Four barrels and a few planks were arranged to form an impromptu speaking platform. King Alduin helped Naomi climb on it.

  “You are heavy.” He observed.

  “Are you by any chance telling me I'm fat?” She asked and looked at him. Both burst into laughter after looking into each other's eyes.

  “Ok. I think most people are here, so maybe I will begin.” Naomi looked at the gathered crowd around her. Even on the walls of her dungeon, people gathered to see and hear her.

  “So, the first obvious question. Yes, it’s me, your crazy dungeon mistress.” She showed her path to the people standing nearby.

  “I, Grand Priest of the Sun, confirm that this person is our Dungeon Mistress indeed!” The minotaur priest shouted because only priests were allowed to confirm someone's identity.

  “Thank you, Grand Priest.” Naomi politely bowed her head. “The second important question is: how could I leave the dungeon? It’s easy. I’m still inside the dungeon, actually. This is a golem, the same as those Grand Master Unroth with Grand Forge Master, and the rest of the artisans are rebuilding from my dungeon. I just made one that looks like me.”

  “Same, my ass.” Grand Forge Master murmured. While he could see that it was rushed, unfinished work, the golem radiated with unseen magic.

  “Ok. Now the hard part. For what reason did I do all of that?” People hold their breath. “In simple words, I want to show my gratitude to all of you. Also, I don’t want to become an asshol that one day drinks and has fun with you all, but when things need to be done, I run and hide. Well, I’m so terrified right now that I want to do that, but that caravan left the oasis already. Oh, but don’t worry. I’m aware of my status as a pampered princess, and this golem barely works anyway, so you don’t need to be looking over me because I will be standing in the back anyway.” She nervously jouked. “Oh, and one more thing. Please, don’t do any heroic stunts. If you are wounded or running out of strength, please retreat into the dungeon. I want to drink and have fun with all of you again. So anyway, to not waste your time. Thank you.” Naomi again bowed in half before the gathered crowd. For a moment, nothing happened, then cheers and shouts of reassurance erupted.

  “She is doing it again.” Dwarven forge master muttered.

  “Yes. She again accidentally helped us. Dungeon Mistress reinforced the spirit and will of all gathered warriors. She alone makes them resistant to any basic curses of necromancers.”

  “This fucking lich has no idea who she messes with.” Eriser grinned.

  “Yes, indeed.” The king Alduin agreed.

  Grand Lich Joana was tried. Not physically. Her wonderful, undying, uneaging body, the precious gift from the Arch Lich, was resistant to all fatigue. If she wanted, she could walk the whole journey herself. Thankfully, she had her servants to carry her, allowing her to concentrate on commanding the army. No, she was mentally exhausted. While the initial stages of her plan went flawlessly, once they started marching, her plans began to crumble. The first thing that didn't go according to her plans was when she reached the first village, where she had intended to acquire more servants and supplies. The town was empty. Someone managed to convince those stubborn northern barbarians to run away. And in any other village they passed by, the story was the same. It was a small setback. She was counting on getting from those places maybe an additional one thousand servants. Her initial six thousand looked back then to her as a sufficient number to fight the heretics in the oasis. And then the attacks started. She wasn’t surprised by them. She expected them. But not from the sky. Some damn eagle, it was hard to say because of how high it flew, was dropping jars of alchemical mixtures on them. And this animal was trained well enough to know where to aim. Attacks weren’t frequent and particularly lethal. The standard magic shield was sufficient, but it made all of them jumpy whenever they spotted any bird in the sky. There was one exception, however. After one week, when they crossed the border of the desert, this damn bird dropped a jar with something so foul, so repulsive, that Jona had no words to describe it. They had to get rid of dozens of zombies just because a few drops of the jar's contents splashed on them. Thankfully, it was only once when that thing was used, because she couldn’t spread out her forces. Cowardly sun elves were lying in ambush for anyone who got separated from the rest of the army.

  The whole journey through the cursed desert cost her almost one thousand troops, but she succeeded. She finally reached this damn oasis. She even ordered the march to continue for two hours after sunrise to see her goal. And she reluctantly agreed it was an impressive sight. Tall towers with golden roofs, thick and tall walls covered in deep blue tiles. It was a proper place for her new castle. For now, however, she needed to properly position her troops before nightfall, when she would order her troops to attack. Joana began properly assessing the oasis’s defences. And what she saw surprised and pleased her. There was a wall of knights standing before the tower and waiting for her in full battle gear. That was a foolish decision. She won’t attack before sunset, and they should barricade themself inside the citadel, not to mention the pitiful number they had. Even if behind some dunes were waiting in ambush the sun elves and adventurers, she still would have more servants than defenders. And any fallen enemy will soon join her ranks. Then she spotted some worrying signs. The aura surrounding knights was strong. Not strong enough for her, but she will need to redirect some of her power from protective spells and risk a potential ambush. But after a whole day in the sun, their indomitable will will be long gone, and that assumes they won’t be dead from all that heat.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Then she spotted something strange moving behind the defenders' lines. It was a large piece of fabric that kept growing larger. When finished, it was roughly spherical and as tall as three three-story buildings. And then it rose into the air, carrying three people in a large basket under it.

