“At st!” Teo-Queen cpped. “Famer. I have studied you for some time, and I believe you and I are much alike. Truth be told, I expected you to be here much sooner. Well, I suppose I five certain irregurities in the schedule. We both had suffered…”

  “I have no time to listen to your sob stories, tyrant,” Ravager spat, standing on four limbs.

  Ravager wiped the drool from her and took a deep breath, coughing as emotions flooded her mind. Steam, partially crimson from the blood of the fallen, rose from her mouth, briefly obsg her eyes. Janine’s own eyes wide the realization that nothing bothered her anymore, and beside her, Ravager vulsed, holding back the suffering.

  Janine hurled her axe with all her might. It flew across the hall, ricocheted off the shield around the throne, and arced down at Ravager’s paws. A siap of a cw made Jaand at attention, oblivious to her injuries, no longer daring to interfere with the hunt.

  “Pot calls kettle.” Teo-Queen smiled thinly. “If I am the tyrant, then the same be said about your own master, doggie.”

  “Dynast is a benevolent dictator whs prosperity where there is he world has proven itself incapable of surviving without a firm guiding hand. He has merely assumed a noble and necessary duty. You are a tyrant who sucks the life out of everything to satisfy her vanity, leaving ruins in her wake. You are not the same.” Ravager responded calmly, shaking off the pain as if it were water from the fur. She g the walls. The amber eyes returo the figure ohrone. “What a fool. You have been given a gift like no other, and you have squa, feeding your petty need for revenge…”

  Teo-Queen scowled as the Blessed Mother walked unhihrough a wall of vibrations.

  “Even now, redemption is possible, had you’ve met the Iternian angel. She would’ve broken you down and apanied you at every step of your rehabilitation. And there might have been a day when you would have found happihrough ato, helping to rebuild the wounded world and thus healing the emptiness in your heart. People ge, and whatever you may think, you are still human at heart, unlike me.” Ravager loudly cracked her neck. “Unfortunately for you, a monster found you first. A monster whom you challenged.”

  “Are y to bore me to tears?” asked Teo-Queen.

  A snap of her fingers dehe floor underh the Blessed Mother as the gravity geht immense weight down upon her body. Her bck fur parted in pces; ripples covered the skin, as if thousands of fists hammered into her body. Janine observed it in worry, imagining how the breath refused to leave the ander’s lips, how the reverse gravity turned her bck backwards, and how the pressure of hundreds of tons vioted every muscle and an.

  Ravager took two more steps. She licked her lips and spoke: “This is the problem with people like you. You have had a hard life—too bad, so sad. However, you never ask yourself simple questions. What if I didn’t? What if I didn’t mindlessly take revenge on i people like a bitch? What if my overly plicated pn is thwarted by a simple act of raw strength because I, in my arrogance, failed to calcute something? Who will be there to catch me when I fall?”

  “Lecturing me, aren’t you, beast?” Teo-Queen ughed. “Well, maybe so, but unlike your precious Dynast and you, I will be remembered, doggie.” The s behind her came to life, showing the city and the Third Army besieging it. “Have you ever wondered why, even though I knew of your arrival and your army, I stayed here instead of fleeing? It’s because I wanted you here! I have pnted a psma bomb, powerful enough to eradicate this miserable excuse of a city, along with everything, for dozens of miles! It doesn’t matter how tough you are, freak; the sheer heat will ionize you. Only I will survive, protected by the shield, and when the dust settles, I’ll pack my things.” She stroked the databases lovingly. “Power is only a means to an end, you stinking dog. And my current end is to kill you. After that? Who knows? Maybe I’ll enlist in the Dynast’s servid take over from within. Being hailed as a saint for rest the world does souing.”

  Janine wao rush ahead and break her paws on the invincible shield around the woman. She howled, a wordless stream of shame for her failure to preserve the lives of her packs and the civilians they had failed to save. She leapt to embrace Impatient One and Anissa, preparing to say what she had always felt in her heart, to address her scouts, to apologize…

  Ravager stalked ahead. Teo-Queen’s face ged as she looked at her throne. Her finger kept pressing the button, growing more nervous with each tap. She grabbed the terminal, her trembling fingers furiously scrolling for something.

