Queen Yavara Ch. 55

"Dead."

His face fell. "And Feractian?"

"Him too."

"Shit." He muttered, and looked out at the bay, where two royal man-o-wars had set sail to block the mouth, "We don't have time to mourn them now. Our only chance is to get to Ternias before the watchmen head us off."

"Well then," I said, gripping my cleavers tightly, "let's go kill a fucking king. Come on!"

We raced along the shoreline to Castle Bentius, me leading the charge. In the district above, I could see the twinkling armor of the watchmen blinking between the houses and shops, running in the same direction. Castle Bentius stood between us, the great structure built into the bluff so keenly that it seemed to have been carved from it. Though the two forces were equidistant to the castle gates, we would have to climb the many steps from the shoreline to get to them. An uphill battle against a superior force after an exhausting run was a disadvantage to say the least, but we had desperation on our side, and the watchmen worked for a paycheck. They could break. I dug my feet into the snow, and gritted my teeth against the pain in my side. Every step I made now would be one step less on the climb up the bluff, and every second I dallied would be one more step I'd have to climb, and at least one more dead man on our side. As my feet crunched into the numbing cold, the bells in the wards below tolled louder and louder.

ADRIANNA

I loosed two arrows, and down two more wargs. Sasha pivoted atop the roof, her claws tearing out the shingles with each stride. Below me, the riders of horses and wolves engaged in a churning melee within the streets of the merchant district, the shops and apartments painted with red. A warrior woman screeched as her viscera was ripped away by gnashing jaws, an orc howled as he clutched at his smashed ribs, a horse neighed as it writhed in its own pool, and a warg shrieked as it tried to hobble away on a stump foreleg. It was chaos without any semblance of order, a brawl of beasts, of predator and prey, of hacking and slashing and gashing with no precision or reason. I skirted the rooftops above it all, killing foes before they even saw me, raining down on the mass below.

I shot an orc before he could deal the death blow to Esmerelda, than I killed his steed before it could do the same. A warg's head shot up from the fray, and its eyes focused on me. He launched himself off the haunches of a felled horse, splayed into the air, and landed before me. I reached back into my quiver. It was empty. The beast was a male, outweighing Sasha by at least a hundred pounds, and he prowled around the pair of us arrogantly, snarling at the wolf I mounted. Sasha backed away against my command, her shoulders pinching back, her head dropping low. The male barked at her, and she scurried back, whimpering.

"Easy," I muttered, running my hand into her hair. She bristled at my touch, and bucked. I was tossed bodily from Sasha's back, thrown into the air, and off the roof. I barely caught myself on a shutter before plummeting ten feet. Securing my hands to the stucco wall, I made a controlled descent to the street, and ripped out my sword.

"Elf cunt!" an orc scream, and hurled himself at me the moment my feet touched the ground. I parried his blow, ducked his fist, and gutted him easily. He went down on his knees, and I parted his head from his shoulder as I walked past him, and toward the churning mass at the center of the street.

I skirted around the rears of the horses, and moved along the periphery of the battle. Here, I fought through orcs that had dismounted their steeds in attempt to flank the rebels. I blocked an overhand axe, let the blade slide down my sword, ducked a swipe, curved around a spear jab, then with my blade still scraping, I whirled into a sudden arc, and separated two orc tops from their orc bottoms. Their disembodied halves toppled over, and I jumped forward just before those behind could adjust. I struck an orc clean between the eyes, splitting his skull, then I dipped my shoulder to avoid a sword thrust, caught the offending orc at the wrist, and yanked him forward. I wasn't nearly strong enough to pull him off balance, but it was enough to get him into the range of my sword, and I opened his chest with a quick stab before racing past him, and impaling the final orc behind him.

The bodies dropped behind me, and I wheeled around the fray to find myself at the flank of the five riderless wolves in the center of the battle. They were tearing through the pressing horses, leaving a wall of dead before them. The rebel women screamed as they tried to climb out from beneath their dead steeds, but the equestrian pile was too large, and those that didn't meet their ends at the wargs' claws and jaws were simply crushed by the weight of those atop. A warg swiped at a breaching rebel, and her entire front was torn clean away. Another warg snapped its jaws, and a woman was suddenly a double amputee. The horses and elves fell like a cresting wave over the mound of gore, but still they pressed on. And in the middle of it all, on the ground between the pounding hooves and stomping paws, was Dog Meat.

