Humanity. The dominant species of a beautiful blue world the third planet from its star, located in an otherwise unremarkable arm of its home galaxy. Having evolved from lesser primates over the course of millions of years, they quickly adapted to their environments and learned the ways of the world. With an intelligence unmatched by any other species on the planet, they took control of their world and multiplied rapidly. By the mid-21st century, their population reached well beyond 9 billion, with no plans of stalling anytime in the near future.

However, this growth was not without a price. Humanity had long since grew greedy and selfish, initiating wars over land and money, living a life of luxury while the less fortunate starved to death, and changing the face of the planet for the worst. The world leaders and their governments did not care much of the well-being of their people, and was instead more concerned with gaining more power and more influence over the world. Furthermore, humans saw themselves as invincible; they had conquered all other species on the planet with their powerful weapons and even rendered several species extinct. As far as they were concerned, humanity's greatest enemy... was humanity itself.

For many, many years, they were indeed right. However, this belief would soon be challenged. One day, out of the vast expanse of space, they arrived. An extraterrestrial species that resembled humans, but at the same time was far different. Not the least of which was that these aliens had a stature that completely dwarfed even the tallest humans on record in their shadows; these aliens clocked in at nearly 100 feet tall, inspiring awe and fear in the eyes of humanity.

Once these aliens arrived on the blue planet, they made their move. They began to massacre humanity by the thousands; with their size all it took was a mighty stomp to extinguish the life of the average man, though some also took to devouring them as snacks. For the first time in their history, humanity as a whole put aside their differences and banded together to fight back against this new threat. Their nuclear weapons and combined military forces succeeded in killing a few of the deadly warriors, but in the end it was not enough to stop their advance. In another first for humanity, they became something that they had feared most: the hunted.

With no defense against these fearsome warriors, humans the world over hid in deep underpasses. However, many were eventually found by the giants. Rather than kill them outright, the giants took to establishing their own dominions over the ruined lands of humanity. They ruled over these lands, and the humans within, with an iron fist. Their mission to purge the planet of humans was put on hold; the blue planet that the humans called "Earth" was indeed a remarkable world, and they wanted to spend as much time on it as they were able to. In their eyes, it was truly a shame that the "foolish" humans had caused a world such as this to decay.

And thus, these giants--a race solely comprised of females--became the new rulers of Earth, the new "Queens".

