1.11 KMAS: Fall of Vermithrex (Final Act)

The curtain opened to reveal a cavernous lair, which looked suspiciously similar to the Wormwood mines set, except for a few differences here and there. Kyros was kneeling, and his hands and feet were bound to a pillar behind him. He was covered in ketchup and black marks. Meanwhile, Liriel, with a substantially reduced wardrobe that still covered everything that needed to be covered (because this was a PG play, mostly), was splayed out on the altar, ready for sacrifice. Lord Vermithrex sat on a throne watching both Lady and Lord Magnus while swirling a dark liquid in an ornate chalice. There were necromancers and cultists standing guard, but the room was free of the undead (except for the Lich Lord) and quite clean.

A minion was reporting the recent gains and losses to the ancient Lich. "The fortress of Eastwatch fell to our hordes yesterday, sire. The cities of Skyreach, Breka's Roost, and White Tower will be ours within a week. With these and the cities we already possess, we are in a very good position to launch full-scale invasion of either Stormhaven or Noxumbra. And our forces..."

Lord Vermithrex threw his chalice straight at the minion reporting his victories. The minion's head was saved only by dodging it at the last moment. He quickly fell on his knees and whimpered, begging his lord to forgive him.

"WORM, YOU SAID THAT CAPTURING THIS KYROS MAGNUS WOULD MAKE THE QUEEN KNEEL BEFORE ME. WHERE IS SHE? WHY DO I NOT YET HAVE CONTROL OF THIS PETTY KINGDOM?"

"My lord, great one, she has decided to send more forces against us." The minion did not deign to look up, let alone meet his lord's eyes. He remained cowering beneath the Lich's feet. "Worry not, exalted one. We have set up an ambush for her forces. None of them will leave alive, and they will all join the horde."

"AND WHAT OF THE MATERIALS I TOLD YOU TO ACQUIRE?"

"We are still gathering them, my glorious lord. Some of these have proved quite difficult to acquire, and some of the species you mentioned are now extinct."

"YOU WILL SOON FOLLOW THEM IF I DO NOT HAVE THEM WITHIN A WEEK."

"Yes, yes, divine one. We will work ten times as hard to gather these materials. But, if you could let us know why..."

Lord Vermithrex lifted his hand, and the minion suddenly started writhing on the ground, clutching his throat.

"VERMIN NEED ONLY SERVE. THEY NEED NOT THINK."

The Lich twisted his fingers and made the minion writhe even more. He only let go just as the poor servant started suffocating. The minion managed to get back up and, still coughing, kowtowed repeatedly and blurted out, "I am a fool, a sinner, great lord. I shall not question your designs. Forgive me, forgive me."

"He is very evil. I hate him," Esmeralda announced.

"Well, from what Kyros told me, he wasn't that mean to his minions," said Sera.

"Really?"

"Yeah. One of the reports mentioned him teaching and correcting them like an ordinary mentor."

"It's difficult to run an organization, even an evil one, if you are constantly bullying your employees," Liriel sagely noted.

"IF THIS QUEEN IS NOT GOING TO COME BEFORE ME, THEN LET ME TAKE HER FAVORITE MAGE AND SHOW HER PEOPLE WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO OPPOSE ME. PREPARE TO LEAVE FOR WHITE TOWER. TAKE THE MAGE WITH US. BIND HIM SECURELY. AND, TAKE SOME OF THE CAPTIVES FROM THE PREVIOUS RAID. WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE BETTER."

"And the Elf, great one? You mentioned a sacrifice?"

Vermithrex looked at the bound Liriel and then at Kyros. "WHAT DO YOU THINK, LITTLE MAGE? SHOULD I KILL YOUR WIFE NOW, OR DO YOU WISH TO DIE WITH HER?"

"No, please," Kyros begged, tears flowing down his beautiful cheeks.

Many of the people in the audience started crying.

"Please let her go. She is not a part of this."

Liriel, who had been unconscious until now, slowly opened her eyes and tried to reach out and touch her Kyros. But he was too far away.

"My love," she said with great difficulty. "Don't cry for me, darling. Even if we cannot be together in this life, my soul will find yours again. And in that future life, I will love you again."

Kyros started weeping uncontrollably, which made the audience cry even more.

"Liri..."

