DESTRUCTIVE MYTH
The Black Maser

“WHAT?!” Windows shattered as her voice boomed through the throne room.

It was obviously not the first time the queen had lost her temper, thankfully someone had realized replacing the glass windows was a tedious weekly job and had cast a spell that rebuilt the windows each time as if they were made to operate that way.

“How the hell did this happen?! No one, NO ONE HAS EVER escaped you!” Dimas snapped as more windows exploded. The rage rolled off her rattling every bone in her Gorgaknights bodies, she couldn’t accept that her beasts had failed her, Drathis was but one how could they lose him.

She took a deep breath trying to regain her composer, a simple wave of her hand could crush her pets and they were such a hard species to replace of late.

Queen Dimas was taller than average an outstanding two meters, dressed in her favorite shade, a black silk dress that trailed behind her with an armored metal belt around her waist just sitting in place, it was more a showpiece than protection. Her skin was white as snow and flawless with the slightest glow, she had long pitch black, thick straight hair, so dark it was almost unworldly, and it hung gracefully down just past her hips. Her eyes were a dark wine with a bright red burst of color, lips full and soft yet colored black, just as wicked as her soul, inked writing on each arm around her wrists in patterns fading to nothing as they went up. Some said it was a powerful protection spell others believed it was a curse.

Dimas wore a crown crafted out of black diamonds catching every reflection of the fire at the other end of the room. The center of her crown had three immense rubies that were said to contain the blood of the three most feared warlords in history, some doubted but most wouldn’t have put it past her.

“You were supposed to bring him to me, not LOSE HIM HALFWAY!” She thundered rising from her thrown gliding down five black marble steps towards the creatures like a spirit out for vengeance. She paced up and down cursing their failure, stopping suddenly to facing them, she scanned them raising a brow.

“Why… Are there… Only two of you?” She said between deep breaths trying not to crush them into fine dust, rage boiling up inside again.

They looked up at her terrified, she knew then that Drathis had killed the other three.

Dimas closed her eyes tight as every light in the castle went out, even the fire was extinguished as every particle of air vanished around her they returned with a loud cracking sound, oh yes, she was beyond calming down.

“Get OUT my way!” With a brush of her hand, she sent the creatures flying up into the roof then falling back down screeching. She stormed out the throne room bursting the doors open with her eyes watching them rip out the wall flying down the corridor in splinters.

The queen glided past bowing servants that ended up slamming against the walls on both sides as she went along her way, they got back up watching her storm off, her dress gliding behind her on the floor like a flag being ripped in the wind.

In her room, she shut her ears bending down screaming all her frustration out.

* * * * *

Dimas calmly made her way slowly to the balcony, looking down at her hands as they held the railing gently feeling its cold smooth service then raising her gaze up at the sky, it was dark with her storm clouds circling, dipping her view to her castle walls that were a bit to the left nearly twenty feet in height and wide enough to march two horses next to each other upon. They were beaten and a little worse for wear after endless wars yet she never bothered to rebuild for no one would dare oppose her, not now that she was queen.

Dimas watched roughly five hundred soldiers marching in unison next to it, in front of her was an arched gate higher than the walls made of black stone with dangerously sharp edges. On each side stood four guards on watch than to her right were gardeners fixing, cutting shaping her garden like they did every week. She lifted her gaze up and looked out far over the walls onto her land that had scattered little houses the size of her fingernail all around her castle, there were protected by another wall in front, which was too far to see fully yet she just made out its shadow lining.

She smiled then, remembering she controlled it all, command over every soul in the walls of her Black Maser. The castle its self was ineffable, it rose high up into the sky like a pyramid, fat to thin except for its thousands of towers jutting out in all different places with no sequence.

The black maser was a castle so enormous it could hide the sun coursing a mini eclipse all across her kingdom most days. Despite its size, it was hidden well for they were surrounded by endless forests and mountains. Queen Dimas didn’t like it, she preferred open plains so she could see her enemy advancing instead of hiding behind trees and attacking unexpectedly, she nearly lost a battle against king Zitex’s soldiers who had actually dared.

