After parting ways with his fellow villagers, Tristan joined Ren and Zammar on a quest to reach The Blacklands before the Und’kal. On their journey, Ren learned that she descended from the ancient line of Torstian kings, and with the reinstatement of the monarchy, was the fallen city’s new Queen. Meanwhile, Tristan befriended an Und named Aythyl. The alien mind shared with him, allowing him to live the lives of several Und’kal.
After crossing the ruins of Kampalla, they arrived in Candahar just before the Und’kal swarm. Ren decided that she would stay and fight with the city. Zammar and Tristan joined her, the latter promising her that he would not hesitate in killing the aliens.
As the battle raged, the Candaharran army was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Und’kal. After a deadly battle between Zammar and a Kal Prime, the city walls were broken. Still on their top, Ren was unable to escape the destruction.
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She was walking through a familiar garden. Songbirds chirped happily in the trees that bordered the paved path beneath her feet, their melodies blending with the calming trickle of stream water. The wind blew gently, a refreshing breeze that rustled her hair. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, casting warming rays of light and reflecting in golden textures off of leaves and grass.
Sitting in the shade of the tall mountain they were built into, the multitude of holy buildings that comprised the top level of Torst rose above her. Colourful mosaics decorated the windows of towering cathedrals. Tall, elegant spires protruded from their base to end in extravagant designs. Large domes capped flat roofed buildings. Golden spires stuck out from the apex of the domes, identical but longer than the ones that comprised the top of each minaret. Several temples and shrines could be made out behind the buildings at the front, their roofs more edged, but tapering along shallow curves. Everything was made of the whitest stone, so bright that it was almost blinding in the strong sunlight.
The collection of holy buildings created a single place of sanctuary for all the world's religions. Together, they circled the biggest structure at the center of the level: The Golden Sanctuary - House of A'rah. This was where the native Torstian religion was practiced, a place she had gone many times to pray.
The wind changed direction, wafting a familiar scent of flowers her way. She walked on, taking the first turn the path offered in that direction.
The bright sky began to redden. She quickened her pace, instinct telling her to hurry. The new road seemed to stretch forever, disappearing into the curving horizon. A strange haze started to permeate the air, hiding the purity of the city in brown silhouettes. Her surroundings began to take on the crimson colouring of the sky; the leaves on the trees transforming to the crimson shades of autumn. Only the path ahead of her retained its greenery.
Enormous balls of fire streaked across the red sky. Their orange contrails blazed through a curve as their trajectory guided them to the ground. She took a quick glance behind her. The garden was alight, the flames devouring grass and tree alike. In the horizon, the burning ground cracked and ripped itself apart. The chunks began to fall into a deep and endless abyss. She turned back fearfully and ran.
Destruction followed in her wake. The green trees changed to orange as she ran by, and burned behind her before falling into nothing. She sprinted as hard as she could, her sides splitting with the effort. Ahead, the path opened into a clearing that was hidden behind a bright sun glare - the last piece of sky spared from fiery wrath. She concentrated on the aroma of flowers emanating from within as it gradually overpowered the smoke of fire.
She stumbled into the grassy clearing awkwardly, just as the last of the path fell away behind her.
There was a beautiful flowerbed in the circular meadow, and nothing else. The rest of the world had disappeared, lost to the abyss above which this one safe island floated.
Her breath came fast, but easily; the air here was pure. She walked towards the colourful flowerbed, her eyes fixated on the two figures that stood facing away from her.
A tall, burly man with graying hair had his arm wrapped protectively around the waist of a slight woman that wore a shawl around her head.
She took a cautious step forward, feeling the spongy softness of the grass beneath her feet. "Mom, dad?" She called to the two figures.
Slowly, the two began to turn towards her, and the meadow started disappearing as they did. The edges of the clearing simply ceased to be, dissolving into small black flakes that fluttered away to join the abyss below.
Her heart rate sped up again as she ran towards her mother and father. Their bodies began to vanish in a similar fashion, their feet slowly turning into nothing. It started to spread up their legs, leaving pillars floating in the air.
"No! Don't go! Please!" She cried desperately.
Finally, the figures completed their turn to look at her. Nothing remained of her mother beneath her torso, but she gazed at her daughter with beautiful green eyes. Tender love and affection brimmed out of them.
She reached her mother a moment before the figure vanished. Her arms swung through the once occupied air. She fell to her knees, crying.
Looking up, she met her father's gaze through glassy eyes. Only his head remained, and he looked at her with expectation, disappointment.
"Don't..." She whispered, "please...don't leave me." But then he was gone. Everything was gone, and she was falling into the darkness, alone.
Ren awoke with a gasp, inhaling a large amount of dust. She coughed violently, each disturbance resulting in a deep, penetrating pain throughout her abdomen. Her body convulsed aggressively and her limbs kicked out involuntarily. Her back arched up; a crack of pain shot through her spine. She screamed.
Slowly, she lowered her back down again, her eyes watering at the idea of reliving that agony. It's okay, everything's okay. She took quick, short breaths, trying to control the random spasms her body kept undergoing. Don't panic. Everything hurt, even breathing; her lungs seemed to be on fire. You're fine. A violent cough, an explosion in her abdomen, an uncontrollable contraction of her right arm. Calm down, easy now. She took a deep breath as her back arched slightly again, her legs kicking randomly. She stifled a scream, baring her teeth and forcing herself back to the ground where her torso twitched slightly.
A minute later, Ren lay on her back, staring up at the lifting cloud of dust and smoke. She whimpered slightly at the pain and closed her eyes, calming her beating heart and laboured breathing. Everything’s okay. The initial shock was gone. No doubt she had broken several ribs, which explained the painful breathing, but the panic induced muscle spasms were fading. Slowly, she gained control of her movements, along with the crippling soreness that came with them.
