Chapter Text
Zalsvakae: Commander of the Southern Fleet
If only I’d get to see the look on her face. The lack of action was usually one of the few upsides of leading the southern fleet. I could get all the fame, glory and privilege of a commander without having to put my neck on the line for it. But it also meant that I wouldn’t get a chance to see this new demon queen before her heart was run through by the northern fleet.
If she were truly sticking to her end of the arrangement, it would only be a matter of time once she surfaced from the undergate. Some part of me wondered if she’d genuinely wanted to negotiate peace between us and the demons. The number of demon raids on gateside farms had decreased dramatically since she’d taken power. But the terms she’d set for the meeting couldn’t have ever drawn anything but suspicion from the king. To demand that we send only an unarmed peace envoy to escort her from the undergate to the royal estate was utter madness, even if similarly unarmed herself. And it seemed the king agreed.
I looked out over the vast field of soldiers. Rather than acquiescing to the unreasonable demands, King Kratase sent the entire divine fleet. Even the elite central fleet was in attendance. It had to be a show of power. There was little other explanation. It was well known across all of Dond that demon magic didn’t work above ground, and no demonic storms were projected to breach from this gate for another week at least. No, the king planned to make an example of the fledgling queen.
To remind these demons of their place.
The thought did put a smile on my face. As if we’d ever do trade with demons. You give their kind an inch, and they take a mile. Not a single person across the whole of the empire was buying into the peace and trade agreement drivel she was making up. Demons didn’t make peace, engage in commerce or listen to reason. They were at best, pests to be squashed beneath our boots and shooed back into their holes.
I heard the chattering of my men behind me. They must be getting impatient, not that I could blame them. Our being here was largely a formality after all. That being said, we were still here on official business, and I couldn’t have such behavior soiling our reputation.
“Silence!” I hollered over my shoulder. “Do not forget that we are here on royal decree! The next man to utter a word will have their tongue cut from their throat upon our return, do I make myself clear!?”
But before I could get a reply from my men, I found myself distracted by the sound of battle cries from the front line. It would seem our guest of honor had finally arrived. The memory of my bet with Line jumped back into my mind. The time was upon us to see just how long this demon queen would last. If she managed to last more than a minute I’d-
My thoughts were suddenly cut short by the flash of a blindingly bright light, followed immediately after by a deafening boom.
I covered my eyes, reeling from the ringing in my ears and tried to get a sense of the situation as a wave of gold washed over the field around us. I collapsed to the ground clutching my chest as it passed through me. My heart felt like it had been shoved into a smithing vice. This had to be divine power! Kathayi! How did a demon get their hands on something like this!?
“I’d truly hoped that we could make peace.”
There’s no way I should have been able to hear her through my ringing ears, and yet the voice rang through my entire body, every word threatening to shake my soul from my heart.
“I ask you to send an envoy of peace. I agree to come unarmed as a gesture of good will. I expected at the very worst, to be ignored. But to send an entire army in the stead of the envoy I requested.”
The voice trailed off in a long pause. Long enough for me and my men to pull ourselves to our feet and ready ourselves for the battle we knew would follow.
“May your massacre serve as a warning to all else who would seek to deny us the treatment we rightfully deserve!”
A dark streak shot up into the air the moment her words ceased. The body of the demon queen unfurled a set of massive, scaled wings, outlined pitch black as she blotted out the sun. In a blinding flash, a massive sword, nearly the length of her body formed in her hand. The sky turned dark. Clouds of deep maroon billowed across the sky behind her, bathing the field in the darkness of a demonic storm.
My mind raced as I watched the sight unfold before me. No storms were projected to arrive from this gate for at least another week! Our scholars had assured us of this with absolute certainty!
The first strike of crimson red lightning broke me from my daze as I looked back to my fleet. Each of their eyes locked onto the demon queen hovering in the air before them, abject fear filling their eyes. “Teleszagelle!” I shouted across their ranks, snapping their attention back to me. “Do not lose heart in the face of the enemy! We will advance forward to cover the central fleet! Am I understood!?”
“Thaitestene!” they all called back.
I turned my attention back to the battlefield, holding myself as confidently as I could manage. But I couldn’t help but shake looking upon the destruction before me. I knew from the moment I turned around that the sight I bore witness to would haunt me for all my days.
The demon queen descended upon the northern fleet, her sword becoming a whirling inferno effortlessly cleaving through their ranks, as a layer of shadow swept the battle field. The ones cut cleanly in two were the lucky ones while the less fortunate boiled alive in their armor, but soon, even that was swept away in the darkness. Just what sort of power had we angered!?
I stopped dead in my tracks as fear gripped my mind. This was far more than just a queen of demons. No less than a god of death had descended upon us!