Zitex was a huge empire in the far east, Dimas and he had been at war ever since her father died in battle against him trying to overthrow her now empire. Dimas had grown up hating Zitex for it, and making her take her place as queen way before her time.

But she learned the ways of the world quickly and made allies with two other kingdoms in the south: the kingdom of Avon, a selfish queen, and the golden slate, a powerful kingdom, in the top three out of the seven in Relangathian, but its downfall was not knowing how to use its power to their full potential.

The other four kingdoms were Hestan, Kazin and then, Talgrim and Altahime, the other top two. They minded their own business not interacting very often with the any around them, this kept things simple and reduced the number of wars, which Dimas silently regretted.

She grew up watching her dad’s ways, learning the six other kingdoms' weaknesses, strengths, power, names, kings, and queens. Her plan was to take over Zitex and somehow rule over Talgrim. But Talgrim was way too strong…. For the moment.

“Queen Dimas?” A shaky boy’s voice said from behind her holding a letter.

She spun around raging, such disrespect.

“It’s your majesty to you!” Dimas snarled shutting her room door in his face locking it with a single twitch of her right hand. The wall-size mirror next to her shattered with the impact. Brilliant another seven years of bad luck! She turned back to face her kingdom trying to gather her thoughts, there had to be a way to release all her rage.

She stared out into the night trying to envision where he planned to go? He knew no one.

“Where’s your heart leading you, Drathis?” She whispered to the open air.

“He is confused, lost in a commanding body that hasn’t even been trained!” A voice hissed behind her.

Dimas smiled.

“Thought you were dead!” Dimas snarled.

“Sometimes I feel I am, just thought I’d pop by and replace out how livid you had become. The cold room and shattered glass kind of sums it up.” Velda said trying hard to not laugh.

“This isn’t funny! No one in all my life has hurt my Gorganights! Now here’s a boy killing three… THREE!” queen Dimas snapped turning red in color.

“You still young Dimas.” Velda sighed materializing into a human form.

“I’ve lived out four centuries,” Dimas said coldly, she wasn’t as old as a god but surely she couldn’t be that young anymore.

“Point proven…”

“Why are you here?”

“You have still lots to learn, this is only the beginning…” Velda walked to join Dimas on the balcony, they stared out at the night for a long silent time. Velda hardly visited Dimas anymore, part of being a god didn’t require much human intervention but with Dimas’s battle history reshaping most of the land the gods had needed to step in, but the past century had been rather peaceful.

“There are things I have done that you should… it makes me feel ancient …” Dimas held her tough, as much as she was fearless a god was to be given a certain amount of respect but why after so many years was, she here now.

“Besides that, why are you disrupting me, I take it not to check up on my wellbeing.”

“Very well, I will get right down to it... Drathis has the sword… How did you LOSE IT?!” Velda snapped.

Dimas gripped the railing tightly looking down at her knuckles turning white. The whole room vibrated, a mini earthquake as she pulsed her anger out her body into the railing.

“I KNOW! I KNOW DAMNIT!” Dimas shouted.

Velda’s hair-razing laugh filled the room. “It’s your mistakes that will cost you YOUR life.” With that Velda vanished leaving queen Dimas angrier than ever.

“You came to threaten?” Dimas snapped turning to replace no one

She knew what Velda had meant, she should have killed Drathis it would have been less drama in her life, but she needed him, he had memories she needed access to.

But Velda’s visit meant only one thing…

He had been to her mountains which meant she now knew his heading.

She sighed looking back out watching four soldiers drag two prisoners under her through the side of the castle downstairs to her underground jail. Her soldiers wore all black, boots, pants, shirts, and a gray open tunic over their armor. To keep things safer the jail was underground, plus any poor soul who tried to escape had to pass on average a hundred soldiers, then pass her gate which was guarded at all times, then passed the city that was watched by a couple of guards every day, plus most of her soldiers weren’t human so they could outrun any enemy easily, lastly, they then passed the second wall which was also guarded. She loved it.

It was impossible for anyone to ever escape, four men had tried it once, seven centuries ago, and got as far as the first gate. Other than that, none had gotten far, except one, Drathis. Queen Dimas couldn’t believe he had escaped, she had indeed underestimated him.

