Queen Yavara Ch. 36

GORLOK

The rising sun was red over the Highland Rift, casting the silhouettes of trebuchets and ballistae in a bloody hue. The morning was still, interrupted only by the annoyed cawing of a distant crow. To my left, the horde's line stretched to the northern horizon. To my right, there was no one. The tundra grasslands gave way to pine trees, and the Highland Rift ascended into thousand-foot cliffs all the way to Castle Thorum and the Knife River. I sat atop Ginger, my prize warg, the beast I'd ridden into battle a hundred times. She was so scarred that her hide was more flesh than hair, but she was tougher than leather and meaner than a cornered boar. With my sons all dead, she was the closest thing I had to family for a hundred miles. Truth be told, I never really gave a shit about my wife and daughters anyway. The only woman in my life worth a damn was the one I was riding.

I drew my eyes from the causeway of South Fort, down to the dirt path beneath me, and through the tunnel in the trees behind me. It was an old imperial highway, and it ran from Bentius, to Ternianas, to South Fort, then moved through the Northern Pines until it ended at Alkandra. I understood why Shordian had put his cavalry division here. The causeway at Mid Fort was barely wide enough for a cart, but the causeway at South Fort could hold ten abreast steeds. Its adjacency to the impassible cliffs made it almost impossible to take by force, so a wide ramp made sense. This was an offensive staging point, a proverbial knife aimed right at Alkandra's throat. This was where the Midlands was narrowest, between the rise of the Rift and the Alkandran Horn; it would take a rider less than a day to cross it. The threat was double-edged, however, for vacating that fort would leave an open door for the horde to walk right to Bentius.

"Orders, General?" Colonel Jedriok asked.

I examined the note Zander's owl had sent me that morning. "We are to test the defenses of sector nine today." I said, glancing up at the fortified section of the rift two miles north of South Fort. It was a particularly nasty ridgeline that cut inward for about a hundred yards, funneling any attempt to scale it into a crossfire kill-zone. I snorted. Maybe the Dark Queen was content with letting me live, but the wizard clearly thought I was a loose end. My regiment had hit eight sectors in the fifteen days since I'd been stripped of my title, seeing more action than any other unit in the horde by far.

"General?" Colonel Jedriok asked again.

"Send a salvo to cover our advance." I grunted, "Flame cannisters in the fort to get them distracted, then boulders over our heads when we begin to ascend. Lay off when we're three-quarters of the way up."

"Can we expect royal support?"

I barked a laugh, and pulled on the reins of my warg.

Thirty minutes later, the north wall of South Fort was engulfed in flame. Great salvos were launched from the trebuchets below, arcing through the sky like meteors before crashing atop the rift. Directly above me, the great bows of the elven ballistae were being cranked back, levered out from the cliffside to aim directly down. Directly below me was fifty feet of air before the hard earth.

Ginger snarled, her great claws digging into the rockface as she lumbered up the shear wall. Hundreds of other warg-riders labored behind me, their beast's talons screeching against the shale surface. They shot their crossbows in a vain attempt to dissuade the elves from aiming over the cliffs, but it was impossible to be accurate while aiming straight up, and impossible to miss when aiming straight down. I heard their archer commander give the order, and I clutched Ginger's scruff for dear life.

Hell rained down on us. The twang of arrows, the screech of ballista shot, the upending of great barrels. A missile screamed past me and impaled the warg behind me through the mouth, spitting the beast and its rider before exiting its rear to cut through another. They fell from the cliffside, clawing at the air in their dying moments before crashing to the ground. Hot pitch coated another beast in black tar, and its screech of agony cut through the cacophony of battle like a soprano soloist. The creature crashed into the riders below it and sent ten falling to their end. Ginger shuddered with impacts, the arrows striking her head and forelegs, but even elven bows could not pierce her shield of muscle. The same was not true for the younger wargs, and a dozen fell at a time. I growled, dug my heels into Ginger's flank, and urged her upward.

They made us pay for every inch. Arrows peppered us without pause, boulders were rolled over the edge to smash us, boiling tar cascaded like waterfalls. A final support salvo from our boys below knocked out three of their ballistae, but the other two were still there, and in the crossfire of the groove we navigated, they didn't even have to aim. The warg beside me was nailed to the cliffside. The rider behind me was split in two. The great gears of the death machines were cranked back, and they fired in quick succession, driving through flesh and rock, pinning the squirming beasts and riders like decorations upon the cliff face. I drove my heels harder, firing blindly with my crossbow, cursing and sputtering and raging until the world suddenly righted itself. I was over the top.

