Sandqueen (Rise To Omniscience Book 7)

by Aaron Oster

  “What was that?” his mother demanded. “I either must be hard of hearing, or you didn’t actually say anything!”

  “I’m sorry for the way I behaved,” Ragnar said, grinding his teeth together.

  “Oh, no, it’s okay, your majesty. I…”

  “Is the apology acceptable?”

  The messenger froze, staring back at the old dwarf woman and feeling such terror that it was hard for him to even form a coherent sentence. While Ragnar was undoubtedly the king, so long as his mother was alive, it was she who really ruled. Though, for the sake of appearances, the old queen of the dwarves no longer left the palace or attended any meetings or gatherings outside of her own family.

  “Y-Yes…Your H-Highness,” the man stammered.

  “Good,” she said, letting out a loud huff. “Now, you may speak your message and be sure to be quick about it!”

  The messenger swallowed hard, but then looked past the former queen and stared at a spot on the wall, trying to keep himself from stammering.

  “The scout reports that the spies have returned, and by all counts, seem to be headed towards the Glimmerlands.”

  Ragnar felt an icy hand clutch his heart as he heard those words.

  “Are you sure that was what the scout reported?” Ragnar asked, leaning forward in his seat. “The same spies, the ones that faced a goddess and somehow managed to get away, are back, and they’re heading for Elyssa’s lands?”

  “That is what the scout reported,” the messenger said, his voice cracking halfway through his report.

  “Go get my projection room ready!” he roared. “Get in contact with Elyssa, now!”

  The dwarf didn’t even answer, leaping to obey and gratefully running away from the irate king. While Ragnar was usually a fair-mannered king – as far as dwarves went, anyway – two things made him angry. The first was being disturbed in the middle of a meal, and the second was hearing anything about his loved ones being in danger.

  “I’ll be back,” he said, removing the dining cloth from his lap and dropping it on the table. “Don’t eat my food.”

  Ragnar knew that as soon as he left the room, his greedy mother and younger brother, Ham, would snatch what remained on his plate. He trusted his wife to assure that the cooks hid some food for when he returned, so he wasn’t too worried.

  The communication room was already up and running when he arrived, with a projection of Elyssa, dressed in a formal gown and looking like she was ready to throttle someone, floating in the center.

  “What the hell took you so long?” she demanded, placing her hands on her hips. “I get an urgent message saying that you need to talk to me, only for me to have to wait forever in here for you to even show up!”

  “Sorry,” Ragnar said, slumping into a chair. “I was in the middle of supper and had to walk down to talk to you.”

  In truth, he hadn’t expected her to be here already, which was why he hadn’t rushed down. He’d been expecting to wait anywhere from five to fifteen minutes for her to show up.

  “Well, whatever it is, hurry up. The baker just delivered a batch of sweet cakes and they’re still warm.”

  Ragnar understood the love of food – it was something he and his surrogate niece shared, after all – but Elyssa’s obsession with cake had always troubled him. Sure, she was managing to keep herself trim now, but she was only seventeen. In a few years, it would eventually catch up with her. Ragnar looked down at his waistline, which was a bit flabbier than he would have liked and decided to keep his mouth shut on the subject.

  “The spies from the human lands have returned and are headed your way,” Ragnar said, getting straight to the point.

  Instead of growing serious, afraid or angry as he’d expected, the queen seemed to grow excited.

  “Are they the same ones as last time?” she asked, leaning forward a bit.

  “As far as we can tell,” Ragnar said, his voice a bit uncertain.

  “Morgan, the supermage who faced the goddess — is he with them?”

  “Yes?” Ragnar said, the reply sounding more like a question than an answer.

  “Excellent!” Elyssa said, practically beaming at him.

  She half-turned then, as though to leave, but Ragnar called out to her.

  “Wait! Where are you going? And why would the spy’s return be excellent?”