"As soon as the monster takes my life, I want you to fight, my love. I want you to defeat his evil, and I want you to be free. Tell Sera...tell her that I am sorry. Tell her to love you like I would have loved you."

Now even the Sera shippers in the audience were crying. Even one of the cultists started crying but quickly stopped when he realized that he was supposed to be evil.

"No, Liri. We will leave this place together, then I will make up for all the times I have treated you coldly. I will love like I should have loved you. Be brave, my Liri, be strong for me."

"AHH, LOVE, SUCH A SWEET AND TERRIBLE NOTION. BAG THEM BOTH. I WILL DEAL WITH THEM TOGETHER AT WHITE TOWER."

The Lich Lord stood up and walked a few steps towards the exit, and then he suddenly stopped.

"SOMEONE IS HERE."

"Here, my lord, where?" said the panicking minion.

"SEARCH THE CAVERNS. LEAVE NO ROOM UNTOUCHED. WHATEVER RAT THOUGHT IT WAS CLEVER ENOUGH TO SNEAK INTO MY DOMAIN, DRAG IT OUT."

The necromancers and cultists filed out of the throne room, looking for intruders.

Suddenly, a black shadow fell from the ceiling and landed quietly next to the altar. Seeing that the Lich Lord and the one remaining minion were both turned away from the altar, the shadow swiftly and quietly cut down Liriel's bonds. And just as swiftly as he had come, he scooped her up and flew into the rafters.

Lord Vermithrex seemed to sense something and turned around, only to find an altar devoid of its victim.

"WHERE IS SHE," he thundered. "COME ON OUT, LITTLE RAT. COME OUT AND LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO TRY TO OUTSMART LORD VERMITHREX."

When the Lich was looking up at the rafters, another shadow dropped down near Kyros and silently started removing his bonds. This one did not manage to fully get them off before he was discovered. Vermithrex let out a shriek and blasted him towards the cavern wall. But the damage was already done. Liriel was no longer under the Lich Lord's control, and most of the Great Mage's bonds were broken. Kyros quickly tore off the remaining chains holding him back and stood face to face with Lord Vermithrex.

"I told you I will be your end," said the Great Mage. "Now prepare for it."

The audience erupted in cheers.

What followed was a brilliant display of light and some magic. Tilly had clearly bought quite a few wands for the Lich, as he kept hurling ball of light after ball of light at the Great Mage. The girl playing Kyros easily blocked them with her shield and repeatedly countered with her own balls of light of various colors. They moved around the cavern, Vermithrex floated for a while, and then they were back to hurling spells at each other. Both combatants were evenly matched until Kyros threw a trident shaped illusion spell that the girl playing him had clearly saved up until the end. As soon as the trident struck the Lich, he fell, howling and writhing in pain. Before he could get up and launch a counterattack, Kyros heard a familiar voice from behind. Liriel was back, and standing next to her was her masked rescuer. She took his sword and threw it at Kyros.

"Kyros, finish him," she cried out.

The Great Mage caught the sword in midair. He covered the distance between himself and the Lich in a single stride and thrust the sword into the monster's chest. Vermithrex let out a horrific screech of pain. Kyros thrust once more, and then again and again, until finally the ancient undead lord stopped moving.

After the fierce battle sequence, Kyros stood up and looked down at his fallen foe. When he turned around to look at his wife, she was already running towards him. She fell into his arms, and unlike before, Kyros hugged her tightly with no hesitation.

"You are safe, you are safe," he said to her. "We are safe."

When they parted from that long embrace, Kyros pulled her back in again, but this time, for a kiss.

The crowd erupted, even though it was only a chaste stage kiss.

Once everyone had settled down, the onstage couple broke off the kiss and stared longingly into each other's eyes. But their loving reverie was interrupted by a cough from the masked stranger.

Without letting go of Liriel, Kyros turned to face the masked man. "Thank you, stranger, whoever you are," he said. "If not for you, we might not have made it out alive."

"Make no mention of it, Lord Magnus," said the masked man. "We were sent by the Queen to assist you. But before we could rendezvous with your men, you were already taken captive by the Lich. Tracking his lair wasn't easy, but we managed to do it."

The stranger moved closer to the couple and took off his mask to reveal a handsome, blonde haired, middle aged face. "Arthur Stormshield," he bowed elaborately. "Captain of the Meridian Special Forces, Division One." As he came up from the bow, he gave stage Lady Liriel a wink, which seemed to annoy stage Kyros, who wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and pulled her in closer.

