Over the coming months, autumn's cooling turned into winter's cold, and things with Anaya went smoothly. She hadn't yet figured out that her most recent offering of sweets had been made with less sugar and heavier ingredients, which was a lucky break when winter finally hit, and all supplies ran extremely low or non-existent. Over these months, the Halflings did all they could to prepare for the long cold spell and just managed to make enough food for themselves and the other residents of the bakery.
The Small Torah and Teto were very grateful for their hard work and had plenty to eat. Myeon had gone into hibernation within her tree. Hagson hadn't been seen in months, undoubtedly scared off by Anaya's monthly visits. At the same time, Bow and Ball had appeared to migrate elsewhere without a single word. The Bugbears and Lizard Men were self-sufficient in their own environments, and Basil was using his Biological Storage to its maximum potential! He still slept but never ate or drank anything.
Winter was even a slow time for business. Lack of food meant no ingredients, and that meant no customers. So he'd have to do with what he had, which was still a lot. Making five hundred pounds of food in a dead season with limited supplies and a thirty-day time crunch was nerve-racking. But on one odd day during a snowstorm, everything changed, and something that Basil didn't want to know became known to all.
xXx
It all unfolded on an oddly slow day. He had no customers on a day he was open, which wasn't surprising due to the season, but it was still odd that not even one person came to his bakery for something warm. So he sat there bored out of his mind while drumming the table as Teto kept the fire going in the opposite room.
Suddenly, the doors of his store were flung open, and one of the villagers from Ash End came bursting in like a rocket, out of breath and red in the face. With a fearful expression, he looked all around the shop until he caught sight of Basil and proclaimed, "Oh thanks to the gods! You are here!"
Nearly jumping out of his skin, Basil exclaimed back, "What's going on!? What's wrong?!"
"It's Anaya! She's back and destroying the town!", the man half yelled at him.
Running out of his shop with the man, he points off into the distance, where smoke can be seen billowing up like great waves on the seashore. Then he sees something large dip into the sky on black wings before dipping down into the town and bellowing a roar!
Basil whistles for Broomy, and the enchanted item flies to him. He grabs it in motion and jumps onto it as it continues to gain speed and height. Once seated, he raced off as fast as the broom could carry! Within minutes, he was in the center of Ash End, where chaos had already reached every corner of the town! Compared to the last time Anaya attacked, this was a travesty! Nearly all the homes were destroyed or up in green flames, with people running around, screaming, panicking, or dying right in the streets.
Basil had never seen anything half as bad as this before in his life! And now, he had yet to determine if he could rectify it. Why was she attacking? Why was she doing this? Did he do something? Is this his fault? Basil began to panic and breathe heavily as the non-existent walls started to close in around him! Just before his panic attack could go into full swing, the woman of all this destruction scared him out of it and stood before him with a menacing glare!
He choked on his own words in her presence of the darkened winter sky, the snow falling all around in the wind as the green fire illuminated her body like an enormous silhouette! But he managed to force himself to speak as she waited for him to say something. And so he blabbered out, "Anaya! What are you doing!?"
"I'm destroying this little rathole you seem to admire so much!", the dragon roared , glancing down her skeletal nose at him.
"You're going against our deal! I make your food, and you don't destroy Ash End!", Basil tried to argue with her, regaining some of his nerves.
For some reason, this infuriated the dragon, and she bellowed in response, "You're the one who went against it first!", this made Basil fall to his butt in fright as the dragon arched her head down to look at him eye level. There, she demands, "You think I didn't notice? The lack of sugar and the heavier sweets make up for the quantity. Did you think I was so ignorant!?"
Basil gulped hard and explained to her, "I-I-I had to! Supplies are low, and besides that, I gave you a variety of flavors to sample--bland, bitter, tart--all kinds for you to mix and match."
Anaya angrily slammed her hand on the ground next to him and boomed, "I don't want that! I want sweets and nothing else!", Basil shut his mouth quickly and let the dragon cool off before she got close enough to him to see her chapped lips and venomous green eyes, saying to him, "But, if you want to keep our little deal, then you must double, no, triple the supply and present it to me every two weeks."
Hearing this, Basil went into full panic mode and exclaimed, "T-T-T-Two weeks!? And triple!? That's impossible! It's winter, and the supply lines have been cut off! Not only that, but I can't make that much food in such a short time!"
