Queen Yavara Ch. 58

The mage leading the army raised his hand, and halted the advance. He took three steps forward, and cast a spell at me. I didn't attempt to block it; it was only a perception incantation.

"What is this?" First Mage Robert Usich asked me, "Some trick of the flesh?"

"Don't you trust your own magic, Robert?"

He tilted his head, then drew his gaze to Castle Alkandra, where Leveria was displayed proudly atop the castle. He drew his gaze back to me. "If you wish to explain this turn of events to the king, you must surrender yourself."

"He and I can speak plainly through you."

"This is no time for talk."

"I am the rightful queen of the Highlands. If I am to surrender, a formal declaration of war against the Highlands is required to—"

And Robert Usich shot a lighting spell right at my chest. I collected the attack in my telekinetic mitts, and hurled it back at him. He blocked it with his staff, charged an infernal spell, then promptly turned around, and set fire to the men behind him. I turned the Lowland's best mage into my personal flame-thrower, and cooked a good portion of the Lowland's vanguard before the other mages rushed to the front, and rescued their leader from himself. The men in the vanguard rolled in the snow, screaming as they clutched at the armor that had been fused to their skin. I eased their agony with a healing spell; not one that would reverse the damage, but would take away the pain.

"Robert," I said, "now is the perfect time to talk. We can undo everything that's been done if we just take a moment to understand each other!"

Robert Usich pushed away his underlings, and squared his shoulders at me. "My king made his ultimatum very clear. There will be no mercy for Alkandra!"

The rest of the Lowland Academy's five-hundred mages filtered from the ranks of the army, and stepped in a long row behind their leader. Before they could organize, I launched a telekinetic strike at their center. The mages raised their hands as one, intercepted the attack, and sent it firing back at me. I put my shield up, and braced my feet into the earth. It was stupid; I was nowhere near as powerful as I'd been. My shield exploded, and I was sent hurtling backward. I caught myself in the air, and spun behind the wall just before an immense white blast shot through the gap. The great column of energy exploded the house behind me, blasted through the barn behind it, created a perfect burning circle in the silo behind that, and streamed into the sky. The attack would've leveled a city block if it had been aimed properly. They'd been practicing it just for me.

"Fuck me." I gasped. I peeked around the corner of the breach, careful not to touch the stones that were glowing white with heat. The mages were all noticeably spent, but not incapacitated. They probably had two more tries with that spell before they'd sap themselves completely. I doubted they'd miss a second time. "You're wasting your energy, Robert," I yelled, "I'm not even the Dark Queen anymore. If you have a problem, I suggest you take it up with Leveria!"

"Then come out and surrender! It would be a shame for the rightful queen of the Highlands to become collateral damage."

"For my own safety, I'm afraid I must decline. Keep your men back; it would be a shame for them to become collateral damage in your crossfire... again."

Robert might've sneered, though the old mage was so expressionless that it could've just been a twitch. "Your Highness," he said, "King Arthur Dreus has decided to speak with you." He opened his mouth, and Arthur Dreus's voice came out. "Good morning, Your Highness."

"And to you, Your Highness." I answered.

Arthur paused for a moment, assessing the situation behind Robert Usich's eyes. "Do you remember the conversation you and I had when you were last in Ardeni Dreus?"

"I certainly remember the fun we had afterwards."

"You joked about pressing your claim to the Highlands, then assured my father and I that you had no claim. As a head of state, that proclamation was formalized. The Lowlands has not recognized any monarch of the Highlands since the coronation of Queen Leveria Tiadoa, who now stands as the ruler of Alkandra. Therefore, until Alkandra is destroyed, the Highland kingdom is a vassal state of Alkandra, and an enemy to the Lowlands. Surrender yourself now."

"I can't let your soldiers into this city, Arthur."

"Fine. Kill her, Usich."

Robert Usich's eyes fluttered, then focused on me. The mages around him began to glow. Their luminance intensified until their auras consumed them. Robert extended his hands to his sides with his palms outturned, and received their energy. I launched an infernal attack, and it ricocheted into the sky. I shot a telekinetic blast, and it caromed into the wall, blasting a carriage-sized hole through it. I tried to penetrate his mind, but there was nothing. All the while, the mages around Robert fed him their energy until he was radiating with it. I ran away. Ducking beneath the cover of the wall, I focused all the energy of my shield against my left side, and propelled myself as fast as I could alongside the wall. There was a flash, and the world was nothing but blinding white heat. I was lifted off my feet, and then... nothing.