Our story begins in the 17th year of the Queens' occupation of the Earth. Humanity's global population now stands more-or-less at a paltry 1,000,000, a far cry from what they had numbered before the Queens evoked their conquest of the planet...

~~~

The wind blew past their ears as Trey and his two companions ran through a thick forest. They were frantic, constantly looking behind them and listening very closely to their surroundings; they were eager to reach what they called "salvation".

They soon arrived at a clearing; the sun's rays shone down from the blue sky above through the "hole" in the trees.

Trey fell down on one knee and began to inhale heavily. He was exhausted, having been running nonstop for what felt like hours.

His two companions noticed this, as they both stalled and rushed back to Trey's side.

"Trey, what are you doing?!" said Richie, his brown-haired partner. "She's gonna catch us if we don't hurry up!"

"I know!" Trey responded hastily between breaths. "But we've been running for so long that I'm out of it..."

"You'll have time to rest when we reach the others!" said Elijah, an African man. "We need to get out of here!"

Trey sighed as Elijah pulled him up by the arm. Once he was back on his feet, the trio resumed their flight. They entered back into the thicket, and continued to fight their way through the bushes and vines that were littered throughout the forest. Eerily, the wildlife was as quiet as the dead of night; not even a sound from one of the native birds could be heard. Was it possible that she was nearby? However, they did not hear--or feel--any of the heavy footsteps that shook the earth each time she walked.

After what seemed like hours, the group reached the edge of the forest; as evident of the bright sunlight that was shining from ahead.

They finally exited the woods, and walked onto a flat, grassy plain. The sky was a pristine blue, with puffy white clouds flowing with the wind. Not far off in the distance were tall, jagged cliffs

"The secret passage is over in that valley," Richie said, pointing in that direction. "Once we reach it, we're home-free."

"But we'll be out in the open," Trey said somewhat nervously. "If she catches us, then we'll be sitting ducks."

"Then we'd better hurry," Richie responded.

The trio once again took off running across the lush plain. Again, they looked behind them; no sign of her approaching. Perhaps their escape had gone unnoticed for the time-being. Trey hoped that that was indeed the case.

Far behind them, beyond the forest, they could see the monstrously huge structure: the Queens' Castle of this region, where many of their companions were kept as slaves and pets, or worse, as playthings and delicacies. Trey could not bear to think of how many of his friends were eaten or otherwise killed in gruesome ways by the gigantic aliens.

Trey could barely remember their arrival; he was only two years old when they started their conquest of the Earth. Therefore, he had no fond memories of what life was like before they came here; the same could not be said of others he knew, including Richie and Elijah. All he knew was that those giant women-like creatures were evil, and that he had to get away from them at all costs.

To their sides, the land began to separate and rise, as the path that they treaded on lowered, and the grass gave way to dirt and stone. Soon, they were deep within the valley, the grass and forest being completely out of sight, though the upper portions of the Queens' Castle could still be seen.

"It should be nearby," Richie said as the three slowed to a stop. "I'll go on ahead and look for it."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Elijah asked with concern. "What if one of them finds you?"

"I'll be fine," Richie responded. "Those bitches' are so big that I'll be able to hear them coming a mile away."

"...I hope so." Elijah was unconvinced.

Trey and Elijah watched as Richie pressed on ahead, where the path created by the cliffs above merged with the rest of the much larger valley. According to the older prisoners back at the Castle, this valley had not existed before the Queens' invasions; it had been shaped into the face of the Earth during the war. The land within was barren; not a single shred of plant life grew within the rocky walls.

As Richie exited the path, Trey and Elijah noticed a large shadow appear over him. Their hearts sunk; they knew the source of that dreadful shadow.

Before Richie could react, a gigantic, sandal-clad tanned foot stomped down onto him, causing the entire valley to shake violently in response. Both Trey and Elijah nearly lost their balance as a result.

"Richie!" Trey called. All that he could see of Richie was a large blood splatter surrounding the foot.

"There you are!" said a loud female voice from beyond the path. "Empress Kharlla was not pleased with her servants sneaking out of her domain."

The foot turned as its owner walked forward and stood at the end of the path, facing directly towards them. She was a tan-skinned giant with shoulder-length violet hair and blue eyes; and she wore a deep blue tubetop with a white skirt, completing her outfit with what resembled brown gladiator sandals. This Queen was known--and feared--as Ryia.

She shook her head as she placed her hands on her hips. "She gave me the order to do with you as I like when I find you." A disturbing smirk formed on her face. "I already have plenty of slaves of my own, so I'm just going to kill you both right here."

Then, Ryia started to approach them, stepping off of and revealing to the men the crushed body of Richie in a pool of blood and flesh behind her. As large as she was, it would only take her a few steps to reach their present position.

Elijah fearfully began to shove on Trey. "Move! Move!!"

Both men turned around and began to flee from the approaching titaness. Though she was walking, she was quickly catching up to them; if she had wanted to, she could have just dashed and slaughtered them in a matter of seconds. No doubt that she was merely toying with them at the moment.

"We need to hide!!" Elijah said.

"Where!?" Trey responded. "There's no place to take cover!!"

Elijah looked around, and then spotted something to his left. "Over there!"

Trey looked at where Elijah was directing him, and saw an opening in the rock wall that looked to be just barely large enough for them to squeeze through. She would see them flee inside, and it would not serve to save their lives in the long run, but it would at least provide them with an opportunity to think about their next move.

They wasted no time. They ran right towards the opening, with Trey in the lead. Upon reaching it, Trey turned his body to the side and edged his way inside as fast as he could. Elijah prepared to follow in after him, but before he was able to, Ryia's gigantic foot swung forward, slamming into Elijah's body with the force of a bus and sending him flying several dozen feet away.

"Elijah!!" Trey frantically called.

Ryia walked past the opening, and towards the injured Elijah, who laid on the valley ground, immobile but alive. Trey peaked out from the crack in the wall, and watched as Ryia stood over his fallen companion.

"Stop!" Trey yelled. "Don't kill him!!"

Ryia giggled, as if mocking his plea. Then, she held out her right arm and opened her palm. Electricity began to spark around her hand from her palm, before the electricity took the form of a large sword. She turned the sharp tip of the sword towards the ground, and thrust it downward, cutting into the rock ground and through Elijah. He gave one final scream before his body was severed in half as Ryia slid the sword towards her, creating a large slit in the ground as well. Blood shot out from both ends of Elijah's body, as Ryia lifted her sword and carried it over her shoulder as she walked back towards where Trey was hiding.

Trey retreated as far inside of the crack as he could, until he felt his body being pressed on both sides by the rocky walls. He shook in fear as Ryia stood at the opening, bending over and looking into it.

"Come out, human," she ordered. "I promise I won't make your death painful if you comply."

Trey turned his head away from her and closed his eyes.

"If you don't do what I say, then I'll have to just cut you out," Ryia continued. "Then I'll sever your limbs one-by-one, pull your skin from your bones, and bite your head off. Do you want to make me that angry, human?"

He had no intention of doing as she ordered; whether it was a quick death or a prolonged and agonizing one, the fact of the matter was that he did not want to die. He wanted her to go away and leave him alone. However, it seemed that that was not going to happen. She seemed determined to retrieve him and end his life in a gruesome display.

"I'll give you to the count of three," Ryia said, her voice taking a serious tone. "If you don't come out by then, I'll rip you into pieces. One..."

Trey whimpered. He covered his face with his hands; he could feel that his face was awash with tears.

"Two..."

Trey hoped--nay, prayed--that a miracle would happen to deliver him from this crisis. Any miracle, be it her losing interest in him, or her suddenly dropping dead from known causes; as long as he survived, he did not care.

"...Three. Okay, human. You have decided your fate. I'm going to make your death as painful as possible."

Then, Trey felt the area rumble. The rumbling became more violent as the crashes that accompanied them grew louder. His heart raced even faster; another Queen was arriving. It was bad enough dealing with one, but two was far too much for him to handle. He was now convinced that he would have to face his own mortality, in the form of two sadistic, albeit beautiful, killers.

"...Y-you!" Trey heard Ryia exclaim with a hint of surprise and shock in her tone. "Did you come to take this human from me?"

Trey then heard the sound of electricity, most likely from the second Queen.

"What are you-"

"Step away from the human," ordered the second voice. "Or you'll regret it."

"You would raise your weapon against me? ...So the rumors are true... ...I will kill you here and now, and restore honor to our race!!"

Trey heard what sounded like clashes of steel. Two... Three... Five... He soon lost count. He listened as the two Queens fought each other. He wondered what was going on; why would a Queen attack another Queen?

He was quickly brought out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of flesh being pierced, and the agonized cry from one of the Queens. ... From Ryia.

There was a loud thud as something heavy fell onto the ground, followed by the metallic clank of a sword falling after.

"Traitor!!" an enraged Ryia yelled. "You disgrace our name!! You have no right to the life Mother gave you!!"

"...Once I kill all of you, I'm going after Mother as well," said the second voice.

Ryia gasped. "You wouldn't dare!! Mother is far more powerful than you can ever hope to-"

Ryia's words were cut off as there was another piercing sound. Ryia gave one final scream, before everything fell silent.

Trey opened his eyes, and slowly turned his head towards the opening. Then, he inched his way towards the valley; whoever this new Queen was sounded determined to kill off the other Queens, but was she someone that he could trust?

As he emerged from the crack, he bore witness to the aftermath of the Queens' battle. Indeed, Ryia lay on the ground, dead. Her body had been pierced in two places, one in her chest and the other right in her heart, and from both spots she was bleeding onto the valley ground. Standing over the fallen Queen was her slayer. Trey looked upon her; her skin was of a lighter tone and she had long pinkish-orange hair and amber eyes, she wore a brown sleeveless shirt and a white mini-skirt with a single red stripe near its bottom, complete with brown boots. In her right hand, she held her sword, its tip dripping with the blood of Ryia.

She looked from her defeated adversary and towards Trey. He shuddered as her eyes locked onto his body. He backed away from her, and prepared to reenter the crack in the rock wall.

The Queen's expression changed to one of genuine concern. "Human, are you alright?"

Chapter 2: Rebel

Trey did not know how to respond. This new Queen--who had just slaughtered Ryia--was looking right at him with a concerned look on her face. Rather than say anything, he just stood there and stared back at her, his legs shaking like jelly.

Then, she began to walk towards him.

"D-Don't hurt me!!" Trey cried as he began to cower.

She stopped a few feet away from where he was, looking down upon him with the same expression. Her fingers then released the hold that they had on her sword, which then disappeared in a flash of electric-like particles. Then, she kneeled down on one knee, bringing her face closer to the ground, and to Trey.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said in a soft tone. "You don't have to be afraid."

"Wha-what do you want from me?" Trey was still frightful. "I'll do anything! Just don't kill me!"

The Queen sighed. "...I can see that you don't trust me. I don't blame you, though." She looked back towards the lifeless body of Ryia. "My people have inflicted unspeakable horrors upon humankind since they arrived years ago."

Calming ever so slightly, Trey also looked at Ryia's body. It began to glow in a whitish light, and the body started to fade away in sparkling white lights that rose into the sky. Before long, Ryia was completely gone, leaving behind a slight indentation in her form in the valley ground.

Trey was in astonishment. "What happened to her?"

"When us Queens--as you humans call us--die," the Queen started, "our essence returns to Mother and become part of her once more."

This was the second time Trey had heard this Queen mention this "Mother". "What is 'Mother'?" he asked.

"Mother is just what she sounds like," the Queen answered. "She gave birth to us."

"So is this 'Mother' making you all kill us and make us slaves?"

The Queen looked back towards Trey. "This planet belongs to the humans. It is not our place to take it from you and annihilate you. ...That's what I believe, but my people think otherwise. They see you humans as a plague on this planet, and want to eradicate humans down to the last man. In their eyes, they are saving the planet..."

Trey recalled hearing stories of humanity's past, when their technology and high intelligence led to their overconfidence and negligence towards the planet itself. They mentioned that there were people who fought to preserve the natural beauty of the planet, but the populace largely ignored them. Not long after, the Queens arrived and tore apart everything humans had worked millennias for.

"...So I decided to take up my sword and fight against my own people," the Queen continued. "I believe that only humans know how to save the planet that bred and raised them, and I intend to ensure that they survive to revitalize this world. So I won't hurt you. Not you or any other human." She smiled.

As Trey listened to her words, he felt himself becoming less tense. Her soft words and kind demeanor, as well as her ambitions, worked to calm him. His legs became stable, and he found himself standing upright and staring right into her face. Her eyes portrayed a light of genuine kindness. Could this Queen truly be different from the others?

"I believe this is the part where we introduce ourselves, no?" she asked.

Trey was somewhat taken by surprise. "Huh! Oh, uh.... My name is Trey."

"And I am Merle," she said. "Pleased to meet you, Trey!"

"Umm... The pleasure is mine." Trey felt rather awkward exchanging pleasantries with a Queen.

Then, Trey remembered Richie and Elijah. He ran past Merle, and approached Elijah's bisected body. He had been slice across his waist, the cut having pierced the ground even. The ground was coated with Elijah's blood, and the path of the blade that Ryia had used extended several feet to his left. Seeing the state of Elijah's body nearly make him vomit; it took all he could to keep it down.

He merely glanced over to where Richie's remains were, his body having been crushed flat into the ground. He did not want to see such a sight up close; he knew that it was going to be far more gruesome than Elijah's body below him.

He knew that had it not been for Merle, he too would have met with a gruesome fate.

He felt the ground shake below him, as well as accompanying thuds. Before long, was covered with Merle's shadow.

"Were they your friends?" Merle asked.

Trey paused for a few seconds. "Not really," he answered while still looking at Elijah. "I didn't know them all that well. In fact, I didn't really have any friends. Except for one person, but when they said that they were running away, I jumped at the chance and didn't even tell her 'good-bye'." Trey's tone had become melancholic. "...I'm a coward."

"No, I think you're quite brave," Merle said. "You made it this far away from Kharlla's domain. You would be able to reach the underground tunnel... But Ryia destroyed the entrance to it so thoroughly that not even I can fix it."

This news took Trey by surprise. "...So we came out here for nothing..."

"I know of another tunnel on the other side of the valley," Merle said. "I can take you there, but first, I have to take care of something."

Trey looked up towards the giantess standing over him. "What's that?"

"I have to defeat Kharlla," Merle answered.

Hearing this shocked Trey. "But she's the strongest Queen in this region! Are you sure you can beat her!?"

"I'm confident that she won't be too much trouble for me. Rather, what are you going to do, Trey?"

"What do you mean?" Trey asked.

"I'm going to Kharlla's domain. Are you going stay here?"

Trey looked at his lifeless companions once more. If there was another Queen lurking about, the chances of him being rescued again were slim to none should he decide to head for the other passage himself. He looked towards the opening that he was hiding inside of earlier. He figured that he could hide out in there again until Merle returned, but there was no guarantee that she would survive her encounter with Kharlla aside from her own confidence. Also, it was very uncomfortable inside.

On the other hand, should Merle defeat Kharlla, he wanted to bring his friend with him to freedom. It would be dangerous--going right back where he had escaped from--but this was a case of picking his poison. And seeing his friend--and apologizing to her--and bringing her with him was too good a deal to pass up.

"...I'm... going with you," Trey finally said.

Merle's expression was a mix of surprise and impressed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. There's someone I need to see."

Merle nodded. "If that's your decision, then I will respect it."

Merle then reached down and grabbed him from the ground. He flinched as her fingers wrapped around his body; this was the first time that he had been picked up by a Queen, though he had seen others who had also been taken away or killed right there on the spot. He counted himself lucky that he had found a Queen who seemed to care for his well-being.

Lifting him higher off of the ground, Merle then places him on her bosom, right inbetween her two massive breasts. His legs sunk in between the two large but soft bulges, as he held onto both with his arms to prevent himself from sinking lower. He never imagined that he would be getting carried around in a Queen's cleavage.

"First, I'm going to bury your friends," Merle said. "Then it's off to Kharlla's domain."

"Okay," Trey said.

From his place in her cleavage, he watched as she picked up both parts of Elijah's severed body, and with her free hand scooped out a hole in the valley ground.

~~~

Elli pushed open the heavy doors that led to Empress Kharlla's chamber, and walked inside. Empress Kharlla's chamber was a long room with open windows lined on both sides of the room that illuminated the room with daylight; an equally long blue rug led up a few stairs to the large throne that Empress Kharlla sat upon.

The fair-skinned Empress Kharlla had long golden hair adorned with a silver tiara, and blue eyes as vivid as the sky outside. She wore a white dress that extended only to her knees, and the only things she wore on her feet were anklets.