She narrowed her eyes and said with a sadistic grin, "Didn't you make my first batch of sweets within two weeks while you went galavanting off for the other two?"
Basil went pale and muttered out in a small voice, "H-How did you know that?"
"I have eyes and ears all over.", she told him as a small lizard-like creature popped up on her head.
It jumped down and ran off into town, where Basil noticed many others of its kind running amok. To Basil, these creatures appeared like small dragons but without wings or smaller versions of Anaya herself. They were only the size of a large child, black in color, with canine snouts and tufts of fur growing from several parts of their body. Using his Appraisal skill quickly, he found they were called Kobolds.
But his attention was turned back to Anaya, who raised her head to look down on him and offered, in a sneaky tone, "But if you can't do that, then I suppose our deal is null and void."
"Y-You can't do that!", Basil told her while pointing a finger.
Anaya put on a fake coy expression as she asked back, "Can't I? If this town can't help you, I'll destroy it and take you back to my horde! My servants will bring all you need to feed me as many sweets as I like!"
"Bu-But why?", Basil stammered out while backing away from her.
She loomed her huge body over him, and with a sour expression, she said in a deadly calm tone, "Because I didn't like how you spoke to me when you argued the five hundred pound agreement."
"That was months ago!?", Basil exclaimed in shock.
"And I hold grudges.", she retorted.
Suddenly, a bold and brazen voice shouts into the chaos and booms, "Foul beast! You will die this day!"
The man and dragon both look up to the sound of the voice and see Sir Eidolon standing on top of one of the few primarily intact homes with sword raised and shield bared! She takes a standing jump off the roof with a sword at the ready and prepares to strike it into the beast! Basil feels a rush of hope and joy wash over him at seeing this, and Anaya…almost looks impressed. Until she doesn't and puts the fear of something worse than death when she simply flicks her tail and sends the great knight flying off into the distance!
Basil looks on with his mouth wide open, and the dragon turns to him and asks, "Was that the best you could throw at me?"
"Yes?", Basil answered in an unsure tone.
"How pathetic.", she slightly chuckled.
Suddenly, Anaya filled her throat with acid, ready to fire! But just before she does, she opens her magic pocket and dumps something green and liquid into it. After swishing it around, she spits out the same green fire, nearly encompassing the whole town!
Basil watched in shock and horror until he blabbered out, "You're a black dragon. How are you breathing fire?!"
Deciding to humor him, Anaya boasted, "When I was younger, I discovered that my acid mixes well with Alchemist Fire. And with it, I can breathe a flame that not only burns and melts but is sticky and spreads.", suddenly, she roughly and tightly grabbed the young man up in her clawed hand and roared while cackling, "Now watch as I reduce your precious town to nothing! And when I'm done, I'll use you until there's nothing left!"
Hearing those words come from the great dragon's mouth, Basil's mind went blank as they reminded him of the one person he hated and feared most in his life, his wife.
xXx
Meanwhile, far on the outskirts of Ash End, Marigold and her adventuring party were riding through the open snow-covered countryside on horseback. Marigold, dressed in a winter outfit, was the most happy and smiling of the whole group as she rode in the front with a huge grin on her face. The rest of her group, also wearing different kinds of cold weather gear, have noticed this since this morning when she found out they would be going through Ash End.
So one of her companions, the half-elf cleric, said to her, "Wow Marigold, you sure look excited."
"Of course I'm excited! We're going to Ash End!", Marigold replied with a shining smile.
"Why do you like that dump so much? It's so out of the way from any major city or kingdom, and it borders the Low Lands.", groaned the halfling rogue.
"It's not a dump! It's quaint and quiet. And besides, there's someone there I'm excited to introduce you guys to.", Marigold argued with a dreamy look on her face.
Seeing this, the half-giant barbarian teased her, "A booooooooooyfriend!"
"Shut up. He's just a friend.", she playfully punched his arm.
"That's what they all say.", the dwarf bard chimed in, making a few others laugh.
Marigold told them, "I'm serious. Besides, he makes the best food you'll ever taste.", the barbarian licked his lips with anticipation.
"Does he specialize in barbecue?", asked the devil kin warlock, nose deep within her forbidden book.
This got everyone's attention, especially Marigold, who answered in confusion, "No, why?"
Then the human paladin looked in front of where they were riding and pointed out while grabbing the girl's shoulder, "Because…just look in front of you."
