Bridging Fate

"Hey Queenie, you mighta told us she could walk through fucking walls!" Amilia shouts, not too happy about Hilfa being on the other side of the wall.

"She cannot walk through walls, you insolent furball. She must have some sort of hidden passage." Musha scolds, infuriated that someone dared to insult her Queen.

The Queen steps forward, eyes wide as she begins inspecting her former head mage.

Hilfa is still wearing her usual robe, but the mask is gone, and her hood is down. The former head mage's face has changed from its usual pale pigmentation, and is now a sickly greyish hue. Her eyes are also different, burning a deep, swirling purple, even her the chestnut parts of her hair are now completely black.

Another part of Hilfa that has majorly changed is that the scars on the right side of her temple have become a bright, pulsing green, almost like acid flowing through tubes.

"What has happened to her?" The Queen mutters to herself, but John is close enough to hear.

John then looks out the window, studying the same features of the changed Hilfa, and it's almost familiar. Flashes of a monstrosity, destruction in humanoid form, driven by pure animalistic need.

The name of impending ****: The Drakkatel.

"She looks... possessed." John comments.

The Queen hums in agreement. "Yes. It appears so."

"Gazing upon my new form, your majesty?! I cannot blame you! I have never felt so powerful than in this very moment! I have the power to do things I only dreamed of before! For example..."

Purple and green magic circles Hilfa's hand as she swings her hand down before bringing it back up, but in front of her is a ball of bubbling lava that's changing in front of the group's eyes. The lava continues to bubble, its combined red, orange, and yellow colour has become a icy blue. The ball of lava continues to bubble, but much more violently than before.

"I can control the very power that you sought for our clan to harness! No! I can make it even more powerful! I have the power to take back the land that is rightfully ours! No! The land that is rightfully mine!"

"This is about a land dispute now? Fantastic. This is exactly why my family are nomads." Kyuala thinks to herself.

"Rightfully yours? Don't be a fool, Hilfa! This entire continent belonged to our people!" The Queen shouts back.

Hilfa laughs. "Our people?! And you call me the fool! We all know that if we took back the land, you would simply rule over it! You claim it's all of ours, but you would continue to claim to be the rightful ruler of all giants living here! Your subjects should have their weapons pointed at you, just as much as they are pointed at me!"

"There's plenty of time for that to still happen." Clarva says, earning a not-so gracious look from the Queen.

"Ahh, Clarva Mightenos, the half-breed. Tell me girl, how is your father?" Hilfa laughs, bringing pure rage to Clarva.

"Don't you dare talk about him!"

"Oooh, touch a nerve, did I?" Hilfa chuckles again. "Fine, fine, I'll leave him for now. What about that village of yours? That unfortunate landslide that swept away everything. Did they ever rebuild? Or was there no one left to even bury the dead?"

The anger within Clarva is so prevalent that you can feel it just by standing next to her, like an aura burning around her.

Hilfa sees Clarva is getting even more riled up, so she decides to continue. "You know, it really was such a mystery about how that landslide happened. I studied that land many a time, and for it to suddenly give way like that was... unusual to say the least. It's almost as if it wasn't quite natural."

Hilfa laughs again as she looks up at her glowing blue ball of magma, a sinister smirk beaming from her face.

"You!" Clarva says as she realizes just what Hilfa is implying. The others are a little confused, but after a few more moments, the others catch on.

"What you see before you is a well practised use of power. However, even the best of mages--like myself--have to start somewhere. That initial test just so happened to cause a landslide. Oops."

Clarva's fist clashes against the thick glass, too angry to even insult the mage that's just taunting her.

Hilfa chuckles. "Aww, is the half-breed angry? I can't say I'm surprised. However, if I may share one thought. You shouldn't just be angry at me. If you recall correctly, the Queen there was the one who tossed you to the wolves when you were a parentless pup."

The Queen remains silent, remembering full well what happened on that night.

"Listen to me, and listen closely, you giant whore!" Clarva starts, anger literally foaming at the ends of her mouth. "When I get my hands on you, I am going to cut your fucking head off, and shove it up your overgrown ass! I'm going to tear you limb from limb, and toss every single one of them into that lava before giving your body to the biggest, greasiest, most disgusting ratfolk I can find!"

"Oooh, feisty. I am just positively quaking in my boots at the thought of a half-breed without a real weapon beating me. Oh, the terror it brings to me is just overwhelming." Hilfa says in the most over dramatic theatre voice.

"Was she like this before this whole fiasco?" Virra asks.

"Not entirely. She certainly loved to hear her own voice, but the whole villain monologue is certainly something that the old Hilfa would have never done, she used to be much smarter than that. Now, whether it's something she suppressed and finally embraced, or a symptom of this seeming possession, I have no clue." Musha answers, obviously feeling uneasy over Hilfa's new monstrous look.

"Well, she certainly knows how to give people a headache." John says.

"Your majesty!" Hilfa calls, getting everyone's full attention once again. "You already know of my proposition! Give up the throne, and let me rule over this rotting clan! Let me guide us to a powerful tomorrow! You've slaughtered so many of your clan already! Don't make me cull the rest!"

"Never! You will have to wipe my existence from this plane before I allow you to control my clan! My family!" The Queen responds immediately, not hesitating for a single moment.

"That can easily be arranged." Hilfa says before thrusting her hand forward, throwing the blue ball of lava towards the group.

Everyone in Hilfa's quarters takes cover as they see the ball of lava fly towards them. Barely a second later, a loud crash is heard as the window is shattered, and most of the wall has collapsed.

"I will see you in a few moments, your majesty!" Hilfa says before her annoying laughter begins to get quieter, muffled by the sounds of moving rock.

