The Witch and the Lich; The Dance of Sword, Spell, and Stave

Credits; Krell, Rea,

The diamond was sitting in a clearly labeled glass case.  It couldn't be this easy, could it?
Rea must have thought it was.  She punched the case and pulled it out. 
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"
"What if it had been booby trapped?"
"Then I'd have reformed here and you'd have reformed there.  It would have worked out regardless."
"So what now?"
"What's that one spell you always use on your enemies?  The one where they turn to ash."
"Touch of Ash?"
"Yeah," she poked his forehead, "Touch of Ash"

How in the world he felt so much pain without a single nerve he couldn't tell.  It was like his entire body was instantly devoured in flames from the inside, charring every fragment of his physical being.  Technically speaking, that was exactly what happened to him.  Not once had he ever realized how painful it actually was though.  Or maybe that was just because his vital essences were being yanked across twenty lightyears of space and through the strongest magical wards the empire was able to provide.  As the pain of being incinerated diminished he felt as though he were being sewn back into the fabric of reality, which he suspected was also technicaly correct.  It was much less painful, and since it didn't prevent him from using magic he was able to reconstitute fully garbed and holding his sword.  And there before him was his target, daughter of his dearest friend, ruler of his children's children; Empress Holine III Laerdsfeld.  She hadn't heard a thing, how something so painful could be silent was beyond him.  But it gave him the upper hand.  He recognized the guardsman beside her as the captain of the guard, whose name had always slipped his mind.  Both were in full armor, Holine never appeared without it.  Most likely to conceal her own Lichhood, although to the public it was reffered to as being symbolic of her constant vigilance against the Secloran menance.  Not that he wouldn't have worn his armor all the time anyways, but the diamond that had been beside Holine's in the case was almost certainly the captain's phylactery.  It made sense, no member of the Imperial family was foolish enough to commit such evil without their bodyguard's complete consent and trust.  So he would be facing two Lich today, and he would do so without Rea's aid.  She seemed to believe he could do it, and for her sake, and for Lewiza's, he was going to give it his best shot. 
"Holine, Daughter of Kvald, I am Krell Casat.  Today, you shall die."
"Casat!"  She spat as she turned.  The other guards in the room lowered their staves and prepared to charge.  "You should be dead."
"Aren't we all?"
"Philon, destroy him.  Guards, dismissed."
"What, are you afraid they'll find out what you've done?  That you have created and made active phylactery's not only for yourself and your captain, but for others against their will?"
"I knew it!"
"Shut up Toln, mummy's got business to take care of."
"Stop treating me like I'm five Mother.  I will not be bossed around like that anymore." 
"I said to.."
Krell couldn't hear the rest.  The clang of his sword against the bloodstone stave of the Guard captain.  He twisted his blade and managed to slip past the guard and charged Holine directly.  It was hard to move fast though, and while he managed to deflect the blast of magic, he was still caught across the side of the head with the tip of the stave.  He recovered quickly and blocked another blow.  Holine continued arguing with her son, clearly satisified with her captain's ability to handle the situation.  The dance of sword, spell, and stave continued for what felt like an hour before he heard another voice join the fray. 
"I knew what the two of you had done, but this?  He was your Father's best friend Holine.  He's a hero of the people, and a good man.  And what's more he's a registered clergyman.  This isn't just illegal, this is an abomination against everything your Father and I fought for."
"Shut up Mother!  I am Empress and I decide what's legal and what isn't."
"Do you really believe yourself above the laws of the empire?  And choose your words carefully, because the best you can hope for is that I bring your crimes before the council."
"Why should I fear those overfed knaves?  Put it before them and see if I care.  Father may have been too weak to rule without them but I can do this fine on my own."
"Then for the good of the Empire, and against the deepest desires of my heart, let it be known that what I have done I have done for my people." 
Chasia, the Empress's mother and Krell's only surviving friend from before the plague, held out her staff.  The gnarled head and grapevine extended upward, the enchantment that concealed her chosen weapon lifting as rapidly as Krell's hopes of victory.  In mere seconds Krell found himself once more fighting by the side of the his best friend's wife. 
"Glad to see you could join us Milady." 
"I thought I told you not to talk when I fight family?  This is bad enough without your impoverished capacity for levity."
"We could trade."
"I'd never forgive you for it if you killed her."
"Lovely, add it to the tab right after surviving the plague, beating you in all those duels, and not promoting your daughter because she wasn't qualified."
"Considering the circumstances, consider that last one forgiven." Chasia plunged her spear through Holine's armor, and slid her hand up the shaft.  As she did he saw a crackle of magic and watched the steel of the spear spread out in order to keep Holine in place.  Krell ducked another stave blow and remembered the pendant Rea had given him.  He threw his sword into the ground and checked his pouch.  She must have found a way to bind it to him even through the destruction of his body because it was there waiting for him.  He pulled it out and threw it into the air as he dodged the Guard captain's stave. 
"Urun, the Argent Flame!"
The pendant shattered and a torrent of silvery fire fell about him.  An armored knight, ten feet tall and bearing a sword of embers, stepped from the flowing flames and began lashing out furiously at the Guard.  Lich as he was, the hapless captain was no match for the power of what Krell quickly realized was an Elemental lord.  He battered the stave aside and spoke in a voice full of zeal 'By the order of the Smoldering Courts, Be purged from the realm."  And with a single burst of flame he destroyed the guard.  And he heard Holine, still trapped against the collumn by her mother's spear, call out frantically. 
"Z'Gnu, The Frost King!"
And the lord of flame vanished as the world grew cold.