Ginger gained purchase on the top of the cliff by flattening two imperials under her paws, their pink insides shooting from their golden shells. Then she dug her hind paws into the rock, and launched herself over. I took no time to savor the moment. There was a rage within me as primal as Ginger's, and I knew nothing but death. I pulled out my axe and split a man down the middle, I swiped to the left and cut another's jugular out, I reared over the top and crushed a helm with the blunt head, his brains spraying out of his faceplate like confetti. The other wargs hurtled over the top, tearing into the hapless archers, ripping off limbs, biting into bellies. One poor golden bastard was dragging himself away, his entrails wriggling behind him.

We cleared the sector with an acute savagery, using teeth and claw to rip flesh and muscle from screaming men. Wargs liked to eat their prey while it was still alive, and so we let our dogs feast on the prisoners. As the satisfying gurgles and shrieks sounded from all around us, I watched the elven reinforcements marshal a thousand yards away.

"Nine times we've scaled that fucking wall, and eight times we've fled back down it." Colonel Pasok growled. He'd been Major Pasok before the battle, but Colonel Jedriok was dead. "The regiment started at two-thousand riders. Now, it's down to seven-hundred, and for what?"

"For what?" I chuckled, and looked down at the man Ginger was feasting upon. He'd stopped his shrieking, but his eyes were still wide, uncomprehending of the hell he was in, his open mouth spewing red bile, his guts being pulled out in pink strings. "This is why we fight, Pasok." I smiled down at the man, "What were you, boy? A husband? A son? A father? Doesn't matter now. Now you're just meat." I looked out at the reinforcing line, "That fucking wizard will send us up this wall day in and day out, and we'll climb it day in and day out. I'm unkillable, Pasok; that's what he doesn't realize. God has blessed me to live when everyone else will die, because God has charged me with sending her fresh imperial souls."

The reinforcements began their counterattack, and I pulled back on Ginger's reins. The elf gulped with a mouth full of red, staring sightlessly at the sky, his entire midsection torn out. He would die terribly if the mages didn't get to him, but he had a chance. I always left one survivor to tell the others about me.

ADRIANNA

Alkandra was beautiful in the morning. Six streets of tiered towers stood in regimented lines like parading soldiers before the castle, and beyond that, the vast city sprawled out between the riverbank and the shoreline, a myriad of shoddy high-rises and squat abodes that looked akin to architectural vomit. On the other side of the river, the lush fields of green shown like a blanket of vegetation before the surrounding arms of the Great Forest. Though we had felt the first chill of the fall winds, the last vestiges of summer had not yet left us, and the morning was a blessing upon my flesh.

"Beautiful morning." Furia yawned as she stepped beside me at the top steps of Castle Alkandra. I smiled at her tattooed face, and pathed with my thumb, the tribal crescent sigil that marked her from her left brow to her chin. She tilted her head into the caress, and wrapped her lips around my thumb when it ended.

I crinkled my nose at her. "Why did you have to turn it sexual?"

"Mmm, can't help it." Furia grinned coyly, gnawing on my thumb, "I remember where you put this thing last night, and it still tastes... delicious."

"Enough of you!" I laughed, palming her face. She licked my hand defiantly, and a second later, I had her pressed against the entryway pylon, my hands reaching into her magistrate robe to find her magnificent organ, stroking it until it was so hard that it leaked onto my hand. There were undoubtedly many people who could see us, but we didn't care. Hell, we'd performed on the sands of the arena before a hundred-thousand screaming beasts. If anything, the witnesses only excited us. I dropped to my knees, licking my lips at the sight of her robes draping over her tool, and I lowered my mouth to—

"Shit!" Furia gasped, her breath full of desire, "They're here!"

I turned my head, and saw the procession of black-cloaked figures moving down the imperial road through the fields. The moved like they were floating instead of walking, their heads not bobbing at all with their footfalls. I turned back to Furia. "Get the others."

Ten minutes later, I was standing before the Black Throne, and the vampires were kneeling below me. It was a surreal experience, but then again, surreal experiences had become so commonplace for me that surrealism had lost it meaning.