KIERA

The ground shook all around me, and I stared up at the floorboards above, waiting for it to stop. The Lowlanders had launched ten catapult salvos into the city, and the thunder had been continuous for minutes. Dust floated from the ceiling, dulling the lantern-lit basement, mingling with the smoke spewing from my cigarette as I enjoyed the sweet nicotine poison in my lungs. I wasn't in the basement to protect myself from falling rocks, but to protect my flesh from the sun.

...most of the watchmen were wiped out after the first ballistae salvo, Faltia said to my vampiric mind, most of what I have now are day laborers.

They're the best we've got. I answered.

I'll rendezvous with Brianna at the arena. Zander will hold the docks by himself. Yavara's supporting Soraya's retreat, and Brianna's advancing to cover yours. We'll all meet at the arena to organize a counterattack. A street fight plays to our advantage anyway.

Where's Leveria?

No one knows.

And Eva?

I haven't been able to contact her. She could just be in the sunlight.

I can't feel her connection anymore, Faltia.

That doesn't mean anything. The Lowland mages are likely blocking telepathic communication within their range.

Did you see what happened?

She got caught in the open.

How bad was it?

Not good.

How bad, Faltia?

There was a pregnant pause, then Faltia said, She's a survivor, Kiera. She made it out. The Lowlanders landing was uncontested. It looks like twenty-thousand marines are headed your way.

Yay for me.

You're a survivor too, remember that. Now's not the time for stupid self-sacrifice.

Not yet.

I mean it. I've got to go now. I'll see you at the arena.

See you there, Captain.

I transformed back into my elven body, and walked up the stairs, and into the pandemonium above. Flaming boulders fell like meteors into the city, their booming impacts sounding in cadence with the clanging of the bells. Distant screams cut through the air, shouted orders came from every direction, and from the south, an ominous silence was brooding. As the last of Soraya's battlegroup raced past my checkpoint, I reached into my pouch, pulled out a vial of cocaine, and did a bump off my finger. How anyone went into battle without being hyped out of their fucking minds was a mystery to me. If there was ever a time for dangerous overuse of stimulants, it was now.

A flaming boulder cratered the shop across the street, expelling a mushroom-shaped gout of smoke and dust into the cold air. Five of my troops were shredded by the shrapnel, and I caught a searing ember to the hip.

"Ow." I muttered, and brushed away the fire that had started on my armor.

"You alright, Commander?" the orc beside me asked nervously.

"Good as I'll ever be, Oriok." I said, and glanced down the street. The river of retreating orcs was thinning, and I reckoned it wouldn't be much longer before the torrent of Lowlanders came rushing after. My battlegroup held a series of six lines along the ten main boulevards that led to the heart of Alkandra. Each line was divided into ten checkpoints for each boulevard; fifty men per checkpoint made five-hundred men per line. Five-hundred soldiers guarded checkpoints one through ten, which constituted the first line. Five-hundred more troops guarded the second line, which were fallback positions of this line, and these checkpoints were labeled eleven through twenty. Five-hundred more troops guarded the third line, which were the fallback positions of the second line, and these checkpoints were labeled twenty-one through thirty. There were three more lines and thirty more checkpoints, each one being the fallback position of the checkpoints preceding it until we got to the rendezvous point, which was the arena. The entire purpose of my battlegroup was to buy time for the other battlegroups to marshal and launch a counteroffensive. In other words, the entire point of my battlegroup was to be regimentally ass-fucked for six city blocks.

As I pondered my eminent ass-fucking, the sky to the south suddenly illuminated. For a moment, it was like a second sun had appeared on earth, and then it vanished just as quickly.

"What in the blue fuck was that?" Oriok gasped.

I took another bump up my nose. "Yavara's having a chat with the Lowland mages."

"Did she do that, or did they?"

