Omake (Best Vacation Ever)

Cenna stretched out under the white flowering trees. The scent, at least to his nose, was fair to good and with his arms crossed under his head, he let out a steady groan of comfort. "Gahhh, that's better." He said to nobody at all. The long vines hid his presence, and the shadow cast overhead was thick enough to create a comfortable shade from the summer sun. At his side sat a bow worth more than a prince's ransom, as well as a spear for serious defense if it were needed. On his body was a simple ashen gray cloak with streaks of black, green, and brown that served as camouflage. But there was nothing to be worried about. Not that he could tell, his hunt was successful enough that a few beasts sat wrapped in wild preserving vines, waiting for him to roast them after what he was about to do.

His favorite part, to be precise, or so the smile on his face said. One foot crossed over the other and he gnawed idly at the sweet twig in his mouth while he waited to drift off to sleep and nap for hours. The sweet twig was of a peculiar variety of tree only found there in the Abelion Hills, it was his second favorite part about his 'hunting expeditions'. 'And they think I'm hunting out in the woods near Ikari. Ha!' He laughed at that. The monsters in the Abelion Hills were few, which was the point. A little hunting and a lot of laziness, that was the real point.

The demihumans who occupied the region were now fairly tame, they moved in larger groups, but more predictably as fixed paths were laid down and fixed settlements were forming. 'They wouldn't believe it back home, but it really is turning into a kingdom over here.' He thought and yawned deeply, he could feel himself starting to doze off and thought about the shock he faced when he first saw actual humans, but strangely enough, they appeared to be neither frightened nor abused. 'They won't like that in Kami Miyako.' He snorted. Nonhuman and human enmity was a staple of their religion and politics, the two groups getting along was almost as big of a threat to the state as war itself. But for Cenna? 'Pain is pain, dead is dead. Maybe something better will come of all this, like a longer nap for me.' He smirked, spat the sweet bark stick out of his mouth when the tip lost it's flavor, yawned once more, and fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he lay there, but when he awoke, it was instant. The pressure above caused the tree he lay against to sway, and that was all it took, because the scent it carried with it was very much like a dragon. The noise hit next, he could hear the beating wings, but the thick cover of the flowering trees and the dangling vines obscured his vision. 'It doesn't matter how far I can see if I've got things in my way...' He mentally cursed, the sound was slowing down, coming closer.

He reached for the spear that lay beside his hunting bow and took it into practiced fingers while he rose silently to his feet.

"Alright, poacher, you've got some nerve hunting on the private reserves of the Queen of Frost... now you've got a choice, either I come in there, or you come out!" A voice called from beyond when he heard the blades of grass bend as the interloper landed.

'That doesn't 'sound' like a dragon...' Cenna thought with confusion in his mind. It was far, far too feminine.

But one thing he knew, if he went out, a fight was probable, if he waited, it could be avoided. The peace trees were known to be sacred, even as far away as the Theocracy, and as such... he chose to wait, but not in silence. "Why don't you come in?! If I go out there, I'll have to fight, and this is my vacation damn it! I have no bloody intentions of having it ruined by killing the royal piss pot carrier of some purple assed noble!"

Neia fumed. Her pale face didn't blush as much as it used to, but the scaled skin turned a shade darker. 'Nobody has talked to me that way in... a damn good while... sonofa...' She took a deep breath, her tail lashed behind her, but going into the trees and committing violence would not be acceptable. "Listen here you pig sticker, I'll have you know my ass is not purple, at best my ass is an off white with shades of blue from the scales! And I'm no piss pot carrier! I'm the damn Queen of this country, and you're on my land hunting my private stock!" She snapped, "Do you have any idea how long it took to clear out the monsters that tasted terrible from this area, and restock it with the kind I liked?! A long time and a lot of work! Now get your ass out here and your Queen may show some leniency as a gesture of respect for at least being good at poaching!"

She huffed, and frost chilled the grass in front of her, a drift of white that melted under the summer sun almost as soon as it settled.