With her right leg crossed over the other, she watched as two human males viciously fought each other on the floor in front of her. Surrounding them were five other humans also watching the altercation.

As Elli approached her, Empress Kharlla looked up towards her, an annoyed expression forming on her face.

"What do you want, Elli?" Empress Kharlla asked.

"I have some bad news," Elli replied. "...We have reports that Ryia has been killed."

Empress Kharlla's mouth dropped in disbelief. "Did those humans do it?"

"You know that humans are not capable of such an act. ...It was the Rebel."

"...Oh, her?" Empress Kharlla leaned back in her chair. "Interesting... Am I right to assume that she is coming this way?"

Elli nodded.

"Get the others ready for battle," Empress Kharlla ordered. "You too. If she can make it past them, I highly doubt she will survive against my prized archer."

Elli blushed. "...And what of you, Empress?"

"I shall remain here," Empress Kharlla answered. "If she happens to make it this far in, I'll show her what happens to traitors."

Elli nodded. "Understood."

At that point, there was a loud cry of agony from below. Both Elli and Empress Kharlla looked downward and saw one of the humans lying on the floor. His face was bloodied and his arm had been twisted into an irregular position.

Empress Kharlla stood up. "You have lost, human," she said.

"Please...!" The battered human pleaded. "Don't kill me!! I'll do anything!!"

"You know full well what happens to humans who fail to impress me. I have no more use for you."

Empress Kharlla then lifted her right foot and brought it over the battered human.

"NOOO!!! PLEASE!!!" he screamed. "NOOOO!!!!"

Empress Kharlla then stepped down, crushing the human underneath her foot. The sounds of his bones cracking emanated throughout the room, as blood began to spread out from underneath her foot as she pressed down on him with an increasing amount of force. Soon, she removed her foot from the human, revealing the flattened and bloody mess than remained of him plastered on the floor. Empress Kharlla then sat back down on her throne.

"You!" she said to one of the other humans. "Clean that mess up. The rest of you can clean that human's blood from my foot."

Elli watched as the humans carried out her tasks. The human she had instructed to clean up the loser's body ran to grab ahold of nearby cleaning utensils, while the others took rags and began to wipe at the blood that was on her pale sole.

Empress Kharlla looked back up at Elli. "Why are you still here?!" she angrily asked. "Go do what I ordered you to!"

Elli winced. "Yes, Empress!" She then immediately ran out of the chambers and closed the doors behind her.

The Rebel Merle was headed in their direction. Elli knew that the other guards would be no match for such an opponent. Therefore, she knew that she had to prepare herself for battle.

She was going to show the Rebel why she was considered the best marksman in the region.

~~~

After a rather short walk, Merle had arrived outside of Kharlla's castle. She stood in front of the two closed doors that served to block any attempt to infiltrate the stronghold. From his position in Merle's cleavage, he looked upward at just how big the castle was; though he and his fellow humans called it a castle, it looked more like a typical three story building to the Queens. At least, it did on the outside.

She stepped closer to the door, and began to push on it with her right hand with as much strength as she could muster. The door did not move in the slightest.

"I'm sure that they must know that I'm out here," Merle said.

"How are you going to get inside?" Trey asked.

Merle's large hand rose to her breasts and plucked Trey out from inbetween her breasts. Then, she placed him on the ground besides her.

"Do you know of a way in for yourself, Trey?" Merle asked.

"Umm..." He looked along the structure's walls, and spotted the opening that he and his companions had escaped from earlier. "Yeah, over there." He pointed towards it.

Merle nodded. "Good, because I think that it would be too dangerous for you to go in the way I'm going to go through."

She then held out her right hand and manifested her sword within its grasp. Taking hold of the hilt, she held the blade below her. Trey watched as she closed her eyes, as if she were trying to concentrate. Then, the blade of her sword began to glow with a white light. Trey stepped back as the light seeming became so powerful that it started to crackle with white electricity.

Then, Merle opened her eyes and swung her sword with what looked like all of her strength. She cut diagonally through the closed doors, the blade slicing right into the metal. She swung again, this time the opposite direction, forming a cross on the two doors. Afterwards, the pieces of the door collapsed onto the ground, making an entrance for Merle.

Trey was impressed. "Wow..."

Merle looked towards him. "You hurry on inside before they find you."

"Okay," Trey said. "You be careful."

Merle smiled. "I'll be fine. But you do the same."

Trey nodded, and ran for the opening that he had pointed out before. The loud footsteps he heard behind him suggested that Merle had also made her way inside. He arrived at the opening and slipped through it.

He was once again back inside of Kharlla's Castle, the place where he had spent most of his life. He ran down the dark corridor, hoping to reunite with his friend and others that he had been acquainted with.

~~~

With her sword in hand, Merle rushed down the hallway lit by lamps above her. As she reached the center of the hall, she stopped in her tracks as she saw several of her former comrades file into the room, wearing leather armor and their weapons--mostly swords--drawn. They stood at the other side of the hall, preparing to rush her at a moment's notice.

"I take it you are the guards?" Merle said. "You all did not do a good job if you let a human slip past you," she taunted. "Irregardless, I would have come here anyway even if I had not met that human."

"Leave this place now," ordered the guard in the middle, who also wielded a shield. "Or else we will show you no mercy. Especially not to a traitor who killed one of our own."

Merle laughed. "Sorry, but if you want me to leave, you'll have to kill me."

The guard glanced at her companions on both of her sides. "You heard her! We must end her siege right here and now!" She then pointed her sword towards Merle. "Charge!"

With those words, all of the guards began to charge her, their weapons drawn. Merle ran to meet them head-on. Once one of the guards had come within striking distance, she attempted a swing at Merle with her sword. Merle parried the attack, and returned with her own attack, slicing through the guard's leather armor and piercing her skin. The guard let out a cry of agony as Merle slashed her sword out of her skin, cutting through her body.

The guard collapsed as blood started to pour from her wound, as two more guards swarmed her. Merle dodged their attacks with grace, and swung her sword into theirs. She knocked one of the guards' weapon out of her hand, and before the guard could run to retrieve it, Merle gave her a swift kick to the side of the head, knocking her unconscious. The other guard went for a thrusting attack with her sword, but Merle sidestepped it and stabbed into the guard's shoulder.

Merle looked towards the three remaining guards, one of whom included what she assumed was the leader.

"Is that all you got?" Merle taunted.

The fourth guard, who wielded a chain mace, ran towards her while spinning the spiked ball of her mace overhead. Once she came close enough, she swung at Merle with all of her strength. Merle blocked the attack with her sword, but the force that she was hit with caused her to stumble backwards a few steps. Not giving her any time to regroup, the guard went for her again. This time, Merle ducked underneath the attack, during which she used her sword to stab into the guard's abdomen. The guard cried out in pain as her hand released its weapon onto the floor, and as she clutched her wound, Merle stood back up and kicked her off of her feet.

The fifth guard seemed apprehensive; she looked as if she wanted to run away and save her own life. She looked nervously from Merle to her leader, and back at Merle again.

The leader then began her assault. She rushed for Merle, sword in one hand and shield in the other. Not wasting any time, the leader unleashed a fury of slices at Merle. Merle blocked each attack with her sword, while also attempting strikes of her own. However, this particular guard was of a great level of skill than the ones she had dispatched beforehand.

Before long, the two were locked in a clash of their swords, the both of them pushing on their blades to overpower the other. Both were exerting tremendous strength, so much so that neither of their swords budged at all.

Merle decided to try something else. She slashed her sword to the right, parrying the guard's sword away and knocking her off balance. As Merle went for the kill, the guard blocked her attack with her shield. Taking this opportunity, the guard went for an attack of her own. Merle leap back and dodged, but not fast enough as the guard's blade sliced into her shirt and slightly broke the skin.

"Not bad," Merle commended the guard. "You're better than the rest of them."

Seemingly not paying her words any mind, the guard lunged at her and attempted a slash at her head. Merle blocked the attack with her sword, and delivered a swift kick into the guard's gut. As the guard reeled back from the blow, Merle channeled some of her energy into her sword--until it glowed with a white light--and leapt at the guard. Before the guard could react, Merle dealt her with a vertical slice from her head to her waist. Dropping both her sword and shield, the guard covered her face as blood poured out from her body. With a cry of pain, she collapsed forward onto the floor, and laid in a pool of her own expanding pool of blood.

Merle looked at her fallen opponent, and then right back at the hesitant guard. She looked to be utterly petrified at the thought of losing her life. Suppressing her weapon, she turned and ran away, running further down the hall and up the stairs at the end.