Marigold turned her eyes back to the front of the road they traveled and saw the billowing cloud of smoke rising hundreds of feet into the air over the horizon with the green flames dancing just out of view!
The golden-haired girl gasped sharply, half yelling in fright, "Ash End. It's up in flames!"
Suddenly, something huge dipped in and out of the sky with a great roar that echoed eerily over the distance, and the cleric exclaimed in fear, "Is that a dragon!?"
Suddenly, Marigold gripped the reins of her horse tightly and kicked it into a full gallop!
"Marigold, wait!", the paladin called after her as he and the rest of the party raced after her.
But she didn't hear them or choose to listen. She forced her horse to run even faster than before with only one thought on her mind as Ash End came into view: Basil.
Upon reaching and breaching the town, she galloped through the fire until she came upon the central square where all the chaos was happening! Luckily, people had already fled from the center, which is where the dragon was most focused. She frantically looked around at the carnage and destruction for her friend, knowing full well that he would be in the thick of it by now!
Instead, her party made their way to the panicking searching woman. The Bard was the first to jump off his horse and yell at her, "Marigold, are you crazy!? We're not anywhere prepared or ready to fight a dragon of any kind."
Suddenly, a massive gust of wind blew on their backs, and they looked up to see a gigantic ancient black dragon landing on a building that had fallen over but was still intact enough to hold up her weight. She roared into the air while breathing out the same green flames that nearly covered every part of the town!
"Anaya!", Marigold exclaimed.
"Anaya!? You know that Wyrm?", shouted the rogue in shock.
"It's a long story! The friend I was talking about made a deal with her in exchange for Ash End's safety.", Marigold briefly explained.
"He made a deal with a dragon!? Is he crazy!", cried the warlock, finally taking her book away from her face.
Just then, Marigold heard a scream and looked up at the dragon to see Basil flailing around in her hand! She gasped and yelled, "Basil!", feeling her anger rise and her hands turn into fists, she pulled out her rapier and shouted, "We've gotta save him!"
But she was quickly stopped by the paladin, who grabbed her arm and told her, "What!? Are you crazy? Marigold, I know you and this guy are close, but we've gotta run before that thing takes notice of us!"
Marigold pulls away from him and stamps her foot on the ground, grunting between her teeth and shouting, "Oh, where is that useless knight?!"
"Who?", asked the barbarian.
"Sir Elliot of the Dauntless Kingdom. He was sent here months ago to kill that thing!", Marigold explained while pointing her sword at the monster.
"I thought his name was Eidolon.", the bard questions.
"Well, why hasn't he killed it?", the cleric exclaimed, noting the "months ago" part.
Then the Warlock said out of the blue, "I think that's why."
Looking at where she was pointing, they all saw the form of the "great hero" lying on the ground, safely out of reach from the flames and completely unconscious. Everyone present was stunned, to say the least, and couldn't bring themselves to say or do anything. Just stare.
Except for the rogue, who almost immediately said, "I'm gonna loot him."
"No, you're not!", the cleric instantly grabbed his tail.
Seeing that they were getting nowhere, Marigold took a stance and began to walk like a drill sergeant while ranting, "Look guys, I know the odds are far stacked against you, but we have to help this town! Sure, we're fighting an ancient dragon, but our job as adventurers is to help those who can't fight against monsters, creeps, and supernatural forces! So who's with me!", she exclaimed while thrusting her fist into the air and looking at her party, only to see no one there. Looking around, she asked, "Guys?", she next heard the sound of galloping and panicking horses and saw her whole party making a B-line for the outside of town on horseback! Downright furious by this, she screamed at the top of her lungs at them, "You bunch of cowards!"
Seeing no other option and no one to stop her, Marigold readied her sword and charged at the cackling monster, waving the man around like a rag doll. Running even faster with the added anger, she scales the building right to her openly exposed hand and puts a large gash through her wrist that spills out a mixture of blood and acid!
Anaya cried out in pain and dropped Basil while grabbing at her injured wrist! Marigold caught Basil mid-fall and jumped down the building, where she placed him on the ground, only for the man to act like a frightened cat and run off in a frenzy! But she didnt focus on this as she looked back to face the angered dragon.
After tending her shallow wound, Anaya demanded, "Who dares strike Anaya the Black!"
"Anaya! Face me in combat, you flying lizard!", Marigold announced while pointing her sword at her.