"Yavara can't do anything like that anymore." I muttered, and carefully shook out another bump of booger sugar. A second great illumination lit up the horizon, then disappeared. I held the dollop of coke against my nostril, waiting for an excruciatingly long time for something else to happen. When nothing did, I just shrugged, and snorted.

"Welp, she's dead."

"Shit." Oriok muttered.

"If I wasn't so fucked up right now, I imagine I'd feel bad." I blinked rapidly as the narcotic mule kicked me right in the cerebellum, "Holy shit, I can't even feel my face."

Another flaming boulder crashed near us, exploding through my third-favorite strip-club, showering the men around it with debris. As they screamed and struggled on the ground, the last of Soraya's battle group ran past us. Of Soraya herself, there was no sign. I muttered a silent prayer for both her and Eva, and watched the streets ahead. For a moment, there was nothing. The wide boulevards were empty, and the cacophony of the siege had shifted to the north. Looking upwards, I could see the contrails of smoke from where the boulders had arced overhead, but now they only fell behind us. The thunder was distant and dull, but the screams still carried. I looked back at my company. It had started out as fifty men, but the boulders had thinned it to thirty-one. Assuming an even distribution of attackers among the ten boulevards, we'd be facing around two-thousand men.

"Drop the load, Oriok." I said. The orc drove his axe onto a piece of rope, and the pile of rubble it had been holding was set free. Urban debris flooded the street before us, piled up ten feet high at the center and rising to the buildings on either side. I put my fingers into my mouth and blew a sharp whistle, and was answered in kind. Nine more ropes were cut, and nine more loads were released into the street, forming a barricade all across the first line.

"Crossbows and slings, and stay low." I muttered, unshouldering my bow, "Once they start climbing, we fucking run. If anyone wants to start a meth habit, I'll be your enabler."

"You holding?" a woman behind me whispered fearfully.

"Did you need to ask?" I chuckled, and threw her a bag, "Pass it down the line, now, don't be greedy. I brought enough for everyone."

As the bag was passed around, I turned my gaze back to the street, and waited. The low rumble of the falling boulders resonated behind me, but in front of me, I different kind of thunder was slowly growing louder. The regimented boom of twenty-thousand marching feet echoed along the corridors of shops and houses, and grew louder with every passing second. My soldiers sniffed around me, trying to get as much powdered insanity into their sinuses as possible before their courage fractured.

"Get ready, boys and girls." I grinned back at them, and nocked an arrow, "The fun's about to start."

I watched the top edge of the street keenly. There was only the dusty brown of the cobblestones. Then, there was a line of silver. The tops of their helms showed first, then their armored shoulders, breastplates, leathered skirts and steel chaps. Even their hands were gauntleted, leaving no piece of flesh exposed. Armor usually reserved for knights was given to the lowest of infantrymen. This was an expensive army, but I supposed the Lowlands could afford the best.

"How are we supposed to get through that?!" Oriok hissed at me.

"Aim for the gut. No one ever armors the gut properly." I said, and drew back my bow, "Oh, and the balls too." I loosed. My arrow flew down the street, and struck a man right in the groin. He doubled over with a shriek, and dropped before his men. There was a moment where all of them just stood there, and looked at the poor writhing bastard. Then they looked at me, let out a unified roar, and charged.

The streets were filled with a new kind of thunder as the metallic symphony clanged its way down the wide boulevard, raising their spears and swords overhead. I pissed myself a little, then yelled, "Loose!"

My men shot their bolts, and hit every target. It was impossible to miss. A score of the enemy toppled, tripping many of those behind them. I swiftly pulled out another arrow, and sent it through one man's eye. A third arrow punctured a boy's throat, a fourth went into a man's mouth, and a fifth went into a man's crotch just to bookend my archery. As I loosed my five arrows, my men managed two more rounds, felling about thirty Lowlanders in total before it was time to flee. I shouldered my bow, unsheathed my sword, and cut the rope next to me.

Ten tons of bricks avalanched from the sides of the boulevard, and buried the first hundred men. The soldiers behind them slammed to a halt, smashing into one another and stalling the entire charge. My men and I took the opportunity to turn around, and run for our lives.

