Chapter 3
“Alliance”
Ordinance dropped from dragonfly-type bombers pummeled kinetic shield barriers. Locust-type attack entomopters blazed away with chin-mounted stormguns and showered the enemy with streams of caseless rockets. Bipedal main battle tanks stomped through the forest followed by throngs of Concubine Sentinels.
Lieutenant General Yazmin gleamed, “The enemy is in full retreat!”
General Drusilla gazed upon the holographic map of Region One, realizing, “Their retreat is too orderly to be a route.”
Lieutenant General Olga whined, “They’re leaving with large amounts of our equipment.”
Drusilla snickered, considering, “Looting us may have been the whole point of their operation. Are we tracking their portals?”
Olga answered, “Of course. It’s too soon to tell but they seem to be regrouping at one location.”
“Confirm.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Yazmin caressed her commanding general’s shoulders, insisting, “Go to bed, my sister. We shall tend to things as you rest.”
Drusilla reminded, “Adam of Telluria wants to be our ally.”
“So it would seem. Shall you meet with him tomorrow?”
“I don’t know.”
Yazmin kissed Drusilla’s cheek, insisting, “Go to bed. I shall send a Keeper to your quarters to give you something to sleep. You may decide tomorrow what you shall do tomorrow.”
Drusilla nodded and left the chamber.
The Army of Four was camped in the woods just outside the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen. Adam teased Flora, “Are you excited about making friends with the Concubines?”
The carnivorous plant fairy smiled, “Yes.”
“You are?”
Flora nodded, explaining, “The wisdom of the Oracle shall surely avail us.”
“Yeah: who am I to argue with a tree?”
Conjure the half-goblin and Hairy the sasquatch were the best of friends. Conjure, the one who did all the talking, asked Hairy, “Is it not strange that wars can make friends? We are friends because we are together in this Army of Four. The Concubines shall be our friends to fight demons and monsters.” The big, hairy sasquatch smiled. Conjure interpreted, “Yes, it is always good to make friends. Shall we later befriend Yississ?” Hairy frowned. Conjure understood, “You are right: we cannot befriend a demon.”
Portals opened as the Army of Yississ gathered in the Bleak Mountains of the Gentle Desert. Though it was night in this land, the flashing, rumbling sky of the Everlasting Storm lit the mountains with a flickering light.
A self-shifting edifice of titanium alloy sat upon the highest peak. Yississ and Brendaxa were together on a balcony overlooking their gathering horde. “Well done!” the demon commended her monster. “We have all that we need and the perfect place to put it.”
Brendaxa reported, “Our losses were heavy, milady. We must replenish our ranks before launching another major offensive.”
“Yes, my loyal general. Do what we must. The Concubines themselves shall provide plenty of conscripts.”
“Yes, milady. We have already selected many isolated outposts from which to replenish our ranks. Also, our incubators are already operational and we are growing more polymorphs.”
“Brendaxa, my child,” the towering, rotting “woman” with six breasts snuggled the monstrosity that was once human, “you are so delightfully efficient!”
Drusilla slept surprisingly well and awoke feeling unexpectedly hopeful. She bathed then joined her sisters for breakfast.
General officers in the Virgin Army wore hooded cloaks. Their skimpy body shirt underneath did not have the usual goggles and elastic hood. The cloaks hung on a rack fixed to the wall as the generals sat on the floor together at a table laden with food and drink. The bald women with white irises all looked exactly alike. Their prattling voices all sounded alike. They could feel the individual identity of a sister, however; especially when spoken to.
A general officer in the Virgin Army was among the wisest of Concubine Priestesses, thus, her name and uniform were designated as purple. Elzbeth Purple the Bold, however, wore the blue-green chosen for her by Mistress Umbra. Elzbeth was casually ignored by her sisters as they ate, sipped and chatted. The lonely Concubine pariah sighed and stared at her food. She ate it, in increments, but did not notice it enough to taste it.
Yazmin asked Drusilla, “Shall you meet with Adam?”
“Yes.”
“To make an alliance with him?”
“Perhaps.”
Olga joined, “Though a dangerous foe, the Army of Four may prove an invaluable ally.”
“Indeed,” Yazmin concurred.
“No one knows a world better than its inhabitants. We shall have the eyes and ears of Telluria readily available to us.” Yazmin nodded.
Drusilla asked her lieutenants, “Are we hoping I make an alliance with Adam of Telluria?”
“No!” Elzbeth blurted. She sneered, “Adam betrayed our master and may have murdered our mistress! Allow me to meet him in your stead and I shall kill him myself.”
Everyone stared at Elzbeth, shocked and indignant. Drusilla reminded her, “We are the Many of One. All that we do we do as one. All of us shall kill Adam or all of us shall befriend him.”
“Befriend him?”