  “What is happening? Where is…”

  “In the mesosphere,” Ravager replied. “I had sehat something was amiss. Why would anyone need so much toxic waste and exposed fuel in the capital city? I trusted my intuition and snooped around, found your bomb, and kicked it above the clouds before answering your call. This little funeral pyre of yours is not going to happen.” She lifted her head, listening for something. “Boom.” A new sun shone over the cloudy sky, banishing the darkness iy for a few seds.

  “W… wait.” Teo-Queen’s eyes widened.

  The tyrant pressed a series of buttons, sending everything she had left against Ravager. Vibratioers ihe floor blurred the air; the agony of the trapped souls caused Ravager to bare her fangs, and gravity formed a series of ns that rammed into the ander’s spieo-Queen sought to dislocate the ander’s vertebrae, damaging her spine and rendering her immobile. Both gravity and vibration struck the internal ans, but the Blessed Mother tio advanearing the throne.

  “You said you wao be remembered? You will be,” she promised. “A footnote in the history books. A fool whose wounded pride caused tless deaths, a sad joke to serve as a lesson. The Dynast will be known forevermore. Life will return to these nds; children’s ughter will fill newly rebuilt cities…”

  “We make a deal!” Teo-Queen said. “I swear my eternal allegiao you! With my genius at your side, impregnable armor, your army will be uable. Imagihe millions veing you and the tless gifts you will bestow upohrough my genius.” She panicked as Ravager’s snout closed on the field surroundihrohe ander pushed her muzzle through the reverse flow of gravity, staining the tyrant’s clothing with her slobber. A crimson ray ected the stone ad the to an amber eye and the ray harmlessly washed over the retina. “Wait! Wait a damn sed! I make you into a ruler! Why serve the Dynast? We …”

  “Couldn’t care less.” Ravager’s jaws closed on Teo-Queen’s head. The tyrant tried in vain to pry the jaws open with her feeble hands. A single snap sent her body vulsing. Ravager pulled herself up on two legs, devoured the head and shoulders, ahe remains to tumble dowairs.

  The Blessed Mother whirled around. Her pupils dited so much that her sclera could no longer be seen. She growled, advang toward the guards, drooling non-stop. Janine remembered what Alpha and Lacerated One had oold her about the Blessed Mother—about the reason she avoided participating in the capture of poputioers. The bloodlust could get the better of her, and if left unchecked, the etlement could be desoted like a lizard coop after a visit from a ravenous ioid party.

  Jahrew herself at Ravager, letting go of her axe and trying to halt her advance. She sealed her lips shut, not daring to show her fangs. The warlord buried her head in the ander’s chest, exposing her oe. Ravager was unstoppable—a natural disaster in the making, a hungry demon salivating at the prospect of fresh victims.

  A silent and whipped from her st. Get out of my way. Janine ig, pushed against the unyielding muscles, and the punishment came, lifting her body into the air.

  “It is over!” Janine gasped, feeling Ravager’s forefinger cw against her ribs. When did she… “It is over! We won! They surrendered!”

  “It…” The progenitor came to a halt, studying the warlord through dited pupils. “Over?”

  “Yes. Yes, Blessed Mother! We have won.”

  “I am no one’s mother.” Ravager pulled out her cw, releasing a stream of blood. A paw caught Janine, l her gently, and the ander’s tongue rahe wound, lig it thrice. The warlord wao let out her own cws and scratch at the incessaion of her wounds’ torn edges flowing together. “Shaman! Secure the prisoners! Wolf hag! Tell First to send in medic teams ASAP. And tell Dragena to get Till Ingo and the Dynast on a three-way call. I don’t care if they’re with a woman or in a toilet; I need a e in ten minutes.”

  Not paying any attention to the corpse, Ravager walked over to the throne and found the Teo Queen’s terminal. The Blessed Mently punched something oerminal using her oversized paws and stuck out her tongue from efforts. The victims’ wailing on the walls ceased. For a sed, Jahought that the ander had administered euthanasia before she realized that the ruined bodies still breathed. Sharp tools left their bodies, and in their pew syringes emerged from hidden partments, bringing in smelly medication.

