An Apocalypse Rising Ch 06

Author's Note:

There is a scene of potentially unappealing gore. It's intentionally not particularly descriptive, but it's there all the same. You'll have a good idea when it's coming and its end is clearly marked.

Chapter Six

A fitful sleep on their horses did not help Neral Jaye's mood.

It was reaching the point where Neral was wondering if Kress and her group might actually beat them to the rendezvous after all. To attempt to draw as little attention as possible to their movement, they progressed at a snail's pace, hugging the sheer rock the entire way to lessen their risk of being seen by the creatures here. That was by no means a foolproof strategy, or even necessarily sound, but it was the best of a bad situation.

Neral's mind lingered on the ones departed as she faced the long, gray road of sand before her. Deres, while perhaps trite and stock in his words of encouragement had a point: if anyone could make it, it would be Kress. But what if she didn't? And, even if she did, how many would she lose?

How many would I lose?

That's what it boiled down to. They were all there on her word that it mattered. It was always the case that she was responsible for them, but, on the fields of home it was different. The enemy was tangible and understood there by them, and they had homes and families within reach to drive the forward. They had to find their own reasons here. From the family helped, no matter in how small the manner, to seeing what potentially might befall their home and preventing it, to simply the ones with them, she'd hoped they'd found theirs.

And that was another source of worry: she had her reasons with her, two of them anyway. She was right in wanting to go to end a problem before she had to face it once it was insurmountable, but her two were going regardless, so she would follow as well, but did she have to drag others along? Did she have to have knocked on Kress's door?

That the cause was just had to be reason enough for now.

But the witch broken into pieces would be better.

She snapped herself from her internal monologue for the simple fact that if a commander wallowed in such long enough it bled into everything else like slow poison. She turned, giving her two a deliberate smile. There was some peace in having them there despite the risk to them and that she'd have to witness it, but it was an eye in the storm that was now. He grinned with that same scheming little grin and she tilted her head and flirted with those liquid blue eyes.

They had been chatting quietly for the past hour about nothing in particular because the more active surf allowed for it. With luck they would be off this beach in a few hours and somewhere more suitable to await Kress and the others.

Dion had taken her place as Neral's second and rode at her side. "How did the mages come to be in the wastes?"

"Everyone knows the story, Captain," Kestral told her. "You read the stories same as everyone else. Their technologies and their magics made them think they could do anything. They tried to impose their will and it took all we had, but we drove them back."

"I've heard that version of things," Maylin replied coolly.

Dion ignored the tone of both of them. "So have I. I was just curious as to what your side was."

Maylin quite liked the open-mindedness found behind those dark eyes. "Well.."

"I'll be damned," Dion whispered, unable to keep the shock out of her voice. "General? Do tell me you see what I see, so that I know I'm not delusional."

Far ahead of them, as the waves crashed they all spied four riders and their mounts. Even from the distance between them they recognized the dark fabrics with gold trim beneath the gleaming armor that signified the military of Erette.

Neral could not hide her smile. Kress had found a way through. She found a way through and had made their way to rejoin them. She held out so much hope that it would happen and the Goddess provided for once, though she could not help but notice two missing officers even though she couldn't quite tell who they were yet. "Good to see you, Major. She said it twice before she was heard over the waves.

"Good to be seen General," Kress said with good cheer. "It was a night out of the depths, but we found a gully that cut through the worst of the woods and we were able to follow it out, so we decided to swing by and pick you up."

"That was most thoughtful of you, Major."

There was a smile in her voice. "Yes, sir."

Neral waited, watching them approach as she now did a head count. "Pel and Hennis?"

"I'm sorry, sir, they just didn't make it out."

Something sat at the pit of Neral's stomach at the words. It was the nonchalance of it. It had all the gravity of a pout over a cloudy day when one expected sunshine. It wasn't the response of someone who lost the lives of two people they were responsible for. The Kress she knew would have been solemn and somber. It would have weighed on Kress the same way that riding on as they drove into the woods weighed on her.

