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Veyseili awoke to a thunderous cacophony of harsh whispers, echoing
throughout her bedchamber, like cracked and brittle cathedral bells. She
opened her eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the austere glow that
permeated every facet of her room.
Again the whispers rang, "Veyseili, Veyseili you lazy girl, wake up!"
It was the Magmus which spoke, a vast creature, the very essence of the
realm, draped in its own similarly vast, but unwarranted ego. It was the
molten flowing red that coursed behind the crystalline walls, ceiling, and
floor, the shaper of the ever changing landscape far above on the surface,
its only true talent that of speech.
Veyseili sat up, stretching her toned, slender, lithe limbs like a panther
just waking from its noonday nap and halting the next wave of grating speech
in its tracks. Her hair like that of turmulous unbound flames, cascading
about her shoulders. Her eyes, like swirling pools of molten steel, ever
heating and cooling with the slight changes of passions rage and ire. She
stood resplendent in her naked beauty, allowing the blanketing folds of
captured sun to fall about her feet, her bronzed skin a compliment to the
ruddied luminescence that bathed her.
She ran her hands along her bare sides, enjoying the smooth perfection of
her own skin, only to be interrupted by the egomaniacal hiss of that which
surrounded her. "Get dressed, fool. Dragoth calls you . . ."
"Hush useless fiend. I'm tired of your ceaseless banter " Veyseili's voice
chimed like a thousand tinkling bells, beguiling in its passionate charm and
fear inspiring in its rage.
"Do you dare refuse the call of your liege?" the Magmus sputtered,
seemingly stunned by Veyseili's contempt.
"Know this . . ." Veyseili droned, a sinuous grin forming on her this lips
as she approached the near wall, "I do as I wish."
A distorted humanoid face formed beneath the multi-faceted crystalline wall
as she came, a talent bestowed on the Magmus by Dragoth, the ruler of this
realm, the realm of Sala.
"Know this as well, " she continued, her gaze becoming treacherous as her
eyes flared, emitting their own fiercum glow, "Whisper to him that I come,
not to do as he may bid, but to relinquish him of his reign. For I have
surpassed him in all respects."
The Magmus began to chuckle, thinking her vain or mad or both.
"Laugh not! ", Veyseili spoke in measured tones, placing her hand upon the
visage and silently muttering a few select words.
The visage twisted in agony as the whole of the land bubbled and churned,
crying out in pain. Every creature of the realm froze in stunned panic at
the horrendous sound, a shriek like nails on slate. A softer echo of that
cry escaping the realm so that even the peasants at their hearths in the
other realms heard it.
Veyseili released her helpless victim from the clutches of her punishment
and spat, "Now tell him I come!"
In moments the warning was sounded in the Chamber of the Sun. Here Dragoth
sat upon his throne of rough hewn ruby, surrounded by a dome of dazzling
multi-faceted crystal, amplifying a hundred fold the constant, immovable
crimson sun that shown overhead. The amplification was of not only the
light, but the already scorching heat of the realm as well, immediately
searing the flesh of the weak, blistering the mediocre, causing even the
strongest to perspire, and finally empowering only Dragoth himself.
Dragoth arose from his throne and called to his personal guard, the
Sala Elite, of which Veyseili had been the commander, but no longer. A
dozen armor clad warriors and warrioresses rushed in to kneel before him,
the looks on their faces like those of lambs who knew they were ripe for the
slaughter.
"Yes, my liege!" they croaked in unison, trying vain not to betray the fear
they now felt since the land screamed.
"Veyseili, once your commander, now your enemy, comes to destroy me . . . "
Dragoth huffed, his stalky frame heaving with a mixture of hatred and
remorse, "I want her head as a trophy!"
Dragoth stood straight and proud, his short stature still commanding great
respect and his coal black eyes helping to mask his warning emotions, which
raged inside him like a tempest.
"My 'daughter' comes now to slay me. . .", he thought, then returned to the
matter at hand.
"Well what are you waiting for? For her to fall upon my doorstep? Go!"
snorted Dragoth, as he brushed his ill kempt coarse red hair from his eyes.
"Yes, my liege !", the Sala Elite, if that's what you'd call them,
stammered as each rose to their feet bowing at the hip and departing
quickly.
Meanwhile, Veyseili prepared herself for battle, reaching into the chest at
the foot of her bed and removing her armor, a malevolent sneer playing at
the corners of her lips, taking her time, purposefully allowing for the
defenses to be built against her arrival. She admiringly caressed her
midnight garb, like a lover, before sliding each piece smoothly over her
hot, bared skin.
First she raised her arms up sliding on her shirt, that of thousands of
small jet tear drops, each one emblazoned with a different, slightly
luminescent silver rune or symbol, many of which had been thought lost to
time.
Next her trousers, bending over and stepping into the silk thin obsidian,
light passing through the wispy folds bringing out the perfect shadowy
outlines of her muscular dancers legs and torso as she pulled them over her
hips.
Then she sat on the edge of her bed and pulled on her ancient black dragon
scale boots, cut high on her calves and low on her shins, the soles blacker
still of some unknown origin, made to tinkle like small bells or be silent
as death itself at a thought.
Finally she stood, attaching her looped belt of black steel and her
scimitar. The blade was enchanted ages past, made of alexanderite,
shimmering blue-green in the light and deep violet, almost black, in the
darkness. The hilt fashioned in the likeness of a phoenix, wings spread
forming the cross guard, made of amazonite, a prismatic pale azure blue,
like spider-webbed marble.