Anaya narrows her eyes and roars, "You dare insult me, hairless monkey!"
Anaya then breathed deeply and let loose a torrent of acid in the woman's direction! But Marigold was far quicker and more agile than the dragon's ability to shoot acid, dodging the attack easily! She ran in at the monster's side, taking note of where her tail was swinging, and dashed in for another slice at her other wrist!
Anaya cried out in pain and tried to slam her hand down on the girl, only for her to roll out of the way and make another slice on her back leg! Anaya gritted her teeth and tried to slam her tail down upon her, only for Marigold to raise her sword up and allow the tail to get pierced right on it, all before proceeding to run down its length and open a huge gash! This caused her to cry out in pain again and turn around as quickly as she could to bite her!
Marigold held back the snapping jaws with the whip of her sword, causing a small cut to form on the skeletal face! Every advancement only led to more cuts, so Anaya tried to gore her on her horns! Leading the woman to step in between the horns and her face before plunging her sword into the corner of the beast's eye!
Anaya roared with pain, but due to Marigold's precarious location, she couldn't dodge the dragon claw scooping her up! With the woman in her hand, she tried to breathe acid on her but found nothing coming out. Marigold smiled at this, seeing the beast had exceeded her shot limit without letting it recharge. So, with her hands and sword free, she sliced at the creature's face, neck, and finger!
Anaya winched from the pain but held onto her! And instead of just crushing her there and then, Anaya decided to throw her and hope she broke her neck. After tossing the woman with her injured hand, she strides off to cause more destruction as her breath attack recharges.
Back with Marigold flying through the air. Managing to collect herself after being thrown, she activated the cape of gliding on her back, and it magically morphed out like a pair of wings, stabilizing her mid-throw and allowing her to soar to a rooftop still intact safely. Sliding to a halt, she deactivated her magic item and used her new view to look around.
Looking towards the entrance of the town and at its center point, she could see a group of all three types of goblins and Lizard Men all running around and attempting to help the situation or fight Anaya. Then, there was the Small Torah and Halflings, who seemed to be searching for Basil, as she could hear them calling his name. Surprisingly, Hagson, Myeon, and Bow had come out of nowhere and attempted to help the fleeing and panicking people. She also noticed how a large hoard of Kobolds chased and attacked the fleeing humans. Now, that was another thing to deal with! But right now, the man who could try to make sense of all this chaos was the man they needed the most, Basil.
So she jumped off the collapsing building and ran through the streets in an attempt to find him, as everyone did everything they could to fight back or survive. After a bit of searching and deposing several attacking Kobolds, she finally found him, or at least his back. He was all huddled in one of the few spots in the whole town that wasn't destroyed, on its way to being destroyed, or entirely on fire. He was squished into the corner, his back turned, and shaking violently. But at this time, Marigold didn't notice this and just ran up to him like nothing.
"Basil?!", she called, hoping it was him. After noticing the clothes, she cried out, "BASIL!", after running up to his back, she kneeled down and began to say while touching his back, "Basil, there you are. Come on, we have to-.", but Basil smashed her hand away as it went up his shoulder, causing the woman to reel back in confusion as she asked, "Basil?"
Then he said something in his knees and arms wrapped tightly around his face--something barely above a whisper for Marigold to hear correctly. So she asked, "What?" Basil repeated it, and again, he couldn't bring himself above a whisper. Finally, she noticed how badly he was shaking and asked in a calmer and more concerned tone,"Basil, what's wrong? Come on, the Bugbears and Lizard Men are here. They won't know what to do without-."
"LEAVE ME ALONE!", he finally yelled at her without turning around, causing the woman to jump like a scared mouse.
Basil had assumed he was getting better. He had thought he was finally over his past. He believed it was all behind him, and he could forget about it all! But that's the thing about assumptions; they are just that--assumptions. It's not solid proof. It's thoughts that could be better thought out.
He wasn't better or cured or anything like that. He just learned how to deal with it, but even then, that didn't take so well. He was still broken inside, and that crazy flying thing just broke what was being held back together. That, coupled with the stress of the world seemingly falling all around him with impossible odds to face, he reverted to a state of mind even he thought was long gone.
And so he yelled at the woman trying to help him, "Just leave me alone! Why won't anyone just leave a poor old man like me alone? What have I done in my life? What!? Why can't you just leave an old man alone? What did I do to deserve this?"
