Here it is, as announced earlier the third and most likely last chapter of this fic.

The cover image is the appropriately named character Penthesilea (as in the queen of the Amazons who fought the Greeks at Troy). She is also a playable character in the game "Warriors Legends of Troy" which is related to the Dynasty Warriors-series of games.

As always my thanks go out to my Beta Lord Protector Corvo Attano

I make no claim upon either the intellectual property of Rick Riordan, the imperium of Paradox Interactive nor upon the KOEI-empire. I do appreciate some of the products they've created over the years though and I advise everyone to read/ play those products. (Obvious attempt to keep the bloodhounds/ lawyers from suing my ass)

Penthesilea blinked as she suddenly felt her perspective upon the world shift. The next moment she saw the ground chasing towards as she found herself falling.

She extended her limbs and bent them the moment she reached the ground and as such broke her fall.

She felt wrong and blinked as she saw her Minions run towards her.

"Mistress?!" The first one asked/ told her.

She nodded slowly as she looked him straight in the eye ... and blinked again as she realized what was wrong. The young woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she raised her hands up and stared at them.

A pair four-fingered, long nailed claws reached out to her in return.

She took another deep breath and turned her head around. Behind her as it was floating in front of the monument was her body. It hung still in the air with her arms outstretched and her legs together as if she had been crucified in mid-air.

"Gnarl," she whispered with a soft voice as she came to terms with this particular ... abomination.

Said Minion's voice came almost instantly in reply. "I see you've succeeded in channeling your spirit into one of your Minion's, my lady." He said. "This ought to allow you to accompany your Minions if you need to order them to a place you yourself can't go."

Penthesilea initially had planned to give him a chance to explain why he hadn't warned her about the effects. However Gnarl kept talking and that broke the neck of what little that had remained from her patience and understanding.

"I do suggest you take care as you vault these mountains, Mistress. Your legs are far shorter than you were accustomed too and you carry some hitherto unknown parts which are very sensitive."

"Quaver," She announced with a disturbingly calm voice which instantly told Gnarl that he had made one joke to many. "Go nuts!"

Gnarl instantly screamed out in agony as the other Minion gleefully began his chastisement.

"I do believe I said go nuts, rather than go for the nuts…" Penthesilea clarified with a hint of humor in her voice, "I do like I don't have to spell everything out."

She took a deep breath and pointed a single talon at one of her Minions.

"Brawler," she called out to the Minion. "You will protect me with your life.

"The rest of you, around us! We are going to take that cliff." She called out at them as she set off and instinctively clenched her fist around the hilt of her sword . "And let those bastards on top of the cliffs pray that Hades will treat them kindness and pity ...because...I...will ...not!"

The ten Minions raced towards the cliffs and climbed against the steep rock-wall almost without slowing down. There was no arrow which flew down to intercept them. Instead the ten creatures shot upwards and instantly disappeared behind some of the larger rocks or behind the large piles of stones which had been gathered next to the edge to keep assailants at bay. Even Penthesilea who was actually a demigoddess and fairly unpracticed in climbing made a to her unbelievable time despite being the last to arrive and hide behind some of those rocks.

The Minoan archers who had been positioned upon the cliffs stood nearby them, however the top of the cliffs was a broken landscape that was rife with elevations, rocks and pits which made it impossible for either of the two sides to see the other despite the small distance between.

Instead the archers had focused their attention upon the small cloud of dust which was approaching down the trail.

Penthesilea could actual hear one of them, by the sound of her voice a woman who might have been a little bit younger than herself, remark with a familiar accent that she had been right, that the man who had approached the breach between the cliffs had been a scout rather than a hunter.

The Overlord took a deep breath and grasped the sword in her hand a little bit tighter, then she sneaked slowly and carefully towards one of the small hills at the top of the cliffs and raised her head above the edge.

She noticed something like eight archers at this side of the breach between the cliffs, another five stood at the other side of the ravine and finally there was a small stilted platform a hundred meters to their right which made her suspect that it was at that particular spot where the breach gave access the hills.

The archers were poorly equipped, no better than the usual band of herdsmen who had traded their meager existence as shepherd or cattle driver for a more dangerous but (if they were lucky) far more lucrative occupation as mercenaries. A few of these wore a cheap, bullet shaped helmet from bronze, but the majority wore a simple straw hat with a broad, rather floppy brim which protected them from nothing except for the sun. None of them carried a shield or armor, instead they wore rough wool garments with a pale colour like most peasants. She noticed a few swords and knives among them, however not everyone carried even one of these. These were archers above everything else, men and women who would either perish or flee if they were caught by actual warriors.

It was tempting to simply charge at them, but she didn't. Penthesilea had too often been forced to rely upon nobody but herself and those who learn to rely upon nobody but themselves likewise learn to calculate, to strike to break their enemies resistance and to feel few regrets about the hurt they inflict. Pride was important to anyone, honour, on the other hand is only of importance if you want to impress others.

As Penthesilea had rarely felt the need to impress others, she felt no more than a slight annoyance at the sight of the two other groups of archers before she disappeared once again behind the rim of the elevation.

After that the Overlord and her Minions quickly made their way towards the tower next to the breach.

There she counted another four archers with another one at the top of the platform and this time she smirked.

She waited as she raised her hand and used her control over the Minions to drag each of the creatures in place. she smirked and raised the sword in her hand.

"Minions...attack!" She ordered her creatures as she charged forward. Nine high pitched voices screeched as they closed in upon the surprised archers. There would be no battle for them because whether they reached for one of the arrows in their quiver or tried to make a break for it...even if they succeeded in evading the Minion who came from the front...none of them could escape the second assailant who stabbed them in the back. The only moment of resistance came from the sole surviving archer up in the tower and he couldn't hope to hold to hold the creatures off upon his own.

Ten war cries however did reach the remaining archers...as well as Penthesilea's sole ally before the cliffs.

Thus the archers who had guarded the cliffs were just in time to witness the inanimate body of their last remaining comrade flying down the tower where he was left in a broken heap.

Said men instantly charged forwards to take the Minions down with their arrows before at a second force could become the hammer which would crush them against the anvil of Penthesilea's Minions. They might have acted calmer if they had been aware of the absence of this second force.

They did not though so Penthesilea positioned Brawler once again in front of her and prepared to attack the smallest of the two groups. In other circumstances she might have preferred to assault the larger group first as this was the one which more likely to inflict more casualties upon her numbers, however she didn't. She knew the smaller group was far more likely to run once they realized they stood no chance against her Minions whilst the larger group would be more inclined to try to hold them off due to the confidence which came from their greater numbers.

Penthesilea moved once again with her own forces as she sent them down the broken terrain which kept the archers from taken an accurate aim at them, however this time the archers were ready and launched their arrows at the Minions, simply opting for blanketing the general area of the Minions if an accurate shot was beyond their possibilities and this time the arrows found their marks in Minion flesh.

Penthesilea saw several of her Minions go down but somehow she sensed they weren't down for the count and she realized exactly why it was that Gnarl had described the Browns as the toughest members of the Minion-race.