After the grinding and scraping noises subside, everyone looks up from their respective cover, and sees the gaping hole where a wall used to be. Beyond that is the cavern that Hilfa was hiding in before revealing herself, but in-between is something that's new.

A bridge.

It looks to be made from a mixture of the rocks from the broken wall and cooled rocks from the volcano itself. The bridge extends from the broken wall, over the lake of lava close to eighty feet below, and stops at the wall opposite the room.

"Well, I wonder where we're supposed to go?" Kira sarcastically comments.

"No way am I stepping on that bridge. That's clearly a **** trap!" One of the remaining giants says.

Musha nods. "I agree. Why would Hilfa make a bridge just for us to safely cross?"

"Because she's an arrogant ass! She just wants us to think we have a chance, so she can crush our hopes?" Another giant adds.

As the giants begin to bicker amongst themselves about the bridge, along with Hilfa's intentions, Terra steps just before the bridge, and places her staff on the newly formed rock before the staff begins to gently glow.

The Queen sees Terra examining the bridge, and is intrigued by the snow elf's actions. She then steps forward. "Found anything of worry?"

"Nothing that I'm aware of. Although, Hilfa's magic is unusual, so I can't claim to be one hundred percent sure about the structural integrity." Terra answers.

"Well, I will trust your judgement, elf. After all, you were the one who caused the destruction in the pit, so you are definitely powerful enough to know."

Terra's eyes shoot open. "Ahh, about that..."

The Queen raises her hand. "You needn't explain. I had separated the human from his mate, and the rest of your group. If I were honest, I would have done more than cause a distraction in your position, but I appreciate that you didn't kill most of my people."

"I didn't actually mean to cause that much destruction." Terra says, a little timidly. "It was like something else charged the magic without my involvement."

The Queen hums. "I would say that is strange, but after seeing what Hilfa can do now, it's a safe bet that she had some involvement in it."

"Speaking of, Hilfa mentioned the incident that took Clarva's father. Did you kn-"

"I know of the circumstances, but not the truth. As for what happened afterwards... that is my business." The Queen finishes sternly, making sure Terra understands to not continue down that line of questioning.

Back with John and the others, John is over with Clarva, whose fury is obvious to anyone who briefly glances at her.

"Uhh, so..."

"John. If you value having all of your teeth, and being able to move your jaw, I suggest you leave me be." Clarva firmly states, not as suggestion, but as a warning.

"See I would, but considering where I am right now, I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the box. So, unfortunately for my jaw and teeth, I'm gonna be here for you."

Clarva snorts. "You're only being brave because Kyuala is right there."

"Oh, abso-fucking-lutely." John replies with a little laugh, mostly out of nervousness. Clarva just sighs as she puts her head against the wall. John then carefully steps forward. "So, do you want to talk abou-"

"No." Clarva interrupts.

"Got it." John nods before looking around, feeling uncomfortable in the sudden awkward silence.

About a minute passes before Clarva sighs once again. "Listen John, I don't care to repeat a story you've already heard, so if that's what you want to desperately ask about, then don't."

"Actually..." John starts, seemingly a little unsure of where he is going with this. "I was going to ask what you're planning to do about it?"

Clarva turns around. "What?"

John leans against the wall. "Well, Hilfa was talking some mad shit. I just want to know how you're going to deal with her."

Clarva is confused and speechless. She was expecting John to try and make her feel better, but instead, he seems to be goading her?

"Excuse me?" Clarva asks, trying to understand what John is doing.

"C'mon, I thought you would've just jumped through that wall and crushed her skull like a goddamn watermelon. Isn't that what you wanted to do?"

"Of course I wanted to! What kind of question is that?!" Clarva immediately responds.

"So, why haven't you run over that bridge and crushed her skull yet?" John responds with a little more confidence.

Clarva's breathing becomes more fast and furious, nostrils flaring as her chest begins to burn with the fury that John is currently poking at. "Are you saying that I'm scared?!"

"Oh, I'm saying nothing of that sort... although there may be an implication."

Clarva's fist collides with the wall as she begins to uncontrollably growl. Her eyes are burning with rage, and even the giants are afraid of what Clarva might do.

Clarva storms over to Terra, terrifying the snow elf. "Is the bridge secure?!" Clarva asks, no, demands to know.

"It seems so." Terra meekly answers, scared of what would happen if she said no.

"Good." Clarva says before beginning to cross the bridge, not waiting for anyone to catch up. Karray quickly flies to try and catch up, but even her wings aren't quite fast enough to match a pissed Clarva.

The Queen, seeing no other choice, looks to her legion. "Follow Mightenos' lead! Let us finally rid ourselves of the scourge known as Hilfa!"

The giants cheer before they start to jog across the seemingly sturdy bridge, following Clarva's lead towards the hole that Hilfa created. The Queen and the group, all begin following seconds later.

"Human. What in the hells were you thinking?! Why were you riling her up?! Are you trying to get her killed?!" The Queen sternly asks.

"Trust me, your majesty. I had my reasons. Clarva will not die on this day, not if she has anything to say about it." John responds, not giving the Queen the answer she wanted, but one she has to accept.

As the Queen walks ahead, Kyuala grabs John's arm, pulling him back a little. "So, what was the real reason you were pissing Clarva off?"

John makes sure the Queen is out of ear-range before leaning towards Kyuala. "When I was looking at her, I heard Xanvetl in my head. He told me that I should piss Clarva off if I wanted any chance for us to win. I asked him why, but he wouldn't tell me, just that we'll see why first-hand."

"Angels in your head. I'll never get over that." Kyuala comments.

"Neither will I. Especially when they're being cryptic assholes." John responds as the group continue forward, continuing across the perilous bridge towards whatever hell Hilfa has conjured up for them.