by TP Keane
*
Aria screamed in frustration. She had everything she needed to defeat Ol?rin and capture Aramus, but now they were too far away. She fingered the Etherium arrow and wondered if it might be able to reach the wizard and weaken him from this distance. But even if it could, she was too far away to be able to take advantage of it, and to have come so far only to be stopped by something as innate as rocks, infuriated her.
"You there," she shouted at the nearest ogre, "find a way to them."
The ogre grinned a stupid, toothy grin and saluted the young queen, like he had been the first to be asked. Raising his cleaver above his head, and letting out a brutish roar, he ran across the dark rocks as fast as he could. Within seconds the black surface under him turned a bright crimson colour and the ogres cries of war soon turned into screams of anguish. Aria clenched her jaw so tightly that she thought it would never open again.
"My Queen," Edwel began in an aggravatingly calm voice. "This is enchanted obsidian, there is no way for us to cross it."
"There has to be," she shouted at the golem. "If they can cross it, so can we."
"They may have knowledge of magic that we do not," he replied. "But never fear, we can just wait for them to emerge again. They cannot spend an eternity beneath the ground."
"Wait? Wait?" she said, picking up some nearby pebbles and throwing them at the obsidian. The pebbles exploded one by one as the black rock beneath them reacted to even the smallest one, confirming that she couldn't use Edwel to cross it either. "And where exactly should we wait? The badlands are vast. Should we circle around and wait to the east or the west of them? Or perhaps we should just wait here, because they are bound to emerge in the exact same spot as they left, right? I have no idea where they will be headed once their business with the dwarfs is finished, do you?"
Edwel clasped his hands in front of him, like a scolded child, and solemnly shook his stone head.
"Two years I have been waiting to gain the upper hand over that murderer Aramus. Two years! But it seems that I am to be blocked at every pass by whatever forces protect him. Why?" she screamed at the skies. "What would you have me do? Should I ignore his crimes and content myself to sit on a golden throne, pretending to be ignorant? Is that the kind of ruler you would have me be? Answer me, Edwina!"
Aria's last words rang out across the barren landscape, but there was no reply. She was resigned, the goddess Edwina had forsaken her mission too.
Her chest heaved with the effort of breathing in the heat. Sweat rolled down her neck and disappeared under her armour. Despite Edwel's multiple requests, she had refused to remove it; choosing to be battle ready at all times instead. She was beginning to regret her decision now as her mind, made mad from the heat, conjured the sound of hundreds of hooves galloping closer and closer. She knew that it couldn't be, because animals needed grass to graze and water to drink, but there was nothing in the arid southern region of Naretia except sand and black obsidian.
Aria watched Ol?rin and her enemy disappear beyond the blackness. She hung her head in defeat and fell to her knees, a small tear escaping the corner of her eye. A queen shouldn't cry, especially not in front of her army, but the girl inside her wouldn't allow her the dignity of stoniness and she hated that.
The sound of galloping grew louder as the heat reached its choking hands around Aria's face. She ignored it.
"Aria!" Edwel whispered, pointing his stone finger toward something in the distance.
The sound of four legged creatures racing toward them grew louder still, as did the grumbling from the line of ogres. Aria stood up and squinted in the direction Edwel pointed. A small flutter of something made itself known in her stomach, she wasn't quite sure if it was fear or delight. Kicking up a cloud of dust from the path behind them, was an army of worgen. And leading the charge, was Luscious.
"Be still," she ordered her army.
Their voices hushed and their weapons lowered instantly. Within minutes, Luscious and his pack, of at least thirty worgen, skidded to a halt in front of her.
"Queen Aria," Luscious growled, the corner of his lip curling to reveal the missing canine tooth. "I see the wizard and Aramus have escaped you."
"Do you come here to gloat, Luscious? Because if you have, I have better things I could command you to do with your time," Aria warned.
"There is no need for the amulet, Your Majesty. I have no intention of harming you or your pride. In fact, I come bearing wonderful news."
"Is that so? Please, do go on," she said, eyeing the large number of worgen with a small amount of trepidation churning the contents of her stomach.
"We know where they will travel after the dwarfs," he said, absently scratching his pointed ear with his hind leg. "But I fear they may gain the support of the half-men and, should that happen, you will need more than a subservient army of mindless beasts to defeat them. Small as they might be, the dwarfs are nothing short of powerhouses built to level mountains. Although they are not warriors by trade, if you should put a sword in their hands instead of a pickaxe? well, you can imagine the damage that they could do."
"Nothing short," Edwel sniggered at the unintentional pun.
Aria shot him a pointed look which stopped his scoffing instantly.
"Where do they travel to next? And how did you come across this information when I have scoured every inch of Naretia and heard nothing?" she asked.
"Like the worgen, not all of the dwarfs follow their god blindly," Luscious said, turning toward the setting sun, "I find that sugar has always been more appealing to flies then a swot. However, the real truth only comes to light when the flies are made aware that the swot is still nearby. Gold is a very persuasive incentive for the dwarf's."
Luscious, followed by his army of worgen, skirted around the grumbling ogres.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked Aria.
"Where to?"
"There are a number of underground passages from Balbuldor which lead outside the reach of the obsidian. They are well guarded and commonly used by the dwarfs. But there is only one passage that leads to the west, toward Elwood. If we beat them to it, I am sure we can ambush them."
"They go to the elves? Are they mad?" Aria said, waving on both Edwel and her army. "Of all the creatures in this kingdom, the elves are most likely to strike Aramus down where he stands."
"It is true that the elves are puritans and may not allow the son of Dantet to take a single breath of their air, but they may also take the word of the Supreme Wizard over their own instincts. Either way, it is imperative that we make sure he dies. We cannot afford another mistake like the one on the mountain. If we can get to him before the elves do, to ensure the job is done properly, all the better."
"But he will die by my hand, Luscious, remember that," Aria sneered.
"I would not have it any other way, Your Majesty."
