Chapter 6: Blood Queen

The Blood Queen had been excited to see one of her enemies destroyed in this manner. When he had stopped and addressed her and her Master directly through the servant, one she had no previous knowledge of, she was shocked. The Star Walk had opened, he had said. It seemed it was one of her master’s kind that had opened the door from the other side. The Vampire on the other hand went berserk. It drove its senses as far south as it could. It did not feel anything, the gate, nor any sign of the Great One. If the boy, no it would have been the sword that sensed it, was correct, then it could be that his master had come searching for him. He was elated, then the realization sank in. ‘If this was my Master, and not another, he is going to be rather annoyed with me.’ He sank back and worried, ‘Well, he can be mad at me all he wants, I didn’t have a way out.’ He drifted back into his long sleep, waiting for the diggers to arrive and free him.

Brena and Andrew

Brena looked at Andrew standing on the stage, her mouth now frozen open in mid-sentence.

“Your late,” Andrew said with a touch of glee. With Bloodrend, they had managed to save themselves.

Brena walked to the left side of the stage and stomped up the stairs. A body was in the way, one of the aids belonging to the general. The General was sitting on the floor, slack-jawed, his eyes blank and staring off into nothingness. That was one of the nasty effects of removing the shard while the person still lived. Their brain tended to freeze up and they never spoke or acted on their own again. Brena stepped over the body and the zombie and approached the man she had come to rescue. He held up a hand, “Hold on for a few minutes Brena. We have at least sixteen more to collect before we go.” The instructors were dragged in, trussed up like cattle on the way to the slaughter. A total of ten men and six women had been brought in. Each had the glow behind the right ear. Andrew held the box open while the Headsman cut each shard out. When they finished, none of the victims responded to anybody around them ever again.

The Headsman spoke now, “These will be dealt with. So far as it has been observed, once the gem is removed, they are dead. The body will go on for a time, but the mind, the soul is gone.”

Brena studied the big man, looking for something. She spotted the small tattoo under his right arm as he turned away. He was a member of the Brotherhood. Brena approached the man and spoke with him in whispers. Once she finished talking, he nodded and called his small staff together. Brena left them and grabbed Andrew by the arm and dragged him off the execution stage.

When she had him outside, she tore into him, “You idiot, you nearly got yourself killed up there. What the hell were you thinking?” She raised a hand to prevent his answering that rhetorical question. “No, don’t answer that, you weren’t thinking. I am going to totally make your life a living hell until I think...”

She was silenced when he reached down, grabbed her by the shoulders, picked her up and pulled her face to his, and locked his lips to hers, shutting her up, at least for the moment. When she stopped struggling and relaxed, sinking into him a bit, he let the kiss break. Once he released her lips, she remained silent. “Good, I can finally explain what has been going on since before we arrived in the Cove. I need a shower and a hot soak. Then a good meal and a full night’s sleep, but not alone I think.” Brena just nodded. Now maybe she would be able to get answers to some of her questions as well. Her assistants stepped out of the old court and mounted their horses. “Will you need us for anything else Mistress Brena?” one asked.

“No, I am safe enough now. Be careful of the second bridge, it won’t hold up much longer.” They nodded and rode away, leaving Brena with Andrew.

Andrew mounted the horse Brena used, then got off. He adjusted the stirrups, then remounted, nodding in satisfaction. “Better, now up you come.” He reached down and pulled Brena up behind him. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on so she wouldn’t slip off the back. Andrew began to explain what had happened that had led up to today.

“We had just come down the Rampart and dealt with the idiots that wanted to rob us. It would seem that Gareth already knew about us and was ready. Several of his men met with me when I rode ahead one time, passing me news on what was happening here. Brena, Gareth has an intel net that rivals the king, and the Brotherhood.” He felt her stiffen, “That isn’t a bad thing Brena, who watches the watchers. He needed us to arrive as close to mid-winter as was possible. That is the reason we were delayed so many times. He could have had the route completely cleared for us to have arrived two weeks earlier than we did. I am just sorry Aston lost two of his horses in that one ambush. They informed me that the Knights and several other services had been suborned by the Blood Queen. If you have been on top of things, the Brotherhood and Thieves should be cleared by now. Aco will handle her school, and Robin hers. The Kingdom is a mess, Brena. I just cleared one group that was doing horrific damage from within. If you have been doing yours, you should be good as well. How many shards have you claimed so far?”

