-Come on!
Move it!
No, wait for me!
What is that thing?
Dead. Thank fuck.
Please tell me this is our world.
Over there.
Xin'trea.
Closer, at least.
The energy it's giving off,
it's what you felt in the world that Balor's beast came from.
It's what's leaking into ours.
Then let's get to it.
-A dwarf.
It's feeding time, for fuck's sake!
Ah, godhead mushrooms.
I'm not high, you Elven shitweasel.
There!
Balor's beast.
We're fucked.
Come with me if you want to live.
Of course, I was plannin' on watching you get eaten,
till Gwen said there was something special about you lot.
Gwen?
Gwen.
And right she was.
I'm not usually one to gush over elves,
but, um, it's an honor to feed the lot of you.
Heard you'd killed a hundred soldiers in Daédwóde
after those Golden Empire wankstains burnt down a Dwarven bank.
Somethin' like that.
Mighty stuff.
And the Lark herself, no less.
Thought you'd be shorter.
Still, it's not your fault.
Your exploits are becoming more famous than your songs.
They say you killed a four-score of empire assassins
sent to kill you in Inis Dubh with just your bare hands and teeth.
You killed more. Hah!
Hah-hah! Knew it!
Sit! Sit, sit.
Please.
Thanks for this.
It's been days since we've had a hot meal.
A meal shared is a meal well-seasoned, as my father used to say.
Not a bad spot, Meldof.
So…
Is it true, then?
You plannin' on killing the empress?
No planning about it.
Mad as a bucket full of stoats.
I love it! May the gods of mayhem rise up and be forever at your backs.
Xin'trea's a tough nut to crack, though,
and doesn't look like you have much in the way of an army.
Doesn't matter.
This one's Dog Clan, knows a secret way in.
You want to kill the empress, you'll have to kill her monster first.
You know it can turn people into a bloodied mist, right?
Wiped out the town of Gylfen in one go, they say.
Honestly, we've no idea how to kill it.
We barely escaped a monster a tenth its size earlier.
Why don't we poison a sheep and feed it to it?
-Fuck sake. -Could work.
What if we could create our own beast to fight and kill it?
How?
With the heart of the creature from the gateway,
and a very… particular magic,
I could become one with it.
Don't remember puttin' any godhead in that stew.
-What do you mean, "become one with it"? -Exactly that.
I merge the beast's biological essence with mine to gain its strength and power.
Hopefully, that'll be enough to kill Balor's beast.
But I can't do it alone.
Wh--
Not again!
Not again…
I thought maybe you'd come back here to make amends.
I know… I haven't been back since Mother passed.
-But-- -We should never have taken you in.
I never told anyone about what happened.
I thought maybe if I put it away--
-But you can't.
I've tried.
-What we did to her-- -We were trying to save her.
No, she died, Syndril.
And then we brought her back.
No, whatever we brought back to life,
that thing wasn't her.
She died, and we should have just left it at that.
I know…
I know I have no right to expect your help,
but that beast, everything that's wrong, is because of me.
Without your help, the world ends.
Maybe I should just let the world end.
I'm so close, Solryth.
I just need to stay alive.
Um…
Your merging of elf and beast.
If you can do it, it can't be you.
It needs to be a warrior. Not a mage.
One of us.
Stick to your plan and destroy the monolith after we slay the beast.
Even if you do survive the ritual…
you'll probably lose who you are.
Completely.
Every nerve, every sinew will be brutally corrupted.
The transformation will be long.
Beyond painful.
Ithlinne said, "Two apart shall become two as one."
This again.
I'll do it. This is my destiny.
Fuck destiny.
You will have time to decide.
The preparation will take all night.
There are feainnewedd flowers in this cave,
but I'll need you to collect mandrake root,
wolfsbane, and corpse nettle.
We'll need the heart of the beast back at the monolith brought here.
-I'll get the herbs. -You can't let her do this.
The girl does what she wants.
Trust me.
This can't be you.
Has to be me.
Because some child with a sickness babbled some prophecy nonsense?
It was nonsense when beasts didn't exist.
It's more than just the prophecy.