  “Oh, sorry!” Elyssa said, half-turning to face him. “I have a plan which might help us avoid the war altogether. I’ve gotta get going, though. There’s a lot that needs to be done if I want this to work!”

  “Okay, I guess I’ll see you…” Ragnar trailed off as Elyssa’s ethereal form vanished as she cut off the communication.

  Instead of getting up and heading immediately back to his meal, Ragnar sat back, stroking his long beard and wondering about his niece’s strange behavior. The spoiled girl had never really been one for planning, nor could he see how she could end the war with just the knowledge of a human spy coming to her kingdom.

  Perhaps she was planning on capturing him and leveraging his return to the humans? Strong as Elyssa was, he wasn’t sure if she could beat him, though anyone who underestimated the elven queen would be in for a rude awakening. Gilderon could probably take the human spy down if he were quick enough, but containing someone of that power would be nearly impossible.

  His niece wasn’t a planner nor a schemer, so Ragnar could not see a way that she could end the war. Or really do anything, in fact. Still, there was little he could do at the moment, other than send some of his own troops over to reinforce hers. This was something he was planning on doing anyway. If Elyssa wanted to plan, let her plan. He, on the other hand, was far more practical, and Ragnar would be damned if he allowed the daughter of his best friend to be killed due to negligence on his part.

  18

  “Here’s your stop,” Morgan said, stretching his arms above his head as Bill left the battered wagon and took a good look around.

  It had taken them several days to reach the border of the Glimmerlands, in which time Morgan had managed to map out a good deal of the Soaring Peaks. He knew that there were still the lands of both the gnomes and trolls to explore, but for right now, this is where he needed to be.

  The rocky ground underfoot had begun turning to colorful grass, all sparkling with an otherworldly sheen and sending off motes of light into the air. When he landed on the ground, more motes puffed up, floating around him before settling back down. It was only then that he realized that the lights were either pollen or grass seeds, which was astonishing.

  “Wow! This place is so pretty!” Grace exclaimed, getting out of the wagon as well and stretching mightily.

  She was dressed in a loose-fitting shirt and a pair of pants, cut off at the knees. Her feet were also bare, and Morgan made a mental note to scold her later about being so careless in enemy territory.

  “Tell me about it,” Hilda replied, joining them.

  She was also dressed in relaxed clothes, though her shirt clung just a bit tighter than Grace’s and was missing the sleeves. It was clear to see where Grace was learning such bad habits, and Morgan reiterated the need to drill the proper way to behave in hostile territory into his student.

  “Wow! Look at these flowers!” Grace said, crouching to examine an open-throated plant that was colored a deep blue.

  Inside, the petals were flecked with yellow, red and orange, with a trio of red stems poking from its center.

  “Careful,” Morgan called as she went to pick it. “You can never be sure of the flora in a hostile environment. It could be poisonous.”

  “Oh, relax, would you?” Hilda said, reaching down and plucking the flower. “See? Nothing wrong wi…”

  The flower exploded, the three red stalks bursting and showering the woman with droplets that stained her clothes, hands and hair. Grace, who’d taken a step back, was spared the shower and subsequent dousing in what appeared to be red dye.

  “What did I tell you?” Morgan said, watching as H
ilda shook her hands and cursed.

  “Hey! None of that ‘I told you so’ bullshit! I made my choice!” Hilda snapped, wiping the red dye from her face.

  “I promise I’ll be more careful,” Grace said as they both watched Hilda stalk toward the wagon to fetch some water.

  While the dye came off her skin, it did not come out of her clothes or hair, and when Morgan took off once again, Grace was already offering to help her fix it, seemingly excited at the prospect of getting to mess around with someone else’s hair.

  Hilda might have lucked-out, Morgan mused. Grace had cut his hair a couple of times, and she was good at it. Of course, seeing as she loved everything hair-related and studied the subject with an almost zealous fervor, he’d have been more surprised if she weren’t. Just as he’d predicted, when they landed for camp that night in a copse of bushes, Hilda emerged with an entirely new look.

