That's right! A new book in the series has begun...
She watched
the swirling sands driven by the arid desert breezes. Shimmering heat waves
rose off the dunes of the Sand Sea as she scanned the horizon, as vigilant
these days as she was thoughtful.
The throne room was empty, with the exception
of three of her Royal Guards posted at the base of columns around the room.
They stood silent and still, not wanting to disturb the Empress’ time of peace
and quiet.
It had been a time of re-organization in
Stigia, old ways and practices scrapped, making way for Alibesh’s sweeping
changes. Every part of life in the city had seen differences from the past ways.
Some were for the better for the citizens of the desert kingdom, such as less
taxation on the vendors who worked stalls in the city streets selling food and
fabrics. The troops also assisted in the transportation of gathered food and
water from the nearby oases, making the work lighter for all. It also served to
keep the soldiers of the army in better physical shape.
On the military side of her rule, Alibesh had
assigned trainers to assist in improving the abilities of her forces, from
endurance to marksmanship. She had expanded the numbers of wasps and riders in
her airborne units as well. She now had a sizeable aerial force, and used
smaller groups to perform routine patrols of the desert surrounding the city.
Alibesh had kept the assassins that she had,
but had left the badlands of Nostria to the north alone for now, preferring to
avoid a confrontation with a large force of unhappy monitors, now that their
leaders were missing and most likely living in exile. She treated the monitors
living in Stigia under her rule well, ensuring that they had top quality living
quarters, and supplies, to help ensure their loyalty. But the Empress trusted
no one, and the monitors were watched at all times. They were assassins after all.
The doors of the throne room opened, and a
short, old horned lizard entered quietly, wearing black and red robes, the
colours of which had been one of Alibesh’s changes to Stigia. Without turning
from her view out the large open window, the female leader knew exactly who had
come before her.
“Have my orders been dispatched to the wall
guard, Vitos?” she asked.
He stopped near the map table, between where
the Empress stood at the window, and the rest of the throne room, laying out
some parchments for her to inspect.
“Yes, Your Grace. And the commander has sent
copies of the dispatches for your reading, Empress.” he replied.
She smiled lightly, happy to hear that the
commander, Aryan, had not simply gone ahead with his own ideas. She would be
the one to decide exactly how things were arranged as far as her military was
concerned, not him.
Alibesh was not like the other citizens of
the desert kingdom. They were mostly horned lizards, with sand or rust coloured
skins, and spiky scales protruding off their heads, backs and chins. Even the
females had the spikes, though smaller with far fewer on their chins. She was a
gecko, however, a species which mostly called the rainforests of the realm
home. She did not even share that heritage much, having been raised by Skinks
of the grasslands after her parents were killed when she was very young. Being
different than everyone else around her had never bothered Alibesh. If
anything, it had made her stronger, more resilient, and much more intelligent
than most other reptiles around her.
She finally turned away from the sunlit
window, toward where her advisor waited patiently at the map table. Vitos had
learned very early on that the Empress was certainly not one to agitate in any
way, after watching her kill two lieutenants who thought their way of thinking
was better than their leader’s. With Alibesh, it was not a question of her
respect for Vitos, it was a matter of his obedience to her rule.
She stepped slowly over to the table,
offering Vitos to be seated in a nearby chair with a wave of her hand. He
obliged her, bowing lightly before taking a seat. She sat herself, and Vitos
handed her the parchments, as he began to give her a report on the day’s events
in the city. She divided her attention between reading the papers, and
listening to his oral report, knowing by the sound of his gravelly old voice
which details might be important, and ignoring the rest.
The dispatches were exactly what she had
commanded for the changes in the wall guard’s night watches, and she pushed
them away after finishing with them.
“And one sick Tortoise, Your Grace. The
livestock doctor has been summoned to assist with the situation.” he stated,
prattling on.
She waved a hand quickly, and he knew it was
a sign to stop with the report. He stopped talking immediately, falling silent
while patiently awaiting any further orders she might have for him for the day.