I have to atone, Fjall.
In Zacaré's mists,
I remembered burning a family alive in the name of my king.
It wasn't even the worst of what I did for my clan.
We've all done unspeakable things in the name of our clans.
I thought sharing my music could fix what I did.
But it will never be enough. Sacrificing myself is the only way.
No.
-You bring so much hope to this world.
I've seen it.
I bring nothing but…
I bring nothing but death.
You need to live, Éile.
It's okay.
Fjall, all my songs are sung.
Who will take the elixir?
I'm going to do it.
You know I'm probably dying tomorrow, right?
So where's my fucking wake, you sad bunch of whoresons?
A wake!
-Yes! Yes!
-Fuckin'--
Where did you get all this from?
Ah, just because I live in the poxy woods
don't mean I got to forsake the trappings of civilization.
Mushroom?
Drink with me.
You make it up as you go.
If you'd told me I could use my hravel against your vaina…
You said you knew how to play!
I'm dealin'.
We should let him cheat. I feel bad for him.
-He'll still lose.
If you fell into a bucket of tits, you'd come up holdin' a cock.
-You're not drinkin'. -One of us has to keep sharp.
Even if Syndril's magic works, we still need to get inside the palace.
Tell me about the secret entrance.
There is no secret entrance.
And even if there was,
I'd have found it and shut it down myself.
So we're gonna have to fight our way inside the walls of Xin'trea
without sellswords?
We'll improvise.
Every time I think I've suffered the last fool,
another lands in front of me.
Well done, Master Avallac'h. Can you open a gateway?
-I believe so.
I mean, it all works in theory, but I can't know for sure
-until I try it myself. -Mm.
-If I could--
-Thief!
Did you think that you could steal from me?
Leave him!
Do wait your turn, Empress. I shall attend to you soon.
Tell me, boy, is it youthful arrogance or just naked stupidity?
Shall we make this quick? Or interesting?
-Interesting it is, then.
Have you ever witnessed a fool turned inside out?
Want to travel to other worlds, Master Avallac'h?
-First you need to learn how to fly.
No!
Balor!
Do it and she dies.
Don't.
Sorry.
Go.
Summon the best physic we have. We can't lose him.
You've been played.
So,
why does your hammer have a name?
Aah…
Gwen!
She was the… fairest dwarf you ever did see.
-Great big baps on her.
A fine silken beard too.
Jealous of it, I was.
I can no more sprout hair on me chin than a king can wipe his own arse.
Anyway,
I was… mad in love with her.
The happiest days of my life.
What happened?
The usual.
Elven soldiers raided our camp while I was out huntin'.
I found Gwen naked,
gutted like a boar by those Xin'trean bastards.
Sorry.
You make for a terrible elf, you do.
Apologizing to a dwarf. It's not like you.
Anyway…
So I went up in the Koreth Mountains and mined myself some fine ore,
smelted it down, and added my sweet Gwen's ashes to it.
And then me and Gwen went huntin'.
The last thing they saw
was Gwen's name coming to claim justice.
Remind me never to cross her.
-You and the mage lass… -Yeah?
How'd you come to be, then?
Well, it's a long story.
Hmm!
Only stories worth telling.
Well, one day you fall into a mage's mists…
and she sees all that you have done…
all the evil that you've torn into the world.
And somehow, somehow, she sees…
good in you.
And she starts to heal your soul with a gentleness that you don't deserve.
Huh?
Oh, that was a great tale, that.
Oh gods, please.
Stop it, you're butchering it.
-Oh!
-Is that what I sound like?
Thanks.
You have a true gift, you know.
Have you given any thought to what you'll do
if you survive all of this?
I don't know.
I don't have any gifts.
Other than killing and…
disgracing myself constantly.
Who knows?
If we'd been born under different stars,
I'd have been raised a normal child and… not been…
uh, like this.
And you'd have been a pig herder.
-And Merwyn your wife.
Twenty brats around you.
No.
What I had with Merwyn
wasn't real.
Under any star.
I wish we'd been born under the same star.
Yeah.
Don't forget me.