  “Done.” Ravager put away the terminal. She looked at the corpse and murmured: “trol, discipline, Ravy. You must set an example. You do it. Even if he es her without a brain, she’ll be airely different person.”

  “ander,” Janine dared to speak. “What just happened?”

  “Eh?” Ravager scratched behind her ear. “Just guessed the password and figured out how this thing works. Simple, really; anyone could do it.”

  But... you ’t read. Questions for ter. Janine decided, while holding one paw over her wound. Perhaps there was something about shamans’ tales. Just standing here, in Ravager’s presence, she felt divinity—an almost unnatural heavenly bliss that demanded worship and adoration.

  “Blessed Mother. Why did you kill Teo-Queen? If her offers were true…” Janine asked.

  She quaked in her boots as the pitch bck figure loomed over her, illuminating her fused offspring. Janine cursed herself for her curiosity in every word she knew, but Ravager simply k and took her by the shoulders, speaking in a soothing voice.

  “That’s how it starts. Janine, listen to me closely while I hold some crity. I am her angry nor disappointed. But that’s how it’s always begins.” She the wall. “You listen to an offer that you know is vile, thinking there is nothing wrong with hearing it. But it imprints on your psyche, always tempting you. An easy, profitable choice. Few stop themselves from accepting the offer. Then they spiral down, taking one small step at a time, like a young cub learning how to walk. Before they know it, instead of one mohere are two. Some offers must be refused, no matter what.

  “I see your question. No, if I had taken Teo-Queen alive, the court would have found her guilty aenced her to the Torment, forever locked in a solitary cell. The Dynast calls it retribution. I call it pointless and cruel revenge. Do you know what effect such torture has on a human being? Rage. There is nothing wrong with raging against the scum who seek to inflict pain on others. At least it’s ho. Rage against the injustices done by the madmen, but do not pretend you are aer than them if you follow the example they set. Everything you do molds you. Fail to heed this lesson, Janine, and you will end up as unhappy as Terrific. Why is she hiding, anyway? Did she steal my ration again?” Ravager cocked her head to one side.

  “Blessed Mother.” Janine licked her lips, baring her neck for judgment. What is the meaning of this question? The Blessed Mother and Janine administered Terrific’s st rites together. “Terrific is dead.”

  “Is she?” Ravager looked over Janine’s shoulder. “But I thought… Never mind.”

  “ander, I have some tokens. It’s not much, but perhaps ay fmetics, at least for cubs…” Jaruggled not to stare at the mutited people on the wall. “If this is not enough, I ask my named sisters! I am sure we afford augmentation for at least a few dozen…”

  “Ner released her and sat down ohrohe twisted metal beh her tried to fit in, slowly turning into a ft surface. “Thought about it already. Too many parts to repce. Engineers won’t do. We he help of the whitecoats… doctors,” she growled the words, g her paws so tightly that blood flowed between her fingers. Ravager exhaled and rubbed her temples. “I… have someone in Iterna who owes me much. An angel of sorts. But I doubt even she could finanough e parts, and Iterna is rather stingy with whom they help.” Ravager smiled and patted the databanks. “Therefore, we’ll make the Dynast foot the bill in exge for the bitch’s knowledge.”

  “But…” Janine picked up her axe. Memories of the madwoman’s unleashed devastation fueled the temptation to say screw everything aroy the data. “ander, is it wise? To gain this knowledge…” She poi the walls. “This woman has destroyed aire region and tortured tless is. We are here to heal the world, not to usher in another horror.”

  “At ease,” Ravager interrupted her, folding her paws. “Janine… right? Knowledge is…” She grimaced, gritting her fangs. “Knowledge. It is her bad nood. It is the way you gain knowledge that be bad. She took the wrong path and paid the price. But the deed is done. I have a choice. Either destroy it ahe victims either die or live a hellish existence. Or I give it aurchasing them a sed ce at life and assisting Mr. Ingo in bringing about some breakthroughs in the robotics field. Ultimately, it is my choiake, but I uand your s.” The ers of her lips sank.