While Anna and Kestral called out to exchange pleasantries with Misha and Zynn Neral stiffened as the distance slowly closed. It was more than just that now. There was a swagger in the way she rode. Her body swayed in an almost carefree manner. It was simply, on so many levels, wrong. Daring to glance away she saw that Bryana and Deres were mirroring her concern, though she wasn't certain if it was because they felt something, sensed something amiss when compared to the few times they met her, or they just sensed her feelings. Maylin was on guard because they were.

"Something is very wrong," Neral said to Dion, barely moving her lips.

Those close-set brown eyes narrowed slightly. "Glad that's not just me, too."

Again barely moving her lips. "Weapons close."

Anna went silent as if a switch had been thrown, hands slipping to her daggers, feeling the cold metal at her hands. Elan drew her bow, an arrow and put them in front of her knowing she could draw and kill in a matter of heartbeats. Abren drew her sword, spinning it in her hand once in a display of skill as Delles subtly moved her horse closer to her commanders to take a blow for them if need be. Dalen kept her eyes above, looking for signs of man or beast but the angle of the rock face and the height of the grass made spotting difficult.

Neral barked, "Hold your position, Major."

The group kept coming as Kress responded,"Is there a problem, sir?"

***

Hennis moved slowly through the tall grass, moving each limb slowly and smoothly so as not to rustle the grass overmuch as she crept to the precipice, her armor shed down to her linen and it as well as every bit of exposed flesh caked in mud so that she did not throw sound or give those below anything to see. She would move, then pause, waiting for a hint of detection. When enough time passed, she moved again, slowly forward until she could see the groups approaching one another. She was more focused on her task than she had ever been on any in her life. She must be a machine. She must be blank. If not, the mages might sense her and her intent. The level of focus was peaceful in a way and a gift from Her. She knew her purpose now as all with her did. They writhed until near dawn with the creatures and one another until her muscles ached and her tongue was numb.

Once they were given new purpose however, the fatigue vanished as though it had never been. The hardest part was peeling herself from them all, even if it was so she could obey. Even the word was delicious. The service had trained her in only its barest meaning, but Pel had shown her the path. Pel had given them to Her and Hennis was grateful to have been remade whatever happened next.

After moving back slightly, she rose slowly to her knees to give her bow arm full range of motion. Withdrawing an arrow from her quiver soundlessly, she mounted it and leveled the stave, using the white noise of the surf and the sound of the carrion birds to further blank her mind and slowly added tension to the bow string, using the line of the arrow to aim even as she judged the wind and the rest of her environment.

Then Hennis waited.

***

"I think we both know the answer to that, Major. Stop your advance immediately, that's an order."

She raised her hand as she came to a stop and those with her did the same. "What's the matter, sir?"

"I could ask you the same."

"What do you mean?"

"You know full well. The Devine Kress I knew would not just shrug off the deaths of two of her officers."

"Did you think this was just an exercise, Neral? Did you think no one would see their end in this? Death comes for soldiers. It comes for all of us eventually, but there is joy to be had if you embrace it before the end. We found something more. That some resisted that is a damn shame, but it's not for everyone."

She looked at Kress questioningly with a tilt of her head and a twitch of her brow. "What is it that you think you've found?"

"Slavery is freedom," she answered with a coy smile. "All I have to do is obey Her and

all

other possibilities are open to me. I don't have to hide anymore. For instance, do you have any idea how long I've wanted to fuck you?"

Kress eyes expressed her enjoyment at seeing Neral Jaye even slightly flustered. And her other soldiers equally shocked. "From almost the first moment I met you; tall and proud...naive and beautiful. I wanted to pull you from your bunk, pull you into mine, pin you to it, and make you forget men."

She seemed almost sad in a way. "So many missed opportunities. So many beautiful women. So many women that I could have led to my bed with an order alone. They would have been too intimidated to resist me." The ideas playing in her head teased her and she caressed each lasciviously. "Some would have obeyed with shame, knowing they wouldn't have been believed had they told. Some would have obeyed."

