The Adventure Beyond

Oh, the Horror!

In thirty minutes, all the armies from the Centaur Lands and the Myrmidonian Domains have arrived.
The Torrians and the Space Parasyte army came to join them.

Joule and company descended from the ship and joined the two elves. "I think we have enough backup for this," Joule said as the blue insectoids burrowed out from underneath to join their mother.

Concorde and Illoaide looked back and saw the fully armed centaurs, Space Parasytes, Myrmidonians, and Torrians --- all of every species, race and kind were present.

"I think we do," Illoaide replied.

She turned to the Mistress, and asked, "So, are we going to engage, or what?"

"I'm glad you asked," replied the goddess, "Unfortunately, the answer is a big fat N-O. I don't want a repeat of the first book."

"But certainly you have to do it in the next one," Hilary replied, "It's going to be the last one."

"Of course we have to," Daughter defended, stomping her staff, "The Author only wanted three."

"Alright, alright," Elise remarked, "It's not our problem to deal with the outcome of the novel. Our problem right now is that are we going to battle or not? So stick with regular programming or else I will personally cocoon each and every one of you---!"

"Calm down," Daughter advised, "You'd die sooner than expected. We get what you said."

"Well that escalated quickly," Joule, Varasi, Quandri and Quirson said in unison.

"It did," Concorde replied, "Anyway, Mistress, you were saying?"

"I didn't want to end this book with another massive gory battle scene," the Mistress continued, "so I'll end it differently."

The Mistress raised her large rear end and shot a line which reached the outer reaches of space. She then pulled herself up to a height as high as the so called Mother of the World mountain in a mystic place called Nepal. She then snapped her fingers, and the staff Daughter was holding disappeared from her hand.

"My staff!" Daughter Wysteria Hourglass exclaimed.

"Relax," the Mistress replied, "I'll just use it for a while, unless you want to enjoy the nice view from up here."

At those words, Daughter shuddered and gulped. Umbra gripped her body hard; she felt like a rattle, or a blender at work.

"Just so," the Mistress remarked, "You couldn't because of your acrophobia. No child of mine should have those petty fears, and thus I, Mistress Thania Hourglass, hereby disown you, Daughter Wysteria Hourglass. A Daughter with such petty fears, pfft, not a good successor at all. You were only an instrument to my rise, after all."

At those words the Daughter's eyes watered; her hearts suddenly arrested themselves for a millisecond as she took in all the words. Umbra, too, was shocked, and his blood boiled within him. So were everyone.

"And as for you Concorde," the Mistress said with an evil grin, "I'll let you experience firsthand what losing a friend is like." She held the staff like a spear, its "foot" literally tapering itself into a spear head. Then, she aimed and she threw.

The spear's aim was true. It pierced Illoaide's human chest, through the heart, out of her back, rising up a bit and then going into the skin of her bulbous spider abdomen, straight into the heart, finally burying itself within her stomach.

Concorde was dumbstruck, his eyes transfixed at what became of the greatest friend, his mouth gaping in horror at her state.

Illoaide gasped, her mouth wide open. Blood went out of her body in spurts and in streams.

"It seems like my work here is done," the Mistress remarked, and in a flash, she and her army disappeared.

Everyone was horrified at the incide t and so were the Twelve.

...

The Daughter and Umbra rushed to Concorde. Daughter Hourglass removed the staff from Illoaide's body, and then the two men lay her down on the floor. At this point, Illoaide was breathing, gasping for air. Her skin was turning pale, her legs were moving frantically, and her abdomen was spraying silk with every breath she took.

"Concorde," she said weakly.

"Yes, Illie," the elf replied.

"You have to go on without me," she replied, "I am very weak now, and soon, my time will come."

"No," Concorde replied with indignation, "I won't leave you like this. I can go through hell and heaven and back just to get you, just as you did for me. You never left me, and now it's time I return the favor."

The drider demigoddess's eyes watered at his words, and she muttered a very soft, "Thank you."

With the last of her strength, Illoaide Normandall reached to hug Concorde with her arms and legs. She lay on the ground after the hug, for she had finally breathed her last. Her legs were all curled up, her eyes were closed, and her mouth was in a smile.

And the sun was beginning to set.