“We shall do whatever we must. My sister, are you forgetting your duty?”
“No.”
Drusilla stated, “It is my duty to decide for us all. I shall do my duty. His will be done.”
Everyone repeated in unison, “His will be done.”
Adam and his three soldiers watched the Temple steps from the edge of the woods. Conjure worried, “What if Drusilla does not come?”
Adam answered, “Then we’ve a long walk back.”
Flora spotted, “She comes.”
The Army of Four watched as a Concubine wearing a purple body shirt and short, white, hooded cloak descended the marble steps. The woman was alone. Adam asked Flora, “Is it her?”
“Yes. My king, I sense no treachery.”
Adam handed Conjure his weapons. The king asked of his soldiers, “Wish me luck.”
Adam waved as he joined Drusilla at the base of the Temple steps. She nodded her hooded head in greeting. The man asked the woman, “Remember me?”
“Adam, you are unforgettable.” The man gleamed. The woman spoke, “King of Telluria, you must give account for the disappearance of the Great Seen Unseen and his Beloved Child.”
“Uh, excuse me?”
“The Virgin Army is answerable to higher authorities. We must do what is right if we are to do what is best.”
“Seriously? You came to this planet to drain it into a lifeless husk. We kicked your ass. Get over it.”
Drusilla challenged, “Are you refusing to give an account?”
“Hey, I didn’t start any trouble. I’m just defending myself and doing everything I can to protect innocent people.”
The Concubine insisted, “This world was chosen for a higher purpose.”
“No. Genocide is not a ‘higher purpose’. Your master came here to kill everyone and I stopped him. I buried his ass. His little Princess of Darkness tried to kill me in my sleep. I stomped her ass. I have no problem with you girls. I want to be your friend.”
Drusilla swooned, overwhelmed by every emotion at once. She was a selfless, loyal and obedient Concubine of the Great Seen Unseen. She was the devout servant of the Unheard Whisper. She believed Adam. She believed everything this man ever told her. She trusted him.
Drusilla dared a peek from under her cowl. She gazed into the gentle yet fiery eyes of the man before her. The woman’s pupils dilated. She smiled.
Adam wondered if the hooded clone was smiling or smirking. He was shocked when she declared, “Adam of Telluria, our forces shall join yours against our common enemy. Come into the Temple of the Great Seen Unseen… for you are welcome.”
Yississ was given twenty Concubi
ne Priestesses and six hundred Concubine Scouts, turning them all into polymorphic monsters. Her army snatched many captives, turning most of them into zombies but the Priestesses and Scouts into more polymorphs. Yississ now had nearly a thousand Priestesses and tens of thousands of Scouts. The twelve wisest of her Priestesses joined her as her personal coven.
A dozen “womanly” monsters with amorphous tentacles for legs surrounded the tall, festering form of a naked “woman” with six breasts. Yississ and her coven channeled their energies into a single effort to divine. They watched as the Army of Four and the Virgin Army joined forces. Yississ cackled. She scoffed, “My children, you fear the Army of Four? You are not the weaklings you once were. I am with you! I have battled this Army of Four personally. You fear the carnivorous plant fairy? She screamed in terror of me! She writhed helplessly in my grasp! Umbra was a fool who played foolish games. We are not here to play. We shall kill or render undead but we shall never dally.”
Brendaxa, the chosen and favorite of Yississ, proclaimed, “Milady, take me with you should you again meet this Army of Four in battle.”
“Be wise, my Brendaxa! Be expedient. We have armies and worlds to devour!”
Drusilla brought Adam into the bustling command-and-control room within the Temple. “Wow!” the man was awed by all the sleek displays and fancy jargon. He enjoyed the sight of so many smart and sexy women strutting about in “swimsuit” uniforms.
Concubine Priestesses distinguished by black, hooded cloaks bowed as Drusilla and Adam approached them. Drusilla told her sisters, “The Kingdom of Telluria is now our ally.” The one cloaked Concubine wearing a blue-green body shirt scowled. “The Army of Four is free to roam our occupied territories and is granted access to all facilities and means of transportation. They may enter and depart this Temple at their leisure.”
Adam whispered to Drusilla, “May I say something to your officers?”
“As you wish.”
“Thanks.” Adam told the lieutenant generals, “I have always admired you girls for being so brave, relentless and efficient. It is an honor to be working with you now.” The hooded women stared at him, silent and expressionless. The man coughed and fidgeted, eventually saying, “As you were.”
Drusilla gestured at the holographic globe of Telluria, informing Adam, “The enemy has gathered its strength in Region 99: the Gentle Desert.” The globe flattened and reshaped into a holographic map of a mountainous desert. “Unfortunately, the Everlasting Storm obscures scanning and impedes airstrikes. We’ve deployed Scouts and they are watching, but their view is limited.”
