Daughter of The Damned

by Greg Dragon

  “Yes, you’re right, this war is just the beginning of it. When I get home, I will have to find the gate and make sure that it’s closed forever. Still, it sounds like we have some fighting to do.”

  She got up and grabbed her bowl, then reached out to Lenorela to collect hers.

  The red woman shook her head and got up with the bowl, motioning for Alysia to lead the way to the kitchen. One of the demon girls from the village was at the massive stove, cooking, and Lenorela stopped briefly to have a taste of the broth.

  “Mmmm, Spyri, this is delicious. CeeCee, you have to taste this. It will brighten your mood as soon as it touches your tongue.”

  Alysia put her bowl on the counter, smiled at the chef, and then crossed the room to stand by the stove. Lenorela placed the edge of the ladle near her lips and she gingerly edged forward and took a sip of the off-yellow liquid. It tasted like heaven, and as she let it work its magic on her tongue, she noticed that the young demon woman—who looked to be about eighteen in Earth years—was watching her intently.

  “Magnificent,” Alysia said, wondering why out of all the words that she would use to describe good food, she would choose that one.

  The girl seemed satisfied with her response and went back to her cooking. Alysia followed Lenorela through a hallway to a hidden door that resembled the stone behind the kitchen. The door led to stairs and large, thick cobwebs. Alysia summoned her magical light, which delighted Lenorela, and they descended for a long time until they got to a large wooden door.

  Gesturing wildly along the surface of the door, Lenorela traced a pattern that eventually caused the door to unlock. When they stepped inside it was an armory, not like the one that sat next to the massive meeting room, but much smaller, with a collection of robes, blades, and pole arms.

  “Why do you have two armories, Lenny?” Alysia asked as she walked forward to feel the fabric of a rough-spun coat.

  “Everything in here is enchanted, my dear. This is a collection that I started a long time ago, in case I needed them one day. We may have armor against blades, but there’ll be more, wicked magic that can catch you off guard. It wouldn’t do to have you see the same fate that took you away from us in the first place.”

  “So Ambriel was killed by V’Kosha magic?”

  “Cursed to a slow death, and she didn’t even know it. Those things are nasty, and they will not play fair. Please remember this when we’re out there, CeeCee… forget the word ‘honor’.”

  Alysia nodded and looked through the clothes. She saw a wide variety draped on the walls. Lenorela didn’t need to sift through her collection. She went straight for a black gown hanging on the far wall, and snatched up a tall pair of boots on the way.

  The image of the drawings that she had seen in her sketchbook came back to Alysia as she looked over the gear. She grabbed similar clothes to what the women in her drawings had been wearing, and then pulled off her nightgown and stepped in front of the mirror.

  “Seems like a good time to check in on Orwan, Amarah, and the brothers,” Alysia said. “Can you contact them, Lenny? Having them with us when we fight the V’Kosha would make it that much easier for us to win.”

  Lenorela stopped undressing and regarded Alysia, “Orwan was badly wounded, CeeCee. I’m not sure if he’s even alive. The Erts know when we’re in danger, and they normally show up to help, but contacting them has proved to be pretty fruitless in the past. They will come, CeeCee, I’m sure of it, but they cannot be summoned.”

  “Is it because of their rank that we can’t contact them, or is it because of the dimension that they live in?”

  “I wish I knew the answer, dear, but they love you and they should come if you really need them.”

  Alysia hissed through her teeth and threw on the robe. “I won’t hold my breath on Lancert’s aid,” she said. “Part of my problems are due to his lies. He hates Chaos, so he won’t help. He thinks that the V’Kosha are a necessary balance to their order. Funny how much of a disappointment this ‘father’ of mine has turned out to be. All powerful, yet does nothing, whereas my good dad is stuck in a world where he can’t do anything to help me.”

  “How long have you been in Yalem, CeeCee?” Lenorela asked as she fastened the last strap on her boots.

  “Earth time? About four months, right?”

  “A year and two months since you arrived here. Yalem’s time can be deceiving. You should see your face; it’s as if I just told you that you had two minutes left to live. I’ve enjoyed your company, and you know this. You have grown so much since that day.”