Brena remained silent, then answered quietly, “Seven so far.” She felt him stiffen, “I haven’t seen anybody else that has them implanted.”

“Brena, they tend to be behind the right ear, or in the temple. Others are in the palm of the right hand. Always on the right side. When we get back to the center city, you need to get busy and finish cleaning house, or all the work the rest of us have been doing will be wasted.” They rode on in silence, Brena shivering at the thought of her failure to do what she had been expected to do without being ordered to do it.

Aco

Aco looked at the lead glass box and cursed silently at the sight. The flood and repair work had allowed her to uncover the agents. Fifteen members, all Black belts. Once she had these collected, the agents had fallen into a coma and died a few hours later. She was still healing from the fights that had taken place for her to take them down. She had two broken ribs and a slight fracture in her left arm when she had hurried a block and wasn’t set correctly. She knew she would heal, but it was aggravating that she had allowed the one to get the jump on her like that. The woman had proven to be a touch faster and stronger than her, and she had paid for her inattention. The problem now was the receding waters. The storm and melt had done massive damage to all three sections of the Cove. The loss of life was still unknown, and they may never know how many were washed away in the flood. Rebuilding structures was the easy part. Restoring the trust in the house would take months, maybe years. She sat and sipped her tea, reading the daily scroll that brought news and updates she needed to keep things stable.

Aco could stand, but it was painful and slow. Breeze and Master Poe had helped her with binding her injuries, but they had not been able to help her in destroying the agents. She went to the mirror and looked at her face. The bruising was healing, and she was reasonably certain her nose wouldn’t be too bent out of shape. Only time would tell. She was worried about Robin. She had not heard from her in over a month now. She just hoped her lover was doing alright and making progress in her collection.

Robin and Ledger

Robin looked over Ledger and could tell he was doing better today. He was dreaming, his eyes were moving. She had just put Cinda to bed with her brother, so she was ready to give Ledger his nightly stimulation treatment. ‘Face it, girl, you aren’t doing this for him anymore, you just enjoy the free ride every night.’ With the lights low, she stripped herself and pulled the blanket off his form. She knew every inch of him now from her daily explorations of his body. She stroked and touched, whispered, and kissed him, hoping for more of a reaction each time. Some nights he responded better than others. Tonight, though proved it was going to be different right from the start. As soon as her mouth closed on his flaccid member, he began to shiver, and for the first time, bucked a little. He rose to the occasion and began humping his hips at her. Then the unexpected happened, his hands came down and held her head in place, his motions pushing deeper into her mouth, then her throat with each stroke.

As he pushed the last bit in, he came and this time there was a moaning sound coming from him. When he finished pulsing down her throat, he released her and relaxed. Robin pulled up and spun to face him. His eyes were open, blank but open. She brought up the lights and he seemed to squint a little for a minute. His breathing was ragged and fast like he was trying to run that last little bit to win the race. She noticed he had not gone down much and swung her body around and mounted him. She pushed down, taking his entire length in one swift motion. She let out a slight grunt as he pressed into the back of her tunnel, stretching her insides a little further than they could normally go. She watched his open eyes, hoping to see some sign of life and recognition in them.

Ledger could see Robin through a fog that clouded his vision. He could see her going down on him this time as well as feel it. When she finished, she saw his eyes were open now. He tried to make himself show some sign of life. No matter how he tried, his body refused to act as he wanted. He watched as she mounted him and drove herself down hard. The sensation was enough that his body acted on its own for a few seconds. His hips lifted to meet her downward thrust, she felt that and stared into his eyes, calling to him. He knew she was talking, calling, but he could not hear her clearly, only as a faint, muffled, whisper. She began riding up and down, each thrust causing her to grunt as he slammed into the end of her vagina, banging her ovaries with each impact. ‘That has got to be hurting her,’ he thought. He didn’t want Robin hurting herself like this, not even to help him.