Merle shrugged and merely walked after her.

~~~

Trey walked out from within the wall's corridor and into a very large room. He heard all of the commotion outside in the hall; no doubt that Merle had engaged the guards in battle. He wanted to see how things were going out there, but the door was too far away for him; he feared that the fight would be over by the time he reached it.

Instead, he looked to his right and saw the colony that belonged to his close friend. Its inhabitants were also looking towards the door, their attention drawn to the ruckus on the other side.

He approached the colony, and as he did so, some of the people there took notice to his arrival. Though most of them were still looking at the massive door. As he drew closer, he noticed that he did not see his friend around.

"Trey," said an older man who looked to be in his 50s.

"Hello, Mr. Watkins," Trey greeted. "Quite a lot of noise, huh?"

"Yes, I wonder what's happening out there? Jumi was called out not too long ago, and then that ruckus started not long after."

"...Well, I know what's going on."

Mr. Watkins looked at him expectantly.

"I met a Queen who said she's going to free us," Trey said. "She's fighting the guards right now, and she's going to kill Kharlla."

Despite the noise, it seemed that the entire colony heard Trey's statement. They all turned their attention from the door and towards him.

"What did you say!?" said a male.

"Surely you don't believe her!" said a female. "She could just take all of us to another castle! Maybe she wants what Kharlla has!!"

"But I think she's telling the truth," Trey said. "She's not like the others. She has this air of sincerity around her."

"I don't believe it." Mr. Watkins shook his head. "Why would a Queen want to save us? We are not worth saving in their eyes."

"Yeah, she's playin' you like a fool," said another male.

"You're only asking for trouble by relying on a goddamned Queen," said a third male.

These doubts did not surprise Trey. After all, the Queens have done the most horrific things to humans since they arrived nearly two decades ago. It was to be expected that they did not believe his words in the slightest. The only way for them to see that he was right was for them to witness Merle slay Kharlla themselves.

He took a quick look around the colony once more. No sign of his friend.

"...Where's Maria?" Trey asked.

Several members of the colony looked amongst themselves, with what looked like worried expressions on their faces.

"...Kharlla came and took her to her chamber," Mr. Watkins answered.

This news made Trey's heart sink in his chest. "Wh-What!? When?!"

"Five hours ago," Mr. Watkins replied. "We haven't seen her since."

Wasting no time, Trey turned around and dashed back towards the opening in the wall. He knew that Maria was in trouble; people who were taken to Kharlla's chamber were not guaranteed to come back alive, or even in one piece. He had to hurry to the castle's third floor and try to get her away from the mad Empress. He hoped that by that time, Merle would have engaged her and provided a distraction for him to rescue his dear friend.

~~~

Merle arrived on the second floor, and before her was yet another hallway, though this one had pairs of pillars lined down the hall. On the floor some distance away was the guard that had fled from her earlier. However, her body was lifeless; her eyes were wide open as what looked like the end of an arrow protruded from her forehead.

At the end of the hall was another figure. She had short brown hair adorned with a red bandana around her forehead. She wore a brown top with very short sleeves and a stiff skirt at the bottom, along with brown fingerless gloves that stretched to her elbows, black leggings, and brown boots. In her left hand was a bow.

"You have finally come, Rebel Merle," she said.

"...I see that you showed one of your own no mercy," Merle said.

"Of course not. Anyone who runs from the enemy is a coward, and not worth living." Then, she brought her bow up and pointed it towards Merle. "The same for a traitor who kills her own comrades to fight for the enemy."

With her right hand, she touched the base of her bow, and pulled it back. As she did so, white lightning began to flash around her hand, as an arrow appeared on the bow. Taking the end of the arrow as well as the bow's string in hand, she pulled both of them back as far as she could.

"You now face Elli, the greatest marksman in the world!" she declared. "My arrows will pierce your skin and bring you to submission!"

Elli then released the string, firing the arrow towards Merle.



[End Chapter]

Chapter 3: Showdown in Kharlla's Domain

"You now face Elli, the greatest marksman in the world!" Elli stated as she readied her arrow in its bow, and aimed it directly towards Merle. "My arrows will pierce your skin and bring you to submission!"

She then released the string, firing the arrow right towards Merle's head.

As quickly as the arrow bolted the distance between Elli and Merle, Merle brought up her sword and held it in front of her face, forming some sort of shield. The arrow bounced off of its steel, and was deflected elsewhere. Immediately after, Merle dashed to her left, finding cover behind one of the pillars lining the room.

She heard rapid footsteps approaching her, a sign that Elli had given chase after her. Before Merle could react, Elli had reached her, and she had already prepared another arrow in her bow. With her sword, Merle swung at the archer, who dodged the attack by jumping high into the air. While airborne, Elli rained down several arrows onto Merle. Merle rolled out of the way, narrowly dodging each one.

With Elli able to quickly attack from both the ground and air, Merle looked for some kind of cover. She looked towards the fallen Queen who had gotten an arrow through her head; perhaps she would provide for a good shield. However, this idea quickly fell apart, as the Queen had begun to dematerialize in a glowing white dust.

Meanwhile, Elli had landed on back on the floor, and started to dash towards Merle. This caught Merle's attention, and she again struck her sword towards her. Elli blocked the strike with her bow; even though it looked like it was made of wood, it was in actuality very difficult to even cut just a little.

"What is your purpose!?" Elli said as the two struggled to overpower each other. "What do you gain from turning against us?!"

Merle did not answer.

"Do you not see who you're up against?! Not only me, but Empress Kharlla as well! Even if you manage to defeat me, the Empress will skin you alive! Why side with the humans, who have brought their own destruction upon themselves?!"

"What I gain is seeing the happiness of humans as they are given new hope," Merle answered. "A new hope for the future and to change their world for the better. ...They can't do that if they're being toyed with and slaughtered like they are now!"

"Humans can never change! That is the one thing that we are certain of about them! Humans are nothing more than a fault in evolution! If they were truly an intelligent species, they would have taken better care of this planet!"

Elli swiped her bow to the right, knocking both her and Merle out of their deadlocked strike.

"How can you be so blind?!" Elli continued. "You of all Children, whose hatred of the humans was unmatched by any of us?!"

"...I have changed." Merle positioned her sword's tip so that it was pointing towards Elli. "And if I can change, so can humans." She then charged towards Elli, her sword leading.

"Nonsense!" Elli scoffed as she braced herself for the oncoming strike.

~~~

Trey ran as fast as he could through the corridor, artificial lights high on the walls illuminating his way. His lungs were nearly out of breath, and his legs had long since become tired. However, he continued to push himself. He knew that he had to hurry. Hurry to Kharlla's room, where Maria was apparently being held.

As he ran, he wondered if the Queen he had befriended, her name Merle, would be able to defeat Kharlla. As the guard Queens constantly stated to the humans inside the fortress, Kharlla was the most powerful Queen in the region. Trey did not know how far said region expanded, but if the guards and even the likes of Ryia and Elli were afraid to cross her, then Kharlla must have been a fearsome warrior indeed.

In any case, he hoped that Maria was still well, and that no harm befell her. Even if Merle were to fall against Kharlla, Trey would be able to find some silver lining as long as Maria was alive.

Soon, against his wishes, he stopped and began to pant heavily. He had nearly overexerted himself. He looked ahead, and saw that he was still quite a ways away from his destination. He sighed heavily.

"I need to hurry..." Trey said to himself, a bit discouraged.

As he started to run again, he heard what sounded like a motor approaching from behind. He turned and saw an older man riding a motor-scooter; only a few of these motor-scooters were deployed around the castle, and all of them in possession of those tasked with quickly delivering goods and orders around the fortress.

It was just Trey's luck that one should pass by.

"Hey, wait!!" Trey yelled out as the man passed him by.

The man stopped, and turned to face him. "What is it? I'm in a hurry," he said with an annoyed expression on his face.

Trey approached him. "Could I borrow this?" he asked as he grabbed the handles.

"Are you crazy? No." The man tried to push Trey away.

"But it's an emergency!" Trey pleaded. "I need to get to Kharlla's room and save my friend!"

"Kid, your friend is probably dead meat by now. Now move." The man shoved Trey aside.

Catching his balance, Trey immediately charged the man, shoving the man off of the scooter with a shoulder tackle. The man stumbled back a few steps before falling onto the floor. Trey then stepped onto the scooter and grabbed its handles.

"Sorry," Trey apologized, "but my friend is in trouble. I just need to get to the elevator at the end."

Not giving the man a chance to strike back or even say anything against him, Trey sped away from the scene on his newly-acquired scooter.

"I'll give it back!!" Trey shouted back at the man.

With the motor-scooter, Trey would be able to reach his destination in relatively little time. He did feel bad for ruining the man's job, but he felt that the greater good trumped all. He would be willing to accept any punishment coming to him as long as he could save Maria.

Those thoughts coursed through his head as he rode through the corridor.

~~~

Merle crashed into the wall behind her, having been dealt a powerful kick by Elli with such force that the wall was cracked severely. As Merle recovered, she quickly dashed to her left as four arrows were shot at her, impaling the wall where she had previously been.

Merle continued to run around the room, dodging and parrying every arrow fired towards her. She knew that she could not continue like this; Elli was successfully keeping her at bay with her marksmanship. Not only that, but even drawing near the deadly archer posed danger, as Elli had proven herself somewhat capable of close-ranged combat.

"Dammit," Merle muttered to herself.

She took cover behind the farthest pillar; no doubt that it would not provide an adequate hiding place for long, but it gave her a bit of time to think. Merle had to get close to Elli, and find some way to--if not kill her--incapacitate her so that Merle could move on to her real target.

"You can't hide from me!" Elli shouted as her rushing footsteps drew near.

Merle could hear that she was approaching from behind to her right. Before Elli could get the jump on her, Merle dodged to the left. In a timely fashion as well, as Elli appeared not even a second after and shot an arrow where her head had been. Standing there, she shot several more arrows at the fleeing Merle. She dodged nearly all of them, but one came so close to her face that it left a cut on her cheek. Another one managed to pierce her left arm. She let out a short scream of pain as the sharp edge of the arrow burrowed into her flesh, leaving the stick and end of the arrow exposed outside of the skin.

"You're getting slow," Elli said.

Merle knew that Elli was right. She was constantly keeping her on the run, avoiding barrage after barrage of arrows. It would only be a matter of time before Elli got in a kill shot at this rate.

She could not keep dodging any longer. She had to stand her ground and end this fight now.

After the last volley of arrows died down, Merle changed her direction and charged right towards Elli. Not breaking her stride, Elli brought up her bow and began to fire several arrows at her. Using her sword, Merle parried away and shielded her face against the bolts. More arrows grazed against her skin, leaving behind cuts and bruises from both the tips of the arrows and the air pressure around them.