Instead, she rose from her chair, walking
slowly toward the raised platform to one side of the room where the black,
heavy wood of the throne of Stigia gleamed in the sunlight streaming in from
the desert outside. She held her clawed hands behind her back, her head lowered
in thought as she stepped up, reclining comfortable on the ornate piece of
furniture. Even the throne had been redone to suit the Empress. The seat of the
throne had a new padded red fabric attached, and the circular back, with its
dark red spikes radiating off of its edges like an evil black sun had a
circular red pillow attached to its centre. It matched her glistening black
armour and red cape. The Sword of Xanth, which hung at her side, was also made
of black metal, with red banding wrapping the long two-handed hilt.
Vitos rose from his chair as well, coming to
stand in front of his leader, and bowing once again politely to her.
“Will there be anything else that the Empress
requires?” he asked, leaving his head bowed while he spoke.
Alibesh watched the old reptile without
emotion in her gaze. She wrapped one scaled hand around the hilt of her sword
tightly, feeling as though the weather itself outside was changing along with
her ideas for the future. Somewhere on the horizon, storm clouds were forming,
a raging once in a century thunderstorm looming. She could feel it brewing, and
her mind registered only one feeling about it. Change was coming, and she would
embrace it, force it if necessary. A change for the entire realm and all of its
inhabitants.
“Your Grace?” Vitos asked again softly,
trying to be as polite as possible.
Her eyes had become fixed in though, and his
words brought her back to the present. She straightened on the throne.
“Have the commander beginning a new phase of
planning for the legions, Vitos.” She began. “Have him prepared the armies of
Stigia for war...”
The Chameleon King had chosen to meditate
outside the cavern on this day, finding a quiet place in the rainforest
surrounding Andoria. He did not need the looking pool to feel the changes in
the world of Evaria today. The very pressure of the atmosphere had changed
recently, and all of the signs of nature around him told him the story of the
force of nature which approached.
Maxxus was used to rain, having lived in the
rainforests all his life along with the other chameleon mystics of Andoria. One
day it would pour on the leaves of the jungle all day, another it would do so
in spurts, the sun blasting through in between, raising the humidity ten fold.
But this was much different. The breezes were changed, and even the songs of
the birds and insects of the jungle had a different tone now. There was an
excited, electrically charged feel to the humid air around him, as though the
winds themselves were alive and attempting to whisper in his ancient ears. And
its message was unsettling to him.
Maxxus was very old, but whatever this
natural force was, he knew it was much older. The pool of water in the rock in
his personal grove inside the cavern would show him visions of what might come,
but he had remained distant from it, almost fearful of what he might see in its
swirling depths.
Another chameleon crept through the forest,
and Maxxus was aware that he was not alone. He did not flinch, did not move in
response to the approach of the other creature. He knew exactly who moved
through the forest fauna nearby.
“Hello, Dantis. Are you bored without your
friends from Andar?” he said.
The younger chameleon stepped forward, not
wishing to seem like he was being sneaky. He was dressed in brilliant silver
armour, and carried a large double bladed battle axe in a holster on his back.
He was very big, even for a chameleon, with huge muscled arms.His orbital eyes
darted separately around the small clearing where the King sat comfortably,
ensuring that there was no danger imminent to his leader before speaking.
“I’m sorry, my Liege. I hope that I did not
disturb your meditation.” he replied apologetically.
Maxxus turned his head slowly to observe the
young chameleon.
“No, my young friend.” he said. “I was just
preparing to return to the cavern. The wether becomes very strange.”
Dantis had no idea what his King was talking
about, Maxxus judged by the look that he received. It didn’t matter. It was
probably for the best. He did not want to worry the younger inhabitants of the
chameleon kingdom, and Dantis was already out of sorts after being away from
his friends from the neighbouring village filled with geckos and anoles called
Andar. A sudden thought struck the King.
“You know that you may take leave at any time
you like to visit Andar, Dantis...” Maxxus said quietly.
“Yes, Thank you, My King.” said the big
chameleon. “But my place is here, to defend our kingdom.”
The Chameleon King rose from where he sat
slowly, leaning heavily on a cane that he had grudgingly accepted to assist him
lately. His aching ancient bones had made him gradually slower these days. He
turned to face Dantis, letting out a sigh as he looked at the younger reptile’s
serious face.
