The previous Sassy Saturday post can be read here: Annala schools Lunas at the Mana Mutation Summit
The context for this post: Lunas Latrot has launched a surprise attack on Roalt castle and one of his allies, a god-like entity called an "enforcer", has directly attacked Queen Kasile. With her divine magic shut down she has to think quickly before it steals her soul.
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Kasile knew
she was dying. Stripped of all mana, her kon
was next and then her soul would be swallowed by the enforcer. That would be
the end of her, and with her, the end of the Ataidar royal line. She paled and
shriveled by the second. After all this time, the Sacred Fire bloodline would
end without a drop of it being spilled.
An electric
current raced across her brain as her final thought clicked.
She ripped
out a chastity dagger and sliced down her right arm. Blood poured from the
wound and she prayed to Fiol; not as the royal and semi-divine queen but as the
Highest Public Servant. Instead of self-congratulating praise, she spoke of
earnest supplication.
Then the back
of her left palm shined. The divine crest that was the Empty Throne of Ataidar
burned in her skin. The Royal Crest that was the Crowned Tiger followed it on
her right. Her skin became incandescent and the blood leaking from her wound
became white fire. Her irises became pools of it.
She gathered
the bloody fire in her hand and launched it at the enforcer. It hissed in pain
and ceased draining her. In response, she staggered back and forth while a
peal of laughter ripped from her throat. The visiting rulers backed away.
“No wonder I’ve had trouble controlling it! All this time, I’ve been
laboring under the wrong impression! I should incinerate the Fire Sage for his
help.”
A pillar
of fire roared into life around her. She outstretched her hands and blasted
white flames to every corner of the room. It rose up the walls and floor and
echoed her glee.
“The true source, Fire Sage! The true Authority! Of course, I'm not queen. The throne is empty and the tiger is
crowned.”
She raised
her right hand above her head and a combination of blood and white flame
streamed in a double helix around her arm. The blood soaked her opera glove,
but the fire didn’t touch it. She brought it down, clenched, and both of them
gushed forth.
“My blood; my heritage; my responsibility. This is Kasile Landros
Ataidar, daughter of the daughter of Fire!”
“Madness!”
Lunas exclaimed. “We must leave before she demands sacrifices! The enforcer
will hold her off!”
Most of the
visitors had already fled during Kasile’s speech. The rest followed Lunas’
command. Kasile pointed her right pointer finger and a beam of white death
lanced out at him. The enforcer intercepted and absorbed it. The prince, last
of the delegates, ran away.
“Siron!
Stop him!"
Pale faced
and shaky-legged, Siron obeyed the command. On his way out, he checked for his
rapier and dagger. Then the door closed, the lock melted, and a dome of white
fire encompassed the door.
“It’s
just you and me now, enforcer.”
The fragment
of Order twisted the room’s reality. Ethereal lights appeared from nowhere to
wrap around the unconscious guards. There were two for every delegate, totaling
over two hundred professional warriors. They arose and arrayed themselves
around Kasile. The Sacred Fire above them all diminished and wavered. Some of it
drifted into orbit around the enforcer and alignment changed into dark Infernal
Fire.
“This is not that which needs to escape, Mortal Flesh.”
It launched the corrupted fire at her in rapid volley
spheres. She grabbed them as they came and purified them on the spot. Then she
gathered it all into a ball and pressed it against her cut. It transformed back
into blood and shot back into her system and then again into fire. There was no
difference. As blood drained from her body, fire replaced it.
“I understand now. You accused me of lying about my status as queen.
You are right. The Fire Sage is right. I am not queen.”
The mind-controlled bodyguards slashed with short swords and
tomahawks. Mana bolts fell like rain. Kasile smirked and generated a dome of
Sacred Fire. Not one of their bolts touched her and their weapons melted into
slag before reaching her.
“Fiol is queen here. She has ruled for two thousand years. I’m closer
to Vice-Roy or High Priestess. Torch Day is to remind me of this fact: I am the
torch carrying the fire, not the fire itself.”
She thrust her arms to either side and sent Sacred Fire
rolling over the bodyguards like a wave. It melted their armor and incinerated
their clothing, but did not harm them personally. She gazed appreciatively,
then snapped her fingers. Obeying her unspoken summoning, salamander spirits
appeared around her.
“Take these people to another room. This does not concern them.”
They nodded and scattered. While they grabbed guards large
and small, she continued, “My divine power is similar. It’s not mine. I’m borrowing it from
the real goddess, yet I claimed that it was mine. Order is a sly bastard.”
“Blasphemy!”
Kasile placed her spotless left hand over her mouth in mock
apology. “Ohh…Did I upset the
emotionless drone?”
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Mana Mutation Menace, and the rest of the Journey to Chaos series, is available for purchase at Amazon as both an ebook and as a paperback.
To learn more about the heroines of Journey to Chaos, visit the Tvtropes character sheet.
The next Sassy Saturday is Routine Mission Monster Slaying
Brian Wilkerson is a freelance book reviewer, writing advice blogger and independent novelist. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
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