A new plan formed in her mind and she gave a new order which made certain that her Minions remained down for the moment as she and the remaining Minions reached the first archers. She evaded a clumsy strike with a rock as she jumped at the first of the archers and gave her second order as she stabbed her blade first in his stomach and then finished him off with a stab to his throat. The man screamed in pain as she gave her second order to the fallen Minions. When those five men died, it was not the bloodiest day she had ever seen, the assault upon Tamalpais held that honour. But the number of men and women she had killed today made it a memorable one nonetheless. And the day was still far from over.

The Demigoddess turned Minion gave the opposing eight archers at the other side of the crevice a cold grin as those tried to fell her and her creatures. Then she turned around again and ran towards the broken hills which would give her some cover. She was almost instantly joined by the remainder of her Minions who she gathered in a small wedge around her and began to run across the hills towards her former countrymen. Said countrymen kept their attention pointed at her though and made every effort to waste no arrow to take her and the Minions which surrounded her down. By now, the archers had grown more or less accustomed to the height and speed of their targets, as well as the frantic pattern with which they moved and thus with no more protection than what was provided by the landscape, their arrows drew blood. Brawler was the first of her small group which got hit when one of their heavy arrows struck his shoulder and made him miss his step which exposed Penthesilea to the arrows of the other archers. Penthesilea gained her first wound of that day and what might otherwise have been the worst and last wound of her lifetime when she felt as if she had been slugged in the stomach at the moment a barbed arrow tore through her belly. But this time it was she herself who discovered exactly how hardy the Minions were. Despite the breath which had been knocked out of her and the arrow in her body she kept running, in fact she was barely slowing down.

However Penthesilea was no fool and neither were the archers who had remained upon their earlier position. She and the Minions were almost halfway the horseshoe which was the path on top of the left and the right cliff, however there was still the area of the guard tower which had to be bridged and this was by far the flattest, most open area of this part of the mountains..

Penthesilea made a first attempt to cross that killing field, but before she was even half way the area she called those Minions around her back and gave some more orders, then she repeated this process a second and even a third time. At this point almost everyone from her little band had been shot at least once and she suspected that after all this the archers had started wondering whether she was simply banking on them running out of arrows before she ordered the actual attack.

If they did, they were wrong and she smirked once she felt all her pieces were in their place. The disguised Demigoddess raised her sword up above her head before she screamed a war cry. This time there would be no quick retreat to cover after exposing herself and her closest followers, no attempt to gain time or to gain an advantage and the archers somehow realized this as well. There was no frantic scrambling or excited screaming, instead each of the eight marksmen calmly pushed an arrow against the upper limb of their bow and pulled the string back in a fluent motion.

Penthesilea saw so as well, she saw them take aim at her and her Minions and smiled as she gave her final order to the rest of her Minions.

A high pitched war cry erupted from the side and the first of the startled archers released his arrow which then buried itself harmlessly into the ground. Said marksman screamed in pain as a sharp, scythe-like blade tore through his thigh and opened his artery. A second Minion jumped directly at another archer and bowled him over whilst the third broke the bow of a third marksman before he swept his blade through the belly of a fourth archer. The remaining Minoans desperately stepped backwards and reached for what little they had to face the Minions in a melee. A single dagger, a fishing-knife and their bows or arrows, that was all they had.

They had one consolation, although it was a poor one. Each of the Minions, including their own assailants had suffered due to the archers. But if it had been worth it? To the archers who died by the hand of the Minions it most definitely wasn't.

As time passed and the noise died down Chris kept staring at the edge of the cliffs and the opening between the walls for a sign of Penthesilea or her Minions.

"What has happened?" Chris asked himself as he slowly raised his head above the fallen tree which had provided him with cover from Minoan eyes and arrows.

"It is far to quiet there." He muttered to himself whilst he grabbed one of his javelins a bit tighter and took another risk by sneaking a bit closer.

The young man kept his eyes locked upon the cliffs as he crept closer.

"May the fates have mercy upon me." He whispered as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he prepared to run.

Then a cold, powerful hand with sharp talons closed around his shoulder.

Chris instantly swerved and prepared himself to stab the tip of his javelin into his assailants face.

However the gleaming blades of heavy axe rose up and intercepted the weapon.

"Nervous much?" Penthesilea asked him with an amused tone of voice before she calmly made her way towards the gap between the cliffs.

Chris followed her a bit more carefully but he followed her nonetheless.

"The Minoans?" He asked her curiously.

"Death!" Penthesilea told him with a calm definitive voice that should have left absolutely no doubt about their fate.

"All of them?"

Penthesilea chuckled darkly as she entered the opening before she turned around to face him whilst she spread her arms out in an extravagant fashion.

A number of obviously death, Minoan bodies rained down from the cliffs.

"All eighteen of them." Penthesilea confirmed.

Chris blinked, nodded and then bended downwards and reached for one of the nearby bodies.

"Leave them!" Penthesilea ordered him.

"The least we can do is keep the animals from devouring them." Chris told her.

Penthesilea chuckled behind her mask. "Of course not, the least we can do is nothing."

Chris glared back at her which made Penthesilea roll her eyes, although in reality she was far more amused than she was angry.

"We should leave them like this...because this way they're useful for us." She explained instead.

"Useful?" Chris asked her with obvious bewilderment.

"Useful." Penthesilea repeated, "if some Athenians arrive they're bound to suspect something if there is nobody upon the cliffs to greet them. They'll go searching for the bodies, deserters or whatever ... if we hide them and suspicious men… are generally careful men. They would be moving in silence and sticking close to cover with some guards in hiding.

Penthesilea snorted momentarily. "Especially since "cover"would be the place we would have to hide the bodies."

"True," Chris agreed grudgingly.

"However if leave them here in the open, right behind the walls which hide them only from those who remain outside." Penthesilea continued. "They won't have a lot of time to get suspicious but once they'll see these three groups of highly capable, but very dead archers who held a brilliant position ...they'll…"

"Panic!" Chris agreed with a sigh.

Penthesilea nodded. "And panicking men are very different from suspicious men. They're loud and unthinking. They'll be letting us know they're there before they're ready to fight us."

Penthesilea chuckled again.

Chris on the other hand shuddered. "I guess I now know why Alabaster called for you. You would have scared most of his warriors into staying loyal to him if you joined him and you would have seen the Athenians and everyone with them running away as far as their legs could carry them."

Penthesilea chuckled once again. It was a fake laugh, but she couldn't help but wonder how much of those words were true.

Most likely most of those words were...after all, she was the woman who had told three of her loyal creatures to play dead after being struck down by an arrow and then led the rest in an attack to distract the rest of their enemies so that her wounded Minions would gain the opportunity to disappear behind cover and then she had exposed her own Minions and even herself to more arrows to distract those remaining archers so that her first, already wounded Minions would get the chance to flank her enemies.

She sniggered. It was a dry sound. It was telling that Gnarl had ended up complimenting her and she was quite certain that until a few years ago she would have considered Gnarl's approval as exactly the opposite of almost everything she ought to want to achieve.

