“Wow. Ema was not kidding when she said this place was dead.”

Amneris found herself agreeing with Jay as she looked around. The entire planet seemed to be in a state of decay. The very air smelt rotten and lifeless. The whole world was void of colour.

Actually, that wasn’t quite true. The sky was a very deep shade of blue, close enough to be mistaken for black. The only light would’ve come from the half moon, but it was currently covered by a silver cloud.

“We should have brought a torch,” Colt said.

Jay pointed at Amneris. “Just rile her up. Lyriumian flashlight.”

“I am right here.” Amneris growled, indeed beginning to glow.

Jay grinned. “See? We brought one.”

“I’m so gonna kill you.”

Colt interrupted. “You could save it for the negative energy coming from that direction.” He pointed ahead. “It is quite strong.”

“So we follow the bad vibe.” Amneris glanced at Colt. “When has that ever led us into danger?”

“Being around you leads me into danger,” he countered flatly.

“That’s just mean.”

“Oi!” Jay waved from up ahead. “Up front, Flashlight!”

Amneris’ power sparked again. “The fuck did you call me! And stop laughing!” That last part was to Colt who very quickly bit down on his laugh. Amneris moved to the front of the group, leading the way. Colt and Jay shared glances and laughed once again.

----------------------------------------

Five minutes. Five minutes the three walked in silence. It was when that five minutes ended that Jay decided he was bored, so he did the only thing left to do when one was bored.

“I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘s’.”

Unfortunately, Colt decided he was bored enough to play along. “Sand?”

“Nope.”

“Sky?”

“Nope.”

“Stone?”

“Yes!” Jay clapped his shoulder. “Okay, next one. I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘c’.”

“Cloud?”

“Nope.”

“Me?”

“Nope.”

Amneris sighed heavily as the conversation continued. She tried so hard to not listen but couldn’t help it. Honestly, the volume of their game would be enough to bring any potential danger straight at them! On second thoughts, that wouldn’t be so bad. At least then the game would be over.

“I see nothing else starting with that letter,” Colt said.

Jay grinned. “It was ‘coin’.”

“But there are no coins here.”

The Fae male reached behind Colt’s ear. A bronze coin appeared in his fingers.

Colt frowned at the coin. “That does not count.”

“Sure it does,” Jay said.

“I could not see it and neither could you.”

“We can see it now.”

“If you two are quite finished,” Amneris interrupted, “I’ve found a Castle.”

The two men came to her side, the three looking over the castle. It was nothing fancy, Amneris thought. Loud and old and in desperate need of a paintjob. Lyriumia’s castles were far more impressive. Then again, this one did have a giant statue of a cobra resting atop it. It looked very well carved.

Colt nudged her and pointed to something beside the castle. The ship from the Academy! Yes, this was definitely the right place.

Amneris turned to Jay. “Does your ‘friend’ have any inside knowledge about where Hathy is?”

Jay shook his head then waved his phone. “She said something about needing to distract a dragon so hasn’t made it inside yet.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Dragon?” Colt asked, looking around excitedly.

“Lightning dragon,” Jay corrected.

“The Guardian of the Serpent King,” Amneris muttered. “You know, I really do hate it when myth becomes reality.”

Jay raised an eyebrow. “Said the literal God.”

“Fuck off.”

Colt broke up the argument before it started. “How do we get into the castle without being noticed.”

Amneris grinned. “Whoever said anything about not being noticed?”

Colt turned to her. “No.”

“You gonna stop me?”

“If I must.”

“Try.” Before he could do anything, Amneris leapt over the crest of the dune, sliding down the dirt to the castle.

Colt sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I hate when she does that.”

“You get used to it,” Jay said. “We should stop her from blowing up the planet.”

The sound of gunfire made them look down.

Colt let out another sigh. “I think you meant that we should stop her before she massacres everyone standing between her and Hathor.”

Jay nodded. “Don’t you love working for a morally grey Queen?” He laughed. “Sometimes I wonder how she even got Naiu’s power.”

Colt decided not to mention he’d been wondering that exact thing since he and Amneris were children. That was a conversation for another time. “We should move.”

“Yes,” Jay agreed. “We have a Queen with anger management and morality issues to assist.”

The two men jumped over the crest.

----------------------------------------

“Oi, dickheads!”

A group of guards at the front of the castle were surprised by a voice from ahead. A figure came into shape out of the darkness, a black cloak swirling behind it on a dead wind. The guards readied their weapons. This did nothing to deter the figure. It just kept on walking until it became visible in the torchlight.

The guards slightly lowered their weapons. A woman?

The woman raised her hand. Pale blue energy swirled around her hand. “You have five seconds to answer my question,” Amneris said. “Where. The fuck. Is my daughter?”

