Chapter 222
"Do not say a word." A beautiful voice caressed his ear and brought Astraka's eyes flying open.
'Assassin!' He wanted to cry out, but he found that, though he could blink, and he could move his lips, only a whisper emerged beyond them.
"You're good looking, for a human, I mean." Illyana said and stood up over the paralyzed Duke. His eyes widened further, he tried to speak louder.
'An elf?! I thought we'd have to take care of them before going North but it shouldn't have been that hard, how did one get in here?!' He wanted to demand answers, but again, he was whispering so low that he couldn't even hear himself.
She seemed not to mind, "You're probably wondering how I got in here." She said and put a finger over his lips, "Just say I'm a magic caster with high stealth skills and leave it at that, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that you now know I can get to you. Blink if you understand how important to your future that is."
Astraka blinked.
"Good, it's the same reason you can't really move much." Illyana made the cryptic statement, then asked, "May I sit?" She didn't wait for an answer, but instead pulled a chair away from a nearby table, drew it to his bedside, and sat down as if it were her own.
"I know you think you have to 'deal' with my people, before you can go North, but I'm going to offer you an alternative, a better option. Wouldn't it be convenient for you if you had the finest scouts, rangers, woodsmen, and archers in the Kingdom? Don't you think that might provide an excellent advantage over the Queen?" She asked, his widening eyes told her he understood.
"Good looking, and smart, aren't we a winner in life?" She chuckled at that. "So I can skip the market pitch and jump straight to the offer… Wenmark is dead. Everybody who owned us is dead. We will never be owned again. If you try to put us down in the forests, we will hunt you all, it won't be months, it will be years trying to finish us, maybe you succeed, maybe not. But by the time you do, if you do, the Holy Queen will be too powerful for you to handle. So I propose an alternative. We will join with you, considering only Wenmark and its surrounding communities to be solely responsible for what was done to us. We will take the front, and harass the Queen's forces, this should give you a mighty edge in the opening stages of your war. All we want in exchange is a home of our own. Let the elves have the deep woods, prohibit enslaving us, and we will never trouble your race again."
'Is she… is she serious?' Astraka wondered, she sounded like it, he searched for a downside. Elven slavery was a nasty institution and he knew it. Useful in Wenmark and the surrounding areas, but as the recent tragedy showed… more trouble than it was ultimately worth. He still recalled how sick he felt on a trip to the grim city as a young man. He could never quite grasp how anyone could do the things he saw being done to women. At least torture was 'clean'.
'She must have been one of those, no elf this beautiful would have remained untouched in a place like that… her request makes sense, it costs nothing, and if I control the labor force that reoccupies the mining districts and rebuilds Wenmark…' The possibilities unfolded in his mind, and the answer crystalized in his head with such obviousness that he could see that she saw it in his eyes.
"Hmpf, is that 'empathy' I see in there for me?" She asked and patted his cheek, "You're not all bad, I suppose, but do we have a bargain? Squeeze your eyes tightly shut if we do." Illyana instructed, and he did as she said.
"Good, my elves will be following the wooded paths north, we still prefer to avoid your kind. When we see your army pass Yanana, we will do our part." Illyana promised, "And remember… if you betray us, at least one elf can come to you at any time, and take your life." She said, and stood up.
She then took up the blanket and covered him at the head saying, "Don't worry, the poison will wear off, it's really even better stuff than I thought." Illyana then went to the window, allowing him to hear her steps so he would think she was leaving that way.
Then when the [Gate] opened for her, she skipped through with glee, and found herself again in the room in the Northern Holy Kingdom that served as their headquarters.
"How did it go?" Skana asked as soon as Illyana returned. The green eyed woman had a warm little smile on her face from where she sat at the table still scribbling out the 'clues' that would suggest the Slane Theocracy was behind some of the corruption and upheaval in the Holy Kingdom.
Illyana approached, gave a gentle hug to Skana when the woman stood, and then sat down opposite her companion to explain. "Very well. He has no idea how I got in or out and thinks I'm just really good at getting in and out of places. Duke Astraka was quick to agree, and I don't think we have to worry about being betrayed… all that we have to do now is-"
Skana interjected with a casual wave and a most dismissive airy roll of her hand at the wrist, "Fight your way across the Holy Kingdom while being hunted by Queen Calca's entire army, hoping you're not betrayed by Astraka, and reach a wall meant to stop entire demihuman armies, while hoping the Queen of Frost joins the war and will also accept your entire population into her new Kingdom and not be as bad as or worse than the humans… is that all? How hard can that be?"
Illyana snapped her jaw shut. "When you put it that way…" The hand which had been reaching for a quill, stopped, hesitated, started to move again, then stopped as worries began to replace her earlier enthusiasm.
'No…' Skana realized what a damper her cynicism had just thrust on the enthusiastic elf, and her mind raced against her mouth to try to fix it, Skana's face brightened with an envious smile, "Things will be fine. Your people will make it, they'll get across the whole damn Kingdom, they'll meet the Queen of Frost, she'll see their potential, their strength… she'll want them as her citizens… she'll take them in… your people will be safe in the east. They'll have farms, and grow crops that will make Demalbion the envy of east and west, north and south… and you'll go back with our Lady, serve her faithfully, be safe and happy forever after. Everything will work out." Skana insisted, and it was enough for the elf woman to smile back.