But...times change and she could appreciate Gnarl's intelligence even if she refused to trust him beyond the distance she could throw an elephant riding Titan in heavy armor.

That….she suspected was another decision she suspected Gnarl would approve of. Life was full of irony and it was obviously not bereft of a dark sense of humor as well.

As time passed, Penthesilea and Chris continued to penetrate deeper into the hills. They moved fairly slowly, as Penthesilea made great efforts to sweep her Minions from cover to cover. This was generally fairly easy since there were plenty of obstacles which could obstruct the eyes of a possible guard or scout, however as they marched on Penthesilea began to suspect that overconfidence had gained the upper hand over the Athenians since she found few clues which indicated the presence of such threats and even less actual resistance .

Penthesilea had only just started to hope that the Cretan archers were the only threat when they found a first indication to the contrary.

"I can't say have seen such a thing before." Chris admitted before he kneeled in front of the broken body.

"I have." Penthesilea told him as she kneeled next to him and reached for one of the shields which had been laying there.

She recognized the snake and bull- symbols which adored the hide from several of the shields.

"Minoans," She muttered as she pushed the shield back away.

"Not all of them." Chris corrected her as he pointed at a few of the remaining shields and broken pikes. "Some of them were Athenians….these were most likely a part of a force which was finishing the conquest of the hills."

"That's all mighty ...interesting but did you find something valuable as well? Did you check his purse?" Gnarl interjected.

"What did this?" Chris asked her with some actual fear in his voice as he stared back at her. "There were at least thirty of them, possibly up to forty men and yet there are no traces of a proper battle, just a one-sided slaughter."

" I am not certain…." Penthesilea admitted as she rose back up. "But something was alone...very big...very powerful ...and most likely ancient."

How do you know the last thing?" Chris asked her curiously but without a challenge in his voice.

In reply Penthesilea pointed the head of her axe at the nearest hillside.

"You see those shrubs at the edge of the top?" She asked him. "You notice the broken branches among them?"

Chris nodded in return and she could almost see the cogs in his head start to turn as came to same conclusions which she did. "Something large lay there in a hiding...waited for them to pass it by and then jumped them, landing among them before it proceeded to crush and …."

"a very good conclusion...my young mistress." Gnarl interjected once again. "But the really important questions you haven't answered yet are slightly different...Did it kill them for food or for another reason….and is it likely to do the same to you and your Minions?"

"Most of them are still here!" Penthesilea replied with cold voice.

"Just must of them." She repeated as she eyed a body of which the right-arm had been torn off.

"aaaaahm." Gnarl added, easily catching the meaning of that grim remark.

"How long do you think it has been since these poor bastards were slaughtered?" Penthesilea asked nobody in particular.

It was Chris who replied to her. "A couple of hours?" He guessed. "There are plenty of traces from crows who have eaten their fill these guys… and the same I guess for a couple of foxes… but I see no real sign of rot even with this heat."

Penthesilea nodded. "The mine is close...no?" She asked him.

Chris gave her a pained smile. "Yes…" he agreed. "I fear so."

"I am…" Penthesilea told him as she stared rather uselessly to her right hand "...hoping for the best?"

"Thanks." Chris muttered although he was far more worried than annoyed.

Then he took a deep breath and pointed his eyes at Penthesilea. "We should make haste." He continued.

"I disagree with the human, Mistress." Gnarl told Penthesilea. "You ought to make your way out of the hills this instant ... fighting humans is one thing ... taking on a monster capable of slaughtering an entire warband is another."

"I know!" Penthesilea agreed with aggressive voice. "But would it be any safer in the area around the hills with that thing roaming free?" She asked Gnarl.

She shook her head. "I'd prefer to find out as much as possible now, when the beast is slow and sluggish due to his full belly rather then find myself the only prey without knowing what's chasing me?"

"I see." Gnarl replied. "However something makes me wonder whether you're not simply trying to play the hero?"

Penthesilea snorted in return. "The last time I tried to be a hero, I was twelve and I have been wondering ever since whether it wouldn't have better to have been selfish...it would have been easier, made me far happier ...and as it turned out it might have been far less pointless!"

"That is good to hear, my lady."

Penthesilea rolled her eyes but didn't reply. Instead she made her way to Chris.

"You think you're ready for what you might find behind the ridge of this hill?" She asked him.

Chris gave her a cold nod in return as he clenched his fist around his javelins and kept his eyes fixed upon said horizon.

A loud roar echoed from the hills and Chris broke into a run.

Penthesilea acted instantly and grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"What?!" He asked roared at her.

"Don't go charging in blind, you oaf!" Penthesilea yelled back.

"My friends and siblings in there are dying!" He growled at her.

"Your friends and siblings might already be dead and if I remove this hand you'll just be racing off towards a similar end!" Penthesilea bit back at the man.

A female sounding cry reached their ears and was after no more than a second cut off which made Chris push the hand from his shoulder and raced off.

"You goddamn fool!" Penthesilea growled as she set off after him with her Minions behind her.

Then she actually remembered her Minions and gave her orders. The next moment a first Minion jumped upon the man's back and closed his arms around Chris' throat. The young man staggered and the pause was enough for the other Minions to catch up with him and force him against the ground.

A second female sounding screech tore through air and Chris desperately tried to push himself up as he attempted to shake himself free from the small creatures which were hanging from his back.

"I know you're trying to save your friends and siblings!" Penthesilea told him with a harsh voice as she grasped Chris by a forelock and forced him to look up at her. "I've haven't lost that much yet that I fail to recall what it is like to care for people. But charging in like a fool will get you nothing except for a spot upon the dinner table!"

Chris glared back at her.

Penthesilea cocked her head which was the signal for the first of the Minions to move away from him, although each of them kept his eyes upon the man.

"Then what do you expect me to do?!" Chris yelled back.

"To use the grey thing within the confines of the hair covered thing you occasionally use to wear a hat!" Penthesilea snarled back.

She took a deep breath and grasped the man's wrist. "Do you wanne save as many of them as you can?" Penthesilea asked him whilst she pulled him back up. "Or do you have a secret life-long ambition to become dessert?"

Penthesilea glared at him with an angry expression, almost as if she was daring him to give her the wrong answer. "Pick your poison carefully because the wrong answer will have me running from the hills in a heartbeat."

"Save them." Chris muttered with an angry expression.

"Good," Penthesilea told him whilst she grabbed one of the man's javelins and pushed the projectile into Chris's hand. "Than you're following my orders...again!"

Chris nodded somewhat resentful but showed no sign of further resistance when Penthesilea set off towards the mine.

Mine was a very good word to describe the place. For it was quite obvious that the owners of the place had absolutely no intention of sharing the area with anyone else. If Chris and Gnarl hadn't made her aware of the reason for the presence of humans, Penthesilea would have suspected that this had been the last refuge of one of the Titans rather than a mining village from mere humans. It was once again a far more impressive defense than the far more shoddy construct which had been erected around the main village. Instead of wood and small stone blocks, Penthesilea noticed massive boulders in a great variety of shapes which had been roughly fitted together until they formed a wall which was roughly twice the height of a grown man. She noticed no towers but the wall included several small hills which made several small areas of the wall tower another two or three feet above the lowest areas of the wall. it was an ancient, even outdated kind of construction but it had generally worked throughout the age of individual heroes and small bands of braves.