Before long, she had reached Elli. Merle went to thrust her sword in her chest, but Elli leapt backwards into the air, causing Merle to strike nothing but air. Before she could land, however, Merle jumped up after her. Taken by surprised, Elli prepared another arrow, but Merle--sword readied--struck her bow and parried it downward, sending Elli hurtling down to the floor below with it.

Elli landed on her feet with a bit of recoil, but recovered rather quickly. However, Merle--also having landed-- immediately rushed after her. This time, Elli pulled back her leg and swung it at the approaching Queen. Merle was hoping for this; dropping her sword, she grabbed Elli's leg with both hands.

"What!?" Elli exclaimed in a state of shock.

Afterwards, Merle began to spin around, twirling Elli as if she was a mace on a chain. She spun faster and faster, all the while Elli demanded that she be released.

"Fine, here you go!" Merle said, before releasing her hold on the archer.

Elli flew at high speed through one of the pillars--completely obliterating it--and crashed head-first into the hard wall. Leaving a big hole in the wall, Elli fell to the floor, her body twitching momentarily, before becoming motionless.

Merle stood there, breathing heaving while watching Elli. Nothing happened to her body after a minute of waiting; she was not dead. However, she was unconscious, which to Merle was good enough at that point.

She pulled the arrow embedded in her left arm out, giving her another shot of pain as fresh blood poured from the wound. She threw the arrow to the ground, and then picked up her sword.

Then she moved on from the room, exiting through the large door that Elli was guarding.

~~~

"Oh thank god!" Trey said as the elevator came in view.

There were several other people also waiting to board it. This elevator took the human inhabitants of Kharlla's castle through each of the three floors, though the third floor--where Kharlla's room was located--was rarely accessed by their own will. Most of the people up there were brought up there by the Queens.

As the motorbike came to a stop, Trey hopped off of it and rushed to the line of awaiting people. Hi heart was racing, as he was very much eager--impatient, even--to board the elevator up to the dreaded third floor.

"How long have you been waiting?" Trey asked the woman at the end of the line.

"I just got here," she answered.

"Oh..."

The woman noticed his apprehensive demeanor. "You in a hurry?"

"Yeah, I need to get up to the third floor fast. It's an emergency."

The woman gasped, and others in the line also overheard this and looked behind them.

"Why ever would you go there?!" the woman asked.

"A friend of mine is in trouble, and I need to rescue her!" Trey replied.

"But you're throwing yourself in danger by going there! If Kharlla sees you, you're dead meat!"

"I know, but I can't leave her up there like that! Besides, Kharlla might not be living for long, anyway."

This comment especially got everyone's attention.

"I made friends with a Queen who's going to kill her and free us," Trey said.

"Right, and then she'll just take us back to her hideout," said a man further ahead in the line. "You really believe these bitches care about us?"

"She's different!" Trey exclaimed. "She already killed Ryia when she was about to kill me! I know she'll come through for us!"

"...Ryia's dead?" said another woman.

The people curiously looked among each other, this news seemingly a big relief for them.

"Yeah, she is! I saw Ryia disappear right before my eyes after Merle killed her!"

"'Merle'?" said the first woman. "She told you her name? ...I still think this is a setup."

"You're being way too naive about these Queens," another man stated. "They're here on a mission: to enslave and eventually destroy all of us."

"It's a trick. You're being strung around like a fool, and it's gonna end with you dead."

Trey sighed. "Believe what you want. I know that she'll come through for us."

The entire lot became silent for a few minutes, before there was a dinging sound from up ahead. The door of the elevator opened up, and after a group of people walked out of it, the line in which Trey was waiting in poured into the elevator. It was a rather tight fit, but they all were inside by the time the door closed, and the elevator began to rise.

"Friendly Queens..." one of the men said under his breath, though Trey and likely everyone else could still hear it. "What does he take us for?"

Others nodded and voiced agreement with his comment.

Trey decided not to push the issue any further; they would just have to see for themselves that Merle was different from the other Queens. He remained silent as the group rose higher and higher in the fortress.

~~~

At last, Merle had arrived on the third floor of the castle. Looking around, the hall was not too much different from the floor below, complete with a long rug and pillars. However this hall was slightly longer than the one on the floor below, and at the end of the hall was a pair of large doors. No doubt that Kharlla, her true target, was waiting inside.

Merle approached the doors, and after taking a deep breath, she pushed them open, a loud creaking noise sounding throughout the hall.

She walked inside of the room, a long chamber illuminated by the sun shining through the windows on either side of the room. At the end was a rather elegant-looking Queen sitting on a large hair. Her eyes were deadlocked on the intruding Queen, a look of indignant curiosity in them. As she drew closer, Merle also noticed the four humans--three men and a woman--working below her at her feet; it looked as if the humans were cleaning and polishing her nails.

"So, you've come, traitor," Kharlla said. "I suppose not even Elli was able to bring an end to your treachery."

"It's over, Kharlla," Merle said as she stopped several feet away from the throne. "You will not live to see another day; I will strike you down right here."

Kharlla sighed. "To think that you were once Mother's most prized Child... She would be heartbroken if she were awake to see how you have been repaying her."

She kicked both of her feet, sending the humans flying onto the small stairs and floor in front of her. Afterwards, she stood up and began to walk towards Merle.

"Don't you see?" Kharlla said as she uncaringly stepped towards the humans in her path; they screamed and tried to get out of her way, but it was all in vain. "Humans deserve to be trodden down into dust", she continued as she treaded each of the humans flat, leaving behind their mangled bodies in pools of blood and flesh. "...Just as I did to those just now. They do not deserve mercy, they do not deserve life, and they absolutely do not deserve this beautiful planet tainted by their hands."

Seeing Kharlla's callousness ignited a fire within Merle, as she gripped her sword even tighter than before.

Kharlla stood on the floor in front of the stairs leading to her throne. "Humans have lost their right to exist. It is our duty to purge the planet of the virus known as Humanity."

"You all are not 'purging' anything," Merle said. "All you have been doing is squatting on this world while terrorizing the Humans. You're not even giving the Humans a swift destruction; instead, you're prolonging their suffering."

"That doesn't matter," Kharlla stated. "Eventually we will exhaust the last human on the planet, and then we will leave. This planet will live on as a beautiful world teeming with all sorts of life, without the plague of Humans. However, you will not live to see that day."

Kharlla reached down and touched the ankles on both of her feet with her hands. Then, what looked like large wings composed of white light sprung forth from each of her ankles, as she stood upright.

"For your crimes, I will not allow you to show your face to Mother or to even see the error or your ways," Kharlla said as she rose into the air. "You will die here with the humans that you love so much."

Merle brought up her sword and readied herself, as Kharlla then charged her from the air. Merle swung her sword, but Kharlla numbly dodged the attack and punched Merle in the cheek. Merle was knocked back several feet, but quickly regained her composure. However, before she could even try to strike back, Kharlla flew towards her again, this time kicking her in the chest with both feet.

The attack was so powerful that Merle flew back into the doors behind her, crashing into them and falling into the floor. She looked up at Kharlla, once again suspended in the air by way of her ankle wings.

She struggled back to her feet, and rushed towards Kharlla again. Kharlla charged her as well; Kharlla struck first, swinging her right leg at Merle, but Merle ducked underneath it. She attempted to slash at her other leg, but Kharlla quickly ascended above. Merle looked upward, and quickly rolled out of the way of Kharlla's right foot coming down on her like an axe. The foot slammed into the floor, causing the room to tremble.

Merle knew that this would be a problem. Unlike Elli, Kharlla was very much adept at close combat, and she was much more faster than Elli was. Not to mention that Kharlla had the added advantage of flight.

Merle stood upright as Kharlla rushed her again at high speeds. Upon reaching her, Kharlla unleashed a volley of kicks at Merle. She tried her best to dodge and parry them, but eventually the still-bloody bare sole of Kharlla's right foot landed a strike on her face and sent her hurtling once more. Merle landed on the floor, her sword falling out of her hand and landing nearby.

As Merle reached for her sword, Kharlla--having quickly closed the distance between them--stomped down on her arm with her left foot. Before Merle could react, Kharlla also stepped on her face, pushing it to the side and pressed her cheek against the floor.

"Just like a Human," Kharlla said above her.

Merle struggled to free her arm from Kharlla's left foot, but she was exerting so much force that she could barely move it. With her left hand, she tried to push Kharlla's foot off of her head, which also served to be a futile effort. In fact, Kharlla responded by pressing down harder as the wings on that particular foot grew slightly larger.

"I want you to beg for mercy," Kharlla demanded as she stepped down even harder.

Merle was silent, bearing the pain being inflicted upon her as much as she could.

"...BEG!!" Kharlla shouted.

"...Never," Merle curtly replied.

Gritting her teeth in anger, Kharlla lifted her foot from Merle's head and held it high above her. Then, it quickly descended, the wings on its ankles having grown bigger than they had been before.

~~~

As Trey exited the elevator--having arrived on the third floor--he heard a loud crash on the other side of the thick wall, and the floor shook along with it. No doubt that the battle against Kharlla was already underway, but he had no idea how it was playing out. He hoped that Merle had the upperhand, and that Kharlla was only minutes away from death.

He ran from the elevator as its door closed behind him, and ran for the opening into the danger zone of Kharlla's room.

~~~

Kharlla's foot rested right beside Merle's head to her right. Right before Kharlla's foot had stomped on her head, Merle had pushed it to the side with a quick motion of her free left hand. The look on Kharlla's face showed that she was surprised at this, as she likely expected to end the battle there.