  “I just didn’t realize that I had been gone so long,” Alysia said. “I don’t feel any different than I felt the day I woke up here.”

  “But you are different. You are complete. When you came here you were still very much a naive human girl.”

  Alysia tugged on the front of her robe to even it out, then made a knot in the belt to secure it. She tousled with her hair, cursing herself for taking out her braids, then glanced down at her muscular legs and the pedicure that had been gifted to her by one of Lenorela’s maids. She still felt very much like a young human woman.

  “What am I now then, Lenny? Cause I still feel clueless about everything.”

  Lenorela took her by the shoulders and sized her up, reaching down to put a tighter knot in her belt. “What I see in front of me is Yalem’s justice. You don’t have to know all the details of this mess with Chaos. You have mastered the blades, and their magic. There won’t be anyone here that can match you.”

  “Oh my, I almost forgot,” Alysia gasped, reaching down to remove her ring. “No fair me having three goodies while you’re stuck with one.” She slipped the dragon ring onto Lenorela’s finger and backed away from her to see what would happen.

  Lenorela balled up her fists and smiled wickedly as the rings glowed on her fingers. They both expanded, enclosing her hands in dark gauntlets, but stopped at the elbow instead of becoming a full suit of armor.

  “Well, that’s different,” Alysia said. “Will we both be without armor?”

  “Magic is my armor, sweetheart, and those two swords are yours. Speed, distraction, the enchantment on these clothes—that should be enough to win this war. Plus, you’re Ambriel returned; the armor only forms for those who need it.”

  “So what are those shiny black gloves supposed to do?”

  “Euphoria leeches, am I correct? It pulls out life and keeps you strong. Well, the dragon and the ruby, they give me power. I no longer will need to drink my foes. The rings keep me charged, and sustain my power. I—”

  Alysia lifted her hand to tell Lenorela to stop, then inhaled slowly with her eyes closed. “Stop,” she said. “What in the hell? Lenorela, seriously? You handicapped yourself just to help me grow? When I first came here you gave up that ring, but you never told me that you needed it like this.”

  “It’s okay, CeeCee, I’d do it again. For Ambriel Ilyse, I will give up both rings if you want them back.”

  “I would rather have you with me, Lenny, watching my back. From what I’ve learned, Ambriel used all four and still lost her life. Two forces using the scions is what will work against the V’Kosha. Plus, the last time I left you alone, I came back to you hanging from a window.”

  Chapter Five

  When Alysia and Lenorela left the large mansion, a man name Jaten was waiting with a pair of strange mounts that looked like ostriches with hooved feet. He demonstrated to Alysia how to mount and ride them, and told her that they would need water at least twice a day.

  Lenorela seemed to already know about the creatures, and the one she approached regarded her with some familiarity. She produced a few nuts from her coat pocket, and the bird squeaked happily before burying its face in the red woman’s palm.

  Winking at Alysia, she handed her a few. She sprinkled them into her own palm and held it up to her bird. The blue animal seemed hesitant as it trotted over slowly. Then after what seemed like a d
ecade of careful consideration, it too took the dive and began eating from her palm.

  Lenorela laughed when she saw the expression on Alysia’s face, and motioned for her to start petting the bird. “These are Esos birds, CeeCee. And they are extremely fast. If you feel yourself getting sick while you ride them, just close your eyes and it should go away.”

  “And here I was hoping for a badass motorcycle,” Alysia joked.

  “Maybe later, when you’re home,” Lenorela said with a wink. “Looks like you have a new friend. A fast, feathery friend.”

  Alysia took the reins of her bird and swung up like Jaten had shown her. The saddle was soft and comfortable, and it had a support for her lower back. She slipped her feet into the stirrups and stroked the bird’s long neck. “Does this one have a name?” she asked Jaten.

  “That one’s Codella,” said the short, brown demon. “It means ‘blue lady’ in my people’s tongue.”