'The Queen? Okay... this is different... kill her, and I may solve a real problem before it begins... or start a war... but also... my vacation would be ruined. Shit!' Cenna cursed.

"I'm no subject of the Queen!" He shot out in frustration, only to immediately cover his mouth.

Neia heard the words and the slap of skin over a mouth, human skin was a little more malleable than that of orcs or goblins, and other races didn't smack a hand over their mouths when they said something they didn't mean to. 'A human? From the Holy Kingdom?' Neia was now intrigued.

"You're a long way from Hoburns, human, it was only a few boar and a cockatrice... come out from the peace trees, and I promise I will be lenient... I'll charge you for the cost of your stolen stock and send you back to the Roble Holy Kingdom alive." Neia said more diplomatically, she opened her hands as if the one hidden within could have seen them, and took a step forward.

Cenna laughed involuntarily, "That would be a problem... damn it... listen... I'm armed, but I'll set down my spear... but come inside and I'll explain myself."

Neia frowned, "Are you running from something? An exile from the civil war? That ended years ago, how are you only here now?" She asked, and the voice within cleared his throat.

"It'll be easier if we talk where I know I won't have to kill you. I think my vacation is probably already ruined... I'd rather not make it worse with some unplanned regicide." Cenna called out as calmly as he could, but a playful lilt hit his voice anyway.

Part of Neia knew she should have been furious by the implication of regicide, but his voice was so playful and his attitude so nonchalant... and his obsession with his time off was so damn disarming, it was difficult for her to feel any real anger.

"Fine, I came all the way out here already, what's twenty more paces?" Neia said back, and walked to the trees, she pushed her way through the dangling white and found a black clad man of slender, athletic build. His cloak was different from the rest of his clothing, designed for simple magic-free camouflage, but his bow and spear, not to mention the rest of his clothing, it all screamed wealth and status. He was seated cross legged with his back against the tree, and she did the same, her tail lashing behind her as she went, her wings folded in, and she cleared her throat.

"Queen Neia Baraja of the Kingdom of Demalbion. And you, poacher?" She asked, gesturing to him with an open hand, palm upturned and talons clicking.

"Cenna. Cenna Tachoni, Captain of the Black Scripture of the Slane Theocracy." He inclined his head, and waited for the Queen to leap to her feet and call for her guards, only for her to instead cock her head, raise her brow and ask...

"Did you hit your head? Are you quite well, human?" She asked, and he tapped his skull several times.

"Seems fine to me." He smirked. "You don't believe me?"

"No, but if you share that meat, I'll forget about this, cook it, and we can eat together. At least after we share a meal, I can promise I can't kill you. You'll be an official guest." She pointed out, her finger leveled at the delicious looking haunch of monster meat.

"That's a hell of an invitation… how can I say no." He said so dryly that Neia wanted something to drink just by hearing it.

"You can't, it's good to be the Queen." She smirked, baring her fangs.

"We've got to start somewhere." He said with a shrug, and got up to his feet, and taking up his kill, he followed after her.

On their way out, Neia's curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "Even supposing I believed your crazy lie, why would the Black Scripture Captain be here of all places other than to kill me? Even if I accept the possibility, to announce himself would be just absurd. Our nations are not exactly on friendly terms, you know. I'm an animal after all." Neia pointed out and searched the boyish face of the human for hatred, violence, or deception when she described herself in their terms. She found only amusement.

"I guess that's fair, I didn't believe you were the Queen until your royal scaliness walked in." Cenna replied with a shrug.

"My Royal what?" Neia half demanded.

"Well you're right, it doesn't look like any of you is purple..." Cenna looked her up and down like a bar patron checked out his waitress., "but you do have a bit of scaliness. Not much though... still looks like skin to me."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?!" Neia demanded and crossed her arms.