I was left unable to see more than an inch in front of me. I could hear the screams of my men all around me, see the flashes of movement in the shadows, and then felt something push past my shoulder me!
“Stop! Don’t come any closer!” I screamed into the darkness, whipping my sword out of its scabbard. “You don’t scare me you filthy rats! Give it your worst!”
That’s when I saw it. A figure of pure shadow stepped out of the chaos before me holding an almost ethereal sabre that seemed almost to meld with its arm. The figure lunged at me, but I parried away its thrust. I prepared a return attack from the inside, but the figure just melted back into the darkness it came from. Another appeared behind me, just barely missing as it swung for my neck with a straight sword before too disappearing into the darkness. Then two more appeared, then another, and another! I couldn’t keep up! Their attacks were simple, straight forward, and sloppy, but the sheer quantity of their numbers had me overwhelmed. It was only a matter of time before I felt the intense flare of heat hit my back. I swung around expecting another shadow, but a far more haunting visage awaited me.
Fear rooted me in place. Her scales stained black in the inky darkness of the covering the field. Her piercing gaze didn’t falter from me for even a moment as her eyes etched the fate of my soul into my heart. The span of her wings beggared belief as her imposing form kicked me to the dirt at her feet. Some parts of her body left the slightest amounts of skin showing, giving an almost human quality to her burning rage. I groaned in pain as I pushed myself away from her. My mind searched for the words. Something, anything to say to prolong my life another second!
“P-Please!” I pleaded with her. “I-! I can be of use! I can bring the message of your arrival to the king! I can help you turn the tide of battle!” I knew my words were a venture in futility, but reason had long since eluded this situation. If only it had been more shadows! I might’ve stood a chance. But her!? I saw all too well what she could do. I tried to back further away, never letting my eyes lose sight of her, but the demon queen followed close behind, the oppressive outline of her form lit bright by her burning sword against the backdrop of shadows.
She raised the enormous sword high and leapt from the veil of darkness, a single, decisive strike, rending my legs from my body. I screamed uselessly for help amidst the chaos. My own cries drowning amidst the sea of screams as the demon queen bent down to meet my gaze.
“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me.” she taunted in an almost frustrated voice.
I clenched my teeth, forcing myself to bear through the pain as I tried my best to study her face, only to come to a terrifying conclusion.
“It’s-! You’re the- the girl from the-!”
I cut myself off as I saw the wry, fanged smile crawl across her face. Her dead, blackened eyes burned with glee as she grabbed me by the head and flung me aside.
“That’s right Vakae! It’s me!” she cackled. “If only you’d have listened, you worthless wretch! All of this could have been avoided! But time and time again you prove me wrong with just how low you can sink!”
I felt my fear bubbling over into rage as I watched that worthless demon saunter over to me. “I should have killed you when I had the chance!” I spat at her.
“Ah, but now you’ll never get to, will you? Goodbye Vakae.” she raised her sword over her shoulder.
“Fuck you, you worthless-”
And then everything went black.
The fiery heat of the demonic storm. The demon’s shit eating grin. The screams of the battlefield.
None of it remained.
I felt around myself, searching for anything to hold onto to catch my bearings.
I listened and looked for something to help me orient myself.
But there was nothing.
I was alone in the pitch black emptiness, crawling helplessly as I searched for sanctity.
But then off in the distance, I could swear that I saw a light!
I couldn’t care less what it was. Anything was better than this vast, empty nothingness!
And as I got closer, I swear I could see him. My patron, Anase! The god who’d be my salvation!
I tried to call out to him as I got closer, but my voice made no sound.
I tried to pull myself to my feet such that I could run to his embrace, but my legs couldn’t find solid ground.
I waved my arms in his direction, hoping that maybe, just maybe he might see me.
But it was all to no avail.
Something gripped me by the waist from behind me.
I desperately cried out to Anase, begging, pleading for help!
But my pleas remained unheard.
Whatever gripped me dragged me back, pulled me away from salvation, away from the light of Anase.
It dragged me back and pulled me into a sea of darkness.
I struggled against the waves as they tried to pull me under.
I called out again to Anase as my head dipped beneath the surface.
I kicked and flailed against the inky abyss and managed to pull myself up to the surface again.
“Anase!” I cried out, my voice now resounding through the space around me.
But even now, his gaze never turned my way.
“Anase-! Please! Help me!” I cried again, but the currents pulled me under once again.
I held my breath as I thrashed against the currents, but it only got harder the deeper I sank. The pressure on my lungs was unbearable! My body boiled as I reached for the surface, but the current’s grip was tight. It wasn’t letting go without a fight! I knew in my heart that it was a hopeless endeavor, but I didn’t care! It didn’t matter! I was going to survive no matter what! I would do whatever it took to earn this life back!
But I could hold out no longer.
Water filled my lungs as my body gave way.
And I sank into the abyss.