The Ashes of Time

Chapter 1

The ash falls as raindrops glittering in the night, twinkling down from the piles of corpses burning in the streets. The air is musky, and there is almost too much smoke to breathe, but still the guards must light the bodies to limit the undead outbreak. This northern realm of Raylinette has descended from a peaceful realm of prosperity to a war-torn, poverty-stricken desolation.

The government has called upon its ally to the south, Starlington, for aid, but assistance has not yet come, and the people are growing more desperate, ransacking stores and rioting outside community centres. Crime has risen to the highest in history, and damage exceeds the millions. Despite the health warning, people are all over the streets, for the shelters and hotels do not have enough room for all the survivors of the bombed districts, districts in which the radiation in the air is so high people suffocate in only a few minutes, but it was not only bombs that the drones carried. Other drones carried viruses, and just like the bomb drones, they perched on the trees disguised as birds, ready to spread their havoc. Soon, the plague had spread and taken more victims. 

In terror, the government had barricaded itself in the dark stone palace but not before the prime minister had died of the plague, leaving Princess Qélla Darkstar and her ladies, Monnette Jason and Daffodil Kelvex, in charge. However, the drones were only a warning, as the armies of Harlesen march on, prepared to finish Raylinette with the fires of their vengeance.

In the palace, the Princess Qélla Darkstar looks on the turmoil with mild horror, not that she is truly concerned for the people or even that she is upset with them for their violence, but because unlike the others in the realm, she knows why Harlesen attacked them. Their vengeance stemmed from a deal she had made with their former Chancellor, economic assistance in exchange for their diseased princess's soul. At that time, Harlesen had been in the midst of a great recession after an insect infestation destroyed their crops, and to stop the riots in their own country, they had thought themselves forced to accept and had soon recovered.

With the recovery of the economy, Harlesen's princess healed as well, but she was angry about the deal, since only her former Chancellor and Qélla had been involved. She declared it a dishonourable deal, but Qélla assured her the conditions were solid, and when the princess continued to protest since it was her soul involved, Qélla sent a pestilence to reverse their economic success and remind them of the terms. It was this disease that was returned on the drones with the bombs. In Harlesen, it had merely defeated the Chancellor, but returned, it had killed thousands. With nothing left to bargain with, Qélla took the princess' soul, killing her. Another princess and chancellor took power, but the resentment remained, so the army was called to march on.

She had been infuriated by Harlesen's resistance to the deal, resistance that she had never encountered before, and that, in itself, made her uncomfortable. Qélla had used her own money for the deal, money she received exclusively for making deals as a demon, which is why she had kept the deal so private. She did not realize how quickly Harlesen could use the money to reverse its situation, though having spent it largely on the military she did not think their newfound power would last. Her realm is now thrust into a lesser position with their resources destroyed in the bombs, so Harlesen will only have to last long enough to destroy Raylinette.

I should have killed the princess when she was diseased, so that they could not dispute the contract, Qélla reflects, her anger turning momentarily against herself. She does not truly regret her decisions, but only her own insufficiency. She should have secured her power over Harlesen rather than trusting them to uphold the deal. She must make them respect her. They did not fear her enough. The problem is how to reassert her power.