Knights of Angril

Chapter 1

Quick author's note: This story is intended as the follow on from 'Ambassador of War', though it acts more like a prequel. It also begins the three-episode 'Angril Arc', which I am still working on part 2 of. Expect this to take a while, as I am honestly struggling with it. Also consider this story incomplete; whilst this is a full draft, it may be changed as time goes on, or be scrapped from the series altogether along with the rest of the Angril Arc, with their plot points integrated into later episodes. For now, I wanted to get it out there so if anyone wanted to read where this weird series is going, they can.

Also, as in the description: be warned that this story, and this arc, are a lot bloodier than AoW. It's not all a gore fest, but at the beginning there is some description of a battle aftermath, and the climax has some graphic scenes. The aliens introduced aren't the nice and fluffy type.

I hope you enjoy, and any feedback is more than welcome.

- David

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several months earlier – Angril

It had been a long day, not that it was new to her. Fighting had been intense, but they'd won, eventually. The dead were still being tallied. Given it only took a moon for a Taurin to grow from hatchling to adult, and the Queen was laying daily and had been for years, Grex wasn't too worried about her army being replenished. They'd have a hundred new soldiers by the end of the week.

They wouldn't replace the lost, they never could, but at least they'd fill the ranks. And a Taurin commander quickly learned how important that was.

She wandered through the gently winding corridors of Ata Colony, northmost hold for the Taurin species and her home since her birth a half year ago. Here near the surface, the bodies of her fallen sisters still lay slumped by the walls, alongside the corpses of their attackers. Crevice was becoming bold again; Grex knew that it would soon be her job to put them in their place, as it had been the job of her predecessor before their untimely demise, and the handing of the royal commander's armour to its current bearer. She'd expected a bit more time out of training as her squire, before donning the red and yellow herself, but things rarely went to plan when it came to war.

Greeting a pair of smaller workers, she quietly wished she was deeper in the nest, in one of the many resting chambers. Out here, she was likely to be approached by a chronicler looking to preserve her testimony of the day's events for future generations – a worthwhile duty, Grex admitted to herself begrudgingly. But when a Taurin entered a resting chamber, to accost them was considered disrespectful, except in an emergency or on the Queen's orders; and no one, no one, disrespected a soldier.

However, she instead had other duties to perform, namely this overview of the colony's position. Estimating their losses, finding exactly how deep the enemy got – because, in the heat of battle, these details are often missed.

And, she groaned, recording what the hell happened whilst the memory is fresh.

It was an important part of any battle, perhaps the most important step in recovery; if you know how the enemy fought, you can prepare to counter in the next battle. With Crevice attacking with increasing, and worrying frequency, any knowledge of their tactics was just as valuable as a new cohort of soldiers.

If a chronicler doesn't find me, I'll stop by the library, Grex decided. It's on the way.

"Grex!"

A soldier came up to her shoulder, and the commander glanced across. "Kelu. What do you have to report?"

"They didn't get very far in on my section. Heavy losses, but we held them off."

Grex nodded. "The Queen is all right?"

"A bit shaken, but she'll survive."

"Good."

"How did your side do?"

The commander sighed, dropping her head.

"That bad?"

"You could say that."

"Well, at least you survived. The last thing we need is another commander change."

"There is that."

"I've got to report to the library and get a full report written up. You coming?"

"Just got to finish surveying, and I'll be there."

"Right. I'll catch you later, then."

Grex felt a small hand on her shoulder briefly, before the soldier sprinted away. For a moment, she stopped, glancing back at her friend, wishing she could run after her. They hadn't been able to talk much since training, their duties dragging each of them away from the other; with Grex as commander of the main forces, and Kelu on her posting at the Queen's door, their interactions had been limited.

You have a job to do, she reminded herself. You can catch up properly later.

She'd made that promise a hundred times before, but this time she hoped she meant it.

***

"Well, thank you for your time, commander. We'll get this bound properly in the next few days and you can come and review it at your leisure."

"Of course. Thank you for your hospitality."

The chronicler stood up, gathering up the pages gently so as to not smudge the ink. She placed them carefully in a wooden box built for the purpose, before scrawling a quick code on a slip of parchment and fitting it in the slot on the front.

As the chronicler went to stow the box, Grex stood and took her helmet from the desk, tucking it under her arm; when the chronicler turned back to her, she bowed, before backing out of the office. If she hadn't been tired before, she was now exhausted. Chronicling wasn't a quick process – the writer would probe you for every minute detail, forcing you to search every corner of your mind so that nothing was missed. It usually took hours, especially when you'd come out of a battle and were completely shot. Tired minds took longer to scour, and when the only thing you want to do is sleep...

Leaving the library, a cluster of chambers filled with shelves that in turn housed hundreds of tomes, Grex walked deeper into the nest, acknowledging the Taurin who, recognising her armour and, by extension, rank, dipped their heads in respectful greeting. She navigated the winding labyrinth and responded to those greetings instinctively, just going through the motions.

Once she reached the sleeping chambers, she set her helmet down beside her bunk, the only empty bed, followed by the sword at her side, before slowly unstrapping and removing her blood-stained armour. At last, she could strip off the rough underclothes that protected her skin from the cold metal plates, folding them at the foot of the bunk. She stretched, yawning, then took the dirty towel from under the bed and sniffed it.

Clean enough. She'd have to give her laundry to the scrubbers tomorrow. Another job on the list. For now: rest.

She stumbled back out of the stone chamber, across the corridor and beneath the arch that led to the bathing room, another large space with brick walls and tiled floors. Lanterns cast a dim light across the room, which had in its centre a large pool, heated from beneath by fires that were tended to by workers hourly and constantly cycled by a pair of channels that ran to and from the room. Grex collected a sponge from the bucket by the door, dropped her towel by the pool and slid in, the warm water washing the stress away. For a few minutes, she rested her back against the side of the pool, enjoying this moment of peace. Normally, the bath house was a busy place, but today she'd come off duty late; this was perhaps the only benefit of that.

She felt around behind her for the sponge, bringing it into the water. Squeezing it to force the air out, she rubbed it across her skin, the water around her slowly becoming redder as she scrubbed away the grime. Eventually, she set the sponge aside, giving herself another minute or so before climbing slowly out of the pool and grabbing her towel.

She dried herself off as she walked back to the sleeping chamber, throwing the towel back under the bed and pulling on a light tunic that provided a bit of extra warmth. Her head coming to rest on the straw pillow, she fumbled for the fur blanket and pulled it up, closed her eyes, and steeled herself for the nightmares that were sure to come.