"Your father told you this?" Monne asked, a frown on her youthful face.

"Yes," Elora said.

"After two months of silence?" Nyal started incredulously. "What did you do to make him actually help you?"

"I prayed," she answered, sparing a brief glance at Ragen. The warlock only nodded at him, a hint of a smile on his face.

"That was it?" Nyal asked. "Isn't that what you had been doing?"

"No," Elora said. "I'd been demanding stuff from him as a daughter would. I think he wanted me to get down on my knees like everyone else, sink to their level, so to speak. He wanted me to be desperate."

"Why?" Mikhail asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know why he does anything. Perhaps to torment me," she said.

"While it's wonderful that he's finally said something helpful to you," Monne started, drawing the attention back to her. "I don't think what he's said is actually of much use to us."

"But now we know that Nyal and Elora can and will defeat the Zlohiel," Mikhail argued.

"Yes, but when? How? Will we even be alive to see it?" Monne questioned, gesturing wildly. "He hasn't said anything about it, only that the final battle will come soon. The final battle for who though? Us? The Zlohiel? Elora herself? We don't know."

There were too many questions and as usual, no answers to give. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me," she said. "He's stopped answering now that he's given me that sliver of information. We will have to find out when the events come along."

"That's not what I want," Monne said, her voice taking on a petulant tone, reminding Elora of just how young she was. Barely an adult, barely fit to deal with everything that was going on. "I want full answers, I want to know everything that's going to happen in the coming years. I want a guarantee that my kingdom will be safe."

"Sometimes you can't always get what you want, your majesty," Nyal said. "We're all just going to have to wait for the answers. By the Gods, there are questions I have that I don't think will ever get answered. I think that is just the way of the Gods."

Elora and Nyal had talked about his questions earlier that morning. She had no answers for him. He'd wanted to know why it was him that would save the realm. What made him so special? She couldn't even begin to answer. There was no chance that he had been favoured by Yararanje, not with how disappointed the God was in him.

"It's not fair," Monne said, pushing at the messy tangle of her hair.

"I know," Elora said. "But it is all we have. We have to work with it. At least now we know that there is a way for the Zlohiel to be defeated."

"You've got one chance to do it!" Monne exclaimed. "What if you miss it? What if you fail?"

"I won't," Elora replied, looking over at Nyal, who had doubt moulding the expression on his face. "We won't."

"How can you be so sure?" Monne demanded, face turning red from the stress of the conversation.

"The fate of the entire realm rests on our shoulders, Monne," Elora replied. "We won't fail."

"You better not." Elora scowled at the words, unimpressed by the Queen's anger. It would do nothing to help them during the coming battle and would only serve as a distraction.

"Your Majesty," Mikhail said, drawing the angry woman's attention away from Elora. "Even though it isn't the news you had hoped for, we can still use what we know. The Gods told us that the final battle is coming soon, this gives up an opportunity to prepare ourselves."

"What are you suggesting?" General Yura asked. For a long while, Elora had forgotten he had even been in the room with them. He hid over by the corner, watching in silence. He never did have much to say during her meetings with the Queen, but he was there for every single one.

"Find places to hide the civilians, the old people and children, those who can't fight," Mikhail started, getting a soft noise of agreement from Monne. "I'm sure there are places deep in the mountains that would take a while for the Zlohiel to get to."

"There are," Yura said.

"Good. We can also prepare hot tar to pour over the city walls if the Zlohiel make it that far," Mikhail continued. "It may not stop the flying ones, but those who walk will surely be affected."

"Those are all good ideas," Monne replied, turning to Yura. "When do you think we can start evacuating the people?"

"Immediately, your Majesty, if that is your wish," the general said, moving further into the room. "It would take a few days at least."

"Not optimal, but it must be done," the Queen said. "Start with the outskirts, those on the inside will be safe enough for now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Monne turned back towards them, her anger gone and instead replaced with her original regal disposition. "I want the four of you to help out with the evacuation efforts," she said.

"Of course, your Majesty," Mikhail replied before anyone got a chance. Another glance at Ragen almost made her chuckle. He was rolling his eyes, hefting a huge sigh. Over the two months, Monne had abused their presence, putting them on every single task she could think of. Elora wasn't exactly happy about it, but it was something she could deal with.

The meeting didn't go on for much longer than that, allowing Monne to prepare herself before announcing the evacuation. The four of them followed Yura and waited as he debriefed his soldiers on the vents of the day. Monne made her announcement and group of soldiers made their way to the outskirts of Maheem.

The people of Maheem followed requests with very little argument. They seemed to understand how severe the threat was. There weren't as many people living in the outskirts as there had once been. Most of them had moved further into the mountain to avoid the threat that attacked the city walls almost every night.

With the help of Nyal, she led a small group of people deep into the mountains, towards a stronghold that hadn't been used in years. She wasn't sure how they would cope living in the same place as the nobles and other rich folks, but it was something they would have to endure until the war was over.

She didn't try to sooth them when they came to her, terrified and full of questions, she didn't know how. Anything she could possibly say would only make things worse. It was as if Nyal could sense her discomfort and dragged the scared people away from her. He always was better with people than her.

They got their little group settled and Yura and his soldiers brought in more and more. He sent a group off to collect any food they had available so that the people wouldn't starve. The evacuation efforts were rushed and unorganised, but it was the best they could do with the time they had. Yararanje had told them the final battle would come soon, but none of them knew just how long that was.