Cenna stretched out his legs and put his hands behind his head before shaking it. "Nah, I just don't really have a filter. No offense, Majesty. And as for what I'm here for, like I said, vacation. I get a month off per year and I come out here to hunt... mostly for good places to nap and for more of the sweet bark trees." He licked his lips, "Great stuff, though I do hunt a little... 'I' was here before you. So you're more of an interloper than I am."

Neia's mouth dropped open, revealing her sharpened predatory teeth. "You have got to be kidding me..."

He shook his head again, "No, really." He cocked his head and looked her over again, "You really are the Queen here, huh? They'd probably tell me to kill you, but..."

"But?" Neia asked, clicking the talons on her hand as she held her tongue.

"But if I did do that, it'd probably spark a war with my country, and I'd probably never be able to vacation here again... plus the sweet bark trees are good building material... if the Theocracy invaded, they'd chop them all down, they'd be gone in a year or three if we won, and we'd be ruined if we lost... I'd miss those." Cenna reflected in a quiet, gentle voice and yawned again.

"Are you saying you aren't here for my life, and wouldn't take it anyway because... you like sweet bark and naps?" Neia blinked, "Are you just..." she held up a hand as if to stop him, but in fact stopped herself to take a deep breath. "I'm on the verge of talking you into at least trying to kill me just because that kind of laziness is... by the dead gods... I'm at a loss for words." Neia dropped her hand, threw back her head to look up at the white flowering on the branches above, and began a long, rich, hearty laugh that heaved her chest, made her wings spasm, and went on for so long that her diaphragm began to hurt.

Cenna only smirked. When she finally stopped, he asked, "So I guess you're the workaholic sort, minus the occasional bit of hunting?"

She pounded on her chest several times and nodded in assent, "I'm the Queen. Of course I work long hours, I'm building a Kingdom to last, and that means setting deep roots."

"Hmpf, I actually believe that. I was vacationing out here when you got started building. Back home the cardinals think that killing you would destroy your whole country. I, however, have come back several times since then. Maybe it was true once, but not anymore. Even if we got rid of you, they'd just pick someone else, or just turn your country over to the Allfather and we'd be worse off. But... politicians never believe people out in the field."

A light of camaraderie at long remember frustration came into her sky blue eyes and Neia smacked her knee with her palm, "Tell me about it. When I was still a human, I had to fight harder to warn politicians about the danger ahead than I did to actually fight the danger itself! Then if I won, they said there was nothing to worry about, and if I didn't, it was either that I didn't give them enough warning or it was my fault for having to withdraw without victory."

Cenna completely forgot in that instant that he was looking at the Queen of Frost, the monster whose invasion had destroyed an army of humans and taken a massive human city, and destroyed a hero of humanity, as the Theocracy placed the blame, and instead it seemed like she was just another soldier like himself, used to being out on her own and then explaining herself to people who didn't understand what she was trying to tell them.

"So... nameless soldier who claims to be the Black Scripture Captain..." Neia finally said with their sense returned, her tail lashed behind her again, more playfully this time, "Suppose I at least accept that you're from the Theocracy and offer to return you there, provided you share with me the meat you've taken, and that it gets prepared at my palace instead of out here in the field. Consider yourself my guest, and then we will send you home again afterward."

Cenna raised one finger, "I have one condition." He said, "That you do not make it an 'official' deportation. No informing the Theocracy, just drop me at the border."

"I haven't negotiated with anyone since the war ended, or not much at least." Neia retorted and raised one finger of her own, "But on one other condition, that the next time you choose to 'vacation' in my country, you come to inform me of it. I will issue a personal pass to use my private reserve. It's the least reward I can offer for having made me laugh today, twice, no less."

"You still don't believe I am who I say I am?" Cenna asked, "That's a bit rude."

"So is poaching, but here we are." Neia retorted, and their briefly serious faces melted away after holding steady stares at one another without blinking until the unlooked for staring contest began to devolve into chortles of laughter again.

"But what to call you next time..." Neia rubbed her chin... "Ah yes... I know." She clicked her talons together, and shook her head while she stood up, and he looked at her questioningly.

