The Ascension

The army pulled away from the city of Stormwall, and set up camp. The general's tent was silent, as he had just addressed his commanders, and the squad leaders.

"If you have any better suggestions, or ways to win, please offer it." The general said in a low rumbling voice.

"General Buld, there is no strategy that can be offered. If she is the true Queen of Death that ravaged the old empire, no amount of soldiers will be able to stop her." A commander said, and sat down on a bench. He had looked at the map several times over, and no matter how he looked at it, there were no obvious means to succeed.

"No one has that kind of skill on this side of the mountain. Everyone who uses their elemental abilities will have to channel in order to recharge their reserves." He lowered his eyes. "The Queen was able to affect the entire army on her own. That was beyond the old monster at Underground Black, and our king would not provoke that being if he had a choice. Why are we provoking this being who controls a vast army? She only wants the ones who attacked her people, and the ones who colluded. She will retire to her own territory once she's finished." A man cleared his throat.

"Oh really? Are you absolutely sure about that?" The commander turned.

"General Ghaul." General Buld stood up from his own bench. "The king sent you after all." Ghaul sneered.

"Of course he sent me. He sent a bunch of weak kneed commanders the last time, and now he wants this taken care of." Ghaul said. Buld's eyes narrowed.

"Present your orders, General Ghaul. Keep your comments to yourself, or I'll cut out your tongue." Buld said stiffly. Ghaul reached into his cloak and tossed the scroll onto the map table. Once read, Buld stood up, and saluted.

"Commanders, General Ghaul is now the leader of this army. I have been demoted." Buld said. "May Imera have mercy on your lives, for the Queen of Death will not." Ghaul laughed.

"You truly believe that she's the Queen of Death? She's merely a tool used by another!" Ghaul said and sneered again. "I've already sent two platoons to that forest to take those women hostage, as well as their 'goddess'. We'll see how strong they are when they are being executed." Buld paled, and started to kneel as he heard soft laughter.

"General Buld, you tried to warn him. Do your commanders agree with this fool?" A voice said, as it rose in power and volume. All of the army heard it and shivered.

"Who is that?" Ghaul said, but was shocked when the commanders spoke up in unison.

"NO MY QUEEN!" They followed up with kneeling down.

"What are you fools doing?" Ghaul asked in confusion. He stared blankly as the tent was torn away, and he was able to see zombie soldiers wearing the armor of his own kingdom. A woman walked out of the dark gloom of night that was so hungry, it swallowed up the light given by the torches.

"They are kneeling to their Queen. As for your two platoons, they are already mine." Sol smiled, her fangs long and black, and reinforced with death elemental essence.

"Not possible!" He said angrily. Sol rolled her eyes.

"Your king is a fool." Sol said softly. "Now that those platoons are mine, given to me by the goddess I worship, they will go and take care of this 'thorn'." She made a gesture, and those with the armor of the kingdom disappeared.

"My Queen, where are they going?" Buld asked quietly. He had a shadow on his heart now, and terror filled him, just like it filled his ancestors when they faced this being of death and despair.

"To execute the royal family, or more specifically, the king himself. Any ministers who gave him that advice will also be executed." She smiled widely. "I will allow his wife to raise their child to take the throne, but if they annoy me again..." She grinned and reached out with a clawed hand to lift Ghaul from off his feet. He held onto her forearm in order to prevent himself from choking to death, or from losing his head to that powerful grip.

"The king and ministers dared to send this fool, and this fool dared to go after my sisters." Sol growled. "He is not worthy of joining my soldiers!" She threw him to the side so forcefully, the air was driven from his lungs. It was obvious to those present that her physical strength was quite high. General Ghaul was tall, muscular, and as thick as a tree, both in body and in mind. She treated him like a discarded toy doll.

"Cut off his hands and throw him to the mountain lizard." Sol grinned evilly. "That lizard owes Master a favor." She turned to the demoted general, and his commanders.

"Stormwall is not abandoned, nor do we give it to the Silver King. My Master does not meddle in politics, or imaginary lines on maps." Sol lifted a hand and pulled a commander who accompanied General Ghaul right to her hand. It was a tether made of death elements, not the wind elements that Aila normally used to lift others.

"Trying to stir up trouble, by readying that silver arrow?"

"Silver is the bane of the undead!" He shouted. Sol grinned, took his hand, and aimed it right at her forehead.

"Take your shot, and learn the truth." Sol barely finished her sentence when the small crossbow on his forearm fired.

"HAHAHA! We win! We...." His eye bulged as Sol squeezed his throat and neck. His body fell while his head remained in her grip.

"Silver is a metal, not a light or life element." The arrow fell to the ground, only grazing her skin, but bouncing off her reinforced skull. Sol turned her gaze to Buld. "Does the king of Mabu only hire fools and ignorant people to lead?" Buld colored a bit.

"Not all the time. Some are smart enough not to fight the one who destroyed our corrupt ancestors." Buld said, and saw Sol smile, her fangs disappearing beneath her full lips. She no longer looked as fearsome as before, and her original beauty was left unmarred.

"So you do understand." Sol nodded slightly. "Inform the new king that we will not invade unless given a reason to retaliate. No incursions by other kingdoms will be permitted until Mabu has regained its stability." She heard the general's slight release of his breath, an indicator that he had held it for a bit.

"A gatehouse patrolled by a single squad will be built on the edge of the wasteland. If the general should hear of any movements of any other kingdom, send a letter to this gatehouse. If others attempt a coup, send word." Sol turned away.

"My Master will not allow others to benefit from her actions, nor allow the innocents to suffer."

The general sat down heavily on his bench, and looked at the commanders that remained from General Ghaul's side. He gestured to his own commanders.

"Strip their weapons. They have been demoted to soldiers, and should they become a hindrance, take them to the Queen's soldiers." General Buld stood up. His men saluted.

"Yes, General Buld." He frowned slightly, but his closest commander grinned. "Did you not hear the Queen? In spite of your demotion by the king, you are a general. Who are we to disagree with the Queen of Death?" The general nodded.

"Excellent. You heard the Queen! Break camp, and prepare to head back to the capital!" He said loudly. "We have to support the Queen of Mabu, and the young king! Let no one take advantage of this disturbance to shake the kingdom!" His men cheered, and headed to their tents to break camp.

"We survived, General." A commander said quietly.

"Yes, but only because she let us. She could have used her soldiers, but did it with her own hands." He shivered, and looked up in terror as a sense of gravity pushed him and his commander to their knees. A pair of eyes floated high in the sky, molten silver and ringed with flames.

'Be warned. My beloved Sol can be lenient, or cruel if I let her loose. There are no further warnings given. Any attempt to get close to her, or my other people, and Mabu will become as lifeless as the wasteland.' The eyes disappeared, while the gravity slowly dissipated. The commander looked at General Buld. The general's eyes closed, and he bowed low to the ground.

"A rank five mountain lizard owes her a favor." Buld said under his breath. "Eyes of a god. Imera, forgive us." The commander paled.

"General, you think..."

"No doubt in my heart. She is a god, and the king of Mabu sought to execute her."

General Buld saw the eyes of the sleeping Aila, not her sister aspects, which surprised the sisters a bit. Even while asleep, her consciousness could emit a powerful aura, while her reserves were near bottomless, but they expected to take action for her while she slept.

Aila had nothing to fear from her sister aspects. They were not separate entities that could exist apart from the whole. These were manifestations of her power, and all were pieces of the whole.

They could no more betray the whole being then they could betray themselves. Aconia and Nuldeir, both opposites sides of the elemental wheel, but were the same being.

Aconia and Nuldeir could not betray Aila for a simple reason. They were Aila.