Queen Yavara Ch. 58

"W-w-w-w-what?"

"Fucking shoot your shot, bro! Don't be such a pussy!"

The mage raised his quivering hands, and white light enveloped me.

TITUS

I pondered the shape of the black widow spider that crawled upon my hand. Such an exquisite creature. Many other spiders were hairy, aggressive, mindless predators, but orb-weavers—and particularly the black widow—were truly beautiful things. She was curved like a pregnant woman, complete with an hourglass marker upon her belly, and long sinuous legs that moved with such carefulness and grace. The way her body swayed, and the manner in which her eight appendages rolled in sequence was strangely sexual, and adding to the black widow's allure was her deadliness. She didn't need to scurry like some barbarian and pounce on her prey; no, she simply trapped the prey in her web, sauntered nonchalantly toward the struggling insect, and then with lightning speed, she injected her venom with one bite. No need to exert herself any further; just a leisurely stroll, a display of apex-predator power, then a relaxing meal afterward.

"Tiffany," I said to my favorite blood-daughter, "I do believe I've found your spirit animal."

"Is that so?" Tiffany asked with a smile, "You do know that black widows eat the men they mate with, right?"

"Perfect." I chuckled, and extended my hand so that the beautiful creature could crawl back into her web.

My hundreds of children stood silently within the catacombs, waiting for the prey to fall into our web. The booms of the falling boulders were dull in this dank, dark place, and only elicited a gentle disturbance of dust. Still, there was an acrid hint of... not fear, but something like it amongst my pack. Most of the enemy were naught but well-armored prey, like an armadillo, but there were those amongst them that were very, very dangerous, and it was high-noon. I made sure to address each of my family individually through the myriad connections in my mind, no matter how distant they were descendant. As I navigated the mental blood-tree, I saw with a heavy heart that there were three branches missing.

"You have lost three half-siblings today, Tiffany." I muttered, and wiped a single tear from my eye.

"I know. I felt them," she adjusted her black robes, tidying them carefully. "We will lose more."

"Many more." I pondered the rock ceiling above us, "I never thought I'd give so much to a cause I cared so little for. If I'd known it would come to this, I never would've left Ardeni."

"Regrets are for mortals, Father."

"I am feeling quite mortal right now." I sighed, and combed back my hair. "Tiffany, you know I'm not a superstitious man, but I can't shake my sense of foreboding right now."

"You'll get through this."

"But if I don't," I said, and reached into my robes, "make certain that I die with dignity." I handed my blood-daughter a rod, and she shuddered when it met her flesh. Though it was encased in a thick layer of iron, the Nadi wood at its core was easy to detect for us. "It's a blow-dart," I explained.

"Father, I..."

"I'm much too vain to die shrieking in the burning sun, and much too cowardly to commit suicide." I patted her shoulder with a rueful smile, "You're a killer, Tiffany. If the time comes, I know you won't fail me. It's been a long time since the Titus clan had a proper matriarch."

Tiffany closed her hand around the rod, and nodded solemnly.

LEVERIA

I leapt from the top of the castle, flew across the city, and launched a great blast of fire onto the Lowlanders below me. The men screamed as their armor melted to their flesh, and I laughed manically as the mages shot their futile counterattacks back at me. That was what Zander projected for the Lowland navy to see, anyway. In actuality, I was by myself in a fucking rowboat, struggling with the oars. Any magic cast within the Lowlander's perimeter would be noticed, and so I had to row myself like a goddamn gondolier through the treacherous fog, and pray that none of the mages decided to scan the northern coastline for escaping Dark Queens. My hands were bloody, my back was killing me, and my ass was soaked with sea water. I was undoubtedly suffering far worse than anyone else on the battlefield.

It took me an hour to circumnavigate the northern coast of the bay. Once there, I set my oars down, and let out a low groan. The sounds of battle were distant, and the intimidating mastheads of the Lowland man-o-wars seemed so tiny. I took a moment to let my screaming muscles calm, and then I opened my pouch, and pulled out Zander's conch shell. Leaning over the side of the boat, I dipped the conch shell into the water, and blew. A few seconds later, a wet head of hair emerged from the surface, followed by a pretty pale face, and a nice pair of huge tits.

"Alexandra?" I asked.

The gills on the mermaid's neck flared. "Who are you?" she asked.