Robin saw the light of alertness begin to form in Ledger’s eyes as she drove herself down as hard as she could with each lunge. She was hurting herself and wanted to stop, but she was going to push as far as she could to bring the man she was in love with back to the world of the living. She leaned down and kissed him, pushing her tongue into his mouth. She expected he might bite her then, but he didn’t. His lips closed on her and began sucking and pulling on it.

This close, she was eye to eye with him. Now she could see a faint white glow deep inside of them. As she stared, a feeling of warmth washed over her. She kept her effort up, though her hips were tiring, and her insides had begun to complain painfully with each impact deep inside her body. She stared, then spoke, “Let him come back to me my Lady. He deserves a long, happy life for his effort to save our world,” Robin begged.

The Judge of Souls had been waiting for this moment for weeks. Now she could act, “Robin Songbird, your request is granted, and I grant you, your greatest wish as well.”

Robin heard the voice that blasted into her head, stunning her for a few seconds. Then she felt a fire race through her, to settle in her damaged uterus. She heard the words and understood what she had just been granted. Ledger’s eyes went wide as he suddenly found himself awake and in control of his body once more. He tried to grab Robin’s hips to hold her in place as he tried to thrust up to meet her plunge. He found he had no strength in his arms or legs.

Robin saw him awaken, and his hands try to hold her to him. She pulled up and off him just as his body let go and shot large wads of semen into the air. He came hard and long. Had she not pulled off in time, she could very well now be carrying his child.

“Ledger?” she whispered. Tears had begun to drip from her eyes.

“Yes Robin,” he rasped. His throat was dry and felt like sandpaper. “Water please?” he asked, sounding like a tired frog.

Robin picked up the mug she had been using and held it to his lips. It was water with a sweet wine added to it. He sipped it and tried to speak again. “Robin, my lovely angel, thank you for helping me find my way back.” He settled back into the mattress, “Now, I need sleep, I have been trapped in limbo for so long...” His eye lids closed, and he began to snore quietly. That was something he never did while he was lost.

Robin wanted to stay with him, but she had to report the change in Ledger’s condition. She knew Gareth had many questions for him, but they could wait until morning. Robin kissed him lightly and dressed to go down to the lobby. She would track him down from there. The lobby had more people than normal for the time of day when she exited the lift. She could tell most had been the undercity dwellers before everything was washed out in the floods. The water had receded after a few days, leaving many of the tunnels clogged with debris and mud at the harbor ends. The problem for them was that their homes were gone. The flood had washed the living tunnels clean, except the exits. The ports would be dealing with the debris from the sewers for a few more weeks. They were also finding bodies daily that washed ashore. According to Brena, the sewers were clear and working smoothly for the first time in a century. It was what is called the underway’s that had suffered the most severe damage. Several of the main chambers and halls had collapsed. The only one noticed from above was the sinkhole in the main markets. That was being repaired but it would be months before the tunnels themselves would be safe again.

Robin found her quarry at the main counter after asking around. She made her way around the edge of the big room and slipped under the end of the counter. When she reached Gareth, she leaned up and whispered in his ear, “He woke up. Sleeping for real now.”

Gareth turned to Robin, “Good, you keep an eye on him. I have a few of my folks checking the Bards. They have brought in ten of the shards so far. That is ten more zombie men and women. At least they don’t last long once the shard is pulled.” He turned and handed out several rolls of cloth to a woman from the undercity, then turned back to Robin, “We will have that rat’s nest cleared out in a few more days. Aston has reported in about some slavers, and he says he hasn’t found a single member of the Rangers that has a shard so far.” He handed out several more packets.

“What is going on here Gareth,” Robin asked.