However, she doubted that the people within these hills had been forced to weather more than the occasional threat of such a lone wanderer or a roving war band and most likely not even that much due to the protection granted by the hills and cliffs.

A protection which became even more impressive once she glanced at the mountainside which loomed over the mine and its surroundings. Three from the four sides of the village before the mine had been locked of by that mountain and she recognized the remains of some wooden towers above the cliffs which indicated that the villagers had not been willing to take any chance with their security. She couldn't help but feel some appreciation for these villagers.

"Gnarl," Penthesilea asked the Minion. "What was mined here?"

"Silver, my Lady." Gnarl told her with a voice which gave an indication of the Minion's own interest in the contents of that Mine and Penthesilea couldn't blame him for this.

I suggest you let the human go first, Mistress." Gnarl suggested. "That way you have a distraction if you require a swift retreat."

Penthesilea had severe doubts about the head start which Chris' involuntary sacrifice might give them, but she still gave a nod. Until she had a proper assurance of Gnarl's loyalty, she deemed it better to indulge him...unless he forgot who was supposed to be in charge.

She ignored the gates which formed an opening between the two parts of the walls. Instead she made her way to a part of the wall that seemed to be placed in front of a number of particularly large buildings which she suspected to have been granaries or warehouses.

The young woman threw a long look at the top of the wall and when after another few moments there came no sign of danger, she made a pointing motion at the walkway and ordered one of her Minions forward.

"Check for enemies from behind the parapet, do not move beyond it!" She commanded.

The most nearby of her Minions prepared to charge forwards but Penthesilea stopped him with a motion from her hand.

"Not you Brawler, you're my bodyguard! You can't defend me from there!" She told the creature after which she removed her hand once again.

Another Minion charged forward instead.

The creature crawled up against the stones rapidly before instantly stopping and clinging to the wall like an abnormally tall fly before he carefully peered over the parapet.

Then he started to wave one arm back and forth which made Gnarl giggle and comment upon said Minion's "enthusiasm" whilst Penthesilea fought a mental battle with herself to resist the urge to charge forward and slam her own forehead against the wall.

She resisted said impulse and instead followed after Chris with her Minions.

Once they had climbed the wall, Penthesilea motioned everyone to keep their head low.

She didn't hear another outcry of pain but the town wasn't quiet either.

"There is a lot of motion behind the house." Chris muttered he took a deep sniff. "Sheep." He muttered curiously once he recognized the typical odor of sheep.

"The only source of food they might acquire here in large numbers without the help of the farms from Tamalpais." Penthesilea muttered.

She frowned. "Do you think they were preparing for a siege or so?"

Chris shook his head. "I don't know."

Penthesilea gave him a long stare as she retained her cold expression. "If you were the one who was slaughtering the remaining villagers...Where would you do it? Is there some kind of square in a hamlet like this?"

Chris threw her a judgmental stare due to her words but took a deep breath instead of mouthing off and nodded.

"There is no genuine townsquare...but there is a small open area in front of the mine where they load and unload the oxen and wagons." he admitted.

Then he paused as he felt the ground shake as something exceptionally large moved away from the warehouse.

"Do you think it is leaving?" Chris asked surprised.

Penthesilea scrunched her brow in return. "Not unless we very lucky…. and if I was that lucky I would have offered to play a game of dice to gain access to your town."

Chris chuckled nervously in return whilst Penthesilea crawled towards a part of the wall which would allow her to see past the corner of the building.

"Tartaros…"She yelled. "Get away…He has heard us!"

"He...what…" Chris asked before one of Penthesilea's Minions pushed him aside.

The next moment the twelve were caught in a rain of wood splinters and debris as the majority of the rear-wall of the warehouse was destroyed by the impact of a massive, brass covered club.

Chris blinked momentarily. "Thank you." He muttered instinctively to the Minion, unaware that the creature had simply obeyed his mistress unspoken impulse.

Then he stared at the owner of said club.

The huge face of said creature was mostly hidden behind a thick, unkempt looking black beard and an equally disgusting looking curtain of black braids which had been dappled with white due to the very human-looking skulls which had been weaved through his hair.

The species of said creature was instantly confirmed due to the presence of a single, sea-green eye above his nose.

"A cyclops." Penthesilea muttered as she pointed a glare at Chris as if he could have helped it.

"Really, I hadn't noticed." Chris muttered sarcastically in return. "Anything else I wasn't aware of?"

Penthesilea gave him a lopsided grin. "This ought to mean there are still some villagers alive."

"What makes you think so?" Chris replied as he mentally compared his javelins to the size of the creature.

"If it had killed everyone...why would it still be trying to lure people out by calling them for help?" Penthesilea asked him. "Do you think he would expect their enemies to come to their rescue?"

Chris nodded sheepishly as he stared at the Cyclops who was raising his club for a wide swipe.

"And what will we do now?" He asked her. "Jump really high?"

"No…" Penthesilea replied as she turned her back to the Cyclops"Far too deep to be wise."

"What?" Chris asked before he followed after the woman and her 10 Minions.

Penthesilea groaned softly after she struck the ground but crawled back up.

"Fan out, my little psychos!" Penthesilea ordered as she made a wide swipe with her arm.

Chris gave her a small nod as he looked up at the creature which was by now easily twice the height and most likely at least five times the weight of most adult males.

A new swipe from the club torn a large number of stones away from the wall which collapsed into a crude ramp and allowed the gigantic humanoid an easy access to the wall from which it was towering even higher above them.

The monster raised his arms up to the heavens as he roared loudly from atop the wall …. then he jumped.

A large dust cloud rose up from the ground when the creature's weight struck the ground and Penthesilea's creatures scattered before it.

Fortunately for them, the creatures were just as swift as durable and Penthesilea mental orders were even faster.

The creatures moved in and out of the range of the monster's club. Most of them fled almost as soon as the creature laid his single eye upon them, but that particular moment allowed some of the others to move a bit closer simultaneously until...after so many attempts one of the Minions gained a chance to drag his weapon through the flesh of the cyclops.

It wasn't a deep wound...the numerous layers of thick wool and animal skins which he had wrapped around his legs had obviously done the duty he had intended for them...still her creatures had drawn blood and he hadn't.

A moment later one of Chris's javelins struck his chest and hung there for a couple of moments before he slapped it violently away, simultaneously turning the shaft of the weapon into little more than matchsticks.

"The second blood." Penthesilea muttered from her spot, away from the direct confrontation.

Then she chuckled. "I guess his chest is not as likely to be struck as his legs." She muttered as the annoyed creature pointed his eye at Chris.

She raised her armored left hand and pointed that at the monster's spine.

"Burn…." She ordered as she felt the palm of her hand heating up.

"As if…" A small fire floated before her open palm.

