Subtlest Game: Book One - March of the Pawns

Chapter two

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The Shattered Blade islands

Arabella stared into the purple flames.

'There have always been three realms. The Nether, the wasteland of fire and death. The End, the plain of icy oblivion. And in between, the Overworld, the sun struck paradise.'
Ceris, Gwendolyn and a vampire named Isaac watched her across the fire. They had been taken here, to a temporary camp set up by the group Gwendolyn simply referred to as 'The Resistance'.
The Orchid fleet floated overhead. The air was thick and muted. No laughter, only muttered chat and the groans of the wounded over at the infirmary.

'Each realm developed its own life. And eventually, there came forth races who looked at their realm and made it into something more. In the Nether, it was the Demons, in the time when their race spanned the entire Nether, and the undead were shunned.'
She took a stick, and drew a flame out of three curving lines on the floor.
'In the Overworld, it was the humans.'
She drew a heart above and to the left of the flame.
'And in the End, it was the Enderkin.'
She drew an eye to the left of the flame.

Gwendolyn stared at the symbols.
'So what does this have to do with Sirens?'
Isaac shifted. Arabella didn't doubt that he knew the story. All vampires did, little though most payed it heed.
She continued, her voice growing low.
'These species spread to the very edges of their realms. Hundreds of them on every spare bit of land. Such a concentration of beings...like cattle fencing themselves into their pens.'
She ran her tongue over her lips.
'And as per the natural order...others learned to prey on what was readily abundant.'
'In each realm, a second species evolved. Beings that fed on the intelligent species of that realm, learning to keep them alive, to drain them to weakness then let them grow strong again.'
'From the Nether, came the Succubus.'
Arabella drew a pair of curling ram's horns around the flame.
'From the Overworld, the Dreamwalkers.'
She drew a five petaled flower round the heart.
'And from the End, the Sirens.'
She drew a pair of feathered wings around the eye.

'For a long time, these races lived in the shadow of their prey, hunting in the dark, taking only the meanest of prey in silence and secrecy.'
Ceris leaned forwards.
'So in other words...parasites.'
Arabella's eyes narrowed.
'I suppose that's one way to put it.'
Arabella continued.
'But eventually...it became clear that they had nothing to fear from their prey. Their prey was brutish, savage and weak. Their only strength was the shear numbers that they had spawned to infest each of their realms.'
Arabella snapped the twig in her hand.
'And each of the races learned to create new, lesser beings from their own power.
The Succubi birthed the Empousa. The Dreamwalkers birthed the Naga. And the Sirens birthed the Skinwalkers.'

'How did they create new beings purely out of their own power?' asked Gwendolyn.
'That shouldn't be possible. All life needs some sort of host or container for it to develop, even if it's magically created.'
Arabella very carefully ignored her.
'With their armies, the three realms were easily forced under their yoke. They took over the great towns and cities. Their respective prey races were rounded up, farmed like cattle.'

Ceris's face was unreadable, even to Arabella, who spent much of her time studying it.
'So what happened? What went wrong?'
Arabella looked down at the three symbols.
'None of the three were large in numbers. And eventually, their power began to dwindle. Who knows what went wrong? Perhaps such beings just weren't meant to live with each other in such a manner, and turned on one another. But less and less children were born, and those that were born were weaker as their parents were forced to marry their own cousins to produce children at all. Eventually, their races weakened to the most pathetic remnants of their power. Netherkin, Dryads and Vampires.'
Arabella gently wiped away the three symbols.

There was silence for a moment, before Gwendolyn spoke again.
'So why is this relevant? We're fighting Demons.'
Arabella's lip curled.
'Of the three races, Demons were the only races to form an alliance with their predators. They offered the Succubi a deal. If the Succubi allied with them, the Demons would, once a year, give them full pick of prey from their population.'
'That's barbaric.' said Ceris.
Arabella nodded.
'Quite. But the point is, the Succubi ended up being key to the Demons' political system. It was almost always a Succubus in charge of their armies, for instance. So if the Demons are allied with Naeus, a Succubus almost certainly has something to do with it.'

Ceris stared at the blank spot where the three symbols had been.
'So what can a Succubus do?'
Arabella took a deep breath.
'Intelligent beings are made of three parts. Soul, mind and body. The parasitic species from each realm fed on one of these. Sirens feed on the body, blood to be specific. Succubi feed on the soul. Hence, they can use what they've consumed as soul fire in order to fight.
But, like Sirens, they prefer not to fight. Succubi have an aura that makes them seem irresistibly beautiful. Stray too close...and you're theirs.'

Gwendolyn blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face.
'Why is this important?'
'I became a Siren a week ago. I'm now strong enough to defeat Ceris in physical combat. Not to brag, but you know how powerful she is. Whatever Succubus is leading the Demons has to be extremely old to have gathered the remaining Demons into an army this size, a process which would have taken centuries, and would have to be extremely powerful to keep them under her command.'
Isaac leaned forwards.
'Stronger than Naeus?'
Arabella nodded.
'Much stronger.'

Gwendolyn stood.
'Great. An enemy stronger than Naeus. Just great.'

The Obsidian Talon, Central command base for the Nether Horde

Naeus walked along the corridors, his newly red robe flowing behind him like a river of blood. He rubbed his new netherite bones reflectively. Greater strength and resilience, but less speed. His new body felt like he was having to haul a sack of bricks along on his back.

He came to a set of Netherite doors. Soul fire torches blazed on either side, above a pair of enormous, fat blue demons, with heads like warthogs.
'She is ready?'
Asked Naeus.
The demon on the left – Oni, these ones were called – nodded.
The two demons each placed a stubby fingered hand on the metal.
Blue light fled from their hands, making an intricate pattern on the metal; a flame made of three curving lines, within a pair of ram's horns.

The doors opened, and Naeus walked inside. There, within a circle of blue flames, flanked by two Satan Demons, was a throne decorated with three circles: Red, blue and purple.
And in that throne, lounging like a cat watching a mouse skitter between its paws, was a woman with glowing blue eyes, bat wings and a pair of curling ram's horns on her black hair.
'Well, look at the little skeleton. Back for yet more power.'
She conjured a handful of soul fire.
'Shall we begin?'

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