She rolled this way and that, maneuvering her little stumps as best she could, feebly flailing to shoot ineffective spurts of magic between the storm of deadly limbs that struck all around her. She scrambled beneath the belly of a warg, and tried to curl herself into as small a ball as she could. Unable to protect her head with the arms she no longer had, she simply tucked her chin into her chest, and wailed frantically. Then she saw me through the dust, and screamed, "Adri!"

I rushed forward unthinkingly, leapt over the back of one of the wargs, and stabbed it between the shoulders. It went down in a heap, and before the one next to it could turn to see why, I'd rammed my blade into its throat, and ripped through. A great gout of blood poured from the gash in its neck, and it pitched forward to reveal the snarling maw of the next one. Great teeth snapped before me, a great paw was swiped, and I was whirling backwards, barely able to catch myself. Before I could even pivot, another wolf was rushing my blind side. I simply fell backwards to avoid the strike that would've vaporized me. I struck the cobblestones with a grunt, the wind shooting from my lungs. Paralyzed by the diaphragmic spasm, I watched as the third warg disengaged from the rebels to charge the more potent threat. They converged on me a fraction of a second later, and I barely got ahold of myself in time to rolled backward. It was too late. A claw dug into my ribs, cleaved into the bone, and ripped away. I screamed. I felt the sinew, gristle and tendons rupture around the invasion, and I felt my muscle and flesh torn like paper from my side to my spine. Searing agony shot into me, compelling me to frantically scurry from beneath the thrashing claws and snapping jaws that nearly caught my feet. I rolled onto my side, and was immediately smashed backwards, sent airborne five feet before thudding against the mush that used to be a horse. The wolf leapt after me, its forepaws extended, its jaws opened to display the ivory razors, its black pit of a throat dilating, ready to consume the meat it would rip from me. I snatched a spear from the ground, pivoted the butt against the horse's sternum, and let the doomed trajectory the wolf had put itself upon run its course. The spear went through its jaw, and out of its head, and the rest of it slid harmlessly down.

"Adri!" Dog Meat's scream met my ears again.

I jammed my right arm into horse meat, and shoved myself upright. One of the wargs was holding back the pressing elves, desperately swiping as it was overwhelmed, but the other stood facing me, its forepaw resting gently atop Dog Meat's belly. Dog Meat stared with bulging eyes at the set of six-inch razors threatening to open her, her usually-wiggling stumps now deathly still.

Traitor. The warg emoted at me.

Let the girl go. I emoted back.

The warg's snarl was like a grin. I knew what it was going to do. Its claws flexed, then—a spear was in its throat, and it lurched to the side. A woman came screaming over the top of the pile, brandishing a wood-axe overhead. Before the warg could react, the manic elf was hacking into it, burying the axe head deeper and deeper into its throat. She chopped into the warg until its head came off, and then she dropped to her knees before the limbless elf, and screamed.

"Justina?!" Was the name that came from her horrified throat. "Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my..." she blubbered until her words were an incoherent knot, and she pulled Dog Meat tight against her. Dog Meat let out a screech more terrible than any she'd sounded when in mortal danger. She squirmed and thrashed, then bit into the elf's ear, and ripped out a notch. The woman staggered back, clutching the side of her head, and Dog Meat wiggled her way on the ground back to me. When the woman looked back, I realized who she was. Juliet. I never saw a look of hatred purer than the one Dog Meat's twin sister gave me as she watched her crawl on her belly to me. It was as if everything that had befallen them while in Gorlok's captivity had been my fault, and it was me who had made her chop the limbs from the woman once known as 'Justina.' She took one step toward me, and then was splattered into gore by the sudden reemergence of Sasha. My wolf panted proudly atop the remains of Dog Meat's twin, pleased to have defended me from the perceived threat. As for Dog Meat, she only seemed relieved that the painful memory was gone.

I collected the quadruple amputee in my arms, and struggled to get myself onto Sasha. The other warg was finally overrun by the rebel cavalry, and went down in a storm of flailing limbs. Esmerelda was among them, her hair and face so splattered with blood that she looked to have bathed in it. She stared at me from the tops of her eyes as she put her sword into the screaming beast again, and again and again. In the ward above, the bells warning bells tolled. In the ward above that one, the high tower of Castle Bentius could be seen glinting in the morning sun.

