The Flame of Wrath (11 page)

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              Beneath the Queen, the High Lords and Grand Femmes of the land were the most honored members of the court. They ruled over the nobles of the court and answered only to the Queen, herself. That is, in all the provinces but Angels this was true. Here, High Lord Angelos answered to another voice. He answered to the powers of the stars for in their brilliant beauty the Dragon's will could be read.

             
He stepped onto a stone which would be the first of many stairs chiseled out of the very mountain. The stairway wound its way upward until it reached the top of the narrow peak. He stood at its crest, gazing up to a star-filled sky. Slowly, the clouds were beginning to roll away. He watched them, allowing their absence to reveal the majesty of the night.

             
In the darkness, he faintly detected the beautiful woman whose naked skin all but glowed ethereally. Her smooth skin had never known the caress of any other than her lover, the bewitching night. She was pure. She was otherworldly. She was the Oracle.

             
Long blood red hair reached outward as if to embrace her visitor, the General. Her body exemplified time, the womanly curves only exaggerated how there was never enough of it and oh how the eyes coveted more. Soft moist lips parted to release a conscious breath which rang out loudly in the night.

             
Angelos III knelt respectfully. With lowered head, he spoke. “Wisest of us all, I have come to ask for guidance. What truths do you see in the stars?”

             
He wordlessly placed a card bearing the image of a crown on the rough surface of the holy place. Withdrawing a second card bearing the Djidjiga bloom, he placed it alongside the other.

             
As her cool black eyes fell upon the cards, the cards were set aflame. Their fires burned as pale and white as the very nature of the Oracle's skin. When their fires had died away to nothing, their ashes floated upward to the sky.

             
She gasped aloud.

             
She spoke in a voice of nightly breezes.

             
“The heavens....”

             
The mind had long ago lost its sight for many, but in this world of indescribable mysteries, a precious few existed with the innate ability to see what had been, what is and what would be. Among those enlightened, there was the gift or perhaps the curse of enabling others to witness the world as they, themselves, saw it.

             
The General frowned painfully as his mind was entered. The zealous visions blinding him were given to him by the Oracle's whims. Her sights were now his own.

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A starry sky was beautiful and clear. Within that sky of wonders, a constellation began to shine more brightly than any other. It was the DJIDJIGA constellation. In that constellation of tragic beauty, two stars began to blaze for all the glory of the heavens.

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              “They have given birth to two most brilliant flames.”

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A beauty beyond compare, it lingered in her every feature. She was the semblance of perfection in a world in which the perfect was all but forgotten or tainted in some cruel way. Her elegant hand outstretched into the future to claim it for her own. 

             
The pale blue flames of her eyes were no longer contained by her pupils. They snaked outward to dance in the air just about her eyes. Her moistened lips parted to expose the heavenly light emitting from her innermost depths. 

             
Aurea was at the pinnacle of her power. Her every word was enunciated with a resonating force which echoed throughout the land. “I am a GOD!”

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              What is it when the heavens cry? Could it be the brilliance of the rain? Yes, indeed it could, but what of the crying consciousness of the cosmos? What then? It is the splendor of a meteor shower the likes most only witness once throughout their lifetime.

             
That greatness ruled the world as a dark-haired woman stood against it.  Her hair thrived in the gales of Dragon's breath.  Her eyes were cool with the tranquility of knowing ones place within Destiny's plan. In the night, her armor glinted majestically.

             
With timeless nobility, her arm rose from its place at her side. Her reach was furthered by the extension of her sword. It glowed ethereally in the starlight. From her back, wings of white outstretched powerfully.

             
A dream-like song left her supple lips. It gave birth to stars which were mirrored in the eyes of the army rising up from the earth to serve their sovereign, Autumn Queen of Angels.

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              “Both strength and beauty, they rule across our night....”

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A voice purred in hushed devotion.  “You will be a Queen to inspire the envy of the world.”

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              “---but
never
shall the two join.”

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Her cries came with all the raw emotion to endow the world. “I would have given you the world!” she lamented. “The world!”

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              “For in their union, destruction comes to destroy the world of man.”

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The land was bathed in the eternal dusk brought about by destruction's flame. The heat was such that the horizon wavered as though the world, itself, could no longer see unless through the midst of blurring tears.

             
Aurea towered as a giant over the land. The Goddess held a treasure close to Her body, cradling it much like one would a sleeping babe.  Her eyes lowered to the face of Her sleeping angel. With Her left hand She moved Her palm near to Autumn. The enormity of its size almost completely overshadowed the motionless angel.

             
Autumn's body bowed upward with a lurch. From her depths a glowing key emerged to hover between their forms.

             
Aurea's eyes shifted sharply to the General just as Her hand tightened around the key.

             
One by one, men fell in every direction.

             
Angelos III groaned as he weakly fell to his knees. The flags of battle were slumped in defeat. He tore his eyes away from their disgrace to the pains which would not end.