As we raced away from the enemy, the second-story windows of the shops and houses at our sides opened, and succubus archers aimed their crossbows down the street. I heard a series of twangs, and a series of screams answered. After each archer loosed, they joined us in our flight to the next checkpoint, though they took the rooftops. The sinuous and athletic predators had no trouble leaping over alleyways and clotheslines, and the dozens of them that covered our retreat got to the checkpoint before we did.

"Drop the load!" I yelled to the checkpoint commander as we raced through the gate. The old ogre struck the rope, and the houses on either side of the gate collapsed behind us. Catching my breath, I turned around, drew my bow, and ran up the rubble. I loosed two nocked arrows at once, and felled two enemies, but the river of silver men didn't slow a bit. They'd closed the distance much sooner than I'd thought. The forty men of checkpoint eleven only managed to loose one round of crossbows before we struck the second ropes, and sent another brick avalanche down on the Lowlander. The enemy stalled before this trap, and only a few ambitious bastards got buried. The rest charged up the obstruction with startling speed.

"Run!" I yelled, and once again, we sprinted for our lives. The distance to checkpoint twenty-one was painfully long. It was at least a quarter-mile, and the boulevard was cratered in a dozen places. The succubi and I would make it, but the others wouldn't. Even if by some miracle the enemy didn't catch them on the way to the checkpoint, the checkpoint commander would have ordered the barriers dropped long before they got there. Now's not the time for stupid self-sacrifice, Faltia's voice echoed in my head. Faltia could eat my fat dick.

"In here!" I yelled, and rammed my shoulder against a warehouse door. I bounced off it like a fucking tennis ball, and sprawled out onto the concrete. The ogre barreled past me, and blew the door open, and Oriok picked me up and carried me into the dank room. The rest of the two companies flooded in after, and the ogre shoved a pallet of mason blocks before the doorframe.

"No one's getting past that," he boomed proudly.

"They got mages that will turn that to dust." I coughed, and pulled myself upright. "Checkpoint eleven, cover the back door; we'll cover this one. If we make too much trouble for the fuckers, they'll just run past us."

"Not with you in here!" one of the succubi yelled, pointing at me, "They're not going to just ignore you! We're trapped!"

I looked up at the rafters. "You and the rest of the sluts can probably get up there, but the heavies won't be able to. There's a hole in the roof if you want to scuttle out, but I'm staying down here."

The succubi looked up at the ceiling, then back at me. "We'll cover you for as long as we can."

"Very noble of you." I grunted, and positioned myself in front of the door.

"Commander!" Oriok yelled.

"What?"

He pressed my sword into my hand. "You dropped this when you fell."

I smiled at him as my fangs grew out. "I won't need that."

BRIANNA

The last of Soraya's mostly-intact battlegroup poured into the pavilion before the arena. My battlegroup was huddled under the immense arches of the arena's entrance, which protected us from the boulders that rained continuously down on us. There wasn't a part of the city that wasn't on fire anymore. The downtown towers had infernal gouts bursting from every window, the residential divisions were turned to tinder, and the long boulevards of shops that spoked the arena were blazing. I'd ordered bucket brigades to mitigate the damage, but it seemed a hopeless endeavor. Whatever the course this battle took, most of Alkandra would be burnt to ash. It was likely that the only structures left standing would be the castle, and the arena.

I heard the warning bells of Kiera's fifth line sound out. The enemy was only one checkpoint away, and Faltia's reinforcements still hadn't arrived. Likely they'd been slowed by the infernal labyrinth. We needed those heavies if we were to have any hope of a counterattack. Without them, our only option was a tactical retreat back to the castle, conceding the entire city to the enemy. I wondered if it was an option worth taking. After witnessing those two blasts of energy shot from the Lowland front, I doubted Castle Alkandra would be anything more than a furnace to those inside. We were already down one Dark Queen, and the other was nowhere to be found. With Zander stuck defending the outer walls against nobody, we had no defense against those mages.

I felt a tug on my vampiric connection, and stepped into the shadows to transform.

What-up, bro? I said to Kiera.

Don't be mad.

My heart dropped. What did you do?

I had to stay behind.

Tell me where you are.

You're not coming after me.

Eat shit.

I mean it, bitch. Don't come after me.

Fucking stop me.

Nobody knows where Soraya is. Someone has to command her battlegroup. The people need you.

I need you.