The guards’ faces moulded into what was creationally-wide known as the ‘oh shit’ face. Even so, they came to a silent conclusion. They were not going to let this woman into the castle. If she was here to rescue the girl, she was an enemy. The guards did their job. They fired.

The woman didn’t so much as flinch as bullets tore through her body. They stopped firing and stared. The bullet holes covering the woman’s body healed in seconds.

Amneris, her hand still raised, said, “Two comments, boys. First, aim for something vital. Second, I think that was a little more than five seconds.” One of the guards’ guns was pulled into her hand. Amneris turned the barrel on them. “See, normally I’d give you another chance, but I’m in a hurry.”

Amneris pulled the trigger. The weapon unleashed a storm of bullets, ripping through everything and everyone, and even cracking the ancient stone of the castle. Amneris roared over the noise, walking forward. Guards rushed out of the castle to stop the intruder but didn’t stand a chance. A small amount of Amneris’ power meant the gun wasn’t running out of ammo any time soon. As those firing at her from cover found themselves running out, they were unable to escape. The moment one ran, they were torn to shreds.

A hand appeared on Amneris’ shoulder. “I think you got them all,” Colt said.

Amneris stopped firing, panting. She tossed the gun to the side. “I really hate those things.” Then she turned to the two men behind her. “Normally, I’d make some stupid pun about now, but this crowd is dead.”

Colt raised a hand to his head. Jay sighed loudly.

“Too much?” Amneris asked.

“Way too much,” Jay confirmed.

“You guys are no fun.” Amneris spun, the tail of her cloak spinning dramatically behind her. “I’d say that gave away who is here. Shall we continue?”

----------------------------------------

Evidently, the walls of the castle, while certainly old and losing their touch, were still very much soundproof. Only those near the entrance had heard the gunfire. Everyone else inside remained oblivious to the intruders. That became painfully obvious when the three entered the main chamber of the castle. There was only a single guard!”

“Excuse me!” Amneris called with a wave of the hand. “Hello! Could you help us?”

The guard stared. “Help you?”

“Yes.” Amneris nodded enthusiastically. “See, we’re trying to find my daughter. Do you have any idea where she might be?”

The guard continued to stare. “Daughter?”

“Yes, about yea high, red curly hair, purple eyes, dark skin, silver wings, very hard to miss when she’s pissed—”

BANG!

Amneris plucked the bullet from the air, then turned to the sniper on the level above and gave them an irritated look. “Do you mind? I’m in the middle of a conversation.” She turned back to the guard. “So, that a yes or a no on seeing her?”

Colt leaned down to say, “I think they are in shock.”

Beside them, Jay muttered, “I’m in shock.”

Amneris pouted. “So they won’t be able to help?”

“Great!” Jay clapped his hands, having recovered. “Can we go now?”

“Sure. Oh, wait.”

Amneris pulled a knife from her belt. She spun on the spot and tossed it to the upper level. A loud thump was followed by the sounds of someone choaking. Amneris turned her attention to the guard before the three. Instead of going for the second knife, she grabbed the silver blaster from Jay’s thigh holster and shot the guard three times in the chest. Amneris blew smoke from the barrel and continued forward.

Jay hurried after her. “Hey, that’s mine!”

But Amneris wasn’t listening. Neither Jay nor Colt could do anything as Amneris shot everyone stupid enough to try and attack the three. Even so, the two men remained prepared to join the fight. While the Court was often victorious no matter the odds, they had suffered their fair share of losses. Most of them happened when a certain woman was in a bad mood.

Jay grabbed Amneris’ arm as they reached a fork in the path. He retrieved his blaster then sniffed the air. Weapon at the ready, he hurried down the right passage. Amneris and Colt ran after him. The three sprinted down the many twists, turns and splits in the pathways, only the scent of whatever Jay was following leading the way.

They came to a stop outside a large iron door. Jay nodded at Amneris. She kicked down the door.

The room beyond was huge and dark. Dim light came from a few Fae lights hovering around the room. A channel was cut into the floor, creating a moat-like appearance to a central island. The island was covered in a deep blue shield.

Someone was inside. They jumped to their feet and ran to the shield.

“Hathy!” Amneris cried. She ran forward.

“No, stop!” Hathor strained against the silver chains holding her in place. Her muffled voice came through the barrier. “It’s a trap!”

Amneris stopped but it was too late. Her foot landed on a trigger stone. It sunk into the floor. She looked down. “Oh, that can’t be good.”

The roof opened up. Red liquid fell like a waterfall, falling into the cut channel. Amneris jumped back as a few drops hit her, her skin burning at its touch. She wiped it away before more damage could be done. There was only one thing that could do such damage to her.

“Liquid scarlet budtorite.” Amneris forced a laugh. “I hate to say it, but good move, Nephthys.”