"You may rise." I said, and they did so silently. "Welcome, the clan of Titus, to your home." I said, gesturing to the hybrids beside me, "I am Governess Adrianna Alkandra. This is Watch Commander Faltia Dafian, Outreach Director Eva Alecia, First Scribe Soraya Poneria, Lead Engineer Alexa Jenania, Agricultural Liaison Kiera Lestria, Population Director Brianna Dedaclia, and Head Magistrate Furia Augustinia. We are here to serve you."

I made a motion with my hand, and the attendants in the rafters pulled the curtains over the windows. The doors were shut, and all at once, the great hall of the castle was pitch black. I snapped my fingers, and the chandeliers above ignited, illuminating the expansive atrium in orange light. The vampires looked around, then pulled back their hoods. I had to suppress a gasp. Almost all of them had been elves. What was once blonde hair and blue eyes had become black hair and red eyes, their pale flesh had become alabaster white, and their soft features had become dramatic and severely beautiful. They had bodies like gods, and stood over seven feet, with the tallest among them standing closer to eight. This was no elf, but had been a human man once, and an infamous one at that. Drake Titus stepped forward.

"Ladies, thank you oh-so kindly for your hospitality." He said graciously, the charm in his voice undoubtedly the deadliest part about him.

"Drake Titus," I said, smiling warmly as I descended the steps, "it is us who should be thanking you for your many sacrifices."

"We have all sacrificed." Said the woman to his left. She examined me with an amused smile, "You look quite different from when I last saw you at Castle Thorum."

"And you all look the same to me." I smiled back.

Her blood-red lips opened to show her long fangs. "Sisters and daughters," she called to those behind her, "do any of you recognize the woman you see here?"

"Tiffany, be nice." Titus scolded.

"I'm not ashamed of what I used to be." I said, and walked down the rest of the steps. "I was once Thomas Adarian. Now I am Adrianna Alkandra. You will find that your past means little here. This place will let you be whoever you want to be, as long as you be yourself."

"Eloquently put." Titus said.

"You were Commander Thomas Adarian?" One of the women said. She stepped forward, looking curiously down at me, "We met once at a joint exercise. I commanded Shordian's sixth company at the time."

I gave her an incredulous expression. "You must be mistaken. There are no women in the Highland... army..." And then it dawned on me, and the realization struck me to the core. I looked the woman over, and saw some features I recognized in that predator's face. "Captian Bortius?"

"It was 'colonel' before the end, but yes, that was what I was called."

"She changed you?"

"Over a hundred of us. The men you see here are the ones she never touched."

I looked at the ground, and all I could say was, "I'm sorry for your loss."

ELENA

"...the Dark Queen does not desire to continue the bloodshed, but she cannot end it without concessions." I said before the court, "I, of course, refuse to kowtow to her absurd demands, but it is not her we need to convince. The dwarves of the Bearded Peaks have shown a willingness to trade at a temporary deficit to alleviate the strain on our people, but only if we show a willingness to make peace. It is we who started this war; it must be we who finish it."

"Here, here!" Lord Xantian concurred boisterously. There was a smattering of applause from some of the other nobles, and scowls from the rest.

Lord Ternias stood up. "The reports from the rift say that the orcs have taken massive casualties in skirmishes across the border. Why should we sue for peace when victory is still attainable?"

"The Dark Queen can afford mass casualties, my lord." I countered, "Everyday her numbers swell. Beasts from Ardeni are trained in combat and sent across the land bridges, mercenary regiments from Hektinar have been contracted, and warrior males come of age. She already outnumbers us more than two to one."

"An elf in full plate is worth ten orcs at least!" Lady Jonias shouted, and was answered with a round of applause.

"That may be so, my lady, but the Dark Queen has more than just orcs. Centaurs, nymphs, ogres, goblins; the Great Forest is emptying itself into Alkandra, and those who can fight are being funneled to the front lines. Where are our reinforcements?"

"Terondia will send us aid!" Lord Feractian insisted so desperately that it was obvious even he no longer believed it.

I turned to Leveria. "My queen, has there been any indication from our friends across the sea that they will help us?"

"The talks are still in the works." Leveria glared at me.