  Grace had not only added some more color to her pale-blonde hair – adding a few purple streaks to balance out all the red – but had also cut a few key locks, making her hair flow better overall. It now framed her face quite nicely, while also accentuating her long neck and delicate features.

  “Your supermage ability has to be hairdressing,” she told Grace, beaming down at the younger girl as the two of them emerged.

  Morgan noted that both of them were still in their casual clothes.

  “I really didn’t do all that much,” Grace said, clearly embarrassed.

  “Don’t give me that!” Hilda said, slapping her on the back. “You’re amazing! If this whole supermage thing doesn’t work out, you should come work at the palace. Le’vine will lose her shit when she sees what you can do with hair! You can be the next Octavia Love! Or even better, they’ll be comparing her to you!”

  Morgan had no idea who this Octavia woman was, but by the way Grace was blushing, he had to assume she was someone big in the industry of hairdressing.

  “Alright, enough of that,” Morgan said, cutting into their conversation. “Grace, get dressed into something more appropriate, and Hilda, do a sweep of the area. We don’t need to be caught unawares.”

  “Gosh, you’re boring,” Hilda said, rolling her eyes.

  Still, she didn’t argue, giving Grace a wink before dashing off into the thick foliage to begin her sweep. Grace, on the other hand, realizing what she was wearing wasn’t exactly optimal for training, rushed back into the wagon to change. As the door – which Morgan had made Hilda fix – swung open, Lumia drifted out, her eyes narrowing to slits as she yawned.

  “Tired?” Morgan asked as she landed on the ground, immediately expanding to her humanoid form and towering over him.

  “More like, bored out of my mind,” Lumia replied, slumping back into a clump of bushes. “I haven’t had a good fight in weeks, and it’s hard to stay quiet all the time.”

  “You can come out and join me if it’s that hard,” Morgan offered. “As far as I know, we’re pretty closely allied with the East, so it shouldn’t be a problem if Hilda finds out your secret.”

  Lumia thought about it for a few moments, then shook her head.

  “I’ve kept my silence for this long. I may as well keep it up for a few more days. Besides, I prefer that not everyone knows what I can do. I…” Lumia trailed off here, her head turning sharply to the left and her nostrils flaring.

  “What is it?” Morgan asked, already preparing himself for the worst.

  He was lucky he had, as before Lumia could so much as answer, a massive green dome came crashing down around them, sealing off the area for some few miles. Sound was immediately muted, and when Lumia spoke next, her voice sounded as though it were coming to him through a wall.

  “There are creatures approaching, though I can’t tell how many.”

  The wagon door opened then, and Grace emerged, now dressed in proper armor. As soon as she exited, Morgan motioned for her to get back inside. Her brows furrowed, but as soon as she looked up and saw the green light tinting their surroundings, she finally understood and did as she was told. While he was confident in her ability to take care of herself in most low-risk situations, this was anything but.

  There were an unknown number of enemies, one of which had cut off their means of escape and muffled any sounds their battle might make. He’d honestly have rather had Grace outside of the dome altogether, but they had been on a risky mission to begin with, so something like this happening wasn’t wholly unexpected.

  Morgan could feel the Beast King, restless and stirring, urging him to find whoever did this and rip them to pieces. Thankfully, he had more control than that and remained where he was, his eyes scanning their surroundings for any signs of life. Lumia remained by his side, her nostrils flared as she tried to pick up their movements by scent alone.

  He hated not being able to use his Aura Sense here, as it forced him to relinquish one of his greatest assets. His eyes flicked about, his body slowly turning in a circle as he waited for the first attack. When it came, it was from a completely unexpected source. The top of the dome, which sat right above them, flared with white light and a bolt of lightning came crashing down on them.

  Lumia, who must have smelled something, managed to get out of the way in time. Morgan wasn’t quite fast enough, though, being struck by lightning wasn’t exactly something he was afraid of. The bolt of electricity slammed into him, tingling over his skin and trying to lock up his muscles.

