Arsha and Oyed proceeded past the remaining three traps. One was poison gas which could be avoided by shooting the correct target, the next was the flame jets which was dealt with by walking on a concealed bridge, and the last was a spiked ceiling that lowered as they navigated a maze. Arsha nearly lost her helmet but got it back before the ceiling made full contact with the floor. They arrived at the central chamber where the midday sun gleamed through a window onto the floor where a pile of ash was. In that ash pile was a jagged, black crown with a single jewel in the center of it. Arsha looked to Oyed. \u201c\u2026What?\u201d asked the former Titan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAny traps on the crown?\u201d asked Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe saw no need for any.\u201d Arsha still gingerly picked up the crown, then regained her courage when it was confirmed that Oyed told the truth. She ripped the jewel out of the crown, then looked to the ash pile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, Your Majesty,\u201d she said, \u201cbut the Realms need the Talkwen Stone right now.\u201d She then looked to Oyed. \u201cSo, that\u2019s all the traps?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all the traps. The way back is clear.\u201d Arsha and Oyed then headed back the way they came and returned to the sunlight. Arsha was met with the Hanthuus hugging her. Oyed simply rolled his eyes, then cleared his throat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFine, a deal\u2019s a deal,\u201d she muttered. She pulled a phial of the antidote out of her armor\u2019s carrying bag and Oyed goggled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou had the antidote with you the entire time?!\u201d he snarled. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, tell the poisoned ex-Titan who is SO known for not being opportunistic that I had the antidote,\u201d snarked Arsha. \u201cHe\u2019d NEVER leave me behind if he knew where the antidote was.\u201d She handed him the phial. \u201cNow, remember that the remains of your drink smoked when I added the antidote to it before finishing it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d asked Oyed as he took the cork out of the phial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe smoke\u2019s a gas. You\u2019ll be burping and farting a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d rather be gassy than dead.\u201d Oyed guzzled the antidote, then his burps came out in five second intervals. They were rather tiny ones too. \u201cOh, come on!\u201d he groaned. \u201cHow long\u2019s this supposed to last?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA full fifty hours,\u201d replied Arsha. \u201cBut you won\u2019t live that long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArchers may nock!\u201d called Lartin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat archers?!\u201d demanded Oyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArchers may draw!\u201d ordered Lartin as she, her spouses, and everyone else pulled back. Archers of various species with various types of bows and crossbows then popped up from the rooftops, aiming their arrows at Oyed. Oyed then realized what was going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t!\u201d he snarled at Arsha. Arsha stepped forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would,\u201d she said. \u201cThrough Yamta killing Calandra\u2019s mother, you have taken that which we loved, the peace we enjoyed. You have also taken personally taken the life of the Coliamdii Kingdom\u2019s Prime Minister, a good and dear friend to Queen Elmpam. You have erased Rellmeer\u2019s husband from the face of the Realms! YOU HAVE KILLED MY COUSIN, TENDRAK!\u201d Arsha then steadied her breathing. \u201c\u2026You have set us all against one another through Dr. Borg\u2019s thrice-damned empire, weakening our people by your constant warfare! There might be a few Orcs who don\u2019t care about that, but I think every single one of them, even the Orcs among the archers, care about how you ordered Intrag to create them by corrupting various Elves. Yes, I think they care about that a great deal. Malnar and Orbak gave their Prime Minister documents that proved that you took the most warlike of Under-realm Elves and tortured them, that YOU are responsible for giving Intrag shock-troopers that constructed death camps and genetic cleansing programs! You are responsible for their early, savage, and unkempt behaviors, and I think the Orcs would like to thank you personally for your efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t believe that!\u201d he called to the Archers. \u201cShe\u2019s lying!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs she?!\u201d called one of the archers. It was Moggle! \u201cI\u2019ve examined the documents! They are true! I think that\u2019s more than sufficient inducement for a politician like me to actually get my hands dirty, don\u2019t you think?\u201d His fellows agreed with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOyed, it\u2019s not enough for us to simply kill you,\u201d continued Arsha. \u201cI could have simply destroyed the antidote and let you die. But, through your death at the hands of those you foolishly think less of, you won\u2019t get the satisfaction of dying at the hands of those you think is more powerful!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026NO! YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR HANDS BLOODY TO SEE ME DEAD! YOU SIGNED A BLOOD CONTRACT, DIDN\u2019T YOU?!\u201d shouted Oyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat contract said that we wouldn\u2019t rest until the Realm Trinity Empire is broken, it said nothing about us personally killing you. You will die alone. Goodbye, Oyed the Destroyer!\u201d She then vanished from sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cARCHERS MAY LOOSE!\u201d shouted Lartin. Oyed ran as the arrows rained down on him. He was constantly blocked off by arrows landing in front of him, then an arrow pierced his shoulder, the pain halting him and forcing him to cry out. More arrows then struck him. He finally fell, supported by the arrows still embedded in him. Oyed, the former Titan, was now dead. \u201cCease fire!\u201d called Lartin. The arrows stopped flying. She then gave a wry grin. \u201cArchers may retrieve their arrows!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arsha had teleported to her ready room and saw the whole thing. Once the archers left their posts to get their arrows back, she switched the screen off and imagined a piano playing. She then started singing Zephyr gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo hidin\u2019 place \u2018round here! (\u2018Round here!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no hidin\u2019 place \u2018round here! (No hidin\u2019 place!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Y\u2019know, I went to the wall to hide my face!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But the wall cried out \u2018No hidin\u2019 place!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no hidin\u2019 place \u2018round here!\u2019<\/em>\u201d Her door chime then rang. \u201cCome in.\u201d Denstra came in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCaptain, intelligence reports an enemy build-up in the deserts north of here! Aldarval\u2019s given the go-ahead for the entire fleet to attack at your command!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA chance like this doesn\u2019t come but once in a life-time, Commander!\u201d She hailed the fleet. \u201cAll ships, converge on the enemy\u2019s position! This is our chance to end this!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arsha and Oyed proceeded past the remaining three traps. One was poison gas which could be avoided by shooting the correct target, the next was the flame jets which was dealt with by walking on a concealed bridge, and the last was a spiked ceiling that lowered as they navigated a maze. Arsha nearly lost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,238],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-5299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-three-realms","category-the-three-realms-book-5-the-final-fight","tag-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5300,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5299\/revisions\/5300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}