I’m alive? She still couldn't believe it. The image of her home alight in the morning sun was as strong as ever. For a moment, that was all she saw. Then it faded into her father, the harsh man she had spent her life trying to impress, and the look of expectation and immutable disappointment in his eyes.
A recent memory came back to her: a little dark skinned boy smiling as she handed his lost ball back to him. Cody was his name, the same as her childhood friend. They need me.
With a groan of effort, Ren rolled herself onto her abdomen, and slowly started to drag herself along the ground.
I'm their Queen.
After five minutes of painfully clawing through dirt, she understood what hurt well enough to clamber back to her feet. The moment she did so, she stumbled forward, her legs wobbling delicately beneath her. Instinctively her right hand reached out to grasp a wooden chunk of debris to steady herself.
Visibility had improved; Ren could tell that Candahar's wall had been demolished. Parts of the bottom half of the structure had managed to stay together, uprooting vast swaths of earth as their foundations were pulled out of the ground. The rest of the wall had shattered catastrophically. Sharp chunks of wood were littered all over the ground, many piling unsteadily upon one another. Bigger pieces had crushed mud houses, leveling the outskirts of the city.
Limbs stuck out of the wreckage - people from the wall top that hadn't been lucky enough to land away from the falling debris. There were a couple of Und'kal bodies as well, though many of the hardy aliens still twitched and tried to muscle their way out from under the heavy wood. Barrels of blades that the boomerang throwers used had shattered, leaving the sharp edges in messy and useless piles, a reminder of the battle they had failed to win. Balls of fire still dropped out of the obstructed sky, lighting debris ablaze.
Despite the crackling flames and the fighting that still raged not too far, it felt eerily quiet. The only thing Ren heard was the persistent ringing in her ears that added to her headache and misery. After her legs had steadied slightly, she started trudging through the ruins.
It took ten minutes before she found Maria. Though they had been next to each other when the wall fell, Maria had landed a fair distance away, and not as luckily as Ren. A pile of debris had fallen over her lower body, trapping her with its weight.
Ren approached slowly, still fighting the pain that riddled her entire body.
"My Queen. Are you okay?" Maria whispered weakly when Ren fell to her knees by the guide's side.
Ren tried to reply, coughing instead. Her throat burned, and she collapsed forward, her head falling on the ground near Maria as her body shook from violent coughs. A hand gently stroked her hair.
"It's okay, my Queen. You must go, leave the city." Maria said.
Ren shook her head violently, still trying to curb her wheezing.
"I'm sorry my Queen, I can't come with you."
"No." Ren whispered hoarsely. Slowly, she got back to her feet, and placing both hands beneath the chunk of wood trapping Maria, tried to lift it. Her back burned with the strain. "Help me"
"Stop! You don't have time, my Queen." Maria exclaimed.
"I said help me."
"Leave me, my Queen, I will slow you down!"
"Help me!" Ren shouted, straining desperately against the weight. Maria looked at her with wide eyes for a second, before using her own strong arms to push the wood away. Pieces of the wall slid off the top as the biggest chunk slanted, lightening the load. Finally, Ren held it up and Maria crawled out.
After dropping the debris with a loud thud, Ren stumbled over to Maria and placed the guide's arm around her shoulder. She struggled to get up with the extra weight - it was hard enough standing without it. They hobbled on top of another piece of wood and looked towards the battle with growing dismay.
It's over. All Ren saw was a large, thick circle of Und'kal clawing and trampling each other to get to something in their center. It took a moment of staring, her vision blurring from exhaustion before she spotted a red banner with a black tribal mask fly up shortly before falling back down. Her vision refocused, and straining, she made out the small Candaharran army. The tight circle of dark skinned natives was barely holding off the Und'kal onslaught. Spears stuck out all over it, pushing forward and back in intervals to repel the aliens. Occasionally a man got dragged out, and was quickly replaced by another.
These people are so resilient. Ren remembered Chief Hirat and her faith in their army. She had admired the woman's confidence, but underestimated the reason for it. I wonder if she's still alive. It didn't matter, everything would be over soon. What about Tristan, Zammar? She didn't want to think about that.
Ren turned away from the fighting to the western end of the wall, where the mass of Kals had caused the structure to collapse. A few were still straggling around the ruins, looking eagerly for survivors. The rest seemed to have disappeared into the city itself. She saw quick moving streams of black as the aliens ran through the streets, looking for people to hunt and trampling mud huts as they went. A few Kals were scouring the roofs, vaulting from one to another without hesitation. It wouldn't be long before the entire city would be ruined, just like Kampalla.
"My Queen, we must go." Maria said.
"Yeah..." Ren replied absentmindedly. She turned back around and took a step before doing a double take.
Less than ten meters away from them, an injured Kal was raising a small, limp body in its hands. Ren felt her hands shaking in fury. "No." She whispered. He was just a child. She dropped Maria, and unsheathing a dagger from her belt, ran furiously at the alien. Her entire body protested, but she ignored it in adrenaline fueled rage.
"No, my Queen wait!" Maria called behind her. Ren didn't listen. Her dagger penetrated deep into scaly flesh a moment before she rammed into the Kal. The large alien barely slid an inch due to the impact, its four legs pushing hard into the ground. It was surprised enough that with a grunt, the Kal dropped the lifeless body of Cody to the ground.
Ren looked up, her eyes slowly widening in fear as the monster turned to her. The alien swung its arm forcefully, knocking the breath out of her as it rammed into her abdomen. Her body left the ground and hurtled through the air, beyond Maria to land in an uncontrollable roll on a large chunk of wall. Her back rammed hard into a block of wood, stopping the movement and causing her to cry in pain. She rolled slowly onto her stomach, facing the alien and gasping desperately for breath. Her body twitched and burned; her vision blurred. There was nothing but pain.
"My Queen!" Maria yelled, twisting urgently to find a weapon. She found the shaft of her halberd and struggled to pull the blade out of debris.
