A red moon rose over the crystal forest, the purple branches illuminated from below by the many campfires of Evalyn's occupying forces. The smoke from their fires rose into the night sky, creating a thin shroud of smog around the mountain. Fortifications were present around the base of the volcano, where army tents were most populous...and the crystal trees the most harvested. There were walls made from stone ripped from the guts of the mountain, and behind them were tunnels glowing with lamplight. Wheelbarrows of rubble emerged from the mines even at night, where slaves toiled ceaselessly under the harsh gaze of warriors tattooed with symbols of death.
Within the glowing cradle of the volcano, servants stood ready to attend their queen. A small castle stood over one half of the crater, a single conical tower buttressed at the edge to overlook her new domain. New arches continued to form, slowly, from tendrils of lava that snaked together up from the orange pool below, then froze instantly into obsidian when they could reach no further. The arches and towers bulged like strands of muscle. Older bundles were set with enchanted shards of the crystal trees. It resembled a black coral growth speckled with glittering amethyst.
"The remodel is coming along quite nicely, wouldn't you say, Labolas?" Evalyn chimed. She turned to where he stood in the courtyard within the crater, at the base of the castle. Lava churned and bubbled below the smooth obsidian ledge of the rock-grown plateau.
Labolas stood statuesque without answering. He was in the form of a great bronze-furred dog, standing seven cords tall, and with his mighty folded wings, his body had the bulk of a dire bear. His mercurial eyes stared at Evalyn, constantly assessing her.
Evalyn stood beside the altar of polished obsidian, which was fixed at the center of the courtyard. Her body was draped in a red dress that split up the sides to her hips, and from her collarbones to her navel. The fine, thin fabric also possessed a hole at the back to allow for her strong, snaking demonic tail to escape the confines of the garment. Her horns were adorned with strings of tiny violet crystals.
"No opinion?" She smiled at him. "You have little care for material aesthetics, I suppose." She shrugged.
"Oddnayioqa xaouqes," Labolas growled softly.
"Beauty, of course." She turned to gaze over the lava pool, and gestured to a servant, who presented her with a glass of wine. "What is beauty to a demon? It's all in the eye of the beholder, isn't that what they say? And yet the beauty I desire most is hidden from me....I have been unable to spy on our wayward igniad with my scrying spells. I had to learn of her child's birth the old-fashioned way, through my informants. Curious, that you could not tell me the moment it happened." She gave him a side-long glance.
"l'ta iz warda," he growled.
"Of course she's warded! The druids would be fools to not put such protections in place. I am just surprised that you cannot see through such magics, oh mighty Labolas."
"Ya zokiy aem ya laenhg-"
"The magic of the world?" She interrupted. "Magic is magic, it's all a question of power. You either have it, or you don't. But I needn't lecture you about the nature of magic. You possess the knowledge of the celestials. Do you still consider yourself one? Or did that change when they cast you out of their secret realm?"
Labolas growled, and throughout the crater a reverberating series of dog barks came from everywhere, compounding into a dense, fractal sound. His body contorted as muscles strained and stretched, his form morphing into one that was half canine, half man.
"You dare mock me, witch!?" Labolas snarled as he reared up on half-human legs, his wings stretching upward.
"I am only asking you a question, dear. But you need not answer, because truth be told it makes no difference to me. I admire you for what you are: a big, handsome, powerful, celestial rebel." She licked across her upper lip with a smile.
She finished her glass of wine as Labolas completed his transformation. His fur melted into smooth bronze skin, and he relaxed his wings, just as tall and imposing as they were in his other guise.
"Messenger," she turned to one of the servants, "send a bird to my spymaster. Tell him to capture the child, as planned."
The young man dipped a bow and ran to deliver the message.
"You place great confidence in your infiltrators," Labolas commented darkly.
"I will make it easy for them. I'll cast a distraction. I have just the spell! I will stoke our enemy's carnal desires so hot, that their entire army will fuck all night. Some will no doubt help themselves to other men's wives, sowing chaos. Then, we will crush their doomed coalition! The rebel tribes will scatter like roaches."
"Such a spell requires much energy."
"Obviously. I will harness the power I need."
"I must do as you command," Labolas admitted tonelessly.
"I don't need your usual service tonight, Lord Labolas," she grinned wickedly, "and don't pretend like you don't enjoy it. No, for this we need something else." She turned to one of her attendants and motioned for him. "Suvak?"
"Yes, sovereign?" The bald man with the purple tattoos answered.
"Did you find a suitable virgin?"
"I believe I have, your majesty."
"Show me."
Suvak snapped his fingers at the attendant behind him, who scurried into the castle. Evalyn summoned her male acolytes to assist with preparations for a ritual, arranging the symbolic items and drawing the necessary sigils around the altar with fresh blood from bowls. Evalyn chanted incantations as two scantily-clad servant girls, specially selected from breeding stock for their beauty and youth, anointed her with scented oils.
After a few minutes, the attendant returned, and behind him, two black-robed women with painted faces tugged along a third figure hidden beneath a blue cloak and veil. The women brought their charge before Evalyn and bowed. The veiled figure tried to look around but couldn't see through the thick blue fabric. Suvak approached and pulled the veil off.