"Damn you!" Kharlla exclaimed as she flew off of Merle's body and floated in the air above her. Then, she started to spin around, the wings on her ankles having grown so much so that at the speed at which she spun, she looked more like a cyclone of white light.

The "cyclone" then fell upon her.

Merle quickly dodged the attack as Kharlla struck the floor where her chest had been, with so much force that the aftershock sent a fierce wind in all directions. Grabbing her sword from the floor, Merle stood as the cyclone disappeared, leaving behind a seemingly-stunned Kharlla on one knee; it seemed that that particular maneuver used quite a bit of her energy.

Seeing this as an opening, Merle quickly rushed towards her, sword in striking position. Kharlla of course took notice and jumped out of the way, albeit at a slightly lower speed than before. Merle slashed at her vertically, cutting into her dress as the tyrannical Queen dodged.

Merle smirked. "You should know better than to unleash your best skills when the battle is still young."

"...It does not matter," Kharlla said, having calmed down slightly from her burst of anger moments ago. "You did not pierce my skin. And you can guarantee that I will not let down my guard again."

"The damage is already done. Thanks to your last move, you're exhausted. It's going to take time for you to recover fully. The tides of battle have turned in my favor."

With that, Merle charged Kharlla once more, as Kharlla braced herself for the clash.

~~~

Trey reached the opening into Kharlla room, and upon entering he was met with the sight of Merle trading blows with Kharlla. He stood there in awe; this was the first time that he had seen anyone or anything fight toe-to-toe with Kharlla. Perhaps Merle might be able to defeat her after all, he thought.

He snapped back to reality, and looked towards the throne. Staying against the wall, he made his way towards it; luckily for him, Kharlla's back was turned against him, and her attention was on Merle, so he could easily run to the throne so long as Merle kept her preoccupied.

As he ran, he took quick glances back at the battle between giantesses in the room. They seemed to be evenly matched at first, both of them dealing and dodging blows.

He eventually reached his destination. He took quick notice to the flattened bloody bodies on the stairs; the sight made him gag, as well as made him worry. He gulped and stepped close to each one and examined the remains in detail; he hoped that one of them did not belong to Maria.

After examining the fourth and final splatter, he let out a sigh of relief. None of the bodies belonged to Maria.

"...Trey?" said a familiar voice from above.

He looked and saw his friend Maria standing at the edge of the top stair before the throne. The tan-skinned, dark-haired young woman was watching him with a worried look on her face.

"Maria!!" Trey excitedly said. "You're safe!"

She nodded, and looked nervously towards the battle between Merle and Kharlla. "What's going on? Kharlla had said that a "rebel" was coming this way, and there was a lot of noise in the castle earlier. Now those two are fighting..."

Trey grinned. "That's my new friend, Merle. She's going to kill Kharlla and save us."

Maria's eyes widened. "Really? Are you sure?"

"I saw it in her eyes... She really is different from the others. Plus, she saved me from Ryia."

A tall and rather muscular man walked out to accompany Maria. He had several bruises on his body; Trey wondered where they had come from.

"What's this talk about us being saved?" the man asked. "Tell me you don't believe her."

Trey nodded.

The man shook his head. "Kids these days..."

"Maria," Trey called. "Let's get out of here. Our suffering should be over very soon."

"Trey... Are you sure about this?" Maria asked with concern.

"Yes."

The two stared at each other; Maria looked directly into his eyes especially, as if she was reading his very soul.

"I'll trust you, and her," Maria finally said.

"You gotta be kidding- You too!?" the man said is disbelief.

"Are you coming?" Maria asked him.

"If Kharlla catches us trying to escape, she'll torture us to death. Count me out."

"You're going to die anyway if you stay here," Trey said to him.

The man merely waved his hand at Trey in a dismissive manner, as he walked away from the two.

"Forget him," Maria said. "Let's go."

"Right." Trey nodded, and held out his hand for her.

Maria walked to the edge of the stair and jumped off. Trey took her hand in his, and the two turned and climbed back down the stairs. After reaching the floor, the two began to run in the direction from where Trey had come from.

About halfway through their trek, there was a loud thud. Both of them looked towards the battle scene, and saw Merle laying on the floor against the farthest wall. Kharlla was levitating just slightly above the floor, the wings on her ankles shining brightly.

"Well, it seems that I have regained much of my strength," Kharlla said. "So much for your so-called advantage."

There were groans heard from Merle as Kharlla floated closer to her, and then dropped back on the floor. Then, she started to kick Merle's chest against the wall. Each blow caused Merle to release an audible gasp of air.

"Look at you!! You can't even fight back!!" Kharlla taunted as she kicked her. "Is this what the Humans are relying on!? Is this what they are pinning their very future on!? If that's the case, then they are completely hopeless!!" She then laughed manically.

"Oh shit!" Maria exclaimed. "Are you sure she can beat her!?"

"Just keep going!" Trey said as he hastened his pace and pulled her ever so tighter.

The kicking sounds came to a stop, as did the laughter. Trey looked and saw Kharlla backing away from the fallen Merle.

"In fact, I'll show you just how hopeless these humans are," said a becalmed Kharlla.

Trey and Maria continued to run; they were very much near their destination, where they would take cover within the castle walls until the battle had reached its conclusion.

"We're almost there!" Trey announced.

The duo had very much reached their goal.

...Until a gigantic bare foot stomped down in front of them.

Both of them came to an immediate stop and slowly looked upward, towards the face of the sadistic Kharlla high above them. She wore an evil grin on her face as she looked back down upon them; Maria, shaking in fear, held onto Trey as he tried his best to put up a brave front against the giantess.

"Did you think that I did not notice you?" Kharlla said to them.



[End Chapter]

Chapter 4: The Fall of a Queen

Trey and Maria stared up at the imposing Queen Kharlla as her foot, its toes adorned in fresh lavender polish, blocked their path to safety. Trey could feel Maria's body shaking against his, and despite the brave facade he was putting on, deep down Trey was rather frightened as well.

They had not seen or even heard her coming; she had met their escape as quickly and quietly as one could imagine. Trey cursed himself for not paying enough attention to the giantess' position, and instead focusing so much of it on the opening in the wall.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kharlla asked. "Trying to escape from me?"

Trey felt Maria trying to back away from the terrifying giant.

"...Wait, who are you?" Kharlla looked as if she was trying to get a closer look of Trey. "You weren't here before. Are you trying to play the hero, rescuing his princess? You humans and your follies..."

She then started to reach down for the couple. Maria started to scream as her hand drew closer.

"G-get back!!" Trey shouted, a hint of fear in his tone. "Don't come near us!!"

Kharlla laughed. "Fool. As if you can tell me what to do."

Her massive hand had reached the two, and its fingers latched onto Maria and pulled her away from Trey. Maria screamed even louder as she tried to reach out for Trey, who in turn tried to pull her back with no avail. Maria was lifted off of the floor as Kharlla stood back upright.

"Trey!!" Maria screamed.

"Put her down!" Trey yelled. "Stop!!"

Kharlla pulled Maria closed to her face. "So it's this human you're after. She did a decent job cleaning up that failure's blood." With her other hand, she stroke Maria's face, who winced once the massive finger touched her skin.

"Don't hurt her!!" Trey yelled.

"Yes... I think I'll keep her. I'll put her in a place from where you'll never be able to retrieve her."

Her free hand withdrawing, Kharlla pulled Maria closer to her face, or more specifically, her lips. She then opened her mouth and shoved the frantically-screaming Maria inside.

"Noo!!!" Trey's eyes became watery as he watched Maria disappear inside of the massive mouth. "STOP!!!"

Kharlla's mouth closed, and then--after flashing Trey an evil smile--she began to chew. Trey's heart sank as he heard each of the audible crunches that emanated with each motion of her jaw. He stared up in complete disbelief as he watched Kharlla's mouth chew his friend into bits; a drip of fresh blood even pouring out from the side of her mouth.

Then, after what seemed like an agonizing eternity, she swallowed.

"Delightful," Kharlla purred.

Overcome with despair and anger, Trey let out a loud cry and began to charge the Queen. Tears streaming down his face, he began to pummel on Kharlla's foot with as much force as he could muster.

"YOU BITCH!!!" Trey shouted. "GIVE HER BACK!! GIVE HER BACK OR I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

As large as she was in comparison to him, each blow dealt a sharp pain on his fists, but he did not care. At that moment, he wanted so badly to take revenge on this Queen who had coldly killed his dear friend by treating her as a snack.

"What is this?" Kharlla asked curiously. "This little human has gone berserk. You humans have always let your emotions hinder your rational thought..."

As Trey went to charge her again, the massive ped pulled back right before he could lay upon it another flurry of punches, causing him to stumble forward. Then, just as he looked ahead, the same foot rushed towards him, crashing into his chest with tremendous force and sending him flying back halfway across the room.

He landed with a thud, his chest in excruciating pain from the kick--some of his ribs must have been broken--and his back also hurting from the hard landing. He tried to stand up, but the pain he was experiencing prevented him from doing so. All he could do was clutch his chest and watch as the sadistic Kharlla floated after him, the wings from her ankles shining brightly.

"I don't know who you think you are," Kharlla said as she approached him, landing on the floor just mere inches ahead of him. "But if you think that a pitiful human can even hope to kill a Queen, then you are sadly mistaken."

Kharlla then lifted her right foot over him; he could see a bit of blood already plastered on her pale sole.

"Your life ends here!" Kharlla exclaimed. "I will grind you into dust, you miserable excuse of a living being!!"

Her foot then began to descend, as Trey turned his head away and closed his eyes, unable to watch the object of his impending doom fall upon him. He had never felt as helpless in his life as he had been at that moment; he was not only filled with sorrow, but also guilt, that he could do nothing to save Maria as she pleaded for his help. And now, he would meet the same fate that those before her throne had, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Within seconds, he knew that it would all be over.

...Just then, he heard what sounded like a bursting noise from his right. He opened his eyes and saw a crescent-shaped blast of light speed towards Kharlla. This obviously has also gotten Kharlla's attention, as right before her foot was able to stomp down on him, she had to leap out of the way to avoid the projectile, which flew some distance over Trey and cut into the wall to his left.

Now floating high above the floor, Kharlla--as well as Trey--looked towards the source of that attack. Merle was standing up, breathing heavily while brandishing her sword.

"Merle..." Trey muttered.

"Your fight is with me, Kharlla," Merle said aggressively. "Leave the human alone."

Kharlla sighed. "You still have a bit of fight left in you...? And a new technique, even. But look at you. You can barely stand after that move you did. ...Fine. I'll finish you off, and then slowly torture the human to his demise."

With that, Kharlla began to levitate towards Merle.