"Next time you come here." She admonished him and held out her hand to offer to help him up. He accepted it, and popped up to his feet at the light tug she gave to him, her talons, notably, were used with care and did not leave a scratch.

He went over to his pack, threw it over his shoulder, picked up his bow and spear, and followed the Queen out of the trees just as a mixed party of humans and orcs in full armor arrived on both wolfback and horseback.

Neia raised a hand to stop them before the thundering hooves and panting wolves could draw too close. "Everything is fine, our nameless friend here will be a guest in my home for a few days, 'then' he can be deported."

Cenna grinned at the mixed party and gave a congenial wave without any hint of hostility, and the party relaxed.

For the next few days after riding back to her palace he was wined and dined by the Queen, and the pair traded stories of their exploits in the wild.

"So is it true that you actually brought down a dragon?" Cenna asked on their final night dining alone at a table in her great hall.

"No, that story is a pile of fewmets." Neia answered.

"Fewwhats?" He asked.

"Dragon shit. Dragon shit is called fewmets." Neia explained, "I didn't bring it down, he landed already wounded, I was supposed to kill him, of course..." She sighed and looked down into the cup of red wine, "But he said 'Please'. He asked for my help, he was in pain, his spirit and body shattered into pieces, his eyes were haunted, everything about him was just... lost. I couldn't do it... so I nursed him back to health over the course of several months until I was caught, tried, and sent to be executed for it. You know the rest, now, this is the result." She took a long swift drink and then filled her cup again.

"I know the feeling. Being part of the Scripture, hunting threats to people was what I did, but sometimes the threat wasn't a real threat. Just some dumb beast driven out of its hunting range. Most monsters are just that, more dangerous animals."

"Like me?" Neia asked and batted her wings pointedly toward him.

He shrugged at that, "We haven't fought, but... I'm not some temple priest who hasn't been far from the four walls of a city. I've seen elves just trying to get their families to safety, or a vampire that even begged me to kill it so it wouldn't kill anyone else. Things out in the field, they get... complicated, the 'enemy' isn't always an enemy, and 'evil' isn't always evil. That's why I can sit here with you and not say you're just some beast, like most of the priests would say." He finished off his own cup and held it out just as she finished pouring her own. She moved the bottle over to refill his own cup and they propped their feet up on the table.

"I suppose that's so." Neia said and raised her cup. "To pleasant complications."

"I'll drink to that." Cenna answered, and when their cups were drained he said, "I have to leave tomorrow, you know."

"I have somewhere to be, I won't be able to send you off, and I don't like goodbyes, so just to get it out of the way I will answer with, 'Till next time.'" Neia replied, "I'll have an escort take you to the eastern border and give you a good horse to get the rest of the way home, nameless Theocracy citizen."

"I keep telling you, my name is Cenna." He answered.

She looked at him with a long, lingering stare of her piercing blue eyes until he sighed and gave up. "Fine. 'Till next time." He said, subdued.

They parted after that, going to their separate rooms.

Cenna reached his door, opened it, and then after stepping within, he began to close it, only to stop just a hair before it was to seal shut. 'No.' He thought, and opened it enough that it was just a crack open, enough to be obvious if one looked, but gave the appearance that someone intended to close it. 'Just in case.' He thought, then stripped and got into the bed, pulling the blanket of thick fur pelts over his bare chest, and waited, staring at the ceiling until he fell asleep.

Neia, for her part, reached her quarters and found guards waiting for her arrival. Two bladers, their natural armaments made them ideal security, she glanced up at them, "I will not be sleeping tonight, you two may take the evening off."

"That's our Queen." The taller blader said with pride, "Always working hard for us." They bowed deeply, and left.

Neia stepped within, then shut the door so that only a crack was open. 'What are you doing, Neia? You barely know him, you don't even know his real name... just his crazy story... but he's formidable... and good looking, and he hasn't flinched even once when you've looked at him... who cares, he's leaving tomorrow and will probably never come back... just have some fun for once in your life...' She reassured herself, then cast aside her clothing and laid herself down in the bed to wait and see if he came to her, she was still waiting when she fell asleep.