"You're already…." As she felt a strain upon her lungs and her arm started shaking due to her efforts.

"In Tartarus!" The burning orb shot straight at the gigantic creature as if it had been fired from a ballista.

Penthesilea gave a loud sigh of relief as if the fireball had actually been a physical weight which had been forced down upon her whilst she staggered backwards due to the backlash.

The Cyclops on the other hand staggered visibly and even found itself forced to bend down before he could recover his balance. Then the numerous flammable materials in his clothing lit up and turned him into a massive torch. The monster was too distracted by the flames to care for the Minions who instantly charged him and began to cut away at his legs whilst he reached for his burning tunic and tore it from his chest.

"Keep attacking!" Penthesilea mentally ordered her creatures as she regained her breath. "slash the tendons from his ankles until he can't stand up anymore."

Then she pointed her eyes back at Chris.

"Get out of here." She mouthed furiously. "You wanted to save your friends and siblings, ...no? Then get them!"

Chris blinked in return. "What?" He asked her, wondering whether his hearing had gone before his sanity left him...unlike what he always had expected.

"Get them!" Penthesilea repeated whilst she grasped her axe with both her hands. "Whilst you people still have the chance to escape."

Chris still seemed to hesitate as he found himself torn between abandoning the only one who had been willing to come with him to save some of his friends and siblings...and actually rescuing his friends and siblings."

"What about you?" He yelled back at her.

Penthesilea growled in return.

"I'll hold him off until there is enough of a distance between you and him. Then I'll rejoin the Overlord and once that's the case...this thickskin will stand no chance.

Chris closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, then he nodded.

"I'll remember this." Chris yelled at her before he ran towards the gate. "... don't be a hero...run!"

Penthesilea chuckled softly. "I know you will...otherwise I would not be doing something this stupid." She muttered.

"Now, my Lady." Gnarl interjected her thoughts. "Get away, whilst the beast is distracted. If you're quick he will get after the fool rather than you."

Penthesilea chuckled evilly. "Why would I run as if I am afraid… for what? Death?" She asked Gnarl. "When I could become their living hero."

It was at that moment that Cyclops finally found himself free from the burning cloth and skin which covered his upper body. The creature's chest had been hairy and most of these had been singed or even burned away which created a stench of its own which mixed itself with the original odour of sheep, sweat, a remainder of rotting flesh and finally unwashed cloth.

The combination was a rare stench to which Pentheslea and her Minions were subjected and as ridiculous as it might have seemed to everyone who was forced to face off against one of those monstrous creatures, Penthesilea was already half inclined to simply kill the monster here for no other reason than to make certain that she would never again be forced to smell it.

Still having Brawler in front of her grasp his own throat and imitate choking whilst he yelled "Stinks like a Green." was somewhat funny… and worrying because Pentheslilea had absolutely no desire to being forced to get accustomed to such a scent.

However she lacked the time to consider that thought for more than a second because despite the hair that had been burned away by the fire, the cyclop's skin had grown red but had otherwise remained unmarred by the fire.

"Almost like a child op Poseidon…" Penthesilea muttered distracted as straightened her back.

The creature swept his club around in a wide arc and as he did so, the heavy tool broke through the earth with so much force that clods of dirt flew in every direction and left a deep furrow in the land.

Penthesilea's Minions once again retreated from the monster at the young woman's mental orders but this time they broke the ring around the Cyclops. Instead they reformed into a demi-circle which stood between her and them.

The monster followed them and as such he moved away from the wall.

She took a deep breath and pointed her armored hand once again at him.

The cyclops stared back at her with a hate filled gaze as he recognized the motion and then charged straight at her as he threw a is club around in wide motions to keep most of her Minions away.

Penthesilea smiled and evaded him with a quick dive which had her scramble up with an almost catlike grace which had her back up in an instant.

The Cyclops gave a pained roar as one of the Minions had used the moment to drag a thin but deep, red line across the back of the monster's empty hand with his stolen sword.

The monster stared back at the cause of this wound and Penthesilea found her earlier smile evaporating. She needed to keep him focused upon her rather than his surroundings.

She reached towards the cloth which had obscured her features earlier and pulled it down in a quick motion. This motion drew the beast's attention for a moment and she capitalized upon the opportunity by charging him in return. Her axe flew through the air in an almost vertical arc which contained enough force to split even a cyclop's head and the tall monster took an instant step backwards before he made a swipe with his club to shatter the shaft of her weapon. Penthesilea however had already pulled the axe back and the monster's weapon flew harmless over the ground before the haft of the weapon was once again clenched into her fists.

She smirked.

"No distractions." She told him chidingly before she raised her axe once again in a wide swipe which the monster evaded by stepping backwards.

Penthesilea noticed a small column of now very little looking humans behind the back of the beast who were running in their desperate attempt to gain enough distance upon the massive Maneater.

The Cyclops reacted with a quick stab of his club which most likely contained enough force to break all of her bones. Penthesilea countered with a lunge of her own axe which slowed his attack down and drew a small scar upon the already heavily scratched wood, before she changed the direction of her axe and slashed the weapon downwards and which ran a far deeper rift through his right leg.

The club missed her once again and Penthesilea took another quick step backwards which left her just outside of the danger zone.

"Like I said…"Penthesilea told him mockingly. "No distractions … I am rather fond of being the center of attention you see."

The Cyclops growled and sprung into action. Already too familiar with the inhuman strength of the Cyclops-race, the Minoan-born Demigoddess refused to meet monster's strength with her own and instead evaded the swipe by diving aside before she pushed her weapon forwards like a spear and then pulled it backwards with an even greater speed which tore another gash through the cloth around the massive creature's ankle. She followed that act by giving the Minions towards her right-side their first new mental order since her own intervention.

The cyclops raised his club to crush her when he noticed the smaller threats closing in and stepped backwards before he made a swipe towards them which drove them back again.

Penthesilea stood up and evaded the swipe of the weapon which reached just beyond her earlier position.

"Almost," she muttered distractedly before she moved her Minions to the right side to their positions.

She waited until the Minions started moving until the woman sent a trio of the Minions at the Cyclops' back towards the top of the wall.

From a corner of her eyes she saw the last of the column disappeared from her sight and she smirked in return.

Then she gave yell.

"Back." Penthesilea screamed as she raised her axe and charged the beast in a direct contrast to her orders before she threw herself to the side and flung herself underneath a wide swipe of the club.

The Cyclops gave a loud roar in return and raised his club up to smash her with a vertical strike of his weapon when the remaining Minions to Penthesilea's left shot forwards with a swords in their eager hands. The cyclops took another swipe at them with his empty hand but failed to hit them when they broke their attack off. The attack hadn't been limited to them though, the Minions to the right had likewise taken action and charged forward as well. Unlike the other Minions they never halted their assault and instead they threw themselves straight at the leg of beast which received numerous deep jabs which were barely slowed down by the thick cloth around the limb.