"The Dark Queen."

She cocked her head, and assessed me with her teal eyes. "Who?"

"You don't know who the... never mind. I've got your shell, and that's all that matters."

"Where did you get it?"

"Zander gave it to me."

"Who?"

"Wait... Destiny gave it to me."

"Destiny Fredeon?"

"She's the one."

She looked from the shell, to me. "Why did Destiny gift you with this shell? It was to be hers alone. It was a most precious gift."

"She said you could help me."

"How do I know you haven't simply stolen the shell from her?"

I let out a long sigh, pulled down my skirt, and showed Alexandra my penis. "You see those suction marks?" I said, pointing to the tentacular hickies that wrapped my shaft, "Only one woman can do that."

Alexandra's expressionless eyes studied my penis for a moment, then nodded. "Two such women can do that, Dark Queen." Her flipper-like fingers grew out into tentacles, then receded again, "It was I who taught her. Why would a surface-dweller have use for a squid's appendages? She came by my cove a millennium ago, singing with her sweet voice, beckoning to the shallows. I would have dragged her to the depths and eaten her, but her voice haunted me beautifully, and I took her as a lover instead. I gave her this shell to summon me when lust or loneliness filled her belly, but I have not seen her for hundreds of years now. How does she fare?"

I pointed to the battle raging a half-mile away. "Not great."

Alexandra cocked her head. "Why is that?"

"We're under attack!"

"Who is 'we?'"

"Alkandra!"

"Who?"

I let out another long sigh. "Alexandra, you're being very difficult."

"I am being inquisitive."

"Are you going to help me, or not?"

"That depends. Can you sing?"

I blinked. "No."

"Then it seems that Destiny Fredeon has simply brought me a meal." She paused, then said, "That was a joke. What is it you would like help with, Dark Queen?"

"I just need you to get me aboard that capital ship."

"You rowed past it to get here. I suggest you row back to it to board it. I believe that is how it is usually done, though I must confess, watching ships orient themselves is much like watching whales try to mate."

"I can't let them see me or they'll kill me."

"And if they see me, will they kill me?"

"Probably."

"So you are asking me to risk my life for you."

"You risk your life everyday just by walking out of your front door."

"I don't walk."

"Holy shit, why are you like this?!"

Her lips curved into something resembling a smile. "My friends are dolphins and orcas, and this is how we converse. I see that you do not enjoy conversing this way, so then I will stop. What is it you want me to do for you specifically, Dark Queen?"

I let out another long and slow breath, staying the urge to lift this woman into the sky and set her on fire. "Destiny told me you could get me aboard that ship without anyone noticing. That is all—and I mean all—that I need from you."

She nodded her head. "Do you desire to be alive when you board the ship?"

"Why would you even ask that?!"

Alexandra cocked her head. "Because my method of transport will change depending on whether you desire to board as a corpse or not. I take it you want to be alive when you board the ship?"

I let out a fourth long and slow breath. "Yes, Alexandra. I would like you to get me aboard that ship undetected, alive, and with all my body parts still attached. Thank you."

Alexandra extended her hand. "It can be done. Come with me into the water, Dark Queen."

"I can't swim."

"I'm a good enough swimmer for the both of us, I think." She said with a small smile.

I tentatively grasped her web-fingered hand, and dipped my toes in the water. Fuck, it was freezing. I didn't know why I thought it would be different. I tried to ease myself off the side of the boat, and realized too late that was impossible. The boat dipped suddenly, and I was sent plunging into the freezing water. Alexandra wrapped me in her arms, and prevented me from going under.

"So," I queried, my voice pitched up an octave in reaction to the cold, "what's the plan?"

"I need you to kiss me."

"What?!"

"You cannot breathe underwater as I can, so you must siphon air from my lungs." She winked at me, "And if you decide to taste me in the process, that is fine as well. Are you ready?"

I nodded, took a deep breath, and parted my lips. She pressed her mouth to mine, and slowly took us both underwater. I closed my eyes against the abrasive sea water, and in so doing, I became very, very aware that I was mouth-to-mouth with a beautiful mystical sea creature. My dick stabbed Alexandra right in the tummy. She smiled around our kiss, and snuck her tongue in my mouth. I wrapped my legs around her waist, securing myself to her, and flattening my throbbing cock between our pressing bellies. As she kissed me, she unfurled her great tail, and launched us with one great whip. We shot through the water like a torpedo, though I hardly noticed the ride.