"And some," she began with a sultry purr that sounded like she was already in the middle of sex, "would have obeyed with shame, but

loving

that shame...dreading and craving the order to report to me; wanting to flee, but their cunts so wet at knowing the order would come." The women behind her obviously relished it, too.

"That would have been me," Makleen said from her right, choosing that moment to brush Kress' hand. "I would have bitten the pillow rubbing myself in my bunk...the self-loathing making me cum so hard at the thought of what we had done...what you made me do, and how you would use me next."

She looked as though it was she who was ashamed of the old her. "But you were out of the question for me, General. All of it was out of the question for me because of my stupid sense of independence, duty, and the misguided sense of honor that went with it. Then I see in your eyes that you might have opened your eyes to the joys of women," she pushed her jaw in the direction of Bryana who was staring daggers into her, "but she claimed you."

Dion looked at Neral and her eyes were wide, failing to comprehend their insanity. Neral kept her tone measured and her words firm. "Whatever the witch has done, you can fight this, Devine. You are stronger than this. Please." Neral fought the despair in her heart at remembering Maylin's words: they were dead already.

"I don't

want

to fight this, Neral. I have fought it all of my life and I am sick of it, aren't you? Duty and honor and giving of yourself to a people who do not

begin

to understand your sacrifice? Are you not sick of giving yourself in service to a Court that spits on what you do the moment you leave the room? Service is for our families and the dregs, not for them and theirs."

"Part of you must

yearn

to be free, Neral." She met the eyes of each of them. "All of you must yearn to be free. She can give you that. The only thing that will concern you is obedience to Her. Beyond that, you will be free to be who you are without shame."

"Come with me, Neral. Come to the woods and I will show you the path to Her, and then we will all writhe together as we were meant to, in Her service."

Neral didn't have to consider it. "If there is still any of Devine Kress that is uncorrupted by that thing in the mountains, you must know what my answer to you is."

She sighed. "Of course I do. I thought I owed you the chance given all we have endured together, though, in truth, I absolutely knew you would refuse me, so this has all really just been a distraction for you anyway." She deliberately lowered her head in a bow.

Neral's eyes displayed their shock for an instant and in that instant she realized herself a fool. She should have seen and known, but had allowed Kress to cloud her judgment.

She began to reach for her sword when the wind whistled, letting her hear the arrow shot less than a second before she felt the pinch of steel as it pressed through the skin of her neck on the right side and again as it passed through her left. It was a curious sensation to feel the warmth of the blood as it rushed forth, not entirely unpleasant in the face of the damp air on her skin a moment before. She struggled to bring in air, but the mere attempt made her cough blood out in a fine spray as her vision began to falter, grabbing at her throat.

Fall away from them,

she thought, believing that, if someone tried to catch her they might leave themselves open.

Using me as a shield works, too.

She pushed herself backwards and rolled off of Stenna, where she waited and expected to die even as she gasped and struggled for breath.

Deres howled in rage as she fell. "Neral!" The blinding heat of that rage fed his power as he pulled the energy around him through his body, twisting it to his will as he scanned for the source of the shot. Spotting the barest hint of movement, his mind and will sent a wall of force to it, lifting Hennis a dozen feet into the air. Pulling his arm back, she arched forward with a scream that ended abruptly when her body struck the rocks.

Once she was silent he jumped from his horse to reach Neral, heedless of the clashing of swords that erupted around him. Zynn tried to swing right and move to flank but Abren leaped from her horse with a scream, sending both of them into the sand. Bryana dismounted smoothly, her face a mask of anger. She wanted Kress and nothing else was acceptable. She felt that wild rush of power and she reminded herself of how small her enemies were. In a way she felt not all that different than before she was remade, but this time there was something more to fight for than gold or avenge other than a bruised ego.

"Move to your left, Bryana," Elan said in a tone louder than they had ever heard from her. Without responding, she took half a step to the left. A second later an arrow whizzed by as Delles attempted to strike Makleen, who deflected it with her shield, having heard the warning, but her shift left her left side open with a widened gap between arm and shoulder where Elan's arrow struck, sending her reeling.