  “I think that it’s a pretty name,” Alysia said, and ruffled the crown of feathers on the bird’s head. “Ready, Lenny?” she asked, and the red witch winked. They both waved to Jaten—who had the look of a parent on the first day of school—and trotted down the hill towards Wildemont.

  When they got to the gates of the town, Lenorela leaned into her bird and the creature screamed and took off running at an amazing speed. Alysia did the same with Codella, and the speedy bird shot ahead. It was then that she felt full appreciation for the saddle, as it held her in place even though she was thrown back by Codella’s sudden speed.

  Before long their surroundings were a blur, and the meticulous combing of her hair was proving to have been a waste of time. Alysia couldn’t move, frozen in place by the velocity, and while she enjoyed seeing the scenery in the first light of day, she wasn’t lost on the fact that they were riding into a war.

  She tried to talk to Lenorela, but Codella was too fast, and her voice was stolen by the wind as soon as she opened her mouth. They rode for hours, until the sun was fully out. Then Lenorela raised her hand, and they stopped in front of a large expanse of water.

  “My legs feel so stiff, I can barely walk,” Alysia said to Lenorela as she dismounted the bird, who walked into the water to join her friend.

  “Can you hear the war yet?” Lenorela asked, and Alysia stopped and closed her eyes to see if she could hear.

  The ground was vibrating beneath their feet, and in the distance she could sense that there was a commotion going on. “I hear explosions but they seem far away. How much longer do we need to ride?”

  “Not much longer now. We are near the fields of Cormer. We’ll ride close enough to them, then set the birds free to race back home to Jaten’s pen. We have to be ready to fight, CeeCee. The V’Kosha will come for us as soon as they sense us near.”

  Alysia nodded and they walked to the water. She bent down and collected some of it, then splashed it on her face. Lenorela did the same and then splashed her playfully. “This may be the last time I get to speak to you,” she said. “I just want you to know that I admire your strength. Not many people could manage the responsibility you’ve been given, and you have taken it in stride and risen to every occasion.”

  “You can thank my dad, James, for me being this way, Lenny. If you were to ever meet him, you would understand why I want so badly to go back to Earth.”

  The water was cool and refreshing so they stayed for a time, letting the birds drink their fill and cool their long legs. By the time they set out again, the sun was not as bright, but Alysia Knight’s mind was ready for whatever was to come.

  The first sign of the war came by way of a loud explosion that shook the ground. The two women had crested a hill that stood over the blackened landscape of Cormer, and when they walked to the edge, Alysia’s breath caught in her throat.

  Spread out below them was a chaotic melee, with demons in fancy clothes and armor fighting off V’Kosha. On one end of the valley, near the easternmost mountain, there was an enormous cave, which seemed to be the spawning point of the V’Kosha. On the far end, where the road led into the mountains, was a sea of white and red. Alysia made these out to be tents and warriors in the colors of the Bloody Garot.

  In front of the tents were ten trebuchets taking turns at throwing boulders into the V’Kosha midst. Above it all were flying demons, picking up large stones, dropping them on the Garot, and sometimes swooping down to take a hostage.

  Lenorela rubbed her bird’s head and patted her bottom, and it bowed its head and retreated. Codella followed and Alysia waved goodbye, turning to her friend for directions.

  “Follow me. I know a good way down, where we should end up on the side of the Garot,” she said.

  Alysia agreed and took out her swords, running with them free of their scabbards. Lenorela took her down the hill and then to the side, where a path led them through a narrow pass between the rocks. The air was hot and smelled of sulfur, and there was a light rain that added to the misery.

  They came to another overhang, but Lenorela went to the edge and climbed over. Alysia followed, surprised to find handholds in the surface of the rock. They got to the ground and were immediately set upon by an army of V’Kosha that had sensed their approach. Lenorela lifted her hands and brought them down fast, and an invisible weight crushed everything in front of her, including ten of the V’Kosha that had gotten too close.

  It had to be the most impressive display of magic Alysia had ever seen, and she matched its effect by spinning into the rest, leaving a cloud of ashes where she stood. Lenorela stayed behind her, using her magic, and before long they were in the thick of it, fighting for their lives.