I turned back to the assembly. "An elf may be worth twenty beasts on the battlefield, but we are no longer fighting a war of grand battles. The war we fight now is one of resources. The Dark Queen draws wealth from the Bearded Peaks, the Lowlands, and Balamora, and her army does not fight for gold. While she sustains heavy losses across the border, she fills the holes in her ranks and adds more. I've even heard reports that some orc units have summited the rift."

"Impossible!" Lady Jonias snapped, "Lies from our enemies! You parrot the Dark Queen's deceits!" There was a murmur of concurrence from around the hall.

I shuffled through my papers, and produced the document. "This is a battle report from Captain Raymond Francis of General Bradias's regiment, who hails from Jonianas, your home estate. Should I read it to the court, or do you believe your own officers are parroting the Dark Queen's deceits?"

Lady Jonias turned bright red. "It is possible that the letter itself is a forgery."

"I'm sure you have a copy of it as well, my lady." I smiled amicably, watching her wilt back into her chair. I gave Ternias a disappointed look; he could do so much better.

Lady Droughtius cleared her throat. "Lady Straltaira, why is it you think that the Dark Queen is fighting these skirmishes across the border? Why not just form a wedge and try to break through the line at a single point?"

"Because the Dark Queen does not want to invade the Highlands."

"Preposterous!" Lord Huntiata shouted.

"Is Castle Thorum not back in our control?" I asked, "Why would the Dark Queen willingly relinquish the very fortress that broke Alkandi? Remember who Queen Yavara once was."

"A deceiver and an interloper." King Eric Shordian said from beside Leveria.

"Yes," I said solemnly, "Yavara Alkandi is a deceiver and an interloper and the embodiment of all that is terrible in this world, but she is practical. She knows that invading the Highlands would turn the Bearded Peaks and the Lowlands against her, and so she simply desires to steal all she can from us in negotiation, and the longer we wait, the more men we lose, the weaker our negotiating position becomes."

"Coward!" Lady Jonias snapped, spurred to her feet by a chance to regain her pride, "You are a coward and a traitor, Elena Straltaira!"

"Coward? Traitor?" I stepped out from behind my dais, presenting my beauty in full to the court. While all the other nobles wore stately attire, I had jettisoned the garb Leveria tried to force me into, and instead wore an elegant dress that hugged every tantalizing bulge of my body. "Look at the sacrifices I have made for my country, Catherine Jonias." I hissed, "I was raped, tortured, and deformed into what you see before you. I was fighting and killing with my own hands while you were still learning how to suck cock."

There was a gasp from around the room. Lady Jonias's jaw twitched. She opened her mouth, and said, "At least I was—"

"Furthermore," I interrupted, pacing the center of the floor, "it was you who was put in charge of the organization of our army, and it was your incompetence that led to our high command being gutted. We lost the battle of the Tundra because of your choices, and you call ME a traitor?!" I pivoted on my heel, and quickly changed my tone to address the room, "Ladies and gentlemen of the court, we had a chance to win this war. That chance has passed. We can point fingers and lay blame, or we can be adults, and accept the reality we live in. Will you listen to the same old voices that led you to this disaster, or will you try something new for a change?"

I looked each noble in the eye, ending with Lord Ternias, then I looked up at Leveria, smiled, and stepped back behind my dais.

Leveria stood up. "Will anyone else take the floor?"

No one did.

She sighed, and shouldered her cloak. "Court is adjourned."

I shuffled through my papers, making a few notes on some of the day's talking points. It was hard to tell if I was gaining ground. Despite acting as my own house's representative for two weeks, I hadn't received any formal invites from any of the other nobles, and that worried me.

"Lady Straltaira." Ternias's cool voice beckoned me.

I looked up from my papers. "My lord?"

"You were rather rude to Catherine today."

"She didn't do herself any favors. What do you want?"

"To talk."

"Until you start saying words like 'peace' and 'armistice,' we have nothing to talk about."

He leaned on my dais. "You're wasting your talents, Elena. House Straltaira is rich in resources but poor in people. You don't have enough minor houses under your umbrella to play the little game and you don't have the cachet to play the larger one."

"So I should just throw myself into your arms?"

"You need a name to back your words, and now that everyone knows you're no longer Leveria's agent, you don't have the pull to bring the big fish in. Sometimes you must follow in order to achieve your goals. Your mother understood that."