“This?” he gestured at the milling crowd, “The under ways are a total loss, so I am doing a little bit on helping these folks set up to live in the sunlight.” He lifted the box and pulled out a dozen cloth rolls and handed them out to those waiting. “The crown sent word that we are not to give excessive aid to these folks.” He frowned, “I had a rather rude response to the little peon he sent to deliver that message. He will have his hands in a cast for quite some time.”

Robin wasn’t surprised at this news. She had word from the bards that the same order had been given to them. They too had refused it, though the messenger was allowed to leave without any broken bones. “I am going back up to see to the care of my man Gareth.” She didn’t wait for a reply as he was busy handing out the kits.

The day of the Flash.

Aston had ridden as hard as he could, changing out mounts at each station. He had made it halfway back when the Flash hit. He fell off the horse, rolling and screaming, holding his head to keep it from flying off his shoulders. As the pain subsided, he heard voices all around him. He could hear animals and their simple ways of thinking. More now were the thoughts of everybody else. He was only a few miles away from the last stables and he could hear them working to calm the horses in the stables. Aston listened and then sent a calming thought to the panicked animals. They calmed immediately and the hands were able to take care of them.

Aston climbed back onto his horse that was nervously shuffling its hoofs in the snow. He continued toward the base he was assigned to. He reached out and was suddenly in contact with the troop leader.

‘Where are you, Aston?’ Harrison asked.

‘I’m still about a day out on horseback.’ Aston then asked, ‘I can hear you and you can hear me. That flash, you saw it, felt it?’

‘We still have several folks out cold from the shock. Whatever it was, it seems to have amplified our mind speak abilities.’ Harrison paused, ‘I can hear you better than ever before Aston, come in as fast as you can, just be careful.’

‘I will.’ He closed the thought down, then decided to check on several others. First, he reached out to the girl, Weena. ‘Weena, can you hear me?’ He didn’t get a thought back, more of a feeling. He closed the connection when he realized what it was. She was in bed sleeping.

‘I guess she decided to give in and stay there for a while,’ he thought sadly. ‘A girl, no more than thirteen or fourteen, giving herself over to that sort of occupation. I kill slavers for forcing them into that. She chose it, I could tell.’ He reached to another, Tara.

‘About time you decided to check in with me Aston Grey.’ She said clearly in his mind. ‘The Flash did a number on a bunch of us here. Mind-speak and dream-walking just took on new dimensions. I also have one that can do what the enchanter boy does, not as good mind you, but once we manage to... ‘ Her thought cut off abruptly.

‘Tara? Can you hear me?’ He called out to her.

‘Aston, a storm, a massive storm is coming in off the ocean! I need to get busy and prepare for the flooding that is coming, you had better get ready too. The Thaw is about to hit with a vengeance.’ She cut him off.

Aston reached out to Harrison again, ‘Boss, get everybody up and be ready to move. Storms are coming in fast, and the Thaw is going to be massive!’

‘We see it, the temperature has jumped to well over freezing and the melt has begun.’ There was a pause, ‘By the mother, get out here as fast as you can, you have three rivers to cross. Send out a warning thought to the stable you just left, warn them of the coming floods.’ The thought ended.

Aston wasn’t sure what to do other than pushing this animal as hard as it could take. He also sent a thought back to the stable master and gave the man the feeling a flood was coming. They would get clear of the river as fast as they could move the beasts. He rode on, hoping to make it to the crossing before the bridges and roads washed away.

Andrew and Brena

As Andrew and Brena returned to the main city with the cargo of shards, Andrew was dismayed at the level of destruction to the city. “If you think it is bad up here, you should see below in the Under Ways. The sewers are washed out, but the undercity was destroyed by the floodwaters.”

Andrew rode in silence for a while, then spoke as they approached The Monks temple. “Do you think Aco is alright?”

“I don’t see why not. It seems we all had the same orders, find the agents and collect the shards.” Brena gave Andrew a squeeze and laid her head against his back as they rode on.

Andrew looked around and saw someone running towards them from the Monks temple main gate, showing a noticeable limp. Andrew reined in and waited to see who it was that wanted to see them so badly. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with another battle. When the person was close enough, he saw it was Aco. He could see she was in great difficulty. Her left arm was in a sling, and he could see she was in pain.

