Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Love at First Fight

Chal was high and hot casting her light down on the rolling waves of the Anin fertile belt, miles and miles of open mossy land in a brilliant patchwork of colors just at the height of the Anin brightseason. The sky overhead was a cloudless striking blue shot through with rainbow hues from anin's magnetic field.

And atop all that?

An army, the most powerful army Anin had ever seen since the time of the saints, made up of only the strongest, most skilled, and most beautiful Drev. The vast majority of them were over nine feet tall, arrayed from head to toe in brilliant armor and flowing ribbons of silk. And each one of them glowed like a glorious gem in hues of red, blue, white, green, yellow and all other colors in between. In their wake they had spread nothing but their own conquest, absorbing those who osgood worthy to join them, and forcing others to bow under their rule or die in pitched battle like the rest.

"General!" The voice came as a shout, partially breathless as a young scout came sprinting up the hill. His carapace was bright blue silver in the early morning light, and youth granted him a boundless energy though he was untested. He skidded to a stop at her side huffing and puffing. He was not much younger than she, but there were not many who could claim the conquest in battle that she herself could claim.

"Speak!" She ordered

The young Drev raised his spear in salute, "The golden one has been spotted on the horizon headed this way. His force is small, we should attack now while we have the upper hand."

General Kazna reached out a hand and rested it on the young Drev's shoulder, "I admire your enthusiasm, though you might seek to curb it." She scanned the horizon, finally catching sight of a glinting of metal off in the distance. They were still quite a ways away making no pretenses, "His force is small but the golden one should not be underestimated, he has defeated far more with far less."

The young drev, who went by the name Tana, looked up at her, "Then we wait?"

Kazna spun her spear in mild amusement, adjusting her helm, "Now I never said that." She glanced towards the horizon and the shifting glint of metal. She had heard of him before of course. A young Drev not unlike herself who had risen through the ranks of his own clans to become a respected and legendary general in opposition to the spread of her own clan.

The stories that spread of him said he was fifteen feet tall and stronger than ten drev soldiers combined. That when he fought he could cause the very ground to shake. SHe knew battlefield exaggeration when she saw it, but these rumors were likely not without some merit. He was likely a worthy opponent, and from what she had heard he was a brilliant tactician, intelligence and cunning, which was not something often found in Drev generals.

Kazn herself had little use for tactics when strength would do the trick, and it did most of the time.

Now he was all that was left.

The single link that stood in the way of her own conquest of the fertile belt.

She would have victory, and she would do it without guile.

Watching the opposing army advance, she knew his thoughts were similar. H was all that was left, and he would go down fighting, here in the open against her army. She could respect that.

She pulled her hand from Tana's shoulder, humming with delight as her heart began to beat hard inside her chest readying itself for the glorious heat of combat, "For glory and honor." She said, and Tana raised his spear in response.

"For glory and honor."

Kazna raised her spear and let out a hard sharp bellow, strong enough and loud enough to reach to the very edges of her army, which, well trained, and without delay formed up into a tight packed cluster behind her. Kazna stood at the front, her cape flapping in a slight breeze. Distantly she heard the call of another voice, powerful, jarring. It rattled the very air around her from even this distance.