His earlier attempt to crush Penthesilea was forgotten instead he swept the knuckles from his dominant hand down his leg which dislodged the far smaller creatures from his limb and launched them away. Said Minions flew a short distance through the air and then struck the ground after which they kept rolling. They stayed down for a single moment then they had scampered back up again, looking somewhat wobbly upon their legs and dirtied, but otherwise no worse for wear.

If Gnarl's earlier description of the Browns as the toughest of the Minions had somehow been disregarded by Penthesilea after their earlier meeting with the archers than it was this sight which definitely confirmed it.

Penthesilea took another breath before she took a first step backwards, towards the wall and the launched Minions. Then a second step followed...so did a third and a fourth.

The four minions who had stayed with her likewise kept up with her and crawled backwards although they only retreated with bared teeth.

For a moment the Cyclops seemed to hesitate. Whilst the creature was obviously far from intelligent or civilized...it was smart enough to realize that this battle hadn't been one of the one-sided confrontation from which he had gathered most of his prior combat-experience and that it was unlikely to become easier. Thus he hesitated..and Penthesilea stopped instantly.

The seven Minions gathered around her like before and then she took a step forward with her axe in her hand and a challenging smirk upon her face.

This provocation tore through the Cyclops' confusion and he took a few slow step forwards whilst he swung his club with slow deliberate attacks which were more meant to keep his smaller opponents at bay than to crush them.

Penthesilea reacted by continuing her earlier retreat but despite the occasional lunge of her own weapon to force the beast to keep his attention upon herself, her true focus was fixed at her Minions which now resumed their earlier demi-circle and started to half-surround the monster.

A quick charge from the two left-Minions halted the retreat and had the Cyclops pause as he raised his club before the creatures broke their assault back off again... And the retreat towards the wall continued.

"What are you doing?!" Gnarl snarled out of nowhere into Penthesilea's ear before he swiftly added "Mistress."

"Seizing my opportunity!" She snarled back as she threw a quick glance behind her and noticed she was mere feet away from the wall.

Two of the Minions on her right made another push forward towards the Cyclops who once again raised his club for a swipe and Penthesilea turned around and began running accompanied by the other five Minions which she had kept by her side.

The Cyclops blinked in surprise and then swung his weapon towards the two Minions to drive them away as he set off after the Demigoddess.

Penthesilea felt the earth behind her shake underneath the monster's massive weight and knew she was rapidly losing the distance between them. But for every step which the Cyclops took Penthesilea had to take five so there was no way for her to keep her head start.

As she felt the Monster closing in Penthesilea threw herself sideways and as she rose up after half-falling/ half-landing she swept her axe with a wide single-handed slash in the general direction of the monsters in a wide horizontal arc.

She could feel the sucking effect from the air which was displaced by the Cyclops' club as it swung over her. But unlike her opponent, whilst Penthesilea's slash had been blind it hadn't missed.

It was caught in the numerous folds of cloth and hide, robbed of most of it's impact, but she hadn't missed… nor had it been her only attack.

High-pitched war-cries erupted from behind the monster as the trio of Minions jumped from the walls and grabbed a hold of the Cyclops' back.

Sharp talons dug into the creatures' back or grabbed a hold of the thick hair which fell down whilst clawed feet scratched small red lines in the monster's skin. Once their hold had been established the Minions stabbed their short swords into every inch of vulnerable flesh which they could reach.

One massive hand successfully reached behind him and grasped a Minion's leg who was then thrown with a brutal strength towards Penthesilea but the other two evaded the monster's grip and kept going at it with all the possible fear they felt and all the violence which was inherent to their already aggressive nature.

However more swords had reached the Cyclops and their owners began their cruel work with a glee and a desperation which was equal to the ones belonging upon the monster's back.

The cyclops sunk upon one knee when Penthesilea approached him as she changed her grip upon her axe. His club dropped from his rapidly weakening hand as Penthesilea noticed the sword which sprouted from the side of his neck and creature fell upon his hands.

For a single moment, Penthesilea hesitated over her next action. It wasn't pity nor was it guilt or a similar, "noble" emotion. If anything it was greedy, cruel and extreme practicality.

Gnarl had told her about the Evil Presence-spell and the possibilities which it created. A cyclops would be a powerful addition to any army, especially a monster which was as old as this one. However, a single look into the creature's eye persuaded her of doing otherwise. She could read the naked hatred in his eyes and she knew that even as much a single moment of clarity would make her the target of his next attack. Penthesilea was many things, but she was not incapable of imagining her plans failing, her control evaporating and her own strength fading. She wasn't going to hold the chain of a monster which was bound to strike at her when she would be at her weakest.

So instead, she swung the axe and struck, which broke the Cyclops skull and ended his life...for now.

"Very impressive, my lady." Gnarl told his mistress as he looked down upon the images which appeared at the surface of the pool. "But what was the point of fighting ...a Cyclops!...if you're not enslaving it?"

From the corner of his eye he noticed a grinning Quaver scurrying towards him and the ancient Minion grasped his cane a bit lower before he raised it up in a threatening gesture in return.

Back down at the surface of the pool, Penthesilea raised her armored glove up in a strangling motion and he felt Quaver's clawing hands answer the order with what he suspected was great glee.

"Watch your tongue, Minion!" Penthesilea growled back at him as her image glared at the ancient Minion from the surface of the pool. "Before it gets you in trouble from which it can't extract you."

Gnarl felt Quaver's grip upon his throat momentarily slacken and he noticed that Penthesilea had lowered her hand again whilst Quaver hadn't. The Grey Minion gave the other Minion a contemptuous glare and smacked his hand away.

"That ...is very true my Lady." He admitted with a voice which went from annoyed to something that seemed like contrite.

"However you can't deny that your decision to engage a Cyclops was a dangerous one and came with little advantage if it did not deliver us his service or even as much as some treasure." Gnarl defended himself.

"Perhaps." Penthesilea agreed before she shook her head. "But I believe I gained something far more valuable than mere riches or a powerful but unreliable servant."

"And what is that, mistress?" He asked her curiously but with a hint of apprehension. you

"Reputation, Gnarl, goodwill...and the influence which those two bring." Penthesilea told him.

Her image turned it's back to Gnarl as she began to make her way to the entrance of the town.

"Chris will remember this, so will the people who saw me distract that beast when they ran off" Penthesilea told him. "...and whoever is in charge of that town will know that there stood someone foolish enough to face off against a Cyclops before his gate and he will believe the Overlord she's serving is actually powerful enough to kill that monster. if she comes whilst wearing pieces of his tusks as a necklace"

For a single moment Gnarl blinked as he saw the pieces of Penthesilea's plan fall together and then caught a glimpse of the picture she was creating.

"You're not just planning to rule them as their Overlord...you'll also be pretending to become their defender to keep them from organizing against you." Gnarl exclaimed with a mixture of bafflement and outright glee. The ancient Minion threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"You make this old Minion feel all nostalgic," He said as he rubbed his hands together. "You truly are Kronos Grand-daughter. I can only imagine the pride he must be feeling for your actions."