The Kal was already injured. It limped as it made its way up the debris, one arm twisted strangely to its side and a deep gash across its torso had blood dribbling down from it. The alien ignored its pain, approaching new prey with fervor. Overlooking Maria, it walked right up to Ren.
Ren watched it approach warily. She tried pushing herself back up, but collapsed instantly. The Kal grinned as its shadow fell across her.
"Fuck you..." Ren whispered weakly. She stifled a cough, forcing herself to look the Kal right in all four of its eyes. A deadly talon entered her peripheral vision, taking its time.
A white blur jumped on the Kal's head, causing it to pull its only functional talon back to try and grab the agile fox. Maria finally freed her halberd. Still unable to move her legs, she used all her strength to swing and hook it around the Kal's neck. Air leaped off the Kal's head and the alien looked down at the blade in surprise a moment before Maria yanked back with a scream of effort.
The halberd pulled the Kal's thick neck, dragging its entire body backwards. The alien stumbled towards the ground, rolling across the slanted piece of wood to slam into a sharp piece of debris that pierced its torso. The alien twitched, desperately trying to free itself as life slowly left its body.
Maria used her arms to slowly pull herself towards Ren.
"Air," Ren whispered as the lithe fox snuggled closely against her aching ribs. "I thought..." Ren coughed. "I had locked you up." She stroked its soft fur. "Listen...I think I'm going to die, you should go." Air licked her arm playfully and then began pushing his body against her. "Fine..." Ren pushed the ground, trying to force herself back up. She tried hard, her body shaking, before she fell back down. "I can't." She whispered to the fox apologetically.
"My Queen." Maria had reached her.
"I'm sorry Maria..."
"Don't be, my Queen." Maria helped Ren against the wooden block, allowing her to rest her back and stare wistfully at the sky.
Ren closed her eyes. "I'm always useless."
"You fought bravely, my Queen. It is my fault I was unable to protect you." Maria replied, sitting up next to Ren.
Ren stroked Air, who had curled up in her lap. "I should have arrived sooner, I should have called for help, I should have convinced Abejide to leave, I should ha-"
"This is our way, my Queen. We die in battle under the watch of our ancestors. You fought with us; you have proven yourself worthy, my Queen." Maria said.
A tear rolled slowly down Ren’s cheek, clearing a path through dirt and soot. "He was just a little boy Maria...so young."
"It is impossible to save everyone, my Queen."
Ren didn't reply. But I can't save anyone.
A horn sounded in the distance.
Ren hadn't even known the boy, she'd hardly ever said a word to him. Yet, when everyone around him, including his mother, had watched Ren warily, he was the one that had approached her. He was the one that had treated her as a person. He was so innocent, so full of hope. And like everything else, the Und'kal had taken him away from her.
"My Queen," Maria whispered, clearly astonished. She had managed to sit up, resting her arms against their wooden block and looking beyond it to the battle behind them.
"What?" Ren muttered, slowly fading to dreams of happier times.
War horns blared as cavalry practiced formations. The sun was high in the sky, the wind refreshing. Hopeful smiles were clearly visible as onlookers cheered. Pure children's laughter rang through the air, dreams of heroics never more alive.
From their shadows, where families contented on picnic mats and friends rejoiced tales of old, the mighty walls seemed as indomitable as ever.
"Look, my Queen!" Maria's voice seemed too loud, too annoying.
A handsome knight rode to her as the rest of the men applauded one another, praising imagined abilities. He gave her a purple flower and a shining smile, one she shyly returned. She watched him leave, and dreamed of another.
A familiar hand landed on her shoulder, a friend beamed by her side.
"Let's go!" He said, with that familiar, friendly smile.
"Will we be okay?"
"Of course." His happiness was contagious.
A horn! Ren's eyes snapped open. With great effort, she struggled to her knees and joined Maria.
The battlefield hadn't changed. The Candaharran defense still held out against the Und'kal. Though tens of thousands of soldiers had dwindled down to just a few hundred, their hopeless situation and fatigue seemed to have no effect on their resolve. A blur of quick movement from the West caught her eye. She turned just in time to see a familiar horse gallop unperturbed straight into the Und'kal mass. Arion?
The war horn sounded a low sustained note that crescendoed into a high, hopeful wail. Ren followed the sound, her eyes growing wide.
Three horse riders stood atop the hill, lit in yellow and orange by the setting sun.
The one on the right held a large, ornate horn that he slowly removed from his lips to reveal a shortly cropped blonde beard. He wore a winged helmet that didn't cover his face, showing his attractive features and blue eyes. His plate armour was golden, with a blue trim running along its lengths and up decorated pauldrons that attached to a similarly blue cape.
The rider on the left wore identical armour, but with a visor that completely obstructed his face. In his right hand was a tall banner resting against the ground - white with a gold border. A stylized lion's head had been drawn on its center. The creature seemed to snarl angrily as the banner billowed gently in the wind.
It was the man in the center that really caught Ren's eye. Sitting atop a white horse, he had similarly pure armour. The white plate was bordered in gold, which also formed a wing shaped pattern on the chest piece and was the colour of his flowing cape. The man had long blonde hair that blew in the wind as he regarded the battle below him with focused, blue eyes.
"Is that?" Maria whispered silently.
"Yeah..." Ren replied in astonishment.
"The Lion from the north..." Maria's voice sounded almost as reverent as it did fearful.
The man in the center raised his sword. The golden blade was long, its curved edge tapering outwards and back into a sharp point, but it was the hilt that drew the most attention. Above the gem adorned grip, a glass orb rotated endlessly in place of a traditional guard. Red sunlight hit the orb, dancing off in dazzling beams. Ren knew that sword anywhere: Unguem Leonis, longsword of the Brigadier General.
Lion's Gate had come to deliver them from this hell. Of all the cities in The Whitelands...