And now he had set another record by killing three Gorganights more than any man and still had gotten away.

Her hatred grew each day he moved further, shutting her eyes images danced across her mind's eye of Drathis fighting her soldiers on top of her barn in the moonlight, then it burst into flames as he took off with her horse through the gates.

All she could do was watch him slip away, that’s when she sent five Gorganights after him, but that didn’t even work.

She gripped the railing threatening to sink her nails into it.

“How did this happen? I have never failed! I have never lost a battle in my home ground, and especially not a prisoner! A mere boy!” She sighed to herself releasing her grip, watching the dark red curtains blow up gently in the night breeze.

She stood dead still trying to decide her next steps, she needed him, else her power wouldn’t last… She needed both of them.

“You, fetch me a wizard, not on a mission.” She called to a soldier passing outside her room.

Within minutes a knock came at her chamber room.

“Enter.” Her tired voice said and a large woman as wide as she was tall stepped in.

“Ah, Sural, I need your most unique spells, that which can penetrate any magical protection to weaken an individual.”

“That will take time to create but it can be done, my queen.”

“Good, your mission is a creature named Dracanaeth. Find him, weaken him, and report back to me immediately. He was last seen at the Velda goddess mountain range.”

“Consider it done my queen.” Sural bowed and left.

Dimas made her way down to her personal library looking for a book she needed a certain enchantment from.

“I will not settle until I have what I need!”

She found it pulling it down on a table opening the enchantment book, it was cheating at getting what she wanted but she honestly didn’t care anymore, for years she had been after his race’s source of power and she had gotten so close until…

She slammed it closed picking it up walking through the door as if she were a ghost into another room filled with shelves reaching all the way to the arched ceiling, old and rusted packed with bottles, boxes, jars, and rusted cans.

She dropped the book on the table near her and started walking around looking through her collection trying to replace ingredients she needed to transform her normal spies into experts at hunting, now with a rough heading of where he would be, she needed a backup plan for her sorcerer.

“You! Fetch me, my ten new spies!” Dimas snapped popping her head out the room at a passing soldier. He jumped with fright hesitating and nodded running off to the soldiers’ courtiers; he rounded them up out of their beds and told them the queen wanted them immediately.

The few he got sat up startled, they knew the queen’s ways and how unhuman she treated her spies, pale faces stared at each other as questions began to fly of their and the faults of the other. Getting dressed in a hurry they followed the soldier into the main castle, keeping together praying for their lives.

“If I were you, id keep quiet, she has no patience for the weak.” The soldier said looking back at the men still trying to tie their belts and fix their shirts.

“Do you know what she wants with us?” A young man asked hopping as he pulled his boots on.

“Nope, she seemed excited though, which, you should know is not something good for you.” Silence fell as they followed the soldier taking a right up the stairs.

“Come on you fearful rats, she won’t slaughter you. You serve her, you haven’t done anything wrong yet that would course your death.” The soldier laughed climbing the dark staircase.

“Besides how are you supposed to be spies if you are fearful?” The soldier said with a sarcastic frown.

“Remember fear is a weakness that will kill you without hesitation.”

The spies kept quite not sure of that themselves climbing up the stairs into an extra-large hallway.

It was dark black marble and stone-like any other part of the castle with gunmetal carpets on the ground and statues jumping out the wall at every section.

“Geez, don’t you get scared patrolling these corridors alone?” Another young spy spoke studying a goblin statue twice his size frozen in the motion of jumping out the wall with an extra-large set of teeth.

“No, that’s why it’s my job.” The soldier said coldly walking to the door. “This is it, knock then wait.” He said then walked off disappearing into the dark night, the young spies looked at each other than the door.

The door looked like a hungry beast, a nightmare to every human that lived and watched them from the shadows. They all looked at each other until one bravely stepped forward to knock on the door then hesitated as a maroon smoke slid out underneath the door like a snake up into the air.

“Knock already!” One whispered stepping back, the front boy stepped forward knocking then jumping with fright as it swung open within the same moment. They looked in seeing the queen behind a table with a huge book, reading as bottles jumped down from different shelves back and forth mixed themselves on a separate table. The men stopped dead in their tracks wondering if running was a wise idea.