No.
-No! -He's beyond strong.
You have to stop this. It was supposed to be me!
He's taken the first elixir. If we stop this now, he will die.
-Tie him down!
-Fjall! I'm here.
-It's me! I'm here.
Fuck.
There has to be a way to reverse this.
There isn't, I--
Please!
We have to keep going.
-No, no, no! -Hold him still.
Swallow!
-Swallow! -No!
As this Trial of the Grasses
began to take its brutal toll on Fjall,
the young empress was about to realize her grand ambition.
Empress.
Taking control of the key to other worlds.
High Commander.
Master Avallac'h. Are you ready?
Of course.
A moment?
This is folly.
We need Balor.
If we can't open the gateways, we can't conquer new worlds.
Without new worlds, there is no food.
-We'll have rebellion ready to ignite. -We just got rid of him.
He'll resist us now, but I'll convince him.
No. No, he'll take any punishment.
He'd choose death over losing face. I'll take care of it.
Ready your scouting party.
They'll be ready.
How much longer?
Everything so far has been to prepare him for the procedure.
This wasn't the procedure?
You should go.
This could all go very wrong.
Éile, I know what it's like to watch someone turn into a monster.
Do what you have to do.
I'm not going anywhere.
Open his mouth.
No! No!
No, no, no.
He's ready.
Fjall.
We have to start it now or he won't make it.
Do it.
-Mother of clay, hear my plea.
Mother of seas, lend me your power.
-Mother of stars, lend me your power.
Mother of all unseen, lend me your power.
Mother of seas, lend me your power.
Mother of stars, lend me your power.
Mother of clay, hear my plea.
-Lend me your power!
Mother of seas, lend me your power.
Mother of stars, lend me your power.
He's…
gone.
-I'm so sorry.
It's torture.
You lot aren't made for taking this much pain.
Elves can take a lot more than a dwarf can. That's a well-known fact.
Ah! Fact.
Elven fact.
We've been taking punishment from the likes of you for generations.
Suffering and pain you'll never understand.
Yeah, but… you know, it was a long time ago, you know.
-It-- it wasn't-- -Wasn't you?
Your world is built on our bones.
Know why I call those monoliths cock towers?
Because our ancients buried them to bring fertile bounty to the land.
They're sacred.
And, yet again, elves defile them.
-No wonder famine's rife.
Look, you know, you won't find me denyin' it.
You really believe you can kill the empress?
Aye, that's the plan.
I'm comin' too, then.
Now, why would you want to help a gang of elves?
Between yourself and myself and the skies above…
because I'm empty?
I've hunted down and killed the last of the ones who defiled Gwen.
There's nothin' left for me now.
One last quest to take me to her.
End my breaths in a glorious fashion.
We'd be glad to have you.
And Gwen.
We need a good cook.
Where's Scían?
Halt!
What is your business in Xin'trea?
I have information for your empress.
Forward!
Your markings.
Ghost Tribe? I've seen drawings in the tomes of Tolomast the Younger.
I thought you were--
I am the last of us, thanks to your father.
Were it another time,
I would have killed you by now.
Wait.
Were it another time, you would have tried.
Now, what of your claim?
I know where Fjall Stoneheart is.
He's alive?
Last I left him, yes.
I traveled south with him and the Raven girl.
I was her sword mother. She trusts me.
And now you're willing to betray her?
You betrayed some family of your own, I believe.
50,000 oirs for Fjall, in advance, and 20,000 for the Lark.
She's not worth that much.
She is the voice of the people.
Besides, she has stolen his heart.
-Fine. -I'm not done.
In exchange for Fjall,
you will return my tribe's sacred blade,
Soulreaver.
Finally, I require 50 of your Golden Empire soldiers
to help bring him in alive.
I doubt he'll be keen to see you again,
on your terms.
-Make it so. -Empress.
Fjall?
Fjall, it's me.
I can… smell your blood.
I want to destroy everything.
It's all right.
Hey. The others are outside. It's just you and me.
I'm sorry.
What the fuck were you thinking?
I thought you were gone.
Couldn't bear it.
