Six Rulers

4

Chapter 4

Aelyn

Hopefully, Olivin had gotten herself in her freaky little groove and was ready to dance. She was the hope of the Rythosic Army; she'd been barred from all future Allynnian Mock War festivals because of what happened in 2020. Olivin had a talent for warmaking, and in my opinion, it was going to waste with her on the throne. She was a born fighter and this was a chance for her to show the rest of the people what she was capable of.

I reached to my side and unsheathed my sword. (That was another thing I loved about Allynna-the more primitive weapons were used. The rulers had deemed that guns were the way of chaos, and that our nation would be exempt from that chaos. We had all the luxuries of modern society, but limited random violence. If only the mainlanders could realise this was the better way...)

I nodded to Roslin, who let loose an earthshaking roar, signalling to my troops to mobilise. We surged forward, a tide of sure-footed elves, humans, pegasi, wyvern, and one earth elemental dragon. (The shifter behind that one was a guy named David. You'd never expect a sweet guy like that to be able to stomp armies. He did roast a great marshmallow, though.)

The Jaars moved forward, slowly at first, then at a run. Their force didn't move as quickly as ours did – human speed was no match for an Elf.

The two sides clashed. There was only about 2000 people on the battlefield, but the noise hit my preternatural hearing like two cymbal trucks in a traffic accident. I jumped into the rhythm of the battle, hacking and chopping and whirling. Roslin roared again and chomped down on a Jaaric soldier. Her jaws clamped down with a sickening crunch.

Soldiers went down right and left; I zoned out. But a muffled BOOM shook me out of my reverie.

I looked up.

And there she was.

Dark red and black hair flying, silver sword gleaming, wings of purple wisps of power at her back, and a crown of violet fire wreathing her head.

She looked as if Death herself had come from her home under the crust of the earth and condemned all of these souls to the pain of the River of Fire.

I swear the breath left my lungs.

I thought she was Elowyn.

This incarnation of Death landed on the ground and incinerated three of the red-and-gold-wrought enemies. She sliced her way through the remaining soldiers to the Grand General standing in the middle of it.

The great General of Jaar, Rohr Raker himself, trembled as she approached him, swift as an arrow. She readied her sword to swing, but Rohr held up his hands to shield himself. She paused, her wings and crown flickering. After a moment, he slowly put his hands down and stood straighter.

The moment he straightened, that silver sword fell in a shining arc.

Her sword sliced Rohr's arm off in one clean cut. He fell to the ground, screaming. I watched as the terrifying incarnation of Death approached the arm, picked it up, and...

...used it to wave at me.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was the Queen of Rythos.

A teenager using a severed arm to wave at someone.