“I am happy I saw you,” Aco said, holding up a small metal box. “Shards, lots of shards. I have had the battle of my life to collect them. Take them please.” She held up the box to Brena who accepted it. “Now, I need to rest, these busted ribs are killing me with pain.” She turned and limped away slowly before they could get a word in edgewise.

Andrew got the horse moving, “Well, I guess she had that under control.”

“I would agree, but she needs a healer and soon from the looks of it. Busted ribs are not to be taken lightly,” said Brena. “I hope she didn’t puncture a lung by running after us like that.”

“Are any healing artifacts still working? If so, I can bring one up here and work her over,” said Andrew.

“Working? Andy, that Flash was Ledger destroying the things that ruined our world in the first place. Anything he created is still working fine. All the oldest stuff turned on rather violently down in the castle archives.” She chuckled at the thought. “All those researchers suddenly finding items that have been inactive for centuries suddenly turning on. Several turned out to be healers. I will see about getting one of the healers up here with the device.”

They rode on in silence.

Ledger sleeping

Ledger knew he was asleep, he also knew he was dreaming. The Judge of Souls looked down at him. She just watched as he seemed to be lost. When he turned and looked up at her, he smiled, “Somehow I knew it was you looking at me. What is it now?”

“Nothing at all now that you are awake in the world once more.”

“I want to know why you kept me trapped in limbo like that for so long. I could have been a major help during the flooding.”

“The people of Gardallen needed to take care of themselves without the power doing it all for them. That is why I kept you asleep for the worst of it.” She pulled out a scroll, unrolled it, and read it to him. The power will be of little use soon. Home Star, as you know is dying. I originally thought we had a few million years left. Now, according to the results from the observatory you reactivated, we have less than five thousand before the star flares and burns the surface to cinders.”

Ledger pondered this, “I guess that explains why the Blood Queens Vampire Master is in such a big hurry to find this Star Walk.”

“The walk is one of several ways to escape Ledger. You have the power to do things that will put the ancients to shame. The Star Walk would not be a fast enough way to move everybody to a new world with a young star.” She gestured and she vanished before he could question her further. ‘He still recalls some of what happened before. I guess some things just never go as planned.’ She vanished back to her realm inside the world. Just as she left, she did another wipe of the memories of the event from when he started the search for the source of the old artifacts. He would be confused, but it would be better he did not recall what he had done directly.

Tara, after the flooding had receded.

Tara looked at the stone foundations where a heavy stone bridge used to stand. The flood had destroyed the structure when several large trees had slammed into it, ripping the center from its foundation. The rest quickly followed with the center support gone. The local villages all up and down the coast had the same problem at every river crossing. The roads and crossings had been washed away by the rapid thaw and storms.

Tara was alone, under a tree resting. Ever since the Flash, she had been having headaches that would last for hours. The medic had given her an herb that would ease the pain, but it wouldn’t stop entirely. She kept seeing a green and red figure of fire. It kept screaming at her to release it from its prison. She knew what she was seeing. When she asked what it wanted of her, it froze and went silent.

“Have you no collective memory of your ancestors Elvin?” It seemed shocked. “You are descended from those I once was part of.”

“I have no knowledge of the family that goes that far back in time,” replied Tara, lying through her teeth to the creature. “I only have a few records of those that arrived on Gardallen during the chase to stop the Vampire. Beyond that, nothing survived.”

“I will have to give you an education of your family line then, and the history you are part of,” said the being of energy.

“No,” Tara said. “You are imprisoned for a reason, and I do not intend to free you, so I don’t want your personal history.”

“You don’t have a choice Elven kind. I am bound to your family, and I will once more be able to do as I was created for. To ensure you and your line continue as leaders and warriors that will keep the gods from getting out of line.” Now it sounded angry. “The so-called goddess of death, the Judge of Souls isn’t even a god by any standard. No, Tara, I will be free, and I will merge with you, and you will be able to rule over those that live on this world.”