True to form, she didn't see him off, she only left instructions to have him escorted back before she went off on errands of her own, and tried to forget her disappointment. 'You should have known better.' She told herself, and went back to her constant work routine as if nothing changed at all.

She didn't think of him much for another year, her work went on without stopping. New towns, new villages, and shepherding the growth of trade with animal produce and budding industries established around them, and even the slow and tightly controlled rise of a cosmopolitan small city at the crossroads of several trading areas on the long road between east and west.

She didn't think of him much that was... until a guard at the door approached her throne and said, with a most confused look on his face, "Your Majesty, a human in black and bearing a long black spear has come for an audience, he says you are expecting him. He calls himself 'Cenna Tachoni,' and says you promised him access to your hunting preserve... should I send him away?"

Neia's face brightened on her throne with a great big fangy smile, "Where is the ass?!" She exclaimed and clapped her hands, "See him in!"

Cenna entered the great hall and before he could even greet her she shouted, "There! There is the ass!"

His dark eyes blinked and he ran a hand through his hair and groaned, "That's what you put on my pass, isn't it, Majesty?"

"You're damn right." Neia quipped, "It's the least I could do." She said with a smirk, he rolled his eyes and began to laugh.

"It's good to see you again, Your Majesty." He replied.

And so it went, a repeat of the year before, she took him hunting, and to her surprise, she enjoyed her first nap in years.

Again on their last night, each left their own door open for the other, and each one slept while waiting, only to sleep again with nothing happening but dreams before they parted ways.

For three years this went on, and in Neia's eyes, the curious warrior's visits became her own time of rest, until she named his annual arrival the first official holiday of her Kingdom, when no work would be done at all that wasn't absolutely vital, so that everyone in the Kingdom could enjoy a few days of ease in the sun.

Back home in the Slane Theocracy... the growing prosperity of Demalbion did not sit well. But Cenna gave it no thought until the day he was summoned.

It wasn't his first time in the chamber of the Pontifex Maximus, far from it. Each occasion had one singular purpose. 'What fresh threat to humanity requires its champion?' From anyone else it would have been an arrogant thought, but as the leader of the Black Scripture, he knew very well that there was only one other who could claim the title of humanity's trump card. He knocked on the heavy oaken door, and the rough voice of the old man called out to him.

"Come in."

He opened the door and found the old man stooped over a scroll, he gestured to the seat across from him, and Cenna flopped himself down in the chair, resting his spear on his lap, he asked point blank, "So what'll it be this time, old man? Did a vampire have a baby with a barghast and give birth to some chain fetishists' sparkly wet dream?"

The wrinkled sunken cheeks of the gray old Pontifex did not express surprise well in the best of times, and as it was, the old man only groaned. "No, Cenna, please... be serious for once." He pointed to the scroll on his desk. "We can't wait for Demalbion to fall apart on its own anymore, this is a copy of a treaty between them and the Allfather of the Kingdom of Nazarick, goodness knows how the animals in the west have managed to not kill each other for the last few years, but if they start trading in high quality weapons, we'll have a real problem on our hands. I need to, no..." He leaned forward and said with a hushed tone as if he feared to be overheard, "Humanity needs you to go to the heart of that cursed country, and kill the Queen of Frost. Kill Neia Baraja and dispose of her body. I know your usual vacation time is coming up... but that happens to fall at the same time as some kind of holiday over there... you can take your time off after she's dead. Just go in, kill her, and get out before they fall into civil war. Then you can come home and hunt to your heart's content for a month."

"Do you think you can take her alone?" The Pontifex asked, his thin lips formed a tiny frown.

Cenna barely registered the question.

"You'll start a war with them, a war you may not win." Cenna said, his face losing all color.