"Better to be safe than sorry," Nyal said at one point, looking over the cramped stone room with a frown. Like most buildings in Maheem, the giant stronghold was freezing. She shivered, pulling her wings around her body.

"Come," she said, gesturing at him. "We had best keep going. They want as many people out of the outskirts as possible by nightfall."

They walked in silence until they reached daylight again, meandering through the twisting roads until they reached the next set of houses. The people were already outside, waiting patiently to be moved from their homes. A few of the younger children were wailing, cold and confused.

"How are you feeling?" Nyal asked as they began escorting the next group.

"About what?" Elora said.

"About the end of all this coming so soon," he replied.

How did she feel about it? There had been so little time to process what her father had told her only the night before. "Worried," she finally said. "And... A little bit scared."

"You? Scared?" Nyal started. "By the Gods, we really are in deep with this."

"We'll be fine," she said. "It's the rest of the realm I'm worried about."

Nyal sighed, running a hand through his hair. It had grown longer over the months they had spent together, brushing against his neck. A beard was steadily growing, something that didn't exactly suit him, but Elora was sure that his looks were no longer Nyal's top priority. "How long do you think we have?" he asked.

"A couple of days at most," she answered. "Enough time to get most of the people hidden and make some preparations for the battle."

It was almost as if the Gods had heard her words and decided in that instant that she needed to be proved wrong. The ground shook and the people around them called out, looking around for the source of the rumbling. Avalanches were a common occurrence in Planina, but the rumbling they faced now didn't feel like an avalanche.

Elora turned with a gasp, staring at the city wall as a swarm of wendigos clambered over the stone. The guards screamed as they died, falling from the walls to land on the stone and snow with wet thuds. The people around her began to scream, ignoring any orders they were given and running into the mountain entrances.

She lost track of Nyal in the panic, spinning around to try and get a glimpse of him. Why hadn't there been any warning of an attack? Just how thick was the blizzard out there? Nyal's face flashed in front of hers, his mouth wide open in shock. He was yelling something at her, pointing up into the sky behind her.

"They're going for the Queen, Elora!" he yelled. "We have to stop them!" Her eyes trailed up his arm, finding a group of dragons and a lone Griffin making their way up to the castle. She couldn't tell if any of them were Gaizma from the distance, but it was a safe bet that he was among them.

"The attack must be a distraction to kill the Queen," she said, grabbing Nyal's other hand and pulling him along. "Come on!"

"Elora!" he called as they pushed through the screaming crowds. "I think this might be it."

Looking around her, she was inclined to agree. Others had joined the wendigos in swarming the walls, vampires, giants, and if she looked closely enough she could see the heads of a hydra peaking over the walls.

This was the final battle, sooner than any of them had expected. They weren't ready. People were still rushing about, trying to get to safety. They'd had no time to prepare hot oil, they'd had no time to do anything. Her father had not given her enough of a warning.

Reading her mind like he usually did, the God of Creation took the chance to speak to her once more. You have one chance, my daughter. You will know when. Make it count, he said, voice echoing in her mind. She nodded, not gracing the God with a reply and continued to push through the crowds and into the mountain paths.

General Yura appeared before them, face red and breath coming out in pants. Ragen and Mikhail were nowhere to be seen, the General telling them that he had last seen them helping people into the stronghold. Elora cursed, having the pair around would have been useful, but Yura would have to do.

People were trying to leave the castle as they rushed in, screaming about monsters on the upper floors. The trio pushed through the screaming and crying occupants of the castle, Elora catching a glimpse of Anatoria, the young faun that had helped them when they arrived. She was trying to get people out, her posture straight and tall, but her face betrayed her fear.

She was gone in an instant, swallowed up by the many faces and bodies that pushed past them. Elora continued, hand still grasping Nyal's and Yura following close behind. The bounded down the hallways and upstairs, trying desperately to get back to Queen Monne's quarters.

She heard a scream as they reached the third floor of the castle, where Monne's quarters were. Nyal cursed next to her, ripping his hand from hers and rushing down the hall. Fire burst from one of the rooms, causing both her and Nyal to gather their magic.

The trio burst into Monne's quarters, finding the young woman on her bed, goat-like legs scrambling to move. Two dragons and the Griffin were making their way towards her, grinning maliciously. One of the dragons stopped when he realised they had company.

"Gate Keeper," it sneered in a raspy voice, moving away from the Queen and towards Elora. "Gaizma will be most pleased." The dragon rushed forward, mouth open in a sneer and ready to breathe fire at her. Nyal struck out before she could even blink and the dragon fell backwards with a scream, grasping at his face. The skin sizzled and popped, making Elora grimace.

The other dragon noticed the first's plight and stared at Nyal, fear in its eyes. Yura ran forward, ducking past the dragon to attack the Griffen, which was clawing at the Queen. Elora took her chance while the dragon was distracted, using the magic she'd gathered to impale it in the throat. Blood gushed from the wound and the dragon dropped to its knees, spluttering and gasping for breath.

She ignored it as it died, watching as Yura decapitated the Griffen with a strong swing of his sword. The General helped Monne up, who gasped for breath. Tears were running down her cheeks and she gripped at her sides as if trying to make herself seem smaller.

"What in Veridun is going on?" she asked. "How did those things get into Maheem?"

"They've overrun the walls, ma'am," Yura replied. "There was no stopping them."

"This is it, your Majesty," Nyal said, a deep frown forming on his face. "The final battle."