  “I obey,” Janine said, resting her axe on a shoulder. “If you five me my words, … Ravager.” She quickly corrected herself after a gnce. “I believe you are making a mistake. Show mercy. End their sufferings aroy this cache of evil.”

  “You’re a sweet girl, Janine. But life is hard and unfair, and to make it easier for the weak, we must promise. It is our duty.” She she air. “Your wound. I… Janine, you are forbidden from perf the warlord’s duty and any dominations until you are fully healed. Go a; yirls are already itg for a job.”

  Ravager left the throne and walked over to the wounded. She snatched a unicator from Impatient Oarted listing the extent of the damage to the medical team, and put First in charge of accepting the city’s surrender and loyalty. Alpha was to set up the perimeter and aid Captain Cristobo tahe evacuation.

  “May…” a guard asked, holding a shaking head over her mouth. “May we stay? There… This is…”

  Another one. Janine followed the woman’s gaze to the suspended, skinless figure. She put a paw on Anissa’s shoulder, giving her authority.

  “Surrender your ons a Teo-Queen’s treachery to the officers of the city,” Anissa ordered. She fli the attention of the amber eyes admiring her nape, but tinued speaking in a steady voice. “I will leave two scouts to watch over you. Do not provoke the ander, do not meet her eyes, do not show your teeth, and there should be no danger.”

  I am proud of you. Janine wao say. It was best not to embarrass her little one in front of the crowd.

  The path down was an uneasy ohe Blessed Mother had torn so much of the tower that the elevator shaft became unusable uhey tried to climb over the unstable rock. They failed to find any hidden staircases, although Janine was sure there had to be some. In the end, the pack used the tried-aed method of jumping a few floors down. It resulted in the reopening of their wounds, but they cleared the obstacle and desded lower using stairs, stepping out to the cheering packs uhe supervision of the unhappy Ashbringer.

  “Found yirl along the way,” Ashbringer Melina.

  “Warlord! Alpha sent her word, and Lacerated One approved…” The Wolf Hag bowed. When no bite followed, she lifted her snout to the sky and roared. “Jahe Bull-Syer!

  “Bull-Syer!” the pack shouted, joining her howling. Even Impatient One and Soulless One joined in. “Bull-Syer! Jahe Bull-Syer!”

  Janine grinned, spreading her arms and accepting the praise. In her mind, she wao be with Ignacy, che the other wounded in her pack, and write letters to the families of the deceased, ending their skills and her dolences. Duty demanded her steadfastness, so she grabbed her wolf hags, lifted the girls in the air, and ighe open wound Ravager had left.

  She had worse.

  “Warlord,” Melina whispered. “My hide is yours, but it is urgent. The wolf hag we had rescued. She is Warlord Martyshkina’s daughter. They need yent presence.”

  “I see,” Janine replied. There could only be one reason. “Listen up, sisters and brothers! Tonight, we fought and triumphed! For the state and for a better world!” Ashbringer raised a cheer, eg her words, and the r intensified. “Yet it is too early for celebration, my kin! Obey the wolf hags’ orders and secure this city! Then we’ll cheer, sing, ao our hearts’ tent!” After a round of cheers, Ja go of the wolf hags. “Impatient One, Soulless Oend to our fallen. Melina, che the wounded...” The wolf hag released a cw, instilling a worry in Janine about how exactly Melina will ehe wounded’s survival.

  Many of the tribes despised prosthetic limbs, adopting the after the Blessed Mother’s distrust of any doctor. The shamans interpreted Ravager’s views to mean that by repg flesh with iron, a person severed her e to the divine. Losing a limb ofteed in another Crippled, even though the nation willingly offered a metallic rept. Janine respected the wishes of her soldiers, but she also wahem to live full lives, not to toil in shame and receive scraps from the tribe. Melina was of the old guard, the ones who missed Terrific’s methods. It was better to send someone kio reason with her wounded pack members.

  “Ighat! Anissa, che our woualk some seo them. Melina, you are in charge of resupplying and...”