The audience burst out into another fit of cheers and applause at the face reveal.

"Hey, I know him," Sera said.

"Yes. I remember seeing him in the Meridian Theatre Company plays."

"Didn't he play the King's cousin in that play...ooo...I can't remember its name. He got stabbed to death halfway through."

"Macleod?" Liriel asked.

"Yes. That's it. He was alright in that. What's his name, though? De...Da...Drag..."

"Damian," Esmeralda said dryly.

"Yes, Damian. That's it."

"Are you a fan, Esme?" Liriel asked the girl.

"No, my lady. I don't like him."

"Why?"

"He is Bonnie's boyfriend."

"Why do you hate him for that, brat?"

Esmeralda looked at the Queen like she was explaining basic etiquette to a toddler. "First," she said, holding up one of her fingers, "he is fifteen years older than her. Second, I saw him kissing another girl in an alley."

Sera, thoroughly scandalized by the news, asked, "He was cheating on her?!"

"Yes. I told my mom. But she told me to keep it quiet and not say anything, since we don't know Bonnie and her parents that well."

"He sounds like a dirtbag."

"He seems pretty popular," Liriel noted.

"Why didn't they just get him to play Kyros?" Sera asked. "He is a bit older, sure, and morally questionable, but he is handsome."

"He isn't a mage, and since he is a proper actor, his fee was probably too much for the Appreciation Society," Liriel said. "It's likely that they only got him for a few minutes."

"That makes sense."

"Isn't Sir Arthur your uncle, my Queen?" Esmeralda asked. "I read it in my textbook."

"Kind of. He is my father's cousin, and he is nothing like the guy on stage. Uncle Arthur is more than fifty years old, and I have never seen him smile in my life."

"And he is Commander of the Royal Guard, not the Captain of Special Forces. Just a little fact check there," said Liriel.

"Was he at the final assault?" Esmeralda asked the two women.

Sera shook her head. "Of course not. He is supposed to follow me around at all times. He was nowhere near the scene until I went there later for inspection."

"What about the fight? Did the Great Mage and the Lich Lord have a duel?"

"I only know from the reports, but from what I read, it wasn't that complicated. In fact, it wasn't some evil lair either. Kyros and the special forces were already trying to pin point Vermithrex's location. They managed to somehow figure out that the Lich Lord was meeting his supporters in the White Tower underground, planning for some kind of attack on the city. When Kyros and the special forces managed to get in there, the Lich Lord tried some impressive spell-craft, the report said, but Kyros just destroyed all his barriers and crushed him like a can."

"That's so cool."

"Not so much. After that there was the cleanup. We still had to take back all the cities and strongholds they had captured. It was a pain, but it was much easier with Vermithrex out of the picture. Then dealing with all the corpses and diseases. That was just too much. Then there was the rebuilding, getting the refugees back home, giving the entire eastern border region tax breaks and economic stimulus packages; oh, and don't forget the paperwork. There were mountains of paperwork. And your great hero was nowhere to be found when it was time for paperwork."

"That sounds exhausting, and boring," said a deflated Esmeralda.

"Well, real life is exhausting and boring," Sera replied.

"Don't forget the phylacteries," Liriel added helpfully.

"Oh yeah, the phylacteries. Kyros had to search for them for so long, and there were two of the damn things. Why didn't they include that in the play?"

"I think they did," Liriel said. "He was gathering ingredients, remember? I think he hadn't finished it yet."

Meanwhile, on stage, the rest of the necromancers were either killed or arrested by the special forces while Kyros and Liriel continued to longingly gaze into each other's eyes.

The scene changed for the last time, and now Kyros and Liriel were returning home as heroes. The citizens were lined up on the streets of Meridian to greet their saviors. As Liriel and Kyros walked through the crowds, accepting their cheers and well wishes, they came face to face with the one person they were dreading to meet. Queen Seraphina had arrived along with her guards and entourage to greet the couple.

The Queen and the couple stared at each other for a full minute. Then Kyros defiantly took his wife's hand in his. The Queen noticed the silver necklace he was wearing, and for a moment her face took on a gloomy countenance. But she quickly composed herself and said, "Kyros, Liriel, welcome back."

And then she smiled.