ZANDER

My illusionary spell was very effective. Half of the Lowland mages peeled off to join their army in the urban assault, and the other two-hundred fifty came right for me. I watched the robed figures walk across the beach, step onto the water of the bay, and walk across its surface like some holy shamans. They didn't even break the formation of their procession.

There were many studies of magic, but only two philosophies. Indeed, the same could be said for any practice. The two philosophies were, at their core, a discussion of method. Was magic something that was controlled, or something that was used? Was it something to be conquered, or something to be set free? And in this discussion, it is pertinent to first understand where the mage is coming from. I was a hermit who lived in a fantasy treehouse in the forest; needless to say, I was of the free-spirited variety, but magic came naturally to me. Prestira Rasloraca, on the other hand, was of the other variety. Everything she did was practiced until it was carved precisely into her mind, and every spell, incantation, and enchantment had to be learned through the brutal conquest of knowledge. This kind of method necessitated regimentation. The point I was making to myself while I pondered this thought, was that all of the Lowland mages were Prestira's students, and so they performed magic as Prestira had performed magic. Because Prestira was a demanding teacher, she required strict regimentation and ceremony within her school, and so all of her former students walked in procession with their robes overhead and their arms folded into their oversized sleeves. Prestira had taught them to walk like this to deprive them of identity, but ironically and inevitably, the walk of the Ardeni mages became a part of their mystique, and so became a centerpiece of their identity when they promenaded the streets of Ardeni. What a bunch of cunts.

"Prestira," I muttered, "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do to your legacy."

I waited until my illusionary spell had been detected for what it was, then I dropped it. The Lowland ships ceased shooting ballistae missiles at a phantom target, and redirected their efforts at covering their army's advance in the city. When the mages got close enough, I shook the cloak from my shoulders, and rested my hand atop Alkandi's skull.

"Robert!" I called toward the leader, "Quit being such a twat and show me your bald-ass head!"

Robert Usich's face upturned, and he pulled his hood down. "You don't exactly look like a spring-chicken yourself, Zander."

"I just decided to start showing my age."

"That was a bad choice."

"Not as bad as the choice you made when you came here," I said, and nodded toward the burning city, "there will be consequences for this, you know."

Robert smiled cruelly. "Yavara's already dead, old man, and her sister's nowhere to be found."

"I'm talking about me."

Robert burst out laughing. "You? YOU?!" He gestured behind him, "Behold, the life's work of Zander Fredeon the Great. His magnum opus, his masterpiece, his chef-d'oeuvre. It took you a thousand years to make kindling, and a second for me to turn it into fire."

"With a little help from a few hundred of your friends. Prestira never could teach you humility."

"Don't speak her name, Fredeon. You're the reason she's dead!"

Now it was my turn to smile cruelly. "That's right, Robert, she died for me. That dumb slut was addicted to me."

"I'm warning you, old man!" Robert gesticulated violently, nearly knocking the hood off the young female mage at his side.

"Oh, Robert, Robert, Robert..." I chuckled, "how many nights did you fuck your calloused hand, and imagine that it was your precious teacher? If you ask nicely, I can tell you what she really felt like."

Robert Usich launched his most powerful inferno spell, and I jammed it at the source. His hands exploded like he'd been gripping grenades, and he fell shrieking to his knees. Before the woman beside him could aid him, I disintegrated him, and turned the First Mage of Ardeni into nothing but a red stain in the snow.

"If any of you want to leave before this gets gross," I said, "I suggest you do now. I won't offer you a second chance."

None of them did. The Lowland Academy wasn't a snake I could cut the head off of, but a hydra. The only reason I'd managed to kill Robert was because he'd stuck his proverbial neck out from the rest. The robed ranks closed in, and the entire class took one step toward me. They raised their hands, and launched their unified attack. This wasn't the queen-killing spell they'd fired earlier; that took too long to recover from, and frankly, it was overkill for someone like me. No, this was an endless stream of rudimentary spells all meant to wear down my shield. It was a boringly effective strategy. Counterattacking so many spells would deplete me all at once, and so I was trapped within my own defensive shell, doomed to drain myself to nothing just to survive another second...