The general's sword remained high as the silhouettes of The Golden Brigade summitted the hill he was on; two thousand men, all on horseback, came to a halt behind him. Apart from small variations, they were adorned similarly to the horn and flag bearers. Like their leader, every soldier had golden hair and fair skin. They gazed at the battle with impassive blue eyes. There were no enthusiastic war cries or cheering or even fearful struggling to escape; these warriors stood behind their leader in complete discipline.
The general's horse began to trot a moment before he brought down his sword. As he did, the entire cavalry burst into a simultaneous charge. Accelerating down the hill, the soldiers rearranged seamlessly into a wedge formation.
Then, just a moment before the brigade smashed into the unprepared Und'kal, a blur of brown streaked diagonally across Ren's vision. She blinked in surprise, turning her head quickly to look for its cause. It only took a short moment to find it.
The brown and white falcon had slowed considerably as it pulled out of its steep dive. The bird was big, its wingspan close to three meters, with a thick, sturdy torso. Thin leather reins were tied around its neck, and clutching these was a small, brown skinned man that rode upon the creature's back. He was short, probably not even five feet, but his wiry arms looked dense and strong. His hair was curly and graying, and his long beard flew behind him even as he bent over to streamline himself with his mount's body. In his hands and wrapped around several metal rings on the mount's back was a thick rope that was visibly beginning to slip out of his grip. It dangled down to a hook, where he had managed to ensnare a Kal through its neck. The alien struggled feebly, trying to pry itself free.
The man and bird did not manage to gain much height. Just a moment before the falcon began to falter, the man let go of his rope, allowing the Kal to fall a distance of several meters. It landed hard, its legs instantly crumpling. The crippled creature screamed up at the pair as they regained altitude. The man pulled out another rope and hook just as the bird curved around for another dive.
They said that before plunging hundreds of meters to a grisly death at the hands of a falcon rider of Kathman, one could see the entire world. The Und’kal were too heavy though, and would never have the experience.
Ren looked around with growing hope. As the Und'kal horde was pierced by the charge of the golden brigade, blurs of brown streaked across the air as other falcon riders dived at the aliens. Most didn't bother with hooks, swinging long machetes as their mounts rolled evasively. Others simply allowed their birds to aim for alien eyes with deadly talons or beaks. Ren winced when an Und'kal did manage to grab hold of a bird, slamming its neck down hard. The man on its back flew off, splattering gruesomely on the bloodstained ground.
A shrill shriek brought her attention to the battle raging in the sky. Three enormous eagles soared effortlessly above her. The birds spanned over twenty meters each, their sharp talons larger than any man. On their backs was a flexible wooden gondola decorated with various colours of cloth that undulated with the bird’s wings. At its center, one man sat holding reins that wrapped around the bird's neck. Two more men occupied spaces on the sides of the structure. They stood precariously, holding a wooden pole next to a metallic cage and a javelin rack.
Each eagle was flanked by four hawks. These were larger than the falcons by a margin, but still had just one man on their backs. The riders held a javelin in one hand, and a spear that rested in a storage compartment by their side.
The Und, on their winged beasts, had recovered much faster from the surprise attacks than the Kal on the ground, and were attempting to achieve some formation. Simultaneously, the hawk riders broke off from the eagles, soaring ahead to engage the winged beasts. They were less than a third the size of the reptilian aliens, but their nimble movements allowed a fair match. Additionally, the hawk riders were warriors. The Und on their mounts simply shrieked in dismay as spears and javelins came hurtling towards them.
On the back of the eagles, men on the gondolas opened the large metallic cages. Almost instantly, a cloud of black flew out of them. As the men pulled out a baited stick and chucked it towards the flying aliens, the murder of crows followed. Ren almost felt sorry for the aliens as they were swarmed by the small black birds. It didn't take long for the beasts to tumble limply out of the sky, blood and bits of flesh clinging loosely to them. The blowing of a whistle recalled the crows to prepare them for the next target.
Ren was elated. They made it! Tristan’s friends made it to Kathman!
An explosion of red erupted through her vision from the east. She followed it, only to squint as more bursts of yellow and green ruptured the battlefield. Small sparks flew wildly from their epicenter, burning nearby Kals. A thin trail of smoke led from each blast, pointing to its origin. Beyond the Eastern boundary of the Und'kal horde was a long line of thick bamboo tubes resting against the ground. Their front was raised by two crossed bamboo pieces, pointing their trajectory upwards.
Ren watched one of the groups of people around the tubes. A man reached into a pouch to pull out a small cylinder with a rope at its end. Another with a long wooden torch in his hand lit the fuse on fire. The first stuffed the cylinder into the tube on the ground and then quickly moved away with fingers in his ears. After a short pause, a loud pop followed and a contrail of thin smoke flew across her vision. Another pop came when the explosive detonated in the Und'kal army with a burst of yellow. The aliens screamed and backed away fearfully from the loud noise and colour, clearly disoriented.
There were at least twenty of the tubes lined up from south to north, with pairs of people constantly readjusting their trajectory and launching more of the explosives. All of the soldiers were bare chested and had a black tattoo of a dragon head that spanned across their back. They wore robes of red and gold that fell down from their waist, leaving their legs free to move and indicating their ethnicity.
The Dragon Empire had joined the fray.
Behind the rocket launchers was a column of archers. A tattoo of fiery Phoenix wings crossed their abdomens. The arrows they launched had small bamboo tubes affixed before the arrowhead. They didn't fly far, curving quickly into the Und'kal mass to result in a more precise, smaller explosion than that of the tube launchers.
The Kals screamed and hissed as they tried to escape the detonations. It was just like Torst, where the thunderous cannon fire had pounded chaos into the alien mass. The Kals that did maintain order attempted to charge the oriental rocket launchers, but were soon met by the line of people that comprised the melee defense of that army.
Similarly adorned to their comrades, they had half a black turtle shell tattooed on their abdomens.
