“Nice place you got here,” the armored figure whistled, standing several feet away from the entrance. Margo looked defiantly down at him from the top of the guarding wall.

  “Tell him to state his name and intent,” Treeg whispered. Margo nodded, crossing her arms before shouting loudly down.

  “State your name and intent!!”

  Margo couldn’t read the knight’s body. For one thing, they were entirely covered from head to toe in a tight suit of silver that seemed almost perfectly fitted to their skin. The helmet was comprised of two protrusions that appeared as though someone had pinched the visor and pulled it so it stuck out like a pair of frog lips. The visor tilted with the knight, and their laugh echoed from beneath the metal helm.

  “I feel like it’s not a secret,” they replied airily. “Surely you can guess why I’ve come today.”

  Treeg nudged Margo with his elbow. “He’s not taking us seriously. He thinks we’re a joke.”

  “Do you think we’re a joke?!” Margo demanded, putting on her most queenly speaking voice. “I’ve killed for less.”

  “I believe it,” the Knight said with a nod. “Seven thousand casualties in less than a day. And they say Fable’s the cruel one.”

  Treeg’s face grew red with frustration. Margo didn’t wait for him to script her next line. She slammed her hands into the wooden rail and leaned over the shout, “Give me your name and intent before I turn you into fertilizer for our home!!”

  The knight raised their hands. “Let’s not be rash now. My name is Yulo. I’ve come to bargain with the people of Ophelia. That is what you’re calling yourselves, yes?”

  Treeg frowned darkly. In a hushed voice he whispered, “Fable doesn’t bargain. We can’t let him in to the fortress, he might do something--”

  “If your friend is so against it,” Yulo interjected, startling both Margo and Treeg. “We could talk outside? Surely you folks have a bench we could chat at.” Upon seeing their surprise, Yulo chuckled and tapped the side of their head with a resonant, metallic clack. “The helmet blocks damage, not sound, and I’ve always had pretty good ears. That’s why it’d be better if all three of us could talk down here, so we don’t have to deal with the echo.”

  Suspicious, Margo gave a slow nod. “Alright. We’ll meet with you to discuss your bargain.”

  “What?!” Treeg hissed. “Margo that’s a terrible idea, if you get too close--”

  “--If I get too close, I’ll handle it,” Margo argued. “Let me do the hero stuff, remember?”

  Treeg sighed, allowing her to walk by him and meet Yulo below. When they arrived at the gate, Yulo stood and admired the collection of tulips and daffodils nestled around the edges of the fortress.

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  “Lovely home you folks have built here,” Yulo greeted, bowing with one arm clasped over their chest and the other at their back. “To whom am I speaking with on this beautiful day?”

  Thrown off by the knight’s overwhelming formality, Margo stiffly replied, “Margo, Hero and Leader of Ophelia.”

  “Hero, you say?” Yulo laughed lightly, a pleasant, soft sound from inside their armored suit. “From what I understand, the people of Guina sure could have used a hero.”

  “They could have,” Margo shrugged smugly. “Wouldn’t have helped much against me.”

  “I believe that. Disease magic alone is rare, but a disease magic user that can change their form to be as sly as a fox or as powerful as an alligator-half-breed? That’s a mighty strong gem indeed.”

  Margo frowned. She had made sure there were no survivors. It was Treeg’s first piece of advice-- “Leave no witnesses, so Fable doesn’t know what to prepare for.” But Yulo clearly knew what to expect when meeting Margo. Had one escaped? Images of the infected faces flickered through her mind. There should have been no way for one of them to make it out of town without catching her lethal disease.

  “No one’s surprised about the Duke, but what you did to his son? Not even leaving a trace of his body?” Yulo clicked their tongue, wagging a disapproving finger. “Now that gave us room for concern.”

  “How do you know all this?” The confusion and uncertainty tumbled out of Margo before she could try and recover her cool, indifferent persona. Yulo barked another high-pitched laugh, the cackling reminiscent of the Blems descended from hyenas.

  “I know plenty,” Yulo boasted. “I even know where you really come from, Miss Margo the Hero. The Doctor sends her hellos, by the way.”

  Margo’s blood ran cold, picturing her beloved Doctor at the hands of this armored villain. She glared at Yulo, straightening her shoulders and mirroring Xireal’s confidence as she said, “You said you were here to bargain. Bargain what?”

  Yulo clapped their hands together, the metal gauntlets squeaking against one another as they intertwined their fingers. “Right! I’m here on behalf of the territory of Fable to tell you to relinquish your control over this town. Surrender yourselves willingly to this order, and none of your people will die.”

  It was Margo’s turn to laugh, placing her hands on her hips. “And what? If I don’t, you’ll send more soldiers to come deal with us? As if. You’re all too weak to stand a fighting chance.”

  With those words, Margo willed her virus to creep through the plated armor and turn Yulo’s hidden body into mush for the fortress to consume and grow higher off of. But a blinding stinging sensation caused her to cry out, stumbling back on her foot and pressing a cold hand to her temple. Her magic had bounded back, singed by some kind of overwhelming heat hidden beneath Yulo’s armor.

  “You didn’t think we’d do all of our research and not use it, did you?” Yulo asked condescendingly. “Obviously your antics won’t work on us. And I do mean us, as in me and a hundred of Fable’s finest right behind me. I told the guys I could handle this purge on my own, but they just…” Yulo sucked in a conceited breath through their teeth, viciously mocking Margo. “They had to join in on all the fun.”

  Margo growled. “You’re an idiot if you think I’ll let you take one step into my fortress.”

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Yulo chuckled. “We’re going to burn it down before you can even step out. You and the rest of the Blem scum holed up in there are practically begging for it, making your cute little tower out of trees and leaves. My horse could take it down if she was really hungry.”

  Yulo turned on their heel, whistling sharply. Their horse came trotting obediently, head down as Yulo climbed atop and glowered down at Margo through the thin-lipped helmet.

  “I’ll come back tomorrow with my friends at noon. I’ll be expecting your surrender from the high walls, so everyone can hear you laying down your arms. If you try to fight us,” Yulo drew a single finger across their throat, making a visceral slicing noise. Without another word, they yanked on the reins of their horse in a deft turnaround, and disappeared back over the hill. Margo thought about giving their horse some sort of terrible disease that would cause it to fall over dead, but that seemed petty. She knew would need more than petty to get rid of Yulo.