"And after all these miracles come to pass, and it's all said and done, what will you do?" Illyana asked, and the auburn haired woman leaned back in her chair, her neck resting on the top of the backrest, staring at the ceiling.
"If you want the truth, I honestly don't know. It wasn't until I knelt before a living god that I ever realized how… empty, my wants were. I like sex. I like drinking. I like dancing. I'd be lying if I said I haven't enjoyed all this… in a strange sort of way. But I've never in my entire life done anything that wasn't really for me or for my own enjoyment… with all this over and more money than I know what to do with? I guess I'll buy a big house in a city, get some servants to boss around and…?" She shrugged. "Do nothing, I guess? It seems kind of pointless now that I say it out loud." She straightened her head and glanced at her companion.
"Do you think maybe you could visit me sometime?" Skana asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"If I'm allowed, I definitely will." Illyana replied with a bright faced smile that wiped away the growing sense of emptiness in her friend, at least for the moment, and they returned with quiet studiousness to their work, until the doppelgangers returned to do the same.
...Weeks later...
Gustav stood in private council with the Holy Queen. His burnished armor did nothing to hide the sting of his failure which he felt in his guts, it was written all over his face. "You failed, didn't you?" She asked, it wasn't said with rebuke, more as if she were a loving parent who knew from the start that their child had set their sights too high.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." He answered.
"There is no need for an apology now, Commander Montagnés." She shook her head, "I knew it was probably futile, I had… hopes. But hope is something I can't rule by. That is why I had the army mustered while you were gone, we're still weeks away from full readiness… but we won't be caught completely off our guard by a nightmare."
Gustav took a half step back in dismay, such a measure was expensive, high risk… and exactly the right thing to do. She seemed to take no notice of his dismay, her fingers rapped in a steady rhythm on the table at which she sat, "All the new nobles I appointed are eager to prove themselves, they're not complacent. They're not yet corrupt, and they won't have much time for corruption… for better or worse, the foundation for our Kingdom's future lies with how we handle this war."
"Majesty… I'm sure you're right…" Gustav said, certain at least that he was speaking the truth, and he turned a thought to the last conversation he had with the Queen of Frost. "What will we do with Pabel and his wife?"
Calca's hard eyes became harder, her fingers stopped drumming, her other hand stiffened on the armrest of her burnished dark wooden seat. "If she wouldn't have avoided war because we have them, they would not make good hostages overall… but I intend to keep them alive, and treat them well… like guests who can't leave. Remedios delivered them with a bruise on her father's face, which I had healed, and I won't have another hand laid on them. Gustav… our best hope here is survival. And that means I do not need to create long-term grudges. I can't stop from using her family, but I think I can ensure that she won't mistreat our people out of some desire for revenge, as long as they are kept alive and unharmed. They're leverage for after the war, not before it."
She cleared her throat, and Gustav did the same, he kept back his private thoughts, 'This version of Calca is far more sensible than the old one… but I will miss that starry-eyed loving belief… that absurd idealism that we could really make a perfect kingdom… we killed it, all of us… and now there are two Queen of Frosts in our part of the world… and having one of them is the only reason we'll survive.'
He was proud of her, he pitied her, he wanted the old Queen back and couldn't wait to see what this 'New Calca' would do next. A whirlwind of thoughts and emotions rampaged through his mind, and it all came together in a single thought. 'I have a job to do.'
Whatever his Queen was about to say next was cut off when Kelart burst into the room without knocking. She was panting, breathing hard, her eyes wild and her hair in disarray.
"The Demihumans?!" Queen Calca exclaimed and shot to her feet at the same moment that Gustav turned to look at the sudden disturbance, his hand instinctively going for the hilt of his sword before seeing who it was.
Kelart rushed within, slamming the door behind her, "No, Your Majesty! It's the South! The Southern Holy Kingdom has declared themselves for Caspond, and they have invaded. Yanana has already fallen, towns and villages are being abandoned and pillaged. They demand that you abdicate the throne immediately!"
Queen Calca's jaw set tight as she took that in. "How could things get any worse…?"
"Give me that wall!" Neia bellowed from where she hovered in front of her horde, her wings batting slowly to keep her bobbing aloft, her sharp-taloned finger pointed the way ahead, and the humans who looked down at her from above looked on in total horror.
"Correct me if I am wrong, partner, but isn't it customary to catch the enemy by surprise?" Olasird'arc asked from where he stood beside her while the demihumans rushed past.
"Yes. But their vision isn't especially good. I want them to know I'm coming for them, I want them to break, run and spread the word. They can't do that if they fall all over themselves and die in the dark. There's a time for shadow and stealth, and there's a time to really put on a show… this is our opening gambit, and there's no better time to create terror in their minds." Neia answered without looking up at him, "Now, are you ready for your part? They'll be in arrow range soon."