Ren watched anxiously as a Kal charged at one of the soldiers. In his hands was a long staff with both ends lit on fire. He spun it over his head in a blaze of red, causing the Kal to hesitate and halt quickly. The two circled each other, the man watching the alien's movements closely. He began to swing the staff in wild patterns, creating short lived images of flame. The Kal kept its eyes locked fearfully on the fire. It didn't even realize when the man had circled close enough to spin hard on his left foot and deliver a kick that would have shattered human bones to the Kal's side. The alien didn't even have time to grunt in surprise at the attack. The man pushed off from his grounded foot, using his foot on the alien's body to spin him upwards. His body remained horizontal to the ground as his left leg kicked hard into the alien's throat. He kicked off from the leg, spinning backwards to land in a crouch on the ground.
In an instant, he charged forwards, swinging his staff around so that the fiery end stabbed into the alien's torso. The stick shattered, but the fire remained glued to the alien's skin as it screamed in pain. The man attempted to control his momentum as he was hurtled forward by the staff's breaking. The Kal reached out and grabbed his head before he could do so. With a powerful swing downwards, the alien smashed the man's face hard into the ground. His body twitched for a second before going completely still.
Similar fights had erupted all along the eastern side of the battle, where the fireslingers of the Dragon Empire stood waiting for Kals to charge them. Most struggled against the aliens, their acrobatic martial arts useless against the hard skin. Still, their nimble movements and fire kept the Und'kal at bay, and away from the rocket launchers that were destroying the horde.
Ren turned away from the fighting, leaning back against the block of debris and taking a deep breath. Tranquility settled over her as she closed her eyes. Her body ached, but she ignored it, choosing instead to listen to the sweet song of birds in her favourite gardens in Torst.
*
It was an hour before she woke, her head resting on Maria's lap. The guide's hand was softly stroking Ren's hair; for just a short moment she was conscious of the sweat and soot that clung to it.
"Is it over?" Ren whispered, her throat parched and her voice hoarse.
"It is, my Queen." Maria replied kindly.
Ren made to get up, but her sore and aching body refused her and she fell back onto Maria's lap. She took quick breaths, biting her lips against the pain.
"I feel..." Ren coughed violently, more pain bursting through her abdomen. "Like I'm going to die, Maria." I'm on her broken legs...I must be hurting her. Ren tried getting up again, pushing through the pain to sit up and back against the wooden block.
"No, my Queen." The guide replied. "The gods favour us today. The gods favour you."
"Maria..."
"My Queen, the Lion rode to our aid, and so did the falcon and dragon. They came for you, my Queen. The gods approve of you. You have gained their trust, and ours."
"Your gods have killed better people than me, Maria."
"No, my Qu- wait!" Ren ignored Maria, struggling to her feet. Her legs quivered beneath her, and she stumbled forward awkwardly a few times before regaining her balance.
She heard some shuffling behind her as Maria tried to move and follow.
"Maria, stop."
"My Que-"
"Wait here, I'll send someone to get you." The last thing I need right now is you and your gods. The fatigue and pain were making her exceptionally grumpy. Damnit Ren, calm down.
"Stay with her." Ren said to Air, who yapped obediently.
Night had fallen, the world lit by a full moon and unobstructed starlight. Ren ambled slowly to the edge of the chunk of wood they had been resting on and took stock of the city, or whatever remained of it. Giant torches had already been erected to light up the scene, their orange flames casting ominous glows over the ruin.
Not much had changed in the immediate area. More Und'kal corpses littered the ground, a sight that would have brought smug satisfaction to Ren were it not for the human limbs and weapons strewn amongst the debris.
The city itself had been completely leveled. The reinforcements hadn't been able to penetrate through the Und'kal horde fast enough to save it. In the distance, Ren could make out the long palace and the adjoining complex - the only buildings still standing. Even they looked crippled and weak. Candaharran banners sagged sadly amongst the wreckage, their tilted stands often the tallest structures around. Ren wondered how many people had perished within the city wall. After All, virtually everyone from Candahar had chosen to take up arms with the main army.
Treading carefully, she climbed down wreckage and debris to exit the broken wall on its northern side, where the battle had happened. Ahead of her stretched an endless plane of bodies. The corpses covered the black stained ground almost entirely. There were so many bodies, that when more people and Und'kal had died, they began to pile atop each other in awkward, unsteady lumps.
Groups of people were trudging amongst the corpses, looking for surviving aliens or planting more torches. They carried spears in their hands, and were quick to stab any Kal that so much as twitched. They seemed to ignore the crying and groaning of injured survivors that emanated from the death field, occasionally ending a poor soul’s misery, but unable to do any more.
A large gathering of people was on the hill to the west. They stood in solemn silence as a man at their front read from a holy book. Their golden armour glinted in the moon and torch light as the banners of Lion's Gate hung limply in the dead air.
Others had managed to clear a few thin paths to where the Candaharran army had had its final stand. Ren began to walk down one, ignoring the rancid smell and wincing inwardly every time her legs brushed a body.
The air was heavy, and her vision blurred. She could just about collapse any moment now, that way she wouldn't have to walk anywhere - walking was painful. No, focus. You need to do this.
Something grasped her leg, and she pulled back instinctively.
A dark skinned man dug his fingers into the ground, clawing desperately towards her. He didn't move at all. Everything beneath his navel was trapped under a pile of bodies, and his chest had been slashed open to reveal broken ribs.
"Please..." He sobbed. His breath came hard and fast, his voice gruff.
Ren crouched down by his side, gently stroking his sweaty shoulder. "I'm sorry" she whispered.
"My son...find my son..." The man whispered, his eyes slowly glazing over as life left him.
Ren sighed, looking at a nearby body of a boy. He had shared his father's curly hair and straight jawline. She got back up and walked faster, ignoring her own body's objection. I have no reason to complain.
She spotted him the moment she stepped into the clearing that the Candaharran army had occupied. A flood of relief washed over her. His armour was stained in black blood, and had lost its sheen, but it still glimmered in the fire light. He was on the ground, his head resting between his legs and shaking with small sobs.