Marigold was more than confused as she looked at him and heard what he said. But then her vision almost began to shift. Instead of seeing a healthy young man huddled in fear, she saw a withered, old, gray man beaten metaphorically and literally by all who lived in it. He looked so frail and tiny despite his age. Like he would just fall apart at any moment if you so much as breathed on him too hard, and yet he had so many injuries on and in him.
Marigold played the man's voice again in her mind and heard years of pain and anguish slowly explode from beneath the surface, which held a torrent trying to be held back. A great weight that was placed long ago and yet has more and more placed upon him until it made him look…crushed. Marigold shook her head, breaking out of whatever hallucination or magic spell or third eye awakening or whatever just happened to see that. Looking back, she saw Basil again, still huddled in his corner and within himself.
"Basil.", she said in a small voice, trying to reach her hand out to touch him but quickly pulling it back, not daring to do so. So, she leaned in just close enough for her forehead to nearly touch his quivering back and told him in his panicked state, "I'm not sure what you're saying, and I probably won't understand even if you explain it to me. I don't know what to say.", Basil said nothing in return, but his quivering stopped for a moment, so she continued. "But what I can say is that I know you're scared. So am I. I want to run and hide just as much as you do. But I know you're the bravest man I know. You've shown me that time and time again. No matter the outcome.", she explained to him, still getting no response. "But now it's different. Now is not like all the other times. And that's okay. If you can't protect yourself, then I'll protect you.", she assured him before getting back to her feet and running out to face the danger again, leaving Basil in a hopefully safe place.
When she left the alleyway, she was met by Burr trying to roar commands to the other goblins. When he saw her, he jumped from the spot he was on top of and asked, "Lady scrunk. Where be man scrunk?"
Marigold opened her mouth to answer but stopped as she knew if she told them, then morale would drop, and the fight would be lost. So she changed up her words a bit and told him, "He can't fight. He's down.", this surprised Burr, and he almost looked lost for a minute until Marigold exclaimed, "So for now, we have to defend Ash End and Basil by ourselves! He'd do no different if the roles were reversed!", Burr roared in agreement as did any other Bugbears nearby. So Marigold raised up her sword, pointing it at the dragon as she yelled, "To Victory!"
Despite appearing not to have heard Marigold's previous words, he indeed listened to all of them. It broke him out of his mind, but now he was teetering between regression and reality. It was borderline maddening! His mind was split between his devotion and will to help the town and his trauma from the past, keeping him locked in place. He had to make a choice! But could he?
Wasn't it better to just sit there for once and let someone else deal with all the trouble? Wasn't it better to just sit there and stew in his own mixed emotions until they went away, or he could bottle them back up? Wasn't that better? Wasn't that how it always was before? It worked back then, and things were fine, so why not now, and here, in this new place?
But then it dawned on him, the words of the One Being. This was a new place, a new world. This was not his old world. The people who wronged him weren't here. And since this wasn't his first life, he couldn't just treat it as such. He was still scared, and his emotions were still tough on his body and mind, but he had to do something--for this world, for the people he now called friends and family.
But Bow was still correct. He was a work in progress. He wasn't going to get better overnight or with one conversation. So, at some point, he'd have to face a similar situation to his first life. And today was that day! He had to do this, not only for the ones he cared about but also for himself. He had to prove he wasn't that same old scared man. And he was going to do it or die trying!
So he got up from his hiding spot, wiped his face clean, and gingerly took step after step toward the alleyway outside. After finally leaving on shaky legs, he heard the two buildings protecting him finally collapse! There was no turning back now.
As he walked as best he could through the fire and chaos, he came upon the sight of a horde of Bugbears fighting and losing against Anaya. Near the back of the horde was Marigold trying to help an injured Burr to his feet. Even Marigold was more than bruised up from the fight and had a nasty-looking acid burn on her right arm.
Seeing this, Basil saw red, and he marched up to them before placing a hand on Burr and Marigold using a powerful healing spell that caused the goblin and woman to recover instantly. Feeling his vitality return, Burr got back up with heavy confusion.
This was quickly answered as Marigold said in equal confusion, "Basil?"
