Alcingeria

Chapter Fifty Eight: The Queen's Orders

Chapter Fifty Eight The Queen's Orders:

Thursday July 8th 1690

Queen Yuka had gathered her engineers and her magic users in Research Facility A. Alice was there as well, overseeing the more magical side of things that were beyond the Queen's comprehension. The jewelry was on a large table that they were all gathered around, all the machine guns they had managed to produce thus far were nearby.

"You may proceed, Alice." Queen Yuka instructed. "Do only as I've instructed, nothing more."

Alice turned to the Queen and bowed.

"Yes, your majesty."

Alice closed her eyes to concentrate, everyone in the room was silent, the magic users were lending her their strength in an effort to stabilize things in the event the dark magic became more than she could control. Alice's features tensed and she sighed in frustration, brushing her dark orange hair back behind her neck.

"This is going to be hard," she frowned. "Dealing with so much pure dark magic, I mean. Whoever left it here knew what they were doing."

That of course posed the question Queen Yuka had asked herself. She wondered how and why the dark magic came into the jewelry, and who left it in the ruins and why. The key was found along an old trade route, so she wondered if there was some kind of connection between that route and the ruins. She made a note to look into it when she got time.

She turned her attention to Alice, who had extended a hand towards the jewelry.

"Siphon," she muttered.

She moved her hands upwards, her face straining with effort. She drew on the other witches for strength, and even they were feeling the pressure of the magic. Alice's stomach churned like a violent sea as she handled the invisible, amorphous mass. To the human onlookers, it looked like a lot of nonsense. However as the magic was siphoned out, the engineers and even the Queen herself began to feel sick and weakened. They were filled with a sense of despair and emptiness that seemed to leach the very life out of them.

"What is this power...?" She demanded, gritting her teeth and doubling over.

Alice didn't relent. She pushed through, moving the magic onto the machine guns. She became acutely aware of their structures right down to the smallest part, using this spatial awareness to infuse the weapons with the magic. She made sure it would only affect the bullets as they were discharged from the muzzle, so as to avoid killing the shooter.

When the process was finished, Alice and the other witches looked physically drained. Now that the magic was once again contained within an object, the aura of sickness and negativity passed and the humans began to stand back up.

"It's ready," Alice sighed, leaning against the wall for support. "The bullets fired from these guns will seal the fate of anyone hit by them. Not a single victim will survive. You have my word on that."

Queen Yuka walked over and inspected the weapons. She had no way of knowing what had been done, as she couldn't sense the magic. She had no doubt it had worked though, as the other witches reacted in unison with Alice. She grinned as she relished the brilliance of this new innovation.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to get my strength back up." Alice explained. "I assume I'm permitted in the city?"

"Of course, just make sure they're a commoner," the Queen wrinkled her nose, "hide the body, too. No sense in drawing attention to yourself."

"Of course, my Queen."

"You will be expected to do this again when we manufacture more guns," she reminded her. "So make sure you're ready."

She watched her leave the facility as she sent the other witches off to rest and eat. A tall, older man with blond hair and hard blue eyes entered the facility.

"I didn't miss the testing, did I?" He inquired.

"No, Jeffrey. In fact, you're just in time."

Queen Yuka had known Jeffrey Robinson for quite some time. He was older than she was, about sixty. He was an officer under her mother, Blaire Yuka, and was among the best. When her mother died, Queen Yuka assumed the throne and watched his progress in their numerous training drills. His knack for innovative tactics and adaptability earned him success after success until she eventually decided to make him the general when the one at the time had become too old to serve.

"You're making the right decision, your Majesty," he said with a nod. "This peace was designed to last forever. In acquiring this new technology, you've created a scenario completely unforeseeable at the time of the Relin Crusade. By striking swiftly as you are, you eliminate any chance for preparation or adaptation."

"Precisely. We need to act quickly, too. As soon as word gets out that this is possible, the fighting will get a lot bloodier, very quickly. The initial weeks will be crucial to toppling Delron. After that, the other provinces will fall to the power of Vulrock."

One of the human engineers grabbed a gun off the table and went into an adjoining room. The two followed him along with the others. The room was a long, narrow firing range that was lit well with torches. At the end was one of the vampire prisoners they had captured in the attack, and he was chained to a metal 'X' shaped structure in such a way that he was unable to move.

One of the engineers had suggested that they test the effectiveness of the new weapons on one of the many human criminals they had in custody, but the Queen decided against that. She thought it would be better to test them on a more durable target, and so the vampires they captured were denied any blood and were wounded enough so as not to pose a threat. The vampire was snarling, but it was obviously dazed and weak.

"Whenever you're ready," Queen Yuka told the shooter.

Taking a few seconds to line up the shot, the man held the trigger and the gun went off several times, but it was clear the vampire was dead after the first shot. He tried to free himself as the gun was leveled at him, but as soon as the first shot hit him, he stopped moving.

"We'll have the entire army outfitted with these weapons?" General Robinson asked.

"Not the entire army, but most of them. Enough to sustain ourselves against Delron, at least enough to gain us a fatal advantage. In the meantime, we'll keep manufacturing them here and we'll ship them to the front as needed."

"Excellent," he said crisply. "I must be getting back, but I am honored to have witnessed this testing. Thank you."

"In a hurry?"

"I'm afraid I'm still finalizing a few details before the attack," he explained. "Apologies, you Majesty, but I must be off."

She watched him go as well. As the engineers cleaned up the blood and the body of the vampire, she went back to her chambers to have tea.