"Nonsense." The Pontifex replied abruptly, "Their warriors are strong, but in the end even the strongest and smartest are only beasts, they're held together by force. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will turn on each other. They'll rip their own kingdom apart and that will be the end of it. Perhaps we can even help the unfortunate humans there turn it into a new human kingdom."

I don't need help." Cenna finally replied, ignoring the mangled metaphor. "Anyone less than Zesshi would just be in the way." He then stood up and gripped his spear tight in one hand. "I'll leave now."

"No request for more vacation as a reward? No objections about already being busy? Are you feeling alright, my boy?" The Pontifex asked.

"No, yes, I'm fine. Like you said, this is important, right?" Cenna asked.

"Correct, I'm glad you're taking this seriously." The Pontifex almost sighed in relief while Cenna departed on silent feet.

"Good luck!" The old man called out, only to receive no response from the Black Scripture Captain.

Three weeks later he heard the familiar call beyond the great double doors of Neia's palace.

"Where is The Ass?!"

And when he entered the great hall filled with now familiar faces, many of which he counted as friends, she stood from her throne and shouted, "There is the Ass!"

Cenna's dark thoughts evaporated as he went to the throne and stuck out a hand. They clasped forearms as they always did, she took care not to use her talons, and though she didn't know it, he took care not to use too much strength.

"Welcome again, mysterious stranger, have you come with more stories of captaining the Black?"

Cenna plastered a smile on his face and barely kept his hold on the spear loose.

"Yes of course, but those can wait." He replied with a smirk plastered on his face. "I was hoping for a hunt first."

"A hunt? That's oddly energetic of you. But I don't mind, our holiday began three minutes ago." Neia replied and looked over to Nasrene.

Her secretary rang a bronze gong, and a cheer went up as all duties were suspended.

As the cheers went on and Neia stepped farther from her throne and closer to her friend she said under her breath, "You made a lot of hatred against humans start to die off when you became the reason they all get vacations." Neia chortled a little, only half kidding, and then walked past him, slapping him on the back.

She was several steps past him when she realized he wasn't at her side, but was instead still standing back and looking at her. "What?" She asked, turning to face him, "is something wrong?"

Cenna forcibly shook his head, "It's nothing that can't wait, let's go."

"Al-Alright then, Ass." She said with a wink, and held in her sigh of relief when he smiled at her stand in name for him.

Within a few hours on the preserve, they'd bagged two large boars, and each carrying one of them, they made their way to a familiar spot. A spot Cenna chose himself.

The Peace Tree grove where they met. "Something is up with you." Neia finally said after they walked in silence for a full hour straight. "Normally you'd have told a dozen jokes by now and given me a half a dozen unbelievable stories."

"Yeah... yeah something is." Cenna said as he placed one foot in front of the other in a steady trudge. "But it can wait until after we've… well… maybe it can't wait… maybe I can't." He muttered under his breath, trailing off into an unintelligible mumble.

"You haven't even suggested going back for a nap... are you dying or something?" Neia asked, she tried to plaster a smile on her face, but he didn't laugh.

"Wait... is that it...?" Neia asked, her bright blue eyes opened like saucers, "I can see if our healers can do anything..."

"Stop it." Cenna finally said, then added, "Please. No, I'm not dying."

"Oh, well good. I don't have a superabundance of friends, and I'd hate to lose one, even if I don't know your real name." She said just as they reached their destination and Cenna dropped his boar.

"Neia," he said as she set hers down, "Why don't you believe me? How can you still think I'm not who I say I am?"

"Because it's hard to picture, I guess." Neia replied with a half shrug, "Besides, like I said the first time, it's just absurd to think of the Black Scripture Captain showing up in my Kingdom just to chew on sweet sticks, nap, and hunt."

"When you put it that way... I suppose it is a tad extreme. But then, what do you think I am?" Cenna asked while Neia prepared the fire pit, her claws gouged out the earth easier than twenty shovels, and while she worked she said...

