The Shadow of All Worlds, Page 7

  Chapter 8

  The Red Lady guided her white horse through the streets of Za-xayek and permitted herself to enjoy the warmth of the day. Too often, she was caught up in the worries of battle and didn’t take the time to indulge in the lesser pleasures of existence.

  A small contingent of soldiers surrounded her, but the majority of her host was engaged with refugees or performing other random acts of conquest. If she chose to engage, she could send her mind out to get a more precise picture of her army’s movements, however she had no wish to do so right then. She was more concerned with the words of the impertinent Aneeku who had dared to issue her a challenge.

  She snorted and considered the various men she had met in recent days. Ryder, Rhaldan’s followers, the man with rectangle eyes, Sampson, not forgetting Aneeku himself, all would potentially make adequate mates. She indulged herself in the fantasy of chasing them around the bedchamber. It was always a delight to lure unsuspecting meat into her quarters and then reveal the truth that she would be the one to notch her belt in conquest.

  If they managed to please her, she allowed them to leave the tent merely cut to ribbons.

  Those that didn’t please her had to be carried.

  Even the Ulnath that she had seen piqued her curiosity. Oos seemed to be more than an average male, and she wondered at the product that would result from a mounting. Dominating that one might even be a challenge. She licked her lips at the thought.

  Perhaps their seed might even bring powers the human one could not? Like the ability for her offspring to reproduce?

  Then again, that was what she sought the Ulnath’s promised power for.

  The sound of clanging swords echoed in the depths of her mind and she once again resisted the temptation to send her consciousness out to oversee the battle. The war could take care of itself. Like a fire, war often reached its fullest potential when it went untended.

  Sunlight slithered through the dark clouds and shone off the brown and black towers that rose up on either side of the street, and she looked at the constructions with appreciation. The aesthetic was unlike anything she had ever seen in Vyldur or anywhere on Charon, yet there was something about the squat spires that made her instantly feel as if she had found a home.

  Perhaps it was the simple fact that these buildings looked so unlike the ones from the cities that had already rejected her.

  An unpleasant feeling surged up, and the Red Lady grasped her horse’s mane in a tight fist that made the beast wince. Though the pain must have been great, the horse was far too well-trained, and too cognizant of its master’s wrath to protest violently.

  Just the same, the Red Lady noticed the animal’s consternation and released the mane.

  The beast had been loyal.

  It did not deserve punishment.

  Why punish the loyal when it was so easy to go out into the world and find someone worthy of torment?

  There was the clatter of hooves, and the Red Lady looked up to see one of her brutish soldiers approaching on horseback. How the man had gotten a horse was beyond her since the beasts were generally reserved for her daughters. She put the thought out of her mind as the man neared.

  “Milady,” he said, affecting manners even though his disheveled beard indicated he was closer in his transformation to the Fallen stage than the human one, “the city is sparsely populated. I would estimate there are less than two thousand Ulnath here, should we burn them out?”

  The Red Lady smiled, and for a moment as she looked upon the buildings of Za-xayek, she saw them wreathed in flame. Pillars of smoke billowed up into the sky, reflecting back the light of the simmering destruction to create a seething cauldron of annihilation. It was a sight she had seen countless times, seasoned with the image of arrogant humans tossing their children and then themselves from open windows to escape the heat boiling up from within. She wondered if they ever had time to reflect on their folly in the fleeting moments between hurling themselves into space, and meeting their violent end on the unforgiving rocks below.

  But as pleasant as the illusion was, she blinked it away.

  Only two thousand residents? A quick scan of the infrastructure led her to believe that this city could easily house half a million. Why should she ever consider wasting resources to build such a city when fate had seen fit to lay one at her feet? Should the promised power prove to be all that it was promised, she might have use of Za-xayek.

  “No,” she whispered, then she called up her voice and fixed her eye on the grizzled soldier with greater authority. “No! The city is to remain untouched!”

  The man bowed his head and began to back away, but the Red Lady had further commands.

  “And get off that horse, only my daughters shall ride. Is that clear?”

  “Yes Milady,” the man said, sliding off the animal obediently and handing the reins to one of the women who rode beside the Red Lady.

  The Red Lady smiled as the brute half walked, half ran away from her. If she’d been in the possession of a loaded crossbow, she would have discharged it at him simply for sport.

  “Mother?” said a voice, and though the Red Lady’s thoughts were disturbed again, this time she was content with the interruption.

  “Speak daughter,” she replied.

  “I see your plans, but I do not understand why we would leave potential enemies within walls that we intend to inhabit. Wouldn’t it be best to clear them out now when they least expect it?”

  The Red Lady smiled.

  “I know little of Oos, but I have seen enough to guess that he is no fool. I do not think they would have allowed us access to their city if they did not possess a trick or two for self-defense. Now is not a prudent time to act. I am not inclined to reckless conquest with so much at stake.”

  “But,” her daughter continued, “what will happen when the others return? Might an increase in their number make them inclined to expel us from these walls?”

  The Red Lady grew wistful. “I grow weary of living in a tent,” she said. “It’s cold in the winter lands where the wind blows through. The walls are too thin, and the world has the opportunity to listen in on your every activity. I believe stone would suit me better. A stone tower reaching high into the sky which offers me a view of all that I have conquered. Doesn’t that sound superior to you my daughter?”

  “Yes,” the younger woman replied, “but the question remains, how do we ensure that these walls might remain hospitable?”

  The Red Lady smiled.

  “I trust my daughters can win the hearts of these Ulnath brutes. It will be a soft invasion, and by the time the Ulnath females realize the extent of our ambition, it will be too late for them to mount a resistance. When the warriors return, and our obligations to the Ulnath are complete, it will be to the cradle of a dawning civilization. We will give birth to a new species in this city, fill these empty streets with life, and finally have a place to call our own!”