One of the lieutenant generals added, “The enemy captured many of our facilities and much of our equipment. They are evidently establishing a basecamp.”
“Oh, yeah,” Adam agreed. He stared at the map and its indicators, realizing, “They have the high ground on rugged terrain. The Everlasting Storm means airstrikes would have to fly in low and vulnerable. They chose their location well.”
The lieutenant general mentioned, “The situation is worse than even that.”
“Really?”
The Concubine nodded, explaining, “The enemy is converting the captured technology into magical artifices. The Everlasting Storm impedes technology but enhances magic. The enemy is assembling mystical arrays meant to channel the storm for the powering of spells.”
“That sounds bad.” The hooded women nodded. “What are we going to do about it?”
Drusilla answered, “We have already deployed bombers to destroy the site before it is firmly established.” The women huddled around the holographic map. Drusilla told Adam, “The attack is about to commence.”
A swarm of dragonfly-type bombers skimmed over the gray, rocky hills of the Gentle Desert and under the flashing, rumbling sky of the Everlasting Storm. As the Bleak Mountains appeared over the horizon, a Concubine Jockey in the cockpit of a bomber reported, “We are detected but the enemy is not raising its kinetic shield barriers.” A moment passed before the Girl in Brown added, “A mystical surge is initiating.”
An assault fortress sat atop the highest peak of the Bleak Mountains. The armed and armored edifice of titanium alloy overlooked the encamped army of zombies and polymorphs. The tower atop the fortress flashed and sparked, manifesting a glowing, continuous bolt between it and the storm above.
The dragonfly-type bombers kept closing… until bolts lanced out from the skyward bolt and zapped into the swarm! Aircraft erupted into flames and plummeted! The swarm kept coming, its numbers struck and sent ablaze until none of it remained. Not even one bomber reached the enemy basecamp.
Yississ cackled maniacally! The demon cheered, “Well done, Brendaxa! Your genius proves glorious!”
Brendaxa humbly corrected, “Milady, I was but one of many who devised your new weapon. The secrets you share give us insights into possibilities.” The living Many of One were selfless, innovative and efficient. I pleased Yississ greatly to see such qualities in her daughters born of them.
Adam and the Concubine generals were horrified. The man asked the women, “What just happened?”
Drusilla answered, “We just lost a third of our heavy bombers.”
A lieutenant general (Olga) surmised, “The enemy harnessed and channeled the electromagnetism of the Everlasting Storm.”
Adam wondered, “What?”
The Concubine explained, “It seems they’ve converted a relay system into a mystical conduit.”
“What?”
Drusilla spoke to her lieutenants, “A ground assault without air support would most likely fail.” The Virgin Soldiers in black cloaks nodded.
Drusilla and her lieutenants looked at Adam, as if awaiting his insight. Drusilla reminded him, “You have oft bested us. What do you suggest we do?”
The man warned, “This isn’t going to be easy.”
“Obviously. Adam of Telluria, what do you suggest?”
“Well, don’t bother with another airstrike until you find a way to take out that lightning weapon.” The women continued to stare. The man continued, “The enemy has the forces and the terrain to shrug off a ground assault, so don’t bother.” The clones were still staring. “A small team may be the only thing that can get to that tower. If we disable the tower then we need to attack with everything immediately.”
A lieutenant general mentioned, “Your Army of Four is the perfect team for such a mission.”
“Maybe.” Adam felt cold and sick. His mind’s eye could see Yississ grinning. The man realized, “The enemy knows what we’re planning. Actually, I think they’re counting on it. They want the Army of Four to come right to them exactly where they want us. Yississ is a damn spider!” Adam thought and thought, concluding, “I need to talk to the Oracle.”
Drusilla asked, “May I accompany you?”
“Are you scared of talking trees?”
Drusilla’s analytical mind tried to make sense of the man’s flippant question. “No,” she finally answered.
“Then let’s go.”
Conjure, Hairy and Flora watched from the edge of the forest as Adam led Drusilla down the steps of the Temple. The plant fairy could hear her king telling the woman, “We’re a rowdy bunch but we’re friendly.”
Drusilla mentioned, “Your carnivorous plant fairy sodomizes my sisters to devour them to bare bones.”
“Hey, a carnivore’s got to eat.” Flora grinned.
As Adam and Drusilla neared the woods, the man called, “Come on out and stop being so damn scary!”
Conjure and Hairy looked at each other, confused. Flora told them, “Step out with me.”
Drusilla felt so small and weak as the tall, menacing, carnivorous plant fairy and towering, monstrous, burly sasquatch stepped out before her. The little half-goblin smiled and waved. “My troops,” Adam introduced. “They’re the best soldiers anywhere.”