"Tristan..." He jumped at Ren's hoarse voice.
Tristan stood up awkwardly, trying to wipe his face clean of tears. "Ren, no stay ba-"
Ren's arms flung around him in an embrace, and she fully allowed him to take her weight as her head rested on a patch of Kal blood on his hauberk. "I was so worried..."
"Re-"
"I thought I lost you!"
Tristan's arms remained limp by his sides. "Ren, please...I...I've done something terrible...You...you can't stay." He tried feebly to break her embrace.
Ren ignored him, conversely tightening her own arms. "No Tristan. No. You had to kill them. The Und'kal were going to kill us all, okay? You did what you had to do. They are monsters! You didn't have a choice."
Tristan didn't reply, and Ren pushed back to look him in the eyes. He was looking beyond her, his eyes glazed over with a single tear rolling down his cheek. Ren nudged against his chest. "Hey, you promised me, remember? You did it for me, right? Don't worry, I'll never make you fight again, you never have to see that again."
Ren noticed a patch of fresh red blood by Tristan's hip. "You're hurt!" she cried, feeling the area for wounds. The blood was fresh, but she couldn't find an imperfection in his armour.
"Wha- Stop!" Tristan struggled out of her embrace, stepping backwards awkwardly and almost tripping. "I'm fine...I'm not hurt..."
Ren cocked an eyebrow at him. "Fine...I'll come find you later, I need to go and do some...Queen stuff."
Feeling Tristan's unfocused eyes on her back, Ren hobbled past him. What she did not notice was the Torstian longsword by his feet, and the scarlet blood that dripped from its deadly blade.
Taking more of the cleared paths, she found what she was looking for; the group of important people had gathered in the same area where the body of the Kal Prime had lay. The alien itself must have been moved, because its corpse was nowhere in sight. Ren didn't really care, her eyes were entranced by the silhouette of the large man that dominated the small gathering. He leaned against Calesol, which had been planted in the ground by his feet. Even in exhaustion, he looked magnificent.
Ren shook her head. Pull yourself together, this is not the time. You have more important things to do right now. She was too tired though; already the world was blurring.
Ugh, politics.
She approached the group silently, getting a feel for the conversation.
Immediately to Zammar's right was Chief Abejide. A long, deep gash ran the length of his left side and his muscled chest was riddled with cuts and bruises. His right hand shook slightly as it held his halberd against the ground. Hirat next to him seemed to fare better. She too was drenched in sweat, with various cuts and wounds that added to her primal appearance.
Next to the chief was a tall, slim man with the almond shaped eyes and thin eyebrows. He wore a long red robe with a golden dragon embroidered across it. His hands were joined in front of his chest, hidden behind the robe's sleeves. He had a thin braided beard and wore a red hat. Beside him was another man. This one was short, really short. He had red-brown skin, a whitening red beard and messy grey hair that had been tied back in a ponytail. Wrinkles covered his face wherever the skin didn't cling to bones. He wore a tight, fur covered leather coat that had been opened to reveal a bony chest. His legs were similarly adorned, the fabric skin-tight around the skinny appendages.
An argument had already broken out, and Ren found its cause pretty quickly: the horn blower from Lion's Gate. Still in expensive plate, with shoulder length golden hair and blue eyes that glimmered in the firelight, he looked the image of nobility. Before seeing Zammar, Ren may even have considered him handsome.
Zammar turned his head, meeting Ren's eyes. She halted instantly, her heartbeat accelerating rapidly. They looked at each other for eternity before Zammar gave her a small, encouraging smile and nodded slightly, turning back around.
"We don't need your help you fuckers. Candaharrans would rather die than owe our lives to you white shits!" Chief Hirat was exclaiming, gesturing wildly with her hands at the Lion's Gate rider.
"What? Do you think I wanted to help you lot of barbarians?! I want nothing to do with this!" The rider replied, his voice layered with a forced high born accent.
"B-Barbarians? You fucker." Hirat lunged forward, her hand reaching for one of the swords across her back. Abejide reacted instantly, his own arm grabbing hers.
"Hirat, enough."
"And cover yourself up woman, we don't need to see your unappealing teats flying about while you salivate horrendously over some dirty black man." The rider smirked at Abejide, who seemed to be using as much patience in restraining himself as Hirat.
"Fuck you!" Hirat spat in the rider's direction, breaking free from Abejide and groping one of her breasts. "You have a problem with these, you little shit?"
"Such crude language, typical of you godless savages I suppose." The man reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a familiar, gem adorned dagger. "Listen up. The Golden Brigade would never ride for a group of ruffians like you lot. We came because The Lion always pays his debts." The man threw the dagger at Zammar, who caught it between his fingers.
Yeah right. Lion's Gate is too far; you must already have been at the border for a reason. Ren was too tired for this bickering right now. She approached within a meter of Zammar before coughing loudly, forcibly keeping her eyes off him. She wanted to cuddle up against the man, to cry on his shoulder and have him tell her that everything would be okay. But those days were over, she couldn't afford weakness anymore.
Everyone in the group seemed to jump and stare at her for a second. Ren gazed back in exhaustion, not really caring about her appearance anymore.
Hirat grinned widely. "So you survived, eh?"
"Queen Ansari, are you well?" Abejide said.
"Queen? What que-" The Lion's Gate rider began before Zammar quelled him with a raised hand.
"Friends, I would like to introduce Queen Brenda Ansari of Torst, first of her name and last of her people." Zammar said, solemnly looking around to study the wide eyed people around. He sounds so strained.
"Brenda, this is Azure Dragon Takahito of The Dragon Empire." Zammar gestured to the confused oriental man who quickly nodded in acknowledgement. Azure...so not that high up, shouldn't be too much of a problem. "And this is Sky-Storm Ashak Baharadwaj of Kathman." Zammar gestured to the small brown skinned man. Sky-storm!? That's third from the top.