"I'm surprised you've never asked, I always assumed you were some spoiled rich noble with some talent for combat." Neia replied, "I admit my first thought was 'Theocracy Spy' but no, that you are not."

Cenna let out a weary sigh, 'That does sound like me.' He reluctantly acknowledged.

"I see..." He snapped his spear down into the guard position, "Then there's no way you'll believe what I say next unless I prove it to you first." His voice became tight, professional, and his eyes narrowed like he was focusing on a target. "Queen of Frost, Neia Baraja, I am Cenna Tachoni of the Slane Theocracy, Captain of the Black Scripture and first among Godkin. I challenge you to a duel here and now."

Neia looked up from where she stood at the firepit and frowned, "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I am." He answered, "There's no way I can convince you unless I beat you first."

"If you insist." Neia answered with a shrug of her own.

He picked up a rock from the ground, "When this hits ground, we begin?"

"Agreed." Neia answered, her white eyebrow still up. He could see she wasn't taking him seriously. That would change.

[Agility Boost].

[Ability Boost].

[Lesser Strength].

[Fortress].

[Deft Hands].

[Steel Grip].

Neia's eyes widened as he used seven martial arts. "If that's how you want it." She said and clicked her talons together.

[Agility Boost].

[Ability Boost].

[Fortress].

[Strength of Ancestors].

[Quickstep].

He tossed the little gray rock into the air, both their eyes followed it.

It struck the ground, and Neia's wings carried her forward instantly. her talons came down, his spear caught them, and to her dismay, the spear did not break.

He spun it, she went flying backward, folding in her wings, she landed, flipped back, and came again. 'Always be on the attack, keep them responding...' She wasn't even consciously thinking of the lesson, only applying it.

But his spear flicked away her every slash and thrust as if they weren't there, he never gave an inch of ground, he only grew faster, her slashes and grabs were like those of a raw recruit, her tail lashed out, and he blocked it too, and that told her the truth.

'He's holding back his speed... I haven't met my match in years... I'm a damn dragonid! And I'm stronger than I ever was!' her heart raced and her strikes picked up speed again, and yet it seemed to mean nothing, his spear spun and the butt cracked across her jaw, she felt the bone crack as she staggered back. [Dull Pain]. She said and touched her jaw, the pain vanished, and she came again while he waited to receive her. His facial expression never changed, his body never slowed, and every time she picked up speed, he did so, and did more than she.

"How is this possible?!" She hissed, [Limit Break]! She added the martial art and redoubled her speed, but the black haired spearmen didn't even bother to use the same, the spear moved faster than she could sense, or even predict. The butt hit her in both her knees, her chest, her shoulders, and then finally at the center of her forehead.

Neia sailed backward, her back arching as she saw the orange light cast by the setting sun, and she felt the ground as she slammed into it with all her falling weight.

Then he was over her, her hand went up for him to help her up, but to her horror, it was not his hand that swung out to take hers and bring her up, what hovered over her breast was the point of his spear.

"I am Cenna Tachoni, Captain of the Black Scripture, among the strongest of the strong in humanity, the living descendant of the Six Great Gods. Do you believe me now, Neia?" He asked, the spear wavering only inches above her body. Her joints ached, her head hurt, but there was no denying it.

"So... it's true. I didn't see that coming." Neia answered and lowered her extended arm to the ground where it fell limp.

"Now that you believe me, I can tell you. I've been sent to kill you, Queen of Frost. The Slane Theocracy demands your head, you've unbalanced the whole damn world by starting a demihuman Kingdom here, and they won't ignore you anymore."

"Was it always the plan? Was it all just a lie?" Neia asked, looking up at him from on her back, her entire body limp as she sought the face she wished had joined her many a night before, to see hovering over hers in a night of desire. Her heart began to tear in two, but she held her face steady, 'I will not let him see me weak!' She told herself. 'Not if I'm going to die!'

"No." He answered instantly. "All that was just coincidence, we met by chance and became friends by chance. None of that was staged or faked, it was real, all of it."