Penthesilea stared at the crane which had been placed outside of the mine. She noticed several empty minecarts in its direct vicinity. Most of these were severely damaged and had been spread all over the terrain close to the entrance, as if someone had thrown them around in a fit of anger. Penthesilea suspected that this was exactly what had happened once the Cyclops had realised exactly how many people had escaped his hunger.

Still she gave a tired sigh. "Please tell me, Gnarl, that you have an easy way to get that in the tower!"

Gnarl sighed in return. "I am afraid not, my lady." He admitted.

Penthesilea sighed again. "Then there won't be a better option than break it down and build it back up in the tower?" She muttered as she began wondering how many times she would have to start rebuilding the piece of machinery once she finally got all those parts there.

"I guess we'll better start looking for some lighter wagons to load all those parts upon." She whispered with some disgust. "At least that shouldn't be that difficult if they're that dependent upon supplies for their survival."

Penthesilea preferred not to think about the alternative which would require her to make at least one more trip for the rest of the parts. She also prefered not to get caught stealing one of their cranes by people she was trying to impress.

Penthesilea was right about the wagons though and without a trace of enemies in the vicinity she allowed her Minions to spread out and continue to loot the place. This got them few rewards since this had been little more than mining village rather than a military camp, still it did get her creatures some of the knicknacks which they liked to wear as well as a few splashes of paint with which they soon employed to further "adorn" their armor with scrawled pictures and splashes of color. A more worrying if not entirely unexpected discovering about her creatures was the way they threw themselves upon the jars with wine. Fortunately for her, the Minion's toughness was not limited to physical wounds and they stumbled onward alongside of her.

She was far more pleased to discover some pieces of cloth and actual clothing in the remnants of the houses as well as number of hygiene-products. These were promptly confiscated by the Demigoddess.

However it was Brawler who led her to the greatest discovery that day.

"Power, Mistress." The Minion exclaimed with his customary enthusiasm as he pointed into the direction of the cliffs.

Penthesilea narrowed her eyes momentarily and called her Minions back around her as she made her way into the direction which he had pointed out.

She was almost next to the cliffs when she felt her gauntlet heat up and pull her further.

Something instinctively told her that there was more than one something in a hall which had been carved out behind the cliffs. One of these "Powers" was an object, the other was alive.

She glared at the cliffs who stood between her and this newly acquired goal. Her magic was still new, still uncontrollable and as much a mystery to her as to most new observers, but she knew she could steer it, lead it on towards whatever it was she intended. and she felt it follow a course through the earth in a way that was not dissimilar from a river making its way through the land.

There was a tunnel underneath the earth!

Penthesilea growled as clenched her fists and slowly raised them up. The Minions who surrounded her looked around in awe as they noticed the way the earth started to move, it was not merely tearing apart as it shook, instead it was moving in the same rhythmical waving pattern as an actual river. Gnarl had called her the granddaughter of Kronos, he wasn't wrong but she was no less the daughter of the Earth-Shaker.

"Once again…"Gnarl told her, "Very impressive, Mistress. You should enter, tread proudly and show no fear!"

Penthesilea chuckled in return, still feeling the high which usually remained after employing her original powers.

"Shouldn't you warn me to act carefully and not taking needless risks?" She asked him as she recalled his reaction upon her confrontation with the Cyclops.

She could actually hear the amusement in his voice as he replied. "I doubt there is a need for that in this case, Mistress, I daresay you will be in no danger unless you show fear and weakness."

Penthesilea gave him a nod.

"Torches!" She ordered with a calm voice which prompted her followers to craft these from a couple of nearby pieces of rubble, branches and torn cloth.

She entered the tunnel at the head of this small column followed by nine minions whom each carried a torch in addition to their own weapon. The tenth, Brawler walked almost next to her but he clutched his own weapon in both his hands as his yellow eyes scanned the surface of the tunnel with all the devotion she could hope for.

The collapsed tunnel was small where she entered it, no wider than the distance which a single man would have needed to walk without being overly worried about touching the walls with his shoulders.

However after a short distance, the damage of her minor earthquake disappeared rapidly and the tunnel became far more impressive looking. The tunnel was shaped like an almost perfect demi- circle which was almost high enough to have a Cyclops walk through the tunnel. Which would have been disturbing enough as a thought without the presence of an actual Cyclops on the outside of the tunnel and a pair of "powers" within its confines. Maybe Gnarl's earlier words should have reassured her… they didn't though.

As she continued her trek, she saw an obvious glittering in the distance before.

"Mistress...Stop!" Brawler yelled as he grabbed her leg with one hand and gave it a hard pull which threw her backwards.

Penthesilea swore loudly as she found her backside painfully introduced to the cold, hard and slightly moist floor. Then she saw the reason for Brawler's action and she swore again, this time softer.

"Well done, Brawler." Penthesilea said as she rubbed her gloved hand affectionately over his head. "Thank you."

She stared down and gulped, except for the rubble which had been caused by her collapse, the floor had been almost perfectly flat and utterly bereft of hindrance...that was up to the point where the floor literally disappeared.

Penthesilea pointed her now narrowed eyes back at the distant glittering, a trap... and in hindsight a fairly obvious one.

She swept her eyes down the floor as she looked for a clue to proceed and noticed a small pad to her right which was directly connected to a spiral stairway which led to a higher floor, most likely the one with the bright light which had almost successfully lured her into the chasm.

The young Overlord sighed and looked down at Brawler who gave her an eager smile which made her sigh before she gave him a single nod.

The Minion set off instantly before halting five steps in front of her. She saw Brawler turn her head and give her an asking look as if he was asking her whether she would follow him. She gave him another nod and did so.

As she made her way to the top of the stairs, Penthesilea kept looking around and she couldn't help but wonder whether this was what an ant saw whilst climbing the ruins of a temple in the darkest of nights. It seemed like a fairly good comparison though because that was exactly what it looked like. There were broken six broken and crumbling pillars, one of these was the staircase she currently threaded, as well as an even more broken looking floor which was threaded by numerous ravines and holes. That was the floor obviously which was covered by the remains of statues, walls and the roof of the temple. There was even a star-spangled night sky. The sky itself existed out of the mountain which seemed to have partially hollowed out...As for the stars, those twinkling nightlights? ...Those were the numerous yellow eyes which stared at the small column as they made their way to the top.

Perhaps Penthesilea should have been grateful for the lack of missiles which came their way as they ascended to the top, but the truth was that she wasn't. She could have dealt with an outright attack, as disadvantageous that would have been, but their current situation was far more nerve wracking because Penthesilea had no clue about what would happen next.

The top floor was fairly small, or at least it seemed that way due to the massive size of the hollow chamber which she had just crossed. The room was low though, only just high enough to keep Penthesilea from having to bend her head to keep it from scraping against the ceiling and enclosed by broken rock walls which were rife with gaps and holes. Penthesilea eyed those slips warily, a suspicion which felt justified once the first yellow eyes appeared to peer through.

She hissed in return and raised her hand in return which made her Minions fan out.

