"Wake up!" Fae heard a young man yell. She groaned; it was 6am, she was sleepy, and she did not want to get up. Not that she had much choice. After taking ten seconds more of blissful sleep, she forced herself up and climbed out of the tent.
The day progressed like usual. A morning run, training, getting yelled at, more exercise, and work. It was exhausting, but her body was the fittest it’d been her entire life. Her slender arms had become the definition of toned and the sword her uncle gave her felt like a paper weight, except after intense training. It’d been over a week and she still hadn’t talked to Isabelle, not since the last time. She’d been too tired, but today she decided she would put in the effort to see her.
As the sun descended below the horizon and the sky grew dim, Fae walked out of the encampment gates. She marveled at the sleek, towering construction that Isabelle had established in such a short time. It was one of the tallest buildings—if you could call it a building—she’d seen in her entire life. Her village didn’t have a lot of tall buildings, much less anything comparable to that towering structure. It sat in the center of what was once a field, now a darkened, corrupted landscape. She saw it on every morning run and so did the other recruits. It bore a striking resemblance to and reminded her of the tower and darkened landscape within the forest near her home, but on a smaller scale. She only saw that frightening place once, but it was a sight she’d never forget. It looked like a place where life went to die. Now it was here, too.
Gods help us, she silently thought.
She was curious how the tower itself was made in such a short time, but left it at that, and didn’t think about it too hard. That was sure to cause a migraine.
None of the two thousand creatures Isabelle brought with her were visible anymore. She assumed they must be hiding within the tower, but she questioned whether it was big enough to hold so many. Two thousand is a lot, after all, but perhaps.
She approached the tower and peeked inside, gripping the black wall for support. Her hand felt the warmth emanating off the wall where she gripped it, as if it were alive.
It's probably just hot from the sun, she concluded.
The texture felt strange in her hand, something she’d never experienced before. The closest comparison she could make would be tree bark, but that was still very wrong.
It was dim and difficult to see, but she could make out a large tunnel opening that bore into the Earth as well as a staircase that ascended to a higher level within the tower. Fae heard footsteps and saw Isabelle descending the tower staircase wearing elegant clothing fit for a rich person or noble. Fae couldn’t help but stare. She found it so odd, there was a vast dichotomy between Isabelle's monstrous appearance and the clothing she wore. It was far classier than the patchwork rags she wore before. She did look good, though.
"Too stunned to speak?" Isabelle commented when she reached floor level. Fae jumped.
"Ah, uh, sorry. You just look so different," Fae said.
"Well, that’s true. The commander of your army… what's his face, he gave me these clothes. I'm grateful, all I had before were rags," Isabelle explained.
"That must've been difficult during the winter. Well, maybe in your case, it wasn't as bad. You look tough," Fae said.
"You’re right, the cold barely seemed to affect me. I’m guessing it has to do with all the hard chitin I have. It offers a certain amount of protection. I’m not sure how these fancy clothes would fare," She held out her arm, admiring her elegant clothing.
—
The two united armies started their march to Unalia. Between both armies, there were around six thousand. Orelias army took the lead while Isabelle’s army marched behind in a tight, orderly formation. The commander and officers of Orelias army were surprised and a bit frightened at the sight. They wondered, again, how Isabelle could maintain such strict control over so many monsters.
The march lasted most of the day at a brisk pace. By the end of it, everyone was ready for a break. The armies set up camp and Fae went to see Isabelle again.
“Hi,” Fae said as she approached Isabelle through the mass of creatures, completely unfazed. Isabelle was leaning against a thick tree and petting one of them in her lap. It was fully relaxed while it enjoyed the special treatment.
“Hello, Fae! Come here, take a seat on my lap,” Isabelle said in an uncharacteristic moment of confidence. Fae squirmed awkwardly in place for a moment, unsure how to process the strange request. She was conflicted. It felt like she was being treated as a child because of her youthful appearance, which she hated, but she was simultaneously confused and nervous. She quickly relented and ended up sitting on her lap, once the previous occupant was chased off by Isabelle.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
In this position, Fae felt the size difference between them bearing down on her more than ever before. It was like comparing a puppy to a lion.
“Um, so… I thought it was really cool how you commanded all of your creatures. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Fae said. Isabelle perked up.
“Thank you. Do you wanna do it too?” Isabelle said. Fae’s eyes lit up in excitement and more nervous apprehension.