The cloaked and hooded Concubine bowed. She introduced herself, “I am Drusilla Purple the Wise of the Fortieth Harvest and the commanding P
riestess of the Telluria Expedition.”
“Just call her Drusilla,” Adam winked.
Flora told her king, “I have drawn the portal. The Oracle waits.”
“She knows I’m coming?”
“Adam, she is the Oracle.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Flora led everyone into the depths of the forest. “Hello,” Conjure greeted Drusilla.
“Hello.”
“I am glad we are friends now.” The Concubine smiled. The half-goblin prattled, “My friend Hairy is also glad. We did not like you because you were invaders but Adam says you are not evil. He tells us you are as human as he is.”
“We are human,” Drusilla confirmed.
“I know! Now you are friends, right?” The Virgin Soldier was at a loss as to how to answer. Adam slapped Conjure on the head, rebuking, “Stop pestering the lovely general! We’re on official business, buddy boy.”
“Official business?”
“Yeah. We have a meeting with the talking tree.”
“I know!”
Adam smiled at Drusilla, telling her, “He’s smart.”
Virgin Soldiers of the Great Seen Unseen were serious, professional and exact. Yes, the Army of Four was supernatural, but how could such a band of bantering misfits best the Virgin Army? Drusilla would use her time with these people to study them. Perhaps if hostilities resumed with them, such intelligence could prove beneficial.
Flora led everyone to a spot where a circle filled with glyphs was drawn into the ground. The plant fairy gestured for everyone to step onto the pattern. Adam took Drusilla’s hand. He smiled, asking her, “Are you ready to take that big step in the right direction?”
“What?”
The man gently tugged on the woman’s hand. They stepped together onto the pattern… finding themselves stepping into a forest elsewhere in the world.
It was later in the day on this side of Telluria. The trees were larger and more fruitful here than in Region One. “Where are we?” Drusilla wondered.
“About a third of the way around the world,” Adam answered.
A gentle breeze washed over the group, whispering in a warm, soothing, maternal voice, “Soldiers of Telluria, await your king and our new friend. Man and woman, please come to me. Rest in my shade as I gaze into the answers you seek.” Adam led Drusilla onward. Flora, Conjure and Hairy stayed behind.
The Virgin Soldier questioned, “Are you taking me to a secret location?”
“No.” Adam brought Drusilla to a large tree shaped vaguely in the form of a voluptuous woman. The man gestured at the imposing plant, introducing, “The Oracle of Telluria.” He looked up into the lush branches, introducing, “Drusilla of the Concubines wanted to meet you. I hope you don’t mind.”
The branches rustled and a breeze swirled from above as the tree spoke, “My king, I am pleased she has come.” The “tree” told Drusilla, “Woman of the Great Seen Unseen, I shall never profane your master. I shall never require you to dishonor him. I shall honor your ways for they do not offend me. My counsel shall never betray you.”
Drusilla believed and trusted the voice. She worried, “Am I being charmed?”
The Oracle knew, “You distrust that you trust me. You are suspicious of your feelings towards Adam.” The cloaked and hooded Concubine bowed as if apologizing. The Oracle assured, “The only enchantment upon you is within you: the whispered curse and blessing of the Shadow that fashioned you from a human mind and blood. Your will is not your own but your thoughts and feelings are yours alone. You sought Adam of your own yearning. You heed my voice of your own accord.”
Drusilla uttered the mantra, “I am not my own.”
“You are not your own, woman formed from the very ground and water of your world. Loyal servant of the Unheard Whisper, peace be with you.”
Adam blurted, “We have a serious problem.”
“My king, I am aware of the festering darkness. Allow me to wander into its shadows that I may spy upon its doings.”
“What?”
“My king, I must see and hear elsewhere. Rest awhile, in the company of Drusilla Purple the Wise. Await the return of my attention.”
The man wondered, “How long do you want us to wait?” but the Oracle did not respond. “Hello?” No response. Adam huffed. He told Drusilla, “You might as well make yourself comfortable because it’s going to be awhile.”
“How long?”
Adam shrugged, explaining, “Plant fairies don’t have life-spans so they’re never in a hurry.” He produced a flask and rations from his gear. He handed them to Drusilla, telling her, “Bon appetite.” He then sat down and pulled out food for himself. Drusilla just stood there, holding the flask and rations. Adam told her, “Seriously: it’s going to be awhile. Have a seat and enjoy your meal.”
“Yes, of course.” Unlike Adam, who stretched and lounged against a tree, Drusilla sank where she stood, folding her legs.
The man assured, “My rations were prepared by plant fairies, so I assure you: it all tastes better than it looks.”
The hooded woman nibbled on a stick of mixed grains and dried fruit. She smiled, delighted. Adam liked her smile. He was not going to mind the long wait after all.