LEVERIA

When I'd heard stories of Alkandra as a little girl, this was what I imagined. A throne room filled with chaos. The walls were lined with couples fucking against them, the columns were center-posts of orgies, the main floor was an impromptu gladiator ring, and every corner had unconscious druggies piled atop each other. The balconies were filled with flailing limbs and jiggling breasts, the chandeliers were but swings for daring revelers, and the alcoves were perches for the lonely voyeurs who watched it all. There were at least ten dead bodies within eyeshot, broken glass everywhere, and spilled fluids of every variety. While my eyes were filled with the churning debauchery, my ears were bombarded by a cacophony of bands playing music at competing tempos, moans and screams of lust, clashes of steel, roars of pain, and cries of manic jubilation.

"Bri-bri!" A goblin girl squealed, and sprinted over to hug me. She wrapped her green arms around me, and buried her little face into my tits.

I tentatively hugged her back, and patted her on the shoulder.

She looked up at me with a confused expression. "Bri-bri, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just need to—"

"Brianna!" roared a voice so deep it vibrated against the walls. A great twenty-foot shape emerged from the shadows. He had brown-red fur, had arms thicker than tree-trunks, and fingers as long as my leg. He bared his teeth at me in what looked like a predatory death-snarl, but was probably a smile. I had never in my life seen a troll, and I felt I deserved an acting award for not shitting myself. "Brianna?" The troll asked, elevating his mighty brow as he loomed over me.

"There's my favorite elf-bitch!" a fat, muscular orc announced jubilantly, and bounded over to me. He raised a mighty hand overhead, and brought it down to crush me. I screamed, and dropped to my knees, cowering with my hands behind my head.

"Uh... Brianna?" the fat orc asked, holding up his hand, still waiting for my high-five.

"Is everything alright?" the troll inquired.

"Bri-bri, what's going on?" The goblin girl asked, "You're acting so weird!"

"Is it the Lowlanders?" someone else asked, "Have they come already?!"

"Population's Director, why are you on the floor?"

"Madam, what's going on?"

"It's the Highlanders! They're already at the gates!" someone screamed.

I looked up, and realized that everyone in the room had surrounded me. Terror and alarm suffused their expressions as they gawked at me, all of them wondering why the bold and fearless jester of the hybrids was cowering on the floor. I stood up on shaky legs, and cleared my throat.

"I..." I said, my voice so small that it came out in a squeak, "I... I... I just did way too much acid." I blinked rapidly, "I don't even know what fucking planet I'm on right now. Carry on, bros."

A wave of palpable relief ran through the crowd, followed by cheers and laughter. A moment later, the people of Alkandra recommenced their chaotic debauchery.

The orc gently patted me on the shoulder, and laughed. "Sorry for coming at you like that, bitch." He chuckled, "I bet it happened in warp-speed."

The she-goblin waved her hands in front of my face, and giggled. "Can you see the fractals, Bri-bri? They're dancing in the light that shines from my fingers!"

"They're beautiful," I muttered, not having any idea what the fuck she was talking about.

"You're out of her goddamn mind," the orc laughed, clapping my shoulder, "Tom, why don't you get Brianna up to her room so that she can stare at the wall in peace?"

"Of course," the troll said. He reached down, and with surprising gentleness, he wrapped his massive fingers around me, carried me twenty feet in the air, and plopped me on his great furry shoulder. I clutched to his thick fur for dear life, and watched as the chaotic revelry changed perspectives to a bird's eye view.

Though I was protected from the beasts below, those on the balconies above cheered and whooped to me, and those that swung from the chandelier tried to snatch me to join their ride. Many people screamed to me familiarly, and I waved back with what I hoped was a stoned-out smile on my face, and not the terrified grimace it likely was. Some of them called for me to join them, and I gesticulated my apologetic refusal as best I could while clutching Tom's fur. He lumbered through the throne room, up the staircase behind the Black Throne, and into the winding tower. The mania didn't end. Creatures of all kinds fucked, fought, and frolicked in a churning mass, forming great organisms of writhing limbs and rivers of flowing bodies. Tom's massive profile thankfully shielded me from most people's view, but a few still caught my eye, and greeted me with great toothy beams on their faces. The hybrids weren't just worshipped by their people; they were wholly loved by them. I didn't see a single false smile on my way up the tower, though false mirth was the best emotion I could return to them. By the time Tom reached the top floor, my jaw hurt from my rigid grimace.

