was among them. They were joined by her smiling cubs. One by ohey grew older; injuries covered them, and soon they disappeared into the gray. Eled, Melina, and Predaig appeared briefly, standing beside their lost friends. Like a curtain, the gray ed them.

  You sacrificed so much. The white shape said sympathetically, patting her head like a g parent. And will tio sacrifice. But when you need help the most, when you are alone aed, there is no o your side to help you stand. Is this any way to live? The figure held out a hand, and a radiant gloeared in its palm. Take my blessing. Embrace me as God and briribution upon the leeches and parasites that inhabit this husk!

  A vision came to Janine. She broke free of the harness, healing all the damage in nanoseds. There was no fur on her body; it disappeared, repced by gray skin that was both solid and liquid, tougher than any known alloy. She and Mad Hatter exged blows, and her fist broke the khatun’s knuckles, surprising her long enough for the jaws to tear off the arrogant head.

  She didn’t stop. A single blow leveled the entire building, and her fury spilled out upon the Horde and its captives, upon all who had betrayed her, used her, or abandoned her. Their crimes and insults were millions, so there was not a hint of mer the urained cruelty itself as she first choked Brood Lord and then ended his offspring. The town became a graveyard as she roared into the sky, ending the Ice Fangs for their treachery, razing vilges and hamlets to the ground, punishing the unbelievers. The Blessed Mother tried to stop her, and Jae her limbs for refusing to aid her daughters in the hour of hen she visited the Dynast, ending his wretched lie of violent reunification, quieting every word on the surfad below, and new servants worshipped God in the right way. Guided by His love and…

  “Sister,” Terrific croaked, and Ja her lips, resisting the aberrations’ wills.

  She is she! Janine of the Wolf Tribe. A warrior who pledged her life to the state! And she will be damned before she ever reneges on her vows. Uhe Dynast’s vision, the world will recover. And a day will e when every subject of the Recmation Army will know peace, and together they will travel to the distant stars to learn and spread humanity far and wide.

  A pity. The white shape replied, extinguishing the light in its hand. You are ied by the most unworthy gift. Hope. No matter. Either way, humanity’s doom will be sealed by one champion. He g Mad Hatter. Or by another.

  The white shape returo g to Mad Hatter like a parasite, resuming its whispers. In a blink, reality resumed. The grayness disappeared, Mad Hatter returo her throne, and Jaasted smells and breathed. What she had seen just now was an illusion cocted by her exhausted brain. Nothing more. Only the Spirits were real.

  “Why are you doing this?” Janine asked Mad Hatter. “Waging wars, I mean. Surely it is easier to try sleeping pills.”

  “I tried them.” The khatun picked up a gss sourly. “They don’t work anymore.”

  “Why wage war at all?” Janine ighe pain, gerying to uand. “I get the impression that you don’t care much for ruling. You want to sleep. That God prevents it.” Or you are imagining him, you stupid, murderous whore, she wao say, but ighe desire. “If you are so hellbent on finding the bastard, why not ask around? Why fight, purposely slowing yourself down your search?”

  “Ask?” Mad Hatter ughed. She poi the sves and reached out to move their clothes aside, revealing daggers and loaded pistols. “The sves ask; they plead, afraid to act. A human act. Strength es in many varieties, and will is my favorite. Am I to kowtow and court for a favor? I impose my will. Had people not sinned so much, the Sky would not have unleashed such a great monster as I to feast upon them.”

  “If you are s, what need do you have for sves?” Janine mocked her. “A strong person uses her strength to better the lives of everyohat Horde you created? It isn’t strong; it’s a ravenous group of rabid freaks, ready to scatter at the first sign of trouble. Unlike you lot, the Dynast doesn’t have the petty desires of being surrounded by sves. He builds teological marvels, restores forests to the world, and eliminates huhis is the true strength, the ohat surpasses us both.”

  “You, perhaps,” Mad Hatter murmured, amused. “I am not bound by such limitations. And you attribute too much to your sire, ironically ign the tributions of the small folk that you cim to love so much. It wasn’t the Dynast who founded your cities, nor any of his generals.”

  “What happeo my pack?” Janine asked.

  “Again, you seek to irritate me, ag as if you are free, when your life is forfeited.” Mad Hatter tapped her fingers ohrone aured for her sves to eat their fill. “But I don’t find a desire to end you. Curious. Your rades have been captured, and their fate lies in your paws. I no longer wish to make you into a khan of your people, but a token of submission save them. Save you.”

  “A token?” Janine asked, deg to py along, sensing tension in the air. Someone nearby was unhappy.

  If Mad Hatter asked her to bow, of course she would. And the moment the woman’s gaze left her, she would lead her soldiers on the run, back to the tribe. The Ice Fangs might frown upon such deception, but the Wolf Tribe k was foolish to honor a wiven to the dishonorable. The Gilded Horde were insane and cruel, and Janine will see them meet their doom.

  “We have one of your… sword saints,” Mad Hatter chuckled, “in our possession. He is hardly the man he was, armless and legless as he is now. And we also have an abundance of civilians. Among my people, it is ary to seal deals with blood. The strong do not bleed; they force their lesser to do so for them. And that is the price I expect. Bleed a thousand lives to create a worthy pool of blood in which to drown the Sword Saint. Do this, and our pact is sealed.”

  “Fuck you,” Janine spat into her face, stiffening the sves with fear. There was aliation; the khatun could have easily dodged the spit, but she stood her ground. “I know what you are, Mad Hatter. You are her a god nor an avatar of one. You are a human masquerading as a monster, a subjugator. Heed me well, Mad Hatter. Whatever monster you may think yourself to be, the Blessed Mother is the Syer of Monsters and Dominator of Dominators. Bow your head, accept the punishment for your crimes, and you may yet live as aernal servant. Resist, and you will meet her.”

  “That is exactly what I want. I will do more than just meet her,” the woman said calmly. “I will end her and asd. Brood Lord.”

  “My khatun?” Brood Lord stepped out of the shadows, fnked by two smaller copies of himself, a male and a female, both fged. The khan smiled at Janine; his wounds had already healed.

  “My offer has been spat upon. Janine is all yours.”