Even though she only spoke at an average volume, this was more than enough to grab nearly everyone's attention at once. When all eyes were on him, he quickly summoned Gossamer and the fairy triplets before shouting off to the group like a commander, "Bugbears, I need you to get any people free from the rubble. Hobgoblins keep Anaya at a distance with ranged weapons coated in her own green acid flame. Goblins take out the Kobolds. Small Torah, look through the rubble, and direct the Bugbears to anyone trapped. Myeon, close off Anaya from advancing closer or flying. Bow, keep Anaya distracted at her feet. Lizard Men find any human lagging or injured and get them to safety. Hagson, animate any building too heavy for the Bugbears and sent any extras to attack Anaya. Halflings dig a tunnel from the river to here to help put out the flames. Slow Moe and Flo, heal the injured. Teto and Broomy protect Marigold and get her to safety. Anaya is mine."
All around the area, the many creatures and people nodded or gave their verbal affirmation before spreading out and going to do as they were told, finally acting like a cohesive force. Just as Teto tried to pull Marigold away with Broomy, the woman broke away from the two and stood before Basil, exclaiming, "What!? No way am I leaving you to fight that thing by yourself!"
"You have to, it's me she's after.", Basil exclaimed to her.
"But what if you die?!", she practically yells back, panicked and worried strewn on her face.
Basil gingerly cups her face and tells her, "Then at least I gave everyone a chance to escape."
"Do you even know what you're doing?", Marigold asks him while holding his hands.
Basil quickly used his Appraisal skill on Anaya and nearly barfed at seeing her stats! It was ridiculous at just how crazy high they were! He knew that Ancient dragons were ridiculously powerful, but he never expected it to be like this! Not to mention all her skills, sub skills, and titles! But the only thing he could focus on was her stats which read;
Ancient Black Dragon, The Dreaded Anaya the Black: 2,698 Strength, 3,987 Stamina, 4,589 Health, 2,370 Charisma, 1,689 Fortitude, 998 Knowledge, 879 Magic, 3,372Speed.
"I sure hope so.", Basil admits, closing his eyes.
Marigold quickly steals a hug from him and says, "Good luck. You'd better come back alive, you hear me!"
Basil nods, and the two creatures take the woman, who allows them to pull her away. Seeing one of his important people go to safety, he looks around at the roaring chaos and watches as it slowly begins to churn down. Thanks to the Small Torah, the Bugbears lift any large rubble aside and find anyone trapped. Anything too big is animated by Hagson and sent off to keep Anaya's breath attack busy. Lizard Men are giving out loud, vocalized calls to one another as they carry out the townsfolk from the raging fires.
The Goblins scampered around, picking off the surprisingly weak Kobolds one after the other. Hobgoblins peppered the dragon with storms of arrows while Myeon hooked her feet to the ground and wings at her side. Slow, Flo, and Moe used their healing magic to help anyone unconscious or unable to walk.
The Halflings had made fast work, and several tunnels opened in the town. Streams of icy water gushed forth, beginning to put out the flames at the largest collections. And yet again, Bow was the strangest one of all.
Using a sheep bell, he rang it and conjured up ethereal sheep that charged into the dragon with no self-preservation. He rang it hard once, and a giant sheep appeared. Bow jumped on top of the building-sized spirit sheep and rolled it like a ball directly into the dragon, which exploded upon contact! The dragon fell to the ground but quickly got back up with a second wind and breathed a torrent of acid on both the young druid, the giant spider, and the Hobgoblins.
Luckily, Bow erected a massive stone wall and blocked it enough for everyone to escape. Basil saw this and looked back. There, he saw Gossamer standing and waiting at the ready. They both nodded to one another, and Basil climbed on top of a large object. Anaya took a perch upon the last standing building in town. Looking down and roaring at the fleeing army. Basil then took a deep breath and centered himself.
"Anaya!" he yells while standing atop a flipped horse-drawn cart. Anaya turns her hateful gaze towards him, and he hesitantly demands, "Face me!"
Anaya smiles cruelly and wickedly at the sight of the man among the destruction and flames. She slinks off her perch, where it crumbles, and says gloatingly, "Well well, the little rabbit came out of his hole. Come to meet your fate head-on? If you give up now, I'll spare what's left of this town."
Basil tightened his hands, and trying to withhold his shaking voice before the beast, he argued, "That's a lie, and if you want me, then you'll have to kill me."
Anaya narrows her toxic eyes with boiling anger and stands tall, proclaiming, "Fine! Be that way! I can always find another baker! At least your death will be glorious as you fall before the Dreaded Anaya the Black!"