"Here you are, Brianna." Tom said in his great baritone voice, and lowered me before the door.

"Thanks, bro. I owe you one." I muttered, and patted his mighty calf.

"You owe me nothing," he said proudly, and walked away, his footsteps shaking the floor until they were but rumbles in the rooms below. The top floor was empty. There were no gates to protect the hybrids from the masses, nor even spells. It was respect that gave the hybrid elves their sanctuary. I pressed my hand to the door, and swung it open.

The room was almost entirely occupied by the world's largest bed. It was a circular piece of furniture adorned with literally hundreds of pillows, and between the plumage of linens and cushions was a veritable treasure-trove of sex toys. Plugs, dildos, gags, strap-ons, massagers, whips, leashes, flails, cuffs, clamps, chains, straps, and a variety of insertions I couldn't even identify. There were thousands of them, and it looked they'd all been used. The aroma of sex inundated my sinuses the moment I walked into the room, and I was the only one in it. I paced around it, marveling at the shear excess of sex on full display. I imagined what it must be like for an ambitious young male orc to be lucky enough to befriend one of the hybrids, then be even luckier still to be invited into their sanctuary. I imagined opening the door to paradise, and seeing the hellish angels already doing their heavenly sins upon each other. I imagined how it must've felt to have all those angels interrupt their lust to turn their hungry gazes upon me. Undoubtedly it had happened to many young men and women of Alkandra, and they had told all those who would listen. And so, the legend grew, and so it would percolate to the masses until all of Tenvalia knew of the wicked fun to be had at the top of Castle Bentius. In a way, this room was the very heart of Alkandra. It was a sacred place. It was the center of power. Those legends and rumors held more weight than ten-thousand swords, and more worth than a mountain of gold.

I circled the bed. It took me a full minute to get all the way around it. On my way, I searched each door. All of them led to either bathrooms or closets. There was no royal chamber at the top of this tower. I looked out the window, and let out a long sigh. There she was. Across the main structure of the castle, hundreds of feet away, was my sister in her own high tower, puzzling over a map. The idea of going back down without Tom to carry me over the raucous was daunting—no, it was impossible. I wouldn't make it down one flight of stairs. There was only one thing to do then. I took a steeling breath, leaned out the window, and screamed, "Yavara!"

She didn't answer. She kept her back to me, and continued studying the map. I yelled it again, but again, she didn't hear me. The oceanic winds were strong, and they stole my voice before it even had a chance. I waved to her, tore off a curtain and flagged it, angled the mirror to catch the sun, but she wouldn't fucking turn around! I let out an exasperated growl, simultaneously enraged and relieved that she hadn't seen me.

"Goddamn it!" I snapped, and turned around. Furia was standing behind me.

"What's up, bro?" I squeaked.

She casually reached into her robes, pulled out a dagger, and pressed it to my heart.

"Uh... we getting kinky today or something?" I laughed nervously.

"I know who you are," she said calmly, "I came down to your cell just fifteen minutes ago and found Certiok and Brianna fucking in your bed."

"Oh."

Furia closed the window, and beckoned me to the bed. "Sit."

I sat.

"Brianna told me what your plan is." Furia said, "She told me you have Titus and Zander on your side."

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes. "Zander, I can understand. The man's lived a thousand years with a singular purpose, and he can't come to grips with the idea that he's fulfilled it. He needs to fabricate a reason to keep it going."

"I've always said he's a delusional old fool."

"But Drake Titus is not. What did you say to get him?"

"He came to me."

"Then what did Zander say?"

I looked at the dagger in her hand. "Why did you come to my cell, Furia?"

"To kill you."

"Why?"

"For Adrianna. For Yavara. You see, I fell for your bullshit at the most critical time today. When Yavara told us what had happened to the horde, your voice popped into my head, and your little lie floated in. I let myself believe it, and in so doing, I made all of the others doubt her when she needed us the most. It was only when the meeting was over, that I realized how perfectly I'd been played." She touched the blade to my breast, "You did to me what you did to Adrianna, and now I'm going to do to you what Elena should've done months ago."