Rise of the Blood Empress

Prologue

General Hido gazed across the vast wasteland, jaw set. After the mortal uprising, the world had been thrown into chaos, and Hido was called from retirement. He ran a hand over his face; he was getting too old to be cleaning up other people's messes.

"General," footsteps approached, crunching sand under heavy boots, "Sir, the scout has returned."

He turned to face the soldier; he was no more than a boy. "You sent him to the war tent?"

"Of course, sir."

"Very well," Hido walked stiffly, favoring his left leg, and waved for the young recruit to follow him. It would do him some good to see how things were run, first hand. The boy could follow orders, and to Hido, that showed great potential.

Hushed conversation taking place in the war tent was abruptly silenced by the general's arrival. His men stood alert, covering their hearts with closed fists as they bowed. They all stood in full uniform, some in full armor, with the only exception being the scout who was garbed in the traditional dress of the desert nomads.                

"What news have you brought?" the general took a seat at the round table opposite the tent flaps. He folded his large hands, regarding the scout expectantly.

The man seemed shaken, and fidgeted in his seat.  His eyes darted around wildly, focusing on the guards before returning to the general. "I saw their forces," he swallowed hard, "We are vastly outnumbered, and..."

"Go on."

"General I would prefer not to," he glanced around the tent again, "May we speak privately?"

Hido sighed, dismissing his men with a nod. The soldiers filtered out into the mid-morning sun to stand guard. The desert itself was nearly as formidable a foe as the immortal invaders; Hido had lost almost the same number of men to each.

"What did you see, Varesh?" General Hido lowered his voice, but was unable to alter its gruffness.

"A monster," the scout held his head in his hands, tugging on fistfuls of sandy, blond hair, "A weapon," Varesh shook his head hard, "I-I don't know."

A weapon.

Hido's jaw tightened. "What do you mean, 'a weapon'? What kind of weapon?" He pressed, leaning forward, his voice becoming even lower, more sinister. In order to have even a chance of defeating the immortal forces, he had to know what they were up against.

Varesh's mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of water, as he tried to form words.

"Speak, boy!"

The scout jumped, "Yes sir, but...General, sir, i-it was unlike anything I've ever seen. They destroyed a village..."

"Describe it, what did it look like?" Hido urged.

"The women, and the children..." Varesh's eyes glazed over, his focus far off as he relived the horror.

"Varesh?"

"I won't go like that," he spoke abruptly, and shot to his feet, knocking the chair to the ground behind him. His eyes were crazed, wide and roving.

Hido stood slowly, cautiously, "Easy friend, you're safe here, just try to calm-"

"Safe?" the scout began to laugh, and then it grew to a manic cackle, "Nowhere in the world is safe, now."

Before the general had time to react, Varesh spun around and scampered from the tent with near inhuman speed. Hido rushed after him, shading his eyes from the sun with his arm. Guards that had been posted on either side of the doorway were picking themselves up and shaking sand out of their helmets.

After searching the entire camp and coming up empty handed, General Hido sent a search party out to scour the area around the camp for any sign of Varesh. The sky darkened, and the sun and warmth was replaced by a sliver of moonlight and a breath stealing cold. The search party returned, frigid, exhausted, and empty handed.

The scout was never seen again.