“I don’t think that we will be assaulted in
the next few days my young friend. Go and visit your friends, and bring me word
of the geckos of Andar. Give a special greeting to the elder Lanwyn for me.”
Maxxus said, pressing the issue slightly.
The young chameleon’s orbital eyes lit up,
realizing that his King was almost commanding him to go to the gecko village to
see his companions, whom he had missed very much recently. It had been
peaceful, and without some kind of quest for all of them to embark on, Dantis
had indeed become slightly bored. Still, his duties as a guard of Andoria could
not be easily excused.
“But my duties, My Liege. I must be here to
protect the kingdom, and you as well!” he said.
Maxxus simply shook his head, smiling.
“I am sure that Andoria will be fine for a
couple of days.” he said with a slight chuckle in his voice. “And I will enjoy
the peace.”
Dantis again looked excited, bowing deeply
before his King, and disappearing back to the cavern entrance to prepare for
his small trip away. Maxxus smiled after him, sighing again. It would be a good
break for both the young guard and himself. He loved Dantis, but the young
warrior had decided that he must shadow the Chameleon King for some reason,
like danger would befall him without being protected at every moment.
It became quiet once again, and Maxxus simply
closed his eyes, listening again to the sounds around him in the jungle,
enjoying the humidity and warmth under the canopy of ancient trees which rose
high above him. A slight rain began to fall, cool and calm, just a shower which
moisturized his ancient scales. Still, there was something else hidden in the
air, a sense which would not manifest itself before his senses. It remained
elusive, teasing his mind. Suddenly, his concentration was broken once again by
a presence.
Another chameleon emerged from the
undergrowth close by, almost making Maxxus jump slightly in surprise. This
individual was dressed in the robes of the mystics, and was much more silent
and camouflaged than Dantis had been. It was the King’s close friend and
advisor Ubius. He smiled at Maxxus, knowing that he had startled him.
“Your Grace, your evening meal has been
prepared for you in the grove of the looking pool.” Said Ubius.
The Chameleon King shook his head, happy to
have something else to divert his attention from the strange energies of nature
that were building on him.
“What does a lizard have to do to get a
little peace around here?” he replied, smiling.
Far
off from the mountain ranges which rose in the west, upon a sea which washed up
on shores on the coast of the continent, huge dark thunderheads had formed. The
direction of the winds was different now, pushing the humid air rising off the
deep ocean in the opposite direction that it normally flowed. Lightning spit
the skies above the now turbulent water, illuminating a monstrous layer of
cloud from below. The typhoon began to stretch out dark limbs of thick cloud,
revolving slowly around the eye of the storm. To witness it was to look upon
something that was not nature, but a monster from out of legend, ready to
envelope the entire realm in a deluge that would both destroy and cleanse the
world.
The first to see the strange phenomenon were
simple frog fishermen, who lived on the western coast and lived under the
rulership of the mountain citadel of Nimisor. Their large, bulbous eyes beheld
the fury that the ocean had become without warning. They fled the sea as it
became enraged, swelling massively, and washing up heavily on the western
shores of the realm. As its fury increased, it washed homes and boats out to
sea, as the terrified residents of the fishing villages fled toward the
mountains, and the citadel cradled in the high peaks above. The regent of
Nimisor looked down as the refugees began to arrive, having sensed the changes
in the sea breezes. The black cloud was like a living creature, writhing and
swirling, and it began to paint a terrible scene on the horizon. Dwarfing even
the tall, immovable mountains, its ominous clouds turned day into night.
Angry waves battered the seaside villages,
destroying all in their wake, until the shores were littered with the remnants
of wooden boards, and wrecked fishing boats and wharfs. Rain tortured the
shores, pushing inland like a lead curtain, flattening the low growth of the
mangroves and shrubbery.
The winds ripped at the tropical seaside
grasses and trees, baring their branches in its rising fury. Flowers were
stripped of their blooms, clinging to the rock of the mountain sides as the
storm engulfed the peaks.