"Ready." Olasird'arc said to the dragonid, 'Was she like this when she was fully human? She sounds… dragonish.' He wondered, her fearsome gaze, steady, unflinching, focused on her goal above all else, it was hard not to favor such a person, and when she gave the nod, he rose aloft and sped toward the wall.
His icy breath swept the top, the cries of humans went up in alarm as the dragon brought death from above, ice swallowing up bodies and stopping hearts in chest after living chest. The few who loosed their arrows, forgot their demi-human targets, and the pathetic steel points bounced off his naturally armored skin.
From her place at the rear, Neia looked on in disbelief as she saw the unthinkable happen.
'The portcullis… is opening… they're opening the gate… is it a trap?!' She wondered, 'Or do we have unknown allies over there…?' The Queen of Frost wondered, there was one certain way to know for sure. She took off as fast as her wings could carry her, the bow on her back still waited for use in its custom leather sheath, she shot between the lines of her roaring warriors, and saw… humans killing humans.
'Allies… we have allies!' She cried out in her head with mental elation and rushed back through the way inside. She let out a dragonid battle roar and pointed to the way within, though many of her own were already climbing the walls and toppling stone, many more were waiting their turn, and the option of an easy way in was not to be ignored.
Orcs, spriggans, nagas, trolls, bafolk, and countless others barrelled through, and like a dam that burst above an unsuspecting town, the courtyard was flooded.
The tens of thousands of soldiers who held the fortress were still pouring out of their positions, charging forward and howling for blood.
Neia took a man by the throat, ascended into the air, her sharp ears heard his gurgle, his limbs flailing about, his weapon dropped far below, the roar of battle rose like the noise of a storm, the smell of blood and less noble fluids filled the air. The wind raced by her chilly body, and the Queen of Frost got a good long look at the warrior of her former homeland. He was young, barely a man. And his terrified eyes were filled with the realization that he was about to die. His struggle to escape her grip became a struggle to hold on, his legs tried to wrap around her, his hands grabbed at her arms and wrist, but he was easily batted away.
Part of Neia screamed at herself over what she was about to do, but down below, her people were fighting, dying, and pressing the humans to the breaking point.
"Goodbye." She said, and let go, watching for only a few seconds, he screamed, hands and legs flapping about trying to find something in the empty air to grab onto, some lifeline that didn't exist, she winced a little when he landed. He hit not the ground, but a clump of his own people, his body shattering and dying instantly, and leaving several other humans equally dead or seriously injured.
Neia then angled herself down, and dove back into the fray, heading for the gate that held the army in and prevented escape. 'They're near breaking… give them a way out, and it's over.' She knew without a doubt.
The side gate was less well guarded now, the breach point having drawn the most violence to it.
Not even twenty yards away they were packed like apples in a barrel, but where she landed at the door, there was nobody. At least, not there. Neia folded her wings in and began to go up the stone steps, the noise of the outside hiding the echo of her footsteps, she wound her way up to the top where the wheel could be found, along with the crew meant to man it.
A single oaken door stood in her path at the top, a troublesome obstacle a lifetime ago, her talon tipped hands went back, then thrust forward to dig into the wood, they sank in as if it were soft and moist, she then gritted her teeth, and tore it away from where it sat, casting it down the stairs behind her to tumble and splinter out of view before it came to a stop.
The little skeleton crew meant to defend the interior of the gate immediately went for their swords. They were not front line soldiers, and wore only leather armor or banded mail, though they carried short swords ideally for their confined space, they were ill suited for war in the same way as paladins or even squires.
Neia charged, her hand caught one at his wrist, she twisted, snapping the bone and cutting off the scream by thrusting her other hand into his throat. The blood poured out like a fountain as she spun and droplets hurtled about before letting go of him, sending the dying unfortunate as a missile weapon into his charging companions. They tumbled like the little wooden pins used in nine pin bowling, a pile of tangled and struggling limbs.
She approached them before they could dislodge themselves, slashed her talons out, and a spattering of blood on stone brought stillness to the room. The dragonid Queen then went to the wheel that controlled the portcullis, a large metal piece with multiple handles meant for two grown men to move, and with her newfound strength she began to do it herself.
The chain was on a long cylinder which she could see rotating, confirming her success, it went up, and up, and the wrapping of the chain became thicker and thicker, until she pulled and felt it stop. On the wall beside her was a long metal rod, which she took with one hand and shoved it into the break, a series of aligned holes that would stop the chain from going back down.
"Now one more thing." She said to herself and went to a spot where a large horn stuck out, meant for signalling the soldiers, the experienced Kingdom warrior knew them all by heart. She puckered her lips, and blew the retreat.
She then looked out the little arrow slit to see the result. The horn's triple bellow drew the eyes of both sides, and between both the call to retreat and the easy 'escape route' she just offered… the wavering men of the Holy Kingdom broke…
They broke and ran, some casting aside swords and shields, others making desperate valiant last stands of their own, only to be overrun… men died on their bellies as demihumans jumped at their backs, others died when they stumbled, fell, and were trampled by their own people…
Neia forced herself to watch. 'This was your country…' She told herself, and with a bitter snarl she said aloud, "Was."
And watched with unblinking blue eyes until there were no humans left within, and her army began to cheer their victory.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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