The man smiled a toothless smile. "Ashak for you." He said, his voice surprisingly deep considering his height. Ren simply stared back, unable to muster the physical energy required for smiling courteously. She turned to the rider from Lion's Gate, who looked really dumbfounded.
"Wha-" He began.
"And this," Zammar interrupted "is Major Henri Lancaster of Lion's Gate and the Golden Brigade."
"What is going on here? A Queen I say! Absurd. That monarchy is long abolished and just one look at her is all I need. That right there is a commoner!"
"Oh, fuck you!" Hirat cried, unsheathing one of her blades and swinging it at the major. In a flash his golden sword flew up to parry it. He smiled smugly at Hirat as she struggled to overpower him. Ren didn't have the patience for this, and she wasn't the only one. Abejide massaged his temple, eyes closed. Sky-storm Ashak rolled his eyes in exasperation. Takahito seemed to tremble with fear, and Zammar leaned more into his embedded sword.
"Stand down, Major Lancaster." An unfaltering voice called from behind the major, to Ren's left. The major instantly released his attack and backed away before Hirat could do anything. The owner of the voice stepped into the torchlight. Ren instantly recognized the leader of the Golden Brigade. His white armour was stained with black blood, but his stately features betrayed no signs of the recent battle.
"Brenda, this is Brigadier General Anderson. General, Queen Brenda Ansari of Torst." Zammar said.
The man's impassive expression didn't change, but he studied Ren carefully and eventually raised an eyebrow slightly. She stared back into his blue eyes, not even putting on a face to hide her general grumpiness. After a moment the man gave her a coy smile.
"General, there is no possibility that this commoner can be a Queen." Major Lancaster exclaimed in his annoyingly loud voice.
With his piercing eyes still on Ren, he spoke slowly, deliberately. "Silence Major. We do not yet know the circumstances. She looks like a fine, beautiful queen to me." Flattery. This man is dangerous.
"Beautiful?? General surely..." The major began but was silenced when his superior raised his arm.
That's right, I don't exactly fit in with your perfect ideal do I?
"W-wait" stammered Azure Dragon Takahito. "D-Did you say the...the last of her people? Does that mean Torst..."
The gathering fell instantly silent, allowing the cries of injured men to fill the air.
After what felt like an hour, Ren stepped forward. The world was blurring all around her, but she mustered the energy to look at each of the leaders in front of her. Some how, all the nations in the world had collaborated...sort of. That was a beautiful thing.
"Thank you." Her voice felt so external to herself. "Thank you for putting aside past differences and answering the call to battle."
She looked at Takahito. "Azure Dragon...I need you to summon the Emperor." The man shook in surprise and began to raise his hands in protest, but Ren had already turned to Akash. "Sky-storm, find out if Kathman can represent all the cities and tribes of Indus in this matter." He simply gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"General Anderson, find out the same for Lion's Gate and The Commonwealth. You are not to leave this land tonight. Abejide, summon The Pharaoh." She took a breath. "I am calling a gathering of nations, we have bigger things to deal with than your petty feuds right now." Ren began to turn around. "Hirat, Lancaster. Don't kill each other." She took a step away from the gathering. "I'm going to bed."
Ren took a few more steps, and before she had even left the circle, she collapsed face first to the ground.
The entire gathering stood in shock for a few seconds, staring at the unconscious girl. The silence was interrupted by Hirat's rambunctious laughter. Abejide smiled beside himself. Takahito simply looked confused and worried. Akash also started chuckling. "Feisty one, that. Follow her, I can." He exclaimed loudly.
General Anderson looked at Ren with impassive eyes, the tips of his mouth curling slightly in a calculating smile.
Zammar bent down to cradle her limp body in his arms, careful to avoid his own injuries. "You heard the Queen." He said, turning around to silhouette himself as he walked back to the ruined city.
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History pt.2 - Cities
The previous history lesson covered the first two racial wars and how they resulted in the formation of four nations: The Blacklands, The Whitelands, The Dragon Empire, and Indus.
The first pharaoh - Akhenhaten founded the holy city of Kairo on the banks of the River of Life. The land known as The Blacklands had at the time been comprised of a multitude of villages and small nomadic tribes. Kairo was the first great city. It started off simple, with a temple for new deities and an inn. But as Akhenhaten garnered more support and the war-torn tribes-people flocked to his promised salvation, the city grew rapidly.
From his throne in the city, Akhenhaten commandeered a new, unified army that ripped through The Whitelands, and purged the lighter skinned people from The Blacklands. At the same time, he began development of empire wide infrastructure, strengthening his nation through trade and unification. As more tribes and people started gathering together to benefit from the empire's wealth and put their faith in the Kairan religion, more cities started to appear throughout the land. Villages transformed quickly, becoming major trading hubs and the nomads started settling down.
The cities grew semi-independently, maintaining a different tolerance for the skin colour of their people. In the end however, all of the cities fell under the rule of Kairo. The holy city itself benefited greatly from the expansion of the empire. It became a legend for the people of the lands, a paradise that all dreamed about. Over time, regulations became stricter and only the blackest people were allowed a home in the city. Once the development of blackness meters was achieved, this number was quantified. Anyone with a blackness less than ninety would be kicked out. Anyone with a blackness less than eighty would be executed.
365 years after its founding, enormous walls were built around the city from black stone found at a nearby holy sight. The city came to be known as The Black Fortress. It continued to expand outside the walls, but the happenings of the city proper were shrouded in mystery, even to the new residents. Every now and then, the dark gates would open and The Pharaoh's armies would ride out to loud cheers. But before any hopeful glimpse could be achieved, they would be closed again.
By the time the second racial war started, the nomadic tribes of The Blacklands were all but gone, amalgamated into the cities. It was only in the peninsula of Indus that they remained. Here, the people lived off the land and animals that they tamed. Each tribe specialized in one or two local animals and had warred often in the past.