“Creature, you are a fool. This world is doomed to die soon, along with everybody on it unless action can be taken to save them. No, don’t trouble me, creature of chaos, you have nothing I want.” Tara slammed the thought down hard and the energy creature was locked out of her mind. She did know what it was. She did know her family history going back over half a dozen worlds. She saw the writings of the early Arrowmark Clan, the last of the family that it had used as a vessel. She would not let it loose again to cause terror and destruction.

Kaara

Kaara help haul wood and stone along with every able-bodied man, woman, and child. The clean-up after the flood had been hard enough. It was estimated that over two thousand people of Terin’s Crossing had been killed in the flood. The western third of the city was entirely gone, along with all the bridges and roads. The old city was a death trap now. Sinkholes had opened all over the place and the old Chapel could not be approached. The Brotherhood was trapped within and anybody that attempted to approach was frozen in time, like a fly in amber. Careful observation showed the globe surrounding the old structure was stable and not getting any bigger.

For now, Kaara and all the rest worked to restore the river crossings, while cutting in a newer and better road. She figured that her quest would be on hold for another year at least with the way things were for now.

Lann and Lorna

The rains had been hard. It worked out that all the work Andrew had done the year before saved them from total disaster. They had managed to save all the livestock and keep the fields from flooding out entirely. Baron and Minda had proved invaluable with their talents. All the sons and daughters had worked day and night, keeping the drainage open so the water wouldn’t pool up and wash out the fields.

Next door, they had not been as lucky. Without Kaara to help, they had lost two fields along with all their cattle. Lann did what he could to help, but the older couple decided to call it quits and loaded a cart when the roads had cleared. They rolled out without a word, heading south and east towards the desert coast. Lorna never heard from her friend again.

Aco

Aco had made sure nobody else had a shard, by the simple expedient of having every member brought before her to check over. It was with this method she had found the corrupted members and had the fight of her life. She defeated them, but the cost had been high. After the shards had been removed, all the agents fell into a coma and died within a day. Her ribs though would take months to heal at this rate. Catching up to Andrew as he and Brena rode by had about killed her with the pain. The shards were now away from the school and Master Poe was certain for the first time in years his staff was clean of outside influence.

Aco had not expected a messenger from the Brotherhood to show up and deliver a message. The man walked in wearing the black robe of his order, with a grey hooded cloak over his shoulders. Nobody got in his way, he just walked in, went straight to the room Aco was resting in and handed her a folder. He never said a word, he stood waiting for her to open it and read what had been sent.

‘Aco, you will have a visitor this night after you read this. The agent will use a newly activated healer on you to repair the ribs and internal damage you took. You will sleep through the process then sleep an additional full day to finish healing. Your Master has been informed and will escort our agent to you. Be at peace sister.’

Aco read the letter and closed the folder, handing it back to the delivery man. He gave her a nod and departed without a word. Aco was relaxed and drifting when Master Poe knocked and entered.

“I was given instructions for tonight. If this goes well, you will be healed once more,” he said.

“I know Master, but I am getting tired of having to be healed by outside forces all the time.” She settled back and winced as her ribs shifted a little. “One day nobody will be there to assist me after the battle, I will die from my injuries on that day.”

Master Poe smiled and patted her free hand. “That day has not yet come, so enjoy life while you can.” He paused, then asked, “Have you heard from the young man you are interested in?”

“The last word was he had been sent on patrol north of the city. Poachers had been raiding the Kings hunting grounds.” She sat in silence, hoping the Master would say something. When he didn’t, she had to ask about a topic that had been bothering her. “Master Poe, since the Flash, have you noticed anything odd about any of the students?”

Master Poe pondered the question a moment before answering, “I have noticed several students have developed greater speed and agility rather suddenly. In every case, they have managed to hurt themselves by jumping and smacking their heads on the cross beams. We are looking at a changing world Aco. I just hope it is for the better.” He sighed, “Only time will tell.” He left as Aco had fallen back to sleep while he spoke. He wasn’t upset with her. Most of the students would have died from the injuries she had sustained.