I'd die for you, Éile.
-You already did.
We sacrificed those children for nothing.
Why didn't it work?
What more could she possibly need?
True sacrifice comes from within.
Now I realize what she meant.
Too late.
We need to talk.
There's no need for this.
I had this dimeritium cell built to hold recalcitrant mages.
To suppress their magic.
Make them feel like they were naked and powerless.
And now here I sit.
Naked without my power.
By the grace of a recalcitrant empress.
But there is a way to be free.
Serve your empress.
Your little shadow couldn't open the gateway, could he?
No.
Hmm.
Let me speak plainly.
If you cooperate under my rule,
I'll absolve you of your actions
and reinstate your title, Chief Sage of the Council.
I helped you once.
Look where it got me.
No, we began this at odds.
But look at what we have already achieved together.
Elfkind under one flag at last, poised to conquer other worlds.
Thanks to me and my vision.
Yes, and I am grateful for it.
We are both stubborn as rams.
Even so,
why do we find ourselves so far apart?
-It's a matter of respect. -Respect?
Balor, you see me as a princess to be kept on a leash
until the time comes to trade me, use me, or get rid of me.
And you see me as a lowborn raised far above his station.
This is how you see yourself.
I see you… as a singular genius
capable of so much more than the box my father put you in.
I only ask that you see me the same.
Let's stop this bickering and shape the future of elfkind together.
There must be something better than this.
There is.
Together, then.
But you must release Fenrik. I still need her as my apprentice.
Of course.
You can't trust this bitch.
She thanks you from the bottom of her heart.
Guard!
Release them.
Searched the entire cunt-forsaken forest.
My best mare is gone.
-I can't believe she took her. -Who?
Scían!
Oh, that-- that doesn't make sense. Why leave now?
Without a word?
Maybe the lass was just being practical in the face of a suicide mission.
Turns out there's no secret entrance into the palace after all.
And when Fjall told her the truth, you should have seen her face.
-She was-- -She's back. She's back.
Scouted ahead.
All clear.
There's a hunter's track into Xin'trea that will give us cover.
Smart.
You look the same.
Did it not work?
It did.
But not on me.
The Fjall who emerged from that cave
was not the same as the one who had entered.
The energy that shifted in the air around him
was like nothing any of them had ever felt.
Or seen.
Not bad.
Then let's get on with it.
No time to waste.
Hurry up, Meldof.
Leave her piss in peace. Nothing worse than being rushed.
-Not much further now.
The hunter's track to Xin'trea is just over the next ridge.
What the fuck?
-Dead end.
-Where the fuck did they come from?
What's she doing?
No.
Well, shit.
Form up!
Don't let them get behind us.
-Hold your ground!
Halt! Ready your blades.
Scían, what are you doing?
Hmm.
That was a work of art.
Look at them all. Like little bloodied hedgehogs.
Never doubt my plan again, Uthrok.
-Do you know him? -They're on our side.
Did we just win?
Not quite.
Sorry, Gwen.
Gets a wee bit jealous, see.
Éile of Raven Clan, meet Uthrok One Nut.
It's just a nickname.
They're huge. Like two enormous, swollen pomegranates.
Go on, ask her.
Hey!
Don't give me that look.
Every blade on the Continent is hunting you for the reward.
And I took that weakness and made it a strength,
and just like that, we have our way into the city
and our sellswords.
Now the Seven had the blades they needed behind them,
they stood a fighting chance…
if they could get Fjall inside
before the beast inside him took over completely.
Once we get inside the city, break open the grain stores.
Let the people riot, draw the soldiers from the palace.
I'll use Fjall to get inside the throne room so he can kill the beast.
Zacaré and I will destroy the monolith.
Merwyn's mine.
Here we are again, Gwen.
See you soon, love.
If I fall first, mind askin' her to avenge your Elven friend?
She'd be delighted.
This isn't gonna work.
They're onto us.
Hold on.
Fight it.
I'm trying.
-Listen.
Carry my voice with you.
Don't let go,
not until you're staring that beast straight in the eyes.
Right, then.
Let's go fuck up an empire.