Before the second war itself, the majority of these tribes found themselves forced into servitude for the rich of The Pharaohdom. Then the slave revolts began. Inspired by successes in The Orientals, many tribes that had hidden away in lush jungles appeared and raided The Blacklands' forces in guerilla attacks. Once King Aeyris of Torst demanded peace and mapped out borders, many of these tribes joined together to form powerful cities. The city states remained self governed, but united under the nationwide banner.
Amongst the tribes were the bird tamers of the north - The Falcon, The Hawk and The Eagle. Because they dwelled in the northern Dragon Peaks, the founding of Torst separated the three tribes from the rest of Indus. They shared land that was wedged between the neutral city state and The Dragon Empire. Many conflicts arose with the Dragon because of this, as the Emperor wanted to claim the land and absorb the powerful tribes into his own nation. The tribes themselves identified more with Indus, and feared that the Whiteness requirements of The Dragon Empire would result in their own extermination once their knowledge had been given up.
The rumored oriental development of rockets further scared the tribes, who then met and agreed to join together. The city of Kathman was founded. The city was the most northerly of Indus and was settled atop a mountain. So high was its altitude, that it alone deferred The Dragon Empire from creating an invasion force. The high eyrie of Kathman soon became known as an impenetrable keep. Only twice was an attack ever attempted. Both times, the cold, starving armies found themselves picked off by bird riders as they struggled up the mountain.
Like all of the cities in Indus, Kathman specialized in taming and breeding its animals. It was the only city to focus solely on birds; the founding tribes specialized in control of the enormous raptors that patrolled their native skies. Through history, the secrets of achieving strong, powerful birds and capable riders were passed down and optimized to the point of becoming an art. Controversies often arose amongst the people of Torst about the measures that the Kathmanese people took to achieve the small stature required for bird riding. They never amounted to anything. Torst and Kathman shared borders, and the people living in neutral territory owned by Torst were often similar in ancestry to those of Kathman. As such, the two cities worked closely together.
Agricultural and technological advances meant that cities in what would become The Whitelands had existed long before recorded history. Over time, many new ones rose and fell. But they never united. The cities grew independently, their alliances temporary, and tensions long lived.
The culling of white skinned people in the South resulted in a continent wide promise of revenge. The North was more white dominant, and whatever few black people remained were soon exterminated.
It wasn't until Akhenhaten's troops laid siege and burned down the ancient city of Tinopolis, and consequently opened the gateways to the North, did the cities realize their desperate need to ally. The Commonwealth of nations was created, a group of self governed, democratic city states that coordinated under several overarching organizations.
A relatively young city, Lion's Gate was founded in the year 633 on the principles of an ancient and extreme cult. This specific sect of The Whitelands believed in the intellectual, physical and hierarchical superiority of people with nordic ancestry. That is to say, people descended from the ancient nomads of the northern shores; people with blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin.
Founded by a collaboration of groups atop a pair of scenic hills, Lion's Gate seemed to grow like any other city of The Whitelands for its first one hundred years. Behind the scenes however, organizations plotted and worked together in preparation for what would become the ultimate upheaval. The wealth of the land upon which the city was built was also kept secret. It wasn't a slow process. Within a month, intelligent political maneuvering and manipulation of laws that had been composed over the past century resulted in the immediate ousting of non-nordic people from their homes and livelihood. Unable to leave the city by contract, anyone without the exact criteria of blue eyes, blonde hair and fair skin was forced into labour.
The hills beneath the city were exploited to reveal a vast and plentiful gold mine, and the city's residents were put to work in slave like conditions. Slavery had been abolished in The Whitelands a hundred years earlier, but the city managed to loop around the law with extremely low wages. The workers were not shown any respite. The only way to freedom was to reach an age of fifty and ensure a child ready to take one’s place. As such, the workers of Lion's Gate were born and died in their mines. Any resistance was met by force.
The wealth the city generated did wonders for its own status. Lion's Gate transformed into a beautiful metropolis of rich, aesthetic people. Its armies grew fearsome, and though many hated the city, none dared confront the lion. At some point, the world gave up on fighting for the freedom of the city's workers. After all, in trade a rich city is a good ally.
Before the second racial war started, the vast swaths of land on the eastern side of the The Whitelands were predominantly occupied by people that were known as "orientals.” It was cities in this land that were put to slavery by the rest of the nation, thus triggering the war itself. After liberation, they were united under one empire. Shin'xi was the first capital, and this was changed to the city of Edo a few hundred years later.
The Dragon Empire, as it came to be known, mastered new forms of technology in isolation from the rest of the world. The discovery of black powder, propelled by their attempts to attain Kathman, resulted in the creation of rockets and explosive devices. The weapons were kept secret, until used to take the world by surprise in the fourth racial war.
In addition to black powder, residents of The Dragon Empire practiced the art of hardening mind and body. Through rigorous training of ancient methods, soldiers learned to kill men using naught but their hands. Eventually, a new fire slinging fighting style was developed, one where fire was used as a distraction and stress inducer that allowed the soldiers to freely unleash the fury of their fists upon their enemies.
Edited by Graham Browning
Author's Note:
Hello! And welcome to the end of the "Candahar" series. I hope you enjoyed this part, as well as the series in general!
As always, it took a while to get out. I'd like to blame my editor and his insistence on quality as well as his proclamations of the lack there of in my story! However, I feel like I am mainly responsible, with all of my laziness :p
And on that note, the next part will take even longer time to get out.
This is where the story really starts getting involved, and diverging a lot. So at the moment, the next series is in planning. I'm being a lot more intricate about planning it out than I ever have been, and I hope that shows in improved quality.
The story so far has been a real learning experience. I feel like the writing, as well as the writing process have already evolved significantly. Hopefully this continues, but I can now go forward with a better grasp of both my story as well as writing in general.
Anyways, Thanks a lot for tuning in! Hope it was worth your time :)
Please let me know what you think!
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