~~~

As Merle panted--her sword readied in a defensive position--she knew that she was nearing her physical limit. That last attack--a "sword beam", if you will--had succeeded in drawing Kharlla away from the defenseless Trey, but at the same time it had required too much of her physical energy to even pull of the attack.

She watched as Kharlla drew closer. For a split second, she considered her "last resort" technique, the Overdrive Burst, but she knew that if she even tried to use it, Kharlla would just counter with her own Overdrive Burst.

The only thing she could do was defend until she saw her opening, and go for a killing strike.

Just then, as the wings on her ankles briefly grew larger, Kharlla shot towards her. Merle braced herself as Kharlla approached her from the air at top speed.

Upon reaching her, Kharlla attempted a roundhouse kick with her right leg, which Merle parried with her sword. Kharlla followed up with a flurry of kicks, both roundhouse and thrusting. Merle again worked to parry and dodge each one, but one of them connected right into her chest.

She reeled back--clutching her chest with one hand while kneeling slightly--and looked up at her opponent just as Kharlla had raised her right leg high into the air. The wings on its ankles grew as Kharlla brought her foot down upon her.

Merle shielded herself from the blow with her sword, but Kharlla's strength was remarkable; her foot was continually pressing down on the steel with more and more power. Merle did not know how long she would be able to keep up her defense.

With as much strength as she could muster, she managed to strike away Kharlla's powerful leg with a powerful swing of her sword. However, Kharlla simply spun around and deliver a kick with the same leg squarely on Merle's face. The impact sent Merle flying back through the room, landing on the floor several feet away with a loud thud. She wiped her face, finding fresh blood coming from her nose.

Kharlla leapt into the air, and began to rapidly spin around again, her ankle wings extending and forming a spiraling funnel of light around her body. Then, Kharlla quickly descended towards her, the entire mass resembling a drill of sorts. Merle tried to protect herself with her sword, but Kharlla was too quick; the tyrannical Queen's attack fell onto her chest and began to spin upon it like it was indeed a drill. Merle let out an audible gasp of pain as Kharlla's feet spun into her gut with sheer force made even more intense with the spinning.

After several seconds, the spinning came to a stop, leaving Kharlla standing with her feet firmly planted in Merle's gut, still pressing into it as hard as she could. The pain was nigh-unbearable; Merle felt as if there was a hole right in her chest.

Kharlla flashed an evil smile. "You weren't able to dodge that time."

Merle did not respond.

"Too bad. You arrived with so much ambition, even." Kharlla shook her head. "No, not ambition... Arrogance."

The weight on Merle's chest became slightly lighter as Kharlla lifted her right foot high over Merle's head.

"And your arrogance will be the death of you!!" she yelled. "This is the end, you foolish traitor!!"

The foot--its wings expanded once more--fell upon her at high speed.

"Nooo!!" Merle heard a small voice off in the distance--likely Trey--shout.

Right before the Kharlla's foot made contact with Merle's face, Merle tightly gripped her sword and thrust its tip right into the leg, just as the flesh of Kharlla's bare sole made contact with her face. Though Merle's head was still pounded against the floor with force, the power behind it was mitigated somewhat with the blade being buried into her flesh.

Kharlla yelped in pain as her foot retreated. Merle tried her best to keep a firm grip on her sword's hilt, until Kharlla finally jumped off of Merle, causing the sword to slice a large gash into her leg in the process.

Despite her head aching, nose broken, and her chest throbbing in pain, Merle mustered the strength to stand to her feet once more. Meanwhile, Kharlla floated a few inches above the floor; the gash was leaking blood, which poured down her right leg and dripped onto the floor. Kharlla wore an expression of both pain and anger on her face.

"How dare you!!" she said.

"The only one arrogant here..." Merle pointed her sword towards Kharlla. "Is YOU, Kharlla!"

Kharlla gritted her teeth. "DIE!!!"

She flew towards Merle once again. She went for a punch to her face, but Merle used her free hand to grab her wrist and end the assault. With this opening, Merle thrust her sword towards Kharlla's chest. Kharlla apparently sensed this, and flew backwards, freeing her arm from Merle's grip. However, Merle did manage to stab Kharlla right before she retreated, cutting into her white dress and slightly into the skin. The rather elegant dress soon became stained with a patch of red that grew slightly bigger.

"Curse you!!" A very angry Kharlla shouted. "You'll pay for your insolence!!"

"You're letting you emotions hinder your rational thought," Merle calmly said, echoing what Kharlla had said earlier.

"Shut up!!"

"I think I found your weakness. I would think that even you would have been able to avoid that last attack."

"I said shut up!!"

Kharlla charged Merle yet again. This time, she began to kick at her with her right--and injured--leg. Merle used her sword to guard and parry each of Kharlla's attacks, until Merle found an opening and delivered a hard punch to Kharlla's right cheek. Kharlla reeled away, but Merle did not give her a chance to recover.

Now going on the assault, Merle began to slice at Kharlla, cutting into her dress and her arms as she tried in a futile attempt to guard the sharp blade with her bare arms. Despite not being fully-recovered herself, Merle did not let up. She went for Kharlla's neck, but Kharlla blocked the sword with her bare hand, cutting up her palm as she worked to push the blade away from delivering a likely-fatal blow.

Merle kicked Kharlla in her chest, knocking her back several feet. Kharlla cried out in frustration and charged Merle again. Right before she reached Merle, Merle quickly dodged out of the way and--before Kharlla could reorient herself--drove the hilt of her sword into Kharlla's spine. The blow sent Kharlla flying onto and across the floor a few feet.

"You're teasing me..." Kharlla said as she lifted herself off of the floor. "You could have easily killed me there."

As she stood to her feet, limping a bit on her right leg, she turned around and faced Merle.

"You fool!!" she angrily blurted. "You're making fun of me!! Who do you think you are!?"

Merle did not respond.

"That's it!!" The wings on her ankles grew larger as she started to levitate into the air. "This ends now!!" Then, she shot herself towards Merle.

Merle smiled. "Yes." She said under her breath. "This will end now."

As Kharlla reached her, she kicked and swiped at Merle in fury. Merle guarded each blow, before quickly dodging to the right and kicking at Kharlla's foot. Kharlla stumbled forward, which gave Merle the opening that she needed.

She used the last of her strength to quickly charge energy into her sword, which began to glow with a white light. Right as Kharlla recovered, Merle swung her sword with both hands, unleashing a crescent-shaped blast from its blade, one smaller than the one she had used before. Just as Kharlla prepared to attack again, she saw the mass speeding right towards her. She tried to jump out of the way, but to no avail.

The crescent sliced into and right through her abdomen, dissipating several feet away afterwards.

Merle breathed heavily as she held her sword towards the floor in the same position that she was in after firing the crescent. Kharlla wore an expression of shock on her face, before her mouth opened, spilling out blood from within it onto the floor. The wings on her ankles shrunk until they were completely gone. Then, her upper body fell off of her pelvis and onto the floor; her lower body followed after, it falling backwards instead. Blood poured out of both ends.

Kharlla was dead.