DESTINY

... but of course, I wasn't there. No Lowland detection spell would ever reveal the illusion of Zander Fredeon, for I projected every molecule of bone, blood, muscle and organs within him. The projection was nearly a person itself, and it was an incredibly taxing spell. Even with my deep reservoir of magic, I could only keep up the illusion for a few minutes. Fortunately for me, the largest shared magical reservoir in the world had delivered itself to my doorstep. All I had to do was sneak into the Lowland mages ranks while Robert and Zander exchanged banter, and kill the only mage who had a chance of detecting me. Zander Fredeon's reputation was so great that no one questioned why Robert's inferno spell had backfired into his own hands when Zander was fifty yards away. That counterattack had been instantaneous; almost like it had been performed by someone standing right next to him. No one noticed the blue-haired woman wearing Lowland robes as she stepped into the red gore that used to be Robert Usich. No one noticed anything at all. And as the Lowland's finest minds rained spells upon Zander Fredeon, no one noticed that one of their members was grossly overdrawing from their shared reservoir. And so, for twenty minutes the Lowlanders sapped their reserves dry trying to kill a thing they themselves were giving life to, and the wolf amongst them smiled from her blue-sheened lips, and waited.

An older mage passed out, and fell like a tree onto his side. A younger man dropped to his knees, then face-planted into the snow. A middle-aged woman fainted, and dropped dramatically before her classmates. One by one, they sapped themselves, and one by one, they wilted into the snow. Though I was projecting a mighty shield around Zander, his greatest defense was his own reputation. None of the mages questioned what they were seeing. To them, this man was a mythical demigod, so of course he possessed infinite and unknowable power! Of course he could withstand a few hundred paltry mages; why, they might as well be street magicians compared to him! This was Zander Fucking Fredeon! This was the First Mage of Alkandra, the immortal servant of the Dark Queen, the slayer of dragons, the impregnator of sirens, the occultic master of the forest-dwellers! What chance did mere mortals have against him?! They didn't know that he'd been bested in the streets of Ardeni by a handful of Highland rangers and mages. They didn't know that he'd nearly been killed by alcohol poisoning at least a hundred times. They didn't know that a man with a strong enough uppercut and the element of surprise could kill him just as assuredly as twenty Lowland mages, for in truth, that was all they would've needed to defeat the great Zander Fredeon, but they allowed his reputation to blind them, and so they killed themselves to kill their perception of him.

Soon, there were just a dozen of us left standing. I could practically smell the desperation wafting from the remaining mages, who were bow-backed and on their knees, their eyes bulging with the strain of the battle. One by one, they dropped into the snow until there was only one other left standing. This was a man still in his teen years, hardly a man at all, but he was the strongest of the lot. Though tears poured down his cheeks, and sweat poured down his brow, he soldiered on through gritted teeth. He fell to one knee, then onto his elbows, but still, he fired his stream of attacks at Zander.

"Hey!" He yelled at me, "Hey you! I'll hold him off; you make a break for it!"

Ah, what a gentleman. Who said chivalry was dead?

I disengaged from Zander, and watched the poor young man waste himself on my illusion.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled, collapsing onto his belly, "Run!"

"How old are you, boy?"

"WHAT?!"

"What's your age?"

"Get the fuck out of here, you stupid bitch!" He cried, his fingers trembling with the effort of his spellcasting. With a groan of comingled exhaustion and dismay, he collapsed, and his spell evaporated.

I ended the illusion, and assessed my surroundings. Two-hundred-forty-nine of the Lowland's finest were sprawled out in the snow, comatose with fatigue. It seemed a damn shame to kill them all, but there was no alternative. They were too dangerous to keep as prisoners, and too dangerous to let go. I muttered a second apology to Prestira, and got to work massacring her students. The least-taxing killing spell was to induce cardiac arrest, and so I went up and down the rows of unconscious mages, tapped my finger to their chests to avoid unnecessary expenditures of energy, and killed them while they slept. Some coughed blood, some spasmed, but most just stopped breathing. It was humane, I supposed. I didn't really care. After a while, murder was just as ponderous a job as factory work. It was only when I got to the last mage, the young man who had tried to save me, that I paused. I saw something in him that reminded me of... well, me. Not me as Destiny, but the young Zander Fredeon I had been so many years ago.