  As a user of this type of skill, Morgan was more than a little resistant. He turned, looking up and trying to see if any mages were somehow perched up in the air. He saw nothing, of course, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone there.

  His muscles tensed as he used Stormforge, a dozen gauntlets being summoned around him and all crackling with red and blue lightning. They rocketed upward at a thought, slamming into the barrier over and over in rapid succession and easily dispersing the attack. Cracks began to appear in the dome after a few seconds, but just as he was about to break through, he caught a flash of movement to his left.

  He used Maximum Increase, his Strength and Agility quadrupling in an instant, and easily dodged the next bolt of lightning. It flashed past, Morgan seeing the arcing branches flaring outward as they missed their intended target and continued toward the carriage in which Grace was currently hiding. Morgan wasn’t worried, as Lumia had taken up a spot near the wagon and would undoubtedly block or diffuse it with an attack of her own.

  Morgan dashed forward, his body a blur as he traced the bolt back to its source. Whoever was throwing these attacks was good. They were using the terrain to their advantage. His Aura Sense was useless due to the ambient reiki, and his hearing was muffled, effectively stopping him from locating any of them by sound. This left only his sight and touch to show him where attacks were coming from, but he had a feeling that something was going to be done about that as well.

  He skidded to a halt by the spot where the lightning had come from, his head whipping from side to side as he tried to spot some sign of a person’s passing. The ground was a bit depressed, but far too little for it to have been stepped on by a full-grown adult. Then again, these were elves, and for all he knew, they would be just as short as the dwarves.

  Another flash of movement caught his attention, and Morgan easily dodged as a black sphere crackling with white energy flew past, this one moving so slowly that he could track its progress. His eyes widened a bit as they focused on the object, and he turned to run. He only made it partially out of the way before the sphere detonated, releasing a billowing cloud of darkness, one that moved so fast that even he couldn’t outrun it.

  In just the matter of a couple of seconds, Morgan found himself swallowed by darkness, another one of his senses completely stolen. He gritted his teeth in aggravation, trying to sniff at the air to see if he could use that sense, but all he got was the smell of sulfur. He moved his hand up to his eyes and could just barely make out his fingers as he wiggled them. When he ran his hand along his face, he found that he could
still feel.

  Sight, sound, smell and his Aura Sense, most of the skills someone would use to fight and then some, were all but gone. Morgan knew it would be pointless to try and dispel any of it either, as he didn’t feel any substance to the darkness. The only way he’d be getting rid of it would be to destroy the barrier, which he was sure had been repaired by now, or by killing the one who’d cast it.

  There was no point in running around blindly, not without the use of his senses. The smartest move for him right now would be to stand completely still and simply wait. He had other senses aside from sight, smell and hearing, mainly those of touch and taste. He also had his Aura Sense, even in a diminished capacity, extending a couple of inches from his skin and giving him sensory information from there.

  His Maximum Increase faded, the cooldown timer set for twenty-five seconds. His reactions were quick, so even without the skill, Morgan was more than confident in his skill to react in time. His body stilled as he closed his eyes – in this darkness, keeping them open was pointless – a shimmering violet light outlined his body, and the earth beneath him shifted ever so slightly.

  Morgan was positive that while he – and likely Lumia and Grace as well – couldn’t see, their assailants would have no such problem. So, he had no qualms about using his supermage shield as a little extra defense. He didn’t want to summon the construct armor just yet, as he needed to preserve his RP, but a violet spear did appear in his right hand, the construct already buzzing with the hum of his lightning.

  Truthfully, he didn’t need to summon it to his hands, and the enemy might already know that, but it didn’t hurt to take a few precautions. This fight was going to be a tough one. His opponents were well-prepared, and Morgan was never one to underestimate those who could think this far ahead.

  He felt the Beast King stirring once more, pushing against the bonds he’d placed to lock him down, and it was then when the attack finally began in earnest.