             
A wound bled angrily from his abdomen. He clutched the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding. Then with his eyes unable to look away from the abundance of blood staining his hand, he fell. Angelos III, High Lord of Angels, fell.

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Angelos III swallowed convulsively at the sickness rising inside him. His fist clenched tightly as his breathing grew labored. “Is there nothing I can do to change----” His voice failed him. Lost within his swirling thoughts, he and the very world around him fell beneath the darkness of returning clouds.

             
“The stars are destruction and rebirth,” she answered hauntingly. “They are the ash of death and the bloom of life.”

             
Angelos lifted his ashen face. He gazed into her sadly. “I don't understand,” he said.

             
The Oracle had no vocal answer. Instead she moved to stand directly before him. She placed her hands softly against his cheeks and cupped his face. She leaned forward touching her lips gently to his forehead.

             
Throughout the night, above the winds, above the music which reverberated through each child of the stars, a pained scream rang out.

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              Alone within the darkness of the courtyard, the Angels’ High Lord shivered. He had never felt such a consuming cold. He wondered if he could ever truly be free of it. The sound of a twig breaking underfoot sent his hands reaching for a sword which was not at his side.

             
“What would you do,” a voice asked softly. “Would you kill me, High Lord?”

             
Angelos III stared down at his trembling hands. They held nothing. He frowned in pained wondering. What had he planned to do? The muddled images of the visions ripped with avid claws at his mind. He clutched his head with an agonized groan.

             
“Soren, my old friend, help me. Take these visions from me.”

             
“I cannot.”

             
Soren emerged from the shadows. He gazed deeply into the swirling lights of pain, of regret, of fear. Closely, he studied his aura even as his hands moved to steady the swaying General.

             
Angelos III steeled himself as best he could in his weakened condition. “If you cannot honor that request then honor this one. I need to know. Tell me what you see.”

             
As Soren leaned close, the General tensed. He held his breath as Soren's cheek brushed his.

             
From the darkness, a watchful son took in the image of his father keenly. He noted the slow closing of his father's eyes as Soren's lips moved to whisper into his ear. Angelos IV gasped soundlessly as his father slipped his arms tightly around the beautiful druid and together beneath a moonless sky, they held one another close.

Chapter Five

Fall from the heights which you have known, from the stability which held you. Descend, descend into the unknown with trusting airs. Those who doubt that they can ever find their way through uncertainty will fall to their doom. Yet those who believe will be caught within the loving hands of timely destiny. 

----Book of Wrath

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              An enigmatic night nurtured the women lying innocently beneath its glories. Each woman surrendered to inevitability the same way that the ancient innocents had basked beneath the wonders of the first dragons. Queen Aurea held Autumn tangled within her embrace. Together, they whispered so softly that not even the spirits of the forest could have detected their words.

             
As their faces existed so close that each breath was felt lovingly against the other's skin, they shared their dreams. In their whispered existence, the words were the hopeful dreams once fostered within the minds of dreamy young girls. The night blanketed them while they released whispered giggles, almost giddy with the feeling consuming their hearts.

             
“Tell me a secret truth,” Autumn purred. “Tell me something which no one else might know.”

             
Aurea frowned in thought. Her fingertips curled a thick lock of brown hair. She blushed then admitted something she would never dare to repeat. “I am terrified of being alone.”

             
Autumn drew Aurea closer to her. She enveloped the woman completely within her arms. “As long as I live,” she promised, “you will never be alone.”

             
Gently, Aurea nuzzled at the sweet skin of Autumn's neck. “A lifetime with you will not be enough,” she sighed dreamily. “We will have forever, I promise.”

             
A smile formed across Autumn's full lips. “Forever is such a large thing to promise.” Her smile rose to light the swirling depths of her eyes.

             
Aurea contentedly closed her eyes. She felt her palms applying a needy pressure to Autumn's back as she drew her closer. “Yes, it is, but Fate would not deny a Queen. My Mother will see to it. My happiness is all She craves.”

             
“It is a desire we share.”

             
Tenderly, Aurea bestowed a lingering kiss to Autumn's heart. “Tell me a secret you have,” she whispered.

             
Autumn looked up to the sky. She could scarcely see the stars which she knew hid behind the thick blanket of drowsy clouds. “In the caves,” she began, “I have kept the fastest transport throughout the land.” She envisioned the way to the caves, unaware that as she thought of them she described their whereabouts with unfailing clarity. After a moment's silence, she smiled happily. “There is nothing faster than my Prayer. She is both, a beauty and a beast.”

             
Aurea smiled against Autumn's skin. “And why is she a secret,” she asked, “this terrific creature of yours?”

             
“Because prayers often are.”

             
Aurea lifted her eyes to find Autumn peering deeply into her. It caused her breath to tremble. She blinked rapidly, forcing her voice to leave her lips. Another request came for more knowledge about the stormy-eyed beauty. “Tell me something... anything about you or your childhood, my Angel,” she uttered.