  “Great Lady, what is that!” Her aide shouted when he saw the object flying up.

  “Nothing special,” Joana answered after carefully observing the object. “Fancy watching platform for scouts. Useful but only in good weather. I will need to improve this primitive design to make it truly useful. And let's not mention its hideous look.”

  “I’m sure you, my Great Lady, will need just a look to unravel all its secrets.”

  The rest of the conversation was interrupted by someone screaming.

  “The bird! Shields up!”

  “Of course, this damn bird shows up,” Joana grumbled.

  “Heretics love making futile last stand feroics.” Her aide said.

  “They do indeed.” She stepped closer to the edge of her platform to look up at the sky. The bird appeared from the west and, while flying high in the sky, he dropped something again. But this time they weren't jars, but boulders, each the size of the adult dwarf. One drop exactly on one of the youngest necromancers, standing in the front row, killing him regardless of his raised magic shield. The second one was a miss by barely. An enormous fountain of sand, looking like a small explosion, knocked the necromancer off and all the zombies in the nearest vicinity. Joana reinforced her regal aura to bring order to her army. Suddenly, she heard something like thunder, and then a ball of pure storm fury flew over her ranks. Powerful lighting strikes were destroying her servants and killing any necromancer nearby.

  “It’s not an eagle,” Joana whispered when she caught a glimpse of the Rock with its rider on its back.

  “Uff. She did it, and she is fine.” Naomi exhaled with relief, watching Alessia fly away, most likely to take another set of boulders. Naomi was also horrified by the destruction she caused.

  “Of course she is. My granddaughter trained hard for that.” Tarron, the elven Grand Priest of the Sun, answered.

  “Do you think that will be enough to scare them away?” Naomi asked.

  “While we are also counting on that, because we don’t have the strength to fight directly with the grand lich, it’s unlikely. They will attack. If the grand lich retreats, she will lose all her influence among the cultists, and maybe she will be officially demoted by Archlich if she is unlucky. Her only hope is to attack us and win.” Grand Priest Jathur explained.

  “And she makes her move.” The elven Grand Priest pointed at the charging zombies.

  “Be strong, Dungeon Mistress. What you're about to see will stay with you forever.” Jathur placed his hand on her shoulder.

  “I know. It’s one of many consequences of my choice to be with you all.” Naomi answered, clenching her fists.

  Joana expected that when her zombies were about to reach the knights, the mages behind would begin bombardment. Mages were powerful, but in the chaos of the battle, they couldn’t properly aim, sometimes even properly cast, a spell. But mages of On Taram were training under Selphie’s guidance. They were able to cast spells with unseen accuracy. When Joana saw the first volley, her army was still a few hundred meters from the knights. But that wasn’t the usual chaotic rain of spells. They flew like one in perfect arcs and landed exactly among the first rows of charging zombies. And there weren’t ordinary spells. Grand mages cast them all. Explosions decimated zombies by the dozens. And the next volley was already flying behind.

  The explosions of spells were the signal for adventurers and sun elves to rise from hiding and charge. Joana expected that, and two-thirds of her forces were waiting to confront the attacker. What she did not expect were golems charging swiftly on the front, avoiding zombies and seeking necromancers to kill them. There was even an elephant made from brass, at least twice as big as the real one, trampling her army like ants. They hide him in plain sight in some shady wooden structure not too far away.

  The other side, where sun elves charged, wasn’t any better. The number of beasts they commanded was almost equal to the number of the warriors, and they weren’t just some usual desert animals. They even tamed some mana beasts, too. Like this enormous black scorpion, big enough to carry a person on its back.

  And speaking of that person, he wasn’t a mage. He didn’t cast spells. Instead, he was kneeling, pointing in her direction with something in his hands. Suddenly, her wraith jumped forward, and something struck it, destroying it on sight. There was only an echo of the inhuman shriek of a dying wraith. Joana immediately gave an order.

  “Lower the platform, form a wall!” Her servants immediately obeyed, and she watched with dread as the warrior manipulated a strange weapon, preparing for the next shot. She barely made it. Next shot shricked over her head. That wasn’t right. A weapon that could kill without warning from afar, and forcing you, forcing her to hide? This place needs to be razed to the ground. This evil should be stopped immediately. But to her dismay, she was losing. There were more warriors like this on the scorpion, hunting her officers. Even adventurers and sun elves were slaughtering her troops. She needs to retreat. Archlich ordered her to return if her plan failed. But the price for returning defeated will be high, and she wasn’t so sure if she would be hunted like some animal long before she reached the north. But there was one more option. Risky one, but it could work.