Merle let out a deep sigh of relief as she dropped her sword's blade into the floor and attempted to balance her weight against it.

~~~

Trey could not believe what he had just witnessed. He thought that he was dreaming, that he had passed out due to the pain of being kicked by Kharlla.

"No way..." he said to himself. "It can't be..."

Trying his best to bear the pain he was still feeling, he slowly stood to his feet, while clutching his chest. He looked over at the bisected remains of the tyrant Queen Kharlla, and then over towards Merle, who looked to be trying her hardest to remain on her feet despite using her sword to remain standing.

Just then, an overwhelming sense of happiness took over his body, and thus, he let out a shout of glee.

"Alright!! She did it!! She really did it!! She killed Kharlla!!"

Despite his pain, he began to run towards the victorious giantess.

However, the large doors at the end of the room burst open, and he immediately came to a stop. Another Queen was standing in the doorway: the archer Elli.

She looked into the room and caught quick sight of the remains of Kharlla. A look of sheer horror appeared on her face.

"Empress!!" She shouted, before turning her attention towards Merle. "You killed her!? But that's impossible!!"

"I'm surprised you're awake already," Merle said. "I was going to finish you off once I was done with Kharlla here."

Elli gritted her teeth in anger. "You should have killed me when you had the chance. I will never forgive you for this; first Ryia and now Empress..."

The atmosphere became tense as the two Queens stared at one another.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Merle asked.

Trey wondered what was going through Merle mind at that point. She had just prevailed in a very brutal battle against Kharlla; Trey hoped that Merle was not pushing her luck.

Elli shook her head. "Unfortunately for you, I cannot summon my bow right now; it seems to have withdrawn while I was unconscious. Otherwise you would have already been dead." She turned around. "But we will meet again, and I give you my word: I will avenge Empress Kharlla. Even if I have to give my life doing it." With those words, Elli departed from the room, the doors closing behind her soon after.

Merle stood there, looking towards the doorway for several seconds. Trey slowly approached the tired and bruised giantess. To his right, he noticed Kharlla's remains glowing, and light particles floating from them into the air. Merle turned around and caught sight of this as well. Both she and Trey watched as Kharlla's glowing body disappeared, like dust particles being blown away by the wind. Only the blood she had spilled remained on the floor.

"That's one more sent to Mother," Merle stated.

"You were awesome!!" Trey excitedly shouted to her as he approached her. "I can't believe you actually killed her!!"

She nodded with a smile. "I told you before. I was going to defeat Kharlla."

"That you did!! Amazing!!"

"Trey." Merle suddenly got a concerned look on her face. "Are you hurt? She kicked you pretty hard."

"Oh..." Trey realized that he was still clutching his aching chest. "Yeah, but I'm still alive. Wish I could say the same about Maria..." He turned his head towards the floor to his right, and closed his eyes. The image of Maria being devoured by Kharlla as well as her bloodcurdling cries for help were well-burned into his brain. Then, he looked back towards Merle. "She's been avenged, so I hope she can rest in peace."

Merle looked behind Trey, towards the now-vacant throne. "Who is that over there?"

Trey turned and saw the battered man from earlier, whom had refused his and Maria's offer to escape with them.

"I don't know," Trey answered.

Merle gripped her sword with a slightly-tighter grip, before it glowed white and disappeared into her palm. Taking Trey into her hand and placing him on her breasts, she walked towards the throne to meet the man at the throne. As she drew near, the man appeared to be afraid of her, and retreated underneath the throne.

"Don't be afraid," Merle said in a gentle tone as she kneeled down before it. "I won't hurt you."

After a minute or so, the man slowly crept out from underneath the throne. "Who are you?! What do you want with us?"

"My name is Merle," Merle answered. "And all I want is for you Humans to live in peace. This is your planet, and neither Mother nor the Queens have a right to take it away from you."

The man let out a short scoff. "I don't believe you!! You're just saying that to make us drop our guard, and then you'll just enslave us as well!" He looked towards Trey. "Some of us aren't weak-willed enough to be taken in by your words!"

"I don't blame you for not trusting me," Merle said. "But I'm telling the truth. I bare no ill will towards Humans."

"Feh!" The man had completely made up his mind to not believe her.

"Merle, I don't think you're going to convince him," Trey said. "He's right. Even though you killed Kharlla, a lot of the people here will still not trust you. They're as paranoid as he is."

Merle sighed. "You're right. I'll leave him here for the timebeing."

Trey nodded. "Yeah. He'll go downstairs on his own later."

Merle stood up. "Is there anyone here who can look at your wound?"

"Mrs. Watkins can," Trey answered. "She's the wife of the guy who leads one of the colonies on the first floor."

"Well then, let's go."

Merle turned around and walked out of the large and quiet throne room, leaving the untrusting man alone inside as she closed the large doors behind her.

The giantess made her way downstairs to the first floor. The halls were empty; not a Queen was in sight. Merle must have decimated each and every one in the castle. Not that there were many of them in the first place. Without the sounds of the Queens' heavy footfalls, the entire castle was quiet, almost eerily so. It was much too large for a small group of humans to live in by themselves. Now that they were no longer trapped inside of the castle, perhaps it was time for them to finally move on.

Merle finally arrived on the first floor, as she looked around at each of the doors lining the wall to both her right and left.

"They're in the 2nd door from the end on the left," Trey guided.

Merle nodded and headed towards the door that Trey had pointed out to her. Upon reaching it, she opened the door, and both she and Trey were met with the sight of the small human colony inside. Of course, the people there also took notice to their entrance--or more specifically, Merle's entrance; to them, she was a new and unfamiliar Queen, and they reacted accordingly: they began to panic.

"Hey, wait!!" Trey yelled out. "Don't be scared! This is Merle, and she came to help us!!"

His words had no effect on the people, who all soon retreated into their abodes.

"Maybe if I put you down on the floor, you'll have an easier time explaining things to them," Merle said.

"You're right," Trey agreed.

Merle lifted Trey from her breasts and placed him onto the floor before her booted feet. He then ran towards the colony, where not a soul remained out in the open.

"Hey, it's me!" Trey shouted. "Listen, don't be afraid of her!! She's here to help us. Hell, she killed Kharlla!"

After about a minute, a few of the people peeked out of their tents and slowly crept out of them. Others followed after. They nervously glanced over at Merle, who merely watched the entire process from across the room.

"Trey," Mr. Watkins called as he approached him. "What's going on? Did you just say that this Queen... killed Kharlla?"

Trey nodded, and went on to explain to the people everything that had happened, starting from how he met Merle in the first place, how she came headstrong into Kharlla's fortress and killed each Queen, and ultimately fought and defeated Kharlla in a very brutal battle. He also mentioned Maria's death, which drove a few of his listeners to tears.

"Poor Maria..." said a distraught female. "Being killed like that... Terrible..."

"Yes," Mr. Watkins nodded. "It is indeed a sad fate. I hope that she's in a better place now, one without the suffering of this world. She was such a kind soul..."

"Mr. Watkins..." Trey said in a soft tone.

"But about this 'Merle'... Are you truly going to trust in her?" Mr. Watkins looked towards Merle. "Even though she saved us, I don't completely believe that she has our best interests at heart."

Several voiced their agreement with him.

"Well, you guys can believe what you want," Trey said. "As long as this place is Queen-free, that's all that matters, right?"

"For now," said a male. "But who knows how long it'll be before another Queen hears of what happened here and take over this castle again?"

Trey realized that he had forgotten to mention that Elli was still alive and had escaped from the castle.

"Did you want me to look at that bruise you got?" Mrs. Watkins, an older woman standing next to her husband, asked.

"Oh, yeah." Trey lifted his shirt. "She got me in the gut, but I don't know if she broke any ribs or anything."

Mrs. Watkins reached out and touched his chest, applying pressure at several points on it, particularly on his ribcage.

"I can feel a few broken ribs," she said. "Wait right here while I get some bandages; it's all I have right now..."

"Whatever works," Trey said.

~~~

His still-aching torso wrapped tight with white bandages applied by Mrs. Watkins, Trey rode on Merle's shoulder as she walked out of the room.

The colony was going to remain in the castle and decide what to do next, or rather, where to go. Merle had given them the directions to a passage in the valley that would lead to an underground shelter. They were suspicious of her words, but Mr. Watkins decided to take Merle's suggestion into consideration. It seemed that he at least was warming up a bit to Merle, if only a little bit.

However, what shocked much of the colony was Trey's own declaration: "I'm going to travel with Merle." Several of them tried to talk him out of it, saying that it was too dangerous and that he would end up becoming a slave or even sold off to another Queen. Trey was undeterred, stressing that Merle's eyes showed him a sincerity in her intentions to save humanity.

Mr. Watkins, while also against him going with Merle, merely said to do what he felt was right for him, and that he would be praying for his safety, and that--should Merle indeed be telling the truth--she would be able to accomplish her goals.

With a few more parting words to and from Mr. and Mrs. Watkins, as well as the colony that believed him to be insane at best or brainwashed at worst, Trey departed with Merle, leaving the colony alone in the otherwise empty room in the equally-empty castle.

As the two walked onto the outside world, they looked towards the horizon, where the sun was setting beyond the valley, painting the sky and the landscape with a beautiful red-orange hue. A serene end to an otherwise crazy day. He never thought that his life would take such a turn as it did that day; that he would find a Queen who had humanity's best interest at heart, and proved it by killing Kharlla, among others.

Nor would he ever forget about Maria, his one true friend who met her untimely demise that day. He vowed to keep her memory alive for as long as he was, and for her sake he would help in any way to turn the Earth back to the way it was before the Queens arrived.

Merle turned her head towards Trey on her right shoulder. "Are you ready?"

Trey nodded. "Where are we going?"

"Past the valley. There, we're going to meet some friends of mine; they can also take another look at your wound."

"Are they Queens like you?" Trey asked curiously.

"No. Humans."

"Oh." Though Trey became a bit more eager to meet these friends of hers. "How long will it take to get there?"

"Not long." She looked towards the sky. "Though it'll be night by the time we get there."

"I'll stay awake until then." Trey chuckled.

Merle smiled. "Don't be afraid to fall asleep. I'll put you somewhere where you'll be safe."

"No, I want to see the scenery as we go. I haven't really had a chance to see what the world out here looks like. Just as long as no Queens attack us."

"Oh, you won't have to worry about that," Merle said, before she started to walk ahead. "I'll fend them all off and protect you."

"That would be great. And I know you'll be able to do it, too. You're amazing."

Merle blushed slightly. "Thank you. Now, hold on tight!"

The giantess walked towards the direction of the setting sun, walking by the forests and trees below her and towards the valley where the two of them had first met. Trey was more than curious to see the humans that she had befriended and where and how they lived. As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, Trey felt himself becoming drowsy.

"No..." He said to himself. "Stay up until we get there safely..."

It would not be long now. Not long before he would be able to finally rest easy. Until then, he took in the sights of the world around him.

[End Chapter]