Dion was hunched over Neral, trying to render what aid she could as Deres approached and Kestral stood to defend them as Kress brought her sword down upon them. The two blades touched before Bryana's magic threw Kress from her horse and to the ground with a gasp and a thud. Kress rolled up quickly to face her, sword at the ready, the same look of wild devotion in her eyes that Bryana had seen before.

Bryana met it with her own rage before orange fire erupted from her fingers and weaved unevenly through the air to strike Kress in the center of the chest and engulfing her so quickly that there was scarcely time for her to scream before the roar of energy drowned her voice out. Maylin's icy blue eyes held their own rage that burned as brightly as the heat that was immolating Kress at that very moment. She loosed her magic around Makleen, Zynn, and Misha in turn, rending them from the inside in a wave of healing magic turned inside out, leaving each where they crumpled.

It was all over in a matter of seconds.

Neral looked up to see Deres looking down at her. He couldn't hide his concern from her though he used humor to try. "You couldn't duck? Need another scar for me to kiss so badly, do you?"

She ached to speak. She ached for a single minute to speak even as her vision began to narrow at the edges and the cold gripped her.

Is everyone else all right? Did they pay for my foolishness? I'm so sorry, Husband. I'm so sorry, Bryana. I love you so much. I have been so happy with you in my life. It has filled emptiness in me that I didn't know existed until we had come together.

It gave her peace that, if her life were to end on this beach, that her two would have one another.

Maylin was on her other side, looking at it intently, her hand before her, fingers moving. Neral could feel the telltale tingle of it at work. "How do you want to do this?"

She watched how he changed from the charmer to the serious healer." You hold things together while I tend to the arrow, then we weave together."

Maylin nodded before giving her a warm smile. "Do not worry, Daughter. You will still have to carry me on that ridiculous beast of yours."

It was then that Brynn's face appeared over hers, Brynn's hands on either side of her cheeks caressing softly. "Hello, my love." Neral could see the worry in her eyes and she placed her hand over Bryana's, which got her an admonishing glance. "There you go again with trying to be noble and comfort me while you're a mess." The put-upon tone melted to make way for a loving one as her fingertips began to mark patterns on Neral's cheeks and temples. "We are here and you will be fine. I would never lie to you about that, but this will take time. You have to sleep now, General."

She looked to Deres who gave her the same look of reassurance and she managed a small nod.

Bryana drew her patterns. "Deep...dreamless...restful...sleep."

Neral slept.

***

After Dion was certain that the general was out of danger she began to make plans. Practicality demanded that she not linger, but her obligation to her fallen comrades demanded that she perform her last duty to them. She had never before had to raise her sword to one of her own and she begged the Goddess that she never had to do so again. It had taken a toll on all her fellows leaving them bitter and some even unwilling to look at the broken bodies strewn along the beach.

She looked at Maylin as Deres and Bryana hovered over the general. "Can you wake her if you have to?"

Maylin glanced over. "If need be. But the longer she stays in the sleep, the better for her. Her body is doing nothing at the moment but making her heart beat and healing her body. I would be hesitant to do it before several hours have passed Maylin felt better letting the wind caress her face. She took no joy in killing as she had, but there was no shame either. It had to be done.

"So lashing her to her mount or another so that we can move will not harm her?"

Maylin shook her head.

She forced herself to look at the casualties before her. It was cold comfort to be able to say that no more of their own had died. To her, they were all still hers even though this place and the witch who controlled them ruined them. The only real comfort to her was the fact that she knew them well enough to know that the people that they were would have preferred their end as it came.

When she met Maylin's eyes again the question came, "I assume you have something in your mage book that will let you move earth? I will not leave them here like this and to have you...assist that way means we can make camp before nightfall on safer ground."

Space was limited in Adar so the custom was for bodies to be turned to ash. That would have been quicker still, but she nodded. "As you wish. I...regret what was necessary here, Captain."