Veyseili pulled gently at the edges and folds of her familiar, comfortable
attire, straightening and caressing the intricate patterns into pristine
resplendence. She strolled lightly to her chamber door, her boots tinkling
like a child's play song. With a slight wave of her hand the doors opened
and she half skipped up the long, winding staircase to the surface.
Emerging in the light of the ever-constant crimson sun, she breathed in
deeply, calmly and smiled.
"This land shall be mine soon. . ." she mused, sighing languidly.
She began walking slowly, purposefully towards her lord's hiding place, not
caring to use the winding paths the Magmus supplied within the otherwise
ever changing landscape, instead making her way straight. The Magmus,
having been properly cowed, accommodated Veyseili, supplying a bridge of
itself under her feet, raising her well above the houses and caverns of the
other Sala.
Veyseili could hear the low whispers of the onlookers as she passed over,
each an echo of her approach and awe-struck, the power of them fueling her
further. Whence she reached the Tower of the Sun, the Magmus set her
lightly before the entrance, where awaited two members of 'her' Elite Guard.
"Tibero, Saisha. . .choose wisely." Veyseili cooed.
Tibero quaked at her cool posturing and drew his sword. Saisha drew her
sword as well. Tibero rushed forward, as Veyseili stood unflinching, a
smile playing coolly upon her soft lotus petal lips of spilt blood red.
In but a flickering moment Tibero was snuffed out like a meek candle flame
being blown away by the wind, Saisha's blade dripping with his life from
where it had entered his foolishly turned back.
"I knew you would not turn on me." Veyseili said softly, a hint of some
secret emotion glinting in her fierce eyes as she approached Saisha.
Saisha met Veyseili's gaze, echoing the secret and reveling in the
unleashed power she saw there.
Veyseili reached out, caressing Saisha's cheek gently with the backs of her
warm satiny fingers, and whispered softly, "You my loyal friend shall be my
Commander. Only you I trust here."
"I shall follow you, whatever the outcome. . .my liege !", Saisha paused,
her amber eyes glowing lightly as she smiled at Veyseili. "Good luck,
though I know you don't need it. " Saisha continued, returning from lost
thought, "Shall I accompany you?"
"No, this is for me alone. . .Everyone must know I needed no help in
destroying such a fool as Dragoth. . .Wait here till I summon you !" ,
Veyseili answered clearly and directly, already commanding as a worthy ruler
should.
Veyseili strode past Saisha without another word and pushed open the large
double crystalline doors to the lower section of the tower and closed them
behind her. She started the long ascent up the winding staircase, pausing
at each level, testing the Sala Elite's metal and intelligence, either
finding loyalty or dispatching quickly those who opposed her.
Finally she reached the magically locked doors to the Chamber of the Sun.
Veyseili reached out, playfully scraping her fingernails across the smoky
quartz surface of the doors, sending a shrill screech echoing throughout the
tower.
"Knock, knock. . .Can Dragoth come out and play? " she chortled, tapping
her nails in a rotating rhythm, each click-clack a cheery doom calling.
No spoken answer came, only the slight sound of a fearful rasping gasp.
"Humph, No ! Well I'll come in then ! " Veyseili mused out loud.
She took a step back, inhaling deeply, placing her hands upon her chest,
palms outward. Then she threw her arms forward and screamed in exhale,
"Dragoth !!!!!!! "
At this the doors burst, exploding in shards and raining down upon the
whole of the chamber, bringing slight bloody nicks to the exposed skin of
Dragoth's face, neck and hands as he rose with a start from his throne.
Scorching heat pulsed forth through the doorway and Veyseili welcomed it
fully, her eyes igniting in anticipation as she drew forth her sword.
"Come my child. . .Meet fate ! " Dragoth spoke in a controlled tone as he
drew his sword of blazing amber with its jet hilt.
"Gladly, for my fate is bright as the crimson sun, unlike yours !" Veyseili
approached calmly, capturing Dragoth's gaze with her own, and smiled
menacingly.
"How is it you think you can win here. . .in my chamber, where only I am
strong? And with nerve enough to not even wear your full gear? " Dragoth
spat in reply to her callous disregard.
"That is wear you make your mistake. You are no longer the only one who
can draw the sun down. And for that error you shall pay with your life !"
Veyseili hissed as she rushed in at him, "Enough talk !"
Dragoth raised his parry, just in time, as Veyseili's double handed strike
came crashing down. She knew he would react thus and it gave her what she
wanted. She released her sword with her right hand, being equally skilled
with both and murmured softly "Now watch thy doom spread from me, fed by
your precious sun."
Veyseili's free limb became that of solid fire, like red-hot steel just
pulled from the stove. Dragoth cried out in surprise and horror, but all
for naught.
"To late, fool !" Veyseili snickered as she plunged her searing hand deep
into Dragoth's chest, sliding through the folds of armor and cloth like
words of rage that cut a fragile ego, reaching toward his sunburst heart.
Veyseili could feel his life force slipping away as she clasped the beating
organ in her deadly grip.
Dragoth dropped his sword and rasped " You were more than just my best. .
..my daughter. . ."
"Yes and bred me for war. . .You should be proud. . ." Veyseili mocked, as
she leaned in close to Dragoth's ear.
"Die father !" she breathed, pulling on the still beating thing inside him
and kissing his cheek.
One last quick gasp, the death sigh, and it was over. . .
Veyseili stood, dropping the gross throbbing mass, her hand becoming that
of beauteous flesh once more, only a bit bloody. She closed her eyes,
smiling almost serenely, and whispered "Saisha come to me now. . .It is
done. . ."
Avalon Avalon Publication(June 2001) |