“Y-yes! I want to,” Fae said, a glint of joy in her voice. Isabelle stood up, forcing Fae up with her, and leaned against a tree with her arms crossed.
“Alright, tell them what you want to do,” Isabelle said.
“Uh, stand up,” Fae said. Isabelle mentally ordered them to all stand up. Right on cue, every one of them stood up at the same time.
“Wooooah. Do jumping jacks!” Fae said. Isabelle commanded them to do jumping jacks, and the entire two thousand creature army started doing jumping jacks.
“Okay, stop,” Fae ordered. Isabelle once again commanded the creatures and told them to stop, and they did.
“You know, you should travel with me during tomorrow’s march. It’ll give us a chance to talk,” Isabelle said.
“Okay, I can travel with you,” Fae said.
The next day Fae and Isabelle traveled together. They did so every day until they reached the border between nations and crossed it.
The first village across the border the armies reached was small, no more than a few dozen houses. It was a rural farming community. Unalia’s army began to pillage and burn the homes, after evacuating the residents.
“What are they doing?” Fae asked Isabelle as they stood at the sidelines, in the middle of Isabelle’s creature army.
“They’re pillaging and burning the homes. But these people don’t have anything to do with this,” Isabelle said. “At least they’re not killing anyone… at least not directly.”
“I know from personal experience Unalia’s done a lot of bad shit, but this is wrong,” Fae said. “Why would they do this?”
“I don’t know,” Isabelle responded.
Unalia’s army pillaged and set fire to every home and building, leaving the village no more than a pile of burning cinders. They took a sizable chunk of the town’s food, leaving just enough for the villager’s to get by.
“I… didn’t expect the village to be burned down,” Fae said to Rose as they sat together at a campfire late at night.
“Yes, well, that is war,” Rose replied.
“Why was it burned down? The people there were innocent,” Fae asked.
“Revenge, and to get Unalia to fuck off. Unalia’s been looting and pillaging our border villages for years under the guise of bandits, this is our way of telling them there are consequences for their actions,” Rose explained. Fae poked the fire and watched the cinders smolder, reflecting on Rose’s words.
“I guess that makes sense. I just… I don’t like it,” Fae said.
“ Neither do I. But, this is merciful. Some would kill or enslave the people as well as burn their homes and destroy their crops. I’ve seen it before. Take heed in the fact those people still have their lives. They have a chance to replant and rebuild before winter, or seek safety somewhere else. That’s more than what others have, because they still have their lives,” Rose said.
“Sorry, you’re right,” Fae said, disheartened and conflicted.
—
Isabelle was sitting with the commander one evening to discuss their plans. A map of Unalia was laid out with points of strategic interest highlighted.
“So we’re going to Fauxmoa?” Isabelle asked as she pointed to one of the highlighted markers on the map.
“Yes, that’s where we’ll stop and reassess,” the commander said.
“I have some personal business there. Would it be alright if I took the lead?,” Isabelle asked. “I’d also like to limit casualties on both sides.”
“That’d be alright. I do not believe the city will put up much resistance since it has a meager wall that hasn’t been maintained. Not that it matters, it won’t be hard to get in. They never built a decent one to make it harder for the locals to rebel. What sort of personal business, if I may ask?” the commander asked. Isabelle considered if it would be a good idea to tell him or not.
"Well… these are the people who tortured and burned me at the stake. I’ve got a bit of a grudge," Isabelle said.
"That's certainly… a unique situation. I'm surprised you survived that. Just make sure not to get carried away," the commander said.
"I didn't ‘survive that’," Isabelle explained.
"I fail to see what you mean. Had you not survived, you wouldn't be standing here. Perhaps you mean metaphorically?" the commander asked.
"No, I don’t. That’s how I learned that even if I die, I won’t truly die. I spent months just… existing without a body. After, I found myself in this body," Isabelle said.
Ehhh, maybe I shouldn’t have told him that… she thought to herself moments after.
"That's, well, quite surprising. I mean no offense, but I'm having difficulty believing something so absurd. But these are strange times and you're certainly different from anything I've seen before. Heh, maybe I'm just getting old. I was gonna retire this year, but fate had other plans," the commander said.
"You don't look that old to me, commander, sir. You still have the youthful spirit of a young man!" Isabelle exclaimed.
"Thank you, Isabelle," the commander said with a happy grin.