"There is no need to feel...scared." An old, but rather high-pitched voice told her before he added with an undertone of poorly hidden irony, "Overlord." The owner of the voice who came strolling from the shadows was small and tanned. A Minion, one of the original Browns and obvious old enough to be considered a Grey. Unlike Gnarl who acted and dressed in accordance to some kind of beggar elegance. This one did not look overly differently from the other Browns. His back had been bent, his skin was somewhat paler but apart from those details she could see no real indication of an advanced age. On the contrary, the Minion's bare belly was taunt and heavy with muscles whilst his shoulders were broad. There was one noticeable difference with her own Minions though, this was the size of his hands. Whilst none of the Minions she had seen thus far could truly be described as owning a set of smooth, dainty fingers. His hands seemed more akin to shovels qua seize and were utterly devoid of the talon-like nails which her own Minions sported. Instead his nails were short, blunt and like the skin of his hands marred with numerous scars and scratches.

His head was mostly hidden behind a combination of scarves which covered his lower features and a brass miners helmet which curiously for a species with brilliant night vision had a small oil-lamp attached to it which was burning with a small but almost impossibly bright flame.

The last thing of notice was his weapon, this seemed like the bastard-child of a pick-axe and a far too heavy hammer with a haft that was fairly short. All of this painted a rather imposing impression of the Minion's strength.

It was at this point that Gnarl once again interjected.

"Grubby...This is brilliant news, my Lady." He said as the Minion paused and pointed his yellow eyes at Penthesilea. "Grubby was one of the tunnelers in the old days. He can reconnect us to the old network and even expand it as your power grows, Mistress."

"You're talking to someone." The Minion said out loud although the words seemed more akin to a conclusion for himself than an accusation.

Penthesilea gave chuckle in return, it was not a happy sound though.

"Indeed... Grubby. Who do you think is whispering to me?" She asked him in return as she moved towards him. Her Minions moved along with her and (with the exception of Brawler) formed a demi-circle behind her as if she was protecting them rather than the reverse.

She noticed the motion in the shadows behind Grubby as said darkness retreated and revealed more Minions...much more Minions. However these creatures receded along with the darkness in which they almost desperately seemed to hide.

Grubby hissed momentarily in return as he retreated along with his Minions.

A moment later a small number of Minions shot from the darkness at her and succeeded in temporarily blindsiding her.

Penthesilea's reaction was instinctive. The woman woman pointed her armored hand in their general direction then she hissed a single order. "Capture!"

The next moment she charged at Grubby and raised her gloved arm as she made a grasping gesture. Said Grey had his eyes widen as he recalled the gesture of a far older Overlord and stepped back whilst simultaneously motioning a trio of Minions forward to intercept her.

The fairly small fiery orb struck the ground just before two of the Minions and blew both of them backwards. The remaining Minion found his club caught between the blades of the axe, then he saw Penthesilea whirl closer and her hand reaching for his features as blue lightning crackled in the bare palm of her hand.

Then her hand touched his features and his previous orders didn't matter any more.

Grubby made another motion as he scrambled backwards which caused the rest of his group to charge forward like a massive tide.

The remaining members of Penthesilea's group charged forward to meet her in what seemed like a doomed attempt which would be swept aside. He knew they couldn't reach her in time.

But neither could his. The fastest of his Minions was thrown aside by the club from the third member of his vanguard whose now gleaming yellow eyes stared back at him with a disdain that previously would have been impossible.

A second Minion was driven back by the swings of the Third's club and then Penthesilea stepped within axe-distance from him with said weapon in one hand and crackling, blue lightning in the metal-gloved other.

"Enough, Grubby!" Gnarl snarled at them both as he intervened.

"The Minion Master…" Grubby muttered annoyed as he pointed his eyes at Penthesilea.

Said woman narrowed her own eyes in confusion before she recalled the title with which Gnarl had introduced himself to her.

Said Minion Master chuckled evilly in her ear as she stared down at Grubby.

"Indeed I am...It is so satisfying to be remembered."

"You're intervening…." Penthesilea reminded him before she continued with an edge in his voice. "Why?"

"You can't simply dominate a Grey as if he was a Brown or a human." Gnarl objected.

"Ooh, really." Penthesilea asked him with a dismissive smile as she raised her armored hand and had even more lightning cackle inside of it.

"What Gnarl failed to mention until now is that is impossible to permanently dominate the mind of Grey, we are far too old and slippery to be permanently subjected. I would break free…" Grubby told her with what she suspected was something of a smirk behind his scarves.

"Well...yes...eventually." Gnarl admitted and not exactly sounding pleased with that particular revelation, "that is correct."

Penthesilea gave a calm nod as she filed that particular bit of previously hidden information away for future schemes against her.

"Ain't that a shame ... "Penthesilea remarked with a calm voice which made it fairly obvious that it wouldn't keep her up at night, as she grasped her axe with both hands.

"You can't kill me," Grubby told her as he in direct contradiction to his words kept retreating from her. "You would have nobody to maintain the tunnels."

Penthesilea chuckled in return. "Gnarl referred to you as one of the tunnelers, not the only one!"

Grubby stared back at her with a mixture of annoyance and something that looked surprisingly much as actual approval.

Than to her far greater surprise he raised his head up and started laughing. The Minion had a high pitched, but rather hoarse laugh which carried a hint of darkness.

"Smart, you caught me there." He admitted as he began to disappear into the shadows and the majority of his remaining Minions began to retreat as well. The expressions upon their faces were likewise a mixture of emotions, in these cases, these were mostly a combination of curiosity, fear and something that was probably the Minion-equivalent of contemplation.

"I am not offering you my loyalty yet,...my lady." The Tunneler's voice told her as the figure himself had disappeared. "Not yet."

"Nor the service of my own Browns." He continued. "But I'll be watching you in the future."

It was at this moment that a portion of the floor seemed to acquire a blue shine and began to move.

Penthesilea recognized the gleam of metal as the "tiles" reflected the blue light and the floor continued to move. At first Penthesilea mistook the movement for the formation of large, metal stalagmites, then however she recognized the figures for what they were.

They weren't a parody of nature, they were a tribute… a tribute to the Overlord and each of them was shaped like the talons of the Overlord's Gauntlet.

"I have opened the Gates to you, my lady." Grubby revealed to her. "Use them well for swift movement is no less a weapon then swords or fires are."

"About the rest," he continued as the last of his remaining Minions disappeared into the shadows. "You can keep what you find in the room."

Penthesilea gave a snort in return, someone who had known her could have told Grubby that she was less than impressed by said Grey's concern for his Minions.

She raised her gauntleted hand none the less though and coated with the blue lightning which came along with the art of dominating. She knew far better than to disregard the gift of more forces.

"There ought to be a conveniently placed second portal near the entrance of the mining village. That should make it easy to get that crane into the tower. " Gnarl suggested carefully, aware that Penthesilea was rightfully suspicious of his intentions.

But that mattered little for the moment, she still had a lot of work to do, but he no longer doubted that she would make a fine Overlord… despite some of her more...heroic tendencies. Evil had just found a way and all she would have to do to reach the destination which Gnarl's intended for her was survive.

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