"I see." She answered, the tearing in her heart stopped, but it wasn't lost on her that his spear had not moved away from her. She went on as if it weren't there. "That's a relief. You're one of the only friends I've ever had, and definitely one of the only human ones. I'd hate to think I was lied to all this time." Neia said and wiped the blood from her lip before allowing her arm to fall down again.

"Alright then, go ahead and kill me. I can't beat you, I came out alone with you, there's nobody for hours around who could help me, and besides, I may not have many friends, but I have always laid down my life for the few I had. If you need my life, and care more for the Theocracy than for me... take it. People like us always come to violent ends, and there are worse ways than dying at the hands of one of my best friends, and the only man I ever loved. Just make it quick, and without pain if you can manage it... Cenna." Neia said and closed her eyes.

Her heartbeat was slow, steady, her blood didn't race and her breathing didn't quicken, 'It's just like going to sleep... one quick sting and it's over. A pity about all the deaths that will follow on this though. He can beat me, but I doubt they have anyone that can beat His Majesty Allfather, and there's no way this won't be traced back to the Theocracy.'

She waited. She felt the spear hovering over her breast.

She felt his eyes lingering on her still.

'This must be why he wanted the Peace Trees, that part must have been true, he really was my friend...if I had to kill him for some reason, this is where I'd have picked it too. But still, it's a shame to die a virgin, never knowing what that's like... I guess I'm not dying completely without regrets... but in my short life, I was a daughter, deeply loved. I was a warrior, I was a legend, I was a General, I was a little sister to a mighty dragon, and I was a Queen. It's been a good run, even if it is ending here...' Neia smiled in spite of herself.

"Wait... so you really think I'm going to kill you? And I'm seeing how you'd react if that were the case? If I'm an ass, you're an idiot." Cenna said and threw his spear point down into the dirt beside her so that it embedded into the soil and sat up erect as a flagpole.

Neia's eyes fluttered open. "Wait... what?" She asked.

"Are you deaf too?" Cenna snapped and put his hands on his hips, his shadow cast over her entire body. "Of course I'm not going to kill you. You'd have really let me do it?"

Neia remained on her back, but now confusion was etched on her face. "As I said, if my friends need my life, it's theirs for the asking."

"Yeah, in a fight, damn it! Woman, you do not take your commitments lightly... no wonder they see you as such a threat." He rubbed the back of his head and looked away more than a little sheepishly. "It kind of puts my lazy ass to shame... but wait... did you mean that other stuff?"

Neia's face became a kind of ashen gray, but she refused to deny it. "Yes. Every visit from the first one on, I left the door to my room open and the way unguarded, hoping you would join me."

"I left my door unlocked and open too." He, unlike her, could blush, and did.

"You expect the Queen to come to you? You are an ass." Neia snapped up at him.

"Excuse me!" He said with indignance, "You expect a visiting foreigner to just waltz up to the Queen's bedroom thinking there'd be no guards and he could just go on in like some sort of stalker?!"

"It's not stalking if I want you in there!" Neia argued.

"It is if I don't know it!" He yelled back, aghast.

"So I'm supposed to stalk you and be the creeper Queen, is that what you're saying?!" She shot back.

"It's not creeping if I want you to come in! I left the door open for you!" He shouted.

"Are you completely senseless?! What did we just say not fifteen seconds ago?!" She shot back again.

"Well, what do you want? I couldn't read your mind!" He stamped his foot, and the trees wavered twenty paces away.

"Can you read my damn lips?!" She demanded.

"What?!" He exclaimed with his eyes wide as her breathing picked up.

"Get down here, Cenna! Is that a clear enough signal, you ass?!" She shouted back up at him.

"Yes!" he said, and dove to shut her up with an impassioned kiss and an embrace that proved decisively that he was who he said he was.

'What the fuck am I supposed to do after this…?' Cenna wondered, and lost track of the question as he started to enjoy the talons raking his back.