  The V’Kosha were endless, but it didn’t matter, since Euphoria kept Alysia’s energy at its peak. She would maim with Euphoria, then kill with Bliss, each cut like electricity running through her veins. Lenorela too was augmented by her gifts, and the rings kept her magic charged, allowing her to keep on moving. She would sink into the earth and disappear, then arise in the midst of the V’Kosha, clawing into them with her gauntlets and ripping them to shreds.

  Alysia caught a glimpse of Chaos when they neared the Garot, though his movement was a blur as he destroyed them five at a time.

  Never before had she been in a fight as intense as this. It was loud and frightening, muddy, and wet. The smell, more than anything, was beyond unbearable.

  The fight was an endless dance of blood and though it felt as if she had sweated out every ounce of liquid in her body, Alysia was still swinging. Time became a wash and the bodies became ashes, and the world became a reality of floating demon flakes. Her mind was blank and her focus narrowed, the only thing present being the countless demons.

  Cut, stab, sidestep, cut again. Her entire reality was the fight, and it didn’t matter that she was a single brown speck in a writhing landscape of red and black. A new noise broke past the moaning, screams, and explosions, and she cast her eyes skyward to glimpse a familiar shape. It was the wounded dragon from before, and something told her that it was coming for her and her alone.

  This was when she realized where she was, and how easy things could go south if she missed a cut, tripped over a rock, or lost one of her swords. She spun with Bliss out to cut anything near her, but it was also for her to see where she was, and where she could run for shelter.

  An outcropping stood near a flat rise of blackened soil that was the lower half of one of the mountains. It was on the far side away from Chaos’s war machines and Garot reserves, but it was closer to her than they were, and it offered a chance to avoid the dragon’s fire.

  She doubled her efforts and favored Bliss, since its cuts would turn the dead into ashes. This meant that it was possible to keep on running and the V’Kosha who dared to bar her way would have no chance at stopping her. Alysia hadn’t seen any V’Kosha commanders the entire time she had been fighting. She knew it was a bad omen, and that they were being delayed on purpose.

  It would have been easy for her
to grow overconfident, but she knew better and had kept on fighting knowing that something was coming. The trembling below seemed to get worse, and a part of her expected a geyser of fire to break the earth and scatter them all over Yalem. It was still rumbling however, and now there was this dragon, with its wings leveled and head low, gliding towards the battlefield.

  When Alysia gained the outcropping, she climbed to the top and scanned the field for Lenorela. The entire back line of the field was a bubbling melee, but her red sister was nowhere to be seen.

  “CeeCee!” The voice caught her by surprise, and she spun to see Lenorela step out from the mountain as if she had been a part of it. “Get over here. I need to ward this ground. It’s the only way that we’ll be safe while we fight it.”

  Alysia performed a backflip and landed near her friend, and Lenorela waved her hands and stomped her feet. Her arms windmilled, and she stomped one way, then another. It looked as if she were performing a sort of tribal dance. Sparks of light began to form wherever she stomped, and her arms directed them forward, around and above, until a net of magic formed a field tethered to the ground and the side of the mountain.

  “Whew!” Lenorela said and leaned over with her hands on her knees. “That’s enough to put a girl out of the fight for good.”

  “A-are you okay?” Alysia managed, her throat thick and dry.

  Lenorela held up the rings and gave her a smile, the fangs that were her eyeteeth adding a cute quality to her otherwise perfect teeth. “Watch this,” she said, and she made a fist with her right hand, reaching out with the left. The dragon ring glowed and the light shot forward like a deep red laser beam. It struck several V’Kosha that were trying to enter the field, and their color went from black and red to a light shade of pink, then a powdery white. The beam went back into the ring and Lenorela looked healthy again.

  “Remind me not to tick you off,” Alysia said, a smile forming on her lips.

  The dragon screamed as he was finally above them, rearing back his long slender neck to deliver a wave of fire. Something struck him and slammed him into the mountain, causing it to rain down an avalanche of scorched stone, but they bounced harmlessly off of Lenorela’s field.