“Come in my young ones, we have a lot of work to do.” The queen said with a huge demonic smile standing up flicking her finger at the door behind them, shut and locked it dragging them forward.

“What can we do for you, your greatness?” One said bowing, the rest followed the bow.

“Firstly, who has completed their training?” The queen questioned; half the hands went up as the others hung their heads. “Brilliant…” she said turning her back to them creating a circle with her one hand over the other drawing black smoke from her nails as her eyes turned completely black, the room began to shake slightly and the spies grouped together for protection backing up watching the queen, she frightened them beyond belief, all they wished to do was bolt out the door and vanish into the forest free from her and the evil that swept through the kingdom, yet that would always remain a dream for those born with in the walls of the black maser.

“I need fantastic infiltrators, not boys… I need concealed warriors, not wimps, I need sly deceiver’s not human puppies, and I have found a recipe to help you be what I need.” Raising the hair on each of the young teen’s necks.

She turned to face them with a great twirling circle of powerful smoke, then almost smiling she blew at it letting it loose upon them.

They backed instinctively up then turned to run valuing their lives, screaming, climbing over each other denting, and scratching the door open best they could to get out.

Luck wasn’t on their side as the enchantment caught each one wrapping itself around each boy like a snake with a million arms. They tried to fight it best they could kicking, punching, screaming, anything they could to get out its grip until it completely took over them, entering their bloodstream.

The ten began to shake in fits of pain withering on the floor until it settled.

As if she had asked them to, the ten shot their dark colorless eyes in her direction ready for instruction.

She smiled down at them, even though they were still in human form, they could now swap and change into any animal of the wild they desired except those of magical ones.

She looked upon them still facing her waiting for her command, their skin had lost its natural look and seemed to have a silvery brown to it, their eyes finally settling to pitch black all over with five brown dots in the middle, their hair was longer yet stuck in a hard set of spicks all around their head also black with brown tips from his head down to their lower back.

“Now you are my perfect spies… Go now into all the forests and keep hidden. Learn all you can of my enemies and that of a creature named, Dracanaeth,” She gave them Drathis’s pillow from his prison cell to smell “When the time is right capture him, a girl will help you.” She said closing the book holding it with an evil smile watching them beat their chest accepting her request and departed as if nothing had happened.

She followed locking the door behind her looking to her left where the same soldier stood slightly confused and horrified trying to put a placid facial expression on.

“I would not mention what you witnessed.” She warned in a whisper vanishing into the darkness like smoke.

The wheels had been set in motion; she was going to get Drathis back if it was the last thing, she did…

His race was virtually extinct and she was persistent to get him back.

* * * * *

Dimas reappeared from the shadows in the center of her community an hour later scanning her surroundings then transforming into a fair maiden with her same black long hair and a peasant’s dress, only difference now was her appearance seemed that of innocence.

She strolled by soldiers passing her that didn’t recognize her, smiling as she pulled a scroll from under her sleeve reading.

“The queen has requested an adolescent.

That of a boy or girl under the age of two.

It needs to be healthy and without any form of disability or disease.

The queen requests one immediately to train to become one of the greatest leaders under her.

Those who give forth their child shell be rewarded greatly with many riches.

You have three days to come forth or one shell be taken.

Signed your Queen.”

Dimas knew it was a perfect lie and most would fall for it. As the soldiers disappeared around a corner, she walked through the night listening for young babes.

She knocked on the first door she heard crying from.

“Yes?” A man no older than thirty opened the door, with bright busy red hair holding a newborn in one hand, with another boy roughly six holding his leg and wooden toy cow.

“I’m a messenger from the queen. This you shall read and then spread the word.” She smiled trying to sound as sweet as she could repeating the sme line several times other cottages, handing out duplicates, of the same scroll to them. Finally disappearing into a dark alley with the slightest hint of a smile, she vanished into black smoke.

Moments later Dimas reappeared in her room, walking out onto her balcony with the same smile glued to her face. Scanning her empire, she finally sensed people running from door to door. Lights were going on, everyone was stopping and chatting in the streets, the night had come alive.

A small laugh escaped her as she closed the curtains.